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diff --git a/20549.txt b/20549.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3872800 --- /dev/null +++ b/20549.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9739 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 9 (of 15), by Charles Morris + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Historical Tales, Vol. 9 (of 15) + The Romance of Reality. Scandinavian. + +Author: Charles Morris + +Release Date: February 9, 2007 [EBook #20549] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORICAL TALES, VOL. 9 (OF 15) *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcriber's note: Ten minor typographical errors have been + corrected in this text version. + + + + + Edition d'Elite + + Historical Tales + The Romance of Reality + + + By + CHARLES MORRIS + +_Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the + Dramatists," etc._ + + + IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES + + Volume IX + + + Scandinavian + + + J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY + + PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON + + + + + Copyright, 1908, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. + + + +[Illustration: From Stereograph Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N.Y. +OLD BRIDGE AT OEREBRO.] + + + + + _CONTENTS_ + PAGE + +HOW KING ROLF WON HIS BRIDE 9 + +RAGNAR LODBROK AND HIS WIVES AND SONS 19 + +HAROLD FAIR-HAIRED FOUNDS THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY 31 + +GORM THE OLD, DENMARK'S FIRST KING 42 + +ERIK BLOOD-AXE AND EGIL THE ICELANDER 49 + +THE SEA-KINGS AND THEIR DARING FEATS 60 + +HAAKON THE GOOD AND THE SONS OF GUNHILD 69 + +EARL HAAKON AND THE JOMSVIKINGS 78 + +HOW OLAF, THE SLAVE-BOY, WON THE THRONE 89 + +OLAF DETHRONES ODIN AND DIES A HERO 98 + +OLAF THE SAINT AND HIS WORK FOR CHRIST 108 + +CANUTE THE GREAT, KING OF SIX NATIONS 121 + +MAGNUS THE GOOD AND HAROLD HARDRULER 132 + +SVERRE, THE COOK'S SON, AND THE BIRCHLEGS 145 + +THE FRIENDS AND FOES OF A BOY PRINCE 160 + +KING VALDEMAR I. AND BISHOP ABSOLON 169 + +THE FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES OF VALDEMAR II 176 + +BIRGER JARL AND THE CONQUEST OF FINLAND 186 + +THE FIRST WAR BETWEEN SWEDEN AND RUSSIA 196 + +THE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT OF KING BIRGER 202 + +QUEEN MARGARET AND THE CALMAR UNION 211 + +HOW SIR TORD FOUGHT FOR CHARLES OF SWEDEN 217 + +STEN STURE'S GREAT VICTORY OVER THE DANES 226 + +HOW THE DITMARSHERS KEPT THEIR FREEDOM 236 + +THE BLOOD-BATH OF STOCKHOLM 241 + +THE ADVENTURES OF GUSTAVUS VASA 252 + +THE FALL OF CHRISTIAN II. THE TYRANT 271 + +THE WEST GOTHLAND INSURRECTION 283 + +THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF KING ERIK 296 + +GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS ON THE FIELD OF LEIPSIC 310 + +CHARLES X. AND THE INVASION OF DENMARK 319 + +CHARLES XII. THE FIREBRAND OF SWEDEN 326 + +THE ENGLISH INVADERS AND THE DANISH FLEET 343 + +A FRENCH SOLDIER BECOMES KING OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY 349 + +THE DISMEMBERMENT OF DENMARK 358 + +BREAKING THE BOND BETWEEN NORWAY AND SWEDEN 362 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + SCANDINAVIAN. + + PAGE + +THE OLD BRIDGE AT OEREBRO, ONE OF THE MOST + ANCIENT TOWNS OF SWEDEN. _Frontispiece._ + +HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT, NORWAY 35 + +HOME OF PEASANTS, NORWAY 50 + +BUSY FARMERS IN A HILLSIDE FIELD ABOVE ARE, SWEDEN 80 + +A NORDFJORD BRIDE AND GROOM WITH GUESTS AND + PARENTS. BRIGSDAL, NORWAY 95 + +NORWEGIAN PEASANTS 115 + +NORWEGIAN FARM BUILDINGS 135 + +LINKOPING FROM TANNEFORS 165 + +VILLAGE LIFE AND HOMES IN SWEDEN 190 + +MORNING GREETINGS OF NEIGHBORS, SWEDEN 210 + +GRIPSHOLM CASTLE, MARI 220 + +SKURUSUND, STOCKHOLM 230 + +SKANSEN RIVER 242 + +THE FAMOUS XVI. CENTURY CASTLE AT UPSALA, SWEDEN 256 + +NORWEGIAN CARRIAGE CALLED STOLKJAEM 285 + +ARMORY AND COSTUME HALL OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM, SWEDEN 300 + +STATUE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 312 + +THE RETURN OF CHARLES XII. OF SWEDEN 340 + +KRONBERG CASTLE ON THE SOUND, DENMARK 348 + +THE BOURSE, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK 360 + + + + +_HOW KING ROLF WON HIS BRIDE._ + + +At one time very many centuries ago, we cannot say just when, for this +was in the days of the early legends, there reigned over Upsala in Sweden +a king named Erik. He had no son and only one daughter, but this girl was +worth a dozen sons and daughters of some kings. Torborg she was named, +and there were few women so wise and beautiful and few men so strong and +valiant. She cared nothing for women's work, but was the equal of any man +of the court in riding, fighting with sword and shield, and other +athletic sports. This troubled King Erik very much, for he thought that +the princess should sit in her maiden chamber like other kings' +daughters; but she told him that when she came to succeed him on the +throne she would need to know how to defend her kingdom, and now was the +time for her to learn. + +That she might become the better fitted to rule, she asked him to give +her some province to govern, and this he did, making her queen of a third +of his kingdom, and giving her an army of stout and bold warriors. Her +court was held at Ulleraker in Upland, and here she would not let any one +treat her as a woman, dressing always in men's clothing and bidding her +men to call her King Torborg. To fail in this would be at risk of their +heads. As her fame spread abroad, there were many who came to court her, +for she was at once very beautiful and the heiress of a great kingdom. +But she treated all such with laughter and contempt. It is even said that +she put out the eyes of some, and cut off the hands and feet of others, +but this we do not like to believe. At any rate, she drove away those who +troubled her too much with lance and spear. So it was plain that only a +strong and bold man could win this warlike maiden for his wife. + +At that time King Goetrik who ruled in Gothland, a country in southern +Sweden, had sent his younger son Rolf to be brought up at the court of +his foster-brother King Ring of Denmark. His elder son Kettil he kept at +home, but did not love him much on account of his pride and obstinacy. So +it happened that when Goetrik was very old and like to die, he decided +that Rolf, who was very tall and strong, and very fit and able, should +succeed him, though he was the younger son. All agreed to this, even +Kettil, so Rolf was sent for and made king of Gothland, which he ruled +with skill and valor. + +One day Rolf and Kettil, who loved each other as brothers should, were +talking together, and Kettil said that one thing was wanting to the glory +and honor of Rolf's rule, and that was a queen of noble birth and goodly +presence. + +"And whom have you in mind?" asked Rolf. + +"There is Torborg, the king of Upsala's daughter. If you can win her for +wife it will be the greatest marriage in the north." + +To this advice Rolf would not listen. He had heard of how the shrewish +Torborg treated her suitors, and felt that wooing her would be like +taking a wild wolf by the ears. So he stayed unmarried for several years +more, though Kettil often spoke of the matter, and one day said to him +contemptuously: + +"Many a man has a large body with little courage, and I fear you are such +a one; for though you stand as a man, you do not dare to speak to a +woman." + +"I will show you that I am a man," said Rolf, very angry at these words. + +He sent to Denmark for his foster-brother Ingiald, son of King Ring, and +when he came the two set out with sixty armed men for the court of King +Erik in Upsala. + +One morning, about this time, Queen Ingerd of Upsala awoke and told King +Erik of a strange dream she had dreamed. She had seen in her sleep a +troop of wolves running from Gothland towards Sweden, a great lion and a +little bear leading them; but these, instead of being fierce and shaggy, +were smooth-haired and gentle. + +"What do you think it means?" asked the king. + +"I think that the lion is the ghost of a king, and that the white bear is +some king's son, the wolves being their followers. I fancy it means that +Rolf of Gothland and Ingiald of Denmark are coming hither, bent on a +mission of peace, since they appear so tame. Do you think that King Rolf +is coming to woo our daughter, Torborg?" + +"Nonsense, woman; the king of so small a realm would show great assurance +to seek for wife so great a princess as our daughter." + +So when Rolf and his followers came to Upsala King Erik showed his +displeasure, inviting him to his table but giving him no seat of honor at +the feast. Rolf sat silent and angry at this treatment, but when Erik +asked him why he had come, he told him courteously enough the reason of +his visit. + +"I know how fond you Goths are of a joke," said Erik, with a laugh. "You +have a way of saying one thing when you mean another. But I can guess +what brings you. Gothland is little and its revenues are small and you +have many people to keep and feed. Food is now scarce in Gothland, and +you have come here that you may not suffer from hunger. It was a good +thought for you to come to Upsala for help, and you are welcome to go +about my kingdom with your men for a month; then you can return home +plump and well fed." + +This jesting speech made Rolf very angry, though he said little in reply. +But when the king told Queen Ingerd that evening what he had said she was +much displeased. + +"King Rolf may have a small kingdom," she said, "but he has gained fame +by his courage and ability, and is as powerful as many kings with a wider +rule. You did not well to mock him." + +The next day Erik, thus admonished, begged Rolf's pardon, saying that the +ale had made him speak foolishly, and thus he became reconciled with his +guest. As for Rolf's desire to win his daughter, he would first have to +gain Torborg's consent, which would be no easy matter. The king promised +not to interfere but would do no more. + +Soon after this Rolf and his men arrived at Ulleraker, reaching there +when the whole of Torborg's court were assembled in the great hall. +Fearing a hostile reception, Rolf took wary precautions. He choose twelve +of his stoutest men, with himself and Ingiald at their head, to enter the +court with drawn swords in their hands. If they were attacked, they were +to go out backward fighting, but they were bidden to conduct themselves +like men and let nothing alarm them. The others remained outside, keeping +the horses in readiness to mount. + +When the party entered the hall, Rolf at their head, all there were +struck with his great size and noble aspect. No one assailed them and he +walked up the hall, on whose high seat at the front he saw what seemed a +tall and finely formed man, dressed in royal robes. Knowing that this +must be the haughty princess whose hand he had come to seek, he took off +his helmet, bowed low before her, and began to tell what brought him to +her court. + +He had scarcely begun when she stopped him. She said that he must be +joking; that she knew his real errand was to get food and that this she +would give him; but he must apply for it to the chief of the kitchen, +not to her. + +Rolf had not come so far to be laughed out of the court, and he sturdily +went on with what he had to say, speaking to her as a woman, and +demanding her hand in marriage. At this she changed her jesting manner, +her cheeks grew red with anger, and springing up, she seized her weapons +and called upon her men to lay hold upon and bind the fool that had dared +affront their monarch. Shouting and confusion followed and a sharp attack +was made on the intruders, but Rolf put on his helmet and bade his men to +retire, which they did in good order. He walked backward through the +whole hall, shield on arm and sword in hand, parrying and dealing blows, +so that when he left the room, though no blade had touched him, a dozen +of the courtiers lay bleeding. But being greatly overmatched, he ordered +his men to mount, and they rode away unscathed. + +Back to West Gothland they went and told Kettil how poorly they had +fared. + +"You have suffered a sore insult and affront at a woman's hand," said +Kettil, "and my advice is that it be speedily avenged," but Rolf replied +that he was not yet ready to act. + +Torborg had not taken the trouble to ask the name of her wooer, but when +she learned who it was she knew very well that the matter had not reached +its end and that her would-be lover would return stronger than before. As +she did not want him or any man for husband she made great preparations +for an attack, gathering a large body of warriors and having a wall of +great strength and the finest workmanship built round the town. It was so +high and thick that no battering ram could shake it, while water-cisterns +were built into it to put out the fire if any one sought to burn it. From +this we may judge that the wall was of wood. This done, Torborg made +merry with her court, thinking that no lover in the wide world would now +venture to annoy her. + +She did not know the kind of man she had to deal with in King Rolf. He +had fought with men and fancied he was fit to conquer a woman. The next +summer he had a battle with Asmund, son of the king of Scotland, and when +it was over they became friends and foster-brothers and went on viking +cruises together. Next spring Rolf armed and manned six ships and, taking +Kettil and Ingiald and Asmund with him, set sail for Upsala. He proposed +now to woo the warrior princess in another fashion. + +Queen Ingerd about this time dreamed again, her dream being the same as +before, except that this time there were two white bears, and a hog which +was small but spiteful, its bristles pointing forward and its mouth +snarling as if ready to bite anything that came before it. And the bears +did not look as gentle as before, but seemed irritated. + +She interpreted this dream to mean that Rolf was coming again to avenge +the affront he had received, and that the fierce hog must stand for +Kettil, of whose character she had been told. + +When Rolf now arrived King Erik received him with honor, and again agreed +to remain his friend, no matter how stormy a courtship he might have. +From Upsala he set out for Ulleraker and sent a herald to Princess +Torborg, asking speech with her. She presented herself at the top of the +wall, surrounded by armed men. King Rolf renewed his suit, and told her +plainly that if she did not accept his proposal he had come to burn the +town and slay every man within its walls. + +"You shall first serve as a goatherd in West Gothland before you get any +power over me and mine," answered Torborg haughtily. + +Rolf lost no time in assailing the walls, but found them stoutly +defended. The Swedes within poured boiling water and hot pitch on their +assailants, threw down stones and beams, and hurled spears and arrows +from the wall. For fourteen days the siege continued without effect, +until the Goths, weary of their hard fighting and the mockery of the +defenders, began to complain and wanted to return home. The townspeople +derided them by showing costly goods from the ramparts and bidding them +come and take them, and ridiculed them in many other ways. + +King Rolf now saw that he must take other measures. He had a cover +constructed of boards and brushwood and supported by stout beams, making +a strong roof which was set against the wall and defied all the boiling +water and missiles of the Swedes. Under its shelter a hole was dug +through the wall and soon the Goths were in the queen's citadel. + +To their surprise they found it empty. Not a soul was to be seen, but in +every room they found well-cooked food and many articles of value. + +"This is a fine capture," said Kettil. "Let us enjoy ourselves and divide +the spoil." + +"Not so," said Rolf. "It is a lure to draw us off. I will not rest till I +have the princess in my power." + +They sought the palace through and through, but no one was there. Finally +a secret passage was discovered, leading underground, and the king +entered it, the others following. They emerged in a forest where they +found Torborg and all her men and where a sharp battle began. No warrior +could have fought more bravely than the man-like princess, and her men +stood up for her boldly, but they gradually gave way before the onset of +Rolf and his tried warriors. + +Rolf now bade Kettil to take Torborg prisoner, but not to wound her, +saying that it would be shameful to use arms against a woman. Kettil +sprang forward and gave the princess a sharp blow with the flat of his +sword, reviling her at the same time with rude words. In return, Torborg +gave him so hard a blow on the ear with her battle-axe that he fell +prostrate, with his heels in the air. + +"That is the way we treat our dogs when they bark too loud," she said. + +Kettil sprang up, burning with anger, but at the same moment Rolf rushed +forward and grasped the warlike princess in his powerful arms, so that +she was forced to surrender. + +He told her that she was his prisoner, but that he did not wish to win a +wife in the viking manner and that he would leave it to her father to +judge what should be done. Taken captive in his arms, there was nothing +else for her to do, and she went with him to Upsala, where King Erik was +delighted at Rolf's success. As for the warlike princess, she laid down +her arms at her father's feet, put on a woman's garments, and seemed glad +enough to have been won as a bride in so warlike a manner and by so +heroic a wooer. + +Soon after this the marriage took place, the festivities being the +grandest the court could afford and lasting for fourteen days, after +which Rolf and his followers returned home, his new queen with him. The +sagas say, as we can well believe after so strenuous a wooing, that +afterwards King Rolf and Queen Torborg lived a long and happy life. + + + + +_RAGNAR LODBROK AND HIS WIVES AND SONS._ + + +The old sagas, or hero tales of the north, are full of stories of +enchantment and strange marvels. We have told one of these tales in the +record of King Rolf and Princess Torborg. We have now to tell that of +Ragnar Lodbrok, a hero king of the early days, whose story is full of +magical incidents. That this king reigned and was a famous man in his +days there is no reason to doubt, but around his career gathered many +fables, as was apt to be the case with the legends of great men in those +days. To show what these tales were like we take from the sagas the +marvellous record of Ragnar and his wives. + +In East Gothland in the ancient days there lived a mighty jarl, or earl, +named Herroed, who was descended from the gods. He had a daughter named +Tora, who was famed for her beauty and virtue, but proved as hard to win +for a wife as Princess Torborg had been. She dwelt in a high room which +had a wall built around it like a castle, and was called Castle Deer, +because she surpassed all other women in beauty as much as the deer +surpasses all other animals. + +Her father, who was very fond of her, gave her as a toy a small and +wonderfully beautiful snake which he had received in a charmed egg in +Bjarmaland. It proved to be an unwelcome gift. The snake was at first +coiled in a little box, but soon grew until the box would not hold it, +and in time was so big that the room would not hold it. So huge did it +become in the end that it lay coiled in a ring around the outer walls, +being so long that its head and tail touched. + +It got to be so vicious that no one dared come near it except the maiden +and the man who fed it, and his task was no light one, for it devoured an +ox at a single meal. The jarl was sorry enough now that he had given his +daughter such a present. It was one not easy to get rid of, dread of the +snake having spread far and wide, and though he offered his daughter with +a great dower to the man who should kill it, no one for a long time +ventured to strive for the reward. The venom which it spat out was enough +to destroy any warrior. + +At length a suitor for the hand of the lovely princess was found in +Ragnar, the young son of Sigurd Ring, then one of the greatest monarchs +of the age, with all Sweden and Norway under his sway, as the sagas tell. +Ragnar, though still a boy, had gained fame as a dauntless warrior, and +was a fit man to dare the venture with the great snake, though for a long +time he seemed to pay no heed to the princess. + +But meanwhile he had made for himself a strange coat. It was wrought out +of a hairy hide, which he boiled in pitch, drew through sand, and then +dried and hardened in the sun. The next summer he sailed to East +Gothland, hid his ships in a small bay, and at dawn of the next day +proceeded toward the maiden's bower, spear in hand and wearing his +strange coat. + +There lay the dreaded serpent, coiled in a ring round the wall. Ragnar, +nothing daunted, struck it boldly with his spear, and before it could +move in defence struck it a second blow, pressing the spear until it +pierced through the monster's body. So fiercely did the snake struggle +that the spear broke in two, and it would have destroyed Ragnar with the +venom it poured out if he had not worn his invulnerable coat. + +The noise of the struggle and the fierceness of the snake's convulsions, +which shook the whole tower, roused Tora and her maids, and she looked +from her window to see what it meant. She saw there a tall man, but could +not distinguish his features in the grey dawn. The serpent was now in its +death throes, though this she did not know, and she called out: + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" + +Ragnar answered in this verse: + + "For the maid fair and wise + I would venture my life. + The scale-fish got its death wound + From a youth of fifteen!" + +Then he went away, taking the broken handle of the spear with him. Tora +listened in surprise, for she learned from the verse that a boy of +fifteen had slain the great monster, and she marvelled at his great size +for his years, wondering if he were man or wizard. When day came she told +her father of the strange event, and the jarl drew out the broken spear +from the snake, finding it to be so heavy that few men could have lifted +it. + +Who had killed the serpent and earned the reward? The jarl sent a mandate +throughout his kingdom, calling all men together, and when they came he +told them the story of the snake's death, and bade him who possessed the +handle of the spear to present it, as he would keep his word with any +one, high or low. + +Ragnar and his men stood on the edge of the throng as the broken head of +the spear was passed round, no one being able to present the handle +fitting it. At length it came to Ragnar, and he drew forth the handle +from his cloak, showing that the broken ends fitted exactly. A great +feast for the victor was now given by Jarl Herroed, and when Ragnar saw +the loveliness of Tora, he was glad to ask her for his queen, while she +was equally glad to have such a hero for her spouse. A splendid bridal +followed and the victor took his beautiful bride home. + +This exploit gave Ragnar great fame and he received the surname of +Lodbrok, on account of the strange coat he had worn. Ragnar and Tora +lived happily together but not to old age, for after some years she took +sick and died, leaving two sons, Erik and Agnar, who grew up to be strong +and beautiful youths. Ragnar had loved her greatly and after her death +said he would marry no other woman. Nor could he comfort himself at home +but began to wander abroad on warlike voyages, that he might drive away +his sorrow. + +Leaving Ragnar Lodbrok to his travels, let us take up the strange story +of another fair maiden, who was to have much to do with his future life. +She was named Asloeg and was the daughter of King Sigurd Fafnisbane, of +Germany. Soon after she was born enemies of her father killed him and her +mother and all of his race they could find. Her life was saved by Heimer, +foster-father to her mother, who to get her away from the murderers had a +large harp made with a hollow frame, in which he hid the child and all +the treasure he could find. + +Then he wandered far as a travelling harper, letting the child out when +they came to solitary woods, and when she wept and moaned silencing her +by striking the strings of the harp. After long journeying he came to a +cottage in Norway called Spangerhed, where lived a beggar and his wife. +Seeing a gold bracelet under Heimer's rags, and some rich embroidery +sticking from the harp, the beggar and his wife killed him during the +night and broke open the harp. They found in it the wealth they sought, +but the discovery of the pretty little girl troubled them. + +"What shall we do with this child?" he asked. + +"We will bring her up as our own, and name her Kraka, after my mother," +said his wife. + +"But no one will believe that ugly old people like us can have so fair a +daughter." + +"Let me manage it," said the wife. "I will put tar on her head so that +her hair will not be too long, and keep her in ragged clothes and at the +hardest work." + +This they did and little Asloeg grew up as a beggar's child. And as she +kept strangely silent, never speaking, all people thought her dumb. + +One day, when Asloeg was well grown, Ragnar Lorbrok came that way, +cruising along the Norway coast. The crew was out of bread and men were +sent ashore to bake some at a house they saw in the distance. This house +was Spangerhed, where Kraka dwelt. + +She had seen the ships come up and the men land, and was ashamed to be +seen by strangers as she was, so she washed herself and combed her hair, +though she had been bidden never to do so. So long and thick had her hair +grown that it reached to the ground and covered her completely. + +When the cooks came to bake their bread they were so surprised at the +beauty of the maiden that they let the loaves burn while looking at her, +and on being blamed for this carelessness on their return to the ship +said they could not help it, for they had been bewitched by the face of +the loveliest maiden they had ever gazed upon. + +"She cannot be as lovely as Tora was," said Ragnar. + +"There was never a lovelier woman," they declared, and Ragnar was so +struck by their story that he sent messengers ashore to learn if they +were telling the truth. If it were so, he said, if Kraka were as +beautiful as Tora, they were bidden to bring her to him neither dressed +nor undressed, neither fasting nor satisfied, neither alone nor in +company. The messengers found the maiden as fair as the cooks had said +and repeated the king's demand. + +"Your king must be out of his mind, to send such a message," said the +beggar's wife; but Kraka told them that she would come as their king +wished, but not until the next morning. + +The next day she came to the shore where the ship lay. She was completely +covered with her splendid hair, worn like a net around her. She had eaten +an onion before coming, and had with her the old beggar's sheep dog; so +that she had fulfilled Ragnar's three demands. + +Her wit highly pleased Ragnar and he asked her to come on board, but she +would not do so until she had been promised peace and safety. When she +was taken to the cabin Ragnar looked at her in delight. He thought that +she surpassed Tora in beauty, and offered a prayer to Odin, asking for +the love of the maiden. Then he took the gold-embroidered dress which +Tora had worn and offered it to Kraka, saying in verse, in the fashion of +those times: + + "Will you have Tora's robe? It suits you well. Her + white hands have played upon it. Lovely and kind was + she to me until death." + +Kraka answered, also in verse: + + "I dare not take the gold-embroidered robe which + adorned Tora the fair. It suits not me. Kraka am I + called in coal-black baize. I have ever herded goats on + the stones by the sea-shore." + +"And now I will go home," she added. "If the king's mind does not change +he can send for me when he will." + +Then she went back to the beggar's cottage and Ragnar sailed in his ship +away. + +Of course every one knows without telling what came from such an +invitation. It was not long before Ragnar was back with his ship and he +found Kraka quite ready to go with him. And when they reached his home a +splendid entertainment was given, during which the marriage between +Ragnar and Kraka took place, everything being rich and brilliant and all +the great lords of the kingdom being present. It will be seen that, +though the Princess Asloeg pretended to be dumb during her years of +youthful life in the beggar's cottage, she found her voice and her wits +with full effect when the time came to use them. + +She was now the queen of a great kingdom, and lived for many years +happily with her husband Ragnar. And among her children were two sons who +were very different from other men. The oldest was called Iwar. He grew +up to be tall and strong, though there were no bones in his body, but +only gristle, so that he could not stand, but had to be carried +everywhere on a litter. Yet he was very wise and prudent. The second +gained the name of Ironside, and was so tough of skin that he wore no +armor in war, but fought with his bare body without being wounded. To the +people this seemed the work of magic. There were two others who were like +other men. + +Since the older brothers, the sons of Tora, had long been notable as +warriors, the younger brothers, when they grew up, became eager to win +fame and fortune also, and they went abroad on warlike expeditions, +fighting many battles, winning many victories, and gaining much riches. + +But Iwar, the boneless one, was not satisfied with this common fighting, +but wanted to perform some great exploit, that would give them a +reputation everywhere for courage. There was the town of Hvitaby (now +Whitby, in Yorkshire, England), which many great warriors had attacked, +their father among them, but all had been driven back by the power of +magic or necromancy. If they could take this stronghold it would give +them infinite honor, said Iwar, and to this his brothers agreed. + +To Hvitaby they sailed, and leaving their younger brother Ragnwald in +charge of the ships, because they thought him too young to take part in +so hard a battle, they marched against the town. The place was ably +defended, not only by men but by two magical heifers, their charm being +that no man could stand before them or even listen to their lowing. When +these beasts were loosed and ran out towards the troops, the men were so +scared by the terrible sound of their voices that Ironside had all he +could do to keep them from a panic flight, and many of them fell +prostrate. But Iwar, who could not stand, but was carried into battle +upon shields, took his bow and sent his arrows with such skill and +strength that both the magic heifers were slain. + +Then courage came back to the troops and the townsmen were filled with +terror. And in the midst of the fighting Ragnwald came up with the men +left to guard the ships. He was determined to win some of the glory of +the exploit and attacked the townsmen with fury, rushing into their ranks +until he was cut down. But in the end the townsmen were defeated and the +valiant brothers returned with great honor and spoil, after destroying +the castle. Thus it was that the sons of Kraka gained reputation as +valiant warriors. + +But meanwhile Kraka herself was like to lose her queenly station, for +Ragnar visited King Osten of Upsala who had a beautiful daughter named +Ingeborg. On seeing her, his men began to say that it would be more +fitting for their king to have this lovely princess for his wife, instead +of a beggar's daughter like Kraka. Ragnar heard this evil counsel, and +was so affected by it that he became betrothed to Ingeborg. When he went +home he bade his men to say nothing about this betrothal, yet in some way +Kraka came to know of it. That night she asked Ragnar for news and he +said he had none to tell. + +"If you do not care to tell me news," said Kraka, "I will tell you some. +It is not well done for a king to affiance himself to one woman when he +already has another for his wife. And, since your men chose to speak of +me as a beggar's daughter, let me tell you that I am no such thing, but a +king's daughter and of much higher birth than your new love Ingeborg." + +"What fable is this you tell me?" said Ragnar. "Who, then, were your +parents?" + +"My father was King Sigurd Fafnisbane and my mother was the Amazon +Brynhilda, daughter of King Budle." + +"Do you ask me to believe that the daughter of these great people was +named Kraka and brought up in a peasant's hut?" + +The queen now told him that her real name was Asloeg and related all the +events of her early life. And as a sign that she spoke the truth, she +said that her next child, soon to be born, would be a son and would have +a snake in his eye. + +It came out as she said, the boy, when born, having the strange sign of +which she had spoken, so that he was given a name that meant Sigurd +Snake-in-Eye. So rejoiced was Ragnar at this that he ceased to think of +Ingeborg and all his old love for Kraka, or Asloeg as she was now called, +came back. + +The remainder of the lives of Ragnar and Asloeg and of their warlike sons +is full of valiant deeds and magic arts, far too long to be told here, +but which gave them a high place in the legendary lore of the north, in +which Ragnar Lodbrok is one of the chief heroes. At length Ragnar was +taken prisoner by King Ethelred of England and thrown into a pit full of +serpents, where he died. Afterwards Iwar and his brothers invaded +England, conquered that country, and avenged their father by putting +Ethelred to death by torture. Iwar took England for his kingdom and the +realms of the north were divided among his brothers, and many more were +the wars they had, until death ended the career of these heroes of +northern legend. + + + + +_HAROLD FAIR-HAIRED FOUNDS THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY._ + + +To the far-off island of Iceland we must go for the story of the early +days of Norway. In that frosty isle, not torn by war or rent by tumult, +the people, sitting before their winter fires, had much time to think and +write, and it is to Iceland we owe the story of the gods of the north and +of the Scandinavian kings of heathen times. One of these writers, Snorri +Sturlasson by name, has left us a famous book, "The Sagas of the Kings of +Norway," in which he tells of a long line of ancient kings, who were +descended from the gods. Here are some of their names, Aun the Old, +Ingjald Ill-Ruler, Olaf the Wood-Cutter, Halfdan Whiteleg, and Halfdan +the Swarthy. There were others whom we need not name, and of these +mentioned the names must suffice, for all we know of them is legend, not +truth. + +In those times there was no kingdom of Norway, but a number of petty +provinces, ruled over by warriors who are spoken of as kings, but whose +rule was not very wide. Most powerful among them was Halfdan the Swarthy, +who was only a year old in 810 when his father was killed in battle. + +He lived for many years, and he and his wife Ragnhild had strange dreams. +The queen dreamed that a thorn which she took out of her clothes grew in +her hands until one end of it took root in the ground and the other shot +up into the air. It kept on growing until it was a great tree, so high +that she could barely see its top. The lower part of it was blood-red, +higher up it was bright green, and the spreading branches were white as +snow. So widely they spread that they seemed to shade the whole country +of Norway. + +King Halfdan did not like it that his wife had such strange dreams and he +had none. He asked a sage why this was so, and was told that if he wanted +to have dreams as strange he must sleep in a pig-sty. A queer recipe for +dreams, one would think, but the king tried it, and dreamed that his hair +grew long and beautiful and hung in bright locks over his shoulders, some +of them down to his waist, and one, the brightest and most beautiful of +all, still farther down. + +When he told the sage of this dream, the wise man said it meant that from +him was to come a mighty race of kings, one of whom should be the +greatest and most glorious of them all. This great hero, Snorri tells us, +was supposed to be Olaf the Saint, who reigned two hundred years later, +and under whom Christianity first flourished in Norway. + +Soon after these dreams a son was born to the queen, who was named +Harold. A bright, handsome lad he grew to be, wise of mind and strong of +body and winning the favor of all who knew him. Many tales which we +cannot believe are told of his boyhood. Here is one of them. Once when +the king was seated at the Yuletide feast all the meats and the ale +disappeared from the table, leaving an empty board for the monarch and +his guests. There was present a Finn who was said to be a sorceror, and +him the king put to the torture, to find out who had done this thing. +Young Harold, displeased with his father's act, rescued the Finn from his +tormentors and went with him to the mountains. + +On they went, miles and leagues away, until they came to a place where a +Finnish chief was holding a great feast. Harold stayed there until +spring, when he told his host that he must return to his father's halls. +Then the chief said: + +"King Halfdan was very angry when I took his meat and ale from him last +winter, and now I will reward you with good tidings for what you did. +Your father is dead and his kingdom waits for you to inherit. And some +day you will rule over all Norway." + +Harold found it to be as the Finn had said, and thus in 860, when he was +only ten years old, he came to the throne. He was young to be at the head +of a turbulent people and some ambitious men there were who sought to +take advantage of his youth, but his uncle guardian fought for him and +put them all down. Harold was now the greatest among the petty kings of +Norway and a wish to be ruler of the whole land grew up in his soul. + +Here comes in a story which may not be all true, but is pretty enough to +tell. It is to the effect that love drove Harold to strive for the +kingdom. Old Snorri tells the story, which runs this way. + +King Erik of Hoerdaland had a fair daughter named Gyda, the fame of whose +beauty reached Harold's ears and he sent messengers to win her for +himself. But the maid was proud and haughty and sent back word: + +"Tell your master that I will not yield myself to any man who has only a +few districts for his kingdom. Is there no king in the land who can +conquer all Norway, as King Erik has conquered Sweden and King Gorm +Denmark?" + +This was all the answer she had for the heralds, though they pleaded for +a better answer, saying that King Harold was surely great enough for any +maid in the land. + +"This is my answer to King Harold," she said. "I will promise to become +his wife if for my sake he shall conquer all Norway and rule it as freely +as King Erik and King Gorm rule their kingdoms. Only when he has done +this can he be called the king of a people." + +When the heralds returned they told the king of their ill success and +advised him to take the girl by force. + +"Not so," Harold replied. "The girl has spoken well and deserves thanks +instead of injury. She has put a new thought into my mind which had not +come to me before. This I now solemnly vow and call God to witness, that +I will not cut or comb my hair until the day when I shall have made +myself king of all Norway. If I fail in this, I shall die in the +attempt." + +[Illustration: HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT, NORWAY.] + +Such is the legend of Gyda and the vow. What history tells us is that the +young king set out to bring all Norway under his rule and prospered in +the great enterprise. One after another, the small kings yielded to his +power, and were made earls or governors under him. They collected taxes +and administered justice in his name. All the land of the peasants was +declared to be the property of the king, and those who had been free +proprietors were now made the king's tenants and were obliged to pay +taxes if they wished to hold their lands. These changes angered many and +there were frequent rebellions against the king, but he put them all +down, and year after year came nearer the goal of his ambition. And his +hair continued to grow uncut and uncombed, and got to be such a tangled +mass that men called him Harold Lufa, or Frowsy-Head. + +There was one great and proud family, the Rafnistas, who were not easily +to be won. To one of them, Kveld-Ulf, or Night-Wolf, Harold sent envoys, +asking him to enter his service, but the chief sent back word that he was +too old to change. Then he offered Bald Grim, old Night-Wolf's son, high +honors if he would become his vassal. Bald Grim replied that he would +take no honors that would give him rank over his father. + +Harold grew angry at this, and was ready to use force where good words +would not prevail, but in the end the old chief agreed that his second +son Thorolf might be the king's man if he saw fit. This he agreed to do, +and as he was handsome, intelligent and courtly the king set much store +by him. + +Not only with the Norway chiefs, but with the king of Sweden, Harold had +trouble. While he was busy in the south King Erik invaded the north, and +Harold had to march in haste to regain his dominions. But the greatest +danger in his career came in 872, when a number of chiefs combined +against him and gathered a great fleet, which attacked Harold's fleet in +Halfrs-Fjord. Then came the greatest and hottest fight known to that day +in Norway. Loudly the war-horns sounded and the ships were driven +fiercely to the fray, Harold's ship being in the front wherever the fight +waxed hottest. Thorolf, the son of Night-Wolf, stood in its prow, +fighting with viking fury, and beside him stood two of his brothers, +matching him blow with blow. + +Yet the opposing chiefs and their men were stout fighters and the contest +long seemed doubtful, many brave and able men falling on both sides. +Arrows hissed in swift flight through the air, spears hurtled after them, +stones were hurled by strong hands, and those who came hand to hand +fought like giants. At length Harold's berserkers--men who fought without +armor, replacing it with fury of onslaught--rushed forward and boarded +the hostile ships, cutting down all who opposed them. Blood ran like +water and the chieftains and their men fell or fled before this wild +assault. The day was won for Harold, and with it the kingdom, for after +that fatal fray none dared to stand up before him. + +His vow accomplished, all Norway now his, Harold at last consented to the +cutting of his hair, this being done by Ragnvald, the earl of Moere. The +tangled strands being cut and the hair deftly combed, those who saw it +marvelled at its beauty, and from that day the king was known as Harold +the Fair-Haired. As for Gyda, the maid, the great task she set having +been accomplished, she gave her hand to Harold, a splendid marriage +completing the love romance of their lives. + +This romance, however, is somewhat spoiled by the fact that Harold +already had a wife, Aasa, the daughter of Earl Haakon, and that he +afterwards married other wives. He had his faults and weaknesses, one of +these being that he was not faithful to women and he was jealous of men +who were growing in greatness. One of the men whom he began to fear or +hate was Thorolf, who had aided him so mightily in battle and long stood +highest in his favor. + +Thorolf married a rich wife and grew very wealthy, living like a prince, +and becoming profuse in his hospitality. He was gracious and liberal and +won hosts of friends, while he aided the king greatly in collecting taxes +from the Finns, who were not very willing to part with their money. +Despite this service Harold grew to distrust Thorolf, or to hate him for +other reasons, and the time came when this feeling led to a tragedy. + +Thorolf had been made bailiff of Haalogaland, and when Harold came to +this province his bailiff entertained him with a splendid feast, to which +eight hundred guests were invited, three hundred of them being the king's +attendants. + +Yet, through all the hilarity of the feast, Harold sat dark and brooding, +much to his host's surprise. He unbent a little at the end and seemed +well pleased when Thorolf presented him with a large dragon ship, fully +equipped. Yet not long afterwards he took from him his office of bailiff, +and soon showed himself his deadly foe, slandering him as a pretext for +attacking him on his estate. + +The assailants set fire to Thorolf's house and met him with a shower of +spears when he broke out from the burning mansion. Seeing the king among +them Thorolf rushed furiously towards him, cut down his banner-bearer +with a sword blow, and was almost within touch of the king when he fell +from his many wounds, crying: "By three steps only I failed." + +It is said that Harold himself gave the death blow, yet he looked sadly +on the warrior as he lay dead at his feet, saying, as he saw a man +bandaging a slight wound: "That wound Thorolf did not give. Differently +did weapons bite in his hand. It is a pity that such men must die." + +This would indicate that King Harold had other reasons than appears from +the narrative for the slaughter of his former friend. It must be borne +in mind that he was engaged in founding a state, and had many disorderly +and turbulent elements with which to deal, and that before he had ended +his work he was forced to banish from the kingdom many of those who stood +in his way. We do not know what secret peril to his plans led him to +remove Thorolf from his path. + +However that be, the killing of the chief sent his father to his bed sick +with grief, and he grew content only when he heard that the king's hand +had slain him and that he had fallen on his face at his slayer's feet. +For when a dying man fell thus it was a sign that he would be avenged. + +But the old man was far too weak to attack Harold openly, and was not +willing to dwell in the same kingdom with him; so he, with his son Bald +Grim and all his family and wealth, took ship and set sail for Iceland. +But long he lingered on Norway's coast, hoping for revenge on some of +Harold's blood, and chance threw in his way a ship containing two cousins +of the king. This he attacked, killed the king's cousins, and captured +the ship. Then Bald Grim, full of exultation, sang a song of triumph on +the ship's prow, beginning with: + + "Now is the Hersir's vengeance + On the king fulfilled; + Wolf and eagle tread on + Yngling's children." + +There were other chieftains who sought refuge abroad from Harold's rule, +men who were bitterly opposed to the new government he founded, with its +system of taxation and its strict laws. They could not see why the old +system of robbing and plundering within Norway's confines should be +interfered with or their other ancient privileges curtailed, and several +thousand sailed away to found new homes in the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and +Iceland. + +One of the chief of these, Rolf, or Rollo, son of the king's friend, +Ragnvald of Moere, defied Harold's laws and was declared an outlaw. His +high birth made the king more determined to punish him, as an example to +others, and no influence could win forgiveness for Rolf the Walker, as +men called him, saying that he was so tall and heavy that no horse could +carry him. + +We must follow the outlaw in his journey, for it was one destined to lead +to great events. Setting sail with a fleet and a large number of +followers, he made his way to the coast of France, and fixed himself +there, plundering the people for several years. Charles the Simple, king +of France, finding that he could not drive the bold Norseman off, at +length gave him a large province on condition that he would become a +Christian, and hold his land as a vassal of the king. The province was +given the name of Normandy, and from Rollo descended that sturdy race of +kings one of whom conquered England in the following century. Thus the +exile of Rollo led to events of world-wide importance. + +When the proud Norseman was asked to kiss King Charles's foot in token of +fealty to him, he answered: "I will never bend my knee before any man, +nor will I kiss any man's foot." + +He could hardly be persuaded to let one of his men kiss the king's foot +as a proxy for him. The man chosen strode sturdily forward, seized the +foot of the king, who was on horseback, and lifted it to his lips so +roughly that the poor king turned a somersault from his horse. The +Norsemen laughed in derision while the king's followers stood by grim and +silent. + +But despite his unruliness at home, Rollo, when he got a kingdom of his +own, ruled it with all the sternness of King Harold, hanging all robbers +that fell into his hands, and making his kingdom so secure that the +peasants could leave their tools in the fields at night without fear of +loss. Five generations after him came to the throne William the +Conqueror, who won himself the kingdom of England. + +To go back to Harold, the builder of the kingdom of Norway, we shall only +say in conclusion that he built his rule on sure foundations and kept a +court of high splendor, and died without a rebel in his realm in 933, +seventy-three years after he succeeded his father as ruler of a +province. + + + + +_GORM THE OLD, DENMARK'S FIRST KING._ + + +In ancient times Denmark was not a kingdom, but a multitude of small +provinces ruled over by warlike chiefs who called themselves kings. It +was not until the ninth century that these little king-ships were +combined into one kingdom, this being done by a famous chieftain, known +by the Danes as Gorm den Gamle, or Gorm the Old. A great warrior he was, +a viking of the vikings, and southern Europe felt his heavy hand. A +famous story of barbarian life is that of Gorm, which well deserves to be +told. + +He was the son of a fierce pagan of Norway, Hardegon, who was of royal +blood, being a grandson of the half-fabulous Ragnar Lodbrok. A prince +with only his sword for kingdom, Hardegon looked around for a piece of +land to be won by fighting, and fixed upon Lejre, in the fruitful Danish +island of Sjoelland, which was just then in a very inviting state for the +soldier of fortune. Some time before it had fallen into the hands of a +Swedish fortune-seeker named Olaf, who left it to his two sons. These in +turn had just been driven out by Siegric, the rightful king, when +Hardegon descended upon it and seized it for himself. Dying, he left it +to his son Gorm. + +It was a small kingdom that Gorm had fallen heir to. A lord's estate we +would call it to-day. But while small in size, it stood high in rank, for +it was here that the great sacrifices to Odin, the chief Scandinavian +deity, were held, and it was looked upon as one of the most sacred of +spots. Hither at Yuletide came the devotees of Odin from all quarters to +worship at his shrine, and offer gifts of gold and silver, precious +stones and costly robes, to the twelve high priests of whom the king of +Lejre was the chief. And every worshipper, whether rich or poor, was +expected to bring a horse, a dog, or a cock, these animals being sacred +to Odin and sacrificed in large numbers annually at his shrine. In the +special nine-year services, people came in great numbers, and it is +probable that on these occasions human sacrifices were made, captives +taken in war or piratical excursions being saved for this purpose. + +As one may see, the king of Lejre had excellent opportunity to acquire +wealth, and young Gorm, being brave, clever, and ambitious, used his +riches to increase his landed possessions. At least, the Danish +historians tell us that he began by buying one bit of land, getting +another by barter, seizing on one district, having another given him, and +so on. But all this is guess-work, and all we actually know is that Gorm, +the son of a poor though nobly-born sea-rover, before his death gained +control of all Denmark, then much larger than the Denmark of to-day, and +changed the small state with which he began into a powerful kingdom, +bringing all the small kings under his sway. + +The ambitious chief did not content himself with this. Long before his +kingdom was rounded and complete he had become known as one of the most +daring and successful of the viking adventurers who in those days made +all Europe their prey. + +Early in his reign he made a plundering cruise along the shores of the +Baltic and joined in a piratical invasion of Russia, penetrating far +inward and pillaging as he went. We hear of him again in 882 as one of +the chiefs of a daring band which made a conquering raid into Germany, +intrenched itself on the river Maas, sallied forth on plundering +excursions whose track was marked by ruined fields and burnt homesteads, +villages and towns, and even assailed and took Aix-la-Chapelle, one of +the chief cities of the empire of Charlemagne and the seat of his tomb. +The reckless freebooters stalled their horses in the beautiful chapel in +which the great emperor lay buried and stripped from his tomb its gilded +and silvered railings and everything of value which the monks had not +hidden. + +The whole surrounding country was similarly ravaged and desolated by the +ruthless heathens, monasteries were burned, monks were killed or +captured, and the emperor, Charles the Fat, was boldly defied. When +Charles brought against the plunderers an army large enough to devour +them, he was afraid to strike a blow against them, and preferred to buy +them off with a ransom of two thousand pounds of gold and silver, all he +got in return being their promise to be baptized. + +Finding that they had a timid foe to deal with, the rapacious Norsemen +asked for more, and when they finally took to their ships two hundred +transports were needed to carry away their plunder. The cowardly Charles, +indeed, was so wrought upon by fear of the pagan Danes that he even +passed the incredible law that any one who killed a Norseman should have +his eyes put out and in some cases should lose his life. + +All this was sure to invite new invasions. A wave of joy passed through +the north when the news spread of the poltroonery of the emperor and the +vast spoil awaiting the daring hand. Back they came, demanding and +receiving new ransom, and in 885 there began a great siege of Paris by +forty thousand Danes. + +King Gorm was one of the chiefs who took part in this, and when Henry of +Neustria, whom the emperor had sent with an army against them, was routed +and driven back, it was Gorm who pursued the fugitives into the town of +Soissons, where many captives and a great booty were taken. + +The dastard emperor again bought them off with money and freedom to +ravage Burgundy, Paris being finally rescued by Count Eudes. In 891 they +were so thoroughly beaten by King Arnulf, of Germany, that their great +leaders fell on the field and only a remnant of the Norsemen escaped +alive, the waters of the river Dyle running red with the blood of slain +thousands. + +Gorm was one of the chiefs who took part in this disastrous battle of +Louvaine and was one of the fortunate few who lived to return to their +native land. Apparently it was not the last of his expeditions, his wife, +Queen Thyra, taking care of the kingdom in his many long absences. + +Thyra needed ability and resolution to fitly perform this duty, for those +were restless and turbulent times, and the Germans made many incursions +into Sleswick and Jutland and turned the borderlands on the Eyder into a +desert. This grew so hard to bear that the wise queen devised a plan to +prevent it. Gathering a great body of workmen from all parts of Denmark, +she set them to building a wall of defense from forty-five to +seventy-five feet high and eight miles long, crossing from water to water +on the east and west. This great wall, since known as the Dannevirke, +took three years to build. There were strong watch-towers at intervals +and only one gate, and this was well protected by a wide and deep ditch, +crossed by a bridge that could readily be removed. + +For ages afterwards the Danes were grateful to Queen Thyra for this +splendid wall of defense and sang her praises in their national hymns, +while they told wonderful tales of her cleverness in ruling the land +while her husband was far away. Fragments of Thyra's rampart still remain +and its remains formed the groundwork of all the later border bulwarks of +Denmark. + +Queen Thyra, while a worshipper of the northern gods, showed much favor +to the Christians and caused some of her children to be signed with the +cross. But King Gorm was a fierce pagan and treated his Christian +subjects so cruelly that he gained the name of the "Church's worm," being +regarded as one who was constantly gnawing at the supports of the Church. +Henry I. the Fowler, the great German emperor of that age, angry at this +treatment of the Christians, sent word to Gorm that it must cease, and +when he found that no heed was paid to his words he marched a large army +to the Eyder, giving Gorm to understand that he must mend his ways or his +kingdom would be overrun. + +Gorm evidently feared the loss of his dominion, for from that time on he +allowed the Archbishop of Bremen to preach in his dominions and to +rebuild the churches which had been destroyed, while he permitted his son +Harald, who favored the Christians, to be signed with the cross. But he +kept to the faith of his forefathers, as did his son Knud, known as +"Dan-Ast," or the "Danes'-joy." + +The ancient sagas tell us that there was little love between Knud and +Harald; and that Gorm, fearing ill results from this, swore an oath that +he would put to death any one who attempted to kill his first-born son, +or who should even tell him that Knud had died. + +While Harald remained at home and aided his mother, Knud was of his +father's fierce spirit and for years attended him on his viking +expeditions. On one of these he was drowned, or rather was killed while +bathing, by an arrow shot from one of his own ships. Gorm was absent at +the time, and Thyra scarcely knew how the news could be told him without +incurring the sworn penalty of death. + +Finally she put herself and her attendants into deep mourning and hung +the chief hall of the palace with the ashy-grey hangings used at the +grave-feasts of Northmen of noble birth. Then, seating herself, she +awaited Gorm's return. On entering the hall he was struck by these signs +of mourning and by the silence and dejection of the queen, and broke out +in an exclamation of dismay: + +"My son, Knud, is dead!" + +"Thou hast said it, and not I, King Gorm," was the queen's reply. The +news of the death had thus been conveyed to him without any one incurring +the sworn penalty. Soon after that--in 936--King Gorm died, and the +throne of Denmark was left to his son Harald, a cruel and crafty man whom +many of the people believed to have caused the murder of his brother. + + + + +_ERIK BLOOD-AXE AND EGIL THE ICELANDER._ + + +In the year 900 Harold the Fair-Haired, the famous monarch who made a +kingdom of Norway, passed a law which was to work mischief for centuries +to come. Erik, his favorite son, was named overlord of the kingdom, but +with the proviso that his other sons should bear the kingly title and +rule over provinces, while the sons of his daughters were to be made +earls. Had the wise Harold dreamed of the trouble this unwise law was to +make he would have cut off his right hand before signing it. It was to +give rise to endless rebellions and civil wars which filled the kingdom +with ruin and slaughter for many reigns and at last led to its overthrow +and long disappearance from among the separate nations of the earth. + +A bold and daring prince was Erik, with the old viking blood in his +veins. When only twelve years of age his father gave him five ships, each +with a sturdy crew of Norsemen, and sent him out to ravage the southern +lands, in the manner of the sea-kings of those days. Many were the +perilous exploits of the young viking admiral and when he came back to +his father's halls and told him of his daring deeds, the old king +listened with delight. So fierce and fatal were many of his fights that +he won the name of Blood-Axe, but for this his father loved him all the +more and chose him to be his successor on the throne. + +[Illustration: HOME OF PEASANTS. NORWAY.] + +Before his father died Erik had shown what was in him, by attacking and +killing two of his brothers. But despite all that, when the old king was +eighty years of age he led Erik to the throne and named him as his +successor. Three years later Harold died and Norway fell under the young +sea-king's hand--a brave, handsome, stately ruler; but haughty, cruel, +and pitiless in his wrath, and with the old viking wildness in his blood. + +He had married a woman whom men called a witch--cruel, treacherous, +loving money and power, and with such influence over him that she killed +all the good in his soul and spurred him on to evil deeds. + +Strange stories are told of the wicked Queen Gunhild. It was said that +she had been sent to Finland to learn the arts of sorcery, in which the +Finns of those days were well versed. Here Erik met her in one of his +wanderings, and was taken captive by her bold beauty. She dwelt with two +sorcerers, both bent on marrying her, while she would have neither of +them. Prince Erik was a suitor more to her liking and she hid him in her +tent, begging him to rescue her from her troublesome lovers. + +This was no easy task, for sorcerers have arts of their own, but Erik +proved equal to it, cut his way through all the difficulties in his path +and carried Gunhild away to his ships, where he made her his wife. In +her he had wed a dragon of mischief, as his people were to learn. + +She was of small size but of wonderful beauty, and with sly, insinuating +ways that fitted her well to gain the mastery over strong men. But all +her arts were used for evil, and she won the hatred of the people by +speaking words of ill counsel in her husband's ears. The treachery and +violence he showed were said to be the work of Gunhild the witch, and the +nobles and people soon grew to hate Erik Blood-Axe and his cruel wife, +and often broke out in rebellion against them. + +His brothers, who had been made kings of provinces, were not ready to +submit to his harsh rule, and barely was old King Harold dead before +Halfdan the Swarthy--who bore the name of his grandfather--claimed to be +monarch in Troendelag, and Olaf, another brother, in Viken. Death came +suddenly to Halfdan--men whispered that he had been poisoned by the +queen--but his brother Sigfrid took his place and soon the flame of +rebellion rose north and south. Erik proved equal to the difficulty. +Sigfrid and Olaf were in Tunsberg, where they had met to lay plans to +join their forces, when Erik, whose spies told him of their movements, +took the town by surprise and killed them both. + +Thus, so far, Erik Blood-Axe was triumphant. He had killed four of his +brothers--men said five--and every one thought that Gunhild would not be +content until all King Harold's brood except her own husband were in the +grave. + +Trouble next came from a region far away, the frost-king's land of +Iceland in the northern seas, which had been settled from Norway in the +early reign of Harold the Fair-Haired, some sixty