Full text of "Töid EKP ajaloo alalt"

See other formats

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES

gKIVERSITY of CALrF0RNl4
AT
"^ JX)S ANGELES
UBRARY

HISTORY

OF THE

NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

KNUT GJERSET, Ph.D.

(HEIDELBERG)

PROFESSOR OF NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE

AND HISTORY IN LUTHER COLLEGE

DECORAH, lOWA

VÕLUME I

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1915

O 'x O U 1

COPTEIGHT, 1915,

Bt THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1915.

NoriD0oli ^rf8<'
J. S. Cushing Co. — Berw- h Co.

Norwood, Mas?

PREFACE

The growing interest in Norwegian language, literature, and
culture in this country has created a special need for a history of
tlie Norwegian people in the Englisli language devoting sufficient
attention to the more important pliases of the people's life to
show the development of their institutions and culture, their life
at home, and their activity and influence abroad. It has been
mv aim in this work to meet this demand by häving constantly
in mind what questions an intelligent reader might be expected
to ask, and by trying, as far as possible, to answer them. In the
Middle Ages the Scandinavian peoples were potent factors in
developing navigation, commerce, municipal life and government,
literature and culture in northern Europe. But nothing has been
taken for granted, nor has any theory been advanced beyond
what is clearly established by the investigations of the best schol-
ars. The way to the original sources has, therefore, always been
pointed out, and these have been used in a conservative spirit.
The views of the leading scholars have been followed, and some-
times pref erence has been purposely given to the more conservative
views on points where there is or might be a difference of opinion.
On the whole I have deemed it advisable to adhere to Snorre
Sturlason's healthful principle : " It seems better to us that some-
thing should be added later than that anything should have to be
stricken out."

The period of the union with Denmark has been treated with
some fuUness of detail. The preservation of the people's per-
sonal freedom amidst general national decay, the germs of a new
development distinctly traceable in social life has been especially
dwelt upon, not only because these features are characteristic of
the life of the Norwegian people in that period, but because they
constitute the basis of their political and social development in
modern times.

/
/

VI PREFACE

Regarding Norway's lõng struggle for complete independence
after 1814 an attempt has been made to state facts fearlessly and
impartially, without any spirit of antagonism against the noble
and heroic Swedish people, who are and will be Norway's truest
friends.

In proper names the original spelling has been preserved,
except in a few cases where a distinct English form has been
developed ; as, Copenhagen, Grottenborg, Charles John. The at-
tempt to give Norwegian names an English form, or to translate
appellatives, destroys their euphony and character as names, and
leads to many difhculties. An aid to the pronunciation of Nor-
wegian names will be found under a separate heading.

KNUT GJERSET.

Luther College, Decorah, Iowa,
August 1, 1914. '

CONTENTS

PAGB

1. The Country and its Resources 1

2. SCANDINAVIA IN PrEHISTORIC TiMES 8

The Stone Age 8

3. The Bronze Age 14

4. The Iron Age 17

5. The Migrations 26

6. The People 35

7. The Dawn of Historic Norway -41

8. The Early Viking Expeditions 45

-9. The Vikings in Ireland and in the Islands .... 46

—10. The Vikings in France and Spain 48

- 11. The Vikings in England 52

12. Alfred the Great and the Vikings 57

' 13. NaMES APPLIED TO THE ViKINGS 60

- 14. Struggle between Norsemen and Danes in Ireland . . 61

- 15. The Viking Expeditions Eastward. Founding of the Rus-

SIAN KiNGDOM. ThE VaRANGIANS IN CONSTANTINOPLE . . 63

y' 16. Life and Culture in the Viking Age 69

- 17. Causes of the Viking Expeditions 75

18. towns and commerce 76

19. Dress, Houses, Food, and Drink 83

20. Religion and Literature' * . . __ 92

21. Early Social Conditions in Norway 109

22. The Origin of the Yngling Dynasty 118

23. Harald Haarfagre. Unification of Norway .... 120

24. EvENTs OuTsiDE OF NoRWAY. The Norse Colonial Empire.

The Orkney and Shetland Islands 129

^ 25. Iceland and the Faroe Islands 137

26. FiNMARKEN 142

vii

vill CONTENTS

PAGK

27. normandy and the n0rman8 145

28. The Norse Cülonies in Great Britain and Ireland . . 153

29. The Fall of the Kingdom of York 155

30. The Battle of Brunanburh 156

31. The Last Years of Harald Haakfagre's Reign . . . 159

32. EiRiK Blood-Ax 160

33. Haakon the Good 164

34. The Sons of Eirik Blood-Ax. Haakon Jarl the Leader of the
Aristocracy. Loss of National Unity and Independence 168

'Sõ. Olav Tryggvason. The Introduction of Christianity in

Norway 174

36. Introduction of Christianity in the Faroe Islands and

Iceland 189_^

37. The Discovery and Colonization of Greenland . . . 197

38. The Discovery of the Mainland of North America . . 205

39. The Downfall of the Viking Dominion in Ireland. The

Battle of Clontarf 223

40. The Norsemen in the Hebrides and in the Isle of Man . 229

41. The Norsemen in Scotland 235

42. CoNDiTiONS IN Norway during the Reign of the Jarls Eirik

and Svein 243

43. Olav Haraldsson or Olav the Saint 246

44. Foreign Relations 252

.—45. King Olav Establishes Christianity in Norway. His Laws

and Administration 254

46. Norway under Danish Overlordship. The Battle of Stikle-

STAD. King Olav the Saint 262

47. Magnus the Good. The Union of Norway and Denmark . 269

48. The I(eign of Harald Haardraade 280

49. The Second Conquest of England 287

50. Olav Kyrre. The Period of Peace 294

51. The Revival of the Viking Spirit. Magnus Barefoot . . 303

52. The Norwegian Coat of Arms 310

-^ 53. Norway Participates in the Crusades. Eystein Magnusson

AND SiGURD THE CrüSADER 311

54. King Eystein Magnusson's Reign. The Acquisition of J^mt-

land 319

55. The Reign of King Sigurd the Crusader 333

CONTENTS IX

PAGE

56. The Period of Civil Wars. Magnus the Blind, Harald

GiLLE, AND SiGURD SlEMBEDIAKN 337

57. The Inner Organization and Growth of the Church of

NoRWAY 345

58. Ragnvald Jarl's Crusade 355

59. The Second Stage of Civil AVars. The Rule of Erling

Skakke and Magnus Erlingsson 358

—^60. The English Conquest of Ireland. Events in the Colonies 369

61. Sverre Sigurdsson and the Birkebeiner . . . . 375

62. King Sverre's Reign 386

63. Birkebeiner and Bagler. King Sverre and Pope Innocent III 397

64. King Sverre's Immediate Successors 407

65. King Haakon Haakonsson and Skule Jarl . . . .410

66. King Haakon's Coronation. Colonial Affairs . . . 420
167. Crusades and Crusaders 427

68. The Annexation of Iceland and Greenlaxd .... 434

69. Haakon Haakonsson's Expedition to the Hebrides. The
Close of the Reign 438

70. Literature and Cultüre in the Age of Haakon Haakonsson 443

71. Magnus Haakonsson Lagab/)ter. A New System of Juris-
prudence 456

72. The Growth of Trade and the Origin of a Distinct Com-
mercial policy 467

73. The Reign of Eirik Magnusson 473

74. Haakon Magnusson the Elder. The Change of Norway's
foreign policy 483

LIST OF PLATES

FACINO PAGE

I. A Modern Norwegian Farm, Seierstad, Toten .... 4

Lumbering in Eastern Norway . . . . . . . 4

II. Rock Tracing in Bohuslen 14

III. The Oseberg Ship and Wagon found in It 34

IV. Viking Warship 72

The Gokstad Ship Restored 72

V. Broch of Mousa 82

Reginald's Tower (Ragnvalds Taarn), Waterford .... 82

VI. Ruins of the Bishop's Palace at Kirkwall 131

The St. Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall 131

Notland Castle in Westray 181

VII. Interior of St. Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall .... 134
VIII. Norwegian Woven Tapestry lepresenting the Entrance of King

Sigurd the Crusader into Constantinople 317

IX. The Stavanger Cathedral 322

Interior of the Stavanger Cathedral 322

X. Ruins of the Trondhjem Cathedral 384

The Trondhjem Cathedral as it looks at Present .... 384

XI. Ruins of the Hoved^ Monastery 453

King Haakon Haakonsson's Guüd-hall in Bergen, and the Valken-

dorf Tower 453

XII. Interior of the Trondhjem Cathedral 456

The Trondhjem Cathedral as it will appear when Restored . . 456

XIII. Akershus 482

LIST OF MAPS

FAOING PAGK

I. Norse Settlements and Towns in Wales and on the Bristol Channel 78

IL Shetland Islands 136

III. Faroe Islands 190

IV. Greenland — Oid Eastern Settlement 198

V. Greenland — Oid Western Settlement 202

VI. The Norwegian Colonial Empire in the Viking Age . . . 220

VII. Orkney Islands 236

VIIL Iceland 473

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

PAGE

Flint Ax from Skäne 9

Flint Ax from Skane 9

Flint Ax from Bohuslen . . 9

Stone Axes from Bohuslen 9

Stone Ax from Bohuslen 11

Stone Ax from Skane 11

Flint Saw from Bohuslen 11

Grindstone from Skane 11

Dolmen in Bohuslen 12

Passage Grave in Vestergötland 12

Plan of Passage Grave 13

Vessels found in an Oid Burial Chamber in Denmark .... 13

Kock Tracing in Norway 14

Bronze Bowl 14

Bronze Ax 15

Bronze Spear Point 15

Ornamental Bronze Disk 16

Bronze Buckle 16

Rock Tracing in Bohuslen 16

Oak Coffin from the Bronze Age, found at Treenh^i in Denmark . . 17

Oruamented Drinking-horn 18

Bronze Statuette 19

Ring-maU 19

ShieldBoss 19

GoldRing 19

Spear Point 20

Iron Sword 20

Part of a Sword found in Upland, Sweden 21

. Boat found near Sundeved in Denmark 21

Early Runic Alphabet 22

Gold Bracteate found in Bohuslen 33

Rune-stone from Tune, Norway 34

Later Runic Alphabet 43

The Marble Lion of Pirseus with Runic Inscription 68

A Viking Warrior 74

Loom from the Faroe Islands 87

xiii

XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

PAGE

Skaale 88

Drinking-horn 89

Irish Monastery on the West Coast of Ireland 93

Oid Church at Moster thought to have been erected by Olav Tryggvason 186

Ruins of the Church at Kakortok, Greenland 201

The Dyna Rune-stone at Hadeland, Norway 247

AID TO CORRECT PRONUNCIATION OF
NORWEGIAN PROPER NAMES

A, a pronounced ah, like English ä in arm.

E, e pronounced ay/ like English ä in day.

I, i pronounced ee, like English e in eve.

0, o pronounced oo, like English õ in only.

JJ, u pronounced ou, like English oxi in you.

^, ee is an open sound like English ä in at, but usually lengthened.

0, (p like German ö in söhne, or English e infern.

AA, aa pronounced awe, like English aw in awful ; Aasen pronounced
Aw'sen.

Y, yisa, vowel like English y in ytWium : example, Ygg'dräsü, Yng'vär.

The consonants have their simple Latin sound, except j, which has
the sound of English y in year : example, Jcemtland pronounced
Yämfländ. Einal e is always sounded and f orms a distinct unaccented
syllable : examples, Lerche pronounced Lerch'e, Gim'le.

The digraph ie is pronounced like English ie injield: example, Friele
pronounced Free'le. The ei is pronounced like English i in ice; exam-
ple, Einar pronounced Pnär. The au is pronounced like English ou in
aut : example, Aud pronounced Oud.

SJcj is pronounced like sh: example, Jernskjegge pronounced
Yern'shegg'e.

Kj is pronounced like eh : example, Kjartan pronounced Chär'tän.

1 Frouoimced without the yanishing sound.

HISTOEY OF THE NORWEGIAN
PEOPLE

1. The Country and its Resources

The kingdom of Norway forms a part of the Scandinavian pen-
insula, embracing its mountainous western slope.^ It consists of a
rock-bound coast region 1700 miles in length when measured along
the outer belt of rocks. In the southern part it is about 260 miles
wide, in the northern about sixty miles, though the extreme northern
province, Finmarken, is considerably wider. Measured in a straight
line, the distance north and south from Vard0 to Lindesnes is 1100
miles, so that if the country were swung around, its northern extrem-
ity would reach the Pyrenees. Norway is a little larger than the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, its total area being
124,495 sq. m., or about the same as that of our New England States
together with New York and New Jersey. The country consists
of a mountain plateau broken by two larger depressions : one in the
southwestern part; another, and smaller one, around the Trond-
hjemsfjord. These two tracts — 0stlandet and Tr0ndelagen — con-
sisting of undulating mountain slopes, contain extensive and valuable
forests of coniferous trees, and are especially well adapted to farming
and cattle raising. The southern coast region — Vestlandet — as
well as the northern part — Nordland and Finmarken — is inter-

1 Norioay, Official Publication for the Paris Exhibition, Christiania, 1900.
Paul B. Du Chaülu, The Land of the Midnight Sun. Joh. Dyring, Kongerigct
Norge, dets Geografi, Samjundsindretninger og Nceringsveie, 1894. Jens
Kraft, Historisk-topografisk Haandbog over Kongeriget Norge. Professor
Dr. Sophus Ruge, Norwegen. Yngvar Nielsen, Reise-haandbog over Norge.
Norges officielle Statistik, utgit av det Stafistiske Centralbyraa, Christiania.
Einer Haffner, Bogen om Norge. Amund Helland, Norges Land og Folk
topografisk-sfatistisk beskrevet. M. Braun Tvethe, Norges Statistik, 1848.
A. Schweigaard, Norges Statistik, Christiania, 1840.
VOL. I — B 1

2 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

sected by narrow fjords cxtending far into the country. These deep
cuts in the rocky plateau contiime inland as narrow, fertile valleys,
abounding in streams and waterfalls, and are oftcn of incomparable
beauty and grandeur. Fringing these valleys are large mountain-
tracts unfit for agriculture, bearing timber, grass, and wild berries.
These tracts are valuable as pasture and timberlands, while an abun-
dance of wild game lends them a special charm as excellent hunting
grounds. The high inland plateau is uninhabitable, being for the
most part covered by glaciers and perpetual snow. This is the undis-
puted domain of birds and wild deer, which exist here in such num-
bers as to render even these large areas of frozen desolation of con-
siderable importance to domestic economy.

Norway lies north of the 58th parallel ; its southern extremity,
Lindesnes, being at 57° 59' N. L., while in the north it reaches a lati-
tude of 71° 11'. If the country were applied to the North American
continent in the same latitude, its southern part would be found to
Iie in the region of central Labrador, while its northern extremity
would reach the magnetic pole. Considering its high latitude, the
climatic conditions of the country are unique. The Gulf Stream,
passing up through the Atlantic to the west of the Scandinavian pen-
insula, so affects conditions in this respect, that nowhere else in the
world is the average temperature so high in the same latitude. The
climate varies a great deal with the elevation above the sea, as well
as with the latitude, but south of the arctic circle the average tem-
perature is about the same as in our northern tier of states, being
cooler in summer, and warmer in winter, than in our states ; resembling
more closely the climate of the state of Washington and British
Columbia. Thunderstorms are rare, even in the southern part.
The coast is often swept by strong winds or severe storms, especially
in winter, but in the inland districts the air is almost always calm,
owing to the uniform temperature. The winter is lõng and dark;
in the northern part of the country an almost unbroken night. A
deep covering of snow then spreads over mountains and woodlands,
affording unequaled opportunity for sleighing and skiing, which form
the most characteristic features of winter life in Norway.

The summer, with its almost continuous daylight, is very beauti-
ful. From the last days of May till the end of July the sun never sets

THE COUNTRY AND ITS RESOURCES 3

on northern Norway, and even in Christiania day fades so gently into
night that they can scarcely be toid apart. The summer landscape
of fjords and wooded mountain sides, dark headlands and green
islands, which break the evening simlight into varioiis hiies and tints,
has the ethereal mystic beauty pecuhar to high latitudes.

Fishing, farming, and cattle raising were the chief occupations
from early times, and they stiil continue to be the people's principal
means of subsistence, though many new pursuits, such as lumbering,
commerce, and manufacturing, have become of great importance in
later years. According to the sägas, splendidly painted ships with
many-eolored sails carried jSsh from Norway to England over 1000
years ago, and fish stiil continues to be one of the chief articles of ex-
port. Especially important are the herring and eod fisheries, though
mackerel, halibut, salmon, seatrout, sardines, and lobster are also
eaught in large quantities. The most noted fishing grounds are the
Lofoten Islands, where thirty-six fishing stations are located. In
the early months of winter about 40,000 fishermen gather here to
take part in the eod fisheries. The average value of the yearly catch
of herring, eod, and other varieties of fish, when ready for the market,
is estimated at $12,000,000. Agriculture is one of the leading pur-
suits in Norway, and is carried on in all parts, except in the extreme
northern region north of the 70th parallel, where no grain can be
raised. Scarcely 3 per cent of the total area of the country is under
cultivation, and of this area the greater portion is meadow ; only -^
per cent of the total area being devoted to the cultivation of grain.
But although the acreage is small, a remarkably large number of peo-
ple devote themselves to farming. According to the census of 1900,
993,000 persons, or 44.7 per cent of the population, were connected
directly or indirectly with this occupation. The average yearly
value of agricultural products in the period from 1895 till 1900 was
$17,496,000.

Of the cereals wheat, barley, oats, and rye are raised. Wheat
and barley were cultivated on the Scandinavian peninsula as early as
in the Younger Stone Age, prior to 1500 b.c. Oats was introduced in
the Bronze Age (1500-500 b.c), and rye in the Iron Age (after 500
B.c). Oats is the chief grain in most districts, being cultivated more
extensively than any other cereal; the average annual yield is

4 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

9,500,000 bushels. Barley, which ripens as far north as 70° N. L.,
yields annually aboiit four million bushels. The wheat-growing area
is small, being restricted chiefly to the southern district. The yield
is about 255,000 bushels annually. Rye is the chief food grain in
Norway, and ripens up to 69° or 70° N. L. But it is not raised exten-
sively, as spring rye gives a small yield, and the winter rye is not
reliable. The annual yield is about 900,000 bushels. A considerable
area is devoted to the raising of pease and potatoes. The pease crop
is 220,000 bushels ; the potato crop about 23,000,000 bushels annually.

Fruit raising is carried on in many parts of Norway, but not on a
very extensive seale. Apples, pears, and cherries are raised, and
berries, such as currants, gooseberries, and raspberries, are grown in
great abundance. Of wild varieties the blueberry, cloudberry, and
whortleberry are found in inexhaustible quantities in the mountain
districts. The home market is often glutted with these delicacies at
certain seasons of the year, and the export of berries is a growing
source of income.

The raising of cattle and other domestic animals is of even greater
importance than agriculture, because this braneh of husbandry can
be carried on with success in places where grain cannot be culti-
vated. During the last few years the income from this source has
been about $40,500,000 a year, or more than the income from fishing
and agriculture combined. In connection with cattle raising, dairy-
ing has, especially of läte years, become of great importance, and may
almost be said to be a new braneh of husbandry. It has been greatly
stimulated through the organization of coöperative dairies with
scientific methods of butter making, and by the building of cheese
factories and milk-condensing stations. In the period from 1885
till 1900 the number of dairies increased from 249 to 650.

In olden times wild game was so plentiful in the mountain regions
of Norway that hunting was an occupation of considerable impor-
tance. The Anglo-Norman historian Ordericus Vitalis,^ who visited
Norway in the first part of the twelfth century, writes : " Rural home-

^ Ordericus Vitalis, Hisforia Ecclesiastica, edited by A. le Prevost, Societe
de VHistoire de France, vol. V., Paris, 1838-1855.

A large part of this work, dealing with the history of the Anglo-Saxons
and the Normans, is translated into Danish by P. Kierkegaard, Copenhagen,
1889.

PLATE I

A Modern Nokwegian Farm, Seierstad, Toten.

LUMBERING IN EaSTEHN NuKWAY.

THE COUNTRY AND ITS RESOURCES 5

steads are found in large numbers around the lakes of the interior.
The people have plenty of fish, fowl, and meat of wild animals. They
keep strictly the Commandments and strict laws of the Christian
faith, and piinish severely any violation of these. From all quarters
their ships bring treasures into the country." Hunting has lost its
former significance, being now carried on mainly as a sport, but wild
game is stiil very plentiful in all parts of the country, and a consider-
able income is derived from this source in many districts. The red
deer, the elk, and the reindeer stiil inhabit the mountains and forests
in large numbers. The total of 2033 head killed in 1897 may be
regarded as a fair yearly average. Stiil greater are the number and
varieties of birds and small game. The grouse is, no doubt, the most
important wild game in the country. So plentiful is it that about
two million birds are shot or snared every year. The coast of Norway
is yearly visited by hosts of wild geese, swans, eider ducks, and other
aquatic fowl, and great quantities of eggs and down are gathered.^

Commerce reached a high development in Norway in very early
times. Through the Viking expeditions new trade routes were de-
veloped, and the Norsemen soon became clever merchants, as well as
able seamen, and boid warriors. In "The King's Mirror" ("Konge-
speilet," "Speculum Regale"), written in Norway about 1250, a father
gives advice to his son, who wishes to become a merchant. "Both
knowledge and experience is necessary," says the father, "as a mer-
chant must travel in distant lands and among strange peoples. He
should be courteous, pleasing in manners, generous, a good judge
of goods, and honest and upright in all his dealings. He should avoid
gambling and bad company, and whatever might create the impres-
sion that he is a mere barterer and an uncultured person. He should
set a good table, dress well, and seek the company of the best people
wherever he comes." "Study carefully all laws," says the father;
" but if you want to be a merchant, there is no law which you should
study more carefully than the BjarkeyjarreUr,^ or laws of trade."

1 J. N. Gregersen, Jagt i Norge, Christiania, 1898. Norges Fuglevildt, og
Jagten -paa samme, Copenliagen, 1881. J. B. Barth, Erjaringer jra Jagten
-paa det mindre Vildt i Norge, 2d edition, Christiania, 1891.

2 In the trade eenters and chief market plaees there grew up in very early
times rules and regulations governing business intercourse. These rules
were known by the eommon name of Bjarkeyjarrettr, a word found in Oid

6 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

"Though I have been more a king's man than a merchant," he says,
" yet I find no f ault because you choose this occupation, f or it is now
chosen by many of our best men." ^ Norway's shipping and com-
merce are, however, at present of far greater economic importance
than at any earlier period. In 1913 her merchant marine consisted of
2133 steamships, 1040 saihng vessels, and 205 motor boats, represent-
ing altogether a capacity of 2,586,030 tons.- Only Great Britain,
Germany, and the United States have a larger merchant marine than
Norway. The greater number of this large fleet of vessels are engaged
in the carrying trade in different parts of the globe. The earned
profits of this trade for the year 1900 were $38,853,000.

The forests of Norway are very extensive, covering about 24 per
cent of the entire area of the country. About three-fourths of this
area is covered with coniferous, and one-fourth with deciduous trees.
The value of the annual export of timber and other forest products
is estimated at about $15,740,000.

Mining has not hitherto been engaged in on any extensive seale.
The most important mines are the Kongsberg silver mines, which have
been worked since 1624, the Roros copper mines, operated since
1646, and the Sulitjelma copper mines, which were opened in 1887.
Iron ores occur in large quantities in many places, and the mining
of this metal is rapidly increasing.

Manufacturing is of comparatively recent development in Norway.
In olden times manufactured articles were either imported, or they
were supplied through private industry carried on in the homes by
members of the family or by skilled laborers. A high degree of skill

Swedish and Oid Danish, as well as in Oid Norse. The word seems to be
derived from Bjarko or Birka, in Mälaren, Sweden, presumably the oldest
important eommercial center in the North. The rules of trade here in vogue
came into use also in other trading centers and market places, and when
these, in course of time, developed into towns and eities, the Bjarkeyjarrettr
became a eode of munieipal laws, distinct from the other laws of the country.
Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers Selvstyre og Händel f^r Han-
seaterne, Christiania, 1899. The Bjarkeyjarrettr or Bjark^-Ret is found in
Norges gamle Love, published by R. Keyser and P. A. Munch, Christiania,
vol. I., part III.

1 Kongespeüet, the Kingas Mirror, Christiania, 1848.

^B. E. Bendixen, Et Omrids of Norges Handelshistorie, p. 58. Decorah-
Posten, Deeorah, lowa, July 17, 1914.

THE COUNTRY AND ITS RESOURCES 7

and artistic taste had been developed in many handicrafts lõng
before the times of recorded history. Weaving of homespun cloth,
both of wool and linen, was common, and the farmers made their own
tools and implements. It was the pride of the women then, as it is
stiil in Norway, to embroider with taste, and there were artisans
skilled in blacksmithing, wood earving, and in the making of or-
naments of precious metals. Ship-building and the making of
weapons were national arts which were held in high esteem, and were
carried on with surprising skill in design and workmanship. With
the development of towns and cities in the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies, and through the influx of skilled foreign artisans in the thir-
teenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, a system of crafts and guilds origi-
nated which gained full control of the different lines of manufacture.
This system of corporations produced a new industrial growth. Each
guild had a monopoly on its specialty, to which the members were
limited by strict laws, and which they did much to develop, The
oid native artisans, not able to compete with these new organizations,
lost their importance, and also much of their former skill ; but to some
degree they have survived all industrial changes, so that even at the
present time workers in wood, silver, and brass can be found here and
there in the rural districts, whose art seems to have been inherited
through successive generations from those early times.

The development of manufactures is limited chiefly to the nine-
teenth century, the growth häving been especially rapid during the
last sixty years. In 1850 only 12,700 persons were employed in the
factories of Norway ; in 1900 the number had risen to 70,000. With
the cheap and almost unlimited waterpower available, and with a
rich supply of minerals and other raw materials, manufacturing
seems destined to become the great future occupation of the Norwe-
gian people. But hitherto, during all the centuries of the past, the
location, as well as the general character of the country, has been
favorable to the development of the seafaring life along the extensive
coasts, and the husbandry in the inland districts which have given
Norwegian national life its distinctive features, both economically
and socially.

8 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

2. SdNDINAVIA IN PrEHISTORIC TiMES

How lõng Scandinavia lias been inhabited cannot be determined.
When history, about 800 a.d., first lifts the veil of darkness which
envelops the remote past, we find a people far advariced in civiliza-
tion, possessing a high social organization, art, laws, and even some
degree of luxury and refinement. No detailed account can be given
of the people's Ufe and development prior to this period, but ar-
chseology has been able, through numerous finds of reHcs of antiquity,
to estabhsh some important data regarding prehistoric conditions
which make it possible to trace in large outhnes the greater phases
of progress and the mode of hfe.^ Iron has been in use in Scandi-
navia since about 500 b.c, and the period from 500 b.c. to 1050 a.d.
is called by archseologists the Iron Age. Other metals were in use
eariier. Articles of gold, copper, and bronze were brought to Scan-
dinavia from southern Europe as early as 2000 b.c.

About 1500 B.c. bronze seems to have come into general use in the
making of weapons and edged tools. The period from 2000 b.c. to
500 b.c, when iron makes its appearance, is, therefore, known as
the Bronze Age. Prior to this era weapons and implements were
made of stone, wood, bone, and horn, and this earhest period is
called the Stone Age. In this period two different epochs are
noticeable; the Older Stone Age, and the Younger Stone Age. In the
Older Stone Age people seem to have lived almost exclusively by
hunting and fishing. Their clothes were made of skin ; their tools

* Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed, Copenhagen. J. J. A. Worsaae,
Nordens Forhistorie, Copenhagen, 1881. Oscar Montelius, Om Livet i
Sverige under Hednatiden, Stockholm, 1905. Reinert Svendsen, Fortidsmin-
desmerker i Ringsaker paa Hedemarken, Christiania, 1902. Skrifter udgivet
aj Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christiania, II historiske klasse, 1910 ; Den antike
Stenalder i Norge, A. W. Bragger. Paul Du Chaillu, The Viking Age, Scrib-
ner's, New York, 1889. Gabriel Gustafson, Norges Oldtid, Christiania, 1906.
Sophus Müller, Vor Oldtid, Copenhagen, 1897. Alexander Bugge, Norges
Historie, vol. I, 1. Sophus Müller, De forhistoriske Tider i Europa, Verdens-
kulturen, edited by Aage Friis, vol. II., p. 1 ff. Sven Nilsson, Skandinaviska
Nordens Ur-invänare, 1838-1843. Sven Nilsson, Udkast til Jagtens og
Fiskeriets celdste Historie i Skandinavien. J. J. A. Worsaae, Danmarks
Oldtid, 1843. Ingvald Undset, Jernalderens Begyndelse i Nord-Europa,
Christiania, 1881.

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTOKIC TIMES

FiG. 1. — Flint ax from
Skane.

FiG. 2. — Flint ax from
Skane.

FiG. 3. — Flint ax
from Bohuslen.

FiQ. 4. — Stone axes from Bohuslen,

10 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and weapons of horn and bone. They had only one domestic animal,
the dog, probably a domesticated jackal.

No graves have been found from this period. The most important
remains are the great sheh-heaps (avfaldsdynger, kj^kkenm^ddinger) .
These heaps consist of mussel and oyster shells, and of bones of
fish, birds, and animals, such as the bear, urox, wild boar, deer, wolf,
fox, ete. ; embedded in which are found arrowheads, spear points,
and other stone weapons and implements, together with fragments of
earthenware, and articles made of bone and horn.

The Younger Stone Age giY es evidence that great progress had been
made in many ways. Stone weapons and tools were made, as a
ruie, of flint, which was the best-known material for edged tools.
They are nicely polished and graceful in form, hearing evidence of
the taste and skill of the makers. Agriculture may be said to have
begun, since both wheat and barley are known to have been culti-
vated. Nearly all the domestic animals were introduced, which can
be seen from bones found in the graves from this period. The
importation of flint from Denmark to the Scandinavian peninsula,
of which there is evidence, seems to show that navigation, too, was
in the process of development. Of special importance to the study
of the Younger Stone Age are the many graves preserved from this
epoch, a great number being found especially in southern Sweden.
In Norway they are found in the southeastern part. They may be
divided into three groups : the dolmens, the passage or gallery graves,
and the stone coffins. The dolmen consists of stone slabs reaching
from the bottom of the grave to some distance above the ground, so
placed as to form a circle, and a great stone slab is placed on top as
a roof. The bottom of the grave is made of sand or gravel. These
graves are made for a single body, which was usually buried in a sit-
ting posture.

The gallery graves are constructed very much in the same way,
but they are burial chambers of considerable size, supplied with an
entrance passage. They are sometimes twenty feet lõng, twelve feet
wide, and six feet high. The stone coffins consist of stone slabs
placed on edge, with other slabs placed over them for a cover.

The custom of constructing such permanent abodes for. the dead
rests, no doubt, on the beUef that the spirits of the departed con-

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

FiG. 5. — Stone ax from
Bohuslen.

FiG. 6. — Stone ax
from Skäne.

FiG. 7. — Fliiit saw from Bohuslen.

FiG. 8. — Grindstone from Skäne.

IIISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

tiniied to cxist after death, much in the same way as in this present
life. The grave was to l)e a suitable habitation, supplied with such

i'ir,. <j. — Doiiiicii in Bohuslen.

necessaries as they might need. Clothes, weapons, ornaments, even
food and drink were placed in the grave with the dead body, and

^X*^ \

FiG. 10. — Passage grave in Vestergötlaad.

offerings, probably connected with the worship of the spirit of anees-
tors so common among early peoples, were, no doubt, performed on
the flat stone formins the roof of the grave.

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

FiG- 1-- FiG. 13. FiG. 14,

Vessels found in an oid burial chamber in Denmark.

14 history of the norwegian people

3. The Bronze Age

The introdiiction of bronze, and the livelier intercourse with other
countries, of whieh this is a proof, gave rise to a new culture in the
Scandinavian North rauch higher than that which the Stone Age
had produced. Weapons, ornaments, vessels, and utensils were now
made with a taste in dcsign and ornamentation sometimes worthy of
the skilled artisans of Rome itself. jMost of these articles were
made at home, but the bronze had to be imported from the British
Isles and the countries of central and southern Europe. This shows

FiG. 15. — Bronze bowl.

that ships of considerable size must have been built, and that the
peoples of the North were able to navigate the sea, though they had
not yet learned to use sails, which were first introduced in the Iron
Age. This can be seen also from the rock tracings of this period.
These strange records of the past are pictures chiseled on the flat
surface of rocks, sometimes, also, on stone slabs in the graves, illus-
trating many phases of hfe. Among the many things represented in
these pictures are boats, carrying sometimes as many as thirty men,
but there is no indication of mast or saih Horses can be seen drawing
two-wheeled carts, spans of oxen hitched t9 four-wheeled wagons,
farmers engaged in ploughing, warriors on horseback, ete. The
full meaning of this sj^stem of picture writing has not been deciphered,
but the pictures themselves throw considerable light on the life of
this early period, and they are especially interesting as the earliest
written records of the past in the North.

PLATE II

- •s^jv^»-yig(i-<jj-iJf-U^'

Rock Tracing in Bohuslen.

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

Besides bfonze, ornaments of gold and many other articles were
imported. Many of these articles of foreign make show that the

Scandinavian countries already at this time must

have been in communication with southern Europe.

The earhest routes of intercourse seem to have fol-

lowed the large rivers of southern Russia from the

Black Sea into Poland, and thence along the Vistula

to the shores of the Baltic Sea.
The mode of burial was also

changed. During the first cen-

turies of this era the bodies of the

dead, together with weapons and

ornaments, were placed in coffins

made of hollowed oak logs which

were deposited in mounds. To

this mode of burial we owe the

fortunate circumstance that gar-

ments have been found in so re-

markable a state of preservation

that not only the material, but

also the style, can be determined.

The garments found are made of

woolen cloth ; in one instance of

Unen. The women wore cap,

waist, and skirt, very much of the

same style as they stiil wear them

in our time. The men's dress,

besides cap and footwear, con-

sisted chiefly of a cloak-shaped

garment fastened about the waist

with a belt. No trousers were

yet worn.

It became customary quite early in the Bronze
Age to burn the bodies of the dead, a custom which also marks a
great change in the ideas regarding the life hereafter. It is believed
that the body was burned in order that the soul might the more
quickly be liberated from the fetters of the natural world, and begin

FiG. 17. — Bronze
spear poiut.

FiG. 16. — Bronze ax.

IIISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

f ■°rifeJt^'^?^^A. <y

FiG. 21. — Rock tracing in Bohus-
len.

FiG. 18. — Ürnamcutul bronze disk.

FiG. 19. — Bronze buckle.

FiQ. 20. — Rock tracing in Bohuslen.

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

Its own separate existence; but the graves stiil contained weapons,
ornaments, and other articles needed by the departed, which shows
that, though the body was burned, the spirit was thought to con-
tinue its existence after death. Women were buried with the same
elaborate care as the men, which indicates that already in this early

FiG. 22. — Oak coffin from the Bronze Age, found at Treenli0i in Denmark.

period they were held in high esteem in Scandinavia, and that their
position in society was one of dignity and honor.

4. The Iron Age

About the beginning of the fifth century b.c. iron replaced bronze
as the most important metal. Throughout the Bronze Age the
peoples of the North had been in communication w^th the countries
of southern Europe, and through this intercourse they became ac-
quainted with iron, as they had learned to know bronze in the same
way at a stiil earlier period. The Iron Age may be divided into
several quite distinct periods. During the pre-Roman period, embrac-
ing the earlier centuries of the era from about 500 b.c. to the birth of,
Christ, the influence of the Celtic peoples of Gaul and the AlpinCj
region is especially noticeable, but this influence ceased when thei
Romans, by extending their sway over Gaul and Britain, came intoj
direct contact with the Germanic world. From that time to the faili
of the Roman Empire the superior Latin civilization exerted a pre-'
ponderating influence on the development and culture in the North.
This period has, therefore, been called the Roman Iron Age} The

1 It should be observed that the time limits fixed for these various ages
are admitted by archseologists themselves to be purely tentative. No ulti-
VOL. I — 'c

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

FiG 23. — Ornarutnttci ünuking-horn

culture which developed under the influence of Roman civilization
unfolded itself of a sudden witli a certaiii gaudy splendor produced
by the influx of Roman customs and ideas. Richly ornamented

swords, coats of ring mail,
metal helmets, spurs, elegantly
mounted bridles, and rich trap-
pings for war horses give evi-
dence of the splendor of war
accouterments which now
came into use. Silver, lead,
zinc, and glass were intro-
duced, and money of Roman
coinage makes its appearance.^
A variety of articles for do-
mestic use, such as elegantly
designed vases and drinking-
horns of glass, metal mirrors,
bronze statuettes, strainers,
silver goblets, bronze vases, razors, shears, tweezers, and costly orna-
ments of gold and silver, furnish an even stronger proof of the luxury
M'hich had been developed in the North lõng before the Viking Age.

mate criterion exists according to which these dates can be determined, and
it is natural that there should be eonsiderable divergence of opinion among
the authorities. Montelius estimates ;

Older Stone Age, prior to 5000 b.c.

Younger Stone Age, 5000-2000 b.c.

Bronze Age, 2000-500 b.c.

Older Iron Age, 500 b.c.-SOO a.d.

Younger Iron Age, 800 A.D.-1050 a.d.

Sophus Müller estimates :

Older Stone Age, prior to 3000 B.C.-2500 b.c.
Bronze Age, prior to 1000 B.c.-after 500 b.c
Older Iron Age, ca. 400 b.c.-SOO a.d.

— Vor Oldtid, Copenhagen, 1897.

1 About 6000 Roman coins from this period have been found on the islands
in the Baltic, and in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The most noteworthy
finds are the following : In 1842, 600 Roman silver coins from the first and
second centuries a.d. were found at Kanes, in the island of Got-hland. In
1871 a similar find of 550 Roman denarii was made at Hagestadborg, in
Southern Sweden. At Bagsvserd, near Copenhagen, forty-five Roman

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

FiG. 24. — Bronze statuette.

FiG. 25. — Ring mail.

FiG. 26. — Sliield boss.

FiG. 27. — Gold ring.

FiG. 28. — Gold ring.

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

FiG. 29. — Spear
point.

'MS?

The mode of burial remained much the same as it was in the later
Bronze Age. The bodies of the dead, together with weapons and
ornaments, were usually burned on a funeral pyre, and the ashes and
other remains were deposited in bowl-shaped graves, over which some-
times a mound was thrown up, on which a rune-stone ,,

was placed, bearing the name of the dead. The sw^ords
and other articles found in these graves have been
damaged by fire ; often they have been
purposely bent and twisted, so as to be
rendered useless. Sometimes the body
w^as not burned, but w^as buried with
w^eapons and ornaments in grave-cham-
bers made of stone slabs.

The contact of the North with the
Roman world, though not a direct one,
cxerted a great influence. Trade was
greatly stimulated; possibly also ship-
building and navigation. The great
number of Roman eoins and other arti-
cles of Roman make brought to Scan-
dinavia by traders show that a IWely
intercourse must have been maintained
with the provinces of the Empire. Ship-
building reached a high stage of de-
velopment during this period. In 1863
two boats were unearthed in the Nydam
bog, near Sünde ved in Schleswig, together with 106
swords, 552 spear points, seventy shield bosses, coins,
toilet articles, and other objects ; among other things,
also, a shirt, or blouse, and a pair of tronsers made of
woolen cloth were found, which show that trousers were
worn at this time. The collection seeras to have been
deposited by the victors after a battle as a sacrifice

coins from the period 69-218 a.d. were found in 1850, and , j

the same year thirty-six Roman gold coins were found in the r,^ V

island of Bornholm. Antiquarisk Tidsskrift udgivet av det SŽii*

Kongelige nordiske Oldskriftselskab, Copenhagen, vol. for 1849- Fig. 30. — Iron
1851. Oscar Montelius, Ldvet i N orden under Hednatiden. sword.

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

FiG. 31. — Part of a sword found in Upland, Sweden.

FiG. 32. — Boat fouud iiear tluadevud iu Di-uiuark.

22 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

to the gods, and is thought to date from about 400 a.d. One of the
boats is of oak, the otlier of pine. The oak boat is about eighty feet
lõng, and cleven feet wide at the middle. It is made for fourteen
pairs of oars, and is riveted together with iron rivets. It has no mast.
The prow and stern are both sharp and of equal height, so that it is
difficult to teil which is the rear, and which is the front end of the
Vessel. /[Lis of the same shape as the ships of the Smonesu-CSütedes) -
jpsr-pV>prl hy T^o\i,u< " The states of the Suiones (Swedesl^situated
jn_the npp^Ti \t^(Ai^ arp strnng in flf^ets rs well as in men and arms.
Their ships differ from ours in this respect; that both ends-^resent
a front always ready tWlanding. They do not equip their ships with
sails, nor do they jõin the oars in due order to the sides. The oarage
is loose, as on certain river boats, and can be changed from one side
to the other as eireumstances demana." ^

"Oie most striking evidence of the development of culture during
^ this period is the introduction of the runic alphabet and the art of
writinS ^The. older runic alphabet_consists of JaEentyrfoui-diaracter-s,
divided into three equal groups, as follows :

f u th a r c g w : h n i j e p -R s : t b e m 1 ng ^ d

12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Fiü. 33. — Early runic alphabet.

The^rst_sixj^aracters form th£_j^'Qrd fuiharc. which is-Xiftea-used-
instead of the word alphabet to designate the system of runic letters.
■"The rešemblance between the runes and the letters of the Latin alpha-
bet is, in several cases, quite apparent, and the Danish scholar L. F. A.
Wimmer advanced the theory, which was for some time everywhere
accepted, ^tH^-t the runes have been derived from the Latin alphabet,
and that they first came into use in southern Germany. The ch^nge
in the form of the Latin letters was occasionpd by thp fn.ct that the
ruQCS were carved on wood, or cut in stone or metnl, \vhi(;li made the__
use of the angle and straight line much more convenient than the curve
or circE) Later the Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge advanced.,,
the opinion that they^ongiüiitedr-amoQg-^be-Xk^iis^Jla^iJie xegion

1 Tacitus, Germania, eh. 44.

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES 23

north of the Black Seaj an idea which gained f urther support through '
the investigations of the Swedish archseologist Bernhard Salin. Jle
showed that the runes must have been brought to theNorthalong
the oid routes of intercourse between the Black^Sea and the^ Baltic^
known to have existed even in tjie Bronze Age,,as they first made their
appearance in those regions. Professor von Friesen, of Upsala Uni-
versity , has sincfLshown that the runes have been derived from a sys-
tem of Greek letters, the so-called cursive or running händ, which
was much used in everyday life jn the eastern part of the Empire.
Of the twenty-four runes in the older runic alphabet, fifteen are^urely:
derived from this Greek alphabet, and five more are, presumably,
toiceaHe to the same source. -On lv four are derived from the Latin
alphabet, with which the Goths may have become acquainted in the_
Latin colony_oLDacia, north of the Danube.^

- ^unic inscriptions have been found wherever Germanic peoples
have dwelt, but they are especially numerous in the Scandinavian
countries, and in Great Britain. The runic inscriptions on stone are
by far the most important, and these are found principally in the
Scandinavian countrie^ Qne hundred inscriptions in the older runic
alphabet, from 300 to 700 a.d., are fovnid in Denmark. Norway, and ,
Sweden, some of which are of great length. The language is every-
where the same, showing that, as yet, no difference in speech^xisted^
in the three countrie^ Besides Wulfilas Bible translation, and a few
loan-words in the Finnish and Lappish languages, fhese earliest runic
inscriptions are the oldest remains in the Germanic tongue that have
been preserved to us[|

As a result of the closer contact of the Empire with the Germanic
peoples of the North, the Romans became better acquainted with
this part of the world hitherto so unknown. The enterprising Greek
explorer Pytheas from Massilia, in southern Gaul, made voyages to
Britain and-northern Europe about 330 b.c. On one of these expedi-
tions he also visited Thule and the Ämber Coast. His own accounts

1 L. F. A. Wimmer, ■Runeskriftens Oprindelse og Udvikling i Norden,
Copenhagen. Sophus Bugge, Norges Indskrifter med de celdre Runer,
Christiania. G. Stephenson, The Oid Northern Runic Monuments of Scandi-
navia and England, London, 1866-1884. ^

2 Otto V. Friesen, Om Runskrijtens Härkomst; Sprokvetenskapliga Säll-
skapets Förhandlingar, 1904-1906.

24 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

of these voyages have been lost, but brief notices are given by the
Greek geographer Strabo in his "Geographica," ^ and by Pliniusthe
EldcT in his " Historia Naturalis." ^ According to Pytheas, Thule
was situated six days' sailing from Britain, and one day's sailing from
the frozen, or half-frozen, ocean called mare cronium. He regards
Thule as the most northern country, and relates that summer is a con-
tinuous day, and winter a continuous night, there for six months.
"The people Iive on hirse and garden vegetables, as well as on wild
fruit and roots. Those who have grain and honey make also a drink
from these. When they have cut the grain, they bring it into large
houses and thrash it there, because they have no bright sunshine, and
thrashing-floors in the open would be useless because of excessive
rains." Strabo, lib. IV., eh. V. That Thule is identical with Norway
can scarcely be doubted, but the description given of the people raay
apply to Britain and the North in general.

This was about the only knowledge which the world possessed of
Scandinavia prior to the Christian era. In the year 40, or 44, a.d.,
Pomponius Mela, a Roman geographer, wrote a book, "De Choro-
graphia," describing the countries of the then known world, in which
he also mentions Scandinavia. This is the first time the name is
employed by Roman writers.

" In that bay which we have called Codanus, Scandinavia is prominent.
It is stiil occupied by the Teutons, and surpasses the other islands in
fertility and size." — " Chorographia," IIL, 54.

Plinius the Elder (23-79 a.d.) also uses the name in his "Historia
Naturalis." He had served as cavalry officer in the German cam-
paigns, and had visited the shores of the North Sea. He manifests a
real interest in Scandinavia, which he believes to be an island, or a
group of islands, in the northern sea. "There the Mount Sservo,
itself of great height, and not lower than the Riphseic ^ Mountains,

1 Strabo, Geographica, lib. I., eh. IV. ; lib. III., eh. V. ; lib. IV., eh. V.
W. Bessell, Ucber Pytheas von Massilien, Göttingen, 1858. D. Gustav Moritz
Redslob, Thule, die phönicischen Handelswege nach dem N orden, die Reise
des Pytheas von Massilien, Leipzig, 1855. Strabo did not reeeive his infor-
mation directly from Pytheas' own works, but from the writings of Eratos-
thenes, Polybios, and Hipparchos. ^ Historia Naturalis, II., 75, IV., 16.

^ The Riphaeic or Rhipseic Mountains were fabulous mountains. supposed
to represent the northern boundary of the then known world. To the north

SCANDINAVIA IN PREHISTORIC TIMES 25

forms a bay with the promontory of the Cimbri. This bay, which is
called Codanus, is full of islands, the most noted of which is Scati-
navia, of unknown size." — Lib. IV., 96.

"Tliere are those who teil of other islands, Scandia, Dumnam,
Bergi, Berice, or Nerigon,^ the largest of all, whence one sails to
Tyle. One day's sailing from Tyle lies the frozen ocean called Cro-
nium by some." — Lib. IV., 104. The name Scandia is stiil preserved
in Skäne, southern Sweden.

Tacitus, in his "Germania," written 98 a.d., distinguishes between
the Suiones (Swedes) and their neighbors, the Sitones.

" Beyond the Suiones lies another ocean, sluggish, and almost without
motion, which is thought to terminate and encompass the sphere of
the earth, since the light of the setting sun continues so bright till it
rises, that it makes the stars dim." — "Germania," 44, 45.

In the second century a.d. Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria men-
tions Scandia and Thule.

" North of the Orcades lies Thule, of which the western part is in the
latitude 63°, o., longitude 29°."— "Geographia," lib. II., eh. III.

"East of the Cimbrian peninsula (the Danish peninsula) there are
four islands called Scandise ; three indeed are small ; the middle one is
in the latitude 58°, longitude 41° 30'. The one which is largest and
farthest to the east, near the moutli of the river Vistula, is properly
called Scandia. Its western part is inhabited by the Chaideinoi, the
eastern part by the Phanonai and the Phiraisoi, the southern part is
occupied by the Gautai and the Dauchiones, and the middle part by
the Lenonoi." — "Geographia," lib. IL, eh. XII.

These peoples are unknown, except the Gautai, or Götar, here men-
tioned for the first time as the inhabitants of Scandinavia, and the

of these, the ancients thought, lay the frozen ocean, and the icy regious
towards the borders of the earth. According to later ideas, the Hyperboreans
dwelt north of these mountains. The sky was clear, and the climate ideal
there, as the region lay north of the north wind, which was supposed to come
from the Rhipseic Mountains. The Hyperboreans were thought to Iive in
groves, in a state of perfect innocence and uninterrupted happiness.

1 The form Nerigon, found in one manusoript, might be the same as
Norway. But the name Noregr or Norvegr ( = the northern way) seems not
to have been in use till about 800 a.d.

26 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Chaideinoi or Heiner, the inhabitants of Hedemarken, in eastern
Norway.

Denmark and southern Sweden had iip to this time been the most
densely populated portions of the Xorth, but throughout the Iron Age
the population was growing rapidly, and the remoter parts of Norway
and Sweden were cleared and settled. Norway, which had hitherto
had the smallest population, made gains during this period w^hich
placed her on a more equal footing with the other two northern
countries.^

5. The Migrations

From 400 a.d. Rome was fighting her last desperate battles with the
conquering hosts of Germanic warriors, and, like a bleeding gladiator,
was fast tottering to her fail. The legions were withdrawn from Gaul
and Britain for the defense of the Italian peninsula, but this served
only to give the untiring victors new vantage ground. The weakened
defenses of the frontiers were forced, Gaul and Spain were overrun,
Rome was sacked, the Empire was crumbling to pieces before the onset
of this new race, destined to wrest the scepter of empire from the
withering hands of Rome that they might teach the world new lessons.
The peoples of Germany were no longer unskilled barbarians,
unacquainted with culture. Since the days of the Emperor Augustus

1 Amund Helland lias given estimates of the population of Norway in the
different periods of prehistoric times based on the number and distribution
of archseological flnds, and on calculations made by the historians P. A.
IMunch and Ernst Sars from the size and number of ships in the Norwegian
navy in the Younger Iron Age. His investigations give the following general
results :
At the end of the Stone Age, 1200 b.c. (Sophus Müller) .... 2,500

In the middle of the Bronze Age, 800 b.c 4,700

At the beginning of the Iron Age, 400 b.c 9,000

At the time of the birth of Clu-ist 17,400

200 A.D 24,200

400 A.D 80,000

800 A.D. (the beginning of the Younger Iron Age) 146,000

925 A.D. (the middle of the Younger Iron Age) 212,000

1050 A.D. (at the end of the Younger Iron Age) 242,000

This seems to be a very small population, but it must be remembered that
all countries in northern Europe had a very small population at that time,
measured by modern standards. Amund Helland, Oldfundene og Norges
Folkemoengde i forhistoriske Tider, Christiania, 1908.

THE MIGRATIONS 27

they had followed the Roman eagles as soldiers of the legions, from
the prsetorian guard in Rome to the remotest provinces of the Em-
pire. They now possessed great skill in the art of war; they had
great leaders, excellent arms, and an efEcient mihtary organization,
as they had attained to a high degree of general culture, gained
through lõng periods of development, and, finally, through direct eon-
tact with the Roman world. This accounts for their victory over
Rome in this most notable contest for world power. That the
warriors from Scandinavia also took part in the expeditions against
the Roman Empire can be seen from the great treasures of gold ^J
brought to the North during this period. At Tureholm, near Trosa,
in Sweden, were found, in 1774, articles of gold weighing all together \
25 pounds ; the actual metal value of which at the present time would
be $7214. So many similar treasures have been found, that it is
regarded as certain that they are the spoils of warlike expeditions
against Rome, or part of the tribute paid the Germanic peoples by
the emperors of the East Roman Empire during the fifth century.
The first Germanic peoples who crossed the borders of the Roman
Empire were the Cimbri and the Teutones. They came from the
peninsula of Jutland, and appeared in the Roman province of Nori-
cum in 113 b.c. Their combined fighting force is said to have num-
bered 300,000 men, and they repeatedly defeated the Roman armies '-^
sent against them. The terror in Rome was so great that the ex-
pression terror cimhricus became proverbial. In 104 b.c, Gaius Marius,
the hero of the war against Jugurtha, was made consul and general.
He took the field with a large and well-disciplined army. In 102
he met the Teutones in southern Gaul, and destroyed them in the
battle of Aquse Sextise. The next year he annihilated the Cimbri,
who had penetrated into the Po valley in upper Italy. The size of the
fighting forces of these great migrating hosts indicates that other
tribes must have joined them on their southward march.^
The Herules, a people who played a conspicuous part in the

1 Ptolemy knows the Cimbri, who, according to him, inhabited the north-
ern part of Jutland {Cimbri Chersonesus). Their name is thought to be
preserved stiil in Himmerland, a region south of the Limfjord. Near them
dwelt the Charudes, whose name is stiil preserved in Hardesyssel. Geographia,
Ub. II., eh. XI., tabula IV. See also Alexander Bugge, Vikingerne, Christi-
ania, 1904.

28 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

migrations, came from southern Scandinavia. Jordanes ^ says that
they were driven from their homes by the Danes, and Procopius ^
States that when their king died they sent to their own royal race in
Thiile for a leader. Very early in the period they migrated southward
into the region north of the Danube, where they founded a kingdom.
A part of their force joined the army of Odovacer, and aided him in
destroying the West Roman Empire. According to Procopius, their
kingdom was destroyed by the Longobards, with whom they were
waging war ; some of them sought refuge in the East Roman Empire,
and some returned to Scandinavia, taking up their abode near the
Gautar, where they seem to have had their original home.^

The Gautar ^ and the Swedes (Swear, Sviones) are the first peo-
ples in the Scandinavian North which passed out of mere tribal or-
ganization, and founded kingdoms of some strength and importance.
The Gautar inhabited Götaland, a region around the great lakes
Venern and Vettern in Sweden. The Swedes founded the kingdom
of Svitiod, which embraced the tribes and territories farther north,

1 An historian of the sixth eentury, of Gothic descent, known from his
work, De Origine Actibusque Getarum. Jordanes had read Flavius Cassio-
dorus' history of the Goths, which is now lost. ' In his work he supplements
what information he had thus gathered with what he himself knew, or believed
to be true, about the Goths and their neighbors. The work contains many
interesting things, but it is not reliable.

2 Procopius, a Greek historian of the sixth eentury a.d., much more reliable
than Jordanes, wrote Historiae {History of his own Time) , in eight books.

Jordanes tries to show that the Goths originally came from Scandinavia.
"Therefore, from this island of Scandza, as if from a workshop of peoples,
or as if from the womb of nations, the Goths, led bj^ their king Berig, are
known at one time to have gone forth " (eh. IV.). He evidently considered
the Goths to be identical with the Gautar, the inhabitants of Götaland, in
southern Sweden, but this is, no doubt, erroneous. The Goths seem to have
called theraselves gutans. Taeitus writes gothones, Plinius gidhones, Ptolemy
gotones. Gutans eorresponds to the Oid English gotan, Oid Norse gotar,
Oid High German gozzen, stiil preserved in Gossensass ( = Gotensitz), name of
a village in Tyrol. The inhabitants of Götaland in Sweden are called in
Oid Norse gautar, a form which in Gothic woiüd be gautõs. Ptolemy writes
gautai.

' Alexander Bugge thinks that the Herules were not a single people, but
that the name is used as a common designation for aU the Scandinavian
peoples who took part in the migrations into southern Europe.

* The Gautai (Gautar) are mentioned by Ptolemy. F*rocopius says that
they are the most numerous of the thirteen tribes inhabiting Thule.

THE MIGRATIONS 29

around Lake Mälaren. They gradually enlarged tlieir dominions
until all Sweden was united under the ruie of their kings. The
Swedesjwere closely related to the Goths, among whom kingship had t^
reached a much higher development than in western Germany,
where the kings were stiil mere tribal chieftains and leaders of the
armed host. Among the Goths the king was the ruler of his people — \
a national sovereign, who traced his lineage to the gods themselves.j "^
This institution of national kingship also obtained among the Swedes, i^
and it is probable that they had adopted it from their Gothic kins-
men. The royal seat and center of the kingdom was Upsala, the
eidest and most famous sanctuary in Sweden. The king served also *-'
as priest in the great temple there, and this union of the priestly
with the royal office must have tended to strengthen greatly the
power and influence of the kings of Upsala. They were of the Scil-
fing family/ a royal race which had ruled in Svitiod lõng before his-
toric times, and were supposed to be the descendants of the god Frey,
who, according to tradition, had built the temple at Upsala.^

The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who effected the conquest õf Eng-
land, came from the Cimbric peninsula. The Saxons were a Germa,n
tribe dwelling north of the Elbe, in what is now Holstein. Ptolemy
says that they lived "on the neck of the Cimbric Chersonesus." ^
From the third century they are frequently mentioned by Roman
historians as marauders in the North Sea.

North of the Saxons, in what is now Schleswig, dwelt the Angles.
Their name is stiil preserved in Ängeln, a district in southern Schles-
vng. They are mentioned by Ptolemy, and Tacitus speaks of them
in connection with several other tribes, as worshipers of the goddess
Nerthus.^ King Alfred says that northwest of the Saxons lies the
land called Angle (Angeln), and Sillende (Seeland), and a part of the
Danes.'' Bede, in his account of the conquest, says : " From the
Angles, that is, from the region w^hich is now called ' Angulus,' and
which is said to have remained from that day till now depopulated,
lying between the boundaries of the Jutes and the Saxons, came the
East Angles, the Mid Angles, the INIercians, and all the race of North-

1 Sometimes also called Ynglings.

2 SnoiTe Sturlason, Kongesagaer (Heimskringla).

3 Geographia, Hb. II., eh. XI. * Germania, eh. 40. ^ Alfred's Orosius.

30 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

umbrians who dwell north of the river Humber." ^ They seem to
have inhabited the greater part of Schleswig, possibly also some of
the Danish islands. They must have migrated to Britain during the
conquest, since Bede states that their country was depopulated from
that day.

The Jutes are a more obscure people. They have given their name
to Jutland, the northern part of the Cimbric peninsula, where they
are thought to have dwelt as early as 100 a.d., though they are not
mentioned by Ptolemy. They are beheved to be the Eudoses men-
tioned by Tacitus. To them belonged Hengist and Horsa, the chiefs
of the Anglo-Saxon host which invaded Britain. The Angles and
Saxons were related Low-German tribes, but the Jutes seem to have
been of Danish origin.

The Danes inhabited southern Sweden and the Danish isles. The
first account of them is given by Jordanes, who says that they eame
from Scandinavia, and that they drove away the Herules. Procopius
states that a part of the Herules returning northward to their oid
homes came to the ocean ; no doubt, the Baltic Sea. From there
they wandered through the Danish territories, whence they returned
to Thule. /From about 500, the Danes entered upon a period of re-
markable aevelopment and greatness. Their kings, the Skjold^ARgs
(Scyldings), dwelt at Leire in Seeland, where they built the royal
^halLiZeamt celebrated in the Oid English poem "Beowulf." . In 515
their king Hygelac (Hugleik) made an expedition against the Hetware
near the mouth of the Rhine, where he fell in battle. He is, nn douht,^
the Chochilaicus mentioned by Gregpry of Tnnrs and the " Gesta
Regum Francorum," who, on an invasion of the lower Rhineland,JosL
his life in a battle against the Frankish prince Theodebert in 5I5|^
In 565 the Danes made another similar expedition westward. They
fought many hard battles, especially with the Heathobeards dwelling
south of the Baltic Sea. These landed on Seeland at one time, and
advanced almost to Heorot, but they were defeated by King Hrothgär
(Roar) and his nephew Hrõthulf (Rolf Krake). Rolf Krake became

^ Bede, Ilistoria Ecclesiastica, I., 16.

2 In Beõwulj he is called the king of the Geätas, or Gautar, who dwelt in
Götaland in Sweden. See Hermann PanFs Grundriss der germanischen
Phüologie, 2d ed., vol. III., p. 817.

THE MIGRATIONS 31

the ideal king and semi-mythical hero of tradition, who is said to have
been slain in his royal hall, together with his twelve champions, in a
treacherous night attack.^ f^^š. Danes were at this time the most
renowned people in the North, though the Swedes ri valed them in
warlike achievements, as well as in wealth and power. Thp Swprl-
ish kings ^ waged_jwar with the Danes. and made pyppdltioTit; infn
Esthonia, and other regions east of the Baltic. Their royal fanxüy-

was the oldest in the North, and their kingdom^ Svitiod, had risen
into prominence before that of the Danes. No such united national .
Tcingdom had yet been founded in Norway as in Sweden and Denmark.
15"ut kings ruleci^here also, and the tribes had formed larger unions in,
~different parts_. Jordanes speaks of the Norwegian king Rodutf.
who, fleeing from his own country, went to Theoderic the Great in
Italy and became his man. Rodulf seems to have ruled over a con-
federation of tribes in southern Norwä7.

The Oid English poem " Widsith," and more especially "Beowulf,"
preserves many traces of historic events, and of social life in Denmark
and southern Scandinavia in the sixth century. The detailed de-
scriptions of arms and customs given in ''Beowulf," no doubt, reflect
quite accurately many features of the life of the chieftains and their
followers during the sixth and seventh centuries. Heorogar, Hrõthgär,
and Haiga are the sons of Healfdene, of the dynasty of the Scyldings
(Skjoldungs).

Hrõthulf, son of Haiga, is the Rolf Krake so famous in Danish
tradition. Hrõthgär builds the hall Heorot at Leire in Seeland, a
feature of the tradition which preserves the memory of the power
of the Danish kings at that time. Beowulf, a nephew of King Hygeläc,
comes with a bänd of followers to help Hrõthgär against the monster

1 See Hrölfssaga and Saxo Grammaticus.

2 A number of remarkable graves have been found at Vendel, a little to
the north of Upsala, which are believed to be the graves of ancient Swedish
kings. The mode of burial shows that the persons interred here must have
been prinees of wealth and power. This ean be seen, also, from the richly
ornamented helmets which have been found in three of the graves. At this
time (about 600 a.d.) such helmets were worn only by persons of royal
blooxl. From 1881 till 1893 fourteen of the graves were examined. In all
eases the body of the dead person was buried in a boat, together with his
helmet, shield, sword, war horse with saddle, dogs and hawks for the chase,
food and drink, and all necessary utensils.

32 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Grendel. Aftcr the military guards of the coast have permltted him
to land, he proceeds to Heorot with his companions. They have
shields, helmets, and brynies of ring-mail, and are in every way well
armed and trained warriors. They are courteously received, and
are entertained in the most hospitable manner.

"Then Wetilhtheow, the queen, entered, the lady mindful of good
raanners. Adorned with golden ornaments she came to greet the guests.
She first gave the drinking cup to the king of the Danes, and asked him
to partake of their banquet. He gladly took the cup, and accepted the
entertainment. She went all about, this highminded lady from the
country of the Helmings, and gave gifts to young and oid, till the oppor-
tunity came when the ring-adorned queen handed the meadcup to the
prince of the Geätas, and she thanked God that her wish had been ful-
filled, that at last she could expect from an earl help out of their diffi-
culties." — " Beowulf," 608-629.

When Beowulf had succeeded in killing Grendel, there was great joy
at Heorot, and many came from f ar and near to see what had happened.
When the festivities at the hall were at their height, a smp, or scald,
arose. Every one became silent, and listened to what he might have
to say. He sang of Beowulfs journey, and

"Every oid song which he had heard of Sigemund, and of many an
unknown heroic deed ; about W0lsung's combats and distant journeys,
about battles and malice, of which none of the children of men yet knew,
save he and Fitela alone." — "Beowulf," 872-880.

Sigemund the W0lsung is the father of Siegfried, or Sigurd, the slayer
of Fafnir, so well known from the " Elder Edda," the " V0lsungasaga,"
and the "Nibelungenlied," and Fitela is Sinfjotle, Sigurd's half-
brother.

"Then the king himself, the giver of rings, stepped from his queen's
apartment, rich in glory, with an excellent bänd of foUowers, and the
queen walked with him into the festive hall with her train of maids."
— "Beowulf," 920-925.

The cultural Ufe of this period must not be judged by twentieth
century standards, stiil there was among these early ancestors of
ours, not only a very considerable civilization in the externals of life,

THE MIGRATIONS

biit Intellectual culture and a spirit of refinement were not wanting.
They appreciated art and fine manners. They had lofty sentiments
and noble virtues, less polislied, but, probably, no less vigorous and
constant than those which have graced society in later ages.

The Migrations checked the peaceful intercourse which the Ger-
manic peoples had hitherto maintained with the Roman Empire, and
the necessity of supplying their wants through their own skill and
industry, created by this change, made itself more strongly felt. The
ideas and cultural elements which had been borrowed from the
Romans could now be better assimilated, and the native mind began

FiG. 34. — Gold bracteate found in Bohuslen.

to put its own impress even on articles of luxury, which were now, to
a great extent, produced at home. The gold bracteates of this period
bear evidence of this transition from Roman to native industry and
art. These are ornaments and amulets of gold made in imitation of
Roman coins. Besides the original image of the Roman Emperor
they are often ornamented with runes, and sometimes with quite
original designs representing Tlior driving his goats, or Odin with
his horse and ravens. The beautifully decorated helmets, swords,
shields, buckles, necklaces, and other articles made by native metal
workers show these to have been veritable masters in their art. These
articles are made with artistic skill and taste. Some are of pure gold,
others of gold-plated bronze, or silver, with ornaments of filigree and
inlaid jewels. Pictures on helmets show the style of dress worn both
by men and women in this period. The men wore a coat reaching to
the knees, and fastened about the waist with a belt. It was edged

VOL. I — D

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

with fur, it had sleeves, and was ornamented in various ways. Trou-
sers were also worn. The lady wore a dress, sometimes ornamented
in front with embroidered bands. She wore shawl and necklace,
while her hair seenis to have hung loose over the shoulders.

Different modes of burial prevailed during this period. The bodies

V of the dead were sometimes burned, and a mound was, as a ruie,

thrown up over the eharred remains, and a rune-stone was erected

on the mound. Sometimes the body, together

with weapons and ornaments, was buried in

a caref ully constructed grave. Over the grave

a mound might be constructed, or stones

might be set up around it. The dead, both

men and women, were often buried in boats.

In 1880 a ship was found in a burial mound

at Gokstad, near Sandefjord, in Norway, the

blue clay of the mound häving preserved it

from deca3^ The vessel, which is made of

oak planks, is eighty feet lõng, and sixteen

feet wide. It has a mast, and sixteen pairs

of oars. Around the ship was hung a row of

shields colored black and yellow alternately.

A chieftain, no doubt the owner of the vessel,

had been buried in it. A burial chamber is

constructed in the stern, where the body was

FiG. 35. — Ruue-stuue from placed ou a bed furnished with a feather mat-

tress. The grave had been robbed of all

ornaments of precious metals, but a complete supply of articles be-

longing to the outfit of a ship at that time was found, Among these

articles were : several bedsteads, a sleigh, a bronze kettle, and many

kitchen utensils ; also the bones of twelve horses, six dogs, and some

birds, which, evidently, had been sacrificed at the burial. The ship

is supposed to date from about 900.^

In 1904 another ship was unearthed in a large mound at Oseberg,

near Tunsberg, in southern Xorway. Two women were buried in it ;

one of high birth — possibly a queen — the other evidently a maid

servant. The ship was packed with goods, both fore and aft. Sev-

^ N. Nicolaysen, Laiigskibet fra Gokstad ved Sandefjord, Christiania, 1882.

PLATE III

ORIGESr AND DESCENT 35

eral bedsteads, a sle.gh, a four-wheeled wagon, the queen's shoes, and
her trunk containing toilet articles were among the objects found.
Most of the articles, as, for example, the sleigh and the wagon, are
decorated with wood carvings so exquisitely done that they are real
treasures of beauty. The ship, which is now fully restored, is sixty-
eight feet lõng, and had been beautifully ornamented. It is more
tastefully made than the Gokstad ship, and it is regarded as certain
that it is the queen's own pleasure yacht. The find dates from about
800 A.D. Together, the articles present a pictiire of civilization most
interesting and impressive.^ It is quite evident that the districts
around the Baltic Sea, and, more particularly, the Scandinavian
countries, possessed a culture superior in many ways to that of any
other region of the Continent north of the AIps. The population
seems to have been denser here than elsewhere. Nowhere else are
the graves from early periods so numerous as in this region, and no-
where are the relics of stone, bronze, and other metal work so taste-
fully designed, or so skillfully made. When Tacitus says of the Es-
thonians that they raise more grain than is otherwise customary
among the Germans, it is only another bit of evidence of the superior
culture then existing on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

6. The People

In 1677-1698 the Swedish scholar Olof Rudbeck published a large
work, '* Atlantica s. Manheim vera Japheti Sedes et Patria," in which
he sought to prove that the Atlantis described by Plato was Sweden,
the original home of the descendants of Japhet, i.e. the Europeans.
The work was held in high esteem until more scientific methods were
introduced in archseological research. Since then it has been regarded
merely as a literary curiosity. The theory that Scandinavia was the
original home of the Indo-European race was again revived by K.
Penka, who treated the question in a scientific way in his work " Die
Herkunft der Arier," 1886. The theory that the Indo-Europeans
migrated from India into Europe has of läte years been discarded by
many scholars, who hoid that the original home of this family of
peoples must be sought in northern Europe. Of recent years some

* Saga-Book of the Viking Club, London, 1908.

36 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOI LE

scholars have come to regard the region of the BaHic Sea as the origi-
nal home of this race. Noteworthy is the theory advanced by Mat-
thseus Much that Europe is the original home of the Indo-Europeans,
since, in Denmark and the region of the western Baltic, reHcs have
been found showing every stage of development from the earhest to
the latest Stone Age, without break or interruption.^ This continu-
ous development is not found in southern Europe, or in western Asia.
The Indo-Europeans raised cattle, and tilled the soil in their original
home, says Much, and the domestic animals which have been thought
to come from Asia are, no doubt, native to Europe.

The attempted solutions of this difBcult problem will, probably,
never be much more than more or less plausible conjectures.^ A
similar difficult}^ confronts us when we ask how lõng the Scandi-
navians have lived in the countries which they now inhabit. Archse-
ology shows a gradual and unbroken development from the Stone
Age to later eras, with no interruption to indicate any invasion or
sudden immigration of any new people. This would tend to prove
that the Scandinavians have dwelt in their present home since the
Younger Stone Age.^ Philology holds, on the other händ, that the

1 "Fragt man sich nun, wo sich uns innerhalb des Steinalters die ältesten,
die schönsten und am meisten entwiekelten, endlich die zahlreichsten Belego
für die Thätigkeit und Befähigung in der Herstellung von Werkzeugen bieten,
so besteht kein Zweifel, dass dies die Küsten sind, welclie Festland und Insel
des westlichen Ostseebeckens umsäumen. Hier treten uns die ältesten und
einfachsten Zeugnisse entgegen, welche wir naeh Abschluss des paläolith-
ischen Steinalters kennen." Die Heimat der Indogermanen, p. 18 f. J.
Schmidt, Urheimat der Indogermanen und das europäische Zahlsystem, Ber-
lin, 1890. Hermann Paul, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie. 2d ed.,
vol. III., p. 756.

2 See Eduard Meyer, Geschichte des AUerthums, 1909. Vilhelm Thomsen
thinks that the original home of the Indo-Europeans was somewhere in the
great belt between the Hindu-Kush Mountains and the Indus, to thesouth-
east, and the Baltic Sea, including southern Scandinavia, to the northwest ;
probably in the region of the lower Danube rather than close to the Baltic.
India, as well as the south-European peninsulas, Greece, Italy, and Spain,
are excluded, as the immigration of the Indo-Europeans to these regions is
clearly traeeable. Vilhelm Thomsen, Oldarisk Kultur, Verdenskulturen,
edited by Aage Friis, vol. I., p. 178 ff.

' Oscar Montelius says : " As shown by finds of later periods, no new people
has immigrated into our country after the close of the Younger Stone Age.
This proves that the ancestors of the people now living in Sweden dwelt in
this country already at that time." Om Livet i Sverige i Hednatiden.

ORIGIN AND DESCENT 37

peoples now living in the Scandinavian North have migrated into
these regions at a much later period.^ The Norwegians are not a
wholly unmixed people, any more than are other Eiiropean nations
of to-day. A considerable foreign element has immigrated into Nor-
way from various countries, at different periods in historic times, and
far back of all history there may have been migrations and a conse-
quent mixing of races about which we know little or nothing. The
theorythat there have been in Scandinavia since prehistoric times two
ethnically distinct elements is as oid as the "Rigspula" of the "Elder
Edda," which tells of the thrall, with his yellow skin and black hair,
of the fair-faced and light-haired kari, or freeman, and of the jarl,
with light hair, bright cheeks, and eyes like a serpent. This idea of
two distinct racial elements in the Norwegian people has been ad-
vanced by many leading scholars and anthropologists, notably by
O. Rygh, Montelius, Wibling, A. M. Hansen, and O. Almgren.

The theory of a migration from the east into Scandinavia was held
even earlier by Sch0ning,^ Keyser,^ and P. A. Munch.^ A. W. Br0gger
remarks that the older and more commonly accepted form of this
theory is not verified by his investigations.^ What can be shown from

1 But A. W. Br0gger says : "Neither in Norway nor in Sweden can pM-
lology show any immigration of foreign elements in early periods. We only
know from tlie runie inscriptions that a Germanic people lived in Scandi-
navia in the Older Iron Age. Neither does there exist any probability that
any proof of any considerable immigration af ter the Older Stone Age can be
adduced from the archseological material. The conelusion seems, therefore,
justified, that an Indo-Germanic people lived in southern Scandinavia also
in the Stone Age. But some scholars are stiil inclined to hoid the opinion
that an immigration has taken place in the Younger Stone Age." Skrifter
utgivet aj Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christiania, 1909.

2 Gerhard Seh0ning, Norges Riges Historie; Afhandling om de Norskes og
nordiske Folks Oprindelse.

^ Rudolf Keyser, Om Nordmcendenes Herkomst og Folkeslegtskah, Samlinger
til det norske Folks Sprog og Historie, vol. VI., p. 258 ff.

* P. A. Munch, Samlcde Afhandlinger, vol. I., p. 173 ff., and Om den saa-
kaldte nyere historiske Skole i Norge.

^ Dr. A. M. Hansen advanees the hypothesis that in the Older Stone Age
a pre-Aryan people lived in Scandinavia, ethnically different from the Indo-
Europeans who came later. About 4000 years ago our Aryan forefathers
came to Scandinavia. In the period 1000-500 b.c. they settled in Norway.
The pre-Aryan inhabitants were not destroyed, but were reduced to subjee-
tion and slavery, hence they eontinued to form a part of the Norwegian people.
This pre-Aryan race is the same, he thinks, as the Jenisei-Ostiakian people

38 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

archseological finds, thinks Br0gger, is that away back in the Stone
Age tliere were two groups iu Scandinavia, etlmically somewhat
different. The south Scandinavian group, who at one time must
have come from the south, had fixed homes, and were engaged
in agriculture. The northern or arctic group inhabited the northern
part of the peninsula, and must have come from the east, or north-
east. They Uved by hunting and fishing. From Sweden they pene-
trated farther to Tr0ndelagen, and spread along the coast of Norway
from Jsederen to Finmarken. The south Scandinavian group ad-
vanced northward, and the northern group were either absorbed or
driven out, and ceased to exist as a distinct element. How great the
difference was between the two groups, and how far down in time dis-
tinct traces of the northern group existed, we do not know. Scien-
tific research has not yet been able to throw f uil light on these prob-
lems, but in so far as it is possible to determine distinct racial traits
in modern nations, we are justified in saying that the Scandinavians
^ belong to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European race. Anthro-
pological investigation shows that they have preserved more fully
the characteristic Germanic traits than have any other people.
Skeletons found in the graves from early periods show them to have
been at all times a tall race, and all early accounts describe them as
blue-eyed, with light hair and fair complexion. The song "Rigs-
jjula," of the "Elder Edda," says of the lady whom the god Heimdall
visits :

Her eyebrows were light,

her bosom lighter,

her neck whiter

than the white snow.

Of her son it says :

Light was his hair,
bright were his cheeks,
and sharp his eyes
like the serpent's.

stiil to be found in Siberia. The language of this people is, he thinks, essen-
tially that of the pre-Aryan inhabitants of Norwa5^ and he claims to have
disco vered a märked resemblance between this language and the Norwegian.
See Aftenposten, May 22 and 23, 1908. A. M. Hansen, Oldlidens Nord-
maend, Ophav og BoscEtning, Christiania, 1907. Professor A. Thorp shows in

ORIGIN AND DESCENT

Tliese characteristics have been well preserved to the present time.
The first extensive anthropological investigation of the Norwegians
was made during the American Civil War. They were then found
to be the tallest of all Europeans, the Americans and Indians alone
surpassing them in height. In chest measurement they were sur-
passed by none.^ For the last thirty-five years the Norvvegian re-
cniiting statistics give complete data. A great improvement in the
physical condition of the recruits is noticeable during this period.
The increase in height has been so märked that the Norwegians are
now the tallest of all peoples, surpassing even the Americans in this
respect. Military statistics show that the emigration of the last
thirty or forty years, which has been thought to be so detrimental to

artieles in Aftenposten, May 27 and June 3, 1908, that HaDsen.'s linguistic
theory remains unproven. His theory, in general, has not' been aceepted
by arehseologists.

1 The following figures show the result of these investigations in the Union

Americans
Norwegians
Swedes .
Scotch
Irish . .
Bnglish .
German .
Freneh .

Ntjmbers

365,670

2,290

1,190

3,476

50,537

16,186

34,996

3,243

Height

171.9 cm.

171.4 cm.
169.9 cm.
170.3 cm.

169.5 cm.
169.1 cm.
169.0 cm.
168.3 cm.

Chest
Measukement

84.9 cm.
87.2 cm.
87.2 cm.
85.9 cm.
85.8 cm.

84.8 cm.
86.1 cm.

85.9 cm.

COMPLEXION

NUMBERS

Dark-Light Ratio

Scandinavians

Germans

Scotch

6,782

89,021

7,313

30,037

83,128

544,000

6,809

897

2:10
4: 10
4:10

English

Irish

4:10
5: 10

Americans

5: 10

Freneh

10:10

South Europeans

27:10

40 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the physical efficiency of the nation, has had the opposite effect. In
districts where emigration has been especially heavy, the number of
narrow-chested and weak-bodied persons has rapidly decreased, and
fewer are now unfit for mihtary service than formerly.^

The extreme northern part of Norway is inhabited to a large extent
by two peoples of MongoUan race, the Finns ^ and the Kvtens. The
Finns are small, the men averaging about five feet in height. Their
face is broad, with prominent cheek bones. Their eomplexion is
dark, their hair generally chestnut brown, the growth of beard scant.
In the inland districts they Uve as nomads on their flocks of reindeer,
with which they move about from the mountains to the seacoast and
back again, as the seasons require. The greater number, however,
Uve in permanent homes near the coast, where they are engaged in
fishing. In 1891 the Finnish population in Norway numbered
20,780. Of these 2912 spoke the Norwegian language, the rest stiil
use their own Finnish tongue. The Bible has been translated into
their language, and the government has, especially of läte years, done
much to Christianize and educate them.

The theory that the Finns once occupied the whole of Scandinavia,
and that they were gradually forced northward when the Scandina-
vians entered the peninsula, can no longer be maintained.^ They
seem to have immigrater^ f^om Asia at a time when the Scandinavians
already dwelt in the peninsula, and they have never occupied a
territory much larger than at the present time.^

^ See the Norwegian governmenfs offieial publication, Norway, published
for the Paris exposition, 1900.

2 They are also called Lapps.

3 Sven Nilsson and P. A. Munch held this view.

* See W. A. Br0gger's article in Skrijter udgivet av Videnskabs-Selskabet i
Christiania, 1909. Also, Lappernes Fremrykning mod syd i Throndhjems
Stift og Hedemarkens Amt, Yngvar Nielsen, Det norske geografiske Selskabs
Aarbog, 1889-1890. When the Finns first entered Scandinavia is a question
which is stiil unsettled. The Danish philologist V. L. P. Thomsen thinks
that they are the Scridefinni described by Procopius and Jordanes. An
aceount of these Scridefinni is also given by Paulus Warnefridus, a Lombard
historian, 750-800. See also A. M. Hansen, Oldtidens Nordmcend, Chi-is-
tiania, 1907.

The first reliable aceount of the northern part of Scandinavia and of its
non-Aryan inhabitants is given by the Norwegian explorer Ohthere (Ottar)
to King Alfred the Great of England, of his expedition around the North

THE VIKING PERIOD 41

The Kvaens are a large and well-built people. Like the Finns,
they are found mostly in the two northern provinces, Troms0 ähd
Finmarken. Norway has at different times received immigrants
from this Finno-Ugrian race. In the thirteenth century some Per-
mians came from northern Riissia into the Troms0 province, but
no trace of them can be found at the present time. More important
was the emigration from Finland about 1600 to the forest regions
along the eastern borders of Norway. Most of the immigrants settled
in Sweden, but some located on the Norwegian side of the border,
and the tract has since been known as the Finn-forest. They have
now been so far assimilated that only a few individuals speak the
Finnish language.

The most important emigration from Finland to the northern prov-
inces of Norway took place in the eighteenth century. It began
during the great Northern War, 1700-1720, when the Finns who Uved
in what was then Swedish territory were so sorely harassed by the
Russian soldiery that many fled from their homes. The movement
increased about the middle of the nineteenth century, but of läte years
it has ceased.

7. The Dawn of Historic Norway

Many invaluable finds of relics of antiquity have helped to throw
light on the life and customs of the Scandinavian peoples in pre-
historic ages, but, valuable as this evidence is, it is circumstantial
and indirect. No account was left by the people themselves of their
life and institutions, or of the vicissitudes and struggles through which
they passed. But about 800 a.d. the silence of the past is broken by\ /
the scalds, who in their songs celebrate the exploits and great qualities ^
of chieftains and rulers, and recount many important historic events.
As an historical source the scaldic songs are of the highest value.
The scalds were, as a ruie, members of the king's hird, or court, and ^
followed him on his military expeditions. They were not only con-
temporary with the events which they describe, but were often eye-
witnesses of, or even partakers in them.

Cape, and his exploration of these northern regions. King Alfred included
the report in his translation of Orosius. Other valuable early accounts are
given by Adam von Bremen, and by the Egilssaga.

42 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEC'PLE

Another important and, generally, quite reliable source for the early
history of Scandinavia are the accounts given of the Norsemen by
early writers in other European countries. In many lands oid chroni-
clers have recorded, often with glowing colors, but usually with solemn
brevity, the iinwelcome visits of the boid warriors of the North.
Fragmentary and often one-sided as such accounts necessarily are,
they furnish many valuable data regarding the life and doings of the
Vikings in foreign lands.

It was left, however, for the säga writers to give comprehensive
and detailed accounts of the persons and events during the Viking
Age. The sägas are narratives written in excellent prose style, and in
many instances they are based on the songs of the scalds as a source.
Though very similar in form and style, they differ widely in contents
and character. Some resemble more closely the historical novel,
others are stiil more imaginative productions, dealing with mythologi-
cal and heroic elements, while some are history in a strict sense, where
the author pursues his narrative with critical method, and with strict
regard for truth and accuracy. With consummate skill the writer
pictures the character and psychological traits of the persons in the
narrative. Life and customs, tlioughts, sentiments, social and politi-
cal institutions, are described with never erring insight, and with
nicely measured regard for detail and coloring. The events are nar-
rated with simple straightforwardness, but the circumstances and
motives giving rise to them, and the lõng train of results following
them, often lend the story dramatic features east in a calm and som-
ber epic mold. The sägas which deal with fabulous, or mythological,
heroes and traditions are held by many to be a later growth in säga
literature. Such are: the "V0lsungasaga," the " Hrolfssaga," the
"Ragnar Lodbrokssaga," the "Frio)?j6fssaga," and others. The
earlier sägas were written about distinguished men and their f amilies,
for the purpose of recounting their great achievements, and especially
for the sake of perpetuating the knowledge of the family relationship
so important in all early Germanic society. Many of these sägas
furnish important historical material. Among these may be men-
tioned the "Egilssaga," the "Laxd0lasaga," the "Xjälssaga," and
the " Gunlaugssaga." Sägas were also written about the Norwegian
kings, and about discoveries, and colonies founded in the western

THE VIKING PERIOD 43

islands. "Olafssaga Tryggvasonar," "Olafssaga ins Helga," "Sver-
rissaga"; "Orkneyingasaga," narrating the history of the Orkney
Islands; "Landnämabok," dealing with the colonization of Iceland;
" Sigmund Brestissonssaga," containing the early history of the Faroe
Islands; and the "Säga of Eirik the Red," or "Thorfinn Karlsevnes-
saga" (found in the "Hauksbok"), which tells about the discovery
of America by the Norsemen, are among these.

Some authors undertook more ambitious works, and wrote in con-
nected narrative the whole history of Norway from about 850 to their
own time. Of such works may be mentioned : " Historia de Anti-
qiiitate Regum Norwagiensium," written in Latin by the monk
Thjodrek (Theodricus Monachus), and "Historia Norwegiae," also
in Latin, by an unknown author ; " Agrip af Noregs Konungas0gum,"
"Morkinskinna," "Fagrskinna," and, above all, Snorre Sturlason's
masterly work, "Heimskringla." Snorre was an historian of high
ränk. He is a writer of rare ability, and a scholar with historical and
critical method. INIost of the sägas were written in Iceland during
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Some were written in Norway,
partly by Icelanders, and partly, also, by native sagamen. As the
sägas do not always describe contemporary events, but often deal
with periods lõng past, it need cause no wonder that in these narra-
tives the real historic occurrences are often hidden by a growth of
fiction which only the most careful critical analysis can pare away.
Where the säga writers describe the institutions, life, and customs of
their own time, they generally give a most vivid and realistic picture,
but in the finer details of historic events it is often difficult to separate
fact from fiction, a weakness common to all early historians.

The new period of development which began in the eighth century
is heralded by many important changes which show that cultural life
in the North had begun a new and more independent growth. The
language, which hitherto had been but slightly differentiated from
the Germanic tongue, now became a distinct Scandinavian dialect.
The runic alphabet of twenty-four characters, common to all Ger-
manic peoples, was replaced in the North by the younger runic alpha-
bet of sixteen characters about 850.

f uthork K &ln st,äpj>ml r^)

FiG. 36. — Later runic alphabet.

44 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

This system is developed from the older runic alphabet, and has been
used exclusively iii the Scandinavian coiintries.

At this time, also, began the Viking expeditions, which became of
siicli far-reaching importance to the development of the North. The
word viking means warrior, not, as hitherto generally held, a dweller
by a mk, or bay.^ The word was appHed earher, also, to other Ger-
manic peoples. It is found in the Oid English poem "Widsith,"^
and in South Germany it occurs as a man's given name. From now
on it was used to designate the boid Scandinavian sea rovers. Their
journeys across the sea into foreign lands, which hitherto had occurred
rather sporadically, now took more definite shape. The Scandinavian
peoples began a great forward movement eastward, southward, and
westward, which can only be regarded as a continuation of the great
Migrations. Just when the movement started cannot be definitely
stated, neither is it possible to determine with accuracy when it termi-
V nated, but it is certain that it began prior to 800, and that about 1050
it had spent its force. This period, called by archseologists the
Younger Iron Age, is known in history as the Viking Age.

Ship-building had reached a high stage of development in the North
even prior to this era, The Norsemen had well-constructed sea-
going vessels, fitted out with mast and sail. Their home environ-
ment pointed to the sea as the surest and quickest road to wealth
and conquest. Hitherto it had been regarded as a barrier behind
which the peoples could dwell secure, and hamlets and monasteries
nestled in profound quiet along the unprotected shores. The Norse-
men made it a highway from island to island, and from coast to coast.
When their well-equipped fleets, tired of coasting along their OAvn
shores, turned their sharp prows westward in search of conquest
and adventure, it märked, not onl}^ the beginning of the Viking Age,
but the dawn of ocean navigation, and the development of naval
warfare, which was gradually to produce the formidable navies and
the interoceanic commerce of modern times.

1 Alexander Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I., 2d part, p. 71.

2 About 800. "Mid Wenlum ic wses and mid WEernum and mid Wlc-
ingum."

the viking period 45

8. The Early Viking Expeditions

The Viking expeditions began about 790. The " Anglo-Saxon ,
Chronicle " mentions the Vikings even earHer. For the year 787 it
records the following :

"In this year King Breohtric married King Offa's daughter Ead-
burge. And in his days came the first three ships of the Northmen
from 'HereSalande.'^ . . . These were the first Danish ships which
visited the land of the Anglian people." King Breohtric ruled from
787 till 800. The chronicle does not say that the ships came in 787,
but in his day.

^n 793 the Vikings plundered the monastery of Lindisfarne. ^
They came from the North, that is, from Norway, or the islands
north of Scotland. The next yenr they appeared in Northiimbria, '^^^V
where thev attacked the monastery ^^^ TpT-mw near the mouth of the . '' ,

'^ -iüi— ^ \ ot^i

Tyne, but this time they were driven away. We are also toid that
in 795 a fleet numbering more than a hundred ships came to South •
Wales, but they were driven off by King Maredudd. The spirited
resistance which they met with may have been the reason why no
further attempts were made against England for many years. In-
stead, they turned their attention to Ireland, and to the islands along
the coast, which proved to be an easier prey. In 795 the Norwegian .
Vikings appeared on the coast of Leinster, where they seized the
island of Rachru, which they called Lambay, a name which it stiil
bears. Two years later they took the island Inis-Padraig, which
they gave the Norwegian name Holm-Patrick. The-home of these
Vikings is called ' ' Hirotha " by the Irish annalists, which is, no doubt,
a corrupted form of HereSaland (Hordaland), on the southwest

^ HeretSaland = Hordaland, on tlie west coast of Norway. Steenstrup
has conjectured that Heredaland is an orthographieal mistake for oferherian
/>(Bt land, but Sophus Bugge has shown that this has nothing to support it.
Dr. Todd, in the introduction to the Irish säga Cogadh Gccdhel re Gallaibh
(The War of the Gssdhill with the Gaill), points out that the name Hirotha
or Irruth is used in the Irish writings, and he identifies it with Here'5aland.
Dr. Zimmer has further shown in " KeÜische Beiträge,'' Zeitschrift für
deutsches Alterthum, XXXII., 196-334, that the expression King Lugir of
Hirotha or HercSaland is found in the Legend of St. Patrick from 807, as
well as in the Irish sägas from 800. See Taranger, Den angelsaksiske Kirkes
Indflydehe paa den norske, p. 17 ff.

46 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

coast of Norway. From year to year the ravages were renewed.
The shrine of St. Coluinba in the island of lona was plundered in 802,
and again in 806. The treasures were carried away, and many of
the monks were slain. The survivors fled to Ireland, bringing with
them the bones of the saint. Lindisfarne and lona were stiil regarded
as the greatest sanctuaries in the western Christian Church, and
the wanton destruetion of these holy places filled the minds of the
Christian nations of western Europe with an almost superstitious
fear of this hitherto unknown enemy.^

These early expeditions to the British Isles, which, evidently,
came trom the west coast of Norway, were undertaken for the sõle
purpose of plimder. The Shetland and Orkney Islands served as
vantage points from which the marauders would sweep down on
the unprotected coasts, plunder some town or monastery, and depart
with their booty as suddenly as they came. Seldom did the terror-
stricken inhabitants offer any eftective resistance.

9. The Vikings in Ireland and in the Islands

The success which the Vikings met with encouraged them to re-
newed attempts. Year by year their fleets grew larger, and their
attacks soon changed from mere piratic forays to well-organized
expeditions aiming at conquest and colonization. The year after the

1 Of especial importance to the student of the Viking period is Johannes
Steenstrup's Normannerne, Copenhagen, 1876. This is a very scholarly
work, the result of a careful examination of all the sourees dealing A\dth the
expeditions, culture, and institutions of the Vikings, though it cannot be
said to be whoUy free from a tendency to credit the Danes with achieve-
ments which later investigations have shown may with more justice be
claimed for the Norwegians.

Of equally high excellenee are Professor Alexander Bugge's works :
Vikingerne, Christiania, 1904 ; and Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nord-
hoernes, scerlig Nordmcendenes ydre Levescet og Samfundsforholde i Vikingeti-
den, Christiania, 1905. These works deal especially with the cultural side
of Viking life and history. Among other scholarly works of the highest
vaiue must also be mentioned : Gustav Storm's Kritiske Bidrag til Vikinge-
tidens Historie, Christiania, 1878. J. J. A. Worsaae, Minder oin de Danske
og Nordmcendene i England, Skotland og Irland, London, 1852 ; Den danske
Erobring af England og Normandiet, 1863. A. Fabricius, Danske Minder i
Normandiet, Copenhagen, 1897. Konrad Maurer, Die Bckehrung des
norwegischen Stammes zum Christenthume, München, 1855. Charles Oman,

THE VIKING PERIOD 47

>f Tona they landed on the west coast of Ireland, and destroyed -
the monastery of Innishmurray. From 812 till 814 they appeared
far inland in Münster, Ulster, and Connaught, defeating the bands
of the Irish kings, and plundering churches and monasteries. Their
fleets soon swarmed around all the coasts of Ireland. In 826 they
made the first permanent settlement in the coimty of Meath, and
during the next decade they extended their marauding expeditions
almost to the heart of the country. -Tn 836 t.wo flpets^ numbering
in all about sixty ships, sailed up the rivers Liffy and Boyne. Torgib,
or JTurggja, t.hp. grpat spa-king^ was the leader. He became king^-
ali the Norsenien_in Ireland._and began a systematic conquest of the-
country. He_b]ji1t fortifipd strongholdsj both inland and along the.
coasts, and foundedjthejnty of Dublin.^ which soon-bj&ca.me the cpnter
and seat of government of tlie NorwegiaH-Coloniesia-theisland. Lii

erick, a second Norwegian eity,^was_foundjed on the Shannon River,
in the north of Ireland, where Viking colonies were springing up.

Turgeis evidently aimed at destroying Christianity in Ireland ; —
monasteries were destroyed, and churches were plundered and turned ■"^
into heathen temples. For a while it looked as if the Asa faith would -"'
triumph over the Cross, but m 845 the^Viking^king fell by chance
into_theJiaiid^of_Mji£lsedüamn^iu^ ^'

death- JHe_was^ lõng rem^embered— a,'^.^tJAP.^fonndpr of the Viking. ^
dominioaji-Ireland^ 0n. these westward expeditions the Vikings
had discovered the Faroe Islands, the Orkneys. and the Shetland.
Jslmids4)nDiLtQ.±lie_yeaiLSDll^ Th£se_harren-and4öhospitable4slaGd^-

History of England, vol. I., England before the Norman Conquest, 1910. Her-
mann Paul, Grundriss der germanischen Phüologie, 2d edition, vol. IIL,
section XII. Valtyr Gu'5mundsson and Kristian Kälund, Skandinavische
Verhältnisse.

1 On the Fomorians and the Norsemen by Duald MacFirbis, tlie original
Irish text edited witli translation and notes by Alexander Bugge. (ThR
obscure village of At.h nia.th had existed there before, v>'it nuKlin fi^gf ff^rpo
into prominence as a Norwegia.n ^it,^ L. J. Vogt, Dublin som norsk By,
Christiania, 1896.

^ Jakob Jakobsen, who has made a special study of the nomenclature,
and of other remnants of Norse language on the Shetland Islands, claims
that the Norsemen must have oome to the islands as early as 700. Many
place names show word formations which were out of use at the time Iceland
was eolonized. Shetland^ernes Stedsnavne, Aarb^ger Jor nordisk Oldkyndighed,
1901. See also Alexander Bugge, Vesterla7idenes Indflydelse, 307 ff.

48 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

groups had_at the time a few Celtic inhabitants, biit the Norse- \
men took f ulljgossession,^ t.hem . ^and plaate^l -settJements there^ /
jand the pojyiilatioii_SQQn bppamp wbnlly Korwpgiajx .The Hehrides^T]
N too,_were_5£ttled- From^Ojto 830 the Vikings came in such num-
bers that the islands were called by Trish annalists "Innse Gall" ;
(i.e. the islands of the strangers). _Tiie new -settl^f^-accepted tke L
Christian faith and culture of the native Celtic pqpiilation_in_the |/l
Hebrides^but Norwegian customs anri moHe of Hfp prRvflilefl, The ^^
original inhabitants gradually adopted the ways of the conquerors, /J
and Norwegian social organization became general throughout the "yf
islan(^ /^

10. The Vikings in France and Spain

In 810-820 the Vikings began to visit the island of Noirmoutier, y/
near the mouth of the Loire, on the west coast of France. That"/
they came from Ireland, where the Norwegian Vikings were gather-
ing in great numbers, seems the more certain, because the northern
coasts of France were not disturbed at this time. In 843 a fleet
of sixty-seven ships came to the Loire directly from Norway, and a
permanent colony was established on Noirmoutier.-^ They called
themselves Westfoldingi, i.e. men from Vestfold, in southern Nor-
way. From this base of operations they ascended the Loire, and
captured and sacked the city of Nantes. Returning to Noirmoutier
with their booty, they made another expedition up the Garonne
River in --S44, under their leader Asgeir, attacking the cities of
Toulouse (844), Bordeaux (848), Nantes and Tours (853). They also /
ascended the Adour, in Gascogne, as far as to Tarbes, but lost many /
men in battles with the mountaineers. Leaving southern France /
for a time, they made an attack on the coast of Spain. After an
unsuccessful siege of Lisbon, they followed the cqast to Cadiz,

1 Professor Alexander Bugge has brought quite eonelusive proofs that
these Vikings on the Loire were Norwegians, and not Danes. See Morgen-
bladet, April 4, 1911. Many of the chieftains of the Loire Vikings are known
to have been in Dublin, at that time a Norwegian settlement, such as Baard,
who plundered Orleans in 865, Baard and Eirik, who sacked Tours in 903,
and Ragnvald, 923-925. Baard Jarl is spoken of as the leader of the Nor-
wegians in their fights with the Danes in northern Ireland in 878. Keary, \
The Vikings in Western Christendom, London, 1891. Du Chaillu,T/ie Viking ,
Age, New York, 1890.

THE VIKING PERIOD 49

plundered the city, and ascended the Guadalquivir to Sevilla, in
Andalusia. They besieged the city, and captured the suburbs,
but they were unable to take the city itself. In Spain they fought
many battles with the Saracens, whose prowess they soon learned
to respect. From their settlements on the Loire the Norsemen made
repeated expeditions into southern France. In 877 they took per-
manent possession of a region along the coast, and founded a colony
which lõng maintained its independent existence. The colonies
on the Loire acknowledged the supremacy of the Norwegian kings
of Dublin, who were regarded as overlords of all the Norwegian colo-
nies in the West.

|n 859_a new Viking expeditio>n^was ütted out in western France
for a voyage to Spain and the Mediterrailean Sea, possibly, also, for
the purpose of attacking Rome itself. The wealth and glory of the
Etemal City must have presented special attractions to these bands
of professional warrior?, who sought in hazardous adventure both
honor and pastime. Danish Vikings seem to have joined with the
Norwegians from the Loire colonies in the enterprise, as the renowned

-y

Hasting. or Haastein, the son of Atle Jarl in Fjalafylke (S0ndfjord),
iil western Nnrway, and Ivar Boneless. son of the famous Danish ..
chieftain Ragnf^r T.oHhrnk, were the leaders of thp pvpedition. Hast-
ing is well known in the annals of western Europe, which describe
him as the incarnation of all that was fierce and terrible in Viking
character.^ Ivar, who later became the leader of the great Viking
army which invaded England in 866, was one of the most renowned
of Ragnar Lodbrok's sons.

(Eh,e fleet sailed around Spain to the mouth of the Rhone River,
in southern France, where they seized and fortified the island of

1 The French writer Dudo mentions only Hasting as the leader of the
expedition, but Irish annals make it clear that the Danes also took part
under the leadership of Ivar, the son of Ragnar Lodbrok.

Ragnar Lodbrok .geems ,to have lived in the eaiiy part of the ninth cen-
tury. He figures is a semi-mythieal hero in numerous exploits described in
Ragnar Lodbroks ^aga. Most of these seem_to be historical, but many of
tbem have, no r'oubt, been performed by liis sons. Aecording to the säga
he was shipwre cked on an expedition to England, and was captured by the
usurper ^lla^ of Northumbria, who threw him into a pit full of serpents,
where he perished. This seems to be an ingenious invention by the säga
writei" ^"^exiplain later historic events in England.

50 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Camargue. From here they made an attack on the coast of Italy,
where they captured thf '^'^y ^^ T.nnn, mistaking it for Rom^

Through these expeditions the Norsemen came into contact with
the Saracens in Spain, and Communications were estabhshed between
Dubhn and southern Europe. fiiÄü the Norwegian king in Dubhn
sent an embassy to-Emir Abderrhaman II. of Spaia, who, in return,
sent the poet Alghazäl as special envoy to the "King of the Pagans"
in Ireland. Alghazäl has left an account of his missi^, in which he
speaks of the many conversations he had with the queen, whom he
praises highly for her beauty and courtly manners. ^ When he ex-
pressed anxiety lest their conversations should arouse the king's
jealousy, the queen replied : Jrlt is not customary with us to be jeal-
ous. Our women stay with their husbands only as lõng as they
please, and leave them whenever they choose.'^"©ie Vikings
brought a large number of Moors as prisoners to Erin," says the
chronicle ; " these are the blue men in Erin . . . lõng indeed did
these blue men remain in Erin." Commerrial relations wprp. rIso j
established between Spain and thp Norwpgiqn pr>lnnipis in TrPilnind^ /
and merchants^ailedirom,Piib]in fo Spain tn bny silk^ Ipathpr^ tind \

The geographical location of the Scandinavian countries determined,
very largely, the routes taken by the Viking bands from each, as
well as the localities to which their operations were chiefly confined.
Those coming from Norway followed, as a ruie, a northerly route, J
leading to Ireland, Scotland, and the islands in the northern ocean.
From Ireland this route led farther to the west coast of France,
to Spain, and the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and there can be
little doubt that the hosts who directed their warlike activities to
these regions were, in the main, Norwegians, led by Norwegian
chieftains.

The Danish Vikings usually followed a more southerly route,
leading to Friesland, Flanders, England, and the north coast of France.
'^at Danish Vikings in early centuries took part in rJbe great Migra-
tions is possible. The expedition nf Chnphilflimt; (Hygplac)- into l
the Rhine country in ,51 5- has already been mentioL«d, but their
powerful kinsmen, the Saxons, dwelling to the south oi them, seem
to have been an effective barrier against extensive operations in

THE VIKING PERIOD 61

that direction, and no general movement is noticed before the begin-
ning of the Viking Age? During the reign of Charlemagne, Viking
fleets were seen to hover around the northern shores of the Empire,
but the energetic Emperor, who discerned the danger, estabhshed
mihtary posts to guard the coasts. He even ordered fleets to be
built, but the order was not carried out. His aggressive poUcy on
the Southern borders of Denmark aroused, however, the hostihty
of the Danes, and King Sigfred gave aid and shelter to those who had
rebelled against Charles. In 810 a Danish fleet of 200 ships ravaged • /
Friesland. Later the powerful King Godfred began war against
the Emperor, but he was killed by one of his own men in the midst
of the campaign (811).^ While Charles Hved, no other general ad-
vance against the Empire was attempted, but when he died, the
opportunity came. The strength of the Empire was soon lost
through weak rulers and internal dissensions ; maladministration
and disorder prevailed, and the Vikings were quick to seize the
opportunity. The attack began in 834, when a Danish fleet sailed ^
to the Rhine, and ascended the river to the rich city of Dorstadt,
which was seized and plundered. In rapid succession new attaeks
were made during the years following. In 837 the Vikings also ^
captured the island of Walcheren. These events led the emperors
Lewis the Pious and Lothair to grant Dorstadt, Walcheren, and
neighboring districts to a Danish prince, Harald Klak, with the
understanding that he should defend the coast of Friesland against
the Vikings, but this only served to give them a new foothold. The
Danes were soon masters of Friesland, whence they could fit out
new expeditions into the wrecked Empire. The Frankish kings,
who were unable to meet them on the field of battle, were foreed to
buy peace by paying a yearly tribute, which was often made oppres-
sively high by the victorious Viking chieftains. In 84,'i an expedi- ^
tion led by T??\{yriflr Lodbrok captured Eüüfiü^ advanced up the
Seine, and fortified themselves on some islands in the river. _Ki"S-

Chgrlps thp Rnld h^astpnflH \c\ Park tn rlnfonrl tlirt pjfy Jr>nf ]ie failcd

to bring with him a. sufficient military force, and was obliged to seek

refuge in the fortified monastery of St. Denis. Most of the inhab-

itants fled from the city, and the Vikings plundered the suburbs

^ Jacobus Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, II., p. 25 fif.

52 HISTORT OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and penetrated far into the neighboring districts, practically uiimo-
lested. Again the oid method of buying peace had to be resorted

^^ to. King Charles agreed to pay Ragnar 7000 pounds of silver on
condition that he should leave France, and that he should not again
attack the country. Ragnar returned to Denmark, it seems, but
new hosts soon appeared under new leaders. Following the large
rivers, they penetrated far inland, and plundered large districts.

^ Paris was again attacked in 857, and once more heavy taxes had to
be levied to buy off the enemy. The leader of the Viking host now
operating on the Seine was Bj0rn Ironside, a son of Ragnar Lodbrok,
whom King Charles the Baid sought in väin to drive from his forti-
fied camp on the island of Oissel, above Rouen. Piratic expeditions
were constantly undertaken into the neighboring country, and in

"•< 861 Paris was again sacked. King Charles now offered the Norse-
men on the Somme River 3000 pounds of silver to attack the Viking
camp on Oissel, and the attack was also made, but the two Viking
hosts soon came to an understanding, we are toid, and left France
in the spring of 862. The Viking inroads in France continued.

- ■ In 885 a large army assembled on the Seine and laid siege to Paris,
but they were, finally, persuaded to withdraw upon receiving a
tribute of 700 pounds of silver. They were, however, allowed to
advance, and plunder the rich districts of Burgundy. The great
Viking army met with no real check till it was finally defeated by

^ the German Emperor, Arnulf, near Louvain, in 891.

11. The Vikings in England

After their first visits to the coasts of England an interval of some
forty years passed, during which the Vikings made no further at-
tempt to gain a foothold there. They pressed with vigor their
conquests in Ireland and France, and England was given a respite,
during which ample preparation might have been made to meet the
coming storm. But internal strife between petty kingdoms, and
ceaseless feuds among princes and other men of quality gradually
wore down the strength of the Anglo-Saxons, and left them weak
and disorganized. One thing had been achieved, hoM'ever, in these
forty years, which became of far-reaching importance in the coming

THE VIKING PERIOD 53

struggle. King Ecgbert of Wessex succeeded in uniting all the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in 827, and could now ruie as "King of the
English." But of more immediate importance than this weak union,
and Ecgbert's precarious supremacy, was the fact that the kingdom
of Wessex now became the center of English national life and develop-
ment, and that a dynasty of kings of superior ability ascended the
throne, and made this small kingdom a tower of strength which ulti-
mately broke the force of the coming invasion.

(In 834 ^ the Vikings began their attack on England in earnest by
ravaging the island of Sheppey,^ at the mouth of the Thames. In
836 they returned to the coast of Wessex with thirty-five ships, and
near Charmouth, in Dorsetshire, where King Ecgbert resided, a
bloody battle was fought in which the Vikings were victorious. It
is noteworthy that this attack occurred almost simultaneously with
the plundering of Dorstadt, and the expeditions against the Frank-
ish kingdom. It can scarcely be doubted that it was the same
armed host which operated on both sides of the English Channel,
and that the Vikings vho now appeared in England were Danes.

In 838 a great fleet came to the land of the West Welsh, made an
alliance with them, and attacked Wessex. King Ecgbert marched
against the allies, and defeated them with great slaughter at Henges-
tesdune, near Plymouth, but this was his last exploit. He died the
following year, and was succeeded by his son ^thelw.ulf, a pious
and conscientious, but weak man, who was unable to cope success-
fully with the invaders. After Ecgberfs death the Vikings began
more extensive operations in England. In 840 they made two
successful raids on the coast of Wessex, and in the year following
they entered the Wash, defeated and slew the ealdorman of Lindesey
and plundered his land. They then turned south to ravage the
coasts of East Anglia and Kent. London and Rochester were at-
tacked in 842 by a large fleet, and the following summer King ^Ethel-
wulf was defeated in the second battle of Charmouth, in Wessex.
Northumbria, too, was attacked in 844, and King Redwulf was slain
by the invaders.

1 " Wrongly called 832 by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," says Charles Oman,
. A History of England, 1910, vol. L, p. 399.

2 Sheppey, Sceapige (sheep island).

54 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Norwegian Vikings, too, seem to have taken part in these raids
on the English coasts; but, as a ruie, no distinction between Nor-
wegians and Danes is made in the early English annals, and it is
left for us to draw what conclusions we may from the general direc-

-^ tion of the attacks. In 840 a Viking bänd attempted to land on the
coast of Somersetshire, but they were defeated by Bishop Ealhstan
and two ealdormen at the mouth of the Parret. The locality of the
fight makes it probable that this bänd, at least, were Norsemen from
the coast of Ireland. The " Three Fragments of Irish Annals" states

s that in the year 851 the Norsemen attacked Devonshire, while the
Danes harried Kent and Surrey. This agrees in the main with the
"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," which records for the same year the fact
that the ealdorman Ceorl fought with heathen men in Devonshire,
near Wicgeanbeorge, killed many of them, and gained the victory.
These raids on the coast seem to have been mere skirmishes pre-
liminary to the more general advance which began in 851, when a
fleet of 350 ships entered the Thames River.^ A force was landed,
which captured Canterbury, while the fleet proceeded to London,
which was stormed and plundered. The invading host began to
spread over the inland districts, but King iEthelwulf and his son
^Ethelbald arrived with the whole military force of Wessex, and
defeated the Vikings in the bloody battle of Aclea. This produced

' a brief lull in the invasion, but a new host appeared in 854, and, taking
up quarters on Sheppey Island, in the Thames, the^iwere now able
for the first time to spend the winter in England. vEvery summer
the attacks were renewed, until, in 866, the great Viking army led
by Ivar Boneless and Ubbe or Hubba, the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok,
arrived and began a conquest which placed the greater part of Eng-
land under Viking dominion before another decade had passed.
This time the attack was directed against Northumbria, which was
more torn by internal troubles than any other part of England. Wars
between rival candidates for the throne had been waged there con-
stantly for many years, and were stiil in progress when the Vikings
arrived. They mixed merrily in the fight, and made themselves
masters of the important city of York, a calamity so great that it
even brought the two fighting rivals, Osbeorht and iElla^ to their
^ Two of the Saxon Chronicles, edited by Charles Plummer, p. 64.

THE VIKING PERIOD 55

senses. They patched iip their differences, united their forces,
and made an assault upon York in an attempt to recapture the city.
But they were both killed, their army was cut to pieces, and North-
umbria submitted to the conquerors, 867. In 868 the Viking chief-
tains advanced with their army to Nottingham, and wintered in
Mercia. In 870 they entered East Angha. King Edmund met
them in the battle of Hoxne, but lost both his army and his Ufe.
The story is toid that he was captured, and, being unwilling to pay
tribute, and to submit to Ivar Boneless, he was tied to a tree and
shot to death with arrows. This may be true, since he was wor-
shiped as a saint not lõng after his death. The Danes at York
invited the Norwegian kings Ivar and Olav of Dublin to jõin in the
conquest of England. They accepted the invitation, harried north-
ern England, and captured Dumbarton on the Clyde ; but they soon
had to return to Dublin to defend their own dominions against the
Irish. In 870 a large army came from Denmark to jõin in the con-'
quest. It was led by Halvdan (Halfdene), Hubba (Ubbe), Guthrum
(Guttorm or Gorm), and many other kings and jarls. The next
year they advanced through Mercia to attack Wessex, and pitched
their camp at Reading, which they took care to fortify. A.fierce
campaign was now fought. The men of Wessex, led by King ^Ethel-
red and his younger brother, Alfred,^ advanced to attack them, and
a series of sharp engagements were fought which forced the Danes
to retire to their fortified camp at Reading. An attempt to take
the camp by assault proved unsuccessful, and the English were
driven back with great slaughter. The Danes now emerged from
their camp, but were again met by iEthelred and Alfred on the hills
of yEscesdun (Ashdown), where they were defeated, after a desperate
battle in which the young Alfred especially distinguished himself.
The Danes lost one of their kings, Bsegsceg, five jarls, and many
thousand men. The remaining king, Halvdan, shut himself up in
the camp at Reading with the remnant of his army to await reen-

^ ^thelvmlf died in 858, and was suceeeded by his four sons :

^thelbald, 860 ;
iEthelbert, 866 ;
iEthelred, 871 ;
Alfred the Great, 871-900.

56 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

forcements. In two weeks he was again able to take the field,
fighting a successful engagement at Basing, and the battle of Bedwyn
soon foUowed, in which the Danes were again victorioiis. King
iEthelred died shortly after from wounds received in the battle,
as it seems, and Alfred the Great succeeded to the throne of Wessex.
As he had but a small army, and no navy, he was forced to buy
peace from the victorious Vikings. They received a tribute, and
withdrew from Wessex, and the kingdom was left unmolested for
about four years. During this time Alfred began to organize a
navy, which in future contests was to develop strength and efficiency
in the hard school of sharp naval warfare with the powerful Viking
admirals, who regarded the sea as their own undisputed domain.

The Viking army, after leaving London and subjugating IMercia,
was divided into two parts, one under King Halvdan, and the other
under Guthrum, Aasketil, and Aamund. Halvdan raided Bernicia,
Strathch'de, and parts of Scotland, and settled permanently at York,
in 875. The other part of the army camped in JNlercia. All Eng-
land w^as now in the hands of the invaders, save the kingdom of Wes-
sex, south of the Thames.
-^ During the eighty or ninety years which had passed since the first
Viking bands visited the shores of England, great changes had taken
place both in the extent and character of their operations in foreign
countries. 'Tlie early piratic attacks changed in time into well-
planned expeditions undertaken by large fieets and armies bent on
permanent conquesj Wars w^ere waged which were often attended
by wanton destruction of life and property, but the Vikings now
fought for the purpose of gaining full dominion over territory in
which they wdshed to Iive and ruie. They were no longer a mere
destructive force. The conquest once accomplished. they settled
down to till the soil, to build cities. and to develop the coun^ry. ^i
the varioiis pnr^^nits nf ppapp tlipy often showed an energv. a praptipa.l
msigkL. and a talent for organi zation not exliibited by the native
inhabitant^. on many fields they exerted a stimulating influence
which made future progress possib!^. During the winter which
King Halvdan spent in London after retiring from Wessex, he minted
Icoins bearing sometimes his own name, sometimes that of. the city.
The designs were later used on English coins struck by Alfred the

THE VIKING PERIOD 57

Great, and by Ceolwulf, king of Merci^ In 875 Halvdan took up /'
his permanent abode in York. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"
States that he portioned out the lands of Northumbria, and that his
followers henceforth continued to plow and to till them. Every
Dane received his allotment of land, while the original inhabitants
continued to exist as a dependent class. /Xccording to Viking cus-
tom York was stronglv iortifiprl, nnd bernme ngnin the -gfea^-^ity

which it had been in the days ^LJfij^^B^^-Jl^^^^^-^^--^^^*'^"' T^^i^-^-
custom of wRÜing in the cities. and of bnilding fortified strnnp;ho]rls.
which was so important, both in warfare and for thf^ dfvel opmani
of cities, was first introduced into England by the YikingL ffhe
coining of money was also carried on here, and the erude copper
coins heretofore used were soon replaced by coins of silve?. Deira,
the Southern part of Northumbria, was organized into the Danish
kingdom of York, while Bernicia, the horthern part, was tributary
to the kings of York, but formed no integral part of their kingdom.

12. Alfred the Great and the Vikings

After Alfred had entered into an agreement with the Vikings,
WesseK enjoyed peace for some years, but in 875 the Viking host
was again coUected for a new attack on the kingdom. The invaders
marched across Wessex to Wareham, on the south coast, where they
constructed a fortified camp. Alfred met them here with a large
force, and the two armies lay watching each other for some time.
The Danes finally agreed to depart if they received a tribute, and
a treaty was concluded, but a part of their force escaped from Ware-
ham and marched to Exeter, which they seized and fortified. Alfred
followed close on their heels, and besieged the town. The remainder
of the force at Wareham soon evacuated their camp and put to sea
to jõin their besieged companions, but their fleet was destroyed in
a storm, and the detachment at Exeter, being hard pressed by Alfred,
promised to leave Wessex. Alfred allowed them to depart, and
they advanced into Mercia, where they forced King Ceolwulf to
give them a large part of his kingdom. This land was divided among
many jarls ; the five most important divisions being : Stamford,
Lincoln, Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester, which were later known

58 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

as the "Five Boroiighs. " All the divisions formed together a loose
confederacy embracing the eastern half of Mercia.

The great Viking army was stiil kept united under the command
of King Guthrum (Guttorm). Aided by other forces operating in
the Irish Sea, they again advanced to attack Wessex. An aiixiliary
squadron was led by Hubba (Ubbe), a brother of Halvdan and Ivar
Boneless, and Guthrum began his campaign in the middle of Janu-
ary, 878. The unexpected attack at this season of the year caused
the greatest panic. Many fled the country without thinking of
resistance, and King Alfred with his military household was forced
to take refuge on the island of Athelney/ in the Parret River in Somer-
set. During the remaining months of the winter of 878 the Vikings
were masters of all Wessex, but when spring came, the tide began to
turn. Hubba fell in Devonshire in an attack on the English strong-
hold Cynuit, and his force was cut to pieces, Shortly after Easter,
Alfred left Athelney, gathered all forces possible, and attacked the
Danish army at Ethandun, gaining a complete victory. Guthrum
submitted, and received baptism with twenty-nine other leaders.
The treaty concluded received its name from the royal manor of
Wedmore, where the baptismal feast was celebrated. According to
its stipulations, a region including Northumbria, East Anglia, and
all central England east of a line stretching from the mouth of the
Thames River along the River Lea to Bedford, along the Ouse to
Watling Street, and along Watling Street to Chester, was ceded
to the Vikings. This region was henceforth known as the " Danelag"
(Danelaw). Guthrum seems to have carried out quite faithfully
the agreement entered into. He left Wessex, and took possession of
East Anglia and Essex, where he founded a kingdom similar to that
established in York by King Halvdan. He took part in Viking ex-
peditions to France, and even aided Danish Vikings operating on the
coast of England, but he never again attacked Wessex. He died in
890. After the treaty of Wedmore, in 878, Alfred 's kingdom enjoyed
comparative peace until 892, when the "Great Army" undertook a

1 The well-known story that Alfred, in the darkest hour of his misfortunes,
was alone ; that he found shelter in a cowherd's hut, where the episode with
the burned cakes oeeurred, is found in läte ehroniclers. It is surely nothing
but fiction, like many similar stories often invented to adorn the lives of great

THE VIKING PERIOD 59

new invasion of England. This permanently organized host of Danish
Vikings had been operating in Brabant and Flanders, where it had
been defeated by Emperor Arnulf, in 891. The names of the leaders
of the " Great Army " are not mentioned, but it was joined by a smaller
detachment of eighty ships, evidently eoming from the Norwegian
colonies on the west coast of France led by the famous Viking
ehieftain Hasting. The war lasted for three years, but the Vikings
could gain no permanent advantage over Alfred's well-organized
armies. Alfred captured their fleet, and besieged them closely in
their camps. Finally, worn out by fruitless fighting, the "Great
Army" broke up, and joined their countrymen in East Anglia
and Northumbria, but a detachment sailed across the sea to the
Seine. These must have been the Norsemen under Hasting, with
whom Alfred seems to have concluded a treaty of peace. Alfred had
broken up the great organized host of invasion, and had created
an efficient fleet which was able to cope successfully with Viking
detachments along the coast. Hasting left England in 897, and the
peace was not again disturbed during the remaining four years of
Alfred's reign. ^--^

King Halvdan of York had ruled his kingdom only one year
(876-877), when he was'expelled by his own people. His successor,
Gudr0d, died in 894, and Knut, who was then placed on the throne,
had to share his authority with the Norwegian jarl, Sigurd, who had
gained great power in northern Scotland. This shows that there
were Norsemen, as well as Danes, in the Viking kingdom at York,
an assumption which is borne out by the many names of Norwegian
origin found in Northumbria.^ Snorre Sturlason says in the " Heims-
kringla" that Northumbria was mostly settled by Norsemen after
the sons of Lodbrok had conquered the land. Norwegians and Danes
must often have fought side by side, and, the conquest once completed,
a period of immigration followed in which men and women from
both countries flocked across the sea to settle in the new and invit-
ing land which they had won. During the first stages of the struggle
the invading armies were aliiost exclusively Danish, but the Nor-

1 Of Norwegian origin are nan.es ending in -jell (fjeld = mountain),
-haugh (haug = hill), -tar7i ( = lake j, -force (foss = waterfall), -nes ( = pen-
insula), ete.

60 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

wegian element must have grown rapidly in importance, especially
iil the North, and their leaders soon gained the aseendancy in North-
umbria.

13. Names Applied to the Vikings

Lõng before the beginning of the Viking Age the Gautar (Götar),
Swedes, and Danes seem to have been quite well known as distinct
peoples, occupying clearly defined regions of the Scandinavian North.
The names are used frequently both by early Oid English authors
and by Latin writers of the early centuries of the Christian era.^
But Norway, as a term applied to the western half of the Scandinavian
peninsula, and Norsemen, or Norwegians, as a name used to designate
all the inhabitants of this region, are terms which do not occur till
in the Viking period. The notice in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"
for the year 787, aiready mentioned elsewhere, uses the name Nord-
manna: "On his dagum comon III scipu NorSmanna of Here-
Salande." King Alfred uses the name Nordmenn in his writings
(880-900), and Ohthere (Ottar)^ the Norwegian explorer, who stayed
at his court, uses the names Nofömamialand and Nordiveg for the
whole of Norway.^ The Irish monk Decuil, who wmtp in R9.R^..s±a.t^^
that the Irish monks on thp "Fnrnp T^land^ hac\ tn flpp hppRiisR oi the
Jjatronvvf Ncrvinrniorii^n, It seems, then, that these names must
have been quite commonly used about 800. Norway (Noregr,
Norvegr, Norge) means the northern way, and Norsemen, men
from the North. These names seem first to have been applied to
the Norwegians and their country by their neighbors in southern

^ The author of Beõwulf must have been singularly well informed regard-
ing the early history of Denmark and southern Seandinavia. He gives a
detailed account of the royal houses, of family relationship, and of political
and military affairs, sueh as we can only find in the sägas several centuries
later. The author of the poem Widsith shows a similar knowledge of the
peoples and countries of the North :

"Ic waes mid Hünum and mid HreSgotum,
mid Sweom and mid Geätum and mid SutSdenum.
Mid Wenlum ic wses and mid Wa;rram and mid Wfcingum."

2 He saede Sfet Nort5manna land wžero sw5'Se lang and swySe smael. . .
põnne is f»is land oS he cym?) to Scirinegt sheäle, and ealneweg on paet baBcbord
NorSweg." Alfred, Orosius. See also Gustav Storm, Kritiske Bidrag til
Vikingetidens Historie, Christiania, 187Js.

THE VIKING PERIOD 61

Sweden and Denmark. pn the Continent the Vikings. both Danes
and Norwegians^were, as a ruie, caned^^OT_thjgien^.QiLj!^iu:seiii£i^
while in_Engiaiid_and Scotland they were called Dane^^

In Ireland they were called Gall (strangers) or Normanni (Norse-
men). Later, when the Danes also began to harry the country, the
Irish called the Norsemen Finn-Gall {fair strangers), and the Danes
Dubh-Gall (dark strangers). ^he country whence the Norsemen
came is called Lochlann (the land of the f jords) by the Irish annalists
already in the ninth centur^. From this word a new name was in
time formed for the Norwegian Vikings, namely Lochlannac or the
people from Lochlann.^

14. Struggle between Norsemen and Danes in Ireland

The Norwegian Vikings overran Ireland with astonishing rapidity.
Shortly after the close of the eighth century they were found in nearly
every part of the island. Dr. Zimmer says : ^ " If we read the annals
of the period 795-950, we are compelled to ask if there were a cloister,
a lake, a mountain, a valley, a brook on the island where the Vikings
had not been, or where they had not dwelt in great numbers for
a longer or shorter period." Year by year colonists arrived with
their families from Norway to take possession of districts where the
army of conquest had gained more or less firm control. The Irish

^^he reason why tjip Vikings wpra p.aHt^fl 'NTrirthmpn in "Fra.ncp, and

Danes in England. seems to have been the fact that the first Viking hosts
"which invaded weatern France were Nnrwpg^ia.ns^ while the first invasion of
Hjng|£ng_wn_gjnT^riYf^ by t.Vin DanÄa ^he names have then come into use as
a general designation for all stra£gers of the same typ^. In a similar way the
name of the Alemanni, a tribe in southern Germany, has become in French
Allemands (Germans), Franks has become French, and Angles, English. This
is the view of the Norwegian historian Gustav Storm. The Danish historian
Steenstrup holds that the people on the Continent called them Northmen
because they came from the North. He also cites parallels : The Nor-
wegians were called Eastmen (Austmenn) by the Icelanders, and the Nor-
wegians called the Irish Westmen (Vestmenn), and the Germans Southmen
(Sudrmenn).

Concerning the names applied to the Vikings, see also Afhandlinger om
hvilke Benccvnelser Landet, Folket og dets Sprog findes tülagte, Samlinger til
det norske Folks Sprog og Historie, vol. II, p. 379 ff.

2 3ee L. J. Vogt, Dublin so7n norsk By, Christiania, 1896.

* Zeüschrift für deutsches Alterthum und Literatur, vol. 35.

62 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

were warlike, and coiild often meet the invaders in overwhelming
numbers, biit they were unable to carry on a successful campaign
of defense for want of systematic organization. It would have re-
qiiired the united strength of the whole country to withstand so for-
midable an invasion, but the obsolete Irish elan system stood in
the way of centraHzation of power, and of effective coöperation in
the common cause. The high-king (Ard Righ) was indeed regarded
as over-king of all Erin, but his exalted station was at the time an
empty title which carried with it no real authority. Civil strife
between hostile clans and petty princes was the normal condition
throughout all Ireland. Many of the natives even abandoned Chris-
tianity, and joined the Vikings, aiding them in the attacks upon
their own country. They were called " Gall-Gsedhel" or "Irish
strangers." The Irish people often fought with reckless bravery,
and gained many a victory over the enemy, but their planless efforts
could not stay the progress of the invaders. Xot till complete sub-
jugation or ultimate extermination stared them in the face did they
think of seeking refuge where alone it can be found under such cir-
cumstances, in unselfish and systematic coöperation ; and even then
the lesson was but indifferently learned.

Thp Norspm^n operated, on the whole, with skill and caution,
employing tactics which we have observed in Viking expeditions
elsewhere. ^^th their fieets they entered the fjords and estuaries,
where they pr.TT^^tnipfprl fr>]-|ifiprl f^flmpgj nr fniindpH r\t\ps,. andjmilt
j^nng pa^tlpci^ a<i nt DnKljn Somctimes they would establish their
camps and naval stations on islands near the coast, where they could
not be attacked by the Irish, who possessed no war vessels of any kiiiHJ
^Prom such a fortified base of operations they would ascend the rivers
to the lakes of the interior, where they would build other strongholds
at well-selected strategic points, from which they were able to con-
trol the neighboring districts with a comparatively small force. Tur-
geis sent a part of his fleet up the Bann River into Loch Neagh, in
the northeastern part of Ireland, and with another part he ascended
the Shannon River to Loch Ree, in the very heart of the island, where,
according to the annals, he built a number of stronghol^. Their
firmest hoid was on the coast region, where colonists and reenforce-
ments could be received at any time. In the shelter of their camps

THE VIKING PERIOD

at Strangford, Carlingford, Dublin, Wicklow, Limerick, and other
places, permanent Norwegian colonies sprang up which, in course
of time, extended themselves along the coast from the Boyne River
to Cork, while more isolated areas were settled at Dundalk and
Limerick. The nnmerous NorwegiRn nnmps of islandi;, b^y^, head-
lands, cities, and localities along the Irish coast. which in angiin,
cized form have been preserved to the present time, attest to the
thorough jiidJpirmaiieiit—Qccuipatioii of these parts by the Norse^
men.

15, The Viking Expeditions Eastward. Founding of the
RussiAN Kingdom. The Varangians in Constantinople

When the Scandinavians entered into communication with the
peoples dw elling east of the Baltic Sea cannot be determined, but it
is quite certain that such an intercourse existed from very early
times, since even the oldest historic traditions mention expeditions
made by Swedish kings to the countries across the Baltic. The first
account of the oid Yngling dynasty is given by the Norwegian scald
Thjodolv af Hvin^ in his song " Ynglingatal." ^ Among the oid kings
of Svitiod here mentioned is Vanlande, a great warrior who visited
many foreign lands, and at one time spent the winter in Finland.

Present Form ;
Present Form
Present Form :
Preseal
J^reaent Fnr_^m-
Present Form :
Present Form :
Present Form :
Present Form :
Present Form :
Presentj^orm :
eto.

Dublin
Dalkey
Glandore
?focd

Limerick

Howth.

Carlingford

Strangford

Smerwick

.^SZesford—

jSForse Form : Dyflinn

Norse Form : Dalkey

Norse Form : Grandeyrr

Norse Form : VeSraf JQrSr

Norse Form : Iraland

Norse Form : Hlymrek

Norse Form : HQfuS

Norse Form : Kerlingarf JQrSr

Norse Form : Strangif JQrSr

Norse Form : SmJQrvik

Norse Form : Veisuf JQrtSr
ete.

^ Thjodolv af Hvin was born in southern Norway about the middle of
the ninth eentury, and lived at the eourt of the Norwegian king Harald
Haarfagre.

3 The elaborate account of the Yngling dynasty given by Snorre Sturlason
in his H eimskringla is^based on Thjodolv's poem, which, however, is quite brief .
Where Snorre got the more detailed Information is not known. The oid
Swedish dynasty is usually ealled Scilfings.

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

^Kgne, another king of the same dynasty, subjugated Finland, and
brought witli bim home the daughter of the Finnish princet» Ingvar
and his son Anund, two other kings of the Ynghng family, made
expeditions to Esthonia, and brought great booty home. These
traditions point to a connection between Scandinavia and the regions
east of the Baltic in very early ages. This is further verified through
the more reliable evidence of archseological finds, which prove that
the Scandinavians must have paid frequent visits to the eastern shores
of the Baltic, that their civilization was transplaated to those regions,
and that they must have founded settlements there in many places.
These finds are especially numerous in Tavastland and Satakunda,
in Southern Finland, but they have also been made in many other
places.

pf special interest is the account given by Üie Russian_cIiiioniclej
Nestor of the founding of the kingdom of Russia by the Swedes.
Nestor was a monk in Kief j^n the latter part of the eleventhcenturS.

[He tells the story as foUows : "In the year 6367 after the creation
of the \vorld_(859_AjD^Xi-tb£-^rangians ^ came acros&-4iie-aaa. and,

Vesses^ and Kriyitchež.. In the year G370_i8G2^MSAJ:h£y--ii^B^^ihs^
Slavs) droye awayjÜu^Varnngianri ncvnm the non., paid t.hom no tpib--
ute, and began to ruie theinselvesi but disorder prevaile0. One
tribe rose against the other, there was enmity between them^and they
began to wage war on each other. /Then they said to each other :
*Let us get a prince who can ruie over us, and who can judge rightly.'
And they went across the sea to the Varangians. to thp T?imsiaji,s, fnr
so the Varangians are calle?!? while some are called Swedes, others
Norsemen, others Angles, ärid Goths. AiKLtht? Tchoud^i, the SlavSy
the KrivitcheS;__and the Vesses said to the RussianR- 'pur land is

1 The Byzantine and Russian annalists used the Constantinopolitan era,
counted from the creation of the world. The year began Sept. Ist. The
birth of Christ was supposed to have oecurred in the year 5509 of that era.
This number subtraeted from the given number of years gives the year of
the Christian era.

2 Russian Varjag, Byzantine Varangoi, Arabie Varank, Scandinavian
Veering, O. N. piu. Voeringjar, O. N. vär = a pledge or oath, A. S. waer.
Varangians or Vasrings signif y those who have pledged themselves, evidently
to a chief or leader.

r-,")

THE VIKING PERIOD 65

large and fertile, but there is no order there ; come, therefore, and
ruie over u|.' Three brothers were chosen. and they took with them>^'
all the Rus, and they came. And the oldest, Rurik, settjed jriJVov-
gorod, and the second, Sineus, at Bieloe-Ozero, and the third at
Izborsk ; his name was Trouvor. From these Varangians the Rus-
sian kingdom received its name ; that is the Xovgorodians ; these
are the Novgorodian peoples of Varangian descent; before the
Novgorodians were Slavs. After two years had passed, Sineus died,
and also his brother Trouvor. Rurik then became ruler intheir
stead, and gave cities to his men ; to one he gave Polotsk, to another
Rostof, to a third Bieloe-Ozero. Into these places the Varangians
had immigrated ; the former inhabitants in Novgorod being Slavs, in
Polotsk Krivitches, in Rostof Merians, in Bieloe-Ozero Vesses."

TliP T^ranl-kk n.Tinnlg tpll of nn omhn.gey qpnf hy thp Ryzantinp^

Emperor, Theophilos, to the Frankish Emperor. Louis the Pious.
^ong with this embassy came some men who said that they were
from a people by the name of jlos^^ that they had been sent as mes-
sengers by their king to the Emperor at Byzantium, and wished now,
with Louis' aid, to return to their own country, because the route
which they had followed to Constantinople led through the lands of
strange and barbarous peoples, where it was very dangerous to travel.
Upon closer investigation Louis found that they were ^S^^fide».^

That Rurik and his followers, the Varangians, or Russians, came
from Scandinavia is seen also from the great number of names of
unmistakable Scandinavian origin in early Russian history. The
names of Rurik's successors, Oleg and Igor, are but slightly altered
forms of the Scandinavian names Helge and Ivar, or Ingvar. The
representatives sent by these rulers to conclude peace with the Byzan-

^ iThe Varangians or Ros CRiis^^i^ns') probably came from Roslagen in
Sweden. Fjor nr Rus is thought to mean rowers. The seaeoast distriets
of Uppland and Östergötland in Sweden were in olden times called Ro/>er
{Ro/>in), and had to furnish rowers for the leding, or military expeditions at
seaj From these words the form Rus (Russian) seems to have been evolved.
Alexander Bugge, Vesterlandenes Indflydelse, p. 132. V. L. P. Thomsen,
The Relations between Ancient Russia and Scandinavia, and the Origin of the
Russian State. P. A. Muneh, Samlede Afhandlinger, vol. II., p. 184 ff.

^ Annales Bertiniani. See R. Keyser, Om Nordmcendenes Herkomst og
■ Folkesloegtskab, Samlinger iil det norske Folks Sprog og Historie, VI., 259 ff.
Also P. A. Muneh, Samlede Afhandlinger, II., 184 ff.
VOL. I — p

66 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

tine Emperor in 912 and 945 had Scandinavian names. As examples
may be mentioned : Karl, Inegeld, Ivar, Vuefast, Uleb, Bern, Schig-
bern, Turbern, Grim, Koi, Sven, Gunnar, etc.^ As läte as in the
eleventh century the name Oleg was stiil used in the Russian dynasty.

In the beginning Novgorod or Holmgard was the chief city in
the new Russian kingdom, but soon Kief grew into great importance,
and became the real capital.

Great trade routes were opened along the Volga to Astrakhan,
and along the Dnieper to the shores of the Black Sea. Here the
Varangians met the Arab tradesmen, and a lively commercial inter-
course sprang up, through which a great number of coins and other
articles of value were brought to Scandinavia.^ Kief, which was
situated on this main trade route, reached its highest splendor in the
time of King .Taroslaf. He wished his capital to rival Constantinople,
nnd KJpf bernnip-Pti liinis m'-i IIi" "^ il^y '-r T^ur hiinrjred rhnrrhps "

The Varangian prince Ivar of Novgorod concluded a treaty of
commerce with the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, and traders
and slave dealers carried on a steadily growing traffic along the Volga
and the Dnieper to Novgorod and the shores of the Baltic Sea.^
Many names of towns and waterf alls along these routes stiil preserve
the memory of the Scandinavian traders and travelers who sojourned
in those regions in ages past.'* As an illustration may be mentioned

^ The Scandinavian forms are : Karl, Ingjald, Ivar, Vigfast, Ulf, Bj^rn,
Sighj^rn, Torbj^rn, Grim, Koi, Sveinn, and Gunn.ar.

2 Espeeially interesting are the Kufic coins, brought to the North in great
numbers. These are generally counterfeit coins minted in Central Asia in
the tenth century. They are made of copper, and are eoated with silver.

A grave opened at Tchernigof contained the remains and weapons of an
unknown prince of the tenth century. He was, no doubt, a Varangian. His
helmet and coat of mail resemble quite exactly the armor of the Vikings.

' An interesting illustration of the slave trade of this period is the pathetic
story in the Laxd^lasaga of Melkorka, an Irish princess soid as a slave to
Hoskuld Dalakollsson of Iceland.

* One of the mOSt interest.in;]' pa.rly nprr^nntc nf i\tn Pimninnn in giTrnn Viy

Emperor Constantine Porphvrogenitus in his wprk De Adminj^f^ni^rlr, r^mpor-;^
written in the middle of the tenth centurvV '^e tells how they descended the
river Dnieper in boats, and that they carried their boats past the waterfall^.
The names of these waterfalls are given both in Slavic and Russian, with
Greek translation, and the Russian forms are clearly of Scandinavian origin.
The names of the second and third, for example, are written OvX^opal
and TeXavõpi = O. N. Ulforsi and Gjallandi (the noisy waterfall).

THE VIKING PERIOD 67

Bjarkowitz, a Russian form of the Scandinavian Bjark0, an island
near the coast of Ingermanland, where a trading station was located.
The kings of Sweden and Norway were related to the Russian princes t
through marriage, and often sent them troops when needed, or they
sought refuge with them in times of trouble at home. A hvely inter-
course between Scandinavia and Russia, or Gardarike, as it was
usually called in the North, continued till the death of Jaroslaf in
1045. The Slavs then gained the ascendancy, and Scandinavian i^
influence in Russia came to an end. ^hrough the Varangians these
dark and far-off regions were brought into the daylight of history;
colonies^were founded, cities were builtf commerce and govprnmpnf.
were est_qb]ishpdj and this hitherto unknown domain was opened to
the forces of civilization and progress. Russia became under Va-
rangian ruie a European kingdo^,' aspiring to rival in culture the
nations most advanced in those times, something that cannot be
said of Russia through many centuries after the Scandinavians had
ceased to ruie.

After häving penetrated the wilds of Russia, and established per-
manent communication with the Black Sea, it was comparatively
easy for the enterprising Vikings to push across that sea to Constanti-
nople, or -j^ryklegard (the great city) , as they called it. Nestor
says that a number of Varangians in the service of Vladimir the Great
of Russia became dissatisfied and went to Constantinople. This is
said to have happened about 980, but these were not the first Varan-
gians in the Byzantine Empire. ^e Emperor had already at that
time an army of Scandinavian warriors who served, not only as his
bodyguard, but were also used in active warfare in diflPerent parts
of the Empire. Most famous of all the Scandina\aans in Constanti-
nople was Haral^ Sigurdsson, son of the Norwegian king, Sigurd Syr,
and a half-brother of King Olav Haraldsson (St. Olav). He became
chief of the Varangians in Constantinople, and took part in manv
cämpaigns in^Syna, Armenia, i^alestine, Bicily, and Africa, He
captured many fortified cities, and gathered immense treasurei.
Snorre says that there was a law, that when the Greek Emperor
died, the Varangians should have polata-svaro} They were then
allowed to go through all the royal palaces where the treasures were
^ põlata = 'palatium. polata-svaro = robbery of the palace.

«R ä ^ Tl 1
\J S O '.> 1.

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

stored, and take what they could seize with their hands. Harald
Sigurdsson had three times taken part in such a polata-svaro in
Constantinople. ^ returned to Novgorod with great treasures,

married

jiaughter. and became
later king oLNoiway— As
such he is known asJIaxaM-
Haf^rdraajj.

