{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59593/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59593","id":"gutenberg_59593","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59593","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - European","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Scandinavia -- History"],"text":"E-text prepared by Bryan Ness, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images\ngenerously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n file which includes the original illustration.\n See 59593-h.htm or 59593-h.zip:\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59593/pg59593-images.html)\n or\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59593/59593-h.zip)\n\n\n Images of the original pages are available through\n Internet Archive. See\n https://archive.org/details/historyofdenmark01dunhuoft\n\n\n Project Gutenberg has the other volume of this work.\n Volume II: see https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59657\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\n Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores\n (_italics_).\n\n If a portion of the text was missing or illegible the note\n [**Illegible] is inserted to mark the location.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CABINET CYCLOP\u00c6DIA.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nLondon:\nPrinted by A. Spottiswoode,\nNew-Street-Square.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nTHE CABINET CYCLOP\u00c6DIA.\n\nConducted by the\nRev. Dionysius Lardner, Ll.D., F.R.S. L. & E.\nM.R.I.A. F.R.A.S. F.L.S. F.Z.S. Hon. F.C.P.S. &c. &c.\n\nAssisted by\nEminent Literary and Scientific Men.\n\n-------\n\nHistory.\n\n-------\n\nDENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.\n\nby the Author of\nThe \u201cHistory of Spain and Portugal.\u201d\n\nVOL. I.\n\n\n\n---------------------\n\n\n\nLondon:\nPrinted for\nLongman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans,\nPaternoster-Row;\nand John Taylor,\nUpper Gower Street.\n1839.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nHISTORY OF DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.\n\nby\n\nS. A. DUNHAM,\n\nAuthor of \u201cThe History of Spain & Portugal.\u201d\n\nVOL. I.\n\nLondon:\nPrinted for Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, Paternoster-Row\nand [**Illegible]\n1839\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n PREFACE.\n\n -------\n\n\nSCANDINAVIA prior to the tenth century is the region of romance,\u2014of the\nwildest legends. These are admissible into the severe domain of history\nin so far only as they illustrate national opinions and manners,\u2014the\nnoblest part of the study. For this reason, chiefly, more have been\nretained in the present volume than are to be found in any preceding\nwork on the subject. Indeed, were they rejected, nine tenths of northern\nhistory must be rejected with them.\n\nAnother reason for dwelling on the earlier and more obscure events has\nbeen the wish to deviate as much as possible from a recent popular work\nin the \u201cEdinburgh Cabinet Cyclopedia.\u201d Two publications on the same\nsubject, and designed for the same class of readers, would scarcely be\nrequired, unless they were distinguished from each other in their manner\nof treating it.\n\nIf the present volume be one of entertainment chiefly, the next will be\none of instruction. The religion and laws, the manners and opinions, of\nthe Northmen, will receive their due notice.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n TABLE,\n\n ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL,\n\n TO THE FIRST VOLUME OF\n\n THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA.\n\n ----------------------------\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION.\n\nUNCERTAINTY ATTENDING THE EARLY HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS.\u2014MONSTROUS\n HYPOTHESES RESPECTING THAT OF NORTHERN EUROPE.\u2014FABULOUS, OR AT LEAST\n DOUBTFUL, KINGS OF SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND DENMARK.\u2014DISTINCTION OF RACES\n IN THE NORTH.\u2014THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS, THE SWIONES, GOTTONES,\n DANKIONES, WERE PROBABLY THE SWEDES, GOTHS, AND DANES.\u2014THE JUTES AND\n LAPPS AND FINNS DIFFERENT FROM THE NEW COMERS.\u2014INFORMATION COLLECTED\n BY ALFRED RELATIVE TO THE NORTH.\u2014NUMEROUS CHIEFS WITH THE REGAL\n TITLE.\u2014KINGS OF DENMARK: DAN\u2014HUMBLE\u2014LOTHER\u2014SKIOLD\u2014GRAM,\n ETC.\u2014WONDERFUL ADVENTURE OF HADDING AND OF THE GIANTESS\n HARDGRIPE.\u2014FRODE I.\u2014ODIN\u2014HIS ORIGIN ACCORDING TO SAXO\u2014ACCORDING TO\n THE YNGLINGA SAGA.\u2014HIS SUPERNATURAL POWERS.\u2014REASONS ASSIGNED FOR HIS\n EXISTENCE.\u2014HODER AND BALDER.\u2014THE FATAL SISTERS.\u2014DEATH AND FUNERAL OF\n BALDER.\u2014JOURNEY TO THE SHADES BELOW IN QUEST OF HIS SOUL.\u2014HERMOD\u2019S\n JOURNEY.\u2014ODIN\u2019S.\u2014PROPHECY.\u2014RINDA AND ODIN.\u2014CHARACTER OF\n ODIN.\u2014RURIC.\u2014HAMLET PRINCE OF JUTLAND.\u2014HIS REAL OR FABULOUS\n ADVENTURES.\u2014FENGO.\u2014DANISH KINGS AFTER RURIC.\n\n\n Page\n\n Futility of Inquiries into the Origin of Nations 1\n\n That of the Swedes obscure and fabulous.\u2014Pedigree of the 2\n Swedish Kings from Noah, according to Joannes Magnus\n\n Origin of Idolatry and War in the North.\u2014Extension of the 3\n Gothic Empire, and a new Empire founded by them, the seat\n of which was in Poland or Hungary.\n\n The Empire of the Goths broken into numerous 4\n Principalities.\u2014The Danes aspire to throw off the Yoke of\n Sweden; but being assailed by the Saxons, submit, and\n receive DAN, a Swedish Prince, as their King. This Prince\n gave his Name to the Danish Kingdom, and his Brother\n _Angul_, the First King of the _English_, left _his_ name\n to that People.\u2014Wars between Sweden and\n Denmark.\u2014Swibdager, King of Norway, elected King of the\n Goths and Swedes.\u2014Defeats and slays Gram, King of Denmark,\n and subjects his Kingdom to the Swedes. All this according\n to Joannes Magnus\n\n NORWAY. According to Torf\u0153us, the Giants, of whom he gives a 6\n minute Account, were the most ancient Inhabitants of this\n Region\n\n Soon after them came the Goths, about the Period of the Fall 7\n of Troy; next came the _Asae_, or _Scythians_\n\n To these he adds an indigenous Race, which is evidently a 8\n Mythologic Creation\n\n Thor, the Father of Nor, the common Ancestor of all the 9\n Norwegian Princes, deemed by that People superior to Odin\n himself. The Danes and Swedes held Odin to be the Supreme\n God.\u2014Amalgamation of the two Religions\n\n DENMARK. Claims to great Antiquity.\u2014List of Danish Kings 10\n from Noah to Odin, \u201cthat King of the Turks whom the Romans\n forced towards the North;\u201d and from the latter to\n Hardicanute and Harald Harfager\n\n The Goths were in the North of Europe prior to the Times we 11\n call Historic; but the Cimbri were there before them; and\n these were probably preceded by other Swarms, whose very\n names are lost\n\n The Finns and the Lapps probably Descendants of the earliest 12\n Inhabitants of the North.\u2014The People of the North were\n split into numerous Tribes, of which the Swiones were the\n most conspicuous.\u2014The Dankiones, probably the Danskir, or\n Danes.\u2014The Swiones, Goths, and Teutones, all kindred\n Tribes.\u2014The Finns\n\n The Goths the last People that reached Western Europe.\u2014Their 13\n gradual Amalgamation with the former Inhabitants produced\n that Form of Society peculiar to the North\n\n The Sons of Odin probably the first Gothic Monarchs of the 14\n North.\u2014The original Inhabitants different, in all\n respects, from the Goths.\u2014The Finns and Lapps represented\n in the early Gothic Poetry as Magicians, and the Jutes as\n Giants and Magicians.\u2014Antipathy between the Goths and the\n former Races, and the Causes of it\n\n Tacitus\u2019s meagre Account of the Northern Tribes that 15\n constituted the _Anglo-Saxons_.\u2014Alfred\u2019s Account of what\n he learned of the North from Otter, a Norwegian Navigator\n\n Curious Particulars of what constituted Riches in the 16\n extreme North, in the Days of Otter.\u2014The Finns tributary\n to the Goths.\u2014Credibility of Otter\u2019s\n Relation.\u2014Acknowledged Distinction between the various\n Tribes of the North\n\n The original Tribes gradually expelled, and driven North 17\n towards the Arctic Circle by the Goths and\n Swiar.\u2014Scandinavian domestic History, for centuries after\n the Arrival of Odin, little known.\u2014Numerous Chieftains in\n the North under the regal Title\n\n Contradictory Accounts of the Sovereigns and Transactions of 18\n the northern Kingdoms; yet they cannot be rejected as\n wholly fabulous, as the Songs which form the entire\n History of the North supply us with the best Picture of\n national Manners\n\n Summary of Saxo\u2019s History of Denmark during the doubtful 19\n Period\n\n DAN, the first King of Denmark, gave his Name to that 19\n Country.\u2014On his Death his Son Humble _elected_ in his\n stead.\u2014His Brother, Lother, revolts and usurps the\n Dignity.\u2014Is slain by his Subjects, and his son, SKIOLD,\n the Hercules of the North, raised to the Throne\n\n His Prowess.\u2014Overthrows the Duke of the Alemanni, reduces 20\n his People to the Condition of Tributaries, and marries\n his Daughter Awilda; his Wisdom equal to his Valour; his\n Benevolence, good Laws and Government; his love of Glory\n\n GRAM, the Son and Successor of Skiold, equal to his Father 20\n in Strength and Enterprise, and his Life more\n romantic.\u2014Subdues Sweden, and carries away the princess\n Gro\n\n His Inconstancy.\u2014Is deprived of Empire and Life by 21\n Swibdager, King of Norway.\u2014Saxo\u2019s curious Account of the\n different Species of Giants\n\n SWIBDAGER places Guthrum, the Son of Gram, as a Vassal on 22\n the Throne of Denmark.\u2014HADDING, the Brother of Guthrum,\n the most celebrated of Danish Heroes.\u2014His wonderful\n Adventure with the Giantess Hardgrip\n\n His farther wonderful Adventures and Exploits.\u2014He slays 24\n Swibdager and his Son Asmund\n\n The wonderful Story of the Hero continued 25\n\n His Death.\u2014He is succeeded by his eldest Son, FRODE I., also 27\n a great Warrior, who carried his Depredations from Russia\n to the British Islands.\u2014Frequent Intercourse between\n Denmark and Britain.\u2014Frode fought and killed a Dragon, who\n brooded over immense Riches, in a Cave\n\n Takes _London_ by a Stratagem.\u2014Several Sovereigns succeeded, 28\n of whom little is known until the Danish States _elected_\n for their Monarch HODER, a Descendant of the famous\n Hadding\n\n ODIN, King of the Hellespont, according to Saxo, laid Claim 29\n to Divinity, and was worshipped by most of Europe.\u2014His\n profound Knowledge of Magic.\u2014A Golden Statue presented to\n him by the Kings of the North, and placed by him among the\n Gods.\u2014Deceived by his Wife, Frigga.\u2014Exiles himself for a\n Season, in consequence.\u2014His Power and Divinity usurped\n during his Absence.\u2014Returns, and compels the Usurpers to\n flee the Country\n\n Mitothin, one of the Usurpers of Odin\u2019s Authority, flees to 30\n Fionia, and is killed by the Inhabitants.\u2014A Plague ensues,\n which was stayed by his Body being exhumed, the Head cut\n off, and a stake driven through the Corpse.\u2014Probably the\n first Vampire on Record.\u2014Snorro\u2019s Account in many Respects\n different from Saxo\u2019s, as above.\u2014The Cause of that\n Difference.\u2014Odin\u2019s Government theocratic.\u2014His perpetual\n Wars.\u2014Always successful.\u2014Called the Father of\n Victory.\u2014Peculiar Veneration attached to his\n Character.\u2014War with the Vanir, his Neighbours\n\n They cut off the Head of Mimir, one of Odin\u2019s Hostages, and 31\n send it to Asgard.\u2014Odin, by his Magic, converts the Head\n to an Oracle.\u2014He flees the Roman Arms with a Multitude of\n Followers, and advances to the West.\u2014Reduces some States\n in Germany, over which he places his Sons.\u2014Passes\n northward, and fixes his Seat at Odensey\u2014Sends Gefio, one\n of his Prophetesses, to make Converts in the neighbouring\n Regions.\u2014She is successful; marries Skiold, the Son of\n Odin, who reigned over the Danish Islands.\u2014He compels the\n King of Sweden to cede him the eastern Part of that\n Kingdom.\u2014He establishes his Seat at Sigtuna, erects\n Temples, and offers Sacrifices\n\n His Worship diffused throughout Germany and Scandinavia.\u2014His 32\n extraordinary Qualities.\u2014His wonderful Ship, Skidbladner\n\n The oracular Head of Mimir, which acquainted him with all he 33\n wished to know, and his two speaking Ravens, which brought\n him Intelligence of all that happened.\u2014His miraculous\n Powers.\u2014He and his Pontiffs worshipped as Gods.\u2014His Laws,\n civil and religious\n\n Proofs of his Existence from written as well as from 34\n traditionary Testimony\n\n _Rigs-mal_, one of the Eddaic Poems, resembling in its 38\n Composition the Anglo-Saxon Poem of Bj\u00f3wolf, throws much\n Light on the heroic Age in the North\n\n Distinguishes the different Races by which the Country was 39\n successively occupied.\u2014The first Gothic Emigrants drive\n the Finnish Tribes to the Wilds of Norrland, Lapland, and\n Finland.\u2014The Antipathy between the two Races illustrated\n by the Legend of Nj\u00f6rdr\n\n The Sviar and the Goths, by whom they had been preceded, 40\n become one People through the religious Ascendancy of Odin\n\n Religious Sects in the North.\u2014Junction of the old and new 41\n religions.\u2014The temporal Government of Odin perpetuated\n through his Sons.\u2014Odin the Progenitor of all the great\n Dynasties of the North.\u2014The Mythic Nor, from whom Norway\n took its Name\n\n Alleged Succession of the Danish Kings.\u2014HODER beloved by 42\n Nanna, daughter of the King of Norway.\u2014Balder, the Son of\n Odin, is enamoured of the same Princess and plans Hoder\u2019s\n Destruction.\u2014Hoder\u2019s Interview with the Fatal Sisters\n\n He obtains the magic Bracelets and Sword kept by the Satyr 43\n Mimring.\u2014Defeats King Gelder.\u2014He encounters Balder, who\n is assisted by the Gods, with Odin and Thor at their Head\n\n He defeats them, and obtains the Hand of Nanna.\u2014Is in turn 44\n defeated and dethroned by Balder.\u2014Balder offers human\n Sacrifices.\u2014Hoder again defeated, and compelled to flee to\n Jutland\n\n Hoder\u2019s second Interview with the Fatal Sisters.\u2014He is again 45\n defeated by Balder.\u2014Receives a magic Belt from Balder\u2019s\n mysterious Purveyors.\u2014Gives Balder a mortal Wound\n\n Balder\u2019s Death and Funeral.\u2014Balder\u2019s portentous Dream, 46\n according to the latter Edda\n\n The Descent of Hermod to the Shades, in quest of Balder\u2019s 46\n Soul, with the Story of the famous Horse, Sleipner\n\n Poetical Description of Hermod\u2019s Descent into the Regions of 49\n Hela\n\n The Journey to the Shades attributed to Odin himself, in the 51\n poetical Edda of Saemund the Wise, while Balder was yet\n alive.\u2014The Descent of Odin, and what he saw and heard in\n the Regions below\n\n Hoder is killed by Bo, the Son of Odin, by the Princess 55\n Rinda.\u2014Death of Odin\n\n His pompous Funeral.\u2014His Character 56\n\n RURIC succeeds his Father Hoder on the Throne of 57\n Denmark.\u2014The alleged Events on which the Tragedy of\n _Hamlet_ is founded, happened in the Reign of this\n Prince.\u2014Hamlet\u2019s Father, Horwendil, Governor of Jutland,\n and a famous Pirate, killed by his Uncle, who marries the\n Mother\n\n Hamlet feigns Madness.\u2014Is suspected and feared by his 59\n Uncle.\u2014Kills one of the Courtiers who had been hid in\n order to overhear his Conversation with his Mother.\u2014He\n upbraids his Mother\n\n Is sent to England with a View to his 60\n Destruction.\u2014Substitutes the Names of his two Companions\n for his own in the Mandate to the English King, by whom\n they are put to Death\n\n Marries the English King\u2019s Daughter.\u2014Returns to 61\n Jutland.\u2014Assumes the Fool.\u2014Burns his Uncle\u2019s Courtiers\n with the Palace, and slays the Fratricide himself\n\n He is declared his Uncle\u2019s Successor.\u2014His Death in 62\n Battle.\u2014SKIOLD, the Son of Odin, the first Monarch of\n Denmark\n\n Various Kings in the North.\u2014That Title given to all Chiefs, 63\n Pirates, and others.\u2014The extent of the Authority of any of\n them uncertain\n\n Rational Conclusion drawn from the foregoing fabulous 65\n Accounts\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n BOOK I.\n\n HALF FABULOUS, HALF HISTORIC.\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n DENMARK.\n\n B.C. 40\u2014A.D. 1014.\n\nANCIENT KINGS OF DENMARK.\u2014THEY WERE NUMEROUS.\u2014FRODE I.\u2014LEGEND OF\n SWAFURLAMI AND THE SWORD TYRFING.\u2014INCANTATION OF HERVOR.\u2014THE\n BERSERKS.\u2014STERKODDER, THE HERCULES OF THE NORTH\u2014HIS ROMANTIC\n ADVENTURES.\u2014WONDERFUL VOYAGE OF GORM I.\u2014ONE EQUALLY WONDERFUL OF\n THORKIL.\u2014KINGS OF DENMARK, CONTINUED: GURDIG AND GODFREY\u2014RAGNAR\n LODBROG\u2014SIGURD RING\u2014HEMMING\u2014GORM THE OLD\u2014HARALD\n BLAATAND\u2014SWEYN\u2014INVASION OF ENGLAND.\n\n\n Confusion and Uncertainty with respect 66\n to the Kings who reigned in\n Scandinavia prior to the Christian\n Era; the Discrepancy continued to the\n ninth Century\n\n Causes of this Discrepancy; Rex Danorum 67\n applied to the Governors of Jutland,\n as well as to those of Zealand and\n Scania; Uncertainty of the Case\n\n Little Dependence to be placed on any 68\n List of Kings given by northern\n Historians to the present Day; Denmark\n had three or four Sovereigns at the\n same Time; difficult to say which was\n the legitimate Rex Danorum; Adam of\n Bremen complains of the Uncertainty\n\n Little known of these Kings to the ninth 69\n Century; most of them petty Chiefs;\n the Danish Islands not united under\n one Sceptre until the fourth Century;\n first united under Dan Mykillati; too\n early a Period assigned to this event;\n independent States in the Danish\n Islands as late as the eighth Century\n\n B.C. 4. SKIOLD, the reputed Founder of the 70\n to Danish Monarchy, probably King of\n A.D. 35. Zealand, with a Superiority over the\n rest; his Valour. Frode I., a valiant\n and conquering King, probably joined\n some one of the Confederations against\n Rome; his good Deeds and Laws\n\n His Laws and Institutions successful; 71\n the North had numerous Kings in his\n Age, probably all subordinate to him\n\n ARNGRIM, the Hero who shed the greatest 72\n Lustre on the Reign of Frode; his\n magic Sword Tyrfing, the Destroyer of\n Men; Osura, Daughter of Frode; Saxo\u2019s\n Description of the Finns; their Magic\n\n Arngrim\u2019s Conquests; marries Osura; 73\n their twelve Sons, eminent Pirates,\n destroyed at Samsoe; Song of the\n Scalds on the Subject, which throws\n much light upon the History of the\n Period; Swafurlam\n\n Swafurlam\u2019s rencounter with Dwarfs or 75\n Fairies; obtains a wonderful Sword\n\n Slain by Arngrim, who marries his 76\n Daughter Eyvor\n\n Scaldic Story of their twelve Sons 77\n\n All slain; Arngrim\u2019s Granddaughter by 78\n his eldest Son; Angantyr and Swafa;\n her extraordinary Character\n\n Becomes a Chief of Pirates, under the 79\n Name of _Herward_; her Boldness and\n Incantations in the Island of Samsoe\n\n Obtains the Magic Sword Tyrfing, which 81\n had been buried there\n\n Her Fame for Valour and Beauty; Marries 82\n Hafod, the Son of King Godmund; their\n Issue, two Sons, Angantyr and Heidrek,\n the former noted for his good, the\n latter for his mischievous, qualities;\n Hafod succeeds his Father; Heidrek\n exiled by his Father; his Mother\n presents him with the Magic Sword; he\n slays his Brother with it by rashly\n drawing it; frees Harald of Sweden\n from two great Chiefs; marries the\n Monarch\u2019s Daughter; has a Son, whom he\n names Angantyr; Tyrfing fatal to\n Harald; his Wife hangs herself\n\n Is slain by the fatal Tyrfing, which is 83\n drawn by his Slaves; his Son,\n Angantyr, with it slays his Half\n Brother, in whose Tomb it is finally\n buried\n\n ANGANTYR, like all his Race, a Hero by 83\n Profession; Champions and Duels of the\n North\n\n Associations of Heroes sealed with their 84\n Blood and indissoluble; their Laws and\n Duties; Rolf\u2019s famous Society of this\n kind; their necessary Qualifications\n and Discipline; Exceptions to this\n Discipline; Abduction common; the\n _berserks_\n\n Their Turbulence and Bloodshed among 85\n themselves; often became Bandits\n\n FRIDLEIF II. destroys one of these Bands 85\n\n Fridleif slays Asmund, King of Norway, 86\n and seizes upon his Daughter Frogerth;\n is unfaithful to her; is succeeded by\n his Son Frode II.; the Name of this\n Prince, and of his Son _Ingel_, only\n interesting from their association\n with the Name of STERKODDER, the\n Hercules of the North\n\n Story, Adventures, and Fame of 87\n Sterkodder; the Intention of the\n Deities in forming him was to destroy\n Wikar, a King of Norway\n\n He effects Wikar\u2019s Destruction; becomes 87\n a Pirate; his Continence and great\n Fame; his Abstemiousness; probably\n several of this Name, and their\n exploits all ascribed to one\n\n Kills nine Champions in defence of 88\n Helga, Sister of Ingel\n\n His Revenge on the Murderers of Frode 89\n\n His remarkable Death 90\n\n Legend of _Gorm I._ King of Denmark 91\n\n Importance of such Legends as 99\n illustrative of the Opinions of\n Mankind\n\n Gorm, according to Saxo, contemporary 100\n with the first of the Carlovingian\n Kings, probably King of Jutland;\n proofs that he was\n\n 794\u2013935. RAGNAR 101\n\n Probability that there were two of the 102\n Name; the Actions of Ragnar and\n Regnier, a Jutish Pirate, probably\n confounded; his Death; doubtful\n whether his Sons revenged his Death,\n and made Northumberland a Danish State\n\n SIGURD II. succeeds Ragnar in Scania and 102\n the Isles, while Jutland had its\n separate Kings; Hemming, King of\n Jutland, contemporary with Sigurd;\n Hemming succeeded by HARALD, who is\n exiled by the Sons of Godfrey, turns\n Christian, and returns in triumph,\n through the Assistance of Louis le\n Debonnaire; again, about 828, deprived\n of his Throne, and passes his future\n Days in religious Contemplation; his\n Baptism, and efforts to introduce\n Christianity in Jutland; St. Anscar;\n SIGURD, the other King of Denmark, a\n good and peaceable Prince\n\n 803. _Harda Canute_ succeeds his Father, 103\n Sigurd, but according to Saxo, Eric I.\n\n Several Kings ruled in Denmark and 104\n Jutland at the same time; all finally\n subdued by GORM _the Old_; Gorm\u2019s\n Conquests; he is defeated by Henry the\n Fowler, and compelled to admit the\n Christian Missionaries\n\n His good Policy in respect to Civil 106\n Affairs, yet hostile to the Diffusion\n of Christianity; married to a\n Christian Lady; restores the Pagan\n Temples; slays and exiles the\n Christian Teachers; his Sons noted\n Pirates; his Death, in 935 or 941\n\n 935\u2013964. Harald II. succeeds his Father in 941; 107\n he assists the Normans; vanquishes and\n captures the King of France, and\n reinstates the young Duke of Normandy;\n places Harald Graafeld on the Throne\n of Norway; Harald being murdered, he\n divides Norway into three States,\n reserving the best to himself; his\n Expedition against Otho I.\n\n Is compelled by the Emperor, with his 108\n Son Sweyn, to receive Baptism and\n encourage Christianity\n\n 964. Proofs that Harald did homage to Otho 108\n\n 964. Harald joins the rebel Duke of Bavaria 110\n against Otho II.; the Events of the\n War as respects Harald doubtful; he\n fails in an Expedition against Norway;\n his Son Sweyn rebels against him\n\n He flees to Normandy and is restored to 111\n Part of his Dominions by Duke Richard;\n is assassinated; his Character, and\n the Reverence in which he was\n afterwards held\n\n 991. SWEYN; he encourages the old Religion, 112\n and rebuilds many of the Temples;\n Jomsburg, a famous City founded by\n Harald, as a piratical Fortress; the\n Laws of its community; no Christian\n admitted; Planotoko, Governor of\n Jomsburg, the Assassin of Harald, had\n been Tutor to Sweyn; his great Skill\n in Archery; a similar Story to that of\n William Tell told of him\n\n GWEYN. Much Obscurity and Contradiction 113\n respecting the early Part of his Reign\n\n False Statements of ancient and modern 114\n Historians respecting him refuted and\n rectified\n\n 991\u2013993. Leads an Armament against Hako, the 115\n Usurper of Norway; his Pirates\n defeated by Hako\n\n And put to death; their resolute 116\n bearing; the generous Conduct of Eric,\n the Son of Hako, towards them\n\n 991\u20131001. Invasion of England; Brithnoth the 117\n Governor of Essex slain; Treacherous\n Conduct of Alfric of Mercia; Sweyn and\n his Ally, Olaf the Son of Trygve,\n appear in the Thames with a formidable\n Fleet\n\n Their Attack upon London repelled; their 117\n dreadful Depredations in Essex, Kent,\n Sussex, and Hampshire; Money paid them\n by Ethelred; Olaf visits the Court of\n the Saxon King, and, having been\n previously baptized, receives the Rite\n of Confirmation, and visits the Coast\n of England no more; Sweyn returns\n Three Years after, and wastes England\n without Opposition; Returns to contend\n with Olaf of Norway; the Danes return,\n 1001, exact another heavy Ransom, and\n procure extensive Estates in many\n Parts of the Kingdom\n\n 1001\u20131003. Massacre of the Danes 118\n\n Cowardly and horrid Manner of it; 118\n Sweyn\u2019s terrible Retribution\n\n 1003\u20131009. Sweyn again visits England, 1004 119\n\n But returns in consequence of a Famine 119\n caused by the former Depredations;\n Deplorable Cowardice and Imbecility of\n the English King and Nobles; Ethelred\n marries Emma of Normandy; his brutal\n Conduct to her draws upon him the\n Hostility of Duke Richard;\n\n 1010. Danegelt exacted as an annual Tribute; 120\n the Danes possess sixteen English\n Counties; exact 48,000_l._ for sparing\n the others; recommence their\n Atrocities; St. Elphege\u2019s Description\n of the woful Condition of the Country\n\n Their Cruelties in Kent; Destruction of 121\n the City and Cathedral of Canterbury;\n admirable Conduct of St. Elphege; his\n Martyrdom\n\n 1013\u20131014. In 1013 Sweyn receives the Submission of 122\n all England as their Sovereign;\n Ethelred flees to Normandy; Sweyn dies\n or is killed one Year after his\n Elevation; his Character\n\n\n\n\n CHAP. II.\n\n SWEDEN.\n\n A.C. 70-A.D. 1001.\n\nUNCERTAINTY AND CONTRADICTION IN THE CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF KINGS\n EXPLAINED BY THE FACT THAT THE GOTHS AND SWIONES WERE UNDER DISTINCT\n RULERS\u2014HENCE THEIR CONFUSION.\u2014THE YNGLINGS, OR SACRED FAMILY OF ODIN,\n REIGN AT UPSAL.\u2014KINGS OF THAT RACE: ODIN\u2014NIORD\u2014FREYR\u2014FREYA\u2014\n FIOLNER\u2014SWEGDIR\u2014VANLAND\u2014VISBUR\u2014DOMALD\u2014DOMAR\u2014DYGVE\u2014DAG \u2014AGNE, ETC.\u2014FATE\n OF THE PRINCES OF THIS HOUSE, OF WHOM MOST DIE TRAGICALLY.\u2014LEGEND OF\n AUN THE OLD.\u2014INGIALD ILLRADA.\u2014CONQUEST OF SWEDEN BY IVAR\n VIDFADME.\u2014GOTHIC KINGS FROM GYLFO TO IVAR VIDFADME.\u2014KINGS OF THE\n SWEDES AND THE GOTHS.\n\n\n Difficulty attending all Researches into 124\n the early History of Sweden\n\n The Gothones were in Possession of 126\n Sweden previously to the Arrival of\n Odin and the Swiones; the People long\n under different Rulers; the\n Discrepancy in the Lists of Swedish\n Kings accounted for\n\n A.C. 40. The Race of Odin, the Pontiff Kings of 127\n to the Swedes who reigned at Upsal.\n A.D. 14. _Niord_ succeeds his Father Odin as\n Prophet, Priest, and King in the\n Capital of Sigtuna; Numerous Kings in\n Sweden at the Time; Skiold, the Son of\n Odin, King of Ledra in Zealand; Freyr,\n Pontiff Chief of Upsal; Heimdal, over\n the Temple at Hemenbiorg; Thor, at\n Thrudvang and Balder Breidablik; The\n happy Reign of Niord\n\n His Death and Funeral; He is worshipped 128\n as a Deity; Succeeded by his Son\n _Freyr_; Freyr\u2019s prosperous Reign; He\n builds the great Temple at Upsal; more\n esteemed than his Predecessors; his\n Surname of _Yngve_ adopted by his\n Posterity, the _Ynglings_, as a proud\n Distinction; a magnificent Tomb\n erected for him; is succeeded by\n _Freya_, the last of the Divine\n Personages who accompanied Odin from\n Asia; her Celebrity while living and\n after Death; her Statue placed with\n those of Odin and Thor; succeeded by\n FIOLNER, the Son of Freyr; Fiolner\u2019s\n accidental Death while on a friendly\n Visit to Frode I. King of Denmark\n\n _Swegdir_ goes with twelve Nobles to 128\n Asia, to inquire into the Family and\n Exploits of Odin, where he found many\n of his Blood; he marries a Lady in the\n Land of the Vanir, and after five\n Years returns to Upsal; his Second\n Journey to Asia; Legend of his Death\n\n 34\u2013220. VANLAND succeeds his Father Swegdir; his 129\n warlike Character; he marries the\n Daughter of a Swede established among\n the Finns, whom he soon abandons\n\n He refuses to return to his Wife, and 130\n is, in consequence, destroyed by\n Witchcraft\n\n VISBUR, the Son of Vanland by his 130\n neglected Wife, succeeds; he dismisses\n his Wife and two Sons, and takes\n another; Donald, his Son by the second\n Marriage; the Sons of the repudiated\n Queen, Gisle and Ondur, claim their\n Mother\u2019s Dowry of Visbur, especially a\n precious Necklace, which is refused;\n they apply to Hulda the Witch, who had\n destroyed the Father of Visbur; she\n promises to destroy him also, and to\n leave his Doom to the whole of the\n Ynglings\n\n He, with his House, is burned by Gisle 131\n and Ondur\n\n _Domald_ succeeds; is sacrificed by the 131\n People to propitiate the Gods and\n induce them to avert a Famine;\n _Domar_, the Son of Domald; _Dygve_,\n the Son of Domar\n\n DAG THE WISE, the Son of Dygve, 131\n celebrated in Northern History; his\n wonderful Sparrow; his Death\n\n AGNE, the Son of Dag, succeeds; he slays 131\n the Finnish King, and makes his\n Daughter Skiolfa his Wife; is, while\n drunk in his Tent, hanged by her\n\n ALARIC and ERIC, his Sons, divide the 132\n supreme Power between them; they\n destroy each other. YNGVE and ALF, the\n Sons of Alaric, divide the Government\n between them, and also destroy each\n other\n\n HUGLEIK, the Son of Alf, succeeds; he is 133\n slain, and the Swiones subdued by\n Hako, a Danish Sea King; Hako is slain\n by Eric and Jorund, the Sons of\n Hugleik; Eric also slain, and JORUND\n hailed as the Monarch of the Swedes;\n he is defeated and hung by Gylang, the\n Son of Gudlaug, King of Halogia, and\n is succeeded by AUN, surnamed _\u2018Hinn\u2019\n Gamle_, or The Old; Kings of the Danes\n contemporary with Aun; he is expelled\n his Kingdom by Halfdan\n\n Returns to his Kingdom; consults the 134\n Gods respecting the Duration of his\n Life; sacrifices his Sons on the Altar\n of Odin; Fables respecting him\n\n 448\u2013545. He is succeeded by his Son EGIL; 134\n Rebellion of Tunne, a Slave, and\n formerly Treasurer to Aun\n\n The Rebel defeated by Egil, with the 135\n Assistance of Danish Troops, for which\n he promised to pay Tribute; Egil is\n killed by a wild Bull, and is\n succeeded by _Ottar_, his Son, who,\n refusing to pay the Tribute to\n Denmark, is defeated and slain, and is\n succeeded by his Son ADILS, a noted\n Pirate; he marries Ursa, a Saxon Lady,\n his Captive; is expelled his Kingdom\n by Helge, Son of Halfdan of Ledra; the\n Victor marries Ursa, and has by her a\n Son, Rolf Krake\n\n Ursa discovered to be Helge\u2019s Daughter, 136\n and returns to Adils; his Death by a\n Fall from his Horse; he is succeeded\n by his Son EYSTEIN; his troublesome\n Reign; the Sea Kings; he is burnt,\n with his House, by Solvi, a Jutish\n Chief, who is killed in his turn by\n the People of Sigtuna\n\n YNGVAR succeeds his father Eystein; 136\n leads many piratical Expeditions;\n killed on the Coast of Esthonia, 545\n\n 545\u2013623. BRAUT-ONUND, a wise Prince, next fills 136\n the Throne of the Ynglings; his great\n agricultural Improvements\n\n He is killed by an Avalanche, and 137\n succeeded by INGIALD ILLRADA, his Son;\n fabulous Account of his Youth; he\n burns Six Reguli and Jarls on the\n Night of his Inauguration, and by that\n atrocious Act becomes absolute Master\n of all Swionia, except Sudermania, the\n Dominion of King Grammar\n\n Grammar enters into an Alliance with 138\n Hiorvardar, a famous Sea King, to whom\n he gives his Daughter Hildegund;\n characteristic Description of the\n Wedding Feast; Ingiald defeated by the\n Allies; Peace between them; Ingiald\n treacherously burns Grammar and\n Hiovardar in a Country House\n\n 623\u2013630. Asa, the wicked Daughter of Ingiald, 139\n persuades her Husband, the King of\n Scania, to murder his Brother, Halfdan\n III., King of Zealand; joins in the\n Destruction of her Husband; flees to\n Upsal; Ivar Vidfadme, to revenge the\n Murder of his Father, invades Swionia;\n Ingiald, by the Advice of his\n Daughter, in despair, burns her, his\n Guests, the House, and himself, and is\n succeeded by _Ivar Vidfadme_, while\n Olaf _Tr\u00e6telia_, the Son Ingiald, the\n Last of the Ynglings, retires to the\n Desert Lands North and West of the\n Vener Lake, and by clearing them,\n founds the State of Vermeland; he is\n the Ancestor of Harald Harfager\n\n Reflections on the Crimes and 140\n Misfortunes of the Ynglings; Sweden\n henceforth under the Sway of the\n Skioldungs, also of Odin\u2019s Race\n\n The Goths and Swiones always under 141\n different Kings; the more powerful\n Monarch always called King of the\n Goths; the Kings of all the Provinces,\n except Jutland, confounded\n\n Confused Chronology of Northern 142\n Historians\n\n Gylfo, King of the Goths at the Period 143\n of Odin\u2019s Arrival in the North\n\n The Swiar become the dominant Caste more 144\n by the moral Influence of Odin and his\n Successors than by Force; the\n different Races in Scandinavia\n probably from Asiatic Scythia\n\n Cause of the rapid Progress of the 145\n Odinic Religion; the moral Influence\n of the Pontiff Sovereigns often\n resisted by the Gothic Kings, who\n frequently slew and dethroned them\n\n 70\u2013260. The Line of the Gothic Kings imperfectly 146\n recorded; one of the Gothlands the\n Seat of Gylfo\u2019s Empire; succeeded by\n _Frode_; Frode by _Sigtrug_; Sigtrug\n slain by Gram, a Danish King, who\n rescues his Daughter from a Giant,\n marries her, and obtains the Gothic\n Kingdom; like the Daughter of Alcinos,\n he found her washing with her Maidens;\n Gram is slain by Swibdager of Norway,\n who seizes upon Gothia and Scania;\n Swibdager slain by Hadding, the Son of\n Gram; Asmund, the Son and Successor of\n Swibdager, also slain by Hadding, who\n seizes upon his States; Hadding is\n defeated by Uffo, the Son of Asmund;\n Uffo treacherously murdered by\n Hadding, who gives the vacant Throne\n to _Hunding_, Uffo\u2019s Brother\n\n Doubts as to the Reign of Madding; 147\n Ragnar, the Son of Uffo, ascends the\n Gothic Throne; Gothland invaded by\n Frode of Denmark, who dies in the\n Expedition; Death of Ragnar; the\n Throne seized by HOLWARD or HODBROD;\n he invades Denmark, and kills Roe, one\n of her joint Kings; is mortally\n wounded by Helge, the remaining Danish\n King, who makes a Prize of his\n Kingdom; ATIL I. marries Helge\u2019s\n Daughter, and is raised to the Throne;\n their Son HODER becomes in the sequel\n King of Scania and Gothland\n\n RURIC, the Son of Hoder, King of Scania 148\n and Gothland; ATTIL II. assassinated;\n _Hogmor_ and _Hogrin_, joint Kings,\n killed in Battle with the Danes;\n succeeded by Alaric or Ebric Prince of\n the Swedes; the Goths and Swedes at\n this Time united; Confusion of\n Chronology; Halfdan; Siward; Eric;\n Halfdan II.; Ragnald; Asmund; Haquin\n (or Hako); the Story of Birnam Wood,\n admitted by Shakspeare into the\n Tragedy of Macbeth, taken from a\n similar Story told by Hako, while\n marching to revenge the Death of his\n Brothers upon the Danish King\n\n 448\u2013623. EGIL AUNIFF, King of the Goths and 149\n Swedes; Identity of many of the Kings\n mentioned by Snorro and the Swedish\n Writers; the Subject rendered more\n intelligible\n\n 623\u2013794. The four next Kings of the Swedes and 150\n Goths also Kings of the Danes; Ivar\n Vidfadme; his Conquests extend to\n England\n\n HARALD HILDETAND, Grandson and Successor 151\n of Ivar, exceeded him in Glory; his\n Valour; his Death in Battle against\n his Nephew, Sigurd Ring\n\n Doubts as to the Kings who reigned 152\n between Harald and _Ragnar Lodbrog_\n\n 794\u20131001. _Ragnar_ succeeded on the Throne of 154\n Sweden by his Son Biorn I., who\n tolerates the Christian Mission,\n allowing St. Anscar to exercise his\n Functions unmolested; Olaf, a doubtful\n King; Eric I., the Son of Biorn; Eric\n II.; Edmund; Biorn II.; no Records of\n their Reigns; Biorn III. (923) enjoyed\n a long reign; Eric IV. (993) a longer\n still\n\n ERIC V. closes the List of Pagan Kings; 154\n the Confusion of Swedish History from\n the eighth to the tenth Century; Cause\n of that Confusion; Eric IV., the\n Victorious, King of the Goths and\n Swedes\n\n Eric V., King, surnamed _Arsael_, King 155\n of the two Provinces; embraces\n Christianity; much Obscurity over his\n Reign\n\n\n\n\n CHAP. III.\n\n NORWAY.\n\n ABOUT 70 B.C.-A.D. 1030.\n\nNEW KINGDOM OF THE YNGLINGS IN VERMELAND.\u2014KINGS FROM OLAF TR\u00c6TELIA TO\n HALFDAN THE BLACK.\u2014HALFDAN THE TRUE FOUNDER OF THE NORWEGIAN\n MONARCHY.\u2014HARALD HARFAGER.\u2014ERIC OF THE BLOODY AXE.\u2014HAKO THE\n GOOD.\u2014HARALD GRAAFELD.\u2014HAKO THE JARL.\u2014SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF OLAF\n TRYGVESON.\u2014HIS EARLY PIRATICAL EXPLOITS.\u2014HIS ROMANTIC FORTUNES.\u2014HE\n BECOMES KING OF NORWAY.\u2014HIS DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS.\u2014HIS INTOLERANT\n BIGOTRY AND CRUEL PERSECUTIONS.\u2014HIS TRAGICAL DEATH, OR, ACCORDING TO\n SOME WRITERS, HIS MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE FROM THE WORLD.\u2014OLAF THE\n SAINT.\u2014HIS ADVENTURES OF A PIRATE.\u2014HIS ACCESSION TO THE CROWN OF\n NORWAY,\u2014HIS PERSECUTING CHARACTER.\u2014HIS QUARRELS AND SUBSEQUENT\n ALLIANCE WITH SWEDEN.\u2014IS DRIVEN INTO EXILE BY CANUTE THE GREAT.\u2014HE\n RETURNS, AND IS SLAIN.\u2014HIS PRETENDED SANCTITY.\n\n\n Early Chiefs of Norway 156\n\n 630\u2013640 Olaf Tr\u00e6telia lays the Foundation of 158\n Vermeland; put to Death as the\n supposed Cause of a Famine; his\n Character; his Children by the\n Daughter of Halfdan, King of Soleyr\n\n 640\u2013840 Halfdan, the Son of Olaf, is demanded by 160\n the Swedes for their King; his\n Grandfather refuses to surrender him;\n a Battle ensues, and the King of\n Soleyr is slain; Halfdan governs both\n States; conquers Raumarik; marries the\n Daughter of the King of Hedmark;\n acquires half that State, and subdues\n part of Westfold\n\n 730\u2013840 EYSTEIN, the Son of Halfden, succeeds to 161\n the united Crowns of Raumarik and\n Westfold; becomes a Pirate; is killed\n in one of his Expeditions, and is\n succeeded by his Son, Halfdan II.\n\n His Inconsistency of Character; is 162\n succeeded by his Son _Gudred_; he\n receives as the Dowry of his Wife part\n of Vingulmark; demands as his second\n Wife the Daughter of Harald, Chief of\n Adger, who, refusing Compliance, falls\n in Battle, and Adger becomes the Prey\n of Halfdan; is murdered; his Sons Olaf\n and Halfdan divide his States\n\n 840\u2013850 HALFDAN THE BLACK only a Year old when 163\n his Father died; his Territories\n (except Adger, his maternal\n Inheritance) seized by Olaf; at\n eighteen demands and obtains part of\n his Inheritance; obtains by Force half\n of Vingulmark; recovers Raumarik;\n defeats the King of Hedmark; but\n grants his Brother one half of\n Hedmark; subdues two small States\n bordering on Hedmark\n\n 850. Marries the Daughter of the King of 164\n Sogne; on her Death and that of her\n Son, takes Possession of that State;\n defeated by some Chiefs of Vingulmark;\n is Victor in his turn, and subdues the\n whole Province\n\n 852\u2013863 SIGURD HIORT, King of Ringarik, killed 165\n by _Hako_ the Berserk and his Company,\n who capture Guthrum the Son, and\n Ragnilda the Daughter, of Sigurd; they\n are rescued by Halfdan\n\n Who marries Ragnilda; Issue, Harald 166\n Harfager; Character of Harald the\n Black; his Laws; wonderful Vision\n preceding his Death; he is drowned\n\n 863. HARALD HARFAGER a Child at his Father\u2019s 167\n Death; his Youth is taken advantage of\n by the neighbouring Reguli; is\n defended by his Uncle Guthrum\n\n 865\u2013868 His General and Minister; his Enemies 168\n defeated and spoiled of their\n Territories; he demands the Hand of\n Gyda of the King of Hordaland; her\n proud Reply\n\n Harald vows never to cut or comb his 169\n Hair until he has subdued all Norway;\n subdues many Districts, in which he\n establishes the feudal System; his\n local Administration and Revenue\n\n 867\u2013882 Is joined by Jarl Hako; subdues Orkadal, 170\n Strinda, Spordal, Veradal, Scaunia,\n Sparbyggia, and the Islands in the\n West; the two Kings of Naumdal submit,\n and are made Jarls; returns to\n Drontheim, builds a Town as his Seat\n of Government, and marries Asa,\n Daughter of Jarl Hako; his military\n Preparations and System of Discipline\n\n He subdues the M\u00f6re Tylk, south of 171\n Drontheim, and slays their Chiefs;\n makes the celebrated Rognevald, Father\n of Rollo, first Duke of Normandy,\n their Governor; Sunmore and the Fiords\n subdued\n\n Quarrels among his Chiefs 172\n\n 882\u2013884 War with Eric of Sweden, who conquers 172\n Vermeland; Interview between Harald\n and Eric; strange Expedient of Aki,\n their Host\n\n Resented by Eric, by whom he is 173\n treacherously slain; mutual\n Hostilities; Conspiracy of the subdued\n Reguli against Harald\n\n The combined Chiefs defeated, and the 174\n celebrated Victory of the Bay of\n Hafursfiord gained by Harald\n\n The Conspirators go into Exile, or 175\n become Pirates, and infest his Coasts,\n and those of Britain; Norway being\n conquered, he cuts his Locks, and\n obtains the Epithet of Harfager or\n Fair-haired; marries Gyda, who bears\n him a Daughter and four Sons\n\n Wonderful Story of his Marriage with 176\n Sn\u00e6frida, the Daughter of a Finnish\n Magician, who bears him four Sons,\n Sigurd, Halfdan, Gudred, Rognevald;\n miraculous Story of her Death, and\n Harald\u2019s Infatuation\n\n He dismisses his four Sons, by the Witch 177\n Sn\u00e6frida; receives them again at the\n Intercession of Jarl Hiodulf; they\n excel in military Exercises; his\n numerous Wives and Offspring\n\n The Crimes and Ambition of most of his 178\n Sons shortened their Days; the Sons of\n Sn\u00e6frida burn Rognevald\n\n Harald appoints his Sons Kings over the 179\n Provinces; Thorgils and Frode conquer\n Dublin; end their Days tragically\n\n Eric Blod\u00f6xe burns his Brother 180\n _Rognevald_, with eighty pretended\n Wizards; slays his Brother _Biorn_,\n King of Westfold\n\n 910\u2013913 Harald\u2019s unaccountable Attachment to 181\n Eric; Eric\u2019s early piratical\n Depredations; his marvellous Adventure\n in Finland with Gunhilda and two\n Magicians; he marries Gunhilda\n\n 930\u2013934 Gudred, the Son of Harald, lost at Sea; 182\n Harald resigns the Imperial Dignity to\n Eric\n\n He is opposed by Halfdan the Black, with 183\n Olaf, the Brother of the murdered\n Biorn, King of Westfold; Harald dies\n at the age of eighty; his Character;\n military Prowess almost his only great\n Quality\n\n 934\u2013936 Hostilities between Eric and his 185\n Brothers, Olaf and Sigurd; they are\n defeated and slain; the People look\n for a Deliverer from the Tyranny of\n Eric in the Person of Hako, who had\n been educated in the Court of\n Athelstane of England, where he then\n resided\n\n Hako, being supplied with Ships and 185\n Money, sails for Norway\n\n 937\u2013946 He lands at Drontheim; is proclaimed 186\n King in a General Assembly of Freemen;\n he is joined by many Chiefs in the\n Uplands; he makes Sigurd King of\n Westfold\n\n And Drygve King of Raumarik and 187\n Vingulmark; Eric, abandoned by the\n People, flees to the Orkneys; he\n ravages the Scottish Coast; he\n embraces Christianity, and receives\n the Government of Northumbria from\n Athelstane\n\n His continual Ravages on the Coasts of 188\n Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; his Fame\n draws many Norwegians, Danes, and\n Swedes to his Standard; he is absent\n from Northumbria during the Reign of\n Edmund the Elder; returns in the first\n Year of Edred\u2019s Reign, and lays waste\n the English Coast; is defeated and\n slain by Edred; Northumbria becomes\n henceforth an English Province\n\n 939\u2013940 Hako\u2019s Hostilities with the Danes and 188\n Gothlanders, whom he defeats\n\n The piratical Sons of Eric, encouraged 189\n by the Danish King, commit\n Depredations on the Coasts of Norway;\n King Trygve retaliates upon Denmark;\n Hako encourages Christianity in\n Norway; sends to England for a Bishop\n and Priests\n\n Pagan Sacrifices; Sigurd\u2019s Zeal for the 190\n Religion of Odin\n\n 941. Hako proposes the Establishment of the 191\n Christian Religion in a National\n Assembly; is opposed by Gaulandal\n\n 942\u2013956 Hako\u2019s Unwillingness to comply with the 192\n Rites of Paganism\n\n He is compelled partially to comply, and 193\n vows Revenge\n\n 956\u2013958 The Sons of Eric invade his Coasts; he 194\n defeats them, and kills Guthrum with\n his own Hand; Law for the Protection\n of the Coasts\n\n Eric\u2019s Sons again invade Norway; are 195\n defeated by Hako\n\n 958. The Sons of Eric again defeated by Hako, 194\n who is mortally wounded; he declares\n them his Heirs; dies; probably died a\n Pagan; his Character\n\n 963\u2013969 HARALD Graafeld, eldest Son of Eric, 196\n declared King\n\n His Power limited by five Chiefs, or 198\n Kings; he procures the Murder of\n Sigurd\n\n He betrays and murders King Trygve, and 199\n King Gudred\n\n 969. Unpopularity of the Sons of Eric; two of 200\n them killed by the People\n\n Harald betrayed, and killed in Battle; 201\n Harald of Denmark becomes supreme\n Monarch of Norway\n\n Deeds of Jarl Hako, Son of Sigurd, 202\n Governor of seven Norwegian Provinces;\n joins Harald against Otho; both\n compelled to receive Baptism by the\n Emperor\n\n He relapses into Paganism; proclaims his 203\n Independence; fabulous Guardians of\n Iceland; Harald dies\n\n His Son Sweyn assails Norway; Story of 204\n Harald Grenske and Sigfrida; he is\n killed by her; Birth of his posthumous\n Son, Olaf\n\n 993\u2013995 Hako\u2019s licentious Conduct; Olaf, the Son 205\n of Trygve\n\n Flight of his Mother Astridda; romantic 206\n Circumstances attending his Birth;\n their miraculous Escapes; they find an\n Asylum with Hako the Old\n\n 964\u2013966 Gunhilda\u2019s deceitful Attempts to obtain 208\n Possession of his Person\n\n 976\u2013984 Astridda flees to her Brother Sigurd, to 209\n the Court of Waldemar, King of\n Gardarik; they are captured by\n Pirates, and sold\n\n Mother and Son separated; Olaf becomes 210\n his Master\u2019s Favourite; with his\n Foster-brother Thorgils, redeemed by\n his Uncle Sigurd, who accidentally\n discovers them, and introduces them at\n the Court of his Master; his\n Education; becomes a Pirate at twelve\n Years of Age; protects the Coasts of\n Gardarik; in favour with the King; he\n pursues his Fortunes on the Deep\n\n 985\u2013994 His great Fame; he marries the Widow of 211\n Duke Borislaf of Pomerania, and\n protects her Dominions; treacherous\n Attempt on his Life\n\n Which he defeats, with the Slaughter of 212\n his Enemies; he ravages the Coasts of\n the Baltic; assists the Emperor\n against the Danes; his Aversion to\n Idolatry; he returns to Pomerania\n\n His Wife dies; he leaves Pomerania; a 213\n Christian, yet a Pirate; Visits the\n Coasts of Britain; marries an Irish\n Princess\n\n 967\u2013993 Fate of Astridda after her Capture; she 214\n is ransomed by a noble Pirate of\n Norway, whom she marries\n\n 995\u2013996 Snares laid for Olaf by Hako of Norway, 215\n who employs Thorer, a Pirate, to\n entrap him\n\n Olaf sails for Norway; compels the Jarl 216\n of Orkney to embrace Christianity, and\n do him Homage\n\n He discovers Thorer\u2019s Treachery, and 217\n slays the Traitor; Hako\u2019s licentious\n Conduct causes a Conspiracy of the\n Nobles against him\n\n 995. Romantic Adventures of Hako and his 218\n Slave; Dream in the Cave; Death of\n Erleng, Son of Hako\n\n Second Dream in the Cave; Hako and Kark 219\n repair to the House of Thora, and are\n concealed in a subterraneous Recess;\n they are pursued by Olaf; Hako killed\n by his Slave\n\n Character of Jarl Hako 222\n\n Olaf, now King of Norway, commences his 222\n Persecution of Idolaters\n\n 997\u2013999 Olaf and the Magicians; he is honoured 224\n by a Visit from Odin\n\n 998. Opposition which his religious Zeal 226\n encounters from the Pagans; politic\n Manner in which he evaded the Demand\n of his Chiefs that he should sacrifice\n to the Gods\n\n He overthrows the Idols in the great 227\n Temple of Drontheim; individual\n Conversions\n\n 999. He proceeds on a missionary Tour into 228\n Helogia; Legend concerning Bishop\n Sigurd; Destruction of a noted Pagan\n\n Atrocious Manner in which, through his 230\n Poet Halfrod, he punishes a Chief who\n had refused to embrace Christianity\n\n His Brutality offends Sigrida, a Swedish 232\n Princess, who devotes her future Life\n to Revenge; marries a Danish Princess\n\n 999\u20131000 His new Wife persuades him to equip an 234\n Armament for the Coast of Pomerania;\n Sweden and Denmark oppose him; he is\n defeated and slain\n\n Character of this Monarch 235\n\n 1000\u20131012 Division of Norway by the Conquerors 236\n\n Youth of St. Olaf 237\n\n 1007\u20131014 He becomes a Sea King; his Adventures on 238\n several Maritime Coasts, especially on\n those of Finland and England\n\n 1012. He returns to Norway, and captures Hako 240\n the Jarl, the Lieutenant of the Danish\n King; proceeds into the Uplands; his\n Reception by his Mother; curious\n Picture of domestic Manners\n\n 1014. He consults with his Friends as to the 242\n meditated Seizure of the Throne, and\n is encouraged by them to proceed\n\n He is promised Support by the Upland 243\n Kings, obtains Possession of Nidaros,\n but is expelled by Sweyn, another Jarl\n\n 1015. His Victory over his domestic Enemies, 245\n and consequent Recognition as Monarch\n of Norway\n\n 1016. His legal and religious Reforms; his 246\n punctual Attendance at public Worship\n the chief Cause of his subsequent\n Apotheosis\n\n His Disputes with Sweden; he hangs the 247\n Ambassadors of that Prince, and\n encroaches on her Frontiers\n\n 1017. Negotiations for Peace at the Court of 249\n the Swede long fruitless; Diet of the\n Kingdom; bold Language of the\n venerable Thorgnyr; Olaf compelled to\n promise Obedience to the Wish of his\n People\n\n 1018. Olaf of Sweden resolves to evade his 252\n Promise of marrying his Daughter\n Ingigerda to Olaf of Norway; Rage of\n the latter; he clandestinely marries\n Astridda, another Daughter of the\n Swedish King\n\n Reconciliation between the two Kings, 255\n who play at Dice for a Frontier\n Province\n\n Zeal of St. Olaf in the Diffusion of 255\n Christianity; a Conspiracy against him\n by the Pagan Kings of the Uplands; it\n is discovered, and the Actors punished\n\n 1019. Ruric, one of the Captive Kings whom 257\n Olaf had blinded, plots his\n Destruction; Banishment of the Royal\n Pagan\n\n 1020\u20131021. Severity of Olaf against the secret 259\n Pagans of Naumdal and Drontheim\n\n 1021. He is equally severe in the Uplands; 261\n Opposition of Gunbrund, King of the\n Dales; dispersed by Olaf; new Pagan\n reinforcements; Interview in the\n Defiles; the Idol Thor broken to\n pieces by the Followers of the Saint;\n Baptism of the foolish Wretches\n\n 1022\u20131025 Furious Persecution of the Pagans 264\n\n 1026\u20131027 Canute the Great threatens the Invasion 265\n of Norway; St. Olaf combines his Fleet\n with that of Sweden; Hostilities on\n the Coasts of Zealand and Scania\n\n 1027. Canute arrives in the North; orders the 267\n Assassination of Ulf, his\n Brother-in-law\n\n 1027\u20131028 St. Olaf finds Treachery in his 268\n Councils; Lukewarmness of the People;\n his great Unpopularity the Result of\n his own Misconduct\n\n 1028\u20131029 Triumphant Invasion of Canute, who is 270\n acknowledged Monarch of Norway; Olaf\n flees with Precipitation, first into\n Sweden, and then into Russia\n\n 1029. His good Reception by the King and Queen 271\n of Holmgard; is at length enabled to\n return into Sweden\n\n 1030. Aided by Swedish Forces, he returns 272\n towards Norway; his unfavourable\n reception by his former Subjects; he\n dies in Battle\n\n Character of this precious Saint 273\n\n\n\n\n CHAP. IV.\n\n MARITIME EXPEDITIONS OF THE NORTHMEN DURING THE PAGAN AGE.\n\n\n SECTION I.\n\n IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND IRELAND.\n\nEARLY EXPEDITIONS OF THE NORTHMEN TO THE COASTS OF THE ROMAN\n PROVINCES.\u2014CAUSES WHICH LED TO THEM:\u2014POVERTY OF THE SOIL, FAMINE,\n COURAGE.\u2014DOMESTIC PIRACY.\u2014TRIBES OF PIRATES.\u2014INVASION OF ENGLAND BY\n THE SAXONS AND DANES.\u2014AUTHORITY OF SAXO GRAMMATICUS.\u2014DEPREDATIONS IN\n ENGLAND PRIOR TO THE REIGN OF ATHELSTANE.\u2014VICTORY OF THAT\n MONARCH.\u2014RAVAGES OF THE NORTHMEN IN FRANCE.\u2014HASTINGS.\u2014ROLLO THE\n GREATEST OF THE SCANDINAVIAN PIRATES.\u2014HIS CONQUEST OF NORMANDY, OF\n WHICH HE WAS THE FIRST DUKE.\u2014THE NORTHMEN IN IRELAND.\u2014EARLY\n COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE IRISH AND THE NORTH OF EUROPE.\u2014FIRST RAVAGES\n OF THE NORTHMEN.\u2014THEIR ALARMING PROGRESS IN THAT ISLAND.\u2014VICTORY\n OBTAINED OVER THEM BY KING BRIAN.\u2014THEIR SUBSEQUENT DEPREDATIONS AND\n DECLINE.\n\n\n Early Appearance of the Scandinavian 276\n Pirates on the Coasts of the Roman\n Provinces and in Ireland\n\n Causes which led to the voluntary or 278\n compulsory Expatriation of the\n Northmen:\u2014Poverty of the Soil,\n Insufficiency of Food, Expertness in\n the Management of small Vessels\n\n Progress of Piracy in the North 279\n\n Domestic Piracy gives rise to maritime 280\n Expeditions into the South\n\n The Roman Provinces the chief Objects of 283\n Plunder at a very early Age\n\n Expeditions of the Saxons and Northmen 283\n to England\n\n Foundations of the Saxon Kingdoms in 285\n England\n\n On the Degree of Reliance to be placed 286\n in the Statements of Saxo Grammaticus,\n respecting the early Communications\n between Denmark and England\n\n Extract from Mr. Turner, on this 287\n Subject, and Comments thereupon\n\n 794\u2013806 Depredations in Northumbria; Danish 289\n Kingdom in that Province; heroic\n Behaviour of the Coldingham Nuns\n\n 868\u2013876 Graphic Account of the Destruction of 291\n Croyland Monastery\n\n 870\u2013924 Transactions in Northumbria 294\n\n 924\u2013934 Splendid Victory of Brunanburgh 296\n\n 400\u2013840 Earliest Depredations of the Northmen in 296\n France\n\n 840. Hastings, the Veteran Pirate, arrives in 297\n France\n\n 842\u2013844 Havoc in France and Spain 298\n\n 845\u2013859 Ravages in France; Hastings sails to 299\n Italy; he surprises the City of Luna\n\n 858\u2013863 Numerous piratical Bands in France; 301\n Hastings returns, and on the Condition\n of renouncing Piracy, is created Count\n de Chartres\n\n 863\u2013876 Continued Excesses in the different 303\n Provinces of France\n\n Early Life of Rollo 304\n\n 876\u2013888 His Expedition to France 306\n\n 888\u2013896 Faithlessness of the Normans 308\n\n 896\u2013909 Great Successes of Rollo 308\n\n 910\u2013912 He is created Duke of Normandy 310\n\n Advantage of the Policy of the French 311\n Court in this respect\n\n First Appearance of the Northmen in 312\n Ireland\n\n 795\u2013820 Their early Progress was rapid, and for 314\n some Time they met with little\n Resistance\n\n 820\u2013848 Progress of the Northmen 315\n\n 842\u2013879 Various Successes, with alternate 317\n Reverses\n\n 872\u20131000 Rapid Decline of the Scandinavian Power 319\n in Ireland\n\n 1000\u20131014 Its ultimate Destruction 320\n\n APPENDIX 321\n\n FOOTNOTES 328\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n THE\n\n HISTORY\n\n OF\n\n SCANDINAVIA.\n\n ------------------\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION.\n\nUNCERTAINTY ATTENDING THE EARLY HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS.\u2014MONSTROUS\n HYPOTHESES RESPECTING THAT OF NORTHERN EUROPE.\u2014FABULOUS, OR AT LEAST\n DOUBTFUL, KINGS OF SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND DENMARK.\u2014DISTINCTION OF RACES\n IN THE NORTH.\u2014THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS, THE SWIONES, GOTTONES,\n DANKIONES, WERE PROBABLY THE SWEDES, GOTHS, AND DANES.\u2014THE JUTES AND\n LAPPS AND FINNS DIFFERENT FROM THE NEW COMERS.\u2014INFORMATION COLLECTED\n BY ALFRED RELATIVE TO THE NORTH.\u2014NUMEROUS CHIEFS WITH THE REGAL\n TITLE.\u2014KINGS OF DENMARK: DAN\u2014HUMBLE\u2014LOTHER\u2014SKIOLD\u2014GRAM,\n ETC.\u2014WONDERFUL ADVENTURE OF HADDING AND OF THE GIANTESS\n HARDGRIPE.\u2014FRODE I.\u2014ODIN.\u2014HIS ORIGIN ACCORDING TO SAXO.\u2014ACCORDING TO\n THE YNGLINGA SAGA.\u2014HIS SUPERNATURAL POWERS.\u2014REASONS ASSIGNED FOR HIS\n EXISTENCE.\u2014HODER AND BALDER.\u2014THE FATAL SISTERS.\u2014DEATH AND FUNERAL OF\n BALDER.\u2014JOURNEY TO THE SHADES BELOW IN QUEST OF HIS SOUL.\u2014HERMOD\u2019S\n JOURNEY.\u2014ODIN\u2019S.\u2014PROPHECY.\u2014RINDA AND ODIN.\u2014CHARACTER OF\n ODIN.\u2014RURIC.\u2014HAMLET PRINCE OF JUTLAND.\u2014HIS REAL OR FABULOUS\n ADVENTURES.\u2014FENGO.\u2014DANISH KINGS AFTER RURIC.\n\n\nINQUIRIES into the origin of nations have never been productive of much\ngood. Over that of all, with the single exception of the Jews\u2014an\nexception which we owe to inspiration\u2014a cloud hangs, that no learning,\nno criticism can penetrate. It is easy to be speculative\u2014it is easy to\nbe ingenious\u2014it is easy to make a considerable parade of learning by\nciting the opinions of various writers, and by attempting to show how\nlittle dependence is to be placed on any one of them; but, though the\nvanity of an author may be thus gratified, his labour must be useless.\nIf he has not authority or legitimate inference for what he advances, he\nis worse than uselessly, he is perniciously employed: he is wasting his\nown time and that of his readers, and he is involving the subject, which\nhe ought to elucidate, in greater confusion than it was before. Thus\nevery age and every writer adds to the mass of fable, or at least of\nuncertainty, until the truth is for ever hidden beneath it.\n\nThese observations especially apply to northern history. Yet, dark and\nuncertain as this subject is, and monstrous as are the hypotheses which\nnative ingenuity has framed respecting it, curiosity will be gratified\nwith a mere glimpse at them. Thus, in regard to the SWEDES, we shall\nfind their origin wrapt in an obscurity deep as that which covers the\ncradle of most other people. Many are the fables which grave historians,\nlistening only to tradition, or wresting to a certain purpose the words\nof some obscure writer, or confounding the actions of many people, or\nmisled by a fancied analogy and similarity of names, have perpetuated on\nthis subject. That sage authority, the archbishop of Upsal, has no doubt\nthat Noah was king of the whole earth; that he settled in Scythia, which\nwas inhabited a century before Italy; that his son Japhet, to whom\nEurope fell, spread his colonies still farther to the west; that Magog,\nthe son of Japhet, was the first chief that colonised Sweden and\nFinland; that from Sweno, the son of Magog, sprung the Swedes, and from\nGothar or Gog, another son, the Goths; that Thor, German, and Ubbo,\nbrothers of Sweno, and his great vassals, were successful propagators of\nmankind; that Ubbo, who succeeded his brother Gothar, founded the city\nof Upsal, the most ancient metropolis of the north; that Siggo,\nsuccessor of Ubbo, and the fifth king of the Goths, called Sigtuna into\nexistence; that Eric, grandson of Gothar, and the sixth king of the\nGoths, began to reign about four hundred years after the universal\ndeluge, and conferred great splendour on those northern regions; that,\nafter his death, idolatry began in the north, the magnificent temple of\nUpsal being erected in honour of Thor, Odin, Frigga, and other\ndivinities; that the Swiones or Swedes, and the Gothi or Goths, as being\nsprung from different roots, were frequently under different sceptres,\nthough both regarding themselves as kindred, and for many generations\nliving in harmony with each other; that, after the introduction of\nidolatry, this peaceful disposition began to be impaired, and in the\ncourse of a few reigns it wholly disappeared; that the Finns, Jutes,\nGothones, Swiones, and other neighbouring people, became at length so\nnumerous and so powerful, as to pillage the coasts of Sweden; that, to\noppose them, no less than to procure the necessaries of life, which\nlong-continued intestine wars had rendered very scarce, a large army was\nraised and a powerful fleet equipped, in about nine hundred years after\nthe deluge; that the expedition, which extended along the southern no\nless than the northern shores of the Baltic, from Holstein to the\nconfines of Lithuania, gave rise to a new kingdom; that at this period\nthe empire of the Goths, comprising so many people beyond the bounds of\nScandinavia, was one of the most powerful in the world, notwithstanding\nthe fact that the conquered provinces on the European continent were\nsubject to their own king (to him who had led the expedition from\nSweden, and to his successors), while Sweden obeyed another king who had\nbeen left at home with the necessary authority; that the new empire, the\nseat of which was in Poland or Hungary, sent off its conquering swarms\ninto Asia and Egypt; that, the regions of the Goths being too extensive\nfor the government of one man, they at length elected rulers independent\nof one another, and thus broke this vast empire into numerous fragments;\nthat the origin of the Hungarian dynasty, which was purely Gothic, added\nto the weakness of the race; that, while these events were passing in\nEurope and Asia, the Swedish monarchy subsisted, though weakened by the\nemigration of its chief warriors; that this diminution, alike of\npopulation and strength, emboldened the Danes, who had hitherto been\ntributary to the more northern kingdom, to assume the offensive, but\nbeing themselves assailed by the Saxons, and unable to resist that\nmartial people, they eagerly submitted to the Swedes, and chose Dan, a\nSwedish prince, the son of Humel, or Humble, the sixteenth native king\nof the Goths, to rule over them; that this prince gave his name to the\nDanish kingdom, while his brother Angul, the first king of the\n_English_, left his name to that people; that Dan was succeeded by\nLother his son, and Lother by Skiold,\u2014while, in Sweden, Humble was\nfollowed by Gothilas and Sigtrug; that Gro, the daughter of Sigtrug,\nbecame the wife of Gram, son of Skiold, king of Denmark, but contrary to\nthe wishes alike of her father Sigtrug and of the Swedes; that her\nabduction by Gram led to a war between the Danes and the Swedes, in\nwhich the latter were vanquished; that Scarin, the successor of Sigtrug,\nwas slain in battle by Gram; that, on his death, Swibdager, king of\nNorway, was elected king of the Goths and the Swedes, who detested their\nconqueror and the whole Danish nation,\u2014a detestation which was heartily\nreturned; that, in revenge for the rape of Gro, a daughter of Gram was\ncarried away into Norway; that Gram, arming to revenge the injury, was\ndefeated and slain by Swibdager, who, however, had the generosity to\nplace Guthrum, son of Gram, over the Danes; that they remained subject\nto the Swedes and Goths until Hadding rose against Asmund, the\ntwenty-first king of the latter, and delivered his country from\nsubjection. For these more recent events, for all subsequent to Skiold,\nthe good archbishop has scarcely any other authority than Saxo, the\nDanish historian, whose facts, however, he does not scruple to alter\nwhenever the honour of his country is concerned.[1]\n\nSo much for fable,\u2014at least in regard to the greater portion of this\nrapid condensation of the archbishop\u2019s history. If we had not already\nhad enough of this ingenious trifling, the _Atlantica_ of Olaus Rudbeck\nwould supply us with enough to fill many such volumes as the present.\nThis writer far outdoes the prelate, whom he exceeds alike in\nimagination and knowledge of tradition. To him the reader who may be\nfond of the marvellous, who may delight in traditionary lore, and who\nmay wish to see on how slight a foundation the most gigantic theories\ncan be erected, may have recourse.[2]\n\nIn claims to a remote origin NORWAY is by no means behind the former\nkingdom. According to Torf\u0153us, one of the most learned, and, considering\nthat he lived in recent times, least critical of mankind, the population\nof the whole country has been derived from four distinct sources. 1. Of\nthese the giants were the most ancient. These, this historiographer\ncontends to have been really what they are called, viz., much superior\nin bulk to the rest of mankind; and not that evil spirits, by magical\nrites, were permitted to effect such appearances. Though he rejects, as\npure romance, the stories of many giants alleged to have been seen in\ncomparatively modern times, he is sure that such a race did once inhabit\nthe north; and he is inclined to derive them from Shem, the son of Noah.\nThat they once lived, that their bones are still to be found in several\nregions of the world, that they may now live in Patagonia or some other\ncountry, cannot, he thinks, be disputed. We read of giants in Scripture;\nwho, therefore, can doubt of their existence? As we have already\nintimated, he represents, as old women\u2019s fables, all the stories,\nhowever rife in his time, of giants being produced by the prince of evil\nspirits; nor will he allow that they are the offspring of men and huge\nbeasts. If they did not spring from either of these causes, they must,\nnecessarily, have derived their origin from one of Noah\u2019s sons. Nor can\nwe be surprised at their appearance in the north of Europe, seeing that\nwe have so many proofs of their existence in Canaan, Egypt, Greece,\nSpain, Britain, and, indeed, all the world over. Their arrival in the\nnorth, however, was no voluntary act; being expelled from Canaan in the\ntime of Joshua, they were glad to seek other settlements; and while some\nspread themselves throughout northern Africa, northern and central\nEurope, and, perhaps, found their way to America, others directed their\nsteps towards Sweden and Norway: yet, before the arrival of these\nexiles, others of the same race might, for ages, have been in that\npeninsula. 2. After the giants, and, indeed, immediately after them,\ncame the _Goths_; but the period cannot be fixed. Joannes Magnus and\nRudbeck contend that it was immediately after the flood; but Torf\u0153us\ndares not ascend to so high an antiquity, and he is satisfied with\nderiving the Goths from the Trojans, and with referring their arrival in\nthe north to the age in which Troy was taken. 3. After the Goths came\nthe _Asae_, or _Scythians_, whom he holds to be the third distinct race\nof men that helped to people the north. These were the followers of\nOdin, whose empire, at once spiritual and temporal, attested _his_\npolicy and _their_ prowess. 4. Yet it may be doubted whether these were\nthe sole, or even the original, colonisers of Norway. The people of this\nas of every other country must have their indigenous families, or\nfamilies, at least, who were here long before any strangers arrived.\nThus, a certain man, Forniot by name, had three sons: Hler, ruler of the\nwinds; Logi, lord of fire; Karl, sovereign of the sea. Snaer was the\ngrandsire of this last-named monarch, and a celebrated prince he was. He\nhad one son, Thor, and three daughters, Faunna, Drifa, and Miollis. Thor\nwas more powerful than the father, since he reigned over the whole of\nthe northern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, including Finland; and\ndivine honours were paid to him by at least one great tribe of his\nsubjects. Thor had three children, Nor and Gor, who were males, and Goe,\na daughter. This princess being stolen away, her two brothers went in\npursuit of her. Nor went westward, subduing and killing many native\nkings, among whom were Hemming and Hunding: in short, he conquered the\nwhole of Norway, to which he gave his name. The ravisher of Goe was\nRolf, or Rollo, the son of a great prince, who submitted to Thor, and\nwhose sister, Hodda, had the honour to become that monarch\u2019s bride.\nWhile he was performing these feats, his brother Gor was subduing all\nthe islands of the Baltic and of the Icy Ocean, which constituted his\ndominion. The sons of Nor divided the vast region among themselves;\nhence the many separate principalities which were so long the bane of\nNorway.[3]\n\nNo reader will be at a loss to perceive that this fourth race of men is\na mythologic creation. These rulers of the elements, fire, water,\nwind,\u2014_Snaer_, or snow; _Jokul_, or frost; _Faunn_, or frozen snow;\n_Snifa_, or sleet,\u2014with many others, sufficiently attest this curious\nfact. Whether the Norwegians invented these elemental gods first, and\ncalled their mortal heroes after them; or whether they elevated those\nheroes after death to the dignity of local gods, we shall not attempt to\ndiscuss. The probability is, that in this country, the march of the\nhuman mind was the same as in other countries, viz., that men celebrated\nfor their great qualities were believed to have originally sprung from a\ndivine source, and after this life to return to that source; to be\ninvested in another state with a superiority akin to that which they\nenjoyed in this. As to a northern inhabitant, the sea and the winds were\nthe most important elements, so the deities that they obeyed were the\nmost powerful, the most dreaded, the most worshipped. Every page of the\nearliest Norwegian history (or fable, if the reader pleases) bears\nevidence to this inference, that long prior to the arrival of the Goths\nin that region there was a religion quite distinct from that which\nfollowed it; one of truly primitive character, which admitted of no\nrefinement, which dealt with sensible objects, which appealed to the\nfears and hopes of mankind. The honour in which Thor, the father of Nor,\nand the common ancestor of all the Norwegian princes, was held,\nsufficiently accounts for his superiority over Odin himself, in the\nreligious creed of that people. The Danes and Swedes held the former,\nthe Norwegians the latter, to be the supreme god,\u2014supreme, at least, as\nfar as the government of this world is concerned. Hence there must, at\nsome period subsequent to Odin\u2019s arrival, have been an amalgamation of\nthe two religions. If the successors of Odin in Denmark and Sweden\nforced the Norwegians to acknowledge him as a divinity, and to place his\nstatue with that of Thor, it is manifest that they only paid him a\nsecondary veneration; Thor sitting in state, surrounded by all the\nattributes of majesty, while the warrior god\u2014the foreign Asiatic god\u2014was\nmade to stand beside him. On this subject, however, more in the proper\nplace.[4]\n\nDENMARK is, in no respect, behind either Sweden or Norway in its claims\nto antiquity. In the valuable collection of Langebek, we find a list of\nmonarchs in Icelandic[5] as old, at least, as the tenth century,\nsufficiently ample for the vanity of any nation. It begins with Noah;\npasses down through the intervening generations to Odin, \u201cthat king of\nthe Turks whom the Romans forced towards the north;\u201d and ends with\nHardecanute. Another branch of the same list deduces the regal genealogy\nfrom Odin to Harald Harfagre, the well-known monarch of Norway.[6] In\nboth cases, the names must be considered as strictly belonging to the\nAsiatic potentates, who were never alleged to have set foot in the north\nof Europe. During _their_ reigns, fabulous or true, Scandinavia was not\nwithout its petty kings, or, if the reader pleases, hereditary\nchieftains, whose authority was similar to the patriarchal. Their names\nare given by Saxo Grammaticus and other native writers, who, following\ntheir own traditionary songs, knew little of the Asiatic predecessors of\nOdin, and were therefore unable to enumerate them. Thus, too, with the\nSwedes, who, as we have seen, had their internal, no less than their\nexternal, kings,\u2014their domestic, no less than their foreign, potentates.\nHence, in all these states, two distinct races of rulers,\u2014the native and\nthe foreign,\u2014the former indigenous, the latter wholly strangers, to the\nregions of northern Europe.[7]\n\nThat the Goths were resident in the north of Europe before the times\nwhich we denominate historic,\u2014that they had for ages, perhaps, been\nthere when the Romans came into contact with them, is very probable.\n\u201cMany vestiges,\u201d says Gibbon, \u201cwhich cannot be ascribed to popular\nvanity, attest the residence of the Goths in the countries beyond the\nBaltic.\u201d Still no man in the least conversant with antiquity\u2014unless,\nindeed, like Joannes Magnus and Rudbeck, he has prejudices which no\ninformation can remove\u2014will contend that they were the _first_ settlers:\nit may even be doubted whether they constituted the second immigration\ninto those regions. The Cimmerians, or Cimbri, were in Jutland, at\nleast, before them; but whether even these were the first people that\nforsook their Asiatic abodes for western Europe is very doubtful:\nprobably they were preceded by some other swarms whose very name time\nhas destroyed, just as _they_ were the predecessors of the Celts, a race\nsprung from themselves. The Finns and the Lapps, whose manners,\nlanguage, and character are so different from those of the other\nEuropean nations, are probably tribes of some race which arrived in more\nsouthern regions at a period lost in the depth of antiquity; and which\nthe hostile incursions of Cimmerians, Celts, Goths, and other\nbarbarians, exiled into the snows of the north.[8]\n\nSuch are the conclusions of reason. They are not opposed to authority.\nWhat ancient history really informs us concerning the people of the\nnorth may be comprised in a few lines. They were split into tribes; and\nof these the _Swiones_\u2014the Swiar of the middle ages\u2014were the most\nconspicuous. They were a rich and powerful maritime nation; and, if\nTacitus is to be credited, their kings were despotic. Lest they should\nturn against one another, or, what was worse, against their rulers,\ntheir arms were taken from them, and kept by the royal slaves. They\nwere, no doubt, a tribe which inhabited Sweden. In the same region were\nthe _Guttones_, or Goths, another tribe, probably, of more ancient\narrival. As the lands of the two were conterminous, the Swiones must\nhave often called on their king for weapons, unless, indeed, their\nenemies, too, had been disarmed. But this alleged disarming is pure\nfable, and we know not how Tacitus could be so thoughtless as to relate\nit. The _Dankiones_\u2014probably the Danskir or Danes\u2014bordered on the\nGuttones. Whether they were confined merely to the islands now forming\nthe Danish monarchy, or were also spread over, at least, part of\nJutland, may be disputed. If, by Cadononia, Tacitus really means the\npeninsula, the Teutones were also there. There can be no doubt that all\nthese tribes were kindred: they all came from Asiatic Scythia, however\ndifferent the periods of their arrival. But, in regard to the _Fenni_,\nwho are manifestly the Finns, he doubts whether he should call them a\nTeutonic or a Sarmatian tribe. Ptolemy locates them in western\nLithuania; Tacitus, more to the north; and from the close affinity which\na modern Polish professor has established between the Letts and the\nFinns, we may safely infer that they are of the same origin. Probably\nthe stream of colonisation passed from Livonia across the gulf.[9]\n\nThe distinction of tribes inhabiting northern Europe being granted, and\nauthentic history assuring us that the Scythian Goths were the last\npeople that reached western Europe,\u2014the Slavi, their hereditary enemies,\nscarcely penetrating to the centre,\u2014we naturally inquire, \u201cAt what\nperiod did they arrive?\u201d Most antiquaries of the north, as we have\nalready shown, have not hesitated to affirm that it was immediately\nafter the deluge, and, consequently, that the Goths were the original\ninhabitants. Other writers, however, are satisfied with a more recent\norigin, and place this arrival about two thousand years before Christ.\nOthers, again, are willing to deduct a full millenium from this latter\nantiquity; but it may be doubted whether a single tribe of Goths had set\nfoot in the north five centuries before Odin\u2019s arrival. Few tribes of\nthem were probably there when he introduced a new faith. The opposition\nwhich his followers encountered in their political, no less than their\nreligious character,\u2014in their conquests no less than their\npreaching,\u2014confirms this supposition; and the fact that nearly all the\nkings of the north boasted of their descent from some one of Odin\u2019s\nroyal sons, almost elevates this hypothesis to the dignity of an\nhistoric fact. As the Goths\u2014both those who accompanied Odin and those\nwho had preceded him\u2014were the conquering and, therefore, the dominant\ncaste, the sceptre was generally held by princes of that nation; the\nconquerors were comparatively few in number; and the original\ninhabitants, though they constituted the bulk of the population, were\nconstrained to bend in sullen acquiescence before the power of the\nstrangers. By degrees, the amalgamation of these strangers with the\nformer race (or, perhaps, races) produced that form of society peculiar\nto the north. The more we reflect on this subject the more we incline to\nthe opinion that prior to the Odinic times the Goths were not very\nnumerous in Scandinavia. They might have kings four or five centuries\nbefore Christ; probably there were immigrations of Goths from Asia\nbefore even that period; still there is more safety, because more\nreason, in the conclusion that, from remote antiquity to the arrival of\nOdin, the bulk of the population in those countries were of native, that\nis, of Finnish or Jutish stock, and that the sons of the Asiatic\nconqueror were the first Gothic _monarchs_ of the north.[10]\n\nThat the original inhabitants, whether Finns, or Jutes, or Laplanders,\nor a combination of all the three, differed widely from the Gothic\nconquerors, in language, manners, religion, and character, is certain.\nThe earliest poems of the latter\u2014those traditionary relics of a far more\nancient age\u2014are filled with allusions to this distinction. They\nrepresent the Finns and Lapps as magicians, as invested with\nuncontrollable authority over the elements; and the Jutes as at once\ngiants and magicians. But the warriors of Odin arrogated to themselves\nno such powers, though their priests might. Legend, indeed, records some\ninstances in which these powers were communicated to fortunate Gothic\nheroes; but the old inhabitants were the teachers, and what knowledge\nthey imparted\u2014which was always grudgingly imparted\u2014was little in\ncomparison with that which they retained. In the old Sagas, in the\ncollection of Snorro Sturleson, in Saxo Grammaticus, and even in later\nauthorities, we everywhere discover a marked antipathy between the\nvictors and the vanquished. It originated in a twofold cause,\u2014in the\ndifference of religion no less than that of race; and it was embittered\nin the same degree that it was perpetuated by mutual hostilities. The\nFinn, indeed, was unable to cope with the powerful Goth; but this sense\nof inferiority sharpened his invention, and made his hostility to be\ndreaded in proportion to its secrecy. The blow was struck in darkness;\nand the Goth, who had a sovereign contempt for the valour of his foe,\nwas led to attribute it to supernatural rather than to human agency.[11]\n\nWe have already seen the meagre sum of information which Tacitus has\nbequeathed to us respecting the state of the north in his time. For many\ncenturies afterwards, no great additions were made to it. In the fifth\nwe learn that between the Elbe and the Baltic\u2014no doubt, too, on both\nsides of that river, to some extent\u2014were Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. Of\nthese the first had no other seat. The second were doubtless a bastard\ncolony from the more northern parts of the peninsula; and the last were\nan offset from the great Saxon confederation. The Jutes were the fewest\nin number; yet they were the progenitors of the men of Kent and the Isle\nof Wight, and of a tribe among the West Saxons. The rest of the\nSaxons\u2014West, East, and South \u2014 were derived from the Saxon division of\nthe colonists. The Angles gave their name to the people who bore it (the\nEast Angles and Middle Angles) and likewise to the Mercians and\nNorthumbrians. Such, according to that venerable authority the Saxon\nChronicle, was the connection between these people and our island. But,\nreverting to the state of northern Europe after the time of Tacitus, yet\nbefore geography made us well acquainted with it, king Alfred, in his\nepitome of Orosius, adds some particulars which he had learned from his\nown inquiries. These particulars he derived from Otter, a Norwegian, and\nWulfstan, a Danish seaman. The former said that he lived north of all\nthe Northmen, in Halgoland, opposite to the west sea; that north of him\nthere was an immense waste land, some parts of it, however, being\nvisited by the Finns for hunting in summer and fishing in winter; that\nhe had once sailed round the North Cape to the White Sea, and on the\ncoast had found a people called Beormas, who spoke a kindred language\nwith the Finns. \u201cThis Otter,\u201d says the king, \u201cwas a rich man, according\nto the opinion of his own country: he had 600 tame deer, and six decoy\nones, whose value in catching the wild deer was incalculable: hence\nthese decoy deer were much esteemed by the Finns.\u201d But this Norwegian\ncaptain had not above twenty head of horned cattle, and as many sheep\nand swine. The Finns paid rent in skin, feathers, whalebone, and ropes\nfor shipping. (The proprietors of these lands were evidently Goths, the\nconquering tribe.) Otter further said, that the country of the Northmen\n(Norway) was long and narrow, cultivated on the sea coast, but to the\neast overlooked by wild barren mountains. Yet Finns inhabited them even\nin the ninth century,\u2014a proof that they were tributary to these Goths,\nespecially as we may infer from this Norwegian\u2019s account that they were\nthe only people that paid rent: the dominant race were freeholders.\nOpposite to this country of the Northmen, in the south, was _Swevland_,\nor Sweden; and to the north, the country opposite was _Cwenaland_, or\nthat portion of the region between the Gulf of Bothnia and Mount Sevo.\n\u201cThese Cwenas,\u201d says Otter, \u201cfrequently assailed the Northmen, and the\nNorthmen were no less inclined to pass the mountains against the Cwenas.\nFrom Halgoland, where Otter dwelt, to the north of the land inhabited by\nthe Northmen, is a great distance,\u2014so great that no one could reach it\nby sea in a month.\u201d To be brief, the whole course of the navigation from\nthe extremity of Norway to the south of Jutland, is so minutely\ndescribed, as to render it impossible for any one to mistake the\nlocalities intended, or to refuse credit to the relation of this old\nNorwegian navigator.[12]\n\nThe distinction, for which we have given some reasons, between the\nvarious tribes of the north, is now acknowledged by all the native\nwriters, and by all foreigners, who have paid much attention to the\nsubject. \u201cThe followers of the historic Odin,\u201d says a living writer,\n\u201cwere the Sviar, known unto Tacitus under the name of Suiones; and the\ninhabitants whom they found in the country were another tribe of Goths,\nwho had emigrated thither at a remote period, veiled from the eye of\nhistory. The primitive people by whom it was occupied, were the J\u00f6tnar\nand Dwarfs; the Feuni of Tacitus; the Skrithfiuni of Procopius, and the\nCwenas and Finnas mentioned by the Norwegian navigator to king Alfred.\nThey were gradually expelled, and driven further north, towards the\narctic circle, by the Goths and Sviar, with whom they maintained\nperpetual war, embittered by religious rancour, often represented, in\nthe fictions of the northern age, under the allegory of a contest\nbetween the celestial deities and the giants or evil genii.\u201d But of this\nsubject more hereafter, when we come to the exploits and policy of\nOdin.[13]\n\nOf the Scandinavians, prior to the arrival of Odin, and, indeed, for\ncenturies after that event, little, as far as regards their domestic\nhistory, is known. Rejecting wholly, as fabulous, the boast of native\nwriters, that they had _monarchs_ centuries before the foundation of\nRome; we may, however, admit that they had kings\u2014or, if the reader\npleases, local judges\u2014in time of peace, and military chieftains in war.\nThere is reason to think that their chieftains, who assumed the regal\ntitle, were at one period, and, indeed, generally, exceedingly numerous.\n\u201cAt this time,\u201d says a chronicler, speaking of the age following our\nSaviour\u2019s birth, \u201cthere were _many_ kings in the north.\u201d Sweden had a\ndozen of them; Norway no fewer than eighteen; Jutland had usually two;\nand the various islands composing the rest of the Danish monarchy, had\neach one. As in the heroic age of Greece, so in that of Scandinavia, the\nsame condition of society produced the same form of government. Of these\nreguli, some were probably hereditary, some elective; some were\ncertainly principal, others tributary. This distinction was the result,\nfirst, of some fancied superiority in the family of certain princes, but\nin a greater degree of their superior success. In Norway, for instance,\nthe Finnish family of Fornjoter (Forniot) was esteemed the most ancient,\nand was that to which all the princes of that country referred their\norigin. But let us not forget that little dependence is to be placed on\nthe alleged progenitors of these reguli, or the names of the reguli\nthemselves, or their respective order of succession,[14] or on the deeds\nattributed to them. All is darkness, uncertainty, contradiction. In the\nhistory of Norway, for instance, we are referred to Swedish kings as\ncontemporary, whom the history of the latter kingdom places many\ngenerations before or after the alleged period. This is more strikingly\nthe case in regard to the Danish and Swedish kings. In the history of\nthe one we are referred to that of the other; yet the latter, in a\nmajority of cases, have not one syllable on the subject. Names and\nevents, on which the destinies of each country seems to turn, are\nmentioned by one class of historians, and passed over by another as\nhaving had no existence. But if so little reliance is to be placed on\nthese regal successions, we must not lose sight of the fact, that were\nthey and the events ascribed to them wholly fabulous (yet wholly\nfabulous they are not, since tradition does not so much create as\namplify and distort), they would still demand our attention. Reject\nthem, and nine tenths of northern history must be rejected with them.\nAnd these traditionary songs, which form the entire history of the\nnorth, deserve our notice in another respect\u2014they supply us with the\nbest, the only picture of national manners. For this reason, we shall\ncast a hasty glance at the more remarkable events which Saxo represents\nas prior to the Odinic times, but which, in fact, were subsequent.\n\nOf the Swedish and Norwegian history, during this fabulous or\nmythologic, or, at best, doubtful period, we have little information\nbeyond what is afforded us by the historian of Denmark, and he only\nmentions them incidentally. Not so in regard to the Danish themselves,\nwhich, thanks to his romantic bias and untiring industry, are\nsufficiently well known to us.\n\nPrior to the reign of _Dan_, the son of Humble, Denmark, like the whole\nof the north, was subject to chiefs\u2014whether hereditary or elective we\nneed not inquire. But such a form of government had its evils. A hundred\ntyrants were more galling than one; and Dan, who gave his name to the\nnation, was invested with an authority superior to the other chiefs, and\nwith the regal title. On his death, the sceptre passed by election, and\nnot by inheritance, into the hands of his son _Humble_; but the people\nfound that monarchy, too, has its curses, though they are neither so\nnumerous nor so great as those inseparable from an aristocracy.\n_Lother_, the brother of Humble, revolted, was victorious, and enabled\nto usurp the regal dignity. As he had been a rebellious subject, so he\nmade a tyrannical king. The most illustrious of the Danes he deprived of\nproperty or life, until a conspiracy served him as he had served so many\nothers. _Skiold_, the son of Lother, was raised to the vacant dignity, a\nproof (always supposing the traditionary guides of Saxo to be worthy of\ncredit) that the hereditary principle has great force even in the most\nancient forms of society; indeed, the application of this principle to\nthe chief magistracy of the state, is the natural and almost inevitable\nresult of the patriarchal system\u2014a system which we all know to be co\u00ebval\nwith the existence of the world. Skiold was the Hercules of his age; and\nat a time when wild beasts disputed with man the empire of the forest,\nhe was a greater benefactor than if he were merely a warrior. Even in\nhis youth he was a prodigy; he would seize and fetter the most savage\nbear, leaving to his followers the less noble task of despatching the\nmonster. Yet he frequently struggled with the bravest of his own\nspecies; no wrestler of Scandinavia could withstand him; in a single\ncombat, he overthrew the duke of the Alemanni or Swabians, his army and\nthat of his enemy being spectators; reduced that people to the condition\nof tributaries, and returned home in triumph, accompanied by the\ndaughter of the duke, the beautiful Awilda, whom he made the partner of\nhis throne. Nor was he less distinguished for wisdom than for valour. He\nwas a legislator: bad laws he abolished, and enacted such as were\nrequired by an improved state of society. He was a great friend to the\npoor and the afflicted; the debts of others he often paid from his own\ntreasury; the spoils taken in battle he uniformly abandoned to his\nfollowers; and it was one of his noble sayings, that, while money was\nthe reward of the soldier, glory was enough for the general. So much\nesteemed, indeed, was this prince, that his posterity were glad to\nderive additional distinction from his name; and the Skioldungs, or the\ndescendants of Skiold, were long dear to Denmark.[15]\n\n_Gram_, the son of Skiold, and the fifth king, was endowed with equal\nstrength and equal enterprise, and his life was more romantic. His first\nconsort was the daughter of his tutor or governor, a grim old chief; but\nthinking this lady beneath him, or, more probably, anxious to reward his\nbrother in arms, Bessus, he soon bestowed her upon that hero. The dearer\nthe gift, the greater the merit of the action; nor are similar instances\nof liberality wanting in other pagan heroes of the north. Probably Gram\nundervalued a conquest so easy as the wife he thus presented to his\nfriend; and his ambition was roused by the hope of obtaining a lady whom\nnothing short of the highest courage could win. Gro, the daughter of\nSigtrug, king of the Swedes, had been affianced to a giant, viz., a Jute\nor a Finn. Indignant at this prostitution of royal blood and virgin\nmodesty, the Danish monarch, attended by his never-failing companion,\nBessus, passed into Sweden, killed the relatives of Gro, subdued the\ncountry, and brought away the princess in triumph.[16] But, with all his\nvalour, Gram was inconstant. Leading his army against the king of the\nFinns, he was so struck with the beauty of that monarch\u2019s daughter, that\nhe was speedily converted from an enemy into a suitor; and he obtained a\npromise of her hand on the condition of repudiating Gro. Scarcely,\nhowever, had he left the Finnish territory, when a Saxon duke arrived,\ncourted the lady, and the nuptial day was appointed. But he was not of a\ntemper to bear this insult. Leaving his troops, he repaired silently and\nquickly into Finland, assumed a mean disguise, entered the royal palace,\nand took a humble seat. Being asked what brought him there, he replied,\nhis profession as leech\u2014a character held sacred in all ancient\ncommunities, and sure of access to every house. As he had expected, the\nassembled guests were soon steeped in drunkenness. According to the\nmanner of the times, he sung his own exploits, beheaded the unsuspecting\nbridegroom, prostrated many of the attendants to the earth, and bore\naway the princess to his vessel, which awaited him on the coast. But his\nend was fatal. By Swibdager, king of Norway, he was deprived of empire\nand of life; his dominions became the prize of the victor; and his two\ninfant sons, Guthrum and Hadding, were secretly carried to Sweden, and\nconfided to the charge of two giants.