The Story of Norway

by Hjalmar H. Boyesen

THE STORY OF THE NATIONS
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The Story of the Nations
THE

STORY OF NORWAY

HJALMAR H. BOYESEN

PREFACE.

It has been my ambition for many years to write a history of Norway, chiefly because no such book, worthy of the name, exists in the English language. When the publishers of the present volume proposed to me to write the story of my native land, I therefore eagerly accepted their offer. The story, however, according to their plan, was to differ in some important respects from a regular history. It was to dwell particularly upon the dramatic phases of historical events, and concern itself but slightly with the growth of institutions and sociological phenomena. It therefore necessarily takes small account of proportion. In the present volume more space is given to the national hero, Olaf Tryggvesson, whose brief reign was crowded with dramatic events, than to kings who reigned ten times as long. For the same reason the four centuries of the Union with Denmark are treated with comparative brevity. Many things happened, no doubt, during those centuries, but "there were few deeds." Moreover, the separate history of Norway, in the time of her degradation, has never proved an attractive theme to Norse historians, for which reason the period has been generally neglected.

The principal sources of which I have availed myself in the preparation of the present volume, are Snorre Sturlasson: Norges Kongesagaer (Christiania, 1859, 2 vols.); P. A. Munch: Det Norske Folks Historie (Christiania, 1852, 6 vols.); R. Keyser: Efterladte Skrifter (Christiania, 1866, 2 vols.); Samlede Afhandlinger (1868); J. E. Sars: Udsigt over den Norske Historie (Christiania, 1877, 2 vols.); K. Maurer: Die Bekehrung des Norwegischen Stammes zum Christenthume (München, 1856, 2 vols.), and Die Entstehung des Isländischen Staates (München, 1852); G. Vigfusson: Sturlunga Saga (Oxford, 1878, 2 vols.); and Um tímatal í Islendinga sögum i fornöld (contained in Safn til sögu Islands, 1855); G. Storm: Snorre Sturlasson's Historieskrivning (Kjöbenhavn, 1878); C. F. Allen: Haandbog i Fædrelandets Historie (Kjöbenhavn, 1863); besides a large number of scattered articles in German and Scandinavian historical magazines. A question which has presented many difficulties is the spelling of proper names. To adopt in every instance the ancient Icelandic form would scarcely be practicable, because the names in their modernized forms are usually familiar and easy to pronounce, while, in their Icelandic disguises, they are to English readers nearly unpronounceable, and present a needlessly forbidding appearance. Where a name has no well-recognized English equivalent, I have therefore adopted the modern Norwegian form, which usually differs from the ancient, in having dropped a final letter. Thus Sigurdr (which with an English genitive would be Sigurdr's) becomes in modern Norwegian Sigurd, Eirikr, Erik, etc. Those surnames, which are descriptive epithets, I have translated where they are easily translatable, thus writing Harold the Fairhaired, Haakon the Good, Olaf the Saint, etc. Absolute consistency would, however, give to some names a too cumbrous look, as, for instance, Einar the Twanger of Thamb (Thamb being the name of his bow), and I have in such instances kept the Norse name (Thambarskelver).

It is a pleasant duty to acknowledge my indebtedness for valuable criticism to my friends, E. Munroe Smith, J.U.D., Adjunct Professor of History in Columbia College, and Hon. Rasmus B. Andersen, United States Minister to Denmark, without whose kindly aid in procuring books, maps, etc., the difficulties in the preparation of the present volume would have been much increased. I am also under obligation to Dr. W. H. Carpenter, of Columbia College, and to the Norwegian artist, Mr. H. N. Gausta, of La Crosse, Wis., who has kindly sent me two spirited original compositions, illustrative of peasant-life in Norway.

Hjalmar H. Boyesen.
Columbia College,
New York, April 15, 1886.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE STORY OF NORWAY.

CHAPTER I.

WHO WERE THE NORSEMEN?

The Norsemen are a Germanic race, and belong, accordingly, to the great Aryan family. Their next of kin are the Swedes and Danes. Their original home was Asia, and probably that part of Asia which the ancients called Bactria, near the sources of the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes. Not only the Norsemen are supposed to have come from this region, but the ancestors of all the Aryan nations which now inhabit the greater portion of the civilized world. Among the first to leave this cradle of nations were the tribes which settled upon the eastern islands and peninsulas of the Mediterranean, and, under the name of Hellenes, developed, long before the Christian era, an art and a literature which are, in some respects, yet unrivalled. The early Italic tribes, from which sprung in time the world-empire of Rome, trace their descent from the same ancestry; as do also the Kelts, who in ancient times inhabited England, Ireland, and France; the Slavs who settled in the present Russia, Bohemia, and the northern Turkish provinces; and the Germans, who occupied the great central regions of the European continent. Among Asiatic nations, the Iranians inhabiting Persia, and the Hindoos in India, have Aryan blood.

It seems almost incredible that persons differing so widely in appearance, habits, and disposition, as, for instance, a Hindoo and an Englishman, should, if you go sufficiently far back, have the same ancestry. And yet there cannot be the slightest doubt that such is the case. The question, then, naturally arises: "If they were once alike, what can have made them so different?" And the answer is: "The climate, the soil, and the general character of the countries in which they settled."

The country from which the first Aryans emigrated was mountainous, with fertile valleys, and an even, temperate climate. There was no excessive heat to make men drowsy and indolent, nor excessive cold to stunt them in their growth and paralyze their energies. The earth did not, as in the tropics, produce a luxurious vegetation which would support the inhabitants without labor, but it offered sustenance to herds of cattle which, with the proper care, would supply the simple needs of primitive men. The race, thus situated, progressed physically as well as mentally, until it became superior to all the tribes inhabiting the neighboring regions. War followed, in which the weaker succumbed. The Aryans, increasing rapidly in numbers, took possession of the conquered territories, enslaved the indigenous population, or drove it back into localities where the conditions of life were less favorable. It is not positively known when the first migration on a large scale took place; but some scholars have supposed that the Hindoos separated from the parent race as early as 1500 B.C. The dates of the Greek, Italic, Keltic, and Slavic migrations are likewise uncertain, and the period which has been fixed upon for the Aryan occupation of Germany is also conjectural. The same uncertainty prevails regarding the earliest history of the Scandinavian tribes; although there is a strong probability that their invasion of the countries which they now inhabit must have taken place during the second century preceding the Christian era. It is not unlikely that they left their Asiatic home simultaneously with the Germans, with whom they were then almost, if not entirely, identical, and that their conquering hordes spread northward, subduing the Finns and Lapps, whom they found in possession of the land, partly exterminating them, partly forcing them up into the barren mountains of the extreme North. Among the tribes whose path of conquest was turned in this direction, the Goths (Gauter), the Swedes (Svear), and the Danes (Daner) were the most prominent, though several other names are mentioned, both by native and foreign authors. The name Norseman, or Northman, is not found among these, because it refers not to any of the Aryan tribes, but is solely derived from the country in which they settled. Their country soon became known as Norway (Noregr or Norvegr), i. e., the Northern Way. It is the long strip of territory extending north and south between the mountain chain Kjölen, which separates it from Sweden and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. It looks on the map like a big bag slung across the shoulders of Sweden.

It is a wonderful country—this land of the Norsemen. The ocean roars along its rock-bound coast, and during the long, dark winter the storms howl and rage, and hurl the waves in white showers of spray against the sky. Great swarms of sea-birds drift like snow over the waters, and circle screaming around the lonely cliffs. The aurora borealis flashes like a huge shining fan over the northern heavens, and the stars glitter with a keen frosty splendor. But in the summer all this is changed, suddenly, as by a miracle. Then the sun shines warmly, even within the polar circle; innumerable wild flowers sprout forth, the swelling rivers dance singing to the sea, and the birches mingle their light-green foliage with the darker needles of the pines. In the northern districts it is light throughout the night, even during the few hours while the sun dips beneath the horizon; the ocean spreads like a great burnished mirror under the cloudless sky, the fishes leap, and the gulls and eider-ducks rock tranquilly upon the shining waters. All along the coast there are excellent harbors, which are free of ice both winter and summer. A multitude of islands, some rocky and barren, others covered with a scant growth of grass and trees, afford hiding-places for ships and pasturage for cattle. Moreover, long arms of the ocean—the so-called fiords—penetrate far into the country, and being filled with water from the gulf-stream which strikes the western coast of Norway, tend greatly to moderate the climate. About the shores of these fiords narrow strips of arable land stretch themselves, with many interruptions, along the edge of the water, and here the early Germanic settlers built their houses and began their fight for existence. Behind them and before them the great snow-hooded mountains rose threateningly, sending down upon them avalanches, floods, and sudden whirlwinds. But, nothing daunted, they clung to the soil, explored the land and the sea, and selected the most favorable sites for their permanent dwellings.

STONE AXES FROM THE LATER STONE AGE.

It is tolerably certain that the Aryan settlers in Norway knew at that time very little of agriculture, but made their living by hunting, fishing, and cattle-raising. The huts which they built of logs were rude contrivances which could be easily torn down and moved. But, as at a very early period, they began to devote themselves more to the culture of the ground, their dwellings were made larger, and were built with greater care. When a horde of warriors invaded a valley their first task was to clear away the forests which grew dense and dark up over the mountain sides. Their chieftain then built a hov or temple for the gods, where sacrifices were made at certain stated times. Whether it was the chieftain's task to allot to each his share of land, or whether each one chose according to his own preference, is not known, but the former is the more probable; for the Norsemen, proud and pugnacious as they were, subordinated themselves, in historic times, readily to their local chiefs, and accorded them great honor. This sense of kinship within the tribe and willing recognition of authority was the more important in Norway, because the character of the ground there compelled the people to live far apart on scattered gaards or farms, between which communication was often difficult. It would therefore have been easy for the bönder or peasants to forget all public concerns and gradually to lapse into isolation and savagery. But here their Germanic nature, which had in it the germs of social progress, asserted itself. As the centuries passed the people were bound more strongly together by common pursuits and common interests. First of all, their religious observances brought them together, then the necessity of defence against external enemies. Life and property were in those days insecure possessions, and it was only by acting in concert, under the leadership of a valiant chief, that the scattered peasants could hope to preserve either. Men had then fiercer and more inflammable passions than they have now, and only fear of retaliation could teach them self-restraint.

STONE HAMMER.

STONE USED FOR SHAPING IMPLEMENTS.

It happened in this way that almost every separate valley in Norway became a little kingdom by itself. Such a diminutive kingdom was called a fylki. There was not always a king, but a chief there was always, and sometimes more than one. To the king belonged the leadership in war. He was in some district called a jarl or earl, though this name came in later times to mean not an independent ruler, but rather a land-grave, a royal governor. The king could not tax the peasants for his support, nor impose any burden upon them which they did not of their own free choice accept. As a rule, his dignity was inherited by his son, though the people were at liberty, in case they disapproved of the heir, to select another. This right was repeatedly exercised in historic times, both in Sweden and Norway. Sometimes, when the crops failed or bad weather destroyed their herds, the peasants sacrificed their king to their gods. All public misfortunes they interpreted as a sign that the gods were angry, and craved bloody atonement. If the crops were good it was evident that their king was in favor with the gods.

STONE KNIFE.

It thus appears that the royal dignity among the early Norsemen was burdened with unpleasant responsibilities. It involved more duties than privileges, for, besides commanding in war, the king had also to conduct the public sacrifices at the great pagan festivals. He was thus priest as well as king. In fact, as before stated, he built the hov or temple himself, and it was chiefly his ownership of this, which raised him to a dignity superior to that of other chieftains. It was by dint of this same authority that he acted as judge at the fylkis thing, or popular assembly, where all freeman met to consult concerning public and private affairs. The fylkis thing was neither a parliament nor a court of law, but both combined. Private quarrels were settled, blood-wites or fines agreed upon for homicides and other injuries, and resolutions taken concerning peace and war. It was not a representative assembly, the members of which were elected by vote, but rather a county meeting (shiremote) where every man who could bear arms had a right to make himself heard. You would scarcely wonder that where so many fierce and turbulent warriors were gathered, breaches of the peace were frequent. But when swords were drawn, it was impossible to judge and deliberate. Therefore the fylkis thing was hallowed, and to break the peace of the thing was regarded as the greatest of crimes. If a man killed another, and publicly proclaimed himself his slayer, the crime could be atoned for by money (blood-wite) paid to the nearest surviving relative of the dead man. If the relatives accepted the blood-wite, they were not at liberty to seek revenge. But in ancient times it was regarded as more honorable to refuse the money and resort to the sword. If a man slew another secretly and denied the crime he was held to be a murderer, and could not offer blood-wite. He was then outlawed, and every man who saw him was at liberty to slay him.

ADZE OF ELK-HORN.----- STONE WEDGE

ROCK PICTURE OF A SHIP AT LOKEBERG IN BOHUSLEN.

Such were the Norsemen during the first centuries after their settlement in their present home. In spite of their violence and proneness to bloodshed, you will yet admit that they had many traits which were admirable. They could recognize authority, and yet preserve their sturdy sense of independence. Simple and imperfect as their fylkis things were, they suffice to show an aptitude for self-government, and a recognition of the people itself, as the source of authority. These tall blonde men with their defiant blue eyes, who obeyed their kings while they had confidence in them, and killed them when they had forfeited their respect, were the ancestors of the Normans who under William the Conqueror invaded England, and founded the only European state which has since reached the highest civilization and the highest liberty, through slow and even stages of orderly development.

CHAPTER II.

THE RELIGION OF THE NORSEMEN.

The Icelander Snorre Sturlasson wrote in the thirteenth century a very remarkable book, called the Heimskringla, or the Sagas of the Kings of Norway. In this book he says that Odin, the highest god of the Norsemen, was the chief who first led the Germanic tribes into Europe. He was a great warrior and was always victorious. Therefore, when he was dead, the people made sacrifices to him and prayed to him for victory. They did not believe, however, that he was actually dead, but that he had returned to his old home in Asia, whence he still watched their fortunes and occasionally visited them in person. Many tales are told in the sagas of people who had seen Odin, particularly when a great battle was to be fought. He was represented as a tall, bearded man with one eye, and clad as a warrior. He had two brothers, Vile and Ve, and many sons and daughters who were worshipped like him and became gods and goddesses. Odin and his children were called Aesir, which Snorre says means Asia-men; and their home Asgard, or Asaheim, likewise indicates their Asiatic origin. During their migrations the Aesir came in contact with another people, called the Vanir, with whom, after an indecisive battle, they formed an alliance. The Vanir then made common cause with the Aesir and were worshipped like them.

BRONZE SWORD. (Vestergötland in Sweden.)

Whether there is any basis of truth in this tradition, is difficult to determine. We know that primitive nations usually make gods of their early kings and chieftains, and worship them after death. Every year that passes makes them look greater and more mysterious. In storms and earthquakes, in thunder and lightning, they hear their voices and see the manifestations of their power. More and more they become identified with the elements which they are supposed to rule; the mighty attributes of the sun, the sky, and the sea are given to them, and to each is allotted his particular sphere of action. The chieftain who has been a valiant warrior in his life-time is supposed to give victory to those who call upon him. He who has excelled in the arts of peace continues to rule over the seasons, and to give good crops and prosperity to those who, by sacrifices, secure his good-will. This may have been the origin of the Scandinavian gods; although many scholars maintain that they were from the beginning personifications of the elements, and have never had an actual existence on earth. But whether they were originally men or sun-myths, interesting legends have been told about them which may be worth recounting.

LOOR OR WAR HORN OF BRONZE. (Skaane.)

In the beginning of time there were two worlds, Muspelheim, the world of fire, whose king was Surtur, and Niflheim, the world of frost and darkness. In Niflheim was the spring Hvergelmer, where dwelt the terrible dragon Nidhögger. Between these two worlds was the yawning chasm Ginnungagap. The spring Hvergelmer sent forth twelve icy rivers, which were called the Elivagar. These gradually filled up the chasm Ginnungagap. As the wild waters rushed into the abyss, they froze and were again thawed by the sparks that were blown from the fiery Muspelheim. The frozen vapors fell as hoar-frost, and the heat imparted life to them. They took shape and fashioned themselves into the Yotun or giant Ymer, from whom descends the evil race of frost-giants. Simultaneously with Ymer the cow Audhumbla came into being. She licked the briny hoar-frost, and a mighty being appeared with the shape of a man. He was large and beautiful, and was named Bure. His son was Bör, who married the daughter of a Yotun, and got three sons, Odin, Vile, and Ve. These three brothers slew the Yotun Ymer, and in his blood all the race of Yotuns was drowned except one couple, from whom a new race of giants descended. Then Odin and his brothers dragged the huge body of Ymer into the middle of Ginnungagap, and fashioned from it the world. Out of the flesh they made the earth, the bones became stones and lofty mountains, and his blood the sea. From his hair they made the trees, and from his skull the great vault of the sky. His brain they scattered in the air, where its fragments yet float about in queer, fantastic shapes, and are called clouds. The flying sparks from Muspelheim they gathered up and fashioned them into sun, moon, and stars, which they flung up against the blue vault of the sky. Then they arranged land and water so that the ocean flowed round about the entire earth, and beyond the watery waste they fixed the abode of the Yotuns. This cold and barren realm beyond the sea is therefore called Utgard or Yotunheim. From the earth to the sky they suspended a bridge of many colors, which they named Bifrost or the rainbow. The Yotun woman Night married Delling (the Dawn) and became the mother of Day, who rode in his shining chariot across the sky, always followed by his dark mother. The latter drove a huge black horse named Hrimfaxe, from whose foamy bit dropped the dew that refreshed the grass during the hours of darkness, while Day's horse, Skinfaxe, spread from his radiant mane the glorious light over the earth. It is further told that the heat bred in Ymer's body a multitude of maggots, which assumed the shapes of tiny men and were called gnomes or dwarves. They live in caves and mountains, and know of all the treasures of gold and silver and precious stones in the secret chambers of the rocks. They also have great skill in the working of metals, but they cannot endure the light of the sun. Last of all man was created. One day when the three gods, Odin, Höner, and Lodur were walking on the shores of the sea they found two trees, and from these they made a man and a woman, named Ask and Embla (ash and elm). Odin gave them the breath of life, Höner, speech and reason, Lodur, blood and fair complexions.

BRONZE SWORD. (Sandherred.)

The old Norsemen conceived of the world as an enormous ash tree, named Ygdrasil, the three roots of which extend, one to the gods in Asgard, another to Yotunheim, the third to Niflheim. On the third gnaws continually the dragon Nidhögger. In the top of the tree sits an eagle; among the branches four stags are running; and up and down on the trunk frisks a squirrel who carries slander and endeavors to make mischief between the eagle and the dragon. Under the root which stretches to Yotunheim is the fountain of the wise Yotun Mimer, to whom Odin gave one of his eyes in return for a draught from his fountain. For whoever drank from its water became instantly wise. Under the second root of the ash, which draws its nourishment from heaven, is the sacred fountain of Urd, whither the gods ride daily over the bridge Bifrost. Here they meet the three Norns—Urd, Verdande, and Skuld (Past, Present, and Future), the august goddesses of Fate, whose decrees not even the gods are able to change. The Norns pour the water of the fountain over Ygdrasil's root, and thereby keep the world-tree alive. They govern the fates of gods and men, giving life or death to whomever they please.

BUCKLE FROM THE EARLY IRON AGE. FOUND AT HETLAND IN STAVANGER AMT.

Odin dwells with all the other gods in Asgard, where he receives in his shining hall Valhalla all those who have died by the sword. He is therefore called Valfather, and those fallen warriors whom he chooses to be his guests, are known as einheriar, i. e., great champions. Valhalla is splendidly decorated with burnished weapons. The ceiling is made of spears, the roof is covered with shining shields, and the walls are adorned with armor and coats of mail. Hence the champions issue forth every day and fight great battles, killing and maiming each other. But every night they wake up whole and unscathed and return to Odin's hall, where they spend the night in merry carousing. The maidens of Odin—the Valkyries, who, before every battle, select those who are to be slain, wait upon the warriors, fill their great horns with mead, and give them the flesh of swine to eat.

The great gathering-place of the gods in Asgard is the plains of Ida. Here is Odin's throne, where he sits looking out over the whole world. At his side sit the two wolves—Gere and Freke, and on his shoulders the ravens, Hugin and Munin, who daily fly forth and bear him tidings from the remotest regions of the earth. If he wishes to travel, he mounts his eight-footed horse Sleipner, which carries him far and wide with wonderful speed. When the father of gods and men rides to battle he wears a helmet of gold and a suit of mail, which shines dazzlingly from afar. He carries also his spear Gungner, which he sends forth whenever he wishes to arouse men to warfare and strife. But, besides being the god of war, Odin also delights in poetry and sage counsel. He is the god of the scalds or poets; for he had drunk of Suttung's mead, which imparted the gift of song. He is well skilled in sorcery, and has taught men the art of writing runes.

Thor, the son of Odin, lives in Thrudvang. He is the strongest of all the gods, and has an enormous hammer, Mjolner, with which he carries on a ceaseless warfare against the Yotuns, or mist-giants. He rides in a cart drawn by two rams across the Gjallar bridge (the resounding bridge), which leads to Yotunheim, and the rattling of the cart and the noise of his hammer, as he hurls it at the heads of the fleeing giants, make the vault of the sky tremble. This is what men call thunder. When Thor is hungry, he kills his rams and eats their flesh, but he is always careful to gather up the bones and to throw them back into the skins. Then, the next morning, the rams are as frisky as ever and ready for service. Thor has a wife named Sif, whose hair is of gold.

Balder, the good and the beautiful, is also the son of Odin. He is wise and gentle, and kindness beams from his countenance. His wife is Nanna, and his dwelling Breidablik.

Njord is ruler of the sea, and can raise storms and calm the waves at his pleasure. He is of the race of the Vanir, but is yet worshipped as a god. He is the owner of great wealth, and can give prosperity to those who obtain his favor. Njord was married to the Yotun woman, Skade, but was again separated from her. His abode is at Noatun, from which he has wide view of the sea.

Frey, the son of Njord, rules over the seasons, and gives peace and good crops. Fields and pastures grow, and the cattle thrive in the sunshine of his favor. He lives with his wife Gerd in Alfheim. Tyr is the god of courage, whom men call upon as they are about to go into battle. He has but one hand, having thrust the other into the mouth of the Fenris-Wolf, who bit it off. Brage is the god of song, and of vows and pledges. He has a long beard, and, is possessed of wisdom and eloquence. When men drained the horn in his honor, they made vows of daring deeds which they would perform, and called the god to witness that they would keep them. Many were those who, while drunk, pledged themselves to foolhardy undertakings, and perished in the attempt to carry them out. Brage's wife is the ever-young Idun. She has in her keeping the wonderful apples, which the gods eat to preserve the beauty and vigor of an eternal youth.

The watchman of the gods is named Heimdal. His senses are so keen that nothing can escape him. He can see hundreds of miles, and he can hear the grass grow. When he blows his Gjallar horn (the resounding horn), its rousing call is heard throughout the world. Heimdal's dwelling is Himinbjarg at the Bifrost Bridge.

Among gods of less consequence may be mentioned Uller, the step-son of Thor, who is a master in running on snow-shoes; Forsete, the son of Balder, who makes peace between those who have quarrelled; Höder, the blind god, who shot Balder; and the silent Vidar.

Foremost among the goddesses is Frigg, the wife of Odin, who dwells in Fensal. She shields from danger those who call upon her. Freya, the Northern Venus, is the goddess of beauty. She is the daughter of Njord, and was forsaken by her husband Odd, and is ever hoping for his return. She travelled far and wide in search of him, and wept because she could not find him. Her tears turned into gold, and gold is therefore by the poets called the tears of Freya. Her chariot, in which she drives over the sky, is drawn by cats, though at times she flies in the guise of a swan and visits distant lands. Her necklace, Brising, made by wonder-working gnomes, is of dazzling splendor. The dwelling of Freya is Folkvang, and thither ascend the prayers of lovelorn swains and maidens. Freya's daughter, Hnos, is of marvellous beauty and a sweet disposition. Her name is still used in the nursery as a pet-name for babes.

The dominion of the sea does not belong entirely to Njord. The Yotun Aeger rules over the towering waves, and lashes them into fury, until Njord again curbs them and bids them be still. Yet Aeger is the friend of the gods, and is at times visited by them in his magnificent submarine hall, where ale and mead flow abundantly. He is himself peaceably disposed toward men, but is overruled by his terrible wife Ran, who with her nine daughters (the waves) causes shipwrecks and draws the drowned men down to her watery abode.

One dweller in Asgard is still to be mentioned, and that is the evil Loke, who disturbs the peace of the gods, and will work their final ruin. He was born among the Yotuns, but gained the confidence of Odin by his agreeable presence and his fair speech. He delighted in mischief and loved evil-doing. He had three terrible children—the wolf Fenris, the world-serpent, and Hel. As these monsters grew up, the gods foresaw that their presence in Asgard would cause trouble. The wolf Fenris was, therefore, after having broken the strongest chains, tied with a magical cord, made of the noise of cats'-paws, women's beard, roots of mountains, and other equally intangible things. This cord he could not break. The world-serpent was thrown into the ocean, where it continued to grow until it encircled all the earth and at last bit its own tail. Hel was banished to Helheim, where she became the ruler of the dead, and the goddess of the under-world.

CHAPTER III.

THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS. THE ORIGIN OF THE VIKING CRUISES.

The Norsemen had up to the middle of the eighth century played no part in the world's history. Their very existence had been unknown or but vaguely known to the rest of Europe. But towards the close of the eighth century they broke like a destructive tempest over the civilized lands, spreading desolation in their path. When their fast-sailing ships with two square sails were sighted at the river-mouths, people fled in terror, and the priests prayed in vain: "Deliver us, O Lord, from the rage of the Norsemen."

THE VIKING SHIP RECENTLY UNEARTHED AT GOGSTAD, NEAR SANDEFJORD.

There were several reasons for this sudden warlike activity on the part of the Norsemen. They had waged war from immemorial times; because war was with them the most honorable occupation. As Tacitus says of their kinsmen, the Germans: "They deemed it a disgrace to acquire by sweat what they might obtain by blood." But previous to the viking period they had fought each other. One earl or king made foraging expeditions into the land of his neighbors, and carried away with him whatever booty he could lay hands on. But in this perpetual warfare one or the other must at length become exhausted, and the stronger would be likely to oust or vanquish the weaker. This was what happened in the north. Large tracts of land, made up of small conquered kingdoms, were united under one successful chief, who, of course, made haste to prevent depredations within his own boundaries. With the growing power of these local kings, it became more and more risky to attack them, and the field for domestic warfare thus became constantly narrower. But war was the very condition of the chieftain's existence among the early Norsemen. His honor was dependent upon the number of his followers and the splendor of their equipments, and to gain the means to entertain and to equip them he was obliged to wage war. When he could no longer do it at home, he naturally went abroad. It was neither ferocity nor excessive avarice which impelled him to draw the sword; but the desire to preserve his honor among men, which, in a warlike state, is merely another form of the instinct of self-preservation. The high-born chieftain had to make himself formidable in order to protect his life and property. He had to live in accordance with his rank, if he wished to live at all. His men-at-arms were his body-guard as well as his army. He had to behave royally toward them in order to preserve their good-will; and next to personal valor, liberality in giving was the first duty of a king. The king is therefore called the breaker of rings (large solid arm-rings of gold being used for purposes of payment) and the hater of gold.[A]

[A] Munch (Det Norske Folk's Historie, 1-124) derives the word king (old Norse, konungr; Anglo-Saxon, cyning; O. H. German, chuninc and chunig) from Kun or Kon, meaning race, descent; and interprets the word as meaning (like Lat., generosus) of high birth or descent.

There is in the earliest Germanic times no sharp distinction between the titles "earl" and "king." The viking cruises, however, helped to establish a distinction. The earl who, having gathered a large number of warriors about him, went abroad for purposes of conquest, was hailed by his men as king. A number of vikings, of high birth, assumed the name of kings, when starting on warlike expeditions; but were known as sea-kings, in contra-distinction to those who ruled at home over a fixed domain. The number of these sea-kings increased (for the reasons cited above) enormously toward the close of the eighth century. They harried not only the coasts of the neighboring lands, but they crossed the North Sea and the Baltic, carrying away or slaughtering the inhabitants and destroying the cities. Churches and monasteries they plundered, scattering the bones of the saints to the four winds; all that Christian men held sacred they trod under foot. And yet we must bear in mind that all we know about these early vikings is derived from the writings of their enemies, who were smarting under the injury they had done them. That they were fierce and brutal is credible enough. The warlike state is in itself brutalizing. It arouses all the slumbering savagery in man, and smothers his gentler impulses. But certain moral qualities even their hostile chroniclers concede to them. They admit that the Norse barbarians were, as a rule, faithful to their oaths and kept their promises.

Three periods[A] are recognizable in the viking age, though there are, in point of time, no sharp divisions between them. It would, perhaps, be more correct to say that there were three kinds of vikings. The first cruises were more or less tentative and irregular. Chieftains gather about them crews for a few ships and sail over to England, Denmark, or Flanders, where they attack a city or a monastery, and return home with their booty. The second period shows an advance in the art of war and in military experience. Several vikings attack in company some exposed point, take possession of it, erect fortifications, and make forays into the surrounding country. During the third period the Norsemen abandon their character of pirates and assume the rôle of conquerors. With large fleets, counting from one to five hundred ships, they storm and sack cities, assume the government of the conquered territories, treat, as regular belligerents, with kings and emperors, and establish themselves permanently in the conquered land. Of the two first classes of vikings we have only scattered and unreliable accounts. To go on viking cruises is a recognized occupation in the Norse sagas, and it was regarded as a kind of liberal education for a young man of good birth to spend some years of his youth on such expeditions. His honor was thereby greatly increased at home, and his position in society assured. Royal youths of twelve or fifteen years often went abroad as commanders of viking fleets, in order to test their manhood and accumulate experience and knowledge of men.

[A] Sars: "Udsigt over den Norske Historie," 1-90.

1.—SIDE VIEW OF THE GOGSTAD VIKING SHIP. 2.—VIKING SHIP RESTORED. 3.—DETAILS OF VIKING SHIP.

The third class of vikings, the conquerors, have found their historians both at home and abroad; and the different narratives, though not strictly accurate, supplement and correct each other. It is these conquering vikings who have demonstrated the historic mission of Norway, and doubly indemnified the world for the misery they brought upon it. The ability to endure discipline without loss of self-respect, voluntary subordination for mutual benefit, and the power of orderly organization, based upon these qualities, these were the contributions of the Norse vikings to the political life of Europe. The feudal state, which, with all its defects, is yet the indispensable basis of a higher civilization, has its root in the Germanic instinct of loyalty—of mutual allegiance between master and vassal; and the noble spirit of independence which restrains and limits the power of the ruler, and at a later stage leads to constitutional government, is even a more distinctly Norse than Germanic characteristic. While Norway, up under the pole, has developed a democracy, Germany, coming at too early a period into contact with Rome, has developed a military despotism under constitutional forms. The breath of new life which the vikings infused into history lives to-day in Norway, in England, and in America.

Among the earliest conquests of the Norse vikings was a portion of the present Sleswick which after them was called Nortmannia. It is possible that they recognized the sovereignty of the kings of Denmark, though there is no direct evidence that they regarded themselves as vassals. The first intelligence we obtain concerning them is that their king Sigfrid, in the year 777, received hospitably the Saxon chieftain Widukind, who, when summoned to meet Charlemagne in Paderborn, fled northward and sought refuge with his Norse co-religionists. This Sigfrid belonged to the renowned race of the Ynglings, from whom descended Harold the Fairhaired, and through him a long line of Norwegian kings. A later king of Nortmannia, who also had great possessions in Norway, was Gudröd or Godfrey the Hunter. He came, through the friendship of the Saxons, repeatedly into collision with Charlemagne, and even threatened to attack the emperor in Aachen. It is told that he was killed by his own men in the year 809. He had about a year before attacked and slain the king of Agder, whose daughter Aasa he married. She bore him a son named Halfdan the Swarthy, but avenged her father's death by inducing her servant to kill her husband while he was drunk. One of Godfrey's sons, Erik, carried on an intermittent warfare with Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, sent embassies to Aachen, and in 845, during the reign of Louis the German, sacked and burned the city of Hamburg. St. Ansgarius, the apostle of the North, who had been established by the emperor as archbishop of Hamburg, fled with all his priests; and the church and the monastery which he had founded were utterly destroyed.

It was not only in his remote northern domains that Charlemagne came in contact with the vikings. The chronicles of the Monks of St. Gall relate that he also encountered them in his Mediterranean provinces. Once, as he was visiting a city in Gallia Narbonensis, some fast-sailing Norse ships with square sails were seen out in the harbor. Soon a message was brought to the emperor that the crews had landed and were plundering the shore. Nobody then knew to what nationality these ships belonged, some conjecturing that they were Jewish, others African, and again others that they were British merchant vessels.

"No," said Charlemagne, "these ships are not filled with merchandise, but with the most pugnacious foes."

Hearing this everybody seized his weapons and hastened to the harbor; but the vikings had in the meanwhile learned that the emperor was in the city, and as they were not strong enough to fight with him, they fled to sea.

ST. ANSGARIUS, THE APOSTLE OF THE NORTH.

It is related that Charlemagne, as he stood at his window and watched their flight, wept. Remarking the wonder of his men, he said:

"I do not weep because I fear that these miscreants can do me any harm; but I am grieved that, while I am alive, they have dared to show themselves upon this coast; and I foresee with dread all the evil they will do to my descendants."[A]

[A] Munch (Det. Norske Folks Historie 1-414) questions the credibility of this story, because the Norsemen did not show themselves in the Mediterranean as early as the chronicle here indicates; in fact not before 800 A.D.

This story, endowing the emperor with prophetic vision, has a certain legendary flavor, and may be a monkish invention. Similar prophecies, dating after the event, are found in other ecclesiastical authors, and show sufficiently the feeling with which the Norsemen were regarded. It is especially one typical viking, the renowned Hasting, who figures both in sacred and profane chronicles. He sailed up the Loire in 841, with a large fleet, burned the city of Amboise, and besieged Tours. The inhabitants, however, carried the bones of their patron saint up on the walls; and, according to the story, by the intervention of the saint, the vikings were put to flight. In 845, Hasting is reported to have attacked Paris, in company with Björn Ironside, the son of Ragnar Lodbrok. To the Baltic and even to the shore of the Mediterranean this fearless marauder extended his ravages, and as success attended his banner, he grew more daring and determined to lay siege to Rome.

He even aspired to put the imperial crown upon his brow. With as large a fleet as he could muster he sailed through the Pillars of Hercules, but before he reached the mouth of the Tiber, a storm drove his ships to the city of Luna, near Carrara. Being poorly versed in geography, Hasting mistook this city for Rome, and resolved to capture it by strategem.

IRON IMPLEMENT OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE; USE UNKNOWN.

He sent word to the bishop that he was very ill and desired to be baptized, so that he might die a Christian. The bishop, as well as the commander of the town, fell into the trap. Delighted at the prospect of gaining so valuable a convert, they opened the gates and invited the Norsemen to enter. These, in the meanwhile, declared, that since sending his message, Hasting had died; and with great pomp they bore his coffin, followed by a funeral procession of enormous length, into the cathedral where the bishop stood ready to read the mass for the repose of the viking's soul. Suddenly, however, as the coffin was deposited before the altar and the mass commenced, Hasting sprang up, flung away his shroud, and stood in flashing armor before the astonished populace. His men, at this signal, also flung off their mourning cloaks and drew their swords. The bishop and his priests were killed, and blood flowed in torrents through the sacred aisles. A terrible carnage ensued, and the city was captured. Having accomplished this enterprise, Hasting discovered that, while deceiving, he had himself been deceived. It was not Rome he had taken after all. Whether he accepted this as an omen or not, he lost his desire to make his entry into the eternal city. Content with the booty he had accumulated, he turned his prows toward France where he became the vassal of Charles the Bald, from whom he received valuable fiefs.[A]

[A] The Norse Sagas make no mention of Hasting, and Munch (1-429) gives several reasons for questioning whether he was an historical character.

Many other vikings are mentioned in chronicles of later date, who by their incessant attacks upon the coasts, taxed the energy of the weak Carolingian kings to the utmost. One of them, named Ragnar, is said to have plundered Paris in 845, and another, named Asgeir, had four years earlier sacked and burned Rouen and the monastery Jumièges. He spent eleven years ravaging the coasts of France, and finally, in 851, sailed up the Seine, destroyed the monastery Fontenelle and burned Beauvois. On his return to the sea he was defeated by the French, and had to hide with his men in the woods, but succeeded in recapturing his ships and making good his escape. Of a third one, Rörek, it is told that about the year 862 he accepted Christianity, without, as it appears, experiencing any perceptible change of heart. After having ravaged Dorestad and Nimwegen, two flourishing cities on the Rhine, and having defended himself heroically against King Lothair, the younger, he made peace (873) with Louis the German, and refrained from further depredations.

TWO-EDGED SWORD. HILT OF SILVER AND BRONZE.

There is a certain uniformity in the deeds of the vikings, whether they be Norsemen or Danes, which makes further description superfluous. Only a few of their more daring enterprises may be briefly alluded to.

To Ireland the Norsemen had been attracted at a comparatively early period. In the last decade of the eighth century they destroyed the monastery of Iona or Icolmkill, and between the years 810 and 830 they spread terror and devastation along the entire coast. In the year 838 they sailed with one hundred and twenty ships up to Dublin and conquered the city, under the leadership of Thorgisl, who still lives in Irish song and story under the names of Turges and Turgesius.

"After many sharp fights," says an old author,[A] "he conquered in a short time all Ireland, and erected, wherever he went, high fortifications of masonry with deep moats, of which many ruins are yet to be seen in the country." At last he fell in love with the daughter of Maelsechnail, king in Meath, and demanded of him that he should send her to him, attended by fifteen young maidens. Thorgisl promised to meet her with the same number of high-born Norsemen on an island in Loch Erne. But instead of maidens Maelsechnail sent fifteen beardless young men, disguised as women and armed with daggers. When Thorgisl arrived he was attacked by these and slain. On a previous occasion Maelsechnail had asked Thorgisl what he should do to get rid of some strange and injurious birds that had got into the country. "Destroy their nests," said Thorgisl. Accordingly Maelsechnail began at once to destroy the Norse castles, while the Irish slew or chased away the Norsemen.

[A] Giraldus Cambrensis, De Topogr. Hiberniæ, cap. 37. Quoted from Munch, 1-438.

BUCKLE FROM THE IRON AGE.

It appears probable that Thorgisl's reign in Ireland lasted from 838 to 846, although a much longer period is given by the above-quoted chronicler. A more enduring sway over the country was gained by the Norse sea-king Olaf the White, who belonged to the great Yngling race. In 852 a company of Danish vikings had possession of Dublin; but Olaf defeated them and compelled them to send him hostages. He then established himself in the city, built castles, and taxed the surrounding country. Two other Norsemen, the brothers Sigtrygg and Ivar, founded about the same time kingdoms—the former in Waterford, the latter in Limerick—without, however, being able to compete with Olaf in splendor and power. The dominion of the Norsemen in Dublin is said to have lasted for three hundred and fifty years. From Irish sources a somewhat different account is derived of these remarkable events. It is told that the Norsemen often sailed up the rivers, not as warriors, but as peaceful merchants, and that the Irish found it advantageous to trade with them. They thus gained considerable possessions in the cities, and when the vikings came there was already a party in the larger cities who favored them and made their conquests easy.

From Dublin Olaf the White made two cruises to Scotland, laid siege to Dumbarton, sailed southward to England, plundering and ravaging, and returned to Dublin with two hundred ships laden with precious booty. The Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Faroe Isles were also, during this period, repeatedly visited by the vikings, and even to Iceland expeditions were made, which did not, however, result in permanent settlement. The Irish hermits and pious monks, who had retired from the world into the Arctic solitude, were disturbed in their devotions by the unwelcome visitors, and the majority returned to Ireland, while some are said to have remained until the island was regularly settled by the Norsemen.

To England the Norsemen went for the first time with hostile intent in 787. During the reign of King Beorthric in Wessex a small flock of vikings landed in the neighborhood of Dorchester, killed some people, and were driven away again. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle[A] relates the incident in these words:

[A] Monum. Hist. Brit., pp. 336, 337. Quoted from Munch, i., 416.

"In this year (787) King Beorthric married Eadburg, daughter of King Offa. In those days came for the first time Northmen and ships from Heredhaland. The gerêfa (commander) rode down to them and wished to drive them to the king's dwelling. For he knew not who they were; but they slew him there. These were the first ships belonging to Danish men which visited England."

It is noticeable that the ships are said in the same breath to have belonged to Northmen and to Danes, and it is obvious that the chronicler supposes the terms to be synonymous. The Heredhaland from which the men came was in all probability Hardeland in Jutland, where the Norsemen had at that time a colony.

The next attack of which we have an account was directed against the coast of Northumberland, and took place in the year 794. The monk Simeon of Durham,[A] who lived in the beginning of the twelfth century, writes as follows:

[A] Simeon of Durham, Monum. Hist. Brit., p. 668. Quoted from Munch, i., 417.

"The heathen came from the northern countries to Britain like stinging wasps, roamed about like savage wolves, robbing, biting, killing not only horses, sheep, and cattle, but also priests, acolytes, monks, and nuns. They went to Lindisfarena church, destroying every thing in the most miserable manner, and trod the sanctuary with their profane feet, threw down the altars, robbed the treasures of the church, killed some of the brothers, carried others away in captivity, mocked many and flung them away naked, and threw some into the ocean. In 794 they harried King Ecgfridh's harbor, and plundered the monastery of Donmouth. But St. Cuthbert did not permit them to escape unpunished; for their chieftain was visited with a cruel death by the English and, a short time after, their ships were destroyed by a storm, and many of them perished; a few who swam ashore were killed without pity."

It is an odd circumstance that while an incessant stream of Norse vikings, during the first half of the ninth century, poured southward, devastating the shores of the Baltic and the Mediterranean, only a comparatively small number found their way to England. We hear in the Sagas of many individual warriors who visited the Saxon kings in England and took service under them, and of several who sailed up the Thames and put an embargo on the trade of the river, capturing every ship that ventured into their clutches. But as a field for conquest they left England (probably not from any fraternal consideration) to their kinsmen, the Danes, while they themselves turned their attention to France, Ireland, and the isles north of Scotland. In the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the Shetland Islands, and the Faeroe Isles, their descendants are still living, and Norse names are yet frequent.

RUIN OF NORSE TOWER AT MOSÖ, SHETLAND ISLANDS.

Another notable circumstance in connection with the vikings is, that the very men whom foreign chroniclers describe as stinging wasps and savage wolves, and of whom the greatest atrocities are related during their sojourn abroad, became, as a rule, after their return home, men of weight and influence, with respect for tradition and law—men who, according to the standard of the time, were moral and honorable. There were exceptions, of course, but they go to prove the rule. The explanation is not far to seek. Religion in those days was tribal, and morality had no application outside the tribe. Every people is the chosen people of its own god or gods. As the Jews divided humanity into Jews and Gentiles, and the Greeks into Greeks and barbarians, so the Norsemen retaliated towards Jews and Greeks, by including them with all other nations in the Norse equivalent for barbarians. English, Irish, and Germans, often men of high birth, were constantly brought to Norway by the vikings as thralls, bartered and sold and forced to menial tasks. No law extended its protection to them; and yet maltreatment of thralls was, both in Iceland and Norway, regarded as unworthy of a freeman. For all that, the vikings were children of their age, and practised only the rude morality which their religion prescribed. The humanitarian sentiment which regards all men as brethren and creatures of the same God is a comparatively modern growth, and it would be unfair to judge the old Norsemen by any such advanced standard. It is therefore quite credible that the vikings may have been guilty of deeds abroad which they would not have committed at home.

CHAPTER IV.

HALFDAN THE SWARTHY.

The Yngling race traced its ancestry from the god Frey. Snorre Sturlasson, in his famous work, "The Sagas of the Kings of Norway,"[A] mentions a long line of kings who were descended from Fjölne, a son of Frey, and reigned in Sweden having their residence in Upsala. Yngve was one of the god's surnames, and Yngling means a descendant of Yngve. One of the Ynglings, named Aun the Old, sacrificed every ten years one of his sons to Odin, having been promised that for every son he sacrificed, ten years should be added to his life. When he had thus slain seven sons, and was so old that he had to be fed like an infant, his people grew weary of him and saved the eighth son, whom he was about to sacrifice. Ingjald Ill-Ruler, when he took the kingdom on the death of his father Anund, sixth in descent from Aun the Old, made a great funeral feast, to which he invited all the neighboring kings. When he rose to drink the Brage goblet,[B] he vowed that he would increase his kingdom by one half toward all the four corners of the heavens, or die in the attempt. As a preliminary step he set fire to the hall, burned his guests, and took possession of their lands. When he died, about the middle of the seventh century, he was so detested by his people that they would not accept his son, nor any of his race, as his successor. The son, whose name was Olaf, therefore gathered about him as many as would follow him, and emigrated to the great northern forests, where he felled the trees, gained much arable lands, and thereby acquired the nickname The Wood-cutter.[C] He and his people became prosperous, and a great influx of the discontented from the neighboring lands followed. In fact, so great was the number of immigrants that the country could not feed them, and they were threatened with famine. This they attributed, however, to the fact that Olaf was not in the favor of the gods, and they sacrificed him to Odin.

[A] "The Heimskringla, or the Sagas of the Kings of Norway," by the Icelander Snorre Sturlasson, was written in the twelfth century, and continued by his nephew Sturla Thordsson, is the principal source of the history of Norway up to the middle of the thirteenth century.

[B] The toast to the god Brage.

[C] Tretelgja.

His son, Halfdan Whiteleg,[A] was a great warrior. He conquered Raumarike in Norway and the great and fertile district called Vestfold, west of the fjord called Folden (now the Christiania Fjord). Here he founded a famous temple in Skiringssal, which soon became a flourishing trading station and a favorite residence of the Norwegian kings. The third in descent from him was the great viking Godfrey the Hunter, who waged war against Charlemagne, and Godfrey's son was Halfdan the Swarthy.

[A] Hvitbein.

Halfdan was but a year old in 810 when his father was killed. At the age of eighteen, he assumed the government of Agder, which he inherited from his maternal grandfather. By warfare and by marriage he also increased the great possessions he had received from his father, and, was, beyond dispute, the mightiest king in all Norway. It is told of him that he was a man of great intelligence, who loved justice and truth. He gave laws which he himself kept and compelled every one else to keep. In order that no one should with impunity tread the law under foot, he fixed a scale of fines which offenders should pay in accordance with their birth and dignity. This code was the so-called Eidsiva-Law, which had great influence in politically uniting the southern districts of Norway which Halfdan had gathered under his sway.

About King Halfdan's second marriage a story is told, which, whether originally true or not, has obviously been the subject of legendary adornment. It runs as follows:

There was a king in Ringerike whose name was Sigurd Hjort. He was a large and strong man. He had a daughter named Ragnhild, who was very beautiful, and a son named Guttorm. While Sigurd Hjort was out hunting he was attacked by the berserk[A] Hake and thirty men. He fought desperately, and slew twelve of his assailants, and cut off Hake's hand, but in the end he had to bite the dust. The berserk then rode to his house and carried away Ragnhild and Guttorm, besides much valuable property. He determined to marry Ragnhild and would have done so at once, if his wound had not grown constantly more painful. At Yule-tide, when King Halfdan came to feast in Hedemark, he heard of the outrage and resolved to punish it. He sent one of his trusted warriors, named Haarek Gand, with a hundred armed men to Hake's house; they arrived in the early morning before any one was awake. They set sentinels at all the doors, then broke into the sleeping-rooms and carried off Sigurd Hjort's children and the stolen goods. Then they set fire to the house and burned it up. Hake escaped, but seeing Ragnhild drive gayly away over the ice with King Halfdan's men, he threw himself upon his sword and perished. Halfdan the Swarthy became enamored of Ragnhild, as soon as he saw her, and made her his wife.

[A] Berserks or berserkir were champions of extraordinary strength, who in battle were possessed with a sanguinary fury which made them irresistible. Many of them were reputed to be were-wolves, and to be invulnerable.

While Queen Ragnhild was with child she dreamed marvellous dreams. Once she seemed to be standing in the garden, trying to take a thorn out of her chemise, but the thorn grew in her hand until it was like a long spindle—the one end of which struck root in the earth, while the other shot up into the air. Presently it looked like a big tree, and it grew bigger and bigger and taller and taller, until she stood in its shade and her eye could scarcely reach to the top of it. The lower part of the tree was red as blood; further up the trunk was green and fair, and the branches were radiantly white like snow. They were, however, of very unequal size, and it seemed to her that they spread out over the whole kingdom of Norway.

King Halfdan was much puzzled at hearing this dream, and perhaps a little jealous too. Why was it that his wife had such remarkable dreams, while he had none? He consulted a wise man as to the cause of this, and was by him advised to sleep in a pig-sty; then he would be sure to have remarkable dreams. The king did as he had been told, and dreamed that his hair was growing very long and beautiful. It fell in bright locks about his head and shoulders, but the locks were of unequal length and color; some seemed like little curly knots just sprouting from his scalp, while others hung down over his back, even unto the waist. But one lock there was that was brighter and more beautiful than all the rest.

The king related this dream to his sage friend, who interpreted it to mean that a mighty race of kings should spring from him, and that his descendants, though some of them should attain to great glory, should be unequal in fame. But one of them should be greater and more glorious than all the rest. The longest and brightest lock, says Snorre, was supposed to indicate Olaf the Saint.

When her time came, the queen bore a son who was named Harold. He grew rapidly in stature as in intelligence, and was much liked by all men. He was fond of manly sports and won admiration by his strength and his beauty. His mother loved him much, while his father often looked upon him with disfavor. Of his childhood many tales are told which cannot lay claim to credibility. Thus, it is said, that once, while King Halfdan was celebrating Yule-tide on Hadeland, all the dishes and the ale suddenly disappeared from the table. The guests went home, and the king, full of wrath, remained sitting. In order to find out who had dared thus to trifle with his dignity, he seized a Finn, who was a sorcerer, and tormented him. The Finn appealed to Harold, who, contrary to his father's command, rescued him and followed him to the mountains. After a while, they came to a place where a chieftain was having a grand feast with his men. There they remained until spring, and when Harold was about to take his leave, his host said to him: "Your father took it much to heart that I took some meat and beer away from him last winter; but for what you did to me I will reward you with glad tidings. Your father is now dead, and you will go home and inherit his kingdom. But some day you will be king of all Norway."

BUCKLE WITH BYZANTINE ORNAMENTATION, FOUND AT HOEN IN EKER.

When Harold returned home, he found that the chieftain had spoken the truth. His father had been drowned while driving across the ice on the Randsfjord (860). He was mourned by all his people; for there had been good crops during his reign, and he had been a wise ruler and much beloved. When it was rumored that he was to be buried in Ringerike, the men of Hadeland and of Raumarike came and demanded that the corpse be given to them for burial. For they believed that the favor of the gods would rest upon the district where the king's barrow was. At last they agreed to divide the body into four parts. The men of Ringerike kept the trunk; the head was buried at Skiringssal in Vestfold; and the rest was divided between Hadeland and Hedemark. For a long time, sacrifices were made upon these barrows, and King Halfdan was worshipped as a god.

CHAPTER V.

HAROLD THE FAIRHAIRED (860-930).

Harold was only ten years old when his father died, and the kings whom Halfdan had conquered thought that the chance was now favorable for recovering what they had lost. But Harold's guardian Guttorm, his mother's brother, conducted the government with power and ability, and assisted his nephew in his efforts to put down his enemies. A long series of battles was fought in which Harold was usually victorious. It was but natural that the young king, flushed with success, should resolve to extend his domain. He knew that there was no king in Norway whose power and resources were equal to his own, and the determination to conquer the whole country may therefore have naturally ripened in his mind. Snorre, however, tells a different story, and as it is a very pretty one, it may be worth repeating.

There was a maid named Gyda, the daughter of King Erik of Hördaland; she was being fostered by a rich yeoman in Valders. When Harold heard of her beauty, he sent his men to her and asked her to become his mistress. The maid's eyes flashed with anger while she listened to this message, and throwing her head back proudly she answered: "Tell your master that I will not sacrifice my maidenly honor for a king who has only a few counties to rule over. Strange it seems to me that there is no king here who can conquer all Norway, as King Erik has conquered Sweden and King Gorm Denmark."[A]

[A] King Gorm had not at that time conquered Denmark.

The messengers, amazed at her insolence, warned her to give a more conciliatory answer. King Harold was surely good enough for her, they thought; but she would not listen to them. When, at last, they took their leave, she followed them out and said:

"Give this message from me to King Harold. I will promise to become his wedded wife, on this condition, that he shall for my sake conquer all Norway, and rule over it as freely as King Erik rules over Sweden and King Gorm over Denmark. For only then can he be called the king of a people."[B]

[B] Tjodkonungr.

When the messengers returned, they advised the king to break the girl's pride by sending them to take her by force. But the king answered: "This maid has not spoken ill and does not deserve to be punished. On the contrary, she deserves much thanks for her words. She has put something into my mind, of which I wonder that it has not occurred to me before. But this I now solemnly vow, and call God to witness who made me and rules over all, that I will not cut or comb my hair until the day when I shall have conquered all Norway; or if I do not, I shall die in the attempt."

Guttorm praised Harold for these words, saying, that he had spoken like a king.

In accordance with his promise, the young king now set about the task which he had undertaken. He went northward with an army and conquered Orkdale and Tröndelag, the district about the Drontheim Fjord. In Naumdale, north of Drontheim, there were two kings named Herlaug and Rollaug. The former, when he heard of Harold's march of conquest, built a great barrow, into which he entered with eleven of his men and had it closed behind him. Rollaug, his brother, ordered his royal high-seat to be carried to the top of a hill, and an earl's seat to be placed below, at the foot of the hill. He seated himself in the royal seat, but when he saw Harold approaching, he rolled from the king's seat into the earl's seat, thereby declaring himself to be King Harold's vassal. Harold tied a sword about his waist, hung a shield about his neck, and made him Earl of Naumdale.

Wherever he went, Harold pursued the same policy. The old kings who acknowledged his overlordship he reinstated as his earls in their former dominions. Those who opposed him be killed or maimed. The earls were really governors or representatives of the king's authority. They administered justice in the king's name, and collected taxes, of which they were entitled to keep one third on condition of entertaining sixty warriors, subject to the king's command. Each earl had under him four or more hersir (sub-vassals), who held in fief a royal estate, of an income of twenty marks, on condition of keeping twenty warriors ready to serve the king. It will be seen that the feudal principle was the basis of Harold's state. He deprived the peasants of their allodium, and declared all land to be the property of the king. The cultivators of the soil, from having been free proprietors, became the tenants of the king, and in so far as they were permitted to retain their inherited estates, derived this privilege no more from allodial but from feudal right. It followed that the king could levy a tax on all land, and that every man who refused to pay the tax forfeited his title. Also a personal tax, which the peasants derisively called the nose-tax (because it was levied in every household according to the number of noses), is said to have been exacted by Harold, and to have caused much dissatisfaction. It is added that many of the former kings who accepted earldoms from him, found themselves in a better position, both financially and as to authority, than they had been before. And this is scarcely to be wondered at. Their royal title had conferred upon them no rights except such as their people voluntarily conceded to them, and their chief privilege amounted to a usage rather than a right to assume command in war, and conduct the public sacrifices. Still it was only in rare cases that they were willing to exchange this shadowy authority for the real power which Harold, by right of conquest, conferred upon them.

A still greater antagonism did the introduction of the feudal land tenure arouse among the free yeomanry, who in their fierce independence could not endure any relation of enforced obedience and subordination. Therefore rebellions against the royal authority, on a smaller or greater scale, were of constant occurrence during the first half of Harold's reign, and there are even indications that they continued much longer. Many of his provinces he had to conquer twice, and it was only the enormous odds in his favor, and the promptness and severity of his punishments, which at length forced the disloyal to accept his sway. It required an energy and resolution such as his to make a nation of all these scattered, predatory, and often mutually hostile tribes; and his uniform and systematic policy, as well as his uncompromising sternness, in dealing with resistance, show that he was fully conscious of the magnitude of his task.

It would be tedious to enumerate the battles he fought and the victories he won. With every year that passed he approached nearer to his goal—to be the ruler of all Norway. Many of the mightiest men in the land who had hitherto held aloof now offered him their services, and were glad to accept honors at his hands. Among these were the earl Haakon Grjotgardsson of Haalogaland, and Ragnvald, late earl of Möre, who was the father of Duke Rollo of Normandy, and through William the Conqueror the ancestor of the kings of England. Ragnvald was a brave and sagacious man, who assisted the king with counsel and with deeds, and became his most intimate friend and adviser.

Less readily did the men of the great Rafnista family accept Harold's overtures. Kveld-Ulf (Night-Wolf) pleaded old age, when the king sent messengers to him, requesting him to enter his service. This was the more disappointing to Harold, because he had counted on Kveld-Ulf's using the great influence which he wielded, in his favor. He sent messengers once more and offered Kveld-Ulf's son, Bald Grim, high dignities if he would become his vassal. But Bald Grim replied that he would accept no dignity which would raise him in rank above his father. Then the king's patience was exhausted, and he would have resorted to other arguments than verbal ones, if Kveld-Ulf's brother-in-law, Oelve Nuva, had not interceded in his behalf. Oelve finally obtained the old chieftain's consent to have his second son Thorolf enter the king's service if he saw fit. Thorolf was then out on a viking cruise with Oelve's brother, Eyvind Lambe, but he was expected home in the autumn. On their return, both accepted Harold's offer and became his men. Thorolf particularly rose rapidly in the king's favor, on account of his intelligence, beauty, and courtly manners. The old Kveld-Ulf, however, looked with suspicion upon their friendship, and hinted that he expected that nothing good would come of it.

The kings of Sweden had from of old had claims on that part of Norway which is called Viken.[A] Also Vermeland, which since the days of Olaf the Woodcutter had belonged to the Ynglings, was declared to be an integral part of Sweden, and the Swedish king, Erik Eimundsson, seized the opportunity, while Harold was occupied with his conquests in the north, to invade the latter province, besides Ranrike and portions of Vingulmark.

[A] Viken was the country about the present Christiania Fjord, and was divided into Vestfold, Vingulmark, and Ranrike (the present Bohuslen in Sweden).

When these tidings reached Harold, he hastened southward, fined and punished those of the peasants who had promised allegiance to his enemy, and finally went northward to Vermeland where, by a singular coincidence, he met the Swedish king at a great feast given by the mighty yeoman Aake. Probably to avoid bloodshed, the two kings and their warriors were entertained in separate buildings; but while Harold and his men were lodged in the new mansion and made to eat and drink out of new horns and precious dishes, Erik's party were made to enjoy their cheer in an old building, and their horns and dishes, though artfully wrought, were not new. When the time came for leaving, Aake brought his son to Harold and begged him to take him into his service. At this Erik grew very wroth and rode away. Aake hastened to accompany him; and when asked why he had made such a difference in the entertainment, he replied that it was because Erik was old, while Harold was young.

"Thou must indeed remember that thou art my man," said King Erik.

"When thou sayest that I am thy man," answered the yeoman, "then I may say with equal right that thou art my man."

This answer so angered the king that he drew his sword and killed Aake. Harold, when he heard of his death, pursued his slayer but did not succeed in overtaking him.

The princes and chieftains who had opposed Harold had, so far, accomplished nothing but their own ruin. Those who still retained their lands concluded that separately they could never hope to prevail against him, and they therefore united and met the conqueror in 872 with a great fleet in the Hafrs-Fjord.[A] The war-horns were blown, and King Harold's ship was foremost, wherever the fight was hottest. In its prow stood Thorolf, the son of Kveld-Ulf, who fought with splendid bravery, and the brothers Oelve Nuva and Eyvind Lambe. The issue seemed long doubtful, and many of the king's best men were slain; spears and stones rained down in showers, and the arrows flew hissing through the air. At last, Harold's berserks, seized with a wild fury, stormed forward, and boarded the enemies' ships. The carnage was terrible, and one by one the chieftains fell or fled. King Harold here won (as the sagas relate) one of the greatest battles that was ever fought in Norway; and there was from this day no longer any formidable opposition to him. Among the many who were wounded at Hafrs-Fjord was Thorolf, and in fact all who had stood before the mast in the king's ship, except the berserks. The scald Thorbjörn Hornklove made a song about the victory, fragments of which are still extant.

[A] Hafrs-Fjord is a little fjord in Jaederen, west of the present city of Stavanger

At a feast which shortly after the battle was given in his honor, Harold's hair was cut by Ragnvald, the earl of Möre, and all marvelled at its beauty. While he had formerly been called Harold Lufa, i. e., the Frowsy-headed, he was now named Harold the Fairhaired. Having now accomplished what he had set out to do, he married Gyda. The romance is, however, spoiled by the fact that he had some years before married Aasa, the daughter of the earl, Haakon[A] Grjotgardsson, and had by her three sons—Halfdan the White, Halfdan the Swarthy, and Sigfrid. The sons Gyda bore him were named Guttorm, Haarek, and Gudröd.

[A] The letter aa in Norwegian (Icelandic á) is pronounced like the English aw in hawk. Haakon is therefore pronounced Hawkon; Aasa, Awsa, etc. The modern Icelanders pronounce the sound like ou in out, rout. They say Houkon, Hourek, etc.

In his relations with men Harold was no more faithful than in his relations with women. He was a man of indomitable will and courage, sagacious and far-seeing; shunning no means for the accomplishment of his ends. He could not, however, endure the characteristics in others which he valued in himself. When his jealousy was once aroused, it was not easily again allayed. As is the manner of tyrants, he was apt to humiliate those the most whom he had most exalted, and his suspicion often fell upon those who least deserved it. The first victim of his jealousy was Thorolf, the son of Kveld-Ulf, who, after the battle of Hafrs-Fjord, had stood especially high in his favor.

Thorolf had by a wealthy marriage and by inheritance accumulated a large fortune and lived in princely style. His liberality and winning exterior made him hosts of friends, and his thrift and ability procured him the means to practise a magnificent hospitality. The king had made him his sysselmand, or bailiff, in Haalogaland, and Thorolf particularly distinguished himself by the energy and shrewdness which he displayed in collecting the tax from the Finns, who, as a rule, were not anxious to make contributions to the royal treasury. During a journey which Harold made through Haalogaland, Thorolf made a feast for him, the splendor of which had never been equalled in those parts of the country. There were in all eight hundred guests—five hundred of whom Thorolf had invited, while three hundred were the attendants of the king. To the astonishment of his host, Harold sat, dark and silent, in the high-seat, and seemed ill-pleased with the efforts that were made to entertain him. Toward the end of the feast he repressed his ill-humor, however, and when his host at parting presented him with a large dragon-ship with complete equipment, he seemed much pleased. Nevertheless, it was not long before he deprived him of his office as royal bailiff, then espoused the cause of his enemies, and used all sorts of contemptible slanders as a pretext for attacking him on his estate, Sandness, and burning his house. When Thorolf broke out through the burning wall, he was received with a hail-storm of spears. Seeing the king he rushed toward him, with drawn sword, and cut down his banner-bearer; then, when his foe was almost within reach of his sword, fell, crying: "By three steps only I failed." It was said that Harold himself gave him his death-wound, and he later avowed himself as his slayer to the old Kveld-Ulf. When he saw his former friend lying dead at his feet, he looked sadly at him; and when a man passed him who was busy bandaging a slight wound, he said: "That wound Thorolf did not give thee; for differently did weapons bite in his hands. It is a great pity that such men must perish."

When Kveld-Ulf heard of his son's death, his grief was so great that he had to go to bed. But when he heard that it was the king who had slain him, and that he had fallen prone at his slayer's feet, he got up and was well content. For when a dying man fell on his face, it was a sign that he would be avenged. In the meanwhile, being far from powerful enough to attack Harold openly, the old man gathered all his family and his goods and set out for Iceland; but lingered long along the coast of Norway, in the hope of finding some one of Harold's race upon whom he could wreak vengeance. In this he was successful. The two sons of Guttorm, Harold's uncle and former guardian, were sailing northward with two of the king's men. These Bald Grim and Kveld-Ulf attacked, killed the king's cousins, and captured the ship. Then, wild with exultation, Bald Grim mounted the prow and sang:

Now is the Hersir's vengeance
On the king fulfilled.
Wolf and eagle tread on
Yngling's children.
Seaward swept flew Halvard's
Lacerated corpse,
And the eagle's beak
Tears Snarfare's wounds.

From that time forth, there was a blood-feud between the Yngling race and Kveld-Ulf's descendants, and the famous saga of Egil, Bald Grim's son, tells of a long chain of bloody deeds which all had their origin in the king's treachery to Thorolf.

Kveld-Ulf and Bald Grim were not the only chieftains who sought refuge abroad from Harold's oppression. After the battle of Hafrs-Fjord, when the king proceeded with uncompromising rigor to enforce the feudal system, several thousand men, many of whom belonged to the noblest families of the land, crossed the sea, and found new homes in the Orkneys and the Hebrides, whence again many found their way to Iceland. A great number also sailed direct for the latter country, and the so-called Landnama book (the Domesday Book of Iceland) has preserved the names, and, at times, bits of the history of the most important original settlers. Much as we may sympathize with the indomitable spirit which made these men sacrifice home and country for a principle, there is also another view of the case which has to be considered. Harold the Fairhaired was founding a state, which would support a higher civilization than could possibly be developed among a loose agglomeration of semi-hostile tribes. The idea of a national unity, which was the inspiration of his work, required the enforcement of an organic system which to the independent chieftains must have appeared extremely oppressive. The payment of taxes, which to the citizen of the modern state is not apt to appear humiliating, seemed to the Norse chieftains unworthy of a freeman. When Harold commanded them to refrain from robbing and plundering expeditions within the confines of his kingdom, they felt outraged, and could see no reason why they should submit to such unwarrantable curtailment of time-honored privileges. One of them, Rolf, or Rollo, son of the king's friend, Ragnvald, Earl of Möre, defied the order, made strand-hug[A] in Viken, and was declared an outlaw. Neither his father's influence, nor his mother's prayers, could save him. Just on account of his high birth, Harold was determined to make an example of him.

[A] Strand-hug was an enforced provisioning of the viking fleet from the nearest inhabited country. It was the common practice of vikings to make strand-hug, wherever they might happen to be.

Rollo is known in the Norse sagas as Rolf the Walker, because he was so tall and heavy that no horse could carry him. With a large number of followers he sailed southward to France, and after having harried the country for several years, made in 912 a compromise with King Charles the Simple, by which he was to accept Christianity and receive a large province in fief for himself and his descendants. This province was named Normandy; and has played a large rôle in the history of the world. It is told of Rollo that when he was requested to kiss the king's foot in token of fealty, he answered: "I will never bend my knee before any man; nor will I kiss any one's foot." After much persuasion, however, he permitted one of his men to perform the act of homage for him. His proxy stalked sullenly forward, and pausing before the king, who was on horse-back, seized his foot and lifted it to his lips. By this manœuvre, the king came to make a somersault, at which there was great laughter among the Norsemen. Rollo did literally, like the poor boy in the fairy tale, marry the princess and get half the kingdom. For, it is told, that Charles gave him for a bride his daughter Gisla, who, however, died childless. He ruled his duchy with a rod of iron; and he must have learned a useful lesson from King Harold, for it is said that he restrained robbery with a firm hand, and hanged the robbers. So great was the public security in his day, that the peasants could leave their ploughs and tools in the field over night without fear of losing them. Rollo's son was William Longsword, who was the father of Richard the Fearless, who again had a son of his own name. This latter Richard, surnamed the Good, had a son named Rollo, or Robert[A] the Magnificent, who was the father of William the Conqueror.

[A] The first Duke Rollo had, when he was baptized, assumed the name Robert.

The emigration of the discontented yeomen and chieftains removed the last obstacle to the organization of Harold's feudal state. According to an approximately accurate calculation, about eight hundred heads of families went with their households to Iceland, to the Scottish isles, and to Jemteland, leaving behind them estates which were promptly confiscated by the king. Those who endeavored to sell their lands met with small success; for to buy the property of emigrants was considered as an act hostile to the king. Great wealth was thus accumulated in Harold's hands, and the means of rewarding his friends at the expense of his enemies were at his disposal. The emigrants were, therefore, doubly instrumental in cementing the state which they had endeavored to destroy. A large number of officials were needed to superintend the great landed estates, and Harold chose these from his immediate dependents. The so-called Aarmaend were merely superintendents or stewards, who took charge of the crown lands, and forwarded to the king his share of the income. They were often thralls or freedmen, and were looked down upon by the yeomanry as their inferiors. The earls, on the other hand, who belonged to the old tribal aristocracy, held their land in fief, and were, in a limited sense, proprietors, though their sons could not, by any absolute right, claim to inherit them. It was, however, the custom to continue such estates from father to son. The third class of property was the land which the yeomanry had formerly held by allodial right, and which they now held with as much security and right of inheritance, as the king's nominal tenants. As long as they paid their taxes, it was of course in the king's interest to leave them unmolested.

It was natural that with his great wealth Harold should keep a court of exceptional splendor. He was fond of song and story and always kept scalds about him who sang his praise and glorified his deeds. He could be generous when the occasion demanded, and would then scatter his gold with royal liberality. But in little things he was reputed to be mean; and it was a common complaint among his courtiers that they did not get enough to eat. Some legends recounted by Snorre show that with all his stern inflexibility toward men, he was easily deceived by women. Thus, it is related that once, while he was at a Yule-tide feast, in Guldbrandsdale, a Finn came to him and persuaded him to accompany him to his tent. There he showed the king a girl named Snefrid, whose beauty made a great impression upon him. He chatted with her for a while; then drank a goblet of mead which the Finn brought him. No sooner had he swallowed the liquid than he became so enamoured of Snefrid that he refused to leave her, and demanded that she should that very day become his wife. He loved her with such abandonment and passion that he neglected the government and lived only for her. She bore him five sons in rapid succession, and then died. Harold's grief knew no bounds. He refused to have her buried, but sat staring at her beautiful corpse, night and day. For, oddly enough, it is told that Snefrid's beauty remained unchanged after death, and there was no sign of decay. All the king's men feared that he had lost his reason, and one of them finally persuaded him, on some pretext, to have the corpse moved. But the very instant it was touched, the most hideous change occurred. The flesh turned blue, and a terrible stench filled the room. The king then recovered his reason, and ordered the body to be burned. But when it was placed on the pyre, snakes, adders, toads, and horrible creeping things teemed in and about it, so that no one could endure the sight of it. Then Harold comprehended that he had been the victim of sorcery; and he grew so angry that he chased away from him the children Snefrid had borne him. And yet, strangely enough, it was this branch which endured the longest, and from which a long line of kings descended. The names of Snefrid's sons were Sigurd Rise (Giant), Gudröd Ljome, Halfdan Haalegg (Longlegs), and Ragnvald Rettilbeine.

The only one of King Harold's wives who was of royal birth was Ragnhild, the daughter of King Erik the Younger in South Jutland. She replied, when he first sent messengers to woo her, that she would not marry the mightiest king in all the world, if she had to put up with one thirtieth part of his affection. To a second message she replied that she would marry King Harold if he would put away all his other wives. This he consented to do, and made Ragnhild his queen. She lived, however, only three years after her marriage; and Harold then took back several of his former wives and mistresses. Ragnhild had left him one son, Erik, whom he loved the most of all his children.

Marriage was entirely a civil contract during the days of Germanic paganism and was in no wise associated with religion or religious ceremonies. It was an easy thing for a husband to obtain a divorce from his wife, but it was customary to go through with this formality before marrying a second. Open polygamy, as practised by Harold, was contrary to custom and must have been regarded with reprobation by the people. For all that, Harold was, during the latter part of his reign, a popular ruler and well beloved both by yeomanry and chieftains.

As his children grew up, Harold began to reap some of the disadvantages of his scattered family relations. His sons, having different mothers, and having been fostered by yeomen in different parts of the country, could scarcely be strongly conscious of their kinship. They were jealous of each other, and particularly jealous of the mighty earls who sat like little kings upon their estates ruling over land and people. It was to give vent to this feeling that Halfdan Longlegs and Gudröd Ljome, without any warning, attacked Ragnvald, the Earl of Möre, and burned him up with sixty of his men. When Harold heard of this dastardly deed, he gathered an army and resolved to punish his sons. Gudröd, who had taken possession of the earldom after Ragnvald, surrendered without fighting, while Halfdan Longlegs sailed with three ships for the Orkneys, where he chased away Turf-Einar, the son of the Earl of Möre, and made himself king of the islands. Turf-Einar returned, however, surprised Halfdan, and put him to death in a barbarous manner. Although Halfdan had been a rebel against the king's authority, and Turf-Einar in slaying him had avenged his own father, Harold had no choice but to wreak vengeance upon the slayer of his son. He accordingly sailed with a fleet for the Orkneys, opened negotiations with Turf-Einar, and accepted as "blood-atonement" sixty marks in gold. Whether it was on the same occasion that he made a cruise to Scotland, harrying the coast, is perhaps, doubtful. His chief purpose, as on a previous cruise in the same waters, was to break up the various nests of vikings, who from this convenient retreat made frequent attacks upon the coast of Norway during the summer months.

A fertile cause of disagreement among Harold's sons was their jealousy of Erik, whom their father conspicuously favored. When he was twelve years old, Erik was given five ships to command, and with a choice crew went on viking cruises. Much did the old king delight in hearing the tales of his prowess, and the daring enterprises in which he had played a part. The ominous surname "Blod-Oexe" (Blood-Axe) which the lad acquired by his deeds in battle only endeared him the more to his father. It was his love of this favorite son which induced him in his fiftieth year (900) to commit an act, whereby he virtually undid the great work of his life and brought misery upon unborn generations. He called a thing or general assembly of the people, probably at Eidsvold, and made all his sons kings, on condition that they should, after his death, acknowledge Erik as their overlord. To each he gave a province to govern, permitting him to keep one third of the revenues for himself, leaving one third for the earls, and sending one third to the sovereign. The royal title should be inherited by all his direct descendants in the male line, legitimate or illegitimate birth making no difference. To the sons of his daughters he gave earldoms. In this disastrous act of Harold, making no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, lies the germ of the civil wars and terrible internecine conflicts which ravaged the kingdom he had established and exhausted its powers, until for four hundred years it sank out of sight, and its name seemed to have been blotted out from among the nations. It seems incredible that the wisdom and energy which had built up a great state could be coupled with the unwisdom and the weakness which in the end broke it down again. Harold evidently looked upon the royal office as a piece of personal property which he had by his sword acquired, and which all his male descendants had an equal right to inherit. At the same time he must, after the experience he had had with his sons, have known them too well to suppose that they would peacefully acquiesce in his decision, living together in fraternal unity. If he cherished any illusion, Erik lost no time in dispelling it. He first killed Ragnvald Rettilbeine, the son of Snefrid, because he was said to be a sorcerer. Next he attacked his brother Björn the Merchant (Farmand) because he declined to pay him tribute, killed him and plundered his house. Halfdan the Swarthy (Svarte) in Drontheim resolved to avenge this outrage, concluding that none of Harold's sons were safe, as long as Erik was permitted, with impunity, to take the law into his own hands. While Erik was feasting at the farm, Selven, Halfdan surrounded the house and set fire to it. Erik succeeded in escaping with four men, and he hastened southward to complain to his father. King Harold, it is told, was greatly incensed, collected his fleet and sailed to Drontheim, where Halfdan, though with an inferior force, stood ready to meet him. The battle was about to begin, when the scald, Guttorm Sindre, reminded the two kings of a promise they had made him. Once he had sung a song in their honor, and as he refused all the gifts they offered him, they both swore that whatever he should ask of them, they would fulfil. "Now," he said, "I have come to claim the guerdon of my song."

Hard as it was, they could not break their royal promise. Peace was made, and father and son separated. Halfdan was permitted to keep his province, but had to vow solemnly that he would henceforth make no hostile demonstration against Erik. For all that the hatred between the two lasted, though curbed for a while by the fear of the king.

GILT BUCKLE FOUND AT SKEDEMO IN NEDENES AMT.

When Harold was nearly seventy years old, he took for his mistress Thora of Moster, who on account of her great height was surnamed Moster-stang (Moster-pole). She bore him a son who was named Haakon. Much dissatisfaction was there among the king's other sons when this late-comer made his appearance, and he would probably not have grown to manhood, if an incident had not occurred which removed him beyond their reach. The story told by Snorre in this connection is full of interest, but sounds incredible. Once, it is told, messengers arrived from King Ethelstan in England, bringing a precious sword to King Harold, who accepted it and returned thanks.

"Now," said the messengers, "thou hast taken the sword, as our king wished, and thou art therefore his sword-taker or vassal."

Harold was angry at having been thus tricked, but did not molest the messengers. The next year, however, he sent his young son Haakon with an embassy to Ethelstan. They found the king in London, and were well received by him. The spokesman of the embassy then placed the boy, Haakon, on Ethelstan's knee, saying, "King Harold begs thee to foster this child of his servant-maid."

Ethelstan angrily drew his sword, as if he would kill the child; but the spokesman said: "Now that thou hast once put him upon thy knee, thou mayst murder him, if it please thee; but thereby hast thou not slain all King Harold's sons."

To foster another man's child was in Norway regarded as an acknowledgment of inferiority; and Harold had thus repaid Ethelstan in his own coin. There are, however, several circumstances which make the story suspicious. In the first place Ethelstan and his ancestors had had too severe an experience of Norsemen and Danes to wish to challenge the mightiest of them by a wanton insult; and again, it is more credible that Harold sent his youngest son out of the country for his own safety,[A] than in order to play an undignified trick upon a foreign king. At all events, Haakon was treated with the greatest kindness by the English king, and won his affection.

[A] See Munch, i., 591.

When Harold the Fairhaired was eighty years old, he felt no longer able to bear the burden of the government. He therefore led Erik to his royal high-seat, and abdicated in his favor. Three years later he died (933), after having ruled over Norway for seventy-three years.

CHAPTER VI.

ERIK BLOOD-AXE (930-935).

While Harold's despotism had been civilizing and, on the whole, beneficent, that of Erik Blood-Axe was disorganizing and destructive. With him the old turbulent viking spirit ascended the throne. Power meant with him the means of gratifying every savage impulse. Brave he was, delighting in battle; cruel and pitiless; and yet not without a certain sense of fairness and occasional impulses of generosity. In person he was handsome, of stately presence, but haughty and taciturn. Unhappily he married a woman who weakened all that was good in him and strengthened all that was bad. Queen Gunhild possessed a baneful influence over him during his entire life. She was cruel, avaricious, and treacherous, and was popularly credited with all the ill deeds which her husband committed. There are strange legends about her, attributing to witchcraft the power she had over every one who came in contact with her. According to Snorre, Erik met her in Finmark, whither she had been sent by her parents to learn sorcery. For the Finns were in those days credited with a deep knowledge of the black art. The two sorcerers with whom she was staying were both determined to marry her, and like the princess in the fairy-tale, she concealed Prince Erik in her tent, and begged him to rid her of her troublesome suitors. This, in spite of many difficulties, Erik did, carried Gunhild away to his ships, and made her his wife. She was, it is said, small of stature, insinuating, and of extraordinary beauty; but she was the evil genius of her husband, egging him on to deeds of treachery and violence which made him detested by his people. It was in great part the disfavor with which she was regarded which raised rebels against Erik's authority in various parts of the country and brought popular support to his brothers in their endeavor to cast off his yoke. In spite of his father's efforts, Erik's sovereignty had not been universally recognized, and no sooner was King Harold dead than Halfdan the Swarthy declared himself to be sovereign in Tröndelag and Olaf[A] in Viken. A few years after that, however, Halfdan died suddenly, and the rumor said that he had been poisoned by Queen Gunhild. The men of Tröndelag then chose his brother Sigfrid for their king, and Erik found his kingdom gradually shrinking both from the north and the south. Being prepared for an attack from Erik, Sigfrid and Olaf determined to join their forces, and to complete all arrangements, the former went to visit the latter in Tunsberg. When Erik heard of this, he went in haste to the town with a large number of men, and surprised and killed both his brothers. Olaf's son Tryggve escaped, however, and was kept in concealment, as long as Erik was master in the land.

[A] Olaf was the son of King Harold and Svanhild, a daughter of Earl Eystein of Hedemark and Vestfold.

CYLINDRICAL MOUNTING OF BRONZE PROBABLY FOR THE SHAFT OF A SPEAR. FOUND NEAR STAVANGER.

Erik had now killed four of his brothers, if not five, and it was the common opinion that Gunhild would not rest until she had exterminated all the race of Harold the Fairhaired outside of her husband's line.

While Erik was a youth, he had made the acquaintance of an Icelander named Thorolf, the son of Skallagrim (Bald Grim) and nephew of Thorolf Kveld-Ulf's son, whom King Harold had treacherously slain. This Thorolf, like his uncle and namesake, was a tall and handsome man, of fine presence and winning manners. He had made Erik a present of a ship, very beautifully built and decorated, and had thereby gained his friendship. In return Erik had obtained from his father permission for Thorolf to remain unmolested in the country. The handsome Icelander made many friends in Norway, among whom two mighty men named Thore Herse and Björn the Yeoman. When he returned to Iceland he brought with him, as a gift from the king to his father, an axe with a handle of precious workmanship. But Bald Grim, though he received his son well, treated King Erik's gift with contempt, and finally, when Thorolf again made a cruise to Norway, he sang an insulting verse and begged to have it reported to Erik. The axe he also wished to have returned. Thorolf, who was determined not to revive the ancient feud, threw the axe into the ocean, and conveyed his father's thanks and greeting to the king. If he had had his way, the blood-feud would have been at an end. But he had a younger brother named Egil,[A] who insisted upon bearing him company, and he soon fanned the dying embers into flame.

