Transcriber's note: Ten minor typographical errors have been corrected in this text version. 

 Édition d'Élite

 Historical Tales The Romance of Reality

 By CHARLES MORRIS

_Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors, " "Tales from the Dramatists, " etc. _

 IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES

 Volume IX

 Scandinavian

 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

 PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON

 Copyright, 1908, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

[Illustration: From Stereograph Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. OLD BRIDGE AT OEREBRO. ]

 _CONTENTS_ PAGE

HOW KING ROLF WON HIS BRIDE 9

RAGNAR LODBROK AND HIS WIVES AND SONS 19

HAROLD FAIR-HAIRED FOUNDS THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY 31

GORM THE OLD, DENMARK'S FIRST KING 42

ERIK BLOOD-AXE AND EGIL THE ICELANDER 49

THE SEA-KINGS AND THEIR DARING FEATS 60

HAAKON THE GOOD AND THE SONS OF GUNHILD 69

EARL HAAKON AND THE JOMSVIKINGS 78

HOW OLAF, THE SLAVE-BOY, WON THE THRONE 89

OLAF DETHRONES ODIN AND DIES A HERO 98

OLAF THE SAINT AND HIS WORK FOR CHRIST 108

CANUTE THE GREAT, KING OF SIX NATIONS 121

MAGNUS THE GOOD AND HAROLD HARDRULER 132

SVERRE, THE COOK'S SON, AND THE BIRCHLEGS 145

THE FRIENDS AND FOES OF A BOY PRINCE 160

KING VALDEMAR I. AND BISHOP ABSOLON 169

THE FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES OF VALDEMAR II 176

BIRGER JARL AND THE CONQUEST OF FINLAND 186

THE FIRST WAR BETWEEN SWEDEN AND RUSSIA 196

THE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT OF KING BIRGER 202

QUEEN MARGARET AND THE CALMAR UNION 211

HOW SIR TORD FOUGHT FOR CHARLES OF SWEDEN 217

STEN STURE'S GREAT VICTORY OVER THE DANES 226

HOW THE DITMARSHERS KEPT THEIR FREEDOM 236

THE BLOOD-BATH OF STOCKHOLM 241

THE ADVENTURES OF GUSTAVUS VASA 252

THE FALL OF CHRISTIAN II. THE TYRANT 271

THE WEST GOTHLAND INSURRECTION 283

THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF KING ERIK 296

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS ON THE FIELD OF LEIPSIC 310

CHARLES X. AND THE INVASION OF DENMARK 319

CHARLES XII. THE FIREBRAND OF SWEDEN 326

THE ENGLISH INVADERS AND THE DANISH FLEET 343

A FRENCH SOLDIER BECOMES KING OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY 349

THE DISMEMBERMENT OF DENMARK 358

BREAKING THE BOND BETWEEN NORWAY AND SWEDEN 362

 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

 SCANDINAVIAN. 

 PAGE

THE OLD BRIDGE AT OEREBRO, ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT TOWNS OF SWEDEN. _Frontispiece. _

HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT, NORWAY 35

HOME OF PEASANTS, NORWAY 50

BUSY FARMERS IN A HILLSIDE FIELD ABOVE ARE, SWEDEN 80

A NORDFJORD BRIDE AND GROOM WITH GUESTS AND PARENTS. BRIGSDAL, NORWAY 95

NORWEGIAN PEASANTS 115

NORWEGIAN FARM BUILDINGS 135

LINKOPING FROM TANNEFORS 165

VILLAGE LIFE AND HOMES IN SWEDEN 190

MORNING GREETINGS OF NEIGHBORS, SWEDEN 210

GRIPSHOLM CASTLE, MARI 220

SKURUSUND, STOCKHOLM 230

SKANSEN RIVER 242

THE FAMOUS XVI. CENTURY CASTLE AT UPSALA, SWEDEN 256

NORWEGIAN CARRIAGE CALLED STOLKJAEM 285

ARMORY AND COSTUME HALL OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM, SWEDEN 300

STATUE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 312

THE RETURN OF CHARLES XII. OF SWEDEN 340

KRONBERG CASTLE ON THE SOUND, DENMARK 348

THE BOURSE, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK 360

_HOW KING ROLF WON HIS BRIDE. _

At one time very many centuries ago, we cannot say just when, for thiswas in the days of the early legends, there reigned over Upsala in Swedena king named Erik. He had no son and only one daughter, but this girl wasworth a dozen sons and daughters of some kings. Torborg she was named, and there were few women so wise and beautiful and few men so strong andvaliant. She cared nothing for women's work, but was the equal of any manof the court in riding, fighting with sword and shield, and otherathletic sports. This troubled King Erik very much, for he thought thatthe princess should sit in her maiden chamber like other kings'daughters; but she told him that when she came to succeed him on thethrone she would need to know how to defend her kingdom, and now was thetime for her to learn. 

That she might become the better fitted to rule, she asked him to giveher some province to govern, and this he did, making her queen of a thirdof his kingdom, and giving her an army of stout and bold warriors. Hercourt was held at Ulleraker in Upland, and here she would not let any onetreat her as a woman, dressing always in men's clothing and bidding hermen to call her King Torborg. To fail in this would be at risk of theirheads. As her fame spread abroad, there were many who came to court her, for she was at once very beautiful and the heiress of a great kingdom. But she treated all such with laughter and contempt. It is even said thatshe put out the eyes of some, and cut off the hands and feet of others, but this we do not like to believe. At any rate, she drove away those whotroubled her too much with lance and spear. So it was plain that only astrong and bold man could win this warlike maiden for his wife. 

At that time King Götrik who ruled in Gothland, a country in southernSweden, had sent his younger son Rolf to be brought up at the court ofhis foster-brother King Ring of Denmark. His elder son Kettil he kept athome, but did not love him much on account of his pride and obstinacy. Soit happened that when Götrik was very old and like to die, he decidedthat Rolf, who was very tall and strong, and very fit and able, shouldsucceed him, though he was the younger son. All agreed to this, evenKettil, so Rolf was sent for and made king of Gothland, which he ruledwith skill and valor. 

One day Rolf and Kettil, who loved each other as brothers should, weretalking together, and Kettil said that one thing was wanting to the gloryand honor of Rolf's rule, and that was a queen of noble birth and goodlypresence. 

"And whom have you in mind?" asked Rolf. 

"There is Torborg, the king of Upsala's daughter. If you can win her forwife it will be the greatest marriage in the north. "

To this advice Rolf would not listen. He had heard of how the shrewishTorborg treated her suitors, and felt that wooing her would be liketaking a wild wolf by the ears. So he stayed unmarried for several yearsmore, though Kettil often spoke of the matter, and one day said to himcontemptuously:

"Many a man has a large body with little courage, and I fear you are sucha one; for though you stand as a man, you do not dare to speak to awoman. "

"I will show you that I am a man, " said Rolf, very angry at these words. 

He sent to Denmark for his foster-brother Ingiald, son of King Ring, andwhen he came the two set out with sixty armed men for the court of KingErik in Upsala. 

One morning, about this time, Queen Ingerd of Upsala awoke and told KingErik of a strange dream she had dreamed. She had seen in her sleep atroop of wolves running from Gothland towards Sweden, a great lion and alittle bear leading them; but these, instead of being fierce and shaggy, were smooth-haired and gentle. 

"What do you think it means?" asked the king. 

"I think that the lion is the ghost of a king, and that the white bear issome king's son, the wolves being their followers. I fancy it means thatRolf of Gothland and Ingiald of Denmark are coming hither, bent on amission of peace, since they appear so tame. Do you think that King Rolfis coming to woo our daughter, Torborg?"

"Nonsense, woman; the king of so small a realm would show great assuranceto seek for wife so great a princess as our daughter. "

So when Rolf and his followers came to Upsala King Erik showed hisdispleasure, inviting him to his table but giving him no seat of honor atthe feast. Rolf sat silent and angry at this treatment, but when Erikasked him why he had come, he told him courteously enough the reason ofhis visit. 

"I know how fond you Goths are of a joke, " said Erik, with a laugh. "Youhave a way of saying one thing when you mean another. But I can guesswhat brings you. Gothland is little and its revenues are small and youhave many people to keep and feed. Food is now scarce in Gothland, andyou have come here that you may not suffer from hunger. It was a goodthought for you to come to Upsala for help, and you are welcome to goabout my kingdom with your men for a month; then you can return homeplump and well fed. "

This jesting speech made Rolf very angry, though he said little in reply. But when the king told Queen Ingerd that evening what he had said she wasmuch displeased. 

"King Rolf may have a small kingdom, " she said, "but he has gained fameby his courage and ability, and is as powerful as many kings with a widerrule. You did not well to mock him. "

The next day Erik, thus admonished, begged Rolf's pardon, saying that theale had made him speak foolishly, and thus he became reconciled with hisguest. As for Rolf's desire to win his daughter, he would first have togain Torborg's consent, which would be no easy matter. The king promisednot to interfere but would do no more. 

Soon after this Rolf and his men arrived at Ulleraker, reaching therewhen the whole of Torborg's court were assembled in the great hall. Fearing a hostile reception, Rolf took wary precautions. He choose twelveof his stoutest men, with himself and Ingiald at their head, to enter thecourt with drawn swords in their hands. If they were attacked, they wereto go out backward fighting, but they were bidden to conduct themselveslike men and let nothing alarm them. The others remained outside, keepingthe horses in readiness to mount. 

When the party entered the hall, Rolf at their head, all there werestruck with his great size and noble aspect. No one assailed them and hewalked up the hall, on whose high seat at the front he saw what seemed atall and finely formed man, dressed in royal robes. Knowing that thismust be the haughty princess whose hand he had come to seek, he took offhis helmet, bowed low before her, and began to tell what brought him toher court. 

He had scarcely begun when she stopped him. She said that he must bejoking; that she knew his real errand was to get food and that this shewould give him; but he must apply for it to the chief of the kitchen, not to her. 

Rolf had not come so far to be laughed out of the court, and he sturdilywent on with what he had to say, speaking to her as a woman, anddemanding her hand in marriage. At this she changed her jesting manner, her cheeks grew red with anger, and springing up, she seized her weaponsand called upon her men to lay hold upon and bind the fool that had daredaffront their monarch. Shouting and confusion followed and a sharp attackwas made on the intruders, but Rolf put on his helmet and bade his men toretire, which they did in good order. He walked backward through thewhole hall, shield on arm and sword in hand, parrying and dealing blows, so that when he left the room, though no blade had touched him, a dozenof the courtiers lay bleeding. But being greatly overmatched, he orderedhis men to mount, and they rode away unscathed. 

Back to West Gothland they went and told Kettil how poorly they hadfared. 

"You have suffered a sore insult and affront at a woman's hand, " saidKettil, "and my advice is that it be speedily avenged, " but Rolf repliedthat he was not yet ready to act. 

Torborg had not taken the trouble to ask the name of her wooer, but whenshe learned who it was she knew very well that the matter had not reachedits end and that her would-be lover would return stronger than before. Asshe did not want him or any man for husband she made great preparationsfor an attack, gathering a large body of warriors and having a wall ofgreat strength and the finest workmanship built round the town. It was sohigh and thick that no battering ram could shake it, while water-cisternswere built into it to put out the fire if any one sought to burn it. Fromthis we may judge that the wall was of wood. This done, Torborg mademerry with her court, thinking that no lover in the wide world would nowventure to annoy her. 

She did not know the kind of man she had to deal with in King Rolf. Hehad fought with men and fancied he was fit to conquer a woman. The nextsummer he had a battle with Asmund, son of the king of Scotland, and whenit was over they became friends and foster-brothers and went on vikingcruises together. Next spring Rolf armed and manned six ships and, takingKettil and Ingiald and Asmund with him, set sail for Upsala. He proposednow to woo the warrior princess in another fashion. 

Queen Ingerd about this time dreamed again, her dream being the same asbefore, except that this time there were two white bears, and a hog whichwas small but spiteful, its bristles pointing forward and its mouthsnarling as if ready to bite anything that came before it. And the bearsdid not look as gentle as before, but seemed irritated. 

She interpreted this dream to mean that Rolf was coming again to avengethe affront he had received, and that the fierce hog must stand forKettil, of whose character she had been told. 

When Rolf now arrived King Erik received him with honor, and again agreedto remain his friend, no matter how stormy a courtship he might have. From Upsala he set out for Ulleraker and sent a herald to PrincessTorborg, asking speech with her. She presented herself at the top of thewall, surrounded by armed men. King Rolf renewed his suit, and told herplainly that if she did not accept his proposal he had come to burn thetown and slay every man within its walls. 

"You shall first serve as a goatherd in West Gothland before you get anypower over me and mine, " answered Torborg haughtily. 

Rolf lost no time in assailing the walls, but found them stoutlydefended. The Swedes within poured boiling water and hot pitch on theirassailants, threw down stones and beams, and hurled spears and arrowsfrom the wall. For fourteen days the siege continued without effect, until the Goths, weary of their hard fighting and the mockery of thedefenders, began to complain and wanted to return home. The townspeoplederided them by showing costly goods from the ramparts and bidding themcome and take them, and ridiculed them in many other ways. 

King Rolf now saw that he must take other measures. He had a coverconstructed of boards and brushwood and supported by stout beams, makinga strong roof which was set against the wall and defied all the boilingwater and missiles of the Swedes. Under its shelter a hole was dugthrough the wall and soon the Goths were in the queen's citadel. 

To their surprise they found it empty. Not a soul was to be seen, but inevery room they found well-cooked food and many articles of value. 

"This is a fine capture, " said Kettil. "Let us enjoy ourselves and dividethe spoil. "

"Not so, " said Rolf. "It is a lure to draw us off. I will not rest till Ihave the princess in my power. "

They sought the palace through and through, but no one was there. Finallya secret passage was discovered, leading underground, and the kingentered it, the others following. They emerged in a forest where theyfound Torborg and all her men and where a sharp battle began. No warriorcould have fought more bravely than the man-like princess, and her menstood up for her boldly, but they gradually gave way before the onset ofRolf and his tried warriors. 

Rolf now bade Kettil to take Torborg prisoner, but not to wound her, saying that it would be shameful to use arms against a woman. Kettilsprang forward and gave the princess a sharp blow with the flat of hissword, reviling her at the same time with rude words. In return, Torborggave him so hard a blow on the ear with her battle-axe that he fellprostrate, with his heels in the air. 

"That is the way we treat our dogs when they bark too loud, " she said. 

Kettil sprang up, burning with anger, but at the same moment Rolf rushedforward and grasped the warlike princess in his powerful arms, so thatshe was forced to surrender. 

He told her that she was his prisoner, but that he did not wish to win awife in the viking manner and that he would leave it to her father tojudge what should be done. Taken captive in his arms, there was nothingelse for her to do, and she went with him to Upsala, where King Erik wasdelighted at Rolf's success. As for the warlike princess, she laid downher arms at her father's feet, put on a woman's garments, and seemed gladenough to have been won as a bride in so warlike a manner and by soheroic a wooer. 

Soon after this the marriage took place, the festivities being thegrandest the court could afford and lasting for fourteen days, afterwhich Rolf and his followers returned home, his new queen with him. Thesagas say, as we can well believe after so strenuous a wooing, thatafterwards King Rolf and Queen Torborg lived a long and happy life. 

_RAGNAR LODBROK AND HIS WIVES AND SONS. _

The old sagas, or hero tales of the north, are full of stories ofenchantment and strange marvels. We have told one of these tales in therecord of King Rolf and Princess Torborg. We have now to tell that ofRagnar Lodbrok, a hero king of the early days, whose story is full ofmagical incidents. That this king reigned and was a famous man in hisdays there is no reason to doubt, but around his career gathered manyfables, as was apt to be the case with the legends of great men in thosedays. To show what these tales were like we take from the sagas themarvellous record of Ragnar and his wives. 

In East Gothland in the ancient days there lived a mighty jarl, or earl, named Herröd, who was descended from the gods. He had a daughter namedTora, who was famed for her beauty and virtue, but proved as hard to winfor a wife as Princess Torborg had been. She dwelt in a high room whichhad a wall built around it like a castle, and was called Castle Deer, because she surpassed all other women in beauty as much as the deersurpasses all other animals. 

Her father, who was very fond of her, gave her as a toy a small andwonderfully beautiful snake which he had received in a charmed egg inBjarmaland. It proved to be an unwelcome gift. The snake was at firstcoiled in a little box, but soon grew until the box would not hold it, and in time was so big that the room would not hold it. So huge did itbecome in the end that it lay coiled in a ring around the outer walls, being so long that its head and tail touched. 

It got to be so vicious that no one dared come near it except the maidenand the man who fed it, and his task was no light one, for it devoured anox at a single meal. The jarl was sorry enough now that he had given hisdaughter such a present. It was one not easy to get rid of, dread of thesnake having spread far and wide, and though he offered his daughter witha great dower to the man who should kill it, no one for a long timeventured to strive for the reward. The venom which it spat out was enoughto destroy any warrior. 

At length a suitor for the hand of the lovely princess was found inRagnar, the young son of Sigurd Ring, then one of the greatest monarchsof the age, with all Sweden and Norway under his sway, as the sagas tell. Ragnar, though still a boy, had gained fame as a dauntless warrior, andwas a fit man to dare the venture with the great snake, though for a longtime he seemed to pay no heed to the princess. 

But meanwhile he had made for himself a strange coat. It was wrought outof a hairy hide, which he boiled in pitch, drew through sand, and thendried and hardened in the sun. The next summer he sailed to EastGothland, hid his ships in a small bay, and at dawn of the next dayproceeded toward the maiden's bower, spear in hand and wearing hisstrange coat. 

There lay the dreaded serpent, coiled in a ring round the wall. Ragnar, nothing daunted, struck it boldly with his spear, and before it couldmove in defence struck it a second blow, pressing the spear until itpierced through the monster's body. So fiercely did the snake strugglethat the spear broke in two, and it would have destroyed Ragnar with thevenom it poured out if he had not worn his invulnerable coat. 

The noise of the struggle and the fierceness of the snake's convulsions, which shook the whole tower, roused Tora and her maids, and she lookedfrom her window to see what it meant. She saw there a tall man, but couldnot distinguish his features in the grey dawn. The serpent was now in itsdeath throes, though this she did not know, and she called out:

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

Ragnar answered in this verse:

 "For the maid fair and wise I would venture my life. The scale-fish got its death wound From a youth of fifteen!"

Then he went away, taking the broken handle of the spear with him. Toralistened in surprise, for she learned from the verse that a boy offifteen had slain the great monster, and she marvelled at his great sizefor his years, wondering if he were man or wizard. When day came she toldher father of the strange event, and the jarl drew out the broken spearfrom the snake, finding it to be so heavy that few men could have liftedit. 

Who had killed the serpent and earned the reward? The jarl sent a mandatethroughout his kingdom, calling all men together, and when they came hetold them the story of the snake's death, and bade him who possessed thehandle of the spear to present it, as he would keep his word with anyone, high or low. 

Ragnar and his men stood on the edge of the throng as the broken head ofthe spear was passed round, no one being able to present the handlefitting it. At length it came to Ragnar, and he drew forth the handlefrom his cloak, showing that the broken ends fitted exactly. A greatfeast for the victor was now given by Jarl Herröd, and when Ragnar sawthe loveliness of Tora, he was glad to ask her for his queen, while shewas equally glad to have such a hero for her spouse. A splendid bridalfollowed and the victor took his beautiful bride home. 

This exploit gave Ragnar great fame and he received the surname ofLodbrok, on account of the strange coat he had worn. Ragnar and Toralived happily together but not to old age, for after some years she tooksick and died, leaving two sons, Erik and Agnar, who grew up to be strongand beautiful youths. Ragnar had loved her greatly and after her deathsaid he would marry no other woman. Nor could he comfort himself at homebut began to wander abroad on warlike voyages, that he might drive awayhis sorrow. 

Leaving Ragnar Lodbrok to his travels, let us take up the strange storyof another fair maiden, who was to have much to do with his future life. She was named Aslög and was the daughter of King Sigurd Fafnisbane, ofGermany. Soon after she was born enemies of her father killed him and hermother and all of his race they could find. Her life was saved by Heimer, foster-father to her mother, who to get her away from the murderers had alarge harp made with a hollow frame, in which he hid the child and allthe treasure he could find. 

Then he wandered far as a travelling harper, letting the child out whenthey came to solitary woods, and when she wept and moaned silencing herby striking the strings of the harp. After long journeying he came to acottage in Norway called Spangerhed, where lived a beggar and his wife. Seeing a gold bracelet under Heimer's rags, and some rich embroiderysticking from the harp, the beggar and his wife killed him during thenight and broke open the harp. They found in it the wealth they sought, but the discovery of the pretty little girl troubled them. 

"What shall we do with this child?" he asked. 

"We will bring her up as our own, and name her Kraka, after my mother, "said his wife. 

"But no one will believe that ugly old people like us can have so fair adaughter. "

"Let me manage it, " said the wife. "I will put tar on her head so thather hair will not be too long, and keep her in ragged clothes and at thehardest work. "

This they did and little Aslög grew up as a beggar's child. And as shekept strangely silent, never speaking, all people thought her dumb. 

One day, when Aslög was well grown, Ragnar Lorbrok came that way, cruising along the Norway coast. The crew was out of bread and men weresent ashore to bake some at a house they saw in the distance. This housewas Spangerhed, where Kraka dwelt. 

She had seen the ships come up and the men land, and was ashamed to beseen by strangers as she was, so she washed herself and combed her hair, though she had been bidden never to do so. So long and thick had her hairgrown that it reached to the ground and covered her completely. 

When the cooks came to bake their bread they were so surprised at thebeauty of the maiden that they let the loaves burn while looking at her, and on being blamed for this carelessness on their return to the shipsaid they could not help it, for they had been bewitched by the face ofthe loveliest maiden they had ever gazed upon. 

"She cannot be as lovely as Tora was, " said Ragnar. 

"There was never a lovelier woman, " they declared, and Ragnar was sostruck by their story that he sent messengers ashore to learn if theywere telling the truth. If it were so, he said, if Kraka were asbeautiful as Tora, they were bidden to bring her to him neither dressednor undressed, neither fasting nor satisfied, neither alone nor incompany. The messengers found the maiden as fair as the cooks had saidand repeated the king's demand. 

"Your king must be out of his mind, to send such a message, " said thebeggar's wife; but Kraka told them that she would come as their kingwished, but not until the next morning. 

The next day she came to the shore where the ship lay. She was completelycovered with her splendid hair, worn like a net around her. She had eatenan onion before coming, and had with her the old beggar's sheep dog; sothat she had fulfilled Ragnar's three demands. 

Her wit highly pleased Ragnar and he asked her to come on board, but shewould not do so until she had been promised peace and safety. When shewas taken to the cabin Ragnar looked at her in delight. He thought thatshe surpassed Tora in beauty, and offered a prayer to Odin, asking forthe love of the maiden. Then he took the gold-embroidered dress whichTora had worn and offered it to Kraka, saying in verse, in the fashion ofthose times:

 "Will you have Tora's robe? It suits you well. Her white hands have played upon it. Lovely and kind was she to me until death. "

Kraka answered, also in verse:

 "I dare not take the gold-embroidered robe which adorned Tora the fair. It suits not me. Kraka am I called in coal-black baize. I have ever herded goats on the stones by the sea-shore. "

"And now I will go home, " she added. "If the king's mind does not changehe can send for me when he will. "

Then she went back to the beggar's cottage and Ragnar sailed in his shipaway. 

Of course every one knows without telling what came from such aninvitation. It was not long before Ragnar was back with his ship and hefound Kraka quite ready to go with him. And when they reached his home asplendid entertainment was given, during which the marriage betweenRagnar and Kraka took place, everything being rich and brilliant and allthe great lords of the kingdom being present. It will be seen that, though the Princess Aslög pretended to be dumb during her years ofyouthful life in the beggar's cottage, she found her voice and her witswith full effect when the time came to use them. 

She was now the queen of a great kingdom, and lived for many yearshappily with her husband Ragnar. And among her children were two sons whowere very different from other men. The oldest was called Iwar. He grewup to be tall and strong, though there were no bones in his body, butonly gristle, so that he could not stand, but had to be carriedeverywhere on a litter. Yet he was very wise and prudent. The secondgained the name of Ironside, and was so tough of skin that he wore noarmor in war, but fought with his bare body without being wounded. To thepeople this seemed the work of magic. There were two others who were likeother men. 

Since the older brothers, the sons of Tora, had long been notable aswarriors, the younger brothers, when they grew up, became eager to winfame and fortune also, and they went abroad on warlike expeditions, fighting many battles, winning many victories, and gaining much riches. 

But Iwar, the boneless one, was not satisfied with this common fighting, but wanted to perform some great exploit, that would give them areputation everywhere for courage. There was the town of Hvitaby (nowWhitby, in Yorkshire, England), which many great warriors had attacked, their father among them, but all had been driven back by the power ofmagic or necromancy. If they could take this stronghold it would givethem infinite honor, said Iwar, and to this his brothers agreed. 

To Hvitaby they sailed, and leaving their younger brother Ragnwald incharge of the ships, because they thought him too young to take part inso hard a battle, they marched against the town. The place was ablydefended, not only by men but by two magical heifers, their charm beingthat no man could stand before them or even listen to their lowing. Whenthese beasts were loosed and ran out towards the troops, the men were soscared by the terrible sound of their voices that Ironside had all hecould do to keep them from a panic flight, and many of them fellprostrate. But Iwar, who could not stand, but was carried into battleupon shields, took his bow and sent his arrows with such skill andstrength that both the magic heifers were slain. 

Then courage came back to the troops and the townsmen were filled withterror. And in the midst of the fighting Ragnwald came up with the menleft to guard the ships. He was determined to win some of the glory ofthe exploit and attacked the townsmen with fury, rushing into their ranksuntil he was cut down. But in the end the townsmen were defeated and thevaliant brothers returned with great honor and spoil, after destroyingthe castle. Thus it was that the sons of Kraka gained reputation asvaliant warriors. 

But meanwhile Kraka herself was like to lose her queenly station, forRagnar visited King Osten of Upsala who had a beautiful daughter namedIngeborg. On seeing her, his men began to say that it would be morefitting for their king to have this lovely princess for his wife, insteadof a beggar's daughter like Kraka. Ragnar heard this evil counsel, andwas so affected by it that he became betrothed to Ingeborg. When he wenthome he bade his men to say nothing about this betrothal, yet in some wayKraka came to know of it. That night she asked Ragnar for news and hesaid he had none to tell. 

"If you do not care to tell me news, " said Kraka, "I will tell you some. It is not well done for a king to affiance himself to one woman when healready has another for his wife. And, since your men chose to speak ofme as a beggar's daughter, let me tell you that I am no such thing, but aking's daughter and of much higher birth than your new love Ingeborg. "

"What fable is this you tell me?" said Ragnar. "Who, then, were yourparents?"

"My father was King Sigurd Fafnisbane and my mother was the AmazonBrynhilda, daughter of King Budle. "

"Do you ask me to believe that the daughter of these great people wasnamed Kraka and brought up in a peasant's hut?"

The queen now told him that her real name was Aslög and related all theevents of her early life. And as a sign that she spoke the truth, shesaid that her next child, soon to be born, would be a son and would havea snake in his eye. 

It came out as she said, the boy, when born, having the strange sign ofwhich she had spoken, so that he was given a name that meant SigurdSnake-in-Eye. So rejoiced was Ragnar at this that he ceased to think ofIngeborg and all his old love for Kraka, or Aslög as she was now called, came back. 

The remainder of the lives of Ragnar and Aslög and of their warlike sonsis full of valiant deeds and magic arts, far too long to be told here, but which gave them a high place in the legendary lore of the north, inwhich Ragnar Lodbrok is one of the chief heroes. At length Ragnar wastaken prisoner by King Ethelred of England and thrown into a pit full ofserpents, where he died. Afterwards Iwar and his brothers invadedEngland, conquered that country, and avenged their father by puttingEthelred to death by torture. Iwar took England for his kingdom and therealms of the north were divided among his brothers, and many more werethe wars they had, until death ended the career of these heroes ofnorthern legend. 

_HAROLD FAIR-HAIRED FOUNDS THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY. _

To the far-off island of Iceland we must go for the story of the earlydays of Norway. In that frosty isle, not torn by war or rent by tumult, the people, sitting before their winter fires, had much time to think andwrite, and it is to Iceland we owe the story of the gods of the north andof the Scandinavian kings of heathen times. One of these writers, SnorriSturlasson by name, has left us a famous book, "The Sagas of the Kings ofNorway, " in which he tells of a long line of ancient kings, who weredescended from the gods. Here are some of their names, Aun the Old, Ingjald Ill-Ruler, Olaf the Wood-Cutter, Halfdan Whiteleg, and Halfdanthe Swarthy. There were others whom we need not name, and of thesementioned the names must suffice, for all we know of them is legend, nottruth. 

In those times there was no kingdom of Norway, but a number of pettyprovinces, ruled over by warriors who are spoken of as kings, but whoserule was not very wide. Most powerful among them was Halfdan the Swarthy, who was only a year old in 810 when his father was killed in battle. 

He lived for many years, and he and his wife Ragnhild had strange dreams. The queen dreamed that a thorn which she took out of her clothes grew inher hands until one end of it took root in the ground and the other shotup into the air. It kept on growing until it was a great tree, so highthat she could barely see its top. The lower part of it was blood-red, higher up it was bright green, and the spreading branches were white assnow. So widely they spread that they seemed to shade the whole countryof Norway. 

King Halfdan did not like it that his wife had such strange dreams and hehad none. He asked a sage why this was so, and was told that if he wantedto have dreams as strange he must sleep in a pig-sty. A queer recipe fordreams, one would think, but the king tried it, and dreamed that his hairgrew long and beautiful and hung in bright locks over his shoulders, someof them down to his waist, and one, the brightest and most beautiful ofall, still farther down. 

When he told the sage of this dream, the wise man said it meant that fromhim was to come a mighty race of kings, one of whom should be thegreatest and most glorious of them all. This great hero, Snorri tells us, was supposed to be Olaf the Saint, who reigned two hundred years later, and under whom Christianity first flourished in Norway. 

Soon after these dreams a son was born to the queen, who was namedHarold. A bright, handsome lad he grew to be, wise of mind and strong ofbody and winning the favor of all who knew him. Many tales which wecannot believe are told of his boyhood. Here is one of them. Once whenthe king was seated at the Yuletide feast all the meats and the aledisappeared from the table, leaving an empty board for the monarch andhis guests. There was present a Finn who was said to be a sorceror, andhim the king put to the torture, to find out who had done this thing. Young Harold, displeased with his father's act, rescued the Finn from histormentors and went with him to the mountains. 

On they went, miles and leagues away, until they came to a place where aFinnish chief was holding a great feast. Harold stayed there untilspring, when he told his host that he must return to his father's halls. Then the chief said:

"King Halfdan was very angry when I took his meat and ale from him lastwinter, and now I will reward you with good tidings for what you did. Your father is dead and his kingdom waits for you to inherit. And someday you will rule over all Norway. "

Harold found it to be as the Finn had said, and thus in 860, when he wasonly ten years old, he came to the throne. He was young to be at the headof a turbulent people and some ambitious men there were who sought totake advantage of his youth, but his uncle guardian fought for him andput them all down. Harold was now the greatest among the petty kings ofNorway and a wish to be ruler of the whole land grew up in his soul. 

Here comes in a story which may not be all true, but is pretty enough totell. It is to the effect that love drove Harold to strive for thekingdom. Old Snorri tells the story, which runs this way. 

King Erik of Hördaland had a fair daughter named Gyda, the fame of whosebeauty reached Harold's ears and he sent messengers to win her forhimself. But the maid was proud and haughty and sent back word:

"Tell your master that I will not yield myself to any man who has only afew districts for his kingdom. Is there no king in the land who canconquer all Norway, as King Erik has conquered Sweden and King GormDenmark?"

This was all the answer she had for the heralds, though they pleaded fora better answer, saying that King Harold was surely great enough for anymaid in the land. 

"This is my answer to King Harold, " she said. "I will promise to becomehis wife if for my sake he shall conquer all Norway and rule it as freelyas King Erik and King Gorm rule their kingdoms. Only when he has donethis can he be called the king of a people. "

When the heralds returned they told the king of their ill success andadvised him to take the girl by force. 

"Not so, " Harold replied. "The girl has spoken well and deserves thanksinstead of injury. She has put a new thought into my mind which had notcome to me before. This I now solemnly vow and call God to witness, thatI will not cut or comb my hair until the day when I shall have mademyself king of all Norway. If I fail in this, I shall die in theattempt. "

[Illustration: HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT, NORWAY. ]

Such is the legend of Gyda and the vow. What history tells us is that theyoung king set out to bring all Norway under his rule and prospered inthe great enterprise. One after another, the small kings yielded to hispower, and were made earls or governors under him. They collected taxesand administered justice in his name. All the land of the peasants wasdeclared to be the property of the king, and those who had been freeproprietors were now made the king's tenants and were obliged to paytaxes if they wished to hold their lands. These changes angered many andthere were frequent rebellions against the king, but he put them alldown, and year after year came nearer the goal of his ambition. And hishair continued to grow uncut and uncombed, and got to be such a tangledmass that men called him Harold Lufa, or Frowsy-Head. 

There was one great and proud family, the Rafnistas, who were not easilyto be won. To one of them, Kveld-Ulf, or Night-Wolf, Harold sent envoys, asking him to enter his service, but the chief sent back word that he wastoo old to change. Then he offered Bald Grim, old Night-Wolf's son, highhonors if he would become his vassal. Bald Grim replied that he wouldtake no honors that would give him rank over his father. 

Harold grew angry at this, and was ready to use force where good wordswould not prevail, but in the end the old chief agreed that his secondson Thorolf might be the king's man if he saw fit. This he agreed to do, and as he was handsome, intelligent and courtly the king set much storeby him. 

Not only with the Norway chiefs, but with the king of Sweden, Harold hadtrouble. While he was busy in the south King Erik invaded the north, andHarold had to march in haste to regain his dominions. But the greatestdanger in his career came in 872, when a number of chiefs combinedagainst him and gathered a great fleet, which attacked Harold's fleet inHalfrs-Fjord. Then came the greatest and hottest fight known to that dayin Norway. Loudly the war-horns sounded and the ships were drivenfiercely to the fray, Harold's ship being in the front wherever the fightwaxed hottest. Thorolf, the son of Night-Wolf, stood in its prow, fighting with viking fury, and beside him stood two of his brothers, matching him blow with blow. 

Yet the opposing chiefs and their men were stout fighters and the contestlong seemed doubtful, many brave and able men falling on both sides. Arrows hissed in swift flight through the air, spears hurtled after them, stones were hurled by strong hands, and those who came hand to handfought like giants. At length Harold's berserkers--men who fought withoutarmor, replacing it with fury of onslaught--rushed forward and boardedthe hostile ships, cutting down all who opposed them. Blood ran likewater and the chieftains and their men fell or fled before this wildassault. The day was won for Harold, and with it the kingdom, for afterthat fatal fray none dared to stand up before him. 

His vow accomplished, all Norway now his, Harold at last consented to thecutting of his hair, this being done by Ragnvald, the earl of Möre. Thetangled strands being cut and the hair deftly combed, those who saw itmarvelled at its beauty, and from that day the king was known as Haroldthe Fair-Haired. As for Gyda, the maid, the great task she set havingbeen accomplished, she gave her hand to Harold, a splendid marriagecompleting the love romance of their lives. 

This romance, however, is somewhat spoiled by the fact that Haroldalready had a wife, Aasa, the daughter of Earl Haakon, and that heafterwards married other wives. He had his faults and weaknesses, one ofthese being that he was not faithful to women and he was jealous of menwho were growing in greatness. One of the men whom he began to fear orhate was Thorolf, who had aided him so mightily in battle and long stoodhighest in his favor. 

Thorolf married a rich wife and grew very wealthy, living like a prince, and becoming profuse in his hospitality. He was gracious and liberal andwon hosts of friends, while he aided the king greatly in collecting taxesfrom the Finns, who were not very willing to part with their money. Despite this service Harold grew to distrust Thorolf, or to hate him forother reasons, and the time came when this feeling led to a tragedy. 

Thorolf had been made bailiff of Haalogaland, and when Harold came tothis province his bailiff entertained him with a splendid feast, to whicheight hundred guests were invited, three hundred of them being the king'sattendants. 

Yet, through all the hilarity of the feast, Harold sat dark and brooding, much to his host's surprise. He unbent a little at the end and seemedwell pleased when Thorolf presented him with a large dragon ship, fullyequipped. Yet not long afterwards he took from him his office of bailiff, and soon showed himself his deadly foe, slandering him as a pretext forattacking him on his estate. 

The assailants set fire to Thorolf's house and met him with a shower ofspears when he broke out from the burning mansion. Seeing the king amongthem Thorolf rushed furiously towards him, cut down his banner-bearerwith a sword blow, and was almost within touch of the king when he fellfrom his many wounds, crying: "By three steps only I failed. "

It is said that Harold himself gave the death blow, yet he looked sadlyon the warrior as he lay dead at his feet, saying, as he saw a manbandaging a slight wound: "That wound Thorolf did not give. Differentlydid weapons bite in his hand. It is a pity that such men must die. "

This would indicate that King Harold had other reasons than appears fromthe narrative for the slaughter of his former friend. It must be bornein mind that he was engaged in founding a state, and had many disorderlyand turbulent elements with which to deal, and that before he had endedhis work he was forced to banish from the kingdom many of those who stoodin his way. We do not know what secret peril to his plans led him toremove Thorolf from his path. 

However that be, the killing of the chief sent his father to his bed sickwith grief, and he grew content only when he heard that the king's handhad slain him and that he had fallen on his face at his slayer's feet. For when a dying man fell thus it was a sign that he would be avenged. 

But the old man was far too weak to attack Harold openly, and was notwilling to dwell in the same kingdom with him; so he, with his son BaldGrim and all his family and wealth, took ship and set sail for Iceland. But long he lingered on Norway's coast, hoping for revenge on some ofHarold's blood, and chance threw in his way a ship containing two cousinsof the king. This he attacked, killed the king's cousins, and capturedthe ship. Then Bald Grim, full of exultation, sang a song of triumph onthe ship's prow, beginning with:

 "Now is the Hersir's vengeance On the king fulfilled; Wolf and eagle tread on Yngling's children. "

There were other chieftains who sought refuge abroad from Harold's rule, men who were bitterly opposed to the new government he founded, with itssystem of taxation and its strict laws. They could not see why the oldsystem of robbing and plundering within Norway's confines should beinterfered with or their other ancient privileges curtailed, and severalthousand sailed away to found new homes in the Orkneys, the Hebrides, andIceland. 

One of the chief of these, Rolf, or Rollo, son of the king's friend, Ragnvald of Möre, defied Harold's laws and was declared an outlaw. Hishigh birth made the king more determined to punish him, as an example toothers, and no influence could win forgiveness for Rolf the Walker, asmen called him, saying that he was so tall and heavy that no horse couldcarry him. 

We must follow the outlaw in his journey, for it was one destined to leadto great events. Setting sail with a fleet and a large number offollowers, he made his way to the coast of France, and fixed himselfthere, plundering the people for several years. Charles the Simple, kingof France, finding that he could not drive the bold Norseman off, atlength gave him a large province on condition that he would become aChristian, and hold his land as a vassal of the king. The province wasgiven the name of Normandy, and from Rollo descended that sturdy race ofkings one of whom conquered England in the following century. Thus theexile of Rollo led to events of world-wide importance. 

When the proud Norseman was asked to kiss King Charles's foot in token offealty to him, he answered: "I will never bend my knee before any man, nor will I kiss any man's foot. "

He could hardly be persuaded to let one of his men kiss the king's footas a proxy for him. The man chosen strode sturdily forward, seized thefoot of the king, who was on horseback, and lifted it to his lips soroughly that the poor king turned a somersault from his horse. TheNorsemen laughed in derision while the king's followers stood by grim andsilent. 

But despite his unruliness at home, Rollo, when he got a kingdom of hisown, ruled it with all the sternness of King Harold, hanging all robbersthat fell into his hands, and making his kingdom so secure that thepeasants could leave their tools in the fields at night without fear ofloss. Five generations after him came to the throne William theConqueror, who won himself the kingdom of England. 

To go back to Harold, the builder of the kingdom of Norway, we shall onlysay in conclusion that he built his rule on sure foundations and kept acourt of high splendor, and died without a rebel in his realm in 933, seventy-three years after he succeeded his father as ruler of aprovince. 

_GORM THE OLD, DENMARK'S FIRST KING. _

In ancient times Denmark was not a kingdom, but a multitude of smallprovinces ruled over by warlike chiefs who called themselves kings. Itwas not until the ninth century that these little king-ships werecombined into one kingdom, this being done by a famous chieftain, knownby the Danes as Gorm den Gamle, or Gorm the Old. A great warrior he was, a viking of the vikings, and southern Europe felt his heavy hand. Afamous story of barbarian life is that of Gorm, which well deserves to betold. 

He was the son of a fierce pagan of Norway, Hardegon, who was of royalblood, being a grandson of the half-fabulous Ragnar Lodbrok. A princewith only his sword for kingdom, Hardegon looked around for a piece ofland to be won by fighting, and fixed upon Lejre, in the fruitful Danishisland of Sjölland, which was just then in a very inviting state for thesoldier of fortune. Some time before it had fallen into the hands of aSwedish fortune-seeker named Olaf, who left it to his two sons. These inturn had just been driven out by Siegric, the rightful king, whenHardegon descended upon it and seized it for himself. Dying, he left itto his son Gorm. 

It was a small kingdom that Gorm had fallen heir to. A lord's estate wewould call it to-day. But while small in size, it stood high in rank, forit was here that the great sacrifices to Odin, the chief Scandinaviandeity, were held, and it was looked upon as one of the most sacred ofspots. Hither at Yuletide came the devotees of Odin from all quarters toworship at his shrine, and offer gifts of gold and silver, preciousstones and costly robes, to the twelve high priests of whom the king ofLejre was the chief. And every worshipper, whether rich or poor, wasexpected to bring a horse, a dog, or a cock, these animals being sacredto Odin and sacrificed in large numbers annually at his shrine. In thespecial nine-year services, people came in great numbers, and it isprobable that on these occasions human sacrifices were made, captivestaken in war or piratical excursions being saved for this purpose. 

As one may see, the king of Lejre had excellent opportunity to acquirewealth, and young Gorm, being brave, clever, and ambitious, used hisriches to increase his landed possessions. At least, the Danishhistorians tell us that he began by buying one bit of land, gettinganother by barter, seizing on one district, having another given him, andso on. But all this is guess-work, and all we actually know is that Gorm, the son of a poor though nobly-born sea-rover, before his death gainedcontrol of all Denmark, then much larger than the Denmark of to-day, andchanged the small state with which he began into a powerful kingdom, bringing all the small kings under his sway. 

The ambitious chief did not content himself with this. Long before hiskingdom was rounded and complete he had become known as one of the mostdaring and successful of the viking adventurers who in those days madeall Europe their prey. 

Early in his reign he made a plundering cruise along the shores of theBaltic and joined in a piratical invasion of Russia, penetrating farinward and pillaging as he went. We hear of him again in 882 as one ofthe chiefs of a daring band which made a conquering raid into Germany, intrenched itself on the river Maas, sallied forth on plunderingexcursions whose track was marked by ruined fields and burnt homesteads, villages and towns, and even assailed and took Aix-la-Chapelle, one ofthe chief cities of the empire of Charlemagne and the seat of his tomb. The reckless freebooters stalled their horses in the beautiful chapel inwhich the great emperor lay buried and stripped from his tomb its gildedand silvered railings and everything of value which the monks had nothidden. 

The whole surrounding country was similarly ravaged and desolated by theruthless heathens, monasteries were burned, monks were killed orcaptured, and the emperor, Charles the Fat, was boldly defied. WhenCharles brought against the plunderers an army large enough to devourthem, he was afraid to strike a blow against them, and preferred to buythem off with a ransom of two thousand pounds of gold and silver, all hegot in return being their promise to be baptized. 

Finding that they had a timid foe to deal with, the rapacious Norsemenasked for more, and when they finally took to their ships two hundredtransports were needed to carry away their plunder. The cowardly Charles, indeed, was so wrought upon by fear of the pagan Danes that he evenpassed the incredible law that any one who killed a Norseman should havehis eyes put out and in some cases should lose his life. 

All this was sure to invite new invasions. A wave of joy passed throughthe north when the news spread of the poltroonery of the emperor and thevast spoil awaiting the daring hand. Back they came, demanding andreceiving new ransom, and in 885 there began a great siege of Paris byforty thousand Danes. 

King Gorm was one of the chiefs who took part in this, and when Henry ofNeustria, whom the emperor had sent with an army against them, was routedand driven back, it was Gorm who pursued the fugitives into the town ofSoissons, where many captives and a great booty were taken. 

The dastard emperor again bought them off with money and freedom toravage Burgundy, Paris being finally rescued by Count Eudes. In 891 theywere so thoroughly beaten by King Arnulf, of Germany, that their greatleaders fell on the field and only a remnant of the Norsemen escapedalive, the waters of the river Dyle running red with the blood of slainthousands. 

Gorm was one of the chiefs who took part in this disastrous battle ofLouvaine and was one of the fortunate few who lived to return to theirnative land. Apparently it was not the last of his expeditions, his wife, Queen Thyra, taking care of the kingdom in his many long absences. 

Thyra needed ability and resolution to fitly perform this duty, for thosewere restless and turbulent times, and the Germans made many incursionsinto Sleswick and Jutland and turned the borderlands on the Eyder into adesert. This grew so hard to bear that the wise queen devised a plan toprevent it. Gathering a great body of workmen from all parts of Denmark, she set them to building a wall of defense from forty-five toseventy-five feet high and eight miles long, crossing from water to wateron the east and west. This great wall, since known as the Dannevirke, took three years to build. There were strong watch-towers at intervalsand only one gate, and this was well protected by a wide and deep ditch, crossed by a bridge that could readily be removed. 

For ages afterwards the Danes were grateful to Queen Thyra for thissplendid wall of defense and sang her praises in their national hymns, while they told wonderful tales of her cleverness in ruling the landwhile her husband was far away. Fragments of Thyra's rampart still remainand its remains formed the groundwork of all the later border bulwarks ofDenmark. 

Queen Thyra, while a worshipper of the northern gods, showed much favorto the Christians and caused some of her children to be signed with thecross. But King Gorm was a fierce pagan and treated his Christiansubjects so cruelly that he gained the name of the "Church's worm, " beingregarded as one who was constantly gnawing at the supports of the Church. Henry I. The Fowler, the great German emperor of that age, angry at thistreatment of the Christians, sent word to Gorm that it must cease, andwhen he found that no heed was paid to his words he marched a large armyto the Eyder, giving Gorm to understand that he must mend his ways or hiskingdom would be overrun. 

Gorm evidently feared the loss of his dominion, for from that time on heallowed the Archbishop of Bremen to preach in his dominions and torebuild the churches which had been destroyed, while he permitted his sonHarald, who favored the Christians, to be signed with the cross. But hekept to the faith of his forefathers, as did his son Knud, known as"Dan-Ast, " or the "Danes'-joy. "

The ancient sagas tell us that there was little love between Knud andHarald; and that Gorm, fearing ill results from this, swore an oath thathe would put to death any one who attempted to kill his first-born son, or who should even tell him that Knud had died. 

While Harald remained at home and aided his mother, Knud was of hisfather's fierce spirit and for years attended him on his vikingexpeditions. On one of these he was drowned, or rather was killed whilebathing, by an arrow shot from one of his own ships. Gorm was absent atthe time, and Thyra scarcely knew how the news could be told him withoutincurring the sworn penalty of death. 

Finally she put herself and her attendants into deep mourning and hungthe chief hall of the palace with the ashy-grey hangings used at thegrave-feasts of Northmen of noble birth. Then, seating herself, sheawaited Gorm's return. On entering the hall he was struck by these signsof mourning and by the silence and dejection of the queen, and broke outin an exclamation of dismay:

"My son, Knud, is dead!"

"Thou hast said it, and not I, King Gorm, " was the queen's reply. Thenews of the death had thus been conveyed to him without any one incurringthe sworn penalty. Soon after that--in 936--King Gorm died, and thethrone of Denmark was left to his son Harald, a cruel and crafty man whommany of the people believed to have caused the murder of his brother. 

_ERIK BLOOD-AXE AND EGIL THE ICELANDER. _

In the year 900 Harold the Fair-Haired, the famous monarch who made akingdom of Norway, passed a law which was to work mischief for centuriesto come. Erik, his favorite son, was named overlord of the kingdom, butwith the proviso that his other sons should bear the kingly title andrule over provinces, while the sons of his daughters were to be madeearls. Had the wise Harold dreamed of the trouble this unwise law was tomake he would have cut off his right hand before signing it. It was togive rise to endless rebellions and civil wars which filled the kingdomwith ruin and slaughter for many reigns and at last led to its overthrowand long disappearance from among the separate nations of the earth. 

A bold and daring prince was Erik, with the old viking blood in hisveins. When only twelve years of age his father gave him five ships, eachwith a sturdy crew of Norsemen, and sent him out to ravage the southernlands, in the manner of the sea-kings of those days. Many were theperilous exploits of the young viking admiral and when he came back tohis father's halls and told him of his daring deeds, the old kinglistened with delight. So fierce and fatal were many of his fights thathe won the name of Blood-Axe, but for this his father loved him all themore and chose him to be his successor on the throne. 

[Illustration: HOME OF PEASANTS. NORWAY. ]

Before his father died Erik had shown what was in him, by attacking andkilling two of his brothers. But despite all that, when the old king waseighty years of age he led Erik to the throne and named him as hissuccessor. Three years later Harold died and Norway fell under the youngsea-king's hand--a brave, handsome, stately ruler; but haughty, cruel, and pitiless in his wrath, and with the old viking wildness in his blood. 

He had married a woman whom men called a witch--cruel, treacherous, loving money and power, and with such influence over him that she killedall the good in his soul and spurred him on to evil deeds. 

Strange stories are told of the wicked Queen Gunhild. It was said thatshe had been sent to Finland to learn the arts of sorcery, in which theFinns of those days were well versed. Here Erik met her in one of hiswanderings, and was taken captive by her bold beauty. She dwelt with twosorcerers, both bent on marrying her, while she would have neither ofthem. Prince Erik was a suitor more to her liking and she hid him in hertent, begging him to rescue her from her troublesome lovers. 

This was no easy task, for sorcerers have arts of their own, but Erikproved equal to it, cut his way through all the difficulties in his pathand carried Gunhild away to his ships, where he made her his wife. Inher he had wed a dragon of mischief, as his people were to learn. 

She was of small size but of wonderful beauty, and with sly, insinuatingways that fitted her well to gain the mastery over strong men. But allher arts were used for evil, and she won the hatred of the people byspeaking words of ill counsel in her husband's ears. The treachery andviolence he showed were said to be the work of Gunhild the witch, and thenobles and people soon grew to hate Erik Blood-Axe and his cruel wife, and often broke out in rebellion against them. 

