THE ENGLISH REACTION AND THE NORSE REVOLT 1014-1016
The death of Sweyn was the signal for important movements throughout the
entire North. Forces that had been held in rein by his mighty
personality were once more free to act. In Denmark, his older son Harold
succeeded at once to the full kingship. Three years later a national
ruler re-established the Norwegian throne. But in England the results
were most immediate and most evident: the national spirit rose with a
bound and for three years more the struggle with the invader continued.
The host at Gainsborough promptly recognised the leadership of Canute
and proclaimed him king. This, however, gave him no valid claim to the
Saxon crown; England was, in theory at least, an elective monarchy, and
not till the assembly of the magnates had accepted him could he
rightfully claim the royal title. The Danish pretender was young and
untried--he was probably not yet twenty years old. He must, however,
have had some training in matters of government as well as in warfare:
that his great father trusted him is evident from the fact that he left
him in charge of the camp and fleet at Gainsborough, when Sweyn set out
on his march into Wessex. Doubtless the Danes surmised that the youthful
chief possessed abilities of a rare sort; but the English evidently
regarded him as a mere boy whose pretensions did not deserve serious
attention.
During the winter months of 1014, the most prominent leader among the
English was evidently Thurkil, the master of the mercenary forces. It
seems safe to infer that he had much to do with the events of those
months, though we have nothing recorded. In some way the English lords
were called into session; at this meeting preparations were made to
recall the fugitive Ethelred. No lord could be dearer to them than their
native ruler, the magnates are reported to have said; but they added
significantly, "if he would deal more justly with them than
formerly."[84] The lords who attended this gemot were probably the local
leaders south of the Thames; that the chiefs of the Danelaw were in
attendance is very unlikely.
Ethelred, however, was not willing to leave Normandy immediately. He
first sent an embassy to England under the nominal leadership of his son
Edward; these men were to negotiate further, and probably study the
sentiment of the nation. Edward was a mere boy, ten or eleven years old
at the highest; but his presence was important as evidence of the King's
intentions. The Prince brought friendly greetings and fair promises:
Ethelred would be a kind and devoted king; all the requests of the
magnates should be granted; the past should be forgiven and forgotten.
The English on their part pledged absolute loyalty; and, to emphasise
the covenant, the assembly outlawed all Danish claimants. Sweyn had died
in the early part of February; the negotiations were probably carried on
in March; Ethelred returned to England some time during Lent, most
likely in April, as the Lenten season closed on the 25th of that month.
The moment to strike had surely come. Canute was in England with a good
army, but his forces doubtless had decreased in numbers since the
landing in the previous August, and further shrinkage was inevitable. On
the other hand, recruiting would be found difficult. The inevitable
break-up of Sweyn's empire in the North would mean that the invader
would be deprived of resources that were necessary to the success of the
venture. Nor could assistance be expected from the Scandinavian colonies
on the western shores of Britain or about the Irish Sea. In the very
days when the reaction was being planned in England, Celts and Norsemen
were mustering their forces for a great trial of strength on Irish soil.
On Good Friday (April 23), the battle of Clontarf was fought on the
shores of Dublin Bay.[85] The Norsemen suffered an overwhelming defeat,
the significance of which, for English history, lies in the fact that
the viking forces of the West had now been put on the defensive. Raids
like those of the early years of Ethelred's reign were now a thing of
the past.
Meanwhile, Canute had not been idle. For aggressive movements the winter
season was, of course, not favourable; but preparations seem to have
been made looking toward offensive operations immediately after Easter.
The men of Lindsey, Danish colonists no doubt, had promised horses and
were apparently to share in a joint expedition. But before Canute's
arrangements had all been made, Ethelred appeared in the north country
with a formidable host, and Canute was compelled to retire to his ships.
The men of Lincoln were made to suffer for their readiness to join in
Canute's plans: Ethelred marched his men into the Lindsey region, and
pillage began.
