The Story of Norway Part 12

It is then told that the bishop, dismounting from his horse and embracing the king's foot, said: "It is a holy man whom we are following."

Among the few Nors.e.m.e.n of rank who had joined Olaf before he crossed the boundary, was his half-brother Harold, the son of Sigurd Syr. He was only fifteen years old, but large for his age. He led 720 men under his banner. When the king's entire army was mustered, the day before the battle, it was found to number 4,100 men; but 500 of these were sent away because they were heathen, and many of them no doubt joined the hostile army. The king woke early on the morning of the battle, and called the poet, Thormod Kolbruna-Scald, and asked him to sing to him.

Thormod stood up and sang with a ringing voice the ancient Bjarkemaal, which resounded over forest and field. The army woke and was arranged in battle array on the heights of Stiklestad in Vaerdalen; the peasant army, 10,000 strong being seen approaching in the distance. With the battle-cry: "Forward, Christ's men, Crusaders, the King's men!" Olaf's warriors rushed down the hill-sides, and the peasant army stormed to meet them with the cry: "Forward, forward, peasant-men!" The fight was long indecisive, though the king's men, on account of the advantage of their position, had the upper hand in the first onset. The peasants, however, fought with dogged determination, and their superior number told, the longer the battle raged. Olaf's ranks wavered and grew thinner. Then, with desperate courage, the king broke forth from the shield-burgh that surrounded him, and followed by a small band of devoted men, dashed against the front of the peasant host. One by one his men fell about him, and again and again his standard-bearer was cut down. Severely wounded, he stood leaning against a boulder, when Th.o.r.e Hund sprang forward and plunged his spear into his abdomen. In the next moment Kalf Arnesson gave him a cut across the throat, which was the immediate cause of his death, though Th.o.r.e Hund's spear had already dealt him a mortal wound. Then, so runs the record, the sun grew blood-red, and a strange red sheen spread over the landscape. Darkness fell upon the fighting hosts, and the sun grew black. A great terror took possession of the peasants, who saw in the eclipse [A] an evidence of the wrath of Olaf's G.o.d.

[Footnote A: This eclipse--lasting from 1 o'clock 31' P.M. to 4 o'clock 58', Aug. 31, 1030--fixes definitely the date of the battle. It was total in Vaerdalen.]

With the king's death the battle was virtually at an end. The peasants remained in possession of the field. Wounded warriors of both parties crawled about among the trees and stones, and some reached a hut where a woman surgeon was busy washing and bandaging their wounds. Hither came also Thormod Kolbruna-Scald, whose left side had been pierced by an arrow. He sat down on a bench, and a man of the peasant army who stood by said to him: "Why art thou so pale? Art thou badly wounded?" He answered in verse that he had got his wound from Danish weapons--a mocking allusion to the alliance of the peasants with the Danish king.

The woman, not knowing how serious his hurt was, asked him to go out and get an armful of firewood. When he returned he looked white as a ghost.

She begged to see his wound, and with a pair of tongs attempted to pull out the arrow, the shaft of which was broken off. But her attempts were futile. Then the scald took from his arm the heavy gold ring which the king had given him for his song and handed it to her.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. OLAF AND THE TROLDS. FROM FRESCO PAINTING IN TEGELSMORA CHURCH IN UPLAND.]

"It came from a good man," he said; "King Olaf gave it to me this morning."

Taking the tongs, he clenched them over the stump of the arrow and pulled it out. Pieces of flesh and red and white fibres adhered to the barbs. He looked at them for a moment and said: "The king has fed us well, for I am yet fat about the heart-roots"; then fell back and died.

The king's body was found by a peasant named Thorgils, who before the battle had promised Olaf to bury him if he fell. As later tradition reports, many miracles were wrought by the king's blood and by the mere touch of his lifeless hand. Tales without number were told of his marvellous powers in life as well as in death, and legends attributing to him the work of the Thundering Thor, have cl.u.s.tered luxuriantly about his name. He slew the trolds whom his church-bells annoyed, and turned them to stone. St. Olaf, with the flame-red beard, became not only the national saint, but also the national hero. The tragic circ.u.mstances of his death, no less than his valiant work for the cause of Christ, imbedded his memory deeply in the people's hearts.

