“King of Brattens Vendel, hail!
And the rest that fill your hall;
Ulf Van Yern to-morrow comes
To avenge his father’s fall.”
“Better had he be at home
Tending sheep beneath the height,
Better than a message send
That he thither comes to fight.
“Better had he crawl at home
Like a worm the rock beneath,
Than the war-like struggle dare
Where his father sank in death.
“He at home had better stay,
Crouch and shake the bush below;
One blow only stood his sire,
He’ll not stand me half a blow.”
“King of Brattens Vendel, hear,
Keep your tongue behind your tooth;
Quickly grows the young whelp up,
Full of threatening fangs his mouth.”
“In the world no warrior wight
Lives for whom I need to care,
Save ’tis Vidrik Verlandson,
And I trow he’ll not be there.”
Answered then the Hammergray,
Answered to the Monarch’s fright:
“It is Vidrik Verlandson
Will our army lead in fight.”
Rose a Brattens Vendel kemp,
And he shouted lustily:
“Well, full well, I Vidrik know,
Offspring of a blacksmith he.
“Once was I at Birtingsborg
As the kempions drank their fill,
There he played a play which lives
In my mind, and ever will.
“Fifteen kemps to death he smote,
And he deemed it but as game;
Nigh at hand I gazing stood,
Ashy pale my cheeks became.”