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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!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text 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

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