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The Collected Works of William Morris

With Introductions by his Daughter May Morris
Morris, William (1834-1896)

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VOLUME I THE DEFENCE OF GUENEVERE AND OTHER POEMS
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VOLUME II THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JASON
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VOLUME III, IV, V, VI THE EARTHLY PARADISE
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VOLUME VII THE STORY OF GRETTIR THE STRONG. THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS
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VOLUME IX LOVE IS ENOUGH. POEMS BY THE WAY
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VOLUME X THREE NORTHERN LOVE STORIES. THE TALE OF BEOWULF
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VOLUME XII THE STORY OF SIGURD THE VOLSUNG AND THE FALL OF THE NIBLUNGS
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VOLUME XIV THE HOUSE OF THE WOLFINGS. THE STORY OF THE GLITTERING PLAIN
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A TALE OF THE HOUSE OF THE WOLFINGS AND ALL THE KINDREDS OF THE MARK WRITTEN IN PROSE AND IN VERSE BY WILLIAM MORRIS
  
[WHILES IN THE EARLY WINTER EVE]
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CHAPTER II. THE FLITTING OF THE WAR-ARROW.
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CHAPTER III. THIODOLF TALKETH WITH THE WOOD-SUN.
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CHAPTER IV. THE HOUSE FARETH TO THE WAR.
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CHAPTER V. CONCERNING THE HALL-SUN.
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CHAPTER VI. THEY TALK ON THE WAY TO THE FOLK-THING.
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CHAPTER VIII. THE FOLK-MOTE OF THE MARKMEN.
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CHAPTER IX. THE ANCIENT MAN OF THE DAYLINGS.
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CHAPTER XI. THE HALL-SUN SPEAKETH.
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CHAPTER XIII. THE HALL-SUN SAITH ANOTHER WORD.
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CHAPTER XV. THEY HEAR TELL OF THE BATTLE ON THE RIDGE.
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CHAPTER XVI. HOW THE DWARF-WROUGHT HAUBERK WAS BROUGHT AWAY FROM THE HALL OF THE DAYLINGS.
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CHAPTER XVII. THE WOOD-SUN SPEAKETH WITH THIODOLF.
  
[“I have dwelt a while with sorrow since we met, we twain, in the wood]
  
[“I am Thiodolf the Mighty: but as wise as I may be]
  
[“Nay thou shalt be dead, O warrior, thou shalt not see the Hall]
  
[“Not on earth shall I learn this wisdom; and how shall I learn it then]
  
[“O Thiodolf, now tell me for what cause thou wouldst not bear]
  
[“Hail be thy mouth, beloved, for that last word of thine]
  
[“Two things by these blue edges in the face of the dawning I swear]
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CHAPTER XIX. THOSE MESSENGERS COME TO THIODOLF.
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CHAPTER XX. OTTER AND HIS FOLK COME INTO MID-MARK.
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CHAPTER XXII. OTTER FALLS ON AGAINST HIS WILL.
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CHAPTER XXVI. THIODOLF TALKETH WITH THE WOOD-SUN.
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CHAPTER XXVII. THEY WEND TO THE MORNING BATTLE.
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CHAPTER XXVIII. OF THE STORM OF DAWNING.
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CHAPTER XXIX. OF THIODOLF'S STORM.
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CHAPTER XXX. THIODOLF IS BORNE OUT OF THE HALL AND OTTER IS LAID BESIDE HIM.
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CHAPTER XXXI. OLD ASMUND SPEAKETH OVER THE WAR-DUKES: THE DEAD ARE LAID IN MOUND.
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THE STORY OF THE GLITTERING PLAIN OR THE LAND OF LIVING MEN
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VOLUME XV THE ROOTS OF THE MOUNTAINS
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VOLUME XVI NEWS FROM NOWHERE. A DREAM OF JOHN BALL. A KING'S LESSON
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VOLUME XVII THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD. CHILD CHRISTOPHER. OLD FRENCH ROMANCES
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VOLUME XXI THE SUNDERING FLOOD. UNFINISHED ROMANCES
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VOLUME XXIV SCENES FROM THE FALL OF TROY AND OTHER POEMS AND FRAGMENTS

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109

[“I am Thiodolf the Mighty: but as wise as I may be]

[Thiodolf.]
“I am Thiodolf the Mighty: but as wise as I may be
No story of that grave-night mine eyes can ever see,
But rather the tale of the Wolfings through the coming days of earth,
And the young men in their triumph and the maidens in their mirth;
And morn's promise every evening, and each day the promised morn,
And I amidst it ever reborn and yet reborn.
This tale I know, who have seen it, who have felt the joy and pain,
Each fleeing, each pursuing, like the links of the draw-well's chain:
But that deedless tide of the grave-mound, and the dayless nightless day,
E'en as I strive to see it, its image wanes away.
What say'st thou of the grave-mound? shall I be there at all
When they lift the Horn of Remembrance, and the shout goes down the hall,
And they drink the Mighty War-duke and Thiodolf the Old?
Nay rather; there where the youngling that longeth to be bold
Sits gazing through the hall-reek and sees across the board
A vision of the reaping of the harvest of the sword,
There shall Thiodolf be sitting; e'en there shall the youngling be
That once in the ring of the hazels gave up his life to thee.”

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