"The Challenge of Thor", by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

THE CHALLENGE OF THOR

 

I am the God Thor,

I am the War God,

I am the Thunderer!

Here in my Northland,

My fastness and fortress,

Rule I forever!

 

Here amid icebergs

Rule I the nations;

This is my hammer,

Miolner the mighty;

Giants and sorcerers

Cannot withstand it!

 

These are the gauntlets

Wherewith I wield it,

And hurl it afar off;

This is my girdle;

Whenever I brace it,

Strength is redoubled!

 

The light thou beholdest

Stream through the heavens,

In flashes of crimson,

Is but my red beard

Blown by the night-wind,

Affrighting the nations!

 

Jove is my brother;

Mine eyes are the lightning;

The wheels of my chariot

Roll in the thunder,

The blows of my hammer

Ring in the earthquake!

 

Force rules the war still,

Has ruled it, shall rule it;

Meekness is weakness,

Strength is triumphant,

Over the whole earth

Still it is Thor's-Day!

 

Thou art a God too,

O Galilean!

And thus single-handed

Unto the combat,

Gauntlet or Gospel,

Here I defy thee!

 

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

 

 

I first read this poem back in middle school (though I did not memorize it), without the controversial last stanza, of course. Longfellow wrote it in his famous "Hiawatha" meter, which was of course modelled on the meter of The Kalevala, the national Finnish epic collected and edited by Elias Lonnrot. Longfellow threw in just enough alliteration to give it that Anglo-Saxon/Icelandic flavor. I suppose it would have been more fitting if I had just waited to publish it tomorrow, but somehow I couldn't wait. This is, by the way, the 1500th post on this blog. Also by the way: just exactly how much is a wad's worth?