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OLAF THE GLORIOUS
This book was especially republished to raise funds for these charities & many more...
33% of the publishers profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.
The hero in this volume is not an imaginary one; he was a real flesh and blood man who reigned as King of Norway just over a thousand years ago. The main facts of his adventurous career -- his boyhood of slavery in Estonia, his life at the court of King Valdemar, his wanderings as a Viking, the many battles he fought, his conversion to Christianity in England, and his ultimate return to his native land -- are set forth in the various Icelandic sagas dealing with the period in which he lived. The author made free use of these old time records, and added only such probable incidents as were necessary to give a continuous thread of interest to the narrative.
For the convenience of readers who may wish for greater exactness it may be as well to state here that Olaf Triggvison was born A.D. 963, that he started on his wanderings as a Viking in the year A.D. 981, that the sea fight between the Vikings of Jomsburg and the Norwegians took place in A.D. 986, and the battle of Maldon in the year A.D. 991. Olaf reigned only five years as King of Norway, being crowned in 995, and ending his reign with his death in the glorious defeat at Svold in the year A.D. 1000.
33% of the publishers profit will be donated to UNICEF.
Excerpt from OLAF THE GLORIOUS
Chapter IX - THE VIKINGS OF JOMSBURG
Burislaf was the name of the king in Wendland. He was a very wealthy monarch and held in high esteem throughout the countries of the Baltic, and his court was the frequent meeting place of the great men of that time. Now Burislaf had three very beautiful daughters -- Geira, Gunnhild, and Astrid -- whom many noble and kingly men sought vainly to win in marriage. Geira, the eldest of the three, held rule and dominion in the land, for it was much the wont of mighty kings in those days that they should let the queen, or the eldest daughter, have half the court to sustain it at her own cost out of the revenues that came to her share. So when Geira heard that alien folk were come into Wendland, with a great fleet of viking ships, and that the chief of them was a young man of unusual prowess and noble mien, she sent friendly messengers to the coast and bade the newcomers be her guests that wintertide, for the summer was now far spent, and the weather hard and stormy. And Olaf Triggvison took her bidding, and went with his chosen captains to the court, where he was well received and most hospitably entertained.
It is told that when Geira saw how kingly of aspect Olaf was, and how handsome and courteous withal, she at once yearned for his love and craved that he should wed with her and become a ruler in the land. Many legends which have come down to us from that time even state that she straightway fell a-wooing him, and that in the end they were married, and ruled the realm side by side. But it is not easy to believe that one who was heir to the throne of Norway would be content to remain in Wendland at the bidding of a woman he did not love, and it is to be remembered that Olaf was still little more than a youth, while Geira was already well advanced in years. Moreover, Olaf had at this same time met Thyra, the daughter of the king of Denmark -- a princess who was not only more beautiful,
but also much nearer his own age than Geira, and who afterwards became his wife and queen. Howsoever it be, Olaf had lived but a few months in Wendland when Geira was stricken with an illness and died.
Among the guests of King Burislaf were two men who in the later time had a large share in the shaping of Olaf's destiny, first as his friends, and afterwards as his enemies. Their names were Earl Sigvaldi of Jomsburg and Sweyn of Denmark.
Earl Sigvaldi was the son of Strut-Harald, sometime King of Skaney, and at the time of his meeting with Olaf in Wendland he was lord over the great company of vikings who had their stronghold in Jomsburg. He was a very mighty man, and his wealth and personal prowess were such that Burislaf's daughter Astrid encouraged his wooing of her with the result that they were wedded.
Earl Sweyn was a younger man, the son of Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark. He had come into Wendland in the company of his friend Sigvaldi, for they had both been a-warring together, and, being beaten in a great sea fight, they had taken refuge in the court of Burislaf. Their warring had been against Sweyn's own father, King Harald. Sweyn had craved dominion in his father's realm, but Harald Bluetooth preferred to retain his throne undivided. Then Sweyn gathered warships together and got the help of the Jomsburg vikings, and stood towards Zealand, where King Harald lay with his fleet ready to fare to the wars against Norway. So Sweyn fell upon his father's ships, and there was a great battle, in which Harald Bluetooth got the victory, but also his death wound. Now the arrow with which King Harald was killed was one bearing marks which showed it to be of his own son's making, and Sweyn fled lest vengeance should overtake him.
Table of Contents for OLAF THE GLORIOUS
| PREFACE |
| CHAPTER I THE FINDING OF OLAF |
| CHAPTER II SIGURD ERIKSON |
| CHAPTER III GERDA' S PROPHECY |
| CHAPTER IV THE SLAYING OF KLERKON |
| CHAPTER V THE STORY OF THE NORSE KINGS |
| CHAPTER VI THE TRAINING OF OLAF |
| CHAPTER VII THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST |
| CHAPTER VIII THE YOUNG VIKINGS |
| CHAPTER IX THE VIKINGS OF JOMSBURG |
| CHAPTER X THE BATTLE OF JOMSVIKINGS |
| CHAPTER XI WEST-OVER-SEA |
| CHAPTER XII THE BATTLE OF MALDON |
| CHAPTER XIII THE HERMIT OF THE SCILLYS. |
| CHAPTER XIV THORIR KLAKKA |
| CHAPTER XV THE EVIL EARL |
| CHAPTER XVI THE CHRISTENING OF NORWAY |
| CHAPTER XVII SIGRID THE HAUGHTY |
| CHAPTER XVIII THE "LONG SERPENT" |
| CHAPTER XIX SIGVALDI'S TREACHERY |
| CHAPTER XX CAUGHT IN THE SNARE |
| CHAPTER XXI THE BATTLE IN SVOLD SOUND |
| CHAPTER XXII THE DEFENCE OF THE "LONG SERPENT" |
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