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.