Chapter XVIII: Appendix

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A.

KING OLUF THE SAINT.

(_Foreign Quarterly Review, No. XI._)

1.
“King Oluf and his brother bold,
’Bout Norroway’s rocks a parley hold.

2.
“‘The one of the two who best can sail,
Shall rule o’er Norroway’s hill and dale.

3.
“‘Who first of us reaches our native ground,
O’er all the region shall king be crown’d.’

4.
“Then Harald Haardrode answer made:
‘Ay, let it be done as thou hast said;

5.
“‘But if I to-day must sail with thee,
Thou shalt change thy vessel, I swear, with me:

6.
“‘For thou hast got the Dragon of speed,
I shall make with the Ox a poor figure indeed.

7.
“The Dragon is swift as the clouds in chace,
The Ox, he moveth in lazy pace.’

8.
“‘Hear, Harald, what I have to say to thee:
What thou hast proposed well pleaseth me.

9.
“‘If my ship in aught be better than thine,
I’ll readily, cheerfully lend thee mine.

10.
“‘Do thou the Dragon so sprightly take,
And I with the Ox will the journey make.

11.
“‘But first, to the church we’ll bend our way,
Ere our hand on sail or on oar we lay.’

12.
“And into the church Saint Oluf trode,
His beautiful hair like the bright gold glow’d.

13.
“But soon, out of breath, there came a man:—
‘Thy brother is sailing off as fast as he can.’

14.
“‘Let them sail, my friend, who to sail may choose,
The word of our Lord we will not lose;—

15.
“‘The mass is the word of our blessed Lord.
Take water, ye swains, for our table board.

16.
“‘We will sit at board, and the meat we will taste,
Then unto the sea-shore quietly haste.’

17.
“Now down they all sped to the ocean-strand,
Where the Ox lay rocking before the land:

18.
“And speedily they to the ocean bore
The anchor, and cable, and sail, and oar.

19.
“Saint Oluf he stood on the prow when on board:
‘Now forward, thou Ox, in the name of the Lord.’

20.
“He grappled the Ox by the horn so white:
‘Hie now, as if thou went clover to bite.’

21.
“Then forward the Ox began to hie,
In his wake stood the billows boisterously.

22.
“He hallooed to the lad on the yard so high:
‘Do we the Dragon of Harald draw nigh?’

23.
“‘No more of the pomps of the world I see,
Than the uppermost top of the good oak tree.—

24.
“‘I see near the land of Norroway skim
Bright silken sails with a golded rim.—

25.
“‘I see ‘neath Norroway’s mountains proud,
The Dragon bearing of sail a cloud.—

26.
“‘I see, I see, by Norroway’s side,
The Dragon gallantly forward stride.’

27.
“On the Ox’s ribs a blow he gave:
‘Now faster, now faster, over the wave.’

28.
“He struck the Ox on the eye with force:
‘To the haven much speedier thou must course.’

29.
“Then forward the Ox began to leap,
No sailor on deck his stand could keep.

30.
“Then cords he took, and his mariners fast
He tied to the vessel’s rigging and mast.

31.
“‘Twas then—’twas then—the steersman cried:
‘But who shall now the vessel guide?’

32.
“His little gloves off Saint Oluf throws,
And to stand himself by the rudder goes.

33.
“‘Oh! we will sail o’er cliff and height,
The nearest way, like a line of light.’

34.
“So o’er the hills and dales they career,
To them they became like water clear.

35.
“So they sail’d along o’er the mountains blue,
Then out came running the Elfin crew.

36.
“‘Who sail’s o’er the gold in which we joy?
Our ancient father who dares annoy?’

37.
“‘Elf! turn to stone, and a stone remain
Till I by this path return again.’

38.
“So they sail’d o’er Skaaney’s mountains tall,
And stones became the little Elves all.

39.
“Out came a Carline with spindle and rok:
‘Saint Oluf! why sailest thou us to mock?

40.
“Saint Oluf, thou who the red beard hast,
Through my chamber wall thy ship hath pass’d.’

41.
“With a glance of scorn did Saint Oluf say:
‘Stand there a flint-rock for ever and aye.’

42.
“Unhinder’d, unhinder’d they bravely sail’d on,
Before them yielded both stock and stone.

43.
“Still onward they sail’d in such gallant guise,
That no man upon them could fasten his eyes.

44.
“Saint Oluf a bow before his knee bent,
Behind the sail dropp’d the shaft that he sent.

45.
“From the stern Saint Oluf a bark shot free,
Behind the Ox fell the shaft in the sea.

46.
“Saint Oluf he trusted in Christ alone,
And therefore first home by three days he won.

47.
“And that made Harald with fury storm:
Of a laidly dragon he took the form.

48.
“But the Saint was a man of devotion full,
And the Saint got Norroway’s land to rule.

49.
“Into the church Saint Oluf trode,
He thank’d the Saviour in fervent mood.

50.
“Saint Oluf walk’d the church about,
There shone a glory his ringlets out.

51.
“Whom God doth help makes bravely his way:
His enemies win both shame and dismay.”

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B.

SAINT OLAUS OR OLAVE, KING OF NORWAY, M.

(_From Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints._)

HE was son of Herald Grenscius, prince of Westfold in Norway, by his wife Asta, daughter of Gulbrand Kuta, governor of Gulbrand’s Dale or Valley. He delivered his country from the tyranny under which the Swedes and Danes had for some time held it, whilst Norway was divided between Sweno, king of Denmark, Olave Scot-Konung, son of Eric king of Sweden, and Eric, son of Hacon, earl of Norway. In 1013, he sailed to England, and successfully assisted king Ethelred against the Danes after the death of Sueno, or Sweyn, their king. He afterwards waged war against Olaus Scot-Konung, king of Sweden, till, making an advantageous peace, he took to wife the daughter of that king. These two princes about that time introduced the Romescot, a small annual tribute yearly to be paid to the apostolic see. St. Olave brought over from England several pious and learned priests and monks, one of whom, named Grimkele, was chosen bishop of Drontheim, his capital. The holy king did nothing without the advice of this prelate, and by his counsels published many wholesome laws, and abolished such ancient laws and customs as were contrary to the Gospel; which he did not only in Norway, but also in the isles of Orkney and of Iceland; though the entire conquest of Orkney was reserved to his son Magnus, who also subdued the isle of Man, as Cambden relates from the ancient Chronicle of Man.

Our religious king, having settled his dominions in peace, set himself to extirpate out of them the abominable superstitions of idolatry. He travelled in person from town to town, exhorting his subjects to open the eyes of their souls to the bright light of faith. A company of zealous preachers attended him, and he demolished in many places the idolatrous temples. The heathens rebelled, and with the assistance of Canutus the Great, defeated and expelled him. St. Olave fled into Russia, whence he soon after returned, and raised an army in order to recover his kingdom, but was slain by his rebellious and infidel subjects in a battle fought at Stichstadt, north of Drontheim, on the 29th of July, 1030, having reigned sixteen years. These rebels seem to have been in the interest of Canute the Great, who arrived from England in Norway, took possession of that kingdom, and left his nephew Hackin viceroy; but he being soon after drowned at sea, Canute made his son Sweno viceroy of Norway. St. Olave’s body was honourably buried at Drontheim, and the year following bishop Grimkele commanded him to be honoured in that church among the saints with the title of martyr. His son Magnus was called home from Russia in 1035, and restored to the throne. Sweno, who saw himself entirely abandoned, fled into Sweden. Magnus exceedingly promoted the devotion of the people to the memory of his father, the martyr, who was chosen titular saint of the cathedral of Drontheim. This church was rebuilt with such splendour and magnificence as to have been the glory and pride of all the north. Munster has given us a minute description of it, after Lutheranism was introduced; but it was soon after burnt by lightning. The body of St. Olave was found incorrupt in 1098; and again when the Lutherans, in 1541, plundered the shrine, which was adorned with gold and jewels of an immense value, a treasure nowhere excelled in the north. The ship which carried the greatest part of this sacrilegious booty perished at sea in the road to Denmark; the rest was robbed at land, so that nothing of it came into the king of Denmark’s hands. The Lutherans treated the saint’s body with respect, and left it in the same place where the shrine had stood, in the inner wooden case, till, in 1568, they decently buried it in the same cathedral. A shirt or inner garment of St. Olave’s is shown at St. Victor’s in Paris. His shrine became famous by many miracles, and he was honoured with extraordinary devotion throughout all the northern kingdoms, and was titular saint of several churches in England and Scotland. He was called by our ancestors St. Olave, and more frequently St. Tooley; but in the Norway Chronicles Olaf Haraldson, and Olaf Helge, or the Holy.

