KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS.
78 lines✦
t Drontheim, Olaf the KingHeard the bells of Yule-tide ring,As he sat in his banquet-hall,Drinking the nut-brown ale,With his bearded Berserks haleAnd tall. Three days his Yule-tide feastsHe held with Bishops and Priests,And his horn filled up to the brim;But the ale was never too strong,Nor the Saga-man's tale too long,For him. O'er his drinking-horn, the signHe made of the cross divine,As he drank, and muttered his prayers;But the Berserks evermoreMade the sign of the Hammer of ThorOver theirs. The gleams of the fire-light danceUpon helmet and hauberk and lance,And laugh in the eyes of the King;And he cries to Halfred the Scald,Gray-bearded, wrinkled, and bald,"Sing!" "Sing me a song divine,With a sword in every line,And this shall be thy reward."And he loosened the belt at his waist,And in front of the singer placedHis sword. "Quern-biter of Hakon the Good,Wherewith at a stroke he hewedThe millstone through and through,And Foot-breadth of Thoralf the Strong,Were neither so broad nor so long,Nor so true." Then the Scald took his harp and sang,And loud through the music rangThe sound of that shining word;And the harp-strings a clangor made,As if they were struck with the bladeOf a sword. And the Berserks round aboutBroke forth into a shoutThat made the rafters ring:They smote with their fists on the board,And shouted, "Long live the Sword,And the King!" But the King said, "O my son,I miss the bright word in oneOf thy measures and thy rhymes."And Halfred the Scald replied,"In another 'twas multipliedThree times." Then King Olaf raised the hiltOf iron, cross-shaped and gilt,And said, "Do not refuse;Count well the gain and the loss,Thor's hammer or Christ's cross:Choose!" And Halfred the Scald said, "ThisIn the name of the Lord I kiss,Who on it was crucified!"And a shout went round the board,"In the name of Christ the Lord,Who died!" Then over the waste of snowsThe noonday sun uprose,Through the driving mists revealed,Like the lifting of the Host,By incense-clouds almostConcealed. On the shining wall a vastAnd shadowy cross was castFrom the hilt of the lifted sword,And in foaming cups of aleThe Berserks drank "Was-hael!To the Lord!"
✦