Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Part 68

"Do cautious, with this news of treason Flying about--give them no reason.

We hange the thief, but then we use Consideration of the excuse.

I think, great king (who wilt rejoice Eagle and wolf with battle voice), It would be wise not to oppose Thy bondes, and make them thy foes.

"A dangerous sign it is, I fear, That old grey-bearded men appear In corners whispering at the Thing, As if they had bad news to bring.

The young sit still,--no laugh, or shout,-- More looks than words pa.s.sing shout; And groups of whispering heads are seen, On b.u.t.toned b.r.e.a.s.t.s, with lowering mien.

"Among the udalmen, they say The king, if he could have his way, Would seize the bondes' udal land, And free-born men must this withstand.

In truth the man whose udal field, By any doom that law can yield From him adjudged the king would take, Could the king's throne and power shake."

This verse is the last:--

"A holy bond between us still Makes me wish speedy end to ill: The sluggard waits till afternoon,-- At once great Magnus! grant our boon.

Then we will serve with heart and hand, With thee we'll fight by sea or land: With Olaf's sword take Olaf's mind, And to thy bondes be more kind."

In this song the king was exhorted to observe the laws which his father had established. This exhortation had a good effect on the king, for many others held the same language to him. So at last the king consulted the most prudent men, who ordered all affairs according to law.

Thereafter King Magnus had the law-book composed in writing which is still in use in Throndhjem district, and is called "The Grey Goose" (1).

King Magnus afterwards became very popular, and was beloved by all the country people, and therefore he was called Magnus the Good.

ENDNOTES: (1) "The Grey Goose", so called probably from the colour of the parchment on which it is written, is one of the most curious relics of the Middle Ages, and give us an unexpected view of the social condition of the Northmen in the eleventh century. Law appears to have been so far advanced among them that the forms were not merely established, but the slightest breach of the legal forms of proceeding involved the loss of the case. The "Grey Goose" embraces subjects not dealt with probably by any other code in Europe at that period. The provision for the poor, the equality of weights and measures, police of markets and of sea havens, provision for illegitimate children of the poor, inns for travellers, wages of servants and support of them in sickness, protection of pregnant women and even of domestic animals from injury, roads, bridges, vagrants, beggars, are subjects treated of in this code.--"Schlegel."--L.

18. OF THE ENGLISH KINGS.

The king of the English, King Harald, died (A.D. 1040) five years after his father King Canute, and was buried beside his father at Winchester.

After his death his brother Hardaknut, the second son of the old King Canute, was king of England, and was thus king both of Denmark and England. He ruled these kingdoms two years, and then died of sickness in England, leaving no children. He was buried at Winchester beside his father. After his death Edward the Good, a son of the English king Ethelred (and Emma, a daughter of Richard earl of Rouen), was chosen king in England. King Edward the Good was, on his mother's side, a brother of Harald and Hardaknut, the sons of Canute the Great; and the daughter of Canute and Queen Emma was Gunhild, who was married to the Emperor Henry of Germany, who was called Henry the Mild. Gunhild had been three years in Germamy when she fell sick, and she died five years after the death of her father King Canute the Great.

19. OF KING MAGNUS OLAFSON.

When King Magnus Olafson heard of Hardaknut's death, he immediately sent people south to Denmark, with a message to the men who had bound themselves by oath to the peace and agreement which was made between King Magnus and Hardaknut, and reminded them of their pledge. He added, as a conclusion, that in summer (A.D. 1042.) he would come with his army to Denmark to take possession of his Danish dominions, in terms of the agreement, or to fall in the field with his army. So says Arnor, the earls' skald:--

"Wise were the words, exceeding wise, Of him who stills the hungriest cries Of beasts of prey--the earl's lord; And soon fulfilled will be his word: 'With his good sword he'll Denmark gain, Or fall upon a b.l.o.o.d.y plain; And rather than give up his cause, Will leave his corpse to raven's claws.'"

20. KING MAGNUS'S ARMAMENT.

Thereafter King Magnus gathered together a great army, and summoned to him all lendermen and powerful bondes, and collected war-s.h.i.+ps. When the army was a.s.sembled it was very handsome, and well fitted out. He had seventy large vessels when he sailed from Norway. So says Thiodolf the skald:--

"Brave king! the terror of the foe, With thee will many a long-s.h.i.+p go.

Full seventy sail are gathered here, Eastward with their great king to steer.

And southward now the bright keel glides; O'er the white waves the Bison rides.

Sails swell, yards crack, the highest mast O'er the wide sea scarce seen at last."

Here it related that King Magnus had the great Bison, which his father King Olaf had built. It had more than thirty banks of rowers; and forward on the bow was a great buffalo head, and aft on the stern-post was its tail. Both the head and the tail, and both sides of the s.h.i.+p, were gilded over. Of this speaks Arnor, the earls' skald:--

"The white foam las.h.i.+ng o'er the deck Oft made the glided head to shake; The helm down, the vessel's heel Oft showed her stem's bright-glacing steel.

