“His beard on his back the lapwing wears.His nose ’neath his chin the elfin bears.[14]More black is sin than the blackest sloe:And thought is swifter than any roe.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Ice is, of bridges, the bridge most broad.The toad is, of all things, the most abhorr’d.To paradise leads the highest road up:And in hell the hottest of drink they sup.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Now hast thou given me answers fair,To each and all of my questions rare;And now, I pray thee, be my guide,To the nearest spot where warriors bide.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“To Sonderborg I’ll show thee straight,Where drink the heroes early and late:There thou wilt find of knights a crew,Haughty of heart, and hard to subdue.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
With a bright gold ring was his arm array’d,Full fifteen pounds that gold ring weigh’d,That has he given the herd, for a meed,Because he will show him the knights with speed.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
Svend Vonved enter’d the castle yard;There Randulph, wrapt in his skins,[15]kept guard:“Ho! Caitiff, ho! with shield and brand,What art thou doing in this my land?”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“I will, I will, with my single hand,Take from thee, Knave, the whole of thy land:I will, I will, with my single toe,Lay thee and each of thy castles low.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Thou shalt not, with thy single hand,Take from me, Hound, an inch of my land;And far, far less, shalt thou, with thy toe,Lay me or one of my castles low.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Thou shalt not e’er, with finger of thine,Strike asunder one limb of mine;[16]I am for thee too woxen and stark,As thou, to thy cost, shalt quickly mark.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
Svend Vonved unsheath’d his faulchion bright,With haughty Randulph he fain will fight;Randulph he there has slain in his might,And Strandulph too, with full good right.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
The rest against him came out pell-mell,Then slew he Carl Egé, the fierce and fell:—He slew the great, he slew the small;He slew till his foes were slaughter’d all.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
Svend Vonved binds his sword to his side,It lists him farther to ride, to ride;He found upon the desolate woldA burly[17]knight, of aspect bold.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Now tell me, Rider, noble and good,Where does the fish stand up in the flood?Where do they mingle the best, best wine?And where with his knights does Vidrik dine?”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“The fish in the East stands up in the flood.They drink in the North the wine so good.In Halland’s hall does Vidrik dine,With his swains around, and his warriors fine.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
From his breast Svend Vonved a gold ring drew;At the foot of the knight the gold ring he threw:“Go! say thou wert the very last manWho gold from the hand of Svend Vonved wan.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
Svend Vonved came where the castle rose;He bade the watchmen the gate unclose:As none of the watchmen obey’d his cry,He sprang at once over the ramparts high.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
He tied his steed to a ring in the wall,Then in he went to the wide stone hall;Down he sat at the head of the board,To no one present he utter’d a word.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
He drank and he ate, he ate and he drank,He ask’d no leave, and return’d no thank;“Ne’er have I been on Christian groundWhere so many curst tongues were clanging round.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
King Vidrik spoke to good knights three:“Go, bind that lowering swain for me;Should ye not bind the stranger guest,Ye will not serve me as ye can best.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Should’st thou send three, and twenty times three,And come thyself to lay hold of me;The son of a dog thou wilt still remain,And yet to bind me have tried in vain.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Esmer, my father, who lies on his bier,And proud Adeline, my mother so dear,Oft and strictly have caution’d meTo waste no breath upon hounds like thee.”Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“And was King Esmer thy father’s name,And Adeline that of his virtuous Dame?Thou art Svend Vonved, the stripling wild,My own dear sister’s only child.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Svend Vonved, wilt thou bide with me here?Honour awaits thee, and costly cheer;Whenever it lists thee abroad to wend,Upon thee shall knights and swains attend.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
“Silver and gold thou never shalt lack,Or helm to thy head, or mail to thy back;”But to this and the like he would lend no ear,And home to his mother he now will steer.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
Svend Vonved gallop’d along the way;To fancies dark was his mind a prey:Riding he enter’d the castle yardWhere stood twelve witches wrinkled and scarr’d:Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
There stood they all, with spindle and rok,[18]—Each over the shinbone gave him a knock:Svend turn’d his steed, in fury, round;The witches he there has hew’d to the ground.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
He hew’d the witches limb from limb,So little mercy they got from him;His mother came out, and was serv’d the same,Into fifteen pieces he hackt her frame.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
Then in he went to his lonely bower,There drank he the wine, the wine of power:His much-lov’d harp he play’d uponTill the strings were broken, every one.Look out, look out, Svend Vonved.
This is one of those Ballads which, from the days of Arild, have been much sung in Denmark: we find in it the names and bearings of most of those renowned heroes, who are mentioned separately in other poems. It divides itself into two parts;—the first, which treats of the warrior’s bearings, has a great resemblance to the 178th chapter of the Vilkina Saga, as likewise has the last part, wherein the Duel is described, to the 180th and 181st chapters of the same.
I cannot here forbear quoting and translating what Anders Sorensen Vedel, the good old Editor of the first Edition of the Kiæmpé Viser, which appeared in 1591, says concerning the apparently superhuman performances of the heroes therein celebrated.
“Hvad ellers Kiæmpernes Storlemhed Styrke og anden Vilkaar berörer, som overgaaer de Menneskers der nu leve deres Væxt og Kraft, det Stykke kan ikke her noksom nu forhandles, men skal i den Danske Krönikes tredie Bog videligere omtales. Thi det jo i Sandhed befindes og bevises af adskillige Documenter og Kundskab, at disse gamle Hellede, som de kaldes, have levet fast længer, og været mandeligere större stærkere og höiere end den gemene Mand er, som nu lever paa denne Dag.”“That part which relates to these Warriors’ size, strength, or other qualities, so far surpassing the stature and powers of the men who now exist, cannot be here sufficiently treated upon, but shall be further discussed in the third Book of the Danish Chronicles: for, in truth, it is discovered and proved from various documents and sources, that these old heroes, as they are called, lived much longer, and were manlier, stouter, stronger, and taller, than man at the present day.”
