“Of eight good knights the limbs he broke,
Halt and lame they will aye remain;
And upon the sod lies Allevod,
Thy sister’s son by that Jotun slain.”
Then answer made the ancient King,
Rending his hair so long and grey:
“With sable and mard I’ll them reward
Who dare this cursed Jutt to slay.”
Forth rode the Swedish courtiers then,
To slay the Jutt so sure they made;
But soon from them the vaunt he drove,
Such heavy blows on their polls he laid.
No sable and mard was their reward,
When they returned from the battle fray;
They must doff, I ween, their armour sheen,
And clothe them in the wadmal grey.
That vexed the Swedish courtiers sore,
And in mournful guise they murmured out:
“In Sweden’s land lives none can stand
Against this wild and sturdy Jutt.”
Sir Thunye he to Upsal rides,
Respect and honour attend his path;
The Swedish knights they held their peace,
And were only glad to escape his wrath.
And he has broken the huge steel-bar,
And he the savage bears has slain;
And out he has led the lovely maid
Who long in dreary thrall had lain.
“Now welcome be, Sir Thunye the Knight,
Unto this savage Swedish clime;
I say to thee in verity
I’ve sighed for thee a weary time.
“When I was but a little child,
To me ’twas spaed that a knight should come
From foreign land, should Allevod slay,
And to England’s realm should bear me home.
“I beg of thee, Sir Thunye the Knight,
That thou as a Knight by me wilt stand;
There liveth none beneath the sun,
To whom I’d sooner yield my hand.”
Then answered amain Sir Thunye the Knight,
As he bowed his knee to the Lady fair;
“With heart and hand by thee to stand,
By the holy name of Christ I swear.”
And so he took the lovely maid,
With her store of gold so ruddy of hue;
And to Denmark’s land he her conveyed,
Where a loving pair full soon they grew.
He has carried her to his castle hall,
Like a blooming flower there she shone;
Rejoicéd all, both great and small,
In Alsey’s ancient town that wone.
It was bold Sir Thunye the Knight,
His knightly faith so well kept he;
The next, next Monday morn he held
His bridal’s high festivity.
’Twas noised about in merry England
The King’s lost daughter was found at last;
Rejoiced, I ween, the King and Queen,
And away for ever their grief they cast.
The King a scroll to Sir Thunye sent,
Wishing him luck with his Ermeline;
And begged he’d come across the foam
That he to him might the crown resign.
It was good Sir Thunye the Knight,
He spread on the yard his sails so wide;
And they arrived in the far England
In less, I’m told, than two months’ tide.
It was good Sir Thunye the Knight,
He steered his vessel towards the strand;
And, lo! the ancient King and Queen
Were walking on the yellow sand.
“Now welcome be Sir Thunye the Knight,
Thrice welcome be to this foreign strand;
Of England all the fair kingdom shall
Be subject to thy knightly hand.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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