Around Stavanger-point careering, Through the wild sea's white flames steering, Tackle loud singing to the strain, The storm-horse flies to Denmark's plain."

King Magnus set out to sea from Agder, and sailed over to Jutland. So says Arnor:--

"I can relate how through the gale The gallant Bison carried sail.

With her lee gunwale in the wave, The king on board, Magnus the brave!

The iron-clad Thingmen's chief to see On Jutland's coast right glad were we,-- Right glad our men to see a king Who in the fight his sword could swing."

21. KING MAGNUS COMES TO DENMARK.

When King Magnus came to Denmark he was joyfully received. He appointed a Thing without delay, to which he summoned the people of the country, and desired they would take him as king, according to the agreement which had been entered into. As the highest of the chiefs of the country were bound by oath to King Magnus, and were desirous of keeping their word and oath, they endeavoured zealously to promote the cause with the people. It contributed also that King Canute the Great, and all his descendants, were dead; and a third a.s.sistance was, that his father King Olaf's sanct.i.ty and miracles were become celebrated in all countries.

22. KING MAGNUS CHOSEN KING OF DENMARK.

King Magnus afterwards ordered the people to be summoned to Viborg to a Thing. Both in older and later times, the Danes elected their kings at the Viborg Thing. At this Thing the Danes chose Magnus Olafson to be king of all the Danish dorninions. King Magnus remained long in Denmark during the summer (A.D. 1042); and wherever he came the people received him joyfully, and obeyed him willingly. He divided the country into baronies and districts, and gave fiefs to men of power in the land. Late in autumn he returned with his fleet to Norway, but lay for some time at the Gaut river.

23. OF SVEIN ULFSON.

There was a man, by name Svein, a son of Earl Ulf, and grandson of Thorgils Sprakaleg. Svein's mother was Astrid, a daughter of King Svein Forkbeard. She was a sister of Canute the Great by the father's side, and of the Swedish King Olaf Eirikson by the mother's side; for her mother was Queen Sigrid the Haughty, a daughter of Skoglar Toste. Svein Ulfson had been a long time living with his relation the Swedish king, ever since King Canute had ordered his father Ulf to be killed, as is related in the saga of old King Canute, that he had his brother-in-law, Earl Ulf, murdered in Roskilde; and on which account Svein had not since been in Denmark. Svein Ulfson was one of the handsomest men that could be seen; he was very stout and strong, and very expert in all exercises, and a well-spoken man withal. Every one who knew him said he had every quality which became a good chief. Svein Ulfson waited upon King Magnus while he lay in the Gaut river, as before mentioned, and the king received him kindly, as he was by many advised to do; for Svein was a particularly popular man. He could also speak for himself to the king well and cleverly; so that it came at lasf to Svein's entering into King Magnus's service, and becoming his man. They often talked together afterwards in private concerning many affairs.

24. SVEIN ULFSON CREATED AN EARL.

One day, as King Magnus sat in his high-seat and many people were around him, Svein Ulfson sat upon a footstool before the king. The king then made a speech: "Be it known to you, chiefs, and the people in general, that I have taken the following resolution. Here is a distinguished man, both for family and for his own merits, Svein Ulfson, who has entered into my service, and given me promise of fidelity. Now, as ye know, the Danes have this summer become my men, so that when I am absent from the country it is without a head; and it is not unknown to you how it is ravaged by the people of Vindland, Kurland, and others from the Baltic, as well as by Saxons. Therefore I promised them a chief who could defend and rule their land; and I know no man better fitted, in all respects, for this than Svein Ulfson, who is of birth to be chief of the country.

I will therefore make him my earl, and give him the government of my Danish dominions while I am in Norway; just as King Canute the Great set his father, Earl Ulf, over Denmark while he was in England."

Then Einar Tambaskelfer said, "Too great an earl--too great an earl, my foster-son!"

The king replied in a pa.s.sion, "Ye have a poor opinion of my judgment, I think. Some consider that ye are too great earls, and others that ye are fit for nothing."

Then the king stood up, took a sword, and girt it on the earl's loins, and took a s.h.i.+eld and fastened it on his shoulders, put a helmet upon his head, and gave him the t.i.tle of earl, with the same fiefs in Denmark which his father Earl Ulf had formerly held. Afterwards a shrine was brought forth containing holy relics, and Svein laid his hand hereon, and swore the oath of fidelity to King Magnus; upon which the king led the earl to the highseat by his side. So says Thiodolf:--

"Twas at the Gaut river's sh.o.r.e, With hand on shrine Svein Ulfson swore.

King Magnus first said o'er the oath, With which Svein Ulfson pledged his troth.