[17]\n\nHere Saxo is careful to explain what he means by the word _giant_. There\nwere, he assures us, three species. First, there were the vulgar giants;\nthose who excelled all mankind in bodily stature. Next, were the wise\nmen, who were as much inferior to the former in bulk, as they were\nsuperior in knowledge: these penetrated into the secret workings of\nnature, and were enemies of the monster giants, whom they subdued. Like\nthe Persian magi, they struggled for, and obtained, the chief power of\nthe state wherever they settled, and arrogated to themselves a divine,\nno less than a regal, authority; in short, they were expert magicians,\nable to delude all mankind by their prestiges. Next, we have the third\nclass of giants, who were the offspring of the two preceding, and were\ninferior to one parent in magnitude of body, to the other in knowledge;\nyet, in both respects, they were above the ordinary standard of our\nnature, and were thought, by their deluded admirers, to inherit some\nportion of divinity. After this sage distinction, the Danish\necclesiastic observes, that we ought not to be surprised at the\ncredulity of the northmen, for were not the Romans, though the wisest of\nmen, equally credulous? Whatever may be thought of that distinction, or\nof the personages whom he has drawn from everlasting obscurity, of the\nexistence of this credulity we have abundant evidence; and it furnishes\none of the best comments on the manners and opinions of the times.[18]\n\n_Swibdager_, the conqueror of Gram, and the sixth king of Denmark, found\nthe weight of three crowns too much for one brow. At the entreaty,\ntherefore, of Gro, the divorced queen of Gram, he recalled her son\nGuthrum from exile, and placed him, as a vassal, on the throne. This\nprince was naturally despised as the slave of a foreign prince. Not so\nhis brother _Hadding_, who, preferring liberty to a dependent court, and\nthe hope of avenging his father\u2019s death to the smiles of that father\u2019s\nmurderer, remained in exile, and with him were the hearts of Denmark. Of\nall the ancient heroes of the monarchy, this is, perhaps, the most\ncelebrated. Wondrous, indeed, were his actions. While a youth, he\ninflamed the heart of Hardgrip, the giant daughter of his giant\nfoster-father, who urged him to make a corresponding return. How could\nhe love a giantess? Was he\u2014whom she could, almost, inclose in one of her\nhands\u2014a fit match for her? The thing was impossible. \u201cBy no means,\u201d was\nthe reply. \u201cWe of the superhuman breed can change, at pleasure, our\nforms, and even our substances; in short, we can reach the clouds, or\nreduce ourselves to your size.\u201d The royal youth consented; and never had\nman a more useful or more faithful companion. Her magical knowledge was\nof more avail to him than her valour, for in that he could equal her;\nbut she could furnish him with superior weapons, defend him from unseen\ndanger, and cure his wounds where human aid would have been useless. At\nlength, perceiving that he yearned to revisit his native country, she\nresolved to accompany him. On their journey, they one night arrived at a\nhouse where a corpse was duly laid out, until the mournful funeral rites\nwere celebrated. Here was an opportunity of consulting the will of the\ngods, and the magic giantess availed herself of it. Producing a piece of\nwood on which certain verses of might, in Runic characters, were\ninscribed[19], she caused it to be placed under the tongue of the\ndeceased by Hadding. The effect was instantaneous: the corpse began to\nspeak, and to utter the direst anathemas on her who had disturbed the\nrepose of the dead. It predicted her immediate destruction in a\nneighbouring wood. No sooner, indeed, had they reached the wood, and\nerected their tent for the night, than a huge hand was seen to move\naround them. The terrified Hadding called on his companion for help; and\nshe, dilating her body to a great extent, was able to seize the hand,\nand present it for amputation to the prince. From the wound issued more\nvenom than blood. But the victory was dearly purchased; the gigantic\nwitch was torn to pieces by the irritated powers of darkness. \u201cNeither\nher supernatural condition,\u201d says Saxo, \u201cnor her vast bulk, availed\nher.\u201d Hadding, however, did not much suffer by the event: a wise old man\nwith one eye, pitying his disconsolate situation, provided him with a\nbrother in arms, a celebrated pirate, and both entered into what was\nconsidered the holiest of compacts in the manner of the times, viz.,\neach besmeared the footsteps of the other with his own blood. The two\nheroes being conquered by a chief on whom they made war, the same old\nman took Hadding on horseback to his own mysterious seat, and both\nrenovated and prodigiously fortified him by a magic drink. At the same\ntime a metrical prophecy told him how he was to escape from the\ncaptivity which impended over him. Who was this unknown benefactor? On\nhis return to the place whence he was taken, he could perceive, through\nthe folds of his mantle, that he was conveyed over the sea. The horse\nwhich bore him was evidently a demon, obedient to Odin, the god of the\nnorth.[20]\n\nAfter some great exploits in the east, to which his ardour, no less than\nhis fear of Swibdager, bore him, Hadding returned to Scandinavia. In a\nsea-fight he defeated and slew his enemy, and thus became sovereign of\nDenmark, or, we should say, of the Danish islands,\u2014for Jutland and\nScania obeyed different princes. Asmund, the son of Swibdager, he thus\ntransformed into a foe, and a foe, too, greatly to be dreaded. In a\nbattle which ensued, finding that the tide of success was against him,\nhe silently invoked the aid of the wizard giant Wagnoft, the father of\nhis deceased mistress, Hardgrip. Wagnoft obeyed the spell, and was\nimmediately by his side. Asmund lost the battle, and fell; but in his\nlast moments he had the satisfaction of knowing that he had rendered\nHadding lame for life. And he had another kind of joy, dear enough to a\npagan: his wife Gunhilda, disdaining to survive him, slew herself with\nhis sword, and was laid in the same grave with him. An invasion of his\nown country by Uffo, the son of Asmund, prevented Hadding from pursuing\nhis advantage; but the following spring he again invaded Sweden; but his\nranks were thinned, alike, by famine and disease. His men were obliged\nto feed on their horses; next, on their dogs; and, lastly, on each\nother. To increase their consternation, a nocturnal voice assured them\nof great evils. The following night, even, another unknown voice\nthreatened the Swedes with destruction. Both armies, therefore, were\nalarmed; each had a supernatural enemy, while each was perhaps\nunconscious that it had, also, a supernatural friend. That same night\nthe two armies engaged; when, behold! two aged men, of a form larger\nthan the human, were seen by the light of the stars in the battle,\u2014one\nfor the Swedes, the other for the Danes. The latter were subdued, and\ntheir king glad to flee to his own country. But misfortune pursued him.\nOne day, as he was cooling his limbs in the waters of the sea, he\nperceived a fish different from any that he had ever seen; as it was\nnear the shore, he killed it, and it was taken to his camp. But what was\nhis consternation when a sea-nymph appeared, and denounced direct\nvengeance on his head! He had killed one of the gods under the form of a\nfish. Henceforth the elements should be hostile to him; if he ventured\non the deep, his vessel should be wrecked by the fury of the tempest; on\nland, the house which received him should, by a tempest, also be\nlevelled with the ground; his flocks should perish in the fields; every\nplace which he visited should be cursed for his sake: and this dreadful\ndoom was to remain in force until he had propitiated the divine wrath by\nfrequent sacrifices. The mandate was not to be despised; during the\ncourse of a year altars perpetually smoked with oxen immolated to Fro,\nthe awful deity of the winds.[21]\n\nThe life of Hadding was full of portents and marvels. Scarcely had he\nrescued the princess Regnilda of Norway from the obligation of marrying\na giant, by killing the monster, and making her his bride, than a most\nwonderful adventure befell him. One winter evening, as he was supping\nwith his bride, a woman like a culler of simples was seen to raise her\nhead from the ground close by the hearth, and inquired whether the king\ndid not wish to know where such herbs grew at that season of the year.\nHe replied, that he should very much wish to know. Hearing this, she\nenveloped him in his own mantle, and sank with him into the ground. What\nthey saw in this subterranean journey bears some resemblance to the\ndescriptions which have been given us of the Scandinavian world of\nspirits. They first entered a dark path, worn out by the feet of many\ntravellers, and here they perceived some great ones of the earth,\u2014some\nin purple and gold,\u2014whose doom appeared to consist in their indefinite\nwindings. Passing them, they entered a region of some fertility, whence\nthe woman had derived her simples. Farther still, they reached a river\nof precipitate course and black waters, which rolled along the weapons\nof many heroes, and over which a bridge conducted them to a different\nregion. One of the first objects that met their eyes was two armies\nengaged in deadly strife. \u201cWho are these?\u201d demanded Hadding. \u201cThese,\u201d\nreplied the sorceress, \u201care they who fell in battle; and it is their\ndelight in this world continually to imitate their martial deeds in the\nother.\u201d At length they reached a high wall, totally impassable. The\nwoman, indeed, made no attempt to scale it; but, twisting off the head\nof a cock which she had brought with her, she threw it over; when,\nbehold! the cock began to crow as if nothing had been done to it! Unable\nto proceed further, the adventurous travellers returned to the\npalace.[22]\n\nThe rest of this monarch\u2019s life must be hastily despatched. He triumphed\nover Uffo, who fell in battle, and bestowed the vacant throne of Sweden\non Hunding, brother of the deceased monarch. His last days were\nembittered by the unnatural conduct of his daughter Ulwilda, who, with\nher husband, planned his destruction. Though he escaped all the snares\nof his enemies, at length he laid violent hands upon himself, leaving\nthe throne of Denmark, and the superiority over that of Sweden, to his\neldest son, Frode I.[23]\n\n_Frode I._ was also a great warrior, and he carried his depredations\nfrom Russia to the British islands, on which, unfortunately for the\nnatives, he made a longer stay than kings, whose sole object was\nplunder, were accustomed to make. If there were any truth in the Danish\naccount of this period, Scotland and South Britain were in frequent\nintercourse with the northern kingdom,\u2014sometimes for war and sometimes\nfor peace. But these accounts are all to be distrusted. Events which\nhappened at a much later period have been removed to the one before us;\nand the basis has been so much overlaid by fable, that no ingenuity can\nseparate the true from the false.\u2014When Frode commenced his reign, he\nfound the treasury empty. How replenish it? By an expedient frequently\nto be found in Scandinavian legends. On a solitary island, a dragon,\nformidable alike for size and venom, brooded over immense riches. The\nyouthful monarch hastened to the spot, entered the cave, fought and\nkilled the serpent, and brought away the golden hoard. Whether there be\nany meaning in this and similar fables has been much disputed: probably,\nhowever, it had a foundation, and the dragon may have been some terrible\npirate whom Frode destroyed, and whose subterraneous riches he seized.\nThis unexpected supply, we are told, enabled him to pursue his\nexpeditions on various coasts of Europe. But we have no inclination to\nfollow him. We may, however, allude to the way in which he gained\npossession of London; because the same expedient is often to be found in\nnorthern writers. Despairing of the reduction of a place so well\ndefended, he caused a report to be spread that he had suddenly died in\nhis tent. Permission was asked to bury him in one of the temples of the\ncity, and was granted. On the day appointed, the pretended corpse was\nborne through the gates; a great number of Danes attended to do honour\nto their monarch; but, under the garb of mourning, they hid their\nweapons of war; and, on a signal being given, they threw off the mockery\nof woe, assailed the Britons, and took the city by surprise.[24]\n\nOf the immediate successors of this monarch little is known. _Haldan_,\nhis son, was a great warrior, who put his own brother to death, and was\nhated by the people. _Roe_, the son of Haldan, was a quiet prince, mean\nin stature, but with a mind whose care it was to make his subjects\nhappy. _Helge_[25], his brother and successor, with whom, during his own\nlife, he had shared the throne, was also a prince of great qualities;\nbut his vices were still greater. \u201cWhether his lust or his tyranny were\nmore intolerable,\u201d says the historian, \u201cis very doubtful.\u201d His amours\nare too disgusting to be recorded. At length, seeing the execration in\nwhich he was held, he bade adieu to his country; and it proved a final\nadieu. According to report, he fell on his own sword. In the reigns of\nthese princes, we have no mention of the Norwegian sovereigns; but those\nof Sweden\u2014let us not forget that it is a Dane who writes\u2014are represented\nas still dependent on Denmark.[26] _Rolf_ (or Rollo) succeeded his\nfather, and was much beloved by his subjects.[27] He fell through the\ntreachery of a brother-in-law, who was excited to the deed by the sister\nof Rolf. Daughters conspiring against fathers, sisters against brothers,\nwives against husbands, are among the common events of Scandinavian\nhistory. As this prince died without issue, the Danish states elected\nfor their monarch _Hoder_, a descendant of the famous Hadding, who had\nbeen educated by Gewar, a king of Norway. As it is in the reign of this\nlatter monarch that Odin is again introduced on the stage of northern\nhistory,\u2014his first appearance being referred by Saxo to the time of\nHadding,\u2014we can no longer refuse to notice what antiquity records with\nrespect to him. In this, as in other parts of this introduction, the\nreader may admit or reject what he pleases.[28]\n\nAccording to Saxo, this personage was a mortal, king of the Hellespont,\nwho laid claim to the honours of divinity, and was actually worshipped\nby most of Europe. His profound knowledge of magic procured him the\ncharacter. His ordinary residence was Byzantium; but he held Upsal,\nwhich he frequently visited, in much esteem. Anxious to testify their\nrespect for this new deity, the kings of the north cast a golden statue\nin his honour, adorned it with bracelets and other costly ornaments, and\nsent it to Byzantium. It was received by Odin with great joy, and placed\nin the temple of the gods. But Frigga, the wife of Odin, whom Saxo\njudges to be quite worthy of such a husband, stript the statue of its\nornaments to adorn herself. The incensed deity hung the mechanics who\nacted by her orders; and, for greater security, placed the image on a\nhigh pedestal, and, by his wonderful art, rendered it vocal to human\ntouch. But when was female vanity cured? To secure the aid of a domestic\nof the temple, Frigga did not hesitate to grant him the last favour;\nand, by his aid, the gold being again abstracted, again adorned her\nperson. This twofold injury was too much for a god to withstand; and\nOdin left the country for a season, until the public discourse, like a\nnine days\u2019 wonder, had evaporated itself into empty air. During his\nabsence, several persons\u2014probably priests of his own temple\u2014arrogated to\nthemselves the attributes of divinity. These, on his return, he forced\nnot only to lay down their borrowed honours, but to flee from the\ncountry. Among them, one is mentioned whose case affords a curious\nillustration of popular superstition. Mitothin was a great magician, and\nhad long enjoyed the favour of the gods. But they were incensed with his\nimpiety, while he no longer paid them the slightest homage. On the\nreturn of Odin he fled to Fionia, and was killed by the inhabitants. In\nhis tomb, however, he was amply revenged: he introduced into the whole\nregion various kinds of plague; he destroyed multitudes of the\ninhabitants; until they, one day, opened his sepulchre, exhumed his\nbody, cut off his head, and drove a stake through the corpse: then the\nmysterious visitation was at an end. He is, probably, the first vampire\non record.[29]\n\nThe account of Snorro Sturleson, who followed Norwegian, not Danish\nauthorities, differs in many respects from the preceding. He informs\nus that the seat of Odin\u2019s power, both temporal and spiritual, was\nAsgard, a place of extraordinary sanctity east of the Tanais. Over the\ntemple were twelve pontiffs, whose duty was the twofold one of\nsacrificing and administering the laws: they were called _driar_ or\n_drottnar_,\u2014lords,\u2014and were held in much veneration. At the head of\nthis theocratic state was Odin, who was at perpetual war with his\nneighbours, and on whose arms success always shone. So great, indeed,\nwas this success, that he was called the father of victory. When he\nsent out his generals on any expedition, he was accustomed to lay his\nhands on their heads and predict a fortunate issue to the undertaking.\nHence the peculiar veneration attached to his character. His followers\nregarded him as a god; in dangers and perils of any kind\u2014on land, on\ndeep\u2014whether he were present or absent\u2014they invoked his name, and\nascribed all their prosperity to him. His expeditions, even to remote\ncountries, were frequent; and during his absence the sovereignty was\nadministered by his two brothers. The Vanir, who are said to have been\nhis neighbours, he so harassed, that they sued for peace: the\nconditions were framed, and hostages given for their punctual\nobservance. Niord the Rich, and Freyr his son, were surrendered by the\nVanir; Haenir and Mimir by the Asser. In a short time, however, the\nformer perceiving that their confidence was abused by the hostages of\nOdin, cut off the head of Mimir and sent it to Asgard. By his magic\nart, Odin so enchanted the head that it became his oracle: it\nconversed with him whenever he pleased, and acquainted him with many\nhidden things, both of nature and of fate. Niord and Freyr, he won\nover to his own interests by investing them with the dignity of the\npriesthood, and, consequently, with some portion of divinity. The same\nhonours were conferred on Freya, the sister of Freyr who taught the\nAsser the magic which she had learned among her countrymen, the\nVanir.\u2014At length, the victorious arms of the Romans approached the\nkingdom of Asheim; and Odin, learning from the fates that settlements\nwere provided for him in the north of Europe, left his two brothers\nwith the sovereignty of Asheim, and, attended by a great multitude of\nfollowers, advanced into the west. In his progress through Germany he\nplaced his sons over the states which his arms reduced. He then passed\nnorthward, and fixed his seat at Odensey (Odin\u2019s Island). From thence\nhe despatched Gefio, one of his prophetesses, to make proselytes in\nthe neighbouring regions; and she was well received by both Gylfe,\nking of Sweden, and by the Jutes. They did not, indeed, embrace her\nreligious faith; but they gave her lands and revered her as one of the\nchief supports of magic. In the sequel she married Skiold, the son of\nOdin, who reigned over the Danish islands. Odin, himself, advanced\ninto Sweden, and forced Gylfe to cede to him the eastern part of that\nkingdom. He established his seat at Sigtuna, where he caused temples\nto be erected and sacrifices to be offered. Thence his authority and\nhis worship were diffused throughout Germany and Scandinavia.[30]\n\nThe qualities of this extraordinary man are the favourite theme of the\nSwedish and Norwegian chroniclers. He was the father, says Snorro, of\nall the arts in northern Europe. He could change his looks at pleasure.\nTo his friends he was exceedingly beautiful, and their hilarity he was\nalways desirous to promote. To his enemies, especially in battle, he\nseemed a demon: the countenance which before was so exquisitely\nattractive, now inspired terror and death. Such was his eloquence that\nhe captivated all who heard him, and he always spoke in verse: hence he\nwas called the artificer of song; and from him northern poetry had its\norigin. In imitation of him all the magicians of Scandinavia couched\ntheir incantations in metrical numbers: indeed, he had so warranted the\nexample, that the most potent runes would, in popular opinion, have lost\ntheir efficiency had they been in prose. By these verses Odin could, in\nthe hour of battle, strike his enemies with blindness, with deafness, or\nwith panic fear, and render their sharpest weapons blunt as twigs. By\nthe same means he could render his own men as furious wolves, strong as\nbears or bulls, and invulnerable to steel or fire. Often, while his body\nlay supine, he would assume another form,\u2014that of fish, serpent, or wild\nbeast,\u2014and in a moment hasten to the remotest parts. At his mere\ncommand, fire ceased to burn, the wind to blow, and the sea to rage; and\nthe elements moved in what direction he pleased. He had a wonderful\nship, called Skidbladner, which he could fold up like a handkerchief,\nyet which carried him through the most dangerous seas.\u2014According to the\nlatter Edda, this ship was built by the dwarfs,\u2014probably the Lapps, so\ncalled to distinguish them from the Jutish giants,\u2014who were rather the\nallies than the enemies of the gods. Small as this vessel was,\u2014since it\ncould be easily carried in a pocket or in the palm of the hand,\u2014yet,\nwhen expanded, \u201call the gods, completely armed, could sit in it.\u201d And it\nhad another wonderful property: the moment the sails were unfurled, a\nfavourable wind was sure to rise, and bear the passengers wherever they\nwished to go. Then there was the embalmed head of Mimir, which\nacquainted him with whatever he wished to know. And he had two ravens\nwhich he endowed with the gift of speech, and which, continually flying\nover the earth, brought him intelligence of everything that happened.\nSometimes he summoned the dead from their graves: hence he was called\nthe Lord of the Tombs. He was profoundly versed in the art called\n_seid_,\u2014the art which foretold events, which induced or removed death,\nsickness, pain, and all the ills of mankind. He knew all the treasures\nconcealed in the bowels of the earth, the incantations which could open\nthem, the laws which governed the fairy inhabitants of the mountains,\nthe stream, and the rock: their motions were regulated by his mere word.\nHence his wide-spread fame; hence the confidence of his followers, and\nthe terror of his enemies. Many were the arts which he taught his\npontiffs, by which they were rendered nearly as wise and powerful as\nhimself. He and his twelve pontiffs were worshipped as gods. The laws\nwhich he introduced were those anciently adopted by the Asser. He\ncommanded the corpses of the dead to be consumed on the funeral pile,\nand with them the most valuable things of the deceased, affirming that\nwhatever was thus consumed would accompany the hero to Valhalla, and\nstill administer to his wants. The ashes of men in general were to be\ncast into the sea, or buried in the earth: only some of eminent dignity\nor merit were to have tombs erected in their honour. The first great\nsacrifice he ordered to be solemnised on the approach of winter, as a\nthanksgiving for the gifts of the year; the second, in mid-winter, for\nanother propitious season; the third, in summer, for victory over all\nenemies. On every head a tax was laid, and the produce was expended in\nthe defence of the kingdom, in the sustentation of the temples, and in\npublic sacrifices.[31]\n\nWhether Odin ever existed,\u2014whether himself and his alleged Asiatics are\nnot mere creatures of the imagination,\u2014whether they are not purely\nmythologic, and referrible to an Asiatic source, at a period lost in the\ndepths of antiquity, have long exercised the ingenuity of writers. In\nmatters of pure history it is certainly better to err on the side of\nscepticism than of credulity; but in the present instance we cannot\ndiscover sufficient grounds for the former opinion. That he existed, and\nat no distant period antecedent to the invasion of England by the\nSaxons, is affirmed, alike, by written testimony and tradition.\nAccording to that venerable and most inestimable relic of antiquity, the\n\u201cSaxon Chronicle,\u201d all the princes of the nation derived their origin\nfrom the deified hero; and the number of generations between him and the\nreigning king are minutely recorded. Thus, from Odin to Cerdic, A.D.\n495, are ten generations; from Odin to Ida, A.D. 547, the same number;\nfrom Odin to Ella, A.D. 560, twelve; from Odin to Ceolwulf, A.D. 597,\nthirteen; from Odin to Penda, A.D. 626, twelve; from Odin to Offa, A.D.\n755, sixteen; from Odin to Ethelwolf, A.D. 854, twenty-three\ngenerations. In all these lists the intervening chain, from the wizard\nking to his Saxon descendant, are carefully specified. In the same\nmanner the series of northern kings, from the sons of Odin, who were\nplaced by him over the thrones of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, is\nprogressively detailed. Thus, in Denmark, the generations from Skiold,\nthe son of Odin, to Ragnar Lodbrok, A.D. 794, are twenty-five. In\nSweden, from Niord (the _adopted_ son, perhaps, of Odin) to Olaf, A.D.\n630, are twenty-three generations. In Norway, the succession of kings\nfrom the same Niord, to Harald Harfager, the first _monarch_ of that\ncountry, A.D. 934, are twenty-eight. We think that these genealogical\nseries, so carefully, so minutely particularised, afford a presumption,\nat least, that the pontiff king of the north both lived and reigned at a\nperiod not very far distant from our Saviour\u2019s birth. Not that the\nsubject is without its difficulties. The events ascribed to Odin\u2019s times\nhave, by many writers, been deemed inapplicable to any century within\nthe known history of the world. Hence, some have removed him to the age\nimmediately following the flood; some, to the seventh century after that\nevent; some, to the age of Darius Hystaspes; others, to that of Philip,\nking of Macedon; others, to less than two centuries before Christ; while\nanother party contends that he was more recent still, and that\nAriovistus, whom C\u00e6sar conquered, was one of his sons. Where so much\ncontradiction, so much absurdity abound, our only guide, in the absence\nof positive evidence, is reason; and this confirms the generally\nreceived opinion, that this personage is of far less antiquity than was\nformerly supposed. Not that many of his rites, many of his notions,\nmany, perhaps, of his alleged actions, are not more ancient. There is,\nindeed, some reason to infer that they were known in Asiatic Scythia, a\nthousand years before his time. But this fate is not peculiar to Odin;\nit has been that of all celebrated men. Whoever has entered profoundly\ninto the history of tradition, must be aware that legends which were\nformerly applicable to the most ancient characters, were applied to\ncomparatively modern ones, when the latter had been dead long enough to\npermit the imagination to invest them with new attributes. Thus, many\nwhich have been related of Charlemagne\u2019s heroes,\u2014of Charlemagne\nhimself,\u2014of the crusaders, especially of our C\u0153ur de Lion\u2019s age, were\nonce the glory of pagans, and were derived from a northern or an\noriental source, before Normans, Franks, or Angles were known.[32]\n\nSo much for direct and positive evidence, which is strongly confirmed\nby inference. The Goths, like all the Scythians, were accustomed to\ndeify their deceased heroes. This is expressly affirmed by several\nwriters, especially by Adam of Bremen; and heroes are mentioned, who,\nwe find, were deified. Thus, Armin, or Ermin, the courageous supporter\nof Germanic independence against the Romans, was worshipped as a god;\nand his famous idol, which was called, after his name, Irminsul, drew\nmultitudes of pagans to the Isle of Rugen: it was, indeed, regarded as\nthe palladium of Germanic liberty. The facility with which kings and\nheroes were deified is still more strikingly illustrated in the life\nof St. Anscar, the apostle of the Scandinavians. Alarmed at the\nsuccess which attended the preaching of that admirable missionary\n(this was about the middle of the ninth century), the priests of the\nOdinian worship had recourse to a bold imposture. By their contrivance\na man suddenly appeared in the Swedish capital, who affirmed that he\nhad just attended a general meeting of the gods, and that he was\nbearer of a communication from them to king Olaf and his people. The\nsubstance of it was, that the ancient deities had always been most\nindulgent to the Swedes; that, hitherto, they had found no reason to\ncomplain of an ungrateful return from their worshippers; that now,\nhowever, there was a sad decline in the sacrifices and other proofs of\ndevotion; and that their wrath was especially excited by the\nintroduction of a new deity,\u2014of one peculiarly hostile to the gods of\nthe kingdom. \u201cIf,\u201d added they, \u201cyou Swedes really wish to increase the\nnumber of gods, we will readily admit your departed king, Eric, to the\nhonours of deification.\u201d That the proposal was accepted\u2014that a temple\nwas immediately erected to Eric\u2014that his altars perpetually smoked\nwith sacrifices,\u2014are among the most indubitable facts of history.\nHence, there is nothing unreasonable in the deification of Odin;\nindeed, he could not have avoided the honour. One so celebrated as he\nwas,\u2014a great warrior, a great legislator, the founder of a new empire,\nand of a new religion,\u2014assuredly could not fail to be invested with\nthe same honours as an Armin or an Eric. Indeed, as it was the obvious\npolicy of the Asiatic followers of Odin to represent the authority of\ntheir pontiff king and his successors as founded on divine, not on\nhuman, sanction,\u2014as that authority was avowedly theocratic,\u2014he must,\nof necessity, have been regarded as a god, if not in his lifetime,\nimmediately after his decease.[33]\n\nThe temporal no less than the spiritual government of Odin, and the\nsocial superiority of his immediate followers over the inhabitants he\nfound in Sweden, drew our attention in the early pages of this\nIntroduction. Our opinions on this subject are strongly confirmed by a\njudicious living writer. \u201cOdin founded the empire of the Sviar, which\nwas originally confined to a small territory around the M\u0153lar Sea, in\nthe present Swedish province of Upland, called the lesser Sv\u00edthj\u00f3d, in\ncontrast to the greater Sv\u00edthj\u00f3d, or Scythia, whence they migrated, and\nMannaheim, or the Home of Man, in contrast to the celestial abode of\nAsgard. By degrees the Sviar, as the leading tribe governed by the\npontiff kings, the immediate descendants of Odin, and having the custody\nof the great temple at Sigtun, the principal seat of the new\nsuperstition, acquired an ascendancy over the Goths, who possessed the\nmore southern tract of country called Gautland, G\u00f6tland, or G\u00f6ta-rike.\nThis precedence of the Sviar over the Goths is established by the\nexpress terms of the ancient fundamental law of their joint empire,\naccording to which the \u2018king was elected by the national assembly of all\nthe Swedes (_\u00e5 Ting allra Svia_), at the Mora-Stone, in the plain near\nUpsal, and the assembly of all the Goths (_Ting allra G\u00f6ta_), shall\nre-elect or confirm him.\u2019[34] This distinction between the two tribes is\nconstantly preserved in the traditions and annals of the middle ages,\nand the division between the Svia and G\u00f6ta-rike is strongly marked by a\nchain of mountains running between S\u00f6dermanland and East Gothland. It is\nalso recognised at this day in the constitution of the supreme judicial\ntribunals called the Svea and G\u00f6tha Hofr\u00e4t, established during the reign\nof Gustavus Adolphus, and to which a third has been recently added for\nthe provinces of Scania and Bleking.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne of the ancient documents which throws the most light upon the\nhistory of the heroic age in the north, is the most recently published\nof the Eddaic poems, called _Rigs-m\u00e1l_. The prince of that name is said\nto have been the son of Skjold, and, according to the chronology of\nSuhm, reigned in Scania about the end of the second century of the\nChristian era.[35] This poem contains a minute classification of the\ndifferent orders of society, personified as the children of king Rig,\nwho is supposed to have divided them into distinct castes, assigning to\neach its respective rank in the social scale. As a literary composition,\nit resembles the Anglo-Saxon poem of Bj\u00f3wulf, and all other genuine\ntraditionary poems or romances of uncivilised nations, in its\nunpretending and Homeric simplicity of style and incidents. In this\nrespect it has been justly called one of the most curious and\ninteresting \u2018manners-painting strains\u2019 that have been preserved and\nhanded down to posterity.[36] The effects of the original Gothic\nmigration and conquest in Scandinavia are here distinctly marked in the\nfeatures of the slave caste, descended from the aboriginal Finns, and\ndistinguished from their conquerors by black hair and complexion, as\nwell as the squalid poverty and misery in which they were compelled to\nlive. The caste of freemen and freeholders, lords of the soil which they\ncultivated, and descended from the Gothic conquerors, with their reddish\nhair, fair complexion, and all the traits which peculiarly mark that\nfamous race,\u2014is in like manner personified in a vivid description of a\nsingle family. Then comes the caste of the illustrious Jarls and the\nHerser, earls and barons, who are distinguished from the others by their\nstill fairer hair and skin, by their noble employments and manners, from\nwhom descend the kingly race, skilled in Runic science, in manly\nexercises, and the military art.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have, here, the early history of the Scandinavians traced in a few\nlines; but these are strongly marked, and confirmed by all the\ntraditions of the ancient north, respecting the different races of men\nby which the country was successively occupied.[37] The first Gothic\nemigrants subdued the Celto-Finnish tribes, who were the primitive\ninhabitants of the country, and reduced them to servitude, or drove\nthem, first, to the mountains, and then to the desert wilds and\nfastnesses of Norrland, Lapland, and Finland. Here the J\u00f6tnar, as they\nwere called by their Gothic invaders, continued to adhere to the\ngrovelling superstition of their fathers, which was that form of\npolytheism which has been called Fetichism, or the adoration of beasts\nand birds, of stocks and stones, all the animate and inanimate works of\ncreation. The antipathy between these two races, so continually alluded\nto in the songs and sagas of the mythic and heroic age, is significantly\nexpressed in the legend of Nj\u00f6rdr, who dwelt by the sea-side, and Skade,\na mountain-nymph of the rival race of the J\u00f6tnar, whom he had espoused.\nShe very naturally prefers her native abode on the Alpine heights,\nwhilst he insists on dwelling where he can hear the roar of the ocean\nbillows. At last, they compromise this matrimonial dissension by\nagreeing to pass nine nights alternately among the mountains, and three\non the sea-shore. But Nj\u00f6rdr soon tires of this compact, and vents his\ndissatisfaction in a lay to this effect:\u2014\u2018How do I hate the mountain\nwilds! I have only passed nine nights there; but how long and tedious\ndid they seem! There one hears nothing but the howling of wolves,\ninstead of the sweet notes of the swan.\u2019 To which Skade extemporises\nthis response:\u2014\u2018How can I rest on the sandy sea-shore, where my slumbers\nare every morning broken by the hideous screaming of the sea-gulls?\u2019 The\nresult is, that she deserts her husband, and returns to the mountains,\nwhere her father dwells: there, snatching up her bow, and fastening on\nher snow-skates, she bounds over the hills in pursuit of the wild\nbeasts.\u201d[38]\n\n\u201cThe Sviar, who migrated with the historic Odin, achieved no forcible\nconquest over their national brethren of the Gothic tribe, by whom they\nhad been preceded. The ascendancy of Odin and his followers over their\npredecessors was acquired and maintained by superstition, and their\nsupposed superiority in magic and the other arts which win the\nconfidence or influence the fears of a barbarous nation. The older\nworship of the primitive inhabitants, and of their conquerors, was\nmodified by this new prophet, who, taking advantage of the pre-existing\nbelief in the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and the\nincarnation of divine spirits, so widely diffused among the ancient\npeople of the earth, pretended to be the former Odin, who had again\ndescended among his faithful Goths.[39] His worship thus soon supplanted\nthat of the more ancient Odin, and the attributes and actions of both\nwere gradually confounded together in the apprehension of the\nScandinavians. But it did not supplant that of Thor, whom the primitive\npeople of the north regarded as the elder and most beneficent of the\ndeities. In him they worshipped the goodly elements of nature,\u2014the\nlight, the heat, and especially the thunder, shaking and purifying the\natmosphere. This deity was principally revered in Norway; and, after its\ndiscovery and settlement, in Iceland: but he maintained his recognised\nequality with the other superior gods even in the great temple of Upsal,\nthe principal seat of the northern superstition. His votaries formed a\ndistinct sect, who were often engaged in deadly strife with the peculiar\nworshippers of Odin. The next deity in the Scandinavian hierarchy was\nFreyer, who represented the prolific powers of Nature, and, with his\nsister Freya, the Venus of this mythology, was principally revered in\nSweden, Norway, and Iceland; whilst Odin and his son, Balder, were\nadored both at Upsal and Ledra as the peculiar national deities of the\nGothic Danes and Sviar. The religion of the north, as it was at last\nmodified by this new dispensation, in the conjoint adoration of Thor,\nOdin, and Freyer, bore a strong family likeness to the three principles\nof Schamanism, or the faith professed by the votaries of the Dalai Lama\nin central Asia. This correspondence points most significantly to its\norigin; and the filiation of religious creeds and forms of worship thus\ncombines with that of language to trace the present people of the north\nto the remotest regions of the East.\u201d[40]\n\nThe temporal government established by Odin was perpetuated through his\nsons. Thus Heimdall was placed over Scania, the original seat of the\nDanes. Semming had Norway. From another son sprung the Ynglings, who\nreigned for many centuries in Sweden and Norway. Skiold, a fourth son,\nled a colony into Zealand, which became the seat of a different kingdom;\nhence the Skioldungs, or the regal family of Denmark. And as to Balder,\nhe was the king of the Angles, if any faith is to be placed in the\n\u201cSaxon Chronicle.\u201d Thus, according to tradition, as embodied in the\nIcelandic and Norwegian sagas, and in other monuments of antiquity, Odin\nwas the progenitor of all the great dynasties of the north. But in\nregard to some parts of Norway, we must not forget the family of\n_Nor_,\u2014the mythologic, or rather mythic, Nor, whose fame was so widely\nspread, and from whom the whole country derived its name. Doubtless the\nnative chiefs, those who descended from ancestors long antecedent to\nOdin\u2019s arrival, were proud enough of their descent, and too much\nattached to their ancient religion\u2014more ancient than Odin\u2019s\u2014to care for\neither the Asiatic conqueror or his attendant drottnar. But the kings of\nthe Asser, or divine race, whose chief deity was this very Odin, boasted\nof a spiritual pre-eminence, superior, by far, to their temporal.[41]\n\nBut, reverting to the narrative of Saxo, and the alleged succession of\nthe Danish kings, Hoder, whom (as we have before observed) Gewar, a king\nin Norway, had educated, won the heart of Nanna, the daughter of his\nbenefactor. She had, however, the misfortune to influence a divine\nlover, Balder, the son of Odin, who, like David, had seen her in the\nbath. As he knew of her attachment to Hoder, he resolved to remove that\nperson by violence; but the latter had friends powerful as those of his\nenemy. One day, while hunting in the mountains, Hoder entered a cloud,\nand suddenly beheld a number of virgins, who, though bearing some\nresemblance to the maids of Norway, were in reality the fatal sisters.\nThey accosted him by name, told him that his beloved Nanna had smitten\nthe heart of Balder, but warned him not to attempt the life of the\ndemi-god. They informed him that they were present, unseen, in all\nbattles\u2014that they were the arbiters of good and evil\u2014and that they often\nassisted their mortal friends when assistance was most required. Saying\nthis, they disappeared so quickly, that his eye could not follow them.\nOn his return, he related to Gewar what he had seen, and besought the\nhand of Nanna. The old king had no objection to the match; but he\ndreaded the wrath of Balder, on whose charmed body mortal weapon could\nhave no effect. He added, however,\u2014for he was a great magician,\u2014that\nthere was a sword kept by Mimring, a satyr of the woods, with virtue\nenough to slay the demi-god. The same being had bracelets, of efficacy\nso wonderful, as greatly to increase the bodily strength of the\npossessor. But how obtain these miraculous gifts? The abode of the satyr\nwas amidst rocks and snows, and almost inaccessible to man. Hoder was,\nhowever, to take his sledge and rein-deer; to reach the alpine\nsolitudes; to pitch his tent, so that the shadow of the satyr\u2019s grove\nmight fall upon it; and to watch day and night, with untiring patience,\nfor the appearance of the mysterious occupant. The prince did as he was\ncommanded; he fasted and watched, until one night, feigning to be\nasleep, he perceived the satyr attentively observing his tent. In a\nmoment, he struck the monster, bound it with fetters, and threatened to\nkill it if it did not surrender the sword and bracelets. His life was\ndearer than those treasures. Hoder gained his object, and returned in\ntriumph to the court of Gewar. The value of the treasure, indeed, was\ntoo great not to raise up rivals for its possession; and one king\n(Gelder, who has left his name to a well-known Dutch province), sailed\nwith a powerful armament against him; but if it excited envy, it also\naided its owner, and Hoder was victorious.[42]\n\nIn the mean time, Balder, terrible in arms, entered the dominions to\nobtain the fair Nanna by force, should entreaties be ineffectual. But\nshe was deaf to the most honied flattery. Without betraying her\nattachment for Hoder, which would only place him in greater jeopardy,\nshe represented in strong colours the inequality of the proposed\nmarriage. \u201cThe chain which bound a god to a mortal,\u201d she observed,\n\u201ccould not be a lasting chain. When the fervour of passion had subsided,\nthe superior being, despising his ill-assorted choice, would at once\ndissolve it.\u201d Balder had recourse to arms; and he was joined by the army\nof the gods, at the head of which were Odin and Thor. Here were fearful\nodds; but Hoder was not discouraged. His magic bracelets rendered him\nimpenetrable to steel; and though the hammer of Thor crushed everything\non which it fell, he had the courage to meet the Scandinavian thunderer.\nWith his wonderful sword he cut off the handle of the all-destructive\nweapon, so as to render it useless; and the gods, deprived of their\ngreat support, took refuge in flight. The victory was complete; the\nallies of the gods were destroyed; their bodies cast by the waves on the\nshores; and the victor performed the last rites to their manes.\n\u201cStrange,\u201d concludes Saxo, \u201cthat gods could be thus routed by mortals!\u201d\nBut he accounts for the circumstance by gravely observing that they were\ndeities in human estimation only, and not in reality. He evidently\nregards them merely as magicians and priests; wise, indeed, far beyond\nhuman wisdom, but still mortal. His religion, his profession, compelled\nhim thus to regard them; and often, when he employs the term god, he\nadds the saving clause which we have just noticed.\u2014To proceed: as the\nreward of this victory, Hoder obtained the hand of Nanna, with the\nthrone of one part of Sweden; but he was shortly afterwards vanquished\nby Balder, and he lost the crown of Denmark. He and Balder were dreadful\nrivals. Through his love for Nanna, the latter wasted gradually away. To\nprocure a greater share of the divine favour, he offered human\nsacrifices to Fro, and the fatal precedent was but too well imitated by\nsucceeding ages. In the next battle, he was again the victor, and his\nrival compelled to seek an asylum in an obscure village of Jutland.\nHere, unattended and discouraged, Hoder felt the more deeply the\ncontrast of situations. From Jutland, he passed into Sweden, privately\nassembled his staunch adherents, and represented to them the\nhopelessness of his prospects\u2014that he was alike weary of empire and\nlife. Compelled, indeed, to consult his safety by wandering from forest\nto forest, from one cavern to another, he exhibited a remarkable example\nof the instability of fortune, in a region where such vicissitudes were\nmore frequent than in any other part of the world. In this emergency,\nwhile sojourning amidst woods never trod by man, he one day entered a\ncave, in which he found the weird sisters. Being asked what had brought\nhim to their solitudes, he replied, \u201cMisfortune in war.\u201d He bewailed his\nhard fate, and asserted that their predictions had not been verified,\nbut had been contradicted by the event. They contended, however, that if\nhe had been twice put to flight, he had inflicted as great an injury on\nthe enemy as the enemy had inflicted on him. But Balder was on the\nthrone of Denmark; what consolation, therefore, could he receive? He\nwas, indeed, told, that if he could only discover and appropriate to\nhimself a certain species of food, which was every day served to his\nrival, and which increased that rival\u2019s strength in a prodigious manner,\nhe should become the victor. How discover it? But, whatever his fate, it\ncould not be more disastrous than the present; and he again sought\nBalder in arms. The first day\u2019s fight was indecisive. At night, he lay\nin his tent; but sleep refusing to visit him, he arose and went towards\nthe enemy\u2019s camp. There he saw three virgins (the purveyors of Balder\u2019s\ntable) leave that prince\u2019s tent. He accosted them; and being asked who\nhe was, replied, \u201cA harper,\u201d\u2014a character always sacred in the north. As\nhe was really expert in the use of the instrument, he was readily\nbelieved, and he was allowed to see what the mysterious substance was\nwhich had such miraculous effect on the body of his rival: it was the\nvenom of three snakes which the virgins daily or nightly extracted from\nthe mouths of the reptiles, and which they mixed with the more solid\nfood of Balder. One of the maidens wished to give some of the food to\nHoder, but the eldest forbade her. All, however, were so pleased with\nhis minstrelsy, that they presented him with a belt, which would ensure\nhim the victory over all his enemies. The prophecy was soon fulfilled.\nPossessed of this belt, in addition to his other magical treasures, he\nmet his enemy and gave him a mortal wound. Like a true northern hero,\nBalder being resolved to die on the field of battle, was carried in a\nlitter into the heart of Hoder\u2019s army; but he soon breathed his last\nsigh. Over his body a huge mound was erected by his troops. That\ntreasures of inestimable value were buried with him, was the unanimous\nopinion of posterity. In the time of Saxo, some youths one night\nhastened to the spot, and endeavoured to open it; but their ears being\nassailed by terrific noises, they desisted, and fled. All this, says the\nhistorian, was unreal; it was merely the illusion of magic.[43]\n\nRespecting the death and interment of Balder, we have in the latter Edda\nmany details wholly omitted by Saxo, and more which are entirely\ndissimilar from his. One night, this Balder had a dream, which was\nthought to be portentous of his fate. With the consent of the gods his\nmother, Freya or Frigga, called on fire, water, earth, stones, iron and\nother metals, trees, animals, birds, reptiles, poison, and all diseases,\nto renounce all power over him; and they took an oath to that effect. To\ntry the efficacy of the engagement, some of the gods threw darts and\nstones at him, while some assailed him with other weapons: in vain; no\none could injure him. Seeing this, Loke, the genius of evil, assumed the\ndisguise of an old woman, went to the palace of Frigga, and informed her\nwhat the gods were doing. \u201cLet them try as long as they please,\u201d was the\nreply; \u201call living things have promised to respect my son.\u201d \u201cWhat!\u201d\nrejoined Loke, whose purpose is evident enough, \u201chave all substances,\nwithout exception, thus promised?\u201d \u201cAll,\u201d was the reply, \u201cexcept one\ninsignificant plant, called mistletoe, which grows on the western side\nof Valhalla, and from which, such is its feebleness, I exacted no oath.\u201d\nThis was enough for Loke: he went to the place where the mistletoe grew,\nplucked it up by the roots, and returned to the assembly of the gods,\nwho were still occupied in the same diversion. According to this\naccount, Hoder was present; but he was not a deity, he was merely a\nblind old man. \u201cWhy dost thou not join in the exercise?\u201d demanded Loke.\n\u201cBecause I am blind.\u201d \u201cTake this trifling reed, and throw it; I will\nguide thine hand; meet it is for us all to honour Balder!\u201d The missile\nflew, and the hero fell to rise no more. The gods were in sad\nconsternation at this event; the more so as the evil was irreparable.\nAll that the afflicted father could now do was, to pay due honours to\nhis remains. His body was borne to the sea coast; it was placed in the\nfamous ship of the deceased, which was one of the largest in the world;\nbut neither Odin nor all the gods assembled could move the vessel into\nthe waters. In this emergency, they had recourse to a famous sorceress\nof the giant, namely, of the Jutish race, and she obeyed the call. She\narrived on the back of a wild beast, having serpents for reins. So\ndreadful was this animal, that it required four giants to hold it after\nshe had dismounted. At one push, Gyges sent the ship into the sea; and\nso great was its velocity, that the earth trembled. The funeral pile was\nthen erected by command of Odin, and the body of Balder\u2019s wife, whom\ngrief brought to the grave, laid on it, close by his. Who was she? The\nEdda expressly calls her Nanna, but assigns her another father than\nGewar. There can, however, be no doubt that the beautiful confusion so\nprevalent in everything connected with Scandinavian characters and\nevents, is doubly apparent in this case,\u2014that the wife of Hoder and\nBalder is one and the same Nanna, however the tradition in regard to her\nmay have been distorted. Yet, there is no greater confusion respecting\nthis lady than there is respecting Hoder himself in the different\nrelations of Saxo and Snorro, the compiler of the prose Edda. In the one\ncase, as we have seen, he was a vigorous young prince; in the other, a\nblind, feeble, and apparently old one. This diversity of narrative\narises from the diversity of sources consulted by the two historians\u2014the\none confining himself to the national songs of Denmark, the other\nconsulting the old Norwegian, or rather Icelandic traditions, which the\nScalds had transmitted to posterity. During the middle ages, especially\nanterior to the fourteenth century, there was a vast body of legendary\nlore respecting Odin, his family, and his sacerdotal companions\u2014lore\nfrom which different Scalds took what they judged most interesting to\ntheir hearers. But reverting to the funeral of Balder, Thor furnished\nthe consecrated fire: the horse of the deceased hero was placed on the\npyre; and Odin added his golden ring, which had the miraculous virtue of\nproducing eight other rings every ninth night. Thus, in the presence of\nall the gods, satyrs, nymphs, and cyclops, was the conflagration\neffected.[44]\n\nAccording to the same venerable authority, namely, the Edda of Snorro,\nan attempt was made to recover the soul of Balder from the empire of\nHela, or death. Who would undertake the perilous mission? It was Hermod,\nanother son of Odin, that, at the entreaty of his mother, saddled\nSleipner, the famous black steed, mounted him, and plunged into the\nsubterraneous paths which led to the abodes of the dead. This Sleipner\nhas a reputation never before enjoyed by quadruped. During the frequent\ncontests between the gods and the giants\u2014that is, between the Goths and\nthe Jutes\u2014the former were not always victorious; nor were they always\nsure of impunity within their fortress, well guarded as it was. One day\nan architect appeared before them and proposed to build them such a city\nthat all the power of Jotunheim should fail against it. For this\nservice, however, he must have his reward; and a splendid one it was,\nthe goddess Freya to wife, with the sun and moon as her dowry. They\nagreed to his terms, provided he did what no doubt they believed\nimpossible, viz., execute the work himself, within the space of a single\nwinter; and they were liberal enough to allow him the use of his horse.\nIn a short time the gods had reason to be alarmed; for the horse not\nonly drew stones of vast magnitude, but did more of the architectural\nwork than the master. Within three days of the completion of winter\nnothing remained but the hanging of the gates. In great consternation\nthe gods assembled to consult by what means the ruin impending might be\naverted. As the covenant between them and the architect had been advised\nby Loke, they menaced him with death unless he discovered some expedient\nto save them. Loke, who has sometimes been called the Scandinavian\ndevil, was fond of mischief; but he was fonder still of his life: and\nthat very night he caused a mare to issue from a forest and neigh\namorously. Sleipner, hearing the sound, left the work to pursue the\nmare, while the architect followed to recover his horse. Thus the whole\nnight was lost. The architect now perceived that he must trust to\nhimself. He resumed his natural size, and there he stood, a veritable\ngiant\u2014the everlasting enemy of the gods! They did not allow him to\nfinish the work; but, regardless of their oaths, which in their opinion\nwere not binding when made to a giant, they called on Thor to dash out\nhis brains with the awful mallet. In the mean time the mysterious horse\nremained with the mare, and the issue of the connection was Sleipner\nwith eight feet,\u2014the most excellent of all the animals ever possessed by\ngods or men.[45]\n\nSuch was the animal on which Hermod descended to the regions of Hela.\nThe description of his journey is highly poetical. During nine days and\nas many nights, he travelled down the precipitous way\u2014often abrupt\u2014along\nthe sides of yawning gulfs\u2014through rugged valleys; and everything was\ninvolved in so great a darkness that he was obliged to grope, or trust\nto the instinct of his wondrous beast. At length he reached a river, the\nbridge of which was kept by a virgin called Modguder. She inquired his\nname, his race, his family; and expressed her surprise at his weight.\n\u201cBut yesterday,\u201d she observed, \u201cand three legions of dead rode over this\nbridge; yet all together did not shake it as much as thou alone. But\nthou hast not the look of one dead. What brings thee here?\u201d He replied,\n\u201cI am in search of my brother Balder; hast thou seen him pass?\u201d\u2014\u201cI have:\nhe rode over the bridge: the path to Hecate\u2019s dark abode is still\ndownwards, towards the north!\u201d On he rode until he came to the gates of\nhell, which were closed to all but the dead. But he was not discouraged;\nplunging his spurs into his wondrous horse, he cleared the gate, and\nproceeded into a hall of vast extent. Here he perceived his brother, who\nfilled the most honourable place. But far less honourable was it than\nthe meanest in Valhalla, which Balder could not enter because it had not\nbeen his good fortune to die in battle. It is, however, some consolation\nfor us, poor mortals, to perceive that hospitality is not forgotten in\nthe gloomy regions below. Hermod remained the whole night; and the next\nmorning he acquainted Hela with the anxiety of the gods, of men, of all\nnature, for the return of Balder, and besought her to permit it. She\nseemed to doubt whether the mourning for the hero was so universal as he\nhad represented; but, to place the matter beyond dispute, she replied,\nthat if all objects, inanimate no less than animate, would weep for him,\nthe request of the gods should be granted. Hermod accordingly rose to\ndepart. By Nanna he was intrusted with several presents for Frigga, his\nmother: from Balder he was the bearer of a ring (no doubt the one which\nhad been placed in the funeral pile!) to their father Odin. He was then\nescorted to the outer gate as if he had been a favoured guest just\nleaving the palace of an earthly sovereign. On reaching Asgard, where\nOdin then was, he acquainted the gods with the message of Hela. By their\nadvice agents were sent through all creation, praying everything to weep\nfor Balder. By everything was the mandate obeyed, except by one old\nsorceress, who refused to weep, and said that Hela must keep her\nprey.[46]\n\nBut in the elder or poetical Edda\u2014that of S\u00e6mund the Wise, which in\ncompilation is antecedent a full century to Snorro\u2019s\u2014the journey to the\nshades is attributed to Odin himself. When it was undertaken, Balder was\nyet alive, but dreams and portents afflicted him; and, after consulting\nthe fates, Odin mounted his steed, Sleipner, and descended in darkness\ntowards the abode of Hela, where a celebrated prophetess had been long\ninterred. He met the terrible dog which the Greeks preserved in their\nmythology, and which, with bloody jaws, barked loudly as he passed\nalong. Downwards he went, the earth trembling beneath his steed, until\nhe reached the lofty hall of Hela. From the eastern gate he proceeded to\nthe spot where he knew the tomb of the prophetess was to be found.\nTurning himself towards the north, he then commenced the fatal\nincantation, and placed in order the mystic rhymes. Many were the words\nof might which he uttered, until he forced the unwilling prophetess to\nraise her head, and to speak in the language of men. \u201cWhat unknown\nmortal is he who has thus disturbed my repose? Bleached by the snow,\nbeaten by the winds, drenched by the rains, have I long remained,\u2014long\nhere I have been in the arms of death!\u201d\u2014\u201cVegtam is my name, the son of\nValtam.[47] Tell me the secrets of hell, and I will tell thee what\npasses on earth. For whom are these costly benches, for whom these\ngolden couches prepared?\u201d\u2014\u201cThis tempered mead, this liquid nectar awaits\nthe arrival of Balder. Sorrowful are the sons of heaven. Unwillingly\nhave I spoken; now my lips shall be closed.\u201d\u2014\u201cListen, prophetess, for I\nmust know the whole. Whose hand shall deprive Odin\u2019s son of life?\u201d\u2014\u201cThat\nof Hoder: he the bruiser shall be of Odin\u2019s son, the spoiler of Balder\u2019s\nlife! Unwillingly have I spoken; now my lips shall be closed.\u201d\u2014\u201cListen,\nprophetess, for I must know the whole. Who shall revenge on Hoder the\ndeath of the hero? who shall bear the smiter of Balder to the funeral\npyre?\u201d\u2014\u201cRinda, a virgin of the west, shall bear a son by Odin; he, when\nonly one night old, shall slay the murderer. His hands he shall not\nwash, nor his head shall he comb, until he bears to the funeral pyre the\nenemy of Balder. Unwillingly have I spoken; now my lips shall be\nclosed.\u201d\u2014\u201cListen, prophetess, for I must know the whole. Who are these\ndamsels that weep at pleasure and raise their covered heads on high?[48]\nSay this only, and thou mayest sleep.\u201d\u2014\u201cAh! no wandering spoiler art\nthou, as I have hitherto believed: well do I know thee for Odin, the\npreserver of nations!\u201d\u2014\u201cAnd thou art not Vala; no prophetess art thou;\nbut the mother of the three infernal furies!\u201d\u2014\u201cOdin, ride back to thine\nhouse, and there command! Never again will I be consulted by the living\nuntil Loke shall break loose from his fetters, and the dreaded twilight\nof the gods arrive!\u201d[49] Such is the dark poetical legend which the\ngenius of our poet[50]\n\nGray has immortalised. It is among the most imaginative efforts of the\nScandinavian muse.[51]\n\nAccording to Saxo, it was not the mystic Vala, but Rostiof, king of the\nFinns, who foretold that Odin\u2019s son, by Rinda, should avenge the death\nof Balder. That Odin, who was esteemed chief of the gods, should be less\nprescient than a Finnish king, may appear strange; but this term _god_\nfrequently means no more than Goth, and the chief of the gods means only\nthe head of the pontifical college established, first in Asia, and next\nin Sweden. And we must remember that the Finns were expressly declared\nto be unrivalled in magic, at least in that dark magic which sought the\ninjury of mankind. Yet Odin was equally malignant. He could not rest\nuntil he had discovered the maiden whose offspring was thus predestined\nto accomplish his purpose. This Rinda was a princess, and, consequently,\ndemanded more attention than one of humbler birth. The disguises which\nhe successively assumed at her father\u2019s court; his frequent repulses by\nher; his numerous stratagems, and his ultimate triumph under the\ncharacter of a physician; are gravely related by the venerable historian\nof Denmark. His conduct on these occasions was so unworthy of a god,\nthat his colleagues at Byzantium (or we should rather suppose Asgard)\nremoved him for a time from their society, deprived him of his\nsupernatural powers, degraded him to the level of mortals, and sentenced\nhim to exile,\u2014a doom which he, therefore, suffered a second time, though\non the former occasion it had been self-imposed.[52] All this, in plain\nEnglish, means that he was expelled from the college of priests. This\nnatural explanation is confirmed by the statement, that in ten years,\nthe gods, pitying his sufferings, or, perhaps, bribed by flattery and\ncostly gifts, restored him to all his former privileges. Lest the public\nworship should sustain any injury, his place had been supplied by one\nOller, a priest so expert in magic that he could cross the seas on a\nbone; but this usurper was slain by the Swedes, just as Mitothin had\nbeen slain. In the mean time Bo, the issue of Odin\u2019s connection with\nRinda, grew up, and was intrusted by the father with the sacred task of\nrevenge. Accordingly he advanced against the Danish king. Hoder foresaw\nhis doom; and, in an assembly of chiefs, he prevailed on them to elect\nhis son, Runi, for his successor. In the battle which followed destiny\nwas fulfilled: he fell by the hand of Bo; but the victor also received a\nmortal wound and died the following day.[53]\n\nAll that we have farther to say respecting Odin, in the present\nIntroduction, may be despatched in a few words. Perceiving his end\napproach, he marked his body with a sword, probably to denote the\nadvantage of dying by that weapon; and declared that he was going to\nGodheim or paradise, where he should joyfully receive his people. The\nSwedes were persuaded that he was returned to Asgard to enjoy eternal\nlife; and in this belief his worship was renewed and enlarged. In time\nof war, and before great battles, he often appeared to them, promising\nvictory to some, inviting others to his hall,\u2014in both respects the\nharbinger of good. After death he was placed on the funeral pyre, and\nburnt with exceeding pomp. His followers believed the higher the smoke\nascended the higher would be his place among the gods; and that the more\nabundant the riches consumed with him the richer he would be in the\nother world.[54]\n\nFrom the concurrent testimony of Snorro, Saxo Grammaticus, and the two\nEddas, little doubt can be entertained in regard to the true character\nof Odin. He was evidently a conqueror, a king, a priest, a lawgiver, and\nan adept in the superstitious practices of his age. Endued with\ncommanding talents and an unmeasured ambition, he was enabled to take\nadvantage of circumstances in a degree seldom attained by mortals.\nPerceiving the success which attended his views, and the veneration in\nwhich his wisdom was held, he did not hesitate to ascribe both to the\npeculiar favour of the gods, from whom, like most of the Scythian\nprinces, he boasted of his descent. As he was of divine race, why should\nhe not participate in the privileges of divinity? Short, indeed, is the\ntransition from veneration to actual worship; and there can be little\ndoubt that, even in his lifetime, this artful pontiff king had altars\nsmoking in his honour. But it is worthy of remark that he was often\nregarded as a mortal, not merely in his own age, but in subsequent ages;\nthat the words giants and gods are to be understood of the Jutes and\nGoths,\u2014the former, the original possessors of the soil, the latter, the\nvictorious strangers from Asia\u2014the dominant caste which arrogated to\nitself the sacerdotal and regal functions, and thus preserved its empire\nover the barbarous, enslaved population. It was some time after his\ndeath before his worship was general in the north; and never would it\nhave been general had he not been esteemed the god of war, the deity\nabove all others dear to the ferocious Northmen. Even as it is, he did\nnot hold the highest rank in the worship of all the Scandinavian\nnations. The Norwegians held him inferior to Thor. Still he is by far\nthe most remarkable person that ever took advantage of human credulity.\nOver a considerable portion of Europe his worship was extended; and it\nwas not a transitory worship; for it prevailed, in Germany, far into the\nninth century; in Denmark and Sweden, a century later; and in some parts\nof Norway it was not extinct in the twelfth. Of the religion, however,\nwhich he founded, or which he incorporated with the superstition already\nsubsisting on his arrival in the north, we shall speak in a future\nchapter.\n\nOn the death of Hoder, the sceptre of Denmark, or rather of a portion of\nDenmark, passed into the hands of his son _Ruric_. The name of this\nprince is interesting to an Englishman, from the fact that the alleged\nevents on which the tragedy of _Hamlet_ is founded happened in his\nreign. According to Saxo, Hamlet was not the son of a Danish king. His\nfather was Horwendil, governor of Jutland, a famous pirate and vassal of\nRuric; but the authority was not undivided: it was shared by Fengo,\nbrother of Horwendil. Fengo did nothing to merit the favour of Ruric;\nbut Horwendil was so valiant and able, that he was honoured with the\nhand of Gertrude, daughter of the Danish king. From this marriage sprung\nHamlet, whose history is so famous in the traditions of Denmark. Fengo\ncould not, without envy, behold the good fortune of his brother: envy\nled to hatred, and hatred to fratricide. After this deed he married the\nwidowed Gertrude, and succeeded to the whole government of Jutland.\nHamlet was no inattentive observer of these events. As a pagan, his\nfirst duty was to revenge his father\u2019s death: a duty, to the force of\nwhich his uncle was fully alive, and watchful to frustrate it. Spies\nbeing set on all his actions, he feigned madness; he painted his face,\nput on a strange garb, and uttered the most ridiculous things.\nFrequently was he to be seen on the hearth, seated among the ashes, and\nmaking wooden hooks, which he hardened by the heat. His madness,\nhowever, had method in it; and some of his replies, ridiculous as they\nseemed, made the experienced doubt whether he should be classed among\nthe wisest or the most foolish of mankind. \u201cFor what purpose are these\nhooks?\u201d was one day demanded of him. \u201cFor the revenge of my father!\u201d was\nthe answer. As nobody could see how they could effect that purpose, he\nwas ridiculed by all but the discerning, who supposed that beneath this\nostentatious display of insanity, a profound object was concealed. Among\nthese, was jarl Fengo, who, wishing to prove whether the suspicions were\nwell or ill-founded, had recourse to an expedient. The disposition of\nthe prince was exceedingly amatory; and it was thought that, if a young\nhandsome female were sent to him, he would betray himself. The meeting\nwas to be effected in a wood, and spies were to be placed near him. On\nthe day appointed, he was commanded to ride into a forest. As usual, he\nmounted with his face to the tail, which he held in lieu of a bridle.\nThere he found the woman; and would have immediately betrayed himself,\nhad not his foster-brother obscurely hinted that he should beware. The\nway in which this intimation was communicated, like many other parts of\nSaxo\u2019s narrative, is too gross for translation. Enough to know, that\nHamlet was made to understand the danger of his situation. Among his\nvirtues, chastity was not to be reckoned; and though the instances of\nits violation cannot be recorded in these times, we may observe that,\neven on the occasion before us, he indulged his propensity, and was\ncunning enough to conceal it. Fengo, therefore, was disappointed; but by\nthe advice of a friend, he had recourse to another expedient. Under the\npretext of a long absence on affairs of moment, he left the palace, and\nprovided that Hamlet should be brought into the mother\u2019s presence, while\na spy, unknown to both, should be near them, to hear every word that he\nshould utter. If he had any reason left, it was not doubted he would be\ncommunicative with one whom he loved, and who he knew would never betray\nhim. At the time appointed, the courtier hastened to the apartment,\nwhere mother and son were to meet, and hid himself under a heap of straw\nthat accidentally lay there\u2014a curious illustration of domestic economy\nin that age. Immediately afterwards, Hamlet and Gertrude arrived; but\nthe former was too much aware of the dangers which involved him to\nindulge in rational conversation with his mother, until he had examined\nthe locality. Imitating the crowing of a cock\u2014an imitation in which he\nwas singularly successful\u2014and waving his arms as if they were wings, he\nleaped on the straw, and was immediately sensible that something lay\nbeneath. With his sword he despatched the intruder. After this act,\nwhile his mother was bewailing his supposed insanity, he fiercely\nupbraided her for her incestuous marriage with the murderer of her first\nhusband. This double crime he did not assail exactly in the manner\nrepresented in the drama, but in one more conformable with the barbarism\nof the age, that is, in one of exceeding coarseness.[55] His\nremonstrances are said to have kindled the sparks of virtue in her\nheart; but the sequel ill corresponded with this moral intention, or\nwith the refined character which the dramatist has given him. The man\nwhom he had killed he cut in pieces, boiled the members, and threw them\ninto the sewer to be eaten by the swine. When Fengo returned, great was\nhis surprise to find that his courtier had disappeared\u2014that not the\nslightest trace of him could be discovered. One day Hamlet, who was\nregarded as no more than a motley fool, and to whom questions were put\nfor amusement only, being asked what had become of his uncle\u2019s friend,\nreplied, \u201cHe fell into the common sewer, and being unable to extricate\nhimself, was found, and eaten by the swine!\u201d His reply furnished some\namusement to the hearers, who regarded it as a good motley invention.\nThey did not know that on all occasions, whether grave or trivial,\nHamlet spoke the truth.[56]\n\nBut if the multitude were thus deluded, Fengo was not. For his own\nsafety he felt that the youth must be removed; but to effect this some\nmanagement was required. He would not exasperate his wife, still less\nthe sovereign of Denmark, by openly executing the prince. The deed must\nbe secret, and done by other than native hands, namely, by those of the\nEnglish king, who, we are gravely assured, was a tributary of Denmark.\nBefore Hamlet\u2019s departure, he privately desired his mother, in one year\nfrom that time, to celebrate his funeral obsequies; assuring her,\nhowever, that he would in one year return. Two creatures of Fengo were\nhis companions. One night, while they were buried in sleep, he examined\ntheir baggage, and found, carved on wood, the mandate to the English\nking. With his usual cunning, he erased a portion of the characters; and\nso altered the rest, that the foreign king was to put his two companions\nto death, but to show every possible kindness towards _himself_, and\neven to give him the hand of an English princess. On their arrival in\nEngland, they presented their wooden mandate, which they were unable to\nread; and were invited, with much parade of hospitality, to the royal\ntable. But while the two messengers were thus deluded, Hamlet was\nreceived with much respect. The more curious reader may consult the\nvenerable authority before us for an account of what passed at the\nEnglish court,\u2014an account as minute as it is romantic. To be brief: the\ntwo messengers were executed; and Hamlet, whose wisdom was so much\nadmired, obtained the hand of the monarch\u2019s daughter. He pretended,\nhowever, to be much affected by the death of his companions; and to\npacify him, the king gave him a considerable quantity of gold, which he\nmelted and inclosed in the hollow of two walking sticks. At the\nexpiration of the year, he obtained leave to revisit his native country;\nbut, of all his riches, he took only the staves which contained the\ngold. On reaching Jutland, he assumed his own motley garb, and reached\nthe house of his uncle at the very time his funeral rites were\nperformed. At first, his sudden appearance terrified the domestics and\nguests; but terror yielded to mirth when they saw him resume his motley\ncharacter. \u201cWhere are your two companions?\u201d demanded they. \u201cHere they\nare!\u201d was his reply, as he produced his two sticks. Soon he joined the\ncup-bearers; and as his long flowing garments interfered with his\nactivity, he girt his sword round him, but it had no scabbard; and to\nimpress all the guests with a stronger notion of his insanity, he\nfrequently grasped the blade until the blood flowed from his fingers.\nLittle did they suspect his object in thus descending to the meanest\noccupation: it was to make all of them beastly drunk, and then to exact\nhis revenge. So well did he succeed in the first intention, that most of\nthem, being unable to stagger from the apartment, were compelled to\nremain all night in the hall of entertainment. At length, all being\nburied in sleep, he cut off the cords which supported a huge curtain\nthat occupied the whole room: as it fell on the drunken sleepers, by his\nwooden hooks he fastened it in many places to the ground; and drawing\nthe cords over the curtain, so bound them by knots and hooks as to bid\ndefiance to the efforts of drunken men. Startled by the weight no less\nthan by the sudden difficulty of breathing, they strove to raise the\ncurtain, but in vain; it was too well secured to be moved. In this state\nthey were soon enveloped in flames, which consumed them and the palace.\nFengo retired to his bedroom, and fell asleep: he was awakened by\nHamlet, who, after upbraiding him for his various crimes, put him to\ndeath. He then flew to a safe retreat to watch the progress of events.\nGreat was the surprise of the Jutes at this disaster; but, as Fengo was\na tyrant, the majority were not displeased. Hamlet, therefore,\nreappeared; surrounded himself with those whom he knew to be attached to\nthe interests of his family; sought the public assembly; and, by his\neloquence, so wrought on the people, that they unanimously declared him\nthe successor of Fengo.[57]\n\nInto the remaining adventures of Hamlet\u2014all equally wonderful with the\npreceding\u2014we cannot enter. Whoever may wish to read his subsequent visit\nto Britain; his marriage with a second wife, the queen of Scotland; his\nquarrel with the British king, the father of his first wife; his\ndomestic life with both in his hereditary government of Jutland; his war\nwith Wiglet, king of Denmark, the successor of his grandfather, Ruric;\nhis death in battle; and the facility with which the idol of his heart,\nhis second wife, passed into the arms of the victor, must consult the\nvenerable Saxo.[58]\n\nWe have no wish to pursue farther the list of Danish kings, who,\naccording to Saxo, reigned prior to our Saviour\u2019s birth. Some of them,\nprobably, never reigned at all. Others, certainly, reigned _after_ that\nevent. Others, again, ruled at the same time, over different provinces\nof the kingdom. The reigns of many whom Saxo places before the Christian\nera are identical with those which the best Danish writers regard as\nposterior; and the actions attributed to both are substantially the\nsame. All writers admit that Denmark had no monarch before Skiold, the\nson of Odin; indeed, it had none for some generations afterwards: for\nthere is room to believe that even his authority was more of a\nsacerdotal than of a temporal character. In virtue of this character he\nmight, and probably did, claim a twofold sovereignty over the peninsula\nand islands; but that sovereignty was never virtually exercised\u2014it was\none merely nominal. Several of the islands had their separate governors,\nwhom Saxo calls kings; and Jutland, as we have seen in the sketch of\nHamlet\u2019s life, had them also. The men whom personal qualities elevated\nabove the rest, became chiefs; and when one chief had others subject to\nhim, he assumed the regal title. There were kings of various kinds. We\nread of petty kings (sma-konungur, or fylke-konungur); of sea kings,\nisland kings, and cape kings. The name of the last may require an\nexplanation. They were neither more nor less than the pirate chiefs, who\nlived in caverns or in huts near the promontories, ready, at any moment,\nto sally forth and seize the unsuspecting mariner. Thus there were kings\nenough scattered over the seas, the forests, the mountains, the maritime\ncoasts of the north. Probably all those in the Danish islands might\nyield a nominal homage, at least, to the one that reigned in Scania in\nZealand. But no dependence whatever can be placed on the list of Danish\nkings prior to what we now call the historic times; that is, to about\nthe eighth century of our era. It is astonishing to see how little\njudgment has been exercised by the historians of this country in regard\nto the old northern kings. Thus, the authors of the \u201cUniversal History,\u201d\nnot satisfied with giving the names of the sovereigns from Dan to Frode\nIII., have been so far misled by the Latin historians of Denmark, as to\nfix the precise year before Christ when each began his reign.[59]\n\nBut later writers have made sad work with this list. They contend that\nsome of the names are altogether fabulous; that Skiold reigned only\nforty years before Christ; Frode I., thirty-five years after Christ;\nWermund, one hundred and fifty; Roe and Helge, in the fifth century of\nour era. The truth, however, is, that while no dependence is to be\nplaced on the genealogical series of the former, very little is due to\nthe latter. The whole, prior to the eighth century, is one mass of\nconfusion. If the names of many princes are to be found, not merely in\nthe earliest writers of the north, but on Runic inscriptions, no power\nof criticism can fix the period in which they reigned. All is pure\nconjecture; and one system is preferable to another, only so far as it\nis more reconcilable to common sense. Yet, while we thus reject some of\nthe ancient sovereigns whom Saxo and the elder chroniclers have handed\ndown to us, we are not so sceptical as to reject the majority. If, prior\nto Odin\u2019s arrival, the north had no monarchs, it had kings, or, if the\nreader pleases, chiefs, whose office was sometimes hereditary, sometimes\nelective. It would, perhaps, be more accurate to say that, while they\nsucceeded by hereditary right to the domains of their predecessors, as\n_generals_ and _judges_, they were elected by the free-born warriors. Of\nthese some were, beyond all doubt, elevated into monarchs by tradition;\nfrom tradition they passed into the songs of the Scalds; and from these\nsongs their memory was perpetuated by the old chroniclers. For this\nreason we have not consigned them to total oblivion. Nothing is more\neasy than scepticism; but if scepticism be, as it assuredly is,\nallowable in regard to many details, it is no less blameable than\ncredulity, when it rejects the whole substance of history. On the whole,\nthe safest conclusion is, that, while some of Saxo\u2019s kings are\nimaginary\u2014while many which he places before, doubtless reigned after,\nour Saviour\u2014while he has confounded the whole order of succession, so as\nhopelessly to perplex the reader\u2014a few, probably, lived and reigned\nbefore the establishment of the Gothic dynasty.[60]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n BOOK I.\n\n THE PAGAN AGE.\n\n HALF FABULOUS, HALF HISTORIC.\n\n ------------------\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n DENMARK.\n\n B.C. 40\u2014A. D. 1014.\n\nANCIENT KINGS OF DENMARK.\u2014THEY WERE NUMEROUS.\u2014FRODE I.\u2014LEGEND OF\n SWAFURLAMI AND THE SWORD TYRFING.\u2014INCANTATION OF HERVOR.\u2014THE\n BERSERKS.\u2014STERKODDER, THE HERCULES OF THE NORTH.\u2014HIS ROMANTIC\n ADVENTURES.\u2014WONDERFUL VOYAGE OF GORM I.\u2014ONE EQUALLY WONDERFUL OF\n THORKIL.\u2014KINGS OF DENMARK, CONTINUED: GUDRIC AND GODFREY.\u2014RAGNAR\n LODBROG.\u2014SIGURD RING.\u2014HEMMING.\u2014GORM THE OLD.\u2014HARALD\n BLAATAND.\u2014SWEYN.\u2014INVASION OF ENGLAND.\n\n\nIF, in regard to the kings who reigned prior to the Christian era, we\nhave witnessed so much confusion, we shall not witness less in the\nseries which followed that event. No two chroniclers, unless the one be\nimmediately derived from the other, agree in this respect. Strange to\nsay, this discrepancy as to names and dates is observable in regard to\ncomparatively recent kings; to those, for instance, of the eighth and\nninth centuries,\u2014Snorro, Saxo, Sweyn, Aggesen, Torf\u0153us, Suhm,\u2014all\ndiffer, not only as to the order of succession, but as to the names\nthemselves.[61] Whence this difference? Doubtless from a variety of\ncauses. In the first place, the title of Rex Danorum, or king of the\nDanes, was applied to the governors of Jutland, no less than to those\nwhose seat was in Zealand and Scania. As either became the more\npowerful, he claimed a place among the descendants, or, at least, the\nsuccessors, of Skiold. In the second place, it frequently happened that\nJutland, or Zealand, or Scania was subdued by the neighbouring kings of\nNorway and Sweden, and they were, without hesitation, admitted as kings\nof Denmark. Add the number of revolutions inseparable from such a\nlawless state of society,\u2014where king after king was driven into exile,\nor put to death, or forced to bend, for a while, before the torrent of\ninvasion,\u2014and we can scarcely be surprised at the difference, extreme as\nit is, between the lists of Scandinavian kings. Where, however, accuracy\nis not to be attained, or even an approximation to it, conjecture is\nuseless. The personages whose names and presumed dates are to be found\nin the note below[62], and who are received by modern historians,\ncertainly ruled over some part of Denmark; but whether they were all\nthat ruled in that country,\u2014whether some of them did not reign in the\nmore northern provinces,\u2014whether they reigned in the order assigned to\nthem,\u2014may well be doubted.[63] It would be easy to construct a new list,\nas probable, at least, as any of those which we have transcribed in the\nnotes; but where Torf\u0153us, and Suhm, and other recent writers have\nfailed, there would be something like presumption in the attempt. We are\nbound to declare that little dependence is to be placed on any one that\nnorthern erudition has yet formed; nearly as little on Suhm\u2019s as on any\nthat preceded it. For this reason we have inserted the three most common\nlists, leaving the reader to admit or reject whatever names he pleases.\nAgain, however, we must caution him not to reject any merely on the\nground of their having been omitted by more recent writers. Denmark had,\nsometimes,\u2014indeed, we might say frequently,\u2014three or four sovereigns at\nthe same time; and when their power was nearly balanced, nothing could\nbe more difficult than to say which of them was the legitimate Rex\nDanorum. Nor can this confusion, at the present day, be surprising, when\nwe find Adam of Bremen complaining of it. \u201cTanti autem reges, immo\ntyranni Danorum, utrum simul aliqui regnaverunt, an alter post alterum\nbrevi tempore vixit, incertum est.\u201d[64]\n\nOf these kings, down to the ninth century, very little is known. The\ntruth is, most of them were petty feudal chiefs, inconsiderable as those\nof the Scottish Highlands, during the middle ages. It is acknowledged by\nthe most critical of the Danes themselves, that even the islands which\nnow constitute so small a portion of the monarchy were not united under\none sceptre until the middle of the fourth century. This honour is\nascribed to Dan, surnamed Mykillati, or the Magnanimous, the sixth in\ndescent from Skiold. There can, however, be no doubt that both a too\nearly period has been assigned to this event, and that a dismemberment\nof these islands was frequently effected. Certainly we read of\nindependent principalities in them as late as the eighth century.\nJutland, which forms so considerable a portion of the monarchy, had its\nseparate governors, or kings, who, though sometimes dependent on the\nkings of Zealand, were often at war with them, and rulers over them.\nDoubtless the peninsula and islands were frequently under the same\nsceptre; but the union was a violent one, and was preserved only as long\nas the victor had the necessary means to reward obedience. If we read of\nsuch unions as early as the fifth century, or even the fourth, we also\nread of separate kings in Jutland as late as the ninth. The truth is,\nwhen the author of the forced union paid the debt of nature, the\nmonarchy was immediately dismembered, and its separate parts received\ntheir local rulers. Where, from time immemorial, island has been at war\nwith island, district with district, nothing is so difficult as to\neffect a cordial union between them. Ages are required to destroy the\nhostility which ages have confirmed. Those isolated governments\npreserved no record of their transactions; the memory of them was\nperpetuated by tradition alone, or by the metrical songs to which that\ntradition gave rise. Both _create_ in a degree much greater than they\nperpetuate,\u2014a fact illustrated by the whole course of northern history\nprior to the ninth century. Hence the confusion, the contradictions, the\ndarkness which rest upon it, and the impossibility of yielding much\ncredence to the relations of ancient or modern writers on the subject.\nAs, however, all these relations have some foundation in truth, it would\nbe unwise, and even unjust, to bury in utter oblivion the names and\nalleged deeds of the kings antecedent to the historic times.[65]\n\n[Sidenote: B.C. 4. to A.C. 35.]\n\nOf _Skiold_, the reputed founder of the monarchy, who was probably king\nof Zealand only, though he might have a nominal superiority over the\nrest, we have little even in the way of fable. To his great bodily\nstrength and indomitable courage, which are communicated by Saxo, we\nhave before alluded[66]; and in the same manner we have alluded to the\ndeeds, real or fabulous, of his more immediate successors. _Frode I._,\nwhom Saxo calls Frode III., was no less valiant than Skiold, since he\nconquered from Hungary to Iceland, and from Sweden to the south of\nGermany. The truth probably is, that he joined some one of the warlike\nconfederations, then so common, against the power of Rome; and that the\nexpedition into Germany, being undertaken rather for plunder than for\nglory, was successful. But this prince deserves greater praise, from the\nzeal with which he destroyed the numerous banditti, humbled the\ntyrannical nobles, protected the poor, and reformed the tribunals of his\nkingdom. Some of his edicts were severe. He who suffered a thief to\nescape should himself suffer the punishment of one. He who fled in\nbattle should be accounted a public enemy. If one Dane robbed another,\nhe was to return twofold, and at the same time suffer public\nchastisement. If a man gave refuge to a thief, with the stolen property\nabout him, he was to be whipped in a public assembly of the people, and\nregarded as _criminis particeps_. If any one banished for his crimes\nfought against his native country, he forfeited both property and life.\nIn some of his other regulations there was more humanity. To females he\ngave the power of marrying whomsoever they wished, provided they chose a\nmate in an equal condition of life; for the free woman who married or\nsinned with a slave, became a slave herself. If a man forced a woman, he\nwas compelled to marry her. In other respects the laws which he\npromulgated, or rather confirmed, were nearly identical with those of\nthe Germanic tribes, that, in a former publication, occupied so much of\nour attention.[67] If there be any truth in history, they were eminently\nsuccessful; for it is recorded of Frode I., as of a few other\nsovereigns, that when articles of value were left on the highway, no man\npresumed to touch them. He was the great patron of valour: slaves were\nnot, as in other Germanic tribes, forbidden the use of arms; nor were\nthey deprived of the hope of liberty, since a single act of valour would\nelevate them in the social grade. The real actions, however, of this\nprince are so mingled with fable,\u2014fable at once grotesque and\nimaginative,\u2014that we know not what to believe respecting him. That he\nonce lived; that he was a great warrior; that he was generally\nvictorious; that his internal administration was vigorous; that he was\nan unrivalled pirate,\u2014his fleets committing depredations on all the\ncoasts of the Baltic,\u2014cannot be disputed with much reason. His was the\nheroic age. The north swarmed with kings. On one occasion, alone, thirty\nwere assembled in the Baltic. Did they recognise a superior authority?\nProbably they did; for Frode was frequently accompanied by these\ntributaries. The truth seems to be, that when any sovereign of Jutland,\nor Scania, or Sigtun, or any other place in Denmark, Sweden, or Norway,\nobtained much celebrity as a warrior, the local chiefs\u2014who always\nassumed the regal title\u2014were always ready to seek his protection, and to\nserve under his banner. Though this obedience was temporary, a\npreference was usually given to such of the more powerful kings as were\nof the divine race,\u2014the race of Odin; but amidst the vicissitudes\ninseparable from such a state of society, a fortunate adventurer often\ndispossessed the legitimate claimant; and on ascending a throne\nillustrated by glorious recollections, his own personal qualities gave\nhim an immediate ascendancy over most of his royal neighbours.