History of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Vol. 1 (of 2)

by S. A. Dunham

	Confusion and Uncertainty with respect to the Kings who reigned in Scandinavia prior to the Christian Era; the Discrepancy continued to the ninth Century	[66]
	Causes of this Discrepancy; Rex Danorum applied to the Governors of Jutland, as well as to those of Zealand and Scania; Uncertainty of the Case	[67]
	Little Dependence to be placed on any List of Kings given by northern Historians to the present Day; Denmark had three or four Sovereigns at the same Time; difficult to say which was the legitimate Rex Danorum; Adam of Bremen complains of the Uncertainty	[68]
	Little known of these Kings to the ninth Century; most of them petty Chiefs; the Danish Islands not united under one Sceptre until the fourth Century; first united under Dan Mykillati; too early a Period assigned to this event; independent States in the Danish Islands as late as the eighth Century	[69]
B.C. 4. to A.D. 35.	Skiold, the reputed Founder of the Danish Monarchy, probably King of Zealand, with a Superiority over the rest; his Valour. Frode I., a valiant and conquering King, probably joined some one of the Confederations against Rome; his good Deeds and Laws	[70]
	His Laws and Institutions successful; the North had numerous Kings in his Age, probably all subordinate to him	[71]
	Arngrim, the Hero who shed the greatest Lustre on the Reign of Frode; his magic Sword Tyrfing, the Destroyer of Men; Osura, Daughter of Frode; Saxo’s Description of the Finns; their Magic	[72]
	Arngrim’s Conquests; marries Osura; their twelve Sons, eminent Pirates, destroyed at Samsoe; Song of the Scalds on the Subject, which throws much light upon the History of the Period; Swafurlam	[73]
	Swafurlam’s rencounter with Dwarfs or Fairies; obtains a wonderful Sword	[75]
	Slain by Arngrim, who marries his Daughter Eyvor	[76]
	Scaldic Story of their twelve Sons	[77]
	All slain; Arngrim’s Granddaughter by his eldest Son; Angantyr and Swafa; her extraordinary Character	[78]
	Becomes a Chief of Pirates, under the Name of Herward; her Boldness and Incantations in the Island of Samsoe	[79]
	Obtains the Magic Sword Tyrfing, which had been buried there	[81]
	Her Fame for Valour and Beauty; Marries Hafod, the Son of King Godmund; their Issue, two Sons, Angantyr and Heidrek, the former noted for his good, the latter for his mischievous, qualities; Hafod succeeds his Father; Heidrek exiled by his Father; his Mother presents him with the Magic Sword; he slays his Brother with it by rashly drawing it; frees Harald of Sweden from two great Chiefs; marries the Monarch’s Daughter; has a Son, whom he names Angantyr; Tyrfing fatal to Harald; his Wife hangs herself	[82]
	Is slain by the fatal Tyrfing, which is drawn by his Slaves; his Son, Angantyr, with it slays his Half Brother, in whose Tomb it is finally buried	[83]
	Angantyr, like all his Race, a Hero by Profession; Champions and Duels of the North	[83]
	Associations of Heroes sealed with their Blood and indissoluble; their Laws and Duties; Rolf’s famous Society of this kind; their necessary Qualifications and Discipline; Exceptions to this Discipline; Abduction common; the berserks	[84]
	Their Turbulence and Bloodshed among themselves; often became Bandits	[85]
	Fridleif II. destroys one of these Bands	[85]
	Fridleif slays Asmund, King of Norway, and seizes upon his Daughter Frogerth; is unfaithful to her; is succeeded by his Son Frode II.; the Name of this Prince, and of his Son Ingel, only interesting from their association with the Name of Sterkodder, the Hercules of the North	[86]
	Story, Adventures, and Fame of Sterkodder; the Intention of the Deities in forming him was to destroy Wikar, a King of Norway	[87]
	He effects Wikar’s Destruction; becomes a Pirate; his Continence and great Fame; his Abstemiousness; probably several of this Name, and their exploits all ascribed to one	[87]
	Kills nine Champions in defence of Helga, Sister of Ingel	[88]
	His Revenge on the Murderers of Frode	[89]
	His remarkable Death	[90]
	Legend of Gorm I. King of Denmark	[91]
	Importance of such Legends as illustrative of the Opinions of Mankind	[99]
	Gorm, according to Saxo, contemporary with the first of the Carlovingian Kings, probably King of Jutland; proofs that he was	[100]
794–935.	Ragnar	[101]
	Probability that there were two of the Name; the Actions of Ragnar and Regnier, a Jutish Pirate, probably confounded; his Death; doubtful whether his Sons revenged his Death, and made Northumberland a Danish State	[102]
