THE CHALLENGE OF THOR

I am the God Thor,

I am the War God,

I am the Thunderer!
Here in my Northland,
My fastness and fortress,
Reign I forever!

Here amid icebergs
Rule I the nations;
This is my hammer,
Miōlner the mighty;
Giants and sorcerers
Cannot withstand it!

These are the gauntlets
Wherewith I wield it,
And hurl it afar off;
This is my girdle;
Whenever I brace it,
Strength is redoubled!

The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard

Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations!

1861?

ΤΟ

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1 Longfellow obtained the material for The Saga of King Olaf from The Heimskringla; or Translated Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. from the Icelandic by SNORRO STURLESON, with a Preliminary Dissertation by SAMUEL LAING. The poems deal with striking incidents in Olaf's

career.

At the same moment rose without, From the contending crowd, a shout, A mingled sound of triumph and of wail

But still in dreams of the night
Beheld he the crimson light,
And heard the voice that defied
Him who was crucified,
And challenged him to the fight.
To Sigurd the Bishop
King 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 Thanes
The old witchcraft still is spread."
Thus to King Olaf
Said Sigurd the Bishop.

"Far north in the Salten Fiord,
By rapine, fire, and sword,
Lives the Viking, Raud the Strong;
All the Godoe Isles belong

To him and his heathen horde."
Thus went on speaking

Sigurd the Bishop.

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