years before. Here +lived a handsome and noble man named Thorolf, who had met Erik in his +viking days. He was the son of the stern old Icelander Bald Grim, and +nephew of the noble Thorolf who had been basely slain by King Harold. + +Bald Grim hated Harold and all his race, but Thorolf grew to admire Erik +for his daring and made him a present of a large and beautiful ship. Thus +Erik became his friend, and when Thorolf came to Norway the young prince +begged his father to let him dwell there in peace. When he at length went +home to Iceland he took with him an axe with a richly carved handle, +which Erik had sent as a present to his father. + +Old Bald Grim was not the man to be bought over by a present. The hate he +felt for Harold he transferred to his son, and when Thorolf set sail +again for Norway his father bade him take back the axe to the king and +sang an insulting song which he bade him repeat to Erik. Thorolf did not +like his errand. He thought it best to let the blood-feud die, so he +threw the axe into the sea and when he met the king gave him his father's +thanks for the fine gift. If Thorolf had had his way the trouble would +have been at an end, but with him came Egil, his younger brother, a man +of different character. + +Stern old Bald Grim seemed born again in his son Egil. A man of great +size, swarthy face, harsh of aspect, and of fierce temper, in him was the +old, tameless spirit of the Norse sea-kings, turbulent, passionate, +owning no man master, he bent his strong soul to no man's rule. Rash and +adventurous, he had a long and stormy career, while nature had endowed +him with a rich gift of song, which added to his fame. Such was the type +of men who in those days made all Europe tremble before the Norsemen's +wrath, and won dominion for the viking warriors in many lands. + +Thorold when in Norway before had gained powerful friends in the great +nobles, Thore Herse and Bjoern the Yeoman. On this visit the brothers +became Thore's guests, and Egil and Arinbjoern, Thore's son, became warm +friends. The young Icelander's hot temper soon brewed trouble. Sickness +kept him from going with Thorolf to the house of Bjoern the Yeoman, whose +daughter, Aasgard, he was to marry; but he soon got well and went on a +visit to Baard, a steward of the king. As fortune decreed he met there +King Erik and Queen Gunhild. + +Egil was not the man to play the courtier and his hot blood was under +little control. When Baard neglected him in favor of his royal visitor, +he broke into such a rage that the queen, to quiet him, tried one of her +underhand arts. She bade Baard to mix sleeping herbs with his beer. + +Suspecting treachery from the taste of the beer Egil flung his flagon to +the floor, struck Baard dead in his fury, and, fleeing for his life, swam +to an island in the neighboring stream. When men were sent to search the +island and capture him he killed some of them, seized their boat, and +made his escape. + +King Erik was furious, but Thore Herse got him to accept a money payment +for Baard's death--as was then the custom of the land--and he agreed to +let Egil dwell in Norway unharmed. + +This was not to the queen's liking. She was fond of Baard and was deeply +incensed at Egil for his murderous act, and she stormed at the king for +his mildness of temper till he broke out: + +"You are forever egging me on to acts of violence; but now you must hold +your peace, for I have given my kingly word and cannot break it." + +Gunhild, thus repulsed, sought other means of revenge. A great feast of +sacrifice to the old heathen gods was to be held at the temple of Gaule, +and at her instigation her brother, Eyvind Skreyja, agreed to kill one of +Bald Grim's sons. Finding no opportunity for this, he killed one of +Thorolf's men, for which act Erik outlawed him. + +The remainder of the story of Egil's career is largely that of a viking, +that is, a piratical rover, bent on spoil and plunder and the harrying of +sea-coast lands. With Thorolf he took to the sea and cruised about in +quest of wealth and glory, finally landing in England and fighting in a +great battle under the banner of King Athelstan. He made his mark here, +but Thorolf was slain, so Egil went back to Norway, married his brother's +widow, and sailed for his old home in Iceland, which he had not seen for +twelve years. + +Iceland was too quiet a land to hold the stirring sea-king long and news +from Norway soon made him take ship again. Bjoern the Yeoman, his wife's +father, had died, and Queen Gunhild had given his estate to Berg-Anund, +one of her favorites. Storming with rage, he reached Norway and hotly +pleaded his claim to the estate before the assembly or _thing_ at Gula, +Erik and Gunhild being present. He failed in his purpose, the _thing_ +breaking up in disorder; and Egil, probably finding Norway too hot to +hold him, went back to Iceland. + +If King Erik now fancied he was rid of the turbulent Icelander he was +mistaken. Rankling with a sense of injury and borne onward by his +impetuous temper, Egil was soon in Norway again, sought the Bjoern estate, +surprised and killed Berg-Anund, and went so far in his daring as to kill +Ragnvald, the king's son, who was visiting Berg. Carried to extremes by +his unruly temper he raised what was called a shame-pole, or pole of +dishonor, on a cliff top, to the king and queen. On it he thrust the head +of a dead horse, crying out: + +"I turn this dishonor against all the land-spirits of this land, that +they may all stray bewildered and none of them find his home until they +have driven King Erik and Queen Gunhild out of this land." + +This message of defiance he cut in runes--the letters of the +Northland--into the pole, that all might read it, and then sailed back to +Iceland. + +Egil had not long to wait for his curse to take effect, for Erik's reign +was soon threatened from a new source. He had not killed all his +brothers. In the old days of King Harold, when near seventy years old, he +had married a new wife, who bore him a son whom he named +Haakon,--destined in later life to reign with the popular title of Haakon +the Good. This boy, perhaps for his safety, had been sent to England and +given over to King Athelstan, who brought him up almost as his own son. + +Erik had been four years on the throne when Haakon came back to Norway, a +handsome, noble youth, kind of heart and gentle in disposition, and on +all sides hailed with joy, for Erik and his evil-minded wife had not won +the love of the people. Great nobles and many of the people gathered +around Haakon, men saying that he was like King Harold come back again, +gentler and nobler than of old and with all his old stately beauty and +charm. + +The next year he was crowned king. Erik tried to raise an army, but none +of the people were willing to fight for him, and he was forced to flee +with his wife and children. Only a few of his old friends went with him, +but among them was Arinbjoern, Egil's former friend. + +Sudden had been King Erik's fall. Lately lord of a kingdom, he had now +not a foot of land he could call his own, and he sailed about as a +sea-robber, landing and plundering in Scotland and England. At length, +to rid himself of this stinging hornet of the seas, King Athelstan made +him lord of a province in Northumberland, with the promise that he would +fight for it against other vikings like himself. He was also required to +be baptized and become a Christian. + +Meanwhile Egil dwelt in Iceland, but in bitter discontent. He roamed +about the strand, looking for sails at sea and seeming to care little for +his wife and children. Men said that Gunhild had bewitched him, but more +likely it was his own unquiet spirit. At any rate the time came when he +could bear a quiet life no longer and he took ship and sailed away to the +south. + +Misfortune now went with him. A storm drove his ship ashore on the +English coast at the mouth of the Humber, the ship being lost but he and +his thirty men reaching shore. Inquiring in whose land he was, people +told him that Erik Blood-Axe ruled that region. + +Egil's case was a desperate one. He was in the domain of his deadly foe, +with little hope of escape. With his usual impetuous spirit, he made no +attempt to flee, but rode boldly into York, where he found his old friend +Arinbjoern. With him he went straight to Erik, like the reckless fellow he +was. + +"What do you expect from me?" asked Erik. "You deserve nothing but death +at my hands." + +"Death let it be, then," said the bold viking, in his reckless manner. + +Gunhild on seeing him was eager for his blood. She had hated him so long +that she hotly demanded that he should be killed on the spot. Erik, less +bloodthirsty, gave him his life for one night more, and Arinbjoern begged +him to spend the night in composing a song in Erik's honor, hoping that +in this way he might win his life. + +Egil promised to do so and his friend brought him food and drink, bidding +him do his best. Anxious to know how he was progressing Arinbjoern visited +him in the night. + +"How goes the song?" he asked. + +"Not a line of it is ready," answered Egil. "A swallow has been sitting +in the window all the night, screaming and disturbing me, and do what I +would I could not drive it away." + +At that Arinbjoern darted into the hall, where he saw in the dim light a +woman running hastily away. Going back he found that the swallow had +flown. He was sure now that Queen Gunhild had changed herself into a +swallow by sorcery, and for the remainder of the night he kept watch +outside that the bird should not return. When morning broke he found that +Egil had finished his song. + +Determined to save his friend's life if he could, he armed himself and +his men and went with Egil to the palace of the king, where he asked Erik +for Egil's life as a reward for his devotion to him when others had +deserted him. + +Erik made no reply, and then Arinbjoern cried out: + +"This I will say. Egil shall not die while I or one of my men remain +alive." + +"Egil has well deserved death," replied Erik, "but I cannot buy his death +at that price." + +As he stopped speaking Egil began to sing, chanting his ode in tones that +rang loudly through the hall. Famed as a poet, his death song was one of +the best he had ever composed, and it praised Erik's valor in all the +full, wild strains of the northern verse. + +Erik heard the song through with unmoved face. When it was done he said: + +"Your song is a noble one, and your friend's demand for your life is +nobler still. Nor can I be the dastard to kill a man who puts himself of +his own will into my hands. You shall depart unharmed. But do not think +that I or my sons forgive you, and from the moment you leave this hall +never come again under my eyes or the eyes of my sons." + +Egil thus won his life by his song, which became known as the "Ransom of +the Head." Another of his songs, called "The Loss of the Son," is held to +be the most beautiful in all the literature of Iceland. He afterwards +lived long and had many more adventures, and in the end died in his bed +in Iceland when he was over ninety years of age. Erik died in battle many +years earlier, and Gunhild then went to Denmark with her sons. She was to +make more trouble for Norway before she died. + + + + +_THE SEA-KINGS AND THEIR DARING FEATS._ + + +From the word _vik_, or bay, comes the word viking, long used to +designate the sea-rovers of the Northland, the bold Norse wanderers who +for centuries made their way to the rich lands of the south on plundering +raids. Beginning by darting out suddenly from hiding places in bays or +river mouths to attack passing craft, they in the end became daring +scourers of the seas and won for themselves kingdoms and dominions in the +settled realms of the south. + +Nothing was known of them in the early days. The people of southern +Europe in the first Christian centuries hardly knew of the existence of +the race of fair-skinned and light-haired barbarians who dwelt in the +great peninsula of the north. It was not until near the year 800 B.C. +that these bold brigands learned that riches awaited those who dared +seize it on the shores of France, England, and more southern lands. Then +they came in fleets and spread terror wherever they appeared. For several +centuries the realms of civilization trembled before their very name. + +"From the fury of the Northmen, Good Lord deliver us!" prayed the +priests, and the people joined fervently in the prayer. + +Long before this period the sea was the favorite hunting ground of the +daring sons of the north, but the small chiefs of that period preyed upon +each other, harrying their neighbors and letting distant lands alone. But +as the power of the chiefs, and their ability to protect themselves +increased, this mode of gaining wealth and fame lost its ease and +attraction and the rovers began to rove farther afield. + +Sea-kings they called themselves. On land the ruler of a province might +be called either earl or king, but the earl who went abroad with his +followers on warlike excursions was content with no less name than king, +and the chiefs who set out on plundering cruises became from the first +known as sea-kings. Pirates and freebooters we would call them to-day, +but they were held in high distinction in their native land, and some of +the most cruel of them, on their return home, became men of influence, +with all the morality and sense of honor known in those early days. Their +lives of ravage and outrage won them esteem at home and the daring and +successful sea-king ranked in fame with the noblest of the home-staying +chiefs. We have seen how King Erik began his career as a viking and ended +it in the same pursuit; how Rollo, a king's son, adopted the same +profession; and from this it may be seen that the term was one of honor +instead of disgrace. + +From all the lands of the north they came, these dreaded sons of the sea, +from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark alike, fierce heathens they who cared +nought for church or priest, but liked best to rob chapels and +monasteries, for there the greatest stores of gold and silver could be +found. When the churches were plundered they often left them in flames, +as they also did the strong cities they captured and sacked. The small, +light boats with which they dared the sea in its wrath were able to go +far up the rivers, and wherever these fierce and bloodthirsty rovers +appeared wild panic spread far around. So fond were they of sword-thrust +and battle that one viking crew would often challenge another for the +pure delight of fighting. A torment and scourge they were wherever they +appeared. + +The first we hear in history of the sea-kings is in the year 787, when a +small party of them landed on the English coast. In 794 came another +flock of these vultures of the sea, who robbed a church and a monastery, +plundering and killing, and being killed in their turn when a storm +wrecked their ships and threw them on shore. As a good monk writes of +them: "The heathen came from the northern countries to Britain like +stinging wasps, roamed about like savage wolves, robbing, biting, killing +not only horses, sheep, and cattle, but also priests, acolytes, monks, +and nuns." + +The Norsemen had found a gold mine in the south and from this time on +they worked it with fierce hands. Few dared face them, and even in the +days of the great Charlemagne they ravaged the coast lands of France. +Once, when the great emperor was in one of his cities on the +Mediterranean coast, a fleet of the swift viking ships, known by their +square sails, entered the harbor. Soon word was brought that they had +landed and were plundering. Who they were the people knew not, some +saying that they were Jews, others Africans, and others that they were +British merchants. + +"No merchants they," said the emperor. "Those ships do not bring us +goods, but fierce foes, bloody fighters from the north." + +The warriors around him at once seized their weapons and hurried to the +shore, but the vikings had learned that the great emperor was in the city +and, not daring to face him, had sought their ships and spread their +sails again. Tears came to the eyes of Charlemagne as he watched them in +their outward flight. He said to those around him: + +"It is not for fear that these brigands can do me any harm that I weep, +but for their daring to show themselves on this coast while I am alive. +Their coming makes me foresee and fear the harm they may do to my +descendants." + +This story may be one of those legends which the monks were fond of +telling, but it serves to show how the dread Norsemen were feared. France +was one of their chief fields of ravage and slaughter. First coming in +single ships, to rob and flee, they soon began to come in fleets and grew +daring enough to attack and sack cities. Hastings, one of the most +renowned of them all, did not hesitate to attack the greatest cities of +the south. + +In 841 this bold freebooter sailed up the Loire with a large fleet, took +and burned the city of Amboise, and laid siege to Tours. But here the +inhabitants, aided, it is said, by the bones of their patron saint, drove +him off. Four years later he made an attack on Paris, and as fortune +followed his flag he grew so daring that he sought to capture the city of +Rome and force the Pope to crown him emperor. + +For an account of this remarkable adventure of the bold Hastings see the +article, "The Raids of the Sea-Rovers," in the German volume of +"Historical Tales." In that account are also given the chief exploits of +the vikings in France and Germany. We shall therefore confine ourselves +in the remainder of this article to their operations in other lands, and +especially in Ireland. + +This country was a common field for the depredations of the Norse rovers. +For some reason not very clear to us the early vikings did not trouble +England greatly, but for many years they spread terror through the sister +isle, and in the year 838 Thorgisl, one of their boldest leaders, came +with a fleet of one hundred and twenty ships, with which he attacked and +captured the city of Dublin, and afterwards, as an old author tells us, +he conquered all Ireland, securing his conquest with stone forts +surrounded with deep moats. + +But the Irish at length got rid of their conqueror by a stratagem. It was +through love that the sea-king was lost. Bewitched with the charms of +the fair daughter of Maelsechnail, one of the petty kings of the land, +he bade this chieftain to send her to him, with fifteen young maidens in +her train. He agreed to meet her on an island in Loch Erne with as many +Norsemen of high degree. + +Maelsechnail obeyed, but his maidens were beardless young men, dressed +like women but armed with sharp daggers. Thorgisl and his men, taken by +surprise, were attacked and slain. The Irish chief had once before asked +Thorgisl how he should rid himself of some troublesome birds that had +invaded the island. "Destroy their nests," said the Norseman. It was wise +advice, and Maelsechnail put it in effect against the nests of the +conquerors, destroying their stone strongholds, and killing or driving +them away, with the aid of his fellow chieftains. + +Thus for a time Ireland was freed. It was conquered again by Olaf the +White, who in 852 defeated some Danes who had taken Dublin, and then, +like Thorgisl, began to build castles and tax the people. Two other +viking leaders won kingdoms in Ireland, but Olaf was the most powerful of +them all, and the kingdom founded by him lasted for three hundred and +fifty years. From Dublin Olaf sailed to Scotland and England, the booty +he won filling two hundred ships. + +The sea-rovers did not confine their voyages to settled lands. Bold ocean +wanderers, fearless of man on shore and tempest on the waves, they +visited all the islands of the north and dared the perils of the unknown +sea. They rounded the North Cape and made their way into the White Sea as +early as 750. The Faroe, the Orkney and the Shetland Islands were often +visited by them after 825, and in 874 they discovered Iceland, which had +been reached and settled by Irishmen or Scots about 800. The Norsemen +found here only some Irish hermits and monks, and these, disturbed in +their peaceful retreat by the turbulent newcomers, made their way back to +Ireland and left the Norsemen lords of the land. From Iceland the rovers +reached Greenland, which was settled in 986, and about the year 1000 they +discovered North America, at a place they named Vinland. + +Such is, briefly told, the story of the early Norse wanderers. They had a +later tale, of which we have told part in their conquest of Ireland. +Though at first they came with a few ships, and were content to attack a +town or a monastery, they soon grew more daring and their forces larger. +A number of them would now fortify themselves on some coast elevation and +make it a centre for plundering raids into the surrounding country. At a +later date many of them ceased to pose as pirates and took the role of +invaders and conquerors, storming and taking cities and founding +governments in the invaded land. + +Such was the work of Thorgisl and Olaf in Ireland and of Rollo in +Normandy. England was a frequent field of invasion after 833, which +continued until 851, when King Ethelwulf defeated them with great +slaughter. Fifteen years later they came again, these new invaders being +almost all Danes. During all his reign Alfred the Great fought with them, +but in spite of his efforts they gained a footing in the island, becoming +its masters in the north and east. A century later, in 1016, Canute, the +king of Denmark, completed the conquest and became king of all England. + +This is not the whole story of the sea-kings, whose daring voyages and +raids made up much of the history of those centuries. One of the most +important events in viking history took place in 862, when three brother +chiefs, probably from Sweden, who had won fame in the Baltic Sea, were +invited by the Russian tribes south of Lake Ladoga to come and rule over +them. They did so, making Novgorod their capital. From this grew the +empire of Russia, which was ruled over by the descendants of Rurik, the +principal of these chiefs, until 1598. + +Other vikings made their way southward through Russia and, sailing down +the Dnieper, put Constantinople in peril. Only a storm which scattered +their fleet saved the great city from capture. Three times later they +appeared before Constantinople, twice (in 904 and 945) being bought off +by the emperors with large sums of money. Later on the emperors had a +picked body-guard of Varangians, as they called the Northmen, and kept +these till the fall of the city in 1453. It was deemed a great honor in +the north to serve in this choice cohort at Myklegaard (Great City), and +those who returned from there doubtless carried many of the elements of +civilization to the Scandinavian shores. + +To some of these Varangians was due the conquest of Sicily by the +Northmen. They were in the army sent from Constantinople to conquer that +island, and seeing how goodly a land it was they aided in its final +conquest, which was made by Robert Guiscard, a noble of Normandy, whose +son Roger took the title of "King of Sicily and Italy." Thus it was that +the viking voyages led within a few centuries to the founding of kingdoms +under Norse rulers in England, Ireland, Sicily, Russia, and Normandy in +France. + + + + +_HAAKON THE GOOD AND THE SONS OF GUNHILD._ + + +We have told how King Haakon succeeded his brother, Erik Blood-Axe, on +the throne, and how, from his kindly and gentle nature, people called him +Haakon the Good. There were other sons and several grandsons of Harold +the Fair-Haired in the kingdom, but the new king treated them with +friendliness and let them rule as minor kings under him. + +He dealt with the peasants also in the same kindly spirit, giving them +back their lands and relieving them of the tax which Harold had laid. But +he taxed them all in another way, dividing the country into marine +districts, each of which was required to supply the king, on his demand, +with a fully equipped warship. Yet as this was for the defence of the +country, the people did not look on it as oppressive. And as Norway had a +long mountainous coast, and important events were often long in becoming +known, he gave orders that the approach of an enemy should be made known +by signal fires lighted all along the coast. + +Haakon made other wise laws, in which he took the advice of the ablest +men of the kingdom. But now we have to speak of the most striking event +in the new king's career. Norway at that time was a haunt of idolatry. +Men worshipped Odin and a host of other gods, and there was not a +Christian in the whole land except the king himself, who had been brought +up in the new faith by his foster-father, King Athelstan of England. + +An earnest Christian, he looked with sorrow on the rude worship and +heathen belief of his people, but not until he had been many years on the +throne did he venture to interfere with it. Then, about 950, when he had +won the love of them all, he took steps to carry out his long-cherished +desire. + +Sending to England for a bishop and a number of priests, the king issued +a decree in which the people were forbidden to make sacrifices to the old +gods and ordered to accept the Christian faith. + +This came like a thunderbolt to the worshippers of the old gods. To bid a +whole nation to give up at a word the religion which they had cherished +from childhood and which their fathers had held for generations before +them was too much to demand. The king brought together a concourse of the +people and spoke to them of his wish and purpose, but they had no answer +to make except that the matter must be settled by their legal assembly. + +When the _thing_, or assembly, was called into session, a great body of +the people were present, for never had so important a question been laid +before them. Earnest and imploring was the speech made by the king, in +which he warmly asked them to accept the God of the Christians and give +up their heathen idols of wood and stone. + +These words were followed by an angry murmur from the multitude, and +many dark looks were bent upon the rash monarch. Then a peasant leader, +Aasbjoern of Medalhus, stepped out from the throng and spoke: + +"When you, King Haakon, first called us here before you and we took you +for our king, it was with deep gladness, as if heaven had opened to us. +But was it liberty we gained, or do you wish to make thralls of us once +more, that you ask us to give up the faith of our fathers and forefathers +for the new and unknown one you offer? Sturdy men they were, and their +faith did well for them and has done well for us. We have learned to love +you well and have always kept and will always keep the laws made by you +and accepted by us. But in this thing which you now demand we cannot +follow. If you are so resolved upon it that your mind cannot be changed, +then we shall be forced to part from you and choose a new chief who will +support us in worshipping our fathers' gods. Choose, O king, what you +will do, before this assembly has dispersed." + +So loud were the shouts of approval with which this speech was greeted +that not a word could be heard. Then, when quiet reigned again, Earl +Sigurd, who had spoken aside with Haakon, rose and said that the king had +no wish to lose their friendship and would yield to their wishes. This +was not enough to overcome the distrust of the peasants. They next +demanded that he should take part in the sacrifices to be given and in +the feast to follow. This he felt obliged to do, though he quieted his +conscience by making the sign of the cross. + +When the next Yuletide sacrifice came Haakon was required to eat +horse-flesh at the feast and this time was forbidden to make the sign of +the cross when he drank the usual toasts to the ancient gods of Norway. +This was a humiliation that cut the proud monarch deeply and it was with +an angry soul he left, saying to his attendants that when he came back it +would be with an army to punish those who had thus insulted his faith. +Back he did not come, for new troubles were gathering around him. + +To learn the source of these troubles we must return to the story of Erik +Blood-Axe and Gunhild, his wicked wife. After Erik's death that +mischief-loving woman sought Denmark with her sons, who grew up to become +brave warriors and daring viking rovers, infesting the coast of Norway +and giving its king and earls all the trouble they could. At length, +backed by Harold Bluetooth, the king of Denmark, their piratical raids +changed to open war, and they invaded Norway, hoping to win their +father's old kingdom for themselves. + +A crisis came in 955. In that year the sons of Erik appeared so suddenly +with a large fleet that they took King Haakon by surprise. He had with +him only a small force, the signal fires had not been lighted, and the +enemy were close at hand before he could prepare to meet them. + +"What shall we do?" he asked his men. "Shall we stay and fight, or draw +back and gather men?" + +The answer came from an old peasant, Egil Woolsack: + +"Often have I fought, King Haakon, with King Harold, your father. Whether +the foe was stronger or weaker the victory was always his. Never did he +ask his friends if he should run; nor need you, for we are ready to fight +and think that we have a brave chieftain for our leader." + +"You speak well and wisely, Egil," said the king. "It is not my wish to +run, and with your aid I am ready to face the foe." + +"Good words those!" cried Egil joyously. "It has been so long since I saw +the flash of sword that I feared I would die in my bed of old age, though +it has been my hope to fall in battle at my chieftain's back. Now will my +wish be gained." + +To land came the sons of Erik, having six men to Haakon's one. Seeing how +great were the odds, old Egil tried strategy, leading ten +standard-bearers to a hidden spot in the rear of the hostile army and +leaving them there in ambush. When the armies had met and the fighting +was under way, he led these men up a sloping hill until the tops of their +standards could be seen above its summit. He had placed them far apart, +so that when the Danes saw the waving banners it looked like a long line +of new troops coming upon them. With sudden alarm and a cry of terror +they fled towards their ships. + +Gamle, their leader, was quick to discover the stratagem, and called on +them to stop, that it was all a trick; but nothing could check their +panic flight, and he was swept along with them to the beach. Here a stand +was made, but Haakon rushed upon them in a furious attack in which old +Egil had his wish, for he fell in the storm of sword blows, winning the +death he craved. Victory rested on the king's banners and his foes fled +to their ships, Gamle, their leader, being drowned in the flight. + +For six years after this the land lay at peace. King Haakon continued a +Christian and many of his friends joined him in the new faith. But he was +too wise and gentle to attempt again to force his belief upon his people +and the worship of the heathen gods went on. All the people, nobles and +peasants alike, loved their king dearly and he would have ended his reign +in a peaceful old age but for his foes without the kingdom. This is the +way in which the end came. + +In the summer of the year 961, when Haakon had been twenty-six years on +the throne, he with many guests was at feast in the royal mansion of +Fitje, in Hoerdaland. While at table a sentinel brought in the alarming +news that a large fleet of ships was sailing up the fiord. + +By the king's side sat Eyvnid, his nephew, who was a famous scald, or +bard. They rose and looked out on the fiord. + +"What ships are they, of friends or of foes?" asked the king. + +The scald replied in a verse, in which he sang that the sons of Erik were +coming again. + +"Once more they take us unawares," said Haakon to his men. "They are many +and we are few. Never yet have we faced such odds. The danger lies before +you. Are you ready to meet it? I am loath to flee before any force, but I +leave it to the wise among you to decide." + +Eyvnid sang another verse, to the effect that it would be ill counsel to +advise a man like King Haakon to flee from the sons of Gunhild the +sorceress. + +"That is a man's song," cried the king, "and what you say is what I +wish." + +All around him the warriors shouted their war-cry, and while they ran for +their weapons he put on his armor, seized his sword and shield, and +placed on his head a golden helmet that shone brightly in the sun. Never +had he looked more like a born king, with his noble and inspired +countenance and the bright hair streaming down from under his helmet. + +The battle that followed was fierce and bloody. Harold, Gunhild's third +son, commanded the invaders, who far outnumbered Haakon's small force. +And now there was no Egil to defeat the foe by stratagem, but the battle +was hand to hand and face to face, with stroke of sword and thrust of +spear, the war-shout of the fighters and the death-wail of the fallen. + +King Haakon that day showed himself a true and heroic warrior. As the +battle grew fiercer his spirit rose higher, and when Eyvnid the scald +greeted him with a warlike verse, he answered with another. But the +midsummer heat growing hard to bear, he flung off his armor and fought +with only his strong right arm for shield. The arrows had now been all +shot, the spears all hurled, and the ranks met hand to hand and sword to +sword, in desperate affray. + +In the front rank stood the king, his golden helmet making him a shining +mark for the warriors of the foe. + +"Your helmet makes you a target for the Danish spears," cried Eyvnid, and +he drew a hood over it to hide its gleam. Skreyja, Harold's uncle, who +was storming onward towards the king, now lost sight of him and cried +out: + +"Where is the Norse king? Has he drawn back in fear? Is he of the golden +helmet a craven?" + +"Keep on as you are coming, if you wish to meet the Norsemen's king," +shouted Haakon, throwing down his shield and grasping his sword with both +hands, as he sprang out before them all. Skreyja bounded towards him and +struck a furious blow, but it was turned aside by a Norse warrior and at +the same instant Haakon's sword cleft the foeman's head down to the +shoulders. + +This kingly stroke gave new spirit to the Norsemen and they rushed with +double fury upon the foe, whom the fall of their best warrior filled with +fear. Back to the beach they were pressed, many being slain, many +drowned, a few only, Harold among them, reaching the ships by swimming. + +The Norsemen had won against fearful odds, but their king was in deadly +peril. In the pursuit he had been struck in the right arm by an arrow +with an oddly-shaped head, and do what they would, the flow of blood +could not be stopped. It was afterwards said that Gunhild the sorceress +had bewitched the arrow and sent it with orders to use it only against +King Haakon. + +In those days it was easy to have men believe tales like that, but, +witchcraft or not, the blood still ran and the king grew weaker. As night +came death seemed at hand and one of his friends offered to take his body +to England, after his death, that he might be laid in Christian soil. + +"Not so," said Haakon. "Heathen are my people and I have lived among them +like a heathen. See then that I am laid in the grave like a heathen." + +Thus he died, and he was buried as he wished, while all men mourned his +death, even his foes; for before breathing his last he bade his men to +send a ship after the sons of Gunhild; asking them to come back and rule +the kingdom. He had no sons, he said, and his daughter could not take the +throne. + +Thus death claimed the noblest of the Norsemen, at once heathen and +Christian, but in his life and deeds as in his death a great and good +man. + + + + +_EARL HAAKON AND THE JOMSVIKINGS._ + + +Chief among the nobles of Haakon the Good, of Norway, was Earl Sigurd of +Hlade; and first among those who followed him was Earl Haakon, Sigurd's +son. After the death of Haakon the Good, the sons of Gunhild became the +masters of Norway, where they ruled like tyrants, murdering Sigurd, whom +they most feared. This made the young Earl Haakon their bitter foe. + +A young man then, of twenty-five, handsome, able in mind and body, kindly +in disposition, and a daring warrior, he was just the man to contend with +the tyrant murderers. When he was born Haakon the Good had poured water +on his head and named him after himself and he was destined to live to +the level of the honor thus given him. + +It is not our purpose to tell how, with the aid of the king of Denmark, +he drove the sons of Gunhild from the realm, and how, as the sagas tell, +the wicked old queen was enticed to Denmark by the king, under promise of +marriage, and by his orders was drowned in a swamp. Her powers of sorcery +did not avail her then, if this story is true. + +Haakon ruled Norway as a vassal of Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark, to +whom he agreed to pay tribute. He also consented to be baptized as a +Christian and to introduce the Christian faith into Norway. But a +heathen at heart and a Norseman in spirit, he did not intend to keep this +promise. After a meeting with the Danish king in which his baptism took +place, he sailed for his native land with his ship well laden with +priests. But the heathen in him now broke out. With bold disdain of King +Harald, he put the priests on shore, and sought to counteract the effect +of his baptism by a great feast to the old gods, praying for their favor +and their aid in the war that was sure to follow. He looked for an omen, +and it came in the shape of two ravens, which followed his ships with +loud clucking cries. These were the birds sacred to Odin and he hailed +their coming with delight. The great deity of the Norsemen seemed to +promise him favor and success. + +Turning against the king to whom he had promised to act as a vassal, he +savagely ravaged the Danish coast lands. Then he landed on the shores of +Sweden, burnt his ships, and left a track of fire and blood as he marched +through that land. Even Viken, a province of Norway, was devastated by +him, on the plea of its being under a Danish ruler. Then, having done his +utmost to show defiance to Denmark and its king, he marched northward to +Drontheim, where he ruled like a king, though still styling himself Earl +Haakon. + +Harald Bluetooth was not the man to be defied with impunity, and though +he was too old to take the field himself, he sought means to punish his +defiant vassal. Men were to be had ready and able to fight, if the prize +offered them was worth the risk, and men of this kind Harald knew where +to seek. + +[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, +N.Y. BUSY FARMERS IN A HILLSIDE FIELD, ABOVE ARE. SWEDEN.] + +In the town of Jomsborg, on the island of Wollin, near the mouth of the +Oder, dwelt a daring band of piratical warriors known as the Jomsvikings, +who were famed for their indomitable courage. War was their trade, rapine +their means of livelihood, and they were sworn to obey the orders of +their chief, to aid each other to the utmost, to bear pain unflinchingly, +dare the extremity of danger, and face death like heroes. They kept all +women out of their community, lest their devotion to war might be +weakened, and stood ready to sell their swords to the highest bidder. + +To this band of plunderers Harald appealed and found them ready for the +task. Their chief, Earl Sigvalde, brought together a great host of +warriors at a funeral feast to his father, and there, while ale and mead +flowed abundantly, he vowed, flagon in hand, that he would drive Earl +Haakon from the Norse realm or perish in the attempt. His viking +followers joined him in the vow. The strong liquor was in their veins and +there was no enterprise they were not ready to undertake. When their +sober senses returned with the next morning, they measured better the +weight of the enterprise; but they had sworn to it and were not the men +to retreat from a vow they had taken. + +Erik, an unruly son of Earl Haakon, had fled from his father's court in +disgrace and was now in Viken, and here the rumor of the vikings' oath +reached his ears. At once, forgetting his quarrel with his father, he +hastened north with all the men he could gather to Earl Haakon's aid, +preceding the Jomsvikings, who were sailing slowly up the shores of +Norway, plundering as they went in their usual fashion. They had a fleet +of sixty ships and a force of over seven thousand well-trained warriors. +Haakon, warned by his son, met them with three times their number of +ships, though these were smaller and lighter craft. On board were about +ten thousand men. Such were the forces that met in what the sagas call +the greatest battle that had ever been fought in Norway. + +Soon the embattled ships met and the conflict grew fast and furious, +hurtling weapons filling the air and men falling on all sides. Great was +the carnage and blood flowed in streams on the fighting ships. Earl +Haakon stood in the prow of his ship in the heat of the fight, arrows and +spears whirling around him in such numbers that his shirt of mail became +so torn and rent that he threw it off as useless. The high ships of the +vikings gave them an advantage which told heavily against their +antagonists, spears and arrows being poured down from their sides. + +In the height of the battle Earl Haakon disappeared. As the legends tell +he went ashore with his youngest son Erling, whom he sacrificed to the +heathen gods to win their aid in the battle. Hardly had he done this deed +of blood when a dense black cloud arose and a violent hail-storm broke +over the ships, the hail-stones weighing each two ounces and beating so +fiercely in the faces of the Jomsvikings as nearly to blind them. Some +say that the Valkyries, the daughters of Odin, were seen in the prow of +the earl's ship, filling the air with their death-dealing arrows. + +Despite the storm and the supernatural terrors that they conjured up, the +Jomsvikings continued to fight, though their decks were slippery with +blood and melting hail. Only one coward appeared among them, their chief +Earl Sigvalde, who suddenly turned his ship and fled. When Vagn Aakesson, +the most daring of the Jomsvikings, saw this recreant act he was frantic +with rage. + +"You ill-born hound," he cried, "why do you fly and leave your men in the +lurch? Shame on you, and may shame cling to you to your death!" + +A spear hurtled from his hand and pierced the man at the helm, where +Sigvalde had stood a moment before. But the ship of the dastard earl kept +on and a general panic succeeded, all the ships in the fleeing earl's +line following his standard. Only Vagn Aakesson and Bue the Big were left +to keep up the fight. + +Yet they kept it up in a way to win them fame. When Earl Haakon's ship +drew up beside that of Bue, two of the viking champions, Haavard the +Hewer and Aslak Rock-skull, leaped on deck and made terrible havoc. In +the end an Icelander picked up an anvil that was used to sharpen their +spears and hurled it at Aslak, splitting his skull, while Haavard had +both legs cut off. Yet the indomitable viking fought on, standing on his +knees. + +The onset of the Jomsvikings was so terrific in this last fierce fight +that the earl's men gave back, and might have been all slain had not his +son Erik boarded Bue's ship at this crisis and made an irresistible +charge. A terrible cut across the face severed Bue's nose. + +"Now," he cried, "the Danish maidens will kiss me no more." + +Seeing that all was at an end, he seized two chests of gold to prevent +their capture by the victors, and sprang with them into the sea, +shouting: + +"Overboard all Bue's men!" + +On Vagn's ship a similar fierce fight was taking place, ending only when +all but thirty of the vikings were slain. + +Then a savage scene was enacted, one worthy only of those barbarous +times. The captives were taken ashore and seated on a long log, their +feet bound, their hands free. At the funeral feast in Sigvalde's hall +Vagn had boasted that he would kill Thorkill Laiva, one of Erik's chief +warriors, and this threatened man was now chosen as executioner. + +At the captives he rushed, with uplifted axe, and savagely struck off +their heads, one after another. Vagn was to be left to the last, that he +might suffer from fear, but instead of this he sat joking and laughing +with his men. One of them sang and laughed so loudly that Erik asked him +if he would like to live. + +"That depends on who it is that asks me." + +"He who offers has the power to grant. I am Earl Erik." + +"Then I gladly accept." + +Another made a pun which so pleased the earl that he, too, was set free. + +One of the captives had long, beautiful hair, and as Thorkill came near +him on his bloody errand he twisted his hair into a coil and asked the +executioner not to soil it with his blood. To humor him Thorkill asked +one of the bystanders to hold the coil while he struck. The man did so, +but as the axe came down the captive jerked his head aside so that the +axe fell on the wrists of the coil-holder, both his hands being cut off. + +"Some of the Jomsvikings are still alive," laughed the captive. + +"Who are you?" asked Erik. + +"I am said to be a son of Bue." + +"Do you wish to live?" + +"What other choice have I?" + +At Erik's command he, too, was released. + +Angry at being thus robbed of his prey, Thorkill now sprang towards Vagn, +determined that at least his special enemy should fall. As he came near, +however, one of the men on the log threw himself forward in such a way +that Thorkill stumbled over him and dropped his axe. In an instant Vagn +was on his feet, seized the axe, and dealt Thorkill a deadly blow. His +boast was kept; Thorkill had fallen by his hand. + +Erik saw the bold feat with such admiration that he ordered Vagn to be +freed, and the prisoners who remained alive were also set free at his +order. + +While this was going on Earl Haakon sat apart conversing with his +chieftains. As they did so they heard a bow-string twang, and before a +hand could be raised a keen-pointed arrow pierced the body of Gissur the +White, one of the chiefs, and he fell over dead. The arrow had come from +the ship of Bue the Big, and thither men ran in haste. What they saw was +Haavard the Hewer, still standing on his knees, though his blood flowed +freely. + +"Tell me," he cried, "did any one fall at the tree yonder?" + +"Yes; Gissur the White." + +"Then luck failed me, for that arrow was aimed for Earl Haakon." + +And he fell over on the deck, with death at his heart-strings. The viking +had sent a herald on before, to announce his coming at Odin's court. + +It was Haakon who had ordered the murder of the captives, and Erik his +son who gave life to so many of them. The time was near at hand when the +earl was to meet the bloody fate which he had dealt out to others. Though +Erik had done so much to help him in the battle, he was furious with his +son for sparing the life of Vagn Aakesson. As a result they parted in +anger, Erik going south again. Here Vagn joined him and from that day +forward the two were warm friends and comrades. + +But Haakon fell into ways of vice as he grew older, and at length he did +a deed that led him to a shameful death. He had his men bring by force +to his palace the wife of a rich peasant, and sent them for another, who +was famed for her beauty. Orm, her husband, refused to let her go and +sent news of the outrage to all the peasants in the valley. From farm to +farm flew the tidings, and the peasants, furious at the shameful deeds of +the earl, seized their arms and gathered in a great band, which marched +upon him at Medalhus. + +Earl Haakon was taken by surprise. He had not dreamed of a revolt and +only a few men were with him. These he dismissed and fled for safety, +only one man, his old servant Kark, going with him. Reaching the Gaul +River in his flight, he rode his horse into a deep hole and left his +cloak on the ice, so that his pursuers, finding the dead horse and the +cloak, might think he was drowned. + +From there he sought the nearby home of Thora of Rimul, a faithful woman +friend, told her of the hot pursuit and begged her to hide him from his +furious enemies. The only hiding place she could provide was a deep ditch +under her pig-sty, and in this filthy hole the great earl was hidden, +with food, candles, and bedding. Then boards were laid over the ditch and +covered with earth and upon this the pigs were driven. + +To Rimul the peasants soon came, filled with fury, and with them came a +man of note who had just landed and was seeking to win the throne. This +was Olaf, a great-grandson of Harold the Fair-Haired, whose claim to the +crown of Norway was far better than that of Haakon. Thinking that Thora +had hidden the fleeing earl the pursuers searched the whole place. The +fugitive not being found, Olaf stood on a large stone near the pig-sty +and called the peasants around him, loudly announcing that any man who +should find and slay Earl Haakon would be given a large reward. + +His words were plainly heard in the damp and unpleasant underground den +where Haakon sat shivering. He looked at Kark, the thrall, whose face +showed that he, too, had heard the promise of reward. + +"What ails you?" asked the earl. "Your face changes from pale to dark and +gloomy. Do you propose to betray me?" + +"No," said Kark. + +"We were born on the same night, and if one of us dies the other will +soon follow," said the earl warningly. + +For a long time they sat, listening to the sounds above. At length all +grew still and they felt that the night had come. Kark fell asleep, but +the earl sat awake, watching him in deep distrust. The slumbering thrall +tossed about as if in pain and the earl wakened him, asking of what he +had dreamt. + +"I dreamed that you and I were on shipboard and that I was at the helm." + +"That means that you rule over both our lives. Therefore, Kark, you must +be true and faithful to me, as duty bids you. Better days will soon come +to us both and then you shall be richly rewarded." + +Again the thrall fell asleep and again he seemed to dream. The earl woke +him again. + +"Of what did you dream?" he asked. + +"I dreamed that I was at Hlade and that Olaf Tryggvesson put a golden +ring around my neck." + +"That means," said the earl, "that if you seek Olaf he will put a red +ring [a ring of blood] around your neck. Beware of him, Kark, and trust +in me. Be faithful to me and you will find in me a faithful friend." + +The night dragged slowly on. The earl dared not let himself sleep, but +sat staring at Kark, who stared back at him. When morning was near at +hand weariness lay so heavily on the earl that he could no longer keep +awake. But his sleep was sorely disturbed by the terrors of that dreadful +night. He tossed about and screamed out in distress and at length rose on +his knees with the horrors of nightmare in his face. + +Then Kark, who had all night been meditating treachery, killed him with a +thrust of his knife. Cutting off his head, he broke out of the dark den +and sought Olaf, with the grisly trophy in his hand. + +Olaf heard his story with lowering face. It was not to traitors like this +that he had offered reward. In the end, burning with indignation at the +base deed, he ordered the thrall's head to be struck off. Thus Kark's +dream, as interpreted by Haakon, came true. The ring put by Olaf around +his neck was not one of gold, but one of blood. + + + + +_HOW OLAF, THE SLAVE-BOY, WON THE THRONE._ + + +Many sons had Harold the Fair-Haired, and of some of them the story has +been told. One of them, Olaf by name, left a son named Tryggve, who in +turn had a son to whom he gave his father's name of Olaf. Wonderful was +the story of this Olaf in his youth and renowned was it in his age, for +he it was who drove the heathen gods from Norway and put Christ in their +place. But it is the strange and striking adventures of his earlier days +with which this tale has to deal. + +Prince Tryggve had his enemies and by them was foully murdered. Then they +sought his dwelling, proposing to destroy his whole race. But Aastrid, +his wife, was warned in time, and fled from her home with Thorold, her +foster-father. She hid on a little island in the Rand fiord, and here was +born the son who was afterwards to become one of Norway's most famous +kings. + +The perils of Aastrid were not yet at an end. Gunhild, the sorceress +queen, was her chief enemy, and when her spies brought her word that +Aastrid had borne a son, the wicked old woman sought to destroy the +child. + +The summer through Aastrid remained on the little isle, hiding in the +weedy bushes by day and venturing abroad only at night. Everywhere +Gunhild's spies sought her, and when autumn came with its long nights, +she left the isle and journeyed with her attendants through the land, +still hiding by day and travelling only under the shades of night. In +this way she reached the estate of her father, Erik Ofrestad. + +The poor mother was not left in peace here, the evil-minded sorceress +still pursuing her. A body of murderers was sent to seek for her and her +son on her father's estate, but Ofrestad heard of their mission in time +to send the fugitives away. Dressed as beggars, Aastrid and her child and +Thorolf, her foster-father, travelled on foot from the farm, stopping at +evening to beg food and shelter from a peasant named Bjoern. The surly +fellow drove them away, but they were given shelter farther on by a +peasant named Thorstein. + +Meanwhile the murderers were hot on their track. Not finding Aastrid at +her father's house, they traced her to Bjoern's farm, where they were told +that a handsome but poorly dressed woman, carrying a young child, had +asked for help that evening. It chanced that a servant of Thorstein +overheard this and when he reached home he told it to his master. +Suspecting the rank and peril of his guests, Thorstein roused them from +sleep with a great show of anger and drove them out into the night. This +was done to deceive the servants, but Thorstein followed the weary +fugitives and told them the reason of his act. He had driven them out to +save them, he said, and he gave them a trusty guide who could show them +the best hiding places in the forest. They found shelter for that night +amid the tall rushes by the side of a small lake. + +When the troop of murderers reached Thorstein's house he set them astray +on the wrong scent and he fed the fugitives in the forest until the +murderous gang had given up the search. In the end he aided them to make +their way to Sweden, where they took refuge with a friend of Prince +Tryggve named Haakon the Old. + +Still the wicked queen did not let them rest in peace. Learning where +they were, she sent two embassies to King Erik of Sweden, demanding the +surrender of the mother and child. Each time Erik gave them permission to +capture the fugitives if they could, saying that he would not interfere. +But Haakon the Old was not the man to surrender his guests. In vain +Gunhild's ambassador came to him with promises and threats. The dispute +at length grew so hot that a half-witted servant seized a dung-fork and +rushed at the ambassador, who took to his heels, fearing to have his fine +clothes soiled. The angry thrall pursued him till he was driven off the +estate, Haakon looking on with grim mirth. + +Such were the early days of little Olaf, whose life began in a series of +adventures which were the prologue to a most stirring and active life. +Few men have had a more adventurous career than he, his whole life being +one of romance, activity and peril. He became a leading hero of the saga +writers, who have left us many striking stories of his young life and +adventures. + +Aastrid and her son remained with Haakon the Old until Earl Haakon came +into power in Norway. As he was not of royal blood, she feared that he +might seek to destroy all the descendants of old King Harold, and, in +doubt if her present protector was strong enough to defend her, she +decided to seek refuge in Russia, where her brother Sigurd had risen to a +place of power. + +With this voyage young Olaf's later series of adventures began. The +merchant ship in which they set sail was taken by a viking pirate craft, +some of the passengers being killed and others sold as slaves. Thorolf +and his young son Thorgills, with the boy Olaf, were sold to a viking +named Klerkon, who killed Thorolf because he was too old to bring any +price as a slave, but kept the boys, whom he soon traded away in Esthonia +for a big ram. As for Aastrid, she was offered for sale at the +slave-market, and here, despite her ragged and miserable plight, she was +recognized by a rich merchant named Lodin. He offered to pay her ransom +if she would become his wife. The poor woman, not knowing what had become +of her son, was glad to accept his offer and returned with him to his +home in Norway. + +To return to the story of the boy slaves, the man who had bought them for +a ram, soon sold them for a coat and cape to a man named Reas. The new +master put Thorgills to hard labor, but took a fancy to Olaf and treated +him much more kindly, the young prince remaining with him for six years +and growing up to be a handsome and sturdy youth. + +Sigurd Eriksson, Aastrid's brother, and the uncle of Olaf, was a man of +prominence in Esthonia, and one day rode on business of King Vladimir +through the town in which Reas lived. Here he saw some boys playing, one +of whom attracted him by his manly and handsome face. Calling him to his +horse's side, he asked his name. + +"Olaf," said the boy. + +Olaf! The name was significant to Sigurd, and a few words more taught him +that the lad was his lost nephew. Seeking Reas, he offered him a good +price for his two young slaves and took them home with him, bidding Olaf +not to tell any one else who he was. + +The boy was now well-grown, active, and strong for his years. Walking one +day about the town he saw before him the viking Klerkon who had killed +old Thorolf, his foster-father. He had at the moment an axe in his hand +and, with no thought but that of revenge on the murderer, he struck him a +blow that split his skull and stretched him dead on the ground. + +The boy was in peril of his life for this impulsive deed. Death was its +legal penalty, and a crowd quickly gathered who demanded that the boy +murderer should be killed. His uncle heard of the act and ran in haste to +his rescue, taking him to Olga, the queen, and telling her who he was, +what he had done, and why he had done it. + +The queen looked at the beautiful and bright-faced lad and took a great +fancy to him at sight. She took him under her protection, and gave him a +training in the use of arms and warlike sports, such as beseemed the +scion of a royal race. When twelve years of age King Vladimir, who +esteemed the boy highly, gave him some armed ships and sent him out to +try his hand in real war, and for some years he roved abroad as a viking. +He also served the king well by conquering for him a rebel province. + +Olaf might have won high rank in Russia but for the enemies who envied +him and who made the king fear that he would yet find a rival for the +throne in the ambitious boy. Fearing trouble for her protege, Queen Olga +advised him to leave the kingdom and he sailed for the land of the Wends, +on the Baltic shores, where King Burislav received him as a distinguished +young warrior. He did not tell who he really was, but went under the name +of Ole the Russian, and as such married the daughter of the king, who +fell in love with him for his valor and beauty. Many were the valiant +deeds he did for King Burislav, with whom he stayed until the death of +his wife, he being then twenty-one years of age. + +The young warrior now grew eager for new adventures, and in response to a +dream determined to go to Greece and become a Christian. His dream +served the cause of Christianity better than this, if the story is true +that he sent a missionary bishop to Russia who converted both King +Vladimir and Queen Olga to the Christian faith. + +[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, +N.Y. A NORDFJORD BRIDE AND GROOM WITH GUESTS AND PARENTS. BRIGSDAL. +NORWAY.] + +From Greece Olaf wandered to many countries, including France, Denmark, +Scotland, and Northumberland, and his adventures were very numerous. He +was twenty-five years of age when he reached England and here he met with +an adventure of a new type. The Princess Gyda, sister of an Irish king, +was a widow, but was still young and beautiful and had so many suitors +that it was hard for her to choose between them. Among the most +importunate was a warrior named Alfvine, a great slayer of men. + +So many were they and so much did they annoy the fair widow that at last +she fixed a day when she would choose a husband from among them, and +numbers of them came before her, all in their most splendid attire. It +was a championship that attracted many lookers on and among them came +Olaf with some of his companions. He was plainly dressed, and wore a fur +hood and cape. Gyda stood forth and looked over her throng of lovers with +listless eyes until at length she saw among the spectators the tall +stranger with the hood of fur. She walked up to him, lifted the hood, and +gazed long into his eyes. What she saw there riveted her fancy. + +"I do not know you," she said; "but if you will have me for a wife, then +you are my choice." + +Olaf must have seen as much in her eyes as she had in his, for he warmly +replied: + +"I know no woman who equals you, and gladly will I accept you." + +At once their betrothal was published, but Alfvine, burning with wrath, +challenged the fortunate stranger to mortal combat. Fierce and long was +the fight, but Norse blood and valor conquered and Gyda was enraptured +with the courage and skill of her spouse. They were duly wedded and Olaf +spent several years in England and Ireland, winning fame there as a +doughty champion and growing ever more earnest in the Christian faith. + +In the chronicles of the time we are told much of the doings of the +doughty Olaf, who won fame as the chieftain of a viking fleet, which in +994 made many descents upon the English coast. In the end he landed in +Southampton and fixed his winter quarters there, living upon the country. +He was finally bought off by King Ethelred with L10,000, which he divided +among his men. He received confirmation in the Christian faith the same +year, King Ethelred being present, and took a solemn vow, which he never +broke, that he would never again molest England and her people. + +Olaf's name was no longer concealed and the fame of his deeds reached +Norway, where they gave no small trouble of mind to Earl Haakon, who +dreaded this young adventurer of royal descent, knowing well how much the +people loved King Harold and his race. Haakon went so far as to try to +compass his death, sending his friend Thore Klakka to Dublin, where Olaf +then was, to kill him if he could, otherwise to entice him to Norway when +he would himself destroy him. + +The latter Thore did, finding Olaf ready for any new adventure, and under +Thore's treacherous advice he sailed with five ships and landed in +Hoerdaland, where Haakon's power was the greatest, and thence sailed +northward to Troendelag where the earl was and where he hoped to take him +by