CHAPTER XI

THE CONQUEST OF NORWAY

1028-1030

Canute was still in the Eternal City on the 6th of April, but it is not likely that he remained in the South much later than that date. With the opening of spring, hostilities might be renewed in Scandinavia at any moment. That Canute expected a renewal of the war is clear from the language of his message to Britain:

I therefore wish it to be made known to you that, returning by the same way that I departed, I am going to Denmark, for the purpose of settling, with the counsel of all the Danes, firm and lasting peace with those nations, which, had it been in their power, would have deprived us of our life and kingdom....

After affairs had been thus composed, he expected to return to England.

His plans, however, must have suffered a change. So far as we know, warlike operations were not resumed that year; and yet, if any overtures for peace were made, they can scarcely have been successful. Some time later in the year Canute set sail for England; but with his great purpose unfulfilled: for he had promised in his "Charter" to return to Britain when he had "made peace with the nations around us, and regulated and tranquillised all our kingdom here in the East." Not till next year did he return to the attack on King Olaf Haroldsson. Hostile movements across the Scottish border seem to have been responsible for the postponement of the projected conquest. It is told in the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ that as soon as Canute had returned from Rome he departed for Scotland; "and the King of Scots submitted to him and also two other kings, Mælbeathe and Jehmarc."

Malcolm, the son of Kenneth, was at this time ruler of Scotia, a kingdom composed chiefly of the region between the Forth and the river Spey, with various outlying dependencies. We do not know what called forth hostilities between Malcolm and Canute at this time; but it is possible that the inciting force may have been the Norwegian King, as difficulties in Britain might lead Canute to abandon his Norse pretensions. As overlord of the Orkneys and probably also of the neighbouring Scotch coast lands, King Olaf naturally would be drawn into diplomatic relations with the kings of Scone. The _Chronicle_ gives the year of the expedition to Scotland as 1031; but it also places it in the year of Canute's pilgrimage, which we know to have been made in 1027.

Malcolm rendered some sort of homage in 1027, but for what territories we do not know. That he became Canute's vassal for all his possessions is unlikely; he had already for a decade been the man of the English King for Lothian; and the probabilities are that the homage of 1027 was merely the renewal of the agreements entered into after the battle of Carham in 1018. With the Northern war still unfinished, Canute cannot have been in position to exact severe terms. Furthermore, the acquisition of the Norwegian crown would bring to Canute important possessions to the north and north-west of Malcolm's kingdom and place him in a more favourable position for conquest at some future time. Whether Malcolm realised it or not, further victories for Canute in Scandinavia would mean serious dangers for the Scottish realms.

The identity of the other two kings, Mælbeathe and Jehmarc, is a matter of conjecture. Mælbeathe was probably Macbeth, who as earl ruled the country about Moray Firth, the Macbeth whom we know from Shakespeare's tragedy. Skene believes that Jehmarc, too, must have ruled in the extreme north or north-west, the region that was under Norse influence. But the language of the _Chronicle_ need not mean that these kings were both from Scotland; Munch's conjecture that Jehmarc was Eagmargach, the Celtic King of Dublin after the Irish victory at Clontarf,[327] is at least plausible. That Canute counted Irishmen among his subjects appears from a stanza by Ottar the Swart:

Let us so greet the King of the Danes, Of Irish, English, and Island-dwellers, That his praise as far as the pillared heaven May travel widely through all the earth.[328]

If Munch's identification is correct, it reveals a purpose of combining all the Scandinavian West with the older kingdoms, a policy that must have seemed both rational and practical. The homage of Malcolm and Macbeth seems to be mentioned by Sighvat though here again the chronology is defective, the submission of the kings "from far north in Fife" being dated before 1026.

In the meantime Norway was not forgotten. During the year 1027, while Canute was absent in Rome or busied with North British affairs, his emissaries were at work in Norway still further undermining the tottering loyalty of the Norwegian chiefs. No attempt was made at secrecy--it was bribery open and unblushing. Says Sighvat the Scald:

Jealous foes of King Olaf Tempt us with open purses; Gold for the life of the lordly Ruler is loudly offered.

