| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | | | Translations | From the Swedish and Danish.
Passages from Frithiof’s Saga.
II. A Sledge-ride on the Ice |
| | By Esaias Tegnér
KING RING with his queen to the banquet did fare, | |
| On the lake stood the ice so mirror-clear. | |
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| “Fare not o’er the ice,” the stranger cries; | |
| “It will burst, and full deep the cold bath lies.” | |
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| “The king drowns not easily,” Ring outspake; | 5 |
| “He who’s afraid may go round the lake.” | |
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| Threatening and dark looked the stranger round, | |
| His steel shoes with haste on his feet he bound. | |
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| The sledge-horse starts forth strong and free; | |
| He snorteth flames, so glad is he. | 10 |
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| “Strike out,” screamed the king, “my trotter good, | |
| Let us see if thou art of Sleipner’s blood.” | |
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| They go as a storm goes over the lake, | |
| No heed to his queen doth the old man take. | |
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| But the steel-shod champion standeth not still, | 15 |
| He passeth them by as swift as he will | |
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| He carves many runes in the frozen tide, | |
| Fair Ingeborg o’er her own name doth glide. | | | | |
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