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FOOTNOTES

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Footnote 1:

Joannis Magni Gothorum Suenonumque Historia, lib. i. and ii. p. 18. to
74. edit. Rome, fol. 1554.

Native kings of Sweden who, according to the archbishop, Joannes
Magnus, flourished before Christ.

Noah.
Japhet.
1. Magog.
2. Sweno.
3. Gothar, or Gog.
4. Ubbo.
5. Siggo.
6. Eric.
7. Uddo.
8. Alo.
9. Othen (Query Odin).
10. Charles.
11. Biorno.
12. Gothar.
13. Siggo.
14. Berico; in whose reign began the mighty Gothic or Scythian
empire, independent of the northern one.
15. Humulf.
16. Humble.
17. Gothilas.
18. Sigtrug.
19. Scarin.
20. Swibdager.
21. Asmund.
22. Uffo.
23. Hunning.
24. Regner.
25. Hodebrod.
26. Attil.
27. Hoder.
28. Roder, or Roderic, or Ruric, surnamed _Slingebond_, or the
Slinger.
29. Attil.
30. Botwild.
31. Charles.
32. Grimer.
33. Tordo.
34. Gothar.
35. Adolf.
36. Algoth.
37. Eric.
38. Alaric.
39. Gestil.
40. Eric.
“In the reign of this prince, says the archbishop,—who even
fixes the year, the thirty-fourth of his reign,—our Saviour was
born!” Swedish kings subsequent to our Saviour’s birth, _yet
prior to the introduction of Christianity_, according to the same
archbishop.
41. Godric.
42. Haldan.
43. Wilmer.
44. Nordian.
45. Siward.
46. Charles.
47. Eric.
48. Haldan.
49. Eugin.
50. Ragnald.
51. Asmund.
52. Hako.
53. Siward.
54. Ingo.
55. Neark.
56. Frode.
57. Urbar.
58. Ostin.
59. Fliolm.
60. Swerker.
61. Walander.
62. Wisbur.
63. Domalder.
64. Domar.
65. Attil.
66. Digner.
67. Dager.
68. Alaric.
69. Ingemar.
70. Ingell.
71. Germund.
72. Haquin Ringo.
73. Egill.
74. Gothar.
75. Fasto.
76. Gudmund.
77. Adel.
78. Ostan.
79. Ingermar.
80. Holstan.
81. Biorno.
82. Rawald.
83. Swartman.
84. Tordo.
85. Rodolf.
86. Hathin.
87. Attil.
88. Tordo.
89. Algoth.
90. Gostag, or Ostan.
91. Arthus.
92. Haquin.
93. Charles.
94. Charles.
95. Birger.
96. Eric.
97. Torill.
98. Biorn.
99. Alaric.
100. Biorn.
101. Bratmund.
102. Siward.
103. Herot.
104. Charles.
105. Biorn.
106. Ingenal, or Ingel.
107. Olaf Tretella.
108. Ingo.
109. Eric.
110. Eric.

In both lists, many of these names the reader will perceive to be
identical with the Danish kings given by Saxo Grammaticus. That the
two lists have been confounded there can be no doubt. And it as
equally certain that many of these kings are unnecessarily
multiplied,—those allowed to have reigned before, as well as after,
the Christian era. Perhaps, however, none of these princes reigned
before Odin; probably all are more recent still; and as so many were
contemporary with each other, ample lists have easily been formed.

The compilers of our Universal History begin their list with the
following:—

1. Eric.
2. Gylfo.
3. Odin.
4. Niord.
5. Frode.
6. Sigtrug.
7. Swibdager.
8. Asmund.
9. Uffo.
10. Hunding.
11. Regner.
12. Holward.
13. Attil I.
14. Hoder.
15. Roderic, or Ruric.
16. Attil II.
17. Hogmor and Hogrin.

Footnote 2:

See the work, part i.

Footnote 3:

Torfœus Historia Norvegiæ, tom. i. p. 111–150.

Footnote 4:

Wheaton, History of the Northmen. Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom.
i.

Footnote 5:

Vetustissima Regum Septentrionis Series Langfedgatal dicta. According
to this “Series,” the list of Danish kings prior to Odin is as
follows:—NOAH, Japhet, Zechim, Ciprus, Celius, Saturn of Crete,
Jupiter, Darius, Erichthon, Troes, Ilus, Laomedon, Priam of Troy,
Memnon (the son-in-law of Priam), Tror or Thor, Lorith, Einrith,
Vingethar, Vingener, Moda, Magus, Seskef, Bedoig, Athra, Iterman,
Heremotr, Scealdna, Beaf, Eat, Godulf, Finn, Frealaf—ODIN.

Here is a precious list, and we should vainly inquire where it was
originally procured. One thing, however, is remarkable,—that of the
immediate predecessors of Odin, most are the same as those contained
in the Saxon Chronicle, in the genealogy of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Let
us now transcribe that of Saxo Grammaticus, who flourished in the
twelfth century, and is content with making Dan the ancestor of the
Danes, about a thousand years before Christ.

DAN I., Humble, Lother, Skiold, Gram, Swibdager, Guthrum, Hadding,
Frode I., Haldan, Roe and Helgo, Rolf or Rollo, Hoder, Ruric, Wiglet,
Guitlach, Wermund, Olaf I., Dan II., Hugleth, Frode II., Dan III.,
Fridleif, Frode III. According to Saxo it was in the reign of Hadding
that Odin first appeared in the north. In this case, the reader may
say Odin must have flourished long before the period usually assigned,
viz., A.C. 70. But most of these princes, doubtless, reigned _after_
the birth of Christ, notwithstanding the positive assertion of Saxo
(who is supported by some other chroniclers), that the Redeemer of
mankind assumed our nature in the reign of Frode III. Sweyn Aggo is
more rational than his contemporary Saxo; he rejects all the
sovereigns prior to Odin, and commences his list with Skiold, a son of
that deified hero. Undoubtedly Denmark, like the other states, had its
kings before that period; but they were mere reguli, perpetually at
war with each other in struggling for the ascendancy; and small
reliance is to be placed on their alleged actions, or even their
names. Saxo, in taking as authorities the popular songs of his
country, followed the worst of all guides.

Footnote 6:

The list of Norwegian sovereigns prior to Odin is, according to the
Landfedgatal, the same as for Denmark. These sovereigns, however, in
neither case reigned in the north; they were regarded as Asiatic: it
was Odin who first left the country of his ancestors, and established
his empire in Scandinavia. In this view there is no inconsistency
between that record and Saxo, who does not enumerate the Asiatic
monarchs, and who confines himself to the native princes that held the
country for ages before Odin was known. These, we have strong reason
to infer, were _not_ Gothic, but Finnish, or Jutish, or Lapponic, or
whatever else was the denomination of the people who originally
possessed the north. Sweyn Aggesen, therefore, by rejecting them,
evidently confines himself to the foreign or Gothic dynasty—the
dynasty of the conquerors.

Footnote 7:

Langebek, Scriptores, tom. i., passim.

Footnote 8:

Pinkerton, Dissertation on the Goths. Turner, History of the
Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.

Footnote 9:

Tacitus, Germania, cap. 34.–40. Wheaton, History of the Northmen,
chap. i.

Footnote 10:

Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. i. Pinkerton, Dissertation on the
Goths, passim.

Footnote 11:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica; necnon, Heimskringla Snorronis,
passim.

Footnote 12:

Apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. ii.

Footnote 13:

Wheaton, History, p. 119.

Footnote 14:

Depping, Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, tom. i.
Wheaton, History of the Northmen.

Footnote 15:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib i.

Footnote 16:

The poetical dialogues of Gro with Bessus and Gram—dialogues in which
Saxo (lib. i. p. 7, &c.) has put forth all his imagination and all his
knowledge of Latin versification—may amuse the learned reader. We have
no disposition to translate them.

Footnote 17:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.

Footnote 18:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.

Footnote 19:

In the Scandinavian superstition every rune was consecrated to some
deity. Nearly all the magic of the north consisted in runes. They
could raise or allay tempests; they could change times, and they could
bring the most distant objects together. They could produce good or
bad seasons; they could raise the dead: in short, they were omnipotent
over all nature,—the invisible no less than the visible world.

Footnote 20:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i. p. 10, &c., edit. Stephanii,
Soræ, 1644.