The poet was a Christian and seems to have taken grim satisfaction in the teachings of the new faith regarding future punishment:

Men who sell for molten Metal the gentle ruler In swart Hell (they deserve it) Shall suffer the keenest torture.[329]

The activities of the Danish envoys appear to have extended to all parts of the country, though it seems likely that their success was greatest in the West and South-west where they enjoyed the protection and assistance of the mighty nobleman Erling Skjalgsson, who thus added dishonour to stubborn and unpatriotic wilfulness. After Holy River Canute apparently dismissed his fleet for the winter, in part at least, and Erling returned to his estates at Soli.

With Erling Canute's envoys came north and brought much wealth with them. They fared widely during the winter, paying out the money that Canute had promised for support in the autumn before; but they also gave money to others and thus bought their friendship for Canute; and Erling supported them in all this.[330]

Evidence of this activity appears in a remarkable find of English coins to the number of 1500 near Eikunda-sound, not far from Soli. The treasure was brought to light in 1836; most of the coins bear the effigies of Ethelred and Canute; all are from Canute's reign or earlier.[331] The next year (1028) Canute sailed his fleet into Eikunda-sound and remained there for some time; but there seems no reason why English money should be secreted on that occasion. More probably the treasure was part of the bribe money; the fact that it was hidden would indicate that Canute's agents found the business somewhat dangerous after all.

Gold alone does not account for Saint Olaf's downfall. There were other reasons for the defection of the aristocracy, but these have been discussed in an earlier chapter: there was dissatisfaction with the new faith; there was dissatisfaction with a régime that enjoined a firm peace everywhere, that aimed at equal justice for all without respect to birth or station, and that enforced severe and unusual punishments; there was also the memory of the days of the earls, when the hand of government was light and the old ways were respected.

In 1028, Canute was ready to strike. Soon the news spread that a vast armament was approaching Norway. "With fifty ships of English thegns,"[332] the King sailed along the Low German shores to the western mouth of the Lime Firth. Among the chiefs who accompanied him from England were the two earls, Hakon and Godwin. One of Godwin's men found his death in Norway, as we learn from a runic monument raised by one Arnstein over the grave of his son Bjor, "who found his death in Godwin's host in the days when Canute sailed [back] to England."[333]

The ships that the King brought from England were doubtless large and well-manned: Canute's housecarles may have made up a considerable part of the crews. At the Lime Firth an immense Danish fleet was waiting: according to the sagas 1440 ships made up the fleet that sailed up to the Norwegian capital Nidaros. Twelve great hundreds is evidently merely a round number used to indicate unusual size; but that the armament was immense is evident from the ease with which it accomplished its work. So far as we know, the awe-stricken Norsemen made no resistance. In addition to the English and Danish ships, there were evidently not a few that were manned by the housecarles of disaffected Norwegian chiefs.

Olaf was informed of Canute's intentions and did what he could to meet the invasion. Men were dispatched to Sweden to bring home the ships that had been abandoned there nearly two years before. This was a difficult undertaking, for the Danes kept close guard over the passages leading out of the Baltic. Part of the fleet the Norsemen burned; with the rest they were able to steal through the Sound after Canute had begun his advance toward Norway. King Olaf also summoned the host, but there came

Few folk and little dragons. What a disgrace that landsmen Leave our lord royal Unsupported. (For money Men desert their duties.)

What forces the Norwegians were able to collect sailed up into Oslo Firth, where King Olaf prudently remained till Canute had again departed from the land.[334]

The northward progress of Canute's armament is told in a poem by Thorarin Praise-tongue, who had composed an earlier lay to the King's honour.[335] "The lord of the ocean" sailed from the Lime Firth with a vast fleet. Canute seems to have cut across the strait to the southwestern part of Norway, where the "war-trained men of Agdir saw in terror the advance of the hero," for Canute's dragon gleamed with steel and gold. "The swart ships glide past Lister" and soon fill Eikunda-sound. And so the journey goes on past the Hornel-mount and the promontory of Stadt, till the "sea-falcons glide into the Nid River."

