Though the flying sea-spray drenches Fore and aft the rowers' benches, Not a single heart is craven Of the champions there on board.
All without the Fiord was quiet But within it storm and riot, Such as on his Viking cruises Raud the Strong was wont to ride.
And the sea through all its tide-ways Swept the reeling vessels sideways, As the leaves are swept through sluices, When the flood-gates open wide.
"'T is the warlock! 't is the demon Raud!" cried Sigurd to the seamen;"But the Lord is not affrighted By the witchcraft of his foes."To the ship's bow he ascended, By his choristers attended, Round him were the tapers lighted, And the sacred incense rose.
On the bow stood Bishop Sigurd, In his robes, as one transfigured, And the Crucifix he planted High amid the rain and mist.
Then with holy water sprinkled All the ship; the mass-bells tinkled;Loud the monks around him chanted, Loud he read the Evangelist.
As into the Fiord they darted, On each side the water parted;Down a path like silver molten Steadily rowed King Olaf's ships;Steadily burned all night the tapers, And the White Christ through the vapors Gleamed across the Fiord of Salten, As through John's Apocalypse,--Till at last they reached Raud's dwelling On the little isle of Gelling;Not a guard was at the doorway, Not a glimmer of light was seen.
But at anchor, carved and gilded, Lay the dragon-ship he builded;'T was the grandest ship in Norway, With its crest and scales of green.
Up the stairway, softly creeping, To the loft where Raud was sleeping, With their fists they burst asunder Bolt and bar that held the door.
Drunken with sleep and ale they found him, Dragged him from his bed and bound him, While he stared with stupid wonder, At the look and garb they wore.
Then King Olaf said: "O Sea-King!
Little time have we for speaking, Choose between the good and evil;Be baptized, or thou shalt die!
But in scorn the heathen scoffer Answered: "I disdain thine offer;Neither fear I God nor Devil;
Thee and thy Gospel I defy!"
Then between his jaws distended, When his frantic struggles ended, Through King Olaf's horn an adder, Touched by fire, they forced to glide.
Sharp his tooth was as an arrow, As he gnawed through bone and marrow;But without a groan or shudder, Raud the Strong blaspheming died.
Then baptized they all that region, Swarthy Lap and fair Norwegian, Far as swims the salmon, leaping, Up the streams of Salten Fiord.
In their temples Thor and Odin Lay in dust and ashes trodden, As King Olaf, onward sweeping, Preached the Gospel with his sword.
Then he took the carved and gilded Dragon-ship that Raud had builded, And the tiller single-handed, Grasping, steered into the main.
Southward sailed the sea-gulls o'er him, Southward sailed the ship that bore him, Till at Drontheim haven landed Olaf and his crew again.
XII
KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS
At Drontheim, Olaf the King Heard the bells of Yule-tide ring, As he sat in his banquet-hall, Drinking the nut-brown ale, With his bearded Berserks hale And tall.
Three days his Yule-tide feasts He 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 sign He made of the cross divine, As he drank, and muttered his prayers;But the Berserks evermore Made the sign of the Hammer of Thor Over theirs.
The gleams of the fire-light dance Upon 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 placed His sword.
"Quern-biter of Hakon the Good, Wherewith at a stroke he hewed The 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 though the music rang The sound of that shining word;And the harp-strings a clangor made, As if they were struck with the blade Of a sword.
And the Berserks round about Broke forth into a shout That 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 one Of thy measures and thy rhymes."And Halfred the Scald replied, "In another 't was multiplied Three times."Then King Olaf raised the hilt Of 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, "This In 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 snows The noonday sun uprose, Through the driving mists revealed, Like the lifting of the Host, By incense-clouds almost Concealed.
On the shining wall a vast And shadowy cross was cast From the hilt of the lifted sword, And in foaming cups of ale The Berserks drank "Was-hael!
To the Lord!"
XIII
THE BUILDING OF THE LONG SERPENT
Thorberg Skafting, master-builder, In his ship-yard by the sea, Whistling, said, "It would bewilder Any man but Thorberg Skafting, Any man but me!"Near him lay the Dragon stranded, Built of old by Raud the Strong, And King Olaf had commanded He should build another Dragon, Twice as large and long.
Therefore whistled Thorberg Skafting, As he sat with half-closed eyes, And his head turned sideways, drafting That new vessel for King Olaf Twice the Dragon's size.
Round him busily hewed and hammered Mallet huge and heavy axe;Workmen laughed and sang and clamored;
Whirred the wheels, that into rigging Spun the shining flax!
All this tumult heard the master,--
It was music to his ear;
Fancy whispered all the faster, "Men shall hear of Thorberg Skafting For a hundred year!"Workmen sweating at the forges Fashioned iron bolt and bar, Like a warlock's midnight orgies Smoked and bubbled the black caldron With the boiling tar.
