The Normans in Europe

Preface

The history of the Scandinavian Exodus which began in the ninth century falls conveniently into two periods.

During the first, (800 circ. — 912) the people of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway harassed Europe with their inroads, and formed definite settlements in the British Isles, Russia, and France.

During the second, (1029-1066) France itself became the starting-place for a new series of incursions, led by men of Scandinavian descent, who had by that time adopted French customs and language. To this period belong the settlements in Spain and Italy, and the Norman conquest of England.

The aim of this book is to present a connected view of these incursions, and to bring clearly before the reader the important fact, that the Norman Conquest was only the last of this long series of settlements and conquests.

The narrow limits required by the character of the series have necessitated much compression.

Taking, therefore, the Norman Conquest as the centre of the book, I have contented myself with the briefest sketch of those settlements which do not intimately affect that event ; and concentrating attention on that of the Seine, have sketched its fortunes in some detail, and traced the growing connection bevi Preface.

tween Normandy<and England which resulted in the conquest of the latter country.

Finally, following the Normans to England, I have dwelt especially on their influence on our country and the principles of our government, and drawn out the relations of Norman England with France and Sicily.

Want of space alone has prevented me from dealing more particularly with the Norman settlement in Italy, one of the most interesting of all, and one which requires the more attention, because it has not been adequately treated of by any EngHsh writer. But the history of that island belongs to Italian and Eastern rather than to English history, and it is one important period of English history which I have attempted to illustrate.

In one respect I feel conscious of having departed somewhat from the rule of the series. There are more names than I could have wished. This I have found unavoidable : but to obviate as far as possible the difficulty which may thereby be caused to the young reader, I have added a few genealogies of the most important families.

I have also given a short list of the authorities which may be useful t© those who would extend their studies.

In conclusion, I would offer my best thanks to Professor Stubbs for much kind advice and invaluable criticism.

Oxford : March, 1877.

Chapter I

THE NORTHMEN IN THEIR HOME, A. D. 700-855.

Social and political condition of Denmark, Norway,

and Sweden in the eighth century Their mythology . . . •

Change in the life of the people. Disturbances at

home, end of eighth century The Vikings begin to trouble Europe . Reigns of Harald Harfagr of Norway 850 (circ.) Gorm the Old of Denmark .

Eric of Sweden They subdue the petty chieftains

3-7 7-10

10 II ib. ib. lb.

The exodus of the Northmen definitely commences 13

Chapter II. The Invasions Of The Northmen

Two periods of invasion : {a) 787-855— Plundering

raids, with no permanent results . . 15

{h) 855-912 — ^A period of conquest and settlement 16

Character, dress, arms, and ships of the Northmen . 16-19

I. The Danish Conquest of England, 855-878.

878. Peace of Wedmore . . . . 19-21

Its effects upon England. . . .20

958. Edgar the Peaceful king of all England . . ' 21 viii Contents.

787. II. The Norwegian invasions of Scotland, the

Orkneys, and Shetland . . . .21

875. The Jarls of Orkney . . . . 22

1469. Union of Orkneys and Shetlands with Scotland 23

III. Norwegian invasions of the Western Isles . ib. 787-906. Naval empire founded under the Hy-Ivar, end

of ninth century . . . . ib.

980. Battle of Tara . . . . , 24

1014. Battle of Clontarf .... ib.

1098. Attempts of Magnus of Norway to re-establish

his authority , . . . . ib.

ii9o(circ.) Somarled . . . , . ib.

1266. The Isles ceded to Scotland . . . ' ib.

IV. Norwegian Settlements in Iceland, Faroe, and 874-981. Greenland . . . . ,25

930. The Republic of Iceland . . . . 26

1 150. Fall of the Republic . . . .27

1250. Iceland occupied by Kings of Norway . . ib.

862-879. V. Ruric the Swede invades Russia and settles at

865-1043. Commercial relations with, and attacks on,

Constantinople . . . . . 28

988. Vladimir accepts Christianity . . . ib.

1030-6. Connexion between Russia and the West . . ib.

The Varangian Guard . . . .29

CHAPTER HI.

THE SETTLEMENTS IN GAUL. 799-912.

Invasions of Europe by Hungarians, Saracens, and

Geographical divisions of the incursions of the

Northmen .....

The Seine Settlements .