At important points Canute landed and summoned the franklins to formal assemblies. The summons were generally obeyed: the franklins swore allegiance to the new King and gave the required hostages. Wherever there was occasion to do so, the King appointed new local officials from the elements whose loyalty he believed he could trust. He spent some time in Eikunda-sound where Erling Skjalgsson joined him with a large force. The old alliance was renewed and Erling received promise of all the region between the great headlands of Stadt and the Naze, with a little additional territory to the east of the latter point. This was more than the lord of Soli had ever controlled before. The terms have not been recorded, but Canute was always liberal in his promises.[336]

When Nidaros was reached, the eight shires of the Throndelaw were summoned to meet in a grand assembly, the Ere-thing, which met on the river sands at the mouth of the Nid. As Throndhjem was counted the most important region of the kingdom, the Ere-thing throughout the middle ages enjoyed a prominence of its own as the assembly that accepted and proclaimed the Norwegian kings. Here then, Canute was formally proclaimed the true King of Norway, and the customary homage was rendered.[337]

There was no need of going beyond Nidaros. Thor the Dog, Harek of Tjotta, and other great lords from the farther North were present at the Ere-thing and took the oaths of allegiance. Thor came in Canute's fleet; Harek joined the King at Nidaros. On these two chiefs the King depended for support in the Arctic regions. In return for their allegiance they received enlarged franchises and privileges, among other things the monopoly of the trade with the Finnish tribes.[338]

The conclusions of the Ere-thing concerned Norway alone. A little later a larger assembly was called, a joint meeting of the chiefs of Norway and of the invading army--magnates from England, Denmark, and Norway; possibly the warriors, too, had some voice in this assembly. Here then, in the far North on the sands of Nidaros, was held the first and only imperial assembly, so far as our information goes, that Canute ever summoned. It was called to discuss and decide matters of interest common to all the three realms--especially was it to hear the imperial will, the new imperial policy.

Canute was yet a young man--he had not advanced far into the thirties--but prudence, perhaps also wisdom, had developed with the years. He realised that his own person was really the only bond that held his realms together; but he also understood that direct rule was impracticable. The Norse movement was essentially a revolt from Olaf, not a popular demand for union with Denmark. Among the Danes, too, there was opposition to what smacked of alien rule, as is shown by the readiness with which the magnates had received the revolutionary plans of Earl Ulf. No doubt it was with reluctance that Canute announced a system of vassal earls and kings; however, no other solution can have seemed possible.

To his nephew Hakon he gave the vice-royalty of Norway with the earl's title and dignity. Whether the entire kingdom was to be included in Hakon's realm may be doubted; Southern Norway, the Wick, which was as yet unconquered, was an old possession of the dynasty of Gorm and may have been excepted. "Next he led his son Harthacanute to his own high-seat and gave him the kings-name with the government of the Danish realms."[339] As Harthacanute was still but a child a guardian must be found, and for this position Canute seems to have chosen Harold, the son of Thurkil the Tall,[340] his own foster-brother, if tradition can be trusted. Harold at this time was apparently in charge at Jomburg, where he had probably stood in a similar relation to Canute's older son Sweyn who was located there. It is significant that the only one who is awarded the royal title is Harthacanute, the youngest of the King's three sons; but he was also the only one who was of legitimate birth. There can be little doubt that Canute intended to make Harthacanute the heir to all his realms. Of these arrangements Thorarin Praise-tongue sings in his lay:

Then gave the wise Wielder of Jutland Norway to Hakon His sister's son.

And to his own son (I say it) the old dark Halls of the ocean, Hoary Denmark.[341]

Among the Norwegian chiefs who thus far had remained neutral was Einar Thongshaker, the archer of Swald. But now that the Ere-thing had acted and had renounced its allegiance to Olaf, Einar promptly appeared and took the required oaths. King Canute felt the need of binding the proud magnate closely to the new order of things, and along with gifts and increased feudal income went the flattering phrases that next to those who bore princely titles Einar should be the chiefest in the kingdom, and that he or his son Eindrid seemed, after all, most suited to bear the rule in Norway, "were it not for Earl Hakon."[342]

There remained the formality of taking hostages, sons, brothers, or near kinsmen of the chiefs, "or the men who seemed dearest to them and best fitted." The fleet then returned to the South. It was a leisurely sail, we are told, with frequent landings and conferences with the yeomanry, especially, no doubt, in the shires where no assemblies had been summoned on the northward journey. When King Olaf heard of Canute's return, he moved farther up the Oslo Firth and into one of its arms, the Drammen Firth. Here he apparently left his ships while he and his men withdrew some distance into the interior. King Canute did not pursue him. He sailed along the south shores to the Oslo Firth and up to Sarpsborg, where an assembly of the freemen accepted him as King. From Sarpsborg he returned to Denmark, where he seems to have spent the winter. Not till the following year did he care to risk a return to England; but at that time his Norse rival was treading the path of exile across the Baltic (1029).