[68]\n\nThe reign of Frode should not be dismissed without adverting to the hero\nwho shed the most lustre on it, the renowned Arngrim, and to his magic\nsword, Tyrfing, the destroyer of men. According to Saxo, he was a\nSwedish champion, who, having triumphed over another hero, had the\nboldness to demand from Frode the hand of Osura, daughter of that\nmonarch. Finding the royal Dane too proud to listen to him, he was\nadvised by Eric of Sweden to achieve something more splendid than he had\nyet attempted, and then to renew his suit. Without loss of time he led\nhis small but valiant band of warriors against two petty kings,\u2014the one\nof Biarmia, the other of Finland,\u2014who had despised the Danish power.\n\u201cThe Finns,\u201d says the historian, \u201care the last people towards the north,\nand their region is so barren as scarcely to be habitable. They are good\nmarksmen: no people surpass them in throwing missiles. They fight with\nlong and broad arrows, are skilful in magical incantations, and delight\nin hunting. Their abode is variable. They wander about and encamp\nwherever they can find wild beasts. Borne on sledges, they traverse with\nsafety the snowy peaks of the mountains.\u201d Of their skill in magic,\nArngrim had immediate proof. He defeated them, indeed; but then they\ncast three stones behind them, which, though very small stones, seemed\nto their pursuers huge as mountains. The trick succeeded; for Arngrim,\ndiscouraged by the abrupt eminences and steep rocks before him, recalled\nhis men. The next day, through the same power of song, a vast river\nseemed to interpose between the invaders and the natives, and the former\nagain returned. The third day, however, the Swedes were not to be\ndeluded; the Finns were defeated, and compelled to pay tribute. The king\nof Biarmia shared the same fate, and Arngrim, on his return, became the\nson-in-law of Frode. By the princess, Osura, he had, subsequently,\ntwelve sons, all of whom became hardy pirates, the most honourable\nprofession then known in the north. But their end was tragical. Landing\none day in the isle of Samsoe, they destroyed the crews of two\nboats,\u2014all pirates like themselves. But their joy was short. By the two\nchiefs, who had penetrated into the interior, they were suddenly\nassailed, and destroyed to the last of the number, one of the victors,\nHialmar, dying of the wounds which he had received.[69]\n\nThis relation by the Danish historian, which, with the exception of the\nmagical incidents, is probably true, is too simple for the Scalds, who\nhave reared on this basis a long and most ingenious narrative,\u2014one that\nmay aspire to the dignity of an epic. We dwell upon it, however, not for\nthe fancy that created it, but for the light which it throws upon the\nmanners of the period. In ancient times there reigned a king called\nSwafurlam, whose grandfather had received the dominion from the awful\nhands of Odin himself. He was no less valiant than his ancestor. He had\nno sooner succeeded to the inheritance than he was called to revenge his\nfather\u2019s death on a famous giant, the terror of the north. He killed the\nmonster, and took to wife Frida, the beautiful daughter of the slain.\nSuch adventures are of perpetual occurrence in the histories of the\nnorth. The life of no chief was secure; at any moment he might be\nsurprised and slain, or defied to mortal combat, by one his superior in\nstrength or skill. In the event of his fall, his wife, his children, all\nhe had, became the property of the victor. In general, the Norwegian\nmaiden\u2014if she had no prior attachment\u2014passed without much reluctance\ninto the arms of her father\u2019s murderer. That father she could not by her\ntears recall to life; and she might be happy with one who had acted in\nconformity with the manners of the age, and who certainly might be able\nto protect her, in a state of society in which women stood most in need\nof protection. Frida was satisfied with her lot; so far, at least, as\nSwafurlam was concerned. She had, indeed, reason to lament that a\ndaughter was the only issue of their union; that no Herculean boys were\nrising before her to protect both herself and her husband, when age\nshould have bent his sinewy frame. That period she knew must come,\nthough Time might do his work more slowly with him than with less\nvigorous men. But it was not his lot to fall into \u201cthe sear and yellow\nleaf.\u201d Before his strength had time to leave him, there arrived in those\nparts a champion, whose object was to defy and vanquish every hero of\nnote. This was Arngrim, who had never yet fled before mortal man; who in\nevery duel had been victorious. Swafurlam did not much relish the\napproaching struggle. Still less did Frida, who could not avoid\nremembering the death of her father, or fearing that her husband might\nshare the same fate. Eyvor, too, their beautiful daughter, was\napprehensive of the result; for this Arngrim, who was young and\nvigorous, while her father was past life\u2019s meridian, was a _berserk_,\nthat is, shirtless,\u2014one that wore no defensive armour,\u2014that trusted only\nto his own strength, which, during certain fits of madness, was\nincreased in a prodigious measure. When these fits were on him he\ndespised steel, water, fire, as much as if they were harmless; nor did\nhe care whether the foe he had to oppose were one or one thousand. He,\ntherefore, was not likely to prove an invincible husband,\u2014to atone for\nthe loss of a father. To conceal his uneasiness, or rather to divert\nthat ominous feeling which men sometimes experience on the eve of a\ngreat crisis, Swafurlam went into the mountains to hunt.[70] A beautiful\nwhite stag soon appeared in sight, and was as soon pursued; but nothing\ncould equal the creature\u2019s provoking coolness. It was not frightened; it\nwas not hurried; it ran, then turned round as if waiting for its\npursuers, and just when they believed they were on the point of seizing\nit, it bounded forward to delude them a second time. Never was the king\nso ardent in the sport. Night descended; still he rode on; and the beams\nof the full unclouded moon enabled him to see everything nearly as well\nas in the broad daylight. Midnight came; still the hunters were\nfollowing the stag. But it suddenly disappeared through an opening in\nthe rocks, leaving Swafurlam in a terrible rage at the loss of his prey.\nTwo dwarfs\u2014so the Icelanders call the _fairies_\u2014issued from the opening,\nand these he drew his sword to destroy, when, remembering that the whole\nrace were skilful in the manufacture of enchanted weapons, he promised\nto spare their lives on the condition that, within three days, they\nwould make him one that should never miss its blow\u2014that should never\nrust\u2014that should cut the hardest steel as easily as leather\u2014that should\nalways bring victory to the owner. The covenant was made; and, at the\nend of three days, Swafurlam returned for the weapon. It was ready for\nhim, and on one side of the blade was written,\u2014\n\n Draw me not, unless in fray;\n Drawn, I pierce; and piercing, slay.\n\nAnd he was at the same time cautioned, though in terms somewhat\noracular, to beware of the weapon. On his return home he found that\nArngrim had reached it. The latter was treated with the utmost\nhospitality. For him the sable hams were soaked and boiled, the wild\nfowl were placed on the spit, vegetables boiled, new bread made, the ale\ncask tapped, the table spread with the abundant feast, and the\nminstrel\u2019s song made to enliven an entertainment which the fine hands of\nmother and daughter had prepared, and which both honoured with their\npresence. This was, truly, more than Homeric: the most magnanimous of\nGrecian dames would not have thus welcomed the man who was about to\nengage in mortal conflict with husband or brother. The feelings of the\nwife, indeed, on beholding the sinewy frame of the guest, must have been\npainful: her heart failed her; and she was glad when the increasing\npower of the cup authorised her and her daughter to retire. The\nfollowing day her worst fears were verified. Though Swafurlam, at the\nfirst onset, cleft in two the shield of his adversary, the very force of\nhis blow was fatal to him: he struck his magic sword into the ground,\nand, before he could withdraw it, his right hand was amputated by the\nberserk, who snatched the weapon from the lifeless member and gave the\nking a mortal wound in the head. Eyvor became the wife of the victor,\nwho bore her, no less than the spoils of her father\u2019s palace, to his\nNorwegian home.[71]\n\nIt was now Eyvor\u2019s turn to be anxious. Might not a warrior, still more\nvaliant than her husband, arrive, and render her, like her mother, a\nforsaken widow? Might not the weapon which had cost her father his life\nprove equally fatal to one dearer? Often did she request him to bury it\nunder ground; but he was in no humour to part with his most valued\ntreasure, especially as it enabled him to return invincible from all his\nexpeditions. Her fears, however, for _him_ were vain: they should have\nbeen excited for her twelve sons, whom she bore in twelve years after\nher marriage, and who were all warriors\u2014all berserks\u2014all doomed to an\nearly grave. One of them vowed to the god Braga that he would have to\nwife the princess Ingburga, or perish in the attempt. As all were\nbrothers in arms no less than brothers in blood, all bound to assist\neach individual of the number, to make the cause of each a common cause,\nthey took the same view. Arngrim, now waxen in years, took his leave of\nthem with a heavy heart; he felt that he must see them no more; and his\nonly consolation was, that when the Nornies, or fatal sisters, call,\nthey will be obeyed. They had to fight on the desert isle of Samsoe with\ntwo heroes, Hialmar and Oddur, each at the head of a hundred Swedes, and\neach renowned for prowess throughout the north. The former, too, was the\naccepted lover of Ingburga, accepted by her father no less than by\nherself. On their way to the island, the eldest of Arngrim\u2019s twelve\nsons, Angantyr, took to wife Swafa, the daughter of a celebrated jarl,\nand their course was much delayed by the festivities demanded on the\noccasion. This jarl had the same dark forebodings as their own father.\nFain would he have persuaded them to remain with them; but their honour\nwould not allow of this, and away they sailed. On their landing at the\nplace appointed, their accustomed fit seized them, and they destroyed\nthe 200 followers of Hialmar and Oddur, who were then absent in the\ninterior of the island. Mighty was the destruction, by Tyrfing, which\nwas wielded by the powerful Angantyr, and which, on this occasion, might\ntruly be called the death of men. Hialmar and Oddur soon returned to\nfind their companions drenched in gore; but, fortunately for the two\nheroes, the strength of the berserks was now greatly diminished\u2014in other\nwords, the fit was over, and they were become like other men. Still the\nmagic sword and the superiority of numbers compensated to the sons of\nArngrim for their somewhat exhausted spirits. They would have more than\ncompensated had not Oddur worn a quilted coat, which magic rendered\nimpenetrable to the keenest weapon. The conflict soon engaged. On the\none hand, Hialmar was opposed to Angantyr with the magic sword; on the\nother, Oddur, with the magic quilt, encountered, one by one in\nsuccession, the eleven brothers of Angantyr. After a terrible struggle\nof some length, Hialmar fell, pierced by the dreaded Tyrfing, but\nAngantyr also received a mortal wound, and Oddur slew all his eleven\nantagonists. The dead were buried by the only survivor, the fatal sword\nbeing buried along with Angantyr, according to the last request of that\nhero.[72]\n\nThe widow of Angantyr bemoaned the death of her valiant husband. For a\ntime she refused consolation; but finding herself pregnant, she began to\nhope that her issue would avenge the death of father and uncles. Though\nshe gave birth to a female child, still hope did not forsake her. From\ninfancy, indeed, Hervor delighted in masculine pursuits. Her stature was\nequal to that of the other sex; and her spirit was in no respect\ninferior. No sooner did she approach woman\u2019s estate than she exhibited\nall her natural ferocity. She put on armour; did no little mischief; and\nwhen upbraided for her excess, fled to the woods, to rob and murder\npassengers. In vain did her guardians endeavour to rescue her from such\npursuits; in vain did they try to conceal from her the circumstances\nwhich preceded her birth, and even her parentage, pretending that she\nwas the daughter of a mere shepherd, and the offspring of an incestuous\nconnection. But she had seen or dreamt far other things; and, despising\nher present inaction, she resumed her masculine attire, and joined a\nband of pirates, of whom, in a short time, she became the chief. Her\nfame, under the name of Herward, was widely spread. Many were the coasts\nwhich she visted and laid waste. At length, coming to the isle of\nSamsoe, where she heard her father and kindred were buried, she\nannounced to her followers her resolution to go on shore for the purpose\nof despoiling the tombs of the hidden treasure. They assured her that\nthe whole island was infested by malignant genii,\u2014that it was the most\ndangerous of all places. But nothing could deter her from her purpose. A\nshepherd, whom she met, wondered at her temerity; told her that she must\nbe ignorant, indeed, of the terrors of the place, since no one could be\nthere after sunset without extreme peril; and invited her to accept of\nsuch hospitality as his humble cottage afforded. After that time, he\nadded, the tombs, and the very ground, emitted such flames that no one\nwho remained could be safe. She could not be moved; asserted that if the\nwhole island was on fire, she would not fear; and insisted on knowing\nthe exact spot where the tombs might be found. Amazed at her audacity,\nand supposing her to be a fool, the shepherd ran home before the\ndeparture of the sun should permit the demons to injure him; while she\npenetrated into the island. She soon reached the dreadful scene. Fires\nissued from the sepulchres, the inmates of which wandered about; fires\nissued from the path itself, before, behind, around her. Still she\nproceeded, with spirit undaunted, until she came to the greatest of the\ntombs, that which contained the ashes of her father, Angantyr. There she\ncommenced her incantation, which is abridged below.[73] The subsequent\nadventures of Hervor and this wondrous sword must be briefly related. On\nher return to the sea-shore, she found that her companions, terrified by\nthe unusual fires and the sudden thunder, had fled. At length, however,\na ship bore her to the court of Godmund, an aged king, with whom she\nremained a short time only, owing to the fatal Tyrfing. As she was one\nday watching the king and his son at play, she perceived a domestic of\nthe palace draw the weapon which she had left on her seat. Knowing that\nthe prophecy must be fulfilled by the death of some one present, she ran\nto the domestic, took the weapon from him, killed him, left the palace,\nand again betook herself to the piratical life. Her fame, both for\nvalour and beauty, was so great, that Hafod, the son of Godmund,\nsolicited and obtained her hand. Of this marriage the issue were\nAngantyr and Heidrek,\u2014the former noted for his excellent, the latter for\nhis mischievous qualities, both far surpassing the rest of mankind in\nstature and valour. Heidrek was the favourite of Hervor; Angantyr, of\nher husband; but such were the ill qualities of the younger prince, that\nby Hafod he was not allowed to remain at court, but was sent away to be\neducated by one of the heroes of the time. On reaching his eighteenth\nyear, he visited the palace without the consent of his father; but his\ndisposition leading him to embroil the guests in a fatal affray, he was\nexiled by Hafod, who had succeeded to the throne of Godmund. Hervor,\nbeing permitted to bid him adieu, presented him with the magic\nsword,\u2014the best gift in the power of a fond mother to bestow. The\nprophecy of her father, Angantyr, when she so rashly took it from the\ntomb, was immediately fulfilled. Heidrek drew it, brandished it, and,\nwhether intentionally or otherwise, slew his brother Angantyr. To escape\nhis father\u2019s anger, which doomed him to death, he fled into the woods,\nliving on the produce of the chase, and pursued by remorse. By his sword\nhe freed king Harald of Sweden from the oppressive sway of two great\nchiefs. In return, he received the hand of the monarch\u2019s daughter, and\nby her had a son, whom he called, after his own brother, Angantyr. But\nthe sword Tyrfing was doomed to make sad havock among his connections.\nIn his hands it was soon fatal to Harald, his father-in-law; and this\nevent led his royal bride to hang herself. Some years afterwards he\nundertook the education of a Norwegian prince, whom he loved. One day,\nwhile hunting in the forest, his spear broke, and he immediately drew\nthe formidable Tyrfing. As it could not be returned to the scabbard\nuntil it had tasted some blood, and as the prince, only, was with him,\nthe beloved innocent fell beneath the weapon. But it was, at length,\nfatal to himself. One night, while he was asleep in his tent, his slaves\nrose, drew Tyrfing, and slew him. His son Angantyr pursued them, slew\nthem by night, and thus recovered the weapon. In the hands of the new\npossessor it still vindicated its fated character. With it, in open\nbattle, he slew his brother, whom a Swedish princess had born to\nHeidrek. At length, however, it seems to have been again buried in the\ntomb of its victim; and, fortunately for the north, no Hervor\nsubsequently arose to charm it from the ghastly hand which held it.[74]\n\nAngantyr, like all his race, was a hero by profession, a champion who\nfought as much for reputation as for plunder. This institution is one of\nthe most singular features in northern history. Sometimes a champion\nfought alone, wandering, like the knight errants of a later age, from\ncountry to country, not, however, to relieve distressed captives, or to\nperform any other act of humanity, but to triumph, by strength or\ndexterity, over the most renowned warriors of the time. Generally,\nhowever, these men were members of some fraternity, the guards of some\nking, whose first duty was to defend his person, on land or sea; their\nsecond to humble his enemies, or assist his allies. \u201cThe sagas,\u201d\nobserves a modern writer, who has devoted much of his time to northern\nantiquities, \u201care filled with duels, or single combats, between these\nchampions and their adversaries, and the scene was generally some little\nisland near the coast. These combats, in which one champion sometimes\nvanquished and slew many enemies, and which took place also between sea\nor land kings and champions, were so frequent, that he who was just\nentering on the career of arms, or who desired to obtain a wider\nreputation, betook himself to this medium, and without the least motive\nof hatred or resentment, provoked other champions, other pirates, to\nfight him. These heroes entered into associations, or fraternities,\nwhich they sealed with their blood, and which death only could dissolve.\nSometimes they were furnished by the kings or chiefs whom they served\nwith statutes, fixing their number, their privileges, and duties.\u201d In\ngeneral, the statutes excluded all warriors under eighteen or beyond\nsixty years of age. The number in each fraternity varied from half a\ndozen to fifty. Rolf, a prince of Norway, had a famous society of this\nkind. No man unable to lift a stone, or rather rock, which lay in the\ncourt-yard of the prince, and which twelve ordinary men could not raise,\nwas admitted into the body. Lest they should become luxurious, they were\nforbidden to sleep under a roof; with the same view, they were to shun\nfemale society; to inspire them with contempt for pain and danger, they\nwere not to have their wounds dressed before the end of the battle, or\nto seek a shelter during a storm at sea. But all fraternities were not\nthus rigorously excluded from intercourse with the fair sex. To most\nheroes, indeed, the opportunities which the profession afforded of\ncapturing handsome women and rendering them their companions by sea and\nland, was the chief inducement to embrace it. In such an age, no\nhandsome woman\u2014at least, if high-born\u2014could be safe. By night or day her\ndwelling might be assailed, her guardians slain, and herself borne to\nthe swift vessel waiting for her. What, indeed, could resist a chief\nsurrounded by so many champions, especially if they happened to be\nberserks? If there be any truth in history, the strength of these men\nwhen the fit came upon them was supernatural.[76] The mischief, however,\nwas, that if they had no enemy before them, they assailed inanimate\nobjects, or even one another. On one occasion, twelve heroes (the sons\nof Arngrim) fell upon the masts and deck of two ships, which they rent\ninto splinters; and when these were destroyed, they turned their rage\nagainst the trees and rocks. On another, a celebrated sea king put to\ndeath six out of the twelve champions who accompanied him. Sometimes,\ntoo, it happened that the berserks, when under the dominion of their\nstrange frenzy, did not spare themselves. Thus the five sons of Siwald,\nking of Sweden, were seen to throw themselves into the fire, and to\nswallow burning pieces of wood.[77]\n\nWhen these warriors, whether berserks or simple champions, fought for\ntheir chief and country, their services were useful. But sometimes it\nhappened that they were as fond of turning their arms against their\nfellow-subjects as against their hereditary enemies. Others, again,\nopenly embraced the career of bandits; and though pursued with great\nzeal by the neighbouring chiefs, were frequently able, from their\nmountain fastnesses, to defy all hostility. Such a band _Fridleif II._\nresolved to destroy; and he succeeded in his object, but more through\nstratagem than force. He was, however, a valiant chief. Like many other\nnorthern kings, he had to fight for his wife. Seeing that he could not\nobtain Frogerth, daughter of Asmund, a king of Norway, by the ordinary\nway of embassy, he invaded the country, subdued and slew the father, and\nseized upon the princess. But he was not faithful to her. By a\nconcubine\u2014or, perhaps, another wife, for these old pagans did not\nexactly understand the difference between the two\u2014he had a son, whom he\nnamed Olaf. Probably he loved this son more than prince Frode, whom\nFrogerth bore to him: so, at least, we should infer from the anxiety\nwith which he consulted the fates in reference to the child\u2019s fortunes.\nHaving performed the usual rites, and said the usual prayers, he entered\nthe temple of the Nornies. Each of the three sisters occupied her seat.\nTwo were favourable to the child, whom they endowed with noble gifts;\nbut the third lessened their value by associating them with avarice.\nThis custom, Saxo assures us, prevailed among the ancients. Of Olaf,\nhowever, we read no more: the sceptre was not inherited by him, but by\n_Frode II._, if Saxo be right, and by Havar, if any faith is to be\nplaced on the Icelandic chroniclers. But as, for the reasons we have\nalready detailed, there is little certainty in the royal lists of\neither, we gladly leave their disputed order of succession to be settled\nby the native historians of Denmark.[78]\n\nThe reigns of Frode and of _Ingel_, his son, have little interest beyond\nwhat they derive from their association with the name of Sterkodder, the\nHercules of the north, whose exploits were in the mouths of all men,\neven in Saxo\u2019s time. The gigantic limbs, the indomitable spirit of this\nhero, were regarded as supernatural,\u2014as the gifts of the gods to answer\na certain purpose. According to some, it was Thor who knit together the\nsinews of his frame; others gave the honour to Odin. This deity, say the\nlegends, being anxious to destroy Wikar, a king of Norway, yet unwilling\nto do so openly, destined Sterkodder to this service, from his cradle.\nHence his enormous size and force of mind: hence, also, his skill in\npoetry, which was to assist him in the great enterprise before him.\nGrateful for their gifts, and for the protracted existence which had\nbeen decreed him, he soon devised the means of pleasing the god. He\noffered his services as a champion to Wikar, who, being justly proud of\nsuch a companion in arms, was inseparable from him. After some maritime\nexpeditions, undertaken for the sole object of plunder, he found an\nopportunity of effecting Wikar\u2019s destruction. A tempest of unusual fury\nwas still more unusual from its duration. The gods were evidently\noffended, and must be appeased by human blood. Lots were cast into the\nurn, and the king\u2019s name was drawn as the victim. The crew, indeed, were\nhorrified at the thought of sacrificing a king,\u2014and they wished him to\nbe executed in appearance only; but Sterkodder, preferring the reality,\nstrangled Wikar, then opened his body and examined his entrails, as\ngravely as any aruspex of ancient Rome. He then betook himself to a\npiratical life, and obtained even more celebrity for his admirable\ncontinence than for his exploits, superhuman as they were. He never\npartook, even slightly, of intoxicating liquors: he never indulged in\nthe remotest species of luxury. His services to different kings (for he\nwas truly a wandering champion, a knight errant of those barbarous\ntimes) are the constant theme of admiration. Throughout the whole of\nnorthern Europe, from Russia and Hungary to Iceland, his fame was\nspread. Probably there were several heroes of this name, and the\nexploits of all ascribed to one. Frode was one of his favourite masters,\nand one whose bravery he admired. But on the accession of Ingel, the son\nof Frode, whose luxury and intemperance contrasted strongly with the\nsobriety of the late king, and still more with his own, he would no\nlonger remain at the court of Denmark. Yet he always bore an\naffectionate regard for the offspring of Frode. Thus, when he heard that\nHelga, the sister of Ingel, had so forgotten her royal dignity as to\nreceive, without indignation, the addresses of a low mechanic (auri\napifex obscur\u00e6 stinpis), full of zeal for the honour of her house, he\nhastened to her residence, killed the mechanic, and sharply upbraided\nher for the baseness of her inclinations. On another occasion, however,\nhe gratified as much as he had now offended her. Her hand being sought\nby Helge, a king of Norway, Ingel replied that he should have it on the\ncondition of his fighting with certain champions. He accepted the\ncondition; but when he heard that his opponents, whom he was to fight\nall at once, were Angantyr and eight brothers, sons of a Zealand\nchief[79], he was alarmed for the result. He consulted Helga, who seems\nto have had little difficulty in transferring her affections from a dead\nto a living suitor, what he should do; and she advised, to implore the\naid of Sterkodder, then in Sweden. He hastened to the veteran warrior,\nwho readily promised to serve the daughter of Frode. This promise he\nfulfilled by hastening to the court of Ingel, and killing all the nine\nchampions. But the wounds of the victor were many and severe, being\nseventeen in number, and his bowels protruding from some of them. In\nthis state he dragged himself to the banks of a river, to quench his\nthirst; but the water being corrupted by the blood of the combatants, he\nrefused to drink of it; and with great difficulty he crept to a rock\nnear at hand, and sat upon it. So huge was his bulk, that it left a deep\nimpression on the stone. (Saxo, indeed, believes that this impression\nwas made by human hands, and not by the body of Sterkodder.) While in\nthis position, in the utmost need of help, the proud soul of the warrior\nrefused to receive it from base hands. A herald, or rather spy, passed\nby, and offered aid. It was refused, and the man cursed for his\npresumption. Another passed, and being asked his condition, replied\nthat, though he was free, he had married a slave, and to procure her\nenfranchisement, he laboured for her master. The hero upbraided him for\nhis base inclination;\u2014why did he not take a free woman to his bed?\u2014and\nbade him begone. A female now approached, and being asked her condition,\nreplied that she was a slave, and the mother of an infant child; he bade\nher go home and give suck to her brat, for he would have none of her\nhelp. Next passed a free-born peasant, whose good offices he received,\nand whose honourable calling he praised. After the lapse of some time,\nhe repaired to the palace of Ingel, whom he resolved to upbraid for two\nthings;\u2014for unbecoming dissipation, and for neglecting the most\nimportant filial duties,\u2014the revenge of Frode\u2019s death. In a mean\ndisguise he entered the hall of feasting, and seated himself in an\nhonourable place. He was immediately commanded, by the queen, to remove\nto one more becoming his fortunes. He arose, went to the other end of\nthe hall, and seated himself on the bench with such force as to shake\nthe building, and threaten the fall of the roof. At this moment king\nIngel returned from the chase, recognised the veteran warrior, upbraided\nthe queen for her neglect of so illustrious a guest, and endeavoured, by\nthe best attentions, to dissipate his anger. But when he perceived at\nthe royal table the sons of Swerting, the murderers of Frode, and the\nostentatious luxury of the feast, he grew still darker. To appease him,\nthe queen drew a coronet from her brow, and presented it to him; yet he\nnot only rejected it, but threw it in her face. To charm him, the lute\nwas played: he sat like a statue, scorning alike the host, the guests,\nthe costly viands. A trumpet next sounded: he threw a bone which he was\npicking at the head of the musician. But his chief wrath was turned\nagainst the king, whom he apostrophised in no measured terms. At length\nIngel was affected by his reproaches; he drew his sword; Sterkodder did\nthe same; and the floor was soon covered with the blood of the\nmurderers. After this exploit, the champion, in great joy, took leave of\nthe king, whom he saw no more. One of his remaining actions was little\nworthy of his fame. By twelve conspirators of Zealand, who detested the\nyoke of Olo, their king, he was bribed to murder that sovereign, and he\ndid so in the bath. The reward which he received for this inglorious\ndeed\u2014one hundred and twenty pounds of gold\u2014afforded him no pleasure:\nremorse took possession of his soul; he sighed whenever the name of Olo\nwas mentioned; and his days were miserable. In addition to this\ncalamity, age and blindness visited him; and he became so weary of life,\nthat he resolved to leave it. To die in the ordinary course of nature\nwas not fitting a champion, still less one that aspired to the banquets\nof Odin.[80] Supporting himself on two crutches, with two swords at his\nside, he placed himself by the highway, having round his neck the gold\nwhich he had received for the murder of Olo, and which was to be the\nreward of the man who should do the same friendly office for him. But he\nscorned to die by an ignoble hand; and when a rustic, thinking two\nswords were too many for an old man, asked him for one, he bade the\nrustic approach for it, and killed him on the spot. Two companions of a\nprince whose father Sterkodder had killed, one day advanced against him;\nbut he killed both with his crutches. The prince, struck with equal\nadmiration and fear, approached, and a conversation of some length, in\nwhich the hero boasted of his past deeds, followed between them. At the\nconclusion, Sterkodder, aware of the youth\u2019s noble birth, and convinced\nthat he could not die by a better hand, begged Hother to kill him, and\nheld out his sword for the purpose. The prince hesitated; but being told\nthat the act would be a pious duty towards the manes of his father, and\nbeing still more influenced by the view of the gold, he separated the\nhead from the gigantic body of the hero.[81]\n\nWhatever portion of the marvellous may exist in such stories as the\npreceding, no doubt can be entertained of their being founded in truth.\nBut if they were not, they could not be wholly omitted, unless we were\nresolved to shut our eyes to the national manners. Of such manners\u2014the\nbest part of history\u2014they are the best, we may add, the only, mirrors.\nNor is the state of human opinion, as modified by education, climate,\nand habits, a less interesting object of contemplation. For this reason,\nand because of the dearth of genuine events during this ante-historic\nperiod, we have drawn, and for some pages must continue to draw, more\nlargely on the traditionary lore of Scandinavia than we should do were\nthose events more abundant and better established. Now for another\nlegend, wilder than any of the preceding. _Gorm I._, king of Denmark, a\nprince not mentioned in the list of Suhm, yet who undoubtedly reigned in\nJutland, was exceedingly fond of exploring the secrets of nature, of\nvisiting everything wonderful, of enlarging his knowledge. From the\ninhabitants of Thule he had heard of the wondrous seat of Geruth, one of\nthe gigantic magicians who, in ancient times, had been opposed to the\ngods of Asheim; but the place was considered as all but inaccessible to\nmortals, as surrounded with dangers which would make the boldest quail.\nBut dangers were just the things which most excited the enterprise of\nGorm, and he resolved to sail in quest of the mysterious place. He was\nto follow the course of the mighty ocean, which, like a circle,\nsurrounded the earth[82]; to leave the sun and the stars behind; to\npenetrate into ancient chaos,\u2014into regions deprived of light, and beset\nwith terrors of every kind. Three hundred men, in three vessels, agreed\nto accompany their king; and all were to be under the guidance of\nThorkil, who had already performed the voyage. Thorkil lost no time in\ngiving additional strength to the vessels, in covering them with thick\nhides of leather, so as to prevent the ingress of the waters, and in\nfilling them with suitable provisions. The expedition, and after many,\nmany days, arrived off the coast of Halogia[83], or the country of the\nLapps; on they then sailed, until their provisions began to fail, the\nstorm to rage, the sea to dash its deafening billows against the rocks.\nA nimble youth was commanded to ascend the mast, and see whether land\nwas nigh; he shouted out that an island, of abrupt, precipitous access,\nlay within sight. The delighted crew steered for the place, moored their\nvessels, and ascended the cliffs. Thorkil warned them not to seize, from\nthe numerous herds of cattle now visible, more than was sufficient to\nsatisfy their present hunger; if they did, the avenging deities of the\nplace would prevent their return home. But when the famishing men\nperceived how easily the unsuspecting beasts were taken, they forgot the\nwarning, and killed enough to load their ships. The night following, as\nthey lay in their beds on board they were terrified with strange noises,\nand still more with the appearance of monstrous forms running along the\nshore. One of these, more gigantic than the rest, walked on the sea,\nwith a huge club in his hand, and cried aloud that they could not sail\nuntil they had expiated the injury done to the sacred herd, by\ndelivering one man from each vessel. Thorkil, perceiving that there was\nno escape, and preferring the safety of the many to that of the few,\ncommanded the lots to be drawn, and the victims to be delivered. The\nwind now became favourable, and the vessels proceeded to the farther\nBiarmia. This was a region of eternal cold, covered with deep snows, and\nwith pathless forests, destitute of fertility, and abounding with\nstrange beasts; here were many rivers, pouring along their waters with\nceaseless noise, owing to the rocky impediments in their course. To this\ncoast Thorkil directed the prows of the vessels, assuring his companions\nthat they were now come to the place which immediately led to the abode\nof Geruth. He warned them not to speak with the inhabitants, but to\nleave that office to him, who was acquainted with the customs of the\nplace. Towards twilight, a mighty giant approached, and saluted the\nsailors by name; this was Guthmund, the brother of Geruth, the protector\nof strangers. They gazed, admired, and were silent. When asked by the\ngiant the reason of their silence, Thorkil replied that they were\nunacquainted with his speech. Guthmund received them into his chariots,\nand proceeded with them towards his palace. A golden bridge lay within\nsight, and some were inclined to pass over it. \u201cIf you do,\u201d said\nThorkil, \u201cyou will repent: this river, so full of monstrous beings,\nseparates the human from other natures, and beyond it is no footing for\nman.\u201d They soon came to the house of their host, and here it was doubly\nnecessary for Thorkil to repeat his warnings: he assured them, they were\nliterally surrounded by destruction. They must not eat of the food\nplaced before them, but eat what they had brought with them, and seat\nthemselves at a distance from the natives. They must equally shun the\nembraces of the women; for Guthmund had twelve lovely daughters, all\nministers of the table, and all frail enough. If they yielded to any of\nthese temptations, they would instantly lose the remembrance of the\npast, and would pass the remainder of their days with herds of monstrous\nbeasts. The terrified strangers observed his directions; but Guthmund\nwas offended with them for despising his hospitality: he was\nparticularly so with king Gorm. But Thorkil had a ready excuse. Strange\nfood, the latter observed, did not agree with many persons, and was\nfrequently the cause of disease; it was so with the king, who was\nobliged to live on certain kinds of food, which he could only be sure of\nfinding in his own kitchen: hence the host should not be offended with\nthat which implied no want of respect to himself, but a prudent\nattention to one\u2019s own health. This temptation having failed, the giant\noffered his daughters to the king; and to the rest, other maidens of his\nhousehold. This was indeed a temptation. Thorkil, in a low voice,\nrepeated his warning; but four of the number yielded, and were\nimmediately deprived of memory, and, in a great degree, of reason. Now\nfor a third temptation. Guthmund had a delightful garden, the fruits of\nwhich were unequalled: Thorkil prevailed on his men to refuse the offer,\nand accompanied the refusal with much feigned politeness. Seeing that he\ncould have no more than the four victims, the giant transported them\nover the river.[84]\n\nBeyond this stream the adventurers perceived, at no great distance, a\ndark, unfrequented city, resembling a cloud of smoke. On high poles,\ngrinned mortal heads, dissevered from their bodies; and below the\nentrance, which could only be reached by ladders, yelled hideous dogs,\nready to devour the travellers. The entrails of a beast, cast before\nthem by Thorkil, satisfied their howls, and the whole party ascended to\nthe gate. Within, the whole town was possessed by dark larv\u00e6, whose\nhorrid noise, as they hovered about, were ended by the frightfulness of\ntheir shapes: all within was putrid, intolerable to the eye, and still\nmore so to the breath. Onward the adventurers went, and entered a stony\ncavern which, according to tradition, had been the palace of Geruth. The\nhorrible gloom within made them pause on the threshold, but Thorkil\nencouraged them to proceed; at the same time, he warned them to beware\nof taking or touching anything, however inviting to the eye; to restrain\ntheir minds from avarice as from fear; to desire nothing, to dread\nnothing; for if they laid a covetous hand on any desirable object, that\nhand would instantly become immoveable, and the whole body as if it were\ninextricably fettered. Their guide then directed them to enter in fours:\nBroder and Buchi led the way; Thorkil and the king followed; the rest,\nin the same order, formed the main body. The interior of the palace was\nold and unfrequented; a dark cloud filled it; and it abounded with\neverything offensive to the senses. The pillars were encrusted with\nancient mould; the walls teemed with loathsome slime; the roof was\nformed of spears; the floor was covered with serpents, and filth of\nevery kind; so that the strangers were not a little terrified. Above\nall, their noses were offended with the f\u0153tid smell. Farther on were\niron seats, filled with lifeless images of monstrous forms; and these\nwere in the recesses of the hall, separated from it by leaden grates;\nand at the entrances were horrid porters, some howling, and shaking\ntheir maces; some, with their goat-like bodies, exhibiting an unseemly\nsport. Before the adventurers proceeded farther into the interior,\nThorkil was careful to repeat his warning,\u2014not to stretch forth their\nhands to the treasures they would see. Passing by a huge fragment of a\nrock, they perceived an aged man reclining, with wounded body, on the\nsharp rocky peaks above them. Beside him were three females, their\nbodies covered with tumors, and, as if unable to sit, reclined on the\nsame couch. Who and what were these? Thorkil, who was well versed in\nsuch matters, informed his companions that the god Thor, offended by the\ninsolence of Geruth, had driven his bolt through the heart of the giant;\nthat the awful instrument had penetrated into and riven the mountain;\nthat the females had been touched by it; and though their bodies were\nunbroken, they were suffering the punishment due to those who insulted\nthe god. Proceeding forward, they perceived seven large vessels,\nsurrounded with golden hoops, and filled with precious liquor. Near them\nwas a tooth of an unknown sea monster, the extremities adorned with\ngold. Close by it was a large horn inlaid with shining gems, and of\nexquisite workmanship. Near this was a golden bracelet of great weight.\nThe temptation to seize these valuable treasures was too great to be\nresisted. One man, ignorant that the shining metal concealed destruction\nbeneath it, stretched out his hand to the bracelet. Another, influenced,\nalso, by avarice, laid his eager hands on the horn. A third, emboldened\nby their example, placed the huge tooth on his shoulders. They soon\nfound how fatally they had been deluded. One of these treasures was\nimmediately transformed into a serpent, which, with venomous tooth, fell\nupon the robber. The horn became a dragon, which, also, destroyed the\nspoiler. The tooth became a sword, which found its way to the heart of\nthe bearer. Terrified at this spectacle, even the innocent began to fear\nthat they should suffer with the guilty. Proceeding onwards, a door\nopened to a smaller recess, but rich in treasures. Here were weapons,\ntoo large indeed for the human body, but of inestimable value. Among\nthem was a royal mantle or cloak, with a cap, and a belt of admirable\nworkmanship. At the sight, Thorkil, who had so often advised others,\nforgot himself. He took the garment in his hand, and the rest,\ninfluenced by his example, seized the things which they most coveted.\nSuddenly the cavern, from its lowest foundations, shook; every thing\nbegan to reel; and the women cried aloud that these wicked robbers must\nno longer be spared. Lifeless as they had appeared, and more like\nstatues than women, they suddenly found a voice, and, rising from their\ncouch, advanced against the strangers. The rest of the monstrous shapes\nbegan to howl in a most hideous manner. Broder and Buchi were not\nunmindful of their former pursuits: with their lances, they resisted the\nadvancing genii; from their bows and their slings they sent the sharp\nmissiles into the dense ranks of the monsters, and dispersed or\noverthrew them. Yet twenty only of the royal party survived; the rest\nwere torn to pieces by the monsters. In great consternation the\nsurvivors issued from the cavern, returned to the river, were ferried\nover by Guthmund, and entertained in the same manner as before. On this\noccasion all abstained from the viands and the ladies save Buchi, he who\nhad hitherto been an example of moderation, and to whose valour in the\ncaverned palace so many were indebted for their lives. Having taken one\nof the ladies to his bed, he was seized with a sudden dizziness, and\nlost the memory of the past. He did not, however, forget his human\nfeeling; for, anxious to show attention to the guests\u2014now strangers to\nhim\u2014he followed them in one of the chariots of Guthmund, and was for\never engulfed in the waters of the river. The king, pitying the\ninfatuation of his subjects, embarked and returned towards Halogia. But\nthe voyage was again a troubled one: the men were exhausted by the fury\nof the tempests and by hunger; and Gorm resolved on sacrificing to the\ngods. While some of his crew called on this, some on that divinity, he\ninvoked the awful Ugarthiloc, by whose favour he obtained a prosperous\nnavigation homewards.[85]\n\nOn the return of Thorkil, great as had been his services to his\ncompanions in the enterprise, he could not escape the malice of evil\ntongues. They said that he had offended Ugarthiloc, whose vengeance must\nbe averted by supplication, and that Thorkil should, for this purpose,\nbe sent to the distant, mysterious shrine of that deity. He insisted\nthat his accusers should be the companions of his voyage; and his\nrequest was granted by the king. The vessels were prepared as before,\nand the expedition sailed. At length they reached a region where there\nwas no sun, no moon, no stars, where eternal night spread her sceptre\nover this unknown deep. Fuel was the first thing of which they felt the\nwant, and they were compelled to subsist on raw meat. Some of them\ncaught the plague from food so indigestible; the disease began in the\nstomach, and soon descended to the vitals. To abstain was just as fatal\nas to eat; and languor crept on those whom sickness spared. At this\nmoment, when despair had seized on all, a light was seen at a distance.\nThis inspired all with hope, with new strength. They soon anchored; and\nbefore going on shore, Thorkil placed a shining carbuncle on the summit\nof the mast to direct them on their return to the vessels. A cavern,\nwith a low narrow entrance, was before them. Leaving his companions\noutside, Thorkil went in, and perceived two gigantic eagles (or giants\nunder the form of eagles[86]), with hard hooked beaks, placing wood on\nthe fire. The rugged entrance, the stinking threshold, the black wall,\nthe filthy roof, the floor covered with serpents, were not more\noffensive to the eye than to the mind. One of the giants, saluting him,\ntold him that he had ventured on a bold and most difficult\nundertaking,\u2014that of visiting the abode of a divinity little worshipped,\nand of exploring regions beyond the sphere of the world. \u201cBut,\u201d added\nthe giant, \u201cI am acquainted with the course which you will have to\nfollow, and if you will give me three good proverbs in as many\nsentences, I will indicate it to you.\u201d Thorkil did so to the\nsatisfaction of the giant. \u201cYou have yet a four days\u2019 sail before you,\u201d\nsaid the latter, \u201cwith hard rowing, before you can reach the place you\nseek; there you may find Ugarthiloc in his foul and gloomy cave.\u201d\nThorkil was staggered at the labour before him; but he had gone too far\nto recede, and he advanced to the fire to take some of the flaming\nbrands. He was compelled, before he could obtain them, to deliver three\nmore proverbs.[87] With his companions he then returned to the ships;\nand a favourable breeze arising, they reached the destined port on the\nfourth day. Here they landed, and by means of a lurid twilight, were\nenabled to have some glimpse of the objects around them. Before them was\na huge rock. With their flints they struck a light, and made a fire at\nthe entrance of the cave,\u2014a safeguard against the power of demons. Then,\nwith lighted torches borne before them, Thorkil and some of his\ncompanions entered the narrow opening, and perceived a great number of\niron seats surrounded by serpents. Onward was a stream which gently\nflowed over a sandy bottom: this being crossed, the path declined a\nlittle, when a dark and obscure cave was before them. There sat\nUgarthiloc, his hands and feet laden with a vast weight of fetters: and\nthe hairs of his head and beard were long and hard as so many lances.\nThat there might be some evidence of the wonders he had seen, Thorkil,\nwith the assistance of his companions, plucked one hair from the chin of\nthe divinity; when such a stench issued from the part, that had they not\nspeedily applied their mantles to their noses, they would have been\nunable to breathe. As they issued from this awful cave, the snakes,\nflying about them, spued venom upon them. With great difficulty five\nonly reached the ship, the rest falling victims to the venom; and of\nthese five, who were pursued by the serpents, one lost his head, another\nhis eye-sight, a third his hand, through a fatal curiosity to inspect\nthese vengeful creatures. All would have perished had not the hatches\nbeen closed by the thick ox-skins, which bade defiance to the power of\nthe venom. Seeing how vain the attempt to propitiate these divinities,\nThorkil addressed his prayers to the God of all, by whose favour a\nprosperous navigation brought him to his own country.[88]\n\nLegends like the foregoing, which illustrate the opinions of mankind,\nare not to be rejected as childish. Wild as they are, they had once\ntheir believers,\u2014and believers, for anything we know, they may have at\nthis day, among the remote Lapps and Finns. Whether the inventors, who\nwere probably priests of Thor or Odin, took this method of unfolding to\ntheir disciples some physical theory, we shall not inquire. The darkness\nwhich, as all men knew, overhung the polar sea during half the year,\nfavoured the diffusion of such stories. But what will most have struck\nthe reader, in the first of these legends, is, the similarity of some of\nits passages with those of the Odyssey and other classical productions.\nMany of the adventures in the second legend are to be found in the Edda,\nbut ascribed to another individual. As Saxo could not borrow from the\ncompilation of either Saemund or Snorro, all three must have drawn from\nsome common source, and that source was tradition. But we have dwelt\nlong enough on these fabulous times, and we must hasten to the\nhistorical.[89]\n\nIf any faith can be placed in Saxo\u2019s relation, which we see no reason to\ndoubt, Gorm must have been contemporary with the first of the\nCarlovingian kings; for the historian expressly assures us that in this\nreign Denmark was christianised. And in that of _Godric_ his son, who is\nalso called _Godfrey_, we are told that Charlemagne was subduing the\nSaxons. On referring, indeed, to the list which we have given at the\nbeginning of this chapter, and which the best Danish critics regard as\napproximating nearer to the truth than any other yet constructed[90],\nthe reader will perceive that there is no mention of Gorm or Godric. But\nhere we must repeat what we have already frequently observed, that both\nmight have reigned in Jutland, while Sigurd Ring and Ragnar Lodbrok and\nSigurd Snogoje reigned in Zealand. And even if this were not so, we are\nby no means sure that the Icelandic authorities, which alone have weight\nwith the modern historians of Denmark, ought to be followed to the utter\nexclusion of Saxo, who lived as near to the period as any of the former,\nand whose means of information must have been of easier access. Strange\nthat in the eighth century\u2014nay, even in the ninth\u2014we should find so much\ndarkness, so much contradiction in the history of a country which was\nnow beginning to occupy the attention of the Frank historians! Yet such\nis the fact. \u201cC\u2019est un vrai labyrinthe,\u201d says Mallet, \u201co\u00f9 l\u2019on se perd\ndans les contradictions et les t\u00e9n\u00e8bres.\u201d The conjecture, however, which\nwe have made, viz., that Godric or Godfrey might reign in one part of\nDenmark, while Sigurd Ring and Ragnar reigned in another, acquires some\nconfirmation from the fact that the former, as rex Danorum in 803, is\nexpressly mentioned by Ado of Vienne. And in the Saga of Olaf Trygveson,\nking of Norway, we read that this very Godfrey reigned in Jutland during\nthe time of Charlemagne. Was he, the Jutish king, or Sigurd and Ragnar,\nwho appear to have reigned in Zealand, the true sovereign of the Danes?\nWas one subject to the other, or were both independent? This question no\nman can answer. The passage, however, of Ado, confirmed as it is by that\nin Olaf Trygveson\u2019s Saga, explains the confusion which we find at every\nstep in the Danish history prior to the latter part of the tenth\ncentury. We may add that, according to the same authority, Godfrey being\nslain by his own subjects on his return from a successful expedition to\nFrisia, Hemming, his brother or nephew, succeeded. Now these facts are\nconfirmed by Saxo; and where both Icelandic and Danish authorities\nconcur, and are confirmed by the Frank historians (and Hemming\u2019s\naccession, no less than Godfrey\u2019s death, is mentioned by several), we\nsee no ground for scepticism. These princes, then, must be admitted; and\nfor the reasons already given they may be admitted, without excluding\nSigurd Ring, or Ragnar Lodbrog, or Sigurd Snogoje.[91]\n\nThe age of _Ragnar_ ought to be an historic age; but his reign is so\npervaded by fable, that we can make nothing of it. Many have been the\nattempts to reconcile his chronology, at least as found in northern\nwriters, with that of the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon historians; but\nneither it, nor the actions recorded of him by both, can possibly be\nreconciled. Critics, therefore, have been driven to the inference that\nthere were two Ragnars,\u2014one of the eighth, the other of the ninth\ncentury; and, probably, this conjecture is the true one. In the latter\ncentury, indeed, we read of a Jutland chief named Ragenfred, or Regnier,\nwho, being exiled by the reigning king of Denmark, became a pirate, and\ncommitted dreadful depredations on the coasts of Britain and Ireland.\nVery probably the actions of both\u2014and both, no doubt, were extraordinary\nmen\u2014have been confounded together, and enabled Saxo to incorporate, into\none relation, the romantic incidents which tradition had preserved of\nboth. As we have indulged so largely in the romantic, we will not, on\nthis occasion, translate that venerable authority. And it is scarcely\nnecessary to allude to this hero\u2019s death, which, as everybody knows,\nhappened in Northumberland. Defeated by Ella, the Saxon king of the\nprovince, and thrown into a dungeon full of serpents, he expired,\ninsensible of his torments. It is said, indeed, that he composed a lay\nenumerating his former exploits, and his conviction that his sons would\nrevenge his death; but the story, and the ode itself, are so improbable,\nthat they must be consigned to the domain of poetic invention, and no\nlonger be allowed to grow in that of history. Whether there be much\ntruth in the subsequent part of this story, viz., that the sons of\nRagnar did hasten to revenge him, that they disembarked on the\nNorthumbrian coast, defeated the Anglo-Saxons near York, and transformed\nthe province from a Saxon into a Danish state, we are unable to decide\nwith anything approaching to confidence. The probability, however, is,\nthat, notwithstanding the silence of the Saxon Chronicle on this\nsubject, there is some foundation for the account. So constantly do the\nancient writers\u2014writers, too, at no great distance from the period\u2014speak\nof Danish viceroys, often with the regal title, being sent to\nNorthumbria, that we are unwilling to consider the narrative as the pure\ninvention of the Scalds.[92]\n\n[Sidenote: 794 to 935.]\n\nOn the death of Ragnar, the sceptre of at least a portion of\nDenmark\u2014perhaps Scania and the isles\u2014passed into the hands of _Sigurd\nII._ (or _Siward_[93]), surnamed _Snogoje_, or Snake-eyed. At the same\ntime, Jutland was possessed by other kings, whether as tributaries, or\nindependent, there would be rashness in deciding. We read, indeed, that\n_Hemming_ was contemporary with him; that _Harald_ succeeded Hemming in\nsome part of Jutland; that this latter prince was exiled through an\ninsurrection of the sons of Godric, or Godfrey, who fought for the\ninheritance of their father; that this Harald became a Christian, and\nsought the protection of Louis le Debonnaire; that the Carlovingian\nmonarch assisted him to return triumphant; but that, about the year 828,\nbeing again deprived of his throne, he passed his days in religious\ncontemplation. His name will always be memorable for his solemn baptism\nat Ingleheim, in presence of the emperor\u2019s court; and for his efforts to\nintroduce Christianity into Jutland. Under his auspices St. Anscar, the\napostle of Scandinavia, penetrated into Jutland; and though the labours\nof this pious missionary, owing to the troubles of the country, were\nattended with little success, the merit of this first Christian prince\nof Denmark is not the less. It was, indeed, his attachment to the new\nreligion which, more than any other cause, led to his failure. Sigurd,\nthe other Danish king, had no wish to imitate the example of Harald; but\nhe is celebrated as a peaceful, good, and enlightened ruler. For this\nreason, his reign affords no materials for history. On his death, in\n803, he was succeeded, say the Icelandic chroniclers, by _Harda Canute_,\nhis son; but, according to Saxo, by his son _Eric I._ How shall we\ndecide? We can only conjecture that both princes reigned, at the same\ntime, over different parts of the monarchy; but that Eric died early,\nwhile Harda Canute survived to the middle of the ninth century. By the\nsame hypothesis only can we reconcile the names of the kings who\nsucceeded Eric and Harda Canute. By referring to the list at the head of\nthis chapter[94], the reader will perceive that it allows of only two\nsovereigns between Eric I. and Harold Blaatand,\u2014king _Eric II._ and\n_Gorm the Old_; while Saxo admits five, viz., _Canute the Little_,\n_Frode VI._, _Gorm Anglicus_ (so called from his birthplace), _Harold\nV._, and _Gorm the Old_; thus rejecting Eric II., and adding four\nothers. To us, the mode of reconciliation appears simple. While Eric II.\nand Gorm ruled over the islands and Scania, the other princes mentioned\nby Saxo reigned in another part of Jutland. This hypothesis is confirmed\nby one important fact,\u2014that the life of Gorm was unusually protracted;\nand that, by conquest or negotiation, by open force or cunning, he\nobtained the government of all the states now comprising the Danish\nmonarchy. Seeing the conduct of the Jutland princes, their civil wars,\ntheir consequent weakness and unpopularity, he fell on them, and put an\nend to their stormy independence. Over the reign of Gorm, indeed, there\nhangs much obscurity, which the researches of northern critics have by\nno means dissipated. That he performed many great actions; that, in a\nfew years, he conquered Jutland; that he humbled the Saxons, and made\nsome temporary accessions to his states on the side of Mecklenburg and\nPomerania; appear to be undoubted facts. The Frankish writers, however,\naffirm that he was defeated by Henry the Fowler, his newly incorporated\nmonarchy conquered as far as Sleswic, a margrave established in that\nplace, and he himself compelled to admit the missionaries of\nChristianity into his states. Against this statement, which principally\ndepends on the authority of Adam of Bremen, the native historians of\nDenmark make a stand; they will not allow that their country, or any\nportion of it, was ever thus subdued. But what counter authority can\nthey oppose to this? Where are their native writers, if not\ncontemporary, at least as near to the period as Adam, to contradict this\nrelation? They have no such writers; they have nothing in the shape of\nauthority before the close of the twelfth century: for the materials of\ntheir history, they must recur to the very writers whom they would thus\nundervalue. The statement of Adam, a canon of Bremen, who during so long\na period collected materials for his ecclesiastical history, is too\nminute, too reasonable, too well confirmed by allusions, however\nincidental, in other writers (especially in the biographers of a few\nsaints), to leave room for scepticism on the subject. Nor does this\ndetract, in the least degree, from the merit of Gorm. By incorporating\ninto one compact monarchy insignificant states, which had so often\nrefused even a nominal obedience to the kings of Ledra, or Jutland, and\nby destroying so many piratical chiefs, whose arms were turned now\nagainst one another, now against their royal superiors, he effected more\ngood than any preceding king of Denmark. This is his true glory. In\nanother respect, he is less deserving of our praise;\u2014he was hostile to\nthe diffusion of Christianity. Yet he had married a Christian lady,\nwhose beauty and virtues were the theme of admiration, and who certainly\nhad considerable influence over him. While persecuting the missionaries\nin the rest of his states, he appears to have allowed her the exercise\nof her religion,\u2014her chapel and priests. Some writers assert that,\nthough he did not like, he never seriously opposed, the preaching of\nChristianity in any part of his states; and, in confirmation of this\nstatement, they assert that he allowed his sons, Canute and Harald, to\nbe baptized, and Jutland, at least, to make daily progress in the new\nfaith. Yet Saxo assures us that he demolished the churches which had\nbeen erected in the preceding reign; that he restored the pagan temples;\nthat he put to death, or exiled, the teachers of Christianity. This\ntestimony is too positive to be evaded. But, though always a bigoted\npagan, he might have been more intolerant at one period of life than\nanother: probably he was a fierce persecutor until his marriage, and the\nvirtues of his queen had mitigated his hatred of Christianity, and, by\ndegrees, induced him to tolerate it. Though he might have allowed his\nsons to be baptized, he took care that their habits should be pagan.\nThey were the most noted pirates of the age, and he rejoiced in their\nsuccess. One of them, however, was killed near Dublin, and the blow is\nsaid to have proved fatal to him. He died, says Adam of Bremen, in 935;\nprobably, however, he resigned his power in that year, and survived six\nyears longer.[95]\n\n[Sidenote: 935 to 964.]\n\nHARALD II. surnamed _Blaatand_, or Blue-tooth, seems, during the last\nsix years of his father\u2019s life, to have been either associated in the\ngovernment with that king, or to have ruled as his deputy. In 941,\nhowever, on the death of Gorm, he was the undisputed heir of the\nmonarchy. The early part of his reign was most brilliant; the latter\ndisastrous. Soon after his accession, his aid was implored by his\ncountrymen in Normandy. Most readers are aware that, in the latter half\nof the preceding century, Rollo, assisted by perpetual reinforcements\nfrom the north, had wrested that province from the kings of France, and,\nin 912, on his baptism, had been declared the lawful duke of his new\nconquest. In 927, the veteran warrior, exhausted by age and fatigue, had\nresigned the dignity to his son William Longsword. In 943, this duke was\nassassinated, and his son Richard, a child, was left exposed to the\nhostilities of Louis d\u2019Outremer, who naturally wished to recover that\nfine province, and confide the government to a French, not to a Norman,\nvassal. Louis led an army into Normandy, defeated the troops which the\nregency opposed to him, and obtained possession of the young duke\u2019s\nperson. In this emergency the Normans applied for aid to Harald, whose\nwarlike actions were well known to them. In 944, that is, in a year\nafter duke William\u2019s assassination, the Danish king appeared off\nCherburg, with a considerable armament. Alarmed at the danger, Louis had\nrecourse to negotiation; and at the personal interview which followed,\nthe dispute would, in all probability, have been amicably arranged, had\nnot some chiefs of both armies begun to quarrel. This quarrel led to a\ngeneral engagement, in which Louis was vanquished, and made prisoner. To\nobtain his liberty, he was compelled to release the young duke, whose\nright to the fief he also recognised. This was a proud day for Harald,\nwho returned to Denmark with a reputation unrivalled in the north. His\nnext exploit was similar\u2014to place on the throne of Norway (now a\nmonarchy) the sons of Eric, whom Hako, the reigning king, had driven\ninto exile. His arms were successful; and he restored to Harald Grafeld\nthe sceptre of the father. Twelve years afterwards, this prince being\nassassinated (an event of very usual occurrence in the history of the\nnorth), the Danish king went a second time into Norway, subdued the\ncountry, and divided it into three kingdoms. One portion he confided,\nunder the ordinary feudal obligations, to Harald Grenshi, a prince of\nthe family; a second, subject to the same homage and service, was\nbestowed on jarl Hako; the third, which was the lion\u2019s share, was\nreserved to the Danish crown; and from all a large annual tribute was\nexacted. This policy was injurious enough to Norway, however useful it\nmight be to Denmark. And it was scarcely less hurtful to England, since\nit augmented the power of the Danish kings, so as to render them\nformidable enemies to this island. In his next expedition, which was\nagainst no less a personage than the emperor Otho I., he was less happy.\nEmbracing the cause of a rebel whom Otho had placed under the ban of the\nempire, and learning that the monarch was absent in Italy, he made a\nfierce irruption into Saxony, and, we are told, put to death the\nambassadors of Otho. He had little difficulty in driving the imperial\ngarrison from Sleswic, and in destroying that important fortress. On the\nreturn of Otho, however, who lost no time in avenging the indignity\noffered to the empire, Holstein was speedily overrun, and he driven into\nthe north of Jutland. He was compelled to treat with the victor; and his\nstates were left him on the condition of his baptism, and that of his\nson Sweyn, and of helping, instead of impeding, the progress of\nChristianity in his dominions. That on this occasion he did homage for\nthem to the emperor, is asserted by the German, and denied by most\nnative, historians. The subject may occupy our attention for a few\nmoments.[96]\n\n[Sidenote: 964.]\n\nThat Harald did homage to Otho for the whole of Denmark,\u2014that country\nbeing subdued and rendered tributary by the latter,\u2014is expressly\nasserted by Sweyn Aggesen, a Danish writer of the twelfth century.[97]\nIt is equally affirmed by Adam of Bremen, who wrote within half a\ncentury of Harald\u2019s death, and who is better acquainted with the\ntransactions of Holstein and Jutland than all the writers of his\nage.[98] And it is inferred, from a privilege granted by Otho to the\nchurch of Hamburg, exempting the lands of three bishoprics just created\nin Denmark\u2014Aarhuus, Sleswic, Rypen\u2014from all contributions to the state,\nfrom all dependence on the secular government; and extending the same\nprivilege to all the lands which those churches might hereafter possess\nthroughout Denmark. To weaken the effect of these testimonies has been\nthe object of native writers. But what are their reasons? Too feeble to\nhave any weight out of Denmark. They insist that Sweyn was misled by the\nauthority of Adam of Bremen; that Adam, himself, was an ignorant\necclesiastic, who readily assented to whatever Otho assumed; and that\nthe privilege in question, of which the authenticity cannot be denied,\nis of no weight,\u2014a pure formula of the imperial chancellor, dictated,\nindeed, by an ambitious, all-grasping court, but founded on no real\nconquest, much less vassalage. To answer such objections would be an\ninsult to the reader\u2019s understanding. There can be no doubt of the\nemperor\u2019s feudal supremacy over Denmark, any more than over Bohemia, or\nPoland, or Lombardy. It has, indeed, been contended that if Otho had a\nspiritual, he had no temporal jurisdiction; that he might be the\nprotector, the superintendent, the head of the rising church, without\nhaving the least authority over the state. But this allegation is at\nvariance with all reason and with all history. Would a sovereign have\nthe insane effrontery to say what lands shall, and what shall not, pay\ntaxes, unless he had some authority over them? Would he exempt them from\ncontributing towards the support of the crown, unless that crown were in\nsome degree dependent on him? And where is there any example of such\nunlicensed interference? But we all know that vassalitic obligations\nwere of various kinds, some oppressive enough, others little more than\nnominal; and we may admit that though Harald was compelled to do homage,\nand even to pay a yearly tribute, he remained independent so far as his\ninternal administration was concerned. It was the policy of Otho to\nchristianise the kingdom\u2014to transform restless barbarians into civilised\ncreatures\u2014to humanise the fiercest of pagans by the influence of a mild\nand powerful religion. Without such a change, he saw no security for his\nnorthern frontier. But in striving to attain this object, great\nmoderation was necessary: he did not wish to exasperate, where his\ninterest was so obviously to induce the most friendly relations; still\nless would he, by severe exactions,\u2014exactions, however, which his\nposition as conqueror might have enabled him to enforce,\u2014indispose the\nminds of a high-spirited prince and a warlike people, against the faith\nwhich he wished them to embrace.[99]\n\n[Sidenote: 964.]\n\nBut miracles were no longer wrought in the time of the Othos. If Harald\nand some of his people outwardly conformed to the religion of Christ,\nthey were still influenced by that of Odin. Besides, to both the\nnational independence was dear; and we cannot be surprised at the\nhostile feeling with which the Danes regarded the Germans. During the\nlife of the first Otho, indeed, there was outward harmony; but in about\na year after the accession of the second (974), he joined the party of\nHenry duke of Bavaria, then a rebel, and made several irruptions into\nSaxony. On the defeat of that powerful vassal, Otho penetrated into\nJutland, and advanced as far as the Sound which bears his name. With the\nresult of this war we are not acquainted; but probably Harald submitted.\nThe events, however, of both wars, which have been frequently confounded\ninto one, are very doubtful. A more certain fact is, that the good\nfortune of Harald now forsook him. He failed in an expedition against\nNorway, which had thrown off its vassalage. Nor was this the worst: his\nson Sweyn, who had been baptized with him, rebelled against him. The\nmotives which led the prince in this undutiful conduct are unknown.\nProbably the chief was the desire of power; and as his nature was\nferocious, he scrupled not to bear arms against his father. There is\nalso some reason to believe that he was the instrument of a great\nparty,\u2014the old pagans, who could not behold with much pleasure the\ngradual progress of the new faith, and the consequent decline of their\nown. _His_ conversion was not, like his father\u2019s, very sincere; or,\nperhaps, he cared not for either religion, so that his ambition was\ngratified. As the pagans were still the more numerous subjects of the\nstate, he became at once their patron and their tool. The war was short,\nand Harald was compelled to flee. He sought a refuge in Normandy, and by\nduke Richard, we are told, was restored to at least a portion of his\ndominions. How far this relation is true, we cannot, in the absence of\ncontemporary authority, decide. A more certain fact is, that, in 991, he\nwas assassinated by the procurement of his own son. He was walking on\nthe skirts of a wood, when an arrow from the bow of a Jomsberg pirate\nbelonging to a band in the pay of Sweyn, laid him in the dust.[100]\n\nSuch was the fate of a monarch whose memory was dear to the early\nChristians of Denmark. He was the first monarch that openly professed\nthe new religion; and the constancy with which he adhered to it affords\nindisputable proof of his sincerity. From Ledra, the ancient seat of the\nOdinic superstition, he removed his court to Roskild, where he erected a\ncathedral to the most holy Trinity. This was a politic step; connected\nwith the new capital were no ancient recollections to remind the\nidolater of the faith of his fathers. The foundation of three other\nbishoprics attested his zeal. The reverence in which this monarch was\nheld in the centuries immediately following his death, and a passage, of\nwhich the application was mistaken, in the History of Adam of Bremen,\nnearly led to his canonisation.[101]\n\n[Sidenote: 991.]\n\nOn the tragical death of Harald, the sceptre devolved to the unnatural\n_Sweyn_. As the majority of the people were still pagans, the accession\nof this prince was beheld with satisfaction; for though, perhaps, he did\nnot openly apostatise, he encouraged the old religion, and rebuilt many\nof the temples which had been destroyed. And he was the ally of the\nJomsburg pirates, the leader of whom shot the arrow which had proved\nfatal to Harald. Yet Harald was the founder of that city,\u2014one of the\nmost famous in the annals of the world. It was situated near the great\nlake of Pomerania, on the site of the modern Wollin. It was avowedly\nbuilt for a piratical fortress; yet the founders could not anticipate\nthe greatness which it afterwards retained. Its first governor, who was\nalso its legislator, was a pirate chief, Palnatoko, whose skill as an\narcher was never equalled in the north. He decreed that no man who had\never shown the slightest fear, even in the greatest dangers, should be a\nmember of the new community. No Christian was admitted, because\nChristianity was supposed to enfeeble the mind; but people of all other\nreligions and of all countries were received; and each of the great\nEuropean nations had a street of its own. It was the last place of the\nnorth which was humanised by the religion of Christ; and probably it\nwould longer have defied the general influence of that faith, had not\nits riches enervated the vigour of its inhabitants, and intestine\ndissensions still further weakened it, so as to render it a prey to its\nenemies. Palnatoko, the assassin of Harald, had been long resident at\nthe Danish court, and had been the tutor of Sweyn; and to that barbarous\ndeed he was, we are told, excited by a personal injury. His skill in\narchery was the quality on which he most prided himself, and he was\naccustomed to boast that he could hit an apple, however small, on the\ntop of a pole. This boast, which was regarded as an arrogant display,\nmade him some enemies. It reached Harald, who insisted that the archer\u2019s\nown child should supply the place of the pole; and threatened, that if\nthe first arrow missed its aim, his own head should bear the penalty. As\nthere was no hope of changing the royal determination, Palnatoko warned\nhis child to be steady\u2014not to flinch hand or foot\u2014not to move a muscle\nof his body, when the arrow approached. On the day appointed, the\ndreaded experiment was tried; and the apple was cloven, while the child\nremained uninjured. But the archer had three arrows, and being asked\nwhat he had intended to do with the remaining two, he replied, that had\nhe been the death of innocence, the guilty contriver of the experiment\nshould not have escaped.\u2014Such is the story which Saxo has preserved.\nThat it has given rise to the fabulous one of William Tell, must be\napparent to the reader; for the Danish historian wrote a full century\nbefore the Swiss patriot flourished. Nor do we think that Saxo\u2019s account\nis the original one: the circumstance probably took place centuries\nbefore the reign of Harald Blaatand, and became a portion of the\n\u201clegendary lore\u201d the origin of which is so mysterious. Whether this\nincident be true or false in regard to Harald and this archer, the\nlatter joined Sweyn, and, as we have already related, caused the death\nof the former.[102]\n\n[Sidenote: 991.]\n\nIn the early part of this monarch\u2019s reign we meet with much obscurity,\nmuch contradiction. We are told that in return for his rebellion against\nhis father, and for his restoration of paganism, he was doomed to great\nbitterness of suffering; that he was thrice a prisoner among the\npirates, and thrice redeemed by his people. For the last act of\nredemption he is said to have been indebted to Danish ladies, who,\nseeing that the money of the state was wholly exhausted by the preceding\nransoms, contributed their choicest ornaments for that purpose. For this\ngenerosity, adds Saxo, the grateful Sweyn passed a law, that, in future,\nfemales should, like males, succeed, by inheritance, to a portion of\ntheir father\u2019s property. Such a law certainly existed, and it may\npossibly be referred to Sweyn; but in regard to the circumstances which\ngave rise to it, there is room for scepticism. That a powerful\nmonarch\u2014for such Sweyn always was\u2014should be _thrice_ captured by\npirates,\u2014the pirates, too, of Jomsberg,\u2014is surely unparalleled in the\nhistory of the world. Yet the relation alike of Saxo and Sweyn Aggesen\nmust have had some foundation in truth. The probability is, that the\nking, _prior to his accession_, was _once_ a captive, and that the\nmonastic writers of the following age mistook the time and multiplied\nthe circumstances.[103] Those venerable fathers, struck with horror at\nthe filial no less than the religious impiety of this king, were ready\nto adopt, without examination, the most unfavourable reports concerning\nhim. Another statement, that Sweyn was expelled from his kingdom by Eric\nof Sweden, and that he remained almost fifteen years in exile, fourteen\nof which he spent in Scotland, is entitled to just the same credit. His\nfather, we are told, died in 991; yet in 994 he was powerful enough to\nbegin the conquest of England; and from that year to the period of his\ndeath, in 1014, he was always in this country, or in Denmark. Where,\nthen, are these sixteen years to be inserted? Assuredly no chasm can be\nfound for them between 991 and 1014. Other circumstances demonstrate the\nfalsehood of the relation,\u2014a relation, however, adopted by the most\nrecent historians. On his expulsion, we are told, he applied for the\ncommon rights of hospitality to Olaf Trygveson of Norway, but was\nspurned by that prince. This conduct of Olaf, says Saxo, was the less\njustifiable, as Sweyn had assisted him to regain the throne of Norway.\nLet us for a moment attend to dates. Sweyn\u2019s restoration to his country,\nafter his fifteen years of exile, is placed in the year 994; and as Olaf\nwas the first monarch to whom he applied, this application must have\nbeen made about 979. But Olaf did not return to Norway before 996. How\nmuch earlier than this year must he have been assisted by Sweyn? Yet for\nthis, as for the preceding relation, there was probably some basis. If\nSweyn ever was in exile,\u2014and there is some reason to infer that he was,\nduring his hostility with his father,\u2014that exile was before the death of\nHarald, and consequently before his accession to the monarchy. It may\npossibly be that he was at one time prior to that event king of some\nportion of the monarchy,\u2014perhaps of Scania; and this conjecture would at\nonce account for the facility with which Eric expelled him. However this\nbe, there can be no doubt that if this banishment be a fact, it must be\nreferred to a period long prior to 991. What confirms this conjecture\nis, the statement of Saxo, that the monarch to whom Sweyn next applied\nwas Edward king of England. This was evidently Edward the Martyr, who\nascended the throne in 975, and was assassinated in 978,\u2014a period which\nwill exactly agree with the duration assigned to his exile.[104]\n\n[Sidenote: 991 to 993.]\n\nAll writers allow that Sweyn, soon after his accession, sent or led an\narmament against Hako, the usurper of Norway. Snorro assures us that\nthis expedition was planned by the Jomsberg pirates, who were invited to\ncelebrate the funeral solemnities of Harald (that is, to get drunk) at\nthe court of Sweyn; and he adds that the same vow was taken in regard to\nEngland. The vows of drunken men are not usually remembered; but these\npirates remembered theirs but too well. With sixty vessels, filled by\nthe bravest heroes of the republic, they hastened to the Norwegian\ncoast; there they separated, and were separately assailed by jarl Hako,\nhis son, and other chiefs of the kingdom. But, desperate as was the\nvalour of the pirates, their numbers were too few, in comparison with\nthose of the enemy, to fulfil their oath of taking Harald alive, or\nexpelling him from Norway. They were signally defeated, though not until\nprodigies of valour had been effected by them. The contempt in which\nthey beheld death is horribly illustrated by Snorro. Thirty of them\nbeing captured, their feet were tied by a rope, and they were carried on\nshore. They were placed on benches, in a right line, each near to the\nother, awaiting their death. Thorkil, a Norwegian jarl, advanced with a\nhuge sword, and anticipated much pleasure from the exercise of killing\nthem in detail. Accosting the chief of them, he said, \u201cSo, Vagne, thou\nmadest a vow to put me to death; but it seems more likely that I shall\nhave the honour of sending thee with my apology.\u201d The pirate looked at\nhim with much contempt. Beginning at the end of the line, he struck off\nthe heads of many in succession, who faithfully observed the condition\nof their order,\u2014never to exhibit the shadow of a fear. One desired the\njarl to strike him in the forehead, and to look whether he should so\nmuch as blink his eyes. The next victim held in his hand the backbone of\na fish. \u201cI will wager thee,\u201d he said to Thorkil, \u201cthat, after my head is\noff, I shall be able to plunge this bone into the ground!\u201d But the boast\nwas vain: when his head left his body, the bone fell from his hand.\n\u201cInjure not my hair!\u201d[105] cried another, as he stretched out his neck\nto receive the blow. An attendant held the long tresses with both hands,\nwhile the executioner struck; but, at the moment, the pirate threw back\nhis head, and the sword amputated the two hands of the courtier, without\ninjuring the pirate. Great was the triumph of the latter; and Eric, the\nson of Hako, admiring his intrepidity, procured his pardon. Another,\nVagne, one of the chiefs, was pushed against the executioner by his next\nfellow; Thorkil fell, and, in so doing, his sword cut the rope which\nbound the pirate, who, seizing the weapon, beheaded the Norwegian jarl.\nEric, too, procured _his_ pardon. Eighteen being in this manner slain,\nthe visitors began to feel some admiration for the rest. \u201cWilt thou\naccept the offer of thy life?\u201d was demanded of the next. \u201cThat,\u201d replied\nthe man, who would not receive even life from an ignoble hand, \u201cdepends\non the dignity of the giver!\u201d Jarl Eric, the son of Hako, was named, and\nthe offer was accepted. \u201cWilt thou?\u201d was addressed to another. \u201cNot\nunless my companions are spared also!\u201d was the reply; and they were\nspared.[106]\n\n[Sidenote: 991 to 1001.]\n\nIf the expedition against Norway thus failed, very different was the\nissue of that directed against England. During the greater part of a\ncentury, this island had been unmolested by the pirates. Alfred, towards\nthe close of his reign, had humbled them; Edward the elder had signally\ntriumphed over them; and the name of Athelstane had been dreaded by all\nthe rovers of the sea. There had been battles, indeed, with the Danish\nstate of Northumberland, which, prior to Athelstane\u2019s reign, had formed\nno part of the Saxon confederation; but the coasts of central and\nnorthern England had been undisturbed. On the accession of Ethelred,\nhowever, the scourge was resumed. In 991, a large force appeared before\nIpswich, and marched to Malden, laying waste the country on every side.\nOn this occasion Brithnoth, the Saxon governor of Essex, was slain; and\nhis fate has been related in a poem, from which copious extracts may be\nfound in a volume connected with the present.[107] These formidable\ninvaders, as every child knows, were bribed to leave England; and, as\nevery child knows, they soon returned in greater numbers than before.\nEven when steel, instead of gold, was to be the tribute, a cowardly and\ntreacherous commander, Alfric of Mercia, was intrusted with the defence\nof England. In the following years, every province was desolated. In\n994, Sweyn himself appeared in the Thames with a formidable fleet. He\nhad an ally, Olaf, the son of Trygve, who, since infancy, had never been\nin Norway, and whose piratical exploits had been celebrated from Russia\nto Ireland.[108] His attack on London was repelled; but Essex, Kent,\nSussex, and Hampshire suffered dreadfully from his depredations, and\nthose of his ally. As before, though the number of pirates did not\nexceed 10,000, money was offered by the despicable Ethelred. Olaf, on\nreceiving it, visited the court of the Saxon king, received the rite of\nconfirmation (he had previously been baptized in one of the Scilly\nislands), and promised never again to molest the English coast. We hear\nno more of his depredations: but whether his forbearance was owing to\nhis promise, or to his departure for Norway, the throne of which he\nascended in little more than a year from this period, may well be\ndoubted.[109] But Sweyn had no such moderation. In about three years\nfrom the payment of the 16,000_l._, he appeared in the south-west\ncounties, advanced into Sussex and Hampshire, laying waste everything in\nhis passage, and wintered as securely as if he had been naturalised: no\nopposition was made to his progress. Kent was next ravaged; and the\nwhole of England would, no doubt, have become Danish, had not Sweyn been\nrecalled to contend with a more formidable enemy, Olaf of Norway. One\nyear after the death of that monarch[110], that is, in 1001, the Danes\nreturned to a country where they had found no enemies, but abundance of\nprey. Another heavy ransom, and extensive estates in different parts of\nthe kingdom, procured a temporary cessation of hostilities.[111]\n\n[Sidenote: 1001 to 1003.]\n\nIf Ethelred could not oppose the enemy in the field, and if his coffers\nwere exhausted, he had still one resource left,\u2014that of a general\nmassacre. The day before the festival of St. Brice, the authorities of\nevery city and town received secret letters from the court, commanding\nthem and the people everywhere to rise at a certain hour, to fall on the\nunarmed, unsuspicious Danes, and not to spare one of them. The order was\ntoo well obeyed, and the English nation made itself equally guilty with\nits king. Many of the victims were naturalised; many had English\nhusbands or wives; more were on terms of intimacy with the natives, and,\nat the moment this bloody mandate was executed, were sharing the\nhospitality of their huts. Nobody was spared: decrepit age and helpless\ninfancy, youth and beauty, pleaded in vain. Even Gunhilda, sister of\nSweyn, a convert to Christianity and the wife of an English earl,\nsuffered with the rest; but not until she had seen her husband and son\nbeheaded in her presence. This was not the mere act of the crown, nor\nthat of a few courtiers, nor that of the municipal authorities: it was\nthat of the English nation. Retribution, as Gunhilda had prophesied, was\nat hand; and every reader will rejoice that it was so. Sweyn no sooner\nheard of the massacre, than he swore never to rest until he had\ninflicted a terrible vengeance on the people. He no longer wished for\nbooty, merely: he would also destroy. With a fleet of three hundred\nsail, he steered to the west of the island, landed in Cornwall,\ncommenced his devastating career, reached Exeter, which he took by\nassault, set it on fire, and massacred the inhabitants. From thence he\nproceeded into Wiltshire, where fire and sword did their work, and\npassed by way of Salisbury to the sea coast, laden with plunder. No\nattempt was made to arrest his destructive progress: a Saxon force under\nAlfric had, indeed, assembled; but it would not fight, and it retired\ncovered with the derision of the invaders.[112]\n\n[Sidenote: 1003 to 1009.]\n\nThe winter of 1003 Sweyn passed in Denmark; in the following year he was\nagain in England. His destructive career now commenced in the eastern\ncounties; but this year they terminated sooner than could have been\nforeseen. A famine\u2014the result of preceding depredations\u2014afflicted the\nland; and as provisions in sufficient abundance could not be found, the\npirates returned home for a season. The deplorable cowardice of the\ntroops, the imbecility of the governors, from Ethelred down to the\nmeanest thane, was never equalled in any other country. This condition\nis well described by Turketul in a letter to Sweyn:\u2014\u201cA country\nillustrious and powerful; a king asleep, caring only for women and wine,\ntrembling at the very mention of war, hated by his own people, despised\nby foreigners; generals envious of one another; governors who fly at the\nfirst shout of battle.\u201d This weak and vicious king had the felicity to\nconvert his friends into enemies at the very time he most needed their\nassistance. In 1002 he married the princess Emma of Normandy; but his\nbehaviour to her was so grossly offensive, so brutal, that her father,\nduke Richard I., joined in making him still more contemptible by\nimprisoning or killing his subjects who happened to pass through\nNormandy. The pirates of Sweyn soon returned to consummate their work.\nIn 1006 a heavy sum was paid them; the following year they demanded an\nequal sum, and declared that, in future, it must be annually paid by way\nof tribute. Some feeble efforts were made to defend the country; but the\nleaders of the fleet which had been raised turned their arms against one\nanother. Thus fell the hopes of the nation, which prepared its neck for\nthe most galling yoke that had ever afflicted it.[113]\n\n[Sidenote: 1010.]\n\nIn the year 1010 the Danes were in possession of sixteen English\ncounties, and they exacted forty-eight thousand pounds for sparing the\nrest. But such moderation was not in their policy; and no sooner was the\nmoney theirs, than their atrocities recommenced. The condition of\nKent\u2014which was that of half England\u2014is more graphically described by the\nbiographer of St. Elphege, archbishop of Canterbury, than by all the\nchronicles of the period. When that city was first besieged, there was\nsome prospect of a defence; the walls were strong, and there were many\nstrong arms eager to defend their cathedral, their bishop, their wives\nand children. But a traitor (and England was full of them) set fire to\nabout twenty different houses: to extinguish the flames many of the\ndefenders left their posts; one of the gates was broken open, and the\npirates rushed into the city, while the flames spread on every side. The\nmen were cut down in the streets, or they were thrown into the devouring\nfire; women were violated and speared; children were tossed like balls\nfrom the points of the lances. As a last resource, St. Elphege and his\nclergy had taken refuge in the cathedral; but he could not hear of these\nexcesses without endeavouring to stop them. Rushing from the sacred pile\ninto the midst of the pirates, he exclaimed, \u201cSpare the city! at least,\nif you are men, spare the helplessness of infancy! Turn your weapons\nagainst me, only, who have always condemned your crimes!