English poem
A.D. 400
by John Graham Bower (1886–1940)
A.D. 400.
A long low ship from the Orkneys' sailed, With a full gale driving her along, Three score sailormen singing as they baled To the tune of a Viking song--
We have a luck-charm Carved on the tiller, Cut in the fore-room See we Thor's Hammer; Gods will protect us Under a shield-burgh, Carved in the mast we-- The Runes of Yggdrasil!
But the Earl called down from the kicking tiller-head, "Six hands lay along to me! Tumble out the hawsers there, Skallagrim the Red! For a battle with a Berserk sea; Sing a song of work, of a well-stayed mast, Of clinch and rivet and pine, Of a bull's-hide sail we can carry to the last Of a well-built ship like mine. Never mind the Runes on the bending tree Or the charms on the tiller that I hold, Trust to your hands and the Makers of the Sea, To the gods of the Viking bold!
Thor of the Hammer-- King of the Warriors, We are not thralls here --Men of the sea; We are not idle, Fight we as seamen, Worthy your aid then --Men of the Sea!"