THE PROLOGUE

Foreground—a frozen crater

At back, a cavern. Overhanging this, at left and back,snow-crusted cliffs, partly bared by the winds, standout against the stars.

On one of these,Odinseated; on his shoulders,two ravens. Beneath him, in the crater andcavern, half-discernible,Fenrisand hisPack.

ODINHe sleeps, yet restive still; with eyelids squintThrough which his eyes, in dreams still shifting, flashLike flame through knot-holes. Yet he sleeps; beside himHis wild pack, crouching, share his chain.—A lull:Betwixt moonset and sunrise, one at least,One lull in that insensate harsh defiance,The beast-night-barking of my wolfish son.You stars! Fenris is quiet. Now the dewsMay fall in silence, now the mountain birdsNest silent by the unawakened morning,The wide dark fold its wings and dream. Now peace,The infinite soliloquy of thought,Descends on Odin.[A silent pause, during which the first pale signs of dawnappear on the crags. Odin whispers to the ravens on hisshoulders and they fly away. He sits motionless and serene.]THE PACK[Slumbrously.]Ulfr! Ulfr sofnathi!ODIN[Gazes again onFenris.]That this dread should breathe!And yon beast born from out my loins—to me,To me, that from this forehead plucked an eyeTo pawn for Mimi’s knowledge.—Wisdom, truth,Beauty, and law, the tranquil goals of mind,All these had I attained, and I a god;Yet on the lank, alluring hag of ChaosBegat this son, this living fang.THE PACK[Slumbrously.]Ulfr! Ulfr sofnathi!ODINO thouDumb spirit of the mind! O mystery!Were there a god whom Odin might invoke,To thee would Odin sue for pity.—Ages,A thousand ages, anguish;Anguish, remorse, forgiveness, malediction,Light into darkness, horror into hope,Revolving evermore.—O pain, O pain,Sear not my spirit blind!—Thou, tameless wolf,God of the void eternal retrograde,Prone deity of self, by that thou art—Illimitable passion, joyance madOf being, hate, brute-cunning, gnawing lust,Fenris, I curse thee.[Fenris wakes.]THE PACK[Wildly.]Ulfr! Ulfr vaknathi!FENRISFather!ODINStill that name!FENRISFather!ODINFenris, my son, forgive me.FENRISFetch Fenris Freyja.ODINBastard wolf,Be silent.FENRISBaldur, my brother’s bride betrothèd,Freyja, fetch me.ODINStill no longing but ’tis lust,No aspiration but ’tis appetite.FENRISAnarch! anarch! anarch! Father, free me!ODINFree thee, thou poor antagonist. Knowest thouNot yet why thou art chained? Retarded thing,Emancipate thyself! What might it availThough Odin burst these links and loosed thee?—ThouThyself art thine own bondage and thy pain.THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!FENRISAnarch! anarch! Ulfr!ODINYet could’st thou show some genesis of good,Some spring of growth. Hadst thou, in all these ages,Waxed toward my stature imperceptiblyEven as the seed, that germinates in darkness,Feels toward the sky; yea, hadst thou now one palePotential spark of godhood, nobler desire,Evolving intellect, one lineal traitTo prove that upward through thy brutish heartYearns infinite Reason, even now, poor son,Would I strike off these fetters, set thee free,Thee and thy pack, and put my hope in time.THE PACKHeil! Heil, Othinn!FENRISFenris! Free him.ODINBut lo! instead, what art thou? Ye faint stars,Before you close your eyes in day, once moreBehold him! Ye icy craters and hoar caves,Thou solitary dawn, eternal sky,Perennial snows—you timeless presences,Behold your consummation: this, even this,Is Odin’s elder son, creation’s heir!FENRISAnarch! anarch! anarch! anarch! anarch![Odin, covering his face, turns away and disappears behindthe crag. Fenris, with his pack, retires into the cavern,dragging his chain. OutsideBalduris heard singing,joined, in chorus, by the voices of nature on whom he calls.]BALDURFlushing peak, fainting star,Freyja!Torches in thy temple are,Freyja!Spirits of air,Anses and elves,Brightens the dawn,Freyja is gone.Come! let us go to her, girding ourselves.CHORUSFreyja, where art thou?Where? Where?[Freyjaenters, looking fearfully around her.]FREYJAThose giant beards and backs!—They turn and look.The peaks pursue me, and the nudging cliffsThrust out great chins and stare. Where should this lead?BALDUR[Outside.]Mortal day, man’s desires,Freyja!Feed on earth thine altar-fires,Freyja!Spirits of earth,Wood-sprites and Wanes,Gone is our mirth,Sorrow remains.Come! let us hasten and bid her beware!CHORUSFreyja, where art thou?Where? Where?FREYJACan this place be i’ the world? And were such shapesWrought in the dear creation? And that voice—Was it this crater’s frozen mouth that moanedFor blossoms and the south wind and my love?BALDUR[Enters.]Freyja!FREYJAO Baldur, come!BALDURWhat hast thou seen?Why hast thou left the silver roof of shields,Thy lover’s eyes, the laughter of the gods,To wander forth in night?FREYJABarkings I heard.BALDURHush, Freyja!FREYJAThrough the music of the godsFaintly I heard it knell and yearn for me;And so I stole away. But tell me—BALDURCome!FREYJATell me what thing of nameless woe—BALDUROh, comeAnd ask not. Come away to Valhal.