Ballads from the Danish and Original Verses

He set his sail for Norroway,

Saint Olaf our good king;

For Hornelummer he shaped his course

To see what luck would bring.

(Red as the ruddy gold, the sun sets over Trondhjem.)

Up and spake the steersman bold,

Stood by the lading-gear:

“At Hornelummer is no good haven,

So grim a troll dwells there:

“Eyes he hath like a burning brand;

With his mouth he well can roar;

His nails stand out, like the horns of a buck,

A good ell’s length and more;

“A beard he hath like a horse’s mane,

Hangs downward to his knee;

A long and loathly tail he hath;

His claws they are ill to see.”

Up and spake Saint Olaf the king,

As the ship swung to and fro:

“Cast off the ropes in the name of God,

And let the vessel go!”

So soft she sank, so light she rose,

O’er the billows she went a-striding;

And fast she made for Hornelummer,

Where the ugly troll was biding.

Out he stalked from his hold i’ the hill,

By the rocky rifts a-going,

And there he saw Saint Olaf the king

In his vessel swiftly rowing.

“Now who comes here, so overbold,

My magic to defy it?

Harken, thou with the ruddy beard!

Full sore thou shalt abye it!

“Now nor never by this my coast

Dares any ship to linger!

I could drag thee into the rifts o’ the rocks

With the touch of my smallest finger!”

“Hear now, Ara, thou ancient imp,

Nor anger thyself at all!

Seize thou the ship as it liketh thee,

And see what will befall.”