Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-06-22
was crowned by the same high per-
sonages and in a similar manner. The
ceremony thruout was impressive.

SOfaSeS ana III Il similar lllail'Si. iiS
ceremony thruout was impressive
Trondhi iem, the ancient capital OF the
kings of Norway may be called the
cradle of the Morse nation. Ii is first
mentioned in history, before there was
a united Norway, in connection with
Harold the Fair Haired. wno con-
quered all the petty kings of the Morse
counties and united them into a single
state under his own crown in the lat
ter part of the ninth century. But it
did not attain first Importance in the
kingdom until Haakon the Good was
crowned there in 935 amid the joyful
acciamations of the people who had
successfully rebelled against the cruel
tyranny of Erik Blood-axe and his
despotc wife, Queen Gunhild. Since
then all the kings of Norway of what
ever nationality they might be. have
had to travel to this far away city
for the ceremony of investiture. The
King Haakon of today owes his name
to the first good king of united and
independent Norway and the little
crown prince becomes the namesalle
of his first legitimate successor the
great Olaf Tryggvesson who was
crowned in 995. Up to that time
Trondhjem was less a national capi-
tai than the mere stronghold of AZ
important province. but in 996 Olaf
Tryggvesson laid the foundation of the
present city which he then called Nj
daros. 1t is the northernmost town of
any Importance in Europe. being sit
uated in the same latitude as the south
coast of Iceland but it has strongly
temperate climate. While Chrstiana
Fiord and all the rivers in the south
ern part of Norway become solidly
frozen during the winter the River
Md rarely freezes over and the beau
tiful Trondhjem Fjord never. The eli
mate is like that of middle Germany
in winter and much like that of the
coast of Oregon in summer Hence
the luxurious vegetation and the re-
sultant prosperity of the people.
King Haakon a Christian.
King Haakon the Good is distin-
guished as being the first Christian
sovereign of Norway. He was sent by
his father to England in his childhood
and there he became convert to the
faith and was baptized. Upon his re-
turn to Norway and his accession to
his fathers throne he did not
dare to Immediately attack the
ancient Asa faith which had so many
fanatical adherents among his closest
friends, so he temporized for some
sixteen years or more until he had
won such unbounded popularity as
seemed to warrant his taking steps
toward the realization of the wish
nearest his heart--the Christianization
of his people He began we'll, but he
did not possess the cruelty or zeal
that was necessary for the accom-
plishment of such a task in that age,
so he only succeeded in opening the
way for his more vigorous successor.
Olaf Tryggvesson. who introduced the
fire and sword into the fight with
great measure of success. But even
he failed to completely eradicate pa
ganism from the national heart, and 1t
was only after his successor by his
wife, and more particularly by his
death. had appealed to the ready i'm
agination of the Norsemen that Chris
tianity really became the established
religion of the country. This great
missionary was King Olaf Haroldson,
who was afterwards canonized as ST.
Olaf. and over whose sacred remains
the great cathedral at Trondhjem
arose. This cathedral is the proudest
historical monument in Norway, and
the finest church in all Scandinavia.
ST. Olaf was killed at the religious bat
tie of Stiklestad. in 1890. and his son
and successor, Magnus the Good,
brought his body to Trondhiem and
placed it in magnificent sarcophagus
on the high altar of st. Clements
church, where it became an object Of
devout pilgrimages from all over the
country.
There is no royal palace in Trondh-
jem and during the coronation festiv-
ties the royal family will use the res
idence of the Stiftsamtmand; the gov
ernor of the province. This stands in
the center of the city near the great
Market Place where the people gather
daily in picturesque throng to buy
and sell the produce of the country and
the fiord. The town in ordinary times
is really little more than fishing viz
lage altho it does contain $4,000 inhab-
itants. The chief industry of the pad
ace is salmon fishing and salmon is the
principal article of food in the prov
ince The town where it hugs the
shore of the Fjord is most picturesque
1t is built almost entirely of wood and
the prevailing colors are red and
green. The Streets however, are un-
beautifully wide but this diminishes
the danger of fire which periodically
breaks out among the pine wood
dwellings. The wide streets open to
view wonderful vistas of the rock
bound Fiord and the beautiful hills
that lie behind the city. When the
great fjord is full Of gaily decked ships
and pleasure yachts, when the city is
shaded by flying flags and brilliant
decorations, and when the people are
all abroad in their quaint and brightly
colored costumes moving happily about
among uniformed princes, soldiers and
officials and distinguished, visitors the
scene will indeed be worth the long
voyage that must be made up thru the
northern sea to Trondhjem.
HENRY OF PRUSSIA HEADS NAVY