It was hardly an English army that Ethelred brought up to the Trent in
May, 1014. Englishmen no doubt served in it; but its chief strength was
probably the mercenary contingent under Thurkil's command, which, as we
have seen, had wintered at Greenwich. It was fortunate for Ethelred that
an organised force was at hand on his return and ready for warfare. Its
service, however, was expensive: that year another Danegeld of 21,000
pounds was levied to pay Thurkil and his vikings for their assistance in
driving Canute out of the land.[86]
But Thurkil was not the only great chief of the viking type that
assisted in expelling the Danes: Olaf the Stout once more appears in
Ethelred's service. It will be recalled that, in the siege of London the
autumn before, he assisted vigorously in its defence. He seems to have
left the English service shortly afterwards to assist in warfare on
French soil. Duke Richard of Normandy was engaged in a controversy with
his brother-in-law, Count Odo of Chartres, on the matter of his sister's
dowry. In the warfare that ensued, Olaf, serving on the Norman side,
ravaged the northern coast of Brittany and took the castle of Dol. This
must have occurred late in the year 1013 or during the winter of
1013-1014. When, on the mediation of King Robert, peace was made between
the warring brethren, Olaf returned to Rouen, where he was received with
signal honours. It was probably on this occasion that the mighty
Sea-king, on the urgent request of Archbishop Robert, accepted the
Christian faith and received baptism. It is stated that many of his men
were baptised at the same time.[87]
In Rouen, Olaf evidently met the fugitive Ethelred; for when the King
returned to England, Olaf accompanied him. Instead of coming as a
returning exile, Ethelred appeared in his kingdom with ships and men.
The Norse poets, who later sang in King Olaf's hall, magnified his
viking exploits far beyond their real importance. In their view, Olaf
was Ethelred's chief support. Snorre quotes the following lines from
Ottar the Swart:
Thou broughtst to land and landedst,
King Ethelred, O Landward,
Strengthened by might! That folk-friend
Such wise of thee availèd.
Hard was the meeting soothly,
When Edmund's son thou broughtest
Back to his land made peaceful,
Which erst that kin-stem rulèd.[88]
The emergency was too great for Canute. With the generalship of
experienced warriors like Thurkil and Olaf, supported by the resources
of a roused people, he could not be expected to cope. Presently, he
determined to flee the country. His men embarked, and the hostages given
to his father (some of them at least) were also brought on board. The
fleet sailed down the east coast to Sandwich, where an act of barbarity
was committed for which there can be little justification. The hostages
were mutilated--their hands, ears, and noses were cut off--and landed.
The men were personal pledges given to Sweyn, but not to his son.
Canute, however, probably looked at the matter in a different light; to
him they may have seemed a pledge given to the dynasty; terror must be
stricken into the hearts of the oath-breakers. After disposing of the
hostages, the young King continued his journey to Denmark.
What Canute's plans were when he arrived in his native land we do not
know. According to the Encomiast, he assured his surprised brother that
he had returned, not because of fear, but for love of his brother, whose
advice and assistance he bespoke. But he requested more than this:
Harold, he thought, ought to share Denmark with him; the two kings
should then proceed with the conquest of England; when that was
accomplished, there might be a new division of territory on the basis of
a kingdom for each. He proposed to spend the succeeding winter in
preparation for the joint attack.[89]
The proposal to share the rule of Denmark evidently did not appeal to
King Harold; he is represented as stoutly rejecting it. Denmark was his,
given to him by his father before he left for England. He would assist
Canute to win a kingdom in Britain, but not a foot should he have of
Denmark. Realising the futility of insisting, Canute promised to
maintain silence as to his supposed hereditary rights to Danish soil. He
put his trust in God, the good monk adds; and the Encomiast was perhaps
not the only one who regarded Harold's early death as a providential
event.
The problem of Norway was one that the brothers must have discussed,
though we do not know what disposition they made of the Danish rights
there. In addition to the overlordship over at least a part of Eric's
earldom, Sweyn had had direct royal authority over the southern shores,
though it is not believed that he exercised this authority very rigidly.
There is a single circumstance that suggests that Norway was assigned to
Canute: when the young prince called on his brother-in-law, Earl Eric,
to assist him in England, the Norse ruler seems to have obeyed the
summons without question.[90]
During the course of the year, the two brothers united in certain acts
of a filial nature, one of which is worthy of particular notice.