Footnote 21:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i. p. 10, &c., edit. Stephanii,
Soræ, 1644.

Footnote 22:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.

Footnote 23:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i.

Footnote 24:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. ii. p. 20, &c.

Footnote 25:

Both Roe and Helge reigned some centuries after the time fixed by
Saxo,—as recently as the fifth century of the Christian era.

Footnote 26:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. ii.

Footnote 27:

Whether there was any other Rolf than the celebrated Rolf Krake, who
is thought to have reigned in the sixth century after Christ, is
doubtful. The best northern writers admit of no other.

Footnote 28:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. ii.

Footnote 29:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. i. p. 12., edit. Stephanii, Soræ,
1644. The diffusion of this superstitious notion is a curious subject
of speculation. In Hungary, Russia, Wallachia, Greece, Crete, &c. it
is rife at this day.

Footnote 30:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. i.–v. (apud Heimskringlam, tom. i. p. 1-10., edit.
Hafn., 1777).

Footnote 31:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. v.–vii.

Footnote 32:

Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. i. pp. 7, 8. Torfœus,
Historia Norvegica, tom. i. p. 138, &c.

Footnote 33:

S. Rembertus, Vita S. Anscarii (apud Bollandistas, Acta S. S. die Feb.
iii. Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. cap. 12. &c.
Konung Olaf Trygvason’s Saga, apud Snorronem Sturlonem Heimskringla
tom. ii.).

Footnote 34:

Ihre, Dissert. de Institutione Regum Suio-Gotborum, ed. Upsala,
1752.—Geijr, Svea Rikes Häfder, tom. i. p. 432.

Footnote 35:

Suhm, Historie af Danmark, tom. i. p. 81. Critiske, Historie, tom.
vii. p. 474.

Footnote 36:

Jamieson’s Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 444.

Footnote 37:

F. Magnussen, Edda Sæmundi, tom. iii. Rigis-Mál, Intro., pp. 147–159.
Geijr, Svea Rikes Häfder, tom. i. pp. 486–495.

Footnote 38:

See the prose Edda published by Prof. Rask, Stockholm, 1818, ch.
xxiii. But Snorre, in his _Ynglinga Saga_, ch. ix., says that she
married Odin afterwards, and that they had many children together.

Footnote 39:

To this opinion, we do not subscribe. We have no proof of the
existence of two Odins.

Footnote 40:

Münter, Kirchengeschichte, &c., tom. i. pp. 68–95. Wheaton, History of
the Northmen.

Footnote 41:

Wheaton, History of the Northmen, ch. vi. Ynglinga Saga, passim.

Footnote 42:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, lib. iii. p. 39, &c.

Footnote 43:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, lib. iii. p. 41–43.

Footnote 44:

Edda Snorronis, Hist. 28. Stephanii Notæ ad Saxonem, lib. iii.

Footnote 45:

Edda Snorronis, Fab. 21.

Footnote 46:

Edda Snorronis, Historia, 29. Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. notæ in
lib. iii.

Footnote 47:

The names are mythologic, or rather abstract: Vegtam, _the Spoiler_;
Valtam, _Slaughter_.

Footnote 48:

Hveriar ro maeyiar
Ær at muni grata
Ok a himin Verpa
Halsa Skautvm?

The passage is a dark one. It probably alludes to the custom of the
northern women, who uncovered their heads to mourn. These damsels did
not uncover; they could weep at pleasure, that is, they were not
afflicted. Were they the fatal sisters, who cannot be expected to feel
sympathy for mortals? And was Vala their mother?

Footnote 49:

The meaning of these expressions will appear when we treat on the
Scandinavian mythology.

Footnote 50:

DESCENT OF ODIN.

Up rose the king of men with speed,
And saddled straight his coal-black steed;
Down the yawning steep he rode,
That leads to HELA’S drear abode.
Him the Dog of Darkness spied,
His shaggy throat he open’d wide,
While from his jaws, with carnage fill’d,
Foam and human gore distill’d:
Hoarse he bays with hideous din,
Eyes that glow, and fangs that grin;
And long pursues, with fruitless yell,
The Father of the powerful spell.
Onward still his way he takes,
(The groaning earth beneath him shakes,)
Till full before his fearless eyes
The portals nine of hell arise.

Right against the eastern gate,
By the moss-grown pile he sate;
Where long of yore to sleep was laid
The dust of the prophetic Maid.
Facing to the northern clime,
Thrice he trac’d the Runic rhyme;
Thrice pronounc’d, in accents dread,
The thrilling verse that wakes the dead;
Till from out the hollow ground
Slowly breath’d a sullen sound.

_Pr._—What call unknown, what charms presume
To break the quiet of the tomb?
Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite,
And drags me from the realms of night?
Long on these mould’ring bones have beat
The winter’s snow, the summer’s heat,
The drenching dews, and driving rain!
Let me, let me sleep again.
Who is he, with voice unblest,
That calls me from the bed of rest?

_O._—A Traveller, to thee unknown,
Is he that calls, a Warrior’s Son.
Thou the deeds of light shalt know;
Tell me what is done below,
For whom yon glitt’ring board is spread,
Drest for whom yon golden bed.

_Pr._—Mantling in the goblet see
The pure bev’rage of the bee;
O’er it hangs the shield of gold;
‘Tis the drink of Balder bold:
Balder’s head to death is giv’n.
Pain can reach the Sons of Heav’n!
Unwilling I my lips unclose:
Leave me, leave me to repose.

_O._—Once again my call obey!
Prophetess, arise, and say,
What dangers Odin’s Child await,
Who the Author of his fate.

_Pr._—In Hoder’s hand the Hero’s doom:
His brother sends him to the tomb.
Now my weary lips I close:
Leave me, leave me to repose.

_O._—Prophetess, my spell obey!
Once again arise, and say,
Who th’ Avenger of his guilt,
By whom shall Hoder’s blood be spilt?

_Pr._—In the caverns of the west,
By Odin’s fierce embrace comprest,
A wond’rous Boy shall Rinda bear,
Who ne’er shall comb his raven hair,
Nor wash his visage in the stream,
Nor see the sun’s departing beam;
Till he on Hoder’s corpse shall smile,
Flaming on the fun’ral pile.
Now my weary lips I close:
Leave me, leave me to repose.

_O._—Yet awhile my call obey!
Prophetess, awake, and say,
What Virgins these, in speechless woe,
That bend to earth their solemn brow,
That their flaxen tresses tear,
And snowy veils, that float in air.
Tell me whence their sorrows rose:
Then I leave thee to repose.

_Pr._—Ha! no Traveller art thou,
King of Men, I know thee now,
Mightiest of a mighty line——

_O._—No boding Maid of skill divine
Art thou, nor Prophetess of good;
But mother of the giant brood!

_Pr._—Hie thee hence, and boast at home,
That never shall Enquirer come
To break my iron-sleep again;
Till Lok has burst his tenfold chain.
Never, till substantial Night
Has reassum’d her ancient right;
Till wrapp’d in flames, in ruin hurl’d,
Sinks the fabric of the world.

Footnote 51:

Vegtaams Quida (apud Edda Saemundar hinns Froda, tom. i. p. 234, &c.
edit. Hafniæ, 1787).

Footnote 52:

See before, page 29.

Footnote 53:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. iii. p. 44–46.

Footnote 54:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 10. (apud Snorronem, Heimskringla, tom. i. p. 14.)

Footnote 55:

Quod, inquit, mulierum turpissima, gravissime criminis dissimulationem
falso lamenti genere expetis, quæ scorti more lasciviens nefariam ac
dedestabilem tori conditionem secuta, viri tui interfectorem pleno
incesti sinu amplecteris, et ei qui prolistuæ parentem extinxerat,
obscenissimis blandamentorem illecebris adularis?

Footnote 56:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. iii. p. 46–52.

Footnote 57:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. iii. p. 52, et lib. iv. p. 54, &c.

Footnote 58:

Idem, p. 56–59.

Footnote 59:

The list is worth transcribing.

B.C.

1. Dan 1038

2. Humble 998

3. Lother —

4. Skiold 966

5. Gram 888

6. Swibdager 856

7. Guthrum —

8. Hadding 816

9. Frode I. 761

10. Halden 685

11. Roe and —
Helge

12. Helge 595
_alone_

13. Rolf, or 566
Rollo

14. Hoder —

15. Ruric 483
Slingeband

Consequently Hamlet must have lived nearly four centuries before
Christ. What thanks do we not owe to Saxo for his important account of
Britain so many years before Cæsar! But to continue.