An object which pre-
serves in an interesting
way the memory of the
Vikings in the Byzantine
Empire is jhe. grpat marhle
lion from Pirseus*

standing_at the_entranc£-
to the arsenalin Venice,

where it was brought by
the Venetians in 1 687,
after they had captured
Athens. On this monu-
ment is found a deUcately
carved runic inseription
in the snake-loop desigiL.^
so famihar from Scan-
dinavian rune-stones. The eharacters are so nearly effaced that the
inseription cannot be read, but it silently points to the days when
Harald Sigurdsson and the Varangians served the Byzantine Emperor
in Constantinople and Jerusalem, and measured swords with the
Saracens in Asia and Africa.^

FiG. 37. — The marble lion of Piraeus with runic
inseription.

1 See Harald Haardraade og Vcpringerne i de groeske Keiseres Tjeneste,
Gustav Storm, Norsk Hislorisk Tidsskrift, anden raekke, 4, 1884. Nord-
boernes Forbindelse med 0sten % det niende og ncErmest f^lgende Aarhundreder.
Carl C. Rafn, Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, 1852-1854, Copenhagen. P. A,
Munch, Samlede Afhandlingcr, vol. L, p. 505 ff.

THE VIKING PERIOD 69

16. LiFE AND CULTURE OF THE ViKING AgE

Intellectual culture is a complex and delicate fabric into which
the fibers of experience and the finer filaments of secret and myste-
rious influence are deftly woven. Social environment and native
talent fashion the texture, but the threads have been brought from
many cHmes, and every age has been laid under tribute. Wherever
higher culture has been produced, a process of absorption of new ele-
ments, an accumulation of new experience, a borrowing and importa-
tion, have freely taken place. The stimulus produced by the new,
with the attendant reaction of the native mind upon it, primarily
determines all new cultural growth. The Greeks borrowed from the
Orient, the Romans from the Greeks ; from both came culture and
Christianity to the rest of Europe. Even the far North had felt
the thrill of this influence lõng before the Viking Age began, but the
process of absorption of new elements had been slow, and the develop-
ment uneventful. No sudden changes are noticeable till the Migra-
tions sweep over Europe, and roll high the billows of general tumult
and upheaval. The quickening effect of this great movement tore
the peoples of the North from their ancient moorings, and as Vikings
they burst forth, adding new terror to this dark and bloody period.
In this first outburst of pent-up energy and unrestrained passions
we see the worst instincts of a primitive race let loose in savage
warfare which often throws the deepest shadow on the pages of Viking
history. But justice even here constrains us to admit that it is but
a shade deeper than a similar shadow which falls over the history of
all human warfare. To consider minutely all the acts of vandalism
and cruelty perpetrated by the Vikings would not even give us the
satisf action of häving shown that their system of plunder and bloöd-
shed differed essentially from that of the Roman generals, of the
pious crusaders, the defenders of the faith, and most Christian princes
of later, and more enlightened, ages. It must also be borne in mind
that on these expeditions we meet the Vildngs as warriors, and that
the outrages often committed can furnish no adequate criterion for
judging their life and culture in general.

The nature of the Viking campaigns furnishes an easy explanation
of the panic which seems to have seized the inhabitants of the coun-

70 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

tries exposed to their attacks. A criiel fate usually befell the towns
and cities they seized. Not only did they kill and plunder, and carry
women off into slavery, but the}^ spared no sanctuary, and nothing
holy could stay their rapacious and destructive hands. /When the
battle was over, and the victory won, theyjymiild celebrate the event

server] ns v ip^ Vmwk.^ and other acts equally gruesome were com-

mitted, which might well strike Christian hearts with horrc^. Even

human beings are known to have been sacrificed to the gods, and

when a city was taken, children would be transfixed with spears, and

"given to Odin" amid wild outbursts of triumphant rejoicing. If

we add that by means of their fleets they could depart at will, only

to reappear at the most unexpected moments, that the inhabitants

often felt powerless over against this dreaded enemy, we can under-

stand the people's superstitious fear, the sad laments and exaggerated

stories of the oid writers, and the prayers offered up in the Christian

churches : "^rom the fury of the Northmen, Lord God, dehver u|!"

Intellectually and culturally the whole period was one of general

contraction and retrogression, in which ancient arts and civilization

were forgotten, and ignorance and rude manners prevailed. View-

ing the period thus, we may justly term it the Dark Ages. A tone

of retrospection and sadness was prevalent\ among those who pos-

sessed learning and culture. They looked backward to the days of

Greece and Rome as to a golden age that would never return. The

sun had set, they thought ; the world would never again become what ^

it had been in ancient times ; their only consolation was that after

death there awaited the Christian a blissful life in heaven. But

these dark centuries represent not only the downfall of the oid, but

also the birth of the new. Viewed from this side, we find the period

to be an era of expansion and development in which oid barriers were

broken, and new opportunities were given to the peoples which had

hitherto been regarded as dwelling outside the pale of civilization.

On their expeditions the Vikings had come into direct communi-
cation with nearly every part of the then known world. Their
sphere of activity was thus immensely widened, and their ideas of
the world were altered correspondingly. New ideas from the Chris-
tian faith, from Grseco-Roman civilization, and from Irish poesy

THE VIKING PERIOD 71

and learning poured into the North, and became the leaven which
brought the half-slumbering energies of the Scandinavian peoples
into full activity. A new culture was produced which soon placed
the peoples of the North in the front ränk of enhghtened and pro-
gressive nations. (Norway andjlieLcolony Iceland became the oenter,
of Hterary activity in northern Europe during the Middle Ages/
^nd Norse mythology was elaborated into a system which, though
mferior to that of Greece in beauty, surpasses it in depth and grandeu"^
^e Scandinavians became leaders in navigation, commerce, and
discovery, and developed a system of laws and government which
has left deep and lasting traces wherever permanent Viking settle-
ments were founde^

The maritime enterprise and naval warfare attending the Viking
expeditions gave a great stimulus to ship-building and navigation
in the North. We have seen that even before this period the Scan-
dinavians possessed great skill in ship-building, and could construct
vessels of considerable size. In the Viking Age a great demand made
itself felt for vessels suited for lõng voyages, and able to carry as
large a number of warriors as possible. In the Mediterranean Sea
they became acquainted with Greek and Roman ships, and every
effort was now made to construct ships of large size, and of improved
type.

JThe larger sea-going shipc; wprp nf twn kinH^- merchant ships
and war v^s^^pT? An early type of merchant ship was the kjoll
(A. S. ceol), but during the greater part of the Viking Age the knarre
(0. N. kn^rr) and the hyrding were common types. Later a larger-
sized Vessel, the husse ^ (O. N. büza), came into use, and stiil later the
kogge (O. N. kuggr), which soon developed into a war vessel. The
merchant ships were quite broad and high in proportion to their
length, with half-decks in the prow and stern. The goods were
placed in the undecked middle part of the vessel. The ship had one
mast and a four-cornered sail. The mast could be folded down,
and would then rest on supports high enough so that a person could
conveniently pass under it.^ The oar-shaped rudder was fixed

1 Cf. medieval Latin bussa.

2 Valtyr GuSmundsson, Nordboernes Skibe i Viking- og Sagatiden, Copen-
hagen, 1900. Hermann Paul, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie, 2d edition.

72 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

to the rlght side of the vessel, near the stern. This side was, there-
fore, called the steerboard (O. N. stjornhordi), while the left side,
which was at the back of the helmsman, was called the backboard
(O. N. bakbordi). Oars were used only in the front and rear ends
of the vessel.

Of the warships the ashr ^ and the eliidi were older types, which
seem to have differed little from the ordinary merchant vessel.
A later type was the lõng ship,"^ so called, because it was lõng and
narrow, with high prow and stern. This type seems to have come
into use in the tenth century. These ships were beautifuUy painted
in various colors, and were ornamented with wood carvings. Oars
were used along tlie whole ship, and on both sides hung a row of
shields painted black and yellow alternately. The prow was gilt
and shaped like the head of a bird or animal ; usually like that of
a dragon. The sails were usually striped, red, blue, and green, and
were often made of costly material. The warships were divided
into various classes according to their shape and size, and the ser-
vice for which they were intended. The skeid ^ was a narrow, swift
sailing vessel. The snekkja was supplied with a sort of snout.
The drage (O. N. dreki) '* or dragon ship was larger than ordinary,
with a prow like a dragon's head, and a stern often shaped likea
dragon's tail. The bardi was also a large ship, built for the special
purpose of ramming and sinking the ships of the enemy. It had
iron rams, both on prow and stern. The warships had a full deek,
and second half decks in bow and stern. The forward half deck
was called the forstavnsdwk, and the rear half-deck l^ftingen. Another
classification was made according to size by counting the number of
row-benches on one side of the ship. In this classification the ships
were known as thirteen-bench, fifteen-bench, twenty-bench, thirty-
bench ; ete, with twenty-six, thirty, forty, and sixty oars. ^e most
common size was the twenty-bench, with forty oars, and a crew of

Skandinavische Verhältnisse, von Valtyr GuSmundsson und Kristian Kälund
(§§ 49-60 Schiffe, von V. G.) N. E. Tuxen, De nordiske Langskibe, Aarb^ger
for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1886. Alexander Bugge, Vesterlandenes
Indflydelse paa Nordboerne i Vikingetiden, p. 199 ff.

1 Cf. Latin askus. Askmenn (sailors) was a term often applied to the
Vikings in foreign lands.

* Cf. Latin navis lõnga. * Cf. Greek axeSia. « Latin draco.

PLATE IV

Viking Warship.

The Gokstad Ship Restored.

THE VIKING PERIOD 73

ninety men. On the thirty-bench there were two men to each oar,
pr 120 rowers, the crew consisting ^11 togptlipr nf i^hnnt ŽfiO mpjj.
King Olav Tr^^ggvn.smVs famous ship, tliR T.nng ^p.rjieni, is said
to have had a crew of 300 men.

The scattered Viking bands, which operated in a more desultory
way at the beginning of the period, were gradually united under
able leaders into fleets and armies of great size. "The Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle" shows how the Viking fleets in England were grow-
ing:

Year 787. In his (King Breohtric's) days came three ships of

Northmen from HereSaland.
Year 833. In this year King Ecgbyrht fought with the crews of

thirty-five ships at Carrum.
Year 840. In this year King ^Ethelwulf fought at Carrum against

the men of thirty-five ships.
Year 851. In this year 350 ships came to the mouth of the Thames,

and the men landed and took Canterbury and London

by storm.
Year 877. 120 ships were wrecked at Swanawic.
Year 893. In this year the* great army . . . returned, . . . and

came to land at Limenemouth with 250 ships.

At this time the ships must have been of the older and smaller types ;
but if we assume that each ship had a crew of only 40 men, 350
vessels would bring an army of 14,000 warriors. Similar numbers
of ships are mentioned by many other sources. The chroniclers
describe in glowing colors the vast numbers of the invaders. They
are compared to swarms of grasshoppers that cover the earth. The
Viking ships, says an Arabian writer, fill the ocean like a flock of
red birds. An Irish annalist says that the ocean rolls billows of
strangers over all Erin. Fleet upon fleet is spewed out by the sea,
so that there is not a spot in the island where their ships are not
found.^

Excepting the ships of the Saracens in Spain, and the small begin-
ning made by King Alfred in England, the peoples of western Europe
had as yet no fleets. These great naval armaments, therefore, gave

1 See Steenstrup, Normannerne, vol. I., p. 209 ff.

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the Vikings an advantage which largely explains the success which
tliey achieved in their campaigns.
/ The size of the army was no less imposing than that of the fleet.
At the siege of Paris in 885 the Vikings had 40,000 men, of which
30,000 probably constituted the actual fighting force, if we may
beheve the oid sources. In the battle of Saucourt 9000 Vikings are
said to have fallen. But the success of the Vikings was due to their
L-superior training and equipment rather than to the size of their

armies, which in many cases seems to be
exaggerated. Professor Oman says : " But
no less important than the command of the
sea was the superiority of the individual Vi-
king in battle to the average member of the
host that came out against him. The war
bands of the invaders were the pick of the
North, all volunteers, all trained warriors.
In a Frankish or an English host the only
troops that could safely be opposed to them,
man to man, were the personal following of
the kings and ealdormen of England — or
the dukes and counts of the Continent.
And these were but a small fraction of the
hasty levy that assembled, when news came
that the Danes were ashore at Bremen or
Boulogne, at Sandwich or Weymouth. The
majority of the herehan of a Frankish county,
or the fyrd of an English shire, was com-
posed of farmers fresh from the plow, not
of trained fighting men. Enormous superiority of numbers could
alone compensate for the differences in military efficiency. If that
superiority existed, the raider quietly retired to his ships, or to his
fortified island base. If it did not, he fell upon the landsfolk and
made a dreadful slaughter of them. How could it be expected that
the ceorl, who came out to war with spear and target alone, should
contend on equal terms with the Northmen equipped with steel cap
and mail shirt, and well trained to form the shield wall for defense
and the war wedge for attack? Working against the hastily ar-

FiG. 38. — A Viking warrior.

THE VIKING PERIOD 75

rayed masses of the landsfolk, the Viking host was like a good mili-
tary machine heating upon an ill-compacted earthwork." ^

The Viking army was a strong and permanent organization, with
able commanders and officers. It had infantry and cavalry, spies, i— -^
sappers, and a well-organized commissariat. It had catapults and
battering rams, and other machinery for the carrying on of sieges,
Mihtary tactics were well developed ; there was strict discipUne, ~,^,^
and perfect obedience to authority.

17. Causes of the Viking Expeditiöns

The Viking expeditiöns may have been due to a. nnmbpr nf pan<;pc;
In the Snandinavian roiintrie.% with iheir Hmited area ^o£-tillabk-P^^
soil, and their extensive seacQast«-a seaf aring-life- wa» neeessitated-
from the_staj±»jyhich prodiiced^-aJiardy and enefgetie- raee, andJQs=_
tered the spirit of daring_and_jidvent.nre wJiinh expresses itself in
the whole movement. The size of the Viking armies indicates clearly
that the population in _th€_NortlL_v^a.s in^^^^^as^^g -%t ^ v^ry r-^^^xA.-'
rate during thjs perind^ owing, nn dnnbt, t.n^pnlyggjmy^ which, in
one form or another, was extensively practiced. The number of
those who found it necessary to follow war as a permanent occupa-
tion/was growing. _According to ^the„iild law^ (" Frostathingslov "
and " Gulathingslov ") all sons shared equally in the inheritance, '--^
but as both political power and social standing depended on wealth,
and especially on the__ownership^qf J^nd^ the aristocracy would not
sell their estates, nor would they destroy them by dividing them into
small parcels. The 3LQimg men were pa.rtly enrournged, partly ,:
drivenjby necessity to seek their fortune on expeditiöns to foreign
-countries. Led by_love of adventure. and encouraged by tlifi_prosr_
pects of wealth and fame, they flocked to the standards of the Vi-
king chieftains in such numbers that the movement soon became a
migration, and extensive campaigns were waged for conquest and
colonization. The women and children usually accompanied the >^
men, and were left in fortified camps while the army advanced to
the attaek.^

^ Oman, England before the Norman Conquest, p. 415.
2 The "Great Army," led by Hastiug, was ravaging King Alfred's king-
dom in England in 893. While Hasting and the army were absent, the

76 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

^-^ It often happened that the women dressed in warriors' garb, and
joined their husbands and brothers in the battle.^ As they were
forced to share the perils and hardships with the men, they became
inured to danger, and showed an alertness and bravery equal to that
of the best warriors.^ Sometimes women would even become leaders
of armies, Uke4Tie "red maiden," a Norwegian amazon who led an
army in Ireland^n the tenth centurj^.

It is an error often repeated that the Vikings came to foreign
l^lands as bands of adventurers, married the women there, and soon
forgot their own customs and language. As a ruie they brought
their famihes with them, and settlers, both men and women, came
to the new colony as soon as it was safely estabhshed. (The social
organization of the home country was reproduced in the colonies,
and there is ample evidence to show that the Vikings clung to their
own customs and national identity with a tenacity not unworthy of
so proud a raceJ

18. TOWNS AND COMMERCE

The mihtary operations of the Vikings constitute, in many ways,
the great features of the period. This fact, together with the falla-
cious idea that they were only buccaneers and adventurers, has
often diverted the attention from their peaceful pursuits and exten-
sive friendly intercourse with other nations, so important to the
development of Europe. We have seen that in very early times they
had maintained extensive trade relations with peoples dwelHng

Englisli fell upon his eamp and captured it, taking a great amount of booty,
besides the wives and children, both of Hasting's own foree and of the men
of the "Great Army." Among the prisoners were Hasting's own wife and
his two young sons. The prisoners were later returned to Hasting by Alfred.
See Oman, England before the Norman Conquest. The Irish annals state
that "the foreigners were gathered from all the western part of Europe,
envoys häving been sent into Norway, the Orkneys, and the Baltic Islands,
so that a great number of Vikings came from all Scandinavia with their
families for the purpose of making a permanent settlement."

' This custom may have led the early Greek and Latin writers to describe
the Seandinavian North as the land of the Amazons.

2 Kedren, a Greek writer of the eleventh century, in describing a battle
between Svjatoslav's Varangians and the Greeks, says that when the Greeks
plundered the bodies of the barbarians, they found among the dead many
women in the garb of warriors, who had helped the men in the fight.

THE VIKING PERIOD 77

east and south of the Baltic Sea, that they had visited the British
Isles, and, no doubt, also the coasts of Friesland and northern France
as merchants lõng before they were heard of as Vikings. Towns and
trading places, such as Upsala, Sigtuna, and Birka, on INIälaren in
Sweden, Wisby in Gothland, Skiringssal in Norway, Schleswig or
Hedeby in Jutland, and Dorstadt in Friesland, are known to have
existed at the beginning of the Viking peyiod. Through the Viking
expeditions these earjy trade relations were so stimulated and de- l^
vetoped as to become a systematized commerce, the first of the kind
in nerthern Eurepe. ^With their fleets of merchant ships ihe. Vikings^
opened new routes of trade. They brought the products of Russia
to the West, those of SOUthern Fnrnpe, Spain, anrl FrnnoR tn thp
North, and found new mprlrpfs for thpjr nwn artipl^-^ nf pvpnrt

Many of their expeditions were undertaken for the sake of trade, i^
rather than for wa^ Wlien they came to a foreign land, they often
entered into an agreement with the inhabitants that for a certain
number of days or weeks perfect peace should be maintained, and
as lõng as this lasted, a lively trade was carried on. Only after the
period of peace was at an end, did they consider it legitimate to plun-
der.^ Diiring this period Norway had more products for export
than most other countries, the more important being dried codfish, >^
herring, furs, walrus skin, from which rope was made, falcons, used >''
extensively in hunting at that time, and walrus teeth, which were
considered very valuable. To the colonies and home markets the
Vikings brought the much-prized products of southern Europe,
such as fine cloth, leather, wines,. saddles, ete, and these new wares >''
produced a hitherto unknown demand for articles of luxury. "In
968 the Irish plundered Limerick," says the chronicler, "and carried ''^

^ "The plan adopted by them on this oceasion was to equip three cap-
tains, spning from the noblest blood of Norway, and to send them with a
fleet to Ireland, for the object of obtaining some station for the purpose of
trade. And with them they accordingly embarked many tempting wares,
and many valuable jewels, — with the design of presenting them to the men
of Ireland, in the hope of thus securing their friendship." From Keating,
by Aug. J. Thebaud, Ireland, Past and Present.

Brynjolv Herse would not give his son a warship, "but a merchant sbip
and goods will I give you," he says — "Go with that south to Dublin, for this
traffic is now most spoken of." Egilssaga, eh. 22. Aage Friis, Verdenskul-
turen, vol. IV., Alexander Bugge's article Vikingetidens Händel, p. 113,

78 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

away the treasures and most valuable possessions of the Vikings;
their fine foreign saddles, their gold and silver, their beautifully
woven cloth of all kinds and colors, their silk and sätin, both scarlet
and green, and all kinds of cloth in the same way." ^ These were
all articles which the Norsemen had imported. The foreign saddles
and the fine Cordovan leather (leather from Cordova), which was
in great demand, show that they carried on trade with Spain, where
they would get from the Arabs the products of the Orient.

|5efore the arrival of the Norsemen, the Irish had no ships. only
boats madej)f skin, frail craft in which, however, they had been able
to reach the distant islandšl ^They had no cities or commeice^
and they coined no money. To facilitate trade, the Norsemen
jntroduced in Ireland a system^^f weights and measuieSx and here,
(as in Britain^ they began to coin monel-. >The words mark (O. N.
mgrk) and penninQ (O. N. veninar) hav^ hpRn inpnrporafprl into thp
Irish language as marc and 'pingind? The growth of towns as centers
of trade followed as a direct result nf Viking ■^pttlpmpnf anH thp
development of commerce. ^^terford, Cork, Limerick, and other
cities founded by the Vikings became important trading places,
while Dublin developed into one of the leading emporiiimg "f «"«^m-
_merce in northern Eur^^ Silks, and costly cloth of all kinds,
leather, wines, and other products from the South were imported to
Dublin, whence they were again brought by merchants to Norway,
Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland. How rich and flourishing the Vi-
king cities in Ireland were can be seen also from accounts of contem-
porary writers. In 941-942 King Muirchertach made a journey
through all Ireland ; he also visited Dublin, and nowhere did he
receive such presents as there. In a song written by a contemporary
poet his reception is described as follows : ^

" A supply of his fuU store was given
to Muirchertach, son of Niall,

1 War of the Goedhel, p. 78. See also Alexander Bugge, Vikingerne, I.

^ It is noteworthy that silver was the metal most used in the Viking period,
while earlier, gold jsras the chief preeious metal. The silver was usually
weighed and used in hulk. Gold was used for ornaments, espeeially for
spiral arm rings. The kdngs, who often made presents of these to show their
munificence, were called by the scalds "dispensers of rings."

' Alexander Bugge, Vesterlandenes Indflydelse, p. 184.

IRELAND

C^ore

ttvWotchester

Norse Settlements and Towns in Wales and on the Bristol Channel.

THE VIKING PERIOD 79

of bacon, of good and perfect wheat ;
also was got a blood-debt of red gold.

Jõin ts (of meat), and fine cheese (were given)
by the very good and very pure queen,
and then was given, (a thing) to hear,
a colored raantle for each chieftain."

After the battle of Glenmama, in the year 1000, King Brian cap- -
tured Dubhn. "In this one place," says the oid writer, "there
were foiind the greatest treasures of gold, silver, and findrun (a sort
of white bronze), of precious stones, carbuncles, drinking horns, and
beautiful goblets." ^

"Mie Norsemen brought with them to Ireland thejdeas of ritipc;^
commerce, and nnnifipal Hf^ ViltliPrfn nnknn^/' says Aug. J.
Thebaud.^ "The introduction of these supposed a total change
necessary in the customs of the natives, and stringent regulations
to which the people could not but be radically opposed. . . . No
Djore stringent rules' could be devised, whether for municipal, rural
or social regulations ; and, as the Northmen are known to have been
of a systematie mind, no stronger proof of this fact could be given."

fJso in the Scandinavian countries at home, and elsewhere along
the routes of trade, cities sprang into existence under the stimu-
lating influence of Viking c@mmer(^j Rouen, in Normandy, be- >
came ^e most important trading center in France, and merchant
vessels from JNorway and Iceland anchored in the Seine. In Norway
the new commercial town of Tunsberg, on the Christiania.fjord,
soon outdistanced the older Skiringssal ; and Konghelle, a new
trading town, was founded in the southeastern part. Hal0re, prob-
ably located on the coast of Skäne, in Sweden, and Bränn0erne, near
the naouth of the Göta River, became important commercial centers.
^lively intercourse was also maintained between Ireland and the
English seacoast towns across the Irish Sea, which had either been
founded or developed by the Vikings. Several of these towns grew
into prominence7 such as Swansea,^ Tenby,, Cli ester, ?ind psperially
Bristok which had become h, grpat tradincr rertter, and in rmirsp nf

^ Cogadh Goedhel, p. 114 ff. "^ Ireland, Past and Present, p. 122.

^ Swansea = Sweins-ea {i.e. Swein's river).

80 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

time superseded Dublin and Waterford as the greatest^ommercial
,city on the shores of the Trish Seq.-' In the Midlands the towns of
the "Five Boroughs," Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham, Stamford,
and Derby (O. N. Dyrabyr) became cities of importance, and on the
east coast of England, Grimsby and York grew into prominence.
At the time of the "Domesday Book," York was, next to London
and Winchester, the largest city in England.

-" Ün speaking of the inüuence of the Vikings on the development of
English commerce, Mr. W. Cunningham says : " The EngHsh- were
satisfied with niral life; they were little attracted by the towns
which the Romans had built, and they did not devote themselves
to commercial pursuits or to manufacturing articles for sale. The
Danes,^ though so closely allied in race, appear to have been men of
a different type. They were great as traders and also as seame^i.
We may learn how great their prowess was from the records of their
voyages to Iceland, Greenland, and America, from accounts of their
expeditions to the \Vhite Sea and the Baltic, and from their commerce
with such distant places as the Crimea and Arabia. Their settlements
in this country were among the earliest of the EngHsh towns to ex-
hibit signs of activity. Kat only were the Danes traders ; they were
also skilled in metal work and other industrial pursuits. England
has attained a character for her shipping and has won the suprem-
acy of the world in manufacturing ; it almost seems as if she w^ere
indebted, on those sides of life on which she is most successful, to
the fresh energy and enterprise ingrafted by Danish settlers and
conqueroršl By the efforts of Roman missionaries she had been
brought into contact with the remains of Roman civilization, but
by the infusion of the Danish element she was drawn into close
connection with the most energetic of the Northern races." ^ Aug.
J. Thebaud says : " Endowed with all the characteristics of the Scan-
dinavian race, deeply infused with the blood of the Danes and the

^ Alexander Bugge, Contributions to the History of the Norsemen in Ireland,
IIL, Skrifter udgivet af Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christiania, 1900.

' Danes is used by many English writers as a common designation for all
Vikings, Danes and Norwegians.

' W. Cunningham, D.D., Fellow and Lceturer of Trinity CoUege, Cam-
bridge, and Tooke Professor of Eeonomie Soience in Kjng's College, London,
Outlines of English Industrial History, 1905.

THE VIKING PERIOD 81

Northmen, she (England) has all the indomitable energy, all the
systematic grasp of mind and sternness of purpose joined to the
wise spirit of compromise and conservatism of the men of the far
North. She, of all nations, has inherited their great power of ex-
pansion at sea, possessing all the roving propensities of the oid Vi-
kings, and the spirit of trade, enterprise, and colonization of those
oid Phoenicians of the arctic circle." ^

^similar influence was exerted by the Norsemen on the naval
development of France. "Tt is the great achiovomont of tho Nor
mans," says Depping. "that thev gave Frfinrp n nfivy There was '
no longer any navy in France, and she had ceased to be numbered
among maritime nations. The Norrpnn!^ rpp^tablisherl
and William the Conqiieror sucoeed^d i^^ fnrmlaa-Q^^f
whioh Franne had not seen. The enngupsts made bv the Normqns
nT_RTri1y were diie in pnrt to their snperioritv in navigatid^." ^ It
may be due to the same influence that Normandy furnishes more
sailors and pilots than any other part of France, and that many of
the leading French admirals have been Normans.

We have seen that the Vikings had early learned to build forti-
fications and stone towers of great strength, that, besides the forti-
fied camps, and strongholds built for military purposes, they also
surreunded their towns and cities, especially in the colonies, with
walls and moats which virtually made them fortresses of great mili-
tary importance. The building of castles was first developed in
Normandy, and the donjon or square tower, so typical in medieval
castles, is thoiight to be of Viking origin. In Ireland the Norsemen
began to build fortified strongholds as early as 840. Cork was forti-
fied in 866, and in a säga of the eleventh century Limerick is called
"the city with riveted stones." ^ DubHn, where stood the royal

^ Ireland Past and Present, p. 54.

2 George Bernhard Depping, Histoire des Expeditions Maritime des Nor-
mands, et Uur Etablissement en France au X Siecle, liv. IV., eh. III.

^ Caithreim Cellachain Caisil. The original Irish text edited with trans-
lation and notes by Alexander Bugge, Christiania, 1905.

"Come to Limerick of the ships,
O Clan Eogan of the noble deedsi
Around the gentle Cellaehan,
To Limerick of the riveted stones."

VOL. I — G

82 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

hall or castle, with its massive stone tower, was surrounded by
walls and moats, and was called "the strong fortress." Waterford,
too, had walls and moats, and a royal castle where the king used to
dwell. An oid stone tower is stiil found there called Reginald's
Tower (Ragnvalds taarn) supposed to be the donjon of the oid royal
castle. It is known to have stood there in 1170, when the English
captured Waterford.^ York and the cities of the "Five Boroughs"
in England were also well fortified.

[The Roman towns in early Britain were destroyed by the Anglo-
Saxons when they conquered the countr^.- 'LOf the fifty-six cities
of Roman Britain." says W. Cunningham,^ "there is not one in re-

gardtotyjli^h iti^^ pf^rff>r't1y nlp^r fh^jt it Viplrl Itt- grminrl nc nn nrp;nni7:pf|_
center of SOcial life t^T''^"g^T •''^^p pprind nf F.ndish pnnqiip^t nnd

English settlement." Manv of these oid ri^^^^pd r-itip^ wpfp rphnilf
by the Vikings, and many npw ones wf^rf fnnndfd ^ese Viking
cities were the first to show the signs of municipal and urban life,
both in Great Britain and Irelan^. They became centers, not only
of trade, but also of industry, as the Danes and Norsemen also
devoted themselves to industrial pursuits, and produced wares of
their own make for the general market. ^[^Vikingn hnd a kccH
s sense-fQr-legal4ustice, and maintained strict order in thcir towno.
They developed a system of city laws of w^hicV* trnpp-^ arp stiil fminrl

> See Alexander Bugge, V esterlandenes Indflydelse, and L. J. Vogt, Dublin
som norsk By, Christiania, 1896, p. 193.

2 Outlines of the English Industrial History, p. 47.

3 The legal term by-law (a law governing local and private affairs) is the
same as the Danish by-lov = city law. The husting (O. N. hüs/nng) also
reveals its Scandinavian origin. Originally it was a couneil held by a king
or earl, and attended by his immediate foUowers. Later the husting was a
couneil held at the Guild-hall in London of the Lord Mayor, Recorder, and
sheriffs ; lõng the supreme court of the city. It was also a court of common
pleas. It is now convoked only for the pvirpose of considering and register-
ing gifts to the city. A court of local jurisdiction in Virginia, U. S. A., was
also called the Court of Hustings. The Oxford Didionary.

In the cities of the "Five Boroughs" ; in Cambridge, Chcstor, and other
towns, there were twelve sworn lawmen (O. N. l(igmenn), vf\io, acting as judges,
conducted all trials at the thing or court, and prepared all decisions. "Many
scholars have of recent years come to regard this institution of twelve sworn
men who conducted the legal proceedings in the general assembly of the

PLATE V

THE VIKING PERIOD 83

19. Dress, Houses, Food and Drink

The many new wares brought to the North by enterprising Viking
merchants increased the comforts of daily hfe, and created among
the higher classes a taste for fine clothes, ornaments, and luxury
in various forms which exerted a märked influence on cultural hfe
in this period.^ From early ages the Norsemen had woven their
own woolen cloth, but it was a coarse and common fabric which
they had not learned to dye in striking or dehcate colors; Unen
(lerept) was also in common use. The new commerce brought rich
supphes of costly fabrics from abroad : silk, sätin, and fustian, a
cotton cloth ; scarlet (Lat. scarlatum), pell, and purple were brought
from Spain, France, Flanders, and England. Men of higher ränk
took great pride in wearing scarlet mantles embroidered with gold,
and trimmed with costly furs. The scald Gunlaug Ormstunge,
received such a mantle from King Sigtrygg, in Dublin,^ and Egil
Skallagrimsson received "a costly mantle" from King ^Ethelstan
for composing a song in his honor.^ Wlien Kjartan Olavsson from
Iceland came to King Olav Tryggvason in Norway, he wore a scar-
let mantle, and, when he left, the king gave him a complete dress of
scarlet cloth.^ From Arinbj0rn Herse,^ Egil Skallagrimsson received
a silk cloak ornamented with gold buttons. The women exhibited
the traditional feminine predilection for ornaments and fine dresses.

people as very strong evidence that the jurj^ originated in England, and has
not been introdueed by the Normans. If this view is eorrect . . . it*is of
Soandinavian, not of Anglo-Saxon origin." Alexander Bugge, Vikingerne,
II., p. 331.

^ Paul, Grundriss der germanischen Phüologie, vol. II., p. 235 ff., 2d ed.,
vol. III., p. 407 ff., Skandinavische Verhältnisse, GuSmundsson and Kälund.
Alexander Bugge, Vesterlandenes Indflydelse, p. 142 ff. Alexander Bugge,
Vikingerne, II., 156 ff. R. Keyser, Nordmccndenes private Liv i Oldtiden.
ValtjT GuSmundsson, PrivathoUgen paa Island i Sagatiden, samt delvis i
det ^vrige Norden, Copenhagen. N. Nicolaysen, Noget om Skaalebygningen,
Norsk Historisk Tidsskrift, vol. I., 1871. P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks
Historie, vol. I. M. Mallet, Northern Antiquities, eh. X. R. Keyser, Nord-
ma:ndenes Boliger og daglige Sysler i celdre Tid, Lange's Norsk Tidsskrift,
vol. I.

2 Gunlaugssaga, eh. 7. ' Egilssaga, eh. 55.

* Laxdfilasaga, eh. 40. ^ Herse, pronounced här'sa.

84 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

The song " Rigspula," in the " Elder Edda," describes the lady visited
by Rig ^ (the god Heimdall) as follows :

The wife sat

mindful of her arms,

smoothed the veil,

stretched straight the sleeves,

made stiff the mantle.

A brooch was on her bosom ;

lõng was the train

on her silk-blue dress.

The wife bore a son,
and swaddled him in silk,
sprinkled him with water,'
and called him jarl.

(^ When the Irish sacked Limeriek in 868, they carried away the " beau-
tiful Viking women dressed in silk."

The säga writers often dwell with pride on the elegant attire o
the persons prominent in their narrative. "Gunnar of Lidarende
rode to the thinq with all his men. Wlien they came there, they were
so well attired that there was nobody there so well dressed, and the
people came out of the booths to look at them. . . . One day when
Gunnar came from the thing, he saw a well-dressed woman approach-
ing. Wlien they met, she greeted Gunnar. He returned her greet-
ing, and asked what her name was. She said that her name was
Hallgerd, and that she was the daughter of Hoskuld Dalakollsson.
She was rather forward in her speech, and asked him to teil her about
his travels. This request he did not refuse, and they sat down and
talked together. She was dressed in the following manner : She
had a red skirt well ornamented, and over it she wore a scarlet cloak
embroidered with gold. Her hair hung over her bosom, and it was
both lõng and beautiful. Gunnar wore the scarlet clothes which
King Harald Gormsson had given him, and on his arm he had the

"• Rig is an Irish word meaning kiug. In the introduction to the poem he
is said to be identieal with Heimdall. E. Mogk thinks that Rig is Odin
himself.

2 A heathen ceremony probably introduced in imitation of Christian bap-
tism. The jarls were of noble birth. The word is here used as an eponym.

THE VIKING PERIOD 85

gold ring which he had received from Haakon Jarl." * The Norse-
men were quick at imitation, and soon learned to dye their own home-
made cloth in various colors. New fashions, too, were introduced
from abroad, which beeomes apparent from many foreign names of
articles of dress which came into use at this time; such as, sokkr
(A. S. socc), kyrtill (A. S. cijrüll) = coat, käpa (Med. Lat. capa),
cloak, mottul (Med. Lat. mantellum), mantle, ete. The tailor makes
the gentleman, says the proverb, and true as this seems to be, the
Norsemen had fully learned to appreciate this side of culture.
Neither did they forget to lay stress on fine naanners and courtly
hearing. Tall, blond, stately, and self-conscious, they were manly
and striking figures, and when in foreign lands they stepped before
the kings and rulers in their finest attire, with gilt helmets and richly
ornamented swords, they were not easily mistaken for barbarians.

In " Ravnsmaal," a song by King Harald Haarfagre's hirdscald,
Thorbj0rn Hornklove, composed after the battle in Hafrsf jord (872), a
raven and a valkyrie describe in a dialogue King Harald and his men.

Says the valkyrie :

About the scalds I wish to ask,
those who follow King Harald,
since you seem to know
so much about brave men.
The raven :

From their dress you may know,

and from their rings of gold,

that they are the king's friends ;

red mantles they wear,

they have fine striped shields,

silver-decorated swords,

brynies of ring mail,

gold embroidered shoulder-straps,^

and ornamented helmets

which Harald selected for them.

^ Njdlssaga, eh. 33. See also the Säga of Olav the Saint in the Heims-
hringla, the description of 01av's visit to his stepfather King Sigurd Syr.
This description, however, pictures the customs of the säga writer's time,
rather than of King 01av's own days.

2 Two leather straps worn over the shoulders, and crossed in the front and
in the back. In one was carried the sword, in the other the shield.

86 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

The description of the famous Norman warrior Robert Guiscard,
given by Anna Comnena, the gifted daughter of Emperor Alexius,
would fit just as well his Viking ancestors of a couple of generations
earlier. She finds fault with his fierceness and his greed, but his
manly quahties won her highest admiration, though he was her
father's enemy :

"The Robert here mentioned was a Norman of quite humble ex-
traetion. He coveted power; in character he was cunning, in aetion
quick and energetic. He eagerly desired to get possession of the
wealth of the rich, and he carried out his wishes with irresistible enefgy,
for in the pursuit of his aims he was resolute and inflexihle. He was so
tall that he carried his head above the largest raen. He had ruddy
cheeks, blond hair, broad shoulders, and elear blue eyes, which seeined
to flash fire. He was slender where he should be slender, and broad
where he should be broad — in short, he was f rom top to toe as if raolded
and turned, a perfectly beautiful man, as I have heard many declare.
Homer says of Aehilles that when he spoke it was as if a multitude of
people were making noise, but they say that Robert could shout so
fearfully that he could drive away thousands. It is natural that a man
with such physical and intellectual qualities would not bend under the
yoke, nor submit to any one." ^

The higher classes in Norway did not Iive in castles like the feudal
aristocracy in France or Germany, but dwelt on their country estates,
where they engaged in farming and cattle raising when they were
not absent on Viking expeditions, or occupied in commercial pursuits.
• The farm labor was done by slaves, but even men of high station
would put shield and sword aside and jõin in the work. We read
in the sägas that Gunnar fra Lidarende was in the field sowing grain ;
that Thorbj0rn ^xnarmegin was in the meadow making hay, and
that King Sigurd Syr was superintending the harvest when his step-
son, King Olav Haraldsson, visited him. The life in the home was
stiil one of patriarchal simplicity. The wife managed the house-
hold, looked after the work, and waited on her guests at the table.
As a token of her dignity as head of the household she carried in her
belt a bunch of keys. In the "Rigsl?ula" she is called the hangirtr

1 Anna Comnena, Alexiadis libri XIX, translated into Danish by O. A.
Hovgard, Copenhagen, 1879-1882, p. 59.

THE VIKING PERIOD

lukla, or "the lady with the dangling keys." Besides the regular
household duties, the women, even of the highest standing, spent
much time in weaving fine hnen, and in embroidering tapestries of
beautiful design. The men spent much of their spare time at metal
work, wood carving, and the making of weapons, in which arts they
possessed great skill. The houses were simple but well built log

FiG. 39. — Loom from the Faroe Islands.

structures. The principal hoiise was the skaale (O. N. skäli), a
lõng rectangular hall, often of great size. The gable over the main >-'
entrance was ornamented with carved dragonheads or deer horns.
In the front end, in or near which the main entrance was located,
were two smaller rooms, the forstua and the kleve, over which there
was a lof t. In the gables there were usually windows made of a
thin membrane, as glass was not yet used for that purpose.^ On

1 The O. N. word vindauga (window) has been incorporated in the Irish
language as fuindeog, which proves that also with regard to the construction
of dwelling houses the Irish learned much from the Norsemen.

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the side walls of the hall there were no doors or windows. If the
hall was large, the roof rested on two rows of pillars. Along the
middle of the hall was a fireplace, arinn, and above it in the roof was
an opening, the Ijori, through which the smoke escaped. Benches
were placed along the side walls, and at the middle of one of these
walls was placed the high-seat for the head of the family {häscBti,
Qndvegi), with high carved pillars on each side, the qndvegissülur.
Across from this seat, by the opposite wall, was a second and simpler
high-seat for distinguished guests. Across the rear of the hall was

FiG. 40. — Skaale.

F, forstua ; K, kleve ; H, principal high-seat ; h, second high-seat ; i, i, i, fireplace ;
T, tverpall ; L, L, L, L, benches ; »S, S, S, S, beds built in the wall ; b, table to place
food on.

placed a bench for the women, the tverpall, behind which were in-
closed sleeping chambers. The benches along the walls were also
used as beds at night by the men. At mealtime tables were placed
in front of the benches on both sides along the hall, and when the
meal was over, they were removed.

The walls were hung with shields, weapons, and woven tapestries.
Sometimes they were ornamented with elaborate woodcarvings,
like Olav Paa's hall at HjarSarholt in Iceland, described in the
"Laxd0lasaga." Of other houses the most important w^ere the
dyngja, or slcemma, where the women spent most of their time, and
where they did their weaving and needlework, and the svefnhür,
where the lord of the household slept with his family. Usually there
was also a bür, jungfrübür, where the young women stäyed. The
slaves had their own houses.

Great delight was taken in feasting and social entertainments,

THE VIKING PERIOD 89

and the most generous hospitality was shown every wayfarer. It
was regarded, not only as a sacred duty, but as a pleasure and a priv-
ilege to entertain strangers. Instances are mentioned in the
"Landnämabok" where the skaale was built across the road, so that
no stranger could pass without entering the house. The husband
and wife would then stand ready to invite the travelers, and to offer
them food and drink. Says the "Hävamäl," in the "Elder Edda" :
"Fire needs he

who enters the house

and is cold about the knees ;

food and clothes

the man is in need of

who has journeyed over the mountains."

Festivals were held in connection with reUgious exercises, weddings,
funerals, and other home events, and also in the winter, especially at
Christmas time. The "Säga of Olav the Saint," in the "Heims-
kringla," relates how Asbj0rn Selsbane continued the oid praetice
of his father of häving three festivals every winter. To such festi-
vals a number of guests were invited. Before they assembled, the
tables were set up in the hall, and covered with beautifully embroi-
dered linen tablecloths. Thin wafer-like bread served as plates.
Ordinarily the men and women took
their meals apart, but at festivals the
women sat with the men at the table,
occupying the inner end of the hall, to
the left of the main high seat, while the

, , ^ FiG. 41. — Driuking-horn.

men were seated at the outer end, toward

the main entrance. Bowls of water and towels were passed around,
so that the guests could wash their hands both before and after the
meal. Wine and ale were served with the food, which was both
abundant and well prepared. Again we must quote the " Rigsl)ula,"
which describes how Rig (Heimdall) was entertained at the home of
a man of higher social standing :

Then took Moöir ^
an embroidered tablecloth
of white linen,
and covered the table ;
^ The lady of the house.

90 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

took she then
thin leaves
of whitc wheat-bread
and put on it.

And she set

filled dishes

and silver-plated vessels

on the table,

and fine ham

and roasted f owls ;

wine was in the can,

they drank and talked

till the day ended.

The women took pride in filling their chests with fine table linen,
sheets, bed curtains, and fine clothes, but they also devoted themselves
to more intellectual pursuits. As the designs with which they
adorned linen and tapestry generally represented events from his-
tory or tradition, they had to become acquainted with mythology
and the lives and deeds of the heroes and great men of their people.
The practice of raedicine and siirgery was left to them ; they ban-
daged the wounded, and healed and nursed the sick. At times the
woman would also be priestess, superintending the sacrifices and
religious ceremonies, and, especially in early times, she might be
vglva or seidkona, a woman who was believed to possess the power of
witcheraft and prophecy, and a knowledge of the supernatural.^
Woman 's position in society was, on the whole, one of great freedom
and independence. Among the higher classes, at least, she was
looked upon as man's equal. She might be his eompanion in battle
and in the banquet hall ; when she married, she received a dowry
from her father, and a nuptial gift (mvndr) from her bridegroom,
which remained her own property throiighout her married life.
In the management of the household she had full authority. So great
an influence did women exereise on the ebullient passions of the Norse-
men that they appear as the easily discerned cause of bloody domestic
feuds and dramatic historic events, like the fates themselves, breed-

^ See the Vgluspä in the Elder Edda (Vgluspä = the v0lva's prophecy).

THE VIKING PERIOD 91

ing discord and bloodshed, or fostering peace and blessing by petty
intrignes, by a nod or a smile. The sägas have pictured raost vividly
a gallery of interesting women ; some beautiful, jealous, plotting,
and revengeful, causing endless feuds, like Hallgerd, Gudrun Usvivs-
dotter, Freydis, and Queen Gunhild; some proud and ambitious,
like Bergthora, Queen Aasta, and Sigrid Storraade ; some affection-
ate, mild, and devoted, like Helga the Fair and Thorgerd Egilsdotter.
We hear of domineering wives and hen-pecked husbands, like Aake
and Grima, but aiso of women truly great, like Aud the Deepminded
(Unnr), a lady of rare talents, who, as widow, beeame the acknowl-
edged head of the family, and managed both her own affairs and
those of her daughters and relatives so well under all difficulties
that no one did anything of importance without seeking her advice
and assistance.^ These heroic and self-assertive women of the
Viking Age have a certain romantic charm, stiil woman had not yet
been accorded her proper privilege in society or in the home. The
most sacred relations were yet marred by harsh and corrupt primi-
tive customs. Marriage was not based on mutual love and affection,
but on wealth and social standing, It was a business affair, a con-
tract concluded between the bridegroom and the bride's father and
relatives. The bride's consent was necessary, it is true, but it was
often a mätter of form, rather than the result of natural inclination.
Many a touching love affair is recorded in the sägas and elsewhere
in Oid Norse literature, but they usually represent the revolt of the
human heart against harsh and selfish social laws.^ Love was re-

^ Hallgerd Njdlssaga

Bergthora Njdlssaga

Gudrun Laxd^lasaga

Aud Laxd0lasaga

Freydis . . . Säga of Eirik the Red
Helga Gunlaugssaga

Thorgerd Egilsjsaga

Aasta Heimskringla

Gunhild Heimskringla

Sigi'id . . . I',^ . . Heimskringla
Aake and Grima '; ' . Vfilsungasaga

2 The Gunlaugssaga is a typieal love ropiance. • So is, also, the Fri^Spjõfs-
saga, and the story of Kjartan Olavsson, and Gudrun Usvivsdotter in the
Laxdfilasaga. Other instanees are i^merous. The scald Kormak, famous
for his love lyrics, eould not forget his beautiful Steingerd even after she
had become the wife of another. Harald Haarfagre's hirdscald, 01ve Hnuva,
ceased to be a Viking and turned poet, because he had been thwarted in a
love affair. The scald Thormod wrote a song to the lady of his heart, Thor-
bJ0rg Kolbrüna, and as a result he was nicknamed Kolbrünarskald.

92 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

garded as a weakness, and a young woman was considered as being
disgraced if a young man mentioned her name in a love song. The
husband often had eoncubines besides his legally wedded wife.
It also happened that men traded wives, or that a man gave his
wife away to a friend if he did not Hke her. Divorce was common
and easily obtained. There was nothing sacred in this most intimate
and important relation into whieh human beings can enter. In
Viking culture we find the shadows and blemishes characteristic
of pagan civiUzation at all times. The Norseman had a keen and
well developed mind, but his heart was as hard as the steel of his
sword. He loved the battle and the stormy sea; he admired the
strong, the brave, the cunning, the intellectual ; for the oid and feeble
he had no interest, for the suffering no sympathy ; the weak he
despised. He sang of valor and of heroic deeds ; not of love and
beauty. The sägas of the rich and powerfui have been written, the
poor and unfortunate classes are passed over in silence. But in
the Viking Age the lifegiving spirit of Christianity was breathed
gently also upon the pagan North. Unconsciously at first the hard
heartstrings were loosened, and the soul was stirred by a new life.
Notes of love and sadness steal into their songs, words of affection
and sorrow are chiseled on their tombstones, woman gradually rises
to new dignity, and the rights of the heart gain recognition. Even
religious life is deeply affected by this gentle influence. The Light
of the World had east its first faint glimmer upon the intellectual
and mõral life of the North, — the Viking expeditions had begun
to bear their greatest fruit.

20. Religion and Literature

^herever the Vikings settled they established a well-developed
social organi zation. jnfused new vigor into the peoples with whom
they came in contact, and imparted to them ideas which germinated
into new cultural growfH[ Along practical Unes they wpfp nftpn
much farther advanced than the nations which werp snbiprted to

_their attacks. This was especially mnnifp^t in

■People at the time of thf Vi^^i^if'; inmndt; ypt livcH nndnr n frihnl

organization, amid most primitive economic and snrifil ronditinns-

THE VIKING PERIOD

^ot only did they lack a well-organized army, shlps, commerce,
cities, roads, and bridges, but they paid little attention to agriculture,
living for the most part on their herds and flocks, with which they
moved from place to placjf. They were, as a ruie, cruel and sensual ;
their warfare was savage, the position of woman was low and de-
grading, their houses were usually miserable huts. Ye.t t.his peopk
possessed a remarkable intellectual culture, and became in this ,
field the. tearhers and bpnefaotors of their enemies. the Norsemen.

FiG. 42. — -Irish monastery oa the west coast of Ireland. ,

They had been Christians for many centuries before the Vikings
began their conquests. Their missionaries were laboring, not only
in Scotland and England, but had penetrated to the remote forest
regions of Germany and France, to Switzerland and northern Italy.^

Even in \^(^ gnlitnrlpa nf tVip 1?nrnn TgInnriQ anrl Tppila.nH pious Tuüh

rnnnkc; Viarl (^^(^c^\(^i\ thHr hormitnroi- They had great scholars who
dihgently studied Greek and Latin authors, and profound philos-
ophers like Jph^^ ^^<"otii'= I^T-ig^na^ During the seventh, eighth, and

1 Alexander Bugge, Kelternes KuUurbetydning, Verdenskulturen, edited by
Aage Frus, vol. III., p. 211 fif.

St. Columba, the apostle of the Scoteh.died in 597 as head of the Cale-
donian church. He was born in Ireland in 521.

St. Columbanus, born in Ireland_in_545, was the first Christian rnissir^Tiary-
among the Germans^ He founded *ihp, r"^""'^<^^''y '^f "Rnhhin in T.nmhaTrlY,
where he died in 615.

St. Gallus of Hibernia, a diseiple of Columbanus, labored as missionary
in Switzerland. He is thought to have founded the monastery of St. Gallen
on the Bodensee.

94 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ninth centuries the Irish schools became celebrated all over Europe.
Not only Greek and Latin, but philosophy, astronomy, mathematics,
and geography were studied. Thp THsh rlnist.er fiplinoj^ bppamp
the refuge of those who loved intpllpftiiul rnlture in fhp. Park Agps,
and scholars from many coiintries flocked to them. Alcuin, the
great scholar at the court of Charles the Great, corresponded with
one of the professors of the Irish school at Clonmacnois, whom he
calls his dear master and teacher. Also in their own native tongue
they prodiiced a rich literature, both in prose and poetry. Heroic
tradition flourished, sägas were written to commemorate the deeds
of great chieftains, or to preserve the knowledge of the elan and of
family relationship, and songs were composed by scalds in honor of
their kings. They sang, too, of love and of the beauty of nature with
a sweet tenderness strange in those days when such poetry was
almost unknown. But both their poetry and their prose suffered
from an overflow of fancy and feeling, uncontrolled by artistic taste.
The wildest exaggerations abound, the characters are grotesque,
superhuman, and indistinctly drawn. There is an obscurity and
lack of form which stand in the sharpest contrast to the brief, lucid
style, and psychological character painting in the Norse sägas.

That the religious and literary life so highly developed among the
Irish, their love of nature, their lyric sentimentality, and sympathetic
and emotional character made a deep impression on the stern Norse-
men is certain. CChey, who came to conquer, were in turn conquered
by this new and gentle influenc^. Lõng beforp they wptp ponvertpd-
te Christianity, their lives and views were depply i*^(^nf(^f\ hj ^Ap»^
acquired in the Christian countries Avhich thp^y viKJtpd^ nnd pc;pp-
cially through their sojourn in Ireland.^ flt was largely due to this
new stimulus that Norse scaldic poetry and the säga literature began
to flourish in the Viking period, and tlmt N^rse i-nyHin1r>gy q^gumpc;

3t this time adi^ti^ptly ^ipw fnrTn \u wlnVli wo finrl rmhnrlflpH in t>>P
utrata of pagan thought manv unmi^tžikablp frgrrmpntg nf rhriq-
_tian ideaS ; aS. the COnceptionc; nf prpntlnn^ nf rip-litpnnwnpggj nf gnnrl —

^ King Harald Haarfagre would bring no offering to any god save the one
who had created the sun and fasliioned the heavens. Fagrskinna, 17.
When Ingmund the Oid was mortally wounded by Rolleiv, he advised him
to flee lest his sons should do him härm. Vatsd^lasaga, 23.

THE VIKING PERIOD 95

and evil, as well as views of the life hereafter, which can .hav^ tV>pir
prigin only in the realm of Christiap fait-Vi «nH Tporn.lityl

The scaldic poetry falls into two general groups : the scaldic
songs, so called because they are written by scalds whose names
and careers are known, and a body of oid songs by unknown authors,
called the "Elder Edda" or "Norroen FornkvseSi." The scalds
were usually connected with ?_kirg;''^ ^'^'^ '^^ nmirf^ and produced
songs to extol theperson and achievements of their patrons, on
whose munificence they lived.

^ese songs, which contain much valuable information regarding
persons and events of early Norwegian histq|^, are nsnnlly mmpoped
in a most intricate verse form. the drottkvoBÜ, which abounds in word
transpositions, allusions, and metaphoric expressions {kenningar),
which offer many difficulties to the modern reader. This verse
seems to have been invented by Brage Boddason (Brage the Oid),
who lived in the first part of the ninth century and is the first Nor-
wegian scald of whom we have any record. There were also scalds
who did not stay at the courts, and who composed songs on more
varied subjects. Egil Skallagrimsson, one of the great masters in
scaldic song, and Ulv Uggason, the author of the "Hüsdräpa," may
be mentioned. Egil is well known from his songs " Hgf uSlausn "
and "Arinbj0rnsdräpa," but especially for his great poem "Sona-
torrek," in which he laments the loss of his sons. Noteworthy are
also Kormak's "Mansgngsvisur," love songs to the beautiful Stein-
gerd. JVrany nf the sao;a, writ.ers y^pre^ nkn spalrlc;, notably ^norre
Sturlason and Sturla Thordsson. Snorre, the author pf ^hp "TTpirtTi^

kringla," has also written the "Yonnger EdHa/' ^ a mo'^^ impnrt^nt

work intended as a book of instruction for yonno- sralds. The work

has preserved the names of a great number of scalds, together with

fragments of their songs, and furnishes a key to the many difficulties

^ The Prose or Younger Edda, translated by G. W. Dassent, Stockholm,
1842. Rasmus Flo, Gamle Skaldar og Kvad, 1902. Corpus Poeticum Boreale,
edited by G. Vigfüsson and Y. Powell, Oxford, 1883. Carmina Norroena,
edited by Th. Wisen, Lund, 1886. Finnur Jonsson, Den oldnorske og old-
islandske Litteraturs Historie, Copenhagen, 1894-1902. Eugen Mogk, Ge-
schichte der norwegisch-isländischen Literatur, Strassburg, 1904. Hermann
Paul, Grundriss der germanischen Phüologie. Sophus Bugge, Norrcen Forn-
kvcedi eller Scemundar Edda. Sophus Bugge, Helgedigtene i den asldre Edda,
Copenhagen, 1896.

96 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

in scaldic poesy. It gives a review of mythology (Gylfaginning)
which a scald must necessarily know, it explains the poetical and
metaphorical expressions (heiti, kenningar) used in scaldic poetry,
and a poem written to King Haakon Haakonsson and Skule Jarl
illustrates all the verse forms used by the scalds.

The "Elder Edda" consists of two series of songs, the mythologi-
cal and the heroic, written by scalds whose names are not known.
Besides the poems about Helge Hundingsbane and Helge Higr-
varösson, the heroic songs deal with the great Nibelungen tradition,
and constitute the first literary embodiment known of this great
Germanic epic. The Eddic poems have preserved a much older
form of this tradition than that found in the "Nibelungenlied." ^
In the mythological poems we find clearly set forth in verse of classic
simplicity and beauty the Norsemen's ideas of creation, the lives and
character of their gods, the destruction of the world, and of man's
destiny after death. In the "Hävamäl" we find outlined also their
mõral conceptions, and their view of life in general. The grandest
of all these oid songs is the " Vgluspä " (the prophecy of the vglva).^

This vglva can be none other than Urd (O. N. Ur'5r), one of the
three norns, or goddesses of fate (Uror, VerSandi, and Skuld). The
gods are assembled in council at the Well of Urd. Odin calls the
vglva from the grave, and the great sibyl comes forth to reveal to
the god of wisdom what even he does not know — the mysteries of

1 The Ms. Codex Regius, which contains the Eddic poems, is no longer
eomplete, some songs dealing with the Nibelungen tradition häving been
lost. The Vfilsungasaga, whose author has known the Codex Regius in eom-
plete form, gives in prose the eontents of all the songs in the Elder Edda,
dealing wath the Nibelungen tradition. The title Edda is a misnomer.
Edda means poetics, or the art and doctrine of poetry. The word is properly
used as the title of Snorre's book, the Younger Edda; but it is in no way
applieable to these oid songs. It has also been called Scemundar Edda,
owing to an oid erroneous belief that Ssemund FroSi was the author.

2 Vglva (piu. vglur) = a sorceress.

Julius Hoffory says : "The Vgluspä is not only, as Müllenhoff said, the
greatest poem in the North to the present time ; it is a work which has never
been equaled, not to say surpassed, by any production of its Mnd. The
world has not yet seen another poem like it."

Of the many works dealing with Norse mythology may especially be
mentioned : Jae. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 4te Ausg., 1878. N. M.
Petersen, Nordisk Mythologi, Copenhagen, 1 >42. R. Keyser, Normcend-
enes Religionsforfatning i Hedendommen, Christiania, 1847. P. A. Munch,

THE VIKING PERIOD 97

creation, the destruction of the gods, the end of the world, and the
happy existence in the life to come. She commands silent attention,
and tells the assembled gods that in the beginning there was neither
sand, nor sea, nor cool billows; the earth did not exist, nor the
heavens above; there was a yawning abyss/ but nowhere grass,
before the sons of Bur - Hfted up the dry land, they who created the
beautiful earth. The sun shone from the south on the stones of the
hall,^ and the earth was covered with green herbs. The sun, the
moon, and the stars did not know their proper courses, but the
mighty gods held council, and gave them their right orbits, dividing
time into night, morning, midday, and evening. The " Gylfagin-
ning" presents a more complete account of creation, giving in fuller
detail a myth which is outhned also in the "Vaf|?rüdnismäL" Here
we learn that in the beginning there were two regions, one of fire and
heat, called "Muspelheim," ruled over by Surt, who watches the
borders of his realm with a glowing sword. When the end of the
world comes, he will eonquer the gods, and destroy the earth with
fire. The other was a cold region, "Niflheim" (O. N. Niflheimr),
from which twelve rivers issue, called "Elivägar. " Between these
two regions is the great abyss " Ginnungagap." The masses of ice
which had accumulated on the northern side of this abyss finally
caught the spark of life from the heat issuing from Muspelheim,
and a great man-shaped being, Yme (O. N. Ymir), was produced,

Nordmcendenes Gudelasre i Hedenold, 1847. Henry Petersen, Om Nordboernes
Gudsdyrkelse og Gudetro i Hedenold, Copenhagen, 1876.

These are all works of high excellence, but the views of these earlier sehol-
ars must be regarded as antiquated since Sophus Bugge published his epoch-
making work : Studier over de nordiske Gude- og Heltesagns Oprindelse, Chris-
tiania, 1881-1889. Translated to German by O. Brenner.

Hermann Paul, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie, vol. III., 2d ed.,
seetion XI., Eugen Mogk, Mythologie. Konrad Maurer, Bekehrung des
norwegischen Stammes zum Christeidhume, vol. II., Münohen, 1855-1856.
N. F. S. Grundtvig's Nordens Mythologi, 1808, is an interesting and inspiring
work, written with patriotic enthusiasm, but it has no seientiflc value. R. B.
Anderson's Norse Mythology, Chicago, 1876, is a very useful book. Ivar
Mortenson, Edda-Kvcede paa Nynorsk. M. Mallet, Northern Antiquüies,
translated by Bishop Percy, London, 1909. Axel Olrik, De nordiske Folk i
Vikingetid og tidlig Middelalder, Verdenskulturen, edited by Aage Friis, vol.
III., p. 253 fT. 1 Ginnungagap.

2 Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur; or Odin, Vili, and Ve. ' The mountains.

VOL. I — H

98 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

from whom the J0tuns descended. The gods killed Yme, and from
his body they created the earth, from his blood the ocean, from
his bones the mountains, and from his skull the heavens. From
sparks from Muspelheim they made the sun, moon, and the
stars, and placed them on the heavens. Again the gods assembled
in council, says the vglva, and created the dwarfs in the earth.
From two trees, ash and elm, they created man and woman. Odin
gave them the spirit, H0nir gave them reason, and Lodur color and
warmth of Hfe. The gods were amusing themselves at the gaming
tables, and there was no lack of gold until the three powerful maidens
came from J0tunheini.^ These maidens are the three iwrns or
goddesses of fate, already mentioned. Strife had not yet begun ;
the gods were happy in this golden age, which lasted until the fates
appeared to determine the destiny of gods and men. But the ele-
ments of discord had entered the world : gold, woman, and witch-
craft. The goddess Gullveig, who seems to be a personification of
all three, was killed in Odin's hall, and this caused the first war, that
between ^Esir and Vanir, the two tribes of gods, who now contended
for supremacy. "Odin threw his spear into the throng, this was
the first combat in the world." A peace was finally concluded,
according to which the two tribes were imited on equal terms. The
personification of evil itself is Lõke and his children with the giantess
Angerboda (O. N. Angrbo'5a), the three monsters Hei, goddess of
the underworld, the wolf Fenre (O. N. Fenrir), who at the end of
the world will kill Odin, and the MiSgarSsormr, or J0rmungand,
the world serpent, a personification of the ocean encircling the earth.
The world, in which there is now continual strife, is represented under
the symbol of a giant ash tree, the Yggdrasil, whose top reaches into
the heavens, whose branches fill the world, and whose three roots
extend into the three important spheres of existence outside the
world of man. One root is where the yEsir dwell. Under this root
is the Well of Urd, where the gods assemble in council. Another root

^ J0tunheira (O. N. Jgtunheimr), the home of tlie Jatuns or giants.
Midgaard (O. N. MiSgarSr), tho dwelling place of man, was Ihought to be
surrounded by high mountains, beyond which was J0tunheim. In the
heavens is Aasgaard (O. N. ÄsgarSr), the home of the ^sir {.€sir, jAu. of ds
= god). In the lower world is Niflheim (O. N. Niflheimr), the home of the
dead, ruled over by the goddess Hei.

THE VIKING PERIOD 99

reaches to the home of the J0tuns, or Rimthuser (O. N. Hrimjjursar),
under which is the Well of Mimer, the fountain of wisdom. The
third root is in Niflheim, and under it is the terrible well Hvergelme,
by which is found the snake NiSh^ggr, which, together with many
others, continually gnaws at the roots of the world tree, and seeks
to destroy it. NiSh^ggr is the symbol of the destructive forces
operating in the world.

An ash tree I know,
Yggdrasil ^ called,
a tall tree

sprinkled with water ;
from it eomes the dew
that falls in the valleys,
ever green it stands
by the fountain of Urd.

Much do they know
the three maidens
who come from the hall
which stands by the tree ;
one is Urd,
the other Verd ande,
Skuld is the third ;
laws they make,
they determine life
and the fate of men.

The norns are not only in the world, but they are the real rulers of
it; even the gods must submit to their decrees. They ruie over
life and death, and man's destiny ; no one can escape the calamities
which they have yjreordained. But they have not the absolute
power attributed to the fates in Greek and Roman mythology. They
are also subject to an ultimate fate. They disappear at Ragnarok
(O. N. Ragnar0kkr) together with this present world.

Again the gods assembled, says the vglva, to consider how evil
had come into the world. Odin, who is interrogating her, tries to

^ Regarding the name Yggdrasil see The Origin and Meaning of the Name
Yggdrasil, by S. N. Hagen, Modern Philology, vol. I., 1903.

100 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

conceal his identity, but she recognizes him, and tells hira the great
--A secrets of his life. In Norse mythology Odm is the chief divinity
and the father of many of the other gods, but it is evident that in
earUer periods other gods have held the highest position. Ty ^
(O. N. Tyr), the god of war (A. S. Tius, O. H, G, Ziu), seems to be
the same divinity as the Greek Zeus, and has, no doubt, at one time
been the principal god, Thor,^ the god of thunder and Ughtning,
must also have ranked higher than Odin, but in Norse mythology
he has become Odin's son. He is constantly fighting the wicked
J0tuns, at whom he hurls his hammer Mj0lner (the thunderbolt).
He is the farmer's special protector and benefactor. He shields
them against the hostile forces of nature, and furthers husbandry
and all peaceful pursuits. In Norway he was worshiped more
extensively than any other god. Odin (A. S. Wõdan, O. H. G.
Wuotan, Germ. wüthen) seems originally to have been a storm god,
but in later periods he becomes so prominent that he pushes the
older divinities from their throne. Odin is an embodiment of the
y^ spmt of the Viking Age. Even in appearance he is a chief täin ;
v^ tall, one-eyed, graybearded, attired in a blue mantle, carmng a
shield and the spear Gungne (O. N. Gungnir), which never misses
its mark. His life is rich in all sorts of adventures. He loves war,
and is generally found in the midst of the battle. He is also the god
of wisdom, and his desire for knowledge is almost a passion. His
two ravens, Hugin and Munin, bring him daily notice of everything
that happens in the world. No sacrifice is too great if thereby he
can gain more knowledge. How did he lose his eye? It is a great
secret, but the vQlva reveals it. He drank once from the Well of
Mimir, the fountain of wisdom, and had to give one of his eyes as
a forfeit. Odin is the personification of the heavens; his one eye
is the sun, the other, which Mimir took, is the sun's reflection in
the water. He also discovered the runes, but only by making

1 Sk. Dyäus, Gk. Zeus, Lat. Ju-piter, O. E. Tius, O. N. Tyr.

* "Now we will speak about the superstition of the Swedes. This people
has a very famous temple called Ubsala, not very far from the city of Sictona,
in which they worship the images of thi-ee gods. Thor, who is the greatest
of these, has his throne in the middle of the hall, and on his right and left
sitWodanand Fricco." Adam v. Bremen, Geüa Ha7nmaburgensis Ecclesiae
Pontificum, IV., 26, 27.

THE VIKING PERIOD 101

another great sacrifice. The "Hävamäl" gives the following ac-
count of it :

" I know that I hung on the windy tree nine nights together, wounded
by a spear, sacrificed to Odin, myself to myself, on the tree which no
one knows frora what roots it springs. Neither with food nor with drink
was I refreshed. I looked carefully down and raised up the runes ; cry-
ing I raised them up, and fell then down."

Even this great pain Odin is wilHng to undergo to discover the runes,
for through them he gains occult knowledge, and becomes the god
of sorcery, the wisest and most powerful of all the gods. From his
throne Lidskjalv (O. N. HliSskjälf) he overlooks the whole world.
He is always thoughtful, and meditates on great problems. Evil
and good are equally interesting to him, for both reveal some secret
of life. He contemplates the mystery of existence and the approach-
ing end of things ; he is never glad, because he knows too much. ^

In Aasgaard (O. N. AsgafSr) the gods built a beautiful hall, Glads-
heim, for the gods, and another, Vingolv (O. N. Vingolf), for the
goddesses, but greater than any of these was Odin's own hall, Valhal
(0. N. Valhgll). To this hall the valkyries ^ bring the dead warriors
who fail on the field of battle, and they are feasted and entertained by
Odin himself. All who die a natural death are excluded. The heroes
find their pastime in fighting, and many fail every day, but they rise
again unharmed, and return to feast in Valhal as the best of friends.

Another divinity who in the Viking period must have undergone
a great change, and who seems to reflect the new spirit of that age,
is Balder. The opinions of scholars with regard to the Balder myth
are hopelessly at variance. A. Olrik thinks that Balder is an oid
sungod, that his death signifies the victory of darkness over light,
while H. Schück thinks that he was not a real god till shortly before
the advent of Christianity. According to Saxo Grammaticus, he
was a young and impetuous warrior who waged many combats with

1 Valkyries < vai = dead bodies on the field of battle, and hyria < kjösa
= to choose, i.e. "the choosers of the dead." They are virgin goddesses on
horseback, armed with helmets, shields, and spears. They are sent by Odin,
and ride through the air to be present in the battle, where they choose those
who are to fail, and bring them to Odin in Valhal. The fallen heroes are to
help Odin in his last great battle at Ragnarok.

102 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

his rival Hother, by whom he is finally slain. He is a son of Odin,
but lives on the earth. Sophus Bugge considers this to be the older
form of the myth, Iii the "Vgluspa" and the " Gylf aginning " he
is pictured as the gentle god of innocence and righteousness, so
bright that a Hght of glory surrounds him. He dwells in the hall
BreidabUk (the far shining hall), where nothing impure is found.
He is wise, kind, and eloquent, and so just that his decrees cannot
be altered. His wife is Odin's granddaughter, the faithful Nanna ;
his son is Forsete, the god of justice and reconciliation. While
Balder lives, evil ean gain no real control in the world, but bad dreams
begin to trouble him, and as this portends some great misfortune to
the JEaiT, Odin saddles his eight-legged horse, Sleipne (O. N. Sleipnir),
and rides to Niflheim to learn what evil is thus foreboded. He calls
the vQlva from her grave, and asks her for whose reception they are
making preparations in HeFs kingdom, and she answers that it is
for Balder, who will soon die. This news causes great consternation
among the iEsir, and they assemble in council to discuss the matter.
Frigg, Balder's mother, requires everything in the world to take an
oath not to härm her son. The gods now feel secure, and in their
joy that the danger is averted, they amuse themselves by throwing
all sorts of things at Balder to show that nothing will hurt him. But
Lõke comes disguised to the assembly, and learns from Frigg that
there is a tiny plant, the misülteinn, which she has not required to
take the oath, because it seemed too small. He pulls up the plant,
brings it to the assembly, and asks the blind god H0d (HQl5r) to
throw it at Balder. H0d does so ; the plant pierces him through,
and he falls dead. The greatest misfortune has happened ; Nanna's
heart breaks of sorrow, and she is buried together with her husband,
who is received by Hei in her kingdom. But there is a hope even
in this great calamity. \Miile Balder lies on the bier, Odin whispers
something in his ear. This episode is mentioned in the "VafJ?rüd-
nismäl," ^ where Odin asks the wise Vaf]?rudne :

What did Odin

whisper in his son's ear

bef ore he was laid on the funeral pyre ?

^ In this song, which is thought to he one of the eidest in the Elder Eddn,
Odin examines Vafthrudne to test his knowledge in mythology. The song,

THE VIKING PERIOD 103

This is a riddle which even Vafl>rudne cannot solve. He answers :

No one knows

What, in the beginning of time,

thou didst whisper

in thy son's ear.

No one knows ; but it was, no doubt, a promise that he should not
remain forever in Hei'» realm, but that he should return when the
world of strife had passed away, and the new Hfe of peace and right-
eousness had begun.^

In Norse mythology, as elsewhere in oid religious systems, the
ideas of the life hereafter are often vague, even contradictory.
Mythology is a growth, a product of lõng periods of a people's in-
tellectual development, in which oid ideas have eonstantly been
mixed with new conceptions. It represents a march of the human
mind forward to new light, rather than a once for all perfected system.
The Hei myth is an illustration. Hei, the name both of the goddess
and of the realm over which she rules, is sometimes thought of as
the home of all the departed, where even Balder goes after death.
Hence the Norwegian expression at slaa ihjel, i.e. to kill, to deprive
one of life so that he goes to Hei. But Hei is also thought of as the
place for the wicked.^ Hei, the goddess, is white on one side and
black on the other, and her hall is described as a frightful place.
We have seen that from the earliest times the Norsemen believed
in a life after death, which is shown by many burial customs. In
course of time they began to construct large burial chambers where
all the members of the family could be interred together. Professor
H. Schück thinks that these graves first engendered the idea of the
lower world. He says : " A primitive people does not think of

which consists of questions and answers, resembles a catechism, and must
have been written for the purpose of instructing people in the essentials of
mythology.

'In the Hervararsaga, Odin, who is disguised as the blind Gest, asks King
Heidrek the same question.

1 The Balder myth is found espeeially in the song Baldrsdraumar in the
Elder Edda.

2 "The wicked go to Hei, and thenee to Niflhel, which is below, in the
ninth world." Gylfaginning. Niflhel, or Niflheim, in HeVs kingdom, the
underworld.

104 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

death as annihilation, but rather as an entrance into new life. Only
by premising such a belief can a number of antique burial customs
be explained. ... At first the dead person lived this new life in
the grave itself, and these large family graves gave origin to the idea
of the realm of the dead." According to the oldest beHef, then, all
the dead came to this realm where Hei ruled.^ But it was a shadowy,
joyless existence, and the feeling that heroes and good people de-
served something better gave rise to new creations ; to Valhal,
Odin's hall ; Folkvang and Sessrymne (Sessrymnir), where Freyja
entertains one half of all the fallen heroes; Vingolv (Vingolf), where
all heroes are entertained by the goddesses, and to the idea that all
women who die unmarried go to the goddess Gefjon. Hei and her
kingdom fell into disfavor, and were painted in ever darker colors.

Lõke did not escape punishment. He was tied by the ^^sir in a
rocky cavern where poisonous adders drop venom into his face, and
there he will have to Iie till Ragnarok, or the end of the world. But
his faithful wife, Sigyn, stands always by him, and gathers the drip-
ping venom in a cup. Only when she empties the cup does it drop
into Loke's face, and then he writhes in pain so that the earth quakes.
H0d, the slayer of Balder, is also punished. With the goddess Rind,
Odin has the son Vaale, who kills H0d. But revenge cannot remedy
the mischief done. Balder the Good has perished, and evil triumphs.
In her hall Fensale Frigg weeps for her son ; the end is>approaching,
Ragnarok,^ when gods and men must perish, and the present world
will be destroyed.

Another divinity which, especially in Sweden, was worshiped
more extensively than Odin himself , was Frey, the son of Nj0rd the
god of the sea. He was the god of weather and of harvests, and was
regarded as the giver of riches. He beeame so enamoured with the
beautiful J0tun maiden Gerd that he could neither eat nor sleep.
One day he sat on Lidskjalv in Aasgaard and saw her far to the north,
and so beautiful was she that she made sky and ocean resplendent
with light. He sent his servant, Skirne (Skirnir), to woo her, but

1 The word helvede, O. N. helvlti < hei and i^iti (punishment), has been
brought to the North by German missionaries, saj^s Alexander Bugge.

* Ragnarökkr, the darkness of the gods. Ragna, gen. piu. of regin (gods),
rökkr (darkness). Cf. Goth. riquis.

THE VIKING PERIOD 105

in order to win her he had to surrender his greatest treasure, his
sword, and when Ragnarok comes, he will be slain by Surt, because
he has no weapon with which to defend himself.

Heimdall, one of the oldest deifications of the heavens, is the sen-
tinel of the gods, and Hves at Bifrgst/ the celestial bridge over which
gods and men ride to Valhal. Vidar, the silent one, is, next to Thor,
the strongest of the gods. Mge (iEgir) is the ocean god, and Brage
the god of poesy and eloquence.

In Norse mythology there are twelve or thirteen principal L-
gods, and an equal number of goddesses (äsynjur). Frigg isOdin's
wife and the queen of heaven, and dwells in Fensale, far to the west
where the sun sets in the sea. Freyja, the beautiful goddess of love,
Hves in Folkvang, where the great hall Sessrymne is found. To her
belongs one half of the warriors who fail on the battlefield, and she
is accorded the right of first choice. Idun, Brage's wife, called the
good goddess, keeps the apples from which the gods eat to preserve
their youth. Thor's wife is the beautiful Siv (Sif), with hair of gold.
Skade, Nj0rd's wife, was, like Gerd, of J0tun race, and Snotra was
the goddess of good sense and womanly graces.

Before Ragnarok evil passes all bounds. For three years there is
perpetual strife. Brothers fight and kill eaeh other, the ties of blood
relationship are broken, morals are corrupted, and one person has
no compassion for the other. Then follow three years of constant
winter, the Fimbulwinter (the great winter). Finally Yggdrasil
trembles, Fenre breaks his fetters, and the Midgardsorm comes
out of the ocean. Surt, the fire demon, comes ; Lõke is free again
and leads the sons of Muspell ^ and other forces of destruction to ^le
final battle with the gods on the plain Vigrid. Fenre kills Odin,
but is in turn slain by the powerful Vidar. Thor and the Midgards-
orm kill each other; Frey is slain by Surt; Ty fights against HeFs
hound Garm, and both fail. Surt finally hurls fire over the earth ;

1 Bifrgst, the rainbow.

2 Sophus Bugge thinks that Muspell is the fire region from which Surt
also comes. The word is usecl in the Heliand, and also in the O. H. G.
fragment Muspüli from about 900. The word as here used means the de-
struction of the world. See W. Braune's Althochdeutsches Lesebuch. The
word probably means the great world-destroying fire, but its origin is by no
means clearly understood.

106 HISTORY ÜF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the sun grows dark, the earth sinks into the ocean, fire consumes all —
the world of strife and bloodshed has disappeared.

Oiit of the ocean, says the vglva, rises a new green earth, where
grain fields grow without being sown, and where no evil exists.
Here, on the Fields of Ida, the gods who have survived Ragnarok
reassemble. Balder, who has returned from Hei, is there; also
Vidar, Hod, H0nir, and Thor's sons, Mode and Magne. A new
race of men are also born.

Pursuing her story, the vglva says :

A hall I see

on the heights of Gimle,*

brighter than the sun,

and eo vered with gold ;

righteous men

shall dwell there

in endless happiness.

This hall is a perfect contrast to Valhal, where the heroes even after
death amuse themselves by fighting and slaying each other ; in
Gimle the righteous Iive in peace aud happiness. Gimle is the safe
and secure home ornamented with precious stones. Sophus Bugge
thinks that the Fields of Ida are in reality the Christian Garden of
Eden, and that Gimle is the heavenly Jerusalem described in Revela-
tion, xxi., 10-21.

"10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high
mountain, and shewed me that great eity, the holy Jerusalem, descend-
ing out of heaven from God,

" 11. Häving the glory of God : and her light was like unto a stone
most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

" 21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; every several gate
was of one pearl : and the street of the city. was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass."

And, says the vglva, bringing her narrative to a closing climax:
From above comes
to the great judgment
the powerful one,
the ruler of all.

1 Ginüe is the name of the hall and of the mountain on which it stands.

THE VIKING PERIOD 107

This is the ruler of the new world whose name not even the vglva
knows. In Norse mythology the wörld is pictured as a seene of per-
petual struggle between good and evil, a never-ending combat be-
tween the powers of Hfe and the forces of destruction, and it is espe-
cially noteworthy that this struggle is a great tragedy in which the
gods suffer complete overthrow. Balder was killed, Lõke and Fenre
broke their fetters ; the struggle against evil has been unsuccessful
on every point. ^lost of the leading gods themselves are destroyed
by the forces of evil in the great final battle at Ragnarok. But evil,
too, passes away with the world of strife in which it has existed.
This thought of the overthrow and destruction of the greatest gods
seems to be a new feature which could not very well have been de-
veloped until the faith in the oid divinities was beginning to waver,
and people began to feel that there was a heaven higher than Valhal
and Vingolv, that true happiness was not to be found in strife, but
in peace and righteousness, and that there was a god whom they did
not yet know, who was more powerful than the .Esir, and who, in the
new world, would establish a reign of justice, peace, and happiness.

The"Hyndlulj6(5" says :

Then comes another god

stiil niightier,

but his name

I dare not mention ;

few can now

see farther

than to Odin's

meeting with the wolf .^

The worship might be carried on privately in the home, where
the head of the family would sacrifice to the gods, and bring offer-
ings to their images, but it was usually conducted in temples, hov
(O. X. hof), or in simpler sanctuaries, horg (O. X. hgrgr), of which
no description is gi\'en in the oid writings.- They seem to have

' Odin's meeting vrith. the wolf is Ragnarok. Few can see farther than to
the end of the present world. The new ideas about a world of peace and
righteousness they had not yet become acquainted with.

2 R. Keyser, Samlede Afhandlinger, p. 324. R. Keyser, Nordmcendenes
Religionsforfatning i Hedendommen, p. 89. Reinert S^'endsen, F ortidsmin-
desmerker I Ringsaker, Christiania, 1902.

108 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

been simple structures, stone altars, or the like, erected in the open,
and dedicated especially to the worship of goddesses. In the " Hynd-
lulj6(5" Freyja says:

Horg he built me,

made of stone,

now the stones have turned to glass ;

with fresh blood

of oxen he sprinkled them.

Ottar always bcHeved in goddesses.

R. Keyser and P. A. Munch are of the opinion that many of the
stone circles found in Norway are remnants of this kind of sanc-
tuaries.^ These circles, which are formed by placing great stones
in an upright position, are often very large, and may have had an
altar in the center.

The temple consisted of two parts ; the large assembly hall, or
have, and the shrine, a smaller room in the rear end of the building,
corresponding to the ehoir of the Christian churches. The images
of the gods were placed in a half-circle in the shrine. At the center
stood the altar (stallr), upon which lay a large gold ring (baugr),
upon which all solemn oaths were sworn. The bowl containing
the blood of the sacrificed animals (hlautbolli) was placed on the altar
by the priest (godi), who, with a stick (hlautteinn) , sprinkled it on
the images of the gods, and on the persons present. The meat of
the animals was boiled, and served to the assembled people in the
large hall of the temple, where toasts were drunk to the gods for
victory and good harvests. The sanctuary and the grounds belong-
ing to it was called ve, a holy or sacred place, and any one who vio-
lated its sanctity was called varg i veum (wolf in the sanctuary),
and was outlawed. Three religious festivals were held each year :
one at the beginning of winter (October 14), the vinternatsblot, or
haustblot, to bid winter welcome; another at midwinter (January
14), midvintershlõt,'^ for peace and good harvest; and a third, som-

^ P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, voI. I. Munch ealls attention
to the fact that in Vestergötland in Sweden such a stone cirele is stiil called
Hargene {i.e. the horgs). Harry Fett, Norges Kirker i Middelalderen, Chris-
tiania, 1909.

2 The sacrifice was called blõt = Goth. blotan, A. S. blotan, to worship.
It is not related to the word blood.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 109

merblot, held on the first day of summer (April 14), for victory on
military expeditions.

The temples seem tn ha.ve heen qiiit.e nnmerons, hiit pspppi'a11y
well known were the ones at Sigtuna and Upsala in Sweden. at Leire
(Hleidray in Denmark, and at Skiringssal in Norway. Thprp. wa.s.
in theNorth no distinet da,s^ ^f prjp^tF ^ Thp prjp^^tly fnnrtionsi
were exercised by the herser and the. jnrb^ and pvpn hy thp kino; him-
^elf. Women, too, might serve as priestesses (gyfijn). In Iceland
the gode (O. N. go'di) held about the same position as the herse in
Norway. He was a chieftain, and the temple in which he served as
priest was built on his estates.

21. Early Social Conditions in Norway

The first account of early Norwegian society is given by the
"Rigspula," which describes the various social classes, and pictures
conditions which resemble those of early Germanic society elsewhere.
Rig (the god Heimdall) comes to a hut where he finds Aae and Edda,^
an oid couple, gray-haired from work and hardship, sitting by the
fire. Edda, who wore an oid headgear, set before the visitor coarse
bread and other simple food. Tlieir son Thrall was stoop-shouldered
and coarse-featured, with dark complexion and wrinkled skin.
They evidently belonged to some foreign race, brought to Norway
either as prisoners of war, or as slaves bought in the numerous slave
markets. Thrall married without much ceremony the flat-nosed
and sunburnt Thir.^ Their children were called Fiosnir (stable
boy), Drumbr (the clumsy one), Ambätt (slave), T^trugliypja
(the ragged one), ete. When they grow up, they do all sorts of
menial labor ; they manure the fields, build fences, and herd goats
and swine. This is the slave class, which must have been giiitp
nunierous.

1 German antiquarians have shown that neither among the Germans was
there a distinet priesthood in early pagan times. Müllenhoff, Deutsche
Alterthumskunde, IV., p. 230 f., 237 ff.

2 The Rigs/>ula is thought to have been written in the period 890-920.
It describes social conditions in Norway at that time, giving most valuable
information with regard to this side of national Ufe. Aae and Edda =
great-grandfather and great-grandmother. ^ Thir = servant girl, slave.

110 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Rig proceeded on his way, and came to the home of Ave and
Amma.^ The man was busy making parts for a wooden loom ;
he wore a tiglit-fitting sliirt, his beard was in order, his loeks hung
over*his forehead. The wife sat spinning, and was well dressed.
Their son was called Karl.^ He was married to Snor ' with due
ceremony, according to custom. He tarned oxen, made wagons,
l)uilt houses and barns, and drove the plow. Their children were
Ilal,* Bonde, Hauld, Tegn, Bodde, ete. This is the farmer class,
those who own land, and devote themselves to agriculture. The
karis were the lowest class of hindowning freemen, peasants. Below
them were the freedmen and renters. The haulds {störbondi) were
an aiLjtücratic class of laudowners, a_gcntry who 4ield their lattd-by^
inlierited right and title. odel. and were said to be odel born.^ At
the head of the haulds stood in each herred, or district, an horoditary
chieftain. the herse, who was their leader in war, and cominanrled thp
Jocal subdi^'ision of the aimy. He exercised also priestly functions,
and presided at the thing (O. N. ping), or the assembly of the peopjS

Rig then came to a hall where Faöir and Moöir lived. The man
was engaged in making bows and arrows. He belonged to the
aristocracy. The wife decked the table with a fine linen tablecloth,
placed silver vessels on it, and served wine, wheat bread, ham, and
roasted fowl. She was blonde, and was elegantly dressed.

Her brows were light,
her bosom lighter,
her neck whiter
than the white snow.

Their son was the golden-haired Jarl, who married the blonde and
beautiful Erna, daughter of Herse. From them the king descends.^

^ Ave and Ämma = grandfatlier and grandmother.

* Preeman who owns land.'J ^ Snor = the son's wife.

* Hai = man. Bonde = farmer. Hauld = landed proprietor. Tegn =
one who follows a chieftain. Bodde, same as Bonde.

5 The Hyndluljõ^S classifies the haulds with the hersir and kings as the
ehoicest men on the earth. P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. I.
J. E. Sars, Udsigt over den norske Historie, vol. I., 144 ff. Aloxander Bugge,
Vikingerne, vol. II., 316. Ebbe Hertzberg, Eii Fremstilling aj det norske
Aristokralis Historie indtil Kong Svcrres Tid.

" Finnur Jonsson thinks that the Rigspuln is written to glorify the insti-
tution of national kingship as the best form of government, and to represent

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 111

\Oyer against their neighbors. the Swedes and Danes, ^-Vip "Mnro^p-
men felt themselvpi^ ^o bp a fliqfinpt ppnplp from times which far
antedate the beginning of authentic history, but they did not at
first constitute a united nation. Tliey oonsisf.pd of a. nnmbpr of jn-
dependent tribes. ocriipying qnit.p wpll-dpfinpd dicifriVtct The names
of many of these tribes are given by .TordRnp<ij and Propopins says
that thirteen tribes Hve in Scandinavia, thfi-üautaxJaeing the most
numeroü^ The names of Eg-der. "Ryger. Hofdei^, Raumer, Heiner,
ete, are žštill preserved in names of provinces and distriots in "Morway,
hke Agder, Jiügaland, Hordaland, Romerike, and Hedemarken.
The tribe consisted of famiHes to whom belonged the greater part
of the land, and who, by virtue of wealth, influence, and tradition,
possessed all religious and political power. The title to the land was

held by the head of the familyj bnt f}\p rpal ownprc^l-ilp wa'^ vpqfpd

in all the members jointly. fft^was called odel, and the principle
seems to have prevailed that it could not pass out of the possession
of the family. All the sons shared equally in the inheritance/ but

the oldest sOTH ^le younger sons received other portions of the
estate, or they soid their interest and sought their fortune elsewher^.
The village svstem did not obtain in Norway. as among the Anglo-
^axons and Germans. ^ch family dwelt on its own separate es-
tat^. In Anglo-Saxon the word tün means town. In Norse it means
the place on which the dwelling is located. Tbe people were divided
into^J^Uxx (O. N. fylki < folk = people), and f^pli /y/^^<? placed in
the field an organized military force under its own commandeH
Thp fifll-pr pon^titiifpfl flie larger nnit.s of tb^ ^^v^y iCparallel to
this system is found in the Anglo-Saxon tribal organizatio^, and,
especially, in the division of the tribes into smaller groups : East
Saxons, South Saxons, West Saxons, North-folk, and South-folk,
TJ2£_^^/i'f^ hnd its own templer-amljts own thing, or assemblv of
the people, where jäuits at law_wprp tnVd and dpdr|ed. The fylke
was divided into hereder (O. N. hera'5 < her — raS, a military com-
mand), which corresponds to the kundreds among the Anglo-Saxons,

the king as the chief personage in the whole kingdom, holding a position above
all social classes. This national king must, he thinks, be Harald Haarfagre,
who united all Norway under his ruie.

112 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and the centena among the Fraiiks. This seems to have been a
district large enough to furnish a hundred ^ warriors, which formed
the unit of military organization. The herse was the. herpHitary
tribal chieftain, while the iarls had about the same powers as petty.
kings, and ruled over larger districts. ^efore Harald Haarfagre's
time most districts were governed by kings (fylkeskonger) who ruled
over larger tribes, such as Ryger, Horde^ Egder, Raumer, ete,
]butjiotjt.ill after the union of Norway did thp king hepome distinctly
superior to the jarls,

The movement towards a union of independent, but closely related

tribes into a pjod (A. S. peod, Goth. piuda), or people, seems to have

been well under way, both in Sweden and Denmark, already in the

early centuries of the Christian era. ^^ntinrl fliP kingHnm nf thpi

, Sweden dwelhng around TVT/jlarpn, >^ng nlrpn^y K^pp Tpf>ntir>npr^ aiso

Gautiod, the Gautar or G0tar, inhabiting the districts farther south,

about the great lakes Yenern and Vettern. Tlf^mparV woc nniforl

into one kingdom under the_Skjoldung dynasty prinr f,n ROO a tj^

^h Norway, where deep fjords and snow-covered mountains made

inland travel in early times difficult, and laid great obstacles in the

way of closer intercourse between the different districts, national

unity was effected later and with more difficul^. J3ut from very

■early times l.he trend of social development ■tnwn,]'d'-t nltimatp ^^r^\o>■n

is'clearly seen in the growing tendenp^ ^^ in^^rg^ ^-li^ igrilgt^rl friKi^»^

_into larger confederacifia. and to adopt for these a uniform system

of laws which were gradually made operative in larger districts.

The oldest confederacy was, probably, that of the Heiner - (O. N.
Heiönir) dwelling in Hedemarken by the great lake Mj0sen, in the
eastern part of Norw^ay. They are mentioned in the O. E. poem
"Widsith," and the runic inscription on the Rökstone in Ostergöt-
land, Sweden, states that, together with Horder and Ryger, they
made a warlike expedition to Seeland in Denmark, under a common
king. Their confederacy must have existed as early as at the time

1 It should be notieed that hundred in Oid Norse means 10 X 12 = 120,
the so-called large hundred. Alexander Bugge, V esterlandenes Indflydelse,
p. 15. P. A. Munch, Det yiorske Folks Historic, vol. I., p. 93 ff.

* Ptolemy mentions the Finns in the northern part of Scandinavia, the
Gautar, or Götar, in the southern part, and the Chaideinoi, or Heiner, in the
western part. See aIso Alexander Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I. 2, 49 flf.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 113

of the birth of Christ, and seems to have embraced, besides the
Heiner, also Raumer/ Ringer, and Hader in Romerike, Ringerike,
Hadeland, and other districts. Together they constituted the Eid-
sivalag, i.e. the people united under a common law called the
"Eidsivathingslov." 2 The place of the common assembly, or thing
(Eidsivathing) was Eidsvold, at the lower end of Lake Mj0sen.
The name of the place of assembly brought about a change of the
name " HeicSsaevislgg " to Eidsivalag.

JVTnpe pnwprfiil wns fhe. confedern.py Trc^ndelagen, formed by eight
fylker dwelling in oid prondheimr, the district around the Trond^
hjemsfjord^ This region. which has been inhabited as lõng as
records can trace the existence of Norsemen, is Qpt? of thf b^^^t ffgri-
cultural districts in Norway. The large areas of fertile soil, which
form an undulating plain around this great fjord, explain sufBciently
the fact that in very early times^r0ndelagen was one of the wealthiest
and most densely populated districts, and was regarded as the heart
and center of the country. Snorre calls it the "center of the coun-
try's streng^." T^he Trt^ndprs took little act.ive part in fhp Viking
expeditions. ^They regarded their own districts as the most desir-
able place to Iive in, and were too strongly attached to their own
homes to be fond of adventure or emigratioSP Tr0ndelagen con-
sisted of two parts : Indtr0ndelagen, or the foiir inner fylker : Spar-
buen, Vserdalen, Eynafylke, and Skogn ; and Uttr0ndelagen, the
four fylker situated towards the mouth of the fjord, Stj0rdalen,
Strinden, Guldalen, and Orkedalen. (rr0ndelagen had two things:
0rething, on Brat0ren, in the present city of Trondhjem, and Frosta-
thing, on the peninsula Frosta, in Indtr0ndelagen) Every farmer
who had a manservant had to attend the ^rething, which assembled
once a year. At the Frostathing 400 representatives met from the
eight fylker, forty from each fylke in Indtr0ndelagen, and sixty
from each fylke in Uttr0ndelagen.^ The Frostathing grew in impor-

1 Jordanes mentions them as Raumaricü.

2 The older form is HeitJscevislgg < HeiiSsoer, the sea of the Heiner.

' Henr. Mathiesen, Det gamle Trondhjem. Festskrift udgivet i Anledning
af Trondhjems 900 Aars Jubilceum, 1897. H. G. Heggtveit, Trondhjem i
Fortid og Nutid, 1897. A. Helland, S. Trondhjems Amt, Norges Land og Folk.

* Frostathingslov, 1, 2, Norges gamle Love, edited by R. Keyser and P. A.
Munch. J. E. Sars, Udsigt over den norske Historie, I., p. 224. P. A.

VOL. I — I

114 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

tance, and gave its name to the body of laws called " Frostathingslov,"
which was adopted by the whole northern part of Norway. Each
fylke had its own temple and fylkesthing, and governed itself in all
local matters. vClie thing (O. N. )>ing) was the assembly nf tliP p^npl^
in which the freemen met to decide matters of common interest.
It was also žucourt of law) The lagthings or larger assembUes, like
Prething and Frostathing, tried all cases of greater importance ;
they were also appellate courts to which cases were brought from the
lower courts. The president of the lagthing appointed a body of
jiidges, the lagrette,^ usually thirty-six in number, chosen for one
session, who served under oath, and had to interpret and apply the
law in the cases that came up for trial. The decision prepared by
the lagrette was submitted to the whole assembly for approval. The
institution of lagmand (piu. lagmcend) was also found in Norway,
though it was not so important as it became later in Iceland. At
first the laws were not written, and the lagmand was one learned in
the law, who could recite it to the assembly. It seems that in Nor-
way several lagmcend acted together in declaring the law. The place
of assembly was one of peace and sanctity. "Every man must
go fasting into court, and no drink shall be brought to the tliing,
either for sale or otherwase," says the "Frostathingslov." ^ The
place where the lagrette sat was regarded as a sanctuary, and was
surrounded by ropes, veh^nd, the sacred cords.

Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, part I., vol. II., p. 147. Johan Fritzner,
Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog. William Forsyth, History of Trial by
Jury.

^ Lagrette, O. N. Iggretta < retta Igg, to properly interpret and apply the
law in given cases, and to propose chauges in the law. Glossar lil Norges
gamle Love, vol. V. See Falk and Torp, Etymologisk Ordbog, lov.

"The men who are chosen for the lagrette shall judge according to law in
the cases brought before this tribunal, according to what the lawbook says.
In all matters which the lawbook does not decide, that is to be followed in
each case wliieh all the lagrette men agree on." Frostathingslov, I., 2.

The lagrette resembled the jury in that it was a popularly constituted
tribunal of 3 X 12 men selected for one session only. But as the lagrette
men interpreted and applied the law, they were judges, and not jurors. They
also had legislative functions, in that they could amend the laws when it
was found necessary.

Ebbe Hertzberg, Glossar til Norges gamle Love, vol. V., dõmr and tolf.

* Frostathingslov, 1., 3.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 115

(fiueling with swords was not infrequently resorted to in settling
disputes. It was called holmgang, because the duels were generally
foiight on a holm, or small islan^T) When blood was drawn, the affair
was regarded as settled, and the losing party had to pay a surn pre-
viously stipulated. A duel between the scald Gunlaug and his
rival Ravn led to its abohtion in Iceland by the Althing, in 1006.^
In Norway it was abohshed about 1012. After Christianity was
introduced, the ordeal became a mode of trial occasionally resorted
to. Its best known form in Norway was the jernhyrd, which con-
sisted in carrying a redhot iron, or in walking barefooted over hot
plowshares. This mode of trial was abolished in 1247. In Tr0nde-
lagen, w^ith its two lagthings, and dual arrangement in general, there
were, besides the fylkes-hov, two great sanctuaries ; one at Mseren in
Sparbuen, one of the most renowned heathen temples in Norway,
and one at Lade in Uttr0ndelagen, near the present city of Trondhjem.
Before King Harald Haarfagre's time there were no kings in Tr0nde-
lagen. At the head of each fylke stood a chieftain, who was also
priest and leader of the people at the thing. His ofBce was heredi-
tary, but whether he bore the title of herse, which was customary
in Norway, or was called gode, like the chieftains in Iceland, is not
known. The two fylker Nordm0r and Romsdal, petty kingdoms
from very ancient times, also belonged in a general way to the Frosta-
thingslag. The people of Romsdal had their , temple on the little
island of Veey (the island of the sanctuary) in the Romsdalsf jord.

South of Romsdal lies S0ndm0r, a fylke which had its own king,
and was the home of some of the most powerful families in the early
history of Norway. Especially noteworthy is the great Arnm0dling
family, the descendants of King Arnvid who fell in the battle of
Solskjel fighting against Harald Haarfagre. They resided on the
island of Giske, near the present city of Aalesimd, where a number
of interesting archteological finds have been made. The S0ndm0r-
ings were great seamen, and took active part in the Viking expedi-
tions.

North of Tr0ndelagen a large seacoast region fringed with thou-
sands of islands stretches for many hundred miles towards the borders
of Finmarken. This is Nordland, or, as it was called in earlier times,
^ Gunlaugssaga, eh. 11.

116 IIISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Haalogaland. The great eod and herring fisheries for which this
region is stiil noted, made it in early days one of the most populous
districts in Norway. Whale and walrus were caught here in large
numbers, and the district was for centuries the center of the rich
fur trade of the North, until it was finally surpassed by Novgorod,
in Russia, in the eleventh century. The powerful chieftains in
Haalogaland carried on a lucrative fur trade with the Finns in Fin-
marken, on whom they also levied a tribute which brought them a
large ineome. phthere ^ says that the. mn-^t prppinn^ tliing for fhp.
chieftains in Haalogaland is the tribute paid them by the Finns..
This consists of furs, feathers, whalebone, robes, and ship ropes_
made from walrus hide. The people of Haalogaland were enter-
prising merchants and sailors. They went on trading expeditions
to southern Norway, Denmark, and the British Isles, and followed
routes across the mountains to the Guif of Bothnia. Many trading
centers sprang up, like Vägar (Kabelvaag), and Tjotta, noted later
as the seat of the great chieftain Haarek af Tjotta, stiil one of the
largest country seats in northern Norway ; also Sandness, and
Bjarkey, later the home of the powerful Tore Hund. Wealth was
accumulated, and literature and culture flourished. Three of the
Edda songs, " V0lundarkvi(5a," "HymiskviSa," and "Grimnismäl,"
are known to have been written in Haalogaland, and here Uved also
the great scald Eyvind Skaldaspiller. The jarls of this district
were among the most powerful chieftains in Norway at that time;
they had large fleets, and ruled over the whole region from Finmarken
to the Trondlijemsfjord, including, also, the district at the mouth of
the f jord.

^n the southwestern part of N^^-way tliP three fylker, FirSafylke
(Nordfjord and S0ndfjord), Sygnafylke, or Sogn, and Hiicdalafid-
(including Nordhordland, S0ndhordland, Hardanger, and Voss)
were unit.ed in tb^ r:n1rif]i,'r^^r-inn. r^ rnii^h j^^^^n^. or.nfnr]^rf^py il^pti

the^ Tr0ndelag. FirSafylke and Sogn are named after the fjords,
while Hordaland bears the name of the Horder, one of the oldest
known peoples in Norway. They are mentioned by Csesar,^ in the

^ Alfred's Orosius.

* Gallic War, I., 31. Ptolemy mentions them as Charudes, Geographia,
üb. II., 50.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 117

year 58 b.c, when, according to his account, 24,000 Harudes arrived,
and joined Ariovistus. Hordaland was a very mountainous region,
with numerous fjords, and but a small area of tillable soil, and the
Horder became great seamen and Vikings from very early times.
It has aiready been noted that the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" men-
tions them as the first Vikings in England, and from that time on,
this region remained the center of Viking activity in Norway.^ They
extended their power over neighboring tribes and districts, and
FirSafylke and Sogn seem to have been new settlements founded
by them. The Gulathing was held every spring. Twelve men were
ehosen from each of the three fyiker as a lagrette by the chieftains
who presided over the thi7ig. In the mountain valleys farther
inland the oid organization, with petty kings and full tribal autonomy,
stiil existed unmodified by any tendency towards union.

In southern Norway the Christianiafjordyknown in earlier times
as the Foldenfjor^ extends for a distance of about sixty miles into a
fertile and beautiful region called Viken. This district, which lies
in close proximity to Sweden and Denmark, and faces the Skagerak
and the Baltic Sea, was most favorably located for intercourse with
other States. Rich soil, a fine climate, fisheries, and trade made it
an attractive and populous region. In early ages it became a harbor
for foreign influence and new ideas, a center of progress and develop-
ment, in which was found all that was highest of art and culture in
the North at that time. T^ f^ip wpq-i- nf fViP fjnrA Icy j^rr^ fyfker,
Grenland (the land of the Off^pnii'^ anr\ VpstfolH ; to the east Vingul-
mark, and southward from Svinesund to the Göta River stretched
Ranrike, the land of the Ragnaricii,^ also called Alfheimr in the
sägas, which in later times became a Swedish province. In the
southern part of Vestfold, near the coast, lay the famous sanctuary
Skiringssal,^ around which a town had grown up. Ohthere says
in his report to King Alfred the Great that he lived in Haalogaland,

1 The Horder were found both in Norway and in Denmark. Their origi-
nal home seems to have been on the Cimbric peninsula, where their name is
stiil preserved in Hardesyssel, south of Limfjord. Their name was also
given to King Knut the Greafs son Hardeknut. See Alexander Bugge,
Norges Historie, I., 238 ff. 2 Jordanes, III., p. 19.

' Historisk Tidsskrift udgivet aj den norske historiske Forening, Chris-
tiania. Gustav Storm, Skiringssal og Sandefjord, fjerde raekke, vol. I., p. 214.

118 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and that there is in southern Norway a town called Skiringssal
(Sciringes heal), to which one can sail in a month by resting in the
night, if the wind is favorable. As a commercial town it was soon
outstripped by Tunsberg, not far away, on the west side of the Chris-
tianiafjord. In the neighborhood of Tunsberg lay a number of
sanctuaries, dedicated to various divinities, whose names are stiil
traceable in Basberg (Baldersberg), Hassum (Ha^sheimr) , Horgen,
and Oseberg (the land of the iEsir), where the Oseberg ship was
found. The art and wealth exhibited in the grave chamber of the
queen, or princess, buried in this ship furnish singular evidence of
the culture and power of the princes of Vestfold in early ages. The
kings of Denmark had won supremacy over this province. When
this happened is not known, but in 813 the ruling native princes
acknowledged the Danish king's overlordship, and Vestfold became
a Danish province. But the powerful King Godfred of Denmark,
who ventured to begin war even against Charlemagne, was killed
by one of his own men in 810, and a period of confusion and strife
between rival claimants to the throne was the result. Dnring this
period the Ynglings came into power in Vpg^f'-'!'^, ^ fctmily x^Th^nh pract
destined in time to ruie over all Norwa.y. a,nd to unite it intn fii^e
kingdom. ^}ey quickly seized the opportunity, and made Vestfold
independent, but the Danish kings continued to claim it, even as
läte as in the reign of Valdemar the VictorimS.

22. The Origin of the Yngling Dynasty

According to Thjodolv af Hvin's "Ynghngatal," and the "Yng-
Jvngaiaga" '" SnnrrP^Q "TTpiTng;Vrin|Tlfl/' the Yngling family were
descendants of the Swedish kings at Upsala. Rnt thp ,SwpHic;h Hy-
nasty were, usually, called Scilfings, and the Norwegian kings of
the Yngling family may not, therefore, be descended from them.
In the "HyndluljoS" in the "Elder Edda" the Scilfings and Yng-
lings are mentioned as different families.^ Ynglings means de-

1 padan eru SkioUdungar
padan eru Skilflngar
padan Audlingar
padan Ynglingar.
See Norroen FornkvceÜi, by Sophus Bugge.

HALVDAN SVARTE 119

scendants of the god Yngve, who was worshiped in Jutland and
northern Germany. He was later considered identical with the
god Frey, from whom the Scilfings were supposed to descend, a cir-
cumstance which probably gave rise to the idea that the Scilfings
and the Ynghngs were the same family. Alexander Bugge thinks
that the Ynghngs originally came from Vestergötland. They came
to Norway through marriage, and Vestfold became their real home.
Gudr0d Veidekonge was the first ruler of Vestfold who called himself
king, a title which he assumed after he had succeeded in freeing him-
self from Danish overlordship. His son Olav Geirstad-Alv, who
succeeded him as king of Vestfold and Grenland, became the father
of the great sea-king Ragnvald Heidumhsere, in honor of whom
Thjodolv wrote his "Ynglingatal," and from whom the Norwegian
kings of Dublin descended. But better known than Olav Geirstad-
Alv is his younger brother Halvdan Svarte, the father of King Harald
Haarf agre, who seems to have been a gif ted and energetic man with some
of the lofty ambition and talent for organization which distinguished
his great son. Halvdan was only one year oid at his father's death,
but when he became of age he forced his brother to share the kingdom
with him. Through successful wars he made himself master of one
district after another, until he ruled over nearly the whole of 0stlandet
(southeastern Norway). Tradition says that King Halvdan or-
ganized the Eidsivathingslag, but this is much older, though Halvdan,
no doubt, increased its significance by adding to it the districts of
his kingdom in order to strengthen its organization. Through the
marriage of a daughter of King Harald Guldskjeg of Sogn, he was
also able to add that district to his kingdom, and at the time of his
death in 860 his kingdom was the largest and best organized in
all Norway. He had introduced a system of general taxation which
the people considered very oppressive, because they were not used
to paying taxes, but he seems, nevertheless, to have been held in
high esteem. According to the sägas he was drowned while crossing
the Randsf jord on the ice in the winter of 860.

120 history op the norwegian people

23. Harald Haarfagre. — Unification of Norway

When Halvdan Svarte died, his ten-year-old son,-Harald Haarfagrfi^_
ascended the throne of the kingdom which he had founded. Harald's
reign marks the beginning of a new e20cliin_the_histoiy of JNorwa^y,.
in which the iinion of the.whole couiitr>:_undef-4he-Fule-of^e^^¥flg-
Img dynasty was^effectedt The petty kingdoms^jarldoms, a.nd.
aristocratic confederacies were welded^.by__llarald into^ a-iiational-
monarchy with a system of government^and^adimnisti-atioB-wbich-
placed great power in the hands of the ruHng sovereign. What
Charlemagne had done on the Continent, and Ecgbert and Alfred
in England, King Harald Haarfagre did for Norway. It can scarcely
be doubted that the example of these great rulers, as well as that of
the neighboring states of Sweden and Denmark, which for lõng peri-
ods had been united and strong kingdoms, fired Harald's ambition,
and that many important features in his system of government were
due to foreign influence.

About Harald 's early life comparatively little is known, but all
sources agree that at the death of his father he was ten years of age.
The "Fagrskinna" ^ says that at that time he was young in years,
but fully developed in the manly hearing which befits a king. He had
a luxuriant growth of light hair which looked like silk. He was
tall, strong, and beautiful ; wise, prudent, and energetic. Oid men
admired him, and young and vigorous men sought him because of
his renown and generosity, and the splendor of his court. Accord-
ing to the sägas, his mother's brother Guttorm was his adviser and
the leader of the army, and Ragnvald M0rejarl must also Jiave been
his counselor and assistant. When Halvdan Svart^yl1i^(T7?np^1?^g^
and other petty princes in eastern Norway. who had been f orced to
_acknOw]pdge his ovprlorHshipj rn-^p in rpbpllinn ngain^^t hi^^ ymithfnl

successor. King Gandalv of Ranrike made an expedition against
Harald, but he was defeated and slain, and his kingdom was seizej.

S^mf^whnt ht^^r th^ .^wpHkVi Hng- npnnpind tho tnrrifnry Kotw^nn

1 Fagrskinna, or N oregskonungatal, narrates the history of the kings of
Norway from Halvdan Svarte until 1177. It was written in Norway in the
period 1220-1230. It is older than the H eimskringla, but the author, though
he is a careful and reliable writer, laeks Snorre's ability as historian.

HARALD HAARFAGRE 121

the Glommen and the (}nfa. Tživer, hnt Har^M marie a successful
campaign againsLhim, «^id rppoverpH the tprritory^ over which he now
placed Guttorm as a sort of markgraf to protept. the horders. Th&^
kings of Ringerike and Hedemarken. aided by Toten and Hadeland,
also rebelled. It is said that they made an agreement with Gud-
brand, the herse of Gudbrandsdal, that they should combine to resist
Harald. They assembled to form an alhance against him, but
Guttorm fell upon them and destroyed them by setting fire to the
house in which they were assembled, and Harald al^^n nHrlprl OnH-
brandsda]_to his kingdom.^ |By such vigorous measures he soon over-
came all opposition, and not only preserved intact his father's king-
dom, but even enlarged its border^ Snorre, in the "Heimskringla,"
tells how through a fortuitous circumstance he hit upon the idea of
making himself king of all Norway. He sent messengers to woo a
young maiden by the name of Gyda, the daughter of King Eirik of
Hordaland. But she answered proudly that she would not marry
a king who ruled over only a few fylker. She was surprised, she said,
that no king was found who wished to ruie over Norway, as King
Gorm did over Denmark, and King Eirik in Upsala. She toid the
messengers that she would marry Harald when he had made himself
the ruler of all Norway. This message they brought back to Harald,
who thought that she had spoken wisely. " She has reminded me of
those things," he said, "which I am surprised have not occurred to
me before," and he made a vow that he would not cut or comb his
hair before he had conquered the whole country. When this was
accomplished, he again sent messengers to Gyda, who now gave her
consent, and the two were married. This little romance is ingenious
invention, like so many other poetic stories connected with the name
of the great king. In the "Fagrskinna" a similar story is toid about
Ragna, the daughter of Adils the Rich. The ultimate union of Nor-
way was already clearly foreshadowed by the trend of political de-
velopment which formed a part of a general European movement
toward a form of monarchy in which the king possessed as near as

1 Harald's hirdseald, Thorbj0rn Hornklove, deseribes these early cam-
paigns in his poem Glymdrdpa, of which, however, only a fragment has been
preserved. Five of the seven or eight existing stanzas are found in Snorre's

Heimskringla.

122 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

possible the totality of governmental powers. Halvdan Svarte
had maiiifested a similar ambition, and might have come much closer
to its realization but for his untimely death. Harald's kingdom was
the largest in Norway ; he was young and ambitious ; he was sur-
rounded by energetic men and wise counselors. Nothing could seem
more natural to him under the circumstances, than to continue the
work which his father Halvdan had begun.

parald permitted the districts in Oplandene ^ to retain their own
local kings, who now, in a sense, became his ^^aggiTl| The herse of
Gudbrandsdal was also allowed to retain his oid dignity upon pay-
ing taxes, and acknowledging the king's overlordship. .JTRralH now
crossed the Dovre Mountains to Tr0ndelagen, whir^ gnV>Tnittpf^ tn

him without difBcillty. as füH ako HnnlngnlinH ';ind N^rndslpn whprp
the powerful jarl Haakon Grjotgardsson ruled. Jarl Haakon was
the king's friend, and aided him in establishing his authority over
this part of Norway. Harald spent the winter in Tr0ndelagen, which
he now considered as his real ho^e.^ He built a residence at Lade,
near the present city of Trondhjem, which later became the seat of
the powerful Ladejarls, and. spent his time-ia-buildittg a flcotj and in .
svstematizing the administrat.ion. .Jji_tlie_spriiig-4ie— set-sail— with_-
his fleet for Nordm0r and Romsdal. One decisivP' battle was.fnngbi-.
at Solskjel, where King Hundtjov of Nordm0r fell ; his son, Solve
Klove, saved himself by flight, and the two provinces submitted to
Harald. \Out of these districts he created a jarldom, to which he
added a little later also the district of S0ndm0r, and placed his friend
Ragnvald M0rejarl in charge of the administratiö^- From him
descended the Orkney jarls, and the dukes of Normandy.

^j^Vptitlandpt, where by this time the Viking activity held fuil
sway, the love of local autonomy and of unrestricted personal inde-
pendence was most intens^ The aristocracy feared nothing so
much as a possible restriction of their oid rights, and the overlord-
ship of a national king. Ks Harald's success greatly alarmed them,
they united their entire strength, and sought assistance even in

1 Oplandene (the Uplands) is a name applied to the districts Hadeland,
Land, Gudbrandsdal, Valders, Hedemarken, 0sterdalen, Toten, Vinger,
Odalen, and Sol0r, eonstituting at present the two amts Kristian and Hede-
marken. * Heimskringla, Harald Haarfagre's Säga, eh. 9.

HARALD HAARFAGRE 123

the Viking colonies in the West for a decisive combat with the
ambitious kinJ. No single district could assemble a larger fleet,
nor raise a s^nger force of well-trained warriors with able leaders
than Vestlandet, and when t^if Vinc^tilp foropci finnlly m^^f \^ TTnfr°-

fjord, QTi t^P rna<=ii- nf T^ntralnnrl, hi sniitViwps;fprn Nnrway, in «79^

King Harald well knew that he faced the most critical struggle of
his Hfe. The battle is described in a poem by the scald Thorbj0rn
Hornklove, who tells how King Luva fought against Kj0tve (the
stout one) and Haklang (the one with tlie lõng ehin), whose men
were armed with white shields/ Gaelic swords, and spears made in
the West. Luva (O. N. lüfa = thick hair) was a nickname applied
to Harald Haarf agre in his younger days, beeause of his heavy growth
of hair. Kj0tve seems to be a nickname by which the scald designates
King Gudr0d of Agder, while Haklang, from whom he received aid,
seems to have been his son Olav the Wliite of Dublin. King Olav,
who had driven out the Danes, and had reestablished the power of
the Norsemen, ruled in Dublin for many years, together with Ivar,
probably Ivar Boneless, the son of Ragnar Lodbrok, with whom he
seems to have formed an alUance. In 871 he left Ireland and never
returned, which indicates that he must have died on his expedition.
The "Three Fragments of Irish Annals," found in 1860, states that
in 871 King Amlaib (Olav) went from Erin to Lochlann (Norway) to
wage war with the Lochlannaig (Norsemen), and help his father,
Gotfried, beeause the Lochlannaig had begun war against him, and
he had come to ask his son for aid. Haklang (Olav) fell in the battle,
says Hornklove. This explains why Olav never returned to Ireland.
It is clear that the kings of Vestlandet, with their combined forces
under the leadership of Gudr0d, and assisted by a Viking army from
Ireland under King Olav, met Harald in the Hafrsfjord, but they
were defeated after a fierce battle in which King Olav fell. ^he
overthrow of the opposition was complete, and Harald was acknowl-
edged king of united NorwayT

1 When Irish annalists eall the Norsemen Finn-Galls or white strangers,
to distinguish them from the Danes, who are called Dubh-Galls or dark
strangers, it is probably due to their eustom of carrying white shields.
. ^ Gustav Storm, Slaget i Hafrsfjord. Historisk Tidsskrift anden raekke,
vol. II., 313.

Many kings and chieftains mentioned by Snorre as partakers in the battle

124 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

^ During these wars Harald had created both f\n nrmy and a navy.
and it became necessary to maintain these niilitary_orgar''='^'*"'"TiR
_to_protect the kingdom from foreign and domest.ic enemies, Piratio
expeditions within the bordefs of Norway were now forbidden, ajid
all inhabitants had to swear fealty to the kinp: nr leave the countrv^
^lany of the chieftains in the districts which had offered the stoutest
resistance chose to emigrate rather than submit to HaralH. -Their
estates were confiscated, and became royal demesne lands, the prop-
erty of the king, (öjf these estates he retained a number, which he
placed in charge of royal overseers, aarmcend, and these lands be-
came one of his chief sources of incon^. fllie greater part of the
confiscated lands he gave to his followers as a payment for services
rendered or to be renderej. ^ley received the lands, not in full
ownership, but in veitsle, which means that they were entitled to the
income from them, in return for which th^y sh nn Id ^ollectJ^.xea,

furnishfully equipj)edmeil f^T-tliP army^ onrl V>o nf nu\ nnd FPrvi pp to.

the kin^. ^jig Harald derived income also from various other sources.
The trade with the Finns, and the tributc paid by them, was made
a roval monopol^) All derelict property belonged to the king. -He-
also levied a personal t.ax on his snbjects; probably, also, a tax on
certain special privileges and incomes. The aarmcend were the local
collectors of these taxes. This royal office, or syssel, together with
that of overseer, was later given to officers called sysselma;nd}

Snorre says that Harald placed a jarl in each fylke, who should
maintain law and order and collect taxes, of which he should retain
one-third for his expenses and for the maintenance of his household.
Under each jarl there should be four herser, who should have an in-
come of twenty marks a year. Each jarl should furnish sixty men
for the king's army, and each herse should furnish twenty.^ .Thls-
jirrangement seemsjto have been made, hnwevpr, nnly in thp dis^
tricts which had offered the most determined resistance. in conse-
quence of which the oid institution of fylkes-king was abolished, and

are unhistoric cliaracters ; like Roald Rygg, Hadd den Haarde, King Suike,
and his brother Sote Jarl.

1 R. Keyser, Efterladte Skrifter, vol. II., Norges Stats- og Retsforfatning i
Middelalderen. T. E. Aschehoug, Statsforjatningen i Norge og Danmark
indtil 1814, p. 12 f.

* Snorre, Heimskringla, Harald Haarfagre's Säga, eh. 6.

HARALD HAARFAGRE 125

royal officers were placed in charge of the local administration. We
have seen that in Oplandene and in Gudbrandsdal the oid system
was retained, and the same was, no doubt, the case in Tr0ndelagen,
and, in fact, in all districts which had submitted voluntarily to the

king. The name aud nffipp of hp.rsiP. was rptainprl, hnf hff^T t^"^
herser became leiidermcBnd (O. N. lendr matir). an oflRre which rorre-
S£onded in general to their oid dignity. J^i)t whilp thp hp.r.fp. was an

hereditary chieftain and a. Ipadpr nf thp ppnplp^ tliP htirlprnmnnrl wpQ
a royal official who held hif^ pn^itinn hy appnintmpnf , qnfl^ ng q riila^

this new dignity never became fullv hereditary.^ The jarls were no [
longer independent rulers, as of oid, but became the highest officials
under the king. fTTiey were the leaHprs nf fhp a.rmy in w.or, conducted / /
the deliberations at the thing, collected the taxes, and had charge of
the local administration in larger districts. Especially powerful
were the king's oid friends and assistanO; Guttorm, Haakon Grjot-
gardsson, and Ragnvald M0rejarl, who ruled over many fylker.

The sägas, especiall}^ the "Egilssaga," which is very hostile to
Harald, pictures his government as a usurpation of power, a veritable
tyranny. /Snorre says that wherever Harald acquired any terri-
tory, he took the odel away from the people, and forced them to pay a
land tõ^r The odel was a right to full ownership of land, vested,
permanently in the family, the members of which had a right to re-
deem the property, if it should be soid to any one outside of the family.

1 Heimskringla, Harald Haarfagres Säga, eh. 6. J. E. Sars, Udsigi over
den norske Historie, I., 161. R. Keyser, Norges Retsforfatning, p. 112-113.
P. A. Munch, Samlede Afhandlinger, vol. I., p. 77 ff.

öjÖIder scholars have accepted, in the main, the statement of the sägas
that King Harald deprived the people of their right of odel. "TTnT-alH npprn-
priated to himself as king the right of odel. i.e. the suprem*^ nVht nf nwnpr,
ship of a.n the land, with a oorresponding right to levy taxes?' R. Keyser,
Efterladte Skrifter, vol. II. Norges Stats- og Retsforfatning i Middelalderen,
p. 30.

"With the right of the eonqueror Harald took with armed händ all the
lands in the districts which he seized. He did not drive away the former
owners, but he deprived them of their odel, and made them pay a land tax."
T. H. Asehehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark indtil 1814, p. 12.
Later investigations have led to the eonclusion that Harald did not deprive
the people of their right of odel.

"The freeholders {h^nder) thought that if they should pay taxes they were
no longer free odelsb0nder, but the king's tenants. This is the real meaning

126 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

This was a very important right, which seciired the p^wer ?^nH inrlo-
pendence of the large class of freeholders. To judge from the state-
ment in the "Egilssaga" that in every fylke Jlnrnld ^^'A', nll th^
odel, and all_Iapd, inhnhifpfl !in<l iminlmhitprl^ even the sea and the

WaterS, ^pd thnt all fr<^<>lin1H<>r^ (hfitirlpr) .^liniilrl honnoforfh bp hl^_

tprnnntSj^one might be led to think that tka king was^Jiie-Xtwner-Qf
all the land, and had intrf)(;h'f<'^d th(^ fpiulnl ^y^ff^m in Xnrwa-y But
this is Jj manifest PYn.ggprnt.ionir The feudal system was n^t flt that
time developed anywhere in Liiropq? and it was never intmdnppd
in Norway. f* ^VitVi tVip pvr-ppfinn of th©- Gonfiseatieno alrondy mcn ~
tioned, the people. no doubt. retained their odd now n,s hprptofnrp,
and there is no evidence that they even had to pay a land tax, snrli
as the sägas complain of. ^arald left undisturbed the tkings and
the oid legal syst.PT^, ,nnd thp "Kgilssnga." sfa.tp.s, t.hnt shortly aft.Pr
the king's dpnth T^il Skallagrimsson brought a süit on behalf of
his wife against Bergamund at the Gulathing, maintaining that she
was entitled to inherit one-half of the estate left by her father,
Bj0rn Herse, both of real and personal property. This shmv^ that
the right of odel existpd nt that time. ,What Hamld did was fn Ipvy

a personal tax on the_frepbo1dprSj possibly nl^n^ a tav nn pprt^in

jncomes. This had been done before by his father Halvdan, but
it was otherwise an innovation. [^ people had never been aecus-
tomed to paying taxes, they regarded this as a sign of dependence,
and as so great an encroachment on their liberty that it was tanta-
mount to depriving them of their odel and their rights as freemen,
and of reducing them to tenants under the kin3.

(JxDm very early times the kings and chieftains had a bänd of
personal foUowers rai lpd drntf, or veröung, corresponding to the
comitatus of the early German chieftains)^ m\ TTaralrr-; timp tKp
name "hird"^ räme into us^, and maay JQrA^fw--ma.nnprg ^pfj f^]^.

of the complaint that Harald took the odd away from them. That King
Harald levied a tax which the honder could call a land tax, there is nothing
to show." Alexander Bugge, Norges Ilistorie, voI. I., second part, p. 12.5.
Yngvar Nielsen, Historisk Tidsskrift, fjerde raekke, vol. IV., p. 1 ff. Absaloa
Taranger, Historisk Tidsskrift, fjerde raekke, vol. IV., p. 98 ff.

' "It was their honor and power always to be surrounded by a large bodj'
of seleet young men, their pride in peace, and their protection in war."
Tacitus, Germania, 13.

* Hird, O. N. hird < A. S. htred, or hird, = family.

HARALD HAARFAGRE 127

j;QpnQ wf^r<^ introfl"rfH Ambitious young men flocked to Harald,
and the hird, which originally had J)een a yerx simple_ institutiöjiy
became a real court, famous for its splendor and fine manner^.
'King Harald Haarfagre was tVie strintest. of all kings with regard
to conduct and oourtly etigviette," says the saga.^ Liberai gifts,
some high office or other good fortune, awaited those who gained
the king's favor. The "Egilssaga" tells that King Harald sent
word to Kveldulv fra Fjordene that he wished that one of his sons
might become a hirdmand. Kveldulv, who had been an opponent
of the king, toid his son Thoralv that he thought they would reap
nothing but misfortune f rom it. But Thoralv answered : " Things
must then take another turn than I expect. I think that the king
will give me great advancement, and I have determined to go to
him and become his man. I have heard that his hird consists of
the very best men, and it seems to me a great advantage to be among
them, if they will receive me. They are also better provided for
than any other men in the land. The king is said to be very gener-
ous, and always willing to promote those who deserve it. But I
have heard that those who resist him, and do not seek his friendship,
accomplish nothing. Some leave the country, and some become
tenants." ^

[Like Charlemagne and Alfred the Great, King Harald was also a
patron of literature. Many scalds came to his court, and f^p. hird.
became the center of intellectual life and literarv activitv. We hear
of scalds before this time, but th^ hird.vnnhJ pnt^iry^ which consisted
mainly of laudatory songs composed to fni-nmpmnmfp grpat pvpnt^
and the lives and deeds of kings and princes. seems to have been
developed at HaraWs court, where new themes and opportunities ^
were offered the poetsT Thfi union of Norway, and Harald's gE^at
achievements created _a new national pride, which is freely voifced
in the songs of the hird,f<c.nlcB. ^itherto the poets had sung about / /
mythology and heroic traditiorisZ their songs were composed in I l

^ Nornagestssaga, eh. 9. Aiexander Bugge, Vikingerne, II., 208 ff. Konge-
speüet (the Kingas Mirror), Christiania, 1848, 59-60. R. Keyser, Norges
Stats- og Retsforfatning, Christiania, 1867, 77 ff. T. H. Asehehoug, Stats-
forfatningen i Norge og Danmark indtil 1814, Christiania, 1866.

^ See Thorbj0rn Hornklove's song about Harald, also called the Ravnsmaal,
Fagrskinna, 5.

128 HISTORY OP THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the clear and classic alliterative verse ; their names they gave to
oblivion with a certain proud disdain which does not covet honor, as
' ( did the authors of^he songs of the "Elder Edda)" The hirdscalds
j;ftng of t.he great events of the day. and praised the achievements,
and extolled the renown of thp Wing^ and prinop^ wVin wpfp thpif-

patrons, and who rewarded them Uberally for their songs. They
sought honor as well as reward, and their names have been handed
down to posterity. They composed their songs in a new and intri-
cate verse forra, the drottkvcBtt, abounding in word transpositions and
metaphoric expressions {kenningar), in which Irish influence can be
recognized, Ireland being the only country where a Hke verse form
and a similar poetic hterature was found. The most noted scalds
at Harald's court were : Thjodolv af Hvin and Thorbj0rn Horn-
klove, who have already been mentioned. Less known are 01ve
Hnuva, Ulv Sebbason, Guttorm Sindre, and Audun Illskelda, the
oldest of them all, who had been scald at the court of Harald 's father,
Halvdan Svarte. Court jesters were introduced to create diversion
and entertainment for the hird, and games, resembling dice and chess
{terning and broetspil), were much indulged in. Music, especially
the playing of the trumpet and the harp, declamation of poems by
the scalds, rich ornaments, fine clothes, and courtly manners added
eharm to this circle nf gift.pd anrl prominpnt mpn whr> constituted the
hird, of King Harald Haarfagre.
^^any features of Harald's great work are, as already indicated,
clearly traceable to the influence of Charlemagne and Alfred the
Great, from whose constructive statesmanship he gathered both
inspiration and idea^. His plan of making Norway a united Izing--
dom. and of di\iding the country into jarldoms. or larger adminis- _
trative districts. are ascribable. in th^ main, fn thi^ inflnpnpp The
revival of learning produced by Charlemagne after the darkness
and confusion of the IMigrations must have inspired him, also, with
the noble ambition to become a patron of Htprntnrp^ nnrl q tpapl^pr nL
good manners, to make his court an intellectual center, and to foster
in his people a true appreciation of the ennobling influence of higher
culture. The stirring events at home, together with the stimulus

given by the Viking expeditions, and the influence of the art and
culture of the nations with whom the Norsemen now came into more

EVENTS IN THE COLONIES 129

immediate contact, produced in Norway a great intellectual awaken-
ing, jhe fruit. of whirb w»'=- ^^f^ <n»]A\n pp^try, th^ Fddfls, t^^ s^gfis,
valuable historical works, and collections of oid laws, In the field

of literatiire, as in the domain of seamanship and maritime enter-
prise, the Norsemen manifested the most original and versatile genius
of the age. King Harald learned, indeed, from others, but he was
not a mere imitator. All accounts of him, whether friendly or hos-
tile, agree in describing him as a gifted and truly great man. He was
tall and strong, and a rich growth of flaxen hair crowned his majestic
brow, He was a kingly and imposing figure, who inspired confidence
and respect. In peaee, as in war, he exhibited the same talent for
organization which made him able to shape a well-ordered system
in every field to which he devoted his attention. He pursued his
aim with great energy and perseverance, and his händ fell heavy
on those who resisted. In many cases he might have been arbitrary,
even cruel and despotic, but he possessed, on the whole, a mixture
of sternness and moderation which made it possible for him, not
only to accomplish his first great aim, but to overcome all opposition,
and to ruie in peace during a lõng reign.

24. EVENTS OUTSIDE OF NORWAY. ThE NoRSE CoLONIAL EmPIRE.

The Orkney and Shetland Islands
^any men of influence and power left Norway after the battle

of Hafrsfjord in 81^. TViPy prnigratpH tn thp V^tme^ TsInnHq^ +h^
Orkney ^ and -^^Hlnnrl (HjaltlnnH) gronps, thp TTphriHps (.^nHrpyjf^r,)

to Iceland, pnd t,p fhe Vjking polnnipf^ in thp Wps;t Olav the White's
son, Eystein, and Ivar Boneless ruled in Dublin, and possessed large
districts in Scotland, while Ketil Flatnev. father of And thp "Hppp-
minded, the wife of Olav the White, had established a sort of in-
dependent sovereignty in the Hebrides.^ ^ese opponents of Harald
harbored and aided the fugitives, who used their new homes as a
base of operations from which they would send out piratic expedi-
tions to harry the coasts of NorwaR^. (Trritated by these constant

1 The Orkneys (O. N. Orkneyjar) were ealled by the Romans Orcades.
The Norsemen retained the first part of the name Orc, or Ork, and added
eyjar (i.e. islands). ^ The Laxd^lasaga.

VOL. I — K

130 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ravages, Harald at length fitted out a large fleet, and sailed west-
ward to puiiish the Vikings. He attacked the Norse settlements
in Scotland, chased away the Viking bands from Shetland, the
Orkneys, and the Hebrides, and seems to have visited even the Isle

of Man. j^hptlnnH nnri tlip Orknpy? irprp innpvpH fn Nnrw^^ and

Ragnvald M0rejarrs brother Sigurd was made ruler of the new prov-
inces. This expedition against the Vikings made Harald a friend
of the English king, iEthelstan, with whom he concluded a treaty.
The two kings sent each other valuable presents, and each sought
to rival the other. Harald also sent his son Haakon to England to
be reared at the court of King vEthelstan, not, as the sägas would
explain it, in order to insult the king, but because he wished the boy
to become acquainted with English manners and culture. Jarl
Sigurd and Thorstein the Red, a son of Olav the White of Dublin,
soon gained possession of Caithness (Katanes), Sutherland (SuSr-
land), and other districts of northern Scotland, as far as to the
river Oikel, says the "Orkneyingasaga." ^ Sigurd died in Scotland,
and was succeeded by his son Guttorm, but he lived only a year,
and Torv-Einar, a son of Ragnvald M0rejarl, became jarl of the
Orkneys.^ From him descended the powerful Orkney jarls, promi-
nent both in Scotch and Norwegian history.^ He was a half-brother
of Gange-Rolv, who founded the Norse dukedom of Normandy.

1 Alexander Bugge shows that there is a manifest error in the säga, as the
son of Olav the White of Dublin was called Eystein, and not Thorstein.

2 He was nicknamed Torv-Einar (Peat-Einar), because he taught the
people to use peat for fuel. He was a practical man and a powerful warrior.
He soon drove out the Viking freebooters, and established peace and order
in the islands. Orkneyitigasaga, translated by Jon A. Hjaltalin and Gilbert
Goudie, edited with notes and introduction by Joseph Anderson, Edinburgh,
1873.

^ L. Dietrichson, Monumenta Orcadica, the Norsemen in the Orkneys and
the Monuments They Have Left, Christiania, 1906. J. Wallace, Description
of the Isles of the Orkneys, 1673, new edition, London, 1884. Fea, Present
State of the Orkney- Islands, London, 1885. J. J. A. Worsaae, Minder om de
Danske og Nordmcendene i England, Skotland og Irland, p. 177 ff., Copen-
hagen, 1851. Torfaeus, Orcades, 1700. Peder Clauss0n Friis, Norriges og
omliggende 0ers sandfa-rdige Beskrivelse, 1632. Joseph Anderson, Scotland
in Early Christian Times, vol. I. Islandske Annaler, edited by Gustav Storm.
P. A. Munch, Erindringer fra Orkn^erne. Samlede Afhandlinger, III., 52-
59. P. A. Munch, Geografiske Oplysninger om de i Sagaerne forekommende
skotske og irske Stedsnavne, IIL, 79-181.

PLATE VI

RUINS OF THE BlSHOP's PaLACE AT KiRKWALL.

The St. Magnus Cathe-

DRAL AT KiRKWALL.

Notland C.\stle in We.stray.

EVENTS IN THE COLONIES 131

Harald Haarfagre's son Halvdan Hälegg, who had killed Ragnvald
M0rejarl in Norway, came to the Orkneys to drive away Torv-Einar.
Einar fled to Caithness, but returned to the islands with a large force,
and defeated and killed Halvdan. As a punishment King Harald
demanded of the people of the Orkneys a tax of sixty marks of gold.
This tax Einar undertook to pay on condition that the people should
surrender to him their right of odel, i.e. the right of private owner-
ship of the land which they tilled. When Torv-Einar died, about
910, his three sons, Arnkell, Erlend, and Thorfinn Hausakljuv, suc-
ceeded him. During their time King Eirik Blood-Ax, son of Harald
Haarfagre and his queen Ragnhild, sought refuge in the Orkneys,
häving been banished from Norway. Arnkell and Erlend helped
King Eirik in his battles in England, and fell there, but Thorfinn
Hausakljuv remained jarl of the Orkneys till 963. He married Gre-
laug, daughter of the Scotch maormor Dungad, or Duncan, and
received with her Caithness, which from now on was united with
the Orkneys. He was DjöüW^btified on the northwest eoast of
South Ronaldsay, at Hoxa. Thorfinn's five sons succeeded one an-
other as jarls of the Orkneys. King Eirik Blood-Ax's daughter
Ragnhild married in course of time three of the brothers, but caused
the death of all her husbands. Her evil influence brought about
a period of feuds and bloodshed in which many of the leading men of
the islands met their death. At length Lõdve, the fifth and only
remaining son of Thorfinn Hausakljuv, became jarl. He died about
980, and was succeeded by his son Sigurd Lodvesson, the famous
Orkney jarl who fell in the battle of Clontarf. King Olav Trygg-
vason forced Sigurd to acknowledge his overlordship, and to accept
Christianity, 995. The island jarldom had been a Norse dependency
since Harald Haarfagre's time, but the suzerainty of the Norwegian
kings was not always firmly maintained till in the reign of Olav
Haraldsson (1015-1030). Jarl Sigurd ruled, not only over the Ork-
neys and Caithness, but also over Sutherland, Ross, Moray, and Argyle
in Scotland, as well as over the Hebrides and Man. He was often
hard pressed in his wars with the Scotch earls or maormors, and in
order to get more active support from his people, he gave them back
their right of odel which Torv-Einar had taken from them. He
defeated Findlay, the father of Macbeth, at Skida Myre, and in the

132 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

battle of Duncansby Head Iie defeated the two Scotch maormors
Hunde and Maelsnechtan, but beiiig unable to defend his Scotch
possessions, he made peace with Scotland, and married the daughter
of King ]\IaIcohn II. She was his second ^\^fe, and bore him the
son Thorfinn. When Sigurd fell at Clontarf, in 1014, three sons
of a former marriage, Sumarhde, Bruse, and Einar Vrangmund,
divided the Orkneys among themselves, but none of them Hved lõng,
and Thorfinn soon became the ruler of his father's possessions. But
he soon had to surrender two-thirds of the Orkneys to Ragnvald,
the son of Bruse, who returned to the island in 1035. For some time
Thorfinn and Ragnvald were friends, and made Viking expeditions
together, but when Thorfinn suddenly demanded that Ragnvald
should give up one-third of his possessions to Kalv Arnesson of Nor-
way, hostilities began in which Ragnvald was defeated and slain.

After Thorfinn's death about 1064, his two sons, Paul and Erlend,
ruled jointly till 1098, a period during which the islands enjoj^ed
peace and prosperity. They were succeeded by their sons, Haakon
Paulsson and Magnus Erlendsson, or St. Magnus, but in 1115 the
selfish and violent Haakon slew Magnus, who was afterward venerated
as a saint. ^le direct Une of Norse iarls in the Orkneys became
extinct in 1231 upon the death of John Jarl, but the islands remained
a Norwegian dependency till 147^-^ In 1468 the Orkney Islands were
mortgaged by Christian L, king of Denmark and Xorway, to King
James III. of Scotland as security for 50,000 Rhenish gulden ; this
sum being part of the dowry of 60,000 Rhenish gulden which his
daughter Margaret was to receive upon her marriage to King James.
Tn_2471 the last Orkney jarl, Willinm Sinrlnir^ opApc] thp ishgrids to
the Scotch king, and received in retiirn evtensive pAqQ!P<;dnn«t on fhp
mainland nf Scotland.

Numerous remains from the Norse period are stiil found in the
islands. Burial mounds, ship burials, stone monuments, and ruins
of churches and other oid buildings attract the attention of
scientists and travelers. The town of Kirkwall (Kirkjuvägr) was

^ The OrkneyingaSaga. Whiojl jg *'^^ r^hir^f cn^^J•nr, ff^^ tVm nnnly >ii'ntnry nt.

.the Orkneys, was written not beforo 12.^0, The Islandske Annaler contain
some notices of events in the Orkneys after the period dealt with in the
Orkneyingasaga. See also Njälssaga, and Olav Tryggvasonssaga in the
Flaieyjarbok.

EVENTS IN THE COLONIES 133

founded by Jarl Ragnvald, the son of Bruse. It is built on the same
plan as the early Norwegian cities of Tunsberg, Nidaros, Oslo,
Bj0rgvin, and Stavanger. The St. Olaf cathedral in Kirkwall was
erected by Jarl Ragnvald, who was a friend of St. Olav Haralds-
son, king of Norway.