Together they proceeded to the Slavic coast, Poland most likely, where
their mother, Queen Gunhild, was still in exile. After twenty years, she
was restored to her honours at the Danish court. Sigrid the Haughty had
evidently taken leave of earthly things; for peace and good-will
continued between the Swedish and Danish courts, an impossible
condition with Sigrid in retirement and her old rival in the high-seat.
That same year the brothers gave Christian burial to the remains of
their father Sweyn.[91]
We are told that Canute continued his preparations for a descent upon
England; still, it may be doubted whether he actually had serious hope
of conquering the country at that time. Then suddenly there occurred in
England a series of events that placed the fate of Ethelred in Canute's
hands.
The saga that relates the exploits of the Jomvikings tells somewhat
explicitly of an English attack on two corps of "thingmen," as the
Danish mercenaries were called in Northern speech, the corps in London
and Slesswick.[92] The latter locality has not been identified, but it
seems hardly necessary to seek it far north of the Thames--the saga
locates it north of London. It is asserted that the massacre was planned
by Ulfketel, and that in Slesswick it was thoroughly carried out: from
this we may infer that the place was in East Anglia, or Ulfkellsland, as
the scalds called it. The garrisons, we are told, were located by Sweyn;
this is doubtless an error,--the corps were probably divisions of the
viking forces in Ethelred's service. No doubt there were other similar
corps, for Thurkil was apparently connected with neither of the two.
Canute was out of the country and no hostile force was in sight. There
could then be small need of retaining the thingmen who were furthermore
a source of expense, perhaps of danger. As in 1002, it was determined to
fall upon them and slay them. If it is true that Thurkil's men were
originally quartered in East Anglia,[93] we can readily understand why
Ulfketel might take the lead in such an undertaking. In London, where
resistance had been so persistent and successful, the mercenaries must
have been regarded with strong aversion. It was planned to strike during
the Yule festivities when the vikings would probably not be in the best
possible state of vigour and sobriety. In London armed men were smuggled
into the stronghold in waggons that were ostensibly laden with
merchandise for the midwinter market. But the corps was warned in time
by a woman who wished to save her lover Thord. Eilif, who was in command
here, escaped to Denmark. In Slesswick, the plan succeeded, none
escaping; among the fallen was the chief, Heming, the brother of Thurkil
the Tall. The attack is thought to have been made some time during the
early part of January, 1015.[94]
It is evident that something of a serious nature occurred in England in
those days, and while some of the details in the saga tale are probably
fictitious, in substance the account is perhaps correct. Heming
disappears from the English sources, while Eilif is prominent in English
politics for another decade. Most significant of all, a few weeks later
Thurkil appears in Denmark to urge upon Canute the desirability of an
immediate attack on England. He now had another brother to avenge.
Thurkil's desertion of the English cause must have done much to
stimulate Danish ambition. Help was secured from Olaf of Sweden. Eric,
the Norse earl, was also summoned to the host. Great preparations must
have gone forward in Denmark, for all writers agree that Canute's fleet,
when it finally sailed, was immense in the number of ships. Thurkil's
position in Denmark appears to have been a trifle uncertain at first.
Canute could hardly be expected to give cordial greeting to a man who
had recently sent him out of England in full flight; but after some
discussion the two were reconciled, and Thurkil joined the
expedition.[95]
In all the North there was none more famous for successful leadership in
warfare than Earl Eric of Norway. He had fought in the battles of
Hjörunga Bay and Swald; in both these encounters the highest honours
were his. It is, therefore, not strange that Canute was anxious to have
his assistance. Eric was no longer young and had no direct interest in
the proposed venture; still, when the mandate came, he showed no
reluctance, so far as we know. He called together the magnates of the
realm and arranged for a division of his earldom between his brother
Sweyn and his young son Hakon.[96] It need not be assumed that Eric at
this time made a final surrender of his own rights; most likely it was
the administration during the period of his absence only that was
provided for in this way.
