The Vikings of Helgeland Quotes

“Cage an eagle and it will bite at the wires, be they of
iron or of gold.”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland

“Here in the north each night is a whole winter long. Yet the place is fair enough, doubt it not! Thou shalt see sights here such as thou hast not seen in the halls of the English king. We shall be together as sisters whilst thou bidest with me; we shall go down to the sea when the storm begins once more; thou shalt see the billows rushing upon the land like wild, white-maned horses—and then the whales far out in the offing! They dash one against another like steel-clad knights! Ha, what joy to be a witching-wife and ride on the whale's back—to speed before the skiff, and wake the storm, and lure men to the deeps with lovely songs of sorcery!”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland

“    (A thrill of dread runs through the whole group; ASGARDSREIEN—the       ride of the fallen heroes to Valhal—hurtles through the air.)”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.

“The White God is coming northward; him will I not meet; the old gods are strong no longer;—they sleep, they sit half shadow- high;—with them will we strive!”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.

“(The feast-room in GUNNAR'S house. The entrance-door is in the back; smaller doors in the side-walls. In front, on the left, the greater high-seat; opposite it on the right, the lesser. In the middle of the floor, a wood fire is burning on a built-up hearth. In the background, on both sides of the door, are daises for the women of the household. From each of the high-seats, a long table, with benches, stretches backwards, parallel with the wall. It is dark outside; the fire lights the room.)”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.

“  HIORDIS. Cage an eagle and it will bite at the wires, be they of iron or of gold.”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.

“HIORDIS. Better no child, than one born in shame. DAGNY. In shame?”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.

“HIORDIS. Better no child, than one born in shame. DAGNY. In shame? HIORDIS. Dost thou forgot thy father's saying? Egil is the son of a leman; that was his word. DAGNY. A word spoken in wrath—why wilt thou heed it? HIORDIS. Nay, nay, Ornulf was right; Egil is weak; one can see he is no freeborn child.”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.

“SIGURD. Man's will can do this and that; but fate rules in the deeds that shape our lives—so has it gone with us twain.”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.

“Hm, sæt en Ørn i Bur og den vil bide i Stængerne
enten de saa ere af Jern eller Guld.”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland

“but I counsel thee not to seek thy home yet awhile; the man thou slewest has many avengers, and it well might befall——”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Vikings of Helgeland The Prose Dramas Of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. III.