[He leads her impetuously away from the crater towardthe sunrise.]FREYJA[Resists gently.]Baldur!BALDURFreyja, look down! Spring leaps among the valleysAnd calls his universal flocks, to drinkThe love of Freyja.The forests rush together and the groves,And the male oaks, like herded elk at war,Tangle their budding antlers, and moan loudFor Freyja’s love.Look down! The silvered pastures and the lakesLift all their sacrificial clouds, to craveThe love of Freyja;And day’s bright stallion, snorting in the east,Paws the pale stream of morning into goldAnd champs his golden curb to burning foamFor Freyja’s love.[He draws her farther away.]FREYJABut ifoneyearn in vain—[The rattle of Fenris’s manacles echoes in the crater.]THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr vaknathi!FREYJAListen! They cry—“The wolf awakeneth!” What wolf? And whyThat clang of steel?BALDURHis chain.FREYJA[In dreadful wonder.]Buthe?BALDURA beastUntamed and tameless.—Ask not with thine eyes!—Fenris, my brother.FREYJA[Springs joyfully toward the crater.]Ah!BALDUR[Stays her.]Where art thou going?FREYJATo greet my lover’s kindred. Were it not well?BALDUROh, would it were! Look not; this kin is monstrous.FREYJAIs it not a god as we?BALDURIt is a god,Freyja, but not as we.—It is the wolf-god,Lord of the dumb and kithless wild, that liveTo breed and kill their forms of dreadful beauty—A vacant sacrifice to him: the doe,That stills all night her knocking heart, to hearThe wood-cat’s footfall, breathes mute prayer to Fenris;The frothing stag, that blazons the black boarWith gules of death, bruits hymns to Fenris; yetTheir pangs assuage him not, for he himselfRemains the abject deity of lust,His rites, the stretched claw and the stiffened mane;His priest—a sated fang; his altar—fear.FREYJABut why makes he his sanctuary thusLonely in desolation?BALDUR’Tis the willOf Odin. Ask no more. This cleft he choseWherein to hide the secret woe of the world,That never thou shouldst look upon its face.FREYJAI?BALDURThou, O maiden! Thou art the hope of the world.FENRISFreyja!FREYJAHe calls me.FENRISFreyja!FREYJAHark! He yearnsFor me!BALDUR[Urging her away.]’Tis Odin’s will.FENRISFreyja!FREYJAHe criesIn pain. Hold me no longer.—Fenris!ODIN[Entering, intercepts her path with his spear.]Stay!FREYJAAllfather! hark his pain. Alas, poor wolf!ODINPoor wolf? Poor world! poor blind, precarious Reason,Beneath whose sovereign throne this horror sits,Cat-crouching to usurp it.—Fear him; go!FENRISAi! ai! anarch! Freyja!FREYJAHe yearns for me. Am I not beautiful?Am I not holy? Wherefore should I fear?All living things love Freyja; gods and men,Anses and elves and helpless animals.Where I walk glittering, there lovers pressAnd consecrate their eyes and beat their heartsLike moths against the moon. And shall I goNor smile once kindly on him? Even the moonIs kinder to her loves.ODINHe craves no smileFrom thee, nor ever smiled into the faceOf love since his birth-hour. He lusts for thee.FREYJAWhy should he not? Hath Odin never lusted?What mind that knows the lust of intellectShall mock desire? Ah! Who that ever yearned,Yearned not in ignorance?BALDURHave pity, father!ODIN[To Freyja.]Child, pitiest thou this thing?FREYJAHath not its voiceCried out immortally and craved me? Pity?Loveis a kind of pity for itselfThat longs so endlessly. Allfather, neverEre now hast thou gainsaid me.ODINYet must now!This bitterness is mine alone to bear.O Freyja! O my Baldur! You of allThe creatures of my will, bright lovers, youOnly are happy. Be so still. Depart!Forget these wolvish cries; seek not to helpEvil unsolvable.FREYJAWhat then is evil,That lovers may not solve it?ODIN[His face turning wistful with a beautiful light, lifts hisobstructive spear, and stands from the path.]Hope of the world!FENRISFreyja!ODINBehold![He watches with the look of wistfulness as Freyja andBaldur, springing to the brink of the crater, gaze downupon Fenris.]FREYJAAh me!BALDURFenris, my brother!FREYJAO pain! Why dost thou look upon me so?FENRISFair art, Freyja; shalt Fenris fear not?FREYJAWhat wouldst thou?FENRISLithe thy limbs are; lief am to lie with thee.FREYJAAre these snows thy dwelling-place?No flowers grow here. Take these.[Freyja lets fall some of her flowers into the crater.]FENRIS[Tearing them, as the Pack yells.]Anarch! anarch!FREYJA[Drawing back.]Alas!BALDURPeace, brother!FREYJAThou lovest me. Why, then, art thou not glad?FENRISChafe, choke me, chains; chaffeth the churl at me!FREYJATake heart; we come to bring thee peace. O Baldur![Clinging to Baldur, she gazes with fascinated awe uponFenris, who, pacing ever in and out, amid his involvingPack, with the swift, incessant shuttle movement ofa caged wild thing, upturns his shifting eyes inyearning.]FENRISFree me, Freyja; frore am I, frost-bit,Go we together into greenwood glad.Mirk under moon-mist mad will meet thee,Hunt thee from hiding, thy heart-beats hear!Press thee, panting!THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!FENRISBite—bark at thee—THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!FENRISMiles, miles, miles!FREYJA[To Baldur.]He loves me, yet his looks are terrible.He saw me, yet he smiled not. Flowers I gave him,But he destroyed them. Sorrowful he is,Yet hath no tears in his eyes.