OLAF THE QUIET (KYRRE) (1066-1093) AND MAGNUS HAROLDSSON (1066-1069).
On his return to Norway, Olaf Haroldsson found his elder brother Magnus,
who had already been acknowledged as king before his father's death, in
possession of the government. After some negotiations it was agreed that
the two brothers should divide the kingdom between them--Magnus taking
the larger portion toward the north and west, and Olaf contenting
himself with Viken. If this division was founded upon the equal allodial
rights of the brothers, it was obviously unfair. But Olaf, being averse
to quarrelling, accepted it, as far as we know, without protest.
The campaign to England had largely exhausted the resources of the
country; and Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark thought that the opportunity
was now favorable for avenging the wrongs which he had suffered at the
hands of King Harold. The brothers then made levy in mass from all the
country, but Sweyn succeeded in engaging Olaf with his division of the
fleet, off the coast of Halland (1067), before Magnus had joined him.
The battle must have been indecisive; for both sides claimed a victory.
It is, however, probable that Olaf suffered the more, as he was the
first to propose peace. Magnus had, in the meanwhile, come, and their
allied fleets were, in all probability, equal or superior to Sweyn's. At
all events, Sweyn had suddenly lost the desire to prosecute the war; and
a peace was made at Konghelle (1068), at which assurances of friendship
and good-will were exchanged. Olaf is said to have borne his part in the
negotiations with a firmness and intrepidity which inspired Sweyn with
respect. As a first result of the meeting, two marriages were arranged,
viz.: one between Harold Hard-ruler's widow, Ellisif, and King Sweyn,
and the other between Olaf and Sweyn's daughter, Ingrid.
It is not known whether Magnus was present at the peace of Konghelle. If
he was, his ill health must have prevented him from transacting any
business; for only Olaf's name is mentioned in connection with the
treaty. During the following year, too, all public business devolved
upon Olaf; for Magnus lay ill in Nidaros and finally died in the spring,
1069. He left one son, Haakon, who was but an infant and was fostered by
Thore of Steig. No one put forth any claim to the kingdom in his name,
and Olaf thus became king of the whole country.
With the exception of the little ripple of martial excitement during the
first years after his accession, Olaf Haroldsson's reign of twenty-seven
years presents not a single warlike event. His saga is a saga of
peace--a long and honorable record of achievements in the service of
civilization. The key-note of his character was prudent moderation. He
was religious, but not fanatical; devout, but not bigoted. Easy-going by
temperament, yet negligent of no duty, cheerful but not jolly, calm but
not indolent, he is indeed a unique but none the less attractive figure
among the martial descendants of Harold the Fairhaired. He is the more
remarkable because his leading traits of character contrast so
strikingly with those of the prevailing type of man in his age. Serenity
of soul shines out of those of his utterances which the sagas have
thought it worth while to preserve. There seems to be a conscious
conviction, far in advance of his century, in a saying like this:
"Why should I not be happy, since I am sitting here with you at a feast,
which is consecrated to my kinsman St. Olaf, and I see both joy and
liberty among my subjects? In the days of my father this people lived
under much compulsion and fear. Then most of them hid away their gold
and treasures, but now I see shine upon every one the ornaments which he
possesses. Your freedom and joy are my feast and my delight."
The surname _Kyrre, i. e._, the tranquil, the quiet one, which the
people gave him, whether originally meant as a compliment or not,
became, in the course of time, an honorable distinction; for during the
century of strife and bloodshed which followed, all looked upon his
bloodless reign as upon a golden age of peace.[A] As a later author [B]
says: "He was in favor both with God and men; he laid great stress upon
peace and tranquillity; let every man keep what was his own, and
suppressed nothing but what was evil. * * * There were then excellent
crops and manifold splendor, so that Norway had never since Harold the
Fairhaired been in such a prosperous condition, as in his days. All the
people loved him warmly; for he conceded many a thing for their
convenience which Harold had insisted upon with harshness and enforced
with severity. He was liberal with gold and silver and good ornaments;
but only tenacious of land; the reason of this was his intelligence; for
he saw that it was for the welfare of the kingdom."
[Footnote A: See Munch, ii., p. 430.]
[Footnote B: Thjodrek Munk, Cap. 29. Quoted from Munch Det Norske Folk's
Historie.]
The story of Olaf the Quiet occupies but a few pages in the sagas, while
that of his father and his son, both great warriors, fills much space.