While Canute was being hailed as King at Sarpsborg, Olaf was in hiding two or three days' march distant, probably in the Ring-realm. When he learned of the enemy's departure, he promptly returned to Tunsberg and tried to resume his sway. The situation was desperate, but he wished to make a last appeal to the Norsemen's feeling of loyalty to Harold's dynasty. And now another fleet sailed up the western shores, this time the King's own. Only thirteen ships steered out of Tunsberg harbour and few joined later. The season was the beginning of winter, a most unfavourable time for aggressive operations. When King Olaf had rounded the Naze, he learned that his old enemy, Erling Skjalgsson, had been levying forces in considerable numbers. Olaf managed, however, to intercept Erling's ship and overpowered the old chief after a furious struggle. "Face to face shall eagles fight; will you give quarter?" Erling is reported to have said when Olaf remarked on his bravery. The King was disposed to reconciliation; but during the parley one of his men stepped up and clove the rebel's head. "Unhappy man," cried the King, "there you struck Norway out of my hand!" But the overzealous housecarle was forgiven.[343]

The news of Erling's death fired the whole coast. The magnates realised at once that retreat was now impossible: they must maintain the cause of Canute. Nowhere could King Olaf land, everywhere the yeomanry called for revenge. From the south came the sons of the murdered man in vigorous pursuit; in the north Earl Hakon was mustering the Thronder-folk. Finally King Olaf was forced into one of the long inlets that cut into the western coast. Here he was trapped; flight alone was possible; but before him lay wild mountain regions, one of the wildest routes in Norway. It was midwinter, but the crossing was successful, though the sufferings and difficulties must have been great. Exile was now the only choice; the journey continued to the Swedish border and thence across that kingdom and the Baltic Sea to Russia.[344]

When Canute returned to England, Norway was apparently loyal, peaceful, and obedient. So far as we know, he never again visited the North.

The rule of Earl Hakon was brief: a year and a half at most. Of the character of his government we have no information; but the good-natured, easy-going son of Earl Eric was not a man to antagonise the Norwegian aristocracy. His lack of aggressive energies was thoroughly appreciated at Winchester: it is difficult to determine whether Canute's attitude toward his nephew is to be ascribed to bad faith or lack of faith; at all events, the King seems anxiously to have sought a pretext to remove him.

Among the noble families of Thronde-land, perhaps none ranked higher than the house of the Arnungs. Arne Armodsson was a mighty chief and, while he lived, a good friend of King Olaf. Of his five surviving sons four were faithful to the King till he fell at Stiklestead. As we have noted elsewhere, the family also had connections with Olaf's enemies: Arne's daughter was the wife of Harek; his son Kalf was married to the widow of Olvi who had been executed at the King's orders for practising heathen rites; somewhat later Olvi's son Thorir was slain for treason (1027?). When Olaf left Norway, Kalf deserted him and not long afterwards made peace with Earl Hakon and became his man. The sagas attribute this step to the influence of his wife Sigrid and her brother, Thor the Dog. Sigrid is represented as a woman of the legendary type, possessed of a demon of revenge. She had lost much: a husband for his fidelity to the old gods; a son for suspected treason; another in an effort to take vengeance for his brother. To this motive was added that of ambition, which was, perhaps, that which chiefly determined Kalf's actions. Canute seems to have been anxious to secure the active support of this influential noble and probably had expressed a desire for an interview; for in the spring following the conquest (1029), Kalf prepared his ship and sailed to England.[345]

It must have been clear to Canute that continued peace in the North was not to be hoped for. That King Olaf Haroldsson, who had begun his career as a viking while he was yet a mere boy and who was still young, strong, and virile, would be content with permanent exile was unthinkable. Canute must further have realised that his power in Norway had no secure foundation: bribery could not be employed forever; heathendom was a broken reed. His representative was weak, or, as Canute is said to have put it, too "conscientious"; in a crisis he was not to be trusted. Einar Thongshaker was of doubtful loyalty and furthermore had nearly passed the limits of active life. But here was Kalf, young and influential, wealthy and strong.