As Hakon was yet but a youth, Eric gave him a guardian in his kinsman,
the famous Thronder chief, Einar Thongshaker. In his day, Einar was the
best archer in Norway; hence his nickname, the one who makes the
bow-thong tremble. He, too, had fought at Swald, but on King Olaf's
ship; twice did his arrow seek Eric's life; the third time he drew the
bow it was struck by a hostile shaft, and broke. "What broke?" asked the
King. "Norway from your hands," replied the confident archer.[97] After
Eric and his brother had become rulers in Norway, they made peace with
Einar, married him to their sister, the generous Bergljot, and endowed
him greatly with lands and influence. Of the three men to whom Norway
was now committed, he was clearly the ablest, if not of the greatest
consequence.
Turning again to England, we find a situation developing that was
anything but promising. Some time during the first half of the year, a
gemot was summoned to meet at Oxford, near the border of the Danelaw.
Evidently an attempt was to be made in the direction of a closer union
between the North and the South. Among others who attended were two
Scandinavian nobles from the Seven Boroughs, Sigeferth and Morcar. So
far as names show the nationality of the bearers, they might be either
Angles or Northmen; but the name of their father, Arngrim, is
unmistakably Norse. During the sessions of the gemot, the brothers were
accused of treason and slain in the house of Eadric, the Mercian
earl.[98] The result was a riot; the followers of the murdered men
called for revenge, but were repulsed and driven into the tower of Saint
Frideswide's Church, which the English promptly burned. Such a violation
of the right of sanctuary could not be overlooked even in those
impassioned times; and only through penance on the part of the luckless
King was the stain removed.[99]
The sources are at one in laying the blame for this trouble on Earl
Eadric. William of Malmesbury says that he desired the wealth of the two
Danes, and we find that Ethelred actually did exact forfeiture. But it
may also be that Eadric was endeavouring to extend and consolidate his
Mercian earldom; to do this he would have to devise some method to
deprive the Seven Boroughs of their peculiarly independent position in
the Danelaw or Danish Mercia. Whatever his purpose, he seems to have
had the approval of the ill-counselled King.
Sigeferth's widow, Aldgyth, was taken as a prisoner to Malmesbury, where
Edmund, Ethelred's virile son, saw her and was attracted by her. But
Ethelred objected to his son's matrimonial plans; the reasons are not
recorded, but one of them, at least, can be readily inferred: callous of
heart as the old King doubtless was, he probably did not enjoy the
thought of having in his household as daughter-in-law a woman who could
not help but be a constant reminder of a deed that was treacherous,
stupid, and criminal. Passion, however, was strong in Edmund Ironside;
he married the widow in spite of his father's veto; more than that, he
demanded her slain husband's forfeited official position. Ethelred again
refused, whereupon the Prince proceeded to the Danish strongholds and
took possession.[100]
Edmund's act was that of a rebel; but in the Danelaw it was probably
regarded in large part as proper vengeance. Thus fuel was added to the
old fire that burned in the hearts of Dane and Saxon. The spirit of
rebellion, so general in the kingdom, had now appeared in the royal
family itself. Most significant of all, the Prince had probably thwarted
a great ambition: how much of Mercia was under Eadric's control at this
time we do not know; but a man of the ealdorman's type could scarcely
be satisfied with anything less than the whole. And here was the King's
son actually governing the strongholds of the earldom. Would he not in
time supplant the low-born Eadric? We have in these transactions the
most plausible explanation of Eadric's treachery a little later, when
Canute was again in the land.
It was late in the summer,--some time between August 15th and September
8th, according to Florence of Worcester,--when Edmund appeared as
claimant in the Danelaw. Those very same weeks must have seen the
departure of Canute's fleet from Denmark. The expedition that now
arrived in England was a most formidable one; statements vary as to the
number of ships[101] and we know nothing as to the strength of the host;
but it seems likely that twenty thousand men is not an extreme estimate.
The entire North assisted in its make-up, though it may be that the
Norse contingent under Earl Eric did not arrive till later in the
year.[102] The distance to the earl's garth in the Thronder country was
long; the Norwegian chiefs lived scattered and apart; a large force
could, therefore, not be collected in haste.
