Sven Estridsen in Adam of Bremen

Audivi autem ex ore veracissimi regis Danorum Suein, cum nobis stipulantibus numeraret atavos suos: 'Post cladem,' inquit, 'Nortmannicam Heiligonem regnasse comperi, virum populis amabilem propter iusticiam et sanctitatem suam. Successit illi Olaph, qui veniens a Sueonia regnum optinuit Danicum vi et armis, habuitque filios multos, ex quibus Chnob et Gurd regnum optinuerunt post obitum patris.'

But I have heard from the mouth of the most veracious king of the Danes, Svein, when at our request he named over his forefathers: "After the overthrow of the Northmen," he said, "I have learned that Norway was ruled by Helge, a man beloved by the people for his justice and sanctity. He was succeeded by Olaf, who, coming from Sweden, obtained the Danish kingdom by force of arms, and he had many sons, of whom Chnuba and Gurd possessed the realm after their father's death."

Quae deinceps dicturi sumus, in aliis et aliis repperimus non mendacibus libris. Aliqua vero recitavit nobis clarissimus rex Danorum ita rogantibus: 'Post Olaph,' inquit, 'Sueonum principem, qui regnavit in Dania cum filiis suis, ponitur in locum eius Sigerich. Cumque parvo tempore regnasset, eum Hardegon, filius Suein, veniens a Nortmannia privavit regno.' Tanti autem reges, immo tyranni Danorum, utrum simul aliqui regnaverint, an alter post alterum brevi tempore vixerit, incertum est. Nobis hoc scire sufficiat omnes adhuc paganos fuisse, ac in tanta regnorum mutatione vel excursione barbarorum christianitatem in Dania, quae a sancto Ansgario plantata est, aliquantulam remansisse, non totam defecisse.

What we shall henceforth relate we have found in various books which are by no means untrustworthy. Some things, too, the illustrious king of the Danes told us when we asked. He said that after Olaf, the Swedish prince who ruled in Denmark with his sons, Sigeric was put in his place. And after he had reigned a short time, Harthacanute, the son of Svein, came from Normandy and deprived him of the kingdom. How many Danish kings, or rather tyrants, there were indeed, and whether some of them ruled at the same time or lived for a short time one after another, is uncertain. It is enough for us to know that to this day they all were pagans and that, in spite of so many changes in rulers and so many barbarian inroads, there was left in Denmark a little of the Christianity which Ansgar had planted…

Accepimus a sepe dicto rege Danorum Suein tunc apud Sueones imperitasse quendam Ring cum filiis Herich et Emund, ipsumque Ring ante se habuisse Anund, Bern, Olaph, de quibus in Gestis sancti Ansgarii legitur, et alios, quorum non occurrit vocabulum.

We have it on the authority of Svein, the Danish king to whom we have often referred, that at that time a certain Ring and his sons Eric and Emund governed the Swedes, and that before this Ring there had been Anund, Björn, Olaf, of whom we read in the Gesta of Saint Ansgar, and others, of whom no mention occurs.

Testis est Danorum rex, qui hodieque superest, Suein; cum recitaret Sclavaniam in duo de XX pagos dispertitam esse, affirmavit nobis absque tribus ad christianam fidem omnes fuisse conversos, adiciens etiam principes eius temporis, Missizla, Naccon et Sederich. 'Sub quibus,' inquit, 'pax continua fuit, Sclavi sub tributo servierunt.'

Witness to this is the king of the Danes, Svein, who still lives. When he told how Slavia was divided into eighteen districts, he assured us that all but three had been converted to the Christian faith, adding also that their princes at that time were Mistislav, Naccon, and Sederich. He said: "There was continuous peace under them, and the Slavs served paying tribute."

De cuius fine, cum istum pronepotem suum, qui nunc in Dania regnat, Suen interrogare maluerim, velud alter Tideus crimen avi reticuit, me vero parricidium exaggerante: 'Hoc est,' inquit, 'quod nos posteri luimus et quod ipse parricida suo piavit exilio.'

