Although the poem was not printed until 1913, it is quite evident that the translation was made by Borrow in or about the year 1826. The paper upon which the Manuscript is written is watermarked with the date 1824, whilst the handwriting coincides with that of several of the pieces included in the Romantic Ballads of 1826. “There can be little doubt,” writes Mr. Gosse, “that Borrow intended The Gold Horns for that volume, and rejected it at last. He was conscious, perhaps, that his hand had lacked the skill needful to reproduce a lyric the melody of which would have taxed the powers of Coleridge or of Shelley.”

“The Gold Horns marks one of the most important stages in the history of Scandinavian literature. It is the earliest, and the freshest, specimen of the Romantic Revival in its definite form. In this way, it takes in Danish poetry a place analogous to that taken by The Ancient Mariner in English poetry. . . .

“Oehlenschläger has explained what it was that suggested to him the leading idea of his poem. Two antique horns of gold, discovered some time before in the bogs of Slesvig, had been recently stolen from the national collection at Rosenberg, and the thieves had melted down the inestimable treasures. Oehlenschläger treats these horns as the reward for genuine antiquarian enthusiasm, shown in a sincere and tender passion for the ancient relics of Scandinavian history. From a generation unworthy to appreciate them, the Horns had been withdrawn, to be mysteriously restored at the due romantic hour.”—[From the Introduction by Edmund Gosse.]

There is a copy of The Gold Horns in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 57. d. 19.

(60) [Tord of Hafsborough: 1914]

Tord of Hafsborough / and Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1914.

Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 32; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–32. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. At the foot of p. 32 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A and B (two sheets, each eight leaves), the one inset within the other.

Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.

Thirty Copies only were printed.

Contents.

page
Tord of Hafsborough. [It was Tord of Hafsborough] 5
From the Arabic. [O thou who fain would’st wisdom gain] 10
Thorvald. [Swayne Tveskieg did a man possess] Previously printed in The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. vi, 1830, p. 74. 11
Peter Colbiornsen. [’Fore Fredereksteen King Carl he lay] Previously printed in The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. vi, 1830, pp. 84–85. 16
Kragelill. [’Twas noised about, ’twas noised about] 21
Allegast. [The Count such a store of gold had got] 25
Epigrams:
1. [Assume a friend’s face when a foeman you spy] 30
2. [The lion in woods finds prey of noble kind] 30
3. [Though God provides our daily bread] 30
4. [To trust a man I never feel inclined] 31
5. [A hunter who was always seeking game] 31
6. [The plans of men of shrewdest wit] 31
7. [Well was it said, long years ago] 31
8. [Who roams the world by many wants beset] 32
It is probable that the whole of these eight Epigrams were derived by Borrow from Persian sources.
On a Young Man with Red Hair. [He is a lad of sober mind] 32