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CHAPTER XIV.

SWEYN ALFIFa.s.sON (1030-1035).

King Knut could not, with his extensive possessions, devote much time to the government of Norway. He therefore had his son Sweyn proclaimed King of Norway in his stead. Sweyn's mother, who accompanied him to his new kingdom, was Aelgifa, the daughter of an ealdorman in Northampton. The Nors.e.m.e.n, however, called her Alfifa, and her son Sweyn Alfifa.s.son. This was, accordingly, what the chiefs had gained by their rebellion--to be openly governed by the mistress of a foreign king and a boy who was and could be nothing but a tool in her hands. It was a humiliation which they could ill brook. If Alfifa had had the faintest comprehension of the people whom she undertook to govern, she might possibly for a time have maintained her son upon the throne; but when she proceeded to remodel the Norse legislation in the feudal spirit, she struck a blow at the very men who were the main-stay of her power. What the chiefs had desired was local independence--the right to manage their own affairs with as little interference as possible. They had hoped to obtain this liberty under a king who was too far away to trouble them. But now came Sweyn, and with him a number of Danes who became very important personages, and induced the king to modify the Norse laws so as to bring them more nearly into conformity with the laws of Denmark. It was then enacted that no one should have the right to leave the country without the king's permission, and that confiscation of property should be the punishment for transgression. Man-slaying was likewise to be punished by confiscation. So also an inheritance coming to an outlawed man should go into the king's treasury. Ships, fisheries, pasture-land, nay, even the peasant's hearthstones were taxed, and a system of extortion was inst.i.tuted which was galling to the spirit of free men. Even the Christmas gifts which the peasants were to give the king, were fixed by law. The chief end of government seemed to be to transfer money from the people's pockets to those of the king. It was even a.s.serted, though there was no law to that effect, that during Sweyn's reign the testimony of one Dane was sufficient to invalidate that of ten Nors.e.m.e.n.

The central principle in this legislation was the feudal idea that all land belonged to the king, and that the possessors, as his tenants, had to pay for the usufruct. It was the same appropriation by the king of all allodial rights, which was encountered for the first time during the reign of Harold the Fairhaired.

Alfifa, whom the people regarded as the author of the odious enactments, may have had her share in them; but far less than was popularly supposed. It was, no doubt, Knut who meant to crush the rebellious spirit of the Norse chiefs, by which he had himself profited, and Sweyn and Alfifa were merely his agents.

Under these circ.u.mstances it was but natural that the chieftains began to repent of their rebellion against King Olaf. Einar Thambarskelver, who prided himself on his absence from the battle of Stiklestad, was especially active in awakening regret among the Tronders at his death, and indignation at the rule of the Danes. He sent for Bishop Grimkel, who was living as an exile in Sweden, and agreed with him upon a plan of action. The bishop sent for the peasant Thorgils, who revealed the spot where he had buried the king. Permission was obtained from King Sweyn to bring the corpse to Nidaros, where it was placed in a splendid sarcophagus and interred under the altar in the Church of St. Clement (Aug. 1031). Although nearly a year had elapsed since the first burial, it was a.s.serted that there was no trace of decay on the body and that the hair and the nails had grown. Einar and the bishop, at all events, encouraged such reports, and they grew in number and minuteness of convincing details. Grimkel now declared Olaf to be a saint, and Sweyn and Alfifa, though they raised many objections, dared no longer profess their disbelief. The 29th of July was set apart for the commemoration of his martyrdom. For the first time in their history the Nors.e.m.e.n felt themselves as one nation, united in their indignation against their foreign rulers and in their regret and veneration for the martyred king.

If Sweyn and Alfifa were aware of the sentiment with which they were regarded, they chose to ignore it. They were, however, not prepared for open defiance, and the events of 1033 must have taken them by surprise.

