THOR HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW HENRY WADSWorth LongfelLOW has been called the poet of childhood, because his sympathy and love always reached the hearts of children. He was born at Portland, Maine, in 1807, and died at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1882. Of his poems The Village Blacksmith, Hiawatha, The 5 Children's Hour, and The Wreck of the Hesperus are familiar to most boys and girls. NOTE. The following verses descriptive of Thor are taken from Longfellow's Saga of King Olaf. I am the God Thor, I am the War God, I am the Thunderer! Here amid icebergs Cannot withstand it! These are the gauntlets And hurl it afar off; The light thou beholdest Is but my red beard Blown by the night-wind, Jove is my brother; Mine eyes are the lightning; The blows of my hammer Ring in the earthquake! The word signifies sorcerers: magicians. Miölner (myel'ner): the name of Thor's hammer. to pound, or grind, whence the English word "mill.”gauntlets: long gloves, covered on the back with plates of steel, and formerly used in battle.. brace tighten. Jupiter. Jove: another name for IN NIBELUNGEN LAND JAMES BALDWIN JAMES BALDWIN is a well-known American author and editor. NOTE. One of the oldest myths of our Saxon ancestors is the story of Siegfried, whose adventures have been related in many forms and languages. One morning as Siegfried sat alone by the seashore he saw in the blue distance a white-sailed ship drawing 5 swiftly near, its golden dragon stem plowing through the waves like some great bird of the deep. As with straining, eager eyes he watched its coming, he felt that Odin had sent it, and that the time had come wherein he must be up and doing. The hour for thriving action comes to us 10 once; if not seized upon and used it may never come again. The ship drew near the shore. The sailors rested on their oars and Siegfried and the steed Greyfell sprang upon the deck; then the sailors silently bent again to 15 their rowing. The flapping sails were filled and tightened by the strong west wind, and the light vessel leaped from wave to wave like a thing of life. Siegfried and his horse seemed to be the only living beings on board; for the sailors who plied the oars were so silent and phantom- 20 like that they appeared to be naught but the ghosts of the summer sea breezes. As the ship sped swiftly on its way all the creatures in the sea paused to behold the sight. The mermen rested from their weary search for hidden treasures, and the mermaids forgot to comb their long tresses as the radiant vessel and its hero freight 5 glided past. When, at length, the day had passed and the evening twilight had come, Siegfried saw that the ship was nearing land. But it was a strange land. Like a fleecy cloud it appeared to rest above the waves, midway between the 10 earth and sky; a dark mist hung upon it, and it seemed a land of dreams and shadows. The ship drew nearer and nearer to the mysterious shore, and as it touched the beach the sailors rested from their rowing. Then Siegfried and the horse Greyfell leaped 15 ashore; but when they looked back, the fair vessel that had carried them was nowhere to be seen. Whether it had suddenly been clutched by the greedy fingers of the sea queen Ran, and dragged down into the deep sea caverns, or whether, like the wondrous ship Skidbladner, it had 20 been folded up and made invisible to the eyes of men, Siegfried never knew. The thick mists and the darkness of night closed over and around both hero and horse; and they dared not stir, but stood long hours in the silent gloom, waiting for the 25 coming of the dawn. |