surprise. + +Thore had represented that Olaf would find friends in plenty there, and +much to his own surprise found that he had told more truth than he knew; +for, as told in the last tale, the peasants were then in arms and in +pursuit of the recreant earl. They gladly accepted Olaf as their leader, +on learning who he was, and helped him in the quick and sudden downfall +and death of Haakon, as already described. + +All the chiefs and peasants of the district were now summoned to meet in +assembly and with one voice they chose Olaf Tryggvesson, great-grandson +of the renowned Harold, as their king. All Norway confirmed their action +and thus easily did the adventurer prince, who had once been a slave-boy, +sold for half a fat ram, rise to the throne of Norway. + + + + +_OLAF DETHRONES ODIN AND DIES A HERO._ + + +Earl Haakon was the last heathen king of Norway. Olaf, the new king, was +a zealous Christian and was determined to introduce the new faith. And +this was done not in the mild and gentle way in which Haakon the Good had +attempted it, but with all the fierce fury of the viking spirit. Christ +the White the Northmen called the new deity, but it was rather Christ the +Red in Olaf's hands, for, while Christian in faith, he was a son of the +old gods, Odin and Thor, in spirit. + +It is not the Christianizing of Norway that we have set out to tell, but +as this is a matter of great importance some space must be given to it. +Olaf, high spirited and impetuous, did by storm what he might not have +been able to do by milder measures. He had little trouble in the south of +Norway, where the Christian faith had been making its way for years, but +in the north the old heathen spirit was strong, sacrifices to the gods +were common, and the rude and cruel barbarism which the old doctrines +favored everywhere prevailed. Here it was that Olaf had a strong fortress +of heathenism to take by storm. + +In Troendelag was the temple of Hlade, ancient and grand, the stronghold +of the Norse gods. Fierce and impulsive in his zeal, Olaf broke into this +old temple, destroyed the altar, burned the idols, and carried away the +treasure. At once the people were in arms, but the resolute king began to +build a Christian church where the temple had stood and also a +fortress-like residence for himself. + +In the end the peasants grew so fierce and warlike and were so backed up +by a lusty chieftain named Ironbeard, that Olaf found himself obliged to +promise to take part with them in the feast and sacrifices of the coming +Yuletide. + +But before this time arrived he appeared again at Hlade and he now +brought with him a strong fleet and numerous armed warriors. Many guests +had been invited to meet him, and these were entertained until they were +all royally drunk. Then the king said to them: + +"I have promised to sacrifice with you, and am here to keep my word. I +propose to make a royal sacrifice, not of thralls and criminals, but of +lords and chieftains, for thus we can best do honor to Odin." + +He then selected six of his most powerful opponents and said that he +intended to sacrifice them to Odin and Frey, that the people might have +good crops. The dismayed chiefs were instantly seized and were offered +the alternative of being sacrificed or baptized. Taken by surprise, they +were not long in deciding upon the latter, the king making them give +hostages for their good faith. + +Soon after came the Yuletide and Olaf was present with a strong force at +Moere, where the sacrifices were to be made. The peasants also came in +force, all armed, with the burly Ironbeard as their leader. They were +rude and noisy and it was some time before the king could make himself +heard. Then he called on them all to accept baptism and acknowledge +Christ the White in place of their bloodthirsty gods. Ironbeard haughtily +replied that they were supporters of the old laws and that the king must +make the sacrifices as all the kings before him had done. + +Olaf heard him through and said that he was there to keep his promise. +Then, with many men, he entered the temple, leaving his arms outside as +the law required. All he carried was a stout, gold-headed stick. Stopping +before the statue of the god Thor, around which were rings of gold and +iron, he raised the stick and gave the idol a blow so fierce and strong +that it tumbled in pieces from its pedestal. At the same moment his +followers struck down the other idols. The peasants, thunderstruck at the +sacrilege, looked for support to Ironbeard, but the doughty warrior lay +dead. He had shared the fate of the idols he worshipped, being struck +down at the same moment with them. What to do the peasants knew not, and +when Olaf told them they must either be baptized or fight they chose the +former as the safest. The province of Haalogaland, still farther north, +was dealt with in the same arbitrary fashion, those of the chiefs who +refused baptism being put to death with torture. And in this fierce and +bloody way the dominion of Christ the White was established in the land +of the vikings. It was but a substitute for the heathen gods that was +given them in such a fashion, and years had to pass before they would +become true Christians. + +Much more might be said about King Olaf, his kindliness and winning +manners in peace, his love of show and splendor, his prowess in battle +and his wonderful skill with weapons. He could use both hands with equal +effect in fighting, could handle three spears at once, keeping one always +in the air, and when his men were rowing could run from prow to stern of +the ship on their oars. But what we have chiefly to tell is the last +adventure of the viking king and how death came to him in the heat of the +fray. + +What became of his wife Gyda, the Irish princess, we are not told, but he +had now a new wife, Thyra, sister of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark, and +it was to this queen he owed his death. She had large estates in Wendland +and Denmark, from which she now received no revenues, and she fretted +Olaf so by appeals, prayers, and tears to win back for her this property +that he had no peace in his palace. The annoyance went on until the +hot-tempered king could bear it no longer and he began to prepare for war +abroad that he might gain peace at home. + +Word was sent out to the chiefs of the land, bidding them to join the +king with the ships required by the laws of the kingdom. Among his own +ships was one called the Short Serpent, and he had just finished another +of great size and beauty which he named the Long Serpent. Never had so +noble a ship been seen in the north. It was 112 feet long and had 104 +oars, while it could carry six hundred warriors, none being over sixty or +under twenty years of age except the great bowman Thambarkskelver, who +was but eighteen, yet was so skilful with the bow that he could shoot a +blunt arrow through a hanging raw ox-hide. + +With sixty ships and as many transports Olaf sailed south to Wendland, +where he was well received by his old friend King Burislav, whose +daughter Geira had been his first wife. The Wend king royally entertained +him and made a just settlement of Queen Thyra's estates, and Olaf +prepared to sail homeward again. But dark clouds of war were gathering on +his path. + +Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark was hostile both to Burislav and Olaf and the +king of Sweden was leagued with the Danish king. To detain Olaf while +they gathered their fleets, these kings employed Sigvalde, the cowardly +chief of the Jomsvikings, who had fled from the battle with Earl Haakon, +to visit and lure him into blind confidence. + +The treacherous viking succeeded. His smooth, soft ways won Olaf's heart +and the open-minded king put complete trust in him. Sigvalde finally, +after bringing about much delay by his false arts, engaged to pilot Olaf +with his own fleet through the dangerous waters of the coast, and even +induced him to divide his ships by sending part of them in advance. + +The traitor meanwhile kept in communication with King Sweyn and promised +to lure Olaf away from his main force and lead him into the snare they +were laying for him. Chief among the enemies of the Norse king was Earl +Erik, the son of Earl Haakon, whom he was eager to avenge, and King Olaf +the Swede, who was present with a fleet. + +With sixty or seventy ships of war these foes of Norway's king lay hidden +behind the little island of Svolder, in Olaf's track. For a number of +days they awaited him with impatience. At last Olaf's transports appeared +within view of the leaders of the hostile fleet, who were posted at an +elevated point on the land. + +The day was fair, the wind gentle and favorable, and the foremost ships +sailed onward, seeing nothing of the foes. When King Sweyn saw among them +a large and handsome ship he was sure it must be the Long Serpent, and +said: + +"Olaf of Norway is afraid to-day, for he carries no dragon-head on his +ship." + +"That is not the king's ship," said Earl Erik, "but that of Erling of +Sole. I know it by its striped sails. Let it pass, for it will be better +for us to have Erling out of the fray." + +On, one by one, came the Norse ships, sweeping proudly by, and at length +Sigvalde's eleven ships came in sight. These, signalled from the shore, +suddenly turned inward round the island, to the surprise of Thorkill +Dyrdill, captain of the Crane, which followed in their wake. Seeing this +fine ship, Sweyn grew eager for the fight and ordered his men on board in +spite of Erik's warning that the time had not yet arrived. + +"Are you afraid of them?" sneered the Dane. "Have you lost all desire to +avenge your father?" + +"Wait and you will see," retorted Erik. "Before the sun sets you will +find who is most eager for battle, I, or you and your men." + +When Thorkill saw the treacherous act of Sigvalde and caught sight of the +ambushed fleet, he let fall the sails of the Crane and awaited the coming +of the king. Soon the Short Serpent came up, its gilded dragon-head +shining brightly in the sunlight. Not long after the Long Serpent +appeared, its golden prow glittering brilliantly as the sunbeams fell +upon it. Those who saw it marvelled at its size and beauty and many +beheld with dread the glittering array of swords and shields as it came +sweeping onward. + +But the great body of King Olaf's ships had gone on without thought of a +foeman and were now out of sight. Only eleven of them remained, and some +of his captains advised him not to fight against such odds. + +"Down with the sails," he cried cheerily. "Bind the ships together. Never +yet have I fled from battle and I will not do so now. God is my shield +and I will flee from no foe. He is no king who lets fear put him to +flight before his enemies." + +Yet his peril was deadly, as was evident when the fleet of more than +sixty ships rowed out from its ambush against Olaf's eleven. + +"Who is the leader here before us?" he asked. + +"That is King Sweyn with his Danes," said one of the men. + +"Let them come on. Danes have never yet beaten Norsemen, and they will +not to-day. But whose standards are those on the right?" + +"They are those of Olaf of Sweden." + +"The heathen Swedes had better have stayed at home to lick their +sacrificial bowls. We need not fear these horse-eaters. Yonder to the +left; whose ships are those?" + +"They belong to Earl Erik, the son of Earl Haakon." + +"Then we may look for hard blows from them. Erik and his men are Norsemen +like ourselves, and he has reason not to love me and mine." + +While he spoke Queen Thyra, who was with him, came on deck. When she saw +the desperate odds she burst into tears. + +"Do not weep," said Olaf. "You have got what was due in Wendland; and +to-day I will do my best to win your rights from your brother Sweyn." + +King Sweyn came first into the fray, but after a stubborn fight was +driven off with great carnage. Then the Swedes swarmed to the rescue, and +a second hard battle ensued, in which the Norsemen were outnumbered ten +to one. Yet Olaf, with shining helmet and shield and a tunic of scarlet +silk over his armor, directed the defence, and gave his men such courage +by his fierce valor that the victory would have been his but for Earl +Erik. + +When Erik's great galley, the Iron Ram, came into the fight and Norse met +Norse, the onset was terrific. Greatly outnumbered, worn out with their +exertions, and many of them bleeding from wounds, the men in ship after +ship were overpowered and these cut adrift, their defenders being slain. +At length only the Long Serpent remained, and against it was driven the +Iron Ram. + +There was little wind and the damage was not great, and soon the storm of +spears and arrows was resumed. Einer Thambarkskelver, the famous bowman, +saw Earl Erik in the prow of his ship screened by the shields of his men, +and soon Einer's arrows were hurtling around him. + +"Shoot that tall bowman," said Erik to one of his own archers. + +An arrow sped and hit Einer's bow in the middle, breaking it in twain. + +"What is broke?" asked Olaf, hearing the sound. + +"Norway broke then from your hands, my king," said Einer. + +"Not so bad as that; take my bow and try what it is worth." + +Einer caught the bow, bent it double, and threw it back. + +"It is too weak," he said. + +Desperate was now the strait and no escape was possible. Olaf sent his +spears hurtling on Erik's crowded deck, but he saw that his men were +scarce able to hold their own. + +"Your swords bite poorly," he said. "Have your arms lost their strength?" + +"No," was the reply, "but our blades are dull and notched." + +The king ran forward, opened a chest, and flung out armfulls of bright, +sharp swords. + +"Here is what will bite deeply," he said. + +But victory was now hopeless; the earl's men swept back the tired +warriors; blood flowed from under the king's armor; all hands were bent +against him, for he loomed above his men. Kolbjoern, a man who resembled +the king, sprang to his side and helped him shrewdly in the fray. + +Still the stern combat went on, still the weapons flew, still men fell +groaning, and as the king looked along his deck he saw that only eight +men kept their feet besides himself and his companion. All was lost. +Raising the shield above his head, he leaped over the ship's side. +Kolbjoern followed and was picked up by the earl's men, who took him to be +the king. As for Olaf, the hungry sea swallowed his form. + +Legend tells us, indeed, that he was rescued by a ship sent to his aid by +Aastrid, Earl Sigvalde's wife, and that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and +long afterwards lived as a hermit in the Holy Land. But that is one of +the stories based on good wishes rather than sound facts. + +It was in the year 1000, when King Olaf was thirty-six years old, that +this famous sea-fight took place. Queen Thyra felt that she had caused +his death and could not be consoled. Erik treated her kindly and promised +her the honors due to her high estate, but her heart was broken by her +loss, and nine days afterwards she died. + + + + +_OLAF THE SAINT AND HIS WORK FOR CHRIST._ + + +The story of Olaf the Saint, the Norse king who comes next into our view, +illustrates the barbarous character of the heathen people with whom we +are dealing. Few warriors in those days died in their beds, death coming +to them in some more violent form. Olaf's grandfather, a son of Harold +the Fair-Haired, was killed by his brother, Erik Blood-Axe, and his +father was burned alive by a royal widow whom he sought to marry. Many +wooers came to seek her hand and she got rid of them by setting on fire +the hall in which they slept. + +"I'll teach these little kings the risk of proposing to me," said this +viking widow. + +A proud little fellow was Olaf, hot of temper and bearing no opposition. +He knew that he was of kingly birth, and despised his step-father Sigurd +Syr, also a descendant of King Harold, but caring more for his crops than +for the dreams of ambition. Once, when Olaf was ten years old, Sigurd +sent him to the stable to saddle and bring out his horse. When he came +out he led a big goat, on which he had placed the saddle. + +"Why do you do that?" he was asked. + +"Oh, the goat is good enough for him, for he is as much like a king as a +goat is like a war-horse." + +The boy was only twelve when he began to take part in the cruises of the +vikings, and in these quickly showed himself brave and daring. When he +grew to a ripe age and found that the rule of Norway was divided between +two young men, successors of the Olaf whose story we have last told, he +determined to strike for the throne. + +The story of how he won the throne is interesting, but must be dealt with +here very briefly, as we have rather to do with the story of how he lost +it. Olaf was fortunate at the start, for he captured a ship on which Earl +Erik, one of these boy kings, was sailing along the coast. + +A beautiful youth he was, tall and shapely, with silky golden hair which +fell in long curls over his shoulders. Proud he was too, and answered his +captor's questions with manly resolution. + +"Your luck has left you and you are in my power," said Olaf; "what shall +I do with you?" + +"That depends on you," answered the fearless young earl. + +"What will you do if I let you go unharmed?" + +"What do you wish me to do?" + +"Only this, that you leave your country and renounce your claim of +kingship, and that you swear never to make war on me." + +To this young Erik agreed and sailed away to England to join his uncle, +Canute the Dane, who was then king of both Denmark and England. + +With the other young king, Earl Sweyn, Olaf did not find his task so +easy, since Sweyn fought for his rights in a naval battle in which he had +forty-five ships and three thousand men, while Olaf had less than half +that number of men and ships. Olaf won the battle by a shrewd stratagem. +He told his men to act at first only on the defensive, holding back their +weapons until the enemy had thrown away theirs. + +On came Earl Sweyn's fleet, fiercely attacking that of Olaf, a cloud of +spears and arrows filling the air. As none came back from Olaf's men, +their opponents fancied they were afraid, and rushed on them eagerly. But +by this time their spears and arrows had grown scarce, and when a storm +of these came from the opposite side they were taken by surprise and many +of them killed. Wild with fear, they now sought to escape, and in the end +their whole fleet broke and fled, leaving victory to the new king. + +Sweyn fled to Sweden, whose king promised him help to regain his kingdom. +But he died before his plans were ripe and Olaf was left without a rival +except the king of Sweden, who had won a part of Norway in a former +battle and now held it. This source of trouble was settled by the Swedes +themselves, who had no fancy for fighting to help their king's ambition, +and forced him to agree to yield his claim and give his daughter Ingegerd +to Olaf for wife. So by a marriage Olaf won the remainder of his kingdom +and became ruler over all Norway; but not by marrying Ingegerd, for he +chose instead her sister Aastrid. + +There is a pretty story told just here in the sagas, or historical tales +of the Icelanders. Thus it reads: Sigurd Syr, who had married Olaf's +mother Aasta, died in 1018, and Olaf came to her house to help in +settling her affairs. She had three boys, Guttorm, Halfdan, and Harold, +whom she brought into the hall to introduce to their half-brother, the +king. Olaf put the two older ones on his knees and made so fierce a face +at them that they ran away sadly scared. Then he took up little Harold +and stared at him in the same way. The brave youngster was not so easily +frightened as his brothers and stared back at the king. Then Olaf pulled +his hair, but the daring youngster pulled his beard in exchange. + +"He will do," said Olaf, setting him down with a laugh. + +The next day the king and his mother watched the boys at their play. The +older two amused themselves by building barns, in which they put toy cows +and sheep; but Harold launched mock boats on a pond and watched them +drift away. + +"What do you call them?" asked Olaf. + +"Ships of war," said the boy. + +"Good lad," answered the king; "the day will come when you will command +real ships." + +Calling the boys to him, he asked Guttorm, the oldest, what he most +wished for. + +"Land," said the boy. + +"How much?" + +"Enough to sow as much grain every summer as would cover the headland +yonder." + +Ten large farms covered the headland in question. + +"And what do you most desire?" the king asked Halfdan. + +"Enough cows to cover the shores of the headland when they went to the +water to drink." + +"So; one wants land and the other cattle; and what do you want, Harold?" + +"Men," said the boy. + +"How many?" + +"Enough to eat up in a single dinner all brother Halfdan's cows." + +"Come, mother," said Olaf, laughing; "you have here a chap in training to +make himself a king." + +So it proved, for in later days Harold rose to be king of Norway. + +But now we have to tell from what the king gained his title of Olaf the +Saint. It came from his warm endeavors to make Norway a Christian land. +The former King Olaf had forced his people to be baptized, but the most +of them were heathens at heart still and after his death many began to +worship the old gods again. It was the second Olaf that made the +Christian secure in the land, and this still more by his death than by +his life. + +When he was still an infant the former King Olaf had baptized him and +given him his own name, and the time came when his little namesake took +up and finished his work. What most troubled the kings of Norway in that +age was the power held by the tribal chiefs, who were difficult to +control and ready to rebel; and this power came from the fact that they +were not only chiefs, but were the priests of the old religion. As +priest-kings their people followed them blindly, and no king could be +sure of his crown while this system prevailed. + +Olaf, who had been brought up in the new faith, set himself earnestly to +spread the true principles of Christ's teachings through the land and for +years he worked at it earnestly. But he had hard metal to deal with. It +is said that one chief, when about to be baptized, turned to the priest +and asked him where were his brave forefathers who had died without being +baptized. + +"They are in hell," said the priest. + +"Then hell is the place for me," answered the chief. "I would rather be +there with Odin and my hard fighting and noble fathers than in heaven +with cowardly Christians and shaven monks." + +This was the spirit of the chiefs. A heaven in which there would be no +fighting and mead-drinking had no charms for them, and to live forever +with the souls of men who had never drawn sword and struck blow was too +dreary a prospect for their turbulent tastes. + +But Olaf was ardent in the new faith and persistent in his endeavors, +travelling from end to end of the land in his efforts to break up the old +idolatry. Here is one of the stories told of this missionary work of the +king. + +He was then in Nidaros, whose peasantry, called Troenders, were said to be +celebrating in secret the old pagan festivals and offering sacrifices to +Odin and Frey for bountiful crops. When King Olaf came among them they +took arms against him, but afterwards agreed to hold a public assembly +and deal in that way with the religious question that was troubling the +kingdom. + +On the day they met it was raining hard. When the king asked them to +believe in the God of the Christians and be baptized, Dale Guldbrand, +their leader, replied: + +"We know nothing of the being you speak of; a god whom neither you nor +any one else can see. Now we have a god whom you can see every day, +except a rainy day like this. If your god is so powerful, then let him +arrange that to-morrow we shall have clouds but no rain." + +When they met again the next day the weather was what they had asked for, +clouds but no rain. Bishop Sigurd now celebrated mass and preached to the +people about the miracles which Christ had wrought when on earth. On the +third day it was still cloudy. The people had brought with them a great +wooden image of the god Thor, and their chief spoke as follows: + +"Where is your god now, King Olaf? You do not look so bold as you did +yesterday, for our god, who rules over all things, is here now and +scaring you with his fierce eyes. You scarce dare look at him, but you +would be wiser to believe in the god that holds in his hand your +destiny." + +"Your god does not frighten me," answered the king. "He is blind and +deaf and cannot move from the spot where you have set him without he is +carried. He will soon meet his fate. Look yonder to the east. There in +the flood of light comes our God." + +[Illustration: NORWEGIAN PEASANTS.] + +To the east all eyes were turned, and at that moment the sunlight burst +from the clouds and spread over the scene. As it did so a sturdy warrior, +at a signal from the king, sprang forwards and struck the idol so fierce +a blow with his club that it was shattered to pieces. Out from its hollow +interior sprang great rats, snakes, and lizards, which had grown fat on +the food with which the idol had been fed daily. + +On seeing these loathsome things squirm from the interior of their god +the peasants fled from the spot in a panic of fear, rushing to the river +where their boats lay. But King Olaf, forecasting this, had sent men to +bore holes in the boats so that they would not float. Unable to escape, +the frightened peasants came back, quite downcast in spirit. + +"You see what your god is worth," said the king. "Has he eaten the bread +and meat you fed him, or has it gone to fatten rats and snakes? As for +the gold and silver you gave him, there it lies scattered. Take up your +golden ornaments and hang them no more on worthless logs. Now I give you +your choice: you shall accept the faith I bring you, or you shall fight +for your own. He will win to whom his god gives the victory." + +The peasants were not prepared to fight, and therefore were obliged to +accept baptism. Priests were sent to teach them the tenets of the new +faith they had accepted, and Dale Guldbrand signified his honesty by +building a church to the Christian deity. Other provinces were also won +over to Christ, but there was one great and bold chieftain, Erling by +name, and a sturdy heathen in his faith, who remained hostile to the king +and a war between them became inevitable. + +While the king and the earl were making busy preparations to fight for +their faiths, a warrior king and conqueror stepped in to take advantage +for himself of the quarrel. This was King Canute, monarch of Denmark and +England, who was eager to add Norway and Sweden to his dominions and make +himself one of the most powerful of kings. He secretly sent presents to +the discontented Norse chiefs and took other means to win them to his +cause. It was not long before Olaf learned of these underhand doings, and +he at once made an alliance with King Anund of Sweden, whose sister he +had married, and whom he told that Canute would attack him if he should +win Norway. In his turn, Canute sent ambassadors to King Anund, with +splendid presents, hoping to win him over. + +Two candlesticks of gold were placed before him by the ambassadors. + +"Pretty toys those," said Anund, "but not worth enough to break me from +my good friend Olaf." + +Then they brought forth a golden platter, of artistic finish and adorned +with jewels. King Anund gazed at it with covetous eyes. + +"A handsome bit of work," he said; "but I will not sell King Olaf for a +dish." + +Finally two magnificent rings were offered. King Anund laughed when he +saw them. + +"Keen and shrewd is King Canute," he remarked. "He knows I love golden +toys, but he does not know that I love honor better. I have known King +Olaf since he was a boy; he is my friend and my sister is his queen. I +will not forsake him to please your king." + +On hearing this, King Canute laid aside his plots and made a pilgrimage +to Rome. During his absence his brother-in-law, Earl Ulf, rebelled +against him and allied himself with Kings Olaf and Anund, who sent fleets +to his aid. As it proved, King Canute was not the man to be caught +napping. Back from his pilgrimage he travelled in haste and came near to +capturing both the kings. They fled with all speed, pursued by him with a +more powerful fleet, and went up a little river in southern Sweden, which +they closed by a dam against their strong foe. Canute came soon after and +found the harbor deserted and the river closed against him. + +That night orders were given by the kings to break the dam and the +heaped-up water ran down in an immense flood on the Danish ships, doing +them great damage and drowning many of the people on board. But no attack +was made on the disabled fleet, for Earl Ulf now turned traitor to his +allies and joined Canute with his ships, making him too strong to +attack. + +This ended the war for the time, Canute returning to England. But he had +won over many of the Norse chiefs by his bribes and the next year came +again, sailing north to Nidaros, where the assembled chiefs, whom he had +gained to his side, proclaimed him king of Norway. He appointed Earl +Haakon, grandson of the famous Earl Haakon of a former tale, regent in +his stead, and sailed away again. + +In this manner Olaf lost his kingdom, for with all the powerful chiefs +sold to the great King Canute and supported by him, little hope remained. +He kept up the struggle for a short time, but was soon forced to flee to +Sweden, whence he made his way to Russia and to the court of King +Jaroslov, who was his brother-in-law, for he had married Princess +Ingegerd of Sweden, once affianced to Olaf. + +Thus easily had Norway been conquered by Canute, but it was not long to +remain under Danish rule at this time. Olaf, it is true, never won the +throne again, though he made a strong effort to regain it. In Russia he +grew more and more given to religious thoughts, until he became looked +upon as a holy man. This made him open to believe in visions, and when in +a dream he saw the former King Olaf, who bade him to go back to Norway +and conquer it or die, he did not hesitate. + +Word had been brought him that Earl Haakon was dead and Norway with no +immediate ruler, and against the advice of Jaroslov he set out for his +late kingdom, leaving his son Magnus at the Russian court. + +In Sweden the king gave him permission to gather recruits, but now his +religious fanaticism stood in the way of his success. He would have none +but baptized men in his army, and thus rejected many brave warriors while +taking some known to be outlaws and thieves. On reaching Norway he showed +the same unwisdom. He had but four thousand men under his command, while +the army he was soon to meet numbered ten thousand. Yet Olaf rejected +five hundred of his men because they were heathens and, thus weakened, +marched to the unequal fray. + +"Forward, Christ's men, king's men!" was the battle-cry of Olaf's army as +it rushed upon the foe. "Forward, peasant men!" cried the opposite army, +charging under its chiefs. + +The king's men had the best of it at the opening, but the peasants held +their ground stubbornly, and as the battle went on Olaf's ranks thinned +and wavered. Finding the day going against him, he dashed forward with a +small band of devoted men. One by one they fell. The standard changed +hands again and again as its bearer was struck down. Olaf, severely +wounded, stood leaning against a rock, when he was cut down by spear and +sword. And strangely, at that moment, the sun began to grow blood-red and +a dusky hue fell over the field. Darker and darker it grew till the sun +was blotted out and terror filled the souls of the peasants, who saw in +this strange darkness a token of the wrath of Olaf's God. But the eclipse +came too late to save the king, who lay dead where he had fallen. + +Olaf was gone but tradition built a halo around his name. It was reported +that miracles were wrought by his blood and by the touch of his lifeless +hand. Tales of marvel and magic grew up about him, and he became a +wonder-worker for the superstitious people. In time he grew to be the +national hero and the national saint, and lives in history as Olaf the +Saint, while his tragic death and his enthusiasm for the cause of Christ +gave him a strong hold on the people's hearts and aided greatly in making +Norway truly a Christian land. + + + + +_CANUTE THE GREAT, KING OF SIX NATIONS._ + + +A famous old king of Denmark, known as Harald Blaatand or Bluetooth, had +many sons, of whom only one, Svend or Sweyn, outlived him. While Harald +was a Christian, Sweyn was a pagan, having been brought up in the old +faith by a noble warrior Palnatoke, to whom his father had sent the boy +to teach him the use of arms. + +When the king found that the boy was being made a pagan he tried to +withdraw him from Palnatoke, but Sweyn would not leave his friend, +whereupon the crafty king sought to destroy the warrior. We speak of +this, for there is a very interesting story connected with it. Every one +has read of how the Austrian governor Gessler condemned the Swiss peasant +William Tell to shoot with an arrow an apple from his son's head, but few +know that a like story is told of a Danish king and warrior four hundred +years earlier. This is the story, as told for us by an old historian. + +One day, while Palnatoke was boasting in the king's presence of his skill +as an archer, Harald told him that, in spite of his boasts, there was one +shot he would not dare to try. He replied that there was no shot he was +afraid to attempt, and the king then challenged him to shoot an apple +from the head of his son. Palnatoke obeyed, and the apple fell, pierced +by the arrow. This cruel act made Palnatoke the bitter foe of King +Harald, and gathering around him a band of fierce vikings he founded a +brotherhood of sea-rovers at Jomsborg, and for long years afterwards the +Jomsborgers, or Jomsborg vikings, were a frightful scourge to all +Christian lands on the Baltic Sea. In former tales we have told some of +their exploits. + +It is said that Sweyn himself, in a later war, killed his father on the +battlefield, while Palnatoke stood by approving, though in after years +the two were bitter foes. All we need say further of these personages is +that Sweyn invaded England with a powerful force in the time of Ethelred +the Unready and drove this weak king from the island, making himself +master of great part of the kingdom. He died at Gainsborough, England, in +1014, leaving his son Knud, then a boy of fourteen, to complete the +conquest. It is this son, known in England as Canute the Great, and the +mightiest of all the Danish kings, with whose career we have to deal. + +England did not fall lightly into Canute's hands; he had to win it by +force of arms. Encouraged by the death of Sweyn and the youth of Canute, +the English recalled Ethelred and for a time the Danes lost the kingdom +which their king Sweyn had won. Canute did not find a throne awaiting him +in Denmark. His younger brother Harald had been chosen king by the Danes +and when Canute asked him for a share in the government, Harald told him +that if he wished to be a king he could go back and win England for +himself. He would give him a few ships and men, but the throne of Denmark +he proposed to keep. + +Nothing loth, Canute accepted the offer and the next year returned to +England with a large and well appointed force, whose work of conquest was +rapidly performed. Ethelred died and great part of England was +surrendered without resistance to the Danes. But Edmond, Ethelred's son, +took the field with an army and in three months won three victories over +the invaders. + +A fourth battle was attempted and lost and Edmond retreated to the +Severn, swiftly followed by Canute. The two armies here faced each other, +with the fate of England in the balance, when a proposal in close accord +with the spirit of the times was made. This was to settle the matter by +single combat between the kings. Both were willing. While Edmond had the +advantage in strength, Canute was his superior in shrewdness. For when +the champions met in deadly fray and Canute was disarmed by his opponent, +the wily Dane proposed a parley, and succeeded in persuading Edmond to +divide the kingdom between them. The agreement was accepted by the armies +and the two kings parted as friends--but the death of Edmond soon after +had in it a suspicious appearance of murder by poison. + +On the death of Edmond, Canute called a meeting of the popular assembly +of the nation and was acknowledged king of all England. Not long +afterwards Harald of Denmark died and the Danes chose him, under his +home name of Knud, as their king also. But he stayed in Denmark only long +enough to settle the affairs of the Church in that realm. He ordered that +Christianity should be made the religion of the kingdom and the worship +of Odin should cease; and put English bishops over the Danish clergy. He +also brought in English workmen to teach the uncivilized Danes. Thus, +Dane as Canute was, he preferred the religion and conditions of his +conquered to those of his native kingdom, feeling that it was superior in +all the arts and customs of civilization. + +A great king was Canute, well deserving the title long given him of +Canute the Great. Having won England by valor and policy, he held it by +justice and clemency. He patronized the poets and minstrels and wrote +verses in Anglo-Saxon himself, which were sung by the people and added +greatly to his popularity. Of the poems written by him one was long a +favorite in England, though only one verse of it now remains. This was +preserved by the monks of Ely, since they were its theme. Thus it runs, +in literal translation: + + "Merrily sung the monks within Ely + When Canute King rowed by; + Row, knights, near the land, + And hear we these monks' song." + +It is said that the verse was suggested to the king when rowing with his +chiefs one day in the river Nene, near Ely Minster, by the sweet and +solemn music of the monastery choir that floated out to them over the +tranquil water. The monks of Ely, to whom we owe much of our knowledge of +King Canute, tell us that he had a strong affection for the fen country +and for their church, and gave the following story in that connection. It +is at once picturesque and humorous. + +One year, at the festival of the Purification, when King Canute proposed +to pay his usual visit to Ely, the weather was very severe and all the +streams and other waters were frozen. The courtiers advised the king to +keep the holy festival in some other godly house, which he might reach +without danger of drowning under broken ice, but such was his love for +the abbot and monks of Ely that he would not take this advice. + +Canute proposed to cross the ice by way of Soham Mere, then an immense +body of water, saying that if any one would go before and show him the +way he would be the first to follow. The soldiers and courtiers hesitated +at this suggestion, and looked at one another with doubt and dread. But +standing among the crowd was one Brithmar, a churl or serf, who was +nicknamed Budde, or Pudding, from his stoutness. He was a native of the +island of Ely and doubtless familiar with its waters, and when the +courtiers held back he stepped forward and said he would go before and +show the way. + +"Go on then, in the name of our Lady," said Canute, "and I will follow; +for if the ice on Soham Mere can bear a man so large and fat as thou +art, it will not break under the weight of a small thin man like me." + +So the churl went forward, and Canute the Great followed him, and after +the king came the courtiers, one by one, with spaces between; and they +all got safely over the frozen mere, with no mishaps other than a few +slips and falls on the smooth ice; and Canute, as he had proposed, kept +the festival of the Purification with the monks of Ely. + +As a reward to the fat churl Brithmar for his service, he was made a +freeman and his little property was also made free. "And so," the +chronicle concludes, "Brithmar's posterity continued in our days to be +freemen and to enjoy their possessions as free by virtue of the grant +made by the king to their forefather." + +There is another and more famous story told of King Canute, one showing +that his great Danish majesty had an abundant share of sound sense. Often +as this story has been told it will bear retelling. The incident occurred +after his pilgrimage to Rome in the year 1030; made, it is said, to +obtain pardon for the crimes and bloodshed which paved his way to the +English throne. + +After his return and when his power was at its height, the courtiers +wearied him by their fulsome flatteries. Disgusted with their extravagant +adulations he determined to teach them a lesson. They had spoken of him +as a ruler before whom all the powers of nature must bend in obedience, +and one day he caused his golden throne to be set on the verge of the +sea-shore sands as the tide was rolling in with its resistless might. +Seating himself on the throne, with his jewelled crown on his head, he +thus addressed the ocean: + +"O thou Ocean! Know that the land on which I sit is mine and that thou +art a part of my dominion; therefore rise not, but obey my commands, and +do not presume to wet the edge of my royal robe." + +He sat as if awaiting the sea to obey his commands, while the courtiers +stood by in stupefaction. Onward rolled the advancing breakers, each +moment coming nearer to his feet, until the spray flew into his face, and +finally the waters bathed his knees and wet the skirts of his robe. Then, +rising and turning to the dismayed flatterers, he sternly said: + +"Confess now how vain and frivolous is the might of an earthly king +compared with that Great Power who rules the elements and says unto the +ocean, 'Thus far shalt thou go and no farther!'" + +The monks who tell this story, conclude it by saying that Canute +thereupon took off his crown and deposited it within the cathedral of +Winchester, never wearing it again. + +After his visit to Rome, Canute ruled with greater mildness and justice +than ever before, while his armies kept the turbulent Scotch and Welsh +and the unquiet peoples of the north in order. In the latter part of his +reign he could boast that the English, the Scotch, the Welsh, the Danes, +the Swedes, and the Norwegians were his subjects, and he was called in +consequence "The King of the Six Nations," and looked upon throughout +Europe as the greatest of sovereigns; none of the kings and emperors of +that continent being equal in power, wealth and width of dominion to King +Canute, a descendant of the vikings of Denmark. + +Canute spent the most of his life in England, but now and then visited +his northern realm, and there are some interesting anecdotes of his life +there. Though a devout Christian and usually a self-controlled man, the +wild passions of his viking ancestry would at times break out, and at +such times he spared neither friend nor foe and would take counsel from +no man, churchman or layman. But when his anger died out his remorse was +apt to be great and he would submit to any penance laid upon him by the +Church. Thus when he had killed one of his house servants for some slight +offense, he made public confession of his crime and paid the same +blood-fine as would have been claimed from a man of lower rank. + +The most notable instance of these outbursts of uncontrollable anger was +that in which he murdered his old friend and brother-in-law Ulf, who, +after rebelling against him, had saved him from complete defeat by the +Swedes, by coming to his rescue just as the royal fleet was nearly +swamped by the opening of the sluices which held back the waters of the +Swedish river Helge-aae. Ulf took Canute on board his own ship and +brought him in safety to a Danish island, while leaving his men to aid +those of Canute in their escape from the Swedes. Yet the king bore a +grudge against the earl, and this was its cause. + +At one time Ulf ruled over Denmark as Canute's regent and made himself +greatly beloved by the people from his just rule. Queen Emma, Canute's +wife, wished to have her little son Harthaknud--or Hardicanute, as he was +afterwards called in England--made king of Denmark, but could not +persuade her husband King Canute to accede to her wishes. She therefore +sent letters privately to Ulf, saying that the king wished to see the +young prince on the throne, but did not wish to do anything the people +might not like. Ulf, deceived by her story, had the boy crowned king, and +thereby won Canute's ill-will. + +The king, however, showed no signs of this, nor of resentment against Ulf +for his rebellion, but, after his escape from the Swedes, asked the earl +to go with him to his palace at Roeskilde, and on the evening of their +arrival offered to play chess with him. During the game Canute made a +false move so that Ulf was able to take one of his knights, and when the +king refused to let this move count and wanted his man back again the +earl jumped up and said he would not go on with the game. Canute, in a +burst of anger, cried out: + +"The coward Norwegian Ulf Jarl is running away." + +"You and your coward Danes would have run away still faster at the +Helge-aae if I and my Norwegians had not saved you from the Swedes, who +were making ready to beat you all like a pack of craven hounds!" +ejaculated the angry earl. + +Those hasty words cost Ulf his life. Canute, furious at the insult, +brooded over it all night, and the next morning, still in a rage, called +to one of the guards at the door of his bed-chamber: + +"Go and kill Ulf Jarl." + +"My Lord King, I dare not," answered the man. "Ulf Jarl is at prayer +before the altar of the church of St. Lucius." + +The king, after a moment's pause, turned to a young man-at-arms who had +been in his service since his boyhood and cried angrily: + +"I command you, Olaf, to go to the church and thrust your sword through +the Jarl's body." + +Olaf obeyed, and Ulf was slain while kneeling before the altar rails of +St. Lucius' church. + +Then, as usual with King Canute, his passion cooled and he deeply +lamented his crime, showing signs of bitter remorse. In way of expiation +he paid to his sister Estrid, Ulf's widow, a large sum as blood-fine, and +gave her two villages which she left at her death to the church in which +her husband had been slain. He also brought up Ulf's eldest son as one of +his own children. The widowed Estrid afterwards married Robert, Duke of +Normandy, father of William the Conqueror, who in 1066 became master of +England. + +King Canute died in 1035, at thirty-six years of age, and his son Harald +reigned after him in England for four years, and afterwards his son +Harthaknud, or Hardicanute, for three years, when England again came +under an Anglo-Saxon king--to fall under the power of William of +Normandy, a conqueror of Norwegian descent, twenty-four years later. + + + + +_MAGNUS THE GOOD AND HAROLD HARDRULER._ + + +After the death of King Olaf the Saint, and after the Danes had for some +years ruled over Norway, Olaf's son Magnus, who had been left in Russia, +was brought to Norway and proclaimed king. The Danes had oppressed the +people, and had put over them a woman and her son, and it was this that +made the chiefs drive out the tyrants and put young Magnus, then a boy of +ten years of age, on the throne. + +A curious thing then took place, one of those strange political +somersaults which at times come in the history of nations. For as the +Danes had lately ruled over Norway, now a Norseman came to rule over +Denmark. Thus it was that this odd change came about. + +The great King Canute was dead and his son Hardicanute had succeeded him +on the throne. This new king claimed Norway as his and prepared to fight +for it. But the chief men in the two countries succeeded in making peace, +with the agreement that if either of the kings should die without heirs +the other should take his throne. A few years later Hardicanute died and +Magnus was proclaimed king of Denmark. Thus, in the year 1042, the two +kingdoms became united under a Norse king, a descendant of Harold the +Fair-Haired. + +Magnus, as he grew up, showed an ugly and revengeful temper. Very likely +some of those around him told the boy that he should avenge his father +upon those who had rebelled against and killed him. One of these men was +slain by his orders, others fled from the country, and many were made +poor by the loss of their cattle. This made the people very angry, and +they were ready to fight for just treatment when peace was brought about +in another way, the hot-tempered Magnus being subdued by the power of +song. + +One of the poets of the land--scalds they were called--made a song called +the Lay of Candor, which he sang before the king. In it he warned him of +the evil results of a revengeful spirit and told him of the duties he +owed the people who had brought him to Norway and made him king. Magnus, +who had now nearly reached the years of manhood, listened quietly to this +song and afterwards sat long in deep thought. It had a wonderful effect +on him, for it opened his eyes to the injustice of his course, and from +that day he was a new man. All his plans of vengeance fled, he became +kind and gentle and so mild and sweet in manner that he grew to be one of +the best loved of kings. This may be seen in the name the people gave +him, which was that of Magnus the Good. + +Now we must tell the rest of his story very rapidly. As the heir of +Hardicanute he claimed to be king of England as well as of Norway and +Denmark, and he might have tried to win the crown of England, then worn +by Edward the Confessor, had he not been kept busy at home. In fact, he +had to fight hard to keep the crown of Denmark, for Sweyn, a nephew of +the great Canute, claimed it and a fierce war followed. Magnus was +victorious in this war, and in one great battle, in which ten thousand +soldiers were slain, it was his skill and courage that won the field. +This display of personal bravery gave him a great name in the north. + +Now we must leave the story of Magnus for a time to take up that of +another hero of the north. Those who have read the tale of Olaf the Saint +will remember his amusing talk with his three little half-brothers, and +how while the two elder had an ambition only for land and cows, Harold, +the youngest, wanted men and ships, and Olaf prophesied that the boy +would one day be a king. + +When Harold grew up the spirit of the boy was shown in the man. When only +fifteen years old he fought in the battle in which King Olaf was killed, +and received a severe wound. Then he became a wanderer, going first to +Russia and then to Constantinople, where he became the captain of the +Varangians, the body-guard of Norsemen kept by the Greek emperors. A +large, bold, strong, and reckless champion, Harold gained a great name in +the south. He fought against the Saracens and won much treasure; he +fought in Sicily and captured many cities; he had adventures in love and +war and many wonderful stories are told of his exploits. Then he came +back to Russia and married Elizabeth, the daughter of King Jaroslov, +love for whom had sent him abroad to win fame and riches. + +[Illustration: NORWEGIAN FARM BUILDINGS.] + +Not long after this King Magnus, as he was sailing one day along the +coast of Denmark, saw gliding along the most magnificent ship he had ever +beheld. He at once sent men aboard to learn to whom the beautiful galley +belonged, and they were met by a tall and handsome man, who said that he +had been sent by Harold Sigurdsson, the uncle of King Magnus, to learn +how the king would receive him. Magnus, who was then nineteen years old, +sent word that he would gladly welcome his uncle and hoped to find in him +a good friend. When they met the tall man proved to be Harold himself and +Magnus was highly pleased with him. + +He was not so well pleased when Harold asked to be made king also, laying +claim to half the kingdom. And Harold himself was not well pleased when +one of the Norse chiefs said that if Magnus was to share the kingdom with +him, he should divide his great treasure with Magnus. + +Harold replied hastily and haughtily that he had not dared death and won +wealth that he might make his nephew's men rich. The chief answered that +he and his friends had not won Norway from the Danes for the purpose of +giving half of it to a stranger, and all the other earls and warriors +agreed with him, so that Harold found that the apple which he wished to +divide was not so easily to be cut. + +After that there was war and plundering and the cruel deeds that take +place when the sword is drawn, and a year or two later Harold called an +assembly of the people of one district of Norway and had himself +proclaimed king. Magnus, who did not want to fight his father's brother, +finally yielded to Harold's claim and agreed that they should both be +kings; not to divide the realm, but both to rule over the whole country +together. Thus it was that Harold won the prize which he had craved as a +young child. + +Every one would say that a compact of this kind could not work well. A +gentle, kindly, generous-hearted man like King Magnus was ill matched +with a haughty, wealth-loving, tyrannical man like Harold. No doubt many +bitter words passed between them, and the peasants were so incensed by +Harold's oppression and extortion of money from them that they would have +broken into open rebellion only for the love they bore King Magnus. The +latter was often so incensed that he was tempted to put an end to the +double kingship even if he had to remove his troublesome partner by +violence. + +But this was not to be. One day, while out riding, his horse took fright +and threw him, his head striking a stump. He was at first stunned, but +seemed to recover. Soon afterwards he was taken sick with a violent fever +and gradually sank, so that it became apparent that he would die. On his +death-bed he decided that Sweyn, who had fought so hard to win from him +the crown of Denmark, had a better right to that kingdom than Harold, and +men were sent to inform him of his succession to the Danish throne. But +he had barely closed his eyes in death when Harold sent other men to +intercept these messengers. He proposed to keep Denmark for himself. + +The death of King Magnus without an heir left Harold the undisputed +successor to the throne, as the only living descendant in the male line +of Harold the Fair-Haired. Yet the people were far from pleased, for he +had already shown a disposition to treat them harshly and they feared +that a tyrant had succeeded to the throne. By his stern rule he gained +several uncomplimentary titles, the English calling him Harold the +Haughty, the Germans Harold the Inflexible, and the Northmen Harold the +Hardruler. Yet he was able to hold his own over his people, for he was +strong and daring, skilled in the art of war, and a man of unusual +intellect. He was also a poet and won fame by his verses. He would sit up +half the night with the blind scald Stuf Katson, to hear him recite his +stirring songs. + +But if absolute ruler over Norway, Harold found Denmark slipping away +from him. Sweyn had in him the blood of the race of Canute, and was no +weakling to be swept aside at a king's will. Magnus had left him the +kingdom and he was bent on having it, if his good sword could win and +hold it. In this he was supported by the Danes, and Harold found that the +most he could do was to make descents on the Danish coast and plunder and +murder the innocent people. + +After this idle kind of warfare had gone on for a number of years and +Harold found that all he had gained by it was the hatred of the Danes, he +made an agreement with Sweyn to fight it out between them. They were to +meet at the mouth of the Goetha Elv and whoever won in the battle was to +be the king of Denmark. It was a kind of duel for a crown. + +But Sweyn tried to gain his end by stratagem. When Harold appeared with +his fleet at the appointed place Sweyn and his ships were not to be seen. +Harold waited a while, fuming and fretting, and then sailed south to +Jutland, where he ravaged the coast, took and burned the city of Heidaby, +carried away a number of women of high rank, and filled his ships with +plunder. Then he turned homeward, with so little fear of the Danes that +he let his ships widely scatter. + +The winds were adverse, the weather was foggy, and one morning while they +lay at anchor by an island shore, the lookout saw a bright flash through +the fog. The king was hastily called, and on seeing it cried: + +"What you see is the flash of the morning sun on the golden dragon-heads +of warships. The Danish fleet is upon us!" + +The peril was imminent. It was hopeless to fight with the few ships at +command. Only flight remained and that was almost as hopeless. The oars +were got out in haste, but the ships, soaked and heavy from their long +cruise, were hard to move, and as the fog lifted under the sun rays, the +Danish fleet, several hundred strong, bore down swiftly upon them. The +emergency was one that needed all the wit and skill of the king to meet. + +To distract the enemy Harold bade his men nail bright garments and other +showy spoil to logs and cast them overboard. As these floated through the +Danish ships many of them stopped to pick up the alluring prizes. He also +was obliged to throw overboard casks of beer and pork to lighten his +ships and these also were picked up. Yet in spite of all he could do the +Danes gained on him, and his own ship, which brought up the rear, was in +danger of capture. + +As a last resort the shrewd king had rafts made of boards and barrels and +put on these the high-born women he held as captives. These rafts were +set afloat one after another, and the pursuers, on seeing these hapless +fair ones and hearing their wild appeals for rescue, were obliged to stop +and take them up. This final stratagem succeeded and Harold escaped, +leaving Sweyn, who had felt sure of capturing his enemy, furious at his +failure. + +At another time, ten years and more later, Harold again fell into peril +and again escaped through his fertility in resources. Having beaten his +rival in a naval battle, he entered the long and narrow Lim fiord to +plunder the land, fancying that Sweyn was in no condition to disturb him. +He reckoned too hastily. Sweyn, learning where his foe was, gathered what +ships he could and took post at Hals, the fiord being there so narrow +that a few ships could fight with advantage against a much greater +number. + +Though caught in a trap Harold was not dismayed, but gave orders to sail +to the inner end of the fiord. He knew that it ended near the North Sea, +only a narrow isthmus dividing them. Then, with great trouble and labor, +he managed to have his ships dragged across the isthmus and launched on +the sea waters, and away he sailed in triumph, leaving Sweyn awaiting him +in vain. + +Finally, with the desire to bring this useless strife to an end, if +possible, a new compact was made to meet with their fleets in the Goetha +Elv and fight once more for the kingdom of Denmark. It was now 1062, +thirteen years after the former battle. As before, on reaching the place +designated, no Danish ship was visible. But it is difficult to credit +what we are told, that Harold, after a vain wait, made the same error as +before, dividing his fleet and sending the greater part of it home. With +the remainder, one hundred and eighty ships strong, he sailed along the +coast, and suddenly found himself in the presence of the Danes, with two +ships to his one. + +This time Harold did not flee, but joined battle bravely with his enemy, +the contest lasting through a whole night and ending in a complete +victory over the Danes. It was a great victory, yet it brought Harold no +advantage, for Sweyn did not keep to his compact--if he had made one--to +surrender his throne, and the Danes hated Harold so thoroughly for his +cruel raids on their land that they had no idea of submitting to him. Two +years more passed on, and then Harold, finding that the conquest of +Denmark was hopeless, consented against his will to make peace. In this +way Sweyn, after many years of battling for his throne, forced his +powerful antagonist to give up the contest and promise never to disturb +him again. + +Two years after this peace was made, in the year 1066, King Harold took +part in another adventure which brought his tyranny and his life to an +end. It is worth telling for another reason, for it was connected with a +great historical event, the conquest of England by William the Conqueror. +For these two reasons it is very fitting that it should be told. + +King Harold of England, who was soon to fall on the fatal field of +Hastings, had a brother, Earl Tostig, who, fired by ambition, set out to +conquer that kingdom for himself. He went first to Denmark and tried to +get King Sweyn to join him in the enterprise, but the prudent Sweyn told +him that he had no desire to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Canute, +but was quite content to dwell at home and rule his own kingdom. + +Then Tostig sought Norway, where he found King Harold far more ready to +listen to him. So in September of that year, Harold sailed from Norway +with the most powerful fleet and army that had ever left its shores. +Counting what was added in the Orkneys and the force under Earl Tostig, +it numbered about three hundred and fifty ships and thirty thousand men. +Landing in Northumberland, a victory was won and the city of York taken. +Then, leaving about one-third of the army to guard the ships, Harold and +Tostig encamped at Stamford Bridge, seven miles from York. + +It was a warm day, there was no reason to fear danger, and the men +lounged about without their arms. In this unwary state they found +themselves suddenly face to face with a large army, led by the English +King Harold, who had marched north in furious haste. Tostig, finding that +they had been taken by surprise, advised a retreat to the ships, but +Harold was not the man to turn his back to his foe, and decided to stand +and fight, ordering the men to arm and prepare for battle. While they +were gathering in ranks for the fray, a party of English horsemen rode up +and asked if Earl Tostig was there. + +"You see him before you," said Tostig. + +"Your brother Harold sends you greeting and offers you peace and the rule +of Northumberland. If he cannot gain your friendship for less, he will +grant you one-third his kingdom." + +"Last year he had only scorn and disdain to offer me," replied Tostig. +"But if I should accept his proposal, what has he to offer my ally, the +king of Norway?" + +"He will grant him seven feet of English soil; or more if his length of +body needs it." + +"If that is your best offer," said Tostig, "ride back and bid Harold to +begin the battle." + +Harold of Norway had heard this brief colloquy, and as the English +horsemen rode away asked Tostig who was the speaker. + +"That was my brother, Harold himself," answered Tostig. + +"I learn that too late," said Harold grimly. + +The battle that followed was hotly contested. It began with a charge of +the English cavalry, which was repulsed, and was followed up fiercely by +the Norsemen, who fancied the flight of the English to mean a general +rout. In this way they broke their ranks, which the king wished