—What shall we do?FENRISFree me, Freyja; fair art thou, froward—Go we together into greenwood glad.Burns thine eyebeam bright as the bitch-wolf’s,Longeth Fenris in thy lair to lie;Longeth to chase thee.THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!FENRISChafe, champ thee—THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!FENRISLeave thee with child.FREYJABaldur, what reeling darkness snows around usFrom heaven? The rose of dawn is stung with blight.ODIN[Aside.]O mystery! O will behind the will,How shall this end?BALDURFrom heaven no darkness falls;It is the glamour of his woeful eyes,That spet the night within them.FREYJA[Half wildly, whispers at Baldur’s ear.]It must cease!The shy bird hath his song within the wood,The shepherd’s call is sweet along the hills,To husband and to lover are the soundsOf gracious voices in the home places,—Tohim, the ceaseless clanging of his chain.BALDURO Freyja, we will minister to him,Until for him the shy bird’s song is sweet,And sweet the shepherd’s call along the hills.Fenris![Swinging from the brink of the crater, he lets himselfdown. As he descends, Fenris springs toward himto the limit of his chain.]FENRISHail, Baldur! hail, brother! Boast thy beauty now;Woo now and wive thee, welcome to Fenris’ woe.All elf-gifts thou asked Odin gave thee,Sunlight, summer, song for solace,Fair face, freedom, Freyja to friend.Me what gave he? Mark!—Mountain-mist, madness,Monstrous made me, marr’d, wolf-masked,Cramped in snow-crater, frost-crusted, chained;Numb, naked, night-winds gnaw me,Blistereth black ice, biteth my bones.BALDURThou shalt be free.FENRISMe mocketh, mocketh! Ai!BALDURFenris, my brother, hear me!I bring thee freedom.FENRIS[Holding out his chain to Baldur.]Liest;—loose me!BALDURHush! I know the secretHow thou mayst slip these shackles. I have learnedFrom Odin how he binds thee. Wilt thou hear?FENRIS[Craftily beckoning Baldur under the shadow of a cleft.]Tss! Wise is the One-Eyed. Tss! read me thy riddle now.BALDURKnow then, O Fenris, Odin of himselfIs weak to hold thee. Of his kin, anotherConniveth with him.FENRISKin, sayst?BALDURThou, his son. Thou forgestChains stubborner than Odin’s, links of lustMightier than these of steel, which are themselvesThe might of these thou wearest. O my brother,Lay off thine own, and Odin’s shall be straw.FENRISThus readest thy riddle?BALDURThus findest thou freedom: do our father’s will.His law is wisdom. All the folk of heavenAnd earth and hell obey him gladly; thou—Submit thou also; make thine oath to Odin.FENRISOathless be Odin; amIearth’s overlord![Odin beckons to the eastward with his spear. From thedistance comes a flash of fire and faint thunder.]BALDURHush, brother, hush! He hears; for thy pain’s sakeRemember he is Allfather. Be meek.FENRISAmIAsa’s heir!—I—I—I am Allfather![By a dazzling river of light and thunder-peal, the wholescene is riven. On the peaks at either side appearLokiandThor.Loki holds in his hand a serpentinewhip of many lashes, as of glittering brass; Thor,a white hammer. The Pack cower, moaning; Fenrisstands glaring, with head bent backward as insudden pain.]ODINHail, Loki! Welcome, Thor! in happy time.Are ye not come to crown me Odin the Wise?Shake out the live scorn of thy withering laughter,Loki, over the world: Odin hath been defied!Hammer it, Thor, on the clanged doors of hell,Till their intestine thunders toll our doom—“The wolf shall sit alone, at Valhal’s feast,And eat of Odin’s heart!”FREYJAAlas! What wordsODINThis is mine heir. Hath it not spoken? ThisShall sit one day in Odin’s seat. Mine heir!The heir of all the gods. Behold then, gods,How this, your prince, receives his tutelage.BALDURFather, what wilt thou do?ODINTame him, the tameless;The eternal goad against the eternal stone.Yea, though I tame him not till doomsday darken.[To Loki.]Loosen thy scourge.[Held by his chain, Fenris flees wildly in circles, andseeking to hide himself, finally crouches in terror,centre. He is prevented from entering the cavernby Thor, who stands there.]FENRISAnarch! Ai! anarch! Anarch! Ulfr! Ulfr!BALDUR AND FREYJAHave pity!ODINPity askOf him; this wolf must reign or I. Strike, Loki!Let thy bright lashes scorch with all their snakesTill the live, brassy serum eats and crawlsInto the writhing blood. Begin!BALDUR AND FREYJAHave mercy![As Loki swings his whip of fire, the Pack beneath fall ontheir faces. Amid them Fenris crouches at half stature.Baldur and Freyja kneel as frozen, with lifted handstoward Odin. Thus in sudden twilight and silence, finesilent lashes of unintermittent lightning uncoil and coil,as the scourge is whirled, around the cringing bodyof the wolf. A shudder only reveals his extreme pangs.]ODINCease! [Loki ceases.] Wolf, what of thine oath?FENRISOathless am I.BALDURFenris, be tamed!FENRISI—I—I am Allfather!ODINSublime inanity! heroic ape!This strong defiance