The work of destroying lives, in which the latter were accomplished,
appealed more to the warlike historian of the kings of Norway than the
quiet activity for the preservation of life and the amelioration of its
ills, to which Olaf devoted his energies. The little that Snorre says
about him is, indeed, all in his praise, and very likely there was no
one in those days who thought of singing songs or otherwise preserving
other deeds than those of the sword. The scald who has sung Olaf's
praise has, therefore, dwelt chiefly upon his participation in his
father's foolhardy expedition to England, and his battle with Sweyn
Estridsson.
It was natural that a man of Olaf's character should have small sympathy
with the viking spirit which was yet to a certain extent prevalent; and
though we do not know what he did to discourage viking cruises, we hear
that this form of piracy became very much rarer during his reign. One
circumstance which must have been discouraging to the vikings was the
greatly increased risk which they ran, on account of the consolidation
and increased power of the states which they were wont to attack.
England under William the Conqueror was no longer a congenial
stopping-place for Norse pirates, and France, Spain, and Germany had
likewise taken measures for the protection of their coasts, which
greatly interfered with the summer amusements of the Norse chieftains. A
trip to Ireland, to be sure, still offered some inducements in the way
of slaves and plunder; but along the Swedish and the Russian coasts of
the Baltic, the native tribes had proved apt pupils of the vikings, and
had commenced plundering on their own account, thus diminishing the
chances of profit for the Norsemen. That the influence of Christianity
may also have been active in weaning men from their predatory habits we
would fain believe, if the long carnival of bloodshed which followed did
not seem to prove the contrary. The material considerations just cited,
were evidently the more powerful; though in the case of the king, who
himself set the example of devotion to peaceful industries, there is no
doubt that his religion influenced his life by strengthening the
unwarlike side of his character. He manifested his sincerity as a
Christian, not only by his fondness for the priests, whose vestments he
often assisted in putting on, but more particularly by his efforts to
change and suppress every thing which he believed to be antagonistic to
the spirit of the religion of Christ. Thus he was the first king of
Norway who endeavored to put an end to serfdom. He gave the law, that
every shire in the kingdom should annually manumit one thrall. His first
object in giving this order, however, was to get citizens for his towns,
and thereby encourage commerce and peaceful occupations. Many of the
thralls were artisans, and a large number of those who had been
enthralled as prisoners of war were men of intelligence and enterprise.
Commerce had, even previous to the reign of Olaf the Quiet, enjoyed
periods of prosperity. The vikings were often merchants as well as
pirates, and bought for money or goods what they could not take with the
sword. Merchants, on the other hand, who were not vikings, had always to
have the sword at hand to defend their cargoes. A very sharp distinction
between the warrior caste and that of the merchants, did not therefore
exist, and we find that great chieftains, nay even kings themselves,
engaged in commerce, and were not ashamed of the profit they reaped by
mercantile enterprise. Thus we hear that Olaf the Saint went into
partnership, for one voyage, with the merchant Gudleik Gerdske, and
Harold Hard-ruler made the trade with the Finns a royal monopoly which
he farmed out to his underlings. A considerable exchange of commodities
by barter took place between Norway and Denmark, Sweden and England, and
as piracy declined, and the precious metals came into general use, a
more regular commercial intercourse. These first effects of a more
orderly social organization were beginning to be visible during the
reign of Olaf the Quiet, and it is owing to this fact, that we hear so
much about the promotion of commerce and the prosperity of the towns.
The city of Bjoergvin (now Bergen) was founded by him (1070-1075) and
very soon became a commercial centre of great importance.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF ORKHAUGEN, OLD NORSE DWELLING ON THE
ORKNEYS.]
As long as their occupation was war and industrial pursuits were left to
thralls, the Norsemen could not be expected to have much sense for
domestic comfort. And the fact is that, before the days of Olaf the
Quiet, even the wealthiest of them lived in a primitive way, on coarse
food and with rude surroundings. Their houses contained but one room,
with closed alcoves along the walls for beds. As floor, served the bare
earth, stamped hard and covered with straw, and along the middle of it
burned fires which sent gusts of smoke and sparks through the room. In
the roof was a large hole for the escape of the smoke, and also for the
admission of light. There were no ceilings; but the smoke-encrusted
rafters from which often depended fishing-tackle, skins, and articles of
clothing, stretched from wall to wall. Near the eaves there were square
holes in the roof, closed with shutters. On both sides of the fire were
tables and benches which extended lengthwise through the hall. In the
middle of each of the two benches which ran along the walls was a more
elaborately carved seat with tall posts, called the high-seat. The
high-seat on the north wall, facing south, belonged to the master of the
house; that on the south wall was assigned to distinguished guests. The
walls were, in the houses of chieftains, decorated with finely wrought
weapons and hangings of colored cloth. Besides the principal dwelling
(_skali_) there were a number of smaller houses, such as the bath-house,
kitchen, woman's bower, servant's hall, and sometimes a guest-house.