to +preserve until reinforcements could reach him from the ships. Forward +rushed the impatient Norsemen, King Harold throwing himself into their +midst and fighting with savage fury. His men seconded him, the English +ranks wavered and broke before the fierce onset, and victory seemed +within the grasp of the invaders, when an arrow pierced King Harold's +throat and he fell in a dying state from his horse. + +His fall checked the onset, and the English king, hearing of his death, +offered his brother an armistice. Tostig refused this and led his men +back to the fray, which was resumed with all its old fury. But Tostig, +too, was slain, and the king's brother-in-law, who arrived with +reinforcements from the ships, met with the same fate. By this time the +battlefield was covered with the bodies of the dead, and the Norsemen, +dispirited by the loss of their leaders, gave way and retreated towards +the ships, hotly pursued by their victorious foes. Of their great host +only a small remnant succeeded in reaching the ships. + +Thus ended the great fight at Stamford Bridge, and with it the reign and +life of Harold Hardruler, who fell a victim to his ambition and love of +strife. For years thereafter the bones of men lay scattered widely over +that field, for none stayed to bury the dead, the Norsemen fleeing in +their ships, while news of the landing of William of Normandy called +Harold hastily to the south--where he fell in the midst of the fighting +at Hastings as Harold of Norway had fallen on Stamford Field. Harold's +invasion of England was the last great exploit of the vikings of the +north, and though Ireland was invaded later by a Norseland fleet, no +foreign foe after the fatal days at Stamford and Hastings ever landed on +England's shores. + + + + +_SVERRE, THE COOK'S SON, AND THE BIRCHLEGS._ + + +In the year 1177 those people in Norway who loved a joke must have +laughed to their hearts' content, when the tidings reached them that the +son of a cook, followed by seventy ragged and half armed men, had set out +to win the throne of the kingdom. Surely a more extraordinary and +laughable enterprise was never undertaken, and the most remarkable thing +about it was that it succeeded. A few years of desperate adventures and +hard fighting raised the cook's son to the throne, and those who had +laughed at his temerity were now glad to hail him as their king. How +Sverre the adventurer won the crown is a tale full of adventure and amply +worth the telling. + +No common man was Sverre and no common woman was his mother Gunhild, a +cook in the kitchen of King Sigurd Mouth. Not handsome was she, but quick +of wit and bright of brain. If the king had had his way the boy would +have had a very short life, for he bade the mother to kill her child as +soon as it should be born. Instead of consenting to this cruel mandate, +she fled from the palace to a ship, which took her to the Faroe Islands, +and here her son was born. She was then serving as milkmaid to Bishop +Mathias. + +The little Sverre began his life with an adventure. When he was a few +months old a man named Unas came from Norway to the islands, a smith or +comb-maker by profession. But Gunhild suspected him of being a spy sent +by King Sigurd to kill her son, and she hid the boy in a cavern, which is +still called Sverre's Cave. He acted like a spy, for he followed her to +the cave, found where she had hidden the child, and threatened to kill it +unless she would marry him. Gunhild had no love for this dangerous +stranger, but she dearly loved her little son, and with much reluctance +she consented to marry Unas to save the babe's life. + +Such was the first event in the life of the later King Sverre. The +new-married pair went back to Norway, for King Sigurd had died, but when +the boy was five years old they returned to the Faroes, for Bishop +Mathias was now dead, and Roe, the brother of Unas, had been made bishop +in his stead. + +The little fellow was made to believe that he was the son of Unas, and as +he grew up Bishop Roe took a great fancy to him, for he showed himself to +be very bright and intelligent. There was no boy in the island his equal, +so the good bishop had him educated for the priesthood and when he was +old enough had him ordained in the lowest priestly grade. + +This was much against the wish of Gunhild, his mother, who had higher +hopes for his future, and when he proudly told her that he was now a +priest, and hoped some day to become a bishop, or even a cardinal, she +burst into tears. + +"Why do you weep, mother?" he asked in surprise. "I do not know why you +should hear of my honor with sorrow." + +"Oh, my son," she cried, "this is but a small honor compared to that to +which you were born. I have not told you of the great station that is +yours by right, but must now say that you are not the son of my husband +Unas, but of King Sigurd of Norway, and you have as good a claim as any +man living to the throne." + +This surprising revelation destroyed Sverre's peace of mind. All his +ambition to rise in the priesthood was gone, the crown of a kingdom +seemed to float in the air before him, and his thoughts by day and his +dreams by night were fixed on that shining goal. The great hopes in his +mind kept sleep from his eyes and after days of mental unrest he felt +that life was worthless to him if his high ambition were not fulfilled. + +"Since I am born heir to the crown," he said to his mother, "I have as +much right to it as any man, and I will strive at any cost to win it. I +stake my life on this cast, for without it life to me has lost all its +joy." + +Magnus, the king then on the throne, was not of royal birth. He was the +son of Erling Skakke, a great and ambitious nobleman, who had killed +every descendant of the royal house he could find to make his own son +king. Of the boy who was destined to dispute his claim, the cook's son on +the Faroes, he knew nothing, and when the bright youth landed in Norway, +whether he had gone in spite of the protests of Bishop Roe, not a soul in +the kingdom dreamed that a new claimant for the throne was in the realm. + +No one was likely to learn from Sverre until his plans were ripe. He was +too shrewd and cautious for that. He wanted to feel the sentiment of the +people, and was disappointed to find them all well satisfied with their +king. Full of humor and a good talker, everybody he met was pleased with +him, and when he talked with the men-at-arms of Erling Skakke they told +him all they knew about the state of affairs. They were quite won over by +this lively priest from the Faroes. He even made the acquaintance of +Erling Skakke himself and got a thorough idea of his character. + +The cunning adventurer was feeling his way and found things not at all to +his liking. To attempt, alone and with an empty pocket, to drive a +favorite monarch from the throne, seemed the act of madness. But the +ambitious youth had dreamed his dream of royal state and had no fancy for +returning to a humble priesthood on the bleak Faroes. + +In Sweden, across the border, dwelt Earl Birger, who had married a sister +of King Sigurd Mouth. To him Sverre went, told who he was, and begged for +aid. The earl looked on him as an imposter and would have nothing to do +with him. Then he sought Folkvid the Lawman, with whom lived his +half-sister Cecilia, and told him the same story. Folkvid received him +more graciously, but he had no power to make him king. But the rumor +that a son of the late King Sigurd was in the land got abroad, and soon +made its way to the ears of a band of rebels who hated the king. + +Here we must go back a step. All the people of Norway were not content +with the new king. From time to time pretenders to the throne arose, +hornets whom Magnus and his father Erling had some trouble in destroying. +They had their following, and the malcontents gathered at last around +Eystein Meyla (Little Girl), who professed to be the grandson of a former +king. But all this last of the pretenders was able to do was to roam +about in the wilderness, keeping himself and his followers from starving +by robbing the people. They were in so desperate a state that they had to +use birch-bark for shoes, and the peasants in derision called them +Birkebeiner, or Birchlegs. Though little better than highwaymen, they +were sturdy and daring and had some success, but finally were badly +beaten by the king and their leader slain. They might have never been +heard of again had not the greatest of the pretenders just then came to +Norway. + +The rumor that a son of King Sigurd Mouth was in the land reached the +ears of the handful of Birchlegs remaining and, learning where Sverre +was, they sought him and begged him to be their chief. He looked at them, +and seeing what dirty and ragged vagabonds they were, he told them that +he had no fancy for being their leader, that there was no link of +connection between them and him but poverty, and advised them, if they +wanted a chief, to seek one of Earl Birger's sons, who, like himself, +were of royal descent. + +The beggarly troop took his advice, but the earl's son would have nothing +to do with them. By way of a joke he told them to go back to Sverre and +threaten to kill him if he would not be their leader. They did so, using +persuasions and possibly threats, and Sverre, seeing no hope of success +among the great, finally consented to become the leader of this ragged +band of brigands. Such was his first definite step on the road to the +throne. + +In this humble fashion, the ambitious young prince, then about +twenty-four years old, with empty hands and pockets and seventy ragged +followers, began his desperate strife for the throne of Norway. + +From Vermeland, where his enterprise began, he led his forlorn seventy +southward toward Viken, his party rolling on like a snowball and growing +in size on its way, until it swelled to four hundred and twenty men. In +spite of his protest, these vagabonds proclaimed him king and touched his +sword to indicate their allegiance. But their devotion to his cause was +not great, for when he forbade them to rob and plunder the peasants most +of them left him. To test the remainder, he ordered them back to +Vermeland and before they reached that region only the original seventy +remained. + +Desperate was now the position of the youthful adventurer. He had +declared himself a claimant for the throne and any one had the right to +kill him. The peasants hated his robber band and he could get none to +join him. They would rather have killed them all and thus earned the +king's favor. + +Had young Sverre been a man of common mind his enterprise must now have +reached its end. But he was a man of wonderful mental resources, daring, +indefatigable, capable of bearing the most extreme reverses and rescuing +himself from the most perilous situations. Followed by his faithful +seventy, he wandered through the pathless mountain wilderness, hopeful +and resourceful. His courage was unfailing. Often they had to live on +bark and frozen berries, which were dug up from under the snow. At times +some of his men, worn out with hunger and exposure, would drop lifeless +on their barren paths; at times he had to sleep under his shield, as his +only protection from the falling snow; but his heart kept stout through +it all, and he chided those who talked of ending their misfortunes by +suicide. + +As an example of his courage and endurance and his care of his men, we +may tell the following anecdote. Once in his wanderings he came to a +large mountain lake which had to be crossed. It could only be done on +rafts, and the men were so exhausted that it proved desperate work to +fell trees and build the necessary rafts. In time they were all +despatched, Sverre boarding the last, which was so heavily laden that the +water rose above his ankles. + +One man was still on the shore, so utterly worn out that he had to crawl +to the water's edge and beg to be taken on, lest he should perish. The +others grumbled, but Sverre would not listen to their complaints but +bade them to take the man on. With his extra weight the raft sank till +the water reached their knees. Though the raft threatened to go to the +bottom Sverre kept a resolute face. A great fallen pine on the other side +made a bridge up which the men clambered to safety, Sverre being the last +to leave the raft. Scarcely had he done so when the watersoaked logs +sank. The men looked on this as a miracle and believed more fully than +ever that he would win. + +Now came the first success in his marvellous career. He had one hundred +and twenty men on reaching the goal of his terrible journey, but here +eighty men more joined him and with these two hundred followers he +successfully faced a force of fourteen hundred which had been sent +against him. With a native genius for warfare he baffled his enemies at +every point, avoiding their onset, falling upon them at unexpected +points, forcing them to scatter into separate detachments in the pursuit, +then falling on and beating these detachments in succession. While he +kept aware of their plans and movements, they never knew where to look +for him, and in a short time the peasant army was beaten and dispersed. + +This striking success gave new courage and hope to the Birchlegs and they +came in numbers to the place to which Sverre had summoned a body of +twelve representatives from the province of Troendelag. These met and +proclaimed him king of Norway. It was now the summer of 1177. + +The Birchlegs were hasty in supposing the beating of fourteen hundred +peasants would bring success to their cause. Erling Skakke was still +alive and active, and on hearing of the exploits of this new leader of +rebels in the north, he got together a large fleet and sailed northward +to deal with him. + +The new-proclaimed king was too wary to meet this powerful force and he +sought refuge in the mountains again, leaving to Erling the dominion of +the coast. And now, for two years, Sverre and his men led a precarious +life, wandering hither and thither through the mountain wilderness and +suffering the severest privations. He was like a Robin Hood of the +Norwegian mountains, loving to play practical jokes on the peasants, such +as appearing with his hungry horde at their Yuletide feasts and making +way with the good cheer they had provided for themselves. He was obliged +to forage in the valleys, but he took pity on the poor and more than once +made the great suffer for acts of oppression. + +Everywhere he was hated as a desperate brigand; some believed him to be +the devil himself. Naughty children were scared with the threat that the +terrible Sverre would take them, and laundresses, beating their clothes +at the river's brink, devoutly wished that Sverre's head was under the +stone. Yet his undaunted resolution, his fights with the king's soldiers, +his skirmishes with the peasants, and his boldness and daring in all +situations, won him a degree of admiration even among those who feared +and hated him. + +Thus for two years his adventurous career went on. Then came an event +that turned the tide in his favor. Erling was still pursuing him and in +June, 1179, was in the coast town of Nidaros, his son, Magnus, with him. +In the harbor lay the fleet. The earl and the king were feasting with +their followers when word was brought them that the Birchlegs were +approaching. + +"I wish it was true," said the earl. "I should like nothing better than +to meet that hound Sverre. But there will be no such good luck to-night, +for I am told that the rascals have gone back to the mountains. You can +go to bed in safety, for Sverre will not dare to trouble us when we are +on the watch for him." + +To bed they went, sleeping heavily from their potations, and down on them +came Sverre, who, as usual, was well informed about their situation. + +"Now is your time to fight bravely, and repay yourselves for your +sufferings," he said to his men. "A fine victory lies before us. I shall +promise you this. Any one of you who can prove that he has slain a +liegeman shall be made a liegeman himself, and each of you shall be given +the title and dignity of the man you have slain." + +Thus encouraged, the poorly-armed adventurers rushed down the hills into +the town. One sturdy fellow who carried only a club was asked where his +weapons were. + +"They are down in the town," he said. "The earl's men have them now. We +are going there to get them." + +This they did. As they came on the warriors, hastily alarmed and heavy +with their drunken sleep, flocked staggering into the streets, to be met +with sword and lance. The confusion was great and the king had much +trouble in rallying his men. Many chieftains advised flight to the ships, +but the stout-hearted Erling was not ready for that. + +"It might be best," he said, "but I can't bear the thought of that +brigand priest putting himself in my son's place." + +Leading his men outside the city, he awaited the attack. It came in +haste, the Birchlegs falling furiously upon the much greater force before +them. In the onset the earl was killed and his men were put to flight. +The king, as he fled by, saw the bloody face of his father lying under +the stars. He stooped and kissed him, saying: + +"We shall meet again, father, in the day of joy." Then he was borne away +in the stream of flight. + +This decisive victory turned the tide of the war. The death of Erling +removed Sverre's greatest opponent. King Magnus was no match for the +priest-king, and the rebel force grew until the contest assumed the shape +of civil war. Sverre no longer led a band of wanderers, but was the +leader of an army. + +This was not the ordinary army recruited from the settled classes of +society, but an army made up of the lower stratum of the people, now +first demanding their share of the good things of life. Fierce and unruly +as they were, Sverre knew how to control and discipline them. He kept his +promise, as far as was possible, to reward his men with the honors of +those they had slain, but charged them with the maintenance of law and +order, punishing all who disobeyed his commands. This he could safely do, +for they worshipped him. They had shared peril and suffering together, +had lived as comrades, but through it all he had kept his authority +intact and demanded obedience. Birchlegs they still called themselves, +for they had grown proud of the title, and they named their opponents +Heklungs, from the story that some of them had robbed a beggar woman +whose money was wrapped in a cloak (_hekl_). + +For six years afterwards the war for dominion in Norway continued, the +star of King Sverre steadily rising. In 1180 Magnus attacked his opponent +with an army much larger than that of Sverre, but was utterly routed; and +an army of peasants that came on afterwards, to kill the "devil's +priest," met with the same ill success. + +Magnus now took refuge in Denmark, abandoning Norway to his rival, and +from there he came year after year to continue the contest. In a naval +battle in 1181, in which Sverre had less than half the number of ships of +his opponent, his star seemed likely to set. The Birchlegs were not good +at sea fighting and the Heklungs were pressing them steadily back, when +Sverre sprang into the hottest of the fight, without a shield and with +darts and javelins hurtling around him, and in stirring tones sang the +Latin hymn, "Alma chorus domini." + +This hymn seemed to turn the tide of victory. Magnus, storming furiously +forward at that moment, was wounded in the wrist as he was boarding a +hostile ship. The pain caused him to pause and, his feet slipping on the +blood-stained deck, he fell headlong backward, a glad shout of victory +coming from the Birchlegs who saw him fall. + +Orm, one of King Magnus's captains, demanded what had happened. + +"The king is killed," he was told. + +"Then the fate of the realm is decided," he cried. + +Cutting the ropes that held the ships together, he took to flight, +followed by others and breaking the line of battle. Leaping to his feet, +Magnus called out that he was not hurt and implored them not to flee from +certain victory. But the terror and confusion were too great, and Sverre +took quick advantage of the opportunity, capturing a number of ships and +putting the others to flight. + +The final battle in this contest for a throne came in 1184. It was one in +which Sverre was in imminent danger of a fatal end to his career. Usually +not easily surprised, he was now taken unawares. He had sailed up the +Nore fiord with a few ships and a small force of men, to punish some +parties who had killed his prefect. Magnus, afloat with twenty-six ships +and over three thousand men, learned of this and pursued his enemy into +the fiord. + +Sverre was caught in a trap. Not until he saw the hostile ships bearing +down upon him had he a suspicion of danger. Escape was impossible. Great +cliffs bounded the watery canon. He had but fourteen ships and not half +his opponent's force of men. The Heklungs were sure that victory was in +their hands. But when Sverre and his Birchlegs dashed forward and +attacked them with berseker fury their confidence turned to doubt. Soon +it began to appear that victory was to be on the other side. Before the +furious onset the Heklungs fell in numbers. Many in panic leaped into the +sea and were drowned, King Magnus among them. Till mid-night the hot +contest continued, by which hour half the king's force were slain and all +the ships captured. The drowned corpse of King Magnus was not found until +two days after the battle, when it was taken to Bergen and buried with +royal ceremony. His death ended the contest and Sverre was unquestioned +king of the whole land. + +Shall we briefly conclude the story of King Sverre's reign? For twenty +years it continued, the most of these years of war, for rebellion broke +out in a dozen quarters and only the incessant vigilance and activity of +a great king and great soldier enabled him to keep his throne and his +life. + +After all his wars and perils, he died in his bed, March 9, 1202, worn +out by his long life of toil and strain. Never before had Norway so noble +and able a king; never since has it seen his equal. A man was he of small +frame but indomitable soul, of marvellous presence of mind and fertility +in resources; a man firm but kindly and humane; a king with a +clear-sighted policy and an admirable power of controlling men and +winning their attachment. Never through all its history has Norway known +another monarch so admirable in many ways as Sverre, the cook's son. + + + + +_THE FRIENDS AND FOES OF A BOY PRINCE._ + + +After the death of the great King Sverre tumult and trouble reigned in +Norway. Several kings came to the throne, but none of them lived long, +and there was constant fighting between the Birchlegs and the opposing +party who called themselves Baglers. Year after year they kept their +swords out and their spears in hand, killing one another, but neither +party growing strong enough to put an end to the other. All this time the +people were suffering and the country growing poorer, and a strong hand +was needed at the helm of the ship-of-state. + +It was when King Inge, who was not of royal blood, and whose hand was not +the strong hand needed, was on the throne, that new hope came to the +people, for it was made known that they had among them a boy of kingly +descent, a grandson of the noble Sverre. Men thought that King Sverre's +line had died out, and there was great joy in their hearts when they +learned that his son Haakon had left a son. + +This boy was born in 1203, son of the beautiful Inga of Varteig, whom +King Haakon had warmly loved though she was not his wife. The little +prince was named Haakon, after his father, but he was born in the midst +of the Baglers, his father's foes, and the priest who baptized him bade +Inga to keep his birth a strict secret, letting none outside her own +family know that a new prince had come to the land. + +The secret was well kept for a time, but whispers got abroad, and Thrond, +the priest, at length told the story to Erland of Huseby, whom he knew to +be on the right side. Erland heard the news with joy, but feared peril +for the little prince, thus born in the land of his enemies. Rumors were +growing, danger might at any moment come, and though it was mid-winter, a +season of deep snows and biting winds, he advised the priest to send the +boy and his mother to the court of King Inge, offering himself to take +them across the pathless mountains. + +The difficult journey was made in safety and the boy and his mother were +kindly welcomed by the king, and joyfully greeted by the Birchlegs, who +were strong in that district. Little Haakon was then less than two years +old, and it is said that the old loyalists, who were eager to have a king +of the royal blood, used in playfulness to pull him between them by the +arms and legs, to make him grow faster. + +The Birchlegs were in fear of Haakon Galen, the king's brother, who was +ambitious to succeed to the throne. Yet Earl Haakon took a great fancy to +the helpless little child and seemed to love him as much as any of them. +Thus the child prince, though in the midst of plotters for the throne, +who would naturally be likely to act as his enemies, seemed protected by +the good angels and brought safely through all his perils. + +Even when he was captured by the Baglers, when four years of age, they +did not harm him, being possibly so taken by his infantile beauty and +winning ways that they could not bring themselves to injure their little +captive. In the end, after many fights and flights, in which neither +party made any gains, the Birchlegs and Baglers grew tired of the useless +strife and a treaty of peace was made between them, the king of the +Baglers swearing allegiance to King Inge and becoming one of his earls. +But new trouble was brewing for the youthful prince, for in 1212, when he +was eight years old, a compact was made that none but those of legitimate +birth should succeed to the throne. As his mother had not been a legal +wife, this threatened to rob little Haakon of his royal rights. + +In doing this the plotters were like some politicians of the present day, +who lay plans without consulting the people. They did not know how strong +the sentiment was in favor of the old royal line. One of the old +Birchlegs, on hearing of this compact, was bitterly angry. He had made +frequent visits to the young prince, whom he loved and admired, but on +his next visit he pushed away the playful lad, roughly bidding him +begone. + +Haakon reproachfully asked, "What have I done to make you so angry?" + +"Go away from me," cried Helge, the veteran; "to-day you have been robbed +of your right to the crown and I have ceased to love you." + +"Who did that and where was it done?" + +"It was done at the _Oere-thing_ [the Assembly at Oere], and those who +did it were King Inge and his brother Earl Haakon." + +"Then you should not be angry with me, my kind Helge, nor be troubled +about this. What they did cannot be lawful, for my guardian was not there +to speak on my side." + +"Your guardian! Who is he?" asked Helge. + +"I have three guardians, God, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Olaf," said the +boy solemnly. "To their keeping I give my cause, and they will guard me +against all wrong." + +The old man, at this declaration, caught the boy in his arms and kissed +him. + +"Thanks for your wise words, my prince," he said. "Words like those are +better spoken than unspoken." + +These words show that the little fellow was coming to think for himself +and had an active and earnest mind. In fact, he was so precocious and +said such droll things as greatly to amuse the king and those around him. +Here is one of his sayings, spoken in a spell of cold weather when the +butter could not be spread on the bread. The prince bent a piece of bread +around the butter, saying: + +"Let us tie the butter to the bread, Birchlegs." This was thought so +smart that it became a proverb among the Birchlegs. + +Soon after this Earl Haakon died and the little fellow, who had hitherto +lived in his house, was taken to the king's court, where he was treated +like a prince. The king was growing feeble from sickness and he loved to +have the boy with him, finding his talk very amusing and entertaining. +Soon after this he also died, Prince Haakon then being fourteen years +old. + +Though Earl Haakon, the king's brother, who had hoped to be king, died, +as we have said, before him, there was another brother named Skule who +was quite as ambitious and of whom the Birchlegs were much afraid. A +body-guard of these faithful warriors took charge of the boy as soon as +King Inge was dead, with orders to follow him day and night. + +Earl Skule at once began to plan and plot to seize the throne, and in +this he was supported by the archbishop, but in spite of them the +Birchlegs proclaimed Haakon king and Skule had to yield to the strong +sentiment in his favor. As for the noble then called king by the Baglers, +he too died just at this time and left no children, so that the way was +clear for the boy king, and Haakon soon sailed to the south with a large +fleet and took possession of Viken and the Uplands, the chief dominions +of the Baglers. + +By the wise policy of the young king and his advisers the Baglers were +made his friends and the next year they were fighting with the Birchlegs +against the Slittungs or Ragamuffins, who were made up of robbers, +tramps, and wandering vagabonds of all kinds, thousands of whom had been +set adrift by the civil war. + +But Haakon's worst foe was Earl Skule, who continued his plots and +intrigues, and who was supported by the clergy, these saying they had +doubts if the boy was really the son of the elder Haakon and grandson of +King Sverre. Such things were not in those days usually settled in courts +of law, but by what was called the ordeal, one form of which was to walk +barefoot over red-hot irons. If not burned the accused was thought to +have proved the justice of his cause. + +[Illustration: LINKOPING FROM TANNEFORS.] + +For a king already in possession of the throne to submit to such a demand +and humble himself by thus trying to prove who he was, was a thing never +done before and an old peasant gave vent to the general sentiment in +these words: + +"Who can show in history a case of the sons of peasants prescribing terms +like these to an absolute king? It would be wiser and more manly to bear +another kind of iron--cold steel--against the king's foes, and let God +judge between them in that way." + +But Inga, the king's mother, declared that she was ready to endure the +ordeal and Haakon consented to it. Earl Skule now felt sure of +succeeding, not dreaming that the ordeal could be gone through without +burning, but to make more sure, he bribed a man to approach Inga and +offer her an herb which he said would heal burns. + +The plot was discovered by the faithful Birchlegs and Inga warned of it; +for to use such herbs would make the test invalid and subject Inga and +her son to opprobrium. But all that Skule and his fellow-plotters could +do proved of no avail, for Inga passed through the ordeal unhurt and +triumphantly proved, in the legal system of that day, the justice of her +cause. How red-hot iron was prevented from burning is a matter which we +cannot discuss, and can only say that this ordeal was common and many are +said to have gone through it unscathed. + +We set out in this story to tell how the child Haakon passed through all +the perils that surrounded him and grew up to become Norway's king. Here +then we should end, but for years new perils surrounded him and of these +it is well to speak. They were due to the ambitious Earl Skule, who made +plot after plot against the king's life, and was forgiven again and again +by the noble-minded monarch. + +King Haakon's friends sought to put an end to this secret plotting by +arranging a marriage between the young monarch and Earl Skule's still +younger daughter Margaret. But this did not check him in his plots, and +he finally set sail for Denmark to try and get aid from King Valdemar. He +was ready to agree if the kingdom were won to reign as a vassal of the +Danish king; but when he got there no such king was to be found. He had +been captured in battle five days before, and was now with his son in a +prison at Mecklenburg. The disappointed plotter had to sail home and +pretend to be the king's friend as before. + +For years Skule's plots went on. He took the field against a new horde of +rebels called the Ribbungs, but he took care never to press them too +closely, and they long gave the king trouble. For more than twenty years +Skule thus continued to plot and plan, the king discovering his schemes +and pardoning him more than once, but nothing could cure him of his +ambitious dream. + +In the end, when he was nearly fifty years old, he succeeded in having +himself proclaimed king and in sending out bands of warriors who killed +many faithful friends of King Haakon. He tried to conceal his purpose +until he had gathered a large force, but one man escaped the vigilance of +his guards and brought word of the treachery to Haakon. The latter, +seeing that he must check this rebellion if he wished to sit safely on +his throne, at once took to his fleet, sailed southward with the utmost +speed, and rowed, under cover of a fog, up the Folden fiord to Oslo, +where the rebel was. He had been carousing with his followers the night +before and the wassailers were roused from their drunken sleep by the +war-horns and ran out to see the king's ships driving in towards the +piers. + +The rebels were quickly scattered, but Skule escaped, and at length was +traced to the woods, where he was wandering with a few friends. The +friars of a monastery took pity on them and hid them in a tower, +disguised with monkish cowls. Despite their disguise they were traced to +their hiding place, and when the friars refused to give them up the +pursuers set fire to the tower. Driven out by the smoke and heat, Skule +stepped from the gate, holding his shield above his head and saying: + +"Strike me not in the face; for it is not right to treat warriors thus." + +In a minute more he lay dead, slain by Birchleg swords. + +The next act in King Haakon's reign was to have himself crowned king, and +thus to rid himself of the blot on his claim to the throne. After some +negotiations with the Pope, a cardinal was sent from Rome, the ceremony +being performed with much pomp and ceremony, and followed with the most +magnificent feasts and festivities Norway had ever seen. + +From this time on King Haakon ruled as a wise, noble and powerful +monarch, making his strength felt by his great fleet and setting Norway +high among the nations of the north. He died at length in 1263, loved by +his people and respected by all outside his realm. + + + + +_KING VALDEMAR I. AND BISHOP ABSOLON._ + + +The most brilliant period in the history of Denmark was that of the +reigns of the Valdemars, and especially of Valdemar I. and his sons, +whose names and memories are still cherished in that kingdom, the Danes +regarding them as the greatest and best monarchs they ever had. + +There were wretched times in Denmark before 1157, when Valdemar came to +the throne, and his early years were passed in the midst of civil wars +and all kinds of sorrows and troubles. When the new king was crowned and +began the business of governing, he found little to govern with. There +were no money, no soldiers, no trade, no order in the kingdom, everything +being at so low an ebb that he found it necessary, as some writers state, +to secure support from Germany by recognizing the Emperor Frederick +Barbarossa as his suzerain and doing homage to him as a vassal in 1162. +But this ceremony did not entail upon him any of the usual duties of a +vassal, and was more of an ordinary alliance than a formal act of +submission. + +Yet poor as was the state of Denmark when Valdemar came to it as king, +when he died he left it a flourishing, busy and peaceful country, to +which he had added great tracts of land on the pagan shores of the +Baltic, whose people he forced to give up their heathen practices. + +During his reign Valdemar made as many as twenty expeditions against +these piratical peoples, gradually subduing them. At first, indeed, he +showed very little courage, and found so many reasons for turning back +before meeting the foe, that the sailors looked upon him as a coward, and +once he overheard one of them say with a laugh, that the king was "a +knight who wore his spurs upon his toes, only to help him to run away the +faster." + +This made him very angry, but on speaking of it to his foster-brother, +Axel Hvide,--afterwards Bishop Absolon,--he found that the feeling that +he lacked the courage of a warrior was general. This contempt made him so +ashamed that from that time on he faced danger bravely and was never +again known to turn back from any risk. + +Though Axel became a bishop, he had begun life as a soldier and was +throughout life bold and daring, a man who loved nothing better than to +command a ship or to lead his men in an assault against some fierce band +of sea robbers. From his castle Axelborg, on the site of the later city +of Copenhagen, he kept a keen lookout for these pirates and sought +manfully to put an end to their plundering raids. + +The war against the Baltic heathens continued until 1168, when it ended +in the capture of the town of Arcona, on the island of Rygen, and the +destruction of the great temple of the Slavic god Svanteveit, whose +monstrous four-headed image was torn down from its pedestal and burned in +the presence of its dismayed worshippers. + +The taking of this temple is an event of much interest, for it was due to +the shrewdness of a young Danish soldier, who circumvented the heathens +by a clever stratagem. + +While the army lay encamped on the island beach, below the town of +Arcona, this man noticed that the high cliffs on which the temple was +built were honeycombed by many deep holes, which could not be seen from +the ramparts above, but were quite visible from the beach below. One day +it occurred to him that by making use of these holes he could roast the +pagan worshippers out of their nests, and he arranged with some of his +fellows to carry out his plan. + +Gathering such dry straw and small sticks as they could collect, the +soldiers pretended to be playing at a game of pitch and toss, which if +seen by the sentinels on the ramparts above would not seem suspicious to +them. In this way they caused much of the straw and sticks to lodge in +the holes in the steep cliff. Then, by using spears and stones for a +ladder, one of them climbed for a distance up the steep rock wall and set +fire to some of the inflammable rubbish in the holes. + +The effect was stupendous. The flames spread from hole to hole, creeping +up the face of the rock until the wooden spikes and palings at its +summit were in a blaze. This took place unseen by the pagans, who first +took the alarm when they saw flames circling round the great mast from +which floated the banner of their god. + +Before they could take any steps to extinguish the flames, and while they +stood in a panic of apprehension, the Danes, headed by Bishop Absolon, +rushed to the assault and succeeded in taking the town. + +There was nothing left for them but to accept baptism, on which their +lives depended, and the worthy bishop and his monks were kept busy at +this work for the next two days and nights, the bishop desisting only +when, half blind from want of sleep, he dropped down before the altar +that had been set up beside the fonts, where the converts were received +and signed with the cross. + +The work of baptism done, King Valdemar caused the huge wooden idol of +the god to be dragged amid martial music to the open plain beyond the +town, where the army servants chopped it up into firewood. In this work +the new converts could not be induced to take part, for, Christians as +yet only in name, they feared some dread revenge from the great +Svanteveit, such as lightning from heaven to destroy the Danes. + +The Christians of that age were quite as superstitious, for they declared +that when the image was being carried out of the temple gates, a horrible +monster, spitting fire and brimstone, burst from the roof and leaped with +howls of wrath into the sea below, which opened to receive it, and +closed over its head with billows of smoke and flame. + +Valdemar died in 1182, after making such friends of his people and doing +so much for them, that when the funeral procession, headed by Bishop +Absolon, drew near the church of Ringsted, where the burial was to take +place, it was met by a throng of peasants, weeping and lamenting, who +begged the privilege of carrying the body of their beloved king to his +last resting place. + +When the bishop began to read the service for the dead his voice failed +him and he wept and trembled so much that he had to be held up by some of +the assistant monks. After all was over the people went away in deep +grief, saying that Denmark's shield and the pagans' scourge had been +taken from them and that the country would soon be overrun again by the +heathen Wends. + +But Absolon kept a firm hand upon the reins of state, and when the young +Prince Knud, Valdemar's son, was proclaimed king at the age of twenty +everything was in order. Knud proved as good and gallant as his father, +holding Denmark bravely against all foes, and when the Emperor Barbarossa +sent to him to appear before the imperial court at Ratisbon and do homage +for his crown, he returned a defiant answer. + +The position of Denmark had greatly changed since Valdemar had obeyed +such a summons, and when the envoy of the emperor brought him the +imperial command, he sent back the following proud reply: + +"Tell your master that I am as much monarch in my own realm as the kaiser +is in his, and if he has a fancy for giving away my throne, he had better +first find the prince bold enough to come and take it from me." + +This ended all question of the vassalage of Denmark, but the emperor +never forgot nor forgave the insult and took every opportunity in after +years to stir up strife against Denmark. In 1184 he incited the pagan +princes of Pomerania to invade the Danish islands with a fleet of five +hundred ships. But they had old Bishop Absolon to deal with, and they +were so utterly routed that when the fog, which had enabled the Danes to +approach them unseen, cleared away, only thirty-five of their ships were +able to keep the sea. + +This victory made Knud ruler over all Pomerania and part of the kingdom +later known as Prussia, and he added to his title that of "King of the +Wends and other Slavs." He went on adding to his home kingdom until the +dominion of Denmark grew very wide. + +That is all we need say about King Knud, but it must be said of Bishop +Absolon that he was a wise patron of knightly arts and historical +learning and encouraged the great scholar Saxo Grammaticus to write his +famous "History of Denmark," in which were gathered all the old Danish +tales that could be learned from the skalds and poets and found in the +monasteries of the age. Absolon, who had loved and cared for the princes +Knud and Valdemar since their childhood, died in the year 1201 and King +Knud followed him a few years later, leaving the throne to his brother +Valdemar. + + + + +_THE FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES OF VALDEMAR II._ + + +Prosperous and glorious was the kingdom of Denmark under Valdemar II. in +the early part of his reign, though misery was his lot during many years +of his life. By his victories he won the title of "Sejr," or "the +conqueror," and his skill and goodness as a ruler won him the love of his +people, while the Danes of to-day look upon him as one of the best and +noblest of their kings. He was long regarded by them as the perfect model +of a noble knight and royal hero, and his first queen, Margrete of +Bohemia, was called by the people "Dagmar," or "Day's Maiden," from their +admiration of her gentleness and beauty. In many of their national songs +she is represented as a fair, fragile, golden-haired princess, mild and +pure as a saint, the only sin she could think of to confess on her +death-bed being that she had put on her best dress and plaited her hair +with bright ribbons before going to mass. While the Danes thus regard the +memory of Queen Dagmar, they have no words too bad to use in speaking of +Valdemar's second queen, the black-haired Berangaria, whose name became +with them a by-word for a vile woman. + +But Valdemar's tale is largely one of sorrow and suffering and rarely has +monarch had to bear so cruel a fate as was his during many unhappy years +of his life. + +Valdemar was the son of Valdemar I., and brother of King Knud, for whom +as a prince he fought bravely, putting down the Sleswick rebels, who had +been stirred to rebellion by the German emperor, and conquering his +enemy, Count Adolf of Holstein. Succeeding his brother Knud in 1202, his +first exploit was the conquest of Pomerania, which Knud had won before +him. This was now added to the Danish dominions, and in 1217 the German +emperor of that date granted to him and the future kings of Denmark all +the territories north of the Elbe and the Elde. Thus Valdemar was made +master of a great part of northern Germany and ruled over a wider +dominion to the south than any Danish king before or after. + +His success in the south led him to attempt the conquest of the north, +and armies were sent to Norway and Sweden with the hope of winning these +kingdoms for the Danish crown. In this effort he failed, but in 1219 his +zeal for the Church and love of adventure led him to undertake a great +expedition, a crusade against the heathens of Esthonia. + +Gathering an army of sixty thousand men and a fleet of fourteen hundred +ships, a mighty force even for the small craft of that day, he quickly +made himself master of that stronghold of paganism, great numbers of the +people consenting to be baptized. But here he found a new and unexpected +enemy and had to fight fiercely for the privilege of carrying the cross +of Christ to the heathen Esthonians. + +His new enemies were the Knights of the Sword, of Livonia, who declared +that the duty of converting the pagans in that region belonged to them, +and that no other Christians had the right to interfere. And from this +ensued a war in which fierce battles were fought and much blood was shed, +for the purpose of deciding who should have the privilege of converting +the heathen. It is doubtful if ever before or since a war has been fought +for such a purpose, and the heathens themselves must have looked on with +grim satisfaction to see their enemies cutting each other's throats to +settle the question as to who had the best right to baptize them. + +In one of the battles with the heathens, while Bishop Andreas, the +successor to Bishop Absolon, was praying on a high hill with uplifted +hands for victory, there suddenly fell down from heaven the Danneborg, +the national standard of Denmark. At least, that is what legend tells us +of its appearance. + +It is held to be much more probable that this banner, bearing a white +cross on a blood-red field, was sent by the Pope to Valdemar as a token +of his favor and support, and that its sudden appearance, when the Danes +were beginning to waver before the pagan assaults, gave them the spirit +that led to victory. The result, in those days of superstition, naturally +gave rise to the legend. + +When Valdemar returned a victor from Esthonia, having beaten alike the +pagans and the Livonian knights, and bearing with him the victorious +Danneborg, he was at the height of his glory, and none dreamed of the +terrible disaster that awaited him. He had made enemies among the German +princes, and they conspired against him, but they were forced to submit +to his rule. Some of those whose lands he had seized did not hesitate to +express openly their hatred for him; but others, while secretly plotting +against him, pretended to be his friends, shared in his wars and his +courtly ceremonies, and were glad to accept favors from his hands. + +One of those who hated him most bitterly, yet who seemed most attached to +him, was the Count-Duke of Schwerin, a man who, alike from his dark +complexion and his evil disposition, was known in his own country as +"Black Henry." The king had often been warned to beware of this man, but, +frank and open by nature and slow to suspect guile, he disregarded these +warnings and went on treating him as a trusty friend. + +This enabled Count Henry to make himself familiar with Valdemar's habits +and mode of life. He secretly aided certain traitors who cherished evil +designs against the king; but when he found that all these plots failed +he devised one of his own which the king's trust in him aided him in +carrying out. + +In the spring of the year 1233 Valdemar invited his seeming friend to a +two days' hunt which he proposed to enjoy in the woods of Lyoe, but the +count sent word that he regretted his inability to join him, as he had +been hurt by a fall and could not leave his bed. + +His bed just then was his horse's saddle. The opportunity which he +awaited had come, and he spent the night scouring the country in search +of aid for the plot he had in view, which was no less than to seize and +hold prisoner his trusting royal friend. He knew the island well, and +when his spies told him that the king and his son Valdemar had landed at +Lyoe with a small following of huntsmen and servants, Black Henry prepared +to carry out his plot. + +The king's first day's hunt was a hard one and he and his son slept +soundly that night in the rude hut that had been put up for their use. No +one thought of any need of guarding it and the few attendants of the king +were scattered about, sleeping under the shelter of rocks and trees. + +Late that night Count Henry and his men landed and made their way +silently and cautiously through the tired sleepers to the royal hut, +which he well knew where to find. Quietly entering, they deftly gagged +the king and prince before they could awake, and before either of them +could raise a hand in resistance sacks of wool and straw were drawn over +their heads, so closely as nearly to choke them, and strong bonds were +tied round their legs and arms. + +Thus thoroughly disabled, the strong king and his youthful son were +carried through the midst of their own people to the strand and laid +helplessly in the bottom of the waiting boat, which was rowed away with +muffled oars, gliding across the narrow sound to the shore of Fyen. Here +waited a fast-sailing yacht to which the captives were transferred, sail +being set before a favoring wind for the German coast. + +The next morning, when the king's attendants were searching for the +missing king, he and his son, still bound and gagged, were landed on a +lonely part of the sea-shore, placed on awaiting horses, and tightly +secured to the saddles, after which they were hurried on at full gallop, +stopping only at intervals to change the armed escort, until the castle +of Danneberg, in Hanover, was reached. + +This castle had been loaned by its owner to Count Henry, he having no +stronghold of his own deemed secure enough to hold such important +captives. So roughly had they been treated that when the bonds were +removed from Prince Valdemar, who resembled his mother Dagmar alike in +his beauty and her feebleness, the blood flowed from every part of his +body. Yet, without regard to his youth and sufferings, the cruel captor +shut up him and his royal father in a cold and dark dungeon, where they +were left without a change of clothing and fed on the poorest and +coarsest food. + +This, many might say, was a just retribution on King Valdemar, for years +before, when as a prince he had put down the rebellion in Sleswick, he +had seized its chief leader, his namesake Bishop Valdemar, and kept him +for many years in chains and close confinement in the dungeon of Soeborg +Castle, and had later subjected Count Adolf of Holstein to the same fate. +Bishop Valdemar had been released after fourteen years' imprisonment at +the entreaty of Queen Dagmar, and was ever after one of the most bitter +enemies of the Danish king. + +But though a bishop and count might be thus held captive, it is difficult +to conceive of a powerful monarch being kept prisoner by a minor noble +for three long years, despite all that could be done for his release. +Nothing could give a clearer idea of the lawless state of those times. +King Valdemar and his son lay wearing the bonds of felons and suffering +from cold and hunger while the emperor and the Pope sought in vain for +their release, threatening Black Henry with all the penalties decreed by +empire and church for those who raised their hands against a prince. + +The shrewd captor readily promised all that was asked of him. He would +release his captives without delay. Yet he had no intention to keep his +word, for he knew that Rome and Ratisbon were too far from Danneberg to +give him serious cause for alarm, especially as the other nobles of +northern Germany were prepared to help him in keeping their common enemy +in prison. + +As for Denmark itself, the people were infuriated and eagerly demanded to +be led to the rescue of their beloved king; yet Valdemar's sons were +still young, all the kinsmen of the royal family had been banished or +were dead, and there was no one with the power and right to take control +of public affairs. + +For some time, indeed, the fate of the king remained unknown to the +people. Valdemar's nephew Albert, Count of Orlamunde, was on his way to +Rome when the news of the king's capture reached him. He immediately +turned back, collected an army, and gave battle to the German princes who +were helping Count Henry to defend Danneberg. But his hasty levies were +defeated and he taken prisoner, to be thrown into the same dungeon as the +royal captive. + +Finally King Valdemar, seeing no other hope of release, agreed to the +terms offered by Black Henry, which were that he should pay a ransom of +45,000 silver marks, give him all the jewels of the late Queen Berangaria +not already bestowed on churches and monasteries, and send him a hundred +men-at-arms, with horses and arms for their use. For assurance of this he +was to send his three younger sons to Danneberg to be kept in prison with +Count Albert until the money was paid. + +These terms agreed to, the king and prince were set free. Valdemar at +once hastened to Denmark, which he found in a fearful state from its +having been three years without a head. Humbled and crushed in spirit, +finding all his dominions in Germany set free from their allegiance and +all the kingdoms won by his valor lost to Denmark, he scarcely knew what +steps to take. The ransom demanded he was unable to pay and he grieved at +the thought of subjecting his young sons to the fate from which he had +escaped. In his misery he wrote to the Pope, asking to be released from +the oath which had been exacted from him to let his children go into +captivity. + +The Pope, full of pity for him, sent a bishop to Count Henry, telling him +that if he tried to enforce the demand exacted under durance from the +king of Denmark, he should be deprived of the services of religion and be +heavily fined by the papal power for his cruel and unrighteous act. Thus +called to account for his treachery and wickedness, Black Henry was +forced to forego the final cruel exaction of his traitor soul. + +Misfortune, however, pursued Valdemar. When in 1227 the peasants of +Ditmarsh refused to pay the tribute they had long paid the Danish crown, +the insult to his weakness was more than the king could endure. He +marched an army into their lands, but only to find himself defeated and +four thousand of his men killed by the rebels, who were strongly aided by +the German princes of Holstein, and especially by Count Adolf, his former +captive. He himself was wounded in the eye by an arrow which struck him +to the ground, and would have been captured a second time but for the aid +of a friendly German knight. + +This foeman had been formerly in Valdemar's service, and when he saw his +old royal master helpless and bleeding, he lifted him to his saddle and +carried him to Kiel, where his wounds were healed, means being then found +to send him back to his kingdom. + +Valdemar remained on the throne for fourteen years afterwards, but these +were years of peace. War no longer had charms for him and he devoted +himself to the duties of government and to preparing codes of law for the +provinces of his kingdom. In that age there were no general laws for the +whole country. + +The laws of Valdemar continued in force for four hundred and fifty years, +and in 1687, when Christian V. framed a new code of laws, some of the old +ones of Valdemar were retained. In them the old custom of the ordeal was +set aside, being replaced by the system of the jury, one form of which +consisted of "eight good men and true" chosen by the king, and another of +twelve men chosen by the people. The laws were lenient, for most crimes +could be atoned for by money or other fines. Three days after the last of +these codes was approved Valdemar died, at the age of seventy-one, +leaving three sons all of whom in turn ruled after him. His son Valdemar, +who shared his imprisonment, had died long before. + + + + +_BIRGER JARL AND THE CONQUEST OF FINLAND._ + + +Birger Jarl, who became one of the great men of Sweden about 1250, rose +to such importance in the early history of that kingdom that one cannot +pass him by without saying something about his career. Sweden was then a +Christian kingdom and had been for many years, for the religion of Christ +had been preached there, as the sagas tell, four centuries earlier. But +heathenism prevailed until long afterwards, and it was not until the days +of King Stenkil, who came to the throne in 1061, that an earnest effort +was made to introduce the Christian worship. Finally paganism completely +died out, and when Birger came to the throne Sweden had long been a +Christian realm. + +But paganism still had a stronghold in Finland, and when Bishop Thomas, a +zealous churchman, of English birth, proclaimed that the Christians +should have no intercourse with the pagans in Finland or even sell them +food, the Finlanders became so incensed that they invaded the Christian +country and put the people to death with frightful tortures. Their +cruelties created terror everywhere and Bishop Thomas fled to Gothland +where, crazed with horror at the result of his proclamation, he soon +died. + +King Erik was then on the throne of Sweden, but Birger, the son of a +great earl of Gothland, became a famous warrior, and as the king had no +sons he made Birger a jarl, or earl, and chose him as his heir. One of +the exploits by which Birger had won fame was the following. The town of +Luebeck, in North Germany, was closely besieged by the king of Denmark, +who had cut it off from the sea by stretching strong iron chains across +the river Trave, on which the town is situated. He thus hoped to starve +the people into surrender, and would have done so had not Birger come to +their rescue. He had the keels of some large ships plated with iron, +loaded them with provisions, and sailed up the river towards the +beleaguered city. Hoisting all sail before a strong wind, he steered +squarely on to the great chains, and struck them with so mighty a force +that they snapped asunder and the ships reached the town with their +supplies, whereupon the Danish king abandoned the siege. This story is of +interest, as these are the first iron-plated ships spoken of in history. + +By this and other exploits Birger grew in esteem, and when the Finns +began their terrible work in the north he and the king summoned the +people to arms, and the old warlike spirit, which had long been at rest, +was reawakened in the hearts of the Swedes. The Pope at Rome had +proclaimed a crusade against the Finns, promising the same privileges to +all who took part in it as were enjoyed by those then taking part in the +crusades to the Holy Land, and on all sides the people grew eager to +engage in this sacred war. + +Then there was brushing and furbishing on all sides; ancestral swords, +which had long hung rusting on the walls, were taken down and sharpened +anew; helmets and cuirasses were burnished until they shone like silver +or gold; tight-closed purses were opened by those who wished to aid the +cause of Christ; and old ships were made ready for the waves and new ones +launched. Rosy lips were kissed by lovers who would never kiss them +again, and loud was the weeping of the maidens and mothers who saw those +they loved setting out for the war, but they consoled themselves as best +they could by the thought that it was all for the glory of God. Men of +Sweden had gone to the crusades in Palestine, but here was a crusade of +their own at home, and all were eager to take part in it. + +A great fleet was got together and set sail under the command of Birger +Jarl. Its course lay up the Gulf of Bothnia, and where it came to land +Birger erected a great wooden cross as a sign that he had come for the +spread of the Christian faith. From this the place was called Korsholm. + +The heathen Finns knew of his coming and had gathered in great numbers to +defend their country against its invaders, but nothing could stay the +fury of the crusaders, who were incensed with the cruelties these +barbarians had committed, and drove them back in dismay wherever they met +them, Birger Jarl showing the greatest skill as a leader. He made public +a law that all who became Christians should be protected in life and +property, and within two years he succeeded in introducing Christianity +into that country--perhaps more in appearance than reality. At any rate +he built forts, and settled a colony of Swedes in East Bothnia, and thus +did much towards making Finland a province of Sweden. + +While this was going on King Erik the Lame died (in 1250). As he left no +heir there were many pretenders to the crown. The fact that Birger had +been named by the king two years before was lost sight of, and it looked +as if there would be civil war between the many claimants. To prevent any +such result a powerful noble named Iwar hastily summoned an assembly and +through his influence Valdemar, Birger Jarl's son, was chosen as king. +This was all done so quickly that it was completed in fourteen days after +Erik's death. + +When the news of this hasty action reached Birger in Finland he was very +angry, and hastened home with all speed, bringing with him the greater +part of his army. He was highly displeased that he had not himself been +named king, as had been promised, instead of a boy, even if the boy was +his son. Calling together those who had made the choice of Valdemar, he +hotly asked them: + +"Who among you was so bold as to order an election during my absence, +though you knew that King Erik named me Jarl and chose me for his heir? +And why did you choose a child for your king?" + +Iwar answered that it was he that ordered the election and said: + +[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, +N.Y. VILLAGE LIFE AND HOMES IN SWEDEN.] + +"Though you are indeed most worthy to wear the crown, you are advanced in +years and cannot live to rule us as long as your son." + +This answer brought another angry outbreak from Birger and Iwar again +said: + +"If you do