Again the Encomiast seizes the opportunity to describe a Northern
fleet. He mentions particularly the gleaming weapons of the warriors on
board; the flaming shields that hung along the gunwales; the figureheads
bright with silver and gold--figures of lions, of men with threatening
faces, of fiery dragons, and of bulls with gilded horns. And he asks who
could look upon such an armament and not fear the King at whose bidding
it came. The warriors, too, were carefully selected:
Moreover, in the whole force there could be found no serf, no
freedman, none of ignoble birth, none weak with old age. All were
nobles, all vigorous with the strength of complete manhood, fit for
all manner of battle, and so swift on foot that they despised the
fleetness of cavalry.[103]
There is evidently some exaggeration here; the numerous "nobles" were
probably plain freemen; still, it is clear that Canute led a valiant,
well-equipped host.
But Canute was not the only adventurer who sailed in quest of kingship
in 1015. While the youthful Prince was mustering his fleet in the
straits of Denmark, Olaf the Stout was in Britain preparing to sail for
Norway on a similar errand--to win a crown. But here all similarity
ceases; two merchant ships and fewer than two hundred men made up the
force that began the Norse revolt. Still, Olaf Haroldsson, too, was
successful and bore the crown of Norway till he fell in war with Canute
in 1030.
After the expulsion of the Danes from England the year before, Olaf
seems to have returned to piracy; there is some evidence that he took
part in an expedition of this sort along the coasts of Gaul as far as
Aquitaine. On his return he seems to have visited Normandy, where he may
have learned of Canute's intentions and preparations. The probability is
strong that he was also informed of the part that Eric was to have in
the venture, for he seems carefully to have timed his departure so as to
reach Norway just after the earl had left the country to join Canute. He
first sailed to England, stayed for a time in Northumberland, where he
made the necessary preparations, and thence proceeded to the west coast
of Norway.[104]
Fortune smiled on the bold adventurer. Soon after he had landed he
learned that Hakon was in the neighbourhood and set out to capture him.
In this he was successful: Olaf's ships were merchant ships, and the
young unsuspecting earl rowed into a sound where the enemy was waiting
for him and passed in between the supposed merchant vessels. Olaf had
stretched a rope from ship to ship, and when the earl's boat was
directly between them, Olaf's men pulled the rope till Hakon's boat
capsized. The young chief and a few of his followers were saved. Olaf
gave him quarter on condition that he should leave Norway, surrender
his rights to sovereignty, and swear never more to fight against his
stout opponent. Hakon took the required oaths and was permitted to
depart. He hastened to England and reported the matter to his uncle
Canute. But the English campaign had only fairly begun, so Canute was in
no position to interfere. Hakon remained long with Canute, and in time
was invested with an English earldom.[105]
Meanwhile, the Danish fleet had arrived at Sandwich; but from Kent,
Canute did not sail north to his former friends in the Humber lands; he
reverted to the old viking practices of harrying the Southwest, Dorset,
Wilts and Somerset.[106] Whether this was his original plan cannot be
known: it may be that the news of Edmund's activity in the Danelaw was
to some extent responsible for this move. It was now autumn of the year
1015; but if England hoped that the host would soon follow viking
customs and retire into winter quarters, the country was doomed to
bitter disappointment; for the enemy now had a leader who saw no need of
rest, who struck in winter as well as in summer.
Canute also differed from earlier chiefs in his ideas of conduct on the
battle-field. The viking band, as a development of the Teutonic
comitatus, was naturally inspired with its ideas of honour and valour.