When I would question his great-grandson, Svein, who now rules in Denmark, about his end, the king like another Tydeus made no answer about his grandparent's crime. But when I preferred the charge that he was a parricide, the king said: "That is what we, his posterity, are expiating and what he himself, the parricide, made atonement for in exile."

Tunc potentissimus rex Sueonum Hericus exercitu innumerabili sicut harena maris collecto Daniam invadit, et occurrit ei Suein, derelictus a Deo, frustra sperans in ydolis suis. Multa utrimque bella navalia — sic enim ea gens confligere solet —, copiae Danorum omnes obtritae. Hericus rex victor obtinuit Daniam. Suein a regno depulsus* dignam factis suis a Deo zelote recepit mercedem. Haec nobis iunior Suein recitavit in avo suo contigisse, iusto Dei iudicio, quoniam illum dereliquit, quem pater eius bonum defensorem habuit.

At that time Eric, the most mighty king of the Swedes, collected an army as innumerable as the sands of the sea and invaded Denmark. Svein, abandoned by God and vainly trusting in his idols, went to meet him. The two forces joined in many naval battles—for thus that folk is wont to fight—and the whole Danish force was crushed. The victorious king Eric seized Denmark. Svein, driven from his realm, received from a jealous God a reward befitting his deeds. These things the younger Svein recounted to us as having by the just judgment of God happened to his grandfather because he had abandoned Him Whom his father had had as a good protector.

[34] Post vindictam ergo scelerum, quae in ecclesias Dei et christianos commiserat, Suein rex victus et a suis derelictus, quippe quem Deus deseruit, errabundus et inops auxilii venit ad Nortmannos, ubi tunc filius Hacconis Thrucco regnavit. Is quoniam paganus erat, nulla super exulem misericordia motus est. Ita ille infelix et a toto orbe reiectus in Angliam transfretavit, frustra solatium quaerens ab inimicis. Quo tempore Brittanis Adeldrad filius Edgaris imperavit. Is non immemor iniuriarum, quas Dani ex antiquo Anglis inflixerant, exulem reppulit. Quem tandem miseratus infortunii rex Scothorum benigne recepit, ibidemque Suein bis septem annos exulavit usque ad mortem Herici. Haec parricidae avi pericula Suein rex nobis attonitis exposuit; deinde ad Hericum victorem reflexit narrationem.

[35] 'Hericus,' inquit, 'duo regna optinuit, Danorum Sueonumque, et ipse paganus, christianis valde inimicus.'

[34] After receiving requital for the enormities he had perpetrated on the churches of God and the Christians, King Svein, vanquished and deserted by his own men, as one might expect of one whom God had abandoned, went, a wanderer and destitute of help, to the Norwegians over whom Tryggve, the son of Haacon, then ruled. As Tryggve was a pagan, he was not moved with compassion for the exile. The latter, therefore, unhappy and rejected by all the world, shipped over to England, vainly seeking solace from his enemies. At that time Aethelred, the son of Edgar, governed the Britons. Not unmindful of the outrages which the Danes had of old inflicted on the Angles, he drove the exile away. At length the king of the Scots, taking pity on him for his misfortunes, received him kindly, and Svein stayed in exile there twice seven years until Eric died. With these tribulations of his parricide grandparent King Svein to our astonishment acquainted us; then he turned his narrative to Eric, the victor.

[35] "Eric," he said, "held two kingdoms, that of the Danes and that of the Swedes, and, being a pagan, he was intensely hostile to the Christians."

Hericus igitur rex Suedorum in Dania conversus ad christianitatem ibidem baptizatus est. Qua occasione predicatores in Suediam transeuntes a Dania fiducialiter agebant in nomine Domini. Audivi ego a prudentissimo rege Danorum Hericum post susceptam christianitatem denuo relapsum ad paganismum. Quod vero cum Ottone tercio pugnaverit et victus est, ab aliis comperi; rex tacuit.