not like this, do with your son what you please. There is no +fear but we shall be able to find another king." + +For a time Birger sat in moody silence, and then asked: + +"Who then would you take for your king?" + +"I also can shake out a king from under my cloak," was Iwar's haughty +answer. + +This threw the Jarl into a dilemma. The faces of the people present +showed their approval of what Iwar had said, and at length, fearing that +if he resisted their action the crown might be lost both to himself and +his son, he gave in to their decision. + +To give dignity to the occasion, he took steps to have his son crowned +with much magnificence, and shortly after sent his daughter Rikissa with +great pomp and a rich dower to the frontier of Norway, where she was met +by the king of that country and was married with stately ceremony to his +son. The next year Birger's mother died, and as there was a prophecy that +her family would remain in power as long as her head was up, he had her +buried upright, being walled up in a pillar in Bjelbo Church so that her +head should never droop. + +Birger Jarl belonged to a great family called the Folkungers, who long +held all the power in Sweden, and many of whom had been aspirants for the +throne. These were so angry at being deprived of what they had hoped for +that they determined to take the throne by force, and their leaders went +to Denmark and Germany, where they collected a large army. When they +landed in Sweden many of the people of that country joined them, and +though Birger had also a large force he began to fear the result. + +He therefore sent his chancellor, Bishop Kol, to ask for a personal +interview with the leaders of the opposite force, with solemn promises of +safety. Yielding to the bishop's persuasions, the chiefs accompanied him +across the river that separated the two armies. Then Birger did a +dastardly act. No sooner had the chiefs come within his power than he had +them seized and beheaded on the spot as rebels. + +Thus fell a number of the leading men of Sweden, and, the leaders fallen, +Birger attacked and easily dispersed their army, sparing the Swedes, but +cutting to pieces all the Germans that could be overtaken. Thus he added +greatly to the power of his family, but by an act of treachery and +perjury for which Archbishop Lars laid upon him a heavy penance. As for +Bishop Kol, who had been made the innocent agent in this shameful deed, +he never read mass again, and finally resigned his office and left his +country, journeying as a pilgrim to the Holy Land in expiation for his +involuntary crime. He never found peace and rest until he found them in +the grave. + +Birger Jarl by these means rose to be the mightiest man in the north. His +son was king of Norway, his daughter was queen of Sweden, and his +daughter-in-law was a princess of Denmark, for when Valdemar became +twenty years of age he sought and won for his bride the beautiful Danish +Princess Sophia. The marriage was one of great pomp, a great hall being +built for the occasion, where the courtiers appeared in new-fashioned +dresses of rich stuffs, and there were plenty of banquets, games, dances, +and even tilts and tournaments, all conducted according to the noblest +custom of the times. + +Birger himself had a queen for his wife, having married the dowager Queen +Mechthild of Denmark, and to increase his importance he assumed the title +of duke, never before borne in Sweden. But many of the peasants called +him king, since he governed the kingdom and was married to a queen. But +meanwhile poor Bishop Kol was dying of grief for the deed of shame into +which this proud lord had led him. + +Shall we here tell an interesting and romantic story about one of +Birger's brothers? He was a judge in East Gothland, his name being Bengt, +and had fallen deeply in love with a damsel named Sigrid, whose family +was not rich nor great, though she herself was so beautiful that she was +widely known as Sigrid the Fair. + +Duke Birger was not pleased with the idea of such a match, thinking the +girl, though of noble birth, of far too lowly rank to mate with a member +of his family. But in such things Judge Bengt had a will of his own and +he married Sigrid without Birger's consent. This so displeased the proud +jarl that he sent Bengt a cloak, half of which was made of gold brocade +and the other of coarse and common baize. This was in token of the +difference in rank of the families of Bengt and Sigrid and a significant +hint that he should separate from his new wife. + +But Bengt was equal to the situation. He covered the coarse half of the +cloak with gold, pearls and precious stones so as to make it more +valuable than the other, and this he sent to his brother with no other +answer. This only irritated Birger the more, and he sent back the +message, "that he would speak with his brother face to face about this +affair," adding some harsh words which were also repeated to Bengt. + +Then, soon after this, the angry jarl saddled his horse and rode with a +large company to Ulfasa, where Bengt lived. When the judge saw the jarl's +train near at hand he fled from his house to the woods, leaving his wife, +whom he had carefully instructed how to act, to meet his irritated +brother. + +When the angry jarl rode into the court, fully prepared to call his +erring brother severely to account, he was surprised to see the fairest +woman he had ever beheld come forward to meet him. She was adorned with +the most costly robes and precious ornaments she could command and +everything had been done to enhance the charm of her beauty. Stepping +forth before the jarl, who gazed at her with astonishment, she bowed low +and welcomed him with all honor and courtesy. + +So astonished was Birger with the charming vision that he sprang from his +horse and seized Sigrid in his arms, saying, "Had my brother not done +this I should have done it myself." + +Leading him to the house, she entertained him with the best cheer, and +Bengt being sent for to the wood, the two brothers were fully reconciled. +Such an effect have the charms of a fair woman over the pride and passion +of men. + +A few words must serve to finish the story of Birger Jarl. The greatest +and most valuable service of his reign lay in the new laws he gave the +country and his doing away with many of the old barbarian customs to +replace them with the customs of civilization. + +Before this time it was the common practice for the relatives of a +murdered man to avenge him on the family of the murderer, thus giving +rise to long and bloody feuds. This custom Birger forbade, ordering every +one to seek redress for injury at the courts of justice. He also passed +four Laws of Peace, viz.: for the Peace of the Church, of Women, of +House, and of Assize. + +Every one was forbidden to assault another in the church or the +churchyard or on the way to or from church. Whoever did so was declared +outlawed, and if the assailed man killed his assailant he was held free +from blame or revenge. This was the Peace of the Church. + +Another ancient custom was to carry away a desired bride by force, +without her consent or that of her parents, a fight often arising in +which the bride's father and brothers were killed. Or on the way of an +affianced pair to church the same outrage might take place, the +bridegroom being often killed. This, too, was forbidden under penalty of +outlawry, the new law being that of Peace for Women. + +To promote general security he forbade, under the same penalty, the +attacking of any man, his wife, children, or servants, within his house +or on his property. This was the Law of Home-peace or House-peace. All +violence was in like manner forbidden to any one going to or attending an +assembly of the people, this being the Peace of Assize. + +Birger Jarl improved the laws in many other ways and made Sweden a far +more civilized country than it had been before his time. Another of his +useful acts was the founding of the city of Stockholm, which before his +day was a mere village on an island, but which he made a stronghold and +city, inviting that commerce to which its situation so excellently +adapted it. This was one of the most important acts of Birger Jarl, who +died soon afterwards, not living to see the rapid growth in importance of +his new city. + + + + +_THE FIRST WAR BETWEEN SWEDEN AND RUSSIA._ + + +In the last tale it was told how Birger Jarl subdued the Finns and +brought then to give up their heathen practices and accept Christianity. +But this refers only to the section of Finland bordering on the Baltic +Sea. Farther east the Finns were pagans still, worshipping idols and +living a savage life in their vast forests, and bitterly hating the +Christians. At times they would come in hordes out of their wild +woodlands and attack the settled people, killing them in the most cruel +way their distorted fancies could contrive. + +They had two chief deities, Jumal, the great good one, and Perkel, the +great evil one, and these were supposed to meet in fierce encounters in +which they would throw each other over high mountains. The people kept +wooden images of these deities in their huts, and had also open places in +the forest, with a stone on the centre of each, on which they made +sacrifices to their divinities. When a Karelian, as these people were +called, came to within a fixed distance of the sacrificial stone, he took +off his cap and crawled up to it silently, making sacrifices there of the +bones and horns of elk and reindeer. In case of danger they would +sacrifice goats, cats and cocks, sprinkling their idols with the blood of +these animals. + +At that time, shortly before the year 1300, Birger, heir to the throne of +Sweden, was very young, and the country was under the rule of Torkel +Knutson, regent of the kingdom and a wise and energetic man. Exasperated +by the cruelties committed by the Karelians on the Christians, he +determined to put a stop to them and sailed to Finland with a strong +army. Against this force the pagan foresters could not make head and they +were soon obliged to submit. A fort with a strong garrison was built at +Wiborg to keep them in order, and the churchmen who went with the +expedition strove to convert them. + +It is not with these savage woodsmen, however, that we are concerned, but +with the Russians, with which people the Swedes now first came into +warlike contact. The forest Russians of that day were as savage as the +Finns and as hard to deal with. They came to the help of the Karelians in +this war, and to punish them the regent took Castle Kexholm, their chief +stronghold, and left in it a garrison under Sigge Lake. It was this that +brought on the first war between the Swedes and the Russians, some of the +events of which are so interesting that it is worth telling about. + +After the Swedes had held Kexholm for some time their food supply ran +very low, and as no aid came from home many of them wished to abandon the +fort. This Sigge Lake would not listen to. He had been left there to hold +the place and did not intend to give it up. But only the bravest of his +men remained with him, the others leaving under pretext of sending food +and reinforcements from home. + +Neither men nor supplies arrived and the Russians, learning of the state +of affairs, gathered in multitudes around the fort, laying close siege to +it. In the end, after a brave resistance lasting many days, food became +so scarce that the Swedes dared not stay any longer and they determined +to try and cut their way through the besiegers. + +The gates were thrown open and Sigge rushed out at the head of his +company, with such force and fury that for a time it seemed as if they +would succeed. But they were weakened by semi-starvation and in the end +the swarming Russians killed them all but two, who alone made their +escape and carried the news of the disaster back to Sweden. + +The regent was greatly distressed at the loss of the brave men whom he +had left so long without support. It was too late to save their lives but +he felt it his duty to avenge them. To do so he set sail with another +army, making his way up the river Neva, the stream on which the city of +St. Petersburg was afterwards built. No enemy was seen and the regent +landed on an island in the river, where he built a strong fort which he +named Landscrona, furnishing it plentifully with provisions. + +The Russians, when they found what was being done, were infuriated. A +great multitude of them, thirty thousand in number, gathered on the Neva +and made a vigorous effort to burn the Swedish fleet, sending rafts down +the stream on which were great heaps of blazing wood. But the regent +caught these by iron chains which he stretched across the stream, holding +the fire-floats until they burned out. + +This effort failing, the Russians made a fierce attack on the fortress, +with such savage violence that though many of them fell the others would +not give up the assault. But so strong and so well defended was the place +that they failed in this also, and in the end were obliged to retreat, +leaving great numbers of dead behind them. Then a young and brave knight +in the garrison, named Matts Kettilmundson, made a sortie against the +Russians and drove them back in panic flight, many more of them being +killed. + +Shortly after this a party of Russian cavalry, one thousand strong, +appeared in the edge of a wood, not far from the fort, their armor +gleaming brightly in the sunlight. While the garrison were looking at +them from the walls, the brave knight Matts Kettilmundson asked +permission of the regent to ride out against them, saying that "he would +venture a brush with the bravest among them." + +The regent having consented, the daring fellow put on his armor and had +his horse led through the gate. Leaping on it he rode out, and when he +had passed the moat, turned back to his friends who lined the wall. + +"Strive to live happily," he said, "and do not be troubled about me, for +it depends on God in heaven whether I shall return with a captive foe or +fail to return at all." + +He then rode boldly on and sent an interpreter to the Russian lines, +challenging the bravest of the Russians to fight with him for life, goods +and freedom. It must be borne in mind that those were the days of +chivalry and knight-errantry, when such adventures and challenges were +common things and good faith was kept with those who made them. So no +force or treachery was attempted against the daring knight, although we +should hardly have looked for knightly deeds and chivalrous ways in the +Russia of that day. + +However, as the story goes on to say, the Russian king appealed in vain +for a knight to try conclusions with the Swedish champion. Not a man in +the troop was ready to make the venture, and Sir Matts sat his horse +there all day long waiting in vain for an antagonist. As evening +approached he rode back to the fortress, where every one congratulated +and praised him for his courage. The next morning the Russians had +disappeared. + +Soon after this, the army growing weary and longing for home, the regent +set sail down stream, leaving three hundred men and abundant supplies in +the fort, under a knight named Swen. But as contrary winds detained the +fleet Sir Matts landed with a strong party of horsemen and made long +raids into the country, gathering much booty, with which he returned to +the ships. Then the army continued its way home, where it was received +with much joy. + +But the garrison in Landscrona did not find their lot much better than +had the former garrison in Kexholm. The new walls were damp and the +advancing summer brought hot weather, so that their provisions began to +spoil. As a consequence scurvy and other diseases broke out and many of +the men died. Some of those who remained wished to send home for help, +but others objected to this, saying that "they preferred waiting for help +from heaven and did not wish to trouble the regent, who had enough to +attend to at home." + +When the Russians gathered around the fort to attack it, as they soon +did, only twenty men in the garrison were fit to bear arms in defence. +These could not properly guard the walls and the Russians steadily +advanced, all losses being made up from their great numbers, until in no +great time the walls were taken. The Swedes retired to their houses, +continuing to fight, but as the Russians set fire to these, the governor +and some others threw down their arms, offering to surrender. They were +at once cut down by the assailants. + +The few who remained alive now took refuge in a stone cellar, where they +defended themselves manfully; and refused to submit until the enemy had +offered them their lives. Then they yielded and were carried as captives +into the country, the fortress being razed to the ground. Thus, in the +year 1300, ended the first war between Russia and Sweden. The Swedes +fought well and died nobly, but they lost their lives through the neglect +of their countrymen and rulers. + + + + +_THE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT OF KING BIRGER._ + + +When the events narrated in the last tale took place, there were three +young princes in the kingdom, Birger, Erik and Valdemar, Torkel, the +regent, ruling in their name. But when the princes grew up Birger, the +oldest, was crowned king, the other two becoming dukes. But very early in +Birger's reign there arose many complaints about the conduct of his +brothers, who showed themselves haughty and insubordinate. The ill-blood +in time grew to such an extent that the king dismissed his brothers from +his presence, giving them until sunset to leave. + +"After that," he said, "if you shall fall into my hands, it will go ill +with you." + +This gave rise to bitter enmity and the two dukes gave King Birger no end +of trouble, there being war between them three times in succession, +bringing the country into a miserable state. During the second war King +Birger was taken prisoner by his brothers, but he was afterwards set free +under the promise that he would no more disturb Sweden, a third part of +which was left under his rule. + +He did not intend to keep his word, but was no sooner set free than he +sought aid from his brother-in-law, the king of Denmark, and invaded the +kingdom with a Danish army. This was the third war above spoken of. It +ended without the king gaining anything but the third of the kingdom, +which had already been promised to him. After each of these wars the +brothers became reconciled, and lived for a time peacefully in their +dominions, but they laid such heavy taxes on the people to support their +extravagant courts that great misery prevailed. + +After the last outbreak all remained quiet for nearly ten years, and the +dukes thought that their brother was friendly towards them, not dreaming +that his heart was full of hate and treachery. + +In 1317, when Duke Valdemar made a journey to Stockholm, which was in his +section of the kingdom, he stopped at Nykoeping to visit his brother +Birger, whom he had not seen for a long time. Birger met him with a great +show of friendliness, making him welcome in every way. Queen Martha was +equally kind, and Valdemar was highly pleased with these tokens of +regard. Before he left the queen complained to him that it gave her great +pain that Duke Erik avoided his brother, saying that God knew she loved +him as much as if he were her own brother. + +After spending the night with them Valdemar rode away very well pleased. +His men were equally pleased, for they had been well entertained. On +leaving Stockholm he went to Erik's home in Westmoreland, who told him +that he had just been invited to visit Birger's court, and asked if he +thought it safe to make such a visit. + +Valdemar said he had no doubt of it, telling of what a pleasant visit he +had made. Erik, however, had doubts, being distrustful of the queen and +Chancellor Brunke, whom he looked upon as his enemies. But in the end the +brothers decided to accept the invitation and rode away towards Nykoeping. +When six miles distant they met a knight who advised them to go no +farther, saying: + +"You will cause yourselves and your friends much sorrow if both of you +trust yourselves in the king's hands at the same time." + +Valdemar indignantly replied to this that "there are too many who seek to +breed disunion between the king and his brothers." + +The knight then rode off, saying no more, and the dukes rode into Swaerta, +where they proposed to spend the night. To their surprise no preparations +had been made for them, but a knight met them and saluted them in the +king's name, adding that he earnestly requested them not to repose until +they reached Nykoeping, as his longing to meet them was so great that he +could not rest until they arrived. + +On receiving this warm request they rode on, reaching Nykoeping in the +evening. The king advanced from the castle gate to meet them, greeting +them in an affectionate manner, and taking each of them by the hands as +he led them into the castle. They found a rich feast prepared for them, +at which neither mead, wine, nor fair words were wanting. At length Duke +Valdemar grew suspicious and said to his brother that they were drinking +too much wine. But this was soon forgotten and the feast went on, Queen +Martha showing herself very gay and lively and every one being full of +the spirit of enjoyment. + +It was late at night before the merrymaking ended and the dukes went to +their rooms. The queen then said to their men, who had also been well +taken care of: + +"Lodging has been prepared for you in the town, as there is not room +enough for you in the castle." + +As they went out Chancellor Brunke stood at the gate, making sure that +they had all gone, when he shut the castle gates behind them. Then he +armed the servants and led them to the king. Birger, who seemed in some +doubt, bade them to retire and turned to Sir Knut Johanson, asking if he +would assist in making prisoners of the dukes. + +"I will not, my lord," said Sir Knut. "Whoever has counselled you to do +this is leading you into a great treachery. What, would you deceive and +murder your brothers who came here trusting in your good faith? The devil +himself must be your tempter. Let who will be angry on this account, I +will never help you in it." + +"Small care you have for my honor," said the king angrily. + +"Little honor can accrue to you from such an act," answered Sir Knut +sturdily. "If you should carry out this design your honor will be less +here-after." + +Two other knights warned the king against so treacherous a deed, but he +was so displeased with their words that he ordered them to prison. + +Then he led his armed servants to the sleeping apartment of the dukes and +broke open the door, the noise awakening the sleepers. Valdemar sprang +up, and seeing armed men entering the room, he seized one of them and +threw him down, calling on his brother for help. + +"There is no use in resisting, brother," said Erik, seeing the room +filling with armed men. + +The king now rushed in and called out savagely: + +"Do you remember Hatuna? It will not be better for you here than it was +for me there, for you shall have the same fate, though it has tarried so +long." + +Hatuna was the place where the king had previously been taken prisoner by +his brothers, in somewhat the same treacherous manner. But they had not +treated him with the same shameful cruelty with which he now treated +them. + +They were taken barefooted deep into the tower and fastened in a dungeon, +with a great chain on their legs, while their servants in the town were +taken prisoners and locked up in one ward to the number of twenty, all +their possessions being divided among their captors. This being done, the +king clapped his hands, saying: + +"The Holy Ghost bless my queen! Now I have all Sweden in my hand!" + +When he set out soon afterwards on an errand of conquest, he left his +brothers in the charge of a Livonian knight, who had evidently been +bidden to treat them harshly, for he removed them to the lowest dungeon +and placed a beam upon their legs. They were fastened to the wall by +thick iron round the throat and chains weighing one hundred and forty +pounds were riveted on their wrists, the other end being fastened to the +beam. When the chain was fastened upon Erik it was done with such +violence that a piece of iron broke out, cutting him on the eye so that +blood ran down his cheek. + +Their dungeon was at the bottom of the tower, where they lay on the bare +rock, a pool of water lying between them. Their food was wretched, their +clothing was wretched, and there was every indication that their wicked +brother did not wish to have them leave that prison alive. + +But the cruel and treacherous king did not find it so easy to bring all +Sweden under his rule. The news of his wicked act got abroad and spread +through the land, exciting general horror and detestation. When he rode +up to Stockholm to take possession he found it closed against him and the +burghers made a sally against him, putting his forces to flight. It was +the same way everywhere, the whole country rising against him. The wicked +king now began to learn that the way of the transgressor is hard, and in +his fury of disappointment he locked the door of the dungeon in which his +brothers lay and threw the key into the stream, leaving them to die of +starvation. + +But the poor victims were to be thoroughly avenged, for the people were +implacable in their wrath, and in a short time had so environed the king +that the fortresses of Nykoeping and Stegeborg were alone left to him, and +both of these were besieged. + +Nykoeping was soon so severely pressed that the garrison brought up the +dead bodies of the dukes and laid them under a dais outside the castle, +saying to the besiegers: + +"Your siege will now answer no purpose, for the dukes are dead and King +Birger is heir to all the kingdom." + +"No one can hope to win an inheritance by murder," they replied. "We now +serve as our ruler, Lord Magnus, Duke Erik's son." + +The bodies of the murdered dukes were carried to Stockholm, where they +were buried with much ceremony. But the siege of the castle was continued +until the garrison was forced to surrender. On obtaining possession of it +the enraged people razed it to the ground. + +Stegeborg, where Prince Magnus, King Birger's son, was in command, held +out much longer. The king and queen, with Brunke, their confederate, were +in Gothland, which province alone they held, and from which they sent a +number of ships to Stegeborg with provisions and troops. These had no +sooner appeared in the river Skares, however, than they were attacked and +taken, leaving Prince Magnus as bad off as ever. When this news was +brought to the king and queen they exclaimed in despair: + +"Where shall we turn now, since God has sent us such a misfortune?" + +Brunke, the cruel chancellor, volunteered to lead an expedition himself, +saying that he would no more spare the dukes' people than they had spared +the king's. Gathering some vessels, he had them strongly planked all +around, and loading these with provisions and the remainder of the king's +forces, he set out for Stegeborg. + +On entering the Skares the people attacked him with stones and other +missiles, but he and his men protected themselves behind the planks. +Seeing this, fire-rafts were sent off from the shore against the ships, +and despite all that could be done to keep them off they drifted upon the +vessels, setting three of them on fire, from which the flames spread to +the others. + +Brunke and his men leaped overboard, hoping to escape by swimming, but +they were all taken and Brunke and three of his chiefs sent to Stockholm, +where they were soon afterwards beheaded. Stegeborg was now in a +desperate state and was soon forced to surrender, on the condition that +the life of Prince Magnus should be spared. This condition was not kept, +notwithstanding the fact that he was innocent of his father's crime. The +indignant people were not willing to leave any scion of their wicked king +alive and the poor boy's head was cut off. + +Thus the unholy treachery of King Birger met with retribution. Sir Matts +Kettilmundson, the brave knight who had shown such courage in Russia, was +made Administrator of the kingdom and soon defeated a Danish army which +had been sent to King Birger's aid. Then Birger and his wicked queen were +obliged to flee to Sweden, where grief soon brought him to his death-bed. +Queen Martha lived long, but it was a life made bitter by memory of her +crimes and Heaven's retribution. + +[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, +N.Y. MORNING GREETINGS OF NEIGHBORS, SWEDEN.] + + + + +_QUEEN MARGARET AND THE CALMAR UNION._ + + +We have next to tell how the three kingdoms of Scandinavia, between which +rivalry and hostility had often prevailed, became united into one great +Scandinavian realm, under the rule of a woman, the great Queen Margaret. +This was a very important event, as its results continued until our own +day, the subjection of Norway, which was then achieved, not being broken +until the early days of the present century. It is important to describe +the various steps by which this union was brought about. + +From 930, when Harold Fair-Haired, the maker of Norway, died, until 1319, +when a king known by the odd title of Haakon Longlegs followed him to the +grave, the throne of Norway had been nearly always filled by some one of +Harold's many descendants. But with the death of Haakon the male line of +King Harold's descendants was finally broken, and only a woman remained +to represent that great royal stock, Princess Ingeborg, the daughter of +King Haakon. This fair maiden was promised in marriage while still a +child to Duke Erik, son of the late king of Sweden. They were married in +1312, and on the same day Duke Valdemar, Erik's brother, married another +princess of Norway, also named Ingeborg. About four years later a son was +born to each of these happy couples, and King Haakon was full of joy, +for he now felt that the old royal line was restored. + +One person was not pleased by the birth of these princes. This was King +Birger of Sweden, who had long been at sword's point with his ambitious +brothers and wanted the throne of Norway as well as that of Sweden to +descend to his own son Magnus. He pretended to be pleased, however, for +he had in mind a treacherous plot to destroy his brothers and their +children and thus leave the way clear for his ambitious schemes. The +steps he took to bring this about and their fatal end to his brothers and +his son we have told in the previous tale. After the indignant people had +driven King Birger from the throne the kingdoms of Sweden and Norway were +left in a strange plight. Magnus, the son of Duke Erik and Ingeborg, was +only three years old when his grandfather, the king of Norway, died. This +left him the successor to the Norse realm. But the deposition of King +Birger and the execution of his son left this royal infant the king of +Sweden also, so that these two kingdoms became for the first time united, +and this under the rule of a three-year-old child, with regents to govern +in his name. But the two countries remained separate in everything except +that they had now but one king. + +When King Magnus became old enough to act as monarch in reality, he took +the government of both countries into his hands. But he proved unfit to +govern either of them, being a weak and good-natured man, so anxious to +please everybody that he pleased nobody. Born and brought up in Sweden, +he knew little and cared less about affairs in Norway and the people of +that country grew much incensed at his neglect of their interests. They +made him promise, at a public meeting, to divide the two kingdoms between +his two sons; Erik, the elder, to succeed him in Sweden, and Haakon, the +younger, to be given the crown of Norway when he came of age. Events +happened, as will be seen, to prevent this taking place and to combine +all Scandinavia under one great queen. + +This is how it came about. King Magnus made a visit to Denmark, where it +was arranged to marry Prince Haakon to Margaret, daughter and heir of the +Danish king, Valdemar. This marriage took place in due time, and not very +long afterwards both King Magnus and Prince Haakon died and Prince Erik +was poisoned by his mother, who was a wicked woman and was angry because +he opposed her in one of her base schemes. + +Thus as the death of King Birger had left the crowns of Sweden and Norway +to a boy of three, the deaths here named left these crowns and that of +Denmark also to another child, the son of Haakon and Margaret. This +little fellow, Olaf by name, too young to appreciate how great he had +become, did not live to enjoy his greatness. He died at the age of +seventeen, leaving his royal rights to his mother Margaret. + +It is interesting to learn that the turbulent kingdoms named, the land of +the sea-kings and the warlike barbarians of the north, each of which had +needed the hand of a strong man to control them, all now fell under the +sceptre of a woman, who at first reigned over Denmark and Norway and soon +added Sweden to her dominion. + +But Queen Margaret was no weakling. She was a woman born to command, +strong in mind and body, and more like a man than a woman. In Sweden, to +which she quickly turned her attention, she had a bitter enemy in Duke +Albrecht of Mecklenburg, who had been declared king of that country after +the death of King Magnus, and who also claimed the crown of Norway, being +remotely related to its royal house. + +He bitterly hated Margaret, whom he called "Queen Breechless," and by +other satirical and insulting names. Finally he took the bold step to +call himself king of Denmark and Norway, a baseless claim which he +proposed to enforce. He made a vow never to use a hat until he had driven +out Margaret, and sent her a whetstone several yards long, advising her +to use it to sharpen her scissors and needles instead of using a sceptre. +He was much too hasty, as he had only a weak hold upon Sweden even, whose +nobles did not like his habit of bringing in Germans to fill the posts of +honor and were anxious to get rid of him. + +Therefore it came about that he found himself confronted by an army of +Danes, Norsemen, and Swedes, and a battle followed in which Albrecht +riding with his heavy cavalry upon a frozen marsh, broke through the ice +and was taken prisoner. He was now in the power of Queen Margaret, who +had at length the opportunity to repay him for his insults. To replace +the crowns of Norway and Denmark, which he had sought to wear, she put +upon his head a fool's cap, with a tail twenty-eight feet long, and +repaid him for his insults and jests in other ways. After she had done +her best to make him an object of laughter and ridicule she locked him up +in a strong prison cell, where he was given six years to reflect on his +folly. + +It took these six years for Margaret's army to subdue the city of +Stockholm, which held out stoutly for Albrecht. She won it at last by +setting him free with the proviso that he should pay a ransom of sixty +thousand marks. In ease he could not provide it within three years he was +to return to prison or surrender Stockholm. He did the latter and +Margaret became mistress of Sweden. + +This able woman had now won a proud position, reached by none of the +kings before her. She was ruler of the whole of Scandinavia, with its +three ancient kingdoms. The triple crown was hers for the lifting, but +she was not ambitious to wear it, and preferred to put it on the head of +her grand-nephew, Erik of Pomerania, though she retained the power in her +hands until her death in 1412. Representatives of the three kingdoms were +summoned by her to a meeting at Calmar, where, in July, 1397, a compact +uniting the three kingdoms under one ruler was drawn up and signed. + +This was the famous Calmar Union, which held Norway captive for more than +four hundred years. From that time until the present century Norway had +no separate history, though her people vigorously resisted any measures +of oppression. In 1536 this ancient kingdom was declared to be a province +of Denmark, being treated like a conquered land; yet there was not a man +to protest against the humiliation. The loss of national standing had +come on so gradually that the people, widely scattered over their +mountain land and absorbed in their occupations, scarcely noticed it, +though they were quick enough to resent any encroachment upon their +personal liberty and rights. There were outbreaks, indeed, from time to +time, but these were soon put down and the Danish rule held good. + +This was not the case with Sweden, a more thickly settled and civilized +land. The struggle of the Swedes for freedom continued for some +seventy-five years and was finally accomplished in 1523. How this was +done will be told in other tales. As for Norway, it was ceded by Denmark +to Sweden in 1814, and the people of that mountain land regained their +national rights, with a free constitution, though ruled by the Swedish +king. This union held good until 1905, when it was peacefully broken and +Norway gained a king of its own again, after being kingless for more than +five hundred years. + + + + +_HOW SIR TORD FOUGHT FOR CHARLES OF SWEDEN._ + + +In the year 1450 and the succeeding period there was great disorder in +the Scandinavian kingdoms. The Calmar Union was no longer satisfactory to +the people of Sweden, who were bitterly opposed to being ruled by a +Danish king. There were wars and intrigues and plots and plans, with +plenty of murder and outrage, as there is sure to be in such troublous +times. There was king after king, none of them pleasing to the people. +King Erik behaved so badly that neither Sweden nor Denmark would have +anything to do with him, and he became a pirate, living by plunder. Then +Duke Christopher of Bavaria was elected king of Scandinavia, but he also +acted in a way that made every one glad when he died. In those days there +was a great nobleman in Sweden, named Karl Knutsson, who had a hand in +everything that was going on. One thing especially made him very popular +at that time, when a new king was to be elected. The spring had been very +dry and there was danger of a complete failure of the crops, but on the +day when Karl landed in Stockholm, May 23, 1450, there came plentiful +rains and the people rejoiced, fancying that in some way he had brought +about the change of weather. So, when the lords assembled to elect a new +king, Karl received sixty-two out of seventy votes, while the people +shouted that they would have no other king. He was then crowned king as +Charles VIII. There had been only one Charles before him, but somehow the +mistake was made of calling him Charles VIII., and in later years came +Charles IX., X., etc., the mistake never being rectified. + +All this is in introduction to a tale we have to tell, that of a bold +champion of King Charles. For the new king had many troubles to contend +with. The king of Denmark in especial gave him much trouble, and the +southern province of West Gothland was in danger of seceding from his +rule. In this dilemma he chose his cousin, Sir Tord Bonde, a young but +daring and experienced warrior, as the captain of his forces in that +province. He could not have made a better choice, and the stirring career +of Sir Tord was so full of strange and exciting events that we must +devote this tale to his exploits. + +Loedoese, a stronghold of Gothland, was still held by the Danes, and Sir +Tord's first adventure had to do with this place. On a dark, rainy, and +stormy night he led a party of shivering horsemen towards the town, +galloping onward at headlong speed over the muddy road and reaching the +place before day-dawn. Utterly unexpectant of such a coming, the Danes +were taken by surprise and all made prisoners, Sir Tord's men feeding +luxuriously on the enemy's meat and wine as some recompense for their wet +night's journey. + +Master of the place without a blow, Sir Tord found there a bag of +letters, containing some that had to do with plots against the king. +These letters he sent to King Charles, but they put him upon a new +adventure of his own. One of the traitors was Ture Bjelke, master of +Axewalla Castle, and Sir Tord, fancying that the traitor would be as +welcome a present to the king as his letters, set out for the castle with +thirty men. + +On arriving there Ture, not dreaming that his treason had been +discovered, admitted his visitor without hesitation. The troopers were +also permitted to enter, Sir Tord having told them to come in groups of +five or six only, so as not to excite suspicion by their numbers. + +That night, while they sat at table, and just as the cabbage was being +carried in, Sir Tord sprang up and seized Ture firmly by the collar, +calling out that he arrested him as a traitor to the king. The knight's +men sprang up to defend him, but Sir Tord's men attacked them with sword +and fist, the matter ending in the men as well as their master being +taken prisoners, and the castle falling into Sir Tord's hands. + +On receiving the letters, Charles laid them before the senate at +Stockholm, but the traitors were men of such power and note, and there +was so much envy and jealousy of Charles among the lords, that he dared +not attempt to punish the plotters as they deserved, but was obliged to +pardon them. As for Ture and his men, they managed to escape from the +place where they had been left for safe keeping, and made their way to +Denmark. + +[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, +N.Y. GRIPSHOLM CASTLE, MARI.] + +Meanwhile Sir Tord Bonde was kept busy, for King Christian of Denmark +several times invaded the land. On each occasion he was met by the +valiant defender of West Gothland and driven out with loss. On his final +retreat he built a fortress in Smaland, which he called Danaborg, or +Danes' castle, leaving in it a Danish garrison; but it was quickly +attacked by Sir Tord with his men-at-arms and a force of armed peasantry +and the castle taken by storm, the Danes suffering so severe a defeat +that the place was afterwards known as Danasorg, or Danes' sorrow. + +Sir Tord, to complete his chain of defences, had built several fortresses +in Norway, then claimed by King Christian as part of his dominions. He +had with him in this work about four hundred men, so small a force that +Kolbjoern Gast, one of Christian's generals, proceeded against him with an +army three thousand strong, proposing to drive the daring invader out of +the kingdom. + +Weak as he felt himself, Sir Tord determined to try conclusions with the +Danes and Norsemen, proposing to use strategy to atone for his weakness. +One hundred of his men were placed in ambush in a clump of woodland, and +with the remaining three hundred the Swedish leader marched boldly on the +enemy, who were entrenched behind a line of wagons. Finding that he could +not break through their defences, Sir Tord and his men turned in a +pretended flight and were hotly pursued by the enemy, who abandoned their +lines to follow the flying Swedes. Suddenly Sir Tord turned and led his +men in a fierce attack upon the disordered pursuers, falling upon them +with such bold fury that he had two horses killed under him. At the same +time the hundred men broke from their ambush, sounding their war-horns +loudly, and fell on the flank of the foe, though they were so badly armed +that they had no iron points on their lances. + +Confused and frightened by the double attack and the blare of the +trumpets, the Norsemen broke and fled, crying out that "all the might of +Sweden was in arms against them"; but they were pursued so closely that +the leader and all his men were taken by the brave four hundred. + +Thus the bold and skilful Sir Tord defended the king's cause in those +quarters, winning victories by stratagem where force was lacking and +keeping off the attacks of the Danes by his watchfulness, bravery, and +sound judgment; until men came to say, that his brave cousin was the +king's chief support and that his secret enemies dared not undertake +anything against him while he had so skilful and courageous a defender. + +There are two ways of disposing of a troublesome foe, one by fair and +open warfare, one by treachery. As Sir Tord could not be got rid of in +the former manner, his enemies tried the latter. Joesse Bosson, one of his +officers, though born a Dane, had proved so faithful and won his +confidence to such an extent that the valiant Swede trusted him +completely, and made him governor of the fortress of Karlborg. He did +not dream that he was nourishing a traitor and one capable of the basest +deeds. + +During the warfare in Norway Sir Tord reached Karlborg one afternoon, +proposing to spend the night there. He was received with much show of joy +by Joesse, who begged him to take the repose he needed, promising to keep +strict watch in the fortress during his stay there. Without a thought of +danger Sir Tord went to the chamber provided for him. Joesse said the same +to the followers of his guest, and as they were weary they were glad to +go to their beds. + +Having thus disposed of his visitors, Joesse got his boats ready, loaded +them with his most-prized effects, and then turned the key on the +followers of his trusting guest, hid their swords, and even cut their +bowstrings, so much was he afraid of the heroic soldier who had been his +best friend. + +Then, axe in hand, he entered the room of Sir Tord. The sleeper, awakened +by his entrance, raised himself a little in the bed and asked what he +wanted. For answer the murderous wretch brought down his axe with so +heavy a blow that the head of Sir Tord was cleft in twain to the +shoulders. Then, taking to his boats, the assassin made his escape to the +Danes, by whom his bloody act was probably instigated. + +With the death by treason and murder of the brave Sir Tord, the chief +bulkwark of the realm of King Charles, this tale should end, but the +later career of Charles VIII. is so curious a one that it will be of +interest to make some brief mention of it. + +Never has king had a more diversified career. With the death of his brave +defender, enemies on all sides rose against him, his great wealth and +proud ostentation having displeased nobles and people alike. Chief among +his enemies was the archbishop of Upsala, who nailed a letter to the door +of the cathedral in which he renounced all loyalty and obedience to King +Charles, took off his episcopal robes before the shrine of St. Erik, and +vowed that he would not wear that dress again until law and right were +brought back to the land. It was a semi-civilized age and land in which +churchmen did not hesitate to appeal to the sword, and the archbishop +clad himself in armor, and with helmet on head and sword by side, set out +on a crusade of his own against the man he deemed an unworthy and +oppressive king. + +He found many to sustain him, and Charles, taken utterly by surprise, +barely escaped to Stockholm, wounded, on a miserable old horse, and with +a single servant. Besieged there and unable to defend the town, he hid +part of his treasures, put the rest on board a vessel, and while going on +board himself was accosted by one of the archbishop's friends, who asked +him: + +"Have you forgotten anything?" + +"Nothing except to hang you and your comrades," was the bitter reply of +the fugitive king. + +King Christian of Denmark was called in by the archbishop to take the +vacant throne, Charles was pronounced a traitor by his enemies, and for +some years Christian ruled over Sweden. Then his avarice and the heavy +taxes he laid on the people aroused such dissatisfaction that an +insurrection broke out, Christian's army was thoroughly defeated, and he +was forced to take ship for Denmark, while Charles was recalled to the +throne and landed in Stockholm in 1464, a second time king of Sweden. + +This reign was not a long one. Christian, who had imprisoned the +archbishop because he opposed the heavy taxation of the peasants, now +sought his aid again and sent him with an army to Sweden. As a result +Charles found himself once more shut up in Stockholm and was again forced +by his enemies to resign the crown, being given instead of his kingdom +the government of Raseborg Castle in Finland. And instead of having +treasures to take with him, as before, he was now so poor that he could +not pay a debt of fifty marks he owed in Stockholm. He expressed his +state of poverty in the following verse: + + "While I was Lord of Fogelwich, + I was a mighty man and rich; + But since I'm King of Swedish ground + A poorer man was never found." + +But his career was not yet ended. He was again to sit on the throne. +Friends arose in his favor, the people again grew dissatisfied with +Danish rule, and the archbishop, his greatest enemy, died. Charles was +recalled and returned from Finland, a third time standing on Swedish +ground as king. + +He had still a hard fight before him. A Swedish nobleman, Erik Wase, +sought to win the throne for himself, and Christian of Denmark sent a new +army to Sweden; but by the aid of a brave young knight, Sten Sture, Nils +Sture, his cousin, and some other valiant friends, all his enemies were +overcome and thus, after years of struggle and a remarkably diversified +career, he was at length firmly seated on the throne. + +But the unfortunate monarch was not long to enjoy the quiet which he had +so hardly won. He fell seriously ill in May, 1470, and feeling that death +was near, he sent for Sten Sture and made him administrator of the +kingdom, with control of the castle of Stockholm. But he earnestly warned +him never to seek for the royal power, saying: + +"That ambition has ruined my happiness and cost me my life." + + + + +_STEN STURE'S GREAT VICTORY OVER THE DANES._ + + +Historical tales have much to do with war and bloodshed, with rides and +raids, with schemes and stratagems, with plunder and piracy, and with +outrage and oppression. These are the things to which historians give the +most space in their pages and which many readers find fullest of interest +and excitement. In the present tale we have to do wholly with scenes of +war, for we propose to tell the story of one of the most remarkable +battles ever fought on Swedish soil. + +This is what led to it. After the death of Charles VIII. and the +appointment of Sten Sture as administrator of the kingdom, Christian I. +of Denmark, whom the brave Sture had driven away with his army, fancied +that the way was open to him again, and that Sweden, without a king, was +a ripe plum ready to drop into his mouth. He was to find it a sour plum, +for in Sten Sture he had to deal with a man of notable ability, just and +upright in his dealings, wise and prudent in government, and brave and +skilful in war. He was a man who did not swear to keep his word, but who +never broke it. "I promise by my three water-lilies" (the arms of the +Stures) was his form of affirmation, but this simple promise was more to +be trusted than the solemn oaths of many kings and potentates. The +people loved and trusted him, and on the 1st of May, 1471, the late +king's appointment was confirmed at a general diet of the people, which +accepted him by acclamation as the administrator and captain-general of +the realm. + +He soon had work cut out for him. Christian of Denmark equipped a great +fleet and sailed to Stockholm, where he anchored in the harbor and opened +negotiations with the Swedish senate, then the great source of power in +the land. He promised to govern the kingdom in the way they might decide +upon and be to them a mild and merciful father. While some of them were +seduced by his specious promises, the majority had no fancy to make him +their "father." But they made a truce with him until the matter could be +decided, the Danes being allowed to buy provisions in the town, and on +their side selling salt to the citizens, this being at that time very +scarce in Stockholm. + +Thus matters went on for seven weeks, at the end of which time Christian +concluded that the Swedes were playing with him, seeking to spin out the +time until all his provisions would be consumed and winter with its +storms would be at hand to destroy his fleet. As it began to appear that +nothing was to be gained by peace, he resolved to try the effect of war, +and on the 1st of September landed his army and laid his plans to besiege +the city. + +His camp was pitched on the hill of Brunkenberg, near the city, +connection being made with the fleet by a strong bridge built from the +shore to an island in the harbor. Bulwarks and ramparts of earth were +thrown up on the side next the town, and were mounted with cannon, with +which he soon opened a bombardment. He enticed some of the Swedish +peasants into his camp by promise of an abundance of salt, but his main +army consisted of the Danish nobles and their troops and of German and +Scottish soldiers of fortune, brave, stout, able warriors who exercised +themselves daily in military sports and led a merry and careless life in +camp, heedless of everything except pay and plunder. + +When the proud Danish king was told that Sture was collecting an army of +peasants with which to fight him, he sneeringly said: + +"Herr Sten sneaks along ditches and dikes, but I shall punish my little +gentleman with the rod like a child, and teach him to keep himself +quiet." + +Threats were also made by the foreign mercenaries against the citizens, +but these only served to rouse their anger and make them more resolute in +the defence of the city. + +As for Herr Sten, he went on raising troops and driving out the Danes +whom he found infesting the seaboard lands, not marching towards the city +until he had got rid of all hostility in his rear. On his march he was +met by his brave cousin, Nils Sture, with an army of the bold Dalmen of +the north, and the united armies marched on to Jerfva, in the vicinity of +the beleaguered city. + +From this point Sture wrote to King Christian, offering him safe passage +home, if he would leave Sweden without the need of blows; but he only +roused the wrath of the king, who loudly swore: + +"By God's five wounds, I have not gone to so much trouble and expense to +go home without finishing what I came for." + +All that could be done in the cause of peace had been done without avail, +and events had reached a point in which the affair could be settled only +at sword's point and cannon's mouth. + +It was the 10th of October, 1470. Long before the sun rose on that +memorable day the Swedes of Sture's army were awake and busy preparing +their arms for the coming fray, in which the mastery of their kingdom was +to be decided. At an early hour the whole army was called to the solemn +service of the mass, after which holy and impressive ceremony they +refreshed themselves with a hasty meal and returned to their ranks ready +for battle. + +Nils Sture was already on the march with a third of the army, secretly +leading them around a clump of woodland with the purpose of attacking the +Danish camp at Brunkenberg from the east. As the ranks of the main army +formed for the attack, their brave leader was gratified to see a body of +gallant horsemen, in shining armor, riding to join him. They were +thirteen hundred in number, and had been sent from the town of Kungsholm. + +Advancing before his people, Sture spoke to them with few but telling +words: + +"If you ever desire to enjoy peace and security in Sweden stand by me +this day and cling one to another. I shall do my part. I fear not the +king nor his Danes and mercenaries, but gladly venture life and blood and +all that I possess on the event of this battle. If you will do the same, +lift up your hands." + +[Illustration: SKURUSUND, STOCKHOLM.] + +"That will we do with God's help," came the roar of response, followed by +a great shout and wild clanging of arms. Immediately the advance began, +the men singing the verse of a psalm written for the occasion. It was now +the hour of eleven. + +King Christian and his army boldly awaited the assault, looking down from +their commanding position on the Swedes, who came on heedless of the roar +of guns and flight of arrows. Reaching the foot of the hill, they began +its ascent, met as they did so by the Danes, who rushed down upon them +with lance and sword. In a moment more the hostile lines met and the +bloody work of war began. + +On the summit of the hill proudly waved the Danneborg, the sacred +standard of Denmark. In the midst of the Swedes fluttered their country's +flag, borne resolutely up the hill. Around these banners gathered the +bravest of the champions, fighting with heroic fury--the Danes, under +their ambitious king, fighting for glory and riches; the Swedes, under +their patriot leader, striking for peace and freedom from foreign rule. + +While the battle was thus raging outside the town, Knut Posse, its +governor, a skilful soldier, was not idle. He was not content to rest +within the walls while his countrymen were fighting so vigorously for +his relief. The heat of the fight had left the bridge leading from the +shore to the ships without a guard, and he sent some men in boats to row +towards it and with saws and axes to sever the supports beneath it. This +was successfully done and the men returned unseen. + +While this was being accomplished the warlike governor, seeing that the +Swedes had been checked in their ascent of the hill, made a sally from +the town with two thousand of the garrison, taking possession of the +Danish fortifications in that quarter and setting them on fire. His +position, however, could not long be held, for Sten Sture's troops had +been driven down the hill and Christian was free to lead a heavy column +against him, forcing him back with his handful of men. In the struggle, +however, the bold governor advanced so vigorously upon the king, that he +received a wound from Christian's own hand. + +While Knut Posse was thus being driven back into the town Sten Sture was +seeking to infuse new spirit into his defeated people, telling them that +"it would be to their eternal shame if they suffered themselves thus to +be repulsed." + +Marshalling them into orderly ranks as quickly as possible he led them +again towards the hill, and the battle recommenced with its old fire and +vigor. Sture rode valiantly at their head, encouraging them with a +display of heroic valor. While he fought on horseback, by his side ran a +peasant named Bjoern the Strong, who kept pace with the horse and at +times ran before it, swinging his broad battle-axe with such strength +that he opened a road for his leader to ride through. Though surrounded +by enemies, the two held their own with the fiery energy of the +berserkers of an earlier day, dispensing death while not receiving a +wound. + +King Christian, on the other hand, showed himself not wanting in valor, +keeping well in the front rank of his men. In the midst of the fight a +ball struck him in the mouth, knocking out three of his teeth and so +disabling him that he was carried fainting from the field. In the end the +Swedes, who had borne their banner to the summit of the hill, where they +looked in vain for the expected aid from Nils Sture and his men, were +driven back again and a second time forced down the hill, the victorious +Danes driving them well into the plain at its foot. + +Three hours of hard fighting had now passed and both armies were wearied. +Trotte Karlsson, a Swedish renegade who had been fighting against his +country in the ranks of its foes, seated himself on a stone to rest, +taking off his helmet that he might breathe the fresh air. As he did so a +ball from the Swedish ranks struck him between the eyes and he fell +dead--a traitor fighting with strangers against his native land. + +Though twice beaten Sten Sture had no thought of giving up the fight. For +some reason Nils Sture, who with the large force under his command had +been depended upon to make a diversion in their favor, had not appeared. +Bad roads had detained him and he was still struggling onward towards +his assigned position. + +Looking around him, and satisfied that it was hopeless to dislodge the +enemy from their post of vantage, Sten now attempted a diversion by +sending a force to attack the troops stationed at the convent of St. +Claire. The Danes on the hill, seeing the danger of this detachment, and +thinking that they had thoroughly beaten off the Swedes, rushed down to +the aid of those at the convent, and Sten, with the skill of an able +commander, took advantage of this movement and at once marshalled his men +for a third attack. + +They did not need much encouragement. Though twice beaten they were not +dispirited, but rushed forward shouting: "Now the Danes come to us on +equal ground! Let us at them and swing our swords freely!" + +Some bright streaks appearing on the sky, the cry ran through the ranks: + +"St. Erik is waving his sword over his people to aid them and point the +way to victory." + +On the enemy they rushed, with a valor not weakened by their previous +repulses, and Knut Posse, who had been watching the fight with keen eyes, +made a fresh sally from the town. Soon the battle was on again with all +its former fury, the Danes fighting at first for victory, then, as they +were forced to give way, striking resolutely to defend their standard, +the Danneborg. Knut Posse made a fierce onset upon the proud banner, but +was not able to reach it until five hundred noble Danes, who gathered +around it as a guard of honor, had fallen under the swords of the Swedes. + +When the Danes saw their great standard fall they gave way, but only with +the intention to regain the height and defend themselves on its summit. +It was at this critical juncture that Nils Sture appeared with his +long-delayed troops and attacked the enemy from a fresh side. Before this +unlooked-for and powerful force the Danes gave way in a panic, their +ranks being broken and the fugitives rushing in wild flight down the hill +to take refuge in their ships. + +Now the stratagem of Knut Posse became effective, the weakened bridge +swaying and sinking under the multitude of fugitives who crowded it, +plunging them by hundreds into the water. Others leaped into boats to row +to the vessels, but these were so crowded that many of them sank, their +occupants being drowned. In all, nine hundred men were drowned in the +flight, while as many more who were not able to escape threw down their +arms and surrendered. Christian succeeded in escaping with that portion +of his army which had reached the ships, while Sten Sture marched in +triumph into Stockholm with his victorious troops, there to be received +with shouts of gladness, and with tears of joy by his wife Fra Ingeborg, +who had been in the city and with the noble ladies of the place had +prayed earnestly for victory while their friends and husbands fought. + +For four hours the battle had lasted. It was one of vast importance for +Sweden, since it brought to that country many years of peace and repose. +King Christian dared not attack the Swedes again and the country got on +prosperously without a king under the able government of Sten Sture. + + + + +_HOW THE DITMARSHERS KEPT THEIR FREEDOM._ + + +The name of Ditmarshers was given to the inhabitants of a broad, marshy +region adjoining the district of Holstein on the Baltic shores of +Germany. They were not pure Germans, however, but descendants of the +ancient Frisian tribes who had long occupied the northwest parts of +Germany and