“Hvad ellers Kiæmpernes Storlemhed Styrke og anden Vilkaar berörer, som overgaaer de Menneskers der nu leve deres Væxt og Kraft, det Stykke kan ikke her noksom nu forhandles, men skal i den Danske Krönikes tredie Bog videligere omtales. Thi det jo i Sandhed befindes og bevises af adskillige Documenter og Kundskab, at disse gamle Hellede, som de kaldes, have levet fast længer, og været mandeligere större stærkere og höiere end den gemene Mand er, som nu lever paa denne Dag.”
“That part which relates to these Warriors’ size, strength, or other qualities, so far surpassing the stature and powers of the men who now exist, cannot be here sufficiently treated upon, but shall be further discussed in the third Book of the Danish Chronicles: for, in truth, it is discovered and proved from various documents and sources, that these old heroes, as they are called, lived much longer, and were manlier, stouter, stronger, and taller, than man at the present day.”
Six score there were, six score and ten,From Hald that rode that day;And when they came to BrattingsborgThey pitch’d their pavilion gay.
King Nilaus stood on the turret’s top,Had all around in sight:“Why hold those heroes their lives so cheap,That it lists them here to fight?
“Now, hear me, Sivard Snaresvend;Far hast thou rov’d, and wide,Those warriors’ weapons thou shalt prove,To their tent thou must straightway ride.”
It was Sivard Snaresvend,To the broad tent speeded he then:“I greet ye fair, in my master’s name,All, all, ye Dane king’s men.
“Now, be not wroth that here I come;I come as a warrior, free:The battle together we soon will prove;Let me your bearings see.”
There stands upon the first good shieldA lion, so fierce and stark,With a crown on his head, of the ruddy gold,That is King Diderik’s mark.
There shine upon the second shieldA hammer and pincers bright;Them carries Vidrik Verlandson,Ne’er gives he quarter in fight.
There shines upon the third good shieldA falcon, blazing with gold;And that by Helled Hogan is borne;No knight, than he, more bold.
There shines upon the fourth good shieldAn eagle, and that is red;Is borne by none but Olger, the Dane;He strikes his foemen dead.
There shines upon the fifth good shieldA couchant hawk, on a wall;That’s borne by Master Hildebrand;He tries, with heroes, a fall.
And now comes forth the sixth good shieldA linden is thereupon;And that by young Sir Humble is borne,King Abelon’s eldest son.
There shines upon the seventh good shieldA spur, of a fashion so free;And that is borne by Hogan, the less,Because he will foremost be.
There shines upon the eighth good shieldA gray wolf, meagre and gaunt;Is borne by youthful Ulf van Jern;Beware how him you taunt!
There shine upon the ninth good shieldThree arrows, and white are they;Are borne by Vidrik Stageson,And trust that gallant you may.
There shines upon the tenth good shieldA fiddle, and ’neath it a bow;That’s borne by Folker Spillemand;For drink he will sleep forego.
There shines upon the eleventh shieldA dragon that looks so dire;Is carried by Orm, the youthful swain;He trembles at no man’s ire.
And, now, behold the twelfth good shield,And upon it a burning brand;Is borne by stout Sir VifferlinThrough many a prince’s land.
There stands upon the thirteenth shieldA sprig of the mournful yew;That’s borne by Harrald Griskeson;And he’s a comrade true.
There stand upon the fourteenth shieldA cloak, and a mighty staff;And them bore Alsing, the stalwart monk,When he beat his foes to chaff.
And now comes forth the fifteenth shield,And upon it three naked bladesAre borne by good King Esmer’s sons,In their wars and furious raids.
There stands upon the sixteenth shield,With coal-black pinion, a crow;That’s borne by rich Count Raadengaard;The dark Runes well can he throw.[19]
There shines upon the seventeenth shieldA horse, so stately and high,Is borne by Count Sir Guncelin;“Slay! slay! bide not,” is his cry.
There shine upon the eighteenth shieldA man, and a fierce wild boar,Are borne by the Count of Lidebierg;His blows fall heavy and sore.
There shines upon the nineteenth shieldA hound, at the stretch of his speed;Is borne by Oisten Kiæmpe, bold;He risks his neck without heed.
There shines upon the twentieth shield,Among branches, a rose, so gay;Wherever Sir Nordman comes in war,He bears bright honour away.
There shines on the one-and-twentieth shieldA vase, and of copper ’t is made;That’s borne by Mogan Sir Olgerson;He wins broad lands with his blade.
And now comes forth the next good shield,With a sun dispelling the mirk;And that by Asbiorn Mildé is borne;He sets the knights’ backs at work.[20]
There shines on the three-and-twentieth shieldAn arm, in a manacle bound;And that by Alvor Sir Langé is borne,To the heroes he hands mead round.
Now comes the four-and-twentieth shield,And a bright sword there you see;And that by Humble Sir Jerfing is borne;Full worthy of that is he.
There shines upon the next good shieldA goss-hawk, striking his game;That’s borne by a knight, the best of all—Sir Iver Blaa is his name.
Now comes the six-and-twentieth shield,A jav’lin there you spy;Is borne by little Mimring Tan;From no one will he fly.
Such knights and bearings as were there,And who can them all relate;It was Sivard, the Snaresvend;No longer he deign’d to wait.
“If there be one of the Dane king’s men,Who at Dyst[21]is willing to ride,Let him, I pray, without pause or delay,Meet me by the wild wood’s side.
“The man among you, ye Danish court men,Who at Dyst has won most meeds;Him I am ready to fight, this day,For both of our noble steeds.”
The heroes cast the die on the board;The die it roll’d so wide:“Since, young Sir Humble, it stops by thee,’Gainst Sivard thou must ride.”
Sir Humble struck his hand on the board;No longer he lists to play:I tell you, forsooth, that the rosy hueFrom his cheek fast faded away.
“Now, hear me, Vidrik Verlandson;Thou art so free a man;Do lend me Skimming, thy horse, this day;I’ll pledge for him what I can:
“Eight good castles, in Birting’s land,As pledges for him I’ll set;My sister too, the lily-cheek’d maid,A fairer thou ne’er hast met:
“Eight good castles, and eight good knights;I’d scorn to offer thee less:If Skimming should meet any hurt this day,My sister thou shalt caress.”