In 1050 Jarl Thorfinn went on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he
received Pope Leo IX. 's permission to establish a separate bishopric
for the Orkneys. The Christ church at Byrgisaa, the first bishop's
church in the islands, is thought to have been erected by Thorfinn.
The bishop's residence was later removed to Kirkwall. The church
at Orfjara was built by Jarl Haakon Paulsson, 1118-1122, in expia-
tion of the murder of St. Magnus. Among other conspicuous ruins
are those of the Älagnus church on Egilsey, the bishop's palace in
Kirkwall, and Notland castle on Westray. The grandest building
in the Orkneys is the Magnus cathedral in Kirkwall, a truly mag-
nificent structure erected by Ragnvald Jarl, the second Orkney jarl
of that name, 1137-1156. "It is the mightiest monument left by
the Norsemen in the West, indeed, next to Trondhjem cathedral,
the oldest monument of the whole ancient Norway." "Here, too,"
says L. Dietrichson, "is a confirmation of what may generally be
said of the Viking expeditions ; namely, that although in themselves
wild and barbaric, they always contained the germ of a new, rich
cultural development, that stirred as soon as the warlike spirit sank
to rest, and left room for the play of the intellectual strength and
civilizing power that also dwelt in the Vikings. St. Magnus' cathe-
dral is the living expression of this thought." ^

[The people of the Orkneys have retained to the present time their
Norse character. They are proud of their Norse descent, and refuse
to be called Scotc^. They Iive on their country homesteads, as of
oid, and the freeholders are stiil called "udallers" (i.e. odelsmaend).
Thev are great sailnrs and fish^rmpn. fl,nd show a. prpfprpnnA fr>r p
spflfanpfy hfp. Jn the course of the eighteenth centurv thp Nnrsp
language disappearpd, and Firgh'^^ ^«^ ^^^^ gpnl-r^n m'r.]iiniTn]y^ }^iit
manv Norse words and idioms have bppn prpsprvpd. The Orkney
peasants stiil say, "luk the grind!" for "shut the gate," and their
accent strongly resembles that of the western districts of Norway.
1 Dietrichson, Monumenta Orcadica.

134 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Professor P. A. Munch, who travelcd in the Orkneys in 1849, writes : ^
" The Norse era, isolated by a new linguistic period, stands surrounded
by a mystic glory in the memory of the people of the Orkneys. They
exalt it to the skies at the expense of the Enghsh-Scotch period.
Everything belonging to that time, and, in general, everything
which is called "Norn" (from Norr0n, or Norse) they regard as
better and nobler than the Enghsh or Scotch. I experienced many
very touching examples of the devotion with which the people stiil
cling to Norway and to the memories of this their motherland."

When the Orkneys came under Scatland, a niimher nf ScotrhmeH-
came over to the islands, and through the nid ^^^ mnniifonnf^ r^f .

the rulers they secured large pstatps, and hpoamp in timp a lanHpd-
aristnrrfloy. The origjnal Knr^p ^pttlprs bpoamp mnrp and mnrp

dependent on the great landnwners, and were oppressed by heavy
taxes. This engendered a spirit of iil feeling between the Scotch and
the Norse elements, which increased when the Scotch law was sub-
stitüted for the oid Norse law of St. Olav. Tenaciously the people
elung to their oid rights. Even in 1903 an Orkney farmer so stoutly
defended his rights according to St. 01av's Norse law in regard to
some fisheries in dispute, that the English authorities made inquiries
of a Norwegian professor of jurisprudence at the University of Chris-
tiania to secure information regarding this oid law.^ The Orkney
group consists of about eighty islands, all of which have Norse names,
with the exception of two or three. The islands have a population
of about 30,0()0. The two cities are Kirkwall with 4000 inhabitants,
and Stromness with 2000. The Orkneys are divided into eighteen
parishes, and together with the Shetland Islands they have one repfe-
sentative in the English Parliament.

Xhf Shetland arrhipplngo (O. N. Hjajflnnd) WRS s^tl^l^d by tho
Norsemen on their earlv expeditions fr> thp Rriti^^h TsIp'^ The
islands were inhabited at that time by the Picts (called Petar by
the Norsemen), who had been converted to Christianity by Irish
monks prior to the arrival of the Vikings. Many ruins and stone

1 Samlede Afhandlinger, IIL, p. 52 ff. Jakob Jakobsen, Nordiske Minder
paa Orkn^erne, in Maal og Minne, Feslskrijt til H. Feilberg, 1911, p. 318.

* A. Taranger, Aftenposten, September 13, 1903, quoted by L. Dietrieh-
son, Monumenta Orcadica, p. 13.

PLATE VII

Interior of St. Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall.

EVENTS IN THE COLONIES 135

monuments stiil preserve the remembrance of these early inhabi-
tants.^ Cairns (burial mounds of stone) and stone circles from this
period are found both in the Shetland Islands and the Orkneys, but
the most noteworthy Pictish monuments in the Shetland Islands
are the round stone towers, " Pictish towers," built of undressed stone,
without the use of mortar. Several ruins of such towers are stiil
found, and one, the Broch of Mousa, is stiil preserved entire. In the
"Egilssaga" it is called "Mose^^jarborg." The oid tower has de-
rived its name from the Isle of Mousa (O. N. Mosey), on which it is
situated. The story is toid that while Harald Haarfagre ruled in
Norway, a prominent Viking merchant, Bj0rn Brynjulvsson, eloped
with the beautiful Thora Roaldsdatter fra Fjordene. The two fled
to Shetland to escape the wrath of the angry parents. The wedding
was celebrated in the Broch of Mousa, and the young couple spent
the winter there. In the spring Bj0rn learned that he had been
outlawed b}^ the king, and that the jarls in the Orkneys and the
Hebrides had received orders to seize him. He accordingly continued
his flight to Iceland, where he arrived safely with his bride. A
couple of centuries later the chieftain Erlend Ungi fled from the
Orkneys with Margaret, the mother of Jarl Harald iNIadadsson,
famous alike for her beauty and her frivolity. They were pursued
by the angry jarl, and sought refuge in the Broch of Mousa. Jarl
Harald was unable to take the tower by force, and an agreement
was made, according to which Erlend was allowed to marry Mar-
garet on condition that he should swear fealty to Harald.

In course of time the original Celtic inhabitants disappeared.
yhe Norsemen gradually took full possession of the islands, and gave
them the Norse names which they stiil bear. Most of the names
of mountains, islands, rocks, and skerries in the Shetland archipelago
are NorseT which is seen from the usual Norse terminations firth
(fjord), lüick (vik), ness (nes), daill (dalr), voc (vägr), ete, found in

1 J. J. A. Worsaae, Minder om de Danske og Nordmosndene i England,
Skotland og Irland, p. 277, § 5, and p. 286, § 6. Come, Shetland, Edinburgh,
1880. J. Jakobsen, Det norr^ne Sprog paa Shetland, Copenliagen, 1897,
Salmonsen's Konversations-Leksikon, " Shetland." Arthur Laurenson, Om
Sproget paa Shetlands^erne, Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1860. K. J.
Lungby, Om Sproget paa Hjaltlands^erne, Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed,
1860.

136 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

names like Ilillswick (Ilildisvik), Tliorness (porsnes), Lax-Voc
(Laxa-vägr), Hamna-Voc (Haf na-vägr) . In the southern part
of the island of Mainland lies the estate Howff (O. N. Ilof).
The name indicates that a heathen temple was once located there.
■ In the reign of King <^1nv Tryggvn^-^n tb*^ Sb^^tland Tslandi^ wfire
united with the kingdom of Norwav ; rüiHstiRnity wg^ introdnrpdj
and the Norse system of law and government was estabhshed here
as elsewhere in the Norse colmiifia^ The A Ühing o^ the islnnds was
held in the present parish of Thingvall (pingvgllr), where the place
of meeting is stiil seen on a little island in a lake near the church.
The island is connected with the mainland by a row of stones called

the "stepping stones." The island of Mainlanrl wac; riivirlprl infn

seven judieial districts. or things. The names of five of these
have been preserved, namely Sandsthing (Sands]?ing), Aithsthing
(Eiöslnng), Delthing (Dalal?ing), Lunzeisthing (LundeiÖisl^ing),
and Nesthing (Nes]?ing). The two others, RauSarj>ing and pvei-
tal^ing, are known only from the sägas.

^le Norse language died out in the islands in the eighteenth
century, but the English, which is now spoken, is stiil mixed with
many Norse words and idiom?. According to Jakob Jakobsen about
10,000 Norse words are stiil used in the Shetland Islands. In the
Orkneys not quite as many. Words like quern (N. kvern), a hand-
mill; haaf-fishing (N. hav-fiske), ocean fishing; tows (N. tõug), rope;
hogan (N. hagi), a pasture; hoy-scede (N. h0issete), high-seat, the
seat of the lady of the house ; hysmer (N. bismer), a steelyard, are
interesting examples. In dress and mode of life many Norse cus-
toms stiil prevail.

"(rhe Shetl^ind Islands continued to be a Norse colony till 1468,
when they were mortgaged to Scotland by King Christian I. by the
same documents in which he also included the Orknevš^ Here, as
in the Orkneys, a feudal system was introduced whereby English
and Scotch lords took possession of the soil. The independent free-
holding Norse farmer class disappeared, and the Norse population
became tenants under the great landlords.

rOf thp 117 isl.qnds which form the Shetland archipelago only
twentv-pine are inliR^^it^l The Inrp;^ ^'i^^i^nd '^^ AT^inlQn.^ pmKrai^Pc;
the great^T* pnrtion nf tlip inhnhitnhlo nroa.. In 1890 the Shetland

ICELAND AND THE FAROE ISLANDS 137

Islands had a population of 28,711. The cities are Lerwick and
Scalloway, with 4000 and 600 inhabitants respectively.

25. ICELAND AND THE FaROE IsLANDS

Decuil, an Irish monk li ving in France, wrote in 825 a work on
geography, " Liber de Mensura Orbis Terrse," in which he describes
the islands in the northern ocean which, he says, he has not found
mentioned by any other writer. After häving described what appears
to be Iceland and the Shetland Islands, he says : " There are also
some other small islands, almost all divided from each other by narrow
sounds, inhabited for about a century by hermits proceeding from
our Scotia (Ireland) ; but as they had been deserted since the begin-
ning of the world, so are they now abandoned by these anchorites
on account of the northern robbers, but they are full of countless
sheep, and swarm with seafowl of various kinds." The sheep must
have been left there by the Irish hermits, and the Norsemen, appro-
priately enough, called the islands "Fser-eyjar" (Sheep-isles), the
Faroe Islands. The Irish monks seem to have come to the islands
about 700, and about a century later they had to leave because of
the Vikings.^ The " Fsereyingasaga " tells us that Grim Kamban
was the first Norseman to settle in the islands. This was, probably,
in the early part of the ninth century. When Aud, the widow of
Olav the White, went to Iceland, she stopped on the Faroe Islands
to celebrate the wedding of her son's daughter Aalov. From her
descended the Gateskjegger, the greatest chieftains in the islands.
After the battle of Hafrsfjord many emigrants from Norway settled
in the Faroe Islands. It is not stated that Harald, on his expedition
against the Vikings, annexed the islands to Norway, but a little
later they are spoken of as a Norwegian dependency.

According to Decuil, Iceland was also discovered by Irish monks
prior to 795. Are Frode, the earliest Icelandic historian, who has
written a very reliable work on the early history of Iceland, the
"Islendingabok," says that at the time when the Norsemen first
began to visit the island "they found Christian men there whom

1 C. Rafn, Fcereyingasaga, contains all the aecounts of the Faroe Islands
found in the Icelandic sägas. Fridtjof Nansen, Nord i Taakeheimen {In
Northern Mists), p. 124 ff.

138 IIISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

they called papa, but they soon left because they did not wish to
dwell among tlie heathens. They left Irish hooks, helis, and crosiers,
from which one must judge that they were Irish." ^ The "Land-
nämabok" also mentions these Irish monks, and the name of the
island of Papey, off the east coast, stiil brings to memory their stay
in Iceland.^

Are Frode says that Iceland was first settled in the days of Harald
Haarfagre, 870 years after the birth of Christ, by people from
Norway.^ According to Sturla's "Landnämabok," the Norseman
Naddod first reached the island, häving lost his way while on a voy-
age from Norway to the Faroe Islands. According to the "His-
toria Norwegiae" and Hauk's " Landnämabok " the Swede Gardar
first discovered Iceland. But neither the story of Naddod, nor
that of Gardar, can be regarded as anything but tradition. A little
later than Naddod 's and Gardar's reputed voyages a Norseman,
Flok^ Vilgerdsson, sailed to Iceland from the Hebrides where Norse

colonies already existed. He spent two winters in the island, and
gave it the name of Iceland.*

1 Islendingabõk, eh. 1. Jacobus Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum,
II., p. 31 f. 2 Landnämabok, p. 2.

ä Islendingabõk, eh. I.

The Landnämabok exists in two slightly different versions, one by Stur-
la Thordsson, from about 1250, and another by Hauk Erlendsson, from about
1400. An older edition by Styrmer Frode is lost, as is, also, the original
version. It is a unique work of great importance, containing a detailed
account of the early Norse settlements in Iceland, as well as the names of
the settlers.

Of special interest and importance is Fridtjof Nansen's new work, Nord i
Taakeheimen, or In Northern Mists. An interesting account of Iceland and
the Faroe Islands is also found in Daniel Bruun's work, Det h0ie Nord,
Copenhagen, 1902. Among other helpful works may be mentioned : N.
Winther, Fcer^ernes Oldtidshistorie, Copenhagen, 1875. J. R. R0nne, Fcer-
^erne, Copenhagen, 1900. Salmonsen's Konversations-Leksikon, articles on
Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. Hans Reynolds, Hos ganimelt norsk Folk,
Reiseskildringer fra Fcer^erne, Christiania, 1905.

* Besides the I slendingabök and the Landnämabok, which relate the early
history of Iceland, valuable contributions to the history and geography of
the island are found in Th. Thoroddsen's Oversigt over de geografiske Kund-
skaber om Island f0r Reformationen, Geografisk Tidsskrift, 10. aarg., 1888-
1889. Th, Thoroddsen, Islands Beskrivelse, Christiania, 1883. Lysing

ICELAND 139

The first permanent settlement was made by Ingolv Arnarsson
and his friend Leiv Hrodmarsson, who came to Iceland i^p 874.. The
"Landnämabok" says that Ingolv brought with him the pillars
of the high seat (gndvegissülur), and when he came near the coast
he threw them into the sea, and resolved to build his home where
they should drift ashore, as he regarded this as a divine omen. He
settled temporarily on the south coast, but the next year the pillars
were found in Fakse Bay, on the west coast. Here he h^^^h a ppr-
manent home, calling the place Reykjavik (Smoky Bay), from some
hot springs in the neighborlnnnfl ^his became the site of the present
city of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. The period of colonization,
which bpgRn in S7-4-, is considered to have lasted till 9.S0, when about
20,000 people were dwelling in Icelan^ Q^e emigration from some
districts in western Norway was so great that King Harald feared
that the country would be depopiilated, and collected a tax of five
0re ^ from every one who sailed for Iceland, in order to check the
movement. The loss to the country must be measured not only
by the number, but also by the quality of the emigranj^. tCliey
were generally the best families, both intellectually and economi-
cally the leaders in their communiti^s. w^estlandet. which hitherto
had been a center of strength, was so weakened that it never again
recovered its former importan^

When Harald made his expedition against the Vikings in the
western islands, a great number of those who had sought refuge
there had to flee. They went to Iceland, and with them came a
number of Irish and Scotch emigrants. Aud, the widow of Olav

Islands, Agrip, efter Th. Thoroddsen, Copenhagen, 1900. C. Rosenberg,
Trcek af Livet paa Island i Fristadstiden. N. M. Petersen, Fortoellinger om
Isloendernes Fcerd hjemme og ude. Fr. Winkel-Horn, Billeder af Livet paa
Island. ValtjT GuSmundsson, Islands Kullur ved Aarhundredskiftet, Copen-
hagen, 1902. Jon Thorlaksson, Om Digtningen paa Island i det 15de og 16de
Aarhundrede, Copenhagen, 1888. G. Storm, En Sommerreise paa Island,
Christiania, 1883. P. E. Kristian Kälund, Bidrag til en historisk-topografisk
Beskrivelse af Island, Copenhagen, 1877. Konrad Maurer, Island von seiner
ersten Entdeckung bis zum Untergang des Freistaats, München, 1874. Konrad
Maurer, Zur polidschen Geschichte Islands, Leipzig, 1880.

^ 0re (O. N. eyrir, piu. aurar) = | mark = 3 ^rtugar.

The mark was about S8.65, but money at that time had a mueh greater
purchasing power than in our time. Gold was from sixteen to twenty-two
times as valuable as at present.

140 HISTÜRY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

tlie Wliite, and her son Olav Feilan came from Scotland with a
large company of Norse, Irish, and Scotcli emigrants.^ These land-
nämsmoBnd, or first settlers, who, as a ruie, were men of weallh and
power, came to Iceland with one or more ships, bringing with them
their families, relatives, servants, slaves, cattle, household goods,
and supphes of various sorts. After häving selected a place of
settlement, they took formal possession of a large tract of land ex-
tending from the moimtains to the shore, passing fire around it to
show that they had established ownership of it. Inside of this
tract each freeman in the company received his allotment. The
system of odel was not introduced in Iceland. The first settlers
took such large tracts that those who came later complained that
they had taken too much. King Harald Haarfagre was made
arbitrator, and he decided that no one should take more land than
he and his ship's crew could carry fire around in one day. The chief-
tains, who claimed large tracts of land by right of settlement and
occupation, were an aristocracy who took possession of the soil,
while the freemen, who, with their consent, settled in their landnam
(the territory which they had taken), held only a secondary title.
The chieftains generally built a temple (hov) near their home, and
the people in the surrounding district became in religiouš matters
a sort of congregation, with the hov as a center. The chieftain was
priest, and managed, also, the administration of laws and public
affairs. He w^as called gode (godi), and his office (godord) was heredi-
tary. It corresponded to that of herse in Norway, and it is probable
that the title of gode had also been used there. There were thirty-
nine godord, or chieftains with ränk of gode, in Iceland, and as no
general government yet existed, the country was a collection "of
independent settlements. Each locality had its own laws, borrowed,
no doubt, from the settlers' home district in Xorway. But the neces-
sity soon made itself felt of häving a tliing, or general government,
where disputes might be settled. Thorstein Ingolvsson established the
fhing at Kjalarnes, which became a general court for many districts,
but it was of little avail, as there existed no uniform system of laws.
In 927 a man by the name of Ulvljot was sent to Norway to study
the Norwegian laws. Aided by his unele Thorleiv Spake, he pre-
1 Landndmabok, part V., eh. 1.

ICELAND 141

pared a code based on the "Gulathingslov," and returned to Iceland
in 930. A general thing for all Iceland, the Althing (O. N. Allsher-
jar|>ing), was now established, and ülvljot's laws were adopted.
This thing should meet every year at midsummer at pingvellir, near
the mouth of the river Pxara, in southern Iceland, for a perlod of
two weeks. The thing consisted, in the beginning, of the goder,
each of whom was accompanied by two men, making in all 108 mem-
bers. Thp Althing was the highp"^ nm^rt r.f jn^f^r.^^ ^^^r] [t dealt
also with the more iTnpnrtflnt qnp^ti^ns; tmir-hing lawmaking mul

general administrfition The power was placed in the hands of the
lagrette, which was chosen by the goder. They also elected a lov-
sigemand (O. N, iQgsggiimadr), who was the head of the lagrette, and
whose duty it was to recite the laws to the assembled thing. This
was of great importance at a time when the laws were not yet written,
or read by the people in general.^ The lovsigemand was elected for
iife, and his office was the highest in the country. He presided over
the thing, but had no administrative functions. Thp ronntry ^ao.
divided into four dist.ricts, nr qn^rfp^^^j ^nrh with its own thing,
fjoföungsping, and twelve minor thing districts were established,
each häving three goder. The northern digtrict, or fjordung, had
four thing districts, making in all thirty-nine godord. The island
had now become an organized state — a sort of federal repiiblic
with a central government created through election, but exercising
very limited power, the greatest possible autonomy being retained
by the local communities.

The fact that the early settlers''in Iceland made King Harald Haar-
fagre the arbitrator in so important a question as the proper distri-
bution of land shows that, although they had left Norway because
of his tyranny, they stiil had confidence in his good judgment and
sense of justice. They soon felt their dependence on the mother
country, and sought to maintain close relations with it. They seem
to have come to a friendly understanding with Harald, who was,
evidently , planning to extend his authority over Jreland. It appears

1 Konrad Maurer, Island von seiner ersten Entdeckung bis zum Untergang
des Freistaats.

The oid leelandic laws have been preserved in a codex called Grdgäs,
published by the Nordiske Literatur-Samfund in the series Nordiske Oid-
skrifter, Copenhagen, 1855.

142 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

that they agreed to pay him the five 0re tax {land^re) once for all
for the privilege of coming and going between Iceland and Norway,
and they probably acknowledged him as their overlord. Jn retnrn
for this, Harald granted thegijthe riglit of self-government, and, alsio^
the right of citizenship in Norwav. (When they came back to the
mother country, they had the haulds-right (the right of a storhonde,
or landed proprietor). They could jõin the king's hird; they could
own and inherit property in Norway, and could bring suits in the
Norwegian courfli Norway had become not only a united king-
dom, but, in fact, an empire with extensive colonial possessions,
including, besides the island groups mentioned, also Finmarken
and Iceland ; and later the Hebrides, Greenland, and Jsemtland were
also added. The people in the colonies felt themselves united with
the mother country, not only by the strong ties of kinship, language,
laws, and customs, but also through commercial and economic
interests, and by the privileges which were stiil theirs in the oid home.
They were stiil citizens of Norway, and took pride in recognizing
the king and his court as the center of national life. The king came
to be regarded by the colonists as the preserver of the strength and
continuity of the whole Norwegian people. They felt how closely
their life and history were bound up with that of the mother country,
and the most complete history of the kings of Norway has been written
by the Icelanders. The thriving colonies in Ireland, Scotland, and
France must also be regarded as belonging to this " Greater Norway."
The story of the Norwegian colonial empire forms, indeed, an in-
structive as w^ell as an interesting chapter in colonial history.

26. Finmarken ^.^

The Norsemen had, from early times, occasionally visited ^Fin-
marken_to trade with the Finns, and to fish and hunt along the coast,
but littlp wfls known about the region till Ohthprp pvplnrpd it in
King Harald Haarfncrrp'^ timp Jn 880 Ohtliprc went to England,.
3'here he joined King Alfred 's court. ^e gave the English king,
who was much interested in history and geographv. an account of
his voyage around the North Cape, and his exploration of Finland
and Bjarmeland (the land of the PermiaiT?>. \Mien Alfred trans-

FINMARKEN 143

Ifltec^rosiiis' Viistnry nf fhe. worlH/ he. aMex] a. fnller rlpsmptinn of
JhJT£^pr>imtriVs of nortViprn Knrnpp tn thk nIH fliitlinr'^ srant and vagiift.
notices. and includpH ahn Ohthprp's arponnt nf his pvplnrntinns in
tlip far Nnrtli, rs well as the afpmint givpn hy thp DqnisVi nr Frirrli-ih
seafarer Wulfstan (Ulvsten) of his vovages in the Rnltir Sea. The
countries around the Baltic were qiiite well known already at that
time, but Qhthere's voyage is of extraordinary interest and impor-
tance. being ^^"«^ ^^^^ vnyagp nf PYplQrRtinn info the arptip rpginns.
King Alfred savs in part :

"Õhthere said to his lord King Alfred that he dwelt farthest north
of all Norsemen. He said that he dwelt on the northward side of
the land by the western ocean. He said that the land stretched
thence far to the northward, but it was all desolate, except in a few
places where the Finns dwell in scattered groups, hunting in the
summer and fishing in the winter in the ocean. He said that at
one time he wished to find out how far the land extended northward,
or if any people dwelt north of this desolate region. He sailed
then northward along the land, so that he had the waste on the star-
board, and the open sea on the larboard for three days. He was
then as far north as the whalers ever go. He continue^ on his north-
ward course as far as he could sail in three more days. There the
land turned to the east,^ or a bay projected into the land, he did not
know which, but he knew that he there awaited wind from the west, or
a little to the north, and he followed the land eastward as far as he
could sail in four days. There he had to await winds from the north,
because the shore turned southward, or a bay projected into the

^ Paulus Orosius, a Christian presbyter, born in Spain in 390, wrote a
work Historiarum Adversus Paganos, Libri VII., in whieli he narrates the
history of mankind from the creation of the world till 417 a.d., giving what
brief notices he can of the countries which the Romans knew. He shows
little knowledge, and emphasizes strongly the misery of the world in pagan
times.

2 P. A. Muneh has diseussed Finniarken's political and commereial rela-
tions with Norway from the earliest times in Annaler for nordisk Oldkyn-
dighed og Historie, 1860, p. 336. Õhthere's aecount is found in Jacobus
Langebek's Scriptores Remtn Danicarum., vol. II., p. 106 ff. A. Halvorsen,
Billederav Livet i Finmarken i Fortid og Nutid, 1911. Axel Magnus, Samlinger
til Finmarkens Historie, 1889. Knud Leem, Beskrivelse over Finmarkens
Lapper.

144 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

land, he did not know which.^ He then sailed straight sniithward
as far as he coiild sail for five days, and came to a big river ; - and
they sailed up the river, becaiise they did not dare to sail past the
river along the coast for fear of enemies, because the land was all
inhabited on the other side of the river. He had not before found
inhabited country since he left his own land. But all the time he
had had on the starboard a waste, except some fishermen, fowlers,
and hunters, and these were all Finns. The Permians (N. Bjarmer)
had built their land well, but thither they did not dare to go. But
the land of the Terfinns was a waste, except where hunters, fisher-
men, and fowlers were staying. The Permians toid him much, both
about their own and neighboring lands, but he did not know what
was true, for he had not himself seen these lands. ^is chief object
in making the voyage, besides exploring th<^ mnntryj was to find

walnis^ berp,1]se tlip^sp animak lia-^-p ^-pry prppimig t<:'pf]T- (nf wliinVi

he brought the king_a_fewXi_and their skin is very good for ship ropeg^
This whale is much smaller than other whales, for it is not above seven
ells ^ lõng. But in his own country is the best whale fishery ; there
are whales which are forty-eight ells, and the largest are fifty ells.
Of these he said he could kill sixty in two days with a crew of five men.
" He was very rich in the kind of property which constitutes their
wealth, that is, in reindeer. ^Mien he came to the king, he owned six
hundred tame animals; six of these were decoy animals. These
are very dear among the Finns, for with them they catch the wild
reindeer. He was among the foremost men in his country, stiil
he had no more than twenty cows, twenty sheep, and twenty swine,
and what little he plowed he plowed with horses. But their most
precious possession was the tax paid them by the Finns. This
tribute consisted of robes, feathers, whalebone, and ship ropes made
of walrus hide or of sealskin. Each pays according to his ränk.
The person of the highest ränk must pay fifteen marten skins, five
reindeer robes, one bear skin, and ten ambra of feathers, and a mantle
of bear skin or of otter skin, and two ship ropes, each sixty ells
lõng, either of walrus hide or of sealskin."

1 He had now rounded the North Cape and had reached the White Sea.
' The Dvina. The people dwelHng on the other side of the river were the
Permians (Bjarmer). ' O. N. gln, piu. alnir.

NORMANDY AND THE NORMANS 145

Tbis P^^^^mt '.ilinw^ tliat fhp Nnrspmpn f>flrripf] on a. lllPrativp tradp

m these northern reo;ions, and that Finland had in part become a

^ Norwegian dependenpy, sinpp tVip Finn^ luid to pa.y fl. yparly t.rihiite.

^From Harald Haarfagre's time this trade became a roval monopoly

Jwhich the king granted to his sysselvKBnd in Haalogalanž 0]itliprp's

voyage opened a new trade route to the land of the Permians (fa.lled

Bjarmeland by the Norsemen), which was one of the centers of the

fur trade of the North. /Äbout 965, King Harald Graafeld made an /

expedition to the land of the Permians, and fought a battle with

them on the banks of the Dvina, and from that time the whole of

Finland and the Kola pf^ninsiiilfl. wprp nndpr Mnrwpgian ri^ The ,

fur trade with Finland and the Permians continued till in the thir- /
teenth centnry. I

27. NORMANDY AND THE NORMANS

The great Viking army, consisting chiefly of Danes, which had
harried the Netherlands and the region about the Seine in northern
France, suffered a great defeat in 891, and left France for England.
In 896 it was again defeated by Alfred the Great, and a large part
of the army disban^ed and settled in East Anglia and Northumbria,
^small banc^jTeturn^a to the mouth of the Seine ; this was constantly
joined by other Viking forces, an^ a new army of in väsi on was soon
formed, of which the Viking chieitain Rollo, or Rolv (Gange-Rol v) ,
became_the leader some time before 911. He was defeated in a
campaign against Chartres, but the army was held ready for a new
attack at any favorable moment. ,The king of France, Charles HI.,

also oalledjTJTarles the Simplp^ wa^^ fdr^ s^^-ply trnnblpH by rpbp.llir>u&-
_npbles to bring; an pfjRpjpnt forpp into thp, fipld ngainst the Vikings
^e probabl}^ pursued the best plan possible under the circumstances
when iiei)fferedJloIy a large tract in northern France. and the hand,
of his dRHghi^pr .Gi^a_ir TTiprrlggP^ on condition that he should
swear fealty to the king of Fr^jicü and ,£mlirace Christinnit}?. _Rnlv.
accepted the offer, and in 911 a treaty was concluded at Claire-sur-
Epte hy which he received the territory between the_river Epte
and the sea, a grant_which the Norsemen interpreted to mean the
lands betweeiLthe Somme and the borders of Biittan^ £n the fol-

146 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

lowing year Rolv was baptize^. T^^^ tract embrRoed in this new
duchy of Normandy b«H been dpji-ü.state<i4w-repoQtod Vildnf incur-

the energy and talent for orp;anization characteristio n£-th£_yikings.
joon estabHsIiür] penre ^^'^ r^ilQg-in 1n'a dr.m4i°r4frTT^ The Innd was_
parceled out among his followers, serfdom disappeared here a couple
of centuries earlier than in the rest of Fra^ce^^agriculture began to,
floürish, and the population increased JrapidlyJ^ Th£-_clties were
rgbnilt., and t.radf anri rnmnriprpp dpvploppH ns never before. sr> that
.Rouen, the capital of the D£tmiKi£,_ -soqh- became one of the-great
eonimerciaj_centers_of_i3^rth£m F.nrnpp. [Rolv established the laws
used in the Viking settlements elsewhere, and these were felt to be
so.wise«and equitable that-he wjsis called the_great lawgiver/|_He_

was harsh, but justJand b''^ rpiVn wn^i Inng rpTTipmbprpd a,s a, ppxlod
of prosperity anrl ppapp He seems to have possessed the resolute
will, the energy, and talent for government which characterized his
descendants, the illustrious race of Norman dukes, kings, and cru-
saders. The story is toid that the bishop requested Rolv to kiss
the king's foot in token of his gratitude for häving received so great
a gif t. But he answered : " Never will I bend the knee before the
knees of any, and I will kiss the foot of none." He ordered one of
his followers to kiss the king's foot, but the man did it so awkwardly
that the king fell backward, and great merriment resulted.
"^ ^he question as to Rolv's (O. N. Hrolfr), or Rollo's identity,
whether he was a Dane or a Norseman, has been much discussed
by historians and scholars in the North, ever since the sixteenth
centuryl The earliest account of Rolv and the dukes of Normandy
is n_j:nrk wrilfpn bv Dudo of St. Quintin.^ completed ^bn^it. lOln.
Dudo says that Rollo's father was a great chieftain iii_üacLa-who had

^ See Leopold Delisle, Etude sur la Condüion de la Classe Agricole et VEtat
de r Agriculture en Normandie.

2 Dudonis S. Quintini Decani, De Moribus et Actes Normannorum, found
in Duchesnius' Historiae N ormannorum Scriptores Antiqui. Waee's rhymed
ehroniele, Le Roman de Rou, and Benoit de Sainte More's La Chronique des
Ducs de Normandie, follow Dudo's aeeount.

In the sägas, the Norman dukes are called Rudejarls (from Ruda =
Rouen). Chronicon de Gestis Norvmnnorum in Francia, Jacobus Langebek,
Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, torn. II.

NORMANDY AND THE NORMANS 147

never bent his knee before a king, therefore, the king hated him, and
at his death attacked his dominions and his two sons Rollo and Gorm.
Rollo had to flee, and went first to the island of Scandza (Scandinavia).
Later he came to England and Friesland, and, finally, to France.
Later Danish historians, as Worsaae,^ Fabricius,^ and, especially,
Steenstrup,^ have sought to prove that Dacia is the same as Denmark,
that Rollo was a Dane, and that he is not the same person as Rolv,
or Gange-Rolv.^ The Norse sägas have preserved another tradi-
tion, according to which Rolv, or Rollo, was a Norwegian, the son
of Ragnvald M0rejarl, the friend of King Harald Haarfagre. The
"Fagrskinna" ^ says : "Gange-Rolv Jarl was the son of Ragnvald
M0rejarl, and a brother of Jarl Thore Tegjande, and of Torv-Einar
in the Orkneys." "Harald Haarfagre'-s Säga" in the "Heinls-
kringla" ^ says that Ragnvald M0rejarl had the sons Rolv and Thore
with his wife Hiid. Biit he had also some bastard sons, among them
Torv-Einar. y grjjvjwas_a great Viking, and was sojng that noJiorse.
,could carry him. and hg was, therefore, ealled Gange-Rolv (Rolv
the WalkeT)7.* One summer, coming from a Viking expedition in the
East, he ravaged a district in Viken (the district aroiind the Chris-
tianiafjord). This aroused King Harald's wrath, and he banished
him. Rolv then went to the Hebrides (Sudreyjar), 'and thence
to northern France (Valland), where he won for himself a great jarl-
dom, since ealled Normandy. Fiom him descended the dnkes of

The Norwegian historians P^ A. Muneh, E. Sars, and, especially,
G. Storm and Alexander Bugge, uphold the account of Rolv given
in the sägas, and maintain that it must be accepted as true in its
main features.'' <Chey have shown that Dudo is very unreliable,
that he considers Dacia to be the Dacia of the ancients, and that he
uses Daci as a name to designate both Danes and Norsemeöv It is

1 Den danske Erobring af England og Normandi.

2 Danske Minder i Normandiet. ^ Normannerne.

^ This view has also been taken by Walter Vogel in his work Die Nor-
mannen und das fränkische Reich, 1906. ^ Fagrskinna, 142-143.

® Heimskringla, Harald Haarfagre's Säga, eh. 24. Also Laxd^lasaga,
eh. 32.

^ The same view is held by Sophus Bugge, Konrad Maurer, and Finnur
Jonsson.

148 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

also noteworthy that Rolv, or Rollo, is not mentioned by Saxo
Grammaticus, or any other oid Danish writer. Alexander Biigge,
who has lately published the results of his thorough researches
touching this question, makes the significant remark that the trouble
has been that in the discussion of the question the two accounts
ha\'^e been placed over against each other, and the question has been,
"which one is true?" whereas the effort must be made to explain
both in the hght of Viking history. This he has done with a hicidity
and thoroughness which leaves httle doubt that Rolv and Rollo
aj-e the same person, and that the first duke of Normandy was the
Rolv, or Gange-Rolv, the son of Ragnvald M0rejarl, spoken of in
the sägas. That Rolv and Rollo are the same name cannot be
doubted, says Bugge. William the Conqueror's standard-bearer
in the battle of Hastings was called Turstinus (Torstein), son of
Rollo, and he is also called Turstinus, son of Rolv (fihus Rolv).
Rollo is also called Roius. Bugge shows that the Xorsemen founded
colonies in the island of Noirmoutier, and in the region by the
mouth of the Loire in western France. This is also admitted by
Steenstrup.^ Hasting, son of Atle Jarl of Fjalafylke, in southern
Norway, has already been mentioned as the great chief of the Loire
Vikings and the leader of the expedition against Rome. Dudo de-
votes the first book of his chronicle to Hasting, and describes him
as the one who began the conquest of Normandy. The chronicler

1 Alexander Bugge, Gange-Rolv og Erobringen av N ormandie, Historisk
Tidsskrijt, femte raekke, vol. I., p. 160 flf.

Morgenbladet, March 25, 1911, Gange-Rolv og Erobringen av N ormandie,
Alexander Bugge; also Morgenbladet, April 4, 1911, Bugge. Lecture by
Professor Ebbe Hertzberg of the Library of I*ublic Documents, before the
Historical Soeiety, Christiania, March 30, 1911.

Bugge cites an interview in Berlingske Tidende, in which Steenstrup
says: "We Danes also know that when Normandy fell under Danish ruie
it was because the Norsemen had attacked the Frankdsh kingdom, especially
from the Loire region, so that finally the Franldsh king was compelled to
cede the Seine province to the Danes 'as a protection for the kingdom,' as
it was termed."

That the Vikings on Noirmoutier and the Loire were Norsemen is seen
also from a Viking grave recently found on the island of Groix, near the south
eoast of Brittany. Among other relics found were the remains of a boat in
which the person had been buried. The archajologist G. Gustafson-has shown
that this mode of burial was practised by the Norsemen, but that it was
unknown in Denmark.

NORMANDY AND THE NORMANS 149

Adamar of Chabannais (988-1030) also makes it appear that the
conquest of Normandy was begun by the Loire Vikings, first under
Baard, and later under Hasting. William of Malmesbury/ who
wrote about 1120, mentions J[asting, and after him^JR-olIo, ^s the^
leaders of the Vikings who conquered Normandy. /He says that the
leadersof the Normans were "first Hasting, and, soon after, Rollo, who
descended from a noble family among the Norseme"q/; but its name
had in course of time been forgotten ; he was outlawed at the king's
eommand, and left his native country with many who were outlawed
and in debt, and who had joined him in the hope of better times.
This account, written before Snorre's "Heimskringla," or the "Fagr-
skinna," agrees with the säga narrative. _After the defeat in 891,
the "Great Army" left France for England, as has already been
stated. That Hasting and the Norse Vikings also joined it on this
expedition seems certain, for shortly afterwards Hasting is found
fighting in England against Alfred the Great, who finally defeated
the whole Viking army in 896. The greater part of the army then
disbanded, but a part returned to France. This part consisted of
the Norsemen under Hasting. The Oid English St. Neots' chronicle,
written in the twelfth century, but based on stiil older Frankish annals
which have been lost, states that Hasting sailed across the sea " with-
out gain and without honor," and, after häving lost many of his
followers, he reached the mouth of the Seine. After Hasting one
by the name of Hundeus, or Huncdeus, became leader of these Vi-
kings at the mouth of the Seine. Sophus Bugge has shown that
Hundeus is the very rare name Huntjov (O. N. Hunl>j6fr), found in
Norway, but not in Denmark. He seems to have been a relative
of the King Huntjov of Nordm0r, who fought the battle of Solskjel
against King Harald Haarfagre. The Frankish king, Charles the
Simple, negotiated with Hundeus and his Vikings, and in 897 an
armistice was concluded, and the Vildngs went into winter quarters
at the movith of the Loire. Tliis shows that they came from the
Loire colonies, and that they were Norsemen. In 910 Rollo appeared
as the leader of the Vikings at the mouth of the Seine, and the fol-
lowing year King Charles the Simple ceded to him the district which

^ An early English historian. His principal work is De Gestis Regum An-
glorum, a history of the kings of England from the Saxon invasion till 1127.

150 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

was later called Normandy.^ Professor Bugge shows that it is a
Norman as well as a Norse tradition that Rollo was a Norseman.
frlif^ Oid Kn,"lisli laws. known as the laws of Edward the Confessor^^
state that " King Wilham the Conqueror said that the ancestors of
nearly all the Norman barons came from Norwa?." These laws
were written in 1130, and the words quoted show that the Norman
kings regarded themselves as descendants of the Norsemen. All
scholars agree that the Danes settled in Normandy in great numbers,
biit they seem to have arrived after the conquest was completed.^
Gustav Storm has shown that the oid Danish writers have not pre-
served a single tradition about the colonization of Normandy by
the Danes, but that the Roskilde Chronicle states that Nordmanni
plundered Gaul, and that for fear of them King Charles of Francia
granted them lands to inhabit which they stiil possess. |A.nd Ebbe
Hertzberg states that if the colonists in Normandy had been Danes,
they would not have called thpmciplvp^ >:nrmflr|g;, or_J^orthmen,
but Dane^.^

When Rolv died in Q31 . he was succeeded by hi^ '^^ti ^yv^illiflm T.nng-
£wt>|t|, who hnd bppn rpprpH in the Cli risti nn fpiith by his Frendi.
mother. Paganism jv.as disappearing m^ormandv^ ^ough many
of the settlers stiil clung to the faith and customs of their ancestojž.
The Ba\'eii\' distrirt. which had been settled almost exclusively
by the followers of Rolv, and by later emigrants from Scandinavia,

was, especiallv, a NorS_e rpntpr. TIip p^npTp nf fhk rlic^tript rptainpH

their Norse speech and mltnrp for mnny irpnpr-atinns. (They used
oid pagan devices on their shields, and in going into battle they would
raise the oid warcry, "Thor aicl^" William T.ongsword','^ "^^p and

SUCCeSSOr was Richard the Fearless, wVin^p f^anglitpr Emmn. marripd
King Knut the Great of TlpnmarV ^nH F.nglnnrl i'n 1017 Hio OOU,

"• The name Normanchj eame into use about the year 1000. It is found in
an oid document from 1025.

2 Professor Fridtjof Nansen has shown quite eonclusively in a spirited
diseussion with Professor Steenstrup that whale fishery was carried on by
the Normans on the coasts of Normandy in the same manner as along the
coast of Norway, and that the methods and teehnieal expressions used by
the Normans were distinctly Norwegian. See Nationaltidende, April 24 and
29, 191 i. Tidens Tegn, April 29, 1911.

* Ebbe Hertzberg, Traditionen om Gange-Rolf, Historisk Tidsskrift, femte
rsekke, vol. I., p. 197 flf.

NORMANDY AND THE NORMANS 151

Duke Richard IIL, aiso r'fl]lpH T^iVhnH ^^^^^ Crt^nt]^ was WjHiam tViP
rVmqiipj-or'^ granHfatVipr ^metime before the conquest of Nor-
mandy the Vikings had settled in the Channel Islands; Jersey,
Guernsey, Chansey, and Alderney, the only islands on the French
coast which stiil have the Nors<^ fprmniatmn py (islaiiH). ^les
Lair ^ has shown that Rolv received from the king of France the

whole of present Normandy, and tlmt Rrittany hppamp n rlpppnrlpn^^y
under the overlordship of t^^ Xnrmnn rJnl-PÕj Before many genera,-|
tions had passed, the Viking settlers Rcrepted ChriRtinnity, nnH witl
it the French language and Christian oultnre;- but their names, botl
personal and geographical, stiil showed their Northern origin, am
many of these are stiil in use.^ Their laws and sor-ial instifntiong;
were lõng preserved. They introdnced intn Normanrly tlipir nwn
system of private ownership of land, nnd fpiirlnli^m wgg nr>t pgf^K-
lished there till in the eleventh centnry. Here. ns in tlip Vnrfli^ thg-
laws were unwritten. ^Oecisions were made according to common
practice, which was proclaimed at the thing by a crie^ (lovsigemand) .
These oid law^s were collected in le Vieux or le Grand Coutumier, in

J^7n-128Q, Thev were in vise till in tlip <^ivtppnt}i ppntury wVipn

thev werp, in grpnt ppirfj rpplnpprj hy thp Roman law^ Both in

spirit and in appearance the Normans retained their Northern traits,
which even at the present time characterize the people of Normandy.^^
They were tall and well built, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Fre-
quently over-jealous of their own personal independence and honor,
they were often quarrelsome, revengeful, and hard to govern ; but
they were honest and hospitable, loved adventure, and excelled in

1 Lair, Etude sur Dudon, p. 58.

^ As examples may be mentioned the names of the eities : Quettevüle,
Teurteville, Toqueville, Tourgeville, Toutainvüle, Tremauville, Trouville, and
Turquevüle. According to oid documents the older forms were : Kelüsvüla,
T orquetelvilla, TokeviUa, Turgisvilla, Turstenivilla, Tormotvilla, Turulfivilla,
and Torclevilla, from the personal names Ketil, Torketil, Tõke, Torgils, Tor-
stein, Tormod, Torolf, and Torldl. Worsaae, Den danske Erobring aj Eng-
land og Normandiet, p. 179.

2 "If one, on lea-ving Paris, suddenly finds himself, after a few hoiirs' ride
on the train, in the middle of Normandy, he will be surprised to see the
remarkable ehange in the racial type, and to see the Northern traits so prom-
inent in these strong, well-built, blonde, and blue-eyed people." Fabrieius,
Danske Minder i Normandiet, p. 156. See also Amelie Bosquet, Normandie
ülustree, and Worsaae, Den danske Erobring af England og Normandiet.

152 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ship-building.* JVeither Cliristianity nor tlieir own linmps in pleasant
and fertile Normandy could eradicate their hent fnr war nnH trn.vpL
[Trading cxpeditions and pilgrimages to the Holv Land ofFered oppor-
tunities for some diversion of this kind, till the orusadps, knight.-
errantry, and a new series of conquosts madp tVn^ f>]d ^pirit blaza
forth in new martial achievemen"til In 10113 jprty tall and händ-:
some NormarL^ilgrims retnrning fr^m P^^l^v-tmn Innrlnrl in rafurÜL^gn-

Ttflly, whpFP thp Hrppl'^ and T.nmhards wprp fighting^ and whprp
the Arah^^ who had conquered Sicily, were plundering. The Vi-
kvnp_pilgrinisi helpod Gaimar of Snlerno to drive the Arahs qwa y frnm
his dominions. j^Tien he learned that these brave men were from
Normandy, he sent messengers to induce more Norman warriors to
come to Italy. Soon well-equipped fleets were headed for southern
Italy, where new fields were found for warlike enterpri^. The
Normans gained permanent foothold by taking a castle in the swamps
of Campania, and, also, the castle AyersaJacj!^nia,n n a.>- Soon the
TOJTolpjnj^Apiilia nnd Calabria wn^! in their hands and Sirily ^as-alsQ
lakea. "^hey also extended their conquests to the shores across
the Adriatic. _IiLJi}S2JlQbert GuiscardJx^ik,ajMge^art^ Albamay.
and his son, Bohemund, continued the conquešj/.^ Many of the
chieftains fighting in southern Italy had Norse names ; as, Asmund
Drengot, Anqvetil, Rolf, Thorstein, and Stig. .WiUiam-Iron Arm,-.

One of Tancred of Hautevillp'^ twp]^ra-^:ca:wa^ hpi^gmp Tonnt nf ¥pnns^^a■

and.Apulia*jiiLlM2^ and_Roger,_aLnot,her son, berame juleiLof_Sibily^
William's successors were his three brothers: Drogo (1046), Hum-
phrey (1051), and Robert Guiscard (1057). These warrior knights,
and others of their kind, like William the Conqueror, and the great
crusaders, Robert of Normandy, Bohemund of Tarent, and his
nephew Tancred, were types of Norman knights of the eleventh
century. Also in Norman literature the oid Viking spirit continued

1 Many Norse loan-words in French na vai terminology bear witness to the
influence exerted by the Norsemen on the na vai development of France :
bateau (bätr), esturman (styrimaSr), esneque (snekkja), matelot (mgtunautr
= a comrade), ete.

^Colonel H. Angell writes in Aftenposten of Nov. 26, 1912, in a eorre-
spondenee from Albania : " In the public library at Podgoritza I found in an
Italian book much about the history of the city under the Normans. The
city, Uke the whole Albanian coast, was at one time in their hands."

NORSE COLONIES IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 153

to Iive and express itself, especially in the historic, epic romances
of the trouvers, the somber and ponderous chansons de gestes, in which,
as in the sägas and the scaldic songs, great events and heroic deeds
form the great theme.

28. The Norse Colonies in Great Britain and Ireland

The defeat and death of Olav the White, and the unification of
Norway after the battle in the Hafrsfjord in 872, weakened the Vi-
king power in the West. If recruited only in the colonies, their
armies could not lõng maintain their oid efficiency. Hitherto they
had depended on the mother country for the siipply of new forces,
but these could not easily be obtained after the whole country was
once united under King HaraWs ruie. The peoples in whose coun-
tries the Norsemen were such unwelcome visitors had also learned
many valuable lessons in ship-building and military tactics during
a hundred years of almost incessant warfare. They were now able
to put well-equipped and organized armies in the field against the
Vikings, who were the more vulnerable because they had occupied
large districts where they now dwelt in permanently established
homes. Henceforth their campaigns would require defensive, as
well as offensive, tactics.

Olav the White, son of the king of Vestfold in Norway, came to
Ireland in 853, where he became king of the Vikings. The struggle
between the Norsemen and the Danes in the colonies, which had
begun in 848, was stiil going on, but when Ivar Boneless. the son
of the Danish Viking chieftain Ragnar Lodbrok. soon after arrived
in Ireland, he and Olav became friends and allies, and peace was
made between the Danes and the Norsemen in 856. The two kings
coöperated both in Ireland and in Scotland, and we are toid that in
870-871 they returned together from a campaign in England, Scot-
land, and Wales with a fleet of 200 vessels, and with many prisoners
of war. When Olav died on his expedition to Norway in 872, Ivar
continued to ruie as king of Ireland, together with 01av's son Ey-
stein.^ Ivar died in 873, and Eystein, who was yet young, became

1 It has been held that Ivar was a brother of Olav, but Alexander Bugge
holds that he was Ivar Boneless, the son of Ragnar Lodbrok. Alexander
Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I., 2, p. 292.

154 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

king under the giiardianship of the Norse Viking chieftain Baard
Jarl. ©jblin was now attacked hyJHalvdiin. another son of Ragnar
Lodbrok, who has already been mentioned as the fonnder of the king^^
dom_jiL-Yark,-iit^S^ After häving ruled in York about a year, he
was exi)elled by his own subjects, and he sought to mend his fortunes
by gaining possession of his brother's throne at DubHn. The young
King Eystein was treacherously murdered, and the fight between
Norsemen and Danes was renewed, in which also Halvdan lost his
life in 877. Ten years later the sons of Ivar Boneless had gained
control of Dublin, but ceaseless strife had so far weakened both
factions that in 902 King Cerbalh of Leinster attacked and captured
the city. The Viking power in Ireland was for a time overthrown, and
many Xorsemen emigrated to Cumberland and Northumbria.

In 914 the Vikings begn.n a new conquest of Ireland ; both Norse-
men and Danes now united under new leaders, Ragnvald and Sig-
trygg, of the family of Ivar Boneless, and the Norse jarls Baard and
Ottar. A great fleet under Ragnvald and Ottar came to Waterford
(O. N. VeSrafjgrdr), and, in the battle of Cennfuait, which took place
soon after, the united forces of the kings of Älunster and Leinster,
and King Niall, high-king of Ireland, were completely defeated;
even the nrfhbii^hnp of Armagh was among the slain. Another
army was led by King Sigtrygg against Dublin. In 919 a decisive
battle was fought at Cilmashogue. The Irish army was defeated,
the high-king, Niall, fell, and the Vikings again seized Dublin, and
reestablished their control over the districts which they had before
held. In Limerick another Viking, kingdom arose, with Baard Jarl
and his sons as riders.

The Dublin dynasty became rulers also over the kingdom of York.
While Sigtrygg became king of Dublin, Ragnvald succeeded to the
Yorkish throne. In 912 he conquered Bernecia and the northern
part of Northumbria. In 920 Sigtrygg left Dublin on a Viking
expedition to southern England. On the death of Ragnvald, which
probably occurred in 921, he was made king of York. Sigtrygg's
two sons were Gudr0d ^ and Qjnv Kvanm.n (thp ^nnHnl). Gudr0d
ruled as king of Dublin till 934, and was succeeded, first by his son
Olav Gudr0dsson, and later by a second son, Blakar. But more
1 This name is written also Godred, Godfred, Gothfraid.

FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF YORK 155

famous than all of them was Olav Kvaaran, opp of thp most. mn-

SpicUOUS and romant^'" fignrp^- in Viking hintnpy

29. The Fall of the Kingdom of York

The last four years of King Alfred the Great's reign (887-900)
seem to have been peaceful. The "Great Army" had disbanded,
Hasting had retired into France, and the Vikings showed no disposi-
tion to renew their attacks on Wessex. When King Alfred died,
his son Edward was chosen king by the Witan, but ^thelwald, a
son of Alfred's elder brother vEthelred, attempted to make good his
claim to the throne. He was unable to cope with Edward, but fled
to York, where he was hailed as king. This meant a renewal. of
war between the Danelag and the king of Wessex. King ^thelwald
came southward to Essex with a large Northumbrian fleet, and was
joined by the Danes of East Anglia under their king, Eirik. Mercia
was ravaged, and the combined forces crossed the Thames into Wilt-
shire, in Wessex. In the meantime Edward had marched north-
ward, and attacked the Danish settlements. This compelled yEthel-
wald to return to defend his own dominions. A battle was soon
fought, in which ^Ethelwald and Eirik both fell, and a treaty of peace
terminated the war in 903. In 910 hostilities were renewed, and
Edward and his sister yEthelflsed undertook to conquer the whole
Danelag. The building of fortified strongholds, or burghs, which
had been introduced by the Vikings, became a great feature in this
war. iEthelflagd built a number of burghs along the borders, and
the conquest was pushed steadily forward. By 919, the chronicle
tells us. King Edward was acknowledged as overlord by King Ragn-
vald of York, by Donald, king of the Welsh iil Strathchlyde, by
Ealdred of Bamborough, and even by Constantine, king of the
Scots. Whether these kings really submitted to Edward may well
be doubted, but Mercia was joined permanently to Edward's pos-
sessions. Edward died in 924, and was succeeded by his son ^thel-
stan, then over thirty years of age. King Sigtrygg of York acknowl-
edged himself the vassal of the new king, and received his sister in
marriage, but he died the following year, and ^Ethelstan formally
annexed Northumbria. The kings of Strathchlyde and Scotland

156 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

aad many princes of Wales submitted to ^Ethelstan, who now called
liimself Re.v totius Britanniae. Olnv Tvvnnran, the son of King Sig-

trygg, who had bccm^bung in Spntlflnd.jlfinnpd id rpnptnra Viis--

father's kingdüx£t4 JTe gathererl a large armament from all parts of
the Viking dominions for nn ntfnr-k- nn iMnrffiumhnn His father-
in-law, King Constantine III. of Scotland, joined him, Olav Gud-
r0dsson of Dublin came with a large fleet ; Clrom the Orkneys, the
Hebrides, and even from Brittany forces were gathere<l. In 937 he
sailed up the Ilumber with a large fleet, and captured York. But
King ^^EthdütaiL and his half-brother Edmund also gathered their
forces, and many Norse Vikings joined the standards of the English
king; among others, the great scald Egil Skallagrimsson from Ice-
land, and his brother Thoralv.^ The latter fell in the great combat
which Egil has described in his songs. The armies met at-^runan—
Jinrlyor Vinheid, as Egil calls it, and here was fought one of the most
renowned battles in Viking times. Efoni morning till evening the
bloody struggle lasted. Five kings and seven Viking jaris are said
to have fallen. King ^thelstan was finally victorioü^. Olav
Gudr0dsson of Dublin fled back to Ireland with the remnant of his
army, and King Constantine returned to Scotland. An oid English
poet has described the battle in a well-known oid song.

30. "THE BATTLE OF BRUNANBURH"

" Here King ^Ethelstan, lord of earls,
warriors' ring-giver, and also his brother,
Edward the setheling, life-long glory
gained in battle with the edge of the sword
by Brunanburh. They split the shield wall,
they hewed the war shields with hammered swords,
the sons of Edward ; such was their noble nature
from their ancestors, that they in battle oft
'gainst every foe the land defended,
hoards and homes. . The foe they crushed,

1 The Egilssaga, eh. 40-45 and 54-56, tells how Egil and Thoralv, with 300
men, joined King ^thelstan, and rcndered him important serviee in the
battle. ^thelstan, who was a friend of Iving Harald Haarfagre, seems to
have maintained cordial relations with the Norsemen, probably for the pur-
pose of obtaining their aid in these wars.

FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF YORK 157

the Scots fell and the army of seamen,

märked for death. The field grew slippery

with warriors' blood, from the time that the sun rose

at morning tide, that the glorious star

ghded over the world, God's bright candle,

the etemal Lord's, and until the noble luminary

sank to its setting. There lay many a man

hurt with the sword, Northern warriors,

shot over the shields, and also Scotchmen,

weary of warfare. The West-Saxons

throughout the day, in chosen bands,

pursued eagerly the hated enemy,

hewed from behind the fugitives from battle,

with sharpened swords. The Mereians refused not

the hard händ play with any hero

who with Anlafe (Olav) over the billowy ocean,

on the ships' bosom sought this land,

to meet their death. Five kings

lay dead upon the battlefield,

put to sleep with swords, and, also, seven

of Anlafe's earls, and countless numbers

of Seotch and seamen.^ Put to flight

was the chief of the Northmen, forced by necessity

to seek the ship's prow with a small bänd.

The ship drove afloat : the king departed,

on the dark sea he saved his life.

******

The Northmen departed on their nailed barks,

bloody leavings of the spears, Dublin to seek,

and afterward Ireland, much ashamed."

CDi the battle of Brunanbiirh the power of the kingdom of York was
broke^ iEthelstan died in 940, and was suceeeded by his half-
brother Edmund, who had taken a prominent part in the great
battle. The Vikings rose again in rebellion, and choset Olav Gud-
r0dsson of Dublin king of York. Edmund eonsented to recognize
him as king, but he had to receive baptism, and do homageto Edmund.
His reign was short, as he attacked Bernicia, where he met his death

^ Seamen, or sailors, means Norsemen.

158 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

in 942. The same year Edmiind siibdued the "Five Boroughs," and
annexed them to the Enghsh kingdoin. During the period 890- 920
the Norse Vikings had settled Cumberland, which appears to have
been a sort of vassal state iinder the kings of DubHn and York. It
seems that Edmund attacked Cumberhmd in 944, drove away Olav
Kvaaran, who ruled there, and turned this state over to King Mal-
cohn III. of Scotland. The growing weakness of the Viking colonies,
whieh led to the fail of the kingdom of York, manifested itself also
in Ireland. King Blakar had succeeded his brother Olav Gudr0ds-
son on the throne, but he was driven from Dublin by the Irish king
Congelach. The houses of the Norsemen were plundered, their
property destroyed, and many women and children were carried
into slavery. When Blakar attempted to recapture the city, he
fell, together with a number of his men.

Eher his defeat at ^runanburh Olav Kvaaran led a roving life,
spending some time in Scotland and Cumberland, but he seems to
have returned to Northumbria, and to have ruled there as king of
York from 949 till 95^. This can be seen from a number of coins
hearing the inscription, Anlaf Cununc M., *h Anlaf Cununc, *h Onlaf
Rex, ete. His successor as king of Northumbria was Eirik, no
doubt Eirik Blood-Ax, son of King Harald Haarfagre.^ /Olav
Kvaaran must have been driven away again from Northumbria.
Jn^ 9.^2 he seized Dublin^ wli^rp Vip mnrried an Irish princess, and,
J£lip^':] the Trkli riiiirr-]i He extended his sway over a great part
of Ireland, and ruled till 980, when he was defeated in fhp b^ttjp of
Tara by King iVIaelsechnaill of Tara, in MeatJ. QTd and gray-haired,
he departed from Ireland on a pilgrimage to lona, where he died
as monk in OSJl

/Olav Kvaaran is, in many ways, a t\T)ical representative of the
Viking character of that period. These Vik'''^S ^'i^^g-" did n^t por-^p-.
cute the Christians, but sought to gain the infiuence and good will
of the churcE? flHi religious matters they were generally indifferent,
as they had"^long since ceased to believe in the oid gods, without
ha\'ing acquired the Christian faith and spirit. Christianity had,
however, exercised a great influence upon them. It had softened
their hearts and tempered their fierce spirit. The preparation for
^ Alexander Bugge, Vesterlandenes Indflydelse, p. 283 ff.

CLOSE OF HARALD HAARFAGRE's REIGN 159

their final conversion U>P^$ ^^}^j^3> ^^^^^ ^^^^ '^^^^ made, and dur-
ing t^ie last half of the tenth century most of the colonists seem to
have joined the Christian Churcg.

31. The Last Years of King Harald Haarfagre's Reign

,^PoIvgamy, wViirh was quite common among the Vikings, was
practiced, aiso, by King Harald. 0«ring his lõng life he was married
many times, and, especially in his younger years, he had a number
of wives, and raised a large family of sons and daughteS. The
sägas say that he had_tffi£nty_sons4 the "Historia Norwegiae" says
sixteen. When he became king of all Norway, he wooed Ragnhild,
daughter of King Eirik of Denmark, but she would not marry him
unless he put away his other wives. This he consented to do, and
she became his queen. She bore him the son Eirik, later known as
Eirik Blood-Ax, but died within three years after her marriage.
The story is toid that in his oid age Harald fell in love with a Finnish
maiden, Snefrid, whom he married. He loved her to such a degree
that he neglected his kingdom, and when she died, he sat by her
bierday and night for three years, because her face retained its natural
color and beauty. This story undoubtedly came to Norway from
the British Isles, but Harald must have had a queen by that name,
since Snefrid's sons are historic persons.^

pi 912 Harald ^ssfTnblprl a fhing at Eirlcivnlrl^ where Iie gave \\]9,
j;ons ihe mj?} ^'■>^^^^ anrl dj^i^^^ ^bp whnlp rpalm amnng ih^ry A
couple of years before his death he made his son Eirik Blood-Ax over-
king7 not because he was the oldest, but because he was of royal
WootI also on the mother's side. Bv introducing such a, svstem of
an over-king and several subordinate kings, an arrangement hitherto
wholly unknown in Norway. and clearly an imitntion of CharJp-
magne's and Louis the Pious' plan of succession, King Harald

rlps;frnypfl '\n\^ nwn grpat wnrV Thc Uuitv of the kJUgdom of NorwaV

was sacrificed, and the new principle of pgnal inlipritan^p prnrliinnr|
Jiere, as in the Frankish cmpire, pnHlpgc! ]->1nnfl'iViprl nnA nnnfnninp

1 Halvdan Koht, Harald Haarfagre's Sfinner, Historisk Tidsskrift, fjerde
rjBkke, vol. II., part 2, p. 242. Sophus Bugge, Mythiske Sagn om Halvdan
Svarte og Harald Haarfagre, Arkiv for nordisk Füologi, 1900, p. 1 ff.

160 HISTORY OF TIIE NORVVEGIAN PEOPLE

At the time of his death, the great kinj]j was over eighty years oid.
Are Frode, in the "Islendingabok," says thatlie died in 113ILhut the
year cannot be fixed witli certainty. He was buried at Haugar,
near the present city of Haugesund, in southwestern Norway, and
a great mound was raised over his grave. On this mound a stately
monument was erected in 1872.

32. EiRiK Blood-Ax

fTp ruie suceessfully as nver-king over a number of jealous and-
_ambit.ioiis 1^'ino;'^ nf infprinr rnnl^, who had au equally good elaim
to the throne, would, probably, have been be3'ond the power of the
wisest and most moderate of sovprpigns; for Kirik RIooH-Ay pvpn
a less difficult task might hnvp heev impnc;^^^- The "Fagrskinna"
describes him as follows : " King Eirik was tall and well-built, cour-
ageous and good looking. He v\'as surly and taciturn, covetous and
reckless, but a great and very successful warrior." These are traits
which would be more commendable in a Viking chieftain than in a
king of Norway. He married Gunhild, daughter of King Gorm of
Denmark. The sägas say that she was beautiful and dignified,
though not very tall ; she was cunning, talkative, and evil-minded.^
Tradition has made her a veritable Lady Macbeth in Xorwegian
history ; a crafty and ambitious woman, a daughter of Assur Tote
of Haalogaland, reared among the Finns, who were masters of witch-
craft.^ History places her in a different light. She appears as the
faithful wife and good mother, a gifted and heroic woman, who
clung to her husband in evil days, as in good. She governed her
sons; she was their constant adviser, and kept them united under
all difficulties. So great an influence did she exercise over them
that they were always known as the sons of Gunhild. But it is
more than likely that a woman so gifted and energetic, a princess
of an oid royal family, might be haughty and overbearing as queen of
Norway, and that, when trouble came, she would fight for her throne,
her husband, and her sons with all the intrigues and secret weapons
which she, as woman, could command. Eirik tried to continue the
system of government established by Harald, but his brothers re-

^ Fagrskinna, p. 14. * Heimskringla, Harald Haarfagre's Säga, eh. 33.

EIRIK BLOOD-AX 161

fused to submit to him. Halvdan, king in Tr0ndelagen, severed all
connections with him, and Olav became independent king in Viken.
Halvdan died soon, and people claimed ttiat Queen Gunhild had hired
a sorceress to poison him. He was siicceeded by Sigfr0d, another
son of Harald, who formed an alliance with King Olav againstEirik,
but they were defeated and slain. Sigurd, the son of Jarl Haakon
Grjotgardsson, was now jarl in Tr0ndelagen, residing at Lade. He
did not wish to submittoKing Eirik, but sent for Haakon, a, yoiinger-
son of HarRld^^^iT'7'^^^^T^^i^^^^ Haakon, whn wa° r^^r-^^r] at

the court of King iEthelstan__of__England, is known as Haakon
Ädelstensfostre, and, also, as Haakon the Good. He promised to
restore to the people their right of odel, ix. to do away with that
feature of Harald's system of government which was regarded as
especially oppressive. This aroused the greatest enthusiasm, and
he was hailed as king at the 0rething in Tr0ndelagen. Oplandene
and Viken joined him, and the following spring he advanced south-
ward with a large fleet. fTew remained faithful to the unpopular
Eirik, and he left Norway without even attempting to resist his suc-
cessful rival. Haakon wa^^ madp l^in^;;; nvpr all Nf^rway, and became
the real successor of King Hara!^

After Eirik left Norway, he spent several years on Viking expedi-
tions. The scald Guttorm Sindre says that he was a great sea-king,
who won gold with the sword in Scotland and elsewhere. In 948
he came to Northumbria,^ where he was made king, but the people,
who feared the wrath of King Eadred, the successor of Edmund,
forced him to leave, and chose Olav Kvaaran king. He ruled till
952, when he was driven away, and Eirik again became king of
York. Coins have been found hearing on the front side the inscrip-
tion Ericus Rex, and on the back side the name of the city of York.
These had, evidently, been coined by Eirik while he was king of
York. He extended his sway over a great part of Northumbria,
and it appears that he was baptized, and that he acknowledged
King Eadred as his overlord.

An incident occurred while Eirik ruled at York which gives some

1 The sägas state that he left Norway in 935, two years after King Harald's
death, but this reckoning must be erroneous. See Caühreivi Cellachain
Caisil, edited with translation and notes by Alexander Bugge, p. 148.

162 niSTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ground for the opinion that he was, probably, better than his reputa-
tion. The "Egilssaga" tells us that the great scald Egil Skalla-
grimsson and King Eirik were bitter enemies. Once when Egil
came saiHng from Iceland, he was shipwrecked on the coast of North-
umbria, and was taken prisoner by King Eirik, who, according to
custom, would have had him executed. But during the night,
Egil composed a song in praise of the king. The next morning Egil
was allowed to recite his song before Eirik, who w^as so moved that
he granted the scald his life, and permitted him to depart unharmed.
The poem is called " Hgfuölausn" (the ransom of the head).

In 954 King Eirik was driven from Northumbria. He again
turned Viking, gathered an army in Ireland, in the Orkneys, and
the Hebrides, and attempted to regain his throne. But in West-
moreland he met an army under Oswulf of Bamborough and Maccus
Olavsson. A fierce battle was fought, in which Eirik fell, and York
ceased to be a distinct Viking kingdom.^ Jarls continued, however,
to ruie in York and Northumbria, and they often owed but slight
submission to the kings of England.

In the tenth century a stream of Norse emigrants from Ireland
and the Hebrides poured into F^ngland These new settlers were
especially numerous in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Northum-
bria. .^nglesey, on the coast of Wales, was settled by Norsemen,
and bears stiil its Norse na^. Chester, which had lõng been in
ruins, was seized and rebuilt, and became an important commercial
town. The Danes and Norsemen, at first two distinct peoples,
rapidly merged on English soil into one foreign element. Tn the
twelfth century they stiil spoke their own Northern tongue, the
Norse laws were stiil in use in the districts where they had settled,
and the people maintained a democratic governmenf? All freeborn
men able to bear arms met at th^JMing, where thpy plppfed the king;_
cr riijpr andjidoptcd the laws whjch \vgrg prnpnf^fd The alls her-
jar mot, or meeting of the armed host, w^as the general thing, but
there were also local -thutfi^ in each shire, Iriding, wnppntflVp.^ and

1 The ever faithful Gunhild eaused a scald to eompose a song in memory
of her husband. It is called the Eiriksmäl, and describes the preparations
made in Valhal for the reception of the great warrior. It is one of the finest
songs in scaldic poetry, but only a fragment of it has been preserved. See
Fagrskinna.

VIKING INFLUENCE IN ENGLAND 163

bundred. In the division of the coiintry into smaller administrative
districts, northern England stiil shows traces of Viking influence.
Yorkshire and York are stiil divided into ridings, a later corruption
of the Oid Danish, or Oid Norse, thrithing or triding, as each thinglag
in Iceland, and elsewhere in the North, was divided into three tridings
or districts, each with its own gode.

Personal liberty was highly prized by the Vikings, and, although
they kept slaves, and were j^Tf^i\t slave traders in early days^ slavery
died out earlier in the Danelag than elsewhere in England. In the
"Domesday Book" only 2524 slaves are recorded for the Danelag,
while soiithern England had 25,156 male and 467 female slaves,
or ten times as many. In Lincolnshire and Yorkshire there was not
a single slave at the time of the Domesday survey. A. Bugge says :
"As soon as the Vikings settled in England they began to give their
freed slaves land to till. In the treaty of peace between Guttorm
and King Alfred, the Viking freedmen {leisinger) were considered
equal to the Anglo-Saxon ceorls, or peasants, who were renters.
That the two classes, the freedmen and the ceorls, were considered
equal, shows the contrast between Viking and Anglo-Saxon society.
The freedman had been a slave, but he rose to personal freedom and
a better social condition. The ceorl was a freeborn man whose
ancestors had wielded the sword in the conquest of Britain. But
gradually his condition grew worse; he had ceased to own lands,
and he was about to lose his personal freedom. The^^ '"n^np tb^
Viking period, and arrested the development of large estates. and
plantediii the conquered districts a large class of freemen.. What
difference is there not in the 'Domesday Book' between Cornwall
with its 1160 slaves, its more or less dependent 2355 hordari, and its
1730 villani, who, in the records, are placed even below the slaves;
or Devonshire, where there were 4847 hordari, 3294 slaves (servi),
and 8070 villani, named after the slaves, and no freemen, save the
citizens of the towns, the vassals, and the subvassals ; and Lincoln-
shire with 11,503 freeborn sochemanni (freeholders), as against
4024 bordarii and 7723 villani; or Norfolk with its 4277 freemen
(libri homines), and 4571 sochemanni, as against 9537 bordarii, 4656
villani, and not more than 995 slaves ; and Suff olk, where one-half
of the rural population were freeholders.

164 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

" When the condition of the mral population in England, even in
the darkest days of the Middle Ages, was better than in France
and Germany, it was due to the Danes and Norsemen, who brought
with them to England their love of personal rights and liberty, and
to their kinsmen, the Christian and French-speaking Normans." ^

33. Haakon the Good c^ - ^^(

By raising Haakon to the throne, and by bailing him as successor
of King Harald, the people of Norway had expressed in a formal way
their approval of the work done by Harald Haarfagre. ^ their
consciousness Norway was now a united country, but the system
of succession adopted could not safeguard the future stability of the
kingdo^. (It-h&d already led to fratricidal strife, and gave promise
of weakness and disintegration^ The first revolution had been ac-
complished without violence and bloodshed ; the people gave their
united support to the popular Haakon, and the struggle was over,
but at an}^ future moment, similar revolutions might occur for no
weightier reason than personal rivalry among the claimants to the
throne.

King Haakon was a man of many excellent qualities. The sägas
describe him as tall, strong, and flaxen-haired. He was of a miider
temper than his father, but resembled him strikingly in physical
appearance. He was well skilled in the use of arms, but the people
knew him as gentle, wise, and peace loving. At the court of King
^^thelstan he had been reared in the Christian faith, and had ae-
quired a culture whieh, no doubt, tended to soften the martial Viking
spirit, and to incline his heart and mind to the pursuits of peace.
His promise to the people to restore to them their right of odel, in
other words, to redress their grievances, and grant what they con-
sidered to be their just demands, was an acknowledgment on his
part that henceforth the king was not to ruie as a conqueror, but
according to the will of the people and the laws of the land ^
appears that the king was no longer to tax the people arbitrarily,

according to his OWn pleasure, but i^^t^t tn\-p.tinn shnnlrl bp rp^nlatpd
by the fhiv^. FA^pYpmlcf^d ^i^'g ^''^g^y pmvpr 11 ifli n-rnn.t mndf i-jifii-in

^ Alexander Bugge, Vikingerne, II., 321 ff.

HAAKON THE GOOD 165

In the beginning of his reign Jarl Sigurd of Lade ruled in Tr0ndelagen
with almost sovereign power, and the fvlke^-^i^gs '^^i OplprirlanQ
enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. iQver the Norwegian depend-
encies in the West he exercised little control. His personal ruie
was largely limited to the southwestern districts of Norway — Vest-
land^. The most abiding result of his reign wns hia '<ynr]r nn Inw
_giver^and lijs effort tn orgRniy.p thp military fnrpps; nf tVip pnnntry,
jiito a string rifltinnal army. He surrounded himself with a body
of advisers, a sort of council of wise men, to which Sigurd Jarl and
Thorleiy Spake belonged.^ Such changes were made in tjip Jntjfhrnr/s!
(Frostathing, Gulathing, and Eidsivathing) that thpy hpcamo^ in n
measure, representatiy-£-bodies. Each fylke was hencefortb. to send
a certain number of men to fhp. t.hing {nefndarmenn) , who were to
receive a fixed salary.

(The danger which always threatened the kingdom from the sons
of Eirik Blood-Ax, who had taken refuge with their grandfatheQ
King Gorm, in Denmark, and (^lo now watched for an opportunity
to attack Norway to regain their father's throne. made it necessary
for Haakon to pay specialattention to the development of both armx..
"and na\7^ He divided the fylker along the coast inta^skibreder. or
nayal districts, and made regulations in regard to the size and num-
ber of the warships to be built and equipped by each distrirt. The
nef gildi, a personal tax levied by Hnrald TTaarfagrp^ wgg moHf» q
shipmoney tax by Haakon for this purpose. The whole armament,
consisting of ships, warriors, weapons, and proyisions, was called
leding (O. N, leiöanglj. The full number of ships and warriors in
each district was called almenning. In time of war it was the duty
of the people in these districts to meet in full almenning, while for
military service in time of peace they were required to furnish half
almenning, together with the necessary equipment and proyisions.
Eyery freeman capable of doing military service should own shield,
spear, and battle-ax. The military burdens of the coast districts
took the place of the nefgüdi, or shipmoney tax, in this part of the
country, but in the inland districts, where there was less military
seryice, this tax was maintained. ^ is quite evident that the leding

1 Whether Torleiv Spake can be regarded as an historieal charaeter
has been doubted by some, but he seems to have been a herse in Hordaland.

y-/^>i^^^

166 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

system had existed before King Haakon's time, but he gave it a
be.tter organization, and extended it to all Histrirts alnnp^ tlip rna^
He also organized a system of war signals. .Firp.s, called varder,
should be lighted on the mountain tops when an enemv was approach-
mg the coast. In seven days the warning oonlH, in this way, be
given to all parts of the country, and the almenning could be held
ready everywhere.

The people of Jsemtland had also heard of King Haakon's benign
ruie. This large district, lying on the border between Norway and
Sweden, had first been settled by people from Tr0ndelagen. In
Harald Haarfagre's time many had sought refuge there, and the
population was rapidly increasing. King Haakon sought to gain
the good will of the leading men in Jsemtland. "They came to visit
him," says Snorre/ "promised him obedience, brought him presents,
and became his men. They had heard good reports about him, and
would rather be subject to him than to the king of Sweden, because
they were Norsemen. But he established law and justice among
them." The foundation was thus laid for the final absorption of
the district, but it did not become an integral part of the kingdom of
Norway till the time of Eystein Magnusson and Sigurd the Crusader.

King Haakon made an unsuccessful attempt to introduce Chris-
tianity m JN'õrway. [centuries of mtercourse with the Chnstian
nations in Great Britain and elsewhere had wrought a change in
the religious views of many people, even at home. Many had
ceased to worship the oid gods, and had substituted a sort of new
faith in a higher. goH, the AJfndr.r, nr creafnr of all tViingl Some
were indifferent, and believed in nothing but their own strength
and prowess, while -thp majnrity. especially of the mmmnn pmplp,
, stiil clung to the oid woiahip.. ^it the oid religion was not only a
matter of faith. It was closely bound up with the po]itinnl nnri gr.m'^]
life. The herser, or |ocal chieftains, were priests in the fž/Z^'g<?-^n?^, anrl
much of their infiuence and power depended on their priestly officf^.
A change of religion would bring with it far-reaching alterations in
the whole social structure, and it is not surprising that a suggestion
of this kind should meet with the most determined resistancel It
is said that Haakon brought priests from England. and built rhnrrhps
^ Heimskringla, Haakon den godes Säga, eh. 12.

HAAKON THE GOOD 167

in Romsdal and Nordmcirj but when he finallv proposed at tha.

' Frostathing^that the people should accept ChristianitVj \t ransed a.

storm ofjndignation. Sigiird Jarl gave him no support, and Asbj0rn

of Medalhus, who made himself the spokesman of the people, threat-

_ened that thev wonld all riste Rgaint;t him^ if hp urgpcl thp pnint Jfe

had to jõin in the sacrifice to the gods. and felt compelled ta give.
up the plan. f]õ carry it through by force was impossible, for he
soon needed the support of his people to repel the attacks of the
sons of Eirik Rlood-A^. J.n 9o5 tUe. brothers Ganile, Harald, Ragn-
fr0d, Gudr0d, and Sigurd Sleva led an e>;ppHitinrL-a^ainftt Nncway,
but Haakon defeated them in a battle near the island of Frei, in
Nordm0r. Gamle fell, and the other brothers returned to Denmark,
but they continued to harry the southern coasts. In 961 they re-
pewed thp attac]<- With a large fleet they landed at Fitje, on the
island of Stord, where King Haakon was staying. A bloody battle
was fought, in which the sons of Eirik were again defeated, but .King.
Haakon, who fought valiantly in the midst of the fray, w«s wonnded^
in the arm by an arrow, and died shortly aher the hattla He had
no sons to whom he could leave the throne, and the story is toid that,
when he felt death approaching, he sent messengers to his fleeing
nephews, and invited them to return and take the kingdom. H(^
regretted much, says the saga,^ that he had been compelled to depart
from the Christian faith. His men offered to bring his body to Eng-
land, and give it Christian burial, but he answered : " I am not worthy
of it. As a heathen I have lived, and as a hpathpn ynn mnst bnry
me." The wounded king was brought to his birthplace, Haakons-
helle, where he died at the age of forty-six, after a reign of twenty-
six years. His friend and comrade in arms, the great scald Eyvind
Skaldaspiller, composed a great song to his memory, the "Haakon-
armaal," in which he says :

Freed from his fetters,
against the world
the wolf Fenrir shall come,^
before such another king
shall foUow in his footsteps.

^ Fagrskinna, p. 26. Heimskringla, Haakon den godes Säga, eh. 32.
2 This will happen at Ragnarok, or the end of the world. Then Fenrir
will break loose from the fetters with which the gods have bound him.

168 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Friends die,

cattle perish,

desolated is the land;

since Haakon went

to heathen gods

people Iive in serfdom and bondage.

34. The Sons of Eirik Blood-Ax. Haakun .T^rt. tpf. T,F.ApjFVR_oy

Ty[v At^T^TOrKACY LoSS OF NaTIONAL UnITY AND

Independence

j\fter Haakon's death the sons of Eirik Rlnnd-AY hpoamp Vingg
of Norway. They all bore the. royal titJp. and earh maintninpd bis_
nwp hird, but TTarnld GrnnfpJd^ tbp nldpst liAnng.Lrnthprj was rpgnrdpd
as over-kih"H @i,er their father was driven from the throne, they
had been in foreign lands, and they were known in Norway mainly
as Viking chieftains and as enemies of the countr^. This, together
with the general odium in which Eirik and Gunhild were held, made
them very unpopular, and they showed no ability to win the people's
good will by their own conduct as ki^gs. They were disposed to be
rash and violent; they showed little wisdom, or self-control, and
would resort to mean plots and bloody assaults, in triie Viking fashion.
The best one was Harald Graafeld, who seems to have been generous,
good-natured, and well-intentioned. ^ne aristocracy, who stiil
held firmly to their own inherited rights and privileges, who were
opgosed to a strong central government exercised by a national king,
aod watched with more jealousy their own interests than the welfare
of the nation, tolerated the new kings, and, probably, found their
unpopularity convenien^ ^s Harald Graafeld and his brothers
eould find little popular support, their kingship conld ]>p littlp more —
than an empty title. The aristocracy, who had been compelled
_to bow under the mailed fist of Harald liaarfaf-^rf, ^^"^" wlm _ka<i
driven Eirik from the throne. and had elected Haakon the Gocžd-
could now find new opportunity to full\" regain their oid prestige.,
and pow^. Even in Haakon's time, Sigurd Jarl had exercised
almost sovereign power in Tr0ndelagen. Now he did not even swear
allegiance to the new kings, but ruled his large domain as an inde-
pendent sovereign. Tryggve Olavsson, a grandson of Harald Haar-

f-~^

THE SONS OF EIRIK BLOOD-AX 169

fagre, ruled as independent king in Romerikp!, and jn tlip dkfrift-^
east of the Foklenfjord (Christianiafjord). The ^listriVts M^pst of
tlie_fiordj^ere__riil£d_b^' Gudr0d Bj0rnsson, another grandson of
Harald, and in_,Oplandene thp fylkes-kings pvprrispd ih^w r>M \\\\-
regtlicted authority. ^The sons of Eirik were, in fact, kings only
in the districts of southwestern Norw^. But they aspired to main-
tain the unity of the kingdom, and to ruie, as King Harald had ruled,
over all Norway. First of all they would curb the pride and arro-
gance of the powerful Jarl Sigurd. They enticed to their side his
younger brother, Grjotgard, and with his aid King Harald Graafeld
suddenly fell upon the unsuspecting Sigurd, and burned him and his
men in the house where they were assembled for a feast. Sigurd's
son, Haakon Jarl, gathered a large following, and after a struggle
lasting for three years he made himself master of Tr0ndelagen. But
he was unable to successfully eontinue the confiict, and fled to Den-
mark. The kings had also defeated and slain the kings Tryggve
and Gudr0d in southern Norway, and together with their mother
Gunhild, they now established their residence in Viken.

In 964 King Harald Graafeld made an expedition to the Permian.a_
(Bjarmeland), and defeated them on the banks of the Dvina.^thiis
pushing the boundaries of Norway to the White Sea (Gandvik).

The expedition was much talked of, and was mentionprl wifli prf^is^p-
in the songs of the scalds.^ Harald seems to have made an earnest

effort to ruie well, but the popular ill-will was, nevertheless, growing.
The brothers had been baptiypd in F.ngland^ biit i\\o.y wt>ra unn.bl^
to introduce Christianity in Norway, and undprfook, insitp?irl^-Jx>.
destrov the heathen temples. and to heap othpr inr^ignifipg npr.n thp
oid rehgion. This, together with many aets of viojpnpp, pnmmltfpd
especially by the younger brothers, tended to fiirt.hpr-aliaixa,t,e-tlL^
people, who complained that the kings did not rfspppt flip Irws of
King Haakon the Good. King Sigurd Sleva was killed by his irate
subjects in southwestern Norway. There were crop failures and
hard times, and the people blamed the kings, who were thought to
have aroused the anger of the gods by their wickedness and misrule.
Haakon watched closely the developments in Norway. This

QJThe TroUbotn. jn popula.r ^^ftH^f i^^ip* cKr.r1n nf t^n trnHüi TirhrT'p tiq snn
_shingär-was hencefortli thought to be located in these far-pfF n^rthprn rpfrinriR-

170 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

able but crafty and unscrupulous jarl was a more formidable oppo-
nent than the kings imagined. He was, in all respects, a representa-
tive of the oid order of things, a strict adherent of the Asa-faith, and
a champion of the rights of the aristocracy. He despised, no doubt,
the new religious tendencies, as thoroughly as he hated the idea of
submission to a national king.

Harald Blaatand (Bluetooth) had succeeded his father Gorm.aiL
the Danii^b tlirnnp Gorm had ruled both lõng and well, and at
the end of his reign Denmark \vas the most populous and powerful.
of the Northern kingdoms, (^-ircumstance which, probably, gave rise
to the not uncommon misconception that he had brought about the
union of the Danish kingdoinl His queen was the able and popular
Thyra Danebod, who rebuilt Danevirke, a castellated wall, stretching
across the narrowest part of the peninsula, from the city of Schleswig
to the mouth of the River Eider ; forming the oid boundary between
Denmark and Germany. Plarald Blaatand seems to Ithvp pmnlatprl.-
his great contemporary Otto the Great of GergaaiL^\ He ^-ns Hreaaw
ing of empire, and sought to enlarge his possessions, especiallv in.
northeFn Germany, which at this time was inhabited by the Wends,
a Slavonic people. In 960 he mnde an expedition f^ ^^^ mnntli nf

the Oder, where ItP; i,-^ snid tn hgvp y^-nn n. grenf jarlrlnm . Qn th'^ JlR-

land of Wollin, over against the river moutli. Jny the important r-npi-
mereial t.own Julin. Close to this town Harald built a strong castle
called "Jomsborg/' which later became famous ^ as the ^ent nf ^

remarkable body of Viking t\-nrn'nrg!, tlip .Tnmcivil-inõj [jVlnmbnrg
Wflf;, dmibtlec;c!^ bnilt in prntert .Tulin nnd the neighb^T-ing Hi^tripfc; _

'■ An account of Jomsborg and the Jomsvikings is found in the Jörns-
vikingasaga, which is, however, a romance rather than a history, and is, con-
sequently, of little value as an historieal source. The laws and soeial organ-
ization of the Joms\'ikings here described must, however, be true. Similar
laws were used by other Viking organizations, and in the Viking army similar
rules were also foUowed. Bravery, not ränk or birth, was the qualification
required for membership. No one would be accepted who was under eight-
een or over fifty years of age. Xo woman was allowed to enter the castle,
and no warrior could be absent more than three daj^s at a time. Friend-
ship and good understanding should prevail among the warriors, and no one
should offend the other. They should all avenge the death of their com-
rades, and no one was allowed to speak a word of fear. All news should
first be brought to the chieftain, and all booty should be divided among the
warriors. Jõmsvikingasaga, see. IV., eh. III.

HAAKON JARL 171

against the Wends. It had XLfiTi" hnrb^r, where 300 Vikinp: vessels
could ride at anchor, and was surrounded by grea.t wäH^P^'

^Qajald Blaatand, who had received baptism, labored earnestly,
and with great success, to introduce Christianity in Denmar§. Jkir-
ing his reign the greater part of the people seem to have accepted
the Christian faith. jTt was natural that in his efforts to enlarge
his kingdom he should also think of Norway as a legitimate field
for conqueši^ The district of Vestfold had been a Danish province
since very early times, and circumstances in Norway seemed to offer
an opportimity to regain at least this province. A son of his elder
brother returned to Denmark from his many Viking expeditions,
and claimed a share in the kingdom. He was known as Gold Harald,
because of his wealth. Haakon Jarl saw his opportunity. He
persuaded King Harald to rid himself of this inconvenient rival by
seizing Norway, which he then might make a tributary kingdom
imder the ruie of his nephew. (Thg plan was accepted, and Harald
Graafeld was enticed to Denmark, where he was killeü by Gold
Harald, ^ow the plotting Haakon Jarl came forward with his real
plan. He showed the kin^that his ambitious nephew would, as
king of Norway, be a dangerous rival rather than a faithfiil vassal ;
^'\\y TT^t mnlr^ Hnnk^n Tnrl r'i1^r "f N^rwfiy''' He could not aspire
to kingship in either country, and all danger of a rival would be
averted. After he had come to some sort of understanding with
the king, Haakon attacked Gold Harald, who was defeated and
slain. The king now set sail for Norway with a fleet of 700 ships.
The two remaining sons of Eirik Blood-Ax could offer no resistance,
but fled to the Orknej^s with their mother Gunhild, and Harald
Gormsson Blaatand was hailed as over-king of Norway. Haakon
Jarl was to ruie a large part of the country as King Harald's vassal.
According to agreement he should pay the king a tax amounting to
half of the income from the lands which he received, but Haakon
reduced it to the nominal sum of twenty falcons a year. King
Harald himself ruled Viken through his own jarls, and Oplandene
maintained their own autonomy. Tr0ndelagen and Haalogaland
were Haakon's own patrimony, where he exercised full authority.

(SMasy_coiii£Land other jxticlea^öLJnterest have been unearthed on the
site of the oid castle, and remnants of the oid walls have also been laid bare.

172 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Frorn tlie king he received seven fylker: Rygafylke, Hordafylke,
Sogn, Firdafylke, S0ndm0r, Romsdal, and Nordm0r. ^orway
had ceased to be a united kingdom even under Danish overlordship.
Haraki IIaarfagre's great work was destroy^

^Le ncw ruie was welcomed by the aristocracy, who had now re-
gained their former power. Haakon Jarl was one of their own num-
ber, and the Danish king's overlordship was a mere name, as he was
too far away to exercise any contrõj. ^aakon was now very popu-
lar. He rebuilt the temples which the sons of Eirik Blood-Ax had
destroyed, and tried, as far as possible, to establish the oid condi-
tions. But nothing is more difficult than the atterapt to arrest a
development caused by the forces of life and growth. Haakon
might rebuild the temples, but he could not revive the oid faitl^
It was dying; in manv people's minds it ^'^'^ nlrpgd^^ dpqd j — th©-
outer forms alone remained. The aristocracy might feel elated
over their success, but new thoughts of a national kingdom were ger-
minating and striking roots. Such ideas are in league with destiny.
Haakon tried to buttress the oid social strueture, only to be finally
buried under its ruins.

For a time he was loyal to his overlord, the king of Denmark.
When the German emperor, Otto the Great, died, war broke out
between his successor, Otto H., and King Harald Gormsson.^ As a
vassal Haakon was ealled to Denmark, where he fought valiantly
in defense of Danevirke. After the campaign w^as over, King Harald
demanded of Haakon that he should be baptized, and exacted from
him a promise that he would introduce Christianity in Norway.
Haakon seems to have consented with all desirable alacrity, and,
on his return, priests went along to do missionar}' work in Norway.
But, as soon as he touched the home shore, Haakon drove away
the priests, and declared himself and Norway independent of Den-
mark. King Harald made efforts to reconquer the country, and to
introduce Christianity in Viken ; the work of the missionaries which
he sent to this district bore some fruit, but he failed in the attempt
to regain the lost territory. (Harald Blaatand died about 986 from a
wound received while he was fighting against his rebellious sdS,
Svein Tjugeskjeg (Forkbeard). As soon as Svein became king, he

^ Danmarks Riges Historie, vol. I., p. 339 ff.

HAAXON JARL 173

renewed the attempt to siibdue Norway. The Jomsvikings, who
seem to have promised to aid him in this undertaking, moved swiftly
to the attack with a fleet of sixty ships and an army of professional
warriors led by their chief, Sigvalde Jarl.^ They found Haakon
in Hj0rungavaag, near the present eity of iValesund, where he had
collected 180 ships. But this armament had been gathered in a
hurry, and most of the vessels were merchant ships. Haakon was
assisted by his sons, Eirik, Svein, and Arnljot. A fierce battle en-
sued, in which Eirik Jarl especially distinguished himself both by
bravery and generalship. The outcome of the battle was lõng
doubtful, Tradition says that Haakon Jarl even sacrificed his son
to the gods to gain victory, but this is, no doiibt, an invention. The
Jomsvikings finally suffered a crushing defeat. Twenty-five of
their ships were taken, and Sigvalde Jarl made good his escape with
the remaining thirty-five. This battle became very famous. Eyvind
Skaldaspiller composed the song " Häleygjatal" about Haakon
Jarl and his victory, after the pattern of the "Ynglingatal," ^ to
show that Haakon's family, the Häleygings, also descended from the
gods. Through this memorable victory Norway had successfully
maintained her independence.

After the battle of Hj0rungavaag, Haakon Jarl exercised full
sovereign power, but he did not assume the title of king. As he
was now relieved of the pressure of foreign enemies, he paid little
heed to the aristocracy, and attempted to ruie with all the authority
of Harald Haarfagre himself. This kind of ruie, which the aris-
tocracy had regarded as tyranny when exercised by a national king,

^ Aecording to tradition the Jomsviking cliieftain, while at a feast, where
he had been drinking too mueh to carefuUy weigh his words, had promised
to attack Haakon, and drive him from Norway. Heimskringla, Olav Trygg-
vasonssaga, eh. 35.

2 Haakon Jarl was fond of sealdie poetry, and, like Harald Haarfagre, he
kept a number of sealds at his court. Of these, Einar Skaalaglam was the
most noted. He was with Haakon at Hj0rungavaag, and has deseribed the
battle in a lõng poem, the Vellekla, twenty stanzas of which are found in the
Heimskringla. Tin Halkelsson, Thorleiv Raudfeldarsson, and Vigfus Viga-
glumsson also wrote songs about the fight with the Jomsvikings, but only
fragments of these songs have been preserved. Bishop Bjarne in the
Orkneys was a great scald. He has written J õmsvikingadrdpa, and it is
thought that he is also the author of the J ömsvikingasaga. The deseription
of the battle of Hj0rungavaag in the säga seems to be reliable.

174 niSTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

they considered as unbearable arrogance in a mere jarl, who was of
no higher lineage than many others of their number. Haakon Jarrs
popularity soon waned, and his greed, cruelty, and licentiousness
further aggravated the growing discontent. The hearts of the people
again turned to the YngHngs, who, since King Harald's time, had
stood as the representatives of a national kingdom and other pro-
gressive ideas.

35. Olav Tryggvason. The Introduction of Christianity in

NORWAY

Trj^ggve Olavsson, a/grandson of Harald Haarfagre. who ruled
over the districts east of the Christianiafjord, was slain by the sons
of Eirik Blood-Ax, as already stated. His wife Astrid fled, says the
säga/ and sought refuge on a lonely island where her son Olav Trygg-
vason w^as born.^ His birth occurred. probablv. in 963 nr Qfi4-
With her child she came to her father, Eirik Bjodaskalle at Oprud-
stader, in the district of Jsederen, in southw^estern Norway, but as
the wicked Queen Gunhild sent spies to learn her whereabouts, she
continued her fhght to her father's friend, Haakon Gamle, in Sweden.
But even here she felt unsafe, because of Gunhild's machinations,
and she determined to seek refuge at the eourt of Grand Duke Vla-
demir of Gardarike (Russia) , where her brother Sigurd was staying.

(^jl, the voyage across the Baltic Sea they w'ere attacked by Vikings,
and Queen Astrid and her boy Olav were taken prisone^ 1\Tnthpr
and child were separated, and both were soid as ^lavp'^ in Egthnnig
Not very lõng afterward, a merchant by the name of Loden, a wealthy
man of good family from the district of Viken, found Astrid at a
§);ive ni?irl:pt in F^^flinniQ^ aud brouglit her back to Norway, where
they were married. JQLiAL-nemained in slavery about six years, until
his unele Sigurd finally fpnnd hi'"n and brought him to JJ«lmgard
/Novgorodi wliprp hp wflc; rpnrpd nt thp oc^)vt of Grnnd Diikp Vladp-

^miH (That Olav was reared at the court of the grand duke seems
to be triie) It is mentioned also by Hallfr0d Vandrsedaskald in his
"Olavsdraapa," which deals with 01av's life prior to his arrival in
Norway. But the numerous legendary taies which clu.ster about

1 Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga. Odd Munk, Olav Tryggvasonssaga,
p. 22.^

' Agrip states that Olav was three years oid when his father died.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 175

the magic figiire of Olav Tryggvason throw about his early youth
a deep twilight of romance, which renders obscure even what little
is known about this period of his career.^ From this obscure back-
ground he enters the historical arena as a young man, "tall, beauti-
ful, strong, and athletic beyond all Norsemen ever mentioned,"
says Snorre.^ At the age of twelve he began his career as Viking
chieftain in the Baltic Sea. yiie säga states that sometime after-
ward he came to Vendlao^ to King Burislav, and married his
daughter Geira.^ J[f nidpH h\^ fatVior in,,1qw in hia iv.arB^ but Geira
died, and he left Vendland tp f^pp^-' ^^^^^ fioM^- fnr nnfnrpri'gft m iha
British Isles, TTp jnu^f have gnined great renown as a warrior (hixs
ing these years, for we find him nrtw nt the hpad of -a grpRt nrmamjBat.
the nucleus of an^h^r "G'-'^^^- ^^^y," w^i^^h was t^ ^^gin a npw
conqil£Si_Qf_Eiigland-

flSe vicious nnd inppTr.ppf<.nf j^tVielred th^ TTnrendv was now
king of EnglanJ He made no attempt to maintain the efficiency
either of army or of navy, though he had been warned of impending
danger by repeated Viking attarks which bpo;Rn anew in 978 Jnna
jvas sacked. a bloody battle was fought off the Isle of Man in 986,
and in 989 a Viking fleet ascended the Severn, and the king was
forced to pay tribute to the intruders. These Viking squadrons
operating in British waters were led by Jostein, a brother of 01av's
mother Astrid, and Gudmund, a Danish chieftain. When Olav
arrived, they were united into a great fleet under his command. In
991 they came to Staines on the Thames, with ninety-three ships,
and pjnndered Kent mid J^nfl^olk Following the coast the fleet
again came to anchor at the mouth of the Blackwater, where Ealdor-
man Brihtnoth met them with the levies of Essex. A bloody battle
was fought at Maldon, in which Brihtnoth lost his life, and his forces
suffered a disastrous defeat. The details of the battle are vividly
described in the Oid EngHsh poem "The Battle of Maldon." ^ The

1 Alexander Bugge observes that the adventurous flight of Astrid, and
Gunhild's relentless pursuit, remind us strongly of the fairy-tale about the
wicked step-mother. Norges Historie, vol. II., p. 239.

2 Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, 8.

3 Burislav, no doubt King Boleslav of Poland, 992-1025, has been substi-
tuted for Miesko, 964-992, through a mistake by the säga writer.

* Two of the Saxon Chronicles, ed. Plummer, Oxford, 1892, p. 126.

176 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

poot tells liow Brihtnoth with his hirdmen came riding at the head
of his host. Neur the Blackwater he dismounted, and addressed
words of encouragement and advicc to his warriors. TheVikings,
who were stationed on the opposite side of the river, sent a herald who
addressed Brihtnoth and his army as follovvs :

" The bokl seamen send me to you
and bid me say that you must at once
send rings in return for peaee ; better it is for you
to buy off this combat with tribute
than that we fight so hard a battle."

Brihtnoth raised his shield and answered :

"Hearest thou, seafarer, what this people say?

Spears will we give you for tribute,

poisonous arrows and tried swords.

Teil thy people the unwelcome news,

that here stands the earl and his brave army,

who will defend this land.

Rather shall sword and spear uni te us

in grim war-play than we will pay tribute."

The Vikings waited for low tide and crossed the river.

Then was the time come when doomed men should fail.

A cry went up which brought thither the ravens

and the eagles hungry for carrion ; great was the alarm.

The hard spears were hurled, the sharp arrows flew,

the bows were busy, the shields received the spear points,

bitter was.the battle tumult, heroes fell,

on every nand lay fallen warriors.

Brihtnoth fell, but the young J^lfwine rallied the hirdmen, who rushed
to the attack to avenge their fallen lord, till all of them were cut
down. Oid Brihtnoth's heroic fight stands in sharp contrast to
iEthelred's weakness and planless inactivity. After the battle of
Maldon hp hmip;ht peaee from the invnd<^r-^ bv_ppyi'no; fbpm 10 000
pounds_of_gi1ver/ nn pnormmis siim at tbaf tjmp^ when the taxes of

1 The text of the treaty has been preserved. The heading reads as follows :
"This is the peaee which King ^thelred and his whole Witan made with
the army which Olav, Jostein, and Gudmund, Stegita's son, led." Lieber-

OLAV TRYGGVASON 177

the whole kingdom were only half that amount. The following year
"the king and the Witan decreed that all ships which were worth
anything should be gathered together at London, in order that they
might try if they could anywhere entrap the Army from without,"
says the " Anglo-Saxon Chronicle." But the attempt failed. ^^hout ^ ,
this time Olav Tryggvason must have accepted the Chrktian fa^th ' / -^
It is said thnt on a. littlp island he met a. hermit who foretold him
his career. and that hp a^^^\ h\< mpn wprp hapfiTiPrl ^

At this time King Svein Tjugeskjeg of Denmark also eame to
England. Olav and Svein united their forces, but Olav stiil remained
the real leader. In 993 Bamborough was taken by storm, and Lind-
sey was harried. The following year a large Viking army was or-
ganized, and Friesland and the northern coasts of Germany were
harried. Who the leaders of this host were is not stated, but scaldic
verses point to Olav Tryggvason and Svein Tjugeskjeg. ^ri the fail
of^^j)4 Olav and Svein again appeared in the Thames with a fleet
of ninety-four ships, and tried to take Londo3. In this attempt they

failed. but thpy harriprl flip npiglibnring rli-^tripts^ anH — ^thelred

bought peace by granting them Southampton for winter quarters,
and by pavino- thpm IfiflOO pminds; of silver. The king now sought
to win Olav Tryggvason, and ser^t ^ ^>i^hop ^'^ n^s^t''ntp wjt^i h^m-
Olav visited the king at Andover. wh^r^ hp w^,^ pnnfirmoH by
Bishop('..'Elfeah) of Winrhpi^fpr^^ and a frpafy nf pparp was madp, in
which he solemnlv promispd npvpr again tn wagp wrar on F.nglanri^ / ' /

a pledge which he loyally kept. ^ great am biti on now firprLJaia.
ze^l for worthier undertakings. He would no longer be a Viking
chieftain, but a crusader. To regain the throne of his fathprs, and
to convert his people to Christianity became his great aim. He|
separatfid, from Svoift Tjugeskjeg, and took no further part in the .
conc[uesLiif-Englaüd-.
/Olav Tryggvason was the most chivalric and heroic of all the early

mann, Gesetze der Anglo-sachsen, I., 220-223. Diplomatarium Norwegicum,
Oldbreve, edited by Alexander Bugge, Christiania, 1910, nittende samling,
part first, p. 1.

^ Historia dc Antiquitate Regum N orwagiensium, by Theodrieus Monaehus,
says that Olav was baptized in the Seilly Islands. See Monumenta Historica
Norwegiae, published by Gustav Storm, Christiania, 1880.

2 Two of the Saxon Chronicles, Plummer, Oxford, 1892, p. 126.

VOL. I — N

178 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

kin^^of Norway. Säga and tradition extol him as a leader of men,
a beau ideal of a her^ The "Olav Trv^gvason's Säga" says : " King
Olav was in all respects the most capable man in Norway of whom
there is any record ; he was stronger and more dexterous than any
other person, and many stories are toid about him ; one being that
he scaled the Smalsarhorn ^ and fastened his shield near the top of
the mountain ; another, that he helped one of his hirdmcend, who had
climbed up the mountain so far that he could neither ascend nor
descend. The king climbed up, and carried him down under his
arm. The king could walk on the oars on the outside of Ijis ship,
the ' Lõng Sement^' wnile his men were rowing ; <Ee could play with
three swords at a time in such a way that one would always be in
the ajr) He could wield the sword equally well with both hands,
and could throw two spears at the same timp. He was the most
cheerful and jovial of men, kind and condescending, impetuous in
everything, generous and distinguished among his men. He was
the bravest of all in battle, but very cruel when he became
angry." ^ Eöth at home and in the British Isles he became a hero
in taie and tradition. In England his name was changed to Have-
locH. It has been thought that Havelock was Olav Kvaaran,^ but
Alexander Bugge holds that the life of Kvaaran could furnish no
basis for the Havelock poem, but that the incidents narrated in the
poem correspond poi nt for point with the stories toid of Olav Trygg-
vason's early life."*

Farly in the SUmnner pf QQ.^ Olav Trygcrvaonn vni miM fnr Nnrwiy

with a small fleet." The "Heimskringla" tells us that Üaakao-Jail
sent his agents to lure him to Norway, where he had laid plans to
kill him; but as Olav, the scion of the royal house of the Ynglings. ,
probably would be the last person whom Haakon would wish to
see in Norway at that juncture, the story must be an invention of
the enemies of Haakon, who wished to paint him as black as possible.
It was, no doubt, the people of Tr0ndelagen who sent agents to Olav

^ A mountain peak on the eoast of Nordf jord, in Norway.
2 Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, 85.

' Gustav Storm, Havelock the Dane, and the Norse King Olav Kvaaran.
* See Odd Snorreson Munk, Säga Olafskonungs Tryggvasonar, published by
P, A. Munch, Christiania, 1853.

' Heimskringla says five ships ; Odd Munk says nine sMps.

OLAV TKYGGVASON 179

to invite him to come to Norway and rid them pfjjhe hated ja?l.
Olav took several] missionaries along: Bishop ^igury' Teodbrand
(Thangbrand), and Thormod/ wbo -^erp tofliH him in ChristianiYinf»

J^^orwa^ He went by way of the Qrkneys, where he. fnrred the
powerful Jarl SiglirdLodvesson tn nfknmvlpdgp Vik ovprlord-^hip and
to accept Christianity. When he finally landed in Trc^ndelagen.
the people haiJed ^'^^ ^^^^ pntViiisifl-žm ^Raakon Jarl was soon
deserted, and fled, accompanied by his slave, KarU The "Heims-
Imngla" tells how Haakon and Kark hid in an underground pigsty
on the estate Rimol, where Kark assassinated the sleeping Haakon
to get the prize which Olav had placed on the jarFs head. The story
is too dramatic to be taken literally, but all sources, includingthe
songs of contemporary scalds, agree that(Öaakon Jarl was ignomini-
ously done to death by treacherous han^. Olav was now proclaimed
king of Norway at the 0rething, in Tr0ndelagen. ^o one could be
hpttpr giifllified to berome the representflt.ivf f}f t^ J^^' progres-
sive ideas than he.. He had spent all hi^fifemioTeign lalias, and was
not bound up in the oid traditions of his fatherland, nor was he, like
Haakon the Good, indebted to a party for his position as king. He
was a convert to Christianity, and was wpH npgnaintpH wi'th fhp

^riiri-^tian nnlfnrp r.f thp Rri'ti'ch Tg^ Famous foF his great achieve-
ments as a military leader he came like a man of destiny at a moment
when the people hailed him as a deliverer, and rejoiced that a.jp:j^siQi^
of the royal race of the Ynglings had come to ruie over them. To the
popular mind he was the hero especially protected by fortune.
"Olav had favorable wind wherever he sailed," says his oid biog-
rapher.2 j^g possessed the indomitable energy of a crusading war-
rior, he was the brilliant man of action, who dazzled his followers
with ever new exploits. His charming and inspiring personality
won the hearts and fascinated the minds of his countrymen, and he
became popular as no other king of Norway. " He was one of those
fortunate individuals," says E. Sars, "before whom destiny places
great problems, and who possesses the ability to solve them."

There was no one in Norway at this moment who could openly
resist so able and popular a king. Haakon Jarrs sons, Eirik and

1 Theodricus Monachus, Historia de Antiquitate, 15. Agrip, 36.
' Odd Munk, Olav Tryggvasonssaga.

180 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Svein, had left the country, ihc Dnni^jh officinls in the souther-ft
districts were driven awav, and the wliole kinsdom of Norway was,
once more united, under Olav Tryssvason's ruie.

[Kin^ Olav entered upon his great task of Christianizing Xorway
with true crusading zeal. To what pvtpntjf>]itipfll mntiyp^ strength-
ened his resolve to bring about this great chaiige it is impossible to
say, though statesmanlike foresight must have made it clear to him
that the iiew national kingdom could find but little support in the
oid S3'stem of worship and social ideas, while tho diristian Chirrr-h,
if once estnhh'shed^jwfmlH_give _tbe king new Hignity^ and increase -
i\\e stfl.bility of the kingdoni^ Oiristianity was no longer wholly
unknown to the Norwegian people at this time. We have seen how
communication with the Christian countries during the Viking period
had produced an ever increasing influx of new ideas, which had already
effected great changes both in the social and religious life of the people.
Belief in the oid gods was waning. and rationalism and_E£]igiaus_
jncüffprenre were rapidly spreading among the higher classes ; the _

jnyths themselv^'^ Wfrp in » t^tncrp nf trqngfnrmatinn qnrl r](^c^

Christian captives of war had toid the story of Christ and the saints
to many an interested listener; Eissionaries had preached the
Christian faith in the days of Haakon the Good, and King Harald
Blaatand's efforts to introduce Christianity in Viken had borne frujj.
Stiil the common people, who, perhaps. rifvpr hari gra^pprl thp jntri-^
cate and lofty myths of the Asa-faith. ^vhos^p rpligimiQ lifp ^nn-^j^f-prl
chiefly, of fetish worship and of various forms of soropry prfiftippd,
by means of incantations, amulets. anrl thp HVp ^v^rp prnbably
vvholly untouched by these new ideas.^ ffmong the upper classes/ /

^(rhe sun, fire, running water, eattle, and even strong men were wor-
shiped. J\ dish nf liiitifer- was placed on the roof of the house to make the
sun shine warm^i ; salt, flour, rnilk, or beer was thrown into the fire to
prevent conflagrations, and articles of value were brought as offerings to
springs and brooks. See Bishop A. Chr. Bang, Udsigt over den norske Kirkes
Iliatorie under Katholicismen, p. 26, Kristiania, 1890. J^iiinin. fbnTq,f^,tprs wpro
uaed as amulets. They were carved on swnrds nnd spoar pnints to make the
j«[efliPnn.s.mQre efCet-tive, on rings anH flrinking gn]>lpt>: u^ n r.v..irrr. ogninct otHI
influencp.s ^f all kindp Galdr, or magic songs, were used as a wonder-working
remedy in the art of healing, and seid, or sorcery, was supposed .to loosen all
the diabolic powers of the spirit world. Many features of this side of pagan
religious belief have perpetuated themselves in folklore and popular super-

OLAV TRYGGVASON 181

' the oid worship stiil retained its political importance as a state in-
stitution closely bound up with the oid social orde^. (Xhe time had,
indeed, come wlien the new religion would be received by many with-
out resistance, but the conversion of the whole peopje ooiild nnt be

aCCOmplished rapidlv without the USe of rnprpinn anH fnrpp It

seems that King Olav never thought that it could be brought about
by teaching and persuasion alon^ The true inwardness of the Chris-
tian faith and spirit was stiil foreign to him ; he was yet tn siich an
extent a Viking that he had no he_sitation in bringing his subjects,
to the baptismal font b:^)ribes nr by fnrre, jyherp gentler means
had failed, and baptism and conversion he regarded rs iHpntira.l
(His missionaries labored zealously, but the people often cared little
for their preaching, and understood it stiil lesi] ^he king is the
central figure, always busy directing the work of conversion, intimi-
dating some, gaining the friendship and good will of others, coming
to the rescue with his influence and power, and often dealing hard
blows when preaching and persuasion proved unavailin^.^ Sigurd,
or John, as he was called in Latin. held the ränk of bishop. and was
the leader of the missionaries. Ee was a gentle and Christian-spirited
man, who represented the best features of thp AngHan Chnrrli Qt
appears that he was of Norsp desrpnt. He probably came from the
Viking settlements of Northumbria, and he could, no doubt, address
the people in their own vernacular, which was an advantage, though
the language at this time offered no great difficuH^ "There was
one language in England and Norway until William the Bastard

stitions to the present time. See Dr. A. Chr. Bang, Norske Hexeformularer
og magiske Opskrifter.

1 |[n judging the harsh measures often employed by Olav Trvy9'vason.
and also by his great suceessor, Olav the Saint, it is neeessary to bear in mind
that th^ TriF-diRva,] r;hT-igf.ig.Ti «pirif. was of the militant and martial t<i'nd,
foreign to the modern -worT57 \^üliarlemagne ' s conversion of the Saxons, and
the crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Knights of the Sword in Li-
vonia, Curland, and Prussia bear the same general character as Olav Trygg-
vason's missionary wq^. ^hr. Bruun has shown that the theory that the
heathens should be compelled to aceept the Christian faith was a well estab-
lished tenet of the church in the Middle Ages, based on the passage in Holy
Scripture (Lüke xiv., 23), "Go out into the highways and hedges and eompel
them to come in, that my house may be fiUed." This view of missionary
work was established by the great church father Augustinej Chr. Bruun,
Olav den hellige, For Kirke og Kiiltur, vol. IV., p. 321 ff.

182 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

conquered England," says the saga.^ |Tliis must not be taken too
literally, but the Norse and Anglo-Saxon tongues were yet so nearly
alike that the two peoples seem to have been able to converse
freely together[ The priest Thangbrand, supposed to have bpftn
the renegade son of a Saxon coiint. was a harsh and violent mnn,
to whom the true Christian spirit seems to have been wholly un-
_known.,

IL is deserving of special mention that the first mk^innariVg tn
Norway came from Endand. where the gospel was preached, not in
the Latin church language_comr"0'i1y "^^d nt thnt timp, huf in tVip
people's own tongue, and where tjie church-still retained jta-popular
and apostolic character to a degree unknown on the continej^.
Bishop A. Chr. Bang says : ^ "Of all the nations which in the first
half of the Middle Ages accepted the Christian f aith, probably no other
people developed so genuine, warm, and deep a Christianity as the
Anglo-Saxons. Christian life flourished among them, the word of
God was translated into their own tongue, and they had many
gifted poets who sang their praise to the Lord in their own vernac-
ular. What especially gave Anglo-Saxon Christianity its distin-
guishing features was the delightful blending of Christian with popu-
lar elements, which we stiil admire. [We need not study lõng their
religious literature to be deeply touched by observing how t^p Mnrth-
ern heroic spirit had become transfigured by the holy Christian spirit^
Thej^anghter rhurrh of Xnrway could, therefore, receive a valuable
inheritance from the mnther phiirph of F.nglan"^ T need not mentiori-
the practical features of church organization whirh were tran^plnntpd
from English to Norwegian soil. Ui was more important that the
0|d Kor^p phnrrh langnagp found in ,<\ng]o-SnYon a natural starti n^
jgöint, and a closely related patter^. ^d stiil more significant,
perhaps, was the circumstance that liiter Xorwegian ppflp'-;ia^tipg
learned from their Anglo-Saxon predecessors to bonor nnd esteem-
their mother tojigue, and to be as eager as they were f^blp ^0 pr^axJa-
to the people in their own language^ p^hat the kings themselves
introduced Christianity was of no small importance to the future
development. jNIost significant in this connection was the fact

^ Gunlaugssaga Ormstungu, eh. 6.

* Udsigt over den norske Kirkes Historie under Katholicismen, p. 37 ff.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 183

that Christianity thereby from the beginning was closely linked to
the state as a. pnpiil.^r cViiirph, a statp f'h^^rõQ" ^

Tn tlip! early An^rlo-Say^Ti r.hiirfli tlip Christian doctrines are often
found expressed in a heroic strain which echoes the dying martial
notes of primitive Germanic poet^}^ Christ is nffpn rpprpspntpd as
a young hero who vanquishes evil. and conquers h\9. pnpmipg r^tV^^r
than as the suffering Savior atoning for the sip'^ of manl-infl The
runic inscription on the oid Ruthwell cross represents the cross as
saying : "Stripped himself, God Almighty, when he wanted to mount
the cross, courageously in the sight of all men. (I) bent," ete.

A very similar inscription is found in the oid poem " Dream of the
Rood," by some attributed to Cynewulf :

Stripped himself then the young hero,
that was God Almighty,
strong and brave :
he mounted the high cross
courageously in the sight of many,
when he wanted to set mankind free.
I trembled when the hero embraced me.
I dared not bend to the earth.

(§uch a view of Christ would, naturally, appeal to the warlike Norse-
men. This was a Christianity which they could understan^ ffheir
quick imagination seized upon tV|f<p pnpnlar fpatnrps by means of
which they could span the gulf between the oid and new spheres of
thougEJ Christ, the heroic new god of the Christians, mbre power-
ful than Thor, superior in every way to the oid divinities, would
ultimately gain the victory, they thought. The "Njälssaga" ^
tells how, in Iceland, a woman by the name of Steinvor disputed
with the missionary Thangbrand, saying: "Have you not heard

1 P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. II. Absalon Taranger,
Den angelsaksiske Kirkes Indflydelse paa den norske, Kristiania, 1890. A. D.
J0rgensen, Den nordiske Kirkes Grundlaeggelse og f0rste Udvikling, Copen-
hagen, 1874-1887. Dr. Konrad Maurer, Die Bekehrung des norwegischen
Stammes zum Christenthume, München, 1855. R. Keyser, Den norske Kirkes
Historie under Katholicismen, Christiania, 1856. Henry Goddard Leach,
The Relations of the Norwegian with the English Church, 1066-1399, and their
Importance to Comparative Literature, in Proceedings of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, vol. XLIV., May, 1909. * Njdlssaga, eh. 100.

184 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

that Christ was challenged to a diiel by Thor, and that he dared not
fight with him?" "I have heard," said Thangbrand, "that Thor
would be but dust and ashes unless God would let him Hve." A man
by the name of Finn, who had heard of the power of Christ, dis-
puted with the bishop, but, as Iie was convinced by his arguments,
he exclaimed : " This is something different from what I have heard
before, that no god was equal in power to Thor and Odin. Now I
understand from what you say of Christ, about vvhom you preaeh,
that while he was in this world any one could treat him almost as
he pleased, but after death he became so powerful that he raided hell,
and bound Thor, the chieftain of the gods, and since that time noth-
ing can resist him." ^ Xhrist can bind Thor. He is that powerful
god foreshadowed even in the Edda songs as the one "coming from

above to ruie over all." "Christianity," says Keyser, "no longer
appeared at this time in its original purity. A covering of human
inventions, superstitions, and errors had been wrapped about its
divine kernel. But the covering was brilliant, inviting to the senses,
impressive to the feelings. This form of Christianity was, probably,
better suited to appeal to a people in the stage of intellectual develop-
ment of the oid Norsemen than if it had been preached in a purer
form." 2

lying Olav began his missionary work in 3 iken. where his father
Tryggve had been king, and where Christianity, because of early
missionary efforts, was best known/. Here he couk
good-will and more geneml snpport than p]t;pAvKprp ^ Af
his own relatives for the new faith, he secured the coöperation oj.
the powerful chieftains, the brothers Hyrning and Thorgeir, by giv-
ing them his half-sisters Ingerid and TngpgprH in mnrnflgf, and by
bestowing on them great honors oTid nVh p^^tflfpQ '^len the leaders

' See R. Keyser, Den norske Kirkes Historie under Katholicismen, vol. I.
B. Kahle, Das Christenthum in der altnorwegischen Dichtung, Arkiv for
nordisk Filologi, 1890.

^ Den norske Kirkes Historie under Katholicismen, vol. I., p. 47.

3 The statement made by Odd Munk in Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 17, that
Olav landed at Moster, and began missionary work there, must be erroneous,
and is probably due to a misunderstanding arising from the fact that Olav
built the first Christian ehureh there. Compare A. Chr. Bang, Udsigt over
den norske Kirkes Historie under Katholicismen, p. 4G, and Alexander Bugge,
Norges Historie, vol. I., 2, p. 257 ff.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 185

had been won by the granting of such favors, the people could more
easily be persuaded to follow their example, and receive baptis^.
The chiirch service was mnde a.s sbnwy as possible. TW ^'^^^ ^^pct- |
ments worn by the priests, the bnrning inppn^p^ the impressive
ceremonies. appealed strongly to the listenprsi The hell torments
were pictured in vivid colors, and the missionaries showed how God
and the saints were aiding King Olav. ^e people were rapidly
won for the Christian faith, but m)\ p ^^^^^ rcgi^tH '^^^stinntely Odd
Munk tells how Olav dealt hard blows to those who offered resist-

ance. "Those whrt npprfsprl rhrigtinnltj^ " says Snorre,^ "hp pnn-
ished severely : some he killed, somp hp f^an-^pd fn hp TnQi'Ty»:>f^j .f^
some he drove out of the couutvyl" Öie people were summoned
to the t/mig, where the king bade them receive the Christian faith,
and after they were bflptiypd, he dpstmypd thp tpmplps, and every-
thing that reminded them of the oid worship. Before lõng the whole
district of Viken was Christianizej/ The " Heimskringla " states
that he also visited the district of Ringerike, where King Sigurd
Syr reigned, and King Sigurd wa,a_hapliz£d^ together with his wife,
Aasta, and her little boy of a former marriage, Olav Haraldsson, who
later became King Olav the Saint.

From Viken King Olav proceeded to the districts of Gulathingslag,
on the Southwest coast. O^re, as in Viken, he seems to have won
the chieftains through private negotia^ioni. The powerfui Erling
Skjalgsson of Sõle married the king's half-sister Astrid, became the
king's ardent supporter, and r^peiv^d prrpcif prpfpy-mpnts and bnnrtEa-
In the little island of Moster. on the poRst of HordRland^ w^*^''*" q

1 Odd Munk, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 11. The younger Olav Trygg-
vasonssaga relates that when the priest Thangbrand preaehed in Iceland,
Sidu-Hall, the man at whose house he was staying, arose one morning with
all his people, and stood before the tent where the priests were saying mass.
When they heard the chiming bells and the sweet voiees of the singers, the
like of which they had never heard before, they were much impressed. Stiil
greater was their wonder when the mass began, and they saw the priests in
beautiful garments, with burning eandles, and perceived the sweet seent of
the burning incense. When they returned. Hall asked his people how they
liked the customs of the Christians, and they all said that everything that
they had seen and heard seemed to them pure and beautiful.

2 Snorre, Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 53. Historia Norwegim,
ed. G. Storm, p. 116.

186

HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

famous heathen temple was found. the king assf^mbled a. grent thrn/f^
probablv in 996. to confer wit.li tlie people regarding ChristiRnity.
'fie sa^Si ' tells that t.hree men were chosen to speak in opposition to
the proposal made bv the king that they should accept the Christian
fai^th; But when the first one tried to speak, he was seized with a
viioUint-caiigh, the second speaker began to ^t-^ Tiim pr, and the third
became so hnar<;p that he coiikl say nothing. This caused great
merriment, and the people agreed to accept the king's p;ropos7rft

King Olav built a ohureh af ATn^tpr, thp first Thrirtinn nhnrfh biiiH-

ing in this part of Korway.^ ^
little later the king summoned an-
other thiug at Dragseid. near Stadt,
on the west coast. where the people
from Sogn, Firdafylke, S0ndm0r,
and Romsdal la^. Tbfi king had
g Rtrnng militn.ry fnrrp^ nnd gavp
them the choice betwee?
baptism, and fightinc

FiG. 43. — Oid church at Moster thought
to have been erected by Olav Trygg-
vason.

with him.

VVlien they saw that they could .
not resist him. they snbmitted and
wfrp baptizpd. j^fter these meet-
ings in Moster and Dragsei^, Olav summoned the Gulathing, where
Christianity was declared _to be the lawful religion of the whole.

The legend of St. Snnniva originatpd in Olnv Tryggvason's time.
and seems to have been first officially published at the thing at
Dragseid. (^ the rocky caverns on the Norwegian coast in these
parts, human bones and skeletons have been found, often in a good
state of preservatioj). They may be the remains of persons who have
sought refuge in these places, or of people who in prehistoric times
have used these caverns as dwellings. .Snr-h n find \\afi mt^rlp in

_j^l^R^'e^n ki tho ioland of Selja, and .the rumor spread that the bonp-^

were the remains of St. Snnnlva, a pit^ns Trisli prinpp>.;<^ who fled to

^ Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 55.

^ It has been thought that the oid stone church stiil standing in the island
is the one erected by King Olav, but it is not eertain. The church built by
Olav may have been a wooden structure.

*«-.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 187

escape a vicious suitor. and of tlip Violy pprson<; wVio nornnipRnipfi-
her acrosg; tlip spa_, ]V[]>nplps were said to happen in this place.
^ing Olav and Bishop Sigurd visited the cavern while the tfiing was
in session at Dragseid, and found there the bones referred^ — A_
church was erectedjthege^ and July 8th, supposed to be the saintly^
princess' death day, was consecrated as the St. Sunnivamas in

996. Norwny ^hH ^^'"^ rAn^iN^pH hor fimt nntirtnnl aninf (J. monas-

tery was also founded there? the ruins of which are stiil to be seen in
the island.^

^ing Olav had now introduced Christianity in southern and south-
western Norway. The way had here been paved for the new faith,
and the resistance offered to it had been weak and half-hearted.
But Tiyindelagen^ with its famous oid temples at Lad£_and Mseren.
stiil remained t|ie great bulwark of the Asa-faith. Herejived ma.ny
of the great leaders of the nid flristocracv. and t.hp idpas of Infal

autonom^^ Wf^^^f" ^-f^pj- ^^l^vp If these pnpillons and wpll-nrggniypd

distript,!^, which were properly regarded as th^ of^ntf^r of military and
eronomip strength in thf rr"'^^^3^ ^^ ^^^^ timp, should present a
united front against the missionary efforts of the king, the opposition
would be formidable enough to endanger the whole movemenj^
ylav was, no doubt, aware of this, and when he entered Tr0ndelagen,
his tactics quickly ggi'^nmpd g. military phflrapfpr, as if he well knew
what would happed. Odd Munk - tells that oi riirktma^ ti'mp Jie_
prepared a feast gt T^ad^r whprp hp was now staying. and invit.ed all
the chieftains of Trgindelagen. . /®ien they were seated at the table,
the king arose and spoke to them about the religious situation. He
said that if he should return to the oid faith, he would revive the
very ancient custom of human sacrifice, but he would not sacrifice
slaves, but the chieftains themselveš/ ^e toid them that a,n a.rmed
Jorcp.had ^urmunded the house, and stood ready to do his bidding.

1 The name Sunniva is English, and the legend is the same as that of
Ursula and the 11,000 maidens. Historiske Afhandlinger tüegnet Professor
Dr. J. E. Sars. Yngvar Nielsen, De gamle Helligdomme paa Selja. See
A. Taranger, Den engelske Kirkes Indjlydelse paa den norske, 155. Gustav
Storm, Monumenta, Aeta Sanctorum in Selio. Ludvig Daae, Norges Helgener,
137 ff. Konrad Maurer, Die Bekehrung des norwegischen Stammes, I,
287 ff. Odd Munk, Olav Tryggvasonssaga. Sunniva is not mentioned in
Heimskringla, Fagrskinna, or the larger Olav Tryggvasonssaga.

2 Odd Munk, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, oh. 23.

188 HISTORY OF THE NüItWEGlAN PEOPLE

The chieftains understood the situation, and submitted to the kio^.
Olav destroved the temple at Lade, and carried awav its treasures.
but the people gathered an army, and he proceeded to the district
of Haalogaland till the storm biew over. J" tliis far northpni prov.^
ince the oid pagan religion stiil flourished in all its priginal vigor.
The chieftains, Ilaarek of Tjotta, Eyvind Kinnriva, and Thore
Hjort, met the king with an anned force, and he returned to Tr0nde-
lagen. The situation looked threatening. The people kept a large
force in the field, and the king lived as if in a military camp, always
surrounded by his army. Ee tried to win the leaders in various
ways, but with little succe^. In 998 he summoned the Frostathing.
where all the chieftains in Trondelagen met, but when bp ?mkpd thpm

'\l'^ to^ accept the Christ.inn f.s.ith. their leader. .Tprn^TcjVcrgp, answprpd.
that if the king did not desist from his attempt to introduce Chris-
tianity, they would do with him as tbey had dnne W^^b TTaakrin .TarL
piav spoke words of conciliation and promised to meet them again

i ] ] at tbe thing in ATnprpn The thing assembled_iri,999j nnd Ojg-^^ nam^

with a_forr^ r>f .'^nrt .men. All the chieftains who were most deter-
mined in their resistance to Christianity had also met with an armed
forc^a When the thinQ was called to orden, spy^ ^^^ "TTpimc;lrn'norla/'
theRingspokej_flnd a^kpH tlip ppnpjp tn ar-nt^t. the Christian, religion.
(Jernskjegge again answered him in behalf of the people, and said
that they were of the same opinion now as before, that the king should
not break the law. "We demand," he said, "that you take part
in the sacrifice as other kings before you liave done," and the people
shouted their assept.^ This seene reminds us of the one enacted
on a similar occasion between M.sbj0rn of Medalh^s and Haakon
^e Good. But Olav was not Haakon. He did not answer Jern-
skjegge, but said that he would go into the temple and look at the
sacrifices. As soon as Olav disappeared in the temple, one of his
men cut Jemskjeggp dnwn nt tlip pntmnpp and Olav came out
and offered the people the choice of recei^■ing baptism or of fighting
with him. Discouraged by the loss of their leader, they submitted
and were baptizedf

Olav did not wish to stay at Lade, where he was constantly re-
minded of the oid pggQn TXTnrc:V.i'p Across the river Nid bj^ fnunded,

* Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, 68.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 189

in 997. the city of Nidaros, later called Trondhjem. TTprP Vi«> hin'1f
a;_roxaJ-iiaIl, and erected a church dedicated to St. Clemens. the
patron saint of commerce. ^^e city became in time a great center
of commercial activity and religious life in Norwa?.^

TTafl Ingal and was also Christianized. The Ving won the greedy
Haarek of Tjotta for the Christian faith bv granting him large pos-
sessions. The stories toid in the sägas that Olav caused Eyvind
Kinnriva and Raud den Ramme to be tortured to death, because
they refused to be baptized, are fiction — literary ornaments of the
kind often used by the säga writers.^

jjorway was now, in a way, rhristifl.nizpd. The heathen tpmplgs.
were destroyed, samfires and the prartiro of Fiorrorv wnro fnrbirlflnn.
bv law : churches were huilt, and TVfoster, Selja, and Nidaros beoam£
centers of Christian life and missionary activity. ^t the church
was stiil but an infant. No church organization existed', few were
the missionaries who were to instruct the people in the Christian faith,
and the oid paganism had not been very deeply shaken by King
Olav Tryggvason's crusade? And yet, the people had seen, though
faintly, the new light, wmch was now no longer a dream, but an
experience. Christianity, this strange force, had entered into the
people's life and development as a new and recognized factor, under
the seal and sanction of the law.

36. Introduction of Christianity on the Faroe Islands and

ICELAND

The "Fagrskinna" says that Olav Tryggva.snn Chri^tifiniypd Nnr-
way, and, also, several other lands:. the Orkneys, tbi£-£arQe-Islandsr
the Shetland Islands (Hjaltland), Iceland, and Greenland/'^ Whether
he Christianized the Shetland Islands is doubtful, and m i ssi on a ry-wofk
seems to have been done in the Orkneys bcforc hia rciga ; \|5ut it is
quite certain that through his efforts Christianity was introduced
in the Faroe Islands, and in Iceland, and, probably, also in Green-

^ Henrik Mathiesen, Det gamle Trondhjem. H. G. Heggtveit, Trondhjem
i Fortid og Nutid, Horten, 1897. Festskrift udgivet i anledning av Trond-
hjems 900 aars Jubiloeum, 1897, Trondhjem.

2 Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, ehs. 76 and 80.

ä Fagrskinna, p. 57.

190 IIISTORY OF TllE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

land? The Faroe Islands had in course of time become a Norwegian
dependericy, but in Haakon JarFs days tlie powerfui and cunning
pji^eft.iiin 'IVoiH^ i ^i\^» had gained complete control of the islands.
He was the head of the Gateskjegger. the most powerfui family-in-
the islands. who traced their descent from King Olav the White
of Dublin, and his queen. Aud-the, Dfiepminded^ The diival raua.
Sigmund Brestesson, the national hero of the islands, whosefather
had been slain by Trond, and who had subsequently ^pent a lõng
timeiiLexileJji-NjQrway, received aid from Haakon Jarl, and returned
to the Faroe Islands, where he defeated Trond. He received the
islands as a fief from Haakon, and became his lendermand. Sig-
mund was now the most powerfui and popular chieftain in the is-
lands. He resembled Olav Tryggvason in prowess and accomplish-
ments, and was highly admired by his people. Even at this time
he seems to have been among those who had practically repudiated
the pagan faith. When Haakon Jarl asked hirn concerning his
religious views, he answered that he believed in his own strength

and power.^ Olav invit.ed Sigmnnd tn pomp tn Nnrwny. Here

he w^as Jjaptized, and at the request of theJdng. he undertaok-to
introduce Christianity in the Faroe Islands. (But the task was made
difficult by his oid rival and enemy Trond i Gata, who stirred up
the people against him, and troubled and embarrassed him in every
way7 jFinally, on a. dark and stormy night, Sigmiind.witli Ihirty -
follõwers prooeeded to the rocky island of Anst.re.y, where Trond
was dwelling, took him prisoner. and forced him fn rpp^ivp baptism
The work of Christianizing the islands was now quickly accom-
plished, but thisJorm of conversion brought ^ith4^no great ehange-
^>nieart- Though the outer forms of Christianity had been accepted,
life lõng continued to be heathen in spirit in these islandi.

The time had been when the Christian faith was not wholl}^ un-
known in Iceland. ]\Iany of the early settlers came from the colo-
nies in the British Isles, where they had spent a great part of their
life in more or less close contact with the native Christian popula-
tion, and not a few had been so far influenced by the new faith and
culture that they were regarded as Christians, at least by their own

^ Foereyingasaga, eh. 23. Konrad Maurer, Bekchrung des norwegischen
Stammes, I., 339-346.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 191

countrymen, while some, no doubt, were baptized. The "Land-
nämabok" says : ^ "It is said by men who are well informed that
many of the landnaamsmoBnd who had migrated to Iceland were
baptized, especially of those who came from the West aeross the sea ;
among these are mentioned : Helge Magre, Orleyg Gamle, Helge
Bjolla, J0rund Kristne (the Christian), Aud the Deepminded, and
Ketill Fiflske, and many others who came from the West aeross the
sea; and some of these remained Christians till their death day;
but their descendants did not lõng continue in the faith, for even the
sons of some erected temples, and sacrificed to the gods. The land
was entirely heathen for well-nigh a hundred years." ^ Those who
at this time were regarded as Christians must, however, have been
comparatively few in number, and, as they lived scattered among
a heathen people, they could not have exercised any märked influ-
ence on the life of their fellow countrymen.

A German bishop. Friedrich, and his friend, the Tfplandpr Tlmr-
vald Vidf0rle, who had traveled far and wide. wepp tlip fir^t Tni>^g:inn-
aries to Iceland. |TTipy arrivpd there in OKI ^ and succeeded in bap-
tizing a few persons, but when Thorvald ventured to preach at
the Althing, he was so twitted and ridiculed that he slew two of his
antagonists, and both he and the bishop were outlawed, and had to
leave the islan3J^

Many Icelanders came to Norway every year. They were gen-
erally influential men at home, and King Olav Tryggva:šon used
every opportunity to win them for the Christian faith. The sägas
mention many leading Icelanders who in this way became Christian^.
The most notable instances of this kind were, probably, the con-
versions of the poet Hallfr0d Vandrsedaskald, and of Kjartan Olavsson,
a hero famous in säga literature, and one of the leading men in
Iceland.*
dn- 996- King Olav sent Stevne Thorgilsson as missionary to Ice-

' Landndmabok, V., eh. 15.

2 A great hundred, or 10 X 12 = 120. A similar aceount is found in the
younger Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 119.

3 See Kristnisaga, the younger Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 165. Konrad
Maurer, Bekehrung des norwegischen Stammes, I., 201 ff.

* See Laxd^lasaga, eh. 40. Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 82
and 83. Odd Munk, eh. 30.

1^(

192 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

lillid. Hp m.nrplipH nhmit, tlip pmintry wit.h au arm pri tnrop^ Hp-

stroying the temples, pulli ng_down thejiltars, anrl rniding thrronntry

ii1 tnip VikiTiT fM>^ln'on. This was Stevne's idea nf mis^innnry- wnrlr

The Altliing passed a law that any one who spoke disrespectfully of
the gods, or harmed their images, should be outlawed. In accord-
ance with this measure Stevne was outlawed, and had to leave Ice-
laui^. ^ut Olav did not abandon the idea of Christianizing Iceland.
The priest Thanf>-brflnd^ who had come with Olav to Norway, had
j ^ '7 aroused the king's displeasure by his violert «^d iinphn\tiim p^ndnr-t,
and as a punishment he was ordered to go to Iceland as a missionarp.
Thangbrand spent the first winter w^ith the thoughtful and influential
Sidu-Hall at J)ottaa, in eastern Iceland, and Hall was baptized,
together with his family. The next spring, 998, Thangbrand began

the missionary WO^^' '" pgmpgf |I_e waq ^ '^trnng nnd pniiragpoiit;

man, qjynys rpady fr^r n fitrhjL wheiiever he encountered oppositio^.
The sägas say that he carried a crucifix before his shield, a wise
thing to do, no doubt, or he might have been mistaken for a real
Viking.^ M^jrp than once it came. to blows. nnd ThangKranH l-niorl
_many persnns, but the people were impressed by_his rnngh nnd rpndy
wav of dealinp- with hi'^ nppnnpntr^ and many of the leading men
accepted the Christian faith, Dissatisfaction with his mpthods; was^
neverthelpss, ,c^rowintT, and he was finally outlawed, and had to re-
turn to Norwa^. ^ng Olav was very angry when he learned that
Thangbrand's mission also had proved a failure, but two leading Ice-
land ers,.,iiissiiL-IIvite and Hjalte. Skjeggesson, who were then stay-
ing in Norway, promised the king to return home, and renew the
attempt. In the vear 1000 they set sail for Icplar^di «pfnmpnniprl
hy the pripst Thnrmo^ 'Phe Christians had already become so
numerous that they met at the Althing as a strong and well-organized
party. But the hostility between the adherents of the two religions
was so intense that when Gissur and Hjalte spoke in favor of Chris-
tianity, civil war was with difficulty avertej. The wise and moderate

Sidu-Hall, and tJie Stil) j^pntliPn Inr^irjPrnnnrl ^ Thnrcrpin LjOSVetuiuga-

gode, succeeded in bringing about a compromise between the con-

tending factions. '^orgeir spoke of the evils which would attend a

civil w^. Perhaps he pointed out to them, also, what effect it might

^ For an account of Thangbrand see Njdlssaga, eh. 100 ff.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 193

have on their future autonomy if they continued to resist King Olav

in this matter. ^g suggested a way of settling the difläcult ques-

tion, to which both factions finally agreed. -All tlip pfopV «^f thp

Jsland should accept Christianity anH hp baptized, the heat.hen

Jgnrplfs shoiild he. dest.royeflj and any one who sacrificed publicly

to the gods should be outlawed for three yearäf ^l^- pr^y r^y^^ might

sacrifice to the p;orls privat.ely. eat horse me.at, and expose infants

as heretofor^ Christianity \va<i nnw tVip nfflpinlly gplrnowIpdgpH

J-eligioiL'-.f Jpplflnrlj biit in thnnght anH spirit thp grpafpr pprt «"«f the

people were yet heathen. Generations were stiil tn pa^^^^ hpfnrp tViP
precepts of Christian teaching gained full and general recognition.

