of the great battle, receives the Christian faith, fights
fiercely in the vanguard against the hosts of the heathen,
and, smiling, falls with his king on the field of Stiklestad.
One song from this cycle, "The Cloister in the South" is
here reproduced in an exact copy of the original metre, in
the hope that even this imperfect representation of the poem
may be better than none at all.

"Who would enter so late the cloister in?"
"A maid forlorn from the land of snow."
"What sorrow is thine, and what thy sin?"
"The deepest sorrow the heart can know.
I have nothing done
Yet must still endeavor,
Though my strength be none,
To wander ever.
Let me in, to seek for my pain surcease,
I can find no peace."

"From what far-off land hast thou taken flight?"
"From the land of the North, a weary way."
"What stayed thy feet at our gate this night?"
"The chant of the nuns, for I heard them pray,
And the song gave peace
To my soul, and blessed me;
It offered release
From the grief that oppressed me.
Let me in, so if peace to give be thine,
I may make it mine."