Canute therefore proposed to Kalf that if Olaf should reappear in Norway he was to raise the militia and lead the host against him. He thus became, in a way, Canute's personal, though unofficial, representative in the kingdom, with a higher title in prospect:

I will then give you the earl's dignity and let you govern Norway; but my kinsman Hakon shall fare back to me; and for that he is best suited, as he is so conscientious that I scarcely believe he would do as much as hurl a single shaft against King Olaf, if they were to meet.[346]

Kalf listened joyfully; Canute's speech appealed to him; "and now he began to yearn for the earlship." An agreement was made, and soon Kalf's ship, laden with gifts, was again sailing eastward over the North Sea. Bjarne the Poet recalls these gifts and promises in a praise-lay of which we have fragments:

The lord of London made promise Of lands ere you left the westlands (Since there has come postponement): Slight was not your distinction.[347]

A few months later the vice-royalty was vacant. Soon after Kalf's return to Norway, Hakon sailed to England; Canute had apparently sent for him. The sources are neither clear nor wholly agreed on this matter; but practically all place the journey in some relation to Hakon's betrothal to Gunhild, Canute's niece, the daughter of his sister Gunhild and a Slavic prince, Witigern. It was late in the year before Hakon was ready to return--sometime after Martinsmas (November 11th); says Florence of Worcester.[348] His ship never reached Norway; it went down in a tempest in the Pentland Firth, probably in January, 1030.

The English sources have it that Canute in fact exiled Hakon, though formally he sent him on a personal mission; but the chroniclers are evidently in error in this matter. When these writers speak of outlawry, they mean exile from England; and Hakon was no longer an English resident. Still, it is extremely probable that Hakon had been deprived of his ancestral dignities, that he had been transferred to a new field. Two possibilities appear to fit into the situation: the Earl may have been transferred to the north-western islands or to Jomburg. The Norwegian dependencies along the Scottish shores, the Orkneys and other possessions, passed to Canute when he assumed the Norwegian crown. The fact that Hakon's ship went under on the shores of the Orkneys may indicate that he had an errand in those waters, that Canute had created a new jurisdiction for his easy-going nephew.

Still more is to be said for the alternative possibility. Canute had clearly decided to supersede Hakon in Norway. He had already, it seems, selected his illegitimate son Sweyn for the Norse governorship. The promotion of Sweyn would create a vacancy in Jomburg; perhaps Hakon was intended as Sweyn's successor at that post. At any rate, the King was planning a marriage between the Earl and a kinswoman of his own who was of the Slavic aristocracy, a marriage that would secure for the Earl a certain support among the Wendish nobility. The prospective bride was probably in Wendland with her kinsmen at the time; at any rate she was not on the ship that went down in the Swelchie of Pentland Firth; for a few years later we find Gunhild the widow of one whose history is closely associated with Jomburg, Harold, the son of Thurkil the Tall, the Harold who in 1030 was administering Danish affairs in the name of Harthacanute. Florence tells us that in 1044, Gunhild was exiled from England with her two sons, Thurkil and Heming.[349] Two fierce brothers, it will be recalled, led the Jomvikings into England in 1009,--Thurkil and Heming. No doubt the exiled boys were Harold's sons, named in honour of their stately grandfather and his valiant brother.

Once more Norway was without a ruler. The news of Hakon's death was not long in reaching the Throndelaw, and the leaders of the various factions seem to have taken prompt measures to provide a satisfactory régime. Einar Thongshaker, mindful of Canute's earlier promises, got out his ship and repaired to England. As usual the diplomatic King was prodigal with promises and professions of friendship: Einar should have the highest place in the Norse aristocracy, a larger income, and whatever honours the King could give except the earl's authority,--that had been assigned to Sweyn, and messengers had already been dispatched to Jomburg with instructions to the young prince to assume control at Nidaros.[350]

The old warrior cannot have been pleased. It is likely that his loyalty received a violent shock. Knowing that an attempt would be made to restore Olaf to the throne, he apparently decided to assume his customary neutral attitude; at any rate, he would not fight under Kalf Arnesson's banner. So he lingered in England till the trouble was over and Sweyn was in charge of the kingdom.