That no greater change was effeoted in the people's life änd ideas /
by the first prpaohing nf rhristianity w.i.r nf impnrtQnpp tn tVip Hp-
Velopment of the ^«g^^ lifprafurp Had the cha^gP bppn Hppp anH

sudden, this literature could never have bgen jymdiired. -JHie period

93Q-1Q30 i^ l-nnwn a'^ thp grpat Säga ^Aga'— "^^this pprinri In-prTtliP
^reater number of the rPnnwnpH pprcsnir^ anri famiHpg gKmit whnm
the sägas have been writtpn ; snrh a'^^ F.gil S1cal]i/grirr]|Rg;nn, Olav

Paa, Kjartan Olavsson, Njäl paa Bergthorshväl, Gunnar paa
Lidarende, Sidu-Hall, Snorre Gode; Bergthora, Hallgerd, Gudrun
Usvivsdotter, Aud the Deepminded. and Helga the Fair. ^mmerce
was maintained, not only with Norway and Denmark, but also with
Ireland, England, and Norman^^ It was a time of enterprise and
great achievements, and wealth and luxury could be found among the
better families in Iceland in those days. The "Laxd0lasaga" tells
us that the sons of Hjalte of Hjaltadal entertained twelve hundred
(= 1440) guests at their father's funeral. When Hoskuld Dalakolls-
son died, his son, Olav Paa, invited all the leading men in that part
of Iceland to the funeral. Nine hundred guests came(= 1080),
and the festival lasted for two weeks. Olav built himself a famous
residence, Hjardarholt, the walls of which were decorated with wood
carvings representing myths of the Asa-religion. The pictures were
later described in the poem "Hüsdräpa." pie proud memories of
this great age were preserved by oral tradition for a couple of cen-
turies ; the^greater number of the best sägas were not written till
in_the period 1200-1300. which is regarded as.the classic period of ~/7^
_Qld_Norse prose, literatufel. When pagan lifeisstiU so perfeilly

VOL. I — o

194 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Xgflectedjn the sägas, and the Oid Norse literar^stjJe-is^ibuöd iivits
_clas.sic pu^it3^,^UIlInaJTfidLJJy-I^üa- iiifl«eJi€e,-i%- »-dtte--to the fact
that pagajiisnL-SmYJypd in Trplnnrl fof-centuries after Christianity
had beenjofficially recognizedAS._tli£-St.ate religion^

King Olav had reunited and Christianized Norway, and all colonial
possessions had pledged their submission and loyalty to the mother
country. As king he was strong and popular, but the integrity
and independence of the kingdom were threatened by powerful
enemies. CThe Danish king was stiil looking for an opportunity to
recover Viken) and the kings of Sweden had reluctantly surrendered
their claims to the border province of Ranrike, or Bohuslen, between
Svinesund and the Göta River. Eirik and Svein, the sons of Haakon
Jarl, h9,d soiight refuge in Sweden and Denmark after leaving Nor-
way, and were trying to form a powerful alliance against King Olav.
Svein was engaged to Holmfrid, the daughter of the Swedish king,
Eirik Seierssel, and Svein married Gyda, the daughter of King
Svein Tjugeskjeg of Denmark. Olav seems to have been aware
of the impending danger. He formed an alliance with Jarl Ragnvald
Ulvsson of Vestergötland, and gave him his sister Ingebj0rg in mar-
riage, a step which he would scarcely have taken without some polit-
ical motive. The same is probably true of his courtship of Queen
Sigrid Storraade, widow of the Swedish king, Eirik Seierssel. Both
affairs reveal a desire to strengthen the friendly relations with the
neighbor state. Sigrid is described as a rich and powerful queen,
very proud and haughty. The marriage had been arranged, says
the saga,^ and she came to meet King Olav in Konghelle, in south-
eastern Norway, but when he asked her to accept the Christian faith,
she refused, whereupon he struck her in the face with his glove, and
called her a heathen. This ungallant act aroused the temper of the
proud queen, and she retorted angrily that it might eost him his life.
She returned home, and soon afterward married King Svein Tjugeskjeg
of Denmark, while Olav married Thyre, Svein's sister, as it appears,
without her brother's consent. From this time on Sigrid continually
plotted against King Olav, from motives of revenge. Through her
efforts an alliance was formed against him by the kings of Denmark
and Sweden, and the jarls Eirik and Svein. It is true that Sigrid
^ Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 61.

OLAV TRYGGVASON 195

married King Svein of Denmark, and that Olav married Thyre, but
the story that Olav struck Sigrid in the face with liis glove, because
she refused to accept Christianity, is a bit of conventional fiction used
in various forms also about other persons both in Norse and Irish
sägas. Xeither does it seem to be true that the alliance against King
Olav was the work of the revengeful Sigrid. The warlike and ambi-
tious Svein Tjiigeskjeg was, no doubt, the prime mover in the affair.
Already as prince he returned to paganism, and rebelled against his
father. He hated King Olav, and felt especially offended because
he had married Thyre without obtaining his consent ; but the chief
motive was his desire to reconquer Viken, and, possibly, all Norway.
The time for forming an alliance was especially opportune. His
queen, Sigrid, was the mother of the young king of Sweden, Olav
Skotkonung, and the jarls Eirik and Svein were ready to jõin in an
undertaking which gave them hope of regaining their power and pos-
sessions in Norway. i^Igvalde Jarl of Jomsborg, who had suffered
defeat in Hj0rungavaag, also became a secret partner to the compa^Jl
[ Ih the harbor of^NJdaros Olav TryggvasQiLiind fnr several yoara bcen

busy buil(iing_a new flppf of s;hips nf R sizP! nnf] p]pganrpla-equipxineiv4^

hitherto^jiever .seen in the Nort^ Especially conspicuous were the
ships "Tranen" (the "Crane"), "Ormen Kõrte" (the "Short Ser-
pent"), and "Ormen Lange" [the_^JLong_S£rp£rilI!). In the year
1000 he sailed with a fleet of seventj-one ships southward to Vend-
iand for the purpose, as the sägas have it, of collecting an inheritance
belonging to his queen, Thyre, who had formerly been married to
Duke iMiesco of Poland. The larger ships, especially, were manned
by the most select warriors in Norway at that time. 01av's brother-
in-law, Erling Skjalgsson of Sõle, commanded a squadron of the fleet.
His other brothers-in-law, Thorgeir and Hyrning, and his half-brother,
Thorkel Nevja, werejyith OIa\' on thej^ong Serpent." Here were,
also, a bänd of distinguished chieftains, such as Ulv R0de, Kolbein
Stallare, Thorgrim Thjodolvsson of Hvin, and Einar Tambarskjselver,
a giant in strength, and the best archer in Norway, though only
eighteen years of age. Queen Thyre also accompanied Olav on the
expedition. j What the real purpose of the expedition may have been
is not apparent, though it seems reasonable to suppose that it was
something more weighty than the collection of the queen's inherit-

196 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ancS pThe "Historia Norwegiae"^ states that Olav had forty mis-
sionaries with him on the "Lõng Serpent." This gives it, to some
degree, the appearance of a crusade undertaken, possibly, for the
,purposfi q1 Christianizing the Wends. ._Certaiii it is that Olav iormei
an alliance with Boleslav. king of Poland, doubtless agaimst King_
j vein of DenmarB. He also negotiated with Sigvalde Jarl of Joms-
borg, who treacHerously promised to aid him, being at the time a
secret ally of the Danish king. Unconscious of danger, Olav set sail
for the homeward voyage. He allowed a great part of his fleet, con-
sisting of the lighter and swifter vessels commanded by Erling Skjalgs-
son of Sõle, to proceed at full speed, and thus to separate from the
squadron of heavier vessels under his own command. Sigvalde Jarl,
who was playing the roie of a friend and ally, followed the king's
squadron with a number of ships, and succeeded in decoying him
intojthe estuary of Svolder, where the kings of Sweden nnH Dprnnark,
and the jarls Eirik and Svein with a great fleet lay ready to attack
him. Too läte King Olav discovered the plans of his enemies, -but_
he scorned to seek safety in flight. ge quickly placed his ships in
order of battle, and on the 9th of September, -iii_Üie.4::£ai_lDD0,. was
fought the memorable battle of Svolder. stilUamnus in thp «^nngt; and-
annals of the North. Though overwhelmed by numbers. King Olav
and his men fought with prodigious valor until his enemies finally
boarded the king's ship, the "Lõng Serpent," and Olav leaped over-
board with his few remaining followe^ Queen Thyre is said to have
died of grief a short time afterward.^ Thns puAp^A 01aY^Tryggvflson's
short but brilliant career, and the unity and-independenoe of the
kingdom of Norwav perished with him. " He came from the unknown,
and disappeared in the dark," says Alexander Bugge, " but Jiis reign
was of epoch-making importance. It reprejents the transition from
the Viking Age to the ]\Iiddle Ages."

^Tter the battle of Svolder Xorway was divided among the victors.
King Svein of Denmark got Viken, excepting the province of Ranrike,
which was incorporated in the kingdom of Swede^. The Swedish
king also receiyed the four fyikcr in Lidtr0ndelagen, together with
Nordm0r, Romsdal, and S0ndm0r. These possessions he gave as a

* Historia Norwegiae, p. IIS.

^ Heimskringla, Olav Tryggvasonssaga, eh. 102 fip.

COLONIZATION OF GREENLAND 197

fief to Svein Jarl, who had married his sister Holmfrid. Eirik Jarl
became independent sovereign over the wliole coast region, from
Finmarken to Lindesnes. Raumarike and Vingulmark, and two dis-
tricts in Mken, he received as a fief from his father-in-law, King
Svein Tjugeskjeg. In Oplandene the kings regained their oid auton-
omy, and the island possessions, too, drifted away from the mother
country in the period of disintegration and weakness which was now
inaugurated. Jarl Sigurd Lodvesson ruled the Orkney and Shetland
Islands as an independent prince, and jp the Faroe TslanHs thp oid,
pagan party, led by Trond i Gatn, rose against Sigmnnd Rrpt;t^*fwAw^

wEÕ wasjnally sIain.___Tmil^ gainpH fnll pnnt.rnl in thp idlanrlc;^ and

paid no heed to Norway, which was now divided among foreign princes
and self-seeking_jarls — a dismembered kingdom with an empty
throne.

37. The Discovery and Colonization of Greenland

^_About the year 900 a man by the name of Gunbj0rn, while on a
voyage to Iceland, was driven out of his course far to the westward,
where he claimed that he diseovered a new land.^ In Iceland stories
were toid of his adventure, and the land which he claimed to have
seen was called Gunbj0rn's Skjser (skerry. rocki. _TtiJ)S2 Fjrik the
jledj a settler near the mouth of the Breidafjord in northwestern Ice-
land, was .Qutlawed for killing a man in a IžiawL 5? ^^ft Iceland with
a few followers, and undertook to find the land which Gunbj0rn had
se^. He reached the ice-bound east coast of Greenland, and, finding
it uninhabitable, he continued the voyage southward along the coast,
rounded the southern extremity of the island, and came finally to a
fjord on the west coast, which he called Eiriksfjord (Tunugdliarfik) .
i^uring the following three years he explored the west coast of Green-
land, and sought out the places where colonies might be established.
He then returned to Iceland to induce people to migrate to the new
land. He called it Greenland, because he thought that it would be
easier to persuade people to go there, if the land had a fine nam^.^

1 The O. N. doeuments dealing with the colonization of Greenland
and the discovery of America are found in the Antiquitates Americanae,
Copenhagen, 1837, edited by Carl Christian Rafn.

2 Are Frode, Islendingabök, eh. 6. Eyrbyggjasaga, eh. 25.

198 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

In 986J_jta:£I)ty-five ships sn.ilpfl for GrppnlmiH, but-onlyJourteen
reachecl their destination. The rest were lost. nr ba.f] tn rptiirn. ^ It
is possible that the fleet was caught in the great earthquake which is
known to have occurred at that tim^. [The " Flateyjarbok " men-
tipns a Christian cokmist fromthe IIeT)rifles who afrompnnied.ILa^^vY
one of the early settlers, on his voyage to Greenland. He-wrote

_a^j3oeia, the "Hafgeiföingaldräpa," about the great bi-p^kpr^ in th^
ocean, from which he prays God to prntert bim., Only a single stanza
of the poem has been preserveS^

The eolonists found no nättve inhabitants where they settled, but
numerous traces of human beings con\dnced them that Greenland was
inhabited. The reliable oid writer Are Frode ^ says : " They found
remnants of human dvvelling places both eastward and westward in
the land, stone weapons and fragments of boats, from which it was
evident that the same people who inhabit Vinland, and whom the
people of Greenland call Skraelings/ had also sojourned here." Two
settlements were founded on the west coast. The Eastern Settle-
ment, in 60°-61° N. L., corresponding to the present Julianehaab
district; and the Western Settlement farther up the coast, in 64°-
65° N. L., located in the present district of Godthaab.^
. M Q The Eastfrn Spttlprnent numbered at one time lölLiiwellingSy
I ^ jtj\'elve churches. a cloister. and a monastery ; the Western Set.t.le-

.ment had ninety dwellings and four diurdies. Thp nnmber of inhab-

^ J jtRnts in th*^ tW" '^pftlpmpntt; pmbably npvpr oxof^f-c](^f] ^OftT)^

In Greenland the winters are lõng and cold, and the sea is covered
with huge icebergs till quite läte in the spring. But in the summer
months a green belt of vegetation stretches along the western coast,

' Islandske Annaler, edited by Gustav Storm, p. 104 and 464.

2 See Landtiämabõk, V, eh. 14; also, Voyages oj the Norsemen, edited by
Professor Jubus E. Olson in Original Narratives of Early American History,
p. 47.

2 Kongespeilet, eb. 16, gives a more detailed account of this phenomenon.
Are Torgilsson Frode, born in leeland 1067, wrote the Islendingabök, prob-
ably in the period 1120-1130. It is a work of fundamental importanee in
Oid Norse history writing. The work has been preserved in a somewhat
abridged form of a later date.

"• SkrEeling, from O. N. skral, puny, thin, small.

5 Daniol Bruun, Det hfiie Nord, Fcer^ernes, Islands og Gr^nlands Udforsk-
ning, Copenhagen, 1902.

COLONIZATION OF GREENLAND

199

behind which tower the immense glaciers, and huge, snow-covered
mountains.^ The weather during this season of the year is agreeable,
and the scenery beautiful. Explorers claim that those who have
stayed lõng enough to become acquainted with conditions, always
like to return to Greenland. The vegetation in the summer is quite
varied. (^ere are no forests, but.birrh t.rees reach a diameter of six
inches, and a height of twenty feet, and they are numerous enough to
form ponsidfrahlp grnvps.- There is an abundance of grass, flowers,
berries, and brušB) The bkie fjords and green valleys, the calm, clear
air, the sun shming on glaciers and snow-covered mountains, give
the region in the summertime a serene and tranquil beauty. .Fish
are found in abundance in the streams. as well as in the sen . and seals.
walrus, polar bears, and furbearing animals are plentiful. Cattl&f
slTpe]2^_^oatSj_gTid horses thrived well. and were kept in goodlynuiobera.
b>^ the settlers. "^e Kjng's Mirror" says : " It is said that in Green-
land there is good pasturage. The people have many sheep and
cattle, and make cheese and butter in large quantitie|!" Biit no
grain could be raised, and wp are toid that mRny-ftf-4be^fie&pfe-4i-viRg-
there, especially tho-^p nf tVip pnnrpr plqss^ hgd novor tn f.terl hrpnrl

By the Eiriksfjord lay Brattahlid, the home of Eirik the Red, the
first chieftain's residence erected in Greenland. By the Einarsfjord
(Igaliko) lay Gardar^-JKh£re-^the-^Althing met cvcry summer. The_
Tcelandic Iflws and j^ystpin of government were introduced. Tlie settle-
ments were divided into districts, or sysler, and aH important matters
were brought before the Althing, where the lovsigemand presided.

The settlers continued to exj^lore the west coast of Greenland. In
the summer they sailed northward to a place called NorSrsetur, in
the region about Disco Bay, to hunt seal, and to gather driftwood.
How far north they penetrated is not known, but in 1824 a rune-stone
was found in the island of Kingigtorsuak, 72° 55' 20" N. L., which
shows that they reached this latitude. Professor ]\Iagnus Olsen
thinks that the stone dates from about 1300.^

1 Finnur Jonsson og Helga Pettursson, Uin Gr^nland oS Fornu og Nyju,
Copenhagen, 1899.

Kongespe-^lf! fnv^° ^ ^""g^^y ri^sriHptiop pf tlift p.lima.t.ft nf rrrppnlqnrl, whirtli
■is equally o.orvp.f.t a,t, thf. prpspnt, timt^.

2 The stone has the following inscription : "Erling Sighvatsson, Bjarne
Thordarsson and Endride Oddsson Saturday before gagndag (April 25)

200 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

The colonists biiilt their houses and churches of stone, and many
ruins of these early buildings are stiil found. Their dweUing houses
were of good size, and separate stables were built for horses, cattle,
and sheep. ^JjrfflW^"^^ ^Jf^ flmirislipd^ anr] litprsitiirp wi-^ prndiiri^
also in_Greeiilaüd^. The "Atlamäl" of the "Elder Edda" was, no
doubt, composed there in the second half of the eleventh century.
Kostbera's dream of the polar bear coming into the house and devour-
ing the people shows that the poem was written in Greenland. It may,
indeed, happen that polar bears reach the coast of Iceland on cakes
of ice, but siich instances are rare, and it could not have occurred to
an Icelandie poet to describe such a bear as coming into the houses
and devouring people. A few lines of a "Norörsetudräpa" written
in Greenland have also been preserved. . Stories and sägas were toid
at the Althing in Greenland as well as in Norway and TpHpnd,

f^vigation between Greenland and Iceland was often difficult
and dangerous, and was at times entirely interrupted by ic^ J[n
999 Leiv Eiriksson, the son of Eirik the Red, struck boldly across the .
■^ Atlantic, and sailed from Greenland to Norway by way of the Hebrides.
"jThis was the first voj^age made directly across the Atlantic Ocean,
and marks the beginning of ocean naviga.t.ion? When we consider
that the voyage was made in open boats, and without comj)ass, we
can understand the daring of these northern sailors. It is an achieve-
ment which ranks with the greatest in the history of navigation. [A
new route of commerce and travel was thus opened between Norway
and Greenland, and a lucrative trade soon sprang up between the
two countriesJ "^le Kin.o:'s Mirror" ("Kongespeilet") says that
"some go to^Greenland because of the renown which they gain by
exposing them selves to great dangers; others go to satisfy their
curiosity, but some for the sake of profit. The Greenlanders have
to import nearly all things needed in the colonization of the country :
^ron^l^building material, and other necessaries; but they sell-j^d^s,
seaI_skinSf walrus teet.h, and ropes of walrus hide." ^ Grain was also,
a leading article of impo^

(While Leiv Eiriksson was in Norw^ay. he visited King Olav Tryggva-

built these varder (cairns) and cleared ..." Then follow a few runes which
have been erroneously interpreted to mean 1135. Professor L. Fr. Löffler
interprets them to mean ice. ^ Kongespeilet, eh. 17.

COLONIZATION OP GREENLAND 201

son, who persuaded him to receive the Christian faith. Heuiider=-
~tõÕK to introduce Christianity in Greenjajld «^^i ^i'^ rp-turn^ and the
king sent a missionary along to aid him in the work. The people
received the new faith without much difficulty, but their mõral and
spiritual Hfe was at first but shghtly influenced by the change, and
heathen ciistoms continiied to prevaU. Leiv's father, Eirik the Red,
refused to be baptized, and continued to worship an oid polar bear
staying in the neighborhood of Brattahlid. Greenland became a
bishopric, probably about 1110, though Arnaldr, who was ordained
bishop in Lund, in Skäne, 1124, is the first bishop of Greenland known
to have been ordained. A^ rnthedral was ererted n.t Gardar, where,
the_J)ishQp__nesidfidy
but the foundations
alone remain of the
oncejgroud structure._
[Tts massive walls of
red sandstone have
been used as a quarry
where the inhabit-

ants in modern times ^^^ 44.— Ruins of the churdi at Kakortok, Greenland.

found convenient

building material. The foundations and ruins of five churches from
this period have been found, among others a w^ell preserved ruin at
^Kakortok oi a church, which, probably, was never complete3^ Ex-
cavations have been made in these ruins, and a number of relics have
been brought to light.^ In the Eastern Settlement the ruins of about
100 dwellings have been found.

In perusing the later history of the colonies it grows constantly
darker, until, at length, the light completely fails. When modern
intercourse again brings this remote region to view, it presents to
the inquisitive eye of the traveler, not flourishing settlements, but
a graveyard where all traces of the colonists are lost. Wliat, we ask,
became of the now extinct colonies? In 1261, in the reign of King
Haakon Haakonsson, Greenland became a Norwegian dependency,
or crown colony. Till the beginning of the fourteenth century con-

1 Daniel Bruun, Udgravninger paa Gr^nland. Gr^nlands historiske Min-
desmerker.

202 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

siderable traffic was maintained between Greenland, Iceland, and
Norw^ay, but the Black Death, which reached Norway in 1349, gave
this traffic a severe blow. Great härm had already been done by
making colonial trade a royal monopoly, so that no trading vessels
could go to the colonies, except a few which were in thej<ing's service.
This monopoly stopped all enterprise, and virtually put an end to
commercial intercourse with Greenland. When the Hanseatic mer-
chants finally gained control of Bergen, the most important commer-
cial city in Norway at that time, and swept Norwegian commerce
from the sea, the colonies in Greenland were completely cut off from
all communication with the mother country, on which they depended
for so many of the necessaries of life. Nothing more was heard about
them, and they were soon entirely forgotten. The last mention of
the colonies is found in a papal letter issued by Pope Alexander VI.,
in the first year of his pontificate (1492-1493), dealing with the ap-
pointment of a new bishop for Greenland. "For eighty years, or
thereabouts," says the Pope, " absolutely no bishop or priest governed
that church (of Greenland) in personal residence," and he complains
that Christianity has almost died out there.^ Being left without aid
by the mother country, the settlers were in sõre straits, and were,
probably, forced little by little to adopt the mode of life of the Eskimos.
The Western Settlement seems to have been abandoned prior to 1340.
A priest, Ivar Baardsson, from Norway, came to Greenland i
and was sent to the Western Settlement with a small force to ,.
settlers, but he did not find a person there. The colony was entirel
destroyed, says the account, only a few almost wild sheep and
were found and brought to the Eastern Settlement. ^or th'
1379 t.liejjcelnndic Annais" contain the following notice : 1
Skrselings attacked the Greenlanders, killed eigliteen of thpjri. and
carried away two boys, whom they made slave^"- Where thi; ^"' "^
took place, or what was the cause of it, is not known. xTn 141
Skrselings again attacked the settlers, killed many people, and biiruf

1 The letter is printed in the Flatey-hook and Recently Discovered V
Manuscripts Concerning America as Early as the Tenth Century, publish,.
the Norroena Society, New York, London ; ete, 1908. Also in Origiw
Narratives of Early American History, New York, 1006.

2 Islandske Annaler, edited by Gustav Storm, Christiania, 1888, p. 30
Gr^nlands historiske Mindesmerker, III., p. 258.

COLONIZATION OF GREENLAND 203

hoiises and churches. References to these events are found in a
letter by Pope Nicolaus V., dated Sept. 20, 1448,^ in which he speaks
of the calamities which befell the chiirch and people of Greenland
thirty years eariie?. What, finally, became of the settlers is left
to conjecture. Did they all perish ? or did they finally jõin the Eski-
mos after all hope of aid from the mother country had to be aban-
doned ? The Danish explorer, Normann Hansen, in a lecture on his
investigations of the ruins of the Oid Norse colonies in Greenland
recently delivered at Copenhagen, states that at the head of one of
the fjords he and his companions made their way up a fork-shaped
river, and Tound, in a place difficiilt of approach, a ruin which, from
its situation, seems to have been the last place of refiige of the Norse
colonists. The biiildings in this remarkable retreat were constructed
in a more substantial way than elsewhere. On the top of a high
mountain, Igdlerfigsalik, two stone circles are found which seem to
be the remains of stone huts erected there by the Norse colonists.
Mr. Daniel Briiiin thinks that these huts have been used by watch-
men who year after year maintained the fruitless outlook for aid
from the mother country, which never came till the last colonist had
perished. ferofessor Nansen maintains that the views hitherto gen-
erally held, that the colonists were exterminated by the Eskimos, are
untenable for many reaso^. mie attacks on the colonists which the
Eskimos are reported to have made must have been provoked by the
settlers themselves, as the Eskimns arp a. vpr^^^ps^iic^ful-pfiiapIey-anH
these conflicts could scarcely have been so serious as to lead to the
destruction of the colonies. The report that Ivar^aardgson in 1841
found the Western Settlement destroyed reatä.jQii-fl.-inis^^^nppptinii,
according to Nansen. The report says that he_iound -na people,
biit_on1y siomp shppp and p«ttlp This docs not prove that the people

1 The letter is printed and translated in Original Narratives of Early
American History, Scribner's Sons, New York, 1906. Also in Flatey-book
and Recently Discovered Vatican Manuscripts Concerving America as Early as
in the Tenth Century, Norroena Society, New York, 1908. Nansen shows
that the Pope has not been well informed about eonditions in Greenland,
and that many statements in the letter are erroneous. The events as here
described ean scarcely be regarded as historical, though there may have
been conflicts between the Skrgelings and the settlers. See Nord i Taake-
heimen, p. 373. (English title, In Northern Mists.)

204 IIISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

had been killed. But the report itself seems to be erroneous. The
sheep and cattle could have existed in Greenland uncared-for but a
short time during the summer months. If the settlement had been
destroyed, this must have happened, then, shortly before Baardsson's
arrival, in which case traces of the final conflict would stiil have been
visibl^ <^rse loan-words and traditions stiil found among the
Eskimos indicate that the Norse settlers finally joined them) Dur-
ing lõng periods the eolonists had no priests to maintain the Christian
religion among them, and they gradually returned to paganism. This
can be seen, both from Pope Alexander VL's letter, and from an
entry in "Gisle Oddsson's Annals," written in Iceland in 1637: "p^e
people of Greenland fell away from the true faith and the Christian
religion, and after häving lost all good customs and true virtues they
returned to the American peoplj" ^ This can only mean that they
turned to the ways of the native inhabitants. Professor Nansen
shows that the Eskimos' mode of life was the only one possible for
the eolonists in Greenland after the connections with the mother
country had been severed.

In 1406 a ship sailing from Norway to Iceland strayed from its
course, and finally landed in Greenland, where it remained till 1410,
when it returned to Norway. This is the last definite mention of a
voyage from Norway to Greenland. But the letter of Pope Alexander
VL, 1492, indicates that news had been brought from Greenland re-
garding conditions there shortly before the letter was written. There
are also other indications that a voyage was made to Greenland in
the latter part of the fifteenth century.^ Some sources even state
that the expedition took place in 1476. After this time no mention
is made of voyages to Greenland. When John Davis, in 1585. reached
the coast of Greenland, thp "T.and of Desolation." six hundred years
after Eirik the Red had first discovered it, he found Eskimos there,
but the white settlers had disappeared, and Davis thought he was the
real discoverer of the country.

1 Gr^nlands historiske Mindesmerker, III., p. 4.59.

2 Daniel Bruun, Det h^ie Nord, p. 176. Fridtjof Nansen, Nord i Taake-
heimen, p. 376 f.

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 205

38, The Discovery of the ÄIainland of North America

After the Norsemen had succeeded in establishing colonies in Green-
land; after ocean voyages were successfuUy made across the North
Atlantic to Norway, and their exploring expeditions found the way
northward through Davis Strait into the polar regions, it is by no
means surprising that they should also have found the neighboring
coast of the mainland of North America. Though no rehe has been
found which can be offered as a proof that the Norsemen ever visited
these shores, the fact that they discovered America about the year
1000 is so well estabhshed as to leave no room for doubt or controversy.
Professor Fridtjof Nansen, who in his work "In Northern Mists"
(1911) has subjected all accounts of the Vinland voyages and the
discovery of America by the Norsemen to a most searching criticism,
says: "Icelandic literature contains many remarkable statements
about countries to the southwest or south of the Greenland settle-
ments. They are called 'Helluland' {i.e. slate or stone-land),
'Märklaud* (i.e. wood-land), 'FurSustrandir' {i.e. the marvel-
strands), and 'Vinland' (also written 'Vindland,' or 'Vinland').
Yet another, which lay to the west of Ireland, was called 'Hvitra-
manna-land' (i.e. the white men's laud). Even if certain of these
countries are legendary, as will presently be shown, it must be re-
garded as a fact that the Greenlanders and Icelanders reached some
of them, which lay on the northeastern coast of America; and they
thus discovered the continent of North America besides Greenland,
about five hundred years before Cabot (and Columbus)." ^

Vinland is first mentioned by Adam v. Bremen about 1070. In the
fourth chapter of his church history of the archbishopric of Hamburg,
" Gesta Hammaburgensis," is found a description of the lands and
islands in the far North, " Discriptio Insularum Aquilonis." Adam's
geographical knowledge is derived from various sources: from oid
classic authors, from Bede, Paulus Warnefridus, and other oid writers,
and partly from Information gathered at the court of the Danish king,
Svein Estridsson, where he was staying at the time. He says about
Vinland :

^ Nansen, In Northern Mists, vol. I., p. 312.

206 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

" He (the king of Denmark) mentioned also another island which has
been discovered by many in this ocean, which is called Winland,
because grapevines grow wild there, and yield the best wine. That
self-sown grain is found there in abundance, we have learned, not
through fabulous conjecture, but through reliable aecounts given by
the Danes. Beyond this island there is no habitable land in that
ocean, but all which lies beyond is full of unbearable ice and boundless
gloom. Of this circumstance we are reminded by Marcian: 'Three
days' sailing beyond Tiiule the ocean is congealed.' Harald, the king
of the Norsemen, a prince very desirous of knowledge, experienced this
when he explored the whole width of the northern ocean with his ships,
and as the disappearing edge of the earth grew dark before his eyes, he
scarcely escaped in safety the great aliyss by returning." ^

The next mention of Vinland is found in Are Frode's "Islendinga-
bok" (1120-1130) :

"The land which is called Greenland was discovered and colonized
from Iceland. Eirik the Red, a man from Breidafjord, went thither,
and took land in a place since called Eiriksfjord. He gave the land
name, and called it Greenland, saying that it would entice people to go
there, if the country had a fine name. They found human dwelling
places both east and west in the land, remnants of boats, and stone
implements, from which they could judge that the same people had
wandered about here, which inhabit Vinland, and which the Greenlanders
call Skrselings. But he began to colonize the country fourteen or
fifteen winters before Christianity was iatroduced in Iceland,^ according
to what was toid Thorkel Gellisson in Greenland by one who had ac-
companied Eirik the Red thither." ^

Hvitramannaland and Vinland are mentioned in the " Landnäma-
bok" about 1250.

"Hvitramannaland, which some call Ireland the Great, lies in the
western ocean near Vinland the Good. It is considered to be six
days' sailing west of Ireland." "*

The Hauk version of the "Landnamabok" also states that Karls-
evne found Vinland the Good.^

1 Adam v. Bremen, Gesta H ammahurgensis, IV., 38.

2 According to Are, Christianity was introduced there in the year 1000.

* Islendingabok, eh. 6.

* Landndmabok, part II., eh. XXII. ^ Part IIL, eh. X.

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 207

A most interesting allusion to Helluland, Markland, and Vinland
is found in an oid Icelandic geography, thought to have been written,
in part at least, by Abbot Nikuläs Bergsson of Thverä, who died in
1159. "South of Greenland," he says, "lies Helluland, then comes
Markland, and not very far from there lies Vinland the Good, which
some believe to be eonnected with Af rica ; but if this is the case, then
the great ocean must come between Markland and Vinland. It is
said that Thorfinn Karlsevne chopped a tree for a husa-snotra (an
ornament on a building), and that he afterwards set out to find Vin-
land the Good, and came to the place where this land was supposed
to Iie, but he was not able to explore it, and did not establish himself
there. Leiv the Lucky first discovered Vinland, and he rescued some
merchants whom he found in the sea in great danger. He also intro-
duced Christianity in Greenland, which so prospered that a bishopric
was established at Gardar."

We find, then, in the oldest existing form of the tradition the fol-
lowing quite distinct features : South of Greenland three lands had
been discovered; Helluland, Markland, and Vinland. The dis-
covery is attributed to Leiv Eiriksson, called Leiv the Lucky, who
also introduced Christianity in Greenland. Thorfinn Karlsevne led
an expedition to Vinland, but no permanent colony was established
there.

Vinland is mentioned also in several sägas from the classic period
of säga literature. In the " Eyrbyggjasaga," of about 1250, the fol-
lowing statement is found : " Snorre went to Vinland the Good with
Karlsevne. They fought there with the Skrselings, and Thorbrand
Snorresson, the bravest of men, was killed."

The same säga tells also of a merchant by the name of Gudleiv,
who sailed from Norway to Dublin. From there he was going to
Iceland, but was driven by strong mnds far westward into the ocean,
where he finally came to an unknown land. The warlike natives
met them in large numbers, but the chieftain, who proved to be an Ice-
lander, soon addressed them in their own language, and made inquiries
about his relatives in Iceland. After a lõng conversation he advised
them to leave the country, and sent with them presents to his friends
at home.^

^ Eyrbyggjasaga, chs. 48, 64.

208 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Vinland is mentioned in the "Heimskringla," written about 1230,
in the " Kristnisaga," prior to 1245, and in the " Grettissaga," from
1290. The only lengthy description existing of the discovery of
America, and the subsequent voyages to Vinland, are found in the
"Säga of Eirik the Red," ^ written in the tliirteenth century, and in
the " Gr0nlendingal7ättr " in the " Flatej^jarbok," dating from about
1387, but the narratives in these two sources differ in many respects.
According to the "Gr0nlendingal7ättr," it was Bjarne Herjolvsson
who first discovered Vinland. On a voyage from Norway to Green-
land he was driven out of his course towards the American coast.
He finally reached Greenland, bnt he said nothing about his discovery
till several j-ears afterward, when he was staying in Trondhjem, in
Norway, at the court of Eirik Jarl. He was criticized by manybe-
cause he had not spoken about it, and Leiv Eiriksson bought a ship,
and set out to discover the land which Bjarne had seen. The " Säga
of Eirik the Red" says that Leiv Eiriksson discovered America. The
"Flateyjarbok" describes five different voyages to Vinland. The
"Säga of Eirik the Red" mentions only two ; the discovery by Leiv
Eiriksson, and Karlsevne's attempt to colonize the new^ land. Pro-
fessor Gustav Storm has subjected all the sources dealing with this
question to a critical examination in his excellent work " Studier over
Vinlandsreiserne" (1887), in which he shows that the "Säga of Eirik
the Red," written in the classic period of Icelandic literature, has
preserved the tradition regarding the discovery of America in its
most reliable form. He points out that this säga bears all the marks
of general truthfulness, that it agrees in the main with independent
older sources, and that, therefore, the account given must be accepted
as reliable in its main features. The "Flateyjarbok" is a later
production, written at a time when the säga literature was fast de-
generating, and the tradition had been partly forgotten. He shows
that where it differs from the "Säga of Eirik the Red" it stands
unsupported by other evidence, that it often relates things in them-
selves quite incredible, and that it must be discarded as a reliable
historical source.

By following the more reliable " Säga of Eirik the Red " the account

1 Finnur Jonsson is of the opinion that this säga was written about 1200,
while Gustav Storm regards the period 1270-1300 as a more likely date.

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 209

of the events connected with tlie discovery of the mainland of North
America, and of the attempts to found a colony somewhere on the
coast will be as follows : ^

Leiv Eiriksson, the son of Eirik the Red, sailed from Greenland to
Norway in 999. He came to the court of King Olav Tryggvason,
and was well received. The king persuaded him to accept the Chris-
tian faith, and Leiv undertook to proclaim Christianity in Greenland
on his return. In the spring of 1000 Leiv started on the homeward
voyage.

"Leiv put to sea when his ship was ready for the vo\'age. For a
lõng time he drifted about in the sea, and he came upon lands of which
he previously had no knowledge. There were self-sown wheat fields,
and vines grew there. There were also the trees which are called
masur (rngsurr), and of all these they had some specimens. Some
trees were so large that they were laid in houses" {i.e. used as house-
beams).

"On his homeward voyage Leiv foimd some men on a wreck, and
took them home with him and gave them all shelter for the winter.
He showed much nobility and goodness, he introduced Christianity
into the country, and rescued the men; he was called Leiv hinn
heppni (the Lucky)."

After Leiv's return home "there was much talk that they ought
to seek the land which Leiv had found. The leader was Thorstein
Eiriksson," a good man, and wise, and friendly."

Eirik the Red was also asked to jõin in this undertaking.

"Eirik was asked, and they trusted in his good fortune and fore-
sight being greatest. He was against it, but did not say no, as his
friends exhorted him to do it. . . . They drifted about the sea for
a lõng time and did not arrive where they had desired. They came
in sight of Iceland, and they had also birds from Ireland ; their ship
was carried eastward over the ocean. They came backin the-autumn,
and were then wear>^ and worn."

Thorstein Eiriksson now married Gudrid, a young woman who
shortly before had come over from Iceland. They settled in Lysef jord,

^ The Säga of Eirik the Red, also called the Säga of Thorfinn Karlsevne, is
translated in Original Narratives of Early American History.
2 A brother of Leiv Eiriksson.

210 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

in the \Yestern Settlement, but Tliorstein died that same winter, and
Gudrid returned to Eirik the Red, in Brattahlid in 1001.

Tlie füllowing summer two ships came from Iceland. One was
owned by Thorfinn Karlsevne. Along with him came Snorre
Thorbrandsson. The other ship belonged to Bjarne Grimolvsson
and Thorhall Gamlason. They came to Brattahlid to Eirik the Red,
and remained there that winter. After Christmas Karlsevne married
Gudrid, Thorstein Eiriksson's widow. In the spring he prepared
an expedition for the purpose of establishing a colony in Vinland.

In 1003, three ships were fitted out ; one by Karlsevne and Snorre
Thorbrandsson, another by Bjarne Grimolvsson and Thorhall Gam-
lason, and a third by Thorvald, a son of Eirik the Red, and Thorhall
Veidemand (the Hunter). Karlsevne's wife, Gudrid, accompanied
him, and Freydis, a daughter of Eirik the Red, also joined the expedi-
tion.

" Tliey had in all 160 men when they sailed to the Western Settle-
ment and thence to Bjarneyjar (Bear Islands). From there they
sailed away with a north wind. They were on the sea two
doegr} Then they found land, and rowed along it in boats, and
examined the country, and found there on the shore many flat stones
so large that two men might easily Iie stretched upon them sõle to
sõle. Tliere were many white foxes there. They gave the land a
name and called it 'HeDuIand' {ix. Land of Flat Stones)."

This land is thought to have been Labrador.

Then they sailed for two dcegr towards the southeast and south,
and then a land lay before them, and upon it were great forests and
many beasts.

An island lay to the southeast off the land, and there they found a
polar bear, and they called the island "Bjarney"; but the country
they called "Markland" {i.e. Woodland) on account of the forests.

This is thought to have been Newfoundland, where extensive
forests are found, and where red deer stiil exist in large numbers.
Polar bears occasionally reach the coast of Newfoundland on large
cakes of ice, but have not been found farther south.

"After they had sailed again for two doogr, they sighted land and
sailed under the land. There was a promontory where they first

1 doegr = 12 hours.

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 211

came. They cruised along the shore, which they kept to starboard
(i.e. to the west). It was without harbors, and there were lõng strands
and stretches of sand. They went ashore in boats, and found there
on the promontory a ship's keel, and called it 'Kjalarnes' (i.e. Keel-
ness) . They also gave the strands a name and called them * Furöu-
strandir' {i.e. Marvel Strands, or the wonderful, strange strands),
because it took a lõng time to sail by them."

Gustav Storm held that Kjalarnes was located somewhere on the
coast of Cape Breton Island, and that the ship's keel must have been
carried thither by the oeean currents. Fridtjof Nansen thinks that
the name has, probably, been suggested by the shape of the cape, which
may have resembled a keel. This was the more common way in
which such names originated.^

South of the FurSustrandir " the land was indented by bays (väg-
skorit) and they steered the ships into a bay." Karlsevne put on
shore the Gaelic runners (the man Haki and the woman Hekja) whom
Leiv and Eirik had given him. They were to run southward, and
examine the condition of the country, and return before three days
were past. Karlsevne east anchor and waited during their absence;
"and when three days were past, they came running down from the
land, and one of them had grapes in his händ, the other self-sown
wheat. Karlsevne said that they seemed to have found a fertile
country. They sailed along the coast and came to anchor in a fjord."

" 'Eiere was an island outside. and round the island strong currents.
They called it 'Straumsey.' There were so many hirds there -febat
one could__hardly put one's foot betw^een the egg^ They held up
the fjord, and called it 'Straumsfjord,' and unloaded the ships, and
established themselves there. They had with them all kinds of cattle,
and sought to make use of the land. There were mountains there,
and fair was the prospect. They did nothing else but search out
the land. There w^as much grass. They stayed there the winter,
and it was very lõng ; but they had not taken thought for anything,
and were short of food, and their catch decreased. Then they went
out to the island expecting that there they might find some fishing,
or something might drift up (i.e. a whale be driven ashore?). There
was, however, little to be caught for food, but their cattle thrived
^ Nansen, In Northern Mists, vol. I., p. 324.

212 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

there. Then they prayed to God that he might send them something
to eat; biit no answer came so quickly as they had hoped." The
heathen Thorhall the Hunter then disappeared for three doegr, and
doiibtless held secret conjurations with the red-bearded one {i.e. Thor).
A Httle later a whale was driven ashore, and they ate of it, but were all
sick. When they found out how things were with Thorhall and Thor,
" they east it over the clifP, and prayed God for mercy. They then
made a catch of fish, and there was no lack of food. ^ the spring
(1004) they entered Straumsfjord, and had catches frpm both lands
(i.e. from both sides of the fjord), hunting on the mainland, eggs on
the island, and fish in the se^."

Thorhall the Hunter seems to have been much disappointed. He
quarreled with Karlsevne, and wished to go northward in search of
Vinland, while Karlsevne decided to go southward. With nine others,
who probabh^ wished to return home, he left the expedition. While
he was preparing his ship for the voyage, he sang the foUowing lay :

"Let us go homeward,
where we shall find fellow countrymen;
let us with our ship seek
the broad ways of the sea,
while the hopeful
warriors (those who praise
the land) on Fur^Sustrandir
stay and boil whales' flesh."

"Then they parted (from Karlsevne, who had accompanied them out)
and sailed north of Furöustrandir and Kjalarnes, and then tried to
beat westward. Then the westerly storm caught them, and they
drifted to Ireland, where they were made slaves and ill-treated. There
Thorhall lost his hfe, as merchants have reported.

"Karlsevne, with Snorre, Bjarne, and the rest, continued southward
along the coast.

"They sailed a lõng time, until they came to a river, which flowed
down from the interior into a lake, and thence into the sea. There were
great sandbars before the mouth of the river, so that it could only be
entered at high water. Karlsevne and his people sailed to the mouth
of the river and called the country 'Hop ' {i.e. a small land-locked bay).

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 213

There they found self-sown wheat fields, where the land was low, but
vines wherever they saw heights. As every brook was fuU of fish,
they dug trenches on the shore below high-water mark, and when
the tide went out, there were halibuts in the trenches. In the forests
there was a great quantity of beasts of all kinds. They were there
half a month amusing themselves, and suspecting nothing, They
had their cattle with them. But early one morning, when they looked
about them, they saw nine hide-boats ^ (hudkeipa), and wooden põles
were being waved on the boats, making a noise like threshing-flails,
and they were moved with the sun. Karlsevne's men took this to be
a token of peace, and bore a white shield towards them. Then the
strangers rowed towards them, and wondered, and came ashore.
They were small (or black) men,^ and ugly, and they had ugly hair ;
their eyes were big, and they were broad across the cheeks. They
stayed there awhile, and wondered, then rowed away and went south
of the headland."

Professor Nansen says of this first meeting of white men with
the North American Indians : " This, then, would be the description
of the first meeting in history between Europeans and the natives
of America. With all its brevity it gives an excellent picture ; but
whether we can accept it is doubtful. As we shall see later, the Norse-
men probably did meet with Indians ; but the description of the lat-
ter's appearance must necessarily have been colored more and more
by greater familiarity with the Skraelings of Greenland when the
sägas were put into writing. The big eyes^ will not süit either of them,
and are rather to be regarded as an attribute of trolls and underground
beings ; gnomes and oid fairy men have big, watery eyes. The ugly
hair is aiso an attribute of the underground beings." "*

1 Storm thinks that the säga writer has failed to distinguish between
bark canoes and skin canoes. So, also, John Fiske, Discovery of America,
I., 191. Professor Yngvar Nielsen has advaneed the theory that the na-
tives whieh the Norsemen met in America were Esldmos, a theory whieh
has not been aecepted. See Historisk Tidsskrift, fjerde raekke, vol. III.,
p. 277 ff.

2 The Vellum A.M. 557 says "smair menn" (small men). The Hauksbõk
says "svartir men," meaning, probably, black-haired and dark-eyed.

ä Storm suggests that the expression "ey^Sir varu l?eir mJQk" (they had
large eyes) may refer to the size of the eye sockets. Studier over Vinlands-
reiseriie, Vinlands Geogrnfi og Ethnografi, p. 54 ff.

* Nansen, In Northern Mists, vol. I., p. 327.

214 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

"Karlsevne had built their houses above the lake, some nearer,
some fartlier off. Now they stayed there that winter (1004-1005).
No snow fell at all, and their cattle were out at pasture."

Regarding the probable location of ^'inland there has been much
difference of opinion. In the "Flateyjarbok" the statement is made
that day and night are of more equal length there than in Greenland
or Iceland. "The sun had there eyJdarstadr and dagmalastadr on
the shortest day of the year " ; i.e. the sun was up at eyktar time
and dagmäla time in the darkest season of the year. According
to the interpretation of the passage by the scholars the shortest
winter day woiild be of such a length that Vinland would have
to be located in latitude 41° 24' 10", or on the coast of Rhode
Island. This was the interpretation given by Torfseus in his " Vin-
landia," 1705, and later writers followed it, imtil it was regarded as
quite firmly established that Vinland was located on the coast of
Rhode Island or Massachusetts.^ In conformity with this view it
was also thought that the inscription on the Dighton Rock, on the Taun-
ton River, was a runic inscription made by the Norsemen, and that the
oid stone tower at Newport, R. I., was the remains of a building
erected by them.^ Gustav Storm has shown that this passage in
the "Flatej^jarbok" has been misinterpreted, and that no theory as
to the location of Vinland can be adduced from it. He shows that

1 Professor Eben Norton Horsford in his work, Discovery of America by the
Northmen, 1888, tries to show that many place names along the coast of
Massachusetts are of Norse origin. See also The Defenses of Norumbega,
1891, and The Problem of the Northmen, 1890, by the same author.

To this effort Justin Windsor remarks : "We can see in Horsford's Dis-
covery of America by the Northmen to what faneiful extent a confident enthu-
siasm can carry it." Narrative and Critical History of America. Rev.
B. F. De Costa, The Northmen in Maine and a Chapter on the Discovery of
Massachusetts Bay, Albany, 1870.

^ Carl Christian Rafn, Antiquitates Americanne sive Scriptores septentrio-
nalesrerum anle-Columbianarumin America, Copenhagen, 1837. Carl Chris-
tian Rafn, Abstracts of the Historical Evidcnce for the Discovery of America by
the Scandinavians in the Tenth Century, London, 1838. Rev. Abner Morse,
A.M., Further Traces of the Ancient Northmen in America, with Geological
Evidences of the Location of their Vineland; read before the New England
Historico-Genealogieal Society, and published at their request. Boston,
1861. North Ludlow Beamish, The Discovery of America by the Northmen in
the Tenth Century, London, 1841. T. H. Webb, Descriptio vetusti Monumenti
in Regione Massachusetts reperti, Antiquitates Americanae, p. 355 ff. B. F. De

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 215

Helluland, in all probability, was Labrador, that Markland must
have been Newfoundland, and that Vinland, which according to the
säga narrative was located as far north as wild grapes were growing,
in all likelihood was the coast of Nõva Scotia. The Newport stone
tower has been shown to have been an oid stone miil, and the Dighton
Rock inscription has been found to be Indian picture writing.

"Whenspringcame, they saw early one morning a number of hide-
boats rowing from the south past the headland, so many that it seemed
as if the sea had been sown with coal in front of the bay, and they
waved wooden põles on every boat. Then they set up shields and
held a market, and the people wanted most to buy red eloth ; they
also wanted to buy swords and spears, but this was forbidden by
Karise vne and Snorre." The Skrselings gave them untanned skins
in exchange for the cloth, and trade was proeeeding briskly when " an
ox, which Karlsevne had, ran out of the woods and began to bellow.
The Skrselings were scared, and ran to their boats and rowed south
along the shore. After that they did not see them for three weeks.
But when that time was past, they saw a great multitude of Skrseling
boats coming from the south, as though driven on by a stream. Then
all the wooden põles were waved against the sun, and all the Skrselings
howled loudly. Then Karlsevne and his men took red shields and
bore towards them. The Skrselings leaped from their boats, and
then they made towards each other and fought ; there was a hot ex-
change of missiles. The Skrselings also had catapults (valsl0ngur).
Karlsevne and his men saw that the Skrselings hoisted upon a
pole a great ball about as large as a sheep's paunch, blue in color,
and slung it from the pole upon the land over Karlsevne's people,
and it made a great noise when it came down.^ At this, great terror

Costa, The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America hy the Northmen, Albany, 1868.
The views of Horsford, De Costa, Morse, T. H. Webb, Beamish, and others
of their sehool regarding Vinland must now be regarded as whoUy abandoned.

1 Speaking of this remarkable style of fighting, John Fiske says : "Accord-
ing to Mr. Sehoolcraft, this was a mode of fighting common among the
Algonquins in New England and elsewhere. This big ball was what Mr.
Sehoolcraft calls the 'balista,' or what the Indians themselves call the
'demon's head.' It was a large round bowlder, sewed up in a new skin and
■ attached to a pole. As the skin dried, it enwrapped the stone tightly ; and
then it was daubed with grotesque devices in various colors.

" ' It was borne by several warriors who aeted as balisteers. Plunged upon

216 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

smote Karlsevne and his people, so that they had no thoiight but of
getting away and up tlie ri\'er, for it seemed to thein that the Skrailings
were assailing them on all sides; and they did not halt until they
had reached certain crags. Tlien they made a stout resistance.
Freydis came out and saw that they were giving way. She cried out :
' Wherefore do ye run away f rom such wretches, ye gallant men ? I
thought it hkely that ye could slaughter them like cattle, and had I
but arms, I believe I should fight better than any of you.' None
heeded what she said. Freydis tried to go with them, but she fell
behind, for she was with child. She nevertheless foUowed them into
the woods, but the Skra?lings came after her. She found before her
a dead man, Thorbrand Snorreson, and a flat stone was fixed in his
head. His sword lay unsheathed by him, and she took it up and
defended herself with it. Then the Skrsehngs came at her. She
then took her breasts out of her sark and whetted the sword on them.
At that the Skraelings became afraid, and ran away back to their
boats, and went away. Karlsevne and his men met her and praised
her happy device. Two out of Karlsevne's men fell, and four of the
Skrsehngs; but nevertheless, Karlsevne had sufFered defeat. They
then went to their houses to bind up their wounds, and to consider
what swarm of people it was that came against them from the land.
It seemed to them now that there could have been no more than those
who came froA the boats, and that the other people must have been
glamour."

It was probably a well planned Indian ambush, a mode of warfare
with which the Xorsemen were not acquainted.

" The Skrffilings also found a dead man, and an ax lay beside him ;
one of them took the ax and struck at a tree, and so one after another,
and it seemed to delight them that it bit so well. Then one took
and smote a stone with it ; but when the ax broke, he thought it was
of no use, if it did not stand against stone, and he east it from him.

" Karlsevne and his men now thought they could see that although

a boat or canoe, it was capable of sinking it. Brought down upon a group
of men on a sudden, it produeed consternation and death.' This is a most
remarkable feature of the narrative, for it shows us the leelandic writer (here
manifestly controUed by some authoritative source of informätion) describing
a very strange mode of fighting, which we know to have been charaeteristic
of the Algonquins.!' The Discovery of America, I., p. 192.

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 217

the land was fertile, they would always have troubles and disquiet
with the people who dwelt there before. Then they prepared to set
out, and intended to go to their own country. They sailed north-
ward and foiind five Skrselings sleeping in fiir-jerkins, and they had
with them kegs with deer's marrow mixed with blood. They thought
that they couid understand that these were outlaws and they killed
them. Then they found a headland and a multitude of deer, and the
headland looked hke a erust of dried dung, from the deer lying there
at night. Now they came back to Straumsfjord, and there was
abundance of everything. It is reported by some that Bjarne and
Gudrid remained behind there, and a hundred men with them, and
did not go farther ; but they say that Karlsevne and Snorre went
southward with forty men and were no longer at Hop than barely
two months, returning the same summer.

"Karlsevne then set out with one ship in search of Thorhall the
Hunter, but the greater part of the company remained behind. They
sailed to the northward around Kjalarnes, and then bore to the west-
ward, häving land to the larboard. The country there was a wooded
wilderness as far as they could see."

On this voyage Thorvald Eiriksson was killed by an arrow shot
from the shore — by a uniped/ says the säga. They returned to
Straumsfjord, and remained there that winter. The next summer
(1006) they sailed for Markland, and thence to Greenland. The
winter (1006-1007) they spent at the home of Eirik the Red, at Brat-
tahlid.

Professor Fridtjof Nansen holds that the "Säga of Eirik the Red,"
though it contains features which show that the Norsemen must have
visited the American continent, and that they met with North Ameri-
can Indians, is, nevertheless, a piece of fiction ; ^ that the description

1 A fabulous being with only one leg.

2 Nansen's views have hitherto met with strong opposition from many
leading scholars in Norway and Denmark ; espeeially from Finnur Jonsson,
Erik den r^des Säga og Vinland, Historisk Tidsskriff, femte raekke, vol. I.,
p. 116 ff., and Alexander Bugge, Sp^rgsmaalet om Vinland, in Maal og Minne,
Festskrift iil H. F. Feilberg, 1911, p. 226 ff.

Professor Bugge holds that Nansen, assisted by Professor Moltke Moe,
has treated the question from a standpoint of literature rather than from that
of history. Many features of the "Säga of Eirik the Red" may have been
borrowed from legendary taies, but this cannot be the origin of the story of

218 mSTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

of Vinland is patched together from traditions about the Insulae
Fortunatae, found in many oid Latin writers. " To surn up, it appears
to me clear that the saga's description of Wineland must in its essen-
tial features be derived from the myth of the Insulae Fortunatae." ^
The description of the grapes and the self-soAvn wheat said to have
been found in Vinland he regards as features borrowed from these
oid traditions.^ The name Vinland has its origin, he thinks, in the
Irish legend of St. Brandan, or it is, possibly, simply a translation
of the name Insulae Fortunatae, while the description of the Skrselings
shows them to have been imaginary beings with the characteristics
usually ascribed to such beings in popular superstition. About Leiv
Eiriksson he says :

" In the year 999, according to the säga, Leiv, the son of Eirik the
Red, sailed from Greenland to Norway. This is the first time we hear
of 80 lõng a sea voyage being attempted, and it shows in any case
that this lõng passage was not unknown to the Icelanders and Nor-

Vinland. The name Vinland is older than the story Navigatio S. Brandani,
and Bugge thinks that it is the actual name of the country diseovered by
Leiv Eiriksson. He also points to the fact that Nansen himself holds that
the Norsemen diseovered America. The main features of the säga, that
the Norsemen found the continent of North America, that they met the
Indians, and that they reached a point so far south that they found wild
grapes (probably south of Nõva Scotia), he says, seem wholly trustworthy.
See also Juul Dieserud, Vinlands Beliggenhed nok engang, Sytnra, 1909,
p. 35 ff. Julius E. Olson, Nansens Angreh paa Vinlands-sagaerne, Symra,
vol. VII., p. 129 ff. Henrik Nissen, Vinlands-taagen, Symra, vol. VIIL,
p. 193 ff. P. P. Iverslie, Gustav Storms Studier over Vinlandsreiserne. P. P.
Iverslie, Kvartalskrift udgivet av det norske Seiskab i Amerika, VI., p. 6 ff.
William H. Babcock, Early Norse Visita to North America, Washington, 1913.

1 Fridtjof Nansen, In Northern Mists, vol. L, p. 352. Professor Carl
Marstrander supports Nansen's views in an article in Aftenposten, Feb. 6,
1913. He holds that the name "Vinland" is derived from oid Irish Find,
the land of the blessed (i.e. Insulae Fortunatae).

2 Nansen thinks that M. L. Fernald's theory, that what the sägas call
grapes was really whortleberries, and the self-sown wheat was wild rye
(Elymus arenarius), must be rejected for many evident reasons. See Rho-
dora, Journal of the New England Botanical Club, vol. 12, 1912, February
number, Notes on the Plants of Wineland the Good, by M. L. Fernald.

Sehübeler, Om den " Hvede'' som Nordmoendene i aaret 1000 fandt vildib
voxende i Vinland ; Forhandlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Chrihtiania, 1858,
p. 21 ff. Sehübeler believes that this grain which is called wheat was Zizania
aquatica or wild rice.

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 219

wegians. Formerly the passage to Greenland had been by way of
Iceland, thence to the east coast of Greenland, southward along the
coast, and round Hwarf. Biit capable seamen Uke the intrepid Leiv
thought they could avoid so many changes of course and arrive in
Norway by saihng due east from the southern point of Greenland.
Thereby Leiv Eiriksson becomes the personification of the first ocean
voyager in history who deliberately and with settled plan steered
straight aeross the open Atlantic, without seeking to avail himself
of harbors on the way. It also appears clearly enough from the sail-
ing directions for navigation of northern waters which have come down
to us, that voyages were made aeross the ocean direct from Norway
to Greenland. It must be remembered that the compass was unknown,
and that all the ships at that time were without fixed decks. This
was an exploit equal to the greatest in history; it is the beginning
of ocean navigation." ^

The claim, however, that Leiv Eiriksson first discovered the North
American mainland rests, according to Nansen, on weak and unre-
Hable evidence. He says about the "Säga of Eirik the Red": "It
will therefore be seen that the whole narrative about Wineland voy-
ages is a mosaic of one feature after another gathered from east and
west. ... It looks as though the taie of Leiv had been inserted
without proper connection. In the ' Gr0nlendinga|)ättr,' too, this
discovery is attributed to another man, Bjarne Herjolvsson, which
shows that the tradition about Leiv had not been firmly rooted." ^

The question then arises : Is there anything in the säga narrative
which must be regarded as reliable? Nansen answers that although
the säga in its main features must be regarded as invention, the chief
personages in the narrative may be historical. The description of
the barren and stony Helluland (Labrador), of the forest eo vered
Märklaud (Newfoundland), and of Kjalarnes seems to rest on local
topographical knowledge. The oldest and most original features
of the säga are the verses found in it, which give a different, and as it
appears, a more realistic picture of the newly discovered land, where
the explorers drank water, and ate the flesh of whales which had
drifted ashore. He points out that the trading with the natives de-
scribed in the säga, and the subsequent war with them, must rest on
1 In Northern Mists, vol. I., p. 315. 2 jud^^ yol. I., p. 315 ; voI. II., p. 21.

220 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

actual experience. These features cannot be explained by the tradi-
tions abüut the Insulae Fortunatae, uor can tlie ideas of bloody battles
with the natives in which the Norsemen were defeated have originated
in Greenland. It must represent an actual encounter with the Indians.
It is impossible that the Greenlanders or Icelanders should have
described a battle with the unwarlike Eskimos of Greenland in this
way. There can be no doubt that the Norsemen had reached America,
and had met the North American Indians. This is further substan-
tiated by the description of so remarkable a weapon as the " balista,"
known to have been used by the Algonquin Indians, The references to
the discovety of America found in the " Landnämabok " and in the
" Islendingabok " by the reliable oid writer, Are Frode, show that the
tradition was oid and firmly established before the "Säga of Eirik
the Red" was written.^

The most reliable evidence that these discoveries were actually
made is found, according to Nansen, not in the sägas, but in an entry
in the "Islandske Annaler" (Skälholt-Annals) for the year 1347:
" There came also a ship from Greenland smaller in size than the small
vessels that trade to Iceland {i.e. ships plying between Norway and
Iceland). It came to the outer Straumfjord (on the south side of
Snefellsnes in Iceland) ; it was without an anchor. There were seven-
teen men on board, and they had sailed to Märklaud, but afterwards
(i.e. on the homeward voyage to Greenland) they were driven hither
{i.e. to Iceland)." Nansen thinks that, as the "Skälholt-Annals"
were written not very lõng after the event here mentioned (probably
about 1363), it must be regarded as certain that this ship had been

^Nansen thinks that the game of ball, "Laerosse," found among many
Indian tribes, was introduced in America by the Norsemen, as Ebbe Hertz-
berg has before maintained. (Historiske Skrifter iilegnede Professor Ludvig
Daae, p. 186.) This theory finds additional support in the fact that a very
similar game, which they seem to have learned from the Norsemen, was
played by the Eskimos in Greenland. Dr. W. J. Hoffmann has described
the game as it is found among the various Indian tribes. See Fourteenth
Annual Report of Ethnology, 1892-1893, Washington, 1896, vol. I., p. 127 ff.
Also American Anthropologist, vol. IIL, p. 134 f. Hoffmann thinks that
the game originally came from the Algonquins in the St. Lawrence VaUey,
and from there to the Hurons, the Iroquois, the Cherokees, ete. This is
the way it must have spread, if it were introduced by the Norsemen. See
Nansen, In Northern Mists, vol. II., p. 38 ff.

AMERICA DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 221

in Markland, probably for the purpose of bringing home wood and
timber. The driftwood which coiild be found did not supply the
demand, and for bows and the Hke it was useless. He sa^^s : " But
if this voyage took place in 1347, and we only hear of it through the
accident of the vessel getting out of her course, and being driven to
Iceland, we may be sure that there were many more Hke it ; only that
these were not the expeditions of men of rank, which attraeted atten-
tion, but everyday voyages for the support of hfe, Hke the seaUng
expeditions to NorSrsetur, and when nothing particular happened
to these vessels, such as being driven to Iceland, we hear nothing about
them. We must therefore suppose that, even if they had given up
the idea of forming settlements in the West, the Greenlanders occa-
sionally visited Markland (Newfoundland or the southernmost part
of Labrador), perhaps chiefly to obtain wood of different kinds.

"In the so-called 'Greenland Annals,' put together from oid sources
by Bj0rn Jonsson of Skardsä (beginning of the seventeenth century),
it is said of the districts on the west coast of Greenland, to the north
of the Western Settlement, that they ' take up trees and all the drift
that comes from the bays of Markland.' This shows that it was
customary to regard Markland as the region from which wood was
to be obtained. The name itself ( = woodland) may have contrib-
uted to this view. But the fact that it survived lõng after all men-
tion of Wineland had ceased, may probably be due to communica-
tion with the country häving been kept up in later times, and to this
name being the really historical one on the coast of America." ^

On the farm H0nen, in the district of Ringerike, in southern Nor-
way, a rune-stone was stiil to be seen in 1823. The stone is now lost,
but the inscription has been copied and preserved. It reads as follows,
according to Sophus Bugge :

"They came out (into the ocean) and over wide expanses (vitt)
and needing cloth to dry themselves on, and food, away toward Wine-
land, up into the ice in the uninhabited country. Evil can take away •
luck, so that one dies early."

Bugge thinks that the inscription dates from the period 1000-1050,
but it is difficult to decipher it, and the interpretation will always
remain doubtful. The inscription seems to have been chiseled on the
1 In Northern Mists, vol. II., p. 37.

222 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

stone In commemoration of some man of note who had lost his life
on a voyage to the Far West. On this voyage they were driven far
into the ocean in the direction of Vinland. After häving suffered
shipwreck they had left their ships, and ]iad probably tried to save
themselves on the drifting ice off the coasts of Greenland. Some
perished, but some one must have survived to teil the story. If the
interpretation of the inscription is correct, this is the first known men-
tion of Vinland.

^Tlie last mention of a voyage to Vinland is an entry in thp, Icelandic
annals for the year 112 L_staiingjtha^|nJ^ha_t year Bishop Kirik (Eirik-
Gnupsson) went to search for VinjandJ 1^'s Eirik may have been
the first bishop in Greenland. He must have lost his life on the
expedition, as nothing more was heard of him, and in 1122 or 112.'^^
the Greenlanders were making efforts to get another bishop

That the Norsemen failed to establish colonies in America is in
nowise remarkable. There was at this time no general emigration
from Norway to the colonies, and the new and poorly equipped settle-
ments in Greenland had neither the means nor the population to
successfully carry out su eh an undertaking. They had few ships,
and lacked the materials for building new ones. Arms, implements,
and supplies were scarce, and were difficult to procure. Their scant
resources had to be employed in procuring the necessaries of life on
those bleak and inhospitable shores where they maintained a pre-
carious existence for well-nigh five hundred years.

However the sägas may be interpreted in detail, all scholars agree
that the mainland of North America was discovered by the Norsemen
about the year 1000. But this discovery led to no abiding results.-

1 See Islandske Annaler, edited by Gustav Storm, p. 19, 59, 112, 252,
326, 473.

2 The theory that Cohimbus, in undertaking his great voyage of explora-
tion, profited by his knowledge of the discovery of the New World by the
Norsemen was first advanced by Finn Magnusen in an artiele Om de engelskes
Händel paa Island, in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Oldkyndighed, II., 1833. The
same has been maintained also by Axel Emanuel Holmberg in his work
Nordbon undcr Hednatiden (1852-1854) ; by R. B. Anderson in his work
America not Discovered by Columbus; and by Marie A. Brown, The Icelandic
Discoverers, or Honor to Whom Honor is Due, Boston, 1888. It has been shown,
however, that this theory rests wholly upon eonjecture. See Gustav Storm,
Christopher Columbus og Amerikas Opdagelse; Christopher Columbus paa

DEFEAT OF THE VIKINGS IN IRELAND 223

It is one of tlie closing episodes of the Viking Age, not the beginning
of a new era. The world was not yet ready to profit by so auspicious
an event. The Viking colonial empire had reached its final Hmits,
both in extent and power, and the nations of Europe had to slumber
and gather strength for another five hundred years before empire
building in the New World could be begun.

39. The Downfall of Viking Dominion in Ireland. The Battle

OF Clontarf

The final overthrow of the Vikings in Ireland is connected chiefly
with the name ofJBrian^Borinnlia^ the greatest of Trish kingi, Muir-
chertach had fought with great success against the strangers, biit he
fell in 944 in a battle with the Vikings of Dublin. Brian's older
brother, Mathgamhain, king of Münster, carried on an unsuccessful
stniggle against the Vikings of soiithwestern Ireland, and was com-

pelled to make peace, but Prian rpfnspd tn yifid. TTp wifliHrAw w\ih .

his folkiwprs into tbe forests. and from his retreats he carried on Sk
successful guerrilla warfarp agnin^t thp pnpmy The struggle waxed
more serious, and King Ivar of Limerick finally took the field with all
available forces, but was defeated by Mathgamhain in 968 ; Limerick
was taken and sacked by the Irish king, who captured great quantities
of gold, silver, fine cloth, and other valuable wares whieh the Norse-
men had brought home to their city through commerce with many
lands. After some time the Vikings again succeeded in regaining
possession of the town, but the redoubtable Jjrian, who, upon the
death of his brother Mathgamhain had becopiP! king pf Munstpr, de-
feated and slew King Ivar and his sons, and Limerick became a de-
pendency of Münster, under Brian's overlordship. Maelsechnaill,
king of Tara. als^^tyled_Ard-Righ, or high-king of Erir^ inspired by
Brian's supppss, attltcked King Olav Kvaaran in 980, defeated him in
the battle of Tara, in Meath, and even seized the city of Dublin.
Brian and Maelsechnaill had hitherto been rivals, but in 998 they
came to a friendly understanding. Brian became king of southern
Ireland, and, in return, acknowledged Maelsechnaill ruler of the

Island og võre Forfcedres Opdagelser i det nordvestlige Atlanterhav, Det norske
geografiske Selskabs Aarbog, IV., p. 67 ff. H. Weitemeyer, Columbus, Co-
penhagen, 1892.

224 IIISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

northern half. The hitherto independent Leinster now joined the
Norsemen of Dublin, biit their united forces were defeated by the
two kings in the bloody battle of GIenmama, where 1200 Norsemen
are said to have fallen. Olav K^'aa^arl's son and successor, Sigtrygg
Silkbeard, had to flee, but on submitting to Brian he received again
the throne of Dubhn as a vassal king. Maelsechnaill was deposed as
Ard-lligh, and Brian became high-king of all Ireland.

'^he life of the Norsemen had undergone a great change during
tlieir lõng stay in Ireland. They were no longer mere invaders, dwell-
ing in military camps. The occupations of trade and traffic. had
especially absorbed their attention, and they had settled down to a
peaceful and well regulated urban life in the <"^^''<^'' ivVuVV» fVioy h-,A
built or developed. r>ub]ia, Wp^p^f'^^d^ Wfvfnrd, C.ark, andJüimfiiick
had become important centers of trade, and thp Korsempn^ who wprp
ever fond_of seafaring, now spread their sails chiefly a^ pntprpriqing
nTen^hfljits_w^^ the markpts nf rhpster^ Rristnl; Fr'inrPj qu4-

Spain, of the countries around the Baltic Sea, and even of distant
Novgorod, whence they brought home to Ireland siich valuable goods
as wheat flour, costly embroidered mantles, swords, fuis^and wiöfe.
A part of the tribute which they had to pay the victorious Brian Bo-
rumha, according to a contemporary Irish poet, Mac Liag, was 150
butts of wine from the Norsemen of Dublin, and a tun of wine for
every day in the year from the Norsemen of Limerick. " This tribute
of wine," says Alexander Bugge, "presupposes a considerable trade
with southwestern France, as the place where any one from Ireland
might most easily obtain his wine." In the glossary of Cormac, from
about 900, mention is made of a vessel for measuring wine, spoken
of in the " sea laws." This can only refer to Norse sea laws, as neither
the Franks nor the Irish were seafaring nations, and it seems to indi-
cate that already at this time the Norsemen had a maritime code.^
'^e many tprms "f w^ight Riid m^surp nnd m^ft^^r^uf^h as pundar,
uismari, mqrk, pennigr ; andjiaval terms. as knqrr, karfi, leWangr,
Ij/pting, dyrirna'5r, pilja, and popta, which have been incorporated in
the Irish language, show that the development of trade and commerce
in Ireland was due to the Norsem^

1 Alexander Bugge, Contributions to the History of the Norsemen in Ireland,
III., p. 4., Christiania, 1900.

DEFEAT OF THE VIKINGS IN IRELAND 225

fT^ie Viking cities in Ireland were snrrounded b}^ gtnnp wallfa In
Dublin the royal castle, with its formidable stone tower, was conspicu-
ous in the center of the cit^. Another prominent building was the
temple, erected for the worship of the gods of the Asa-faith. ^iit at
this time paganism was fast disappearing ; the Norsemen were being
converted to Christianity, and the temples were replaced by Chris-
tian churches. It has already been noted elsewhere that King Olav
(^KyferayorTmbHn became a Christian in his oid age. and dierl A j k
monk on the island of loriäl His son and successor, Sigtrygg Silk-
beard, was married to Bnan BoruEiha's daughter, and his court
resembled in every way that of Knut the Great in England. In his
hird were found both Icelandic sealds and Irish bards, who vied with
each other in the art of song, and great splendor was maintained in
dress and aceouterments of war. The king's hirdmoBiid, equipped
with helmets and shirts of mail, foiight on horseback Hke William
the Conqueror's mounted knights, but King Sigtr3'gg himself lacked
the warlike spirit to such a degree that he did not even take part in
the great battle of Clontarf, fought beneath the very walls of DubHn,
but stood with his queen on the battlements of the city, and watched
the great combat as an idle spectator.

,Thp Xorsp— sArstem of laws and government was introduced also
in the Norse colonies in Ireland. SJh. Dubhn the thing was regulnrly
assembled at a place Icnown throughout the Middle Ages^jthe name
_of "Thengmota" (the meeting place of the tkhigl). ^Jagrette, consist-
ing of thirty-six members, of whom twelve seem to have acted at a
time, was chosen to act as a tribunal in deciding cases brought before
the thiri^ Ehis institution so impressed the Irish that they called
the Norsemen the "Twelve Judges Trib^" ^

(Hut the Irish were also benefited in no small degree. Trpland lipd-

jiitherto nevpr pvppirionppd gnrh ^ pprind r>f prngrp'i'i in pnmmprpp

^ "Soon his twelve judges tribe before
my valiant troop shall flee ;
and their proud king shall fail, no more
his isles of boars to see."

From the Irish ballad "Laoidh Maghnuis moir, righ Loehlainn," i.e. "Lay
of Magnus the Great, King of Loehlainn " (King Magnus Barefoot), trans-
lated by Miss Brooke in her Reliques of Irish Poetry, Dublin, 1739. See
Alexander Bugge, Contributions to the History of the Norsemen in Ireland, II.
VOL. I — Q

226 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and navigjvtinn- in tlie building of cities. and the development of urban
life^wholly due to the enterprise and activitv of the practical Norse-
men, who possessed less lovable, but more distinctl}' mascuhne qiiali-
tie^ The oid writer Geraldus Cambrensis says that the Norsemen
were allowed to build cities in Ireland on condition that they should
bring to Ireland from other lands the merchandise which the Irish
wanted.^ ^rse infiuenee had left deep traces, also, in Trwb litpr-
ature and intellectual life. Professor Alexander Bugge says that
"many of the Irish mythical conceptions have been formed under
the infiuenee of the NorsemeH." ^ In speaking of Irish literature he
says : " Professor Zimmer,^ by his admirable investigations, has
thrown fresh light upon the ancient Irish sägas, and has shown in
how many ways they are inter\vo\^en with Norse elements and
reminiscences from the Viking Age. But we see that the Norse infiu-
enee on Gaelic tradition and story-telling is not eonfined to the Viking
Age. A recollection of the Norsemen has been retained for centuries,
and down to the present time Lochlann (Norway) stiil plays a very
conspicuous part in Irish and Gaelic ballads and fairy-tales."

^lough a spirit of hostility naturally prevailed between the Irish
and the Norsemen, a quiet amalgamation was, nevertheless, going
on which would ultimately have led to the complete absorption of
the Norse element. Not infrequently the two peoples would meet as
good friends and neighbors in convivial gatherings, and many Norse
loan-words in the Irish language relating to social life show that in
daily intercourse they were coming into closer toucQ^ The Norsemen
would often select Irish foster-fathers and foster-mothers to rear
their children ; but stiil more important was thp growing frpqiipnp\t-
of___iiiteimar»ageT5 Had the process of amalgamation, with the
attendant blending of the traits characteristic of both peoples, been
allowed to proceed uninterrupted, it might have produced a national
character of the right temper to carry Ireland successfuUy through

^ Topographia Hibernica, diet. III., eh. XLIII.

2 Contributions to the History of the Norsemen in Ireland, II., Norse Ele-
ments in Gaelic Traditions of Modern Times, Christiania, 1900.

^ Zimmer, KeÜische Beiträge.

* Zimmer, Keltische Beiträge. See also W. A. Craigie, Oldnordiske Ord i
de gceliske Sprog, Arkiv for nordisk Filologi, 1894, p. 1 ff.

^ L. J. Vogt, Dublin som norsk By.

DEFEAT OF THE VIKINGS IN IRELAND 227

all fiiture struggles. But the possibility of such a solution of the
difficult situation was, to a great extent, removed by the battle of
Clontarf.

^e Norsemen, wlio, after the defeat at Glenmama, were sinking
into a state of dependency, could not, as in earlier days, lean on the
mother eountry for support. But there were numerous Viking
settlements around the Irish Sea, and the powerful Jarl Sigurd Lod-
vesson in the Orkneys^ and the people elsewhere in the colonies felt
the necessity of coöperation at so critical a juncture, since the over-
throw of Norse dominion in Ireland would weaken the Viking power
everywhere in the West. When King Sigtrygg Silkbeard came to
the Orkneys to sohcit aid, Jarl Sigurd promised to bring an army to
Ireland. The Viking chieftain Broder also promised to support
him. About the middle of March a great Viking armament began
to gather before DubHn. Ships and warriors came from the Orkneys,
the Shetland Islands, Caithness, and the Hebrides, and from the Norse
settlements on the coast of Scotland, Cumberland, and Wales. They
were joined by the men of Leinster, and by the Norse forces raised
in Ireland, except those of Limerick, who were now King Brian's
subjects, and joined his standards. Brian had colleetpd a largR «rmy^
and Maelsechnaill also came to his aid with a considerable force. On
Good Friday, April 23. 1014. the two armies met «t riontarf, p UttJp
yilkgp ]yi'"g ^ short di;^f?in(^e north of Dublin, and here was fought
thp jast grpflt hRttJp nf the. Vilcing Äge, gener^j^y Vnnwn n^ tVio hnfi^

^of__Cloritarf, but in the Norse songs and traditions it is usually calkd-
the^Brian battle, The right wing of the Viking army was led by
Broder ; in the center stood Sigurd Lodvesson and Maelmorda, the
king of Leinster, with their forces ; the left wing was formed by the
men of Dublin. Brian's son, Murchad, led the Irish left wing against
Broder, and his grandson, Tordelbach (the Kertjalfad of the sägas),
commanded the center. On the right wing stood the Viking chieftain
Uspak and the men of Connaught. Brian, who was now a very oid
man, was present on the field of battle, but did not lead the army in
person. From morning till evening the combat raged with unabated
fury, and the men fell on both sides like a field of grain that is being
harvested. But towards evening the Viking right wing gave way,
and Broder fled with his men into the forest of Thor, in the neighbor-

228 IIISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

hood of Dublin. On their retreat they_acddeiitally found King
Brian. who was too feeble to participate in the battle. and had beeiL-
left there almost nnprnarded. He wns pninted nnt to Broder. who
slew him with his battle-ax ; but Broder was soon after killed by his
pursuers. Soon Sigurd Lodvesson also fell in a fierce dash against
Magduna, where Brian was staying. Iie was met by Murcliad's
forces, and in the melee Murchad was also mortally wounded. The
Norsemen were now thrown into complete rout. Their retreat was
cut off except toward the sea, and great numbers were slain in the
headlong flight which ensued. ^ccording to the "Ulster Annals,"
Brian's army lost 4000 men and the Norsemen 7000. Nearly all
the prominent leaders of both armies lay dead upon the fiel^. Besides
Broder and Sigurd Lodvesson, the Norsemen had also lost Dugald
Olavsson, who led the men of Dublin, and Maelmorda, king of Lein-
ster, a brother of King Sigtrygg Silkbeard's Irish mother, Gormflaith,
(the Korml0d of the sägas). The Irish had lost Brian, Murchad,
and Turlogh, Brian's grandson.

Many omens are said to have preceded the battle of Clontarf.
The most noteworthy is the frightful vision described in the " Darrad-
song" in the "Njälssaga," in which Darrad, at Caithness in Scotland,
on the day of the battle saw twelve valkyries weave the web of the
bloody conflict at Clontarf with human entrails on a loom of swords
and spears. The song contains this remarkable prophecy, which,
for Ireland, has become but too true :

" Those will now soon ruie the land,
who formerly had the naked head-lands for a home.

Such sorrow shall oome to the Irish people,
as men never shall forget."

^e battle of Clontarf had no very noteworthy immediate resuHb.
Maelsechnaill succeeded Brian as high-king of Ireland, but J)iiblin

was not Captured. and thP Nnrspmpn pnntimiPfl fn np^npy tVip ^ar^p

cities and territories ns hprptfifnrp. They devoted themselves very
extensively to commerce, and retained their laws qjid national cus-
toni|. WTien the English began their conquest of Jreland in 1170^
Norse commerce stiil flourished there. _ At the capture of Waterford

THE HEBRIDES AND THE ISLE OF MAN 229

a Norse ship was taken in port, laden with wheat and wine.^ ^3lS läte
as 1292 we stiil hear of the wine trade of the Norsemen at Waterfor^.^
T^e English expelled the original inhabitants from the cities which
they captured, and assigned them quarters outside the oid townšl
This is the origin of the Ostmantown (Oxmantown) of Dubhn and
Waterford. The Norsemen chafed under such oppression, and when
King Haakon Haakonsson of Norway came to Ireland with a fleet,
in 1263, they sent messengers to him asking him to deliver them from
the Enghsh yoke. This is the last mention of any attempt on their
part to maintain relations with the mother country. Their säga
in Ireland was ended.

^t although the Norsemen continued to Hve and thrive in Ireland
so lõng after their defeat at Clontarf, their power was, nevertheless,
destroyed in this great battle, and in others immediately preceding
it. Their leaders were gone, and their fighting force was annihilateyl.
Henceforth they existed as isolated settlements, unable to unite in
a common effort, or to exercise anv inflnence nn thp trpnH nf pvpnfc;
Jm Ireland. .The Irish had won a notable victory, and had regained
full COntrol of aflPairs in their nwn rnnntry^ bnt th\R display of strpngtK.

was due to a sinale great leader — Brian Borumha. ^o one was
able to continue his work; the customary feuds between the native
princes were renewed, and Ireland quickly lapsed into the oid confu-
sio^. Clontarf was a briUiant feat of Irish arms, but in the Hght of
subsequent history it must be regarded as a calamity, rather than as
a national victory. This overwhelming defeat of the Norsemen weak-
ened Ireland's sinews of strength, and, when the English conquest
began, the Irish showed no greater ability to repel foreign invasion
than they had done several centuries earlier when the Vikings bore
down upon the island.

40. The Norsemen in the Hebrhdes, and in the Isle of Man

During the great invasion of the British Isles in the early part
of the Viking Age, the Norsemen took possession also of the Isle
of Man, and of the Hebrides, which they called Sudreyjar (Southern

1 Vogt, Dublin som norsk By, p. 386.

^ Alexander Bugge, Contrihution to the History of the Norsemen in Ireland,
III., p. 4. Njdlssaga, eh. 155 f.

23fO HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Islaiids), because they lay south of tlie Orkneys and the vShetland
Islands. The Story of the Norse settleineiits in these ishuids is im-
perfectly toid in the sägas, and but httle is known of their history.^
The " Landnämabok " states that King Ilarakl Haarfagre sent Ketil
Flatnev to the Sudreyjar to win the islands from some Vikings who
had established themselves there. Ketil subdued the Vikings, but
made himself ruler of the islands, and paid the king no taxes. Ac-
cording to the "Laxdolasaga," Ketil Flatnev, herse in Romsdal in
western Norway, had to leave the country because he would not sub-
mit to King Harald. Iie became a man of great power and influence
in the island colonies, and his daughter Aud married King Olav the
\Vhite of Dublin." On his expedition against the Vikings, King
Harald Haarfagre also subjugated the Hebrides and the Isle of Man,
and many of the leading men of these islands fled to Iceland. Among
those who emigrated to Iceland at this time was, also. Ketil Flatnev's
daughter Aud, widow of King Olav the White.

It appears that King Harald's successors did not maintain the
suzerainty over the distant possessions of Man and the Hebrides.
Professor P. A. Munch thinks it likely that the islands for a time were
a part of the dominions of the Norse kings of Dublin. But from the
middle of the tenth century we meet with independent "kings of
Man and the Isles." Among the names of these are Ragnvald,
Harald, Gudr0d, Olav, and Maccus. After Olav Kvaaran was driven
away from Northumbria in 952, he seems to have remained for some
time in the Isle of Man or in the Hebrides, before he gained the throne
of Dublin. About 970 Maccus, son of Plarald, became king of Man
and the Isles. He is mentioned in 973 as one of the eight Idngs who at
Chester did homage to Eadgar, king of England, and rowed him in
his barge to and from church on the river Dee. He took possession
of the island of Inniscathaig at the mouth of the Shannon, and de-
livered from captivity King Ivar of Limerick, but he was defeated

1 The chief soiirces of information are the Chronica Regum Manniae et
Insularum (The Chroniele of Man and the Sudreys) contained in a manuseript
codex in the British Museum, edited with historieal notes by Professor P. A.
Munch, Christiania, 1860; and the Orkneyingasaga ; but neither of them is
very reliable in details. See also Alexander Bugge, Vikingerne, T.

* It appears from other sources that Ketil Flatnev was a son of Bj0rn
Buna, of Sogn.

THE HEBRIDES AND THE ISLE OF MAN 231

and slain by Brian Borumha in 976. He was succeeded by Gudr0d,
who seems to have been his brother. Gudr0d captured Anglesea on
the Welsh coast, which now received its Norse name.^

In 980 Sigurd Lodvesson, great-grandson of Torv-Einar, became
jarl of the Orkneys. He was ambitious to enlarge his dominions,
and succeeded in capturing Caithness, Ross, Moray, and Argyll in
Scotland. He also extended his sway over the Hebrides, which
hitherto had paid taxes to the king of Norway.^ These islands were
now ruled by a tributary jarl, Gilli, who had married Sigurd's sister.
Sigurd Lodvesson acknowledged himself the vassal of Haakon Jarl
in Norway, and, later, of King Olav Tryggvason, but when Olav, in
the year 1000, fell in the battle of Svolder, he seems to have remained
whoUy independent till his death in the battle of Clontarf, in 1014.
His four sons now divided his possessions, but no mention is made
of the Hebrides. Thorfinn Jarl, the youngest son, became even more
powerful than his father. He lived longer than the other brothers,
and finally united the Orkneys, the Shetland Islands, the Hebrides,
and large parts of Scotland under his ruie. He died in 1064.

Gudr0d Crowan, son of Harald Svarte of Islay and the Hebrides,
was the founder of a dynasty which ruled Man, and sometimes, also,
the Hebrides for about two hundred years. He took part in the battle
of Stamford Bridge, and after the defeat he fled to the Isle of Man.
After several unsuccessful efforts he finally conquered the island in
1079, and made himself king.

On his expeditions to the British Isles, 1093-1103, King Magnus
Barefoot of Norway again established Norse suzerainty over these
island possessions, but the ties between them and the mother country
were henceforth gradually weakened, and in 1266 King Magnus
Lagab0ter ceded the Hebrides to Scotland for a money consideration
by the treaty of Perth, but their ruler, who bore the title " Lord of.
the Isles," was stiil almost independent. Man passed in course of
time under English control. In 1405 King Henry IV. of England
granted the island as a fief to Sir John Stanley. In 1825 it came under
direct control of the English crown. The Hebrides and the Isle of
Man constituted together the bishopric of Sodor^ and Man, which

1 It was formerly called Mon. Angles -ea from O. N. Qnglus -ey. O. N.
Qngull = fishhook,'ež/ = island. ^ See Floamannasaga. ^ Sodor from Sudreyjar.

232 IIISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

was joiiied to the archbishopric of Xidaros, in Norway, when this
was created in 1152.

^he Norsemen foiind in Man and the Hebrides.a dense native popii-
lation, which never entirely disappeared during the many centuries
of foreign occupation. The remarkable mixture of Norse and Gaelic
names on these islands attests to the gradual amalgamation of the
two peoples]^ jMany of the islands of the Hebrides group have Norse
names, easily enough recognized stiil through the endings -ay, or -a
(= Norwegian 0y or 0, O. N. ey = island). Wiay is derived frnm
Norse Ve-ey (holy island), Vist from Vist (dwelling), Gighay from
Gudey (island of the gods), Lewis from Ljodhus, Eriksay from Eiriks-ey,
Grimisay from Grims-ey, Trodday from Tronds-ey, Ulva from Ulvs-ey,
Sanda from Sand-ey, Fladda from Flat-ey, Heist from Hestr {i.e. the
horse), ete. In Lewis four-fifths of all place-names are Norse. In
the southern islands the proportion is smaller. The blond t}npe
prevalent in many districts, the temperament of the people, and many
customs and traditions stiil existing among them, clearly bespeak
their Norse origin. After the Hebrides were ceded to Scotland, the
Gaelic population again increased in the islands, and the Norse
language has lõng since disappeared, biit a vague tradition stiil
exists among the people that their ancestors came from Lochlann
(Norway).

pn thp l^]p nf Ain n the Nnrvo infliionf>o i^ stiil more clearly seen
in the names, speech, and character of the people. In stories and
fairy-tales the jNIanx have preserved a multitiide of interesting
reminiscences of their Norse ancest^. A number of place-names in
Man have the Norse termrnation -by ( = O. N.byr, boer = dwelling
place), as Kirby from Kirkeby, Dalby, Jurby from Ivarby, Sulby, ete.
The suffix -garth (=0. N. garör = dwelling place) is found in Fish-
garth. In the names of fjords, moimtains, promontories, bays,
Valleys, ete, the Norse forms are strongly represented, which is
shown by endings like -wicJc (O. N. vik = bay), -fell (O. N. fell, fjall =

^ Skene states that tliere was frequent intermarriage between the two
races who occupied the islands, "and this would not only lead to the intro-
duction of personal names of Norwegian form into families of pure Gaelic
descent in the male line, but must, to a great extent, have altered the physi-
cal type of the Gaelic race in the islands." Skene, Celtic Scotland, I., 39.

THE HEBRIDES AND THE ISLE OF MAN 233

mountain), and -icay (0. N. vagv, = fjord orbay), thus Ronaldsway
from Rognvalchvägr, Fleshwick, Ganvick, and Snaefell.^

Of special interest are the various rune-stones and stone crosses
of Norse workmanship found in the Hebrides and the Isle of Man.
Prior to the arrival of the Norsemen a number of stone crosses had
been made by Celtic monks in various parts of the British Isles.
These crosses are carefully chiseled, and are deeorated with pictures
representing persons and seenes from the Bible. The Norse settlers
began to imitate them, and a number of ornamented crosses of Norse
origin are found, especially in the Isle of Man. They are less care-
fully made than the Celtic crosses, but there is a variety of new ideas
in the designing of ornaments, and the pictures generally portray
seenes from Norse mythology and tradition. Gaut Bj0rnson is men-
tioned as the first representative of this art in Man. The inscriptions,
which are always in the Norse language, are usually short, and present
a strange mixture of Christian and pagan ideas.^ Alexander Bugge
says that these runic monuments show more clearly than anything
else that the Norsemen and Celts in the Isle of Man dwelt peaceably
side by side, that they intermarried, and that they mutually influ-
enced one another. "We can observe, not only that men of Norse
descent had Celtic wives, but that men with Celtic names erected
crosses with pictures representing the gods of the Asa-faith and heroes
of Norse tradition." ^

^e government of the Isle of Man is stiil, in its essential features,
a continuation of the Norse institutions established by the Viking
colonist?[_ The governor is the representative of the crown, and the
chief executive. The law-making assembly. called the Court of
Tyuwald (Tynwald < O. N. pingvgllr), consists of two chambers;
an upper house, the Council, consisting of the governor, the bishop,
and six other leading ofBcials ; and a lower house, the House of Keys,
consisting of twenty-four members chosen by popular võte. Until

1 A. W. Moore, Manx Names, 2d ed., London, 1903. Alexander Bugge,
Vikingerne, I., p. 172 flf. P. A. Munch, The Chronicle of Man and the Sudr-
eys, p. XX., and historical notes.

2 P. A. Munch, Runeindskrifter fra (/)en Man og Suder^erne, Samlede Afhand-
linger, III., 181-199.

^ Alexander Bugge, Vikingerne, 1., p. 196, George Henderson, Norse
Influence on Celtic Scotland, p. 40 ff.

234 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

1866 this house was self-elective. When a memberdied, a newmem-
ber was cliosen by the house. The members are called "Keys,"
because, at the time when the laws were yet unwritten, they should
keep the words of the law in their bosoms, and maintain law and
justice. The Court of Tynwald meets at Douglas, the capital city,
but all new laws must be proclairned on Tynwald Hill (pingvgllr),
near Peel, the oid capital. This hill was constructed by the early
Norse settlers for this purpose. Around it lies a level plain where
the people could assemble. The governor and the law-making
assembly meet here every year, and after religious service has been
held, they are escorted by soldiers to the top of the hill. The governor
is seated on a chair with a drawn sword before him, and the court
is formally opened. The House of Keys is clearly a continuation
of the lagrette of the oid Norse thing. The lagrette, which prepared
all decisions and other measures to be voted on by the assembly,
sat in a circle hedged in by ropes, the vebgnd, or sacred cords, inside
of which no strife or disturbance was tolerated. When the Court of
Tynwald has assembled on Tynwald Hill, the coroner stiil proclaims
the peace by declaring loudly: "I fence the court." The two
deemstei^ (thought by some to be O. N. domstjori), or judges, are
members of the Council. Till in the eleventh century they judged
according to unwritten laws, called the "breast laws," of which they
were the depositaries.^

|Ve ob serve again how the Norsemen^ whenever thpy fonndpd
colonies. whether in Man, in France, or in distant Greenland^es-^
tablished- a system of laws and government of a high t>T)e, and
jnaintained order and justice. and an efBcient administratioii of_
all publifi^pffairs Their government, though not truly representa-
tive in form, approached so near to it in spirit that we feel the
popular will and sense of justice expressed in their laws, and in
the legal decisions rendered by the f.hinrj. It was their talent for
organization, and their sense of legal justice and good government.
as much as their enterprise in navigation and commerce. which
enabled them to establish the Norse colonial empire at this early
perio^.

1 J. J. A. Worsaae, Minder om de Danske og Nordmcendene. Alexander
Bugge, Vikingerne, I. ; Norges Historie, I.

THE NORSEMEN IN SCOTLAND 235

41. The Norsemen in Scotland

Xhe earliest predatory attack by Viking bands in ScnflanH nf
which we possess definite information, was the ravaging of Tmlm-
kill. or lona, in 794. Four years later we hear of an attack on Ire-
land and Alban (Scotland), and lona was repeatedly ravaged during
the early decades of the next century- Galloway was laid waste
in 823 by Norse Vikings, who were also instrumental in placing
Kenneth McAlpin on the Pictish throne. According to the "Ulster
Annals," Olav and Ivar, two Norse kings, attacked Dumbarton
Rock in 870, and took it after a four months' siege. We have al-
ready seen how a general emigration from Norway was set on foot
during the reign of Harald Haarfagre, when many left the country
because they would not submit to the powerful king. According
to the "Laxd0lasaga," Ketil Flatnev, who finally estabhshed him-
self as independent ruler in the Hebrides, came first to Scotland
about 890, and was well received there. He was accompanied by
his daughter, Aud the Deepminded, who later married King Olav
the White of Dublin. According to the " Orkneyingasaga " Thor-
stein the Red, a son of Aud and Olav, invaded the northern main-
land of Scotland.^ "He ravaged the country far and widö, and was
always victorious," says the säga. "Later he made an agreement
with the king of the Scots by which he received half of Scotland,
over which he became king." ^ Thorstein seems to have been the
first to establish Norse influence on the mainland of Scotland, and
his power probably extended over Caithness, Sutherland, and Rqss.
The " Heimskringla " states that Thorstein the Red, and Sigurd, a
son of Ragnvald M0rejarl, took possession of Caithness and Suther-
land as far as Eikkjalsbakke, i.e. the region about the Oikel River.
Wlien Sigurd died, "his son Guthorm ruled the lands one winter,
and died childless. ^fterwards the Vikings established themselves
in these lands, Danes and Norsenie^" ^

1 Who Thorstein the Red was is not elear. Olav the White's son was
called Eystein, not Thorstein.

2 Laxdfilasaga, eh. 4. Orkneyingasaga, edited by Joseph Anderson.
Landnch7iabok, part 1, eh. XI.

2 Harald Haarfagre's Säga in Heimskringla, eh. 22.

236 niSTORY OF the norwegian people

When Sigurd Lodvesson became jarl of the Orkneys, he took pos-
session of the Scotch districts of Caithness, Moray, Ross, and Argyll.
He married a daughter of King IMalcolm II, of Scotland, who became
the mother of Thorfinn Jarl. AJLlliis time the district of Galloway.
in southwestern Scotland, was also extensively colonized by Norse
settlers who came OVer fro^p tlio neighhoring T'^]p rif Mar7 The
Norse influence in this district is apparent, especially in many per-
sonal names of Norse origin, such as M'Ketterick, M'Kittrick,
from Norse Sigtrygg, Sitric ; ]\I'Eur, M'Cure, from Norse Ivar, or
Ingvar; M'Burney from Bj0rn; etc.^ When Sigurd 's fail at Clon-
tarf, 1014, was rumored in Scotland, King JNIalcolm II. gave the earl-
dom of Caithness to Thorfinn, his daughter's son by Sigurd, then
twelve years of age, while Sigurd 's three other sons by a former mar-
riage, Sumarlide, Bruse, and Einar, divided the Orkneys among them-
selves. Sumarlide died soon, and the unpopular Einar was slain.
Titerfinn acquired the possessions of both, and when Bruse died, he
became jarl of all the Orknefp. Upon the death of King Malcolm
IL, his maternal grandfather, he also seized Sutherland, Ross, and
Galloway. The säga states that he also took possession of the Sudr-
eys (Hebrides), and that he sent his friend and relative Kalv Arnes-
son to maintain his authority there. Thorfinn had married Inge-
bj0rg, daughter of Finn Arnesson, Kalv's brother. "Jarl Thorfinn
retained all his dominions till his dying day," says the säga, "and it
is truly said that he was the most powerful of all the jarls of the
Orkneys." ^

"He was a man of large stature, uncomely, sharp-featured, dark-
haired, and sallow and swarthy in his complexion. Yet he was a
most martial-looking man, and of great energy; greedy of wealth
and of renown; boid and successful in war, and a great strategist."

^orfinn's cousin.^ Di ] nean, the son of another daughter of Mal-
colm IL, succeeded his grandfather, but Macbeth, well known from
Shakespeare's drama of the same name, who was also Duncan's
cousin, had, probably, an equally vaUd claim to the thron^. He

^ George Henderson, Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland, 1910, p. 18.
* Orkneyingasaga, eh. 22.

3 In the sägas he is called Karl Hundason, I'a name which is elearly a
translation," says George Henderson.

THE NORSEMEN IN SCOTLAND 237

was maormor ^ of Moray and Thorfinn's firm friend and ally. ^hen
Duncan became king, he claimed suzerainty over Caithness and
Sutherland, but Thorfinn refused to acknowledge his overlordship,
because Malcolm II. had granted him this earldom in full posses-
siq^. Macbeth, who, no doubt, aiso coveted the throne, supported
Thorfinn, also because he feared that Duncan would do as Malcolm
IL had done, who increased his power at the expense of the maor-
mors. Duncan attacked Thorfinn, but was entirely discomfited
in the sharp naval engagement at Dyrness, in the Orkneys. Earl
Moddan, who led Duncan's land forces into Caithness, was slain
by Thorkel Fostri, at Thurso. ifimican fled, but he soen gathered
a large army and renewed the attack. He met Thorfinn at Torfness,
in northern Scotland, but suffered a crushing defeat. According
to Scotch sources Duncan was slain in 1040, jiear Elgiy^ George
Henderson says: "The probability is that he was attacked and
slain by Macbeth in the confusion and discord following upon the
defeat at Torfness, which has been identified with Burghead." ^

^on the death of Duncan, in 1040, ]Vrq'"bpth hpp?^niP king ^f ,'^^^^^4-
.land, and ruled for manv vears. He was a just and equitable prince,
with none of those dark traits of character portrayed by the great
dramatis^ ^ 1050 King Macbeth m?^'^^ r pilgT-imao-f. fn T^nT^ip
to obtain absolution from his sins. and as Thorfinn also went to Rome
for the same purpose, it is Ukely that the two friends made the
journey together.^ äikene shows that, although Macbeth occupied
the throne, his sway in Scotland rested on the power and influence
of Earl Thorfinn and the Norsemen of the Orkne^-^ MrIpoItu
Canmore, the son of Duncan, finally took the field against Macbeth.
who was defeated in the battlp nf DiinciTTjnft in 10.'^.t ■ In 1057 he

was slain in the battle of Lumphanan. Malcolm had married Inge-
bj0rg, the daughter of Thorfinn and his wife, who was a daughter
of Finn Arnesson of Norway, and whenC^alcolm ascended the
throne, the Norwegian girl became queen of Scotlai^ Thorfinn,

1 Mormaer or maormor = earl.

2 Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland, p. 31.

* George Henderson, Norse Influeiice on Celtic Scotland, p. 29. Orkney-
ingasaga, edited by Joseph Anderson, Introduetion, p. xxxii, p. 43 n.
P. A. Muneh, The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys, p. 47.

* Skene, The Highlanders in Scotland, I., p. 113 flf.

238 IIISTORT OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

who, undoubtedly, had aided Macbeth, also met with reverses, and
probably had to give up his possessions in southernScotland. The
strife between Malcolm and Thorfinn continued iintil the hitter's
death in 1064. The colonies in Caithness and Sutherland continued_
to exist as distinct Norse settlements ruled by Norse jarls^_bnt after,
Thorfinn'sdeath they passed prnrinnently nnder the overlordshifi
õf the king of Srotland. Thorfinn's sons, Paul and Erlend, succeeded
to the government of the Orkneys. As vassals of the king of Norway
they were called upon to aid King Harald SigurdssonjCH^aaidiaade)-

when he inyaded^ England in_li}iiü. They wer^ b'^th present at

the battle of Stamford Bridge. where King TTarald fell, In 1098
Magnus Barefoot, king of Norway, came to the British Isles with
a large fleet. He subdued the Sudreys (Hebrides), and seized
L0gman, the son of Gudr0d, king of the Isles. The king of Scot-
land sent messengers to him to offer peace. "They said that the
king of the Scots was willing to give him all the islands lying west
of Scotland, between which and the mainland he could pass in a
Vessel with the rudder shipped. Thereupon King Magnus landed
in Satiri (Cantire), and had a boat drawn aeross the isthmus, he
himself holding the helm, and thus he gained possession of the whole
of Satiri, which is better than the best island of the Sudreys, Man
excepted." ^ Magnus seized, also, jarls Paul and Erlend, and sent
them to Norway, where they died. Their sons Haakon and Magnus
then became rulers of the Orkneys for some time, but trouble arose
between them, and Haakon captured Magnus and had him executed.
When Haakon died, his sons succeeded him. One of them, Harald,
" held Caithness from the king of the Scots, and he resided frequently
there, but sometimes, also, in Scotland (Sutherland?), for he had
many friends and kinsmen there." In the reign of William the Lion,
who was crowned king of Scotland in 1166, Harald Ungi came to
Scotland with his followers. "Jarl Harald requested King William
to grant him half of Caithness, which Jarl Rögnvald had held. The
king granted him this, and Jarl Harald went, then, down to Caith-
ness to gather troops." ("Orkneyingasaga," eh. cxiii.) When
Harald Ungi died, Harald Madadsson took forcible possession of
Caithness without asking the king's leave. He was also ruler of

#■
I ^ Orkneyingasaga, eh. xxx.

4?y r

THE NORSEMEN IN SCOTLAND 239

the Orkneys and the Shetland Isiands. But King Sverre of Nor-
way seized the Shetland Isiands, and King William the Lion forced
Harald to hoid Caithness on the same terms as his predecessor,
Harald Ungi. The " Orkneyingasaga " relates, also, how the Norse
people in Caithness killed Bishop Adam, because he increased their
taxes. This event, which happened in 1222, is recorded in the
"Islandske Annaler, " ^ and, also, in aletter fromPope Honorius, dated
February 13, 1223. ^e Norse settlers gradually ceased to stand
apart as a distinct foreign element. They losf thHr nf^ti'n'nnl identity,
and mingled with the native population, b^it only aft.er inflnpnping
the language, culture, and charaetfr nf thp ppoplp of Slpnflnnrl en
deeply and permanentlv that the Srotpfi wprp VipnppfnrtVi <i mivpH

people, showing dearly t^^^ plmrQpfprktip fr^itg rt£-]->r>tVi rnn^ Qn

speaking of tjip No^'^^ inflnpnpp in .^pntlanfl -Dr George Henderson
says: "The influence was so mighty that had the Gaeiic language
not been one of the most vigorous forms of speech, it must have
died out ; but the Gaelie people at the time were martial and power-
fui to an extent that ^.fterwards made the perfervid genius of the
Scots proverbial in Europe. But the result of this racial fusion is
that Celtic Scotland of to-day holds a mediating position in point
of race, and is mueh better equipped than it otherwise could have
been for adapting itself to the requirements of the world. Ca.rlylp
once called the HighlanHers a Norst;^ breedr and he was in a rough
way nearer the truth than many imagin?." ^

^he Norse influence in various fields of Scotch culture is so ex-
tensive that only a few prominent features can be mentioned here
by way of illustratiq^. A more detailed and complete discussion
of this subject will be found in Dr. George Henderson's excellent
work, "Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland," which has already been
quoted.

In Scotland, as well as in Man and the Hebrides, remnants have
been found of decorated Viking stone crosses with runic inscriptions.
" Most interesting of all is a stone with Scandinavian art-work, found
by Mr. ColHngwood in the chapel of St. Oran, and now deposited
in the cathedral of lona, an isle which is the burial-place of eight

1 Islandske Annaler, edited by Gustav Storm ; 1222, I. III. IV. V. VII.
VIII. IX. (1220 X). 2 jsforse Influence on Celtic Scotland, p. 2.

240 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Norse kings. This lona cross-shaft of the Viking Age has the usual
Scandinavian dragon, with irregular interlacing, as also a galley
with its crew, a smith with his hammer, anvil, and pincers - and
so greatly resembles the Manx crosses that it may have been the
tombstone of one of the Norse kings of Man," says Dr. Henderson.
Sword-hilts and rare brooches and other ornaments of Norse origin
have been unearthed in many Viking burial-places. These articles
are so exquisitely designed, and wrought with such consumniate
skill that they prove the makers to have been adepts in the gold-
smith's and jeweler's art. A sword-hilt of the Viking time found
in Eigg is especially fine. Dr. J. Anderson says of it : "I know no
finer or more elaborate piece of art workmanship of the kind either
in this country or in Norway." ^

tlbe number of personal and plare pgmpg nf Knrgp nrigin i'n .cU>p>»—
jand_is so large that the few which can be cited as illustration can-
not well convey any idea of the extent of Norse influence on this
poiii^. Huisdean, from the older form Huisduin, Anglicized Hugh,
is from the Norse Eystein ; M'Iver from Ivar, or Ingvar ; MacAndy
from Norse Andi, a form found in Andabü and Andestad; MacSwan
from Sveinn ; M'Siridh from Norse Sigridr ; MacUsbaig from Uspakr ;
M'Asgill, or MacAskill from Asketill; Lamont from Lagman ; Mac-
Aulay from Anlaf, Olave; MacLeod, or M'Clo3'd, from the older
form Macljotr from Norse Ljotr ; MacCrimmon from Norse Rumun ;
MacCodrum from Guttormr. In speaking of Norse place-names
in Scotland, Dr. Henderson says : ^ " Many of the chief features
in the Scottish mainland, from Eskadale, Norse Eskidalr, ' Ash-dale,'
by the Beauly River, of oid Uisge Farrar, and northwards round the
coasts of Ross and Sutherland and Caithness, and along the western
border, southward to Galloway and Liddesdale, the Hlid-dalr of
the Viking settlers, are Norse. As soon as we cross from the Beauly
Valley into Urray we have Tarradale, from Norse Tarfr-dalr, 'bull-
dale'; Alcaig in Urquhart from N. Alka-vik, 'auks-bay'; Culbo
in Resolis from N. Küla, a ball or knob, and hõi, 'a farm-stead';
Udale in Cromarty, N. Y-dalr, *yew-dale.' Scatwell in Contin
is from N. scat^gllr, ' the scat-field ' or land which yielded tax, i.e.

1 Scotland in Pagan Times, The Iron Age, p. 4<8^9. Quoted by Dr.
Henderson. * Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland, p. 152.

THE NORSEMEN IN SCOTLAND 241

scat to the Northern earls whose seat of Justice is commemorated
prominently in Dingwall, N. ping-v0r, the field of the piiig or Norse
court of juStice. N. vgllr meets us in Brae-langwell, N. lang-vgllr,
'longfield/ in Resolis,, repeated again in Lang-well, Caithness.
Cadboll, Catboll (1561), is from N. kattar-böl, 'cat-stead.' When
we cross to Sutherland, Norse names abound with the Norse termi-
nations in -dale, -boil ('homestead'), -gil, -vgllr, -bakki ('bank'), -ery
(-ary, 'shieling'), ä ('river'). A few prominent names may suffice
for illustration, such as Swordale = Sivard-dale ; Helmsdale =
Hjalmu7id's dale; Strath Halladale = helga-dalr, 'holy-dale'; Tor-
nsdale = porir's-dale ; Ceoldale = cold-dale, or 'keer-dale."

jWorse influence on the Scotch language has been both extensive
and lasting. A large Norse vocabulary has l^ien incorporated in
the original Gaelic tongue once spoken in Scotland, so that the High-
land Scotch speech is no less a composite language than the people
themselves are a mixed ra^ ühe-ö^ords-referring to dresä^amLannor^
pasture^ agriculture. peat, trees, carpentry, fish and fishing. birds
and animals^Jjülü, measure, house, household, family life and governr

rppntj SPR nnd sh''pPj nr^ ynvnn -l-n f^ -iJOKy 1nro-n nvfonj Thc mOFC

ra])id discarding of inflectional endings in northern Scotland is also
due to Norse influence. But "above all," says Henderson, "it is
the difference in intonation, in modulation in the use of the voice
between speakers from Central Lochaber, say, where there are no
Norse place-names, and between Sutherland or Lewis speakers, where
Norse influence is strong, that makes one instinctively feel the
presence of the foreigner. . . , One thing is certain : there are great
similarities between Norse accentuation and that of the Highland
area. This has been noted by Dr. Waltman, of Lund, in a contri-
bution to the Swedish "Nordiska Studier" entitled " Nordiska
aksentformer i Gäliska." ^ "Not only Ireland, Bretland, or Wales
came to know the Vikings," says the same author; "they had made
a great part of Scotland their own." He quotes the following words
from Dasent, in the introduction to the "Njälssaga." '\To this day
the name of almost every island on the west coast of Scotland is
either pure Norse, or Norse distorted so as to make it possible for
Celtic lips to utter TÜ Tlie groups of Orkney and Shetland are
^ Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland, p. 109 f.

VOL. I — R

242 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

notorioiisly Noršei but Lewis and the Uists, and Skye and Mull
are no less Norse ; and not only the names of the islands themselves,
but those of reefs and rocks and lakes and headlands bear witness
to the same relation, and show that, while the original inhabitants
were not expelled, but held in bondage as thralls, the Norsemen
must have dwelt, and dwelt thickly, too, as conquerors and lords."
Norsp infliienop xr\»y tilsn be trnred in nhn,nny.. fa,iry-t^<Mt^fmd
jjopular beliefs. and in many quaint customg_atilL-to be fouad^m-^

ScotkuKL Noteworthv is the idea j:^Lhfll ns r ^^^^Id plapp^ wViinVi Ic;

repeatedly met with in Highland poetry. Dr. Henderson ealls
attention to Mackenzie's "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry," from which
he cites, among other illustrations, a stanza from an oid Caledonian
poem which in translation reads as follows :

" Woe to the one who chooses cold Hell, for it is a cavern with sharp
thorns : I abhor Hell, with its cold and wet^ a place of bitterness ever-
lasting, where bitter is the drink for aye." ^

Incantations were used in Scotland to charm away sickness and
evil from the cattle as läte as 1767, a heathen practice which has
been in vogue among the peasantry of Norway till in very recent
years. jTn the Hebrides th<^ olH ciii^tom, well known from Tcpland^
of carrying fire around the possessions bp1mT^jmT_fn fanVi family h»<i
been in use within the memory of people_stijl livin^. The numerous
traces of Norse influence in the culture and temperament of the
people of Scotland show the permanent importance of the Norse
element to their whole development as a nation. Dr. Henderson
says: "The Scottish love of freedom, in short, has been intensified
by the advent of the Norsemen, whn within his lights was. law-ahiti-
ing at home_ if cruel «'^ Viking ahmacV "Perhaps to him," saj^s
Dr. Magnus Maclean, "we owe our continuance as a race to this
day. He has carried with him over the wave the breath of freedom
and strenuous endeavor, and fused them into the life of this great
nation, helping Britain to build up and maintain a world-wide
empire and the supremacy upon the seas." ^ The benefit which

^ Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland, p. 68.

2 Scottish Ilistorical Review, 1909, p. 137. See Norse Influence on Celtic
Scotland, p. 293.

REIGN OF THE JARLS EIRIK AND SVEIN 243

the Vikings themselves derived from their prolonged efforts to con-
quer and colonize new territory may seem relatively small. Their
voyages brought them to countries where permanent colonization
was impossible, and it is an apparently tragic feature of Viking
liistory that their marvelous expenditure of energy during several
centuries brought them no other permanent possessions than the
barren islands in the North Atlantic. But if the permanent terri-
torial acquisitions were limited, the Norsemen were richly compen-
sated in other ways. They stimulated the slumbering nations to
new activity, engendered a spirit of liberty and enterprise, and fur-
nished ideas which became important factors in the development
of western Europe. "They carried strength to others," as the poet
expresses it. This was, indeed, no misfortune, but a victory more
lasting and glorious than the mere conquest of territory. The
Norsemen had become a nation great in fame and power, in culture,
and in conscious self-rehance. The Viking expeditions had given
them the opportunity to develop in a broad way their latent powers,
and to mold on a wide theater of action the national character which
has been the vital force in all subsequent Norwegian history.

42. CONDITIONS IN NORWAY DURING THE ReIGN OF THE JaRLS

EiRIK AND SVEIN

The creation of the united kingdom of Norway by Harald Ha arfa.grp-

and the introdnction of Chrisfi'gnity hy Olav Tryggvagnn wpp»^
the two ppoph-mnking pvpnta in .J;lia mfinnnl Hpvnlnpmonf nt ihtx

Norwegian people prior to thp vpar 1000 ^t the new ideas of a
united and Christian Norway represented by these two great kings
had as yet failed to gain the active support and conscious loyalty
of the whole people. There had always been much secret opposition
and silent ill-will on the part of the aristocracv. and thp nnmmnri
people, who were yet strangers to the idea of national patriotism,
allied themselves with their own local chieftains,^ The battle of
Svolderjw-as a result of existing conditions. The opportunity came,
and tbe new national kingship received a crushing blow.. Thp ari^-
tocracy regained its power: Norway was f\\v\c\p<\l jpt^f^Pji H^t^^'
kings_of^ Sweden and Denmark,_^and the iarls_Eijdk and Svein, who

244 IIISTOIJY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ruled_tlie country as their vassals. Independence wrs Inst as well
as national_linit.y, hiit no wprrl nf prntp-^t r^r fnmplnint wnK li^jjr^.
[Tlie people seemed to be well satisfied with the new arrangement.
One great element necessary to national growtli was stiil wanting —
patriotism, which makes a people a nation, conscious of its own dis-
tinct life and destiny. The entrance of this new force into the his-
tory of the Norwegian people is associated with the name of Joüg
Olav Haraldsson, commonly known as Saint Ola^.

[The ruie of tlie-jarls was, in general, a return to the oid ways.
Nominally they were Christians. but they showed no-wtercst for
the new faith, and did nothing to promote or to maintain-lL " Eirik
Jarl and Svein Jarl were both baptized, and received the true faith,"
says the säga, "but so lõng as they ruled Norway, they let each
man do as he pleased with regard to Christianity."^ As a result
of this indifference Christianity was soon forgottpn, nnd thp ppr>f44i>
returned to their pn^nn worshS

Eirik Jarl resided «t T.ndp. and Svein Jnrl dwpit nt Stenkjser,^,t.
J:he head of the Trondhjemsfjord. The commernial town Xidnroa-
(Trondhjem), which Olav Tryggvason had founded. was allowtiLio-
ÜS£B^'- ^JJlL Oplandene (southeastern Norway) the lierser and p^ti:^
kings regained their oid independence, and in Vestlandet (south-
western Noj^wavL Erling Skjalgsson of Sõle, the brother-in-law of
Olav Tryggvason, piiled with unrestricted authority without sub-
mitting to the jarls. yiie king of Sw^den rolleef.pd taxes in Tr0nde-
lagen, but King Knut the Great of Denmark. the son of Svein Tjuge-
skjeg, who w^as now engaged in the conquest of England, paid little
attention to his Norwegian possession|[ Eirik and Svein were
unable to exercise any great authority. They were satisfied with
enjoying the privileges and emoluments of their high office, due
them according to ancient custom. The people seem to hnve bppn _
well pleased with their mild ruie and the f-rndnnl rptnrn tn tl^^ oid
order of things. "Thev maintained well the ojd laws and «H ^"^
toms," says the säga, "and they were popular men and good rulers." ^

(An important change was, nevertlieless, taking place at this time.
The aristocracy had learned the necessity of united action, if they
wished to maintain their oid privileges against a national king, who
^ Heimskringla, Olav Tryqqvasonssaga, eh. 113. ^ Ibid.

REIGN OF THE JARLS EIRIK AND SVEIN 245

might at any time appear upon the seene. Tn Franpp and the British
IslfiS-Üiey had also herome flcqiiainted with n snfinl s;ystpm in wliirfi

the aristocm^y ow]iPfl nenrly i\]\ the lanrl, aud pyprfispfl ^^ far grpatpr

authority over the common classes than HiVl thp Nnrw^gian r^hieftfiins,
who had hitherto stood in a more or less patriarclial relation to the

people. These lessons were not forgotteH CXhe more powerful
families, of which there were many in Norway at this time, now made
an effort to become more firmly united through intermarriage, and
the_great chieftains began to enlarge their estates to a hitherto
unknown exteSb One of the most powerful chieftains was Thore
Hund of Bjarkey in northern Haalogaland (Nordland). He
had a monopoly on the trade with the Finns, and became very
wealthy through the export of furs to England. His brother was
the powerful Sigurd of Trondanes, who was married to a sister of
Erling Skjalgsson. His sister was married to 01ve of Egge, the
greatest chieftain in Indtr0ndelagen. Haarek of Tjotta was another
man of great note in Haalogaland. Many free-holders lived in
the island of Tjotta, but he gradually bought them out, until he
finally owned the whole island. He made much money by trade,
and became very rich. Few men in Norway at this time wielded
greater influence than Einar Tambarskjselver in Uttr0ndelagen, who
had been with Olav Tryggvason at Svolder. He was married to a
daughter of Haakon Jarl, and lived at Gimsar in Guldalen. In
S0ndm0r dwelt the great Arnm0dling family. The brothers Thor-
berg, Kalv, Finn, Arne, and Arnbj0rn Arnesson played an important
part in public affairs in the reign of Olav Haraldsson. Their sister
Ragnhild was married to Haarek of Tjotta, and Thorberg, the lord
of Giske, was married to the daughter of Erling Skjalgsson, who was
the greatest of all the chieftains. The säga says that Erling always
had a force of men with him, resembling a king's hird. He was
tall, strong, and beautiful ; and in all manly sports he resembled
Olav Tryggvason. On his estate he had thirty slaves and a number
of serfs. He gave the slaves a piece of land to till. This piece they
worked during spare hours, and they were allowed to sell the grain
which they raised. They could purchase their freedom for a fixed
price, and when they had become free, Erling either retained them
in his service, or gave them land which they might clear and culti-

246 niSTORY OF the norwegian people

vate. When Erling traveled by sea, he always had a fully equipped
war ship, and when Eirik Jarl or Svein was near, he had with him
two hundred men (240) or more. " It is the common opinion," says
the säga, " that Erhng Skjalgsson was the greatest of all lendermcBnd
in Norway." In Gudbrandsdal the great herse Dale-Gudbrand
ruled as an independent prince. Of the manv pettv kings whicb
ruled in southenstern Nnrwav-mav be mentioned King Sigurd Syr
of llingerike, Saint 01av's stepfather ; and King R0rek in Iledemar-
ken.

gibe aristocracy, which controlled the greater part of the wealth
and resources of the country, eould now present a united front
against a king who should presume to encroach on their established

righ^ Fi^^^k nnrl ^vpln ■n..£trf» nf fhoip nnmbnr^ nnd rub>fi- in iVif>-
mterest of their r1?l^ft; tb^ t^^*^ hrntliprc^ t^ppm fn hnvp V>Pon wrirfViy

representatives of that oid class^oj^hieftains. Eirik Jarl had espe-
cially distinguished himself as a warrior. He had borne the brunt
of the battle against th^ .TomQVMkingct -nf Hj0rungavaag, and had
taken Olav Tryggvason's famous '^b''p; ^^^ "T.nng Sprppn±/' at
Svolder. He was a man of great prowess and ability. The more it
is to be regretted that he had drawn his sword against his king and
his country for motives of sordid gain and self-aggrandizement.

" Then faded away his oid renown,
Till in foreign lands a grave he found.
The death-knell sounds in the breast of the man
Who draws his sword 'gainst his native land." ^

43. Olav Haraldsson or Olav the Saint t. cL, ' ^ J ^

Olav Haraldsson, son of King Harald Grenske and Aasta, _de»
scended from Harald Haarfagre.^ His father died before he was
born, and Aasta was married a second time to King Sigurd Syr of
Ringerike, where Olav was raised. The people of this fertile inland
district had taken little part in the Viking expeditions, but they
dwelt near the centers of trade in southern Norway, and the new

1 From the poem "Eirik Jarl" by Peer Sivle.

'Harald Haarfagre >Bj0rn Farmand > Gudr0d Bj0rnsson> Harald Gren-
ske > Olav Haraldsson.

OLAV HARALDSSON OR OLAV TIIE SAINT

247

ideas and elements of culture which trade and commerce brought
from foreign lands were easily accessible. Ringerike and the neigh-
boring districts, like Hadeland and Toten, became at this time a
center of culture, which is stiil evidenced by the
many decorated rune-stones which were erected
here during this period. Two of the finest speci-
mens are the Dyna stone from Hadeland, and the
stone at Alstad in Toten.^ These districts were
also making great progress economically. King
Sigurd Syr, who seems to have been a peaceful
man of no great ability, was more devoted to
farming than to military exploits ; but Aasta was
a high-minded and ambitious woman, who wished
her sons to gain power and renown. Her words
to her son Olav are characteristic : " If I had the
choice I would rather that you become over-king
of Norway, though you should Hve no longer in
the kingdom than did Olav Tryggvason, than that
you should become no greater king than Sigurd
Syr, and die of oid age." ^ The sägas state that
when Olav was three years oid, Olav Tr^^ggvason
visited Ringerike, and Sigurd Syr, Aasta, and Olav
were baptized; but according to the Norman
chronicles and the Catholic legends he was bap-
tized much later at Rouen. Alexander Bugge
thinks that the säga statement may be true, since

/^.

FiG.40. — TheD^^:a
ruue-stone at Hade-
land, Norway.

1 On the estate Alstad lived, about the year 1000, a lady of high birth by
the name of j0rurLd. In memory of her husband she erected a stone monu-
ment decorated with pictures of a falcon-ehase, which had been his favorite
sport. The monument bears the foUowing runic inscription: "J0rund

erected this stone in memory of [the name is nearly effaced] who had

her for a wife ; and brought the stone from Ringerike, from Hoie ; and she
caused it to be ornamented with pictures."

The stone from Dyna was erected by another lady of noble birth, Gunvor
Trireksdatter, in memory of her daughter Astrid. It is richly ornamented
with pictures and bears the foUowing runic inscription: "Gunvor Trireks-
datter made a bridge in memory of her daughter Astrid. She was the most
dexterous in using the händ of all maidens in Hadeland."

* Heimskringla, Säga of Olav the Saint, eh. 35.

248 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the boy was called Olav, a name not before found in the family.^
Olav was stiil very young when he went on Viking expeditions to-
getlier with his foster-father Ilane Vidf0rle. Thev went first to
Denmark, wtiere they joined some Vikinp: ba^din i^ " rlpgo^^nf nn fhe^
shores of Sweden and Finland.. On their return they visited Joms-
borg, where Thorkel the Tall, a brother of Sigvalde Jarl, was pre-
paring an expedition to England. Olav joined ThorkeFs forces, and
they sailed southward along the coast of Jutland. After a battle at
S0ndervik, they proceeded to the coast of Friesland and Holland.^
Tiel, an important commercial town, was sacked and burned, and
the suburbs of Utrecht wer^ pl^nd^r^^^j 1<^'^'^ r.'- 1^*^^ FroiA^HoUand
Thorkel sailed for England. nnd arrived fhere in August IQOfl^

After Olav Tryggvason had concluded peace with King .^thelred.
and had returned to Norway in 995, Svein Tiugeskieg of Denmark
""continued military npprntinns np^ninst F.ntrland. pj 997 and the
following years the southern districts were continually ravaged by
Viking bands. A number of Danes and Norsemen had settled in
England, and ^Ethelred feared that they might make common cause
with the invader?. His fear and cowardice led him to secretly
arrange a general massacre of the Danes, which w^as carried out on
St. Brice's Day (Xov. 12), 1002. How far the slaughter extended, is
not known, but it must have been confined to southern England,
where the Danish settlers were few. This event again brought
King Svein to England wdth a large fleet in 1003. A war began which
ended in the final conquest of England. King ^Ethelred fled to
Normandy, and Svein was hailed as king of England in 1013. During
these ten years the war had been continuous, but in 1009, when the
fleet of Thorkel the Tall arrived, Svein was not in England, and it
is possible that the fleet had been sent with his aid and approval.
At Southwark they made a fortified camp, but failed in an attempt
to take London. The next year they ravaged the country exten-

1 Norges Historie, I. 2, p. 325. ^ Bloeh, Geschichte der Niederlande.

' In Senja, in northern Norway, a number of oid artieles of silver were
found some years ago. Among these was a collar of silver with the following
runie inscription : " We went to visit the men of Friesland, and to divide the
war-clothes with them." The inscription, whioh dates from about the j^ear
1000, must have been made by one of 01av's followers on the expedition to
Friesland. See A. Bugge, Norges Historie, I., p. 327.

OLAV HARALDSSON OR OLAV THE SAINT 249

sively and defeated Ulvkel Jarl and the East Anglians at Ringmere,
and King iEthelred was forced to promise them a tribute of 48,000
pounds of silver. In 1011 thf V'^'iTigc!hpdpo;pH r^nfprhurv- pirough
treachery they gained entrance to the city and they carried away,
among numerous other captives. Archbishop /RlfeaVi, wlin lind ron-
firmed j^ing Olav Trvp^p^vasõH Ehfiy held him for a ransom, but as
neither this, nor the Danegeld granted by ^Ethelred, was paid, they
stoned the unfortunate archbishop to dea^. /He was buried in St.
PauUs church at London, and became one of the most venerated of
EngHsh sainf^. The Danegeld was finally paid, and the Viking army
gradually disbanded. Thorkel the Tall and Olav Haraldsson entered
the service of King yEthelred with forty-five ships. They defended
London against King Svein in 1013, and made such brave resistance
that he failed to take the city. But after iEthelred had fled, and
all England had been subjugated, London also submitted to King
Svein.

^ this way Olav Haraldsson had been schooled in the art of war,
and had lived through a period of youthful storm and stress. He
had seen the wildest kind of Viking wnrfarp in rnmpnny with thft
professional buccaneers of the Jomsborg. biit he had also come into
direct touch with European Hfe and ideas in Friesland, Holland,
Normandy, and England. What impression this had made on him
we do not kno^. Äe was stiil a Viking, but nobler thoughts and
higher ideals soon made him turn away from the adventurous path
of rude Viking warfar^. Oje spirit of Christianity, and the eharms
of a new and better culture inspired him with the ambition to devote
his life to the attainment of higher aii^^. The lost cause of Chris-
tianity and national unity in Norway was stiil waiting for a leader
strong enough to break the evil spell which had fallen upon it. To
wrest the leadership in national affairs Jrom the unwilling hands of
a strong and reactionary aristocracy, and to launch the nation upon
a period of national development in compact with new ideas was
the great end to which destiny seems to have consecrated the life,
the heroic courage, and singular devotion of this remarkable prince.

King Svein died suddenly in 1014, and his oldest son Harald
succeeded him as king of Denmark. But the Anglo-Saxons recalled
King iEthelred and his son Edmund Ironside, and Svein's son Knut,

250 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

later called Knut the Great, who was in East Anglia, was forced to
leave the country. In 1015 he returned with a large fleet. Thorkel
the Tall had now joined him, and he had also called to his assistance
Eirik Jarl of Norway. ^ome hard campaigns were fought with the
p]nglish forces led by Edmund Ironside, but King ^thelred and
Edmund both died in 1016. Knut became king of England. and
married Emma of Noimandy, King ^Ethelred's wido^

piay Haraldsson left England in 1013 in company with King
-/Ethelred, and went to Normandy to aid Duke Richard II. in a war
against Count Odo of Chartres. He accompanied iEthelred back to

England, but Ifft ng^^n ^V"~^rf1y nHrv nn ^111 MWjiHi1i<iiii| |ii ElHIl"**

and Spain. He sailed southward along the coast of France, fought
a battle with William V. of Aquitaine, and then i)roceeded to the
northern coast of Spain, where he captured Gunvaldsborg, and took
Jarl Geirfinn prisoner and forced him to pay a ransom. He seems
also to have visited Portugal and southern Spain. The säga tells
us that Olav sailed into the Guadalquivir (Karlsaaerne). " But while
he was lying there waiting for favorable wind to sail into the Strait
of Gibraltar (Norvasund), and thence to the Holy Land, he dreamed
that a strange and powerful, but also fearfui man appeared and bade
him give up the plan of going into foreign lands : " Go back," he
said, "to your odel, for you shall become king of Norway forever." ^
This is, of course, a legend. But Olav returned to Normandy, where
he was well received. He spent the winter in Rouen, where he is
said to have been baptized ; but it is probable that he was confirmed
here by Archbishop Robert, a brother of Duke Richard.

|ln the spring of 1015 Olav sailed from Normandy to England,
and thence to Norway, where he would take up the struggle to rees-
tablish Christianity and to regain the throne of his ancestofp Üe
had only two merchant vessels, about 140 men, and a few mission-
aries. The moment w^as opporturiej Eirik Jarl had gone to Eng-
land to aid King Knut, and had wlt his son Haakon in charge of
his possessions at home. The two merchant vessels which arrived
from England created no suspicion. Haakon was at this time in
Vestlandet with only one war vessel, and Olav entrapped him and
took him prisoner. He was liberated on the condition that he should
* Heimskringla, Säga of Olav the Saint, eh. 18.

OLAV HARALDSSON OR OLAV THE SAINT 251

leave the country and never again bear arms against Olav. Haakon
went to England, where his unele King Knut made him jarl of
Worcestershire. Eirik Jarl was made ruler of Northumbria, where
he died in 1023. Olav sailed southward along the coast of Norway,
entered the Poldenfjord (Christianiafjord), and came to his step-
father, King Sigurd Syr, in the autumn. He was now about twenty-
two years of age. He was of middle size, but strong and well-built,
with auburn hair, red beard, and ruddy cheeks. He had large bright
eyes and a majestic look. The säga says that he was well skilled
in all manly sports, but it does not state that he surpassed others
in this respect. In speech he was wise and eloquent. He lacked,
however, the charm of personality and the chivalric qualities which
had made Olav Tryggvason so popular. He was less cheerful, less
willing to compromise ; at times he was irritable and unnecessarily
obstinate ; but <|ie_ possessed the resolute will and singleness of
purpose which accomplishes great thing|5 He had a strength of
character and an ability to sacrifice all for a lofty aim, which makes
him a great and tragic figure in history. Olav acquainted King
Sigurd with his plans, and received his promise of support. By rich
presents and persuasion he gained many friends and adherents in
Oplandene, and Sigurd Syr gave him all possible aid. The säga
says that Sigurd held a meeting with the other kings of Oplandene
in Hadeland, where Olav was present. He urged upon them the
necessity of throwing off the foreign yoke which the Swedes and
Danes had laid upon them. They could now get a man who could
take the lead in this affair, and he toid them of Olav Haraldsson's
many exploits. King R0rek of Hedemarken expressed his regret
that Harald Haarfagre's kingdom had fallen to decay, but they were
well satisfied, he said, with the present arrangement. The over-
kings were now so f ar away. that they did not oppress them. ^ was
doubtful if their condition would be better if a native prince became
over-king of Norway. They yielded, however, to persuasion, and
Olav was proclaimed king of Norwav at a general thinn assembled in
_0plaiid£ü3 The powerful Dale-Gudbrand, herse in Gudbrandsdal,
also pledged him his allegiance. In the winter before Christmas,
Olav crossed the Dovre Mountains, and surprised Svein Jarl, who
dwelt at Stenkjser in Tr0ndelagen. Svein had to flee, and Olav

252 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

seized the food which he had prepared for the Christmas feast. JTe.

also ad_Viinrpd tp NidaroSr t\r>c\ hpgnn tr, rpstore the iMiilrlings of tlip
deserted town. Here he met the scald Sighvat Thordsson, who had
just arrived from Iceland. Sighvat became 01av's hirdscald and
his Hfelong friend and companion. But Svein Jarl and Einar Tam-
barskja^lver soon appeared on the seene with a large force, and Olav
had to return to Oplandene. ^e now went to Viken, where he drove
away the Danish oflBcials. It appears that these districts submitted
without offering any resistance; but a decisive combat would
yet have to be fought with the powerful Svein Jarl, and both pre-
pared for the inevitable struggT^. In the spring of 1016 Olav sailed
through the Foldenfjord (Christianiafjord) to meet Svein, who
was approaching with a large fleet, and on Palm Sunday they met
at Nesjar, near Tunsberg, where S^"pin wrs defeated after a sangui-
nary battle. (^e fled to Sweden, and died on an expedition to Russia

the following yeä?) __Tlip hatflp nf Xf^^jar mnrks thp final ovprthrpy^

of the ruie of jarls in Norwav. fOlav, who was now master of the
whole realm, went to Tr0ndelagen, where he was proclaimed king
of Norway at the 0rething, according to oid customT

44. FoREiGN Relations

Olav had ascended the throne of his ancestors, and Norway was
again a united kingdom ; but the kings of Sweden and Denmark,
who, since the fail of Olav Tryggvason, had exercised sovereign
authority in the country, had not recognized its integrity, or inde-
pendence. The situation was extremely difficult. The powerful
nobles at home might seize the first opportunity to jõin King 01av's
enemies, as Eirik Jarl and Svein had done in the days of Olav Trygg-
vason ; and such an opportunity was sure to come, since Olav would
have to defend his kingdom against his pow^erful neighbors, who
now claimed it with some show of right. The king of Sweden sent
tax eollectors into Tr0ndelagen, as before, and held Jaemtland and
Ranrike, which he had seized. King Olav refused to pay him taxes,
and prepared for war. At the Sarp Falls of the Glommen River,
in southeastern Norway, he erected a walled for+ress, called "Borg"
(later Sarpsborg), inside of which he founded a city, and built a

FOREIGN RELATIONS 253

church to St. Mary. The ruins of the fortifications are stiil visible.
Olav gathered stores at Borg, or Sarpsborg, and remained there
during the winter of 1017-1018. He carried on secret negotiations
with the people in Ranrike, and as the chieftains gave him their
support, the province soon renewed its oid allegiance to Norway.
Olav advanced with an army, drove out the Swedish oflBcials, and
war began along the border. Ragnvald Ulvsson, jarl of Vestergöt-
land, who was married to Olav Tryggvason's sister Ingebj0rg, felt
himself bound to King Olav through this bond of relationship, and
became his faithful friend. Olav and Ragnvald agreed that peace
should be maintained between them, and, as the war was unpopular
on both sides of the border, Olav sent an embassy to the Swedish
king to negotiate peace. In the spring of 1018 a thing was held at
Upsala where Ragnvald Jarl was present, and urged the king to
conclude peace with King Olav. The powerful Torgny Lagmand
also arose and spoke in favor of peace with such authority that the
king yielded. The agreement was made that the king of Sweden
should give Olav his daughter Ingegerd in marriage, and that the
wedding should be celebrated at Konghelle in the fail; but Olav
Skotkonung did not keep his word. He married his daughter to
Grand Duke Jaroslaf of Gardarike (Russia), and when King Olav
came to Konghelle to celebrate his nuptials, the bride did not arrive.
Olav was very angry and wished to renew the war, but he was,
finally, persuaded to send another embassy to Sweden. Sighvat
Scald was intrusted with the mission. He came to Ragnvald Jarl,
where he saw the beautiful Astrid, another daughter of the Swedish
king, and Ragnvald undertook to arrange a match between her
and King Olav. He took the princess to Sarpsborg, where she was
married to Olav without her father's consent. Olav Skotkonung
of Sweden would, probably, have continued the war, but circum-
stances forced him to make peace with Olav Haraldsson (King
Knut, who ruled all England, had also been chosen king of Denmark
on the death of his brother Harald ; and he might seize Norway and,
possibly, also Sweden unless some balance of power was maintained.
The Swedish king, therefore, met Okv at Konghelle, where peace
was concluded, 1019. The independence of Norway was recognized,
and the borders were fixed between the two kingdo5õš7

254 history of the norwegian people

45. King Olav Establishes Christianity in Norway.
His Laws and Administration

After the peace of Konghelle King Olav ruled for many years
without being molested by foreign enemies. It was his ambition to
make Norway a strong Christian monarchy like other Christian
states of Europe, and he labored assiduously to carry through a
great program of organization and reform by which the foundations
were laid for the future national development of Norway. The
problems confronting him were many and difficult. Norway would
have to regain its integrity and independencej Ch risti uni tv had tn
be reestablished,-:^the laws were in need of revision, andjHhe aris-
tocracy had to hej-exiiiced to submissionand to fiill obedienoe to the
laws.^ In the years prior to 1019, while he was yet engaged in the
struggle with the king of Sweden, hp intrndiippd rViristinnity. in
Oplandene. He visited every district and petty kingdom^ plaopd

missionaries there to irr^tnipt tlip ppoplp, pnd pnni^npd spvprply

a[\ those who refn^fd *<^ arrfpf tlip Christian faitJi. ^le kings of
these districts were much displeased, and assembled to form an alli-
ance against him ; but a friend informed him of their plot. He sur-
prised them and took them prisoners while they were stiil deliberating
upon the uprising, and punished them severely. Some he banished,
others j^p mnimpd or hhndpd, says the säga ; the ruie of petty kings
in Norway was ende3. {^^landene, which hitherto had been nearly
independent, was now placed immediately under the cro^^. j\ftpr,
the treaty of peace with Sweden in IQIQ, 01«v ponid dpvotp bjmsplf
to the missionarv work with greater energy, and he was ^bly nssisted
by the bishops which he had brought from England nnd Vomipndy.
Of those mentioned. — Rudolf, Bernhard, Grimkel,- and Sigurd, —
Grimkel was the most importnnt (He was a man of learning, tact,
and ability. The name indicates that he was of Norse descent, but

^ Konrad Maurer, Die Bekehrung des norwegischen Stammes zum Chris-
tenthume, vol. I., 39. A. D. J0rgensen, Den norske Kirkes Grundlceggelse
og f(/>rste Udvikling, p. 476 ff. P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, part I.,
vol. IL, 589 i!f. R. Keyser, Den norske Kirkes Historie under Katholicismen.

2 Adam v. Bremen mentions Sigurd, book II. c. 55, together with Grimkel,
Rudolf, and Bernhard ; but it is not certain that Sigurd came to Norway
with King Olav.

KING OLAV ESTABLISHES CHRISTIANITY IN NORWAY 255

he must have been born in England. He was King 01av's chief
adviser and assistant both in the missionary work and in lawgivirfg?
Among the king's most powerful and devoted friends were also :
Bj0rn Stallare (comes stahuli), Sighvat Thordsson the great scald,
Thord Foleson, Aslak Fitjaskalle, Thormod Kolbrunarskald, and
Hjalte Skjeggesson.

In 1019 Olav went to Nidaros, where he remained that winter.
The following summer he introduced Christianity in Haalogaland.
tl2e_Tnnst nnrt.hprn dist.rict of Korway, and Haarek of Tjotta and
Thore Hund of Bjarkey, thp mn^t pmvprfn] phipftnins in thn^p p-^rtRj

pledged their submission to the king._ In Uttr0ndelagen Chris-
tianity had been maintained since the days of Olav Tryggvason,
butjjl Tndt,r0ndplRgen thp ppnplp had rptnrnpd tn paganism, and the
powerful pive of Egge continued to officiate as priest in the heathen
temple in spite of King 01av's warning. 0]fiv, thprpfnrp, ma mli prl
ag^ainst the Indtr0nders while they wpfp g^gipmhlpH fnr flif^ gprinrr
sacrifices, captured 01ve, and caused him to bp pvpputpri He gave
his widow and his estates to Kalv Arnesson, whom he made a lender-
mand. The people of Ondbrqndsid^l wpfp pmivprtpH fn C.hr\s.t\f\j]]fy
in 1021, after some resistanrp- When the army which they sent
against the king was defeated at Breidevangen, south of Sell, a thing
was assembled at Hundtorp, where the herse Dale-Gudbrand was
baptized, and the people accepted Christianity. Dale-Gudbrand
built a church at Hundtorp, and Olav left missionaries to instruct
the people. The story toid in the sägas that the people carried out
an idol representing the god Thor, thinking that it would frighten
King Olav, and that Kolbein the Strong, one of 01av's men, demol-
ished it with a club, is a piece of fiction introduced by Snorre for
dramatic effect. It symbolizes the combat of Christianity against
heathenism, and King 01av's war against the idols. It marks the
beginning of a whole literature of folk- taies connected with the name
of Saint Olav.^ In 1023 Olav alsointrodnoedChricififlnifyinthp Gula-

^ The story is found in the Säga of Olav the Saint in the Heimskringla,
and also in the Olavssaga ins helga. This säga is also written by Snorre,
and differs little from the Säga of Olav the Saint in the Heimskringla. It is
but a new revised edition of it. See Gustav Storm, Snorre Sturlasons
Historieskrivning.