B.C.
16. Wiglet —
17. Guitlach —
18. Wermund 352
19. Olaf I. 292
20. Dan II. —
21. Hungleth —
22. Frode II. 172
23. Dan III. —
24. Fridleif —
25. Frode III. —

Footnote 60:

Scandinavia, Ancient and Modern (Edinburgh Cab. Lib.), vol. i. chap.
ii.

Footnote 61:

List of kings after Christ, according to Saxo:—Frode III., Hiarn,
Fridleif, Frode IV., Ingel, Olaf II., Frode V., Harald I., Halfdan
II., Harald II., Ungwin, Siwald I., Sigar, Siwald II., Halfdan III.,
Harald III., Olo (or Olof), Omund, Siward I., Bathul, Jarmeric,
Broder, Siwald III., Snio, Biorn, Gormo I., Goderic, Olaf III.,
Hemming, Siward IV., Ringo, Ragnar Lodbrog, Siward II., Eric I.,
Canute I., Frode IV., Gormo II., Harald IV., Gormo III., Harald V.,
Sweno.

_Our English Universal History, like Sunning and Torfœus, adopts these
names, but incorporates three more._

_According to the_ Langfedgatal, _which is derived from Norwegian
authorities, while Saxo follows the metrical songs and traditions of
Denmark_:—

Odin, Skiold, Fridleif I., Frode I., Havar, Frode II., Vermund, Olaf,
Dan, Frode III., Fridleif II., Frode IV., Ingell (or Ingiald), Halfdan
I., Helge and Roe, Rolf Krake, Eric I., Frode V., Halfdan II., Eric
II., Harald, Sigurd I., Ragnar Lodbrog, Sigurd II., Harda Canute,
Gormo the Aged, Harald II., Sweyn.

_And thus, in about twenty different lists which we have examined,
there is only diversity, or rather confusion. Those of modern date are
not more uniform. Thus Mallet_:—

Skiold, Fridleif I., Frode I., Fridleif II., Havar, Frode II.,
Wermund, Olaf I., Dan, Frode III., Halfdan I., Fridleif III., Olaf
II., Frode IV., Ingel, Halfdan II., Frode V., Roe and Helge, Rolf,
Ivar, Harald I., Sigurd I., Ragnar Lodbrog, Sigurd II., Harda Canute,
Harald II.

The dates of these reigns in the modern histories of Denmark—for the
ancient ones do not condescend to such trifles—are beautifully
confounded, sometimes a whole century being assigned to a single
reign.

Footnote 62:

The Skioldungs, or descendants of Odin:—

Names. Died.
B.C.

Skiold 40

Fridleif I. 23

A.D.

Frode I. 35

Fridleif II. 47

Havar 59

Frode II. 87

Wermund the Sage 140

Olaf the Mild 190

Dan Mykillati 270

Frode III., 310
surnamed the
Pacific

Halfdan I. 324

Fridleif III. 348

Frode IV. 407

Ingild (or 436
Ingel)

Halfdan II. 447

Frode V. 460

Helge and Roe 494

Frode VI. 510

Rolf Krake 522

Frode VII. 548

Halfdan III. 580

Ruric 588
Slyngebande

Ivar Vidfadme 647

Harald Hildetand 735

Sigurd Ring 750

Ragnar Lodbrog 794

Sigurd Snogoje 803

Harda Canute 850

Eric I. 854

Eric II. 883

Gorm the Old 941

Harald Blaatand 991

Sweyn 1014

This is the list of Suhm, the most critical of the Danish historians.
Yet there can be no doubt that some of Saxo’s kings ought to be
incorporated with it.

Footnote 63:

See the dates assigned to the above kings by our Universal History and
by Mallet. The difference between them and those given by Suhm may
amuse the reader.

Footnote 64:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, passim. Mallet, Histoire de
Danemarc, tom. iii. Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. i.
Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i.

Footnote 65:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist., passim.

Footnote 66:

See Introduction, p. 19.

Footnote 67:

History of the Germanic Empire (Cab. Cyc.), vol. i.

Footnote 68:

Saxo Grammatici, Hist. Dan. lib. v. Suenonis Aggonis Historia Rerum
Danicarum, cap. i. (apud Langebek, i. 44.). Petri Olai Roskildensis
Chronica Regum Danorum, p. 15. (apud eundem, tom. i.).

Footnote 69:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. v.

Footnote 70:

According to the Hervarar Saga, this adventure of the sword took place
long _before_ the arrival of Arngrim,—in fact, before the union of
Swafurlam with Eyvor, whom he won with the magic weapon. There are
many variations, too, in the different MSS. of this Saga, so as to
greatly alter the circumstances.

Footnote 71:

Hervarar Saga, cap. i., ii. p. 1-13., edit. Hafniæ, 1785. Taylor,
Historic Survey of German Poetry, vol. i. The account in the text is
considerably more amplified than that in the original Saga. This
amplification is the work of succeeding Scalds, whose language, from
its graphic superiority, and its being more characteristic of northern
manners, we have often preferred.

Footnote 72:

Hervarar Saga, cap. iii.–v. p. 13–42.

Footnote 73:

AWAKE, Angantyr! sire, awake!
Thy daughter, Hervor, bids thee break
The slumber of thy desert tomb!
Oh, give me, from its yawning womb,
The magic sword—the hardened blade,
By dwarfs for Swafurlami made!
What, silent? Then on you I call,
My sire, my kinsmen, warriors all!
Obey! let Hervor’s voice prevail!
Yes, by the helmet and the mail,

By the sharp sword, the spear, and shield
Ye wore on many a battle field,
Obey my spell! by each of these,
I call you from your tombs beneath the roots of trees.

What! can the sons of Arngrim, erst
In mischief’s busy work the first,
In dust and ashes mouldering rot?
Are ye _all_ mute? For Hervor’s sake,
Herwarder, Herwarder, awake!

So may you, then, dishonoured lie,
Till rank corruption putrefy,
Unless ye give the belt and blade
By dwarfs for Swafurlami made.

[_Here the tomb opens, the inside of which is all fire, and the
following dialogue is chaunted_:—]

_Angantyr._

Daughter, of potent spells possest,
Why dost thou call us from our rest?
What mad ambition bids thee wake
The slumber of the dead?
Hervor, thy rash demand shall break
In ruin on thy head!
Me were the funeral rites denied,
Father nor friend was there.
Seek for the sword in air;
It decks some living warrior’s side.

_Hervor._

Thy words are false! deceiver, no!
May Odin on thy tomb bestow
Such safety, sire, as thou hast got
The fairy sword I seek, or not!
Thy child, thine only child, demands
This dowry at a father’s hands.

_Angantyr._

Listen, daughter! Hervor, hear
The voice of prophecy, and fear!
Let not a father’s hand consign
A gift so fatal to thy line.
For, lo! I see before this sword
Thine offspring perish, till restored
To son of thine, who then shall prove
The Heidrek of his people’s love.

_Hervor._

I heed thee not; but by the sway
Of spells which spirits must obey,
I charge thee, by enchantments dread,
No rest shall know my kindred dead
Till I obtain the belt and blade
By dwarfs for Swafurlami made!

_Angantyr._

Maiden, of more than warrior’s might,
Who visitest the tombs by night,
Trusting to the belt and spear
Of magic power, wander not here.

_Hervor._

I deemed thee brave before I came
To seek thee in thy house of flame.
Why do I wait? Give me the blade!
Nor longer be the gift delayed!

_Angantyr._

The sword lies here, begirt with fire,
Which once—fit weapon for thy sire—
Hialmar slew: but weak the brand
If wielded by a woman’s hand.

_Hervor._

Yet I will wield, if I may gain
The fire-girt sword, Hialmar’s bane.
No spectre-fire can Hervor dread
That idly plays around the dead.

_Angantyr._

Then, proud and daring spirit, know,
To save thee from the fires below
I give the sword! Thy suit is won!

_Hervor._

Offspring of heroes, wisely done!
Oh, dearer is this gift to me
Than Norway in her pride could be!

_Angantyr._

O woman! mad and blind to fate!
Rejoicing _now_, but wise too late,
When thou shalt see thine offspring all,
Beneath that fatal weapon fall.

_Hervor._

Too long in parting I delay;
My heroes call—I must obey.
Let my sons quarrel as they will,
My father’s gift! I hold thee still.
Spirits whom I have roused, farewell!
I feel the fires in which ye dwell
Burning around me. Here I cease.
Spirits, retire, and rest in peace![75]

Footnote 74:

For this translation we are indebted to a literary friend who
furnished us with it many years ago.