Now Eric, the king of the Swedes, was converted to Christianity in Denmark and was there baptized. At this time missionaries went from Denmark into Sweden, "dealing confidently in the name of the Lord." I myself have heard from the lips of the most judicious king of the Danes that after Eric had received Christianity he once more relapsed into paganism. As for his having had a war with the third Otto and having been vanquished, that I have learned from others; the king held his peace.

Narravit nobis diu memorandus rex Danorum et qui omnes barbarorum gestas res in memoria tenuit, ac si scriptae essent, Aldinburg civitatem populosissimam de christianis inventam esse. 'Sexaginta,' inquite, 'presbyteri ceteris more pecudum obtruncatis ibi ad ludibrium servati sunt. Quorum maior loci prepositus Oddar nomen habuit, noster consanguineus. Ille igitur cum ceteris tali martyrio consummatus est, ut cute capitis in modum crucis incisa ferro cerebrum singulis aperiretur. Deinde ligatis post terga manibus confessores Dei per singulas civitates Sclavorum tracti sunt [aut verbere aut alio modo vexati], usque dum deficerent. Ita illi 'spectaculum facti et angelis et hominibus' in stadio medii cursus exhalarunt victorem spiritum. Multa in hunc modum per diversas Sclavorum provintias tunc facta memorantur, quae scriptorum penuria nunc habentur pro fabulis. De quibus cum regem amplius interrogarem: 'Cessa,' inquit, 'fili. Tantos habemus in Dania vel Sclavania martyres, ut vix possint libro comprehendi.'

The long-to-be-remembered king of the Danes who held in memory all the deeds of the barbarians as if they had been written down told us how Oldenburg had been a city heavily populated with Christians. "There," he said, "sixty priests—the rest had been slaughtered like cattle—were kept for mockery. The oldest of these, the provost of the place, and our kinsman, was named Oddar. Now, he and others were martyred in this manner: after the skin of their heads had been cut with an iron in the form of a cross, the brain of each was laid bare; with hands tied behind their backs, the confessors of God were then dragged through one Slavic town after another, harried either with blows or in some other manner, until they died. After having been thus made "a spectacle … to angels and to men," they breathed forth their victorious spirits in the middle of the course. Many deeds of this kind, which for lack of written records are now regarded as fables, are remembered as having been done at this time in the several provinces of the Slavs. When I questioned the king further about them, he said: "Stop, son. We have so many martyrs in Denmark and Slavia that they can hardly be comprehended in a book."

Victor Chnud ab Anglia rediens in ditione sua per multos annos regnum Daniae possedit et Angliae. Quo tempore episcopos ab Anglia multos adduxit in Daniam. De quibus Bernardum posuit in Sconiam, Gerbrandum in Seland, Reginbertum in Fune. Zelatus est hoc noster archiepiscopus Unwan. Et dicitur Gerbrandum redeuntem ab Anglia cepisse, quem ab Elnodo Anglorum archiepiscopo cognovit esse ordinatum. Ille, quod necessitas persuasit, satisfaciens, fidelitatem Hammaburgensi cathedrae cum subiectione debitam spondens familiarissimus deinceps archiepiscopo effectus est. Per quem ille suos etiam legatos ad Chnud regem transmittens cum muneribus congratulatus est ei de rebus bene gestis in Anglia, sed corripuit eum de presumptione episcoporum, quos transtulit ex Anglia. Quod rex gratanter accipiens ita postmodum coniunctus est archiepiscopo, ut ex sententia eius omnia deinceps facere maluerit. Haec nobis de avunculo suo rex Danorum innotuit et de captione Gerbrandi non tacuit.