256 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

thingslag and iu Valdres. In manv places. as in Viken. in Uttr0nde-

hlgen. and in lociilitip--; r>n tlu» wps;t fnasit Avhprp rVinrptipc! lind hppii

huilt })y Olav Try^<;vasQn, Christianity had not altogether disap-
l)earcd, but it had becn obscured and corruptcd t.hrnno-h lipnthpn
id(^;i.s nnfl rnstoms. ^, therefore, became King ()lav's second great
task to ^ive the Church of Norway a pemianent organization. and
to establish for it a code of church laws according to which it might
be governe^. |\Vith the assistance of Bishop Grimkel and other eccle-
siastics, hp pmdufpd siiph q pndp nf Igw^; written in the Norwegian
language. The "Heimskringla" says : "The church laws he made
according to the advice of Bishop Grimkel and other teachers, and
devoted all his energy to eradicate heathenism and oid customs which
he considered contrary to the Christian spinj." ^ J.Tp ''•nllH r yenernl
thing in the island of Moster, wherp ppnplp fmm Vil-pn Gulathings-
lag, and Frostathingslag wi^re present. (FTere King Olav and Bishop
Grimkel explained the new laws to the people, and they were finally
adopte^. For the Eidsivathingslag Olav made a new code in which
the church laws were incorporated. The districts of Viken were
also organized into a thinglag, called " Borgarthingslag," because
the thing met at Borg, or Sarpsborg. It received a code of laws to
which the church laws were also added.^ It is not certain, however,
that the Borgarthingslag was originally organized by King Olav.
In the Gulathingslag and Frostathingslag there was one principal
church in each fylke ; ^ in the Borgarthingslag two, and in the Eidsi-
vathingslag three. Thp prinripnl — churches — Lad — rp^idpnt pja^^dia.
who received the income from church lands set nsidp for tlipir mkintp-.
nance. ^lie final step taken by King Olav in thg orp-nnizatinn of the
Church of Vnrway was to place it under the higher ecclesiastical

^ These church laws are found in the GiilniJp^^gslnv^ the Frostathingslov,
and as supplements to the Eidsivathingslov, and the Borgarlhingslov. See
Norges gamle Love, vol. I.

2 The Eidsivathing's code and the Borgarthing's code have been lost,
but the church laws of both codes have been preserved. See Norges gamle
Love, vol. I.

^ "The next is that we should maintain all the churches and the Chris-
tianity which Saint Olav and Bishop Grimkel established on the Moster-
thing, and all since l:)uilt. But there is one church in each fylke which we
call the main church which all men in the fylke must maintain." Gulathings-
lov, eh. 10.

KING OLAV ESTABLISHES CHRISTIANITY IN NORWAY 257

_g.ntjiority nf an nrphhishnp ThJs might have leH tn a. r1n<;pr afflH^-
tion with the Churcli of England, since Christianity had been brought
to Norway from that countrv. but the politioal sit.iiat.inn provpH

jmfavQiaiile. Knut the Great. who was now king of England, had
not relinquished his claim on Norway, and any closer relations between
the two countries, even in rehgious matters, might have contributed
to strengthen his hoid. King Olav, therefore, sent Bishop Grimkel
to negotiate with Arclihishop Tln van of Rrpmpn^ with the result that
the Chiirch of Xorwav w^as placed under the supervision of the Arrh-

^hristianity began henceforth to gain general favor. The oid
pagan conceptions were not eradicated, however, through the hasty
conversion. They gradually assumed Christian forms and continued
to Iive in the religious life as well as in the songs and stories of the

peopl^. r!hri!-;t was. Ruh^^fhuif^A fnr Odin H'^ tlip dlvlnp rnlpr The

poet Eiliv Gudrunsson sang aboiit Christ the mighty king of Rome,
who sits in the South at the Well of Urd, and rules over the lands of
the mountain kings. ^ng Olav takes the place of Thor as the
red-bearded champion of light, who is ever victorious in his war

against trolls and evil Spirif^. Frevja rpgpppgrc: ag tlip Virgin Mary

who rules over the animals of the forest. She is also the midwife,
and assists at the birth of children.^ ^hi^ naive bnt poptirblpnding
of Christian forms and pagan ideas marks the advent of the intel-
lectual life of the Christian Middle Ages, from which the folk-songs
and fairy-tales have sprun^

It became necessarv for Olav also to rpvisp th^ civil laws. to bring.
them into closer conformity with Christian principles. The " Heims-
krin^i^la" ■^tnfp^ fh^^- "^ip made the laws according to the counsel
of the wisest men ; he took away, or added, as he considprpd it jn st/'
We have already seen that he gave the Eidsivathingslag a new code,
and it is probable, though not certain, that he established the Borg-
arthingslag. Tlip laws of the Gulathingslag and of the Frosta-
thingslag were so thoroughly revised that these oid eodes were
henceforth known as the "Laws of Saint Olav." ^le revision of
the laws by the king and his learned assistants, who were familiar,

* Dr. A. Chr. Bang, Udsigt over den norske Kirkes Historie under Katho-
licismen, p. 77 f.

VOL. I — 8

258 HISTORY OF TIIE XORWEGIAN PEOPLE

not only with Christian principles, but also with the laws of the
Christian kingdoms of western Europe, was,a legal work of the
^reatest importance. The "Laws of St. Olav" were destined ta
become the foundation of future Norwegian jurisprudeiicS J^log

01av's lawfyiving represents in itsolf ^ r-pntr-^lizntinn of pnwpr anrl

a growth of royal au th o ri t}L wJiich^carries -with it the greatest ehange-
in the DoliticaJ iii^titntinns nf Nnrway. King Haakon the Good
had, iiideed, been a lawgiver, but not to the extent which this func-
tion was now exercised by King Ola^. Cuie oid laws were regarded
as häving been given by the gods themselves ; they were inherited,
time-honored custom, the expression of the sense of legal justice
of the whole people^^who originally had exerdsed the power of law-.
makini^ ^ut after the union of N^nrway^ and the introduction of
Clirismnity, when the laws had to be revised and brought into har-
mony with the new conditions, the king grPld^^lbr qsgiiTn<ad thic
powerj_ and nfter ^In''^ ^^^^^'^^«'^"jjtir"^ ^^'^ ppnplp. hoA i:ff1f> A\vani-
influence on )pp;islati(:>g ^le oid lagthinQs, which had been well
suited to the oid triba] oro;nm'7fltioii^ were conspicuously defective
as lawmaking asseipblips; for the united kingdom of Norway. They
were four in number, not a single assembly for the whole country,
and they were provincinl, not natioualin rharnptpH^ They had no

power of taxation, and thp \fi\x^ wprp introdnppH by i\\» Vinrr, or in
his name. The pOWerS of administrntinn, tnvatmn mirl Ipgklflfmn

were. therefore. giiitp n?itiirnlly nnitpd inJ:,]-i<^ h.n.nds; of thp c;nvprpig;|^
The king, not the lagthipgf^, bppnmp fha Pig^nnnnt n£-thp national

will. ^jt he was not an absolute monarch ; the people stiil exer-
cised indirectly no small influence on legislation. If they desired
a new law, or the revision of an oid one, the}^ negotiated privately
with the king, and when an understanding was reached, the measure
was proposed at the lagthing in the king's nai^. It he wished to
propose a new law, he negotiated with men of influence to gain the
necessary support. In these preliminary negotiations the people
could exercise considerable influence through their spokesmen. To
become alaw. the new mpnmirp hnd to bp propospH at the lagthing
and accepted by thr prrnplr fn matters of taxation the king was
also dependent on the will of the people. If new taxes had to be
^ T. K. Asehehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark indiü 181 4-

KING OLAV ESTABLI8HES CHRISTIANITY IN NORWAY 259

levied, even for special emergencies, a proposal was brought before
the various local or fylkesthings, where the assent of the people had
to be secure^.

yhe establishment of the kingdom of Norway ba^ed on the theorv
of a strong national monarchy with oentrnh'zed lef^islative and ad-
ministrative powers necessitated many important changes in the
whole system of governmenj. ^^ny new departures of far-reach-
ing importance had been made, especially by Harald Haarfagre,
and Olav (^araldssoi^ continued his great predecessor's work of
reorganizatioB> The herser. or tribal chieftains, who had mled nver
larger local districts. were now replaced by hnderw.rp/nd (= men_
JinlHing jpnd^ from ihe- king) or nffipiak gppmnfpH hy tV.P Vjpg

The herser had been the leaders of the people — an oid aristocracv :
the lendermasnd became the representatives and adherents of the
"kinj;. The aarmcend, who in Harald Haarfagre's time were men of
humble station, appointed as overseers of the royal estates, were
now replaced by syssclmcend, or roval officials. They collected the
taxes in their districts, and arrested and punished criminals in the
name of the king.

Thp h.i.rd wn^ nlso reorganiyed. Three classes are mentioned :
hirdtncBnd, gestir, and huskarlar. The hirdinoend, usually sons of
lendermosnd and otlier leading men in the country, constituted the
king's court. The gestir were sent on difBcult and dangerous mis-
sions, and executed the police duties exercised by the king through-
out the kingdom. The huskarlar had charge of the work about the
royal residence, and furnished the necessaries for the king's house-
hold. This class does not seem to have belonged to the kird proper.
The "King's Mirror" says : "All men who serve the king are called
'huskarlar,' but honor and power are divided among them accord-
ing to their ability to serve him, and according as he wishes to grant
prefennents to each. There are some huskarlar in the king's hird
who receive no salary, neither are they permitted to eat or drink with
the rest of the hird. They must do all things. about the royal resi-
dence which the overseer demands." ^ They seem to have been

1 See the deseription of the hird in The King's Mirror, XXV. ff. R.
Keyser, Norges Stats og Retsforfatning i Middelalderen, p. 77 ff. T. H. Asehe-
houg, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark indtil 181-',, p. 33. Ebbe Hertz-

260 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

yuung; men of good family, who sought this kind of service as a possible
road to j)romoti()n and royal favor. ^t the b^^d ^'^ ^^^^ ^"^'''^ ^fnnr]
the great officials of the king's court, whp nptprl i'n th^ r-npn^ity nf
ministerii pf ^tntp They were called hiröstjorar (leaders of the
hird). The chief officials jaigrc : the dallari, who had charge of the
royal equipages, and acted as the king's representative at the thing ;
the merkismadr, or royal standard-bearer, the fehirdir, or.lreasurer,
and the hirdbishop. who was the king's adviser in ecelesiastieal pfFairK.
^1 piiblic offices, from the lowest to the highest, had thus been or-
ganized into an articulate system of national administratioR

During the reign of Ririk Jarl and Svein, tbp powprfn] rhi^ftffinR
in the colonies had east off all allegiance to Vnru-gy^ anrl r^^^f^f] f^g
independent princes. The task of reuniting these island possessinns
with the kingdom required, therefore, the most vigilant attention.
Through energetic and tactful measures King Olav soon succeeded
in bringing the Orkney and Shetland Islands back to their oid alle-

j;iance. 'pie Faroe Islands accepted tjip king'-^ pode of rbnrch laj;^.
but 80 lõng as the crafty Trond i Gata lived, no taxes were paid to
the king of Norway. King Olav investigated diligently how Chris-
tianity was maintained in Iceland. He persundpd thp T/^^lgr^rl^rt^ f .-. .
abolish many heathen customs which were stiil practiced. but his
church laws do not seem to have been established there. ^e sought
to gain the friendship of the Icelandic chief tains, and many of them
visited him in Norway. He negotiated with them in regard to the
relation between Norway and Iceland, and an agreement was made

• about ID22Ž called "The Institutions and Laws Which King Olav
Gave the Icelanders." According to this agreement the Icelanders
should virtuallv eniov the rights and privileo-^g r>f oitw^]^^ r^f Vnrway
They had the same right of odel as other freeholders. ;n^d conlrl ^nliprit
property in Norway on tVip ^n-mR tpmT^ n>^ nnfi'vp pitivmis They
paid no taxes except the Inndöre, which was paid for the privilege
of trade and intercourse with Norway. ^n. return, the king's men
should have the same rights in Iceland as native citizeõfe, and the
suits at law should be brought directly to the highest court. ^

berg, En Fremstilling aj det norske Aristokratis Historie, p. 58 ff.' HirHskrä,
43-45, Norges gamle Love, vol. II., and Glossary, vol. V. P. A. Muneh,
Dei norske Folks Historie, part I., vol. II., p. 6.39 f.

KING OLAV ESTABLISHES CHRISTIANITY IN NORWAY 261

time of war tlie Icelanders who happened to be in Norway owed
the king military service, and could not leave the countrp Two
out of every three would then have to jõin the royal standards. This
arrangement lasted till ]2C)'2. when Iceland was finnlly nnitpfl with
JVprwflA'. ^ng Olav rebiiilt the city of Xidaros, which Olav Trygg-
vason had founded, and restored the royal hall and the St. Clemens
church, which had been erected in Olav Tryggvason's tii^.

|Uore diffipiilt than any other task in King 01av's great work of
reorganization was that of reducing the recalcitrant aristocraey t.o
proper submissicg^ Many of the great chieftains who reluctantly
had pledged the king a nominal allegiance, soon manifested a kostile
opposition to his plans, biit Kino- Obiv. none the less, prnrpfdpd
with characteristic energy to restrict their power to what h^ ron-
sidered reasonable limits The powerful Haarek of Tjotta had to
divide his syssel w^ith King 01av's friend Osmund Grankelsson, and
Aslak Fitjaskalle was made sysselmand in Hordaland, in southwestern
Norway, where Erling Skjalgsson of Sõle ruled with almost royal
power. IDie king enforced the laws with strict impartiality, and
punished with uncompromising severity even the most powerful
offende^. The " Heimskringla " says : "He meted out the same
punishment to the powerful and to the small, but the great men of
the country regarded this as arrogance, and they were greatly off ended
when they lost their kinsmen through the king's just decision, even
if the case was true. This was the cause of the uprising of the great
men against King Olav, that they could not tolerate his justice.
But he would rather surrender his kingdom than his uprightness." ^
Erling Skjalgsson and others sent their sons to King Knut the Great
in England, who received them well, gave them rich presents, and
did what he could to encourage the defection of the Norwegian
chieftains. King Knut was a powerful monarch who ruled over
England, Scotland, Wales, and Denmark. He, also, called himself
king of Norway, and claimed even the throne of Sweden. He
was tall and stately, with light hair and bright eyes, generous and
sociable, a king whom the young nobles loved to serve. So lõng as
Knut was fully occupied with affairs in England, the aristocracy did
not venture to rebel openly against King Olav, but the growing power
^ Heimskringla, Säga of Olav the Saint, eh. 181.

262 HISTORY OF TITE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and influence of King Knut was a steadily growing menace to Nor-
wegian independence. The new king of Sweden, Anund Jacob,
was a brother of 01av's queen, Astrid. The two kings made a joint
attack on Denmark in an endeavor to seize the country, but ,Ki"g
Knut met them with a large fleet, and an undecisive battle was
fought by Helgeä,, near Skäne, after which all thought of eonquer-
ing Denmark liad to be abandoncd, Erling Skjalgsson and Haarek
of Tjotta had thrown off all allegiance to King Olav, so that he could
find no support in northern and western Norway. Cng Knut,
who had made active preparations to invade the country, left Eng-
land with a fleet of fifty ships, in 1028, and a Danish fleet lay ready
to jõin hii^. &hen this news reached Norway, thp rliipftRins pf
Tr0ndelagen assembled the 0rething and proclaimed Knut kinaTand
Erling Skjalgsson hastened to his assistance at the earliest oppor-
tunity. But Olav would stiil strike a blow for his throne and his
country. He left Viken with thirteen ships, and met Erling Skjalgs-
son's squadron near Utstein in southwestern Norway. A battle
was fought which resulted in the defeat and death of Erling. It was
now läte in the fail, and a great fleet was advancing against him from
Tr0ndelagen. All further resistance was hspIpss, H#. steered his
ships into a fjord in S0ndm0r, took leaveo£Jiis,f Henris, nnd t.hrongh
the winter's_snnw he mndp. his,wa^L_acros§ the mountains to Swedgfl,
He spent some time in the island of Gothland, wl;iere hp irjtfnrluppd
j^hristianity. ^rom there he proceeded to Novgorod, and finally
to Kief, where he found refuge at the court of his brother-in-law,
Duke Jaroslaf of Garrlnrik"^

46. Norway under Danish Overlordship. The Battle of
Stiklestad. King Olav the Saint

King Knut the Great, who was now over-king of Norway, placed
Haakon, J:he son of Eirik Jarl, in charge of the kingdom as his deputv-
or vassal. Haakon went to England, where he married Gunhild,
a daughter of King Knut's sister, but on his return voyage he was
drowned in tlie Pentlandsfjord, and thp crrpnf T-nrJpjf^j-] fnmily bp-
came extinrt in the male line. Both Kalv Arnesson and Einar Tam-
barskjselver aspired to become his successor, but !^nut let them under-

NORWAY UNDER DANISH OVERLORDSHIP 263

stand that he intended to make his own son king of Norway. This
was a great disappointment to the ambitious nobles. It became
apparent that the benefit which they were to derive from their rebel-
lion against King Olav would be considerably smaller than they had
been led to anticipat^. Einar Tambarskjselver became quite dis-
gusted, and remained absent from Norway till after the battle of
Stiklestad.

Olav (paraldssoij languished in exile at Grand Duke Jaroslafs
court. He was moody and unhappy, and could never wholly re-
linquish the idea of rescuing Norway from foreign ruTõT The " Heims-
kringla" states that Olav Tryggvason appeared before him in. his
dreams, and toid him to return to Norway and claim the kingdom
which God had given him. "It makes a king renowned to gain
victory over his enemies, but it is a glorious death to fail on the
battlefield with one's men." Many of 01av's men had joined him
in Gardarike, and they encouraged him to attempt to wrest Norway
from the foreign conquerors. ^©ii€n the news spread that Haakon
was dead, he determined to return to Norwa^. He left his son
Magnus at the court of Jaroslaf, and proceeded to Sweden, where
King Anund Jacob gave him great aid, though he did not dare to
form an alliance with him against King Knut. He gave him a num-
ber of soldiers, and allowed him to recruit many more.^ His adher-
ents in the eastern districts of Norway also aided him. His hatf-
j)rothfr H^t-qU c;i>nrriqgr>n^ sou of King Sigurd Syr and Aasta, the
later chieftain of the Varangians in Myklegard (Constantinople),
joined him with a force of 720 men. People of all sorts drifted to
his standards, and he was able to enter Norway with a considerable
army. He had some good troops, but the greater portion of these
hasty levies were of inferior quality.^ Qn_Tr0ndelagen the chieftains,
on hearing of King 01av's return, had gathered a large army of the

1 Queen Astrid remained in Sweden at the court of her brother, King
Anund, and did not return to Norway till in the reign of Magnus the Good.
She was aecompanied by their only daughter, Ulvhild, who later married
Ordulf, son of the Duke of Saxony, of the House of the Welfs.

2 Alexander Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I, 2, p. 404. Olav, who had
made Christianity his special cause, possessed the ardor and vehemence of
a crusader, but the Heimskringla is e^^dently in error when it states that
before the battle of Stiklestad he sent away 600 men who would not accept

264 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

best forces in the country under such able generals as Kalv Arnesson,
Tore Hund, and Haarek of Tjot^ Kalv Arnesson had the chief
command. The "Hehnskringhi" states that their army numbered
12,000 men, while Olav had only 3600 inen ; but these figures are,
no doubt, too large. Henrik Mathiesen ^ estimates the forces of
the chieftains to have numbered about 5000 men. Sighvat Scald
says that they gained the victory because they had twice as many
men as King Olav, who, accordingly, must have had a force of about
2500 men. Olav marched across the mountains to Vardalen in
Tr0ndelagen, and selected a very advantageous position at Stiklestad.
According to the "Olavssaga ins helga " he remained here a few days
before the arrival of the chieftains and their forces, waiting for Dag
Ilingsson, who was bringing reenforcements ; but Dag reached Stikle-
stad too läte to be of any assistance. On the morning before the
battle, legend tells, while the army was stiil resting. King Olav
fell asleep, leaning his head upon the knee of Finn Arnesson, Kalv
Arnesson's brother, who had remained faithful to him. He dreamed
that a ladder reached from the eart];i to heaven, and that he had
reached the highest round. Here Christ stood and beckoned to
him, and promised him reward for his faithful work. At noon, on
/ CJ O '^^^h' 29, JLQSO, the two armies faced each other on the field of Stikje^
.,staii in full battle array. King Olav stood in the midst of his army
in brynie and gilt helmet. He carried the sword "Hneiter" and a
white shield on which a golden cross was painted. His white stand-
ard with a dragon in the center was carried by his standard-bearer,
Thord Foleson. About one o'clock, the war trumpets sounded the
signal for advance. The serried columns of warriors rushed down
the sloping ground to the combat ; the most notable battle in Nor-
wegian history had begun. 01av's plan was to throw his opponents
into disorder by a vigorous assault, and in this he was partly success-
ful. The lines in his front yielded before the furious onset, and great
confusion resulted. Gut the experienced generals and well dis-
ciplined forces of the enemy soon regained their foothold, 01av's

the Christian faith. The scald Sighvat, who was with him in the battle,
says: "Not all the warriors believed in God ; the army was divided into
two parts ; the famous king asked the Christians to stand on his right händ."
^ Det gamle Trondhjem, p. 104 ff.

NORWAY UNDER DANISH OVERLORDSHIP 265

small army was outflanked and surrounded, attacked in front
and rear, and overwhelmed by superior numb^, The king was
soon wounded in the melee. He had dropped his sword and stood
leaning against a stone when Kalv Arnesson and Tore Hund, who
pressed forward toward the royal standard, found him and cut him
down. Thord Foleson the standard-bearer, Bj0rn Stallare, and many
other leading men of the royal army were now dead, and many were
wounded. Among the latter were Thormod Kolbrunarskald, who
on the morning of the battle had awakened King 01av's army with
a song. He withdrew from the eonflict with an arrow in his bosom
and died before evening.^ Dag Ringsson now arrived and made a
spirited attack, buthe could not prevent the eomplete rout of the royal
f orces. Those who could sought safety in flight ; among others t^üra]f\
Sigurdsson, who w^as severely wounded. After his recovery, F^^^l^
went to Russia to Grand Duke Jaroslaf. and later he propeerled to.
Constantinople, where he became captain of the Varangians in the
ser\dce of the Grepk F.mpprr^.

[Christianity was no longer the issue in the battle of Stiklestad.
The Christian faith had been so firmly established that the chieftains
did not attempt, and, probably, did not even desire, to subvert^.
^The memorable battle was a struggle betw^een the oid system of
aristocratic ruie, aad the new royalty leagued with the ideas of na-
tional union, independence, and progress toward higher cultural
ideaÜ. ^or this cause King Olav had labored, and in devotion to it
he gave his life. But fhf «ric^tnprFipy hgd triii.mphpd The king
lay dead on the field of battle, and the national cause seemed hope-

lessly lost when the nimor g^^ «hrnad that Hlav wa^ n ^ai^ The

glory of his martyrdom emanating from the battlefield of Stiklestad
kindled the first sparks of patriotism, and gave the lost national
cause a new and sacred consecration. Those w^ho had opposed Olav
the king now willingly bent the knee before Olav the saint. His
name became the rallying cry of patriots ; his great work and stiil
greater sacrifice for his hi^h ideals had united all hearts ; his defeat
at Stiklestad had turned into a national victory.

An English lady ^Ifgifu (N. Alfiva) bore King Knut a son, Svein,

1 The story of Thormod 's death is toid in the Heimskringla, Säga of Olav
the Saint, eh. 234.

266 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

who was now about fourteen years of age. lövein was made viceroy
of Norway, and his mother accompanied him, actiiig as his adviseJ,
tliough it is generally acknowledged that she was the real ruler
during Svein's short reign. Lihe oid form of aristocratic governraent
was not reestablished as might have been expected. King Knut
was not satisfied witli maintaining merely a nominal overlordshl^,
as Harald Gormson had done in earlier days, bnt, rlpmnndpH fnr h]<i
son powers aiul privilegos fnr exreedin-g ihnae. wWwh King OlgyjTflH^
claimed. ^ein and Alfiva established Danish laws, and began to
ruie as if they were exercising unlimited dominion over a conquered
people, though it-jsas the Norwegian nobles, and not tho Dan^ST^
who had defeated King Olniv? Xo one was permitted to leave the
country without permission n-om the king. The property of persons
convicted of murder was confiscated by the king, and the inheritance
of persons outlawed for crime was swept into the royal coffers. The
fisheraaen had to give a part of their catch to the king ; a tax called
"Christmas gifts" was levied ; all ships leaving Norwegian harbors
had to pay a tax called "land0re," and the people had to erect all
buildings needed on the royal estates. Ei^-ch seventh man had to
do military service, and thp tp^fimony of a Danp (a member of
the king's Jiird) was to be worth that of tpn Xorseme^. ^ing Knut's
failure to keep his promise to the Norwegian nobles had caused great
disappointment, but the government which he established added
insult to injury, and awakened the bitterest resentment even among
the chieftains who had given him the kingdoiSJ King Olav, who
had fought so bravely for national independence, was contrasted witli
the foreign oppressors. His justice and heroism were extolled, and
the deep miitterings of popular discontent soon grew into angry
avowals that disloyalty to him was treason, and that slavery under
foreign rulers had been substituted for national independence. Tlip
rumor that King Olav was a saint added new strength to the growing
storm of discontent. The eclipse w^hich occurred on x\ugust 31st,
a month after the battle of Stildestad, was thought to be in some way
connected with King OIav's defeat and death, and the association
of ideas soon established the conviction that the eclipse took place
at the time of the battle. /Sljracles were said to have happened
while the king's body was lying on the battlefiel^. Tliorgils Halm-

NORWAY UNDER DANISH OVERLORDSHIP 267

ason and his son Grim, who were living near Stiklestad, saw on the
night after the battle a light issue from the place where the king's
body was lying. They carried the corpse away, and hid it care-
fully from his enemies, but the same light was seen every night.
CKing 01av's cheeks did not fade, but retained their ruddy color.
Hisjiair, henrrl, and fingPirnails eontinued to grow, and sick persons
who prayed to the dead king were heal^ (Elng Svein and his
mother made every effort to hush down and explain away these
stories about Olav, but this only nursed the wrath of the people
against the enemies of their patriotic and sainted kin^ The dis-
appointed nobles supported the growing opposition to the Danes.
"It was Einar TambarskJ8elver's boast that he had not taken part
in the uprising against King Olav. He remembered that King Knut
had promised him a jarldom in Norway, and that he had not kept
his word. Einar was the first of the chieftains to maintain that
King Olav was a saint." ^ Ölav's body was brought to Nidaros and

interred in the St. Clprnpnci pVmrpVi whipVi hp liarl h^^'^]i Rigbnp

Grimkel prorlaipipH liim a snint^. and the 29th of July, tj]e day of his
dpath, was HeHicatprl as. a phiiroh holiday, the Olavmas. in his hono^.^
A pretender by the name of Tryggve now appeared, who claimed to
be a son of Olav Tryggvason. He came to Norway with a small
force, but was defeated and slain by Svein. But the powerfui
lendermoend gave the king no support. They summoned a thmg

1 fJ_pim.!^kringJ"i ■^nrjn. nf (linn thp Rnint^oh 241.

2 In early Chxistian times the congregation had the right to deelare a
person a saint, but eanonization by an aet of the Pope originated as early
as 975, and in the twelfth eentury, in the pontificate of Alexander IIL, the
Holy See claimed the sõle power of eanonization. In later times, the loeal
saints, who had not received papal sanction, were called "beati," while
those who were canonized by the Pope were called "sancti," or saints of the
highest order. Bishop GrimkeFs deelaration was stiil at this time the only
offieial aet necessary to make King Olav a saint of the first ränk, and his
saintship was later recognized in papal letters by Alexander VI., 1255, and
by Clemens IV, 12G6. The sägas teil us that King Olav had been buried
a year and five days before he was finally interred in the St. Clemens chureh.
Before the interment Bishop Grimkel opened the eoffin, and showed the
king to the assembled people. His cheeks had not faded, but he looked as
if he slept, and a pleasant odor arose from the body. It seems certain that
the priests had embalmed the body before it was buried, as it is known to
have existed 500 years later. Ludvig Daae, Norges Helgener, p. 5.

268 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

at Nidaros, where the people presented their complaints, biit Svein
und liis mother were unable to give any answer. Einar Tambar-
skjislver arose and said, " Go home, ye people ! A bad errand you
liave now, as you have had before when you appealed to Alfiva and
King Svein. You might as well await injustice at home as to seek
it all at once in this one place. Now you listen to the words of a
woman, but you refused to listen to King Olav, who was in truth a
saint. A vile treason was committed against him, and our punish-
ment has been severe, while such great humiliation has fallen on
our people since this ruie was established over them. God grant
that it may not last lõng ! It has already lasted too lõng." ^

^ing Svein and his mother tried in väin to assemble a new
thing. No one came in answer to their summons. They began
to fear a general uprising, and in t^^^ wint^r (1 n.'^.'^-l n.'^-t> they left
Nidaros, and Danish dominion in Nor^fly \\^»^ pndp^. The people
of Tr0ndelagen determined to place St. 01av's son, Magnus, on the
throne. Einar Tambarskjselver and Kalv Arnesson were sent to
Gardarike as special envo3's to off er him the crown. He accompanied
them to Norway, and was proclaimed king in 1034, or 1035.

01nv's canonization was nn ey^nf nf fViP gr^atpgt im pr. rt^nof»^
not onlv becauSP nf tlip immpdiatp rpsiilt^ Avhirh it prndnr-pd^ bnt,
.alsO thrOUgh the influenoe whiph N^t Oln^^ -ivn^ rlpš;tinprl fr. (^-i:(^rn\^P r,jry

the religious and national devplnpinpnt in fhp fnfnrp Qjje JieFOr
kjjTg and oTPRt lawgiver had become the patron <;ainf nnA >i^1prp^T|p
ppjTTpqpntRtiyp nf ^-^ip nafir^^ the yerpetuiis rex Norwegiae under
whose egis both royalty and hierarchy could henceforth exercise
permanent and unquestion«d authority. The oid church stiil stand-
ing at Stiklestad was built, it is thought, on the very spot where
King Olav fell, and the rock near which he sufTered death is said to
have been inclosed in the altar of the church. Rnf \'if]grng wVip^p
the king was buried^ becnme the chief St. 01=^v snnpfunry in Vr>rwQy
and pilgrims from many lands yisifpd the s?iint's ^rrn^;p f^vt^ry ypnr
They pamp _frnrri_ S^v^d*^" ■ DpTiTnark. and Russia : from tbe Baltic
^Sea countries, and from the Briti sh Tsles.^ ^ course of time their

1 Olavssaga ins helga. eh. 102. Fagrskinna, eh. 119.

2 "The capital of the Norsemen is TmndfiHsis^ whieh is heautified by
many ehurches, and which is ^•isited by a great number of people. There

THE UNION OF NORWAY AND DENxMARK

rich offerings to the Saint enabled thf^ nrrlibkliop nf Ynnvqj/tn erect

_a Cathedral in TrOP^^^^j^Tn, t]^f> moKf mutrnififpiit in tlip SJr-anHina^rinn

Nüc^ Crosses and chapels were erected in various places made
sacred by Olav ; but pie commemoration of the saint spread also
to other countries, and many churches were dedicated to him in
foreign land^. Jn the isjand of Gt^tlilnnd ; in Angermanland, Hel-
singland, Upsala, and other districts in Sweden he was especially
honored. There were St. Olav churches in Norrköping and Lödöse,
and the monasteries ia Abo, Strengnes, Skara and Enköping were
dedicated to him. Tn Denmark the commemoration of St. Olav
was very widespread, which can be seen from the number of churches
dedicated to him in all parts of the Danish kingdom. dn England
a number of churches were named in his honor. In London alone
there were four St. Olav churches : one in Southwark, one in Silver
street, and two in the eastern part of the city. There was also a
Tooley (= St. Olav) street, and Exeter had a St. Olav church.
Chester has stiil an Olafs church and an Olaf street. York has an
Olafs church, and Norfolk a St. 01ave's bridge. [Ühurches were
also dedicated to St. Olav in Reval in Esthonia. iji "NTni.-gnmrl and
rormtantinnplp, and there is evidence that he was commemorated

also i'n TrplanHj Spotlanrl^ auc\ XnrmandyTl

47. Magnus the Good. The Union of Norway and Denmark

Magnus Olavsson met with no resistance on his arrival in Norway.
King Knut the Great died in England in 1035, and Svein and Alfiva
(iElfgifu) fled to Denmark, where Svein died the year following.
What plans King Knut had with regard to the succession is not

rests thp hnrly nf Ola.v^ t.hp hlpg^jPfl Ving n.nri saint, at wVini^p fTTpt^e God till
t.Tlis f]gy pprfoT-ing grogt wnnrlare r»f Vipaling gn tlint. many peoplp jnnrnpy
thither frnm Histant. lanrls, hnping to rpfpive hplp thrr^ng-h thn mprit of tViP
■ hn]y mfiirtiyr." Adam v. Bremen. Gesta Hammahurgensis, IV., eh. 39.

"His day of commemoration, which is the 29th of July, is held sacred
by all the people dwelling about the northern ocean : Norsemen, Swedes,
Götar, Danes, Seiiibs and Slavs, by perpetual celebration." Adam v.
Bremen, Gesta Hammahurgensis, II., eh. 59. Kristian Bing, Norsk Tradition
om Middelalderens Olafsfest, Bergens historiske Forenings Skrift, no. 8.

1 P. Nordmann, St. Olavs Dyrkan i Finland. Jacobus Langebek, Scrip-
tores Regum Danicarum, Legendae aliquot de Sancto Olavo Rege Norwegiae.

270 IIISTÜRY ÜF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

known, but it is probable that Iie dcsired his realm to remain united
under his one legitimate son Ilardeknut, son of Emma, who had
already been crowned king of Denmark.^ But Harald Harefoot,
the son of Knut and his Enghsh mistress Alfiva, the mother of Svein,
was staying in England, and when Knut died he became an active
candidate for the throne. Ilardeknut was, therefore, compelled
to come to an understanding with King Magnus. In order to ter-
minate the hostiUties between Norway and Denmark, which had
already been in progress for some time, the two kings met at Brenn-
0erne, near the mouth of the Göta River, in 1038, and concluded
a treaty of peace. Hardeknut recognized the independence of Nor-
way, and a compact was entered into by the kings that if one of them
died without an heir, the other should inherit his kingdom, and
twelve leading men of each country took an oath to maintain the
compact. The treaty of Brenn0erne is a counterpart of the treaty
of Konghelle concluded with Sweden in 1019. The integrity and
independence of Norway had now been duly recognized, and the
kings of the Yngling dynasty were regarded as possessing the same
full legitimacy as the royal families of Denmark and Sweden. King
01av's great fame both as king and saint had made a deep impres-
sion on the whole Scandinavian North, and contributed greatly to
win for Norway an unqualified recognition as a sovereign and inde-
pendent state. Wlien Magnus returned to Trondhjem, says the
säga, he placed King 01av's body in a beautiful casket ornamented
with gold, silver, and precious stones. He also began the erection
of a St. 01av's church, in which the remains of the saint were to be
deposited; but this structure was not completed till in the next
reign.

Before Magnus became king, he had to promise full amnesty to
those who had taken part in the anned opposition to his father.
It seems that he also agreed to abrogate the noxious laws intro-
duced by King Svein, and to reestablish the laws of King Olav. But
youthful impetuosity soon led him to deal harshly with his father's
oid enemies. When Haarek of Tjotta was killed by a personal

^ Laurence M. Larson, The Efforts of the Danish Kings to Recover the Eng-
lish Crown aftcr the Death oj Harthacnut. Annual Report of the, American His-
torical Association, 1910.

THE UNION OF NORWAY AND DENMARK 271

enemy, the offender was not puiiished. Tore Hund died on a pil-
grimage to the Holy Land, and Kalv Arnesson had to flee to the
Orkneys to Thorfinn Jarl, who was married to Ingebj0rg, the daughter
of his brother Finn Arnesson. There had been much secret rivalry
between Kalv and Einar Tambarskjselver, both of whom had as-
pired to become jarl. Einar, who had taken no part in the uprising
against King Olav, gained the friendship of Magnus, but the young
king was unable to forgive Kalv, who had been the leader of the
opposition to his father. Einar was styled the king's fosterfather,
or chief councilor, and exercised great influence. Many who had
taken part in the battle of Stiklestad against Olav were made to
feel the king's wrath, and the laws of Svein were not repealed as
quickly as had been expected. The people grew dissatisfied and
chose as their spokesman the scald Sighvat Thordsson, who had
been King 01av's closest friend, and who now occupied a similar
position of honor and confidence at the court of King Magnus.
In a song called "Bers0glisvisur" ^ the scald reminded the young
king of his promises to the people, showed him how iil it befits a
king to break his word, and pointed to the growing dissatisfaction
and the danger of such a situation. So deeply was Magnus impressed
with the song that he immediately changed his ways. He became
so just and kind that the people henceforth called him Magnus the
Good. He granted amnesty to all, and promised to improve the
laws by gradually revoking the mere oppressive measures of King
Svein's reign.

The ties which united the island colonies with the mother country
were weakened by the repeated overthrow of the government, as

1 Sighvat was one of the foremost sealds, and the "Bers0glisvisur" is
one of the finest specimens of scaldic poesy. Others excelled him in imagina-
tion and brilliant word-painting, but Sighvat thinks deep and fine thoughts,
and we see behind his Unes a wise and high-minded man. He sings less
about war and battles than do other sealds, but more about lofty aims, and
the ends to be attained by man's efforts. The greater part of the song has
been preserved. Nine stanzas are found in the Heimskringla.

Aecounts of the events of this period are found in the Agrip, in Theodricus
Monachus' Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium, Morki?iskinna,
Flateyjarbõk, Fagrskinna, and in Heimskringla. The relation of these
sourees has been discussed by Professor Gustav Storm in his work Snorre
Siurlasons Historieskrivning.

272 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

well as by the establishing of foreign dominion in Norway. As the
Danish kings paid little attention to the Norvvegian colonies, the
jaris and chieftains who ruled over the island groups found oppor-
tiinity to make themselves independent. In the Orkneys Thorfinn
Jarl had regained his oid independence after the fail of St. Olav, and
the crafty and powerful Trond i Gata had ruled the Faroe Islands
according to his own pleasure since the death of Sigmund Brestes-
son. But when Trond died in 1035, Leiv Assursson, another Faroe
chieftain, went to Norway and tendered his submission to King Mag-
nus, who placed him in charge of the colony. Thereby Norwegian
sovereignty was again established in the Faroe Islands.^ The king's
measures with regard to the Orkneys proved less successful. It has
been noted elsewhere that. on the death of Sigurd Lodvesson, the
Orkneys were divided among his sons Sumarlide, Bruse, and Einar ;
but none of them lived lõng, and their half-brother, Thorfinn Sigurds-
son, became jarl, and seized all their possessions. Bruse's son,
Ragnvald, who was staying at the court of the Grand Duke Jaroslaf,
in Gardarike, had accompanied Magnus to Norway. Magnus gave
him the title of jarl, and granted him his father's possessions in these
islands. Ragnvald was well received by Thorfinn, who at thistime
was engaged in wars in Scotland. He granted him two-thirds of
the islands, and they became friends and allies. But while Kalv
Arnesson, the unele of Thorfinn's wife Ingebj0rg, was sta^dng in
the Orkneys, Thorfinn and Ragnvald became enemies, and hostilities
resulted in which Ragnvald lost his life. Tlie colony did not return
to its allegiance to Norway till in lOGü, in the reign of Harald Haard-
raade.

King Knut the Great is thought to have been about forty years
oid at the time of his death. He came to England as a conqueror,
but proved to be one of the ablest and wisest of English kings. Dur-
ing the last five years of his reign he ruled over a great empire includ-
ing England and Scotland, Denmark, Norway, the Orkney Islands,
and the Viking colonies in the Ilebrides and the Isle of Man. The

1 The memory of the three great chieftains, Brester, Sigmund Brestesson,
and Leiv Assursson has been preserved in a runie inscription on a rune-stone
found in the Faroe Islands. N. Winter, Foer^ernes Oldtidshistorie, p. 154 ff.
P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, part I., vol. II., p. 859.

THE UNION OF NORWAY AND DENIVIARK 273

extensive possessions under his own immediate ruie he governed
with a wisdom and moderation which entitles him to be numbered
with the greatest monarchs.' He did not confiscate the people's
lands for the benefit of his own followers, or in other ways treat Eng-
land as a conquered country. His soldiers received a money pay-
ment, and the people were allowed to keep their lands. He estab-
lished the oid English laws, known as the "Laws of Edward the
Confessor," and ruled as a native English sovereign. He was one of
the wisest and most prolific of early English lawgiyers ; he became
an earnest Christian, and remained throughout his reign deeply
attached to the intellectiial life and higher culture of western Europe.
Biit Knut's worthless sons did not walk in their father's footsteps.
In 1036 Harald Harefoot (son of ^Elfgifu or Alfiva) succeeded him
on the throne of England, but his reign was short and inglorious.
He was ambitious and violent, and seemed more devoted to hunting
than to the affairs of the state, wherefore the people, fitly enough,
nicknamed him Harefoot. He died at Oxford in 1040 at the moment
when his half-brother Hardeknut (son of Emma) finally arrived
in England. Hardeknut was, if possible, even less qualified to occupy
a throne than his worthless brother. He promised amnesty to all
who had hitherto sided with Harald Harefoot, but as soon as he was
crowned king he began to levy heavy taxes to pay his large army.
He was harsh and narrow-minded, and lacked every kingly quality.
When this unworthy son of the great King Knut suddenly died in
his twenty-fifth year, in the second year of his reign, the people
felt it as a riddance. He was succeeded by his half-brother, Edward
the Confessor, the last surviving son of King yEthelred and Emma.
According to the treaty of Brenn0erne, King Magnus of Norway
succeeded Hardeknut as king of Denmark. King Knufs family
was now extinct in the male line, and Svein Ulvsson, or Svein Estrids-
son, a son of Ulv Jarl and Knufs sister Estrid, who was the nearest
heir to the throne, was unable to rally the people to his support.
King Magnus Olavsson was now eighteen years oid, a well-built
young man with light auburn hair and noble features. He was
brave, well skilled in the use of arms, and had already gained a reputa-
tion for justice. The Danes welcomed him with unfeigned enthusi-
1 Laurence Mareellus Larson, Canute the Great,

VOL. I — T

274 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

asm, mixed with a veneration accorded him as the son of the greatest
saint in the North, With characteristic generosity King Magnus
made Svein Estridsson a jarl, with the understanding that he should
defend the borders of Jutland against the Wends. He married his
sister Ulvhild to Ordulf, son of the Duke of Saxony, and secured
thereby the friendship and support of that powerful family, Magnus,
who enjoyed great power and renown, claimed also the throne of
England as the heir of King Hardeknut according to the treaty of
Brenn0erne. The "Säga of Magnus the Good"^ states that he
sent the following message to King Edward the Confessor: "You
may have heard of the agreement which was made between King
Hardeknut and myself, that the one who Hved longest should inherit
the lands and subjects of the other, if he died without a male heir.
Now it has come to pass, as I know you have learned, that I have
fallen heir to all the Danish possessions of King Hardeknut. But
at the time of his death he held England no less than Denmark, and
I, therefore, claim England according to the agreement made. I
desire that you give up the kingdom to me, otherwise I will attack
it with an army both from Denmark and Norway, and he will then
govern it who wins the victory." The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"
shows that in 1046 an invasion from Norway was expected, and that
the English fleet was stationed at Sandwich ready to defend the
coast. But "Svein's fight with him (i.e. with Magnus) hindered
him from coming hither," says the chronicle. Subsequent events
in Denmark prove the correctness of these statements. Einar
Tambarskjselver is said to have shaken his head when he heard that
Magnus had made Svein Estridsson a jarl. "Too powerful a jarl,"
was his comment. Svein was soon tempted to begin an uprising
against King Magnus. He made an alliance with the Wends, against
whom he was to protect the borders, and Magnus had to call out
half the military forces of Norway to put down the rebellion. Svein
was compelled to flee, but at any favorable moment he might renew
the attack, and with so dangerous an enemy at his back Magnus did

1 Heimskringla, Säga of Magnus the Good, eh. 36. Diplomatarium Nor-
wegicum, Oldbreve, edited by Alexander Bugge, Christiania, 1910, nittende
samling, part I., p. 25. Letter of King Magnus to King Edward, p. 26, King
Edward's answer.

THE UNION OF NORWAY AND DENMARK 275

not venture to undertake an invasion of England. T^e fortified
citv of Jomsborg was also an inconvenient neighbor. £o lõng as
this independent Viking stronghold did not submit to King Magnus
it was a constant source of danger to his kingdom, and he resolutely
marched against it and captured it after a spirited rp'-;istnn^ Tn
the meanwhile tlie Wends/ who had not been held in check by Svein
Estridsson, poured ov^r t^p bnrflprt:, nnri pnmmitt^rl fp;:irfii1 dpprpdn-
tions in southern Jutland. ^^gnns gathered a large army at Hedeby,
and his brother-in-law, Ordulf of Saxonj-, came to his assistance with
a considerable force. On Michaelmas, Sept. 29, JIM^^Jie faced the
-Wendish ^r.g^■ nn T yrgVng TTpnfVi^ and defeated them in a most san-
guinary battle] Under these circumstances the intended invasion
of England haa to be abandoned, but Magnus had won great renown
through his many victories. He had overcome all opposition, and
the peace and security of the Danish kingdom was safely established.
Everything now augiired w^ell for a prosperous and peaceful reign,
but Magnus was stiil to learn that " uneasy lies the head that w^ears
a erown." A most formidable rival suddenly appeared to place
new difEculties in his path. This was Harald Sigurdsson^ a half-
brother of St. Olav, son of Aasta and King Sigurd Syr. During the
fifteen years which had passed since the battle of Stiklestad, b-& had
gained great renown as chief of the Varangians in the service-of tlie
Greek Emperor at Byzantium. He had married Ehzabeth (Elhsiv) ,
daughter of Grand Duke Jaroslaf of Gardarike, anj_broiight great.
treasures wdth him to Norway. Elisabeth seems to have died soon
after their marriage, as Harald married Thora of the Arnm0dling
family shortly after his arrival in Norway. Harald was a talented
leader of the oid martial type, who never hesitated to make the
sword the arbiter of every eontroversy. The sägas describe him as

1 In the early eenturies of the Christian era the Germanic peoples on the
south shores of the Baltic Sea began a general migration towards the borders
of the Roman Empire. The Slavs pushed westward and oeeupied the va-
eated territory as far as the mouth of the Elbe. They were generally known
as the Wends. They were stiil heathens, and were often very troublesome
neighbors.

2 Peter Friedrich Suhm, Fors^g til Forbedringer i den gamle danske og
norske Historie, Harald Haardraade. H eimskringla, Harald Haardraade's
Säga. Theodricus Monachus, De Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium, eh.
XXV. Fagrskinna, p. 106 ff. Morkinskinna, p. I. ff. Agrip.

270 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

very tall and strong, resolute and energetic. He possessed in an
eminent degree the spirit of enterprise and reckless daring which
characterized the great Viking chieftains, and his military achieve-
ments in the Levant were soon extolled in a whole literature of ficti-
tious taies, in which he is represented as the central figure in every
historic event with which he was in any way connected. The säga
narratives, based partly on these taies, and partly on scaldic songs
which were often misunderstood, because they toid of unknown and
distant lands, are wholly unreliable in details. Only the more
general features which are corroborated by other sources can be
accepted as history. P. A. Miinch has shown that the scaldic songs
agree in all main features with the Byzantine writers, and that a
reliable account of Harald 's early career can be extracted from these
sources.^ The correctness of Munch's position was later proven

1 In his Samlede Afhandlinger, vol. I., p. 505 ff., and in Det norske Folks
Historie, part II., Professor P. A. Munch has examined critieally all the
sources dealing with Harald Sigurdsson's sojourn in the far East. He finds
that the most elaborate account is found in the Flateyjarbök, which is a
comparatively läte production from about 1380. But the account is, evi-
dently, borrowed from the Morkinskinna, which, with the exeeption of the
fragment Ägrip, is the oldest existing connected history of the Norwegian
kings written in the Norse language, dating from about 1220. The chapters
in the Morkinskinna treating of King Magnus the Good and Harald Sigurds-
son have been lost, but the corresponding chapters in Flateyjarbök, III.,
251-441, have preserved the Morkinskinna version, which is the oldest
existing form of the narrative. The Fagrskinna, which is somewhat younger,
and which is written with more critical ability, has ehminated many of the
more legendary features ; and Snorre in his Heimskringla, from about 1230,
has discarded many more of the untrustworthy features. He says that he
has left mueh unwritten about Harald's great deeds. "This is due partly
to our laek of knowledge, and partly because we do not want to record in
books stories which rest on no sure testimony. Even though we may have
heard things toid, or spoken of, it seems better that something should be
added later, than that anything should have to be stricken out." Heims-
kringla, Harald Haardraade's Säga, eh. 36.

The account of Harald 's exploits in the Orient is also found in the two
fragments of history of the Norwegian kings Hrykkjarstykki and Hrokkin-
skinna, on wliieh the text of the Fornmanna S^gur, vol. VI., has been based.
The Byzantine sources are the Chronicle of Kedren (George Kedrenos), and
the Annals of Zonaras, who lived in the middle of the twelfth century. His
contemporary, Glykas, foUows Kedren. The most reliable Norse sources
are the songs of the scalds. Many stories about Harald 's exploits are found
in Saxo Grammatieus and William of Malmesbury.

THE UNION OF NORWAY AND DENMARK 277

through the discovery of a document which threw new light on the
subject. In 1881 Professor Wassilievsky of IVIoscow published a
treatise on a newly disco vered Greek manuscript from the eleventh
eentury, written l;)y a contemporary of -Harald Si^riirdsson.^ The

author tells US that^rnltes (Hnrnid-) was n 9.<m nf thp l-inp; of Varangin.,

and that his brother Julavos (Olav) had made him next to himself
in ränk. But jVrallps^ '^vho wrfi yf^nng nnd hnd Ifnrnod fu ^dmirf^
the power of the Romans^ wished to do homao-p tr. "Finp^mr ATir^Vio^:»]
PaSigõn (also called Michael Katalaktus), and came to Constantü.
nople with 500 brave -vvarriors. This agrees with the "Heimskringla,"
which states that Harald had many men. [The author further states
that the Emperor sent him to Sicily, where the Roman army was
carrying on w^ar. He must have served under the imperial general
Georgios Maniakes, whom he aided in thp <-nnqiipc;t nf i^ipilvj ^0^R-
__10-'-'^ - He performed great feats of arms, says the author, and on
his return the Emperor gave him the title of "manglabif^s." Theri

it happened tha^ Deliano;^ in Rnlgaria rose in rpbpllion Harald

accompanied the Emperor into that province, and performed siich.
deeds as befitted his rgnk and valnr On his return to Constantinople
the Emperor conferred on him the title of " spatharo-kandidatos," ^
Harf^ld'ci rnn-ipaign in Rii1gan'fl is not mentioued in the sägas, but
it is referred to in a song by the scald Thjodolv Arnorsson. Harald
was staying in Constantinople when the Emperor died in December,
1041, and also during the short reign of Michael Kalifates, w^ho was
dethroned April 21, 1042. He did military service for a while also
under the next Emperor, Konstantin Monomachos, but he sought
permission to leave, " because he wished to return to his own coimtry."
This request was refused, but Harald made good his escape, 1043
or 1044. The author is also able to state that Harald became king
in his own country after his brother Olav, and that as king he main-
tained his oid friendship with the Romans. From the scaldic songs,
w^hich corroborate the statements of the author, and on many points
supplement the account, we learn that Harald also took part in

^ Gustav Storm, Harald Haardraade og Vceringerne i de grceske Keiseres
Tjeneste, Historisk Tidsskrift udgivet af den norske historiske Forening,
Christiania, vol. IV., p. 354 ff.

2 Spatharo-kandidatos = officer of the swordsmen, or offieer of the Em-
peror's bodyguard.

278 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

campaigns in Syria and Mesopotamia, and that he went to Jerusalem
with a body of Varangians, probably to guard the architects and
laborers sent by the Emperor to erect a new churcli in that city.

^fj:er Harald left Constantinople, he went tn Gmnd Duke .T^irnslaf
in rT,^jdr^'''^p He married Elhsiv, the grand duke's daughter, as
already stated, and after häving spent some time at his court, he
crossed the Baltic with a single ship, and came to Sigtuna in Swed^.
Here he met Svein Estridsson, who sought to persuade him to jõin
in an attack on King Magnus ; but Harald decided to try negotia-
tions. He proceeded to Denmark, and found Magnus stationed
with his fleet in 0resund (the Sound), on the coast of Skäne. Harald
had a stately vessel, beautifully painted, with gilt dragon head and
dragon's tail, and with a sail of costly material. The sudden appear-
ance of such a ship caused no small surprise on the royal fleet, and
King Magnus sent a vessel forward to hail the stranger. In answer
to the inquiry of the king's messengers a tall and stately man came
forward and toid them that he was sent by Harald Sigurdsson, King
Magnus' unele, to learn how he would receive him. The tall stranger
was Harald Sigurdsson himself. WTien this news was brought the
king, he immediately sent word that he would receive his unele with
open arms. Harald then landed and was received by King Magnus
and all his leading men. In a few days negotiations were begun.
Harald asked if Magnus would recognize his right of succession to
the throne, and grant him one-half of his kingdom ; to which Magnus
replied that in such matters he would follow the advice of his chief
counselors. Einar Tambarskjeelver then arose and said that if
Harald received half the kingdom, it was but fair that he should divide
his treasures with King Magnus ; but this Harald refused to do.
Einar, who was ruffled by the refusal of so generous an offer, said
to him: "Far away you were, Harald, while we won the kingdom
back from the Knytlings (King Knut and his sons), and we have no
desire to be divided between chieftains. Hitherto we have served
only one at a time, and so it shall be as lõng as King Magnus lives.
I will do all in my power to prevent you from getting any part of
the kingdom." Harald now returned to Sweden, where he formed
an alliance with Svein Estridsson. Denmark was attacked, and
Harald harried theDanish islands in true Viking fashion, as it appears,

THE UNION OF NORWAY AXD DENMARK 279

against the will of Svein, who could only gain the people's ill-will
through such depredations. When Magnus came with a fleet,
Harald made his way to Norway, where he hoped to be proclaimed
king in Magnus' absence. He first tried to win his owri home dis-
tricts in Oplandene, but the people remained indifferent. In Gud-
brandsdal he was more successful. His powerful relative, the
youthful Thore of Steig, aided him. Harald called a thing, where
Thore gave him the royal title, which, together with the bänd of
followers which he had gathered, gave him new prestige. When
Magnus learned of HaraWs whereabouts, he quickly returned to
Norway, but a clash of arms was averted by the chieftains, who
did not want to see two near relatives wage war against each other.
A meeting was arranged, and negotiations were renewed. It seems
that the chieftains were determined not to divide the kingdom, and
not to tolerate two kings except as joint sovereigns. An agreement
was finally reached on the basis of Einar TambarskJ8elver's earlier
proposition. Harald should share the throne of Norway with Mag-
nus, and in return he should divide his treasures with him. The joint
sovereignty appears to have been limited to Norway, which was now
for the first time to be ruled by two kings exercising equal authority.
The kings had each their own kird, but rivalry and jealousy between
their followers and adherents soon bred serious trouble. Harald,
who was harsh and uncompromising, was nicknamed Haardraade
(Hard-ruler), and was often contrasted in a disparaging way with
the kind and generous Magnus the Good. The people, especially
the chieftains, sided with Älagnus, and Harald grew very embittered
against Einar Tambarskjselver, who became the leader of an opposi-
tion to the new king, w^hom he regarded as an usurper. In 1047
Magnus and Harald made an expedition to Denmark, and drove out
Svein Estridsson, but Magnus died suddenly in Seeland. Accord-
ing to Saxo Grammaticus, Svein x\agesson, and Adam v. Bremen,
he was thrown from his horse while pursuing Svein, and received
so severe an injury that he died shortly after on board his ship,
1047. Before he died he willed the kingdom of Denmark to Svein
Estridsson, whom he had learned to respect as a courageous and able
prince. Magnus was highly beloved by the Norwegian people, and
his death caused general mourning. He left no son to succeed liim

280 IIISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

on the throne ; a fortunate circumstance, perhaps, as civil strife
between rival candidates vvas thereby averted. Harald immedi-
ately assemblcd all the warriors of the fleet, and announced to them
that he did not want to abide by the decision of King Magnus, as
he regarded Denmark as well as Norway his rightfiil inheritance,
But the warriors refused to follow him on a campaign in Denmark
nntil he had properly buried King Magnus. Einar Tambarskjselver
toid him that he would rather follow Magnus dead than any other
king living. With a large part of the fleet he left King Harald, and
set sail for Trondhjem, where Magnus was interred in the St.
Clemens church by the side of his father, St. Olav. Harald could
do nothing against Denmark for the present. He went to Viken in
Southern Norway, and assembled the Borgarthing, where he was
proclaimed king of all Norway. He was also proclaimed King Mag-
nus' successor at the ^rething, in Tr0ndelagen, according to oid
custom, and the following year he married Thora, the daughter of
Thorberg Arnesson of Giske, as already mentioned.^

48. The Reign of Harald Haardraade

Olav Tryggvason and Olav Haraldsson had to win the throne as
a prize in armed conflict with the aristocracy, but Harald Sigurdsson
Haardraade became king of Norway without opposition, though he
was very unpopular. Since St. 01av's time a complete change had
taken plaee in the people's attitude towards the centralized power of
monarchical government. Kingship was now looked upon as a fully
legitimated national institution, and Harald succeeded to the throne

1 The Heimskringla is authority for the story that King Harald had two
wives at the same time. In 1045 he married EUisiv (Elizabeth), daughter
of Grand Duke Jaroslaf, and three years later he married Thora, daughter
of Thorberg Arnesson of Giske. Snorre saj^s that when Harald departed
on his expedition to England, he left Queen Thora in Norway, but Queen
ElUsiv and her daughters, Maria and Ingegerd, aeeompanied him. Heims-
kringla, Harald Haardraade^s Säga, eh. 82. That Harald, who was a Chris-
tian king, could Iive in open bigamy without protest from the Pope or the
clergy is quite incredible, and as it is nowhere stated that ElUsiv foUowed
Harald to Norway, it is safe to assume that she was dead when Harald mar-
ried Thora. The statement in the Heimskringla is due to some strange
error in the tradition. See Gustav Storm, Harald Haardraades paastaaede
Dobbcltgifte, Historisk Tidsskrift, tredie raekke, vol. III., p. 424 ff.

THE REIGN OF HARALD HAARDRAADE 281

by right of inheritance, or odel, which no one ventiired to challenge.
There was no longer any organized opposition to the king. Tlie
aristocracy had accepted the new form of government, and submitted
loyally to the king's authority when it was exercised with proper
moderation. They had given King Magnus their undivided support
in all his undertakings, and he was very popular and highly beloved
by all. Biit his ruie had been benign, and the nobles had exercised
a great influence in public affairs. During his minority Kalv Arnes-
son had acted as regent, and later Einar Tambarskjselver became
his chief counselor. Magnus was not a tool in the hands of the nobles,
but he listened to their advice, and showed them no unnecessary
effrontery. King Harald Haardraade was of a difPerent type. He
was harsh and greedy, not always conscientious as to the means which
he employed, disposed to be arbitrary and to have slight regard
for others. His character was of the kind that breeds discord, and
quarreis with recalcitrant nobles were numerous in his reign. But
he was able and ambitious, and came to the throne with the fixed pur-
pose of making the royal power supreme in church and state, and
of extending full authority over all the lands which belonged or
which had belonged to the Norwegian crown, He was a most able
and energetic ruler, who brooked no interference from nobles at
home or from powers abroad. He loved independence as passion-
ately as he coveted renown, and wielded the sword of state with a
grim recklessness, like a soldier's broadsword, to gain for himself
and his kingdom the greatest possible prestige and power. From
the outset he met with considerable opposition and ill-will, caused
by his own greed and harshness. He was greatly chagrined by what
he considered the arrogant behavior of some of the chieftains. One
of the principal offenders was Einar Tambarskjselver in Tr0ndelagen,
who acted as the spokesman of the people, and on more than one
occasion forced the king to recede from his harsh, and sometimes
unjust, demands. King Harald had a suspicion that many of the
chieftains were carrying on secret negotiations with King Svein of
Denmark. In order to test their loyalty he engaged spies who claimed
to be secret agents sent by King Svein to offer the Norwegian nobles
riches and great honors if they would aid him against King Harald.
When these spies came to Einar Tambarskjselver, he toid them that

282 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

although he was not Ilarakrs fricntl, he would do everything in his
power to aid him in defending the kingdom against King Svein. The
king praised Einar for his loyalty, and invited him to a festive gather-
ing in Nidaros. It now looked as if oid differences would be for-
gotten, that peace and friendship would, finally, be established be-
tween them. But King Harald gave the great noble new offense,
as if from pure love of mischief. The oid enmity was stiil further
aggravated, and Einar and his son Eindride were treacherously
murdered at the instigation of the king. This wanton deed caused
the greatest resentment in Tr0ndelagen, and the people threatened
to rise in open rebellion. Einar's widow, Bergliot, sent word to
her powerful relative, Haakon Ivarsson in Oplandene, and asked
him to avenge Einar's death. Harald sent Finn Arnesson to Haa-
kon, who promised to remain loyal if the king would give him Ragn-
hild, the daughter of Magnus, in marriage, together with a dowry
suitable to her ränk. This was promised him, and the threatened
uprising was averted. Finn Arnesson, who had been St. 01av's
special friend, and who had adhered no less faithfully to his successor,
was not much better rewarded than Einar Tambarskjselver. His
brother Kalv, who at Finn's request had been permitted to return
from his exile, accompanied Harald on an expedition against Den-
mark, but the king sent him against the enemy wdth a handful of
men, and he was overpowered and slain. Finn felt so aggrieved
that he abandoned both his king and his countty, and went to King
Svein in Denmark, who made him jarl over the Danish province of
Halland, on the southwest coast of Sweden. After some time Haa-
kon Ivarsson asked King Harald to fulfill his promise of giving him
Ragnhild, King Magnus' daughter, in marriage. Harald said that
he had no objection, but Haakon would have to obtain the maiden's
own consent. Haakon agreed to do this, but he was unsuccessful
in his courtship. Ragnhild toid him that although he was a hand-
some and noble-looking man, she, being a princess, could not marry
him so lõng as he was only a lendcrmand. He then asked Harald
to give him the ränk of jarl, so that he could marry Ragnhild, but
this he would not do. It had been a ruie, he said, ever since the time
of St. Olav, not to have more than one jarl in the kingdom at one
time. Orm Eilivsson was now jarl, and he could not deprive him

THE REIGN OF HARALD HAARDRAADE 283

of his title and dignity. This strange answer convinced Haakon
that Harald did not intend to keep his promise, and he went to King
Svein in Denmark, where Iie was well received. He was later recon-
ciled to King Harald, and married Ragnhild, who had learned to
love him, and now accepted him without interposing any conditions.
Harald promised to raise him to the ränk of jarl on the death of
Orm Eilivsson, biit when Orm died, he again failed to keep his prom-
ise, and Haakon and Ragnhild returned to Denmark to King Svein,
who invited them to stay at his court, and welcomed St. 01av's grand-
daughter with special fondness. Haakon was made jarl of Halland
to succeed Finn Arnesson, who had died.

It is quite clear from these and other similar episodes that Harald
Haardraade was bent on destroying the power of the aristocracy,
and he could iil conceal his feeling of satisfaction when the powerful
nobles one after another disappeared. He is even said to have stated
in scaldic verse that he had caused the death of thirteen men, but
who they were is not mentioned. It cannot be doiibted that by
pursuing such a policy of removing the oid chieftains who possessed
sufEcient prestige to be able to offer resistance, the king gradually
strengthened his own power. He possibly even gave the throne
increased stabiHty, but this practice weakened Harald in his foreign
wars. It deprived him of the aid of many of the ablest men. Some
left the coimtry to use their influenee in stirring up opposition to
him both at home and abroad, and many who remained at home
gave him but a half-hearted support.

The enmity between Harald and King Svein developed into a
feature of European politics, and shaped HaraWs attitude in the
administration of church afTairs. In order to strengthen his posi-
tion, Svein allied himself more closely with Archbishop Adalbert
of Bremen, and with the German Emperor, while Harald continued
in the oid friendship with the Saxon dukes. He severed all connec-
tions with Archbishop Adalbert, received bishops from the Greek
Church, and maintained friendly relations with Byzantium. The
Norwegian bishops were no longer consecrated by the Archbishop
of Bremen,^ but in Rome, England, France, or in the Orient.

1 Hamburg became an archbishopric in 834, and St. Ansgar, the mis-
sionary who had introduced Christianity in Denmark and Sweden, became

284 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Archbishop Adalbert protested to Pope Alexander II. against Har-
ald's flagrant disregard of the aiithority of the archbishop over the
Church of Norway, and the Pope wrote a letter reprimanding the
king. Adalbert also sent messengers to Harald to protest against
his course of action, and threatened him with ban and other punish-
ments, but Harald replied : " I know of no archbishop in Norsvay
except myself, King Harald." He maintained the independence
of the Church of Norway throughout his whole reign with such
unbending pertinacity that he was accused of all sorts of vile prac-
tices by his angry opponents. Adam v. Bremen, who stayed at the
court of Archbishop Adalbert, indulges in the bitterest invectives
against Harald, whom he pictures as the most cruel and unprincipled
tyrant.^ This is not history, but the expression of acrimonious
partisan spirit. Konrad Maurer ^ quotes the following from Kem-
ble ^ : " Every wise and powerful government has treated with de-
served disregard the complaint that the ' Spouse of Christ ' was in
bondage. Boniface, himself an Englishman, papal beyond all his
contemporaries, laments that no church is in greater bondage than
the English, — a noble testimony to the nationality of the institu-
tion, the common sense of the people, and the vigor of the state '"

The hostility existing between Harald Haardraade and King
Svein seems to have led Harald to establish the city of Oslo (now
incorporated in the city of Christiania) on the Foldenfjord in Viken.
Here he would be within more easy reach of Denmark, and in bet-
ter position to defend the country than if stationed in the far-away
Nidaros. A new national sanctuary was established in the city to
give it greater prestige, as Harald seems to have entertained the hope
that Oslo might become to southern Norway what Nidaros and the
shrine of St. Olav was to Tr0ndelagen. The saint interred in the
new city was Halvard, a native of the district, and a cousin of the

the first Archbishop of Hamburg. The city was sacked by the Norsemen in
845, and in 848 the arehbishop's see was moved to Bremen. In 864 Pope
Nicolas I. united Bremen and Hamburg into an archbishopric usually called
Bremen.

1 Gesta H ammaburgensis, III., eh. 16.

^ Konrad Maurer, Die Bekehrung des norwegischen Stammes, II., p. 658.
P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. II., p. 208 ff.

' Kemble, The Saxons in England, IL, p. 373.

THE REIGN OF HARALD HAARDRAADE 285

king.^ He is said to have been the son of a landed proprietor, Ve-
bj0rn, and his wife Torny, a sister of Aasta, the mother of St. Olav
and King Harald Haardraade. Already in his youth he was noted
for great piety and purity of Ufe. His father was a merchant, and
Halvard assisted him in his work, but he was so eonscientious that
he made two weights, a lighter one for weighing the part which he
himself was to receive, and a heavier for weighing his brother's part.
One day, as he left home to go across the Diammensfjord, a woman
came running to him, beseeehing him to rescue her. She was pur-
sued by three men who claimed that she had committed theft in
their brother's hoiise. She protested her innocence, and Halvard
took her into his boat and started across the lake, but the pursuers
soon caught up with them. In väin he pleaded for the woman.
When he refused to give her up, they killed both him and her, fas-
tened two millstones to his body and lowered it into the lake. Some
time afterward, his body, with the millstones stiil fastened to it,
was found floating on the lake, and twigs, which had been used in
searching for the corpse, budded several times in succession. The
Icelandic annals state that St. Halvard was slain in 1043, and Adam
V. Bremen says that many miraculous cures occurred at his grave.
He must, therefore, have been generally regarded as a saint at the
time when Adam v. Bremen wrote (about 1070), but when and in
what way he was proclaimed a saint is not known. His body was
probably interred in the St. Mary's church erected by King Harald.
In the twelfth century a new cathedral church, dedicated to St.
Halvard, was erected at Oslo. King Harald also built a St. Mary's
church in Nidaros, in which the shrine of St. Olav was deposited.
As the city had grown, and private houses were erected around the
St. Clemens church and the royal hall, the king selected for the
new church a location farther from the center of the city. Here
he also erected a new royal residence. He completed the St. 01av's
church which King Magnus had begun, and the unfinished royal
hall from King Älagnus' time was remodeled into a church dedicated
to St. Gregorius.

King Harald maintained the supremacy over the colonies with

1 Ludvig Daae, Norges Helgener, II., p. 163, Den hellige Halvard. Aeta
Sanciorum, torn. III. H eilagramannas^gur, I., p. 396 ff.

2S6 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

energy and firmness. Thorfinn, the powerful jarl of the Orkney
and Shetland Islands, who had remained independent since the death
of St. Olav, hastened to Norway as soon as he heard of the death of
Magnus the Good, and was well received at the court. It must be
inferred that he submitted to Harald, and that these Island colonies
returned to their oid allegiance as dependencies under the king's
overlordship. Thorfinn seems to have been the more willing to offer
his submission, because King Macbeth of Scotland, with whom he
was closely assoeiated, was threatened by Malcolm Canmore,
the son of Thorfinn's cousin King Duncan. Thorfinn was sure to
be involved in the struggle in Scotland, and he would not risk the
possibility of coming into collision with King Harald. Hostilities
between Macbeth and IMalcolm began in 1054. Aided by his foster-
father, the powerful Earl Siward of Northumbria, Malcolm defeated
Macbeth at Dunsinane the same year, and in 1057 Macbeth was
slain in the battle of Lumphanan. What part Thorfinn played in
the struggle cannot be stated, but it is quite certain that he aided
his oid friend Macbeth. Thorfinn had also added the Hebrides
(Sudreys) to his dominions, and when he submitted to the king, they
became a Norwegian dependency. Kalv Arnesson acted as governor
in the islands till his return to Norway in Harald Haardraade's
reign.^ The Faroe Islands remained in firm allegiance to Norway.
Since Leiv Assursson was made governor by King Magnus after the
death of Trond i Gata, no attempt was again made by the colony to
assert its independence. Harald also made earnest efforts to attach
Iceland more closely to the crown. He sought by rich gifts to gain
the good-will of the leading men, and when a famine occurred in
Iceland, he sent several shiploads of provisions. Many Icelandic
scalds became his hirdmoend and were shown great honors. As a
result of these favors the Icelanders held Harald in high esteem, but
they did not formally acknowledge themselves subject to the king
of Norway. The intercourse with the colonies in Greenland was

1 "Jarl Thorfinn subdued all the islands, and made all the inhabitants
his subjects, even those who had sworn allegiance to Jarl Ragnvald. Thor-
finn then fixed his residence in the Orkneys, keeping a great number of men
about him ; he imported provisions from Caithness, and sent Kalv Arnesson
to the Sudreys and ordered him to remain and maintain his authority
there.'! Orkneyingasaga, eh. 16.

THE SECOND CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 287

well maintained, and voyages were made every year across the Atlan-
tic directly from Norway to Greenland.

Harald refused to abide by the arrangement made by King Magnus
that Svein Estridsson should receive the kingdom of Denmark,
and continued to claim the Danish throne. He repeatedly harried
the coasts of Denmark, but as these attacks, which seem to have
been mere raids, proved unavailing, Harald finally ehallenged Svein
to a pitched battle. The challenge was accepted, and a naval en-
gagement was fought off Nisaa near the mouth of the Göta River on
the 9th of August, 1062. Throughout the whole bright summer night
the combat raged. Harald gained the victory, but he returned to
Norway immediately afterwards, and this battle was as barren of
results as former expeditions.

King Anund Jacob of Sweden had died, and his successor, Stenkil
Ragnvaldsson, had granted Vermland to Haakon Ivarsson, who had
been made jarl of Halland by King Svein. At the head of an army
Haakon entered Ringerike in southeastern Norway, and collected
taxes as if he were a jarl. Haakon was popular in these districts,
while Harald was disliked, because he levied excessive taxes and
deprived the people of many oid rights and privileges. A serious
uprising seemed imminent, and Harald finally decided to make peace
with Denmark, 1064. King Svein was henceforth left in undis-
turbed possession of the Danish throne. Harald attacked and de-
feated Jarl Haakon, and the uprising in Oplandene was speedily
put down.

49. The Second Conquest of England

The weak King Edward the Confessor, who succeeded Hardeknut
on the throne of England, was better fitted to be a monk than a
king, and throughout his reign he was a tool in the hands of the power-
ful earls, Godwin of Wessex, Leofric of Mercia, and Siward of North-
umbria. Godwin, who was his father-in-law and the most powerful
man in England, exercised for a lõng time almost regal powers, and
his sons Sweyn, Harold, and Tostig were granted large possessions.
Harold was a man of eminent ability, and his generosity and upright-
ness of character made him very popular. ^Vhen his father died
in 1051, he was about thirty-one years of age, and during the declin-

288 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ing years of Edward the Confessor he administrated the affairs of
the realm with great wisdom and ability. His brothers Sweyn and
Tostig were men of a different type — greedy and lawless ruffians,
who were a constant soiirce of strife and mischief. Sweyn abducted
the beautiful abbess Eadgifu from a nunnery, and committed other
vile deeds, for which he was finally banished. Tostig, w^ho was
King Edward's favorite, was made Earl of Northumbria on the death
of Earl Siward, but he seldom visited his possessions except to extort
unjust taxes. The long-suffering people finally rebelled and drove
him away, and Morkere, a grandson of Leofrie, was ehosen to suc-
ceed him. King Edward died on the 5th of January, 1066. As he
left no son, the kingdom of England became a prize to be contended
for by a number of rival candidates, all men of f ame and ability, whose
elaims to the throne were equally clouded and uncertain. The four
candidates who claimed to be the lawful heirs of the deceased king
were: Duke WiUiam of Normandy, Earl Harold, son of Godwin,
King Svein Estridsson of Denmark, and King Harald Haardraade
of Norway. Earl Harold claimed that King Edward had bequeathed
him the kingdom. This would give him no valid title to the throne,
since the king could not elect his successor. But Harold was the
only native English candidate who could be considered at this critical
moment, and he was ehosen king by the Witenagemot, which alone
possessed the right of choice. This made Harold rightful king of
England, but it did not extinguish the title which the other candi-
dates claimed to have. Duke William urged that King Edward
the Confessor had promised him the throne of England. He also
maintained that Harold had sworn fealty to him, and had solemnly
promised to support his claim. Harold had been shipwrecked on
the coast of Ponthieu in France some years before. The count of
that district took him prisoner, and turned him over to Duke Wil-
liam of Normandy, and he was forced to give William the stated
pledges to obtain his liberty. Xeither of these reasons gave Duke
William any right to the throne of England, as neither King Edward
nor Earl Harold could give away the kingdom, but what he needed
was a fair pretext; for the rest he trusted to his valiant sw^ord.
Svein Estridsson of Denmark claimed the English throne as the
heir of his cousin King Hardeknut, and of his unele King Knut the

THE SECOND CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 289

Great. Harald Haardraade of Norway based his claim on the treaty
of Brenn0erne by which Hardeknut made Magnus the Good his
heir. This was, in a way, the same claim which Magnus himself
had urged against Edward the Confessor, but it had been reduced
to an empty pretense, since Magnus on his death-bed had surrendered
Denmark to Svein Estridsson. The plotting Earl Tostig had nego-
tiated with all the three foreign pretenders, and stood ready to sell
his support to the highest bidder.

As soon as rumor got abroad that Harold had been crowned at
London, January 6, 10G6, Duke William of Xormandy sent messen-
gers to remind him of his promise, and began active preparations
for an invasion of England. He mustered all his barons, and in-
duced a great number of knights from Anjou, Brittany, Poitou,
Flanders, and other places to jõin in the enterprise by ofTering them
lands and treasures. He had prevailed on Pope Alexander H. to
issue a bull approving of the expedition, and ships were built to carry
the army across the English Channel. According to William of
Aquitaine/ he also sent an embassy to Svein Estridsson to solicit
his aid. This must have been Tostig, who, according to the sägas,
went to King Svein as soon as his brother Harold was crowned king,
to induce him to invade England. Svein did not venture upon such
an undertaking, and Tostig then turned to King Harald Haardraade
of Norway without any authority from Duke William. Harald is
said to have promised to send an expedition to England in the sum-
mer, and Tostig promised to aid him with all the forces which he
could gather. When the conquest was completed, he was to be
made jarl over one-half of England as King Harald Haardraade's
vassal.^ But Tostig, w^ho was as impatient as he was unreliable,
hastened to Flanders, and before either Duke William or King Harald
were ready to set sail, he gathered a fleet of sixty vessels, manned
partly by his own adherents, partly by adventurers and freebooters
of all sorts, and made an attack on the southern coast of England.
King Harald came against him with a large fleet and army, and he

1 P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. II., p. 314.

^ Aecounts of these negotiations are found in the Morkinskinna, 18 a
and h, in Fagrskinna, eh. 119; in Theodricus Monaehus, Historia de Anti-
quitate Regum Norwagiensium, eh. 28; and in Orderieus Vitalis, Historia
Ecclesiastica.

VOL. I — V

290 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

fled northward, and entered the Humber, where his fleet was de-
stroyed by Earl Edwin of Mercia. With twelve ships he reached
Scotland, where he was harbored by King Malcolm IIL

In the summer of 1066 Harald Haardraade was busy making
preparations for his expedition to England. He had chosen the
Solund Islands, on the coast of Sogn, in southwestern Norvvay, as
the rendezvous for his fleet, and by the beginning of September he
had gathered a large armament of 250 war vessels and about 20,000
men. Before his departure he made his eidest son, Magnus, regent,
and caused him to be crowned king. His younger son, Olav, accom-
panied him on the expedition. He sailed first to the Shetland Islands,
and thence to the Orkneys. The Orkney jarls, Paul and Erlend,
had to jõin the expedition with a large number of ships and troops.^
When he reached the Tyne in Scotland, about the lOth of September,
he was also joined by Tostig, who acknowledged him as his lord.
They landed at various places along the coast, captured Scarborough
after some resistance, and took possession of the coast districts as
far as the Humber. The fleet ascended the Humber and the Ouse,
but came to anchor at Riccal, eight miles south of York. Here
Harald landed his army, and marched along the river towards the
city. The earls jMorkere of Northumbria and Edwin of Mercia, who
had gathered a large army in York, came out to meet Harald at
Fulford, about two miles from the city, A bloody battle was fought,
in which the earls suffered a crushing defeat. The remnants of
their army fled back to York, while Harald took possession of the
neighboring district, and intrenched himself at Stamford Bridge
on the Derwent River. The city of York offered to capitulate, and
on September 24 Harald advanced with his army to meet the citi-
zens outside the city, where the terms of peace were arranged. They
acknowledged him their lord, promised to supply him with provisions,
and agreed to give 500 hostages. In the evening Harald returned
to his fleet, but planned to advance on the following morning to
Stamford Bridge, where the hostages were to be delivered.

In the meantime Harold Godwinson had arrived at York with
his army, and had been watching Harald's movements. In the

^ According to various sources, Harald had now no less than 300 war
vessels and 30,000 men.

THE SECOND CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 291

night he was secretly admitted into the city. The next morning
Harald advanced with a part of his army ; the other part was left
in charge of his son Olav and the Orkney jarls Paul and Erlend
to guard the fleet. The day was warin, and, as no hostilities were
anticipated, the men marched without their brynies. When they
arrived at Stamford Bridge, Harold suddenly fell upon them with
his whole force. The säga says that Harald did not follow Tostig's
advice to retreat to the ships, biit sent messengers to bring the rest
of the army to his support. This was a fatal mistake. Before
help arrived, Harald's forces were overw^helmed and defeated, and
he was mortally wounded in the fight. The " Heimskringla " gives
a vivid description of the battle of Stamford Bridge. It tells how
Harald, when he found himself face to face with the whole English
army, planted his banner, formed a shield-ring, and made ready for
the combat. But before the battle began, a horseman rode up, spoke
to Karl Tostig, and offered him the earldom of Northumbria if he
would jõin the English. Tostig asked how much he would give
Harald Sigurdsson, the Norwegian king. The horseman said that
he would gladly give him six feet of ground, and as much more as
he was taller than other men ; ^ but Tostig rejected the offer, says
the säga. When the horseman rode away, they discovered that it
was King Harold Godwinson himself. The fight commenced, and
the Norsemen in their shield-ring resisted stoutly the attack of the
English cavalry. But when they thought that the attack had failed,
and that the English began to retreat, they rushed eagerly forward
in pursuit. The shield-ring was broken, and they were attacked
from all sides. A fearful carnage resulted. King Harald rushed
into the midst of the fray, but an arrow pierced his throat, and he
fell mortally wounded. Tostig now assumed command. Supported
by the reenforcements which arrived from the fleet, he rallied the
broken columns to renewed efforts, but the men had become exhausted
on the forced march from the fleet. Towards evening the Norse
army broke and fled in wild disorder, and darkness alone saved the
broken remnants from destruction.

This dramatic description of the battle is manifestly erroneous.

^ Harald Sigurdsson Haardraade is said to have been ahnost seven feet
taU.

292 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Tlie Engllsh are represented as firrhtins^ on horseback, though we
know that tlieir army was very deficient in cavalry. The Eng-
lisli wcre foot-soldiers, as we see from the l:)attle of Hastings, which
occiirred less than three weeks later. The säga writer seems to have
confused the battle of Stamford Bridge with that of Hastings, where
the Norman mounted knights made repeated attacks on the English
foot-soldiers, who stood firm behind their shield-wall, until by a
feint they were led to piirsue the enemy, and sufFered a crushing
defeat. The cavalry fight in the battle of Stamford Bridge is not
mentioned in the older Norse sources,^ nor in the "Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle." We are left completely in the dark, therefore, as to
the details of the battle. We only know that at Stamford Bridge
King Harald Haardraade suffered an overwhelming defeat. "There
King Harald of Norway and Earl Tostig were slain," says the " Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle,"^ "and a great number of men with them, both
Norsemen and English." The chronicle states that Harold Godwin-
son suffered Harald's son Olav and the Orkney jarls to depart with
twenty-four ships and the remnant of the army. We may well
doubt the accuracy of the statement that only twenty-four ships
left. Olav and the jarls, who were in charge of the fleet, had both
time and opportunity to hoid the ships in readiness, as they knew
that a battle was in progress. That the whole large army of 30,000
men should be so utterly destroyed that only twenty-four ships could
be manned seems quite incredible. The statement in the "Heims-
kringla" that Harold let Olav depart with the fleet and the remnant
of the army seems more worthy of belief. Harold had no time to
waste. On Sept. 28th, three days after the battle of Stamford Bridge,
Duke William landed at Pevensey, in southern England, with 60,000
men, and on the 6th or 7th of October Harold was again in London
making preparations for the stiil greater battle fought at Hastings,

1 Agrip, Theodricus Monaehus, Historia de Antiquitate Regum Nor-
wagiensium.

2 Plummer, Two of the Saxon Chronides, p. 199. Harald Haardraade
is called Harald Haarfagre in the Chronicle. This may be an error, but
it is possible that the epithet "Haarfagre" was applied to Harald Sigurdsson
by his contemporaries, beeause of his lõng flaxen hair. This seems the more
likely asheis called "Haarfagre" also by Ordericus Vitalis, book III., p. 116,
P. Kierkegaard's translation.

THE SECOND CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 293

October 14, 1066. In this hard-fought })attle Harold Godwinson
fell, and William the Conqueror became king of England.

The defeat and death of the warlike Harald Haardraade changed
the political situation in the North. Svein Estridsson of Denmark
felt that all danger of an attack from Norway was now removed,
and as he considered his claim to the throne of England as valid as
ever, he resolved to invade England and expel King William. Many
Danes who had been banished from England, or had suffered other
wrongs, were also urging him to assert his claim. But the prepara-
tions proceeded very slowly, and three years passed before the expedi-
tion was finally ready to start. In the month of August, 1069, 240
ships set sail for England, led by Svein's brother Asbj0rn, his sons
Harald and Knut, and Jarl Thorkil. After attacking Dover, Sand-
wich, and Norwich without success, the fleet entered the Humber,
and advanced toward York. Northern England, where the Viking
element stiil was strong, had not submitted to King William. The
boy Eadgar the ^theling, grandson of Edmund Ironside, was
chosen king when Harold fell at Hastings, but he had fled to Scotland
after the battle. He was now in Northumbria, where the earls Mor-
kere and Edwin were aiding him in organizing a great revolt against
William. The arrival of the Danish fleet in the Humber became
the signal for a general uprising. York was taken by the combined
forces of Danes and Northumbrians, but the Norman garrison
burned the city before surrendering, and the victors leveled the forti-
fications with the ground. When King William arrived, the Danes
retreated to their ships, and the Northumbrians returned to their
homes, but as soon as he departed the attack was renewed. William
was unable to assail the Danish fleet for want of ships, but he suc-
ceeded in bribing the Danish commander, Asbj0rn, to remain inact-
ive, and finally to depart from England. On northern England he
wreaked a fearful vengeance, wasting it with fire and sword. No
such devastation had ever passed over an English community as
that wrought by William the Conqueror in Northumbria. Tlie
prosperity of this flourishing district was wiped out, and its spirit
and power of resistance was broken. Asbj0rn returned to Denmark
with his ships laden with booty, but the enterprise had failed, and
his own conduct had been repreliensible. In 1075 another Danish

294 IIISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

fleet of 200 vessels, led by Svein's son Knut, and Jarl Hagen, again
visited England, and entered the Humber, but not a händ was raised
to aid or welcome them, and they returned home after collecting
some booty in the neighborhood of York. This was the last Viking
expedition to England.

50. Olav Kyrre. A Period of Peace

Olav, HaraWs son, spent the winter 1066-1067 in the Orkneys,
and returned to Norway in the spring. His brother Magnus had
been crowned king before the expedition left for England, but Olav
was also made king on his return. The " Heimskringla " says that
they were made joint kings, but Magnus was to ruie the northern
and Olav the southern half of the country.^ The loss of the great
army sent to England was a severe blow ; nothing less than a na-
tional calamity. The country's resources were badly drained, and
the available stores and military forces were gone. Under these
circumstances King Svein of Denmark found the time opportune
to put forward a claim to overlordship over Norway. Magnus and
Olav refused to listen to these demands, and he gathered a fleet
and prepared to invade the country. This he could now do without
violating any agreement, since the treaty of peace concluded between
him and King Harald in 1064 should remain in force only so lõng
as the kings lived. Hostilities commenced, but the peace-loving
Olav began negotiations with King Svein, which resulted in a new
treaty of peace between Norway and Denmark in 1068. This
treaty should be binding for all times, and neither kingdom should
claim supremacy over the other. King ]Magnus, who had been
sickly for some time, died in 1069, and Olav became king of all Nor-
way. The "Heimskringla" describes him as follows : "Olav was
a large man, and well built. It is a common opinion that no one
has seen a man better looking, or of nobler appearance. His yellow,
silky hair fell in rich loeks ; he had fair skin, beautiful eyes, and well
proportioned limbs. He was, generally, reticent, and spoke little

^ The kingdom was stiil looked upon as the odel, or property of the king,
which could be divided among his heirs, like another private estate. This
division is the beginning of a lõng series of partitions of the kingdom between
the sons and heirs of the ruling king.

OLAV KYRRE. A PERIOD OF PEACE 295

at the thing, but he was glad and talkative at the drinking-feast,
He drank miich, and was cheerful and peace-loving to the end of
his days." ^ Because of liis quiet disposition and peaceful reign he
was called Olav Kyrre (the quiet). His efforts to maintain peace
at home and abroad had a most beneficent effect at this time, not
only because the kingdom needed to recover from the heavy losses
incurred in the fruitless mihtary exploits of his martial father, but
also because the people's mind needed to be turned away from the
strut and vainglory which usually attends war and adventure, to
seek employment and honor in peaceful pursuits. Conditions in
the neighboring kingdoms were also favorable to the maintenance
of peace, as both Denmark and Sweden were so occupied with in-
ternal strife or foreign conquests that they could not pursue any
aggressive policy in their relations with Norway. Christianity
had not been firmly established in Sweden, and many people were
displeased because of King Stenkirs efforts to promote the mis-
sionary work. The violent reaction against the church which occurred
when he died in 1067, was caused, perhaps, in part by the overzeal-
ous Bishop Egino of Skäne, who had threatened to destroy the great
heathen temple at Upsala. Many people returned to their oid faith,
and sacrificed to the heathen gods. Several rival candidates were
also contending for the throne, and the country was torn by civil
strife for many years, until Inge Stenkilsson finally overpowered
his rivals, and succeeded his father on the throne. In Denmark
King Svein was engaged in preparing his great exj^editions to Eng-
land, which brought him only loss and disappointment. When he
died in 1076, his son Harald became his successor, but he soon died,
and a younger brother, Knut, became king of Denmark. He was
an ambitious and warlike young man, who could not forget that his
ancestors had occupied the throne of England. Not discouraged
by his father's fruitless attempts at conquest, he determined to
send a new expedition to England. He was a great friend of Olav
Kyrre, and solicited his aid for the undertaking. Olav refused to
jõin the expedition, but as a good friend he placed sixty warships
fully manned at his disposal. In 1084 Knut began to collect a large
fleet, but time passed, and when the preparations finally were near
1 Heimskringla, Olav Kijrre^s Säga, eh. I.

29G HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

completion, most of the Danish chieftains grew impatient and re-
turned to their homes. Norway was thereby saved from renewed
hostilities with England. King Knut, who thiis suddenly found
himself deserted, was very wroth. He began to ruie harshly, and
collccted unjust and excessive taxes. This produced a general re-
bellion, and he was killed by an angry mob in St. Alban's church
in Odense where he had sought refuge. In the reign of his successor,
Olav Ilunger, he was declared holy, and he soon became the national
saint of Denmark, though his only merit seems to have been that he
was slain in a church.^

plav Kvrrc. who was pious as well as peaceful. was deeply inter-
ested in the labors of the clergy, and worked zenlonsly thronghnnt-
his lõng reign to give the Church of Norway a morp stnhlp anrl pffl^
cient orsranizatioU. The defiant attitude which his father Harald

)rganizatiolI.
"aade haTia

Haardraade haTiassumed over against the Arch})ishop of Bremen
he seems to have regarded as improper, if not unfortunate. His
own disposition, as well as his friendly relations with Denmark,
which was a part of the archdiocese of Bremen, inclined him to favor
the archbishop, and to uphold his authority over the Nonvegian
clergy. He was also encouraged in his loyalty to the Roman See
and its representative the archbishop by the Pope himself, who in
his letters to the king expressed deep solicitude for the church in the
North. The powerful Gregory VH., who occupied the papal throne
at this time (1073-1085), was the real found er of the papal power,
and the organizer of the Roman hierarchy. The constant strife
between ruling princes, the violence and turmoil everywhere rampant
convinced him that the church alone possessed the wisdom and
authority to maintain peace, and to act as arbiter in every contro-
versy. He wished to reform the world by organizing a universal
religious monarchy with the Pope as supreme ruler. "Human
pride," he wrote, "has created the power of kings. God's mercy
has created the power of bishops. The Pope is the master of the

1 Olav, who had been imprisoned by his brother, King Knut, was made
king of Denmark. In his reign a drought produced a great famine, which
the people regarded as a chastisement sent upon them by the angry God,
because Knut had been slain in the St. Alban's church. Thej'^ began to
venerate the dead king as a saint, and Olav was called King Olav Hunger
because of the famine.

OLAV KYRRE. A PERIOD OF PEACE 297

emperors. He is rendered holy by the merits of his predecessor,
St. Peter. The Roman Church has never erred, and Holy Scripture
proves that it can never err. To resist it is to resist God." ^ Tlie
growing power of the hierarchy, and the increased devotion to the
Roman Church, which was the result of Pope Gregory's activity,
was fast ripening into the great religious movement which culminated
in the crusades, the impulse of which was felt in every land in western
Europe. Cathedrals were built, and crusading missionary work was
carried on with zeal, while all nations were drawn closer to Rome,
which was the center of religious and intellectual life.

yhat Olav IvvTTe_was imbued ^'ith the spirit of the age is rendered
evident by his labors to organize the Church of XorwRV pfor,rA\r>^
to the general yhu of the Cntholic Church in other ronntrips, as
well as by his efforts to introduce in Norway the culture and refiue-
ment of the ari^ocratic circles in England nnd ^'^ntinental F.urnpK
His reign^marks a final victory of medieval ideas, which found their
best expression in crusades and knight-errantry, but the Roman
incubus, which was so potent in controlling the governments, and
in shaping the intellectual life of the age, was far less märked in Nor-
way than elsewhere in Europe. Celibacy of priests, which the Pope
now enforced as a part of the Roman church discipline, was not
introduced in Norway. The clergy remained subject to the king, who
exercised firm control in ecclesiastical affairs. The scaldic poetry
flourished, the national säga literature and history writing were yet
to blossom forth, and there were but scant traces of a religious Hter-
ature fostered under the iniiuence of the church. The separation
of the North from the archdiocese of Bremen gave the Norwegian
people a new opportunity to preserve their independence in church
affairs, and to develop a strong national spirit. The attempt of
Pope Gregory VH. to assert his supremacy over the German Emperor
precipitated the famous struggle between the Pope and Emperor
Henry IV., which divided the whole Empire into the warring factions
of Welfs and Ghibellines, friends of the Pope and supporters of the
Emperor. Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen was one of the Emperor's
stanchest supporters. His successor, Liemar, also adhered to the
Ghibelline party, even after the Emperor had been excommunicated,
1 T. F. Tout, The Empire and the Papacy, p. 126.

298 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and Pope Gregory VII. punished the disobedient prelate by depriving
him of his office. King Svein Estridsson of Denmark and his suc-
cessors were adherents of the Pope, and this finally led to the separa-
tion of the Scandinavian countries from the Bremen archdiocese,
and the creation of a new archbishopric in the Danish city of Lund,
in Skäne, in 1104. During this period of strife, which paralyzed
the power of the Archbishop of Bremen, the highest ecclesiastical
authority in Norway was exercised by the king. The state-church
principle, which had been practiced by St. Olav, and which had been
so imperiously maintained by Harald Haardraade, was now further
strengthened by circumstances which made ihe king the natnral
leader of theilhm-ch of Xorw^y. King Obv TCyrrp; divided Norway
into three_biiiliQpncs : NiHnrrmj ^Seljn, and Oslo, each with it.s dioc-
_esan bishop, who received the ränk of jarl. New incumbents were
chosen by the chapters of the diocese, but they had to present them-
selves before the king, who in reality selected the candidates. Each
diocese had its own saint : Nidaros, St. Olav ; Oslo, St. Halvard ;
and Selja, St. Sunniva. In Trondhjem Olav erected a cathedral
church on the spot where St. Olav was thought to have been buried
the first time. It was dedicated to the Trinity, but was generally
called the Christ church. The altar was placed on the spot where
St. 01av's body was supposed to have rested, and the shrine of
the saint was moved to the new church. On the foundations of
this church the Trondhjem cathedral was later erected. King
Harald Haardraade's body, which had been brought back to Norway,
was interred in the St. Mary's church, which he had built. On the
west coast of Norway, Olav Kyrre founded the city of Bergen (O. N.
Bj0rgvin),^ which, because of its favorable location, soon became
one of the chief commercial towns in the North. Tlie bishop of
the diocese was to reside here, and the king began the erection of a

1 The exaet time is not given, but the city is thought to have been founded
somewhere between 1070 and 1075. Soe Yngvar Nielsen, Bergen fra de
celdste Tider indtil Nutiden, Christiania, 1877. P. A. Munch, Det norske
Folks Historie, II., 433 flf. Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers
Selvstyre f^r Hanseaternes Tid, Christiania, 1899. Fagrskinna, p. 149.
Heimskringla, Olav Kyrre" s Säga, eh. I. ; Morkin kiuna, p. 125. Historisk
Tidsskrift, tredie rsekke, voI. V., p. 433, Gustav Storm, De kongelige Byanloeg
i Norge i Middelalderen.

OLAV KYRRE. A PERIOD OF PEACE 299

large cathedral of stone, the Christ church. This was finished in
1170, and the St. Sunniva relics were then transferred from Selja
to Bergen. In the Orkneys Jarl Thorfinn founded a bishopric and
built a cathedral church at Birgsaa 1050-1064.^ In Iceland Gissur
Isleivsson, who became bishop in 1081, erected a cathedral on his
estate Skälholt, which he donated to the church as a permanent
bishop's residence.

The lõng period of peace during the reign of Olav Kyrre produced
a märked iniprovement in economic conditions. The cities grew,
and commerce increased ; no extra taxes were imposed for military
purposes, and good harvests seem to have added to the general pros-
perity. It is evident from the säga accounts that this reign was
lõng remembered as a sort of golden age of peace and plenty. " In the
reign of Olav Kyrre there were good harvests and such abundant
good fortune that Xorway had never been more prosperous under
any king since the days of Harald Haarfagre," says the saga.^ Under
these circumstances a taste for luxury and comfort was naturally
developed, and the king labored earnestly to bring the civilization
and culture of his people into fuU harmony with the Christian spirit,
and to introduce in Xorway the elegance and courtly manners which
were being developed every^^here in Europe during this age of
chivalry. The hird was doubled in number, so that it consisted of
120 hirdmoend, sixty gestir, and sixty kuskarlar. The hirdmcend
were divided into groups, at the head of which stood skutibveinar,^
or officers of the king's guard. After the creation of this new office
the lendermcsnd do not seem to have sought the king's hird as before,
but they held now the highest ränk in the country, as King Olav
did not appoint any jarls after the death of Haakon Ivarsson, The
kertisveinar,* corresponding to the French pages, waited at the king's

' See L. Dietrichson, Monumenta Orcadica, p. 19 ; Orkneyingasaga, eh.
xxi.

^ Morkinskinna, Olav Kyrre s Säga, 20 b.

^ Skutilsveinn, from skutül (Lat. scutula, a dish), a plate, or small table placed
before a ^est. The title does not properly indicate the duties of the office.
The skutüsveinar were officers of the guards, not waiters at the table, though
they may have waited on the guests at the table on special occasions. About
their duties see Hirdskrä, Norges gamle Love, vol. II.

* Kertisveinn from kerti = candle. Their duties are mentioned in the
Hirdskrä (the laws of the court), eh. 25, Norges gamle Love, vol. II.

300 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

table. Behind each guest at the table stood a kertisveinn, with a
burning candle.

The people of the higher classes began to wear eostumes of foreign
pattern borrowed especially from England and Normandy. "The
people began to dress with great splendor according to foreign fash-
ions," says the säga. "They wore fine hose ruffled about the knee.
Some pilt gold rings about the legs ; many wore lõng mantles with
siit sides tied with ribbons, and with sleeves five ells lõng, and so
narrow that they had to be pulled on with a cord, and arranged in
folds up to the shoulders. They wore high shoes, embroidered with
silk and even ornamented with gold." ^ From the upper classes,
who were in sympathy with the spirit and higher culture of the age,
the new tastes and ideas were soon communicated to the common
people, who through a natural instinct for imitation gradually adopted
as much of the new customs as environment and circumstances would
permit. King Olav also introduced many improvements in the
construction of dwelling-houses. Hitherto the fireplace, arinn, was
placed in the center of the house, and the smoke escaped through
an opening in the roof, the Ijori. Olav built houses with stone floors
and introduced the oven, which was erected in a corner of the room
with a flue for carrying away the smoke. The Ijõri disappeared,
and the houses received a loft, the beginning of a second story.
Windows became more common, though glass windows seem yet
to have been limited to the king's own dwellings.

From the earliest times the Norsemen took great delight in social
and religious f estivities ; their great hospitality and the liberai enter-
tainment of friends and travelers have already been mentioned as a
conspicuous national trait. The period of prosperitj- and peace in
the time of Olav Kyrre gave new stimulus to the development of
social hfe. Permanent clubs or guilds (X. gilde, O. N. gildi), organized
under the protection of the church, were instituted by King Olav
to afford better opportunity for social intercourse.^ These guilds

^ Heimskringla, Olav Kyrre's Säga, eh. 2.

2 P*rofessor Alcxander Bugge says: "It is, in faet, nowhere in the sägas
mentioned that Olav Kyrre introduced the first guilds into Xorway, but
only that he instituted guilds in the Norwegian towns. On the contrary,
the sägas seem to presuppose that guilds existed at a stiil earlier date, i.e.
in the younger säga of St. Olav where 01ver ä Eggju answers King Olav :

OLAV KYRRE. A PERIOD OF PEACE 301

had their own guild halls, women were also members, the rules were
strict, and much attentioii vvas paid to fine manners and good con-
versation. Christian spirit was also fostered in the guilds, as they
were placed under the supervision of the church. The members
were mutually pledged to assist one another in times of need, a very
fortunate arrangement at a time when municipal government was
yet in its infancy. Thereby the guilds became the forerüiiners of
political clubs, insurance companies, pension funds, and like organi-
zations which have sprung from the feeling of social interdependence.
The members were jointly responsible for eaeh other's houses and
stables. If a member sufFered loss of house or stable by fire, the
guild would rebuild it. If a man's granary burned, he received a
certain amount of grain; if he lost three head of cattle or more,
each member should give him a measure of grain ; if the member

'sag^i ai b^ndr heföi engar veizlur haft pat haust, nema gildi sin ok hvirfings
drykkjur' {Fornmannas0gur, IV., eh. 102), or where the holy bishop Martin
in a dream says to Olav Tryggvason : 'pat hefir verit hättr manna her i
landi sem vida annarsto!8ar, par sem heidit folk er, at Por ok Odni er gl gefit,
par sem samdrykkjur e"5r gildi ero haldin.' I believe like Hegel {Städte und
Gilden, I., p. 412), and Munch (Dct norske Folks Historie, II., p. 442 f.), that
Olav Kyrre in imitation of western European fashion, erected guild halls
in Norwegian towns. But I also believe that the guilds themselves existed
at a stiU earUer time and that they were connected with the heathen sacri-
ficial banquets (blotveizlur)." The Earliest Guilds of Northmen in England,
Norway, and Denmark, in Sproglige og historiske Afhandlinger viede Sophus
Bugges Minde, Christiania, 1908.

The origin of the guilds is very obscure. They are known to have existed
in the Empire of Charlemagne in the ninth century, and probably even earlier.
A. Bugge says: "I regard the Empire of the Franks as the birthplace of
the guilds, the country from which this most typical institution of the
Middle Ages has spread to aU parts of western and northern Europe." The
Earliest Guilds of the Northmen in England, Norway, and Denmark, in Afhand-
linger viede Sophus Bugges Minde, p. 197 ff. See also Alexander Bugge,
Studier over de norske Byers Selvstyre og Händel f^r Hanseaterne. W. A.
Wilda, Das Gildenwesen im Mittelalter, Halle, 1831. O. P. K. Hartvig,
U ntersuchungen über die ersten Anfänge des Gildenwesens, Göttingen, 1860.

Various influences contributed to their later development. Alexander
Bugge has shown that the guilds of England have been strongly influenced
by the Danes and Norsemen. "First of all," he says, "the word 'guild'
itself is probably a Scandinavian word ( = O. N. gildi). The Thanes' Guild
of Cambridge from the first half of the eleventh century bears especially the
impression of being influenced by Scandinavian institutions." See alsoFalk
og Torp, Etymologisk Ordbog, "gilde."

302 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

was a merchant, and lost his goods by shipwreck, he also received
a compensation. If a member was imprisoned in a foreign land, he
was ransomed by the guild ; if he was slain by one who did not
belong to the guild, the other members would assist in prosecuting
the slayer; but if a member committed murder, he was expelled
from the guild, and was not again allowed to appear in the guild
hall, Wken a member died, all the other members were present
at the funeral. The guilds were generally named after patron
saints, under whose special protection they were supposed to stand.
In Bergen they were especially numerous, and the names of many
are stiil familiar in that city. The most important was the St.
Jatmund's (St. Edmund's) Guild, to which, according to an oid
writer, even " kings, dukes, counts, barons, knights, and other noble-
men belonged." In Trondhjem the oldest was the Mykle Guild
(the Great Guild), organized by Olav Kyrre, and dedicated to St.
Olav. Tunsberg had the St. Olav's Guild and the St. Anna's
Guild ; Oslo, th.e Guild of the Holy Body, St. Anna's Guild, and the
Shoemakers' Güild. The country districts, too, had their guilds.
They are mentioned as häving existed in Salten, Aalen, Opdal,
Medalen, in Her0 in S0ndm0r, and in many other places. That
many guilds existed of which no records have been preserved can be
seen from place-names like Gildeskaale, Gildehus, Gildevang, Gilde-
vold, Gildesaker, ete. In course of time when the cities became
industrial eenters, the guilds very naturally developed into craft-
guilds, in which men of the same profession or handicraft were asso-
ciated together.^ But in Norway the guilds were controlled by the
king and the church, and at no time did they become independent
political organizations hostile to the ruler, something which happened
not infrequently in some countries of Europe.

1 Of the statutes (skrd) of the guilds only two have been preserved : the
skrä of the OIav's Guild in Gulatliingslag, and the skrd of the St. 01av's
Guild in Onarheim, S0ndhordland. Norges gamle Love, vol. V., p. 7-13.
These statutes are the chief souree of our knowiedge of the guilds and their
work. Aceounts of the guilds are found in Christian C. A. Lange, De norske
Klostres Historie i Middelalderen, and P. A. Muneh, Dcl norske Folks Hi-
storie, vol. II. Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers Selvstyre og
Händel j<j>r Hanseaterne. Alexander Bugge, The Earliest Guilds of the North-
men in England, Norway, and Denmark, published in Afhandlinger viede
Sophus Bugges Minde, Christiania, 1908.

A REVIVAL OF THE VIKING SPIRIT. MAGNUS BAREFOOT 303

Among the more prominent men in Norway in Olav Kyrre's time
may be mentioned especially Skule Kongsfostre, the king's chief
adviser, a man of high ränk, who had foUowed him froin England.
He seems to have been the king's foster-father, not the son of Earl
Tostig, as some sources have it. Skule was placed at the head of
the hird, and he was also sent to England to bring back the body
of King Harald Haardraade. The king gave him the oid royal
hall in Oslo, when a new royal dwelling was erected, and he granted
him also a number of estates at Oslo, Konghelle, and Trondhjem ;
and also Rein in Nordm0r, from which his descendants derived their
name. From Skule Kongsfostre descended Duke Skule (Skule Jarl),
famous in the reign of King Haakon Haakonsson. Dag Eilivsson,
the father of Gregorius Dagss0n, in Viken, Sigurd Ülstreng in Tr0nde-
lagen, the son of Rut af Viggen who fell at Stiklestad, Thore af
Steig, in Oplandene, who was the king's secret opponent, and Sveinke
Steinarsson, who ruled the border districts on the Göta River, were
among the most powerful men in the kingdom at this time. King
Olav Kyrre died in 1093, in the twenty-seventh year of his reign.

51. A Revival of the Viking Spirit. IVLvgnus Barefoot

When Olav Kyrre died, his son INIagnus was proclaimed king in
Viken, while the people of Oplandene were led, as it appears, by Thore
of Steig, to choose his nephew Haakon. The arrangement of joint
kingship, first introduced in the time of Magnus the Good and Harald
Haardraade, was now repeated. The kingdom does not seem to have
been divided, though some sources seem to indicate it. According
to the "Morkinskinna," ^ the two kings ruled together for two years,
but the older sources, Theodricus Monachus and "Agrip," state
that the joint kingship lasted only one winter. Haakon was then
killed by a fail from his horse. Thore of Steig, the oid opponent
of Olav Kyrre, did not even now acknowledge King Magnus, though,
after the death of Haakon, the young king was the only legitimate
heir to the throne. Thore formed an opposition party in support
of the pretender Svein, and started a revolt; but this was easily

1 Morkinskinna, Magnus BarefooVs Säga. Theodricus Monachus, eh.
xxx. Agrip, 72-73.

304 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

put down, and the two leaders, Thore of Steig and Egil Askelsson,
were captured and executed.

The king found another opponent in Sveinke Steinarsson, who
was a lenderviand, a sort of markgraf in the border districts on the
Göta River. In these far-off districts his will was law, and he pro-
tected the people against the robbers and outlaws who infested the
region along the border. He had not taken part in the revolt, but
he did not submit to the king, and managed all affairs according to
his own mind. He was summoned to the Borgarthing, where the
stallare, Sigurd Ulstreng, represented the king. After the thing
was assembled, they saw a body of w^arriors approaching, dressed in
steel so bright that they looked like a moving l:)lock of ice.^ This
was Sveinke, who came to the thing with 500 armed followers. He
ridiculed the stallare, and after some altercations, Sigurd had to flee.
The king marched against the arrogant lenderviand, but hostilities
were averted through the intercession of friends. Sveinke was
banished for a short period, but he w^as soon recalled, and became
one of the king's best friends.

Magnus Barefoot was a w'arrior like his grandfather Harald
Haardraade. In his reign the air was again filled with the sounds
of war trumpets and the din of arms. The Viking spirit flared up
anew from the smoldering embers, fanned into life by the martial
spirit of the young king, who is reported to have said that a king
ought to court honor rather than a lõng life. King Magnus was
brave to foolhardiness, and energetic to rashness, a sort of demigod,
who was loved by his followers even for his faults. But it would
be manifestly unjust to regard him as a mere Viking chieftain, or as a
romantic dreamer, who spent the ten years of his reign in the pursuit
of the phantom of military glory. It is evident that he followed
a clearly conceived plan, and that he was never led by väin ambition
to waste his means in rash and impossible adventures. He did
not aspire to the throne of England, hke his grandfather had done,
nor did he attempt to conquer Ireland, as some oid writers would
have us believe. The chief, if not the only, purpose of his expedition
to the British Isles seems to have been to reduce the Norse island
possessions to full submission to the home government. But the

* M orkinskinna, p. 137.

A REVIVAL OF THE VIKING SPIRIT. MAGNUS BAREFOOT 305

ever recurring war expeditions increased the burdens of taxation,
removed great numbers of the ablest men from productive employ-
ments, and retarded the peaceful development inaugurated by Olav
Kyrre. The history of Magnus Barefoot's reign is a record of his
mihtary campaigns ; of the internal affairs of the country in his time
little is known ; of real progress history has nothing to record.

As soon as Magnus was securely seated on the throne, he provoked
a war with Sweden by claiming the Swedish province of Dal, or
Dalsland, hing between Ranrike and Lake Venern. He crossed
the Göta River with an army, and harried the distriets until they
had to offer their submission. On Käland Island, in Lake Venern,
he built a fort, and left a garrison of 360 men, but when he returned
home for the winter, the Swedish king, Lige Stenkilsson, captured
the fort and drove away the garrison. The following spring Magnus
renewed his campaign, and a battle was fought at Fuxerna, on the
Göta River. According to "Agrip," Magnus was victorious, but
according to Theodricus IMonachus he lost the battle. The last
version is probably correct, since a peace conferenee was called at
Konghelle in 1101, where the three kings, Magnus Barefoot of Nor-
way, Inge Stenkilsson of Sweden, and Eirik Eiegod of Denmark
were all present. According to the terms of the treaty here con-
cluded, the kings should retain the territories which their predeces-
sors had held, but INIagnus should receive the händ of Margaret,
King Inge's daughter, in marriage, and her dowry should be the
distriets in dispute.^ She was nicknamed Fredkulla (the peace
maiden). Snorre gives the following description of the three kings
as they appeared together at Konghelle : " Inge was the largest and
strongest, and looked most dignified, Magnus seemed the most
valiant and energetic, but Eirik was the handsomest."

The most noteworthy features of King Magnus' reign were his
expeditions to the British Isles. Two earlier expeditions, which
Magnus was thought to have made in 1092 and 1093-1094, have
been described by the oid scholar Torfseus. Buchanan, a Scotch

1 Theodricus Monachus, De Antiquitate, eh. xxxi. Agrip, 79, found in
Gustav Storm's M onumenta Historica Norivegiae. The terms of the treaty
are stated both by Theodricus and by the Agrip, and seem to be correct,
tliough the dowry is not mentioned by Snorre, who simply states that Magnus
married Margaret, the daughter of the Swedish kiug.

VOL. I — X

306 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

historian of the sixteenth century, who bases his account on Fordun's
" Scotichronicon," also tells how King Magnus in 1094 aided Prince
Donaldbane to gain the throne of Scotland. The account of the
last-named expedition has been considered to be historic also by the
great Norwegian historian P. A. Munch, but Gustav Storm has
shown that Magnus made neither of these expeditions. The passage
in the "Scotichronicon" is shown to be an interpolation by a läte
writer, and the foundation for the statement referring to Magnus'
operations in Scotland in 1094 disappears wholly when it is made
clear that at this time he was stiil in Norway, busily engaged in se-
curing his succession to the throne.^ Norse sägas mention only the
two expeditions in 1098-1099 and 1102-1103, about which Welsh
chronicles, Irish annals, and verses of contemporary scalds give the
most reliable Information.

After the peace at Konghelle, Magnus sailed to the British Isles
with a fleet of 150 ships. He landed in the Orkneys, where he de-
posed the järis Paul and Eriend, and sent them to Norway, possibly,
because they had been neglectful of their duties as vassals. Soon
afterward he took King Gudr0d Crowan of the Hebrides prisoner,
and forced him to submit. He then proceeded to the Isle of Man,
which was regarded by the Norsemen as belonging to the Hebrides
group (Sudreyjar). Civil strife between rival chieftains had here
been in progress, and he found on the battlefield of Sandvad the
corpses stiil lying unburied, says the chronicle.^ He took possession
of the island and erected a number of houses and castles. According
to Ordericus Vitalis,^ he brought over a large number of colonists
from Norway, because the inhabitants had been greatly reduced
in numbers by the incessant feuds. The real reason for the new
colonization may have been that he could put little trust in the loyalty
of the Manx, who were partly of Gaelic descent, and who had lived
isolated in their island homes too lõng to feel any attachment for
Norway.

During the reign of William Rufus (10<S7-1100) the Normans in

^ Gustav Storm, Magnus Barfods V ester havstog, Historisk Tidsskrift,
anden rsekke, vol. III. Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica. Orkney-
ingasaga, eh. xxviii ff.

* Chronica Regum Manniae et Insularum, p. 6.

^ Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, p. 767.

A REVIVAL OF THE VIKIXG SPIRIT. MAGNUS BAREFOOT 307

England were engaged in subduing Wales.^ The king was unsuccess-
ful in his campaigns against the Welsh mountaineers, but Norman
barons and adventurers had gradually pushed their way into the
country, where they seized one district after the other, and erected
castles. When the king of South Wales fell in the battle of Breck-
nock, in 1093, three Norman lordships came into being in South
Wales. In Northern Wales the Normans had been less successful,
but the conquest was pressed with energy. The Earl of Chester
had pushed across the Menai Strait to Anglesea, where he built a
castle at Aberlleiniog. But the Welsh rallied in 1095-1096, and
destroyed all the Norman castles on Welsh soil except that of
Pembroke. King William marched against them, and vowed that
he would exterminate the entire male population, but he had to re-
turn home without häving won a single victory. The Norman earls
were more successful. In 1098 the earls of Shrewsbury and Chester
marched through northern Wales, crossed over to Anglesea, and
rebuilt the castle of Aberlleiniog. The Welsh turned to Magnus
Barefoot for aid. He accepted the invitation, and quickly crossed
over from the Isle of Man with his fleet. In attempting to prevent
the Norsemen from landing, the Earl of Shrewsbury was mortally
wounded, and the Normans, who had become thoroughly alarmed,
evacuated Anglesea. Magnus returned to the Orkneys for the win-
ter. King Lagman of Man, whom he had taken captive, was made
vassal king of Man and the Hebrides, and he seems to have ruled
till 1101.

When the king and his men returned to Norway, they wore Scotch
national costumes. As these had never before been seen in Norway,
they attracted much attention, and the people, who were ever fond
of descriptive nicknames, called the king Magnus Barefoot.

King Lagman of Man and the Hebrides disappears in 1101.
Whether he died in that year, or departed on a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land as stated in the "Chronica Regum Manniae " cannot be
definitely determined. The chronicle also states that Magnus
sent another king, Ingemund, to Man ; but he was slain, and Magnus
went to the Islands to restore order and submission. This gives

^ H. C. W. Davis, England under the Normans and Angevins, p. iii ff.,
London, 1909.

308 HlSTOllY OF TIIE NOKWEGIAN PEOPLE

a credible explanation of Magnus' second expedition, which he
seems to have undertaken for tlie purpose of organizing the western
possessions for his son Sigurd, who was made "king of the Islands"
in 1102. His plan seems to have been to make Sigurd ruler of this
new island kingdom, while his older son Eystein was to inherit the
throne of Norway. The Welsh chronicle states that Magnus visited
Anglesea, cut a great deal of timber, and brought it to Man, where
he built three castles, which he garrisoned with his own men. From
Man he sailed to DubHn in 1102. The " Heimskringla " states that
he captured Dubhn and Dubhnshire, and spent the winter with
King Myriartak (Muirchertach) in Kunnakter (possibly Connaught),
but this is wholly erroneous. The "Ulster Annals" have the follow-
ing entry for the year 1102: "In this year King Magnus came to
Man, and he made peace with the Irish for one year." The Four
Masters give a more detailed account : " An Irish army was assem-
bled at Dubhn to resist Magnus and the Norsemen, who came to
ravage the country, but they made peace for one year, and Muir-
chertach gave King Magnus' son Sigurd his daughter in marriage,
and many costly presents with her." ^ This shows that Magnus'
second expedition could not have been undertaken with a view to
conquer Ireland, but that it has been his aim to attach the island
possessions more closely to the Norwegian crown. In these efforts
he had been very successfuL He reestabhshed order in the isLands,
built and garrisoned forts for the maintenance of peace, brought
in new colonists to settle and develop the districts which had been
laid waste during the period of anarchy and misrule, and united the
islands under a king, who was to govern them, subject to the author-
ity of the king of Norway. These wisely conceived and ably directed
efforts to establish an eflScient government in these distant islands
which had hitherto been the spoils of reckless adventurers, and the
haunts of freebooters, might have had abiding results ; a new era
of peace and development might have dawned for them, had not
death suddenly cut short King Magnus' career. It appears that in
the summer of 1103 he left the Isle of Man, bound on a homeward
voyage. He landed on the northeast coast of Ireland, where he made

^ Sigurd's marriage must have been arranged with a view to strengthen
his power and prestige as king.

A REVIVAL OF THE VIKING SPIRIT. MAGNUS BAREFOOT 309

a raid into the country with but a small force. After he had pene-
trated quite a distance inland he was suddenly attacked by an Irish
army. Trusting in his bravery he refused to retreat, but his men
were overpowered by superior numbers in the marshes where the
battle was fought, and Magnus himself fell. He was at this time
thirty years of age. Tlie accounts of this raid into Ireland as given
by the different sources are much at variance. The sägas describe
it as a foraging expedition, and state that Magnus was waiting for
cattle to be brought him "ofan af Kunnöktum," Mvhen the Irish
suddenly fell upon him. Ordericus Vitahs relates that Magnus
landed on the coast of Ireland. The Irish were much afraid, and
did not dare to meet him in battle, but, speaking fair words, they
prevailed on him to debark, and when he had marched two miles
into the country he was ambushed and slain.^ The " Chronica Regum
Mannise ' ' states that Magnus hastened ahead of his fleet with sixteen
ships ; that he imprudently landed in Ireland, where he was sur-
rounded by the Irish, who slew the king and nearly all his men. He
was buried at the St. Patrick's church at Down (Downpatrick), the
chronicle adds. The essence of the whole matter seems to be con-
tained in the statement of the "Ulster Annals" that Magnus was
attacked and killed by the Ulstonians on a plundering expedition,

When Sigurd heard of his father's death, he became disheartened
and returned to Norway. King Muirchertach had formed an alli-
ance with King Henry I. of England, as both seem to have regarded
Magnus as a dangerous neighbor, and Olav Bitling, a son of the
former King Gudr0d Crowan, was placed on the throne of Man.

Though Magnus' plans thus suddenly came to naught, his work had,
none the less, produced permanent results. The jarls of the Orkneys
and the kings of Man and the Hebrides became more closely attached
to Norway than hitherto, and the system and organization introduced
by King Magnus continuedtoexistin the Islands forwell-nigh 150 years.

The closer relations established with the lands in the West gave a
great stimulus, also, to commercial intercourse between Norway and
the British Isles, and new costumes and articles of luxury were intro-
duced from Scotland and England. Magnus himself had formed a

1 Morkinskinna, 24 a. Fagrskinna, 240.

* Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, XI. 8. Orkneyingasaga, xxxii.

310 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

sort of partnership with an English merchant in Lincoln, who kept
his treasury, and supplied him with arms, ornaments, and other
necessary articles. After King Magnus' death, Henry I, of England
forced the merchant to turn over to him 20,000 pounds of silver.

52. The Norwegian Coat of Arms

The Norwegian coat of arms, which consists of a golden lion
with crown and battle-ax in a red shield, was thought to have origi-
nated on Magnus Barefoot's expeditions to the British Isles. Snorre
says that when Magnus fought and fell in Ireland, " he wore a helmet,
and carried a red shield on which appeared a hon wrought in gold.
He was girded with the sword ' Leggbit,' the best of weapons. Its
hiit was of walrus teeth, decorated with gold. He carried a spear,
and over his shirt of mail he wore a cloak of red silk on which a lion
was embroidered both on the front and in the back," ^ Professor
Gustav Storm observes ^ that the oldest account of Magnus' last
battle in Ireland, found in the "Agrip af Norregs Konungas0gum,"
not in the "Heimskringla," mentions neither the red cloak nor the
lions, but states that he had helmet, sword, and spear, and that he
wore kilt (silkihjup) and stockings (stighosor) — the Scotch dress
in which he was usually attired. The later säga writers are evidently
guilty of the anachronism of describing Magnus as wearing the royal
attire, adorned with the coat of arms used in Snorre's own time by
King Haakon Haakonsson and Skule Jarl, a very common failing
of the säga writers. The question then confronts us : When and how
did the Norwegian coat of arms originate? We have seen that
the Norsemen usually decorated their ships and weapons with figures
representing beasts and birds of prey, like the dragon heads on their
warships, and the raven (Odin's bird) on their sails and banners.
These figures were symbols of bravery, and were employed to strike
terror into the hearts of the enemy, but they had no heraldic char-
acter. In the twelfth century the knight errants began to decorate
their shields and banners with heraldic figures and devices, and in

' Heimskringla, Magnus Barfotssaga, eh. 24.

' Gustav Storm, Norges gamle Vaaben, Farver og Flag, Christiania,
1894. Dr. G. L. Baden, Uiidersögelse om /Elden af Flags Brug i vort Norden,
Samlinger iil det norske Folks Sprog og Historie, vol. IV., p. 514 fif.

NORWAY PARTICIPATES IN THE CRUSADES 311

the course of the thirteenth century these devices became family coats
of arms.^ Professor Storm shows that the golden lion on a red shield
as a royal coat of arms is traceable to the time of Haakon Haakonsson
and Skule Jarl (i.e. not earher than 1217). Both King Haakon's
and Skule Jarrs seals, though damaged, have been preserved. Their
device is a golden lion, wthout crown or battle-ax, on a red three-
cornered shield. King Haakon's son, Crown Prince Haakon Haakons-
son the younger, chose the eagle as his coat of arms, but his younger
brother, INIagnus, who on Haakon's death became heir apparent to
the throne, had selected the lion, which thereby became the coat
of arms of the royal family. Magnus' son and successor, Eirik
Magnusson (Priesthater), retained this device, but the lion appears
in his seal with the crown and the battle-ax of St. Olav.

53. NORWAY PaRTICIPATES in THF ^RFSAPFS JRj.gtTTTTM
ML\GNUSSON AND SlGTTEn TRF. CRTTSAnFB

King Magnus Barefoot had many sons, but none of them was
born in lawful wedlock. Eystein, the oldest, w^ho was fourteen
years of age, Sigurd, the next oldest, and Olav succeeded their father
as joint kings. The hird and lendermcend were divided among the
kings, perhaps also the royal estates. But Olav w-as a mere child
under the guardianship of his brothers, and as he died before he
became of age, he may be left out of account. Harald Gille, who was
stiil a child sta\dng with his Irish mother in Ireland, is also generally
acknowledged to have been a son of King Magnus, though his own
assertion is about the only evidence of his royal descent. His mother
called him Gillchrist, i.e. the servant of Christ. A later pretender,
Sigurd Slembediakn, also claimed to be a son of Älagnus, but he was
generally regarded as an impostor, and was finally captured and put
to death. The principle prevailed that all the king's sons, illegiti-
mate as well as legitimate, had an equal right to the throne. Kingship
was regarded as an inherited right ; the kingdom was looked upon as
an inheritance which could be held in joint ownership, or divided

1 The Thidrikssaga, eh. 172-185, deseribes the coats of arms of King
Thidrik and all the heroes in his hall. King Thidrik has a red shield deeo-
rated with a golden lion. Hildebrand has a red shield on which is painted a
white castle with golden toAvers, ete.

312 UISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

aiiioiig the heirs.^ The practice of joint kingship, established in the
time of Magnus the Good and Harald Ilaardraade, was adhered to.
The kings kept their own hird, and shared equally in the royal rev-
enues, but the kingdom was not divided. The reign of the joint kings
was regarded as lasting while any of them remained on the throne.

With the death of Magnus Barefoot, and the accession of his
young sons, a period of peace was again inaugurated, which lasted
till the outbreak of the civil wars in 1130. During this period the
archbishopric of Lund in Skäne was established, as already stated.
Norway and Sweden, as well as Denmark, were included in this new
church province, and the Scandinavian North was thereby separated
from Germany with regard to ecclesiastical affairs.^ The intense
religious enthusiasm which had been awakened through the efforts
of the Pope, and especially by the crusaders, and the zeal of the
monastic orders had also reached the North, and the two kings, who
were deeply influenced by the general spirit of the age, gave their
most zealous efforts to the causes and ideals which had been created
by the new awakening. The more warlike Sigurd became a crusader,
while the peace-loving Eystein, who ruled the kingdom during his
brother's absence, revived the policy of his grandfather Olav Kyrre.
He built churches and monasteries, improved the laws, maintained
peace and order in the kingdom, and devoted special attention to
useful internal improvements.

In 1095 Pope Urban II. preached at Clermont in France the first
holy war against the infidels. The reUgious fervor was soon fanned
into white heat by zealots like Peter the Hermit and Walter the
Penniless, and large numbers of pilgrims gathered on the Rhine and
in northern France to march against the Turks. The sovereigns
of western Europe took no part in the first crusade. Two of them,

1 T. H. Aschehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark indtil 18H,
p. 14 fif. R. Keyser, Norges Stats- og Reisforfatning i Middelalderen, p. 41 ff.

^ In theory the Archbishop of Bremen was stiil the head of the church
in the North. His supremacy was confirmed by Pope Calixtus II. in 1123,
and when a dispute arose on this point between the archbishops of Lund
and Bremen, Pope Innocent II. sent a cardinal to investigate the matter,
whereupon he confirmed the supremacy of the Archbishop of Bremen through
a letter of May, 1133. But this supremacy was merely nominal, and was
soon transferred to the Archbishop of Lund.

NORWAY PARTICIPATES IN THE CRUSADES 313

the Emperor Henry IV. and King Philip I. of France, were under
the ban of the church, the king of Spain was fighting against the
Saracens at home, and the vicious William Rufus of England was
hostile. The crusading hosts were, therefore, led by the great
feudal magnates of Lotharingia, Burgundy, Normandy, Flanders,
and the Norman colonies in southern Italy ; men like Raymond of
Toulouse, Hugh of Vermandois, a brother of King Philip I. of France,
Robert, Duke of Normandy, his cousin Robert II. of Flanders,
Stephen of Blois, the son-in-law of William the Conqueror, Godfrey
of Bouillon, and the Italian Norman, Bohemund of Tarent, a son
of Robert Guiscard. The armies marched overland to Constanti-
nople, where Emperor Alexius Comneniis had them transported
across the Bosphorus into Asia Minor, after the leaders had taken
an oath of fealty to him. Nicsea was captured in 1097, Antioch
fell into their hands in 1098, and on June 15, 1099, Jerusalem was
stormed by the sick and starving crusaders. Jerusalem was or-
ganized into a kingdom, and Godfrey of Bouillon became ruler, with
the title of "Baron and Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre." Bohe-
mund the Norman became Prince of Antioch, and Baldwin, brother
of Godfrey, became Count of Edessa. Warriors from the Scandina-
vian kingdoms also participated in the first crusade, but as they
joined the main army in smaller bands, little is known of their fate
or achievements. In 1097 a Danish noble, Svein by name, a member
of the royal family, led a bänd of crusaders to Palestine. They
took part in the capture of Edessa, and marched to jõin in the siege
of Antioch, but on the way they were betrayed into the power of
the Mohammedans, who cut them down to the last man.

In 1102 the Norwegian lendermand, Skofte Agmundsson, who had
quarreled with King Magnus Barefoot, organized a crusading expe-
dition to the Holy Land. Accompanied by his sons Finn, Agmund,
and Thor, he sailed southward with five ships to Flanders, where he
wintered. The next summer (1103) they sailed for Italy, but Skofte
died in Rome. His sons also found their graves on Italian soil.
" Thor died in Sicily, " ^ says the säga, but whether this happened
before they reached Palestine, or on the homeward journey, is not
stated, though the säga narrative seems to show that the expedition
' Heimskringla, Magnus BarefooVs Säga, eh. 20.

314 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

reached the Iloly Land. " When the sons of INIagnus became kings,
some men who had followed Skofte Agmundssoii came from Jorsala-
land (Jerusalem), and others from Myklegard (Constantinople).
They were very renowned, and brought many new tidings, and these
accounts made many desirous of going thither." ^ The news of the
crusades, which by this time had reached Norway through many
channels, reawakened the oid spirit of martial adventure among
the Norsemen at home no less than among their kinsmen in Nor-
mandy and southern Italy. The transition from Viking expeditions
to crusades, already noticeable in Olav Tryggvason's career as
crusading Christian king, was neither great nor sudden, and it was
now finally accomplished through the general change of conditions
as well as through the growth of Christian spirit. We cannot doubt
that many were eagerly awaiting an opportunity to go to Palestine
to fight against the Mohammedans, but we hear nothing of any great
religious enthusiasm, and it appears that most of them were actuated
less by Christian zeal than by love of war and adventure, and the
prospects of gain and renown. "They asked of the kings that one
of them should be the leader of those who wished to jõin in this
enterprise," says the säga. "The kings agreed to this, and both
of them together fitted out an expedition in which many leading men
took part, both lendermcend and storbfinder. When everything was
ready, it was decided that Sigurd should lead the expedition, but
Eystein should ruie the kingdom in the name of both." ^ This
undertaking was a regularly planned and prepared crusade against
the Turks in Palestine. The preparations lasted four years. A fleet
of sixty ships was fully equipped and manned with 10,000 volunteer
warriors from all parts of Norway. King Sigurd set sail from Horda-
land, possibly from Bergen, in the fail of 1107, and went to England,
where he was well received by King Henry L, who offered him his

1 Heimskringla, The Säga of the Sons of Magnus, eh. I.

* Morkinskinna, 25. King Eirik Eiegod of Denmark, and his queen Bodil,
made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1103. Eirik did not reach his des-
tination. He died of fever in the island of Cyprus. Queen Bodil died on
the Mount of Olives, at Jerusalem, and was buried in the valley of Josaphat.
The fame of these royal pilgrims may have done mueh to stimulate the kings
of Norway to undertake a crusade. See Danmarks Riges Historie, vol. I.,
p. 505 ff. Peter Friedrich Suhm, Fors^g iil Forhedringer i den gamle danske
og norske Historie, p. 159 ff.

NORWAT PARTICIPATES IN THE CRUSADES 315

friendship and assistance, since he was engaged in so praiseworthy
an undertaking.^ Sigurd spent the winter at the gay English court,
and gave many rich presents to various English churches. In the
spring (1108) he continued his voyage, but he was much retarded
by stonny weather, and did not reach Spain till läte in the summer.
He therefore decided to spend the winter there, and the governor
of Galicia not only gave him permission to establish his winter quar-
ters in that province, but promised, also, on certain conditions, to
supply him with the necessary provisions throughout the winter.
But the governor took this promise rather Hghtly, and by Christmas
time King Sigurd and his men were in want. With sword in händ
they decided to pay the governor a visit in his own castle, but he
very discreetly abandoned it in haste, and they provisioned the fleet
with the abundant stores which they found.

Early in the spring (1109), as they sailed southward along the
west coast of Spain (now Portugal), they met a fleet of Moorish
freebooters. The two fleets joined in battle, and after a hard fight,
in which a great number of J\Ioors fell. King Sigurd captured eight
galleys, while the rest succeeded in making their escape.^ He there-
upon landed at Cintra in Portugal, which had been taken by the
Moors, and aided Count Henry in capturing the city. He offered
the Moorish garrison their lives if they would accept the Christian
faith, but when they refused, he had them all put to death in the
true fashion of crusaders. From Cintra he marched to Lisbon, which
was also in the hands of the iNIoors. The sägas state that he battered
down the walls and took the city, but this seems to be erroneous,
since the place is known to have remained in the possession of the
Moors after King Sigurd left.^ The contemporary scald Haldor
Skvaldre, who seems to have accompanied Sigurd, simply states
that King Sigurd won his third victory by the borg which is called
Lisbon.^ It seems likely that he won a victory over the Moors

1 Morkinskinna, 25. ^ Fagrskinna, eh. 243.

3 Morkinskinna, 25 b. Fagrskinna, eh. 243.

* Id the South a third victory,
able descendants of kings,
you won when you landed ;
Lisbon the burh is called.
— Heiniskringla, Säga of the Sons of Magnus, eh. 5.

31 G HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

outside of tlie city, but he did not capture the city itself. The
sägas state, quite correctiy, that Lisbon was the boundary between
heathen and Christian Spain. The Moors had seized that part of
Portugal which lies south of the River Tejo, while the rest was stiil
in the hands of the Christians. In the so-called heathen Spain
Sigurd captured a castle which is called "Alkasa" in the sägas, but
as this name is only a corruption of alcazar, a Spanish loan-word from
Arabic, meaning castle, as shown by Professor P. A. Munch, it is
impossible to determine where this fortress was situated.

After leaving Spain he fought another successful engagement
with the Moorish freebooters, who at this time controlled the Mediter-
ranean Sea. He then continued his voyage eastward till he reached
the Island of Formentera, in the Balearic Isles. Here the freebooters
had established a stronghold in a cave in the side of a mountain.
The steep ascent leading to the entrance of the cave was protected
by a breastwork of stone, and the cave itself was divided into two
parts, or chambers, of which the innermost seems to have served
as a storehouse for the booty which they gathered from all the Medi-
terranean coasts. Sigurd tried to capture the cave, but his men were
unable to ascend the steep incline against the showers of stones and
missiles hurled upon them by the freebooters, who felt so secure in
their inaccessible retreat that they jeered and ridiculed the Norse-
men, and showed them costly articles to betoken their contempt.
King Sigurd then took two boats, filled them with warriors, and
lowered them by ropes from the top of the mountain bef ore the entrance
to the cave. The men in the boats shot with arrows, and compelled
the Moors to abandon the breastwork and retreat into the cave.
The assailants were now able to break through the stone wall in front
of the entrance, and gain accession to the cave. The Moors fled to
their inner chamber, but the Norsemen kindled a fire, and smoked
them out. They were all killed, and all their booty fell into the
hands of the Norsemen.^ After visiting the islands of Iviza, Minorca,
and, possibly, also Majorca,^ where they also fought with the Moors,

1 Heimskringla, Säga of the Sons of Magnus, eh. 6.

^ "Sigurd, the king of the Norsemen, who in his earlier days deserved to
be numbered among the bravest, tarried on his voyage to Jerusalem a whole
winter in England after he had asked for the king's peaee. He gave much

PLATE VIII

-'^-■^mmmmmm.

NORWEGIAX WOVEN TaPESTRY REPRESEXTIXG THE ExTRANCE OF KiNG
HlGURD THE CruSADER INTO CoNSTANTIXOPLE,

NORWAY PARTICIPATES IN THE CRUSADES 317

they sailed to Sicily and Apulia, where they met their kinsmen the
Nonnans, who had gained control of those parts of southern Italy.
The Normans in Italy stiil felt themselves akin to the Norsemen, and
Duke Roger of Sicily was married to Edla, the widow of King Knut
the Saint of Denmark, King Sigurd and his army of crusaders were,
therefore, received with the greatest joy and hospitality. "There
was a splendid reception, and every day Duke Roger himself waited
on King Sigurd at the table," says the säga. " But on the seventh
day of the feast, after the men had taken a bath, King Sigurd took
the duke by the händ and led him to the high-seat and gave him the
titleof King of Sicily.'"

Sigurd spent the winter in Sicily and arrived at Ascalon in Pales-
tine in August, 1110.^ Fulker of Chartres gives the foUowing ac-
count of his achievements in Palestine : ^

''In the meantime there had landed at Joppa (Jaffa) a people
called the Norsemen, whom God had stirred up to journey from the
western ocean to Jerusalem. Their fleet consisted of sixty ships.
Their leader was a young man of exceedingly fine appearanee, a

gold to the churches, and after the west wind had opened the gates of spring
and quieted the ocean, he again went on board and set sail. He terrified
with his sword the Balearic Isles, called Maiorica and Minorca, and left them
an easy prey for William of Montpellier. From there he went to Jerusalem,
which he reached successfuUy with all his ships except one." William of
Malmesbnry, De Gestis Regum Anglorum, V.

1 The Heimskringla and other sägas state that Sigurd landed at Akers-
borg {i.e. Aere), but many contemporary eeelesiasties in other eountries
have written about the crusades, and as they seem to have had better knowl-
edge of the geography of Palestine, their statements on such points must be
regarded as reliable. These sources are found in Samlinger iil det norske
Folks Sprog og Historie, vol. I. The Historia Hierosolymitanae Expeditionis,
by Albert Canonicus of Aachen, says : "In the meantime Magnus, a brother
of the Norwegian king (Magnus is a mistake for Sigurd Magnusson), arrived
in the harbor of Ascalon with a well equipped and strong army with forty
warships and 10,000 warriors, after häving spent two years on the voyage
over the great ocean from his kingdom. He anehored for a day near the
city to see if any one would come against him, either by sea or land, with
whom he might come into a fight either purposely or inadvertently, but as
the people of Ascalon remained quiet and did not dare to come out, he landed
the following day at Joppa (Jaffa), as he was desirous of worshiping in
Jerusalem," eh. 26.

^ Gesta Peregrinatium Francorum cum armis Hierusalem Pergentium, eh.
36.

318 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

brother of the king of that country. As the king (Baldwin) had
returned to Jerusalem, he rejoiced exceedingly over their arrival,
spoke kindly to them, admonished them, and asked them out of
love of God to stay a while in the land to which they had come,
and help him to spread Christianity ; they could then, after häving
served the cause of Christ in some way, give thanks to God when
they returned to their own country. They assented gladly, and
answered that they had come to the Holy Land with no other inten-
tion ; they promised to foUow him with their fieet wherever he would
go with his army, if he would provide them with the necessary pro-
visions, This w^as agreed to and fulfiUed. They first decided to
go to Ascalon, but later they laid the better plan of attacking and
besieging the city of Sidon. The king led his army from Ptolemaida,
which is now generally called Achon, while the Norsemen, well armed,
sailed from the harbor of Jaffa. The fleet of the emir of Babylonia
lay at that time hidden in the harbor of Tyre. The Saracens an-
noyed the Christians, our pilgrims, on their buccaneering expedi-
tions, and they provisioned by various routes the sea coast towns
which w^ere stiil in the hands of the king of Babylonia, but when
they heard about the Norsemen, they did not venture to leave the
harbor of Tyre, for they did not dare to fight with them. When the
king came to Sidon, he laid siege to the city, while the Norsemen
attacked it from the sea. With war machines they so terrified the
inhabitants that the garrison asked the king to be permitted to depart
unharmed, he could then, if he wished, keep the people of the city,
and use them for tilling the soil. This was asked and granted. The
garrison retired, but the landsfolk remained in peace according to
the agreement. The sun had visited the archer (the constellation)
nineteen times when the Sidonians in the month of December (19th
of December, 1110) surrendered their city." Tliis account, which
is in fuU accord with the sägas, is substantiated also by a number of
other sources.^ Sigurd claimed no reward for aiding in the capture

^ Heimskringla, Säga of the Sons of Magnus, eh. II. Fagrskinna, 245.
Albert of Aachen, Historia HierosolymÜ£inae Expeditionis, lib. xi., eh.
31-34. Archbishop William of Tyre, Historia Rerum in Partibus Trans-
marinis Gestarum a Tempore Successorum Mahumeth usque ad Annum Domini
mclxxxiv., Lib.xi.,eh. 14. Secunda Pars Historiae Hierosolimitanae, a.d. 1110.

