The Story of Norway Part 14

[Footnote A: To this family belonged Finn Arnesson, who fought at St.

Olaf's side at Stiklestad, and Kalf Arnesson, whom Magnus the Good exiled.]

[Footnote B: See Munch: "Det Norske Folks Historie," ii., p. 180.]

The tendency to subordinate all other considerations to policy, which Harold showed in his marriage, was also visible in his efforts to establish a rival saint to St. Olaf in the south of the country. The presence of the sanctuary of the national saint in Trondelag had tended to increase the natural predominance of that province over the southern districts and to foster jealousies, which, in an imperfectly amalgamated nationality, are always rife. Viken, which had formerly belonged to Denmark, had never become intimately attached to the kingdom and race of Harold the Fairhaired; and Harold Sigurdsson judged rightly that a local saint of his own family would accomplish the double purpose. Such a saint was soon found in the person of Hallvard, the son of Vebjorn, and a cousin of the king. His history was not very remarkable, nor was his martyrdom, even with all its legendary embellishments, sufficient to warrant canonization. But it served the king's purpose well, and the regulation miracles began to manifest themselves in the usual fashion at St. Hallvard's shrine. Without submitting the question to the Pope, "the people" then proclaimed him a saint, and the king founded the town of Oslo, probably to shelter the new sanctuary (1051 or 1052). The site of the town was chosen with excellent judgment at the end of the Folden Fjord, where Christiania, the capital of Norway, is now situated.

When we consider the restless energy and power with which King Harold carried out his plans, both in internal and in foreign affairs, we cannot but derive a high idea of his ability. Whether, on the other hand, his activity was for the welfare of his subjects, is another question. Certainly, his long-continued war with Denmark was disastrous, both to himself and his people. His annual summer amus.e.m.e.nt consisted, for some time, in surprising the exposed ports on the Danish coast and harrying them with savage cruelty. At last, when both sides grew tired of this aimless destruction, it was agreed that Sweyn Estridsson should meet Harold at the mouth of the Gotha Elv, and that the issue of the battle should decide in regard to the latter's claim to the throne of Denmark. At the time appointed, however, Sweyn failed to make his appearance, and Harold, after having waited for him in vain, sailed southward with his fleet, ravaging the coast of Jutland, burning the great city of Heidaby (Sleswick), and carrying away a number of high-born women, besides an enormous booty (1049). He was far from expecting to be pursued by the Danes, and, accordingly, allowed his ships to scatter on their homeward way. Head-winds and foggy weather delayed the Nors.e.m.e.n, and one morning when they were laying to under the island of Leso, they saw a sudden flash through the fog which caused alarm. The king was called and asked what he supposed it to be.

"The Danish fleet is upon us," he said; "that which shines is the golden dragon-heads which flash in the morning sun."

Resistance was not to be thought of, and flight seemed also hopeless.

But the king's presence of mind did not desert him. He ordered the men to the oars, but the ships, which were heavy and swollen from having been long in the water, made little headway, and, as the fog lifted, the Danish fleet, counting several hundred galleys, was seen bearing down upon them. Harold then commanded his men to nail bright garments and other precious things to logs and throw them overboard. The Danes, who could not resist the temptation to stop and pick them up, thereby lost time, and were rebuked by Sweyn for their folly. Again the pursuit began, and Harold was obliged to throw overboard malt, beer, and pork, in order to lighten his ships. Nevertheless, Sweyn was still gaining upon him, and Harold's own dragon-ship, which was the hindmost, was in danger of being captured. Then, in sheer desperation, he made rafts out of barrels and boards, put the Danish matrons and maidens upon them, and lowered them into the sea. One after another of these rafts was sent out at intervals, and the pursuers seeing their wives and daughters stretching out their arms to them, crying to be rescued, and some even struggling in the water, could not forbear to pause and save them. Thus Harold escaped, and Sweyn cursed his ill-luck. Nevertheless, when he captured some laggards among the Norse galleys, he refused to take vengeance upon them.

