The Story of Norway

by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

[A] King Gorm had not at that time conquered Denmark.

The messengers, amazed at her insolence, warned her to give a more conciliatory answer. King Harold was surely good enough for her, they thought; but she would not listen to them. When, at last, they took their leave, she followed them out and said:

"Give this message from me to King Harold. I will promise to become his wedded wife, on this condition, that he shall for my sake conquer all Norway, and rule over it as freely as King Erik rules over Sweden and King Gorm over Denmark. For only then can he be called the king of a people."[B]

[B] Tjodkonungr.

When the messengers returned, they advised the king to break the girl's pride by sending them to take her by force. But the king answered: "This maid has not spoken ill and does not deserve to be punished. On the contrary, she deserves much thanks for her words. She has put something into my mind, of which I wonder that it has not occurred to me before. But this I now solemnly vow, and call God to witness who made me and rules over all, that I will not cut or comb my hair until the day when I shall have conquered all Norway; or if I do not, I shall die in the attempt."

Guttorm praised Harold for these words, saying, that he had spoken like a king.

In accordance with his promise, the young king now set about the task which he had undertaken. He went northward with an army and conquered Orkdale and Tröndelag, the district about the Drontheim Fjord. In Naumdale, north of Drontheim, there were two kings named Herlaug and Rollaug. The former, when he heard of Harold's march of conquest, built a great barrow, into which he entered with eleven of his men and had it closed behind him. Rollaug, his brother, ordered his royal high-seat to be carried to the top of a hill, and an earl's seat to be placed below, at the foot of the hill. He seated himself in the royal seat, but when he saw Harold approaching, he rolled from the king's seat into the earl's seat, thereby declaring himself to be King Harold's vassal. Harold tied a sword about his waist, hung a shield about his neck, and made him Earl of Naumdale.

Wherever he went, Harold pursued the same policy. The old kings who acknowledged his overlordship he reinstated as his earls in their former dominions. Those who opposed him be killed or maimed. The earls were really governors or representatives of the king's authority. They administered justice in the king's name, and collected taxes, of which they were entitled to keep one third on condition of entertaining sixty warriors, subject to the king's command. Each earl had under him four or more hersir (sub-vassals), who held in fief a royal estate, of an income of twenty marks, on condition of keeping twenty warriors ready to serve the king. It will be seen that the feudal principle was the basis of Harold's state. He deprived the peasants of their allodium, and declared all land to be the property of the king. The cultivators of the soil, from having been free proprietors, became the tenants of the king, and in so far as they were permitted to retain their inherited estates, derived this privilege no more from allodial but from feudal right. It followed that the king could levy a tax on all land, and that every man who refused to pay the tax forfeited his title. Also a personal tax, which the peasants derisively called the nose-tax (because it was levied in every household according to the number of noses), is said to have been exacted by Harold, and to have caused much dissatisfaction. It is added that many of the former kings who accepted earldoms from him, found themselves in a better position, both financially and as to authority, than they had been before. And this is scarcely to be wondered at. Their royal title had conferred upon them no rights except such as their people voluntarily conceded to them, and their chief privilege amounted to a usage rather than a right to assume command in war, and conduct the public sacrifices. Still it was only in rare cases that they were willing to exchange this shadowy authority for the real power which Harold, by right of conquest, conferred upon them.

A still greater antagonism did the introduction of the feudal land tenure arouse among the free yeomanry, who in their fierce independence could not endure any relation of enforced obedience and subordination. Therefore rebellions against the royal authority, on a smaller or greater scale, were of constant occurrence during the first half of Harold's reign, and there are even indications that they continued much longer. Many of his provinces he had to conquer twice, and it was only the enormous odds in his favor, and the promptness and severity of his punishments, which at length forced the disloyal to accept his sway. It required an energy and resolution such as his to make a nation of all these scattered, predatory, and often mutually hostile tribes; and his uniform and systematic policy, as well as his uncompromising sternness, in dealing with resistance, show that he was fully conscious of the magnitude of his task.

It would be tedious to enumerate the battles he fought and the victories he won. With every year that passed he approached nearer to his goal—to be the ruler of all Norway. Many of the mightiest men in the land who had hitherto held aloof now offered him their services, and were glad to accept honors at his hands. Among these were the earl Haakon Grjotgardsson of Haalogaland, and Ragnvald, late earl of Möre, who was the father of Duke Rollo of Normandy, and through William the Conqueror the ancestor of the kings of England. Ragnvald was a brave and sagacious man, who assisted the king with counsel and with deeds, and became his most intimate friend and adviser.