\u201d They gagged\nhim, bound him, and led him to witness the fate of his church, to which\nthousands of the people had now resorted in the vain hope that its\nsanctity would impress even pagans. It was soon on fire; the smoke\nascended in clouds; the flames spread; and as the unfortunate people,\nforced by the burning liquid lead, issued from the building, they were\ncut down by the ferocious pirates. Of eight thousand inhabitants, about\na tenth of the number were spared, in the hope of ransom; and such as\nwere unable or unwilling to pay it were put to a cruel death. Among them\nwas St. Elphege, who might have raised the sum demanded for him\u2014three\nthousand pieces of gold\u2014had he signed an order to the churches of his\ndiocese to pay the money from their treasuries. But he refused to allow\nthat which had been raised for the poor to be expended on him: he would\nnot, he said, purchase life on terms so disgraceful. He who, throughout\nlife, had begged for the indigent, would not be the means of plundering\nthem in his old age. After being detained for some time, kept in a\nloathsome dungeon, starved, tormented, beaten, in the view of subduing\nhis inflexibility, he was martyred, his last ejaculations being for his\nflock, his country, his very enemies.[114]\n\n[Sidenote: 1013 to 1014.]\n\nIn 1013 Sweyn arrived, with new reinforcements, to take possession of\nthe whole island. On landing in the north, the earl of Northumberland\nand the whole province submitted. Proceeding to the south, Oxford,\nWinchester, Bath, with all the towns of the west, and all the great\nthanes, sent in their allegiance. For some time London held out, because\nEthelred was in it; but that doughty hero, having ascertained that duke\nRichard of Normandy would receive him for the sake of his wife,\nprecipitately fled to Rouen, leaving his capital and kingdom in the\nhands of the invaders. Sweyn was king of England; and he used the title,\nthough, owing to the short residue of his life, he was not crowned. That\nhe exercised all the rights of sovereignty, fully as the Saxon kings had\never done, is admitted by our own historians. His reign is said to have\nbeen one of severe exaction. He died at Gainsborough in one year after\nhis elevation, under circumstances of suspicion. The northern annalists\ndeclare that he was killed by prince Edward, afterwards the Confessor;\nbut no English authority confirms the report. This was not the work of\nEdward; but it might be that of Edmund Ironside.[115]\n\nMany years before his death Sweyn probably reverted to Christianity, and\npersevered in it unto his death. But whether pagan or Christian, he was\na ferocious warrior and a stern king. With natural talents of a high\norder, with indomitable courage, with unwearied activity, he obtained\nadvantages which none of his predecessors had enjoyed. We have already\nalluded to the diversion which his son, with Olaf Trygveson, king of\nNorway, created in favour of England. After the death of that hero\n(1000), he seized a portion of Norway, while the Swedish king seized\nanother; and this augmentation of his power no doubt rendered him more\nable to conquer England.[116]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAP. II.\n\n SWEDEN.\n\n A.C. 70 to A.D. 1001.\n\nUNCERTAINTY AND CONTRADICTION IN THE CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF\n KINGS EXPLAINED BY THE FACT THAT THE GOTHS AND SWIONES\n WERE UNDER DISTINCT RULERS\u2014HENCE THEIR CONFUSION.\u2014THE\n YNGLINGS, OR SACRED FAMILY OF ODIN, REIGN AT UPSAL.\u2014KINGS\n OF THAT RACE: ODIN\u2014NIORD\u2014FREYR\u2014FREYA\u2014FIOLNER\u2014SWEGDIR\u2014\n VANLAND\u2014VISBUR\u2014DOMALD\u2014DOMAR\u2014DYGVE\u2014DAG\u2014AGNE, ETC.\u2014FATE OF THE\n PRINCES OF THIS HOUSE, OF WHOM MOST DIE TRAGICALLY.\u2014LEGEND OF AUN THE\n OLD.\u2014INGIALD ILLRADA.\u2014CONQUEST OF SWEDEN BY IVAR VIDFADME.\u2014GOTHIC\n KINGS FROM GYLFO TO IVAR VIDFADME.\u2014KINGS OF THE SWEDES AND THE GOTHS.\n\n\nIN the Introduction to the present volume we have added the tabular list\nof kings by archbishop Joannes Magnus, as illustrative of the difficulty\nwhich must accompany all researches into the ancient history of\nSweden.[117] The exploits of those kings, their chronological order,\ntheir very names, rest under a deep cloud. Where, indeed, no two authors\nagree,\u2014where the names, not merely of two or three sovereigns, but of\nnearly one half, are as different as the actions ascribed to them,\u2014what\ncan be inferred but this, that little dependence is to be placed on any\none of them? Compare, for example, the list given by the archbishop with\nthat which modern Swedish critics approve[118]; and what must be the\nreader\u2019s surprise to find\u2014110 in the former case, and 37 in the other;\nthe names, too, for the most part, dissimilar as the number! If we take\nthat given by the authors of our Universal History[119], we shall,\nindeed, have some approximation in respect to the number, but little in\nregard to the names, of the kings. Other lists might be produced equally\ncontrasting with the one contained in the Norwegian authorities. Whence\nthis diversity, which modern historians have pronounced to be hopelessly\nirreconcileable? It arises from a very simple cause. When the Swiones,\nthe attendants of Odin,\u2014his companions from his Asiatic kingdom,\u2014arrived\nin the north, they found a Gothic tribe, the Gothones, under Gylfo their\nking, seated along the maritime coast, and extending to the centre of\nSweden. How long this tribe had been settled there when the Swiones\narrived would be vain to inquire. By what means Odin and his followers\nobtained a portion of the country, and established the seat of his new\nempire at Upsal, has been already related. Here, then, were two distinct\ntribes, the Gothones or Goths, and the Swiones or Swedes, to say nothing\nof the original tribes, or, at least, fragments of those tribes, who had\nbeen located in these regions many centuries before the arrival of the\nGoths. Now the kings whom Joannes Magnus, Torf\u0153us, Loccenius, the\nauthors of our Universal History, and other writers enumerate, were the\nkings of the Goths and Swedes, while those contained in the\nLandfedgatal, the Heimskringla, and other Icelandic authorities, were\nsovereigns of the Swedes only. That the two people, and, consequently,\nthe districts which they inhabited, were for many centuries under\ndistinct rulers, is one of the best ascertained facts of history. The\nformer called themselves kings of the Goths, or of Gothland, only; the\nlatter, now kings of the Swedes, now of Upsal. This distinction was not\nonly observed from the very dawn of their history, but is at this day\npreserved in the title of the monarch, who is styled \u201cKing of the Swedes\nand of the Goths.\u201d Hence the two lists of kings\u2014the two kingdoms\u2014the\ndistinction of history in both; all which have hitherto been confounded,\nand so completely as to baffle the keenest criticism. Not that the king\nof the one people was not sometimes the king of both. This could not be\notherwise, when two conterminous nations, jealous of each other\u2019s\nprosperity, were eager for the ascendancy. The superiority, no doubt,\nwas assumed by the sovereigns of the divine race, the descendants of\nOdin; but those of Gothland were sometimes the rulers, and hailed as\nmonarchs of the Swedes. On the other hand, the kings of the Swedes\u2014those\nwho reigned at Upsal\u2014were still more frequently victors over their\nGothic neighbours. Hence the confusion which, notwithstanding the\nimportant distinction we have been so careful to indicate, will often be\nfound in the regal lists of this country.[120]\n\n[Sidenote: A.C. 40 to A.D. 14.]\n\nWe commence with the hallowed race, the pontiff kings of the Swedes, who\nreigned at Upsal. On the death of Odin, _Niord_ succeeded, as prophet,\npriest, and king, in the capital of Sigtuna. It was then, no doubt, the\nhead of a very small state. Many were the kings which held Sweden at\nthis time: besides Gothia, which was subject to chiefs, who, in the\nsequel, were generally at war with the Swiones, each province had its\nking. Several of the states were bound in alliance with Niord. Odinsey,\nin Fionia, was held by a chief of this nature; Skiold, the son of Odin,\nreigned at Ledra, in Zealand; Freyr was the pontiff chief of Upsal;\nHeimdal was over the temple at Hemenbiorg; Thor was at Thrudvang, and\nBalder at Breidablik.[121] And though Scania was a possession of the\nGoths, and not yet subject to the Danish chiefs, it appears to have been\nheld by some one of the Asser. The reign of Niord was a happy one; the\ngifts of nature were extraordinarily abundant, and the benefit was\nreferred to his influence with the gods. Before his death he wounded\nhimself as Odin had done. After it, his body was laid on the funeral\npyre, and he was long worshipped as a deity. The sceptre was now\ntransferred to _Freyr_, the son of Niord. His reign, too, was\nprosperous, and he was the idol of his people. He it was who built the\ngreat temple at Upsal, and made it the seat of his government, in\npreference to Sigtuna. Here he received the tribute furnished by his\nsubjects; hence the progressive enrichment of that place. Universal\npeace distinguished his administration. He was held in greater esteem\nthan his predecessors, and his surname of _Yngve_ became the proudest\ndistinction of his descendants, who were thenceforth called _Ynglings_.\nHis death\u2014we know not for what reason\u2014was concealed for three years; the\nonly reason assigned is, that a magnificent tomb was erecting for him\nduring that period. His son did not immediately ascend the throne of the\nSwedes; there was _Freya_, the last of the divine personages who had\naccompanied Odin from Asia to the north. She was celebrated in her life,\nand still more after her death: her body was not burned on the funeral\npyre, because it was believed she had returned to the gods; and her\nstatue, as everybody knows, in conjunction with those of Thor and Odin,\nlong adorned the temple at Upsal. _Fiolner_[122], the son of Freyr,\nsucceeded. He was contemporary with Frode I., king of Denmark. Both were\nequally inclined to peace, and they lived in perfect harmony. More than\nonce did he visit king Frode at Ledra, whose hospitality was the\nadmiration of that age. But one of his visits proved fatal. Whatever\nmight be his other virtues, sobriety was not of the number; his\npotations were long and deep; and one night, having occasion to rise, he\nfell into a huge vessel of mead which was in the cellar, the trap door\nof which had been incautiously left open.[123] The throne now passed to\n_Swegdir_, his son. This prince, accompanied by twelve nobles, went into\nAsia for the purpose of inquiring into the family and exploits of Odin.\nHe wandered over \u201cTurkland\u201d and Great \u201cSwionia,\u201d the Asheim or Godheim\nof the Swedes. Here he found many of his own blood. While in the\nterritory of the Vanir[124], he married a lady of that nation, and by\nher had a son, whom he called Vanland. At the end of five years, he\nreturned to Upsal; but if any reliance is to be placed on tradition, he\nafterwards took a second journey to those distant regions, and never\nreturned. A wondrous legend has been invented to account for his death.\n\u201cTo the east of Great Fionia,\u201d says Snorro, \u201cthere is a large villa\ncalled _Stein_, a rock, from one being placed there so huge, as to equal\na house. One evening, after sunset, as the king was about to pass from\nhis cups to his bed, he saw a fairy sitting under that great rock. He\nand his companions, being excited by wine, ran towards the place, and\nthe fairy desired Swegdir to enter if he wished to converse with Odin.\nHe did enter, and was seen no more.\u201d[125]\n\n[Sidenote: 34 to 220.]\n\nBy the death of Swegdir, _Vanland_ became the acknowledged head of the\nSwiones. He was the first of Odin\u2019s descendants who exhibited a warlike\ncharacter, or rather the first that actually went to war. In the infancy\nof this theocratic state, when, through weakness, it was compelled to\ncultivate the good will of its neighbours, of conquest there was no\ndream; but when the young lion had gained strength, its natural\ncharacter was unfolded. His conquests, however, have not been recorded;\nand we can only conjecture that they were chiefly in the provinces\nbounding on Upland. Nor do we know that it was a warlike expedition that\nled him into Finland. That country, however, was to him a fatal as well\nas a romantic one, While there he married the daughter of an old Swede\nestablished among the Finns. Her he soon left, with the promise of\nreturning in three years; but ten having elapsed without any tidings of\nhim, she sent Visbur, their son, to his palace at Upsal. Still, as he\nshowed no disposition to visit her, she took counsel with Hulda, a\nfamous witch,\u2014and Finland was full of them,\u2014how she might compel him to\nreturn. The witch readily undertook to bring him, or, if she failed, to\ndestroy him. Her secret charms were immediately exerted, and Vanland,\nthough enthroned at Upsal with the attributes of a demi-god, felt their\npower. On a sudden his heart was drawn towards Finland; the impulse to\nreturn was scarcely resistible: but his friends and counsellors\ndissuaded him from the voyage, assuring him that he was merely under the\ntemporary influence of magic. Sleep now overcame him; but scarcely was\nhe laid on his couch than he cried out that he was oppressed by that\nmysterious demon, the nightmare. His attendants hastened to assist him,\nbut in vain: the power of the demon was resistless; and, after violent\ndistortions of his limbs, he was suffocated. His body was burned; on the\nbanks of the Skuta his mighty cairn was erected; and _Visbur_ became the\nmonarch of the Swedes. This prince was not more faithful, as a husband,\nthan his father had been. Having married a lady by whom he had two sons,\nhe unceremoniously dismissed her and them to her father, and took\nanother to his bed. The offspring of this second marriage was Domald,\nwhom his nurse, foreseeing that dangers menaced him, endeavoured to\nprotect by incantations. In the mean time, Gisle and Ondur, sons of the\nrepudiated queen, applied to Visbur for the restoration of their\nmother\u2019s dowry, especially of a magnificent golden necklace; on his\nrefusal, they prayed that the ornament might be his destruction, and\nthat of his offspring. To effect this object, they had recourse to\nmagic; and Hulda, who had destroyed the father, boasted that she would\ndestroy him, and leave this doom to the whole of the Ynglings,\u2014that\neither their arms should always be turned against one another, or they\nshould perish tragically by some other means. The operations of magic,\nhowever, were too slow for their impatience; and they burned their\nfather with the house in which they found him. _Domald_ succeeded; but\nthe fates were not to be averted. During three years a grievous famine\nafflicted Sweden. The first autumn, oxen were offered to propitiate the\ngods; the second, human victims bled on the altar. When neither availed,\nthe nobles and priests, assembled at Upsal, decreed that, as the famine\nwas owing to king Domald, he should be the next sacrifice, and the\ndecree was carried into effect. Of the two next kings, _Domar_, the son\nof Domald, and _Dygve_, the son of Domar, nothing is recorded except\nthat they reigned and died; but _Dag the Wise_, the son of the\nlast-named sovereign, is celebrated in northern history. Well might he\nenjoy the epithet, if, as tradition asserts, he understood the language\nof birds. He had a sparrow which performed the same office for him that\nthe ravens did for Odin[126]; it flew over the earth and brought him\nintelligence of everything that passed. One day, however, as this bird\nwas picking some grains in a field of Redgothia, a country clown killed\nit with a stone. Finding that his bird did not return, Dag consulted the\ngods, and learned its fate. To avenge himself, he led an army against\nthe Goths, and laid waste the region in which the misfortune had\nhappened. Having taken many prisoners, and left many dead on the field,\nhe was returning to his vessels, when a dart from an obscure hand sent\nhim to the halls of Odin.[127]\n\n[Sidenote: 220 to 448.]\n\n_Agne_, the son of Dag, mounted the vacant throne of the Swedes. Rich\nand warlike, he was held in high esteem; but the fate which hung over\nthe sacred line of the Ynglings made him another of its victims. In a\nsuccessful expedition against the Finns, in which he had slain the\nFinnish king, and, agreeably to the manners of the times, had made\nSkiolfa, the orphan daughter of the king, his mistress or wife, he had\njust returned to Stocksund, disembarked his troops, and pitched his tent\non the margin of a wood. Here, to perform with passing splendour the\nlast rites to the memory of Skiolfa\u2019s father, he assembled a great\nnumber of guests. The cup went round until the king became intoxicated.\nAs he wore the chain which had belonged to Visbur, Skiolfa besought him\nto confide the precious ornament to her care; but he fastened it the\nmore closely round his neck and fell asleep. The tent was at the foot of\na tree, and Skiolfa, assisted by her Finnish connections, tied a strong\ncord to the ornament, threw one end over a branch of the tree, and\npulling with all their might, the body of Agne was raised, and left to\ndangle in the nightly breeze. The following morning Skiolfa and her\ncompanions were on their voyage to Finland, and nothing remained to the\nSwedes but the performance of the last rites to the royal victim.\n_Alaric_ or _Elrac_ and _Eric_, his two sons, divided the supreme power\nbetween them. For a season they were prosperous; but they were doomed to\nshare the fate which hung over the house of Yngve. They were fond of\nequestrian exercises, especially of taming the most spirited horses. One\nday they rode at full gallop over an extensive plain; but they were\nnever again seen alive: their corpses were found with their sculls\nfractured; and, as neither had any arms, it was supposed that they had\nkilled each other with the reins, or that some malignant demon had\ndestroyed them both. _Yngve_ and _Alf_, the sons of Alaric, shared the\ngovernment of the Swedes; but they were dissimilar in character. The\nlatter was studious of peace, a man of few words, and severe in manner;\nthe former was fond of war, of his cups, and of conversation, and often\nprotracted his orgies into the silence of night. Two such men, whose\njealousy was further increased by the unwise division of power, could\nnot long bear the society of each other. One evening Yngve stabbed his\nbrother; but the victim had strength enough left to return the fatal\nblow. The supreme power was now held by one, _Hugleik_, the son of Alf.\nHis end, too, was tragical. Being assailed by Hako, a celebrated sea\nking and Danish jarl, who numbered among his captains the unrivalled\nSterkodder[128], he was vanquished and slain,\u2014Snorro assures us by the\nhands of Hako; but it was, perhaps, by those of Sterkodder. The victor\nwas not satisfied with the death of Hugleik: he subdued the Swiones, and\nforced them to acknowledge him as their king. Yet he is not ranked by\nthe Icelandic writers among the lawful kings of the Swedes. He was a\nusurper whom _Jorund_ and _Eric_, both sons, both sea kings, assailed\nand slew in the vicinity of Upsal. But Eric had received a mortal wound,\nand Jorund was hailed as the monarch of the Swedes. The new sovereign,\nwho, during his exile, had obtained considerable reputation on the deep,\nretained his attachment for the profession, which he exercised in the\nsummer. But it led to his ruin. During his exile he had slain Gudlaug,\nking of Halogia: by Gylaug, the son of that chief, he was met, in\nLimafiord, defeated, and hung. _Aun_, the son of Jorund, surnamed _hinn\nGamle_, or the Old, now ascended the throne of the Swedes. He was a\nprudent man, a great worshipper of the gods, and not fond of war. During\nhis reign, says Snorro,\u2014and the information is valuable,\u2014Dan Mykillati,\nFrode the Pacific, Halfdan, and Fridleif III. were, in succession, kings\nof the Danes. His peaceful habits, probably, led to the aggressions\nwhich were committed upon him. He was twice expelled from his\nkingdom,\u2014the first time by Halfdan, who reigned twenty-five years in his\ncapital, Upsal, and there died. This remarkable event is mentioned by\nSaxo; but, in his usual manner of confounding names and dates, the\nDanish historian calls the Swedish king Eric instead of Aun. He adds\nthat Halfdan was held in great veneration by the Swedes, who, in their\ndeplorable blindness, regarded him as the son of the great Thor. After\nhis twenty-five years\u2019 reign in Gothia, Aun consulted the gods\nrespecting the duration of his life, and, to render them more\npropitious, he offered his own son on the altar of Odin. The response\nwas, that, though he was now sixty years of age, he should live sixty\nmore. But, if he was to live, he was not to reign that time; for in\ntwenty-five years from the date of this sacrifice, he was again expelled\nby Ali, the son of Fridleif. At the end of twenty-five years more, Ali,\nwe are told, was slain by Sterkodder. Aun was again obeyed by the Goths.\nAll this is sufficiently fabulous; but the following is more so:\u2014After\nreigning another period of twenty-five years, he offered his second son\nto Odin; and the response was, that, if he sacrificed a son every ten\nyears to that deity, he should live for ever; but his vigour was not to\nbe commensurate with his life. After the seventh sacrifice, he was\nunable, during ten years, to walk, and was carried on a litter. After\nthe eighth, during ten whole years, he was confined to his bed. After\nthe ninth, he was fed like a child with milk from the horn. He had still\na son, and would have offered him as the tenth victim had not the Swedes\nforbidden the sacrifice. So king Aun died; and his name was afterwards\nused proverbially to denote the diseases inseparable from old age.[129]\n\n[Sidenote: 448 to 545.]\n\n_Egil_, whose blood should have stained the altar of Odin, became, by\nhis father\u2019s death, monarch of the Swedes. He now experienced an enemy\nin Tunne, who, though a slave, had been the treasurer of Aun. As Tunne\nhad tasted the sweets of power, he had no wish to revert to his former\ncondition; and when he perceived that no distinction was made between\nhim and his fellows, he repaired to the spot where Aun had buried a\nlarge treasure, dug it up, and with it hired a numerous body of men to\nexecute his purposes. At first the new chief betook himself to the less\naccessible parts of the country; by degrees, as his band increased,\u2014and\nthere can be no doubt, by proclaiming a servile war, it rapidly\nincreased,\u2014he issued from the mountain or the forest, and swept the\nneighbouring plains. He was a bandit on a large scale. Egil raised some\nforce, and hastened to chastise the rebel; but, being surprised by night\nin his camp, he lost many of his followers, and was compelled to consult\nhis safety by flight. This signal event increased the power of the\nrebel, and though forces were repeatedly brought into the field, victory\ndeclared for Tunne in eight consecutive engagements. In this emergency\nthe king fled to the court of the Danish king, Frode V., in Zealand, and\noffered as the condition of aid an annual tribute. Frode accepted the\noffer; and, with a Danish reinforcement, Egil triumphed over the rebel.\nDuring the three years which intervened between this event and his own\ndeath, Egil sent large _presents_ to the Danish king; but he would not\nallow them to be called tribute. Death was to him, like most of the\nYnglings, tragical: it was occasioned by a wild bull, while hunting in\nthe forest. _Ottar_, the son of Egil, succeeded. Being summoned by the\nDanish king to pay the tribute which had been promised, he returned a\nperemptory refusal. Frode invaded Swionia, laid waste the country; while\nOttar, equipping a powerful armament, disembarked in Zealand, and\ncommitted equal depredations. But the latter was defeated and slain by\nthe Danes, and his body exposed to the fury of wild beasts. _Adils_, the\nson of Ottar, was the next king. He was a noted pirate, who, in summer,\nvisited and ravaged most of the coasts round the Baltic. On one occasion\nhe descended on that of Saxony, laid waste the country, took much spoil,\namong which was Ursa, a lady of surpassing beauty. Of her the victor\nbecame enamoured, and he married her: but, being expelled from his\nkingdom by Helge, the son of Halfdan, who reigned at Ledra, this queen\nfell into the power of the victor, who, also, married her, and the issue\nof this union was Rolf Krake. But Ursa, who was discovered to be the\ndaughter of Helge, returned to the court of Adils, with whom she\nremained during the rest of her life. On the death of Helge, in one of\nhis piratical expeditions, Rolf, or Rollo, young as he was, was\nacknowledged king of Ledra. Adils did not long survive his enemy; he was\nkilled by the fall of his horse.[130] _Eystein_, the son of Adils, next\nswayed the sceptre of the Swedes. His reign was a troubled one, his\nkingdom being continually infested by the royal ships of Denmark and\nNorway, or, what was worse, by the fierce sea kings. \u201cIn those days,\u201d\nsays Snorro, \u201cwere many sea kings, who levied large forces, though they\nhad no countries to rule. He was esteemed worthy to be a sea king who\nnever slept under a tent, and never emptied his horn by the hearth\nside.\u201d The most powerful enemy of Eystein was Solvi, a chief of the\nJutes, whose piratical expeditions were known on many coasts. One night\nthis marauder advanced to the tent where Eystein was entertaining his\nfriends; and setting fire to the place, all within were consumed. To\nobtain the royal title, Solvi hastened to Sigtuna; and for a moment he\nenjoyed it: but the inhabitants rising to avenge their late king, and to\nfree themselves from the new yoke, this adventurer soon bade farewell to\nempire and to life. The lawful successor of Eystein was his son\n_Yngvar_, who, being of a martial disposition, visited many coasts. But\nin 545 he was slain on that of Esthonia.[131]\n\n[Sidenote: 545 to 623.]\n\nThe next person who filled the throne of the Ynglings, _Braut-Onund_,\nwas a much wiser man than his predecessors. His great object was, to\nclear the forests, to drain the marshes of Swionia, and thus, to convert\ndesert and useless into arable and pasture land. His efforts were\ncrowned with success. Where the stagnant pool had stood, golden harvests\nwaved; forests were replaced by huts full of industrious labourers; and\nhighways were made to pass over mountain and fen. \u201cMany,\u201d says Snorro,\n\u201cwere the provincial kings subject to him.\u201d But this patriotic monarch,\nlike so many of the Ynglinga, came to an untimely end: as he and his\nretinue were one day in the mountains, they were overwhelmed by a huge\navalanche. The sceptre now devolved to the unfortunate _Ingiald\nIllrada_, son of the deceased king. In his infancy this prince, we are\ntold, was of too gentle, too mild a disposition, for the turbulent\npeople with whom he had to deal. This defect, however, was cured by a\npeculiar diet,\u2014that of roasted wolves\u2019 hearts; and Ingiald became as\nferocious as he had formerly been the reverse. But this change of\ncharacter was not for the happiness of the Swedes; and he was destined\nto be the last of the Ynglings that should rule at Upsal. His first\nobject was, to exterminate the local kings, who, like mushrooms, had\nsprung up in the country, and who, though subject to the descendants of\nOdin, frequently acted as if they were independent. In the entertainment\nwhich he gave at Upsal, alike to celebrate the obsequies of his father,\nand his own inauguration, his character was fully displayed. Here were\nsix kings,\u2014all who owed obedience to Ingiald, except the one of\nSudermania,\u2014with a great number of jarls, and other nobles. On these\noccasions, the king, or jarl, previous to receiving the homage of all\npresent,\u2014a homage expressed by a general shout,\u2014seated himself on a low\nseat at the foot of the one which his predecessor had filled. The\nBragacup was then brought, filled with wine to the brim; and this the\nnew heir, after giving some pledge, was expected to quaff before he\nascended the high seat. When the cup\u2014a huge horn\u2014was brought to Ingiald,\nbefore emptying it, he vowed to Braga, the god, that he would, in every\ndirection, double his dominions, or perish in the attempt. They who\napplauded the vow little foresaw the fate which awaited them. That very\nnight the six kings and the jarls were burnt, together with the house of\nfeasting. By this atrocious act Ingiald was absolute master of all\nSwionia, except that district of Sudermania which owed obedience to the\nabsent king, Grammar. This king soon heard of the deed; and knowing that\nhis own life was menaced, he entered into an alliance with a famous sea\nking, Hiorvardar by name, to whom he gave his daughter Hildegund. The\nentertainment at which this marriage was first projected is\ncharacteristic of the manners of the times. On one high seat was king\nGranmer; on another, the pirate king; and by the side of each sat his\nchiefs and friends. To honour the guest, Granmer called for his daughter\nHildegund to present the cup. She appeared, beautiful as the day, filled\nthe cup, and approaching Hiorvardar, said, \u201cHail to the Ilsings! I drink\nto the memory of Rolf Krake!\u201d[132] She then emptied the half of the cup,\nand presented it to Hiorvardar, who, seizing it and her hand, prayed her\nto sit beside him. \u201cSuch,\u201d replied the damsel, \u201cis not the custom of\npirates; they do not allow females to sit and drink with them.\u201d \u201cNever\nmind that custom,\u201d pursued the chief; \u201cbut be persuaded to share my seat\nand cup.\u201d Hildegund yielded; she drank and talked with the chief until\nthe night was far advanced; and the next day she was affianced to him.\nBy this alliance Granmer acquired a valiant ally; and in the battle\nwhich both had soon to wage against Ingiald they were the victors. The\nmonarch of the Swedes was compelled to flee; but, through the\nintervention of friends, peace was concluded, on this condition,\u2014that,\nso long as the three lived, not one of them should molest the others.\nGranmer could now go to Upsal to join in the great sacrifice and to\nconsult the oracles. The response was, that his days were numbered: and\nnumbered they were. While he and his son-in-law were in one of their\nrural manors, Ingiald, with a select force, silently approached and\nconsumed with fire both them and the house. He then subjugated the\ndistricts which the two kings had ruled, and those of their allies. His\nsurname of _Illrada_, the Deceitful, sufficiently shows the estimation\nin which he was held. He had a daughter, Asa by name, who was the\nheiress of his bad qualities. Married to Gudred king of Scania, she\npersuaded her husband to murder his brother, Halfdan III., king of\nZealand. She then joined in a plot for the destruction of her husband;\nbut this object was no sooner effected than she was obliged to flee for\nprotection to the court of Upsal. Yet here she was not safe. Ivar\nVidfadme, the son of Halfdan, in the resolution of avenging his father\u2019s\ndeath, invaded Swionia, and wrapped it in blood and flames. When the\nnews of this invasion reached Ingiald, he was at an entertainment, with\nhis daughter and many nobles. He knew that he was hated; that resistance\nwas impossible; that escape was hopeless; and by the advice of Asa he\nadopted an expedient which would, for ever, make his death as remarkable\nas his life. This was, to burn himself, his daughter, his guests,\ntogether with the house which contained them.[133]\n\n[Sidenote: 623 to 630.]\n\nBy the death of Ingiald, his son, _Olaf Tr\u00e6telia_, was the last of the\nYnglings; but his claim to the throne, however sanctioned by custom or\nblood, was not likely to avail in opposition to so powerful an enemy as\nIvar Vidfadme. At this moment, Ivar was at the head of the Danish, the\nSwedish, part of the Saxon and Anglian states (the Angles of Holstein);\nand his career was not to be resisted by a youth without army, without\nfollowers. Indeed, Olaf made no effort to resist; he saw that the people\nwere resolved on the expulsion of the Ynglings; and, with the few\nfriends who adhered to him, he hastened to the desert lands north and\nwest of the Vener Lake. There he cleared off the forests,\u2014hence his\nsurname of Tr\u00e6telia, or the Tree-feller,\u2014drained them, and not only\nrendered them habitable, but in a short time made them the foundation of\na new state, that of Vermeland. From him descended the famous Harald\nHarfager, monarch of Norway, the restorer of the ancient glory of the\nYnglings.[134]\n\nThe crimes and misfortunes of this dynasty must, to every reader,\ncontrast strangely with its pretended divine origin. Compared to it, the\nfate of our Stuarts was a happy one. If we except the companions of\nOdin, the ends of most were tragical. Fiolner was drowned in a butt of\nmead; Swegdir, whatever the manner of his death, did not leave this\nworld in a natural way; Vanland perished, not by the hands of witches,\nbut those of conspirators; Visbur was burnt to death by his own sons;\nDomald was sacrificed on Odin\u2019s altar by his subjects; Dag was killed by\na slave; Agne was hung by his bride; Alaric and Eric were killed by each\nother\u2019s hands, or by conspirators; Alf and Yngve certainly slew each\nother; Hugleik was slain by Hako or Sterkodder; Eric died in battle;\nJorund was ignominiously hung; Egil was gored to death by a wild bull;\nOttar was killed by the Danes; Adils by the fall of his horse; Eystein\nperished by the hands of pirates; Ingvar by those of the Esthonians;\nBraut-Onund by an avalanche; Ingiald Illrada was forced to destroy\nhimself; and Olaf Tr\u00e6telia was driven into everlasting exile. Thus, out\nof twenty-two sovereigns, from Fiolner to Olaf, three only died a\nnatural death; for that of Olaf, as we shall soon perceive, was also\ntragical. Assuredly there was nothing in the pre-eminence, divine as it\nwas, of the Ynglings, to render it an object of envy, either to their\nown times or to posterity.[135]\n\nThe fortunes of Olaf Tr\u00e6telia and of his successors may be found in the\nchapter devoted to the early Norwegian history. Henceforth Sweden, or to\nspeak more precisely, the Swedes, are under the sceptre of the\nSkioldungs, and not of the Ynglings, though the former, like the latter,\nwere of Odin\u2019s race, being descended from Skiold, whose seat was\nestablished at Ledra in Zealand. They did not exercise the sacerdotal\nfunctions; they were not pontiff kings; consequently, they were not held\nin the same veneration as those who were privileged to officiate at\nOdin\u2019s altar.\u2014Before we proceed with this Swedish branch of the\nSkioldungian dynasty, we must revert to the Gothic dynasty established\nin another part of Sweden. At every step we take in the history of this\nobscure period, we are more fully convinced that the hypothesis we have\nframed is based on truth; viz., that while the Swiones or Swedes were\nlocated in the provinces bordering on Upsal, and were governed by their\nown kings, the Goths were in the more southern and western provinces,\nwith a dynasty of their own. Where was the seat of this latter dynasty?\nProbably it was not always stationary. It appears to have been sometimes\nin West, sometimes in East, Gothland; just as those provinces obeyed one\nor two kings. Scania too, which, politically, was a province of Denmark,\nyet geographically a portion of Sweden, was inhabited by Goths, the seat\nof whose government was Lund. As the kings of Scania, or of East and\nWest Gothia, obtained the preponderance, they were called kings of the\nGoths. In the same measure, when the Danish star was triumphant, Ledra,\nor Odensee, or Lund, or some town of Jutland, was regarded as the\nmetropolis of the Goths. But in each of the Gothic provinces of Sweden\nthere was a resident court, and consequently a capital, whose ruler was\nsometimes dependent on the king of Scania, sometimes on him of Upsal,\nbut more frequently, perhaps, independent of them all. However this be,\nit is certain that the kings of all these provinces, except Jutland,\nhave been confounded. Hence the uncertainty of regal lists, and, in many\ninstances, their contradiction to one another. In general, the prince\nwho happened to have the preponderance for the moment, whether his seat\nwas in the Gothlands or in Scania, was called king of the Goths. All\nwere, or professed to be, equally descended from Odin; nor is this\nimprobable, when we perceive how frequently a conqueror divided, at his\ndeath, his dominions among his sons. This fatal example, as we have\nseen, was set by Odin himself. Over Scania he placed his son Heimdal;\nover Zealand and the surrounding islands, his son Skiold; over Jutland\nand Holstein, his son Balder; over the Swedes at Upsal, his kinsman\nFreyr; and over the Norwegians, as we shall soon perceive, his son\nSemming. Such, at least, is the consistent voice of tradition, as\nperpetuated in the oldest records now extant.[136]\n\nFrom the preceding observations, and from many others in this and the\nlast chapter, the reader will be prepared for the amazing variations in\nthe chronological lists of northern kings, as given by Saxo, Snorro\nSturleson, and Joannes Magnus. Thus the king of Scania was sometimes the\nchief of all the Danes, sometimes of all the Goths, sometimes of both;\nbut in general the kings of the two Gothlands were the acknowledged\nheads of their nation, whether they happened to be independent, or\npolitically subject to the Danes on the one side, or the Swedes on the\nother. Besides, the intermarriages which constantly took place among\nthese sovereigns would make them, eventually, of one great family, even\nif most of them had not derived their origin from the warrior god of the\nnorth. Still there were kings who had no such boast, who descended from\na regal stem more ancient than theirs, whose ancestors were rulers in\nthe Gothic provinces of Sweden, centuries, perhaps, before Odin was\nborn. And for anything we can prove to the contrary, there might, in the\ninterior of Sweden, be reguli who descended from the original, almost\nindigenous rulers\u2014from the old Finnish stock; for though the Goths, who\nwere there before the arrival of the kindred tribe of the Swiones, were\nthe dominant caste, they would govern the inland provinces through\nnative chiefs. At this distance of time, however, it is impossible to\ndistinguish the two; nor is it often possible to distinguish the earlier\nfrom the subsequent Gothic princes,\u2014those who sprung from ancestors\nprior to Odin\u2019s arrival, from those who descended from the Swionian\nbranch.[137]\n\nAccording to the Heimskringla, the oldest and best authority for Swedish\nhistory, when Odin arrived in the north he found a monarch named Gylfo\nin possession of the supreme power.[138] Was this Gylfo of the Gothic or\nof the anterior race? This question cannot be answered. From one\ncircumstance, viz., his alleged proficiency in magic science, we should\ninfer that he was a Finn, were it not doubtful whether the Goths did not\nalso cultivate this pretended science, and whether, from the facility of\nhis intercourse with Odin, and from the locality which he occupied, he\nwas not of a race kindred with that of the Swiones,\u2014one that had\nimmigrated into these regions from Asiatic Scythia centuries, perhaps,\nbefore \u201cthis king of the Turks.\u201d Gylfo is said to have ceded to the\nstrangers a portion of his territory, and that they settled to the north\nof him. This statement, again, confirms the inference of his Gothic\ndescent. However, from that day down to the permanent union of the two\nnations\u2014the Goths and the Swedes\u2014under one head (temporary unions had\nbeen frequently effected), the more southern people had their own king,\ntheir own government and laws. By what degrees the Swiar obtained the\nascendancy over the Goths may be easily conjectured. The latter were, at\nan early period, induced to embrace the religion of the former, or, we\nshould rather say, a modification of that religion; for that they, like\nthe Norwegians, combined a few more ancient tenets with the faith of\nOdin, may be inferred from many passages. And with all due allowance for\nthis circumstance, we cannot but feel surprise at the facility with\nwhich both Norwegians and Goths were brought to the temples of the new\nfaith. This could scarcely be the result of force, since the Swiar do\nnot appear to have been very numerous in comparison with the rest of the\npopulation. Like the Saxons in England; and the Scots in Ireland, and\nthe Mohammedans in India, they were the dominant caste, and no doubt\ntheir individual valour was superior to that of the natives. Still, in\nthe earliest Norwegian and Danish accounts of these remote transactions,\nwe do not read of the physical so much as of the moral influence of Odin\nand his immediate successors. They might be numerous enough to obtain\npossession of any neighbouring province, or even to defeat the petty\nchiefs with which the country swarmed; but they would scarcely be\nsufficient to make both Goths and Norwegians embrace a new faith.\nBetween temporal and religious domination there is a wide difference;\nand all history proves that men will fight more willingly, more\nperseveringly, for speculative opinions, than for the most substantial\nsocial advantages. The comparative ease with which Odin, or rather his\nimmediate successors, thus forced the positive or modified observance of\ntheir religious system on a great population, has led some northern\nwriters to assume that before his arrival another Odin had been there,\nthe apostle of a kindred faith.[139] But this assumption is gratuitous;\nwe have no good reason for it; and even if we had, the question would\nstill occur, \u201cBy what means did this _former_ prophet procure the\nascendancy of _his_ religion?\u201d There is but one mode of solving this\ndifficulty, and this is hypothetical. Probably, as both Goths and\nSwedes\u2014perhaps, too, a considerable portion of the older race\u2014had come\nfrom the same Asiatic Scythia, there was between _some_ of their\nreligious opinions an affinity, if not an identity; and this affinity\nwould naturally facilitate the progress of the new faith. If to this\nconsideration we add the pomp with which the sacrifices were\nconducted\u2014the splendour of the temple\u2014the crowd of officiating priests,\nwith the king at their head\u2014the imposing solemnity of the scene\u2014the\nalleged godlike descent of the pontiff chief\u2014the reputation which all\nthe Asser priests enjoyed for supernatural knowledge\u2014we shall scarcely\nbe surprised at the rapid progress of the Odinic worship. As a prophet,\ntoo, especially one so highly descended, Odin must have pretended to the\ngift of miracles, or, what is the same thing, to the power of effecting\nwonderful results by his knowledge of nature\u2019s mysteries. This\ncombination of circumstances must have imposed on the Goths, as on the\nNorwegian and other ancient tribes. It may account for the facility with\nwhich both nations embraced the new faith, and ultimately acknowledged\neven the temporal superiority of the Swiar. It is certain that as early\nas even the time of Tacitus, the latter were the dominant tribe; yet, as\nthey occupied the sea-coast,\u2014the usual locality of the last comers,\u2014we\nmay doubt whether they had been there above two centuries. But this\nsuperiority being of a moral, not of a physical nature, was often\nresisted by the Gothic kings, who did not hesitate to march on Upsal, to\nput the half divine pontiff to death, and to ascend his throne.[140]\n\n[Sidenote: A.C. 70 to A.D. 260.]\n\nThe names, succession, and chief exploits of these sacerdotal kings,\nfrom Odin to Ingiald Illrada, we have, thanks to the industry of Snorro,\nbeen able to lay before the reader. But over those of the royal Goths a\ncloud hangs which time can never remove. All that can now be done is,\nfrom Saxo Grammaticus and the Heimskringla itself, to reserve a few\nscattered names. Gylfo we have already mentioned; and from the alleged\nfact\u2014which we have no reason to dispute\u2014that Scania was previously ceded\nby Odin to his son Heimdal, the seat of Gylfo\u2019s empire must have been in\none of the Gothlands. He was followed by _Frode_ and _Sigtrug_; the\nformer, remarkable for his liberal presents to the great temple of\nSigtuner; the latter, for his misfortunes. Gram, a Danish king (probably\nthe ruler of Scania), having carried off the daughter of Sigtrug, a war\nfollowed, which proved fatal to the Gothic king, who was dethroned and\nslain. That he reigned in Gothland is expressly affirmed by Saxo\nGrammaticus[141], who relates a graphic incident illustrative of ancient\nmanners. Gram, says the Danish historian, had heard that the princess\nwas affianced to a giant, and he resolved to rescue her from the\nhumiliation; he therefore went into Gothia, and found the royal maiden,\nwith some of her female train, washing at one of the rural streams. Of\ncourse she became the prize of the victor, and so did the Gothic\nkingdom. But _Gram_ did not use his success with moderation; and by\n_Swibdager_, a king of Norway, he was slain in his turn.[142] Swibdager\nwas now the lord of three states,\u2014of Scania, Gothia, and his hereditary\none; but the first he resigned to Guthrum, son of Gram. It was the lot\nof Swibdager to fall, untimely, by the hands of Hadding, another son of\nGram.[142] In his Gothic and Norwegian states he was succeeded by his\nson _Asmund_, who, desiring to avenge the death of the father, was also\nslain by Hadding. _Uffo_, the son of _Asmund_, succeeded to the quarrel,\nthough not to the throne, of his two predecessors. That throne was in\npossession of Hadding; but he was able to raise forces and make a\ndiversion, by landing on the coast of Scania (or, perhaps, Jutland), and\nforcing the Danish king to return to the defence of his dominions. As it\nwas not Uffo\u2019s design to risk a battle in a foreign state, he sailed for\nGothland, and took possession of his hereditary dignity. But with the\nreturning spring Hadding resumed his desire of conquest, and, with a\nconsiderable force, landed on the Gothic continent. His followers,\nhowever, were soon exhausted by hunger and fatigue; and in the ensuing\nbattle he was signally defeated, and compelled to retreat into\nDenmark.[143] Unable to accomplish the destruction of his enemy by\nforce, Hadding had recourse to treachery: he sought an interview with\nUffo, and removed that prince by assassination; but, according to the\nDanish account, he placed _Hunding_, the brother of Uffo, on the vacant\nthrone. The Swedes, however, assert that it was their nation, not the\nDanes, who thus acted; and their statement is far more credible.\nProbably there was, as the former assert, a fierce war between the two;\nand when both found that no advantage was to be expected from it, they\neagerly made peace, and were thenceforward more distinguished for their\nfriendship than they had been for their animosity. In the fabulous\nspirit of the times, it is said that, when one of them heard of the\nother\u2019s death, he killed himself through grief. We may, however, admit\nthat they died within a short interval of each other. We may add, that\nthis Hadding is not admitted into the list of Danish, that is, of\nZealand kings, by the best critics; and that for his actions we are\nindebted to Saxo. Probably he did not reign at Ledra.[144]\n\n[Sidenote: About 260 to 448.]\n\n_Ragnar_, the son of Uffo, succeeded to the throne of the Goths, but not\nuntil he had rescued it from the domination of his step-mother. His\nqueen was Swanhita, sister of Frode, a king of Denmark; but this\nalliance did not preserve a good understanding between the two\ncountries. Frode invaded Gothland, but perished in the expedition,\u2014not,\nobserves Saxo, by the hands of the enemy, but through a fever,\noccasioned alike by the heat and the weight of his armour. On the death\nof Ragnar, the sceptre of the Goths was seized by _Holward_, or\n_Hodbrod_, who was a warlike prince. In his expedition to Denmark, which\nwas then governed by Helge and Roe, he left the latter sovereign dead on\nthe field. But he himself, after his return to Gothland, was mortally\nwounded by Helge, and his kingdom became the prize of the victor. But\n_Attil I._, the son of Hodbrod, by marrying the daughter of Helge, and,\nstill more, by the bravery of the Goths, was raised to the throne. The\nissue of this marriage, _Hoder_, became, in the sequel, king of Scania,\nno less than of Gothland. This is the Hoder of whom Saxo\u2014so absurd in\nhis chronology\u2014makes the contemporary and rival of Balder, the son of\nOdin.[145] Ruric, the son of Hoder, was also monarch of both states. He,\nas we have before related, was the grandfather of Hamlet, through the\nmarriage of his daughter with Horwendil, prince of Jutland.[146] He\ngoverned Denmark through his viceroys, and always remained in Gothland;\nfor this reason, he has been often omitted in the list of Danish kings.\nOf _Attil II._ we merely know that he was assassinated by a Danish\nemissary; of _Hogmor_ and _Hogrin_, who reigned conjointly, that they\nperished in a battle with the Danes. But _Alaric_, their successor,\nappears to have been identical with _Elrec_, prince of the Swedes, the\nbrother of Eric[147]; and this conjecture is confirmed by the statement\nof the Swedish historians,\u2014that the Goths and Swedes were at this time\nunited. Probably Elrec ruled one nation, Eric another. In the Swedish\nannals, too, _Eric_ ranks as the brother and successor of Alaric;\u2014a\nconfusion of chronology common enough in the historians of this period.\n_Halfdan_ (or _Halden_) succeeded, who was, probably, the _Alf_ of\nSnorro.[148] This conjecture, too, is strengthened by the statement of\nthe same Norwegian authority, that Yngve and Alf shared the government\nof the Swedes. Both would scarcely reign at Upsal; and we have strong\nreason for inferring that, while Yngve held that throne, Alf, or\nHalfdan, reigned over the Goths. And there is another confirmation in\nthe fact that, on the death of Alf, the two people obeyed different\nrulers. In the reigns of _Siward_, _Eric_, _Halfdan II._, _Ragnald_,\n_Asmund_, and _Haquin_ (or Hako), we observe few points of coincidence\nbetween the history of the Goths and the Swedes: probably they were\nkings of the former people only, with the occasional superiority over\nScania. But the name of Hako must not be dismissed without adverting to\nan incident which the author of _Macbeth_ has admitted into the greatest\nof his dramas. Hako, resolved to avenge the death of his brothers who\nhad been assassinated at the Danish court, descended with a strong\narmament on the coast of Zealand, and marched towards the residence of\nthe Danish king. On his way, to avoid observation, he passed through the\nwoods; and when the path diverged into the open plain, he ordered his\nmen each to cut down a large branch, that the paucity of his followers\nmight not be discovered. Great was the wonder of the sentinel, to see a\nforest approaching the royal fortress, and he immediately carried the\ninformation to the king. The latter inquired how far the moving wood was\ndistant from the walls; and, being answered that it was near, he felt\nthat his last hour was also at hand. Issuing from the fortress to meet\nthe foe on the open plain, he met the fate which he had foreseen.[149]\n\n[Sidenote: 448 to 623.]\n\nWe now approach historic ground. _Egil Auniff_, the next king of the\nGoths, is, beyond all doubt, Egil, the son of Aun, whose exploits we\nhave recorded in a former page of this chapter.[150] Those exploits are\nthe same, both in the narration of Snorro, and in that of later\nhistorians of the country: the cause and the result were the same. Egil,\ntherefore, was king of the Goths and the Swedes. The _Gothar_ of the\nSwedish writers, the successor of Egil, is also the _Ottar_ of Snorro:\nthe circumstances of their lives are identical.[151] _Adel_ is the\n_Adils_, _Ostan_ the _Eystein_, of the Heimskringla: in both histories,\nas the former was killed by the fall of his horse, so the latter was\nburned to death.[152] The only difference in the relation is the\ncircumstance that led to the death of Eystein; the Norwegian authority\nattributing it to Solve, a Jutish pirate; the Swedish, to the rebellion\nof a Gothland chief. The _Ingvar_ of the Swedish writers is indisputably\nthe _Yngvar_ of Snorro; and the _Asmund_ of the former is the _Onund_,\nor _Braut-Onund_ of the latter. In this latter reign, we perceive the\nsame encouragement of industry; but the death of the king is variously\nrelated. Snorro, as we have before related, attributes it to an\navalanche[153]; but the Swedish writers make him fall in battle against\na body of rebels. Of the two next rulers mentioned by the Swedish\nwriters\u2014_Siward_ and _Hirvt_\u2014we have no mention in the annals of the\nYnglings. The reason is, that they were kings of Gothland only, and,\nprobably, dependent on the monarchs of Upsal: the latter, indeed, is\nexpressly called the king of the Goths. _Ingel_, the next sovereign in\nthe Swedish annals, is, beyond all doubt, the Ingiald Illrada of Snorro\nSturleson, who was king of the Goths and the Swedes: his exploits, and\ntragical death, are the same.[154]\n\nWe have thus brought down the contemporary monarchy of the Goths, from\nthe century before Christ to the conquest of Sweden by Ivar Vidfadme, in\nor about the year 623. By regarding these dynasties as separate, and\nendeavouring to distinguish kings whom all preceding historians have\nconfounded, we have made the subject intelligible to the reader. The\npath, in which we have been the first to venture, will, we have no\ndoubt, be traversed by other writers, until it is as well known as any\nother part of ancient Scandinavian history. It is yet a dark one; and\ncriticism, aided by an extensive use of manuscript authorities, can\nalone enlighten it.\n\n[Sidenote: 623 to 794.]\n\nThe four next monarchs of the Swedes and the Goths were also kings of\nthe Danes. Of these, _Ivar Vidfadme_, the conqueror of Ingiald Illrada,\nwas one of the most celebrated. The saga relates of him that he subdued\nall Sweden, which he joined with Denmark; a great part of Saxland, all\nEstland, and a fifth part of England. There is, doubtless, some\nexaggeration in this statement; but this very exaggeration establishes\nthe fact of his conquests. The part of England to which the saga\nalludes, is said to be Northumbria. No mention, indeed, of such a\ndescent is to be found in the Saxon chronicle, or in Bede; and the\nsilence of this Northumbrian historian, especially, may be a strong\nargument against its truth. Still, in the troubled state of the times,\nwhile the Saxons were struggling with the native Britons for the\npossession of the territory, the arrival of a new chief might well be\noverlooked, especially if the conquests of Ivar were confined to that\npart of Northumbria which lies north of the Tweed. It could not well be\nsouth of that river in the time of St. Oswald. But, whether this prince\nwas in England, or not, no doubt can be entertained of his courage. His\nhereditary domain comprehended Scania only; Jutland he soon added to the\nrest; but we have no proof that he ever sat on the throne of Ledra. As\nking of Gothland and Sweden, however, without including his conquests on\nthe coasts of the Baltic, he was a powerful monarch. \u201cFrom him,\u201d says\nSnorro, \u201chenceforth descend the kings of the Danes and the Swedes.\u201d On\nhis death, the sceptre of these states was inherited by _Harald_, his\ngrandson, surnamed _Hildetand_, or the Golden-toothed. This monarch far\nexceeded the former in glory. He appears, from the relation of Saxo, to\nhave had some trouble with the Goths, and also with the Swedes; and for\nhis success over them he was, according to the same veracious authority,\nindebted to the councils of Odin, who honoured him with a personal\ninterview. From several passages in this historian, and in the sagas of\na later age, we may infer that the Goths, dissatisfied at once with the\nDanes and the Swedes, repeatedly proclaimed their independence. They\nbelonged not to the divine race of Odin; and the freedom which their\nancestors had enjoyed before the arrival of \u201cthat wizard king,\u201d was\noften the stimulant to bold deeds. As they had revolted from the Swedes,\nso they were equally troublesome to the Danes during the four reigns\nwhich are now before us. But Harald triumphed, and governed both nations\nthrough his royal kinsman. Other parts of the world witnessed his\nvalour: but it was his fate to die in battle, and in his old age,\nagainst his nephew Sigurd Ring, who wished to expel him from the throne\nof Denmark. In the north of Europe, the battle of Bravalla is celebrated\nas any in ancient or modern times. Saxo, with much care, enumerates the\nroyal chiefs who fought on both sides; but their number, no less than\nthat of the common men, exceeds all belief. The aged and blind Harald\nwas carried about in a war chariot; and, from time to time, he inquired\nhow the battle proceeded. Above all, he was struck with the admirable\nmanner in which Sigurd Ring had drawn up the hostile ranks; and he\nexpressed his conviction that this arrangement was not the result of\nmortal science, but of Odin\u2019s peculiar favour. The charioteer whom he\naddressed was no other than Odin, under the form of a Danish chief; and,\nby the hands of that deity, he received a deadly blow, and was thrown on\nthe ground. According to Saxo, he was succeeded by _Olo_ and _Omund_, in\nsuccession; but the Icelandic authorities, who make the conqueror\n_Sigurd_, or _Siward Ring_, his successor, are more entitled to credit.\nProbably Olo and Omund were viceroys only, though they might be of royal\norigin. Many, according to Saxo, were the kings who intervened between\nHarald Hildetand and _Ragnar Lodbrog_; while the more critical\nhistorians of modern times, supported by Icelandic authorities, pass at\nonce from the one to the other. At this distance, and without the aid of\ndocuments clearer than any that have yet been published, it is\nimpossible to say which of the lists is the true one: but the\nprobabilities are in favour of the Icelanders; for, though the kings\nenumerated by Saxo may have ruled in some parts of Denmark, they were,\nit is believed, rather viceroys than monarchs. By means of local\ngovernors, indeed, the four princes whose names fill this paragraph must\nhave reigned; their states were too numerous, too extensive, for\npersonal superintendence, especially when, as was generally the case,\nthey were absent on foreign expeditions. To the exploits of Ragnar we\nhave scarcely alluded, even in the Danish portion of the history; the\nreason is, that we can see in them little which is consentaneous with\ntruth,\u2014little which is not a monstrous outrage of probability.[155]\n\n[Sidenote: 794 to 1001.]\n\nOn the death of Ragnar, the throne of Sweden fell to one of his sons,\n_Biorn I._, surnamed _Jarnasido_. Of him we know little more than that,\nin his reign, the first attempts were made to christianise the Swedes.\nBiorn was not averse from toleration; and he allowed St. Anscar to\nteach, baptize, and preach unmolested. But the good thus effected was\ntransient: Anscar returned to Germany, to procure from pope and emperor\nsome amplification of his authority; and, during his absence, the\nmission entirely failed. When Anscar paid a second visit to this\nkingdom, he found a king named _Olaf_ in possession of the throne. Who\nwas he? Olaf Tr\u00e6telia had been dead near two centuries, and Olaf\nSkotkonung did not reign until above a century afterwards. Either,\ntherefore, we have a sad confusion in chronology, or there must have\nreigned a king whom modern criticism does not acknowledge. The\nprobability is, that Olaf was a king of Gothia, who, in the numerous\ninsurrections of the period, had seized on the royal authority in\nSweden, no less than in the more southern provinces. _Eric I._, the son\nof Biorn, is next classed among the Swedish kings; and, after him, _Eric\nII._, surnamed _Raefilson_, who was, probably, either a Gothic king, or\nan usurper. _Emund_ and _Biorn II._\u2014the one ruler of the Gothlands, the\nother of Sweden\u2014next ascended the throne, and were followed by _Eric\nIII._, the son of Emund; but the reigns of all were short, and they have\nleft no records for posterity. Indeed, the number of kings during the\nninth century is so considerable, that we are compelled to infer the\nexistence of separate kingdoms amongst the Goths, while we are unable to\ndistinguish the two dynasties of kings. _Biorn III._ (923) enjoyed a\nlong reign; _Eric IV._, surnamed the Victorious (993), one still longer;\nand _Eric V._, surnamed _Arsaell_ (1001), closes the list of pagan\nkings:\u2014not that he was a pagan; on the contrary, as we shall perceive in\nthe chapter devoted to the introduction of Christianity into the north,\nhe died for the new faith. But he had been reared a pagan; at his death\nthe greater part of the kingdom was pagan; and it was reserved for his\nson, Olaf Skotkonung, to render Christianity the established religion of\nSweden and Gothland.[156]\n\nThe confusion at this period of Swedish history, viz., from the close of\nthe eighth to that of the tenth century, is greater than at any former\nperiod. No fewer than sixteen kings are said, by different historians,\nto have swayed the Swedish sceptre in little more than two centuries.\nThe cause of this confusion is very obvious. Not only were the kings of\nGothland, when that province happened to have a separate king,\nenumerated with those of the Swedes, but the successors of Olaf Tr\u00e6telia\nwere equally confounded with them: in other words, the royal chiefs of\n_three_ contemporary states have been classed as kings of the Swedes\nonly,\u2014as the sovereigns of Upsal. This confusion has rendered it\nscarcely possible to distinguish either the royal names of each state,\nor the actions attributed to them. We may, however, assert, with\nconfidence, that Olaf Tr\u00e6telia, and Ingel (or Ingiald), his son, were\nnot kings of the Swedes; on the contrary, they were sovereigns of a\nstate far to the west,\u2014Vermeland and Raumarik.[157] If, as some\nhistorians assert, a king named _Charles_ reigned at this time in\nSweden, his seat could not have been Upsal; it must have been some town\nof East or West Gothland. The same may, we think, be asserted of\n_Emund_, who reigned in the south, while Biorn reigned at Upsal, or\nBirca. But Eric IV., surnamed the _Victorious_, was certainly king of\nboth the Goths and the Swedes. The successful wars in which he engaged,\nand which procured him that epithet, are too obscure to be distinguished\nfrom the chaotic events of this period. _Eric V._, surnamed _Arsaell_,\nor the Happy-born, the father of Olaf Skotkonung, was also king of the\ntwo provinces. He embraced Christianity, and was baptized in public at\nUpsal, together with many of his nobles. It was, probably, as much for\nthis reason, as for the extraordinary abundance which Sweden enjoyed in\nhis time, that he obtained the epithet that posterity has attached to\nhis name. There is much obscurity over this monarch\u2019s reign. By some\nwriters he is said to have been so alarmed at the murmurs of his people,\nfor his abandonment of the old religion, that, to pacify them, he\nreverted to it. By others, again, it is asserted that he stedfastly\nadhered to the new faith; that he laboured, with some success, to\nwithdraw his subjects from the errors of idolatry; that he went so far\nas to demolish the heathen temples; that at Sigtuna he met with little\nopposition; but that, when he ventured to lay hands on the magnificent\ntemple of Upsal, the people arose and put him to death. To reconcile\nthese contradictions would be a vain attempt. All that yet remains to be\ncommunicated respecting this, and one or two preceding reigns, may be\nfound in the chapter devoted to the origin of Christianity in these\nregions.[158]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAP. III.\n\n NORWAY.\n\n ABOUT A.C. 70 TO A.D. 1030.\n\nNEW KINGDOM OF THE YNGLINGS IN VERMELAND.\u2014KINGS FROM OLAF TR\u00c6TELIA TO\n HALFDAN THE BLACK.\u2014HALFDAN THE TRUE FOUNDER OF THE NORWEGIAN\n MONARCHY.\u2014HARALD HARFAGER.\u2014ERIC OF THE BLOODY AXE.\u2014HAKO THE\n GOOD.\u2014HARALD GRAAFELD.\u2014HAKO THE JARL.\u2014SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF OLAF\n TRYGVESON.\u2014HIS EARLY PIRATICAL EXPLOITS.\u2014HIS ROMANTIC FORTUNES.\u2014HE\n BECOMES KING OF NORWAY.\u2014HIS DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS.\u2014HIS INTOLERANT\n BIGOTRY AND CRUEL PERSECUTIONS.\u2014HIS TRAGICAL DEATH, OR, ACCORDING TO\n SOME WRITERS, HIS MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE FROM THE WORLD.\u2014OLAF THE\n SAINT.\u2014HIS ADVENTURES OF A PIRATE.\u2014HIS ACCESSION TO THE CROWN OF\n NORWAY.\u2014HIS PERSECUTING CHARACTER.\u2014HIS QUARRELS AND SUBSEQUENT\n ALLIANCE WITH SWEDEN.\u2014IS DRIVEN INTO EXILE BY CANUTE THE GREAT.\u2014HE\n RETURNS, AND IS SLAIN.\u2014HIS PRETENDED SANCTITY.\n\n\nTHAT Norway had its chiefs with the regal title, if not prior to our\nSaviour\u2019s birth, many centuries before the fall of the Ynglings in\nSweden, is undoubted. We find allusions to them in Danish and Swedish\nhistory, and in chronicles which, though of a later period, were derived\nfrom sources now lost. The country was full of them. Most of them, as we\nhave already observed[159], boasted of their descent from an old Finnish\nrace, which, though half mythologic, had, in primeval times, produced\nmany chiefs of illustrious name. But of their deeds we have no evidence\nbeyond the little supplied by the uncertain voice of tradition; and that\nlittle is so exaggerated by fable as to be useless. We will not rescue\ntheir names from oblivion: our narrative must accompany the fates of the\nYnglings from their first settlement in Vermeland in Sweden, to their\nconquest of Norway. In regard to the latter country, we shall only\nobserve that when Olaf Tr\u00e6telia laid the foundation of a new power, it\nhad as many reguli as at any former period. To subjugate them in\nsuccession, and to incorporate their petty states into one great\nmonarchy, was the constant aim of his successors.[160]\n\n[Sidenote: 630 to 640.]\n\nThe province of Vermeland, to which Olaf Tr\u00e6telia retired, and in which\nhe laid the foundation of a new state, was, as we have before observed,\nsituated to the north of the Vener Lake. Here the assiduity with which\nhe and his followers cleared the ground of its forests procured him, at\nUpsal, the scornful application of _Tr\u00e6telia_, or Wood-cutter. But he\ndespised the ridicule, and persevered. By degrees, many thousands of the\npeople, whom attachment to the Ynglings, or the hope of greater freedom\nin the woods, rendered discontented at Upsal, or Sigtuna, or Birca,\nhastened to join him. Some writers assert that he returned for a season\nto his capital, and ruled the Swedes as his ancestors had done. But this\nstatement is unsupported by any ancient authority, and is hostile to\nreason. Vermeland might well be confounded with Upland, for both were\nand are Swedish provinces. But the very circumstance which should have\nfortified him against the power of his enemies occasioned his death. The\nnumber of new comers was so great that the region, which was yet\nimperfectly cultivated, was unable to support them; the colony became a\nprey to famine, and the visitation was, as usual, ascribed to the king.\nAccording to the religious notions of the Swiar, every public misfortune\nwas a proof that the gods were offended: but they could not be offended\nwithout a cause; and, as the monarch was the representative of the whole\nsociety, he was held responsible for the calamity. Besides, Olaf was not\nvery zealous in the observances of religion; he seldom offered\nsacrifices; and his blood only could propitiate the deities. By a large\nbody of his subjects his house was surrounded, set on fire, and consumed\nwith him,\u2014a meet sacrifice to Odin for an abundant year. This prince\ndeserved a better fate. His name will be held in remembrance, not only\nas the founder of a new kingdom, but as one who laboured with much zeal\nfor the welfare of his people. By his marriage with Solveig, the\ndaughter of Halfdan, king of Soleyr, a state lying to the west of\nVermeland, and founded about a century before his own, he left to his\nsuccessors a claim on that province.[161]\n\n\n[Sidenote: 640 to 840.]\n\nOlaf left two sons, Halfdan and Ingiald. The former, on the tragical\ndeath of his father, was with his grandfather in Soleyr, but he was\nfollowed by the Swedes, and demanded from the old king. The latter,\nhowever, having no desire to surrender his grandson to the murderers of\nthe father, resisted, and a battle ensued, in which he lost his life.\n_Halfdan_ was raised to the government of both states, and, with the aid\nof both, he subdued Raumarik, a country west of Soleyr. The three formed\na compact and scarcely accessible kingdom, which, when governed by\nchiefs of enterprise and policy, could not fail to extend its limits to\nthe west and north. Like his father, Halfdan studied how to promote the\ninterest of his new state by a matrimonial alliance. North of Raumarik\nlies Hedmark, a small province subject to a king named Eystein. Its\nsituation was so convenient in respect to Raumarik and Soleyr, that\nHalfdan eagerly sought and obtained the hand of Esa, daughter of\nEystein. This union affording him a pretext for interfering in the\naffairs of that province, half of it, by force or policy, he soon added\nto his other states; and he afterwards subdued a considerable portion of\nWestfold, which he claimed in right of Hilda, princess of Westfold, the\nwife of his son. He died at Thotnia, one of his new acquisitions; but\nhis body was carried to Westfold, and there interred. Over Vermeland was\nhis brother Ingiald; and after the death of this chief the province was\nadministered by jarls.\n\n[Sidenote: 730 to 840.]\n\n_Eystein_, the son of Halfdan, succeeded to the united crowns of\nRaumarik and Westfold. As the latter province was maritime, Eystein\nbuilt vessels, and followed the ordinary as well as most honourable\nprofession of his time,\u2014that of piracy. According to the tradition which\nthe poet Thiodulf perpetuated, he perished in one of his expeditions. He\nhad the temerity to disembark on the coast of Varnia,\u2014the king of which\nwas a great magician,\u2014to lay waste the region bordering on the sea; to\ncarry to his ships everything upon which he could lay his hands, and to\nslaughter the cattle on the sea-shore. Scarcely had he embarked, when\nthe wizard king arrived. The latter knew how to be avenged. Shaking his\nmantle in the air, and blowing from his mouth, another vessel suddenly\nappeared close to that of Eystein, and the spar which was used for\ndistending the sails striking the king, who was sitting at the helm, he\nwas thrown overboard. The sailors flew to his aid, but could not rescue\nhim from the waves until the vital spark had fled. _Halfdan II._, the\nson of Eystein, is noted for a strange inconsistency in his conduct. To\nhis followers\u2014and as a piratical chief he had many\u2014he gave, in the shape\nof wages, as many golden as other kings gave silver pieces of money; yet\nhe almost starved them for want of food.[163] The sceptre was now swayed\nby _Gudred_, the son of Halfdan, who, from his chief pursuit, was called\nthe hunter king. He was also called Gudred the Magnificent, probably\nfrom the extent of his dominions, no less than from his wealth. None of\nhis predecessors understood better the art of profiting by matrimonial\nalliances. His first wife was Alfhilda, daughter of the king of Alfheim;\nand with her he received, as dowry, a part of Vingulmark. As this\nprovince was bounded on the north by Raumarik, on the west by\nWestfold,\u2014both on the southern confines of Norway and Sweden,\u2014it was a\nvaluable acquisition. On her death, in looking round where his dominions\ncould be most conveniently extended, the maritime coast of Agder, which\nlay to the south of Westfold, and which, like that province, is now a\nportion of Christiania, as Raumarik is of Aggerhus, he demanded Asa,\ndaughter of that king. On the refusal of Harald to bestow the princess\non him,\u2014probably from a knowledge of his ulterior policy,\u2014he equipped a\nfleet, sailed to the coast of Agder, disembarked, hastened to the royal\nabode, and assailed king Harald, who fell in the battle, together with\nthe heir of the province. Agder therefore became an easy prey to this\nambitious monarch. But it was his doom to fall by the hand of a\ndomestic, at the instigation of his second wife, Asa, many years after.\nHis states were now divided between _Olaf_ and _Halfdan_; the former his\nson by Alfhilda, the latter by Asa: the one reigned in the east\n(Vermeland), the other in the south. Vermeland, at this time, was\ntributary to the Swedish kings; its contiguity, indeed, to Upsal,\nrendered it too liable to conquest by the successors of Ivar Torf\u0153us,\nHistoria Norvegica, tom. i. Vidfadme; and its geographical posture\nplaced it within the limits of Sweden rather than those of Norway, into\nwhich the dominions of Gudred were now extending. It is to Halfdan, the\nson of Gudred, that our narrative must chiefly remain, especially as his\nglory was doomed to eclipse that of all his predecessors.[164]\n\n[Sidenote: 840 to 850.]\n\nSuch was the state of the kingdom when _Halfdan the Black_, by the\ntragical death of his father, became sovereign of one portion. Probably,\nhowever, the superiority over the whole rested with his elder brother,\nOlaf. But when his father died he was only a year old; and his brother\nOlaf, or his kinsmen, seized the administration of the whole kingdom,\nexcept his maternal inheritance of Agder. His position was, therefore,\nnot enviable; and no one, at this moment, could have predicted his\nfuture success. To his mother, who, during his minority, undertook the\ngovernment of Agder, and who raised him under her own eye, he was\nprobably indebted for many advantages. On reaching his eighteenth year\nhe assumed the government of Agder, and hastened into Westfold to demand\nfrom his brother Olaf some portion of his inheritance. It was on this\noccasion that the partition of the province took place, probably to the\ndissatisfaction of Olaf; but Halfdan had a strong body of troops, and\nthe provincial states, whose authority was superior to that of the\ncrown, were not regardless of justice. But other provinces, the\nadministration of which had been usurped, were yet to be recovered; and\nevents soon proved that he was likely to sustain the interests of his\nhouse. With the force at his command he hastened to Vingulmark, to claim\nthe portion of that province formerly held by his father. Though he\nencountered resistance enough, he attained his object, namely, one half\nof the province. He next marched into Raumarik, which he recovered. This\nact brought him into hostility with Sigtrug, king of Hedmark, son of\nEystein, who, like other monarchs of the time, had committed the fatal\nerror of dividing his states. Halfdan was victorious; and Sigtrug\ncompelled to flee, wounded by an arrow. Another son of Eystein, who also\nruled in Hedmark, attempted to continue the war; and, during the absence\nof Halfdan in Westfold, invaded Raumarik. The latter hastily returned,\ndefeated this new enemy, and pursued him into Hedmark, which he also\nsubdued. But the resources of Eystein were not exhausted: twice was he\nenabled by his royal allies in the north to remove the warfare; yet he\nwas twice vanquished. Seeing that there was no hope from hostilities, he\nthrew himself on the mercy of Halfdan, who, says the historian, granted\nto the kinsman what he had refused to the enemy, namely, one half of\nHedmark. Two districts more, bordering on Hedmark,\u2014small in extent, but\nconvenient for their site,\u2014were soon added by him to his other\npossessions.[165]\n\n[Sidenote: 850.]\n\nHere Halfdan paused in his career of victory, to try what could be\ngained by marriage. Sogne lay contiguous to one of his districts; its\nking had, fortunately, no son, but a marriageable daughter; and he\nobtained her hand. The offspring of this union was a prince, Harald by\nname, who, according to the manner of the times, was sent in his boyhood\nto be educated at the court of his maternal grandfather. On the death of\nthat relative, young Harald was hailed as the future sovereign; but the\nmother and the prince soon followed him to the tomb, and Halfdan had\nonly to march to Sogne to take possession of it, as the nearest heir to\nall three. At this time the princes who reigned over a portion of\nVingulmark endeavoured to surprise him amidst the darkness of night; and\nthough they failed in this purpose, they were able, through their\nnumerical superiority, to defeat him. This check, however, was but\ntemporary: he soon collected a large force, and was the victor in his\nturn. The whole of Vingulmark soon yielded at his summons.[166]\n\n[Sidenote: 852 to 863.]\n\nHalfdan was too regardful of his interests to pass a long widowhood. The\nample province of Ringarik lay immediately west of Westfold. It was\nruled by Sigurd, surnamed _Hiort_, or the Stag, from his addiction to\nthe chase. Besides a daughter, this prince had a son; but the latter was\nyet an infant, and the chances were in favour of the daughter becoming\nthe sole heiress. The circumstances preceding and attending this second\nmarriage are illustrative of social manners. Sigurd was of large\nproportions, of indomitable bravery, and of great success in duels,\nwhich at the age were so common. In his twelfth year he is said to have\nvanquished a noted berserk, and eleven of his fellows, in succession.\nBut his delight was to ride alone into the most solitary forests and the\nscarcely accessible mountains of Norway, to fight with beasts of prey.\nOne day, as he was wandering in quest of his four-footed enemies on the\nconfines of Hadaland, he fell in with Hako, a noted berserk, accompanied\nby thirty more. A combat followed, which proved fatal to Sigurd; but\ntwelve of Hako\u2019s company fell before him, and that chief lost a hand and\nreceived some dangerous wounds. He was carried immediately into the\nneighbouring kingdom of Ringarik, to the residence of the deceased\nSigurd. According to the manner of the times, he took Ragnilda, the\ndaughter, and Guthrum, the son, of Sigurd, with an immense prey, and\nreturned into Hadaland, where he had considerable lands. His dearest\nobject was to celebrate his marriage with Ragnilda, but the severity of\nhis wounds rendered some delay unavoidable. His nuptial day was never to\ncome. Halfdan no sooner heard of this event than he ordered Harek, one\nof his chiefs, to fetch the princess to his palace. Accompanied by a\nhundred men, Harek hastened to the residence of Hako, approached it\nduring the silence of night, broke into the place, seized Ragnilda and\nher brother, and, setting fire to the house, returned with the\nillustrious captives. Hako, indeed, had strength enough to rise and\npursue the fugitives. In vain: before he could reach the lake which lay\nin the path, and which, as it was the yule season, was frozen over, they\nwere far before him. In despair he fell upon his own sword, and was\nburied on the margin of the lake. Halfdan was on the other bank; and no\nsooner did he perceive the vehicle moving over the distant ice than he\nknew his commands had been successfully obeyed. He therefore ordered a\nbanquet to be prepared, and guests to be invited from every part of his\nown country. That very day, in presence of his assembled guests, the\nnuptials were celebrated. The issue was the famous Harald, surnamed\n_Harfager_, or Fair-haired. We have no wish to record the dreams which,\nprevious to the birth of the prince, raised the anxiety of the two\nparents. Such portents are always invented in regard to men whom fortune\nhas elevated above their fellows.[167]\n\n[Sidenote: 863.]\n\nHalfdan the Black was, for his age, a superior prince. He made some\nlaws, and, what is much better, he caused them to be observed. His\nlegislation, of course, was truly Gothic; that is, crimes were visited\nwith pecuniary mulcts, varied according to the rank of the culprit and\nof the person injured. He was not so fond of his youthful son Harald as\nwas the mother, Ragnilda; yet the qualities of the boy were such as to\nexcite the admiration of an heroic age. The death of this king was, in\nthe superstitious opinion of the times, preceded by a wonderful\ncircumstance. As he was sitting at table with a multitude of guests, to\ncelebrate the yule festival, the meats and drinks suddenly disappeared.\nThe latter, alarmed at the portent, quitted the table, and left the king\nalone. What could be the meaning? A Finnish magician was seized, put to\nthe torture, and commanded to say what the portent indicated. But he\ncould or would say nothing; and he besought prince Harald to procure his\nliberation. Harald applied to the king; but finding him inexorable, he\nallowed the poor Finn to escape, and was the companion of his flight. At\nthis time, Harald was only ten years of age; and he was to see his\nfather no more. Immediately after this event Halfdan returned, on a\nsledge, towards another part of his dominions. In his way was a lake,\nwhich was to be crossed over the ice. But holes had been made in it, for\nthe cattle to be watered; a thaw had commenced, and the king had not\nproceeded far before the ice gave way, and he was engulfed in the cold\nabyss; most of his attendants perishing with him. Thus ended the short\nbut memorable career of Halfdan the Black. His memory was always dear to\nNorway; and during his life he was always reverenced as one of the\ngreatest benefactors of his people. A prodigious crowd arrived to honour\nhis funeral; but they would not allow the body to be interred in\nRaumarik. During his reign the land had been so fertile that he was\nbelieved to be an especial favourite of the gods. Wherever he was, dead\nor alive, prosperity was expected; and the warriors from the different\nstates of his kingdom demanded that he should be buried in their\ndistrict. The dispute, we are told, was ended by the division of his\nbody into four parts, corresponding with the four shires of Raumarik,\nRingarik, Hedmark, and Westfold. The head was buried in Ringarik, the\nother members in each of the other districts. Hence, says the historian,\nthe number of sepulchres which are still called the tombs of\nHalfdan.[168]\n\n[Sidenote: 863.]\n\nAs _Harald Harfager_ was but a child when his father was drowned, the\nneighbouring reguli, under the pretext of recovering what their\npredecessors had lost, hastened to divide his ample inheritance. One\nparty invaded Hedmark, a second Westfold, a third advanced towards the\nresidence of Harald, to make him prisoner. But he had a noble defender\nin his uncle, Guthrum[169], whom he made general of his troops, and his\nminister. This chief collected troops, and, with the young king, marched\nagainst the invader of Westfold, whom he defeated and left dead in the\nfield. The place where this great victory was achieved was called\n_Hakadal_, or Hako\u2019s Dale, from the name of the chief who fell there.\nAnother invader of that province, Gandulf, was defeated; but, more\nfortunate than Hako, he contrived to escape with life. Seeing the fate\nof these two battles, the remaining princes determined not to fight\nsingly, but in concert; and a meeting was appointed in the rock\nmountains of the upland province of Hedmark. But the intention was soon\nknown to the two heroes; and, proceeding, without loss of time, to the\nappointed place, they fell, at midnight, on the outposts of the camp,\nwhile two of the chiefs were sleeping, and in the skirmish which ensued,\nsent two other kings to join them in the hall of Odin. The fruits of\nthis victory were not only the recovery of all which had been invaded,\nbut the acquisition of several districts to the north and west of his\nhereditary possessions. When Gandulf returned to the charge, he was\nagain defeated, and sent to drink mead, to feed on the grisly boar, and\nto fight with the dark shades of Odin\u2019s warrior ghosts: his dominions as\nfar as the river Raum became the prize of the victor.[170]\n\n[Sidenote: 865 to 868.]\n\nAfter these unexpected successes, Harald thought that he might aspire to\nthe favours of any princess in the north. Hearing of the charms of Gyda,\ndaughter of Eric, jarl or king of Hordaland, he sent messengers to her,\nnot with the offer of his hand, but of his heart. The reply of the lady,\nif any faith is to be reposed in tradition, was unequalled for its\npride. So far from being the mistress, she would not be the wife, of one\nwhose territory consisted in a few insignificant provinces; she would\nnever marry any one beneath the dignity of a monarch,\u2014who did not, like\nEric of Sweden, and Gorm of Denmark, hold absolute sway over the whole\ncountry. The answer of the heroine being brought to the king, he admired\nher ambition, and vowed to the gods that he would never cut or comb his\nhair until he had subdued the whole of Norway\u2014until its revenues and\nauthority were his: and if he failed in his attempt, the penalty should\nbe his life. All this is fable: Harald needed not a woman\u2019s advice to\nenter on a career which he had long meditated, and which his father had,\nprobably, meditated before him. He might, however, make the vow. In\npursuance of that vow, which was highly pleasing to Guthrum, he enlisted\nall the forces he could, and marched towards the north, through\nGodbrandsdalia, having the Dofrafeld mountains on his left. The\ninhabitants fled at his approach into the uplands; some into Orkadal,\nothers into Ganlardal, others into the recesses of the mountains; but\nmany\u2014perhaps the greater number\u2014preferred his yoke to exile and ruin:\nthey did homage, and were unmolested. Pursuing his way into Orkadal,\nwhich lay beyond the Dofrafeld chain, in the modern province of\nDrontheim, he defeated an army, there assembled to oppose him, received\nthe homage of the royal general, and annexed Orkadal, as he had done the\nintervening regions, to the other dependencies of his crown. Nor must it\nbe forgotten that he was the great champion of the feudal system.\nWherever he conquered, he abolished the allodial law of inheritance, and\nconverted all lands into fiefs, to be held from him alone, on the usual\nobligations. But he did more: he insisted that all rents should be paid\nin kind; that one third of the portion accruing to the crown should be\nset apart for the support of the local government. Over each province he\nplaced a jarl, whose duties were, to defend it against all enemies, to\ncollect the revenues, to preside over the local administration.\nAssociated with each jarl were four, at least two, herser or\ncouncillors, whose office was at once military and administrative; and\nto each was awarded a benefice of twenty marks in yearly value. In time\nof war each jarl was to support sixty, each of the herser twenty, armed\nmen, at his own expense. So ample were the revenues of each province,\nthat the jarls were more wealthy and more powerful than many royal\nchiefs of the period. Hence the dignity was an object of ambition, and\nhe who could bestow it did not want applicants for it: in the hope of\nobtaining it, most of the nobles hastened to join him whenever he\nentered a province.[171]\n\n[Sidenote: 867 to 882.]\n\nFrom Orkadal Harald transferred his arms to Ganlardal, which is now also\na portion of Drontheim, immediately to the east of the Swedish province\nof Jamtland. In this expedition he is said to have been joined by Hako,\na powerful jarl, by whose aid he subdued the whole province, and the\nadjoining one of Strinda. In reward for this timely service he placed\nHako over the new conquest, with the dignity and rights of jarl.\nProceeding still to the north, the conqueror subdued Stiordal, Veradal,\nScaunia, and Sparbyggia, all situated in the modern government of\nDrontheim. The islands in the west were, at the same time, subjected to\nhis sway. Still Harald proceeded to the north, and the two kings of\nNaumdal submitted, one of them being invested with the dignity of jarl.\nThinking that he had now penetrated far enough into the north, since\nthere was nothing beyond Naumdal but vast marshes and trackless forests,\nscarcely habitable by men[172], Harald returned into Drontheim, where he\nresolved to await the return of spring, before pursuing his conquests in\nthe south. In that province he fixed his abode, and built a town, which\nhe resolved to make his usual seat of government. There he forgot Gyda,\nso far as to marry Asa, the daughter of jarl Hako; but perhaps he was\nmerely tired of celibacy, and relied on his royal prerogative of\nobtaining another wife whenever he pleased. He did not, however, pass\nthis season in mere indulgence; most of it was spent in constructing new\nvessels, and in the discipline of his followers. No one, says the\nhistorian, was allowed to enter his palace, except such as excelled in\nbodily strength or courage. To them he committed the building of his\nships, and the command when built. The rewards which he held out to all\nchampions were so ample that hundreds flocked to his standard. When\nspring arrived he had a formidable fleet, and a large army,\u2014large, we\nmean, in comparison of those which northern kings usually brought into\nthe field. The first people were the M\u00f6re Fylke, or the maritime\ninhabitants immediately south of Drontheim. Here he had to oppose two\nkings, and, as usual, victory shone on his banners,\u2014both chiefs being\nsent to Odin\u2019s hall. With the two provinces over which they had presided\nhe adopted the same policy as with those of the east and north; that is,\nhe subjected them to feudal obligations. They were intrusted as fiefs to\njarl Rognevald, and with them both ships and men to defend the coast no\nless than the interior. This Rognevald was celebrated alike for valour\nand wisdom, and was the father of Rollo, first duke of Normandy, to\nwhose exploits we shall advert in a future chapter. The summer and\nautumn were passed in consolidating their conquests; the winter was\nspent in Drontheim in preparing for new wars; nor did Harald affect to\nconceal his intention of subduing Sunmore, a province immediately south\nof Raumadal, as Raumadal was south of Nordmore,\u2014both subject to\nRognevald. In one respect this announcement of his views\u2014this manifest\napproach to universal empire\u2014was imprudent, since it enabled the king of\nSunmore to form alliances with the neighbouring reguli, whom the same\ncommon danger served to unite. But before the confederation could\nacquire much strength, he met and defeated the three chiefs who had\nbrought their powers to oppose him. Sunmore was the reward of this\nvictory. The king of the Fiords was next vanquished, and the two\ndistricts added to the two other conquests by jarl Rognevald. Not that\nthese conquests were obtained without bloodshed. They were sometimes\ndearly purchased by the loss of his valiant jarls and bravest followers.\nSometimes, too, the ambition of those chiefs was injurious to the\nprogress of the royal arms. Thus Hako, the father-in-law of Harald, and\nanother jarl, contended with each other for the government of Sogne\n(Sygna-fylke); and one died in the field; the other received a mortal\nwound, and died soon afterwards.[173]\n\n[Sidenote: 882 to 884.]\n\nThe success of Harald gave equal umbrage and alarm to Eric, the son of\nEmund, king of the Swedes.[174] Taking the field, the latter subdued\nVermeland, and placed over it a jarl, whose jurisdiction should extend\nto Swinasund in the south. Nor was he satisfied with this acquisition:\non the contrary, he asserted that he would not lay down his arms until\nhe had incorporated with his dominions Westfold, Raumarik, and the whole\nof southern Norway as far as the ocean,\u2014possessions which he claimed on\nthe pretext that they had once belonged to his ancestors. This was an\nunexpected blow to Harald; but he hoped to arrest its consequences by\nnegotiation; and for this purpose he solicited an interview with Eric,\nin Vermeland. As he had reason, far more than suspicion, that some of\nthe chiefs in these provinces were in communication with Eric, he\nassembled the _Thing_, or provincial assembly, in each, and complained\nof the traitors. Some cleared themselves by the ordeal; some redeemed\nthemselves by the ordinary pecuniary mulct; others were punished in\nvarious ways. From these states he hastened to Vermeland, to the house\nof Aki, a vassal of his, celebrated alike for his riches and dignity,\nwho had readily undertaken to be the host of the two kings. On this\noccasion Aki is said to have adopted the strange expedient of lodging\nEric in old apartments, and Harald in new ones; and of making the same\ndistinction between the plate, the furniture, and drinking horns. The\ninterview was not satisfactory to Eric, and, perhaps, brought no\nadvantage to Harald; but the latter was grateful for the hospitality of\nAki, while the former resented the manner in which he had been treated.\nHaving seen Harald on horseback, and, as if he had a presentiment of his\nfate, confided to that king the interests of his son, he next attended\nEric to the neighbouring wood. Being asked by this monarch the reason of\nthe distinctions which he had made, he replied that he hoped king Eric\nhad no reason to complain of ill-treatment; that, because Eric was an\nelderly and Harald a young man, he had thus acted. This reply did not\nlessen the anger of Eric, who reminded Aki that he had once been his\nvassal. \u201cI have not forgotten that,\u201d replied Aki, \u201cand I also remember\nthat thou wast once mine.\u201d[175] The king immediately drew his sword, and\nkilled the man whose hospitality he had so lately shared. Harald, being\ninformed of the deed, rode in pursuit of Eric, whom, had he overtaken\nhim, he would certainly have sacrificed to his vengeance. This\nunfortunate circumstance embittered the enmity already subsisting\nbetween the rivals. From year to year hostilities were renewed, chiefly\nin Gothland, or the confines of Vermeland; but they were not of\nimportance enough to recall Harald from the east and centre of Norway,\nespecially after he had placed his uncle Guthrum as jarl over all the\nregions which he held in Sweden.[176]\n\n[Sidenote: 885.]\n\nOn his return to Drontheim, where he passed the following winter, Harald\nfound that the reguli of the provinces were still unconquered; and even\nmany of the chiefs who lay within his hereditary jurisdiction were\nconfederating to crush, or, at least, to resist him. It was, indeed, a\nformidable confederacy. To crush it, Harald, with his usual celerity,\ncollected his forces, both maritime and land, and proceeded towards the\nsouth. The armament which he encountered in the bay of Hafursfiord was\nvery different from those which he had hitherto encountered: here were\nmore kings, more vassals, more men, among whom were the greatest heroes\nof Norway. The fate of that country manifestly depended upon the fate of\nthe ensuing battle. It was a struggle between monarchy and\naristocracy,\u2014between the sovereign power and a multitude of independent\nstates,\u2014between an established government and perpetual anarchy,\u2014between\nsociety and domestic piracy. They whose ancestors had for ages been\naccustomed to the piratical life, and had considered it their proudest\ncalling, were eager to fight for what they deemed their privileges. The\nstruggle was worthy of the occasion; prodigies of valour were performed\non both sides; but, in the end, victory declared for Harald. Long was\nthis victory celebrated in the north. It was held equal to the most\ncelebrated in ancient times. It was the subject of several poems, among\nwhich is one by Hornkloft, the Icelandic bard attached to the court of\nHarald, whose metrical history was of such service to Snorro, the\ncompiler of Heimskringla.[177]\n\n[Sidenote: 885.]\n\nAfter this victory, Norway was unable to resist the conqueror. The\nreguli, and jarls, and native chiefs, who refused to submit, were driven\ninto exile. Some, preferring liberty, or rather an unbridled licence, to\nan established government, voluntarily exiled themselves. From this year\nmay be dated the colonisation, by Norwegian settlers, of the Orkneys,\nthe Hebrides, the Shetlands, the Feroes, Iceland; the depredations on\nthe coasts of Great Britain, and Ireland, and Spain; the invasion of\nRussia and Normandy by successful hordes of pirates. So great an\nemigration might, one would suppose, greatly weaken the physical\nresources of Harald; but this does not appear to have been the fact: on\nthe contrary, he spared numerous families to people the wilds of Jamta,\nHelsingia, and other regions more to the north, which, prior to his\ntime, are said to have been wholly or partially desert. But if Norway\nwas thus his, he had no idle life. The pirates whom he had banished\ninfested his coasts, until he, in person, must dislodge them from their\nstrong holds in the islands of the western ocean. To _their_ and _his_\nmaritime transactions we shall advert on a future occasion.\u2014Harald,\nbeing now the monarch of Norway, says the Saga, remembered that he had\naccomplished his vow, and that his hair might be cut and combed. It was\nsurely high time, if, as we are told, he had resembled, previously, a\nwild beast rather than a man, and had been called Harald _Lufa_, or\n\u201cHarald with the Horrid Hair.\u201d When this deformity was removed,\u2014when the\nshears and the bath had done their work,\u2014he obtained the epithet of\nHarfager, or Fair-hair. And he now remembered the saying of the maiden\nwho had excited him to all his successes. Sending for her, he made her\nthe partner of his throne; and by her had a daughter and four sons.\u2014All\nthis is fabulous, but unequal to what follows, which appears to have\noccurred some years before this marriage. One winter, the king hastened\nto the uplands to hold the festivities of Yule; and he ordered the\nbanquet to be prepared in the villa of Thopte. The evening before the\nopening of the feast, as he sat at table, a domestic advanced to say\nthat a Finn, waiting at the door, wished to see him. At this bold\nmessage the anger of the king and the surprise of all present may be\nconceived, and an indignant answer was returned. But Swaso was resolute:\nhe bade Harald be informed that he was the Finn whose hut was on the\nother side of the mountain, and whom he had promised to visit. The\nmonarch went to the door, and immediately said that he would accompany\nhim to the hut. On their entrance, the daughter of Swaso\u2014a wondrous\nbeauty\u2014arose, and presented a horn of mead to the royal visitor. It was\na magic drink, designed to make the king amorous, and it had its effect.\nHe wished to take her as his mistress; but she had too much art for\nthis; she would be the affianced bride, or nothing. That ceremony was\npromptly and easily performed, and the royal wish was gratified. So much\nwas he captivated with the beautiful Sn\u00e6frida, that for years, though he\nvisited, he forgot his country, capital, his subjects, his throne, his\nvery existence. Four sons were the issue of this connection,\u2014Sigurd,\nHalfdan, Gudred, Rognevald. She then died; but her corpse preserved the\nsame spotless white as when living. Corruption could not take hold of\nit. During three whole years he sat by the corpse, thinking that every\nmoment life would revisit it; and his subjects deeply bewailed his\ninfatuation. To dissolve the spell was the work of Thorleif the Wise,\none of his jarls. The corpse was removed from the bed on which it lay,\nwhen suddenly the most offensive odour was emitted by it. It was hastily\nborne to the funeral pile: serpents, and lizards, and toads, and every\nspecies of venomous reptile continued to issue from it; yet the king did\nnot regain his sound mind until the corpse was consumed. Ashamed of his\nweakness, he resumed his royal duties, and at once became the pride of\nhis people. Magic drinks, we need scarcely observe, are of perpetual\noccurrence in the annals of the ancient north. Saxo alludes to many; but\nnone surely was ever so potent as this,\u2014none before or since, in the\nwildest dreams of fancy, could preserve the empire of love for three\nyears after the death of its object.[178]\n\nThis fable has been noticed that the reader may be prepared for the\ndissensions which soon took place among the sons of Harald. The four\nwhom Sn\u00e6frida had borne him he learned to detest, through hatred of the\nmother; and at length he dismissed them from his palace, with the\nresolution to see them no more. After some time, however, one of them,\nGudred, went to Hiodulf, the jarl, who was in great power, and besought\nhim to procure him an interview with the king. Both proceeded to the\nroyal palace, which they reached late in the evening, and they sat on\nthe benches outside the doors unknown to everybody. Harald happened to\nbe walking on the pavement in the court-yard\u2014probably to enjoy the\nnightly breeze\u2014and his eyes carelessly wandered over the seats. But the\ntwo strangers attracted his notice, and he asked the elder what had\nbrought him there? Uncovering his head, Hiodulf was immediately\nrecognised and welcomed. The veteran now pleaded for the exiled sons. He\nobserved that if the mother\u2019s race was bad, the father\u2019s was not; and\nthat the excellency of the one might more than counter-balance the evil\nof the other. The king was persuaded; Gudred was received into the\npalace; the three brothers were sent into the provinces and occupied in\nmilitary exercises, in which they excelled other men.[179]\n\n[Sidenote: 869 to 900.]\n\nThe sons of Gyda and Sn\u00e6frida were not the only ones born to Harald. By\nhis numerous wives\u2014and he is said to have had nine at the same time\u2014he\nhad a numerous progeny, who were destined to trouble his declining\nyears. By Gyda, as we have before related, he had one daughter, Alofa,\nand four sons, Sigtrug, Ruric, Frode, and Thorgils. By Ragnilda, a\nprincess of Jutland, he had Harald Blod\u00f6xe. By Swanhilda, the daughter\nof a Norwegian jarl, he had three sons, Olaf, Biorn, and Ragnar. By\nAlfhilda, daughter of the jarl of Ringarik, he had three sons and one\ndaughter, Dag, Ring, Gudred, and Ingigerda. By the Finnish witch he had\nthe four sons we have just enumerated. By Asa, the first of his\nmistresses, the daughter of jarl Hako, he had Guthrum, Halfdan the\nBlack, Halfdan the White, and Sigfred. That he had other children by his\nnumerous wives is undoubted. Of these, was Rognevald, and another that\nmust be particularly mentioned,\u2014Hako the Good, whom, in his old age, a\nNorwegian lady, named Thora, bore to him, and who eventually sat on the\nthrone of Norway. All these, in conformity with the manners of the\ntimes, were educated by their maternal relatives. Few of these children\nsurvived the father. Their ambition was great, their crimes greater; and\nas the king descended into the vale of years, he lost all authority over\nthem. The deaths of many were deservedly tragical. The four sons of the\nFinn excelled the rest in wickedness. Incensed that they were not\nadmitted to a participation in the government, and hating the\nexperienced jarls, whose advice was so useful to their father, they\nburnt Rognevald, the most obnoxious of all, in his own house, together\nwith sixty of his followers. After this hellish deed\u2014a deed, however, so\ncommon in northern history, as to excite little surprise\u2014Halfdan fled to\nthe Orkneys, but Gudred remained. The only chastisement which Harald\ninflicted on the latter, was to send him into Agder, probably to fill\nsome honourable post; but Thorer, a son of Rognevald, was raised to the\nvacant dignity of jarl of Moria. Soon afterwards, Halfdan, who had\nusurped the government of the Orkneys, was taken and put to death by\nEinar, the lawful jarl; Harald, at the instigation of Halfdan\u2019s\nbrothers, sailed to revenge the death of his son; but on reaching these\nislands, he accepted a pecuniary mulct, and left Einar in possession of\nthe government. Guthrum, the eldest of Harald\u2019s sons by Asa, was the\nnext victim; he was slain in Gothia by the Swedish governor. Halfdan the\nWhite, while absent on a piratical expedition on the eastern coast of\nthe Baltic, was killed by the inhabitants. But the worst evil that the\nking dreaded was their wars with one another. To avert this calamity, on\nreaching his fiftieth year, he divided his provinces among them, giving\nto each the regal title, yet reserving to himself the supreme title of\nmonarch. Thus, to Olaf, Biorn, Sigtrug, Frode, and Thorgils, he ceded\nVingulmark, Raumarik, Westfold, and Thelamark; to Dag, Ring, and Ragnar\nhe resigned Hedmark and Gudbransdal; to the sons of Sn\u00e6frida he gave\nRingarik, Hadaland, Thotnia, and the adjacent districts; Ruric and\nGodred had extensive domains in the central provinces, and were\ngenerally resident at the court of Harald; Eric had Halogaland,\nNordmore, and Ramsdal; over Drontheim were Halfdan the Black and Sigurd,\nand the same dignity had been shared by Halfdan the White. To Thorgils\nand Frode he gave a certain number of vessels, with permission to raise\nkingdoms for themselves, if they could, in the British islands. They are\nsaid to have conquered Dublin; but both perished fatally,\u2014Frode by\npoison, Thorgils by the hands of the natives. Nor did he forget the\noffspring of his daughters. While the eldest children of his sons were\nfor ever to enjoy the regal title, those of his daughters were to\npossess the dignity of jarl, and their seat in the assemblies of the\nstate to be just one step below that of the male descendants.[180]\n\n[Sidenote: 920.]\n\nIn the preceding paragraph, we have seen the tragical deaths of five\namong the sons of Harald. These were Halfdan, Haleg, Guthrum, Halfdan\nthe White, Frode, and Thorgils. Others were to be soon added to the\nnumber. Rognevald being accused of magic,\u2014a science which, ever since\nhis adventure with Sn\u00e6frida, Harald held in the utmost abomination,\u2014Eric\nBlod\u00f6xe, the favourite son of the monarch, was sent into Hadaland, where\nRognevald was then residing. Finding, or, perhaps, pretending to find,\nthe prince surrounded by eighty wizards,\u2014poor wizards they, not to\nforesee their fate!\u2014Eric set fire to the house, and consumed all within.\nThis deed, which in our days would not be considered a merit, was held\nto be a great one in his. But another deed of his was not beheld with\nequal favour. Biorn, one of his brothers, who, as king of Westfold,\ngenerally resided at Tunsberg, was equally attached to piracy and\ncommerce. By his frequent expeditions, he had amassed great riches; and\nhis liberality, no less than his judicious administration, had won him\nthe respect of his subjects. On these Eric cast a longing eye; nor was\nhe less jealous of a brother, who, when his father should be no more,\nmight dispute his claim to the monarchy,\u2014a claim which he always\nadvanced, and which his father had sanctioned. With the view of\nenveloping the merchant king in his toils, Eric demanded the tribute\nwhich was due to Harald for the kingdom of Westfold. Biorn replied that\nhe had always delivered it into the hands of his sovereign, either\npersonally, or through his agents; and that he should not, on this\noccasion, deviate from the custom. A dispute arose, and Eric, in great\nanger, left Tunsberg. At nightfall Biorn also left it for a marine\nresidence not far from the city. With a chosen band Eric followed his\nsteps, and assailed the house as the king sat at table. With all the\ndomestics whom he could muster, the latter issued from the house, and a\ncombat followed, which was fatal to many of his attendants, and to\nhimself. A rich prey was the reward of this fratricide; and Eric,\nexulting, returned to his northern kingdom. Seeing the odium in which\nthe author of this deed, notwithstanding his influence over the now weak\nmind of Harald, was held by most of the Norwegians, Halfdan the Black\nmade an attempt to assassinate the murderer, by setting fire to the\ncountry house in which he slept; but the dormitory was separated from\nthe main building, and Eric escaped. To revenge this outrage on his\ndarling son, Harald collected his troops, and marched against Halfdan;\nbut the intervention of an aged jarl effected a reconciliation. That\nreconciliation, however, was not sincere, so far, at least, as Halfdan\nand Eric were concerned.[181]\n\n[Sidenote: 910 to 913.]\n\nFor the doting attachment of Harald to the most bloody of his sons, no\ngood reason has been or can be assigned. He was not the oldest son, nor\nwas his mother, Ragnilda, the most beloved of the royal wives. Yet this\npaternal fondness did not screen the royal youth from the dangers of his\nprofession. As early as his twelfth year, he is said to have become a\npiratical chief, and, with the five vessels which he had received from\nhis father, to have ravaged all the maritime coasts of Europe from\nRussia to Ireland. On that of Finland he had, says the legend, a\nmarvellous adventure, which, as it has been made the foundation of some\ntales popular in the middle ages, we shall abridge. While he and his\ncompanions were in the remotest part of that magic region, on the very\nborders of the still more wondrous Biarmia, they one day reached a\ncottage the mistress of which was a supernatural beauty. She told them\nthat they were in great danger; that she had two lovers, the most able\nmagicians of the country, who were also her instructors; that they could\nhunt the footsteps of man on snow or ice, with as much instinct as the\nblood-hound; that their arrows never missed aim; that they put all\nstrangers to death; that, when angry, every living thing died beneath\ntheir glance, and the earth itself was affected. As they came daily to\nthe hut, there seemed no hope of escape until she promised to conceal\nthem, and to aid them in the destruction of her odious suitors. Having\nconcealed them, she took a linen bag full of what they conceived to be\nashes, and scattered the contents around the hut, both within and\nwithout. The Finns soon entered, and inquired what strangers had\narrived; and on her replying that she had seen nobody, they expressed no\nlittle surprise: they had traced footsteps in the snow to the very door.\nHowever, they lighted a fire, cooked their provisions, and when\nsatiated, Gunhilda prepared her own bed. There she lay down, but they\nwould not. As they were rivals, both passionately in love, and each\nafraid that, while he slept, the other might obtain some advantage over\nthe lady, they resolved to remain awake. During three successive nights\nthis sleeping on her part, and watching on theirs, continued, until\nnature was exhausted. Gunhilda saw her time; she invited both to lie\nbeside her; they joyfully obeyed her, and she put one arm around the\nneck of each. The effect\u2014that of magic (for she had been trained in a\ngood school), was instantaneous; both fell into a deep sleep, from which\nit was impossible to awake them. There she fettered them, and called on\nEric and his companions to despatch them. The deed was easily\nperpetrated, and the corpses were cast outside of the hut: but it was\nfollowed by incessant thunder, which, during a whole night, prevented\nthem from leaving the place. When serenity was restored, all left,\nGunhilda with the rest; and before the day closed, the magic beauty\nbecame the bride of Eric.[182]\n\n[Sidenote: 930 to 934.]\n\nFate had not yet done its worst on the offspring of the Norwegian\nmonarch. His son Gudred perished at sea. And when he resigned his\nimperial dignity in favour of his beloved Eric, other tragedies might\nhave been foreseen\u2014if not in his lifetime, immediately after his death.\nThe elevation of Eric was opposed, among others, by Halfdan the Black,\nwho, also, assumed the title of monarch. Olaf, brother of the murdered\nBiorn, who had succeeded that prince in the government of Westfold, did\nthe same. In two years Halfdan was removed by poison,\u2014the deed, as was\ncommonly reported, of Gunhilda. Harald was little moved by these\natrocities. So long as his favourite son enjoyed life and empire, he\ncared little for the rest. But his own days were hastening to an end.\nWhen he resigned his sceptre to his son Eric, he was eighty years of\nage. In two or three years after that event,\u2014in the year 934, or,\naccording to others, 936\u2014he paid the debt of nature. The place of his\ninterment was one of his manors in Drontheim. Near the spot, a\nmagnificent heathen temple was erected, which was standing in the days\nof Snorro.[183]\n\nTo dwell on the character of this monarch, after the ample relation\nwhich we have given of his deeds, would be useless. With the exception\nof his martial prowess, of his enterprising spirit, of his unwearied\nactivity, we see little to praise in him. His numerous adulteries\u2014his\nfeebleness soon after he had passed the meridian of life\u2014his blind\npolicy\u2014have not often been exceeded. Much praise has been lavished on\nhim for his extirpation of piracy; but he is entitled to little. So long\nas his own shores were not visited by the marauders, he cared not what\ndepredations were committed on others. His chiefs, his very sons,\nfollowed piracy as a profession, not merely with his sanction, but at\nhis express command. He has been called the friend of the peasants, or\nrather of the humble allodial proprietors; but did not policy make him\nso? If they were plundered by those in authority, could they furnish the\nnew contributions which, as the first of Norway\u2019s feudal sovereigns, he\nexacted from them? Then, as to his boasted administration of the laws,\nnothing is more certain than their perpetual neglect: after he had\npassed his fortieth year, they were inoperative,\u2014despised by his own\nsons, evaded by the jarls. Nor, however brilliant his conquests, can he\nbe called the founder of the Norwegian monarchy. If he destroyed many\ntyrants, he replaced them by greater: if he united many independent\nstates into one empire, by his own deliberate act he broke that empire\ninto fragments, and restored the anarchy which he had laboured to\ndestroy. Widely different is his character before and after he had\nattained the meridian of life. It seemed as if he were led by some evil\nspirit to undo, in the latter period, all that he had done in the\nformer. But he had no comprehensive views, no sound policy: during the\nfirst half of his life he fought for ambition; during the latter, he was\nthe tool of his wives, his sons, and his other favourites. On the whole,\nwe are disposed to consider him as inferior to his father, Halfdan the\nBlack.\n\n[Sidenote: 934 to 936.]\n\nScarcely was _Eric_, who, from his sanguinary actions, was surnamed the\nBloody Axe (Blod\u00f6xe), the nominal sovereign of Norway, when he called on\nhis brothers to recognise his title, and pay him the tributes which they\nhad paid to his father. Instead of complying, Olaf and Sigurd exacted\nthe usual tributes in their respective kingdoms,\u2014an undoubted act of\nsovereignty. To chastise their presumption, the indignant Eric equipped\nan armament, and hastened to Tunsberg, the seat of their domination: he\nwas met by the two kings on the declivity of a hill near the city; but,\nhis forces being much superior in number, they were defeated and slain.\nThe same fate would have befallen Trygve, the son of Olaf, and Godred\nthe son of the murdered Biorn,\u2014both nephews of Eric,\u2014had they not\nconsulted their safety by repairing to the inaccessible fastnesses of\nthe uplands. The tyrant was now hated more intensely than before, and a\nmajority of the people began to look for a deliverer of the race of the\nYnglings. But where could one be found, seeing that all Eric\u2019s brothers\nhad either paid the debt of nature, or perished untimely? There was one\nexception to this fate: Hako, the last of Harald\u2019s sons, was still\nalive, and in England. From our own historians, no less than from\nSnorro, it is evident that friendly relations had always subsisted\nbetween Athelstane of England and Harald, and that presents had passed\nbetween them. One of them was a magnificent sword, which Athelstane sent\nto Harald; and Harald, in return, sent a magnificent ship, with his\ninfant son Hako to be educated in the polite court of the Saxon. This\nsimple narrative has been much embellished by Snorro. He informs us that\nwhen the ambassador delivered the splendid sword to Harald, and the\nmonarch had seized the handle, the ambassador exclaimed, \u201cNow art thou\nthe liege man of our lord the king, in that thou hast received his\nsword!\u201d\u2014alluding to the most ordinary symbol of investiture. The proud\nNorwegian was exasperated; but, on reflection, he retaliated in a manner\nequally ingenious. Causing a magnificent ship to be prepared, he\ndespatched in it his son Hako, under the care of a trusty chief. On\nreaching the court of Athelstane, he entered the palace, and laying the\nyoung child\u2014then about seven years of age\u2014on the knees of the king,\nsaid, \u201cKing Harald commands thee to educate his bastard!\u201d The facts are\nas we have represented them on the authority of English contemporary\nwriters,\u2014facts which an ancient chronicler of Norway, Theodric, also\nadmits. The writers of both countries agree that Athelstane nobly\ndischarged the duty which he had undertaken. Hako was educated well, was\nof course baptized, and taught the truths of Christianity; and in the\nEnglish king he found a counsellor, a friend, a father. He was about\nfourteen when he heard of Harald\u2019s death, and of his brother Eric\u2019s\naccession. The following year brought him so many reports of Eric\u2019s\ncruelty, and of the desire of many Norwegians to rid themselves of the\ntyrant, that he began to regard the throne as his future inheritance. He\nhad ambition; but in a virtuous mind, ambition, like every other\nfeeling, may become an instrument of good. Hako longed to be a king,\u2014not\nmerely from the desire of power, but from a wish to benefit his\ncountrymen, especially by diffusing among them the blessings of\nChristianity. When, therefore, many emissaries from Norway arrived at\nthe English court, and besought him to rescue the country from the yoke,\nhe readily obeyed the call. Being supplied with ships, men, money, by\nhis generous friend, about two years after his father\u2019s death, he sailed\ntowards Norway.[184]\n\n[Sidenote: 937 to 946.]\n\nHako landed at Drontheim, and the inhabitants here assembled in a\n_Thing_, or general meeting, when every free-born head of a family, who\nhad land, was permitted to vote, or at least to sanction, by outward\nexpressions of applause, the opinions of the chiefs. Though most of them\nwere friendly to the royal youth, they dreaded the vindictive character\nof Eric. But in that meeting the cause of Hako was eloquently advocated\nby Sigurd, one of the most powerful jarls. And when Hako himself arose,\nso like his father was he, that a murmur of applause ran through the\nmultitude. When he spoke, all were attentive; when he promised, on the\ncondition of their making him king, to abolish the oppressive\nobligations of feudality, and restore the lands to their ancient\nallodial tenure, one universal shout proclaimed him king of Norway. The\nreport spread through the kingdom that Harald was restored in his son,\nbut that the son had not the worst quality of his father,\u2014that of\noppressing the people by feudal exactions. The joyful news that the\nallodial tenure was to be restored, spread, quick as lightning, over the\ncountry. From Drontheim, Hako proceeded into the uplands, where a Thing\nwas assembled, and he was received in the same manner. Here he was\njoined by many chiefs; among others, by Drygve and Sigurd, on whom he\nconferred the regal title, with the government of Westfold to the\nlatter, and Raumarik with Vingulmark to the former. This condition\naccompanied the investiture,\u2014that half of their revenues should be paid\ninto the treasury of Hako, the other half be retained by themselves.\nThose revenues, it was manifest, would be much less than they had been\nwhile every estate was a fief belonging to the crown: allodial property\nhas always been lightly taxed. Hako now returned to Drontheim, to raise\ntroops and prepare ships for a contest with his brother Eric, who was\nthen in the province of Vikia. The case of the latter was evidently\nhopeless; though he called the people to his aid, few obeyed him; and\nthe men who were with him at the time of Hako\u2019s embarkation, left him,\none by one, to swell the ranks of his rival. He had no hope of security,\nbut in flight; and he repaired to the Orkneys. There collecting all the\nships and all the men he could, he proceeded to the south, ravaging the\nScottish coast as he passed along, until he arrived in Northumbria. This\nprovince had never been well affected to the Anglo-Saxon yoke, which,\nindeed, was a very recent one. It had been held for some time by Danish\nchiefs; half its population was Danish or Norwegian; and it had been the\nprey of the sea kings from the eighth to the tenth century. Athelstane\nthought that if Eric would become his vassal, embrace Christianity, and\ndefend Northumbria against the pirates of the north, he would be a far\nmore useful subject than any of the Saxon thanes. A messenger from the\nEnglish king met the exiled monarch: the proposals of the former were\neagerly embraced; Eric and his whole family were baptized; homage was\ndone for the province; and York was chosen as the seat of the new\ngovernment. But on the part of Athelstane this was an impolitic step.\nFrom common report he must surely have known something of Eric\u2019s\ncharacter,\u2014that neither peace nor obedience could be expected from a\nturbulent, ambitious, cruel, and ungrateful man. During the reign of\nAthelstane, indeed, he committed no depredations on the English coast,\nbut he ravaged those of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, without\nintermission. The fame which he acquired in these expeditions brought\nmany Norwegians, many Swedes, many Danes to his standard. During the\nreign of Edmund the Elder, he appears to have been absent from\nNorthumbria; and so he was during the first year of Edred\u2019s reign. He\nthen returned, and laid waste the English coast. Edred marched against\nhim, and compelled the Northumbrians to do homage to him instead of\nEric. The latter collected new forces, and again contended for the\nkingdom; but he contended in vain; he was signally defeated, and, if\nSnorro be correct, slain on the battle field. But Matthew of Westminster\nasserts that, after his defeat, he was betrayed by one of his chiefs,\nand slain in the wilds of Yorkshire. However this be, from this time\nNorthumbria became an English province: Eric, as the chronicler of\nMailros observes, was its last king. The widow and sons of this exile\nbeing driven from Northumbria, took refuge in the Orkneys and Shetlands,\nwhere the latter resumed their piratical depredations wherever prey was\nto be found. Subsequently, as we shall perceive, they were entertained\nat the court of the Danish king. The character of Eric of the Bloody Axe\nneeds no comment. He was a favourite with all pirates, and, for this\nvery reason, with Odin himself.[185]\n\n[Sidenote: 939 to 940.]\n\nBy the departure of Eric, _Hako_ was the sole monarch of Norway, though,\nas we have before related, he imprudently left the regal title to two\nprinces of his family. His first hostilities were against the Danes, who\ninfested his dominions, but whom he pursued into Jutland, and defeated a\nsecond time. But they came from Zealand and other islands of Denmark;\nand in Zealand he sought and extirpated them. Those of Gothland were\nnext chastised by him. Harald Blaatand, the Danish king, offended with\nthe presumption of Hako in thus entering his bays and destroying the\nvessels of his people, threatened revenge. To annoy his brother\nsovereign and fellow Christian, he received, with much ceremony,\nGunhilda, the widow of Eric Blod\u00f6xe, and her children, and furnished\nthem with ample means of support. The sons of Eric had been taught the\nprofession of piracy; and on their settlement in Denmark, they built\nvessels, and committed frequent depredations on Vikia, one of the\nsouthern provinces of Norway. In return, the chiefs of Hako, especially\nking Trygve, desolated the coasts of Denmark. The Norwegian monarch was\nno less a warrior than his pagan ancestors; but though he thus violated\nthe spirit, he was not insensible to the forms, of Christianity. One of\nhis objects, as we have before observed, in striving for the Norwegian\nthrone, was the diffusion of the Christian religion. He did not,\nhowever, for some years, openly interfere with that of his subjects. He\nhad need of their aid; and he had no wish to estrange them by an\nostentatious display of his own worship. For some years, therefore, he\nworshipped in silence. By degrees he drew his friends, his courtiers, to\nembrace the new faith. He next extended his favour to all who consented\nto be baptized. The number of converts increasing, he thought that he\nmight now act more openly: he accordingly sent to England for a bishop\nand priests to become the harbingers of the new faith throughout Norway.\nOn their arrival, he destroyed some of the heathen temples in Drontheim\nand the neighbouring districts. Many of the pagans showed a\nphilosophical indifference to both religions: some, south of Drontheim,\nwould do what the people of that city should do themselves; the majority\nwere anxious to be guided by the decrees of a Thing. An assembly was\ntherefore convoked in Drontheim; but the members being alarmed at the\nmagnitude of the change proposed by the king, devolved the decision on a\nmore general one, which should be convoked at Froste. It was evident\nthat the zeal of Hako was impelling him too rapidly in the career of\nreformation.[186]\n\nAmidst these transactions, Snorro gives us some interesting facts\nrespecting the religious customs of the Northmen. When the public\nsacrifices were to be offered,\u2014which, as we have before related, was\nobligatory three times in the year[187],\u2014the whole of the neighbouring\npopulation hastened to the nearest temple, bearing provisions and mead.\nOn these occasions, cattle of all kinds, and numerous horses, were\nsacrificed. The blood of the victims was called _klot_; the basins in\nwhich the blood was received, _klot-bollar_; and _klotteinar_ were the\nnames of the instruments with which the blood was sprinkled over the\naltars, the pedestals, the walls of the temple within and without, the\nassembled multitude, and the provisions which were about to be eaten. In\nthe centre of the temple was an open space where the fires were burning;\nand over them were suspended the cauldrons and pots destined to cook the\nsacrificial meats. The entertainment which followed was under the care\nof the sovereign; and it was his duty to consecrate the meats and cups\nbefore they were used by the people. The first cup was emptied to Odin\nfor victory and prosperity in war; the second, to Niord and Freyr, for\nan abundant season and for peace; and when these were drunk, it was\ncustomary, in many places, to pour a libation from an overflowing horn,\nin memory of deceased heroes and kings. Then horns were emptied in\nmemory of inferior personages,\u2014of relatives and friends,\u2014and these were\ncalled the _minne_, or smaller cups. To these sacrifices, and to the\npagan rites in general, jarl Sigurd, who had done so much to procure the\nelection of Hako, was much addicted. He was as zealous, says the\nhistorian, as Harald Harfager had ever been. And he was exceedingly\nliberal: in the absence of the king, when it was his duty to consecrate\nthe food and drink, he often bore the whole of the expense,\u2014no slight\none, where so many hundreds of cattle had to be sacrificed, and so many\nthousands of people entertained. Hence his fame was much diffused; and\nas he was Hako\u2019s uncle by the mother\u2019s side, he had considerable weight\nin the royal councils.[188]\n\n[Sidenote: 941.]\n\nOn the day appointed, the national Thing was assembled; and Hako, after\nproposing a body of laws which were readily adopted, and to which we\nshall advert in a future chapter[189], openly adverted to the\nall-important subject. He besought the whole multitude, rich and poor,\nnoble and serf, young and old, the happy and the wretched, to embrace\nChristianity,\u2014to acknowledge one only God, and Jesus, the son of Mary,\nas his son and equal. He implored them to abandon the rites of\nheathenism,\u2014to refrain from labour every seventh day, and observe it as\na festival,\u2014and to fast another day in the seven. At these words a\nmurmur went through the multitude,\u2014all freemen, be it remembered, all\nproprietors of slaves, all landowners. Were two days out of the seven to\nbe thus lost?\u2014for who could work on a _fast_-day? If this novelty were\nadopted, assuredly the ground could not be cultivated, nor could there\nbe a sufficiency of food for the people. A rich and popular landowner of\nGaulandal, the oracle of the assembled multitude, then arose. \u201cWhen\nthou, O king, wast first elected by us in the public assembly of\nDrontheim, and didst restore to us the lands of our forefathers, we all\nthought that the highest happiness was to be our lot. But now we are in\nthe greatest uncertainty whether thou hast really made us free, or art\npreparing for us a new slavery, by this strange proposal that we should\nabandon the religion of all our fathers\u2014men far more excellent than we\u2014a\nreligion which has always been advantageous to Norway. Through the great\nlove which we bore thee, we conferred on thee the privilege of\nintroducing new laws. The code of laws which thou hast this day\nproposed, and which we have promised to maintain, we shall all of us\ninviolably maintain. All of us will follow thee as our leader, and\nhonour thee as our king,\u2014while any one of us shall live,\u2014so that thou\nwilt proceed moderately, and ask not from our love what we cannot\nlawfully grant. But if, as now seems to be the case, thou not only\nrequirest this change from us, but art preparing to force our\ninclinations to it, know that we have all determined to abandon thee,\nand to choose another king, under whose sway we may be permitted to\nobserve a religion so dear to our hearts.\u201d The good sense of this reply\nmight have been despised by Hako; but the menace was to be regarded,\nwhen it was received with applause by the assembled multitude. This was\na critical moment, and Sigurd, whose authority, alike from his dignity\nand character, was so great, now came forward. As soon as the tumult had\nsubsided, he assured them that the king wished what they wished, and\nthat the good understanding between them would never be destroyed. The\npeople replied,\u2014\u201cThen let king Hako do as his father did,\u2014offer\nsacrifices to the gods for abundance and peace!\u201d When the assembly was\ndissolved, Sigurd besought the king to reserve his intention of\nproselyting for more suitable times, and, above all, not to incense\nnobles and people by refusing some show of compliance with what all had\ndemanded.[190]\n\n[Sidenote: 942 to 956.]\n\nThe proceedings which we are now relating doubtless occupied many years,\nthough, by most historians, they have been crowded into three or four.\nWe are told that the above assembly, in which the laws of Hako were\npassed, was held in 941; and we know that, in 956, he was still\nlabouring for the introduction of the new faith. Hako, though he saw the\nprudence of complying with Sigurd\u2019s advice, was loth to follow it;\nprobably he hoped to discover some way of evading even the slightest\nhomage to the old faith. At the sacrificial time, however, he was\ncompelled to go to the temple; nor could he avoid sitting on the throne,\nas president of the ceremonies. The office of high-priest was performed\nby Sigurd, who, after filling the cup, delivered it to the king for\nconsecration to Odin. As Hako received it, he drew upon it the sign of\nthe cross,\u2014a thing never seen before, and highly disagreeable to all\npresent. \u201cHow is this?\u201d cried a chief; \u201cdoes the king refuse to\nconsecrate, and sacrifice to the gods?\u201d A tumult arose; but it was\nallayed by the philosophic Sigurd, who observed that Hako had\nconsecrated to Thor, by making on the cup the sign of that deity\u2019s\nmallet. The following day he was present at the festival. The people\ninsisted that he should taste of the horse-flesh,\u2014he refused; that he\nshould drink from the consecrated cup,\u2014still he refused; that, at least,\nhe should taste the gravy which flowed from the roasted meats,\u2014he\nhesitated. The temple was in an uproar; and violent hands were about to\nbe laid on him, when Sigurd interfered, and said that the king would do\nwhat was amply sufficient to satisfy the gods,\u2014he would hold his head\nover the caldron, the handle of which he would touch with his lips, and\ninhale the fumes arising from it. Accordingly, the monarch approached\nthe caldron, and was observed to cover the handle with linen before the\napplication of his lips; he then inhaled the odour, and returned to his\nseat gloomy and discontented, but not more so than many of the\nspectators. The following year, when the yule festival, the most\nimportant of all, was to be celebrated, and the people of Drontheim were\nassembled together, with eight of the princely pontiffs, Hako could not\navoid attending. These had agreed, not only that they would pluck up by\nthe roots what little Christianity had yet been planted in Norway, but\nthat they would force the monarch to sacrifice with them. In conformity\nwith this resolution, they had destroyed three Christian churches, and\nkilled three priests. On the first day of the sacrifices, which were\ncelebrated in the great temple of Moria, Hako was peremptorily required\nto join in the rites. By the authority of Sigurd, the demand was so far\nmodified that, if he would eat of the horse-flesh, and consecrate all\nthe horns presented to him, he would satisfy the audience. He did so;\nnor did he, as before, make the hated sign of the cross, in offering the\nmead to the gods. This was guilty condescension, and he felt it: he\nfelt, too, that he had done wrong to be present; and his anger was\nexcited against both Sigurd and the whole pagan population of Drontheim.\nHe vowed to be revenged,\u2014to fall on the inhabitants with an armed force,\nas soon as spring appeared.[191]\n\n[Sidenote: 956 to 958.]\n\nWhen Hako was preparing to put his menace into execution, intelligence\nreached him that the sons of his brother Eric had descended on the coast\nof Vikia, defeated king Trygve, and were laying waste the whole\nprovince, which they were likely to subdue. To oppose the common enemy\nwas now his object, and that of his chiefs. Even the eight pontiffs, who\nhad been so deeply offended with his contempt of their religion, joined\nhim: they preferred the yoke of a mild Christian to that of cruel\npagans, as the sons of Eric were known to be. All hastened to the\nsouthern coast, disembarked, and joined in the battle. It was hardly\ncontested; but, in the end, victory declared for Hako: with Guthrum, the\neldest of those princes, he fought hand to hand, and killed his\nantagonist. Many fell; the rest hastened to their ships, and took refuge\nin Denmark, where they were sure of a favourable reception from Harald\nBlaatand. They were pursued, indeed, by the victor; but they had the\nadvantage in celerity. In consequence of this invasion, which would,\nprobably, be repeated, Hako revived an ancient law for the protection of\nhis coasts,\u2014a law once general in the north, and adopted by our Saxon\nkings. It divided the kingdom into maritime districts, each extending\nfrom the sea-shore as far as the rivers could boast of salmon; and each\ncompelled to furnish a certain number of vessels and men in proportion\nto its extent. In each district, these ships were always to be so far\nready, that, when an enemy appeared within sight, they should, before he\ncould reach the coast, be prepared to receive him. That the alarm might\nbe communicated from one district to another, huge trunks of trees were\nplaced on the summits of the mountains, and formed into piles, so as to\nbe converted into huge watch-fires whenever the occasion demanded. They\nextended from the extreme angle of the south, to the remotest elevation\nof the north. Yet these wise precautions were of no avail when the sons\nof Eric, at the head of a powerful Danish armament, and of such\npiratical vessels as they had been able to engage, next appeared off the\nsouthern coast. The watch-fires were not lighted; and the progress of\nthe hostile fleet was unknown to the king until it was near at hand. The\ncause of this negligence is very imperfectly explained. Snorro says that\nthe signal fires were always to begin in the east,\u2014as if pirates could\nnot land in the west or north!\u2014and run in a line to the extreme south,\nthen northwards, to the extremity of Norway. He adds that, as the\nwatchmen who should give a false alarm would be severely punished, they\nwere loth to light these beacons until they were sure of an enemy\u2019s\npresence. Probably the ships stood out too far from the coast to be\ndescried by the naked eye; perhaps some of the pagan sentinels were more\ninclined to the restoration of Eric\u2019s sons than to the sway of a\nChristian prince; perhaps, too, there was bribery. Great was the\nastonishment, greater still the dread, of king and people, when the\narmament anchored in Ulfasund. Both were unprepared; and the first idea\nof Hako was to retire into the north until he could be joined by vessels\nand men sufficient to resist the invaders: but one of his officers, who\nhad often fought with king Harald, dissuaded him from this prudent step.\nThe king\u2019s father, he observed, had never considered the number of the\nenemy; he had fought with many and with few, yet, on all occasions, had\nwon the battle. This was imprudent advice; for though, in the present\ncase, Hako, being unexpectedly joined by a considerable force, defeated\nthe enemy, and slew one of Eric\u2019s sons, the adventure was a rash one,\nwas purchased with much loss, and might have ended fatally. That similar\nnegligence did lead to a fatal result, will soon be apparent to the\nreader.[192]\n\n[Sidenote: 958 to 963.]\n\nThat, on two successive occasions, the same negligence should be shown\nby the watchmen, and the same imprudent advice followed by the king, may\ninduce, in the reader\u2019s mind, a suspicion that Snorro has confounded the\ntwo. Hako was quietly seated at table, in one of his manor houses in the\nlittle island of Stord, off the coast of Hardaland, when a domestic\nentered to say that many vessels, which had a suspicious look, were in\nsight. The king and his guests, rushing out of the house, were satisfied\nthat a hostile armament was actually approaching. It was led by Harald,\nwho, since the death of his brother, was the eldest of Eric\u2019s surviving\nsons. Hako, and the chiefs who happened to be with him, hastily\ncollected all the men in the neighbourhood and advanced to repel the\ninvaders. The battle engaged, and was, as before, desperately disputed.\nHako performed his duty nobly: two champions of the enemy were soon laid\nat his feet; and the pirates were again put to flight, but not until\nHako had received a mortal wound. He was carried on board a vessel,\nbecause he wished to be taken to one of his manors in the north; but the\nblood, which no art could stop, flowed so plentifully, that his cure was\nnot expected. On reaching the manor he loved,\u2014that in which he had been\nborn,\u2014he called his friends around him, and acquainted them with his\nlast wishes. As he had only a daughter, Thora, he declared the sons of\nEric his heirs; and despatched a messenger, both to acquaint them with\nthis news, and to request that they would be merciful to his\nadherents,\u2014to all, especially, who were bound to him by the ties of\nconsanguinity. \u201cShould my life be spared,\u201d he added, \u201cI will leave my\nthrone and country, embrace the monastic life, and endeavour to atone\nfor my numerous offences against God. If, as I feel, I shall die among\npagans, bury me in whatever manner you please.\u201d Soon afterwards, he\nbreathed his last.[193]\n\nFrom the tranquillity which Hako enjoyed in regard to his subjects\nduring the last years of his life, we may infer that he had abandoned\nthe hope of converting his people. It has been affirmed that he became\nat least half a pagan. This statement is abundantly confirmed by his\ndying words; by the fact that he was buried according to heathen rites;\nand by the universal belief that his soul ascended to the hall of Odin.\nOn this subject we have the confirmation of a pagan bard, who describes\nthe joy of the warrior god and his chiefs at the arrival of the\nNorwegian monarch.[194] It was, probably, as much for his religious\nindifference in the last years of his life, as from any other reason,\nthat he was thus honoured. Yet all Norway bewailed him; whatever his\nfaith, his virtues could not be mistaken; and the epithet which he so\nwell deserved\u2014that of Hako the Good\u2014rendered his memory dear to his\ncountry. During his reign it enjoyed extraordinary abundance; robberies\nand violence were suppressed; the laws which he found in use he caused\nto be administered with vigour; and the new ones which he promulgated,\nand to which we shall advert in the proper place,[195] show that he was\nfar superior to his predecessors in his care of the internal\ntranquillity.[196]\n\n[Sidenote: 963 to 969.]\n\n_Harald_, surnamed _Graefeld_ or Grey-mantle, the eldest son of Eric and\nGunhilda, was now declared monarch of Norway. But the title had in it\nmore of pomp than of real power. In the first place, his two brothers\nhad also the regal title, and were placed over the central provinces of\nNorway. Then the eastern provinces were subject to the kings whom Hako\nthe Good had placed over them; namely, Trygve, the son of Olaf; and\nGudred, the son of Biorn. Nor was this all; for so popular was jarl\nSigurd with the inhabitants of Drontheim, that they awarded him the\nprivileges, though not the title, of king. Here, then, were five chiefs\ninvested with the regal functions, and independent of one another; and,\nwith the exception of occasional tributes, of Harald himself. This\ndivision of power could not be pleasing to Harald, who hoped one day to\nunite the scattered fragments of the monarchy; but for some time he was\ncompelled to act with great caution. He acknowledged the authority of\nthe three kings who were not his brothers, on the condition of their\nholding from him as they had formerly held from Hako the Good. But if\neven he had been sincere in these steps, the ambition of his mother, who\nshared in the councils of all her sons, would have led him to retrace\nit. She often represented to them that they had the title but not the\npower of kings; that if Trygve and Olaf enjoyed their kingdoms by\nhereditary claim, surely Sigurd, who was only a jarl, had none, and that\nto remove him would be an act of good policy. Harald replied that to\nremove so popular a chief \u201cwas not quite so easy as to kill a calf or a\nkid.\u201d There were other ways, she rejoined, of effecting this object,\nthan by open force. Sigurd had a brother who had not been raised to\neither wealth or consideration,\u2014probably because he was unworthy of\neither,\u2014and he was easily induced, by the promises of the king and of\nGunhilda, to enter into a plot against the life of Sigurd. To throw the\nintended victim off his guard, extraordinary professions of friendship\nand splendid presents were transmitted to him by Harald. His motions\nwere closely watched; and one night, while at one of his rural manors,\nwith fewer attendants than ordinary, he perished in the flames of his\nown house. But the royal assassins reaped no advantage from this crime;\nfor the inhabitants of Drontheim elected Hako, son of the deceased jarl,\nto the vacant dignity; and Harald, himself, was compelled to sanction\nthe election. To fortify himself against the vengeance of the reigning\nfamily, Hako entered into a secret alliance with the two kings of the\nsouth, Trygve and Gudred. It did not escape the penetration of Gunhilda,\nwho again entered into a secret conclave with her sons. The result was\nsoon apparent. The royal brothers proclaimed their intention of\nundertaking a piratical cruise in the Baltic; and for this purpose,\nhastening towards the southern boundary of Norway, one of them invited\nking Trygve to join him. The latter accepted the proposal; but in\nhastening to an interview appointed by one of the brothers, he and\ntwelve of his companions fell beneath the hands of a much superior band.\nWhile this deed was perpetrating, Harald, himself, disembarked; and\nhearing that Gudred was holding a feast at a house not far from the\ncity, he hastened thither, surrounded the house, and destroyed both\nGudred and his companions. The fruit of both deeds was the annexation of\nthese provinces to the domains of the sons of Eric. But their vengeance\nwas not complete; for Harald, surnamed Grenske, the son of Gudred,\nescaped first to the uplands, and when his life was not safe there, into\nSweden, where he became a famous pirate.[197]\n\n[Sidenote: 969 to 977.]\n\nNo sooner were these crimes perpetrated, than the sons of Eric proceeded\ntowards the north, with the avowed purpose of destroying Hako. Knowing\nthe inferiority of his numbers, he betook himself to the piratical life,\nbut not until he had devastated the central provinces subject to the\nsons of Eric. After his departure Drontheim submitted to them; but small\nwas the advantage which they derived from this event. The next summer\nHako returned; and though he was frequently absent on piratical\nexpeditions into the Baltic, in winter he always commanded at Drontheim.\nMany were his conflicts with the forces of Harald; and, though sometimes\ndefeated, he had always a sure resource either in the support of the\ninhabitants of Drontheim, or in his own ships. The sons of Eric were not\npopular: one of them, soon after the departure of Hako, dishonoured the\nbed of a noble chief, and was killed for the crime. Throughout the\nannals of this bloody period, we perceive the hand of retributive\njustice: the man who had exercised violence became its victim. Thus the\ntreacherous brother of Sigurd, the man who had betrayed that respected\nchief into the hands of his murderers, was slain in battle by the hands\nof Hako his nephew. Thus died Erling, another of Eric\u2019s sons. He was\nfollowed by his lustful brother: the inhabitants of Drontheim, which\nduring one of the frequent expeditions of Hako he had seized, being\nunable to support his rapacity, rose against him, and sacrificed him to\ntheir just resentment. The fate of Harald, himself, was not distant.\nThough, by the destruction of two kings, the expulsion of Hako, and the\ndeath of most of his brothers, he was, nominally, monarch of Norway, he\nwas unpopular. Nor was the absent Hako negligent in creating him many\ntroubles from without. On Norway, ever since the days of Ragnar Lodbrog,\nthe Danish kings had cast a longing eye; they considered it, no less\nthan Sweden, as a portion of their vast inheritance; and Hako had little\ndifficulty in persuading Harald Blaatand to aspire to the throne of that\nkingdom. As the equipment of a naval force would be expensive, and might\nbe useless, it was resolved to entice Harald of Norway into Jutland,\nunder the pretext of doing homage to Blaatand for the fiefs which he had\nformerly possessed in Denmark, and which were now to be restored to him.\nHarald, credulous enough to believe the invitation sincere, repaired to\nJutland, and was soon compelled to fight with the superior numbers of a\nchief who had been secretly instigated to assail him. In that battle he\nfell, fifteen years after the death of Hako the Good, and thirteen from\nthat of jarl Sigurd.[198]\n\n[Sidenote: 977 to 978.]\n\nAfter this event, Hako and the Danish king, who knew the advantages\nwhich they expected could be gained only by celerity, sailed with a\npowerful armament for Norway. Many were the exiles who accompanied them,\nand whom the cruelty of Gunhilda and her sons had forced to abandon\ntheir homes. Among them was Harald Grenske, the son of king Gudred who\nhad been so treacherously slain by the Norwegian brothers. On reaching\nTunsberg, the Danish king was joined by multitudes of the inhabitants,\nof whom all were dissatisfied with the sons of Eric. The first care of\nHarald was to reward his counsellor and friend, Hako, whom he placed\nover seven provinces in the west and centre of the kingdom, all to be\nheld feudally, as they had been held by the jarls of Harald Harfager.\nThere was, however, this distinction in favour of Hako, that if the\nnecessities of the public service should require it,\u2014if, for instance,\nthe territory should be invaded by an enemy,\u2014he was at liberty to employ\nall its revenues for its defence. Harald Grenske, being of the royal\nblood of Norway, then eighteen years of age, received the title of king,\nand with it Westfold, Vingulmark, and part of Ayder. The rest of the\nkingdom was confided to Sweyn, son of the Danish monarch, as the viceroy\nof his father, who was hailed as the lord paramount of the whole.\nGunhilda, with her two surviving sons, fled to the Orkneys, and Harald\nof Denmark retired to his own capital.[199]\n\n[Sidenote: 978 to 988.]\n\nIn his very dreams Hako could scarcely have anticipated the prosperity\nwhich was now his lot. His father had been only the jarl of Drontheim;\nhis own life had been perpetually hunted by the sons of Eric; he had\nbeen an exile for many years; yet he was now the ruler of seven\nprovinces, not removeable at the pleasure of the Danish monarch, except\nby open force. But he was not, says the historian, happy. His nights\nwere often sleepless; and when he did sleep, his dreams were disturbed.\nIt was not remorse which thus rendered him anxious; it was ambition.\nThat he aspired to the sovereignty of all Norway, may, from the time of\nHarald\u2019s departure, be inferred from every action. But many were his\nopponents or rivals, whom he hoped time or chance, intrigue or\nrevolution, would remove. The first who troubled him in his government\nwas Ragenfrid, one of the surviving sons of Eric. From the Orkneys, this\nchief, with a considerable fleet, sailed for Norway. Hearing that Hako\nwas at Drontheim, he landed in the southern provinces, and spread his\ndevastations on every side. On the approach of the jarl he hastened to\nhis ships; in a naval action he was victorious; but as he was unable to\ncontend with Hako on land, he proceeded to ravage the coast wherever it\nwas inadequately defended; and in a short time he seized Sogne,\nHardaland, Fiord, and some other districts. The following spring, jarl\nHako, having collected troops on every side, renewed the war. This time\nfortune did not desert him: he vanquished Ragenfrid, whom he also\nexpelled from Norway. His next wish was to remove Harald Grenske; but he\nwas wily enough to wait for time and circumstances. The same time and\ncircumstances, he trusted, would release him from all dependence on the\nDanish court. At first he forwarded the stipulated revenues to Harald;\nbut he soon sent a portion only, or withheld them entirely, on the plea\nthat the defence of the country required them all. But he had no wish\nprematurely to offend that monarch; and when required to assist in the\nwar against the emperor Otho, he served personally in the war. The issue\nwas not prosperous: Harald, as we have before related, was compelled to\nreceive baptism, and Hako to follow the example. But he was still a\npagan; and he resolved that the missionaries, with whom he was to return\ninto Norway, should never see that country. He therefore landed them on\nthe Swedish coast, and after wasting Gothbed with fire and sword,\nproceeded to his favourite Drontheim. There, and wherever he had the\npower, he restored paganism to its ancient splendour; nor would he\ntolerate Christianity. This conduct was offensive to Harald; but that\nmonarch had other wrongs to avenge. The jarl not only refused the\naccustomed tribute and proclaimed his independence, but ravaged the\ncoasts of Jutland. Harald retaliated on those of Norway. His purpose was\nto subdue Iceland, with the sarcastic poets of which he was offended;\nbut he had more solid reasons for the conquest than those assigned by\nthe chronicler. That island, like the Orkneys, was the resort of pirates\nwhenever they were defeated in Scandinavia. His desire to explore the\nstate of Iceland before he invaded it has given rise to a legend which\nmay be mentioned for its novelty. He persuaded a wizard\u2014no doubt a\nFinn\u2014to change his form, and repair to that island. No form seemed so\njudicious as that of a large fish; and under it the magician made the\nvoyage, without the incumbrance of ships or men. But his ingenuity\navailed him little. On attempting to land at the first bay, a huge\ndragon forced him to seek the deep. At another, a large bird equally\nopposed his landing. If the east and north of the island were thus\nguarded, surely the west coast, which was then, as now, wholly\nunfrequented, would be more accessible. The hope was vain; a fierce bull\nadvanced into the water to meet him. Nor was the southern coast more\nhospitable: as he attempted to land he perceived a huge giant, whose\nhead was higher than the hills, and whose hand was graced with a\nponderous bar of iron. To attempt the conquest of a region guarded by\nlocal deities, or by extraordinary magic, was hopeless; and the baffled\nFinn returned to Denmark.[200]\n\n[Sidenote: 900 to 993.]\n\nSo long as Harald lived, Hako appears to have remained undisturbed; but,\nafter the accession of Sweyn, a powerful fleet sailed from Denmark to\nchastise his rebellion. Yet it entirely failed; patriotism roused the\nNorwegians to unite, and repel the invaders. As yet, too, Hako had shown\nfew proofs of that unbridled licence which distinguished him in the\nfollowing years. He had many great qualities; he was active,\nenterprising, brave in a degree seldom equalled, even in an age of\nheroes. Great was his triumph over the formidable Sweyn; and he had no\nlonger a rival, except in Harald Grenske: nor did this king long thwart\nhis views. The way in which Grenske met his fate has in it much of\nromance, yet is in no respect contrary to probability, or inconsistent\nwith the manners of the times. In a piratical expedition to the Baltic,\nhe landed on the Swedish coast, of which kingdom Olaf, son of Eric the\nVictorious, was the head. In his youth Harald had been reared in Sweden;\nand his foster-sister was Sigfrida, mother of the king. Hearing that\nHarald was on the coast, not far from her manor, she sent him an\ninvitation to visit her, and he readily accepted it. Never was\nhospitality more open or more agreeable. The widowed queen, who sat on a\nthrone to honour Harald and his chiefs, presided over a sumptuous\nentertainment; and, after it, she encouraged the circulation of the\nhorn, not merely by her invitation, but by her example. \u201cAll drank\nmanfully,\u201d says the historian, which means deeply enough. But neither\nthe lady nor Harald indulged so much as the rest; and when the latter\nwas laid in the magnificent bed which had been prepared for him, the\nqueen entered his apartment, horn in hand, and challenged him to drink\nmore. At length both were intoxicated, until Harald was overpowered by\nsleep, when Sigfrida went to her own couch. The next day the\nentertainment was renewed; but this time both hostess and guest were\nmoderate. Love had entered the heart of Harald, but he durst not declare\nit; and after some time he took his leave, and returned to Norway. But\nhe could not rest; and when spring came, he revisited the Baltic.\nAffection had made him timid; he durst not, unbidden, go to the house of\nSigfrida, and he requested an interview on the sea-coast. She rode to\nthe place, and Harald, dismissing his attendants, mentioned his passion.\nIt found no response in her heart. He had, she observed, a good wife\nalready. The king rejoined, that Asta, his queen, was no fit match for\nhim; that she was much inferior in birth. \u201cThat may be true,\u201d replied\nSigfrida, who was believed to possess some knowledge of futurity; \u201cbut\nat this very moment she is pregnant of a son, who will be a great honour\nto you both.\u201d She then departed as she had arrived, on horseback,\nleaving Harald in much despondency. Unable to desist from his hopeless\nsuit, he again repaired to her palace, and found another royal suitor.\nAs before, the entertainment was good; but, in the ensuing night, both\nkings were destroyed by their hostess. The fleet returned to Asta\nwithout its leader. She immediately repaired to her father\u2019s house in\nthe uplands, and gave birth to a son, whom she named Olaf, destined to\nbecome the sainted king of Norway.[201]\n\n[Sidenote: 993 to 995.]\n\nHako, now the sole ruler of all Norway, was, like many other princes,\nunable to resist prosperity. The love which his people\u2014at least, the\ninhabitants of Drontheim\u2014had long borne him, had changed into hatred, by\nthe licentiousness of his conduct in his declining years. The daughters\nof his noblest chiefs he forcibly brought to his palace, and, after a\nfew days, returned them to their families. Murmurs arose; but they were\ndisregarded by the hoary idolater, who thought his power too well\nestablished to be shaken. But he was at length roused from this dream of\nsecurity, by the report that there was a descendant of fair-haired\nHarald, unequalled for valour, who probably aspired to the throne of his\nancestors. This was Olaf, the son of Trygve, whose adventures are the\nmost romantic in the history of the North.[202]\n\n[Sidenote: 969 to 970.]\n\nOn the death of Trygve, Astridda, his widow, who was then pregnant,\nfearing the vengeance of Gunhilda and her sons, fled to an island in the\nsolitary lake of the uplands, where, in 969, she brought forth a son,\nwhom she named Olaf, after his grandfather of that name. There she\nremained the whole summer, accompanied only by her foster-father, and\ntwo or three domestics. But when the days began to shorten, the cold\nbreezes from the lake were too much for Astridda and her child; and,\naccompanied by the same faithful domestics, she left her island home. To\nescape observation, she never came within sight of human habitation; and\nwhen, after many days, she approached her father\u2019s habitation, she was\ntoo cautious to enter. A messenger acquainted him with her arrival; and\nhe met her at a solitary hut in the forest, where every domestic comfort\nwas supplied her. Two maid servants only, with her foster-father, his\nchild, and her infant son, formed her whole establishment. It was\nfortunate for her that, during this winter, Gunhilda and her sons were\ntoo closely occupied by Hako, the jarl, to have leisure for pursuing\nher. But that ambitious woman had heard of Olaf\u2019s birth; and when spring\narrived, she sent her spies to inquire into the truth of the report, and\nwhere both mother and child might be found. Their inquiries were\nsuccessful; and a chief, with thirty horsemen, was despatched to bring\nthe infant to the court of Gunhilda. Eric, however, the father of\nAstridda, was told their purpose when they were only a few miles distant\nfrom the house. It was nightfall; and he led his daughter, with her\nprecious charge and a few domestics, into the forest, where he\nacquainted her with her danger, with his inability to protect her, and\nwith the necessity of her hastening, in the most secret manner, to the\nhouse of an aged friend in Sweden. No sooner had she departed, than he\nreturned to his own house, to await the arrival of the horsemen.\nFortunately, both for him and his daughter, they did not immediately\ncall upon him, but passed the night at a neighbouring house. The\nfollowing morning, when he was asked where his daughter and grandson\nwere, he denied that they were with him; and, on their refusing to\nbelieve him, he allowed them to search every corner of his habitation.\nBut the leader of the band was at length informed of their route, and,\ncausing his men to mount, he pursued it. Darkness overtaking them, they\npassed the night with a rich landowner, whom they carelessly asked\nwhether he had seen a woman with a child pass that way. He replied, that\na woman and child, in very mean attire, with other persons equally\nhumble, had besought his hospitality, and that he had refused to lodge\nthem,\u2014for, like worthies of recent times, he had a great dislike to\nbeggars,\u2014but he believed they were at some cottage in the neighbourhood.\nAnd so they were;\u2014at the cottage of an honest farmer, and less distant\nthan was suspected. But Providence watched over the safety of mother and\nson. While this conversation was passing, a peasant in the employment of\nthat farmer accidentally called at the rich man\u2019s house, on his return\nfrom the forest to his master\u2019s. He heard all that had passed; and,\nignorant of Astridda\u2019s arrival, communicated it to his master. The\nNorwegian, as prudent as he was humane, perceiving that the third part\nof the night was already past, went to his guests, who were fast asleep,\nand told them, in an angry voice, to rise and leave his house. They\ntremblingly obeyed; but no sooner were they beyond the inclosure, than\nhe acquainted them with the cause of his seeming harshness. He sent them\nto a solitary lake, on which was an island covered with reeds, and bade\nthem remain concealed until they saw him again. As the water of the lake\nwas shallow, they easily waded to the island, and concealed themselves,\nwhile Thorsteim (his name shall not be buried in oblivion) returned to\nhis own house. As he had foreseen, on the following morning the chief of\nthe horsemen, after inquiring at many houses, called at his, and\ninquired after the fugitives. \u201cThey have been here,\u201d was the reply;\n\u201cbut, before the break of day, they both left me, and went into the\nwood.\u201d Nor was he unprepared for the next question,\u2014whether he would be\ntheir guide in searching for the mother. He readily consented; and, as\nmay easily be conceived, led them in a direction exactly contrary to\nthat which they had pursued. Nor was this all. On the pretext that they\nshould probably be more successful if they separately continued the\nsearch, he left them, but only to delude them by new expedients. The day\nwas thus wasted, and the horsemen returned to Gunhilda. That evening\nThorsteim went to the island, provided the fugitives with a store of\nprovisions, and, what was much better, with a faithful guide. Astridda\npursued her journey, and, without any further interruption, reached the\nhouse of Hako the Old, by whom she and her infant were affectionately\nreceived, and with whom they remained about three years.[203]\n\n[Sidenote: 964 to 966.]\n\nBut the fortunes of Olaf and of his mother were still to be singular.\nThey had not long enjoyed the hospitality of Hako, when Gunhilda sent an\nembassy to Eric, king of Sweden, to obtain possession of the young\nprince. Under the specious promise of amply providing for one whose\nfortunes she pitied, and the fate of whose father she had long bewailed,\nher messenger easily prevailed on Eric to send an escort to the house of\nHako for the prince. But, at the court of Eric, Hako had a son, who was\npresent when the affair was mentioned to the king; and he gave his\nfather timely warning of the Norwegian\u2019s approach. The Swedish noble was\ntherefore prepared for his visitor. After the display of much\nceremonious politeness, the ambassador mentioned the anxiety of Gunhilda\nto educate young Olaf in a manner becoming his birth; and begged that\nthe royal child might be confided to his care,\u2014a request in which the\nSwedish king joined. \u201cAstridda,\u201d replied the wary Hako, \u201cis the mistress\nof her own actions, and if she consents to thy proposal, I can have no\nobjection to it.\u201d On the refusal of Astridda, the disappointed\nambassador returned to Eric\u2019s court, and obtained a stronger force, with\nthe intention of removing the child by violence, should entreaties be\nunavailing. As before, Hako was prepared, and he was less complaisant\nthan on the former occasion. \u201cAstridda,\u201d was the substance of his reply\nto the renewed proposal, \u201chas no great reason to confide in the promises\nof Gunhilda; she knows her wiles, her deceit; she is still averse from\nthy proposal; and the boy cannot go without the mother\u2019s consent, nor\nshall I allow her inclination to be forced, so long as she continues\nunder my protection.\u201d High words arose; the ambassador threatened to\nemploy force; Hako replied, that men more powerful than he would fail in\nsuch an attempt. The dispute reached the ears of a cowherd of Hako\u2019s\u2014a\nhuge herculean man\u2014who, seizing a pitchfork, hastened to the scene, and\nsaid, \u201cIs it thou who darest to insult my princely master in his own\nhouse? Choose one of these two things,\u2014either speedily retire from this\nneighbourhood, or prepare for thy death by this pitchfork, which will be\nequally fatal to thy companions!\u201d The ambassador and his suite hastily\nretreated, and on their return to Norway acquainted the disappointed\nGunhilda with the ill success of his journey.[204]\n\n[Sidenote: 976 to 984.]\n\nWhether through fear lest king Eric should, in the end, force her son\nfrom her, or through the desire of seeing her brother Sigurd, who was\nthen in high favour with Waldemar, a king of Gardarik[205], Astridda\nleft the hospitable roof of Hako. By him she was confided to the care of\nsome merchants who traded with Gardarik, and supplied with everything\nnecessary for her voyage. In the Gulf of Finland they were taken by\nEsthonian pirates, separated, and sold. Olaf, Thorolf, and the son of\nThorolf, became the property of one who, seeing the old man past\nservice, put him to death; the two boys were afterwards sold to\ndifferent masters, and Astridda sent nobody knew where. Subsequently,\nthe same master purchased Thorgils, the foster-brother of Olaf, and\nemployed him in the meanest drudgery. But the prince was not thus\ntreated; he was soon beloved by the old pagan, and beheld in the light\nof a son. It happened, one day, that Sigurd, the uncle of Olaf, came to\nthe master\u2019s house, and saw the boy, then about ten years old, playing\nwith others of his age. He saluted Sigurd; the latter returned the\ncourtesy, and was immediately struck with the foreign countenance of the\nboy. In answer to his questions, the boy told him his name, and the\nnames of his parents. Sigurd at once recognised his nephew, whom he\nredeemed; but the boy would not go with him unless he was accompanied by\nThorgils, who was redeemed at a lower price. To the honour of the pagan\nmaster of Olaf, it must be added, that he would not have sold the boy,\nunless Sigurd had given a pledge that he should never be resold, and\nthat he should be treated as well as he had been under his own roof.\nBoth children were taken to the court of Sigurd\u2019s master, who reigned in\nthe vicinity of Novgorod. The attachment which Olaf bore to his friends\nwas equalled by his hatred to his enemies, and to the enemies of his\nfriends. One day, as he stood in the public market, he perceived the\nmerchant who had killed Thorolf: approaching with much deliberation, he\ndrew his little sword, inflicted a mortal wound in the head of the\nmerchant, and immediately ran to acquaint his uncle with the deed which\nhe had performed. Apprehensive of the consequences, Sigurd led his\nnephew into the presence of the queen, and besought her protection; and\nthrough her influence, a pecuniary compensation was received by the\nrelations of the deceased. He soon became a favourite at court; the\nking, learning his royal birth, placed him among his nobles; and nine\nyears passed away with rapidity. Every accomplishment becoming his\ndescent and his future prospects was acquired by him. Among these was\npiracy, to which, from his twelfth year, he was habituated. In it he\nacquired considerable reputation during the following years; and was\nmost useful to the king by destroying other piratical vessels which\ndisturbed the peace of Gardarik, and by the rich treasures which he\nbrought from his frequent expeditions. But his favour with the king had\nthe ordinary effect,\u2014it created rivals and enemies; and he left the\ncourt to do what so many of his ancestors had done before him,\u2014to pursue\nhis fortunes on the deep.[206]\n\n[Sidenote: 985 to 994.]\n\nOn the shores of the Baltic the young chief obtained much celebrity,\nalike for his valour and success. He was consequently joined by many\npiratical vassals, until he had a considerable fleet under his command.\nTowards the close, he caused his vessels to anchor in a bay on the coast\nof Pomerania, which was then governed by a princess, the daughter of\nduke Borislaf, whose husband was lately deceased. The fame of his\nexploits, of his accomplishments, of his personal comeliness, reached\nher ears, and through her minister she sent him an invitation to pass\nthe winter in her capital. It was readily accepted; and the natural\nconsequence followed,\u2014her marriage with the pirate chief. Invested by\nthis union with the military government of the state, Olaf defended the\nrights of his consort much more eagerly than those of her subjects. Some\nterritories and fortresses which had been dismembered from the duchy, he\nrestored to it. But in one of these warlike expeditions, he was nearly a\nvictim to the bad faith of the barbarians. Leading his troops against a\nfortified town which had thrown off its allegiance to the princess, he\npressed the inhabitants so closely that they offered to submit to his\ndiscretion, and opened their gates to receive them. No sooner, however,\nhad a few of his men entered with him, than the ponderous barricades\nwere closed, and he was assailed by a multitude. But a sea king never\nlost his presence of mind. Commanding his followers to imitate his\nexample, he repaired to the walls, fighting as he retreated; and on\nreaching them, he leaped to the ground outside the fortifications. The\nplace was now assailed with the vigour which exasperation always gives;\nit was soon carried by storm; the garrison were put to the sword, and\nthe walls levelled with the earth.\u2014But this humble sphere was too narrow\nfor his ambition, which the events then passing in Norway served to\ninflame. In about a year after his marriage, he sailed with a small\nnumber of vessels to the coast of Sweden, ravaged Scania and Gothland,\ntook one or two prizes, assisted the emperor Otho in the invasion of\nDenmark, and in the victory which the temporal head of Christendom\nobtained over the pagan Dane, and was present at the deliberations which\npreceded the restoration of peace.[207] That he was half a Christian\u2014at\nleast in disposition\u2014is evident from the relation of his biographer; but\nwhere he had acquired the little knowledge he possessed of Christianity\nis not so clear. His biographer affirms that he had often heard of the\nChristian doctrines,\u2014which may be true enough; but we cannot subscribe\nto the next assertion, that one reason of his esteem for the new faith\nwas, a miracle which he had seen archbishop Poppo work in presence of\nOtho and Harald of Denmark. However this be, he had a great aversion to\nidolatry; and, even at the court of the pagan king in Gardarik, he had\nalways refused to sacrifice to the gods. In the army of Otho he met with\nhis father-in-law, duke Borislaf; and after the successful termination\nof the war, he returned into Pomerania. But his restless disposition\nwould not long permit him to remain with his bride; and he led another\nexpedition to various shores of the Baltic. After the death of his\nconsort, which happened in three years after his marriage, he would no\nlonger remain in Pomerania. Probably the event disposed him to humility,\nto reflection. However this be, he was now better instructed in the\nprinciples of Christianity,\u2014whether in Greece, as his biographer assures\nus, or in some Slavonian province where Greek missionaries were\nlabouring, is of little moment. But the baptismal rite was not\nadministered to him for some years afterwards,\u2014until he visited a hermit\nin the west. He is said to have been instrumental in the conversion,\nalso, of his master, the king of Holmgard, and of the queen. Whatever\nhis zeal might be at this period of life, at a subsequent one, as we\nshall soon perceive, it was great enough. But his religion was, like\nthat of the period, a strange one: it did not deter him from ravaging\nthe coasts of Christian countries, from burning the huts of the poor,\nand sacrificing the inmates. Years after his pretended change of belief,\nhe was occupied in this dreadful profession, from the coasts of Russia\nto those of Brittany and Ireland. In Ireland or in England,\u2014probably in\nthe latter,\u2014he is said to have married an Irish princess, named Gyda;\nbut before the ceremony could take place, he was compelled to fight with\na rival, whom he soon vanquished. After this event, he was sometimes in\nEngland, sometimes in Ireland, but every where his fame as a warrior\nextended. The sea kings of this period were accustomed to fight as much\nfor others as for themselves, by hiring their services to any native\nprince who had need of them; nor did it unfrequently happen that the\nnorthmen were, at the same time, in opposite ranks. For such services\nthe wages were always abundant; sometimes in land, more frequently in\ngold and rich merchandise. Nor must we forget that, when on the coast of\na friendly power, the pirates exercised the profession of merchants, and\ntraded from one port or one kingdom to another, with more regularity\nthan we generally suppose. But this pursuit was much too quiet for the\nsea king, and he followed it from necessity only: his delight was in\nscenes of excitement\u2014in those of danger and carnage. Whether in peace or\nwar, no scruple was felt in stealing cattle from any coast. While in\nIreland, an adventure befell Olaf which illustrates both this statement\nand his own character. He and his men had disembarked on a certain part\nof the coast, seized a multitude of cattle, and were driving them\ntowards their ships, when a poor farmer ran after them, and begged the\nchief to restore the animals which had been stolen from _him_. \u201cThou\nmayst have them,\u201d replied Olaf, \u201cif, without impeding our march, thou\ncanst distinguish them from such a multitude.\u201d The man had a dog, which\nsingled out the animals, one by one, to the great amazement of the\nchief. \u201cWilt thou part with this dog?\u201d demanded Olaf. \u201cReadily!\u201d was the\nanswer; and Olaf, not satisfied with restoring the man\u2019s cattle, made\nhim some valuable presents.[208]\n\n[Sidenote: 967 to 993.]\n\nIn all his voyages, Olaf never despaired of being one day able to\nprocure the rights of his birth in Norway, and his eyes were frequently\nturned to that country. Nor was he without anxiety as to the fate of his\nmother, of whom he had heard nothing since the day on which, while yet\nan infant, he had been separated from her. Her adventures may, for a\nmoment, occupy the reader\u2019s attention. After remaining a slave for some\ntime, she was seen in Pomerania by a Norwegian pirate of noble birth: at\nfirst he did not recognise her; where health and cheerfulness and beauty\nhad once been, he observed paleness and melancholy; but there was, alike\nin her appearance and manner, something that inspired him with respect.\nA closer examination convinced him that he saw Astridda, the queen of\nTrygve, before him; he entered into conversation with her, and learned\nthat she was now on sale. She besought him to ransom her, and return her\nto her friends; and he promised to do so on one condition,\u2014that she\nwould become his bride. Her situation was not one that admitted of\neither scruple or hesitation; she became his wife, and the mother of\nseveral children. Year after year rolled away, and the mother heard not\nof the son, or the son of the mother. The fame of his exploits, indeed,\nhad reached Norway; but he had assumed another name,\u2014that of Olo, a\nnative of Gardarik, and by it he was known to all the princes of his\ntime, from the imperial Otho to the humblest piratical chief. But Hako,\nthe usurper of Norway, knew the truth; and as his favour with the\npeople, from his new vices, was now departing[209], he began to look\nwith much anxiety towards Ireland, where Olaf had for some time been. To\nremove this aspiring rival was necessary to his safety; and he\nimmediately devised the means of carrying his design into\nexecution.[210]\n\n[Sidenote: 995 to 996.]\n\nIntimately connected with Hako was a piratical chief, Thorer by name, a\nman of enterprise, who had acquired reputation on the deep, and who\nwould not hesitate to execute any commission with which he might be\nentrusted. This man was the fittest instrument for alluring Olaf into\nthe power of Hako. By open force, no chief could hope to succeed; for\nOlaf was followed by some of the most noted heroes of his time, and was\nat the head of some ships. He must therefore, if possible, be brought to\nNorway; or, as a last resource, assassinated. As the deceitful\nrepresentations which Thorer was enjoined to make might not have their\ndue effect on Olaf, two of his kinsmen, whom he had never seen\u2014the\nbrothers of his mother\u2014were to be associated with him, and, if need\nwere, to confirm his statement.[211] They revolted, we are told, at this\nmeditated treachery, and refused to share in it until menaced with the\nloss of their own lives. However this be, Thorer hastened to Dublin to\nput his design into execution. To lull suspicion, he was provided with\nabundant merchandise, which he was to barter in Dublin, a port then\nflourishing for its commerce. He had little difficulty in discovering\nthe abode of Olo of Gardarik, the only name by which Olaf was known. By\ndegrees, he cultivated the acquaintance of Olaf; and, as he was a man of\ngreat observation, eloquent, and specious, he was a welcome visitor. As\nusual, Olaf, without naming himself, inquired after his family\nconnections;\u2014how many were living, what their condition in life, what\ntheir influence with the public. When satisfied on these points, he\ninquired into the character, the power, the reputation of Hako. \u201cThe\njarl,\u201d replied Thorer, \u201cis a great prince, absolute in everything, and\nno man dare contradict him; but, if I must speak confidentially, he is\ntolerated only because of old Harold\u2019s race no scion remains whom the\npeople might choose in lieu of him. Many are the nobles, the chiefs, the\nwarriors, the people, who would rush to the standard of such a rival, if\none were to appear in Norway. But why talk thus vainly? no prince of\nthat house survives.\u201d Such was the manner in which Thorer fulfilled his\ncommission; and we cannot be surprised that, after a few interviews,\nOlaf opened his heart to the traitor. He was not, by birth, Olo of\nGardarik,\u2014he was Olaf, the son of king Trygve; and might he, indeed,\nhope that the Norwegians would accept him, in preference to Hako? Thorer\nsolemnly affirmed that, if he but showed himself to the people, the\nreign of Hako would be at an end. He did more; he professed the warmest\ninterest in the fate of his new friend, whom he exhorted to sail,\nwithout delay, to his native country. With five ships only\u2014for why\nengage many where none would be needed\u2014the prince, accompanied by\nThorer, left Dublin, passed the Hebrides, and at length reached the\nOrkneys. The jarl of these islands was Sigurd, who welcomed the\nstrangers: but in Olaf he found a master. The prince, already assuming\nthe rights of sovereignty, commanded the jarl to receive baptism, and,\non his hesitation, threatened him with death if he refused. The choice\nwas not difficult, and the Christian church had one hypocrite more.\nHomage, too, was done to the new king; and, as a pledge of fidelity,\nWhelp, the son of Sigurd, accompanied Olaf to Norway.[212]\n\n[Sidenote: 995 to 996.]\n\nWhen Olaf reached the coast of Agder, he learned that the inhabitants of\nDrontheim were conspiring against the authority of Hako. This news was a\nthunderbolt to Thorer, who, from the gratitude which the Norwegians had\nevinced towards the jarl, for his recent victory over the Jomsberg\npirates, had regarded his dynasty as secure. The present discontent,\nhowever, might pass away; and he determined to assassinate Olaf: but the\nmen whom he had hired for that purpose betrayed him to the prince, and\nhe fell the victim of his own wiles. Olaf, whose name had not yet been\nmentioned to the people, now hastened towards Drontheim, where every\nmoment added to the critical situation of his enemy. Nothing can so well\ndescribe the character of Hako as his conduct just before and at this\nperiod. Though he knew that the inhabitants of that province were only\nwaiting for an opportunity of banishing or destroying him, he persevered\nin his lustful course. Wives, daughters, sisters, widows, virgins,\u2014all\non whom he cast his eyes, were, however nobly allied, forcibly taken to\nhis residence. But the following incident had happened before the\narrival of Olaf:\u2014Brinjolf, a noble of Ganlardal, had a beautiful and\naccomplished wife; one night, while both were in bed, the myrmidons of\nHako arrived at his villa, and unceremoniously informed him that his\nwife was wanted by the jarl, and that she must accompany them. On his\nindignant refusal to suffer her departure, they returned for more\nassistants, and bore her away to the palace of Hako. The following day\nBrinjolf put on his armour, rode into the neighbouring country,\nassembled his connections and friends, laid before them the indignity\nwhich he had received, and prevailed on them to unite in his cause. They\ndid not, however, break out into open insurrection, but they entered\ninto a conspiracy to assist one another when the convenient moment\nshould arrive. This event was no warning to Hako. Soon afterwards,\nsmitten with the charms of a married lady, Godruna, who from her beauty\nwas surnamed the \u201cSun of Lunden,\u201d he sent his emissaries to her\nhusband\u2019s house to bring her to him. Under the pretext of inviting them\nto supper, Orm, the husband, detained them until his servants had\ncollected a force sufficient to set them at defiance. The lady herself\nthen told the messengers, in a tone of insult, that she should not\naccompany them unless Thora, the favourite mistress of the jarl, sent\nfor her. Threatening vengeance on the whole family, the men departed;\nand Orm lost no time in sending out the arrow, the symbol of war, to his\nkinsmen and dependents.[213] The well-known token was rapidly conveyed;\nthe gathering commenced; and in a short time a formidable band was\nassembled, eager to destroy the tyrannical jarl.[214]\n\n[Sidenote: 995.]\n\nThe motives of this rustic force were soon known to Hako. His first\nobject was to conceal himself until he had collected troops enough to\ncrush the insurrection. What follows is exceedingly romantic; and we\ngive it as we find it in the authorities before us, leaving the reader\nto exercise his own judgment in what he may reject or admit. We may,\nhowever, observe that, if some of the incidents have been too strongly\ncoloured by posterity, the substance of the relation is\ntrue.\u2014Accompanied by his domestics, Hako fled from his villa into a deep\nvalley, which has ever since borne his name. As it was supposed that he\nwould hasten to his ships, which were at some distance along the coast,\nand were under the guidance of his son Erleng, the paths which led to\nthe coast were more narrowly watched than those in the neighbourhood of\nthe valley. At nightfall, he despatched some of his men to the station\nwhere his vessels lay, commanding his son to meet him off a more\nsouthern portion of the coast; the rest he sent to their own homes,\nkeeping one serf only, Thermod Kark, who had been his companion from\ninfancy. Feeling that his present retreat was not secure, he plunged\nfurther into the solitudes. On reaching the banks of a lake, which was\nfrozen over, he dismounted, made a hole in the ice, thrust his horse\ninto the aperture, and left his mantle beside it, so as to make his\npursuers believe that he had perished in the waters. He then crossed the\nice, and, with his slave, found refuge in a solitary cave in the\nmountains. Both being much fatigued, they soon fell asleep; but the\nslave started, and awoke his master to acquaint him with an awful dream\nwhich he had just experienced. He had seen a man of a dark, dreadful\ncountenance, approach the cave, stand for a moment before it, and, after\nexclaiming, \u201cOne is dead!\u201d ascend the hill. This mysterious denunciation\nwas thought by Hako to allude to Erleng; for, after a moment\u2019s\nreflection, he said, \u201cThy dream appears to indicate the death of my\nson!\u201d The interpretation, say the sagas, was a true one. Olaf had just\narrived off the coast; Erleng, with three vessels only, could not make\nhead against the superior fleet which he rightly judged to be that of an\nenemy; and, to escape captivity, he and a few of his companions, after\napproaching the shore as near as they could, quietly descended into the\nwater, and began to swim. In this state they were overtaken by the\nvessel in which Olaf was. According to Snorro, it was Olaf himself who,\nwith an oar, broke the head of the young jarl as he was buffeting the\nwaters; according to Gunlaug, it was one of his mariners. Both agree\nthat Erleng perished within a few yards of the coast; that many of his\ncompanions perished with him; that the vessels became the prize of Olaf,\nwho learned, for the first time, the flight of Hako, and the\ninsurrection of the rustics.[215]\n\n[Sidenote: 995.]\n\nAfter this dream, proceeds the Saga, the slave had another, which\nfrightened him so much that he made a distressing noise, like one\nafflicted with the nightmare. Being awoke by his master, he said that he\nhad seen the same dark man approach the cave, stop at the entrance as\nbefore, and say, \u201cTell thy master that all the passages to the\nsea-coast, and the coast itself, are blocked up!\u201d The jarl thought his\ndays were numbered; but he said nothing. He would, however, no longer\nremain in the cave; and both proceeded towards the villa inhabited by\nThora. When at a distance from it, he despatched Kark with a request\nthat she would secretly meet him in the forest. She obeyed the summons,\nand showed, by her affectionate behaviour, that whatever are the crimes\nof men, women can be faithful to the last. Hako asked her if she could\nfurnish him with some hiding place for a few nights. \u201cThat will be\ndifficult,\u201d replied Thora; \u201cmy house will soon be searched; not a corner\nof it will escape scrutiny, for all people know I shall save thee if I\ncan. Yet there is one place where nobody would expect to find a prince\nlike thee\u2014it is under the pig-sty.\u201d They went to the place; the slave\nenlarged the cave; provisions, lights, and other necessaries were\nbrought; and Hako, accompanied by Kark, descended into the cavern. The\nearth which had been recently dug up was removed; wooden rafters were\nlaid over the hole; over them straw and dung were spread, and the swine\nwere turned in to tread down the covering, so as to confound the recent\nmarks. In addition, the entrance to the sty was blocked up by a large\nstone. Having taken these precautions, Thora returned to the house, none\nof her domestics being aware that she had seen the jarl. The prisoners\nwere, therefore, left to themselves; but how they were to breathe in\nsuch a place, we are not informed.\u2014The enemies of Hako, with Olaf at\ntheir head, soon arrived. They had found the mantle on the ice of the\nlake, and had been induced to return, until suspicion of the stratagem\narose, and induced them to continue the pursuit. On reaching the house\nof Thora, they broke open the doors, examined every part within and\nwithout, and desisted only when search was manifestly vain. If any faith\nis to be placed in either of the authorities before us, Olaf, on issuing\nfrom the house, sat on the very stone which blocked up the entrance to\nthe sty, and stimulated his followers to search in other districts, by\noffering splendid rewards to any one that should take or kill the jarl.\nHis loud voice penetrated to the cave where Hako and his slave sat; and,\nas the former looked at the latter, he saw his countenance change. \u201cWhat\nmeans that look?\u201d demanded the master; \u201cdost thou wish to betray\nme?\u201d\u2014\u201cNo,\u201d replied the other, \u201cbut I tremble at that voice; it is the\none I heard in my dream.\u201d\u2014\u201cBoth of us,\u201d rejoined Hako, who was very\nsuperstitious, and had often consulted the oracles of the country, \u201cwere\nborn on the same day, and the same day will close the life of both!\u201d\nTowards nightfall Olaf departed, and the master and slave were left to\ntheir own reflections, or what was still worse, to their conversation.\nHako durst not sleep, lest his slave should assassinate him; nor Kark,\nlest the same advantage should be taken by his master. At length,\nhowever, the slave closed his eyes, and dreamed that he and his master\nwere in the same ship, of which he was the helmsman. This required no\ninterpretation; as Hako observed, they were, indeed, in the same vessel,\nand the fate of both was in the hands of the slave. Again the latter\ndreamed: he was now at the court of Olaf, who fastened a golden chain\naround his neck. \u201cThat chain,\u201d observed Hako, \u201cwill be a bloody one to\nthee, if ever thou comest into the presence of Olaf; it portends thy\ndoom: yet be faithful to me, and all will be well!\u201d At length nature was\ntoo much for both, and they slept; but, towards the break of day, the\nslave was awoke by the horrid noise made by his master, who seemed as if\nin a cruel nightmare, as if struggling with some nightly demon, or with\nhis own evil genius. Kark arose, drew a knife from his belt, and cut the\nthroat of Hako. The head he then separated from the body, and hastened\nwith it to Olaf, who was now proclaimed king. \u201cWhat led thee to this\ndeed?\u201d was the demand of the prince. \u201cChiefly,\u201d replied the slave, \u201cthe\ngreat reward which I heard thee offer, and partly the confusion of my\nsenses at the condition of Hako.\u201d\u2014\u201cThou shalt have the reward,\u201d rejoined\nthe king; \u201cbut thou shalt also die. If Hako was a bad man, he was still\nthy master, and a benefactor to thee; and thy fate must be a warning to\nthy fellows, not to lift their hands against those whom they ought to\ndefend.\u201d The slave was then beheaded; and the prophecy, that he and Hako\nshould die within a day of each other, was literally fulfilled.[216]\n\nThus perished the son of Sigurd,\u2014a man of great talents, great\nenterprise, and, until the last few years of his life, of great public\nutility. Previous to that period, his enemies could not deny him noble\nbirth, great valour, consummate prudence in the art of government, and\nsuccess in war. He was, besides, liberal to his dependents, and\nmagnificent to his friends. His chief defects were dissimulation,\ntreachery, falsehood; a superstitious regard for the pagan religion, and\na hatred of Christianity. Formerly, he had been called Hako the Good; he\nwas henceforth to be called Hako the Bad. He died in his fifty-eighth\nyear, thirty-three of which he had exercised the sovereign power under\nthe title of jarl.[217]\n\n[Sidenote: 996.]\n\nThe death of Hako enabled _Olaf Trygveson_ to take possession of the\nwhole kingdom, as fully as had ever been done by fair-haired Harald. The\npeople, indeed, would hear of no other king. One of his first objects\nwas to introduce Christianity; and he commenced with Vikia, the province\nwhere his mother (the wife of Lodin) and all his family connections\nlived, and where he knew he should find the least resistance to his\nefforts. To his friends he expressed his resolution, either to convert\nthe whole kingdom, or to perish in the attempt. Having first prevailed\non his numerous family connections to embrace Christianity, and to\npromise a cordial co-operation in his designs, he called an assembly of\nthe province, and, like most royal missionaries, intimated his command,\nrather than his request, that all should receive the baptismal rite. The\nchiefs, whom he had previously secured, immediately signified their\nassent, and their example constrained the multitude. Here, as everywhere\nelse, if any refused to forsake their old faith, he would not condescend\nto argue with them; some he exiled, some he mutilated, others he put to\ndeath. This was a sure method of producing outward obedience to the new\nreligion; and, in one year, the whole of Vikia was\u2014not christianised,\nbut baptized. Accompanied by a strong force, the royal missionary next\ntransferred his labours to Agder and Hardaland. Here, the same\nalternative was proposed,\u2014conversion or death; and the smaller evil was\nnaturally chosen. Rogaland was the next province to benefit by his\napostolic efforts, and they had the usual success. It appears, however,\nthat the inhabitants were less inclined to the novelty than their\ncountrymen of Vikia; and three of the leading chiefs were besought to\nanswer the monarch in full assembly. But who would venture to resist the\nking, especially when he denounced the severest vengeance on all who\nshould refuse to obey him? One of the speakers was suddenly seized by a\ncough; another began to stammer; the third had conveniently a sore\nthroat; so that no answer being returned to the most gracious message\nfrom the throne, silence was taken for consent, and all present were\nwithin a few days hurried to the baptismal font. In one province the\nassembled chiefs, who were all kinsmen, promised to embrace the new\nreligion on this condition,\u2014that one of their number should receive the\nhand of Astridda, sister of the monarch. At first the princess, who had\nforgotten the humble fortunes which had lately been the lot of all her\nfamily, refused the match, as beneath her dignity; she wanted a prince.\nOlaf adorned her own hawk in magnificent plumes, and sent it to her,\nwith an intimation that it was no less easy for him to ennoble the\nhumblest peasant in Norway. The ambitious lady then consented; the\nprovince became Christian; and Erling, the brother-in-law of Olaf,\nbecame a powerful jarl. Proceeding northwards, the royal apostle\nassembled the inhabitants of the Fiords and of Raumdal. On this\noccasion, a whole army was with him; doubtless because he apprehended\nmore opposition than he had yet encountered. But his mode of argument\nwas too convincing to be resisted;\u2014\u201cReceive baptism, or fight me!\u201d and\nthe easier alternative was selected. From this meeting he repaired to\nLaden, where there was a magnificent temple of the gods: the idols he\ndespoiled, threw them to the ground, and consumed the building by\nfire.[218]\n\n[Sidenote: 997 to 999.]\n\nBut if this coercive mode of proselyting was, in many places,\nimmediately effectual, it was not so in all. So enraged were the\ninhabitants of Raumdal at the destruction of the temple at Laden, that\nthey sent forth the arrow, and an armed multitude rose at the summons.\nBut Olaf proceeded to the south, where they could not follow him, and\nthere he passed the winter. This opposition only rendered him the more\nferocious against the pagans and all their superstitions. In the next\nassembly over which he presided, he denounced the magicians, and caused\na decree of banishment to be pronounced against them: if they did not\nvoluntarily leave the country, all were to be arrested, brought before\nhim, and put to death. Eyvind Kella, a descendant of Harald Harfager,\nwas at the head of a college of magicians. These the king invited to an\nentertainment, and set fire to the house in which they were assembled.\nEyvind, however, was not there; but he was afterwards taken, with a\nconsiderable number of other proficients in the art, and were thrown\nfrom a high rock into the sea.\u2014Olaf, like all the men of his time, was a\nbeliever in these pretended arts; and he was sure that, unless they were\nrepressed, religion must suffer. His people were not less superstitious\nthan he; and they doubted not that he had personally to contend with\nOdin himself. One evening, as he was holding a festival in the retired\nmanor of Augvald, an old man, with a high cap like one of the Persian\nmagi, and only one eye, was admitted to the table. So eloquent was his\ndiscourse, so varied his knowledge, that Olaf was delighted with his\nguest. Many were the abstruse questions which he put to him; equally\nwise and ready were the answers. Thus the night wore away. At length\nOlaf asked the stranger who was that Augvald to whom the house in which\nthey were had once belonged, but who had long been dead. Augvald,\nreplied the guest, had a cow, to which he paid divine honours, which\nalways accompanied him, and supplied him with milk. At length he fell in\nbattle, and in the neighbourhood of this house was buried, in one tomb,\nwhile the cow was buried in another.\u2014Still the night wore away, and the\nstranger showed no desire to go: at length the king pulled off his\nclothes, and laid down on the bed, the mysterious guest being seated\nbefore him. But the bishop entered, to inform the king that it was time\nto sleep; and at the sight of him the guest departed. The rest of the\nmonarch, however, was short; he could not sleep; and to pass away the\ntime he sent for the stranger, who was nowhere to be found. The morning\nfollowing, he inquired of his cooks and butler whether they had seen\nhim. They replied that a man answering the description had appeared\namongst them while they were preparing the feast; had asserted that the\nmeat they were cooking was of the worst kind, and unfit for the royal\ntable; and had presented them with two noble barons of beef, which he\nhad assisted them to prepare. In great consternation Olaf ordered what\nremained to be thrown away; the stranger, he was sure, was no other than\nOdin, who had some deep purpose in view; but never would he be the\nvictim or the instrument of his fiendish designs. The gravity with which\nsuch adventures are related by Snorro is the best illustration of the\nopinions and intellect of the times.[219]\n\n[Sidenote: 998.]\n\nBut Olaf had seen more sturdy antagonists than wine-bibbing deities.\nRepairing to the north, he found that his attempts to convert the people\nwere not always to be successful. To the states of Drontheim, which he\nhad convoked at Froste, they repaired, all armed, and evidently intent\non some important measure. After the assembly had been legally opened by\nOlaf, he commanded this people to embrace the Christian religion. A\ngreat clamour arose; and the people did what they had never yet\ndared\u2014assert their superiority over him, command him to be silent, and\nthreaten that, if he refused to obey, they would drive him from the\nkingdom. They had overpowered Hako, the godson of Athelstane, and they\ndid not think Olaf in any respect superior to that monarch. The tone of\nOlaf was soon altered; he saw that the formidable body, who had been\nraised by the fatal arrow, could not be resisted on this occasion; and\nhe expressed his wish to live on the best terms with all his people. In\nreply to their next demand, that he should join in the sacrifices, he\npromised to be present on the next great solemn festival, and then\nchoose which religion he would follow. By this promise, and by his\nunusually placid manner, the wrath of the people was disarmed; and it\nwas agreed that they should meet him at Laden, in the province of Moria.\nIn the interval he prepared for the struggle. With a stronger force than\nhe had yet brought to such assemblies, he proceeded to Laden. Before the\nbusiness of the meeting was opened, he gave to the assembled people a\nmagnificent entertainment, and all drank deeply, so as to become\nintoxicated,\u2014the usual result of all northern feasts. The next morning,\nafter the legal opening of the Thing, he arose, and thus addressed\nthem:\u2014\u201cCountrymen! you well know what passed in the last assembly at\nFroste, and that we are here met to restore the pagan sacrifices which\nyou so much desire. You also know with what contumely I have treated the\ngods,\u2014how often I have thrown them to the earth, and burned their\ntemples, and defied them to their faces. Now, according to your own\ncreed, such deeds can be only forgiven by extraordinary oblations. If I\nmust sacrifice, I will, as the chief pontiff, select such victims as I\nmay approve. They shall be _human_ victims,\u2014yea, and the noblest amongst\nyou!\u201d With much solemnity, and in a most emphatic manner, he then\nmentioned the names of twelve chiefs,\u2014the noblest in Norway, who were\nall present,\u2014that were to be immediately immolated; and he called on his\nfollowers to lead them into the temple. The result may be anticipated:\nthe terrified chiefs who were thus doomed, and all who feared the same\nfate, left the matter of religion to the king\u2014they would no longer\noppose him: the multitude were constrained by their example; and both\nthe high and the low, young and old, were led to the baptismal\nfont.[220]\n\n[Sidenote: 998.]\n\nEncouraged by the success of this policy, Olaf now hastened into\nDrontheim, where the provincial states were assembled. Here, however, he\nexperienced the same opposition. The people insisted, not only that he\nshould leave them to the undisturbed exercise of their worship, but that\nhe should, without delay, join in their sacrifices. Accordingly he\nentered the temple, accompanied by some of his own party, and of theirs.\nThe chief idol, Thor, was seated in much barbaric grandeur, being\ncovered with gold and precious stones. Olaf gazed for a moment; then,\nseizing a ponderous mallet, he struck the idol with such force that it\nreeled from the pedestal, and fell heavily on the floor of the temple.\nThis was the signal for the rest of his followers, who, with the\nrapidity of lightning, hurled the remaining gods from their seats, with\nshouts of derision. At the same time, the leader of the opposition, a\nnoble pontiff, was killed outside the temple. Olaf then addressed the\nmultitude, and left them the choice whether they would be baptized, or\nfight him. They were willing enough to choose the latter alternative;\nbut having no chief who could lead them on, they yielded, and were\nimmediately regenerated in the sacred font. For their good behaviour in\nfuture, they were compelled to give hostages. To conciliate the family\nof the deceased pontiff, Olaf, who was now a widower, married Gudruna,\nthe daughter; but he had soon to separate from her, since, on the first\nnight of their nuptials, she attempted his destruction.\u2014Olaf was not yet\nsatisfied; the districts north of Drontheim, especially Halogia, were\nyet pagan; and he longed to convert, that is to baptize, the natives.\nWhen any of them, by accident, or stress of weather, touched in the\nports of Norway, he hurried them away to the miraculous font; or, if\nthey refused to go, he punished them for their obstinacy. Eyvind, a\nnative of Halogia, furnishes an illustration of the manner in which the\nroyal missionary attempted the conversion of individuals. Being brought\ninto the presence of Olaf, he was exhorted to embrace Christianity; but\nhe refused. Mild, persuasive language, in which the bishop (and there\nwas always one in the royal precincts) joined, was at first adopted; but\nwithout success. Olaf then offered him large domains, to be held by the\nfeudal tenure; still no assent. \u201cThen,\u201d added the enraged apostle, \u201cthou\nshalt die!\u201d A chafing dish of burning coals was brought, and laid on the\nbelly of the pagan, whom death soon released from suffering. To avert\nthe odium which must attach to the deed, a report was spread that,\nbefore his death, Eyvind had acknowledged that he was an evil spirit in\nthe human form.[221]\n\n[Sidenote: 999.]\n\nWhen the favourable season arrived, Olaf, with a large band of armed\nmen, proceeded into Halogia to convert the people. In the south of that\nprovince they were unprepared for resistance, and the good work was\nunusually prosperous. But two chiefs in the north,\u2014Raude and\nThorer,\u2014both zealously attached to paganism, both rich and powerful,\nequipped ships to oppose him. They were defeated; and Raude, who was a\ngreat magician, raised a wind by which he escaped. Not so Thorer, who\nwas driven to the shore: though, from his swiftness, he was called _the\nStag_, he could not outstrip the Irish dog, Vikia, which Olaf despatched\nafter him.[222] Turning round, he wounded the animal; but a spear from\nOlaf entered his side. The victor now hastened after Raude, who had\nfound a refuge in the island of Godey; but the magician raised such a\ntempest that there was no approaching the island. At the end of a week\nhe proceeded farther to the north; and, after a successful course of\npreaching, again returned to the coast opposite to Godey. Still the\nelements raged. \u201cWhat shall we do?\u201d demanded the king, of Sigurd the\nbishop; \u201cDefy the tempest,\u201d replied the other, \u201cand the demon who has\nraised it!\u201d Saying this, Sigurd arrayed himself pontifically, took his\nseat at the helm, held out his censor smoking with incense, raised a\nhuge cross, recited the gospel with many prayers, and sprinkled the ship\nwith holy water. The effect was miraculous: where the vessel was there\nwas a calm; on each side of it, the billows rose furiously. During the\npassage, the same wondrous phenomenon was seen: before them the sea was\nsmooth as glass; to the right and left the tempest remained unabated. On\nreaching the bay, a huge dragon, that is, a ship, stood on the sands.\nOlaf heeded it not; but, hastening to the house of Raude, he bound the\nmagician with fetters, killed some of the domestics, and captured\nothers; and the same fate was inflicted on the military companions of\nthe chief. Raude was then invited to receive baptism; if he did so, he\nshould not be despoiled of his substance. Not only was the invitation\nspurned, but heavy curses were uttered on the king and his faith. This\nwas not to be endured; and the royal missionary determined that this\nwretch should leave the world by a novel death. Raude was fettered and\ngagged; a serpent was brought to his mouth, and attempts made to force\nthe animal down his throat; but it recoiled in affright. A horn was then\npassed between the magician\u2019s teeth; the adder entered at one end,\npassed through the mouth into the stomach of Raude, and speedily ate for\nitself a way out again. Great was the spoil which awaited the victor:\nbut his greatest pleasure was to execute such of the magician\u2019s\ndependents as refused baptism. After these notable exploits, he returned\ninto Drontheim.[223]\n\n[Sidenote: 998.]\n\nThough Olaf was as much disposed to enforce the conversion of\nindividuals as of large bodies of men, he was not equal to both tasks;\nand, in the former case, he sometimes devolved on others the important\nduty of a missionary. A story preserved by Gunlaug, the Icelandic monk,\nwill illustrate the manner in which he exacted revenge when his efforts\nhad been unsuccessful. Halfrod, the royal poet, was accused to Olaf of\nbeing still idolatrous in heart, and of worshipping a little image of\nThor, which he carried in a bag. The accuser was Kalf, another domestic\nof the palace. The poet being summoned into the royal presence,\nindignantly denied the charge; and, in proof of his innocence, turned\nthe bag in question inside out. \u201cAfter this charge,\u201d said the king, \u201cyou\ncannot both remain in the same house; let Kalf return to his farm.\u201d\nTurning to the poet, whose sincerity he probably wished to test, he\nsaid, \u201cHalfrod, thou must be my emissary to the uplands. There resides a\nman called Thorleif the Wise, who will not be converted. Formerly, I\nsent many persons to reason with him, but they had no influence over\nhim. Now, I send thee, with an order either to kill or blind him: take\nwith thee as many men as thou pleasest.\u201d\u2014\u201cThis commission,\u201d replied the\npoet, \u201cscarcely becomes a freeman; yet I will go wherever thou\ncommandest. As my companion, I will take thy uncle Jostein, with\ntwenty-two horsemen.\u201d Away they rode; and, on reaching the wood near to\nthe dwelling of Thorleif, they dismounted. Halfrod, who knew that the\nnumber of his followers would be insufficient if force were required,\nsaid to them, \u201cI will go alone to Thorleif\u2019s house; wait for me here\nthree days; and if, at the expiration of that time, you see me not,\nreturn to your homes.\u201d He would not permit even Jostein to accompany\nhim. His first care was to disguise himself so completely that no eye\ncould recognise him. In a mendicant garb, his face discoloured with the\nappearance of squalid wretchedness, he took his staff, and, when near to\nthe house, began to move slowly and wearily, as if consumed alike by age\nand misery. Thorleif was sitting on a bench, in front of his house; the\npoet dragged himself along, and saluted him. \u201cWho art thou?\u201d was the\ndemand of Thorleif. Halfrod told a piteous tale of his wanderings, his\nmisery, his ill luck, his dangers: he had been so unfortunate as to be\nseized by the domestics of king Olaf, and hurried into the royal\npresence. As usual, conversion or death had been set before him; but he\nhad escaped, and had, ever since, been the sport of the elements. He\nthought, however, that if he had continued rest, and good living, he\nshould be restored to a portion of his former vigour. \u201cFame says that\nthou art liberal, and I hope thou wilt be so towards me.\u201d\u2014\u201cOf the truth\nof thy story,\u201d replied Thorleif, \u201cI cannot judge; but if thou art an old\nman, thou must have seen much and learned much: but thy tongue runs\nsomewhat smoothly for one so decrepit.\u201d If the poet was not old, he had\ntravelled enough to answer the questions of Thorleif. \u201cThere is a man,\u201d\nproceeded the latter, \u201cat the court of Olaf, by name Halfrod, of whom I\nhave heard much.\u201d Probably Thorleif began to suspect that the poet was\nbefore him; he knew that he should not long remain in peace; that his\nrefusal to embrace the new religion must bring on his head the vengeance\nof Olaf; for, he added, \u201cNo doubt the emissaries of Olaf will soon be\nhere.\u201d In reply to his question concerning Halfrod, the pirate had a\nready answer. He then, as if wholly exhausted, leaned on the bench, and\nthe moment he saw Thorleif off his guard, he seized him with rapidity,\nand with a giant\u2019s strength; but Thorleif struggled, and they both\ntumbled on the ground, the poet uppermost. In another moment one of\nThorleif\u2019s eyes was out of its socket. \u201cWhat I have long foreseen,\u201d said\nthe pagan, \u201chas now happened. I doubt not that the king has commanded\nthee wholly to blind or to kill me; I pray thee, however, to leave me\nthe use of the other eye, and I will give thee rich presents.\u201d\u2014\u201cI cannot\naccept thy gifts,\u201d replied the poet, who had more fits of generosity\nthan less tuneful minds, \u201cbut I will leave thee that eye, and take the\nresponsibility upon myself.\u201d He then arose, and returned to his men in\nthe wood; nor did Thorleif display his misfortune until they were far\nenough from the neighbourhood to defy pursuit. But if Halfrod was\nsometimes generous, he was also vindictive. As they returned by the farm\nof Kalf, he said to Josteim, \u201cLet us kill this man!\u201d The other refused;\nbut the poet rejoined, \u201cIt is not just that we should blind a good man,\nyet leave this wretch uninjured.\u201d Saying this, he went to Kalf, who was\nthrowing the seed into the ground, seized him, and put out one eye. On\nreaching the palace, Olaf inquired what he had done. \u201cI have made\nThorleif blind.\u201d\u2014\u201cThat is well,\u201d rejoined the king; \u201cshow me the eyes!\u201d\nIn the hurry of the moment, the poet produced the one of which he had\ndeprived Kalf. \u201cThis is not Thorleif\u2019s eye,\u201d observed the king; \u201cthou\nhast done more than I commanded thee.\u201d The other was produced. \u201cThis\n_is_ Thorleif\u2019s eye,\u201d said the king; \u201cnow tell me all that thou hast\ndone.\u201d Halfrod did so, and was pardoned.[224]\n\n[Sidenote: 999.]\n\nThe success which through life had attended this extraordinary man did\nnot continue to the close. On his separation from Gudruna, he sought the\nhand of Sigrida, surnamed the Imperious,\u2014the Swedish princess who had\ndestroyed Harald Grenske. She accepted him; many gifts passed between\nthem; and an interview was appointed on the limits of the two kingdoms.\nAmong the gifts was a huge ring of gold, which Olaf had taken from the\ntemple of Laden. Two goldsmiths declaring to her that the metal was not\npure, she caused the ring to be opened, and perceived that the interior\nwas of brass. Indignant at the discovery, she declared that it was only\none in many cases where she had been deceived by the king. Yet, at the\nappointed time, she met him, and the marriage was arranged. But Olaf\ninsisted that she should renounce paganism, and receive the baptismal\nrite; but she refused to do either; and observed, with some wisdom, that\nas she should not interfere with his worship, she had a right to expect\nthat he would not constrain her conscience. But the royal preacher was\nnot fond of opposition; he called the queen by the most opprobrious\nepithet,\u2014worse than an old heathen hag,\u2014threw his glove in her face, and\nboth separated for ever. Sigrida was not of a temper to bear this\ninsult, and her future life was given to revenge. When, on the death of\nGunhilda, daughter of Borislaf, a duke of Pomerania, Sweyn of Denmark,\nbecame a widower, she accepted the hand of that monarch, with the view\nof hastening her revenge. At the same time, Borislaf sought the hand of\nThyra, sister of Sweyn, a young and beautiful princess, who, however\nreluctant, was forced by her brother to marry him. By this union she\nbecame entitled to the domains which her sister-in-law, Gunhilda, had\nenjoyed in Pomerania. But she detested the old pagan and his court.\nDuring the first week of her nuptials she abstained from food; on the\neighth evening, accompanied by her foster-father, she hastened to a ship\nwhich was lying off the coast, embarked, and was landed in Denmark.\nKnowing, however, that, if her brother saw her, she should be sent back\nto the court of Borislaf, she concealed herself until a vessel was found\nto convey her to Norway. By Olaf she was well received; and, in a few\ndays, she became his bride. By what casuistry he, who preached Christian\nmorals to his subjects, reconciled to his conscience this double\nadultery,\u2014he, the husband of Gudruna, marrying the wife of Borislaf, or\nhow she, who also professed Christianity, consented to the match,\u2014we\nneed not inquire. History, which deals with facts rather than motives,\nhas now to relate, that this scornful rejection of one princess, and\nthis illegal marriage to another, led to the destruction of Olaf.[225]\n\n[Sidenote: 999 to 1000.]\n\nNo sooner was Thyra the wife of Olaf, than she began to complain of her\npoverty. She had only what her husband was disposed to allow her, which,\nthough equal to her wants, did not suit her dignity as queen of Norway.\nYet, in Pomerania, she had ample possessions, which, if restored to her,\nwould enrich her, and make her no longer burdensome to him: Borislaf,\nshe was sure, would, if asked by Olaf, quietly surrender the domains. By\ndegrees, she prevailed on him to equip a fleet for the coast of\nPomerania. In the summer of the year 1000, he departed on this\nexpedition. On the confines of Sweden, he married his sister, Ingeborg,\nto Rognevald, a prince of that nation; and then, proceeding on his\nvoyage, soon reached the coast of Pomerania. In the mean time, the arts\nof Sigrida prevailed, and Sweyn resolved to join the enemies of Olaf.\nActuated by ambition, no less than by the hope of revenge, he wished to\nobtain some portion of a kingdom which, before the time of Halfdan the\nBlack, had frequently been subdued by his ancestors; and to punish Olaf\nfor presuming to marry his sister without his consent. Nor had Sigrida\nmuch difficulty in prevailing on her near kinsman, Olaf of Sweden, to\njoin her husband in the war. Eric, the exiled son of Hako the jarl, whom\nOlaf had succeeded, and who had always found a welcome home in Denmark\nand Sweden, acceded to the confederation. But a more formidable opponent\nstill was Sigvald, a pirate chief of Jomsberg, whose close connection\nwith the Danish court has been related.[226] Sigvald was the more\ndangerous from his treachery. So far from openly declaring war against\nthe Norwegian, he met that monarch, for whom he professed the highest\nesteem, and whom it was his object to detain on the coast of Pomerania,\nuntil the united forces of Denmark and Sweden arrived to crush him. At\nlength, when he knew the hostile fleets were in the Danish islands, he\npersuaded Olaf to return, the office of pilot being intrusted to him.\nWith his own ships\u2014which were eleven in number\u2014in the van, he led the\nNorwegian fleet into the midst of the enemy, who lay concealed near the\npresent Stralsund. Not all the ships, however, were there; some had\ntaken to the open sea; so that Olaf, with only a portion of his\narmament, was suddenly assailed by overwhelming numbers of the enemy.\nWith his usual gallantry he defended himself, and great was the carnage\nwhich he made among the hostile ranks. But the contest was too unequal;\nthe valiant champions of Norway fell round their master; the Long\nSerpent, as the ship of Olaf was called, was boarded by the son of Hako;\na desperate struggle on the deck followed; and when few of the\nNorwegians remained alive, Olaf, with three or four of them, plunged\ninto the sea, and was seen no more. Such, at least, is the relation of\nSnorro, which is supported by reason; but the two Icelandic biographers\nof this king\u2014Gunlaug and Oddur\u2014insist that he saved himself by swimming,\nrepaired to the coast of Vinland, in Pomerania, was cured of his\nnumerous wounds by the sister of his first wife, went on a pilgrimage to\nRome, and, after many years, died in the Holy Land.[227]\n\nFrom the space which we have devoted to the exploits of Olaf, his\ncharacter may be easily inferred. The sagas add, that he exceeded all\nmen in two bodily qualities, which are very rarely combined,\u2014strength\nand agility. On one occasion he is said to have climbed a steep\nprecipice to extricate one of his courtiers, who had ascended to a great\nheight, and could not move upwards or downwards: taking him under one\narm, the king descended with him safely to the plain below. With both\nhands he was equally expert. One of his amusements was to toss three\nsharp swords into the air, and catch each by the handle as it descended,\nand, without intermission, again to throw them, singly, far above his\nhead. This game is supposed to be of Indian origin; and, probably, Olaf\nis the only king that ever played it. He was fond of poetry, especially\nthat which commemorated the deeds of heroes; he was liberal to all his\ndependents, accessible to all the world, jovial in temper. His attention\nto commerce was one of his most useful qualities; and whatever arts he\nhad seen practised in other countries he introduced into his own. He\nfounded, at the mouth of the river Nid, a city which was long called\nNidross, but the name was afterwards superseded by that of Drontheim,\nfrom the province that contained it. In ship-building, navigation, and\nthe arts dependent on them, he had no equal. But, to the close of life,\nhe was a barbarian: he indulged in habitual drunkenness; and he shed\nblood so arbitrarily as to prove that at no time, except when an\nassembly was actually occupied in the public business, was he restrained\nby law. He was, in the truest sense of the word, a despot. Though a\nmilder sovereign could not have so completely triumphed over\nheathenism,\u2014and he was, therefore, of incalculable benefit to his\ncountry, in removing an insuperable barrier to civilisation and\nmorals,\u2014this fact does not in the least atone for his ferocity. In many\npoints, he bears great resemblance to Peter the Great of Russia; though,\nin all good and great qualities, he was inferior to that monarch. In his\nreign many important voyages were undertaken; and to these we shall\nadvert in the chapter on the maritime expeditions of the Northmen.\n\n[Sidenote: 1000 to 1012.]\n\nOn the death of Olaf, the two allied kings hastened to divide Norway,\nor, at least, the greater portion of it, between them. Their lieutenants\nwere the two sons of Hako the jarl, who had assisted them so effectually\nin the defeat of Olaf. The administration of these princes is mentioned\nwith respect by Norwegian and Icelandic writers. Though some of the\nlocal jarls were oppressive, _they_ were no tyrants; and, though\nChristians by profession, they did not persecute, but left the progress\nof their faith to time and reason. Twelve years they exercised the\ngovernment, when Eric received a summons from his liege superior, Sweyn,\nking of Denmark, to aid that monarch in the final conquest of\nEngland.[228] Leaving his son Hako, then about seventeen years of age,\nwith the administration of the government, and confiding the youth to\nthe mature counsels of Einar the Archer, he sailed, with all the force\nhe had been able to collect, for the coast of England, never to return.\nBut a rival was now to appear on the scene, before whom his own power\nand his brother Sweyn\u2019s was to dissolve into air.[229]\n\nIn a former page[230], we have related the tragical fate of Harald\nGrenske, who did not live to see the birth of his son, Olaf the Saint.\nFearing the vengeance of Hako the jarl, then ruler of Norway, Asta, the\nwidow of Harald, no sooner heard of his death than she repaired to her\nfather\u2019s house in the uplands, where she brought forth her son. Under\nher father\u2019s roof the child felt not the loss of a parent. Though she\nmarried a second time, his education was not neglected. Sigurd Syr, the\nsecond husband, was an easy, good-natured man, whose time was wholly\noccupied by his immense estates, and who left the instruction of his\nstep-son to one better qualified for the task,\u2014Rane, one of the\nfavourite chiefs of the deceased Harald. As Olaf was destined to be a\nsaint, miracles enough are recorded of his infancy, and of the period\nwhich preceded it. These, as we are arrived at the historic period, we\nshall omit. Great praise is bestowed on the precocious talents of young\nOlaf. To us they appear indicative of the spoiled child. One day, says\nSnorro, Sigurd, being desirous to ride into the country, commanded him\nto saddle one of his horses,\u2014a menial office, but one that the noblest\nyouths were accustomed to discharge. He brought a goat instead of a\nhorse or mule, properly accoutred, and with provoking officiousness\nproposed to assist him in mounting. \u201cThus it always is!\u201d observed\nSigurd; \u201cany command of mine becomes the subject of ridicule.\u201d In the\nmilitary exercises of the age Olaf was a proficient. He could bend the\nbow, or dart the spear, or handle the sword, with as much dexterity and\nas much strength as any youth of the province; and in swimming he had\nfew rivals. Nor was he less attentive to the manufacture and repair of\narmour,\u2014a very necessary accomplishment to a warrior, and especially to\na king, at a time when smiths were not numerous and were seldom at hand.\nOf Christianity he acquired as much knowledge as could be expected, when\nthe priests, themselves, were ignorant of its leading doctrines, and\nwhen its purest rites were alloyed by superstition and heathenism. His\ngodfather was no other than Olaf Trygveson, after whom he was\nnamed.[231]\n\n[Sidenote: 1007 to 1014.]\n\nWhen Olaf had reached his twelfth year, which was the seventh after the\ndeath of his godfather, he was sent on his first piratical expedition,\nunder the care of Rane, his preceptor. On this occasion he assumed the\ntitle of _king_, which was given to all sea captains who were sprung\nfrom a royal family. The coast of Denmark and Sweden were the first to\nexperience his ravages; yet why in time of peace\u2014when in addition Norway\nwas dependent on both kingdoms\u2014this should be permitted, is not\nexplained. We do not read that either Eric or his brother Sweyn\nattempted to throw off the yoke. But at this lawless period, when\npirates of all nations, from Ireland to Russia, swarmed on every coast,\nit would have been impossible to discern the author of the depredations,\nand, if they had been known, to punish them. Besides, the subjects of\none power were as guilty as those of another; and where both kings were\nequally injured and equally aggressive, neither had a right to complain.\nTo Sweden, in particular, Olaf bore a strong hatred. In that country his\nfather had been murdered, and revenge was his first duty. On the\nsouthern coast he fought his first battle,\u2014not against the Swedes, but\nagainst other pirates. These he subdued; and, emboldened by his success,\nhe succeeded to the eastern shores, disembarked in the vicinity of lake\nMeler, and recommenced his depredations. To chastise his presumption,\nthe Swedish king put an armament in motion; but he escaped, and returned\nhome in triumph. When spring arrived, he renewed his piracy on the coast\nof Sweden, and extended it to that of Finland. In the latter country he\nexperienced, say his biographers, what so many had experienced before\nhim,\u2014the influence of magic. Missiles from unseen hands were showered\nupon his little band: with his spoil he retreated to the shore, where,\nto prevent his embarkation, a furious tempest awaited him; but he\nsailed, and his perseverance triumphed.\u2014As he grew in years, he\nnaturally grew in enterprise. The following season witnessed his\ndepredations in Jutland; the next, in Friesland; the next, in England.\nBut he did not come, we are told, to fight against the Saxons; the Danes\nwere the objects of his hostility; and, as the ally of Ethelred, he\nassailed them with vigour. It appears, however, that he was sometimes\nthe ally of prince Canute, the son of Sweyn. Probably he was ready to\ntransfer his services from one prince to another, as the tide of victory\nturned, or as he obtained a greater reward from one than from another.\nHe appears to have been one of the ferocious monsters who, in 1012,\ndestroyed Canterbury, and its good archbishop St. Elphege.[232] \u201cHe was\na leader of the army,\u201d says Snorro, \u201cwhich consumed that city.\u201d From\nthis exploit few could have predicted his future saintship; but saints\nthen, as more recently, were easily made. In these troubled times, his\nobject was to collect all the plunder he could\u2014whether from pagans or\nChristians little concerned him. In France as in Finland, in Kent as in\nJutland, in Ireland as in Pomerania, his sword was equally active and\nequally pitiless.[233]\n\n[Sidenote: 1014.]\n\nAfter the death of jarl Eric, and Sweyn king of Denmark, Olaf ventured\nto Norway. As a prince, he could not be without ambition; as a piratical\nchief, he had based his trust in his own valour: and the present\nconjuncture he justly considered as a favourable one for his views. Eric\nwas no more; Sweyn, his brother, and Hako, his son, were not descendants\nof the revered Harald Harfager; Erling, a brother-in-law of Sweyn, was a\ntyrant; and the Norwegians were dissatisfied with a foreign yoke. Yet in\nthis voyage, in which two vessels only accompanied him, his motive must\nhave been, not conquest, but the desire of ascertaining the state of the\npopular mind. He landed on an island on the western coast, where,\nhearing that Hako was in his neighbourhood, with one vessel only, he\nresolved on the bold enterprise of making that chief captive. It was\neasily carried into effect, and Hako was brought into the presence of\nOlaf, who admired the unusual comeliness of his person. \u201cAll that I have\nheard of your bodily qualities,\u201d said Olaf, \u201cis, I perceive, true; but\nyour family is again doomed to be the sport of fortune.\u201d \u201cWe have always\nbeen so,\u201d was the reply; \u201cnor we nor our enemies have been her\nfavourites; and so strange are the vicissitudes of this life, that, for\nanything I know, we may again be in the ascendant.\u201d \u201cIf I pardon thee,\u201d\nadded the king, \u201cwilt thou engage never to bear arms against me,\u2014never\nto revisit Norway?\u201d The jarl promised, and was suffered to depart, with\nsuch of his companions as chose to accompany him. By Canute of Denmark,\nthen in England, he was well received, and intrusted with a share of the\nadministration. Olaf, therefore, was rid of one rival; but Sweyn and\nErling still remained. His next object was to visit his native region,\nwhere his kindred and friends were ready to receive him. As he passed\nalong many individuals swore fidelity to him; but the majority waited\nthe issue of events. The manner in which his mother received him may\nillustrate the domestic economy of the times. Hearing of his approach,\nshe commanded her servants, male and female, to prepare everything as\nfor a distinguished guest. Four women prepared the hall of entertainment\nwith benches, chairs, and cushions; two strewed the floor with rushes;\ntwo laid out a large side-table with drinking cups and horns, and a\ntwo-handled jug filled with mead; two laid out the table; two brought in\nthe dishes that would be required; two drew the beer; two were sent to\nfetch such things as were not in the house; and the rest of the\nservants, of both sexes, were occupied in the back court-yard. To\nSigurd, who was occupied in farming, such garments were sent as became a\nking, and with them a horse magnificently caparisoned. Four domestics\nwent to invite guests for the entertainment, such as should do the more\nhonour to Olaf. The rest of the servants,\u2014those, we suppose, whose duty\nit was to wait on the guests, were commanded to put on their gayest\napparel, and \u201csuch as had none were to be supplied by those who had.\u201d\nThe manners of the age and the character of the man are equally visible\nin the reply of Sigurd to the messengers of his wife, when urged to\nappear with becoming splendour. \u201cAsta has before now received her\nfriends with much pomp, but never has she showed much respect to mine.\nOn all occasions she exhibits as much ambition as if the greatest\nadvantage were to be derived from her display; and I suppose we shall be\nrequired to pay the youth the same honours at his departure as at his\narrival.\u201d He then alluded to the charge of the entertainment,\u2014to the\numbrage which the kings of Denmark and Sweden might take at it,\u2014and\nconcluded by hoping that all would end better than he feared. But Sigurd\nwas a prudent man, and he exhibited no such spirit in the presence of\nhis wife. Knowing that he must obey, he sat down while one servant\npulled off his agricultural vestments; another helped him to draw on a\ncostly pair of boots; a third fastened the spurs; another held his\nmantle and cloak: the addition of a helmet and sword transformed the\nhonest farmer into a noble baron. But he must not alone approach the son\nof his wife. From his peasantry, hitherto busy in the labours of the\nharvest, he selected thirty as a kind of a body guard, and with them he\nrode in silent dignity towards his villa.[234]\n\n[Sidenote: 1014.]\n\nWhen Sigurd drew near his house, he perceived the ensign of Olaf\nadvancing in the opposite direction. The prince, followed by a hundred\ncompanions, all in magnificent costume, he kindly saluted, and invited\nto share his hospitality. The mother received the royal guest with a\nkiss; and freely offered him and his followers all the worldly substance\nthat she had,\u2014her house, and lands, and servants. Thanking both parents,\nOlaf, with his chiefs, was led into the hall. The feast was prepared,\nand Sigurd, who was invested with the regal title, ascended the chief\nseat, which was at the head of the table, and was much higher than the\nrest. But Olaf did not visit his parents for idle parade; and in a day\nor two after his arrival, he invited Sigurd, his mother, Asta, and Rane,\nhis preceptor, to counsel him as to his future proceedings. In a\ndiscourse of some length, he expatiated on his past dangers, on the\nrights of his family, on his own claims to both the inheritance of his\nfather and of Olaf Trygveson; and expressed his resolution to obtain\nempire, or to die. Sigurd, like a prudent man, replied, that for one so\nyoung, and with so few resources, he had entered on a rash path; that to\ndefy such men as the kings of Sweden and Denmark was not the part of\nwisdom; that little dependence was to be placed on popular applause;\nthat the present attempt was above his abilities and his means. He\nconcluded, however, by observing that, if the other chiefs of the\nuplands\u2014kings as he called them\u2014were favourably disposed to his cause,\nhe would not be wanting in the support which his fortune might enable\nhim to give; and he even proposed to accompany Olaf in a visit to those\nchiefs. Asta, whose turn it was next to advise, spoke like a true\ndescendant of fair-haired Harald. She advised him to persevere in his\nundertaking; and added, that she would rather see him in possession of\nempire, were he to enjoy it briefly, as the son of Trygve, than that he\nshould grow old, a powerless king, like Sigurd. When this council was\nover, Olaf and his father-in-law went to meet the upland kings. \u201cThere\nwere many at this period,\u201d says Snorro,\u2014a proof that the destruction of\nthe supreme power by the death of Olaf Trygveson was hurrying the\nkingdom into all the anarchy from which it had been extricated by Harald\nHarfager. The sway of Eric and Sweyn, sons of Hako, had been so mild, or\nrather so loose, that the country was become again the prey of numerous\nindependent chiefs.[235]\n\n[Sidenote: 1014.]\n\nIn the assembly of upland kings, Sigurd showed that he was no enemy to\nthe elevation of his step-son; on the contrary, he exalted the valour,\nthe enterprise, the success of Olaf, in so many parts of Europe; and\nbesought them to assist him alike by their arms and counsel. The first\nchief who replied was not favourable to the proposed enterprise; his\nmotive was evident: he feared that if a monarch of vigour, such as Olaf\npromised to be, ascended the throne of Norway, there would soon be an\nend of the provincial kings. The next voted for the insurrection. If\nthey must have a chief ruler, better was one of their own country and of\ntheir own blood, than a Dane or a Swede. In the end, many of the\nassembled princes, but not the majority, offered him their aid on the\ncondition of his respecting their existing privileges. The states of the\nupland province were next assembled: the claims of Olaf were laid before\nthem; the chiefs recommended it to their support; and with one voice he\nwas acknowledged monarch of Norway. With three hundred armed followers,\nhe proceeded into the neighbouring districts; and he everywhere found\nthe people willing to acknowledge him. He now hastened into Drontheim,\nthe suffrage of which, as he well knew, would influence the rest of\nNorway. At his approach, the arrow was sent forth, and the rustics\nassembled in arms; but he had the address to draw them over to his own\nparty. Though naturally furious and irritable, he had sufficient command\nover himself to control his bad passions; and every one that approached\nhim left him with a full conviction of his exceeding good nature. As he\ndrew near Nidaros,\u2014the present city of Drontheim,\u2014Sweyn, the son of\nHako, prepared a vessel to leave the port. At this moment, two of Olaf\u2019s\nvessels were entering, and Sweyn, to avoid recognition, steered farther\nto the north, cut down some trees which were near the coast, placed them\nby the sides of his vessel in such a manner that he could not be seen,\nand boldly returned through the bay, on his way to the north. The men of\nOlaf saw the vessel, and, believing it to be a cargo of timber, made no\neffort to detain it. Landing at Froste, the seat of his government,\nwhich he preferred to Drontheim, he counselled with Eric about the steps\nwhich were now to be taken,\u2014whether he should collect forces and risk\nthe fate of a battle, or have recourse to policy. The result was, that\nhe should, if possible, wait until the yule festival, when so many\nthousands would be gathered together, and made the umpires between him\nand Olaf. But the course of events hurried both parties on; they\ncollected troops, and with a body of two thousand proceeded towards\nDrontheim. About the middle of the night Olaf was awakened by the news\nthat his outposts had discovered a strong hostile column approach.\nHastily rising from bed, the king took all the provisions he could find,\nand, accompanied by a small body of followers, went on board the vessels\nwhich lay in the river. He had scarcely stood out to sea when the army\nof Sweyn entered the city and set it on fire.[236]\n\n[Sidenote: 1015.]\n\nThis, to Olaf, was an unexpected disaster, and it was one that ordinary\nprudence might have avoided. He now was under the humiliating necessity\nof retiring to the uplands to acquaint his kindred that he had been\ndriven from his capital by the son of Hako. But he was better received\nthan he expected or deserved. Several of the chiefs supplied him with\nmen and provisions; and Sigurd Syr, his step-father, showed as much zeal\nin his cause as any of his blood, and more effectually served him. When\nspring approached he repaired to Tunsberg, where new forces daily joined\nhim. On his part, Sweyn, during the whole winter, was no less active in\nraising ships and men, and he was equally successful. The day before\nPalm Sunday, the two armaments were off the coast of Vikia, near to each\nother. One hundred vessels accompanied Olaf; those of his enemies were\nnot inferior in number. Early on the morning of Sunday, Olaf, with the\nbanner of the cross displayed from his own ship, led the attack. The\nbattle was long and doubtfully contested: if Sweyn had a larger force,\nthat of Olaf was better disciplined. At length victory declared for the\nking; many of the enemy submitted; the rest fled. Among the latter was\nSweyn, who hastened to the court of his father-in-law, the king of\nSweden, to solicit reinforcements; while Erling remained to harass the\nvictor. From Sweden the jarl never returned. The king offered him\ntroops; but he preferred a peaceful government in that country, until\nthe course of events in Norway were more favourable to his views. After\na piratical expedition to the coast of Gardarik, he fell sick and died.\nFrom this time, Olaf may be more truly called the monarch of Norway. The\npeople of Drontheim, who had been much attached to the jarl, now\ntransferred their allegiance to him. Erling, indeed, held out another\nyear, and some of the smaller chiefs were tardy in the payment of\ntribute; but when he submitted, there remained only the two foreign\npowers who could trouble the king.[237]\n\n[Sidenote: 1016.]\n\nAfter these successes Olaf began the work of legal reformation. The laws\nwhich Hako the Good had introduced were often neglected; some of them\nwere no longer applicable, and new ones were demanded by the necessities\nof the people. The manner in which he proceeded in this object evinces\nhis good sense. At a certain hour he met the wisest of his people as\nwell as the noblest,\u2014the low as well as the high,\u2014clergy and laity,\u2014all\nin whose judgment he could place any confidence. He then caused one of\nHako\u2019s laws to be recited, and asked their opinion of its justice no\nless than its fitness. Sometimes it was rejected; but generally some\nimprovements were made in it by common consent. At other times he\npropounded new ones; but it may be doubted whether any of them were\nobligatory until they had received the formal sanction of the Thing.\nEcclesiastical matters next occupied the royal attention. Such portions\nof the canon law as were applicable to the circumstances of a barbarous,\nhalf-pagan kingdom were gradually introduced. His great object was to\nabolish what yet remained of paganism\u2014a religion which had been\nconsiderably observed since the death of Olaf Trygveson. He would not\ntolerate it; wherever his jurisdiction extended he caused the temples to\nbe destroyed, and rude wooden churches to be built on their ruins. Nor\nwas he regardless of the spiritual wants of the Orkneys, Iceland, and\nother dependencies of his kingdom. To them he despatched missionaries,\nand inculcated on all the necessity of zeal, of perseverance, of\nunwearied industry. His own conduct was, in this respect, a lesson to\nhis people. He rose early, heard matins and mass before he entered on\npublic business or broke his fast. It was his regular attendance on\npublic worship which, more than any other cause, led to his subsequent\ncanonisation. He was, indeed, the first of the Norwegian kings that\npunctually observed the ordinances of religion. Hako the Good was as\nwell disposed; but Hako, as we have shown, was compelled to revert into\nidolatry. Olaf, the son of Trygve, was too fond of the mead cup, and of\ncontinuing his potations into the silence of night, to attend early\nprayers. The present Olaf was, therefore, the first whom the clergy\ncould decently canonise. Not that he was without his faults. He was\nvindictive, hasty, intemperate, exacting the severest vengeance from\nthose who disputed his commands, and not sparing of human blood. Yet he\nwas affable, indulgent to his dependents, and liberal to such as he had\nreason to esteem.[238]\n\n[Sidenote: 1016.]\n\nThat the kings of Sweden and Denmark should make no effort to recover\ntheir Norwegian possessions, was not to be expected. In about a year\nafter Olaf\u2019s accession, two ambassadors, with a suitable retinue,\narrived at Drontheim from the former kingdom. On their way, however, and\nimmediately after passing the mountain barrier, between the two states,\nthey had endeavoured to prevail on the rustic landholders to pay\ntribute, not to Olaf, but to the Swedish king. Little do the majority of\nany country care for the reigning sovereign; the rustics of Norway no\nmore than any other people. They professed their willingness to pay the\nforeign king, provided Olaf would not require the same taxes a second\ntime. This conduct was treasonable. One of the ambassadors felt that it\nwas so, and proposed that they should return into Sweden; but,\nconstrained by the other, both proceeded to Olaf\u2019s court. Here the same\nman acted still more insolently: he advised the king to become the\nvassal of his Swedish namesake, for no inferior step could screen him\nfrom the vengeance of a monarch so much greater than he. The king so far\nrestrained himself as to bid them depart and announce to their master\nhis willingness to meet him on the frontiers of the two countries. They\nleft the palace, but soon returned, demanding, with much insolence, to\nsee the monarch, who was then at table. The porters were commanded to\ndrive them from the door. This conduct, which could not have been borne\neven by a private individual, was deeply offensive to Olaf. When he\nheard that, instead of retiring into Sweden, one of them remained in the\nprovinces to collect tribute, he sent a small armed band in pursuit of\nthem; and the ambassador, with his suite, were suspended from a public\ngallows. To guard himself against the vengeance of his rival, Olaf now\nwent through the whole of his kingdom, holding assemblies of the people\nin every province, receiving the homage of all, propounding new laws,\nand laying more solidly the foundations of the new church. Finding that\nthe districts bordering on Sweden were claimed by that power,\u2014that the\nlimits of the two kingdoms were not observed by it,\u2014he slew the governor\nof West Gothland, the lieutenant of the Swedish king, who had been long\nharassing the Norwegian subjects of the frontier. To prevent all future\nmistake as to that frontier, he caused a ditch to be dug, and a parallel\nmound to be raised along the disputed line; and, to protect the\ncolonists, he remained there with a considerable force during the whole\nof the following winter. To avenge these insults, the Swedish king began\nto arm. He threatened to subdue the whole of Norway, and to drive the\nsea king into exile.[239]\n\n[Sidenote: 1017.]\n\nThe proposals for peace originated with Olaf of Norway; but they were\nlong destined to have no effect: the wrath of the Swedish Olaf was too\ngreat to be allayed by ordinary negotiations. In 1016, an ambassador\ndeparted on this mission; but so unfavourable were the accounts which he\nreceived of the Swedish monarch\u2019s disposition, that he proceeded no\nfarther than the house of Rognevald, one of the most peaceful of the\njarls, or provincial governors of the kingdom. But he had an Icelander\nwith him, Hialt by name, who offered to undertake the embassy, and to\nbrave the wrath of the Swede. Hialt was a poet, and his profession was\nesteemed at every court of the north. Accompanied by another poet, and\nalso, like himself, a wit, he hastened to the Swedish capital. By Olaf\nthey were well received, because he knew not the object of their\njourney. Their love of the cup was so tempered by discretion, that,\nwhile they were the boon companions of royalty,\u2014in those days every poet\nwas,\u2014they never lost sight of the respect which it always exacts. After\nsome days, such was his familiarity with the king that Hialt alluded to\nthe subject,\u2014not as one that _he_ had undertaken, but as one in which\nthe interests of Sweden were deeply involved. A peremptory command to be\nsilent afforded little hope of success: he was told that the name of\nOlaf the Fat (such was the epithet of the Norwegian monarch) was not\neven whispered at the Swedish court. But Hialt persevered. Knowing that\na matrimonial alliance with the royal family of Sweden was the highest\nambition of the Norwegian Olaf, he solicited the interest of Ingigerda,\ndaughter of the Swede. The princess readily accepted both the proffered\nhand of Olaf and the delicate task of turning her father\u2019s mind to the\nsubject of peace. One day, when Olaf was in high spirits,\u2014which, to do\nhim justice, was frequent,\u2014she alluded to the policy of leaving Norway\nto its own kings. The people were an obstinate people, much attached to\ntheir own regal line, and if the conquest were effected, it would not be\nenduring; while on the opposite coast of Finland were regions which had\nformerly belonged to Sweden, and which might be easily subdued. The lady\nwas rendered eloquent by the hope of a husband; but she was immediately\nsilenced by the king. \u201cSo, Ingigerda, thou wouldst see me lose Norway\nthat thou mightest become the bride of this Olaf the Fat? That day will\nnever arrive; I will conquer Norway.\u201d Not daring to renew the subject,\nshe retired to acquaint Hialt with the ill success of her interference.\nThey could only await the course of events, in the hope that the states\nof the kingdom which had no private resentments to gratify would require\nthe king to make peace with his rival. Rognevald, at the suit of\nIngigerda, and from his attachment to Norway, where most of his kindred\nabode, undertook to mention the subject in the approaching assembly at\nUpsal; and he had the address to interest in his behalf the venerable\nThorgnyr, the oracle of the law, the most influential of the Swedish\nchiefs. After the assembly had been legally opened, and some ordinary\nbusiness transacted, the Norwegian ambassador rose, and besought the\nattention of king and states while he laid before them the mission with\nwhich he had been intrusted by his royal master. But before he could\nexplain it, the angry monarch arose, and sternly commanded him to be\nsilent. The free-born nobles of Sweden were not thus to lose their\nprivilege of consulting on the affairs of the monarchy. Rognevald arose,\nand dwelt at large on the present state of their relations with Norway.\nSo long as the frontier was disputed, West Gothland would be exposed to\ndepredations; so long as the two kingdoms were thus hostile, there could\nbe no prosperity for Sweden. Olaf the Fat was desirous of peace; he had\nsent ambassadors for that purpose; and, in proof of his sincerity,\nbesought the hand of the princess Ingigerda. At the close of his speech,\nthe monarch arose, and sharply upbraided Rognevald for his advocacy of\nthe interests of an enemy. \u201cTo this,\u201d observed the king, \u201che has been\ninstigated by his wife, a Norwegian lady, and of the same family as Olaf\nthe Fat. Rognevald, as the friend, perhaps the ally, of Sweden\u2019s enemy,\nwas a traitor, and ought to suffer the punishment of one,\u2014to be deprived\nalike of his dignity and possessions, and banished the realm.\u201d The\nirritated monarch then resumed his seat, but only to hear what would\ndisplease him the more. The venerable Thorgnyr, whose beard descended to\nhis knees, whose wisdom was celebrated throughout the north, and whose\npresence was so majestic as to inspire every one with reverence, was the\nnext speaker. The assembly were hushed as he rose; and such is the\nascendancy of wisdom, when associated with virtue and rank, that every\none felt that _his_ opinion would decide the controversy. They rose at\nthe same time,\u2014an unconscious tribute of respect to this Nestor. His\nspeech, illustrative as it is of the times, and of Swedish freedom, we\ngive entire. \u201cThe kings of the Swedes are not what they once were. My\ngrandfather could remember Eric the son of Emund, when in the vigour of\nmanhood. That king, each summer, undertook some warlike expedition,\nadding to his empire Finland, Carelia, Esthonia, Courland, and other\nregions,\u2014exploits of which the lofty mounds visible at this day are\ntriumphant proofs; yet Eric was not too proud to be advised; nor did he\nrefuse to hear every one that addressed him. My father was long the\ncompanion and friend of Biorn, whose character he thoroughly understood,\nwhose reign was uninterruptedly flourishing,\u2014no part of the kingdom\nescaping his salutary care; yet Biorn was indulgent to his friends, easy\nof access, and always inclined to good advice. And I remember Eric the\nVictorious, whose companion I was in so many expeditions; he enlarged\nthe bounds of the kingdom, and nobly defended what he had thus acquired;\nyet _he_ was always ready to follow good counsels. Now we have a king\nwhose negligence has occasioned the loss of some tributary regions; yet\nhe would leave to no one the freedom of speaking any other thing than\nwhat he is pleased to hear; and to check the honest use of the tongue is\nhis constant aim. More ambitious than his valiant predecessors, he\nreally aspires to the conquest of all Norway, and thus disturbs the\npublic tranquillity. King Olaf! it is the wish of the country that thou\nshouldst make peace with Olaf the Fat, and give him thy daughter\nIngigerda. If it be thy wish to recover the possessions which thine\nancestors once held in the east, we are all ready to accompany thee in\nthe expedition. If, on the other hand, in regard to Norway, thou art\nunwilling to follow the advice we have given thee, know that we will no\nlonger tolerate thy frequent violations of the public tranquillity, and\nof the constitutional laws; with our swords we will fall upon thee, and\ngive thee to destruction. Such was the custom of our forefathers, who\nwere greater than we. In the assembly of Mula, did they not cast five\nkings into the deep pit, because those princes were, as thou art to us,\ninsultingly proud to their people? Choose, therefore, and instantly\nchoose, whether thou wilt follow our counsel!\u201d This bold speech\u2014so\ncharacteristic of the Swedish nobles in their best days\u2014was received\nwith tumultuous applause by the assembled multitude; sword and shield\nrang together, and every man was ready to follow the bidding of the\nvenerable asserter of his rights. The humbled monarch rose; his will was\nthat of his people; his predecessors had always left matters of grave\nimport to their decision; and the present business should be left\nentirely to them. In a moment the tumult was hushed; the chiefs of the\nassembly, with the sanction of the rest, decreed peace with Norway,\nnamed the ambassadors who were to be sent, and declared that Ingigerda\nshould be the wife of Olaf the Fat. Rognevald was intrusted with the\ncare of betrothing; and the princess sent many gifts, as pledges of her\naffection, to her intended husband.[240]\n\n[Sidenote: 1013.]\n\nOmnipotent as was the authority of the states over the king of Sweden,\nwhen they were dissolved he was again supreme. He resolved to evade the\nperformance of his pledge; and, instead of proceeding with his daughter\nto the confines of the two kingdoms, to deliver her into the arms of\nOlaf, he forebore even to mention the journey, nor would he allow others\nto mention it in his presence. He was, above all, indignant with the\njarl Rognevald, to whom he attributed his humiliation at the recent\nmeeting of the states,\u2014for Thorgnyr was above his vengeance. At length\nthe anxiety of Ingigerda could not be suppressed; and she resolved,\nwhatever the cost, to learn from her father when he intended to commence\nhis journey. One day, as he was returning from his favourite sport of\nhawking, and, from unusual success, was in high spirits, she advanced to\nmeet him, and congratulated him. \u201cDidst thou ever know a monarch,\u201d\ndemanded he, \u201cwhom so much good fortune attended in so short a time?\u201d\n\u201cTruly,\u201d replied the maiden, \u201cthis morning\u2019s sport has been successful;\nthou hast taken five birds: but was not Olaf of Norway the better\nsportsman, seeing that, in one morning also, he took five kings, and\nannexed their possessions to his own?\u201d[241] The father dismounted, then\nlooking at her, said, \u201cListen, Ingigerda! Whatever thy affection for\nthis fat king of Norway, he will never be mate of thine!\u201d\u2014In vain did\nOlaf advance to the frontiers to receive his bride; neither of her nor\nof her father could he obtain the least tidings; and, in great\nmortification, he returned to Drontheim. Rognevald, whom Ingigerda\nacquainted with the disposition of the Swede, laid her communication\nbefore the king of Norway, whose rage was equal to his disappointment.\nHis first impulse was to lay waste the Gothlands; but from this step he\nwas dissuaded by his counsellors, who justly observed, that this kind of\nvengeance was unworthy of a monarch; that he should wait for the\nassembly of his states, demand forces equal to the enterprise, and then\nmarch into Sweden to obtain satisfaction for his wrongs. When he heard\nthat the princess had been promised by Olaf to Jarislaf, duke of\nHolmgard, he would assuredly have instantly marched, had not another\nconsideration detained him. Olaf had another daughter, Astridda by name,\nwho was then on a visit to the princely Rognevald. In his anxiety to\npreserve harmony between kings with whom he was so closely connected,\nthe jarl one day asked a favourite poet and emissary of Olaf whether his\nmaster would be willing to receive the hand of that princess, in the\nplace of Ingigerda. If he would, there was the lady, and the marriage\nmight be celebrated without consulting her father. The poet immediately\nrepaired to Olaf, praised the beauty, the wit, the accomplishments of\nAstridda, who was in no respect inferior to her sister, and informed him\nthat the princess would be ready to marry him without the consent of her\nfather. Olaf accepted the proposal; but his motive was the vexation he\nshould cause the Swedish king, rather than attachment to the princess.\nThe poet was sent for her; and in a short time, accompanied by\nRognevald, she passed into Norway. The sponsal ceremony was immediately\nperformed; and, in a few days, it was followed by their nuptials. This\nproceeding of Rognevald would have brought ruin on his head, had not\ncircumstances befriended him. Olaf, anxious that his daughter Ingigerda\nshould marry Jaroslaf, endeavoured to obtain her consent. As she had\nlost all hope of the Norwegian, now her brother-in-law, and was offended\nat the manner in which he had treated her, she no longer resisted,\nprovided she might select, as her companion and friend, any Swedish\nchief she wished to reside with her at the court of Holmgard. The\npromise was given, and she selected Rognevald. Olaf was indignant, but\nhe could not revoke his pledge; and he only added that, if the odious\njarl did not appear in his sight, and embarked without his knowledge, he\nwould not forbid the appointment. Thus Ingigerda sailed to Gardarik, and\nbecame the wife of Jaroslaf. Hitherto she had not seen Olaf of Norway;\nbut they were destined to meet many years after this event.[242]\n\n[Sidenote: 1018.]\n\nThe conduct of the Swedish Olaf was resented by the states in their next\nassembly. He had not given his daughter to the Norwegian; he had not\nmade peace with Norway; and, notwithstanding the recent marriage of Olaf\nwith the Swedish princess, West Gothland was in hourly danger of war. In\nthe next diet, the proceedings were stormy. A powerful body raised to\nthe throne _Jacob Omund_ or rather _Emund_, the son of Olaf, a child\nscarcely twelve years of age. In great consternation, the Swedish king\nproposed to meet his rival, and to make peace on a double basis. The two\nkings did meet; and the Swede, who had been taught a lesson, was not\nmerely affable, but kind. To set at rest the dispute between them, in\nregard to the boundary, they agreed to leave it to the chance of the\ndice; and the Norwegian was the winner in the game. From this day to the\ndeath of Olaf, there was no war between the two kingdoms. The Swedish\nOlaf was too anxious to gratify his subjects to oppose their interests\nor wishes. They allowed him to retain the sceptre, but a portion of his\nkingdom was placed under the administration of his son.[243]\n\nOn his part, Olaf of Norway was no less desirous of peace. The internal\nstate of his kingdom was far from satisfactory. Many of his subjects,\nhowever they might outwardly conform to Christianity, were still pagans,\nand practised their rites in secret. In a tour through the uplands, in\nthe summer of 1018, he discovered many whom the severity of his\npredecessor and his own had rendered apostates;\u2014many who had been forced\nto receive baptism, but who, on the departure of their tyrant, had\ninsensibly relapsed to their ancient faith. Great was his wrath at the\ndiscovery, and he evinced it in a manner worthy of the age. Some of the\ndelinquents\u2014those, probably, who had any substance to fill his\ncoffers\u2014he banished for ever; the hands and feet of some he mutilated;\nothers he blinded; some he beheaded; others he suspended from lofty\ngibbets. In short, says the historian, \u201che did not spare one that\nrefused to serve God.\u201d These enormities were not to be borne. Even those\nwho had conscientiously embraced Christianity revolted at them; and, as\nmany had relations and friends whom no argument could induce to forsake\ntheir hereditary errors, a spirit of discontent, a smothered cry for\nvengeance, was soon heard in the lonely defiles of the mountains. Five\nupland kings,\u2014for the royal title had been left to them by Olaf, and, we\nmay infer, so also had their religion,\u2014Ruric of Raumarik, Gudred of the\nDales, Ring of Hedmark, with the kings of Hadaland and Ringarik, entered\ninto a secret conspiracy against his authority and life. _They_ had not\nbeen injured by him; but their friends and kindred had been his victims:\nand who could say how long they should be spared? It was, at length,\nagreed to fall upon him in his passage through Hedmark. Sending spies to\nwatch his motions, they hastened to a point on the road through which he\nhad to pass, and named its vicinity as the place where their own\nfollowers should join them. However safe this secret might have been, so\nlong as it was confined to the kings alone, when communicated to the\ninferior chiefs, whose co-operation was necessary, it could scarcely\nremain undivulged. Ketil, one of the chiefs whom Olaf had befriended,\nproceeded to meet the king, and acquaint him with the danger before him.\nAt a solitary house near the lake Miors, in the higher regions of\nRaumarik, Olaf was acquainted with the meditated deed. With about 400\nmen, he instantly departed for the villa where the five kings were, and\narrived there long before their followers. Approaching it at midnight,\nhe caused it to be surrounded by his little band, so as to prevent\ningress or egress; and, at the early dawn, all were in his power. Ruric,\nthe soul of the conspiracy, was doomed to the loss of both eyes; Gudred,\nto the loss of his tongue; the remaining three were exiled, on their\npromise never to revisit Norway. The inferior actors did not escape\npunishment; some being mutilated, others exiled; but the majority, who\nhad only acted in obedience to their chiefs, were pardoned. The domains\nwhich all had held since the days of Olaf Trygveson, were next invaded,\nand annexed to the crown. If this was a cruel, it was a politic step; it\nrendered Olaf not merely the nominal, but the only, king of Norway.[244]\n\n[Sidenote: 1019.]\n\nOf the two kings who were thus retained in the country, Olaf feared\nRuric only, whom he always took with him. Ruric had his servants, his\nregal apparel, and his high seat at the table. He was noted for his\nrevengeful disposition, and for his taciturnity. His domestics were so\nill-treated that they refused to remain with him, until Sweyn, one of\nhis own kindred, and formerly his vassal, was placed near him. It was\nnow his constant object to prevail on Sweyn to join him in the murder of\nOlaf, and the man at length consented. One evening, as the king was\ngoing to vespers, Sweyn took his station at the gate, with a sword\nconcealed beneath his cloak. But he had not courage to strike; and his\nagitation was such as to attract the notice of his intended victim. \u201cWhy\nthat troubled countenance, Sweyn? Hast thou a design on my life?\u201d\nThrowing away his sword, and letting his cloak fall behind him, the\ndomestic knelt, and could only say, \u201cTo God and thee, O king, I resign\nmyself!\u201d He was immediately fettered; but was soon released and exiled.\nThe only punishment inflicted on Ruric was, that his chair was taken\nfrom the royal table, and placed in another apartment; that his bed was\nremoved to a less honourable place, and two domestics ordered to attend\nhim night and day. After this event, he grew moody and capricious:\nsometimes he talked with amazing volubility, and, what was more\nimportant (for his talents were great), with wit or judgment, as the\nhumour predominated; at other times a sullen taciturnity for days\ntogether, rendered him as disagreeable as he had before been\ncaptivating. When in these moody fits, he was evidently devising the\nmeans of revenge, or at least of escape. One night, when Ruric had\nretired to rest, somewhat intoxicated, a man called the Little Finn, who\nhad been his domestic in his prosperous days, entered the apartment,\nwith a large vessel of mead. This he presented to all the domestics who\nslept in the same apartment as his master, and it was so potent that it\nimmediately sent them to sleep,\u2014the more easily as they were previously\nhalf drunk. In a short time, Ruric awoke his two guards, under the\npretext that he wanted to go outside the house. Rubbing their eyes, and\ngaping, they accompanied him, but were immediately slain by twelve men\nwhom the Little Finn had brought to the spot, and who hurried the king\non board a vessel which lay near the shore. One of the royal party,\nhaving occasion to visit the court-yard, found the two corpses yet\nbleeding and warm. In great alarm, he awoke Thord, the bearer of the\nroyal banner, and acquainted him with the tragedy which had just been\nperpetrated. Both wished to awake the king; but who durst presume to do\nso? It was at length agreed to ring the bells of the neighbouring\nchapel; and Olaf, thinking that the time of matins was come, suddenly\nrose, and was made acquainted with the disappearance of Ruric, and the\nmurder of the two guards. The household was soon in motion, and the\nfugitives pursued. Accompanied by thirty men, one of Olaf\u2019s captains\nleaped into a vessel, and stood out to sea. Dawn soon appeared, and the\nvessel which carried Ruric, and which was manned by an equal number of\nmen, was descried. The pursuit was vigorously maintained; when an arrow\nfrom the bow of the Little Finn, the best marksman of his age, found its\nway to the leader\u2019s heart. Still the pursuit was continued; until the\ncompanions of Ruric, apprehensive of being taken, drew close to the\nshore, and plunged into the neighbouring woods, leaving him to his fate.\nThe blind chief was conveyed back to Tunsberg, and consigned to closer\ncustody than before. But even now he indulged in the dream of revenge,\nand fortune seemed to furnish him with an opportunity of realising it.\nEaster was at hand, and Olaf, with his whole household, attended divine\nservice in the church. His seat was in a kind of crypt at the north end\nof the choir. Here, such was his thoughtlessness, he was accompanied by\nRuric, for whose conversion he was singularly anxious, and to whose\ncrimes he was unusually indulgent. On the conclusion of the service,\nwhen the congregation were departing, Ruric drew a concealed dagger, and\naimed it at the king. The blow entered his garments, but did not touch\nhis skin. Leaping from his seat, a second blow was aimed at him, but\nwithout effect; and in another moment, the ferocious chief was taken and\nfettered, and led out of the church. Olaf was exhorted to put the rebel\nto death; but he refused, and substituted banishment into the dreary\nwastes of Iceland. There, in a few years, Ruric paid the debt of\nnature.\u2014Strange that Olaf should pardon the murderer, yet execute the\npagan! That he should deem the most horrible of crimes less heinous than\nconscientious, however mistaken, belief! But such has always been the\npolicy of the Roman Catholic church.[245]\n\n[Sidenote: 1020 to 1021.]\n\nThe uplands were not the only parts of Norway in which idolatry was to\nbe found. While at Nidaros one winter, he learned that in Halogaland,\nNaumdal, and the interior of Drontheim, even the outward forms of\nChristianity were disregarded. To judge for himself in so important a\nmatter, Olaf, when spring arrived, proceeded into Naumdal, where he held\nassemblies of the people. He soon found that there were delinquents\nenough, and he resolved not to spare them. He afflicted them, says the\nhistorian, with grievous penalties, not sparing the powerful any more\nthan the humble; and he made all the inhabitants promise that in future\nthey would preserve the holy faith incorrupt. By passing through the\nmost sequestered districts, he discovered what would otherwise have\nescaped him. On his return to Nidaros, he learned that in the interior\nof the province, at the yule festival, the horns and cups were, as of\nyore, consecrated to the gods; that oxen were still sacrificed, and the\naltars sprinkled with their blood. In great anger, yet eager to examine\ninto the truth of the charge, Olaf sent for many of the farmers, to\ninterrogate them on the subject. But they asserted that their convivial\nmeetings had nothing to do with religion; that, like their fathers, they\nindulged over their cups, but were not so foolish as to be the slaves of\nheathenism. Though he was forced to dismiss them, he was not satisfied;\nand about the middle of winter he sent for them a second time, laying\nbefore them the information which he had subsequently received. Again\nwas the charge denied; and they were again dismissed, but not without\nthe assurance that Olaf would soon judge for himself. After the Easter\nfestivities, he accordingly repaired into that district; and sending for\nThorold, one of his vassals, questioned him closely as to the existence\nof idolatry in his neighbourhood. At first the man was unwilling to\nspeak; he dreaded the vengeance of the Pagans; but being assured of the\nroyal protection, he said that most of the people had not yet been\nbaptized; that those who had, had certainly reverted to the worship of\nThor and the other deities; that there were scarcely any Christians in\nheart; that sacrifices were still offered, at the ancient seasons; and\nthat at their meetings, which they asserted were purely convivial,\ntwelve men officiated as priests. Hearing these charges, for the truth\nof which he had no guarantee,\u2014nothing beyond the bare word of\nThorold,\u2014Olaf summoned his vassals, hastened to the place of\nentertainment, put the leaders to death, imprisoned others, and\nplundered all. But the most arbitrary and most unjust part of his\nconduct was that which authorised his followers to visit the houses of\nthe suspected, and kill or bind or plunder them at pleasure. That the\ninnocent, if they had any substance, or any enemies, suffered with the\nguilty, is undoubted. Of both, many escaped before their persecutors\narrived. Of the prisoners, some were put to death, some mutilated,\nothers fined, and many banished.[246]\n\n[Sidenote: 1021.]\n\nHaving left many priests, and caused many churches to be erected, in\nNaumdal, Olaf proceeded into the uplands, for the purpose of rooting out\nthe remains of paganism. Here, too, he found many who had not been\nbaptized,\u2014and many who, if they had been, were more than suspected of\nbeing addicted to the ancient religion. From the more considerable\npersons he demanded hostages, as pledges of their fidelity in future;\nthe rest were more summarily dealt with. But the force he had with him\nwas inadequate to the chastisement of all the delinquents,\u2014for whole\ndistricts had neglected the new religion. He therefore sent out the\narrow, and being joined by his vassals, issued an edict that those who\nrefused to embrace Christianity with all their hearts must either fight\nhim or see their lands devastated and themselves punished. As before,\nhypocrites enough hastened to him to profess obedience to his command,\nwhile the more conscientious, or the more indigent, fled into other\ndistricts. Hearing of these transactions, Godbrand of the Dales, a\npowerful man and a pagan, having sent forth the arrow, addressed his\nwarriors at some length:\u2014\u201cThere has arrived on the margin of the Loar a\nman called Olaf, commanding us to follow a religion different from that\nwhich we have hitherto followed, breaking all the images of our gods,\nand asserting that his God is greater and more powerful than they. To me\nit seems marvellous that the earth does not swallow him,\u2014that our gods\nsuffer him to live. Of this I am quite sure,\u2014that, if we take the statue\nof Thor from the temple near us, and bear him towards the enemy, he will\ndestroy their God, Olaf himself, and all his companions.\u201d These words\nwill show that there were parts of Norway which paid only a nominal\nobedience to the monarchs of Drontheim, which had preserved their stormy\nindependence from a remote age to the eleventh century. These were the\nmountainous parts, especially the dales, which were scarcely accessible\nto an army, where defence was more easy, where a great number of\ninvaders could not find subsistence. The speech of Godbrand was received\nby the hearers with acclamation. All cried that they would not forsake\ntheir gods; that if Olaf came into their peaceful valleys, he should not\nleave them alive. Seven hundred men were immediately placed under the\ncommand of Godbrand\u2019s son, and with them he proceeded to the entrance of\nthe Dales. His example was followed by other rustics; so that the\nopposition which awaited Olaf in these defiles threatened to be more\nformidable than any which he had yet encountered. On reaching the ground\nwhere they were encamped, he caused a trumpet to be sounded, and a\nherald to bear his command that they would instantly receive\nChristianity. They rejected it with contempt; but they were soon\ndefeated and compelled to flee. Some were taken prisoners, among whom\nwas the son of Godbrand. Olaf could sometimes act with policy as well as\nhumanity; and on this occasion he dismissed the humbled chief, bidding\nhim tell the father that the victor would soon be in the centre of the\ndales. Touched with this generosity, the young man besought his father\nnot to contend with Olaf. How, indeed, could he, with only 200 men\nremaining? By the old pagan he was sharply reproved for this\npusillanimity, and told that, for his sins, he had been accompanied by\nsome evil genius. The question of peace or war was again proposed to the\nThing, or assembly of the people; and they resolved that twelve men\nshould be sent to Olaf, to obtain the most favourable conditions that\ncould be granted, and to invite him to meet them. The two parties did\nmeet in those solitary wilds; and Olaf, amidst a heavy shower of rain,\nwhich continued the whole day, proceeded to explain the leading\ndoctrines of Christianity. His explanation, however, was not very clear\nto the assembled pagans. \u201cWe know nothing of the God thou preachest,\u201d\nsaid Godbrand, \u201cand how can we, since neither thou nor anybody else has\never seen him? But we have a god whom we can all see whenever we please.\nTo-day he does not appear on account of the rain; but if he should come\nto this meeting, you could not withstand his looks: he would frighten\nyou all,\u2014for he is a terrible god.\u201d The old man concluded by saying\nthat, if the Christian God should work a palpable miracle, he would then\nbelieve in his power. After the assembly had been dismissed, and Olaf,\nwith the son of Godbrand, had retired to his temporary abode, the former\nhad the curiosity to ask what was the construction of the image to which\nGodbrand had alluded. He was informed that it was a vast statue of Thor,\nwith crown and mallet and costly ornaments, and hollow within. Every\nday, four loaves of bread, and a corresponding portion of flesh, was\npresented to this idol. That night, says the historian, the king could\nnot sleep, such was his anxiety to convince the people of God\u2019s power\nand of Christ\u2019s divinity. The truth is that he was more anxious for his\nown safety; for the countrymen were resorting, in greater numbers than\nbefore, to the scene of action. To be secure in case of attack, he\ndespatched one of his chiefs for a reinforcement. The following day,\nThor was wheeled to the place where the assembly deliberated. As it\napproached, the people rose and saluted it. It was placed in the midst\nof the place,\u2014having the pagans on one side and the Christians on the\nother. Godbrand, rising, said,\u2014\u201cHere, king, is our god; but where is\nthine? He is, I suppose, in some obscure corner, with downcast looks.\nThou art not so confident as thou wast; no more is that horned[247] man\nwho sits beside thee, and is called your bishop. This our god, who rules\nall things, looks upon you with angry eyes; you are evidently afraid;\nyou dare not lift up your eyes. Wherefore, lay aside your vain\nsuperstition, and believe in the present god, who has your fate in his\nhands.\u201d Telling one of his attendants to have a huge club in readiness,\nOlaf arose, and replied to the speech of Godbrand. \u201cTheir god was blind\nand dumb, who could do nothing for himself or others; he could not even\nmove from his place without being carried.\u201d \u201cOur God,\u201d added he, \u201cis in\nthe east,\u201d alluding to the sun as the brightest emblem of the Deity.\nHearing this, the people unconsciously turned their looks in that\ndirection. This was the signal for the chief who held the mace. One\nponderous blow broke the deity to pieces; and from the fragments, as\nthey fell, crept serpents, rats, and spiders, in great numbers. Seeing\nthis, most of the people fled; but they were soon recalled by the king,\nwho wished to converse amicably with them. Having ridiculed their\nprostrate deity, he left them the usual option,\u2014of fighting him or\nembracing Christianity. Godbrand was the first to set the example. As\nhis god could not help or revenge itself, it had manifestly no power,\nand he would now believe in the Christians\u2019 God. He was followed by the\nrest; and, in a short time, a church arose in each valley. From this\nplace Olaf repaired into Hedmark, Raumarik, and Hadaland, where such\ndistricts as were not already Christians were speedily made so, in the\nRoman Catholic sense of the word,\u2014that is, the people were _baptized_.\nOf _instruction_ nobody thought; or, if they did, it was left to time.\nBut if Olaf had been as enlightened as he was ignorant, he could not,\nwith the few priests at his disposal, have effected much good. Until\nEngland and Germany sent more ecclesiastics, and some provision was made\nfor their education in Norway itself, little good was or could be\neffected.[248]\n\n[Sidenote: 1022 to 1023.]\n\nWhen Olaf found that the old religion maintained its sway among the\ninhabitants generally, he had always recourse to the same policy: he\ncollected troops, marched to the place, sent forth his staff, which was\nthe signal for the people to meet in the public Thing, just as the arrow\nwas the signal of war; and proposed the alternative of a battle or\nconversion. But it sometimes happened that the arrow had been sent out\nbefore his arrival, and that the people were assembled in numbers too\ngreat for him to attack with safety. Thus, in the diet of Valders, when\nthe proceedings were opened, and the king began to talk of conversion,\nhe was immediately enjoined silence; nor would this have been the worst\nresult, had he not been cunning enough to call upon the legal disputants\nto lay their cases before him for adjudication. In a moment the tumult\nwas hushed; each party who was or fancied himself aggrieved began to\ncomplain, and the king was occupied the whole of the day in giving his\ndecisions. The following days he laid waste their territory with fire\nand sword\u2014fine occupation for their monarch! To protect their property\nthe men assembled in arms; but as Olaf transferred his hostilities from\nplace to place, no large body could be collected together; or, if it\nwere, it soon dissolved itself. Hence he was able to assail them in\nsuccession, and force them to submission. The use which he made of his\nvictory was the same as on other occasions; he baptized, hung, maimed,\nbanished, fined, and returned to his capital in the belief that he had\ndone Heaven much service.