Kalf did not go to England; he was busy carrying out his promises to Canute. For hardly had the merchant ships brought rumours of Earl Hakon's death, before Olaf's partisans took measures to restore their legitimate King. Some of the chiefs set out for Russia; and when midsummer came, King Olaf's banner was advancing toward the Norwegian capital. Kalf was prepared to meet him. As it was not known what route Olaf might choose to take or in what region he would set up his standard, the forces of the yeomanry were divided, the southern magnates under the leadership of the sons of Erling undertaking to meet the King if he should appear in the south-east, while the northern host under Kalf, Harek, and Thor the Dog was preparing to hold the Throndelaw.

The host that gathered to oppose the returned exile was wholly Norse: no Dane or Englishman seems to have fought for Canute at Stiklestead, The only alien who is prominently mentioned in this connection is Bishop Sigurd, a Danish ecclesiastic who had served as Hakon's court bishop and was a violent partisan of Canute. All the western coast as far as to the Arctic seems to have been represented in the army of the franklins, which is said to have numbered 14,400, four times the number that fought for the returned King.

Still, the disparity of forces was not so great after all. Most of the kingsmen were superb warriors, and all were animated with enthusiasm for Olaf's cause. It was otherwise in the host of the yeomanry; many had small desire to fight for King Canute, and among the chiefs there was an evident reluctance to lead. Kalf had, therefore, no difficulty in securing authority to command--it was almost thrust upon him.

The battle was joined at Stiklestead farm, about forty miles north-east of the modern Throndhjem. The summer night is short in the Northlands and the long morning gave opportunity for careful preparation. At noon the armies met and the battle began. For more than two hours it raged, King Olaf fighting heroically among his men. Leading an attack on the hostile standard, he came into a hand-to-hand conflict with the chiefs of the yeomanry and fell wounded in three places.[351]

Saint Olaf's day is celebrated on July 29th, and it is generally held that the battle was fought on that date. Some historians have thought that it was really fought a month later on the last day of August. Sighvat was that year on a pilgrimage to Rome, and was consequently not an eye-witness; but his lines composed after his return are, nevertheless, one of the chief sources used by the saga-men. The poet alludes to an eclipse of the sun on the day of the battle:

They call it a great wonder That the sun would not, Though the sky was cloudless, Shine warm upon the men.[352]

Such an eclipse, total in that very region at the hour assigned to the climax of the fight, actually occurred on August 31st. It is generally held, however, that the eclipse came to be associated with the battle later when the search for miracles had begun.

The reaction was successfully met, but without any assistance from Canute. Sweyn had prepared a large force of Danes, commanded it seems by Earl Harold, and had hastened northward; but had only reached the Wick when the battle of Stiklestead was fought. It seems strange at first thought that no English fleet was sent to assist Kalf and his associates. It is not likely that Canute depended much on the fidelity of the Northmen--he understood human nature better than most rulers of his time; nor had he any means of knowing how widely the revolt would spread when the former King should issue his appeal. The key to his seeming inactivity must be sought in the international situation of the time: England was just then threatened with an invasion from the south, a danger that demanded a concentration of military resources on the shores of the Channel.

The accounts that have come down to us of the relations of England and Normandy during the latter half of Canute's reign are confused and contradictory; but a few facts are tolerably clear. Some time after the murder of Ulf (1026), Canute gave the widowed Estrid in marriage to Robert the Duke of Normandy (1027-1035).[353] It may be that on his return from Rome in the spring of 1027 Canute had a conference with Robert, who had succeeded to the ducal throne in the previous February. But whether such a meeting occurred or not, Robert had serious trouble before him in Normandy and no doubt was eager for an alliance with the great King of the North. The marriage must have taken place in 1027 or 1028; a later date seems improbable. The father of William Bastard is not famous for conjugal fidelity and may not have been strongly attracted by the Danish widow; at any rate, he soon repudiated her, perhaps to Estrid's great relief, as Duke Robert the Devil seems not to have borne his nickname in vain. The characteristics of the Duke that most impressed his contemporaries were a ferocious disposition and rude, untamed strength.

