Of an enemy,—
"The caldron of the sea was bordered round by his land, but it would not boil the food of a coward."
To an exile on an island he says,—
"The heavy blue chain of the sea didst thou, O just man, endure."
Another bard in like tone says,—
"I am possessed of songs such as no son of man can repeat; one of them is called the 'Helper'; it will help thee at thy need in sickness, grief, and all adversities. I know a song which I need only to sing when men have loaded me with bonds: when I sing it, my chains fall in pieces and I walk forth at liberty."
The Norsemen have no less faith in poetry and its power, when they describe it thus:—
"Odin spoke everything in rhyme. He and his temple-gods were called song-smiths. He could make his enemies in battle blind or deaf, and their weapons so blunt that they could no more cut than a willow-twig. Odin taught these arts in runes or songs, which are called incantations."[2]
The Crusades brought out the genius of France, in the twelfth century, when Pierre d'Auvergne said,—
"I will sing a new song which resounds in my breast: never was a song good or beautiful which resembled any other."