KING EYSTEIN MAGNUSSON's REIGN 319

of Sidon, but Baldwin distributed rich presents among his raen, and
gave him a chip of the Holy Gross, which Sigurd promised under
oath to preserve at the shrine of St. Olav. He also made a vow to
introduce the system of tithes in Norway, and to do everything in
his power to secure the estabHshment of an archbishopric in Nidaros.
King Sigurd left Palestine shortiy after the capture of Sidon, and
went to Constantinople, where he was magnificently entertained by
Emperor Alexios Comnenos (called Kirialax in the sägas). Sigurd
and his men were escorted through the golden portal, porta aurea,
through which the Emperors alone entered the city when they re-
turned in triumph from successful mihtary campaigns. They were
quartered in the Blachernae palace, and were entertained with games
in the hippodrome at the Emperor's expense. When Sigurd left,
he gave Alexios all his ships, and many of his men remained in Con-
stantinople, and entered the service of the Emperor. Sigurd and
his crusaders roturned through Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, and
Germany. About midsummer they arrived in Schleswig, where
the Danish jarl Eiliv entertained them. King Nicolas (Niis) of
Denmark, who was married to Sigurd's stepmother, Margareta
Fredkulla, received him with the greatest hospitality, accompanied
him through Jutland, and gave him a fully equipped ship on which
he returned to Norway in July, UU. He was received with great
rejoicing, and his brother Eystein, who had ruled the kingdom dur-
ing his three and a half years' absence, cheerfully surrendered to
him the share of the kingship which he had held in trust. " It was
a common opinion," says the säga, "that no one had made a more
memorable expedition from Norway." He was called Sigurd Jor-
salafarer (Jorsal = Jerusalem), a name by which he is generally known
in history.^

54. King Eystein Magnusson's Reign. The Acquisition of

J^MTLAND

During Sigurd's absence Eystein ruled the kingdom with great
ability. He showed rare talent for administration, and furthered a

1 Paul Riant, Skandinavernes Korslog og Andagtsreiser til Palestina, Co-
penhagen, 1868.

320 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

peaceful development wäth sueh devoted interest that his reign is re-
membered as oue of the most beuigii and prosperous in the history of
the colintry. He is described as a man of medium size with blue
eyes and light ciirly hair. He had acquired extensive legal knowl-
edge, and he distingnished himself throiigh equanimity and great
wisdom in council. The people loved him highly for his friendly
and cheerful disposition and his love of peace and justice.

His brother Sigurd Jorsalafarer (Crusader) was not like him.
He had auburn hair, and was tall and well-built, but not good look-
ing. He was a great athlete and a very ambitious prince, but usually
gloomy and reticent. At times he showed a violent temper, and he
often punished ofTenders severely ; but he was generous to a fault,
frank, brave, and upright. Tlie more untoward traits of his char-
acter can only be explained as an inception of insanity, which in his
later years enveloped him in mental darkness.

With the instinct of a statesman King Eystein soon took steps
to jõin the province of Jjjemtland to the Norwegian kingdom. This
independent border district had been settled in early days by colo-
nists from Tr0ndelagen, and when Harald Haarfagre had won all
Norway, many people who were dissatisfied with the new order
of things emigrated into Jsemtland and the neighboring districts,
Helsingland and Herjedalen. We have seen that in the time of
Haakon the Good the people of Jsemtland voluntarily placed them-
selves under the authority of the king of Norway, as they preferred
his overlordship to that of the Swedish king. This step proves
that they considered themselves as Xorsemen. The province be-
longed to Norway till in the time of King Olav the Saint, when it
was seized by the king of Sweden, and it remained a Swedish de-
pendency until it was reunited with Norway in Eystein's reign.^

In ecclesiastical affairs, however, it always formed a part of the
diocese of Upsala. Herjedalen, which is often mentioned together
with Jaemtland, belonged to the diocese of Trondhjem, and seems
always to have been a Norw^egian province. "King Eystein sent
messengers to Jsemtland to the wisest and most powerful men,"

1 P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. II., p. 596 ff. Samlinger
til det norske Folks Sprog og Historie, vol. I., p. 34 ff., Nye Bidrag til den
gamle norske Provins Joemtlands Historie.

KING EYSTEIN MAGNUSSON's REIGN 321

says the säga, "and invited them to visit him. He received with
great cordiality those who came, and gave them valuable gifts.
He also sent presents to some who did not oome, and in this way he
gained the friendship of all those who ruled that country, He spoke
to them and showed them that the people of Ja?mthind had acted
unwisely in withdrawing their allegiance and their taxes from the
kings of Norway. He mentioned that the people of that province
had given their allegiance to Haakon Adalsteinsfostre (Haakon the
Good), and had lõng remained subject to the Norwegian kings. He
pointed out how many necessary articles they could get from Norway,
and how mnch trouble it would cause them to get what they needed
from the king of Sweden. He succeeded so well with his arguments
that the people of their own accord made an ofFer, and asked that
they might be allowed to pledge their allegiance to King Eystein,
which they termed their need and necessity. The union was brought
about in the following manner : The leading men asked the people
to take an oath of fealty, and aften\^ards they went to King Eystein
and gave him the country." ^

How the province of Jsemtland could be enticed away from Sweden
and joined to Norway without causing an open rupture between
the two countries it is not easy to explain, even if according to Ey-
stein's view of the matter Norway stiil had a valid claim to this
border district which Sweden had unrightfully seized. The inactivity
of the Swedish king must have been due to circumstances which made
it impossible for him to pay attention to this distant province, but
what these circumstances were is left to conjecture. If King Inge
Stenkilsson was stiil alive, which is not known, he was now an aged
man, possibly too weak to take a very active part in the affairs of
state. If he was dead, it is not improbable that jealousy between
rival candidates for the throne had temporarily crippled the govern-
ment, and that King Eystein used such a moment of weakness for
his shrewd and well-planned move.

Monasticism made its appearance in Norway at this time, and sev-
eral monasteries of the Benedictine order were built during the twelftli
century. Sigurd Ulstreng founded a monastery of this order, prob-
ably in 1104, and King Eystein began the erection of a St. INIichaers

1 Heimskringla, The Säga of the Sons of Magnus, eh. 15.
VOL. I — Y

322 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

church and monastery at Nordness, near Bergen. The buildings
were large stone structiires, but it is not known whether they were
finished in Eystein's time. It has been thought that the St. Albanus
monastery at Selja, and the three nunneries, Gims0 at Skien,
Nonnesseter in Oslo, and Bakke in Trondhjem, were also founded
in Eystein's reign,^ but this is doubtful. The St. Albanus monas-
tery is not heard of till in King Sverre Sigurdsson's reign, and the
nunneries are not mentioned till in the second half of the twelfth
century. The rules of the order required the Benedictine monks
to divide the time not spent in devotional exercises between physi-
cal labor, especially gardening and horticulture, and study, which
consisted chiefly in the copying of books and manuscripts. They
introduced many new varieties of plants and trees, and the fruit
raising which now flourishes in many districts of Norway was de-
veloped mainly by their skillful and painstaking efforts. To their
literary activity we are indebted especially for some valuable works
on the early history of Norway, the most noteworthy of which is the
"Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium," by Theodricus
Monachus.

^wing to the interest of the kings in religious matters, Norway
was fast swinging into line with regard to church organization and
ecclesiastical affairs generally. The diocese of Bergen was divided^
and a new bishopric was pstablished at Stnvangeiy No city had
yet been founded there, but wharves had been built on the fine harbor,
which was visited by merchant ships in great numbers. WTien the
bishop's residence was located there, a new development began, and
Stavanger is spoken of as a city already in the latter half of the twelfth
century. Reinald (Reginald), a Benedictine monk from Winchester,
England, was made bishop, and his first thought seems to have been
to erect a cathedral church, which of necessity had to adorn every
bishop's seat in those times. It was a great undertaking, as the
cathedrals were built by the church, not by the state, but the Catholic
bishops were men of wealth and power ; they had the ränk of jarls,
and enjoyed a princely income. Large tracts of land had been
granted to the diocese, and when King Sigurd the Crusader intro-
duced the system of tithes, the bishops also received one-fourth of
* Chr. C. A. Lange, De norske Klostres Historie i Middelalderen, p. 17 f.

PLATE IX

The Stavanger Cathedral.

Interiok OK THE Stavanger Cathedral.

KING EYSTEIN MAGNUSSON's REIGN 323

this new revenue. They had also a considerable income from royal
fiefs and from fines paid by those wlio transgressed against the
ordinances of the church. For undertakings of special importance
the bishop eould also call upon the people for a general contribution.
A eathedral was erected, which is stiil the pride of the beautiful
city of Stavanger. It was built in the Romnnpsqiip style fl^^^r th^
pattern of the Winchester eathedral in Englaiid. -and seems to have

"been completed about 1150.^ It was dedicated to St. Swithun,
bishop of Winchester in England (837-862), and a shrine cortaining
some relics of the saint, which had been brought from England for
the purpose, was deposited in the church. A new bishopric was
also established at Holar in Iceland in 1106,^ and a eathedral was
erected at Kirkeb0 in the Faroe Islands, where a diocese was now
permanently established. The attempt of Bishop Eirik Gnupsson
of Greenland to Christianize the Skrselings in Vinland has already
been mentioned elsewhere. He was, evidently, lost on the voyage,
as he was never again heard of. King Eystein erected churches
in Trondhjem, and at Trondenes in Nordland. In Bergen he built
a royal residence, which was said to be the finest wooden structure
in Norway. Close to this hall he built the Apostle church, which
was used as a royal chapel. Eystein's efforts were wholly directed
towards the peaceful upbuilding of the kingdom through internal
improvements and the encouragement of commerce. Iie constructed
a new harbor at Agdenes, at the entrance to the Trondhjemsfjord,
and improved the harbor of Sundholm Sound near Bergen. On the
mountain tops along the coast he caused beacons to be erected for
the guidance of mariners. These improvements were of importance
to commerce, which was developing rapidly at this time, especially
through the increased export of herring and codfish.

The numerous pilgrimages to St. 01av's shrine had increased
travel across the Dovre Mountains, but as the journey through the
wilds from eastern Norway to Trondhjem was difficult and dangerous,

1 Tveteraas, Stavanger Domkirke, Stavanger Aftenblad, April 12, till
June 1, 1911. Stavanger Domkirke, ete, udgivet av Foreningen til norske
Fortidsmindesmerkers Bevaring, med Text av N. Nicolaysen, Christiania,
189G.

2 A. D. J0rgenson, Den nordiske Kirkes Grundlosggelse og ffirste Udvikling,
p. 875.

324 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Eystein erected three mountain stations, where travelers coiild find
shelter and refreshments. Though primarily intended for pilgrims,
these stations proved to be such an aid to all travelers that the
trafRc across the mountains was greatly increased.

The relation between the kings, though peaceful, was not cordial,
and at times it was marred by more serious clashes provoked by
Sigurd's jealous disposition and violent temper. Snorre has pic-
tured an altercation between them in the "Heimskringla," in the
happiest vein of his inimitable style. The episode as he describes
it must be regarded as drama rather than history, but it gives a
most vivid picture of the temper and character of the two kings :
" One winter the kings Eystein and Sigurd were entertained in Oplan-
dene, and each had his own residence. But as the estates where
they were to dwell were not far apart, their followers agreed that
the kings should stay together, and that they should visit one another
in turn. At first they were all assembled at the home of King
Eystein ; but in the evening when the drinking-feast began, the
ale was not to their liking, and the men were reticent. Eystein said :
'The men are silent, but it is more in keeping with custom to be
merry over the drinking-cup. Let us have some merriment, and
there will stiil be good cheer among the men. It is proper, brother
Sigurd, that we should begin some jocular conversation.' But
Sigurd replied curtly : ' Be as talkative as you please, but allow me
to be quiet.' King Eystein said: 'It has often been customary at
the drinking-feast that one compares himself with another, so let
it be now.' But Sigurd remained silent. 'I see,' said Eystein, 'that
I have to begin this diversion. I will compare myself with you,
brother. I must mention that we are equal in honor and posses-
sions, and there is no dififerenee in our descent or education.' King
Sigurd answered : ' Do you remember that I could throw you in
a wrestling match whenever I pleased, though you are a year older ? '
Eystein said : ' But I also remember that you did not win in the
contests which require agility.' Sigurd said: *Do you remember
that when we were swimming I could duck you under whenever I
pleased ? ' Eystein answered : ' I swam as far as you did, and I
could swim equally well under water. I could also skate so well
that I know of no one who could compete with me in that sport,

KING EYSTEIN MAGNüSSON's REIGN 325

but you could not skate better than an ox.' Sigurd said : ' It seems
to me that it is a sport better fitted for chieftains to be able to sho(}t
well with bow and arrow, but you cannot use my bow if you draw
it with your feet.' Eystein answered : 'I am not so strong with the
bow, but there is little difference in our abihty to hit the mark. In
skiing I am your superior, and that has hitherto been accounted a
fine sport.' Sigurd said: 'It seems to me especially befitting a
chieftain that he, who is to be the leader of others, shoukl be tall
and strong, and better able to wield the weapon than other men, so
that he can be easily recognized where many are assembled.' King
Eystein said : ' It is no less important that a man is handsome, he is
then easily recognized in a multitude ; that, too, appears to me to
be a quality of a chieftain, for fine clothes süit well a handsome man.
I am also better versed in the laws than you are, and when we speak,
I am more eloquent.' Sigurd said: 'It may be that you know
more tricks in law than I do, for I have had other things to contend
with. No one denies that you have a smoother tongue, but many
say that you do not always keep your word, but that you take your
promises lightly ; that you seemingly agree with every one you talk
with, and that is no kingly conduct.' King Eystein said: '^^^len
people bring their suits before me, my first thought is to bring the
cause of each party to a conclusion that will seem best to him ; but
then comes also the counterpart, and the quarrel is then often ad-
justed in a way satisfactory to both. It often happens that I prom-
ise to do what people ask of me, for I desire that all shoukl go away
v.ell pleased. But I have the choice, also, if I wish, to do like you,
and threaten everybody with punishment, and I have heard no one
complain that you do not keep your promise.' King Sigurd said :
* It has been generally recognized that the expedition which I made
when I left our land was an achievement worthy of a chieftain, but
you stayed at home Hke your father's daughter.' King Eystein
answered : ' Now you touched the ulcer. I should not have started
this conversation if I could make no reply on this point. It should
almost seem as if I sent you f rom home like my sister when you were
equipped for the expedition.' King Sigurd said : ' I suppose you
have heard that I fought many battles in Turkey, which you have
heard mentioned. I was victorious in all of them, and secured a

326 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

great deal of valuable booty, such as never has been brought to this
land. I was most honored where I met the best men, but I am afraid
that you are stiil the home-bred greenhorn.' King Eysteiii said :
' I have heard that you fought some battles abroad, but it was of more
value to our country that I erected five churches from the very foun-
dations. I also constructed a harbor at Agdenes where there was
no harbor before, and where every sailor had to pass in going north
or soutli along the coast. I also built the stone tower in Sundholm
Sound, and the royal hall in Bergen, while you sent Saracens to the
devil in Turkey, which, I think, was of little benefitto ourkingdom.'
King Sigurd said : ' On my expedition I went even as f ar as the river
Jordan, and I swam across the river ; but on the river bank are some
small trees, and among these I tied a knot, and spoke over it, that
you, my brother, should untie it, or you should be spoken of accord-
ingly.' King Eystein said : ' I will not untie the knot which you
have tied for me, but I might have tied you a knot which you would
have been far less able to untie, the time when you sailed with one
ship into my fleet on your return.' After this they remained silent,
and both were angry." ^

A more serious collision between the two kings occurred in con-
nection with the süit brought by King Sigurd against his lendermand
Sigurd Ranesson, whom he accused of defalcation and fraud. Ranes-
son had been a faithful friend and companion of King Magnus Bare-
foot, and he was married to Skjaldvaar, King Magnus' sister. He
had been appointed royal tax collector in Finmarken,^ and had a
monopoly on the trade with the Finns. King Sigurd accused him
of häving withheld sixty marks of silver yearly which rightfully

^ Heimskringla, The Säga of the So7is of Magnus, eh. 21.

2 Finmarken, as far as to the White Sea, was at this time a Norwegian
dependeney, and the Finns had to pay tribute to the kings of Norway.
This tribute was farmed out to powerful nobles in Haalogaland in northern
Norway. They agreed to pay the king a eertain surn every year, and in
turn they were granted exclusive right to trade with the Finns, and to col-
leet what tribute they might get from them. This syssel, or offiee of royal
tax collector, was regarded as very profitable.

The original sources dealing with this noted case have been coUected
and edited by Gustav Storm in his work Sigurd Ranessons Proces, Chris-
tiania, 1877. See also Samlinger til det norske Folks Sprog og Historie, vol.
I., p. 112 ff.

KING EYSTEIN MAGNUSSON's REIGN 327

belonged to the royal treasury, and Ranesson feared that, although
he was innocent, the decision might go against him when the süit
was brought before the thing. He therefore hastened to Viken,
placed his case before King Eystein, and asked his assistance. Ey-
stein investigated the matter carefuUy, and advised Ranesson as to
what course to pursue.

In the spring King Eystein went to Trondhjem for the piirpose of
bringing about a reconcihation between Ranesson and King Sigurd.
But Sigurd summoned a hything where he accused Ranesson of
häving coUected taxes, and of häving seized the trade with the Finns
without authority. Eystein pointed out that the case was of such
a character that it coiild not be tried at a hything, but would come
under the jurisdiction of a regular thing, and Sigurd had to postpone
the matter. He summoned a thing to meet within two weeks, and
left the meeting with his men. At the appointed time both kings
appeared at the thing with a large number of armed followers, and
Sigurd reiterated his accusations against Ranesson, who maintained
that he was innocent, and that the king had been misinformed.
Eystein spoke very eloquently in Ranesson's behalf , and showed that
if the case was to be settled according to law and justice, it would
have to be brought before the Thrandarnesthing, as the thing which
King Sigurd had summoned had no jurisdiction over a vassal. After
the lagmcsnd (those learned in the law) had carefully weighed the
matter, they declared the point raised by King Eystein to be well
taken. The thing had to be adjourned, and King Sigurd summoned
Ranesson to plead his cause at the Thrandarnesthing within a
fortnight.

Both kings gathered strong forces and met on the day appointed.
"When King Eystein approached the thing, he said to Ranesson:
'What offer doest thou intend to make, and how wilt thou defend
thyself to-day at the thing f Ranesson answered : 'From you I
expect to get counsel and help.' Eystein said: *Come now hither,
if thou wilt follow my advice, and give me thy händ as a token that
thou wilt transfer thy cause to me. It is proper that we brothers
should look each other in the eye, and see who is best versed in the
law.' This was done, and Eystein went to the thing with his men."
King Sigurd repeated his charges against Ranesson, and Eystein

328 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

again spoke in his defense, but when Sigurd declared that he was
determined to have the case setti ed according to law, King Eystein
said : " I have indeed said, brother, that you should bring this case
against Ranesson before the Thrandarnesthing, but since a sHght
change has now taken place, so that the kings themselves are parties
in the case, it cannot be decided at a fylkesthing , but must be brought
before the lagthing. The Frostathing alone has now jurisdiction
in this case, and there it must be decided, if it must absolutely be
decided according to law. I have taken upon myself this case
against Sigurd Ranesson, so that we kings are now parties in it. This
you cannot gainsay." King Sigurd declared that he would not
yield, and he summoned Eystein to appear before the Frostathing.
But this thing had already been adjourned, and would not assemble
again till the following summer.

When the lagthing convened. King Sigurd preferred his charges
against Ranesson in the most carefully prepared legal form, and
Eystein undertook to conduct the defense. The lendermand Jon
Mornev, a man very learned in the law, was leader and spokesman
for the lagrette} It is clear that lagmcend were also present at the
thing. ^ Ranesson was able to prove that King Magnus Barefoot had
granted him the trade with the Finns as a monopoly, and that he had
made the provision that this grant should also continue throughout the
reign of his sons. It was for the thing, then, to decide whether Magnus
could make a grant for a period extending beyond his own reign.
The lagmcend found that the king could make permanent grants, but
in order to be valid such grants had to be published at all the lag-
things (Frostathing, Gulathing, ete), but Ranesson had no witnesses
to prove that he had complied with the law on this point. King
Sigurd declared that he would not recognize this to be the law, that a

1 The lendermcend were not chosen to the lagrette except with the consent
of the haulds or b^nder.

2 The lagmoend were a sort of judges who declared and interpreted the law.
The decisions to be voted by the thing were prepared by the lagrette. The
office corresponded somewhat to that of lovsigemand in Iceland. About
the age of the institution of lagmcend in Norway there has been eonsiderable
discussion, but it is clear that it existed at this time, and even much earlier.
See Konrad Maurer, Das Alter des Gesetz-sprecheramtes in Norwegen; Ebbe
Hertzberg, Grundtraekkene i den oeldste norske Proces; Gustav Storm, Sigurd
Ranessons Proces.

KING EYSTEIN MAGNUSSON's REIGN 329

king could make a grant for a longer period than his own reign, and
maintained that it had now been proven that Ranesson had no right
to the trade with the Finns. Eystein maintained that the king had
the right to make such grants, biit as it seemed impossible to wholly
remove all doubt on this point, the chieftains proposed that the kings
should east lots as to whose view should prevail. To this they consented.
Sigiird was successful, and he declared his view to be adopted. The
point was now raised whether Ranesson had gained possession of the
wares which he had collected, without the consent of the owners.
The lendermand Bergthor Bokk testified against him on this point,
and King Sigurd demanded that the defendant should be declared
guilty and punished. But Eystein had not yet exhausted all his
resources in this legal duel. He said that it seemed to him to be very
unjust to find Ranesson guilty when King Magnus had made the
grant in behalf of his sons, and it had hitherto not been revoked.
He requested the thing to pause a few moments before rendering a
decision, and this was granted. He then called witnesses to prove
that the case had already been dismissed at three previous things,
and showed that when a case, because of irregular procedure, had
been dismissed thrice it could not again be brought before a thing.
This law point was accepted by the lagrette as applying to the case, and
no decision could be given by the thiiig. We can scarcely blame King
Sigurd for waxing wroth when he again found himself worsted in this
way. He left the thing, and vowed that since Eystein had blocked
justice by shrewd tricks he would now seek it in some other way.

The relations between the brothers were now strained to the
breaking point, and civil war seemed imminent. In the evening
after the thing adjourned Eystein returned to his residence, and
talked with his men about the trial just concluded. He asked Ranes-
son what he thought of the outcome, and Ranesson answered that
he was very thankful to the king for what he had done for him. The
"Morkinskinna" continues : "Shortly afterwards Sigurd Ranesson
found an opportunity to leave the house. It was läte in the evening,
and when he had assured himself that no one noticed him, he walked
hastily away alone. He had no mantle, he wore a scarlet coat and
blue trousers buttoned outside the coat and buckled about the
waist ; in his händ he carried a javelin with a handle so short that

330 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

his händ touched the iron. He walked down the street, and did not
stop until he came to the wharf which touched the stern of King
Sigurd's ship. A man sat there keeping guard. Ranesson asked
permission to enter the ship, but the guard refused. 'Choose then,'
said Ranesson, ' leave the wharf now, or this spear will pierce you.'
The guard withdrew, and he entered the ship and walked forward
towards the front. There the men were seated by the tables, and
no one noticed him until he knelt before the king and said : * I do
not wish, King Sigurd, that you brothers, as it now appears, should
begin war against one another for my sake. I will rather give myself
and my head into your power. Do with me as you please, for I will
rather die than cause hostilities between you and your brother.'
Many of the men interceded for him, and begged Sigurd to show him
mercy since he had surrendered himself to the king. King Sigurd
said: 'You are truly a noble man, Sigurd Ranesson, and you have
taken a course which is best for us all. It looked as if a misfortune
was about to happen, so great that God alone could knowthe outcome.
I had decided to go up to Julvold in the morning w'ith my men, and
fight with King Eystein. I am now willing to bring about a recon-
ciliation if you will leave the matter to my decision.' This Ranes-
son did. King Sigurd said : ' I will not delay settlement, for this
case has been lõng drawn out. You must pay a fine of fifteen marks,
which sum is to be paid in full to-morrow before the services are at
an end in the Christ church. My brothers intended to disgrace
me, but I will guard their honor as carefully as my own. You must
pay five marks to King Eystein and five marks to King Olav,^ and
you must pay them before you pay me. This fine you are to pay in
pure gold, for I have been toid that you have grown rich in gold
from taxes which you have collected. But if you do not pay this
money exactly in the manner which I have now stated, the reconcilia-
tion between us is at an end.' Sigurd Ranesson answered: 'I
thank you, my lord, for your wilhngness to become reconciled, how-
soever it may be with my wealth.' Sigurd Ranesson had no gold,

1 The boy king was stiil living. He died in 1115, fifteen years of age.
Since Ranesson was fined for fraudulently appropriating to his own use
money collected as royal taxes, it was proper to divide the fine equally among
the kings, as Sigurd did.

KING EYSTEIN MAGNUSS0N'S REIGN 331

but he succeeded in borrowing five marks from his friends. This
sum he first offered King Eystein, but he refused to accept it, and
toid Ranesson that he would make him a present of it. When he
brought the gold to King Olav, he said that he would do as his.brother
Eystein had done. Finally he offered Sigurd the five marks. The
king said that he would give him the gold, if he would be his friend
in case hostilities should ever break out between him and Eystein.
Ranesson answered : ' I hope that you will never again disagree,
for I wish both you and your brothers well ; but however much gold
will be at stake, yes, even if it should eost me my life, I will esteem
no one higher than King Eystein as lõng as I Iive.' The king then
gave him the gold without eondition. Ranesson thanked him, and
invited the king to dine with him that same day with as many fol-
lowers as he wished to bring, and King Sigurd accepted the invita-
tion. After mass he went to Ranesson's house with forty men.
When they entered the hall, they found it beautifully decorated with
tapestries and weapons ; the walls were hung with shields, and every-
thing was so elegantly arranged that the king and his men were quite
surprised. The feast was very magnificent and lasted the w^hole
day. Ranesson and his men waited on the guests, carried in bever-
ages and everything which they wanted. When they were gone, so
that the king was alone with his f ollowers, he said to them : ' Where
have you ever seen a house of a vassal furnished like this? You
will not find the like even in the halls of kings. It surpasses anything
that is to be seen anywhere.' Bergthor Bokk answered: 'Fine
weapons these are, indeed, and eve^thing is beautifully arranged, but
it would have been a greater honor for our host if he had owned some
of these fine things himself and had not borrowed them all.' King
Sigurd became offended and replied : ' We can see how many friends
the man has, when we notice that he can get from others everything
which he wishes ; but thou hast not spoken kindly.' Ranesson
now stepped into the hall, and he had heard what had been said.
When the bells tolled for the vespers, the king prepared to leave.
Ranesson gave him costly presents and invited him to return after
the vespers to drink a toast to the memory of Christ.^ This invita-

1 This was a continuation of an oid heathen eustom of drinking toasts to
the honor of the gods.

332 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

tion the king accepted. When King Sigurd and his men returned
to the hall, all the shields had been removed except an oid shield
and a mantle which hung by the table where the drinks were served.
' A sudden cliange has taken place while we were gone,' said Sigurd.
' It is but to be expected, my lord,' said Ranesson, ' that each one
wants his articles returned. I own no shield save this oid one which
hangs yonder, and whether or not I am to keep that you shall decide.
The story of this shield is as foUows : We accompanied your father,
King Magnus, on his expedition to Ireland, and we landed for the
last time on the Irish coast, which we should not have done. An
invincible Irish army came against us ; a battle began, as you know,
and the great misfortune happened that King Magnus your father,
Stallare Eyvind Olboge, and many other brave heroes fell. Our
army fled, and all hurried to the ships as fast as they could ; but I
was not among the first to flee. As they hurried to the ships, a deep
swamp near the coast retarded their flight. They attempted to jump
over it, and some succeeded, but others did not, and many of those
who did not get across were stabbed with spears. When we ap-
proached the swamp, I saw a man in front of me ; he had this shield
on his back, and this mantle about him. When he noticed that it
was difficult to cross the swamp, he first threw away the shield, then
he tore off his mantle He wore a silk cap, and the most honorable
thing he did, it seemed to me, was that he did not also throw away
the cap. It seemed to me that this man was Bergthor Bokk ; but
Vidkun Jonsson knows, for he was present when I picked up the
shield and the mantle. In the battle I had had no shield. Since
then I have kept this shield, and now, my lord, you may decide
whether I or Bergthor should own it.' The king answered curtly :
'Keep thou the shield.' The king left, and Bergthor was very
angry. Shortly afterward King Olav died, as has already been toid;
Sigurd and Eystein were both kings, but from this time on they were
not real friends, though peace was maintained while they lived."

King Eystein died in 1122, thirty-three years of age, at Hustad
in Romsdal, and was interred in the Christ church in Trondhjem.
" At no man's bier had there been so many mourners since the death
of King Magnus the Good, the son of St. Olav," says the "Heims-
kringla."

THE REIGN OF KING SIGURD THE CRUSADER 333

The report of the case against Sigurd Ranesson is one of the
most valuable documents in all säga literature dealing with Norse
jurisprudence. It brings to view a highly developed legal sys-
tem adapted to an intricate court procedure by astute lawyers,
wliose skillful pleadings remind us of the proceedings in modern
common-law eourts. The laws had not been made by great law-
givers, but had been gradually evolved from the sense of justice of
the whole people. The things, both local and superior, gave the
people an opportunity to participate directly in the deliberations
on all important public questions. All controversies were adjudi-
cated there, and the decisions rendered expressed the best sentiment
and most intelligent will of the eommunity. This system developed
in time an intimate knowledge of the law, the love for its details,
the pride in its intricacies, but also the profound respect for its author-
ity which was the virtue and strength of the Norse social organiza-
tion. The thing-system developed in the people an ability for self-
government, a sense for legal justice, a regard for the rights of the
individual which made arbitrary decisions and tyrannical government
impossible. The people in council at the thing was the highest
tribunal and authority in the land, before which even kings had
to plead their cause. During the centuries in which the life and
traits of the Norsemen were rapidly fashioned into a permanent
national character, these institutions of popular self-government
were developing in the Norwegian people the spirit of freedom which
expresses itself in an intense love for individual autonomy and na-
tional independence in all subsequent Norwegian history,

55. The Reign of King Sigurd the Crusader

After Eystein's death, Sigurd ruled Norway for seven years, pur-
suant to the policy of peace and cultural development inaugurated
by his brother He made a crusade against the Swedish province
of Smäland, and forced the yet heathen inhabitants of this district
to accept the Christian faith, but the expedition seems to have been
undertaken for the purpose of fulfilling a promise which he had made
in Palestine that he would do everything possible to further the
cause of Christianity. Sigurd was imbued with a religious zeal

334 HISTORY OF THE NOKWEGIAN PEOPLE

of the crusading type characteristic of the age, and he soiight ear-
nestly to improve the organization of the church, and to give the clergy
more power and greater independence of secular authorities. By
these efforts he was clearly assisting the church in its efforts to es-
tabUsh itself as an independent power and supreme authority, though
he was, possibly, unable to foresee that this new power, once securely
estabhshed, would recoil most forcibly against the royal authority
which had been instrumental in creating it. The statement of
Ordericus Vitahs ^ that Sigurd first built monasteries in Norway and
estabhshed permanent bishoprics there is, indeed, erroneous, but he
established a fourth bishopric at Stavanger, though the year when
this happened cannot be determined. He continued the work on
the Christ church in Bergen, and completed the St. Halvjird's church
in Oslo. He had also promised, while in Jerusalem, to make his
kingdom an archbishopric, but this promise he could not fulfill,
as the Church of Norway was stiil too little developed to be organized
into an independent ecclesiastical province. The most important
step taken by Sigurd in church affairs was the introduction of the
system of tithes. This was a tithe on incomes, and was to be sub-
stituted for the salaries which had hitherto been paid the priests and
functionaries of the church. But the salaries were collected as before,
and the clergy could now rejoice over a great increase in their income.
King. Sjguf^ established his permanent residence in the trading
town of Konghelle^in southeastern Norway, which through his efforts
soon ranked "s\'ith the most important cities in the kingdom. jHe
erected a large castle there, and surrounded it vnth walls and moats.
Inside the walls he built a royal residence, gnH prpptpH thp phnrpK
of the Holy Cross, to which he gave tlie Hlip ^f ^^^^ pm^q ,^f rhri^^t
jvjiich heJmd received in JemsnleT^- He had promised to deposit
it in the Christ church in Trondhjem, but he donated it to this new
church, as it seems, for the purpose of giving the growing town of
Konghelle increased prestige. On the altar of the church he placed
a costly chest which he had received from Prince Eirik Emune of
Denmark, and also a plenarmm ^ written with golden letters, which

^ Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, X., p. 767.
2 Plenariura ( = complete book), so called because it contained a complete
collectioD. of texts for all Sundays in the year.

THE REIGN OF KING SIGURD THE CRUSADER 335

the patriarch of Jerusalem had given him. In speaking of tlie
Norwegian cities at this time Ordericus Vitalis says : " Along the
coast of Norway, by the sea, are found the foUowing five cities :
Bergen, Konghelle, Kaupang (Nidaros), Borg (Sarpsborg), and Oslo.
There is also a sixth city by the name of Tunsberg, which lies east-
ward towards the Danes." Stavanger is not mentioned.

^ing Sigurd had suffered at times from serious mental aberra-
tions which plunged him into the deepest anguish and despondency.
As years passed, his mental condition grew worse, until he was
seized with violent fits of insanit^ On Pentecost Sunday, as he
sat in his hall with his queen, Malmfrid, surrounded by many friends
and guests, his men noticed to their horror that the king had suddenly
become insane. He rolled his eyes wildly and stared around the
hall and at his men. He grabbed a costly book written with golden
letters, which he had brought from Constantinople, looked at the
queen and said : " How much can be changed in a person's lifetime.
When I came to this land, I had two things which I considered more
precious than all others, this book and my queen. Now it seenis to
me that one is worse than the other. The queen does not know how
horrid she looks. She has a goat-horn in her forehead, and the
more lovely she looked then, the more horrid she looks now. This
book is worth nothing." With these words he threw the book into
the fire, and struck the queen in the face. She wept, but more be-
cause of the king's illness than because of his conduct towards her.
Before the king stood a young kertisveinn (page), Ottar Birting, small
in stature, but handsome and dark-haired. He snatched the book
from the fire, and said to the king : " It is different now, my lord,
from the day when you returned with honor and glory to Norway,
and all your friends hastened to meet you, and greeted you with
reverence as their king. Now days of sorrow have come. Many of
your friends have assembled to celebrate this festival, but they can-
not be glad because of your sad condition. Be good, my lord, and
take my advice. Console with your kindness the queen, w^hom you
have grievously wronged, and also your chieftains, your Jiird, your
friends, and your servants." "What!" shouted the king, "darest
thou ugly peasant boy of the humblest descent to give me advice?"
He jumped up and raised the sword with both hands over the boy's

33C HISTORY OF THE NOHWEGIAN PEOPLE

head. But Birting looked at him calm and fearless, and the king
dropped the side of the sword on his shoulder, and sat down without
saying a word. Everybody in the hall was silent. The king had
now regained his composure and looked aroimd with calmness.
"But läte one tries his own men, and learns how they really are,"
he said. " Here my best f riends are assembled : lendermoBnd, stal-
larer, skutilsveinar, and the foremost men in the land, but no one
served me as well as this page, whom, I suppose, you consider very
inferior to yourselves. This page is Ottar Birting; he has shown
me the greatest devotion. Here I, an insane man, was about to
destroy my treasure, but he saved it so that it was not damaged.
Neither did he fear death, but he spoke to me in such words that I
felt honored. He did not mention anything that eould arouse my
anger, although he had good reason to do so. He spoke so well that
no one present could have spoken better. I jumped up in a rage
and was going to strike him with the sword, but he was so brave
that he showed no fear, therefore I did him no härm, for he ought
not to die beeause of his virtue. But now, my friends, I will let you
know how I intend to reward him. Hitherto he has been my ker-
tisveinn; now he shall be my lendermand, and, more than that, he
shall from this moment be the foremost among the lendermcBnd.
Take, therefore, Ottar, thy seat among the lenderincend. Thou shalt
serve no longer." Ottar became afterw^ards a prominent and highly
honored man.^

It may have been largely due to his diseased state of mind that
Sigurd finally put away Queen Malmfrid, and married a young lady,
Cecelia, with whom he had fallen in love. Bishop Magne of Bergen
refused to allow this marriage to be performed, but Sigurd finally
induced Bishop Reinald of Stavanger to grant permission, by offering
to contribute liberally to the Stavanger cathedral which the bishop
was building.- King Sigurd died in Oslo in the spring of the year
1130, and was interred in the church of St. Halvard.

1 Morkinskinna, 30 b.

2 Tveteraas, Stavanger Aftenblad, April 12 to June 1, 1911.

the period of civil wars 337

56. The Period of Civil Wars. Magnus the Blind, Harald

GiLLE, AND SiGURD SlEMBEDIAKN

King Sigurd the Crusader had his faiilts, biit he was an able ruler,
and was loved and respected by his subjects. His expeditions
abroad had won him honor and distinction ; at home he eontinued
with abiUty and upright purpose the poHcy of peaceful development
inaiigurated by Eystein, which made the reign of the sons of Magnus
Barefoot one of the most benign and prosperous in the early centuries
of Norwegian history. The darkness of the lõng period of civil
strife, bloodshed, and confusion which followed upon the death of
Sigurd becomes stiil deeper when we view it against the background
of the prosperous and peaceful era which preceded it. Instead of
great national kings, the period of civil wars ushers past with kaleido-
scopic rapidity arrogant and incompetent heirs to the throne, con-
temptible pretenders, daring fortune-seekers, and worthless pupp et
kings who hoid the throne for a day, to be swept from the political
chessboard by plots and assassinations. Progress is retarded, and
the energies of the nation wasted by the endless strife between rival
candidates for the throne. The oid writers look upon the period as
if the wrath of heaven had suddenly fallen upon the country. Saxo
Grammaticus compares the coming of Harald Gille to Norway with
a destructive thunderstorm which suddenly swept over the country ; ^
and the " Morkinskinna " lets King Sigurd prophesy that evil days
would come after his death : " Unfortunate are you, Norsemen, that
you have an insane king to ruie over you, but the time will come when
you would give red gold to have me for a king rather than Harald
Gille or Magnus, the one cruel, the other foolish." ^

But we need not explain the evils of this period either as the
wrath of an offended deity, or as the result of the wickedness or in-
competence of a single man. The civil wars were only a revival of
oid evils in an aggravated form, and they were due, in the main, to
the same causes which had produced civil wars in earlier days. The
circumstance that there was no regulated succession to the throne,
but that all the sons of the king or kings had an equal claim to the
kingship whether they were born In lawful wedlock or not was in

1 Saxo Grammaticus, part III., book XIII. ^ Morkinskinna, p. 196.

VOL. I — z

338 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

itself sufficient cause for civil strife, as it became possible for any
boid adventurer to put forward a claim to the throne, based on the
assertion that he was of royal blood. During this period the various
aspirants to the throne were weak and worthless men, children, or
ill-starred adventurers. In such hands royal power could become
nothing but a name and a shadow. The aristocracy gained control,
and willingly aided the worthless kings in weakening and destroying
one another. The chieftains foiight, indeed, under various standards
with seeming zeal for the claims and rights of the candidates whose
cause they espoused, but in reality they sought their own advantage,
and strengthened their own influence at the expense of the crown,
which gradually lost its luster. The clergy, too, were eagerly reaching
out for more prestige and power, and would gladly despoil the king
of the authority and supervision which he had hitherto exercised in
the church. This tendency became especially märked after the
creation of the Norwegian archbishopric of Nidaros in 1152. In
their efforts to despoil royalty of its power, we soon find the clergy
firmly leagued with the aristocracy, and in time these two allied forces
ruthlessly swept away the last vestige of real significance of the
crown.

With a young woman of good family, Borghild of Dal, King Sigurd
had the illegitimate son Magnus, whom he caused to be proclaimed
successor to the throne. King Eystein had only one child, a daughter,
Maria, and as Magnus was Sigurd's only son, it was expected that he
would become sõle king without opposition. But two years before
the death of Sigurd a young man of Irish birth, Harald Gille, or
Gilchrist, came to Norway, and claimed to be an illegitimate son
of King Magnus Barefoot. Harald was tall and slender, with dark
hair, and looked in all respects like an Irishman ; he spoke the Nor-
wegian language imperfectly, and never learned to speak it well ;
his whole career showed him to be a man of weak character and small
ability. He asked King Sigurd to grant him permission to prove
his royal extraction by ordeal, and after some deliberation Sigurd,
strangely enough, granted this request, as he seems to have felt
convinced that Harald was really his half-brother. Harald passed
successfully through the ordeal of walking over red-hot plowshares,
and Sigurd made him a member of his hird and became quite attached

THE PERIOD OF CIVIL WARS 339

to him, thoiigh he made liim swear a solemn oath that he would
never attempt to become king of Norway as lõng as Magnus lived.
Magnus seems to have regarded Harald Gille as a rival, and felt
intense hatred for him from the start. This was in itself natural
enough, but Magnus' own vicious character aggravated the situation,
and foreboded serious trouble. Though yet very young he was
avaricious, proiid, quarrelsome, violent, and intemperate. This
must have made it easy for the profligate but cheerful Harald Gille
to secure a large number of friends and followers. When Sigurd
died, Magnus suceeeded to the throne, but Harald, who was in Tuns-
berg at the time, assembled a thing there, and when it became appar-
ent that he had as many adherents as Magnus, he was also proclaimed
king in spite of the oath he had taken. Magnus was forced to give
his consent, and the two became joint kings, each with his own hird.
The first few years passed quietly, but it was evident from the start
that peace could not lõng be maintained. In 1134 hostilities com-
menced. Magnus collected a large army, and Harald Gille crossed
the Dovre Mountains into Viken and Bohuslen, where he hoped to
get support from his friend King Eirik Emune of Denmark. But
he was completely defeated by Magnus, and fled to Denmark, where
he received the province of Halland as a fief from the Danish king.
The shortsighted and arrogant Magnus would listen to no advice, and
he took no precaution to guard his kingdom against attack. Harald
Gille gathered a new army and received substantial aid from King
Eirik Emune. He came to Norway the same year, and quickly gained
control of the southeastern districts, where he had many friends.
When he reached Bergen, Magnus was stiil busy trying to gather
an army, but he had no force to put in the field against his rival.
Harald took him prisoner, caused him to be maimed and blinded,
and imprisoned him in a monastery at Nidarholm, near Trondhjem.
He was afterwards known as Magnus the Blind. The vicious Harald
Gille pursued with innate cruelty the adherents of Magnus ; killed,
maimed, and blinded many of them to get possession of the royal
treasures. He seized Bishop Reinald of Stavanger, and hanged
him, because he could not pay the sum of twelve marks of gold which
Harald Gille demanded when the bishop could not reveal the place
where King Magnus had hidden his treasures. To hang a bishop

/i3S'

— L\J>*=-»'»-«:=M-

340 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

like a common thief was regarded as the vilest of crimes, but we hear
of no billi of excommiinication issued against Harald, though a pro-
vincial church council was assembled shortly afterwards. Harald
Gille had, indeed, become king, but during his short reign he was a
tool in the hands of his followers. He spent his treasures with lavish
hands, and let his men do as they pleased, This gave him a certain
popularity among the leaders, who felt that he was weak and pliant
enough to leave them in actual control. During his inglorious reign
the foundation was gradually laid for a ruie of the aristocracy through
their most powerful representatives, the lendermoend}

[^y little is known of Harald Gille's reign. In,J_L35. the Heüds-
appeared on the coast of Norway with_a large fleet.^ They attacked
the city of TConghpHp, but it is nowhere recorded that King Harald
made an attempt to aid the cit^ The oastlf wa^ hf^^ipgpd and.takpn,
tbe ohiiroh nnd king's residence were T^umprl, fViP n\iy wq<3 pillagred,
and a large number of the inhabitants_wgre_carried-into naptivity.
The prosperity of the town was destroved. and it never regained its
..prootigc It became henceforth an ordinary trading place, as it
probably had been before the days of Sigurd the Crusader. An
event of some importance was the successful attempt of Kale Kolsson,
or Ragnvald Jarl, to get possession of the Orkneys. King Sigurd

1 The office of lendermand was not hereditary. The king might make
any one a lendermand, as we see in the case of Ottar Birting ; but this was
an exception. The son was generally appointed to succeed his father, and
the lendermcend as a class belonged to the oid aristocracy. They received
the total income from large estates, and in return for these grants they had
to entertain the king and his court when he traveled through the country,
and in time of war they had to serve him with a certain number of armed men.
In war the lendermcend eommanded the military levies of their districts.
According to the Hirdskrä, they were allowed to keep forty armed men,
huskarlar, even in time of peace, as they had to exercise police authority and
maintain peace and order in their districts. They were of higher ränk than
the hirdmcend, and when at court, they were hirdstjõrar, or the chief officials
of the hird. Together with the jarl, stallare, and merkismaQr they eonsti-
tuted the king's chief council. The ränk of the lendermoEnd resembled that
of the lords and barons in England, while the position of the hirdmcend
resembled that of the knights. P. A. Muneh, Samlede Afhandlinger, vol.
I., p. 77 ff. ; vol. III., p. 444 flf. See Hirdskrä, 19. Norges gamle Love, vol.
II., p. 407. Gustav Storm, Om \Lendermandsklassens Talrighed i iolvte og
trettende Aarhundrede, Historisk Tidsskrift, anden raekke, vol. IV., p. 129 £f.
Ebbe Hertzberg, En Fremstüling av det norske Aristokratis Historie.

THE PERIOD OF CIVIL WARS 341

had granted Kale one-half of the Orkneys, and he gave him the name
and title of Ragnvald Jarl, after Ragnvald Bruseson, one of the most
renowned of the Orkney jarls. The grant seems to have been made
for the piirpose of uniting the islands more closely with Norway, since
Jarl Paul, who ruled them at this time, sought to gain the friendship
of the king of England, for the purpose, no doubt, of becoming
able to throw off all allegiance to King Sigurd. When Magnus
became king, he deprived Ragnvald both of his title and his posses-
sions, biit Harald Gille renewed the grant, and Ragnvald captured
Jarl Paul, and made himself ruler over both the Shetland and Orkney
groups. As he owed full allegiance to the king of Norway, the danger
of a separation of these colonies from the mother country was averted.
Harald Gille had not been king very lõng when a new pretender
appeared and claimed the right to share the throne with him. This
was Sigurd Slembediakn, who also claimed to be a son of Magnus
Barefoot. His mother, Thora, daughter of Saxe of Vik, was married
to the priest Adalbrecht, and it does not appear with what show of
right he called himself the son of King jNIagnus. He had been con-
sidered the son of Adalbrecht, and had been brought up for the church,
but he began a life of adventure, visited the Holy Land, and engaged
in trading expeditions to Ireland, Scotland, and the Orkneys. In
Denmark he proved his paternity by ordeal, as Harald Gille himself
had done in Norway, but when he presented himself before the king
in Bergen, and asked him to recognize him as his brother, Harald
refused. The leading men also refused to believe the story, though
they were, probably, not troubled so much by the doubt of his verac-
ity as by the fear that this gifted and resolute man might be able
to exercise authority over them, if he were allowed to ascend the
throne. Sigurd was imprisoned and placed on trial for killing Thorkel
Fostre, the son of Sumarlide, in the Orkneys, and it seems that
Harald sought to rid himself of the inconvenient rival by häving
him secretly carried away at night and drowned. But Sigurd, who
suspected the design, pushed two of the guards into the sea, jumped
from the boat and escaped to the mountains. For some time noth-
ing was heard of him, but on the night of the 13th of December, 1136,
he gained access with a few followers to the house where Harald
Gille was sleeping after a drinking-feast, and killed him in his bed.

342 IIISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

From the deck of a vessel in the harbor Sigurd addressed the people
of Bergen, as soon as day dawned, and asked them to accept him as
their king, but they refused. They gathered in large numbers on the
shore and proclaimed liim an outlaw. Sigurd then left Bergen and
went to Hordaland, in southwestern Norway, where he was well
received by the people. But Harald Gille's queen, Ingerid, hastened
to Viken and assembled the Borgarthing, where her one-year-old
son, Inge, was proclaimed king. In Tr0ndelagen the 0rething
assembled as soon as the people heard of Harald Gille's death, and
his illegitimate son Sigurd, three years of age, was placed on the
throne. He was later known as Sigurd Mund.

W^ien Sigurd Slembediakn saw that he had no chance to gain the
throne for himself, he resolved to take Magnus the Blind from the
.monastery, and present him as a candidate. On a dark night,
shortly after Christmas, in 1137, he landed at Nidarholm, took
Magnus from the monastery, and sailed southward along the coast
to the mouth of the Romsdalsfjord, where they parted. Magnus
proceeded up the Romsdal valley into Oplandene, where he spent the
winter, and Sigurd set sail westward across the sea, hoping that
he would be able to rally a strong party around the blind king. In
this expectation he was not disappointed. The return of Magnus
awakened once more the loyalty to the son of Sigurd the Crusader,
and many of the chieftains joined him. But in Viken Thjostolv
Aalesson and other leaders, who were guarding King Inge, gathered
an army, marched against King Magnus, and defeated him in a
battle at Minne. Thjostolv Aalesson carried the ehild-king, Inge,
with him in the battle, and he was hurt so that he grew up to be a
lame and crippled hunchback. In history he is usually called Inge
Krokryg (Hunchback). INIagnus fled to Jarl Karl Sunnesson in
Vestergötland, and persuaded him to espouse his cause. The jarl
invaded Norway, but Thjostolv Aalesson and Aamunde Gyrdsson
met him at Krokaskog and defeated him. Magnus now fled to
Eirik Emune of Denmark, and employed all his power of persuasion
to stir this tyrannical and ambitious king to lead his forces against
the Norwegian chieftains. He toid him that the country was now
ruled by children, and that if he came with his whole army, no one
would venture to raise a sword against him. Ejng Eirik found the

THE PERIOD OF CIVIL WARS 343

moment favorable and the outlook tempting. He gathered a large
fleet of 250 sliips, and sailed for Oslo, where Thjostolv Aalesson was
stationed with a small garrison. Aalesson retreated, bringing with
him the shrine of St. Halvard. The St. Halvard church was de-
stroyed by fire and the city was sacked and burned, but the lender-
mcsnd soon met King Eirik with large forces, and he was unable to
make further progress. All his attempts were unsuccessful, and
he lost a number of men. Finally he returned to Denmark, deeply
chagrined at his failure. The people's ill-will against him had in-
creased, and he was assassinated at the Urnehovedthing, in Schleswig,
shortly after his return. Eirik Haakonsson, generally known as
Eirik Lam, was chosen his successor.

Sigurd Slembediakn, wlio had been in the Orkneys, returned too
läte to aid Magnus in his campaigns. When he reached Norway,
and heard of Magnus' defeat, he turned southward to Denmark,
where King Eirik Lam allowed him to gather ships and warriors.
His operations henceforth can scarcely be characterized as anything
but piratic expeditions, carried on with great cleverness and daring,
but leading to no definite results. He attempted to get a footing
at Konghelle, but was driven away by Thjostolv Aalesson. In
another attempt at Port0r, in Viken, he was equally unsuccessful.
With seven ships he then made a descent on Lister in southern Nor-
way, and killed the lendermand Bentein Kolbeinsson, but the people
soon drove him away, and he sailed northward to Bjarkey, in Haaloga-
land, where he was well received by Vidkun Jonsson, Magnus the
Blind's fosterfather. In the spring of 1139 he again joined Magnus
in Denmark, and the two gathered what forces they could find for
a new attack on Norway. They had in all thirty ships, of which
twelve were Norwegian, while eighteen were auxiliary Danish forces.
The kings Inge and Sigurd sent twenty ships against them, and at
Holmengraa, near Bohuslen, the battle was fought on November 12,
1139. The Danes sailed away before the battle began, and Sigurd
and Magnus were soon overpowered. Magnus fell, and Sigurd
Slembediakn was captured and put to death in a most cruel manner.
This terminated the first period of the civil wars, and the country
enjoyed peace for a few years. The aristocracy, now secure in their
power, had nothing to fear so lõng as the kings were young, but when

344 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

they grew to manhood they might become more diflBcult to manage.
Inge Krokryg proved to be weak and tractable, but Sigurd Mund
was a dissoliite and violent youtli. Ilis first act when he became of
age was to cause the assassination of Ottar Birting, the leading man
in Tr0ndelagen. In order to further weaken the power and influence
of the crown, the lerulermoond sought to create as many kings as pos-
sible. Six years after Sigurd and Inge had been placed on the
throne, Eystein, an older son of Harald Gille, came from Scotland
Anth his mother, Beathach. Harald had toid his men of this son, and
no other evidence of his royal descent was demanded. He was
speedily proclaimed king at the 0rething in Tr0ndelagen. Harald
Gille had a fourth son, Magnus, who was reared by the oid chieftain
Krypinga-Orm of St0dle, and he was also proclaimed king, though
he was a sickly cripple, and did not Iive lõng. Norway had now
four kings at the same time, and if this system of succession was
to be followed, the kingdom might be blessed with four times four
kings before another generation had passed. When we observe
such a canker of weakness and decay eating at the very vitals of
the state, we can understand the feelings of the oid historian, Theo-
dricus Monachus, when he cuts short his "Historia de Antiquitate
Regum Norwagiensium " at theclose of the reign of Sigurd the Cru-
sader, and says that he will not record for posterity all the dastardly
and lawless acts committed in the period which followed that reign.
These struggles between rival candidates for the throne do not
seem, however, to have disturbed the peace and contentment of the
ränk and file of the people. The armed conflicts were carried on by
the kings, the pretenders, the greater chieftains, and their personal
foUowers. That there was no general war can be seen from the
small number of ships and men engaged even in the more serious
encounters, as in the battle of Holmengraa, where Sigurd and Magnus
had only twelve small vessels, and the united forces of King Inge
Krokryg and Sigurd Mund numbered only twenty ships. There is
evidence that general prosperity and contentment prevailed, and
that commerce was rapidly developing. The commercial towns of
Veey in Romsdal, Skien (Skidan), in southern Norway, and Kaupang
in Sogn sprang into existence, and the cities of Stavanger and Hämar
also began their first real growth at this time.

ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH OF NORWAY 345

The Cisterclan monastic order was introduced in Norway during
this period, not from France, but from England. Two monasteries
of this order were founded : the Lyse monastery at Bergen, and the
rioved0 monastery at Oslo (Christiania) ; also a cloister for nuns
of the same order, the Nonneseter cloister in Bergen.^ Lyse monas-
tery, which was founded by Bishop Sigurd of Bergen, July 10, 1146,
was the first monastery of this order in Norway. The Hoved0
monastery was founded May 18, 1147. The Nonneseter cloister
seems also to have been founded by Bishop Sigurd about the same
time as the Lyse monastery.

57. The Inner Organization and Growth of the Church of

Norway

Among pagan nations, religion has always been regarded as an
affair properly belonging within the domain of state administration.
In pagan Norway, public worship was a state affair to such an extent
that there was not even a distinct priesthood. The kings and chief-
tains performed the priestly functions in the temples, and as they
were the leaders of the people in war and at the tking, they w^ere also
the custodians of the sanctuaries, and the wardens of the oid faith.
The feeling that the king was the highest authority in religious matters
as well as in affairs of government grew out of the oldest traditions of
the nation, and it w^as only intensified through the introduction of
Christianity. The new faith was established by the kings them-
selves, who exercised full authority in all matters pertaining to the
church, and made laws governing its organization and future work.
Christianity had become their special cause, in the opinion both of
friends and opponents a part of the new system w^hich theysought
to establish. When the aristocracy suffered defeat, and the oid
political and religious opposition disappeared, the king became the
head of the church as well as of the state, not only because of the
power which he exercised, and the organization which he had created,
but also because the tradition and sentiment of the nation freely

1 Christian C. A. Lange, De norske Klostres Historie i Middelalderen.
1^. Nieolaysen, Om Lysekloster og dets Ruiner, udgivet av Foreningen iil
norske Fortidsmindesmcerkers Bevaring. N. Nieolaysen, Hoved^ Kloster og
dets Ruiner. B. E. Bendixen, Nonneseter Klosterruiner.

346 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

accorded him that position.^ Even after the Church of Norway was
placed imder the supervision of the Archbishop of Bremen, and later
under the archbishopric of Lund in Skäne, which was created in
1104, the king continiied to be its real head. King Harald Haard-
raade's answer to Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen : " I know of no
archbishop in Norway except myself, King Harald," " is characteristic,
and illustrates well the situation. The archbishop, who was far
away and wholly unknown to the people, could exercise but a nominal
authority ; all real power was in the hands of the king. This gave
the Church of Norway a somewhat unique position. The character
of its organization was determined by the laws issued by the king,
and its complete dependence on royal authority stood in sharp con-
trast to the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church in other
countries of Europe.

The bishops were at first missionaries without fixed dioceses.
They were chosen by the king, and were called hird-bishops, as they
were regarded as belonging to the king's hird. They were his ad-
visers in ecclesiastical affairs, but owed him the same obedience as
other hirdmomd. The " Heimskringla " says of St. Olav:^ "The
church laws he made according to the advice of Bishop Grimkel and
other teachers, and he devoted all his energy to the eradication of
paganism and oid customs, which he considered contrary to the
Christian spirit." The necessity of obtaining the consent of the
people to the laws thus made constituted, however, an effective
check on the royal authority.^ Even after permanent dioceses had

1 Konrad Maurer, Die Bekehrung des norwegischen Stammes, II. A. D.
J0rgensen, Den norske Kirkes Grundloeggelse. P. A. Munch, Def norske
Folks Historie. J. E. Sars, Udsigt over den norske Historie, part II. R. Keyser,
Norges Stats- og Relsjorfatning i Middelalderen, p. 183 ff. R. Keyser, Den
norske Kirkes Historie under Katholicismen.

2 Adam v. Bremen, Book IIL, 16. ^ Säga of Olav the Saint, eh. 58.
*"In each of the three (Soandinavian) countries, separate, though not

very complete codes of church laws were enaeted, which should take the
place of the canonical code. The oldest of these laws were enaeted, at least
in Norway and Denmark, by coöperation of the king, the bishops, and the
people. They gave the church no right to inflict civil punishments, neither
did they exempt the clergy from trial by the regular courts of justiee." T. H.
Aschehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark indtil 1814- These oid
Norwegian church laws are found in Norges gamle Love, published by R.
Keyser and P. A. Munch.

ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH OF NORWAY 347

been established the choice of bishops was stiil controlled by the king.
They were stiil dependent on him for their maintenance as well as
for their office, and when they traveled through the country super-
intending the church work, they came as the king's representatives.
The churches erected during the early Christian period were of
three kinds. Each fylke had one or more principal churches, fylke's
churches. These received grants of land from the king, and the
people were also required to contribute to their support. In course
of time churches were also built in the herreds, or local districts, and
many of the leading men erected chapels, h^gende's churches, on their
own estates. The priests of the fylke' s churches were chosen by the
king, and received an income, partly from the church lands, and
partly in form of contributions and fees from their parishioners. The
hcrred priests were chosen by the people, and were wholly dependent
on the parishioners for their salary. The priests in the högende's
churches were appointed and paid by the owner of the church, or
by the fylke's or herred's priests whom they served as assistants.
This very democratic church organization differed widely in char-
acter from the hierarchic system of the Church of Rome. The
bishops exercised authority, each in his own diocese, but they were
not leagued together in any higher unity. They were dependent on
the king, as the priests were dependent on their parishioners, both
for their office and their subsistence. The clergy were amenable to
the state laws, like other citizens, as the church laws were only a
part of the civil code. The church had no laws of its own, and
exercised no separate jurisdiction. In social life the priests and
bishops were stiil bound closely to the rest of the people through inter-
marriage, as celibacy was not enforced in Norway till in the latter
part of the thirteenth century. But in time the influence of the
Roman hierarchy, which dominated all intellectual and spiritual life
of the age, made itself more strongly felt also in Norway. The
religious enthusiasm aroused by the crusaders inspired kings like
Olav Kyrre and Sigurd the Crusader with ardent devotion to the
cause of the church, and they were easily persuaded to enlarge its
privileges even at the expense of their own power. The spirit of
the times, the zeal and ability of the popes, together with the con-
ditions at home gave the Church of Norway a hierarchic character,

348 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and made it an organization independent of the state, able to exert
a coiitrolling influence over state affairs. The religious fervor of the
kings originated this new development. The introduction of the
system of tithes in the reign of Sigurd the Crusader made the clergy
independent economically, and the period of the civil wars hastened
the growth of the power and independence of the church. The
weak and worthless kings who occupied the throne in that period
were as unfit as they were unable to exercise supreme control over
rehgious affairs. In struggles with their rivals they wilhngly bartered
away powers and principles for temporary advantages; the royal
power was weakened, and the government demorahzed. In such a
period of anarchy and commotion the church would, naturally,
assume control of its own affairs, not only because of the opportunity,
but as a matter of necessity.

The chief step towards a hierarchic organization of the Church of
Norway was the estabUshing of the archdiocese of Nidaros in 1152,
and the new regulations then made for the Norwegian ChurchÜ-
Cardinal Nicolaus Brakespeare of England ^ was sent by Pope
Eugenius III. as papal legate with instructions to establish arch-
bishoprics in Norway and Sweden, and he also brought with him
the pall for the new archbishops. The archdiocese of Nidaros should
indude the five bishoprics of Norway,^ and also the six bishoprics in
the Norwegian colonies : Skälholt and Holar in Iceland, Kirkwall
(O. N. Kirkjuvägr) in the Orkneys/ Gardar in Greenland, Kirkeb0

' We hear of Reidar who was appointed Archbishop of Norway in 1150,
but he died in southern Europe and never reaehed his archdiocese. Ac-
cording to the "Icelandic Annals" he died in 1151. He is not mentioned
in the sägas, but he seems to have been appointed by the Pope before the
archbishopric of Nidaros was formally established. All sources agree that
Jon Birgersson, Bishop of Stavanger, beeame the first archbishop. Chr.
Lange, Norsk Tidsskrift, vol. V., p. 41. P. A. Munch, Samlede Afhandlinger,
II., 555. Festskrift udgivet i Anledrdng af Trondhjems 900 Aars JubücBum
1897. Ludvig Daae, En Kr^nike om Erkebiskopperne i Nidaros. Diploma-
tarium N orwegicum, III., no. 2, 3.

^ In 1154 Cardinal Nicolaus was eleeted Pope, and assumed the name of
Adrian IV.

' The diocese of Oslo was divided, and a new bishoprie was established
at Hämar. The five bishoprics were: Trondhjem (Nidaros), Bergen, Oslo,
Stavanger, and Hämar.

^ The Orkneys were originally a part of the archbishopric of York. Thor-
finn Jarl, while on a pilgrimage to Rome about 1050, succeeded in häving

ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH OF NORWAY 349

(0. N. Kirkjuboer) in the Faroe Islands/ and the bishopric of the
Hebrides (Sudreyjar) and Man (Sodor and Man). New regulations
were also made for the election of bishops in the five bishoprics of
Norwa}^ proper. A chapter, or college of priests, was organized in
each diocese. The members of this chapter (canonici) should con-
stitute the bishop's council ; they were also to perform the duties of
his ofBce in case of vacancy, and should elect his suceessor without
interference from secular authorities. The archbishop was chosen
by the chapter of the diocese of Nidaros, but he was consecrated by
the Pope, and received the pall from him. The colonial dioceses
had no chapters, and their bishops were chosen by the chapter of the
diocese of Nidaros. The tax called "Peter's Pence" was introduced,
and each grown person should pay a penning to the church. Regu-
lations were also made for disposing of property by testament, which
had not hitherto been customary, and it must be inferred that the
church hoped to profit by this arrangement. A person should have
the right to give away by testament one-tenth of his inherited property
and up to one-fourth of property which he himself had acquired. A
woman might grant by will one-tenth of her dowry, and up to one-
fourth of her one-third share of the property which she held in joint
ownership with her husband. Celibacy of the clergy was also estab-
lished, but it was not yet enforced. The priests were to be appointed
by the bishops, but it is not clear to what extent the bishops exercised
this right.

The Roman Church asserted ever\n\''here its spiritual supremacy
over the state, and claimed certain privileges and powers as its own
indisputable right. The chief of these were : The right of the
church to legislate in all ecclesiastical matters. The church law con-
sisting of the canonical code, supplemented by the decrees which the
Pope and the church councils might issue from time to time, should
be independent of the civil law, and should govern all affairs pertain-
ing to the church and the clergy. Separate ecclesiastical courts were
to be established, and the church should exercise fuU jurisdiction in

a bishop appointed for the islands. The bishop's seat was at first at Bixgsaa,
but it was transferred to Kirkwall, where the Magnus cathedral was built.
The Orkneys became a part of the archbishopric of Nidaros in 1152.

1 The bishopric of the Faroe Islands seems to have been established if-
1103. Gudmund was the first bishop, and served from 1103 tiU 1139.

350 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

all cases involving religion, the church, and the clergy. The church
was to enjoy freedom from any but voluntary contributions to the
state.

By the new regulations of 1152 these "rights" were established in
theory, at least, and the bishops henceforth clahned them in the
name of the church. But neither the kings nor the people were at
first wilhng to grant the clergy such privileges. The claims re-
mained for a while only the abstract principles of the spiritual su-
premacy of the church, and its independence of all secular authority,
But the time came when the church arrayed itself against the state
in an effort to enforce its claims, and we find the bishops themselves
fanning the flames of civil strife. This new power, which had been
nursed under the king's special care, allied itself, after 1152, with the
reactionary aristocracy in opposition to the crown. The energies of
the clergy were largely devoted to the perfecting of its outward
organization, and to the incessant combats waged for new privileges
and increased influence. The priests were often poorly qualified for
their calling, worldliness grew, and more emphasis was laid on the
outer form than on the inner spirit of Christian life and faith. As
Christianity had been introduced by royal decree, as the knowledge
even of the fundamentals of the Christian faith was more than im-
perfect, and the bishops and priests were often more intensely in-
terested in politics and other temporal affairs than in the religious
instruction of the people, Christianity was generally regarded as a
new law w'hich the king had proclaimed. The new faith became a
sort of witch's chaldron in which remnants of paganism, supersti-
tions, and fragments of Christian belief were hopelessly mixed. In
too many cases it could scarcely be called Christianity. The hier-
archic organization of the church probably increased at first its
efficiency as a mõral agent. It could now act with great authority,
and could display a power and splendor which made a strong impres-
sion on the popular mind. But its missionary spirit gradually gave
way to love of wealth and power, and the attention was gradually
directed to the outward forms of the church service which could
work no regeneration of spirit. The work of conversion was begun,
but the Roman hierarchy showed itself unable to lead the people
forward to full spiritual daylight.

ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH OF NORWAY 351

iThe religious and moral growth, so slow in Norway, was, if pos-
sible, even more behindhand in the colonies. Christianity was
accepted as the state religion in Iceland in the year 1000, but the
legislative act of the Althing which aboHshed the oid worship pro-
duced no perceptible change in the moral hfe or the rehgious views
of the people^ [fhe Christian church in Iceland was too poorly
organized to become even a fair substitute for the oid temples which
were torn do^vH J^hf" ^^^^^^^^^pg wArf> all l^iplt by inflnentinl ^'hi^ftRinS;
who often took holy orders and served as priests in their ov" '•'l^iir^^heSj
when no priests could be had. /Tn this way they could combine the
priestly functions with their political and social leadership, as in
pagan tini^ If they found this arrangement inconvenient, they
took boys into their homes, and instructed them sufficiently so that
they could read the church service, and made them priests in their
churches. These boys had no social standing, but were classed with
the servants of the household. It is quite evident that under such
circumstances Christianity could be but a thin varnish over a com-
pletely pagan life. The loss of the oid faith and the lack of instruc-
tion in the new produced, not immediately, but in due course of
time a religious inHiffprpnpp and general moral laxity which comes
so prominently into the foreground in ^h*^ KlnnHy ^Ifnrlnno- p^ri nr)
1160-1262. a complpiff counterpart to the period— of ci vii war^r-rn
Nonyny. In speaking of this period Professor J. E. Sars says : 7 In
the so-called Sturlung period the country was more and more torn
by the wildest party strife, the final result of which was that the
Icelandic people — exhausted, torn, and despairing — gave up their
independence and threw themselves into the arms of the kingdom of
Norway^ The accounts of these feuds reveal a bloodthirstiness,
hardheartedness, and violent desire for wealth and power which is
not surpassed in pagan times, and furthermore a faithlessness and
treachery, a lack of respect for law.and justice, a licentiousness, and
a dissolution of domestic life, to which the säga period prior to 1030
furnishes no parallel." ^

Konrad Maurer says of the Sturlung period : " The fearful dis-
orders are ascribable in part to the political situation, but in part,
and perhaps for the greater part, they are due to another circum-
^ J. E. Sars, Udsigt over den norske Historie, part II., p. 57.

352 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

stance, namely the change to the new faith, as paradoxical as this may
sound. The more completely paganism as a thoroughly national
religion had grown together with the whole life of the Norsemen, the
more definitely and comprehensively it had embraced and shaped
the people's mõral and legal conceptions, the more grievous was the
loss caused by abandoning it. On the other händ, the more outward
the motives had been which had led the masses of the people to change
their faith, the less the new faith, we must admit, was able to com-
pensate for the loss. During the first decades after the introduction
of Christianity this misfortune would be less keenly felt, since, on
the one händ, paganism stiil continued for a time to dominate the
minds of the people, while, on the other händ, the glowing fervor and
truly Christian conduct of the few who f rom a deep inner conviction
professed the new faith w^on for Christianity, as far as their influence
went, a powerful influence also over external life. But after the
generation which had been brought up under paganism had passed
away, and also their nearest descendants, who through lack of priests
had been reared to a large extent in the pagan spirit; after Chris-
tianity, on the other händ, had become a custom, represented, not
by zealous neophytes, but by priests who were poorly trained, and
who generally were so occupied with the outward forms of the new
religion that they could pay but little attention to its inner contents,
while their great political importance, and their unfortunate social
position turned their thoughts from their religious calUng, the gap
produced in the people' s minds by the change of faith, outwardly
accomplished, but inwardly far from completed, showed itself in all
its fearful significance. It is easily understood that the unrest
caused by this sudden rupture of all existing conditions brought to
the surface the worst elements of the people and the most objection-
able traits of their national character." ^

It would be erroneous, however, to think that the blight thrown
upon Christianity by these conditions was altogether general. Lõng
before the introduction of the Christian faith, many of the most
earnest and intelligent had ceased to believe in the oid gods, and were
searching for new light. To many of them Christianity must have

^ Konrad Maiirer, Island von seiner ersten Entdeckung bis zum Untergang
des Freistaates, p, 278-280. The passage is quoted by Sars.

ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCII OF NORWAY 353

come as glad tidings, and thoiigh their Christian knowledge was
very imperfcct, it must have chastened their spirit, and inspired them
with new love for the goodness which is heaven born. The new mõral
standards established by the Christian teaching could not lõng re-
main a secret to those who had dreamed of virtues which paganism
did not know, and the force of their example, and their words of
admonition and eounsel would not be lost on those who suffered from
all the evils of a dark and lawless age. Through the tumult of the
civil wars we hear nothing of these, but we are, nevertheless, sure
that they were found, yes, that they were numerous, and that they
were gradually bringing about a great change in the social, religious,
and mõral life of the nation. The effect of this new spiritual and
mõral leaven is shown among other things by the disappearance of
slavery. It happened even in pagan times that a man would grant
a slave his liberty on eertain conditions, especially if the slave had
done him some great service; or the slave might buy his freedom.
But new ones were eonstantly bought in the numerous slave markets.
But with the advent of Christianity the slave markets were gradually
closed. In the oid laws, usually called the " Laws of St. Olav," it was
enacted that at the meeting of every lagthing a slave should be given
his freedom, "to the honor of God," and the remuneration given the
owner should be paid by the whole lagd^mme. In Olav Kyrre's time
this law was so amended that each fylkesthing should liberate a slave
every year.^ This had a great influence on public opinion, and in
the twelfth century, before the civil wars were ended, slavery had
ceased to exist in Norway. Although religious life made slow
progress during the period of storm and stress caused to some degree
by the change of faith, a new cultural life, born in part of the new
spirit, was growing, budding, and giving promise of the great intel-
lectual awakening, the luxuriant unfolding of literature, art, and
national greatness in the period that followed ; an age of almost un-
paralleled productivity which in a hundred years gave Norway and
Iceland the great Oid Norse literature, which saw great cathedrals
erected, science and learning cultivated, and Norway, politically
strong and economically prosperous, highly honored among the

* Gulathingslov, p. 5 f., Norges gamle Love, I. Frostathingslov, III., 19.
Norges gamle Love, I.
VOL. I — 2 a

354 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

States of Europe, Such conditions could not be produced suddenly,
as if by accident, but followed as a result of a development which,
though obscured and retarded, was not interrupted by the tumiiltuous
feuds of the civil wars, and which gives even that period a tinge of
hopefuhiess and a touch of wayward charm.

The period which was marred by so much domestic turmoil showed
märked signs of an awakening of hterary activity. The books were
usually written in Latin, which was the hterary language elsewhere in
Europe. The mass, which was the most important part of the church
service, was also conducted in that language, but the custom of
preaching to the people in their own tongue had been introduced
f rom England by the first missionaries in the time of Olav Tryggvason
and Olav the Saint, and homilies were written in Oid Norse to be
read in the churches. The legends about the Norwegian saints
were also embodied in writing. The oldest St. Olav legend ^ was
written in Latin about 1140. It seems to have been composed by a
priest in Trondhjem to be read to pilgrims and visitors on St. 01av's
day, and it was soon followed by a whole Hterature of similar char-
acter. Einar Skülason's poem "Geisli," a dräpa written about St.
Olav, which the poet recited in the Christ church in Trondhjem in
1153, was also based on this legend.

The most important Hterary work of the period was the embodi-
ment in writing of the oid laws of Norway in the great codes : the
"Frostathingslov," "Gulathingslov," "Eidsivathingslov," and"Borg-
arthingslov." 2 These codes, together with the " Bjarkeyjarrettr,"
or municipal laws, the "HirSskrä," and other oid laws were all written
in the Oid Norse language. The time when they were written can
be determined only approximately from internal evidence from the
codes themselves, as the sources contain no direct statement with
regard to it. The oid writers regarded it as certain that the oid
laws were first written by St. Olav himself. Theodricus Monachus
says of Olav : " Leges patria lingua conscrihi fecit," and the "Legenda
de Sto. Olavo" says: "Leges divines et humanas scripsit et promul-

1 Edited by Metealf . Jacobus Langebek, Scriptores Regum Danicarum,
vol. II., Legendae de Sancio Olavo.

- These codes have been published by R. Keyser, P. A. Munch, Gustav
Storm, and Ebbe Hertzberg in five stately volumes with glossary.

RAGNVALD JARL'S CRUSADE 355

gavit." Saxo Grammaticus holds the same opinion.^ But Konrad
Maurer has shown that this opinion has nothing to support it except
St. 01av's great reputation as lawgiver, while the wording of the codes
themselves proves that they could not have been written by him or
under his direction.^ Ebbe Hertzberg finds that the church laws
(Kristenret), which form a supplement to all these codes, were
written before the system of tithes was introduced by Sigurd the
Crusader (1111-1120), and as the other laws must have been written
as soon as possible after the task was once begun, the whole work
was probably finished in Olav Kyrre's reign, prior to 1111.^

58. Ragnvald Jarl's Crusade

In 1150 the young lendermand Eindride Unge returned from
Constantinople, where he had served in the Varangian guard of the
Emperor, and he could teil much about the exploits of the Varangians,
and also about the second crusade, led by King Louis VII. of France,
and Emperor Conrad III. of Germany, 1147-1148. Eindride met
Ragnvald Jarl of the Orkneys, who was then in Norway, and en-
couraged him to lead a crusade to the Holy Land. Erling Ormsson
Skakke and others also spoke in favor of the undertaking, and agreed
to jõin in it. Ragnvald agreed to go, and when it became known
that he and Erling were organizing a crusade, many prominent men
joined them. Ragnvald should be the leader, and Eindride Unge,
who had already been in the Orient, should act as guide for the
expedition.^ Two years were to be devoted to preparations, and
Ragnvald returned to the Orkneys in the fail. In 1152 he came
again to Norway, and the ships were made ready for the voyage.
They set sail from Bergen, but when they reached the Orkneys, they
decided to remain there that winter, as it was already läte in the

1 Saxo Grammaticus, book X.

See Ebbe Hertzberg, Võre celdste Loviexters oprindelige N edshrivelsestid,
Historiske Afhandlinger tüegnede Professor dr. J. E. Sars, Christiania, 1905.

2 Komrad Maurer, Gulathingsl^g, Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopedia.

3 Ebbe Hertzberg, Võre celdste Lovtexters oprindelige Nedskrivelsestid,
Historiske Afhandlinger tilegnet Professor dr. J. E. Sars. Of the Eidsiva-
thingslov and the Borgarthingslov the church laws alone remain.

* Orkneyingasaga, translated by John A. Hjaltalin and Gilbert Goudie,
edited with notes and introduction by Joseph Anderson, eh. lxxx, ff.

356 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

season. The arrogant Eindride Unge, who, contrary to agreement,
had fitted out more splendid ships than the others, was shipwrecked
on the coast of Shetland, and had to get a new shlp from Norway.
In the summer of 1153 all preparations were completed, and Ragnvald
and his followers set sail from the Orkneys with fifteen large ships.
As each ship must have had a crew of 120 men or more, they were
in all probably about 2000 men.

"They then sailed till they were south of England, and thence to
Vallaud (west coast of France). There is no account of their voyage
until they came to a seaport called Verbon.^ There they learned
that the earl who had governed the city, and whose name was Geir-
björn, had lately died ; but he had a young and beautiful daughter,
by name of Ermingerd, and she had charge of her patrimony under
the guardianship of her noblest kinsmen. They advised the queen
{i.e. the earFs daughter) to invite Jarl Ragnvald to a splendid ban-
quet, saying that her f ame would spread f ar if she gave a fitting recep-
tion to noblemen arrived from such distance. The queen left it to
them ; and when this had been resolved upon, men were sent to the
jarl to teil him that the queen invited him to a banquet, with as many
men as he himself wished to accompany him. The jarl received her
invitation gratefully, and selected the best of his men to go with
him. And when they came to the banquet there was good cheer,
and nothing was spared by which the jarl might consider himself
specially honored. One day, while the jarl sat at the feast, the
queen entered the hall, attended by many ladies. She had in her
haud a golden cup, and was arrayed in the finest robes. She wore
her hair loose, according to the custom of maidens, and she had a
golden diadem round her forehead. She poured out for the jarl, and
the maidens played for them. The jarl took her händ along with
the cup and placed her beside him, and they conversed during the
day. The jarl sang :

Lady f air ! thy form surpasses
All the loveliness of maidens,
Though arrayed in costly garments,
And adorned with costly jewels :

1 Where this seaport was loeated is not known.

RAGNVALD JARL's CRUSADE 357

Silken curls in radiant splendor
Fail upon the beauteous shoulders
Of the goddess of the gold-rings.
The greedy eagle's claws I redden'd.

The jarl stayed there a lõng time and was well entertained. The
inhabitants of the city solicited him to take up his residence there,
saying that they were in favor of giving him the queen in marriage.
The jarl said that he wished to eomplete his intended journey, but
that he would come there on his return, and then they might do what
they thoiight fit. Then the jarl left with his retinue, and sailed
round Thrasness. They had a fair wind, and sat and drank and
made themselves merry. The jarl sang this song :

Leng in the prince's memory
Ermingerd's soft words shall linger ;
It is her desire that we shall
Ride the waters out to Jordan ;
But the riders of the sea-horses,
From the southern climes returning,
Soon shall plow their way to Verbon
0'er the whale-pond in the autumn.

"They went on till they came west to Galicialand, five nights before
Jule-tide, and they intended to spend Christmas there. They asked
the inhabitants whether they were willing to sell them provisions ;
but food was scarce in that country, and they thought it a great hard-
ship to have to feed such a numerous host. It so happened that
the country was under the ruie of a foreigner, who resided in the
castle, and oppressed the inhabitants greatly. He made war on them
if they did not do everything he wished, and menaced them with
violence and oppression. \Vlien the jarl asked the inhabitants to
sell him victuals, they consented to do so until Lent, but made cer-
tain proposals on their part — to wit, that Jarl Ragnvald should
attack their enemies, and should have all the money which he might
obtain from them. The jarl communieated this to his men, and
asked them what they would be inclined to do. Most of them were
wiUing to attack the castle, thinking that it was a very likely place

358 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

to obtain booty. Therefore Jarl Ragnvald and his men agreed to
the tenns of the inhabitants. " ^

^Tie castle was taken, biit the chief (Giidifrey, or Godfred) escaped.

"They plundered far and wide in heathen Spainland." that is in
the part of Spain occupied by_the_Sara,oens, and tbpy ^nilpH tbpn
through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Se^ Here
the wrongheaded Kindride Unge left the expedition with six ships,
and went to Marseilles in France. |With the remaining nine ships
Ragnvald continiied the voyage. "Over against Sardinia they met
two very large Saracen ships of the type called dromone^" [One of
these ships escaped, but the other one was attacked by the Norse-
men and captured after a hard fig^ 1^^^^'' ^^^^ battle Ragnvald
landed fV tbp poa^^t nf Afripn^ where he concluded a seven-day peace
with the inhabitants, and soid the booty which he had gathered.
He then sailed to Crete, where he was detained f or some time by bad
weath^ ^s soon as they got favorable wind they continued their
voyage to Palestine, andJaiid£d_atAcEe-in-li54^ but soon after their
arrival they were smitten with a contagious fever, and many died.
They were now so far rediiced in numbers that they do not even
seem to have attempted military operatioi^ After visiting the holy
places they left Palestine for Constantinople, where they were well
received by Emperor Manuel L ^i their homeward journey they
visited Apulia and Rome, whence they returned by the customary
overland route through Gemiany and Denmar^ The visit to Ver-
bon and the fair Ermingerd seems to have been abandoned.

59. The Second Stage of Civil Wars. The Rule of Erling
Skakke and Magnus Erlingsson

The difference in character between the kings Inge Krokrj^g,
Sigurd Mund, and Eystein became very märked when they grew to
manhood. Sigurd was tall and well built. He was of a jovial dis-
position and carried himself well among his men ; but he was of a
violent temper, perverse, capricious, imprudent, and hard to please.
Eystein was also a well-built and athletic young man, but he was of
an imperious disposition, had a violent temper, and was very covetous.

* Orkneyingasaga, eh. lxxx.

THE SECOND STAGE OF CIVIL WARS 359

The crippled Inge, on the other händ, was very meek and mild-
tempered.^ He had also the advantage of being born in lawful wed-
lock. His very weakness and his gentle disposition attached to him
a great number of powerful nobles who virtually ruled in his name.
The most influential of his adherents was the powerful Gregorius
Dagss0n, who reminds us of Erhng Skjalgsson and Einar Tam-
barskjselver in earher days. But while Eriing and Einar had been
the leaders of the oid aristocracy in opposition to the king, Gregorius
was the leader of a faction, and acted as the king's representative.
Inge's weakness proved to be his strength, and he beeame the most
powerful and influential of the three kings. Sigurd and Eystein
formed a secret alliance against him, and agreed to dethrone him,
because he was a cripple.^ But the alert Gregorius Dagss0n f rustrated
their plans. With King Inge he hastened to Bergen, and shortly
after King Sigurd also arrived. A thing was assembled, and Gre-
gorius appeared in gilt helmet with a great number of armed men.
Inge toid the people of the plot, and asked their help, which was cheer-
fully promised. Sigurd also addressed the thiiig, and said that the
report of the plot was whoUy unfounded, that it had been circulated
by Gregorius Dagss0n to hurt him and Eystein, but he hoped that
he would soon meet Gregorius in such a way that his gilt helmet
should roll in the dust. No hostilities seem, however, to have been
seriously contemplated, but bloody encounters which took place a
few days afterwards between the followers of the two kings pre-
cipitated a general fight, in which King Sigurd was killed. Some
days later King Eystein arrived in Bergen with thirty ships, but no
further hostilities occurred at this time. Inge went to Trondhjem,
and Eystein sailed southward to Viken. Shortly after this meeting
in Bergen Eystein made an unsuccessful attempt to surprise and
capture Gregorius Dagss0n, and, as a result, the relations between
the two kings grew constantly more strained. Inge succeeded in
winning over many of Eystein's most influential adherents, and
Eystein, who was less popular, revenged himself by committing many
dastardly acts. Finally, in 1156, open hostilities commenced, and
both kings gathered forces for a decisive struggle. Inge collected
eighty ships, while Eystein had only forty-five, and when the two
^ Heimskringla, Ingessaga. ^ Fagrskinna, eh. 260. Morkinskinna, p. 223.

360 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

fleets met, most of Eystein's ships deserted, and he was compelled
to flee without fighting a battle. The following year he was cap-
tured and pnt to death.

No reasonable objection could now be made to Inge Krokryg as
sõle king of Norway. According to the ruie of suecession the reign
of the joint kings should be a single reign, which should continue so
lõng as any one of them lived. The sons of the deceased kings could,
therefore, not rightfully succeed to the throne as lõng as King Inge
Uved. He had, moreover, been very popiilar, and had won the
support of the greater part of the people and the aristocracy because
of his mild ruie and gentle disposition. But some of the followers
of King Eystein refused to submit to him, and chose Haakon Herde-
breid, the illegitimate ten-year-old son of Sigurd Mund, as their
candidate for the throne.^ The struggle was no longer waged for
any principle, It was not even a contest between rival candidates
for the throne, but a feud between hostile and rival factions of the
aristocracy. The leaders of King Inge's party were Gregorius
Dagss0n and Erhng Skakke. Among the leaders of the compara-
tively small faction which stiil remained in opposition were Sigurd
of Reyr, a personal enemy of Gregorius Dagss0n, and Eindride
Unge, who had partaken in Ragnvald JarFs crusade together with
Erling Skakke, but the two had parted as bitter enemies. The
struggle was kept up by such rivalries and animosities between
ambitious nobles, and new pretenders were put forward in the
interest of the contending factions. Professor Sars says : " In earlier
days the kings had created the parties, at least in an external way,
but now the king was created by the party.^ The king had ceased
to be anything but a name. The aristocracy had gained full control,
and the only issue was which faction should wield the greater power."

King Inge Krokryg sought to strengthen his position as far as
possible. He stationed Gregorius Dagss0n in Viken to defend the
southern districts against Haakon Herdebreid and his party. He
carried on negotiations with the king of Denmark, and succeeded in

1 Orkneyingasaga, eh. Ixxxiii.

2 J. E. Sars, Udsigt over den norske Historie, part II., p. 88. P. A. Munch,
Det norske Folks Historie, II., p. 860. Heimskringla, Haakon Herdebreidssaga.
Fagrskinna, p. 175.

THE SECOND STAGE OF CIVIL WARS 361

häving his chaplain, Eystein Erlendsson, elected Archbishop of
Trondhjem. The new archbishop was a man of extraordinary abiUty,
and could wield great influence in his behalf in that part of the king-
dom. Haakon Herdebreid's party, which, to begin with, was quite
small, had sought refuge across the Swedish border, and when they
made an attempt to capture Konghelle, they were defeated by Gre-
gorius Dagss0n. But they soon advanced into Tr0ndelagen, where
they received reenforcements, and Haakon Herdebreid was pro-
elaimed king over one-third of Norway, to which he was regarded as
being entitled as the heir of his father, King Sigurd Mund. His
chance of success now rapidly improved. In 1161 Gregorius Dagss0n
fell in a skirmish against Haakon's followers at Bevja (Bevera), in
Bohuslen, — a severe blow to Inge's party. The säga states that
when Inge heard of Gregorious' death he shed tears and said : " The
man has fallen who has been my best friend, and who has done the
most to preserve my kingdom for me. But I have always thought
that we should not lõng be parted." ^ This foreboding proved pro-
phetic. In February of the same year, while Inge was in Oslo cele-
brating the marriage of his brother, Orm Kongsbroder, to Ragna
Nikolasdotter, the widow of King Eystein, Haakon suddenly marched
against the city. A battle was fought on the ice of the fjord, near
Oslo, in which King Inge fell, at the age of twenty-six.

The able and ambitious Erling Skakke now became leader of
Inge's party. He belonged to one of the most powerful families, and
was married to Christina, the daughter of Sigurd the Crusader and
his queen Malmfrid. He had won renown as a crusader, and was
at this moment the most sagacious and powerful noble in the king-
dom. Wlien he had heard of King Inge's death, he called a meeting
of the party leaders in Bergen to lay plans for the future. They
were not willing to submit to Haakon Herdebreid, who counted
among his followers many of their bitterest enemies. They agreed,
therefore, to keep the party together, and promised under oath
faithfully to support each other. The most difficult task was to
find a suitable candidate for the throne around whom the party
could rally. In casting about among several not very available
candidates, they finally selected the five-year-old Magnus Erlingsson,
1 Heiniskringla, Haakon Herdebreidssaga, 15.

362 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the son of Erling Skakke and his vvife Christina, daughter of Sigurd
the Crusader. But by tliis choice they set aside all rules of succession.
Magnus, the son of Erling Skakke, was not a king's son, and had no
right whatever to the throne. This choice, in flagrant violation of
the law, was dictated }>y Erling's own ambition, and by party interests.
In order to gain additional support Erling hastened to Denmark to
negotiate with King Valdemar, who promised to aid him on con-
dition that the province of Viken shoiild be ceded to Denmark, and
Erling, in his eager desire for power, committed the treasonable act
of subscribing to this condition.^

While Erling was absent, Haakon Herdebreid was proclaimed
king of Norway at the ^rething in Tr0ndelagen, and Sigurd of
Reyr, one of his chief supporters, was made jarl. Haakon stationed
himself at Tunsberg, and sent Jarl Sigurd to Konghelle to guard the
Southern districts of Norway against Erling, but on his return from
Denmark Erling seized Tunsberg without diffieulty. Haakon re-
treated in haste to Tr0ndelagen, and Jarl Sigurd joined him there
soon afterward. In the spring of 1162 Haakon equipped both fleet
and army, and prepared to meet Erling Skakke. He advanced
southward along the coast, gathering men and ships in the adjoining
districts, but at Veey, in Romsdal, he quite unexpectedly encountered
Erling's whole fleet. A battle was fought near the island of Sekken
in the Romsdalsfjord, where Haakon fell, and his forces suffered a
complete defeat. Haakon was only fifteen years of age, and the säga
describes him as playful and boyish ; tall, broad-shouldered, and
good looking. After the battle Erling Skakke sailed to Nidaros
and summoned the Prething, where his son Magnus was proclaimed
king of Norway.

Haakon's party was defeated, but it was not crushed, and as the
oid royal line was not extinct, they were able to find a new candidate
for the throne who had some legitimate claim to it. This was
Sigurd Sigurdsson, another illegitimate son of Sigurd Mund, who
seems to have been a mere child. He was sta^ing in Oplandene
with his foster-father, Markus of Skog, and is generally known as
Sigurd Markusfostre. But now as before they were unable to cope
with the redoubtable Erling Skakke. In 1163 he defeated and slew
* Heimskringla, Magnus Erlingssonssaga, eh. 2.

THE SECOND STAGE OF CIVIL WARS 363

Sigurd Jarl in a battle at Ree, northwest of Tunsberg, and shortly
after he captured Markus of Skog and the young King Sigurd, and
caused them both to be executed. But Erling saw that his son
Magnus woukl find it difficult to maintain himself on the throne as
a mere usurper. It was necessary to create the inipression that he
was a lawful king, and he hoped to secure for him an appearance of
legitimacy by häving him anointed and crowned. This would give
him the support of the church, which would thereby officially approve
his elevation to the throne. For this purpose he entered into nego-
tiations with Archbishop Eystein Erlendsson, but the sagacious and
powerful prelate drove a hard bargain, and granted his request only
after Erling had subscribed to conditions which destroyed both the
power and the dignity of the crown. In the summer of 1164 a
council of magnates was assembled at Bergen consisting of the arch-
bishop, the bishops, and a certain number of representative and
influential men from each lagd^mme} The newly elected bishop,
Brand Ssemundsson of Holar, and the great chieftain Jon Loftesson
of Odda, in Iceland, were also present. Before this assembly the
seven-year-old Magnus Erlingsson was crowned king of Norway,
and all questions regarding the succession to the throne were now
discussed and settled. King Magnus had to subscribe to the foUow-
ing conditions : He surrendered himself and his kingdom for all
times to St. Olav {i.e. to the church), and promised to ruie as his
vicar and vassal.^ As a sign of submission, his crown, and those of
his successors, should be placed as an offering on the altar of the
cathedral in Nidaros, at their death.^ By this agreement the king
virtually became a feudal tenant under the church. But his in-
fluence and independence would be stiil further limited by enforcing

1 Heim.skringla, Magnus Erlingssonssaga, eh. 21. Fagrskinna, eh. 268.

2 ^' Deo navique in hac die gloriose resurreccionis me cu7n regno in perpetuum
et glorioso martyri regi Olao. cui integraliter speciali deuocione secundo post
dominum. regnum assigno Norwegie. et huic regno. quantum deo placuerit.
velut eiusdem gloriosi martyris possessioni heredilarie. sub eius dominio. tam-
quam suus vicarius et ah eo tenens presidebo."

^ " In perpetue quoque subieccionis testimonium. hoc pro me et pro omnibus
meis catholicis successoribus priuilegium huic metropolitane ecclesie concedo
et literis meis sigillatis confirmo. ut post voccacionem meani regale diadema et
meum. quod hodierna die sacro altari in confirmacio7ieni offcro. et omnium mihi
succedencium. presenti delegetur ecclesie.".

364 HISTORY OF TITE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the new rules of succession which were now adopted. These almost
shattered the oid principles of an hereditary monarchy, since the
king in many instances was to be elected, and the church was given
full control of the election. When the king died, a council of mag-
nates shoukl be summoned to meet in Trondhjem to determine
whether the heir to the throne possessed the reqnired quahfications.
This assembly should consist of the archbishop, his suffragan bishops,
the abbots, the hirdstjõrar and the hird, and twelve men from each
bishopric, to be appointed by the bishops. The king's eidest legiti-
mate son should succeed to the throne, as sõle king, but if the assem-
bly found him to be unworthy, or otherwise disqualified, that legiti-
mate son which the assembly considered best qualified should become
king. If the king had no legitimate son, they might choose the
nearest heir, or any one else whom they considered well qualified.
The choice should be decided by a majority võte, provided the
archbishop and the bishops consented.^ The arrangement that the
king's oldest legitimate son should inherit the throne was a good
feature, as it did away with the most flagrant f ault of the oid system,
that any illegitimate son, or any boid adventurer, might aspire to the
crown. But this single good feature was vitiated by giving the
assembly, or in fact the clergy, the power of deciding who was worthy
or qualified to become king. This enabled them to exclude at will
any legitimate heir to the throne, while the election of a new candi-
date was delegated to them. The king of Norway, the successor of
Harald Haarfagre and St. Olav, could scarcely be reduced to a more
impotent shadow. The aristocracy and the clergy, who had now
joined hands in their effort to divest the crown of all real power,
could rejoice in a complete triumph.

Archbishop Eystein Erlendsson sprang from a noble family in
Tr0ndelagen. He was related to the powerful Arnunge family, and

The doeument is found in Norges gamle Love, I, 442. Ebbe Hertzberg,
Den f^rste norske Kongekroning, Hisiorisk Tidsskrift, fjerde rsekke, vol.
III, p. 29. Gustav Storm, Om Magnvs Erlingss^ns Privilegium til Nidaros
Kirke 1164, Videnskabs-Selskabets Skrifter, Christiania, 1895.

^ Gulapingshok 2., Norges gamle Love, vol. I. R. Keyser, Norges Stais- og
Retsforfatning i Middelalderen, p. 45 ff. T. H. Aseheboug, Statšforjatning i
Norge og Danmark indtil 1814, P- 19. Ebbe Hertzberg, En Fremstüling af
det norske Aristokratis Hislorie, p. 126 ff.

THE SECOND STAGE OF CIVIL WARS 365

through them also with the royal family itself. According to the
standards of those times he was well educated, and there can be no
doiibt that he had studied in foreign lands for many years, though
no record is found of it. He was in every way a chieftain, a gifted
and ambitious man, who set his mind on the aceompUshing of great
things. When he was chosen archbishop in 1157, he went to Italy,
as it seems, to get the pall from the Pope, but he must have en-
countered some difRculty, as he was not consecrated till in 1161.
The delay may have been caused by the struggle between Alexander
III. and Victor IV., who were rival candidates for the papal throne.
Pope Adrian IV. died in 1159, and Alexander III. was elected by a
majority of the cardinals ; but Emperor Frederick Barbarossa would
not sanction his election, and caused Victor IV. to be chosen. A
bitter fight was waged by the two popes, but Alexander III. was quite
generally regarded as the true Pope. Even the new antipopes
chosen after the death of Victor IV. were finally forced to withdraw.
In Italy and elsewhere in southern Europe, Eystein had seen the
Roman Church in all its outward splendor, and he returned to Nor-
way with a firm resolve that the cathedral church of his own arch-
diocese of Nidaros should betoken by its outward appearance the
dignity and power of the Church of Norway. The Christ church
which Olav Kyrre had built was too plain and small, and he imme-
diately commenced to reconstruct it. He began the work by re-
building the transepts in the Anglo-Norman style in vogue at the
time. A great architectural work was thus begun, which led to the
erection of the magnificent Trondhjem cathedral, the grandest
structure ever built in the Scandinavian North.^ In order to get
the necessary means for so ambitious an undertaking he increased in
many unusual ways the revenues of his diocese. His income grew
with the building, and the taxes w^ere constantly increased. He made
the regulation that the taxes paid to the church should henceforth
be paid in pure silver, not in coin, which had been debased. This
nearly doubled his income. He shipped grain to Iceland without
paying export duty, and infringed in other ways on the royal preroga-

1 P. A. Munoh and H. E. Sehirmer, Trondhjems Domkirke, Christiania,
1859. A. Freiherrn von Minutoli, Der Dom zu Drontheim, Berlin, 1853.
Hermann Sehirmer, Kristkirken i Nidaros, Christiania, 1885.

366 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

tive. Erling Skakke was much displeased, but he had to acquiesce
in these arbitrary innovations. This was, no doubt, one of the con-
ditions on which the archbishop finally agreed to crown Magnus
Erlingsson at the assembly of magnates in Bergen in 1164. Erhng,
who controlled the crown lands and the royal estates, found a com-
pensation by driving his opponents into exile and confiscating their
estates.^

When Magnus Erhngsson was crowned, King Valdemar of Den-
mark sent messengers to Norway to demand the district of Viken,
which Erhng Skakke had promised in return for the aid which he had
given him. But Erhng gave an evasive answer. The people of the
district would have to speak for themselves, he said. When the
Borgarthing was assembled, the people declared loudly that they
would never consent to being transferred to Denmark. Valdemar
was very wroth when he discovered Erling Skakke's deceitfulness,
and as Erling's personal enemies encouraged Valdemar to attack
him, he sent spies to Norway to learn what the popular sentiment
was. They came as pilgrims to Nidaros, and many of Erling's
opponents promised to aid Valdemar. When Erling found this out,
he seized those who had implicated themselves, and punished them
most severely. Valdemar made an expedition to Norway in 1165,
and visited Sarpsborg and Tunsberg, but when he found that the
people were almost unanimously opposed to Danish overlordship, he
returned home without attempting to forcibly occupy the district.

Haakon Herdebreid's party in the southern districts put a new
pretender in the field against Erling and his son Magnus. This was

1 The great minster in Bergen, the Christ ehurch, which was begun in
the time of Olav Kyrre, was completed in 1170, and St. Sunniva's shrine
was brought from Selja and placed on the altar of the ehurch. It remained
there till 1531, when the ehurch was destroyed. The Maria ehurch in Bergen,
which is stiil standing, and which is now the oldest building in the chy, must
also have been erected in Archbishop Eystein's time, as it is mentioned in
1183. Kunst og Haandverk fra Norges Fortid, udgivet aj Foreningen for
norske Mindesmerkers Bevaring, IV., Kirker, pl. XIV-XXI. The Elgeseter
monastery near Trondhjem, and the Castle monastery at Konghelle, both
of the order of St. Augustine, were also founded by Eystein. He was a
special friend and admirer of Thomas ä Becket, the fearless and headstrong
Archbishop of Canterbury, whom he sought to emulate. When Becket
was killed, he was regarded as a martyr also in Norway, and his biography,
the Thomassaga, beeame very popular reading.

THE SECOND STAGE OF CIVIL WARS 367

Olav Ugaeva, the son of King Eystein's daughter Maria. He
gathered formidable bands of followers called " Hettusveinar," who
avoided pitched battles, but levied tribute on the people for their
maintenance, and exercised great power in the southeastern dis-
tricts and in Viken. At one time ErHng himself barely escaped fall-
ing into their hands. These bands were the forerunners of the
Birkebeiner (Birchlegs), who were to play such an important part
in future events.

Olav Ugseva and his followers sought support in Denmark, and
Erling, who feared the powerful King Valdemar, was evidently
alanned, and eagerly grasped what seemed to him an opportunity
to avert the danger. While Valdemar was absent on an expedition
against the Wends, Buris, one of his vassals, a descendant of King
Svein Estridsson, formed a treasonable plot to overthrow him. He
negotiated with Erling, who promised to attack Denmark with the
Norwegian fleet. The plot was revealed in time, and Valdemar
called Buris before him and accused him of treason. Buris denied
the charge, but the king kept him in custody until the Norwegian
fleet arrived on the coast of Denmark. This proved his guilt, and
he was imprisoned as a traitor. Erling captured some Danish ships
at Dyrsaa, in Jutland, plundered Grindh0g (Grenaa), and arrived
before Copenhagen. But the vigilant Bishop Absalon met him
with a strong force, and Erling did not attack the town. A peace
was concluded between him and the bishop, and after an unsuccessful
attack on Holland Erling returned home.

King Valdemar decided to punish the Norsemen for this attack
on his kingdom. The following spring he sailed with a large fleet to
Viken, where, according to Saxo Grammaticus, he was well received
by the people; no doubt, by the adherents of Olav Ugseva. At
Tunsberg the townsmen even marched in procession to meet him.
But Erling arrived with a fleet, and Valdemar was forced to take to
sea. His men became mutinous and wished to return home, but
the voyage was continued along the coast "until they came so far
north that at the summer solstice the nights are as light as the day,
and one can read at midnight the finest writing without difficulty,"
sagely remarks the learned Saxo. It may be supposed that they
were somewhere on the southwestern coast of Norway. As he was

368 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

short of provisions, and as the resistance and ill-will on the part of
his men continiied to trouble him, he sailed back to Denmark ; but
for the future he laid an embargo on all trade between Denmark and
Norway.

Although hostillties had ceased, a state of war stiil existed between
the two countries. But worse than the war was the interruption of
the trade with Denmark, on which the southern districts of Norway
were especially dependent. The people in Viken demanded that
peace should be concluded with King Valdemar, and Erling sent his
wife Christina, a cousin of Valdemar, to Denmark, ostensibly on a
visit, but really for the purpose of quietly gaining Information as to
the prevailing sentiment. She was well received by the king,
and Erling sent Bishop Helge of Oslo to negotiate peace. Bishop
Stephanus of Upsala also became his representative. Erling was
summoned to Denmark, and the peace was concluded at Ringsted
in 1170. According to the " Heimskringla " the district of Viken
was given to Valdemar, who in return made Erling a jarl, and gave
him the district as a fief under the Danish crown. Through his
selfish and unpatriotic policy Erling Skakke had alienated a part of
the kingdom of Norw^ay, something which had not happened since
the days of his protot\T3es, Haakon Jarl and his sons.^ The authority
exercised over the district by Ejng Valdemar was purely nominal, it
is true, but Erling's system of statesmanship was of the most per-
nicious sort, and might have led to very serious consequences if he
and his party had remained in power.

After he had made peace with Denmark he guarded eagerly
against all pretenders, and with the eye and spirit of a tyrant he
sought to exterminate the family of Harald Gille. This aroused the
hostility of the Swedish jarl Birger Brosa, who was married to Harald
Gille's daughter Bergitta, and henceforth his opponents found en-

iSaxo Grammaticus says that Erling became King Valdemar's vassal, and
promised to furnish him sixty ships in time of war. He promised also to rear
his yoimg son, Valdemar (Valdemar the Viotorious), to give him the title of
duke, and to have him elected king of Norway, if Magnus died without
legitimate heirs. He does not mention Viken, but it is evident that it was
only as jarl of Viken that he was Valdemar's vassal, as this eonforms to the
original agreement between him and King Valdemar. Historia Danica, part
IIL, book XV. Fagrskinna, eh. 273-274.

THE ENGLISH CONQUEST OF IRELAND 369

couragement and support in Swcden. No one wielded a mightier
sword than Erling Skakke, He combined craft and resourcefulness
with great energy and courage ; but he had the tyrant's fear, and
as his heart grew harder and his methods bk)odier, his real power
decreased, and an opponent mightier than he arose to overthrow him,

60. The English Conquest of Ireland. Events in the

colonies

After the battle of Clontarf the Norsemen ceased to ruie in Ireland.
Their military power was broken, and they submitted to the Irish
kings. They continued, however, to hoid their fortified cities, and
as the Irish, because of ineessant feuds, were able to exercise but a
nominal overlordship, they continued their eommerce, governed
themselves according to their own laws, and remained a distinct
nationality as before. By oid Irish and English writers they are
generally called Ostmen {i.e. men from the East), a name stiil pre-
served in Oxmantown ( = Ostmantown) in Dublin. Giraldus Cam-
brensis speaks of them as a distinct people given to seafaring and
eommerce ("gens igitur haec, quae nunc Ostmannica gens vocatur").^
About the middle of the twelfth century the Irish feuds raged with
their accustomed fury, and led finally to the conquest of Ireland by
the Anglo-Normans in 1169-1171. The principal resistance to the
invaders was offered by the fortified Norse towns, but as there was
no national government and no general leadership, each town fell in
turn, and the conquest was easily accomplished.

In 1166 Ruaidhri 0'Connor became high-king of Ireland. He
went to Dublin, where he was also hailed as king by the Ostmen;
but this was scarcely more than a ceremony, since the men of Dublin
were stiil ruled by their own king, Askell (Hasculf) Ragnvaldsson.
With 0'Connor's aid Diarmait MacMurchadha, king of Leinster, a
very restless and troublesome chief, was driven away from Ireland.
He hastened to King Henry II. of England for aid, found him in
Aquitaine, and promised to do homage to him for his kingdom, if he
would help him to regain it. This gave Henry a welcome opportunity

1 Giraldus Cambrensis, Topographia Hiberniae. J. J. Worsaae, Minder
on de Danske og Nordmanndene i England, Skotland og Irland, p. 432.

VOL. I 2 B

370 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

to iindertake the conquest of Ireland, which he seems to have planned
for some time. He had already obtained a bull from Pope Adrian
IV. (the former Cardinal Nicolaus Brakespear), in which the Pope
permitted him to take possession of the country, and blessed the
undertaking as one prompted by " ardor of faith and love of religion."
King Henry promised the Pope to "subject the people to laws, to
extirpate vicious customs, to respect the rights of the native churches,
and to enforce the payment of Peter's Pence." He could not leave
for Ireland at once, but he gave Diarmait a letter granting his vassals
permission to aid him. With this letter Diarmait returned to Eng-
land, and Richard Clare, Earl of Pembroke, also called Strongbow,
and many other Anglo-Norman barons promised to assist him.
Strongbow bargained for the händ of Diarmait's daughter, and was
to become heir to the throne of Leinster.

In 1169 the half-brothers Robert Fitz-Stephens and Maurice
Fitz-Gerald went to Ireland wäth a small force and captured Wexford.
Strongbow followed the next year with 1000 men and 200 mounted
knights. Waterford was stormed, and a large number of the in-
habitants were put to death. After celebrating his wedding with
Diarmait's daughter, Aife, Strongbow made haste to attack Dublin.
The city was taken by a stroke of perfidy executed during an armi-
stice arranged for the purpose of negotiating about the terms for
capitulation. Askell (Hasculf) and some of the Ostmen who suc-
ceeded in escaping to the ships sought refuge in the Orkneys and the
Hebrides, but the city was sacked, and a great number of people were
slain. Tlie victors made Dublin their headquarters, and it was
clearly their plan to subdue the whole country ; but King Henry's
jealousy of Strongbow's success, and the resolute resistance offered
by both Norsemen and Irish, threw new obstacles in their path.
Henry ordered the barons to return to England, and when Diarmait
died, the people of Leinster chose his nephew as their king, and
turned their backs on Strongbow, who was, thereby, placed in
a most difficult situation, as he could get no further reenforce-
ments.

In the meantime Askell, who had gone to the Orkneys, had
gathered a fleet of sixty ships and a large number of warriors, who,
according to Giraldus Cambrensis, wore shirts of mail, and carried

THE ENGLISH CONQUEST OF IRELAND 371

round, red shiekls.^ The leaders of this army were Askell Ragnvalds-
soii and Jon Ode, a chieftain from the Orkneys. They made a vigor-
ous assault on Dublin, but were finally defeated. Jon Ode fell, and
Askell, the last Norse king of Dublin, was captured and put to death.
Archbishop Laurentius, who stiil hoped to rid Ireland of the
enemy, sent messengers to King Gudr0d of Man, and to the chief-
tains of the Hebrides, and asked for help. King Gudr0d came with
a flieet of thirty ships, and invested Dublin from the seaside, while
the high-king besieged it with an army of 30,000 men. Strongbow,
who was in command of the garrison, was brought to desperate
straits, and he even began negotiations for surrender ; but the siege
was not pushed with vigor, and by a sudden sally from the city he
defeated and drove away the Irish army, and returned with rich
booty. The high-king had to yield, and Strongbow took possession
of Leinster as Diarmait's heir. But the garrison at Wexford had
been overwhelmed, and Strongbow, who saw that he could not
succeed without reenforcements, hastened to England to offer his
submission to King Henry II. While he was away, the Irish made
another unsuccessful attempt to capture Dublin. We hear also
about this time of the last Viking expedition led by the last Viking,
Svein Asleivsson of the Orkneys, who undertook to capture Dublin.
It is possible that the expedition was undertaken to avenge the
death of Askell Ragnvaldsson, and that it was made while Strong-
bow was in England. The " Orkneyingasaga " gives the following ac-
eount of it: "They went all the way south to Dyflin (Dublin), and
took the inhabitants by surprise, so that they did not know till they
were in town. They took a great deal of plunder, and took captive
the rulers of the city, and their negotiations ended in the surrender
of the city to Svein, and they promised to pay as much money as he
might levy on them. He was to quarter his men in the town, and
have the command of it, and the Dyflin men confirmed this arrange-
ment with oaths. Svein and his men went down to their ships in
the evening, but in the morning they were to come into the town
and receive hostages from the inhabitants.

1 Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald de Barri) was a priest, who accompanied
the Anglo-Norman barons to Ireland, and wrcte a chronicle of the expedition
and a description of the country, Topographia Hiherniae.

372 IIIöTORY OF TIIP: NOUWEGIAN PEOPLE

" Now it is to be toid what was going on in the town diiring the
night. The rulers of the town had a meeting, and considered the
difficiilties in which they were placed. They thought it a grievous
hardship that they should have to surrender their town to the
Orkne^Tiien, especially to him whom they knew to be the most exact-
ing man in the whole West ; and they came to the determination to
play him false if they could. They resolved to dig a large pit inside
of the city gates, and in many other places between the houses, where
it was intended that Svein's men should come in, and armed men
were hidden in the houses close by. They placed such coverings
over the pits as were sure to fail in when the weight of the men
came upon them. Then they eo vered all over with straw, so that
the pits could not be seen, and waited till morning.

*' Next morning Svein and his men arose and armed themselves,
and went to the town ; and when they came near the gates, the
Dyflin men ranged themselves on both sides from the gates along by
the pits. Svein and his men, not being on their guard, fell into
them. Some of the townsmen ran immediately to the gates, and
others to the pits, and attacked Svein's men w^th weapons. It was
difficult for them to defend themselves, and Svein perished there in
the pit, with all those who had entered the town." ^

When Strongbow arrived in England, King Henry was already
preparing an expedition to Ireland. The earl obtained the king's
pardon by surrendering to him the Irish seaports ; he did homage
to him for Leinster, and accompanied him to Ireland. Henry placed
Enghsh garrisons in Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford, received the
homage of the Irish chieftains, and returned home.

But although the Norsemen were conquered, they were not driven
from Ireland.^ They are mentioned in the "Annals of the Four

1 Orkneyingasaga, translated by Jon A. Hjaltalin and Gilbert Goudie,
edited by Joseph Anderson, eh. cxi-exii. Svein Asleivsson is also men-
tioned in the Annals 0/ the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters about
1174.

^ The Norsemen were forced to withdraw from the eities, and they built
new towns outside the citv walls as at Dublin. The Ostmantown (Ox-
mantown), which thus originated, merged in eourse of time with the original
city. See Alexander Bugge, Contrihutions to the History of Ireland, no. 6.,
p. 4. J. J. Worsaae, Minder om de Danske og Nordmoendene i England,
Skotland og Irland, p. 435 ff.

THE ENGLISH CONQUEST OF IREL.AJ^D 373

Masters," 1174, and also by Giraldus Carabrensis, who states that
the same year the English asked the Ostmen for help against the
Irish, and in a battle near the city 400 Ostmen from Dublin fell.
J. J. A. Worsaae says : " Over a century later many Ostmen were
yet found in the larger towns of Ireland, where they, as it appears,
stiil preserved their Norse characteristics which distinguished them
from the Irish and the English. In the year 1201 a decision was
rendered at Limerick by twelve Irishmen, twelve Englishmen, and
twelve Ostmen regarding Limerick church lands, chürches, and other
belongings, which show that the Ostmen w^ere stiil so numerous that
they were accounted equal to the Irish and English.^ Even from the
year 1283 there is found preserved in the Tower of London a docu-
ment issued by King Edward L, ordaining that the Ostmen of
Waterford, in conformity w4th the regulations made by King Henry
IL, should be amenable to the same laws as the English who were
living in Ireland." ^ This shows that the Ostmen were stiil a dis-
tinct people.^ In 1292 the wine trade of the Ostmen is stiil spoken
of in oid documents, which shows that this once flourishing com-
merce was not yet dead, though over a hundred years had passed
since the Norse towns in Ireland had fallen into the hands of the
EngHsh,

After the Norsemen lost their independence, they gradually mixed
with the Irish and English inhabitants. "The Irish annals," says
Worsaae, "mention several clans which were of Norse descent, or
strongly mixed with Norse blood. In the annals and genealogical
tables from the Middle Ages we find many, both among the clergy
and outside, with Norse names. In the fourteenth and fifteenth cen-
turies we find among the canons and monks of the Christ church in
Dublin, which was erected by the Norsemen, such names as Harold,
Olaf, Siwird (Sivard), Regenald (Ragnvald), Iwyr, ete." The oid

1 "As läte as 1251 Magnus Mae Olav Duff proposed to raise a force in
Ireland to invade the territory of the king of Norway in the Isle of Man,"
says Alexander Bugge. Contributions to the History of Norsemen in Ireland,
no. 5, p. 24 ; Calendars of Documents relating to Ireland, I., no. 3206.

2 This document, from Patent Roll II., Edward I., no. 9, is printed as an
appendix to Worsaae's book.

' Worsaae, Minder om de Danske og Nordm(Endene, p. 432 f. Alexander
Bugge, Contributions to the History of the Norsemen in Ireland, III., p.
10 f. Historical and Municipal Documents of Ireland.

374 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

chronicler Duald MacFirbis, who wrote in the middle of the seven-
teenth century, says : " And as for the greater part of the merchants
in the city of Ath Cliath up to the present day they are of the
family of Anihlaibh Cuaran (Olav Kvaaran), and of the family of
Sadhbh, daughter of Brian Borumha, who was his wife when the
battle of Clontarf was fought." And he adds : "Thus the race of
this Amhlaibh Cuaran in the town of Ath Cliath (DubKn) is oppos-
ing the Gaedhels (Irish) of Erin." ^ Mr. Worsaae points out that
traces of the Norsemen are stiil found in Ireland, especially in
personal names of Norse origin stiil in use, as MacHitteric or
Shiteric (son of Sigtrygg), 0'Bruadair (son of Broder), McRagnall
(son of Ragnvald), Roailb (Rolv), Auleev (Olav), Manus (Magnus),
Harrold (Harald), Iver (Ivar), Cotter or McOtter (Ottar), and others.
The civil wars had a tendency to weaken the ties which stiil bound
the colonies to the mother country. The Orlvuey jarls continued to
do homage to the kings of Norway for their possessions, but during
such a period of weakness and eonfusion they could exercise sov-
ereign authority without much interference or restraint. King
Gudr0d of Man and the Hebrides had lõng been waging war with
his rival Sumarlide. In 1154, or 1155, he made an expedition to
Ireland, where he defeated King Muirchertach's brother, and was
hailed as king of Dublin. He returned to Man, but beeame so
tyrannical that many people in the Sudreys turned away from him,
and chose Sumarlide's son, Dugald, as king. This brought about a
permanent partition of the kingdom of IMan and the Hebrides, 1158.
Gudr0d was finally defeated by Sumarlide, and went to King Inge

1 On the Fomorians and Norsemen by Duald MacFirbis, the original Irish
text edited with translation and notes by Alexander Bugge, p. 11.

Lindssay's The Coinage of Ireland, Cork, 1839, enumerates the following
Norse kings of Dublin : Anlaf (Olav) 853, Ifar (Ivar) 870, Ostinus (Eystein)
872, Godfred (Gudr0d) 875, Sihtrie (Sigtrygg) 893, Sihtrie 896, Regnald
(Ragnvald) 919, Godfred 920, Anlaf 934, Blacar 941, Godfred 948, Anlaf
954, Godfred 960, Anlaf 962, Regnald, Gluniaran 981, Sihtrie 989, Ifar 993,
Sihtrie 994, Anlaf 1029, Sihtrie 1034, Anlaf 1041, Ifar 1050, Eachmargach
1054, Majlnambo 1064, Godred Crovan 1066 (?), Godfred Merenaeh 1076,
Gilalve 1094, Thorfinn 1109, Regnald 1125, Godfred 1147, Oieterus (Ottar)
1147, Broder 1149, Askel 1159, Roderiek 1171-1200. Of the k-ings of Water-
ford and Limerick only a few are mentioned. See Worsaae, Minder om de
Danske og Nordmaendene, p. 395.

SVERRE SIGURDSSON AND THE BIRKEBEINER 375

Krokryg in Norway, who confirmed his title to his kingdom. But
Gudr0d deserted his suzerain in the battle of Oslo, and joined his
opponent Haakon Herdebreid. He remained in Norway till Sumar-
hde fell in 1164, when he returned with a large mihtary force, and
seized Man and a part of the Hebrides, which possessions he ruled
till 1187, while the other part of the island kingdom was ruled by
SumarHde's son Dugald.^

61. SvERRE SiGURDSSON AND THE BlRKEBEINER

Erling Skakke's harsh regime, and his attempt to exterminate all
descendants of Harald Gille created a most determined opposition
to his ruie, and brought new forces into the field against him. Many
had no choice but to resort to armed resistance in their own self-
defense, for although they were convicted for no wrongdoing, they
knew that Erling was plotting their destruction, and with their bänd
of followers they sought refuge in mountains and forests, where they
led a life almost like brigands in constant want and danger. They
were called " Birkebeiner " (Birchlegs), because they were sometimes
forced to wrap their feet in birch bark for want of shoes. In their
fight against the tyrannical Erling and the puppet king, Magnus,
the Birkebeiner stood forth as persecuted patriots, who under the
guidance of an extraordinary leader brought about a revolution, and
revived the lost ideal of a united and independent Norway.

Tlie Birkebeiner first rallied around Eystein, a grandson of Harald
Gille. He was small and fair-faced, and was nicknamed Meyla (i.e.
maiden). Jarl Birger Brosa, who was married to Brigida, a sister
of Eystein's father, promised to aid him, and furnished him with
both men and money. Eystein and his men spent two years in
Viken and neighboring districts, and in 1176 he sailed to Nidaros,
captured the city, and was proclaimed king.

He had assembled an army of 2400 men, and with this force he
crossed the mountains into southern Norway, but in January, 1177,
King Magnus Erlingsson met him at Ree, where Eystein was defeated

^ Orkneyingasaga, ed. by Anderson, p. 181 and note. Chronica Regum
MannicB, ed. by Munch, p. 12, note p. 81. Heimskringla, Haakon Herde-
breid's Säga, eh. 17. P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. IL, 940.

376 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and slain. His followers were scattered, and many of them sought
refuge across the Swedish border.

A more formidable leader now appeared on the seene to champion
the lost cause of the Birkebeiner. This was Sverre Sigurdsson, who
claimed to be an illegitimate son of King Sigurd Mund. The
"Sverressaga,"^ which gives a full, though not impartial, account of
King Sverre's Hfe and deeds,^ states that Unas Kambari, a brother
of Bishop Hroi (Roe) in the Faroe Islands, married a Norse wife
named Gunhild, in the reign of the sons of Harald Gille. She bore
a son, who was caHed Sverre, and he was thoiight to be the son of
Unas. When he was five years oid, he was sent to the Faroe Islands,
where he was reared by Bishop Hroi, who educated him for the
priesthood, and ordained him as priest. Sverre did not know who
was his real father iintil he was twenty-four years of age. Atthat
time his mother Gunhild went to Rome, where she made the con-
fession that Sverre was not the son of Unas, biit of King Sigurd
Mund. This confession was laid before the Pope, and she was
commanded to inform her son of his real parentage. She returned
to Norway, and sailed thence to the Faroe Islands, where she toid
Sverre that he was King Sigurd's son.^ The next year he went to

1 The Säga of King Sverri of Norway, translated by J. Sephton, M.A.,
London, 1899.

2 The Sverressaga was written by Abbot Karl Jonsson of Thingeyre in
leeland, who was staying at the eourt of King Sverre, and began the work in
1185. The prologue states that it was written "according to the book which
Abbot Karl Jonsson wrote when King Sverre sat over him and settled what
he should write." This seems to make clear also the question of the author-
ship, but the prologue in the " Flateyjarbok " says that "P*riest Styrmi the
historian followed that book (Abbot KarFs) when he wrote." Professor
P. A. Munch held that Karl Jonsson did not write the whole säga, but that
Styrmi wrote the last part. Det norske Folks Historie, part III., p. 395.
Dr. Vigfusson has made it quite clear, however, that Abbot Karl has written
the whole work. See J. Sephton's translation of the Sverressaga, Introduc-
tion, p. XVII.

As the Heimskringla, Fagrskinna, M orkinskinna, and other eoUections
of sägas of the Norse kings stop with the year 1177, the Sverressaga is the
most important source for the reign of King Sverre.

^ Whether King Sverre was of royal blood was a much debated question
in his own day, and there is no more unanimity of opinion on this point among
modern scholars. R. Keyser says: "Whether Sverre really was a son of
King Sigurd Mund, as he claimed to be, could scarcely be determined with

SVERRE SIGURDSSON AND THE BIRKEBEINER 377

Norway to see what Iie could do. He mingled with the people,
visited Erling Skakke, spoke with the king's bodyguard, and learned
to know the general sentiment, but he did not disclose his plans
or his identity. At last he made his way through Gautland to Jarl
Birger Brosa, where he arrived three days before Christmas, weary
and exhausted. The jarrs wife, Brigida, was a sister of Sigurd
Mund, and he confided his troubles to her and Jarl Brosa, but they

certainty in his own day, and it is stiil more difficult to do so now." {Norges
Historie, II., p. 166.) Professor P. A, Munch is inelined to regard
Sverre's assertion regarding his deseent as true, though he points to the
laek of positive evidence, and says that it is a question which cannot be
deflnitely settled. (Det norske Folks Historie, part III., p. 50 £f.)

Dr. G. Vigfusson (Corpus Poeticum Borcale, II., p. 255 f.) held that the
story of Sverre's royal deseent was pure invention. J. E. Sars finds Sverre's
assertions untrustworthy, but he eonsiders it probable that he was a son of
King Sigurd Mund, or at least that he thought he was. (Udsigt over den
norske Historie, II., p. 122 £f.) In 1901 Professor Gustav Storm wrote
a treatise on this subjeet : Kong Sverres fcedrene Herkomst {Historisk Tids-
skrift, fjerde r^kke, voI. II., p. 163 ff.), in which he takes the position that
Sverre was really what he claimed to be, a son of Sigurd Mund. He finds
the best evidence of this in the Gesta Henrid Secundi, written by a contem-
porary of King Sverre, the English abbot Benediet of Peterborough, 1169-
1181. Benediet gives an aecount of the political events in Norway which
is quite aceurate, and shows that the author was well informed. He says
that Sigurd Mund had three illegitimate sons : Haakon, Sigurd, and Sverre,
and they had different mothers. Another eontemporary English writer,
Robert de Hoveden, who wrote a history of England up till 1201, and partly
used Benediet as a sovu^ce, gives asimilar aecount of Sverre's deseent. Storm
holds that these English historians were impartial, while other oid writers,
like WiUiam Parvus of Newburgh, who wrote his Historia Rerum Anglicarum,
1196-1198, and likewise Saxo Grammaticus, have received their informa-
tion from Sverre's enemies, the adherents of Magnus Erlingsson and the
Norwegian hierarehy. In Historisk Tidsskrift, fjerde rsekke, vol. III.,
1905, Professor Ludvig Daae has written a reply to Gustav Storm's treatise
under the title : Var Sverre Ronges^n? in which he states that he has not
been convineed by Storm's arguments. Among those who hoid an opposite
view of Sverre's deseent he mentions Vigfusson, Dahlmann {Geschichte van
Dänemark, Hamburg, 1840-1843), and Werlauff (Anecdoton, Historiam
Sverreri, Regis Norwegiae Illustrans, Copenhagen, 1815). In the story which
sets forth how Sverre diseovered that he was a son of Sigurd Mund, Daae
finds so many features which he eonsiders whoUy ineredible that he regards
the whole as a fabrieation, and holds that the probability of Sverre's royal
deseent is very slight. It is probably correet when Vigfusson sees in Sverre's
great talents a proof that he was "no chip of the Gilehrist bloek," and with
Dahlmann we can most properly regard him as "the son of his own deeds.''

378 HISTORY OF THE NOKWEGIAN PEOPLE

would not help him, becaiise they had promised to support Eystein
Meyla (liis cousin), and because they had heard that Erhng Skakke
had sent this young man to them in mockery. But Sverre stayed
with them during Christmas, and spoke to them constantly about
his plans. After Christmas he went to Vermland to visit Sigurd
Mund's daughter CeciHa, the wife of Folkvid Lagmand, and she
received him with great joy. Rumors had already reached him of
Eystein Meyla's defeat and death, and the Birkebeiner, who had
learned that Sverre, a son of Sigurd Mund, was staying in Verm-
land, sent messengers to him and asked him to be their leader. At
first he refused, because the Birkebeiner were small disorganized
bands in want of everything, but when they threatened to kill him
to gain King Magnus' good-will if he did not jõin them, he consented.
With a bänd of seventy men he started for Viken in southern Nor-
way, and the number increased on the march till he had 420 men.
A thing was called, and tlie Birkebeiner hailed Sverre as king, though
he was opposed to assuming the royal title under so unfavorable
circumstances. He soon resumed his march, following the Swedish
side of the border to Tr0ndelagen, He kept strict discipline, and
forbade his men to plunder. On these weary marches he was deserted
by all but his most resolute followers, so that his little force again
dwindled to seventy men. With this small bänd he suddenly ap-
peared before Trondhjem ; but the city was well garrisoned, and the
commanders marched against him wüth a force of 1450 men. Sverre
retreated, but bewildered them with circuitous marches until he had
secured some reenforcements. He then attacked them in a position
well suited to his tactics, and won a decisive victory. He seized the
ships in the harbor, and defeated several small squadrons which were
coming to jõin the fleet in defending Trondhjem. King Magnus*
lendermoend fled, the city surrendered, and Sverre was received by
the people in festive procession to the chiming of bells. He assembled
the f3rething (twelve representatives from each of the ei^tfylker),
and was proclaimed king of Norway according to St. 01av's law ; that
is, according to the oid law of succession which did not exclude a
king's illegitimate son from the throne. The law of 1164 was not
recognized, and King Magnus would be treated as an usurper.
Archbishop Eystein Erlendsson, who is not mentioned in connection

SVERRE SIGURDSSON AND THE BIRKEBEINER 379

with these events, must have been absent from Norway at this
time, a circumstance which, probably, enabled Sverre to seize
Trondhjem.

The rumors of the events in Tr0ndelagen had reached Magnus
and Erling, who hastened with their fleet northward along the coast.
Sverre did not await their arrival, biit marched across the mountains
into Gudbrandsdal, and advanced to Lake Mj0sen, where he found
Magnus' lendermcend stationed with 1400 men and eighteen ships.
He did not venture to attack them, but sent a detachment to the
Randsf jord ; the vessels on that lake were seized, and the local
forces defeated. But Orm Kongsbroder, Magnus' chief Heutenant
in Southern Norway, was advancing from Viken with a strong force.
With great difficulty Sverre suceeeded in transporting some of the
small vessels overland from Randsfjord to Mj0sen. With these he
attacked the lendermoBnd, surprised and defeated them, and captured
all the vessels on the lake. All the districts of Oplandene now sub-
mitted to him, but as his force was so small that he could leave no
garrisons, he was unable to hoid permanently any of the territory
which he had won. For some time this indecisive guerrilla warfare
continued with forced marches and daring exploits in which Sverre
proved himself a peerless leader, but his forces were too small to risk
a decisive engagement, and his daring ventures represented no sub-
stantial progress. King Magnus and Orm Kongsbroder, who had
united their armies in Viken, soon compelled Sverre to withdraw
from Oplandene. In the winter of 1177 he crossed the mountains
in an effort to capture Bergen, but the city had been warned; a
fleet was patrolling the coast, and at Voss an army confronted him
which he could not hope to cope with. He had no choice but to re-
trace his steps across the snow-covered mountains. For weeks they
struggled through the pathless wilds, without fire or shelter. Horses
and military stores were lost, and many of his men perished
from cold or exhaustion before they finally reached the settle-
ments in Valdres. Even here he did not dare to tarry, as all av-
enues of escape might be cut off. He continued his retreat to
0sterdalen, where he camped during Christmas ; but when he
learned that Erling Skakke was approaching, he withdrew across
the Swedish border.

380 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

S verre began the campaign of 1178 in Jaemtland, where he forced
the Jamts to swear allegiance to him. It seems to have been his
plan to secure a base of operations from which he might attack
Trondhjem, which again had fallen into the hands of King Magnus
and Arch})ishop Eystein, but he entertained no great hope of success.
When he reached Namdalen, a district north of Trondhjem, he
assembled his men and discussed the situation with them. Three
courses, he thought, now remained open : " One to make a voyage
north to Haalogaland, obtain friends and ships, and then sail south
to Bergen to see if he could win a victory over his foes ; the second
course, to leave the land, and sail to the Western Isles, where there
were good prospects, he considered, of obtaining support; the third
course, to go on a plundering expedition to Ireland, or other western
lands, for he was of the opinion that the popularity of King Magnus
and Erhng Jarl would grow less the longer they ruled over the coun-
try. *But at present,' he said, 'their power is great, and to contend
wdth them will be a hard matter.'" ^ The Birkebeiner would not
listen to Sverre's advice, but thought that they could capture Trond-
hjem now as easily as they had done before. But Archbishop Eystein
was at home, and urged the Tr0nders to resist the Birkebeiner to the
utmost. "I have been toid," he said, "that their numbers arefew
and their ships small ; the men, moreover, are in an exhausted and
wretched condition. It befits not yeomen and merchants to give up
their clothes or goods to such thieves and evil-doers as Sverre has
scraped together." King Sverre risked the attack, but he suffered
a crushing defeat, and narrowly escaped losing his life. After this
mishap he again sought refuge in the mountains, but marched slowly
southward towards Viken. When King Magnus heard of the ap-
proach of the Birkebeiner, he hastened to meet them with a strong
force. Sverre, who saw that he could gain no further support until
he gained a victory over his opponents, toid his men that he would
rather die now in an honorable battle with King Magnus than to be
constantly driven from pillar to post. At Hirta Bridge he resolutely
attacked King Magnus' forces. Both the king and Orm Kongs-
broder were wounded, many of their men fell, and they retreated
from the field. Shortly afterwards he also succeeded in destroying a

* Sverressaga, eh. 22.

SVERRE SIGURDSSON AND THE BIRKEBEINER 381

part of King Magnus' fleet at Konghelle. These successes inspired
his men with new confidence, and he stationed himself in Viken, where
he could obtain both provisions and reenforcements. From this
time on his fortunes began to mend. In the fail of 1179 he returned
to Trondhjem, where he defeated the forces of King Magnus, cap-
tured the city, and took ten ships ; but this v^ictory was in no way
decisive, The great leaders — King Magnus, Erling Skakke, Orm
Kongsbroder, and Archbishop Eystein — were staying in Bergen, and
when they heard of Sverre's success they collected a large fleet with
which they intended to attack him as soon as the new eampaign
should open in the spring. When winter was past, Sverre sailed
southward with the fleet which he had collected, but off Stadt he
met Magnus, Erling, Orm, and Eystein with so overwhelming a
force that the only question became how to avoid falling into their
hands with the whole fleet. To save himself Sverre steered for the
open sea. In a fog his pursuers lost sight of him, and as they were
unable to determine what course he had taken, Orm Kongsbroder and
Eystein were sent with a part of the fleet to protect Bergen, while
King Magnus and Erling proceeded to Trondhjem. Sverre was
already in the city when they arrived, but they landed without
opposition, and took up a position on the Kalveskind, a peninsula
formed by the river Nid and the sea, while Sverre held the opposite
bank of the river. After some fruitless parleying Sverre marched
away, and the rumor spread that he had retreated into the mountains.
So confident was Erling Skakke that he would not return that he
allowed his men to feast and drink in the town, and did not heed
the warning of his lieutenants that he should keep good watch.
Sverre, who well knew the significance of the combat now imminent,
had hastened into Guldal to collect reenforcements. On the night
of the 18th of June he returned to Trondlijem. He reached the city
at daybreak, halted a few moments and addressed his men, telling
them how much depended on the battle which was to be fought, and
what they might gain if they were victorious. " I will now make
known to you what is to be gained," he said: "whoever slays a
lendermand, and can bring forward evidence of his deed, shall him-
self be a lendermand ; and whatever title a man shall cause to be
vacant, that title shall be his; he shall be king's man who slays a

382 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

king's man, and he shall receive good honor beside." ^ King Magnus'
sentinels had noticed the approacliing Birkebeiner, and the war
trumpets called the men to the standards. The first onset was so
fierce that Erling's men were forced backward, his standard was cut
down, and he received a halberd thrust hi the abdomen, and fell
mortally wounded. ; King Magnus' forces broke into disorderly
flight. In rushing past, Magnus noticed his father; he bent down
and kissed him and said : " We shall meet again on the day of joy,
my father." Erling's lips moved, but he could not speak. Magnus
had to flee for his life, and Erling soon breathed his last among his
enemies. Magnus boarded a ship and sailed away from Trondhjem.
His defeat was overwhelming. Ten lendermoEnd had fallen, and half
of his hird. The decisive battle between the two parties had been
fought. Erling Skakke \vas buried near the south wall of the Christ
church, but his burial place now lies inside the much larger Trondhjem
cathedral which was erected later.^

After the battle of Nidaros Magnus fled to Bergen, which was held
by Archbishop Eystein and Orm Kongsbroder. Sverre fortified
Trondhjem with palisades, and took special care to strengthen his
fleet, knowing that this branch of the military service would be of
the greatest importance in the future. Magnus and Eystein spent
the winter in Viken, and the folloA\ing spring they assembled again
a large fleet and sailed to Trondlijem to try conclusions with the
victorious Sverre. He proposed that they should make peace;
that he and Magnus should ruie as joint kings, but the offer was
rejected. On the 27th of May, 1180, another battle was fought at
Ilevoldene in Trondhjem, in which Magnus was again defeated.
His army was torn up, six lendermasnd fell,^ and Magnus retreated to
Bergen with the remnants of his forces. But his victorious pursuers
foUowed close on his heels, and as he was unable to offer any effectual
resistance, he abandoned the struggle and fled to Denmark. Arch-
bishop Eystein also left Norway, and sought refuge in England.
King Henry II. was no special friend of prelates, but he, nevertheless,

1 Sverressaga, eh. 35.

^ King Sverre's speech at the grave of Erling Skakke is a fine specimen of
eloquence, spiced with playful wit and biting sarcasm. See Sverressaga,
translated by J. Sephton, eh. 38.

' Gustav Storm, Historisk Tidsskrift, anden raekke, vol. IV., p. 156.

SVERRE SIGURDSSON AND THE BIRKEBEINER 383

treated the archbishop with due respect, and assigned him the
monastery of Edmundsbury for a residence; but he granted him
but a small allowance, probably because he did not want to make it
appear that he was supporting King Sverre's enemies.

The great defeats had weakened the aristocracy, but had not
destroyed their power of resistance. Not only could the chieftains
stiil raise forces in nearly every district in the kingdom, but they
did not hesitate to seek the support of the king of Denmark, who
was willing enough to aid them as lõng as they were opposing the
representative of a strong national government and an independent
Norway. Sverre had indeed gained control of the whole kingdom,
but his task was only rendered more difficult, as he had to defend it
against the combined attacks of domestic and foreign enemies. In
the spring of 1181, while sailing from Bergen to Viken, he suddenly
encountered King Magnus and Orm Kongsbroder, who came from
Denmark, with a fleet of thirty-two large ships.^ His own fleet
was much smaller, and he fell back to Bergen, where a bloody naval
engagement was fought. By superior generalship he won the vic-
tory, but the battle was not decisive, as both sides suffered heavy
losses. To know where the next attack would be made was impos-
sible. Sverre hastened to Trondhjem, garrisoned the city and
marched overland to Oslo for the purpose of defending Viken ; but
Magnus attacked Trondhjem, overwhelmed the garrison, and cap-
tured Sverre's whole fleet of thirty-five ships. When Sverre re-
turned to aid the city, Magnus sailed away to Bergen, and Sverre
could not pursue him for want of ships. The situation had once
more become eritical, as everything which Sverre had gained in
many hard-fought campaigns was lost by one fell swoop. But he
wasted no time in mourning his losses; with characteristic energy
he set about repairing them as far as possible. The necessity of
strengthening the defenses of the city so that it could be held by
a garrison of reasonable size had become apparent. He greatly
strengthened the fortifications, and erected a castle which he called
"Zion," generally known as the "Sverreborg," where he stationed
a part of the garrison.

^The foUowers of Magnus were called i' Heklunger, " from hekla, a chas-
uble.

384 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

" In the spring he caused palisades to be set up, so that a complete
line stretched (from the castle) along the sea-coast, then inland along
the guild-halls, and over the Eyra (Pren) across to the river, and
along the rIver to the quays. A eatapult was fixed on Brat0ren
by the sea, and a blockhoiise was erected close to the sea." ^

In the meantime Sverre had collected twenty small vessels, and
with a strong north wind he set sail for Bergen, Magnus' ships
were riding at anchor in the harbor. He entered quite unexpectedly,
cut the anchor ropes, and towed the fleet out into the fjord, while a
vigorous assault was made on the city. King Magnus fled after a
short resistance, and again sought refuge in Denmark. Archbishop
Eystein, who had returned to Norway after a three yeärs' exile, was
in Bergen at this time. He tendered his submission, and was allowed
to return to his arehdiocese in Trondhjem. The terms imposed by
Sverre are not known, but it is quite certain that the constitution of
1164 was annulled, and that Eystein acknowledged him to be the
rightful king of Norway.

