ILLUSTRATIONS
[CANUTE AND EMMA] Frontispiece
(The King and Queen are presenting a golden cross to
Winchester Abbey, New Minster.)
From a miniature reproduced in Liber Vitæ (Birch.)
[THE OLDER JELLING STONE (A)]
[THE OLDER JELLING STONE (B)]
[THE LARGER SONDER VISSING STONE]
[THE LATER JELLING STONE (A)]
[THE LATER JELLING STONE (B)]
[THE LATER JELLING STONE (C)]
[SCANDINAVIAN SETTLEMENTS, BRITAIN AND NORMANDY]
[THE LARGER AARHUS STONE]
[THE SJÆLLE STONE]
(Runic monument raised to Gyrth, Earl Sigvaldi's
brother.)
[THE TULSTORP STONE]
(Runic monument showing viking ship ornamented
with beasts' heads.)
[THE HÄLLESTAD STONE]
[ANGLO-SAXON WARRIORS]
(Harl. MS. 603.)
[ANGLO-SAXON HORSEMEN]
(Harl. MS. 603.)
[ANGLO-SAXON WARRIORS]
(From a manuscript in the British Museum, reproduced
in Norges Historie, i., ii.)
[THE RAVEN BANNER]
(From the Bayeux Tapestry.)
[VIKING RAIDS IN ENGLAND 980-1016]
[THE SOUTH BALTIC COAST IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY]
[THE VALLEBERGA STONE]
[THE STENKYRKA STONE]
(Monument from the Island of Gotland showing
viking ships.)
[AN ENGLISH BISHOP OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY]
(From the Bayeux Tapestry.)
[POPPO'S ORDEAL]
(Altar decoration from about 1100. Danish
National Museum.)
[HAMMERS OF THOR]
(From the closing years of heathendom.)
[THE TJÄNGVIDE STONE]
(Monument from the Island of Gotland. The
stone shows various mythological figures; see
[THE CHURCH AT URNES (NORWAY)]
(From about 1100.)
[RUNIC MONUMENT SHOWS HAMMER OF THOR]
[THE ODDERNESS STONE]
[ORNAMENTS (CHIEFLY BUCKLES) FROM THE VIKING AGE]
[ORNAMENTS (CHIEFLY BUCKLES) FROM THE VIKING AGE]
[LINES FROM THE OLDEST FRAGMENT OF SNORRE'S]
HISTORY (WRITTEN ABOUT 1260). THE
FRAGMENT TELLS THE STORY OF THE
BATTLE OF HOLY RIVER AND THE MURDER
OF ULF
[A LONGSHIP]
(Model of the Gokstad ship on the waves.)
[SCANDINAVIA AND THE CONQUEST OF NORWAY]
[STIKLESTEAD]
(From a photograph.)
[THE HYBY STONE]
(Monument from the first half of the eleventh
century; raised to a Christian as appears from
the cross.)
[RUNIC MONUMENT FROM UPLAND, SWEDEN]
(Showing blending of Celtic and Northern art.)
[SCANDINAVIAN (ICELANDIC) HALL IN THE VIKING AGE]
[THE VIK STONE]
(Illustrates the transition from heathendom to
Christianity; shows a mixture of elements, the
serpent and the cross.)
[THE RAMSUND ROCK]
(Representations of scenes from the Sigfried Saga.)
[PAINTED GABLE FROM URNES CHURCH]
(Norse-Irish ornamentation.)
[CARVED PILLAR FROM URNES CHURCH]
(Norse-Irish ornamentation.)
[THE HUNNESTAD STONE]
[THE ALSTAD STONE]
[ANGLO-SAXON TABLE SCENE]
(From a manuscript in the British Museum,
reproduced in Norges Historie, i., ii.)
[MODEL OF THE GOKSTAD SHIP]
(Longitudinal sections.)
[THE LUNDAGÅRD STONE]
(Shows types of ornamentation in Canute's day.)
[THE JURBY CROSS, ISLE OF MAN]
[THE GOSFORTH CROSS, CUMBERLAND]
[THE PALL OF SAINT OLAF]
(Initial in the Flat-isle Book.)
CANUTE THE GREAT
CHAPTER I
THE HERITAGE OF CANUTE THE GREAT
Among the many gigantic though somewhat shadowy personalities of the viking age, two stand forth with undisputed pre-eminence: Rolf the founder of Normandy and Canute the Emperor of the North. Both were sea-kings; each represents the culmination and the close of a great migratory movement,—Rolf of the earlier viking period, Canute of its later and more restricted phase. The early history of each is uncertain and obscure; both come suddenly forth upon the stage of action, eager and trained for conquest. Rolf is said to have been the outlawed son of a Norse earl; Canute was the younger son of a Danish king: neither had the promise of sovereignty or of landed inheritance. Still, in the end, both became rulers of important states—the pirate became a constructive statesman. The work of Rolf as founder of Normandy was perhaps the more enduring; but far more brilliant was the career of Canute.
Few great conquerors have had a less promising future. In the early years of the eleventh century, he seems to have been serving a military apprenticeship in a viking fraternity on the Pomeranian coast, preparatory, no doubt, to the profession of a sea-king, the usual career of Northern princes who were not seniors in birth. His only tangible inheritance seems to have been the prestige of royal blood which meant so much when the chief called for recruits.