“If yonder mountains all were gold,And yonder streams were wine;The whole for Skimming I would not take;I bless God he is mine.
“Sivard is a purblind swain;Sees not to his faulchion’s end:If Skimming were hurt thou couldst not pay meWith the help of thy every friend.
“The sword it whirls in Sivard’s hand,As whirl the sails of the mill;If thou take Skimming ’gainst that wild fool,’T is sorely against my will.”
Humble, he sat him on Skimming’s back,So gallantly can he ride;But Skimming thought it passing strangeThat a spur was clapt to his side.
The first course that together they rode,So strong were the knightly two,Asunder went Humble’s saddle-ring,And a furlong his good shield flew.
“Methinks thou art a fair young swain,And well thy horse canst ride;Dismount thee, straight, and gird up thy steed;I am willing for thee to bide.”
The second course that together they rodeWas worthy of knights renown’d;Then both their saddles burst in two,And Humble was sent to the ground.
“Now have I cast thee from thy steed,Thy courser by right is mine;But, tell me, youthful and gallant swain,Who art thou, and of what line?
“Now have I won from thee the prize,And Skimming belongs to me;But, tell me, youthful and gallant swain,What parents gave birth to thee?”
“Abelon is my father’s name;He sits upon Birting’s throne:Queen Ellina my mother is,And that for truth is known.
“Queen Ellina my mother is—A Queen whom all admire;Good King Abelon Haardestaal,So call they my hoary sire.
“And who am I, but Humble, the young,A knight of Birting’s land;Of hero race, whose fame extendsTo the wide earth’s farthest strand.”
“If Abelon be thy father’s name,The courser I straight restore;Thou art, I find, my very good friend;I knew thee not, youth, before.
“If Queen Ellina thy mother is,Then Skimming thou hast rewon;Thou art, indeed, my very good friend;Thou art my sister’s son.
“Take both the shield ropes, take them straight,And bind me to yon oak tree;Then hie thee back to King Diderik,And say thou hast conquer’d me.”
In came Humble, the youthful knight,Was clad in a kirtle, green;“O! I have got my courser again,And have bound the warrior keen.”
In came Humble, with boot and spur,He cast on the table his sword:“Sivard stands in the green wood bound,He speaks not a single word.
“O, I have been to the wild forest,And have seiz’d the warrior stark;Sivard there was taken by me,And tied to the oak’s rough bark.”
“Now hear me, young Sir Humble, the knight,’T is plain a jest is meant,Whenever Sivard was bound by thee,’T was done with his own consent.”
It was Vidrik Verlandson,And he would fain know all.“O, I will ride to the wood, and seeHow Sivard endures his thrall.”
Vidrik spoke to his burly groom:“Go, saddle me Skimming gray,For I will ride to the wood, and hearWhat Sivard himself will say.”
Sivard stands in the good green wood,There sees he Vidrik ride:“If Vidrik finds me bounden here,He’ll hew my rib-bones from my side.”
Then loud laugh’d Vidrik Verlandson,And Skimming began to neigh,For Sivard rooted the oak tree up;He dar’d no longer stay.
The queen she sat in the high, high, loft,And thence look’d far and wide:“O there comes Sivard Snaresvend,With a stately oak at his side.”
Then loud laugh’d fair Queen Gloriant,As she look’d on Sivard full:“Thou wert, no doubt, in great, great need,When thou such flowers didst pull.”
The King he stood at the castle gate,In his robes and kingly crown:“O there comes Sivard Snaresvend,And he brings us Summer to town.”[22]
Now dance the heroes by Brattingsborg;They dance in their coats of felt;There dances Sivard, the purblind swain,With an oak tree under his belt.
King Diderik sits in the halls of Bern,And he boasts of his deeds of might;So many a swain in battle he’s fell’d,And taken so many a knight.
King Diderik sits in the halls of Bern,And he strikes his moony shield;“O, would that I knew of a hero now,’Gainst whom I could take the field.”
Then answer’d Master Hildebrand,(For he knew all things best,)“There sleeps a Giant at Birtingsberg;Dar’st thou disturb his rest?”
“Now, hear me, Master Hildebrand;Thou art huge in body and limb;Thou foremost shall ride, in the wood, this day,And bear our challenge to him.”
Then answer’d Master Hildebrand,So careful a knight was he;“Not so, my Lord, will I do, this day,For the wages delight not me.”
Then out spoke Vidrik Verlandson,And he spoke in wrathful mood;“O, I’ll be first of the band, this day,All through the Birting wood.”
Then out spoke Vidrik Verlandson,And he spoke with lofty pride;“The smith he forg’d me a faulchion good,That can steel, like cloth, divide.”
They were three hundred valorous knights,Unto Birting’s land that rode;They go in quest of Langben the Jutt,To the gloomy wood, his abode.
Then out spoke Vidrik Verlandson;“A wondrous game we’ll play;For I will ride in the green wood first,If ye’ll but trust me away.”
Then answer’d bold King Diderik,He answer’d hastily then;“When thou therein shalt have found the JuttCome back for me and my men.”
It was Vidrik Verlandson,In the forest alone he sped;And there he found so little a way,Which up to the Giant led.
It was Vidrik Verlandson,He came unto Birting’s hill;There black and dread lay Langben the Jutt,He lay stretch’d out, and still.
It was Vidrik Verlandson,With his lance touch’d him on the knee;“Wake up! wake up! now Langben the Jutt,Thou sleepest full sound, I see.”
“Here have I lain, for many a year,’Mid the leaf and the dew-wet herb;But never, till now, came a warrior by,That has dar’d my sleep to disturb.”
“Here stand I, Vidrik Verlandson,With a sword, so good, at my side;I came to wake thee up from thy sleep,Betide whatever betide.”
It was Langben the Giant, then,Turn’d up the white of his eye;“O, whence can come this warrior youth,Who such bold words lets fly?
“But hear, but hear, thou warrior youth;I will not do battle with thee,Except thou prove of a knightly race;So thy lineage tell to me.”
