from The Bijou Literary Annual, 1828
author: By W. H. Leeds
source date: 1828
edition published: 20170606
availability: Freely available via a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Bijou;
or Annual of Literature and the Arts

compiled by William Fraser
William Pickering London
1828
pp. 173-175

The National Norwegian Song, From S. P. Wolff

By W. H. Leeds

LAND of our fathers thou art fair,
To us thy sea- zoned coast is dear;
And dear thy rocks up- piled on high,
Which storms and years alike defy! —
Remains of a primeval land,
That midst the raging tempests stand
As mailed giants on whose brow
Wide gleams the helmet's silver glow.

When Thor first Norway's shores beheld,
His throne he stationed there, and dwelled
Amidst the spirits who delight
With cloud and storm to wage the fight.
As through the welkin rolled his car,
He heard them chaunt his praise afar;
With boding voice of awe they hailed
The power that o'er thy foes prevailed.

'Twas here that roamed the North's brave child,
Undaunted through the troublous wild;
Not death could e'er his soul appal,
But beckoned him to Odin's hall,
Like a fair maid with Freia's face,
Full rushing to his fond embrace,
Whilst in his life's last throb of pain
His lips would breathe the victor strain.

Dear to our hearts the legend lore
Of which is thine so rich a store:
When howls the storm the plain along,
It seems some ancient warrior's song;
When foams the dashing water fall,
We hear a voice to battle call —
The clang of arms — the glorious fray —
The Skald's bold, courage stirring lay.

Still in thy manly sons we trace
Norway's former hero- race;
The spirit flashes from their eye,
While toil they brave, and death defy;
And in thy maiden's eye of blue
Beneath young Siofna's virgin hue,
While Ydun's ever- youthful spring
Doth o'er their cheek its rose- tints fling.

Hail! thou our glorious father- land!
With pride we view thy lofty strand —
Its summer vales and winter woods,
Its crystal lakes, and torrent- floods.
Unshaken by the storms that rage
Around, it stands from age to age;
And rears its giant crest sublime,
Unchanging to the end of time!