University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER VII. FRITHIOF AT THE ORKNEYS.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Men see I a-baling]

[Frithiof.]
“Men see I a-baling
Amid the storm's might;
Six bale on Ellidi
Seven are a-rowing;
Like is he in the stem,
Straining hard at the oars,
To Frithiof the Bold,
The brisk in the battle.”

[“Take up from the floor]

[Frithiof.]
“Take up from the floor,
O fair-going woman,
The horn cast adown
Drunk out to the end!
I behold men at sea
Who, storm-beaten, shall need
Help at our hands
Ere the haven they make.”

[“Nay, nay, in nought]

[Frithiof.]
“Nay, nay, in nought
Now shall ye cow us.
Blenching hearts
Isle-abiders!
Alone with you ten
The fight will I try,
Rather than pray
For peace at your hands.”

[“There baled we, wight fellows]

[Biorn.]
“There baled we, wight fellows,
Washed over and over
On both boards
By billows;
For ten days we baled there,
And eight thereunto.”