King Olaf's Christmas
King Olaf's Christmas
von Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Das Gedicht "King Olaf's Christmas" stammt aus der Sammlung "Tales of a Wayside Inn" und gehört in den Zylkus der "The Musician's Tale". In seinen Geschichten wird seine Liebe zu den Europäischen Geschichten und Mythen deutlich, die er während seiner Jahre in Europa kennen gelernt hatte. Deutlich wird dies gerade auch in der Sammlung, aus denen das hier zitierte Gedicht entnommen wurde.
Longfellow war Amerikaner, geboren 1807 in Portland an der Ostküste der USA. Bei seinem Tod 1882 war er schon längst zu einem weltweit anerkannten Dichter geworden.
At Drontheim, Olaf the King
Heard the bells of Yule-tide ring,
As he sat in his banquet hall,
Drinking the nut-brown ale,
With his bearded Berserks hale
And tall.
Heard the bells of Yule-tide ring,
As he sat in his banquet hall,
Drinking the nut-brown ale,
With his bearded Berserks hale
And tall.
Three days his Yule-tide feasts
He held with Bishops and Priests,
And his horn filled up to the brim;
But the ale was never too strong,
Nor the Sagaman's tale too long,
For him.
He held with Bishops and Priests,
And his horn filled up to the brim;
But the ale was never too strong,
Nor the Sagaman's tale too long,
For him.
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
Over theirs.
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
Over theirs.
The gleams of the fire-light dance
Upon helmet and hauberk and lance
And laugh in the eyes of the king;
And he cries to Halfred the Scald,
Gray-bearded, wrinkled, and bald:
"Sing!
Upon helmet and hauberk and lance
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,
And in front of the singer placed
His sword.
With a sword in every line,
And this shall be thy reward;"
And he loosened the belt at his waist,
And in front of the singer placed
His sword.
"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."
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 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
And the King!"
Broke forth into a shout
That made the rafters ring;
They smote with their fists on the board,
And shouted, "Long live the sword
And the King!"
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 'twas multiplied
Three times."
I miss the bright word in one
Of thy measures and thy rhymes."
And Halfred the Scald replied,
"In another 'twas multiplied
Three times."
Then King Olaf raised the hilt
Of iron, cross-shaped and gilt,
And said, "Do not refuse;
Count well the gain and the loss,
Thor's hammer or Christ's cross:
Choose!"
Of iron, cross-shaped and gilt,
And said, "Do not refuse;
Count well the gain and the loss,
Thor's hammer or Christ's cross:
Choose!"
And Halfred the Scald said, "This,
In the name of the Lord, I kiss,
Who on it was crucified!"
And a shout went round the board,
"In the name of Christ the Lord
Who died!"
In the name of the Lord, I kiss,
Who on it was crucified!"
And a shout went round the board,
"In the name of Christ the Lord
Who died!"
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.
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!"
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!"