Among the out-houses the store-house, the barn, and the cow-stables were
the most important. It will be seen from this that the farm of a
well-to-do peasant must have had the appearance of a small village.
In these arrangements Olaf made certain changes, all tending toward
increased comfort. In the first place, he removed the fire-place from
the middle of the floor into a corner, and had a chimney built for the
escape of the smoke. It thus became possible to have floors of stone or
wood, and this innovation immediately followed. Windows were cut in the
walls and furnished with panes of glass or translucent membranes.
Ceilings were made to enable one to keep the room at a more even
temperature; and gradually several rooms were gathered under one roof.
The master's high-seat was removed to a cross-bench on the western(?)
wall; and in the king's hall, it was placed upon a raised dais, reserved
for the king, the queen, and persons of distinction. While in former
times, the feasters had contented themselves with the light from the
fire, Olaf introduced candles and tapers, and stationed as many
taper-bearers in front of the royal table as there were persons of
princely blood present. Courtiers were appointed to wait upon the
guests; and to members of the _hird_, or court, who filled this office
was accorded a higher rank than the rest.
These innovations were undoubtedly a departure from the old democratic
simplicity. A more lavish expenditure was necessitated in connection
with the court, and we find that Olaf increased the number of courtiers
(_hirdmennir_) from 60, which had hitherto been the legal number, to
120. A more elaborate ceremonial was a direct consequence of the greater
luxury, and artificial distinctions in rank were more emphasized than
formerly. The king's even good-nature and gentleness disguised to a
great extent the true meaning of all this, and prevented people from
seeing any harm in it. In fact, the Norsemen were in those days fond of
splendor, and with all their fierce sense of independence they were
greatly attracted by glitter and show. The magnificence of Olaf's
household tended to increase his popularity, for he did not impose
greater burdens upon the people in order to defray his increased
expenses.
We have heard that Olaf the Quiet was a zealous Christian, and took a
warm interest in the moral welfare of his people. With a view to
softening their manners and preventing the bloody frays which were then
apt to disturb social intercourse, he instituted clubs or associations,
which were made subject to rigid regulations. These clubs or guilds, as
they were called, met at first in the houses of their members, but
gradually, as they increased in prosperity, built separate club-houses,
or even churches, in honor of their patron saints. St. Olaf was their
favorite patron, but guilds were also formed under the protection of
other saints. The clergy had supervision over the members; and a
peaceful and conciliatory behavior was strenuously insisted upon.
Weapons were not permitted in the guild-halls; and all disputes had to
be settled, when both parties had had time to cool off. To prevent
brawls, by placing a restraint upon the behavior of the turbulent, women
of good repute were made eligible, and brief religious ceremonies opened
the meetings. The only objects of the gatherings were at first social;
but as the guilds grew more powerful, it was impossible to prevent them
from assuming a semi-political character. The laws pledged the members
to mutual protection, and often to avenge each other's death. They might
have become dangerous to the state, if the king and his principal
advisers had not, themselves, been members and thus able to control
their action.
The artisans' guilds, which in later medieval times begin to gain
political importance, were developed from these social guilds, which did
not, however, from the beginning, confine themselves to people of one
trade or profession.
We hear very little about the tribal chieftains during Olaf's reign,
probably because many of the most eminent of them had fallen at Stamford
Bridge, and the king's popularity made it seem inadvisable to those who
remained to oppose him. One of the few men whose doings are recorded is
Skule, the son of Earl Tostig, whom Olaf had brought with him from
England after his father's death. Skule was in 1069 sent on a mission to
William the Conqueror, for the purpose of bringing Harold Hard-Ruler's
body back to Norway, and accomplished this to the king's satisfaction.
He was the ancestor of King Inge Baardsson, and the arch intriguer,
Skule, who vainly aspired for the throne.
Olaf the Quiet died on his estate, Haukby in Ranrike, September 22,
1093. His body was brought to Nidaros and interred in the Christ-Church
which he had himself built.
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