Ormurin Langi [English translation]

Would you hear my ballad?

Would you believe the words

about Olaf Tryggvason?

The poem shall turn here.

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.1

A ship was built in the land of Norway;

it was good in ability.

Eighteen and fourty ells2

there were between the keel and stern.

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

There came a man down off the hill

with a strong bow in hand:

"The jarl of Hringaríki3

sent me here."

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

"You shall call me Einar;4

I can draw a bow well.

Tambar5 is the name of my bold bow,

letting arrows fly."

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

"Hear this, young man,

will you travel with me?

You shall be my bowshot

to defend the Serpent."

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

They went down to the shore,

powerful men and the rest;

the runners broke and the earth shook:

they dragged the ship from the boathouse.

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

Einar drew a third time,

meaning to hit the jarl,

when the bowstring of strong steel burst;

the bow began to crack.

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

Everyone heard the bowstring snap;

the king was surprised:

"What is it on my ship

thundering so terribly?"

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

Einar Thambarskelfir answered

- throwing his bow -:

"Now Norway has burst from your hand,

my king, my lord!"

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

Now I shall finish my song;

I'll speak no longer this time.

Now shall I take up another section6

and better keep it in my mind!

Dance resounds in the hall;

dance in a ring!

Gladly ride Norway's men

to Hildr's Thing.

1. Hildr is a Valkyrie who personifies battle in Norse mythology, and whose name is often used to refer to battle. A Thing is a political meeting or body akin to Parliament. So Hildr's Thing is a metaphor for battle.2. An ell was a unit of measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger (about 18 inches). 59 ells is about 88 feet or 27 meters.3. A jarl was a rank of noble in early Scandinavia akin to an earl.4. Einarr Þambarskelfir5. "Stretcher", though the connotations of the verb "at tamba" are more along the lines of pulling something apart or warping it.6. The word "táttur" doesn't really have an English equivalent; it's a section of a ballad. It literally means "thread".