Footnote 75:

Hervarar Saga, cap. vii.–xviii. pp. 57–221.

Footnote 76:

Profane not, youth—it is not thine
To judge the spirit of our line—
The bold berserkars’ rage divine,
Through whose inspiring, deeds are wrought
Past human strength and human thought.
When full upon his gloomy soul
The champion feels the influence roll,
He swims the lake, he leaps the wall,
Heeds not the depth nor plumbs the fall—
Unshielded, mailless, on he goes
Singly against a host of foes;
Their spears he holds as withered reeds,
Their mails like maidens’ silken weeds:
One ‘gainst a hundred will he strive,
Take countless wounds, and yet survive.
How rush the eagles to his cry
Of slaughter and of victory;
And blood he quaffs like Odin’s bowl,
Deep drinks his sword—deep drinks his soul,
And all that meet him in his ire
He gives to ruin, rout, and fire.
Then, like gorged lion, seeks some den,
And couches till he’s man agen.
_Harold the Dauntless_, Canto iii. st. 8.

Footnote 77:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan., passim. Ihre, Glossarium Suio-Gothicum,
sub voce _Berserker_. Depping, Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des
Normands, tom. i. chap. 2.

Footnote 78:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. v.

Footnote 79:

Son of the celebrated chief of this name. See before, page 77.

Footnote 80:

See Introduction, sketch of Odin’s life.

Footnote 81:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. vi.–viii. pp. 102–149.
Ynglinga Saga, cap. xxix. (apud Snorronis Heimskringlam, tom. i.).
Eyrbiggia Saga, passim.

Footnote 82:

According to the ancient geographers, the flat earth lay in the
centre, while the sea, like a circle, surrounded it. This sea was
believed to contain many wonders.

Footnote 83:

Saxo evidently alludes to that part of the coast situated on the
Arctic Ocean, near the North Cape.

Footnote 84:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. p. 160–162.

Footnote 85:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danorum, lib. viii. p. 162–164.

Footnote 86:

These giants are famous in the Scandinavian mythology. “From the wings
of one,” says the lay of Vafthrudnis, “whose abode is in the extremity
of the heavens, and who has the eagle’s form, comes all the wind that
blows on mankind.”—_Edda Sæmundar hinns Froda_, 1-21.

Footnote 87:

To us these proverbs seem to have no great merit: they are, however,
somewhat obscure.

Footnote 88:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. p. 164, &c.

Footnote 89:

Query, Had Scott this legend in view when, in his _Harold the
Dauntless_, he takes the Durham witch to the place where Zernabek was
to be invoked?

Footnote 90:

See before, page 68.

Footnote 91:

Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. Saga af Olaf Trygveson (apud
Snorronem, Heimskringla, tom. i.). Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan., lib.
viii., ix.

Footnote 92:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. ix. Mallet, Histoire, tom.
iii.

Footnote 93:

Sigurd and Siward are frequently conversive.

Footnote 94:

See before, page 67.

Footnote 95:

S. Remberti Vita S. Anscharil (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum
Danicarum, tom. ii.). Suenonis Aggonis Historia Regum Danicæ (apud
Langebek, tom. i. p. 48, &c.). Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica,
lib. ix. Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. Mallet,
Histoire, tom. iii. liv. i.

Footnote 96:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x. Suenonis Aggonis Historia
Regum Danorum, cap. 3, 4. (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum,
tom. i p. 48, &c.). Gulielmus Gemmeticensis, De Ducibus Normanniæ,
lib. iv. Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. viii.
Sigebertus Gemblacensis, Chronicon, A. D. 949. Wace, Roman de Rem,
tom. i. Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. liv. 1. Depping,
Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, tom. ii. chap. 10.

Footnote 97:

Illis temporibus Otto imperater Daciam sibi fecerat tributariam.

Footnote 98:

Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. ii. cap. 11.

Footnote 99:

Mallet, Histoire, tom. iii. p. 106, &c.

Footnote 100:

Mallet, Histoire, tom. iii. liv. i.

Footnote 101:

Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. ii. cap. 19.

Footnote 102:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x. Suenonis Aggonis Historia
Regum Daniæ, cap. 4.

Footnote 103:

This is another illustration of the truth contained in the fable of
“The Three Black Crows.” Mallet pointed out the absurdity of the
relation; yet modern historians have continued to adopt it.

Footnote 104:

Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, cap. 72. Suenonis Aggonis
Historia Regum Daniæ, cap. 4. Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib.
x.

Footnote 105:

“My beard is no traitor!”—_Sir Thomas More._ Is there any thing new
under the sun?

Footnote 106:

Saga of Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 42–46. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis,
tom. i. p. 234, &c.). Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x.

Footnote 107:

Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. iv. p. 22, &c.

Footnote 108:

See, in the third chapter of this book, the adventures of Olaf.

Footnote 109:

These circumstances, so far as Olaf is concerned, will not be
understood by the reader, unless he refers to that monarch’s life, in
the chapter devoted to the history of Norway.

Footnote 110:

See his reign, in the history of Norway, in the present volume.

Footnote 111:

Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_.

Footnote 112:

Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_. Matthæis Westmonasteriensis, Historia,
p. 391. Wilhelmus Malmsburiensis, p. 64.

Footnote 113:

Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_. Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, vol. ii. chap.
ix.

Footnote 114:

Osbernus, Vita S. Elphagi (apud Wharton, Anglia Sacra, tom. ii. p.
123–141.). Chronica Saxonicum, _sub annis_.

Footnote 115:

Saxon Chronicle, _sub annis_. Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, vol. ii. p. 321.

Footnote 116:

The Saxon Chronicle. Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni.

Footnote 117:

See page 5.

Footnote 118:

Kings of Sweden from the first century before our Saviour’s birth to
the introduction of Christianity into Sweden; compiled from the
Landfedgatal and from the Heimskringla of Snorro Sturleson:—

_1. Dynasty of the Ynglings._

A.C.

Odin 70

Niord 20

A.D.

Freyer Yngve 10

Fiolner 14

Svegdir 34

Vanland or 48
Valland

Visbur 98

Domald 130

Domar 162

Dyggve 190

Dag-Spaka the 220
Wise

Agne 260

Alrek and Erik 280

Yngve and Alf 300

Hugleik 302

Jorunder and 312
Erik

Aun hinn Gamle 448
the Old

Egill 456
Tunnadolgi

Ottar 460
Vendilkraka

Adils 505

Eystein 531

Yngvar 545

Braut-Onund 565

Ingiald Illrada 623

Olaf Tractelia 630
exiled about

2. _Dynasty of the Skioldungs._

A.D.

Ivar Vidfadme, 647
died

Harald 735
Hildetand

Sigurd Ring 750

Ragnar Lodbrok 794

Biorn Ironside 804

Erik Biornson 808

Erik Raefillson 820

Emund and Biorn 859

Erik Emundson 873

Biorn Erikson 923

Erik the 993
Victorious

Erik Arsael 1001

The figures, it must be observed, are in a majority of cases purely
conjectural. They have been adopted after the most careful
investigation, by native critics; and we will not be so presumptuous
as to reject them, especially when some of them are known to be
correct.

Footnote 119:

A: Kings of Sweden, according to the Universal History:—

1. Gylfo.
2. Odin.
3. Niord.
4. Frode.
5. Sigtrug.
6. Swibdager.
7. Asmund.
8. Uffo.
9. Hunding.
10. Regner.
11. Holward.
12. Attil I.
13. Hoder.
14. Rodern.
15. Attil II.
16. Hogmor and Hogrin.
17. Alaric.
18. Eric.
19. Halden.
20. Siward.
21. Eric II.
22. Halden II.
23. Ungwin.
24. Regnald.
25. Asmund I.
26. Haquin.
27. Gothar.
28. Adel.
29. Ostan.
30. Ingvar.
31. Asmund II.
32. Siward II.
33. Hirot.
34. Ingel.
35. Olaus Traetelga I.
36. Charles.
37. Bero or Biorn III.
38. Olaf Tretelga.
39. Ingo.
40. Eric III., surnamed Waderhead.
41. Eric IV., surnamed Segersell, or the Victorious.
42. Eric V., surnamed Stenchil Milde, or Happy-born.

The authors admit that they have omitted several names, probably from
a doubt whether the kings in question ever reigned. Yet some of the
names in both lists may be proved to be the same. How correct this?
Doubtless the kings of Gothia sometimes reigned at Upsal, and vice
versa. Indeed there is proof for this conjecture.