During a later expedition to Denmark (1060) Harold displayed again the same presence of mind, and daring invention. He had just beaten Sweyn in the battle of Djursaa, and felt perfectly safe in entering the long and narrow Lim-Fjord for purposes of plunder. But Sweyn, hearing that his antagonist had gone into such a trap, hastily gathered what forces he could command and laid to at Hals, where the fjord is so narrow that a few ships could easily engage a much superior number. Harold, perceiving that he was caught, gave orders to sail in through the fjord to the very end. Here a narrow isthmus separates the fjord from the North Sea. With enormous difficulty he now dragged his ships across the isthmus, and sailed gaily northward while Sweyn lay guarding the empty cage from which he had escaped. To make, however, an end of this wasteful and unprofitable warfare, Harold proposed to Sweyn that they should stake their kingdoms in a decisive battle in the Gotha Elv.

It is not perfectly clear whether Sweyn accepted this challenge, though there is a probability that he did, as Harold would scarcely otherwise have gone to the place appointed for the battle. As on the former occasion, however, he waited in vain for the foe, and, dismissing the greater part of his force, sailed with one hundred and eighty ships down along the coast of Skaane until he came to Nis-aa, where he was surprised by Sweyn with a fleet of three hundred and sixty ships. A b.l.o.o.d.y battle was fought, lasting through an entire night (1062), and ending with the complete rout of the Danes. The victory was in a large measure due to the Norse chieftain Haakon Ivarsson, a man whom Harold had treated with harshness, but who, in the king's need, nevertheless, came to his rescue. Sweyn, too, owed his safety to Haakon, on board whose ship he sought refuge, and by whose aid he made his escape.

Great as the victory at Nis-aa was, its results, as far as Harold was concerned, proved insignificant. It was vain to suppose that Sweyn, as long as he had any power of resistance, would renounce his throne; and even if he had been willing to abide by such an agreement, the Nors.e.m.e.n's many plundering expeditions had made them so hated in Denmark that an army of occupation would have been needed to keep the land under their sway. They were, however, no less weary than the Danes of the incessant hostilities, and much against his will, Harold was forced to make peace at Gotha Elv in 1064. He recognized Sweyn as king of Denmark, and promised no more to molest him.

The excessive burdens which Harold had imposed upon his people, in order to obtain the means to carry on this war, had produced great discontent among the peasants, and the important domestic events which preceded the peace will now claim our attention. During the prosecution of the war nothing irritated the king more than the captious criticism and opposition of the chieftains, and particularly of their leader, Einar Thambarskelver. Einar, with his six hundred men-at-arms, following him wherever he went, was the personified defiance of the king's authority; and Harold, when he once saw him land at the pier in Nidaros, flaunting his power in his face, is said to have exclaimed in verse: "Here I must see the haughty Einar land with a band of _hus-carles_ so large that many an earl would have been satisfied with less. He thinks, perhaps, himself to mount the throne; and he will not stop until he has deprived me of my kingdom, unless he has first to kiss the thin lips of the axe."

Though this supposition may have been unfounded, it is very sure that Einar shunned no opportunity for manifesting his hostility to the king.

Once he broke up a meeting when Harold was present, and with his armed retinue freed a convicted thief who had once been in his service.

Another time he forced the king, by threatening an attack, to surrender a great treasure which once had been found in the ground, although the law adjudged all property thus acquired to the king. Einar, however, claimed that some runes on the lid of the chest, containing the treasure, showed it to have belonged to his father-in-law, Earl Haakon, whose only surviving heir was his wife Bergljot.

The king could scarcely be blamed for resenting such insolence, but the means he chose to get even with his enemy was unworthy of him. He had, by chance, captured some Danish men who had in their possession King Sweyn's seal. It is not improbable that they were secret emissaries from the Danish king, who was perhaps trying the tactics of his uncle Knut, whose bribes had once alienated the Norse chieftains from Olaf the Saint. It now occurred to Harold that he might use these men to test the disposition of the chieftains toward him and, what was especially important, gain a just reason for destroying those who should prove to be traitors. It was particularly against Einar Thambarskelver that this plot was directed. The men, purporting to come from King Sweyn, brought forged letters full of flattering a.s.surances, and a large sum of money which they offered Einar as a pledge of the king's friendship. But he was equal to the test. "Every one knows," he said, "that King Harold is not my friend, while King Sweyn often speaks kindly of me, and I would fain be his friend. But if he comes to Norway with an army to fight King Harold and harry his kingdom, I will make him all resistance in my power, and I will help King Harold, with all the force at my command, to defend his kingdom."