When the challenge to combat had been accepted, it was the duty of the
warrior to conquer or perish with his leader; and it was the chief's
duty to set an honourable example for his men. It was this spirit that
animated King Olaf Trygvesson at Swald when his men urged the
feasibility of flight before the battle had really begun. "Strike the
sails," he commanded. "My men shall not think of flight; never have I
fled from combat."[107]
The young Dane brought no such ideas to the campaign that he was now on
the point of beginning. Being by race more a Slav than a Dane, it may be
that he did not readily acquire Germanic ideas. His training with the
Jomvikings, perhaps in his early youth, at least now in his British
camp, where veterans from Jom were numerous and Thurkil the Tall was the
chief warrior, ran counter to such notions. The Jomvikings would
retreat, sometimes they would even take to flight, as we infer from a
runic inscription that reads like a rebuke for cowardly retreat.[108]
[Illustration: THE HÄLLESTAD STONE.]
To add to the difficulties of England, Ethelred was stricken with an
illness that ended his life a few months later. The hope of England now
lay in the rebellious Edmund, who was still in the North country. He and
Eadric were both gathering forces in Mercia; but when they joined
disagreements seem to have arisen; for soon the Earl again played the
traitor, deserted the Etheling, and with "forty ships" repaired to
Canute and joined his host.
In the language of the day, the term "ship" did not necessarily refer to
an actual sea-going craft; it was often used as a rude form of reckoning
military forces, somewhat less than one hundred men, perhaps. It has
been thought that Eadric's deserters were the remnant of Ethelred's
Danish mercenary force[109]; but it is unlikely that so many vikings
still remained in the English service. The chances are that they were
Mercians, possibly Danish Mercians. Wessex now gave up the fight,
accepted Canute as king, and provided horses for the invading army.
It must have been about Christmas time when Eadric marched his men down
into the South to join the Danes. A few days later the restless Prince,
with Eadric in his train, started northward, crossed the Thames at
Cricklade in Wiltshire, and proceeded toward the Warwick country. Edmund
had apparently come south to meet him, but the militia were an unwilling
band. They suddenly became sticklers for legal form and regularity, and
refused to go on without the presence of the King and the aid of London.
As neither was forthcoming, the English dispersed. Once more the summons
went abroad, and once more the men insisted that the King must be in
personal command: let him come with what forces he could muster.
Ethelred came, but the hand of death was upon him. Evidently the old
King had neither courage nor strength. Whispers of treason came to him:
"that they who should be a help to him intended to betray him"[110]; and
he suddenly deserted the army and returned to the fastness of London.
The second attempt at resistance having failed, Edmund left the South to
its fate, and rode into Northumbria to seek Earl Uhtred. No better
evidence can be found of the chaos that existed in England at the time.
The Saxon South accepts the invader, while a prince of the house of
Alfred is looking for aid in the half-Scandinavian regions beyond the
Humber that had once so readily submitted to Sweyn Forkbeard. What
agreements and promises were made are not known; but soon we have the
strange spectacle of Edmund and his new ally harrying English lands, the
Mercian counties of Stafford, Salop, and Chester. Doubtless the plan was
to punish Eadric, but it was a plan that did not lead to a united
England.
The punishment of the deserters was probably incidental; evidently the
allies were on the march southward to check Canute. Here was an
opportunity for the young Dane to show some generalship, and the
opportunity was improved. Turning eastward into Bucks, he marched his
army in a northeasterly direction toward the Fenlands, and thence
northward through Lincoln and Nottingham toward York. When Earl Uhtred
learned of this attack on his territories, he hastened back to
Northumbria. But he was not in position to fight, and, therefore,
driven by necessity, he submitted, and all Northumbria with him,
and gave hostages. Nevertheless, on the advice of Eadric, he was
slain, and with him Thurkil, the son of Nafna. And after that the
king made Eric earl of Northumbria with all the rights that Uhtred
had.[111]
The Chronicler seems to believe that Uhtred was slain soon after his
submission, and it could not have been very much later. Simeon of Durham
tells us that the Earl was slain by an enemy named Thurbrand[112]; but
it seems clear that Canute approved the act and perhaps desired it. It
is extremely probable that Uhtred was removed to make room for Eric.
When young Hakon arrived as a fugitive, Eric doubtless realised that his
Norwegian earldom was slipping away. All through the fall and winter
Olaf had been travelling along the shores and up through the dales;
wherever it was practicable he had summoned the peasantry to public
assemblies and presented his case. His appeal was to national Norse
pride and to the people's sense of loyalty to Harold Fairhair's dynasty.