were itself divine,And thou a titan-martyr, had thy prideOne rational aim commensurate with thy woe.But all thy suffering is purposeless.Strike, Thor! Make of his obdurate heart thine anvil.THE PACK[Some fawning toward Odin, others seekingprotection of Fenris.]Heil, Othinn! Ulfr, heil![As Fenris, by a gesture of rage, drives these from him intothe cavern, Thor raises his hammer. Immediate nightshuts out the scene. In this surge of darkness the deeprolling of thunder swells and culminates, as by waves,in the blank burst of the thunder-bolt. Through ahalf-lull, amid moaning of the Pack, are heard voicesfrom the crater.]BALDUR’S VOICEShe leaps. Hold, Thor! She casteth herself down.FREYJA’S VOICEBeat on my heart, for mine containeth his.ODINLight! light once more![The thunder dies away. Sudden dawn breaks, ripeningsoon to daylight. Within the crater, Freyja isrevealed, standing over the exhausted form ofFenris.]Freyja, what hast thou dared?FREYJAThe bolt of iron and the scourge of brassAvail not, Odin.—Let me conquer himFor thee!ODINHow wouldst thou tame him?FREYJABy my love,Yea, and the exceeding might of Baldur’s love,Whose gracious arts of poesie shall aid me.Grant him to us!BALDURGrant him to us, O father!ODIN[Going apart.]O thou unknown Destroyer and Deliverer,Rape not again from me this nestling hope![He descends into the crater.]BALDUR AND FREYJAGrant him to us, Allfather, to be tamed!FENRIS[Clutching the snow at their feet, feebly.]I—I am Allfather!ODINLovers, I grant him to you; but not here,For this concession must be darkly hidTill you have proved its beauteous consummation.Not, therefore, here I grant, but yonder.[Indicates the earth below them.]ThereYou shall enact a vast experiment,Whereof the pregnant sequel none may knowSave only him, the master magian,Whose prentices we gods and titans are,And the blind wills of men his medium.For he, with silent face from us averted,Holds in the awful hollow of his handThe world—his crucible, and plies with themOrdeals of anguish and of ecstasy.Therefore the earth must be your place of passion,And there in slumber, even as mortals dream,Slumb’ring, that they are bright immortal gods,You shall be mortals, and shall walk as men,Forgetful of your immortality.[Faintly, as from a great distance, there rises a sound ofmany voices crying, “Odin! Asa Odin!” and the rumourof beasts in pain.]Hark, now! from far below us, the deep moanAnd lowing of a mortal sacrifice.Speak, Thor! What seest thou at Odin’s altar?THORA mighty hunter and a twisted dwarfMake sacrifice; rivals they seem, in feud,And claim the hand of Thordis, thy priest’s daughter,And the priest cries on Odin for a portentTo choose which of the brothers shall be bridegroom.ODINLo, then, my portent! We ourselves, we four,Shall be those rival brothers, priest and bride;Loki and Thor shall ravish them with deathThat we, in resurrection, may take onTheir bodies as our mortal vestiture.For I will act with you this mystery,Dreaming myself the priest of mine own shrine;And Freyja, child, thy goddess heart shall beatWithin the heart of Thordis, mortal maid;Thy boundless spirit, Baldur, shall be pinchedWithin the gnarled limbs of the stunted dwarf,Twisted with pain, as now thy brother is;Thou, envious wolf, jealous of Baldur’s joys!Thy feverish being shall invest the powerAnd glorious stature of the hunter. SoShalt thou have scope and license measurelessTo woo the heart of Freyja. So shall ye,Lovers, make proof of your conjoinèd loveAnd trothèd meekness, whether these be strongTo tame this wolf, and from his blinding lustsEvolve a nobler consciousness, or weakTo let themselves be blasted, and the worldItself eclipsed in universal chaos.FREYJAIf we be strong?ODINThe wolf-god shall be tamed.FENRIS[In rage, half rising.]Oathless am I unto Odin ever![He sinks back, faint.]BALDUR[To Odin.]And tamed?ODINHe shall go free.FREYJAEven in such freedomAs ours?ODINO Freyja, larger liberty—The mightier peace which mortals only know—Even death.FENRISFreedom! Anarch—anarch! Freedom!LOKIHail, Odin; smoketh thine altar afar.Burneth to thee the cloven bullock’s heart;The sacrificers watch and wait thy sign.ODINLet them behold it! Thou and Thor, stretch outYour wings in storm, and ravish up their soulsWith night and death.[To Baldur and Freyja.]Come, you my children! NowShall our immortal fires be mixed with clayIn the great crucible, and these our spiritsNo more shall know themselves for gods, untilThe shadowy Master shows the great solution.[In faint lightning and thunder, Loki and Thor disappear.Odin ascends the crater, followed by Baldur and Freyja.Climbing together the steep slope, these two lookbackward upon the prostrate wolf who, following themwith his eyes, moves not until they reach the summit.There, against a sky of sunlit storm, Freyja pauses andstretches forth her arm to him.]FREYJADear wolf!FENRIS[Starts up madly.]Freyja! death—freedom! freedom! death!—Now—now![As Freyja and the gods pass from sight beyond the cliffs,Fenris gnaws at his chain in inarticulate fury.]