[249]\n\n[Sidenote: 1026 to 1027.]\n\nBut from these conversions\u2014these persecutions\u2014Olaf was at length\ndiverted by the report that Canute the Great, king of England and\nDenmark, was preparing to assert his rights to Norway. Why so ambitious\na monarch as the Dane had so long delayed the vindication of his claim\nis not easily explained: England had been long tranquil, and from\nDenmark no commotion was to be dreaded. Whatever the motives of his\ninactivity, he never forgot that Norway had been subdued by his father.\nIn 1025 he asserted his claim through his ambassadors, who saw king Olaf\nat Tunsberg. Norway, he said, was his by the right of conquest, and that\nright he should not renounce; but, as he was averse to the shedding of\nblood, he would acknowledge Olaf as king if the latter would do him\nhomage, and pay him the same tribute as the jarls had paid. The reply of\nOlaf was, that he would pay no tribute, but defend Norway to the last\nextremity. Knowing that the cloud of invasion must burst upon him, he\nselected and obtained the alliance of Sweden. Olaf was no more; but\nOmund (or Emund) was not inattentive to the connection which bound the\nroyal families of the two kingdoms. To arrange the means of defence the\ntwo kings met in Gothland, and lost no time in preparing their vessels\nfor service. As Canute delayed the threatened expedition much longer\nthan was expected, they were unwilling to keep their armaments idle, and\nthey assumed the aggressive,\u2014Olaf choosing the Danish islands,\nespecially Zealand, as the scene of his depredations; Omund preferring\nthe nearer province of Scania. In a short time, however, they joined\ntheir fleets, and continued their ravages. The summer being past and no\nenemy appearing, Omund returned to Sweden,\u2014leaving, however, a portion\nof his fleet under the orders of Olaf. When Canute heard of these\nravages, he hastened his preparations. Another subject, too, made him\nanxious to revisit Denmark. The Danes were dissatisfied with the absence\nof their monarch. From the foundation of the state, never had they been\nwithout a present chief\u2014often with many\u2014to defend their coasts against\nthe piratical kings of the north. Now that Olaf and Omund were assailing\nthem with impunity, their complaints became the louder. To appease them,\nUlf, the brother-in-law of Canute, and the most powerful of the Danish\nnobles, had recourse to a bold imposture; he produced forged letters,\nwhich he alleged came from Canute, commanding the states to recognise\nhis son Harda Canute as king of Denmark. The motive which led him to\nthis step is obvious. The prince was only ten years of age, and the\nregency must necessarily rest with him. How he expected to escape the\nvengeance of his monarch is surprising: probably he looked for impunity\nto the unanimous voice of Denmark, and to the interference of Emma, the\nqueen, who had sanctioned the plot, and transmitted her husband\u2019s signet\nto him. Seeing the royal seal, the people immediately proclaimed the\nyoung prince. Both Ulf and Harda Canute soon repented of the step. Two\nkings were ravaging their coasts: Canute only could defend them; and his\narrival might soon be expected. To avert his anger, they supplicated the\nqueen to employ her influence in their behalf; and, after some entreaty,\nthe monarch agreed that if Harda Canute and the jarl would apply to him\nfor pardon, and lay the usurped crown at his feet, he would exact no\nvengeance for the past. Accordingly, both proceeded to England, knelt\nbefore him, and humbly entreated his forgiveness. The royal child was\nheartily, Ulf reluctantly pardoned,\u2014if that can be called pardon, when a\nsecret determination is made to destroy the object whenever a new\noccasion shall be presented. To extinguish the last spark of this\nrebellion, no less than to chastise the presumption of the two northern\nkings, he sailed for the north.[250]\n\n[Sidenote: 1027.]\n\nWhen Canute arrived in the Baltic, he found that Scania was ravaged by\nthe combined fleets of Norway and Sweden. In a naval battle off that\ncoast he had a hard struggle, but, in the end, had so far the advantage\nthat he compelled the enemy to retire. After this partial success, he\ndid not forget Ulf the jarl. Inviting that noble to a feast at Roskilda,\nthe latter endeavoured, by mirthful conversation, to dissipate the gloom\nwhich hung on the countenance of the monarch. The chessboard was\nintroduced, and, in the game which followed, the anger of Canute was\nstill further increased. The jarl took one of the king\u2019s knights; but\nthe king took it back again, and, in a hasty tone, bid Ulf not play in\nthat manner. One of this chief\u2019s worst characteristics was an irritable\ntemper, which he could not always control, even in the presence of his\nlord. He not only struck the table with much anger, but rose to leave\nthe apartment. \u201cCoward! dost thou flee?\u201d cried the insulted king. \u201cThou\nwouldst have fled farther,\u201d replied the jarl, \u201cbut for me. Was I a\ncoward in the late action at the mouth of the Helge, when I bore aid to\nthee, whom the Swedes were beating like a dog?\u201d These rash words sealed\nhis fate. Though he took refuge in the cathedral, the next morning the\nmonarch ordered him to be slain; and the deed was perpetrated in the\nchoir. For this action, the royal assassin had thenceforth no peace;\nremorse was his daily companion: to allay it he became a benefactor to\nthe church, and undertook a pilgrimage to Rome.[251]\n\n[Sidenote: 1027 to 1028.]\n\nWinter approaching, Omund of Sweden returned home with his armament. For\nsome time longer, Olaf remained to watch the motions of the Danes; but\nhe had some reason to know that a spirit of discontent prevailed among\nhis followers. When summoned to the council their opinions were divided,\nin cases where unanimity was most required. It was evident that some of\nthem were bought by Canute\u2019s gold, or by the hope of his favour. Many,\ntoo, of the Norwegians even\u2014the bravest of that nation\u2014were in the\narmament of the Dane. As so little dependence was, after Omund\u2019s\ndeparture, to be placed in his fleet, Olaf sent it to the Swedish ports,\nand returned, by way of West Gothland, into Vikia. At Sarfsburg he\ndetermined to pass the winter; and he endeavoured, by presents, to\nsecure the attachment of his chief nobles; but he found that his own\npartisans were fewer, and those of his enemy more numerous, than he had\nanticipated. In some districts he could not venture without a strong\narmed force. As he dared not venture into the north, and was unsafe in\nthe uplands, he proceeded to Tunsberg; from thence he despatched\nmessengers into all the provinces, to hasten the levy of ships and men.\nThose in his immediate neighbourhood obeyed his mandate, rather through\nfear than love; by the more distant provinces it was derided. That the\nhearts of the people were not with him was manifest; the great\npreparations of Canute, which resounded throughout the kingdom, were\neither beheld with indifference, or openly desired. To what causes must\nthis almost universal defection be ascribed? Undoubtedly to many. By the\nadmirers of this king\u2014that is, by the Roman Catholics\u2014it has been\ncontended, that the chief was the attachment of the Norwegians to their\nancient idolatry. That this was a great cause cannot be disputed; but we\nmay hesitate before we admit it as the principal. Olaf Trygveson was no\nless zealous than he; yet that monarch was in no danger from a foreign\ninvader, and, to the very last, was supported by a loyal people. The\ntruth is, Olaf the Saint had turned his friends into enemies, by the\ncapriciousness of his conduct. If his predecessor was a furious bigot,\nhe was, at least, beloved by his immediate attendants, and feared by his\npeople. To his domestics the saint was often austere, not very liberal,\nand frequently tyrannical. In proof of this, we may adduce the\nconfession of his greatest favourites, that, whatever the urgency of the\noccasion, they dared not awake him when asleep.[252] The man who thus\ninspired fear, even in his own palace, could not be loved. Then he was\nrigid, imprudently rigid, in the administration of justice. It was,\nindeed, better to err on this side than on that of laxity; still he\nshould have made some allowance for times and circumstances, and have\nbeen satisfied with pecuniary mulcts where he exacted mutilation or\ndeath. Add, that he had not the commanding talents of the son of Trygve;\nthat he was frequently fickle alike in his attachments and designs; that\nhe was oppressive in his exactions; that he violated the pledges which\nhe had given to respect the privileges of the native chiefs; and we have\nthe key to the universal disaffection of which he was soon to become the\nvictim.[253]\n\n[Sidenote: 1028 to 1029.]\n\nIn the spring of 1028, Canute, with a powerful armament, sailed for\nNorway. Disembarking on the coast of Agder, he commanded the people to\nassemble in a provincial Thing,\u2014a command which was promptly obeyed.\nHere he was acknowledged king of Norway, and no voice was raised against\nhis election. On his way to Nidaros,\u2014the modern Drontheim,\u2014wherever he\nlanded the people flocked in multitudes to receive him, and to pay him\nhomage. On reaching that city, where Olaf had so much resided, and where\nhe was so much detested, Canute was joyfully acknowledged the sole\nmonarch of the country. During all this time, Olaf remained at Tunsberg,\nin the vain expectation of succour from some portion of his subjects. At\nlength he sailed round the southern coast, rather as a spy than a\nmonarch; and he had the satisfaction of vanquishing one of his\nrebellious jarls: but this was no advantage, for it exasperated the\nkindred of the fallen chief, who forced him precipitately to retire.\nProceeding northward, he found that his own subjects (Canute had\nreturned to Denmark in the full confidence that the new conquest was\nsecure) were on the deep to intercept him. As their force was so much\nsuperior to his, he hastily disembarked, in the resolution to pass\noverland into Sweden. But the project was not without danger; every\nmoment the countrymen might rise and deliver him into the hands of his\nenemies. To escape this evil he traversed the most solitary paths, with\na celerity to which his fear gave additional wings. Continuing his way\ninto the dales and Hedmark, he had some reason to fear for his life.\nThough he had many kinsmen in the uplands, the majority of the people\nwere his enemies, and were ready to seize him. As yet, however, he had a\nconsiderable guard,\u2014about 300 men,\u2014and open force, in a rural, secluded\ndistrict, might be resisted. But when he perceived that his followers\nwere daily diminishing, he had no alternative but to flee into Sweden.\nHako the jarl, Canute\u2019s lieutenant for the whole of Norway, would soon\npursue him; and expedition was therefore doubly necessary. Accompanied\nby his queen, Astridda, and a few companions whose fidelity no\nmisfortunes could shake, he passed into Vermeland, and was thus free\nfrom the apprehension of pursuit. His expedition saved him; for had he\nremained any longer in Norway he must have fallen into the hands of the\njarl Hako, who was pursuing him with a force which he could not have\nresisted. There he passed the winter. When summer arrived, leaving his\nqueen and his daughter in Sweden, he proceeded to Holmgard in Gardarik,\nto solicit the aid of the king, or rather of Ingigerda the queen.[254]\n\n[Sidenote: 1029.]\n\nBy the king and queen of Holmgard the regal fugitive was received with\nmuch hospitality. Seeing the distraction of Norway, they endeavoured, by\nthe offer of a considerable province, to prevail on him to remain in the\ncountry. This would have been his wisest policy; but his heart yearned\nto the country of his birth, and he indulged the hope of being recalled\nby his subjects. His was not a strong mind; but in devotion\u2014or we should\nrather say in the external offices of his church\u2014he sought for\nconsolation. But ambition was his prevailing quality. Night and day he\nmeditated the means of returning; and, with a mind so impressed, we\ncannot be surprised that his dreams assumed the colour of his waking\nthoughts. A royal shade accosted him, exhorted him to return, and\npromised him success. Had Olaf been an enlightened man, or known much of\nthat religion which he so zealously professed, he would have understood\nthat a vision recommending all the horrors of civil war could not be\nfrom heaven. In about a year he left Gardarik, and sailed to Sweden.\nHere he learned that Hako the jarl was dead, and no successor yet\nnominated by Canute. This he thought a favourable opportunity for the\nvindication of his rights, and he proceeded to the Swedish court to\nsolicit aid. By Emund he was nobly received; but the information which\nreached him from Norway did not induce him to hasten his departure. When\nthe local governors heard of his arrival in Sweden, they sent forth the\narrow of war, in the determination of resisting his entrance. The spies\nwhom he sent into the country were unanimous in their report that the\npopular mind was indisposed to him,\u2014that he should abandon the intention\nof returning. These representations, however, were counterbalanced by\nhis hopes: in a few months after his arrival in Sweden, he procured 400\nmen from Emund, with permission to raise as many more as chose to join\nhim, and proceeded through the centre of Sweden towards Norway.[255]\n\n[Sidenote: 1030.]\n\nOn the confines of that kingdom, being joined by his kindred and their\nvassals, he found that his whole force amounted to 1200 men. With this\nforce, had there existed any attachment to his cause, he might have\ntriumphed; but as he proceeded through the northern districts of\nDrontheim, nobody joined him. In some places, indeed, he forced the\ninhabitants to assemble, and compelled those who were still pagan to\nreceive baptism. Thus the time which he should have turned to his\nadvantage he lost by his injudicious zeal, and thereby afforded his\nenemies leisure to organise the means of resistance. In another respect\nhe was less imprudent. Seeing the refusal of the countrymen to join him,\nhe was exhorted by his followers, of whom many were Swedish banditti, to\nburn their houses, to lay waste their fields, to cut them down wherever\nthey could be found. He had the humanity to refuse his sanction to this\natrocious proposal. He had, he said, one regal prerogative left,\u2014the\npower of forgiving. On entering the district of Sticklestadt, he\nperceived a large force drawn up to oppose him. Arranging his own\nfollowers in order of battle, he exhorted them to fight manfully for\ntheir religion, their king, their families. On the other, Sigurd, the\nbishop, who was in the army of Canute, no less strongly exhorted his\nparty to drive this invader from the kingdom. The character which the\nprelate drew of that monarch was not an enviable one. From his youth he\nhad been remarkable for his robberies and executions; he had exiled or\nput to death the noblest of his chiefs; he had acted with singular\ntreachery towards the upland kings,\u2014whose privileges, contrary to his\nsolemn pledges, he had violated, and whose persons he had afterwards\nmutilated; to all men, high or low, he had been tyrannical; he had lost\nall his friends; and he was now followed only by the enemies of Norway,\nor by professed bandits. This description was not overcharged, and it\nmay be admitted as a fair estimate of his character. The battle now\nengaged, and Olaf fought with much courage; but in the end he fell, and\nmost of his kinsmen with him.[256]\n\nThat the moral portrait of Olaf may be finished, and his claims to\nsanctity appreciated, we have yet to add that he had a concubine, and by\nher a bastard,\u2014Magnus the Good,\u2014four years after his marriage with\nAstridda. The circumstances connected with the birth of this prince are\nworthy of relation. Alfhilda, the royal concubine, was observed to be\npregnant; and everybody knew that this was the result of her intercourse\nwith Olaf. One night she was seized by the pains of labour, which were\nunusually severe; both her life and that of her infant were despaired of\nbefore it was brought into the world. Even after that event, so\nprecarious was its existence, that the priest who was present insisted\non its immediate baptism, and desired Sigvat the poet to awake the king\nfor the purpose of knowing what name was to be given it. Nothing can\nbetter illustrate the tyranny of Olaf than the fact that Sigvat,\nfavourite as he had long been, durst not fulfil this commission, at a\ntime when mother and child were apparently on the brink of the grave.\n\u201cWho dares awake him?\u201d replied Sigvat. \u201cBut the infant must be\nbaptized,\u201d rejoined the priest. \u201cI would rather incur the responsibility\nof naming the child,\u201d said the poet, \u201cthan of awaking the king.\u201d The\nname was Magnus. The next morning Olaf was in a great rage with Sigvat,\nwhom he summoned before him, and asked how he could have the presumption\nto impose a name on his royal son. \u201cWas it not better,\u201d replied the\npoet, \u201cto give the child to God rather than to the devil? Had he died\nwithout baptism, he must have been the devil\u2019s. For my boldness I can\nbut lose my head; and, if I do so, I must trust to God\u2019s mercy!\u201d \u201cBut\nwhy didst thou call the child Magnus?\u201d demanded Olaf: \u201cI have no kindred\nof that name.\u201d \u201cBecause it was the name of Charlemagne.\u201d \u201cThou art a\nfortunate man,\u201d said the king. \u201cNor is this strange, as fortune is the\ncompanion of wisdom. Yet it _is_ strange when the imprudent man turns\nhis very rashness into the source of advantage.\u201d In the sequel this\nMagnus became king of Norway.[257]\n\nAs nobody can be admitted into the calendar of saints without the\noperation of miracles, which the church requires as evidence of\nsanctity, we may be prepared for those of Olaf. That he healed incurable\ndiseases, restored sight to the blind, assisted the warriors who invoked\nhis aid, is asserted by the gravest Icelandic writers. One which we give\nin the Appendix, and which is by far the most imaginative of the\nnumber[258] may enable the reader to judge of what materials they\nconsist. The sanctity of Olaf rests on a foundation of equal solidity\nwith his miracles. Yet all the Roman Catholics in Europe are taught,\nfrom their infancy, to believe in both. How far his character, as given\nin the text, agrees with that which Alban Butler has drawn from that\nimmense heap of rubbish, the Acta Sanctorum, may also be seen in the\nAppendix.[259]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CHAP. IV.\n\n MARITIME EXPEDITIONS OF THE NORTHMEN DURING THE PAGAN TIMES.\n\n\n SECTION I.\n IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND IRELAND.\n\nEARLY EXPEDITIONS OF THE NORTHMEN TO THE COASTS OF THE ROMAN\n PROVINCES.\u2014CAUSES WHICH LED TO THEM.\u2014POVERTY OF THE SOIL, FAMINE,\n COURAGE.\u2014DOMESTIC PIRACY.\u2014TRIBES OF PIRATES.\u2014INVASION OF ENGLAND BY\n THE SAXONS AND DANES.\u2014AUTHORITY OF SAXO GRAMMATICUS.\u2014DEPREDATIONS IN\n ENGLAND PRIOR TO THE REIGN OF ATHELSTANE.\u2014VICTORY OF THAT\n MONARCH.\u2014RAVAGES OF THE NORTHMEN IN FRANCE.\u2014HASTINGS.\u2014ROLLO THE\n GREATEST OF THE SCANDINAVIAN PIRATES.\u2014HIS CONQUEST OF NORMANDY, OF\n WHICH HE WAS THE FIRST DUKE.\u2014THE NORTHMEN IN IRELAND.\u2014EARLY\n COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE IRISH AND THE NORTH OF EUROPE.\u2014FIRST RAVAGES\n OF THE NORTHMEN.\u2014THEIR ALARMING PROGRESS IN THAT ISLAND.\u2014VICTORY\n OBTAINED OVER THEM BY KING BRIAN.\u2014THEIR SUBSEQUENT DEPREDATIONS AND\n DECLINE.\n\n\nTHAT the expeditions of the Northmen were not confined to the shores of\nthe Baltic, long before the period which is usually assigned to them, is\nevident from the whole course of the later Roman history. During the\ndomination of the empire in Gaul and Britain, the local governors,\nwhatever their zeal, were unable to prevent the depredations which the\nmaritime inhabitants of Friesland and Jutland made on the more southern\ncoasts. The Saxons and Franks were among the earliest pirates of the\nnorth. In the third century we find them on the coast of Gaul; in the\nfourth and fifth, they were no less troublesome on that of Britain. Even\nfrom the time of C\u00e6sar, the tribes on the maritime coast, from the\nmouths of the Rhine to the Baltic Sea, were beginning to learn the\npiratical life. Their position was highly favourable to such pursuits.\nLocated in the vicinity of rivers, friths, and bays, where the soil is\nunproductive, their wants must have led them to regions where Nature was\nmore lavish of her gifts. This was more especially the case of the\npeople on the sandy shores of Friesland and the Baltic; and, in those\nregions, they become pirates, just as the Arabs become robbers,\u2014from\nnecessity. But other causes were also at work, and probably at a period\nstill earlier. Amidst the endless migrations of the barbarous tribes who\noccupied central and northern Europe, the impulse must have been\nextended to more distant shores. When, for instance, Asiatic Scythia\nsent forth her swarms to conquer and to colonise, the original\ninhabitants either bent their necks to the new yoke, or escaped from it\nby retiring farther to the west. Those of Scandinavia were compelled to\nlook for settlements in the south; and this object could only be\nobtained by means of ships. There is reason to believe that these\nemigrations, or maritime expeditions, came to our own islands before the\nbirth of Christ; this, indeed, is expressly affirmed by Bede, who\nmentions the first arrival of the Picts in these islands. They came, he\ninforms us, from Scythia; and, sailing round the southern coast of\nBritain, landed on that of Ireland, where the Scots were then settled.\nAs there was not room for both people, the new comers, in conformity\nwith the advice of the Scots, proceeded to the opposite shores, viz.,\nthose of Galloway and Argyle. This could not have been a solitary\nimmigration into these islands; the Scots themselves were a conquering\nand a new tribe when the Picts arrived. If this is true of the western,\nit is still more so of the eastern, coasts of England and Scotland,\nespecially of the latter. Danish expeditions, before our Saviour\u2019s\nbirth, are frequently mentioned by Saxo; and, absurd as his chronology\noften is, we think that there is some foundation for his statement,\ncorroborated as it is by that of Bede. But we must not lose sight of the\nfact, that the two writers are speaking of events in themselves\ndissimilar. Bede alludes to the emigration of whole tribes, Saxo to\npiratical expeditions.[260]\n\nThat at a barbarous period, when agriculture was little understood, and\nin barren countries, where the greatest industry was unavailing, there\nmust have been many seasons of famine, would be admitted, if it were not\nsupported by the positive testimony of history. When they arrived, the\nyounger and more vigorous class of the people naturally betook\nthemselves to more southern regions. He that once visited those regions,\nwould be in no hurry to return. The long duration of winter, the\nuncertainty of an early spring, the coldness and humidity of the\natmosphere, which often prevented the fruits of the earth from arriving\nat maturity, must have appeared to striking disadvantage when contrasted\nwith the greater regularity of seasons in the south. Nor was this the\nworst. The north was covered with endless forests, or with extensive\nfens, or with bleak mountains, where industry might labour in vain; in\nthe south, nature produced, with small labour, what was necessary for\nthe support of man. Since, in the former, wars between one tribe and\nanother were of so frequent occurrence, the condition of the people must\nhave been dreadful; they must have been often thinned by famine. Hence\nthe expatriations, whether voluntary or compulsory, of which we read so\nmuch in the ancient history of the north. One of the earliest on record\nis that which took place under Snio, a prince of Jutland. A sore famine\narriving, he published an edict, that, to economise the grain, none\nshould be used in the brewing of beer. But this law was ineffectual; the\npeople were too fond of indulging in the beverage to be thus forced; and\na national Thing was convoked to devise the means of public safety. That\na law was passed for the destruction of the old, the very young, and\nthose unable to carry arms, or to cultivate the ground, is affirmed by\nseveral writers; but the statement is incredible. There is greater truth\nin another,\u2014that banishment was substituted, and lots were cast to\ndetermine the individuals. Sweden furnishes us with a second instance,\nthough not so ancient as the preceding. We have already seen that,\nduring the pressure of a famine, Olaf Tr\u00e6telia was sacrificed to the\ngods.[261] The remedy, however, was unavailing; the scourge became still\ngreater, and the people removed into Norway. Two centuries after this\nperiod, one third of the Danes, says Peter Olaf, were thus driven into\nexile; and they selected Prussia, Carelia, Samogitia, and other shores\nof the Baltic, as their future abodes. This evil was more ancient than\nwe usually suppose. We find laws, permitting the exposure of infants\nwhere the parents were unable to support them, before Christianity was\nknown to the Franks, or Bavarians, or Swabians, or any other of the\nGermanic tribes. Where no temporary law was made for the expatriation of\na certain number of the people, the more adventurous would often retire\nof their own accord. The Scandinavians were no strangers to the sea;\nfrom their childhood they were accustomed to fish in their bays, gulfs,\nmouths of rivers, and other parts of their coasts. This exercise made\nthem familiar with the management of small vessels, and led them to\nregard the watery element as no less friendly than land. As they became\ninured to the business, and extended their voyages, they learned where\nparticular species of fish were most abundant. It is probable that at a\nvery early period all the coasts of the Baltic were thus visited.[262]\n\nThese circumstances combined will explain the superior dexterity of the\nScandinavians and other Baltic nations in the management of vessels. If\nwant of subsistence led them to the deep, whether through expatriation,\nor the hope of successful fishing, other causes made them pirates. It\nwas easier to take a vessel well laden with that useful commodity than\nto catch it; and when, in these practices, the crew of one hostile tribe\nmet the crew of another, a battle was sure to follow. By degrees,\nvessels for piracy alone were equipped; nor were the objects of plunder\nconfined to fish: the houses near the sea-coasts had other articles of\nfood, other commodities, which would enrich the pirate\u2019s home. The\ndangers attending a profession where the crews were necessarily armed,\nwere not likely to damp the spirit of adventure. Courage was a part of\nthe Northman\u2019s religion; death in battle was a good, since it introduced\nhim at once to the enjoyments of Odin\u2019s hall,\u2014enjoyments far exceeding\nwhatever this world could furnish. Piracy, then, was the necessary\nresult of the Scandinavian\u2019s position; and it must have been practised\nmore anciently than most historians admit. Tacitus tells us that in his\ntime the Suiones were formidable by their fleets. Navigation, indeed,\ncould not be in its infancy, when such colonies as that of the Picts\nundertook voyages so long and hazardous. It could not be in its infancy\nduring the third century, when Caransius was nominated by the Roman\nauthorities of Gaul to protect, at the head of a powerful fleet, the\ncoasts daily menaced by the barbarians.[263]\n\nThat domestic piracy\u2014viz., piracy confined to their own\ncoast\u2014distinguished the Scandinavians long before their expeditions into\nthe south, is undoubted. First, they had to struggle with the hostile\nraces who had preceded them in the north,\u2014whom on their arrival they had\nto dislodge, and who for so many ages preserved a vindictive remembrance\nof the outrage. The Goth and the Finn must have been enemies from the\nbeginning; and both must have been equally hostile to the Vends, a\nSlavonic tribe of Pomerania, much addicted to piracy. Position, no less\nthan race, made tribes hereditary enemies. The Frisons and the Saxons\nwere rivals, and therefore enemies; so were the Swedes and the Danes; so\nwere the Scanians and Norwegians. Their fleets watched the coasts of\neach other, ready to fight it whenever the opportunity was presented.\nThus, while the Norwegians were delighted in making predatory irruptions\ninto Quenaland, which was inhabited by Finns, the Vends were harassing\nthe Danes, and the Jutes the Saxons. In the fifth century\u2014how long\nbefore we have not individual instances to select\u2014the Vends were\npowerful enough to infuse terror into the whole of Denmark. Ismar, their\nking, ravaged Fionia, defeated king Sivar, and took prince Jarmeric\ncaptive. In the sixth century, a Slavonian fleet was defeated by\nHalfdan, king of Scania. Saxo is full of maritime contests between the\ntwo people; and though his chronology is wrong, the facts themselves are\nindisputable. In general, the Vends exceeded the Scandinavians in\nferocity. Both had great advantages for maritime adventures. Lithuania,\nEsthonia, and Livonia were as well provided with timber as Norway or\nSweden; and each country had a multitude of natural bays and creeks,\nwhere refuge could be sought when the tempest was severe, or when an\nenemy appeared too formidable to be resisted.[264]\n\nBut the coasts of the Roman provinces offered the greatest inducements\nto piracy. They were Saxons and Franks whom Caransius had chiefly to\noppose. In the following century, they were more formidable to the local\ngovernors. \u201cIn the beginning of the fourth century,\u201d says Turner, in his\nvaluable history of the Anglo-Saxons, \u201cthe Saxons were not alone on the\nocean; other states, both to the south and north of their own locality,\nwere moving in concert with them, whose nominal distinctions were lost\nin the Saxon name. This addition of strength multiplied the Saxon\nfleets, gave new terror to their hostility, and recruited their losses\nwith perpetual population. The league extended. Their depredations\nincreased their population, affluence, and celebrity; and these results\nextended their power. What emulation, policy, or rapacity may have first\nprompted, success and fear made more universal. They who would not have\nbeen tempted to unite, dreaded the wrath of those whose proffered\nalliance they refused: and at length most of the nations north of the\nRhine assumed the name, strengthened the association, and fought to\naugment the predominance of the Saxons. Towards the south, between the\nElbe and the Rhine, the Chauci seem to have led the way. The Frisii,\nurged by kindred passion and a convenient position, willingly followed.\nThe precise date of the accession of others is not so clear; but in some\nperiod of their power, the Chamavi, and at last the Batavi, the\nToxandri, and Morini, were in their alliance. North of their territorial\nposition the Cimbri, the Jutes, the Angles, and others not so\ndiscernible, added their numbers to the formidable league; which lasted\nuntil their expedition to Britain, and then began to dissolve. Without\ndetaining the reader by a detail of the modern chorography answering to\nthe position of these tribes, it may be sufficient to state, concisely,\nthat the progress and leagues of the Saxon states enlarged gradually\nfrom the Elbe to the Weser; from the Weser they reached to the Ems; and,\nstill augmenting, they diffused themselves to the Rhine with varying\nlatitude, as the Franks, many of whose allies they seduced, quitting\nthat region, and abandoning their exploits on the ocean, marched upon\nGaul. The extension of this new confederation was favoured by the change\nof policy and position adopted by the Franks. As this people stood\nforemost to the Roman vengeance, they experienced its effects. They had\nmany distressing wars to maintain, which in time compelled them to\nabandon maritime expeditions, and to consolidate their strength for\ntheir continental conflicts. Their ultimate successes made this warfare\nthe most popular among them. Hence, the nearer we approach the period of\nthe invasion of England, we find the Franks less and less united with\nthe Saxons on the ocean, and even wars begin to be frequent between the\nrival friends. As the former moved onward, to the conquests of Belgium\nand Gaul, the Saxons appear to have been the only nation, under whose\nname the vessels of piracy were navigated. Saxons were the enemies every\nwhere execrated, though under this title several nations fought. Some of\nthe tribes on the maritime coast, who had composed the league of the\nFranks, abandoned it, to share the easier warfare and ampler booty of\nthe Saxons. At last this successful people diffused themselves into the\ninterior of Germany so victoriously, that the vast tracts of country\nembraced by the Elbe, the Sala, and the Rhine, became subjected to their\npower, in addition to their ancient territory from the Elbe to the\nEyder. An old Belgic chronicle, in rhyme, makes Neder Sassen, Lower\nSaxony, to have been confined by the Scheid and the Meuse; but this is a\nlarger extent than others admit.\u201d[265]\n\nIn contemplating the piratical expeditions or maritime conquests of the\nNorthmen, during the pagan age, greater clearness will be attained by\nclassing them under the head of each country visited by those people.\n\n1. _Britain._ The Jutes and the Angles were the most prominent allies of\nthe Saxons. The league was joined by other people of the north,\u2014by\nadventurous Danes no less than Slavonic Pomeranians. At the head of\nmaritime forces so numerous and so powerful, the Saxons became dreadful\nscourges to Gaul and Britain. \u201cIn the latter country, their depredations\nwere rendered more secure by the frequent irruptions of the Picts and\nScots into the northern counties, who, like them, were joined in a\nconfederation. Had the Saxons or the Picts been left to their own\nefforts, the Roman governors would not have been so much pressed by the\npirates as they were from the fourth century downwards. In a similar\ncombination of hostilities, Nectaridus, the commander of the Saxon\nshore, was slain, and the general of the island, Fullo-faudes, perished\nin an ambush. Several officers were sent by the Roman emperors to\nsucceed them; but their exertions being inadequate to the necessity,\nTheodosius, an experienced and successful leader, was appointed by\nValentinian in their room. The Picts and the co-operating tribes\nattacked from the north, while the Saxons and their allies assaulted the\nmaritime coasts. Theodosius, from Richborough, marched towards London,\nand dividing his army into battalions, correspondent to the positions of\nthe enemies, he attacked the robbers encumbered with their plunder. The\nbands that were carrying away the manacled inhabitants and their cattle,\nhe destroyed, and regained the spoil; of this he distributed a small\nshare among his wearied soldiers; the residue he restored to its owners,\nand entered the city, wondering at its sudden deliverance, with the\nglories of an ovation. Lessoned by experience, and instructed by the\nconfessions of the captives and deserters, he combated this mixture of\nenemies, with well-combined artifice and unexpected attacks. To recall\nthose who in the confusion, from fear or from cowardice, had abandoned\ntheir ranks or their allegiance, he proclaimed an amnesty; and to\ncomplete the benefit he had begun, he prosecuted the war with vigour in\nthe north of Britain. He prevented, by judicious movements, the\nmeditated attack; and hence the Orkneys became the scene of his\ntriumphs. The Saxons, strong in their numbers and intrepidity, sustained\nseveral naval encounters before they yielded to his genius. They ceased\nat last to molest the tranquillity of Britain; and the addition of a\ndeserved surname, Saxonicus, proclaimed the service of Theodosius. He\nadded the province of Valentia to Roman Britain, restored the deserted\ngarrisons, and coerced the unruly borderers by judicious stations, and a\nvigilant defence. The Saxon confederation might be defeated, but was not\nsubdued. Such was its power, that they were now bold enough to defy the\nRoman armies by land, and invaded the regions on the Rhine with a\nformidable force. The imperial general was unable to repulse them; a\nreinforcement encouraged him. The Saxons declined a battle, and sued for\nan amicable accommodation. It was granted. A number of the youth fit for\nwar were given to the Romans to augment their armies; the rest were to\nretire unmolested. The Romans were not ashamed to confess their dread of\nthe invaders, by a perfidious violation of the treaty. They attacked the\nretreating Saxons from an ambush; and, after a brave resistance, the\nunguarded barbarians were slain or made prisoners. It is to the disgrace\nof literature that the national historian of the day has presumed, while\nhe records, to apologise for the ignominious fraud. Such an action might\ndishonourably gain a temporary advantage, but it could only exasperate\nthe Saxon nation. The loss was soon repaired in the natural progress of\npopulation, and before many years elapsed, they renewed their\ndepredations, and defeated Maximus. At the close of the fourth century\nthey exercised the activity and resources of Stilicho. The unequal\nstruggle is commemorated by the encomiastical poet, whose genius gilds,\nwith a departing ray, the darkening hemisphere of Rome. After his death\nthe Saxons commenced new irruptions. They supported the Armorici in\ntheir rebellion, awed the Gothic Euric, began to war with the Franks,\nand, extending the theatre of their spoil, made Belgium, Gaul, Italy,\nand Germany tremble at their presence.\u201d It must be remembered that under\nthe word Saxons many tribes were included,\u2014those of Denmark as well as\nthose of Holstein.[266]\n\n[Sidenote: 408.]\n\nThe settlement of the Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes\u2014all comprehended\nwithin the geographical limits of Denmark\u2014in Great Britain, has been\nrecorded in two historical volumes of the Cyclop\u00e6dia.[267] Thus, in 446,\nHengest laid the foundation of the kingdom of Kent, which, under\neighteen successive kings, subsisted to the close of the eighth century.\nIn 477, Ella, another Saxon chief, called a smaller one, that of Sussex,\ninto existence. Of this state the names of the two first princes only\nhave descended to posterity. In 519, the more powerful kingdom of Wessex\nwas founded by Cerdic, and its princes were destined to unite the other\nstates into one monarchy within three centuries after its establishment.\nBy Ida, the kingdom of Bernicia was founded in 547; By Ella, that of\nDeira, in 560. These states, being united in 644, formed the important\nkingdom of Northumberland, which subsisted, with some interruptions,\nuntil it was finally annexed, by Athelstane, to the Saxon monarchy.\nMercia, founded, in 586, by Crida; East Anglia, by Uffa; and Essex, by\nEswin; were all ultimately absorbed in the rising sphere of Wessex. All\nthese royal chiefs boasted of their descent from Odin; all were of\nScandinavian origin; all spoke the same language, and followed the same\npiratical profession. That hordes of obscure adventurers\u2014mere sea\nkings\u2014should thus subdue a great country, has been matter of surprise to\nmany writers. But we should remember that, at the period in question,\nEngland was not a monarchy,\u2014that, like the north, it was subject to many\nkings, and that the conquest occupied a century and a half.[268]\n\nThat during this period the Danes, if not the Norwegians, were brought\ninto relation with the kings of Scotland, is asserted by Saxo. Frode\nIII., according to that historian, gave his daughter Ulvilda in marriage\nto Thubar king of the Scots. Frode reigned in the fourth century, not,\nas Saxo assures us, early in the first. Whether Hamlet of Jutland, and\nother Danish princes, were really in Scotland, cannot be proved; but\nthere is nothing improbable in the relation. That country, like England\nand the north, was divided among many chiefs, who assumed the regal\ntitle; and that their domains should escape the depredations which so\nafflicted the southern part of the island, is not to be credited. Beyond\nall doubt, Scotland was visited by piratical bands as early, at least,\nas England. Nor must we forget that the Saxon kingdom of Bernicia\ncomprehended, besides the north of England from the Tees to the Tweed,\nall the east and centre of Scotland from the latter river to the Frith\nof Forth. At what period the inhabitants north of that Frith were first\nmolested by the Danes and Norwegians would be a vain inquiry; we may\nonly infer that it was much earlier than is generally supposed.[269]\n\nAs the inhabitants of the Danish islands and of Norway had no share in\nthe spoils of England, they were not bound to respect the coasts after\ntheir kindred had established the kingdoms of the polyarchy. Their\nravages, indeed, were experienced by the English chiefs before\nNorthumbria became a kingdom. Offa of Mercia, whose domains were invaded\nby them, had the valour to defeat, and the generosity to pardon, his\nfoes. It has, however, been contended that we find no satisfactory\naccount of the Danes being here in such numbers as to command the notice\nof history, before the eighth century. In this case, the authority of\nSaxo is rejected as unworthy of credit. \u201cSome documents for his history\nSaxo may have derived from poems of the ancient Scalds, from\ninscriptions on stones and rocks, from an inspection (yet how\nimperfect!) of the Icelandic authors, and from the narrations of his\nfriend. We may even grant to him, that such men as he enumerates, such\nactions as he so eloquently describes, and such poems as he so diffusely\ntranslates, once appeared; but the chronology and succession into which\nhe arranges them are unquestionably false. The boasted fountains of the\nhistory of the ancient Scandinavians, their memorial stones and funeral\nrun\u00e6, the inscribed rings of their shields, the woven figures of their\ntapestry, their storied walls, their lettered seats and beds, their\nnarrative wood, their re-collected poetry, and their inherited\ntraditions, may have given to history the names of many warriors, and\nhave transmitted to posterity the fame of many battles: but no dates\naccompanied the memorials; even the geography of the incidents was very\nrarely noted. Hence, however numerous may have been the preserved\nmemoranda, their arrangement and appropriation were left to the mercy of\nliterary fancy or of national conceit. Saxo unfortunately emulated the\nfame of Livy, instead of becoming the Pausanias of Scandinavia; and\ninstead of patiently compiling and recording his materials in the humble\nstyle or form in which he found them, which would have been an\ninvaluable present to us, he has shaped them into a most confused,\nunwarranted, and fabulous chronology. The whole of his first eight\nbooks, all his history anteceding Ragnar Lodbrog, can as little claim\nthe attention of the historian, as the British, history of Jeffry, or\nthe Swedish history of Johannes Magnus. It is indeed superfluous, if we\nrecollect the Roman history, to argue against a work which pretends to\ngive to Denmark a throned existence, a regular government, and a tissue\nof orderly and splendid history for twenty-four royal accessions before\nthe birth of Christ. Saxo, on whose history many others were formerly\nbuilt, refers to the Icelandic writers; but this only increases our\ndepreciation of his narratives, for they are at irreconcileable variance\nwith all his history before the ninth century.\u201d[270] Yet we are far from\nsubscribing, in its most rigorous sense, to this unfavourable character.\nSaxo\u2019s chronology we condemn as much as any writer; but we do not think\nthat his facts, however distorted by tradition, are not, for the most\npart, founded in truth. That the authority of Snorro is superior to\nSaxo\u2019s we readily admit,\u2014superior, we mean, as to chronology; for that\nthe latter must have been better acquainted with the actions of the\nDanes themselves few will be so rash as to deny. Yet even Snorro assures\nus that Ivar Vidfadme, a prince of the seventh century, conquered a\nfifth part of England.[271] By this expression Northumbria is usually\nunderstood; and there is nothing improbable in the opinion that the\nkingdom of Bernicia\u2014that portion of Northumbria north of the Tweed\u2014was\noverrun by this prince.[272]\n\n[Sidenote: 793 to 868.]\n\nThe alleged depredations of Ragnar Lodbrog in Northumbria, to which we\nhave slightly alluded in the first chapter of this volume[273] have in\nthem so much of the romantic that we can place little dependence on\nthem. There is but one circumstance that can be made to lend them even\nthe appearance of probability. About the period of Ragnar\u2019s death, a\nformidable body of Danes descended on the island of Lindisfarne,\nplundered the church which contained the shrine of St. Cuthbert,\nmassacred the ecclesiastics, defiled the altars, and consumed the\nbuilding by fire. The lay inhabitants of the island were not more\nfortunate; the men were massacred, the women were forced, the children\ntossed on the points of the Danish lances. In the following year (794)\nthe monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow were visited with the same fate.\nDuring full seventy years,\u2014that is, to the period when the weak brother\nof Alfred allowed the centre of England to be overrun, and when Alfred\nhimself, by his flight, left the whole kingdom to their mercy,\u2014their\ndepredations on the eastern coast, from the Frith of Forth to the\nHumber, were, however desultory, however interrupted, most harassing and\nmost destructive. The Saxon kings of Northumbria, we are told, were too\nmuch occupied in private feuds to have either time or means for\ndefending the country against the invaders,\u2014if, indeed, there were any\nSaxon kings at this time,\u2014if the Danes were not the actual sovereigns of\nthe province. It is certain that all the historians of Denmark (who are\nconfirmed by the Icelandic chronicles) speak of such a dynasty, and\nassure us that the sons of Ragnar Lodbrog were its kings. We see no\nreason to dispute this statement. There is, however, a sad confusion in\nthe chronology. If Ragnar died in 794, and his sons avenged him in\nlittle more than a year afterwards, they could not be at the head of the\narmament which, in 866, appeared off the coast. Probably they and their\nsuccessors reigned from the close of the eighth to the tenth century,\nand the confederated armament of 866 was one on a larger scale, and\nheaded by other leaders. What confirms this inference is the fact that\nat this time Harald Harfager was subduing the petty kings of Norway; and\nthat many of them, preferring freedom to the despotism of a master, left\nthe country with their bravest warriors. During this period, all the\nchurches and monasteries of the province were destroyed. In 828, the\nDanish power in Northumberland must have been great, or they would not\nhave been powerful, enough to defeat Egbert, the conqueror of so many\nSaxon kingdoms, and the founder of the English monarchy. After the year\n866, when, as we believe, there were many Norwegians in England, new\natrocities were committed,\u2014atrocities which threw all former ones into\nthe shade. The monastery of Tynemouth, which had been restored, was soon\nin flames; that of Lindisfarne shared the same fate; yet the monks were\nso fortunate as to escape with the relics of St. Cuthbert. From the\nsmoking ruins of Lindisfarne, Halfdan, one of the chiefs, hastened to\nthe monastery of Coldingham. \u201cAccording to Matthew of Westminster and\nsucceeding writers, the nuns of Coldingham nobly redeemed the reputation\nof their establishment from the stain which had covered it in the time\nof St. Cuthbert. The monastery was now, as in the former case, governed\nby an abbess, named Ebba; who, if the historian be credible, deserves\nthe honours of canonisation somewhat better than her predecessor.\nHearing that it was the custom of the barbarians first to violate, and\nthen to destroy, virgins consecrated to God, she assembled the\nsister-hood in the chapter house, and exhorted them to save their\nchastity at the expense of their beauty. With a knife she dreadfully\ndisfigured her countenance; and her example was followed on the spot by\nall the nuns. The Danes soon forced their gates; but turned with horror\nfrom their embraces, and quickly consumed both them and their nunnery.\nThough the monk of Westminster lived so long after the time, he might\nfollow some better guide than tradition\u2014some record now lost; nor is the\nfact itself either improbable or unparalleled. The same noble conduct is\nrelated of the nuns of Ecija, during the Mohammedan invasion of Spain.\nDuring seven years similar depredations followed throughout most of\nNorthumbria. Wherever the Danes penetrated, ecclesiastics were\nmassacred, churches and monasteries were levelled with the ground; the\nwhole country, in fact, became a Danish province, governed by princes of\nthe royal house of that kingdom. Great as was the evil produced by these\nmerciless pagans; though the monks, as an order, were almost wholly\nannihilated, and civilisation was destroyed, yet the invasion itself led\nto the conversion of the invaders. Resolved to remain in the country\nwhich they had conquered, to cultivate the lands which they had divided\namong themselves, they were compelled to enter into relations of amity\nwith the inhabitants, from whose example, or by whose persuasion, they\nsoon embraced the faith of Christ. That the Danish princes were soon no\nless devout than their Saxon brothers appears from the splendid donation\nof all the country between the Wear and the Tyne, made by Guthred to the\ncathedral of St. Cuthbert, now transferred to Chester-le-Street.\u201d Out of\nevil comes good,\u2014a proof of God\u2019s particular providence.[274]\n\n[Sidenote: 868 to 876.]\n\nBut the atrocities of the Northmen at this period are most graphically\ndescribed by the abbot Ingulf. After the destruction of Bardney, the\npirates hastened to the monastery of Croyland. \u201cIt was midnight: the\nabbot Theodore and his monks had risen to matins when the enemy drew\nnear: the younger brethren the abbot immediately commanded to seek a\nplace of refuge, with their papers, relics, and jewels; while he\nhimself, accompanied by the more aged monks, and some children, awaited\nwhatever fate might be reserved for them. Perhaps he hoped that the grey\nlocks of some, and the infancy of others, might awaken pity even in\npagans. But they forgot, says Ingulf, the old verse,\n\n \u201cNulla fides pictasque viris qui castra sequuntur.\u201d\n\nBut he was prepared for any event,\u2014to live or fall with his\nestablishment. Having taken an affectionate leave of about thirty junior\nmonks, he and his devoted companions returned to the church, finished\nthe matins, and celebrated mass. They had just communicated when the\npagans arrived, forced the gates, and rushed into the cloisters. The\nsilence which they found might have induced them to believe the\nmonastery was utterly forsaken, had not the distant chaunting of the\nmonks fallen on their ears. They hastened to the church and burst into\nthe choir; one chieftain instantly seized the abbot by the hair with his\nleft hand, while the right severed the head from the body. The\nofficiating clergy shared the same fate at nearly the same moment: the\nchildren and the aged monks were tortured for the purpose of discovering\nwhither the treasures had been conveyed; but as the former were unable,\nand the latter unwilling, to disclose the secret, their sufferings were\nsoon terminated by death. Of all these helpless inmates, one only was\nsaved,\u2014a boy ten years old, whose innocence made an impression on one of\nthe chieftains. He had fled to the refectory with the sub-prior, whom he\nsaw murdered, and whose fate he begged to share; but the chieftain tore\nthe cowl from his head, threw a Danish cloak over him, and commanded him\nto follow him. The three succeeding days were passed in plunder,\u2014in\nminutely examining every corner or crevice where treasure might be\nburied. The shrine of St. Guthlake was overthrown; the marble monuments\naround it, containing the mortal remains of saints and benefactors to\nthe house, were opened, in search of rings, chalices, and other precious\neffects which the Saxons entombed with the bodies of the great; the\nbones were thrown on the ground, and the sculpture defaced. On the\nfourth day the extensive pile was on fire. Medeshamstede, or\nPeterborough, also an abbey of royal foundation, was next visited. Its\nnoble library, its numerous treasures, which there had not been time to\nremove, its magnificent architecture, rendered it one of the proudest\nmonastic establishments in the island. Within its gates many of the\nneighbouring inhabitants had placed their most valuable effects, and\nthither many had fled for protection. For a while the edifice made a\nnoble stand; but a stone thrown by an unknown hand having mortally\nwounded the brother of Ubbo, the Danish king, the barbarian and his\nfollowers made a more desperate attack, forced the gates, and commenced\nthe massacre. With his own hand Ubbo sacrificed the hoary abbot and\neighty-three monks to the shade of his brother; while the strangers fell\nunder the hands of his followers. The booty was immense; but the value\nwas trifling compared with that of the MS. treasures which were consumed\nwith the monastery. The conflagration continued a fortnight. While it\nraged, the monks who had fled from Croyland returned to their former\nabode, sat themselves down amidst the smoking ruins, and wept. So\novercome were they by the melancholy sight, that some time elapsed\nbefore they proceeded to bury the scorched bodies of their brethren.\nHaving performed this sad office, and elected another abbot, they were\nsolicited to perform the last duties to the monks of Medeshamstede. With\nsorrowful hearts they deposited the bones of the abbot and the\neighty-three monks in the same grave, over which Godric, their superior,\nraised a monument, engraven with the history of this sad tragedy. From\nMedeshamstede the pirates, exulting in their success, hastened to the\nIsle of Ely, to inflict the same fate on the flourishing convent which\nhad been founded by the piety of St. Edilthryda. Its cloisters were\ninhabited by the noblest ladies of England. Some fled; but the greater\nnumber preferred the death which they knew awaited them. The place was\ntaken; the nuns were ravished and slaughtered; and the holy pile was\nreduced to ashes. That such atrocities could be committed would be\nincredible were they not too well attested to admit of scepticism.[275]\n\n[Sidenote: 870 to 924.]\n\nThe struggles of Alfred with the ferocious Northmen have been detailed\nin more than one volume connected with the present.[276] During this\nperiod, there was a Danish monarchy in Northumbria, which, as we have\nalready observed, had been probably founded by the sons of Ragnar\nLodbrog. That monarchy subsisted in the reign of Edmund, the son of\nAlfred; and, it was in full vigour on the accession of Athelstane. So\npowerful, indeed, was Sigtrug, king of that province, that Athelstane,\nto insure his friendship, conferred on him the hand of his sister. The\ncondition of this marriage was that Sigtrug should embrace Christianity,\nand become the vassal of Athelstane. In five years, however, the\nrestless barbarian put away his wife, and relapsed into idolatry. To\npunish the insult, Athelstane invaded Northumbria; but Sigtrug died\nbefore his arrival; and the two sons of Sigtrug, Anlaf and Godfrey,\nfled,\u2014the former into Ireland, the latter into Scotland; and Athelstane\nannexed Northumbria to his English crown.[277]\n\n[Sidenote: 924 to 934.]\n\nThat Athelstane should so immediately raise the power of the Saxon\nkingdom, as not only to defeat the Danes and Northmen, but to subjugate\na province which had always been hostile to it, shows what may be\neffected by the energies of a single mind. Not satisfied with expelling\nthe enemy from Northumbria, he pursued them into Scotland, far north of\nthe boundary which had hitherto arrested the progress of English\nvictory: his fleets penetrated into Caithness, ravaging the coast as\nthey proceeded. And he is believed, at this period, to have located a\nmultitude of English colonists in the southern provinces of Scotland,\nand thus to have laid the foundation of the present lowland population.\nBut Northumbria was too recent a conquest, and too dissimilar from the\nrest of the monarchy, to remain secure. The chiefs of Denmark and\nNorway, who had so long regarded England as a kind of inheritance, armed\nin greater numbers than before, to check the rising power of Athelstane.\nThey were joined by all the noted sea kings of the age; by many of the\njarls or kings who had settlements in Ireland and Scotland; by the king\nof the Scots, and by several Welsh chiefs. Never, we are told, had so\nformidable an armament menaced England as that which, in 934, entered\nthe Humber. It consisted of 615 ships, headed by Anlaf, whom Constantine\nof Scotland had induced to make the attempt. Anlaf, who, on his father\u2019s\ndeath, had obtained for himself a principality in Ireland, had a\nreputation for skill and valour equalled by none of his countrymen. Of\nthe two thanes whom Athelstane had placed over Northumbria, one was\ndefeated and slain; the other, after the battle, fled to acquaint the\nEnglish monarch with the defeat. He prepared for the contest with\ncourage; and, to gain time until his forces were collected, entered into\nnegotiations. When his army was completed, he hastened into the north,\nand was in presence of the pirates before they knew he had left the\nSaxon provinces. If any faith is to be placed in either Saxon or\nNorwegian writers, Anlaf, assuming the disguise of a harper, penetrated\nto the tent of Athelstane, and entertained that monarch with his art.\nHis object, we are told, was to ascertain the position of the tent\nprevious to a nocturnal attack, which had been determined by the\nconfederate chiefs. But this incident, no less than the recognition of\nAnlaf by one of the Saxon outposts, is too romantic to be easily\ncredited. What appears to be certain is, that Athelstane removed his\ntent to another part of the field; and that the bishop of Sherburn, who\nencamped in the place which he had abandoned, was slain before the\nmorning\u2019s dawn. In the night there was a skirmish, which caused much\neffusion of blood, and was advantageous to neither party. When day\narrived, the celebrated battle of Brunanburgh was fought. That town has\nescaped the researches of antiquaries; and all that can be conjectured\nis, that it was in some place north of the Humber. That the struggle was\na desperate one might be inferred alike from the character of the\ncombatants, and from the magnitude of the interests involved. Victory\ndeclared for Athelstane; Constantine of Scotland was nearly taken, and\nhis son killed; the Cumbrians and Britons and Irish were destroyed, or\nput to flight, and the bravest warriors of the north remained on the\nfield. This splendid advantage raised England in the esteem of all\nEurope, and impressed the Northmen with a salutary terror.[278]\n\n[Sidenote: 934.]\n\nThe intercourse between Athelstane and Eric of the Bloody Axe we have\nbefore mentioned.[279] We have also related in what manner Sweyn of\nDenmark[280] defeated Ethelred II., and eventually became king of\nEngland. The history of that monarch brings down that of the\nScandinavian expeditions to the year 1014.\n\n[Sidenote: 400 to 840.]\n\n2. _France._ The devastations of the Saxons and the Jutes on the coasts\nof Gaul commenced as early as those on the coast of Britain. We read of\nthem in the third and every succeeding century, until France was too\nstrong to be assailed with impunity,\u2014until piracy was extinguished in\nthe north of Europe. In the fifth century, the pirates besieged Orleans,\nand formed many settlements on the western coast. About the middle of\nthe sixth, Hamlet of Jutland is said to have fought the Franks in\nperson, and to have been defeated. The period, however, of Hamlet, is\npurely conjectural; and his descent on the coast is equally so. But that\nthe Normans were there is affirmed by the contemporary Gregory of Tours,\nwho describes their ravages with much interest. Under the Carlovingians,\nthe piratical armaments were more powerful than at any preceding time.\nIn 795, the Danes ravaged Friesland; from 800, the coasts of Flanders\nand France were infested; nor could the genius and vast resources of\nCharlemagne punish their audacity. On witnessing their fugitive\ndepredations, he is said to have predicted the trouble which they would\ncause his successors. Such a prediction required no supernatural\ndiscernment; but it proves that the monarch had formed a correct\nestimate of northern piracy. For the greater part of a century, however,\nthey did not appear in any overwhelming numbers on the French coast. The\nforces of the Northmen were too much scattered over the deep, in\nEngland, Ireland, the Orkneys, and the Baltic, to admit of any\nconsiderable concentration at a given point. Their efforts, however\ndestructive, were desultory, and might have been easily repelled, had\nthere been any wisdom or any vigour in the government. But the sons of\nthe emperor Louis were too eager to destroy each other, to have time for\nthe chastisement of obscure pirates; and every year added to the\nseverity of the scourge. In 840, Rouen was burnt; and many great\nmonasteries of that province, defended as they were by numerous vassals,\nshared the same fate. The banks of two rivers\u2014the Seine and the\nLoire\u2014were ravaged from their mouths to the interior of France. Amboise\nwas next burnt, and Tours was besieged; but St. Martin saved his\ncity.[281]\n\n[Sidenote: 840.]\n\nThe man whose ravages were to eclipse all former pirates was Hastings,\nwho headed the expedition into Touraine. Of him we have no mention in\nthe annals of the north; our only information respecting him is from the\nFrench writers,\u2014Dudo of St. Quentin, William of Jumvieges, William of\nPoictiers, Orderic Vital, Robert Wace, and Benedict of St. Maur. In this\nabsence of Scandinavian authority, the critics of the north have\nendeavoured to identify him with such of the Swedish, Danish, or\nNorwegian chiefs, as bore a name kindred with his own. But the account\nof Wace, however inaccurate in its details, is the only one that can be\nfollowed. There was a king of Denmark, says this ecclesiastic, Lotroc,\nan old man, who had a son called Biorn, surnamed Ironside, from his\ndefensive armour. Finding that his kingdom was too populous, he revived\nan ancient law, which forced all the sons of a family except one, to\nseek their fortunes on the deep. A considerable number of vessels being\nprepared, Biorn was placed over the fleet; but, as his years were yet\ntender, he was subjected to the councils of Hadding, or Hasting, a\nveteran chief of the pirates. Who was this king? Modern writers\nunanimously affirm that he was the celebrated Ragnar Lodbrog. In this\ncase, Biorn could be no other than Biorn Ironside, who, on the death of\nhis father in 794, ascended the throne of the Swedes. Yet how will this\nchronology agree with the facts? The expedition of Hastings must be\nreferred to the middle of the ninth century; when, if any dependence is\nto be placed on the critical historians of the north, Biorn had been\ndead forty years. But wherever the name of this Lodbrog occurs, there is\nthe same chronological confusion; nor can we be surprised that Suhm\nmakes two heroes of that name,\u2014one of the eighth, the other of the ninth\ncentury.[282]\n\n[Sidenote: 842 to 844.]\n\nWhen Hastings arrived off the coast, he divided his fleet into two\nsquadrons. One ascended the Somme, set fire to the towns which lay on\nits banks, and murdered the inhabitants. The other proceeded to the\nmouth of the Loire, and committed the same depredations on its banks.\nNantes was taken, and all who had sought refuge in the cathedral were\nput to death. Churches, monasteries, towns, hamlets,\u2014everything which\nlay in the passage of the invaders, was destroyed. Proceeding to the\nsouth, they ravaged the coasts of Galicia, but were defeated by the king\nof Leon. This check forced them from Spain; but they spread their wild\nhordes over the south of France, from Thoulouse to the Pyrenees. As they\nhad established a kind of wooden fortress on the Loire, they now erected\none on the Garonne. But they were not satisfied with the failure of\ntheir arms against Spain; they were determined, by future successes, to\nblot out the memory of this disgrace; and, with a larger fleet, they\nreturned to that peninsula. Lisbon, then an inconsiderable town, was\nplundered; passing to the south and east, the armament ascended the\nGuadalquivir, and assailed the important city of Seville, then in the\npower of the Mohammedans. Strange was the chance which thus brought the\nrobbers of Scandinavia and those of the Arabian deserts into collision\nwith each other. But the followers of Odin had the advantage over those\nof Mohammed; doubtless because the latter were few in number, and\nunprepared for the attack. From this city they made some predatory\nexcursions into the neighbouring country; but the Arabs, by surprising a\npart of their fleet, counter-balanced the advantage they had just\ngained.[283]\n\n[Sidenote: 845 to 859.]\n\nWhether Hastings was present in the expedition to Spain may be doubted.\nThere were several chiefs of the pirates, from all parts of Scandinavia;\nand while one was laying waste the maritime coasts of the South, others\nwere equally active on those of France. Hastings, however, was at the\nhead of the party which, proceeding by way of Fescamp and Rouen,\nextended its ravages over most of Neustria and Bretagne, and even to the\ngates of Paris. All France was in consternation. The monks especially\nwere surprised that their holy relics had no power to arrest the\nprogress of the barbarians. St. Martin had saved Tours; but there was no\nsaint to defend the magnificent religious houses which were now\ndestroyed by the Northmen. When the enemy approached, the monks retired\nwith the relics, heaping curses loud and deep on these \u201cmen of hell,\u201d\nthese \u201cspawn of the devil.\u201d But their curses were ineffectual as their\nrelics, and the tide of destruction flowed on. Many were the presents\nwhich the Carlovingian kings made to the invaders to remove the scourge.\nAs in England, the money was received, but the depredations were only\ntransferred to some other part of the kingdom. But, so many were the\narmaments which every year arrived from the North, and so many the\nchiefs to be bribed, that the resources of the country were insufficient\nfor the purpose. It was probably this circumstance which led Hastings\ninto the Mediterranean. He had heard of Rome; and the glory no less than\nthe advantage of sacking that celebrated city, led him to the shores of\nItaly. On his way, he plundered the coasts of Spain, of Africa, and\nthose of the islands which he passed. Disembarking in Tuscany, he\nassailed Luna, which he is absurdly said to have mistaken for Rome; and\nfailing in his attempt to carry it by storm, he recurred to an\nexperiment which we have more than once read in the history of the\nnorth. He caused the inhabitants to be informed that he was disgusted\nwith his manner of life; that he would repent; that he was the victim of\nan incurable disease; that he wished to be baptized before his death.\nThe credulous ecclesiastics obtained a suspension of hostilities, and\nprepared for the ceremony which was \u201cto wash this Ethiop white.\u201d On the\nday appointed, he was carried in a litter to the cathedral; and he acted\nhis part to admiration. He received the holy rite with much appearance\nof devotion; all must see that his days were drawing to their close; and\nhe begged that his bones might be deposited in one of the vaults beneath\nthe church. That was sacred ground; and when surrounded by the ashes of\nsaints and martyrs, he might hope to escape the pursuits of the evil\none. Who could refuse so humble a request? He was borne to his ship,\nwhich he was scarcely expected to see alive. No sooner was he on board,\nthan he cast away his disease, and mentioned to his followers the plan\nwhich he had devised for the capture of the city. In a short time, a\nloud cry of grief was heard on board his vessel; the neophyte was dead,\nand preparations were made for the funeral. When the day appointed by\nthe clergy arrived, the coffin, attended by all the chiefs, and a great\nnumber of warriors, was slowly borne from the ship to the cathedral. It\nwas placed on a bier, near the choir of the church, and the funeral\nservice was commenced. The congregation to witness the ceremony was\ngreat; it comprised the bishop, the clergy, the governor, the military,\nand the principal inhabitants. Mass was sung; the funeral hymns were\nchaunted; prayers for the requiem of the new-born soul were humbly\noffered; and the attendants advanced to the bier to lower the corpse\ninto its last resting-place. At this moment, Hastings arose; his\nwarriors drew their swords from beneath their long cloaks, which were at\nonce thrown on the pavement; the doors were fastened; the work of\ncarnage commenced, and every one present was laid dead in the place. The\ncity was easily won; the inhabitants were massacred; the most precious\neffects borne to the ships, and the city consumed by fire. This may seem\nto be romance rather than history; but it is attested by so many\nwriters, and is so conformable with the character of the pagan\nScandinavians at once violent and treacherous that we dare not wholly\nreject it. The circumstances may be embellished; but the foundation of\nthe story is probably true.[284]\n\n[Sidenote: 858 to 863.]\n\nWhile Hastings was in Italy, Biorn was pursuing the work of destruction\nin France. In vain did Charles the Bald endeavour to expel him from the\nkingdom. Arms being ineffectual, negotiation was tried, and for a large\nsum Biorn consented to leave France. On his return, feeling that he was\nindisposed, he landed on the coast, and there died. While the French\nwere congratulating themselves on this unexpected deliverance, they were\nthrown into consternation by the news that Hastings was just returned\nfrom Italy, and renewing his ravages. A misfortune which he had\nsustained on the passage\u2014that of being compelled through the violence of\nthe storm to throw overboard his numerous captives and most precious\neffects\u2014made him the more eager to repair his fortunes. Entering the\nRhone, and forming another entrenchment, he sent or headed detachments,\nwhich plundered Arles, Nismes, and most of the towns between the Alps\nand the Pyrenees. While thus occupied, another formidable body in the\nSeine, which had not shared in the treaty made by Biorn, ravaged the\ncountry to the gates of Paris. A third soon landed from the north, and\ncommenced its career by the destruction of Amiens; while a fourth was\nequally mischievous in Flanders. Charles had, as before, recourse to\nnegotiation. To the party which had destroyed Amiens he engaged to pay\nthree thousand pounds weight of fine gold\u2014an immense sum, and surely an\nexaggeration. It is, however, certain that a heavy tax was levied on the\nwhole kingdom, and that in twelve months it was not wholly collected.\nBut while the negotiation was pending, other armaments arrived, and even\nthe king began to perceive that to purchase the retreat of one while so\nmany others were left to pursue their depredations, was great folly. The\nnegotiation, consequently, assumed a new character: and the pirates were\nnow to be paid, not for leaving the kingdom, but for assisting to expel\nother bodies of their countrymen from it. Accordingly, there followed\nsome desultory hostilities between these kindred robbers: but while they\nwere thus occupied, other bands were carrying their depredations into\nthe heart of France. In the end, however, two of the armaments were\npersuaded to leave the shores\u2014probably to join in the conquest of\nEngland, now governed by the feeble brothers of Alfred. But two yet\nremained that of Hastings, and one stationed in the Loire. As the former\nwas so dreaded, his neutrality, at least, was to be purchased on any\nterms. The abbot of St. Denis repaired to the head quarters of the\nchief, and with some difficulty prevailed on him to accept the royal\noffers. These were, a large sum of money, and the fief of Chartres with\nthe title of count, on the condition of his embracing Christianity, and,\nas a French vassal, of aiding his liege superior against all enemies.\nThe conditions were accepted, and the fierce pirate of the Baltic became\none of the noblest peers of France.[285]\n\n[Sidenote: 863 to 876.]\n\nThere now remained one piratical band only,\u2014that on the Loire. As Paris\nhad been more than once menaced, king Charles caused to be constructed\non the Seine, below that city, a bridge, which was intended to arrest\nthe progress of the hostile vessels, by its inability to admit the high\nmasts. The writers of that period are minute in describing the excesses\nof these men, whom they accompany step by step. But the detail is\ntedious: in general they have more sympathy for churches and abbeys,\nthan for the peasantry; and much louder is their cry when a solitary\npriest is massacred at the altar, or a sacred relic borne away, than\nwhen a town is put to the sword. No church, no monastery, no village or\ntown was spared,\u2014nothing which had not the means of self-defence. In 867\nthe robbers appeared in the vicinity of Paris: the bridge prevented\ntheir arriving under the walls; and they established their head quarters\nat the abbey of St. Denis. From thence they spread into the neighbouring\ncountry, and acquired immense booty. But a contagious disease appearing\namong them, and reducing their numbers, they slowly descended the river\nto wait for reinforcements, which were constantly arriving on the coast.\nBut these reinforcements were now smaller than they had lately been:\nthree fourths of all the pirates that swept the seas were in England,\npreparing to drive Alfred from the throne; and though those who remained\nin France effected great mischief, they would have been unable to resist\nany considerable body. They were not, however, inured to open campaigns:\ntheir hostilities were undertaken on a smaller scale,\u2014were generally\ndirected against some town or religious edifice where there was less\ndanger of resistance; and when assailed (as was sometimes the case) by a\nmuch superior force, they retired into their fortified places. Angers,\nwhich they captured in 873, was one of these. On this occasion Charles\nthe Bald exhibited an energy to which he was usually a stranger. He\nraised an army, marched to Angers, compelled the Northmen to evacuate\nit, and retire to their island entrenchments on the Loire. From this\nplace their predatory excursions were resumed. But they are beneath the\nnotice of history: they were undertaken, not for conquest, but for\nbooty. The period, however, is arrived when we must accompany the\nexploits of one who did conquer, and who laid the foundation of a state\npowerful enough to effect the greatest revolutions in Europe.[286]\n\nRognevald was one of the jarls of Harald the Fair-haired. After serving\nhis monarch in many difficult and dangerous enterprises, he fell in\nbattle. Of his sons, one, Einar, became jarl of the Orkneys. Einar was\nan ambitious man. When Halfdan, a son of Harald, expelled him from their\nisland, he obtained reinforcements in Scotland, returned to the charge,\nand deprived Halfdan of authority and life. Harald sailed to avenge the\ndeath of his son; but Einar was left in possession of the government.\nNot inferior to Einar in ambition or valour, was _Hrolf_, or\n_Rollo_,\u2014the _Rou_ of the Norman writers,\u2014another son of Rognevald.\nAccording to the Icelandic sagas, he was so tall and so robust that no\nhorse could carry him: hence his appellation of Hrolf _Gangr_, or the\nWalker. Like his ancestors, he passed his time on the deep, and enriched\nhimself by his depredations on the shores of the Baltic. The death of\nhis father, and the rebellion of his elder brother, made him probably\nless attached to the interests of Harald, or less obedient to his\ncommands. It is certain that he ventured to do what had been so\nrigorously forbidden,\u2014to make a piratical descent on the Norwegian\ncoast. The monarch was in the town which Rollo endeavoured to sack; and\nhis indignation at the attempt led him to banish the pirate for ever.\nWhether this could be much punishment to one whose life had been passed\nfar from Norway may be doubted. Collecting as great a number of vessels\nas were willing to join him,\u2014and the dignity of his family no less than\nhis own prowess made him a popular chief,\u2014he sailed for France. In his\nway he appears to have made some piratical descents on the Scottish and\nEnglish coasts; and though he could not make much impression on either,\nhe did what, in his present circumstances, was quite as advantageous\u2014he\nloaded his ships with booty. Dudo of St. Quentin, and Wace, determined\nthat the founder of the Norman dynasty shall be a favourite of heaven,\nintroduce some visions and other miscellaneous appearances, which the\nhistorian must leave to the monastic chronicler. These are harmless, and\nmay be despised; but when, to dignify the chief of some great family,\nhistory is perverted, a severer censure is necessary. Thus, Dudo (who is\nfollowed by many Norman writers) informs us that Rollo was powerful\nenough to become the ally and friend of Alfred; that by the Saxon\nmonarch he was provided with a fleet to make war on the French king;\nthat in gratitude for this aid he afterwards assisted Alfred\u2014whom his\nsubjects or the Danes had dethroned\u2014to reascend the throne. How living\nwriters could fall into the absurdity of receiving such statements,\nwhich are contrary to the unanimous voices of contemporary history, is\nsurprising.[287]\n\n[Sidenote: 876 to 888.]\n\nThe year in which Rollo arrived in the south is not very clearly\nestablished. Schoning has 995; but this will not bear the test of\nscrutiny, for the French and Norman writers assert that he was occupied\nabove thirty years in his subjugation of Normandy, and we know that he\nwas recognised its duke in 912. Asser of St. David\u2019s\u2014a contemporary\u2014has\nthe year 876, and he is confirmed by the writers nearest to the period;\nyet there are some chronological difficulties which we cannot remove.\nHarald of Norway did not undertake the voyage to the Orkneys before the\nyear 895; and the banishment of Rollo is assigned to the year following.\nThe only way to reconcile this anachronism is by the conjecture that\nRollo, being exiled for piracy in 876, joined his countrymen and the\nDanes, who were ravaging England and France; that he established himself\nat Rouen, but frequently extended his devastations to the north and east\nof that city; that he was more than once in England, and perhaps in the\nnorth, before his recognition as duke of Normandy. But let us follow his\nfootsteps. Landing at Walcheren, he defeated the count of Hainault, whom\nhe captured, and exacted a heavy sum by way of ransom. Repairing to\nRouen, he was not so ruthless as to destroy it: he accepted from the\narchbishop a sum of money, fortified it, and made it the basis of his\noperations against the French king. His arrival threw France into\nconsternation; and Hastings was sent to learn his object, which he\ncoolly replied was\u2014conquest. But whether at this period he proceeded far\nin his operations may well be doubted. His name does not appear in the\nsiege of Paris, which took place in 886, nor in many other enterprises\nwhich from 876 to 896\u2014that is, twenty years\u2014afflicted France. Yet the\nnames of other chiefs are specified. As we have already conjectured, he\nwas probably for some years in England, or in the north. Certainly he\ncould not have entered on that splendid career which led to his\nelevation, before the year 890, or later still. Yet it is possible that\nhe might be joined with the other chiefs in the devastations which, from\n876,\u2014during full thirty years,\u2014afflicted the whole of France. However\nthis be, in ten years after his first disembarkation, siege was laid to\nParis. It is described by a contemporary poet,\u2014by an eye-witness, Abbo,\nmonk of Fleury. It was of considerable duration, and many were the\ndesperate assaults which were made upon the city; but they were as\nbravely repelled; and the siege was raised. Yet the Northmen did not\nretire further than the abbey of St. Germain\u2019s, where they continued for\nsome time to despatch their destructive hordes. As no great enemy was\nbefore them, they split into two bodies; and while one was collecting\nbooty and burning villages, another laid siege to Chartres. In this\nattempt, however, they failed,\u2014a result which Wace ascribes to the\nvirtue of a certain relic.[288] A new attack was made on Paris, but with\nas little effect. At this juncture arrived the emperor Charles the Fat,\nto succour the capital; and the expulsion of the pirates seemed\ninevitable. But far different was the result: without striking a blow,\nhe negotiated, and agreed to give the pirates seven hundred pounds of\ngold, with permission to ravage the two sides of the Seine into\nBurgundy, provided they would then leave\u2014not France, but the central\nprovinces. They received the money, and ravaged Burgundy; but they had\nno intention to forsake the fertile plains of the interior for the\ndreary maritime coast.[289]\n\n[Sidenote: 888 to 896.]\n\nThough Eudes defeated the pirates, this was merely a temporary check,\u2014so\ntemporary as scarcely to arrest their progress. Meaux was besieged and\ntaken; Champagne, Lorraine, and Burgundy were ravaged; Troyes, Chalons,\nToul, Verdun were occupied; Picardy and Artois, to the borders of the\nsea, were laid waste. Contemporaneously with these rapid successes were\nthe depredations of the pirates who were still entrenched on the Loire.\nThere was no rest for France; no hope of expelling her daring intruders.\nThough Eudes had triumphed over the pirates, the next time they assailed\nthat capital he was glad to purchase their retreat. Descending the river\nto its mouth, they next assailed the fortress of St. Loo. It was\ncompelled to capitulate; but no conditions were binding on these\nwretches, who regarded oaths as vain formalities: instead of security\nfor their lives, the inhabitants found a grave. Bretagne was now\nravaged; but duke Alan was braver and more, fortunate than Eudes. Though\nthe invaders were 15,000 in number, he assailed them, at a moment, too,\nwhen they were flushed with victory over a rival duke. His success was\nsplendid; thousands were left dead on the field; the rest were put to\nflight. But even this success was scarcely a check to these wild sons of\nthe deep. Driven from England by the genius of Alfred, they came in\nfearful numbers to France. They occupied both the coasts and the centre;\nand they traversed every part of the kingdom with an impunity surprising\nto posterity.[290]\n\n[Sidenote: 896 to 909.]\n\nIn how many of these embassies Rollo was an actor, we shall not venture\nto decide. Whether he was not much in England, as well as in France;\nwhether he was not alternately engaged in both kingdoms, must be left to\nthe reader\u2019s own inference. This, at least, is certain, that from the\nyear 896 his name and exploits fill the page of French history, to the\nexclusion of many other names which had before occupied it. From that\nyear, too, must be dated those rapid and decisive successes which\ninsured his future greatness. The banishment of so many pirates from the\nnorth by Harald Harfager now sent larger swarms to the south. The first\ncare of Rollo was to strengthen the fortifications of Rouen, which had\nbeen destroyed in his absence (whether that absence were in England, or\nthe interior of France, we will not decide), and which he now made\nformidable. Next, both sides of the Seine felt the vigour of his genius.\nThe forces which were sent to oppose him he defeated. But we cannot\nfollow his steps. Let it be sufficient to observe, that he was almost\nuniformly successful; that in several battles he was the victor; that\nBayeux, Evreux, Nantes, and many places of inferior note were taken by\nhim; that he partitioned the lands which he subdued among his warriors,\nto be held of him as the liege head, under the usual feudal conditions.\nFrom this policy and this success, we should infer that he was in one\nrespect the counterpart of his countrymen\u2014that he protected, instead of\ndestroying, the peasantry\u2014that he encouraged, instead of abolishing,\nChristianity. Probably much of his moderation was owing to the councils\nof Franco, archbishop of Rouen, his chief vassal. Alarmed at the\nprogress of his arms, Charles the Simple applied through Franco for a\ntruce, which was readily granted. There can, indeed, be little doubt\nthat the success of Hastings was before the eyes of Rollo, and that he\naspired to a lordship much more ample than Chartres,\u2014one which he should\ncompel the French king to cede to him, and thereby give him a proud seat\namongst the princes of Europe. Hence the readiness with which he\nlistened to Franco, especially when assured that Charles had already\ncontemplated his investiture with some portion of his new conquests. The\ntruce, indeed, was not agreeable to some of the French peers, and\nhostilities were recommenced, much to the injury of France. There was\nnot a province which some of his bands did not traverse; there was\nscarcely one which he did not plunder; and though frequently repulsed,\nthey always returned to the charge. The French began to murmur, and\nCharles to apply himself still more seriously to a permanent\nunderstanding with Rollo. Hostilities had availed nothing; France had\nlost many thousands of her bravest defenders, and hundreds of thousands\nof her peaceful inhabitants; and if the invaders had also lost many\nconsiderable detachments, their ranks were speedily replenished by new\nimmigrations from the north.[291]\n\n[Sidenote: 910 to 912.]\n\nAbout the year 910, or perhaps the year following, Franco, at the\ncommand of Charles, opened the important negotiation with this\nadventurer. The offers were\u2014Neuctria with the ducal title, and the hand\nof Gisele, a natural daughter of the king, provided he would embrace\nChristianity, and become the liege vassal of the French crown. This\nprelate was an eloquent, persuasive man, and had already considerable\ninfluence over the mind of Rollo. But that chief objected to one of the\nconditions as not sufficiently liberal. Neuctria he had already; and\nthere was no great generosity in recognising his title to that which\nnobody could wrest from him. Besides, it was, he alleged, barren and\nhalf-peopled; but he forgot that this result was his own work and that\nof his countrymen. Franco then offered a portion of Bretagne\u2014perhaps the\nwhole\u2014as an arriere-fief; and Rollo no longer hesitated. He had a wife\nalready, Popa, the daughter of a French count; and her he repudiated,\u2014on\nwhat ground is matter of dispute; but surely there need be none. Rollo\nwas not yet a Christian; he had not been married in any Christian\nchurch; how then could the church recognise the union? Gisele,\ntherefore, was to become the bride of the chief. A meeting of Rollo and\nof Charles was appointed at St. Clair-sur-Epte, a place on the frontier\nof Normandy. In 912, both repaired to that town,\u2014Charles with a splendid\nretinue of nobles and prelates, by whose advice he had entered into a\ntreaty with the new vassal. Here the investiture took place; Rollo did\nhomage to the sovereign, and both acts were witnessed by the French\nnobles. To kneel before the monarch, hold up his hands between those of\nthe superior, and repeat a certain formula called an oath, were no great\nacts of degradation; and to these Rollo had no objection. But the homage\nwas not complete until the regal foot was kissed. To this humiliation he\nwould not stoop, and he was allowed to perform it by deputy. A warrior\nof his suite was accordingly brought forward; but he was no less proud\nthan his master; and on the royal foot being somewhat raised, he raised\nit still higher, and threw the poor monarch on his back, amidst the\nsuppressed laughter of the assembly.[292]\n\n[Sidenote: 912.]\n\nThus was a fierce, an obscure pirate invested with one of the most\nimportant fiefs in Europe. His successors were, like him, valiant and\npolitic; and by their means the duchy was raised to a height of power\nthat rendered it a rival at once to the French and English kings. By\nwhat degrees, however, this progressive greatness was achieved, must be\nleft to the historian of France. It is sufficient for us to observe that\nthe new state became a successful barrier against the pagans of\nScandinavia. Not that, both in Bretagne and Gascony, new armaments did\nnot arrive and do some mischief; but it was transient, and no fear was\nentertained that the most powerful cities of France would ever again be\nassailed by them. When they did appear in any district, they were soon\nrepulsed. The policy, therefore, of erecting Neustria into a state, and\nconfiding it to the government of a race of heroes, was a wise one. A\nsuccessor of Charles the Simple endeavoured to dethrone a grandson of\nRollo; but, as we have already seen, Harald of Denmark sailed to the aid\nof the young duke, took the French king prisoner, and restored the\nrelation between duke and monarch to the state in which it was on the\ndeath of Rollo.