Canute returned victorious from England and for many years held in his power the kingdoms of Denmark and England. At that time he introduced many bishops from England into Denmark. Of these he placed Bernhard over Scania, Gerbrand over Zealand, Reginbert over Fyn. Our archbishop Unwan took offense at this and is said to have seized Gerbrand as he was returning from England. Unwan had learned that he had been consecrated by Aethelnoth, the archbishop of the English. Persuaded by necessity, Gerbrand made satisfaction and promised the fidelity and subjection due the see of Hamburg, thereafter becoming very intimate with the archbishop. By his agency the latter also sent his legates to King Canute, congratulating him with gifts upon his successes in England but reproving him for the presumption of the bishops whom he had brought over from England. This admonition the king received graciously and thereafter entered into such close union with the archbishop that thenceforth he gladly would do everything to Unwan's satisfaction. The king of the Danes made known to us these facts about his uncle and he did not pass over in silence the arrest of Gerbrand.

…Olaph rex Sueonum, successorem regni habuit filium, de quo supra diximus, Iacobum. Sub quo iunior Suein, filius Wolf, militavit in Suedia XII annis, qui retulit nobis Iacobo regnante christianitatem late in Sueonia diffusam esse.

…Olaf, king of the Swedes, had a son, James, of whom we have spoken above, to succeed him in the realm. Under him the younger Svein, the son of Ulf, served twelve years in Sweden, and he told us that while James reigned Christianity was widely diffused in Sweden.

Illo tempore Suein iunior, dum in Angliam iter ageret, maritima Hadeloae navibus appulit. Quem proxima quaeque locorum more pyratico vastantem milites quidam archiepiscopi capiunt et in presentiam eius pertrahunt. Ille vero captivum cum honore recipiens Bremam duxit et iuncta secum amicitia post aliquot dies regie donatum permisit abire. Hoc nobis de se rex ipse narravit, summa laude predicans illum archiepiscopum, forma corporis et liberalitate animi omnibus acceptum. Retulit etiam circumstantibus de regio pontificis apparatu et tesauro ecclesiae inaestimabili, quem se ait Bremae vidisse, et alia multa.

At that time the younger Svein, while on his way to England, put ashore with his ships on the coast of Hadeln. When, after the manner of pirates, he had ravaged whatever places were nearest to hand, some of the archbishop's knights captured him and dragged him into the prelate's presence. But the latter received the captive with honor, took him to Bremen, and on concluding friendship with him permitted him to depart some days later with royal gifts. This the king in person told us about himself, heaping the utmost praise upon the archbishop, who was highly regarded by all for his physical appearance and liberality of soul. He also told the bystanders about the kingly magnificence of the archbishop and about the inestimable church treasure he said he had seen in Bremen, and many other things.

Magnus eo tempore simul tenebat duo regna, Danorum videlicet atque Nortmannorum, Iacobus adhuc in Suedia sceptrum habuit. Cuius auxilio Suein et Tuph ducis effultus Magnum pepulit a Dania. Qui denuo bellum instaurans obiit in navibus. Suein duo regna possedit classemque parasse dicitur, ut Angliam suo iuri subiceret. Verum sanctissimus rex Edwardus cum iusticia regnum gubernaret, tunc quoque pacem eligens victori obtulit tributum, statuens eum, [ut supra dictum est,] post se regni heredem. Cumque rex iuvenis Suein tria pro libitu suo regna tenuerit, mox succedentibus prosperis oblitus est celestis regis et consanguineam a Suedia duxit uxorem. Quod domno archiepiscopo valde displicuit, furentemque regem missis legatis ad eum de scelere terribiliter increpuit, postremo, nisi resipuerit, excommunicationis gladio feriendum esse. Tunc ille conversus in furorem minabitur omnem parrochiam Hammaburgensem vastare et exscindere. Ad quas minas imperterritus noster archiepiscopus arguens et obsecrans perstitit immobilis, donec tandem flexus Danorum tyrannus per litteras papae libellum repudii dedit consobrinae. Nec tamen rex sacerdotum admonitionibus aurem prebuit, sed mox ut consobrinam a se dimisit, alias itemque alias uxores et concubinas assumpsit. Et suscitavit ei Dominus inimicos in circuitu multos, sicut Salemoni fecit proprios servos.