Almost everywhere the appeal was successful.
But the men who loved the old order were not willing to yield without a
struggle. While Canute was making his winter campaign from the Channel
to York, both parties were active in Norway, Sweyn and Einar in the
Throndelaw, Olaf in the South. All through Lent the fleets were
gathering. Finally on Palm Sunday, March 25, 1016, the dragons
encountered each other at the Nesses, near the mouth of the Christiania
Firth. Neither force was great, though that of Sweyn and Einar was
considerably larger than the pretender's host. It has been estimated
that Olaf had fewer than 2000 men, his opponents nearly twice as many.
At the Nesses for the first time the cross figured prominently in
Norwegian warfare: golden, red, or blue crosses adorned the shining
shields of the kingsmen. After mass had been sung and the men had
breakfasted, Olaf sailed out and made the attack. The outcome was long
uncertain, but finally victory was with the King.[113]
From the Nesses Einar and Sweyn fled to Sweden. Here they were offered
assistance and were planning an expedition against King Olaf for the
following year, when Earl Sweyn suddenly died. As there was no one in
Norway around whom the dissatisfied elements could rally, all attempts
to dislodge the new King were given up for the time. Some of the
defeated chiefs may have sought refuge with Canute; at any rate the news
of the Nesses could not have been long in reaching the York country. As
Eric had come to England at Canute's request, the Prince doubtless felt
that he owed his brother-in-law some compensation. Furthermore, with the
Norse earl in control at York, Canute could feel more secure as to
Northumbrian loyalty. There thus existed in the spring of 1016 a double
reason for removing Uhtred.
Another Northumbrian magnate, Thurkil the son of Nafna, is mentioned as
sharing the strong earl's fate. Who Thurkil was is not known; but it is
clear that he must have been a noble of considerable prominence, as he
would otherwise hardly be known to a chronicler in Southern England. His
name gives evidence of Northern blood; but thus far his identity has
been a mystery, and the following attempt at identification can claim
plausibility only. King Olaf Trygvesson had a younger half-brother who
was known to the scalds as Thurkil Nefja or "Nosy." In the expedition to
Wendland in 1000, he commanded the _Short Serpent_. At Swald he fought
on King Olaf's own ship, and was the last to leap overboard when Eric
and his men boarded and seized it. Of him sang Hallfred Troublous-scald:
Strong-souled Thurkil
Saw the Crane and the Dragons
Two float empty
(Gladly had he grappled),
Ere the arm-ring wearer,
Mighty in warfare,
Leaped into the sea, seeking
Life by swimming.[114]
The inference is that he actually escaped, and it seems possible that we
find him again in England after sixteen years. As all the rulers of the
North had conspired against Olaf, he would be compelled to seek refuge
in other lands, preferably in one of the Scandinavian colonies in the
West. But for Thurkil now to serve loyally and peaceably under the man
who drove his brother to death and seized his kingdom might be
difficult; and he may therefore have been sacrificed to Eric's security.
The statement that his father's name was Nafna presents a difficulty;
but the Chronicler may not have been thoroughly informed on the subject
of Norse nicknames and may have mistaken the by-name for the name of his
father.
After the submission of Northumbria, Canute returned to the South. This
time he carefully avoided the Danelaw; evidently he wished that his
friends in Danish Mercia should suffer no provocation to rise against
him; the route, therefore, lay through the West. The campaign was
swiftly carried through, for by Easter (April 1), Canute was again with
his ships. Wessex and Northumbria were now both pacified. In the
Midlands there can have been but little active hostility. London alone
showed the old determination to resist; here were Ethelred and Edmund
with a number of the English magnates. Canute immediately began
preparations for a last descent upon the stubborn city; but before his
dragons had actually left harbour, England had lost her king.