Footnote 120:

Saxo Grammaticus. The Universal History. The Ynglinga Saga, &c.

Footnote 121:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 5.

Footnote 122:

This was also the name of Thor’s hammer or thunderbolt.

Footnote 123:

The same accident is related by Saxo of a Danish king.

Footnote 124:

See Introduction, page 31.

Footnote 125:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 11–15. (apud Snorronis Heimskringlam, tom. i.).

Footnote 126:

See Introduction, page 33.

Footnote 127:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 15–22.

Footnote 128:

See before, page 86.

Footnote 129:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 22–29, p. 25–35. Saxonis Grammatici Historia
Danica, p. 122.

Footnote 130:

The reader who may wish to see how beautifully Saxo has confounded
these simple events, may turn to the second book of his history.

Footnote 131:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 29–36, p. 35–45.

Footnote 132:

A hero of that race.

Footnote 133:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 36–45. p. 45–54.

Footnote 134:

Ibid., cap. 45, 46.

Footnote 135:

Ynglinga Saga, passim.

Footnote 136:

Saxo—Snorro—Johannes Magnus—Torfœus, in multis locis.

Footnote 137:

Saxo—Snorro—Johannes Magnus—Torfœus, in multis locis.

Footnote 138:

See before, page 31.

Footnote 139:

See the extract from Wheaton’s History of the Northmen, p. 40.

Footnote 140:

Saxo—Snorro—Johannes Magnus—Tacitus.

Footnote 141:

Initâ Gothiâ.

Footnote 142:

See before, page 21.

Footnote 143:

See before, page 24.

Footnote 144:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. i. Johannes Magnus, Historia
Gothorum, page 14, &c. Loccenius, Historia Suevica, lib. i. Erici Olai
Historia Suevorum Gothorumque, lib. i.

Footnote 145:

See Introduction, page 42.

Footnote 146:

page 57.

Footnote 147:

See before, page 132.

Footnote 148:

page 132.

Footnote 149:

Authorities:—Saxo Grammaticus, lib. vii. Snorro Sturleson, cap. 22–29.
Joannes Magnus, lib. i. Loccenius, lib. i. Ericus Olaus, lib. i.

Footnote 150:

See page 134.

Footnote 151:

See page 135.

Footnote 152:

See page 136.

Footnote 153:

See before, page 137.

Footnote 154:

Saxonis Grammatici, passim. Snorro Sturleson, Heimskringla, cap.
29–46. Loccenius, Historia Suevica, lib. i. and ii. Erici Olai
Historia, lib. i.

Footnote 155:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. and ix. Loccenius,
Historia Suevica, lib. ii. Erici Olai Historia, lib. i. Mallet,
Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. liv. i.

Footnote 156:

Authorities:—Saxo—Loccenius—Eric Olaus—Joannes Magnus.

Footnote 157:

See the next chapter.

Footnote 158:

Erici Olai Historia Suevorum, lib. i. p. 20, 21. Loccenii Historia
Suecana, lib. ii. p. 49–51.

Footnote 159:

See Introduction, page 8.

Footnote 160:

Torfœus, Historia Rerum Norvegicarum, tom. i. To this work we refer
the more curious reader.

Footnote 161:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 47. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis, tom. i. p.
56.). Torfœus, Historia Norvegica, tom. i.

_Chronology to illustrate the reigns of the Ynglings in Sweden and
Norway,
by Schoning, editor of Snorro’s Heimskringla._[162]

A.C.
105. Birth of Odin.
90. ——— Niord.
75. ——— Skiold.
65. ——— Freyr.
40. Odin’s arrival in the north.
35. Birth of Semming.
32. ——— Fiolner.
17. ——— Frode.

A.D.
1. Swegdir.
34. Vanlaud.
45. Drifa.
67. Visbur.
100. Domald.
127. Daup.
133. Domar.
146. Dyggve.
148. Drotta.
170. Dan Mikillati.
191. Dag.
216. Agne.
220. Froste.
235. Frode II.
241. Alrek.
245. Skialfa.
262. Gudlaug.
265. Yngve II.
267. Alf.
290. Jorund.
290. Halfdan I.
292. Hugleik.
295. Hako. Gylaug.
300. Hagbard.
300. Fridleif III.
310. Starkater II.
316. Aune.
338. Ale.
370. Frode IV. Fraekne.
386. Egill.
391. Augvald, king of Rogaland.
419. Ottar Vendilkraka.
438. Helge.
446. Adils.
460. Ale, the Uplander.
465. Godgiest.
479. Hrolf Krake.
485. Eystein.
510. Solve, from Niardey.
518. Yngvar.
551. Braut-Aunund.
554. Halfdan.
565. Gudraud.
577. Hiordvard Ylfing.
580. Ingiald.
587. Ivar Vidfadme.
600. Asa.
613. Olaf Trætelja.
620. Solveiga or Solva.
630. Eystein Hardrade.
640. Ingiald.
658. Halfdan Huitbein.
663. Asa, daughter of Eystein.
677. Eirik, the son of Agnar.
691. Gudraud.
705. Eystein.
705. King Skiold.
710. Hilda, daughter of Eirik.
710. Dag, king of Westmaur.
738. Halfdan Millde.
738. King Alfarin.
743. Hlifa, daughter of Dag.
770. King Eystein.
771. Alfgeir.
771. King Gudreyd Mikillati.
774. Alfhilda, daughter of Alfarin.
804. Olaf, Alf of Gierstaden.
805. King Gandalf.
806. King Haugne.
823. Halfdan the Black.
824. King Gudreid died.
832. Ragnhilda, the mother of Harold Harfagre, born.
833. Rognvald born.
841. Halfdan the Black made king of Agder and Westfold.
847. King Sigurd the Stag died.
851. Halfdan made king of Sogne.
852. Takes to wife Ragnhilda, daughter of Sigurd the Stag.
853. Harald Harfagre born.
861. _Nadodd_ discovers _Iceland_.
863. King Halfdan dies, and is succeeded by Harald.
864. Gardar visits Iceland.
865. Harald’s war with king Gandolf and others.
866. Alfheim subdued by Harald.
867. He undertakes an expedition to Drontheim.
867. _Floke_ sails to Iceland.
869. Harald subdues Naumdal; marries Asa.
870. Compels Vermeland to submit.
870. _Ingiolf_ visits Iceland.
871. Harald leads an expedition to western Gothland, and overthrows
the Goths in battle.
872. Takes Snæfrida to wife. Second expedition into Drontheim.
875. Ingulf first settles in Iceland.
880. Harald’s nuptials with _Gyda_.
881. Nordmor and Raumadal submit to his arms.
882. Conquers Sunnmore.
883. Occupies the district of Fiord.
885. Is victor in the battle of Harfur’s Bay; becomes master of all
Norway.
886. Visits Halogaland.
888. Undertakes an expedition to the western sea.
890. Cuts his hair, and receives the surname of Harfagre.
890. Thorolf is killed in Halogaland.
891. _Queldulf_ and Skalgrim, having killed the two sons of duke
Guthrum, go to Iceland.
893. Rognvald, jarl of Mörio, killed.
894. King Harald marries Ragnhilda.
895. Harald’s expedition to the Orkney Islands.
895. Hrolfus, or Rollo, compelled to leave Norway.
896. Enters Neustria or Normandy.
898. Eric called Blodöxe.
903. Harald divides his kingdom between his sons.
910. Eric of the Bloody Axe undertakes a piratical expedition.
918. Takes Gunhilda to wife. Kills Biorn’s brother.
923. Hako, afterwards Athelstane’s godson, born.
931. Sent to England.
932. Harald’s third expedition to the western sea.
933. Resigns the kingdom to his son Eric.
934. Harald, afterwards called Grafeld, born.
935. Halfdan the Black, king of Drontheim, dies.
936. Harald Harfagre dies.
937. King Erik Blodöxe kills his brothers Gudred and Olaf.
937. Hako, Athelstane’s godson, received as king by the people of
Drontheim.
938. King Erik Blodöxe, forced to abandon his kingdom and Norway.
938. Hako Jarl, the son of Sigurd, born.
939. Erik made king of Northumberland.
940. King Hako publishes the code of Gulathing.
941. Publishes the code of Frosta.
941. Death of Athelstane.
943. Jamtland, and part of Helsing, added by king Hako to his
dominions.
952. King Erik _Blodöxe_ falls in battle.
953. Erik, the son of Harald, and his brothers, infest Norway.
935. Hako’s expedition to Denmark.
956. The Christian religion attempted to be introduced into Norway.
957. Part of Vikia occupied by the sons of Erik. King Hako defeats
them and the Danes.
958. In another battle, in the island of _Fredey_, they are again
vanquished. 958. King _Harald Grenske_, father of St. Olaf, born.
963. King Hako dies of his wounds.
963. The sons of Erik made kings of Norway.
965. Jarl Sigurd killed.
968. The emperor Otho I.’s expedition into Denmark.
968. Sigmund, son of Breste, born.
969. The sons of Erik slay the kings Trygve and Gudred.
969. Olaf, son of Trygve, born.
969. _Jarl Erik_, the son of Hako, born.
970. _Jarl Hako_ flees into Denmark.
971. Returns to Drontheim.
972. Olaf, son of Trygve, comes to Esthonia.
974. _Klype_ sent to England by king Sigurd.
975. King Sigurd dies. A grievous famine in Norway.
976. Jarl Hako goes to Denmark.
976. The emperor Otho II.’s expedition to Denmark.
977. King Harald Graafeld dies.
978. _Harald_, the son of Gorm, received in the kingdom of Norway.
Hako made jarl of Norway.
978. Olaf Trygveson comes to the palace of Valdemar, king of
Holmgard.
979. King _Ragenfred_ recovers part of Norway.
980. Overthrown in battle, and forced to leave Norway.
981. Erik kills _Skopte_.
982. Harald son of Gorm’s expedition into Norway.
986. Olaf Trygveson marries Gyra.
988. Otho III.’s expedition into Denmark.
989. _Gyra_, the wife of Olaf Trygveson, dies.
990. Death of Harald, son of Gorm.
993. Olaf Trygveson baptized.
993. Saint Olaf born.
994. Jarl Hako’s war with the Jomsberg pirates.
996. Jarl Hako killed; Olaf Trygveson made king of Norway.
998. Saint Olaf baptized.
1000. Battle in which king Olaf loses his life and kingdom.