When the Danes returned with this message to King Harold, he said:

"It was to be expected that he would answer like a man of honor, though not out of love for me."

There were other surprises in store for the king on this occasion. His friend and kinsman, Th.o.r.e of Steig, who had first recognized his claim to the kingdom, accepted the bribe, and when informed that Harold was coming to punish him, he went cheerfully to meet him, and handed him the money, saying: "A short while ago, there were some Danish men at my house who brought me friendly letters and money from King Sweyn. I accepted the money, because I found it proper that you should receive what foreign kings were using to steal your country from you."

This was so shrewd an act that it extorted from Harold, even if he did see through it, a reluctant admiration.

A third man,--a peasant, named Hogne Langbjornsson--to whom the emissaries came, made them this answer:

"I did not think King Sweyn had heard of me, who am only a common peasant, but my answer to him is this: that if he comes to Norway with war-shield, no peasant's son shall do him more harm than I."

When this reply was reported to Harold he was greatly pleased, and presently offered Hogne, as a reward for his fidelity, the t.i.tle of liegeman, which was the highest dignity next to that of earl. But Hogne was also proof against this temptation.

"All the friendship which you show me, my lord," he said, "I accept with thanks. But the t.i.tle of liegeman I will not have, for I well know how things will go. When the liegemen came together they would say: 'Hogne shall have the lowest seat, for he is only of peasant race, and thus the lowest of the liegemen.' My dignity would then not bring me honor, but shame. Far greater honor it is to be called a peasant and have the peasants say when they come together, that Hogne is the foremost among them."

It is this st.u.r.dy sense of independence among peasants which makes Norwegian history unlike the history of any other country, and Norway the fountain-head of const.i.tutional liberty in Europe. It was upon this rock that feudalism was wrecked in Norway, while it sailed triumphant down the current of history in Sweden, in Denmark, and all other European lands.

King Harold could not help recognizing this proud integrity, even when found in his enemies. He was more kindly disposed even toward Einar Thambarskelver after having become a.s.sured of his loyalty. In order to put an end to all differences between them, he invited the old man to a feast at the royal mansion in Nidaros, gave him the seat of honor next to himself, and entertained him in princely fashion. The horns were industriously drained, and Einar, who was nearly eighty years old, grew sleepy. As ill-luck would have it, the king was just then telling of his adventures in Constantinople, and he regarded the sleepiness of his guest as a mark of disrespect. He directed one of his men to play a rough trick on the sleeper, in return for which Einar, the next day, had the man slain. The old enmity then broke out afresh; and Harold, weary of the humiliations he had had to suffer, determined to rid himself of his foe. Under pretence of wishing to make peace with him, he invited him to a meeting. Einar came with his son Eindride and a large crowd of followers. The king, having concealed a.s.sa.s.sins in the hall, had covered up the smoke-hole so as to exclude the light. As Einar entered, leaving his son at the door outside, he expressed his astonishment at the darkness.

"Dark it is in the king's hall," he said.

The murderers immediately fell upon him and cut him down.

"Sharp are the fangs of the king's hounds," he cried.

Eindride, hearing his father's voice, rushed in to defend him, but was instantly surrounded and slain. In a few minutes the king strode out of the hall, and ordered his men to prepare themselves for an attack; but Einar's followers stood irresolute, and made no sign to pursue him, as he walked down to the river with his guard and rowed out to the fjord.

The old Bergljot, when she heard of the king's treachery, rushed through the streets of the town, vainly calling upon the people to avenge her husband and son. She arrived at the king's mansion just in time to see Harold's boat gliding down the river. "Now we miss my kinsman Haakon Ivarsson," she cried; "for if he stood here on the slope, Einar's slayer would not be rowing down the river."

