Egil Skallagrimsson (10th-century Icelandic Viking-Poet)
“King, bear in mind
how my ode is wrought,
I take delight
in the hearing I gained.
Through my lips I stirred
from the depths of my heart
Odin’s sea of verse
about the craftsman of war.”
- A poem attributed to Egil Skallagrimsson in Egil’s Saga (chapter 61), recorded c. 13th century possibly by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Bernard Scudder. New York: Penguin Classics, 2004 edition.