Thor's Challenge

Reading Laurel's recent post mentioning her Scandinavian background put me in mind of Longfellow's poem, "The Saga of King Olaf." Longfellow is out of fashion these days because his poetry is understandable and Christian, but I read this recently to my children and they enjoyed it.

It begins with a challenge from Thor:

Thou art a God too,
O Galilean!
And thus single-handed
Unto the combat,
Gauntlet or Gospel,
Here I defy thee!

The Christian King Olaf accepts Thor's challenge:

There he stood as one who dreamed;
And the red light glanced and gleamed
On the armor that he wore;
And he shouted, as the rifted
Streamers o'er him shook and shifted,
"I accept thy challenge, Thor!"

A good read.