Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 2.djvu/322

 314 CHRONICLE OF THE saga vii. W as shooting up. The king thought it too early to awaken the army," and asked where Thormod the scald was. Thormod was at hand, and asked what was the king's pleasure. " Sing us a song," said the king. Thormod raised himself up, and sang so loud that the whole army could hear him. He began to sing the old Biarkamal*, of which these are the first verses : — " The day is breaking, — The house cock, shaking His rustling wings, While priest-bell rings, Crows up the morn, And touting horn Wakes thralls to work and weep : Ye sons of Adilf, cast off sleep! Wake up ! wake up ! Nor wassail cup, Nor maiden's jeer, Awaits you here. Hrolf X of the bow ! Hare § of the blow ! Up in your might ! the day is breaking ; 'Tis Hildur's game|| that bides your waking." Then the troops awoke, and when the song was ended the people thanked him for it ; and it pleased many, as it was suitable to the time and occasion, and they called it the house-carle's whet. The king thanked him for the pleasure, and took a gold ring that weighed half a mark and gave it him. Thormod thanked the king for the gift, and said, " We have a good king; but it is not easy to say how long the Bodvar Biarke, a great hero among the Northmen, before the battle in which he, Rolf Krake, and many others fell. Saxo Grammaticus, lib. ii., gives a paraphrase in Latin hexameters of part of the Biarkamal not in Snorro. The Edda has also some strophes of the Biarkamal. t Rolf Krake's men were on the side of Adil fighting against King Ale, and therefore are called Adil's sons. % Hrolf appears to have been a name applied to bowmen, and Hare to axemen, as we apply Jack to seamen. § Hare was one of Odin's names — the striker. Hildur.
 * The Biarkamal is so called because it was composed and sung by
 * Hildur's game is the battle, — from the name of the war-goddess