The Battle of London Bridge
“London Bridge is broken down”
When it became known that Sweyn was dead, it was agreed at a meeting
of the Angles to send for Ethelred out of Normandy; for the people
thought it would be wiser to have their own lord, if only he could
conduct himself better, rather than another foreigner for their king;
so they sent messengers to invite him to return. Ethelred was, however,
as little trustful of his own subjects as he was of the Danes; and
he first sent over his young son Edward to sound the English and see
if they were really inclined to obey him. Edward found them full of
friendship, and they swore to support their own princes, while every
Danish king they declared to be a foreigner and outlaw from England for
ever. When he heard this, Ethelred, flattered by the joyful greetings
of his subjects, set to work to gather together an army against Canute,
people flocking to him from every quarter. Among those who brought
vessels to support him was Olaf the Thick, afterwards King Olaf of
Norway. He came to the throne a year afterwards. On the death of King
Olaf Trygveson at the battle of Svold, Norway had been divided up, and
was ruled by Earl Eirik and King Sweyn. Olaf the Thick was a handsome
man, and bold in his character and acts. It is told of him that he
liked not his step-father’s ways, because his step-father, with whom he
was brought up, was a careful householder, who attended to his farm and
servant-men, and did not disdain to superintend the work in the fields
or in the smithy himself. Of this the young Olaf was disdainful, and
one day, when his step-father had sent him out to saddle his horse for
him, he saddled a large he-goat instead. When his step-father went to
the door and saw what Olaf had done, he looked at the lad and said: “It
is easy to see that I shall get little obedience from thee. It is plain
that we are of different dispositions, and that thou art a prouder man
than I am.” Olaf said nothing, but went his way laughing.
Olaf was only twelve years old when he got his first war-ship and set
out a-foraying in Sweden and Denmark. He met there Thorkill the Tall,
who was come over from England to raise more troops, and entered into
alliance with him, and together they sailed to England, just before the
death of Sweyn.
Olaf seems to have been sailing in the English Channel when Sweyn died,
for as soon as he heard that Ethelred wanted troops to aid him in
recovering his kingdom he joined himself to him, hoping, no doubt, to
reap some advantage from the war, and to inflict a defeat on the Danes,
whose kingdom it was always the desire of the Norsemen to add to the
crown of Norway.[34]
Together he and Ethelred set sail, steering direct for London, which
had always been faithful to its king; but they found the Danish force
strongly ensconced behind deep ditches and a high bulwark of stone,
timber, and turf in their castle opposite Southwark, which the Danes
called Sudvirke or, Southern Town, a great place of trade. King
Ethelred sailed up the Thames, and ordered a general assault, but the
Danes defended themselves bravely, and Ethelred could make nothing of
it.
[Illustration: _The Battle of London Bridge_]
Between the Danish castle, which afterwards was known as the Tower
of London, and Southwark, was old London Bridge, which was broad
enough for two wagons to pass each other on it. The Danes had strongly
fortified it with barricades and towers, and wooded parapets along the
sides, breast-high, and behind this the soldiers, who thickly covered
the bridge, stood shooting down upon Ethelred’s fleet of boats beneath
them. King Ethelred was very anxious to get possession of the bridge,
but it was not clear how this was to be done. Then Olaf the Thick
said he would attempt to bring his fleet up alongside the bridge, if
the others would do the same. This was his plan. He first ordered his
men to land and pull down some old wooden houses that were near the
river, and with the wood he made great platforms tied together with
hazel withes, so strong that stones would not penetrate them. These he
placed over his ships on high pillars so that they stretched out on
each side of the boats, and it was possible for his men to fight freely
beneath them. The English ships did not take any precautions, but
rowed up as they were to the bridge: but so smart a shower of weapons
and great stones was shot down upon them that they were forced to
retreat, many of them badly damaged and their men wounded; for neither
helmet nor shield could hold out against such a storm of missiles.
But Olaf’s vessels rowed up quite safely beneath the bridge, where
they were sheltered from the enemy above; and when they came under
the bridge they tied their cables firmly round the wooden piles upon
which the bridge was built, and then rowed off as hard as they could
go down-stream, the force of the river and of their oars alike pulling
at the piles until they were loosened at the bottom, and dragged out
of their place. Now as the bridge was crowded with armed troops, and
heavy heaps of stones and weapons were collected upon it, when the
piles beneath were loosened it gave way with a great crash, and most
of those who were on it fell into the water, the others flying to
either side, some to the castle and some into Southwark for safety.
Then Olaf’s troops landed on the Southwark side, and stormed and took
the place; and when the people in the castle opposite saw that the
bridge and the city of Southwark were in the hands of the enemy, to
save more bloodshed they surrendered, for they saw that they could no
longer hinder the passage of the fleet up and down the river Thames. So
Ethelred became their king; and Olaf remained with him until the King
died, commanding all his forces and fighting many battles, of which one
was at Canterbury, where the castle was burned and many people killed.
Olaf fought also a great battle in East Anglia or Essex, and came off
victorious; indeed, he was so successful wherever he went that the
saga says that Ethelred entrusted him with the whole land defence of
England, and he sailed round the country with his ships of war! But the
“Thing-men” or bodies of men-at-arms, who were trained soldiers and
cared for little but fighting, still kept the field, and the Danes held
many of the castles. When Ethelred died Olaf stood out to sea, and went
harrying in Normandy.
King Olaf always took his poet Sigvat, who was called his skald, with
him wherever he went. Sigvat sang the praises of his battles, and it is
partly from his songs that the history of the time is known. After the
battle of London Bridge he sang a song, a form of which is still common
among us, and which children sing in their singing-games, “London
bridge is broken down.”
Here is a verse of Sigvat’s song, which he made in the year 1014, and
which is still known to-day, though few people remember when it was
made, or why:
“London Bridge is broken down--
Gold is won, and bright renown.
Shields resounding,
War-horns sounding,
Hild is shouting in the din!
Arrows singing,
Mail-coats ringing--
Odin makes our Olaf win!”[35]