His brothers, who had been made kings of provinces, were not ready tosubmit to his harsh rule, and barely was old King Harold dead beforeHalfdan the Swarthy--who bore the name of his grandfather--claimed to bemonarch in Tröndelag, and Olaf, another brother, in Viken. Death camesuddenly to Halfdan--men whispered that he had been poisoned by thequeen--but his brother Sigfrid took his place and soon the flame ofrebellion rose north and south. Erik proved equal to the difficulty. Sigfrid and Olaf were in Tunsberg, where they had met to lay plans tojoin their forces, when Erik, whose spies told him of their movements, took the town by surprise and killed them both. 

Thus, so far, Erik Blood-Axe was triumphant. He had killed four of hisbrothers--men said five--and every one thought that Gunhild would not becontent until all King Harold's brood except her own husband were in thegrave. 

Trouble next came from a region far away, the frost-king's land ofIceland in the northern seas, which had been settled from Norway in theearly reign of Harold the Fair-Haired, some sixty years before. Herelived a handsome and noble man named Thorolf, who had met Erik in hisviking days. He was the son of the stern old Icelander Bald Grim, andnephew of the noble Thorolf who had been basely slain by King Harold. 

Bald Grim hated Harold and all his race, but Thorolf grew to admire Erikfor his daring and made him a present of a large and beautiful ship. ThusErik became his friend, and when Thorolf came to Norway the young princebegged his father to let him dwell there in peace. When he at length wenthome to Iceland he took with him an axe with a richly carved handle, which Erik had sent as a present to his father. 

Old Bald Grim was not the man to be bought over by a present. The hate hefelt for Harold he transferred to his son, and when Thorolf set sailagain for Norway his father bade him take back the axe to the king andsang an insulting song which he bade him repeat to Erik. Thorolf did notlike his errand. He thought it best to let the blood-feud die, so hethrew the axe into the sea and when he met the king gave him his father'sthanks for the fine gift. If Thorolf had had his way the trouble wouldhave been at an end, but with him came Egil, his younger brother, a manof different character. 

Stern old Bald Grim seemed born again in his son Egil. A man of greatsize, swarthy face, harsh of aspect, and of fierce temper, in him was theold, tameless spirit of the Norse sea-kings, turbulent, passionate, owning no man master, he bent his strong soul to no man's rule. Rash andadventurous, he had a long and stormy career, while nature had endowedhim with a rich gift of song, which added to his fame. Such was the typeof men who in those days made all Europe tremble before the Norsemen'swrath, and won dominion for the viking warriors in many lands. 

Thorold when in Norway before had gained powerful friends in the greatnobles, Thore Herse and Björn the Yeoman. On this visit the brothersbecame Thore's guests, and Egil and Arinbjörn, Thore's son, became warmfriends. The young Icelander's hot temper soon brewed trouble. Sicknesskept him from going with Thorolf to the house of Björn the Yeoman, whosedaughter, Aasgard, he was to marry; but he soon got well and went on avisit to Baard, a steward of the king. As fortune decreed he met thereKing Erik and Queen Gunhild. 

Egil was not the man to play the courtier and his hot blood was underlittle control. When Baard neglected him in favor of his royal visitor, he broke into such a rage that the queen, to quiet him, tried one of herunderhand arts. She bade Baard to mix sleeping herbs with his beer. 

Suspecting treachery from the taste of the beer Egil flung his flagon tothe floor, struck Baard dead in his fury, and, fleeing for his life, swamto an island in the neighboring stream. When men were sent to search theisland and capture him he killed some of them, seized their boat, andmade his escape. 

King Erik was furious, but Thore Herse got him to accept a money paymentfor Baard's death--as was then the custom of the land--and he agreed tolet Egil dwell in Norway unharmed. 

This was not to the queen's liking. She was fond of Baard and was deeplyincensed at Egil for his murderous act, and she stormed at the king forhis mildness of temper till he broke out:

"You are forever egging me on to acts of violence; but now you must holdyour peace, for I have given my kingly word and cannot break it. "

Gunhild, thus repulsed, sought other means of revenge. A great feast ofsacrifice to the old heathen gods was to be held at the temple of Gaule, and at her instigation her brother, Eyvind Skreyja, agreed to kill one ofBald Grim's sons. Finding no opportunity for this, he killed one ofThorolf's men, for which act Erik outlawed him. 

The remainder of the story of Egil's career is largely that of a viking, that is, a piratical rover, bent on spoil and plunder and the harrying ofsea-coast lands. With Thorolf he took to the sea and cruised about inquest of wealth and glory, finally landing in England and fighting in agreat battle under the banner of King Athelstan. He made his mark here, but Thorolf was slain, so Egil went back to Norway, married his brother'swidow, and sailed for his old home in Iceland, which he had not seen fortwelve years. 

Iceland was too quiet a land to hold the stirring sea-king long and newsfrom Norway soon made him take ship again. Björn the Yeoman, his wife'sfather, had died, and Queen Gunhild had given his estate to Berg-Anund, one of her favorites. Storming with rage, he reached Norway and hotlypleaded his claim to the estate before the assembly or _thing_ at Gula, Erik and Gunhild being present. He failed in his purpose, the _thing_breaking up in disorder; and Egil, probably finding Norway too hot tohold him, went back to Iceland. 

If King Erik now fancied he was rid of the turbulent Icelander he wasmistaken. Rankling with a sense of injury and borne onward by hisimpetuous temper, Egil was soon in Norway again, sought the Björn estate, surprised and killed Berg-Anund, and went so far in his daring as to killRagnvald, the king's son, who was visiting Berg. Carried to extremes byhis unruly temper he raised what was called a shame-pole, or pole ofdishonor, on a cliff top, to the king and queen. On it he thrust the headof a dead horse, crying out:

"I turn this dishonor against all the land-spirits of this land, thatthey may all stray bewildered and none of them find his home until theyhave driven King Erik and Queen Gunhild out of this land. "

This message of defiance he cut in runes--the letters of theNorthland--into the pole, that all might read it, and then sailed back toIceland. 

Egil had not long to wait for his curse to take effect, for Erik's reignwas soon threatened from a new source. He had not killed all hisbrothers. In the old days of King Harold, when near seventy years old, hehad married a new wife, who bore him a son whom he namedHaakon, --destined in later life to reign with the popular title of Haakonthe Good. This boy, perhaps for his safety, had been sent to England andgiven over to King Athelstan, who brought him up almost as his own son. 

Erik had been four years on the throne when Haakon came back to Norway, ahandsome, noble youth, kind of heart and gentle in disposition, and onall sides hailed with joy, for Erik and his evil-minded wife had not wonthe love of the people. Great nobles and many of the people gatheredaround Haakon, men saying that he was like King Harold come back again, gentler and nobler than of old and with all his old stately beauty andcharm. 

The next year he was crowned king. Erik tried to raise an army, but noneof the people were willing to fight for him, and he was forced to fleewith his wife and children. Only a few of his old friends went with him, but among them was Arinbjörn, Egil's former friend. 

Sudden had been King Erik's fall. Lately lord of a kingdom, he had nownot a foot of land he could call his own, and he sailed about as asea-robber, landing and plundering in Scotland and England. At length, to rid himself of this stinging hornet of the seas, King Athelstan madehim lord of a province in Northumberland, with the promise that he wouldfight for it against other vikings like himself. He was also required tobe baptized and become a Christian. 

Meanwhile Egil dwelt in Iceland, but in bitter discontent. He roamedabout the strand, looking for sails at sea and seeming to care little forhis wife and children. Men said that Gunhild had bewitched him, but morelikely it was his own unquiet spirit. At any rate the time came when hecould bear a quiet life no longer and he took ship and sailed away to thesouth. 

Misfortune now went with him. A storm drove his ship ashore on theEnglish coast at the mouth of the Humber, the ship being lost but he andhis thirty men reaching shore. Inquiring in whose land he was, peopletold him that Erik Blood-Axe ruled that region. 

Egil's case was a desperate one. He was in the domain of his deadly foe, with little hope of escape. With his usual impetuous spirit, he made noattempt to flee, but rode boldly into York, where he found his old friendArinbjörn. With him he went straight to Erik, like the reckless fellow hewas. 

"What do you expect from me?" asked Erik. "You deserve nothing but deathat my hands. "

"Death let it be, then, " said the bold viking, in his reckless manner. 

Gunhild on seeing him was eager for his blood. She had hated him so longthat she hotly demanded that he should be killed on the spot. Erik, lessbloodthirsty, gave him his life for one night more, and Arinbjörn beggedhim to spend the night in composing a song in Erik's honor, hoping thatin this way he might win his life. 

Egil promised to do so and his friend brought him food and drink, biddinghim do his best. Anxious to know how he was progressing Arinbjörn visitedhim in the night. 

"How goes the song?" he asked. 

"Not a line of it is ready, " answered Egil. "A swallow has been sittingin the window all the night, screaming and disturbing me, and do what Iwould I could not drive it away. "

At that Arinbjörn darted into the hall, where he saw in the dim light awoman running hastily away. Going back he found that the swallow hadflown. He was sure now that Queen Gunhild had changed herself into aswallow by sorcery, and for the remainder of the night he kept watchoutside that the bird should not return. When morning broke he found thatEgil had finished his song. 

Determined to save his friend's life if he could, he armed himself andhis men and went with Egil to the palace of the king, where he asked Erikfor Egil's life as a reward for his devotion to him when others haddeserted him. 

Erik made no reply, and then Arinbjörn cried out:

"This I will say. Egil shall not die while I or one of my men remainalive. "

"Egil has well deserved death, " replied Erik, "but I cannot buy his deathat that price. "

As he stopped speaking Egil began to sing, chanting his ode in tones thatrang loudly through the hall. Famed as a poet, his death song was one ofthe best he had ever composed, and it praised Erik's valor in all thefull, wild strains of the northern verse. 

Erik heard the song through with unmoved face. When it was done he said:

"Your song is a noble one, and your friend's demand for your life isnobler still. Nor can I be the dastard to kill a man who puts himself ofhis own will into my hands. You shall depart unharmed. But do not thinkthat I or my sons forgive you, and from the moment you leave this hallnever come again under my eyes or the eyes of my sons. "

Egil thus won his life by his song, which became known as the "Ransom ofthe Head. " Another of his songs, called "The Loss of the Son, " is held tobe the most beautiful in all the literature of Iceland. He afterwardslived long and had many more adventures, and in the end died in his bedin Iceland when he was over ninety years of age. Erik died in battle manyyears earlier, and Gunhild then went to Denmark with her sons. She was tomake more trouble for Norway before she died. 

_THE SEA-KINGS AND THEIR DARING FEATS. _

From the word _vik_, or bay, comes the word viking, long used todesignate the sea-rovers of the Northland, the bold Norse wanderers whofor centuries made their way to the rich lands of the south on plunderingraids. Beginning by darting out suddenly from hiding places in bays orriver mouths to attack passing craft, they in the end became daringscourers of the seas and won for themselves kingdoms and dominions in thesettled realms of the south. 

Nothing was known of them in the early days. The people of southernEurope in the first Christian centuries hardly knew of the existence ofthe race of fair-skinned and light-haired barbarians who dwelt in thegreat peninsula of the north. It was not until near the year 800 B. C. That these bold brigands learned that riches awaited those who daredseize it on the shores of France, England, and more southern lands. Thenthey came in fleets and spread terror wherever they appeared. For severalcenturies the realms of civilization trembled before their very name. 

"From the fury of the Northmen, Good Lord deliver us!" prayed thepriests, and the people joined fervently in the prayer. 

Long before this period the sea was the favorite hunting ground of thedaring sons of the north, but the small chiefs of that period preyed uponeach other, harrying their neighbors and letting distant lands alone. Butas the power of the chiefs, and their ability to protect themselvesincreased, this mode of gaining wealth and fame lost its ease andattraction and the rovers began to rove farther afield. 

Sea-kings they called themselves. On land the ruler of a province mightbe called either earl or king, but the earl who went abroad with hisfollowers on warlike excursions was content with no less name than king, and the chiefs who set out on plundering cruises became from the firstknown as sea-kings. Pirates and freebooters we would call them to-day, but they were held in high distinction in their native land, and some ofthe most cruel of them, on their return home, became men of influence, with all the morality and sense of honor known in those early days. Theirlives of ravage and outrage won them esteem at home and the daring andsuccessful sea-king ranked in fame with the noblest of the home-stayingchiefs. We have seen how King Erik began his career as a viking and endedit in the same pursuit; how Rollo, a king's son, adopted the sameprofession; and from this it may be seen that the term was one of honorinstead of disgrace. 

From all the lands of the north they came, these dreaded sons of the sea, from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark alike, fierce heathens they who carednought for church or priest, but liked best to rob chapels andmonasteries, for there the greatest stores of gold and silver could befound. When the churches were plundered they often left them in flames, as they also did the strong cities they captured and sacked. The small, light boats with which they dared the sea in its wrath were able to gofar up the rivers, and wherever these fierce and bloodthirsty roversappeared wild panic spread far around. So fond were they of sword-thrustand battle that one viking crew would often challenge another for thepure delight of fighting. A torment and scourge they were wherever theyappeared. 

The first we hear in history of the sea-kings is in the year 787, when asmall party of them landed on the English coast. In 794 came anotherflock of these vultures of the sea, who robbed a church and a monastery, plundering and killing, and being killed in their turn when a stormwrecked their ships and threw them on shore. As a good monk writes ofthem: "The heathen came from the northern countries to Britain likestinging wasps, roamed about like savage wolves, robbing, biting, killingnot only horses, sheep, and cattle, but also priests, acolytes, monks, and nuns. "

The Norsemen had found a gold mine in the south and from this time onthey worked it with fierce hands. Few dared face them, and even in thedays of the great Charlemagne they ravaged the coast lands of France. Once, when the great emperor was in one of his cities on theMediterranean coast, a fleet of the swift viking ships, known by theirsquare sails, entered the harbor. Soon word was brought that they hadlanded and were plundering. Who they were the people knew not, somesaying that they were Jews, others Africans, and others that they wereBritish merchants. 

"No merchants they, " said the emperor. "Those ships do not bring usgoods, but fierce foes, bloody fighters from the north. "

The warriors around him at once seized their weapons and hurried to theshore, but the vikings had learned that the great emperor was in the cityand, not daring to face him, had sought their ships and spread theirsails again. Tears came to the eyes of Charlemagne as he watched them intheir outward flight. He said to those around him:

"It is not for fear that these brigands can do me any harm that I weep, but for their daring to show themselves on this coast while I am alive. Their coming makes me foresee and fear the harm they may do to mydescendants. "

This story may be one of those legends which the monks were fond oftelling, but it serves to show how the dread Norsemen were feared. Francewas one of their chief fields of ravage and slaughter. First coming insingle ships, to rob and flee, they soon began to come in fleets and grewdaring enough to attack and sack cities. Hastings, one of the mostrenowned of them all, did not hesitate to attack the greatest cities ofthe south. 

In 841 this bold freebooter sailed up the Loire with a large fleet, tookand burned the city of Amboise, and laid siege to Tours. But here theinhabitants, aided, it is said, by the bones of their patron saint, drovehim off. Four years later he made an attack on Paris, and as fortunefollowed his flag he grew so daring that he sought to capture the city ofRome and force the Pope to crown him emperor. 

For an account of this remarkable adventure of the bold Hastings see thearticle, "The Raids of the Sea-Rovers, " in the German volume of"Historical Tales. " In that account are also given the chief exploits ofthe vikings in France and Germany. We shall therefore confine ourselvesin the remainder of this article to their operations in other lands, andespecially in Ireland. 

This country was a common field for the depredations of the Norse rovers. For some reason not very clear to us the early vikings did not troubleEngland greatly, but for many years they spread terror through the sisterisle, and in the year 838 Thorgisl, one of their boldest leaders, camewith a fleet of one hundred and twenty ships, with which he attacked andcaptured the city of Dublin, and afterwards, as an old author tells us, he conquered all Ireland, securing his conquest with stone fortssurrounded with deep moats. 

But the Irish at length got rid of their conqueror by a stratagem. It wasthrough love that the sea-king was lost. Bewitched with the charms ofthe fair daughter of Maelsechnail, one of the petty kings of the land, he bade this chieftain to send her to him, with fifteen young maidens inher train. He agreed to meet her on an island in Loch Erne with as manyNorsemen of high degree. 

Maelsechnail obeyed, but his maidens were beardless young men, dressedlike women but armed with sharp daggers. Thorgisl and his men, taken bysurprise, were attacked and slain. The Irish chief had once before askedThorgisl how he should rid himself of some troublesome birds that hadinvaded the island. "Destroy their nests, " said the Norseman. It was wiseadvice, and Maelsechnail put it in effect against the nests of theconquerors, destroying their stone strongholds, and killing or drivingthem away, with the aid of his fellow chieftains. 

Thus for a time Ireland was freed. It was conquered again by Olaf theWhite, who in 852 defeated some Danes who had taken Dublin, and then, like Thorgisl, began to build castles and tax the people. Two otherviking leaders won kingdoms in Ireland, but Olaf was the most powerful ofthem all, and the kingdom founded by him lasted for three hundred andfifty years. From Dublin Olaf sailed to Scotland and England, the bootyhe won filling two hundred ships. 

The sea-rovers did not confine their voyages to settled lands. Bold oceanwanderers, fearless of man on shore and tempest on the waves, theyvisited all the islands of the north and dared the perils of the unknownsea. They rounded the North Cape and made their way into the White Sea asearly as 750. The Faroe, the Orkney and the Shetland Islands were oftenvisited by them after 825, and in 874 they discovered Iceland, which hadbeen reached and settled by Irishmen or Scots about 800. The Norsemenfound here only some Irish hermits and monks, and these, disturbed intheir peaceful retreat by the turbulent newcomers, made their way back toIreland and left the Norsemen lords of the land. From Iceland the roversreached Greenland, which was settled in 986, and about the year 1000 theydiscovered North America, at a place they named Vinland. 

Such is, briefly told, the story of the early Norse wanderers. They had alater tale, of which we have told part in their conquest of Ireland. Though at first they came with a few ships, and were content to attack atown or a monastery, they soon grew more daring and their forces larger. A number of them would now fortify themselves on some coast elevation andmake it a centre for plundering raids into the surrounding country. At alater date many of them ceased to pose as pirates and took the rôle ofinvaders and conquerors, storming and taking cities and foundinggovernments in the invaded land. 

Such was the work of Thorgisl and Olaf in Ireland and of Rollo inNormandy. England was a frequent field of invasion after 833, whichcontinued until 851, when King Ethelwulf defeated them with greatslaughter. Fifteen years later they came again, these new invaders beingalmost all Danes. During all his reign Alfred the Great fought with them, but in spite of his efforts they gained a footing in the island, becomingits masters in the north and east. A century later, in 1016, Canute, theking of Denmark, completed the conquest and became king of all England. 

This is not the whole story of the sea-kings, whose daring voyages andraids made up much of the history of those centuries. One of the mostimportant events in viking history took place in 862, when three brotherchiefs, probably from Sweden, who had won fame in the Baltic Sea, wereinvited by the Russian tribes south of Lake Ladoga to come and rule overthem. They did so, making Novgorod their capital. From this grew theempire of Russia, which was ruled over by the descendants of Rurik, theprincipal of these chiefs, until 1598. 

Other vikings made their way southward through Russia and, sailing downthe Dnieper, put Constantinople in peril. Only a storm which scatteredtheir fleet saved the great city from capture. Three times later theyappeared before Constantinople, twice (in 904 and 945) being bought offby the emperors with large sums of money. Later on the emperors had apicked body-guard of Varangians, as they called the Northmen, and keptthese till the fall of the city in 1453. It was deemed a great honor inthe north to serve in this choice cohort at Myklegaard (Great City), andthose who returned from there doubtless carried many of the elements ofcivilization to the Scandinavian shores. 

To some of these Varangians was due the conquest of Sicily by theNorthmen. They were in the army sent from Constantinople to conquer thatisland, and seeing how goodly a land it was they aided in its finalconquest, which was made by Robert Guiscard, a noble of Normandy, whoseson Roger took the title of "King of Sicily and Italy. " Thus it was thatthe viking voyages led within a few centuries to the founding of kingdomsunder Norse rulers in England, Ireland, Sicily, Russia, and Normandy inFrance. 

_HAAKON THE GOOD AND THE SONS OF GUNHILD. _

We have told how King Haakon succeeded his brother, Erik Blood-Axe, onthe throne, and how, from his kindly and gentle nature, people called himHaakon the Good. There were other sons and several grandsons of Haroldthe Fair-Haired in the kingdom, but the new king treated them withfriendliness and let them rule as minor kings under him. 

He dealt with the peasants also in the same kindly spirit, giving themback their lands and relieving them of the tax which Harold had laid. Buthe taxed them all in another way, dividing the country into marinedistricts, each of which was required to supply the king, on his demand, with a fully equipped warship. Yet as this was for the defence of thecountry, the people did not look on it as oppressive. And as Norway had along mountainous coast, and important events were often long in becomingknown, he gave orders that the approach of an enemy should be made knownby signal fires lighted all along the coast. 

Haakon made other wise laws, in which he took the advice of the ablestmen of the kingdom. But now we have to speak of the most striking eventin the new king's career. Norway at that time was a haunt of idolatry. Men worshipped Odin and a host of other gods, and there was not aChristian in the whole land except the king himself, who had been broughtup in the new faith by his foster-father, King Athelstan of England. 

An earnest Christian, he looked with sorrow on the rude worship andheathen belief of his people, but not until he had been many years on thethrone did he venture to interfere with it. Then, about 950, when he hadwon the love of them all, he took steps to carry out his long-cherisheddesire. 

Sending to England for a bishop and a number of priests, the king issueda decree in which the people were forbidden to make sacrifices to the oldgods and ordered to accept the Christian faith. 

This came like a thunderbolt to the worshippers of the old gods. To bid awhole nation to give up at a word the religion which they had cherishedfrom childhood and which their fathers had held for generations beforethem was too much to demand. The king brought together a concourse of thepeople and spoke to them of his wish and purpose, but they had no answerto make except that the matter must be settled by their legal assembly. 

When the _thing_, or assembly, was called into session, a great body ofthe people were present, for never had so important a question been laidbefore them. Earnest and imploring was the speech made by the king, inwhich he warmly asked them to accept the God of the Christians and giveup their heathen idols of wood and stone. 

These words were followed by an angry murmur from the multitude, andmany dark looks were bent upon the rash monarch. Then a peasant leader, Aasbjörn of Medalhus, stepped out from the throng and spoke:

"When you, King Haakon, first called us here before you and we took youfor our king, it was with deep gladness, as if heaven had opened to us. But was it liberty we gained, or do you wish to make thralls of us oncemore, that you ask us to give up the faith of our fathers and forefathersfor the new and unknown one you offer? Sturdy men they were, and theirfaith did well for them and has done well for us. We have learned to loveyou well and have always kept and will always keep the laws made by youand accepted by us. But in this thing which you now demand we cannotfollow. If you are so resolved upon it that your mind cannot be changed, then we shall be forced to part from you and choose a new chief who willsupport us in worshipping our fathers' gods. Choose, O king, what youwill do, before this assembly has dispersed. "

So loud were the shouts of approval with which this speech was greetedthat not a word could be heard. Then, when quiet reigned again, EarlSigurd, who had spoken aside with Haakon, rose and said that the king hadno wish to lose their friendship and would yield to their wishes. Thiswas not enough to overcome the distrust of the peasants. They nextdemanded that he should take part in the sacrifices to be given and inthe feast to follow. This he felt obliged to do, though he quieted hisconscience by making the sign of the cross. 

When the next Yuletide sacrifice came Haakon was required to eathorse-flesh at the feast and this time was forbidden to make the sign ofthe cross when he drank the usual toasts to the ancient gods of Norway. This was a humiliation that cut the proud monarch deeply and it was withan angry soul he left, saying to his attendants that when he came back itwould be with an army to punish those who had thus insulted his faith. Back he did not come, for new troubles were gathering around him. 

To learn the source of these troubles we must return to the story of ErikBlood-Axe and Gunhild, his wicked wife. After Erik's death thatmischief-loving woman sought Denmark with her sons, who grew up to becomebrave warriors and daring viking rovers, infesting the coast of Norwayand giving its king and earls all the trouble they could. At length, backed by Harold Bluetooth, the king of Denmark, their piratical raidschanged to open war, and they invaded Norway, hoping to win theirfather's old kingdom for themselves. 

A crisis came in 955. In that year the sons of Erik appeared so suddenlywith a large fleet that they took King Haakon by surprise. He had withhim only a small force, the signal fires had not been lighted, and theenemy were close at hand before he could prepare to meet them. 

"What shall we do?" he asked his men. "Shall we stay and fight, or drawback and gather men?"

The answer came from an old peasant, Egil Woolsack:

"Often have I fought, King Haakon, with King Harold, your father. Whetherthe foe was stronger or weaker the victory was always his. Never did heask his friends if he should run; nor need you, for we are ready to fightand think that we have a brave chieftain for our leader. "

"You speak well and wisely, Egil, " said the king. "It is not my wish torun, and with your aid I am ready to face the foe. "

"Good words those!" cried Egil joyously. "It has been so long since I sawthe flash of sword that I feared I would die in my bed of old age, thoughit has been my hope to fall in battle at my chieftain's back. Now will mywish be gained. "

To land came the sons of Erik, having six men to Haakon's one. Seeing howgreat were the odds, old Egil tried strategy, leading tenstandard-bearers to a hidden spot in the rear of the hostile army andleaving them there in ambush. When the armies had met and the fightingwas under way, he led these men up a sloping hill until the tops of theirstandards could be seen above its summit. He had placed them far apart, so that when the Danes saw the waving banners it looked like a long lineof new troops coming upon them. With sudden alarm and a cry of terrorthey fled towards their ships. 

Gamle, their leader, was quick to discover the stratagem, and called onthem to stop, that it was all a trick; but nothing could check theirpanic flight, and he was swept along with them to the beach. Here a standwas made, but Haakon rushed upon them in a furious attack in which oldEgil had his wish, for he fell in the storm of sword blows, winning thedeath he craved. Victory rested on the king's banners and his foes fledto their ships, Gamle, their leader, being drowned in the flight. 

For six years after this the land lay at peace. King Haakon continued aChristian and many of his friends joined him in the new faith. But he wastoo wise and gentle to attempt again to force his belief upon his peopleand the worship of the heathen gods went on. All the people, nobles andpeasants alike, loved their king dearly and he would have ended his reignin a peaceful old age but for his foes without the kingdom. This is theway in which the end came. 

In the summer of the year 961, when Haakon had been twenty-six years onthe throne, he with many guests was at feast in the royal mansion ofFitje, in Hördaland. While at table a sentinel brought in the alarmingnews that a large fleet of ships was sailing up the fiord. 

By the king's side sat Eyvnid, his nephew, who was a famous scald, orbard. They rose and looked out on the fiord. 

"What ships are they, of friends or of foes?" asked the king. 

The scald replied in a verse, in which he sang that the sons of Erik werecoming again. 

"Once more they take us unawares, " said Haakon to his men. "They are manyand we are few. Never yet have we faced such odds. The danger lies beforeyou. Are you ready to meet it? I am loath to flee before any force, but Ileave it to the wise among you to decide. "

Eyvnid sang another verse, to the effect that it would be ill counsel toadvise a man like King Haakon to flee from the sons of Gunhild thesorceress. 

"That is a man's song, " cried the king, "and what you say is what Iwish. "

All around him the warriors shouted their war-cry, and while they ran fortheir weapons he put on his armor, seized his sword and shield, andplaced on his head a golden helmet that shone brightly in the sun. Neverhad he looked more like a born king, with his noble and inspiredcountenance and the bright hair streaming down from under his helmet. 

The battle that followed was fierce and bloody. Harold, Gunhild's thirdson, commanded the invaders, who far outnumbered Haakon's small force. And now there was no Egil to defeat the foe by stratagem, but the battlewas hand to hand and face to face, with stroke of sword and thrust ofspear, the war-shout of the fighters and the death-wail of the fallen. 

King Haakon that day showed himself a true and heroic warrior. As thebattle grew fiercer his spirit rose higher, and when Eyvnid the scaldgreeted him with a warlike verse, he answered with another. But themidsummer heat growing hard to bear, he flung off his armor and foughtwith only his strong right arm for shield. The arrows had now been allshot, the spears all hurled, and the ranks met hand to hand and sword tosword, in desperate affray. 

In the front rank stood the king, his golden helmet making him a shiningmark for the warriors of the foe. 

"Your helmet makes you a target for the Danish spears, " cried Eyvnid, andhe drew a hood over it to hide its gleam. Skreyja, Harold's uncle, whowas storming onward towards the king, now lost sight of him and criedout:

"Where is the Norse king? Has he drawn back in fear? Is he of the goldenhelmet a craven?"

"Keep on as you are coming, if you wish to meet the Norsemen's king, "shouted Haakon, throwing down his shield and grasping his sword with bothhands, as he sprang out before them all. Skreyja bounded towards him andstruck a furious blow, but it was turned aside by a Norse warrior and atthe same instant Haakon's sword cleft the foeman's head down to theshoulders. 

This kingly stroke gave new spirit to the Norsemen and they rushed withdouble fury upon the foe, whom the fall of their best warrior filled withfear. Back to the beach they were pressed, many being slain, manydrowned, a few only, Harold among them, reaching the ships by swimming. 

The Norsemen had won against fearful odds, but their king was in deadlyperil. In the pursuit he had been struck in the right arm by an arrowwith an oddly-shaped head, and do what they would, the flow of bloodcould not be stopped. It was afterwards said that Gunhild the sorceresshad bewitched the arrow and sent it with orders to use it only againstKing Haakon. 

In those days it was easy to have men believe tales like that, but, witchcraft or not, the blood still ran and the king grew weaker. As nightcame death seemed at hand and one of his friends offered to take his bodyto England, after his death, that he might be laid in Christian soil. 

"Not so, " said Haakon. "Heathen are my people and I have lived among themlike a heathen. See then that I am laid in the grave like a heathen. "

Thus he died, and he was buried as he wished, while all men mourned hisdeath, even his foes; for before breathing his last he bade his men tosend a ship after the sons of Gunhild; asking them to come back and rulethe kingdom. He had no sons, he said, and his daughter could not take thethrone. 

Thus death claimed the noblest of the Norsemen, at once heathen andChristian, but in his life and deeds as in his death a great and goodman. 

_EARL HAAKON AND THE JOMSVIKINGS. _

Chief among the nobles of Haakon the Good, of Norway, was Earl Sigurd ofHlade; and first among those who followed him was Earl Haakon, Sigurd'sson. After the death of Haakon the Good, the sons of Gunhild became themasters of Norway, where they ruled like tyrants, murdering Sigurd, whomthey most feared. This made the young Earl Haakon their bitter foe. 

A young man then, of twenty-five, handsome, able in mind and body, kindlyin disposition, and a daring warrior, he was just the man to contend withthe tyrant murderers. When he was born Haakon the Good had poured wateron his head and named him after himself and he was destined to live tothe level of the honor thus given him. 

It is not our purpose to tell how, with the aid of the king of Denmark, he drove the sons of Gunhild from the realm, and how, as the sagas tell, the wicked old queen was enticed to Denmark by the king, under promise ofmarriage, and by his orders was drowned in a swamp. Her powers of sorcerydid not avail her then, if this story is true. 

Haakon ruled Norway as a vassal of Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark, towhom he agreed to pay tribute. He also consented to be baptized as aChristian and to introduce the Christian faith into Norway. But aheathen at heart and a Norseman in spirit, he did not intend to keep thispromise. After a meeting with the Danish king in which his baptism tookplace, he sailed for his native land with his ship well laden withpriests. But the heathen in him now broke out. With bold disdain of KingHarald, he put the priests on shore, and sought to counteract the effectof his baptism by a great feast to the old gods, praying for their favorand their aid in the war that was sure to follow. He looked for an omen, and it came in the shape of two ravens, which followed his ships withloud clucking cries. These were the birds sacred to Odin and he hailedtheir coming with delight. The great deity of the Norsemen seemed topromise him favor and success. 

Turning against the king to whom he had promised to act as a vassal, hesavagely ravaged the Danish coast lands. Then he landed on the shores ofSweden, burnt his ships, and left a track of fire and blood as he marchedthrough that land. Even Viken, a province of Norway, was devastated byhim, on the plea of its being under a Danish ruler. Then, having done hisutmost to show defiance to Denmark and its king, he marched northward toDrontheim, where he ruled like a king, though still styling himself EarlHaakon. 

Harald Bluetooth was not the man to be defied with impunity, and thoughhe was too old to take the field himself, he sought means to punish hisdefiant vassal. Men were to be had ready and able to fight, if the prizeoffered them was worth the risk, and men of this kind Harald knew whereto seek. 

[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. BUSY FARMERS IN A HILLSIDE FIELD, ABOVE ARE. SWEDEN. ]

In the town of Jomsborg, on the island of Wollin, near the mouth of theOder, dwelt a daring band of piratical warriors known as the Jomsvikings, who were famed for their indomitable courage. War was their trade, rapinetheir means of livelihood, and they were sworn to obey the orders oftheir chief, to aid each other to the utmost, to bear pain unflinchingly, dare the extremity of danger, and face death like heroes. They kept allwomen out of their community, lest their devotion to war might beweakened, and stood ready to sell their swords to the highest bidder. 

To this band of plunderers Harald appealed and found them ready for thetask. Their chief, Earl Sigvalde, brought together a great host ofwarriors at a funeral feast to his father, and there, while ale and meadflowed abundantly, he vowed, flagon in hand, that he would drive EarlHaakon from the Norse realm or perish in the attempt. His vikingfollowers joined him in the vow. The strong liquor was in their veins andthere was no enterprise they were not ready to undertake. When theirsober senses returned with the next morning, they measured better theweight of the enterprise; but they had sworn to it and were not the mento retreat from a vow they had taken. 

Erik, an unruly son of Earl Haakon, had fled from his father's court indisgrace and was now in Viken, and here the rumor of the vikings' oathreached his ears. At once, forgetting his quarrel with his father, hehastened north with all the men he could gather to Earl Haakon's aid, preceding the Jomsvikings, who were sailing slowly up the shores ofNorway, plundering as they went in their usual fashion. They had a fleetof sixty ships and a force of over seven thousand well-trained warriors. Haakon, warned by his son, met them with three times their number ofships, though these were smaller and lighter craft. On board were aboutten thousand men. Such were the forces that met in what the sagas callthe greatest battle that had ever been fought in Norway. 

Soon the embattled ships met and the conflict grew fast and furious, hurtling weapons filling the air and men falling on all sides. Great wasthe carnage and blood flowed in streams on the fighting ships. EarlHaakon stood in the prow of his ship in the heat of the fight, arrows andspears whirling around him in such numbers that his shirt of mail becameso torn and rent that he threw it off as useless. The high ships of thevikings gave them an advantage which told heavily against theirantagonists, spears and arrows being poured down from their sides. 

In the height of the battle Earl Haakon disappeared. As the legends tellhe went ashore with his youngest son Erling, whom he sacrificed to theheathen gods to win their aid in the battle. Hardly had he done this deedof blood when a dense black cloud arose and a violent hail-storm brokeover the ships, the hail-stones weighing each two ounces and beating sofiercely in the faces of the Jomsvikings as nearly to blind them. Somesay that the Valkyries, the daughters of Odin, were seen in the prow ofthe earl's ship, filling the air with their death-dealing arrows. 

Despite the storm and the supernatural terrors that they conjured up, theJomsvikings continued to fight, though their decks were slippery withblood and melting hail. Only one coward appeared among them, their chiefEarl Sigvalde, who suddenly turned his ship and fled. When Vagn Aakesson, the most daring of the Jomsvikings, saw this recreant act he was franticwith rage. 

"You ill-born hound, " he cried, "why do you fly and leave your men in thelurch? Shame on you, and may shame cling to you to your death!"

A spear hurtled from his hand and pierced the man at the helm, whereSigvalde had stood a moment before. But the ship of the dastard earl kepton and a general panic succeeded, all the ships in the fleeing earl'sline following his standard. Only Vagn Aakesson and Bue the Big were leftto keep up the fight. 

Yet they kept it up in a way to win them fame. When Earl Haakon's shipdrew up beside that of Bue, two of the viking champions, Haavard theHewer and Aslak Rock-skull, leaped on deck and made terrible havoc. Inthe end an Icelander picked up an anvil that was used to sharpen theirspears and hurled it at Aslak, splitting his skull, while Haavard hadboth legs cut off. Yet the indomitable viking fought on, standing on hisknees. 

The onset of the Jomsvikings was so terrific in this last fierce fightthat the earl's men gave back, and might have been all slain had not hisson Erik boarded Bue's ship at this crisis and made an irresistiblecharge. A terrible cut across the face severed Bue's nose. 

"Now, " he cried, "the Danish maidens will kiss me no more. "

Seeing that all was at an end, he seized two chests of gold to preventtheir capture by the victors, and sprang with them into the sea, shouting:

"Overboard all Bue's men!"

On Vagn's ship a similar fierce fight was taking place, ending only whenall but thirty of the vikings were slain. 

Then a savage scene was enacted, one worthy only of those barbaroustimes. The captives were taken ashore and seated on a long log, theirfeet bound, their hands free. At the funeral feast in Sigvalde's hallVagn had boasted that he would kill Thorkill Laiva, one of Erik's chiefwarriors, and this threatened man was now chosen as executioner. 

At the captives he rushed, with uplifted axe, and savagely struck offtheir heads, one after another. Vagn was to be left to the last, that hemight suffer from fear, but instead of this he sat joking and laughingwith his men. One of them sang and laughed so loudly that Erik asked himif he would like to live. 

"That depends on who it is that asks me. "

"He who offers has the power to grant. I am Earl Erik. "

"Then I gladly accept. "

Another made a pun which so pleased the earl that he, too, was set free. 

One of the captives had long, beautiful hair, and as Thorkill came nearhim on his bloody errand he twisted his hair into a coil and asked theexecutioner not to soil it with his blood. To humor him Thorkill askedone of the bystanders to hold the coil while he struck. The man did so, but as the axe came down the captive jerked his head aside so that theaxe fell on the wrists of the coil-holder, both his hands being cut off. 

"Some of the Jomsvikings are still alive, " laughed the captive. 

"Who are you?" asked Erik. 

"I am said to be a son of Bue. "

"Do you wish to live?"

"What other choice have I?"

At Erik's command he, too, was released. 

Angry at being thus robbed of his prey, Thorkill now sprang towards Vagn, determined that at least his special enemy should fall. As he came near, however, one of the men on the log threw himself forward in such a waythat Thorkill stumbled over him and dropped his axe. In an instant Vagnwas on his feet, seized the axe, and dealt Thorkill a deadly blow. Hisboast was kept; Thorkill had fallen by his hand. 

Erik saw the bold feat with such admiration that he ordered Vagn to befreed, and the prisoners who remained alive were also set free at hisorder. 

While this was going on Earl Haakon sat apart conversing with hischieftains. As they did so they heard a bow-string twang, and before ahand could be raised a keen-pointed arrow pierced the body of Gissur theWhite, one of the chiefs, and he fell over dead. The arrow had come fromthe ship of Bue the Big, and thither men ran in haste. What they saw wasHaavard the Hewer, still standing on his knees, though his blood flowedfreely. 

"Tell me, " he cried, "did any one fall at the tree yonder?"

"Yes; Gissur the White. "

"Then luck failed me, for that arrow was aimed for Earl Haakon. "

And he fell over on the deck, with death at his heart-strings. The vikinghad sent a herald on before, to announce his coming at Odin's court. 

It was Haakon who had ordered the murder of the captives, and Erik hisson who gave life to so many of them. The time was near at hand when theearl was to meet the bloody fate which he had dealt out to others. ThoughErik had done so much to help him in the battle, he was furious with hisson for sparing the life of Vagn Aakesson. As a result they parted inanger, Erik going south again. Here Vagn joined him and from that dayforward the two were warm friends and comrades. 

But Haakon fell into ways of vice as he grew older, and at length he dida deed that led him to a shameful death. He had his men bring by forceto his palace the wife of a rich peasant, and sent them for another, whowas famed for her beauty. Orm, her husband, refused to let her go andsent news of the outrage to all the peasants in the valley. From farm tofarm flew the tidings, and the peasants, furious at the shameful deeds ofthe earl, seized their arms and gathered in a great band, which marchedupon him at Medalhus. 

Earl Haakon was taken by surprise. He had not dreamed of a revolt andonly a few men were with him. These he dismissed and fled for safety, only one man, his old servant Kark, going with him. Reaching the GaulRiver in his flight, he rode his horse into a deep hole and left hiscloak on the ice, so that his pursuers, finding the dead horse and thecloak, might think he was drowned. 

From there he sought the nearby home of Thora of Rimul, a faithful womanfriend, told her of the hot pursuit and begged her to hide him from hisfurious enemies. The only hiding place she could provide was a deep ditchunder her pig-sty, and in this filthy hole the great earl was hidden, with food, candles, and bedding. Then boards were laid over the ditch andcovered with earth and upon this the pigs were driven. 

To Rimul the peasants soon came, filled with fury, and with them came aman of note who had just landed and was seeking to win the throne. Thiswas Olaf, a great-grandson of Harold the Fair-Haired, whose claim to thecrown of Norway was far better than that of Haakon. Thinking that Thorahad hidden the fleeing earl the pursuers searched the whole place. Thefugitive not being found, Olaf stood on a large stone near the pig-styand called the peasants around him, loudly announcing that any man whoshould find and slay Earl Haakon would be given a large reward. 

His words were plainly heard in the damp and unpleasant underground denwhere Haakon sat shivering. He looked at Kark, the thrall, whose faceshowed that he, too, had heard the promise of reward. 

"What ails you?" asked the earl. "Your face changes from pale to dark andgloomy. Do you propose to betray me?"

"No, " said Kark. 

"We were born on the same night, and if one of us dies the other willsoon follow, " said the earl warningly. 

For a long time they sat, listening to the sounds above. At length allgrew still and they felt that the night had come. Kark fell asleep, butthe earl sat awake, watching him in deep distrust. The slumbering thralltossed about as if in pain and the earl wakened him, asking of what hehad dreamt. 

"I dreamed that you and I were on shipboard and that I was at the helm. "

"That means that you rule over both our lives. Therefore, Kark, you mustbe true and faithful to me, as duty bids you. Better days will soon cometo us both and then you shall be richly rewarded. "

Again the thrall fell asleep and again he seemed to dream. The earl wokehim again. 

"Of what did you dream?" he asked. 

"I dreamed that I was at Hlade and that Olaf Tryggvesson put a goldenring around my neck. "

"That means, " said the earl, "that if you seek Olaf he will put a redring [a ring of blood] around your neck. Beware of him, Kark, and trustin me. Be faithful to me and you will find in me a faithful friend. "

The night dragged slowly on. The earl dared not let himself sleep, butsat staring at Kark, who stared back at him. When morning was near athand weariness lay so heavily on the earl that he could no longer keepawake. But his sleep was sorely disturbed by the terrors of that dreadfulnight. He tossed about and screamed out in distress and at length rose onhis knees with the horrors of nightmare in his face. 

Then Kark, who had all night been meditating treachery, killed him with athrust of his knife. Cutting off his head, he broke out of the dark denand sought Olaf, with the grisly trophy in his hand. 

Olaf heard his story with lowering face. It was not to traitors like thisthat he had offered reward. In the end, burning with indignation at thebase deed, he ordered the thrall's head to be struck off. Thus Kark'sdream, as interpreted by Haakon, came true. The ring put by Olaf aroundhis neck was not one of gold, but one of blood. 

_HOW OLAF, THE SLAVE-BOY, WON THE THRONE. _

Many sons had Harold the Fair-Haired, and of some of them the story hasbeen told. One of them, Olaf by name, left a son named Tryggve, who inturn had a son to whom he gave his father's name of Olaf. Wonderful wasthe story of this Olaf in his youth and renowned was it in his age, forhe it was who drove the heathen gods from Norway and put Christ in theirplace. But it is the strange and striking adventures of his earlier dayswith which this tale has to deal. 

Prince Tryggve had his enemies and by them was foully murdered. Then theysought his dwelling, proposing to destroy his whole race. But Aastrid, his wife, was warned in time, and fled from her home with Thorold, herfoster-father. She hid on a little island in the Rand fiord, and here wasborn the son who was afterwards to become one of Norway's most famouskings. 

The perils of Aastrid were not yet at an end. Gunhild, the sorceressqueen, was her chief enemy, and when her spies brought her word thatAastrid had borne a son, the wicked old woman sought to destroy thechild. 

The summer through Aastrid remained on the little isle, hiding in theweedy bushes by day and venturing abroad only at night. EverywhereGunhild's spies sought her, and when autumn came with its long nights, she left the isle and journeyed with her attendants through the land, still hiding by day and travelling only under the shades of night. Inthis way she reached the estate of her father, Erik Ofrestad. 

The poor mother was not left in peace here, the evil-minded sorceressstill pursuing her. A body of murderers was sent to seek for her and herson on her father's estate, but Ofrestad heard of their mission in timeto send the fugitives away. Dressed as beggars, Aastrid and her child andThorolf, her foster-father, travelled on foot from the farm, stopping atevening to beg food and shelter from a peasant named Björn. The surlyfellow drove them away, but they were given shelter farther on by apeasant named Thorstein. 

Meanwhile the murderers were hot on their track. Not finding Aastrid ather father's house, they traced her to Björn's farm, where they were toldthat a handsome but poorly dressed woman, carrying a young child, hadasked for help that evening. It chanced that a servant of Thorsteinoverheard this and when he reached home he told it to his master. Suspecting the rank and peril of his guests, Thorstein roused them fromsleep with a great show of anger and drove them out into the night. Thiswas done to deceive the servants, but Thorstein followed the wearyfugitives and told them the reason of his act. He had driven them out tosave them, he said, and he gave them a trusty guide who could show themthe best hiding places in the forest. They found shelter for that nightamid the tall rushes by the side of a small lake. 

When the troop of murderers reached Thorstein's house he set them astrayon the wrong scent and he fed the fugitives in the forest until themurderous gang had given up the search. In the end he aided them to maketheir way to Sweden, where they took refuge with a friend of PrinceTryggve named Haakon the Old. 

Still the wicked queen did not let them rest in peace. Learning wherethey were, she sent two embassies to King Erik of Sweden, demanding thesurrender of the mother and child. Each time Erik gave them permission tocapture the fugitives if they could, saying that he would not interfere. But Haakon the Old was not the man to surrender his guests. In vainGunhild's ambassador came to him with promises and threats. The disputeat length grew so hot that a half-witted servant seized a dung-fork andrushed at the ambassador, who took to his heels, fearing to have his fineclothes soiled. The angry thrall pursued him till he was driven off theestate, Haakon looking on with grim mirth. 

Such were the early days of little Olaf, whose life began in a series ofadventures which were the prologue to a most stirring and active life. Few men have had a more adventurous career than he, his whole life beingone of romance, activity and peril. He became a leading hero of the sagawriters, who have left us many striking stories of his young life andadventures. 

Aastrid and her son remained with Haakon the Old until Earl Haakon cameinto power in Norway. As he was not of royal blood, she feared that hemight seek to destroy all the descendants of old King Harold, and, indoubt if her present protector was strong enough to defend her, shedecided to seek refuge in Russia, where her brother Sigurd had risen to aplace of power. 

With this voyage young Olaf's later series of adventures began. Themerchant ship in which they set sail was taken by a viking pirate craft, some of the passengers being killed and others sold as slaves. Thorolfand his young son Thorgills, with the boy Olaf, were sold to a vikingnamed Klerkon, who killed Thorolf because he was too old to bring anyprice as a slave, but kept the boys, whom he soon traded away in Esthoniafor a big ram. As for Aastrid, she was offered for sale at theslave-market, and here, despite her ragged and miserable plight, she wasrecognized by a rich merchant named Lodin. He offered to pay her ransomif she would become his wife. The poor woman, not knowing what had becomeof her son, was glad to accept his offer and returned with him to hishome in Norway. 

To return to the story of the boy slaves, the man who had bought them fora ram, soon sold them for a coat and cape to a man named Reas. The newmaster put Thorgills to hard labor, but took a fancy to Olaf and treatedhim much more kindly, the young prince remaining with him for six yearsand growing up to be a handsome and sturdy youth. 

Sigurd Eriksson, Aastrid's brother, and the uncle of Olaf, was a man ofprominence in Esthonia, and one day rode on business of King Vladimirthrough the town in which Reas lived. Here he saw some boys playing, oneof whom attracted him by his manly and handsome face. Calling him to hishorse's side, he asked his name. 

"Olaf, " said the boy. 

Olaf! The name was significant to Sigurd, and a few words more taught himthat the lad was his lost nephew. Seeking Reas, he offered him a goodprice for his two young slaves and took them home with him, bidding Olafnot to tell any one else who he was. 

The boy was now well-grown, active, and strong for his years. Walking oneday about the town he saw before him the viking Klerkon who had killedold Thorolf, his foster-father. He had at the moment an axe in his handand, with no thought but that of revenge on the murderer, he struck him ablow that split his skull and stretched him dead on the ground. 

The boy was in peril of his life for this impulsive deed. Death was itslegal penalty, and a crowd quickly gathered who demanded that the boymurderer should be killed. His uncle heard of the act and ran in haste tohis rescue, taking him to Olga, the queen, and telling her who he was, what he had done, and why he had done it. 

The queen looked at the beautiful and bright-faced lad and took a greatfancy to him at sight. She took him under her protection, and gave him atraining in the use of arms and warlike sports, such as beseemed thescion of a royal race. When twelve years of age King Vladimir, whoesteemed the boy highly, gave him some armed ships and sent him out totry his hand in real war, and for some years he roved abroad as a viking. He also served the king well by conquering for him a rebel province. 

Olaf might have won high rank in Russia but for the enemies who enviedhim and who made the king fear that he would yet find a rival for thethrone in the ambitious boy. Fearing trouble for her protege, Queen Olgaadvised him to leave the kingdom and he sailed for the land of the Wends, on the Baltic shores, where King Burislav received him as a distinguishedyoung warrior. He did not tell who he really was, but went under the nameof Ole the Russian, and as such married the daughter of the king, whofell in love with him for his valor and beauty. Many were the valiantdeeds he did for King Burislav, with whom he stayed until the death ofhis wife, he being then twenty-one years of age. 

The young warrior now grew eager for new adventures, and in response to adream determined to go to Greece and become a Christian. His dreamserved the cause of Christianity better than this, if the story is truethat he sent a missionary bishop to Russia who converted both KingVladimir and Queen Olga to the Christian faith. 

[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. A NORDFJORD BRIDE AND GROOM WITH GUESTS AND PARENTS. BRIGSDAL. NORWAY. ]

From Greece Olaf wandered to many countries, including France, Denmark, Scotland, and Northumberland, and his adventures were very numerous. Hewas twenty-five years of age when he reached England and here he met withan adventure of a new type. The Princess Gyda, sister of an Irish king, was a widow, but was still young and beautiful and had so many suitorsthat it was hard for her to choose between them. Among the mostimportunate was a warrior named Alfvine, a great slayer of men. 

So many were they and so much did they annoy the fair widow that at lastshe fixed a day when she would choose a husband from among them, andnumbers of them came before her, all in their most splendid attire. Itwas a championship that attracted many lookers on and among them cameOlaf with some of his companions. He was plainly dressed, and wore a furhood and cape. Gyda stood forth and looked over her throng of lovers withlistless eyes until at length she saw among the spectators the tallstranger with the hood of fur. She walked up to him, lifted the hood, andgazed long into his eyes. What she saw there riveted her fancy. 