[A silent pause, during which the first pale signs of dawnappear on the crags. Odin whispers to the ravens on hisshoulders and they fly away. He sits motionless and serene.]

THE PACK[Slumbrously.]Ulfr! Ulfr sofnathi!

ODIN[Gazes again onFenris.]That this dread should breathe!And yon beast born from out my loins—to me,To me, that from this forehead plucked an eyeTo pawn for Mimi’s knowledge.—Wisdom, truth,Beauty, and law, the tranquil goals of mind,All these had I attained, and I a god;Yet on the lank, alluring hag of ChaosBegat this son, this living fang.

THE PACK[Slumbrously.]Ulfr! Ulfr sofnathi!

ODINO thouDumb spirit of the mind! O mystery!Were there a god whom Odin might invoke,To thee would Odin sue for pity.—Ages,A thousand ages, anguish;Anguish, remorse, forgiveness, malediction,Light into darkness, horror into hope,Revolving evermore.—O pain, O pain,Sear not my spirit blind!—Thou, tameless wolf,God of the void eternal retrograde,Prone deity of self, by that thou art—Illimitable passion, joyance madOf being, hate, brute-cunning, gnawing lust,Fenris, I curse thee.

[Fenris wakes.]

THE PACK[Wildly.]Ulfr! Ulfr vaknathi!

FENRISFather!

ODINStill that name!

FENRISFather!

ODINFenris, my son, forgive me.

FENRISFetch Fenris Freyja.

ODINBastard wolf,Be silent.

FENRISBaldur, my brother’s bride betrothèd,Freyja, fetch me.

ODINStill no longing but ’tis lust,No aspiration but ’tis appetite.

FENRISAnarch! anarch! anarch! Father, free me!

ODINFree thee, thou poor antagonist. Knowest thouNot yet why thou art chained? Retarded thing,Emancipate thyself! What might it availThough Odin burst these links and loosed thee?—ThouThyself art thine own bondage and thy pain.

THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!

FENRISAnarch! anarch! Ulfr!

ODINYet could’st thou show some genesis of good,Some spring of growth. Hadst thou, in all these ages,Waxed toward my stature imperceptiblyEven as the seed, that germinates in darkness,Feels toward the sky; yea, hadst thou now one palePotential spark of godhood, nobler desire,Evolving intellect, one lineal traitTo prove that upward through thy brutish heartYearns infinite Reason, even now, poor son,Would I strike off these fetters, set thee free,Thee and thy pack, and put my hope in time.

THE PACKHeil! Heil, Othinn!

FENRISFenris! Free him.

ODINBut lo! instead, what art thou? Ye faint stars,Before you close your eyes in day, once moreBehold him! Ye icy craters and hoar caves,Thou solitary dawn, eternal sky,Perennial snows—you timeless presences,Behold your consummation: this, even this,Is Odin’s elder son, creation’s heir!

FENRISAnarch! anarch! anarch! anarch! anarch!

[Odin, covering his face, turns away and disappears behindthe crag. Fenris, with his pack, retires into the cavern,dragging his chain. OutsideBalduris heard singing,joined, in chorus, by the voices of nature on whom he calls.]

BALDURFlushing peak, fainting star,Freyja!Torches in thy temple are,Freyja!Spirits of air,Anses and elves,Brightens the dawn,Freyja is gone.Come! let us go to her, girding ourselves.

CHORUSFreyja, where art thou?Where? Where?

[Freyjaenters, looking fearfully around her.]

FREYJAThose giant beards and backs!—They turn and look.The peaks pursue me, and the nudging cliffsThrust out great chins and stare. Where should this lead?

BALDUR[Outside.]Mortal day, man’s desires,Freyja!Feed on earth thine altar-fires,Freyja!Spirits of earth,Wood-sprites and Wanes,Gone is our mirth,Sorrow remains.Come! let us hasten and bid her beware!

CHORUSFreyja, where art thou?Where? Where?

FREYJACan this place be i’ the world? And were such shapesWrought in the dear creation? And that voice—Was it this crater’s frozen mouth that moanedFor blossoms and the south wind and my love?

BALDUR[Enters.]Freyja!

FREYJAO Baldur, come!

BALDURWhat hast thou seen?Why hast thou left the silver roof of shields,Thy lover’s eyes, the laughter of the gods,To wander forth in night?

FREYJABarkings I heard.

BALDURHush, Freyja!

FREYJAThrough the music of the godsFaintly I heard it knell and yearn for me;And so I stole away. But tell me—

BALDURCome!

FREYJATell me what thing of nameless woe—

BALDUROh, comeAnd ask not. Come away to Valhal.

[He leads her impetuously away from the crater towardthe sunrise.]

FREYJA[Resists gently.]Baldur!

BALDURFreyja, look down! Spring leaps among the valleysAnd calls his universal flocks, to drinkThe love of Freyja.The forests rush together and the groves,And the male oaks, like herded elk at war,Tangle their budding antlers, and moan loudFor Freyja’s love.

Look down! The silvered pastures and the lakesLift all their sacrificial clouds, to craveThe love of Freyja;And day’s bright stallion, snorting in the east,Paws the pale stream of morning into goldAnd champs his golden curb to burning foamFor Freyja’s love.

