Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.
Thora of Rimol
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)“T
Danger and shame and death betide me:
For Olaf the King is hunting me down
Through field and forest, through thorp and town!”
Thus cried Jarl Hakon
To Thora, the fairest of women.
Neither shall shame nor death come near thee!
But the hiding-place wherein thou must lie
Is the cave underneath the swine in the sty.”
Thus to Jarl Hakon
Said Thora, the fairest of women.
Crouched in the cave, than a dungeon darker,
As Olaf came riding, with men in mail,
Through the forest roads into Orkadale,
Demanding Jarl Hakon
Of Thora, the fairest of women.
The head of Hakon Jarl shall dissever!”
Hakon heard him, and Karker the slave,
Through the breathing-holes of the darksome cave.
Alone in her chamber
Wept Thora, the fairest of women.
For all the king’s gold I will never betray thee!”
“Then why dost thou turn so pale, O churl,
And then again black as the earth?” said the Earl.
More pale and more faithful
Was Thora, the fairest of women.
“Round my neck a gold ring King Olaf was laying!”
And Hakon answered, “Beware of the king!
He will lay round thy neck a blood-red ring.”
At the ring on her finger
Gazed Thora, the fairest of women.
But screamed and drew up his feet as he slumbered;
The thrall in the darkness plunged with his knife,
And the Earl awakened no more in this life.
But wakeful and weeping
Sat Thora, the fairest of women.
Two ghastly heads on the gibbet are swinging;
One is Jarl Hakon’s and one is his thrall’s,
And the people are shouting from windows and walls;
While alone in her chamber
Swoons Thora, the fairest of women.