The Ballad of the White Horse

The theme of good, represented by the Christianity of Alfred and his army, versus evil, embodied in the paganism of the Danish Viking invaders, is present throughout the ballad. The values of the two sides are entirely different: One embodies a faith that emphasizes love, and the other embodies hate. One stands for civilization, the other for destruction. 

The invaders are presented in negative terms from the outset. They are “blinder than the sea” (Bk I, Line 65), in contrast to the Christians, who see the truth of things in the highest sense. The Danes are “the devils of the sea” (Book I, Line 145). They sing about “cruel” (Bk I, Line 270) and “shameful” (Line 275) things; they indulge in “sacrilege and scorn” (Bk 3, Line 22) wherever they set up their camps in England. They also despise Christianity; Harold, one of the “evil earls” (Bk IV, Line 138) claims that Christianity emasculated Alfred’s forebears: “[T]hey were turned to women / By the god of the nails from Rome” (Bk III, Lines 128-29). Another Danish earl, Ogier, believes that “hate alone is true” (Bk III, Line 230). Later, Alfred offers the completely opposite Christian truth, when he states that Christ’s sole weapon is the arrow of love (Bk V, Lines 283-85).