  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!" |
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