It is likely, however, that the break with Canute is to be ascribed not so much to domestic infelicity as to new political ambitions; at the court of Rouen were the two sons of King Ethelred, Edward and Alfred, who had grown to manhood in Normandy. It apparently became Robert's ambition to place these princes on English thrones, which he could not hope to accomplish without war. An embassy was sent to Canute (perhaps in 1029), somewhat similar to the one that Canute had sent to Norway a few years before, bearing a similar errand and equipped with similar arguments. Evidently the Norman ambassadors did not receive kind treatment at the English court. Their report stirred the Duke to great wrath; he ordered a fleet to be prepared for an invasion of England.[354] Most likely that was the time, too, of the Duchess Estrid's disgrace.

The expedition sailed, but a storm sent, as William of Jumièges believes, by an overruling Providence, "who had determined that Edward should some day gain the crown without the shedding of blood," drove the fleet in a westerly direction past the peninsula of Cotentin to the shores of Jersey. Robert was disappointed, but the fleet was not prepared in vain: instead of attacking England, the Duke proceeded against Brittany and forced his enemy Duke Alain to seek peace through the mediation of the Church at Rouen.[355]

These events must have occurred after Canute's return from the North,--in the years 1029 and 1030. No other period seems possible; it is not likely that the threatened hostilities could have been later than 1030, for in 1031 a new King, Henry I., ascended the French throne and Robert the Devil became involved in the resulting civil war.[356]

If our chronology is correct, the summer of 1030 saw the Northern Empire threatened from two directions; in Norway it took the form of revolt; in Normandy that of threatened invasion. In both instances legitimate claimants aimed to dislodge a usurper. The danger from the South was by far the greater; Olaf's harsh rule had not yet been forgotten by the Norsemen, nor had they yet experienced the rigours of alien rule. England was quiet and apparently contented; but what effect the pretensions of the Ethelings would have on the populace no one could know. We may be sure that Canute was ready for the invader; but so long as the Norwegian troubles were still unsettled, he wisely limited himself to defensive operations.

It is also related, though not by any contemporary writer, that Canute was dangerously ill at the time of the Norman trouble, and that he at one time expressed a willingness to divide the English kingdom with the Ethelings.[357] Whether he was ill or not, such an offer does not necessitate the inference either of despair or of fear for the outcome. The offer if made was doubtless a diplomatic one, on par with the promises to the Norwegian rebels, made for the purpose of gaining time, perhaps, until Norway was once more pacified.

But fortune had not deserted the great Dane. When autumn came in 1030, the war clouds had passed and the northern skies were clear and cheerful. Canute's Norwegian rival had gone to his reward; his Norman rival was absorbed in other interests. Without question Canute was now Emperor of the North.

FOOTNOTES:

[327] _Det norske Folks Historie_, I., ii., 673.

[328] _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, ii., 157 (Vigfusson's translation with slight changes).

[329] _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, ii., 134.

[330] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 161.

[331] Munch, _Det norske Folks Historie_, I., ii., 741.

[332] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1028.

[333] _Afhandlinger viede Sophus Bugges Minde_, 8.

[334] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 168.

[335] _Ibid._, c. 172.

[336] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 170.

[337] _Ibid._

[338] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 170.

[339] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 171.

[340] _Ibid._, c. 183.

[341] _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, ii., 159.

[342] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 171.

[343] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, cc. 174-176.

[344] _Ibid._, cc. 177 ff.

[345] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 183.

[346] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 183.

[347] _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, ii.,163.

[348] _Chronicon_, i., 184-185.

[349] _Chronicon_, i., 199.

[350] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 194.

[351] For details of the battle see Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, cc. 215-229.

[352] _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, ii., 142.

[353] The evidence for this marriage is discussed by Freeman in _Norman Conquest_, i., Note ppp.

[354] William of Jumièges, _Historia Normannorum_, vi., c. 10.

[355] William of Jumièges, _Historia Normannorum_, vi., cc. 10, 11.

[356] This was followed by a famine in the duchy (1033) which probably induced the Duke to make his pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre on the return from which he died (1035).

[357] William of Jumièges, _Historia Normannorum_, vi., c. 12.