In that year, a young man calling himself Tryggve, and professing to be a son of Olaf Tryggvesson and his wife Gyda, came from England or Ireland with a band of warriors and claimed the throne of Norway as his inheritance. Sweyn called upon the chiefs to aid him in punishing the pretender, but Einar Thambarskelver, Kalf Arnesson, and many other magnates, refused to follow him. With those who still recognized his authority the king sailed southward and defeated Tryggve in a short battle in Sognesund. On his return he and Alfifa met the Tronders at the _thing_ and listened to their complaints, but could give them no satisfaction. Then Einar Thambarskelver said aloud and in the hearing of many: "I was not a friend of King Olaf; but the Tronders proved themselves to be poor merchants when they sold their king and got in his place a mare with her colt. The king cannot speak, and his mother only wishes what is bad and has the power to do it."

Alfifa rose to speak, but she could get no hearing. Einar Thambarskelver taunted her openly, and so hostile was the sentiment that she dared not take him to task. A sense of insecurity took possession of the king, and he and his whole household left Trondelag and took up their abode in the southern part of the country. His authority had practically ceased, though in name he yet remained king. In 1034, Einar Thambarskelver, Kalf Arnesson, and several other chiefs started for Russia and invited Magnus, King Olaf's only son, to return with them and become king of Norway. They asked and received his forgiveness for their hostility to his father, and swore to be faithful to him and to shield him from all harm. Magnus, who was then ten years old, accompanied them back to his native land, and was received with enthusiastic homage at Oere-_thing_, where he was proclaimed king. Sweyn and Alfifa made vain efforts to raise an army, but as no one heeded their summons, were forced to flee to Denmark. Here Sweyn died in the year 1036. As his father, Knut, had died in 1035, his half-brother, Harthaknut, became the heir to his claim to Norway, and, as we shall see, soon took measures to enforce it.

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CHAPTER XV.

MAGNUS THE GOOD (1035-1047).

MAGNUS OLAFSSON was an illegitimate child, his mother, Alfhild, being, according to one report, an Englishwoman of high birth; according to another, the queen's laundress. When he was born he was so small and feeble that it seemed as if he could not live many hours. It was in the middle of the night and no one dared to wake the king. His friend, Sighvat Scald, was therefore called, and he a.s.sumed the responsibility of naming the child Magnus, after Carolus Magnus, the German emperor. A priest was then found who baptized it. When the king heard of the occurrence he was very wroth, and chided the scald. There was no one in his family named Magnus, and perhaps he even suspected that Sighvat had made a mistake in selecting the Latin surname of the emperor rather than his real name, Karl. It was under these unpropitious circ.u.mstances that the boy was born who became the heir to St. Olaf's kingdom and the love which a repentant people lavished upon his memory. He was not quite eleven years old when he was proclaimed king at the Oere-_thing_, but well grown and intelligent. He allowed himself, during the first years of his reign, to be guided by the counsel of Einar Thambarskelver and Kalf Arnesson; but soon gained sufficient independence of judgment to a.s.sert his own will.

It was but a short time after the proclamation of Magnus as king that Harthaknut prepared to invade Norway. Magnus, who was eager to punish the race of Knut for their insidious plottings against his father, also made warlike preparations, apparently with the intention of invading Denmark. Whether any actual fighting took place is not known. It is not improbable that some insignificant skirmishing may have been done; but before any decisive battle was fought, the chieftains in both countries interfered and persuaded the two youthful combatants to make peace. At a meeting at the Brenn Islands, at the mouth of the Gotha Elv, an agreement was made in accordance with which each made the other his heir and successor, in case he died, without issue (1038). This might, indeed, seem to be a remote contingency, but it actually came to pa.s.s four years later (1042) when Harthaknut died and Magnus was, without opposition, proclaimed king of Denmark at the Viborg-_thing_, and received the allegiance of the people. Thus Norway and Denmark were for the first time united, and the descendants of Harold the Fairhaired were recognized by the Danish branch of Ragnar Lodbrok's race as their equals, as they already had been recognized by the branch governing Sweden.