	Sigurd II. succeeds Ragnar in Scania and the Isles, while Jutland had its separate Kings; Hemming, King of Jutland, contemporary with Sigurd; Hemming succeeded by Harald, who is exiled by the Sons of Godfrey, turns Christian, and returns in triumph, through the Assistance of Louis le Debonnaire; again, about 828, deprived of his Throne, and passes his future Days in religious Contemplation; his Baptism, and efforts to introduce Christianity in Jutland; St. Anscar; Sigurd, the other King of Denmark, a good and peaceable Prince	[102]
803.	Harda Canute succeeds his Father, Sigurd, but according to Saxo, Eric I.	[103]
	Several Kings ruled in Denmark and Jutland at the same time; all finally subdued by Gorm the Old; Gorm’s Conquests; he is defeated by Henry the Fowler, and compelled to admit the Christian Missionaries	[104]
	His good Policy in respect to Civil Affairs, yet hostile to the Diffusion of Christianity; married to a Christian Lady; restores the Pagan Temples; slays and exiles the Christian Teachers; his Sons noted Pirates; his Death, in 935 or 941	[106]
935–964.	Harald II. succeeds his Father in 941; he assists the Normans; vanquishes and captures the King of France, and reinstates the young Duke of Normandy; places Harald Graafeld on the Throne of Norway; Harald being murdered, he divides Norway into three States, reserving the best to himself; his Expedition against Otho I.	[107]
	Is compelled by the Emperor, with his Son Sweyn, to receive Baptism and encourage Christianity	[108]
964.	Proofs that Harald did homage to Otho	[108]
964.	Harald joins the rebel Duke of Bavaria against Otho II.; the Events of the War as respects Harald doubtful; he fails in an Expedition against Norway; his Son Sweyn rebels against him	[110]
	He flees to Normandy and is restored to Part of his Dominions by Duke Richard; is assassinated; his Character, and the Reverence in which he was afterwards held	[111]
991.	Sweyn; he encourages the old Religion, and rebuilds many of the Temples; Jomsburg, a famous City founded by Harald, as a piratical Fortress; the Laws of its community; no Christian admitted; Planotoko, Governor of Jomsburg, the Assassin of Harald, had been Tutor to Sweyn; his great Skill in Archery; a similar Story to that of William Tell told of him	[112]
	Gweyn. Much Obscurity and Contradiction respecting the early Part of his Reign	[113]
	False Statements of ancient and modern Historians respecting him refuted and rectified	[114]
991–993.	Leads an Armament against Hako, the Usurper of Norway; his Pirates defeated by Hako	[115]
	And put to death; their resolute bearing; the generous Conduct of Eric, the Son of Hako, towards them	[116]
991–1001.	Invasion of England; Brithnoth the Governor of Essex slain; Treacherous Conduct of Alfric of Mercia; Sweyn and his Ally, Olaf the Son of Trygve, appear in the Thames with a formidable Fleet	[117]
	Their Attack upon London repelled; their dreadful Depredations in Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire; Money paid them by Ethelred; Olaf visits the Court of the Saxon King, and, having been previously baptized, receives the Rite of Confirmation, and visits the Coast of England no more; Sweyn returns Three Years after, and wastes England without Opposition; Returns to contend with Olaf of Norway; the Danes return, 1001, exact another heavy Ransom, and procure extensive Estates in many Parts of the Kingdom	[117]
1001–1003.	Massacre of the Danes	[118]
	Cowardly and horrid Manner of it; Sweyn’s terrible Retribution	[118]
1003–1009.	Sweyn again visits England, 1004	[119]
	But returns in consequence of a Famine caused by the former Depredations; Deplorable Cowardice and Imbecility of the English King and Nobles; Ethelred marries Emma of Normandy; his brutal Conduct to her draws upon him the Hostility of Duke Richard;	[119]
1010.	Danegelt exacted as an annual Tribute; the Danes possess sixteen English Counties; exact 48,000l. for sparing the others; recommence their Atrocities; St. Elphege’s Description of the woful Condition of the Country	[120]
	Their Cruelties in Kent; Destruction of the City and Cathedral of Canterbury; admirable Conduct of St. Elphege; his Martyrdom	[121]
1013–1014.	In 1013 Sweyn receives the Submission of all England as their Sovereign; Ethelred flees to Normandy; Sweyn dies or is killed one Year after his Elevation; his Character	[122]

CHAP. II.

