Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-07-13

built for King Olaf TrygvaSon by the
celebrated ship carpenter, Thorberg,
who is famous in the old Sagas for his
skill as a ship-builder. The keel of
the Long Serpent was 14O feet long.
in its construction. 1t contained
rowing benches and its
stem and stern were overlaid
with gold. The Long Serpent inspired
poem The Building of the
Ship, one Of the most charming produc-
lions of that gifted American poet.
comparisons are odious" says
Shakespeare, and l do not desire on
this occasion to utter a word derogatory
to the great fame that justly belongs to
the great and immortal Christopher
Columbus. / shall only call attention
to the fact that this Viking ship made
the passage from Scotland to New
Foundland in IL days, which was about
as good time as was made by any
ocean craft forty years ago. The
Morse Viking ships compare favorably
with the ships of other nations, which
have been used in later times in cir
COMMUNICATING the earth and were in
every way adapted for an ocean voy-
age. They certainly were as good sea-
going vessels as the grOteSQue caravels
of Columbus. The old Sagas tell us
that the old Norsemen fully understood
the importance of cultivating the study
of navigation. They knew how to cal
culate the course of the sun and moon
and how to measure time by the stars:
and here, in the presence of this grand
monument, in the presence of these
modern Vikings it is proper to say that
the old Morse Vikings We're the men
who taught the world to navigate the
ocean. I am sustained by the highest
historical authority when / say that
the other peoples of Europe were limit
ed i'm their nautical knowledge to coast
navigation. The Norsemen, and foremost
among them Left ErikSOn himself,
taught the world pelagic navigation.
They demonstrated the possibility of
venturing out Of sight of land and in
this sense, at last we may say with
perfect propriety, that the Norseme1,
prepared the way for the great Column
bus.
But / fancy that some one among my
hearers may be Directing that | am be
slowing too much praise on those Vik-
ings Of old, and insisting that they are
not worthy of being glorified in this
manner. [ fancy that you may have beer
taught that those nceSsant waves OF
old Morse Vikings that broke and
dashed with endless fury ON the coasts
of England and the continent, that
those vast boards, which the pOpulOus
north poured from her frozen loins
and which fell like locusts OH the
south and west shaking the Roman
empire to it's very foundations and re
modelling all Europe were nothing but
warlike, bloody, cruel, heather pirates
I reply that the facts are wholly
against such as view of them. WheI
the Anglo Saxon and French chroniclerS
depict the NOrSemen as devils and wild
barbarians without faith, without
laws, and without a spark of human
sensibility, when they paint them as
wasps covered with stings and as
ravenous wolves driven by an insatia
BILE thirst for blood, and reyeling ir
murder and destruction, then we cannon
of course, be obliged to take the words
of those conquered by them for it; The
less so, since they frequently are forced
| to contradict themselves and prais,
! those same ravenOus wolves and sting
| full waspS not only for their cOura q
and fine exterior but also for their stric
! adherence to their words and promi
SeS.
i If you will read the works of tn,
! learned Norwegian historian, Sars, AM
/ the old Morse Sagas you will get mucl
more favorable impression of the vik
ings. You will discover that it wa
not only a low greed of booty tina
drove the Norsemen to foreign lands
but also nObler motives. They wen
abroad not only to gather wealth ant
property, but also in quest Of honor
Viking expeditions were regarded as ;
school for young men Of high birth
in which they might win fame b.
heroic achievements and in which the.
might become educated and polished
by intercourse with people in foreign
lands. The viking was frequently {
merchant, and when he returned to his
home, having won fee and fame, he
| lived on his farm, a peaceful and law
abiding citizen differing from his neigh
Dor only in this, that he possessed more
: culture and enjoyed more luXuries, bu
there is no evidence that his sense OF
right and justice had become demoraliz
ed. Even the Anglo-SaXon and French
chroniclers admit, that the viking very
unwilingly pledged hiswOrd, but that he
also very unwillingly broke it, when
once it was pledged. To each other the
vikings showed unfiinching fidelity and
they would even sacrifice life it need
be for their comrades. In their whole
conduct they showed a discipline, q
unity, a fidelity which were the secret
of their success. When Rolf came to
found Normandy in France, one of his
men was asked who was their master,
he replied I'VE have no master, we
are all equal" They consisted Of war
riOrS who had chosen their leader and
the leader could depend on their obedi-
ence. In time of need they would pre-
sent an unbrolzen front. Such a isci-
pine voluntarily submitted to and
united with liberty is evidence of a
moral strength which no barbarians
could possess. Such were the germs of
liberty that were scattered in the soil
of Normandy, where the Normans were
first to produce a French Literature.
Such were the germs of liberty that aft
erWardS hudded in Enoland'S Mama