[He draws her farther away.]

FREYJABut ifoneyearn in vain—

[The rattle of Fenris’s manacles echoes in the crater.]

THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr vaknathi!

FREYJAListen! They cry—“The wolf awakeneth!” What wolf? And whyThat clang of steel?

BALDURHis chain.

FREYJA[In dreadful wonder.]Buthe?

BALDURA beastUntamed and tameless.—Ask not with thine eyes!—Fenris, my brother.

FREYJA[Springs joyfully toward the crater.]Ah!

BALDUR[Stays her.]Where art thou going?

FREYJATo greet my lover’s kindred. Were it not well?

BALDUROh, would it were! Look not; this kin is monstrous.

FREYJAIs it not a god as we?

BALDURIt is a god,Freyja, but not as we.—It is the wolf-god,Lord of the dumb and kithless wild, that liveTo breed and kill their forms of dreadful beauty—A vacant sacrifice to him: the doe,That stills all night her knocking heart, to hearThe wood-cat’s footfall, breathes mute prayer to Fenris;The frothing stag, that blazons the black boarWith gules of death, bruits hymns to Fenris; yetTheir pangs assuage him not, for he himselfRemains the abject deity of lust,His rites, the stretched claw and the stiffened mane;His priest—a sated fang; his altar—fear.

FREYJABut why makes he his sanctuary thusLonely in desolation?

BALDUR’Tis the willOf Odin. Ask no more. This cleft he choseWherein to hide the secret woe of the world,That never thou shouldst look upon its face.

FREYJA

BALDURThou, O maiden! Thou art the hope of the world.

FENRISFreyja!

FREYJAHe calls me.

FENRISFreyja!

FREYJAHark! He yearnsFor me!

BALDUR[Urging her away.]’Tis Odin’s will.

FENRISFreyja!

FREYJAHe criesIn pain. Hold me no longer.—Fenris!

ODIN[Entering, intercepts her path with his spear.]Stay!

FREYJAAllfather! hark his pain. Alas, poor wolf!

ODINPoor wolf? Poor world! poor blind, precarious Reason,Beneath whose sovereign throne this horror sits,Cat-crouching to usurp it.—Fear him; go!

FENRISAi! ai! anarch! Freyja!

FREYJAHe yearns for me. Am I not beautiful?Am I not holy? Wherefore should I fear?All living things love Freyja; gods and men,Anses and elves and helpless animals.Where I walk glittering, there lovers pressAnd consecrate their eyes and beat their heartsLike moths against the moon. And shall I goNor smile once kindly on him? Even the moonIs kinder to her loves.

ODINHe craves no smileFrom thee, nor ever smiled into the faceOf love since his birth-hour. He lusts for thee.

FREYJAWhy should he not? Hath Odin never lusted?What mind that knows the lust of intellectShall mock desire? Ah! Who that ever yearned,Yearned not in ignorance?

BALDURHave pity, father!

ODIN[To Freyja.]Child, pitiest thou this thing?

FREYJAHath not its voiceCried out immortally and craved me? Pity?Loveis a kind of pity for itselfThat longs so endlessly. Allfather, neverEre now hast thou gainsaid me.

ODINYet must now!This bitterness is mine alone to bear.O Freyja! O my Baldur! You of allThe creatures of my will, bright lovers, youOnly are happy. Be so still. Depart!Forget these wolvish cries; seek not to helpEvil unsolvable.

FREYJAWhat then is evil,That lovers may not solve it?

ODIN[His face turning wistful with a beautiful light, lifts hisobstructive spear, and stands from the path.]Hope of the world!

FENRISFreyja!

ODINBehold!

[He watches with the look of wistfulness as Freyja andBaldur, springing to the brink of the crater, gaze downupon Fenris.]

FREYJAAh me!

BALDURFenris, my brother!

FREYJAO pain! Why dost thou look upon me so?

FENRISFair art, Freyja; shalt Fenris fear not?

FREYJAWhat wouldst thou?

FENRISLithe thy limbs are; lief am to lie with thee.

FREYJAAre these snows thy dwelling-place?No flowers grow here. Take these.

[Freyja lets fall some of her flowers into the crater.]

FENRIS[Tearing them, as the Pack yells.]Anarch! anarch!

FREYJA[Drawing back.]Alas!

BALDURPeace, brother!

FREYJAThou lovest me. Why, then, art thou not glad?

FENRISChafe, choke me, chains; chaffeth the churl at me!

FREYJATake heart; we come to bring thee peace. O Baldur!

[Clinging to Baldur, she gazes with fascinated awe uponFenris, who, pacing ever in and out, amid his involvingPack, with the swift, incessant shuttle movement ofa caged wild thing, upturns his shifting eyes inyearning.]

FENRISFree me, Freyja; frore am I, frost-bit,Go we together into greenwood glad.Mirk under moon-mist mad will meet thee,Hunt thee from hiding, thy heart-beats hear!Press thee, panting!

THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!

FENRISBite—bark at thee—

THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!

FENRISMiles, miles, miles!

FREYJA[To Baldur.]He loves me, yet his looks are terrible.He saw me, yet he smiled not. Flowers I gave him,But he destroyed them. Sorrowful he is,Yet hath no tears in his eyes.—What shall we do?