[A] Pronounced Agil, "g" hard, as in gimlet, gilt, etc.

Egil was the very incarnation of the old untamable Norse spirit, the turbulent and indomitable individualism, which is incapable of considering any but personal aims, and of submitting to any kind of discipline. Like his father, Bald Grim, he was large of stature, swarthy, and ill-favored, and displayed in his childhood a fierce and revengeful spirit, but also a rare gift of song, which, no less than his foolhardy deeds, brought him fame during his long and adventurous career.

The two brothers arrived safely in Norway and became the guests of Thore Herse, between whose son Arinbjörn and Egil a warm friendship sprung up. While Thorolf went to be married to Aasgerd, the daughter of Björn the Yeoman, Egil was forced by a severe illness to remain at home. When he became convalescent, he accompanied one of Thore's overseers to a royal steward named Baard, and met there King Erik and Queen Gunhild. Baard, in his zeal to please the king, neglected the Icelander, and when the latter became unruly, at a hint from the queen, mixed soporific herbs in his beer. Egil's suspicion was aroused, however, and he poured out the beer and killed Baard. Then he ran for his life, swam out to an island in the fjord, and when the island was searched, killed some of those who had been sent to find him; whereupon he made his escape in their boat. Although King Erik was very angry, he accepted the atonement in money which Thore Herse offered for Baard's death, and was persuaded to allow Egil to remain in the land. Queen Gunhild was much incensed at his forgiving spirit, and asked if he counted the slaying of Baard as naught; to which the king replied: "For ever thou art egging me on to violence; but my word, once given, I cannot break."

As no persuasions availed, Gunhild made up her mind to use some one else as the instrument of her retaliation. It is told that she had been fond of Baard, whom Egil had slain; but as he was a man of low birth, it was scarcely this personal fondness, but rather a sense of outraged dignity which impelled her to persevere in her plans of vengeance. At a great sacrificial feast, at the temple of Gaule, she made her brother, Eyvind Skreyja, promise to kill one of Bald Grim's sons; but as no chance presented itself, he slew instead one of Thorolf's men; in return for which he was outlawed by Erik, as a vargr ī veum—i. e., wolf in the sanctuary. The two brothers now went on viking cruises, took service under Ethelstan, in England, and fought under his standard a great battle, in which Thorolf fell. Egil now married his widow, Aasgerd, and returned with her to Iceland. He had then been abroad for twelve years. Hardly had he settled down, however, when he learned that his father-in-law, Björn the Yeoman, was dead, and that one of Gunhild's favorites named Berg-Anund, had taken possession of his property. He therefore lost no time in returning to Norway, and with his friend Arinbjörn's aid pleaded his case at the Gulathing, in the presence of the king and queen. But the thing broke up in disorder, and Egil had to sail back to Iceland without having accomplished his purpose. Considerations of prudence had, however, no weight with him, and before long he started for the third time for Norway, surprised Berg-Anund, and killed not only him, but the king's son Ragnvald, who was his guest. In order to add insult to injury, he mounted a cliff, and raised what was called a shame-pole, or pole of dishonor, to Gunhild and the king. On the top of the pole he put the head of a dead horse, while he called out in a loud voice: "This dishonor do I turn against all the land-spirits[A] that inhabit this land, so that they may all stray on wildering ways, and none of them may chance or hit upon his home, until they shall have chased King Erik and Gunhild from the land."

[A] The land-spirits were genii loci; the alliterative formula which Egil pronounced was supposed to have magic power.

Thereupon he cut these words, in runes, into the pole, and sailed back to Iceland. It seemed, too, as if the curse took effect. For when Erik had been four years upon the throne, his youngest brother, Haakon, landed in Tröndelag, and the following year was made king. The news ran like wildfire through the country, and was everywhere received with jubilation. Erik made a desperate effort to raise an army, but the people turned away from him, and he was obliged to flee with his wife and children, and a few followers. Among those who remained faithful to him was Egil's friend, Arinbjörn. He now sailed about as a viking, harrying the coasts of Scotland and England, and finally accepted a portion of Northumberland in fief from King Ethelstan, on condition of defending the country against Norse and Danish vikings. It was also stipulated that he should be baptized and accept Christianity. Although the different sagas which deal with Erik's later life give somewhat conflicting accounts, it is obvious that he was no more popular in England than he had been in Norway. It appears that he was once, or probably twice, expelled from Northumberland, but again returned. By a most singular chance, a tempest here drove his mortal enemy right into his clutches.

Egil, it is told, was restless and discontented at home; and the common belief was that Gunhild by sorcery had stolen his peace of mind. He wandered uneasily along the strand and looked out for sails, and took no pleasure in his wife and children. Finally, when he could stay at home no longer, he equipped a ship and sailed southward to England. He was shipwrecked at the mouth of the Humber, lost his ship, but saved himself and his thirty warriors. From people whom he met, he learned that Erik Blood-Axe ruled over the country; and knowing that there was slight chance of escape, he rode boldly into York and sought his friend Arinbjörn. Together they went to Erik, who inquired of Egil how he could be so foolish, as to expect any thing but death at his hands. Gunhild, when she saw him demanded impatiently, that he should be killed on the spot. She had thirsted so long for his blood; she could not endure a moment's delay in her hotly-desired vengeance. Erik, however, granted the Icelander a respite until the next morning; Arinbjörn begged him, as a last bid for life, to spend the night in composing a song in honor of Erik. This Egil promised; and Arinbjörn had food and drink brought to him and bade him do his best. Being naturally anxious, he went to his friend in the night and asked him how the song was progressing. Egil replied that he had not been able to compose a line, because there was a swallow sitting in the window whose incessant screaming disturbed him, and he could not chase it away. Arinbjörn darted out into the hall, and caught a glimpse of a woman, who ran at the sight of him. At that very instant, too, the swallow disappeared. To prevent her from returning, Arinbjörn seated himself outside of Egil's door and kept watch through the night. For he knew that the swallow was none other than the queen, who by sorcery had assumed the guise of the bird.

The next morning Egil had finished his song and committed it to memory. Arinbjörn now armed all his men, and went with Egil and his warriors to the king's house. He reminded Erik of his fidelity to him, when others had forsaken him, and asked, as a reward for his services, that his friend's life be spared. Gunhild begged him to be silent; and the king made no response. Then Arinbjörn stepped forward and declared that Egil should not die, until he and his last man were dead.

"At that price," answered the king, "I would not willingly buy Egil's death, although, he has amply deserved whatever I may do to him."

Suddenly, when the king had spoken, Egil began to recite with a clear, strong voice, and instantly there was silence in the hall. This is a portion of his song:

IRON POINT OF A SPEAR WITH INLAID WORK OF SILVER, FOUND AT NESNE, IN NORDLAND.

IRON CHISEL FOUND IN AAMOT PARISH, OESTERDALEN.

Westward I sailed o'er the sea.
Vidrar[A] himself gave me
The ichor of his breast,[B]
And with joy I roamed.
As the ice-floes broke,[C]
Forth I launched the oak;[D]
For my mind's hull[E]
Of thy praise was full.
For thy fame, O king,
Made me fain to sing;
And to England's shore,
Odin's mead[F] I bore.
Lo, in Erik's praise,
Loud my voice I raise.
May my song resound
The wide earth around.
List to me, my king,
Well remembering
What I sing to thee
Now, unquailingly.
For the world knows well
How men round thee fell;
Glad has Odin seen
The field where thou hast been.
Burst the shield and bayed
Deep the battle-blade.
At its ruddy draught
The Valkyrias laughed.[G]
Lo, the sword-stream swayed
Like a wild cascade.
O'er the fields away
Rang the steel's strong lay.
Men with eager feet
Sprang their foe to meet;
None thy band knew save
Heroes true and brave.
For in heart and frame
Bright burned valor's flame;
'Neath their thund'ring tread
Shook the earth with dread.
'Mid the weapons' clank
Men in death-throes sank:
From the heaps of slain
Rose thy fame amain.

[A] Odin.

[B] The gift of song.

[C] In the spring.

[D] The ship.

[E] Literally: In my mind's ship (i. e., in my breast) bore I this draught of praise.

[F] Odin's mead is the gift of poetry.

[G] The maids of Odin, the choosers of the slain, the Valkyrias, had to keep watch of Erik, to receive the souls of the many whom he slew, and conduct them to Valhalla.

Erik sat immovable while Egil sang, watching his face narrowly. When the song was at an end, the king said: "The song is excellent, and I have now considered what I will do for Arinbjörn's sake. Thou, Egil, shalt depart hence unharmed; because I will not do the dastardly deed to kill a man who gave himself voluntarily into my power. But from the moment thou leavest this hall, thou shalt never come before my eyes again, nor before the eyes of my sons. Nor is this to be regarded as a reconciliation between thee and me or my sons and kinsmen." Thus Egil bought his head by his song, and the song is therefore called "Höfudlausn," or "The Ransom of the Head."

Egil then took his leave, visited Ethelstan once more; went to Norway and had many adventures, before he returned to Iceland, where he died between 990 and 995. He was then over ninety years old.[A] Another of his poems, called Sonartorek, "The Loss of the Son," is the most beautiful poem in the Icelandic language.

[A] His life is minutely related in Saga Egils Skallagrims-sonar.

Erik Blood-Axe remained in England and suffered many vicissitudes of fate, until he fell in battle in 950 or 954. He is repeatedly mentioned by the English chroniclers under the name of Erik Haroldson. After his death Gunhild had a draapa composed in his honor, an interesting fragment of which is still extant. She then went to Denmark with her sons, and was well received by the Danish king, Harold Bluetooth (Blaatand), the son of Gorm the Old.

CHAPTER VII.

HAAKON THE GOOD (935-961).

Haakon, though he was outwardly his father's image, did not resemble him in spirit. He was of a conciliatory nature, amiable, and endowed with a charm of manner which won him all hearts. It is said that his foster-father had given him the counsel at parting never to sit glum at the festal board, and it is obvious that he took the lesson to heart. When he landed in Tröndelag, people flocked about him, and he won the chieftains for his cause by friendliness and promises which he afterwards conscientiously kept. He took part in the games of the young, and in the serious discussions of the old, excelled in all manly sports, and won admiration no less by his beauty than by his intelligence and generous disposition. The rumor of his arrival spread like fire in withered grass, and people said that old King Harold had come back once more to his people, gentler and more generous than before, but no less mighty and beautiful.

The first chieftain whose influence Haakon sought to enlist in his behalf was the powerful Sigurd, Earl of Hlade, who had been the friend and protector of his mother, and the guardian of his infancy. The earl received him well, and promised to support his claims to the kingdom. With this view he called, in Haakon's name, a great meeting of the peasants in Tröndelag, and made a speech in which he denounced the cruelty of Erik Blood-Axe and declared his allegiance to Haakon. When the earl had finished, Haakon arose and offered, in case the peasants would make him their king, to restore to them their allodium, of which his father had deprived them. This announcement was received with great rejoicing; and from all parts of the plain came cries of homage and approval. Amid joyful tumult Haakon was made king, and immediately started southward with a large train of warriors. Wherever he went, the people flocked about him and offered him allegiance. The Oplands[A] followed the example of Tröndelag, and in Viken both chieftains and peasants eagerly espoused his cause. As already related, Erik made a desperate attempt to gather an army, and, failing in this, fled with his family and a few faithful followers to the Orkneys, and thence to England.

[A] See map.

It was consistent with Haakon's conciliatory disposition that he did not molest or depose his nephews, Gudröd Björnsson and Tryggve Olafsson, but confirmed them as kings in Viken. It appears, however, that, nominally at least, they recognized his overlordship. Other sons and grandsons of Harold the Fairhaired he met with the same friendliness, giving to each what he considered to be his due. As soon as peace was thus established, and there was no one left to dispute his power, Haakon devoted himself energetically to the improvement of the internal administration of his kingdom. He divided the country into Thing-Unions, or judicial districts, and by the aid of wise and experienced men greatly improved the laws. One famous code, called the Gulathings-law, has particularly shed lustre upon his name, and the enlargement and improvement of the Frostathings-law is also, by some of the sagas, attributed to him. The only radical change which he introduced was the breaking up of his father's feudal state, by the restoration of the allodium to the peasants. But this one change necessitated many others. When the king relinquished his right to tax the land, he thereby deprived himself of the ability to keep an army, and had to consign, in part, to the peasants themselves the defence of their respective districts. It was naturally the sea-coast which was most exposed to attack; and in the absence of all but the most primitive means of communication it became possible for an enemy to ravage long stretches of land, before the intelligence of his presence reached the king. In order to remedy this, Haakon ordered varder or signal-fires to be lighted, at fixed intervals, all along the coast at the approach of an enemy; but he partly counteracted the good effect of the reform by the severe punishment with which he threatened those who, without adequate cause, lighted the varder. In order to obtain the means to defend the coast, he divided it into marine districts, each of which was bound, on demand, to place a fully manned and equipped ship of war at the disposal of the king. This was, of course, but another form of taxation, but was less distasteful to the peasants, because its purpose and necessity were obvious, and no degrading dependence was implied, since the people had again become the free possessors of the soil. Nevertheless there are indications that the personal tax, derisively called the nose-tax, which had been introduced by Harold, was continued, at least for a while, by Haakon; as it is expressly stated that his first ships of war were built by the income of the nose-tax.

FRYING PAN OF BRONZE WITH IRON HANDLE. FROM THE VIKING AGE.