"I do not know you, " she said; "but if you will have me for a wife, thenyou are my choice. "

Olaf must have seen as much in her eyes as she had in his, for he warmlyreplied:

"I know no woman who equals you, and gladly will I accept you. "

At once their betrothal was published, but Alfvine, burning with wrath, challenged the fortunate stranger to mortal combat. Fierce and long wasthe fight, but Norse blood and valor conquered and Gyda was enrapturedwith the courage and skill of her spouse. They were duly wedded and Olafspent several years in England and Ireland, winning fame there as adoughty champion and growing ever more earnest in the Christian faith. 

In the chronicles of the time we are told much of the doings of thedoughty Olaf, who won fame as the chieftain of a viking fleet, which in994 made many descents upon the English coast. In the end he landed inSouthampton and fixed his winter quarters there, living upon the country. He was finally bought off by King Ethelred with £10, 000, which he dividedamong his men. He received confirmation in the Christian faith the sameyear, King Ethelred being present, and took a solemn vow, which he neverbroke, that he would never again molest England and her people. 

Olaf's name was no longer concealed and the fame of his deeds reachedNorway, where they gave no small trouble of mind to Earl Haakon, whodreaded this young adventurer of royal descent, knowing well how much thepeople loved King Harold and his race. Haakon went so far as to try tocompass his death, sending his friend Thore Klakka to Dublin, where Olafthen was, to kill him if he could, otherwise to entice him to Norway whenhe would himself destroy him. 

The latter Thore did, finding Olaf ready for any new adventure, and underThore's treacherous advice he sailed with five ships and landed inHördaland, where Haakon's power was the greatest, and thence sailednorthward to Tröndelag where the earl was and where he hoped to take himby surprise. 

Thore had represented that Olaf would find friends in plenty there, andmuch to his own surprise found that he had told more truth than he knew;for, as told in the last tale, the peasants were then in arms and inpursuit of the recreant earl. They gladly accepted Olaf as their leader, on learning who he was, and helped him in the quick and sudden downfalland death of Haakon, as already described. 

All the chiefs and peasants of the district were now summoned to meet inassembly and with one voice they chose Olaf Tryggvesson, great-grandsonof the renowned Harold, as their king. All Norway confirmed their actionand thus easily did the adventurer prince, who had once been a slave-boy, sold for half a fat ram, rise to the throne of Norway. 

_OLAF DETHRONES ODIN AND DIES A HERO. _

Earl Haakon was the last heathen king of Norway. Olaf, the new king, wasa zealous Christian and was determined to introduce the new faith. Andthis was done not in the mild and gentle way in which Haakon the Good hadattempted it, but with all the fierce fury of the viking spirit. Christthe White the Northmen called the new deity, but it was rather Christ theRed in Olaf's hands, for, while Christian in faith, he was a son of theold gods, Odin and Thor, in spirit. 

It is not the Christianizing of Norway that we have set out to tell, butas this is a matter of great importance some space must be given to it. Olaf, high spirited and impetuous, did by storm what he might not havebeen able to do by milder measures. He had little trouble in the south ofNorway, where the Christian faith had been making its way for years, butin the north the old heathen spirit was strong, sacrifices to the godswere common, and the rude and cruel barbarism which the old doctrinesfavored everywhere prevailed. Here it was that Olaf had a strong fortressof heathenism to take by storm. 

In Tröndelag was the temple of Hlade, ancient and grand, the strongholdof the Norse gods. Fierce and impulsive in his zeal, Olaf broke into thisold temple, destroyed the altar, burned the idols, and carried away thetreasure. At once the people were in arms, but the resolute king began tobuild a Christian church where the temple had stood and also afortress-like residence for himself. 

In the end the peasants grew so fierce and warlike and were so backed upby a lusty chieftain named Ironbeard, that Olaf found himself obliged topromise to take part with them in the feast and sacrifices of the comingYuletide. 

But before this time arrived he appeared again at Hlade and he nowbrought with him a strong fleet and numerous armed warriors. Many guestshad been invited to meet him, and these were entertained until they wereall royally drunk. Then the king said to them:

"I have promised to sacrifice with you, and am here to keep my word. Ipropose to make a royal sacrifice, not of thralls and criminals, but oflords and chieftains, for thus we can best do honor to Odin. "

He then selected six of his most powerful opponents and said that heintended to sacrifice them to Odin and Frey, that the people might havegood crops. The dismayed chiefs were instantly seized and were offeredthe alternative of being sacrificed or baptized. Taken by surprise, theywere not long in deciding upon the latter, the king making them givehostages for their good faith. 

Soon after came the Yuletide and Olaf was present with a strong force atMöre, where the sacrifices were to be made. The peasants also came inforce, all armed, with the burly Ironbeard as their leader. They wererude and noisy and it was some time before the king could make himselfheard. Then he called on them all to accept baptism and acknowledgeChrist the White in place of their bloodthirsty gods. Ironbeard haughtilyreplied that they were supporters of the old laws and that the king mustmake the sacrifices as all the kings before him had done. 

Olaf heard him through and said that he was there to keep his promise. Then, with many men, he entered the temple, leaving his arms outside asthe law required. All he carried was a stout, gold-headed stick. Stoppingbefore the statue of the god Thor, around which were rings of gold andiron, he raised the stick and gave the idol a blow so fierce and strongthat it tumbled in pieces from its pedestal. At the same moment hisfollowers struck down the other idols. The peasants, thunderstruck at thesacrilege, looked for support to Ironbeard, but the doughty warrior laydead. He had shared the fate of the idols he worshipped, being struckdown at the same moment with them. What to do the peasants knew not, andwhen Olaf told them they must either be baptized or fight they chose theformer as the safest. The province of Haalogaland, still farther north, was dealt with in the same arbitrary fashion, those of the chiefs whorefused baptism being put to death with torture. And in this fierce andbloody way the dominion of Christ the White was established in the landof the vikings. It was but a substitute for the heathen gods that wasgiven them in such a fashion, and years had to pass before they wouldbecome true Christians. 

Much more might be said about King Olaf, his kindliness and winningmanners in peace, his love of show and splendor, his prowess in battleand his wonderful skill with weapons. He could use both hands with equaleffect in fighting, could handle three spears at once, keeping one alwaysin the air, and when his men were rowing could run from prow to stern ofthe ship on their oars. But what we have chiefly to tell is the lastadventure of the viking king and how death came to him in the heat of thefray. 

What became of his wife Gyda, the Irish princess, we are not told, but hehad now a new wife, Thyra, sister of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark, andit was to this queen he owed his death. She had large estates in Wendlandand Denmark, from which she now received no revenues, and she frettedOlaf so by appeals, prayers, and tears to win back for her this propertythat he had no peace in his palace. The annoyance went on until thehot-tempered king could bear it no longer and he began to prepare for warabroad that he might gain peace at home. 

Word was sent out to the chiefs of the land, bidding them to join theking with the ships required by the laws of the kingdom. Among his ownships was one called the Short Serpent, and he had just finished anotherof great size and beauty which he named the Long Serpent. Never had sonoble a ship been seen in the north. It was 112 feet long and had 104oars, while it could carry six hundred warriors, none being over sixty orunder twenty years of age except the great bowman Thambarkskelver, whowas but eighteen, yet was so skilful with the bow that he could shoot ablunt arrow through a hanging raw ox-hide. 

With sixty ships and as many transports Olaf sailed south to Wendland, where he was well received by his old friend King Burislav, whosedaughter Geira had been his first wife. The Wend king royally entertainedhim and made a just settlement of Queen Thyra's estates, and Olafprepared to sail homeward again. But dark clouds of war were gathering onhis path. 

Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark was hostile both to Burislav and Olaf and theking of Sweden was leagued with the Danish king. To detain Olaf whilethey gathered their fleets, these kings employed Sigvalde, the cowardlychief of the Jomsvikings, who had fled from the battle with Earl Haakon, to visit and lure him into blind confidence. 

The treacherous viking succeeded. His smooth, soft ways won Olaf's heartand the open-minded king put complete trust in him. Sigvalde finally, after bringing about much delay by his false arts, engaged to pilot Olafwith his own fleet through the dangerous waters of the coast, and eveninduced him to divide his ships by sending part of them in advance. 

The traitor meanwhile kept in communication with King Sweyn and promisedto lure Olaf away from his main force and lead him into the snare theywere laying for him. Chief among the enemies of the Norse king was EarlErik, the son of Earl Haakon, whom he was eager to avenge, and King Olafthe Swede, who was present with a fleet. 

With sixty or seventy ships of war these foes of Norway's king lay hiddenbehind the little island of Svolder, in Olaf's track. For a number ofdays they awaited him with impatience. At last Olaf's transports appearedwithin view of the leaders of the hostile fleet, who were posted at anelevated point on the land. 

The day was fair, the wind gentle and favorable, and the foremost shipssailed onward, seeing nothing of the foes. When King Sweyn saw among thema large and handsome ship he was sure it must be the Long Serpent, andsaid:

"Olaf of Norway is afraid to-day, for he carries no dragon-head on hisship. "

"That is not the king's ship, " said Earl Erik, "but that of Erling ofSole. I know it by its striped sails. Let it pass, for it will be betterfor us to have Erling out of the fray. "

On, one by one, came the Norse ships, sweeping proudly by, and at lengthSigvalde's eleven ships came in sight. These, signalled from the shore, suddenly turned inward round the island, to the surprise of ThorkillDyrdill, captain of the Crane, which followed in their wake. Seeing thisfine ship, Sweyn grew eager for the fight and ordered his men on board inspite of Erik's warning that the time had not yet arrived. 

"Are you afraid of them?" sneered the Dane. "Have you lost all desire toavenge your father?"

"Wait and you will see, " retorted Erik. "Before the sun sets you willfind who is most eager for battle, I, or you and your men. "

When Thorkill saw the treacherous act of Sigvalde and caught sight of theambushed fleet, he let fall the sails of the Crane and awaited the comingof the king. Soon the Short Serpent came up, its gilded dragon-headshining brightly in the sunlight. Not long after the Long Serpentappeared, its golden prow glittering brilliantly as the sunbeams fellupon it. Those who saw it marvelled at its size and beauty and manybeheld with dread the glittering array of swords and shields as it camesweeping onward. 

But the great body of King Olaf's ships had gone on without thought of afoeman and were now out of sight. Only eleven of them remained, and someof his captains advised him not to fight against such odds. 

"Down with the sails, " he cried cheerily. "Bind the ships together. Neveryet have I fled from battle and I will not do so now. God is my shieldand I will flee from no foe. He is no king who lets fear put him toflight before his enemies. "

Yet his peril was deadly, as was evident when the fleet of more thansixty ships rowed out from its ambush against Olaf's eleven. 

"Who is the leader here before us?" he asked. 

"That is King Sweyn with his Danes, " said one of the men. 

"Let them come on. Danes have never yet beaten Norsemen, and they willnot to-day. But whose standards are those on the right?"

"They are those of Olaf of Sweden. "

"The heathen Swedes had better have stayed at home to lick theirsacrificial bowls. We need not fear these horse-eaters. Yonder to theleft; whose ships are those?"

"They belong to Earl Erik, the son of Earl Haakon. "

"Then we may look for hard blows from them. Erik and his men are Norsemenlike ourselves, and he has reason not to love me and mine. "

While he spoke Queen Thyra, who was with him, came on deck. When she sawthe desperate odds she burst into tears. 

"Do not weep, " said Olaf. "You have got what was due in Wendland; andto-day I will do my best to win your rights from your brother Sweyn. "

King Sweyn came first into the fray, but after a stubborn fight wasdriven off with great carnage. Then the Swedes swarmed to the rescue, anda second hard battle ensued, in which the Norsemen were outnumbered tento one. Yet Olaf, with shining helmet and shield and a tunic of scarletsilk over his armor, directed the defence, and gave his men such courageby his fierce valor that the victory would have been his but for EarlErik. 

When Erik's great galley, the Iron Ram, came into the fight and Norse metNorse, the onset was terrific. Greatly outnumbered, worn out with theirexertions, and many of them bleeding from wounds, the men in ship aftership were overpowered and these cut adrift, their defenders being slain. At length only the Long Serpent remained, and against it was driven theIron Ram. 

There was little wind and the damage was not great, and soon the storm ofspears and arrows was resumed. Einer Thambarkskelver, the famous bowman, saw Earl Erik in the prow of his ship screened by the shields of his men, and soon Einer's arrows were hurtling around him. 

"Shoot that tall bowman, " said Erik to one of his own archers. 

An arrow sped and hit Einer's bow in the middle, breaking it in twain. 

"What is broke?" asked Olaf, hearing the sound. 

"Norway broke then from your hands, my king, " said Einer. 

"Not so bad as that; take my bow and try what it is worth. "

Einer caught the bow, bent it double, and threw it back. 

"It is too weak, " he said. 

Desperate was now the strait and no escape was possible. Olaf sent hisspears hurtling on Erik's crowded deck, but he saw that his men werescarce able to hold their own. 

"Your swords bite poorly, " he said. "Have your arms lost their strength?"

"No, " was the reply, "but our blades are dull and notched. "

The king ran forward, opened a chest, and flung out armfulls of bright, sharp swords. 

"Here is what will bite deeply, " he said. 

But victory was now hopeless; the earl's men swept back the tiredwarriors; blood flowed from under the king's armor; all hands were bentagainst him, for he loomed above his men. Kolbjörn, a man who resembledthe king, sprang to his side and helped him shrewdly in the fray. 

Still the stern combat went on, still the weapons flew, still men fellgroaning, and as the king looked along his deck he saw that only eightmen kept their feet besides himself and his companion. All was lost. Raising the shield above his head, he leaped over the ship's side. Kolbjörn followed and was picked up by the earl's men, who took him to bethe king. As for Olaf, the hungry sea swallowed his form. 

Legend tells us, indeed, that he was rescued by a ship sent to his aid byAastrid, Earl Sigvalde's wife, and that he made a pilgrimage to Rome andlong afterwards lived as a hermit in the Holy Land. But that is one ofthe stories based on good wishes rather than sound facts. 

It was in the year 1000, when King Olaf was thirty-six years old, thatthis famous sea-fight took place. Queen Thyra felt that she had causedhis death and could not be consoled. Erik treated her kindly and promisedher the honors due to her high estate, but her heart was broken by herloss, and nine days afterwards she died. 

_OLAF THE SAINT AND HIS WORK FOR CHRIST. _

The story of Olaf the Saint, the Norse king who comes next into our view, illustrates the barbarous character of the heathen people with whom weare dealing. Few warriors in those days died in their beds, death comingto them in some more violent form. Olaf's grandfather, a son of Haroldthe Fair-Haired, was killed by his brother, Erik Blood-Axe, and hisfather was burned alive by a royal widow whom he sought to marry. Manywooers came to seek her hand and she got rid of them by setting on firethe hall in which they slept. 

"I'll teach these little kings the risk of proposing to me, " said thisviking widow. 

A proud little fellow was Olaf, hot of temper and bearing no opposition. He knew that he was of kingly birth, and despised his step-father SigurdSyr, also a descendant of King Harold, but caring more for his crops thanfor the dreams of ambition. Once, when Olaf was ten years old, Sigurdsent him to the stable to saddle and bring out his horse. When he cameout he led a big goat, on which he had placed the saddle. 

"Why do you do that?" he was asked. 

"Oh, the goat is good enough for him, for he is as much like a king as agoat is like a war-horse. "

The boy was only twelve when he began to take part in the cruises of thevikings, and in these quickly showed himself brave and daring. When hegrew to a ripe age and found that the rule of Norway was divided betweentwo young men, successors of the Olaf whose story we have last told, hedetermined to strike for the throne. 

The story of how he won the throne is interesting, but must be dealt withhere very briefly, as we have rather to do with the story of how he lostit. Olaf was fortunate at the start, for he captured a ship on which EarlErik, one of these boy kings, was sailing along the coast. 

A beautiful youth he was, tall and shapely, with silky golden hair whichfell in long curls over his shoulders. Proud he was too, and answered hiscaptor's questions with manly resolution. 

"Your luck has left you and you are in my power, " said Olaf; "what shallI do with you?"

"That depends on you, " answered the fearless young earl. 

"What will you do if I let you go unharmed?"

"What do you wish me to do?"

"Only this, that you leave your country and renounce your claim ofkingship, and that you swear never to make war on me. "

To this young Erik agreed and sailed away to England to join his uncle, Canute the Dane, who was then king of both Denmark and England. 

With the other young king, Earl Sweyn, Olaf did not find his task soeasy, since Sweyn fought for his rights in a naval battle in which he hadforty-five ships and three thousand men, while Olaf had less than halfthat number of men and ships. Olaf won the battle by a shrewd stratagem. He told his men to act at first only on the defensive, holding back theirweapons until the enemy had thrown away theirs. 

On came Earl Sweyn's fleet, fiercely attacking that of Olaf, a cloud ofspears and arrows filling the air. As none came back from Olaf's men, their opponents fancied they were afraid, and rushed on them eagerly. Butby this time their spears and arrows had grown scarce, and when a stormof these came from the opposite side they were taken by surprise and manyof them killed. Wild with fear, they now sought to escape, and in the endtheir whole fleet broke and fled, leaving victory to the new king. 

Sweyn fled to Sweden, whose king promised him help to regain his kingdom. But he died before his plans were ripe and Olaf was left without a rivalexcept the king of Sweden, who had won a part of Norway in a formerbattle and now held it. This source of trouble was settled by the Swedesthemselves, who had no fancy for fighting to help their king's ambition, and forced him to agree to yield his claim and give his daughter Ingegerdto Olaf for wife. So by a marriage Olaf won the remainder of his kingdomand became ruler over all Norway; but not by marrying Ingegerd, for hechose instead her sister Aastrid. 

There is a pretty story told just here in the sagas, or historical talesof the Icelanders. Thus it reads: Sigurd Syr, who had married Olaf'smother Aasta, died in 1018, and Olaf came to her house to help insettling her affairs. She had three boys, Guttorm, Halfdan, and Harold, whom she brought into the hall to introduce to their half-brother, theking. Olaf put the two older ones on his knees and made so fierce a faceat them that they ran away sadly scared. Then he took up little Haroldand stared at him in the same way. The brave youngster was not so easilyfrightened as his brothers and stared back at the king. Then Olaf pulledhis hair, but the daring youngster pulled his beard in exchange. 

"He will do, " said Olaf, setting him down with a laugh. 

The next day the king and his mother watched the boys at their play. Theolder two amused themselves by building barns, in which they put toy cowsand sheep; but Harold launched mock boats on a pond and watched themdrift away. 

"What do you call them?" asked Olaf. 

"Ships of war, " said the boy. 

"Good lad, " answered the king; "the day will come when you will commandreal ships. "

Calling the boys to him, he asked Guttorm, the oldest, what he mostwished for. 

"Land, " said the boy. 

"How much?"

"Enough to sow as much grain every summer as would cover the headlandyonder. "

Ten large farms covered the headland in question. 

"And what do you most desire?" the king asked Halfdan. 

"Enough cows to cover the shores of the headland when they went to thewater to drink. "

"So; one wants land and the other cattle; and what do you want, Harold?"

"Men, " said the boy. 

"How many?"

"Enough to eat up in a single dinner all brother Halfdan's cows. "

"Come, mother, " said Olaf, laughing; "you have here a chap in training tomake himself a king. "

So it proved, for in later days Harold rose to be king of Norway. 

But now we have to tell from what the king gained his title of Olaf theSaint. It came from his warm endeavors to make Norway a Christian land. The former King Olaf had forced his people to be baptized, but the mostof them were heathens at heart still and after his death many began toworship the old gods again. It was the second Olaf that made theChristian secure in the land, and this still more by his death than byhis life. 

When he was still an infant the former King Olaf had baptized him andgiven him his own name, and the time came when his little namesake tookup and finished his work. What most troubled the kings of Norway in thatage was the power held by the tribal chiefs, who were difficult tocontrol and ready to rebel; and this power came from the fact that theywere not only chiefs, but were the priests of the old religion. Aspriest-kings their people followed them blindly, and no king could besure of his crown while this system prevailed. 

Olaf, who had been brought up in the new faith, set himself earnestly tospread the true principles of Christ's teachings through the land and foryears he worked at it earnestly. But he had hard metal to deal with. Itis said that one chief, when about to be baptized, turned to the priestand asked him where were his brave forefathers who had died without beingbaptized. 

"They are in hell, " said the priest. 

"Then hell is the place for me, " answered the chief. "I would rather bethere with Odin and my hard fighting and noble fathers than in heavenwith cowardly Christians and shaven monks. "

This was the spirit of the chiefs. A heaven in which there would be nofighting and mead-drinking had no charms for them, and to live foreverwith the souls of men who had never drawn sword and struck blow was toodreary a prospect for their turbulent tastes. 

But Olaf was ardent in the new faith and persistent in his endeavors, travelling from end to end of the land in his efforts to break up the oldidolatry. Here is one of the stories told of this missionary work of theking. 

He was then in Nidaros, whose peasantry, called Trönders, were said to becelebrating in secret the old pagan festivals and offering sacrifices toOdin and Frey for bountiful crops. When King Olaf came among them theytook arms against him, but afterwards agreed to hold a public assemblyand deal in that way with the religious question that was troubling thekingdom. 

On the day they met it was raining hard. When the king asked them tobelieve in the God of the Christians and be baptized, Dale Guldbrand, their leader, replied:

"We know nothing of the being you speak of; a god whom neither you norany one else can see. Now we have a god whom you can see every day, except a rainy day like this. If your god is so powerful, then let himarrange that to-morrow we shall have clouds but no rain. "

When they met again the next day the weather was what they had asked for, clouds but no rain. Bishop Sigurd now celebrated mass and preached to thepeople about the miracles which Christ had wrought when on earth. On thethird day it was still cloudy. The people had brought with them a greatwooden image of the god Thor, and their chief spoke as follows:

"Where is your god now, King Olaf? You do not look so bold as you didyesterday, for our god, who rules over all things, is here now andscaring you with his fierce eyes. You scarce dare look at him, but youwould be wiser to believe in the god that holds in his hand yourdestiny. "

"Your god does not frighten me, " answered the king. "He is blind anddeaf and cannot move from the spot where you have set him without he iscarried. He will soon meet his fate. Look yonder to the east. There inthe flood of light comes our God. "

[Illustration: NORWEGIAN PEASANTS. ]

To the east all eyes were turned, and at that moment the sunlight burstfrom the clouds and spread over the scene. As it did so a sturdy warrior, at a signal from the king, sprang forwards and struck the idol so fiercea blow with his club that it was shattered to pieces. Out from its hollowinterior sprang great rats, snakes, and lizards, which had grown fat onthe food with which the idol had been fed daily. 

On seeing these loathsome things squirm from the interior of their godthe peasants fled from the spot in a panic of fear, rushing to the riverwhere their boats lay. But King Olaf, forecasting this, had sent men tobore holes in the boats so that they would not float. Unable to escape, the frightened peasants came back, quite downcast in spirit. 

"You see what your god is worth, " said the king. "Has he eaten the breadand meat you fed him, or has it gone to fatten rats and snakes? As forthe gold and silver you gave him, there it lies scattered. Take up yourgolden ornaments and hang them no more on worthless logs. Now I give youyour choice: you shall accept the faith I bring you, or you shall fightfor your own. He will win to whom his god gives the victory. "

The peasants were not prepared to fight, and therefore were obliged toaccept baptism. Priests were sent to teach them the tenets of the newfaith they had accepted, and Dale Guldbrand signified his honesty bybuilding a church to the Christian deity. Other provinces were also wonover to Christ, but there was one great and bold chieftain, Erling byname, and a sturdy heathen in his faith, who remained hostile to the kingand a war between them became inevitable. 

While the king and the earl were making busy preparations to fight fortheir faiths, a warrior king and conqueror stepped in to take advantagefor himself of the quarrel. This was King Canute, monarch of Denmark andEngland, who was eager to add Norway and Sweden to his dominions and makehimself one of the most powerful of kings. He secretly sent presents tothe discontented Norse chiefs and took other means to win them to hiscause. It was not long before Olaf learned of these underhand doings, andhe at once made an alliance with King Anund of Sweden, whose sister hehad married, and whom he told that Canute would attack him if he shouldwin Norway. In his turn, Canute sent ambassadors to King Anund, withsplendid presents, hoping to win him over. 

Two candlesticks of gold were placed before him by the ambassadors. 

"Pretty toys those, " said Anund, "but not worth enough to break me frommy good friend Olaf. "

Then they brought forth a golden platter, of artistic finish and adornedwith jewels. King Anund gazed at it with covetous eyes. 

"A handsome bit of work, " he said; "but I will not sell King Olaf for adish. "

Finally two magnificent rings were offered. King Anund laughed when hesaw them. 

"Keen and shrewd is King Canute, " he remarked. "He knows I love goldentoys, but he does not know that I love honor better. I have known KingOlaf since he was a boy; he is my friend and my sister is his queen. Iwill not forsake him to please your king. "

On hearing this, King Canute laid aside his plots and made a pilgrimageto Rome. During his absence his brother-in-law, Earl Ulf, rebelledagainst him and allied himself with Kings Olaf and Anund, who sent fleetsto his aid. As it proved, King Canute was not the man to be caughtnapping. Back from his pilgrimage he travelled in haste and came near tocapturing both the kings. They fled with all speed, pursued by him with amore powerful fleet, and went up a little river in southern Sweden, whichthey closed by a dam against their strong foe. Canute came soon after andfound the harbor deserted and the river closed against him. 

That night orders were given by the kings to break the dam and theheaped-up water ran down in an immense flood on the Danish ships, doingthem great damage and drowning many of the people on board. But no attackwas made on the disabled fleet, for Earl Ulf now turned traitor to hisallies and joined Canute with his ships, making him too strong toattack. 

This ended the war for the time, Canute returning to England. But he hadwon over many of the Norse chiefs by his bribes and the next year cameagain, sailing north to Nidaros, where the assembled chiefs, whom he hadgained to his side, proclaimed him king of Norway. He appointed EarlHaakon, grandson of the famous Earl Haakon of a former tale, regent inhis stead, and sailed away again. 

In this manner Olaf lost his kingdom, for with all the powerful chiefssold to the great King Canute and supported by him, little hope remained. He kept up the struggle for a short time, but was soon forced to flee toSweden, whence he made his way to Russia and to the court of KingJaroslov, who was his brother-in-law, for he had married PrincessIngegerd of Sweden, once affianced to Olaf. 

Thus easily had Norway been conquered by Canute, but it was not long toremain under Danish rule at this time. Olaf, it is true, never won thethrone again, though he made a strong effort to regain it. In Russia hegrew more and more given to religious thoughts, until he became lookedupon as a holy man. This made him open to believe in visions, and when ina dream he saw the former King Olaf, who bade him to go back to Norwayand conquer it or die, he did not hesitate. 

Word had been brought him that Earl Haakon was dead and Norway with noimmediate ruler, and against the advice of Jaroslov he set out for hislate kingdom, leaving his son Magnus at the Russian court. 

In Sweden the king gave him permission to gather recruits, but now hisreligious fanaticism stood in the way of his success. He would have nonebut baptized men in his army, and thus rejected many brave warriors whiletaking some known to be outlaws and thieves. On reaching Norway he showedthe same unwisdom. He had but four thousand men under his command, whilethe army he was soon to meet numbered ten thousand. Yet Olaf rejectedfive hundred of his men because they were heathens and, thus weakened, marched to the unequal fray. 

"Forward, Christ's men, king's men!" was the battle-cry of Olaf's army asit rushed upon the foe. "Forward, peasant men!" cried the opposite army, charging under its chiefs. 

The king's men had the best of it at the opening, but the peasants heldtheir ground stubbornly, and as the battle went on Olaf's ranks thinnedand wavered. Finding the day going against him, he dashed forward with asmall band of devoted men. One by one they fell. The standard changedhands again and again as its bearer was struck down. Olaf, severelywounded, stood leaning against a rock, when he was cut down by spear andsword. And strangely, at that moment, the sun began to grow blood-red anda dusky hue fell over the field. Darker and darker it grew till the sunwas blotted out and terror filled the souls of the peasants, who saw inthis strange darkness a token of the wrath of Olaf's God. But the eclipsecame too late to save the king, who lay dead where he had fallen. 

Olaf was gone but tradition built a halo around his name. It was reportedthat miracles were wrought by his blood and by the touch of his lifelesshand. Tales of marvel and magic grew up about him, and he became awonder-worker for the superstitious people. In time he grew to be thenational hero and the national saint, and lives in history as Olaf theSaint, while his tragic death and his enthusiasm for the cause of Christgave him a strong hold on the people's hearts and aided greatly in makingNorway truly a Christian land. 

_CANUTE THE GREAT, KING OF SIX NATIONS. _

A famous old king of Denmark, known as Harald Blaatand or Bluetooth, hadmany sons, of whom only one, Svend or Sweyn, outlived him. While Haraldwas a Christian, Sweyn was a pagan, having been brought up in the oldfaith by a noble warrior Palnatoke, to whom his father had sent the boyto teach him the use of arms. 

When the king found that the boy was being made a pagan he tried towithdraw him from Palnatoke, but Sweyn would not leave his friend, whereupon the crafty king sought to destroy the warrior. We speak ofthis, for there is a very interesting story connected with it. Every onehas read of how the Austrian governor Gessler condemned the Swiss peasantWilliam Tell to shoot with an arrow an apple from his son's head, but fewknow that a like story is told of a Danish king and warrior four hundredyears earlier. This is the story, as told for us by an old historian. 

One day, while Palnatoke was boasting in the king's presence of his skillas an archer, Harald told him that, in spite of his boasts, there was oneshot he would not dare to try. He replied that there was no shot he wasafraid to attempt, and the king then challenged him to shoot an applefrom the head of his son. Palnatoke obeyed, and the apple fell, piercedby the arrow. This cruel act made Palnatoke the bitter foe of KingHarald, and gathering around him a band of fierce vikings he founded abrotherhood of sea-rovers at Jomsborg, and for long years afterwards theJomsborgers, or Jomsborg vikings, were a frightful scourge to allChristian lands on the Baltic Sea. In former tales we have told some oftheir exploits. 

It is said that Sweyn himself, in a later war, killed his father on thebattlefield, while Palnatoke stood by approving, though in after yearsthe two were bitter foes. All we need say further of these personages isthat Sweyn invaded England with a powerful force in the time of Ethelredthe Unready and drove this weak king from the island, making himselfmaster of great part of the kingdom. He died at Gainsborough, England, in1014, leaving his son Knud, then a boy of fourteen, to complete theconquest. It is this son, known in England as Canute the Great, and themightiest of all the Danish kings, with whose career we have to deal. 

England did not fall lightly into Canute's hands; he had to win it byforce of arms. Encouraged by the death of Sweyn and the youth of Canute, the English recalled Ethelred and for a time the Danes lost the kingdomwhich their king Sweyn had won. Canute did not find a throne awaiting himin Denmark. His younger brother Harald had been chosen king by the Danesand when Canute asked him for a share in the government, Harald told himthat if he wished to be a king he could go back and win England forhimself. He would give him a few ships and men, but the throne of Denmarkhe proposed to keep. 

Nothing loth, Canute accepted the offer and the next year returned toEngland with a large and well appointed force, whose work of conquest wasrapidly performed. Ethelred died and great part of England wassurrendered without resistance to the Danes. But Edmond, Ethelred's son, took the field with an army and in three months won three victories overthe invaders. 

A fourth battle was attempted and lost and Edmond retreated to theSevern, swiftly followed by Canute. The two armies here faced each other, with the fate of England in the balance, when a proposal in close accordwith the spirit of the times was made. This was to settle the matter bysingle combat between the kings. Both were willing. While Edmond had theadvantage in strength, Canute was his superior in shrewdness. For whenthe champions met in deadly fray and Canute was disarmed by his opponent, the wily Dane proposed a parley, and succeeded in persuading Edmond todivide the kingdom between them. The agreement was accepted by the armiesand the two kings parted as friends--but the death of Edmond soon afterhad in it a suspicious appearance of murder by poison. 

On the death of Edmond, Canute called a meeting of the popular assemblyof the nation and was acknowledged king of all England. Not longafterwards Harald of Denmark died and the Danes chose him, under hishome name of Knud, as their king also. But he stayed in Denmark only longenough to settle the affairs of the Church in that realm. He ordered thatChristianity should be made the religion of the kingdom and the worshipof Odin should cease; and put English bishops over the Danish clergy. Healso brought in English workmen to teach the uncivilized Danes. Thus, Dane as Canute was, he preferred the religion and conditions of hisconquered to those of his native kingdom, feeling that it was superior inall the arts and customs of civilization. 

A great king was Canute, well deserving the title long given him ofCanute the Great. Having won England by valor and policy, he held it byjustice and clemency. He patronized the poets and minstrels and wroteverses in Anglo-Saxon himself, which were sung by the people and addedgreatly to his popularity. Of the poems written by him one was long afavorite in England, though only one verse of it now remains. This waspreserved by the monks of Ely, since they were its theme. Thus it runs, in literal translation:

 "Merrily sung the monks within Ely When Canute King rowed by; Row, knights, near the land, And hear we these monks' song. "

It is said that the verse was suggested to the king when rowing with hischiefs one day in the river Nene, near Ely Minster, by the sweet andsolemn music of the monastery choir that floated out to them over thetranquil water. The monks of Ely, to whom we owe much of our knowledge ofKing Canute, tell us that he had a strong affection for the fen countryand for their church, and gave the following story in that connection. Itis at once picturesque and humorous. 

One year, at the festival of the Purification, when King Canute proposedto pay his usual visit to Ely, the weather was very severe and all thestreams and other waters were frozen. The courtiers advised the king tokeep the holy festival in some other godly house, which he might reachwithout danger of drowning under broken ice, but such was his love forthe abbot and monks of Ely that he would not take this advice. 

Canute proposed to cross the ice by way of Soham Mere, then an immensebody of water, saying that if any one would go before and show him theway he would be the first to follow. The soldiers and courtiers hesitatedat this suggestion, and looked at one another with doubt and dread. Butstanding among the crowd was one Brithmar, a churl or serf, who wasnicknamed Budde, or Pudding, from his stoutness. He was a native of theisland of Ely and doubtless familiar with its waters, and when thecourtiers held back he stepped forward and said he would go before andshow the way. 

"Go on then, in the name of our Lady, " said Canute, "and I will follow;for if the ice on Soham Mere can bear a man so large and fat as thouart, it will not break under the weight of a small thin man like me. "

So the churl went forward, and Canute the Great followed him, and afterthe king came the courtiers, one by one, with spaces between; and theyall got safely over the frozen mere, with no mishaps other than a fewslips and falls on the smooth ice; and Canute, as he had proposed, keptthe festival of the Purification with the monks of Ely. 

As a reward to the fat churl Brithmar for his service, he was made afreeman and his little property was also made free. "And so, " thechronicle concludes, "Brithmar's posterity continued in our days to befreemen and to enjoy their possessions as free by virtue of the grantmade by the king to their forefather. "

There is another and more famous story told of King Canute, one showingthat his great Danish majesty had an abundant share of sound sense. Oftenas this story has been told it will bear retelling. The incident occurredafter his pilgrimage to Rome in the year 1030; made, it is said, toobtain pardon for the crimes and bloodshed which paved his way to theEnglish throne. 

After his return and when his power was at its height, the courtierswearied him by their fulsome flatteries. Disgusted with their extravagantadulations he determined to teach them a lesson. They had spoken of himas a ruler before whom all the powers of nature must bend in obedience, and one day he caused his golden throne to be set on the verge of thesea-shore sands as the tide was rolling in with its resistless might. Seating himself on the throne, with his jewelled crown on his head, hethus addressed the ocean:

"O thou Ocean! Know that the land on which I sit is mine and that thouart a part of my dominion; therefore rise not, but obey my commands, anddo not presume to wet the edge of my royal robe. "

He sat as if awaiting the sea to obey his commands, while the courtiersstood by in stupefaction. Onward rolled the advancing breakers, eachmoment coming nearer to his feet, until the spray flew into his face, andfinally the waters bathed his knees and wet the skirts of his robe. Then, rising and turning to the dismayed flatterers, he sternly said:

"Confess now how vain and frivolous is the might of an earthly kingcompared with that Great Power who rules the elements and says unto theocean, 'Thus far shalt thou go and no farther!'"

The monks who tell this story, conclude it by saying that Canutethereupon took off his crown and deposited it within the cathedral ofWinchester, never wearing it again. 

After his visit to Rome, Canute ruled with greater mildness and justicethan ever before, while his armies kept the turbulent Scotch and Welshand the unquiet peoples of the north in order. In the latter part of hisreign he could boast that the English, the Scotch, the Welsh, the Danes, the Swedes, and the Norwegians were his subjects, and he was called inconsequence "The King of the Six Nations, " and looked upon throughoutEurope as the greatest of sovereigns; none of the kings and emperors ofthat continent being equal in power, wealth and width of dominion to KingCanute, a descendant of the vikings of Denmark. 

Canute spent the most of his life in England, but now and then visitedhis northern realm, and there are some interesting anecdotes of his lifethere. Though a devout Christian and usually a self-controlled man, thewild passions of his viking ancestry would at times break out, and atsuch times he spared neither friend nor foe and would take counsel fromno man, churchman or layman. But when his anger died out his remorse wasapt to be great and he would submit to any penance laid upon him by theChurch. Thus when he had killed one of his house servants for some slightoffense, he made public confession of his crime and paid the sameblood-fine as would have been claimed from a man of lower rank. 

The most notable instance of these outbursts of uncontrollable anger wasthat in which he murdered his old friend and brother-in-law Ulf, who, after rebelling against him, had saved him from complete defeat by theSwedes, by coming to his rescue just as the royal fleet was nearlyswamped by the opening of the sluices which held back the waters of theSwedish river Helge-aae. Ulf took Canute on board his own ship andbrought him in safety to a Danish island, while leaving his men to aidthose of Canute in their escape from the Swedes. Yet the king bore agrudge against the earl, and this was its cause. 

At one time Ulf ruled over Denmark as Canute's regent and made himselfgreatly beloved by the people from his just rule. Queen Emma, Canute'swife, wished to have her little son Harthaknud--or Hardicanute, as he wasafterwards called in England--made king of Denmark, but could notpersuade her husband King Canute to accede to her wishes. She thereforesent letters privately to Ulf, saying that the king wished to see theyoung prince on the throne, but did not wish to do anything the peoplemight not like. Ulf, deceived by her story, had the boy crowned king, andthereby won Canute's ill-will. 

The king, however, showed no signs of this, nor of resentment against Ulffor his rebellion, but, after his escape from the Swedes, asked the earlto go with him to his palace at Roeskilde, and on the evening of theirarrival offered to play chess with him. During the game Canute made afalse move so that Ulf was able to take one of his knights, and when theking refused to let this move count and wanted his man back again theearl jumped up and said he would not go on with the game. Canute, in aburst of anger, cried out:

"The coward Norwegian Ulf Jarl is running away. "

"You and your coward Danes would have run away still faster at theHelge-aae if I and my Norwegians had not saved you from the Swedes, whowere making ready to beat you all like a pack of craven hounds!"ejaculated the angry earl. 

Those hasty words cost Ulf his life. Canute, furious at the insult, brooded over it all night, and the next morning, still in a rage, calledto one of the guards at the door of his bed-chamber:

"Go and kill Ulf Jarl. "

"My Lord King, I dare not, " answered the man. "Ulf Jarl is at prayerbefore the altar of the church of St. Lucius. "

The king, after a moment's pause, turned to a young man-at-arms who hadbeen in his service since his boyhood and cried angrily:

"I command you, Olaf, to go to the church and thrust your sword throughthe Jarl's body. "

Olaf obeyed, and Ulf was slain while kneeling before the altar rails ofSt. Lucius' church. 

Then, as usual with King Canute, his passion cooled and he deeplylamented his crime, showing signs of bitter remorse. In way of expiationhe paid to his sister Estrid, Ulf's widow, a large sum as blood-fine, andgave her two villages which she left at her death to the church in whichher husband had been slain. He also brought up Ulf's eldest son as one ofhis own children. The widowed Estrid afterwards married Robert, Duke ofNormandy, father of William the Conqueror, who in 1066 became master ofEngland. 

King Canute died in 1035, at thirty-six years of age, and his son Haraldreigned after him in England for four years, and afterwards his sonHarthaknud, or Hardicanute, for three years, when England again cameunder an Anglo-Saxon king--to fall under the power of William ofNormandy, a conqueror of Norwegian descent, twenty-four years later. 

_MAGNUS THE GOOD AND HAROLD HARDRULER. _

After the death of King Olaf the Saint, and after the Danes had for someyears ruled over Norway, Olaf's son Magnus, who had been left in Russia, was brought to Norway and proclaimed king. The Danes had oppressed thepeople, and had put over them a woman and her son, and it was this thatmade the chiefs drive out the tyrants and put young Magnus, then a boy often years of age, on the throne. 

A curious thing then took place, one of those strange politicalsomersaults which at times come in the history of nations. For as theDanes had lately ruled over Norway, now a Norseman came to rule overDenmark. Thus it was that this odd change came about. 

The great King Canute was dead and his son Hardicanute had succeeded himon the throne. This new king claimed Norway as his and prepared to fightfor it. But the chief men in the two countries succeeded in making peace, with the agreement that if either of the kings should die without heirsthe other should take his throne. A few years later Hardicanute died andMagnus was proclaimed king of Denmark. Thus, in the year 1042, the twokingdoms became united under a Norse king, a descendant of Harold theFair-Haired. 

Magnus, as he grew up, showed an ugly and revengeful temper. Very likelysome of those around him told the boy that he should avenge his fatherupon those who had rebelled against and killed him. One of these men wasslain by his orders, others fled from the country, and many were madepoor by the loss of their cattle. This made the people very angry, andthey were ready to fight for just treatment when peace was brought aboutin another way, the hot-tempered Magnus being subdued by the power ofsong. 

One of the poets of the land--scalds they were called--made a song calledthe Lay of Candor, which he sang before the king. In it he warned him ofthe evil results of a revengeful spirit and told him of the duties heowed the people who had brought him to Norway and made him king. Magnus, who had now nearly reached the years of manhood, listened quietly to thissong and afterwards sat long in deep thought. It had a wonderful effecton him, for it opened his eyes to the injustice of his course, and fromthat day he was a new man. All his plans of vengeance fled, he becamekind and gentle and so mild and sweet in manner that he grew to be one ofthe best loved of kings. This may be seen in the name the people gavehim, which was that of Magnus the Good. 

Now we must tell the rest of his story very rapidly. As the heir ofHardicanute he claimed to be king of England as well as of Norway andDenmark, and he might have tried to win the crown of England, then wornby Edward the Confessor, had he not been kept busy at home. In fact, hehad to fight hard to keep the crown of Denmark, for Sweyn, a nephew ofthe great Canute, claimed it and a fierce war followed. Magnus wasvictorious in this war, and in one great battle, in which ten thousandsoldiers were slain, it was his skill and courage that won the field. This display of personal bravery gave him a great name in the north. 

Now we must leave the story of Magnus for a time to take up that ofanother hero of the north. Those who have read the tale of Olaf the Saintwill remember his amusing talk with his three little half-brothers, andhow while the two elder had an ambition only for land and cows, Harold, the youngest, wanted men and ships, and Olaf prophesied that the boywould one day be a king. 

When Harold grew up the spirit of the boy was shown in the man. When onlyfifteen years old he fought in the battle in which King Olaf was killed, and received a severe wound. Then he became a wanderer, going first toRussia and then to Constantinople, where he became the captain of theVarangians, the body-guard of Norsemen kept by the Greek emperors. Alarge, bold, strong, and reckless champion, Harold gained a great name inthe south. He fought against the Saracens and won much treasure; hefought in Sicily and captured many cities; he had adventures in love andwar and many wonderful stories are told of his exploits. Then he cameback to Russia and married Elizabeth, the daughter of King Jaroslov, love for whom had sent him abroad to win fame and riches. 

[Illustration: NORWEGIAN FARM BUILDINGS. ]

Not long after this King Magnus, as he was sailing one day along thecoast of Denmark, saw gliding along the most magnificent ship he had everbeheld. He at once sent men aboard to learn to whom the beautiful galleybelonged, and they were met by a tall and handsome man, who said that hehad been sent by Harold Sigurdsson, the uncle of King Magnus, to learnhow the king would receive him. Magnus, who was then nineteen years old, sent word that he would gladly welcome his uncle and hoped to find in hima good friend. When they met the tall man proved to be Harold himself andMagnus was highly pleased with him. 

He was not so well pleased when Harold asked to be made king also, layingclaim to half the kingdom. And Harold himself was not well pleased whenone of the Norse chiefs said that if Magnus was to share the kingdom withhim, he should divide his great treasure with Magnus. 

Harold replied hastily and haughtily that he had not dared death and wonwealth that he might make his nephew's men rich. The chief answered thathe and his friends had not won Norway from the Danes for the purpose ofgiving half of it to a stranger, and all the other earls and warriorsagreed with him, so that Harold found that the apple which he wished todivide was not so easily to be cut. 

After that there was war and plundering and the cruel deeds that takeplace when the sword is drawn, and a year or two later Harold called anassembly of the people of one district of Norway and had himselfproclaimed king. Magnus, who did not want to fight his father's brother, finally yielded to Harold's claim and agreed that they should both bekings; not to divide the realm, but both to rule over the whole countrytogether. Thus it was that Harold won the prize which he had craved as ayoung child. 

Every one would say that a compact of this kind could not work well. Agentle, kindly, generous-hearted man like King Magnus was ill matchedwith a haughty, wealth-loving, tyrannical man like Harold. No doubt manybitter words passed between them, and the peasants were so incensed byHarold's oppression and extortion of money from them that they would havebroken into open rebellion only for the love they bore King Magnus. Thelatter was often so incensed that he was tempted to put an end to thedouble kingship even if he had to remove his troublesome partner byviolence. 

But this was not to be. One day, while out riding, his horse took frightand threw him, his head striking a stump. He was at first stunned, butseemed to recover. Soon afterwards he was taken sick with a violent feverand gradually sank, so that it became apparent that he would die. On hisdeath-bed he decided that Sweyn, who had fought so hard to win from himthe crown of Denmark, had a better right to that kingdom than Harold, andmen were sent to inform him of his succession to the Danish throne. Buthe had barely closed his eyes in death when Harold sent other men tointercept these messengers. He proposed to keep Denmark for himself. 

The death of King Magnus without an heir left Harold the undisputedsuccessor to the throne, as the only living descendant in the male lineof Harold the Fair-Haired. Yet the people were far from pleased, for hehad already shown a disposition to treat them harshly and they fearedthat a tyrant had succeeded to the throne. By his stern rule he gainedseveral uncomplimentary titles, the English calling him Harold theHaughty, the Germans Harold the Inflexible, and the Northmen Harold theHardruler. Yet he was able to hold his own over his people, for he wasstrong and daring, skilled in the art of war, and a man of unusualintellect. He was also a poet and won fame by his verses. He would sit uphalf the night with the blind scald Stuf Katson, to hear him recite hisstirring songs. 

But if absolute ruler over Norway, Harold found Denmark slipping awayfrom him. Sweyn had in him the blood of the race of Canute, and was noweakling to be swept aside at a king's will. Magnus had left him thekingdom and he was bent on having it, if his good sword could win andhold it. In this he was supported by the Danes, and Harold found that themost he could do was to make descents on the Danish coast and plunder andmurder the innocent people. 

After this idle kind of warfare had gone on for a number of years andHarold found that all he had gained by it was the hatred of the Danes, hemade an agreement with Sweyn to fight it out between them. They were tomeet at the mouth of the Götha Elv and whoever won in the battle was tobe the king of Denmark. It was a kind of duel for a crown. 

But Sweyn tried to gain his end by stratagem. When Harold appeared withhis fleet at the appointed place Sweyn and his ships were not to be seen. Harold waited a while, fuming and fretting, and then sailed south toJutland, where he ravaged the coast, took and burned the city of Heidaby, carried away a number of women of high rank, and filled his ships withplunder. Then he turned homeward, with so little fear of the Danes thathe let his ships widely scatter. 

The winds were adverse, the weather was foggy, and one morning while theylay at anchor by an island shore, the lookout saw a bright flash throughthe fog. The king was hastily called, and on seeing it cried:

"What you see is the flash of the morning sun on the golden dragon-headsof warships. The Danish fleet is upon us!"

The peril was imminent. It was hopeless to fight with the few ships atcommand. Only flight remained and that was almost as hopeless. The oarswere got out in haste, but the ships, soaked and heavy from their longcruise, were hard to move, and as the fog lifted under the sun rays, theDanish fleet, several hundred strong, bore down swiftly upon them. Theemergency was one that needed all the wit and skill of the king to meet. 

To distract the enemy Harold bade his men nail bright garments and othershowy spoil to logs and cast them overboard. As these floated through theDanish ships many of them stopped to pick up the alluring prizes. He alsowas obliged to throw overboard casks of beer and pork to lighten hisships and these also were picked up. Yet in spite of all he could do theDanes gained on him, and his own ship, which brought up the rear, was indanger of capture. 

As a last resort the shrewd king had rafts made of boards and barrels andput on these the high-born women he held as captives. These rafts wereset afloat one after another, and the pursuers, on seeing these haplessfair ones and hearing their wild appeals for rescue, were obliged to stopand take them up. This final stratagem succeeded and Harold escaped, leaving Sweyn, who had felt sure of capturing his enemy, furious at hisfailure. 

At another time, ten years and more later, Harold again fell into periland again escaped through his fertility in resources. Having beaten hisrival in a naval battle, he entered the long and narrow Lim fiord toplunder the land, fancying that Sweyn was in no condition to disturb him. He reckoned too hastily. Sweyn, learning where his foe was, gathered whatships he could and took post at Hals, the fiord being there so narrowthat a few ships could fight with advantage against a much greaternumber. 

Though caught in a trap Harold was not dismayed, but gave orders to sailto the inner end of the fiord. He knew that it ended near the North Sea, only a narrow isthmus dividing them. Then, with great trouble and labor, he managed to have his ships dragged across the isthmus and launched onthe sea waters, and away he sailed in triumph, leaving Sweyn awaiting himin vain. 

Finally, with the desire to bring this useless strife to an end, ifpossible, a new compact was made to meet with their fleets in the GöthaElv and fight once more for the kingdom of Denmark. It was now 1062, thirteen years after the former battle. As before, on reaching the placedesignated, no Danish ship was visible. But it is difficult to creditwhat we are told, that Harold, after a vain wait, made the same error asbefore, dividing his fleet and sending the greater part of it home. Withthe remainder, one hundred and eighty ships strong, he sailed along thecoast, and suddenly found himself in the presence of the Danes, with twoships to his one. 

This time Harold did not flee, but joined battle bravely with his enemy, the contest lasting through a whole night and ending in a completevictory over the Danes. It was a great victory, yet it brought Harold noadvantage, for Sweyn did not keep to his compact--if he had made one--tosurrender his throne, and the Danes hated Harold so thoroughly for hiscruel raids on their land that they had no idea of submitting to him. Twoyears more passed on, and then Harold, finding that the conquest ofDenmark was hopeless, consented against his will to make peace. In thisway Sweyn, after many years of battling for his throne, forced hispowerful antagonist to give up the contest and promise never to disturbhim again. 

