Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - The Frithiof-Saga - XXIV. Reconciliation
<< 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 never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
j FRITHIOF’S SAGA 195
To match their sister, who is sprung from Seming’s blood,
The son of Odin, and because their pedigree
Ascendeth up to Valhall’s throne; and they are proud.
But thou wilt answer—1 Birth is chance, and not desert.’
No man, believe me, youth, of his deserts is proud;
’Tis but his better fortune; and the best of all
Is, after all, a gift of Heaven. Art thou not proud
Of all thy valiant deeds, of all thy matchless might?
And was that might conferred by thee ? Did Thor not
knit
The sinews of thine arm as firm as branching oak?
Is thine high heart no gift of God’s, that boundeth glad
Within that citadel, thine arching breast ? And is
That lightning not of heaven that flasheth in thine eyes?
The lofty Nornes already by thy cradle sang
Of glorious life to come; therein thy merit is
No greater than a king’s son’s for his royal birth.
Condemn not others’ pride, lest thine, too, be condemned.
For now is Helge fallen." "How!" cried Frithiof loud,
"King Helge fallen! Where, and when?" "Thou
know-est well
That while thy temple thou wast building, he was gone
To war in Finnish highlands. On a lonely cliff
An ancient shrine he found, of Jumala the seat,
For many a year gone by closed up and desolate;
But still an aged, wondrous image of the god
Above the gate remained, and nodded to its fall;
But no man dared to venture near, for it was said
Amongst the Finns, from sire to son, whoever first
Within that temple trod should Jumala behold.
This Helge heard, and blindly scaled, in bitter rage,
The lonely steps that led to the detested god,
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
