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V i k i n g s W e r e O n e N a ti o n 5 PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ESAIAS TEGNÉR, FRITHIOFS SAGA (1825) Esaias Tegnér (1782–1846) was a Swedish professor and author and a mem- ber of the Geatish Society. Deeply interested in the Norse past, Tegnér composed an epic poem based on the Old Norse-Icelandic saga, Frithiofs saga, which was published in its entirety in 1825. The poem was influential through- out Europe. The many references to Norse gods, Valhalla, and a generalized “Northland” contributed to the romanticized image of the Viking, emphasiz- ing a common Norse culture rather than regional differences. II. KING BELE AND THORSTEN VIKINGSSON. KING BELE in his palace stood, on his sword he leaned, And by him Thorsten Vikingsson, his old, tried friend The comrade who for eighty years his wars did share, Scarred as a monument was he, and white his hair. So stand two aged temples, midst mountains high, Both with age tottering, to ruin nigh Yet words of wisdom still on the walls we see, And on the roof pictures of antiquity. “My day is setting fast,” King Bele said “Tasteless the mead I feel the helmet’s weight Dim are my glazing eyes to mortal state. But Valhall’ dawns more near I feel my fate. “So my two sons, with thine, I’ve called to me Together they’re united, as have been we Once more to warn the young birds am I fain, Ere from a dead man’s tongue all words be vain.” Then to the hall they entered in, as he had willed: The elder, Helge, whose dark brow with gloom was filled His days in temples spent he, with spaemen hoary, And now from sacrificing came, his hands still gory. Then came the younger, Halfdan, with flaxen hair His countenance was noble, but soft and fair