by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)
I am the God Thor
Language: English
I am the God Thor, I am the War God, I am the Thunderer! Here in my Northland, My fastness and fortress, Reign I forever! Here amid icebergs Rule I the nations; This is my hammer, Miölner the mighty; Giants and sorcerers Cannot withstand it! These are the gauntlets Wherewith I wield it, And hurl it afar off; This is my girdle; Whenever I brace it, Strength is redoubled! The light thou beholdest Stream through the heavens, In flashes of crimson, Is but my red beard Blown by the night-wind, Affrighting the nations! Jove is my brother; Mine eyes are the lightning; The wheels of my chariot Roll in the thunder, The blows of my hammer Ring in the earthquake! Force rules the world still, Has ruled it, shall rule it; Meekness is weakness, Strength is triumphant, Over the whole earth Still is it Thor's-Day! Thou art a God too, O Galilean! And thus single-handed Unto the combat, Gauntlet or Gospel, Here I defy thee!
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Authorship:
- by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The Challenge of Thor", appears in Tales of a Wayside Inn, in The Musician's Tale; The Saga of King Olaf, no. 1, first published 1863 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Carl Reinhold Busch (1862 - 1943), "The Challenge of Thor", published 1903 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882 - 1961), "Thora von Rimol", 1898 [ voice and piano ], incomplete [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (1847 - 1927), "The Challenge of Thor" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by D. Emily Tinker , "The Thunderer", published 1926 [ dramatic tenor or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfred H. West , "The Challenge of Thor", published 1891 [ baritone or bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-23
Line count: 42
Word count: 165