Holland and were known as far back as the times of the Romans +for their courage and love of liberty. + +For age after age this people had shown the same bold spirit and made +many a gallant stand against the princes who sought to subdue them. Geert +the Great and other princes of Sleswick and Holstein had suffered defeat +at their hands, and the warlike Valdemar III. of Denmark had been sadly +beaten by them. At a much later date the Emperor Frederick had formally +given the lands of the Ditmarshers to Christian I. of Denmark, to be +joined to Holstein, but the marshmen declared that they were not subjects +of Denmark and would not be given and taken at its king's will. + +It was in the year 1500 that the most striking event in the history of +the Ditmarshers took place. King Hans, the son of Christian I., then +ruled over Denmark and Norway and five years before had been crowned king +of Sweden. It was due to his dealings with the bold sons of the marshes +that he lost the latter throne. This is the story of this interesting +event. + +When Hans was made king of Denmark his ambitious brother Frederick, who +had sought to obtain the throne, was made duke of Sleswick-Holstein, and +called upon the Ditmarshers to pay him taxes and render homage to him for +their lands. This they declined to do, not recognizing the right of the +Emperor Frederick to hand them over to Denmark and to decide that the +country which had belonged to their fathers for so many centuries was +part of Holstein. + +Finding that he had tough metal to deal with in the brave marshmen, +Frederick induced his brother Hans to invade their country and seek to +bring them to terms. King Valdemar had done the same thing three +centuries before, with the result of losing four thousand men and getting +an arrow wound in his eye, but undeterred by this, if they knew anything +about it, the nobles and knights, who were very numerous in the army led +by Frederick and Hans, went to the war as lightly as if it were an +excursion of pleasure. + +Disdaining to wear their ordinary armor in dealing with peasant foes, +they sought to show their contempt for such an enemy by going in their +ordinary hunting costume and carrying only light arms. It was a piece of +folly, as they were to learn. The marshmen fought like their fathers of +old for their much-valued liberty, and the knights found they had no +cravens to deal with. + +It is true that the royal troops took and sacked Meldorf, the chief town +of the Ditmarshers, cruelly killing its inhabitants, but it was their +only victory. It proved a lighter thing to get to Meldorf than to get +away from it, and of the Danes and Germans who had taken part in the +assault few escaped with their lives. + +It was the depth of winter, cold, bitter weather, and as the army was on +its march from Meldorf to Hejde the advance guard suddenly found itself +in face of a line of earthworks which the marshmen had thrown up in front +of a dike. This was defended by five hundred Ditmarshers under their +leader, Wolf Isebrand. + +The German guards rushed to the attack, shouting: + +"Back, churls, the guards are coming!" + +Three times they forced the marshmen to retreat, but as often these bold +fellows rallied and came back to their works. In the midst of the +struggle the wind changed, bringing a thaw with it, and as the troops +struggled on, blinded with the sleet and snow that now fell heavily, and +benumbed with the cold, the men of the marshes opened the sluices in the +dike. Through the openings poured the waters of the rising tide, quickly +flooding the marshes and sweeping everything before them. + +The soldiers soon found themselves wading in mud and water, and at this +critical juncture the Ditmarshers, accustomed to make their way through +their watery habitat by the aid of poles and stilts, fell upon the +dismayed invaders, cutting them down in their helpless dilemma or +piercing them through with their long lances. + +The victory of the peasants was utter and complete. Six thousand of the +invaders, nobles and men-at-arms alike, perished on that fatal day, and +the victors fell heir to an immense booty, including seven banners. Among +these was the great Danish standard, the famous Danneborg, which was +carried in triumph to Oldenwoerden and hung up in the church as the +proudest trophy of the victory. + +As for King Hans and his brother Duke Frederick, they barely escaped +falling into the hands of the marshmen, while the estimate of the losses +in money, stores, and ammunition in that dread afternoon's work was +200,000 florins. + +King Hans lost more than money by it, for he lost the kingship of Sweden. +The nobles of that country, when the news of the disastrous defeat +reached them, rose in revolt, under the leadership of Sten Sture, drove +the Danes out of Stockholm, and kept his queen, Christina of Saxony, +prisoner for three years. Hans had no more armies to send to Sweden and +he was obliged to renounce its crown. + +Norway also rose against him under a brave leader, and his power over +that country was threatened also. It was finally saved for him by his son +Prince Christian, who used his power so cruelly after order was restored +that he nearly routed out all the old Norwegian nobles. + +Thus, from his attempt to make the Ditmarshers pay taxes against their +will, King Hans lost one kingdom and came near losing another. The only +successful war of his reign was one against the traders of Luebeck, who +had treated him with great insolence. In a war which followed, the fleet +of the Luebeckers was so thoroughly beaten that the proud merchant princes +were glad to pay 30,000 gulden to obtain peace. Then, having this one +success to offset his defeat by the Ditmarshers, King Hans died. + + + + +_THE BLOOD-BATH OF STOCKHOLM._ + + +The most cruel tyrant the northern lands ever knew was Christian II. of +Denmark, grandson of Christian I., whose utter defeat at Stockholm has +been told. For twenty-seven years Sweden remained without a king, under +the wise rule of Sten Sture. Then Hans of Denmark, son of Christian I., +was chosen as king, in the belief that he would keep his promises of good +government. As he failed to keep them he was driven out after a four +years' rule, as we have told in the last tale, and Sten Sture became +practically king again. + +How Christian, who succeeded Hans as king of Denmark, and had shown +himself a master of ferocity and bloodthirsty cruelty in Norway and +Denmark, overcame the Swedes and made himself king of Sweden, is a story +of the type of others which we have told of that unhappy land. It must +suffice to say here that by force, fraud, and treachery he succeeded in +this ambitious effort and was crowned king of Sweden on the 4th of +November, 1520. + +He had reached the throne by dint of promises, confirmed by the most +sacred oaths, not one of which he had any intention of keeping, and the +Swedes might as well have set a wolf on their throne as given it to this +human tiger. One thing he knew, which was that the mischief and disquiet +in Sweden were due to the ambition of the great lords, and he mentally +proposed to ensure for himself a quiet reign by murdering all those whom +he feared. + +[Illustration: SKANSEN RIVER.] + +Under what pretence of legality it could be done, and leave to him the +appearance of innocence in the matter, was a difficult question. To +attempt the bloody work with no ostensible motive might lose for him the +crown which he had striven so hard to win, and in the dilemma he +consulted with his confidential advisers as to what should be done. + +Some of them proposed that a quarrel and uproar between the Danes and +Swedes in the town should be fomented, which the lords might be accused +of bringing about. But there was danger that such a pretended quarrel +might become a real one, and endanger his throne. Others advised that +gun-powder should be laid under the castle and the lords be accused of +seeking to blow up the king. But this was dismissed as too clumsy a +device. + +Finally it was proposed to proceed against the lords as heretics, they +having some years previously been excommunicated by the Pope for +heretical practices. The king, indeed, had solemnly sworn to forget and +forgive the past, but his cunning advisers told him that while he might +speak for himself, he had no warrant to speak for the Church, the laws +and rights of which had been violated. This pretext was seized upon by +Christian with joy and he proceeded to make use of it in a way that every +churchman in the land would have condemned with horror. + +On the 7th of November, the day after the coronation festivities ended, +the king proceeded to put his treacherous plot into effect. A number of +noble Swedes who had attended the festivities were brought to the castle +under various pretences, and were there ushered into a large and spacious +hall. With alarm they saw that the doors were closed behind them so that +none could leave, though others might enter. + +When all were gathered Christian entered and took his seat on the throne, +with his council and chief lords about him. Archbishop Trolle was also +present as representative of the Church, but without knowledge or +suspicion of the secret purpose of the king, who had brought him there to +sanction by his presence the intended massacre. + +The charge which it was proposed to bring against the senators and lords +was that of trespass against the archiepiscopal dignity and to demand +retribution for the same, and this charge was accordingly brought in the +name of the Church. The king then turned to the archbishop and asked: + +"My Lord Archbishop, do you intend to have this matter brought to peace +and friendship according to the counsel of good men or will you have it +judged by the law?" + +Archbishop Trolle answered, "The offence being one against the Church, +the cause of the accused should be judged by the Pope." + +This was a mode of settling the matter which by no means conformed with +the king's intention, and he answered: + +"This is a matter not to be referred to the Pope, but to be terminated at +home in the kingdom, without troubling his Holiness." + +In this decision he was not to be shaken, knowing well that if the +archbishop's proposal to refer the matter to the Pope were carried out +his secret sanguinary purpose would be defeated. What he proposed was the +murder of the lords, and he had no intention of letting the matter escape +from his control. + +Lord Sten Sture, against whom the accusation had been chiefly directed, +was dead, but his widow, the Lady Christina, was present, and was asked +what defence she had to offer for herself and her husband. She replied +that the offences against the archbishop were not due to Lord Sten alone, +but were done with the approbation of the senate and the kingdom and she +produced a parchment in proof of her words, signed by many of the persons +present. Christian eagerly seized upon the incriminating document, as +giving him a warrant for his proceedings and evidence against those whom +he most hated and feared. + +All whose names were attached to it were brought up, one after another, +there being among them several bishops, who had taken part in the matter +on patriotic and political grounds, and a number of senators. Every one +tried to excuse himself, but of the whole number Bishop Otto was the only +one whose excuse was accepted. At the end of the examination all those +accused were seized and taken from the hall, the whole number, senators, +prelates, noblemen, priests and burghers, being locked up together in a +tower, the two bishops among them being alone given a better prison. The +true reason for proceeding against the churchmen was that they had been +the friends of Sten Sture and might prefer their country to the king. The +wicked tyrant, who in this illegal manner had sought to make the Church +responsible for his bloodthirsty schemes, hesitated not to condemn clergy +and laity alike, and ended the session by the arbitrary decision that all +the accused were heretics and as such should die. + +Irreligious, illegal, and ruthless as had been this whole proceeding, +into which the artful king had dragged the archbishop and sought to make +him a consenting party to his plot, Christian had gained his purpose of +providing a pretext for ridding himself of his political enemies, actual +or possible, and proceeded to put it into execution in the arbitrary +manner in which it had been so far conducted, regardless of protests from +any quarter. + +The next day the city gates were closed, so that no one could enter or +leave. Trumpeters rode round the streets in the early morning, +proclaiming that no citizen, on peril of life, must leave his house, +unless granted permission to do so. On the chief squares Danish soldiers +were marshalled in large numbers, and on the Great Square a battery of +loaded cannon was placed, commanding the principal streets. A dread sense +of terrible events to come pervaded the whole city. + +At noon the castle gates were thrown open and a great body of armed +soldiers marched out, placing themselves in two long lines which reached +from the castle to the town hall. Between these lines the accused lords +were led, until the Great Square was reached, where they were halted and +surrounded by a strong force of Danish soldiers. Around these gathered a +great body of the people, now permitted to leave their houses. Alarm and +anguish filled their faces as they saw the preparations for a frightful +event. + +On the balcony of the town hall now appeared Sir Nils Lycke, a knight +newly created by the king, who thus addressed the agitated multitude: + +"You good people are not to wonder at what you now behold, for all these +men have proved themselves to be base heretics, who have sought to +destroy the holy Church; and moreover traitors to his Majesty the King, +since they had laid powder under the castle to kill him." + +At this point he was interrupted by Bishop Vincent from the square below, +who called out indignantly to the people: + +"Do not believe this man, for all he tells you is falsehood and nonsense. +It is as Swedish patriots that we are brought here, and God will yet +punish Christian's cruelty and treachery." + +Two of the condemned lords also called out to the people, beseeching them +"never in future to let themselves be deceived by false promises, but one +day to avenge this day's terrible treachery and tyranny." + +Fearing an outbreak by the indignant people, if this appeal should +continue, the soldiers now made a great noise, under order of their +officers, and the king, who is said to have gloatingly witnessed the +whole proceedings from a window in the town hall, ordered the execution +to proceed, Klas Bille, an official, placing himself to receive the +golden chain and ring of each knight before he was beheaded. + +The prisoners implored that they might confess and receive the Holy +Sacrament before they were slain, but even this was refused, and Bishop +Matthew was led forth first. While he was kneeling, with clasped and +uplifted hands, two horrified men, one of them his secretary, rushed +impulsively towards him, but before they could reach the spot the fatal +sword had descended and the good bishop's head rolled to their feet on +the ground. + +They cried out in horror that this was a frightful and inhuman act, and +were at once seized and dragged within the circle, where they would have +suffered the fate of the victimized bishop had they not been rescued by +some German soldiers, who believed them to be Germans. + +Bishop Vincent next fell beneath the encrimsoned sword, and after him the +senators, seven in number, and thirteen nobles and knights of the senate. +These were followed by the three burgomasters of Stockholm and thirteen +members of the town council, with fifteen of the leading citizens, some +of them having been dragged from their houses, without the least warning, +and led to execution. One citizen, Lars Hausson by name, burst into +tears as he beheld this terrible scene, and at once was seized by the +soldiers, dragged within the fearful circle, and made to pay by death for +his compassion. + +With this final murder the executions for that day ended, the heads being +set on poles and the dead bodies left lying where they had fallen. A +violent rain that came on bore a bloody witness of the sanguinary scene +into the streets, in the stream of red-dyed water which ran down on every +side from the Great Square. + +On the next day Christian said that many had hid themselves who deserved +death, but that they might now freely show themselves for he did not +intend to punish any more. Deceived by this trick some of the hidden +leaders made their appearance and were immediately seized and haled to +the square, where the work of execution was resumed. Six or eight of +these were beheaded, many were hung, and the servants of the slaughtered +lords, who happened to come to the town in ignorance of the frightful +work, were dragged from their horses and, booted and spurred as they had +come, were haled to the gallows. + +The king's soldiers and followers, excited by the slaughter and given +full license, now broke into many houses of the suspected, murdering the +men, maltreating the women, and carrying away all the treasure they could +find, and for some hours Stockholm seemed to be in the hands of an army +that had taken the city by storm. + +For a day and night the corpses lay festering in the street, their bodies +torn by vagrant dogs, and not until a pestilent exhalation began to rise +from them were they gathered up and hauled by cartloads to a place in the +southern suburbs, where a great funeral pyre was erected and the bodies +were burned to ashes. + +As for the tyrant himself, his bloody work seemed to excite him to a sort +of madness of fury. He ordered the body of Sten Sture the Younger to be +dug from its grave in Riddarholm Church, and it is said that in his fury +he bit at the half-consumed remains. The body of Sten's young son was +also disinterred, and the two were carried to the great funeral pile to +be burnt with the others. The quarter of the town where this took place +is still named Sture, in memory of the dead, and on the spot where the +great pyre was kindled stands St. Christopher's Church. + +Such was the famous, or rather the infamous, "blood-bath of Stockholm," +which still remains as a frightful memory to the land. It did not end +here. The dreadful work he had done seemed to fill the monster with an +insatiable lust for blood. His next act was to call Christina, the widow +of Sten Sture, to his presence. When, overwhelmed with grief and despair, +she appeared, he sneeringly asked her whether she would choose to be +burned, drowned, or buried alive. The noble lady fell fainting at his +feet. Her beauty and suffering and the entreaties of those present at +length softened the tyrant, but her mother was enclosed in a bag and +thrown into the stream, though she was permitted to be drawn out by the +people on their promise to the tyrant that he should have her great +wealth. But she, with her daughter Christina and many other women of +noble descent, were carried as hostages to Copenhagen and shut up in a +dreadful prison called the Blue Tower, where numbers of them died of +hunger, thirst and cold. + +The massacre was not confined to Stockholm; from there the executions +spread throughout the country, and the old law of 1153 was revived that +no peasant should bear arms, Danish soldiers being sent through the +country to rob the people of their weapons. The story is told that some +of them, enraged by this act of tyranny, said: + +"Swords shall not be wanting to punish the tyrant so long as we retain +our feet to pursue and our hands to revenge." + +To this the reply was that "a hand and a foot might well be cut from the +Swedish peasant; for one hand and a wooden leg would be enough for him to +guide his plough." + +This report, improbable as it was, spread widely and caused a general +panic, for so terrified were the people by the reports of Christian's +cruelty that nothing seemed too monstrous for him to undertake. + +In December the tyrant prepared to return to Denmark, leaving Sweden +under chosen governors, with an army of Danes. But his outgoing from the +country was marked by the same sanguinary scenes. He caused even his own +favorite, Klas Hoist, to be hung, and two friends of Sten Sture being +betrayed to him, he had them quartered and exposed upon the wheel. Sir +Lindorm Ribbing was seized and beheaded, together with his servants. And, +most pitiable of all, Sir Lindorm's two little boys, six and eight years +of age, were ordered by the tyrant to be slain, lest they should grow up +to avenge their murdered father. + +The scene, as related, is pathetic to the highest degree. The older boy +was beheaded, and when the younger saw the streaming blood and the red +stains on his brother's clothes, he said with childish innocence to the +executioner: "Dear man, don't stain my shirt like my brother's, for then +mamma will whip me." + +At these words the executioner, his heart softened, threw down the sword, +crying: + +"I would rather blood my own shirt than yours." + +But the pathos of the scene had no effect on the heart of the tyrant, who +witnessed it unsoftened, and called for a more savage follower to +complete the work, ending it by striking off the head of the +compassionate executioner. With this and other deeds of blood Christian +left the land where he had sown deeply the seeds of hate, and the +terrible "blood-bath" ended. + + + + +_THE ADVENTURES OF GUSTAVUS VASA._ + + +In the parish of Orkesta, in Upland, Sweden, there may be seen the +remains of an old tower, now a mere heap of stones, but once the centre +of the proud manor-seat of Lindholm. It was a noble and lordly castle, +built of red bricks and grey granite, seated on a high hill between two +lakes, and commanding a wide prospect over mountain, wood, and water. +Here, in the year 1490, was born Gustavus Vasa, the son of Sir Erik and +Lady Cecilia Vasa, and destined to win future fame as one of the greatest +heroes of Sweden and the liberator of his native land. + +At the age of six the boy was sent to be educated at the court of Sten +Sture, then the administrator and virtual king of Sweden. Here he was not +spoiled by indulgence, his mode of life and his food were alike simple +and homely, and he grew up with a cheerful spirit and a strong body, his +chief pleasure being that of hunting among the rocks and forests with his +companions, all of whom grew to love and admire him. + +King Hans, when monarch of Sweden in 1499, on a visit to Sten Sture +noticed the boy playing about the hall and was much pleased by his fine +and glowing countenance. Patting him on the head, he said: + +"You will certainly be a man in your day, if you live to see it." + +He afterwards, thinking of the high descent of the boy and that he might +grow to be a future foe of Denmark, asked Sten Sture to let him take the +lad to Copenhagen and bring him up in his court. The wise Lord Sten +quickly fathomed the king's thoughts and answered that the boy was too +young to be taken from his parents. He soon after sent him to his father, +then in command at Aland. + +"The young wolf has slipped out of my net," said King Hans in later +years, when he was told of the splendid development of the boy as he grew +to manhood. + +At the age of twenty-four he left the academy at Upsala, where he had +been educated in the arts and sciences, and repaired to the court of Sten +Sture the Younger, where he was soon a general favorite, loved for his +amiable character and admired for his wit and vivacity. At that time the +war by which Christian II. made himself master of Denmark was going on +and young Vasa aided by his courage in winning victory on more than one +hard-fought field. + +In 1518, during a negotiation between Sten Sture and Christian, then in +sore straits in his fleet, the latter agreed to go ashore to confer with +the Swedish leader if six gentlemen were sent on board his fleet as +hostages. This was done, but before the conference took place a favorable +change of wind changed the treacherous king's intention and he sailed off +for Denmark with his hostages, all of whom were imprisoned and held to +secure the neutrality of their relatives in Sweden. + +Among these captives was young Gustavus Vasa, who, thus perfidiously +taken, was cruelly confined. Finally, at the request of Herr Erik Baner, +a distant relative of the Vasas, the young man was set free, Baner +binding himself to pay a heavy penalty in money if he permitted him to +escape. Thus it was that Vasa found a new home at Kalloe Castle, in +Jutland, where his deliverer lived, and where he was well treated and +given much freedom. + +"I shall not cause you to be strictly guarded nor put you in +confinement," said good old Baner. "You shall eat at my table and go +where you please, if you faithfully promise not to make your escape or +journey anywhere without letting me know." + +To this the young man bound himself verbally and by writing, and was +given liberty by his generous warder to go where he pleased within six +miles of Kalloe. At first he was always accompanied by an attendant, but +as he won the old man's love and confidence he was suffered to go alone. + +But he could not forget the perfidy by which he had been made prisoner, +and in 1519, when King Christian was preparing a great expedition against +Sweden, the boasts of the young Danish nobles of what they proposed to do +chafed his proud soul. Day and night his bitterness of spirit grew, and +finally, as the time came for the expedition to set sail, he could bear +it no longer but resolved to break his parole and escape to his native +land. + +It was in the summer of 1579 that he set out, having dressed himself in +peasant clothing. Starting in the early morning and avoiding the open +roads, he made his way by by-paths, and at noon of the following day +reached the town of Flensburg, where he fortunately met some Saxon +traders driving a herd of cattle from Jutland to Germany. He joined +these, and on September 30 reached the free town of Luebeck. Here the +authorities gave him permission to remain, with a warrant for his +personal safety while in the town. + +Meanwhile Sir Erik Baner had been wrathfully seeking him, and appeared in +Luebeck shortly after he reached there, complaining of his ingratitude for +the good treatment given him, and threatening the senate of Luebeck with +Christian's enmity if they should protect one of his foes. + +Gustavus boldly answered that he was no lawful prisoner, but a man seized +by breaking a solemn compact, and therefore that he had the right to set +himself free. As for the six thousand riks-thalers, which Sir Erik had +bound himself to pay, he would return them with interest and gratitude +when he got home. + +"I trust to this," he concluded, "that I am in a free town, on whose +word, when once given, I should be able to depend." + +This appeal won his case with the senate, and Sir Erik was obliged to +return without his ward. + +But to make his way to Sweden, then torn and distracted by war, and the +seas held by hostile craft, was no easy matter and he was forced to +remain eight months in Luebeck while his country was being rapidly subdued +by its invaders. They were not idle months, for Gustavus learned much +while there of political and industrial economy and the commerce and +institutions of the Hanseatic League and its free towns, knowledge which +became of much service to him in later years. In the end he succeeded in +making his way to Sweden in a small trading vessel, and on the 31st of +May, 1520, landed secretly on its shores, with nothing but his sword and +his courage to sustain him against an enemy who had, step by step, +subjugated nearly the whole land. + +[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, +N.Y. THE FAMOUS XVI. CENTURY CASTLE AT UPSALA, SWEDEN.] + +Of the cities, only Stockholm and Calmar remained in the hands of the +Swedes, and the latter, in which he had landed, seemed full of cowards +and traitors. The place was not safe for a declared patriot, and he left +it, making his way up the country. Here he learned with indignation how +envy, avarice, and private feuds had induced many Swedes to betray one +another to the enemy, and his efforts to exhort the people to unity and +resistance proved vain. Most of them were weary of the war, and Christian +had won over many of the peasants. + +"He is a gracious master to us," they said, "and as long as we obey the +king neither salt nor herring will fail us." + +When Gustavus sought to win them over to more patriotic views they became +angry and threatening, and in the end they assailed him with arrows and +lances, so that he was obliged to make his escape. His position, indeed, +became so critical that he was forced to disguise himself and proceed +through forests and unsettled lands. Finally he reached the manor-house +in which resided his sister Margaret and her husband, Sir Joachim Brahe. + +They received him with the highest demonstrations of joy, as they had +feared that they would never set eyes on him again; but their delight in +his presence was turned into consternation when they learned that he was +there with the purpose of seeking to foment an insurrection against +Christian, who had then made himself complete master of Sweden and was on +the point of being crowned king. + +Joachim Brahe and his wife were at that time preparing to attend +Christian's coronation at Stockholm, and were deeply disturbed by what +seemed to them the mad purpose of the young patriot. Joachim offered to +do his utmost to reconcile Gustavus to the king, and Margaret threw +herself in tears and distress on his neck, beseeching him to desist from +an undertaking which she felt sure would bring death to him and ruin to +his whole family. + +But Gustavus was not to be persuaded, and on the other hand he warned +Joachim against trusting himself in Christian's hands, speaking of him as +a base wretch whom no one could trust. Joachim proved equally hard to +move, and the three soon parted, Joachim and his wife for +Stockholm--where death awaited him at the hands of the traitor king--and +Gustavus for a place of concealment where he could foment his plans. +During this interval he met the old archbishop, Jacob Ulfsson, who +earnestly advised him to go to Stockholm and warmly promised to plead his +cause with the king. But the fugitive knew Christian far better than the +aged churchman and had no idea of putting his head within the wolfs jaws. +Little did the good archbishop dream of the terrible tragedy that was +even then taking place in Stockholm. + +The news of it came to Gustavus in this way. One day while out hunting in +the vicinity of his hiding-place, he unexpectedly met the faithful old +steward of his brother-in-law Joachim, who was so choked with grief on +seeing him that he found it impossible to speak and could answer the +young lord's question only with tears and gestures. Finally he succeeded +in telling the fearful tale of that bloody day at Stockholm, the death +under the executioner's sword of the father and brother-in-law of the +horror-stricken listener, the imprisonment of his mother and sisters, and +the fact that he would soon become a hunted fugitive, a high price having +been set upon his head. + +Who can describe the bitter grief of the son and brother at these +terrible tidings, the hot wrath of the patriot, the indignation of a true +and honest heart! On that fatal day the young fugitive had lost all he +loved and cherished and was made a hunted, homeless, and almost penniless +outlaw. But his courage did not fail him, he could foresee the +indignation of the people at the dastardly act, and he determined to +venture liberty and life against the ruthless tyrant. + +A series of striking adventures awaited him, which it needed his utmost +resolution to endure. He was then concealed at Raefsnaes, one of his +paternal estates, but felt it necessary at once to seek a safer refuge, +and collecting what gold and silver he could, he set out with a single +servant for Dalarna. They had not gone far before they reached the ferry +at Kolsund, which he crossed, leaving his man to follow. But the fellow, +who had no faith in his master's project, took the opportunity to mount +his horse and flee, taking with him the gold and jewels which had been +entrusted to his care. + +Seeing the act of treachery, Gustavus in all haste recrossed the ferry, +and pursued the runaway so hotly that he leaped from his horse in alarm +and hid himself in the woods. Recovering the horse and its valuable +burden, the fugitive pursued his course, paying no further heed to the +treacherous servant. + +It was late in November when Gustavus reached Dalarna. He was now +completely disguised, having exchanged his ordinary dress for that of a +peasant, cutting his hair round, wearing the round hat and short baize +jacket of the countrymen, and carrying an axe on his shoulder in the +fashion of peasant-lads seeking work. No one would have dreamed of his +being the sole heir of the great house of the Vasas. + +His first service was with a rich miner named Anders Persson, in whose +barn he threshed grain for several days. But his fellow threshers soon +saw that he was not accustomed to the work and his general manner did not +seem that of a common farm-hand, while one of the women caught the +glimpse of a silk collar under his coarse jacket. These suspicious +circumstances were told to the miner, who sent for Gustavus and quickly +recognized him, for he had often seen him in former days at Upsala. + +Anders received him hospitably, but when he heard from him of the +Stockholm massacre and his aid was requested in the liberation of the +country, he grew alarmed. Fearing to entertain so dangerous a guest, he +advised him to go farther north and to change his place of abode +frequently. + +Accepting this advice, Gustavus set out for Ornaes, but on his way, while +crossing a newly frozen stream, the thin ice broke under him and he was +plunged into the chilling water. Light and active, he soon got out again, +drying his clothes and passing the night at the house of the ferryman. + +Reaching Ornaes the next day, he went to the house of a former friend, but +who now, unknown to him, had become connected by marriage with the Danes +and was devoted to the interests of the new king. It was a critical +situation for the friendless fugitive. His treacherous host craftily +welcomed him and pretended to approve his purpose, in which he offered to +assist him and to seek adherents to his cause among his neighbors. + +The guest was conducted to a garret at the top of the house and here, +weary from his wanderings and gratified at having found a sympathizing +friend, he lay confidingly down and was soon lost in slumber. Meanwhile +Arendt, the treacherous host, sought a neighbor, Mans Nilsson, whom he +told of the rich prize he had found and asked his aid in capturing him +and gaining the high reward offered for him by the king. He was mistaken +in his man. Mans hated treachery. But Arendt found others who were less +scrupulous and in the early morning returned to his home heading twenty +men, collected to aid him in the capture of his unsuspecting guest. To +his utter surprise and dismay, on entering the garret to which Gustavus +had been led he was nowhere to be found. He had unaccountably +disappeared, and search as they could no trace of the fugitive was +forthcoming. + +There was a woman concerned in this strange escape, which had happened +thus. Barbara, Arendt's wife, though Danish in her sympathies, had a +warm, romantic interest in Gustavus Vasa, and when she saw her husband, +on his return from his visit to Mans Nilsson, drive past the house and in +the direction of the house of the Danish steward, she suspected him of +treachery and determined to save their too-confiding guest. + +Ordering Jacob, one of her men, to harness a sledge with all haste and +secrecy and keep it in waiting behind the building, she sought the +garret, woke Gustavus, and told him of his peril and of her desire to +save him. Not venturing to bring him down into the house, she opened the +window, and though it was eighteen feet from the ground, she aided him in +his descent with a long towel, such as were then in common use. Gustavus +then sprang into the sledge and was driven briskly off. + +Arendt, when he learned of how his expected victim had fled, was +furiously angry with his wife, and, as we are told, never forgave her and +refused ever to set eyes on her again. + +This was the most extreme danger that the fugitive patriot ever passed +through, and at that interval his hope of freeing his country from the +yoke of the foreigner seemed the sheerest madness. But other perils lay +before him and only vigilance and good fortune saved him more than once +from death or capture. Surrounded by foes and with scarce a friend who +dared aid him in the whole district, his final escape seemed impossible. + +The friendly Barbara had advised him to seek Herr Jon, the priest of +Svaerdsjoe, and his driver took the road over the frozen Lake Runn, they +ascending its banks in the smoke coming down from the Fahun copper mines, +and about sunrise reaching a village on the northeast end of the lake. +Jacob was unacquainted with the country beyond this point and Gustavus +went to a house to inquire the way. As he was on the point of entering +he saw within a miner, Nils Haussen, whom he knew to be a Danish partisan +and who would have recognized him at sight. Quickly and without being +seen, he turned behind the door and went towards another village beyond. +Here he met a friendly smelter who agreed to guide him on the way. When +they parted Gustavus gave him a silver dagger, saying gratefully: + +"If God helps me, seek me, and I will richly repay you for your aid." + +As night came on he sought quarters in a road-side cottage, and as he sat +before the fire in the evening the good-wife said to him: + +"Young man, make me some pudding skewers, since you have nothing else to +do." + +Gustavus laughingly replied that he would be glad to do so if he only +knew how. This adventure has an interesting resemblance to that of King +Alfred, when, hidden from the Danes in the swine-herd's hut, he let the +good woman's cakes burn on the fire. + +Reaching the parsonage of Herr Jon on the following day, he first went to +the barn and helped the laborers to thresh, at the same time asking them +what side their master took. Learning that he was no friend of the Danes, +he made himself known to him and was graciously received, staying with +him for three days. + +But this place soon became unsafe. One day Herr Jon's housekeeper entered +a room where Gustavus was washing, the priest standing by, towel in +hand. + +"Why are you holding the towel for this common fellow?" she asked. + +"That is none of your affairs," said the priest. + +But fearing that the woman would talk, he thought it best for his guest +to seek a safer retreat, and sent him to Swen Elfsson, gamekeeper for the +crown, who lived not far away. + +Meanwhile the Danish steward, who had been told by the treacherous Arendt +of the character of his guest, had his agents out in search of the +fugitive and some of them entered the cottage of the gamekeeper. At that +moment the good-wife was about putting her bread in the fire, and +Gustavus was standing by the hearth in his peasant's dress, warming +himself. The men who entered inquired for the fugitive, but before +answering the woman raised her bread shovel and struck Gustavus hastily +on the back, exclaiming: + +"What are you doing here gaping at strangers? Have you never seen a man +before? Pack yourself off to the barn and go on with your threshing." + +Never dreaming that the man who had been so angrily treated by a +peasant's wife could be the young lord they sought, the steward's +messengers left the house to continue their search elsewhere. + +But the incident warned the gamekeeper that his guest was not safe +anywhere in that vicinity, and to get him away unobserved he hid him in a +large load of hay and drove off towards the forest. On the way some of +the Danish scouts were met, and these, having some suspicion of Swen, +began poking their lances through the hay. One of these wounded Gustavus +in the leg, but he lay silent and motionless and the scouts soon went +their way. + +But the cut on the concealed man's leg bled so freely that blood soon +began to run from the cart and tinge the snow. Seeing this, Swen, fearing +that the trail of blood might betray him, opened his knife and thrust it +into the leg of his horse, so that if any one should perceive the blood +stains he could assign this as their cause. + +He finally delivered his charge to the care of some loyal gamekeepers on +the edge of the forest; but these, not considering their houses safe as +hiding-places, took him into the forest, where he lay hidden for three +days under a great fallen fir tree, they bringing him food and drink. +Finding even this place insecure, he went deeper into the woods and +sought shelter under a lofty fir tree which stood on a hill in the midst +of a marsh. The place has ever since been called "The King's Height." + +Finally the effort of the Danish agents to find him relaxed and his +faithful friends conducted him through the vast forests to Raettwik's +Church, at the eastern end of the great Lake Silja. + +His perils were yet by no means at an end. He spoke of his purpose at +this place to an assembly of the peasants and was pleased to find that +they listened to him with willing ears. Having thus sown his first seed +in favorable soil, he proceeded to Mora on the northern end of the lake, +where the priest received him in a friendly manner. But he was being +sought by the Danes in that district and the priest did not dare to hide +him in his own house, but committed him to the care of a peasant named +Tomte Mattes. As the search was becoming active he was concealed in a +vaulted cellar, reached by a trap-door in the floor. + +He had not been long there when the Danish scouts, who were searching the +whole district, reached the peasant's house, where they found his wife in +the midst of her brewing of Christmas ale. As they entered, the shrewd +woman turned a great tub over the trap-door, so that they did not +perceive it, and thus for the third time the future king of Sweden owed +his liberty and life to a woman's wit. + +Shortly after that, at one of the Christmas festivals, as the men of Mora +were leaving the church, Gustavus called them to him where he stood on a +low mound beside the churchyard and addressed them in earnest tones, +while they gazed with deep sympathy on the manly form of the young noble +of whose sufferings and those of his family they were well aware. + +He spoke of the risk to his life that he ran in venturing to speak to +them at all, but said that his unhappy country was dearer to him than +life. He pointed out the persecution which Sweden had formerly endured +from Danish kings, and of how they had robbed the country of its wealth. + +"The same times and the same misfortunes have now returned," he said. +"Our land swims, so to say, in our own blood. Many hundred Swedish men +have been made to suffer a disgraceful and unmerited death. Our bishops +and senators have been cruelly murdered. I myself have lost father and +brother-in-law," he continued, his eyes streaming with tears, "and the +blood of all these martyrs cries for redress and retribution on the +tyrant." + +The men of Dalarna, he said, had long been noted for their courage when +their land was in danger. They were renowned for this in history, and all +Sweden looked upon them as the firmest defenders of its liberties. + +"I will willingly join with you for our land's deliverance," he +concluded, "and spare neither my blood nor my sword, for these are all +the tyrant has left me to use in your cause." + +Many of the Dalmen heard him with cries of vengeance, but the most of +them stood in doubt. They did not know Gustavus personally and had heard +that Christian was cruel only to the great, but was kind and generous to +the peasantry. They could not yet make up their minds what to do, and +begged him to seek safer quarters for himself, since he was being +everywhere diligently sought by his pursuers. + +In fact, his peril continued extreme and for some days he was forced to +lie hidden under Morkarlely Bridge, near Mora Church, though it was in +the dead of a Swedish winter. He was able at length to resume his +journey, but it was with an almost despairing heart, for he could see no +hope either for himself or for his country. His led way over mountains +and through desolate valleys, his nights being spent in wayside sheds +which had been built for the shelter of travellers. On he went, through +forests filled with snow and along the side of mountain torrents, and +finally came within view of the lofty mountains beyond which lay the +sister kingdom of Norway. + +Never had patriot more reason to be disheartened than the unhappy and +hunted fugitive, never had the hope of liberating an oppressed country +seemed darker, and the fugitive would have been justified in abandoning +his native land and seeking a refuge in the bleak hills of Norway. Yet +the adage has often held good that it is the darkest hour before the dawn +of day, and so it was to prove in his case. While he waited in that +desolate quarter to which he had been driven, events were shaping +themselves in his favor and the first rising took place against the +Danes. + +The stirring speech of the young noble at Mora Church had not been made +in vain. Many of those who heard it had been strongly taken by his +manliness and his powerful language, and, strangely, the most deeply +impressed of all was Rasmas Jute, a Dane who had served the Stures and +was now settled in Dalarna. + +Hearing that a Danish steward had come to that quarter to seek the +fugitive and was now at the house of the sergeant of Mora parish, he +armed himself and his servants and fell on the steward unawares, the +first to take arms for Gustavus being thus a man of Danish birth. Soon +afterwards a troop of Danish horsemen, a full hundred in number, was +seen marching over the frozen surface of Lake Silja. So numerous a body +of soldiers was unusual in those parts, and suspecting that they were in +search of Gustavus, and might do something to their own injury, the +peasants began ringing the church bells, the usual summons to arms. + +The wind carried the sound far to the northward, and on hearing the +warning peal the peasantry seized their arms and bodies of them were soon +visible hasting down the hills towards Mora. The Danish troopers, on +seeing this multitude of armed men, shut themselves in the priest's +house. Here they were attacked by the furious Dalmen, who broke open the +doors and rushed in. The terrified Danes now fled to the church and took +refuge in its steeple, whither they were quickly followed. Only by +dejected appeals and a promise not to injure Gustavus Vasa did they +succeed in escaping from the tower, and the Dalmen, thinking that some of +them might remain concealed in the narrow spire, shot their arrows at it +from every side. For more than a hundred years after some of these arrows +remained sticking in the old wooden spire. + +Dalarna being looked upon as a centre of Swedish patriotism, a number of +the persecuted noblemen took refuge there, and those confirmed all that +Gustavus had told the people. And when Lars Olssen, an old warrior well +known to them, arrived and told them of the gallows which Christian had +erected, of the new taxes he had laid on the peasantry, and of the report +that he had threatened to cut a hand and a foot off each peasant, with +other tales true and false, they were deeply stirred. When Lars learned +that Gustavus had been there and what had passed, he reproached them for +their folly in not supporting him. + +"Good men," he said, "I know that gentleman well, and tell you that if +yourselves and all the people of the country are not to be oppressed and +even exterminated Gustavus Vasa is the only one who has sense and +knowledge enough to lead us and lay hand to so great a work." + +While they were talking another fugitive came from the forest, who +confirmed all that Lars had said and gave them a full account of the +blood-bath at Stockholm and of how the body of Sten Sture, their beloved +leader, had been torn from the grave and dishonored. + +These stories filled their hearers with horror, terror, and fury; war and +bloody retribution was their only cry; their hearts were filled with +remorse that they had let Gustavus, their country's chief hope, depart +unaided. Two of them, the fleetest snow-skaters of the region, were +chosen to follow him and bring him back, and off they went through the +forests, following his track, and at length finding him at Saelen, the +last village in that section, and immediately at the foot of the lofty +Norwegian mountains. A few words sufficed to tell him of the great change +of feeling that had taken place, and with heart-felt joy Gustavus +accompanied them back, to begin at length the great work of freeing his +native land. + + + + +_THE FALL OF CHRISTIAN II. THE TYRANT._ + + +It was in November, 1520, that Christian II. of Denmark was crowned king +of Sweden. Norway was his as well and he was monarch of the whole +Scandinavian world. He had reached the highest point in his career, but +so great had been his cruelty and treachery that all men feared and no +man trusted him and he was on the brink of a sudden and complete +overthrow. The man who had worn the crowns of three kingdoms was to spend +years within the narrow walls of a dungeon, with none to pity him in his +misery, but all to think that he deserved it all and more. Barely has +tyranny met with such retribution on earth, and the "Fall of the Tyrant" +will serve as a fitting title to an impressive tale. + +So sudden and successful was the rebellion of the Swedes under Gustavus +Vasa, that in the summer of the year after the massacre in the Great +Square of Stockholm the Danes held only that city and a few other +strongholds in Sweden. One after another these fell, Calmar and Stockholm +in 1523, and in June of that year Gustavus was chosen king of the land +which his hand had freed. A young man still, he was at the beginning of a +great and glorious reign. + +Before he became king, Christian, his great enemy, had ceased to reign. +He had shown the same inhuman spirit in Denmark and Norway as in Sweden +and had sown his whole dominion thick with enemies. + +This is the way his fall was brought about. In 1522 he issued a code of +laws for Denmark of a wise and progressive character, especially in +freeing the peasantry from the slavish condition in which they had been +held, they before being open to purchase and sale like so many brute +animals. Christian declared that every man should be his own master and +took steps to limit the power and wealth of the clergy and to improve the +commerce of the kingdom. + +These changes, while wise and important, were difficult to introduce +against the opposition of the lords and the clergy and needed the hand of +a prudent and judicious administrator. Such Christian was not. He +undertook them rashly and endeavored to enforce them by violence. Even +the people, whom the new laws so favored, were incensed by a great +increase in their taxes. No one trusted him; every one hated and feared +him. Even the monarchs of other countries detested him and would not aid +him in his extremity. + +The details of the blood-bath in Stockholm had reached the ears of the +Pope and he sent a legate to inquire into the atrocities committed under +the implied sanction of the Church. As they were not to be concealed, +Christian attempted to excuse them, and, driven to extremity, accused one +of his chief favorites, Didrik Slaghoek, as the originator of the +massacre. + +Slaghoek had just been named archbishop of Lund, but was brought to +Copenhagen, examined under torture, condemned to death, and carried to +the gallows and thence to a funeral pile on which he was burned alive, +Christian leaving the town that he might not witness the cruel death of +his late favorite. + +This cowardly sacrifice of his devoted friend and servant, instead of +winning the favor of the people, redoubled their abhorrence of the +bloodthirsty tyrant. Shortly afterwards the Luebeckers invaded the +kingdom, and Christian, not trusting his people, called in foreign +soldiers to repel them. Needing money for their pay, he called a diet to +meet on December 10, 1522. Few attended it, and in anger he called a new +meeting for the following January. + +Before the date arrived rumors were set afloat that he intended to +butcher the Danish nobles as he had done those of Sweden, that chains +were being provided to secure them, and that he would have disguised +executioners among his guards; also that new and heavier taxes were to be +laid on the peasants. + +These rumors, widely circulated, incensed and frightened the nobility and +a meeting was held by the nobles of Jutland in which they determined to +renounce their allegiance to Christian and offer the crown to his uncle, +Frederick, duke of Holstein. + +Magnus Munk, one of these lords, was chosen to deliver their decision to +Christian and sought him for this purpose. But it was far from safe to +offer King Christian such a document openly, and Munk pretended to be +making a friendly visit, conversing and drinking with the king until a +late hour of the night. On rising to retire, he thrust into Christian's +glove, which had been left on the table, the letter of renouncement of +the Jutland nobles. + +Instead of going to bed, Munk hastened to the vessel in which he had come +and sailed to Holstein, where he made to Frederick the offer of the +crown. As may be imagined, there was little hesitation in accepting it. + +The next morning a page of the palace found the king's glove on the table +and took it to him. On reading the letter which he found in it the tyrant +was filled with fear and fury. He sent guards to seize Munk, but when +told that he was not to be found, his terror grew intense. He knew not +where to turn nor what to do. He might have gathered an army of the +peasants, to whom he had just given freedom, to fight the nobles, but +instead he wrote to the lords, abjectly acknowledging his faults and +promising to act differently in the future. + +They were not to be won, no one trusting him. Then the terrified tyrant +hurried to Copenhagen and rode round the streets, imploring the citizens +with tears to aid him, confessing his errors and vowing to change his +ways. Many of the people, unused to see a king in tears, were moved by +his petitions, but no wise man trusted him, few came to his assistance, +and the sedition rapidly gained strength. + +At length he took a desperate step. In the harbor lay twenty large +warships, which he might have used for defence, but in his terror he +thought only of flight. All the treasure he could lay hands on was +carried to these vessels, even the gilt balls on top of the church spires +being taken. Sigbrit, a detestable favorite, who had given him much evil +counsel and dared not show herself to the enraged people, was carried on +board in a chest and placed among his valuables. He, his wife and +children, and a few faithful servants, followed, and on the 20th of +April, 1523, he set sail from his native land in a passion of grief and +despair. A violent storm scattered his ships, but the one that bore him +reached Antwerp in safety. Sigbrit, who had crept from her trunk, sought +to console him by saying that if he could no longer be king of Denmark he +might at least become burgomaster of Amsterdam. + +Thus did this cruel and contemptible coward, who less than three years +before had been unquestioned monarch of all Scandinavia, lose the crown +he was so unfit to wear, and land, a despised fugitive, in a Dutch city, +with but a handful of followers. His fall was thoroughly well deserved, +for it was an immediate consequence of the detestation he had aroused by +his deed of blood in Stockholm, and there was scarce a man in Europe to +pity him in his degradation. + +It was a sad thing that the salutary laws he had promulgated in the last +year of his reign came from so evil a source. Frederick was forced by the +nobles to whom he owed his throne to abrogate them, and the code was even +burned as "a dangerous book contrary to good morals." The peasants fell +back into their former state of semi-slavery and for centuries afterwards +failed to enjoy the freedom accorded to the people of their sister states +of Norway and Sweden. + +In the years that followed the deposed king went from court to court of +the German princes, seeking help to regain his throne, but meeting with +scorn and contempt from some of them and refusal from all. He still +retained much of the wealth of which he had robbed Copenhagen, and now, +in despair of obtaining assistance, he took into his service a number of +soldiers of fortune whom a treaty of peace had lately thrown out of +employment. + +With these sons of adventure, twelve thousand in all, he ravaged Holland, +which had recently afforded him refuge, doing so much mischief that he +was at length bought off. The emperor, Charles V., then ruler over +Holland and brother-in-law to the adventurer, paid him the fifty thousand +gulden still due on his wife's dower and gave him twelve battle-ships in +addition. The Dutch whom he was plundering helped in this as the easiest +way to be quit of him, and, with a body of experienced troops, with +funds and a fleet, the hope of winning back his old dominions arose in +his soul. + +There were many malcontents then in Sweden, ready to aid him in an +invasion, and the clergy and nobility of Norway, dissatisfied with +Frederick's rule, subscribed large sums in money and plate for his aid. +Finally, thus strengthened and encouraged, Christian set sail for the +Northland with twenty-five ships and an army of eight thousand men. + +Unfortunately for him the elements proved adverse, a violent storm +scattering the fleet and sending nearly half of it to the bottom. He had +only fifteen ships and a reduced number of men when, in November, 1531, +he landed at Obslo, Norway. + +The nobles and people, however, discontented with Frederick's government +and eager for a king of their own choice, declared for him and at a diet +held at Obslo proclaimed him king, only a few nobles dissenting. These, +however, held the strongest fortresses in the kingdom. One of these was +Magnus Gyllenstierna, governor of Aggerhus. Against this stronghold +Christian led all his force and might easily have taken it, for it was +lacking in provisions, but for a stratagem by which Magnus saved himself +and his fortress. + +He sent word to Christian that the place was too weak for him to attempt +to hold and that he had seen the king's success with pleasure; but, to +save himself from the imputation of cowardice, he begged leave for time +to ask King Frederick for assistance. If none came before the 1st of May +he would willingly surrender the place. + +Adept in deceit as Christian was, he this time suffered himself to be +tricked. At the suggestion of Magnus a thousand men were sent from +Denmark, and led by secret paths over mountains and through forests in +all haste, throwing themselves into Aggerhus while Christian was watching +the seas to intercept them. In a rage he hurried back to renew the siege, +but the shrewd commandant was now strong enough to defy him. + +Ture Joensson, one of the Swedish nobles who had joined Christian, led a +portion of his forces against the fortress of Bohus, writing to its +commandant, Klass Bille, a letter in which he set forth the great change +for good which had come upon King Christian and begging him to side with +his Grace. He closed in the manner customary in those days: "Commending +you, with your dear wife, children, and friends, hereby to God's +protection." + +On the next day he received the following answer: + + "Greeting suited to the season. + + Learn, Ture Joensson, that I yesterday received your writing with + some of your loose words with which you sought to seduce me from my + honor, soil my integrity and oath, and make me like yourself, which + God, who preserves the consciences of all honest men, forbid. To the + long and false talk which your letter contains, I confess myself, + by God's providence to be too good to give you any other answer than + this which my letter conveys. You have so often turned and worn your + coat, and it is now so miserably thread-bare on both sides, that it + is no longer fit to appear among the apparel of any honest man. No + more this time, I commend you to him to whom God the Father + commended that man who betrayed His only Son, + + _Ex Bohus._ + + Sunday next before Lady-day, 1531." + +Klass Bille proved as good with an answer by balls and blows as by pen, +and the Castle of Bohus defied all attempts to take it. + +Meanwhile the Swedish exiles were writing to their friends at home, and, +elated by the capture of a Swedish fort, Christian marched his army +towards the frontier, and made ready to invade the kingdom from which he +had been driven two years before. + +But Gustavus and Frederick were not idle. They recognized the danger of +this invasion and prepared to meet it, renewing their treaties that they +might work loyally together. Gustavus wrote to his officers not to fight +with Christian unless they were from four to six times as strong, as he +wished to give him a reception that would cure him of all future desire +to return to Sweden. + +The forces of Christian and Gustavus first met at Kungelf, where +Christian looked with disturbed eyes on his antagonists as he saw them +marching across a frozen river, among them three thousand men in armor of +polished steel. Turning to Ture Joensson, who stood beside him, he said +wrathfully: + +"You said that there was not a man-at-arms in Sweden. What see you +yonder? Do you think those old women?" + +The next morning Ture Joensson's body was found lying headless in the +street, whether thus punished by Christian for his lies or by some Swede +for his treason, is not known. + +The war began with equal fortune at first to each side, but later fortune +turned in favor of the Swedes, while food grew scarce in Christian's +army, his foragers being beaten back wherever they appeared. Soon, with +an army dwindled to two thousand men, he was forced to march back to +Obslo. + +So far Gustavus's army had been fighting alone, and it was not until +March, 1532, that some Danish ships of war arrived. But their coming soon +ended the war. They burned Christian's vessels and reinforced Aggerhus, +and in May sailed towards Obslo. + +Christian's hopes of success were now at an end. He had made his final +effort and had failed. His men were forsaking him in troops and +resistance to his foes became impossible. As a last resort he tried a +crafty expedient, contriving to get some forged letters distributed in +the Danish camp to the effect that twenty Dutch men-of-war, with five +thousand troops, were coming to his aid. + +The Danish commander, alarmed at this report, hastened to conclude peace +with him, on condition that all who had taken part in the rebellion +should be pardoned. Christian was to cross to Denmark, and if he could +not agree with Frederick was to be free to go to Germany, on giving