FENRISFree me, Freyja; fair art thou, froward—Go we together into greenwood glad.Burns thine eyebeam bright as the bitch-wolf’s,Longeth Fenris in thy lair to lie;Longeth to chase thee.

THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!

FENRISChafe, champ thee—

THE PACKUlfr! Ulfr!

FENRISLeave thee with child.

FREYJABaldur, what reeling darkness snows around usFrom heaven? The rose of dawn is stung with blight.

ODIN[Aside.]O mystery! O will behind the will,How shall this end?

BALDURFrom heaven no darkness falls;It is the glamour of his woeful eyes,That spet the night within them.

FREYJA[Half wildly, whispers at Baldur’s ear.]It must cease!The shy bird hath his song within the wood,The shepherd’s call is sweet along the hills,To husband and to lover are the soundsOf gracious voices in the home places,—Tohim, the ceaseless clanging of his chain.

BALDURO Freyja, we will minister to him,Until for him the shy bird’s song is sweet,And sweet the shepherd’s call along the hills.Fenris!

[Swinging from the brink of the crater, he lets himselfdown. As he descends, Fenris springs toward himto the limit of his chain.]

FENRISHail, Baldur! hail, brother! Boast thy beauty now;Woo now and wive thee, welcome to Fenris’ woe.All elf-gifts thou asked Odin gave thee,Sunlight, summer, song for solace,Fair face, freedom, Freyja to friend.Me what gave he? Mark!—Mountain-mist, madness,Monstrous made me, marr’d, wolf-masked,Cramped in snow-crater, frost-crusted, chained;Numb, naked, night-winds gnaw me,Blistereth black ice, biteth my bones.

BALDURThou shalt be free.

FENRISMe mocketh, mocketh! Ai!

BALDURFenris, my brother, hear me!I bring thee freedom.

FENRIS[Holding out his chain to Baldur.]Liest;—loose me!

BALDURHush! I know the secretHow thou mayst slip these shackles. I have learnedFrom Odin how he binds thee. Wilt thou hear?

FENRIS[Craftily beckoning Baldur under the shadow of a cleft.]Tss! Wise is the One-Eyed. Tss! read me thy riddle now.

BALDURKnow then, O Fenris, Odin of himselfIs weak to hold thee. Of his kin, anotherConniveth with him.

FENRISKin, sayst?

BALDURThou, his son. Thou forgestChains stubborner than Odin’s, links of lustMightier than these of steel, which are themselvesThe might of these thou wearest. O my brother,Lay off thine own, and Odin’s shall be straw.

FENRISThus readest thy riddle?

BALDURThus findest thou freedom: do our father’s will.His law is wisdom. All the folk of heavenAnd earth and hell obey him gladly; thou—Submit thou also; make thine oath to Odin.

FENRISOathless be Odin; amIearth’s overlord!

[Odin beckons to the eastward with his spear. From thedistance comes a flash of fire and faint thunder.]

BALDURHush, brother, hush! He hears; for thy pain’s sakeRemember he is Allfather. Be meek.

FENRISAmIAsa’s heir!—I—I—I am Allfather!

[By a dazzling river of light and thunder-peal, the wholescene is riven. On the peaks at either side appearLokiandThor.Loki holds in his hand a serpentinewhip of many lashes, as of glittering brass; Thor,a white hammer. The Pack cower, moaning; Fenrisstands glaring, with head bent backward as insudden pain.]

ODINHail, Loki! Welcome, Thor! in happy time.Are ye not come to crown me Odin the Wise?Shake out the live scorn of thy withering laughter,Loki, over the world: Odin hath been defied!Hammer it, Thor, on the clanged doors of hell,Till their intestine thunders toll our doom—“The wolf shall sit alone, at Valhal’s feast,And eat of Odin’s heart!”

FREYJAAlas! What words

ODINThis is mine heir. Hath it not spoken? ThisShall sit one day in Odin’s seat. Mine heir!The heir of all the gods. Behold then, gods,How this, your prince, receives his tutelage.

BALDURFather, what wilt thou do?

ODINTame him, the tameless;The eternal goad against the eternal stone.Yea, though I tame him not till doomsday darken.[To Loki.]Loosen thy scourge.

[Held by his chain, Fenris flees wildly in circles, andseeking to hide himself, finally crouches in terror,centre. He is prevented from entering the cavernby Thor, who stands there.]

FENRISAnarch! Ai! anarch! Anarch! Ulfr! Ulfr!

BALDUR AND FREYJAHave pity!

ODINPity askOf him; this wolf must reign or I. Strike, Loki!Let thy bright lashes scorch with all their snakesTill the live, brassy serum eats and crawlsInto the writhing blood. Begin!

BALDUR AND FREYJAHave mercy!

[As Loki swings his whip of fire, the Pack beneath fall ontheir faces. Amid them Fenris crouches at half stature.Baldur and Freyja kneel as frozen, with lifted handstoward Odin. Thus in sudden twilight and silence, finesilent lashes of unintermittent lightning uncoil and coil,as the scourge is whirled, around the cringing bodyof the wolf. A shudder only reveals his extreme pangs.]

ODINCease! [Loki ceases.] Wolf, what of thine oath?

FENRISOathless am I.

BALDURFenris, be tamed!

FENRISI—I—I am Allfather!

