, 1875-07-28

at this battle Odin for the last time appeared
on earth,-in other words, that men were begin.
ming to disbelieve in the presence Of super"
natural beings among them, and to regard events
from something of 4 scientific point of view.
Passing the picturesque figures that throng
the heroic age, we come to the Introduction of
Christianity in the North, begun. by Ebbo,
but really carried into execution by Ansgarius,
the noble apostle of Scandinavia, as he was
called. This indomitable p~relate. in SPITE of
extraordinary dangers and hardships, penetrat.
ed to Birka, the capital of Sweden, in s29, and
preached the Gospel. Meeting little encour-
%agement, he retired, only to return again, with
scarcely more success, in $50. From then
down till our own days the site of the city of
Birka has been completely unknown, and one
of the most interesting exploits of recent
archaeology has been the discovery of its ru
ins on the island Of Bio .k6, in Lake Malar.
The Archaeological Congress at Stockholm last
autumn made a special pilgrimage to see the
remains of the city where Ansgarius had once
stood, like Paul IN Athens, preaching THE UNI
known God.
CORN the Ola, without doubt a monarch
of great ability, was the first to destroy the
system of sssaakongar in Denmark, and he
was SO successful in his work of coalescing,
that before the end Of bis reign he had made him.
self king of all Denmark, Slesvig -Holstein,
Bhking and Skaania in Sweden, aud part Of
Norway; or about twice as much territory as
Christian *. rules at the present day. He
died in 936. Norway was similarly combined
under the rule Of Karold Haarfagr in 872,
and apparently SweC@ by Olaf the Lap-kiug
in 993, but the early history Of the latter
nation is very obscure. Before the beginning
Of the eleventh century, therefore, Scandina-
via had definitely taken that triple form which
geographically distinguishes it, and which in
one form or other has rarely failed to charac-
terise it politically, The balance of supreme
power wavered between Denmark and Nor
way. The victories of Olaf the Saint seemed
to settle the question in favour of Norway, but
the battle of Stiklestad, in 1880, in which
Olaf fell, put Norway completely into the hands
of Denmark, Both nations, however, con-
trived to preserve their mutual independence
except when Magnus the Good, King of Nor
way, assumed the Danish throne from 1O42 to
l047, until 1919, when Norway and Sweden
combined to obey the young King Magnus
Smek The next halfacentury is full of
interesting but difficult politics at the death
of Magnus, the two powers fell asunder again,
but in 1897 Margaret became Queen of Nor
way and Denmark, and ten years later added
Sweden also to her dominions by conquest.
The personal genius of this woman was SO ims
mense, that she contrived to do what no other
ruler OF Scandinavia ever succeeded IN attempt"
ing, namely, to govern the whole triple ma
ton in peace for a period of fifteen years.
However, the celebrated Act of the Union Of
Kalmar proved most disastrous for the people,
and as soon as the Great Queen died, in 14I2,
d~issension broke out again. Her nephew Erik
lost his three crow :, being deposed by
Sweden in flvour Of Karl Knudson in
1889, and by Denmark in 1440. Nog-
way still recognised him for awhile, till in
l442 the three kingdoms were again for a
moment united under Christopher, who, lost.
however, the Duchy of Finland and the island
of GLAND in the transaction. It would carry us
too far to enumerate all the oscillations of pow
err; these constant wars and constant changes
impoverished the nations excessively, and in
Denmark particularly the prosperity and
strength that the Valdemars had given to the
State became sadly shaken and weakened.
The new epoch began with the accession Of
Christian T., the first of the Oldenburg kings Of
Denmark, who came to the throne in 144S, and
definitely added Norway to the Danish Domin-
ions in 1850. Norway had possessed no real
independence since 1887, when Margaret as
oended the double throne, but it was not till
1850 that it finally sunk into a province of
Denmark. The same king finally lost the
Orknevs and Shetlands to Scotland in 1869.
The death of Stem Sture in 1920 made the
Danes once more masters of Sweden, and they
marked their victory by a b~utchsry of bishops
aad mobiles in the market-place of Stockholm,
that gained for the anniversary the title of the