Two years after this peace was made, in the year 1066, King Harold tookpart in another adventure which brought his tyranny and his life to anend. It is worth telling for another reason, for it was connected with agreat historical event, the conquest of England by William the Conqueror. For these two reasons it is very fitting that it should be told. 

King Harold of England, who was soon to fall on the fatal field ofHastings, had a brother, Earl Tostig, who, fired by ambition, set out toconquer that kingdom for himself. He went first to Denmark and tried toget King Sweyn to join him in the enterprise, but the prudent Sweyn toldhim that he had no desire to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Canute, but was quite content to dwell at home and rule his own kingdom. 

Then Tostig sought Norway, where he found King Harold far more ready tolisten to him. So in September of that year, Harold sailed from Norwaywith the most powerful fleet and army that had ever left its shores. Counting what was added in the Orkneys and the force under Earl Tostig, it numbered about three hundred and fifty ships and thirty thousand men. Landing in Northumberland, a victory was won and the city of York taken. Then, leaving about one-third of the army to guard the ships, Harold andTostig encamped at Stamford Bridge, seven miles from York. 

It was a warm day, there was no reason to fear danger, and the menlounged about without their arms. In this unwary state they foundthemselves suddenly face to face with a large army, led by the EnglishKing Harold, who had marched north in furious haste. Tostig, finding thatthey had been taken by surprise, advised a retreat to the ships, butHarold was not the man to turn his back to his foe, and decided to standand fight, ordering the men to arm and prepare for battle. While theywere gathering in ranks for the fray, a party of English horsemen rode upand asked if Earl Tostig was there. 

"You see him before you, " said Tostig. 

"Your brother Harold sends you greeting and offers you peace and the ruleof Northumberland. If he cannot gain your friendship for less, he willgrant you one-third his kingdom. "

"Last year he had only scorn and disdain to offer me, " replied Tostig. "But if I should accept his proposal, what has he to offer my ally, theking of Norway?"

"He will grant him seven feet of English soil; or more if his length ofbody needs it. "

"If that is your best offer, " said Tostig, "ride back and bid Harold tobegin the battle. "

Harold of Norway had heard this brief colloquy, and as the Englishhorsemen rode away asked Tostig who was the speaker. 

"That was my brother, Harold himself, " answered Tostig. 

"I learn that too late, " said Harold grimly. 

The battle that followed was hotly contested. It began with a charge ofthe English cavalry, which was repulsed, and was followed up fiercely bythe Norsemen, who fancied the flight of the English to mean a generalrout. In this way they broke their ranks, which the king wished topreserve until reinforcements could reach him from the ships. Forwardrushed the impatient Norsemen, King Harold throwing himself into theirmidst and fighting with savage fury. His men seconded him, the Englishranks wavered and broke before the fierce onset, and victory seemedwithin the grasp of the invaders, when an arrow pierced King Harold'sthroat and he fell in a dying state from his horse. 

His fall checked the onset, and the English king, hearing of his death, offered his brother an armistice. Tostig refused this and led his menback to the fray, which was resumed with all its old fury. But Tostig, too, was slain, and the king's brother-in-law, who arrived withreinforcements from the ships, met with the same fate. By this time thebattlefield was covered with the bodies of the dead, and the Norsemen, dispirited by the loss of their leaders, gave way and retreated towardsthe ships, hotly pursued by their victorious foes. Of their great hostonly a small remnant succeeded in reaching the ships. 

Thus ended the great fight at Stamford Bridge, and with it the reign andlife of Harold Hardruler, who fell a victim to his ambition and love ofstrife. For years thereafter the bones of men lay scattered widely overthat field, for none stayed to bury the dead, the Norsemen fleeing intheir ships, while news of the landing of William of Normandy calledHarold hastily to the south--where he fell in the midst of the fightingat Hastings as Harold of Norway had fallen on Stamford Field. Harold'sinvasion of England was the last great exploit of the vikings of thenorth, and though Ireland was invaded later by a Norseland fleet, noforeign foe after the fatal days at Stamford and Hastings ever landed onEngland's shores. 

_SVERRE, THE COOK'S SON, AND THE BIRCHLEGS. _

In the year 1177 those people in Norway who loved a joke must havelaughed to their hearts' content, when the tidings reached them that theson of a cook, followed by seventy ragged and half armed men, had set outto win the throne of the kingdom. Surely a more extraordinary andlaughable enterprise was never undertaken, and the most remarkable thingabout it was that it succeeded. A few years of desperate adventures andhard fighting raised the cook's son to the throne, and those who hadlaughed at his temerity were now glad to hail him as their king. HowSverre the adventurer won the crown is a tale full of adventure and amplyworth the telling. 

No common man was Sverre and no common woman was his mother Gunhild, acook in the kitchen of King Sigurd Mouth. Not handsome was she, but quickof wit and bright of brain. If the king had had his way the boy wouldhave had a very short life, for he bade the mother to kill her child assoon as it should be born. Instead of consenting to this cruel mandate, she fled from the palace to a ship, which took her to the Faroe Islands, and here her son was born. She was then serving as milkmaid to BishopMathias. 

The little Sverre began his life with an adventure. When he was a fewmonths old a man named Unas came from Norway to the islands, a smith orcomb-maker by profession. But Gunhild suspected him of being a spy sentby King Sigurd to kill her son, and she hid the boy in a cavern, which isstill called Sverre's Cave. He acted like a spy, for he followed her tothe cave, found where she had hidden the child, and threatened to kill itunless she would marry him. Gunhild had no love for this dangerousstranger, but she dearly loved her little son, and with much reluctanceshe consented to marry Unas to save the babe's life. 

Such was the first event in the life of the later King Sverre. Thenew-married pair went back to Norway, for King Sigurd had died, but whenthe boy was five years old they returned to the Faroes, for BishopMathias was now dead, and Roe, the brother of Unas, had been made bishopin his stead. 

The little fellow was made to believe that he was the son of Unas, and ashe grew up Bishop Roe took a great fancy to him, for he showed himself tobe very bright and intelligent. There was no boy in the island his equal, so the good bishop had him educated for the priesthood and when he wasold enough had him ordained in the lowest priestly grade. 

This was much against the wish of Gunhild, his mother, who had higherhopes for his future, and when he proudly told her that he was now apriest, and hoped some day to become a bishop, or even a cardinal, sheburst into tears. 

"Why do you weep, mother?" he asked in surprise. "I do not know why youshould hear of my honor with sorrow. "

"Oh, my son, " she cried, "this is but a small honor compared to that towhich you were born. I have not told you of the great station that isyours by right, but must now say that you are not the son of my husbandUnas, but of King Sigurd of Norway, and you have as good a claim as anyman living to the throne. "

This surprising revelation destroyed Sverre's peace of mind. All hisambition to rise in the priesthood was gone, the crown of a kingdomseemed to float in the air before him, and his thoughts by day and hisdreams by night were fixed on that shining goal. The great hopes in hismind kept sleep from his eyes and after days of mental unrest he feltthat life was worthless to him if his high ambition were not fulfilled. 

"Since I am born heir to the crown, " he said to his mother, "I have asmuch right to it as any man, and I will strive at any cost to win it. Istake my life on this cast, for without it life to me has lost all itsjoy. "

Magnus, the king then on the throne, was not of royal birth. He was theson of Erling Skakke, a great and ambitious nobleman, who had killedevery descendant of the royal house he could find to make his own sonking. Of the boy who was destined to dispute his claim, the cook's son onthe Faroes, he knew nothing, and when the bright youth landed in Norway, whether he had gone in spite of the protests of Bishop Roe, not a soul inthe kingdom dreamed that a new claimant for the throne was in the realm. 

No one was likely to learn from Sverre until his plans were ripe. He wastoo shrewd and cautious for that. He wanted to feel the sentiment of thepeople, and was disappointed to find them all well satisfied with theirking. Full of humor and a good talker, everybody he met was pleased withhim, and when he talked with the men-at-arms of Erling Skakke they toldhim all they knew about the state of affairs. They were quite won over bythis lively priest from the Faroes. He even made the acquaintance ofErling Skakke himself and got a thorough idea of his character. 

The cunning adventurer was feeling his way and found things not at all tohis liking. To attempt, alone and with an empty pocket, to drive afavorite monarch from the throne, seemed the act of madness. But theambitious youth had dreamed his dream of royal state and had no fancy forreturning to a humble priesthood on the bleak Faroes. 

In Sweden, across the border, dwelt Earl Birger, who had married a sisterof King Sigurd Mouth. To him Sverre went, told who he was, and begged foraid. The earl looked on him as an imposter and would have nothing to dowith him. Then he sought Folkvid the Lawman, with whom lived hishalf-sister Cecilia, and told him the same story. Folkvid received himmore graciously, but he had no power to make him king. But the rumorthat a son of the late King Sigurd was in the land got abroad, and soonmade its way to the ears of a band of rebels who hated the king. 

Here we must go back a step. All the people of Norway were not contentwith the new king. From time to time pretenders to the throne arose, hornets whom Magnus and his father Erling had some trouble in destroying. They had their following, and the malcontents gathered at last aroundEystein Meyla (Little Girl), who professed to be the grandson of a formerking. But all this last of the pretenders was able to do was to roamabout in the wilderness, keeping himself and his followers from starvingby robbing the people. They were in so desperate a state that they had touse birch-bark for shoes, and the peasants in derision called themBirkebeiner, or Birchlegs. Though little better than highwaymen, theywere sturdy and daring and had some success, but finally were badlybeaten by the king and their leader slain. They might have never beenheard of again had not the greatest of the pretenders just then came toNorway. 

The rumor that a son of King Sigurd Mouth was in the land reached theears of the handful of Birchlegs remaining and, learning where Sverrewas, they sought him and begged him to be their chief. He looked at them, and seeing what dirty and ragged vagabonds they were, he told them thathe had no fancy for being their leader, that there was no link ofconnection between them and him but poverty, and advised them, if theywanted a chief, to seek one of Earl Birger's sons, who, like himself, were of royal descent. 

The beggarly troop took his advice, but the earl's son would have nothingto do with them. By way of a joke he told them to go back to Sverre andthreaten to kill him if he would not be their leader. They did so, usingpersuasions and possibly threats, and Sverre, seeing no hope of successamong the great, finally consented to become the leader of this raggedband of brigands. Such was his first definite step on the road to thethrone. 

In this humble fashion, the ambitious young prince, then abouttwenty-four years old, with empty hands and pockets and seventy raggedfollowers, began his desperate strife for the throne of Norway. 

From Vermeland, where his enterprise began, he led his forlorn seventysouthward toward Viken, his party rolling on like a snowball and growingin size on its way, until it swelled to four hundred and twenty men. Inspite of his protest, these vagabonds proclaimed him king and touched hissword to indicate their allegiance. But their devotion to his cause wasnot great, for when he forbade them to rob and plunder the peasants mostof them left him. To test the remainder, he ordered them back toVermeland and before they reached that region only the original seventyremained. 

Desperate was now the position of the youthful adventurer. He haddeclared himself a claimant for the throne and any one had the right tokill him. The peasants hated his robber band and he could get none tojoin him. They would rather have killed them all and thus earned theking's favor. 

Had young Sverre been a man of common mind his enterprise must now havereached its end. But he was a man of wonderful mental resources, daring, indefatigable, capable of bearing the most extreme reverses and rescuinghimself from the most perilous situations. Followed by his faithfulseventy, he wandered through the pathless mountain wilderness, hopefuland resourceful. His courage was unfailing. Often they had to live onbark and frozen berries, which were dug up from under the snow. At timessome of his men, worn out with hunger and exposure, would drop lifelesson their barren paths; at times he had to sleep under his shield, as hisonly protection from the falling snow; but his heart kept stout throughit all, and he chided those who talked of ending their misfortunes bysuicide. 

As an example of his courage and endurance and his care of his men, wemay tell the following anecdote. Once in his wanderings he came to alarge mountain lake which had to be crossed. It could only be done onrafts, and the men were so exhausted that it proved desperate work tofell trees and build the necessary rafts. In time they were alldespatched, Sverre boarding the last, which was so heavily laden that thewater rose above his ankles. 

One man was still on the shore, so utterly worn out that he had to crawlto the water's edge and beg to be taken on, lest he should perish. Theothers grumbled, but Sverre would not listen to their complaints butbade them to take the man on. With his extra weight the raft sank tillthe water reached their knees. Though the raft threatened to go to thebottom Sverre kept a resolute face. A great fallen pine on the other sidemade a bridge up which the men clambered to safety, Sverre being the lastto leave the raft. Scarcely had he done so when the watersoaked logssank. The men looked on this as a miracle and believed more fully thanever that he would win. 

Now came the first success in his marvellous career. He had one hundredand twenty men on reaching the goal of his terrible journey, but hereeighty men more joined him and with these two hundred followers hesuccessfully faced a force of fourteen hundred which had been sentagainst him. With a native genius for warfare he baffled his enemies atevery point, avoiding their onset, falling upon them at unexpectedpoints, forcing them to scatter into separate detachments in the pursuit, then falling on and beating these detachments in succession. While hekept aware of their plans and movements, they never knew where to lookfor him, and in a short time the peasant army was beaten and dispersed. 

This striking success gave new courage and hope to the Birchlegs and theycame in numbers to the place to which Sverre had summoned a body oftwelve representatives from the province of Tröndelag. These met andproclaimed him king of Norway. It was now the summer of 1177. 

The Birchlegs were hasty in supposing the beating of fourteen hundredpeasants would bring success to their cause. Erling Skakke was stillalive and active, and on hearing of the exploits of this new leader ofrebels in the north, he got together a large fleet and sailed northwardto deal with him. 

The new-proclaimed king was too wary to meet this powerful force and hesought refuge in the mountains again, leaving to Erling the dominion ofthe coast. And now, for two years, Sverre and his men led a precariouslife, wandering hither and thither through the mountain wilderness andsuffering the severest privations. He was like a Robin Hood of theNorwegian mountains, loving to play practical jokes on the peasants, suchas appearing with his hungry horde at their Yuletide feasts and makingway with the good cheer they had provided for themselves. He was obligedto forage in the valleys, but he took pity on the poor and more than oncemade the great suffer for acts of oppression. 

Everywhere he was hated as a desperate brigand; some believed him to bethe devil himself. Naughty children were scared with the threat that theterrible Sverre would take them, and laundresses, beating their clothesat the river's brink, devoutly wished that Sverre's head was under thestone. Yet his undaunted resolution, his fights with the king's soldiers, his skirmishes with the peasants, and his boldness and daring in allsituations, won him a degree of admiration even among those who fearedand hated him. 

Thus for two years his adventurous career went on. Then came an eventthat turned the tide in his favor. Erling was still pursuing him and inJune, 1179, was in the coast town of Nidaros, his son, Magnus, with him. In the harbor lay the fleet. The earl and the king were feasting withtheir followers when word was brought them that the Birchlegs wereapproaching. 

"I wish it was true, " said the earl. "I should like nothing better thanto meet that hound Sverre. But there will be no such good luck to-night, for I am told that the rascals have gone back to the mountains. You cango to bed in safety, for Sverre will not dare to trouble us when we areon the watch for him. "

To bed they went, sleeping heavily from their potations, and down on themcame Sverre, who, as usual, was well informed about their situation. 

"Now is your time to fight bravely, and repay yourselves for yoursufferings, " he said to his men. "A fine victory lies before us. I shallpromise you this. Any one of you who can prove that he has slain aliegeman shall be made a liegeman himself, and each of you shall be giventhe title and dignity of the man you have slain. "

Thus encouraged, the poorly-armed adventurers rushed down the hills intothe town. One sturdy fellow who carried only a club was asked where hisweapons were. 

"They are down in the town, " he said. "The earl's men have them now. Weare going there to get them. "

This they did. As they came on the warriors, hastily alarmed and heavywith their drunken sleep, flocked staggering into the streets, to be metwith sword and lance. The confusion was great and the king had muchtrouble in rallying his men. Many chieftains advised flight to the ships, but the stout-hearted Erling was not ready for that. 

"It might be best, " he said, "but I can't bear the thought of thatbrigand priest putting himself in my son's place. "

Leading his men outside the city, he awaited the attack. It came inhaste, the Birchlegs falling furiously upon the much greater force beforethem. In the onset the earl was killed and his men were put to flight. The king, as he fled by, saw the bloody face of his father lying underthe stars. He stooped and kissed him, saying:

"We shall meet again, father, in the day of joy. " Then he was borne awayin the stream of flight. 

This decisive victory turned the tide of the war. The death of Erlingremoved Sverre's greatest opponent. King Magnus was no match for thepriest-king, and the rebel force grew until the contest assumed the shapeof civil war. Sverre no longer led a band of wanderers, but was theleader of an army. 

This was not the ordinary army recruited from the settled classes ofsociety, but an army made up of the lower stratum of the people, nowfirst demanding their share of the good things of life. Fierce and unrulyas they were, Sverre knew how to control and discipline them. He kept hispromise, as far as was possible, to reward his men with the honors ofthose they had slain, but charged them with the maintenance of law andorder, punishing all who disobeyed his commands. This he could safely do, for they worshipped him. They had shared peril and suffering together, had lived as comrades, but through it all he had kept his authorityintact and demanded obedience. Birchlegs they still called themselves, for they had grown proud of the title, and they named their opponentsHeklungs, from the story that some of them had robbed a beggar womanwhose money was wrapped in a cloak (_hekl_). 

For six years afterwards the war for dominion in Norway continued, thestar of King Sverre steadily rising. In 1180 Magnus attacked his opponentwith an army much larger than that of Sverre, but was utterly routed; andan army of peasants that came on afterwards, to kill the "devil'spriest, " met with the same ill success. 

Magnus now took refuge in Denmark, abandoning Norway to his rival, andfrom there he came year after year to continue the contest. In a navalbattle in 1181, in which Sverre had less than half the number of ships ofhis opponent, his star seemed likely to set. The Birchlegs were not goodat sea fighting and the Heklungs were pressing them steadily back, whenSverre sprang into the hottest of the fight, without a shield and withdarts and javelins hurtling around him, and in stirring tones sang theLatin hymn, "Alma chorus domini. "

This hymn seemed to turn the tide of victory. Magnus, storming furiouslyforward at that moment, was wounded in the wrist as he was boarding ahostile ship. The pain caused him to pause and, his feet slipping on theblood-stained deck, he fell headlong backward, a glad shout of victorycoming from the Birchlegs who saw him fall. 

Orm, one of King Magnus's captains, demanded what had happened. 

"The king is killed, " he was told. 

"Then the fate of the realm is decided, " he cried. 

Cutting the ropes that held the ships together, he took to flight, followed by others and breaking the line of battle. Leaping to his feet, Magnus called out that he was not hurt and implored them not to flee fromcertain victory. But the terror and confusion were too great, and Sverretook quick advantage of the opportunity, capturing a number of ships andputting the others to flight. 

The final battle in this contest for a throne came in 1184. It was one inwhich Sverre was in imminent danger of a fatal end to his career. Usuallynot easily surprised, he was now taken unawares. He had sailed up theNore fiord with a few ships and a small force of men, to punish someparties who had killed his prefect. Magnus, afloat with twenty-six shipsand over three thousand men, learned of this and pursued his enemy intothe fiord. 

Sverre was caught in a trap. Not until he saw the hostile ships bearingdown upon him had he a suspicion of danger. Escape was impossible. Greatcliffs bounded the watery cañon. He had but fourteen ships and not halfhis opponent's force of men. The Heklungs were sure that victory was intheir hands. But when Sverre and his Birchlegs dashed forward andattacked them with berseker fury their confidence turned to doubt. Soonit began to appear that victory was to be on the other side. Before thefurious onset the Heklungs fell in numbers. Many in panic leaped into thesea and were drowned, King Magnus among them. Till mid-night the hotcontest continued, by which hour half the king's force were slain and allthe ships captured. The drowned corpse of King Magnus was not found untiltwo days after the battle, when it was taken to Bergen and buried withroyal ceremony. His death ended the contest and Sverre was unquestionedking of the whole land. 

Shall we briefly conclude the story of King Sverre's reign? For twentyyears it continued, the most of these years of war, for rebellion brokeout in a dozen quarters and only the incessant vigilance and activity ofa great king and great soldier enabled him to keep his throne and hislife. 

After all his wars and perils, he died in his bed, March 9, 1202, wornout by his long life of toil and strain. Never before had Norway so nobleand able a king; never since has it seen his equal. A man was he of smallframe but indomitable soul, of marvellous presence of mind and fertilityin resources; a man firm but kindly and humane; a king with aclear-sighted policy and an admirable power of controlling men andwinning their attachment. Never through all its history has Norway knownanother monarch so admirable in many ways as Sverre, the cook's son. 

_THE FRIENDS AND FOES OF A BOY PRINCE. _

After the death of the great King Sverre tumult and trouble reigned inNorway. Several kings came to the throne, but none of them lived long, and there was constant fighting between the Birchlegs and the opposingparty who called themselves Baglers. Year after year they kept theirswords out and their spears in hand, killing one another, but neitherparty growing strong enough to put an end to the other. All this time thepeople were suffering and the country growing poorer, and a strong handwas needed at the helm of the ship-of-state. 

It was when King Inge, who was not of royal blood, and whose hand was notthe strong hand needed, was on the throne, that new hope came to thepeople, for it was made known that they had among them a boy of kinglydescent, a grandson of the noble Sverre. Men thought that King Sverre'sline had died out, and there was great joy in their hearts when theylearned that his son Haakon had left a son. 

This boy was born in 1203, son of the beautiful Inga of Varteig, whomKing Haakon had warmly loved though she was not his wife. The littleprince was named Haakon, after his father, but he was born in the midstof the Baglers, his father's foes, and the priest who baptized him badeInga to keep his birth a strict secret, letting none outside her ownfamily know that a new prince had come to the land. 

The secret was well kept for a time, but whispers got abroad, and Thrond, the priest, at length told the story to Erland of Huseby, whom he knew tobe on the right side. Erland heard the news with joy, but feared perilfor the little prince, thus born in the land of his enemies. Rumors weregrowing, danger might at any moment come, and though it was mid-winter, aseason of deep snows and biting winds, he advised the priest to send theboy and his mother to the court of King Inge, offering himself to takethem across the pathless mountains. 

The difficult journey was made in safety and the boy and his mother werekindly welcomed by the king, and joyfully greeted by the Birchlegs, whowere strong in that district. Little Haakon was then less than two yearsold, and it is said that the old loyalists, who were eager to have a kingof the royal blood, used in playfulness to pull him between them by thearms and legs, to make him grow faster. 

The Birchlegs were in fear of Haakon Galen, the king's brother, who wasambitious to succeed to the throne. Yet Earl Haakon took a great fancy tothe helpless little child and seemed to love him as much as any of them. Thus the child prince, though in the midst of plotters for the throne, who would naturally be likely to act as his enemies, seemed protected bythe good angels and brought safely through all his perils. 

Even when he was captured by the Baglers, when four years of age, theydid not harm him, being possibly so taken by his infantile beauty andwinning ways that they could not bring themselves to injure their littlecaptive. In the end, after many fights and flights, in which neitherparty made any gains, the Birchlegs and Baglers grew tired of the uselessstrife and a treaty of peace was made between them, the king of theBaglers swearing allegiance to King Inge and becoming one of his earls. But new trouble was brewing for the youthful prince, for in 1212, when hewas eight years old, a compact was made that none but those of legitimatebirth should succeed to the throne. As his mother had not been a legalwife, this threatened to rob little Haakon of his royal rights. 

In doing this the plotters were like some politicians of the present day, who lay plans without consulting the people. They did not know how strongthe sentiment was in favor of the old royal line. One of the oldBirchlegs, on hearing of this compact, was bitterly angry. He had madefrequent visits to the young prince, whom he loved and admired, but onhis next visit he pushed away the playful lad, roughly bidding himbegone. 

Haakon reproachfully asked, "What have I done to make you so angry?"

"Go away from me, " cried Helge, the veteran; "to-day you have been robbedof your right to the crown and I have ceased to love you. "

"Who did that and where was it done?"

"It was done at the _Oere-thing_ [the Assembly at Oere], and those whodid it were King Inge and his brother Earl Haakon. "

"Then you should not be angry with me, my kind Helge, nor be troubledabout this. What they did cannot be lawful, for my guardian was not thereto speak on my side. "

"Your guardian! Who is he?" asked Helge. 

"I have three guardians, God, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Olaf, " said theboy solemnly. "To their keeping I give my cause, and they will guard meagainst all wrong. "

The old man, at this declaration, caught the boy in his arms and kissedhim. 

"Thanks for your wise words, my prince, " he said. "Words like those arebetter spoken than unspoken. "

These words show that the little fellow was coming to think for himselfand had an active and earnest mind. In fact, he was so precocious andsaid such droll things as greatly to amuse the king and those around him. Here is one of his sayings, spoken in a spell of cold weather when thebutter could not be spread on the bread. The prince bent a piece of breadaround the butter, saying:

"Let us tie the butter to the bread, Birchlegs. " This was thought sosmart that it became a proverb among the Birchlegs. 

Soon after this Earl Haakon died and the little fellow, who had hithertolived in his house, was taken to the king's court, where he was treatedlike a prince. The king was growing feeble from sickness and he loved tohave the boy with him, finding his talk very amusing and entertaining. Soon after this he also died, Prince Haakon then being fourteen yearsold. 

Though Earl Haakon, the king's brother, who had hoped to be king, died, as we have said, before him, there was another brother named Skule whowas quite as ambitious and of whom the Birchlegs were much afraid. Abody-guard of these faithful warriors took charge of the boy as soon asKing Inge was dead, with orders to follow him day and night. 

Earl Skule at once began to plan and plot to seize the throne, and inthis he was supported by the archbishop, but in spite of them theBirchlegs proclaimed Haakon king and Skule had to yield to the strongsentiment in his favor. As for the noble then called king by the Baglers, he too died just at this time and left no children, so that the way wasclear for the boy king, and Haakon soon sailed to the south with a largefleet and took possession of Viken and the Uplands, the chief dominionsof the Baglers. 

By the wise policy of the young king and his advisers the Baglers weremade his friends and the next year they were fighting with the Birchlegsagainst the Slittungs or Ragamuffins, who were made up of robbers, tramps, and wandering vagabonds of all kinds, thousands of whom had beenset adrift by the civil war. 

But Haakon's worst foe was Earl Skule, who continued his plots andintrigues, and who was supported by the clergy, these saying they haddoubts if the boy was really the son of the elder Haakon and grandson ofKing Sverre. Such things were not in those days usually settled in courtsof law, but by what was called the ordeal, one form of which was to walkbarefoot over red-hot irons. If not burned the accused was thought tohave proved the justice of his cause. 

[Illustration: LINKOPING FROM TANNEFORS. ]

For a king already in possession of the throne to submit to such a demandand humble himself by thus trying to prove who he was, was a thing neverdone before and an old peasant gave vent to the general sentiment inthese words:

"Who can show in history a case of the sons of peasants prescribing termslike these to an absolute king? It would be wiser and more manly to bearanother kind of iron--cold steel--against the king's foes, and let Godjudge between them in that way. "

But Inga, the king's mother, declared that she was ready to endure theordeal and Haakon consented to it. Earl Skule now felt sure ofsucceeding, not dreaming that the ordeal could be gone through withoutburning, but to make more sure, he bribed a man to approach Inga andoffer her an herb which he said would heal burns. 

The plot was discovered by the faithful Birchlegs and Inga warned of it;for to use such herbs would make the test invalid and subject Inga andher son to opprobrium. But all that Skule and his fellow-plotters coulddo proved of no avail, for Inga passed through the ordeal unhurt andtriumphantly proved, in the legal system of that day, the justice of hercause. How red-hot iron was prevented from burning is a matter which wecannot discuss, and can only say that this ordeal was common and many aresaid to have gone through it unscathed. 

We set out in this story to tell how the child Haakon passed through allthe perils that surrounded him and grew up to become Norway's king. Herethen we should end, but for years new perils surrounded him and of theseit is well to speak. They were due to the ambitious Earl Skule, who madeplot after plot against the king's life, and was forgiven again and againby the noble-minded monarch. 

King Haakon's friends sought to put an end to this secret plotting byarranging a marriage between the young monarch and Earl Skule's stillyounger daughter Margaret. But this did not check him in his plots, andhe finally set sail for Denmark to try and get aid from King Valdemar. Hewas ready to agree if the kingdom were won to reign as a vassal of theDanish king; but when he got there no such king was to be found. He hadbeen captured in battle five days before, and was now with his son in aprison at Mecklenburg. The disappointed plotter had to sail home andpretend to be the king's friend as before. 

For years Skule's plots went on. He took the field against a new horde ofrebels called the Ribbungs, but he took care never to press them tooclosely, and they long gave the king trouble. For more than twenty yearsSkule thus continued to plot and plan, the king discovering his schemesand pardoning him more than once, but nothing could cure him of hisambitious dream. 

In the end, when he was nearly fifty years old, he succeeded in havinghimself proclaimed king and in sending out bands of warriors who killedmany faithful friends of King Haakon. He tried to conceal his purposeuntil he had gathered a large force, but one man escaped the vigilance ofhis guards and brought word of the treachery to Haakon. The latter, seeing that he must check this rebellion if he wished to sit safely onhis throne, at once took to his fleet, sailed southward with the utmostspeed, and rowed, under cover of a fog, up the Folden fiord to Oslo, where the rebel was. He had been carousing with his followers the nightbefore and the wassailers were roused from their drunken sleep by thewar-horns and ran out to see the king's ships driving in towards thepiers. 

The rebels were quickly scattered, but Skule escaped, and at length wastraced to the woods, where he was wandering with a few friends. Thefriars of a monastery took pity on them and hid them in a tower, disguised with monkish cowls. Despite their disguise they were traced totheir hiding place, and when the friars refused to give them up thepursuers set fire to the tower. Driven out by the smoke and heat, Skulestepped from the gate, holding his shield above his head and saying:

"Strike me not in the face; for it is not right to treat warriors thus. "

In a minute more he lay dead, slain by Birchleg swords. 

The next act in King Haakon's reign was to have himself crowned king, andthus to rid himself of the blot on his claim to the throne. After somenegotiations with the Pope, a cardinal was sent from Rome, the ceremonybeing performed with much pomp and ceremony, and followed with the mostmagnificent feasts and festivities Norway had ever seen. 

From this time on King Haakon ruled as a wise, noble and powerfulmonarch, making his strength felt by his great fleet and setting Norwayhigh among the nations of the north. He died at length in 1263, loved byhis people and respected by all outside his realm. 

_KING VALDEMAR I. AND BISHOP ABSOLON. _

The most brilliant period in the history of Denmark was that of thereigns of the Valdemars, and especially of Valdemar I. And his sons, whose names and memories are still cherished in that kingdom, the Danesregarding them as the greatest and best monarchs they ever had. 

There were wretched times in Denmark before 1157, when Valdemar came tothe throne, and his early years were passed in the midst of civil warsand all kinds of sorrows and troubles. When the new king was crowned andbegan the business of governing, he found little to govern with. Therewere no money, no soldiers, no trade, no order in the kingdom, everythingbeing at so low an ebb that he found it necessary, as some writers state, to secure support from Germany by recognizing the Emperor FrederickBarbarossa as his suzerain and doing homage to him as a vassal in 1162. But this ceremony did not entail upon him any of the usual duties of avassal, and was more of an ordinary alliance than a formal act ofsubmission. 

Yet poor as was the state of Denmark when Valdemar came to it as king, when he died he left it a flourishing, busy and peaceful country, towhich he had added great tracts of land on the pagan shores of theBaltic, whose people he forced to give up their heathen practices. 

During his reign Valdemar made as many as twenty expeditions againstthese piratical peoples, gradually subduing them. At first, indeed, heshowed very little courage, and found so many reasons for turning backbefore meeting the foe, that the sailors looked upon him as a coward, andonce he overheard one of them say with a laugh, that the king was "aknight who wore his spurs upon his toes, only to help him to run away thefaster. "

This made him very angry, but on speaking of it to his foster-brother, Axel Hvide, --afterwards Bishop Absolon, --he found that the feeling thathe lacked the courage of a warrior was general. This contempt made him soashamed that from that time on he faced danger bravely and was neveragain known to turn back from any risk. 

Though Axel became a bishop, he had begun life as a soldier and wasthroughout life bold and daring, a man who loved nothing better than tocommand a ship or to lead his men in an assault against some fierce bandof sea robbers. From his castle Axelborg, on the site of the later cityof Copenhagen, he kept a keen lookout for these pirates and soughtmanfully to put an end to their plundering raids. 

The war against the Baltic heathens continued until 1168, when it endedin the capture of the town of Arcona, on the island of Rygen, and thedestruction of the great temple of the Slavic god Svanteveit, whosemonstrous four-headed image was torn down from its pedestal and burned inthe presence of its dismayed worshippers. 

The taking of this temple is an event of much interest, for it was due tothe shrewdness of a young Danish soldier, who circumvented the heathensby a clever stratagem. 

While the army lay encamped on the island beach, below the town ofArcona, this man noticed that the high cliffs on which the temple wasbuilt were honeycombed by many deep holes, which could not be seen fromthe ramparts above, but were quite visible from the beach below. One dayit occurred to him that by making use of these holes he could roast thepagan worshippers out of their nests, and he arranged with some of hisfellows to carry out his plan. 

Gathering such dry straw and small sticks as they could collect, thesoldiers pretended to be playing at a game of pitch and toss, which ifseen by the sentinels on the ramparts above would not seem suspicious tothem. In this way they caused much of the straw and sticks to lodge inthe holes in the steep cliff. Then, by using spears and stones for aladder, one of them climbed for a distance up the steep rock wall and setfire to some of the inflammable rubbish in the holes. 

The effect was stupendous. The flames spread from hole to hole, creepingup the face of the rock until the wooden spikes and palings at itssummit were in a blaze. This took place unseen by the pagans, who firsttook the alarm when they saw flames circling round the great mast fromwhich floated the banner of their god. 

Before they could take any steps to extinguish the flames, and while theystood in a panic of apprehension, the Danes, headed by Bishop Absolon, rushed to the assault and succeeded in taking the town. 

There was nothing left for them but to accept baptism, on which theirlives depended, and the worthy bishop and his monks were kept busy atthis work for the next two days and nights, the bishop desisting onlywhen, half blind from want of sleep, he dropped down before the altarthat had been set up beside the fonts, where the converts were receivedand signed with the cross. 

The work of baptism done, King Valdemar caused the huge wooden idol ofthe god to be dragged amid martial music to the open plain beyond thetown, where the army servants chopped it up into firewood. In this workthe new converts could not be induced to take part, for, Christians asyet only in name, they feared some dread revenge from the greatSvanteveit, such as lightning from heaven to destroy the Danes. 

The Christians of that age were quite as superstitious, for they declaredthat when the image was being carried out of the temple gates, a horriblemonster, spitting fire and brimstone, burst from the roof and leaped withhowls of wrath into the sea below, which opened to receive it, andclosed over its head with billows of smoke and flame. 

Valdemar died in 1182, after making such friends of his people and doingso much for them, that when the funeral procession, headed by BishopAbsolon, drew near the church of Ringsted, where the burial was to takeplace, it was met by a throng of peasants, weeping and lamenting, whobegged the privilege of carrying the body of their beloved king to hislast resting place. 

When the bishop began to read the service for the dead his voice failedhim and he wept and trembled so much that he had to be held up by some ofthe assistant monks. After all was over the people went away in deepgrief, saying that Denmark's shield and the pagans' scourge had beentaken from them and that the country would soon be overrun again by theheathen Wends. 

But Absolon kept a firm hand upon the reins of state, and when the youngPrince Knud, Valdemar's son, was proclaimed king at the age of twentyeverything was in order. Knud proved as good and gallant as his father, holding Denmark bravely against all foes, and when the Emperor Barbarossasent to him to appear before the imperial court at Ratisbon and do homagefor his crown, he returned a defiant answer. 

The position of Denmark had greatly changed since Valdemar had obeyedsuch a summons, and when the envoy of the emperor brought him theimperial command, he sent back the following proud reply:

"Tell your master that I am as much monarch in my own realm as the kaiseris in his, and if he has a fancy for giving away my throne, he had betterfirst find the prince bold enough to come and take it from me. "

This ended all question of the vassalage of Denmark, but the emperornever forgot nor forgave the insult and took every opportunity in afteryears to stir up strife against Denmark. In 1184 he incited the paganprinces of Pomerania to invade the Danish islands with a fleet of fivehundred ships. But they had old Bishop Absolon to deal with, and theywere so utterly routed that when the fog, which had enabled the Danes toapproach them unseen, cleared away, only thirty-five of their ships wereable to keep the sea. 

This victory made Knud ruler over all Pomerania and part of the kingdomlater known as Prussia, and he added to his title that of "King of theWends and other Slavs. " He went on adding to his home kingdom until thedominion of Denmark grew very wide. 

That is all we need say about King Knud, but it must be said of BishopAbsolon that he was a wise patron of knightly arts and historicallearning and encouraged the great scholar Saxo Grammaticus to write hisfamous "History of Denmark, " in which were gathered all the old Danishtales that could be learned from the skalds and poets and found in themonasteries of the age. Absolon, who had loved and cared for the princesKnud and Valdemar since their childhood, died in the year 1201 and KingKnud followed him a few years later, leaving the throne to his brotherValdemar. 

_THE FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES OF VALDEMAR II. _

Prosperous and glorious was the kingdom of Denmark under Valdemar II. Inthe early part of his reign, though misery was his lot during many yearsof his life. By his victories he won the title of "Sejr, " or "theconqueror, " and his skill and goodness as a ruler won him the love of hispeople, while the Danes of to-day look upon him as one of the best andnoblest of their kings. He was long regarded by them as the perfect modelof a noble knight and royal hero, and his first queen, Margrete ofBohemia, was called by the people "Dagmar, " or "Day's Maiden, " from theiradmiration of her gentleness and beauty. In many of their national songsshe is represented as a fair, fragile, golden-haired princess, mild andpure as a saint, the only sin she could think of to confess on herdeath-bed being that she had put on her best dress and plaited her hairwith bright ribbons before going to mass. While the Danes thus regard thememory of Queen Dagmar, they have no words too bad to use in speaking ofValdemar's second queen, the black-haired Berangaria, whose name becamewith them a by-word for a vile woman. 

But Valdemar's tale is largely one of sorrow and suffering and rarely hasmonarch had to bear so cruel a fate as was his during many unhappy yearsof his life. 

Valdemar was the son of Valdemar I. , and brother of King Knud, for whomas a prince he fought bravely, putting down the Sleswick rebels, who hadbeen stirred to rebellion by the German emperor, and conquering hisenemy, Count Adolf of Holstein. Succeeding his brother Knud in 1202, hisfirst exploit was the conquest of Pomerania, which Knud had won beforehim. This was now added to the Danish dominions, and in 1217 the Germanemperor of that date granted to him and the future kings of Denmark allthe territories north of the Elbe and the Elde. Thus Valdemar was mademaster of a great part of northern Germany and ruled over a widerdominion to the south than any Danish king before or after. 

His success in the south led him to attempt the conquest of the north, and armies were sent to Norway and Sweden with the hope of winning thesekingdoms for the Danish crown. In this effort he failed, but in 1219 hiszeal for the Church and love of adventure led him to undertake a greatexpedition, a crusade against the heathens of Esthonia. 

Gathering an army of sixty thousand men and a fleet of fourteen hundredships, a mighty force even for the small craft of that day, he quicklymade himself master of that stronghold of paganism, great numbers of thepeople consenting to be baptized. But here he found a new and unexpectedenemy and had to fight fiercely for the privilege of carrying the crossof Christ to the heathen Esthonians. 

His new enemies were the Knights of the Sword, of Livonia, who declaredthat the duty of converting the pagans in that region belonged to them, and that no other Christians had the right to interfere. And from thisensued a war in which fierce battles were fought and much blood was shed, for the purpose of deciding who should have the privilege of convertingthe heathen. It is doubtful if ever before or since a war has been foughtfor such a purpose, and the heathens themselves must have looked on withgrim satisfaction to see their enemies cutting each other's throats tosettle the question as to who had the best right to baptize them. 

In one of the battles with the heathens, while Bishop Andreas, thesuccessor to Bishop Absolon, was praying on a high hill with upliftedhands for victory, there suddenly fell down from heaven the Danneborg, the national standard of Denmark. At least, that is what legend tells usof its appearance. 

It is held to be much more probable that this banner, bearing a whitecross on a blood-red field, was sent by the Pope to Valdemar as a tokenof his favor and support, and that its sudden appearance, when the Daneswere beginning to waver before the pagan assaults, gave them the spiritthat led to victory. The result, in those days of superstition, naturallygave rise to the legend. 

When Valdemar returned a victor from Esthonia, having beaten alike thepagans and the Livonian knights, and bearing with him the victoriousDanneborg, he was at the height of his glory, and none dreamed of theterrible disaster that awaited him. He had made enemies among the Germanprinces, and they conspired against him, but they were forced to submitto his rule. Some of those whose lands he had seized did not hesitate toexpress openly their hatred for him; but others, while secretly plottingagainst him, pretended to be his friends, shared in his wars and hiscourtly ceremonies, and were glad to accept favors from his hands. 

One of those who hated him most bitterly, yet who seemed most attached tohim, was the Count-Duke of Schwerin, a man who, alike from his darkcomplexion and his evil disposition, was known in his own country as"Black Henry. " The king had often been warned to beware of this man, but, frank and open by nature and slow to suspect guile, he disregarded thesewarnings and went on treating him as a trusty friend. 

This enabled Count Henry to make himself familiar with Valdemar's habitsand mode of life. He secretly aided certain traitors who cherished evildesigns against the king; but when he found that all these plots failedhe devised one of his own which the king's trust in him aided him incarrying out. 

In the spring of the year 1233 Valdemar invited his seeming friend to atwo days' hunt which he proposed to enjoy in the woods of Lyö, but thecount sent word that he regretted his inability to join him, as he hadbeen hurt by a fall and could not leave his bed. 

His bed just then was his horse's saddle. The opportunity which heawaited had come, and he spent the night scouring the country in searchof aid for the plot he had in view, which was no less than to seize andhold prisoner his trusting royal friend. He knew the island well, andwhen his spies told him that the king and his son Valdemar had landed atLyö with a small following of huntsmen and servants, Black Henry preparedto carry out his plot. 

The king's first day's hunt was a hard one and he and his son sleptsoundly that night in the rude hut that had been put up for their use. Noone thought of any need of guarding it and the few attendants of the kingwere scattered about, sleeping under the shelter of rocks and trees. 

Late that night Count Henry and his men landed and made their waysilently and cautiously through the tired sleepers to the royal hut, which he well knew where to find. Quietly entering, they deftly gaggedthe king and prince before they could awake, and before either of themcould raise a hand in resistance sacks of wool and straw were drawn overtheir heads, so closely as nearly to choke them, and strong bonds weretied round their legs and arms. 

Thus thoroughly disabled, the strong king and his youthful son werecarried through the midst of their own people to the strand and laidhelplessly in the bottom of the waiting boat, which was rowed away withmuffled oars, gliding across the narrow sound to the shore of Fyen. Herewaited a fast-sailing yacht to which the captives were transferred, sailbeing set before a favoring wind for the German coast. 

The next morning, when the king's attendants were searching for themissing king, he and his son, still bound and gagged, were landed on alonely part of the sea-shore, placed on awaiting horses, and tightlysecured to the saddles, after which they were hurried on at full gallop, stopping only at intervals to change the armed escort, until the castleof Danneberg, in Hanover, was reached. 

This castle had been loaned by its owner to Count Henry, he having nostronghold of his own deemed secure enough to hold such importantcaptives. So roughly had they been treated that when the bonds wereremoved from Prince Valdemar, who resembled his mother Dagmar alike inhis beauty and her feebleness, the blood flowed from every part of hisbody. Yet, without regard to his youth and sufferings, the cruel captorshut up him and his royal father in a cold and dark dungeon, where theywere left without a change of clothing and fed on the poorest andcoarsest food. 

This, many might say, was a just retribution on King Valdemar, for yearsbefore, when as a prince he had put down the rebellion in Sleswick, hehad seized its chief leader, his namesake Bishop Valdemar, and kept himfor many years in chains and close confinement in the dungeon of SöborgCastle, and had later subjected Count Adolf of Holstein to the same fate. Bishop Valdemar had been released after fourteen years' imprisonment atthe entreaty of Queen Dagmar, and was ever after one of the most bitterenemies of the Danish king. 

But though a bishop and count might be thus held captive, it is difficultto conceive of a powerful monarch being kept prisoner by a minor noblefor three long years, despite all that could be done for his release. Nothing could give a clearer idea of the lawless state of those times. King Valdemar and his son lay wearing the bonds of felons and sufferingfrom cold and hunger while the emperor and the Pope sought in vain fortheir release, threatening Black Henry with all the penalties decreed byempire and church for those who raised their hands against a prince. 

The shrewd captor readily promised all that was asked of him. He wouldrelease his captives without delay. Yet he had no intention to keep hisword, for he knew that Rome and Ratisbon were too far from Danneberg togive him serious cause for alarm, especially as the other nobles ofnorthern Germany were prepared to help him in keeping their common enemyin prison. 

As for Denmark itself, the people were infuriated and eagerly demanded tobe led to the rescue of their beloved king; yet Valdemar's sons werestill young, all the kinsmen of the royal family had been banished orwere dead, and there was no one with the power and right to take controlof public affairs. 

For some time, indeed, the fate of the king remained unknown to thepeople. Valdemar's nephew Albert, Count of Orlamunde, was on his way toRome when the news of the king's capture reached him. He immediatelyturned back, collected an army, and gave battle to the German princes whowere helping Count Henry to defend Danneberg. But his hasty levies weredefeated and he taken prisoner, to be thrown into the same dungeon as theroyal captive. 

Finally King Valdemar, seeing no other hope of release, agreed to theterms offered by Black Henry, which were that he should pay a ransom of45, 000 silver marks, give him all the jewels of the late Queen Berangarianot already bestowed on churches and monasteries, and send him a hundredmen-at-arms, with horses and arms for their use. For assurance of this hewas to send his three younger sons to Danneberg to be kept in prison withCount Albert until the money was paid. 

These terms agreed to, the king and prince were set free. Valdemar atonce hastened to Denmark, which he found in a fearful state from itshaving been three years without a head. Humbled and crushed in spirit, finding all his dominions in Germany set free from their allegiance andall the kingdoms won by his valor lost to Denmark, he scarcely knew whatsteps to take. The ransom demanded he was unable to pay and he grieved atthe thought of subjecting his young sons to the fate from which he hadescaped. In his misery he wrote to the Pope, asking to be released fromthe oath which had been exacted from him to let his children go intocaptivity. 

The Pope, full of pity for him, sent a bishop to Count Henry, telling himthat if he tried to enforce the demand exacted under durance from theking of Denmark, he should be deprived of the services of religion and beheavily fined by the papal power for his cruel and unrighteous act. Thuscalled to account for his treachery and wickedness, Black Henry wasforced to forego the final cruel exaction of his traitor soul. 

Misfortune, however, pursued Valdemar. When in 1227 the peasants ofDitmarsh refused to pay the tribute they had long paid the Danish crown, the insult to his weakness was more than the king could endure. Hemarched an army into their lands, but only to find himself defeated andfour thousand of his men killed by the rebels, who were strongly aided bythe German princes of Holstein, and especially by Count Adolf, his formercaptive. He himself was wounded in the eye by an arrow which struck himto the ground, and would have been captured a second time but for the aidof a friendly German knight. 

This foeman had been formerly in Valdemar's service, and when he saw hisold royal master helpless and bleeding, he lifted him to his saddle andcarried him to Kiel, where his wounds were healed, means being then foundto send him back to his kingdom. 

Valdemar remained on the throne for fourteen years afterwards, but thesewere years of peace. War no longer had charms for him and he devotedhimself to the duties of government and to preparing codes of law for theprovinces of his kingdom. In that age there were no general laws for thewhole country. 

The laws of Valdemar continued in force for four hundred and fifty years, and in 1687, when Christian V. Framed a new code of laws, some of the oldones of Valdemar were retained. In them the old custom of the ordeal wasset aside, being replaced by the system of the jury, one form of whichconsisted of "eight good men and true" chosen by the king, and another oftwelve men chosen by the people. The laws were lenient, for most crimescould be atoned for by money or other fines. Three days after the last ofthese codes was approved Valdemar died, at the age of seventy-one, leaving three sons all of whom in turn ruled after him. His son Valdemar, who shared his imprisonment, had died long before. 

_BIRGER JARL AND THE CONQUEST OF FINLAND. _

Birger Jarl, who became one of the great men of Sweden about 1250, roseto such importance in the early history of that kingdom that one cannotpass him by without saying something about his career. Sweden was then aChristian kingdom and had been for many years, for the religion of Christhad been preached there, as the sagas tell, four centuries earlier. Butheathenism prevailed until long afterwards, and it was not until the daysof King Stenkil, who came to the throne in 1061, that an earnest effortwas made to introduce the Christian worship. Finally paganism completelydied out, and when Birger came to the throne Sweden had long been aChristian realm. 

But paganism still had a stronghold in Finland, and when Bishop Thomas, azealous churchman, of English birth, proclaimed that the Christiansshould have no intercourse with the pagans in Finland or even sell themfood, the Finlanders became so incensed that they invaded the Christiancountry and put the people to death with frightful tortures. Theircruelties created terror everywhere and Bishop Thomas fled to Gothlandwhere, crazed with horror at the result of his proclamation, he soondied. 

King Erik was then on the throne of Sweden, but Birger, the son of agreat earl of Gothland, became a famous warrior, and as the king had nosons he made Birger a jarl, or earl, and chose him as his heir. One ofthe exploits by which Birger had won fame was the following. The town ofLübeck, in North Germany, was closely besieged by the king of Denmark, who had cut it off from the sea by stretching strong iron chains acrossthe river Trave, on which the town is situated. He thus hoped to starvethe people into surrender, and would have done so had not Birger come totheir rescue. He had the keels of some large ships plated with iron, loaded them with provisions, and sailed up the river towards thebeleaguered city. Hoisting all sail before a strong wind, he steeredsquarely on to the great chains, and struck them with so mighty a forcethat they snapped asunder and the ships reached the town with theirsupplies, whereupon the Danish king abandoned the siege. This story is ofinterest, as these are the first iron-plated ships spoken of in history. 

By this and other exploits Birger grew in esteem, and when the Finnsbegan their terrible work in the north he and the king summoned thepeople to arms, and the old warlike spirit, which had long been at rest, was reawakened in the hearts of the Swedes. The Pope at Rome hadproclaimed a crusade against the Finns, promising the same privileges toall who took part in it as were enjoyed by those then taking part in thecrusades to the Holy Land, and on all sides the people grew eager toengage in this sacred war. 

Then there was brushing and furbishing on all sides; ancestral swords, which had long hung rusting on the walls, were taken down and sharpenedanew; helmets and cuirasses were burnished until they shone like silveror gold; tight-closed purses were opened by those who wished to aid thecause of Christ; and old ships were made ready for the waves and new oneslaunched. Rosy lips were kissed by lovers who would never kiss themagain, and loud was the weeping of the maidens and mothers who saw thosethey loved setting out for the war, but they consoled themselves as bestthey could by the thought that it was all for the glory of God. Men ofSweden had gone to the crusades in Palestine, but here was a crusade oftheir own at home, and all were eager to take part in it. 

A great fleet was got together and set sail under the command of BirgerJarl. Its course lay up the Gulf of Bothnia, and where it came to landBirger erected a great wooden cross as a sign that he had come for thespread of the Christian faith. From this the place was called Korsholm. 

The heathen Finns knew of his coming and had gathered in great numbers todefend their country against its invaders, but nothing could stay thefury of the crusaders, who were incensed with the cruelties thesebarbarians had committed, and drove them back in dismay wherever they metthem, Birger Jarl showing the greatest skill as a leader. He made publica law that all who became Christians should be protected in life andproperty, and within two years he succeeded in introducing Christianityinto that country--perhaps more in appearance than reality. At any ratehe built forts, and settled a colony of Swedes in East Bothnia, and thusdid much towards making Finland a province of Sweden. 

While this was going on King Erik the Lame died (in 1250). As he left noheir there were many pretenders to the crown. The fact that Birger hadbeen named by the king two years before was lost sight of, and it lookedas if there would be civil war between the many claimants. To prevent anysuch result a powerful noble named Iwar hastily summoned an assembly andthrough his influence Valdemar, Birger Jarl's son, was chosen as king. This was all done so quickly that it was completed in fourteen days afterErik's death. 

When the news of this hasty action reached Birger in Finland he was veryangry, and hastened home with all speed, bringing with him the greaterpart of his army. He was highly displeased that he had not himself beennamed king, as had been promised, instead of a boy, even if the boy washis son. Calling together those who had made the choice of Valdemar, hehotly asked them:

"Who among you was so bold as to order an election during my absence, though you knew that King Erik named me Jarl and chose me for his heir?And why did you choose a child for your king?"

Iwar answered that it was he that ordered the election and said:

[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. VILLAGE LIFE AND HOMES IN SWEDEN. ]

"Though you are indeed most worthy to wear the crown, you are advanced inyears and cannot live to rule us as long as your son. "

This answer brought another angry outbreak from Birger and Iwar againsaid:

"If you do not like this, do with your son what you please. There is nofear but we shall be able to find another king. "

For a time Birger sat in moody silence, and then asked:

"Who then would you take for your king?"

"I also can shake out a king from under my cloak, " was Iwar's haughtyanswer. 

This threw the Jarl into a dilemma. The faces of the people presentshowed their approval of what Iwar had said, and at length, fearing thatif he resisted their action the crown might be lost both to himself andhis son, he gave in to their decision. 

To give dignity to the occasion, he took steps to have his son crownedwith much magnificence, and shortly after sent his daughter Rikissa withgreat pomp and a rich dower to the frontier of Norway, where she was metby the king of that country and was married with stately ceremony to hisson. The next year Birger's mother died, and as there was a prophecy thather family would remain in power as long as her head was up, he had herburied upright, being walled up in a pillar in Bjelbo Church so that herhead should never droop. 

Birger Jarl belonged to a great family called the Folkungers, who longheld all the power in Sweden, and many of whom had been aspirants for thethrone. These were so angry at being deprived of what they had hoped forthat they determined to take the throne by force, and their leaders wentto Denmark and Germany, where they collected a large army. When theylanded in Sweden many of the people of that country joined them, andthough Birger had also a large force he began to fear the result. 

He therefore sent his chancellor, Bishop Kol, to ask for a personalinterview with the leaders of the opposite force, with solemn promises ofsafety. Yielding to the bishop's persuasions, the chiefs accompanied himacross the river that separated the two armies. Then Birger did adastardly act. No sooner had the chiefs come within his power than he hadthem seized and beheaded on the spot as rebels. 

Thus fell a number of the leading men of Sweden, and, the leaders fallen, Birger attacked and easily dispersed their army, sparing the Swedes, butcutting to pieces all the Germans that could be overtaken. Thus he addedgreatly to the power of his family, but by an act of treachery andperjury for which Archbishop Lars laid upon him a heavy penance. As forBishop Kol, who had been made the innocent agent in this shameful deed, he never read mass again, and finally resigned his office and left hiscountry, journeying as a pilgrim to the Holy Land in expiation for hisinvoluntary crime. He never found peace and rest until he found them inthe grave. 

Birger Jarl by these means rose to be the mightiest man in the north. Hisson was king of Norway, his daughter was queen of Sweden, and hisdaughter-in-law was a princess of Denmark, for when Valdemar becametwenty years of age he sought and won for his bride the beautiful DanishPrincess Sophia. The marriage was one of great pomp, a great hall beingbuilt for the occasion, where the courtiers appeared in new-fashioneddresses of rich stuffs, and there were plenty of banquets, games, dances, and even tilts and tournaments, all conducted according to the noblestcustom of the times. 

Birger himself had a queen for his wife, having married the dowager QueenMechthild of Denmark, and to increase his importance he assumed the titleof duke, never before borne in Sweden. But many of the peasants calledhim king, since he governed the kingdom and was married to a queen. Butmeanwhile poor Bishop Kol was dying of grief for the deed of shame intowhich this proud lord had led him. 

Shall we here tell an interesting and romantic story about one ofBirger's brothers? He was a judge in East Gothland, his name being Bengt, and had fallen deeply in love with a damsel named Sigrid, whose familywas not rich nor great, though she herself was so beautiful that she waswidely known as Sigrid the Fair. 

Duke Birger was not pleased with the idea of such a match, thinking thegirl, though of noble birth, of far too lowly rank to mate with a memberof his family. But in such things Judge Bengt had a will of his own andhe married Sigrid without Birger's consent. This so displeased the proudjarl that he sent Bengt a cloak, half of which was made of gold brocadeand the other of coarse and common baize. This was in token of thedifference in rank of the families of Bengt and Sigrid and a significanthint that he should separate from his new wife. 

But Bengt was equal to the situation. He covered the coarse half of thecloak with gold, pearls and precious stones so as to make it morevaluable than the other, and this he sent to his brother with no otheranswer. This only irritated Birger the more, and he sent back themessage, "that he would speak with his brother face to face about thisaffair, " adding some harsh words which were also repeated to Bengt. 

Then, soon after this, the angry jarl saddled his horse and rode with alarge company to Ulfasa, where Bengt lived. When the judge saw the jarl'strain near at hand he fled from his house to the woods, leaving his wife, whom he had carefully instructed how to act, to meet his irritatedbrother. 

When the angry jarl rode into the court, fully prepared to call hiserring brother severely to account, he was surprised to see the fairestwoman he had ever beheld come forward to meet him. She was adorned withthe most costly robes and precious ornaments she could command andeverything had been done to enhance the charm of her beauty. Steppingforth before the jarl, who gazed at her with astonishment, she bowed lowand welcomed him with all honor and courtesy. 

So astonished was Birger with the charming vision that he sprang from hishorse and seized Sigrid in his arms, saying, "Had my brother not donethis I should have done it myself. "

Leading him to the house, she entertained him with the best cheer, andBengt being sent for to the wood, the two brothers were fully reconciled. Such an effect have the charms of a fair woman over the pride and passionof men. 

A few words must serve to finish the story of Birger Jarl. The greatestand most valuable service of his reign lay in the new laws he gave thecountry and his doing away with many of the old barbarian customs toreplace them with the customs of civilization. 

Before this time it was the common practice for the relatives of amurdered man to avenge him on the family of the murderer, thus givingrise to long and bloody feuds. This custom Birger forbade, ordering everyone to seek redress for injury at the courts of justice. He also passedfour Laws of Peace, viz. : for the Peace of the Church, of Women, ofHouse, and of Assize. 

Every one was forbidden to assault another in the church or thechurchyard or on the way to or from church. Whoever did so was declaredoutlawed, and if the assailed man killed his assailant he was held freefrom blame or revenge. This was the Peace of the Church. 

Another ancient custom was to carry away a desired bride by force, without her consent or that of her parents, a fight often arising inwhich the bride's father and brothers were killed. Or on the way of anaffianced pair to church the same outrage might take place, thebridegroom being often killed. This, too, was forbidden under penalty ofoutlawry, the new law being that of Peace for Women. 

To promote general security he forbade, under the same penalty, theattacking of any man, his wife, children, or servants, within his houseor on his property. This was the Law of Home-peace or House-peace. Allviolence was in like manner forbidden to any one going to or attending anassembly of the people, this being the Peace of Assize. 

Birger Jarl improved the laws in many other ways and made Sweden a farmore civilized country than it had been before his time. Another of hisuseful acts was the founding of the city of Stockholm, which before hisday was a mere village on an island, but which he made a stronghold andcity, inviting that commerce to which its situation so excellentlyadapted it. This was one of the most important acts of Birger Jarl, whodied soon afterwards, not living to see the rapid growth in importance ofhis new city. 

_THE FIRST WAR BETWEEN SWEDEN AND RUSSIA. _

In the last tale it was told how Birger Jarl subdued the Finns andbrought then to give up their heathen practices and accept Christianity. But this refers only to the section of Finland bordering on the BalticSea. Farther east the Finns were pagans still, worshipping idols andliving a savage life in their vast forests, and bitterly hating theChristians. At times they would come in hordes out of their wildwoodlands and attack the settled people, killing them in the most cruelway their distorted fancies could contrive. 

They had two chief deities, Jumal, the great good one, and Perkel, thegreat evil one, and these were supposed to meet in fierce encounters inwhich they would throw each other over high mountains. The people keptwooden images of these deities in their huts, and had also open places inthe forest, with a stone on the centre of each, on which they madesacrifices to their divinities. When a Karelian, as these people werecalled, came to within a fixed distance of the sacrificial stone, he tookoff his cap and crawled up to it silently, making sacrifices there of thebones and horns of elk and reindeer. In case of danger they wouldsacrifice goats, cats and cocks, sprinkling their idols with the blood ofthese animals. 

At that time, shortly before the year 1300, Birger, heir to the throne ofSweden, was very young, and the country was under the rule of TorkelKnutson, regent of the kingdom and a wise and energetic man. Exasperatedby the cruelties committed by the Karelians on the Christians, hedetermined to put a stop to them and sailed to Finland with a strongarmy. Against this force the pagan foresters could not make head and theywere soon obliged to submit. A fort with a strong garrison was built atWiborg to keep them in order, and the churchmen who went with theexpedition strove to convert them. 

It is not with these savage woodsmen, however, that we are concerned, butwith the Russians, with which people the Swedes now first came intowarlike contact. The forest Russians of that day were as savage as theFinns and as hard to deal with. They came to the help of the Karelians inthis war, and to punish them the regent took Castle Kexholm, their chiefstronghold, and left in it a garrison under Sigge Lake. It was this thatbrought on the first war between the Swedes and the Russians, some of theevents of which are so interesting that it is worth telling about. 

After the Swedes had held Kexholm for some time their food supply ranvery low, and as no aid came from home many of them wished to abandon thefort. This Sigge Lake would not listen to. He had been left there to holdthe place and did not intend to give it up. But only the bravest of hismen remained with him, the others leaving under pretext of sending foodand reinforcements from home. 

Neither men nor supplies arrived and the Russians, learning of the stateof affairs, gathered in multitudes around the fort, laying close siege toit. In the end, after a brave resistance lasting many days, food becameso scarce that the Swedes dared not stay any longer and they determinedto try and cut their way through the besiegers. 

The gates were thrown open and Sigge rushed out at the head of hiscompany, with such force and fury that for a time it seemed as if theywould succeed. But they were weakened by semi-starvation and in the endthe swarming Russians killed them all but two, who alone made theirescape and carried the news of the disaster back to Sweden. 

The regent was greatly distressed at the loss of the brave men whom hehad left so long without support. It was too late to save their lives buthe felt it his duty to avenge them. To do so he set sail with anotherarmy, making his way up the river Neva, the stream on which the city ofSt. Petersburg was afterwards built. No enemy was seen and the regentlanded on an island in the river, where he built a strong fort which henamed Landscrona, furnishing it plentifully with provisions. 

The Russians, when they found what was being done, were infuriated. Agreat multitude of them, thirty thousand in number, gathered on the Nevaand made a vigorous effort to burn the Swedish fleet, sending rafts downthe stream on which were great heaps of blazing wood. But the regentcaught these by iron chains which he stretched across the stream, holdingthe fire-floats until they burned out. 

This effort failing, the Russians made a fierce attack on the fortress, with such savage violence that though many of them fell the others wouldnot give up the assault. But so strong and so well defended was the placethat they failed in this also, and in the end were obliged to retreat, leaving great numbers of dead behind them. Then a young and brave knightin the garrison, named Matts Kettilmundson, made a sortie against theRussians and drove them back in panic flight, many more of them beingkilled. 

Shortly after this a party of Russian cavalry, one thousand strong, appeared in the edge of a wood, not far from the fort, their armorgleaming brightly in the sunlight. While the garrison were looking atthem from the walls, the brave knight Matts Kettilmundson askedpermission of the regent to ride out against them, saying that "he wouldventure a brush with the bravest among them. "

The regent having consented, the daring fellow put on his armor and hadhis horse led through the gate. Leaping on it he rode out, and when hehad passed the moat, turned back to his friends who lined the wall. 

"Strive to live happily, " he said, "and do not be troubled about me, forit depends on God in heaven whether I shall return with a captive foe orfail to return at all. "

He then rode boldly on and sent an interpreter to the Russian lines, challenging the bravest of the Russians to fight with him for life, goodsand freedom. It must be borne in mind that those were the days ofchivalry and knight-errantry, when such adventures and challenges werecommon things and good faith was kept with those who made them. So noforce or treachery was attempted against the daring knight, although weshould hardly have looked for knightly deeds and chivalrous ways in theRussia of that day. 

However, as the story goes on to say, the Russian king appealed in vainfor a knight to try conclusions with the Swedish champion. Not a man inthe troop was ready to make the venture, and Sir Matts sat his horsethere all day long waiting in vain for an antagonist. As eveningapproached he rode back to the fortress, where every one congratulatedand praised him for his courage. The next morning the Russians haddisappeared. 

Soon after this, the army growing weary and longing for home, the regentset sail down stream, leaving three hundred men and abundant supplies inthe fort, under a knight named Swen. But as contrary winds detained thefleet Sir Matts landed with a strong party of horsemen and made longraids into the country, gathering much booty, with which he returned tothe ships. Then the army continued its way home, where it was receivedwith much joy. 

But the garrison in Landscrona did not find their lot much better thanhad the former garrison in Kexholm. The new walls were damp and theadvancing summer brought hot weather, so that their provisions began tospoil. As a consequence scurvy and other diseases broke out and many ofthe men died. Some of those who remained wished to send home for help, but others objected to this, saying that "they preferred waiting for helpfrom heaven and did not wish to trouble the regent, who had enough toattend to at home. "

When the Russians gathered around the fort to attack it, as they soondid, only twenty men in the garrison were fit to bear arms in defence. These could not properly guard the walls and the Russians steadilyadvanced, all losses being made up from their great numbers, until in nogreat time the walls were taken. The Swedes retired to their houses, continuing to fight, but as the Russians set fire to these, the governorand some others threw down their arms, offering to surrender. They wereat once cut down by the assailants. 

The few who remained alive now took refuge in a stone cellar, where theydefended themselves manfully; and refused to submit until the enemy hadoffered them their lives. Then they yielded and were carried as captivesinto the country, the fortress being razed to the ground. Thus, in theyear 1300, ended the first war between Russia and Sweden. The Swedesfought well and died nobly, but they lost their lives through the neglectof their countrymen and rulers. 

_THE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT OF KING BIRGER. _

When the events narrated in the last tale took place, there were threeyoung princes in the kingdom, Birger, Erik and Valdemar, Torkel, theregent, ruling in their name. But when the princes grew up Birger, theoldest, was crowned king, the other two becoming dukes. But very early inBirger's reign there arose many complaints about the conduct of hisbrothers, who showed themselves haughty and insubordinate. The ill-bloodin time grew to such an extent that the king dismissed his brothers fromhis presence, giving them until sunset to leave. 

"After that, " he said, "if you shall fall into my hands, it will go illwith you. "

This gave rise to bitter enmity and the two dukes gave King Birger no endof trouble, there being war between them three times in succession, bringing the country into a miserable state. During the second war KingBirger was taken prisoner by his brothers, but he was afterwards set freeunder the promise that he would no more disturb Sweden, a third part ofwhich was left under his rule. 

He did not intend to keep his word, but was no sooner set free than hesought aid from his brother-in-law, the king of Denmark, and invaded thekingdom with a Danish army. This was the third war above spoken of. Itended without the king gaining anything but the third of the kingdom, which had already been promised to him. After each of these wars thebrothers became reconciled, and lived for a time peacefully in theirdominions, but they laid such heavy taxes on the people to support theirextravagant courts that great misery prevailed. 

After the last outbreak all remained quiet for nearly ten years, and thedukes thought that their brother was friendly towards them, not dreamingthat his heart was full of hate and treachery. 

In 1317, when Duke Valdemar made a journey to Stockholm, which was in hissection of the kingdom, he stopped at Nyköping to visit his brotherBirger, whom he had not seen for a long time. Birger met him with a greatshow of friendliness, making him welcome in every way. Queen Martha wasequally kind, and Valdemar was highly pleased with these tokens ofregard. Before he left the queen complained to him that it gave her greatpain that Duke Erik avoided his brother, saying that God knew she lovedhim as much as if he were her own brother. 

After spending the night with them Valdemar rode away very well pleased. His men were equally pleased, for they had been well entertained. Onleaving Stockholm he went to Erik's home in Westmoreland, who told himthat he had just been invited to visit Birger's court, and asked if hethought it safe to make such a visit. 

Valdemar said he had no doubt of it, telling of what a pleasant visit hehad made. Erik, however, had doubts, being distrustful of the queen andChancellor Brunke, whom he looked upon as his enemies. But in the end thebrothers decided to accept the invitation and rode away towards Nyköping. When six miles distant they met a knight who advised them to go nofarther, saying:

"You will cause yourselves and your friends much sorrow if both of youtrust yourselves in the king's hands at the same time. "

Valdemar indignantly replied to this that "there are too many who seek tobreed disunion between the king and his brothers. "

The knight then rode off, saying no more, and the dukes rode into Swärta, where they proposed to spend the night. To their surprise no preparationshad been made for them, but a knight met them and saluted them in theking's name, adding that he earnestly requested them not to repose untilthey reached Nyköping, as his longing to meet them was so great that hecould not rest until they arrived. 

On receiving this warm request they rode on, reaching Nyköping in theevening. The king advanced from the castle gate to meet them, greetingthem in an affectionate manner, and taking each of them by the hands ashe led them into the castle. They found a rich feast prepared for them, at which neither mead, wine, nor fair words were wanting. At length DukeValdemar grew suspicious and said to his brother that they were drinkingtoo much wine. But this was soon forgotten and the feast went on, QueenMartha showing herself very gay and lively and every one being full ofthe spirit of enjoyment. 

It was late at night before the merrymaking ended and the dukes went totheir rooms. The queen then said to their men, who had also been welltaken care of:

"Lodging has been prepared for you in the town, as there is not roomenough for you in the castle. "

As they went out Chancellor Brunke stood at the gate, making sure thatthey had all gone, when he shut the castle gates behind them. Then hearmed the servants and led them to the king. Birger, who seemed in somedoubt, bade them to retire and turned to Sir Knut Johanson, asking if hewould assist in making prisoners of the dukes. 

"I will not, my lord, " said Sir Knut. "Whoever has counselled you to dothis is leading you into a great treachery. What, would you deceive andmurder your brothers who came here trusting in your good faith? The devilhimself must be your tempter. Let who will be angry on this account, Iwill never help you in it. "

"Small care you have for my honor, " said the king angrily. 

"Little honor can accrue to you from such an act, " answered Sir Knutsturdily. "If you should carry out this design your honor will be lesshere-after. "

Two other knights warned the king against so treacherous a deed, but hewas so displeased with their words that he ordered them to prison. 

Then he led his armed servants to the sleeping apartment of the dukes andbroke open the door, the noise awakening the sleepers. Valdemar sprangup, and seeing armed men entering the room, he seized one of them andthrew him down, calling on his brother for help. 

"There is no use in resisting, brother, " said Erik, seeing the roomfilling with armed men. 

The king now rushed in and called out savagely:

"Do you remember Hatuna? It will not be better for you here than it wasfor me there, for you shall have the same fate, though it has tarried solong. "

Hatuna was the place where the king had previously been taken prisoner byhis brothers, in somewhat the same treacherous manner. But they had nottreated him with the same shameful cruelty with which he now treatedthem. 

They were taken barefooted deep into the tower and fastened in a dungeon, with a great chain on their legs, while their servants in the town weretaken prisoners and locked up in one ward to the number of twenty, alltheir possessions being divided among their captors. This being done, theking clapped his hands, saying:

"The Holy Ghost bless my queen! Now I have all Sweden in my hand!"

When he set out soon afterwards on an errand of conquest, he left hisbrothers in the charge of a Livonian knight, who had evidently beenbidden to treat them harshly, for he removed them to the lowest dungeonand placed a beam upon their legs. They were fastened to the wall bythick iron round the throat and chains weighing one hundred and fortypounds were riveted on their wrists, the other end being fastened to thebeam. When the chain was fastened upon Erik it was done with suchviolence that a piece of iron broke out, cutting him on the eye so thatblood ran down his cheek. 

Their dungeon was at the bottom of the tower, where they lay on the barerock, a pool of water lying between them. Their food was wretched, theirclothing was wretched, and there was every indication that their wickedbrother did not wish to have them leave that prison alive. 

But the cruel and treacherous king did not find it so easy to bring allSweden under his rule. The news of his wicked act got abroad and spreadthrough the land, exciting general horror and detestation. When he rodeup to Stockholm to take possession he found it closed against him and theburghers made a sally against him, putting his forces to flight. It wasthe same way everywhere, the whole country rising against him. The wickedking now began to learn that the way of the transgressor is hard, and inhis fury of disappointment he locked the door of the dungeon in which hisbrothers lay and threw the key into the stream, leaving them to die ofstarvation. 

But the poor victims were to be thoroughly avenged, for the people wereimplacable in their wrath, and in a short time had so environed the kingthat the fortresses of Nyköping and Stegeborg were alone left to him, andboth of these were besieged. 

Nyköping was soon so severely pressed that the garrison brought up thedead bodies of the dukes and laid them under a dais outside the castle, saying to the besiegers:

"Your siege will now answer no purpose, for the dukes are dead and KingBirger is heir to all the kingdom. "

"No one can hope to win an inheritance by murder, " they replied. "We nowserve as our ruler, Lord Magnus, Duke Erik's son. "

The bodies of the murdered dukes were carried to Stockholm, where theywere buried with much ceremony. But the siege of the castle was continueduntil the garrison was forced to surrender. On obtaining possession of itthe enraged people razed it to the ground. 

Stegeborg, where Prince Magnus, King Birger's son, was in command, heldout much longer. The king and queen, with Brunke, their confederate, werein Gothland, which province alone they held, and from which they sent anumber of ships to Stegeborg with provisions and troops. These had nosooner appeared in the river Skares, however, than they were attacked andtaken, leaving Prince Magnus as bad off as ever. When this news wasbrought to the king and queen they exclaimed in despair:

"Where shall we turn now, since God has sent us such a misfortune?"

Brunke, the cruel chancellor, volunteered to lead an expedition himself, saying that he would no more spare the dukes' people than they had sparedthe king's. Gathering some vessels, he had them strongly planked allaround, and loading these with provisions and the remainder of the king'sforces, he set out for Stegeborg. 

On entering the Skares the people attacked him with stones and othermissiles, but he and his men protected themselves behind the planks. Seeing this, fire-rafts were sent off from the shore against the ships, and despite all that could be done to keep them off they drifted upon thevessels, setting three of them on fire, from which the flames spread tothe others. 

Brunke and his men leaped overboard, hoping to escape by swimming, butthey were all taken and Brunke and three of his chiefs sent to Stockholm, where they were soon afterwards beheaded. Stegeborg was now in adesperate state and was soon forced to surrender, on the condition thatthe life of Prince Magnus should be spared. This condition was not kept, notwithstanding the fact that he was innocent of his father's crime. Theindignant people were not willing to leave any scion of their wicked kingalive and the poor boy's head was cut off. 

Thus the unholy treachery of King Birger met with retribution. Sir MattsKettilmundson, the brave knight who had shown such courage in Russia, wasmade Administrator of the kingdom and soon defeated a Danish army whichhad been sent to King Birger's aid. Then Birger and his wicked queen wereobliged to flee to Sweden, where grief soon brought him to his death-bed. Queen Martha lived long, but it was a life made bitter by memory of hercrimes and Heaven's retribution. 

[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. MORNING GREETINGS OF NEIGHBORS, SWEDEN. ]

_QUEEN MARGARET AND THE CALMAR UNION. _

We have next to tell how the three kingdoms of Scandinavia, between whichrivalry and hostility had often prevailed, became united into one greatScandinavian realm, under the rule of a woman, the great Queen Margaret. This was a very important event, as its results continued until our ownday, the subjection of Norway, which was then achieved, not being brokenuntil the early days of the present century. It is important to describethe various steps by which this union was brought about. 

From 930, when Harold Fair-Haired, the maker of Norway, died, until 1319, when a king known by the odd title of Haakon Longlegs followed him to thegrave, the throne of Norway had been nearly always filled by some one ofHarold's many descendants. But with the death of Haakon the male line ofKing Harold's descendants was finally broken, and only a woman remainedto represent that great royal stock, Princess Ingeborg, the daughter ofKing Haakon. This fair maiden was promised in marriage while still achild to Duke Erik, son of the late king of Sweden. They were married in1312, and on the same day Duke Valdemar, Erik's brother, married anotherprincess of Norway, also named Ingeborg. About four years later a son wasborn to each of these happy couples, and King Haakon was full of joy, for he now felt that the old royal line was restored. 

One person was not pleased by the birth of these princes. This was KingBirger of Sweden, who had long been at sword's point with his ambitiousbrothers and wanted the throne of Norway as well as that of Sweden todescend to his own son Magnus. He pretended to be pleased, however, forhe had in mind a treacherous plot to destroy his brothers and theirchildren and thus leave the way clear for his ambitious schemes. Thesteps he took to bring this about and their fatal end to his brothers andhis son we have told in the previous tale. After the indignant people haddriven King Birger from the throne the kingdoms of Sweden and Norway wereleft in a strange plight. Magnus, the son of Duke Erik and Ingeborg, wasonly three years old when his grandfather, the king of Norway, died. Thisleft him the successor to the Norse realm. But the deposition of KingBirger and the execution of his son left this royal infant the king ofSweden also, so that these two kingdoms became for the first time united, and this under the rule of a three-year-old child, with regents to governin his name. But the two countries remained separate in everything exceptthat they had now but one king. 

When King Magnus became old enough to act as monarch in reality, he tookthe government of both countries into his hands. But he proved unfit togovern either of them, being a weak and good-natured man, so anxious toplease everybody that he pleased nobody. Born and brought up in Sweden, he knew little and cared less about affairs in Norway and the people ofthat country grew much incensed at his neglect of their interests. Theymade him promise, at a public meeting, to divide the two kingdoms betweenhis two sons; Erik, the elder, to succeed him in Sweden, and Haakon, theyounger, to be given the crown of Norway when he came of age. Eventshappened, as will be seen, to prevent this taking place and to combineall Scandinavia under one great queen. 

This is how it came about. King Magnus made a visit to Denmark, where itwas arranged to marry Prince Haakon to Margaret, daughter and heir of theDanish king, Valdemar. This marriage took place in due time, and not verylong afterwards both King Magnus and Prince Haakon died and Prince Erikwas poisoned by his mother, who was a wicked woman and was angry becausehe opposed her in one of her base schemes. 

Thus as the death of King Birger had left the crowns of Sweden and Norwayto a boy of three, the deaths here named left these crowns and that ofDenmark also to another child, the son of Haakon and Margaret. Thislittle fellow, Olaf by name, too young to appreciate how great he hadbecome, did not live to enjoy his greatness. He died at the age ofseventeen, leaving his royal rights to his mother Margaret. 

It is interesting to learn that the turbulent kingdoms named, the land ofthe sea-kings and the warlike barbarians of the north, each of which hadneeded the hand of a strong man to control them, all now fell under thesceptre of a woman, who at first reigned over Denmark and Norway and soonadded Sweden to her dominion. 

But Queen Margaret was no weakling. She was a woman born to command, strong in mind and body, and more like a man than a woman. In Sweden, towhich she quickly turned her attention, she had a bitter enemy in DukeAlbrecht of Mecklenburg, who had been declared king of that country afterthe death of King Magnus, and who also claimed the crown of Norway, beingremotely related to its royal house. 

He bitterly hated Margaret, whom he called "Queen Breechless, " and byother satirical and insulting names. Finally he took the bold step tocall himself king of Denmark and Norway, a baseless claim which heproposed to enforce. He made a vow never to use a hat until he had drivenout Margaret, and sent her a whetstone several yards long, advising herto use it to sharpen her scissors and needles instead of using a sceptre. He was much too hasty, as he had only a weak hold upon Sweden even, whosenobles did not like his habit of bringing in Germans to fill the posts ofhonor and were anxious to get rid of him. 

Therefore it came about that he found himself confronted by an army ofDanes, Norsemen, and Swedes, and a battle followed in which Albrechtriding with his heavy cavalry upon a frozen marsh, broke through the iceand was taken prisoner. He was now in the power of Queen Margaret, whohad at length the opportunity to repay him for his insults. To replacethe crowns of Norway and Denmark, which he had sought to wear, she putupon his head a fool's cap, with a tail twenty-eight feet long, andrepaid him for his insults and jests in other ways. After she had doneher best to make him an object of laughter and ridicule she locked him upin a strong prison cell, where he was given six years to reflect on hisfolly. 

It took these six years for Margaret's army to subdue the city ofStockholm, which held out stoutly for Albrecht. She won it at last bysetting him free with the proviso that he should pay a ransom of sixtythousand marks. In ease he could not provide it within three years he wasto return to prison or surrender Stockholm. He did the latter andMargaret became mistress of Sweden. 

This able woman had now won a proud position, reached by none of thekings before her. She was ruler of the whole of Scandinavia, with itsthree ancient kingdoms. The triple crown was hers for the lifting, butshe was not ambitious to wear it, and preferred to put it on the head ofher grand-nephew, Erik of Pomerania, though she retained the power in herhands until her death in 1412. Representatives of the three kingdoms weresummoned by her to a meeting at Calmar, where, in July, 1397, a compactuniting the three kingdoms under one ruler was drawn up and signed. 

This was the famous Calmar Union, which held Norway captive for more thanfour hundred years. From that time until the present century Norway hadno separate history, though her people vigorously resisted any measuresof oppression. In 1536 this ancient kingdom was declared to be a provinceof Denmark, being treated like a conquered land; yet there was not a manto protest against the humiliation. The loss of national standing hadcome on so gradually that the people, widely scattered over theirmountain land and absorbed in their occupations, scarcely noticed it, though they were quick enough to resent any encroachment upon theirpersonal liberty and rights. There were outbreaks, indeed, from time totime, but these were soon put down and the Danish rule held good. 

This was not the case with Sweden, a more thickly settled and civilizedland. The struggle of the Swedes for freedom continued for someseventy-five years and was finally accomplished in 1523. How this wasdone will be told in other tales. As for Norway, it was ceded by Denmarkto Sweden in 1814, and the people of that mountain land regained theirnational rights, with a free constitution, though ruled by the Swedishking. This union held good until 1905, when it was peacefully broken andNorway gained a king of its own again, after being kingless for more thanfive hundred years. 

_HOW SIR TORD FOUGHT FOR CHARLES OF SWEDEN. _

In the year 1450 and the succeeding period there was great disorder inthe Scandinavian kingdoms. The Calmar Union was no longer satisfactory tothe people of Sweden, who were bitterly opposed to being ruled by aDanish king. There were wars and intrigues and plots and plans, withplenty of murder and outrage, as there is sure to be in such troubloustimes. There was king after king, none of them pleasing to the people. King Erik behaved so badly that neither Sweden nor Denmark would haveanything to do with him, and he became a pirate, living by plunder. ThenDuke Christopher of Bavaria was elected king of Scandinavia, but he alsoacted in a way that made every one glad when he died. In those days therewas a great nobleman in Sweden, named Karl Knutsson, who had a hand ineverything that was going on. One thing especially made him very popularat that time, when a new king was to be elected. The spring had been verydry and there was danger of a complete failure of the crops, but on theday when Karl landed in Stockholm, May 23, 1450, there came plentifulrains and the people rejoiced, fancying that in some way he had broughtabout the change of weather. So, when the lords assembled to elect a newking, Karl received sixty-two out of seventy votes, while the peopleshouted that they would have no other king. He was then crowned king asCharles VIII. There had been only one Charles before him, but somehow themistake was made of calling him Charles VIII. , and in later years cameCharles IX. , X. , etc. , the mistake never being rectified. 

All this is in introduction to a tale we have to tell, that of a boldchampion of King Charles. For the new king had many troubles to contendwith. The king of Denmark in especial gave him much trouble, and thesouthern province of West Gothland was in danger of seceding from hisrule. In this dilemma he chose his cousin, Sir Tord Bonde, a young butdaring and experienced warrior, as the captain of his forces in thatprovince. He could not have made a better choice, and the stirring careerof Sir Tord was so full of strange and exciting events that we mustdevote this tale to his exploits. 

Lödöse, a stronghold of Gothland, was still held by the Danes, and SirTord's first adventure had to do with this place. On a dark, rainy, andstormy night he led a party of shivering horsemen towards the town, galloping onward at headlong speed over the muddy road and reaching theplace before day-dawn. Utterly unexpectant of such a coming, the Daneswere taken by surprise and all made prisoners, Sir Tord's men feedingluxuriously on the enemy's meat and wine as some recompense for their wetnight's journey. 

Master of the place without a blow, Sir Tord found there a bag ofletters, containing some that had to do with plots against the king. These letters he sent to King Charles, but they put him upon a newadventure of his own. One of the traitors was Ture Bjelke, master ofAxewalla Castle, and Sir Tord, fancying that the traitor would be aswelcome a present to the king as his letters, set out for the castle withthirty men. 

On arriving there Ture, not dreaming that his treason had beendiscovered, admitted his visitor without hesitation. The troopers werealso permitted to enter, Sir Tord having told them to come in groups offive or six only, so as not to excite suspicion by their numbers. 

That night, while they sat at table, and just as the cabbage was beingcarried in, Sir Tord sprang up and seized Ture firmly by the collar, calling out that he arrested him as a traitor to the king. The knight'smen sprang up to defend him, but Sir Tord's men attacked them with swordand fist, the matter ending in the men as well as their master beingtaken prisoners, and the castle falling into Sir Tord's hands. 

On receiving the letters, Charles laid them before the senate atStockholm, but the traitors were men of such power and note, and therewas so much envy and jealousy of Charles among the lords, that he darednot attempt to punish the plotters as they deserved, but was obliged topardon them. As for Ture and his men, they managed to escape from theplace where they had been left for safe keeping, and made their way toDenmark. 

[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. GRIPSHOLM CASTLE, MARI. ]

Meanwhile Sir Tord Bonde was kept busy, for King Christian of Denmarkseveral times invaded the land. On each occasion he was met by thevaliant defender of West Gothland and driven out with loss. On his finalretreat he built a fortress in Smaland, which he called Danaborg, orDanes' castle, leaving in it a Danish garrison; but it was quicklyattacked by Sir Tord with his men-at-arms and a force of armed peasantryand the castle taken by storm, the Danes suffering so severe a defeatthat the place was afterwards known as Danasorg, or Danes' sorrow. 

Sir Tord, to complete his chain of defences, had built several fortressesin Norway, then claimed by King Christian as part of his dominions. Hehad with him in this work about four hundred men, so small a force thatKolbjörn Gast, one of Christian's generals, proceeded against him with anarmy three thousand strong, proposing to drive the daring invader out ofthe kingdom. 

Weak as he felt himself, Sir Tord determined to try conclusions with theDanes and Norsemen, proposing to use strategy to atone for his weakness. One hundred of his men were placed in ambush in a clump of woodland, andwith the remaining three hundred the Swedish leader marched boldly on theenemy, who were entrenched behind a line of wagons. Finding that he couldnot break through their defences, Sir Tord and his men turned in apretended flight and were hotly pursued by the enemy, who abandoned theirlines to follow the flying Swedes. Suddenly Sir Tord turned and led hismen in a fierce attack upon the disordered pursuers, falling upon themwith such bold fury that he had two horses killed under him. At the sametime the hundred men broke from their ambush, sounding their war-hornsloudly, and fell on the flank of the foe, though they were so badly armedthat they had no iron points on their lances. 

Confused and frightened by the double attack and the blare of thetrumpets, the Norsemen broke and fled, crying out that "all the might ofSweden was in arms against them"; but they were pursued so closely thatthe leader and all his men were taken by the brave four hundred. 

Thus the bold and skilful Sir Tord defended the king's cause in thosequarters, winning victories by stratagem where force was lacking andkeeping off the attacks of the Danes by his watchfulness, bravery, andsound judgment; until men came to say, that his brave cousin was theking's chief support and that his secret enemies dared not undertakeanything against him while he had so skilful and courageous a defender. 

There are two ways of disposing of a troublesome foe, one by fair andopen warfare, one by treachery. As Sir Tord could not be got rid of inthe former manner, his enemies tried the latter. Jösse Bosson, one of hisofficers, though born a Dane, had proved so faithful and won hisconfidence to such an extent that the valiant Swede trusted himcompletely, and made him governor of the fortress of Karlborg. He didnot dream that he was nourishing a traitor and one capable of the basestdeeds. 

During the warfare in Norway Sir Tord reached Karlborg one afternoon, proposing to spend the night there. He was received with much show of joyby Jösse, who begged him to take the repose he needed, promising to keepstrict watch in the fortress during his stay there. Without a thought ofdanger Sir Tord went to the chamber provided for him. Jösse said the sameto the followers of his guest, and as they were weary they were glad togo to their beds. 

Having thus disposed of his visitors, Jösse got his boats ready, loadedthem with his most-prized effects, and then turned the key on thefollowers of his trusting guest, hid their swords, and even cut theirbowstrings, so much was he afraid of the heroic soldier who had been hisbest friend. 

Then, axe in hand, he entered the room of Sir Tord. The sleeper, awakenedby his entrance, raised himself a little in the bed and asked what hewanted. For answer the murderous wretch brought down his axe with soheavy a blow that the head of Sir Tord was cleft in twain to theshoulders. Then, taking to his boats, the assassin made his escape to theDanes, by whom his bloody act was probably instigated. 

With the death by treason and murder of the brave Sir Tord, the chiefbulkwark of the realm of King Charles, this tale should end, but thelater career of Charles VIII. Is so curious a one that it will be ofinterest to make some brief mention of it. 

Never has king had a more diversified career. With the death of his bravedefender, enemies on all sides rose against him, his great wealth andproud ostentation having displeased nobles and people alike. Chief amonghis enemies was the archbishop of Upsala, who nailed a letter to the doorof the cathedral in which he renounced all loyalty and obedience to KingCharles, took off his episcopal robes before the shrine of St. Erik, andvowed that he would not wear that dress again until law and right werebrought back to the land. It was a semi-civilized age and land in whichchurchmen did not hesitate to appeal to the sword, and the archbishopclad himself in armor, and with helmet on head and sword by side, set outon a crusade of his own against the man he deemed an unworthy andoppressive king. 

He found many to sustain him, and Charles, taken utterly by surprise, barely escaped to Stockholm, wounded, on a miserable old horse, and witha single servant. Besieged there and unable to defend the town, he hidpart of his treasures, put the rest on board a vessel, and while going onboard himself was accosted by one of the archbishop's friends, who askedhim:

"Have you forgotten anything?"

"Nothing except to hang you and your comrades, " was the bitter reply ofthe fugitive king. 

King Christian of Denmark was called in by the archbishop to take thevacant throne, Charles was pronounced a traitor by his enemies, and forsome years Christian ruled over Sweden. Then his avarice and the heavytaxes he laid on the people aroused such dissatisfaction that aninsurrection broke out, Christian's army was thoroughly defeated, and hewas forced to take ship for Denmark, while Charles was recalled to thethrone and landed in Stockholm in 1464, a second time king of Sweden. 

This reign was not a long one. Christian, who had imprisoned thearchbishop because he opposed the heavy taxation of the peasants, nowsought his aid again and sent him with an army to Sweden. As a resultCharles found himself once more shut up in Stockholm and was again forcedby his enemies to resign the crown, being given instead of his kingdomthe government of Raseborg Castle in Finland. And instead of havingtreasures to take with him, as before, he was now so poor that he couldnot pay a debt of fifty marks he owed in Stockholm. He expressed hisstate of poverty in the following verse:

 "While I was Lord of Fogelwich, I was a mighty man and rich; But since I'm King of Swedish ground A poorer man was never found. "

But his career was not yet ended. He was again to sit on the throne. Friends arose in his favor, the people again grew dissatisfied withDanish rule, and the archbishop, his greatest enemy, died. Charles wasrecalled and returned from Finland, a third time standing on Swedishground as king. 

He had still a hard fight before him. A Swedish nobleman, Erik Wase, sought to win the throne for himself, and Christian of Denmark sent a newarmy to Sweden; but by the aid of a brave young knight, Sten Sture, NilsSture, his cousin, and some other valiant friends, all his enemies wereovercome and thus, after years of struggle and a remarkably diversifiedcareer, he was at length firmly seated on the throne. 

But the unfortunate monarch was not long to enjoy the quiet which he hadso hardly won. He fell seriously ill in May, 1470, and feeling that deathwas near, he sent for Sten Sture and made him administrator of thekingdom, with control of the castle of Stockholm. But he earnestly warnedhim never to seek for the royal power, saying:

"That ambition has ruined my happiness and cost me my life. "

_STEN STURE'S GREAT VICTORY OVER THE DANES. _

Historical tales have much to do with war and bloodshed, with rides andraids, with schemes and stratagems, with plunder and piracy, and withoutrage and oppression. These are the things to which historians give themost space in their pages and which many readers find fullest of interestand excitement. In the present tale we have to do wholly with scenes ofwar, for we propose to tell the story of one of the most remarkablebattles ever fought on Swedish soil. 

This is what led to it. After the death of Charles VIII. And theappointment of Sten Sture as administrator of the kingdom, Christian I. Of Denmark, whom the brave Sture had driven away with his army, fanciedthat the way was open to him again, and that Sweden, without a king, wasa ripe plum ready to drop into his mouth. He was to find it a sour plum, for in Sten Sture he had to deal with a man of notable ability, just andupright in his dealings, wise and prudent in government, and brave andskilful in war. He was a man who did not swear to keep his word, but whonever broke it. "I promise by my three water-lilies" (the arms of theStures) was his form of affirmation, but this simple promise was more tobe trusted than the solemn oaths of many kings and potentates. Thepeople loved and trusted him, and on the 1st of May, 1471, the lateking's appointment was confirmed at a general diet of the people, whichaccepted him by acclamation as the administrator and captain-general ofthe realm. 

He soon had work cut out for him. Christian of Denmark equipped a greatfleet and sailed to Stockholm, where he anchored in the harbor and openednegotiations with the Swedish senate, then the great source of power inthe land. He promised to govern the kingdom in the way they might decideupon and be to them a mild and merciful father. While some of them wereseduced by his specious promises, the majority had no fancy to make himtheir "father. " But they made a truce with him until the matter could bedecided, the Danes being allowed to buy provisions in the town, and ontheir side selling salt to the citizens, this being at that time veryscarce in Stockholm. 

Thus matters went on for seven weeks, at the end of which time Christianconcluded that the Swedes were playing with him, seeking to spin out thetime until all his provisions would be consumed and winter with itsstorms would be at hand to destroy his fleet. As it began to appear thatnothing was to be gained by peace, he resolved to try the effect of war, and on the 1st of September landed his army and laid his plans to besiegethe city. 

His camp was pitched on the hill of Brunkenberg, near the city, connection being made with the fleet by a strong bridge built from theshore to an island in the harbor. Bulwarks and ramparts of earth werethrown up on the side next the town, and were mounted with cannon, withwhich he soon opened a bombardment. He enticed some of the Swedishpeasants into his camp by promise of an abundance of salt, but his mainarmy consisted of the Danish nobles and their troops and of German andScottish soldiers of fortune, brave, stout, able warriors who exercisedthemselves daily in military sports and led a merry and careless life incamp, heedless of everything except pay and plunder. 

When the proud Danish king was told that Sture was collecting an army ofpeasants with which to fight him, he sneeringly said:

"Herr Sten sneaks along ditches and dikes, but I shall punish my littlegentleman with the rod like a child, and teach him to keep himselfquiet. "

Threats were also made by the foreign mercenaries against the citizens, but these only served to rouse their anger and make them more resolute inthe defence of the city. 

As for Herr Sten, he went on raising troops and driving out the Daneswhom he found infesting the seaboard lands, not marching towards the cityuntil he had got rid of all hostility in his rear. On his march he wasmet by his brave cousin, Nils Sture, with an army of the bold Dalmen ofthe north, and the united armies marched on to Jerfva, in the vicinity ofthe beleaguered city. 

From this point Sture wrote to King Christian, offering him safe passagehome, if he would leave Sweden without the need of blows; but he onlyroused the wrath of the king, who loudly swore:

"By God's five wounds, I have not gone to so much trouble and expense togo home without finishing what I came for. "

All that could be done in the cause of peace had been done without avail, and events had reached a point in which the affair could be settled onlyat sword's point and cannon's mouth. 

It was the 10th of October, 1470. Long before the sun rose on thatmemorable day the Swedes of Sture's army were awake and busy preparingtheir arms for the coming fray, in which the mastery of their kingdom wasto be decided. At an early hour the whole army was called to the solemnservice of the mass, after which holy and impressive ceremony theyrefreshed themselves with a hasty meal and returned to their ranks readyfor battle. 

Nils Sture was already on the march with a third of the army, secretlyleading them around a clump of woodland with the purpose of attacking theDanish camp at Brunkenberg from the east. As the ranks of the main armyformed for the attack, their brave leader was gratified to see a body ofgallant horsemen, in shining armor, riding to join him. They werethirteen hundred in number, and had been sent from the town of Kungsholm. 

Advancing before his people, Sture spoke to them with few but tellingwords:

"If you ever desire to enjoy peace and security in Sweden stand by methis day and cling one to another. I shall do my part. I fear not theking nor his Danes and mercenaries, but gladly venture life and blood andall that I possess on the event of this battle. If you will do the same, lift up your hands. "

[Illustration: SKURUSUND, STOCKHOLM. ]

"That will we do with God's help, " came the roar of response, followed bya great shout and wild clanging of arms. Immediately the advance began, the men singing the verse of a psalm written for the occasion. It was nowthe hour of eleven. 

King Christian and his army boldly awaited the assault, looking down fromtheir commanding position on the Swedes, who came on heedless of the roarof guns and flight of arrows. Reaching the foot of the hill, they beganits ascent, met as they did so by the Danes, who rushed down upon themwith lance and sword. In a moment more the hostile lines met and thebloody work of war began. 

On the summit of the hill proudly waved the Danneborg, the sacredstandard of Denmark. In the midst of the Swedes fluttered their country'sflag, borne resolutely up the hill. Around these banners gathered thebravest of the champions, fighting with heroic fury--the Danes, undertheir ambitious king, fighting for glory and riches; the Swedes, undertheir patriot leader, striking for peace and freedom from foreign rule. 

While the battle was thus raging outside the town, Knut Posse, itsgovernor, a skilful soldier, was not idle. He was not content to restwithin the walls while his countrymen were fighting so vigorously forhis relief. The heat of the fight had left the bridge leading from theshore to the ships without a guard, and he sent some men in boats to rowtowards it and with saws and axes to sever the supports beneath it. Thiswas successfully done and the men returned unseen. 

While this was being accomplished the warlike governor, seeing that theSwedes had been checked in their ascent of the hill, made a sally fromthe town with two thousand of the garrison, taking possession of theDanish fortifications in that quarter and setting them on fire. Hisposition, however, could not long be held, for Sten Sture's troops hadbeen driven down the hill and Christian was free to lead a heavy columnagainst him, forcing him back with his handful of men. In the struggle, however, the bold governor advanced so vigorously upon the king, that hereceived a wound from Christian's own hand. 

While Knut Posse was thus being driven back into the town Sten Sture wasseeking to infuse new spirit into his defeated people, telling them that"it would be to their eternal shame if they suffered themselves thus tobe repulsed. "

Marshalling them into orderly ranks as quickly as possible he led themagain towards the hill, and the battle recommenced with its old fire andvigor. Sture rode valiantly at their head, encouraging them with adisplay of heroic valor. While he fought on horseback, by his side ran apeasant named Björn the Strong, who kept pace with the horse and attimes ran before it, swinging his broad battle-axe with such strengththat he opened a road for his leader to ride through. Though surroundedby enemies, the two held their own with the fiery energy of theberserkers of an earlier day, dispensing death while not receiving awound. 

King Christian, on the other hand, showed himself not wanting in valor, keeping well in the front rank of his men. In the midst of the fight aball struck him in the mouth, knocking out three of his teeth and sodisabling him that he was carried fainting from the field. In the end theSwedes, who had borne their banner to the summit of the hill, where theylooked in vain for the expected aid from Nils Sture and his men, weredriven back again and a second time forced down the hill, the victoriousDanes driving them well into the plain at its foot. 

Three hours of hard fighting had now passed and both armies were wearied. Trotte Karlsson, a Swedish renegade who had been fighting against hiscountry in the ranks of its foes, seated himself on a stone to rest, taking off his helmet that he might breathe the fresh air. As he did so aball from the Swedish ranks struck him between the eyes and he felldead--a traitor fighting with strangers against his native land. 

Though twice beaten Sten Sture had no thought of giving up the fight. Forsome reason Nils Sture, who with the large force under his command hadbeen depended upon to make a diversion in their favor, had not appeared. Bad roads had detained him and he was still struggling onward towardshis assigned position. 

Looking around him, and satisfied that it was hopeless to dislodge theenemy from their post of vantage, Sten now attempted a diversion bysending a force to attack the troops stationed at the convent of St. Claire. The Danes on the hill, seeing the danger of this detachment, andthinking that they had thoroughly beaten off the Swedes, rushed down tothe aid of those at the convent, and Sten, with the skill of an ablecommander, took advantage of this movement and at once marshalled his menfor a third attack. 

They did not need much encouragement. Though twice beaten they were notdispirited, but rushed forward shouting: "Now the Danes come to us onequal ground! Let us at them and swing our swords freely!"

Some bright streaks appearing on the sky, the cry ran through the ranks:

"St. Erik is waving his sword over his people to aid them and point theway to victory. "

On the enemy they rushed, with a valor not weakened by their previousrepulses, and Knut Posse, who had been watching the fight with keen eyes, made a fresh sally from the town. Soon the battle was on again with allits former fury, the Danes fighting at first for victory, then, as theywere forced to give way, striking resolutely to defend their standard, the Danneborg. Knut Posse made a fierce onset upon the proud banner, butwas not able to reach it until five hundred noble Danes, who gatheredaround it as a guard of honor, had fallen under the swords of the Swedes. 

When the Danes saw their great standard fall they gave way, but only withthe intention to regain the height and defend themselves on its summit. It was at this critical juncture that Nils Sture appeared with hislong-delayed troops and attacked the enemy from a fresh side. Before thisunlooked-for and powerful force the Danes gave way in a panic, theirranks being broken and the fugitives rushing in wild flight down the hillto take refuge in their ships. 

Now the stratagem of Knut Posse became effective, the weakened bridgeswaying and sinking under the multitude of fugitives who crowded it, plunging them by hundreds into the water. Others leaped into boats to rowto the vessels, but these were so crowded that many of them sank, theiroccupants being drowned. In all, nine hundred men were drowned in theflight, while as many more who were not able to escape threw down theirarms and surrendered. Christian succeeded in escaping with that portionof his army which had reached the ships, while Sten Sture marched intriumph into Stockholm with his victorious troops, there to be receivedwith shouts of gladness, and with tears of joy by his wife Fra Ingeborg, who had been in the city and with the noble ladies of the place hadprayed earnestly for victory while their friends and husbands fought. 

For four hours the battle had lasted. It was one of vast importance forSweden, since it brought to that country many years of peace and repose. King Christian dared not attack the Swedes again and the country got onprosperously without a king under the able government of Sten Sture. 

_HOW THE DITMARSHERS KEPT THEIR FREEDOM. _

The name of Ditmarshers was given to the inhabitants of a broad, marshyregion adjoining the district of Holstein on the Baltic shores ofGermany. They were not pure Germans, however, but descendants of theancient Frisian tribes who had long occupied the northwest parts ofGermany and Holland and were known as far back as the times of the Romansfor their courage and love of liberty. 

For age after age this people had shown the same bold spirit and mademany a gallant stand against the princes who sought to subdue them. Geertthe Great and other princes of Sleswick and Holstein had suffered defeatat their hands, and the warlike Valdemar III. Of Denmark had been sadlybeaten by them. At a much later date the Emperor Frederick had formallygiven the lands of the Ditmarshers to Christian I. Of Denmark, to bejoined to Holstein, but the marshmen declared that they were not subjectsof Denmark and would not be given and taken at its king's will. 

It was in the year 1500 that the most striking event in the history ofthe Ditmarshers took place. King Hans, the son of Christian I. , thenruled over Denmark and Norway and five years before had been crowned kingof Sweden. It was due to his dealings with the bold sons of the marshesthat he lost the latter throne. This is the story of this interestingevent. 

When Hans was made king of Denmark his ambitious brother Frederick, whohad sought to obtain the throne, was made duke of Sleswick-Holstein, andcalled upon the Ditmarshers to pay him taxes and render homage to him fortheir lands. This they declined to do, not recognizing the right of theEmperor Frederick to hand them over to Denmark and to decide that thecountry which had belonged to their fathers for so many centuries waspart of Holstein. 

Finding that he had tough metal to deal with in the brave marshmen, Frederick induced his brother Hans to invade their country and seek tobring them to terms. King Valdemar had done the same thing threecenturies before, with the result of losing four thousand men and gettingan arrow wound in his eye, but undeterred by this, if they knew anythingabout it, the nobles and knights, who were very numerous in the army ledby Frederick and Hans, went to the war as lightly as if it were anexcursion of pleasure. 

Disdaining to wear their ordinary armor in dealing with peasant foes, they sought to show their contempt for such an enemy by going in theirordinary hunting costume and carrying only light arms. It was a piece offolly, as they were to learn. The marshmen fought like their fathers ofold for their much-valued liberty, and the knights found they had nocravens to deal with. 

It is true that the royal troops took and sacked Meldorf, the chief townof the Ditmarshers, cruelly killing its inhabitants, but it was theironly victory. It proved a lighter thing to get to Meldorf than to getaway from it, and of the Danes and Germans who had taken part in theassault few escaped with their lives. 

It was the depth of winter, cold, bitter weather, and as the army was onits march from Meldorf to Hejde the advance guard suddenly found itselfin face of a line of earthworks which the marshmen had thrown up in frontof a dike. This was defended by five hundred Ditmarshers under theirleader, Wolf Isebrand. 

The German guards rushed to the attack, shouting:

"Back, churls, the guards are coming!"

Three times they forced the marshmen to retreat, but as often these boldfellows rallied and came back to their works. In the midst of thestruggle the wind changed, bringing a thaw with it, and as the troopsstruggled on, blinded with the sleet and snow that now fell heavily, andbenumbed with the cold, the men of the marshes opened the sluices in thedike. Through the openings poured the waters of the rising tide, quicklyflooding the marshes and sweeping everything before them. 

The soldiers soon found themselves wading in mud and water, and at thiscritical juncture the Ditmarshers, accustomed to make their way throughtheir watery habitat by the aid of poles and stilts, fell upon thedismayed invaders, cutting them down in their helpless dilemma orpiercing them through with their long lances. 

The victory of the peasants was utter and complete. Six thousand of theinvaders, nobles and men-at-arms alike, perished on that fatal day, andthe victors fell heir to an immense booty, including seven banners. Amongthese was the great Danish standard, the famous Danneborg, which wascarried in triumph to Oldenwörden and hung up in the church as theproudest trophy of the victory. 

As for King Hans and his brother Duke Frederick, they barely escapedfalling into the hands of the marshmen, while the estimate of the lossesin money, stores, and ammunition in that dread afternoon's work was200, 000 florins. 

King Hans lost more than money by it, for he lost the kingship of Sweden. The nobles of that country, when the news of the disastrous defeatreached them, rose in revolt, under the leadership of Sten Sture, drovethe Danes out of Stockholm, and kept his queen, Christina of Saxony, prisoner for three years. Hans had no more armies to send to Sweden andhe was obliged to renounce its crown. 

Norway also rose against him under a brave leader, and his power overthat country was threatened also. It was finally saved for him by his sonPrince Christian, who used his power so cruelly after order was restoredthat he nearly routed out all the old Norwegian nobles. 

Thus, from his attempt to make the Ditmarshers pay taxes against theirwill, King Hans lost one kingdom and came near losing another. The onlysuccessful war of his reign was one against the traders of Lübeck, whohad treated him with great insolence. In a war which followed, the fleetof the Lübeckers was so thoroughly beaten that the proud merchant princeswere glad to pay 30, 000 gulden to obtain peace. Then, having this onesuccess to offset his defeat by the Ditmarshers, King Hans died. 

_THE BLOOD-BATH OF STOCKHOLM. _

The most cruel tyrant the northern lands ever knew was Christian II. OfDenmark, grandson of Christian I. , whose utter defeat at Stockholm hasbeen told. For twenty-seven years Sweden remained without a king, underthe wise rule of Sten Sture. Then Hans of Denmark, son of Christian I. , was chosen as king, in the belief that he would keep his promises of goodgovernment. As he failed to keep them he was driven out after a fouryears' rule, as we have told in the last tale, and Sten Sture becamepractically king again. 

How Christian, who succeeded Hans as king of Denmark, and had shownhimself a master of ferocity and bloodthirsty cruelty in Norway andDenmark, overcame the Swedes and made himself king of Sweden, is a storyof the type of others which we have told of that unhappy land. It mustsuffice to say here that by force, fraud, and treachery he succeeded inthis ambitious effort and was crowned king of Sweden on the 4th ofNovember, 1520. 

He had reached the throne by dint of promises, confirmed by the mostsacred oaths, not one of which he had any intention of keeping, and theSwedes might as well have set a wolf on their throne as given it to thishuman tiger. One thing he knew, which was that the mischief and disquietin Sweden were due to the ambition of the great lords, and he mentallyproposed to ensure for himself a quiet reign by murdering all those whomhe feared. 

[Illustration: SKANSEN RIVER. ]

Under what pretence of legality it could be done, and leave to him theappearance of innocence in the matter, was a difficult question. Toattempt the bloody work with no ostensible motive might lose for him thecrown which he had striven so hard to win, and in the dilemma heconsulted with his confidential advisers as to what should be done. 

Some of them proposed that a quarrel and uproar between the Danes andSwedes in the town should be fomented, which the lords might be accusedof bringing about. But there was danger that such a pretended quarrelmight become a real one, and endanger his throne. Others advised thatgun-powder should be laid under the castle and the lords be accused ofseeking to blow up the king. But this was dismissed as too clumsy adevice. 

Finally it was proposed to proceed against the lords as heretics, theyhaving some years previously been excommunicated by the Pope forheretical practices. The king, indeed, had solemnly sworn to forget andforgive the past, but his cunning advisers told him that while he mightspeak for himself, he had no warrant to speak for the Church, the lawsand rights of which had been violated. This pretext was seized upon byChristian with joy and he proceeded to make use of it in a way that everychurchman in the land would have condemned with horror. 

On the 7th of November, the day after the coronation festivities ended, the king proceeded to put his treacherous plot into effect. A number ofnoble Swedes who had attended the festivities were brought to the castleunder various pretences, and were there ushered into a large and spacioushall. With alarm they saw that the doors were closed behind them so thatnone could leave, though others might enter. 

When all were gathered Christian entered and took his seat on the throne, with his council and chief lords about him. Archbishop Trolle was alsopresent as representative of the Church, but without knowledge orsuspicion of the secret purpose of the king, who had brought him there tosanction by his presence the intended massacre. 

The charge which it was proposed to bring against the senators and lordswas that of trespass against the archiepiscopal dignity and to demandretribution for the same, and this charge was accordingly brought in thename of the Church. The king then turned to the archbishop and asked:

"My Lord Archbishop, do you intend to have this matter brought to peaceand friendship according to the counsel of good men or will you have itjudged by the law?"

Archbishop Trolle answered, "The offence being one against the Church, the cause of the accused should be judged by the Pope. "

This was a mode of settling the matter which by no means conformed withthe king's intention, and he answered:

"This is a matter not to be referred to the Pope, but to be terminated athome in the kingdom, without troubling his Holiness. "

In this decision he was not to be shaken, knowing well that if thearchbishop's proposal to refer the matter to the Pope were carried outhis secret sanguinary purpose would be defeated. What he proposed was themurder of the lords, and he had no intention of letting the matter escapefrom his control. 

Lord Sten Sture, against whom the accusation had been chiefly directed, was dead, but his widow, the Lady Christina, was present, and was askedwhat defence she had to offer for herself and her husband. She repliedthat the offences against the archbishop were not due to Lord Sten alone, but were done with the approbation of the senate and the kingdom and sheproduced a parchment in proof of her words, signed by many of the personspresent. Christian eagerly seized upon the incriminating document, asgiving him a warrant for his proceedings and evidence against those whomhe most hated and feared. 

All whose names were attached to it were brought up, one after another, there being among them several bishops, who had taken part in the matteron patriotic and political grounds, and a number of senators. Every onetried to excuse himself, but of the whole number Bishop Otto was the onlyone whose excuse was accepted. At the end of the examination all thoseaccused were seized and taken from the hall, the whole number, senators, prelates, noblemen, priests and burghers, being locked up together in atower, the two bishops among them being alone given a better prison. Thetrue reason for proceeding against the churchmen was that they had beenthe friends of Sten Sture and might prefer their country to the king. Thewicked tyrant, who in this illegal manner had sought to make the Churchresponsible for his bloodthirsty schemes, hesitated not to condemn clergyand laity alike, and ended the session by the arbitrary decision that allthe accused were heretics and as such should die. 

Irreligious, illegal, and ruthless as had been this whole proceeding, into which the artful king had dragged the archbishop and sought to makehim a consenting party to his plot, Christian had gained his purpose ofproviding a pretext for ridding himself of his political enemies, actualor possible, and proceeded to put it into execution in the arbitrarymanner in which it had been so far conducted, regardless of protests fromany quarter. 

The next day the city gates were closed, so that no one could enter orleave. Trumpeters rode round the streets in the early morning, proclaiming that no citizen, on peril of life, must leave his house, unless granted permission to do so. On the chief squares Danish soldierswere marshalled in large numbers, and on the Great Square a battery ofloaded cannon was placed, commanding the principal streets. A dread senseof terrible events to come pervaded the whole city. 

At noon the castle gates were thrown open and a great body of armedsoldiers marched out, placing themselves in two long lines which reachedfrom the castle to the town hall. Between these lines the accused lordswere led, until the Great Square was reached, where they were halted andsurrounded by a strong force of Danish soldiers. Around these gathered agreat body of the people, now permitted to leave their houses. Alarm andanguish filled their faces as they saw the preparations for a frightfulevent. 

On the balcony of the town hall now appeared Sir Nils Lycke, a knightnewly created by the king, who thus addressed the agitated multitude:

"You good people are not to wonder at what you now behold, for all thesemen have proved themselves to be base heretics, who have sought todestroy the holy Church; and moreover traitors to his Majesty the King, since they had laid powder under the castle to kill him. "

At this point he was interrupted by Bishop Vincent from the square below, who called out indignantly to the people:

"Do not believe this man, for all he tells you is falsehood and nonsense. It is as Swedish patriots that we are brought here, and God will yetpunish Christian's cruelty and treachery. "

Two of the condemned lords also called out to the people, beseeching them"never in future to let themselves be deceived by false promises, but oneday to avenge this day's terrible treachery and tyranny. "

Fearing an outbreak by the indignant people, if this appeal shouldcontinue, the soldiers now made a great noise, under order of theirofficers, and the king, who is said to have gloatingly witnessed thewhole proceedings from a window in the town hall, ordered the executionto proceed, Klas Bille, an official, placing himself to receive thegolden chain and ring of each knight before he was beheaded. 

The prisoners implored that they might confess and receive the HolySacrament before they were slain, but even this was refused, and BishopMatthew was led forth first. While he was kneeling, with clasped anduplifted hands, two horrified men, one of them his secretary, rushedimpulsively towards him, but before they could reach the spot the fatalsword had descended and the good bishop's head rolled to their feet onthe ground. 

They cried out in horror that this was a frightful and inhuman act, andwere at once seized and dragged within the circle, where they would havesuffered the fate of the victimized bishop had they not been rescued bysome German soldiers, who believed them to be Germans. 

Bishop Vincent next fell beneath the encrimsoned sword, and after him thesenators, seven in number, and thirteen nobles and knights of the senate. These were followed by the three burgomasters of Stockholm and thirteenmembers of the town council, with fifteen of the leading citizens, someof them having been dragged from their houses, without the least warning, and led to execution. One citizen, Lars Hausson by name, burst intotears as he beheld this terrible scene, and at once was seized by thesoldiers, dragged within the fearful circle, and made to pay by death forhis compassion. 

With this final murder the executions for that day ended, the heads beingset on poles and the dead bodies left lying where they had fallen. Aviolent rain that came on bore a bloody witness of the sanguinary sceneinto the streets, in the stream of red-dyed water which ran down on everyside from the Great Square. 

On the next day Christian said that many had hid themselves who deserveddeath, but that they might now freely show themselves for he did notintend to punish any more. Deceived by this trick some of the hiddenleaders made their appearance and were immediately seized and haled tothe square, where the work of execution was resumed. Six or eight ofthese were beheaded, many were hung, and the servants of the slaughteredlords, who happened to come to the town in ignorance of the frightfulwork, were dragged from their horses and, booted and spurred as they hadcome, were haled to the gallows. 

The king's soldiers and followers, excited by the slaughter and givenfull license, now broke into many houses of the suspected, murdering themen, maltreating the women, and carrying away all the treasure they couldfind, and for some hours Stockholm seemed to be in the hands of an armythat had taken the city by storm. 

For a day and night the corpses lay festering in the street, their bodiestorn by vagrant dogs, and not until a pestilent exhalation began to risefrom them were they gathered up and hauled by cartloads to a place in thesouthern suburbs, where a great funeral pyre was erected and the bodieswere burned to ashes. 

As for the tyrant himself, his bloody work seemed to excite him to a sortof madness of fury. He ordered the body of Sten Sture the Younger to bedug from its grave in Riddarholm Church, and it is said that in his furyhe bit at the half-consumed remains. The body of Sten's young son wasalso disinterred, and the two were carried to the great funeral pile tobe burnt with the others. The quarter of the town where this took placeis still named Sture, in memory of the dead, and on the spot where thegreat pyre was kindled stands St. Christopher's Church. 

Such was the famous, or rather the infamous, "blood-bath of Stockholm, "which still remains as a frightful memory to the land. It did not endhere. The dreadful work he had done seemed to fill the monster with aninsatiable lust for blood. His next act was to call Christina, the widowof Sten Sture, to his presence. When, overwhelmed with grief and despair, she appeared, he sneeringly asked her whether she would choose to beburned, drowned, or buried alive. The noble lady fell fainting at hisfeet. Her beauty and suffering and the entreaties of those present atlength softened the tyrant, but her mother was enclosed in a bag andthrown into the stream, though she was permitted to be drawn out by thepeople on their promise to the tyrant that he should have her greatwealth. But she, with her daughter Christina and many other women ofnoble descent, were carried as hostages to Copenhagen and shut up in adreadful prison called the Blue Tower, where numbers of them died ofhunger, thirst and cold. 

The massacre was not confined to Stockholm; from there the executionsspread throughout the country, and the old law of 1153 was revived thatno peasant should bear arms, Danish soldiers being sent through thecountry to rob the people of their weapons. The story is told that someof them, enraged by this act of tyranny, said:

"Swords shall not be wanting to punish the tyrant so long as we retainour feet to pursue and our hands to revenge. "

To this the reply was that "a hand and a foot might well be cut from theSwedish peasant; for one hand and a wooden leg would be enough for him toguide his plough. "

This report, improbable as it was, spread widely and caused a generalpanic, for so terrified were the people by the reports of Christian'scruelty that nothing seemed too monstrous for him to undertake. 

In December the tyrant prepared to return to Denmark, leaving Swedenunder chosen governors, with an army of Danes. But his outgoing from thecountry was marked by the same sanguinary scenes. He caused even his ownfavorite, Klas Hoist, to be hung, and two friends of Sten Sture beingbetrayed to him, he had them quartered and exposed upon the wheel. SirLindorm Ribbing was seized and beheaded, together with his servants. And, most pitiable of all, Sir Lindorm's two little boys, six and eight yearsof age, were ordered by the tyrant to be slain, lest they should grow upto avenge their murdered father. 

The scene, as related, is pathetic to the highest degree. The older boywas beheaded, and when the younger saw the streaming blood and the redstains on his brother's clothes, he said with childish innocence to theexecutioner: "Dear man, don't stain my shirt like my brother's, for thenmamma will whip me. "

At these words the executioner, his heart softened, threw down the sword, crying:

"I would rather blood my own shirt than yours. "

But the pathos of the scene had no effect on the heart of the tyrant, whowitnessed it unsoftened, and called for a more savage follower tocomplete the work, ending it by striking off the head of thecompassionate executioner. With this and other deeds of blood Christianleft the land where he had sown deeply the seeds of hate, and theterrible "blood-bath" ended. 

_THE ADVENTURES OF GUSTAVUS VASA. _

In the parish of Orkesta, in Upland, Sweden, there may be seen theremains of an old tower, now a mere heap of stones, but once the centreof the proud manor-seat of Lindholm. It was a noble and lordly castle, built of red bricks and grey granite, seated on a high hill between twolakes, and commanding a wide prospect over mountain, wood, and water. Here, in the year 1490, was born Gustavus Vasa, the son of Sir Erik andLady Cecilia Vasa, and destined to win future fame as one of the greatestheroes of Sweden and the liberator of his native land. 

At the age of six the boy was sent to be educated at the court of StenSture, then the administrator and virtual king of Sweden. Here he was notspoiled by indulgence, his mode of life and his food were alike simpleand homely, and he grew up with a cheerful spirit and a strong body, hischief pleasure being that of hunting among the rocks and forests with hiscompanions, all of whom grew to love and admire him. 

King Hans, when monarch of Sweden in 1499, on a visit to Sten Sturenoticed the boy playing about the hall and was much pleased by his fineand glowing countenance. Patting him on the head, he said:

"You will certainly be a man in your day, if you live to see it. "

He afterwards, thinking of the high descent of the boy and that he mightgrow to be a future foe of Denmark, asked Sten Sture to let him take thelad to Copenhagen and bring him up in his court. The wise Lord Stenquickly fathomed the king's thoughts and answered that the boy was tooyoung to be taken from his parents. He soon after sent him to his father, then in command at Aland. 

"The young wolf has slipped out of my net, " said King Hans in lateryears, when he was told of the splendid development of the boy as he grewto manhood. 

At the age of twenty-four he left the academy at Upsala, where he hadbeen educated in the arts and sciences, and repaired to the court of StenSture the Younger, where he was soon a general favorite, loved for hisamiable character and admired for his wit and vivacity. At that time thewar by which Christian II. Made himself master of Denmark was going onand young Vasa aided by his courage in winning victory on more than onehard-fought field. 

In 1518, during a negotiation between Sten Sture and Christian, then insore straits in his fleet, the latter agreed to go ashore to confer withthe Swedish leader if six gentlemen were sent on board his fleet ashostages. This was done, but before the conference took place a favorablechange of wind changed the treacherous king's intention and he sailed offfor Denmark with his hostages, all of whom were imprisoned and held tosecure the neutrality of their relatives in Sweden. 

Among these captives was young Gustavus Vasa, who, thus perfidiouslytaken, was cruelly confined. Finally, at the request of Herr Erik Baner, a distant relative of the Vasas, the young man was set free, Banerbinding himself to pay a heavy penalty in money if he permitted him toescape. Thus it was that Vasa found a new home at Kallö Castle, inJutland, where his deliverer lived, and where he was well treated andgiven much freedom. 

"I shall not cause you to be strictly guarded nor put you inconfinement, " said good old Baner. "You shall eat at my table and gowhere you please, if you faithfully promise not to make your escape orjourney anywhere without letting me know. "

To this the young man bound himself verbally and by writing, and wasgiven liberty by his generous warder to go where he pleased within sixmiles of Kallö. At first he was always accompanied by an attendant, butas he won the old man's love and confidence he was suffered to go alone. 

But he could not forget the perfidy by which he had been made prisoner, and in 1519, when King Christian was preparing a great expedition againstSweden, the boasts of the young Danish nobles of what they proposed to dochafed his proud soul. Day and night his bitterness of spirit grew, andfinally, as the time came for the expedition to set sail, he could bearit no longer but resolved to break his parole and escape to his nativeland. 

It was in the summer of 1579 that he set out, having dressed himself inpeasant clothing. Starting in the early morning and avoiding the openroads, he made his way by by-paths, and at noon of the following dayreached the town of Flensburg, where he fortunately met some Saxontraders driving a herd of cattle from Jutland to Germany. He joinedthese, and on September 30 reached the free town of Lübeck. Here theauthorities gave him permission to remain, with a warrant for hispersonal safety while in the town. 

Meanwhile Sir Erik Baner had been wrathfully seeking him, and appeared inLübeck shortly after he reached there, complaining of his ingratitude forthe good treatment given him, and threatening the senate of Lübeck withChristian's enmity if they should protect one of his foes. 

Gustavus boldly answered that he was no lawful prisoner, but a man seizedby breaking a solemn compact, and therefore that he had the right to sethimself free. As for the six thousand riks-thalers, which Sir Erik hadbound himself to pay, he would return them with interest and gratitudewhen he got home. 

"I trust to this, " he concluded, "that I am in a free town, on whoseword, when once given, I should be able to depend. "

This appeal won his case with the senate, and Sir Erik was obliged toreturn without his ward. 

But to make his way to Sweden, then torn and distracted by war, and theseas held by hostile craft, was no easy matter and he was forced toremain eight months in Lübeck while his country was being rapidly subduedby its invaders. They were not idle months, for Gustavus learned muchwhile there of political and industrial economy and the commerce andinstitutions of the Hanseatic League and its free towns, knowledge whichbecame of much service to him in later years. In the end he succeeded inmaking his way to Sweden in a small trading vessel, and on the 31st ofMay, 1520, landed secretly on its shores, with nothing but his sword andhis courage to sustain him against an enemy who had, step by step, subjugated nearly the whole land. 

[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. THE FAMOUS XVI. CENTURY CASTLE AT UPSALA, SWEDEN. ]

Of the cities, only Stockholm and Calmar remained in the hands of theSwedes, and the latter, in which he had landed, seemed full of cowardsand traitors. The place was not safe for a declared patriot, and he leftit, making his way up the country. Here he learned with indignation howenvy, avarice, and private feuds had induced many Swedes to betray oneanother to the enemy, and his efforts to exhort the people to unity andresistance proved vain. Most of them were weary of the war, and Christianhad won over many of the peasants. 

"He is a gracious master to us, " they said, "and as long as we obey theking neither salt nor herring will fail us. "

When Gustavus sought to win them over to more patriotic views they becameangry and threatening, and in the end they assailed him with arrows andlances, so that he was obliged to make his escape. His position, indeed, became so critical that he was forced to disguise himself and proceedthrough forests and unsettled lands. Finally he reached the manor-housein which resided his sister Margaret and her husband, Sir Joachim Brahe. 

They received him with the highest demonstrations of joy, as they hadfeared that they would never set eyes on him again; but their delight inhis presence was turned into consternation when they learned that he wasthere with the purpose of seeking to foment an insurrection againstChristian, who had then made himself complete master of Sweden and was onthe point of being crowned king. 

Joachim Brahe and his wife were at that time preparing to attendChristian's coronation at Stockholm, and were deeply disturbed by whatseemed to them the mad purpose of the young patriot. Joachim offered todo his utmost to reconcile Gustavus to the king, and Margaret threwherself in tears and distress on his neck, beseeching him to desist froman undertaking which she felt sure would bring death to him and ruin tohis whole family. 

But Gustavus was not to be persuaded, and on the other hand he warnedJoachim against trusting himself in Christian's hands, speaking of him asa base wretch whom no one could trust. Joachim proved equally hard tomove, and the three soon parted, Joachim and his wife forStockholm--where death awaited him at the hands of the traitor king--andGustavus for a place of concealment where he could foment his plans. During this interval he met the old archbishop, Jacob Ulfsson, whoearnestly advised him to go to Stockholm and warmly promised to plead hiscause with the king. But the fugitive knew Christian far better than theaged churchman and had no idea of putting his head within the wolfs jaws. Little did the good archbishop dream of the terrible tragedy that waseven then taking place in Stockholm. 

The news of it came to Gustavus in this way. One day while out hunting inthe vicinity of his hiding-place, he unexpectedly met the faithful oldsteward of his brother-in-law Joachim, who was so choked with grief onseeing him that he found it impossible to speak and could answer theyoung lord's question only with tears and gestures. Finally he succeededin telling the fearful tale of that bloody day at Stockholm, the deathunder the executioner's sword of the father and brother-in-law of thehorror-stricken listener, the imprisonment of his mother and sisters, andthe fact that he would soon become a hunted fugitive, a high price havingbeen set upon his head. 

Who can describe the bitter grief of the son and brother at theseterrible tidings, the hot wrath of the patriot, the indignation of a trueand honest heart! On that fatal day the young fugitive had lost all heloved and cherished and was made a hunted, homeless, and almost pennilessoutlaw. But his courage did not fail him, he could foresee theindignation of the people at the dastardly act, and he determined toventure liberty and life against the ruthless tyrant. 

A series of striking adventures awaited him, which it needed his utmostresolution to endure. He was then concealed at Räfsnäs, one of hispaternal estates, but felt it necessary at once to seek a safer refuge, and collecting what gold and silver he could, he set out with a singleservant for Dalarna. They had not gone far before they reached the ferryat Kolsund, which he crossed, leaving his man to follow. But the fellow, who had no faith in his master's project, took the opportunity to mounthis horse and flee, taking with him the gold and jewels which had beenentrusted to his care. 

Seeing the act of treachery, Gustavus in all haste recrossed the ferry, and pursued the runaway so hotly that he leaped from his horse in alarmand hid himself in the woods. Recovering the horse and its valuableburden, the fugitive pursued his course, paying no further heed to thetreacherous servant. 

It was late in November when Gustavus reached Dalarna. He was nowcompletely disguised, having exchanged his ordinary dress for that of apeasant, cutting his hair round, wearing the round hat and short baizejacket of the countrymen, and carrying an axe on his shoulder in thefashion of peasant-lads seeking work. No one would have dreamed of hisbeing the sole heir of the great house of the Vasas. 

His first service was with a rich miner named Anders Persson, in whosebarn he threshed grain for several days. But his fellow threshers soonsaw that he was not accustomed to the work and his general manner did notseem that of a common farm-hand, while one of the women caught theglimpse of a silk collar under his coarse jacket. These suspiciouscircumstances were told to the miner, who sent for Gustavus and quicklyrecognized him, for he had often seen him in former days at Upsala. 

Anders received him hospitably, but when he heard from him of theStockholm massacre and his aid was requested in the liberation of thecountry, he grew alarmed. Fearing to entertain so dangerous a guest, headvised him to go farther north and to change his place of abodefrequently. 

Accepting this advice, Gustavus set out for Ornäs, but on his way, whilecrossing a newly frozen stream, the thin ice broke under him and he wasplunged into the chilling water. Light and active, he soon got out again, drying his clothes and passing the night at the house of the ferryman. 

Reaching Ornäs the next day, he went to the house of a former friend, butwho now, unknown to him, had become connected by marriage with the Danesand was devoted to the interests of the new king. It was a criticalsituation for the friendless fugitive. His treacherous host craftilywelcomed him and pretended to approve his purpose, in which he offered toassist him and to seek adherents to his cause among his neighbors. 

The guest was conducted to a garret at the top of the house and here, weary from his wanderings and gratified at having found a sympathizingfriend, he lay confidingly down and was soon lost in slumber. MeanwhileArendt, the treacherous host, sought a neighbor, Mans Nilsson, whom hetold of the rich prize he had found and asked his aid in capturing himand gaining the high reward offered for him by the king. He was mistakenin his man. Mans hated treachery. But Arendt found others who were lessscrupulous and in the early morning returned to his home heading twentymen, collected to aid him in the capture of his unsuspecting guest. Tohis utter surprise and dismay, on entering the garret to which Gustavushad been led he was nowhere to be found. He had unaccountablydisappeared, and search as they could no trace of the fugitive wasforthcoming. 

There was a woman concerned in this strange escape, which had happenedthus. Barbara, Arendt's wife, though Danish in her sympathies, had awarm, romantic interest in Gustavus Vasa, and when she saw her husband, on his return from his visit to Mans Nilsson, drive past the house and inthe direction of the house of the Danish steward, she suspected him oftreachery and determined to save their too-confiding guest. 

Ordering Jacob, one of her men, to harness a sledge with all haste andsecrecy and keep it in waiting behind the building, she sought thegarret, woke Gustavus, and told him of his peril and of her desire tosave him. Not venturing to bring him down into the house, she opened thewindow, and though it was eighteen feet from the ground, she aided him inhis descent with a long towel, such as were then in common use. Gustavusthen sprang into the sledge and was driven briskly off. 

Arendt, when he learned of how his expected victim had fled, wasfuriously angry with his wife, and, as we are told, never forgave her andrefused ever to set eyes on her again. 

This was the most extreme danger that the fugitive patriot ever passedthrough, and at that interval his hope of freeing his country from theyoke of the foreigner seemed the sheerest madness. But other perils laybefore him and only vigilance and good fortune saved him more than oncefrom death or capture. Surrounded by foes and with scarce a friend whodared aid him in the whole district, his final escape seemed impossible. 

The friendly Barbara had advised him to seek Herr Jon, the priest ofSvärdsjö, and his driver took the road over the frozen Lake Runn, theyascending its banks in the smoke coming down from the Fahun copper mines, and about sunrise reaching a village on the northeast end of the lake. Jacob was unacquainted with the country beyond this point and Gustavuswent to a house to inquire the way. As he was on the point of enteringhe saw within a miner, Nils Haussen, whom he knew to be a Danish partisanand who would have recognized him at sight. Quickly and without beingseen, he turned behind the door and went towards another village beyond. Here he met a friendly smelter who agreed to guide him on the way. Whenthey parted Gustavus gave him a silver dagger, saying gratefully:

"If God helps me, seek me, and I will richly repay you for your aid. "

As night came on he sought quarters in a road-side cottage, and as he satbefore the fire in the evening the good-wife said to him:

"Young man, make me some pudding skewers, since you have nothing else todo. "

Gustavus laughingly replied that he would be glad to do so if he onlyknew how. This adventure has an interesting resemblance to that of KingAlfred, when, hidden from the Danes in the swine-herd's hut, he let thegood woman's cakes burn on the fire. 

Reaching the parsonage of Herr Jon on the following day, he first went tothe barn and helped the laborers to thresh, at the same time asking themwhat side their master took. Learning that he was no friend of the Danes, he made himself known to him and was graciously received, staying withhim for three days. 

But this place soon became unsafe. One day Herr Jon's housekeeper entereda room where Gustavus was washing, the priest standing by, towel inhand. 

"Why are you holding the towel for this common fellow?" she asked. 

"That is none of your affairs, " said the priest. 

But fearing that the woman would talk, he thought it best for his guestto seek a safer retreat, and sent him to Swen Elfsson, gamekeeper for thecrown, who lived not far away. 

Meanwhile the Danish steward, who had been told by the treacherous Arendtof the character of his guest, had his agents out in search of thefugitive and some of them entered the cottage of the gamekeeper. At thatmoment the good-wife was about putting her bread in the fire, andGustavus was standing by the hearth in his peasant's dress, warminghimself. The men who entered inquired for the fugitive, but beforeanswering the woman raised her bread shovel and struck Gustavus hastilyon the back, exclaiming:

"What are you doing here gaping at strangers? Have you never seen a manbefore? Pack yourself off to the barn and go on with your threshing. "

Never dreaming that the man who had been so angrily treated by apeasant's wife could be the young lord they sought, the steward'smessengers left the house to continue their search elsewhere. 

But the incident warned the gamekeeper that his guest was not safeanywhere in that vicinity, and to get him away unobserved he hid him in alarge load of hay and drove off towards the forest. On the way some ofthe Danish scouts were met, and these, having some suspicion of Swen, began poking their lances through the hay. One of these wounded Gustavusin the leg, but he lay silent and motionless and the scouts soon wenttheir way. 

But the cut on the concealed man's leg bled so freely that blood soonbegan to run from the cart and tinge the snow. Seeing this, Swen, fearingthat the trail of blood might betray him, opened his knife and thrust itinto the leg of his horse, so that if any one should perceive the bloodstains he could assign this as their cause. 

He finally delivered his charge to the care of some loyal gamekeepers onthe edge of the forest; but these, not considering their houses safe ashiding-places, took him into the forest, where he lay hidden for threedays under a great fallen fir tree, they bringing him food and drink. Finding even this place insecure, he went deeper into the woods andsought shelter under a lofty fir tree which stood on a hill in the midstof a marsh. The place has ever since been called "The King's Height. "

Finally the effort of the Danish agents to find him relaxed and hisfaithful friends conducted him through the vast forests to Rättwik'sChurch, at the eastern end of the great Lake Silja. 

His perils were yet by no means at an end. He spoke of his purpose atthis place to an assembly of the peasants and was pleased to find thatthey listened to him with willing ears. Having thus sown his first seedin favorable soil, he proceeded to Mora on the northern end of the lake, where the priest received him in a friendly manner. But he was beingsought by the Danes in that district and the priest did not dare to hidehim in his own house, but committed him to the care of a peasant namedTomte Mattes. As the search was becoming active he was concealed in avaulted cellar, reached by a trap-door in the floor. 

He had not been long there when the Danish scouts, who were searching thewhole district, reached the peasant's house, where they found his wife inthe midst of her brewing of Christmas ale. As they entered, the shrewdwoman turned a great tub over the trap-door, so that they did notperceive it, and thus for the third time the future king of Sweden owedhis liberty and life to a woman's wit. 

Shortly after that, at one of the Christmas festivals, as the men of Morawere leaving the church, Gustavus called them to him where he stood on alow mound beside the churchyard and addressed them in earnest tones, while they gazed with deep sympathy on the manly form of the young nobleof whose sufferings and those of his family they were well aware. 

He spoke of the risk to his life that he ran in venturing to speak tothem at all, but said that his unhappy country was dearer to him thanlife. He pointed out the persecution which Sweden had formerly enduredfrom Danish kings, and of how they had robbed the country of its wealth. 

"The same times and the same misfortunes have now returned, " he said. "Our land swims, so to say, in our own blood. Many hundred Swedish menhave been made to suffer a disgraceful and unmerited death. Our bishopsand senators have been cruelly murdered. I myself have lost father andbrother-in-law, " he continued, his eyes streaming with tears, "and theblood of all these martyrs cries for redress and retribution on thetyrant. "

The men of Dalarna, he said, had long been noted for their courage whentheir land was in danger. They were renowned for this in history, and allSweden looked upon them as the firmest defenders of its liberties. 

"I will willingly join with you for our land's deliverance, " heconcluded, "and spare neither my blood nor my sword, for these are allthe tyrant has left me to use in your cause. "

Many of the Dalmen heard him with cries of vengeance, but the most ofthem stood in doubt. They did not know Gustavus personally and had heardthat Christian was cruel only to the great, but was kind and generous tothe peasantry. They could not yet make up their minds what to do, andbegged him to seek safer quarters for himself, since he was beingeverywhere diligently sought by his pursuers. 

In fact, his peril continued extreme and for some days he was forced tolie hidden under Morkarlely Bridge, near Mora Church, though it was inthe dead of a Swedish winter. He was able at length to resume hisjourney, but it was with an almost despairing heart, for he could see nohope either for himself or for his country. His led way over mountainsand through desolate valleys, his nights being spent in wayside shedswhich had been built for the shelter of travellers. On he went, throughforests filled with snow and along the side of mountain torrents, andfinally came within view of the lofty mountains beyond which lay thesister kingdom of Norway. 

Never had patriot more reason to be disheartened than the unhappy andhunted fugitive, never had the hope of liberating an oppressed countryseemed darker, and the fugitive would have been justified in abandoninghis native land and seeking a refuge in the bleak hills of Norway. Yetthe adage has often held good that it is the darkest hour before the dawnof day, and so it was to prove in his case. While he waited in thatdesolate quarter to which he had been driven, events were shapingthemselves in his favor and the first rising took place against theDanes. 

The stirring speech of the young noble at Mora Church had not been madein vain. Many of those who heard it had been strongly taken by hismanliness and his powerful language, and, strangely, the most deeplyimpressed of all was Rasmas Jute, a Dane who had served the Stures andwas now settled in Dalarna. 

Hearing that a Danish steward had come to that quarter to seek thefugitive and was now at the house of the sergeant of Mora parish, hearmed himself and his servants and fell on the steward unawares, thefirst to take arms for Gustavus being thus a man of Danish birth. Soonafterwards a troop of Danish horsemen, a full hundred in number, wasseen marching over the frozen surface of Lake Silja. So numerous a bodyof soldiers was unusual in those parts, and suspecting that they were insearch of Gustavus, and might do something to their own injury, thepeasants began ringing the church bells, the usual summons to arms. 

The wind carried the sound far to the northward, and on hearing thewarning peal the peasantry seized their arms and bodies of them were soonvisible hasting down the hills towards Mora. The Danish troopers, onseeing this multitude of armed men, shut themselves in the priest'shouse. Here they were attacked by the furious Dalmen, who broke open thedoors and rushed in. The terrified Danes now fled to the church and tookrefuge in its steeple, whither they were quickly followed. Only bydejected appeals and a promise not to injure Gustavus Vasa did theysucceed in escaping from the tower, and the Dalmen, thinking that some ofthem might remain concealed in the narrow spire, shot their arrows at itfrom every side. For more than a hundred years after some of these arrowsremained sticking in the old wooden spire. 

Dalarna being looked upon as a centre of Swedish patriotism, a number ofthe persecuted noblemen took refuge there, and those confirmed all thatGustavus had told the people. And when Lars Olssen, an old warrior wellknown to them, arrived and told them of the gallows which Christian haderected, of the new taxes he had laid on the peasantry, and of the reportthat he had threatened to cut a hand and a foot off each peasant, withother tales true and false, they were deeply stirred. When Lars learnedthat Gustavus had been there and what had passed, he reproached them fortheir folly in not supporting him. 

"Good men, " he said, "I know that gentleman well, and tell you that ifyourselves and all the people of the country are not to be oppressed andeven exterminated Gustavus Vasa is the only one who has sense andknowledge enough to lead us and lay hand to so great a work. "

While they were talking another fugitive came from the forest, whoconfirmed all that Lars had said and gave them a full account of theblood-bath at Stockholm and of how the body of Sten Sture, their belovedleader, had been torn from the grave and dishonored. 

These stories filled their hearers with horror, terror, and fury; war andbloody retribution was their only cry; their hearts were filled withremorse that they had let Gustavus, their country's chief hope, departunaided. Two of them, the fleetest snow-skaters of the region, werechosen to follow him and bring him back, and off they went through theforests, following his track, and at length finding him at Sälen, thelast village in that section, and immediately at the foot of the loftyNorwegian mountains. A few words sufficed to tell him of the great changeof feeling that had taken place, and with heart-felt joy Gustavusaccompanied them back, to begin at length the great work of freeing hisnative land. 

_THE FALL OF CHRISTIAN II. THE TYRANT. _

It was in November, 1520, that Christian II. Of Denmark was crowned kingof Sweden. Norway was his as well and he was monarch of the wholeScandinavian world. He had reached the highest point in his career, butso great had been his cruelty and treachery that all men feared and noman trusted him and he was on the brink of a sudden and completeoverthrow. The man who had worn the crowns of three kingdoms was to spendyears within the narrow walls of a dungeon, with none to pity him in hismisery, but all to think that he deserved it all and more. Barely hastyranny met with such retribution on earth, and the "Fall of the Tyrant"will serve as a fitting title to an impressive tale. 

So sudden and successful was the rebellion of the Swedes under GustavusVasa, that in the summer of the year after the massacre in the GreatSquare of Stockholm the Danes held only that city and a few otherstrongholds in Sweden. One after another these fell, Calmar and Stockholmin 1523, and in June of that year Gustavus was chosen king of the landwhich his hand had freed. A young man still, he was at the beginning of agreat and glorious reign. 

Before he became king, Christian, his great enemy, had ceased to reign. He had shown the same inhuman spirit in Denmark and Norway as in Swedenand had sown his whole dominion thick with enemies. 

This is the way his fall was brought about. In 1522 he issued a code oflaws for Denmark of a wise and progressive character, especially infreeing the peasantry from the slavish condition in which they had beenheld, they before being open to purchase and sale like so many bruteanimals. Christian declared that every man should be his own master andtook steps to limit the power and wealth of the clergy and to improve thecommerce of the kingdom. 

These changes, while wise and important, were difficult to introduceagainst the opposition of the lords and the clergy and needed the hand ofa prudent and judicious administrator. Such Christian was not. Heundertook them rashly and endeavored to enforce them by violence. Eventhe people, whom the new laws so favored, were incensed by a greatincrease in their taxes. No one trusted him; every one hated and fearedhim. Even the monarchs of other countries detested him and would not aidhim in his extremity. 

The details of the blood-bath in Stockholm had reached the ears of thePope and he sent a legate to inquire into the atrocities committed underthe implied sanction of the Church. As they were not to be concealed, Christian attempted to excuse them, and, driven to extremity, accused oneof his chief favorites, Didrik Slaghök, as the originator of themassacre. 

Slaghök had just been named archbishop of Lund, but was brought toCopenhagen, examined under torture, condemned to death, and carried tothe gallows and thence to a funeral pile on which he was burned alive, Christian leaving the town that he might not witness the cruel death ofhis late favorite. 

This cowardly sacrifice of his devoted friend and servant, instead ofwinning the favor of the people, redoubled their abhorrence of thebloodthirsty tyrant. Shortly afterwards the Lübeckers invaded thekingdom, and Christian, not trusting his people, called in foreignsoldiers to repel them. Needing money for their pay, he called a diet tomeet on December 10, 1522. Few attended it, and in anger he called a newmeeting for the following January. 

Before the date arrived rumors were set afloat that he intended tobutcher the Danish nobles as he had done those of Sweden, that chainswere being provided to secure them, and that he would have disguisedexecutioners among his guards; also that new and heavier taxes were to belaid on the peasants. 

These rumors, widely circulated, incensed and frightened the nobility anda meeting was held by the nobles of Jutland in which they determined torenounce their allegiance to Christian and offer the crown to his uncle, Frederick, duke of Holstein. 

Magnus Munk, one of these lords, was chosen to deliver their decision toChristian and sought him for this purpose. But it was far from safe tooffer King Christian such a document openly, and Munk pretended to bemaking a friendly visit, conversing and drinking with the king until alate hour of the night. On rising to retire, he thrust into Christian'sglove, which had been left on the table, the letter of renouncement ofthe Jutland nobles. 

Instead of going to bed, Munk hastened to the vessel in which he had comeand sailed to Holstein, where he made to Frederick the offer of thecrown. As may be imagined, there was little hesitation in accepting it. 

The next morning a page of the palace found the king's glove on the tableand took it to him. On reading the letter which he found in it the tyrantwas filled with fear and fury. He sent guards to seize Munk, but whentold that he was not to be found, his terror grew intense. He knew notwhere to turn nor what to do. He might have gathered an army of thepeasants, to whom he had just given freedom, to fight the nobles, butinstead he wrote to the lords, abjectly acknowledging his faults andpromising to act differently in the future. 

They were not to be won, no one trusting him. Then the terrified tyranthurried to Copenhagen and rode round the streets, imploring the citizenswith tears to aid him, confessing his errors and vowing to change hisways. Many of the people, unused to see a king in tears, were moved byhis petitions, but no wise man trusted him, few came to his assistance, and the sedition rapidly gained strength. 

At length he took a desperate step. In the harbor lay twenty largewarships, which he might have used for defence, but in his terror hethought only of flight. All the treasure he could lay hands on wascarried to these vessels, even the gilt balls on top of the church spiresbeing taken. Sigbrit, a detestable favorite, who had given him much evilcounsel and dared not show herself to the enraged people, was carried onboard in a chest and placed among his valuables. He, his wife andchildren, and a few faithful servants, followed, and on the 20th ofApril, 1523, he set sail from his native land in a passion of grief anddespair. A violent storm scattered his ships, but the one that bore himreached Antwerp in safety. Sigbrit, who had crept from her trunk, soughtto console him by saying that if he could no longer be king of Denmark hemight at least become burgomaster of Amsterdam. 

Thus did this cruel and contemptible coward, who less than three yearsbefore had been unquestioned monarch of all Scandinavia, lose the crownhe was so unfit to wear, and land, a despised fugitive, in a Dutch city, with but a handful of followers. His fall was thoroughly well deserved, for it was an immediate consequence of the detestation he had aroused byhis deed of blood in Stockholm, and there was scarce a man in Europe topity him in his degradation. 

It was a sad thing that the salutary laws he had promulgated in the lastyear of his reign came from so evil a source. Frederick was forced by thenobles to whom he owed his throne to abrogate them, and the code was evenburned as "a dangerous book contrary to good morals. " The peasants fellback into their former state of semi-slavery and for centuries afterwardsfailed to enjoy the freedom accorded to the people of their sister statesof Norway and Sweden. 

In the years that followed the deposed king went from court to court ofthe German princes, seeking help to regain his throne, but meeting withscorn and contempt from some of them and refusal from all. He stillretained much of the wealth of which he had robbed Copenhagen, and now, in despair of obtaining assistance, he took into his service a number ofsoldiers of fortune whom a treaty of peace had lately thrown out ofemployment. 

With these sons of adventure, twelve thousand in all, he ravaged Holland, which had recently afforded him refuge, doing so much mischief that hewas at length bought off. The emperor, Charles V. , then ruler overHolland and brother-in-law to the adventurer, paid him the fifty thousandgulden still due on his wife's dower and gave him twelve battle-ships inaddition. The Dutch whom he was plundering helped in this as the easiestway to be quit of him, and, with a body of experienced troops, withfunds and a fleet, the hope of winning back his old dominions arose inhis soul. 

There were many malcontents then in Sweden, ready to aid him in aninvasion, and the clergy and nobility of Norway, dissatisfied withFrederick's rule, subscribed large sums in money and plate for his aid. Finally, thus strengthened and encouraged, Christian set sail for theNorthland with twenty-five ships and an army of eight thousand men. 

Unfortunately for him the elements proved adverse, a violent stormscattering the fleet and sending nearly half of it to the bottom. He hadonly fifteen ships and a reduced number of men when, in November, 1531, he landed at Obslo, Norway. 

The nobles and people, however, discontented with Frederick's governmentand eager for a king of their own choice, declared for him and at a dietheld at Obslo proclaimed him king, only a few nobles dissenting. These, however, held the strongest fortresses in the kingdom. One of these wasMagnus Gyllenstierna, governor of Aggerhus. Against this strongholdChristian led all his force and might easily have taken it, for it waslacking in provisions, but for a stratagem by which Magnus saved himselfand his fortress. 

He sent word to Christian that the place was too weak for him to attemptto hold and that he had seen the king's success with pleasure; but, tosave himself from the imputation of cowardice, he begged leave for timeto ask King Frederick for assistance. If none came before the 1st of Mayhe would willingly surrender the place. 

Adept in deceit as Christian was, he this time suffered himself to betricked. At the suggestion of Magnus a thousand men were sent fromDenmark, and led by secret paths over mountains and through forests inall haste, throwing themselves into Aggerhus while Christian was watchingthe seas to intercept them. In a rage he hurried back to renew the siege, but the shrewd commandant was now strong enough to defy him. 

Ture Jönsson, one of the Swedish nobles who had joined Christian, led aportion of his forces against the fortress of Bohus, writing to itscommandant, Klass Bille, a letter in which he set forth the great changefor good which had come upon King Christian and begging him to side withhis Grace. He closed in the manner customary in those days: "Commendingyou, with your dear wife, children, and friends, hereby to God'sprotection. "

On the next day he received the following answer:

 "Greeting suited to the season. 

 Learn, Ture Jönsson, that I yesterday received your writing with some of your loose words with which you sought to seduce me from my honor, soil my integrity and oath, and make me like yourself, which God, who preserves the consciences of all honest men, forbid. To the long and false talk which your letter contains, I confess myself, by God's providence to be too good to give you any other answer than this which my letter conveys. You have so often turned and worn your coat, and it is now so miserably thread-bare on both sides, that it is no longer fit to appear among the apparel of any honest man. No more this time, I commend you to him to whom God the Father commended that man who betrayed His only Son, _Ex Bohus. _

 Sunday next before Lady-day, 1531. "

Klass Bille proved as good with an answer by balls and blows as by pen, and the Castle of Bohus defied all attempts to take it. 

Meanwhile the Swedish exiles were writing to their friends at home, and, elated by the capture of a Swedish fort, Christian marched his armytowards the frontier, and made ready to invade the kingdom from which hehad been driven two years before. 

But Gustavus and Frederick were not idle. They recognized the danger ofthis invasion and prepared to meet it, renewing their treaties that theymight work loyally together. Gustavus wrote to his officers not to fightwith Christian unless they were from four to six times as strong, as hewished to give him a reception that would cure him of all future desireto return to Sweden. 

The forces of Christian and Gustavus first met at Kungelf, whereChristian looked with disturbed eyes on his antagonists as he saw themmarching across a frozen river, among them three thousand men in armor ofpolished steel. Turning to Ture Jönsson, who stood beside him, he saidwrathfully:

"You said that there was not a man-at-arms in Sweden. What see youyonder? Do you think those old women?"

The next morning Ture Jönsson's body was found lying headless in thestreet, whether thus punished by Christian for his lies or by some Swedefor his treason, is not known. 

The war began with equal fortune at first to each side, but later fortuneturned in favor of the Swedes, while food grew scarce in Christian'sarmy, his foragers being beaten back wherever they appeared. Soon, withan army dwindled to two thousand men, he was forced to march back toObslo. 

So far Gustavus's army had been fighting alone, and it was not untilMarch, 1532, that some Danish ships of war arrived. But their coming soonended the war. They burned Christian's vessels and reinforced Aggerhus, and in May sailed towards Obslo. 

Christian's hopes of success were now at an end. He had made his finaleffort and had failed. His men were forsaking him in troops andresistance to his foes became impossible. As a last resort he tried acrafty expedient, contriving to get some forged letters distributed inthe Danish camp to the effect that twenty Dutch men-of-war, with fivethousand troops, were coming to his aid. 

The Danish commander, alarmed at this report, hastened to conclude peacewith him, on condition that all who had taken part in the rebellionshould be pardoned. Christian was to cross to Denmark, and if he couldnot agree with Frederick was to be free to go to Germany, on giving asolemn oath never again to make any attempt on the three Scandinaviankingdoms. 

Before this treaty was confirmed messengers arrived from Frederick whodiscovered the condition of Christian to be hopeless and insisted on anunconditional surrender. But Knut, the Danish admiral, who had been givenfull power to act, took Christian on his ships and sailed with him toDenmark, where he insisted that the conditions he had made should beobserved. 

Frederick and his council were in a strait. To let this tiger loose againwas too dangerous, and finally some pretext for breaking the treaty wasmade and Christian was sentenced to a life imprisonment in the Castle ofSanderberg on the island of Femern. Frederick and his son were obliged toconfirm this sentence by a written promise to the Danish nobles that theywould never release the detested prisoner. 

When Christian learned that the convention had been broken he weptbitterly, lamenting that "he had fallen into the hands of men who caredneither for oaths, promises, nor seals. "

These complaints no one heeded. He was taken deep into the dungeons ofSanderberg Castle, and locked up in a dark and narrow prison vaultdestitute of every convenience, his only companion being a half-witteddwarf who had long been in his service. With the harshness common inthose days, and which in his case was well deserved, the door of thecell was walled up, only one small opening being left through which hecould receive the scanty allowance of food brought him, and a littlebarred window through which some sparse light could make its way. 

In this dreadful prison the captive remained twelve years without theslightest amelioration of its conditions. Then the door was opened andfresh air and other conveniences were allowed him, but a strict watch waskept up. Finally in 1549, five years later, it being believed that noharm could possibly come from an old man sixty-eight years of age, he wastaken to Kallendborg Castle, where he was permitted to entertain himselfby hunting or in any other manner he pleased. He lived ten years later, ending in 1559 a life whose misfortunes were a just reward for hisfaithlessness and cruelty in his day of power. 

_THE WEST GOTHLAND INSURRECTION. _

Sweden never had a wiser or more judicious ruler than King Gustavus Vasa, but in that land of turbulent lords and ambitious mischief-makers thenoblest and most generous of kings could not reign without secretplotting and rebellious sentiments. So it fell out in Sweden in 1529, after Gustavus had been six years on the throne. 

The leader in this movement was one Ture Jönsson, a hoary old conspiratorof great influence in West Gothland, where he and his ancestors had longbeen judges and where he was looked upon by the people as their lord andchief. By a decision of the court he was obliged to restore to the kingcertain property which he unjustly held, and he vented his feelingsbitterly against the heretic and tyrant, as he called him. In fact, hehatched a conspiracy, which spread widely, through his influence, amongthe nobles of West Gothland. 

In Smaland there was much discontent with the teaching of the Lutherandoctrines and an outbreak took place, the king's sister and her husbandbeing taken prisoners by the insurgents. These sent letters to TureJönsson in West Gothland, asking him to be their captain, and also wroteto East Gothland, inciting the people to rise and expel their monarch. 

Ture Jönsson had three sons, one of them a distinguished soldier in theking's service, while the second was a man high in the king's favor. Theold rebel had high hopes of aid from these two, and wrote them lettersinciting them to rebellion. But they were not to be drawn from theirallegiance, and took the letters with unbroken seals to the king, promising to devote their lives to his cause. 

The third son, Herr Göran, dean in Upsala, was of different mold andsentiment. Opposed to the king on religious grounds, he gathered a bodyof peasant runaways, a hundred in number, and, afraid to stay in hishouse, he took them to a wood in the neighborhood, felled trees forbarricades, and laid up a supply of provisions in his impromptu fort. 

From there he proceeded to Bollnäs, gathering more men and growingbolder, and fancying in his small soul that he was the destined leader ofa great rebellion. But his valor vanished when a priest of the vicinity, named Erik, a man faithful to the king, called together a body of hisparishioners and marched against the would-be insurgent. 

Dean Göran was standing at a garret window when he saw these menapproaching. At once, with a most unsoldierlike panic, he rushed interror down stairs and fled through a back door into the forest, withouta word to his men of the coming danger. The house was surrounded and themen made prisoners, the king's steward, whom they held captive, beingreleased. Erik spoke to them so severely of their disloyalty that theyfell on their knees in prayer and petition, and when he told them thatthe best way to gain pardon for their act was to seek and deliver theirfugitive leader, they gladly undertook the task. 

[Illustration: NORWEGIAN CARRIAGE CALLED STOLKJAEM. ]

The scared leader of rebels meanwhile was wandering in anguish and alarmthrough the wide wood, not knowing what to do. Coming at length to alarge forest lake, he entered a little boat that he found and pushed offfrom land, thinking thus to be in greater safety. 

As he thus sat, lost in his unquiet thoughts, some of his late followersreached the lake and saw him. So absorbed was he in his bitterreflections that he failed to see other boats gliding out towards him, and they were close upon him before he perceived them. Then, leaping upin wild fright, he sought in his despair to jump into the water, butbefore he could do so some of the peasants had rowed up and seized him. In his bitterness of spirit he tore the gold chain from his neck and therings from his fingers and flung them into the lake, resolved that theyshould not become the spoil of the king he hated. 

But Gustavus was not the man to trouble himself about such small fry ofconspirators as this. The dean was taken to Upsala and thence toStockholm, where he was kept in confinement, though with every comfort, until the rebellion incited by his father was quelled. Then the king, taking into account his brothers' loyalty and his own insignificance, freed him and restored him his property. He could well afford to belenient to a rebel of his calibre. 

If this was all we had to tell, it would not be worth the telling, butthe conspiracy in West Gothland went on and led to events of far greaterinterest. A born plotter, old Jönsson kept at his work, and to preventany news of what was taking place from reaching the king, a guard of athousand men was placed to watch the highway and stop all messengers. Atthe head of this guard was a priest called Nils of Hvalstad, a thoroughhater of the king. To him the insurgents sent their letters, to beforwarded to those for whom they were intended. Such was the state ofaffairs, the designs of the plotters ripening while the king was in thisway kept in ignorance of matters of such importance to him. 

Now we come to the dramatic means by which the king was advised of theplot. A scout was needed to pass the guards set by the rebels and bringword to Gustavus of what was going on in West Gothland, and for thispurpose was chosen a young town-sergeant of Stockholm, so famed forboldness that the people called him Hans Hardy. He had been born in WestGothland and was familiar with the people and the roads of that provinceand was therefore well adapted for the work. He accomplished it in amanner much better than was expected. 

Making his way through forest paths and along little-frequented by-ways, he succeeded in crossing the river that bordered the province and passingthe rebel outposts, making his way to his old home, where he spentseveral weeks with his relations, meanwhile secretly gathering theinformation needed. 

On his return he pursued a different course. Buying a quantity of WestGothland cheese, he went directly towards the ford of the Tiweden and somanaged as to let himself fall into the hands of the guard, who broughthim to their leader, Nils of Hvalstad. 

The rebel priest charged the seeming peasant roundly with being a spy, but the cunning fellow pretended to be very simple and bucolic, sayingthat it had been four years since he had been in Upland and he now wantedto go there and sell his cheese. 

Nils was not so easily to be hoodwinked, but bade his men take thesupposed spy to the sergeant's house at Hofwa, where four men were setover him as guards. The pretended simpleton seemed well-enough pleased, eating and drinking freely, talking cheerfully of country affairs withhis guards, and spending his money freely, so that the sergeant grew tolike the jovial country lad. 

After a few days, however, Hans pretended to be sick, sighing andgroaning as if in severe pain. Finally he took to his bed and seemed insuch a sad state that they all pitied the poor cheesemonger and hisguards often left him for hours alone, thinking his sickness was all thesecurity that was needed. 

Hans Hardy had a purpose in this. He had discovered that Nils kept a boxin a dark corner of the room and imagined that it might contain somethingof importance to him in his mission. In fact he had thrown himself in hishands for the purpose of fathoming his plots. One day, while left alone, he got up and examined the box, and to his joy found in it a number ofletters from the chief conspirators, containing full evidence of theircomplication. Having read enough of them to gain an idea of theircharacter, he put them back, shut the box, and pushed it again into itsdark corner. 

Then he took to his bed once more and when his guards returned they foundhim moaning more sorely than before and seeming in such sad case thatthey thought him at the point of death. Pitying the poor fellow, theydeemed it idle to watch him and went contentedly to their beds. The nextmorning, when they rose, the sick man had vanished and with him the boxand its contents. Hans had got off with the precious burden into theforest, with whose paths he was thoroughly familiar, leaving his lateguards his cheese for consolation. 

He reached Stockholm in safety with his budget of letters and took themto the king, who rewarded him liberally for his valuable service and badehim to keep it secret. This he did, and it was long before any one knewwhere Hans Hardy had been or what had become of the lost letters. KingGustavus kept his counsel and bided his time. 

Meanwhile the work of the conspirators went on, they going so far as tonominate a new king, their choice falling upon Mans Bryntesson, TureJönsson's brother-in-law, a handsome and eloquent young man, far moresuitable in person than in mind for a king. He was soft, irresolute, andsomewhat foolish, and when treated with royal honors by the conspirators, he began holding court with princely pomp, borrowing money from hisfriends for this purpose when his own was exhausted. 

Having gone so far with his plans, Ture called a convention of the peopleof the province to meet on Larfva Heath, saying that he had matters ofthe highest importance to lay before them. Here was a great plain, wherethe Gothlanders for ages had held their public meetings, and where Ture'ssummons brought together a goodly number. 

With the insurgent lords around him, and proud of his power andauthority, Sir Ture now addressed the peasants, in full confidence oftheir support. His principal charge against the king was that he hadaccepted the Lutheran doctrines and wished to introduce a new faith intothe country to the ruin of the common people. 

"Now, " he continued, "I have always understood that the good WestGothlanders have no mind to become Lutherans, but prefer to retain theold faith which their fathers and forefathers have had before them. Ifyou will from this day renounce King Gustavus I will give you a mild andgracious sovereign, who will preserve for you your good old customs. "

Bishop Magnus followed with a brief address, after which Sir Ture, convinced from the intent silence of the peasants that they were withhim, said:

"Let him who gives his consent to take a new king stretch up his hands. "

To his consternation not a hand was lifted, while a threatening murmurwas heard among the peasants. Neither the lords nor the bishop knew whatto make of this. They had gone on with their plots without a dream thatthe people would not be with them. As for the newly chosen king, who hadbeen eagerly waiting to receive their homage, he fell back white andtrembling. At length two young peasants stood forth to speak for thepeople, one of them loudly declaring:

"We have nothing to charge against King Gustavus, but owe him deepgratitude for having freed us from the cruel and tyrannical rule of KingChristian, and kept the land in law and right as well as in peace andquiet. What you, good sirs, say of the new faith, we peasants can neitherjudge nor understand; perhaps it may not be so bad as fame reports. Change of rulers generally costs the peasants and the land dear, and wemight by these means draw upon ourselves and our children long disquietand disorder. It seems, therefore, best for us to remain in the faithand allegiance which we have sworn and promised to our lawful lord andmaster Gustaf Eriksson. "

These words had evidently the full approval of the people, to judge fromtheir upstretched hands and their loud acclamations, and at once thecourage of the conspirators fell to the ground. What to say or to do theyknew not. They had foolishly gone forward with their plots withoutconsulting the people and now found themselves in a sore dilemma. Insteadof coming to their aid, as they had expected, there was reason to fearthat the peasants would seize them and hand them over to the king. In hisutter dismay Ture Jönsson faltered out:

"My very good friends, I only wished by this trial to test your fidelity. None of the lords have a thought of deserting the king. A fortnight hencewe hope to meet you here again, to consult further on our mutualinterests. "

This ended the meeting on Larfva Heath. The peasants returned to theirhomes and the lords in dismay sought their castles. The bottom hadsuddenly dropped out from the rebellion and the conspirators were in aperilous position. War against the king was impossible, and in haste theysent a message to Nils of Hvalstad ordering him to break up the camp onthe Tiweden and bidding him to come to them without delay. 

When he came they asked him what he had done with the letters which hadbeen put in his care. Not daring to tell that they had been stolen, hesaid that he had burnt them on hearing of the result of the Larfvameeting. Another custodian of letters was also sent for and asked thesame question. He had really sent his letters to the king, but heproduced a budget of papers which he now threw into the fire, tellingthem that they might be at rest about these perilous papers, which couldnow never appear against them. 

Somewhat relieved in their minds by this act, Mans Bryntesson, TureBjelke, and Nils Winge, three of the leading conspirators, decided toremain at home. To become wandering outlaws was too bitter a fate; theyhad not spoken at Larfva Heath, their letters were burnt, there was noevidence against them. But as for Ture Jönsson and Bishop Magnus, theyhad put themselves openly on record. The pretence that the meeting hadbeen called to test the loyalty of the people would have no weight with aman like King Gustavus. To remain would be to risk their lives, andcollecting their money and valuables they made all haste to set foot onDanish territory, Ture Jönsson finally to meet a tragical death in theinvasion of Norway by the deposed King Christian, as described in thepreceding tale. 

The embers of the rebellion were easily extinguished and the nationreturned to its peaceful and satisfied condition, the officers of theking holding meetings with the malcontents and promising full pardon tothose who would confess and renounce their disloyal acts. This offer ofpardon was accepted by nearly the whole of the conspirators, the onlyones who held out being Mans Bryntesson, the mock king, Nils Winge, andTure Bjelke. Trusting to their letters having been destroyed they wroteto the king, saying that, as they felt entirely guiltless, they could notplead guilt and implore pardon, and thus put themselves under suspicion. They begged him to appoint a meeting at which their conduct could beinvestigated. This he agreed to, the 17th of June being fixed as thedate. 

When the time came the three lords appeared before the appointed tribunaland were exhorted to confess their share in Ture Jönsson's rebellion. Mans Bryntesson answered for the three, boldly declaring:

"We did not venture to set ourselves against Ture Jönsson on account ofhis great influence in the province; we often heard him speakdisrespectfully of the king, but we bore with him in this for the sake ofamusement, attributing it to his old age and childishness. But it cannever be shown that we bore any share in his treason. "

"What will you venture that this cannot be proved against you?" asked theking. 

"Our neck to the sword and our bodies to the wheel, as the law exacts, "they confidently replied. 

"Take care, " said one of the counsellors. "Do not venture so much. Perhaps you may yet be found guilty. "

They replied by a haughty "No, " and insisted on their innocence. Gustavusthen spoke again, his gaze now stern and threatening:

"Choose one of these two. Either to confess yourselves guilty and acceptpardon, or to be tried and condemned according to law. "

"We choose to be judged according to the law, " they replied; "and if webe found partakers in this rebellion we will willingly suffer and pay forit, as may be adjudged against us. "

These words, and the stern dignity of the king, impressed all in thehall. Complete silence reigned and all eyes were fixed on his face. Hegave a signal to his servants and two boxes were carried in. These wereopened and a number of letters were produced. The king asked the culpritsif they recognized these letters. This they stoutly denied. Then a numberof them were read aloud and complete proof of their complicity in therebellion was shown, the judges recognizing the hand and seal of thedefendants. 

Pale and thunderstruck, they listened tremblingly to the reading of thefatal letters; then fell upon their knees, weeping and imploring mercy. Their repentance came too late. The king bade the council to examine intothe matter at once and pronounce sentence. This was that the threecriminals should suffer the fate which they had declared themselves readyto bear; they were condemned as traitors and sentenced to loss of lifeand estate. 

The trembling culprits were taken to a room above the school-house, locked in and a strong guard set before the door. Here they were left tothe contemplation of their coming fate. Despairingly they looked aroundfor some means of escape, and a shade of hope returned when they fanciedthey had discovered one. There were no bars to their window, but it wasfar above the ground. But beneath it stood a pear tree, so near thebuilding that they thought they might leap into its branches and climbdown its trunk to the ground. 

Waiting until night had fallen, they prepared to make the effort, MansBryntesson being the first to try. He missed the tree and fell to theground, breaking his leg in the fall. The others, seeing his ill fortune, did not venture to follow. In great pain he crept from the garden into anadjoining field. Here his strength gave out and he lay hidden in thehalf-grown rye. 

Missed the next morning, his trail through the grass was easily followedand he was found and carried back to prison. Soon after the prisonerswere taken to Stockholm, where Mans Bryntesson and Nils Winge werebeheaded and their bodies exposed on the wheel. Their estates, however, were restored to their widows and children. The third, Ture Bjelke, beingless guilty, was pardoned, but was obliged to pay heavy penalties for histreasonable acts. And thus, with the death of these two criminals and theexile of two others, ended the West Gothland insurrection. 

_THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF KING ERIK. _

We have written much of war and bloodshed; a chapter devoted to thelighter themes of courtship and marriage may here be of interest, especially as it has to do with the love affairs of princes andprincesses, kings and queens, personages whose every movement are deemedby many worthy the world's attention. 

Prince Erik, the eldest son of King Gustavus, grew in due course of timeto marriageable age and, as young men will, began to look about for awife. His thoughts first turned towards the Princess Elizabeth, ofEngland, then in the height of her youthful charms, of which exaggeratedaccounts were brought to the ardent young Swede. 

When Erik sought his father's consent to the suit, saying that it mightbring him not only a lovely bride but the throne of two kingdoms, theprudent old monarch threw cold water on the project, saying:

"Even if Erik should gain Elizabeth, which I do not think likely, in viewof her many suitors, it would be more to the harm than the profit of bothkingdoms. "

But Erik, a high-tempered and passionate youth, with a tendency tosomething like madness, became so violent and determined that his fatherat length gave way and a lover's embassy was sent to England to ask forthe fair lady's hand. But Princess Elizabeth was too much beset withlovers to accept any of them easily, and the embassy returned with theanswer that the royal English maiden was in no haste to marry andconsidered an unmarried life the happier. 

In 1558 Queen Mary died and Elizabeth mounted to the throne which she waslong to adorn. This added to Erik's passionate desire to win her. One ofhis agents, Dionysius Beurreus, remained in London, where he lived ingreat display, keeping open table at Erik's expense, and sending in allhaste to the ardent prince every kind word which the crafty Elizabeth letfall. Credulous in his ardent passion, Erik now felt sure of winning thequeenly maiden's hand, and sent a second embassy to England, his brotherJohn going with it. 

Prince John was sumptuously equipped for the journey, the expenses of thecourtship eating deeply into the king's revenues, and being added to byErik's lavishness, for he was now so sure of the success of his suit thathe ordered a hundred dresses of the most expensive and splendid kind tobe made for him at Antwerp. 

When John reached London he was courteously received by the queen, but hefound it impossible to bring her to a definite answer. If she evermarried, of course she would be happy to win so charming a spouse asPrince Erik, but it was hard to marry a man she had never seen, and theidea of marriage was not to her taste. In the end Elizabeth wrote toGustavus begging him to seek another bride for his son, as she haddecided to live unmarried. 

This should have ended the matter, but it did not. One of the lover'sagents had said that the queen of England would never consent unless Erikin person were able to win her heart, and Prince John reported her assaying that, "though she had no desire for marriage, she could not answerwhat she might do if she saw Erik himself. "

Fired by the baits held out to his eager heart, Erik determined to gohimself to England, but incognito, disguised as the servant of someforeign lord. Thus he would see and conquer the coy maiden queen. Thewarnings and expostulations of his friends failed to move him from thisromantic project, but at length it reached the king's ears, and hestrictly forbade the wild-goose project as hazardous and undignified. Erik, however, finally got his father's permission to visit England andmake his suit to the queen in his own person. But there were manypostponements of the journey, and when finally he left Stockholm to beginthe voyage to England the shock of his departure threw the old king intoa serious illness. That afternoon Gustavus went to bed, never to riseagain, and before Erik had left the kingdom word was brought him that hisfather was dead. This definitely changed the situation and thus it cameabout that Erik never saw Elizabeth. 

The fact of his being king, indeed, did not put an end to his desire topossess the English queen. In 1561 he determined to visit her as a king, and on the 1st of September set sail. But the elements were notpropitious to this love errand, a violent storm arising which forced thecaptains to run back to harbor. Then he decided to go overland, throughDenmark, Holland, and France, but while he was laying his plans for thisjourney, an effort was made by certain love emissaries to turn histhoughts towards Mary Stuart, the widow of a French king and heiress ofthe throne of Scotland. He listened to these representatives and was sopleased with their description of Mary's charms that his single-mindeddevotion to Elizabeth was shaken. 

The loveliness of Mary Stuart was a strong inducement to the young king, but the high estate of Elizabeth was a greater one, and he did not ceasehis efforts to win her hand. Being told that the chief obstacle in hisway was the handsome Earl of Leicester, he grew violently jealous of thisfavored courtier. He at first challenged him to mortal combat, but asthis could not conveniently be carried out, he secretly bade his agent inLondon to hire an assassin to deal with the earl, promising protectionand a rich reward to the murderer. This villainy the agent refused toperform, and Erik now, hoping to frighten Elizabeth to give him afavorable answer, spread a report in England that he was courting theScottish queen. The effect was different from what he anticipated, forElizabeth at once positively rejected his suit and all seemed at an end. 

[Illustration: ARMORY AND COSTUME HALL OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM, SWEDEN. ]

About this time a third lady fair came into the game. Erik was told ofthe charms and rare character of the Princess Renata of Lotringen, granddaughter of the late Christian of Denmark, and at once openednegotiations for the hand of this princess. At the same time the craftyElizabeth pretended to relent and Erik was again on fire for her hand. Thus he had now three love projects under way, from two of which, thosefor Mary Stuart and Princess Renata, favorable answers were returned. 

But the volatile lover, before receiving these answers, had added afourth string to his bow of courtships, having decided to propose for thePrincess Christina of Hesse. By this time he had spent on his threefoldcourtship vast sums of money and had gone far towards making himself thelaughing-stock of Europe. 

Erik's new course of love did not run smooth. The fates seemed againsthim in his marriage projects. His first proposal for Christina, indeed, received a favorable reply and it was decided that the selected brideshould arrive at Stockholm in the following May, some eight months later. But other emissaries whom he sent in February were detained in Denmark, and on some weak pretence were seized and imprisoned, the whole being aruse of King Frederick to prevent a marriage between Erik and thePrincess of Hesse, of which for political reasons he did not approve. There was peace at that time with Denmark, but these events presaged war. 

May at length arrived and Erik equipped a fleet to meet the promisedbride. There were twelve men-of-war, which were got ready for fighting ifnecessary, James Bagge, a famous seaman of those days, being admiral ofthe Elephant, with command of the fleet. The assigned purpose of theexpedition was to bring the bride over from Lübeck, but it is said thatAdmiral Bagge had secret orders to seek and attack the Danish fleet, andthus punish King Frederick for his treachery. 

The two fleets met on May 30 off Bornholm, and the Danish ship Herculesimmediately opened fire. This fire was at once returned and a fiercefight ensued that lasted five hours, and resulted in the capture of theHercules and two other ships and the flight of the rest. The Swedes nowsailed on to Lübeck, whence ambassadors were sent to Hesse to bring backthe bride. They returned in two weeks without her, the excuse being thather trousseau was not ready. The truth was that the landgrave of Hessewas afraid to trust his daughter in the turbulent north, from whichtidings of the naval battle had just come. 

This delay was fatal to Erik's hopes, mainly through his own fault. Thefirst succeeding step was a request from the landgrave for a safe conductfor his daughter through Denmark. Frederick, who dreaded ill resultsfrom the marriage, refused this, and also refused to let ambassadors toHesse pass through his kingdom. 

And now Erik spoiled all by his faithless versatility. On the 11th ofOctober he sent an order to some agents of his in Germany to proceed toHesse with a betrothal ring, worth six thousand thalers, for theprincess. Four days later he wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth, sayingthat his addresses at the court of Hesse had never been serious, and thathe still loved and hoped to win her. 

Before this was sent actual war with Denmark had broken out, and toprevent the discovery of the letter, he concealed it in a stick and sentit by a secret messenger. This messenger was captured by a privateer andcarried to Copenhagen; in some way his mission was suspected and theletter found; and the Danish king, in ecstasies at his discovery, despatched the incriminating love-missive immediately to the landgrave ofHesse. 

All was going well there when the letter arrived. The landgrave hadfavorably received Erik's emissaries and the prospects of their returningwith the bride seemed fair, when the unlucky letter was put into hishands. It fell like a thunderbolt. In a rage at seeing himself and hisdaughter thus made sport of, the landgrave ordered the Swedes to leavethe town before sunset, under peril of his high displeasure. This endedthe suit for the fair maiden's hand, later ambassadors sent by Erik weredismissed with contempt, and through having too many irons in the fireat once the love-sick lord of Sweden found himself without a bride. 

His brother, Duke John, was more fortunate, though his courtship also ledto war and his marriage brought him into dismal misfortune. Beforecompleting the story of Erik's love affairs, the episode of John'smatrimonial venture, with its dire results, may fitly be told. 

A marriage had long been arranged between Duke John and PrincessCatharine, sister of King Sigismund of Poland. But obstacles arose andonce more the course of true love did not run smooth. Sigismund had anolder sister Anna, whom he wished married first; but this impediment wasremoved by an agreement that John's brother Magnus should marry Anna. 

Next the czar of Russia proposed for Catharine, but some dispute aboutthe marriage contract brought about a refusal. The result was typical ofthe rudeness of the times. The Poles had always hated the Russians, andto show their contempt for them Sigismund had a white figure dressed insplendid garments and sent to the Russian court, in lieu of thelooked-for bride. Mad with rage at this bitter insult, the czar invadedand cruelly ravaged Poland, the people, as is so often the case, beingmade to suffer for the quarrels and the folly of the kings. From thattime forward the czar hated Sigismund and John, his fortunate rival. 

John also had difficulty in getting his brother's consent to go toSigismund's court, and after he had set out an envoy was sent after himordering him to return. But in disregard of this he went on, and wasfavorably received at the Polish court, being a handsome, courteous andcultivated prince. Catharine was highly pleased with him, but KingSigismund now repeated his demand that he should marry the elder sister. 

Finally, after many efforts to change the king's mind, he asked Catharineif she really desired to marry John. The princess blushed and was silent;but her sister spoke for her and implored their brother not to preventher marriage with the man she loved. 

At this appeal he gave way and the marriage was quickly solemnized, forthere was imminent peril of war between Sweden and Poland unless theaffair was consummated. A body of Polish troops escorted the newly weddedcouple into Livonia, lest the angry czar should seek to carry them off, and John reached Sweden with his bride. 

He was very ill received, by Erik's orders, and hastened to his ownduchy, whence he sent an invitation to the king to attend his weddingbanquet. The king came in another fashion. 

Angry at John for disobeying his orders, and fearing him as a possibleaspirant for the throne, Erik cherished evil intentions against hisbrother. Suspicious and superstitious by nature, he had read in the starsthe prediction that a light-haired man would deprive him of the throne, and this man he believed to be his newly married brother. He alsofancied that John had secretly allied himself with Denmark and Poland, and there was soon open enmity between the brothers. 

The whole story of what followed is too long to be told here, but seemingevidence against John was obtained by the torture of some of his friendsand he was attacked in his castle and taken prisoner after a two months'defence. Erik ordered his incarceration in a dungeon, but his wife wasoffered a residence with her ladies in one of the king's castles. If shewished to accompany him to prison she could take only two of her maidswith her. 

When Catharine heard this she fervently exclaimed:

"I would rather die than be separated from my husband, " and fainted away. 

When she recovered she was asked what she intended to do. Taking herbetrothal ring from her finger and holding it up, she said:

"Read what stands there. "

They saw engraved on it, "_Nemo nisi mors"_ (none but death). 

"I will stand by it, " said Catharine. And she did. 

The imprisoned dependents of John, all of whom had shared in hisresistance to the king, were nearly all condemned to death and executed, more than a hundred bodies being exposed at once at the place ofexecution. That John would suffer the same fate was highly probable. Hisbrothers, sisters, and other relatives implored Erik to let him live;his enemies advised his execution; the king hesitated, and postponed hisdecision, finally deciding that John might live, but in perpetualimprisonment. He was mildly and kindly treated, however, and four yearslater, during a spasm of fraternal feeling in Erik, was released. 

We shall not tell the remaining story of King Erik, of his wars, histemporary madness, his violence and cruelty to some of the noblest of thesons of Denmark, his ruthless persecution and final murder of the Stures, descendants of one of the most famous families of Sweden and men who hadplayed a great part in its history. It was the story of his love episodeswith which we set out and these were not yet ended. Erik finally got awife and a queen, though not a queen or a princess for a wife. Loveinstead of policy lay at the basis of his final courtship. 

This is the story of the final and real love affair of this suitor ofprincesses and queens. A soldier named Magnus, of peasant birth, who roseto the rank of corporal in Erik's life-guard, had a daughter namedKatrina or Catherine, shortened to Karin, who as a child sat selling nutsin the market-place at Stockholm. Here Erik one day saw her, then aboutthirteen, and was so struck by her great beauty that he had her placedamong the maids-of-honor of his sister Elizabeth. 

The pretty little Karin was quick to learn her duties, and in deportmentwas modest and very loveable. Her beauty also grew with her age, untilshe became looked upon as the fairest of the fair. Erik thought her suchand grew greatly attached to her, showing her much attention and winningher regard by his handsome face and kindly manner. In fact she grew tolove him dearly and gave herself up entirely to him, a warm affectionexisting between them. 

Karin in time became everything to the king. He no longer sought for abride in foreign courts, no other women had attraction for him, and atlength, when the charming peasant girl had borne him a son, he determinedto find a way to make her his queen. Those were days when it was not safeto meddle with the love affairs of a king. One unfortunate young mannamed Maximilian, who had loved Karin and sought her hand in marriage, one day intruded into the women's apartment of the palace, where he wasseized. Erik, burning with jealousy, had him condemned on a falsepretence, sewed up in a bag, and cast into the lake. 

After that no one dared interfere with the love episode of Erik andKarin. Men said she had bewitched him by a love-philter. Some of thecourtiers who feared her influence upon the king sought to disgrace her, with the result that her intercession alone saved their lives from theincensed monarch. 

Erik's love for Karin never seemed to change. On beautiful summerafternoons, when he would sail with a merry party on Lake Malar, Karinwas always of the party and the object of his tender attention. As theyrowed home at night he would sit beside her, contemplating the beauty ofthe starry northern skies and listening to the songs from the shore orfrom distant boats. These were executed by his orders, the words andmusic often being his. One of these songs, in which he praises his"Shepherdess, " promises to love her forever, and bids her a "thousandgood-nights, " is still extant. 

The time at length came--this was after the period of his foreign warsand his insanity--that he asked permission of the legislative body tomarry whom he pleased, at home or abroad. After this was given heprivately married Karin, and subsequently determined upon a publiccelebration of his marriage and her coronation as queen. The chieffamilies of the country were invited to the ceremony, but they neithercame nor sent excuses. The coronation went on, notwithstanding, and thepeasant's daughter Karin became queen of Sweden as Queen Catherine. 

Not alone by this marriage, but in a dozen other ways King Erik had madeenemies and he was now near the end of his career. A rebellion soon brokeout against him, headed by Duke John, who had some time before beenliberated, and by his younger brother Duke Charles. Though Erik foughtwith skill and courage, the insurrection was successful, he being takenprisoner and losing the throne. John was chosen to succeed him as king. 

Erik spent the remainder of his life in prison, where he was far moreharshly treated than John had been by him, his greatest consolation beingwhen his wife and children were permitted to visit him. After eight yearsof this close confinement John, fearful of an attempt at the release ofthe captive, had him poisoned in his cell. Thus ended the career of theelder son of Gustavus Vasa. It was a fate which he had brought uponhimself by the cruelties of his career. 

A few well-deserved words may well be given to Queen Catherine. She hadnever interfered in Erik's government, except to restrain him fromcruelty. Her mildness of disposition won her favor on all sides, whichwas increased by her loving devotion to him while in prison. After hisdeath she was granted an estate in Finland, and there she lived, lovedand esteemed by all who knew her and winning the warm devotion of herchildren and grandchildren. She survived to a good old age, withdrawn buthappy, and the memory of her virtues and benevolence still lives amongthe peasantry of the neighborhood of her abode. 

_GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS ON THE FIELD OF LEIPSIC. _

With the accession to the throne of Sweden in 1611 of Gustavus Adolphus, grandson of Gustavus Vasa, that country gained its ablest king, and themost famous with the exception of the firebrand of war, Charles XII. , oflater date. For courage, judgment, administrative ability, generousdevotion to the good of his country, and military genius this greatmonarch was unequalled in his time and won a renown which has placed hisname in the roll of the great rulers of mankind. 

The son of Charles IX. , the third and ablest son of Gustavus Vasa to fillthe throne, he was carefully educated in all the lore of his time andwhen a boy of sixteen won a brilliant victory over a Danish invadingarmy. During the same year he ascended the throne, his father dying onNovember 30, 1611. 

During the preceding reigns Sweden had taken a prominent part in theaffairs of northern Europe, having frequent wars with Russia, Poland, andDenmark, and the young king fell heir to these wars, all of which heprosecuted with striking ability. But a conflict soon broke out thatthreatened all Europe and brought Sweden into the field as the arbiter ofcontinental destinies. This was the famous "Thirty Years' War, " thegreatest and most ferocious religious war known in history. Into itSweden was drawn and the hand of Gustavus was potent in saving theProtestant cause from destruction. The final event in his career, inwhich he fell covered with glory on the fatal field of Lutzen, is dealtwith in the German "Historical Tales. " We shall here describe anotherequally famous battle of the war, that of Leipsic. 

It was in 1629, when Denmark was in peril from the great armies ofFerdinand II. Of Austria, and Sweden also was threatened, that Gustavusconsented to become the champion of the Protestants of northern Europe, and in June, 1630, he landed in Pomerania at the head of eight thousandmen. Here six Scottish regiments joined him, under the Duke of Hamilton, and he marched onward, taking towns and fortresses in rapid successionand gaining large reinforcements from the German states. 

Three great leaders headed the Austrian armies, the famous Wallenstein, the able but ferocious Tilly, and the celebrated cavalry leaderPappenheim. All these skilled soldiers Gustavus had to face alone, but hedid so with the support of the best-drilled army then in Europe, a bodyof soldiery which his able hands had formed into an almost irresistibleengine of war. 

What spurred Gustavus to the great battle to be described was the captureby Tilly on May 20, 1631, of the city of Magdeburg, and the massacre ofits thirty thousand citizens, men, women, and children. From this sceneof frightful outrage and destruction Tilly failed to call off his menuntil the city lay in ruins and its people in death. A tall, haggard, grim warrior, hollow-cheeked, and wild-looking, with large bright eyesunder his shaggy brows, Tilly looked capable of the deeds of ferocitywith which the world credited him. 

[Illustration: STATUE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. ]

While all Christendom shuddered with horror at the savage slaughter atMagdeburg, the triumphant Tilly marched upon and captured the city ofLeipsic. Here he fixed his headquarters in the house of a grave-digger, where he grew pale at seeing the death's-head and cross-bones with whichthe owner had decorated his walls. These significant emblems may have hadsomething to do with the unusual mildness with which he treated thecitizens of that town. 

The cause of Protestantism in Germany was now in serious jeopardy andGustavus felt that the time had come to strike a hard blow in its behalf. The elector of Saxony, who had hitherto stood aloof, now came to his aidwith an army of eighteen thousand men, and it was resolved to attackTilly at once, before the reinforcements on the way to join him couldarrive. These statements are needful, to show the momentous import of thegreat battle of September 7, 1631. 

In the early morning of that day the two armies came face to face, Tillyhaving taken a strong and advantageous position not far from Leipsic, where he hoped to avoid a battle. But he was obliged, when the enemybegan to move upon him, to alter his plans and move towards the hills onhis left. At the foot of these his army was drawn up in a long line, with the artillery on the heights beyond, where it would sweep theextensive plain of Breitenfeld in his front. Over this plain the Swedesand Saxons advanced in two columns, towards a small stream named theLober, which ran in Tilly's front. 

To prevent this crossing Pappenheim had early moved at the head of twothousand cuirassiers, a movement which Tilly reluctantly permitted, though strictly ordering him not to fight. Disregarding this orderPappenheim charged the vanguard of the Swedes, only to find that he hadmet an impregnable line and to be driven back in disorder. To checkpursuit he set fire to a village at the crossing-point, but this had noeffect upon the movement of the advancing troops nor his own disorderlyretreat. 

The army of Gustavus was organized for the coming battle in the followingmanner. On the right the Swedes were drawn up in a double line; theinfantry being in the centre, divided into small battalions that could berapidly manoeuvred without breaking their order; the cavalry on thewings, similarly drawn up in small squadrons, with bodies of musketeersbetween; this being done to make a greater show of force and annoy theenemy's horse. On the left, at a considerable distance, were the Saxons. 

It was the defeat of Pappenheim which obliged Tilly to abandon his firststrong position and draw up his army under the western heights, where itformed a single extended line, long enough to outflank the Swedish army;the infantry in large battalions, the cavalry in equally large andunwieldy squadrons; the artillery, as stated, on the slopes above. Theposition was one for defence rather than attack, for Tilly's army couldnot advance far without being exposed to the fire of its own artillery. Each army numbered about thirty-five thousand men. 

These forces were small in view of the momentous nature of the strugglebefore them and the fact that two great generals, both hithertoinvincible, were now to be matched in a contest on which the fate of thewhole war largely depended and to which the two parties battling for themastery looked forward with fear and trembling. But of the two, whileGustavus was cool and collected, Tilly seemed to have lost his usualintrepidity. He was anxious to avoid battle, and had formed no regularplan to fight the enemy when forced into it by Pappenheim's impetuouscharge. "Doubts which he had never before felt struggled in his bosom;gloomy forebodings clouded his ever-open brow; the shade of Magdeburgseemed to hover over him. "

The lines being ready for action, King Gustavus rode to the centre of hisfront, reined in his horse, took off his hat, and with the sword in hisright hand lowered to the ground, offered in a loud voice the followingprayer:

"Almighty God, Thou who holdest victory and defeat in the hollow of Thinehand, turn Thine eye unto us Thy servants, who have come from ourdistant homes to fight for freedom and truth and for Thy gospel. Give usvictory for the honor of Thy holy name. Amen!"

Then, raising his sword and waving it over his head, he commanded:

"Forward in the name of the Lord!"

"God with us!" was the battle-cry as the Swedes, inspired by his words, prepared for the fatal fray. 

The battle, which had lulled after the defeat of Pappenheim, was nowresumed with the thunder of the cannon, which continued for two hours, the west wind meanwhile blowing clouds of smoke and dust from ploughedand parched fields into the faces of the Swedes. To avoid this they werewheeled to face northwards, the movement being executed so rapidly andskilfully that the enemy had no time to prevent it. 

The cannonading ending, Tilly left the shelter of the heights andadvanced upon the Swedes. But so hot was their fire that he filed offtowards the right and fell impetuously upon the Saxons, whose ranksquickly broke and fled before the fierce charge. Of the whole force ofthe elector only a few regiments held their ground, but these did so in anoble manner that saved the honor of Saxony. So confident now was Tillyof victory that he sent off messengers in all haste to Munich and Viennawith word that the day was his. 

He was too hasty. The unbroken army of Sweden, the most thoroughlydrilled body of soldiers then in Europe, was still to be dealt with. Pappenheim, who commanded the imperial left, charged with his wholeforce of cavalry upon the Swedish right, but it stood against him firm asa rock. Here the king commanded in person, and repulsed seven successivecharges of the impetuous Pappenheim, driving him at last from the fieldwith broken and decimated ranks. 

In the meantime Tilly, having routed the small remnant of the Saxons, turned upon the left wing of the Swedes with the prestige of victory toanimate his troops. This wing Gustavus, on seeing the repulse of hisallies, had reinforced with three regiments, covering the flank leftexposed by the flight of the Saxons. 

Gustav Horn commanded here, and met the attack with a spiritedresistance, materially aided by the musketeers who were interspersedamong the squadrons of horse. While the contest went on and the vigor ofthe attack was showing signs of weakening, King Gustavus, having putPappenheim to rout, wheeled to the left and by a sharp attack capturedthe heights on which the enemy's artillery was planted. A short strugglegave him possession of the guns and soon Tilly's army was being rent withthe fire of its own cannon. 

This flank attack by artillery, coming in aid of the furious onset of theSwedes, quickly threw the imperial ranks into confusion. Hitherto deemedinvincible, Tilly's whole army broke into wild disorder, a quick retreatbeing its only hope. The only portion of it yet standing firm was abattalion of four veteran regiments, which had never yet fled the fieldand were determined never to do so. 

Closing their ranks, they forced their way by a fierce charge through theopposing army and gained a small thicket, where they held their ownagainst the Swedes until night, when only six hundred of them remained. With the retreat of this brave remnant the battle was at an end, theremainder of Tilly's army being then in full flight, actively pursued bythe Swedish cavalry, which kept close upon their tracks until thedarkness of night spread over the field. 

On all sides the bells of the villages pealed out the tidings of thevictory, and the people poured forth in pursuit of the fleeing foe, giving short shrift to the unhappy fugitives who fell into their hands. Eleven thousand of Tilly's men had fallen and more than five thousand, including the wounded, were held as prisoners. On the other side theSaxons had lost about two thousand, but of the Swedes only about sevenhundred had fallen. The camp and artillery of the enemy had fallen intothe hands of Gustavus, and more than a hundred standards had been taken. The rout was so complete that Tilly had left with him only about sixhundred men and Pappenheim less than fifteen hundred. Thus was destroyedthat formidable army which had long been the terror of Germany. 

As for Tilly himself, chance alone left him his life. Exhausted by hiswounds and summoned to surrender by a Swedish captain of horse, herefused. In an instant more he would have been cut down, when a pistolshot laid low the Swede. But though saved in body, he was lost in spirit, utterly depressed and shaken by the defeat which had wiped out, as hethought, the memory of all his past exploits. 

Though he recovered from his wounds, he never regained his formercheerfulness and good fortune seemed to desert him, and in a secondbattle with Gustavus on the Lech he was mortally wounded, dying a fewdays later. 

As for Gustavus, he had won imperishable renown as a military leader. AllGermany seemed to lie open before him and it appeared as if nothing couldprevent a triumphant march upon Vienna. He had proved himself the ablestcaptain and tactician of the age, his device of small, rapidly movingbrigades and flexible squadrons being the death-blow of the solid andunwieldy columns of previous wars. And his victory formed an epoch inhistory as saving the cause of Protestantism in Germany. 

The emperor, in despair, called again into his service the disgraced anddisgruntled Wallenstein, granting him extraordinary powers. But thisgreat captain also was beaten by Gustavus on the field of Lutzen, wherethe career of the Swedish hero came to an untimely end. His renown as agreat soldier will live long in history. 

_CHARLES X. AND THE INVASION OF DENMARK. _

When Charles X. , nephew of Gustavus Adolphus, succeeded Christina, thedaughter of Gustavus, on the throne, the "Thirty Years' War" was at anend, but new wars awaited the new king. Sweden had won large possessionson the southern shores of the Baltic and had become one of the leadingpowers of Europe. But Charles found these southern provinces hard tohold, having to battle for them with Russia and Poland. 

A worthy successor of his great uncle, Charles showed his warlike abilityby a rapid march into Poland and the overthrow of its army by a threedays' battle at Warsaw. But his progress was checked by a new and darkcloud which appeared upon the sky. Suddenly and unexpectedly, on the 2dof May, 1657, Denmark declared war against Sweden, and at the same timean Austrian army invaded Poland with the purpose of aiding that kingdomand destroying the Swedish army. 

This double attack left Charles in a quandary. An able and experiencedsoldier, who had learned the trade of war in Germany during QueenChristina's reign, he was well fitted to deal with one foe, but could notreadily cope with two widely separated ones. He therefore determined toabandon Poland, though leaving garrisons in its more important cities, and devote his attention to Denmark. This Danish war had much in it ofinterest, and showed that the new Swedish king had been taught in thebest school of the military art. 

Frederick III. Of Denmark had declared war without making preparationsfor it, fancying that Charles would be forced to remain with his army inPoland and that he would have abundant time to act. He quickly learnedhis mistake. With an army of eight thousand well-trained veterans Charlesmarched at all speed from Poland, and a few months after war was declaredstood with his compact little army on Denmark's shores. 

Taken by surprise, the Danish general, Bilbe, retreated hastily northwardand the whole peninsula of Jutland was quickly overrun by the Swedes. Bilbe had much the larger army, but they were mainly raw recruits, and hedared not face the veterans of the Thirty Years' War. The Danes hadprojected an invasion of Sweden, for which they had been deliberatelypreparing, and were overwhelmed to find their army in retreat and a forceof six thousand men closely besieged in the Fredericia fortress. A nightattack by General Vrangel won this stronghold for the Swedes, with itsgarrison and a large amount of arms and provisions. 

So far the movement of Charles had been brilliantly successful, but hisposition was very dangerous. Enemies were advancing on him from varioussides, a Polish army having invaded Pomerania, an Austrian army havingadvanced into Prussia, while the elector of Brandenburg had joined hisenemies. His ally, England, had promised to aid him with a fleet, but itfailed to appear, and the situation was growing daily more critical. Fromhis awkward position he was rescued by a combination of daring and thefavoring influences of nature. 

The winter of 1658 proved extraordinarily cold. Never within the memoryof man had such bitter weather been known. The sea that flowed betweenthe Danish islands was tightly frozen, a natural bridge of ice connectingthem with one another and the mainland. With bold resolution King Charlesdetermined to cross to the island of Fyen. 

The enterprise was full of risk. The ice swayed perilously beneath themarching hosts. At places it broke. But the island shore was safelyreached, the troops guarding it were beaten, and soon the whole islandwas in Charles's possession. 

But a more daring and perilous enterprise confronted the king. There wasa broader arm of the sea to cross, the Great Belt, about twelve mileswide. The ice was examined and tested by the quartermaster-general, whosaid that he would answer with his life for its being strong enough tobear the army. 

King Charles heard this tidings with delight, clapping his handsenergetically and exclaiming:

"Now, Brother Frederick, we will converse with each other in goodSwedish. "

Dahlberg, the quartermaster-general, testified to his confidence byriding at the head of the column over the wide field of ice, the armyfollowing in safety to the coast of Zealand. Meeting with no opposition, Charles and his army were soon near Copenhagen, whose fortifications werein bad condition, and the danger of losing his capital was so imminentthat Frederick was glad to accept the severe terms of peace which Charlesoffered him. These included the surrender of half a dozen Danishprovinces to Sweden and the independence of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorpfrom Danish control. Denmark had paid sorely for making a declaration ofwar with no preparation to carry it out. 

But Charles X. Was so eager for war that in the end he lost most of whathe had gained. He was full of schemes of conquest in Germany, but fearedthat Denmark might take advantage of his absence with his army to takerevenge for her losses. The fleets of Holland were threatening the coastsof the Baltic Sea, and Charles sought to make a treaty with Denmark whichwould close this sea to foreign ships. Denmark refused to enter such analliance and Charles thereupon determined to make a complete conquest ofthat kingdom. 

Breaking without warning the treaty of peace he had recently made, hesuddenly landed with an army on the coast of Zealand. By this unwarrantedand stealthy assault he filled the souls of the Danes with the courage ofdespair, changed Holland from a secret to an open enemy, and lost themost of his former gains. 

The Danish people, threatened with the loss of their independence, flewto arms, determined to defend their country to the last extremity. Charles, his army being small, delayed his attack upon Copenhagen, whichmight easily have been taken by an immediate assault. When he appearedbefore it he found all its people converted into armed soldiers, whileKing Frederick declared that he was ready to die in his capital like abird in its nest. Every soul in the city burned with patriotism, andnobles, burghers, and laborers alike manned the walls, while even womencould be seen wielding spade and axe in the repair of the neglecteddefences. When the siege began the citizens made several successfulsallies against their foes and hope arose in their breasts. 

But their position soon grew critical, the Swedes seizing the castle ofCronberg and other points commanding the Sound and pushing forward theirlines until they had possession of the outer works of the city. The greatweakness of the citizens lay in the absence of provisions, which grew soscarce that they would have had to surrender from sheer stress of hungerbut for the activity of their allies. 

The Dutch had enlisted in their cause, and a fleet sent from Hollandunder Admirals Opdam and DeWitte passed Cronberg and other fortificationsheld by the Swedes, met the Swedish fleet under Admiral Vrangel in theSound and fought a bloody battle for the mastery. For six hours thethunder of cannon echoed from the neighboring shores, then the Swedeswere put to flight and a favoring wind bore the Dutch ships triumphantlyto the beleagured city, bringing food and help to the half-starveddefenders. 

Their coming saved Copenhagen. Charles, baffled in his efforts, drewback, and threw up works of defence ten miles from the city. Suddenly thetide of fortune had turned and began to run strongly against him. IntoHolstein pressed an invading army of Austrians, Poles, andBrandenburgers. The Swedes were forced to evacuate Jutland. The newly wonprovinces were ready to revolt. Part of those held in Norway were takenby the Danes, and the Swedish garrison in the island of Bornholm wasannihilated by a sudden revolt of the inhabitants. 

When winter came and the waters were closed by ice against invadingfleets, the Swedish king determined to make a vigorous effort to take thecity by assault. The attack was made on the night of February 10, 1659, Generals Stenbock and Spane leading a storming party against thefortifications. Fortunately for the people, they had information of thecoming assault and were fully prepared for defence, and a desperatestruggle took place at the walls and in the frozen ditches. The fire of amultitude of cannon served to light up the scene, and the attackingSwedes found themselves met with the frantic courage of men and womenfighting for their homes. A shower of bullets and stones burst upon them, many women taking part, throwing burning brands, and pouring boiling tarupon their heads. In the end the Swedes were forced to draw back, leavingtwo thousand dead and wounded in the hands of their foes. 

Relinquishing his attack upon the city, Charles now turned furiously uponthe small islands of Laaland, Falster, Moen, and Langeland, which hadoffended him by supplying provisions for the city, and subjected them toall the horrors of invasion by troops to whom every excess of outrage wasallowed. Yet new misfortunes gathered round him, the peninsula of Fyenbeing taken by the allies of Denmark, while the Swedish troops nearNyberg were attacked and taken prisoners, their commander alone escapingin a small boat. 

The intervention offered by the neighboring powers was refused by theproud Swedish king, who, surrounded by dangers on all sides, now issued acall for a meeting of the estates of the realm at Gothenburg, while atthe same time preparing to invade Norway as a part of the Danishdominions. At this interval he was suddenly taken sick and died soonafter reaching Gothenburg. A treaty followed with the widowed queen, regent of Sweden, and Frederick preserved his realm, though not withoutloss of territory. 

_CHARLES XII. THE FIREBRAND OF SWEDEN. _

On the 27th of June, 1682, was born one of the most extraordinary of men, the Alexander of modern times, one of those meteors of conquest whichhave appeared at rare intervals in the history of the world. Grandsonalike of Charles X. Of Sweden and Frederick III. Of Denmark, Charles XII. Of Sweden united in himself all the soldierly qualities of his ancestors, his chief fault being that he possessed them in too intense a degree, being possessed by a sort of military madness, an overweaning passion forgreat exploits and wide-spread conquests. In his career Sweden reachedits greatest height of power, and with his death it fell back into itsoriginal peninsular status. 

His daring activity began almost with his birth. At seven years of age hecould manage a horse, and the violent exercises in which he delighted toindulge gave him the vigorous constitution necessary for the greatfatigues of his later life, while he developed an obstinacy which madehim a terror to his advisers in later years. 

Charles was extraordinary in the fact that he performed the mostremarkable of his exploits before he reached the age of manhood, and in ajust sense may be given the name of the boy conqueror. His mother diedwhen he was eleven years of age and his father when he was fifteen, hisgrandmother being appointed regent of the kingdom, with a council of fivenobles for her advisers. 

Sweden, when he came to the throne, had risen to a high rank among thepowers of Europe. In addition to its original dominion, it possessed thewhole of Finland, the finest part of Pomerania, on the southern shores ofthe Baltic, and also Livonia, Carelia, Ingria, Wismar, Viborg, theDuchies of Bremen and Verden, and other realms, all of long possessionand secured by conquest and treaty. But it had dangerous enemies withwhom to deal, especially Peter the Great of Russia, then bent on bringinghis barbarian dominions into line with the great powers of the continent. 

Such was the inheritance of the fifteen-year-old king, who quickly showedthe material of which he was composed. One day in the first year of hisreign, after reviewing a number of regiments, he was seen by his specialfavorite, Charles Piper, in a spell of abstraction. 

"May I ask your Majesty, " said Piper, "of what you are thinking sodeeply?"

"I am thinking, " replied the boy monarch, "that I am capable ofcommanding those brave fellows; and I don't choose that either they or Ishall receive orders from a woman. "

He referred in this irreverent and boastful speech to his grandmother, the regent. 

He was crowned on the 24th of December following his father's death, theceremony being performed by the archbishop of Upsala. But when theprelate, having anointed the prince in the customary manner, held thecrown in his hand ready to put it upon the new king's head, Charles tookit from his hand and crowned himself, his eyes fixed sternly upon thedismayed churchman. This act of self-willed insubordination was applaudedby the people, who also received him with loud acclamations when he rodeinto Stockholm on a horse shod with silver and with a sceptre in his handand a crown on his head. The oath of fidelity to his people, usual onsuch occasions, was not taken, and in fact Charles had no thought ofbeing faithful to anything but his own ambitious designs and hisobstinate self-will. 

He soon showed his unfitness for the duties of quiet government. Themoney collected by his father was quickly squandered by him, and with theeagerness of an untutored boy he plunged into every kind of daringamusement that presented itself, risking his life in break-neck rides, mock fights, bear hunts, and other dangerous sports and exercises. Healso gave much attention to military manoeuvres, his time being spentin all sorts of violent activities, with little thought to the duties ofgovernment, these being confided to his chief friend and confidant, Charles Piper. 

The tidings of the manner in which the new king of Sweden occupiedhimself spread to the neighboring monarchs, who, fancying that they hadnothing to fear from a frivolous and pleasure-loving boy, deemed this agood opportunity to recover some of the lands conquered from them by thepreceding Swedish kings. A secret understanding to this effect wasentered into by Frederick IV. Of Denmark, King Augustus of Poland, andPeter the Great, czar of Russia, and the ball was opened early in 1700 byan invasion of Livonia on the part of the Polish king, while the Danesattacked Holstein-Gottorp, ruled by Charles's brother-in-law, takingGottorp and laying siege to Tonnigen. Peter of Russia was the mostdangerous of the three confederates, he being then full of the idea ofintroducing western civilization among his rude subjects and makingRussia a sea power. To accomplish this he was eager to gain a foothold onthe Baltic by the conquest of Finland. 

The kingly conspirators, who had begun war against Sweden without adeclaration, little dreamed of the hornet's nest they were arousing. Filled with consternation, some of the Swedish councillors of stateproposed to avert the danger by negotiation. Charles, then a youth ofeighteen and of whose real metal no one dreamed, listened to these wordswith a grave face, and then rose and spoke:

"Gentlemen, I am resolved never to begin an unjust war, nor ever to end ajust one but by the destruction of my enemies. My resolution is fixed. Iwill attack the first that shall declare war against me, and havingconquered him, I hope I shall be able to strike terror into the rest. "

The old councillors were surprised by the resolute demeanor of the youngking, who seemed suddenly transformed into a man before them. They littleknew the boy. Familiar with the careers of Alexander and Cæsar, he wasinspired with the ambition to attempt the rôle of a great conqueror andprove himself one of the world's ablest soldiers. 

Forsaking his favorite sports, he set himself with intense energy toprepare for the war which had been precipitated upon him, and sent wordto the Duke of Holstein that he would speedily come to his assistance, eight thousand men being at once despatched to Pomerania for thispurpose. Instantly the natives were stirred up, Central Germany sendingtroops to reinforce the Danes, while England and Holland sent fleets toaid Sweden and seek to preserve the balance of power in the north. 

Such were the preliminary steps to Charles's first great campaign, one ofthe most remarkable in the whole history of war. On the 8th of May, 1700, he left Stockholm, in which city he was never to set foot again. With alarge fleet of Swedish, Dutch, and English vessels he proposed to attackCopenhagen, thus striking at the very citadel of Danish power. Theassault began with a bombardment of the city, but, seeing that this washaving little effect, Charles determined to attack it by land and sea, taking command of the land forces himself. 

A landing was made at the village of Humlebek, Charles, in his impatienceto land, leaping into the water, which came nearly to his waist, andwading ashore. Others followed his example, the march through the wavesbeing made amid a shower of bullets from the enemy. Springing to land, the young king waved his sword joyously above his head and asked MajorStuart, who reached the shore beside him, what was the whistling sound heheard. 

"It is the noise of the musket balls which they are firing at yourMajesty, " said the major. 

"That is the very best music I ever heard, " he replied, "and I shallnever care for any other as long as I live. "

As he spoke, a bullet struck the major in the shoulder and on his otherside a lieutenant fell dead, but Charles escaped unscathed. 

The Danes were soon put to flight and Charles made the arrangements forthe encamping of his troops with the skill and celerity of one trained inthe art of warfare, instead of a boy on his first campaign and to whomthe whistle of a musket ball was a sound unknown. He showed his abilityand judgment also by the strict discipline he maintained, winning thegood will of the peasantry by paying for all supplies, instead of takingthem by force in the ordinary fashion of the times. 

While the camp was being made and redoubts thrown up towards the town, the fleet was sent back to Sweden and soon returned with a reinforcementof nine thousand men, who had marched in haste to the shore and weredrawn up ready to embark. The Danish fleet looked on at this movement, but was not strong enough to interfere. 

The rapidity with which this invasion had been made struck the people ofCopenhagen with terror and they sent an embassy to Charles, begging himnot to bombard the city. He received them at the head of his guards, while they fell upon their knees before him. His ultimatum to thepetitioners was that he would spare the city on the payment of fourhundred thousand rix-dollars. They were also commanded to supply his campwith provisions, for which he promised they would be honestly paid. Theydid not dare refuse, and were very agreeably surprised when Charles kepthis word and paid good prices for all he got. 

Charles now sent word to King Frederick that he had made war only torequire him to make peace, and he must agree to act justly towards theDuke of Holstein or the city of Copenhagen would be destroyed and hisdominions laid waste with fire and sword. 

Frederick, utterly taken aback by the warlike vigor of King Charles, wasvery glad to accept this proposal and thus to escape from the dangerousposition in which he had placed himself, and the negotiations were driventhrough by Charles with the same abrupt energy he had shown in hismilitary movements. In less than six weeks from the beginning of the warit was ended and the treaty made, a surprising achievement for the firstcampaign of an eighteen-year-old warrior. The treaty was favorable toFrederick, Charles exacting nothing for himself, but demanding that theDuke of Holstein should be repaid the expenses of the war. 

The boy king had reason for haste, for the town of Riga, in hisdominions, was being invested by a combined army of Russians, Poles, andSaxons. The treaty was no sooner signed than he sailed in all haste toits relief. It had made a gallant and nearly desperate defence underGeneral Dahlberg, but the besiegers did not wait for the impact ofCharles's army, hastily retreating and leaving the field open to him fora great feat of arms, the most famous one in his career. 

The town of Narva, in Ingermanland, was then invested by a great Russianarmy, sixty thousand--some say eighty thousand--strong, the Czar Peterbeing in supreme command, the Duc de Croy commanding under him. But theunskilled Russians had not proved very successful in the art ofbesieging, having failed for six weeks to take a city that was verypoorly fortified and whose governor, Baron Herre, had but a thousandregular troops in his garrison. 

It was in mid-November, 1700, that the czar heard that the Swedish kinghad landed an army of about thirty-two thousand men, and was coming tothe relief of Narva. Not content with his great force, Peter hurriedforward a second army of thirty thousand men, proposing to enclose KingCharles between these two hordes and hoping thus to annihilate him. Hereckoned without his host. Charles landed at Pernow and made a forcedmarch to Reval, followed by his cavalry, fourteen thousand strong, butwith only four thousand foot soldiers. 

Marching, in his usual ardent manner, in the van of his army, he did notwait for the rear, making his way onward by nearly impassable roads andcoming before the outposts of the supplementary Russian army with onlyeight thousand men. With apparently utter indifference to the vastdisproportion in numbers, the Swedish firebrand rushed forward, theRussians, not dreaming of such mad temerity, being sure that he had hiswhole army behind him. 

The advance guard of the Russians, five thousand strong, was posted in arocky pass where a body of a hundred resolute men might have checked theprogress of an army, yet it fled in dismay before the onset of theSwedes. The twenty thousand men behind them shared their panic and joinedin their flight, terror and confusion pervading the whole army. In twodays' time Charles carried all their posts, winning what might have beenclaimed as three distinct victories, yet not delaying an hour in hisadvance. Having thus disposed of the army sent to intercept him, Charlesmarched with all speed to Narva, leaving his main army still far in therear. With his eight thousand men, exhausted with their long march andtheir hard fight, he suddenly appeared before the czar's great force ofsixty or eighty thousand men and one hundred and fifty cannon. 

Giving his weary men scarcely any time for rest, Charles advanced againstthe Russians with the impetuosity which had so far marked his career. Ageneral warned him that the danger was very great. 

"What!" he replied. "Do you not think that with my eight thousand braveSwedes I may easily beat eighty thousand Russians?"

Whether the general believed so or not, he did not venture any furtherremonstrances, and, at the signal of two musket shots and the war-cry of"With the aid of God!" the king and his handful of men marched forwards. It was now about mid-day on the 20th of November, 1700. 

A breach being made with their cannon in the Russian works, Charles ledhis men on with fixed bayonets, a furious snow-fall behind them drivingfull in the face of the enemy and making their position a very difficultone. After an engagement of three hours the entrenchments were stormed onall sides, the right wing of the Russians fleeing to the Narva andcrowding the bridge with its retreating hosts. So dense was the mass thatthe bridge gave way beneath them, precipitating them into the stream, inwhich eighteen thousand of the panic-stricken wretches were drowned. Theleft wing then broke and fled in utter confusion, so many prisoners beingtaken that the best the captor could do was to disarm them and let themdisperse where they would. 

Thus ended this extraordinary battle, almost without a parallel inhistory and spreading the fame of the victor widely over Europe. For aboy little over eighteen years of age to achieve such a feat, defeatingwith eight thousand men an army of nearly a hundred thousand, raised himin men's minds to the level of the most famous conquerors. Unfortunatelyfor himself, it redoubled his self-will and vanity, the adulation givenhim leading him into a course of wild and aimless invasion that broughtupon him eventually misfortune and defeat and nearly ruined his kingdom. 

Having disposed of two of the enemies who had plotted his destruction, inthe following year Charles advanced against the third, King Augustus ofPoland, led his victorious army into that kingdom, took Warsaw, itscapital city, by storm, and in the battles of Klissov and Pultusk sothoroughly overthrew the forces of Augustus that he was forced to give upthe throne of Poland and retire into his native dominion of Saxony, aPolish noble being proclaimed king in his place. The Swedish conqueroreven pursued Augustus into Saxony, defeated his armies wherever met, andforced him at last to beg humbly for peace. 

Such was the first era of the brilliant career of the young Swedishfirebrand of war, who in four years had utterly overthrown his enemiesand won a reputation for splendid military genius which placed him on alevel, in the opinion of the military critics of the age, with Alexanderthe Great, whom he had taken as the model of his career. 

But Charles had two great enemies with whom to contend, and as a resulthis later history was one of decline and fall, in which he lost all thathe had won and remained for years practically a prisoner in a foreignland. 

One of these enemies was himself. His faults of character--inordinateambition, inflexible obstinacy, reckless daring--were such as in the endto negative his military genius and lead to the destruction of the greatpower he had so rapidly built up. The other was Czar Peter of Russia. Itwas unfortunate for the youthful warrior that fate had pitted him againsta greater man than himself, Peter the Great, who, while lacking hismilitary ability, had the other elements of a great character which werewanting in him, prudence, cool judgment, persistence in a fixed course ofaction. While the career of Charles was one of glitter and coruscation, dazzling to men's imaginations, that of Peter was one of cool politicaljudgment, backed by the resources of a great country and the stayingqualities of a great mind. What would have been the outcome of Charles'scareer if pitted against almost any other monarch of Russia that onecould name it is difficult to imagine. But pitted against Peter the Greathe was like a foaming billow hurling itself against an impregnable rock. 

While it is not our purpose to tell the whole story of the exploits ofCharles XII. , yet his life is so interesting from the point of view ofmilitary history that a brief epitome of its remainder may be given. 

After his great victories Charles remained in Saxony, entertaining thethrong of princes that sought his friendship and alliance and the crowdof flatterers who came to shine in his reflected glory. For six years inall he remained in Poland and Saxony, fighting and entertaining, whilePeter the Great was actively engaged in carrying out the importantpurpose he had in mind, that of extending the dominion of Russia to theshores of the Baltic and gaining an outlet on the northern seas. As anessential part of his purpose he began to build a new city on the banksof the Neva, to serve as a great port and centre of commerce. 

It was long before Charles awakened to the fact that Peter was comingthreateningly near to the Swedish territories, and when he finallyrealized the purpose of his great enemy and set out to circumvent it, hedid so without any definite plan. He decided, as Napoleon did a centurylater, to plunge into the heart of the country and attack its capitalcity, Moscow, trusting by doing so to bring his enemy to terms. In thishe failed as signally as Napoleon did in his later invasion. 

In June, 1708, with an army of forty-three thousand men, Charles crossedthe Beresina and soon after met and defeated the Russian army nearSmolensko. He considered this his most brilliant victory, and, as we aretold by Voltaire, Peter now made overtures for peace, to which Charles, with the arrogance of a victor, replied, "I will treat with the Czar atMoscow. "

He never reached Moscow, but was constrained to turn southward to theUkraine, where he hoped to gain the aid of the Cossacks, under theirchief, Mazeppa, a bitter enemy of the czar. In this march his mensuffered terribly, more than half of them dying from hunger and cold. Hehad met that same enemy which Napoleon afterwards met in Russia, a winterof bitter severity. In the spring he had only about eighteen thousandSwedes and about as many Cossacks under his command, but he persisted inhis designs. During the wintry cold he had shared in the privations ofhis men, eating the same coarse food, while his only means of warming histent was to have heated cannon balls rolled along the floor. 

The crisis came in the summer of 1709. Peter, who was keenly on thealert, had succeeded in winning to his side the Cossack chiefs, leavingMazeppa without any followers. Then he intercepted the Swedish generalLevenhaupt, who was marching with a new army to the aid of his king, andoverwhelmed him with an immense force of Russians. Losing all his baggageand stores and more than half his men, Levenhaupt succeeded in reachingthe king's camp with only six thousand battered and worn soldiers. 

Charles had now only eighteen thousand men, and was in such sore need offood and clothing that he laid siege to the city of Pultowa, hoping toobtain supplies by its capture. Here he was met by Peter with an armythree times his strength, and in the decisive battle that followedCharles was wounded and his army utterly defeated, only three thousandescaping death or capture. Charles himself narrowly escaped the latter, and only by a hazardous and adventurous flight over the steppes reachedthe town of Bender, in the Turkish realm. 

[Illustration: From stereograph, copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. THE RETURN OF CHARLES XII. OF SWEDEN. ]

Here the sultan, the bitter enemy of Russia, gave him refuge and treatedhim with much kindness, though he found the young Swede a verytroublesome guest. In fact, at Charles's suggestion, the sultan went towar with Russia and got the czar into such a tight place that he onlyescaped by bribing the Turkish vizier. 

Infuriated at his enemy's escape, Charles became so violent and unrulythat the sultan tried to get rid of him, giving him large sums of moneyto pay his debts and make preparations to leave. When Charles spent allthis and asked for more the sultan grew so angry that he ordered thearrest of his troublesome guest. It needed an army of men to take him, for he locked himself in his house and fought furiously with the fewhundred of men under his command. Many Turkish soldiers were killed andhe was only captured by setting fire to his house and seizing him as hefled from the flames. 

The "Iron Head, " as the Turks called him from his obstinacy, was guardedin a Turkish village for ten months by a force of Janizaries. Most ofthis time was spent in bed on pretence that he was dangerously ill. Atthe end of that time, finding that he could get no more help from theTurks, he resolved to escape. Accompanied by two persons only, he rodein the incredibly short period of fourteen days from Adrianople throughAustria, Hungary, and Germany, reaching the Swedish post of Stralsund onNovember 7, 1713. Doubtless the sultan was glad to hear of his escape, since he had borne with his restless and unwelcome guest for more thanfour years. 

When he came to the gates of Stralsund he presented himself to the guardunder the name of Captain Peter Frisch. The guard was long in recognizinghim, for he was haggard and worn in face and ragged and dirty in person, having never changed his clothes and rarely left the saddle, except tochange horses, during his long and weary ride. 

His long and needless absence in Turkey had left Sweden exposed to itsenemies and it had severely suffered, the greater part of its territorysouth of the Baltic being seized, while Sweden itself had been attackedby the Danes and Saxons and only saved by an army of peasants, so poorlyequipped and clothed that they were nicknamed the "Wooden Shoes. "

As for Charles, his era of brilliant invasion was over and he was obligedto fight in self-defence. When he reached Stralsund it was under siege byan army of Russians, Saxons, and Danes. Taking command here, he defendedit obstinately until the walls were blown up and the outworks reduced toashes, when he went on board a small yacht and crossed the Baltic safelyto Sweden, though a Russian admiral was scouring that sea to prevent hispassage. 

A few words must suffice to complete the story of this remarkable man. Hefound Sweden largely depleted of men and money and in the new army whichhe sought to raise he was obliged to take boys of fifteen into the ranks. With these he proposed, in the cold winter of 1716, to invade Denmark byleading an army over the Sound to the Danish islands, but a thaw set inand put an end to this adventurous project. 

Then he invaded Norway, as a part of the Danish realm, and after someunsuccessful efforts, laid siege to the fortress of Frederikshald. Herethe end of his strange career was reached. On the morning of December 11, 1718, while leaning over the side of a breastwork and giving directionsto the men in the trenches, he was seen to stagger, his head sinking onhis breast. The officers who ran to his aid found him breathing his lastbreath. A bullet had struck him, passing through his head and ending hisremarkable career at the early age of thirty-six. 

With the death of this famous soldier ended the military glory andgreatness of Sweden. As a result of his mad ambition and his obstinatepersistence in Turkey, Sweden lost all the possessions won in previousreigns, losing them never to be regained. And with him also vanished theabsolute rule of the Swedish kings. For with his death the noblesregained their lost influence and drew up a compact in which the crownwas deprived of all its overruling control and the diet of the noblesbecame the dominant power in the state. 

_THE ENGLISH INVADERS AND THE DANISH FLEET. _

The Napoleonic wars filled all Europe with tumult and disorder, thefar-northern realms of Norway and Sweden and the far-eastern one ofTurkey alone escaping from being drawn into the maelstrom of conflict. Denmark, the Scandinavian kingdom nearest the region of conflict, did notescape, but was made the victim of wars with which it had no concern to adisastrous extent. 

Christian VII. Was then the Danish king, but he was so feeble, both inmind and body, that the Crown Prince Frederick was made regent orjoint-ruler in 1784, and was practically king until his father's death in1808, when he came to the throne as Frederick VI. Count Bernstorf wasminister of foreign affairs and kept Denmark at peace until his death in1799, when troubles at once broke out between Denmark and England. 

It was a different state of affairs now from that far-off time of Canuteand the vikings, when the Danes overran England and a Dane filled itsthrone. The tide had long turned and Denmark was an almost helplessvictim in the hands of the great maritime island, which sought to controlthe politics of the whole continent during the terrible struggle withNapoleon. 

For some years the English made complaints against Denmark, saying thatit was carrying food and forage into French and German ports in defianceof the laws of neutrality. As these laws were of English origin the Danesdid not feel inclined to submit to them, and after the death of BernstorfDanish men-of-war were sent to sea to protect their merchant vessels. 

Quarrels and hostile feeling arose from this, but the crisis did not comeuntil the summer of 1800, when Russia, Sweden, and Prussia formed atreaty for an "armed neutrality" and invited Denmark to join it. Englandat once took alarm. While the other nations were powerful enough to defyher, Denmark was poor and quite unprepared for warlike operations, andwhen, in the spring of 1801, a fleet under Admirals Parker and Nelsonappeared on her waters she was by no means in readiness for such ademonstration. 

Taken by surprise as they were, however, the Danes had no thought ofweakly submitting to this hostile movement, and did their best to preventthe English from passing the Sound. Their chief defence was the fortressof Cronberg, near Elsinore, where heavy cannon were mounted to commandthe narrow strait here separating Sweden and Denmark. But by closelyhugging the Swedish coast Parker kept beyond the range of these guns, andin April, 1801, cast anchor in the harbor of Copenhagen. His fleetconsisted of fifty-one vessels, twenty of them being line-of-battleships. 

Alarmed by the coming of the fleet and taking advantage of the delays inits movement, the Danes had made every possible preparation for avigorous resistance. Strong batteries defended the city and an imposingarray of heavily armed ships, drawn up behind a shoal, presented aformidable line of defence. 

Some delay took place, against the wish of the fiery Nelson, who wassecond in command of the fleet. Nelson was eager for an immediate attack, and finally Parker gave way and left the matter in his hands. 

Nelson was in command of the Elephant, but finding that ship too largefor the waters before him he removed his flag to the St. George and ledthe way to the attack with the smaller vessels of the fleet, Parkerremaining at anchor some miles distant with the larger vessels. 

A fierce and bloody conflict ensued, lasting from four to five hours. Nelson closed on his foe by getting within the shoal, but he met with astout and vigorous resistance, the Danish seamen, under their ablecommander Olfert Fischer, fighting with the daring for which their peoplehad been noted in the far past. Three times the aged Fischer left oneburning ship to hoist his flag on another, and several of the youngercaptains fought their ships against Nelson's larger vessels as long asthe shattered hulks kept above water. 

So protracted and obstinate was the defence that Parker grew alarmed andsignalled Nelson to retreat. This was the last signal to be thought ofby a man like Nelson and, clapping the glass to his blind eye, he said, "I really do not see the signal, " and kept on fighting. 

Nelson was between two fires, that from the shore batteries and that fromthe ships, and though he destroyed the first line of the Danish defenceand threatened the capital with serious injury, the batteries were notsilenced and the English ships were suffering severely. 

He therefore sent an English officer on shore with a flag of truce, declaring that unless the Danes on shore ceased firing he would burn theships in his hands without being able to save the crews, and pointing outthat these crews were the worst sufferers, as they received a great partof the fire of both parties. 

A suspension of hostilities was agreed upon to permit of the prisonersbeing removed, and in the end the crown prince, against the wishes of hiscommanders, stopped all firing and agreed to discuss terms of peace. Thusended a battle which Nelson said was the fiercest and best contested ofthe many in which he had taken part. 

The peace that followed lasted for several years, and Denmark, freed fromconnection with the hostilities existing in southern Europe, rapidlyincreased in trading activity. During these years, indeed, the Danesserved as the commerce carriers for the other countries of Europe, andthis prosperous state of affairs lasted till 1807, when new troublesarose and England repeated her violent act of 1801. 

The English government either had, or fancied it had, good grounds forsuspecting that Denmark had joined Alexander of Russia in a treaty withFrance, and on the plea that the fleet of Denmark might be used in thecause of the French emperor, an array of fifty-four ships of war was sentto demand its immediate delivery to England. 

Denmark was taken more fully by surprise than before. Its army was absentin Holstein to guard against an attack which was feared from Germany, andCopenhagen was thus left without protection. General Peymann refused tocomply with the preposterous demand of the English admiral, whereupon anarmy of thirty-three thousand men was landed and the city attacked byland and sea. 

For three days a fierce bombardment continued, and not until a largeportion of the almost unprotected city was laid in ashes and theremainder threatened with like destruction did the general consent toadmit the English troops into the citadel of Frederikshavn. 

The outcome of this brigand-like attack, which had nothing more definitethan a suspicion to warrant it, and is ranked in history as of the sametype with the burning of Washington some years later, was the seizure ofthe entire Danish fleet by the assailants. The ships carried off includedeighteen ships-of-the-line, twenty-one frigates, six brigs andtwenty-five gunboats, with a large amount of naval stores of all kinds. 

The act was no more warrantable than were the viking descents uponEngland centuries before. The latter were the acts of barbarianfreebooters, and England, in an age of boasted civilization, put herselfin the same position. The Danes were nearly crushed by the blow and manyyears passed away before their bitter resentment at the outragedecreased. 

[Illustration: KRONBERG CASTLE ON THE SOUND, DENMARK. ]

The political result of it was that Denmark allied herself with Napoleon, a measure which gave that unhappy land no small amount of trouble anddistress and led in 1814 to the loss of Norway, which for four hundredyears had been united with the Danish realm. Norway was handed over toSwedish rule, while England took for her share of the spoils the islandof Heligoland, which she wanted to secure for the command of the Elbe. Thus the birds of prey gathered round and despoiled the weak realm ofDenmark, which was to be further robbed in later years. 

_A FRENCH SOLDIER BECOMES KING OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY. _

The career of Napoleon, which passed over Europe like a tornado, madeitself felt in the Scandinavian peninsula, where it gave rise to radicalchanges. In the preceding tale its effect upon Denmark was shown. Whilethe wars which desolated Europe did not reach the soil of Sweden andNorway, yet these countries were deeply affected and their relationsdecidedly changed. 

The work began in 1808 in the obstinate folly of Gustavus IV. , whodefiantly kept up an active trade with England when Russia and Prussiahad closed their ports against British ships. As a result Russia declaredwar against Sweden, sent an immense army into Finland, and after adesperate struggle compelled the Swedes to evacuate that region. In thisway Sweden lost a great province which it had held for six hundred years. 

This was one result of a weak king's setting himself against the greatpowers of Europe. By his lack of political good sense and his obstinacySweden lost nearly half its territory and Gustavus lost his throne, forthe bitter indignation of the Swedes against him was such that he wastaken prisoner by conspirators and forced to sign a deed in which herenounced the throne of Sweden for himself and his descendants. Not ahand was raised to help him and he spent the remainder of his life as awandering exile. 

It was this series of events that in time brought a soldier of the Frencharmy to the Swedish throne. How this came about is well worth thetelling. After the abdication of Gustavus, Duke Charles of Sodermanlandwas elected king as Charles XIII. , and as he had no children, a Danishprince was chosen to succeed him. 

But this heir to the throne, Charles Augustus by name, died suddenly thenext year. The people believed he had been poisoned, and on the day ofthe funeral, suspecting the haughty old Count Fersen of his death, theyseized him and in their fury literally tore him to pieces. 

It was now proposed to take the brother of the deceased prince as heir tothe throne, but little could be done in those days without the Corsicanemperor being consulted about it, and the young Baron Mörner was sent toParis to inform Napoleon of what was proposed. The youthful envoy was anadmirer of the conqueror, and thinking to please him he suggested thatone of the French generals should be chosen to rule over Sweden. 

Napoleon was highly gratified with the suggestion, but when the baronnamed Marshal Jean Bernadotte as his choice the emperor was much lesspleased. He would much rather have chosen some one else, Bernadotte beingtoo independent in character to please him. Difficulties were thrown inthe way, but Mörner obtained Bernadotte's consent, and by his argumentthat Sweden needed an able and experienced soldier to regain its oldpower the Swedish Ricksdag was brought over to his side. 

In the end Napoleon gave his consent, and the marshal was elected CrownPrince of Sweden. But the French emperor evidently doubted him still, foron parting with him he used these significant farewell words: "Go, then, and let us fulfil our several destinies. " He had reason for his distrust, as the events of later years showed. 

This selection ranks with the remarkable instances of the mutations offortune. The new crown prince had begun life as the son of a poor Frenchlawyer and in 1780, at the age of sixteen, entered the army as a commonsoldier. When the wars of the Revolution began he had risen to the rankof a sergeant, which was as high as a man of common birth could rise inthe old army of France. 

But he made rapid progress in the army of the Revolution, being a man ofgreat courage and unusual military genius. Under Napoleon, whosediscerning eye no soldier of ability escaped, Bernadotte became one ofthe most successful of the French generals, was made governor of aprovince, ambassador, and minister of war, and had much to do withwinning the great victories of Austerlitz, Jena, and Wagram. Finally hewas made a marshal of France and prince of Ponte Corvo in Italy. 

But Napoleon had doubts of him. He was too independent. He opposed theemperor's ambitious plans and defended the liberties of the people, andwas distrusted by the conqueror for other causes. The astute Corsicanfeared that he would not be the man to reduce Sweden to a province ofFrance, and the event proved that Napoleon was right. 

It was in 1810 that Crown Prince Bernadotte, who adopted the name ofCharles John as the title of his new rank, arrived in Sweden with his sonOscar. The people were delighted with his appearance. A handsome andimposing man, with black wavy hair, an eagle nose, keen, penetrating eyesand the manner of one accustomed to command, also a clear and eloquentspeaker, polished in address and courteous in his dealings with all, theyfelt that in him they had a true king; while his reputation as one of theleading soldiers in Napoleon's great army gave them assurance that, ifwar should arise, their armies would be ably led. 

Sweden, when Bernadotte set foot on its soil, was in a helpless state ofdecadence, having become little better than a dependency of France. Ifever it needed a strong ruler then was the time, but Charles XIII. Wasincapable as a monarch, and from the time of his landing the new crownprince ruled the country as though there were no king on the throne. 

He at once renounced Catholicism and was admitted into the Lutheranchurch, the state religion of Sweden. Proposing to consult the bestinterests of his new country and not to rule as a vassal of Napoleon, hewas indignant when the emperor ordered that Sweden should declare waragainst England. In the existing condition of the country he feltcompelled to submit, but he secretly advised the British government thatthe declaration of war was a mere formality and not a gun was fired oneither side. 

He also made a secret alliance with Alexander of Russia. None of thesemovements could be made public, for the Swedes were then fervent admirersof Napoleon and hoped by his aid to gain the lost province of Finland andwin revenge upon Russia, their old enemy. Bernadotte saw farther thanthey, feeling that the inordinate ambition of Napoleon must lead to hisdownfall and that it was best for Sweden to have an anchor out toleeward. But all these political deals had to be kept from the knowledgeof the Swedes. 

A change in public opinion came when Napoleon, suspecting the loyalty tohim of his former marshal, heaped insults upon Sweden, and finally, inthe beginning of 1812, invaded Swedish Pomerania, intending by this actto frighten the Swedes into submission. Instead, he exasperated them andlost their friendship, thus giving Bernadotte the opportunity he hadawaited. 

"Napoleon has himself thrown down the gauntlet, and I will take it up, "he said, and at once began to prepare for the struggle which he foresaw. 

With the incitement of the invasion of Pomerania the Crown Prince CharlesJohn--Prince Karl Johan, as the Swedes called him--began activepreparations for war. The army was largely increased, new levies beingraised and arms and equipment purchased, while alliances were made withforeign powers. It came as a surprise to the Swedes when the fact leakedout that it was not against Russia, but against France, that thesewarlike movements were being made. 

Napoleon now, seeing the state of affairs his injudicious act had broughtabout, sought to gain the friendship of Sweden, making alluring offers tohis late marshal. His change of front came too late. Bernadotte had noconfidence in him and came into closer relations with his enemies, encouraging the perplexed Alexander to a firm resistance against theFrench emperor in the great invasion threatened. 

Everyone knows the disastrous end of this invasion. When Napoleon wasmarching on Moscow Alexander and Charles John met at Abo and a treaty wasformed in which Sweden was promised recompense for the loss of Finland inthe acquisition of Norway, while a friendship sprang up between the twowhich lasted till the end of their lives. 

Events now moved rapidly. The Corsican conqueror entered Moscow. It wasburned and he was forced to retreat. A terrible winter and hostile forcesdestroyed the Grand Army, only a handful of which escaped. Then came thedeath struggle in Germany of the greatest soldier in modern history. Onevery side his enemies rose against him and in the spring of 1813Bernadotte joined them with an army of thirty thousand Swedes. 

This army took part in the several battles that followed, and made itsmark especially at Dennewitz, where Marshal Ney commanded the French. Bernadotte thought that the Prussians should bear the brunt of thisbattle, since Berlin was threatened, and for this reason he held theSwedes in reserve. But when the right wing of the Prussians was broken, Ney cheering his soldiers by shouting, "My children, the victory isours!" he deemed it time to take a hand, and ordered General Cardell, hisartillery chief, to support the Prussians. 

Cardell won the day by a brilliant stratagem. He ordered the caissonsinto line with the guns and deployed his regiments so that they bore theappearance of a division of cavalry, the mounted artillerists bearingdown upon the French at a gallop, with drawn swords. 

Failing to see the guns, and thinking that they had only cavalry to dealwith, the French closed their lines and with fixed bayonets awaited theSwedes. Suddenly the line halted, the guns were rushed forward andreversed, the men sprang to their pieces, and from a long line offrowning cannon poured a fiery hail of grape and canister that toreremorselessly through the solid ranks of the French. The results wereawful: dead and dying strewed the ground; the survivors fled inconfusion; that deadly volley turned the day in favor of the French, andNey and his braves were forced to make a hasty retreat. 

In the great battle of Leipsic no section of the Swedish army but theartillery took part. When the English agent, Sir C. Stewart, sought bythreats to drive Bernadotte into action, he haughtily replied:

"Do you forget that I am Prince of Sweden and one of the greatestgenerals of the age?"

Bernadotte was considering the uplifting of his new kingdom rather thanthe overthrow of his old master. He was saving his army for the campaignhe proposed against Denmark. Of this campaign we need only say that itended in the acquisition of Norway. The Danes were beaten and their kingdisheartened, and in the peace of 1814 he ceded Norway to Sweden, receiving Swedish Pomerania in exchange. 

For centuries Sweden had sought to absorb Norway, and now, by the actionof this crown prince from a foreign land, the result seemed achieved. Butthe brave Norwegians themselves remained to be dealt with. They did notpropose, if they could avoid it, to be forced into vassalage to theSwedes. A party arose in favor of the independence of Norway, agovernment was formed, and their Danish governor, Prince ChristianFrederick, was elected king of Norway. 

It was a hasty act, which could not be sustained against the trained armyof Sweden. Norway was poor, her population small, her defences out oforder, her army made up of raw recruits under untried officers, yet theold viking blood flowed in the veins of the people and they were bent onstriking for their freedom. 

Bernadotte returned to Sweden in the summer of 1814 and at once led hisarmy into Norway. Little fighting took place, the Swedish crown princeshowing himself favorably disposed, and peace and union finally came, Charles XIII. Of Sweden being elected king of Norway. Yet it was not as asubject nation, but as an independent and equal kingdom that Norwayentered this union. All her old rights and privileges were retained andthe government remained free from any interference on the part of Sweden. 

It was to the wisdom of Bernadotte that this result was due. An enforcedunion, he knew, would yield only hatred and bitterness, and to drive abrave people to the verge of despair was not the way to bring them intothe position of satisfied subjects. Norway remained as free as ever inher history, dwelling side by side with Sweden, with one king over bothcountries. 

In 1818 the weak Charles XIII. Died and the strong Bernadotte, or CharlesJohn, ascended the throne as Charles XIV. The remainder of his reign wasone of peace and growing prosperity, and when he died in 1844, leavingthe throne to his son Oscar, the grateful people of Sweden felt that theyowed much to their soldier king. 

_THE DISMEMBERMENT OF DENMARK. _

The time once was when, as we have seen, all Scandinavia, and Englandalso, were governed by Danish kings, and Denmark was one of the greatpowers of Europe. Since that proud time the power of the Danish thronehas steadily declined, until now it is but the shadow of its former self. 

A great blow came in 1814, when it was forced to yield Norway to Sweden. All its possessions on the Baltic had vanished and its dominion wascompressed into the Danish peninsula and its neighboring islands, withthe exception of the duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg lying south of thepeninsula. The time was near at hand when it was to lose these and moreand be reduced to a mere fragment of its once great realm. 

The new trouble began in 1848, when the French revolution of that datestirred up all the peoples of Europe to fresh demands. North of Holsteinlay the duchy of Sleswick, occupying the southern half of the peninsula, its inhabitants, like those of Holstein, being nearly all Germans. Theseduchies had long chafed under Danish rule, though for centuries they hadformed part of Denmark, and now they made an eager demand for union withwhat they termed their true "Fatherland. "

A new king, Frederick VII. , ascended the Danish throne in January, 1848. In February the French revolution broke out. Almost instantly the duchieswere in a blaze of revolt, and on the 23d of April a Danish army ofeleven thousand men met one of nearly three times its strength, composedof the insurgents and German allies, and was defeated after a hard fightand forced to take refuge on the little island Als, where it wasprotected by Danish ships of war. 

This was the beginning of a struggle that continued at intervals fornearly three years, the great powers occasionally intervening andbringing about a truce. In 1849, the Danes gained some importantsuccesses, followed by a second truce. The most severe battle was that ofJuly 24, 1850, when a Danish army nearly forty thousand strong attackedthe insurgents and battle went on amid mist and rain for two days, endingin the triumph of the Danes. 

New successes were gained in September, Sleswick being fully occupied andHolstein invaded, when a strong Austrian army marched into the latterprovince and again the war was brought to an end. Sleswick was left underthe Danish king, but a joint commission of Danes, Austrians, andPrussians was formed to govern Holstein until its relations to Denmarkcould be determined. 

For the thirteen years following all remained at rest. But in that yearKing Frederick VII. Of Denmark died and immediately the eldest son of theDuke of Augustenburg, who claimed the duchies, hastened into them andproclaimed himself as ruler, under the title of Duke Frederick VIII. , ofthe united and independent province of Sleswick-Holstein. 

[Illustration: Reproduced by permission of the Philadelphia Museum. THEBOURSE, COPENHAGEN. DENMARK. ]

This impulsive act led to most importantresults. All the German powers to the south, large and small alike, supported the pretensions of the self-styled Frederick VIII. , and beforethe end of the year Austrian and Prussian armies entered the province, which they proposed to hold until the claims of the house of Augustenburgshould be definitely settled. 

This threw Denmark into a difficult position. If she wished to avoiddismemberment she must fight, and to fight against these two great powersseemed madness. Yet Prussia and Austria pressed one condition afteranother upon her, each more galling than the last. England, however, offered herself as umpire between the parties, strongly favoring Denmark. In consequence, fully expecting aid from England, a Danish army of fortythousand men crossed the border and attacked the Prussians. 

But England sent no aid and the Danes were forced to retreat and oncemore take refuge upon Als Island. As England showed no intention ofhelping them with armed assistance, despair followed the patriotic effortof the Danes, who were left single-handed to oppose their powerful foes. Yet in spite of their greatly inferior power they made a gallant defence, their courage and endurance winning the sympathy of those who looked on. 

Yet to struggle against such fearful odds was hopeless. The Prussiansoccupied one strong point after another until they had penetrated to themost northerly point of the peninsula. Then, to save his kingdom fromutter destruction, Christian IX. Gave way and accepted the terms offeredhim, agreeing to renounce all claims on the duchies of Sleswick-Holsteinand Lauenburg and to abide by the decision of Prussia and Austria as tothe future fate of these provinces. 

Thus were the weak dealt with by the strong, in the rude old fashion, andof its once proud dominion Denmark was left only the northern half of thepeninsula, consisting of Jutland and its neighboring islands, a pocketkingdom of some 15, 000 square miles extent in lieu of its once great andproud dominion. 

Yet it was not without satisfaction that the despoiled Danes looked onwhen their two powerful enemies, quarreling over the division of thespoils, sprang at one another's throats like two dogs snarling over abone, a great war arising between Austria and Prussia over this question, at a cost far greater than the value of the provinces fought for. 

Prussia being the victor, the rights of Denmark and the claims of theDuke of Augustenburg alike were quietly laid aside and the matter settledby the absorption of the provinces into the German empire, Denmark beingleft to thank God that Bismarck did not decide to take the rest. 

_BREAKING THE BOND BETWEEN NORWAY AND SWEDEN. _

In the year 1388 the people of Norway chose the great Queen Margaret ofDenmark for their ruler, and from that date until 1905, more than fivehundred years later, the realm of the Norsemen continued out of existenceas a separate kingdom, it remaining attached to Denmark until 1814, whenit came under the rule of the king of Sweden. In 1905 Norway broke thesebonds and for the first time for centuries stood out alone as a fullyseparate realm. With a description of this peaceful revolution we mayfitly close our sketches of the Scandinavian countries. 

During these centuries of union ill feeling frequently arose between thenations involved. Though the union with Denmark had been on terms ofequality, the Danes in later years often acted towards Norway as thoughit were a subject country, at times creating great irritation in theproud sons of the sea-kings. It was the same with the Swedish union, theSwedes at times acting towards Norway as though it were a conqueredcountry, won by the sword of Prince Bernadotte and subject to their will. 

This was a false view of the relations of the two countries. The act of1815 states that "The union is not a result of warfare but of freeconvention, and shall be maintained by a clear acknowledgment of thelegal rights of the nations in protection of their mutual thrones. " Itfurther states that "Norway is a free, independent, indivisible, andinalienable kingdom, united with Sweden under one king. "

This must be kept in mind in considering the recent events. Norway was inno sense subject to Sweden, but had simply accepted the king of Sweden asits monarch. They were not one nation, but two nations under one king, being otherwise independent in every respect, each with its ownconstitution, its own parliament, and its own laws. 

In fact, Norway has had a constitution since 1818, granted by Bernadottewhen he came to the throne, while Sweden was not granted one until overforty years later. And while the constitution of Norway makes it the mostdemocratic monarchy in Europe, that of Sweden gives much greater power tothe throne. Thus the people of Norway for many years had reason to bewell content with the situation, though they jealously kept watch overthe preservation of their rights, and at times radical parties promotedan irritation that might have led to blows had it been sustained by thepeople at large. 

The difficulty that led to their final separation was a commercial one. Norway has always been a country with the sea for its province, ruggedand unproductive as compared with Sweden, but with a long sea-coastinviting maritime pursuits. As a result, during the century its commercegrew much more rapidly than that of Sweden and it ended the century witha shipping three times as great. Its commercial interests thus madefree-trade the economic doctrine of Norway, while protection became thatof Sweden, and this was the wedge that in time forced the two countriesasunder. 

In 1885 began the disagreement which led to separation twenty yearslater. In that year the king made the minister of foreign affairsresponsible to the Swedish parliament, thus depriving Norway, as sheclaimed, of any important influence in foreign politics. Negotiationsfollowed, but Sweden resisted, and irritation arose. Finally the questionof a Norwegian minister of foreign affairs was dropped and only that ofthe right to a separate system of foreign consuls remained. 

Let us now very briefly epitomize the course of events. In 1891 Norwayestablished a consular commission and made a strong demand for separateconsuls to represent her interests in foreign ports. Violent quarrelswith Sweden followed, but no agreement was reached. In 1898 the questionbecame serious again, but still there was no agreement, and the same wasthe case when it came up once more in 1901. 

A new consular commission was appointed in 1902, its report favoring thedemands of Norway, and finally, in 1903, King Oscar gave his sanction toan agreement for separate consuls. But the king's voice did not settlethe question; it came before parliament, and after long consideration adecision was reached which avoided the point in dispute and announcedprinciples which were declared in Norway to be in violation of itsconstitution and at variance with the king's sanction of 1903. 

This ended the negotiations. The incensed Norwegian legislators appointeda new cabinet to carry out the wishes of the people and a consularservice law was passed. Events now proceeded rapidly. In February, 1905, King Oscar retired from active government on account of age and illhealth, Crown Prince Gustavus being appointed temporary regent. Onconsidering the subject he dissented from his father's opinion andoffered the following proposition for a settlement of the question atissue: first, a common minister of foreign affairs; second, a separateconsular service for each country, the consuls to be under the directionof the one foreign minister. This proposition was voted on favorably bythe Swedish parliament and the main point in dispute seemed settled. 

But on May 27 King Oscar returned to the throne and immediatelyrepudiated this action of his son and the parliament, vetoed the law forseparate consuls passed in Norway, and when the cabinet of that countryresigned in a body refused to accept their resignation. 

The crisis was now reached. A general wave of indignation swept throughthe realm of Norway. The feeling of the people was shared by theirlegislators. Norway's only connection with Sweden was that they had thesame king--but the Norwegians had no use for a king that would place theinterests of one country in precedence of those of another. The decisivemove was made on June 7, when the Storthing--the parliament ofNorway--announced itself as no longer in union with Sweden or under therule of King Oscar, declaring that he had admitted that he was unable togovern Norway according to its constitution and therefore had ceased torule as its king. The union flag was lowered from the government fortressin Christiania, where it had floated since 1814. 

In its address to the king the Storthing said that "the course of eventshas proved more powerful than the desire or will of individuals, " but toshow that good feeling existed towards Sweden, the king was requested toname a prince of his own house for the throne of Norway, who was torelinquish his right of succession to the Swedish throne. 

The die was cast. Would war result? Would Oscar seek to force Norway backinto the Union as Bernadotte had done in 1814, when it rebelled and chosea king of its own? The occasion seemed critical. Oscar refused toabdicate, there was much talk of war, the Swedish Ricksdag--orparliament--disapproved of letting Norway depart in peace. If war hadbeen declared the hope of Norway sustaining her independence was verydoubtful, as her population was only half that of Sweden and her armyand navy much weaker. Yet there was sufficient doubt of the outcome tomake all men hesitate. 

Many of the leading men of Sweden disapproved of the idea of war, thinking that hostilities were not called for and that Sweden's stake inthe question was not sufficient to justify the attempt to hold Norway byforce. A significant event at this juncture was the declaration of thepowerful Socialist party in Sweden that they would not bear arms againsttheir brethren in Norway. In this the Socialists made the firstinternational declaration of their opposition to war. 

As the weeks passed on the war feeling cooled. Oscar withdrew his refusalto abdicate, and said: "Of little use would the Union be if Norway had tobe forced into it. " As regards the feeling of the people of Norwayregarding separation, it was decisively shown on August 13, when a votewas taken upon the question. It resulted in 368, 200 votes in favor of to184 against dissolution of the union. 

The chief question to be settled was that of the abolition of thefrontier fortresses, of which Norway had a number on the border whileSweden had none. Norway held on to hers mainly from patriotic reasons, asseveral of them were of very ancient date and had great historicinterest. The difficulty was finally settled by an agreement to dismantlethe new portions and let the ancient ones remain. 

The final treaty of separation, as approved on September 23, 1905, covered the following points: 1st. There was to be arbitration of allquestions arising between the two countries. 2d. A neutral zone was to beestablished and all forts within this zone to be destroyed or madeuseless for war purposes. 3d. The grazing rights of Swedish Laplanders inNorway were to be maintained. 4th. The laws of each country were to applyto the portion of waterways crossing each. 5th. No obstacle was to beplaced on the commerce between the two countries. 

The question of the form of government of the new nation had before thisarisen. The request to King Oscar for a descendant of his house had beenat first refused. He subsequently reconsidered it and was willing to lethis son Charles fill the vacant throne, but meanwhile it had been offeredto Prince Charles of Denmark and accepted by him. The offer of the throneby the Storthing needed in democratic Norway to be confirmed by a vote ofthe people, and one was taken in October. The sentiment for a republic inNorway was supposed to be very strong, but the election resulted in avote of four to one for a kingdom against a republic, and Charles ofDenmark, grandson of King Christian, was formally chosen for the reigningmonarch of the new kingdom. In compliment to the nation he chose forhimself the national title of Haakon VII. And conferred on his son andheir the Norwegian name of Olaf. 

Formal offer of the throne was made to the new king at Copenhagen onNovember 20 by a deputation from the Norwegian parliament, King Christianaccepting it for his grandson, and saying:

"The young king does not come as a stranger to Norway, for he claimsrelationship to former Norwegian kings. Nor will the kingdom of Norway bestrange to him, for everywhere in the land common recollections of thehistory of the kingdom and the history of his race will meet him. "

On the 25th of November the new monarch, with his wife, daughter of KingEdward of England, made his formal entrance to Christiania, the capitalof his new realm, where he was received with the highest demonstrationsof joy. On their voyage from Copenhagen the royal pair were escorted byNorwegian, Danish, British, and German warships, while in their new realmelaborate preparations had been made for their fitting reception. 

At noon on November 27 Prince Charles was formally inaugurated king, asHaakon VII. , before a distinguished assembly consisting of the higheststate dignitaries, the diplomatic corps in full costume, and a brilliantconcourse of men in uniform and women in court toilets. Entering therichly decorated Parliament house, surrounded by their suites, the kingascended the throne, the queen taking a seat by his side. 

The ceremonies were brief, consisting of the king's taking the oath tosupport the constitution of Norway, and pledging himself in a briefspeech "to exert all his will and strength to serve the Fatherland andpromote its peace and happiness. " An interesting feature of the ceremonywas a despatch of congratulation from Oscar, late king of Norway, inwhich he said: "I beg that you be persuaded that every effort lookingtowards good relations between our two countries will be given asympathetic reception on my part. "

Thus, after for five hundred and seventeen years standing empty, thethrone of Norway was filled with a king of its own, and that old land, once more single and separate, swung back into the tide of the nations.