“A handsome smith my father was,And Verland hight was he:Bodild they call’d my mother fair;Queen over countries three:
“Skimming I call my noble steed,Begot from the wild sea-mare:Blank[23]do I call my haughty helm,Because it glitters so fair:
“Skrepping I call my good thick shield;Steel shafts have furrow’d it o’er:Mimmering have I nam’d my sword;’T is harden’d in heroes’ gore:
“And I am Vidrik Verlandson;For clothes bright iron I wear:Stand’st thou not up on thy long, long legs,I’ll pin thee down to thy lair:
“Do thou stand up on thy long, long legs,Nor look so dogged and grim;The King holds out before the wood;Thou shalt yield thy treasure to him.”
“All, all the gold that I possess,I will keep with great renown;I’ll yield it at no little horse-boy’s word,To the best king wearing a crown.”
“So young and little as here I seem,Thou shalt find me prompt in a fray;I’ll hew the head from thy shoulders off,And thy much gold bear away.”
It was Langben the mighty Jutt,With fury his heart was fir’d;“Ride hence! ride hence! thou warrior youth,If of life thou be not tir’d.”
Skimming sprang up, with both his legs,Against the giant’s sideAsunder went five of his rib-bones then,And the fight began at that tide.
It was Langben the lofty Jutt,He wav’d his steel mace round;He sent a blow after Vidrik;But the mace struck deep in the ground.
It was Langben the lofty Jutt,Who had thought his foeman to slay,But the blow fell short of Vidrik;For the good horse bore him away.
It was Langben the lofty Jutt,That shouted in wild despair:“Now lies my mace in the hillock fast,As though ’t were hammer’d in there!”
Vidrik paus’d no moment’s space;So ready was he to assail:“Upon him, Skimming, upon him once more!Now, Mimmering, now prevail!”
He seiz’d his sword in both his hands,Unto Langben Giant he flew;He struck him so hard in the hairy breast,That the point his lungs went through.
Now Langben Giant has got a wound,And he’s waken’d thoroughly now;So gladly would he have paid it back,But, alas! he knew not how.
“Accursed be thou, young Vidrik!And accurs’d thy piercing steel!Thou hast given me, see, a wound in my breast,Whence rise the pains I feel.”
“I’ll hew thee, Giant, I’ll hew thee as smallAs leaves that are borne on the blast,Except thou showest me all the gear,That hid in the forest thou hast.”
“Forbear, O Vidrik Verlandson,Strike me not cruelly dead!And I will lead thee straight to my house,That’s thatch’d with gold so red.”
Vidrik rode, and the Giant crept,So far through the forest ways,They found the house with the red gold thatch’d;It glitter’d like straw in a blaze.
“Therein, therein are heaps of gold,No King has a greater store;Do thou remove the big black stone,And lift from the hinges the door.”
With both hands Vidrik seiz’d the stone,But to stir it in vain did he try;The Giant took it with finger and thumb,And lifted it up in the sky.
“Now hear, now hear, thou warrior youth,Thou canst wheel thy courser about;But in every feat of manly strengthI could beat thee out and out.”
Then answer’d Vidrik Verlandson,(He fear’d for himself some ill)“’T is not the custom of any wise manHis strength on a stone to spill.”
“Therein, therein is much more goldThan fifteen kings can show;Hear me, Vidrik Verlandson,Thou therein first shalt go.”
Then answer’d Vidrik Verlandson,(For his cunning intent he saw)“Thou shalt lead the way into thine own house,For that is warrior-law.”
It was Langben the Giant then,To the door he stoop’d down low:It was Vidrik VerlandsonCleft off his head at a blow.
Away the quivering body he drew,And propp’d it against an oak;Then back he rode the long, long way,He’s thought of a wondrous joke.
With giant’s blood he besmear’d himself,And besmear’d his steed all o’er;Then back he rides to King Diderik,Pretends to be wounded sore.
“Here bide ye in peace, my companions good,All under the grass-green hill;Langben the Giant has smote me to day,I doubt I shall fare but ill.”
“If thou from the Giant hast got a blow,Thy life must be nigh its close;We’ll ride swift back to the halls of Bern,No man more will we lose.”
“Now wend thee, bold King Diderik,Wend into the wood with me;And all the gold that the giant had,That will I show to thee.”
“If thou hast slain the giant this day,’T will far be blaz’d in the land;And the warrior lives not in this world,’Gainst whom thou may’st fear to stand.”
But what befel King Diderik’s men?When the giant they first perceiv’d,They all stopp’d short, in the good green wood,Of courage at once bereav’d.
They thought the giant verily wouldThat moment after them stride:Not one of them all would have battled with him;Back would they all have hied.
It was Vidrik Verlandson,He laugh’d at their craven fear:“How would ye have fac’d him when alive,Ye dare not him, dead, go near?
With his lance’s haft the body he push’d,The head came toppling down:That the Giant was a warrior stark,Forsooth, I am forc’d to own.
Out took they then his ruddy gold,And shar’d it amongst the band:To Vidrik came the largest part,For ’t was earn’d with his good hand.
Little car’d he for the booty, I ween,But he thought of his meed of fame;When men should say, in the Danish land,That the Giant he overcame.
So gladly rode they to Bern again;King Diderik gladdest of all:There caus’d he Vidrik VerlandsonTo sit next him in the hall.
Upon this Ballad Oehlenslæger founded his “Elvir Shades,” a translation of which has already been given.
I rested my head upon Elvir Hill’s side, and my eyes were beginning to slumber;That moment there rose up before me two maids, whose charms would take ages to number.
One patted my face, and the other exclaim’d, while loading my cheek with her kisses,“Rise, rise, for to dance with you here we have sped from the undermost caves and abysses.
“Rise, fair-headed swain, and refuse not to dance; and I and my sister will sing theeThe loveliest ditties that ever were heard, and the prettiest presents will bring thee.”
Then both of them sang so delightful a song, that the boisterous river before usStood suddenly quiet and placid, as though ’t were afraid to disturb the sweet chorus.
The boisterous stream stood suddenly still, though accustom’d to foam and to bellow;And, fearless, the trout play’d along with the pike, and the pike play’d with him as his fellow.
