The Story of Norway

by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

"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."

[A] See Munch, ii., p. 430.

[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 Björgvin (now Bergen) was founded by him (1070-1075) and very soon became a commercial centre of great importance.

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 (skâli) 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.