. . . . . . . . . . Staffan Stalledrang words by Analemma McKee-Schwenke, 2006 music is traditional Swedish; Staffan Stalledrang is a traditional Swedish Jul song about the Christian martyr Stefan, who supposedly (according only to Swedish legend) worked as a stable-boy for King Herod and heard about the baby Jesus as he was responsible for tending to the magi's mounts. Download: mp3 ogg Staffan was a servant boy, And he worked in King Harald's byre. As he left the barn one night, A host of riders loomed in flight before him. Their lord he alighted then, And his steed eight strong legs displayed. Staffan, awestruck by them all, Mutely bade them go to Harald's hall to warm them. On that cold Midwinter's Eve, Staffan took the extra time: Groomed and fed each stranger's beast, And so he missed the Yuletide feast, which vexed him. Saddened by the feast he'd missed, He wept in a soft he-goat's fleece. Thus he slept the night away, There nestled with the straw and hay about him. In the dark of early morn The great host to their mounts returned. The goats to their master told Of care and tears the saw with cold night round them. Master of the goats then said To Staffan, "You have shown this night, You are worthy of reward. To bless you well I give my word, unbroken." Off the host rode in the sky, And Staffan thought he'd had a dream. But in the stars he saw that night, The goat-drawn wain was shining bright above him.