- Project Runeberg -  Scandinavian Britain /
157

(1908) [MARC] [MARC] Author: William Gershom Collingwood With: Frederick York Powell
Table of Contents / Innehåll | << Previous | Next >>
  Project Runeberg | Catalog | Recent Changes | Donate | Comments? |   

Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Scandinavian Britain - II. The Danelaw - 5. Svein and Knút

scanned image

<< prev. page << föreg. sida <<     >> nästa sida >> next page >>


Below is the raw OCR text from the above scanned image. Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan. Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!

This page has been proofread at least once. (diff) (history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång. (skillnad) (historik)

the glory of the service and the girl he left behind
him. For the text, see Corpus Poeticum Boreale, ii.,
pp. 106-108; but the bald abstract there given hardly
renders the spirit of the original :—

Marching up the country,—on ! before they know
Deeds are doing, shields are shining, roofs are lying low ;
Up, heart ! wave and waft the weapon of Odin’s Maid,
And the English throng will hurry along in flight before the
        blade.

There’s many a man in the realm where we were bred and
        born
Has donned his easy old coat and flytes his fellow this very
        morn ;
While here’s a lad in a shirt of steel the smith with his hammer
        has sewed
Goes singing abroad to feed the crows their fill of English
        blood.

There’s one in the glad of the gloaming—what cares he forth
        to roam ?
He’s shy to redden the scathe of shields—he kisses a girl at
        home ;
He’ll carry no shield to England for glory and gold this year,
But bides with Steinvor, North of Stad. in Norway with my
        dear.

’Thought me, when I spied them, Thorkel’s folk were fain
—The song of the sword they never shirk—to tread the battle-
        plain ;
And awhile aga at Ringmere Heath we pushed into the fray,
We stood the storm of iron, with our host in war-array.


So the song goes on, with reminiscences of Ulfketil,
who gave them a good fight, but "changed his mind"
and fled; of Knút, the trusty leader, sharing the
soldiers’ danger—

Knut gave the word,—he bade us make a stand ;
He held a shield among us when we fought by London
        strand ;

—the battle at the dyke, the scene of the ships passing


<< prev. page << föreg. sida <<     >> nästa sida >> next page >>


Project Runeberg, Mon Dec 11 19:06:29 2023 (aronsson) (diff) (history) (download) << Previous Next >>
https://runeberg.org/scanbrit/0157.html

Valid HTML 4.0! All our files are DRM-free