The fishes, whose dwelling was deep in the flood, up, up from their caverns did sally;The gay little birds of the forest began to warble, forthwith, in the valley.
“Now, listen thou fair-headed swain, and if thou wilt stand up and dance for a minute,We’ll teach thee to open the sorcerer’s book, and to read all the Runic that’s in it.
“The bear and the wolf thou shalt trammel, unto the thick stem of the oak, at thy pleasure;Before thee the dragon shall fly from his nest, and shall leave thee sole lord of his treasure.”
Then about and around on the moonlight hill, in their fairy fashion they sported,While unmov’d sat the gallant and fair young swain, whom they, in their wantonness, courted.
“And wilt thou not grant us our civil request, proud stripling, and wilt thou deny it?By hell’s ruddy blazes, our gold-handled knife shall lay thee for ever in quiet.”
And if my good luck had not manag’d it so, that the cock crew out, then, in the distance,I should have been murder’d by them, on the hill, without power to offer resistance.
’T is therefore I counsel each young Danish swain, who may ride in the forest so dreary,Ne’er to lay down upon lone Elvir Hill though he chance to be ever so weary.
The following Ballad is merely a versification of one of the many feats of Waldemar, the famed phantom hunter of the North, an account of whom, and of Palnatoka and Groon the Jutt, both spectres of a similar character, may be found in Thiele’s Danské Folkesagn.
Late at eve they were toiling on Harribee bank,For in harvest men ne’er should be idle:Towards them rode Waldemar, meagre and lank,And he linger’d and drew up his bridle.
“Success to your labour; and have ye to nightSeen any thing pass ye, while reaping?”“Yes, yes;” said a peasant, “I saw something white,Just now, through the corn-stubble creeping.”
“Which way did it go?” “Why methought to the beach.”Then off went Waldemar bounding;A few minutes after, they heard a faint screech,And the horn of the hunter resounding.
Then back came he, laughing in horrible tone,And the blood in their veins ran the colder,When they saw that a fresh-slaughter’d mermaid was thrownAthwart his proud barb’s dappled shoulder.
Said he, “I have chas’d her for seven score years,As she landed to drink at the fountains.”No more did he deign to their terrified ears,But gallop’d away to the mountains.
“Do thou, dear Mother, contrive amainHow Marsk Stig’s daughter I may gain.”
She made him, of water, a noble steed,Whose trappings were form’d from rush and reed.
To a young knight chang’d she then her son;To Mary’s church at full speed he’s gone.
His foaming horse to the gate he bound,And pac’d the church full three times round:
When in he walk’d with his plume on high,The dead men gave from their tombs a sigh:
The priest heard that, and he clos’d his book;“Methinks yon knight has a strange wild look.”
Then laugh’d the maiden beneath her sleeve;“If he were my husband I should not grieve.”
He stepp’d over benches one and two:“O, Marsk Stig’s daughter, I doat on you.”
He stepp’d over benches two and three:“O, Marsk Stig’s daughter, come home with me.”
Then said the maid, without more ado,“Here take my troth, I will go with you.”
They went from the church a bridal train,And danc’d so gaily across the plain;
They danc’d till they came to the strand, and thenThey were forsaken by maids and men.
“Now, Marsk Stig’s daughter, sit down and rest;To build a boat I will do my best.”
He built a boat of the whitest sand,And away they went from the smiling land;
But when they had cross’d the ninth green wave,Down sunk the boat to the ocean cave!
I caution ye, maids, as well as I can,Ne’er give your troth to an unknown man.
Fair Agnes alone on the sea-shore stood,Then rose a Merman from out the flood:
“Now, Agnes, hear what I say to thee,Wilt thou my leman consent to be?”
“O, freely that will I become,If thou but take me beneath the foam.”
He stopp’d her ears, and he stopp’d her eyes,And into the ocean he took his prize.
The Merman’s leman was Agnes there,—She bore him sons and daughters fair:
One day by the cradle she sat and sang,Then heard she above how the church bells rang:
She went to the Merman, and kiss’d his brow;“Once more to church I would gladly go.”
“And thou to church once more shalt go,But come to thy babes back here below.”
He flung his arm her body around,And he lifted her up unto England’s ground.
Fair Agnes in at the church door stepp’d,Behind her mother, who sorely wept.
“O Agnes, Agnes, daughter dear!Where hast thou been this many a year?”
“O, I have been deep, deep under the sea,And liv’d with the Merman in love and glee.”
“And what for thy honour did he give thee,When he made thee his leman beneath the sea?”
“He gave me silver, he gave me gold,And sprigs of coral my hair to hold.”
The Merman up to the church door came;His eyes they shone like a yellow flame;
His face was white, and his beard was green—A fairer demon was never seen.
“Now, Agnes, Agnes, list to me,Thy babes are longing so after thee.”
“I cannot come yet, here must I stayUntil the priest shall have said his say.”
And when the priest had said his say,She thought with her mother at home she’d stay.
“O Agnes, Agnes, list to me,Thy babes are sorrowing after thee.”
“Let them sorrow, and sorrow their fill,But back to them never return I will.”
“Think on them, Agnes, think on them all;Think on the great one, think on the small.”
“Little, O little, care I for them all,Or for the great one, or for the small.”
O, bitterly then did the Merman weep;He hied him back to the foamy deep:
But, often his shrieks and mournful cries,At midnight’s hour, from thence arise.
This is Denmark’s holyday;Dance, ye maidens!Sing, ye men!Tune, ye harpers!Blush, ye heroes!This is Denmark’s holyday.
In right’s enjoyment, in the arm of love,Beneath the olive’s shadow,The Daneman sat;Whilst wet and steaming wav’d the bloody flagAbove the regions of the sunny South.Pure was our heaven,—Pure and blue;For, with his pinions, angel Peace dispell’dAll reek and vapour from mild virtue’s sphere;Then lower’d Battle’s blood-bespatter’d sonUpon our coast,—And haggard Envy lent to him her torch,Which sparkled high with hell’s sulphureous light,Then fled the genius of peace, and wept.
