Then between his jaws distended, Sharp his tooth was as an arrow, As he gnawed through bone and marrow; But without a groan or shudder, Raud the Strong blaspheming died. Then baptized they all that region, Up the streams of Salten Fiord. In their temples Thor and Odin Preached the Gospel with his sword. Then he took the carved and gilded Grasping, steered into the main. Southward sailed the sea-gulls o'er him, Southward sailed the ship that bore him, Till at Drontheim haven landed Olaf and his crew again. XII. KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS AT Drontheim, Olaf the King As he sat in his banquet-hall, Three days his Yule-tide feasts 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 The gleams of the fire-light dance 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, "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, 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 And Halfred the Scald said, “This And a shout went round the board, 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, Near him lay the Dragon stranded, 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. |