a +solemn oath never again to make any attempt on the three Scandinavian +kingdoms. + +Before this treaty was confirmed messengers arrived from Frederick who +discovered the condition of Christian to be hopeless and insisted on an +unconditional surrender. But Knut, the Danish admiral, who had been given +full power to act, took Christian on his ships and sailed with him to +Denmark, where he insisted that the conditions he had made should be +observed. + +Frederick and his council were in a strait. To let this tiger loose again +was too dangerous, and finally some pretext for breaking the treaty was +made and Christian was sentenced to a life imprisonment in the Castle of +Sanderberg on the island of Femern. Frederick and his son were obliged to +confirm this sentence by a written promise to the Danish nobles that they +would never release the detested prisoner. + +When Christian learned that the convention had been broken he wept +bitterly, lamenting that "he had fallen into the hands of men who cared +neither for oaths, promises, nor seals." + +These complaints no one heeded. He was taken deep into the dungeons of +Sanderberg Castle, and locked up in a dark and narrow prison vault +destitute of every convenience, his only companion being a half-witted +dwarf who had long been in his service. With the harshness common in +those days, and which in his case was well deserved, the door of the +cell was walled up, only one small opening being left through which he +could receive the scanty allowance of food brought him, and a little +barred window through which some sparse light could make its way. + +In this dreadful prison the captive remained twelve years without the +slightest amelioration of its conditions. Then the door was opened and +fresh air and other conveniences were allowed him, but a strict watch was +kept up. Finally in 1549, five years later, it being believed that no +harm could possibly come from an old man sixty-eight years of age, he was +taken to Kallendborg Castle, where he was permitted to entertain himself +by hunting or in any other manner he pleased. He lived ten years later, +ending in 1559 a life whose misfortunes were a just reward for his +faithlessness and cruelty in his day of power. + + + + +_THE WEST GOTHLAND INSURRECTION._ + + +Sweden never had a wiser or more judicious ruler than King Gustavus Vasa, +but in that land of turbulent lords and ambitious mischief-makers the +noblest and most generous of kings could not reign without secret +plotting and rebellious sentiments. So it fell out in Sweden in 1529, +after Gustavus had been six years on the throne. + +The leader in this movement was one Ture Joensson, a hoary old conspirator +of great influence in West Gothland, where he and his ancestors had long +been judges and where he was looked upon by the people as their lord and +chief. By a decision of the court he was obliged to restore to the king +certain property which he unjustly held, and he vented his feelings +bitterly against the heretic and tyrant, as he called him. In fact, he +hatched a conspiracy, which spread widely, through his influence, among +the nobles of West Gothland. + +In Smaland there was much discontent with the teaching of the Lutheran +doctrines and an outbreak took place, the king's sister and her husband +being taken prisoners by the insurgents. These sent letters to Ture +Joensson in West Gothland, asking him to be their captain, and also wrote +to East Gothland, inciting the people to rise and expel their monarch. + +Ture Joensson had three sons, one of them a distinguished soldier in the +king's service, while the second was a man high in the king's favor. The +old rebel had high hopes of aid from these two, and wrote them letters +inciting them to rebellion. But they were not to be drawn from their +allegiance, and took the letters with unbroken seals to the king, +promising to devote their lives to his cause. + +The third son, Herr Goeran, dean in Upsala, was of different mold and +sentiment. Opposed to the king on religious grounds, he gathered a body +of peasant runaways, a hundred in number, and, afraid to stay in his +house, he took them to a wood in the neighborhood, felled trees for +barricades, and laid up a supply of provisions in his impromptu fort. + +From there he proceeded to Bollnaes, gathering more men and growing +bolder, and fancying in his small soul that he was the destined leader of +a great rebellion. But his valor vanished when a priest of the vicinity, +named Erik, a man faithful to the king, called together a body of his +parishioners and marched against the would-be insurgent. + +Dean Goeran was standing at a garret window when he saw these men +approaching. At once, with a most unsoldierlike panic, he rushed in +terror down stairs and fled through a back door into the forest, without +a word to his men of the coming danger. The house was surrounded and the +men made prisoners, the king's steward, whom they held captive, being +released. Erik spoke to them so severely of their disloyalty that they +fell on their knees in prayer and petition, and when he told them that +the best way to gain pardon for their act was to seek and deliver their +fugitive leader, they gladly undertook the task. + +[Illustration: NORWEGIAN CARRIAGE CALLED STOLKJAEM.] + +The scared leader of rebels meanwhile was wandering in anguish and alarm +through the wide wood, not knowing what to do. Coming at length to a +large forest lake, he entered a little boat that he found and pushed off +from land, thinking thus to be in greater safety. + +As he thus sat, lost in his unquiet thoughts, some of his late followers +reached the lake and saw him. So absorbed was he in his bitter +reflections that he failed to see other boats gliding out towards him, +and they were close upon him before he perceived them. Then, leaping up +in wild fright, he sought in his despair to jump into the water, but +before he could do so some of the peasants had rowed up and seized him. +In his bitterness of spirit he tore the gold chain from his neck and the +rings from his fingers and flung them into the lake, resolved that they +should not become the spoil of the king he hated. + +But Gustavus was not the man to trouble himself about such small fry of +conspirators as this. The dean was taken to Upsala and thence to +Stockholm, where he was kept in confinement, though with every comfort, +until the rebellion incited by his father was quelled. Then the king, +taking into account his brothers' loyalty and his own insignificance, +freed him and restored him his property. He could well afford to be +lenient to a rebel of his calibre. + +If this was all we had to tell, it would not be worth the telling, but +the conspiracy in West Gothland went on and led to events of far greater +interest. A born plotter, old Joensson kept at his work, and to prevent +any news of what was taking place from reaching the king, a guard of a +thousand men was placed to watch the highway and stop all messengers. At +the head of this guard was a priest called Nils of Hvalstad, a thorough +hater of the king. To him the insurgents sent their letters, to be +forwarded to those for whom they were intended. Such was the state of +affairs, the designs of the plotters ripening while the king was in this +way kept in ignorance of matters of such importance to him. + +Now we come to the dramatic means by which the king was advised of the +plot. A scout was needed to pass the guards set by the rebels and bring +word to Gustavus of what was going on in West Gothland, and for this +purpose was chosen a young town-sergeant of Stockholm, so famed for +boldness that the people called him Hans Hardy. He had been born in West +Gothland and was familiar with the people and the roads of that province +and was therefore well adapted for the work. He accomplished it in a +manner much better than was expected. + +Making his way through forest paths and along little-frequented by-ways, +he succeeded in crossing the river that bordered the province and passing +the rebel outposts, making his way to his old home, where he spent +several weeks with his relations, meanwhile secretly gathering the +information needed. + +On his return he pursued a different course. Buying a quantity of West +Gothland cheese, he went directly towards the ford of the Tiweden and so +managed as to let himself fall into the hands of the guard, who brought +him to their leader, Nils of Hvalstad. + +The rebel priest charged the seeming peasant roundly with being a spy, +but the cunning fellow pretended to be very simple and bucolic, saying +that it had been four years since he had been in Upland and he now wanted +to go there and sell his cheese. + +Nils was not so easily to be hoodwinked, but bade his men take the +supposed spy to the sergeant's house at Hofwa, where four men were set +over him as guards. The pretended simpleton seemed well-enough pleased, +eating and drinking freely, talking cheerfully of country affairs with +his guards, and spending his money freely, so that the sergeant grew to +like the jovial country lad. + +After a few days, however, Hans pretended to be sick, sighing and +groaning as if in severe pain. Finally he took to his bed and seemed in +such a sad state that they all pitied the poor cheesemonger and his +guards often left him for hours alone, thinking his sickness was all the +security that was needed. + +Hans Hardy had a purpose in this. He had discovered that Nils kept a box +in a dark corner of the room and imagined that it might contain something +of importance to him in his mission. In fact he had thrown himself in his +hands for the purpose of fathoming his plots. One day, while left alone, +he got up and examined the box, and to his joy found in it a number of +letters from the chief conspirators, containing full evidence of their +complication. Having read enough of them to gain an idea of their +character, he put them back, shut the box, and pushed it again into its +dark corner. + +Then he took to his bed once more and when his guards returned they found +him moaning more sorely than before and seeming in such sad case that +they thought him at the point of death. Pitying the poor fellow, they +deemed it idle to watch him and went contentedly to their beds. The next +morning, when they rose, the sick man had vanished and with him the box +and its contents. Hans had got off with the precious burden into the +forest, with whose paths he was thoroughly familiar, leaving his late +guards his cheese for consolation. + +He reached Stockholm in safety with his budget of letters and took them +to the king, who rewarded him liberally for his valuable service and bade +him to keep it secret. This he did, and it was long before any one knew +where Hans Hardy had been or what had become of the lost letters. King +Gustavus kept his counsel and bided his time. + +Meanwhile the work of the conspirators went on, they going so far as to +nominate a new king, their choice falling upon Mans Bryntesson, Ture +Joensson's brother-in-law, a handsome and eloquent young man, far more +suitable in person than in mind for a king. He was soft, irresolute, and +somewhat foolish, and when treated with royal honors by the conspirators, +he began holding court with princely pomp, borrowing money from his +friends for this purpose when his own was exhausted. + +Having gone so far with his plans, Ture called a convention of the people +of the province to meet on Larfva Heath, saying that he had matters of +the highest importance to lay before them. Here was a great plain, where +the Gothlanders for ages had held their public meetings, and where Ture's +summons brought together a goodly number. + +With the insurgent lords around him, and proud of his power and +authority, Sir Ture now addressed the peasants, in full confidence of +their support. His principal charge against the king was that he had +accepted the Lutheran doctrines and wished to introduce a new faith into +the country to the ruin of the common people. + +"Now," he continued, "I have always understood that the good West +Gothlanders have no mind to become Lutherans, but prefer to retain the +old faith which their fathers and forefathers have had before them. If +you will from this day renounce King Gustavus I will give you a mild and +gracious sovereign, who will preserve for you your good old customs." + +Bishop Magnus followed with a brief address, after which Sir Ture, +convinced from the intent silence of the peasants that they were with +him, said: + +"Let him who gives his consent to take a new king stretch up his hands." + +To his consternation not a hand was lifted, while a threatening murmur +was heard among the peasants. Neither the lords nor the bishop knew what +to make of this. They had gone on with their plots without a dream that +the people would not be with them. As for the newly chosen king, who had +been eagerly waiting to receive their homage, he fell back white and +trembling. At length two young peasants stood forth to speak for the +people, one of them loudly declaring: + +"We have nothing to charge against King Gustavus, but owe him deep +gratitude for having freed us from the cruel and tyrannical rule of King +Christian, and kept the land in law and right as well as in peace and +quiet. What you, good sirs, say of the new faith, we peasants can neither +judge nor understand; perhaps it may not be so bad as fame reports. +Change of rulers generally costs the peasants and the land dear, and we +might by these means draw upon ourselves and our children long disquiet +and disorder. It seems, therefore, best for us to remain in the faith +and allegiance which we have sworn and promised to our lawful lord and +master Gustaf Eriksson." + +These words had evidently the full approval of the people, to judge from +their upstretched hands and their loud acclamations, and at once the +courage of the conspirators fell to the ground. What to say or to do they +knew not. They had foolishly gone forward with their plots without +consulting the people and now found themselves in a sore dilemma. Instead +of coming to their aid, as they had expected, there was reason to fear +that the peasants would seize them and hand them over to the king. In his +utter dismay Ture Joensson faltered out: + +"My very good friends, I only wished by this trial to test your fidelity. +None of the lords have a thought of deserting the king. A fortnight hence +we hope to meet you here again, to consult further on our mutual +interests." + +This ended the meeting on Larfva Heath. The peasants returned to their +homes and the lords in dismay sought their castles. The bottom had +suddenly dropped out from the rebellion and the conspirators were in a +perilous position. War against the king was impossible, and in haste they +sent a message to Nils of Hvalstad ordering him to break up the camp on +the Tiweden and bidding him to come to them without delay. + +When he came they asked him what he had done with the letters which had +been put in his care. Not daring to tell that they had been stolen, he +said that he had burnt them on hearing of the result of the Larfva +meeting. Another custodian of letters was also sent for and asked the +same question. He had really sent his letters to the king, but he +produced a budget of papers which he now threw into the fire, telling +them that they might be at rest about these perilous papers, which could +now never appear against them. + +Somewhat relieved in their minds by this act, Mans Bryntesson, Ture +Bjelke, and Nils Winge, three of the leading conspirators, decided to +remain at home. To become wandering outlaws was too bitter a fate; they +had not spoken at Larfva Heath, their letters were burnt, there was no +evidence against them. But as for Ture Joensson and Bishop Magnus, they +had put themselves openly on record. The pretence that the meeting had +been called to test the loyalty of the people would have no weight with a +man like King Gustavus. To remain would be to risk their lives, and +collecting their money and valuables they made all haste to set foot on +Danish territory, Ture Joensson finally to meet a tragical death in the +invasion of Norway by the deposed King Christian, as described in the +preceding tale. + +The embers of the rebellion were easily extinguished and the nation +returned to its peaceful and satisfied condition, the officers of the +king holding meetings with the malcontents and promising full pardon to +those who would confess and renounce their disloyal acts. This offer of +pardon was accepted by nearly the whole of the conspirators, the only +ones who held out being Mans Bryntesson, the mock king, Nils Winge, and +Ture Bjelke. Trusting to their letters having been destroyed they wrote +to the king, saying that, as they felt entirely guiltless, they could not +plead guilt and implore pardon, and thus put themselves under suspicion. +They begged him to appoint a meeting at which their conduct could be +investigated. This he agreed to, the 17th of June being fixed as the +date. + +When the time came the three lords appeared before the appointed tribunal +and were exhorted to confess their share in Ture Joensson's rebellion. +Mans Bryntesson answered for the three, boldly declaring: + +"We did not venture to set ourselves against Ture Joensson on account of +his great influence in the province; we often heard him speak +disrespectfully of the king, but we bore with him in this for the sake of +amusement, attributing it to his old age and childishness. But it can +never be shown that we bore any share in his treason." + +"What will you venture that this cannot be proved against you?" asked the +king. + +"Our neck to the sword and our bodies to the wheel, as the law exacts," +they confidently replied. + +"Take care," said one of the counsellors. "Do not venture so much. +Perhaps you may yet be found guilty." + +They replied by a haughty "No," and insisted on their innocence. Gustavus +then spoke again, his gaze now stern and threatening: + +"Choose one of these two. Either to confess yourselves guilty and accept +pardon, or to be tried and condemned according to law." + +"We choose to be judged according to the law," they replied; "and if we +be found partakers in this rebellion we will willingly suffer and pay for +it, as may be adjudged against us." + +These words, and the stern dignity of the king, impressed all in the +hall. Complete silence reigned and all eyes were fixed on his face. He +gave a signal to his servants and two boxes were carried in. These were +opened and a number of letters were produced. The king asked the culprits +if they recognized these letters. This they stoutly denied. Then a number +of them were read aloud and complete proof of their complicity in the +rebellion was shown, the judges recognizing the hand and seal of the +defendants. + +Pale and thunderstruck, they listened tremblingly to the reading of the +fatal letters; then fell upon their knees, weeping and imploring mercy. +Their repentance came too late. The king bade the council to examine into +the matter at once and pronounce sentence. This was that the three +criminals should suffer the fate which they had declared themselves ready +to bear; they were condemned as traitors and sentenced to loss of life +and estate. + +The trembling culprits were taken to a room above the school-house, +locked in and a strong guard set before the door. Here they were left to +the contemplation of their coming fate. Despairingly they looked around +for some means of escape, and a shade of hope returned when they fancied +they had discovered one. There were no bars to their window, but it was +far above the ground. But beneath it stood a pear tree, so near the +building that they thought they might leap into its branches and climb +down its trunk to the ground. + +Waiting until night had fallen, they prepared to make the effort, Mans +Bryntesson being the first to try. He missed the tree and fell to the +ground, breaking his leg in the fall. The others, seeing his ill fortune, +did not venture to follow. In great pain he crept from the garden into an +adjoining field. Here his strength gave out and he lay hidden in the +half-grown rye. + +Missed the next morning, his trail through the grass was easily followed +and he was found and carried back to prison. Soon after the prisoners +were taken to Stockholm, where Mans Bryntesson and Nils Winge were +beheaded and their bodies exposed on the wheel. Their estates, however, +were restored to their widows and children. The third, Ture Bjelke, being +less guilty, was pardoned, but was obliged to pay heavy penalties for his +treasonable acts. And thus, with the death of these two criminals and the +exile of two others, ended the West Gothland insurrection. + + + + +_THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF KING ERIK._ + + +We have written much of war and bloodshed; a chapter devoted to the +lighter themes of courtship and marriage may here be of interest, +especially as it has to do with the love affairs of princes and +princesses, kings and queens, personages whose every movement are deemed +by many worthy the world's attention. + +Prince Erik, the eldest son of King Gustavus, grew in due course of time +to marriageable age and, as young men will, began to look about for a +wife. His thoughts first turned towards the Princess Elizabeth, of +England, then in the height of her youthful charms, of which exaggerated +accounts were brought to the ardent young Swede. + +When Erik sought his father's consent to the suit, saying that it might +bring him not only a lovely bride but the throne of two kingdoms, the +prudent old monarch threw cold water on the project, saying: + +"Even if Erik should gain Elizabeth, which I do not think likely, in view +of her many suitors, it would be more to the harm than the profit of both +kingdoms." + +But Erik, a high-tempered and passionate youth, with a tendency to +something like madness, became so violent and determined that his father +at length gave way and a lover's embassy was sent to England to ask for +the fair lady's hand. But Princess Elizabeth was too much beset with +lovers to accept any of them easily, and the embassy returned with the +answer that the royal English maiden was in no haste to marry and +considered an unmarried life the happier. + +In 1558 Queen Mary died and Elizabeth mounted to the throne which she was +long to adorn. This added to Erik's passionate desire to win her. One of +his agents, Dionysius Beurreus, remained in London, where he lived in +great display, keeping open table at Erik's expense, and sending in all +haste to the ardent prince every kind word which the crafty Elizabeth let +fall. Credulous in his ardent passion, Erik now felt sure of winning the +queenly maiden's hand, and sent a second embassy to England, his brother +John going with it. + +Prince John was sumptuously equipped for the journey, the expenses of the +courtship eating deeply into the king's revenues, and being added to by +Erik's lavishness, for he was now so sure of the success of his suit that +he ordered a hundred dresses of the most expensive and splendid kind to +be made for him at Antwerp. + +When John reached London he was courteously received by the queen, but he +found it impossible to bring her to a definite answer. If she ever +married, of course she would be happy to win so charming a spouse as +Prince Erik, but it was hard to marry a man she had never seen, and the +idea of marriage was not to her taste. In the end Elizabeth wrote to +Gustavus begging him to seek another bride for his son, as she had +decided to live unmarried. + +This should have ended the matter, but it did not. One of the lover's +agents had said that the queen of England would never consent unless Erik +in person were able to win her heart, and Prince John reported her as +saying that, "though she had no desire for marriage, she could not answer +what she might do if she saw Erik himself." + +Fired by the baits held out to his eager heart, Erik determined to go +himself to England, but incognito, disguised as the servant of some +foreign lord. Thus he would see and conquer the coy maiden queen. The +warnings and expostulations of his friends failed to move him from this +romantic project, but at length it reached the king's ears, and he +strictly forbade the wild-goose project as hazardous and undignified. +Erik, however, finally got his father's permission to visit England and +make his suit to the queen in his own person. But there were many +postponements of the journey, and when finally he left Stockholm to begin +the voyage to England the shock of his departure threw the old king into +a serious illness. That afternoon Gustavus went to bed, never to rise +again, and before Erik had left the kingdom word was brought him that his +father was dead. This definitely changed the situation and thus it came +about that Erik never saw Elizabeth. + +The fact of his being king, indeed, did not put an end to his desire to +possess the English queen. In 1561 he determined to visit her as a king, +and on the 1st of September set sail. But the elements were not +propitious to this love errand, a violent storm arising which forced the +captains to run back to harbor. Then he decided to go overland, through +Denmark, Holland, and France, but while he was laying his plans for this +journey, an effort was made by certain love emissaries to turn his +thoughts towards Mary Stuart, the widow of a French king and heiress of +the throne of Scotland. He listened to these representatives and was so +pleased with their description of Mary's charms that his single-minded +devotion to Elizabeth was shaken. + +The loveliness of Mary Stuart was a strong inducement to the young king, +but the high estate of Elizabeth was a greater one, and he did not cease +his efforts to win her hand. Being told that the chief obstacle in his +way was the handsome Earl of Leicester, he grew violently jealous of this +favored courtier. He at first challenged him to mortal combat, but as +this could not conveniently be carried out, he secretly bade his agent in +London to hire an assassin to deal with the earl, promising protection +and a rich reward to the murderer. This villainy the agent refused to +perform, and Erik now, hoping to frighten Elizabeth to give him a +favorable answer, spread a report in England that he was courting the +Scottish queen. The effect was different from what he anticipated, for +Elizabeth at once positively rejected his suit and all seemed at an end. + +[Illustration: ARMORY AND COSTUME HALL OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM, SWEDEN.] + +About this time a third lady fair came into the game. Erik was told of +the charms and rare character of the Princess Renata of Lotringen, +granddaughter of the late Christian of Denmark, and at once opened +negotiations for the hand of this princess. At the same time the crafty +Elizabeth pretended to relent and Erik was again on fire for her hand. +Thus he had now three love projects under way, from two of which, those +for Mary Stuart and Princess Renata, favorable answers were returned. + +But the volatile lover, before receiving these answers, had added a +fourth string to his bow of courtships, having decided to propose for the +Princess Christina of Hesse. By this time he had spent on his threefold +courtship vast sums of money and had gone far towards making himself the +laughing-stock of Europe. + +Erik's new course of love did not run smooth. The fates seemed against +him in his marriage projects. His first proposal for Christina, indeed, +received a favorable reply and it was decided that the selected bride +should arrive at Stockholm in the following May, some eight months later. +But other emissaries whom he sent in February were detained in Denmark, +and on some weak pretence were seized and imprisoned, the whole being a +ruse of King Frederick to prevent a marriage between Erik and the +Princess of Hesse, of which for political reasons he did not approve. +There was peace at that time with Denmark, but these events presaged war. + +May at length arrived and Erik equipped a fleet to meet the promised +bride. There were twelve men-of-war, which were got ready for fighting if +necessary, James Bagge, a famous seaman of those days, being admiral of +the Elephant, with command of the fleet. The assigned purpose of the +expedition was to bring the bride over from Luebeck, but it is said that +Admiral Bagge had secret orders to seek and attack the Danish fleet, and +thus punish King Frederick for his treachery. + +The two fleets met on May 30 off Bornholm, and the Danish ship Hercules +immediately opened fire. This fire was at once returned and a fierce +fight ensued that lasted five hours, and resulted in the capture of the +Hercules and two other ships and the flight of the rest. The Swedes now +sailed on to Luebeck, whence ambassadors were sent to Hesse to bring back +the bride. They returned in two weeks without her, the excuse being that +her trousseau was not ready. The truth was that the landgrave of Hesse +was afraid to trust his daughter in the turbulent north, from which +tidings of the naval battle had just come. + +This delay was fatal to Erik's hopes, mainly through his own fault. The +first succeeding step was a request from the landgrave for a safe conduct +for his daughter through Denmark. Frederick, who dreaded ill results +from the marriage, refused this, and also refused to let ambassadors to +Hesse pass through his kingdom. + +And now Erik spoiled all by his faithless versatility. On the 11th of +October he sent an order to some agents of his in Germany to proceed to +Hesse with a betrothal ring, worth six thousand thalers, for the +princess. Four days later he wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth, saying +that his addresses at the court of Hesse had never been serious, and that +he still loved and hoped to win her. + +Before this was sent actual war with Denmark had broken out, and to +prevent the discovery of the letter, he concealed it in a stick and sent +it by a secret messenger. This messenger was captured by a privateer and +carried to Copenhagen; in some way his mission was suspected and the +letter found; and the Danish king, in ecstasies at his discovery, +despatched the incriminating love-missive immediately to the landgrave of +Hesse. + +All was going well there when the letter arrived. The landgrave had +favorably received Erik's emissaries and the prospects of their returning +with the bride seemed fair, when the unlucky letter was put into his +hands. It fell like a thunderbolt. In a rage at seeing himself and his +daughter thus made sport of, the landgrave ordered the Swedes to leave +the town before sunset, under peril of his high displeasure. This ended +the suit for the fair maiden's hand, later ambassadors sent by Erik were +dismissed with contempt, and through having too many irons in the fire +at once the love-sick lord of Sweden found himself without a bride. + +His brother, Duke John, was more fortunate, though his courtship also led +to war and his marriage brought him into dismal misfortune. Before +completing the story of Erik's love affairs, the episode of John's +matrimonial venture, with its dire results, may fitly be told. + +A marriage had long been arranged between Duke John and Princess +Catharine, sister of King Sigismund of Poland. But obstacles arose and +once more the course of true love did not run smooth. Sigismund had an +older sister Anna, whom he wished married first; but this impediment was +removed by an agreement that John's brother Magnus should marry Anna. + +Next the czar of Russia proposed for Catharine, but some dispute about +the marriage contract brought about a refusal. The result was typical of +the rudeness of the times. The Poles had always hated the Russians, and +to show their contempt for them Sigismund had a white figure dressed in +splendid garments and sent to the Russian court, in lieu of the +looked-for bride. Mad with rage at this bitter insult, the czar invaded +and cruelly ravaged Poland, the people, as is so often the case, being +made to suffer for the quarrels and the folly of the kings. From that +time forward the czar hated Sigismund and John, his fortunate rival. + +John also had difficulty in getting his brother's consent to go to +Sigismund's court, and after he had set out an envoy was sent after him +ordering him to return. But in disregard of this he went on, and was +favorably received at the Polish court, being a handsome, courteous and +cultivated prince. Catharine was highly pleased with him, but King +Sigismund now repeated his demand that he should marry the elder sister. + +Finally, after many efforts to change the king's mind, he asked Catharine +if she really desired to marry John. The princess blushed and was silent; +but her sister spoke for her and implored their brother not to prevent +her marriage with the man she loved. + +At this appeal he gave way and the marriage was quickly solemnized, for +there was imminent peril of war between Sweden and Poland unless the +affair was consummated. A body of Polish troops escorted the newly wedded +couple into Livonia, lest the angry czar should seek to carry them off, +and John reached Sweden with his bride. + +He was very ill received, by Erik's orders, and hastened to his own +duchy, whence he sent an invitation to the king to attend his wedding +banquet. The king came in another fashion. + +Angry at John for disobeying his orders, and fearing him as a possible +aspirant for the throne, Erik cherished evil intentions against his +brother. Suspicious and superstitious by nature, he had read in the stars +the prediction that a light-haired man would deprive him of the throne, +and this man he believed to be his newly married brother. He also +fancied that John had secretly allied himself with Denmark and Poland, +and there was soon open enmity between the brothers. + +The whole story of what followed is too long to be told here, but seeming +evidence against John was obtained by the torture of some of his friends +and he was attacked in his castle and taken prisoner after a two months' +defence. Erik ordered his incarceration in a dungeon, but his wife was +offered a residence with her ladies in one of the king's castles. If she +wished to accompany him to prison she could take only two of her maids +with her. + +When Catharine heard this she fervently exclaimed: + +"I would rather die than be separated from my husband," and fainted away. + +When she recovered she was asked what she intended to do. Taking her +betrothal ring from her finger and holding it up, she said: + +"Read what stands there." + +They saw engraved on it, "_Nemo nisi mors"_ (none but death). + +"I will stand by it," said Catharine. And she did. + +The imprisoned dependents of John, all of whom had shared in his +resistance to the king, were nearly all condemned to death and executed, +more than a hundred bodies being exposed at once at the place of +execution. That John would suffer the same fate was highly probable. His +brothers, sisters, and other relatives implored Erik to let him live; +his enemies advised his execution; the king hesitated, and postponed his +decision, finally deciding that John might live, but in perpetual +imprisonment. He was mildly and kindly treated, however, and four years +later, during a spasm of fraternal feeling in Erik, was released. + +We shall not tell the remaining story of King Erik, of his wars, his +temporary madness, his violence and cruelty to some of the noblest of the +sons of Denmark, his ruthless persecution and final murder of the Stures, +descendants of one of the most famous families of Sweden and men who had +played a great part in its history. It was the story of his love episodes +with which we set out and these were not yet ended. Erik finally got a +wife and a queen, though not a queen or a princess for a wife. Love +instead of policy lay at the basis of his final courtship. + +This is the story of the final and real love affair of this suitor of +princesses and queens. A soldier named Magnus, of peasant birth, who rose +to the rank of corporal in Erik's life-guard, had a daughter named +Katrina or Catherine, shortened to Karin, who as a child sat selling nuts +in the market-place at Stockholm. Here Erik one day saw her, then about +thirteen, and was so struck by her great beauty that he had her placed +among the maids-of-honor of his sister Elizabeth. + +The pretty little Karin was quick to learn her duties, and in deportment +was modest and very loveable. Her beauty also grew with her age, until +she became looked upon as the fairest of the fair. Erik thought her such +and grew greatly attached to her, showing her much attention and winning +her regard by his handsome face and kindly manner. In fact she grew to +love him dearly and gave herself up entirely to him, a warm affection +existing between them. + +Karin in time became everything to the king. He no longer sought for a +bride in foreign courts, no other women had attraction for him, and at +length, when the charming peasant girl had borne him a son, he determined +to find a way to make her his queen. Those were days when it was not safe +to meddle with the love affairs of a king. One unfortunate young man +named Maximilian, who had loved Karin and sought her hand in marriage, +one day intruded into the women's apartment of the palace, where he was +seized. Erik, burning with jealousy, had him condemned on a false +pretence, sewed up in a bag, and cast into the lake. + +After that no one dared interfere with the love episode of Erik and +Karin. Men said she had bewitched him by a love-philter. Some of the +courtiers who feared her influence upon the king sought to disgrace her, +with the result that her intercession alone saved their lives from the +incensed monarch. + +Erik's love for Karin never seemed to change. On beautiful summer +afternoons, when he would sail with a merry party on Lake Malar, Karin +was always of the party and the object of his tender attention. As they +rowed home at night he would sit beside her, contemplating the beauty of +the starry northern skies and listening to the songs from the shore or +from distant boats. These were executed by his orders, the words and +music often being his. One of these songs, in which he praises his +"Shepherdess," promises to love her forever, and bids her a "thousand +good-nights," is still extant. + +The time at length came--this was after the period of his foreign wars +and his insanity--that he asked permission of the legislative body to +marry whom he pleased, at home or abroad. After this was given he +privately married Karin, and subsequently determined upon a public +celebration of his marriage and her coronation as queen. The chief +families of the country were invited to the ceremony, but they neither +came nor sent excuses. The coronation went on, notwithstanding, and the +peasant's daughter Karin became queen of Sweden as Queen Catherine. + +Not alone by this marriage, but in a dozen other ways King Erik had made +enemies and he was now near the end of his career. A rebellion soon broke +out against him, headed by Duke John, who had some time before been +liberated, and by his younger brother Duke Charles. Though Erik fought +with skill and courage, the insurrection was successful, he being taken +prisoner and losing the throne. John was chosen to succeed him as king. + +Erik spent the remainder of his life in prison, where he was far more +harshly treated than John had been by him, his greatest consolation being +when his wife and children were permitted to visit him. After eight years +of this close confinement John, fearful of an attempt at the release of +the captive, had him poisoned in his cell. Thus ended the career of the +elder son of Gustavus Vasa. It was a fate which he had brought upon +himself by the cruelties of his career. + +A few well-deserved words may well be given to Queen Catherine. She had +never interfered in Erik's government, except to restrain him from +cruelty. Her mildness of disposition won her favor on all sides, which +was increased by her loving devotion to him while in prison. After his +death she was granted an estate in Finland, and there she lived, loved +and esteemed by all who knew her and winning the warm devotion of her +children and grandchildren. She survived to a good old age, withdrawn but +happy, and the memory of her virtues and benevolence still lives among +the peasantry of the neighborhood of her abode. + + + + +_GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS ON THE FIELD OF LEIPSIC._ + + +With the accession to the throne of Sweden in 1611 of Gustavus Adolphus, +grandson of Gustavus Vasa, that country gained its ablest king, and the +most famous with the exception of the firebrand of war, Charles XII., of +later date. For courage, judgment, administrative ability, generous +devotion to the good of his country, and military genius this great +monarch was unequalled in his time and won a renown which has placed his +name in the roll of the great rulers of mankind. + +The son of Charles IX., the third and ablest son of Gustavus Vasa to fill +the throne, he was carefully educated in all the lore of his time and +when a boy of sixteen won a brilliant victory over a Danish invading +army. During the same year he ascended the throne, his father dying on +November 30, 1611. + +During the preceding reigns Sweden had taken a prominent part in the +affairs of northern Europe, having frequent wars with Russia, Poland, and +Denmark, and the young king fell heir to these wars, all of which he +prosecuted with striking ability. But a conflict soon broke out that +threatened all Europe and brought Sweden into the field as the arbiter of +continental destinies. This was the famous "Thirty Years' War," the +greatest and most ferocious religious war known in history. Into it +Sweden was drawn and the hand of Gustavus was potent in saving the +Protestant cause from destruction. The final event in his career, in +which he fell covered with glory on the fatal field of Lutzen, is dealt +with in the German "Historical Tales." We shall here describe another +equally famous battle of the war, that of Leipsic. + +It was in 1629, when Denmark was in peril from the great armies of +Ferdinand II. of Austria, and Sweden also was threatened, that Gustavus +consented to become the champion of the Protestants of northern Europe, +and in June, 1630, he landed in Pomerania at the head of eight thousand +men. Here six Scottish regiments joined him, under the Duke of Hamilton, +and he marched onward, taking towns and fortresses in rapid succession +and gaining large reinforcements from the German states. + +Three great leaders headed the Austrian armies, the famous Wallenstein, +the able but ferocious Tilly, and the celebrated cavalry leader +Pappenheim. All these skilled soldiers Gustavus had to face alone, but he +did so with the support of the best-drilled army then in Europe, a body +of soldiery which his able hands had formed into an almost irresistible +engine of war. + +What spurred Gustavus to the great battle to be described was the capture +by Tilly on May 20, 1631, of the city of Magdeburg, and the massacre of +its thirty thousand citizens, men, women, and children. From this scene +of frightful outrage and destruction Tilly failed to call off his men +until the city lay in ruins and its people in death. A tall, haggard, +grim warrior, hollow-cheeked, and wild-looking, with large bright eyes +under his shaggy brows, Tilly looked capable of the deeds of ferocity +with which the world credited him. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.] + +While all Christendom shuddered with horror at the savage slaughter at +Magdeburg, the triumphant Tilly marched upon and captured the city of +Leipsic. Here he fixed his headquarters in the house of a grave-digger, +where he grew pale at seeing the death's-head and cross-bones with which +the owner had decorated his walls. These significant emblems may have had +something to do with the unusual mildness with which he treated the +citizens of that town. + +The cause of Protestantism in Germany was now in serious jeopardy and +Gustavus felt that the time had come to strike a hard blow in its behalf. +The elector of Saxony, who had hitherto stood aloof, now came to his aid +with an army of eighteen thousand men, and it was resolved to attack +Tilly at once, before the reinforcements on the way to join him could +arrive. These statements are needful, to show the momentous import of the +great battle of September 7, 1631. + +In the early morning of that day the two armies came face to face, Tilly +having taken a strong and advantageous position not far from Leipsic, +where he hoped to avoid a battle. But he was obliged, when the enemy +began to move upon him, to alter his plans and move towards the hills on +his left. At the foot of these his army was drawn up in a long line, +with the artillery on the heights beyond, where it would sweep the +extensive plain of Breitenfeld in his front. Over this plain the Swedes +and Saxons advanced in two columns, towards a small stream named the +Lober, which ran in Tilly's front. + +To prevent this crossing Pappenheim had early moved at the head of two +thousand cuirassiers, a movement which Tilly reluctantly permitted, +though strictly ordering him not to fight. Disregarding this order +Pappenheim charged the vanguard of the Swedes, only to find that he had +met an impregnable line and to be driven back in disorder. To check +pursuit he set fire to a village at the crossing-point, but this had no +effect upon the movement of the advancing troops nor his own disorderly +retreat. + +The army of Gustavus was organized for the coming battle in the following +manner. On the right the Swedes were drawn up in a double line; the +infantry being in the centre, divided into small battalions that could be +rapidly manoeuvred without breaking their order; the cavalry on the +wings, similarly drawn up in small squadrons, with bodies of musketeers +between; this being done to make a greater show of force and annoy the +enemy's horse. On the left, at a considerable distance, were the Saxons. + +It was the defeat of Pappenheim which obliged Tilly to abandon his first +strong position and draw up his army under the western heights, where it +formed a single extended line, long enough to outflank the Swedish army; +the infantry in large battalions, the cavalry in equally large and +unwieldy squadrons; the artillery, as stated, on the slopes above. The +position was one for defence rather than attack, for Tilly's army could +not advance far without being exposed to the fire of its own artillery. +Each army numbered about thirty-five thousand men. + +These forces were small in view of the momentous nature of the struggle +before them and the fact that two great generals, both hitherto +invincible, were now to be matched in a contest on which the fate of the +whole war largely depended and to which the two parties battling for the +mastery looked forward with fear and trembling. But of the two, while +Gustavus was cool and collected, Tilly seemed to have lost his usual +intrepidity. He was anxious to avoid battle, and had formed no regular +plan to fight the enemy when forced into it by Pappenheim's impetuous +charge. "Doubts which he had never before felt struggled in his bosom; +gloomy forebodings clouded his ever-open brow; the shade of Magdeburg +seemed to hover over him." + +The lines being ready for action, King Gustavus rode to the centre of his +front, reined in his horse, took off his hat, and with the sword in his +right hand lowered to the ground, offered in a loud voice the following +prayer: + +"Almighty God, Thou who holdest victory and defeat in the hollow of Thine +hand, turn Thine eye unto us Thy servants, who have come from our +distant homes to fight for freedom and truth and for Thy gospel. Give us +victory for the honor of Thy holy name. Amen!" + +Then, raising his sword and waving it over his head, he commanded: + +"Forward in the name of the Lord!" + +"God with us!" was the battle-cry as the Swedes, inspired by his words, +prepared for the fatal fray. + +The battle, which had lulled after the defeat of Pappenheim, was now +resumed with the thunder of the cannon, which continued for two hours, +the west wind meanwhile blowing clouds of smoke and dust from ploughed +and parched fields into the faces of the Swedes. To avoid this they were +wheeled to face northwards, the movement being executed so rapidly and +skilfully that the enemy had no time to prevent it. + +The cannonading ending, Tilly left the shelter of the heights and +advanced upon the Swedes. But so hot was their fire that he filed off +towards the right and fell impetuously upon the Saxons, whose ranks +quickly broke and fled before the fierce charge. Of the whole force of +the elector only a few regiments held their ground, but these did so in a +noble manner that saved the honor of Saxony. So confident now was Tilly +of victory that he sent off messengers in all haste to Munich and Vienna +with word that the day was his. + +He was too hasty. The unbroken army of Sweden, the most thoroughly +drilled body of soldiers then in Europe, was still to be dealt with. +Pappenheim, who commanded the imperial left, charged with his whole +force of cavalry upon the Swedish right, but it stood against him firm as +a rock. Here the king commanded in person, and repulsed seven successive +charges of the impetuous Pappenheim, driving him at last from the field +with broken and decimated ranks. + +In the meantime Tilly, having routed the small remnant of the Saxons, +turned upon the left wing of the Swedes with the prestige of victory to +animate his troops. This wing Gustavus, on seeing the repulse of his +allies, had reinforced with three regiments, covering the flank left +exposed by the flight of the Saxons. + +Gustav Horn commanded here, and met the attack with a spirited +resistance, materially aided by the musketeers who were interspersed +among the squadrons of horse. While the contest went on and the vigor of +the attack was showing signs of weakening, King Gustavus, having put +Pappenheim to rout, wheeled to the left and by a sharp attack captured +the heights on which the enemy's artillery was planted. A short struggle +gave him possession of the guns and soon Tilly's army was being rent with +the fire of its own cannon. + +This flank attack by artillery, coming in aid of the furious onset of the +Swedes, quickly threw the imperial ranks into confusion. Hitherto deemed +invincible, Tilly's whole army broke into wild disorder, a quick retreat +being its only hope. The only portion of it yet standing firm was a +battalion of four veteran regiments, which had never yet fled the field +and were determined never to do so. + +Closing their ranks, they forced their way by a fierce charge through the +opposing army and gained a small thicket, where they held their own +against the Swedes until night, when only six hundred of them remained. +With the retreat of this brave remnant the battle was at an end, the +remainder of Tilly's army being then in full flight, actively pursued by +the Swedish cavalry, which kept close upon their tracks until the +darkness of night spread over the field. + +On all sides the bells of the villages pealed out the tidings of the +victory, and the people poured forth in pursuit of the fleeing foe, +giving short shrift to the unhappy fugitives who fell into their hands. +Eleven thousand of Tilly's men had fallen and more than five thousand, +including the wounded, were held as prisoners. On the other side the +Saxons had lost about two thousand, but of the Swedes only about seven +hundred had fallen. The camp and artillery of the enemy had fallen into +the hands of Gustavus, and more than a hundred standards had been taken. +The rout was so complete that Tilly had left with him only about six +hundred men and Pappenheim less than fifteen hundred. Thus was destroyed +that formidable army which had long been the terror of Germany. + +As for Tilly himself, chance alone left him his life. Exhausted by his +wounds and summoned to surrender by a Swedish captain of horse, he +refused. In an instant more he would have been cut down, when a pistol +shot laid low the Swede. But though saved in body, he was lost in spirit, +utterly depressed and shaken by the defeat which had wiped out, as he +thought, the memory of all his past exploits. + +Though he recovered from his wounds, he never regained his former +cheerfulness and good fortune seemed to desert him, and in a second +battle with Gustavus on the Lech he was mortally wounded, dying a few +days later. + +As for Gustavus, he had won imperishable renown as a military leader. All +Germany seemed to lie open before him and it appeared as if nothing could +prevent a triumphant march upon Vienna. He had proved himself the ablest +captain and tactician of the age, his device of small, rapidly moving +brigades and flexible squadrons being the death-blow of the solid and +unwieldy columns of previous wars. And his victory formed an epoch in +history as saving the cause of Protestantism in Germany. + +The emperor, in despair, called again into his service the disgraced and +disgruntled Wallenstein, granting him extraordinary powers. But this +great captain also was beaten by Gustavus on the field of Lutzen, where +the career of the Swedish hero came to an untimely end. His renown as a +great soldier will live long in history. + + + + +_CHARLES X. AND THE INVASION OF DENMARK._ + + +When Charles X., nephew of Gustavus Adolphus, succeeded Christina, the +daughter of Gustavus, on the throne, the "Thirty Years' War" was at an +end, but new wars awaited the new king. Sweden had won large possessions +on the southern shores of the Baltic and had become one of the leading +powers of Europe. But Charles found these southern provinces hard to +hold, having to battle for them with Russia and Poland. + +A worthy successor of his great uncle, Charles showed his warlike ability +by a rapid march into Poland and the overthrow of its army by a three +days' battle at Warsaw. But his progress was checked by a new and dark +cloud which appeared upon the sky. Suddenly and unexpectedly, on the 2d +of May, 1657, Denmark declared war against Sweden, and at the same time +an Austrian army invaded Poland with the purpose of aiding that kingdom +and destroying the Swedish army. + +This double attack left Charles in a quandary. An able and experienced +soldier, who had learned the trade of war in Germany during Queen +Christina's reign, he was well fitted to deal with one foe, but could not +readily cope with two widely separated ones. He therefore determined to +abandon Poland, though leaving garrisons in its more important cities, +and devote his attention to Denmark. This Danish war had much in it of +interest, and showed that the new Swedish king had been taught in the +best school of the military art. + +Frederick III. of Denmark had declared war without making preparations +for it, fancying that Charles would be forced to remain with his army in +Poland and that he would have abundant time to act. He quickly learned +his mistake. With an army of eight thousand well-trained veterans Charles +marched at all speed from Poland, and a few months after war was declared +stood with his compact little army on Denmark's shores. + +Taken by surprise, the Danish general, Bilbe, retreated hastily northward +and the whole peninsula of Jutland was quickly overrun by the Swedes. +Bilbe had much the larger army, but they were mainly raw recruits, and he +dared not face the veterans of the Thirty Years' War. The Danes had +projected an invasion of Sweden, for which they had been deliberately +preparing, and were overwhelmed to find their army in retreat and a force +of six thousand men closely besieged in the Fredericia fortress. A night +attack by General Vrangel won this stronghold for the Swedes, with its +garrison and a large amount of arms and provisions. + +So far the movement of Charles had been brilliantly successful, but his +position was very dangerous. Enemies were advancing on him from various +sides, a Polish army having invaded Pomerania, an Austrian army having +advanced into Prussia, while the elector of Brandenburg had joined his +enemies. His ally, England, had promised to aid him with a fleet, but it +failed to appear, and the situation was growing daily more critical. From +his awkward position he was rescued by a combination of daring and the +favoring influences of nature. + +The winter of 1658 proved extraordinarily cold. Never within the memory +of man had such bitter weather been known. The sea that flowed between +the Danish islands was tightly frozen, a natural bridge of ice connecting +them with one another and the mainland. With bold resolution King Charles +determined to cross to the island of Fyen. + +The enterprise was full of risk. The ice swayed perilously beneath the +marching hosts. At places it broke. But the island shore was safely +reached, the troops guarding it were beaten, and soon the whole island +was in Charles's possession. + +But a more daring and perilous enterprise confronted the king. There was +a broader arm of the sea to cross, the Great Belt, about twelve miles +wide. The ice was examined and tested by the quartermaster-general, who +said that he would answer with his life for its being strong enough to +bear the army. + +King Charles heard this tidings with delight, clapping his hands +energetically and exclaiming: + +"Now, Brother Frederick, we will converse with each other in good +Swedish." + +Dahlberg, the quartermaster-general, testified to his confidence by +riding at the head of the column over the wide field of ice, the army +following in safety to the coast of Zealand. Meeting with no opposition, +Charles and his army were soon near Copenhagen, whose fortifications were +in bad condition, and the danger of losing his capital was so imminent +that Frederick was glad to accept the severe terms of peace which Charles +offered him. These included the surrender of half a dozen Danish +provinces to Sweden and the independence of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp +from Danish control. Denmark had paid sorely for making a declaration of +war with no preparation to carry it out. + +But Charles X. was so eager for war that in the end he lost most of what +he had gained. He was full of schemes of conquest in Germany, but feared +that Denmark might take advantage of his absence with his army to take +revenge for her losses. The fleets of Holland were threatening the coasts +of the Baltic Sea, and Charles sought to make a treaty with Denmark which +would close this sea to foreign ships. Denmark refused to enter such an +alliance and Charles thereupon determined to make a complete conquest of +that kingdom. + +Breaking without warning the treaty of peace he had recently made, he +suddenly landed with an army on the coast of Zealand. By this unwarranted +and stealthy assault he filled the souls of the Danes with the courage of +despair, changed Holland from a secret to an open enemy, and lost the +most of his former gains. + +The Danish people, threatened with the loss of their independence, flew +to arms, determined to defend their country to the last extremity. +Charles, his army being small, delayed his attack upon Copenhagen, which +might easily have been taken by an immediate assault. When he appeared +before it he found all its people converted into armed soldiers, while +King Frederick declared that he was ready to die in his capital like a +bird in its nest. Every soul in the city burned with patriotism, and +nobles, burghers, and laborers alike manned the walls, while even women +could be seen wielding spade and axe in the repair of the neglected +defences. When the siege began the citizens made several successful +sallies against their foes and hope arose in their breasts. + +But their position soon grew critical, the Swedes seizing the castle of +Cronberg and other points commanding the Sound and pushing forward their +lines until they had possession of the outer works of the city. The great +weakness of the citizens lay in the absence of provisions, which grew so +scarce that they would have had to surrender from sheer stress of hunger +but for the activity of their allies. + +The Dutch had enlisted in their cause, and a fleet sent from Holland +under Admirals Opdam and DeWitte passed Cronberg and other fortifications +held by the Swedes, met the Swedish fleet under Admiral Vrangel in the +Sound and fought a bloody battle for the mastery. For six hours the +thunder of cannon echoed from the neighboring shores, then the Swedes +were put to flight and a favoring wind bore the Dutch ships triumphantly +to the beleagured city, bringing food and help to the half-starved +defenders. + +Their coming saved Copenhagen. Charles, baffled in his efforts, drew +back, and threw up works of defence ten miles from the city. Suddenly the +tide of fortune had turned and began to run strongly against him. Into +Holstein pressed an invading army of Austrians, Poles, and +Brandenburgers. The Swedes were forced to evacuate Jutland. The newly won +provinces were ready to revolt. Part of those held in Norway were taken +by the Danes, and the Swedish garrison in the island of Bornholm was +annihilated by a sudden revolt of the inhabitants. + +When winter came and the waters were closed by ice against invading +fleets, the Swedish king determined to make a vigorous effort to take the +city by assault. The attack was made on the night of February 10, 1659, +Generals Stenbock and Spane leading a storming party against the +fortifications. Fortunately for the people, they had information of the +coming assault and were fully prepared for defence, and a desperate +struggle took place at the walls and in the frozen ditches. The fire of a +multitude of cannon served to light up the scene, and the attacking +Swedes found themselves met with the frantic courage of men and women +fighting for their homes. A shower of bullets and stones burst upon them, +many women taking part, throwing burning brands, and pouring boiling tar +upon their heads. In the end the Swedes were forced to draw back, leaving +two thousand dead and wounded in the hands of their foes. + +Relinquishing his attack upon the city, Charles now turned furiously upon +the small islands of Laaland, Falster, Moen, and Langeland, which had +offended him by supplying provisions for the city, and subjected them to +all the horrors of invasion by troops to whom every excess of outrage was +allowed. Yet new misfortunes gathered round him, the peninsula of Fyen +being taken by the allies of Denmark, while the Swedish troops near +Nyberg were attacked and taken prisoners, their commander alone escaping +in a small boat. + +The intervention offered by the neighboring powers was refused by the +proud Swedish king, who, surrounded by dangers on all sides, now issued a +call for a meeting of the estates of the realm at Gothenburg, while at +the same time preparing to invade Norway as a part of the Danish +dominions. At this interval he was suddenly taken sick and died soon +after reaching Gothenburg. A treaty followed with the widowed queen, +regent of Sweden, and Frederick preserved his realm, though not without +loss of territory. + + + + +_CHARLES XII. THE FIREBRAND OF SWEDEN._ + + +On the 27th of June, 1682, was born one of the most extraordinary of men, +the Alexander of modern times, one of those meteors of conquest which +have appeared