From lameness free and not deformed in members,
There may we see our parents and our children.
Another group of hymns has the person of the king as its centre. They contain charms to be used at a royal election or consecration, for the restoration of an exiled king, for the attainment of lustre and glory, and in particular for victory in battle. The following is a specimen of spells intended to strike terror into the enemy:—
Arise and arm, ye spectral forms,
Followed by meteoric flames;
Ye serpents, spirits of the deep,
Demons of night, pursue the foe! (xi. 10, 1).
Here is a stanza from a hymn (v. 21, 6) to the battle-drum meant to serve the same purpose:—
As birds start back affrighted at the eagle’s cry,
As day and night they tremble at the lion’s roar: