SOME EXPEDITIONS AND DEEDS OF GREAT VIKINGS.
(_Continued._)
Harald founds Jomsborg—Svein—His vow to drive Æthelred from
England—Creation of the _Thingamannalid_—Svein’s death—Massacre of
Northmen in London—Olaf comes to the help of Æthelred the
Second—Attacks the Danes at Southwark—Captures Canterbury—Defends
the shores of England, and sails up the New River—His other
expeditions.
“Harald Gormsson (c. 940–986) was made king in Denmark after his father;
he was a powerful king and a great warrior, and conquered Holstein in
Saxland, and possessed a great Earldom in Vindland. There he founded
_Jomsborg_, and placed in it a large garrison, which was under his laws
and pay, and which subjugated the country. During the summer they went
on expeditions, remaining at home in the winters, and they were called
Jomsvikings” (Knytlinga, c. 1).
“Svein (c. 986–1014 A.D.) took possession of the Danish kingdom after
his father (Harald Gormsson); he was called Svein Tjúguskegg
(fork-beard), and was a powerful king. In his days jarl Sigvaldi and
other Jomsvikings went to Norway and fought against Hakon jarl in Mœri
in Hjörungavag; there fell Bui the Stout, but Sigvaldi fled. After that
the power in Norway was lost to the Danish kings, and a little later
Olaf Tryggvason came to Norway and got the rule.
“King Svein was married to Gunnhild, daughter of Burislaf, King of the
Vends, and their sons were Knut (the Great) and Harald. Svein was
afterwards married to Sigrid-Storráda (the Proud), daughter of
Sköglar-Tosti, and mother of the Swedish king Olaf. She had before been
married to King Eirik Sigrsæli (the Victorious) of Sweden.
“The daughter of King Svein and Sigrid was Ástrid, married to jarl Ulf,
son of Thorgils Sprakalegg (woman’s leg), who had two sons, Svein and
Björn. Gyda, a daughter of King Svein Tjúguskegg, was married to jarl
Eirik Hakonsson of Norway; their son was jarl Hakon, whom St. Olaf took
prisoner in Saudung’s Sound.[414]
“King Svein was at the fall of Olaf Tryggvason with King Olaf the
Swedish, his stepson, and with jarl Eirik, his son-in-law. They fought
at Svold, and after the fall of Olaf Tryggvason, King Svein of Denmark,
King Olaf of Sweden, and jarl Eirik of Norway divided Norway between
themselves” (Knytlinga Saga, c. 5).
In the chapter on inheritance we have seen that King Svein made the vow
to drive Æthelred from England.
“King Svein was a great warrior and a most powerful king; he made
warfare far and wide, both in the east and in Saxland. At last he went
with his host west to England, ravaged in many places there, and fought
many battles; Adalrad Yatgeirsson was then king there. Svein and he
fought many battles, and were alternately victorious. Svein won the
greatest part of England; he lived there for many winters, and ravaged
and burnt widely in the land; they called him the foe of the English. In
that war King Æthelred fled from Svein out of the land” (Knytlinga Saga,
c. 6).
“King Svein stayed at home in Denmark; his son Knut was brought up
there; Thorkel the high fostered him. Svein made warfare in the land of
King Æthelred, and drove him out of the land south across the sea; he
put _Thingamannalid_[415] in two places. The one in London (Lundunaborg)
was ruled by Eilif Thorgilsson, the brother of Ulf (jarl); he had sixty
ships in the Temps (Thames). The other Thingamannalid was north in
Slesvik, over which Heming jarl, the brother of Thorkel the high, was
ruler also with sixty ships.
“The Thingamen established a law that no report should be spread, and no
one should stay away a whole night; they attended the Bura-church, in
which was a large bell, that was to be rung every night when only a
third of the night was left; then every one was to go to church, but
without weapons; such laws as these they had in Slesvik.
“He who had the command in the town (Lundunaborg) was Alrek Strjóna, a
brother of Emma, the daughter of Richard (Rikgard of Normandy), the
father of Vilhjalm (William); King Æthelred was married to her. Ulfkel
Snilling[416] ruled over the northern part of England; he was married to
Ulfhild, the daughter of King Æthelred. King Svein died in England, and
the Danes took his body to Denmark, and buried him in Hróiskelda near
his father....” (Jomsvikinga Saga, cc. 50, 51).
“Svein was found one night dead in his bed, and the English say that
King Edmund the Saint killed him, in the manner in which the holy
Mercurius killed Julianus the Apostate” (Knytlinga Saga, c. 6).
“After the death of Svein the Danish kings retained that part of England
which they had won. War then began anew, for when King Svein was dead,
King Æthelred, with the assistance of Olaf the Saint (of Norway),
returned to the country and regained his realm. At that time the Danes
established the host of the Thingamen in England; they were paid
warriors, and very valiant. They fought many battles against the English
on behalf of the Danes” (Knytlinga Saga, c. 7).
“Knut was then ten winters old. The power of the Thingamen was great.
There was a fair there (London) twice in every twelvemonth, one about
midsummer and the other about midwinter. The English (Enskir) thought it
would be the easiest to slay the Thingamen while Knut was young and
Svein dead. Each winter about Yule, waggons went into the town with
goods which they were wont to bring to the market. So it was this
winter, and they were all tented over; this was according to the
treacherous advice and will of Ulfkel Snilling[417] and the sons of
Æthelred. The seventh day of Yule Thord (a man of the Thingamannalid)
went out of the town to the house of his mistress. She asked him to stay
there that night. ‘Why dost thou ask for that which is liable to
punishment?’ ‘I ask it,’ said she, ‘because I think it important.’ He
answered: ‘I will stay here if thou tellest me why thou askest this.’
‘Because I know that the death of all the Thingamen is planned.’ ‘How
canst thou know it,’ he added, ‘when we do not know it?’ ‘Because men
drove waggons to the town, and pretended that they contained goods; but
in each waggon there were many men and no goods, and they have done the
same thing north,[418] in Slesvik. When a third part of the night has
passed bells will be rung in the town; then warriors and also the
townsmen will make themselves ready about midnight. When a third of the
night is left, the bell of Bura church will be rung. You will go unarmed
to the church, which will then be surrounded.’
“‘It is likely,’ said Thord, ‘that thou hast many friends, and I will
tell Eilif, though it will be thought a rumour. But this farm thou shalt
own.’ Thord went into the town; he met his companion, Audun; they went
and told it to Eilif. He bade the men be on their guard. Some believed
it, others said it was only an alarm. They heard the bell-ringing as
usual, and many thought the priest was ringing. Those who believed Thord
went armed, and all the others unarmed. When they came into the
churchyard there was a great crowd. They could not get their weapons,
for they could not reach their houses. Eilif asked for their advice, but
they could give none; he added, ‘It does not seem to me good advice to
run into the church if it gives no shelter and we show fear. I think it
will be better to jump on the shoulders of those who stand outside the
churchyard wall, and thus try to escape to the ships.’ And they did so.
Most of those who were slain fell at the ships. Eilif escaped with three
ships, but none escaped from Slesvik, and Heming fell there. Eilif went
to Denmark. Some time after this Jatmund (Edmund) was made king over
England. He ruled nine months. During that time he fought five battles
against Knut Sveinsson. Alrek Strjona, whom some called Eirek, a brother
of Emma, who had been married to Æthelred, the king of the English, was
the foster-father of Edmund. At that time Thorkel the High was the most
powerful man in Denmark. They had a Thing in the spring after the
slaying of the Thingamen; Eilif urged to go and take revenge, but
Thorkel answered: ‘We have a young king, and it is not proper to make
warfare without the king partaking in it, but after three years I think
he will be valiant enough, and it will take the English by surprise.’
Eilif answered: ‘It is not sure that those will remember it for three
winters, who now do not care for it at all.’ He went to Mikligard
(Constantinople), and became chief of the Væringjar, and at last fell
there. After three winters, Knut, Thorkel, and Eirik went with eight
hundred ships to England. Thorkel had thirty ships, and slew Ulfkel
Snilling, and thus avenged the death of his brother Heming, and married
Ulfhild, the daughter of King Æthelred, who had been married to Ulfkel.
With Ulfkel was slain every man on sixty ships, and Knut captured
Lundunaborg. Thorkel went along the coast, and found Queen Emma on board
a ship. He took her ashore and urged Knut to ask her in marriage; and
the king married her. She gave birth to a son in the winter, who was
named Harald, a natural son of Knut; Hörda-Knut was their son. The son
of Knut and Alfifa was named Svein; his daughter Gunnhild was married to
the Emperor (of Germany) Heinrek Konradsson; Knut went to Rome with him”
(Jomsvikinga Saga, cc. 51, 52).
King Olaf Haraldsson, surnamed Digri (the Stout), known also under the
name of St. Olaf, was a great warrior, and made wars in the Baltic, in
Friesland, England, France, and other countries. Fifteen of these
expeditions are described in his Saga.
The Northmen under Olaf came to help Æthelred against the Danes.
“King Olaf then sailed westwards to England. It was reported that Svein
Tjúguskegg, Danish king at this time, was in England with the Danish
host, and had stayed there awhile and ravaged the land of King Æthelred.
The Danes had spread far and wide over the country, and King Æthelred
had fled from the land and gone to Valland. The same autumn that Olaf
came to England it happened that King Svein Haraldsson died suddenly
during the night in his bed; and it was said by the English that Edmund
the saint had slain him, in the same manner as the holy Mercury slew
Julian the Nithing (Apostate). When Æthelred heard of this in
Flæmingjaland (Flandres), he at once returned to England. When he came
back, he sent word to all who wanted to get property to come and win the
land; and a mass of men joined him. Then Olaf came to his assistance
with a large following of Northmen. They first sailed for London
(Lundúnir), and entered the Thames, while the Danes held the burg. On
the other side of the river there was a large trading-town, which is
called Sudvirki (Southwark); there the Danes had made great
fortifications, dug large ditches, and built inside them walls of wood,
stones, and turf, and there had a large force. Æthelred caused a fierce
attack to be made on it; but the Danes defended it, and the king could
not capture it. There were such broad bridges across the river between
the city and Southwark, that waggons could pass each other (on them). On
the bridges were bulwarks, which reached higher than the middle of a
man, and beneath the bridges piles were driven into the bottom of the
river. When the attack was made the whole host stood on the bridges, and
defended them” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 11).
“Olaf was leader of the host when they went to Kantarabyrgi (=
Canterbury), and they fought there until they took it, slew many, and
burned the town. Then Olaf had to defend the shores of England, and
coursed along them with warships, and sailed up into Nyjamoda (=
Newmouth). There was a host of Thingamen. He fought a battle, and got
the victory. Then he went far and wide about the country, and received
taxes from the people, making warfare if they paid not. At that time he
stayed there three winters” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 14).
“Olaf had large hurdles made of withies and soft wood, so cut as to make
a wicker-house, and thus covered his ships, so that the hurdles reached
out over their sides; he had posts put beneath them so high that it was
easy to fight beneath them, and the covering was proof against stones
thrown down on it. When the host was ready they rowed up the river; as
they came near the bridges they were shot at, and such large stones
thrown down on them that neither their helmets nor shields could
withstand them; and the ships themselves were greatly damaged, and many
retreated. But Olaf and the Northmen with him rowed up under the
bridges, and tied ropes round the supporting posts, and rowed their
ships down stream as hard as they could. The posts were dragged along
the bottom until they were loosened from under the bridges. As an armed
host stood thickly on the bridges, and there was a great weight of
stones and weapons upon them, and the posts beneath were broken, the
bridges fell with many of the men into the river; the others fled into
the city, or into Southwark. After this they attacked Southwark, and
captured it. When the townsmen saw that the river Temps (Thames) was
taken, so that they could not hinder ships from going up into the
country, they became afraid, gave up the town, and received King
Æthelred.
“King Olaf stayed during the winter with King Æthelred; then they fought
a great battle on Hringmara-heath in Ulfkelsland, owned by Ulfkel
Snilling, and the kings gained the victory. Then a great part of the
land was subdued by Æthelred, but the Danes and the _Thingamenn_ held
many towns, and a large part of the country” (St. Olaf’s Saga, cc. 12,
13).
“The third spring King Ethelred died, and his sons Edmund and Edward
received the kingship. Then Olaf went southward across the sea, fought
in Hringsfjord, and took and destroyed the castle at Holar, held by
vikings” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 15).
_The Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Battles._
“Then Olaf went with his men westward to Grislupollar, and there
defeated the vikings before Vilhjalmsbær (Williamsby). After that he
fought west in Fetlafjord. Thence he went south to Seljopollar, and
there took a large and old town called Gunnvaldsborg, with the jarl,
Geirfinn, who ruled it. He laid taxes on the town and on the jarl for
his ransom, twelve thousand gold shillings (gull skillingar). The money
demanded was paid by the town” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 16).
_The Fourteenth Battle and Dream of King Olaf._
“Thereafter Olaf went with his men westward to the Karlsa,[419]
plundered, and fought a battle there. While he lay in the Karlsa, and
waited there for fair wind, wishing to sail to Norvasund (= Straits of
Gibraltar) and thence to Jorsalaheim (Jerusalem), he had a remarkable
dream, that a handsome and nobly-looking but awe-striking man came and
spoke to him. He asked him to give up the intention to go into far
countries (= to the Holy Land). ‘Go back to thy odals, for thou wilt be
king over Norway for ever.’[420] He understood by this dream that he and
his kinsmen would rule over the land for a long time” (St. Olaf’s Saga,
c. 17).
_The Fifteenth Battle._
“On account of this vision he changed his journey, and steered his ships
up to Peituland (Poitou), plundered here, and burnt a town called
Varrandi” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 18).
[Illustration:
Fig. 1363.—Coin coined in Sigtuna. King Anund Jakob, c. 1020, A.D.
1050.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1364.—A Kufic coin, Gotland, Sweden.
]
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Footnote 414:
This Hakon was a grandson of the great Hakon jarl.
Footnote 415:
The _Thingamen_ seems to have been a kind of standing army, like the
Væringians in Constantinople.
Footnote 416:
Snilling = master of speech.
Footnote 417:
He was married to Æthelred’s daughter (see preceding page).
Footnote 418:
In the north of England.
Footnote 419:
Karlsa, or Karl’s river, said to be Garonne.
Footnote 420:
After his death he was the saint or patron of Norway.