[293]\n\n3. _Ireland._ At what period the Northmen first commenced their\ndepredations in Ireland is, like many other points of northern history,\nimpossible to be established. The Irish annals themselves contain no\nrecord of such transactions prior to the eighth century; yet they must\nhave happened before. If little reliance is to be placed on the\nstatement of Saxo, that Fridleif I. and Frode III. conquered and\nplundered Dublin, it would be rash to affirm that there was not a very\nancient intercourse between that island and Scandinavia. Whether the\nLochlans, or Dwellers of the Lakes, were Scandinavians, or the Scottish\nHighlanders, has been matter of great dispute. We know, however, that,\nin the ninth century, the Danes were expressly called Lochlans by the\nIrish, and that the term was used at an earlier period to designate some\nmaritime people with whom the natives had a frequent intercourse. The\nterm, however, might be applied to both the Gael and the Northmen,\u2014to\nall maritime nations. On this subject let us hear the last and most\neloquent of Irish historians:\u2014\n\n In proof of the Danes having been the people with whom this\n early intercourse was maintained, the authority of a number of\n modern historians has been adduced, according to whose accounts\n it would seem that, from a period preceding the birth of Christ,\n a succession of invasions of this island from Denmark had been\n commenced; and that, for some centuries after, a course of\n alternate hostility and friendship marked the relations between\n the two countries. Imposing, however, as is the array of\n northern authorities for this statement, the entire value of\n their united evidence may be reduced to that of the single\n testimony of that of Saxo Grammaticus, from whose pages they\n have all copied; and it is well known, for all the earlier\n portion of this eloquent writer\u2019s history, the foundation is as\n unsound and unreal as Scaldic fable and fallacious chronology\n could make it. The only circumstance that lends any semblance of\n credit to the accounts given by northern histotorians of the\n early fortunes of Ireland, is the known fact that the chief\n materials of their own history were derived from records\n preserved in Iceland: to which island inaccessible as it might\n seem to have been to the rude navigation of those days, it is\n certain that a number of Irish missionaries of the seventh and\n eighth centuries contrived to find their way. We learn, from\n more than one authentic source, that, when the Norwegians first\n arrived in Iceland, they found there traces of its having been\n previously inhabited by a Christian people; and the Irish books,\n bells, and holy staves, left behind by the former dwellers,\n sufficiently denoted the religious island from whence they had\n migrated. The title of Papas, which it appears was borne by\n them, has led to the conclusion that they must have been Irish\n priests who had adventurously fixed themselves in this desolate\n region; and, under the same name, they were found in the Orkneys\n when the Norwegians conquered those islands. Unless we were to\n suppose, however, that among the books left by those\n missionaries in Iceland, there were any relating to Irish\n history of which the chroniclers consulted by Saxo might have\n availed themselves, the incident, though curious and well\n attested, affords but slight grounds for placing reliance on\n these early northern annals, whose sources of information are\n known to have been spurious, and to whose general character for\n extravagant fiction, the few brief notices which they contain\n respecting Irish affairs, can hardly be expected to furnish an\n exception. Nor is any more serious credit due to them when they\n represent Dublin to have been in possession of the Danes a short\n time before the birth of Christ, than when they assert that\n London was built by these northern people about the very same\n period. Fabulous, however, as are these accounts, yet that, long\n before either the Danish or even the Saxon invasions, the coasts\n of the Baltic had sent forth colonies to the British Isles, is a\n fact to which foreign as well as domestic tradition bears\n testimony. The conjecture of Tacitus, that the people called\n Picts were a Germanic or northern race, is confirmed by the\n traditional accounts of this people, preserved in the chronicles\n of Britain; and all the early Scandinavian legends concur with\n the annals of Ireland in intimating, at some remote period,\n relations of intercourse between the two countries. We have\n seen, in a preceding part of this work, what almost certain\n grounds there are for believing that those Scyths, or Scots,\n who, at the time when Ireland first became known to modern\n Europe, formed the dominant part of her people, were a colony\n from some region bordering on the Baltic Sea which had, a few\n centuries before, gained possession of this island. From\n whatever part these Scythian adventurers may have arrived,\n whether from the Cimbric peninsula, the islands of the Baltic,\n or the Scandinavian shores, it may be concluded that with that\n region the occasional intercourse was afterwards maintained, and\n those alliances and royal intermarriages formed of which, in our\n ancient traditions and records, some scattered remembrances\n still remain. With respect to those swarms of sea-rovers who,\n throughout the dark and troubled period we are now approaching,\n carried on their long career of havoc and blood, though known\n most popularly in English history by the general name of Danes,\n they are but rarely, and not till a late period, thus designated\n in our annals. By Tigernach, the earliest existing annalist,\n they are invariably called G\u00e2ll, or Strangers; while, in the\n Annals of Inisfallen, of Ulster, and of the Four Masters, they\n are styled indifferently either Galls, Gentiles, Dwellers on the\n Lakes, or Pirates; but in not more than two or three instances\n are they called Normans, and as seldom Danes.[294]\n\n[Sidenote: 795 to 820.]\n\nWe must be satisfied with the general inference that Ireland was visited\nby the Northmen as soon, or nearly as soon, as Scotland, and the\nScottish islands. The first visit of which we have any record was in\n795, in the reign of Aidan, monarch of the country. Leaving Iona, the\nmonastery of which they had laid in ashes, the sea kings proceeded to\nthe north-western coast, landed, and ravaged the country as far as\nRoscommon. This was, probably, the work of years: here, as everywhere\nelse, they would form intrenchments at the mouths of the great rivers,\nthe banks of which, for twenty leagues round, they would lay waste as\nfar as boats could ascend. They appear to have been twelve years in the\ncountry before any serious resistance was made. In 812 they were\ndefeated; but defeat, so long as the sea was open, and communication\nwith it maintained by navigable rivers, was speedily repaired. In 815, a\nNorwegian chief named Turges, or Thorgils, arrived with a more powerful\narmament, and, during thirty years, was a dreadful scourge not only to\nthe northern, but to the eastern and southern districts of the island.\nTheir fury was peculiarly directed against the holy places, especially\nthe monastery of Banchor and the cathedral of Armagh, which they\nrevisited and destroyed every time they heard of their restoration.\nEvery cell, every chapel, every holy place to which the superstitious\npiety of the age resorted, naturally attracted their notice. But in the\natrocities which they committed, and which the unanimous voice of every\nkingdom they visited\u2014from Greece to Ireland\u2014has immortalised, they must\nhave been actuated by other motives than the hope of gain. If they were\nsavage to the laity, they were demoniacal to the ecclesiastics. Probably\ntheir superior ferocity in the latter case may be explained by the deep\nhatred which the persecutions of Charlemagne had produced (as we have\nbefore intimated, under the term _Saxons_ must also be included the\nScandinavians, and perhaps some tribes of the great Slavonic family).\nBut against that great man, we are not disposed to join in the hostility\nof some modern writers. The men with whom the emperor had to deal were\nwithout honour, without virtue of any kind, men who regarded the most\nsolemn oaths as empty sounds, who loved war as much for the plunder\nwhich it brought as for the gratification of shedding blood. But were\nnot the Saxons and Danes fighting for their liberties? True, and the\ngreatest of them was the liberty to plunder the rest of the world,\u2014to\ntrample under foot all humanity, all moral virtue,\u2014to be the tyrants of\nEurope. Charlemagne triumphed over them, and we rejoice at his success;\nnor, had he exterminated the whole people, should he be censured by\nposterity.[295]\n\n[Sidenote: 820 to 848.]\n\nThe desolation which, at this period more than any other, afflicted\nIreland, might easily have been averted, had there been a central\ngovernment strong enough to rally around it the hearts and arms of the\npeople. But the monarch was merely a titular one, and less powerful than\nhis vassals. Instead of harmony there was dissension only among the\nmembers of the body politic; and this evil was aggravated a hundred fold\nby the mischievous practice of hiring the aid of strangers. When, in\n837, another powerful reinforcement arrived from the north, and\ncommenced its depredations on the banks of the Liffey and the Boyne, the\nevil which, since 795, had afflicted the country, was increased a\nthousand fold. There was not, says the eloquent historian of Ireland, \u201ca\nsingle spot of renown in the ecclesiastical history of our country, not\none of those numerous religious foundations, the seats and monuments of\nthe early piety of her sons, that was not frequently, during this\nperiod, made the scene of the most fearful and brutal excesses.\u201d Let it\nnot be forgotten that this frequency of destruction evinces the zeal of\nthe Irish in rebuilding their holy places, and the intrepidity with\nwhich they repaired to them, even when assured that they should be there\nmet by incarnate demons, and sent to aggrandise the \u201cnoble army of\nmartyrs.\u201d In general the higher dignitaries were spared for the sake of\nthe ransom. The mischief was, that the head quarters of Turges always\npresented a rallying-point for the defeated Northmen, and for such new\ncomers as arrived on the coast. The way in which this veteran chief at\nlast met his fate, is romantically told by Giraldus de Barri. He had\nfallen in love, says that amusing Welchman, with the daughter of the\nking of Meath, and he made known his love to the father. Pretending to\ncomply with his suit, a day was appointed on which Turges, attended by\nfifteen followers, was to meet his bride, accompanied by as many\nmaidens, on a small island of Loch-Var. To the place of meeting,\nhowever, the Irish lady was escorted by fifteen young men in the female\ngarb, and they destroyed the tyrant. Probably the relation of the native\nannalists, that he was drowned in that lake by the king of Meath, is the\ntrue one. However this be, his death was a fatal blow to the\nScandinavian power in Ireland. From this period (844) we read, indeed,\nof their depredations, of their formidable combinations, even of their\nvictories; but there was no longer the same hope, the same confidence in\ntheir invincibility.[296]\n\n[Sidenote: 849 to 872.]\n\nIn 849, another powerful armament arrived from the north. Their policy\nwas not merely to plunder, but to take advantage of the civil wars which\ndesolated Ireland, by hiring their services to the highest bidder. In\n850, they were employed by the monarch in his contest with a native\nking, and the example was speedily followed by his royal subjects. In\nthis year, too, we perceive that Dublin was in the power of the\nNorthmen, and one of their chief seats: probably it had been so for half\na century, or longer still. It was fortunate for the Irish that the\ndifferent Scandinavian people who thus harassed them were often the\nenemies of each other. Sometimes they fought under the banners of\nChristian princes; at other times they contended alone. Thus, in 850,\nthe Dubh-Gals, or black strangers, assailed the Fin-Gals, or white\nstrangers, of Dublin. Who were they? Were they Scottish Highlanders? or\nwere the former Slavonic, the latter Scandinavian, pirates? This\nquestion can never be answered to our entire satisfaction; but we cannot\neasily believe that any chief of the Highlands could equip so powerful\nan armament as that which assailed the establishment of Dublin. Three\nyears afterwards, Anlaf, Ivar, and Sitric, all brothers, and princes\nfrom Scandinavia, arrived with a great armament, and seated themselves\nin three great stations,\u2014Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford. Probably the\nlast-named city was founded by Sitric. His two brothers considerably\nextended their frontiers. They appear, too, so far to have acted in\nconcert as to compel the Irish princes to pay them an annual\ntribute,\u2014something like the Danegelt, which was so oppressive to the\nEnglish. Anlaf, indeed, was a remarkable character; but if the\nchronology be correct, which places his arrival in the year 853, he must\nnot be confounded with the prince whom, in 924, Athelstane defeated. His\nkingdom of Dublin, which comprehended the county and much of its\nneighbourhood, was amplified no less than defended by him, with success.\nNot that advantages were not sometimes won from him. On one occasion he\nwas pursued into his capital, and his territory wasted to its very\ngates. But this, at such a period, when everything depended on a\nsurprise, was a very ordinary result; and that very month he might be\nable to extend his ravages to the centre of the island. That he\nfrequently did so, we know,\u2014sometimes alone, sometimes in conjunction\nwith his brothers, at other times as the ally of the native princes. But\nthat they were always in the country does not appear probable. If this\nIvar be the man who was also king of Northumberland, his territories in\nEngland must have frequently required his presence. Anlaf, too, had a\nprincipality on this side of the channel; for he is styled king of all\nthe Northmen in Ireland and Britain. But connected with him, with his\nroyal brothers, and their reputed father, Ragnar Lodbrog, are so many\nchronological difficulties, that we can never reconcile them. One of\nthese princes, according to the Annals of Ulster, died in 874; as all\ncame in the middle of the century, none could long survive that period;\neven then, if they were the sons of the Ragnar who was killed in 794,\nand who immediately afterwards descended on the Northumbrian coast, they\nmust have reached an age nearly centennial. That there has been a sad\nconfusion of names\u2014for all were common in the Scandinavian annals\u2014is\nundoubted. Then the confusion in the orthography of proper words\u2014Anlaf,\nfor example, being written Alaf, Olaf, Amlain, Amlaiph, &c.\u2014must add to\nthe hopelessness of the historian\u2019s task. Three kings of this name, all\ncelebrated during the first half of the ninth century, could not be the\nprinces who, under the same names, obtained so much celebrity during the\nfirst half of the tenth. Either, therefore, the chronology is wrong, or\nthe events are for ever confounded. In this, as in every other case,\nhistorians have adopted the same mode of solution,\u2014that there were two\nindividuals of the name existing at periods considerably removed from\neach other.[297]\n\n[Sidenote: 872 to 1000.]\n\nFor many years after this period, we read that the Northmen were in\npossession of Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford, the chiefs of which had\nthe regal title. Early in the tenth, indeed, they were expelled from the\nfirst of these cities by the people of Leinster; but the misfortune must\nhave been soon repaired: for in a few years afterwards, we find Godfrey,\ngrandson of Ivar, reigning there, and forcing tribute from most of the\nprinces in the south. In 926, however, the pirates were signally\ndefeated in Ulster, and eighty of their chiefs slain. The moral effect\nof these victories could be no other than to inspire the natives with\nnew hope, and to procure them new successes. In 936, a greater loss was\ninflicted on the Scandinavians of Dublin. Five years afterwards, a\nsimilar advantage was gained over them; but either they must have had\nspeedy means of reinforcing themselves, or their losses must have been\ngrossly exaggerated. Nor could they be very unfortunate, if it be true\nthat after their partial conversion to Christianity, in 948, they\nerected the great abbey of St. Mary, in the vicinity of Dublin. Yet they\nwere sometimes tributary to Murkertach, one of the native kings, and the\nmost celebrated hero of his age; and Dublin was frequently in the hands\nof the Irish; but it was as frequently retaken. These alternations of\nsuccess and disaster comprehend the history of the Northmen in Ireland.\nBut after the accession of Brian, surnamed Born, or the exacter of\ntributes, the decline which had for above half a century been visible in\nthe affairs of the pirates, became signally rapid. Many were the\nsuccessive engagements in which that heroic chief had the advantage. In\n969, he took and destroyed Limerick; in 972, he recovered the island of\nIniscathy, to which the natives attached no ordinary sanctity; in 980, a\ngreat confederation of the pirates who had penetrated into the heart of\nthe country, were defeated by Malachi, the monarch of Ireland. This last\nvictory deserves more than ordinary remembrance, from the fact that it\ngave freedom to some thousands of Irish captives. In 989, Dublin was\nbesieged during twenty days by the monarch of Ireland; and being forced\nto capitulate, it agreed that every house should annually pay one ounce\nof gold to the native hero. Probably this convention was ill kept: for\nin 994, he was again before that city. The success over the common enemy\nwould have been more signal, had not Brian and the titular monarch been\nfrequently at war with each other. But in 997, they united their forces,\nand marched on Dublin. Three years afterwards, we find the Danes as\nvassals in the armies of Brian.[298]\n\n[Sidenote: 1000 to 1014.]\n\nBut we must hasten over the obscure battles of the period, and come at\nonce to that which for ever broke the Danish sceptre in Ireland. In\n1014, the Danes, having collected reinforcements from all parts of\nEurope, and concentrated their strength on the plain of Clontorf, fought\na battle memorable in the Irish annals. Fortunately for the natives, the\nsame necessity of combination made them for a moment suspend their\nprivate feuds, and march to resist the common enemy. Splendid was the\nvictory which awaited Brian; but he fell, being treacherously\nassassinated in his tent in the hour of success. From this moment may be\ndated the destruction of the gigantic enemy. Dying struggles it\nexhibited, and struggles such as became a giant; but the blow was\nstruck; and, however lingering the disease, the end was sure to be\nfatal.[299]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n APPENDIX\n\n ------------------\n\n\n A.\n\n KING OLUF THE SAINT.\n\n (_Foreign Quarterly Review, No. XI._)\n\n 1.\n \u201cKing Oluf and his brother bold,\n \u2019Bout Norroway\u2019s rocks a parley hold.\n\n 2.\n \u201c\u2018The one of the two who best can sail,\n Shall rule o\u2019er Norroway\u2019s hill and dale.\n\n 3.\n \u201c\u2018Who first of us reaches our native ground,\n O\u2019er all the region shall king be crown\u2019d.\u2019\n\n 4.\n \u201cThen Harald Haardrode answer made:\n \u2018Ay, let it be done as thou hast said;\n\n 5.\n \u201c\u2018But if I to-day must sail with thee,\n Thou shalt change thy vessel, I swear, with me:\n\n 6.\n \u201c\u2018For thou hast got the Dragon of speed,\n I shall make with the Ox a poor figure indeed.\n\n 7.\n \u201cThe Dragon is swift as the clouds in chace,\n The Ox, he moveth in lazy pace.\u2019\n\n 8.\n \u201c\u2018Hear, Harald, what I have to say to thee:\n What thou hast proposed well pleaseth me.\n\n 9.\n \u201c\u2018If my ship in aught be better than thine,\n I\u2019ll readily, cheerfully lend thee mine.\n\n 10.\n \u201c\u2018Do thou the Dragon so sprightly take,\n And I with the Ox will the journey make.\n\n 11.\n \u201c\u2018But first, to the church we\u2019ll bend our way,\n Ere our hand on sail or on oar we lay.\u2019\n\n 12.\n \u201cAnd into the church Saint Oluf trode,\n His beautiful hair like the bright gold glow\u2019d.\n\n 13.\n \u201cBut soon, out of breath, there came a man:\u2014\n \u2018Thy brother is sailing off as fast as he can.\u2019\n\n 14.\n \u201c\u2018Let them sail, my friend, who to sail may choose,\n The word of our Lord we will not lose;\u2014\n\n 15.\n \u201c\u2018The mass is the word of our blessed Lord.\n Take water, ye swains, for our table board.\n\n 16.\n \u201c\u2018We will sit at board, and the meat we will taste,\n Then unto the sea-shore quietly haste.\u2019\n\n 17.\n \u201cNow down they all sped to the ocean-strand,\n Where the Ox lay rocking before the land:\n\n 18.\n \u201cAnd speedily they to the ocean bore\n The anchor, and cable, and sail, and oar.\n\n 19.\n \u201cSaint Oluf he stood on the prow when on board:\n \u2018Now forward, thou Ox, in the name of the Lord.\u2019\n\n 20.\n \u201cHe grappled the Ox by the horn so white:\n \u2018Hie now, as if thou went clover to bite.\u2019\n\n 21.\n \u201cThen forward the Ox began to hie,\n In his wake stood the billows boisterously.\n\n 22.\n \u201cHe hallooed to the lad on the yard so high:\n \u2018Do we the Dragon of Harald draw nigh?\u2019\n\n 23.\n \u201c\u2018No more of the pomps of the world I see,\n Than the uppermost top of the good oak tree.\u2014\n\n 24.\n \u201c\u2018I see near the land of Norroway skim\n Bright silken sails with a golded rim.\u2014\n\n 25.\n \u201c\u2018I see \u2018neath Norroway\u2019s mountains proud,\n The Dragon bearing of sail a cloud.\u2014\n\n 26.\n \u201c\u2018I see, I see, by Norroway\u2019s side,\n The Dragon gallantly forward stride.\u2019\n\n 27.\n \u201cOn the Ox\u2019s ribs a blow he gave:\n \u2018Now faster, now faster, over the wave.\u2019\n\n 28.\n \u201cHe struck the Ox on the eye with force:\n \u2018To the haven much speedier thou must course.\u2019\n\n 29.\n \u201cThen forward the Ox began to leap,\n No sailor on deck his stand could keep.\n\n 30.\n \u201cThen cords he took, and his mariners fast\n He tied to the vessel\u2019s rigging and mast.\n\n 31.\n \u201c\u2018Twas then\u2014\u2019twas then\u2014the steersman cried:\n \u2018But who shall now the vessel guide?\u2019\n\n 32.\n \u201cHis little gloves off Saint Oluf throws,\n And to stand himself by the rudder goes.\n\n 33.\n \u201c\u2018Oh! we will sail o\u2019er cliff and height,\n The nearest way, like a line of light.\u2019\n\n 34.\n \u201cSo o\u2019er the hills and dales they career,\n To them they became like water clear.\n\n 35.\n \u201cSo they sail\u2019d along o\u2019er the mountains blue,\n Then out came running the Elfin crew.\n\n 36.\n \u201c\u2018Who sail\u2019s o\u2019er the gold in which we joy?\n Our ancient father who dares annoy?\u2019\n\n 37.\n \u201c\u2018Elf! turn to stone, and a stone remain\n Till I by this path return again.\u2019\n\n 38.\n \u201cSo they sail\u2019d o\u2019er Skaaney\u2019s mountains tall,\n And stones became the little Elves all.\n\n 39.\n \u201cOut came a Carline with spindle and rok:\n \u2018Saint Oluf! why sailest thou us to mock?\n\n 40.\n \u201cSaint Oluf, thou who the red beard hast,\n Through my chamber wall thy ship hath pass\u2019d.\u2019\n\n 41.\n \u201cWith a glance of scorn did Saint Oluf say:\n \u2018Stand there a flint-rock for ever and aye.\u2019\n\n 42.\n \u201cUnhinder\u2019d, unhinder\u2019d they bravely sail\u2019d on,\n Before them yielded both stock and stone.\n\n 43.\n \u201cStill onward they sail\u2019d in such gallant guise,\n That no man upon them could fasten his eyes.\n\n 44.\n \u201cSaint Oluf a bow before his knee bent,\n Behind the sail dropp\u2019d the shaft that he sent.\n\n 45.\n \u201cFrom the stern Saint Oluf a bark shot free,\n Behind the Ox fell the shaft in the sea.\n\n 46.\n \u201cSaint Oluf he trusted in Christ alone,\n And therefore first home by three days he won.\n\n 47.\n \u201cAnd that made Harald with fury storm:\n Of a laidly dragon he took the form.\n\n 48.\n \u201cBut the Saint was a man of devotion full,\n And the Saint got Norroway\u2019s land to rule.\n\n 49.\n \u201cInto the church Saint Oluf trode,\n He thank\u2019d the Saviour in fervent mood.\n\n 50.\n \u201cSaint Oluf walk\u2019d the church about,\n There shone a glory his ringlets out.\n\n 51.\n \u201cWhom God doth help makes bravely his way:\n His enemies win both shame and dismay.\u201d\n\n\n ------------------\n\n B.\n\n SAINT OLAUS OR OLAVE, KING OF NORWAY, M.\n\n (_From Alban Butler\u2019s Lives of the Saints._)\n\n\nHE was son of Herald Grenscius, prince of Westfold in Norway, by his\nwife Asta, daughter of Gulbrand Kuta, governor of Gulbrand\u2019s Dale or\nValley. He delivered his country from the tyranny under which the Swedes\nand Danes had for some time held it, whilst Norway was divided between\nSweno, king of Denmark, Olave Scot-Konung, son of Eric king of Sweden,\nand Eric, son of Hacon, earl of Norway. In 1013, he sailed to England,\nand successfully assisted king Ethelred against the Danes after the\ndeath of Sueno, or Sweyn, their king. He afterwards waged war against\nOlaus Scot-Konung, king of Sweden, till, making an advantageous peace,\nhe took to wife the daughter of that king. These two princes about that\ntime introduced the Romescot, a small annual tribute yearly to be paid\nto the apostolic see. St. Olave brought over from England several pious\nand learned priests and monks, one of whom, named Grimkele, was chosen\nbishop of Drontheim, his capital. The holy king did nothing without the\nadvice of this prelate, and by his counsels published many wholesome\nlaws, and abolished such ancient laws and customs as were contrary to\nthe Gospel; which he did not only in Norway, but also in the isles of\nOrkney and of Iceland; though the entire conquest of Orkney was reserved\nto his son Magnus, who also subdued the isle of Man, as Cambden relates\nfrom the ancient Chronicle of Man.\n\nOur religious king, having settled his dominions in peace, set himself\nto extirpate out of them the abominable superstitions of idolatry. He\ntravelled in person from town to town, exhorting his subjects to open\nthe eyes of their souls to the bright light of faith. A company of\nzealous preachers attended him, and he demolished in many places the\nidolatrous temples. The heathens rebelled, and with the assistance of\nCanutus the Great, defeated and expelled him. St. Olave fled into\nRussia, whence he soon after returned, and raised an army in order to\nrecover his kingdom, but was slain by his rebellious and infidel\nsubjects in a battle fought at Stichstadt, north of Drontheim, on the\n29th of July, 1030, having reigned sixteen years. These rebels seem to\nhave been in the interest of Canute the Great, who arrived from England\nin Norway, took possession of that kingdom, and left his nephew Hackin\nviceroy; but he being soon after drowned at sea, Canute made his son\nSweno viceroy of Norway. St. Olave\u2019s body was honourably buried at\nDrontheim, and the year following bishop Grimkele commanded him to be\nhonoured in that church among the saints with the title of martyr. His\nson Magnus was called home from Russia in 1035, and restored to the\nthrone. Sweno, who saw himself entirely abandoned, fled into Sweden.\nMagnus exceedingly promoted the devotion of the people to the memory of\nhis father, the martyr, who was chosen titular saint of the cathedral of\nDrontheim. This church was rebuilt with such splendour and magnificence\nas to have been the glory and pride of all the north. Munster has given\nus a minute description of it, after Lutheranism was introduced; but it\nwas soon after burnt by lightning. The body of St. Olave was found\nincorrupt in 1098; and again when the Lutherans, in 1541, plundered the\nshrine, which was adorned with gold and jewels of an immense value, a\ntreasure nowhere excelled in the north. The ship which carried the\ngreatest part of this sacrilegious booty perished at sea in the road to\nDenmark; the rest was robbed at land, so that nothing of it came into\nthe king of Denmark\u2019s hands. The Lutherans treated the saint\u2019s body with\nrespect, and left it in the same place where the shrine had stood, in\nthe inner wooden case, till, in 1568, they decently buried it in the\nsame cathedral. A shirt or inner garment of St. Olave\u2019s is shown at St.\nVictor\u2019s in Paris. His shrine became famous by many miracles, and he was\nhonoured with extraordinary devotion throughout all the northern\nkingdoms, and was titular saint of several churches in England and\nScotland. He was called by our ancestors St. Olave, and more frequently\nSt. Tooley; but in the Norway Chronicles Olaf Haraldson, and Olaf Helge,\nor the Holy.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n FOOTNOTES\n\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n Joannis Magni Gothorum Suenonumque Historia, lib. i. and ii. p. 18. to\n 74. edit. Rome, fol. 1554.\n\n Native kings of Sweden who, according to the archbishop, Joannes\n Magnus, flourished before Christ.\n\n Noah.\n Japhet.\n 1. Magog.\n 2. Sweno.\n 3. Gothar, or Gog.\n 4. Ubbo.\n 5. Siggo.\n 6. Eric.\n 7. Uddo.\n 8. Alo.\n 9. Othen (Query Odin).\n 10. Charles.\n 11. Biorno.\n 12. Gothar.\n 13. Siggo.\n 14. Berico; in whose reign began the mighty Gothic or Scythian\n empire, independent of the northern one.\n 15. Humulf.\n 16. Humble.\n 17. Gothilas.\n 18. Sigtrug.\n 19. Scarin.\n 20. Swibdager.\n 21. Asmund.\n 22. Uffo.\n 23. Hunning.\n 24. Regner.\n 25. Hodebrod.\n 26. Attil.\n 27. Hoder.\n 28. Roder, or Roderic, or Ruric, surnamed _Slingebond_, or the\n Slinger.\n 29. Attil.\n 30. Botwild.\n 31. Charles.\n 32. Grimer.\n 33. Tordo.\n 34. Gothar.\n 35. Adolf.\n 36. Algoth.\n 37. Eric.\n 38. Alaric.\n 39. Gestil.\n 40. Eric.\n \u201cIn the reign of this prince, says the archbishop,\u2014who even\n fixes the year, the thirty-fourth of his reign,\u2014our Saviour was\n born!\u201d Swedish kings subsequent to our Saviour\u2019s birth, _yet\n prior to the introduction of Christianity_, according to the same\n archbishop.\n 41. Godric.\n 42. Haldan.\n 43. Wilmer.\n 44. Nordian.\n 45. Siward.\n 46. Charles.\n 47. Eric.\n 48. Haldan.\n 49. Eugin.\n 50. Ragnald.\n 51. Asmund.\n 52. Hako.\n 53. Siward.\n 54. Ingo.\n 55. Neark.\n 56. Frode.\n 57. Urbar.\n 58. Ostin.\n 59. Fliolm.\n 60. Swerker.\n 61. Walander.\n 62. Wisbur.\n 63. Domalder.\n 64. Domar.\n 65. Attil.\n 66. Digner.\n 67. Dager.\n 68. Alaric.\n 69. Ingemar.\n 70. Ingell.\n 71. Germund.\n 72. Haquin Ringo.\n 73. Egill.\n 74. Gothar.\n 75. Fasto.\n 76. Gudmund.\n 77. Adel.\n 78. Ostan.\n 79. Ingermar.\n 80. Holstan.\n 81. Biorno.\n 82. Rawald.\n 83. Swartman.\n 84. Tordo.\n 85. Rodolf.\n 86. Hathin.\n 87. Attil.\n 88. Tordo.\n 89. Algoth.\n 90. Gostag, or Ostan.\n 91. Arthus.\n 92. Haquin.\n 93. Charles.\n 94. Charles.\n 95. Birger.\n 96. Eric.\n 97. Torill.\n 98. Biorn.\n 99. Alaric.\n 100. Biorn.\n 101. Bratmund.\n 102. Siward.\n 103. Herot.\n 104. Charles.\n 105. Biorn.\n 106. Ingenal, or Ingel.\n 107. Olaf Tretella.\n 108. Ingo.\n 109. Eric.\n 110. Eric.\n\n In both lists, many of these names the reader will perceive to be\n identical with the Danish kings given by Saxo Grammaticus. That the\n two lists have been confounded there can be no doubt. And it as\n equally certain that many of these kings are unnecessarily\n multiplied,\u2014those allowed to have reigned before, as well as after,\n the Christian era. Perhaps, however, none of these princes reigned\n before Odin; probably all are more recent still; and as so many were\n contemporary with each other, ample lists have easily been formed.\n\n The compilers of our Universal History begin their list with the\n following:\u2014\n\n 1. Eric.\n 2. Gylfo.\n 3. Odin.\n 4. Niord.\n 5. Frode.\n 6. Sigtrug.\n 7. Swibdager.\n 8. Asmund.\n 9. Uffo.\n 10. Hunding.\n 11. Regner.\n 12. Holward.\n 13. Attil I.\n 14. Hoder.\n 15. Roderic, or Ruric.\n 16. Attil II.\n 17. Hogmor and Hogrin.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n See the work, part i.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n Torf\u0153us Historia Norvegi\u00e6, tom. i. p. 111\u2013150.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n Wheaton, History of the Northmen. Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom.\n i.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n Vetustissima Regum Septentrionis Series Langfedgatal dicta. According\n to this \u201cSeries,\u201d the list of Danish kings prior to Odin is as\n follows:\u2014NOAH, Japhet, Zechim, Ciprus, Celius, Saturn of Crete,\n Jupiter, Darius, Erichthon, Troes, Ilus, Laomedon, Priam of Troy,\n Memnon (the son-in-law of Priam), Tror or Thor, Lorith, Einrith,\n Vingethar, Vingener, Moda, Magus, Seskef, Bedoig, Athra, Iterman,\n Heremotr, Scealdna, Beaf, Eat, Godulf, Finn, Frealaf\u2014ODIN.\n\n Here is a precious list, and we should vainly inquire where it was\n originally procured. One thing, however, is remarkable,\u2014that of the\n immediate predecessors of Odin, most are the same as those contained\n in the Saxon Chronicle, in the genealogy of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Let\n us now transcribe that of Saxo Grammaticus, who flourished in the\n twelfth century, and is content with making Dan the ancestor of the\n Danes, about a thousand years before Christ.\n\n DAN I., Humble, Lother, Skiold, Gram, Swibdager, Guthrum, Hadding,\n Frode I., Haldan, Roe and Helgo, Rolf or Rollo, Hoder, Ruric, Wiglet,\n Guitlach, Wermund, Olaf I., Dan II., Hugleth, Frode II., Dan III.,\n Fridleif, Frode III. According to Saxo it was in the reign of Hadding\n that Odin first appeared in the north. In this case, the reader may\n say Odin must have flourished long before the period usually assigned,\n viz., A.C. 70. But most of these princes, doubtless, reigned _after_\n the birth of Christ, notwithstanding the positive assertion of Saxo\n (who is supported by some other chroniclers), that the Redeemer of\n mankind assumed our nature in the reign of Frode III. Sweyn Aggo is\n more rational than his contemporary Saxo; he rejects all the\n sovereigns prior to Odin, and commences his list with Skiold, a son of\n that deified hero. Undoubtedly Denmark, like the other states, had its\n kings before that period; but they were mere reguli, perpetually at\n war with each other in struggling for the ascendancy; and small\n reliance is to be placed on their alleged actions, or even their\n names. Saxo, in taking as authorities the popular songs of his\n country, followed the worst of all guides.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n The list of Norwegian sovereigns prior to Odin is, according to the\n Landfedgatal, the same as for Denmark. These sovereigns, however, in\n neither case reigned in the north; they were regarded as Asiatic: it\n was Odin who first left the country of his ancestors, and established\n his empire in Scandinavia. In this view there is no inconsistency\n between that record and Saxo, who does not enumerate the Asiatic\n monarchs, and who confines himself to the native princes that held the\n country for ages before Odin was known. These, we have strong reason\n to infer, were _not_ Gothic, but Finnish, or Jutish, or Lapponic, or\n whatever else was the denomination of the people who originally\n possessed the north. Sweyn Aggesen, therefore, by rejecting them,\n evidently confines himself to the foreign or Gothic dynasty\u2014the\n dynasty of the conquerors.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n Langebek, Scriptores, tom. i., passim.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n Pinkerton, Dissertation on the Goths. Turner, History of the\n Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n Tacitus, Germania, cap. 34.\u201340. Wheaton, History of the Northmen,\n chap. i.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. i. Pinkerton, Dissertation on the\n Goths, passim.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica; necnon, Heimskringla Snorronis,\n passim.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n Apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. ii.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n Wheaton, History, p. 119.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n Depping, Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, tom. i.\n Wheaton, History of the Northmen.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib i.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n The poetical dialogues of Gro with Bessus and Gram\u2014dialogues in which\n Saxo (lib. i. p. 7, &c.) has put forth all his imagination and all his\n knowledge of Latin versification\u2014may amuse the learned reader. We have\n no disposition to translate them.\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n In the Scandinavian superstition every rune was consecrated to some\n deity. Nearly all the magic of the north consisted in runes. They\n could raise or allay tempests; they could change times, and they could\n bring the most distant objects together. They could produce good or\n bad seasons; they could raise the dead: in short, they were omnipotent\n over all nature,\u2014the invisible no less than the visible world.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i. p. 10, &c., edit. Stephanii,\n Sor\u00e6, 1644.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i. p. 10, &c., edit. Stephanii,\n Sor\u00e6, 1644.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. ii. p. 20, &c.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n Both Roe and Helge reigned some centuries after the time fixed by\n Saxo,\u2014as recently as the fifth century of the Christian era.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. ii.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n Whether there was any other Rolf than the celebrated Rolf Krake, who\n is thought to have reigned in the sixth century after Christ, is\n doubtful. The best northern writers admit of no other.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. ii.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i. p. 12., edit. Stephanii, Sor\u00e6,\n 1644. The diffusion of this superstitious notion is a curious subject\n of speculation. In Hungary, Russia, Wallachia, Greece, Crete, &c. it\n is rife at this day.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. i.\u2013v. (apud Heimskringlam, tom. i. p. 1-10., edit.\n Hafn., 1777).\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. v.\u2013vii.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. i. pp. 7, 8. Torf\u0153us,\n Historia Norvegica, tom. i. p. 138, &c.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n S. Rembertus, Vita S. Anscarii (apud Bollandistas, Acta S. S. die Feb.\n iii. Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. cap. 12. &c.\n Konung Olaf Trygvason\u2019s Saga, apud Snorronem Sturlonem Heimskringla\n tom. ii.).\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n Ihre, Dissert. de Institutione Regum Suio-Gotborum, ed. Upsala,\n 1752.\u2014Geijr, Svea Rikes H\u00e4fder, tom. i. p. 432.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n Suhm, Historie af Danmark, tom. i. p. 81. Critiske, Historie, tom.\n vii. p. 474.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n Jamieson\u2019s Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 444.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n F. Magnussen, Edda S\u00e6mundi, tom. iii. Rigis-M\u00e1l, Intro., pp. 147\u2013159.\n Geijr, Svea Rikes H\u00e4fder, tom. i. pp. 486\u2013495.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n See the prose Edda published by Prof. Rask, Stockholm, 1818, ch.\n xxiii. But Snorre, in his _Ynglinga Saga_, ch. ix., says that she\n married Odin afterwards, and that they had many children together.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n To this opinion, we do not subscribe. We have no proof of the\n existence of two Odins.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n M\u00fcnter, Kirchengeschichte, &c., tom. i. pp. 68\u201395. Wheaton, History of\n the Northmen.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n Wheaton, History of the Northmen, ch. vi. Ynglinga Saga, passim.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, lib. iii. p. 39, &c.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, lib. iii. p. 41\u201343.\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n Edda Snorronis, Hist. 28. Stephanii Not\u00e6 ad Saxonem, lib. iii.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n Edda Snorronis, Fab. 21.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n Edda Snorronis, Historia, 29. Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. not\u00e6 in\n lib. iii.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n The names are mythologic, or rather abstract: Vegtam, _the Spoiler_;\n Valtam, _Slaughter_.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n Hveriar ro maeyiar\n \u00c6r at muni grata\n Ok a himin Verpa\n Halsa Skautvm?\n\n The passage is a dark one. It probably alludes to the custom of the\n northern women, who uncovered their heads to mourn. These damsels did\n not uncover; they could weep at pleasure, that is, they were not\n afflicted. Were they the fatal sisters, who cannot be expected to feel\n sympathy for mortals? And was Vala their mother?\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n The meaning of these expressions will appear when we treat on the\n Scandinavian mythology.\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n DESCENT OF ODIN.\n\n Up rose the king of men with speed,\n And saddled straight his coal-black steed;\n Down the yawning steep he rode,\n That leads to HELA\u2019S drear abode.\n Him the Dog of Darkness spied,\n His shaggy throat he open\u2019d wide,\n While from his jaws, with carnage fill\u2019d,\n Foam and human gore distill\u2019d:\n Hoarse he bays with hideous din,\n Eyes that glow, and fangs that grin;\n And long pursues, with fruitless yell,\n The Father of the powerful spell.\n Onward still his way he takes,\n (The groaning earth beneath him shakes,)\n Till full before his fearless eyes\n The portals nine of hell arise.\n\n Right against the eastern gate,\n By the moss-grown pile he sate;\n Where long of yore to sleep was laid\n The dust of the prophetic Maid.\n Facing to the northern clime,\n Thrice he trac\u2019d the Runic rhyme;\n Thrice pronounc\u2019d, in accents dread,\n The thrilling verse that wakes the dead;\n Till from out the hollow ground\n Slowly breath\u2019d a sullen sound.\n\n _Pr._\u2014What call unknown, what charms presume\n To break the quiet of the tomb?\n Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite,\n And drags me from the realms of night?\n Long on these mould\u2019ring bones have beat\n The winter\u2019s snow, the summer\u2019s heat,\n The drenching dews, and driving rain!\n Let me, let me sleep again.\n Who is he, with voice unblest,\n That calls me from the bed of rest?\n\n _O._\u2014A Traveller, to thee unknown,\n Is he that calls, a Warrior\u2019s Son.\n Thou the deeds of light shalt know;\n Tell me what is done below,\n For whom yon glitt\u2019ring board is spread,\n Drest for whom yon golden bed.\n\n _Pr._\u2014Mantling in the goblet see\n The pure bev\u2019rage of the bee;\n O\u2019er it hangs the shield of gold;\n \u2018Tis the drink of Balder bold:\n Balder\u2019s head to death is giv\u2019n.\n Pain can reach the Sons of Heav\u2019n!\n Unwilling I my lips unclose:\n Leave me, leave me to repose.\n\n _O._\u2014Once again my call obey!\n Prophetess, arise, and say,\n What dangers Odin\u2019s Child await,\n Who the Author of his fate.\n\n _Pr._\u2014In Hoder\u2019s hand the Hero\u2019s doom:\n His brother sends him to the tomb.\n Now my weary lips I close:\n Leave me, leave me to repose.\n\n _O._\u2014Prophetess, my spell obey!\n Once again arise, and say,\n Who th\u2019 Avenger of his guilt,\n By whom shall Hoder\u2019s blood be spilt?\n\n _Pr._\u2014In the caverns of the west,\n By Odin\u2019s fierce embrace comprest,\n A wond\u2019rous Boy shall Rinda bear,\n Who ne\u2019er shall comb his raven hair,\n Nor wash his visage in the stream,\n Nor see the sun\u2019s departing beam;\n Till he on Hoder\u2019s corpse shall smile,\n Flaming on the fun\u2019ral pile.\n Now my weary lips I close:\n Leave me, leave me to repose.\n\n _O._\u2014Yet awhile my call obey!\n Prophetess, awake, and say,\n What Virgins these, in speechless woe,\n That bend to earth their solemn brow,\n That their flaxen tresses tear,\n And snowy veils, that float in air.\n Tell me whence their sorrows rose:\n Then I leave thee to repose.\n\n _Pr._\u2014Ha! no Traveller art thou,\n King of Men, I know thee now,\n Mightiest of a mighty line\u2014\u2014\n\n _O._\u2014No boding Maid of skill divine\n Art thou, nor Prophetess of good;\n But mother of the giant brood!\n\n _Pr._\u2014Hie thee hence, and boast at home,\n That never shall Enquirer come\n To break my iron-sleep again;\n Till Lok has burst his tenfold chain.\n Never, till substantial Night\n Has reassum\u2019d her ancient right;\n Till wrapp\u2019d in flames, in ruin hurl\u2019d,\n Sinks the fabric of the world.\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n Vegtaams Quida (apud Edda Saemundar hinns Froda, tom. i. p. 234, &c.\n edit. Hafni\u00e6, 1787).\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n See before, page 29.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. iii. p. 44\u201346.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 10. (apud Snorronem, Heimskringla, tom. i. p. 14.)\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n Quod, inquit, mulierum turpissima, gravissime criminis dissimulationem\n falso lamenti genere expetis, qu\u00e6 scorti more lasciviens nefariam ac\n dedestabilem tori conditionem secuta, viri tui interfectorem pleno\n incesti sinu amplecteris, et ei qui prolistu\u00e6 parentem extinxerat,\n obscenissimis blandamentorem illecebris adularis?\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. iii. p. 46\u201352.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. iii. p. 52, et lib. iv. p. 54, &c.\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n Idem, p. 56\u201359.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n The list is worth transcribing.\n\n B.C.\n\n 1. Dan 1038\n\n 2. Humble 998\n\n 3. Lother \u2014\n\n 4. Skiold 966\n\n 5. Gram 888\n\n 6. Swibdager 856\n\n 7. Guthrum \u2014\n\n 8. Hadding 816\n\n 9. Frode I. 761\n\n 10. Halden 685\n\n 11. Roe and \u2014\n Helge\n\n 12. Helge 595\n _alone_\n\n 13. Rolf, or 566\n Rollo\n\n 14. Hoder \u2014\n\n 15. Ruric 483\n Slingeband\n\n Consequently Hamlet must have lived nearly four centuries before\n Christ. What thanks do we not owe to Saxo for his important account of\n Britain so many years before C\u00e6sar! But to continue.\n\n B.C.\n 16. Wiglet \u2014\n 17. Guitlach \u2014\n 18. Wermund 352\n 19. Olaf I. 292\n 20. Dan II. \u2014\n 21. Hungleth \u2014\n 22. Frode II. 172\n 23. Dan III. \u2014\n 24. Fridleif \u2014\n 25. Frode III. \u2014\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n Scandinavia, Ancient and Modern (Edinburgh Cab. Lib.), vol. i. chap.\n ii.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n List of kings after Christ, according to Saxo:\u2014Frode III., Hiarn,\n Fridleif, Frode IV., Ingel, Olaf II., Frode V., Harald I., Halfdan\n II., Harald II., Ungwin, Siwald I., Sigar, Siwald II., Halfdan III.,\n Harald III., Olo (or Olof), Omund, Siward I., Bathul, Jarmeric,\n Broder, Siwald III., Snio, Biorn, Gormo I., Goderic, Olaf III.,\n Hemming, Siward IV., Ringo, Ragnar Lodbrog, Siward II., Eric I.,\n Canute I., Frode IV., Gormo II., Harald IV., Gormo III., Harald V.,\n Sweno.\n\n _Our English Universal History, like Sunning and Torf\u0153us, adopts these\n names, but incorporates three more._\n\n _According to the_ Langfedgatal, _which is derived from Norwegian\n authorities, while Saxo follows the metrical songs and traditions of\n Denmark_:\u2014\n\n Odin, Skiold, Fridleif I., Frode I., Havar, Frode II., Vermund, Olaf,\n Dan, Frode III., Fridleif II., Frode IV., Ingell (or Ingiald), Halfdan\n I., Helge and Roe, Rolf Krake, Eric I., Frode V., Halfdan II., Eric\n II., Harald, Sigurd I., Ragnar Lodbrog, Sigurd II., Harda Canute,\n Gormo the Aged, Harald II., Sweyn.\n\n _And thus, in about twenty different lists which we have examined,\n there is only diversity, or rather confusion. Those of modern date are\n not more uniform. Thus Mallet_:\u2014\n\n Skiold, Fridleif I., Frode I., Fridleif II., Havar, Frode II.,\n Wermund, Olaf I., Dan, Frode III., Halfdan I., Fridleif III., Olaf\n II., Frode IV., Ingel, Halfdan II., Frode V., Roe and Helge, Rolf,\n Ivar, Harald I., Sigurd I., Ragnar Lodbrog, Sigurd II., Harda Canute,\n Harald II.\n\n The dates of these reigns in the modern histories of Denmark\u2014for the\n ancient ones do not condescend to such trifles\u2014are beautifully\n confounded, sometimes a whole century being assigned to a single\n reign.\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n The Skioldungs, or descendants of Odin:\u2014\n\n Names. Died.\n B.C.\n\n Skiold 40\n\n Fridleif I. 23\n\n A.D.\n\n Frode I. 35\n\n Fridleif II. 47\n\n Havar 59\n\n Frode II. 87\n\n Wermund the Sage 140\n\n Olaf the Mild 190\n\n Dan Mykillati 270\n\n Frode III., 310\n surnamed the\n Pacific\n\n Halfdan I. 324\n\n Fridleif III. 348\n\n Frode IV. 407\n\n Ingild (or 436\n Ingel)\n\n Halfdan II. 447\n\n Frode V. 460\n\n Helge and Roe 494\n\n Frode VI. 510\n\n Rolf Krake 522\n\n Frode VII. 548\n\n Halfdan III. 580\n\n Ruric 588\n Slyngebande\n\n Ivar Vidfadme 647\n\n Harald Hildetand 735\n\n Sigurd Ring 750\n\n Ragnar Lodbrog 794\n\n Sigurd Snogoje 803\n\n Harda Canute 850\n\n Eric I. 854\n\n Eric II. 883\n\n Gorm the Old 941\n\n Harald Blaatand 991\n\n Sweyn 1014\n\n This is the list of Suhm, the most critical of the Danish historians.\n Yet there can be no doubt that some of Saxo\u2019s kings ought to be\n incorporated with it.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n See the dates assigned to the above kings by our Universal History and\n by Mallet. The difference between them and those given by Suhm may\n amuse the reader.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, passim. Mallet, Histoire de\n Danemarc, tom. iii. Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. i.\n Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist., passim.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n See Introduction, p. 19.\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n History of the Germanic Empire (Cab. Cyc.), vol. i.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n Saxo Grammatici, Hist. Dan. lib. v. Suenonis Aggonis Historia Rerum\n Danicarum, cap. i. (apud Langebek, i. 44.). Petri Olai Roskildensis\n Chronica Regum Danorum, p. 15. (apud eundem, tom. i.).\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. v.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n According to the Hervarar Saga, this adventure of the sword took place\n long _before_ the arrival of Arngrim,\u2014in fact, before the union of\n Swafurlam with Eyvor, whom he won with the magic weapon. There are\n many variations, too, in the different MSS. of this Saga, so as to\n greatly alter the circumstances.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n Hervarar Saga, cap. i., ii. p. 1-13., edit. Hafni\u00e6, 1785. Taylor,\n Historic Survey of German Poetry, vol. i. The account in the text is\n considerably more amplified than that in the original Saga. This\n amplification is the work of succeeding Scalds, whose language, from\n its graphic superiority, and its being more characteristic of northern\n manners, we have often preferred.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n Hervarar Saga, cap. iii.\u2013v. p. 13\u201342.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n AWAKE, Angantyr! sire, awake!\n Thy daughter, Hervor, bids thee break\n The slumber of thy desert tomb!\n Oh, give me, from its yawning womb,\n The magic sword\u2014the hardened blade,\n By dwarfs for Swafurlami made!\n What, silent? Then on you I call,\n My sire, my kinsmen, warriors all!\n Obey! let Hervor\u2019s voice prevail!\n Yes, by the helmet and the mail,\n\n By the sharp sword, the spear, and shield\n Ye wore on many a battle field,\n Obey my spell! by each of these,\n I call you from your tombs beneath the roots of trees.\n\n What! can the sons of Arngrim, erst\n In mischief\u2019s busy work the first,\n In dust and ashes mouldering rot?\n Are ye _all_ mute? For Hervor\u2019s sake,\n Herwarder, Herwarder, awake!\n\n So may you, then, dishonoured lie,\n Till rank corruption putrefy,\n Unless ye give the belt and blade\n By dwarfs for Swafurlami made.\n\n [_Here the tomb opens, the inside of which is all fire, and the\n following dialogue is chaunted_:\u2014]\n\n _Angantyr._\n\n Daughter, of potent spells possest,\n Why dost thou call us from our rest?\n What mad ambition bids thee wake\n The slumber of the dead?\n Hervor, thy rash demand shall break\n In ruin on thy head!\n Me were the funeral rites denied,\n Father nor friend was there.\n Seek for the sword in air;\n It decks some living warrior\u2019s side.\n\n _Hervor._\n\n Thy words are false! deceiver, no!\n May Odin on thy tomb bestow\n Such safety, sire, as thou hast got\n The fairy sword I seek, or not!\n Thy child, thine only child, demands\n This dowry at a father\u2019s hands.\n\n _Angantyr._\n\n Listen, daughter! Hervor, hear\n The voice of prophecy, and fear!\n Let not a father\u2019s hand consign\n A gift so fatal to thy line.\n For, lo! I see before this sword\n Thine offspring perish, till restored\n To son of thine, who then shall prove\n The Heidrek of his people\u2019s love.\n\n _Hervor._\n\n I heed thee not; but by the sway\n Of spells which spirits must obey,\n I charge thee, by enchantments dread,\n No rest shall know my kindred dead\n Till I obtain the belt and blade\n By dwarfs for Swafurlami made!\n\n _Angantyr._\n\n Maiden, of more than warrior\u2019s might,\n Who visitest the tombs by night,\n Trusting to the belt and spear\n Of magic power, wander not here.\n\n _Hervor._\n\n I deemed thee brave before I came\n To seek thee in thy house of flame.\n Why do I wait? Give me the blade!\n Nor longer be the gift delayed!\n\n _Angantyr._\n\n The sword lies here, begirt with fire,\n Which once\u2014fit weapon for thy sire\u2014\n Hialmar slew: but weak the brand\n If wielded by a woman\u2019s hand.\n\n _Hervor._\n\n Yet I will wield, if I may gain\n The fire-girt sword, Hialmar\u2019s bane.\n No spectre-fire can Hervor dread\n That idly plays around the dead.\n\n _Angantyr._\n\n Then, proud and daring spirit, know,\n To save thee from the fires below\n I give the sword! Thy suit is won!\n\n _Hervor._\n\n Offspring of heroes, wisely done!\n Oh, dearer is this gift to me\n Than Norway in her pride could be!\n\n _Angantyr._\n\n O woman! mad and blind to fate!\n Rejoicing _now_, but wise too late,\n When thou shalt see thine offspring all,\n Beneath that fatal weapon fall.\n\n _Hervor._\n\n Too long in parting I delay;\n My heroes call\u2014I must obey.\n Let my sons quarrel as they will,\n My father\u2019s gift! I hold thee still.\n Spirits whom I have roused, farewell!\n I feel the fires in which ye dwell\n Burning around me. Here I cease.\n Spirits, retire, and rest in peace![75]\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n For this translation we are indebted to a literary friend who\n furnished us with it many years ago.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n Hervarar Saga, cap. vii.\u2013xviii. pp. 57\u2013221.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n Profane not, youth\u2014it is not thine\n To judge the spirit of our line\u2014\n The bold berserkars\u2019 rage divine,\n Through whose inspiring, deeds are wrought\n Past human strength and human thought.\n When full upon his gloomy soul\n The champion feels the influence roll,\n He swims the lake, he leaps the wall,\n Heeds not the depth nor plumbs the fall\u2014\n Unshielded, mailless, on he goes\n Singly against a host of foes;\n Their spears he holds as withered reeds,\n Their mails like maidens\u2019 silken weeds:\n One \u2018gainst a hundred will he strive,\n Take countless wounds, and yet survive.\n How rush the eagles to his cry\n Of slaughter and of victory;\n And blood he quaffs like Odin\u2019s bowl,\n Deep drinks his sword\u2014deep drinks his soul,\n And all that meet him in his ire\n He gives to ruin, rout, and fire.\n Then, like gorged lion, seeks some den,\n And couches till he\u2019s man agen.\n _Harold the Dauntless_, Canto iii. st. 8.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan., passim. Ihre, Glossarium Suio-Gothicum,\n sub voce _Berserker_. Depping, Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des\n Normands, tom. i. chap. 2.\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. v.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n Son of the celebrated chief of this name. See before, page 77.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n See Introduction, sketch of Odin\u2019s life.\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. vi.\u2013viii. pp. 102\u2013149.\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. xxix. (apud Snorronis Heimskringlam, tom. i.).\n Eyrbiggia Saga, passim.\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n According to the ancient geographers, the flat earth lay in the\n centre, while the sea, like a circle, surrounded it. This sea was\n believed to contain many wonders.\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n Saxo evidently alludes to that part of the coast situated on the\n Arctic Ocean, near the North Cape.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. p. 160\u2013162.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, lib. viii. p. 162\u2013164.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n These giants are famous in the Scandinavian mythology. \u201cFrom the wings\n of one,\u201d says the lay of Vafthrudnis, \u201cwhose abode is in the extremity\n of the heavens, and who has the eagle\u2019s form, comes all the wind that\n blows on mankind.\u201d\u2014_Edda S\u00e6mundar hinns Froda_, 1-21.\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n To us these proverbs seem to have no great merit: they are, however,\n somewhat obscure.\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. p. 164, &c.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n Query, Had Scott this legend in view when, in his _Harold the\n Dauntless_, he takes the Durham witch to the place where Zernabek was\n to be invoked?\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n See before, page 68.\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. Saga af Olaf Trygveson (apud\n Snorronem, Heimskringla, tom. i.). Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan., lib.\n viii., ix.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. ix. Mallet, Histoire, tom.\n iii.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n Sigurd and Siward are frequently conversive.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n See before, page 67.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n S. Remberti Vita S. Anscharil (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum\n Danicarum, tom. ii.). Suenonis Aggonis Historia Regum Danic\u00e6 (apud\n Langebek, tom. i. p. 48, &c.). Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica,\n lib. ix. Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. Mallet,\n Histoire, tom. iii. liv. i.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x. Suenonis Aggonis Historia\n Regum Danorum, cap. 3, 4. (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum,\n tom. i p. 48, &c.). Gulielmus Gemmeticensis, De Ducibus Normanni\u00e6,\n lib. iv. Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. viii.\n Sigebertus Gemblacensis, Chronicon, A. D. 949. Wace, Roman de Rem,\n tom. i. Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. liv. 1. Depping,\n Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, tom. ii. chap. 10.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n Illis temporibus Otto imperater Daciam sibi fecerat tributariam.\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. ii. cap. 11.\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n Mallet, Histoire, tom. iii. p. 106, &c.\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n Mallet, Histoire, tom. iii. liv. i.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. ii. cap. 19.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x. Suenonis Aggonis Historia\n Regum Dani\u00e6, cap. 4.\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n This is another illustration of the truth contained in the fable of\n \u201cThe Three Black Crows.\u201d Mallet pointed out the absurdity of the\n relation; yet modern historians have continued to adopt it.\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, cap. 72. Suenonis Aggonis\n Historia Regum Dani\u00e6, cap. 4. Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib.\n x.\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n \u201cMy beard is no traitor!\u201d\u2014_Sir Thomas More._ Is there any thing new\n under the sun?\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n Saga of Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 42\u201346. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis,\n tom. i. p. 234, &c.). Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. iv. p. 22, &c.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n See, in the third chapter of this book, the adventures of Olaf.\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n These circumstances, so far as Olaf is concerned, will not be\n understood by the reader, unless he refers to that monarch\u2019s life, in\n the chapter devoted to the history of Norway.\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n See his reign, in the history of Norway, in the present volume.\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_. Matth\u00e6is Westmonasteriensis, Historia,\n p. 391. Wilhelmus Malmsburiensis, p. 64.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_. Turner\u2019s Anglo-Saxons, vol. ii. chap.\n ix.\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n Osbernus, Vita S. Elphagi (apud Wharton, Anglia Sacra, tom. ii. p.\n 123\u2013141.). Chronica Saxonicum, _sub annis_.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_. Turner\u2019s Anglo-Saxons, vol. ii. p. 321.\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n The Saxon Chronicle. Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n See page 5.\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n Kings of Sweden from the first century before our Saviour\u2019s birth to\n the introduction of Christianity into Sweden; compiled from the\n Landfedgatal and from the Heimskringla of Snorro Sturleson:\u2014\n\n _1. Dynasty of the Ynglings._\n\n A.C.\n\n Odin 70\n\n Niord 20\n\n A.D.\n\n Freyer Yngve 10\n\n Fiolner 14\n\n Svegdir 34\n\n Vanland or 48\n Valland\n\n Visbur 98\n\n Domald 130\n\n Domar 162\n\n Dyggve 190\n\n Dag-Spaka the 220\n Wise\n\n Agne 260\n\n Alrek and Erik 280\n\n Yngve and Alf 300\n\n Hugleik 302\n\n Jorunder and 312\n Erik\n\n Aun hinn Gamle 448\n the Old\n\n Egill 456\n Tunnadolgi\n\n Ottar 460\n Vendilkraka\n\n Adils 505\n\n Eystein 531\n\n Yngvar 545\n\n Braut-Onund 565\n\n Ingiald Illrada 623\n\n Olaf Tractelia 630\n exiled about\n\n 2. _Dynasty of the Skioldungs._\n\n A.D.\n\n Ivar Vidfadme, 647\n died\n\n Harald 735\n Hildetand\n\n Sigurd Ring 750\n\n Ragnar Lodbrok 794\n\n Biorn Ironside 804\n\n Erik Biornson 808\n\n Erik Raefillson 820\n\n Emund and Biorn 859\n\n Erik Emundson 873\n\n Biorn Erikson 923\n\n Erik the 993\n Victorious\n\n Erik Arsael 1001\n\n The figures, it must be observed, are in a majority of cases purely\n conjectural. They have been adopted after the most careful\n investigation, by native critics; and we will not be so presumptuous\n as to reject them, especially when some of them are known to be\n correct.\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n A: Kings of Sweden, according to the Universal History:\u2014\n\n 1. Gylfo.\n 2. Odin.\n 3. Niord.\n 4. Frode.\n 5. Sigtrug.\n 6. Swibdager.\n 7. Asmund.\n 8. Uffo.\n 9. Hunding.\n 10. Regner.\n 11. Holward.\n 12. Attil I.\n 13. Hoder.\n 14. Rodern.\n 15. Attil II.\n 16. Hogmor and Hogrin.\n 17. Alaric.\n 18. Eric.\n 19. Halden.\n 20. Siward.\n 21. Eric II.\n 22. Halden II.\n 23. Ungwin.\n 24. Regnald.\n 25. Asmund I.\n 26. Haquin.\n 27. Gothar.\n 28. Adel.\n 29. Ostan.\n 30. Ingvar.\n 31. Asmund II.\n 32. Siward II.\n 33. Hirot.\n 34. Ingel.\n 35. Olaus Traetelga I.\n 36. Charles.\n 37. Bero or Biorn III.\n 38. Olaf Tretelga.\n 39. Ingo.\n 40. Eric III., surnamed Waderhead.\n 41. Eric IV., surnamed Segersell, or the Victorious.\n 42. Eric V., surnamed Stenchil Milde, or Happy-born.\n\n The authors admit that they have omitted several names, probably from\n a doubt whether the kings in question ever reigned. Yet some of the\n names in both lists may be proved to be the same. How correct this?\n Doubtless the kings of Gothia sometimes reigned at Upsal, and vice\n versa. Indeed there is proof for this conjecture.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n Saxo Grammaticus. The Universal History. The Ynglinga Saga, &c.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 5.\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n This was also the name of Thor\u2019s hammer or thunderbolt.\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n The same accident is related by Saxo of a Danish king.\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n See Introduction, page 31.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 11\u201315. (apud Snorronis Heimskringlam, tom. i.).\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n See Introduction, page 33.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 15\u201322.\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n See before, page 86.\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 22\u201329, p. 25\u201335. Saxonis Grammatici Historia\n Danica, p. 122.\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n The reader who may wish to see how beautifully Saxo has confounded\n these simple events, may turn to the second book of his history.\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 29\u201336, p. 35\u201345.\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n A hero of that race.\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 36\u201345. p. 45\u201354.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n Ibid., cap. 45, 46.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, passim.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n Saxo\u2014Snorro\u2014Johannes Magnus\u2014Torf\u0153us, in multis locis.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n Saxo\u2014Snorro\u2014Johannes Magnus\u2014Torf\u0153us, in multis locis.\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n See before, page 31.\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n See the extract from Wheaton\u2019s History of the Northmen, p. 40.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n Saxo\u2014Snorro\u2014Johannes Magnus\u2014Tacitus.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n Init\u00e2 Gothi\u00e2.\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n See before, page 21.\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n See before, page 24.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. i. Johannes Magnus, Historia\n Gothorum, page 14, &c. Loccenius, Historia Suevica, lib. i. Erici Olai\n Historia Suevorum Gothorumque, lib. i.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n See Introduction, page 42.\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n page 57.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n See before, page 132.\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n page 132.\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n Authorities:\u2014Saxo Grammaticus, lib. vii. Snorro Sturleson, cap. 22\u201329.\n Joannes Magnus, lib. i. Loccenius, lib. i. Ericus Olaus, lib. i.\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n See page 134.\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n See page 135.\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n See page 136.\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n See before, page 137.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici, passim. Snorro Sturleson, Heimskringla, cap.\n 29\u201346. Loccenius, Historia Suevica, lib. i. and ii. Erici Olai\n Historia, lib. i.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. and ix. Loccenius,\n Historia Suevica, lib. ii. Erici Olai Historia, lib. i. Mallet,\n Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. liv. i.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n Authorities:\u2014Saxo\u2014Loccenius\u2014Eric Olaus\u2014Joannes Magnus.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n See the next chapter.\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n Erici Olai Historia Suevorum, lib. i. p. 20, 21. Loccenii Historia\n Suecana, lib. ii. p. 49\u201351.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n See Introduction, page 8.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n Torf\u0153us, Historia Rerum Norvegicarum, tom. i. To this work we refer\n the more curious reader.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 47. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis, tom. i. p.\n 56.). Torf\u0153us, Historia Norvegica, tom. i.\n\n _Chronology to illustrate the reigns of the Ynglings in Sweden and\n Norway,\n by Schoning, editor of Snorro\u2019s Heimskringla._[162]\n\n A.C.\n 105. Birth of Odin.\n 90. \u2014\u2014\u2014 Niord.\n 75. \u2014\u2014\u2014 Skiold.\n 65. \u2014\u2014\u2014 Freyr.\n 40. Odin\u2019s arrival in the north.\n 35. Birth of Semming.\n 32. \u2014\u2014\u2014 Fiolner.\n 17. \u2014\u2014\u2014 Frode.\n\n A.D.\n 1. Swegdir.\n 34. Vanlaud.\n 45. Drifa.\n 67. Visbur.\n 100. Domald.\n 127. Daup.\n 133. Domar.\n 146. Dyggve.\n 148. Drotta.\n 170. Dan Mikillati.\n 191. Dag.\n 216. Agne.\n 220. Froste.\n 235. Frode II.\n 241. Alrek.\n 245. Skialfa.\n 262. Gudlaug.\n 265. Yngve II.\n 267. Alf.\n 290. Jorund.\n 290. Halfdan I.\n 292. Hugleik.\n 295. Hako. Gylaug.\n 300. Hagbard.\n 300. Fridleif III.\n 310. Starkater II.\n 316. Aune.\n 338. Ale.\n 370. Frode IV. Fraekne.\n 386. Egill.\n 391. Augvald, king of Rogaland.\n 419. Ottar Vendilkraka.\n 438. Helge.\n 446. Adils.\n 460. Ale, the Uplander.\n 465. Godgiest.\n 479. Hrolf Krake.\n 485. Eystein.\n 510. Solve, from Niardey.\n 518. Yngvar.\n 551. Braut-Aunund.\n 554. Halfdan.\n 565. Gudraud.\n 577. Hiordvard Ylfing.\n 580. Ingiald.\n 587. Ivar Vidfadme.\n 600. Asa.\n 613. Olaf Tr\u00e6telja.\n 620. Solveiga or Solva.\n 630. Eystein Hardrade.\n 640. Ingiald.\n 658. Halfdan Huitbein.\n 663. Asa, daughter of Eystein.\n 677. Eirik, the son of Agnar.\n 691. Gudraud.\n 705. Eystein.\n 705. King Skiold.\n 710. Hilda, daughter of Eirik.\n 710. Dag, king of Westmaur.\n 738. Halfdan Millde.\n 738. King Alfarin.\n 743. Hlifa, daughter of Dag.\n 770. King Eystein.\n 771. Alfgeir.\n 771. King Gudreyd Mikillati.\n 774. Alfhilda, daughter of Alfarin.\n 804. Olaf, Alf of Gierstaden.\n 805. King Gandalf.\n 806. King Haugne.\n 823. Halfdan the Black.\n 824. King Gudreid died.\n 832. Ragnhilda, the mother of Harold Harfagre, born.\n 833. Rognvald born.\n 841. Halfdan the Black made king of Agder and Westfold.\n 847. King Sigurd the Stag died.\n 851. Halfdan made king of Sogne.\n 852. Takes to wife Ragnhilda, daughter of Sigurd the Stag.\n 853. Harald Harfagre born.\n 861. _Nadodd_ discovers _Iceland_.\n 863. King Halfdan dies, and is succeeded by Harald.\n 864. Gardar visits Iceland.\n 865. Harald\u2019s war with king Gandolf and others.\n 866. Alfheim subdued by Harald.\n 867. He undertakes an expedition to Drontheim.\n 867. _Floke_ sails to Iceland.\n 869. Harald subdues Naumdal; marries Asa.\n 870. Compels Vermeland to submit.\n 870. _Ingiolf_ visits Iceland.\n 871. Harald leads an expedition to western Gothland, and overthrows\n the Goths in battle.\n 872. Takes Sn\u00e6frida to wife. Second expedition into Drontheim.\n 875. Ingulf first settles in Iceland.\n 880. Harald\u2019s nuptials with _Gyda_.\n 881. Nordmor and Raumadal submit to his arms.\n 882. Conquers Sunnmore.\n 883. Occupies the district of Fiord.\n 885. Is victor in the battle of Harfur\u2019s Bay; becomes master of all\n Norway.\n 886. Visits Halogaland.\n 888. Undertakes an expedition to the western sea.\n 890. Cuts his hair, and receives the surname of Harfagre.\n 890. Thorolf is killed in Halogaland.\n 891. _Queldulf_ and Skalgrim, having killed the two sons of duke\n Guthrum, go to Iceland.\n 893. Rognvald, jarl of M\u00f6rio, killed.\n 894. King Harald marries Ragnhilda.\n 895. Harald\u2019s expedition to the Orkney Islands.\n 895. Hrolfus, or Rollo, compelled to leave Norway.\n 896. Enters Neustria or Normandy.\n 898. Eric called Blod\u00f6xe.\n 903. Harald divides his kingdom between his sons.\n 910. Eric of the Bloody Axe undertakes a piratical expedition.\n 918. Takes Gunhilda to wife. Kills Biorn\u2019s brother.\n 923. Hako, afterwards Athelstane\u2019s godson, born.\n 931. Sent to England.\n 932. Harald\u2019s third expedition to the western sea.\n 933. Resigns the kingdom to his son Eric.\n 934. Harald, afterwards called Grafeld, born.\n 935. Halfdan the Black, king of Drontheim, dies.\n 936. Harald Harfagre dies.\n 937. King Erik Blod\u00f6xe kills his brothers Gudred and Olaf.\n 937. Hako, Athelstane\u2019s godson, received as king by the people of\n Drontheim.\n 938. King Erik Blod\u00f6xe, forced to abandon his kingdom and Norway.\n 938. Hako Jarl, the son of Sigurd, born.\n 939. Erik made king of Northumberland.\n 940. King Hako publishes the code of Gulathing.\n 941. Publishes the code of Frosta.\n 941. Death of Athelstane.\n 943. Jamtland, and part of Helsing, added by king Hako to his\n dominions.\n 952. King Erik _Blod\u00f6xe_ falls in battle.\n 953. Erik, the son of Harald, and his brothers, infest Norway.\n 935. Hako\u2019s expedition to Denmark.\n 956. The Christian religion attempted to be introduced into Norway.\n 957. Part of Vikia occupied by the sons of Erik. King Hako defeats\n them and the Danes.\n 958. In another battle, in the island of _Fredey_, they are again\n vanquished. 958. King _Harald Grenske_, father of St. Olaf, born.\n 963. King Hako dies of his wounds.\n 963. The sons of Erik made kings of Norway.\n 965. Jarl Sigurd killed.\n 968. The emperor Otho I.\u2019s expedition into Denmark.\n 968. Sigmund, son of Breste, born.\n 969. The sons of Erik slay the kings Trygve and Gudred.\n 969. Olaf, son of Trygve, born.\n 969. _Jarl Erik_, the son of Hako, born.\n 970. _Jarl Hako_ flees into Denmark.\n 971. Returns to Drontheim.\n 972. Olaf, son of Trygve, comes to Esthonia.\n 974. _Klype_ sent to England by king Sigurd.\n 975. King Sigurd dies. A grievous famine in Norway.\n 976. Jarl Hako goes to Denmark.\n 976. The emperor Otho II.\u2019s expedition to Denmark.\n 977. King Harald Graafeld dies.\n 978. _Harald_, the son of Gorm, received in the kingdom of Norway.\n Hako made jarl of Norway.\n 978. Olaf Trygveson comes to the palace of Valdemar, king of\n Holmgard.\n 979. King _Ragenfred_ recovers part of Norway.\n 980. Overthrown in battle, and forced to leave Norway.\n 981. Erik kills _Skopte_.\n 982. Harald son of Gorm\u2019s expedition into Norway.\n 986. Olaf Trygveson marries Gyra.\n 988. Otho III.\u2019s expedition into Denmark.\n 989. _Gyra_, the wife of Olaf Trygveson, dies.\n 990. Death of Harald, son of Gorm.\n 993. Olaf Trygveson baptized.\n 993. Saint Olaf born.\n 994. Jarl Hako\u2019s war with the Jomsberg pirates.\n 996. Jarl Hako killed; Olaf Trygveson made king of Norway.\n 998. Saint Olaf baptized.\n 1000. Battle in which king Olaf loses his life and kingdom.\n\n The preceding list differs in some respects from that of Suhm. We give\n only the kings from the Tree-cutter to the Saint.\n\n Died\n A.D.\n\n Olaf Tr\u00e6telia 640\n\n Halfdan Whitben 700\n\n Eystein 730\n\n Halfdan Millde 784\n\n Gudred Mikillati 824\n\n Olaf Geirstada 840\n\n Halfdan Swart 863\n\n Harald Haarfager 934\n\n Erik Blod\u00f6xe 940\n\n Hako the Good 963\n\n Harald Graafeld 977\n\n Hako Jarl 995\n\n Olaf Trygveson 1000\n\n Olaf the Saint 1030\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n Here are Danish and Gothic as well as Swedish princes and chiefs who\n had not the regal title. Schoning\u2019s orthography, which we shall not\n alter, often differs from that which we have adopted in the text.\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 48\u201352. p. 57\u201360.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n Ynglinga Saga, cap. 53\u201355. p. 60\u201364.\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n Snorro Sturleson, Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 1-3. (apud\n Heimskringlam, tom. i. p. 65, &c.).\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 3, 4. p. 67, 68.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 5-7. p. 68\u201372. (apud Heimskringlam\n Snorronis, tom. i.).\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 7-9.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n The brother of Ragnilda; see page 165.\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n Harald\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 1, 2. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis,\n tom. i. p. 75\u201377.).\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 3-6. p. 77\u201380.\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n Transcriber\u2019s Note: the footnote marker on page 170 has no\n corresponding footnote text.\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 6\u201313.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n Missing footnote text at bottom of page.\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n These words are remarkable, and they confirm the observations which we\n made in the preceding chapter.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 13\u201318. p. 88\u201393.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 18, 19. p. 93\u201395. The following is\n the ode of Hornkloft, as translated by the Hon. W. Herbert, and, in\n some trifling respects, improved by Mr. Wheaton:\u2014\n\n \u201cLoud in Hafur\u2019s echoing bay,\n Heard ye the din of battle bray,\n \u2019Twixt Ki\u00f6tve rich, and Harald bold?\n Eastward sails the ships of war;\n The graven bucklers gleam afar,\n And dragons\u2019 heads adorn the prows of gold.\n\n \u201cGlittering shields of purest white,\n And swords, and Celtic falchions bright,\n And western chiefs the vessels bring:\n Loudly roar the wolfish rout,\n And maddening champions wildly shout.\n And long and loud the twisted hauberks ring.\n\n \u201cFirm in fight they proudly vie\n With Him whose might will make them fly,\n Of Eastmen kings the warlike head.\n Forth his gallant fleet he drew,\n Soon as the hope of battle grew,\n But many a buckler brake ere Haklang bled.\n\n \u201cFled the lusty Ki\u00f6tve then\n Before the Fair-haired king of Men,\n And bade the islands shield his flight.\n Warriors wounded in the fray,\n Beneath the thwarts all gasping lay,\n Where, headlong cast, they mourn\u2019d the loss of light.\n\n \u201cGall\u2019d by many a massive stone\n (Their golden shields behind them thrown),\n Homeward the grieving warriors speed;\n Swift from Hafur\u2019s bay they hie:\n East-mountaineers o\u2019er Jardar fly,\n And thirst for goblets of the sparkling mead.\u201d\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 19\u201325. p. 95\u2013103. Sn\u00e6frida was,\n probably, a supernatural damsel\u2014at least, on one side. So was\n Guendolen, in the bridal of Triermain; but the British Arthur broke\n the charm which bound _him_ in three months, while Harald was\n spell-bound for as many years. The description in Scott is exquisite.\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 26.\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, passim. Fragmentum Islandicum de Regibus\n Dano-Norvegicis (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. ii.).\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, passim. Fragmentum Islandicum de Regibus\n Dano-Norvegicis (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. ii.).\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 34.\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagre, cap. 45.\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n Wallingford, Chronicon, p. 540. Theodoric, Historia Norwegica, cap. 2.\n Snorro, Haralld\u2019s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 42, 43.; necnon Saga Hakonar\n Goda, cap. 1.\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n Matth\u00e6i Westmonasteriensis Historia, p. 369. Simeonis Dunelmensis\n Hist. 204. Arembs de Mailros, p. 148. Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 3, 4. p.\n 127\u2013129.\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 4-15., passim.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n See Introduction, page 33.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n Saga Hakonar Goda, p. 139.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n That on the constitution and laws of the ancient Scandinavians, in the\n next volume of this compendium.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 17.\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 17\u201319.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 20\u201325.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 25\u201332.\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n This Song of Hako\u2014Hakonar Mal\u2014has been rendered into English verse by\n the Hon. W. Herbert.\n\nFootnote 195:\n\n See the chapter on the subject in Vol. II. of this compendium.\n\nFootnote 196:\n\n Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 33.\n\nFootnote 197:\n\n Saga of Haralldi Grafelld Konungi de Hakoni Jarli Sigurdar Syni, cap.\n 1-10. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis, tom. i. p. 165\u2013179.).\n\nFootnote 198:\n\n Saga af Haralldi Grafelld Konungi, &c., cap. 11\u201313.\n\nFootnote 199:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 1-16.\n\nFootnote 200:\n\n Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 16\u201337.\n\nFootnote 201:\n\n Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 38\u201349. p. 229\u2013245.\n\nFootnote 202:\n\n The same authority.\n\nFootnote 203:\n\n Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 1-3. p. 187, &c. Historia\n Olavi Tryggvii-filii tom. i. cap. 44. p 86\u201390. Hafni\u00e6, 1828.\n\n The latter work, for which we are indebted to the Icelandic Society of\n Copenhagen, has many interesting particulars omitted by Snorro. It was\n composed by Gunlaug, a monk of Iceland, in the thirteenth century.\n\nFootnote 204:\n\n Saga af Olafi Konungi-iSyni, cap. 4. Historia Olavi Tryggvii-filii,\n tom. i. cap. 45.\n\nFootnote 205:\n\n Now a part of Russia, to the east and south of the Gulf of Finland.\n\nFootnote 206:\n\n Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 4-21. Historia Olavi\n Tryggvii-filii, tom. i. cap. 46, &c.\n\nFootnote 207:\n\n See before, page 108.\n\nFootnote 208:\n\n Saga Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 21\u201335. p. 211\u2013227. Historia\n Olavi Regis, tom. i. cap. 73\u201382. p. 157\u2013175.\n\nFootnote 209:\n\n See before, page 205.\n\nFootnote 210:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 211:\n\n Of these associates no mention is made by Snorro, and we think his\n authority preferable to that of Gunlaug.\n\nFootnote 212:\n\n Saga of Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 51, 52. p. 246\u2013248. Historia\n Olavi Tryggvii-filii, cap. 93, 94, 98.\n\nFootnote 213:\n\n This symbol in Christian times was superseded by the _cross_. See the\n notes to Scott\u2019s \u201cLady of the Lake.\u201d\n\nFootnote 214:\n\n 2 Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 52, 53. Historia Olavi\n Tryggvii-filii, tom. i. cap. 99\u2013102.\n\nFootnote 215:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 216:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 53\u201356. Historia Olavi Tryggvii-filii,\n tom. i. cap. 103, 104.\n\nFootnote 217:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 218:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 57\u201365. Historia Olavi Tryggvii-filii,\n tom. i. cap 106. et seq.\n\nFootnote 219:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 66\u201371.\n\nFootnote 220:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 72\u201374. Historia Olavi, tom. ii. cap.\n 165.\n\nFootnote 221:\n\n See before, page 214.\n\nFootnote 222:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 72\u201374. Historia Olafi, tom. ii. cap.\n 165.\n\nFootnote 223:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 84\u201387. Historia Olavi, tom. ii.\n\nFootnote 224:\n\n Historia Olavi, cap. 172.\n\nFootnote 225:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 66, 98\u2013100. Historia Olavi, tom. ii.\n cap. 195.\n\nFootnote 226:\n\n See before, page 115.\n\nFootnote 227:\n\n Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 100. ad finem. Historia Olavi, tom.\n iii. cap. 256, &c.\n\nFootnote 228:\n\n See before, page 122.\n\nFootnote 229:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 1 &c. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti tom.\n i.\n\nFootnote 230:\n\n See before, page 204.\n\nFootnote 231:\n\n Saga af Olafi Konungs hinns Helga, cap. 1-4. Historia Regis Olavi\n Sancti, tom. i. cap. 18\u201325. p. 31\u201336.\n\nFootnote 232:\n\n See before, page 121.\n\nFootnote 233:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 4-26. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. i. cap. 25\u201342.\n\nFootnote 234:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 26\u201332. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. i. p. 69\u201378.\n\nFootnote 235:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 26\u201332. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. i. p. 69\u201378.\n\nFootnote 236:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 36\u201342. Historia Olavi Regis Sancti,\n tom. i.\n\nFootnote 237:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 36\u201342. Historia Olavi Regis Sancti,\n tom. i.\n\nFootnote 238:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga (ad cap. 56.). Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. i. (ad cap. 60.).\n\nFootnote 239:\n\n Saga of Olafi hinns Helga (ad cap. 56.). Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. i. (ad cap. 60.).\n\nFootnote 240:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 60\u201381. Historia Regis Olafi, tom. i.\n (pluribus capitibus).\n\nFootnote 241:\n\n This allusion will be hereafter explained.\n\nFootnote 242:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinns Helga. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti.\n\nFootnote 243:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 244:\n\n Saga af Olafi hins Helga, cap. 72\u201374. p. 89\u201395. Historia Olavi Regis,\n tom. i. p. 141, &c.\n\nFootnote 245:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 246:\n\n Saga af Olafi hins Helga, cap. 110\u2013116. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. i.\n\nFootnote 247:\n\n Alluding, we suppose, to his pointed mitre.\n\nFootnote 248:\n\n Saga of Olafi hins Helga, cap. 117\u2013120. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. i.\n\nFootnote 249:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 250:\n\n Saga af Olafi hins Helga, cap. 154\u2013159. Saxonis Grammatici, lib. x. p.\n 194. Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. liv. ii. p. 139, &c.\n\nFootnote 251:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x. p. 194. Snorronis\n Heimskringla, tom. ii. p. 271.\n\nFootnote 252:\n\n This has a parallel in the Mohammedan governor of Calcutta, whom no\n one durst awake when the English were dying in the Black Hole.\n\nFootnote 253:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinom Helga, cap. 166\u2013180. Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan.\n lib. x.\n\nFootnote 254:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinom Helga, cap. 180\u2013191. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti\n tom. ii.\n\nFootnote 255:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 256:\n\n Saga af Olafi hinom Helga, cap. 211, &c. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,\n tom. iii. (pluribus capitibus).\n\nFootnote 257:\n\n Saga af Olafi, cap. 131. Historia Regis Olavi, tom. ii. cap. 120.\n\nFootnote 258:\n\n See Appendix A.\n\nFootnote 259:\n\n See Appendix B.\n\nFootnote 260:\n\n Eutropius, Epitome. Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. cap. 1.\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. i. et ii.\n\nFootnote 261:\n\n See before, page 158.\n\nFootnote 262:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. Depping, Histoire des\n Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, tom. i. chap. 1.\n\nFootnote 263:\n\n Eutropius, Epitome, lib. ix. cap. 13. Tacitus, de Moribus Germanorum,\n cap. 44.\n\nFootnote 264:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan., passim. Depping, Histoire, tom. i.\n chap. 3.\n\nFootnote 265:\n\n Turner\u2019s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 147.\n\nFootnote 266:\n\n Turner\u2019s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 152, &c.\n\nFootnote 267:\n\n See England, by Sir James Mackintosh, vol. i.; and Europe during the\n Middle Ages, vol. iii.\n\nFootnote 268:\n\n The Saxon Chronicle (sub annis).\n\nFootnote 269:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. v.\n\nFootnote 270:\n\n Turner\u2019s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.\n\nFootnote 271:\n\n See before, page 150.\n\nFootnote 272:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. Ynlinga Saga, cap. 46.\n\nFootnote 273:\n\n See page 120.\n\nFootnote 274:\n\n Turner\u2019s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. Europe during the Middle Ages, vol.\n iii.\n\nFootnote 275:\n\n Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. iii.\n\nFootnote 276:\n\n See Mackintosh\u2019s England, vol. i.; and Europe during the Middle Ages,\n vol. iii.\n\nFootnote 277:\n\n Turner\u2019s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.\n\nFootnote 278:\n\n The Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 937. Johnstone, Antiquitates Celto-Scandic\u00e6,\n p. 31. See Europe during the Middle Ages, vols. iii. and iv.\n\nFootnote 279:\n\n See page 187.\n\nFootnote 280:\n\n See page 117.\n\nFootnote 281:\n\n The French historians in the collection of Bouquet.\n\nFootnote 282:\n\n See his reign, in the chapter on Denmark, page 102. Wace, Roman de\n Rou, tom. i. part i.\n\nFootnote 283:\n\n Wace, Roman de Rou, tom. i. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia Danorum\n extra Daniam, tom. i. p. 225, &c. Depping, Histoire des Expeditions\n Maritimes des Normands, tom. i. chap. 4.\n\nFootnote 284:\n\n Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia Danorum, tom. i. p. 117\u2013119. Wace,\n Roman de Rou, tom. i. part i. For a parallel incident in Danish\n history, see before, page 27.\n\nFootnote 285:\n\n Wace, Roman de Ron, tom. i. part i. Benoit de St. Maur, Chronique des\n Ducs de Normandie, liv. i. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia Danorum,\n tom. i. p. 214.\n\nFootnote 286:\n\n Wace\u2014Dudo de St. Quentin\u2014Benoit de St. Maur\u2014Pontoppidan.\n\nFootnote 287:\n\n Wace, Roman de Rou, tom. i. part ii. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia,\n tom. i. (sub annis).\n\nFootnote 288:\n\n De la sainte _Kemise_ ke la dame vesti,\n Ki mere e vierge fu quant de lie dex naski,\n Out Rou si grant pour et tant s\u2019en, esbahi,\n N\u2019i osa arester; vers als nes tost s\u2019enfui.\n\nFootnote 289:\n\n Abbonis Floriacensis Poema de Obsidione Parisiensi, lib. i. et ii.\n Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia, tom. i. p. 244\u2013264. Wace, Roman de\n Rou, part ii. Depping, Histoire des Expeditions, tom. ii. chap. 7.\n\nFootnote 290:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 291:\n\n Authorities:\u2014Dudo of St. Quentin, Wace, Benoit of St. Maur,\n Pontoppidan, and Depping. The last-named writer makes a sad confusion\n of the chronology.\n\nFootnote 292:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 293:\n\n Authorities:\u2014Dudo of St. Quentin, Wace, Pontoppidan, Depping.\n\nFootnote 294:\n\n Moore\u2019s History of Ireland, vol. ii.\n\nFootnote 295:\n\n Saxonis Grammatici, Hist. Dan. lib. i. tom. v. War\u00e6us, De\n Antiquitatibus Hiberni\u00e6, cap. 24. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia, tom.\n ii. p. 299, &c. Moore, History of Ireland, vol. ii. chap. xv. and xvi.\n\nFootnote 296:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 297:\n\n Authorities:\u2014Saxo Grammaticus, Pontoppidan, and the Irish Chronicles,\n as quoted by Usher and Moore.\n\nFootnote 298:\n\n The same authorities.\n\nFootnote 299:\n\n Depping, Histoire, tom. ii. Moore, History, vol. ii. Pontoppidan,\n Gesta et Vestigia, tom. ii.\n\n\n\n\n ------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n LONDON:\n Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE,\n New-Street-Square.\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n THE\n\n CABINET OF HISTORY.\n\n CONDUCTED BY THE\n\n REV. DIONYSIUS LARDNER, LL.D. F.R.S. L. & E.\n M.R.I.A. F.R.A.S. F.L.S. F.Z.S. Hon. F.C.P.S. &c. &c.\n\n\n ASSISTED BY\n\n\n EMINENT LITERARY MEN.\n\n\n ------------------\n\n\n DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.\n\n\n BY THE AUTHOR OF\n\n THE \u201cHISTORY OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.\u201d\n\n VOL. I.\n\n\n ------------------\n\n\n LONDON:\n\n PRINTED FOR\n\n LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS,\n\n PATERNOSTER-ROW;\n\n AND JOHN TAYLOR,\n\n UPPER GOWER STREET.\n\n 1839.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n LONDON:\n Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE,\n New-Street-Square.\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n\u25cf Transcriber\u2019s note:\n\n \u25cb All footnotes have been gathered together and placed at after\n the Appendix.\n\n \u25cb The footnote marker number 173 attached to the text \u201cscarcely\n habitable by men\u201d on page 170 was not attached to any footnote\n text.\n\n \u25cb Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.\n\n \u25cb Typographical errors were silently corrected.\n\n \u25cb Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only\n when a predominant form was found in this book.","title":"History of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Vol. 1 (of 2)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":122218}