The preceding list differs in some respects from that of Suhm. We give
only the kings from the Tree-cutter to the Saint.

Died
A.D.

Olaf Trætelia 640

Halfdan Whitben 700

Eystein 730

Halfdan Millde 784

Gudred Mikillati 824

Olaf Geirstada 840

Halfdan Swart 863

Harald Haarfager 934

Erik Blodöxe 940

Hako the Good 963

Harald Graafeld 977

Hako Jarl 995

Olaf Trygveson 1000

Olaf the Saint 1030

Footnote 162:

Here are Danish and Gothic as well as Swedish princes and chiefs who
had not the regal title. Schoning’s orthography, which we shall not
alter, often differs from that which we have adopted in the text.

Footnote 163:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 48–52. p. 57–60.

Footnote 164:

Ynglinga Saga, cap. 53–55. p. 60–64.

Footnote 165:

Snorro Sturleson, Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 1-3. (apud
Heimskringlam, tom. i. p. 65, &c.).

Footnote 166:

Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 3, 4. p. 67, 68.

Footnote 167:

Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 5-7. p. 68–72. (apud Heimskringlam
Snorronis, tom. i.).

Footnote 168:

Saga Halfdanar Swarta, cap. 7-9.

Footnote 169:

The brother of Ragnilda; see page 165.

Footnote 170:

Harald’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 1, 2. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis,
tom. i. p. 75–77.).

Footnote 171:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 3-6. p. 77–80.

Footnote 172:

Transcriber’s Note: the footnote marker on page 170 has no
corresponding footnote text.

Footnote 173:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 6–13.

Footnote 174:

Missing footnote text at bottom of page.

Footnote 175:

These words are remarkable, and they confirm the observations which we
made in the preceding chapter.

Footnote 176:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 13–18. p. 88–93.

Footnote 177:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 18, 19. p. 93–95. The following is
the ode of Hornkloft, as translated by the Hon. W. Herbert, and, in
some trifling respects, improved by Mr. Wheaton:—

“Loud in Hafur’s echoing bay,
Heard ye the din of battle bray,
’Twixt Kiötve rich, and Harald bold?
Eastward sails the ships of war;
The graven bucklers gleam afar,
And dragons’ heads adorn the prows of gold.

“Glittering shields of purest white,
And swords, and Celtic falchions bright,
And western chiefs the vessels bring:
Loudly roar the wolfish rout,
And maddening champions wildly shout.
And long and loud the twisted hauberks ring.

“Firm in fight they proudly vie
With Him whose might will make them fly,
Of Eastmen kings the warlike head.
Forth his gallant fleet he drew,
Soon as the hope of battle grew,
But many a buckler brake ere Haklang bled.

“Fled the lusty Kiötve then
Before the Fair-haired king of Men,
And bade the islands shield his flight.
Warriors wounded in the fray,
Beneath the thwarts all gasping lay,
Where, headlong cast, they mourn’d the loss of light.

“Gall’d by many a massive stone
(Their golden shields behind them thrown),
Homeward the grieving warriors speed;
Swift from Hafur’s bay they hie:
East-mountaineers o’er Jardar fly,
And thirst for goblets of the sparkling mead.”

Footnote 178:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 19–25. p. 95–103. Snæfrida was,
probably, a supernatural damsel—at least, on one side. So was
Guendolen, in the bridal of Triermain; but the British Arthur broke
the charm which bound _him_ in three months, while Harald was
spell-bound for as many years. The description in Scott is exquisite.

Footnote 179:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 26.

Footnote 180:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, passim. Fragmentum Islandicum de Regibus
Dano-Norvegicis (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. ii.).

Footnote 181:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, passim. Fragmentum Islandicum de Regibus
Dano-Norvegicis (apud Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, tom. ii.).

Footnote 182:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 34.

Footnote 183:

Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagre, cap. 45.

Footnote 184:

Wallingford, Chronicon, p. 540. Theodoric, Historia Norwegica, cap. 2.
Snorro, Haralld’s Saga ens Harfagra, cap. 42, 43.; necnon Saga Hakonar
Goda, cap. 1.

Footnote 185:

Matthæi Westmonasteriensis Historia, p. 369. Simeonis Dunelmensis
Hist. 204. Arembs de Mailros, p. 148. Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 3, 4. p.
127–129.

Footnote 186:

Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 4-15., passim.

Footnote 187:

See Introduction, page 33.

Footnote 188:

Saga Hakonar Goda, p. 139.

Footnote 189:

That on the constitution and laws of the ancient Scandinavians, in the
next volume of this compendium.

Footnote 190:

Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 17.

Footnote 191:

Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 17–19.

Footnote 192:

Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 20–25.

Footnote 193:

Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 25–32.

Footnote 194:

This Song of Hako—Hakonar Mal—has been rendered into English verse by
the Hon. W. Herbert.

Footnote 195:

See the chapter on the subject in Vol. II. of this compendium.

Footnote 196:

Saga Hakonar Goda, cap. 33.

Footnote 197:

Saga of Haralldi Grafelld Konungi de Hakoni Jarli Sigurdar Syni, cap.
1-10. (apud Heimskringlam Snorronis, tom. i. p. 165–179.).

Footnote 198:

Saga af Haralldi Grafelld Konungi, &c., cap. 11–13.

Footnote 199:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 1-16.

Footnote 200:

Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 16–37.

Footnote 201:

Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 38–49. p. 229–245.

Footnote 202:

The same authority.

Footnote 203:

Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 1-3. p. 187, &c. Historia
Olavi Tryggvii-filii tom. i. cap. 44. p 86–90. Hafniæ, 1828.

The latter work, for which we are indebted to the Icelandic Society of
Copenhagen, has many interesting particulars omitted by Snorro. It was
composed by Gunlaug, a monk of Iceland, in the thirteenth century.

Footnote 204:

Saga af Olafi Konungi-iSyni, cap. 4. Historia Olavi Tryggvii-filii,
tom. i. cap. 45.

Footnote 205:

Now a part of Russia, to the east and south of the Gulf of Finland.

Footnote 206:

Saga af Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 4-21. Historia Olavi
Tryggvii-filii, tom. i. cap. 46, &c.

Footnote 207:

See before, page 108.

Footnote 208:

Saga Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 21–35. p. 211–227. Historia
Olavi Regis, tom. i. cap. 73–82. p. 157–175.

Footnote 209:

See before, page 205.

Footnote 210:

The same authorities.