But mighty thunders peal’d; the earth it shook,While rattled all the moss-grown giant stones,[24]And Oldom’s sunken grave-hill rais’d itself;Then started Skiold and Frodé,And Svend, and Knud, and Waldemar,[25]In copper hauberks up, and pointing toRust-spots of blood on faulchion and on shield—They vanish’d:And in the Gothic aisles, high arch’d and dim,Wild flutter’d of itself, the ancient bannerWhich hung above a hero’s bones;The faulchion clatter’d loud and ceaselesslyWithin the tomb of Christian the Fourth,[26]By Tordenskiold’s[27]chapel on the strand,Wild rose the daring Mermaid’s witching song;The stones were loosen’d round about the graveWhere lay great Juul;And Hvidtfeld, clad in a transparent mist,With smiles cherubic beaming on his face,Stray’d, arm in arm, with his heroic brothers,Along the deep.
We felt the presence of one and all;The old flags wav’d in the arsenal,A wondrous spirit went round, went roundThe Northern ground.
Then waken’d Thor,[28]And drew around his loins the mighty beltOf bear-sinews;With love fraternal harden’d he his shield,With eager haste he sharp’d his blunted glaive,And, with the iron of his hammer, touch’dEach Dane’s and every Norman’s breast—Shot his heroic flame therein, and smil’d!
And Denmark and Norway smil’d.
Upon the water,Upon the land,We boun’d for slaughter,At Thor’s command.
Then fell our tears so quickly,We breath’d, we breath’d so thickly,While scarce our lips could stammer forthPrayers for you, and for the North.
And we, and we, with breasts that smarted,Knelt, lowly knelt, whilst firm ye stood,From us and from affection parted,In reek and smoke, in brothers’ blood!
Tenderness comes from God;Woman and man in its praise should sing;But tenderness flies at honour’s nod;We offer all up to our land and King.
What sang ye, warlike throngs?Repeat, repeat this day,One of the simple, nervous, songsYe murmur’d out, when, hot with wrongs,Ye waited the coming fray.
We love, we all love thee, beneficent Peace, &c.
Like the wave of the wild North main,Foaming and frothing came on our foe;Proud of his triumphs, proud of his train,He thought to lay us low:But, from Denmark’s lines of oak,A horrible, horrible volley outbroke;Then tumbled his mast,His courage fell fast;And the wave, which resembled his furious mood,Was now with his blood embrued.
This is Denmark’s holyday;Dance, ye maidens!Sing, ye men!Tune, ye harpers!Blush, ye heroes!This is Denmark’s holyday.
But, hark! what sobbing and what mournful notesAre mixing with our hymns of ardent joy!Hush, hush, be still;A band of white-rob’d maids approaches slow,With lily chaplets round their yellow locks,With heavy tear-drops in their sunken eye;Broken and trembling soundsThe melancholy song,Accompanied by harp-tones rising mild.
Love, with rosy fetter,Held us firmly bound;Pure unmix’d enjoymentGrateful here we found.Bosom, bosom meeting,’Gainst our youths we press’d;Bright the moon arose, then,Glad to see us blest.
Denmark’s honour beckon’d,Loud the canon roar’d;Perish’d in the battleThey whom we ador’d.Sweet is, grave, thy slumber,Free from care and noise;Short are earthly sorrows,—Endless heaven’s joys.
From the heavenly, clear, invisible, homeOur voices come:No joy can resemble the joy which reignsIn our seraph veins.Lov’d ones, lov’d ones, weep for us not,Soon shall ye here partake of our lot;High o’er the stars’ extremest lineThe sun of affection more bright shall shine:Brothers, brothers, ’t is sweet to dieFor the land of our birth, and the maid of our eye.Blest are ye who like us shall fall;The righteous Jehovah rewards, above,Courage and love:Hallelujah, peace be with you all!
Sigvald Jarl was a famous Sea Rover, who, when unengaged in his predatory expeditions, resided at Jomsborg, in Denmark. He was the terror of the Norwegian coasts, which he ravaged and pillaged almost at his pleasure. Hacon Jarl, who at that time sat on the Norwegian throne, being informed that Sigvald meditated a grand descent, and knowing that he himself was unable to oppose him, had recourse to his God, Thorgerd, to whom he sacrificed his son Erling. In what manner Thorgerd assisted him and his forces, when the Danes landed, will best be learned from the bold song which the circumstance gave rise to, and which the following is a feeble attempt to translate.
When from our ships we bounded,I heard, with fear astounded,The storm of Thorgerd’s waking,From Northern vapours breaking;With flinty masses blended,Gigantic hail descended,And thick and fiercely rattledAgainst us there embattled.
To aid the hostile maces,It drifted in our faces;It drifted, dealing slaughter,And blood ran out like water—Ran reeking, red, and horrid,From batter’d cheek and forehead;We plied our swords, but no menCan stand ’gainst hail and foemen.
And demon Thorgerd ragingTo see us still engaging,Shot, downward from the heaven,His shafts of flaming levin;Then sank our brave in numbers,To cold eternal slumbers;There lay the good and gallant,Renown’d for warlike talent.
Our captain, this perceiving,The signal made for leaving,And with his ship departed,Downcast and broken-hearted;War, death, and consternation,Pursu’d our embarkation;We did our best, but no menCan stand ’gainst hail and foemen.
According to the Danish tradition, there is a female Elf in the elder tree, which she leaves every midnight; and, having strolled among the fields, returns to it before morning.
Though tall the oak, and firm its stem,Though far abroad its boughs are spread,Though high the poplar lifts its head,I have no song for them.A theme more bright, more bright would beThe winsome, winsome elder tree,Beneath whose shade I sit reclin’d;—It holds a witch within its bark,A lovely witch who haunts the dark,And fills with love my mind.
When ghosts, at midnight, leave their graves,And rous’d is every phantom thing;When mermaids rise and sweetly singIn concert with the waves;When Palnatoka,[29]on his steed,Pursues the elves across the mead,Or gallops, gallops o’er the sea,The witch within the elder’s bark,The lovely witch who haunts the dark,Comes out, comes out to me.