April 23, 1016, Ethelred died. To say anything in real praise of the
unfortunate King is impossible. The patriotic monk who chronicled the
sad events of this doleful period can only say that "he kept his realm
with great trouble and suffering the while that he lived."[115] Any
striking abilities Ethelred cannot have possessed. He was easily
influenced for evil--perhaps he was faithless. But to lay all the blame
for the downfall of England tipon the incapable king would be missing
the point. The Old English monarchy was, after all, a frail kingdom. The
success of Edgar in reducing the Scandinavian colonies to unquestioned
obedience was probably due in large part to his sterling qualities as
king; but in still greater measure, perhaps, to the fact that, during
his reign, the viking spirit was at its lowest ebb: consequently the
stream of reinforcements having ceased to flow across the North Sea, the
Anglo-Danes were forced to yield. But now the situation was totally
different. In the early years of the eleventh century only statesmanship
of the highest order could have saved the dynasty; but England had
neither statesmen nor statesmanship in Ethelred's day.
FOOTNOTES:
[84] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1014.
[85] For a brief account of the Norse colonies in Ireland and the events
that culminated in the battle of Clontarf, see _Norges Historie_, I.,
ii., 292-310. (Bugge.)
[86] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1014.
[87] William of Jumièges, _Historia Normannorum_, v., cc. 11-12.
[88] _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 13. (Translation by William Morris.)
[89] _Encomium Emmæ_, ii., c. 2.
[90] The conjecture of Norse historians that he left Norway because of
disagreements with his brother Sweyn has little in its favour. Eric
believed in peace, but scarcely to the point of expatriation.
[91] _Encomium Emmæ_, ii., cc. 2-3. The banishment of Gunhild is also
mentioned in Thietmar's _Chronicle_ (vii., c. 28).
[92] _Jómsvikingasaga_, cc. 50-52.
[93] William of Malmesbury, _Gesta Regum_, i., 207.
[94] _Danmarks Riges Historie_, i., 383.
[95] _Encomium Emmæ_, ii., c. 3.
[96] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 24.
[97] _Ibid._, _Olaf Trygvesson's Saga_, c. 108.
[98] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1015; Florence of Worcester, _Chronicon_,
i., 170-171. The Five Boroughs had by this time become the Seven
Boroughs.
[99] William of Malmesbury, _Gesta Regum_, i., 213.
[100] William of Malmesbury, _Gesta Regum_, i., 213.
[101] The Encomiast counts two hundred ships (_Encomium Emmæ_, ii., c.
4). The _Jómsvikingasaga_ reports 960 (c. 52). Adam of Bremen puts the
number at 1000 (_Gesta_, ii., c. 50). The Encomiast is doubtless nearest
the truth.
[102] The _Knytlingasaga_ seems to indicate that Eric came late (c 13).
[103] _Encomium Emmæ_, ii., c. 4.
[104] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, cc. 28-29.
[105] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, cc. 30-31.
[106] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1015.
[107] Snorre, _Olaf Trygvesson's Saga_, c. 102.
[108] The Hällestad Stone, raised in memory of Toki, Canute's
gran-uncle, who fell in the battle of Fyris River:
Askell raised this monument in memory of Toki, Gorm's son his beloved
lord.
He did not flee At Upsala. Henchmen have raised To their brother's
memory On the firm-built hill This rock with runes. To Gorm's son Toki
They walked nearest.
Wimmer, _De danske Runemindesmærker_, I., ii. 86, ff.
[109] Thus Steenstrup (_Normannerne_, iii., 287-289) and Oman (_England
before the Norman Conquest_, 577) on the authority of Florence of
Worcester (_Chronicon_, i., 171) who speaks of these men as Danish
warriors. But the contemporary writer of the _Chronicle_ speaks of
Eadric's forces as the "fyrd," a term which is always used for the
native levy, "here" being the term used for alien troops.
On the theory of serious disagreements with Edmund, whose accession to
the throne seemed imminent, Eadric's treason becomes perfectly
intelligible. For a selfish, ambitious man like the earl, there was
scarcely any other course to take.
[110] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1016.
[111] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1016.
[112] _Opera_, ii., 148.
[113] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, cc. 46-51.
[114] Snorre, _Olaf Trygvesson's Saga_, c. iii., _Corpus Poeticum
Boreale_, ii., 92.
[115] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1016.