Schol. 61: Suein a Magno victus cessit fortunae et factus est homo victoris, faciens ei sacramentum fidelitatis. Sed cum denuo rebellare cepisset consilio Danorum, nihilominus a Magno superatus est. Ita Suein fugiens ad Iacobum venit, adprime dolens pro fide pollicita, quam violavit.

Magnus at that time held two kingdoms; namely, that of the Danes and that of the Norwegians. James still held the scepter in Sweden. With his support and that of Duke Tove, Svein drove Magnus from Denmark. When the latter again resumed the war, he died on shipboard. Svein possessed two kingdoms and is said to have got ready a fleet to subject England to his jurisdiction. But as the most saintly king Edward governed his realm with justice, he then also preferred peace to victory and, proffering tribute, ordained, as has been stated above, that Svein should inherit the kingdom after him. Since the young king Svein had three kingdoms at his disposition, he by and by forgot the heavenly King as things prospered with him and married a blood relative from Sweden. This mightily displeased the lord archbishop, who sent legates to the rash king, rebuking him severely for his sin, and who stated finally that if he did not come to his senses, he would have to be cut off with the sword of excommunication. Beside himself with rage, the king then threatened to ravage and destroy the whole diocese of Hamburg. Unperturbed by these threats, our archbishop, reproving and entreating, remained firm, until at length the Danish tyrant was prevailed upon by letters from the pope to give his cousin a bill of divorce. Still the king would not give ear to the admonitions of the priests. Soon after he had put aside his cousin he took to himself other wives and concubines, and again still others. And the Lord raised up against him many adversaries on all sides as He had against Solomon through his own servants.

Schol. 61: On being overcome by Magnus, Svein bowed to fate and, taking an oath of fidelity to the victor, became his vassal. But when on the advice of the Danes he undertook to rebel a second time, he was none the less defeated by Magnus. Taking to flight, then, Svein came to James, grieving in particular about the pledged faith he had violated.

Haroldus quidam, frater Olaph regis et martyris, vivente adhuc germano patriam egressus Constantinopolim exul abiit. Ubi miles imperatoris effectus multa prelia contra Sarracenos in mari et Scitas in terra gessit, fortitudine clarus et divitiis auctus vehementer. Is vero defuncto fratre, cum in patriam revocatus fuerit, Suein consanguineum regnantem repperit. Cuius, ut dicitur, se manibus tradens sacramentum fidelitatis exhibuit victori, et patrium regnum pro ducatu accepit in beneficium. Sed mox ut ad suos venit et Nortmannos sibi fideles esse persensit, facile ad rebellandum persuasus omnia Danorum maritima ferro vastavit et igne; et tunc Arhusin ecclesia incensa, [ac] Sliaswig depredata est. Suein rex terga vertit. Inter Haroldum et Suein prelium fuit omnibus diebus vitae eorum.

Schol. 63: Haroldus cum Magno pugnavit contra Suein, post cuius mortem factus est miles eius.

A certain Harold, the brother of Olaf, king and martyr, left his fatherland while his brother still lived and went an exile to Constantinople. Becoming there the emperor's knight, he fought many battles with the Saracens by sea and with the Scythians by land, and he was distinguished for his bravery and much exalted for his riches. Now, when he was recalled to his fatherland on his brother's death, he found his kinsman Svein ruler. To his hands, it is said, Harold commended himself, swearing an oath of fidelity to the victor, and received his father's kingdom in fief as a duchy. But when soon after he came to his own people and clearly perceived that the Norwegians were true to him, he was easily persuaded to rebel, and he devastated all the coastlands of Denmark with fire and sword. The church at Aarhus was burned at that time and that at Schleswig despoiled. King Svein retreated. Between Harald and Svein there was war all the days of their lives.

Scholium 63: Harold fought with Magnus against Svein, after whose death he became the former's vassal.