Harold acted wisely in betaking himself away after having aroused the wrath of the Tronders by this dastardly deed. He went to his kinsman by marriage, Finn Arnesson, and persuaded him to use his influence to quiet the people; in return for which he promised to recall his brother Kalf, and restore to him his property and dignities, of which King Magnus had deprived him. Moreover, Finn had to undertake a mission to Haakon Ivarsson, and induce him to forego his vengeance for the slaying of his kinsmen, and accept, as blood-wite, any favor which it was in the king's power to bestow. Finn accomplished both these missions with success; quieted the Tronders, and reconciled Haakon, who, as the price of peace, demanded the hand of Ragnhild, the daughter of Magnus the Good, in marriage. Nevertheless, the king had lost much in the estimation of the people by murdering Einar. The slaying itself they would readily have condoned; but the breach of faith they regarded as a crime, unworthy of an honorable warrior. Harold's disregard of faith and honor brought about a general disregard of moral obligations. Toward a treacherous king treason seemed pardonable. One after another of his liegemen, discovering his duplicity, turned away from him, left their country, and went to King Sweyn in Denmark, who received them well. The first who took this course was Finn Arnesson; Kalf, his brother, was a brave and able man, and King Harold seemed after his return to be kindly disposed toward him. For all that, during an expedition to Denmark, he sent him ash.o.r.e with a small band of men and commanded him to attack a much superior Danish force, promising to come to his aid, if necessary. Kalf obeyed, and was killed with nearly all his men. Then, at last, when there was no need of it, the king landed and made an incursion for plunder into the country. Later, he boasted of having caused the death of thirteen men, and Finn was not wrong in supposing that his brother was one of them. He was so incensed at the king's treachery that he could no more endure to meet him face to face. He sailed with all his movable possessions to Denmark, where King Sweyn made him Earl of Halland, a province which now belongs to Sweden, and borders on the Norwegian province Viken.

A similar experience with King Harold had Haakon Ivarsson. He wooed Ragnhild, the daughter of King Magnus, but received the reply that she would not wed any man less than an earl. Haakon then begged the king to make him an earl; but Harold answered that he did not wish to have more than one earl at the time in his kingdom. Full of wrath, Haakon then betook himself to King Sweyn; but in the battle of Nis-aa again joined Harold, and saved him from defeat. His obligations toward Sweyn he also discharged by rescuing him after the battle, and sending him in safety to his friends. The fame which Haakon acquired by these exploits, so far from bringing him the favor of the king, rather excited his hostility.

Harold did, indeed, persuade Ragnhild to marry him, and positively promised to make him an earl; but, after the wedding had taken place, he put him off on one pretext or another, and when Haakon pressed him for an answer, gave him a blank refusal. His wife, who had expected a different result, cried out to him joyously, as he returned: "Welcome, my Earl." He was forced to tell her what had occurred; and as he would not have the appearance of having won her under false pretences, he offered her divorce, and the right to keep all his property. This was a generous offer, but Ragnhild refused to accept it. Haakon, then, began secretly to dispose of his property, in the hope of escaping from the country without attracting the king's attention. Harold, however, got wind of his purpose, and started out with two hundred and forty men, in the night, to kill him. Being warned by a friend, he made his escape into Sweden, and thence to Denmark. Sweyn made him Earl of Halland after Finn Arnesson's death; and the Swedish king, Steinkil, gave him the two large provinces, Vestgotland and Vermeland. Haakon was now in possession of almost royal power, and he availed himself of his position to do as much damage to King Harold as possible. In the Oplands he had always been popular, while the king was much disliked for having deprived the peasants of certain privileges, bestowed upon them by Olaf the Saint.

Haakon, therefore, had the audacity to levy taxes in this province, and when the king's tax-gatherers came, they were informed that there was no money due to him, as the taxes had been paid to Earl Haakon. But King Harold was not the man to pocket such insults. He gathered an army, invaded Sweden, and defeated Haakon and the Vestgoths; and the Oplanders he punished with exemplary severity.

In the year 1066, Earl Tostig, the brother of the English King Harold G.o.dwineson, came to Norway to enlist Harold Sigurdsson's aid in an attempt to conquer England. He had been on a similar errand in Denmark, but had there met with small success. Sweyn Estridsson declared that he had no ambition to imitate the deeds of his uncle, Knut the Mighty; but would be quite content if he could keep and defend his own kingdom.

