King Olaf's Christmas
At Drontheim, Olaf the KingHeard the bells of Yule-tide ring,As he sat in his banquet-hall,Drinking the nut-brown ale,With his bearded Berserks haleAnd tall.
Three days his Yule-tide feastsHe held with Bishops and Priests,And his horn filled up to the brim;But the ale was never too strong,Nor the Saga-man's tale too long,For him.
O'er his drinking-horn, the signHe made of the cross divine,As he drank, and muttered his prayers;But the Berserks evermoreMade the sign of the Hammer of ThorOver theirs.
The gleams of the fire-light danceUpon helmet and hauberk and lance,And laugh in the eyes of the King;And he cries to Halfred the Scald,Gray-bearded, wrinkled, and bald,"Sing!"
"Sing me a song divine,With a sword in every line,And this shall be thy reward."And he loosened the belt at his waist,And in front of the singer placedHis sword.
"Quern-biter of Hakon the Good,Wherewith at a stroke he hewedThe millstone through and through,And Foot-breadth of Thoralf the Strong,Were neither so broad nor so long,Nor so true."
Then the Scald took his harp and sang,And loud though the music rangThe sound of that shining word;And the harp-strings a clangor made,As if they were struck with the bladeOf a sword.
And the Berserks round aboutBroke forth into a shoutThat made the rafters ring:They smote with their fists on the board,And shouted, "Long live the Sword,And the King!"
But the King said, "O my son,I miss the bright word in oneOf thy measures and thy rhymes."And Halfred the Scald replied,"In another 't was multipliedThree times."
Then King Olaf raised the hiltOf iron, cross-shaped and gilt,And said, "Do not refuse;Count well the gain and the loss,Thor's hammer or Christ's cross:Choose!"
And Halfred the Scald said, "ThisIn the name of the Lord I kiss,Who on it was crucified!"And a shout went round the board,"In the name of Christ the Lord,Who died!"
Then over the waste of snowsThe noonday sun uprose,Through the driving mists revealed,Like the lifting of the Host,By incense-clouds almostConcealed.
On the shining wall a vastAnd shadowy cross was castFrom the hilt of the lifted sword,And in foaming cups of aleThe Berserks drank "Was-hael!To the Lord!"
Words in this poem
- saga n.
- A Scandinavian legend, or heroic or mythic tradition, among the Norsemen and kindred people; a northern European popular historical or religious tale of olden time. [Icel., akin to E. saw a saying. See Say, and cf. Saw.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- thor n.
- The god of thunder, and son of Odin. [Icel. þors. Cf. Thursday.]
- scald v. t.
- To burn with hot liquid or steam; to pain or injure by contact with, or imersion in, any hot fluid; as, to scald the hand. [OF. eschalder, eschauder, escauder, F. échauder, fr. L. excaldare; ex + caldus, calidus, warm, hot. See Ex, and Calderon.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- clangor n.
- A sharp, harsh, ringing sound. [L., fr. clangere. See Clang, v. t.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- noonday n.
- Midday; twelve o'clock in the day; noon.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
King Olaf's Christmas is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, King Olaf's Christmas, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/king-olaf-s-christmas.html, id L17664.