Audivi etiam, cum veracissimus rex Danorum sermocinando eadem replicaret, populos Sclavorum iamdudum procul dubio facile converti posse ad christianitatem, nisi obstitisset avaricia Saxonum: 'Quibus,' inquit, 'mens pronior est ad pensionem vectigalium quam ad conversionem gentilium.' Nec attendunt miseri, quam magnum periculum suae cupiditatis luant, qui christianitatem in Sclavania primo per avariciam turbabant, deinde per crudelitatem subiectos ad rebellandum coegerunt et nunc salutem eorum, qui vellent credere, pecuniam solam exigendo contempnunt. Ergo iusto Dei iudicio videmus eos praevalere super nos, qui permissu Dei ad hoc indurati sunt, ut per illos nostra flagelletur iniquitas. Nam re vera, sicut peccantes superari videmur ab hostibus, ita conversi victores hostium erimus. A quibus si tantum fidem posceremus, et illi iam salvi essent et nos certe essemus in pace.

I have also heard the most veracious king of the Danes say, when in conversation he commented on these matters, that the Slavic peoples without doubt could easily have been converted to Christianity long ago but for the avarice of the Saxons. "They are," he said, "more intent on the payment of tribute than on the conversion of the heathen." Nor do these wretched people realize with what great danger they will have to atone for their cupidity, they who through their avarice in the first place threw Christianity in Slavia into disorder, in the second place have by their cruelty forced their subjects to rebel, and who now by their desire only for money hold in contempt the salvation of a people who wish to believe. By the just judgment of God, therefore, we see prevailing over us those who by God's leave have been hardened to the end that by them our iniquity may be scourged. For in truth as we, sinning, see ourselves overcome by our enemies, so, when we are converted, shall we be victorious over our enemies. If only we earnestly sought their conversion, they would ere now have been saved and we should surely be at peace."

Novissimis archiepiscopi temporibus, cum ego Bremam venerim, audita eiusdem regis sapientia, mox ad eum venire disposui. A quo etiam clementissime susceptus, ut omnes, magnam huius libelli materiam ex eius ore collegi. Erat enim scientia litterarum eruditus et liberalissimus in extraneos, et ipse direxit predicatores suos clericos in omnem Suediam, Nortmanniam et in insulas, quae sunt in illis partibus. Cuius veraci et dulcissima narratione didici suo tempore multos ex barbaris nationibus ad christianam fidem conversos, aliquos etiam tam in Suedia quam in Norvegia martyrio coronatos. 'Ex quibus,' ait, 'Hericus quidam peregrinus, dum Sueones ulteriores predicaret, martyrii palmam capitis abscisione meruit. Alter quidam, Alfwardus nomine, inter Nortmannos sancta conversatione diu latenter vivens abscondi non potuit. Ille igitur dum protexit inimicum, occisus est ab amicis. Ad quorum requietionis locum magna hodieque sanitatum miracula populis declarantur.' Igitur et ea, quae diximus vel adhuc sumus dicturi ex barbaris, omnia relatu illius viri cognovimus.

In the last days of the archbishop, when I came to Bremen and heard of this king's wisdom, I at once resolved to go to him. And he also received me most graciously, as he did all, and from his lips I gathered much of the material for this little book. He was well versed in the knowledge of letters and very receptive toward strangers. He personally sent his priests out as preachers into all Sweden and Norway and to the islands that are in those parts. From his veracious and very delightsome discourse I learned that in his time many among the barbarian nations had been converted to the Christian faith, that some men had also been crowned with martyrdom in Sweden as well as in Norway. "Of them, one Eric, a pilgrim," he said, "won the martyr's crown by having his head cut off while he preached in the father parts of Sweden. Another, named Alfward, although he long lived a holy life in obscurity among the Norwegians, could not remain hid. While, then he was protecting an enemy, he was killed by friends. At the resting places of these men great wonders of healing are even today manifested to the people." What we have said, therefore, and what we still have to say about the barbarians, all that we have come to know from what this man related.