Archbishop Eystein's poHtical career was now ended. For eight-
een years he had helped to keep Magnus Erlingsson on the throne.
He had suffered defeat, he had languished in exile, and the great
work which he had dreamed of accomplishing in his new arehdiocese
had been interrupted. He longed to return to his beloved Nidaros,
and the last few years of his life were devoted to the erection of the
great Trondhjem cathedral. Before his exile he had rebuilt and
greatly increased in height the transepts of the Christ church which
Olav Kyrre had erected ; but during his sojourn in England and
Normandy he was greatly impressed by the beauty of the Gothic
architecture of the magnificent cathedrals which were built during
this period.^ When he returned to Trondhjem, he razed the choir
of the Christ church, and built a new magnificent choir in the Gothic

1 Sverressaga, eh. 71.

2 In the neighborhood of Edmundsbury, where Eystein was staying, the
Norwich cathedral was being repaired, and the Peterborough cathedral,
which was begun in 1117, was nearing its completion in 1177-1180. The
cathedral of Canterbury had been damaged by fire in 1174, and the work
of restoration was begun in the foUowing year. In Normandy the choir
of the St. Etienne cathedral, in Caen, was erected 1180, and the Notre
Dame in Seez had been completed in 1126. See M. Sehirmer, Kristkirken
i Nidaros.

PLATE X

RUINS OF THE TrONDHJEM CaTHEDRAL.

The TRyNDHJEM Cathediial as it Looks at Present.

SVERRE SIGURDSSON AND THE BIRKEBEINER 385

style. To this was joined the octagonal Lady's chapel, a minor
choir (retrochorus). The main altar was placed in the choir proper
over the grave of St. Olav. The Lady's chapel contained a minor
altar for the Virgin Mary and her image, richly ornamented with
precious stones. Underneath the walls of the Lady's chapel is the
holy St. 01av's v^ell, which, according to the legend, "welled up"on
the spot where St. 01av's body was buried. It is forty-four feet
deep, and walled with stone from the bottom. The reconstructed
transepts, the new choir, and the Lady's chapel were probably
finished when Eystein died in Janiiary, 1188.^ The work of erecting
a new nave in harmony with the other new parts of the cathedral
was not begun till 1248.

After receiving aid from King Knut Valdemarsson of Denmark,
Magnus returned to Norway in the spring of 1184 with twenty-four
ships and a force which must have numbered about 3000 men. At
Fimreite in Norefjord (a narrow arm of the Sognefjord) he met
King Sverre, who at that moment had only fourteen ships and a
force not exceeding 2000 men. The fierce battle which began in
the afternoon of the 15th of June lasted till midnight. Twenty-
one hundred and sixty men are said to have fallen, but Sverre
was finally victorious. King Magnus perished together with the
flower of the aristocracy, and Bergen and the districts of southwestern
Norway which had given him the most loyal support hastened to
tender their submission to King Sverre. After the battle Magnus'
body was brought to Bergen, and buried in the Christ church. " Fair
speeches were made over the grave. Nicolas Sultan spoke, a brother
of King Sverre's mother, and one of the most eloquent of men. The
king himself made a lõng speech in which he said : ' We stand here
now at the grave of one who was kind and loving to his friends and
kinsmen; though he and I, kinsmen, had not the good fortune to

1 In 1229 Eystein was proclaimed a saint by a ehureh eouneil held in
Trondhjem. His body was placed in a shrine, and deposited in the Trond-
lijem cathedral, where it remained till the time of the Reformation. His
silver cofBn was then brought to Copenhagen and given to the royal treasury.
On an oid oak confessional in the north transept of the cathedral is stiil
found painted in gold the three saints : St. Olaus, St. Halvardus, and St.
Augustinus {i.e. Eystein). See Peter Friedrich Suhm and Gerhard Sch0ning,
Fors^g til Forbedringer i den gamle danske og norske Historie, p. 449 ff.
VOL. I — 2 c

386 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

agree. He was hard to me and my men ; may God forgive him
now all his transgressions. Yet he was an honorable ehief in many
respects, and adorned by kingly descent.' The king spoke with
many fine words, for he did not lack them on whatever course he was
bent. The burial of King Magnus was put in careful order by King
Sverre, coverlets were spread over the tombstone, and a railing was
set up around it." ^

62. King Sverre's Reign

While the struggle between Sverre and Magnus had the appear-
ance of a personal contest for the possession of the throne, even a
casual observer woiild soon discern that a revolution had been set
on foot in which the Birkebeiner, or common people, under the leader-
ship of Sverre had undertaken to wrest the power from the aris-
tocracy and the clergy. Sverre could assert his right to the throne
only according to the oid ruie of succession as the illegitimate son
of Sigurd Mund, while Magnus Erlingsson wore the crown by the
special arrangement of 1164, which virtually transferred the sover-
eign power to the church and the nobility. With Sverre on the
throne the era of puppet kings and the ruie of the nobility would
be at an end; the constitution of 1164 would be overthrown, and
a regime would be inaugurated to which Sverre himself gave the
keynote in his speech at the funeral of Erhng Skakke : " Times are
greatly changed, as you may see, and have taken a marvelous turn,
when one man stands in the place of three — of king, of jarl, of
archbishop — and I am that one." Sverre would ruie in the spirit
of Harald Haarfagre and St. Olav, as the sovereign of a national
and independent kingdom exercising the highest authority in eccle-
siastical and state affairs within the realm. But although he had
gained the power, and was fully resolved to use it, he did not exer-
cise it in a harsh or arbitrary way. With the instinct of a true
statesman, he took care to gradually lessen the influence of the nobil-
ity, to put more power into the hands of the common people, and
to organize the administration and the judicial procedure in such a
way as to lodge the power more firmly with the central government,
and leave less to the whim of the individual or the caprice of fortune.
* The Säga of King Sverri, J. Sephton, eh. 97.

KING sverre's reign 387

We have seen that the local administration was originally con-
trolled by the herser, or hereditary chieftains. The lendermoend,
who succeeded them, were appointed by the king, but exercised to
a large extent the same power. They controlled the local military
organization, and exercised extensive police power; they attended
the thing in the capacity of police officers to maintain peace and order,
and they were stiil regarded by the people as their chieftains. They
usually belonged to the oid aristocracy, and although they exercised
their power in the name of the king, they were quite independent
of royal authority because of their ränk and influence. The aarmcend
were the king's real representatives in local administration. They
were overseers of the royal estates, collectors of taxes, and procured
the necessaries for the entertainment of the king and his hird when
he stayed in their district. They had to meet at the thing to main-
tain the king's cause; they should see to it that the thing was as-
sembled at the right time, and should arrange for the election of
nefndarmenn, or members of the lagthing; it was their duty, also,
to keep in custody persons under arrest, and to inflict on them the
punishments imposed by the thing. But they were of low birth —
often they were freed slaves — and they were neither loved nor
respected by the people. When determined resistance was offered,
they were often unable to execute efficiently the duties of their office.
In such a case the lenderviand might from sheer kind-heartedness
condescend to aid them ; but as the aarmmid stood under the super-
vision of the king, not of the lendermoend, we may be sure that such
assistance was both rarely and grudgingly given. In cases of special
lack of efficiency in the local administration, or for special purposes,
the king would appoint one of his trusted men as his sysselmand,
or personal representative, clothed with an authority superior even
to that of the lendermcond. But such appointment was not per-
manent except in far-away districts like Haalogaland and Jsemtland,
The sysselm(Bnd were royal ofHcials, men of standing and ability.
They had all the duties and powers of the aarmosnd, except that of
acting as overseers over the royal estates, which was considered menial
service. They also performed many of the duties of the lendermand.
They had police power, collected fines and taxes, and assembled the
thing, where they proclaimed new laws in the king's name. They

388 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

acted as prosecutors, and defended the people in their rights over
against the clergy; as royal deputies they had numerous duties,
and possessed great power.^ The appointment of sysselmand grew
more common in the twelfth century, but during the period of the
civil wars, while the king exercised only a nominal authority, this
institiition could not be of ver}' great importance. Not till in King
Sverre's time can it be said to have developed into a general and
permanent system of local administration. After the battle of
Nidaros he appointed sysselmoBnd in the whole of Tr0ndelagen. The
office does not seem to have been established everywhere in the king-
dom in his reign, but it was rapidly extended under his successors.
The aarvioBnd continued for a time to act as subordinate officials
under the sysselmand, but as the more important functions of their
office were delegated to him, they became superfluous and gradually
disappeared. The lendermaiid institution was left intact. Sverre
pursued a conciliatory policy, and left the lendermcend in undisturbed
possession of their lands and powers. He even appointed many of
them as his sysselmcend. But in the civil wars their ranks had been
greatly thinned, and Sverre rewarded many of his own men by ele-
vating them to this high ränk even if they were men of humble
birth. Many of his followers he married to the widows and daughters
of those who had fallen in the wars. He thereby attached the
lendermand class more closely to himself, and by appointing them
sysselmcend, they became royal officials dependent on the king, while
the office of lendermand, stripped of its oid significance, gradually
became an empty title.

Of no less significance was the change made by King Sverre in
the hitherto obscure office of lagrnand (0. N. Iggmadr). Much
difference of opinion has prevailed regarding the origin of this in-
stitution in Norway. R. Keyser, P. A. Munch, and Fr. Brandt
held that the office of lagrnand was created by Sverre, that before

1 In regard to the various duties of aarmcend, lendermcEnd, and sysselmcend
see Norges gamle Love, vol. V. Glossary under ärma'6r, lendrma^^r, and
syslumatir. See also T. H. Aschehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark
indtil ISlJf., p. 49 ff. R. Keyser, Norges Stats- og Retsforfatning i Middelalderen,
p. 209 ff. T. H. Aschehoug, De norske Communers Retsforfatning ffir 1837,
p. 8 ff. E. Hertzberg, Len og Veitzla i Norges Sagatid, Festskrift for Konrad
Maurer, Germanistische Studien, p. 283-331.

KING sverre's reign 389

his time the word " lagmand " signified a man well versed in the law,
who exercised no prescribed function in the judicial system.^ Kon-
rad Maurer held that the lagmcend were a separate class, distinct
from the lendermasnd and the people. He points to the very closely
related institution of lovsigemand (IggsQgumadr), the leader of the
thing in Iceland ; and the lagmand in Greenland, the Faroe Islands,
and Jsemtland, and finds that the existence of this institution in
the Norwegian colonies can only be exj^lained by supposing that it
also existed in the mother country, Ebbe Hertzberg does not fully
agree with either view, but holds that the ofRce of laginand dates
from an earher period than Sverre's reign,^ which is shown especially
by Sigurd Ranesson's noted case, where the lagmcend are mentioned
several times. " Then King Eystein asked the lagmoend if it was law
in Norway that b^nder should judge kings. The lagmcend answered
that suits between kings would have to be tried at the 0rething."
When the laws in course of time became more numerous and compU-
cated, few knew them well, and those who were to render decisions
at the thing would, naturally, ask the opinion of those who were
well versed in the law. "In course of time," says Hertzberg, "the
word 'lagmand' came to designate one who was well versed in the
law, who at the thing was requested to give his opinion as to the
law, and thus for the oceasion acted as lagmand." This view must
be regarded as the one which is best supported by the evidence of
the oid writers. Several such lagmcend were present both at the
fylkesthing and the lagthing, but they were not officially appointed.
Archbishop Eystein attempted also to give the clergy control over
the courts of law by making a regulation that at the thing the law-
book should be read by a priest, who would thereby get the oflBce
of principal lagmand. King Sverre's attention bad, probably, been
directed to this important office by Eystein's attempt. He reduced
the number of lagmosnd, and made them royal ofBcials appointed by

1 Keyser, Norges Stats- og Retsforfatning, p. 247. Muneh, Det norske
Folks Historie, II., p. 106. Brandt, Langes Tidsskrift, vol. V., p. 106.

2 Maurer, Kritische Vierteljahrsschrift für Gesetzgebung und Rechtswis-
senschaft, München, 1868, p. 374. Ebbe Hertzberg, Grundtrcekkene i den
celdste norske Proces, edited by Dr. Fr. Brandt, Christiania, 1874, p. 156 ff.
Maurer, Die Entstehungszeit der älieren Gulathingslgg, München, 1872.
Egilssaga, eh. 57.

390 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the king. The duty of the lagmand should be to give his orshurd,
i.e. to state the law according to which the lagrette should decide
the case. It became customary, also, to bring cases before the
lagmand oiitside of the thing, and to settle them according to his
orskurd, or legal opinion. This reheved people of the burden of
expensive Htigation at the tking. At first the contending parties
would not necessarily have to abide by the orskurd of the lagmand,
but by a law of 1244 a fine of three marks was imposed on any one
who disregarded the orshurd} The lagmand had become a high
judicial functionary appointed by the king. He exercised great
influence over the judiciary, and tended to strengthen greatly the
monarchic principles.

Over against the hierarchy King Sverre asserted the principle of
the sovereign power of the king in all aflFairs within the realm with
more uncompromising vigor. He not only annulled the agreement
of 1164, but also all the laws inspired by Archbishop Eystein, by which
this prelate had sought to enhance the privileges of the clergy at
the expense of royal power. The struggle with the church soon
waxed very bitter, since Eystein's successor, Archbishop Eirik, who
had been elected in spite of Sverre's protest, was an avowed opponent
of the king, and a most determined advocate of church supremacy.
The archbishop based his claim on the new code of church laws called
"GullfJQÖr," a revision of the older laws, completed under the
supervision of Archbishop Eystein, in which many privileges were
granted the church. ' Sverre refused to acknowledge these laws,
and appealed to the laws of St. Olav as they were found in the oid
code "Grägäs" from the time of Magnus the Good. He declared
" that Erling Skakke ought not to have broken the laws of Olav the
Saint to have his son appointed king. For Magnus was not rightly
chosen, inasmuch as never before since Norway became Christian
had one been king who was not a king's son, nor yet in heathen
times." ^ King Sverre regarded as unlawful usurpation every inno-
vation introduced by Erling Skakke and King Magnus, and would

1 Frostathingslov, 16, Norges gamle Love, vol. I. Konrad Maurer, Die
Entstehungszeit der Frostathingslqg. Ebbe Hertzberg, Grundtrcekkene i
den celdste norske Proces. See under IggmalSr and õrskur^^r, Norges gamle
Love, Glossary ; and Johan Fritzner, Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog.

2 Sverressaga, oh.. 112.

KING sverre's reign 391

force the church to surrender its illegally obtained privileges. " One
subject of dispute between them was the oid law and practice by
which the king and the yeomen shoiild build churehes, if they wished,
on their own homesteads and at their own eost, and should themselves
have control of the churehes and appoint priests thereto. But the
archbishop claimed ruie and authority in each church as soon as it
was consecrated, and over all those whom he permitted to officiate
in them. The king requested that the law should hoid, but the
archbishop refused." ^ Sverre aiso demanded that the taxes which
the archbishop levied in his diocese should be reduced to what they
had been before the time of Magnus, and that he should not keep
more than thirty armed followers, the number prescribed by law.
"The archbishop," he said, "has no need of a bodyguard, or of
warriors, or of a ship all bedecked with shields ; and he so far exceeds
what the law says, that he sails in a smack häving twenty benches
manned by ninety men, or more, and bedecked with shields from
stem to stern. We Birkebeiner will call to mind the ship sent by
the archbishop to attack us under the Hattarhamar, and that we
thought the same too hardily manned by his huscarls. So, too, in
Bergen, when we attacked the fleet, the archbishop's ship and his
company were much readier with their weapons to fight against
us than were the king's company. I should think it more righteous
before God if the archbishop had no guardsmen beyond what is
lawful, for no one will plunder him or the church property, and if
he used the eost to set men to the quarries to transport stone, to
do mason's work, so as to advance the building of the minster for
which preparations have already been made." The archbishop made
an arrogant reply, and Sverre declared that within five days he would
outlaw the men which he might have in excess of the prescribed
number. The archbishop thereupon fled to Denmark.

Another controversy arose over the election of bishops. Sverre
claimed the right to control their election, and maintained that in
early Christian times the bishops were chosen by the king. This
practice had been adhered to in the time of St. Olav, and even in the
days of Eystein, Sigurd, and Inge, the sons of Harald Gille.^ The

1 Sverressaga, eh. 117.

^ See Sverre's En Taie mod Biskopperne, edited by Gustav Storm, p. 22.

392 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

concessions made by King Magnus he wholly disregarded, and the
right of the clergy to elect the bishops, which had been conceded in
principle even in the reign of the sons of Harald Gille, he interpreted
to mean that in case two or more kings ruled jointly, and could not
agree on a eandidate, the clergy might elect. He says about the
right of election in his speech against the clergy : " We have heard
these people (the clergy) state that the king has surrendered this
right, and has given it to them. But any one will perceive, whom
God has given understanding in the bosom, that even if the king
would relinquish this power he could not do so, inasmuch as he must
account for it to God himself. For God will call the king to account
for everything which he has given the kingdom, and, in like manner,
he will hoid the bishop responsible for everything which he has given
the bishopric. One cannot alter it for the other by giving or re-
ceiving, as this is contrary to God's own disposition and command." ^
When a new bishop was to be elected for the diocese of Stavanger,
the choice fell on Nicolas Arnesson, a half-brother of King Inge and
Orm Kongsbroder. Nicolas was a staunch adherent of King Magnus,
and had fought against Sverre in the battle of Ilevoldene. The king,
who feared that he would use his influence to support the arch-
bishop and to strengthen the hierarchic party, refused to sanction
the election. But the cunning Nicolas wrote a letter to the queen,
and she interceded for him. Sverre yielded to her pleadings, and
sanctioned the choice. The bishop elect was transferred to the
diocese of Oslo, and in later events he comes into the foreground as
the most sinister figure in Norwegian history. His misfortune has
been that little is known about him save what is toid in the " Sver-
ressaga," which was written by his enemies, and all posterity has
learned to regard him as the treacherous arch-conspirator, the very
incarnation of evil. This view is, no doubt, both erroneous and
unjust, but it finds its explanation in the fact that he became the
real organi zer and leader of the hierarchic-aristocratic opposition
party known as the "Bagler," and fanned into flame the passions
of party spirit and civil strife. Nicolas exhibited talent mixed with
cunning and selfishness. He must have been educated, but he had,
probably, no specific religious training. His martial spirit indi-
^ En Taie mod Biskopperne, p. 21.

KING sverre's reign 393

cates that he lacked true religious feeling, and he seems to have been
partisan and narrow. His career shows him to have been a chieftain
of the oid type rather than a bishop. The " Sverressaga " relates
that it happened one day while Sverre lay in the Seimsfjord that his
men rowed him in a cutter close under the land. Bishop Nicolas
exclaimed to him : " Why don't you come on land, Sverre ? Are you
not willing to fight now, you renegade ? You think no life equal to
that of robbing and harrying. Now I will wait for you here. Behold
my sleeve" (and with that he held up his shield) ; "the miter and
staff which by the Pope's command I bear against you are this hel-
met and sword; I will carry these weapons until you are slain or
driven from your realm." ^ However we may regard the words
quoted by the säga writer, they probably give a correct picture of
the warlike prelate in martial array, hostile and bitter in his opposi-
tion to King Sverre.

That the position taken by Sverre would produce a renewed con-
flict with both the hierarchy and the aristoeracy might be expected.
Archbishop Eirik was well received in Denmark by the powerful
Archbishop Absalon, who gave him all possible aid. He instructed
Abbot William of Ebelholt to write a letter to the Pope in Eirik's
behalf, and describe the king's action against the archbishop and the
church.2 The letter emphasized especially that Sverre had requested
the archbishop to crown him, but he had refused to do so except with
the consent of the Pope. This had made Sverre and his whole army
angry, as he claimed that in such an affair he was not dependent on
the favor of the Pope, since kings might let themselves be anointed
wherever and by whomsoever they pleased. The letter received
no immediate answer. Pope Clement IIL died in April, 1191, and
the new Pope, Celestine IIL, was too much occupied with affairs
in Germany and Italy to devote much attention to the far-away prov-
ince of Norway. In 1193 the two archbishops sent men to Rome
with a new letter, and now the Pope issued a bull in which he placed
Archbishop Eirik and his successors under his apostolic protection,
confirmed all rights and privileges of the Norwegian clergy, and
made new regulations.' The bull concludes with the threat that

1 Sverressaga, eh. 131. ^ Diplomatarium Norwegicum, vol. VI., no. 3.

* The document is found iu the Diplomatarium Norwegicum, vol. II., no. 3.

394 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

wlioever resists it sliall lose his authority, his title of honor, and shall
be excommunicated.

Sverre did not lõng enjoy peace even after the overthrow of the
Heklimgs, and the death of Magnus Erlingsson. New armed hosts
were constantly placed in the field against him by the nobles. These
strong bands, which were usiially recruited from the most lawless
elements, did much härm, and Sverre's abihty as a general was often
taxed to the utmost to defend the various sections of the kingdom
against them. But their operations were planless raids, which
the säga gives undue prominence, and pictures with unnecessary
miniiteness of detail. After the battle of Fimreite the followers
of Magnus took from the Hoved0 monastery at Oslo a monk known
as Jon Kuvlung ^ whom they hailed as king, claiming that he was
a son of Inge Krokryg. The clergy and aristocracy supported him,
and as all adventurers and lawless elements joined his standards,
Sverre foimd it difficult enough to cope with the "Kuvlungs," as
these bands of rebels were called. They captured Bergen and took
the Sverreborg, which the king had built in the city. Another time
they seized Trondhjem and destroyed the Sverreborg of that city.
But they were finally taken unawares by Sverre in Bergen ; Jon
Kuvlung fell, and he was proven to be a simple impostor, the son of
a man by the name of Peter and his wife Astrid.

Even before the Kuvlungs had been scattered, a new bänd of
rebels and marauders, the "Varbelgs," made their appearance in
Marker, a border district of southeastern Norway. Their leader,
Sigurd, an Icelander of low birth, claimed to be a son of King Inge
Krokryg. He was defeated and slain by the angry farmers; but
after the fail of the Kuvlungs the chieftains put forward another
pretender, Vikar, a mere child, who had been brought from Denmark,
and was said to be a son of Magnus Erlingsson. The Varbelgs were
finally defeated at Bristein by the men from Tunsberg, and Vikar
was slain.

During the next two years (1190-1192) no bänd of rebels dis-
turbed the kingdom, and a joint crusade to the Holy Land was
crganized in Denmark and Norway. After Jerusalem . had been

1 Kuvlung, from kuvl ( = cowl), a name given him in derision by tlie
Birkebeiner.

KING sverre's reign 395

captured by the Turks in 1187, Pope Gregory VIIL preached a new
crusade against the infidels, and the three most powerful sovereigns
in Europe at that time : Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, Phihp
Augustus II. of France, and Richard Coeur de Lion of England be-
came the leaders of the third crusade. The papal legates aiso
came to Denmark with letters from the Pope, and met King Knut
Valdemarsson at a diet assembled in Odense. The great noble
Esbern Snare arose and urged the Danes to forget their domestic
quarrels, and to use their strength and resources to rescue the Holy
Sepulcher. Many Danish nobles took the cross, and sailed to
Konghelle in Norway, where Ulv af Lauvnes, one of King Sverre's
ablest Birkebein chieftains, lay ready to jõin them. Warriors from
all the three Scandinavian countries joined in this crusade; Ber-
nardus Thesaurarius says : " Norsemen, Götar, and the other inhab-
itants of the islands which Iie between the North and the West, tall
and warlike people, despising death, came armed with battle-axes,
and sailing on round ships called snekkjar." ^ Ulv af Lauvnes
became the leader, as he was the most experienced seaman. They
first sailed to Bergen, where the Danish chieftains visited King
Sverre and asked his forgiveness for häving aided the rebel bands
which had risen against him. Sverre readily granted them his
pardon, embraced them as his friends, and wished them a safe jour-
ney. On their voyage across the North Sea they suffered much from
stormy weather, and when they reached Friesland, they decided to
leave their damaged ships, and journey overland. They marched
along the Rhine, and finally reached Venice, where they chartered a
ship to transport them to the Holy Land. They reached Palestine
in September, 1192, just as Richard Cceur de Lion had made a truce
with Saladin, and was about to depart for home. They could, there-
fore, take no part in military operations, and after visiting the Holj^
City and the river Jordan, some returned to Constantinople, where
they were well received by the Greek Emperor, Isaac Angelus, and
his Varangian guards, while others returned by way of Rome. Ulv
af Lauvnes is not mentioned in later events in Norway, and it is
possible that he lost his life on the expedition.

The brief period of peace which followed the overthrow of the
1 Quoted by P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Hisiorie, vol. IV., p. 224.

396 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Kuvlungs and Varbelgs was but a Kill before the storm. In the
spring of 1193 a new bänd of rebels had been organized. They were
called "Eyskjegger," because they had assembled in the Orkney
Islands. Hallkel Jonsson, who was married to Ragnhild, a sister
of Magnus Erlingsson, Sigurd Erlingsson, a son of Erling Skakke,
Olav Jarlsmaag, a brother-in-law of Jarl Harald Madadsson of the
Orkneys, and Bishop Xicolas Arnesson were the leaders of this new
uprising, and the boy Sigurd, a son of Magnus Erlingsson, was their
candidate for the throne. After successful operations in Viken
they sailed to Bergen, and tried to capture the city, but they were
unable to take the Sverreborg, and on Palm Sunday the foUowing
spring King Sverre defeated them in the battle of Florevaag, west
of Bergen. Hallkel Jonsson, Sigurd Erlingsson, Olav Jarlsmaag,
and the pretender Sigurd Magnusson lost their lives. King Sverre
went to Viken, and summoned before him Bishop Nicolas, who had
to admit that he was implicated in the rebellion. To appease the
irate king he agreed to crown him. Sverre summoned the bishops
of Hämar and Stavanger to meet in Bergen, where he was crowned
by Bishop Nicolas, June 29, 1194. He also caused an EngUsh clerk,
Martin, to be chosen Bishop of Bergen to succeed Bishop Paul,
who died before the battle of Florevaag. In the summer of the
same year the Pope excommunicated Sverre, and on the 18th of
November he also published a bull of excommunication against the
Norwegian bishops, which should take effect if they continued to
show obedience to the king. Sverre summoned the bishops to meet
at a council of magnates assembled in Bergen to confer with him
about the situation. They all promised to remain faithful to him,
and it was decided to send messengers to the Pope to place the situa-
tion in Norway in its right hght. Bishop Nicolas Arnesson seems
to have protested his faithfulness to the king, like the other bishops,
but as soon as he had returned to Oslo, he went to Denmark, joined
Sverre's enemies, and received absolution from Archbishop Eirik
for häving crowned him. Jarl Harald Madadsson of the Orkneys
was also present in Bergen to obtain King Sverre's pardon for häving
tolerated the E^^skjegger in his dominions. The king granted him
pardon, but did not let him escape unpunished. He confiscated
the estates of those who had taken part in the uprising, and separated

KING SVERRE AND POPE INNOCENT III 397

the Shetland Islands permanently from the jarldom of the Orkneys,
and joined them to the kingdom of Norway. These islands were
henceforth governed by a royal sysselmand.

63. BiRKEBEINER AND BaGLER. KiNG SvERRE AND PoPE

Innocent iil

Sverre had shown that he could cope successfully with rebellious
bands of the kind which had hitherto opposed him. His enemies
saw that no hope could be pinned on future efforts of that sort, and
Archbishop Eirik and Bishop Nicolas Arnesson, who were in Den-
mark at this time, undertook in 1196 to unite the supporters of the
aristocratic-hierarchic principle into a strong party called the " Bag-
ler" (from begall, bacuhis = crozier) in a final effort to overthrow the
king. Archbishop Eirik had become bhnd, and Bishop Nicolas
became the soul and real leader of the new party. No bloodier civil
war had ever been fought in Norway than the struggle which now
began between the Bagler and the king's party, the Birkebeiner.
King Sverre was placed in a most tning position. He had gained
the throne by the aid of the common people, the Birkebeiner, but
he now found himself opposed by the most opulent and powerful
aristocracy as well as by the Pope and the clergy. The people were,
moreover, divided geographically. The Bagler gained the support
of the southern and western districts, while the Birkebeiner con-
trolled only Tr0ndelagen and the northern districts. The struggle
between the Birkebeiner and Bagler is a parallel to the contest be-
tween Welfs and Ghibellines in Germany, the only difference being
that Sverre was opposed by nearly the whole nobility.

The Bagler appeared in Norway in 1196, and reenforcements were
ready to jõin them. They took Viken and assembled the Borgar-
thing, where the pretender Inge Magnusson, whom they claimed
to be a son of Magnus Erlingsson, was proclaimed king. Tlie lender-
mand Halvard of Saastad, in Oplandene, joined them, and when
Bishop Thore of Hämar died in February, 1197, they chose Ivar
Skjaalge, one of their own party, to succeed him. By his remark-
able skill as a strategist Sverre was able to defeat the Bagler at Oslo,
but the victory was of no avail, for they soon captured Trondhjem,

398 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

destroyed the Sverreborg, and seized his fleet. Bergen was burned,
and one district after another fell into their hands until they controlled
the whole coast. Only the fijlker of Tr0ndelagen proper stiil re-
mained in Sverre's possession. He seemed to be hopelessly defeated,
and Bishop Nicolas coiild say with a boast : " Priest Sverre now
holds no more of Norway than a single ness ; it would be a very fit
lot for him to govern the part of Eyra outside the paüsades, and be
hanged there on the gallows. We Bagler care very little, I should
suppose, where he goes with his sea rams that he has got together
in the town. Before the Tr0nders receive any good from them, I
expect all their buildings will be charcoal. We will roam over the
fjord as we please, in spite of them, quite free from fear, for they
have no force to bring against us." ^

To make a desperate situation seem stiil more hopeless, Sverre
was at this time attacked also by the powerful Pope Innocent IIL
This great pontiff, who succeeded Celestine III. on January 8, 1198,
made all the monarehs of Europe tremble, and in course of time the
kings of Aragon, Portugal, Poland, and England had to bow in sub-
mission, and acknowledge themselves his vassals. In the qiiarrel
between Philip of Swabia and Otto IV. in Germany he claimed the
right to "examine, approve, anoint, consecrate, and crown the Em-
peror elect, if he be worthy ; to reject him, if unworthy." Nothing
could escape his attentive eagle eye, and he was determined to hum-
ble the refractory King Sverre, as he did humble every prince who
resisted him. In the fail of 1198 the storm broke loose in earnest.
Innocent placed Norway under interdict, declared Sverre to be excom-
municated and deposed, and hurled the most violent anathemas
against him.^ He also sent letters to the kings of Denmark and
Sweden, and to Jarl Birger Brosa, in which he recounted Sverre's
"crimes," and asked them to arm themselves in defense of the
churches and the clergy, and to overthrow this monster, and thereby
earn God's reward and the gratitude of the Pope. None of the bish-
ops dared any longer remain loyal, and an opportunity was given,

1 Sverressaga, eh. 155.

2 Diplomatariian Norwegicum, VI., p. 7-14, XVII., no. 1233. The bull
of exeommunication is found translated in P. A. Munch's Det norske Folks
Historie, vol. III., p. 331.

KING SVERRE AND POPE INNOCENT III 399

not only those who were at heart disloyal, biit all the indifterent
and faint-hearted to sever their allegiance. But Sverre could yet
count on his war-scarred Birkebeiner. They had placed him on
the throne, and had followed him in all his campaigns. They fcared
no one, not even the Pope in distant Romaborg, and their rehgion
was not of a kind to make them over-scrupulous in doctrinal matters.
They tnisted in their swords, and ehing to their leader with a faith-
fuhiess which had been their forefathers' prime virtiie of oid.

King Sverre's courage rose with the danger, and his clear intellect
sought out the loftiest and most effective means to neutralize the
effect of the Pope's attack. He would fight the hierarchy with their
own weapons. In answer to the Pope's anathema he published his
"Speech against the Bishops, " a remarkable document, written in
the Norse language, in which he appeals with great eloquence and
consummate skill of argument to the Norwegian people, places before
them the principles involved in the controversy, shows them the fal-
lacies of the clergy and the arrogance of their claims, and asks them
to judge. He compares the chiirch to the human body whose mem-
bers have their special functions. "Christ himself is the head, the
church is the trunk of this body. The eyes should be our bishops,
who should point us to the right way and the safe road, free from all
erring paths, and should moreover have a careful oversight of all
the members. The nostrils should be the archdeacons, who should
perceive the seent of all the perfume of righteousness and sacred truth.
The ears should be the deans and provosts, who should hear and decide
causes and difficult suits in holy Christianity. The tongue and lips
should be our priests, who should preach to us sound doctrine, and
themselves afford good example by their conduct. Tlie heart and
breast should be the kings, whose duty lies in solicitude, in deliberat-
ing and in acting, in emboldening and defending all other members.

"But," he continues, "now exists the evil, that all the members
suffer change in their nature, and each forsakes the ofEce and ser-
vice which it should perform. The eyes look sideways, and see
dimly. The same scales have fallen upon the eyes of our bishops
that fell on the eyes of the apostles the night when God was taken.
The same drowsiness and heaviness is come upon them, and they
see all things as in a dream, where they distinguish neither clear

400 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

light nor true appearance. The nostrils perceive only a stench, and
not a perfume or sweet smell. The ears are now dull of hearing,
and can hear neither truth nor good sense. Indeed, truth is neither
heard nor seen. Our bishops and other rulers, who should watch
over Christianity, are blinded by covetousness, excess, ambition,
arrogance, and injnstice. Tliere have now arisen bishops such as
those whom God himself slew aforetime, Hophni and Phineas, sons
of Eh, high-priest in Shiloh, who did violence to the holy sacrifices
which the people would oflFer to God, and seized with wrong and
robbery all His offerings and hoh^ sacrifices from God's holy people.
And it has now come to pass that in the same manner our tithes
and charitable offerings are demanded with threats and ban and
excommunication. We are urged to build churches, and when they
are built, we are driven from them like heathens. We are urged
to undertake the eost, but are given no ruie over them. Sins and
offenses into which men fail are used as rent-producing farms ; sin-
ners are not chastised with right punishments, as every one is at
liberty to compound for his sins if he wishes, for silence is at once
kept when money is offered. We are deprived of some of our prop-
erty with the sanction of the law ; but where the law fails to apply,
it is taken unjustly and by laying charge against us ; and the wealth
that is obtained and amassed is removed out of the country on an evil
errand, for it is transmitted to Rome to purchase excommunication
and anathemas, which are sent to our land as recompense for our
Christianity and the consecration of churches. These are the gifts
and presents brought to us in return for our tithes and other property.
We are given gall to drink instead of wine, and poison instead of
God's blood."

After häving indicted the hierarchy in this strain he says that
he does not blame the Pope, who knows no more about what happens
in Norway than in other distant lands, but he blames the bishops
and the clergy, who have misrepresented things to him. He quotes
from the Decretals of the Popes to prove that an unjust decree issued
by the church cannot hurt the innocent person against whom it is
directed, but recoils on those who issued it. " To the same effect
Pope Gelasius bears witness in the same cause when he speaks : ' An
innocent man subjected to ban and anathemas shall pay the less

KING SVERRE AND POPE INNOCENT III 401

heed to it, becaiise a misplaced ban injures no one before God and
holy church, nor weighs upon him. He shall not seek absolution
to be released from the ban, for he knows himself guiltless and not
subject to it, inasmuch as it was imjustly pronounced.'

"These examples, and many otliers, bear witness that wrong judg-
ments cannot injure iis, though the deceitful wickedness of our
clergy has had the power to piit us to shame, for the}' flee from us
and from this land as if we were heathens. Either the wise rulers
of the holy church and Christendom have pronounced no excommuni-
cation though they have been urged, or else excommunication has
been pronounced, and it has certainly fallen upon those who by in-
justice and wickedness requested it, and has not fallen upon us, who
certainly deem ourselves innocent, and certainly believe ourselves
free from all excommunication."

He urges those who are not guilty of treason or of spreading false
reports to remain loyal, and asks those who may be impHcated in
wrong-doing against the king and the nation to depart from those
evil ways.

"All should know, clerical and lay, that the clerical leaders are
not set over God's people to tread scornfully upon their neeks, to
east shame in their teeth, to regard them as good to be pillaged and
wrongfully plundered of their goods. Stiil less are they set over
God's people to turn them away from God to hell, as into the mouth
of the ravenous wolf, either by wrongful ban and anathema or by
false persuasion."

In discussing the power of the king he shows by quotations from
Holy Scriptures and the Decretals that royal power is divinely in-
stituted, and that he exercises the highest authority in church and
state by God's appointment.

"So great a mass of examples show clearly that the salvation of
man's soul is at stake when he does not observe complete loyalty,
kingly worship, and a right obedience ; for kingly ruie is created by
God's command, and not after man's ordinance, and no man obtains
kingly ruie except by divine dispensation. A king would not be
more powerful or mightier than others if God had not set him higher
than others in his service ; for in his kingly ruie he serves God, and
not himself. Now, inasmuch as duty binds him to answer to God

VOL. 1 — 2 D

402 HIStORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

himself, and to render an account of his protection and care of holy
church, according to the cause just quoted ; and as duty binds a
minister of holy church to be obedient to the king, to afford him
hearty worship and a guileless loyalty ; therefore we cannot under-
stand with what reason our clergy wish to remove the king from the
oversight which he should have in holy church, and for which God
requires him to answer, when we certainly know that men of inferior
ränk to the king have to exercise power in holy church. For knights
and guardsmen, and even yeomen, have oversight in holy church
if they are patrons of churches. There are three cases in which a
man comes to have such oversight in holy church — the first, if he
inherits an estate after his father, or mother, or other kinsmen, and
the upholding of the church goes with the inheritance; the second
is when a man buj-s an estate, and the upholding of the church goes
with the lands wliich he buys; the third is when a man builds a
church at his own pains and eost and endows it with lands for its
future upholding. It must now be made clear so that all may fully
understand, what oversight it is which those whom we have just
mentioned lawfully exercise in holy church, according as it is said
in xvi. causa et ultima questione ejusdem cause, and found in other
places in the writings of the apostles (popes) themselves; 'This
oversight in holy church has to be exercised by the sons, grandsons,
and other fit heirs of the man who built the church or has been its
upholder. Those who are rightful heirs shall have a care that no
one through deceit or transference remove anything which the up-
holder of the church gave to it at the outset. That which was set
apart for the maintenance of the priest at the beginning shall so
remain ; and that which was set apart at the beginning for tar, for
lights, and for vestments in the church shall so remain. And if the
priest makes any change in what was thus set apart at the beginning,
so that the church is injured thereby, then shall the patrons whom I
have just named make the matters known to the bishop, and ask
him to devise a remedy, if they themselves are unable to devise one ;
and if the bishop vdW not de\äse a remedy, or if he himself does such
things as those I have mentioned, then shall the patrons of the
church make the matter known to the archbishop, and ask him to
devise a remedy. If the archbishop will not devise a remedy, or

KING SVERRE AND POPE INNOCENT III 403

if he himself does such things, then shall the patrons lay the matter
before the king, and cause him to rectify it by the authority which
God has placed in his hands.' Now, this bears witness that the
king is set above all other dignitaries ; for the king has here to direct
the bishop or archbishop to do justice, if they themselves will pay no
heed to it. This, be it said, relates to direction and guardianship of
holy church, and not to those other violations of law which might occur
in secular matters. How great is the king's power in secular matters
may thus be seen, since he sits even in the highest seat of judgment
in matters relating to holy church, which would have been thought,
if men had not heard this quotation, to Iie under the direction of the
bishop." He shows that it is usually the bishops, and not the kings,
who lead the people into errors in religious matters.

" It may now be seen whether the Idng is to blame, and claims their
rights to rob them of their dignity, or they quarrel with the king's
honor, and wish to deprive him of it and render him honorless. And
if this unrest turns into heresy, as seems too likely, heresy and the
profanation of Christianity will be seen to proceed from a source
whence they have aforetime proceeded. We know few instances
where kings have originated heresies, but we know many where
kings have overthrown them when bishops have originated them.
You may now hear the names of those who in various ways have
been heretics."

Then follows an exposition of the fallacies of many ecclesiastics
who have been regarded as heretics ; among others, Arius, Bishop
of Alexandria, Macarius, Bishop of Antioch, Donatus, Bishop of
Numidia, Tertullian and Pelagius. But " the very worst, the cause
of most härm, was called Nicolas Advena, a disciple of the Lord
himself. He was afterwards bishop in Serkland (Saracenland), and
is now known as Mahomet." Professor P. A. INIunch thinks that
Sverre especially emphasizes the name of this reputed founder of
Mohammedanism, because he bears the same name as Bishop Nico-
las Arnesson.

"Not many kings will be found who have originated heresy, for
kings ever talk of their realm, of their kingly ruie, and the defense
of their lands. Bishops are appointed to proclaim truth and Chris-
tianity, and whether they preach in church, or at the assemblies

404 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

(things), they declare before the people that all they preach must
be foUowed ; to fail in carrying out all they command is wrong, they
say, and opposed to Christianity.

" Let these encroachments now cease which for a time have found
place among men, and be just to one another. Wlien both parties
observe what stands in the holy writings, there is freedom for both ;
but when they wish to transgress what is written, they practice
unrighteousness, and will be rejected by God, by good men, and by
equity." ^

The document sets forth clearly the doctrine of the divine right
of kings in opposition to the claim of Pope Innocent III. that the
ruie of the whole world had been given to the Pope, and that "no
king could reign rightly unless he devoutly served Christ's vicar."

It was clearly the intention that this document should be read
in the churches and at the tkings wherever this could be done, as
many copies of it are known to have been distributed. In this
speech King Sverre not only exhorts his people to remain loyal,
but he instructs them as to the legitimate power and the proper
sphere of activity of king and clergy. His logic seems to have dis-
concerted his opponents, and the people listened as to a man inspired.
Many of the Birkebeiner who had left the king returned to their
oid allegiance; Bishop Nicolas was henceforth called "the heretic,"
and his party "the excommunicated Bagler." The king had been
able to awaken the people's patriotism, and to turn public sentiment
against his opponents — a more signal victory than could be gained
by arms.

Sverre succeeded in maintaining friendly relations with the neigh-
boring kingdoms in spite of the letters sent by the Pope. King Knut
Valdemarsson of Denmark did not attempt to attack Norway,
though he had lost his supremacy over Viken, and King Sverker of
Sweden remained friendly. His son Karl married Sverre's daughter
Ingebj0rg, and Sverre himself was married to the Swedish princess
Margaret, daughter of King Eirik the Saint. Jarl Birger Brosa

^ En Taie mod Biskopperne, edited by Gustav Storm, Christiania, 1885.
Anecdoton Sverreri, translated by J. Sephton, The Säga of King Sverri of
Norway, Appendix II, P. A. Muneb, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. III.,
p. 335-348.

KING SVERRE AND POPE INNOCENT III 405

remained friendly, and Sverre made his son Philip jarl of Oplandene
and Viken, and kept liim at his court. Even with regard to the
relation of the neighboring powers to the kingdom of Norway the
mandate of the Pope had produced no startling effect.

In the winter of 1199 Sverre stayed in Trondhjem, where he was
busily engaged in building a new fleet. Each of the eight fylker of
Tr0ndelagen had promised to build one large war vessel, and he
remodeled many merchant vessels into warships. In the spring he
left Trondhjem with the new fleet, and met the Bagler in the Strin-
denfjord near Frosta. A fierce battle was fought, in which pardon
was neither asked nor granted. The Bagler were defeated, all their
larger ships were taken, and many of their chieftains fell ; but Bishop
Nieolas escaped to Denmark, and did not return to Norway while
Sverre lived. Some of the Birkebeiner pursued the fleeing Bagler
northward, and recovered Haalogaland, while the king himself with
the main fleet proceeded southward to Viken, where he spent the
summer. He had now regained control of the whole kingdom, but
the Bagler were not yet annihilated. In the winter of 1200, while
Sverre was staying in Oslo, great forces from Oplandene, Viken, Tele-
marken, and Tunsberg joined in an attack on the eity. The cam-
paign was well planned, and the enemy was approaching the town
from different sides when Sverre became aware of the movement.
Now, as many a time before, he went in disguise to the enemy's
lines to learn their plans, and he set his men to cut a passage through
the ice-bound harbor, so that the fleet might be extricated in case
of defeat. He found that three armies were converging on the city,
each one larger than his own. One had already gained the moun-
tain heights east of the town, another was marching up the fjord
on the ice, and a third was approaching from the west. Sverre's
strategic skill, and the superior discipline of his veterans enabled
him to keep the armies apart, and to defeat each in turn, but the
struggle was lõng and desperate, and the victory could not have
been decisive, as Sverre left Oslo and sailed to Bergen. The Bagler
also attacked Bergen and Trondhjem, but they met with small
success. Before the winter was over, the king began a new campaign
against them in Ranrike and the southeastern districts of Norway.
He forced them to retreat, and placed strong garrisons in Viken.

406 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

They made tlieir last stand in Tunsberg, where one of their ablest
leaders, Reidar Sendemand, intrenched himself in the citadel of
the town, which was erected on a steep mountain height. Sverre
could not take this strong citadel by storm, and in September, 1201,
he laid siege to the place with 1000 men. After five months Reidar
had to surrender, and Sverre, who was always ready to show clemency
to his defeated enemies, pardoned the whole garrison, and cared well
for the half-starved men. Reidar was iil for a lõng time, and Sverre
kept him at his court, and gave him the best care and medical attend-
ance. "Tlius," says Munch, "this prince, who was excommunicated
and decried by a political party among the clergy as an infidel,
showed a conciliatory Christian spirit, and a humaneness which his
opponents would scarcely have shown under like circumstances,
and which in that age was extremely rare. But he showed that
herein as in so many other respects he was far in advance of his
times."

With the surrender of Reidar Sendemand at Tunsberg the war
with the Bagler may be said to have ended, and Sverre returned
victorious to Bergen. He had freed all parts of the kingdom from
foreign overlordship ; he had successfully resisted the encroachments
of the hierarchy, and the attacks of the Pope ; he had wrested the
power from the aristocracy, and had reestablished the sovereignty
of the crown in harmony with the monarchic principles of Harald
Haarfagre, Olav Tryggvason, and Olav the Saint; but he was not
to enjoy the fruits of his victory. He fell sick at the siege
of Tunsberg, and returned to Bergen only to die. There is a tone
of sadness in the words which he spoke on his death-bed : " The king-
dom has brought me labor and unrest and trouble, rather than
peace and a quiet life. But so it is, that many have envied me my
ränk, and have let their envy grow to full enmity. May God forgive
them all ; and let my Lord now judge between me and them, and
decide all my cause." He passed away on the 9th of March, 1202,
and was laid to rest with elaborate ceremonies in the cathedral at
Bergen. King Sverre was one of Norway's greatest sons. His
character was of the highest type, combining courage with prudence
and perseverance. He was witty and eloquent, wise, just and
humane; great as statesman and general, noble and amiable as a

KING sverre's EMMEDIATE successors 407

man. His säga, which was written by a contemporary, characterizes
him as follows : " King Sverre was most polished in manner. He was
low of stature, stout and strong, broad of face and well featured.
His beard was usually trimmed, and his eyes were hazel in color, set
deeply and handsomely. He was calm and thoughtful. He was
most eloquent in speech, and when he spoke, the ring of his voice
was so clear that though he did not appear to speak loud, all under-
stood him, though they were far off. He was a seemly chief as he
sat in his high-seat grandly dressed ; for though his legs were short
he sat high in the seat. He never drank strong drink to excess, and
always ate but one meal a day. He was valiant and boid, very
capable of enduring fatigue and loss of sleep." In comparing him
with his supposed father, King Sigurd Mund, the säga writer further
says of him : " Sverre was steadfast and calm, careful in the choiee
of his friends, staunch and even-tempered. He was true to his word,
reserved, sagacious, and conscientious."

64. King S\t:rre's Iiimediate Successors

When Sverre died, his only living son, Haakon Sverresson, ascended
the throne. Sigurd, Haakon's older brother, who died some time
previous, left a young son, Guttorm, but no attempt was made to
secure for him anj^ share in the kingdom. The principle that the
realm should be ruled by a single king was thus tacitly accepted by
all. On his death-bed Sverre had written a letter to his son, in which
he advised him to bring about a reconciliation with the church,
and Haakon invited the bishops, who were stiil stajdng in Denmark,
to meet him for the purpose of arranging a satisfactory settlement.
The bishops gladly accepted the offer, as they were tired of living
in exile, and the archbishop even revoked the interdict without
aw^aiting the permission of the Pope. An agreement was reached,
the terms of which were embodied in a proclamation issued by the
king, but this document was couched in a language so vague that
it is impossible to determine definitely what concessions were made
b}^ either side. It is quite clear, however, tiiat the king did not
recede from the position taken by Sverre, except on minor points,
while the bishops were required to swear allegiance to him as their

408 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

lawful sovereign. The clergy seem to have been anxious to bring
about a reconciliation on almost any terms. The Bagler party had
been so weakened by defeats that they could have little hope of suc-
cess if the struggle were renewed, and they learned to their sorrow
that the dreaded weapons of the Pope — excommunication and
interdict — had been of Httle real aid. The clergy ceased to oppose
the king, and kept aloof from future stniggles for the throne. The
Bagler, who were stiil led by the doiighty Bishop Nicolas, became a
political faction, and their conflict with the Birkebeiner lost all real
significance. While Haakon Sverresson lived, the Bagler did not
attempt any new uprising, as his right to the throne could not be
questioned ; but his peacefiil reign was cut short by his sudden death
on New Year's day, 1204.

Haakon Sverresson was thought to have died childless, and his
brother Sigurd's four-year-old son, Guttorm, was chosen king. Haa-
kon Galin, son of King Sverre's sister Cecilia, a brave warrior and
dashing noble, was made regent during his minority. The Bagler
party now thought that the opportunity had oome for them to regain
their lost power. Bishop Nicolas sought to persuade them to place
his nephew, Philip Simonsson, on the throne, but he was merely a
noble, and they chose instead the pretender Erling Steinvseg, who
claimed to be an illegitimate son of Magnus Erlingsson, and Phihp
Simonsson was elevated to the ränk of jarl. Thereby the Bagler
also repudiated the constitution of 1164, which excluded illegitimate
sons from the throne. King Valdemar the Victorious of Denmark
promised to aid Erling on condition that he should acknowledge
him his suzerain. He came to Tunsberg with a fleet of 360 ships
in 1204, and Erling Steinvseg, Philip Simonsson, and the rest of the
Bagler chieftains, true to their unpatriotic policy of former years,
did homage to him as their overlord. Valdemar gave them thirty-
five war vessels and returned to Denmark. This might have seri-
ously endangered Norwegian independence, but Valdemar's wars
with the Wends, and his campaigns in northern Germany, so com-
pletely absorbed his attention that he took no steps to maintain
his supremacy over any part of Norway. Guttorm Sigurxisson died
in August, and, as the Birkebeiner would not recognize Erling Stein-
vseg, a new king had to be chosen. A posthimious son, Haakon,

KING sverre's immediate successors 409

had In the meantime been born to Haakon Sverresson by Inga of
Varteig, probably in the month of June, but this was not yet known,
and the choice fell on Inge Baardsson, a son of King Sverre's sister
Ceciha. His half-brother, Ilaakon GaUn, was made jarl and com-
mander of the ariny, and one-half of the royal income should fail
to him.^

The stniggle between the Birkebeiner and the Bagler was renewed.
The Birkebeiner, who had Sverre's fleet, were the stronger party,
but they nevertheless suffered heavy losses. In 1206 the Bagler
surprised and took Trondhjem, and captured their whole fleet.
Many of the leading Birkebeiner fell, and King Inge Baardsson
harely escaped being taken prisoner. Wlien Erling Steinvaeg died at
Christmas time, 1206-1207, Philip Simonsson was proclaimed king
by the Bagler. They captured Bergen twice and destroyed the
Sverreborg; but their campaigns were mere raids, undertaken at
favorable moments, when the Birkebeiner were stationed in other
parts of the country. After years of bloodshed and destruction
of property neither side had any signal advantage to its credit. Both
parties finally tired of this bloody feud, in which both were losers,
and a peace was coneluded in the summer of 1208 at Hvittingsey.
Philip received Viken as a fief, for which he did homage to Inge
Baardsson as his overlord, and Ranrike was placed directly under
King Inge. Thereby the independence and integrity of Norway
was assured. Nothing seems to have been said about what title
Philip was to bear, but he retained his royal seal, and continued to
call himself King Philippus. He received Sverre's daughter Chris-
tina in marriage, and their wedding was celebrated in Oslo in 1209.

^Vlien the ci vii wars had been terminated by the peace of 1208,
friendly relations were established with Denmark, and both parties

1 The ehief sourees for this period are the Säga of the Three Rings, ov the
Bgglungasggur, and the Haakon Haakonssonssaga, written by Sturla Thords-
son. The Säga of the Three Kings (Haakon Sverresson, Guttorm Sig^urdsson,
and Inge Baardsson) is found in two editions : a longer version, found only
in translation by Peter Clauss0n Friis, from 1633, and a briefer version deahng
with the period 1202-1210. The short version is only an epitome of the
more complete version, which has been written by a well-iiiformed leelander
belonging to the Bagler party. These sägas are found in translation by
P. A. Munch, Norges Kongesagaer fra de aldste Tider, ete, edited and con-
tinued by O. Rygh, vol. II., Christiania, 1871.

410 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

united in an expedition to the Orkneys, where Jarl Harald Madadsson
had made himself independent, and had reestablished his authority
over the Shetland Islands. His sons David and Jon, who were
now jarls, submitted witliout resistance, and they were allowed' to
retain the Orkneys on the condition that a great part of their income
was granted the king of Norway. King Ragnvald Gudr0dsson
of Man and the Hebrides, who had thrown off all allegiance, was
also forced to submit. He went to Norway, swore fealty to King
Inge, and promised to pay tribute.

Siich military expeditions furnished a welcome employment for the
hosts of idle warriors who would have been a sonrce of disturbance
and danger in a period of peace. After the expedition returned from
the Orkneys, many went on a criisade to Palestine under the leader-
ship of the Bagler chieftain Reidar Sendemand, and Peter Ste}'per,
a nephew of King Sverre. Steyper died on the way, but Reidar
reached the Holy Land. Later he entered the service of the Emperor
at Constantinople, where he died in 1214. During the last years
of his pontificate Pope Innocent HI. preached another general cru-
sade in all the countries of western Europe. Many leading men in
Norway took the eross, and King Inge, who was too iil to leave
home, promised to send ships and warriors to aid the crusaders, but
he died in Trondhjem, April 23, 1217, before the fifth crusade had
commenced.

65. King Haakon Haakonsson and Skule Jarl

King Haakon Haakonsson came from the nnknown like his great
predecessors Olav Tryggvason, Olav the Saint, and Sverre Sigurds-
son. He was an illegitimate child, born in obscurity by Inga of
Varteig after King Haakon Sverresson's death. Had he fallen
into the hands of King Sverre's oid enemies, his history would,
probably, have been short, but the faithful Birkebeiner guarded
the child against the plotting Bagler chieftains. The "Haakon
Haakonsson's Säga" gives the following account of Haakon's early
years : " Thrond Priest knew that Haakon Sverresson was the child's
father. He baptized it and kept this so secret that he did not dare
to let any one bring it to the baptism, save his two sons and his wife.

KING HAAKON HAAKONSSON AND SKULE JARL 411

He reared the child in secrecy. There was a man called Erlend of
Husab0, a relative of King Sverre, of Guttorm Graabarde's family.
Thrond Priest sought Erlend, and spoke to him about the child, and
they agreed that it had to be kept hidden as well as possible. The
first year tlie child stayed with Thrond Priest; but the next winter
before Christmas Thrond and Erlend made ready to go northward
from Borgarsyssel, and they took the prince and his mother with
them. They went with the greatest possible . secrecy to Oplandene.
On Christmas eve they came to the city of Hämar, in Hedemarken,
where there were two Birkebein sysselmaend, Fredrik Slaffe and
Gjavald Gaute. They had a large number of men, and were much
afraid because the Bagler were round about in Oplandene. Bishop
Ivar was in Hämar at the time, and he was then as always a bitter
enemy of Sverre's family and of all the Birkebeiner. However
secretly they went with the child, the bishop soon learned that a
king's son had come to the city. The bishop then invited the prince
and his mother to stay with him during Christmas, saying, as in
sooth was the case, that the prince was his relative. But the Birke-
beiner did not trust him, and answered, saying that the king's son
should come to him after Christmas, that both he and his mother
were now too tired from the journey to stay where so many people
were assembled. But as soon as Christmas day was over, the syssel-
mcBud took three horses, and brought the prince and his mother
away from the city. They did not stop until they came to Lille-
hammer, where they remained on a little farm in the greatest secrecy
till after Christmas. During Christmas the Birkebeiner sent word
to Toten and all neighboring districts, and summoned all the Birke-
beiner to meet them. After Christmas they left Hämar and came
to Lillehammer, and took the prince and his mother with them,
and went to ^sterdalen, whence they would go to Trondhjem. On
this journey they suffered much from cold, snow, and bad weather ;
at times they had to spend the night in forests and in uninhabited
wilds. One evening the weather became so bad that they did not
know where they were. They then sent Thorstein Skevla and
Skervald Skrukka, two of the best ski-runners, in advance with the
prince; they got two men who were well acquainted with the lo-
cality to act as guides. They traveled as fast as they could, but

412 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

did not find the way to the settlements ; they came then to some
out-farm sheds, made fire, and prepared a bed there for the child.
Later the guides returned to find the others, and they came back
to the sheds about midnight. It was uncomfortable to stay there,
for it was dripping everywhere when the snow was melted by the
fire, and most of them thought they might as well stay outside as
inside. They had no other food for the child than snow, which they
melted and poured into its mouth. The place where they stayed
was called Navardal. Afterwards walking became so difficult that
they could not break a path through the snow otherwise than by
pounding it down with their spear-handles, In ^sterdal the people
helped them in every way; wherever they came they lent them
horses, and guided them on the road.

" Thoughtful men have said that the troubles and difficulties which
the Birkebeiner encountered on this journey, and the fear they
also had for their enemies until they came to Trondhjem with the
prince, could best be compared with the dangers to which Olav
Tryggvason and his mother Astrid were exposed when they fled
from Norway to Svitiod from Gunhild and her sons." ^ The Birke-
beiner brought Haakon to Trondhjem to King Inge Baardsson, who
reared him, and acknowledged him to be the son of Haakon Sverres-
son, and rightful heir to the throne. Among Sverre's oid veterans
the boy was a great favorite. "He was very lively, though small,
and young in years ; he was very mature in his speech, so that the
jarl and all who knew him had great fun over his comical sayings.
Often two of the Birkebeiner took him, one by the head and the
other by the feet, and stretched him in fun, saying that this would
make him grow ; for it seemed to them that he was growing too
slowly,"

Wlien King Inge died, the ambitious Skule Baardsson, his brother,
openly aspired to the throne, although he supported for a time King
Inge's eleven-year-old son Guttorm. But the Birkebeiner, led by
Vegard af Veradal, a prominent man within the hird, rallied around
Sverre's young grandson Haakon Haakonsson, who proved to be a
more popular candidate. Skule pretended to doubt Haakon 's
royal descent. He sought the support of the clergy, reaffirmed
^ Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 3.

KING HAAKON HAAKONSSON AND SKULE JARL 413

the constitution of 1164, which excluded ülegi timate sons from the
throne, and sought to prevent the choice of a king as lõng as possible.
Haakon's supporters grew impatient. The hird assembled under
Vegard's leadership, and demanded that Haakon should be pro-
claimed king without further delay. A letter was also brought
from the Gulathingslag by the Birkebein chieftain, Dagfinn Bonde,
stating that if the Tr0nders hesitated to proclaim Haakon king, who
was the rightful heir to the throne, they would immediately hail
him as king at the Gulathing. The 0rething was then assembled,
and Haakon was proclaimed king of Norway, 1217, at the age of
thirteen. Accompanied by Skule Jarl, Haakon then went to Bergen,
where he was also hailed as king. It was decided that Skule should
receive one third of all the royal revenues, but he was jealous and
dissatisfied. He plotted with the Bagler, persuaded King Philippus
in Viken to demand one-half of the revenues of the kingdom, and
without Haakon's knowledge and consent he used the royal seal,
which was stiil in his possession. Archbishop Guttorm and the
bishops would not acknowledge Haakon before he had given better
proof of his royal birth, and the matter was referred to a council
of magnates which was assembled at Bergen in 1218, where the
archbishop, bishops, and lendermcend were present. Inga of Var-
teig had to submit to trial by ordeal to prove that Haakon was the
son of Haakon Sverresson, She passed the ordeal successfully, and
Haakon's elevation to the throne was sanctioned by the council;
the archbishop and the clergy acknowledged him the lawful king
of Norway, and Skule Jarl could no longer resist with any show of
right. The king granted favors without partiality to the leaders
of all groups, and the Bagler now disappeared as a distinct party.
In 1218 a new rebel bänd, the Slitungs, had assembled in the border
district of Marker, and had chosen as their leader a pretender by
the name of Bene, or Benedict. They caused great disturbance in
many districts, but were finally dispersed by the united forces of
the Bagler and Birkebeiner. The Ribbungs, who appeared later,
were more powerful, and their leader, Sigurd Ribbung, who claimed
to be a grandson of Magnus Erhngsson, carried on a guerrilla war-
fare in the southeastern districts for many years. They did not
disappear until 1227, after Sigurd Ribbung's death. In order to

414 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

establish a more permanent friendship between the king and Skule
Jarl, Haakon was betrothed to Skule's daughter Margaret in 1219,
but she was at that time only nine or ten years of age, and their
marriage was not solemnized till 1225. The new distinction of
being the king's father-in-law flattered the ambitious jarl, and for
a time he seems to have been well disposed towards King Haakon.
It must have been evident even to Skule Jarl that it would be impos-
sible at that moment to organize a successful revolt against the popu-
lar grandson of King Sverre. The whole nation was weary of the
endless feuds between rival pretenders, and longed to bind up their
many wounds. With intuitive foresight, born of secret but earnest
longing, they were soon able to prognosticate that Haakon Haakons-
son would inaugurate a new era of peace, towards which many looked
as to a promised land after many generations of bloody civil strife.
The martial notes died away in song and säga, and the writers teil
us with rejoicing how Haakon's peaeeful and benign reign made
the land blossom, and nature grow suddenly fruitful as if awakened
by a new impulse. "When Haakon was made king it was such a
good year in the land that it was general that fruit-trees blossomed
two times, and that the birds laid eggs twice," says the saga.^ The
scald Sturla Thordsson says in a song about King Haakon : " It is
certain that twice blossomed the fruit-trees in one summer, and that
from the beginning of the year wild birds laid eggs twice without
suffering from cold, when the ruler, desirous of glory, had taken the
name of king, and his good fortune, destined to reach the highest
fame, began to grow.

" Saw, then, all that the elements on the wide ocean-encircled earth
would welcome the noble king."

All might now have been well, but ambition gave Skule Jarl no
rest. It stole the contentment from his heart, and filled his mind
with treasonable thoughts. In 1223 he went to Denmark to visit
King Valdemar the Victorious, who was at that time the most power-
ful monarch in the North. It seems to have been his plan to make
himself king of southern Norway by Valdemar's aid, and to acknowl-
edge him as his overlord. But Valdemar had been taken prisoner

^ Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 28 (25). Det norske Oldskriftselskabs
Samlinger, xv., Konungasfigur, edited by C. R. Unger.

KING HAAKON HAAKONSSON AND SKULE JARL 415

by one of his own vassals, Henry of Schwerin, and Skule had to resort
to his oid method of intriguing against Haakon. In 1223 the
king would be of age (eighteen years oid) ; Skule could no longer
act as his guardian, and the last remnant of royal power would sHp
from his hands. He had not abandoned his claim to the throne,
and his attitude grew more hostile as the time approached when
Haakon would hoid the reins of power, but even under these cir-
cumstances Haakon showed the wise moderation which distinguished
him throughout his whole reign. No one could justly question his
title to the throne, but he, nevertheless, summoned a council to
meet at Bergen on Olavmas, July 29, 1223, where all pretenders
should meet and have their claims carefuUy examined. A greater
meeting of notables had never assembled in Norway. Beside the
king sat the lendermcBnd, sysselmcend, and lagmcend from the whole
kingdom ; the archbishop, the bishops, and many other ecclesiastics.
The Orkneys were represented by Jarl Jon and Bishop Bjarne, the
Faroe Islands by Bishop S0rkve, and the Shetland Islands by Arch-
deacon Nicolas, and the royal sysselmand Gregorius Kik, who was
married to King Sverre's daughter CeciHa. The pretenders present
were : Skule Jarl, Guttorm, son of Inge Baardsson, Sigurd Ribbung,
and Junker Knut, son of Haakon Galin, and a nephew of Iving Sverre.
After all claims had been carefully examined, the lagmcend declared
that Haakon Haakonsson was the rightful heir to the throne, and
the archbishop solemnly proclaimed him the lawful king of Norway.
Skule was to ruie over one-third of the kingdom, but had to swear
fealty to the king. He received Tr0ndelagen, Haalogaland, Nordm0r,
Romsdal, and S0ndm0r. In these northern districts where the people
were very loyal to King Sverre's family, he would find small oppor-
tunity to secure aid from Denmark if he should venture to attempt
an uprising against the king.

In the opinion of posterity as well as in the eyes of his own times
Haakon Haakonsson was a truly great king, who ruled with wisdom
and carried himself with dignity. In his day Norway reached the
zenith of her power. The great activity in literature and architec-
ture, the splendor of his court, and the high honor which he enjoyed
among the crowned heads of Europe made his reign the Augustan
Age in Norwegian history. King Haakon was rather short of

41 G HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

stature, says the säga, but he was well-built and broad-shouldered.
In appearance he resembled King Sverre. He had a broad face and
fair complexion, fine hair and large, beautiful eyes. He was cheerfui,
quick, and lively; always kind to those who were poor and in dis-
tress. "Wise men who were sent to him from other rulers said
that they had seen no prince who seemed to be more truly both
companion, king, and lord." We notice in King Haakon a quiet
dignity and calm judgment coupled with magnanimity and rare
mental equipoise. He adhered firmly to the poUcy inaugurated
by Sverre, but his statesmanship w^as broad-minded and clear-
sighted. Though firm in principles, he was generous and concihatory
in minor matters. He reconciled and united all factions, built,
legislated, and improved ; and roimded into completion the work
of his great predecessors Harald Haarfagre, Olav Tryggvason, St.
Olav, and King Sverre. Even his family life was an ideal one. In
1225 he married Skule JarFs daughter, Margaret, who was then
about seventeen. She was a most affectionate wife, and clung to
her husband with the greatest tenderness even when her father turned
traitor and became Haakon's implacable enemy. The feeling that
he held the throne by unclouded title, and ruled a prosperous and
iinited people by their full consent and iindivided support, gave
Haakon a confidence, and threw about his life and reign a halo of
harmony and dignified repose to which Skule's ill-starred career,
torn by unsatiated ambition and treasonable plots, forms a most
tragic contrast. Unable to remain satisfied within his proper sphere,
though the magnanimous king granted him the greatest honors,
knowing that he could not openly gain the throne to which hehad
no title, Skule's heart was torn by doubt; he hatched plots, used
underhand means, tried finally open revolt, and paid for it all by
yielding his life to his pursuers in a last obscure retreat.

In the fight between the Ghibellines and the Welfs, the kings of
Denmark supported the latter, as they feared the German Emperor,
who attempted to make their kingdom a vassal state under the im-
perial crown. But the Danes in turn sought to establish an over-
lordship over Norway, or its southern provinces, and, as Skule Jarl
solieited King Valdemar's aid in his iil concealed efforts to obtain
the crown, King Haakon endeavored to counteract this move by

KING HAAKON HAAKONSSON AND SKULE JARL 417

entering into closer relations with the Ghibelline Emperor Frederick
II. of Gemiany, the most powerful monarch in Europe at that
time. Frederick sent ambassadors to Norway ; Haakon called the
Emperor his friend, and it is quite apparent that he counted on his
support if Vaklemar and Skule Jarl should venture to attack him.
He also entered into friendly relations with Henry IIL of England,
and an agreement was made by which restrictions on trade between
the two kingdoms were removed.^

After Haakon had taken the reins of government into his own
hands, he had to devote much time and energy for several years to
put down the Ribbung uprising. When Sigurd Ribbnng died in
1226, Junker Knut became the leader of these rebels. They had
always received aid from the border provinces in Sweden, and Knufs
mother, Christina, who was married to lagmand Eskil, in Vester-
götland, aided her son liberally ; but Haakon pushed the eampaigns
against him with snch vigor that Knut submitted, and disbanded
the Ribbungs in 1227. Haakon now returned from Oslo to Bergen.
Near Lindesness he met Skule Jarl, who was on his way to Denmark
with many large ships to aid Valdemar the Victorious. The Danish
king had regained his liberty, and was endeavoring to punish his
rebellious vassals, and regain the territory which he had lost. Haakon
did not upbraid Skule, though he met him on so suspicious an errand,
but he could inform him that Valdemar had just suffered a crushing
defeat at Bornh0ved. Skule, who understood that he could accom-
plish nothing in Denmark under these circumstances, returned with
Haakon to Bergen.

For some time the relations between the two were, seemingly,
friendly, but Skule built a fleet of his own, and conducted himself in
a way which awakened grave suspicion as to his loyalty. In 1233
he was summoned before a council at Bergen to answer to charges
preferred against him, but he boldly denied every accusation, and
no further action was taken in the matter.

1 In a letter to the bailiffs of Lynn, dated Aug. 31, 1225, Henry III. in-

structs them to reeeive the Norwegian merchants in a friendly way, as he has

■ granted the Norwegians permission to bring their wares to Lynn without

hindranee for a period of three years. Diplomatarium Norwegicum, vol.

19, 1, p. 128.

VOL. I — 2e

418 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

King Haakon stiil treated Skule with considerate regard, but the
jarFs conduct became more and more openly disloyal, especially after
an illegitimate son, Peter, was born to him. In 1235 he took a step
which niight have plunged the country into civil war. For a second
time he was summoned before a council of magnates at Bergen to
explain his conduct. He left Trondhjem with twenty warships, but
spent the whole summer in Steinavaag, in S0ndm0r, and did not go
to Bergen, though repeatedly requested to appear. The king finally
sailed northward with a fleet of forty ships to meet him. Skule
hesitated for a while. Some advised him to come to an understanding
with the king, others appealed to his pride and whetted his jealousy.
He followed the advice to which his nature inclined him, left his
ships on Haakon's approach, and crossed the mountains into Op-
landene and the southern provinces. In order to avoid an open
conflict the king made him the offer that he could collect the royal
revenues of the southern one-third of the kingdom if he would not
begin hostilities until a peaceful settlement could be negotiated.
This offer was accepted by Skule, who used the respite thus granted
to organize a new bänd of rebels called "Varbelgs." After repeated
efforts a reconciliation was again brought about between Haakon and
Skule Jarl. A new division of territory was made by which Skule
should have one-third of all the sysler, or administrative districts, in the
kingdom, and at the 0rething in 1237 he was given the title of duke
(hertug = dux). He received no additional power, but the new
title must have been granted him as the greatest honor which could
be bestowed upon a subject, as it had never before been used in Nor-
way. But even this new honor could not lõng satisfy the ambitious
jarl. The following year he took the decisive step. After collecting
a large military force in Tr0ndelagen, and levying heavy taxes for
its support, he assembled the Prething, where he was proclaimed
king of Norway. He took the oath on the shrine of St. Olav, which
his son Peter and a few others had forcibly removed from the Christ
church. In the opinion of many this desecration of the sanctuary
was a rather inauspicious omen for the rebellion thus set on foot.
Skule sought to prevent word from being sent to the king of the
step which he had taken, but the news was brought King Haakon
in Bergen on the night of the 15th of November by Grim Keikan,

KING HAAKON HAAKONSSON AND SKULE JARL 419

one of his hirdmcend, who had succeeded in eluding the Varbelgs.
The säga says : " There were not many with the king when he
received this news. He sat a while silent and then said : ' God be
praised that I now know the situation from this day on, for that
which has now come to Hght has lõng been planned.' He went to
the queen's lodging and asked to be admitted. Light was burning
in her apartments, and some of her servants and maids were sleep-
ing there. The king approached her bed where she was standing
in a silk sleeping-gown. She threw a red cloak about her and greeted
the king, and he returned her greeting cordially. She took a silk
pillow and bade him be seated, biit he declined. The queen then
asked him if he had received any news. 'Nothing very important,'
he said, 'but now there are two kings in Norway.' She said : 'Only
one can be the rightful king, and that is you. God and St. Olav
grant that it may always be thus ! ' The king then toid her that her
father had been proclaimed king at the Prething. 'Things must
stiil be better than that,' she said; 'believe it not, for God's sake,
until you have received fuU assurance.' Then she burst into tears,
and she could say no more. The king bade her be of good cheer,
and said that she should not suffer for her father's conduct. Shortly
afterwards he left ; and as soon as day came, he caused mass to be
said, and then summoned his counselors. Grim was present, and
toid them the news which he brought. It was then decided to send
war-buUetins both north and south from Bergen, and call thither
half the almenning." ^

Skule Jarl sent his Varbelgs into many districts to burn and pillage.
He left Trondhjem, and went to the southern provinces, where he
gained some advantages over the king's sysselmoeiid, but Haakon
soon arrived and defeated him in the battle of Oslo. With a few
followers Skule fled northward to Trondhjem, but the city was soon
taken by the royal forces, and his son Peter was killed. For some
days Skule roamed about in the forests, not knowing what course
to pursue. He finally sought refuge in the monastery of Elgesseter,
but the angry Birkebeiner set fire to it, forced him to come out, and
slew him, May 24, 1240. This was the closing episode of the civil
wars. Skule had attempted rebellion in an age which would not
^ Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 207.

420 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

be disturbed. The uprising did not prove dangerous, and Haakon
treated with the greatest leniency all those who had taken part in
the revolt.

G6. King Haakon's Coronation. Colonial Affairs

King Haakon had lõng desired to be crowned, but because of his
illegitimate birth, he had to obtain the Pope's dispensation, and so
lõng as Skule Jarl lived, his efforts in this direction were frustrated.
After Skule's death he renewed the negotiations regarding the corona-
tion, and Pope Innocent IV., who ascended the throne of the popes
in 1243, encouraged him by a most friendly attitude. Innocent had
maintained with more than usual vigor the supremacy of the Pope,
and as a result he soon quarrelled with Emperor Frederick II. In
his struggle with this powerful monarch he felt the necessity of
keeping on friendly terms with other princes. To gain Haakon's
good-will he sent Cardinal William of Sabina as a legate to Norway
to crown him. He also wrote a letter by which he removed all
blemish with regard to King Haakon's birth, so that it should neither
mar his royal dignity nor the right of his legitimate sons to inherit
the crown.^ When the cardinal arrived in Norway, he tried to
persuade Haakon to acknowledge the overlordship of the Pope, but
when the king rofused, he did not urge the point. The coronation
took place in Bergen with great ceremony July 29, 1247.^ The cere-
monies in connection with the coronation are vividly described by
the author of the "Haakon Haakonssonssaga " : "The Olavmas-eve
was a Sunday. On the Olavsday mass was sung in the whole city,
whereupon the people were summoned to the Christ church by the
blowing of trumpets. Eighty hirdmccnd in military attire cleared
the way to the church. The royal procession was arranged thus :
First came the hirdmcend who were to clear the way, two abreast;
then the standard-bearers with standards, the skutilsveinar and the

1 Diplomatarium Norwegicum, I., 29.

2 Aceording to the Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 247, the bishops of Nor-
way tried to force King Haakon Haakonsson to take the same oath which
Magnus Erlingsson had taken when he was crowned in Bergen in 1164.
This would have made Haakon, like Magnus Erlingsson, a helpless tool in
the hands of the church. The statement is manifestly erroneous.

KING iiaae:on's coronation. colonial affairs 421

sysselmcBiid in fine attire, and the lendermoend with beautiful swords ;
thereupon came four lendermcend carrying aloft a table on which
were placed the coronation robes and all the royal insignia ; after
them came Sigurd, the king's son, and Munaan Bishopsson carrying
two silver scepters, one ornamented with a golden cross, and the
other with a snake of gold ; then came the younger King Haakon ^
with the crown, and Jarl Knut carrying the coronation sword.
Archbishop Sigurd and two bishops escorted King Haakon. At the
entrance to the royal residence the priests in procession met the
king, and chanted the responsory : Ecce mitto angelum meum; after
which they proceeded to the church. The cardinal with his clerks
and two bishops stood by the church door, where they sang a song,
whereupon they followed the king to the altar. ]\Iass was then
sung, and the coronation was carried out in the usual manner. After
the mass the archbishop and the bishops followed the king to his
residence in the same order as before, singing hymns in praise of God.
The king took off the coronation robes, and put on the royal robes
and insignia. The crown he wore the whole day. He then proceeded
to the hall, where the royal banquet was prepared, together with
all those who were to take part in it. The walls of the hall were
bung with colored cloth, and cushions were placed there covered
with pell and gold-inwoven silk. The seats were so arranged that
the king sat by the north wall between the inner pillars. At his right
sat the cardinal, the archbishop, the bishop of Bergen, and other
bishops. On the right side, toward the sea, sat the abbots, the priors,
the provosts, and other learned men. In the middle of the hall, over
against the high-seat, was a second high-seat, where the younger
King Haakon sat, together with Jarl Knut and Sigurd, the king's
son ; and many lendermcBnd sat on either side of them. On the king's
left sat the queen, and next to her sat her mother, Ragnhild, then
Christina and Cecilia, the king's daughters, Abbess Rangrid, the
abbesses, and other ladies. Along the southern wall sat the king's
hird. Two rows of tables extended along the middle of the hall
from one end to the other. Outside of these sat the guests, also
by two rows of tables. In all there were thirteen rows of tables

1 King Haakon's son, Haakon, had reeeived the title of king in
1240.

422 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

along tlie hall. The multitude, who did not find room inside, stayed
in tents around the hall." ^

Cardinal William of Sabina spoke at the royal banquet of the
impressions which he had received on his visit to Xorway. He said :
"God be praised that I have now fulfilled the errand which was
given in my charge by my lord the Pope. Your king is now erowned,
and honored more highly than any king in Norway before. God be
praised, also, that I did not turn back on the way, as I was urged
to do. I w^as toid that I would find few people here, and if I found
any, they would resemble animais in their conduct more than human
beings. Now I see here a great assembly of the people of this country,
and it appears to me that they show good manners. I see here so
many men from foreign lands and such a multitude of ships that I
have never seen a greater number in any harbor ; and I believe that
most of these ships have been laden with good things for this country.
They scared me by saying that I would get little bread or other
food, and what I would get would be of poor quality ; but it seems
to me that there is such an abundance of good things that both houses
and ships are full. I was toid that I would get nothing to drink here
but water and diluted milk, but I see an abundance of all good things.
God keep our king, the queen, the bishops, the learned men, and the
whole people. He grant that my errand to this land may so ter-
minate that it may be an honor to you, and a joy for us all both in
this life and in the life to come."

The council of magnates which had gathered in Bergen for the
coronation found opportunity, also, to discuss many features of
state and church polity, and by the aid of the cardinal many impor-
tant refonns were carried through. The laws regarding the strict
observance of Sunday and church holidays were modified. The
cardinal found that the weather and the general environment had
to be taken into due consideration, and that the people ought to be
allowed to fish and to harvest their grain when there was an oppor-

1 The Haakon Haakonssonssaga was "«Titten in the reign of King Haakon's
son Magnus Lagab0ter, at his request, and under the supervision of the
king and the leading men of his eourt. Haakon's letters and the doeuments
of the archives were placed at the disposal of the historian. The säga is
based on reports given by the king himself and his contemporaries.

KING haakon's coronation. colonial affairs 423

tunity, except on the principal holidays.^ Trial by ordeal (jernhyrd)
was abolished, "as the cardinal said that it was not proper for Chris-
tians to summon God as witness in human affairs." It is very prob-
able that this reform was initiated by the king, who must have been
as anxious as the cardinal to see this mode of trial abolished, His
own mother, Inga of Varteig, had been forced to submit to ordeal
to prove his royal descent, and many boid pretenders had, by means
of it, made good their claim to the throne. Those who rebelled
against the king should be punished by excommunication. The
queen was granted the right of advowson over three royal chapels
which the king had built, and also over missionary churches built
on the border of the kingdom for the conversion of the heathens.^
This was an important concession, since the priests of these churches
would stand under direct supervision of the king. The cardinal
also adjusted many minor complaints of the people and the lower
clergy against the bishops, and he finally issued a proclamation re-
garding the relation of church and state in Norway, or what he con-
sidered to be their relation. He said that he found the church in full
and peaceful possession of separate jurisdiction in all ecclesiastical
affairs, whosoever were the parties in the case, and over the clergy
In all cases whatsoever. He also found that the church had full
right of advowson, except in case of the royal chapels above men-
tioned ; and, finally, that the election of bishops and prelates was
made by the clergy according to the right granted them by the canon
law, without interference of secular authority.^ These rights were
universally claimed by the Catholic Church at that time, but it
is by no means clear that the church of Norway possessed them in

^ In regard to herring fishery on Sunday a concession was granted in 1184
by Pope Alexander III. It is found in the Frostathmgslov, eh. 26. ;'This
is the relief and grace which Pope Alexander granted and confirmed about
herring fishery in Norway ; that herring may be caught at any time when
it approaches the shores, except on the principal holidays." These days
are then enumerated. ^ Diplotnatarium Norwegicum, I., no. 37.

^ See Keyser, Den norske Kirkcs Historie under Katholicismen, p. 382.
P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. IV., p. 36 ff.

The cardinaFs document, both in the original Latin text and in Norse
translation, is found in Norges ganile Love, vol. I., p. 450. The translator
has greatly modified the expressions of the original, probably because he
found that they exceeded the truth.

424 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the degree here stated by the cardinal. King Sverre, and likewise
his successors, maintained the right of the king to sanction the choice
of bishops. The bishop-elect had to be presented to the king, who
in this way exercised great influence on the election. As to the right
of advowson there was much dispute, and the oid Norse church laws
recognized no ecclesiastical courts, Keyser thinks that the procla-
mation was a secret document placed by the cardinal in the hands
of the bishops, to be used at some future moment. After a genera-
tion or two it could be appealed to as an authority. To further please
King Haakon the cardinal sent a letter to Iceland, requesting the
Icelanders to acknowledge the overlordship of the king of Norway. He
did this, also, becaiise the Roman church did not recognize a republic
as a legitimate government. Haakon immediately sent a governor,
or s^sselmand, to Iceland to assert the king's authority over the island.
frhe Norse colonial empire, which had been founded in the Viking
Age, was stiil intact. Tlie colonip;^ in Tpela^^^ ^^(^ Nnrirmnrlyj a9.

well as— tlie settjements along__Uia coast of Scotland, Walea, and
northern Englaiid^jwere no longer Norse commumtjes; but -Man
and the Hebrides, the_Orkneys. the F«tt)p Tslsnds^ nnH the Shetland
Islands were stiil Norse colonies ; and Greenland and Iceland, though
politically independent, were tied to the mother country as closely
as ever befor^ Norway's commerce and her power at sea depended
in a large measure on her colonial possessions, through which she stiil
maintained an open highway of trade and communication with the
countries of the West. The revenues directly obtained were often
in arrears when measured with the eost of fitting out military expedi-
tions to keep the chieftains in these island possessions in due submis-
sion, but the kings of Norway guarded the colonies, not only because
they were felt to be in a sense a part of Norway, but because they
never lost sight of their real importance.^ The protracted civil

1 P. A. Munch says : "It is a significant cireumstanee that from the
moment when Norway lost the Sudreys (Hebrides), 1266, we note the begin-
ning of the Hanseatic influence, the decay of national commerce, and the
entering of Norway into the Continental political system." Det norske
Folks Historie, vol. II., p. 529.

See also Alexander Bugge, Handelen mellem England og Norge indtil
Begyndelsen aj det 15de Aarhundrede, Historisk Tidsskrift, tredie rsekke,
vol. IV.

KING haakon's coronation. colonial affairs 425

wars had diverted the attention from aflFairs in the colonies, and
tended to weaken the ties which bound them to the kingdom, but
though their allegiance was severed at times, it was reestabhshed
quickly and without difficulty. A greater danger to Norse overlord-
ship was the close proximity of many of these island groups to Eng-
land and Scotland. That future development would lead to an
absorption of these islands by the kingdoms to which they geographi-
cally belonged could not fail to be apprehended by foresighted states-
men.

In 1158 the kingdom of Man and the Hebrides was divided be-
tween King Gudr0d and Sumarhde's son, Dugald. Ragnvald
(Reginald) Gudr0dsson, who succeeded his father in 1187, threw
off all allegiance to Norway, but the expedition to the Orkneys and
Hebrides in 1209-1210 forced Ragnvald and his son Gudr0d to re-
pair to Norway and offer their submission to King Inge Baardsson.
Ragnvald took his oath of allegiance lightly. In 1219 he swore
fealty to King Henry III. of England, and in obedience to a re-
quest made by the papal legate, Pandulf, he issued a document,
dated September 1, 1219, by which he transferred the kingdom of
Man to the church of Rome, and received it back as a fief from
the Pope, promising to pay a yearly tribute of twelve marks Sterling.^
The Pope formally accepted the gift May 23, 1223, and placed Ragn-
vald and his kingdom under the protection of St. Peter.

A war now broke out between Ragnvald and his brother Olav
Svarte, whom he had imprisoned and ill-treated. Olav, who had
regained his liberty, attacked Ragnvald with a fleet of thirty-two
ships, and forced him to divide his kingdom wdth him, Ragnvald
sought aid in Scotland, and Earl Alan of Galloway, the most powerful
of the Scotch magnates, acting, as it appears, under the instructions
of the energetic King Alexander IL, came to his support. In the
bloody conflict which ensued, Ragnvald lost his life, and Gudr0d,
who had been maimed and blinded by Olav, fled to Norway. But
Alan made great preparations to attack Olav, and even threatened
to attack Norway, saying, that it was no more difficult to go from
Scotland to Norway than from Norway to Scotland, there being
no less faciUty of finding ports or shelter for a fleet there than in
^ Diplomatarium Norwegicum, XIX., no. 123.

426 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the firths of Scotland. It was clearly the plan of King Alexander IL
to seize the islands, and Olav, who was unable to cope with so power-
ful an enemy, hastened to Norway to seek aid. When news was
brought ))y fugitives of the situation in Man and the Hebrides, King
Haakon took the matter in händ. 01av's most trusted lieutenant,
Paul Baalkesson, had sought the support of Skule Jarl, and the
king could not trust one party much more than the other. He
therefore divided RagnvaWs possessions between Olav and Gudr0d.
Over the portion which had belonged to Sumarlide's son Dugald,
he placed Uspak, SumarHde's grandson, who was a veteran Birke-
bein chieftain in the king's service. He bestowed on him the title
of king and gave him his own name, Haakon. When Olav arrived
in Norway, a fleet of thirteen ships commanded by Uspak-Haakon
was ready to sail to the colonies. Both Olav and Gudr0d returned
with the fleet, which in the Orkneys received reenforcements till
it finally numbered eighty ships. They sailed past Cantire to Bute,
where the Scots had strongly garrisoned Rothesay castle. The
castle was taken, but the Norsemen lost 360 men. Uspak-Haakon
was wounded, and died shortly afterwards. Olav, who succeeded
him as commander of the fleet, sailed tp Man and took possession
of that island. The division of the islands between Olav and Gudr0d
was now consummated, and after Torquil Mac Dermot had been
expelled from the island of Lewis (Ljodhus), the fleet returned to the
Orkneys. Hostilities immediately broke out between the two kings
in Man and the Hebrides. Gudr0d was slain, and Olav seized the
whole kingdom ; but when the fleet returned to Norway, 1231,
King Haakon thanked his men for what they had achieved. Norse
sovereignty over these colonies had been maintained, and Alan of
Galloway did not again attack Man or the Hebrides.

In the Orkneys there were also feuds between rival chieftains and
hostile factions. Jon Jarl was killed, and his successor Magnus held
Caithness as a fief from the king of Scotland. The Orkney jarls
became more and more closely connected with Scotland and Scotch
interests, and Caithness became the most important part of their
possessions. The inhabitants, both in this province and in the
Orkneys, were beginning to lose their Norse nationality. The num-
ber of Scotch settlers increased, and Scotch language and customs

CRUSADES AND CRUSADERS 427

were gaining ground; an indication that Norse influence in these
colonies was waning.

67. Crusades and Crusaders

In the summer of 1217 the fifth crusade began, and many chief-
tains from Norway took the cross and went to Palestine. Sigurd
Kongsfrsende, a nephew of King Sverre, seems to have been the
first to depart. He journeyed through Denmark to Germany, and
joined the army of crusaders which assembled at Spalato under the
leadership of King Andrew of Hungary. The army reached the
Holy Land, but accomphshed nothing of importance, and King
Andrew led his forces back to Europe.

Erlend Thorbergsson and Roar Kongsfrsende, another nephew of
King Sverre, sailed with two ships for Palestine. The säga says : ^
"The same summer that the king and the jarl were in Viken, Roar
Kongsfrsende went to Jerusalem. He had a large and beautiful ship.
With him went a man by name of Erlend Thorbergsson, who had an-
other ship, which the townsmen had built at their own expense.^ Roar's
ship came to Aere, but the townsmen's ship reached even Darmat
(Damietta in Egypt), and both were successful on this expedition."

Roar and Erlend joined the large fleet collected in Germany,
Holland, Denmark, Scandinavia, and England, which sailed from
the Netherlands in the spring of 1217. On the way they stopped in
Portugal, where they captured the strong castle Alcazar from the
Moors. The siege lasted until October, and they spent the winter
in Lisbon. The next spring they sailed for the Levant, and joined
the crusaders who were operating against Egypt. Damietta was
taken in November, 1219, after a lõng siege in which the capture of
the chain-tower was the most notable event. It is quite certain
that the Norsemen played a prominent part in the capture of this
stronghold, as they possessed great skill in that kind of warfare.
Wilkens says that in order to capture this citadel a remarkable tower
was constructed on two ships.^ This corresponded to the hünkastali

1 Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 30.

2 Probably the people of Trondhjem.

3 Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, vol. VI., p. 126, 127, 163-179. P. A. Muneh,
Det norske Folks Historie, vol. IIL, p. 593 ff.

428 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

{i.e. turris ambulatoria) which the Norsemen were accustomed to
construct when they attacked fortified cities. "The King's Mirror"
gives an elaborate account of the weapons and tactics employed in
sieges. The father says to his son :

"When one is to attack a castle with the weapons which have
been mentioned, then he needs also to have catapults (valsl^ngur)
along, both stronger and weaker ; the stronger to throw big stones
against the walls, that they, perchance, may be made to fail by the
great impact ; the weaker to throw stones over the walls to destroy
the houses within the castle. But if the stone-walls can not be broken
down or rent asunder by the catapults, one must try to use a machine
called vedr {i.e. a battering-ram), covered in the end with iron ; few
stone-walls can stand against it. But if the stone-wall should not
be shaken apart or fail, then one can use, if he wishes, the grafsmn}
A tower built on wheels {i.e. turris ambulatoria) is also good to cap-
ture a castle with, if it is higher than the one which is to be taken,
even if it is only seven ells, but it is better to take the castle with the
higher it is. Ladders on wheels, which can be puUed back and forth,
well covered with boards below, and with railings on both sides, are
also good for this use. In short, all weapons are good in the taking
of a castle, but one who wishes to take part must know just when to
use each weapon.

" But those who defend a castle may use most of the weapons
here mentioned and many others ; both big and small catapults {val-
sl^ngur), hand-slings, and stave-slings. Crossbows {läshogi) are also
good weapons for them, and likewise all other bows, and other weapons
to shoot with, lances and palstaves, both iight and heavy. Against
catapults and grafsmn, and against that which is called vedr (battering-
ram) it is well to strengthen the walls inside with oak timbers, but
if there is enough earth or clay, that is the best. Those who defend
a castle make also great hurdles (fiaki) - of big oak branches and
cover the walls with three to five layers of them, but these hurdles
should be well filled with sticky clay. Against the impact of the
battering-ram they fill big saeks with hay and chaff, and lower them

1 A musculus constructed of boards and hides to protect tlie men while
they undermined the walls.

2 Crates made of boards and branches, and filled with clay.

CRUSADES AND CRUSADERS 429

in light iron chains iii front of the ram where it would strike the wall.
There may be so much shooting that the men cannot stand in the
embrasures (vigskard), then it is well to make hanging embrasures of
Ught hurdles; they should be two ells higher than the real em-
brasures of the castles, and three ells deeper, and they must hang so
far from the wall that the men can use all kinds of weapons between
the real embrasures of the castle and the hanging ones. They must
also hang on light beams which they can pull back and shove out
again whenever they wish. An igulkgttr ^ is also a good weapon for
those who are to defend a castle ; it must be made of big and heavy
trees with oak spines along the back, like a brush ; it is fastened out-
side the walls by the embrasures, and it is dropped on those who
approach the castle. Slagbrandar, made of lõng, heavy trees, with
sharp teeth of hard oak, are raised on end near the embrasures so
that they may be dropped down on the men who approach the castle.
A brynklungr (spider) is also a good weapon ; it is made of good iron
with bent teeth of steel, and on each tooth there is a barb. It must
be so made that the ropes which are nearest to it, and higher than a
man can reach, should be barbed iron chains so that they can neither
cut them nor hoid them fast, Above this point one may use any
kind of rope, if it is strong enough. Such a contrivance is good to
throw down among the men to try to grab some and pull them up." ^

The author mentions several other kinds of weapons together with
hot water, and molten glass and lead, which may be thrown upon the
besiegers; also a war-machine called skjoldjgtun, which spews out
fire and flames. How this was constructed is not known, but it
must have been a machine by which fire and hot objects were hurled
at the enemy.

Even in earlier centuries the Vikings showed great engineering
skill both in constructing and capturing fortified strongholds; and
the high military science famihar to the author of "The King's
Mirror," who wrote his work in Haakon Haakonsson's reign, probably
in 1250-1260, justifies the assumption that the Norse crusaders played
an important part in the capture of the fortresses at Damietta and
other places. When the Norsemen returned from the crusade is

1 Ifjulkgttr = poreupine, so called because of its resemblance to this animal.

2 The King's Mirror, XXXIX.

430 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

not known, biit the säga says that they came home in safety. The
lendermand Gaut Jonsson returned from a crusade in 1218, and
Agmund of Spaanheim, who made an expedition to the land of the
Permians (O. N. Bjarmeland) and journeyed through Russia by
way of Novgorod and the Black Sea, to Constantinople and Pales-
tine, must also have taken part in the fifth crusade.

Haakon was a statesman of high ränk. He showed, indeed, less
originahty than his grandfather, King Sverre, but he acted with
greater moderation, and managed foreign as well as domestic afFairs
with such wisdom and firmness that he won for his kingdom high
honor and great influence among the powers of Europe. He con-
tinued to strengthen his fleet, until Norway ranked all nations as a
naval power ; a circumstance which, together with the king's great
reputation as a statesman and ruler, gave his kingdom an influence
which can best be seen in the eflforts of the crowned heads to gain
his friendship. He took no part in the struggle between the Welfs
and the Hohenstaufers (Guelfs and Ghibellines) in Germany, but
remained a friend both of the Pope and the Emperor.

The throne of Germany was considered vacant by the church,
since the Pope had declared Emperor Frederick to be deposed, and
the cardinal was empowered by the Pope to ofFer King Haakon the
imperial crown, an honor which Haakon had wisdom enough to
decline. He seems also to have been interested in the crusading
movement which was now drawing to a close. At this time the
sixth crusade to the Holy Land was being prepared by St. Louis,
king of France, as the quarrel between the Pope and the Emperor
prevented the organization of a general crusade. Matthew Paris
says that St. Louis invited Haakon to accompany him on the crusade,
and offered him as "the powerful and experienced on the sea " the
command of the whole French fleet.^ Louis IX. sent Matthew
Paris to Nons^ay with a letter to the king,^ but Haakon declined the
honor. It seems that, although Haakon had pledged himself, prob-
ably in good faith, to embark on a crusade to the Holy Land, the

1 Chronica Majora (London, 1877), IV., p. 651.

2 The letter of Louis IX. to King Haakon, in which he in-vites him to
take part in the crusade, and offers him the command of his whole fleet,
is found in Diplomatarium Norwegicum, 19, 1, p. 160.

CRU8ADES AND CRUSADERS 431

Pope took no umbrage at his refusal to accompany King Louis ; and
it is not strange that the king hesitated to leave his kingdom, and to
spend his resources in distant lands at a moment when northern
Europe was threatened by a grave danger. At the beginning of
the thirteenth century the great Tartar conqueror Genghiz-Khan
united the tribes of central Asia into a great empire. He subjugated
China, Turkestan, India, and Persia; and after his death his son
Oktai continued the work of conquest and devastation. He sent his
nephew Batu-Khan to subdue the countries of the West. In 1240
Kief was sacked, and Russia, Poland, and Hungary were soon over-
run by their hordes ; but at Liegnitz in Silesia their further progress
was checked by the Germans under Henry the Pious. Batu-Khan
returned to Asia, but Europe was in great alarm. Many fugitives
from Russia, especially Permians from the ^Vhite Sea region, flocked
into the districts on the Baltic Sea, and also into Finmarken, where
King Haakon permitted them to settle.

The relations with the neighboring kingdoms, Sweden and Den-
mark, had not been good. Since the time of the Ribbung revolt
the king of Sweden had maintained a hostile attitude, but Haakon
finally succeeded in effecting a reconciliation. A treaty was con-
cluded between the two kingdoms, and the bond of friendship was
further strengthened by the marriage of Crown Prince Haakon to
Rikitza, the daughter of Birger Jarl of Sweden.

Denmark had also been unfriendly since the time of Valdemar the
Victorious, and sharp commercial competition aggravated the situa-
tion. For some time Haakon tried in väin to arrange a peaceful
settlement; the growing enmity culminated in open hostilities, and
Haakon sailed with a strong fleet to Copenhagen. A more serious
clash was averted, however, by timely concessions made by the
Danish king, and a treaty of peace was signed in 1257. During these
troubles the crown prince, Haakon the Younger,^ died, and his
brother Magnus succeeded him as heir apparent to the throne. In
1261 his marriage to Ingebj0rg, the daughter of the king of Den-
mark, was celebrated at Bergen. After the wedding festivities
King Haakon caused Magnus to be proclaimed king, and the young

1 In the sägas King Haakon is generally ealled Haakon the Oid, to dis-
tinguish him from his son, Haakon the Younger.

432 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

royal pair were crowned with elaborate ceremonies. With England
Haakon maintained very friendly relations, and King Alfonso X.,
the Wise, of Castile sought to gain his friendship and support. He
sent an embassy to Norway to bring about the marriage of Haakon's
daughter Christina to his son Don PhiHp. Christina was escorted
to Spain, and the wedding was celebrated at Valadohd. An alHance
was formed between the two kings, in which it was stipulated, how-
ever, that Haakon should not be asked to aid Castile against Eng-
land, Sweden, or Denmark; nor should Alfonso X. be requested to
help Haakon against Aragon or France.

King Haakon's life and reign reflect the high ideals, the Christian
character, and true religious sentiment which gave his public acts,
and all his measures of social and legal reform a mark of moderation
and good-will. He held firmly to the principle that the king was
the highest authority in church as well as in state, and placed him-
self squarely against every attempt to place new restrictions on the
royal authority. But he had a high regard for the church. He
adopted the measures which it advocated, when he found them to be
just and beneficial; he dealt conscientiously with all ecclesiastical
matters, and it was said to his praise that no king since St. Olav had
done so much to further Christianity in Norway. He accepted in
part the plan so lõng advocated by the clergy regarding the succes-
sion. He adhered firmly to the principle that Norway should be an
hereditary kingdom, but he recognized the expedience and wisdom
of excluding illegitimate sons from the throne, so far as this could
be done without endangering the hereditary principle. The new
law of succession given at the Frostathing in 1260 makes the pro-
vision that " the one shall be king of Norway who is the king's oldest
legitimate son, odel-born to realm and thanes; but if there is no
legitimate son, then the king's son shall be king even if he is not
legitimate, and if there is no son, then the one shall be king who is
odel-born, nearest in inheritance, and of the royal family." ^ It was
established, then, by this law that Norway in the future should be
an undivided kingdom with a single king. In the succession pref-
erence was given to the king's oldest legitimate son, but in order to
preserve the strict principle of an hereditary monarchy, illegitimate
^ Hdkonarbök, Norges gamle Love, vol. I., p. 263.

KING haakon's legal reforms 433

sons, or other members of the royal family, might succeed to the
throne.

The king retained the oid right of legislating for the church, and
the code of church laws in the " Frostathingslov " was prepared under
his supervision.^ This code was more in harmony with the canon
law than the older church laws, and Haakon enforced it throughout
the whole kingdom. The relation between the king and the church
was thereby made clear. Since the king could make and amend the
laws of the church, and since no ecclesiastical courts existed, but all
cases had to be tried in the secular courts, where the king's lagmand
declared and interpreted the laws, the Church of Norway was a
state church, subject to the authority of the king and the laws of
the realm.

King Haakon's legal reforms and his revision of the oid codes of
law was a work of the greatest importance. The change which had
taken place in social conditions and in the mõral and religious spirit
of the nation made many of the oid laws seem antiquated and even
adverse in spirit to the prevailing public sentiment. It seems to have
been Haakon's aim to revise the oid laws both in church and state
so as to bring them into harmony with the more enlightened con-
ception of justice. In 1244 he published an amended edition of the
"Frostathingslov" together with a code of church laws {kristenret)
which seems to have been written by Archbishop Sigurd Eindridesson
of Trondhjem with the advice and sanction of the king.^ In 1260, a
new revision of the "Frostathingslov" appeared together with many
new laws placing restrictions on feuds and the execution of personal
vengeance. Hitherto the friends and relatives of a person killed

1 An oid law from the reign of King Magnus Eiriksson, of September
14, 1327, mentions this code "which the worthy Lord Haakon the Oid and
Archbishop Sigurd of Nidaros established with the advice and consent of
the worthiest men." Norges gamle Love, vol. III., p. 153.

2 Konrad Maurer says that the publieation of these church laws must
be placed in the year 1244 for weighty reasons, "and as no other date of pub-
lieation can be assigned for the other parts of the code, it must be assumed
that Haakon in this year revised the whole law (Frostathingslov) and divided
it into sixteen books, and that with the advice of Archbishop Sigurd he has
eaused the church laws to be revised." Udsigt over de nordgermanske Rets-
kilders Historie, p. 28. See also P. A. Muuch, Det norske Folks Historie,
vol. IV., p. 110 ff.

VOL. I — 2 F

434 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

might proceed, not only against the slayer himself, but against his
whole family, and instead of häving recourse to legal justice, they
often sought satisfaction for the injury by kilUng a near relative of
the slayer. This often led to protracted and bloody feuds, which
brought sorrow and suffering in their trail. This evil custom could
not be aboHshed at once, but Haakon estabhshed the principle that
the wrongdoer alone could be punished for his crime, a fundamental
element of legal justice, which, when once recognized, would form a
new foundation for criminal jurisprudence.

68. The Annexation of Iceland and Greenland

After the completion of the colonization of Iceland, after a system
of laws and government had been established, and Christianity had
been acknowledged to be the state religion, the throes of organiza-
tion were over, and the people enjoyed a period of peaceful develop-
ment, which may be said to have lasted from about 1000 till 1150.
By the adoption of the laws of Ulvljot in 930 the new state received
its constitution. The Althing and the fjoföungsthings were organized,
and the local tkifig districts were limited to twelve ; each with three
goder, except in the northern district, or fjõrdung, where there were
four thing districts, making in all thirty-nine godord in Iceland. In
1004 a supreme court of appeal, the fimtardomr, was created in
connection with the Althing to decide cases which could not be
settled at the fjordungsthings, and twelve new goder were created to
sit in this tribunal. The fimtardomr should consist of nine goder
from each of the four districts (fjoröungar) and the twelve new goder,
in all forty-eight; but as the prosecution could discard six and the
defense six, only thirty-six rendered the decision. This new tribunal
proved to be very beneficial. The resorting to duels {holmgang) in
settling disputes had become very common, but after the creation
of the fi,mtardomr duels were abolished in Iceland, 1006. In 1022
the relations between Iceland and the mother country were definitely
established by the agreement known as the " Institutions and Laws
which St. Olav gave the Icelanders. " We have already seen that
by this agreement a quasi Norwegian citizenship, which, indeed, they
had enjoyed since Harald Haarfagre's reign, was granted the Ice-

TIIE ANNEXATION OF ICELAND AND GREENLANTD 435

landers ; i.e. the right of odel, the right to jõin the king's hird, to
bring suits before the thing, to cut wood and timber, to inherit
property, and to trade and traffic in Norway. In return for these
privileges they had to pay a small tax, land^re, and of those who
happened to stay in Norway in time of war, two of every three had
to do mihtary service. The intellectual, no less than the economic
and commercial relations, tended to strengthen the bonds between
the colony and the mother country. Every year ships from Iceland
entered the harbors of Norway to carry back the wares needed at
home, but stiil stronger were the ties knit by common religious and
literary interests, a common language, and intimate intercourse in
the fields of intellectual activity, which nursed strong the feeling that
the people of the two countries were one nation. Christianity had
been introduced in Iceland by Norwegian missionaries, sent by the
Nonv^egian kings, and the two bishoprics in the island were joined
to the archdiocese of Nidaros. In Iceland säga literature and scaldic
poetry flourished as nowhere else in the North, but most of the
Icelandic scalds and sagamen stayed in Norway, where they found
welcome, honor, and reward at the king's court. The Icelanders felt
as keenly as did any Norseman at home that the king of Norway and
his court were the center of Norse intellectual and national life, and
the embodiment of the strength and unity of the Norse nation. Of
this they have gtven ample proof in their songs and sägas about the
kings of Norway. But the oid love of freedom and local autonomy
was also kept alive in the aristocratic republic of Iceland, and their
political independence was lost only after internecine strife had
paralyzed law and government, and created unbearable conditions
which made a strong central government a paramount necessity.
Two principal defects in the political institutions of Iceland, the alien-
ability of the godord, and the absence of a central government, led
gradually to the disappearance of popular government and the
destruction of law and order. The thirty-nine goder of the minor
thing districts were, besides the lovsigemand, the only officials in the
Icelandic state.^ Their office {godord) was hereditary ; they were the
wealthiest and most influential and powerful men in their com-

1 The twelve new goder created for the fimtardomr had no duties or powers
except in connection with this tribunal.

436 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

munity, and usually kept a bänd of forty to sixty armed followers.
They had charge of the local administration, and were to maintain
law and order in their communities ; they sat in the lagrette, where
they exercised all legislative power, and they also appointed the
judges, who performed the judicial functions at the various things.
The lagmand and the goder had to attend the Althing, and the h^nder
(farmers) who had a small amount of property were also required to
attend. It is clear that the goder, who had well-nigh all the powers
of government, were the pillars of the state, The more pernicious
was the right which they possessed of alienating their office and of
placing it in the hands of grasping and ambitious chieftains. Rival
families gathered into their possession one godord after another, until
a few powerful chieftains had usurped all political power, and ruled
with sovereign power, each in his own district.^ As no central gov-
ernment existed, their private feuds developed into a permanent
state of civil war. They brought annies in the field, and fought
pitched battles ; houses were biirned and property destroyed ; the
laws were a dead letter, since they could not be enforced. In 1217
a powerful family, the Oddaverjer, in southern Iceland, felt them-
selves offended by the Norwegian merchants, and attacked and
plundered some Norwegian merchant vessels. The Sturlungs sided
with the merchants, and killed many of the Oddaverjer. The news
of these disturbances was brought to Norway by the great säga
writer Snorre Sturlason, who had to promise King Haakon to use
his influence to bring Iceland under Norwegian overlordship. He was
made lendermand, and returned to Iceland, but he did not seem very
eager to f ulfill his promise, and as his countrymen resisted all attempts
of that kind, nothing was accomplished. Tlie struggle between the
Icelandic chieftains continued. Snorre Sturlason's brother, Sighvat
Sturlason, and his son Sturla Sighvatsson became very prominent in
the century 1160-1262, which is also called the Sturlung period.
Sturla forced Snorre and his son Ur0kja to leave Iceland, but his
arrogance so angered the other chieftains that they combined against

^ Konrad Maurer, Island von seiner ersten Entdeckung bis zum Untergang
des Freistaates. P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie. R. Keyser, Norges
Historie, vol. II. Salmonsen, Konver sations- Leksikon ; "Island," ."Althing,"
!'Gode."

THE ANNEXATION OF ICELAND AND GREENLAND 437

the Sturlungs, and defeated and killed both Sturla and his father in
the battle of ^rlygsstad, in 1238.^

Snorre and his son had repaired to Norway to the court of Skule
Jarl, and when they heard that Sturla was dead, they made ready
to return to Iceland. King Haakon had sent Snorre a message re-
questing him not to leave before he could make some arrangements
with him regarding Iceland, but Snorre paid no heed, and departed
without seeing the king. After Skule JarFs death Haakon instructed
the Icelandic chieftain Gissur Thorvaldsson to send Snorre to Nor-
way, or else to kill him. Gissur had been married to Snorre's daugh-
ter, but had parted from her, and he and his father-in-law were bitter
enemies. He marched wäth an armed bänd to Snorre's home, Reyk-
holt, in Borgarfjord, and killed the great säga writer, who was then
sixty-three years oid (1241). Snorre was a great historian, but his
contemporaries describe him as self-seeking and treacherous.

When King Haakon found that he could accomplish nothing in
Iceland by the aid of the chieftains, he decided to strengthen his
influence in the island by the assistance of the clergy. The bishops
of Iceland had hitherto been chosen by the clergy and the people,
but as this was contrary to the canon law, Haakon got the right of
election transferred to the Archbishop of Nidaros and the cathedral
chapter. By 1238 Norwegian ecclesiastics had been made bishops
in Iceland, and they naturally sought to strengthen the hoid of Nor-
way in the island. Wliile the bloody feuds continued unabated,
Haakon summoned two of the leading chieftains, Thord Kakale and
Gissur Thorvaldsson, to Norway and retained them there for some
time. In 1255 he sent one of his own men, Ivar Englesson, to Ice-
land, who, by the aid of Bishop Henrik of Holar, succeeded in getting
the people of the northern districts to submit to the king. In 1258
Haakon made Gissur Thorvaldsson jarl, and permitted him to return
to Iceland after he had solemnly promised to bring the whole island
into submission. Gissur did not act udth much energy in the matter,
and in 1261 the king sent Halvard Guldsko to Iceland. Through his

1 The prineipal souree for the history of Iceland during the Sturlung
period is the Sturlungasaga, written in Iceland about 1300. This is not a
family säga, but an historical work dealing with the affairs of Iceland during
this period. See also Haakon Haakonssonssaga.

438 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

efForts all the people of Iceland, save the eastern districts, were per-
suaded to take the oath of allegiance, and to acknowledge themselves
subjects of the king of Norway. A compact was made between the
king and the people of Iceland stipulating what rights and privileges
they were to enjoy. According to this compact they were to pay
taxes to the king. Tliey should keep their own laws, and they could
not be summoned before a coiirt outside of their own country. Six
ships should sail from Norway to Iceland every year ; the land^re
tax should be abolished, the lovsigemand and the sysselmcBnd should
be Icelanders, and the island should be governed by a jarl appointed
by the king.^ In 1264 the people of the eastern districts also tendered
their submission to King Haakon. In 1261 Greenland had fonnally
placed itself under the king of Norway. The " Haakon Haakonssons-
saga" says : "That fail Odd of Sjalte, Paul Magnusson, and Knarrar-
Leiv came from Greenland. They had been gone four winters.
They said that the Greenlanders had resolved to pay the king taxes
as well as fines for manslaughter, whether the person killed was a
Norseman or a Greenlander, and whether the murder happened in
the settlements or in NorSrsetur, so that the king now received
wergeld as far north as under the polar-star."

69. Haakon Haakonsson's Ex^pedition to the Hebrides. The
Close of His Reign

King Alexander II. of Scotland had manifested great desire to
gain possession of the Hebrides. He w^as even on the point of
beginning a war for this purpose, when he suddenly died in 1249.
His son, Alexander III., was then a mere child, and a regency was
appointed to ruie during his minority. The kings of Man and the
Hebrides were loyal to King Haakon, and for a time no danger seemed
to threaten the colonial possessions; but when Alexander III. be-
came oid enough to control the affairs of government, he revived his
father's plan of joining the Hebrides to the Scotch kingdom. In
1261 he sent two envoys to Norway, as it appears, for the purpose of
persuading King Haakon to cede the islands, but the attempt was
unsuccessful. In the summer of the following year news was

^ Norges garnle Love, vol. I., p. 460.

HAAKON HAAK0NSS0N'S EXPEDITION TO THE HEBRIDES 439

brought to Norway that William Earl of Ross, together with many
other Scotch chieftains, had attacked the island of Skye, and harried
it most cruelly, the report adding that it was King Alexander's
intention to conquer all the isles. The attack was evidently made
by his orders, since hostages were carried to Scotland, where they
were kept in custody at the Iverness castle at the expense of the
government.^ This made Haakon very angry, and by the advice
of his council he decided to declare war. In the spring of 12G3 he
began to make preparations for an expedition to Scotland. He
committed the government at home to his son Magnus, and collected
a large fleet at Bergen. An advance squadron of eight vessels was
dispatched to aid King Magnus Olavsson of Man, but because of
stormy weather it did not reach its destination before the main
fleet arrived on the coast of Scotland. On the 5th of July the king
sailed from Bergen, accompanied by Magnus Jarl of the Orkneys,
who had been called to Norway, as it seems, for the purpose of assist-
ing in the undertaking. How large the fleet was is not definitely
stated in the säga, which says that "Haakon had over 120 ships"
when the whole fleet was assembled in the Hebrides. Tlie oid
Scotch historian Fordun states that he had 160 ships and 20,000
men,^ which agrees quite well with the säga. This was probably
the largest army ever sent from Norway to the British Isles, and
great alarm spread through the coast districts of Scotland, where the
attack might be expected at any time. Haakon sailed by way of the
Shetland Islands to the Orkneys, where he stopped for a few days
to work out a more detailed plan of campaign. He would divide his
fleet into two squadrons, one of which should go to Moray Firth
and attack the eastern districts of Scotland, while the king himself
would proceed to the Hebrides with the other. But his captains
refused to go anywhere except under the king's direct command, and
the plan had to be abandoned. While waiting for the forces from
the Orkneys to complete their preparations, he went to Caithness,

1 The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys, ed. Munch, p. 27; and notes,
p. 110. P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, part IV., vol. I., p. 387.
Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 314. Skene, The Highlanders in Scotland,
vol. II., p. 225.

2 Fordun X., 15 (vol. II., p. 97) ; see P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie,
vol. IV., p. 396. Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 319.

440 IIISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and compelled the people to pay tribute, because they had accepted
the overlordsliip of the king of Scotland. He offered them peace if
they would pay a certain amount, probably of stores and provisions,
and they promptly accepted the terms. King Alexander III.
strengthened the garrisons and defenses of the castles in all the dis-
tricts where an attack might be expected. At Iverness, on Moray
Firth, at A}t and Wigtoun, in the southern part, and even at Stirling
the garrisons were strengthened, and energetic measures were taken
to collect ships, and to build new ones.

On the lOth of August Haakon left the Orkneys. The forces of
these islands had not yet completed their armament, but they were
ordered to follow as soon as they could. He sailed by the way of
Lewis into the Sound of Skye and came to anchor at the little island
of Cailleachstone (N. Kerlingarstein), where he was joined by the
king of Man, and the forces which had been dispatched to that
island. When he entered the Sound of Mull, King Dugald of the
Hebrides met him in a light craft, and piloted the fleet to Kerrera,
where the forces from the islands had assembled to jõin the main
fleet. Both King Magnus Olavsson of Man and King Dugald Mac
Rory (Ruaidhri) of the Hebrides were loyal to King Haakon, but
Eogan of Argyll,^ whom he had given the title of king, and invested
with the island of Mull, had joined Alexander III. Eogan held
large fiefs on the mainland of Scotland, and as he found it impossible
to serve two masters, he dropped his royal title, and with it his
allegiance to King Haakon. From Kerrera Haakon sent fifty ships
in command of King Dugald, King Magnus, and some Norwegian
captains to Cantire, and fifteen ships to the castle of Rothesay, in
the island of Bute ; with the rest of the fleet he advanced to the island
of Gigha. The lords Murchaed and Angus of Cantire came to
Haakon to offer their submission, and took an oath of allegiance to
him, but they had to pay a tribute of 1200 head of cattle. The
castle of Rothesay also capitulated without much resistance. En-
voys now also came from Ireland to King Haakon, and offered the
submission of the people of Ireland, if he would deliver them from

1 In Haakon Haakonssonssaga he is called Jon, by Matthew Paris, Oneus
or Genus, in the Chronicle oj Man and the Sudreys, Johannes. See this
Cbronicle, notes, p. 112 ff.

HAAKON HAAKONSSON's EXPEDITION TO THE HEBRIDES 441

the oppresslve English ruie. It is not stated who these envoys were,
but it is quite clear that they came from the Norse colonies, who
felt sorely oppressed under EngHsh ruie. It has already been stated
elsewhere that the English had taken their cities, and had forced the
Norsemen to withdraw and found new settlements outside the city
limits. Haakon sent Sigurd from the Hebrides to Ireland with
some light vessels to investigate the conditions, while he moved his
fleet around Cantire to the island of Aran. Haak()n's large fleet, as
well as the victories which he had already won, so alarm ed King
Alexander III. that he sent messengers to sue for peace, and Haakon
welcomed this opportunity to terminate the hostihties. The summer
was nearly spent, and he foresaw the danger of exposing his fleet to
the severe autumn storms in these dangerous waters. An armistice
was arranged, but King Alexander would not accept the terms
offered, and much time was wasted in fruitless negotiations. Finally
Haakon grew impatient, and gave notice that he would renew the
campaign. He had advaneed up the Firth of Clyde, whence he sent
sixty ships into Loch Lõng, while the main force was to land at
Largs to fight the Scotch army stationed there. The forces sent
into Loch Lõng brought boats to Loch Lomond, and ravaged the
country as far as Stirling ; but on the Ist and 2d of October a hurri-
cane swept over western Scotland, and put a sudden end to further
operations. Ten ships of the squadron in Loch Lõng foundered, and
of the main fleet at Largs many ships were damaged or driven ashore.
The king sought refuge in the island of Cumrse (Kumrey), but many
ships drifted to the mainland, where they were attacked by the
Scots. When the storm abated somewhat, the king again went on
board the ships, and sent aid to the men on shore. The Scots were
driven off, and the Norse detachments spent the night on land. In
the morning, October 2, the Scotch main army came up. About
1000 Norsemen were now on shore, of whom 240 were stationed on a
hillock. They were attacked by overwhelming numbers. Many
fell, and the rest fled to the shore, where they made a spirited resist-
ance. At last two captains succeeded in landing fresh troops, and
the Scots were driven back upon the hill, and finally put to flight.
The battle was over, and the Norsemen returned to their ships.
The next morning they landed again, removed the dead from the

442 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

battlefield, and buried them near a church, probably in the island of
Bute. The sqiiadron from Loch Lõng again joined the fleet, and
Haakon destroyed his stranded ships, and moved his fleet to Lam-
bash harbor. Sigurd of the Hebrides, who had been sent to Ireland,
now returned with a message from the Irish people to the king that
they would keep his army the whole winter if he would come and
dehver them from the EngHsh. He called a thing to consider this
proposal, but his men were opposed to it, as it was läte in the season,
and they were short of provisions. He decided, therefore, to go into
winter quarters in the Orkneys, and many of his men were permitted
to return to Norway. After a very stormy voyage, he reached these
islands during the last days of October.

King Haakon, who was now fifty-nine years oid, seems to have
overexerted himself in this strenuous naval campaign. Not lõng
after his arrival in the Orkneys, sickness confined him to his bed.
"During his illness," says the säga, "he had the Bible and Latin
books read to him ; but it soon seemed to f atigue him to catch the
meaning of the words. He then let Norwegian books be read, day
and night, first the sägas of the saints, and when there were no more
of them, the sägas of the kings of Norway from Halvdan Svarte,
one after the other." ^ He died, deeply mourned by the whole
nation, December 15, 1263, and was succeeded by his son Magnus
Lagab0ter. His body was brought to Bergen, and interred in the
Christ church by the side of his father and grandfather.

The celebrated battle of Largs was in reality only a skirmish, in
which the Norwegians were victorious; but this great expedition,
and the disaster which overtook it, seems to have brought the leading
men to ponder the situation more carefully. They began to see
how difficult it was to defend the Hebrides, lying snug to the shores
of Scotland, when even vassals like Eogan of Argyll sided with the
king of Scotland. Could Norway afford to keep a dependency like
the Hebrides, when her whole naval force would have to be kept in
constant service to defend it? King Magnus Lagab0ter and his
advisers were wise enough to see that such a cause would not only
be futile, but ruinous, and steps were soon taken to conclude peace
with Scotland. After negotiations had been carried on for some
^ Haakon Haakonssonssaga, eh. 329.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE 443

time, King Alexander agreed to buy the Hebrides and Man. By
the treaty of Perth, signed July 2, 12G6, Magnus transferred these
islands to Scotland for the surn of 40Ü0 marks sterling, payable in
four annual installments. Scotland also agreed to pay every year
perpetually 100 marks to the crown of Norway. A fine of 10,000
marks sterling was to be paid by the party who violated, or did not
fulfill, the treaty.^ At the time when the treaty was concluded,
King Magnus Olavsson of Man was aiready dead. This Island was
never formally imited with Scotland, but was held by the kings of
Scotland as a personal possession until it was finally transferred to
the crown of England.

70. LiTERATURE AND CuLTURE IN THE AgE OF HaAKON

Haakonsson

Tlie oid Norse poetic literature {i.e. the "Elder Edda" and the
songs of the scalds) flourished principally in the period from Harald
Haarfagre until the middle of the eleventh century. After Harald
Haardraade's time the scaldic poesy began to decay. Many familiar
names are, indeed, met with later, but they indicate no revival of the
oid art of poetry. The three great scalds of Haakon Haakonsson's
own time, the historian Snorre Sturlason and his two nephews,
Sturla Thordsson and Olav Hvitaskald, possessed great ability as
poets, but the vigor and spontaneity had gone out of their verse,
and Snorre and Sturla are famous principally as historians and prose
writers. Snorre wrote his "Younger Edda" as a textbook for scalds
with the intention, as it seems, of creating new interest in the noble
oid art. It is one of the most valuable works in Oid Norse literature,
but it failed to produce the result intended ; the age of Norse poetry
and song was fast drawing to a close. The chief interest now centered
upon history and romance, and in the course of the thirteenth cen-
tury the Oid Norse prose literature reached its fullest development.
It embraces works on the most varied subjects — history, biography,

1 The text of the treaty is found in Diplomatarnim Norwegicum, 8, 1 ; Acts
of Parliaments of Scotland, vol. I., p. 78, 101. Torfseus, Orcades, p. 198.
Torfaeus, Historia Norwegiae, IV., p. 343. Peterkin, Rentals of Orkney, John-
stone's Antiq. Celto-Normannicae, p. 52. See P. A. Munch, The Chronicle
of Man and the Sudreys, p. 132. Islandske Annaler, ed. Gustav Storm, p. 258.

444 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

geography, legend, and romance — all known by the common name

of "säga" (i.e. narrative) ; to which must also be added treatises on
grammar, mythology, and poetry, codes of laws, and other miscel-
laneous works. The sägas are written in a style of noble simplicity
and classic beauty. Rich in contents, fascinating in form and
diction, they ränk with the Eddic songs among the greatest achieve-
ments in the domain of literature. "Few persons in our day ade-
quately realize the extent of the early Icelandic literature or its
richness," says Professor John Fiske. "The poems, legends, and
histories earher than the date when Dante walked and mused in the
streets of Florence survive for us now in some hundreds of works,
for the most part of rare and absorbing interest. The 'Heims-
kringla,' or chronicle of Snorre Sturlason, written about 1215 [should
be about 1230], is one of the greatest history books in the world." ^
The historical sagas may be divided_ into three great groups :
the Icelandic famijy sägas, dealing jgith thp h^st.ory_^^ä3Il^"g^'aphy
of the great famih<^^ i^i Tpp1n.iuLj; thp sag«^ about thp kings of Norway ;
the sägas about the Norwegian colonies^ ^his literature began to
flourish both in Norway and Iceland towards the middle of the
twelfth century, and reached its zenith in Haakon Haakonsson's
reign[ The oid Icelandic writer, Are Frode (1148), has been called
the father of Oid Norse history writing. He wrote the " Islendinga-
bok" about 1134, and some scholars have held that he also began the
" Landnämabok, " which was finished by later writers.^ About 1150
Eirik Oddsson wrote the "Hrykkjarstykki," a history of Harald
Gille and his successors, which has been lost. In the latter part of
the same century Odd Snorrason wrote the elder " Qlavssaga -Tfygg-
.j^asonar^' Gunlaug Leivsson wrote another säga by the same name,
Karl Jonsson wrote the "Sverrissaga," and some unknown Icelander
wrote the " BgghmgasQgur, " or "Säga of the Three Kings" (Haakon
Sverresson, Guttorm Sigurdsson, and Inge Baardsson). In Norway
the monk Thjodrek (Theodricus Monachus) wrote a history of the

^ The Discovery of America, vol. I., p. 154.

^ G. Vigfusson and Bj0rn Olsen regarded Are as the author of the Land-
nämabok, but Konrad Maurer, Eugen Mogk, and others find this view un-
tenable. Mogk thinks that it was written in the period 1200-1225, and that
Sturla Thordsson is the author. See Geschichte der norwegisch-islandischen
Literatur, p. 788.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE 445

kings of Norway, " De Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium," in the
latter part of the twelfth or the beginning of the thirteenth century,
and about the same time an unknown Norwegian ecclesiastic, probably
in the Orkneys, wrote the "Historia Norwegiae." The"Agrip af
Noregs Konungas0giim," the first attempt at a connected account
of the kings of Norway in the Norse language, was also written about
this time, but only a fragment of this work has been preserved.^

(From the close of the twelfth century the Latin language, which
hitherto had been used occasionally, ceased to be employed in säga
literature ; the Olrl Norse classic prose had been developed, and the
taste for history writing had been fully awakene^ The "Morkin-
skinna," a compilation of sägas about the Norwegian kings, was
written by some unknown Icelandic author_j,bout 1220. A more
critical work is the "Fagrskinna," also by an unknown Icelandic_
.author. from the period 1220-1230._ It gives the connected history
of the kings of Norway from Halvdan S varte till 1177. On these
earlier works Snorre Sturlason based his "Heimskringla," the greatest
work of the Icelandic historiographers, written about 1230. Snorre's
history is supplemented by the works of his nephew Sturla Thordsson,
the last original Icelandic historian. He wrote the " Islendingasaga,"
which constitutes the nucleus of the great " Sturlungasaga," or the
history of Iceland during the Sturlung period (1160-1262) ; also the
" Landnämabok," one of the most import ant sources of our knowledge
of Germanic life, religion, and jurisprudence.^ King Magnus Haakons-
son became acquainted with Sturla Thordsson, and urged him,
while on a visit in Norway, to write the history of his father's reign,
the "Haakon Haakonssonssaga" (" Häkonarsaga Häkonarsonar").
This säga, which is based on letters and documents of the royal
archives, " is the most important source of the history of the Scan-
dinavian North in the thirteenth century, and gives a vivid picture
of Haakon Haakonsson's reign. Because of King Haakon's friend-
ship with Emperor Frederick IL, and his relations to the Lübeckers
and others, it is also of importance to the history of Germany." ^

' Gustav Storm thinks that the author of the Agrij) was a Norwegian,
Konrad Maurer and Eugen Mogk have held that he was an Icelander, but
that he, perhaps, was staying in Norway when he wrote his work.

2 E. Mogk, Geschichte der norwegisch-islandischen Literatur, p. 788.

' Eugen Mogk, Geschichte der norwegisch-islandischen Literatur, p. 814 f.

446 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

This saga seems to have been written shortly after 1263. On a
second visit to Norway Sturla was persuaded to write the history of
Magniis Haakonsson's reign, the "Magnussaga Häkonarsonar," but
only a fragment of this saga remains. To the historical works
written about the kings of Norway belongs also the historical " Olavs-
saga ins helga " from about 1250, while the legendary "Olavssaga"
must be classified with the legendary and rehgious hterature. Several
later works like the "Hulda," the "Hrokkinskinna," the "GolHn-
skinha," and the "Eirspennill" bear no longer the marks of critical
and original scholarship,

The sägas which deal exclusively with the Norwegian colonies
are: the " Fsereyingasaga, " found in the sägas of Olav Tryggvason
and Olav the Saint in the "Flateyjarbok." The original, which no
longer exists, may have been WTitten in Iceland about 1200 or a little
later. The "Orkneyingasaga," also found in the "Flateyjarbok," is
thought to have been w^ritten before 1250. The " Saga of Eirik the
Red," which deals with the history of the Norse colonies in Green-
land, and the discovery of the mainland of North America, is found
in two manuscripts; the older from the thirteenth century, in the
"Hauksbok, " the later dates from the fifteenth century. The
" Flateyjarbok" is a great collection of sägas and short stories {poettir)
written in 1387-1395 by two Icelandic priests, Jon Thordsson and
Magnus Thorhallsson. The compilers show little originahty or
critical ability, stiil the "Flateyjarbok" remains one of the most
fruitful sources of our knowledge of Norwegian history and culture.^

Of special importance for the history of Iceland are the sägas
dealing with the church history of the island; the "Kristnisaga,"
which treats of the introduction of Christianity and the early history
of the church in Iceland; the "Biskupas0gur" and "Hungrvaka/'
which give the history of the bishops of Iceland.

The Icelandic saga VvTiters have also devoted some attention to the
history of Denmark. The " Jomsvikingasaga " narrates the history

^ Hermann Paul, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie, vol. II., p. 130.
Eugen Mogk, Geschichte der norwegisch-islandischen Literatur. Finnur
Jonsson, Den oldnorske og oldislandske Literaturs Historie. R. Keyser,
Nordmcendenes Videnskabelighed og Literatur i Middelalderen, Efterladte
Skrifter, I. A. Gjessing, Unders^gelse af Kongesagaens Fremvoext.

LITERATURE AXD CULTURE 447

of the Jomsvikings and the Jomsborg, and the "Kn\'tlingasaga" con-
tains the history of the Danish kingdom from 950 till 1202.

Most of the Icelandic family sägas were written in the period
1200-1300. The more important are : "Egilssaga," "Laxd0lasaga,"
" Gunlaugssaga," "Eyrbyggjasaga," "Fostbr0(5rasaga," "Ljosvetnin-
gasaga," "Reykd0lasaga," " Väi)niir"5ingasaga," " IlarSarsaga," "Viga
Glümssaga," "H0nsa]?6rissaga," "Gislasaga Sürssonar," "Njäls-
saga," "Vatsd0lasaga," "Kormakssaga," "Grettissaga," "Gull-
}j6rissaga/' " Svarfd0lasaga/' "Bjarnarsaga Hitd0lakappa," and
" Floamannasaga."

A second main division of the Icelandic säga literature is formed
by the large number of mythological sägas dealing with the heroic
traditions of the Scandinavian Xorth, the " Fornaldars0gur Norör-
landa." Aniong the best known of these are: " V0lsungasaga, "
"FriS}?j6fssaga," "0rvarOddssaga," " Hervararsaga," "Ragnarssaga
LoSbrokar," and "Hrolfssaga."

Another hnportant part of the Icelandic prose literature are the
numerous works of a religious character, such as collections of
homilies, and sägas or stories about the apostles and saints. In
this extensive literature we find the sägas, or stories, of Virgin INIary,
John the Baptist, the " Heilagramannas0gur " (sägas of the saints),
" Postulas0gur," or lives of the apostles, besides a lõng list of sägas
about persons prominent in the New Testament, such as Peter and
Paul, John and James, Simon and Jude, iSIartha and ]\Iary Mag-
dalene, Stephen, Pilate, and others. To this literature belongs, also,
the "Stjorn," a large work consisting of translations of the historical
books and other portions of the Oid Testament, together with com-
mentaries. The greater portion of this Bible translation dates from
about 1250.1

' Professor Gustav Storm analyses the eontents of the Stjorn as foUows :

1. A Norwegian translation of the historical books of the Oid Testament
from about 1250 or earlier.

2. An Icelandic translation of the books of the Maeeabees, written in
Norway 1262-1263 by Brandr Jonsson.

3. A Norwegian eommentary together with a translation of the Genesis
and half of the Exodus, written at the court of the king of Norway about
.1310.

4. An Icelandic edition of the history of Joshua and of tlie history of
the Hasmoneans (Alaccabees) and the Idumasans (Edomites) according to

448 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Aside from the Latin historical works already mentioned, the
Norwegian sagamen devoted themselves almost exclusively to the
writing of fiction, consisting largely of translations or elaborations
into prose narratives of chivalric metrical romances introduced from
England and the Continent, especially from France. These have
been called " Forns0gur SuSrlanda." E. Sars says : "The Norwegian
court seems to have given the first impulse to the activity which in
the course of the thirteenth century transplanted many French
chivalric romances and other foreign Uterary productions into the
Norwegian tongvie. About 'Tristan and Isoldes Säga,' one of the
earhest chivahic romances in the Norse language, it is specifically
stated in one of the manuscripts that it was written at the request
of Haakon Haakonsson. The same seems to be true of the 'EHs-
saga,' 'Iventssaga,' and many other works translated from the
French. King Haakon's relatives and successors, who, Uke himself,
had been well educated, also seem to have been interested in this
kind of hterary activity, and to have acted as its patrons and pro-
moters. According to an oid source the ' Barlaamssaga ok Josaphats,'
is supposed to have been written by King Haakon Sverresson, who
seems, however, to have been confounded with Haakon the Younger,
King Haakon Haakonsson's eidest son." From Norway this literary
activity of recasting foreign stories into narratives in the Norse tongue
was also introduced into Iceland, but these stories did not become
popular there, as the style was best suited to the tastes of knights
and courtiers. The Icelanders usually based their narratives on
Norwegian translations, not on the original text, and many of these
sägas, such as the " piSrekssaga, " the " Karlamagnüssaga," and others
are, therefore, found in widely different Norwegian and Icelandic
versions.

One of the most important and interesting works in Oid Norse
literature is "The King's Mirror" (O. N. Konungs-Skuggsjä, Lat.

the Historia Scholastica, written in the middle of the fourteenth century as
a supplement to no. 2 and 3.

5. A short resume of the later books of Moses by an Icelandic author from
the latter part of the fourteenth century, written as a supplement to no. 3.
Arkiv for Nordis Füologi, 1886, p. 244 ff. See also Eugen Mogk, Ge-
schichte der norwegisch-islandischen Literatur. Finnur Jonsson, Den oldnorske
og oldislandskc Literatur s Historie.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE 449

Speculum Regale), written in the reign of Haakon Haakonsson, about
1250-1260, by an anonymous Norwegian author, who must have
lived in Namdalen, near Tr0ndelagen. This work occupies a iinique
position in Oid Norse literature. It is a didactic-philosophic treatise
in the form of a dialogue between a father and his son, in which the
author planned to describe the education, culture, and manners of
the four elasses of Norwegian society — merchants, courtiers, farmers
(b^nder), and clergy. The father gives this description so that the
son may choose his caUing with insight, and that he may know what
he must learn in order to become successful and honored in his pro-
fession. Only two parts have been written, but even in its frag-
mentary form it gives the most vivid picture of medieval Norwegian
society, especially of the upper elasses, of any work in existence. It
is worthy of note that the agricultural class (b^nder) is treated, not
only as an independent and highly respected class, but as a separate
estate, equal in ränk to the courtiers and the clergy. This was some-
thing quite unusual at this time, when the agricultural elasses else-
where in Europe had sünk into abject serfdom. It is equally worthy
of attention that the merchants, also, formed a distinct class, no less
highly regarded than the others. The father says to his son :
"Though I have been more a king's man (i.e. a courtier) than a
merchant, stiil I would find no fault if you would choose this pro-
fession, for it is now often chosen by the best men." That the
agricultural and merchant elasses should stand so high is quite re-
markable, when we consider that even the third estate (the citizen
of the larger cities) had gained but scant recognition elsewhere in
Europe. The father goes on to outline to his son what he must
study if he wishes to become a real merchant. He points out the
necessity of avoiding drinking and gambling, of being upright,
Christian-minded, well-dressed, polite, and cultured, as this con-
stitutes the general basis for a successful career. He must also
study the laws, especially the "Bjarkeyjarrettr," or Norwegian
municipal laws. He must know the manners and customs of every
country where he travels, and, if he wishes to be especially well
qualified, he "should study all languages, especially Latin and
French, for they reach farthest, but neither must thou neglect thine
own language."

VOL. I — 2 G

450 HISTORY OF TIIE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

He advises his son, also, to get a thorough knowledge of the courses
of the heavenly bodies, of the tides, and other natural phenomena of
importanee to navigation. He must become especially well versed,
also, in arithmetic, which is indispensable to merchants. He instructs
him how to equip his ships for the voyage, in what seasons of the
year he should sail, and what rules he is to observe in doing business.
He gives the young man very detailed and elaborate instruction in
pohtical and physical geography, in which branches he shows deep
interest and remarkable knowledge. He discusses the ocean eurrents,
the prevailing winds, the aurora boreahs, the volcanoes, geysers,
warm springs, and earthquakes in Iceland, and the glaciers and ice-
bergs in Greenland. He gives a description of Ireland and Iceland,
and discusses the climate and the conditions in Greenland with great
minuteness and with considerable accuracy. He says to his son :
" But since thou doest ask if the sun shines in Greenland, or whether
it happens that there is fine weather as in other countries, then thou
must know, forsooth, that there is fine sunshine, and that the climate
there in the summer time may be called good. But there is great
difference in the seasons, for the winter is almost a perpetual night,
and summer almost a continuous day. But when the sun is highest,
it is strong enough to give light, but it gives but little heat ; stiil it
is so strong that where the ground is free from ice, it is warmed so
much that it produces good and fragrant grass, therefore people can
easily inhabit the land where it is thawed up, but that is indeed
only a small area." ^ He describes the fishes and animals in the
ocean near Iceland and Greenland, and discusses in detail the fauna
of Greenland, the domestic animals of this country, its products,
exports and imports, and the mode of life of the people. In the
second part, in which he discusses the courtier class, he speaks of the
manners and customs of the court, of the power of the king, of the
nature and value of the government, and instructs his son in mili-
tary science and the use of arms.

If we compare this system of education with the established cur-

riculum of the schools in other countries of Europe at that time, we

are struck by its superiority over all school plans then existing.

The schoolmen were yet confining instruction to their trivium and

^ The Kingas Mirror, eh. xix.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE 451

quadrivium, which embraced little more than Latin and scholastic
dialectics. Of geography there was none, excepting what might be
incidentally mentioned as explanatory notes to Latin texts. The
mother tongue was banished from the schools, as were all modern
languages; natural science was not taught. "Natural science was
very much neglected in the Middle Ages. With extraordinary
credulity the people regarded the most incredible as true, and, being
prepossessed by a belief in invented phantasms and wonders, they
did not see God's true wonders in creation," says Karl von Raumer.^

The author of "The King's Mirror" finds it necessary for the
young man — the prospective merchant — who wishes to be well
educated, to study, not only Latin, but French, and especially his
own mother tongue, yes all languages, which simply means as many
languages as possible. He has to learn the laws of trade and com-
merce ; he must study the courses of the heavenly bodies, and the
changing seasons, i.e. astronomy. He must learn practical navi-
gation, and he must devote especial attention to the study of nature :
climate, ocean currents, glaciers, icebergs, volcanoes, earthquakes,
and animal Ufe on sea and land. He must also study political
geography, the customs and manners of all nations which he comes
ni contact with ; their products, their imports and exports. Besides
acquiring such training, both practical and theoretical, he should
also be a Christian and cultured gentleman This system of education
is so modern in spirit and general purpose that with but few modifi-
cations we might well accept it to-day without much hesitation.
A httle reflection and comparison make us feel the truth of the great
scholar Sophus Bugge's statement that "The King's Mirror" "was
five centuries ahead of its time." Strong evidence, indeed, that no
people in Europe were better educated than the Norwegians.

The remarkable growth of Norse prose hterature in the thirteenth
century represents the cuhnination of a lõng Hterary development,
and cannot be directly attributed to the influence of the reign of
Haakon Haakonsson. Stiil the court of the king of Norway was in
this period, as heretofore, the center of the intellectual Ufe of the
.Norwegian people. It was the place where men of learning and
ability met, where the impulses from abroad were most directly felt,
1 Geschichte der Pädagogik, erster teil, p. 7.