Having arranged the military and judicial affairs of his kingdom, Haakon turned his attention to a matter which he had long had at heart. He had been christened in his childhood in England, and was an earnest votary of the Christian religion. But, coming, as he did, to the kingdom of his father, not as a conqueror, but as a candidate for the people's favor, he did not venture at once to attack the national faith. His friend, Earl Sigurd of Hlade, was a fanatical adherent of the Asa-faith, and Haakon might have counted on his enmity rather than his support, if he had exhibited an ill-considered zeal for the displacement of the old by a new religion. Haakon, therefore, temporized, and it was not until the fifteenth or sixteenth year of his reign (950-951), when his unbonded popularity seemed to warrant any venture, that he took a decisive step in behalf of Christianity. He sent to England for a bishop and a number of priests, and published a decree, forbidding the people to sacrifice to the old gods, and demanding of them that they should accept the faith in Christ. He called upon the peasants to meet him at Drontheim, where he repeated his demand. But the peasants refused to declare themselves; and begged the king to have the matter legally settled at the Frosta-thing. Here there was a great concourse of people; and when the assembly had been called to order, Haakon rose and in an earnest and dignified speech begged the peasants to forsake the old heathen gods who were but wood and stone, and to believe in the one living God and be baptized in His name. An ominous murmur ran through the crowd at these words, and the peasant Aasbjörn of Medalhus arose and answered in these words:

BREAST-PIN OF BRONZE. FOUND AT BY IN LOITEN.

"When thou, King Haakon, didst call thy first assembly here in Drontheim, and we took thee for our king, we believed that heaven itself had descended upon us; but now we do not know whether it was liberty we gained, or whether thou wishest to make us thralls once more, by thy strange demand that we shall forsake the faith which our fathers and all their forefathers have had before us. * * * They were sturdier men than we are; and yet their faith has done well enough for us. We have learned to love thee well, and we have allowed thee to share with us the administration of law and justice. Now, we peasants have firmly determined and unanimously agreed to keep the laws which thou didst propose here at the Frosta-thing, and to which we gave our assent. We all wish to follow thee, and to have thee for our king, as long as a single one of us peasants is alive—if only thou, king, wilt show moderation, and not demand of us things in which we cannot follow thee, and which it would be unseemly for us to do. But if thou hast this matter so deeply at heart that thou wilt try thy might and strength against ours, then we have resolved to part from thee and take another chieftain who will aid us in freely exercising the religion which pleases us. Choose now, O king, between these two conditions, before the assembly has dispersed."

OVAL BRONZE BUCKLE.

Loud shouts of approval greeted this speech; and it was, for a while, impossible for any one to make himself heard. At last, when the tempest had subsided, Earl Sigurd of Hlade, probably after consultation with Haakon, rose and said that the king would yield to the wishes of the peasants and would not part with their friendship. Encouraged by this first concession, the peasants now demanded that the king should participate in their sacrifices and preside at the sacrificial feast. Much against his will, Haakon was again induced to yield, but tried to pacify his conscience by making the sign of the cross over the horn consecrated to Odin. During the following year he was also compelled to eat horse-flesh at the Yule-tide sacrifice, and to omit the sign of the cross when drinking the toasts of the heathen gods. Full of wrath he departed, intimating that he would soon come back with an army large enough to punish the Trönders for the humiliation they had put upon him. There is little doubt that he would have carried out this threat, if external enemies had not directed his energies in another direction.

The sons of Erik Blood-Axe had, after their father's death, sought refuge with King Harold Bluetooth in Denmark. The two elder, Gamle and Guttorm, had roamed about as vikings, ravaged the coasts of Norway and the lands about the Baltic, while the third son, Harold, was adopted by his namesake, the Danish king, and received his education at his court. They were all valiant warriors, but were much governed by their shrewd and cruel mother, Gunhild. They naturally cherished no good-will toward their uncle Haakon, who had dispossessed them of their kingdom; and while they were not yet strong enough to wage regular war, they seized every opportunity to annoy and harass him. They fought many battles with Tryggve Olafsson, who, as king in Viken, was charged with the defence of the southern coast, and were sometimes victorious and sometimes vanquished. In the year 952, when Tryggve was absent, Haakon took occasion to deliver an effective blow at the Danish vikings who were infesting this part of the country (though the sons of Erik were not this time among them), pursued them southward, and harassed the coasts of Jutland and the Danish isles. It appears, however, that this mode of retaliation did not permanently discourage the vikings, and as long as Harold Bluetooth showed open hostility against Norway, by espousing the cause of Gunhild and her sons, it is quite natural that the warlike zeal and rapacity of the Danes should be directed against the neighboring kingdom. It is obvious, too, that Haakon, by his attack upon Danish soil, gave a more personal character to the animosity which the Danish king entertained toward him, and Gunhild lost no time in profiting by this change of feeling. From this time forth her sons appear no longer as warlike adventurers, bent upon private vengeance, but as commanders of fleets and armies, and formidable pretenders to the Norwegian throne. In 953 they defeated Tryggve Olafsson at Sotoness, and compelled him to abandon his ships and save himself by flight. When the news of this disaster reached Haakon, he hastily made peace with the Trönders who had forced him to sacrifice, and called upon Earl Sigurd to aid him with all the ships and men at his command. Earl Sigurd promptly obeyed and sailed southward to meet the king. At Agvaldsness they overtook the sons of Gunhild and vanquished them in a hotly contested battle. Haakon slew with his own hand his nephew Guttorm Eriksson, and cut down his standard. The surviving brothers fled with the remnants of their army to Denmark, and kept the peace for two years. But in 955 they returned once more with a largely increased force and surprised King Haakon at Fraedö in Nordmöre. The signal fires had not been lighted, and no intelligence of the presence of the enemy had reached the king until it was too late. He asked his men whether they preferred to stay and fight or avoid battle, until they had gathered a sufficient force. To this an old peasant named Egil Uldsaerk (Woolsark) made answer: "I have been in many battles with thy father, King Harold. Sometimes he fought with a stronger and sometimes with a weaker foe. But he was always victorious. Never have I heard him ask counsel of his friends as to whether he should run; nor will we give thee such counsel. For we think that we have in thee a brave chieftain, and trusty aid shalt thou receive from us."

EGIL WOOLSARK'S MONUMENT OR BAUTASTONE AT FREINESS.

When the king praised these words and declared himself ready to fight, Egil cried out joyously: "In this long season of peace I have been afraid that I should die of old age on the straw of my bed—I who never asked any thing better than to follow my chieftain and die in battle! Now, at last, I shall have my wish fulfilled."

ORNAMENTAL BRONZE MOUNTING.

As soon as the sons of Erik had landed, the battle commenced. They had six men for every one of King Haakon's. Seeing that the odds were so heavily against his lord, Egil Woolsark took ten standard-bearers aside and stole up a slope of land in the rear of Gamle Eriksson's battle-array. He made them march with long intervals, so that only the tops of their standards could be seen above the slope, and not the men themselves. The Danes, spying the waving banners, supposed that a fresh force was coming to cut them off from their ships, and they raised a great cry and fled. It was in vain that Gamle, who had discovered the stratagem, shouted with a loud voice commanding them to stay. Panic had seized them, and their commander himself was swept away with the hurrying mass, until he reached the beach, where he made a final stand. Here Egil Woolsark attacked him and received his death-wound after a desperate conflict. Haakon too rushed in upon Gamle, who defended himself bravely, but having received terrible wounds, threw himself into the ocean and was drowned. The other brothers swam to their ships and returned to Denmark.

This victory secured peace to Norway for six years. Haakon had thus an opportunity to resume his efforts to Christianize the country. But his experience of the peasants' temper had apparently discouraged him. Personally he remained a Christian, and induced many of his friends to forsake the heathen faith. He lacked, however, the uncompromising vigor and the burning zeal of a martyr and propagandist. He preferred gentle to harsh measures, and shrank from antagonizing those who had been faithful to him in time of need. It is probable, too, that the counsel of his friend, Earl Sigurd, tended to cool his ardor, by emphasizing the political phase of the religious question. The result of this conciliatory policy, in connection with the good crops which prevailed during his reign, was to make King Haakon universally beloved. It is doubtful if a king has ever sat upon the throne of Norway who has been closer to the hearts of the people. Therefore, as an expression of their affection for him, they named him Haakon the Good.

In the twenty-sixth year of his reign (961) Haakon was summering with his men-at-arms on his estate Fitje in Hördaland. A large number of guests were with him, among whom the scald Eyvind Skaldespilder (Scald-Spoiler),[A] who was on his mother's side a great-grandson of Harold the Fairhaired. The king was seated at the breakfast-table, when the sentinels saw a large fleet of ships sailing in through the fjord. They called the scald Eyvind aside, and begged him to decide whether those were not hostile ships. Eyvind sprang into the hall where the king was sitting, and sang a verse, announcing the approach of the sons of Erik. Haakon arose and looked at the ships. Then he turned to his men and said: "Here many ships are coming against us, and our force is but small. It is plainly to be seen that we shall have to fight against heavier odds than ever before; for the sons of Gunhild come with a larger force to-day than on previous occasions. Loath I am to bring my best men into too great a danger; and loath I am, too, to flee, unless wise men decide that it would be foolhardy to await the foe."

[A] Skaldespilder means waster or spoiler of scalds, because no other scald could bear comparison with him.

Eyvind Scald-Spoiler replied in verse that it would ill befit a man like King Haakon to flee from the sons of Gunhild. "Manly speech is that, and in accordance with my mind," answered the king; and when the other warriors with one accord clamored for battle, he put on his armor, buckled his sword about his loins, and seized spear and shield. On his head he wore a golden helmet which flashed in the sun. Beautiful he was to behold, with his mild and noble countenance, and his bright hair streaming down over his shoulders. Upon the fields without he arranged his men in battle array, and raised his standards. The sons of Erik disembarked with a large army, commanded by the third of the brothers, Harold, and his two uncles, Eyvind Skreyja and Alf Askman. The battle which now commenced was wild and bloody. The army of the sons of Gunhild was six times as numerous as that of King Haakon. But Haakon, knowing his Norsemen well, did not lose heart. Wherever the fight was hottest, there flashed his golden helmet. He joked with Eyvind, the scald, when he passed him, and improvised a verse in reply to the one with which he was greeted. The fiercer the conflict grew, the higher rose the king's spirits. At last, when the heat oppressed him, he flung away his armor and stormed forward at the head of his men. The supply of spears and arrows soon ran short, and the hostile ranks clashed together and fought, hand to hand, with their swords. The shining helmet made the king very conspicuous, and Eyvind Scald-Spoiler noticed that it served as a target for the Danish spears. He therefore took a hood and pulled it over the helmet. Eyvind Skreyja, who was just rushing forward to meet the king, thereby lost sight of him, and he cried out: "What has become of the king of the Norsemen? Does he hide himself, or is he afraid? No more do I see the golden helmet?" "Keep on as thou art steering, if thou wishest to find the king of the Norsemen," shouted Haakon, and throwing away his shield, seized his sword with both hands, and sprang forward where all could see him. Eyvind Skreyja bounded forward with uplifted sword, but one of the king's men caught the blow upon his shield, and in the same instant Haakor, cleft Eyvind's head and neck down to the shoulders. The example of their king fired the Norsemen's courage, while the fall of their greatest champion brought confusion to the Danes. The former charged with renewed fury, while the latter were pressed down to the beach, and leaped into the ocean; many were killed or drowned, but a few, including Harold Eriksson, saved themselves by swimming, and were picked up by the ships. While pursuing the fleeing foe, Haakon was hit in his right arm by a peculiarly shaped arrow, and all efforts to staunch the blood proved in vain. It was said that Gunhild had bewitched this arrow and given it to her chamberlain, with the charge that he should shoot it off against King Haakon. As night approached, the king grew weaker and weaker, and fainted repeatedly. One of his friends offered to take his body over to England, when he was dead, so that he might be buried in Christian soil. But Haakon replied: "I am not worthy of it. I have lived like a heathen, and therefore it is meet that I should be buried like a heathen."

Thus died Haakon the Good and, as the saga says, was mourned alike by friends and foes. His last act before dying was to send a ship after the sons of Gunhild, and beg them to come back and take the kingdom; for he had himself no sons, and his only daughter, Thora, could not, according to the law, succeed to the throne.

Eyvind Scald-Spoiler made a song in King Haakon's honor, called Haakonarmaal, in which he praised his virtues and described his reception in Valhalla.

CHAPTER VIII.

HAROLD GRAYFELL AND HIS BROTHERS (961-970).

The sons of Gunhild lost no time in taking possession of the kingdom of their fathers. It was not, however, the entire Norway to which they succeeded, but only the middle districts. In Viken, Tryggve Olafsson and Gudröd Björnsson, both grandsons of Harold the Fairhaired, ruled as independent kings, and in Tröndelag Earl Sigurd, of Hlade, refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the race of Erik Blood-Axe. Undoubtedly the brothers were only biding their time until they should be strong enough to punish these contemptuous rebels; but so bitter was the feeling against them, even in the provinces which they nominally ruled, that they had all they could do in maintaining their authority within the narrow limits which had from the beginning been assigned to them. One of the chief causes of their unpopularity was their dependence upon the Danish king, by whose aid they had gained the kingdom, and to whom they apparently stood in a relation of vassalage. As a consequence of this, they took no pains to gain the favor of the Norwegian people, but surrounded themselves with a great throng of Danish warriors who constituted their court and the main-stay of their strength. Very unfortunate, too, was the influence which their mother Gunhild exercised over them. Scarcely had she returned to Norway, when she resumed her baneful activity, egging her sons on to cruel and treacherous deeds, by which they forfeited the people's respect and undermined their own power. Misfortune had not taught her caution, nor had age softened the fierce malignity of her temper.