Form and metre
King Olaf's Christmas is 78 lines in 13 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABCCB kingA · ringA · hallB · aleC · haleC · tallB
- 2 AABCCB feastsA · priestsA · brimB · strongC · longC · himB
- 3 AABCCB signA · divineA · prayersB · evermoreC · thorC · theirsB
- 4 AABCCB danceA · lanceA · kingB · scaldC · baldC · singB
- 5 AABCCB divineA · lineA · rewardB · waistC · placedC · swordB
- 6 AABCCB goodA · hewedA · throughB · strongC · longC · trueB
- 7 AABCCB sangA · rangA · wordB · madeC · bladeC · swordB
- 8 AABCCB aboutA · shoutA · ringB · boardC · swordC · kingB
- 9 AABCCB sonA · oneA · rhymesB · repliedC · multipliedC · timesB
- 10 AABCCB hiltA · giltA · refuseB · lossC · crossC · chooseB
- 11 AABCCB thisA · kissA · crucifiedB · boardC · lordC · diedB
- 12 AABCCB snowsA · uproseA · revealedB · hostC · almostC · concealedB
- 13 AABCCB vastA · castA · swordB · aleC · haelC · lordB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| At Drontheim, Olaf the King | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Heard the bells of Yule-tide ring, | 7 | ······· |
| As he sat in his banquet-hall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Drinking the nut-brown ale, | 6 | /˘···· |
| With his bearded Berserks hale | 7 | ··/˘˘/· |
| And tall. | 2 | ·· |
| Three days his Yule-tide feasts | 6 | ······ |
| He held with Bishops and Priests, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And his horn filled up to the brim; | 8 | ········ |
| But the ale was never too strong, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Nor the Saga-man's tale too long, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| For him. | 2 | ·· |
| O'er his drinking-horn, the sign | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| He made of the cross divine, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| As he drank, and muttered his prayers; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| But the Berserks evermore | 7 | ··˘//˘· |
| Made the sign of the Hammer of Thor | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Over theirs. | 3 | ··· |
| The gleams of the fire-light dance | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Upon helmet and hauberk and lance, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| And laugh in the eyes of the King; | 8 | ········ |
| And he cries to Halfred the Scald, | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| Gray-bearded, wrinkled, and bald, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| "Sing!" | 1 | · |
| "Sing me a song divine, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| With a sword in every line, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And this shall be thy reward." | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And he loosened the belt at his waist, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And in front of the singer placed | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His sword. | 2 | ·· |
| "Quern-biter of Hakon the Good, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Wherewith at a stroke he hewed | 8 | ˘/·····˘ |
| The millstone through and through, | 6 | ·/···· |
| And Foot-breadth of Thoralf the Strong, | 8 | ········ |
| Were neither so broad nor so long, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor so true." | 3 | ··· |
| Then the Scald took his harp and sang, | 8 | ········ |
| And loud though the music rang | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The sound of that shining word; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the harp-strings a clangor made, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As if they were struck with the blade | 8 | ········ |
| Of a sword. | 3 | ··· |
| And the Berserks round about | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Broke forth into a shout | 6 | ······ |
| That made the rafters ring: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They smote with their fists on the board, | 8 | ········ |
| And shouted, "Long live the Sword, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And the King!" | 3 | ··· |
| But the King said, "O my son, | 7 | ······· |
| I miss the bright word in one | 7 | ······· |
| Of thy measures and thy rhymes." | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And Halfred the Scald replied, | 7 | ··˘··˘/ |
| "In another 't was multiplied | 9 | ·˘/˘··/˘· |
| Three times." | 2 | ·· |
| Then King Olaf raised the hilt | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| Of iron, cross-shaped and gilt, | 8 | ·/˘··˘·· |
| And said, "Do not refuse; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Count well the gain and the loss, | 7 | ······· |
| Thor's hammer or Christ's cross: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Choose!" | 1 | · |
| And Halfred the Scald said, "This | 7 | ··˘···· |
| In the name of the Lord I kiss, | 8 | ········ |
| Who on it was crucified!" | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And a shout went round the board, | 7 | ······· |
| "In the name of Christ the Lord, | 7 | ······· |
| Who died!" | 2 | ·· |
| Then over the waste of snows | 7 | ······· |
| The noonday sun uprose, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Through the driving mists revealed, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Like the lifting of the Host, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| By incense-clouds almost | 6 | ·˘/·/· |
| Concealed. | 2 | ˘/ |
| On the shining wall a vast | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And shadowy cross was cast | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| From the hilt of the lifted sword, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And in foaming cups of ale | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The Berserks drank "Was-hael! | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| To the Lord!" | 3 | ··· |
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