For the fidelity with which the present version has been made I appeal to
those of my countrymen who understand the original, and demand whether I
have given a thought or expression equivalents to which are not to be
found in the Danish tragedy.

I have imitated the peculiar species of blank verse in which the original
is composed, in order that the English reader may form an exact idea
thereof, and though by having done so my poetry may have somewhat of a
cramped, embarrassed gait, I have a firm hope that I shall not meet very
severe reprehension for having sacrificed elegance to fidelity.

GEORGE BORROW.




THE PERSONS.


Balder. Hother.
Thor. Nanna.
Loke. The Three Valkyrier.

The place of action is a pine-wood on the Norwegian mountains. Round
about it are seen steep and uneven rocks. The top of the hindermost and
highest is covered with snow.