, 1861-09-05
20! daughter mine! why so in tears!
Unu, faro INV nfher I;ftla doors PD

ThOu'rt not like her, though fair and fine.
My mothers cheeks were white and red,
But thine are pale and like the dead"
"And how should be pale and fair
When death has bleached the checks bear;
Or how should be white and red,
So long, my child, as I've been deadH"
She found her children's sleeping place,
And wet with tears each little face.
She nursed them all with mothers care,
She combed and dressed their silky hair"
Lastly she takes the babe in her lap and feeds
it. Thes, gentle duties fulfilled she sends the eldest
daughter to summon to her presence the ungracious
husband und unnatural father. Swain Obeys the
summons. She chides, upbraids, and warns him /;
and now as the red, the black, and the white cock
announce, with treble clarion, the dawn Of day.
the pale lady returns to her cold churchyard home
not without some cOnsong prescience we would
hope, of the good effects which followed this re-
visiting Of the glimpses Of the moon. For
Whenever hound was heard to whine,
They gave their children bread and wine.
Whenever hound was heard to bark,
They thought the dead walked in the dark.
Whenever hound was heard to howl,
They thought they saw corpses cowl.
Wenext select the only ballad in which an Edda
poem has been additionally preserved. Thor of
Asgard." The Thusser king, it should be pre-
mised is supposed by DIR. Prior to be Turkish
potentate. The hammer Of gold, Mi0lner, crusher
Of giants, which Thor of Asgard, home of the
Asir, has lost during the winter, and which LOki,
fame or heat RECEIVERS at the return Of spring from
the northern gen Of cold and darkness, is the not
inappropriate symbol of the thunderbolt. A Trold
is any supernatural or extraordinary being, from
a giant to q magician, or dwarf to a deist.
There rode the mighty of Asgard, Thor,
His journey across the pla n,
And there his hammer Of gold he lost,
And sought so long in vain.
Twas then the mighty of Asgard, Thor,
His brother his bidding told,
"Up thou and off to the Northand Fell
And seek my hammer Of gold
He spake, and Loki the serving man,
His feathers upon him drew,
And launching over the salty sea,
Away to the Northland few.
lie stopped. as he crossed the castle yard,
To cloak him in scarlet pail,
And greeted the hideOus Thusser king,
And entered his lofty hall.
Welcome, Loki thou servinr-man! 's
Right heartily welcome here!
Now tell me how matters at Asgard stand,
And how in the country near"
ain castle at Asgard all Is well,
And exc in the country near
But Thor has his golden hammer missd,
And therefore am come here"
"IIark thou my words! No more shall Thor
His hammer again behold;
For fifteen fathomS and forty deep
Its buried beneath the mold.
His hammer no more gets Thor again,
From under the solid earth,
Till mine is the maiden Fredensborg,
And all that ye all are worth"
The handsome, malicious, crafty LOki, ever plot
ting against the Asir but ever compelled to serve
them, as subtle destructive force must ever serve
bright intelligence) flies back to Thor with the
answer. The naughty FredensbOrg Indignantly
rejects the proposition, declaring that even q
Christian man would be preferable bridegroom
to that lothely Trold. WhereOn LOki, as we un-
derStand, nterposes.-
"Then let us our aged father take. (Thor)
And comb him and dress him well,
And bear him, in guse Of maiden fair,
Away to the NOrthland Fell"
They brought her to court, the blooming bride,
And into the banquet hall,
And largess there with an open hand
Was dealt to the minstrels all.
They took her, the young and bashful bride,
To sit on her bridal chair,
And forward stepped the Thusser king,
Himself to serve the fair
A whole OK carcase the maid ate up,
And thirty sides Of swine,
And took to her meat seven hundred loaves,
Before she would taste Of wine.
A whole OK carcase the maid ate up,
Her loavts and her bacon first,
And then twelve barrels Of ale she drank
Before she could quench her thirst
The Thusser king, as he paced the floor,
His hands on his bosom beat;
"WhO then, and whence, is the youthful bride,
So monstrous meal can eatI"
And smiling beneath his scarlet cloak,
Thus LOki, the page, replied:
"Seven days it is since she tasted food,
For longing to be thy bride"
Then brought eight champions stout and strong
The hammer upon tce,
And heaved il up for the youthful bride,
And laid II across her knee.
Up rose from her seat that tender bride,
Her hammer she took in hand,
And only the sober truth 10 tell.
She brandished It like wand.
The first she slew was the Thusser king,
So lOthely and fierce and tall
She came indeed to the wedding feast
She slaughtered them, great and small.
"And now" said Loki, the willy page,
/" Tis time that We all retire,
And home TO our country bend our steps,
And comfort our widow sire"
A similar achievement is celebrated in the bal
lad Of Sir Genselin, where the lady Brynild-
delicate young virgin AFTER light rrpast on two
oxen, five tuns Of ale and seven Of pOrridge con-
cludes the amusements Of the evening by flourish |
ing her stay-lace end with such good effect that she
leaves no fwer than fifteen champions dead " out |