RAUD THE STRONG.
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All the old gods are dead,All the wild warlocks fled;But the White Christ lives and reigns,And throughout my wide domainsHis Gospel shall be spread!"On the EvangelistsThus swore King Olaf. But still in dreams of the nightBeheld he the crimson light,And heard the voice that defiedHim who was crucified,And challenged him to the fight.To Sigurd the BishopKing Olaf confessed it. And Sigurd the Bishop said,"The old gods are not dead,For the great Thor still reigns,And among the Jarls and ThanesThe old witchcraft still is spread."Thus to King OlafSaid Sigurd the Bishop. "Far north in the Salten Fiord,By rapine, fire, and sword,Lives the Viking, Raud the Strong;All the Godoe Isles belongTo him and his heathen horde."Thus went on speakingSigurd the Bishop. "A warlock, a wizard is he,And lord of the wind and the sea;And whichever way he sails,He has ever favoring gales,By his craft in sorcery."Here the sign of the cross madeDevoutly King Olaf. "With rites that we both abhor,He worships Odin and Thor;So it cannot yet be said,That all the old gods are dead,And the warlocks are no more,"Flushing with angerSaid Sigurd the Bishop. Then King Olaf cried aloud:"I will talk with this mighty Raud,And along the Salten FiordPreach the Gospel with my sword,Or be brought back in my shroud!"So northward from DrontheimSailed King Olaf!
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