452 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and where many of the leading works were written. Karl Jonsson
wrote the " Sverressaga " at King Sverre's court, and by his aid.
Sturla Thordsson was persuaded by King Magnus Haakonsson
(Lagab0ter) to write the "Haakon Haakonssonssaga" at King
Magnus' court, and by his assistance. The " V0lsungasaga" is
thought to have been written at the court of Haakon Haakonsson for
the entertainment of the king, and a part of the "Stjorn" was
written at the request of King Haakon Magnusson (f 1319). It is
certain, also, that Snorre Sturlason was encouraged, especially by
Skule Jarl, to write the "Younger Edda" and the "Heimskringla."
King Haakon's peaceful and glorious reign and his lofty example
proved a powerfui stimulus. He was well educated, and could read
Latin as well as Norse. He was intensely interested in literature and
art ; anxious to further the intellectual development of his people,
as he was careful to preserve the power and honor of his kingdom, and
the prosperity of the nation. The king of Norway was to the Nor-
wegian people what King Arthur was to the Knights of the Round
Table — the source of national unity and strength, by whose in-
fluence and power they felt themselves united into one nation.
The king was the bond of union between the colonies and the mother
country, and the source of national tradition and honor. This
would alone explain the great influence which the king and his court
exerted on the development of literature and culture and the growth
of a national spirit.

King Haakon took great interest, also, in commerce and the de-
velopment of cities. On the coast of Bohuslen he founded the city
of Marstrand, probably because of the great herring fisheries along
this coast.^ He improved the harbor of Agdenes at the entrance to
the Trondhjemsfjord, and constructed wharfs there. He also
sought to protect Norwegian commerce by treaties with England and
Lübeck. King Valdemar the Victorious and his successors had not
been friendly to Norw^ay, and when war broke out between Denmark
and the German city of Lübeck, Norwegian shipping was injured by
both parties. Haakon, therefore, seized the ships both of the Danes

1 Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers Selvstyre og Händel ffir
Hanseaternes Tid, Christiania, 1899. Gustav Storm, De kongelige Byanlasg
i Norge i Middelalderen, Historisk Tidsskrift, tredie raekke, vol. V., p. 433.

PLATE XI

RUINS OF THE HOVED0 MoNASTERY.

KixG Haakox Haakoxsson".s üuilü-hall ix Bergen, axd the Valkexdurf

TOWER.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE 453

and the Lübeckers in Norwegian harbors, a measure which proved
so effective that the merchants of Lübeck sent John de Bardevik as
ambassador to Bergen to apologize to King Haakon. The result
was a commercial treaty between Norway and Lübeck, concluded
October 6, 1250.^ Treaties of commerce were also signed with the
king of England.^

Haakon devoted much attention to the improvement of the coast
defenses. It seems to have been his plan to construct a system of
fortresses which would safeguard all important harbors, and protect
the whole coast. He rebuilt the Sverreborg at Bergen, reconstructed
the Sverreborg at Trondhjem, erected a fortress at Ragnhildarholm,
near Konghelle, and fortified Oslo and Tunsberg. The many
churches, monasteries, hospitals, and other public buildings erected
during this reign testify to Haakon's great interest in cities and city
culture. At Bergen he erected the Haakon's hall, a large, two-
story royal hall of stone, built in Early English style. It stood
completed in 1261 when the wedding of his son Magnus was cele-
brated there. In later centuries this fine piece of early Norwegian
architecture suffered much through neglect, but it has been restored,
and it remains one of the proudest oid structures which adorns the
city. The "Haakon Haakonssonssaga" gives the following account
of his activity as a builder :

"^e^ built a church in Troms0, and Christianized the whole parish
belonging to it. Many Permians came to_him, who had fled from
the East because of the inroads of the Tartars. These he Chris-
tianized, and he permitted them to settle on the MelangerfjordZ He
built a church at Ofoten, a redoubt and piers for wharfs at Agdenes.
In Nidaros he built a hall in connection with the royal residence, as
well as a chapel over against the royal hostelries. In Bergen he built
the Apostle church of stone near the royal residence. He also built
a St. 01av's church and a monastery at his own expense. He im-
proved the royal residence at Bergen by erecting two stone halls,
and by surrounding it with a stone wall with castles above the portals.

^ The text of the treaty is found in Diplomatarium Norwegicum, voI. V.,
no. 4.

2 That very friendly relations existed between Norway and England at
this time can be seen from Haakon's eorrespondence with Henry III. Diplo-
matarium Norwegicum, vol. XIX., no. 153 ff.

454 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

He built the St. Catherine church at Sandbm, together with a
hospital, and gave to it property yielding an income of 200 män-
adrrnatr} In the castle at Bergen he rebuilt all the houses which
had been destroyed by fire. He erected two-thirds of the surround-
ing stone wall with embrasures, and built the outer castle. The All
Saints' church at the upper end of the Vaag (i.e. the f jord) was also
built according to the king's advice, and he gave to it 100 mänadrmatr
during his illness. At Agvaldsnes he built a stone church, the
fourth in size of all the parish churches in Norway. At Tunsberg he
constructed a castellated stone wall around the mountain, and built
the Gaute castle across the Daneklev. He built, also, the necessary
houses on the mountain, erected a royal residence near the St. Law-
rence church, and built a hospital near the St. 01av's church, to
which he gave property yielding an income of 300 marks. He
caused the channel at Skeljastein to be deepened, so that kuggr {i.e.
merchant ships) now could sail where ferry boats could scarcely
float before. He built the Barefoot-brothers' church at Tunsberg,
but moved it later to Dragsmark, where he erected a St. Mary's
cloister and a stone church, to which he gave property yielding an
income of fifty marks. In Oslo he built a castle on the Vaalkaberg,
and moved the St. Nicolas church thither; he also built the royal
residence in the islands. On the Valdisholm he also built houses.
At Konghelle he erected a castle on the Ragnhildsholm ; he built a
royal dwelling in the city, and houses on Gull0en. He cleared the
Eker Islands, and built houses and a wooden church there. He
likewise founded Marstrand, and erected buildings in many islands
in Viken. He erected a stone castle at Ringsaker on Lake Mj0sen,
and built houses there. He built, also, a hall at Steig, and repaired
the church, which was nearly in ruins. He also built a hall at Hov,
in Breiden, and donated property to it, and at Tofte he built a hall
and a chapel. He bought Lo, in Opdal, and built dwelling houses,
hall, and chapel there. In Hedemarken he erected halls, at Husab0,
in Skaun, and at Ringsaker, and he caused dwelling houses to be
built at Vidheim, in 0yer. He also constructed a stone wall around

^ Mdnadrmatr literally means provisions for a month, but the word de-
notes a certain measure, espeeially of flour and butter, or in a more general
sense, the value of a given amount of these artieles.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE 455

the Sverreborg, at Stenbergene, and built houses there, since the
Bagler had destroyed the castle." ^

(This catalogue of the great king's many achievements furnishes all
necessary evidence of his remarkable energy, and proves how great
was his solicitude for the intellectual development as well as for the
social and economic welfare of the natiöB. The grgatest amhitec;^
jtural woj4v of King_Ha^lcon!.s^i^ the_biiilding öf the nave

of the Trondhj em^athedraL After the death of Archbishop Eystein,
in 1 188, the work on the cathedral seems to have been discontinued. His
suceessor, Archbishop Eirik Ivarsson, engaged in a bitter controversy
with King S verre, and was forced to leave the country in 1 190. S verre
charged him with keeping a large f orce of armed f ollowers, as if he f eared
an attack upon himself or his church ; that he thus spent the money
which he shoiild have used to keep workmen in the qiiarries carrying
and cutting stone for the construction of the cathedral according to
the original plan. Wliether Eirik's successors, Thore Gudmundsson
(1206-1214) and Guttorm (1215-1224) continued the work is not
known, but it was not resumed with vigor till in the time of Arch-
bishop Sigurd Eindridesson (1231-1252). He began the erection of
the nave, which seems to have been nearly completed in the time of
Archbishop Jon (1268-1282).- The nave, which, like the chancel,
was built in the Gothic style, was the most ornate and imposing part
of the great cathedral. According to the oid writer Absalon Peders-
s0n Beyer (1530-1574), the west front had "a large gilt circular
window cut in stone." Peder Clauss0n Friis (1545-1614), a priest
in Southern Norway, says of it : " But about that same cathedral,
how it is built, or how large it is, I can write nothing save what I
have heard of ö^thers ; namely, that it is built in the form of a cross,
of cut stones which are chiseled into all sorts of figures round about
the whole church, both inside and outside, so that it is astonishing,
and in the west front, which is gilt, large images of the twelve apostles
are cut in stone and gilt, and there are numerous pillars of polished

1 Haakon Haakonssonssaga, p. 451 ff.

^ Hermann M. Sehirmer, Krisikirken i Nidaros. The Cathedral of Trond-
hjem, published by order of the Norwegian government, text by Professor
P. A. Munch, drawings bj'^ Arehiteet H. E. Sehirmer, Christiania, 1859.
Teknisk Ugeblad, Arkitektafdeling, Dec. 4, 1908. Freiherrn v. Minutoli,
Der Dom zu Drontheim, Berlin, 1853.

456 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

marble, both inside and outside in the church, both white and black,
and of different color, so smooth that one might think that they had
been east. In the southern portal there are about sixty pillars in-
geniously wrought, so that one cannot well estimate what this
single door has eost, not to mention the whole ehurch." ^ How the
nave looked when eompleted, it is difficult to determine, for it was
searcely finished when a series of accidents gradually redueed the
proud edifiee to a melancholy ruin.^ But the Norwegian people,
who have always cherished piously the memories of their past his-
tory, have lõng sinee made its restoration a national eause. Sinee
1869 the work of rebuildhig the great cathedral has been in progress
under the leadership of the best architeets and seulptors in the
eountry. Large sums are contributed yearly to the eause by indi-
viduals and private organizations as well as by the state, and before
many years have rolled by, the oid ehurch will again lift its proud
towers over the eity of Trondhjem.

71. Magnus Haakonsson Lagab^C)Ter. A New System of

jurisprudence

Magnus Haakonsson, generally called Magnus Lagab0ter (the
Lawmender), was twenty-five years of age when his father, King
Haakon, died in 1263. He had aeted as regent during his father's
absence, and as he had been crowned king in 1261 at the time of his
wedding, he aseended the throne without proelamation or ceremony.
He eontinued Haakon's peaceful poliey, not only because wise
statesmanship dietated sueh a course, but also beeause of his own
inelination, sinee his interest was chiefly eentered on lawmaking and

1 Peder Clauss0ii Friis, Samlede Skrifter, edited by Gustav Storm, Chris-
tiania, 1881, p. 348.

2 The cathedral was damaged by fire, April 31, 1328. It suffered stiil
more in the next fire caused by lightning in 1432. After these accidents it
was repaired to some extent, but in 1531 it was again set on fire by lightning,
and great damage was done. The steeple, which was stiil standing, was
wrecked by lightning in 1687. Two years later it fell and demolished the
chapter house, near the church. The hasty repairs which had been attempted
from time to time were of little avail. Two more fires, 1708 and 1719, left
the ehurch a ruin, and it was abandoned to its fate till in 1869, when the
work of restoration was begun.

PLATE XII

A NEW SYSTEM OF JURISPRUDENCE 457

judicial reforms. He labored earnestly to promote the welfare of
his people, and devoted special attention to the reorganization of the
judicial system which constitutes the chief feature of his reign ; but
he lacked his father's rohust energy and self-confident grasp of inter-
national affairs. He found his kingdom a field sufficiently large for
his ambition, and the maintenance of peaee seems to have been his
chief concern in his whole foreign pohcy. The peace with Scotland,
resulting in the cession of the Hebrides by the treaty of Perth in
1266, has already been mentioned. As soon as the war with Scot-
land was terminated, King Magnus began his legal reforms by pub-
lishing a revision of the " Gulathingslov, " which, according to the
"Islandske Annaler," was accepted by the Gulathing in 1267. The
following year the revision of the laws of the Eidsivathingslag and
the Borgarthingslag was also completed. According to Konrad
Maurer, the two codes of church laws, the "Younger Gulathings
Kristenret" and the "Younger Borgarthings Kristenret," are also
to be ascribed to King Magnus' lawmaking activity during these early
years of his reign.^ In the Frostathingslag the king was permitted
to revise the secular laws, but the church laws were left untouched
because of the determined resistance of the arrogant prelate Jon
Raude, Archbishop of Trondhjem, who maintained that no secular
authority had the right to legislate for the church. The papacy,
which had finally vanquished the Hohenstaufen emperors, stood at
this time at the very zenith of its power. Archbishop Jon had wit-
nessed the conclusion of this struggle while on a journey to Rome
to receive the archbishop*s pall, and he returned deeply impressed
with the glory of the Roman Church and the power of the Holy
Father, eagerly bent on asserting the hierarchic principles in his
archdiocese with the utmost vigor. In Norway the state-church
principle had been maintained since the introduction of Christianity,
with but a short interruption in the time of Magnus Erlingsson.
The king, as the head of the church, had also legislated for it, with
the advice and assistance of the bishops. In conformity with the
principles everywhere urged by the Roman hierarchy at that time.
Archbishop Jon denied the king's right to legislate for the church,

1 Konrad Maurer, Udsigt over de nordgermanske RetsMlders Historie, p.
34 f.

458 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

and King Magnus, with characteristic weakness, yielded to the reso-
lute prelate. In the negotiations between the two regardiiig the new
lawmaking it may have been the archbishop who first suggested
that uniform codes of laws for the whole kingdom, both civil and
ecclesiastical, ought to be prepared, and it is possible that a com-
promise was reached, whereby the archbishop was suffered to pre-
pare the code of church laws, though he received no formal authority
to do so.^

The first fruit of this new system of legislating for the whole king-
dom was a code of laws for Iceland, the " JarnsiSa," which was sent
to Iceland, and accepted by the Althing in 1271.^

On March 29, 1272, Pope Gregory IX. issued a circular letter in
which he summoned a church council to meet May 1, 1274, and he
also requested all the bishops to report to this council all irregularities
within their dioceses. Archbishop Jon believed that many abuses
existed in his archdiocese, and he undertook to remedy them in the
code of church laws which he was preparing. By his advice Bishop
Arne of Skälholt wrote a similar code for Iceland, which was accepted
at the Althing in 1275. Jon negotiated with King Magnus with
regard to some points concerning which controversy was sure to
arise. As a worthy successor of archbishops Eystein and Eirik
he sought to make the church independent of the state, but Magnus,
nevertheless, was quite manageable and conciliatory. At a council
assembled in Bergen, 1273, a concordat was arranged in which the
king yielded to the archbishop on nearly every point, modifying
slightly only his most unreasonable demands. But because of these

1 Konrad Maurer thinks that a code of church laws generally attributed
to King Sverre dates from a later period, that it is an attempt of King Magnus
and Archbishop Jon to agree upon a uniform code of church laws for the
kingdom. The incomplete sketch has no heading or eonelusion, and was
never adopted as law. Udsigt over de nordgermanske Retskilders Historie,
p. 37.

^ Biskop Arnessaga. Islandske Annaler, ed. Storm, p. 49.

Because of the erroneous belief that this code was prepared by King
Haakon Haakonsson, it has also been called the Häkonarbok. The Jarnslda,
with a Latin translation by Th. Sveinbj0rnsson, was published at Copenhagen
in 1847 under the title Hin forna Lggbok I slendinga sem nefnis Jarnsiöa edr
Hdkonarbõk. See also, Norges gamle Love, vol. II., p. 339, Erkebiskop Jõns
Kristenret.

A NEW SYSTEM OF JURISPRüDENCE 459

modifications the Pope would give only a conditional sanction.
This action of the Pope ruffled even the phant and peace-loving
Magnus, and he interpreted it to mean that he had refused to sanc-
tion the agreement. Another council was called at Tunsberg in
1277,^ where the concordat was subscribed to by both the king and
the archbishop without going to the trouble of asking for the Pope's
sanction. The archbishop's code of church laws may also have
been accepted, though this is doubtful, but in his joy over the settle-
ment of the difficulty Magnus showered additional favors on the
church.

At the^council of Bergen, 1273, King Magnus pubHshed a new
law regulating tlie succession to the throne. According to this law,
which was later incorporated in the general code, the throne might
pass to twelve dlfferent heirs in due order of succession. The first
five were the foUowing :

Ist. The king's eidest legitimate son.^

2d. The king's eidest legitimate grandson.

3d. The king's eidest legitimate brether.

4th. The king's eidest legitimate unele (father's brether).

5th. The king's eidest legitimate nephew (sen ef the king's brether).

If none of these twelve heirs was found, then the one which was the
nearest heir according to the general law of inheritance was to succeed,
but always a man, not a woman.^

1 The agreement entered into at Tunsberg, 1277, as well as that of Bergen,
1273, is found in Norges gamle Love, vol. II., p. 455 ff.

2 Couneils, like the one at Bergen in 1273, and at Tunsberg, 1277, had
been assembled at various times to settle important questions of general
interest. The seope of their power was not defined, nor is it known who
were regarded as eonstituent members. They seem to have been assembled
by the king as an advisory body. The advice given was of the greatest
weight, and the king would not venture to oppose the council, which acted
on behalf of the whole people. Its consent was necessary in order to alter
the written laws of the kingdom, as in this case when the king proposed a
change in the law of succession, and it was regarded as settled that the king
could promulgate no measure which the council refused to sanction. The
ordinary administrative work was done by the king, who would ask advice
of his hirdstjõrar (leaders of the hird), prelates, and other leading men of his
immediate surroundings. His chief adviser and assistant was his chancelor,
or the keeper of the great seal {sigillum) which was affixed to all royal docu-
ments and Communications. Those whom the king thus consulted acted

460 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Magnus Lagab0ter's code of laws for the kingdom of Norway was
based on the older codes, especially those of the Gulathingslag and
the Frostathingslag, but it is not as well written as the oid laws. It
was accepted as the laws of the kingdom in 1274, in the eleventh
year of King Magnus' reign. This code marks a new epoch in the
development of Norwegian jurisprudence. Although many of the
laws are borrowed almost verbatim from the oid codes, new principles
of judicial procedure were introduced which were wholly unknown to
earlier lawmakers. These new features represent a change in the
views regarding the punishment of crime, brought about by the
rapid social development after the close of the civil wars. The
heathen conceptions had given place to Christian ideas; the oid
warlike aristocracy was disappearing, and in its place the yeoman
class was increasing in numbers and social importance. This class
was less able to maintain their rights by force. They trusted in the
security which the laws could give, and welcomed every change in
the codes which would render justice more easily accessible to the
common man. It was, no doubt, the purpose of King Magnus to
adjust the legal system of the kingdom to the changed social condi-
tions, and the people seem to have been conscious from the start of
the need and importance of his legal reforms. This is revealed also
in the prologue to the new code where the king says : " You know
how the most discreet men of the Gulathingslag have said to us
repeatedly that they have heard that we are engaged in revising
the lawbooks of the land with the advice of the best men, and they
have asked us that their lawbook may be revised in the same way." ^

In the oid jurisprudence crime was not regarded as a wrong against
the state, but as an injury to the individual and the family to which
he belonged.^ The peace was regarded as broken between the

as a royal couneil (concüium generale), which eould be assembled only on
special occasions. T. H. Aschehoug, Statsjorjatningen i Norge og Danmark
indtil 1814, p. 140 ff.

1 Norges gamle Love, vol. II., Nyere Landslov, prologus.

^ Fr. Brandt, Nordmoendenes gamle Strafferet, Historisk Tidsskrift, f0rste
raekke, vol. IV., p. 327 ff. ; anden raekke, vol. IV., p. 20 ff. J. E. Sars, Udsigt
over den norske Historie, vol. II., p. 217 ff. Konrad Maurer, Udsigt over de
norske Retsküders Historie. P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. IV.,
p. 488 ff. R. Keyser, Norges Stats-og Retsforfatning i Middelalderen, p. 237,
359. E. Hertzberg, Grundtrcekkene i den oeldste norske Proces.

A NEW SYSTEM OF JURISPRUDENCE 461

family of the oflfender and the family of the party injured, and a
state of feud, or private war, existed until a settlement was agreed
upon. But it was a private affair which concerned only the f amilies
and parties involved. The injury done could be compensated for
by a fine, which was agreed upon, either by the parties themselves,
or by men selected by them for the purpose of giving an estimate.
Only when the crime was of a more serious character, so that the
offender would be outlawed, or sentenced to pay fine to the king,
did the case have to be brought before the thing. Here both parties
had to produce their own witnesses. The thing secured the observ-
ance of the necessary legal formahties, and rendered the deeision, but
there was no prosecuting authority, and whether the injured party
sought redress through vengeance, which was considered lawful, or
through private settlement, or at the thing, it had to be done through
his own initiative, and at his own expense, which made justice costly
and difficult to obtain.

The " Code of Magnus Lagab0ter" introduced great changes in the
principles of Norwegian jurisprudence by altering fundamentally the
conception of crime, as well as the method of punishing the criminal.
It greatly reduced the opportunity of the aggrieved party to seek
redress through personal vengeance. In case of murder the criminal
should be turned over to royal officials, who would cause him to be
tried and sentenced by the thing, If guilty he was declared an out-
law, and any one might kill him ; but the relatives of the person slain
could not härm the slayer before he was tried and sentenced. The
king had the power to pardon the offender, and the plaintiffs in the
case would then have to be satisfied with a money payment. In
case of other personal injuries personal revenge was also forbidden.
The injured party should complain to the royal officials, whose duty
it should be to appoint judges to decide the case, and fix a date for
the payment of the fine. If the fine was not paid, the plaintiffs
might resort to revenge, but the punishment inflicted should be in
proportion to the injury. Crime was no longer regarded as a private
affair, but as a violation of the laws, and an offense against the state,
which should be punished by a fine paid to the king in addition to
the fine paid to the party injured. These fines should be assessed by
persons chosen by the royal officials, and not by the parties in the

462 mSTORY OF the norwegian people

case. The public officers were given greatly increased powers of
apprehending, detaining, and punishing criminals. The code also
created a system of pubhc prosecution, according to which the things
might take the initiative in bringing the criminal to trial. It estab-
Ushed the foUowing principle : " Every f reeborn man who is of age
shall bring his own süit, but if he laeks the necessary knowledge or
abihty, the royal officials shall bring the süit in liis behalf." ^ The
judges were not only to hear the witnesses and pronounce the decision,
as heretofore, but they were instructed to examine carefully the
motives of the person accused, and the circumstances in the case;
whether the crime was committed ^^dthout provocation, whether it
was done in self-defense, or whether other extenuating circumstances
existed. The code says : " For this purpose courts of law are insti-
tuted that there the wrong and misdeeds are to be measured, and the
decision should be rendered according to the circumstances of the
case, as the thingmcend and the leader of the court find the truth to
be before God and according to their own conscience, and not as
many a fool has hitherto answered, that they judged only according
to the law."

|This new system of jurisprudence. which placed the administra-
tion of justice almost exclusively in the hands of the state, increased
greatly also the power and dignity of the kin^f. J. E. Sars says :
" In the provincial laws {i.e. the Gulathingslov, the Frostathingslov,
ete.) he was stiil regarded as a semi-private person. His authority
had the character of certain well-defined rights which once for all
had been given to the royal family, a sort of private domain whose
well-defined borders he could not overstep without coming into colli-
sion with the rest of society. The ' Code of Magnus Lagab0ter,'
on the other händ, placed him as an exalted majesty above the
people. It says that he has his authority from God, and from this
theory it deduces a duty of obedience to him to which no fixed
limits can be given." ^ The code expresses this principle as follows :
" The king has received from God authority in secular matters, but
the bishop has received spiritual authority in spiritual matters. . . .

1 Norges gamle Love, vol. II., Nyere Landslov, 8. (i.e. Code of Magnus
Lagab^ter). Norges gamle Love, vol. II., Nyere Landslov, 17.

2 J. E. Sars, Udsigt over den norske Historie, vol. II., p. 227.

A NEW SYSTEM OF JURISPRUDENCE 463

Because they are God's officials; secondly, because all recognize
that they can in no way dispense with them ; thirdly, that God him-
self deigns to call himself by their name, he is, indeed, in great dan-
ger before God, who does not with perfect love and reverence uphold
them in the authority to which God has appointed them." ^ To-
gether with the conception that the king was divinely appointed
foUowed also, as a natiiral coroUary, the idea that he was the foun-
tain of justice. The lagmasnd, who were royal appointees, presided
over the lagthings. Civil cases could either be brought before the
herredsthing (local thing), or it could be submitted to the lagmand.
From his decision an appeal could be taken to the lagthing, wliich
could only lay the matter before the king. The herredsthings were
assembled and presided over by the sysselmoBnd, who appointed the
judges and executed the decrees of the court. In criminal cases in
which the extreme penalty was inflicted, an appeal could be made
to the king, who possessed the power of pardon.

The change which was thus quietly brought about in the character
both of government and jurisprudence was probably greater than
the people themselves realized. In pagan times the laws were re-
garded as springing from the gods themselves, hence they were
considered as being permanent, almost unchangeable. In reality
the oid laws were the embodiment of oid customs and usages express-
ing the nation's sense of legal justice at an earlier stage of develop-
ment. These customs had, indeed, been modified by early law-
givers, but their fundamental common law character stiil remained.
The new code, though sanctioned and adopted by the people, regarded
laws and justice as emanating from the king, whom the people owed
loyalty and obedience, not only because he was the head of the
state and occupied the throne by inherited right and with the people's
sanction and consent, but because he was God's anointed, and ruled
by divine right. This view is most clearly expressed in the " King's
Mirror," written, as already stated, about 1250. The father says
to his son : " Now the king, as thou saidst, ought to be wise, well
informed, and also upright, so that he fuUy understands that he is
only God's servant, though, he is so highly honored, and elevated to
such great dignity in God's service that all bow before him as before
^ Norges gamle Love, vol. II., p. 23. »

464 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

God himself; because all serve God and the holy name which he
(the king) bears, but not his own person. It is therefore the very
essence of royalty that all have great fear and awe before the king,
so that no one is irreverent when they hear him mentioned." ^ "The
king is appointed to wateh over this holy house (i.e. the courts of
law), and he is placed in the holy seat to guard God's holy decrees.
He shall so judge between men in matters pertaining to the body
that he may receive etemal salvation, and likewise all others who
watch over the decrees which are justly rendered. In his hands God
has placed the sword of punishment, with which he is to strike when
it is necessary, as we said that King Solomon did when he subjected
Joab to the punishing sword, and many others, v^^th just punishment." ^

This development of kingship was not due to a sudden innovation
by Magnus Lagab0ter. The idea was latent in the nationalism
introduced into Norwegian political life by Harald Haarfagre and
his successors, Olav Tryggvason and Olav the Saint. Harald Haard-
raade and Olav Kyrre had nursed it; but King Sverre's triumph
over clergy and aristocracy, and his position as head of both church
and state brought it to full unfolding. In Haakon Haakonsson's
reign it was so fully estabhshed that he could proclaim it officially in
his code without a word of protest being uttered.

After publishing the general code, King Magnus also undertook to
revise the "Bjarkeyjarrettr," or city laws, a work which was no less
urgently demanded. In earlier days the towns and trading places,
yet in their infancy, did not constitute independent communities,
but belonged to the districts in which they were situated. Nidaros
stood under the jurisdiction of the Frostathing, Bergen under the
Gulathing, Oslo and Tunsberg under the Borgarthing. The growth
of commerce, and the development of town life necessitated special
legislation for the regulation of the growing urban communities.
The "Bjarkeyjarrettr" gave them a character distinct from the
rural districts to which they originally belonged, and may be re-
garded as their first distinct organization as cities. They received
their own mot, corresponding to the thing of the rural districts, where
matters pertaining to trade and to the public peace and order were
decided. The mot consisted of all permanent residents, hüsfastir
» The Kingas Mirror, p. 105. 2 ji,ifj_^ p_ 171.

A NEW SYSTEM OF JURISPRUDENCE 465

menn, all of whom enjoyed equal political rights. The cities also had
their own courts of law ; the xii. manna domr, a tribunal of arbi-
tration for settling legal disputes ; and courts for trial of civil suits ;
but in matters of more general character they were stiil subject to
the lagthings, the city courts being legal tribunals of secondary ränk.
The chief executive officer was the gjaldkeri, who acted as major and
chief of poUce.^ This first development of city government took
place, as it seems, in the eleventh century during the period of com-
mercial progress in the peaceful reign of Olav Kyrre.

The new code of municipal laws, which was published in 1277,
was based on the oid laws of Bergen, and seems to have been intended
primarily for that city. Bergen was at that time the largest city
in Norway, and one of the most important commercial centers on
the shores of the North Sea. Its municipal government was highly
developed, and might well serve as a model for the municipal laws
for all the cities of the kingdom. One of the chief features introduced
by the new code was the creation of a hyraad, or city council of
twelve members, which together ^-ith the lagmand and gjaldkeri had
charge of the administrative affairs, and acted as judges at the town-
mot. The cities received also their own lagthing and lagmoend, i.e.
their own superior courts of law, corresponding to the general lag-
things, which hitherto had exercised jurisdiction also over the cities.
The lagthing should consist of twelve members from each quarter or
precinct, appointed by the gjaldkeri, and the sysselmand, a new city
official who shared with the gjaldkeri the highest administrative
authority. The power of the sysselmand was gradually increased until
he became cliairman of the council, and the most important official
in the city.^ The liberties granted the cities by the " Code of Magnus

1 Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers Selvstyre og Händel f^r
Hanseaternes Tid. Ebbe Hertzberg, Glossarium, Norges gamle Love, vol. V.
T. H. Aschehoug, De norske Communers Retsforfatning f^r 1837. P. A.
Munch, Det norske Folks Hisiorie, vol. IV., p. .569 ff. R. Keyser, Norges
Historie, vol. II., p. 271 ff. T. H. Aschehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og
Danmark indtil 1814, P- 125 ff.

2 "The sysselmand is mentioned in Magnus Lagab0ter's municipal code
in many instances together with the gjaldkeri, but he was, evidently, the
latter's superior. He was himself appointed by the king, and according
to the provisions of 1346 he took part in the appointment of the gjaldkeri."
T. H. Aschehoug, De norske Communers Retsforfatning J0r 1837, p. 106.

VOL. I — 2h

466 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Lagab0ter " made them wholly independent of the riiral districts,
and facilitated the develoj)ment of city life and government. Even
before this time the merchant class, or citizens of the larger towns,
had been regarded as a separate fourth estate, distinct from the
nobihty, the yeomanry {h^nder), and the clergy.^ The new munici-
pal code of laws for the hird was also revised by King Magnus.
Laws defining the rights and duties of hirdmoBnd had existed from very
early times. Occasionally revisions had been undertaken to bring
them into harmony with more advanced ciilture and increased refine-
ment of courtly etiquette. Such revisions had been made especially
by Olav the Saint and Olav Kyrre, and the oid laws were finally
collected in a single code, the "HirSskrä," which was again altered
and enlarged by Magnus Lagab0ter. In this revised edition we find
jBrst the law governing the succession to the throne as it had been
changed and adopted in the reign of King Magnus. Then follow the
laws deahng with the organization of the hird, and the duties and
privileges of the various classes of hirdmcBnd. Next to the duke, or
jarl, in dignity were the lendermoend, who were the king's advisers,
and could keep forty armed followers, or hüskarlar. Equal in ränk
with the lendermoend was the king's chancellor, who was keeper of
the great seal, and prepared all royal letters and documents. He
was usually an ecclesiastic. Next to the chancellor in dignity was
the stallare, who represented the king at the thing, and acted as the
leader of the hird. With these is classed also the merkismadr, or
royal standard-bearer, and the skutilsveinar, or officers of the hird,
who on special occasions waited at the king's table. To the skutil-
sveinar belongedalso the drottseti and skenkjari, who had charge of
the king's household, The different classes of the hird: hirdmoBnd,
gesiir, hüskarlar, and kertisveinar, have already been spoken of. In
1277 King Magnus gave his lendermcBnd the foreign title of "barons" ;
the skutilsveinar were called "knights"; and both classes were
styled "lords." This was not only a change of name, but marks the
beginning of a new nobility, which appears later besides the king as
the real rulers of the kingdom. Professor Aschehoug shows that the
new nobility developed from the hird, which afforded the chieftain
class the opportunity to win honor and promotion in the personal
^ The Kingas Mirror, Introduetion.

THE ORIGIN OF A DISTINCT COMMERCIAL POLICY 467

service of the king ; but the real foundation for their power was their
ownership of land.^ The system of leding (O. N. leidangr) was also
ehanged. The people of the sea-coast districts had hitherto been
required to siipply the navy with arms and provisions, while in time
of war they had to furnish armed men, and to render miUtary service
in proportion to the value of their land. But as the navy was now
but seldom called into active service, the leding was ehanged into a
general yearly tax of the same name, which corresponded to the
vis^re tax for the inland districts. An attempt was also made to
strengthen the military forces of the kingdom. The sysselmoend were
instructed to keep a certain number of armed men in each shihrede,
or naval military district, and those who held benefices under the
crown were required to furnish one warrior for every three marks
income. But the standing army thus ereated was not very large.^

Many features of Magnus Lagab0ter's reign are imperfectly
known, owing to the loss of one of the chief sources for this reign,
namely the "Magnus Haakonssonssaga, " of which only a fragment
now remains.^ King Magnus' oldest son, Olav, died in 1267. His
remaining sons were : Eirik, born in 1268, and Haakon, born in 1270.
At a thing assembled at Bergen in 1273 the five-year-old Eirik re-
ceived the title of king, as heir apparent to the throne, while Haakon
was given the ränk of duke. This was, evidently, done to secure an
undisturbed succession in conformity wdth the provisions of the law.

72. The Growth of Trade and the Origin of a Distinct

COMMERCIAL PoLICY

In Magnus Lagab0ter's reign Norwegian commerce reached the
greatest võlume and the highest development to which it ever attained
before its revival in modern times. A definite pubhc policy with

1 T. H. Aschehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark indtil 1814,
p. 95 ff.

2 P. A. Mimeh, Det norske Folks Historie, IV., 535, 549, says 3284 men.
T. H. Aschehoug says that this is a misprint for 2284, Statsforfatningen i
Norge og Danmark, p. 123.

^ The other sources of this reign are : The Bishop Arnessaga, the Islayidske
Annaler, the publio documents, royal letters, and the oid laws. Aceounts
of the closing episodes of the war with Scotland must be gathered chiefly
from Seotch chronieles and public documents.

468 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

regard to the regulation and promotion of commerce was now de-
veloped for the first time. Each city received a fixed territory within
which it had a trade monopoly, as trading in the niral districts was
gradually restricted, and trafEcking with other cities was prohibited.
With this centraHzation of trade in the cities followed also a regula-
tion that only persons possessing a fixed amount of wealth could
become merchants. This hastened the development of a well-organ-
ized and opulent merchant class. Commerce was carried on, not
only with the Norwegian colonies, especially Iceland and Greenland,
but also with England and Flanders, and other countries around the
North Sea, as well as with Wisby in Gothland, and other commercial
towns on the Baltic coast. The English Custom RoUs show that the
merchants of Tunsberg, Oslo, Bergen, and Nidaros carried on a
lucrative trade with England, and many families, especially in Ber-
gen, seem to have subsisted exclusively on the traffic with the British
Isles. "About the year 1300 Lynn was one of the most important
commercial towns in England," says Alexander Bugge, "The
oldest Custom Roll for this town covers a period from Feb. 5, 1303,
till May 19, 1304. In this period there arrived in Lynn and neigh-
boring smaller towns 235 foreign ships." ^ These ships brought
goods to the value of £2036. 4^. 9d. The Norwegian ships alone
brought goods to the amount of £ 1067. 386^. 12d., or over one half
of the total amount. In the year 1304-1305, according to the same
source, goods were imported to the same towns to the value £ 3688.
12s. lOd. Of this amount the wares brought by Norwegian ships
represented the sum of £834. 27 s. For the year following, 1305-
1306, the figuresare: Goods imported, £2798. 145. 2d.; Norwegian
goods, £913. 508?. Other English documents show that the Nor-
wegians carried on a lively trade with London, Boston, Yarmouth,
Newcastle, and other towns on the east coast of England. The chief
articles of export from Norw'ay to England were timber, herring,
dried codfish, furs, falcons, etc.^ The trade between Norway and

1 Studier over de norske Byers Selvstyre og Händel, p. 134 fif.

* Alexander Bugge, Handelen mellem England og Norge indtil Begyndelsen aj
det 15de Aarhundrede, Historisk Tidsskrijt, tredie raekke, vol. IV. In regard
to Norway's export of timber see Patent Rolls, 31, Edward I., number 45.
Pl. of Patent Rolls, Edward III., 1334-1338, p. 350. Vogt, Historisk Tids-
skrijt, anden raekke, vol. V.

THE ORIGIN OF A DISTINCT COMMERCIAL POLICY 469

England developed in the latter part of the eleventh century after
Olav Kyrre had founded the city of Bergen, and this commerce,
which was of great importance to both countries, continued to in-
crease until it was destroyed by the Hanseatic League in the four-
teenth century. The earliest English commercial treaties were
concluded with Norway, and embassies were frequently sent to Eng-
land by the kings of Norway to bring greetings and presents to the
English king. An alHance was formed between King John of Eng-
land and King Sverre, which seems to have been more than a mere
treaty of commerce, since John sent a hundred English engineers to
aid Sverre in the siege of Tunsberg in 1201. In the early years of
Haakon Haakonsson's reign this treaty was renewed, and King
Haakon and Skule Jarl sent many presents and friendly messages to
the English king. In a letter to King Haakon, Henry III. says :
"We rejoice greatly, and will continue to rejoice, because our realms
are so united that merchants from your kingdom may unhindered
come to us, and ours likewise to your realm." ^ The treaty seems
to have been ratified in 1222. A very lively commerce was also
carried on with Flanders and neighboring provinces, at this time the
most densely populated districts in northern Europe. Ypres and
Gent were famous for their manufacture of fine cloth, and Bruges
was one of the chief commercial cities of Europe, where merchants
from all countries met. The traders from France, England, Spain,
Italy, Lübeck, Hamburg, Norway, ete, did business here in separate
streets which were wholly controlled by them. A report of the im-

^ Alexander Bugge, Handelen mellem England og Norge, Hisiorisk Tids-
skrift, tredie raakke, vol. IV.

King Haakon sent Arehdeaeon Anders of Bergen, and two other men,
Asgaut and Asgeir (OsgoS and Askerus), to England to negotiate with
King Henry III. Haakon sent with them a number of falcons as a present
to King Henry, and he also wrote him a very friendly letter. The messen-
gers remained in England till 1225, when they returned home, bringing rieh
presents of grain and mait which Henry III. sent King Haakon. King
Henry also wrote to the royal officials of Lynn that he had granted permis-
sion to the subjects of his dear friend the king of Norway, notwithstanding
the embargo, to export from England 1000 quarteria of grain. He also
wrote to the bailiffs of Lynn instructing them to receive the Norwegian mer-
chants in a friendly way, as he had granted them permission to bring their
wares to Lynn for a term of three years, beginning with the next Michaehnas.
Diplomatarium Norwegicum, vol. XIX., no. 172, 173, 174.

470 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

portation to Bruges for the year 1304 enumerates also the articles
broiight from Norway : " From Norway come f alcons, barrel staves
imermis), butter, tallow, codliver oil, or whale fat (ointf), tanned
hides (cuir boulif) and goat-skins, of which cordovan leather is made."^
Timber was also ex]:»orted in ever larger quantities, especially to
Friesland and Holland. From about 1300 it became one of the
leading articles in the export trade of Norway. Norway's commercial
relations with Gothland and the regions around the Baltic Sea date
from very early times, when the trade in this quarter was carried on
almost exclusively by the townsmen of Skiringssal and Tunsberg,^
At the close of the eleventh century Bergen became the chief seat of
the trade with Gothland, and soon grew to rival Wisby, the only
great commercial city in the Baltic. It was especially the dried
codfish which brought merchants from all lands to Bergen, and the
Gothlanders, who had biiilt up a great commerce, were among the
first to profit by the trade with Norway. Danish crusaders who
visited Norway in 1191 say about Bergen: "Because of its wealth
and power it is the most important city in the land. It has a great
number of inhabitants, and many monasteries and cloisters. There
is such an abundance of dried codfish that it surpasses measure and
number. There one can see a multitude of people who come from all
quarters; Irish, Greenlanders, English, Germans, Danes, Swedes,
and Gothlanders, and yet many more which it would be too difBcult
to enumerate." ^ Matthew Paris states that there were 200 ships
at one time in the Bergen harbor.'* It is evident that the trade with
Gothland continued to flourish in the thirteenth and also in the
fourteenth century, but no account of it has been preserved.

In few countries did commerce ever play so important a part in
the economic welfare of the people as in Norway, where even many
of the necessaries of hfe had to be imported. Alexander Bugge says :

^ Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers SelvsUjre og Händel, p. 155.

2 Alexander Bugge, GotlcEndingernes Händel paa England og Norge omkring
1300, Historisk Tidsskrift, tredie rsekke, voI. V.

^ De Profectione Danorum in Terram Sanctam, found in Langebek's
Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, V. P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie,
vol. III., p. 225 ff. Monnmenta Historica Norwegiae, ed. by G. Storm, p. 155.

^ Mattliaeus Parisiensis, vol. V., p. 36 {Rerum Brütannicarum medii Aeve
Scriptores), The Haakon Haakonssonssaga, translated by O. Rygh, eh. 258.

THE ORIGIN OF A DISTINCT COMMERCIAL POLICY 471

" Norway imported especially grain. As our country has never
been able to produce this necessary article in sufficient quantity,
it has had to import it from abroad. This circumstance, together
with the fact that Norway possessed a rich supply of raw materials,
led the Norsemen to develop navigation and commerce in very early
times. Grain was usually carried unground ; flour is not often men-
tioned in the Custom RoUs. Mait was also an important article
of importation. Nearly all ships which sailed from England to
Norway carried grain and mait. Of other imported articles may be
mentioned especially : cloth, more seldom costly fabrics, lead, spices,
fancy articles, ale, beans, and honey." ^ The chief articles of export
were herring, codfish, timber and lumber, hides and furs, tallow,
codliver oil, ete.

Commerce has not onl,y been necessary for the prosperity of the
Norwegian people, but it has always been a fair index to the health
and vigor of their national life. When commerce flourished, it
imparted new stimulus, and roused the latent energies to the accom-
plishment of great things ; its decline was an indication of national
weakness and deca3^ At this time the Norwegian fleets of merchant
ships spread their sails on all the seas, and crowded every important
harbor in northern Europe. Prosperity had increased rapidly, and
the great achievements in literature, art, and ciilture had not failed
to create a reserved but self-conscious national pride. But a dan-
gerous rival was already looming broadly into sight to the south-
ward. This was a growing union of German merchants, which later
developed into the Hanseatic League, a powerful organization with
which the Norwegian merchant marine waged a lõng but losing con-
test. King Sverre seems to have hated the German merchants who
/visited Bergen in his da}^ probably as much through a general
instinct as because they imported wine which increased drunken-
ness and corrupted pubhc morals. The " Sverressaga " relates that
the German merchants brought large quantities of wine to Bergen,
that many people drank to excess, and that in a brawl many were
killed or wounded. King Sverre then assembled a thing, and
addressed the townsfolk as follows : " We desire to thank the Enghsh-
men, who have brought hither linen or flax, wax or caldrons. We

1 Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers Selvstyrc og Händel, p. 166.

472 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

desire next to make mention of those who have come from the Ork-
neys, Shetland, the Faroe Islands or Iceland ; all those who have
brought here such things as make this land the richer, and we cannot
do without. But there are Germans who have come here in great
numbers, with large ships, intending to carry away biitter and dried
fish, of which the exportation much impoverishes the land ; and
they bring wine instead, which the people strive to purchase, both
my men, townsmen, and merchants. From that purchase much
evil and no good has arisen, for many have lost hfe through it, and
some their limbs ; some carry marks of disfigurement to the end of
their days ; others suffer disgrace, being wounded or beaten. Over-
drinking is the cause. To those Southmen I feel much ill-will for
their voyage here ; and if they would preserve their lives or property,
let them depart hence; their business has become harmful to us
and to our realm." The king concludes his speech with a very elo-
quent plea for temperance. His animosity against the German
merchants seems, however, to have had a deeper cause than the
not very serious disturbance here mentioned. The keen-eyed king
has probably discerned in the thrifty, able, and arrogant German
merchants a dangerous rival to Norwegian commerce, " whose
business had become harmful" to Norwegian commercial interests.
We have seen that his grandson Haakon Haakonsson came into
armed conflict with them, but that they sent an ambassador to Nor-
way to make peace with the king, and a commercial treaty was
concluded between Norway and Lübeck. From a letter written by
King Haakon during the negotiations with Lübeck it appears that
the trade with the German cities had already become of great im-
portance to Norway, and that the king was anxious to reestablish
peace and f riendly relations with them. He says : " You may be
assured that we in our kingdom will not injure your citizens in their
lawful rights, but that we will readily show you all proper favors,
if you will keep the friendship with us inviolable. Send, therefore,
in the summer, as usual, your ships to us with the goods which are
necessary for our kingdom, namely grain and mait, and permit
also our merchants to buy these articles as lõng as scarcity lasts in
our realm." Chvang to the growdng importance of the German trade
King Magnus Lagab0ter granted the merchants of Lübeck their

THE REIGN OF EIRIK MAGNUSSON 473

first charter in Norway, Jiily 18, 1278, in which he calls them his
special friends.^ In August the foUowing year he granted the mer-
chants of Bremen a similar charter. The privileges which they
received were not very important, "Magnus was a wise and careful
man," says Alexander Bugge. "He saw how dangerous it would be
to grant the Germans too great liberties; therefore the privileges
which Lübeck and Bremen received were quite insignificant, barely
enough to avoid making them his enemies." The initial step was,
however, taken in granting special rights to these foreign merchants,
who used every future opportunity to tighten their hoid on Nor-
wegian trade. ;

Magnus Lagab0ter considered Bergen his capital, and spent
most of his time there. He maintained a luxurious court, and as he
gave liberai donations to the church and to various religious insti-
tutions, because of his great piety, he was often in great financial
difficulties, and had to resort to the mischievous practice of debas-
ing the coin to replenish his depleted treasury. But his love of peace,
his kind and generous disposition made him vers' popular, and there
was general mourning when he died on the 9th of INIay, 1280.

73. The Reign of EmiK IVL^gnusson

King Magnus Lagab0ter's son Eirik succeeded to the throne at the
age of eleven. As he w^as stiil too young to ruie, a regency was formed
consisting of his mother, Queen Ingebj0rg, an able and talented
lady, and a circle of influential nobles, who acted as her assistants.^
The most powerful of these were Bjarne Erlingsson, Gaute of Toiga,
Bjarne Lodinsson, Hallkel 0gmundsson, Jon Brynjolfsson, Andres
Plytt, and the selfish and greedy Audun Hugleiksson Hestakorn, a
sinister character, ambitious and unsympathetic, who, like an un-

1 P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie, IV., p. 72 f. The letter is found
in Urkundenbuch der Stadt Lübeck, vol. I., p. 142. P. A. Munch, Det norske
Folks Historie, vol. IV., p. 667 ff.

2 Aceording to the oid custom followed in. Norway, the king was of age
when he became twelve years oid. This age Hmit was extended to eighteen
years in the beginning of the thirteenth eentury, but Eü-ik was deelared to
have reaehed his majority when he beeame fourteen years oid. T. H.
Aschehoug, Statsforfatningen i Norge og Danmark indlil 1814f P. 31. P. A.
Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie, III., p. 637.

474 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

lucky constellation, trails a deep shadow across the life and reign of
the gentle King Eirik Magnusson. The queen and lier assistants
formed from the start a distinct party. They were the representa-
tives of the aristoeracy, they were bitterly opposed to the growing
power of the clergy, and exercised great influence over the young
king, who was docile almost to weakness. Eirik's younger and more
gifted brother, Haakon, had been made duke before King Magnus
died, and when the two brothers became oid enough to ruie, they
seem to have exercised the royal power jointly, though Haakon acted
alone in all affairs pertaining exclusively to his dukedom. King
Eirik was to be crowned in the summer of 1280,^ but trouble at once
arose between the clergy and the nobility as to the nature of the
coronation oath which the king should be requested to take. The
haughty and inflexible Archbishop Jon demanded that the liberties
of the church should be duly acknowledged ; especially the conces-
sions which had been obtained during the reign of Magnus Lagab0ter.
The queen and the nobles were opposed to this, but they finally
yielded, and the coronation took place at Bergen on the 2d of July.
Archbishop Jon had hoped to secure a permanent ratification of the
privileges claimed by the church, the chief of which were exemption
from taxation, and f reedom from the authority of the secular courts ;
but he soon learned to his sorrow that the nobles were not disposed
to be bound by their promises on this poi nt. Instead of jielding
to the archbishop, who would abate nothing of his high claims, the
queen and her advisers requested him to submit to them a copy of
the resolutions, or statutes, which had been recently adopted at a
provincial church council, under the directions of the archbishop
and the bishops.^

In this document the principles of the canon law regarding the
independence of the church and the power of the clergy were set
forth in the most uncompromising spirit, and as this had been adopted
without Consulting the king or his advisers, it gave great offense.
A law was promulgated in the king's name for the purpose, as it

1 In a letter of May 14, 1280, written in the king's name to Edward I.
of England, Eirik Magnusson notifies the king of England of his father's
death, and of his approaching coronation. Diploinatarium Norwegicum,
vol. XIX., no. 303.

* The document is found in Norges gamle Love, vol. IIL, p. 227-241.

THE REIGN OF EIRIK MAGNUSSON 475

was claimed, of amending the "Code of Magnus Lagab0ter" on
certain points where it was not suflBciently explicit. But the new
law made many iraportant provisions, especially -mth regard to the
leding tax involving the taxation of church property, by which the
concordat, entered into by King Magnus and Arehbishop Jon, was
broken. No one could doubt that the aristocracy intended this
as an open defiance to the archbishop's hierarchic poUcy.

During the summer of 1281 preparations were made for the king's
marriage to Margaret, daughter of Alexander III. of Scotland. The
" Chronicon de Lanercost" ^ states that she was so beautiful that
King Eirik could not rest before he had sent envoys to Scotland to
ask for her händ in marriage ; but as he was only in his thirteenth
year, and never had seen the princess, he could scarcely be so deeply
interested. It was, no doubt, a political marriage, arranged by the
nobles, who could, perhaps, figure out that some advantage might
be gained through this marriage, as Margaret, in case her only brother
should die before her, would fail heir to the throne of Scotland. The
wedding was celebrated in the summer of 1281, and Margaret, who
was about twenty years oid, soon became very popular. She devoted
herself to the care of her youthful husband, on whom she exercised
a most beneficial influence. But, unfortunately for him, she died
in 1283 before he reached the age of mature manhood.

After the royal wedding the struggle between the barons and
the clergy was renewed with increased bitterness. The arehbishop
seems to have demanded that the provisions in the new law which
he deemed prejudicial to the interests of the church should be re-
pealed. This request was promptly refused. The king's party
refused, also, to accept the code of church laws which the arehbishop
had prepared, and repealed the privileges granted by Magnus Laga-
b0ter in a letter of September 13, 1277. The cunning Audun Hug-
leiksson Hestakorn seems to have been the soul in this aggressive
anti-church policy. He was related to the royal family, and the
king called him his dear relative (carus consanguineus) . While
yet young he came to court, where he rose rapidly through royal
favor. Because of his ability and great legal learning he became

^ Norges gamle Love, vol. III., p. 3-12. See P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks
Historie, vol. IV., 2, p. 19 ff.

476 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the king's stallare. He seems to have planned the whole campaign
against Archbishop Jon, but he left its execution to others, and when
the vengeance of the church fell upon those who were considered
its special enemies, Andun Hugleiksson passed unscathed. The
archbishop appealed to Pope Martinns IV., but the king's party also
sent envoys to plead with the Pope. The PontifP had heard of Nor-
way as a great naval power, and as he was much taken up with
European pohtics at the time, he gave the archbishop no support.
This only added fuel to the fire. When Bishop Arne of Stavanger
refused to pay the ledirig tax he was promptly outlawed. Arch-
bishop Jon now resorted to the extreme measure of excommunicating
the king, his mother (Queen Ingebj0rg), and many of the leading
members of the regency, but they answered by driving the arch-
bishop and two of his stanchest supporters, Bishop Anders of Oslo
and Bishop Thorfinn of Hämar, into exile. Their possessions were
confiscated, and Jon Brynjulfsson was placed in charge of the arch-
bishop's residence and the prebends of the cathedral of Trondhjem.
The archbishop fled to Sweden, where he died in December, 1282.
His body was not brought back to Trondhjem for interment until
the year following, when the excitement caused by the controversy
had subsided. Bishops Anders and Thorfinn, who had repaired to
Rome to prevail on Pope Martinus IV. to intervene, received but
shght satisfaction. After they had waited two years, the Pope finally
wrote a letter to King Eirik, admonishing him in a friendly and
fatherly tone to have due regard for the rights and Uberties of the
holy church ; but no bull of excommunication was issued. Thorfinn
left Rome before the Pontiff had affixed his seal to this letter, and he
died shortly afterwards in the monastery of Doest, in Fianders.
Bishop Anders returned to Norway, sought reconciliation Mäth the
king, and was again installed in his diocese. In 1287 Bishop J0rund of
Hämar was finally chosen to succeed Jon as Archbishop of Trondhjem.
It is quite evident that King Eirik, who was a mere boy, took no
part in this controversy. If he could have ruled, he would, undoubt-
edly, have continued his father's conciliatory policy. The epithet
" Priest-hater " which has been attached to his name is, therefore,
wholly undeserved. The clergy was unable to offer further resist-
ance, and the storm of controversy quickly subsided, as matters of

THE REIGN OF EIRIK MAGNUSSON 477

graver importance began to attract general attention. Ever since
Queen Ingebj0rg had left Denmark in so unceremonious a way to
marry Magnus Haakonsson of Norway, strained relations had
existed between the two kingdoms. Ingebj0rg had received no income
from the large estates which were her rightful patrimony, and when
she became regent for her son, King Eirik, she took steps to recover
her possessions, which the king of Denmark would not surrender.
It soon became evident that war could not lõng be averted, and the
Danish king sought to gain the support of the merchants of Lübeck
and Hambnrg by granting them privileges in the province of Skäne.
In Norway the German merchants were growing more unpopular.
The queen and her assistants endeavored to enforce the laws against
them to the letter, and sought instead to strengthen the friendship
with England and Scotland. The marriage of King Eirik to Mar-
garet of Scotland was probably due to this policy, as new ties of
friendship between the two kingdoms w^ere thereby created. Before
her death Queen Margaret had given birth to a daughter, who was
also christened Margaret, and when the only son of Alexander III.
died in 1284, this little princess became the nearest heir to the throne
of Scotland. The Scotch magnates pledged themselves to acknowl-
edge her as heir to Scotland, Man, and the Hebrides, and to defend
her right to the crown.^ In the summer of 1284 the regency sent
an embassy to King Edward I. of England to renew the treaty which
had lõng existed between Norway and England. They were very
cordially received, and Edward hoped to bring about a marriage
between his son and the Norwegian princess.

The king of Denmark, Eirik Glipping, was opposed by a number
of dissatisfied nobles at home, but he showed no disposition to grant
the demands of Queen Ingebj0rg. With her connivance, but unau-
thorized by the government, Alv Erlingsson of Thornberg,^ one of
the most powerful of the Norwegian barons, began a series of boid
raids on the coast of Denmark. From his castle, Isegram, at the
mouth of the Glommen River, he sallied forth into Cattegat and

1 Diplomatarium Norwegicum, vol. XIX., no. 309. Acts of Scotland,
I., p. 82. Rymeri fcedera, I., p. 638. See P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks
Historie, vol. IV., 2, p. 96.

2 Alv Erlingsson is the hero of numerous folk-songs, in which he is known
as Mindre-Alv.

478 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEORLE

the Belts, where he took special pleasure in capturing or destroying
German merchantmen. Great damage was done by the boid corsair,
who is said even to have entered the enemies' ships in disguise, and
to have bargained for the prize set on his own head. A number of
leading German cities united, and sent a large fleet towards the coast
of Norway to stop all Norwegian commerce. In a fight with the
Germans Alv at one time captured nine ships, if we may trust the
oid folk-song, but he was unable to cope with such large forces.
The blockade almost isolated Norway commercially, and the govern-
ment was forced to sue for peace. In the treaty concluded at Kalmar
in 1285 Norway agreed to pay an indemnity of 6000 marks of silver,
and the merchants of the German cities in question should have the
right to buy unhindered whatever they pleased, and export it from
Norway. The Norwegian merchants should enjoy the same right in
the German cities. Norway was yet able to compete with the Ger-
mans, but these foreign merchants had gained a stronger foothold,
and their presence soon proved injurious to Norwegian trade.

Even after peace had been concluded with the Germans, the
hostility with Denmark continued, and extensive preparations were
made to renew the war with that kingdom. Queen Ingebj0rg's
favorite, Alv Erlingsson of Thornberg (Mindre-Alv, a corruption
of Milde Hr, Alv), who had plunged the country into war without
authority, was not called to account for his strange conduct, but was
instead created jarl, and went to England as special envoy to King
Edward I. to secure his help in the war. Alexander III. of Scotland
died March 19, 1286, and Princess Margaret of Norway was to suc-
ceed to the throne, in conformity with the agreement of 1284. Ed-
ward I., who was anxious to bring about a marriage between Margaret
and his son Edward, received Alv Jarl very cordially, furnished him
a war loan of 2000 marks sterling, and granted permission to knights
and others who were willing, to go to Norway to help King Eirik
in the war with Denmark. Alv also tried, though without success,
to raise milltary forces in Iceland. Soon after Alv Jarrs return to
Norway the Danish king, EIrik Glipping, was assassinated by his
rebellious nobles, and the war was thereby averted for a time. Queen
Ingebj0rg did not Hve to carry out her plans. She died in March,
1287. The impetuous Alv of Thornberg, who may have been her seeret

THE REIGN OF EIRIK MAGNUSSON 479

lover, and who owed his power and influence to her favor, immediately
started a revolt in his customary desperate style. He burned a part
of the city of Oslo ; but King Eirik, aided by his brother Duke
Haakon, quickly quelled the uprising, and banished the violent jarl.

Hitherto Queen Ingebj0rg and her favorites had shaped, to a large
extent, the policy of the government, especially as to its relations
with foreign powers, thoiigh the king had been of age for some time.
But the influence by which he had been dominated ceased at thequeen's
death, and he could now take the reins into his own hands. The hos-
tile attitude towards Denmark was, nevertheless, continued also by
King Eirik, and war broke out in 1289 ; but the only result of two suc-
cessive campaigns was a further increase of the growing financial em-
barrassment of the government. In the second campaign, 1290, the
banished Alv Erlingsson of Thornberg again found opportunity to renew
his piratic raids, but he was captured by the Danes, and put to death.

King Eirik's attention was more and more absorbed by the ques-
tion of his daughter Margarefs succession to the throne of Scotland,
and the operations against Denmark were for a time discontinued.
Edward I. of England was making strenuous efforts to bring about
a marriage between his son Edward and Margaret, as he hoped
thereby to unite the crowns of Scotland and England. This may
have been the reason why the Scotch magnates were no longer will-
ing to abide by their former agreement to defend Margaret's title.
Eirik sent an embassy to Edward I. to solicit his aid in securing her
recognition, and the king showed his good-will by summoning a
council at Salisbury, where the three Norwegian envoys met four
Scotch and four English representatives to consider the matter. The
Scotch representatives, the bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow,
Sir Robert Bruce the Elder, and Sir John Comyn, agreed to acknowl-
edge Margaret as queen of Scotland, if she came to their country
without häving contracted any obligation as to marriage, a condi-
tion to which the Norwegian envoys agreed. In September or
October, 1290, the little six-year-old princess, also called the Maid
of Norway, was sent to Scotland, but she fell sick on the stormy
voyage across the sea, and died shortly after reaching the Orkneys.^

^ Among the common people a tradition prevailed that the Maid of Norway
was not dead, but that she had been soid for a large surn of gold by those

480 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Edward I. now began to act the part of overlord of Scotland. He per-
suaded the Scotch pretenders, Robert Bruce the Elder, John Balhol,
John Comyn, and others, to acknowledge him as the paramount
lord of the kingdom, and to submit their claims to his decision. King
Eirik also sent ambassadors to urge his claim to the vacant throne
as Margarefs heir, but it soon became clear that the only candidates
who would be seriously considered were Robert Bruce and John
BalHol. Edward I. decided in favor of the latter, who received the
erown of Scotland as his vassal. The cordial relations between Nor-
way and England ceased from that moment, and Eirik pursued a
policy which brought him into ever closer relations with King Ed-
ward's enemies. In 1293 he married Isabella Bruce, granddaughter
of Robert Bruce the Elder, and sister of the later King Robert Bruce
of Scotland. She bore him a daughter, Ingebj0rg, but no son. It
seems to have been Eirik's intention to strengthen again the bonds
between Norway and Scotland by this marriage, but all closer rela-
tions between the two kingdoms now rapidly ceased. Among the
common people of Scotland the tradition, nevertheless, continued
to Iive that since the time of the Maid of Norway, the Norwegians
claimed Scotland, and would some day return with an armed force,
and endeavor to take possession of the country. The Scotch poet,
Thomas of Erceldoune (Thomas Rjoner), wrote a popular ditty about
the black fleet of Norway which would enter the Firth of Forth,
Not till it had left again could they build castles wliich would last.

It will be seen upon a day

Between the Bass and Bay

Craigin and Fidderay —

The black fleet of Norroway ;

Quhen the black fleet is come and gane

Then may they bigg thair burgh of lime and stane,

Quhilk they biggit of straw and hay, ,

That will stand till doomesday. ^

who had her in eharge. Ten years later a woman came from Germany to
Norway, and claimed to be Princess Margaret. She was tried as an impostor
and executed, but she was later regarded as a saint by the common people.

1 P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. IV., 2, p. 204. Bass, or Bass
Rock, Craig, and Fidderay, or Fiddra, are isles at the entrance to the Firth

THE REIGN OF EIRIK MAGNUSSON 481

The war with Denmark was renewed in 1293, and after some inde-
cisive campaigns during the following two years a truce was arranged
at Hegnesgavel, according to which King Eirik and his hrother Duke
Haakon should have free use of the Danish estates belonging to their
mother, Queen Ingebj0rg, and merchants should be allowed to carry
on trade unmolested between the two kingdoms. The truce expired
in 1298, but it was renewed, and Eirik did not continue his attacks
on Denmark.

It is impossible to discover any statesmanhke pohcy in this pro-
tracted quarrel with Denmark, as the advantages which could have
been gained even under the most favorable circumstanceš would
scarcely have compensated for the heavy war expenses and the losses
incurred by the interruption of commerce. The indemnity to be
paid the German merchants for the damages done by Alv Erhngsson
of Thornberg, and the outlay incident to the war brought King
Eirik into most serious financial difficulties. He was unable to
pay the indemnity when it fell due, and the Germans used the op-
portunity to obtain new privileges in Norway.^ These were secured
to them by a charter of 1294. In 1295, while Edward I. of England
was at war with France, King Eirik sent Audun Hugleiksson Hesta-
korn as plenipotentiary to France for the purpose, as it seems, of
obtaining a loan. Audun had risen to great power after Queen Inge-
bj0rg's death. He was the king's favorite, as Alv of Thornberg had
been the queen's. He had received the title of jarl, and held the
important office offehirdir, or royal treasurer. There can be no doubt
that this powerful and unscrupulous baron exercised great influence
over the manageable King Eirik, who had learned only too well to
submit to those who possessed a will stronger than his own. Audun
concluded -with France a most remarkable treaty. In consideration
of a yearly subsidy of £30,000 he engaged for the kingdom of Nor-
way to furnish for the war with England 200 galleys and 100 large

of Forth. When the blaek fleet of Norroway is come and gone, they can
build their castles of lime and stone, which they before built of straw and hay.
^ Alexander Bugge, Studier over de norske Byers Händel og Selvstyre f^r
Hanseaterne, p. 183 ff. P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. IV.,
p. 234 ff. Alexander Bugge, Handelen mellem England og Norge indtil Begynd-
elsen av det 15de Aarhundrede, Historisk Tidsskrift, tredie raekke, vol. IV.,
p. Iff.

VOL. I — 2l

482 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

ships with arms and provisions for four months of tlie year, together
with 50,000 warriors. He well knew that this was far in excess of
Norway's entire military force at this time, and that he contracted
for his country obligations which it coiild not fulfill ; but he accom-
pHshed his purpose of obtaining money, as the surn of 6000 marks
sterHng was paid to him immediately. The second part of his mis-
sion was to obtain for Duke Haakon the händ of Countess Isabella
of Joigny. This request was also granted, but the marriage was
never solemnized. Audun returned to Norway about Christmas
time, and the king ratified the treaty in March, 1296. If he knew
the character of the document when he signed it, and if he acted of
his own free will, which is very doubtfui, it shows what kind of influ-
ence Audun exercised over him. In 1297-1298 Eirik was able to
pay the indemnity due the German cities, and it must be inferred
that he used the money obtained from France to hquidate this debt.
Fortunately the war between France and England stopped, and Nor-
way was never called upon to meet the obhgations created by Audun's
perfidious bargain. Audun's later career is wrapped in mystery.^
In 1299 he was imprisoned. Three years later, in the reign of Haakon
Magnusson, he was condemned to death and executed, and all his
possessions were confiscated. This extreme penalty could be inflicted
only for the greatest crime, and although nothing is known as to
the nature of his offense, it has been thought that he was convicted
of high treason.

About 1287 Duke Haakon built the castle of Akershus, at Oslo.
The exact time of its erection cannot be determined, but it is known
to have existed in 1300. The building of this castle seems to have
been a part of a general plan to enlarge and beautify the city of
Oslo. The strategic importance of this town had been repeatedly
demonstrated ; its beautiful location, its fine harbor, and its prox-
imity to Denmark, Sweden, and the Baltic Sea would also insure its
growth as a commercial center. It shows considerable foresight on
the part of the young duke when he selected this town for his future
capital.

1 P. A. Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie, vol. IV., 344 ff. Gustav Storm,
Audun Hestakorn og St. Margrete paa Nordnces, Historisk Tidsskrift, anden
rsekke, vol. IV., p. 209 ff.

PLATE XIII

THE CHANGE OF norway's foreign policy 483

King Eirik JNIagnusson died in Bergen on the 13th of Jiine, 1299,
thirty-one years of age. He had always been sickly, and through a
fail from his horse he received in his boyhood severe injuries which
fiirther impaired his delicate system. Both physically and intellec-
tually he seems to have been quite insignificant, and though he bore
the title of king during the lõng period of twenty-six years, the helm
of state had been controlled by other hands throughout the greater
part of his reign. His queen, Isabella Bruce, who at the time of his
death was a young woman of twenty, spent her lõng widowhood
quietly at Bergen, where she died about sixty years later.

74. Haakon Magnusson the Elder. The Change of Xorway's

Foreign Policy

King Eirik Magnusson had no sons, and his brother, Duke Haakon,
succeeded him on the throne. Haakon was not in Bergen when the
king died, as his marriage to Euphemia, daughter of Gunther of
Arnstein, Count of Rupin, had just been celebrated at Oslo, but
when he received the news, he hastened to Bergen, where he was
proclaimed king, x\ugust 10, 1299. Later in the fail he and his
queen were both crowned in his residence city of Oslo.^ Haakon

1 Hitherto the eoronation had always taken place at Bergen, where the
following Mngs had been crowned :

Magnus Erlingsson 1164

Sverre 1194

Haakon Haakonsson 1247

Magnus Lagab0ter 1261

Eirik Magnusson 1280

This custom was broken when Haakon Magnusson was crowned at Oslo,
1299. R. Keyser, P. A. Munch, and later historians have accepted the ae-
count of the Laurent iussaga that Haakon was crowned in Trondhjem. The
säga says: "Then King Eirik Magnusson died on the lOth of July (should
have been the 13th, 1299), and his brother Haakon received the title of
Idng, and he was crowned in Trondhjem with royal eonseeration. Thither
came the most prominent men from Norway and from many other eountries.
There could be seen the gi-eatest concourse of people in the North." Pro-
fessor Gustav Storm has shown that the aecount of the säga is erroneous,
that a more trustworthy aecount is given by another, hitherto unnotieed
source found in Biskop Jens Nilssfins Visitalsb^ger og Rciseoptegnelser,
edited by Y. Nielsen, which states that Haakon was crowned in Oslo, 1299.
Gustav Storm, De celdre norske Kongers Kroningsstad, Historisk Tidsskrift,

484 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Magnusson the Elder, or Haakon V., was twenty-nine years of age
wlien he became king. He had been well educated according to
the standards of the times; he could speak and write both Latin
and French, and both in appearance and abiUty he formed a contrast
to his weak and sickly brother. The Icelanders called him " Hälegg "
(Longlegs), which indicates that he was tall and well-built. His
determination to ruie according to his own ideas, to make the king's
power absolute, and to weaken the power and influence of the aris-
tocracy proves that he was a man of great energy and will-power. But
he was rather harsh and autocratic — something of a pedant, and he
seems to have lacked the intuitive foresight of a great statesman.
"His reign," says Alexander Bugge, "is a turning-point in the his-
tory of Norway. With him the older period closes, and a new period
begins, not only in the external history, but also in the development
of spiritual and material life in Norway." Haakon was the last
male member of the royal family, as all side-lines had beeome extinct.
During his brother's reign he had seen the barons exercise an influence
in the government which he viewed with deep regret, and in the
neighboring kingdoms, Denmark and Sweden, the nobles had formed
a strong oligarchy. He feared nothing so much as the recurrence
of the conditions which had obtained in the time of Eirik. The
establishing of a regency, or the election of a king, if the royal family
became extinct, might endanger the stability of the throne. It
became his great care, therefore, to secure the succession to the royal
family ; but this problem became very difficult, as the only child born
to him in wedlock was a daughter, Ingebj0rg. But neither Ingebj0rg,
nor his illegitimate daughter Agnes, who was a few years older,
could inherit the throne. If Ingebj0rg had a legitimate son he would
stand in order of succession, but Ingebj0rg herself was excluded, as
well as Agnes and her children. Haakon succeeded, finally, in bring-
ing about a change in the law of succession by which Ingebj0rg

tredie raekke, vol. IV., p. 397 ff. As eoronatioa was not prescribed by law,
it was optional with the king whether he would ba crowned or not. Storm
gives the following table of the eoronations of early Norwegian kings :
Bergen 1164 1194 1247 1261 1280

Oslo 1299 1337 1360? 1442 1514

Nidaros 1449 1450 1483

See also Islandske Annaler, edited by Gustav Storm.

THE CHANGE OF N0RWAY'S FOREIGN POLICY 485

herself and her children, and, also, the legitimate sons of Agnes could
succeed to the throne. In case a regency had to be created, it should
consist of twelve members, whose duties and powers were strictly
determined, and the king should not be of age until he was twenty
years oid. But although the question of succession had been settled,
the possibihty of a regency had not been eliminated. He feared
the lendermcend, whose ränk and titles had now become almost heredi-
tary. In case of a regency they might again gain the ascendency,
he thought. In order to prevent this he determined to abolish the
titles of " jarl " and " lendermand," and to retain only that of *' knight."
Thereby the oid hereditary aristocracy woiild be destroyed, and the
knights, who received their titles from the king, would become
personally attached to him. This plan was carried out by a royal
decree issued in 1308 ; but the provision w^as made that the lender-
mcend then living should retain their title and dignity during their
lifetime. He also organized the priests of the royal chapels into
a distinct clergy, which should stand under the direct supervision of
the king. P. A. Munch observes that Haakon Magnusson was
manifestly emulating King Philip the Fair of France, who, at this
time, was engaged in humbling the clergy and the aristocracy, and
in making the royal power supreme.^

Haakon waged no great wars, but the hostile entanglements with
Denmark were continued, and to these were also added serious trou-
bles with Sweden, growing out of the closer relations established
with that kingdom through the marriage of King Haakon 's daughters
to Swedish dukes. Aside from the humdrum of these petty wars,
carried on at intervals with the neighboring states, in which no clearly
defined pohcy of statesmanship is visible, Haakon's reign was un-
eventful enough. But in his time, as well as in the days of his brother
Eirik, Norway's whole foreign policy underwent a complete change,
which was fraught with the gravest consequences to the country's
future history. Norway had hitherto maintained the closest rela-
tions with the British Isles. New intellectual impulses had been
carried over the waves from the West ever since the Viking expedi-
tions began. Great trade centers, like Dublin and Bristol, had
been developed by the Norsemen, and the British Isles had formed
1 P. A. Munch, Det norske Folks Historie, IV., 2, p. 474 ff.

486 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

the pivot of their commercial activity. When England developed
her own commerce, her merchants established a lucrative trade with
Norway, and the friendly relations always maintained between the
two countries prove the importance of this traffic to both peoples.
The Norwegians had hitherto been a seafaring and commercial
nation. Norway had maintained an insular pohcy, and had taken
no direct part in continental affairs. But Eirik Magnusson and
Haakon V. severed the bonds which for centuries had existed be-
tween Norway and England, and plunged their country into con-
tinental wars and political intrigues. Henceforth the Norwegians
ceased to be a maritime nation, and Norway became politically a part
of the continent. Personally the kings, no doubt, had the best
intentions, and were giiided by the most upright motives, but they
ruled in a critical period, and had to deal with problems which would
have put more sagacious statesmen to a severe test.

We have seen that when Eirik's daiighter, the Maid of Norway,
died, Edward I. established his overlordship over Scotland. But
Eirik, who had hitherto been his friend, married Isabella Bruce,
and allied himself thereby with the Scotch. Through the treaty
negotiated by AudunlHugleiksson he had also entered into alliance
with France. This agreement with France proved to be võid of
significance, but Eirik had identified himself with Edward 's enemies
at a moment when England w'as about to begin her lõng wars with
France and Scotland, and when she w^as strong enough to wage a
successful combat with both of them combined.

The English pursued their trade with Norway very energetically,
but they had found dangerous rivals in the German merchants, who
had already received important charters and privileges in Norw^ay.
The English merchants, conscious of their strength, demanded similar
rights, but King Haakon would grant no such concessions. They
regarded this attitude of the king as evidence of partiality and ill-
will, and began to act with great arrogance. Many outrages were
committed which aroused the bitterest resentment among the Nor-
wegians, who made not a few reprisals on English shipping. As
lõng as Edward I. lived, no serious clashes occurred, but when the
incompetent Edward II. ascended the throne, the situation grew
serious. In 1312 Enghsh fishermen on the coast of Bohuslen killed

TIIE CHANGE OF NORWAY's FOREIGN POLICY 487

the royal sysselmand and ten others. In Bergen it seems that the
sysselmand, Bottolf, arrested some Englisli merchants and confiscated
their goods, but they resisted to the utmost, and some of the king's
men were killed. Exaggerated reports of these disturbances reached
England. In a letter to King Haakon Edward II. complains that
400 Enghshmen had been imprisoned, and that goods worth £6000
had been conjQscated. Haakon answered that he had not imprisoned
King Edward's subjects, but that he had permitted them to stay
with their friends, and that he had now allowed all, with the excep-
tion of six, to return to England.^

While the estrangement between Norway and England was grow-
ing, Haakon was strengthening the ties of friendship with Scotland.
He was stiil at war with Denmark, at times also with Sweden, and
prudence woiild naturally lead him to welcome every opportunity
to establish amicable relations with other powers. Robert Briice
of Scotland, who was waging his heroic fight against England, studied
carefully the political situatlon, and made advances to win Haakon
to his side. It is possible that he was aided in this attcmpt by his
sister Isabella, the widow of King Eirik, who was stiil living quietly
at Bergen. The yearly sum which, by the treaty of Perth, Scotland
had engaged to pay Norway in return for the cession of the Hebrides
had not been paid since Edward I. established his overlordship over
Scotland. This also added to Haakon's displeasure with England,
and we may suppose that Bruce offered to carry out the provisions
of the treaty, if Haakon would recognize him as king of Scotland.
Haakon finally decided to act. In 1312 he accepted Bruce's invita-
tion to send envoys to Scotland, and on the 29th of October the
treaty of Perth was renewed at Iverness, and most cordial rela-
tions were established between the two kingdoms. This did not
mend the already strained relations with England, but Edward II.
was a weak king, and the important trade relations existing between
the two countries contributed to the maintaining of peace.

Over against the German merchants Haakon acted with more
energy than his weak predecessor. In 1315 he enforced the already
existing ruie that only those who imported mait, flour, and grain to

1 Alexander Bugge, Handelen mellem England og Norge, Historisk Tids-
skrift, tredie rsekke, vol. IV., p. 1 ff.

488 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

Norway shoiild be allowed to export from the kingdom fish and butter.
The year following he imposed a high export duty on articles bought
and shipped from the country, If any one failed to pay the duty,
his ship and goods should be seized. No foreign merchants were
allowed to remain in Bergen, Oslo, or Tunsberg longer than the term
fixed by law.^ But the king's quarrel with England proved advanta-
geous to the Germans, With the falling off of English trade their
traffic became of ever greater importance to Norway. In the early
part of his reign Haakon had been forced by circumstances to treat
them w^ith great leniency, and he soon found it necessary to modify
the measures by which he had hoped to keep their trafläc under con-
trol.^ But to the English merchants he would make no concessions.
Haakon had chosen between the German merchants and the Enghsh
people. Time proved that he had chosen most unwisely. He had
estranged the nation with wdiich Norway had hitherto maintained
the closest and most profitable relations ; he had granted favors
and concessions to the country 's most dangerous enemy, which before
the middle of the century destroyed Norway's commerce and power
at sea ; and his affiliation with Scotland proved as valueless as that
with France.

The war with Denmark, which had lasted about twenty years,
was stiil continued. Haakon was supported by the exiled slayers of
King Eirik Glipping and their adherents in Denmark. The exiles
held the castles Hunehals and Varberg on the coast of Halland, and
the stronghold of Hjelm, built by their leader Mark Stig Anderss0n
in the island of Hjelm, near the coast of Jutland. Haakon made
repeated expeditions to Denmark, but no important battles were
fought. The Danish king, Eirik Menved, could not resist the Nor-
wegian fleet, and Haakon seenis to have made these hostile visits
mainly for the purpose of enforcing his claims.

In his anxiety to preserve the royal family from extinction, one
of Haakon's great cares was to find suitable husbandsforhisdaughters.

1 O. A. 0verland, Norges Historie, vol. IV., p. 344 ff. J. E. Sars, Hansea-
ternes Handelsherred^mme, Udsigt over den norske Historie, III., p. 1 flf. P. A.
Muneh, Det norske Folks Historie, part foiir, vol. II., p. 578 fif.

2 Alexander Bugge, Handelen mellem England og Norge, Historisk Tids-
skrift, tredie raekke, vol. IV. O. A. 0verland, Norges Historie, vol. IV., p.
347 ff. • •

THE CHANGE OF NORWAY's FOREIGN POLICY 489

In 1302 Princess Ingebj0rg was betrothed to the dashing knight-
errant Duke Eirik, son of King Magnus Ladulaas, and brother of
King Birger Magnusson of Sweden, while she was a mere child.
Duke Eirik visited Oslo, where he spent Christmas, and Queen
Euphemia, who found her chief pastime in reading chivalric ro-
mances, became quite infatuated with the brilliant duke, in whom
she discovered all the knightly qualities of King Arthur's famous
knights of the Round Table. Her fondest wish was to see her
daughter finally united in marriage with this personified ideal of her
dreams. King Haakon does not seem to have been without some
suspicion as to his prospective son-in-law's qualities of character,
but in 1304 he granted him the important Konghelle as a fief. Duke
Eirik was very ambitious, and he felt in no way restrained by any
spirit of loyalty. He planned to make himself ruler of all the Scandi-
navian kingdoms, and Konghelle would form a convenient eenter
for his operations. By marrying Ingebj0rg he would secure the
throne of Norway; he would drive his brother King Birger from
the throne of Sweden, and later he might conquer Denmark. He
won his brother, Duke Valdemar, to his side, and the two soon began
to quarrel with King Birger, who was less able, and, also, less popular
than his more brilliant brother Eirik. They sought aid in Norway,
and described the trouble in such a way to Haakon as to gain, for
a time, his s\Tiipathy and support. But things soon took a turn
which he had not expected. In 1306 the dukes treacherously cap-
tured King Birger, threw him into prison, and made themselves mas-
ters of the kingdom of Sweden. They formed a secret compact,
also, wath Duke Kristoffer of Denmark, a brother of King Eirik
Menved, who was to rebel against his brother and drive him from
his throne, and Duke Eirik promised to give Konghelle to the trait-
orous duke, although this fief did not belong to him, but to King
Haakon. Eirik also sought secretly to create a party in Norway,
which would favor him, and he attempted to stir up the Norwegian
barons against King Haakon. These events led to a complete rup-
ture between the king and his prospective son-in-law. Haakon
demanded that Eirik should return to him the fief of Konghelle, but
he refused, and war broke out between Sweden and Norway, 1308.
King Haakon laid siege to Konghelle, and constructed over against

490 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

this stronghold a wooden castle, Bohus, the beginning of the later
fortress of Bohus, but after some weeks he marched away without
häving captured the place. He now concluded peace with Denmark,
and entered into alHance with King Eirik Menved. King Birger
of Sweden, who had escaped from prison, and had sought refuge
in Denmark, was to be restored to his throne, and Princess Ingebj0rg
was promised in marriage to his son Magnus. Duke Eirik invaded
Norway, and captured Oslo, but he could not take the castle of Akers-
hus. He also attacked Jsemtland, and defeated a part of Haakon's
fleet at Kalfsund, at the mouth of the Göta River, where it had
sought refuge in a storm. But the next year, 1309, the dukes found
themselves in a most dangerous situation. King Eirik Menved
invaded southern Sweden with a large army, and Haakon captured
Konghelle. If the two kings had coöperated properly, the dukes
would, no doubt, have been defeated, but Haakon paused, and under-
took nothing further. Duke Eirik had a powerful ally in Queen
Euphemia, who probably used her influence to save her favorite.
The Danes could not take the castle of Nyköping, and when winter
approached they withdrew and returned home. Haakon also with-
drew from Konghelle, and this stronghold again fell into Duke
Eirik's hands. In 1310 the dukes concluded peace with King
Haakon, and agreed to cede to him Konghelle, Hunehals, Varberg,
and the northern part of Halland. King Haakon again agreed to give
his daughter Ingebj0rg in marriage to Duke Eirik, and his niece,
the daughter of King Eirik Magnusson, to Duke Valdemar. The
marriage of the two princesses was celebrated at Oslo, September 29,
1312 ; but Queen Euphemia did not Iive to see this happy consum-
mation of her fondly cherished hopes, as she died in the month of May
the same year. In 1316 a son was born to each of the dukes, and
Haakon V. could rejoice to see the succession secured in his own
family, as Ingebj0rg's son, Magnus Eiriksson, now became heir
apparent to the throne. But before lõng his joy was again turned
to grief. The restored King Birger of Sweden, who had not forgoli-
ten the ignominy heaped upon him by his brothers, the dukes Eiri'
and Valdemar, invited them to a feast of reconciliation at the castll
of Nyköping, where he seized them and threw them into a dungeon,
where they perished. The manner of their death is unknown, but

THE CHANGE OF N0RWAY'S FOREIGN POLICY 491

the riimor spread that they were starved to death, as no marks of
violence were seen on their bodies. The shock of this quite unex-
pected tragedy seems to have shortened King Haakon's life. He
died May 8, 1319, forty-nine years of age.

Norway stiil appeared to be as strong and prosperous as ever
heretofore. The hereditary principle, which had been so firaaly
adhered to, gave the throne great stability and contributed to the
centralization of govermnent in the hands of the king, whereby an
efRciency in administration and a public order were secured which
Denmark and Sweden, torn by internal strife, might well have
coveted. The Norwegian fleet was stiil the strongest in the North,
and the colonies were firmly united with the kingdom. But unmis-
takable signs of decadence, like the creeping shadows of approach-
ing darkness, heralded the passing of Norway's national glory. The
growing influence of the Hanseatic merchants, the shrinkage in Nor-
wegian shipping and commerce, and the unhappy change of foreign
policy, were not more ominous signs than the decay of the national
literatiire during the first part of the foiirteenth eentury. In King
Haakon's reign a considerable literary activity was stiil maintained.
Haakon V., no less than his queen, Euphemia, showed great interest
in literature, and stimulated greatly the writing of chivalric romances.
"He took great delight in good stories, and caused many romances
to be translated from French or Greek to Norwegian." ^ This
branch of the Oid Norse literature had flourished, especially in Nor-
way, while the historic literature was almost exclusively Icelandic.
Through the Viking expeditions, and stiil more through a lively
commercial intercourse, the Norsemen came in direct contact with
intellectual life in the British Isles and northern France. In earlier
days their scaldic poesy showed märked traces of Irish influence,
and we find the same causes stiil operating later when they produced
their great literature of prose romances under the influence of French
and English poems of chivalry. When the säga literature produced
"'n Norway is romance, and not history, it only proves what intimate
•elations the Norsemen maintained with their neighbors across the
riea. In many respects the romantic sägas written in Norway bring

' E. Sars, Udsigt over den norske Historie, II., p. 343. Keyser and Unger,
Strengeleikar, Introduction, p. XI.

492 HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN PEOPLE

evidence of no less originality and literary talent than the histories
written by the Icelanders, for although the themes and plots of these
stories are of foreign origin, many of the romantic sägas are admirably
written, and show many of the best features of the sagaman's art.
King Sverre and his successors were well educated. They were
thoroiighly in sympathy with the cultural hfe of western Europe,
and found great dehght in reading these chivalric and romantic
taies, as well as the history of their own country, and the lives of
the saints. We have seen how they encouraged the writing of his-
tory, which is a siifficient proof that they fully appreciated the value
of this branch of the oid literatiire; but they also encouraged the
writing of romantic sägas for diversion and entertainment. The
writing of romances is, therefore, a part of the original and creative
literary activity which produced the great Oid Norse literature, and
when Haakon V. "took great delight in good stories, and caused
many romances to be translated from the French or Greek to
Norwegian, " he only continued the literary activity of his illustrious
ancestors. But a notable change had, nevertheless, come. The
säga style had ceased to be a suitable vehicle for the thoughts
and sentiments engendered in an age of chivalry. Adapted to this
purpose it rapidly degenerated, and the romances were becoming
verbose and formless nonsense. Before the middle of the century
literary productivity ceased, and as the classic säga literature became
foreign to the changed spirit of the age, it was no longer read, and
was gradually forgotten. At the same time a new literature was
springing up among the common people, fostered by impulses re-
ceived from Germany and Denmark. This new literature of taies,
ballads, and folk-songs — half epic and half lyric — afforded new
opportunity for a suitable expression of the thoughts and feelings of
the age. Norway's first great literary period was closed. The shriil
blasts of the war trumpets died away, and the martial notes of the
scaldic poetry changed into cooing love-songs and plaintive ballads.
The manly vigor which had raised the Norsemen to power and prom-
inence was ebbing, and growing decay had fallen upon national life
hke an evil destiny. But the oid forms of culture passed, only to
germinate after a period of rest into more perfect growth. It is the
ebb and flow of human life, both alike necessary to its constant
rejuvenation and its permanent progress.

INDEX

Aamund, Viking chieftain, 56.
Aamunde Gyrdsson, 342.
Aarmsend, 124, 347-388.
Aasgaard (ÄsgarSr), 98.
Aasketil, Viking chieftain, 56.
Adalbert v. Bremen, archbishop, 283-

284.
^gir, the god, 105.
^Lfeah of Winchester, bishop, 177.
^scesdun (Ashdown), battle of, 55.
^sir, gods, 98.

^thelwulf and the Vikings, 53.
Agne, oid Swedish king, 64.
Agnes, daughter of Haakon Magnus-

son the Elder, 484.
Agi-iculture, 3-6, 10, 16.
"Agrip af Noregs Konungasggum,"

276, 445.
Akershus, built by Duke Haakon,

482.
Alexander II., king of Seotland, 438.
Alexander III., king of Seotland, 438-

441.
Alfader, 166.
Alfheimr, 117.
Alfiva (^Ifgifu), mother of Svein

Alflvason, 265-269.
Alfred the Great and the Vikings,

55-59.
Alghazal sent as envoy to the Nor-

wegian king in Dublin by Emir

Abderrhaman II. of Spain, 50.
Almenning, 165.
Althing. in Iceland. 115, 141 ; .in

Greenland. 199.
Alv Erlingsson of Thornberg

(Mindre-Alv), 477-479.
America discovered by the Norse-

men, 205-223.
Andres Plytt, 473.
Angeln, 29.

Anglo-Saxons and Jutes, 29.
Anglo-Saxon Christianity, charac-

ter of, 182-183.

Anund, oid Swedish king, 64.
Architeeture, Norse, 81-82.
Are Frode, historian, 137, 444.
Arnaldr, first bishop of Greenland,

201.
Arnbj0rn Arnesson, 245.
Arne Arnesson, 245.
Arnm0dlings, 115.
Arnulf, Emperor, and the Vikings,

55-59.
Arnvid, king in S0ndm0r, 115.
Art, 7, 10, 14-16, 17-19, 33, 87-89.
Asbj0rn, commander of the Danish

expedition against England, 293.
Asb]0rn of Medalhus, 167.
Asgeir, Viking chieftain, 48.
Askell Ragnvaldsson, last Norse

king of Dubün, 369-371.
Astrid, Olav Haraldsson's queen, 253.
Astrid, mother of Olav Tryggvason,

174.
Ath-Cliath (Dublin), 47.
"Atlamäl," written in Greenland,

200.
Aud the Deepminded, 129, 137, 139,

140, 190, 191, 193.
Audun Hugleiksson Hestakorn, 473-

476, 481-482.
Audun Illskelda, 128.
Avfaldsdynger, 10.

Baard, Viking chieftain, 48.

Baard Jarl, 154.

Baegseeg, Viking chieftain, 55.

Bagler, 397, 408-410.

Balder, the god, 101-107.

"Balista," used in war by the Algon-

quin Indians, 220.
Basing, battle of, 56.
Bedwyn, battle of, 56.
Bene (Benedict), pretender, 413.
Bentein Kolbeinsson, 343.
"Beowulf " describes customs and

events in the North, 31.

493

494

INDEX

Bergen, founded, 298; ehief eom-

mercial center, 470-472 ; con-

sidered capital by Magnus Laga-

b0ter, 473.
Bergthora, 193.

Bernicia, raided by the Vikings, 5ü.
"BersQglisvisur," 271.
Bevja, battle of, 361.
Bifrgst, the celestial bridge, 105.
Birger Brosa, jarl, 377.
Birger Magnusson, king of Sweden,

489-490.
Birka on Mälaren in Sweden, 6, 77.
Birkebeiner, 375, 378-386, 408-410.
Bjarkey in Nordland, 116.
Bjarkeyjarrettr, or Norwegian laws

of trade, 5, 464.
Bjarkowitz (Bjark0), near the coast

of Ingermanland Russia, 67.
Bjarne, Bishop of the Orkneys, 173.
Bjarne Erlingsson, 473.
Bjarne Grimolvsson, 210.
Bjarne Herjolvsson, reputed dis-

eoverer of America, 208, 219.
Bjarne Lodinsson, 473.
Bjarneyjar (Bear Islands), 210.
Bj0rn Ironside, Viking chieftain, 52.
Bj0rn Stallare in the battle of

Stiklestad, 265.
Black Death in Norway, 202.
Blakar, 154, 158.
Blot, sacrifice, 108.
"BgglungasQgur," "Säga of the three

Kiugs," 409, 444.
Borghild of Dal, mother of King

Magnus, 338.
Bordeaux attaeked by the Vikings,

48.
Brage, the god, 105.
Brage Boddason (Brage the Oid),

scald, 95.
BrattahUd, 199.
Breidablik, Balder's hall, 102.
Brenn0erne, 79 ; treaty of, 270.
Breohtrie (Beorhtric), 45.
Brian Borumha, Irish king, 223-229.
Brihtnoth, 175-176.
Bristol made a great eommercial

city by the Vikings, 79.
Broch of Mousa, 135.
Bronze Age, agriculture in, 14-17 ;

estimated duration of, 18.
Brunanburh, battle of, 156-157.

Bruse Sigurdsson, jarl in the Ork-
neys, 132.

Burgundy, ravaged by the Vikings,
52.

Burial, mode of, 10-12; coffins made
of hollowed oak logs, 15 ; of
women, 17 ; mode of, in Bronze
Age, 20 ; in the migrations, 34.

Bylaw, from Norse by-lov, 82.

Caithness, in Scotland, a Norse

settlement, 238.
Camargue, island of, seized by the

Vikings, 49-50.
Canterbury, captured by the Vikings,

54.
Castle, monastery at Konghelle, 366.
CeeiUa, daughter of Sigurd Mund,

378, 408.
CeciUa, daughter of King Sverre, 415.
Cehbacy of the clergy introdueed,

349.
Celtic influenee in pre-Roman period,

17.
Cennfuait, battle of, 154.
Chaideinoi (Heiner), inhabitants of

Seandia, 25.
Charlemagne and the Vikings, 51.
Charles the Baid and the Vikings, 51.
Charmouth, battle of, 53.
Charudes (Horder), neighbors of

the Cimbri in Jutland, 26, 116-

117.
Chester, in England, grows into

prominence in Viking times, 79.
Choehilaicus (Hygeläc), 30, 50.
Christina, daughter of Sigurd the

Crusader, manned to Erhng

Skakke, 361-368.
Christina, King Sverre's daughter,

409.
Chi'istianity, character of, in Nor-
way and Iceland, 350-353.
Churches, kinds of, in Norway, 347.
Church of Norway, its relation to

the archdiocese of Bremen, 296-

298 ; organization of, 345.
Cilmashogue, battle of, 154.
Cimbri, 25; invades the Roman

empire, 27 ; terror cimbricus.
Cities, great development of, by the

Vikings, 78-82 ; Viking city laws,

82.

INDEX

495

Clontarf , battle of, 227-229.

Coat of arms, Norwegian, 310-311.

Codanus, 24.

Coinage of the Vikings in England,
56-57; in Ireland, 79.

Columbus, his supposed knowledge
of Norse discoveries of Vinland,
222.

Corameree, between Norwegian
colonies and Spain, 50, 81-82 ;
with Byzantine Empire, G6 ; de-
velopment of, in the Vildng Age,
76-82 ; in Ireland, 224-226, 228-
229; with England. 468-473.

Cork, in Ireland, founded by the
Vikings, 78.

Court jesters, 128.

Cronium, 24-25.

Crusades : Skofte Agmundsson and
his sons, 313-314; King Sigurd
Jorsalfarer (the Crusader), 314-
319; Ragnvald Jarl's, 355-358;
Ulv of Lauvnes, 395 ; Reidar
Sendemand and Peter Steyper,
410 ; Erlend Thorbergsson and
Roar Kongsfraende, 427-430 ;
Gaut Jonsson, 430 ; Aagniund
of Spaanheim, 430.

Culture in the Viking Age, 69.

Dag Ringsson in the battle of

Stiklestad, 265.
Dale-Gudbrand, 246, 251.
Danelag, origin of, 58.
Danevirke, 170.
" Darradsong," 228.
Dauchiones, iuhabitants of Scandia,

25.
David, jarl of the Orkneys, 410.
Devonshire, Vikings in, 55.
Dighton Rock in Rhode Island, 214.
Dolniens, 10.

Dorstadt seized by the Vikings, 51, 77.
Dragseid, 186-187.
Dress, 8, 15, 20, 33-34, 83.
Drottkvaett, verse, 128.
Drottseti, 466.
Dubh-GaUs, 123.
Dublin founded by the Norsemen,

47 ; Norse merehants trade with

Spain, 50. 81-82.
Dugald Mac Rory, king of the

Hebrides, 440.

Duncan, king of Scotland, cousin

of Thorfinn Jarl, 236-237.
Duncansby Head, battle of, 132.
Dunsinano, battle of, 237, 286.

East Anglia, Vikings in, 55.

Eastcrn Settlement in Greenland,
198; destroyed, 202-204.

Eegbert and the Vikings, 53.

Edda, the Elder, 95-96; the
Younger, 96.

Egder, tribe in Norway, 111.

Egil Skallagrimsson, scald, 95, 126,
156, 162, 193.

Eidsivalag confederacy in south-
eastern Norway, 113.

Eidsivathing, 113.

Eidsivathingslov, 113.

Einar Tambarskjselver, 195, 245,
262-263, 267, 271 ; quarrels with
King Harald Sigurdsson Haard-
raade, 278-279, 281 ; slain, 282.

Einar Skälaglam, author of "Vel-
lekla," 173.

Einar Vrangmund of the Orkneys, 132.

Eindride Unge, 355-358.

Eindride, son of Einar Tambar-
skjselver, slain, 282.

Eirik, archbishop, 390-393.

Eirik BIood-Ax, 131, 159-162; sons
of, 167.

Eirik Gnupsson, Bishop of Green-
land, attempts to introduce
Christianity in Vinland, 222.

Eirik, son of Haakon Jarl, 194-195,
197, 244, 246; made ruler of
Northumbria, 251.

Eirik, Swedish duke, married to
Ingebj0rg, daughter of Haakon
Magnusson the Elder, 489-490.

Eirik, Viking chieftain, 48.

Eirik Magnusson (Priesthater), king
of Norway, 473-483.

Eirik the Red discovers Greenland,
197, 206.

Elgeseter, monastery near Trond-
hjem, 366.

Elivägar, 97.

Elizabeth (EUissiv) married to Har-
ald Sigurdsson Haardraade, 275,
280.

Emma, married to Knut the Great,
150.

496

INDEX

England, first attacked by the

Vikings, 45 ; Viking raids in,

53-59 ; kingdom of York founded,

57 ; Norsemen settle in North-

umbria, 59 ; Norse influenee on,

80-82, 162-163 ; conquest of, by

the Danes and Norsemen, 174-

177, 248-249.
Eogan of Argyll, 440-442.
Erlend, jarl of the Orkneys, 238 ;

takes part in the battle of Stam-

ford Bridge, 290-291.
Erlend Thorfinsson, jarl of the

Orkneys, 132.
Erling Skakke, 355-358, 360-369,

377-382.
Erhng Skjalgsson of Sõle, 185, 195-

196, 244, 245-246.
Erling Steinvseg, 408-409.
Ethandun, battle of, 58.
Eudoses, 30.
Euphemia, queen of Haakon Mag-

nusson the Elder, 489-490.
Eyskjegger, rebel bänd, 396.
Eystein Erlendsson, Archbishop of

Trondhjem, 361, 363-366, 380-

385.
Eystein, son of Harald Gille, king,

344.
Eystein Magnusson, king of Nor-

way, 311-319; aequires Jgemt-

land, 320-321.
Eystein Meyla, 375.
Eystein, son of Olav the White,

129, 153.
Eyvind Skaldaspiller, scald, 116,

167, 173.
Exeter, fortified by the Vikings, 57.

"Fagrskinna," 120, 276.

Faroe Islands, discovery of, 47-48 ;

Christianized, 189-190 ; bish-

opric of, 349.
Fenrir, 98, 105.
Fensale, Frigg's home, 105.
Festivals, 89, 108-109.
Feudal System, not introduced in

Norway, 126.
Fimbulwinter, 105.
Fimreite, battle of, 385.
Findlay, father of Maebeth, 131.
Finmarken, 142.
Finn Arnesson, 245, 282-283.

Finn-forest, 41.

Finn-Galls, 123.

Finns, 40.

Fitje, battle of, 167.

"Five Boroughs" established by the

Vikings, 57-58, 80.
" Flateyjarbok," 276, 446.
Floke Vilgerdsson, 138.
Foldenfjord, 117.
Folkvang, Freya's home, 105.
Food and drink in Viking times,

83-89, 109-110.
Forsete, the god, 102.
Fortifieation of cities by the Vikings,

57.
Frey, the god, reputed builder of

the temple at Upsala, 29.
Freya, the goddess, 104-105.
Freydis, daughter of Eirik the Red,

210, 216.
Frigg, the goddess, 102, 105.
Frostathing, 113.
Frostathingslov, 114.
FurSustrandir, 205, 211, 212.
Fylke, local district, 111.
Fylkesthing, 114.

Gall-Gsedhel (Irish Strangers), 62.

Galdr, magic songs, 180.

Gallery graves, 10.

Gandalv, king of Ranrike, 120.

Gandvik, White Sea, 169.

Gardar, 199; cathedral at, 201.

Garm, 105.

Garonne, Viking expedition to, 48.

Gascogne, visited by the Vikings,

48.
Gateskjegger in Faroe Islands, 137.
Gautai (Götar), inhabi tants of Scan-

dia, 25, 28, 30, 60, 111.
Gaute of Toiga, 473.
Gautiod, 112.
Gefjon, the goddess, 104.
Geira, wife of Olav Tryggvason, 175.
Gerd, 104-105.
Gimle, celestial haU, 106.
Giske, island of, 115.
Gissur Hvite, chieftain in Iceland,

192.
Gissur Thorvaldsson, 437-
Glenmama, battle of, 224.
Gode (goSi), priest, 109; gy?5ja,

priestess, 109 ; in Iceland, 140.

INDEX

497

Godfred, Danish king in war witli

Charleraagne, 51.
Godord, in Iceland, 141.
Godwin, Earl of Wessex, 2S7.
Gokstad ship, 34.
Goths, claimed to have como frora

Scandinavia, 28.
"Grägäs," oid code of laws, 141,

390.
"Grand Coutumier," oid laws in

Normandy, 151.
Granii, oid tribe in southern Nor-

way, 117.
Greenland, diseovered, 197-198 ;

deseribed, 198-199 ; becomes a

Norwegian dependency, 201 ; an-

nexed to Norway, 438 ; last voy-

age to, 204.
Gregorius Dagss0n, 359-361.
Gregorius Kik, 415.
Grim Kamban, first Norseman in

Faroe Islands, 137.
Grim Keikan 418-419.
Grimkel, bishop, proclaims King

Olav a saint, 267.
Grimsby, important Viking city in

England, 80.
Gudbrand, herse of Gudbrandsdal,

121-122.
Gudmund, Danish chieftain, 175.
Gudrid, wife of Karlsevne, foUows

him to Vinland, 210-217.
Gudr0d, king, 169.
Gudr0d, king of Agder, fought in

the battle of Hafrsfjord, 123.
Gudr0d Crowan, king of Man, 231.
Gudr0d, king of Limerick, 231.
Gudr0d, king of Man and the Isles,

230, 371, 374-375, 425.
Gudr0d Sigtryggsson, king of Dublin,

154.
Gudr0d Veidekonge of Vestfold, 119.
Gudr0d, Idng of York, 59.
Gudrun Usvivsdotter, 193.
Guilds in Norway, 300-302.
Guiathing, 117.
Gulathingslag, confederaey in west-

ern Norway, 116.
"GullfJ9"5r," code of cburch laws,

390.
Gunbj0rn's Skjger, 197.
Gunhild, mother of Sverre Sigurds-

son, 376.

VOL. I — 2k

Gunhild, queen of Eirik Blood-Ax,

160, 171, 174-175.
Gunnar paa Lidarende, 193.
Guthrum (Guttorm, Gorm), Viking

chieftain, 55, 58.
Guttorm, archbishop, 413.
Guttorm, son of Inge Baardsson,

pretender, 415.
Guttorm, unele of Harald Haarfagre,

120.
Guttorm, of the Orkneys, 130.
Guttorm Sigurdsson, 407-408. .'
Guttorm Sindre, hirdscald, 128^.
Gyda, daughter of King Eirik of

Hordaland, wooed by Harald

Haarfagre, 121.
Gylfaginning, 96-97.

Haakon Galin, 408.

Haakon the Good, son of Harald
Haarfagre, reared in England,
130 ; becomes king of Norway,
161; his reign, 164-168; at-
tempts to introduce Christianity,
166-167.

Haakon Grjotgardsson, jarZ in Haalo-
goland, 122-125.

Haakon Haakonsson, king of Nor-
way, 410-420 ; eoronation of,
420-422; legal reforms of, 433-
434 ; refuses to lead the sixth
crusade, 430-431 ; his expedition
to the Hebrides and Scotland,
438-443 ; his activity as builder,
452-456.

"Haakon Haakonssonssaga " (" Häk-
onarsaga Häkonarsonar"), 445,
452.

Haakon Herdebreid, king, 360-362.

Haakon Ivarsson, 282 ; made jarl
of Halland, 283.

Haakon Jarl, 171-174, 178-179.

Haakon Magnusson the Elder, 483-
491 ; changes Norway's foreign
policy, 483-488.

Haakon, jarl of the Orkneys, 238.

Haakon Paulsson, jarl, 132.

Haakon Sverresson, king of Norway,
407-409.

Haalogaland, 116.

Haarek of Tjotta, 188-189, 245, 270.

Hader, tribe in Norway, 113.

Hafrsfjord, battle of, 123.

498

INDEX

" Häkonarbok," see "JarnsitSa."
Haldor Skvaldre, scald, 315.
Häleygings, 173.
Halfdan (Halfdene), Viking ehief-

tain, 55, 58, 154.
Hal]fr0d Vandr^daskald, 174, 191.
Hallgerd, 84, 193.
Hallkel Jonsson, 396.
Hallkel 0gmundssoii, 473.
Hal0re, 79.
Halvard of Saastadt, leader of the

Bagler, 397.
Halvdan Svarte, 119.
Hämar, eity of, 344 ; bishoprie of,

348.
Handicrafts, 6-7, 33-34.
Hanseatie League, 471-473, 478.
Harald Gille, 311, 337-344.
Harald Gormsson Blaatand, king

of Denmark, 170-171 ; introduces

Christianity in Denmark, 171.
Harald (Gold Harald), 171.
Harald Graafeld, king of Norway,

145, 168.
Harald Guldsko, 437.
Harald Haarfagre, 120-145; his

expedition against the Vikdngs,

130 ; annexes the Orkneys and

Shetland Islands to Norway, 130 ;

last years of his reign, 159-160.
Harald Harefoot, son of Knut the

Great, 270-273.
Harald Klak, receives Dorstadt and

Walcheren from Louis the Pious,

51.
Harald Madadsson, of the Orkneys,

238, 296, 410.
Harald, king of Man and the Isles,

230.
Harald Sigurdsson Haardraade, chief

of the Varangians in Coustan-

tinople, 67-68, 263 ; in Constan-

tinople. 275-280 ; his reign, 280-

294 ; elaims the throne of Eng-

land, 289 ; makes an expedition

to England, 290 ; falls at Stam-

ford Bridge, 291, 292.
Harald Ungi, in the Orkneys, 238.
Hardeknut, son of Knut the Great,

recognizes the independenee of

Norway, 270-273.
Harold Godwinson, 287; elaims the

throne of England, 288.

Hasting (Haastein), Viking chief täin,

49, 58-59, 75.
Hastings, battle of, 292-293.
Haulds (storbondi), olass of land-

owners, 110.
Haveloek the Dane, 178.
Hebrides, settled by the Norsemen,

48.
Hedeby, see Schleswig, 77.
Hegnesgavel, truce of, 481.
Heimdall, the god, 105.
" Heimskringla," 43, 276, 444.
Heiner, tribe in Norway, 111 (see

also Chaideinoi) ; the confeder-

acy of, 112-113.
Hei, the goddess, 98, 102-106.
Helga the Fair, 193.
Helluland, 205, 207, 210. 219, 223.
Hengestesdune, battle of, 53.
Hengist and Horsa, Anglo-Saxon

chiefs, 30.
Heorot, 30-31.
Hered (herad), local distriet, 111-

112.
HereSaland (Hordaland), 45.
Herjulv, 198.

Herse, local chief täin, 110-112.
Herules, 27, 30.
Hettusveinar, 267.
Hird, origin of, 126-127.
Hü-dscalds, 127-128.
Hirotha (Hordaland), 45.
Hirta Bridge, battle of, 380.
"HirSskrä," 466.
"Historia Norwegise," 445.
Hjalte of Hjaltadal, 193.
Hjalte Skjeggesson, chieftain in Ice-

land, 192.
Hjardarholt, chieftain's seat in Ice-

land, 193.
Hj0rungavaag, battle of, 173.
Holmengraa, battle of, 343.
Holmgang, trial by battle, 115.
Holmgard (Novgorod), 66.
Holm-Patrick seized by the Vikings,

45.
Hop, 212.
Horder, tribe in Norway (see Char-

udes), 111, 116, 117.
Horg (hgrgr), heathen sanetuary,

107-109.
Hoskuld DalakoUsson, 193.
Houses in Viking Age, 83-89.

INDEX

499

Hov {hoj), heathen temple, 107-109;

in Iceland, 140.
Hoved0, monastery at Oslo, 345.
Hoxne, battle of, 55.
H0d (HgtSr), the biind god, 102-104,

106.
Hcenir, the god, 97, 106.
"Hrafnsmäl," 85.
Hrõthgär, 30.
Hrõthulf (Rolf Krake), 30.
Hubba, Viking chieftain, 54—55, 58.
Hundeus, Viking chieftain, 149.
Hundtjof of Nordm0r, 122.
"Hüsdräpa," 193.
Husthings in England, of Viking

origin, 82.
Hvitramanna-land, 205-206.
Hvittingsey, peace of, 409.
Hygeläc, 30-32.
Hyperboreans, 25.
Hyrning, 184, 195.

Iceland, discovered, 138 ; immigra-

tion to, 1.39 ; Christianized, 190-

194; thing-system of, 434-435;

annexed to Norway, 436-438.
Ida, Fields of, 106.
Idun, the goddess, 105.
Ilevoldene, battle of, 382.
Indtr0ndelagen, 113.
Indians, Norsemen's first meeting

with, 213, 217.
Indo-Europeans, their original home,

35-36.
Industry, at first praeticed in the

home, 7, 14-17, 33 ; in Viking

times, 82.
Inga of Varteig, mother of Haakon

Haakonsson, 409, 413.
Inge Baardsson, 409-410.
Ingebj0rg, mother of Eirik Magnus-

son, 473-479 ; carries on war with

Denmark, 477-479.
Ingebj0rg, daughter of Eirik Magnus-

son and Isabella Bruce, 480.
Ingebj0rg, daughter of Haakon Mag-

nusson the Elder, 484.
Ingebj0rg, daughter of Kalv Arnes- i^

son, married to Thorfinn Jarl,

236.
Ingebj0rg, daughter of Thorfinn

Jarl, married to King Malcolm

III. of Scotland, 237. "^

Ingebj0rg, daughter of Sverre, 404.

Ingegerd, 184.

Ingegerd, sister of Queen Astrid,

253.
Inge Krokryg, king of Norway,

142-144, 358-361.
Inge Magnusson, king, 397.
Ingemund, king of Man, .307.
Ingerid, half -sister of Olav Tryggvas-

son, 184.
Ingerid, queen of Harald Gille, 342.
Ingolv Arnarsson comes to Iceland,

139.
Ingvar, oid Swedish king, 64.
Inis-Padraig, see Holm-Patriek, 45.
Innishmurray destroyed, 47.
Inse-GaU, 48.
Insulae Fortunatae, 218.
lona ravaged by the Vikdngs, 46.
Ireland, first Viking raids, 45-47 ;

Turgeis, 47 ; Norse colonies in,

63 ; Norse influence on, 77-79 ;

soeial eonditions among the Irish

people in early times, 92-94 ;

English eonquest of, 369-375 ;

Norse kings in, 374 ; last traces

of Norsemen in, 372-374.
Iron Age, agriculture in, 3, 8 ; in-

troduction of sails in, 14, 17 ;

estimated duration of, 18 ; the

Younger Iron Age, 44.
Isabella Bruce, sister of King Robert

Bruce of Scotland, married to

Eirik Magnusson, 480, 483, 487.
" Islendingabok," 137, 444.
' ' I slendi ngasaga , " 445 .
Ivar Baardsson in Greenland, 202-

203.
Ivar, Bishop of Hämar, 411.
Ivar, king of Dublin, attacks Eng-
land 55.
Ivar, king of Limerick, 230.
Ivar, Norse king in Dublin, 153.
Ivar Boneless, son of Ragnar Lod-

brok, 49, 54, 58, 129.
Ivar Skjaalge, leader of the Bagler,

397.
Ivar, Varangian prince of Novgorod,

concludes treaty of commerce

with Byzantine Emperor, 66.

Jsemtland, 166.

Jarls, 110, 112, 124, 466.

500

INDEX

"JarnsfSa," code of laws for Ice-

land, 458.
Jarrow monastery attacked by the

Vikings, 45.
Jernbyrd, trial by ordeal, 115.
Jernskjegge, 188.
John BalUol, 480.
John Comyn, 479-480.
Jomsborg, 170.
" Jomsvikingasaga," 170, 173.
Jomsvikings, 170, 173.
Jon, archbishop, 474—476.
Jon, jarl of the Orkneys, 410, 415,

426.
Jon Birgersson, archbishop, 348.
Jon Brynjolfsson, 473, 476.
Jon Kuvlung, 394.
Jon Ode, chieftain of the Orkneys,

371.
Jordanes, 28.
J0tuns, 98-100.
Jostein, unele of Olav Tryggvason,

175-176.
Julin, a town, 170.
Junker Knut, 415, 417.
Jutes, 29-30.

Kalv Arnesson, 245, 262, 271-272,

281, 282, 286.
Kalveskind, battle of, 381-382.
Karl Jonsson, author of "Sverres-

saga," 444, 452.
Kaupang, town in Sogn, 344.
Kent, Vikings in, 54.
Ketil Flatnev, in the Hebrides, 129,

230 ; in Scotland, 235.
King, 112; his income, 124.
"Kings Mirror," 5-6, 448-451.
Kirkwall founded, 132, 134.
Kjalarnes, thing at, 140, 211, 212,

219.
Kjartan Olavsson of Iceland, 191, 193.
Kj0kkenm0ddinger, 10.
Knarrar-Leiv, 438.
Knut the Great, becomes king of

England, 249-250; over-king of

Norway, 262-263, 272-273.
Knut the Saint of Denmark, 295-296.
Knut, king of York, 59.
Kolbein Stallare, 195.
Konghelle, 79; treaty of, 270;

becomes an important city, 334-

335.

Kormak, scald, 91, 95.
Krokaskog, battle of, 342-343.
Krypinga-Orm of St0dle, 344.
Kveldulv fra Fjordene, 127.
Kvsens, 40-41.

"Lacrosse," game of ball thought

to have been introduced by

Norsemen, 220.
Lade, temple at, 115; Harald

Haarfagre builds a residence

there, 122.
Lagman, king of Man and the Isles,

238.
Lagmand, 114; office of, 388-390.
Lagrette (Iggrelta), 114.
Lagthings, 965.
Lambay, on the coast of Leinster,

seized by the Vikings, 45.
"Landnämabok," 138, 444.
Landnämsmaend, first settlers in

Iceland, 140.
Land0re, tax, 142.
Lapps, 40.

Largs, battle of, 441-442.
Leding, 165, 467.
Leire (Hleidra) in Denmark, 109.
Leiv Assursson, 272.
Leiv Eiriksson (Leiv the Lueky), sails

across the Atlantic, 200 ; intro-

duces Christianity in Greenland,

201, 207, 209-219.
Lenderma^nd, 125, 387-388, 466.
Lenonoi, inhabitants of Scandia, 25.
Lerwick in Shetland Islands, 137.
Lidskjalv (HliSskjälf), 101.
Life after death, 10-12, 15-17.
Limerick, founded by the Vikings,

78, 94-96 ; becomes a Norse

kingdom, 154.
Lindisfarne plundered by the Vik-
ings, 45-46.
Lisbon besieged by the Vikings, 48.
Literature, Oid Norse, 42-43, 354-

355, 491.
Lodur, the god, 97, 98.
Lõke, the god, 98, 104-105.
London, attacked by the Vikings,

53 ; taken and plundered, 54.
Lothair and the Vildngs, 51.
Louvain, Vikings defeated at, 52.
Louis the Pious and the Vikings,

51.

INDEX

501

Lovsigemand, 141 ; in Normandy,
151; in Greenland, 199.

Lumphanan, battle of, 237, 286.

Luna, in Italy, captured by the
Vikings, 50.

Lund in Skäne, 346.

Lyrskog Heath, battle of, 275.

Lyse monastery at Bergen, 345.

Macbeth, king of Seotland, cousin

of Duncan, 236-238, 286.
Maceus Haraldsson, king of Man

and the Isles, 230.
Maelseehlain, high-king of Ireland,

47.
Maeren, temple at, 115.
Magne the god, 106.
Magnus, jarl of the Orkneys, 238,

426.
Magnus, son of Harald Gille, 344.
Magnus Barefoot, king of Norway,

subdues the Hebrides, 238, 303,

310 ; his expedition to the British

Isles, 305-309; .his last battle

in Ireland, 309 ; the result of

his campaigns, 309.
Magnus cathedral in Kirkwall, 133.
Magnus Erlendsson (St. Magnus),

jarl in the Orkneys, 132-133.
Magnus Erlingsson, crowned Idng

of Norway, 363, 378-386.
Magnus Lagab0ter, 442 ; his reign,

456-457; "Code of Magnus

Lagab0ter," 461-463; code of

municipal laws, 465-466.
Magnus Olavsson (Magnus the

Good), kdng of Norway, 269;

elaims the throne of England,

274, 278-279, 281.
Magnus Olavsson, king of Man and

the Isles, 438-440, 443.
Magnus Sigurdsson (Magnus the

Blind), king of Norway, 338-

343.
Maid of Norway, see Margaret,

daughter of Eirik Magnusson,

479.
Malcolm Canmore, 237-238, 286.
Maldon, battle of, 175.
Malmfrid, queen of Sigurd the

Crusader, 335-336.
Man, Isle of, passes under English

control, 231.

Mare cronium, see Cronium.
Margaret, daughter of King Eirik

Magnusson (Maid of Norway),

479.
Margaret, daughter of King Eirik

the Saint of Sweden, married^o

King Sverre, 404.
Margaret, daughter of Skule Jarl,

betrothed to King Haakon Haa-^

konsson, 414 ; married to Kinfir

Haakon Haakonsson, 416.
Markland, 205-223.
Mark Stig Anderss0n, 488.
Markus of Skog, 363.
Marstrand founded by Haakon

Haakonsson, 454.
Martin, Bishop of Bergen, 396.
Meath, Viking settlements in, 47.
Merchants in Norway during the

Viking Age, 5-6, 76-82.
Mercia, Vikings in, 55, 57.
MiSgarSr, 98.
MiSgarSsormr, 98, 105.
Military training and equipment,

26-27.
Mimer, Well of, the fountain of

wisdom, 99-100.
Minne, battle of, 342.
Mode, the god, 106.
Moors as Viking prisoners in Ire-
land, 50.
"Morkinskinna," 276.
Moster, 185 ; church of, 186, 189.
Municipal and urban life in the

Viking colonies, 80-82. «^
Music, 128.
Muspel, sons of, 105.
Muspelheim, 97.

Myklegard (Constantinople), 67.
Mythology, 96-108.

Names of Norwegian origin, in
Northumbria, 59 ; in Ireland, 63.

Nanna, the goddess, 102.

Nantes sacked by the Vikings, 48.

Navies, development of, due to the
Vikings, 80-81.

Navigation, 10 ; in the Bronze Age,
14, 20.

Nef gildi, a tax, 165.

Nefndarmenn, 165, 387.

Nerigon, 25.

Nesjar, battle of, 252.

502

INDEX

Nestor, Russian chronicler, 64.

Nicolas Arnesson, bishop, 392-397,
404, 408.

Nicolus Brakespeare, cardinal, 348,
370.

Nidaros, city of, 189 ; archdiocese
of, 348.

Niflheim, 97-98, 103.

Nikuläs Bergsson of Thverä, abbot
in Iceland, wrote leelandic geog-
raphy, 207.

Njäl paa Bergthorshväl, 193.

Noirmoutier, island on the coast of
France, settled by the Vikings,
48 ; Norse colony, 148.

Nonneseter, in Bergen, 345.

Nordland, 1, 115.

Normans, 145; in southern Italy,
152 ; on the Albanian coast,
152.

Norns, goddesses of fate, 97-99.

Norse, influenee on Ireland, 79-80,
224-229; on England, 80-82,
162-164; on France, 79-82; in
the Orkneys, 133-134; in Nor-
mandy, 151 ; Norse freemen in
England, number of, 163 ; Norse
influenee in the Hebrides, 232 ;
in Man, 232-234; on Seotland,
239-243; Uterature, 443-452.

Norse codes of law, 354-355.

Norsemen, miUtary knowledge, 427-
429; their education, 448-451.

Northumbria, attacked by the Vik-
ings, 53-54 ; submits to the
Vikings, 55; Norse settlers in,
59-60.

NorSrsetur, in Greenland, 199.

" NorSrsetudräpa " written in Green-
land, 200.

Norway, area of, 1 ; chmate, 2 ;
agriculture and fisheries in mod-
ern times, 3-6 ; origin of agri-
culture, 3 ; fruit raising, 4 ;
eattle raising, 4 ; dairying, 4 ;
wild game, 4—5 ; commerce, 5-
6 ; manufacturing, forests, min-
ing, private handicraf ts, 6-7 ;
popular superstitions, 180.

Norwegians, the people, 35-41 ; their
origin and descent, 35-37 ; name,
60 ; in Northumbria, 59-60.

Notland, castle on Westray, 133.

Odd of Sjalte, 438.

Odel, system of land tenure, 111,
125-126.

Odin, the god, 100-107.

Ohthere's account of Norway, 40 ;
account of voyage, 142-144.

Olav, king of Dublin, joins in an
attack on England, 55.

Olav Feilan comes to Iceland, 140.

Olav Geirstad-Alv, 119.

Olav Gudr0dsson, 154-158.

Olav Haraldsson (Olav the Saint, or
St. Olav), 185, 244-252; his
childhood, 246-248; takes part
in Viking expedition to England,
248-249; visits Portugal and
southern Spain, 250 ; goes to
Norway, 250-251 ; marries As-
trid, 252-253 ; estabUshes Chris-
tianity in Norway, 254—257 ;
revises the laws of Norway, 257-
259 ; reorganizes the hird, 259-
260 ; makes an agreement with
the leelanders, 260 ; rebuilds
the city of Nidaros, 261 ; at-
tempts to reduce the aristocracy
to submission, 261-262 ; driven
from the country, 262 ; in exile
in Russia, 263 ; returns to Nor-
way, 263 ; battle of Stiklestad,
263-265 ; worshiped as a saint,
265-269 ; buried at Nidaros, 268.

Olav Hvitaskald, 443.

Olav Kvaaran, 154-159, 161, 224-
225, 230.

Olav Kyrre, king of Norway, 294-
303; founds the city of Bergen,
298 ; reorganizes the hird, 299 ;
introduces new costumes, 300.

Olav, king of Man and the Isles, 230.

Olav Paa, 193.

"Olavsdräpa," 174.

Olav S varte, king of Man and the
Isles, 425-426.

Olav Tryggvason, 174-197; in
England, 174-178; character of,
178-179; wins Norway, 178-
180 ; introduces Christianity in
Norway, 180-189 ; introduces
Christianity in the Faroe Islands,
Iceland, and Greenland, 189-
190 ; falls in the battle of Svolder,
195-197.

INDEX

503

Olav Ugseva, 367.

Olav the White of Dublin fights

in the battle of Hafrsfjord, 123,

153, 190.
01ve of Egge, 24.5.
Plve Hnuva, Mrdscald, 91, 128.
Oplandene, 122.
Orcades, 25.
Ordulf of Saxony married to Ulv-

hild, 275.
Prething in Tr0ndelagen, 113.
Orkney Islands, discovery of, 47-

48 ; name, 129 ; annexed to Nor-

way by Harald Haarfagre, 130 ;

mortgaged by Christian I., 132.
* ' Orkneyingasaga , " 1 32 .
Orm Kongsbroder, 379-383.
Ormen Lange (Lõng Serpent), 195,

196.
Orosius, 143.
ÖrskurSr, 390.
Oseberg ship, 34, 118.
0stlandet, 1.
Ostmantown (Oxmantown), origin

of, 229, 369.
Ottar Birting, 335-336, 344.

Papey in Iceland, 138.

Paris attacked by the Vikings, 52.

Paul Baalkesson, 426.

Paul Magnusson, 438.

Paul, jarl of the Orkney s, 238;

takes part in the battle of Stam-

ford Bridge, 290-291.
Paul Thorfinnsson, jarl of the Ork-

neys, 132.
Permians (Bjarmer), 41, 142, 144,

145, 453.
Perth, treaty of, 443.
" Peter' s Pence" introdueed in Nor-

way, 349.
Peter Steyper goes on crusading

expedition to the Holy Land,

410.
Phanonai, inhabitants of Scandia,

25.
Philip Simonsson, king, 408-409.
Phiraisoi, inhabitants of Scandia,

25.
Population, 26.
Procopius, 28.
Pytheas from Massilia, voyages to

the North, 23.

Rachru (see Lambay) seized by the
Vikings, 45.

Ragnarok, the end of the world, 99,
101, 105-106.

Ragnar L^rlhrnV, 4Q ; leads a Vik-
ing expedition to France, 51-52.

Ragnaricii, oid tribe in southern
Norway, 117.

Ragnhild, daughter of Magnus the
Good, 282-283.

Ragnhild, queen of Harald Haar-
fagre, 159.

Ragnvald Bruseson, jarl in the
Orkneys, 132.

Ragnvald Gudr0dsson, king of Man
and the Isles, 425.

Ragnvald Heidumhsere, 119. '

Ragnvald Jarl, second of the Ork-
neys, 132, 272, 340-341; leads
crusade to the Holy Land, 355-
358.

Ragnvald, king of Man and the
Isles, 230.

Ragnvald, king of York, 155.

Ragnvald M0rejarl, 120-125, 130-131.

Ragnvald Ulvsson of Vestergötland,
194-253.

Ragnvald, Viking chieftain, 48, 154.

Rane Vidf0rle, 245.

Ranrike, 117.

Rauraer, a tribe in Norway 111-
112.

Reading, Viking camp at, 55.

Ree, battle of, 362-363.

Ree, battle of (1177), 375.

Reginald's tower (Ragnvalds taarn),
Waterford, 82.

Reidar, archbishop, 348.

Reidar Sendemand, 406-407 ; leads
crusading expedition to Pales-
tine, 410.

Reinald of Stavanger, bishop, 339.

Reykjavik, 139.

Ribbungs, 413, 417.

Richard the Fearless, 150.

"Rigs})ula" 109, 110.

Rind, goddess, 104.

Ringer, tribe in Norway, 112.

Riphseic Mountains, 24.

Robert Bruce, the Elder, 479-480.

Robert Guiscard, 86.

Rochester attacked by the Vikings,
53.

504

INDEX

Rock tracings, 14.

Rodulf, Norwegian king who fled

to Theoderic the Great, 31.
Rolf Krake, 30.
Rollo (Gange-Rolv), 145.
Roman influence in Iron Age, 17-

18, 20.
Roman Iron Age, 17.
R0rek, king in Hedemarken, 246,

251.
Rouen, seized by the Vikings, 51 ;

becomes important city under

Viking influence, 79.
Rune-stone, found at Tune, Norway,

34 ; found at Kingigtorsuak,

Greenland, 199 ; found at H0nen,

221 ; at Dyna, Hadeland, 247 ;

at Alstad, in Toten, 247.
Runic alphabet, origin of, 22-23 ;

older, 22 ; younger, 43.
Runic characters thought to be

disco vered by Odin, 100-101 ;

used as amulets, 180.
Runic inscriptions, 23 ; Viking stone-

crosses with runic inscriptions

in Scotland, Man, and the Heb-

rides, 239-240.
Rurie, Swedish king, founder of

Russian kingdom, 65.
Russia, founding of Russian king-
dom by the Vikings, 64^67.
Ryger, a tribe in Norway, 111.

Säga Age, 193.

Sägas, 42-43.

Säga of Eirik the Red, 217-218.

Sandey in Nordland, 116.

Sarpsborg, 253.

Scalds, 41-42; Irish influence on,
128.

Scalloway, in the Shetland Islands,
137.

Scandinavia, in prehistoric times,
knowledge of, prior to the Chris-
tian era, 24 ; first mentioned by
Roman writers, 24 ; Scandia, 25.

Schleswig, 77.

Scilfings. royal house of Sweden. 29.
63, 118-119.

Scyldings (Ski oid nn {>■«), .30-31.

Seid, or sorcery, 180.

Sekken, battle of, 362.

Selja, island of, 186, 189.

Sessrymnir, Freya's hall, 104-105.

Shell-heaps (avfaldsdynger) , 10.

Sheppey ravaged by the Vikings, 53.

Shetland Islands, discovery of, 47-
48 ; annexed to Norway, 130 ;
settled, 134—135 ; Norse influ-
ence in, 135-137 ; mortgaged to
Scotland, by Christian I., 136.

Ship-building, 20, 44, 71-73.

Sidu-Hall, chieftain in Iceland, 192,
193.

Sif, the goddess, 105.

Sigfred, hostile to Charlemagne, 51.

Sighvat Sturlason, 436.

Sighvat Thordsson, scald, 252-253,
264, 271.

Sigmund Brestesson, 190.

Sigrid Storraade, queen, 194-195.

Sigtrygg, king of Dubün and of
York, 154-155.

Sigtrygg Silkbeard, Norse king in
DubUn, 225.

Sigtuna, 77, 109.

Sigurd the Crusader, 311-319 ; makes
a crusade to the Holy Land,
315-319, 325-326; fights with
the Moorish freebooters, 316-
317 ; visits the Emperor at
Constantinople, 319 ; quarrels
with his brother Eystein, 324-
326; his reign, 333-336.

Sigurd of Lade, 161, 165.

Sigurd Lodvesson, of the Orkneys,
131 ; accepts Christianity, 179,
197, 227-228, 236.

Sigurd Markusfostre, king, 362-363.

Sigurd Mund, king of Norway, 342,
344.

Sigurd Ranesson, 326-332, 333.

Sigurd of RejT, 362.

Sigurd Ribbung, pretender, 413,
415-417.

Sigurd Slembediakn, 311, 341-344.

Sigurd Sleva, king, 167-169.

Sigurd Sverresson, 407.

Sigurd Syr, king, 185, 246, 247,
251.

Sigurd of Trondanes, 245.

Sigvalde Jarl, 173, 195-196.

Sigyn, the goddess, 104.

Sinclair, William, last Orkney jarl,
132.

Sitones, inhabitants of Scandia, 25.

INDEX

505

Sivilla besieged by the Vikings, 49.

Skaale, 87-88.

Skade, the goddess, 105.

Skenkjari, 466.

Skervald Skrukka, 41.

Skibreder, naval districts, 165.

Skida Myre, battle of, 131.

Skien, town in southern Norway, 344.

Skiringssal, 77, 79, 109, 118.

Skirnir, 104-105.

Skofte Agmundsson, makes a cru-

sading expedition to the Holy

Land, 313-314.
SkrseUngs, 198, 202-204, 206.
Skuld, one of the norns, 97-98.
Skule Jarl, 412-420 ; rebels against

King Haakon, 418.
Skule, Kongsfostre, 303.
Skutilsveinar, 466.
Sleipnir, Odin's horse, 102.
Slitungs, rebel bänd, 413.
Snefrid, queen, 159.
Snorre Gode, 193.
Snorre Thorbrandsson, 210.
Snorre Sturlason, author of "Heims-

kringla," 95, 436-437, 443-444.
Snotra, the goddess, 105.
Social classes, 109-110.
Sodor and Man, bishopric of, 231-

232, 349.
Solskjel, battle of, 122.
Sommersetshire, Vikings in, 53.
S0ndm0rings, 115.
Stavanger, bishopric estabUshed,

322-323; cathedral built, 323;

city of, 344.
Stenkjaer, home of Svein Jarl, 144,

150.
Stevne Thorgilsson, missionary to

Iceland, 191-192.
St. Halvard, 284-285.
St. Halvard's church in Oslo, 285,

destroyed, 343.
St. Sunniva, legend, 186-187 ; shrine

of, moved to Bergen, 366.
Stiklestad, battle of, 263-265.
Stone Age, agriculture in, 3 ; Older

Stone Age, 8-10 ; estimated dura-

tion of, 18 ; Younger Stone Age,

8-13 ; estimated duration of, 18.
Stone coffins, 10.
Strathclyde, ravaged by the Vikings,

56.

Straumsey, 211.

Straumsfjord, 211, 217.

Stromness on the Orkneys, 134.

Sturlungs, 436.

Sturla Sighvatsson, 436.

Sturla Thordsson, scald, 95, 443.

Suiones (Swedes), mentioned by

Tacitus, 22, 25; flrst people in

the North to pass out of tribal

organization, 28 ; development

of national kingship among, 29.
Sumarhde Sigurdsson, jarl in the

Orkneys, 132.
Sundeved, boat, 20.
Surrey, Vikings in, 54.
Surt, 105.
Sutherland, in Seotland, Norse settle-

ment, 238.
Svein Alfivason, 265-269.
Svein Asleivsson, 371-372.
Svein Estridsson, king of Denmark,

273, 274; sends an expedition

against England, 293.
Svein, son of Haakon Jarl, 194-195,

244, 251-252.
Sveinke Steinarsson, 303.
Svein Tjugeskjeg (Forkbeard), 172-

173, 175, 194-195, 196, 248-249.
Sverre Sigurdsson, 375-386; his

reign, 386-397 ; contest with the

Pope and the clergy, 399-405.
"Sverressaga," 444, 452.
Svitiod, 28, 112.
Svolder, battle of, 196.
Swansea, 79.
Swedes, 60.
Sweyn, brother of Harold and Tos-

tig, 287-288.
Syssel, royal offiee, 124.
Sysselm^nd, 124, 287-288.

Tara, battle of, 158, 223.

Taxes, 119, 124.

Temples, 108-109.

Teutones invade the Roman Em-

pire, 27.
Thames, great Viking fleet in, 54.
Thangbrand, priest, 182, 183-184,

192.
Theodrieus Monaehus (Tjodrek), his-

torian, 444-445.
Thing, assembly of the people, 110,

114; in Iceland, 141.

506

INDEX

Thingvellir in Iceland, 141.
Thjodolv of Hvin, 63, 128.
Thjostolv Aaleseon, 342-343.
Thor, the god, 100, 105.
^Thora, married to Harald Sigurdsson

Haardraade, 275.
Thorberg Arnesson, 245.
Thorbj0rn Hornklove, hirdscald, 85,

128.
Thorbrand Snorreson, 216.
Thord Foleson, King Oiav's stand-

ard-bearer at Stiklestad, 264-265.
Thore Hjort, 188.
Thore Hund of Bjarkey, 245, 271.
Thore of Steig, 303.
Thorfinn Karlsevne makes an ex-

pedition to Vinland, 207-218.
Thorfinn, jarl of the Orkneys, 236,

238, 272, 286.
Thorgils Halmason, 266, 267.
Thorhall Gamlason, 210.
Thorhall Veidemand (the Hunter),

210, 212.
Thorfinn Hausakljuv, 131.
Thormod Kolbrünarskald, 91, 265.
Thorvald Vidf0rle of Iceland, 191.
Thorgeir, 184, 195.
Thorgeir Ljosvetningagode, lovsige-

mand in Iceland, 192.
Thorgrim Thjodolvsson of Hvin, 195.
Thorkel the Tall leads an expedition

against England, 248-249.
Thorkel Nevja, 195.
Thorleiv Raudfeldarsson, scald, 173.
Thorleiv Spake, 165.
Thorstein Eiriksson, brother of Leiv

Eiriksson, 209.
Thorstein Ingolvsson of Iceland, 140.
Thorstein the Red, in Scotland, 235.
Thorstein Skevla, 411.
Thorvald Eiriksson, son of Eirik

Raude, killed on an expedition to

Vinland, 217.
Thrithing (riding), 163.
Thule, visited by Pytheas from

Massiüa about 330, 23-25, 28,

30.
Thyra Danebod, Danish queen, 170.
Thyre, wife of Olav Tryggvason,

194, 195-196.
Tin Hallkelsson, scald, 173.
Tjotta, 116.
Torfness (Burghead), battle of, 237.

Torv-Einar, 130-131.

Tostig Jarl, 287 ; invades England,

289, 292; Battle of Stamford

Bridge, 291-292.
Toulouse attacked by the Vikings, 48.
Tours attacked by the Vikings, 48.
Towns, growth of, 76-82.
Trade, in prehistoric times, 10, 14-

15, 17-23, 76-82; in northern

Norway in the Viking period,

116; with Finns, 124; with

Greenland, 200 ; with Iceland,

224-225, 228-229.
TroUbotn, abode of the troUs, 169.
Tr0ndelagen, 1 ; confederacy in

northern Norway, 113.
Trondhjem cathedral, 384-385, 455-

456.
Trond i Gata, 190, 197, 272.
Tryggve Olavsson, king, 168-169,

174.
Tun, a dwelling place, 111.
Tunsberg, 79, 118 ; siege of, 406-407.
Tureholm, number of Roman coins

found at, 27.
Turgeis, Viking king in Ireland, 47,

62.
Tynwald, Court of, in Man, 234;

Hill, 234.
Tyr, the god, 100.

Ulvhild, sister of King Ma^us of

Norway, 274.
Ulv of Lauvnes leads crusade to

the Holy Land, 395-397.
Ulvljot, lawgiver in Iceland, 140.
Ulv R0de, 195.
Ulv Sebbason, hirdscald, 128.
Ulv Uggason, scald, 95.
Upsala, 29, 77, 100, 109.
Urd, one of the norns, 97, 98 ; well

of, 98.
Uspak-Haakon, 426.
Uttr0ndelagen, 113.

Vaale, the god, 104.
"Vafthrudnismäl," 102-103.
Vägar (Kabelvaag), 116.
Valdemar, Swedish duke, 489-490.
Valhal, 101-107.
Valkyries, 101.
Vanir, tribe of gods, 98.
Vanlande, king of Svitiod, 63.

INDEX

507

Varangians in Russia, 64.

Varbelgs, 394 ; rebel bänd, 418.

Varder, 166.

Ve, the god, 97.

Veey, in Romsdal, temple at, 115;
town in Romsdal, 344.

Vegard of Veradal, 412^13.

Veitsle, 124.

"Vellekla," 173.

Vendel, remarkable graves at, 31.

Verdandi, one of the norns, 97-98.

Vestfold, 117-119, 171.

Vestlandet, 1.

Vidar, the god, 105.

Vidkun Jonsson, 343.

ViU, the god, 97.

Vingolf, 104, 107.

Vigfus Vigaglumsson, scald, 173.

Vigrid, the plain of, 105.

Viken, in southern Norway, 117;
given to King Valdemar of Den-
mark, 368.

Vikings, meaning of the word, 44 ;
in England, early visits, 45-46 ;
in Ireland and in the Islands,
46-48; in France and Spain,
48-52 ; expedition into the Medi-
terranean Sea and to Luna, in
Italy, 49-50 ; routes of expedi-
tions, 50 ; in England, 52 ; ex-
peditions eastward, 64 ; military
training and equipment, 26-27 ;
size of fleets, 73 ; armies, size
of, 74 ; settle Cumberland, 158 ;
new conquest of Ireland by, 154 ;
last expedition to England, 294.

Viking Age, 44.

Vglva, 90.

Vingulmark, 117.

Vinland, 205, 207; supposed loca-
tion of, 214, 223.

Vitalis, Ordericus, visits Norway

in the twelfth century, 4.
"Vyluspä," 96-97.

Waleheren, seized by the Vikings,
51.

Wareham, Viking camp at, 57.

Waterford, founded by the Vikings,
55, 58.

Wedmore, treaty of, 58.

Weights and measures introduced in
Ireland by the Vikings, 79.

Welsh, West, attacked by the Vik-
ings, 53.

Wends destroy Konghelle, 340.

Western Settlement in Greenland,
198; abandoned, 202-203.

Wessex, attacked by the Vikings,
55, 58.

Westfoldingi, Vikings from Vest-
fold in Norway, 48.

Wicgeanbeorge, battle of, 54.

"Widsith," mentions historic events
in the North, 31, 44, 112.

William the Conqueror claims the
throne of England, 288; in
Northumbria, 293.

William Longsword, 150.

William of Sabina, eardinal, 420-424.

Wisby, in Gothland, 77.

Wolsung, 32.

Woman, position of, in society, 17 ; k
a? warrior, 76 ; in the home, 86-91.

Yggdrasil, 98-99.

YngUngs, 29, 63, 118-119.

York, taken by the Vikings, 54;
Viking kingdom of, 57; fortified
by the Vikings, and becomes a
leading city, 57 ; becomes next
largest city in England under
Viking control, 80.

Printed in the United States of America

3 42

■ he ^ ast

\^p/W 1 0 1953
R 2 1954

date sta

M0 2 2 »34S

^^ 2 3 195g
MAR 14

rE3 4 1950 I Jüw 3

APR 2 5 1950

M/IK141S1,

AFR'3 0 1951

4UN 1

iWArBligsL J^^N^^.^I

^ 1951 1 km 2 0 1354
JÜf^ 16 ibSi , I «eg'"d mld

r^-*^ 20 Jae?

lOw-8,

3 1158 00126 4786

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Töid EKP ajaloo alalt"

See other formats