The Banner-Bearer of King Olaf

Thord Folason carried King Olaf 's flag;
Not the man to loiter or lag!
However they hurried who bore the brunt
0' the battle, there was Thord in front.

Not the man to loiter or lag
Was Thord, who carried King Olaf's flag.

Great joy of the onset Folason had,
As Banner-bearer at Stiklestad!
Mighty and free was his battle-play,
Cleaving and clearing an onward way.

Not the man to loiter or lag
Was Thord, who carried King Olaf's flag.

He was the bulwark at Olaf's side;
Or, in front, the foremost in turning the tide
Of battle, and breasting it rooted as rocks,
Bearing his Banner high over the shocks.
Never the man to loiter or lag
Was Thord, who carried King Olaf's flag.

He got a death-thrust in the thick of the fight,
Gave it back, — and suddenly felt 'twas night;

He could see no longer to clear a space.

Then his spirit flew out in the Enemy's face!
Never the man to loiter or lag
Was Thord, the bearer of Olaf's flag.

As he plunged head-first on the field full-length,
He gathered his last remaining strength;
Biting his lip and holding his breath, —
'Twas his last, — he fell all his weight in death.

Never the man to loiter or lag
Was Thord, who carried King Olaf 's flag.

He fell, but, in falling, stuck fast in the ground
His Banner, a-waving to all around,
Bearing the battle up, beckoning on
To keep them abreast of it when he was gone.
Never the man to loiter or lag
Was Thord, the bearer of Olaf's flag.

When the battle was over at last,
And Thord, still a leader in death, had passed,
They found his body, with teeth through lip,
His flag-staff clutched as fast in his grip,
Stemming the tide like a fallen Crag:
Living or dead he upheld the flag.