Magnus must have been aware that it was to the sainthood of his father that he owed this recognition, and he lost no opportunity to show his reverence for his memory. He commenced the erection of a church in Nidaros, which was to bear St. Olafs name, and made him a new sarcophagus, adorned with gold and silver and precious stones. It was natural enough that he should take pleasure in the society of those who had been nearest to his father and stood at his side at Stiklestad. But the hostility aroused by the battle and the events that led to it existed, in some measure, yet; and one party began to fan the smouldering embers of distrust in the king's mind and incite him to vengeance against the other. Young as Magnus was, it is scarcely to be wondered at that he allowed himself to be influenced by this evil counsel. In spite of the amnesty which he had in Russia given to those who had borne arms against St. Olaf, he began now to punish all the leaders in the rebellion with great harshness. It was the Tronders, particularly, who had to bear the brunt of his wrath; because it was they who had made common cause with Knut and had been foremost in driving the sainted king into exile. Kalf Arnesson was among the first to experience the changed temper of King Magnus. Jealousies had early arisen between him and Einar Thambarskelver, both of whom called the king their foster-son and prided themselves on possessing his confidence. Once, it is said, Kalf had seated himself in Einar's seat next to the king, whereupon Einar sat down upon Kalf's shoulder, saying:

"It behooves an old bull to be stalled before the calf."

At a party at the estate Haug, in Vaerdalen, the king uttered to Einar a desire to visit the field where his father had fallen.

"I can give you no information about that," answered Einar, "as I was not present. But let Kalf ride along with you. He can give you full particulars."

"Then thou shalt accompany me, Kalf," said the king; and Kalf, though he was very reluctant, was obliged to follow.

When they reached the battle-field the king dismounted and asked to be shown the spot where his father had received his death-wound.

"He lay here," said Kalf, pointing with his spear.

"Where didst thou stand then, Kalf?" asked Magnus.

"Here where I am now standing."

"Then thy axe could well reach him," cried the king, flushing violently.

"My axe did not reach him," Kalf replied, jumped on his horse and rode away. He had already given orders to have his ship in readiness, loaded with all his movable goods. And as soon as he reached home he put to sea and sailed for the Orkneys. The great possessions which he left behind were confiscated by Magnus.

Th.o.r.e Hund escaped punishment by making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from which he never returned. Haarek of Thjotta was slain with the king's consent by a private enemy, and many others were deprived of their cattle and otherwise molested. The odious laws which had been given by Sweyn Alfifa.s.son were not repealed; and the king acted as if he regarded himself as the master of every one's goods, life, and liberty.

But the Nors.e.m.e.n were not accustomed to endure arbitrary conduct in their kings. A general dissatisfaction spread through the country, and threatened to break out in open rebellion. In Sogn the peasants were already under arms, and in Trondelag a largely attended meeting was held at which the bitterest denunciation of the king found utterance.

Happily, however, some were present who were yet kindly disposed to Magnus, and these determined to let him know how the people felt toward him. The question then arose as to who was to undertake this hazardous mission, for Magnus was hot-tempered and had, moreover, made up his mind to inflict exemplary punishment upon the rebellious Sognings. His friends determined to let chance decide. They drew lots, and the lot fell upon Sighvat Scald, who, in a song called the Lay of Candor, took the king earnestly to task for his inconsiderate harshness, warned him of the consequences, and reminded him of his duties to the people, who had of their own accord made him their king. The song made a deep impression upon Magnus, and he was from that day a changed man. He gave up all plans of vengeance, became gentle and forgiving, and governed the land in accordance with the law. His kindness and charm of manner made him now so popular that scarcely enough could be said in his praise. The people called him Magnus the Good.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAGNUS THE GOOD AND KALF ARNESSON, AT STIKLESTAD.]