SWEDEN.

A.C. 70-A.D. 1001.

UNCERTAINTY AND CONTRADICTION IN THE CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF KINGS EXPLAINED BY THE FACT THAT THE GOTHS AND SWIONES WERE UNDER DISTINCT RULERS—HENCE THEIR CONFUSION.—THE YNGLINGS, OR SACRED FAMILY OF ODIN, REIGN AT UPSAL.—KINGS OF THAT RACE: ODIN—NIORD—FREYR—FREYA— FIOLNER—SWEGDIR—VANLAND—VISBUR—DOMALD—DOMAR—DYGVE—DAG—AGNE, ETC.—FATE OF THE PRINCES OF THIS HOUSE, OF WHOM MOST DIE TRAGICALLY.—LEGEND OF AUN THE OLD.—INGIALD ILLRADA.—CONQUEST OF SWEDEN BY IVAR VIDFADME.—GOTHIC KINGS FROM GYLFO TO IVAR VIDFADME.—KINGS OF THE SWEDES AND THE GOTHS.

	Difficulty attending all Researches into the early History of Sweden	[124]
	The Gothones were in Possession of Sweden previously to the Arrival of Odin and the Swiones; the People long under different Rulers; the Discrepancy in the Lists of Swedish Kings accounted for	[126]
A.C. 40. to A.D. 14.	The Race of Odin, the Pontiff Kings of the Swedes who reigned at Upsal. Niord succeeds his Father Odin as Prophet, Priest, and King in the Capital of Sigtuna; Numerous Kings in Sweden at the Time; Skiold, the Son of Odin, King of Ledra in Zealand; Freyr, Pontiff Chief of Upsal; Heimdal, over the Temple at Hemenbiorg; Thor, at Thrudvang and Balder Breidablik; The happy Reign of Niord	[127]
	His Death and Funeral; He is worshipped as a Deity; Succeeded by his Son Freyr; Freyr’s prosperous Reign; He builds the great Temple at Upsal; more esteemed than his Predecessors; his Surname of Yngve adopted by his Posterity, the Ynglings, as a proud Distinction; a magnificent Tomb erected for him; is succeeded by Freya, the last of the Divine Personages who accompanied Odin from Asia; her Celebrity while living and after Death; her Statue placed with those of Odin and Thor; succeeded by Fiolner, the Son of Freyr; Fiolner’s accidental Death while on a friendly Visit to Frode I. King of Denmark	[128]
	Swegdir goes with twelve Nobles to Asia, to inquire into the Family and Exploits of Odin, where he found many of his Blood; he marries a Lady in the Land of the Vanir, and after five Years returns to Upsal; his Second Journey to Asia; Legend of his Death	[128]
34–220.	Vanland succeeds his Father Swegdir; his warlike Character; he marries the Daughter of a Swede established among the Finns, whom he soon abandons	[129]
	He refuses to return to his Wife, and is, in consequence, destroyed by Witchcraft	[130]
	Visbur, the Son of Vanland by his neglected Wife, succeeds; he dismisses his Wife and two Sons, and takes another; Donald, his Son by the second Marriage; the Sons of the repudiated Queen, Gisle and Ondur, claim their Mother’s Dowry of Visbur, especially a precious Necklace, which is refused; they apply to Hulda the Witch, who had destroyed the Father of Visbur; she promises to destroy him also, and to leave his Doom to the whole of the Ynglings	[130]
	He, with his House, is burned by Gisle and Ondur	[131]
	Domald succeeds; is sacrificed by the People to propitiate the Gods and induce them to avert a Famine; Domar, the Son of Domald; Dygve, the Son of Domar	[131]
	Dag the Wise, the Son of Dygve, celebrated in Northern History; his wonderful Sparrow; his Death	[131]
	Agne, the Son of Dag, succeeds; he slays the Finnish King, and makes his Daughter Skiolfa his Wife; is, while drunk in his Tent, hanged by her	[131]
	Alaric and Eric, his Sons, divide the supreme Power between them; they destroy each other. Yngve and Alf, the Sons of Alaric, divide the Government between them, and also destroy each other	[132]
	Hugleik, the Son of Alf, succeeds; he is slain, and the Swiones subdued by Hako, a Danish Sea King; Hako is slain by Eric and Jorund, the Sons of Hugleik; Eric also slain, and Jorund hailed as the Monarch of the Swedes; he is defeated and hung by Gylang, the Son of Gudlaug, King of Halogia, and is succeeded by Aun, surnamed ‘Hinn’ Gamle, or The Old; Kings of the Danes contemporary with Aun; he is expelled his Kingdom by Halfdan	[133]
	Returns to his Kingdom; consults the Gods respecting the Duration of his Life; sacrifices his Sons on the Altar of Odin; Fables respecting him	[134]
448–545.	He is succeeded by his Son Egil; Rebellion of Tunne, a Slave, and formerly Treasurer to Aun	[134]
	The Rebel defeated by Egil, with the Assistance of Danish Troops, for which he promised to pay Tribute; Egil is killed by a wild Bull, and is succeeded by Ottar, his Son, who, refusing to pay the Tribute to Denmark, is defeated and slain, and is succeeded by his Son Adils, a noted Pirate; he marries Ursa, a Saxon Lady, his Captive; is expelled his Kingdom by Helge, Son of Halfdan of Ledra; the Victor marries Ursa, and has by her a Son, Rolf Krake	[135]
	Ursa discovered to be Helge’s Daughter, and returns to Adils; his Death by a Fall from his Horse; he is succeeded by his Son Eystein; his troublesome Reign; the Sea Kings; he is burnt, with his House, by Solvi, a Jutish Chief, who is killed in his turn by the People of Sigtuna	[136]
	Yngvar succeeds his father Eystein; leads many piratical Expeditions; killed on the Coast of Esthonia, 545	[136]
