The Valkyrie and Raven

Ye men wearing bracelets Be mute whilst I sing Of Harald the hero— High Norroway's king; I'll duly declare A discourse which I heard, Betwixt a bright maiden And black raven bird.

The Valkyrie's vext No war-field to find; The speech she knew well Of the wild feather'd kind, And thus she bespake him Who bears the brown bill, So proud as he perch'd on The peak of the hill.

"What do you here, ravens, And whence come ye, say, Your heads turn'd direct to The dying sun's ray? Bits of flesh hold your claws— There's blood flowing free From your beaks, surely nigh Dead bodies there be."

Then wiping his beak, Bloody red, on the rock, The eagle's sworn brother Thus answer'd and spoke: "Harald we've follow'd, Of Halfdan the son, Ever since from the egg That we egress have won."

"Then ye know, bird, the king, Whose keep is in Kvine, The young king—the Norse king— Whose keels cut the brine; Red-rimm'd are his bucklers, Betarr'd are his oars— His sails are all bleach'd With the sea-spray and showers."

"Abroad will drink Yule, The young king, and will try To wake up, O maiden, The wild game of Frey, Of the warmth of the hearth He weary is grown; He loathes the close chamber And cushions of down.

"Heard ye not the hard fight Near Hafirsfirth beach, 'Twixt the king of high kindred And Kotva the rich? Sail'd ships from the East Prepared for war stern; Their dragon heads gaped, Their gilded sides burn.

"They were fill'd with proud freemen Well furnish'd with shields, And the very best weapons The western land yields; Grimly the Baresarkers Grinn'd, biting steel,— Howl'd the wolf-heathens War madness they feel.

"They moved 'gainst the monarch Whose might makes them pine, 'Gainst the king—the Norse king— Who keeps court at Utstein; Flinch'd the king's bark at first, For they ply'd her right well— There was hammering on helmets Ere Haklangr fell.

"Left the land to the lad With the locks long and full, Rich Kotva, the lord, Thick of neck, like the bull; 'Neath the thwarts themselves threw, They who'd wounds, in despair, Their heads to the keel And their heels to the air.

"On their shoulders their shields, Such as Swafni's roof form, Flinging swift as a fence From the fierce stony storm; The yeomen affrighted From Hafirsfirth speed, And arrived at their homes They call hoarsely for mead.

"The slain strew the strand To the very great joy Of ourselves and of Odin, The chief of one eye."