Footnote 211:

Of these associates no mention is made by Snorro, and we think his
authority preferable to that of Gunlaug.

Footnote 212:

Saga of Olafi Konungi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 51, 52. p. 246–248. Historia
Olavi Tryggvii-filii, cap. 93, 94, 98.

Footnote 213:

This symbol in Christian times was superseded by the _cross_. See the
notes to Scott’s “Lady of the Lake.”

Footnote 214:

2 Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 52, 53. Historia Olavi
Tryggvii-filii, tom. i. cap. 99–102.

Footnote 215:

The same authorities.

Footnote 216:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 53–56. Historia Olavi Tryggvii-filii,
tom. i. cap. 103, 104.

Footnote 217:

The same authorities.

Footnote 218:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 57–65. Historia Olavi Tryggvii-filii,
tom. i. cap 106. et seq.

Footnote 219:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 66–71.

Footnote 220:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 72–74. Historia Olavi, tom. ii. cap.
165.

Footnote 221:

See before, page 214.

Footnote 222:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 72–74. Historia Olafi, tom. ii. cap.
165.

Footnote 223:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 84–87. Historia Olavi, tom. ii.

Footnote 224:

Historia Olavi, cap. 172.

Footnote 225:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 66, 98–100. Historia Olavi, tom. ii.
cap. 195.

Footnote 226:

See before, page 115.

Footnote 227:

Saga af Olafi Tryggva-Syni, cap. 100. ad finem. Historia Olavi, tom.
iii. cap. 256, &c.

Footnote 228:

See before, page 122.

Footnote 229:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 1 &c. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti tom.
i.

Footnote 230:

See before, page 204.

Footnote 231:

Saga af Olafi Konungs hinns Helga, cap. 1-4. Historia Regis Olavi
Sancti, tom. i. cap. 18–25. p. 31–36.

Footnote 232:

See before, page 121.

Footnote 233:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 4-26. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. i. cap. 25–42.

Footnote 234:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 26–32. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. i. p. 69–78.

Footnote 235:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 26–32. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. i. p. 69–78.

Footnote 236:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 36–42. Historia Olavi Regis Sancti,
tom. i.

Footnote 237:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 36–42. Historia Olavi Regis Sancti,
tom. i.

Footnote 238:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga (ad cap. 56.). Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. i. (ad cap. 60.).

Footnote 239:

Saga of Olafi hinns Helga (ad cap. 56.). Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. i. (ad cap. 60.).

Footnote 240:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga, cap. 60–81. Historia Regis Olafi, tom. i.
(pluribus capitibus).

Footnote 241:

This allusion will be hereafter explained.

Footnote 242:

Saga af Olafi hinns Helga. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti.

Footnote 243:

The same authorities.

Footnote 244:

Saga af Olafi hins Helga, cap. 72–74. p. 89–95. Historia Olavi Regis,
tom. i. p. 141, &c.

Footnote 245:

The same authorities.

Footnote 246:

Saga af Olafi hins Helga, cap. 110–116. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. i.

Footnote 247:

Alluding, we suppose, to his pointed mitre.

Footnote 248:

Saga of Olafi hins Helga, cap. 117–120. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. i.

Footnote 249:

The same authorities.

Footnote 250:

Saga af Olafi hins Helga, cap. 154–159. Saxonis Grammatici, lib. x. p.
194. Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, tom. iii. liv. ii. p. 139, &c.

Footnote 251:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. x. p. 194. Snorronis
Heimskringla, tom. ii. p. 271.

Footnote 252:

This has a parallel in the Mohammedan governor of Calcutta, whom no
one durst awake when the English were dying in the Black Hole.

Footnote 253:

Saga af Olafi hinom Helga, cap. 166–180. Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan.
lib. x.

Footnote 254:

Saga af Olafi hinom Helga, cap. 180–191. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti
tom. ii.

Footnote 255:

The same authorities.

Footnote 256:

Saga af Olafi hinom Helga, cap. 211, &c. Historia Regis Olavi Sancti,
tom. iii. (pluribus capitibus).

Footnote 257:

Saga af Olafi, cap. 131. Historia Regis Olavi, tom. ii. cap. 120.

Footnote 258:

See Appendix A.

Footnote 259:

See Appendix B.

Footnote 260:

Eutropius, Epitome. Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. cap. 1.
Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. i. et ii.

Footnote 261:

See before, page 158.

Footnote 262:

Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica, lib. viii. Depping, Histoire des
Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, tom. i. chap. 1.

Footnote 263:

Eutropius, Epitome, lib. ix. cap. 13. Tacitus, de Moribus Germanorum,
cap. 44.

Footnote 264:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan., passim. Depping, Histoire, tom. i.
chap. 3.

Footnote 265:

Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 147.

Footnote 266:

Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 152, &c.

Footnote 267:

See England, by Sir James Mackintosh, vol. i.; and Europe during the
Middle Ages, vol. iii.

Footnote 268:

The Saxon Chronicle (sub annis).

Footnote 269:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. lib. v.

Footnote 270:

Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.

Footnote 271:

See before, page 150.

Footnote 272:

Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Dan. Ynlinga Saga, cap. 46.

Footnote 273:

See page 120.

Footnote 274:

Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. Europe during the Middle Ages, vol.
iii.

Footnote 275:

Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. iii.

Footnote 276:

See Mackintosh’s England, vol. i.; and Europe during the Middle Ages,
vol. iii.

Footnote 277:

Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.

Footnote 278:

The Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 937. Johnstone, Antiquitates Celto-Scandicæ,
p. 31. See Europe during the Middle Ages, vols. iii. and iv.

Footnote 279:

See page 187.

Footnote 280:

See page 117.

Footnote 281:

The French historians in the collection of Bouquet.

Footnote 282:

See his reign, in the chapter on Denmark, page 102. Wace, Roman de
Rou, tom. i. part i.

Footnote 283:

Wace, Roman de Rou, tom. i. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia Danorum
extra Daniam, tom. i. p. 225, &c. Depping, Histoire des Expeditions
Maritimes des Normands, tom. i. chap. 4.

Footnote 284:

Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia Danorum, tom. i. p. 117–119. Wace,
Roman de Rou, tom. i. part i. For a parallel incident in Danish
history, see before, page 27.

Footnote 285:

Wace, Roman de Ron, tom. i. part i. Benoit de St. Maur, Chronique des
Ducs de Normandie, liv. i. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia Danorum,
tom. i. p. 214.

Footnote 286:

Wace—Dudo de St. Quentin—Benoit de St. Maur—Pontoppidan.

Footnote 287:

Wace, Roman de Rou, tom. i. part ii. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia,
tom. i. (sub annis).

Footnote 288:

De la sainte _Kemise_ ke la dame vesti,
Ki mere e vierge fu quant de lie dex naski,
Out Rou si grant pour et tant s’en, esbahi,
N’i osa arester; vers als nes tost s’enfui.

Footnote 289:

Abbonis Floriacensis Poema de Obsidione Parisiensi, lib. i. et ii.
Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia, tom. i. p. 244–264. Wace, Roman de
Rou, part ii. Depping, Histoire des Expeditions, tom. ii. chap. 7.

Footnote 290:

The same authorities.

Footnote 291:

Authorities:—Dudo of St. Quentin, Wace, Benoit of St. Maur,
Pontoppidan, and Depping. The last-named writer makes a sad confusion
of the chronology.

Footnote 292:

The same authorities.

Footnote 293:

Authorities:—Dudo of St. Quentin, Wace, Pontoppidan, Depping.

Footnote 294:

Moore’s History of Ireland, vol. ii.

Footnote 295:

Saxonis Grammatici, Hist. Dan. lib. i. tom. v. Waræus, De
Antiquitatibus Hiberniæ, cap. 24. Pontoppidan, Gesta et Vestigia, tom.
ii. p. 299, &c. Moore, History of Ireland, vol. ii. chap. xv. and xvi.

Footnote 296:

The same authorities.

Footnote 297:

Authorities:—Saxo Grammaticus, Pontoppidan, and the Irish Chronicles,
as quoted by Usher and Moore.

Footnote 298:

The same authorities.

Footnote 299:

Depping, Histoire, tom. ii. Moore, History, vol. ii. Pontoppidan,
Gesta et Vestigia, tom. ii.

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● Transcriber’s note:

○ All footnotes have been gathered together and placed at after
the Appendix.

○ The footnote marker number 173 attached to the text “scarcely
habitable by men” on page 170 was not attached to any footnote
text.

○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.

○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.

○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.