Of leaves the fairies make our bed;The knight, who moulders ’neath the elm,[30]Starts up with spear and rusted helm,—By him the grace is said;And though her kiss is cold at times,And does not scent of earthly climes,Though glaring is her eye, yet stillThe witch within the elder’s bark,The lovely witch who haunts the dark,I prize, and ever will.
Yet, once I lov’d a mortal maid,And gaz’d, enraptur’d, on her charms,Oft circled in each other’s arms,Together, here we stray’d;—But, soon, she found a fairer youth,And I a fairer maid, forsooth!And one more true, more true to me,The witch within the elder’s bark,The lovely witch who haunts the dark,Has been more true to me.
“Is luaimnach mo chodal an nochd.”
“Is luaimnach mo chodal an nochd.”
Oh restless, to night, are my slumbers;Life yet I retain, but not gladness;My heart in my bosom is wither’d,And sorrow sits heavy upon me.For cold, in her grave-hill, is lyingThe maid whom I gaz’d on, so fondly,Whose teeth were like chalk from the quarry,Whose voice was more sweet than harp music.Like foam that subsides on the water,Just where the wild swan has been playing;Like snow, by the sunny beam melted,My love, thou wert gone on a sudden.Salt tears I let fall in abundance,When memory bringeth before meThat eye, like the placid blue heaven;That cheek, like the rose in its glory.Sweet object of warmest affection,Why could not thy beauty protect thee?Why, sparing so many a thistle,Did Death cut so lovely a blossom?Here pine I, forlorn and abandon’d,Where once I was cheerful and merry:No joy shall e’er shine on my visage,Until my last hour’s arrival.O, like the top grain on the corn-ear,Or, like the young pine, ’mong the bushes;Or, like the moon, ’mong the stars shining,Wert thou, O my love, amongst women!
The squirrel that’s sportingAmid the green leaves,Full oft, with its rustle,The hunter deceives;Who starts—and believingThat booty is nigh,His heart, for a moment,With pleasure beats high.
“Now, courage!” he mutters,And crouching belowA thunder-split linden,He waits for his foe:“Ha! joy to the hunter;A monstrous bearE’en now is approaching,And bids me prepare.
“Hark! hark! for the monarchOf forests, ere long,Will breathe out his bellow,Deep-throated and strong:”Thus saying, he gazesIntently around;But, death to his wishes!Can hear not a sound:
Except when, at moments,The wind rising shrillWafts boughs from the bushes,Across the lone hill.Wo worth, to thee, squirrel,Amid the green leaves,Full oft thy loud rustleThe hunter deceives.
King Christian stood beside the mast;Smoke, mixt with flame,Hung o’er his guns, that rattled fastAgainst the Gothmen, as they pass’d:Then sunk each hostile sail and mastIn smoke and flame.“Fly!” said the foe: “fly! all that can,Nor wage, with Denmark’s Christian,The dread, unequal game.”
Niels Juul look’d out, and loudly cried,“Quick! now’s the time:”He hoisted up his banner wide,And fore and aft his foemen plied;And loud above the battle cried,“Quick! now’s the time.”“Fly!” said the foe, “’t is Fortune’s rule,To deck the head of Denmark’s JuulWith Glory’s wreath sublime.”
Once, Baltic, when the musket’s knellRang through the sky,Down to thy bosom heroes fellAnd gasp’d amid the stormy swell;While, from the shore, a piercing yellRang through the sky!“God aids me,” cried our Tordenskiold;“Proud foes, ye are but vainly bold;Strike, strike, to me, or fly!”
Thou Danish path to fame and might,Dark-rolling wave,Receive a friend who holds as lightThe perils of the stormy fight;Who braves, like thee, the tempest’s might;Dark rolling wave,O swiftly bear my bark along,Till, crown’d with conquest, lull’d with song,I reach my bourne—the grave.
Here have I stood, the pride of the park,In winter with snow on my frozen bark;In spring ’mong the flowers that smiling she spread,And among my own leaves when summer was fled.Three hundred years my top I have rais’d,Three hundred years I have sadly gaz’dO’er Nature’s wide extended scene;O’er rushing rivers and meadows green,For though I was always willing to rove,I never could yet my firm foot move.
They fell’d my brother, who stood by my side,And flung out his arms so wide, so wide;How envy I him, for how blest is he,As the keel of a vessel he sails so freeAround the whole of the monstrous earth;But I am still in the place of my birth.I once was too haughty by far to complain,But am become feeble through age and pain;And therefore I often give vent to my woes,When through my branches the wild wind blows.
A night like this, so calm and clear,I have not seen for many a year;The milk-white doe and her tender fawnAre skipping about on the moonlight lawn;And there, on the verge of my time-worn root,Two lovers are seated, and both are mute:Her arm encircles his youthful neck,For none are present their love to check.This night would almost my sad heart cheer,Had I one hope or one single fear.
A lad, who twenty tongues can talkAnd sixty miles a day can walk;Drink at a draught a pint of rum,And then be neither sick nor dumbCan tune a song, and make a verse,And deeds of Northern kings rehearseWho never will forsake his friend,While he his bony fist can bend;And, though averse to brawl and strifeWill fight a Dutchman with a knife.O that is just the lad for me,And such is honest six-foot three.
A braver being ne’er had birthSince God first kneaded man from earth:O, I have cause to know him well,As Ferroe’s blacken’d rocks can tell.Who was it did, at Suderöe,The deed no other dar’d to do?Who was it, when the Boff[31]had burst,And whelm’d me in its womb accurst—Who was it dash’d amid the wave,With frantic zeal, my life to save?Who was it flung the rope to me?O, who, but honest six-foot three!
Who was it taught my willing tongue,The songs that Braga[32]fram’d and sung?Who was it op’d to me the storeOf dark unearthly Runic lore,And taught me to beguile my timeWith Denmark’s aged and witching rhyme:To rest in thought in Elvir shades,And hear the song of fairy maids;Or climb the top of Dovrefeld,Where magic knights their muster held?Who was it did all this for me?O, who, but honest six-foot three!