Harold Sigurdsson, who never was averse to adventurous undertakings, lent a more favorable ear to the earl's representations, and in September, 1066, sailed for England with the largest fleet which up to that time had ever left the sh.o.r.es of Norway. About twenty thousand warriors embarked, and with the contingent which he exacted from the earls of the Orkneys, and Earl Tostig's own contribution, the entire force must have amounted to three hundred or three hundred and fifty ships and thirty thousand men. His queen, Ellisif, and his two daughters, Maria and Ingegerd, whom he had brought with him, he left on the Orkneys, and himself sailed down along the coast of Scotland to Northumberland. At Fulford he was met by an army under the Earls Markere and Eadwine, and won a great victory, whereupon the city of York surrendered. He encamped at Stamford Bridge, about seven miles from York; but left about one third of his army, under command of his son Olaf, to guard the ships. The weather was warm, and the men, having no thought of danger, did not wear their armors. At Stamford Bridge, however, they were surprised by a large army, led by Harold G.o.dwineson.

Tostig advised a speedy return to the ships; but Harold Sigurdsson, being too proud to turn his back to any foe, gave orders to await the attack of the English. While the army was being arranged in battle array, twenty English hors.e.m.e.n came riding toward them, and one of them asked if Earl Tostig was present.

"It is not to be denied that you will find him here," answered Tostig.

"We bring thee this greeting from thy brother Harold," said the Englishman, "that he offers thee peace and Northumberland; nay, he is not indisposed to grant thee one third of his kingdom, if he can gain thy friendship on no other terms."

"This, in sooth, is another offer than the scorn and strife which were offered me last autumn. * * * Suppose, now, that I accept this proposal; what does then my brother offer the King of Norway?"

"He has intimated how large a piece of England he will grant to King Harold Sigurdsson; it is the s.p.a.ce of seven feet, or so much more as he is taller than other men."

"If such is the case," Tostig rejoined, "then ride back and bid King Harold commence the battle."

Harold Sigurdsson, who had listened to this colloquy, asked Tostig who the spokesman of the Englishmen was.

"That was my brother, Harold G.o.dwineson himself," answered the earl.

"Too late did I learn that," said King Harold.

The English cavalry made the first onslaught, but were repulsed.

Thinking that their retreat indicated a general flight, the Nors.e.m.e.n started in pursuit, thus breaking up their battle array, which it was the king's intention to preserve until the expected reinforcements arrived from the ships. King Harold fought with _berserkir_ fury, rushing into the thick of the fray and hewing savagely about him. The English ranks broke, and every thing indicated a victory for the Nors.e.m.e.n, when the king's throat was pierced by an arrow, and he fell from his horse dying. Tostig now a.s.sumed command, after having refused an armistice, offered by his brother. He fought bravely for a while, and the Nors.e.m.e.n, weary and wounded though they were, shouted their battle-cry and rushed forward once more, eager to avenge their king.

Then Tostig, too, was cut down, and the wide battle-field was covered with the bodies of the slain. Just then, Eystein Orre, King Harold's brother-in-law, arrived with reinforcements, and a short and desperate combat ensued, until he, too, fell. Under cover of the twilight a small remnant of the great army succeeded in reaching the ships. One man, named Styrkaar Stallare, had got hold of a horse and dashed furiously away over the fields, arrayed in his shirt and a helmet. His clothes had been torn off him in the heat of the combat. A cold wind was blowing, and chilled him to the bone. On his way, he met an English yeoman, dressed in a warm jerkin of sheepskin. Styrkaar asked him how much he would take for the garment.

"I won't sell it to thee," answered the yeoman, "for I know thee by thy speech that thou art a Norseman."

"If that's so," said Styrkaar, "what wilt thou then do?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD MAN OF HOY, ON THE ORKNEYS.]

"I'll kill thee; but unhappily I have no weapon that will avail me."

"Well, since thou seest that thou canst not kill me," rejoined the Norseman, "let me try if I can't kill thee."

And raising his sword, he struck off the yeoman's head and made off with his jerkin.

For many years after this battle, heaps of human bones lay scattered over the fields, for no one stayed to bury the dead. The landing of William the Conqueror (September 29th) called Harold G.o.dwineson to Hastings, where the fruits of the victory at Stamford Bridge were lost.