545–623.	Braut-Onund, a wise Prince, next fills the Throne of the Ynglings; his great agricultural Improvements	[136]
	He is killed by an Avalanche, and succeeded by Ingiald Illrada, his Son; fabulous Account of his Youth; he burns Six Reguli and Jarls on the Night of his Inauguration, and by that atrocious Act becomes absolute Master of all Swionia, except Sudermania, the Dominion of King Grammar	[137]
	Grammar enters into an Alliance with Hiorvardar, a famous Sea King, to whom he gives his Daughter Hildegund; characteristic Description of the Wedding Feast; Ingiald defeated by the Allies; Peace between them; Ingiald treacherously burns Grammar and Hiovardar in a Country House	[138]
623–630.	Asa, the wicked Daughter of Ingiald, persuades her Husband, the King of Scania, to murder his Brother, Halfdan III., King of Zealand; joins in the Destruction of her Husband; flees to Upsal; Ivar Vidfadme, to revenge the Murder of his Father, invades Swionia; Ingiald, by the Advice of his Daughter, in despair, burns her, his Guests, the House, and himself, and is succeeded by Ivar Vidfadme, while Olaf Trætelia, the Son Ingiald, the Last of the Ynglings, retires to the Desert Lands North and West of the Vener Lake, and by clearing them, founds the State of Vermeland; he is the Ancestor of Harald Harfager	[139]
	Reflections on the Crimes and Misfortunes of the Ynglings; Sweden henceforth under the Sway of the Skioldungs, also of Odin’s Race	[140]
	The Goths and Swiones always under different Kings; the more powerful Monarch always called King of the Goths; the Kings of all the Provinces, except Jutland, confounded	[141]
	Confused Chronology of Northern Historians	[142]
	Gylfo, King of the Goths at the Period of Odin’s Arrival in the North	[143]
	The Swiar become the dominant Caste more by the moral Influence of Odin and his Successors than by Force; the different Races in Scandinavia probably from Asiatic Scythia	[144]
	Cause of the rapid Progress of the Odinic Religion; the moral Influence of the Pontiff Sovereigns often resisted by the Gothic Kings, who frequently slew and dethroned them	[145]
70–260.	The Line of the Gothic Kings imperfectly recorded; one of the Gothlands the Seat of Gylfo’s Empire; succeeded by Frode; Frode by Sigtrug; Sigtrug slain by Gram, a Danish King, who rescues his Daughter from a Giant, marries her, and obtains the Gothic Kingdom; like the Daughter of Alcinos, he found her washing with her Maidens; Gram is slain by Swibdager of Norway, who seizes upon Gothia and Scania; Swibdager slain by Hadding, the Son of Gram; Asmund, the Son and Successor of Swibdager, also slain by Hadding, who seizes upon his States; Hadding is defeated by Uffo, the Son of Asmund; Uffo treacherously murdered by Hadding, who gives the vacant Throne to Hunding, Uffo’s Brother	[146]
	Doubts as to the Reign of Madding; Ragnar, the Son of Uffo, ascends the Gothic Throne; Gothland invaded by Frode of Denmark, who dies in the Expedition; Death of Ragnar; the Throne seized by Holward or Hodbrod; he invades Denmark, and kills Roe, one of her joint Kings; is mortally wounded by Helge, the remaining Danish King, who makes a Prize of his Kingdom; Atil I. marries Helge’s Daughter, and is raised to the Throne; their Son Hoder becomes in the sequel King of Scania and Gothland	[147]
	Ruric, the Son of Hoder, King of Scania and Gothland; Attil II. assassinated; Hogmor and Hogrin, joint Kings, killed in Battle with the Danes; succeeded by Alaric or Ebric Prince of the Swedes; the Goths and Swedes at this Time united; Confusion of Chronology; Halfdan; Siward; Eric; Halfdan II.; Ragnald; Asmund; Haquin (or Hako); the Story of Birnam Wood, admitted by Shakspeare into the Tragedy of Macbeth, taken from a similar Story told by Hako, while marching to revenge the Death of his Brothers upon the Danish King	[148]
448–623.	Egil Auniff, King of the Goths and Swedes; Identity of many of the Kings mentioned by Snorro and the Swedish Writers; the Subject rendered more intelligible	[149]
623–794.	The four next Kings of the Swedes and Goths also Kings of the Danes; Ivar Vidfadme; his Conquests extend to England	[150]
	Harald Hildetand, Grandson and Successor of Ivar, exceeded him in Glory; his Valour; his Death in Battle against his Nephew, Sigurd Ring	[151]
	Doubts as to the Kings who reigned between Harald and Ragnar Lodbrog	[152]
794–1001.	Ragnar succeeded on the Throne of Sweden by his Son Biorn I., who tolerates the Christian Mission, allowing St. Anscar to exercise his Functions unmolested; Olaf, a doubtful King; Eric I., the Son of Biorn; Eric II.; Edmund; Biorn II.; no Records of their Reigns; Biorn III. (923) enjoyed a long reign; Eric IV. (993) a longer still	[154]
	Eric V. closes the List of Pagan Kings; the Confusion of Swedish History from the eighth to the tenth Century; Cause of that Confusion; Eric IV., the Victorious, King of the Goths and Swedes	[154]
	Eric V., King, surnamed Arsael, King of the two Provinces; embraces Christianity; much Obscurity over his Reign	[155]