at rare intervals in the history of the world. Grandson +alike of Charles X. of Sweden and Frederick III. of Denmark, Charles XII. +of Sweden united in himself all the soldierly qualities of his ancestors, +his chief fault being that he possessed them in too intense a degree, +being possessed by a sort of military madness, an overweaning passion for +great exploits and wide-spread conquests. In his career Sweden reached +its greatest height of power, and with his death it fell back into its +original peninsular status. + +His daring activity began almost with his birth. At seven years of age he +could manage a horse, and the violent exercises in which he delighted to +indulge gave him the vigorous constitution necessary for the great +fatigues of his later life, while he developed an obstinacy which made +him a terror to his advisers in later years. + +Charles was extraordinary in the fact that he performed the most +remarkable of his exploits before he reached the age of manhood, and in a +just sense may be given the name of the boy conqueror. His mother died +when he was eleven years of age and his father when he was fifteen, his +grandmother being appointed regent of the kingdom, with a council of five +nobles for her advisers. + +Sweden, when he came to the throne, had risen to a high rank among the +powers of Europe. In addition to its original dominion, it possessed the +whole of Finland, the finest part of Pomerania, on the southern shores of +the Baltic, and also Livonia, Carelia, Ingria, Wismar, Viborg, the +Duchies of Bremen and Verden, and other realms, all of long possession +and secured by conquest and treaty. But it had dangerous enemies with +whom to deal, especially Peter the Great of Russia, then bent on bringing +his barbarian dominions into line with the great powers of the continent. + +Such was the inheritance of the fifteen-year-old king, who quickly showed +the material of which he was composed. One day in the first year of his +reign, after reviewing a number of regiments, he was seen by his special +favorite, Charles Piper, in a spell of abstraction. + +"May I ask your Majesty," said Piper, "of what you are thinking so +deeply?" + +"I am thinking," replied the boy monarch, "that I am capable of +commanding those brave fellows; and I don't choose that either they or I +shall receive orders from a woman." + +He referred in this irreverent and boastful speech to his grandmother, +the regent. + +He was crowned on the 24th of December following his father's death, the +ceremony being performed by the archbishop of Upsala. But when the +prelate, having anointed the prince in the customary manner, held the +crown in his hand ready to put it upon the new king's head, Charles took +it from his hand and crowned himself, his eyes fixed sternly upon the +dismayed churchman. This act of self-willed insubordination was applauded +by the people, who also received him with loud acclamations when he rode +into Stockholm on a horse shod with silver and with a sceptre in his hand +and a crown on his head. The oath of fidelity to his people, usual on +such occasions, was not taken, and in fact Charles had no thought of +being faithful to anything but his own ambitious designs and his +obstinate self-will. + +He soon showed his unfitness for the duties of quiet government. The +money collected by his father was quickly squandered by him, and with the +eagerness of an untutored boy he plunged into every kind of daring +amusement that presented itself, risking his life in break-neck rides, +mock fights, bear hunts, and other dangerous sports and exercises. He +also gave much attention to military manoeuvres, his time being spent +in all sorts of violent activities, with little thought to the duties of +government, these being confided to his chief friend and confidant, +Charles Piper. + +The tidings of the manner in which the new king of Sweden occupied +himself spread to the neighboring monarchs, who, fancying that they had +nothing to fear from a frivolous and pleasure-loving boy, deemed this a +good opportunity to recover some of the lands conquered from them by the +preceding Swedish kings. A secret understanding to this effect was +entered into by Frederick IV. of Denmark, King Augustus of Poland, and +Peter the Great, czar of Russia, and the ball was opened early in 1700 by +an invasion of Livonia on the part of the Polish king, while the Danes +attacked Holstein-Gottorp, ruled by Charles's brother-in-law, taking +Gottorp and laying siege to Tonnigen. Peter of Russia was the most +dangerous of the three confederates, he being then full of the idea of +introducing western civilization among his rude subjects and making +Russia a sea power. To accomplish this he was eager to gain a foothold on +the Baltic by the conquest of Finland. + +The kingly conspirators, who had begun war against Sweden without a +declaration, little dreamed of the hornet's nest they were arousing. +Filled with consternation, some of the Swedish councillors of state +proposed to avert the danger by negotiation. Charles, then a youth of +eighteen and of whose real metal no one dreamed, listened to these words +with a grave face, and then rose and spoke: + +"Gentlemen, I am resolved never to begin an unjust war, nor ever to end a +just one but by the destruction of my enemies. My resolution is fixed. I +will attack the first that shall declare war against me, and having +conquered him, I hope I shall be able to strike terror into the rest." + +The old councillors were surprised by the resolute demeanor of the young +king, who seemed suddenly transformed into a man before them. They little +knew the boy. Familiar with the careers of Alexander and Caesar, he was +inspired with the ambition to attempt the role of a great conqueror and +prove himself one of the world's ablest soldiers. + +Forsaking his favorite sports, he set himself with intense energy to +prepare for the war which had been precipitated upon him, and sent word +to the Duke of Holstein that he would speedily come to his assistance, +eight thousand men being at once despatched to Pomerania for this +purpose. Instantly the natives were stirred up, Central Germany sending +troops to reinforce the Danes, while England and Holland sent fleets to +aid Sweden and seek to preserve the balance of power in the north. + +Such were the preliminary steps to Charles's first great campaign, one of +the most remarkable in the whole history of war. On the 8th of May, 1700, +he left Stockholm, in which city he was never to set foot again. With a +large fleet of Swedish, Dutch, and English vessels he proposed to attack +Copenhagen, thus striking at the very citadel of Danish power. The +assault began with a bombardment of the city, but, seeing that this was +having little effect, Charles determined to attack it by land and sea, +taking command of the land forces himself. + +A landing was made at the village of Humlebek, Charles, in his impatience +to land, leaping into the water, which came nearly to his waist, and +wading ashore. Others followed his example, the march through the waves +being made amid a shower of bullets from the enemy. Springing to land, +the young king waved his sword joyously above his head and asked Major +Stuart, who reached the shore beside him, what was the whistling sound he +heard. + +"It is the noise of the musket balls which they are firing at your +Majesty," said the major. + +"That is the very best music I ever heard," he replied, "and I shall +never care for any other as long as I live." + +As he spoke, a bullet struck the major in the shoulder and on his other +side a lieutenant fell dead, but Charles escaped unscathed. + +The Danes were soon put to flight and Charles made the arrangements for +the encamping of his troops with the skill and celerity of one trained in +the art of warfare, instead of a boy on his first campaign and to whom +the whistle of a musket ball was a sound unknown. He showed his ability +and judgment also by the strict discipline he maintained, winning the +good will of the peasantry by paying for all supplies, instead of taking +them by force in the ordinary fashion of the times. + +While the camp was being made and redoubts thrown up towards the town, +the fleet was sent back to Sweden and soon returned with a reinforcement +of nine thousand men, who had marched in haste to the shore and were +drawn up ready to embark. The Danish fleet looked on at this movement, +but was not strong enough to interfere. + +The rapidity with which this invasion had been made struck the people of +Copenhagen with terror and they sent an embassy to Charles, begging him +not to bombard the city. He received them at the head of his guards, +while they fell upon their knees before him. His ultimatum to the +petitioners was that he would spare the city on the payment of four +hundred thousand rix-dollars. They were also commanded to supply his camp +with provisions, for which he promised they would be honestly paid. They +did not dare refuse, and were very agreeably surprised when Charles kept +his word and paid good prices for all he got. + +Charles now sent word to King Frederick that he had made war only to +require him to make peace, and he must agree to act justly towards the +Duke of Holstein or the city of Copenhagen would be destroyed and his +dominions laid waste with fire and sword. + +Frederick, utterly taken aback by the warlike vigor of King Charles, was +very glad to accept this proposal and thus to escape from the dangerous +position in which he had placed himself, and the negotiations were driven +through by Charles with the same abrupt energy he had shown in his +military movements. In less than six weeks from the beginning of the war +it was ended and the treaty made, a surprising achievement for the first +campaign of an eighteen-year-old warrior. The treaty was favorable to +Frederick, Charles exacting nothing for himself, but demanding that the +Duke of Holstein should be repaid the expenses of the war. + +The boy king had reason for haste, for the town of Riga, in his +dominions, was being invested by a combined army of Russians, Poles, and +Saxons. The treaty was no sooner signed than he sailed in all haste to +its relief. It had made a gallant and nearly desperate defence under +General Dahlberg, but the besiegers did not wait for the impact of +Charles's army, hastily retreating and leaving the field open to him for +a great feat of arms, the most famous one in his career. + +The town of Narva, in Ingermanland, was then invested by a great Russian +army, sixty thousand--some say eighty thousand--strong, the Czar Peter +being in supreme command, the Duc de Croy commanding under him. But the +unskilled Russians had not proved very successful in the art of +besieging, having failed for six weeks to take a city that was very +poorly fortified and whose governor, Baron Herre, had but a thousand +regular troops in his garrison. + +It was in mid-November, 1700, that the czar heard that the Swedish king +had landed an army of about thirty-two thousand men, and was coming to +the relief of Narva. Not content with his great force, Peter hurried +forward a second army of thirty thousand men, proposing to enclose King +Charles between these two hordes and hoping thus to annihilate him. He +reckoned without his host. Charles landed at Pernow and made a forced +march to Reval, followed by his cavalry, fourteen thousand strong, but +with only four thousand foot soldiers. + +Marching, in his usual ardent manner, in the van of his army, he did not +wait for the rear, making his way onward by nearly impassable roads and +coming before the outposts of the supplementary Russian army with only +eight thousand men. With apparently utter indifference to the vast +disproportion in numbers, the Swedish firebrand rushed forward, the +Russians, not dreaming of such mad temerity, being sure that he had his +whole army behind him. + +The advance guard of the Russians, five thousand strong, was posted in a +rocky pass where a body of a hundred resolute men might have checked the +progress of an army, yet it fled in dismay before the onset of the +Swedes. The twenty thousand men behind them shared their panic and joined +in their flight, terror and confusion pervading the whole army. In two +days' time Charles carried all their posts, winning what might have been +claimed as three distinct victories, yet not delaying an hour in his +advance. Having thus disposed of the army sent to intercept him, Charles +marched with all speed to Narva, leaving his main army still far in the +rear. With his eight thousand men, exhausted with their long march and +their hard fight, he suddenly appeared before the czar's great force of +sixty or eighty thousand men and one hundred and fifty cannon. + +Giving his weary men scarcely any time for rest, Charles advanced against +the Russians with the impetuosity which had so far marked his career. A +general warned him that the danger was very great. + +"What!" he replied. "Do you not think that with my eight thousand brave +Swedes I may easily beat eighty thousand Russians?" + +Whether the general believed so or not, he did not venture any further +remonstrances, and, at the signal of two musket shots and the war-cry of +"With the aid of God!" the king and his handful of men marched forwards. +It was now about mid-day on the 20th of November, 1700. + +A breach being made with their cannon in the Russian works, Charles led +his men on with fixed bayonets, a furious snow-fall behind them driving +full in the face of the enemy and making their position a very difficult +one. After an engagement of three hours the entrenchments were stormed on +all sides, the right wing of the Russians fleeing to the Narva and +crowding the bridge with its retreating hosts. So dense was the mass that +the bridge gave way beneath them, precipitating them into the stream, in +which eighteen thousand of the panic-stricken wretches were drowned. The +left wing then broke and fled in utter confusion, so many prisoners being +taken that the best the captor could do was to disarm them and let them +disperse where they would. + +Thus ended this extraordinary battle, almost without a parallel in +history and spreading the fame of the victor widely over Europe. For a +boy little over eighteen years of age to achieve such a feat, defeating +with eight thousand men an army of nearly a hundred thousand, raised him +in men's minds to the level of the most famous conquerors. Unfortunately +for himself, it redoubled his self-will and vanity, the adulation given +him leading him into a course of wild and aimless invasion that brought +upon him eventually misfortune and defeat and nearly ruined his kingdom. + +Having disposed of two of the enemies who had plotted his destruction, in +the following year Charles advanced against the third, King Augustus of +Poland, led his victorious army into that kingdom, took Warsaw, its +capital city, by storm, and in the battles of Klissov and Pultusk so +thoroughly overthrew the forces of Augustus that he was forced to give up +the throne of Poland and retire into his native dominion of Saxony, a +Polish noble being proclaimed king in his place. The Swedish conqueror +even pursued Augustus into Saxony, defeated his armies wherever met, and +forced him at last to beg humbly for peace. + +Such was the first era of the brilliant career of the young Swedish +firebrand of war, who in four years had utterly overthrown his enemies +and won a reputation for splendid military genius which placed him on a +level, in the opinion of the military critics of the age, with Alexander +the Great, whom he had taken as the model of his career. + +But Charles had two great enemies with whom to contend, and as a result +his later history was one of decline and fall, in which he lost all that +he had won and remained for years practically a prisoner in a foreign +land. + +One of these enemies was himself. His faults of character--inordinate +ambition, inflexible obstinacy, reckless daring--were such as in the end +to negative his military genius and lead to the destruction of the great +power he had so rapidly built up. The other was Czar Peter of Russia. It +was unfortunate for the youthful warrior that fate had pitted him against +a greater man than himself, Peter the Great, who, while lacking his +military ability, had the other elements of a great character which were +wanting in him, prudence, cool judgment, persistence in a fixed course of +action. While the career of Charles was one of glitter and coruscation, +dazzling to men's imaginations, that of Peter was one of cool political +judgment, backed by the resources of a great country and the staying +qualities of a great mind. What would have been the outcome of Charles's +career if pitted against almost any other monarch of Russia that one +could name it is difficult to imagine. But pitted against Peter the Great +he was like a foaming billow hurling itself against an impregnable rock. + +While it is not our purpose to tell the whole story of the exploits of +Charles XII., yet his life is so interesting from the point of view of +military history that a brief epitome of its remainder may be given. + +After his great victories Charles remained in Saxony, entertaining the +throng of princes that sought his friendship and alliance and the crowd +of flatterers who came to shine in his reflected glory. For six years in +all he remained in Poland and Saxony, fighting and entertaining, while +Peter the Great was actively engaged in carrying out the important +purpose he had in mind, that of extending the dominion of Russia to the +shores of the Baltic and gaining an outlet on the northern seas. As an +essential part of his purpose he began to build a new city on the banks +of the Neva, to serve as a great port and centre of commerce. + +It was long before Charles awakened to the fact that Peter was coming +threateningly near to the Swedish territories, and when he finally +realized the purpose of his great enemy and set out to circumvent it, he +did so without any definite plan. He decided, as Napoleon did a century +later, to plunge into the heart of the country and attack its capital +city, Moscow, trusting by doing so to bring his enemy to terms. In this +he failed as signally as Napoleon did in his later invasion. + +In June, 1708, with an army of forty-three thousand men, Charles crossed +the Beresina and soon after met and defeated the Russian army near +Smolensko. He considered this his most brilliant victory, and, as we are +told by Voltaire, Peter now made overtures for peace, to which Charles, +with the arrogance of a victor, replied, "I will treat with the Czar at +Moscow." + +He never reached Moscow, but was constrained to turn southward to the +Ukraine, where he hoped to gain the aid of the Cossacks, under their +chief, Mazeppa, a bitter enemy of the czar. In this march his men +suffered terribly, more than half of them dying from hunger and cold. He +had met that same enemy which Napoleon afterwards met in Russia, a winter +of bitter severity. In the spring he had only about eighteen thousand +Swedes and about as many Cossacks under his command, but he persisted in +his designs. During the wintry cold he had shared in the privations of +his men, eating the same coarse food, while his only means of warming his +tent was to have heated cannon balls rolled along the floor. + +The crisis came in the summer of 1709. Peter, who was keenly on the +alert, had succeeded in winning to his side the Cossack chiefs, leaving +Mazeppa without any followers. Then he intercepted the Swedish general +Levenhaupt, who was marching with a new army to the aid of his king, and +overwhelmed him with an immense force of Russians. Losing all his baggage +and stores and more than half his men, Levenhaupt succeeded in reaching +the king's camp with only six thousand battered and worn soldiers. + +Charles had now only eighteen thousand men, and was in such sore need of +food and clothing that he laid siege to the city of Pultowa, hoping to +obtain supplies by its capture. Here he was met by Peter with an army +three times his strength, and in the decisive battle that followed +Charles was wounded and his army utterly defeated, only three thousand +escaping death or capture. Charles himself narrowly escaped the latter, +and only by a hazardous and adventurous flight over the steppes reached +the town of Bender, in the Turkish realm. + +[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, +N.Y. THE RETURN OF CHARLES XII. OF SWEDEN.] + +Here the sultan, the bitter enemy of Russia, gave him refuge and treated +him with much kindness, though he found the young Swede a very +troublesome guest. In fact, at Charles's suggestion, the sultan went to +war with Russia and got the czar into such a tight place that he only +escaped by bribing the Turkish vizier. + +Infuriated at his enemy's escape, Charles became so violent and unruly +that the sultan tried to get rid of him, giving him large sums of money +to pay his debts and make preparations to leave. When Charles spent all +this and asked for more the sultan grew so angry that he ordered the +arrest of his troublesome guest. It needed an army of men to take him, +for he locked himself in his house and fought furiously with the few +hundred of men under his command. Many Turkish soldiers were killed and +he was only captured by setting fire to his house and seizing him as he +fled from the flames. + +The "Iron Head," as the Turks called him from his obstinacy, was guarded +in a Turkish village for ten months by a force of Janizaries. Most of +this time was spent in bed on pretence that he was dangerously ill. At +the end of that time, finding that he could get no more help from the +Turks, he resolved to escape. Accompanied by two persons only, he rode +in the incredibly short period of fourteen days from Adrianople through +Austria, Hungary, and Germany, reaching the Swedish post of Stralsund on +November 7, 1713. Doubtless the sultan was glad to hear of his escape, +since he had borne with his restless and unwelcome guest for more than +four years. + +When he came to the gates of Stralsund he presented himself to the guard +under the name of Captain Peter Frisch. The guard was long in recognizing +him, for he was haggard and worn in face and ragged and dirty in person, +having never changed his clothes and rarely left the saddle, except to +change horses, during his long and weary ride. + +His long and needless absence in Turkey had left Sweden exposed to its +enemies and it had severely suffered, the greater part of its territory +south of the Baltic being seized, while Sweden itself had been attacked +by the Danes and Saxons and only saved by an army of peasants, so poorly +equipped and clothed that they were nicknamed the "Wooden Shoes." + +As for Charles, his era of brilliant invasion was over and he was obliged +to fight in self-defence. When he reached Stralsund it was under siege by +an army of Russians, Saxons, and Danes. Taking command here, he defended +it obstinately until the walls were blown up and the outworks reduced to +ashes, when he went on board a small yacht and crossed the Baltic safely +to Sweden, though a Russian admiral was scouring that sea to prevent his +passage. + +A few words must suffice to complete the story of this remarkable man. He +found Sweden largely depleted of men and money and in the new army which +he sought to raise he was obliged to take boys of fifteen into the ranks. +With these he proposed, in the cold winter of 1716, to invade Denmark by +leading an army over the Sound to the Danish islands, but a thaw set in +and put an end to this adventurous project. + +Then he invaded Norway, as a part of the Danish realm, and after some +unsuccessful efforts, laid siege to the fortress of Frederikshald. Here +the end of his strange career was reached. On the morning of December 11, +1718, while leaning over the side of a breastwork and giving directions +to the men in the trenches, he was seen to stagger, his head sinking on +his breast. The officers who ran to his aid found him breathing his last +breath. A bullet had struck him, passing through his head and ending his +remarkable career at the early age of thirty-six. + +With the death of this famous soldier ended the military glory and +greatness of Sweden. As a result of his mad ambition and his obstinate +persistence in Turkey, Sweden lost all the possessions won in previous +reigns, losing them never to be regained. And with him also vanished the +absolute rule of the Swedish kings. For with his death the nobles +regained their lost influence and drew up a compact in which the crown +was deprived of all its overruling control and the diet of the nobles +became the dominant power in the state. + + + + +_THE ENGLISH INVADERS AND THE DANISH FLEET._ + + +The Napoleonic wars filled all Europe with tumult and disorder, the +far-northern realms of Norway and Sweden and the far-eastern one of +Turkey alone escaping from being drawn into the maelstrom of conflict. +Denmark, the Scandinavian kingdom nearest the region of conflict, did not +escape, but was made the victim of wars with which it had no concern to a +disastrous extent. + +Christian VII. was then the Danish king, but he was so feeble, both in +mind and body, that the Crown Prince Frederick was made regent or +joint-ruler in 1784, and was practically king until his father's death in +1808, when he came to the throne as Frederick VI. Count Bernstorf was +minister of foreign affairs and kept Denmark at peace until his death in +1799, when troubles at once broke out between Denmark and England. + +It was a different state of affairs now from that far-off time of Canute +and the vikings, when the Danes overran England and a Dane filled its +throne. The tide had long turned and Denmark was an almost helpless +victim in the hands of the great maritime island, which sought to control +the politics of the whole continent during the terrible struggle with +Napoleon. + +For some years the English made complaints against Denmark, saying that +it was carrying food and forage into French and German ports in defiance +of the laws of neutrality. As these laws were of English origin the Danes +did not feel inclined to submit to them, and after the death of Bernstorf +Danish men-of-war were sent to sea to protect their merchant vessels. + +Quarrels and hostile feeling arose from this, but the crisis did not come +until the summer of 1800, when Russia, Sweden, and Prussia formed a +treaty for an "armed neutrality" and invited Denmark to join it. England +at once took alarm. While the other nations were powerful enough to defy +her, Denmark was poor and quite unprepared for warlike operations, and +when, in the spring of 1801, a fleet under Admirals Parker and Nelson +appeared on her waters she was by no means in readiness for such a +demonstration. + +Taken by surprise as they were, however, the Danes had no thought of +weakly submitting to this hostile movement, and did their best to prevent +the English from passing the Sound. Their chief defence was the fortress +of Cronberg, near Elsinore, where heavy cannon were mounted to command +the narrow strait here separating Sweden and Denmark. But by closely +hugging the Swedish coast Parker kept beyond the range of these guns, and +in April, 1801, cast anchor in the harbor of Copenhagen. His fleet +consisted of fifty-one vessels, twenty of them being line-of-battle +ships. + +Alarmed by the coming of the fleet and taking advantage of the delays in +its movement, the Danes had made every possible preparation for a +vigorous resistance. Strong batteries defended the city and an imposing +array of heavily armed ships, drawn up behind a shoal, presented a +formidable line of defence. + +Some delay took place, against the wish of the fiery Nelson, who was +second in command of the fleet. Nelson was eager for an immediate attack, +and finally Parker gave way and left the matter in his hands. + +Nelson was in command of the Elephant, but finding that ship too large +for the waters before him he removed his flag to the St. George and led +the way to the attack with the smaller vessels of the fleet, Parker +remaining at anchor some miles distant with the larger vessels. + +A fierce and bloody conflict ensued, lasting from four to five hours. +Nelson closed on his foe by getting within the shoal, but he met with a +stout and vigorous resistance, the Danish seamen, under their able +commander Olfert Fischer, fighting with the daring for which their people +had been noted in the far past. Three times the aged Fischer left one +burning ship to hoist his flag on another, and several of the younger +captains fought their ships against Nelson's larger vessels as long as +the shattered hulks kept above water. + +So protracted and obstinate was the defence that Parker grew alarmed and +signalled Nelson to retreat. This was the last signal to be thought of +by a man like Nelson and, clapping the glass to his blind eye, he said, +"I really do not see the signal," and kept on fighting. + +Nelson was between two fires, that from the shore batteries and that from +the ships, and though he destroyed the first line of the Danish defence +and threatened the capital with serious injury, the batteries were not +silenced and the English ships were suffering severely. + +He therefore sent an English officer on shore with a flag of truce, +declaring that unless the Danes on shore ceased firing he would burn the +ships in his hands without being able to save the crews, and pointing out +that these crews were the worst sufferers, as they received a great part +of the fire of both parties. + +A suspension of hostilities was agreed upon to permit of the prisoners +being removed, and in the end the crown prince, against the wishes of his +commanders, stopped all firing and agreed to discuss terms of peace. Thus +ended a battle which Nelson said was the fiercest and best contested of +the many in which he had taken part. + +The peace that followed lasted for several years, and Denmark, freed from +connection with the hostilities existing in southern Europe, rapidly +increased in trading activity. During these years, indeed, the Danes +served as the commerce carriers for the other countries of Europe, and +this prosperous state of affairs lasted till 1807, when new troubles +arose and England repeated her violent act of 1801. + +The English government either had, or fancied it had, good grounds for +suspecting that Denmark had joined Alexander of Russia in a treaty with +France, and on the plea that the fleet of Denmark might be used in the +cause of the French emperor, an array of fifty-four ships of war was sent +to demand its immediate delivery to England. + +Denmark was taken more fully by surprise than before. Its army was absent +in Holstein to guard against an attack which was feared from Germany, and +Copenhagen was thus left without protection. General Peymann refused to +comply with the preposterous demand of the English admiral, whereupon an +army of thirty-three thousand men was landed and the city attacked by +land and sea. + +For three days a fierce bombardment continued, and not until a large +portion of the almost unprotected city was laid in ashes and the +remainder threatened with like destruction did the general consent to +admit the English troops into the citadel of Frederikshavn. + +The outcome of this brigand-like attack, which had nothing more definite +than a suspicion to warrant it, and is ranked in history as of the same +type with the burning of Washington some years later, was the seizure of +the entire Danish fleet by the assailants. The ships carried off included +eighteen ships-of-the-line, twenty-one frigates, six brigs and +twenty-five gunboats, with a large amount of naval stores of all kinds. + +The act was no more warrantable than were the viking descents upon +England centuries before. The latter were the acts of barbarian +freebooters, and England, in an age of boasted civilization, put herself +in the same position. The Danes were nearly crushed by the blow and many +years passed away before their bitter resentment at the outrage +decreased. + +[Illustration: KRONBERG CASTLE ON THE SOUND, DENMARK.] + +The political result of it was that Denmark allied herself with Napoleon, +a measure which gave that unhappy land no small amount of trouble and +distress and led in 1814 to the loss of Norway, which for four hundred +years had been united with the Danish realm. Norway was handed over to +Swedish rule, while England took for her share of the spoils the island +of Heligoland, which she wanted to secure for the command of the Elbe. +Thus the birds of prey gathered round and despoiled the weak realm of +Denmark, which was to be further robbed in later years. + + + + +_A FRENCH SOLDIER BECOMES KING OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY._ + + +The career of Napoleon, which passed over Europe like a tornado, made +itself felt in the Scandinavian peninsula, where it gave rise to radical +changes. In the preceding tale its effect upon Denmark was shown. While +the wars which desolated Europe did not reach the soil of Sweden and +Norway, yet these countries were deeply affected and their relations +decidedly changed. + +The work began in 1808 in the obstinate folly of Gustavus IV., who +defiantly kept up an active trade with England when Russia and Prussia +had closed their ports against British ships. As a result Russia declared +war against Sweden, sent an immense army into Finland, and after a +desperate struggle compelled the Swedes to evacuate that region. In this +way Sweden lost a great province which it had held for six hundred years. + +This was one result of a weak king's setting himself against the great +powers of Europe. By his lack of political good sense and his obstinacy +Sweden lost nearly half its territory and Gustavus lost his throne, for +the bitter indignation of the Swedes against him was such that he was +taken prisoner by conspirators and forced to sign a deed in which he +renounced the throne of Sweden for himself and his descendants. Not a +hand was raised to help him and he spent the remainder of his life as a +wandering exile. + +It was this series of events that in time brought a soldier of the French +army to the Swedish throne. How this came about is well worth the +telling. After the abdication of Gustavus, Duke Charles of Sodermanland +was elected king as Charles XIII., and as he had no children, a Danish +prince was chosen to succeed him. + +But this heir to the throne, Charles Augustus by name, died suddenly the +next year. The people believed he had been poisoned, and on the day of +the funeral, suspecting the haughty old Count Fersen of his death, they +seized him and in their fury literally tore him to pieces. + +It was now proposed to take the brother of the deceased prince as heir to +the throne, but little could be done in those days without the Corsican +emperor being consulted about it, and the young Baron Moerner was sent to +Paris to inform Napoleon of what was proposed. The youthful envoy was an +admirer of the conqueror, and thinking to please him he suggested that +one of the French generals should be chosen to rule over Sweden. + +Napoleon was highly gratified with the suggestion, but when the baron +named Marshal Jean Bernadotte as his choice the emperor was much less +pleased. He would much rather have chosen some one else, Bernadotte being +too independent in character to please him. Difficulties were thrown in +the way, but Moerner obtained Bernadotte's consent, and by his argument +that Sweden needed an able and experienced soldier to regain its old +power the Swedish Ricksdag was brought over to his side. + +In the end Napoleon gave his consent, and the marshal was elected Crown +Prince of Sweden. But the French emperor evidently doubted him still, for +on parting with him he used these significant farewell words: "Go, then, +and let us fulfil our several destinies." He had reason for his distrust, +as the events of later years showed. + +This selection ranks with the remarkable instances of the mutations of +fortune. The new crown prince had begun life as the son of a poor French +lawyer and in 1780, at the age of sixteen, entered the army as a common +soldier. When the wars of the Revolution began he had risen to the rank +of a sergeant, which was as high as a man of common birth could rise in +the old army of France. + +But he made rapid progress in the army of the Revolution, being a man of +great courage and unusual military genius. Under Napoleon, whose +discerning eye no soldier of ability escaped, Bernadotte became one of +the most successful of the French generals, was made governor of a +province, ambassador, and minister of war, and had much to do with +winning the great victories of Austerlitz, Jena, and Wagram. Finally he +was made a marshal of France and prince of Ponte Corvo in Italy. + +But Napoleon had doubts of him. He was too independent. He opposed the +emperor's ambitious plans and defended the liberties of the people, and +was distrusted by the conqueror for other causes. The astute Corsican +feared that he would not be the man to reduce Sweden to a province of +France, and the event proved that Napoleon was right. + +It was in 1810 that Crown Prince Bernadotte, who adopted the name of +Charles John as the title of his new rank, arrived in Sweden with his son +Oscar. The people were delighted with his appearance. A handsome and +imposing man, with black wavy hair, an eagle nose, keen, penetrating eyes +and the manner of one accustomed to command, also a clear and eloquent +speaker, polished in address and courteous in his dealings with all, they +felt that in him they had a true king; while his reputation as one of the +leading soldiers in Napoleon's great army gave them assurance that, if +war should arise, their armies would be ably led. + +Sweden, when Bernadotte set foot on its soil, was in a helpless state of +decadence, having become little better than a dependency of France. If +ever it needed a strong ruler then was the time, but Charles XIII. was +incapable as a monarch, and from the time of his landing the new crown +prince ruled the country as though there were no king on the throne. + +He at once renounced Catholicism and was admitted into the Lutheran +church, the state religion of Sweden. Proposing to consult the best +interests of his new country and not to rule as a vassal of Napoleon, he +was indignant when the emperor ordered that Sweden should declare war +against England. In the existing condition of the country he felt +compelled to submit, but he secretly advised the British government that +the declaration of war was a mere formality and not a gun was fired on +either side. + +He also made a secret alliance with Alexander of Russia. None of these +movements could be made public, for the Swedes were then fervent admirers +of Napoleon and hoped by his aid to gain the lost province of Finland and +win revenge upon Russia, their old enemy. Bernadotte saw farther than +they, feeling that the inordinate ambition of Napoleon must lead to his +downfall and that it was best for Sweden to have an anchor out to +leeward. But all these political deals had to be kept from the knowledge +of the Swedes. + +A change in public opinion came when Napoleon, suspecting the loyalty to +him of his former marshal, heaped insults upon Sweden, and finally, in +the beginning of 1812, invaded Swedish Pomerania, intending by this act +to frighten the Swedes into submission. Instead, he exasperated them and +lost their friendship, thus giving Bernadotte the opportunity he had +awaited. + +"Napoleon has himself thrown down the gauntlet, and I will take it up," +he said, and at once began to prepare for the struggle which he foresaw. + +With the incitement of the invasion of Pomerania the Crown Prince Charles +John--Prince Karl Johan, as the Swedes called him--began active +preparations for war. The army was largely increased, new levies being +raised and arms and equipment purchased, while alliances were made with +foreign powers. It came as a surprise to the Swedes when the fact leaked +out that it was not against Russia, but against France, that these +warlike movements were being made. + +Napoleon now, seeing the state of affairs his injudicious act had brought +about, sought to gain the friendship of Sweden, making alluring offers to +his late marshal. His change of front came too late. Bernadotte had no +confidence in him and came into closer relations with his enemies, +encouraging the perplexed Alexander to a firm resistance against the +French emperor in the great invasion threatened. + +Everyone knows the disastrous end of this invasion. When Napoleon was +marching on Moscow Alexander and Charles John met at Abo and a treaty was +formed in which Sweden was promised recompense for the loss of Finland in +the acquisition of Norway, while a friendship sprang up between the two +which lasted till the end of their lives. + +Events now moved rapidly. The Corsican conqueror entered Moscow. It was +burned and he was forced to retreat. A terrible winter and hostile forces +destroyed the Grand Army, only a handful of which escaped. Then came the +death struggle in Germany of the greatest soldier in modern history. On +every side his enemies rose against him and in the spring of 1813 +Bernadotte joined them with an army of thirty thousand Swedes. + +This army took part in the several battles that followed, and made its +mark especially at Dennewitz, where Marshal Ney commanded the French. +Bernadotte thought that the Prussians should bear the brunt of this +battle, since Berlin was threatened, and for this reason he held the +Swedes in reserve. But when the right wing of the Prussians was broken, +Ney cheering his soldiers by shouting, "My children, the victory is +ours!" he deemed it time to take a hand, and ordered General Cardell, his +artillery chief, to support the Prussians. + +Cardell won the day by a brilliant stratagem. He ordered the caissons +into line with the guns and deployed his regiments so that they bore the +appearance of a division of cavalry, the mounted artillerists bearing +down upon the French at a gallop, with drawn swords. + +Failing to see the guns, and thinking that they had only cavalry to deal +with, the French closed their lines and with fixed bayonets awaited the +Swedes. Suddenly the line halted, the guns were rushed forward and +reversed, the men sprang to their pieces, and from a long line of +frowning cannon poured a fiery hail of grape and canister that tore +remorselessly through the solid ranks of the French. The results were +awful: dead and dying strewed the ground; the survivors fled in +confusion; that deadly volley turned the day in favor of the French, and +Ney and his braves were forced to make a hasty retreat. + +In the great battle of Leipsic no section of the Swedish army but the +artillery took part. When the English agent, Sir C. Stewart, sought by +threats to drive Bernadotte into action, he haughtily replied: + +"Do you forget that I am Prince of Sweden and one of the greatest +generals of the age?" + +Bernadotte was considering the uplifting of his new kingdom rather than +the overthrow of his old master. He was saving his army for the campaign +he proposed against Denmark. Of this campaign we need only say that it +ended in the acquisition of Norway. The Danes were beaten and their king +disheartened, and in the peace of 1814 he ceded Norway to Sweden, +receiving Swedish Pomerania in exchange. + +For centuries Sweden had sought to absorb Norway, and now, by the action +of this crown prince from a foreign land, the result seemed achieved. But +the brave Norwegians themselves remained to be dealt with. They did not +propose, if they could avoid it, to be forced into vassalage to the +Swedes. A party arose in favor of the independence of Norway, a +government was formed, and their Danish governor, Prince Christian +Frederick, was elected king of Norway. + +It was a hasty act, which could not be sustained against the trained army +of Sweden. Norway was poor, her population small, her defences out of +order, her army made up of raw recruits under untried officers, yet the +old viking blood flowed in the veins of the people and they were bent on +striking for their freedom. + +Bernadotte returned to Sweden in the summer of 1814 and at once led his +army into Norway. Little fighting took place, the Swedish crown prince +showing himself favorably disposed, and peace and union finally came, +Charles XIII. of Sweden being elected king of Norway. Yet it was not as a +subject nation, but as an independent and equal kingdom that Norway +entered this union. All her old rights and privileges were retained and +the government remained free from any interference on the part of Sweden. + +It was to the wisdom of Bernadotte that this result was due. An enforced +union, he knew, would yield only hatred and bitterness, and to drive a +brave people to the verge of despair was not the way to bring them into +the position of satisfied subjects. Norway remained as free as ever in +her history, dwelling side by side with Sweden, with one king over both +countries. + +In 1818 the weak Charles XIII. died and the strong Bernadotte, or Charles +John, ascended the throne as Charles XIV. The remainder of his reign was +one of peace and growing prosperity, and when he died in 1844, leaving +the throne to his son Oscar, the grateful people of Sweden felt that they +owed much to their soldier king. + + + + +_THE DISMEMBERMENT OF DENMARK._ + + +The time once was when, as we have seen, all Scandinavia, and England +also, were governed by Danish kings, and Denmark was one of the great +powers of Europe. Since that proud time the power of the Danish throne +has steadily declined, until now it is but the shadow of its former self. + +A great blow came in 1814, when it was forced to yield Norway to Sweden. +All its possessions on the Baltic had vanished and its dominion was +compressed into the Danish peninsula and its neighboring islands, with +the exception of the duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg lying south of the +peninsula. The time was near at hand when it was to lose these and more +and be reduced to a mere fragment of its once great realm. + +The new trouble began in 1848, when the French revolution of that date +stirred up all the peoples of Europe to fresh demands. North of Holstein +lay the duchy of Sleswick, occupying the southern half of the peninsula, +its inhabitants, like those of Holstein, being nearly all Germans. These +duchies had long chafed under Danish rule, though for centuries they had +formed part of Denmark, and now they made an eager demand for union with +what they termed their true "Fatherland." + +A new king, Frederick VII., ascended the Danish throne in January, 1848. +In February the French revolution broke out. Almost instantly the duchies +were in a blaze of revolt, and on the 23d of April a Danish army of +eleven thousand men met one of nearly three times its strength, composed +of the insurgents and German allies, and was defeated after a hard fight +and forced to take refuge on the little island Als, where it was +protected by Danish ships of war. + +This was the beginning of a struggle that continued at intervals for +nearly three years, the great powers occasionally intervening and +bringing about a truce. In 1849, the Danes gained some important +successes, followed by a second truce. The most severe battle was that of +July 24, 1850, when a Danish army nearly forty thousand strong attacked +the insurgents and battle went on amid mist and rain for two days, ending +in the triumph of the Danes. + +New successes were gained in September, Sleswick being fully occupied and +Holstein invaded, when a strong Austrian army marched into the latter +province and again the war was brought to an end. Sleswick was left under +the Danish king, but a joint commission of Danes, Austrians, and +Prussians was formed to govern Holstein until its relations to Denmark +could be determined. + +For the thirteen years following all remained at rest. But in that year +King Frederick VII. of Denmark died and immediately the eldest son of the +Duke of Augustenburg, who claimed the duchies, hastened into them and +proclaimed himself as ruler, under the title of Duke Frederick VIII., of +the united and independent province of Sleswick-Holstein. + +[Illustration: Reproduced by permission of the Philadelphia Museum. THE +BOURSE, COPENHAGEN. DENMARK.] + +This impulsive act led to most important +results. All the German powers to the south, large and small alike, +supported the pretensions of the self-styled Frederick VIII., and before +the end of the year Austrian and Prussian armies entered the province, +which they proposed to hold until the claims of the house of Augustenburg +should be definitely settled. + +This threw Denmark into a difficult position. If she wished to avoid +dismemberment she must fight, and to fight against these two great powers +seemed madness. Yet Prussia and Austria pressed one condition after +another upon her, each more galling than the last. England, however, +offered herself as umpire between the parties, strongly favoring Denmark. +In consequence, fully expecting aid from England, a Danish army of forty +thousand men crossed the border and attacked the Prussians. + +But England sent no aid and the Danes were forced to retreat and once +more take refuge upon Als Island. As England showed no intention of +helping them with armed assistance, despair followed the patriotic effort +of the Danes, who were left single-handed to oppose their powerful foes. +Yet in spite of their greatly inferior power they made a gallant defence, +their courage and endurance winning the sympathy of those who looked on. + +Yet to struggle against such fearful odds was hopeless. The Prussians +occupied one strong point after another until they had penetrated to the +most northerly point of the peninsula. Then, to save his kingdom from +utter destruction, Christian IX. gave way and accepted the terms offered +him, agreeing to renounce all claims on the duchies of Sleswick-Holstein +and Lauenburg and to abide by the decision of Prussia and Austria as to +the future fate of these provinces. + +Thus were the weak dealt with by the strong, in the rude old fashion, and +of its once proud dominion Denmark was left only the northern half of the +peninsula, consisting of Jutland and its neighboring islands, a pocket +kingdom of some 15,000 square miles extent in lieu of its once great and +proud dominion. + +Yet it was not without satisfaction that the despoiled Danes looked on +when their two powerful enemies, quarreling over the division of the +spoils, sprang at one another's throats like two dogs snarling over a +bone, a great war arising between Austria and Prussia over this question, +at a cost far greater than the value of the provinces fought for. + +Prussia being the victor, the rights of Denmark and the claims of the +Duke of Augustenburg alike were quietly laid aside and the matter settled +by the absorption of the provinces into the German empire, Denmark being +left to thank God that Bismarck did not decide to take the rest. + + + + +_BREAKING THE BOND BETWEEN NORWAY AND SWEDEN._ + + +In the year 1388 the people of Norway chose the great Queen Margaret of +Denmark for their ruler, and from that date until 1905, more than five +hundred years later, the realm of the Norsemen continued out of existence +as a separate kingdom, it remaining attached to Denmark until 1814, when +it came under the rule of the king of Sweden. In 1905 Norway broke these +bonds and for the first time for centuries stood out alone as a fully +separate realm. With a description of this peaceful revolution we may +fitly close our sketches of the Scandinavian countries. + +During these centuries of union ill feeling frequently arose between the +nations involved. Though the union with Denmark had been on terms of +equality, the Danes in later years often acted towards Norway as though +it were a subject country, at times creating great irritation in the +proud sons of the sea-kings. It was the same with the Swedish union, the +Swedes at times acting towards Norway as though it were a conquered +country, won by the sword of Prince Bernadotte and subject to their will. + +This was a false view of the relations of the two countries. The act of +1815 states that "The union is not a result of warfare but of free +convention, and shall be maintained by a clear acknowledgment of the +legal rights of the nations in protection of their mutual thrones." It +further states that "Norway is a free, independent, indivisible, and +inalienable kingdom, united with Sweden under one king." + +This must be kept in mind in considering the recent events. Norway was in +no sense subject to Sweden, but had simply accepted the king of Sweden as +its monarch. They were not one nation, but two nations under one king, +being otherwise independent in every respect, each with its own +constitution, its own parliament, and its own laws. + +In fact, Norway has had a constitution since 1818, granted by Bernadotte +when he came to the throne, while Sweden was not granted one until over +forty years later. And while the constitution of Norway makes it the most +democratic monarchy in Europe, that of Sweden gives much greater power to +the throne. Thus the people of Norway for many years had reason to be +well content with the situation, though they jealously kept watch over +the preservation of their rights, and at times radical parties promoted +an irritation that might have led to blows had it been sustained by the +people at large. + +The difficulty that led to their final separation was a commercial one. +Norway has always been a country with the sea for its province, rugged +and unproductive as compared with Sweden, but with a long sea-coast +inviting maritime pursuits. As a result, during the century its commerce +grew much more rapidly than that of Sweden and it ended the century with +a shipping three times as great. Its commercial interests thus made +free-trade the economic doctrine of Norway, while protection became that +of Sweden, and this was the wedge that in time forced the two countries +asunder. + +In 1885 began the disagreement which led to separation twenty years +later. In that year the king made the minister of foreign affairs +responsible to the Swedish parliament, thus depriving Norway, as she +claimed, of any important influence in foreign politics. Negotiations +followed, but Sweden resisted, and irritation arose. Finally the question +of a Norwegian minister of foreign affairs was dropped and only that of +the right to a separate system of foreign consuls remained. + +Let us now very briefly epitomize the course of events. In 1891 Norway +established a consular commission and made a strong demand for separate +consuls to represent her interests in foreign ports. Violent quarrels +with Sweden followed, but no agreement was reached. In 1898 the question +became serious again, but still there was no agreement, and the same was +the case when it came up once more in 1901. + +A new consular commission was appointed in 1902, its report favoring the +demands of Norway, and finally, in 1903, King Oscar gave his sanction to +an agreement for separate consuls. But the king's voice did not settle +the question; it came before parliament, and after long consideration a +decision was reached which avoided the point in dispute and announced +principles which were declared in Norway to be in violation of its +constitution and at variance with the king's sanction of 1903. + +This ended the negotiations. The incensed Norwegian legislators appointed +a new cabinet to carry out the wishes of the people and a consular +service law was passed. Events now proceeded rapidly. In February, 1905, +King Oscar retired from active government on account of age and ill +health, Crown Prince Gustavus being appointed temporary regent. On +considering the subject he dissented from his father's opinion and +offered the following proposition for a settlement of the question at +issue: first, a common minister of foreign affairs; second, a separate +consular service for each country, the consuls to be under the direction +of the one foreign minister. This proposition was voted on favorably by +the Swedish parliament and the main point in dispute seemed settled. + +But on May 27 King Oscar returned to the throne and immediately +repudiated this action of his son and the parliament, vetoed the law for +separate consuls passed in Norway, and when the cabinet of that country +resigned in a body refused to accept their resignation. + +The crisis was now reached. A general wave of indignation swept through +the realm of Norway. The feeling of the people was shared by their +legislators. Norway's only connection with Sweden was that they had the +same king--but the Norwegians had no use for a king that would place the +interests of one country in precedence of those of another. The decisive +move was made on June 7, when the Storthing--the parliament of +Norway--announced itself as no longer in union with Sweden or under the +rule of King Oscar, declaring that he had admitted that he was unable to +govern Norway according to its constitution and therefore had ceased to +rule as its king. The union flag was lowered from the government fortress +in Christiania, where it had floated since 1814. + +In its address to the king the Storthing said that "the course of events +has proved more powerful than the desire or will of individuals," but to +show that good feeling existed towards Sweden, the king was requested to +name a prince of his own house for the throne of Norway, who was to +relinquish his right of succession to the Swedish throne. + +The die was cast. Would war result? Would Oscar seek to force Norway back +into the Union as Bernadotte had done in 1814, when it rebelled and chose +a king of its own? The occasion seemed critical. Oscar refused to +abdicate, there was much talk of war, the Swedish Ricksdag--or +parliament--disapproved of letting Norway depart in peace. If war had +been declared the hope of Norway sustaining her independence was very +doubtful, as her population was only half that of Sweden and her army +and navy much weaker. Yet there was sufficient doubt of the outcome to +make all men hesitate. + +Many of the leading men of Sweden disapproved of the idea of war, +thinking that hostilities were not called for and that Sweden's stake in +the question was not sufficient to justify the attempt to hold Norway by +force. A significant event at this juncture was the declaration of the +powerful Socialist party in Sweden that they would not bear arms against +their brethren in Norway. In this the Socialists made the first +international declaration of their opposition to war. + +As the weeks passed on the war feeling cooled. Oscar withdrew his refusal +to abdicate, and said: "Of little use would the Union be if Norway had to +be forced into it." As regards the feeling of the people of Norway +regarding separation, it was decisively shown on August 13, when a vote +was taken upon the question. It resulted in 368,200 votes in favor of to +184 against dissolution of the union. + +The chief question to be settled was that of the abolition of the +frontier fortresses, of which Norway had a number on the border while +Sweden had none. Norway held on to hers mainly from patriotic reasons, as +several of them were of very ancient date and had great historic +interest. The difficulty was finally settled by an agreement to dismantle +the new portions and let the ancient ones remain. + +The final treaty of separation, as approved on September 23, 1905, +covered the following points: 1st. There was to be arbitration of all +questions arising between the two countries. 2d. A neutral zone was to be +established and all forts within this zone to be destroyed or made +useless for war purposes. 3d. The grazing rights of Swedish Laplanders in +Norway were to be maintained. 4th. The laws of each country were to apply +to the portion of waterways crossing each. 5th. No obstacle was to be +placed on the commerce between the two countries. + +The question of the form of government of the new nation had before this +arisen. The request to King Oscar for a descendant of his house had been +at first refused. He subsequently reconsidered it and was willing to let +his son Charles fill the vacant throne, but meanwhile it had been offered +to Prince Charles of Denmark and accepted by him. The offer of the throne +by the Storthing needed in democratic Norway to be confirmed by a vote of +the people, and one was taken in October. The sentiment for a republic in +Norway was supposed to be very strong, but the election resulted in a +vote of four to one for a kingdom against a republic, and Charles of +Denmark, grandson of King Christian, was formally chosen for the reigning +monarch of the new kingdom. In compliment to the nation he chose for +himself the national title of Haakon VII. and conferred on his son and +heir the Norwegian name of Olaf. + +Formal offer of the throne was made to the new king at Copenhagen on +November 20 by a deputation from the Norwegian parliament, King Christian +accepting it for his grandson, and saying: + +"The young king does not come as a stranger to Norway, for he claims +relationship to former Norwegian kings. Nor will the kingdom of Norway be +strange to him, for everywhere in the land common recollections of the +history of the kingdom and the history of his race will meet him." + +On the 25th of November the new monarch, with his wife, daughter of King +Edward of England, made his formal entrance to Christiania, the capital +of his new realm, where he was received with the highest demonstrations +of joy. On their voyage from Copenhagen the royal pair were escorted by +Norwegian, Danish, British, and German warships, while in their new realm +elaborate preparations had been made for their fitting reception. + +At noon on November 27 Prince Charles was formally inaugurated king, as +Haakon VII., before a distinguished assembly consisting of the highest +state dignitaries, the diplomatic corps in full costume, and a brilliant +concourse of men in uniform and women in court toilets. Entering the +richly decorated Parliament house, surrounded by their suites, the king +ascended the throne, the queen taking a seat by his side. + +The ceremonies were brief, consisting of the king's taking the oath to +support the constitution of Norway, and pledging himself in a brief +speech "to exert all his will and strength to serve the Fatherland and +promote its peace and happiness." An interesting feature of the ceremony +was a despatch of congratulation from Oscar, late king of Norway, in +which he said: "I beg that you be persuaded that every effort looking +towards good relations between our two countries will be given a +sympathetic reception on my part." + +Thus, after for five hundred and seventeen years standing empty, the +throne of Norway was filled with a king of its own, and that old land, +once more single and separate, swung back into the tide of the nations. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 9 (of 15), by Charles Morris + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORICAL TALES, VOL. 9 (OF 15) *** + +***** This file should be named 20549.txt or 20549.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/5/4/20549/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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