The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-10-22

| eldest daughter OF BJrislaf. King OF the Wends,
and nominal euzerain Of the fortress. This was
lofty match 10 Durislars opinion for tho son
Of jarl and a Captain OF vikings. but 1t would
have been foolish to offend by a direct refusal
men who protected his coasts from the raids Of
other Morse rovers, and served as curb to his
rebellious subjects. At the moment, too, when
| Burislh had word of tho vikings visit, mes
| sage came from Sweyn OF Denmark menacing
the King ofthe wends with war unless the trio
ute imposed by Harold Blue-tooth should he
liquidated. In this juncturo Astrda suggested a
scheme whose sstuteness seems to Justify the
respect entertained by Northmen for the femi-
nine Intellect. "Promise Sigwald my hand"
che said, " on two conditions: that he free your
States from foreign tribute, and before given
day deliver King Sweyn into your bands.
| whether he win or miscarry In this enterprise,
| the pront will be yours" The wendish mon
! arch accordingly gave the pirates hearty well
| come, and, after a brief Interchange OF honeyed
words, the suit Of the viking was accepted,
while the itter scceded to Astrida's terms.
The poetic nctIon which ascribes to barbarians
frankness aud good faith las long been discard
ed by historians. Tue truth L., from the invasion
| OF the Roman Empire down TO the close OF the
twelfth century, fraud and rognery. under tns
utmost diversity OF forms, dominated through
out Europe without provoking the slightest
popular reprobation. 1t appears that Sigwald
! never contemplated taking Sweyn by force
that would have involved regullr battle, In
which the chances would have teen against the
| viking. but he relied on treachery TO the fulhl-
! ment Of his pledge. Leaving JOmsburg with a
few vessels, ne came to point OF the Baltic
coast where he knew sweyn u be sojourning In
a country house. Here his brother Thorkell
goes on shore aons, and betakug himself to
sweyn, begs he will hasten TO slswald. who Is
dying on board ship, aud who, before departing
for vslhala, would fun communicate impor-
tant matters to the King. The latter happened
TO be at tho moment under the influence Of the
| evenings libatlons. and after some hesitation,
set forth with nfty followers. Coming to the
shore, tho king and his escort found the vessels
so disposed that they were OBLIGED TO traverse
| several before reaching the chiefs, Sigwald's.
and whenever they boarded one OF them, Thor
kell courteously kept back ten men, and secret
! Nv out tho cable which bound the shlp TO the
rest OF the notllla. when Sweyn, therefore.
stepped on sRwald's deck he was well nigh
alone. " Bend down my bed" said the
viking, for my voice Is too weak to reach your
ear" The King obeyed, whereupon sigwald,
with a spring, knotted his arms around the
throat OF his dupe. and sang out to his oarsmen
In voice OF thunder to pull for Jomsbur..
StupeHed ny this act OF pcrndy sweyn re-
NAMED for a time speeches.; but reassured by
the vikings promise that he would be treated
as King OF Denmark, cloaked his resentment
and presently sought to retaliate on Sikwald 10y
one of tn ose ruses common at that epoch.
AT supper, the pirate chief, remarking that his
prisoner had come on board without asword,
offered him one richly set with gems. VERY
well. sigvsid." said sweyn, "giri me with this
sword" and when the Captain had complied
straiehtway added "Behold, now, slgwad
Harold's son, hath girt me with his own sword
and done me homage, In token that sm master
Of this band" II WIS by trick Of this kind
that Otho sought TO entraD Hugh Capet into .
COMES sion OF allegiance, and thus rsdnnex
France to tho Germsn empire Carlyle men
tons another Instance where HlrLd Haarfsgr
receives magnificent sword as q present from
the English King Athelstan. lie takes the
weapon from the messenger. draws II from the
scabbard, and while turning IL over, is startled
by the shout OF the envoy, An, All. you are
now the vassA of the king, my master: you
have accepted his sword, and you are his man.
In the case OF Sweyn, however, tho artifcs
proved ineGectui. Sigwald giving his captive
rOundly to understand that subtlety was Of small
sccouut In Jomsburg. and that he could only
free himself by consuming to marry Gunhiita
the second daughter Of iurislaf. In the end Swoyn
had to yield, aud carried his prescribed bride
home to Denmark, whore he presently matured
a scheme OF vengeance against the viking, who
bad got for his own wife the elder slater aud the
fairer woman. II happened that Sigwald's
father. the iarl OF Soaui1, had Just died. Ac
cordinRiy, Sweyn, as suZerain u the dece tsed,
summoned the viking TO drink the funeral beer
Ia hts hereditary abode, where the king would
await him with portion Of his court. Sigwad
obeyed, but, as the trap was palpltls, embarked
with the whole force OF JouSourg that Is to
say, with ten thousand men. The Danish mon
oh i'm md "
giving vent 20 the rage Of despair whom Gunhilda
bethought herself OF plan not unlike that pre-
yiously invented by her sister Sho babe her
husband feast the outlaw royalty. but, after
drinking, extort from him the pledge Of an OK
petition against Hakon Jlrl, sovereign OF Nor
way, and the most dangerous OF Sweyn's ene-
mics The plot succeeded. Sigwald pro-
vailed uDon to set sill for Drontheim, yOwlng
never TO return until he had vanquishod Hikon
Jari
The remarkable man with whom the Wiki ngs
Of JOINS burg were now to cope has been paint
ed In great detail nv Mr.. ID ,ssnt. and skctchei
by CARLYLE with few short strokes Of specit
yigor. 1t is scarcely possible 20 conceive OF an
historical character better adapted to dram,ti
poetry, ana the Danish poet, Oehlens hager.
has successfully introduced hiG to the stage
without being forced TO alter Ia any way the
letter Of authentic biography. HaEon Jarl Is a
sombfe, sinister personaye. who seeks no aid
from ANYBODY or anything. except the Internal
powers OF mis- own soul ana passes, with rel
son, among his contemporaries for sorcerer,
because he IS a consummate adept in those arts
Of roguery which not seldom produced toe effect
y. magic. The masterpiece Of treason, by which
he succeeded In gaining the vacant throne Of
Norway, and substituting himself for the race
Of iarald Haarfagr, may be worth recOuntng
Harold Blue-tOoth King Of Denmark, at whose
court Hakoh lived AS a refugee, had n cOusi n
likewise called Harold, whose lucrative profess
sion o ~ king had given him the surname of
the rich.' This opuleut relative was a thorn
in the flesh to his cousin Blue-toOth, besetting
the latter with inordinate pretonsions, ana hav-
ing the temority TO demand share Of the king-
dom. SWAY not employ this unfortunate kins-
man. suggested Hakon, lin oyorthrownp
the Kug Of Norway, Harald Oray-fur, and
, when he has rendered You this service, sup
press the upstart hlmselff' The counsel was
thought good whereupon Hakon, who pos
D sessed, in his profound knaYory, resources
p enough to trick three princes at once, botook