Wherever fate shall bid me roam,Far, far from social joy and home;’Mid burning Afric’s desert sands,Or wild Kamschatka’s frozen lands;Bit by the poison-loaded breeze,Or blasts which clog with ice the seas;In lowly cot or lordly hall,In beggar’s rags or robes of pall,’Mong robber-bands or honest men,In crowded town or forest den,I never will unmindful beOf what I owe to six-foot three.
That form which moves with giant-grace;That wild, though not unhandsome, face;That voice which sometimes in its toneIs softer than the wood-dove’s moan,At others, louder than the stormWhich beats the side of old Cairn Gorm;[33]That hand, as white as falling snow,Which yet can fell the stoutest foe;And, last of all, that noble heart,Which ne’er from honour’s path would start,Shall never be forgot by me—So farewell, honest six-foot three!
Lo, a pallid fleecy vapourFar along the East is spread;Every star has quench’d its taper,Lately glimmering over head.On the leaves, that bend so lowly,Drops of crystal water gleam;Yawning wide, the peasant slowlyDrives afield his sluggish team.Dreary looks the forest, lackingSong of birds that slumber mute;No rough swain is yet attacking,With his bill, the beech’s root.Night’s terrific ghostly hourBackward through time’s circle flies;No shrill clock from moss-grown towerBids the dead men wake and rise.Wearied out with midnight riotMystic Nature slumbers now;Mouldering bodies rest in quiet,’Neath their tomb-lids damp and low;Sad and chill the wind is sighingThrough the reeds that skirt the pool,All around looks dead or dying,Wrapt in sorrow, clad in dool.
Roseate colours on heaven’s high archAre beginning to mix with the blue and the gray,Sol now commences his wonderful march,And the forests’ wing’d denizens sing from the spray.Gaily the roseIs seen to uncloseEach of her leaves to the brightening ray.Waves on the lakeRise, sparkle, and break:O Venus, O Venus, thy shrine is prepar’d,Far down in the valley o’erhung by the grove;Where, all the day, Philomel warbles, unscar’d,Her silver-ton’d ditty of pleasure and love.
Innocence smiling out-carrols the lark,And the bosom of guilt becomes tranquil again;Nightmares and visions, the fiends of the dark,Have abandon’d the blood and have flown from the brain.Higher the sunUp heaven has run,Beaming so fierce that we feel him with pain;Man, herb, and flower,Droop under his power.O Venus, O Venus, thy shrine is prepar’d,Far down in the valley o’erhung by the groveWhere, all the day, Philomel warbles, unscar’d,Her silver-ton’d ditty of pleasure and love.
What darkens, what darkens?—’t is heaven’s high roof:What lightens?—’t is Heckla’s flame, shooting aloof:The proud, the majestic, the rugged old Thor,The mightiest giant the North ever saw,Transform’d to a mountain, stands there in the field,With ice for his corslet, and rock for his shield;With thunder for voice, and with fire for tongue,He stands there, so frightful, with vapour o’erhung.On that other side of the boisterous seaBlack Vulcan, as haughty as ever was he,Stands, chang’d to a mountain, call’d Etna by name,Which belches continually oceans of flame.Much blood have they spilt, and much harm have they done,For both, when the ancient religions were gone,Combin’d their wild strength to destroy the new race,Who were boldly beginning their shrines to deface.O, Jesus of Nazareth, draw forth the bladeOf vengeance, and speed to thy worshippers’ aid;Beat down the old gods, cut asunder their mail—Amen!—brother Christians, why look ye so pale.
Pale the moon her light was sheddingO’er the landscape far and wide;Calmly bright, all ills undreading,Emma wander’d by my side.
Night’s sad birds their harsh notes utter’d,Perching low among the trees;Emma’s milk-white kirtle flutter’dGraceful in the rising breeze:
Then, in sweetness more than mortal,Sang a voice a plaintive air,As we pass’d the church’s portal,Lo, a ghostly form stood there!
“Emma, come, thy mother’s calling;Lone I lie in night and gloom,Whilst the sun and moon-beams, falling,Glance upon my marble tomb.”
Emma star’d upon the figure,—Wish’d to speak, but vainly tried,Press’d my hand with loving vigour,Trembled—faulter’d—gasp’d—and died!
Home I bore my luckless maiden,Home I bore her in despair;Chilly blasts, with night-dew laden,Rustled through her streaming hair.
Plunging then amid the forest,Soon I found the stately tree,Under which, when heat was sorest,She was wont to sit with me.
Down my cheek ran tears in fever,While with axe its stem I cut;Soon it fell, and I with leverRoll’d it straight to Emma’s hut.
Kiss’d her oft, and love empassion’dSung a song in wildest tones;While the oaken boards I fashion’d,Doom’d to hide her lovely bones.
Thereupon I sought the bower,Where she kept her single hive;Morning shone on tree and flower,All around me look’d alive.
Stung by bees in thousand places,Out I took the yellow comb;Emma, deck’d in all her graces,Past my vision seem’d to roam.
Soon of wax I form’d a taper,O’er my love it cast its ray,’Till the night came, clad in vapour,When in grave I laid her clay.
Deep below me sank the coffin,While my tears fell fast as rain;Deep it sank, and I, full often,Thought to heave it up again.
Soon as e’er the stars, so merry,Heaven’s arch next night illum’d,Sad I sought the cemetery,Where my true love lay entomb’d.
Then, in sweetness more than mortal,Sang a voice a plaintive lay;Underneath the church’s portalEmma stood in death array.
“Louis! come! thy love is calling;Lone I lie in night and gloom,Whilst the sun and moon beams, falling,Glance upon my lowly tomb.”
“Emma! dear!” I cried in gladness,“Take me too beneath the sod;Leave me not to pine in sadness,Here on earth’s detested clod.”
“Death should only strike the hoary,Yet, my Louis, thou shalt die,When the stars again in glory,Shine upon the midnight sky.”
Tears bedeck’d her long eyelashes,While she kiss’d my features wan;Then, like flame that dies o’er ashes,All at once the maid was gone.
Therefore, pluck I painted violets,Which shall strew my lifeless clay,When, to night, the stars have call’d meUnto joys that last for aye.