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THE SCANDINAVIAN HERO by ROYALL TYLER

First Line: FROM MIDST THE DUSTY FIELDS OF WAR
Last Line: BEGIN TH' IMMORTAL REVELRY.
Subject(s): SCANDINAVIA AND SCANDINAVIANS;

Skogul

FROM midst the dusty fields of war,
To realms beyond the northern star,
To loud Valhalla's echoing halls,
I bear the hero ere he falls;
The valiant dwell in these abodes,
And sit amid the carousing gods;
Not goblets rich, nor flasks of gold,
But skulls of mantling mead they hold;
The coward while he gasps for breath;
Sinks darkling to Hela beneath.

Harold

O be it mine, from conflict borne,
To reach the realms of endless morn;
At Odin's board my lips I'll lave
In the foam'd bev'rage of the brave.

Odin

Who breaks the dusty fields of war,
Death travels by his clattering car;
Perch'd on the whirlwind's thund'ring tower,
On come the sable tempest's power;
Ye warriors rise, ye chiefs give room,
A godlike guest in youthful bloom,
Harold from fields of battle see,
Begin th' immortal revelry.



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