ODINSublime inanity! heroic ape!This strong defiance were itself divine,And thou a titan-martyr, had thy prideOne rational aim commensurate with thy woe.But all thy suffering is purposeless.Strike, Thor! Make of his obdurate heart thine anvil.

THE PACK[Some fawning toward Odin, others seekingprotection of Fenris.]Heil, Othinn! Ulfr, heil!

[As Fenris, by a gesture of rage, drives these from him intothe cavern, Thor raises his hammer. Immediate nightshuts out the scene. In this surge of darkness the deeprolling of thunder swells and culminates, as by waves,in the blank burst of the thunder-bolt. Through ahalf-lull, amid moaning of the Pack, are heard voicesfrom the crater.]

BALDUR’S VOICEShe leaps. Hold, Thor! She casteth herself down.

FREYJA’S VOICEBeat on my heart, for mine containeth his.

ODINLight! light once more![The thunder dies away. Sudden dawn breaks, ripeningsoon to daylight. Within the crater, Freyja isrevealed, standing over the exhausted form ofFenris.]Freyja, what hast thou dared?

FREYJAThe bolt of iron and the scourge of brassAvail not, Odin.—Let me conquer himFor thee!

ODINHow wouldst thou tame him?

FREYJABy my love,Yea, and the exceeding might of Baldur’s love,Whose gracious arts of poesie shall aid me.Grant him to us!

BALDURGrant him to us, O father!

ODIN[Going apart.]O thou unknown Destroyer and Deliverer,Rape not again from me this nestling hope![He descends into the crater.]

BALDUR AND FREYJAGrant him to us, Allfather, to be tamed!

FENRIS[Clutching the snow at their feet, feebly.]I—I am Allfather!

ODINLovers, I grant him to you; but not here,For this concession must be darkly hidTill you have proved its beauteous consummation.Not, therefore, here I grant, but yonder.[Indicates the earth below them.]ThereYou shall enact a vast experiment,Whereof the pregnant sequel none may knowSave only him, the master magian,Whose prentices we gods and titans are,And the blind wills of men his medium.For he, with silent face from us averted,Holds in the awful hollow of his handThe world—his crucible, and plies with themOrdeals of anguish and of ecstasy.Therefore the earth must be your place of passion,And there in slumber, even as mortals dream,Slumb’ring, that they are bright immortal gods,You shall be mortals, and shall walk as men,Forgetful of your immortality.

[Faintly, as from a great distance, there rises a sound ofmany voices crying, “Odin! Asa Odin!” and the rumourof beasts in pain.]

Hark, now! from far below us, the deep moanAnd lowing of a mortal sacrifice.Speak, Thor! What seest thou at Odin’s altar?

THORA mighty hunter and a twisted dwarfMake sacrifice; rivals they seem, in feud,And claim the hand of Thordis, thy priest’s daughter,And the priest cries on Odin for a portentTo choose which of the brothers shall be bridegroom.

ODINLo, then, my portent! We ourselves, we four,Shall be those rival brothers, priest and bride;Loki and Thor shall ravish them with deathThat we, in resurrection, may take onTheir bodies as our mortal vestiture.For I will act with you this mystery,Dreaming myself the priest of mine own shrine;And Freyja, child, thy goddess heart shall beatWithin the heart of Thordis, mortal maid;Thy boundless spirit, Baldur, shall be pinchedWithin the gnarled limbs of the stunted dwarf,Twisted with pain, as now thy brother is;Thou, envious wolf, jealous of Baldur’s joys!Thy feverish being shall invest the powerAnd glorious stature of the hunter. SoShalt thou have scope and license measurelessTo woo the heart of Freyja. So shall ye,Lovers, make proof of your conjoinèd loveAnd trothèd meekness, whether these be strongTo tame this wolf, and from his blinding lustsEvolve a nobler consciousness, or weakTo let themselves be blasted, and the worldItself eclipsed in universal chaos.

FREYJAIf we be strong?

ODINThe wolf-god shall be tamed.

FENRIS[In rage, half rising.]Oathless am I unto Odin ever![He sinks back, faint.]

BALDUR[To Odin.]And tamed?

ODINHe shall go free.

FREYJAEven in such freedomAs ours?

ODINO Freyja, larger liberty—The mightier peace which mortals only know—Even death.

FENRISFreedom! Anarch—anarch! Freedom!

LOKIHail, Odin; smoketh thine altar afar.Burneth to thee the cloven bullock’s heart;The sacrificers watch and wait thy sign.

ODINLet them behold it! Thou and Thor, stretch outYour wings in storm, and ravish up their soulsWith night and death.[To Baldur and Freyja.]Come, you my children! NowShall our immortal fires be mixed with clayIn the great crucible, and these our spiritsNo more shall know themselves for gods, untilThe shadowy Master shows the great solution.

[In faint lightning and thunder, Loki and Thor disappear.Odin ascends the crater, followed by Baldur and Freyja.Climbing together the steep slope, these two lookbackward upon the prostrate wolf who, following themwith his eyes, moves not until they reach the summit.There, against a sky of sunlit storm, Freyja pauses andstretches forth her arm to him.]

FREYJADear wolf!

FENRIS[Starts up madly.]Freyja! death—freedom! freedom! death!—Now—now!

[As Freyja and the gods pass from sight beyond the cliffs,Fenris gnaws at his chain in inarticulate fury.]

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