CHAP. III.

NORWAY.

ABOUT 70 B.C.-A.D. 1030.

NEW KINGDOM OF THE YNGLINGS IN VERMELAND.—KINGS FROM OLAF TRÆTELIA TO HALFDAN THE BLACK.—HALFDAN THE TRUE FOUNDER OF THE NORWEGIAN MONARCHY.—HARALD HARFAGER.—ERIC OF THE BLOODY AXE.—HAKO THE GOOD.—HARALD GRAAFELD.—HAKO THE JARL.—SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF OLAF TRYGVESON.—HIS EARLY PIRATICAL EXPLOITS.—HIS ROMANTIC FORTUNES.—HE BECOMES KING OF NORWAY.—HIS DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS.—HIS INTOLERANT BIGOTRY AND CRUEL PERSECUTIONS.—HIS TRAGICAL DEATH, OR, ACCORDING TO SOME WRITERS, HIS MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE FROM THE WORLD.—OLAF THE SAINT.—HIS ADVENTURES OF A PIRATE.—HIS ACCESSION TO THE CROWN OF NORWAY,—HIS PERSECUTING CHARACTER.—HIS QUARRELS AND SUBSEQUENT ALLIANCE WITH SWEDEN.—IS DRIVEN INTO EXILE BY CANUTE THE GREAT.—HE RETURNS, AND IS SLAIN.—HIS PRETENDED SANCTITY.