Itaque iam certus eundi viam suam disposuit taliter finire, ut circuiens latitudinem septentrionis, hoc est Daniam, Suediam et Nordmanniam pertransiens inde ad Orchadas extremamque orbis patriam Island posset attingere… A cuius profectione itineris, quod iam publice moliebatur, dehortatu prudentissimi regis Danorum commode reflexus est, qui dixit ei barbaras gentes facilius posse converti per homines suae linguae morumque similium quam per ignotas ritumque nationis abhorrentes personas. Itaque nil illi opus esse, nisi ut sua largitate et affabilitate redderet illos benivolos et fideles, quos ad predicandum gentibus verbum Dei paratos inveniret. In qua exhortatione metropolitanus noster orthodoxo regi consentiens ea largitate, quam in omnes habuit, multo indulgentius uti cepit in episcopos gentium et legatos orientalium regum…

When he was certain of going, he decided to arrange his itinerary in a manner that would enable him to cover in his travels the expanse of the north, that is, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and cross thence to the Orkneys and to Iceland, the farthermost land of the earth… He was duly dissuaded from setting out on this journey, with which he already was publicly busied, by the very prudent king of the Danes, who told him that the barbarian peoples could more easily be converted by men like them in language and customs than by persons unacquainted with their ways and strange to their kind. And further, that there was nothing for him to do except by his generosity and affability to gain the good will and fidelity of those whom he found prepared to preach the Word of God to the heathen. In respect of this exhortation our metropolitan was in accord with the orthodox king and began to extend the liberality with which he treated all much more indulgently to the bishops of the heathen and to the legates of the eastern kings…

De quibus narravit mihi scientissimus rex Danorum, quod Nortmannia vix queat transiri per mensem, cum Sueonia duobus mensibus non facile percurratur. 'Quod ipse,' inquit, 'probaveram, qui nuper sub Iacobo rege XII annis militavi in illis regionibus, quae altissimis ambae montibus includuntur, magis autem Nortmannia, quae suis alpibus circundat Sueoniam.'

About these kingdoms the very well-informed king of the Danes told me that Norway can hardly be crossed in the course of a month, and Sweden is not easily traversed in two months. "I myself found this out," he said, "when a while ago I fought for twelve years in those regions under King James. Both these countries are shut in by exceedingly high mountains—higher ones, however, in Norway which encircles Sweden with its alps."

Narravit mihi rex Danorum sepe recolendus gentem quandam ex montanis in plana descendere solitam, statura modicam, sed viribus et agilitate vix Suedis ferendam. 'Hiique incertum unde veniant; semel aliquando per annum vel post triennum,' inquit, 'subiti accedunt. Quibus nisi totis resistatur viribus, omnem depopulantur regionem, et denuo recedunt.'

The king of the Danes, often to be remembered, told me that a certain people were in the habit of descending from the highlands into the plains. They are small of stature but hardly matched by the Swedes in strength and agility. "Whence they come is not known. They come up unexpectedly," he said, "sometimes once in the course of a year or after a three-year period. Unless they are resisted with all one's might, they lay waste the whole region and then withdraw."

Itaque rex Danorum cum multis aliis contestatus est hoc ibi contingere, sicut in Suedia et in Norvegia et in ceteris, quae ibi sunt, insulis.

The king of the Danes and many others have attested the occurrence of this phenomenon there, as in Sweden and in Norway and on the rest of the islands in those parts.

Praeterea unam adhuc insulam recitavit a multis in eo repertam oceano, quae dicitur Winland, eo quod ibi vites sponte nascantur, vinum optimum ferentes. Nam et fruges ibi non seminatas habundare non fabulosa opinione, sed certa comperimus relatione Danorum. [Post quam insulam, ait, terra non invenitur habitabilis in illo oceano, sed omnia, quae ultra sunt, glacie intolerabili ac caligine inmensa plena sunt…]

He spoke also of yet another island of the many found in that ocean. It is called Vinland because vines producing excellent wine grow wild there. That unsown crops also abound on that island we have ascertained not from fabulous reports but from the trustworthy relation of the Danes. Beyond that island, he said, no habitable land is found in that ocean, but every place beyond it is full of impenetrable ice and intense darkness.