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 through 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, Whistled, saying, ""T 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.