When Magnus, in 1042, had become King of Denmark, his ambition led him as the heir of Harthaknut, also to a.s.sert his claim to the crown of England. Edward the Confessor, who was called to the throne at the death of Harthaknut, was in honor bound to disregard such a claim; but it compelled him to keep a fleet in readiness to repel an expected Norse invasion. There is little doubt but that Magnus would have made the attempt to oust him, if the events in Denmark had not taken a turn which obliged him to abandon, for a time, all thought of conquest. Among the Danes who swore allegiance to Magnus and endeavored to win his favor was Sweyn Estridsson, the son of Earl Ulf and Estrid, the sister of Knut the Mighty. He was both on his father's and his mother's side descended from the race of Ragnar Lodbrok, and was therefore better ent.i.tled to the Danish throne than the King of Norway. Sweyn was like his father Ulf, a shrewd intriguer, smooth of speech, and fair of face, but false and treacherous. He was loud in protestations of devotion to Magnus and succeeded in gaining his confidence. Contrary to the advice of his friends, Magnus made him his va.s.sal and appointed him his earl, giving him the same fiefs that his father had had before him. It was to be his special duty to defend Jutland against the Wends and the Saxons. When the ceremony of invest.i.ture took place, Einar Thambarskelver cried out to the king: "Too great earl, foster-son; too great earl!" to which the king replied angrily: "You do not credit me with any judgment or knowledge of men. I do not know what you mean by regarding some earls as too great, and some as nothing at all."

Sweyn was scarcely out of Magnus' sight, before he made haste to justify Einar's apprehension. Having regained his father's fiefs and the power which they gave him, he called the Danish chieftains together at the _thing_ in Viborg, and was proclaimed King of Denmark. Magnus, incensed at his treachery, started with a large fleet to punish him; but Sweyn ran away, first to Sweden and later to the Wendic provinces along the Baltic. No opposition was, therefore, offered to Magnus, and after having chastised many who had acknowledged Sweyn as king, he started for Jomsborg, which had also rebelled against his authority. He stormed and destroyed the old viking nest, and killed and scattered its occupants.

In the meanwhile an enormous army of Wends, among the chiefs of which was Sweyn Estridsson himself, was pouring in over Sleswick and met Magnus at Lyrskogs Heath (1043) where, in spite of their superior numbers, they were overwhelmingly defeated. It is told that 10,000 corpses covered the battle-field. The victory, which was in a large measure due to King Magnus' personal bravery, gained him a great prestige, and what was more, stemmed the tide of Slavonic migration in the North. If the Wends had then gained a foot-hold in Jutland, Denmark would probably to-day have been a Slavonic country, and the whole destiny of the Scandinavian North would have been changed. Magnus took up his winter-quarters in Sleswick; but no sooner had he dismissed part of his army than Sweyn was again in arms, and was defeated by Magnus in two naval battles at Aaros and Helgeness. In the spring of 1044, when Magnus was twenty years old, he returned to Norway. His fame filled the North; for so great things scarcely any king of his race had achieved at so early an age. In spite of his hot temper, he was well beloved by all his people; for with all his vehemence, he was upright, generous, and n.o.ble. A pleasant story is told of him, which throws much light upon his character.

In Magnus' guard there was a high-born Icelander, named Thorstein, son of Side-Hall. Like most of his countrymen he was not amenable to discipline, and offended the king by going to Dublin without his permission. In return for this he was outlawed; but, relying upon his friends and family connections, he returned to Norway, paying no heed to the judgment of outlawry. He brought with him some fine stud-horses, and offered them as a gift to Einar Thambarskelver, whose influence with the king was known to be great. Einar declined them; but his son Eindride, not knowing of his father's refusal, accepted them with joy. He even invited Thorstein to be his guest for the winter and had the hardihood to bring him in his company to the king's Yule-feast. He was, however, persuaded by his father to return home with the outlaw, before the king had seen him. On the fourth day after Christmas, Einar, who was sitting at Magnus' side, ventured to put in a good word for Thorstein, to which the king answered:

"Let us talk of something else: for I would not willingly anger thee."

Four days later, Einar again mentioned the Icelander; but the king with a perfectly friendly manner dismissed the subject. Then Einar let five days pa.s.s; and once more asked that the Icelander be forgiven.

"We will not speak of that," said Magnus, with some irritation; "I do not understand how thou canst presume to protect a man who has provoked my wrath."