THE COLLECTED POEMS OF HENRIK IBSEN Translated by John ...

163
Deep its furrows
In the greybeard’s frown;
Round him foes were packing;
He was trapped, shield lacking.
Then, a vision
That tradition
Hands, through saga, down.
Roughly battered
Rock-slabs shattered,
He with hemp-rope lashed
On his breast’s vast hollow,
Strode, though none would follow,
Goalward freely; —
Jæmte steel he,
Jæmte’s host he smashed.
Earl discovered,
Geld recovered,
He graced Jæmte’s hall.
Friendly words resounded,
Table-mead abounded,
Strife had ended; —
None contended
Since for Egil’s fall. —
Freedom-sired,
Folk-inspired
Men from dale and strand, —
You have Egil’s mettle,
Hence on each shall settle
His high glory
Garbed in story
Who, like him, dare stand!
Egil was sent by his king to demand tribute due to him from the Earl of Jæmte, a district of
Sweden inland from Trondheim. Details, for example the improvised breastplate of stone, are
taken from Egil’s Saga. Ibsen uses the theme for its contemporary relevance: Norway’s
parliament had recently refused to accede to a Swedish attempt to renege on the agreed terms
of union between the two countries.
SONG
for
The Winners
AT THE SHOOTING-MATCH AT LADEGAARDSSØEN
1 st July 1860
Mel. For Norge, Kjæmpers Fødeland.
Our Norway is a citadel
With ramparts sound though battered.
Before them bloodied foemen fell,