888. RoUo lays siege to Paris

912. Gains Normandy at the Treaty of Clair on Epte Condition of Europe in 912.

Contents.

IX

888. Dismemberment of empire of the Karolings on death of Charles III. . . , .

Rise of four kingdoms : — 912-936. (i) Germany, under Conrad of Franconia and

Henry of Saxony .... 962. (2) Italy and Empire under Otho .

881-912. (3) Burgundy (a) Transjurane under Rudolf .

879-928. (jS) Cisjurane under Boso and Louis of Provence

899-929. (4) Kingdom of West Franks under Charles the

Simple .....

Later Years of Duke Rollo : —

922. Rollo supports Charles the Simple against Robert

of Paris and Herbert of Vermandois

923. Charles the Simple taken prisoner and Rudolf of

Burgundy made King of West Franks . . ib.

923-932. Rollo gains the Bessin, abdicates, and dies . . 40-41 ih. ib.

38-39

Chapter IV. William Longsword. 927-943

Competition for the See of Rheims

936. Death of Rudolf of Burgundy. Lewis IV. King

of West Franks . . . . .

930-932. Revolt of Brittany. Normandy gains the Cotentin

and Channel Islands ....

932-933. Revolt of Danish party against William Longsword.

Its effects on his policy . . . .

43 43

45 942. Murder of William Longsword by Arnulf of Flanders 48-49

Chapter V. The Capetian Revolution

942-996. Duke Richard the Fearless

942. Renewed Danish revolt . . . .

Lewis IV. and Hugh of Paris invade Normandy

and seize Richard ....

49-67 51

X Contents.

945. Richard escapes from Laon and defeats Lewis at

the battle of the Dives . . • • 53

Richard marries the daughter of Hugh of Paris and

becomes his vassal . . . .54

946-953. War of two kings against the two dukes . . 55

954. Death of Lewis IV. Lothaire chosen king . 57-58

956. Hugh the Great succeeded by Hugh Capet, under

the guardianship of Richard the Fearless . . ib.

986. Lothaire succeeded by Lewis V. . . -59

987. Death of Lewis V. Hugh Capet elected King of

Importance of the Capetian revolution . . 61-65

991. Richard's war with England . . . . 66

His death ...... 66

Chapter VI. Richard The Good And The Norman Settlement In Italy. 996-1026

996, Accession of Richard the Good . . .68

997. The revolt of the peasants . . . . 68 Relations with Paris, Burgundy, Blois, Brittany,

and England ..... 72-75 Normandy the centre of renewed spirit of enterprise. Roger de Toesny in Spain . . . 76 1029. Settlement at Aversa .... ib.

Condition of South of Italy . . ' • 77 The Conquest of Apulia . . . . ' ib. Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia . . . 78-80 1060-1090 Conquest of Sicily by Roger I. . . .80 1130. Roger II. King of Apulia and Sicily . , . 81 1 1 94-1 195 Conquest of Sicily by Henry V. , . , ib.

Contents.

XI

Chapter VII

RICHARD III. AND ROBERT THE MAGNIFICENT. IO26-I035.

1026-1028 Richard III.

1028. Robert the Magnificent 1028-1035 Relations with Brittany, England .

Acquisition of the Vexin T035. His pilgrimage and death

Flanders, France, and

PAGE

83 84 85

Chapter VIII

EARLIER YEARS OF WILLIAM IN NORMANDY. I035-IO49.

1035. William the Bastard ....

Rebellions against the young duke 1047, Organised conspiracy against William. Guy of Burgundy claims the dukedom

Henry I. supports William for the last time

Character of the struggle . • .

Victory of Val-es-Dunes , . . .

1049. William's treatment of Alencon

86 87 ib. 90 ib.

Chapter IX. Feudal System And Monasticism. 800-i050

Origin of feudalism as a system of land tenure and a system of government

Feudal courts — incidents and aids

Chivalry .....

Influence of feudalism on society and on the in dividual .....

Feudalism in Normandy 940-1034. Monasticism in Normandy io34-io42Bec . . . . .

Lanfranc at Bee . . , ;

Influence of monasteries

91-95

95-97

98-107 103 xii Contents.

Chapter X

REVIEW OF ENGLISH HISTORY. IOI7-IO53.

PAGE

1017-1035 The empire of Canute .... 109-iio

1035-1042 Reigns of Harold and Harthacnut . . , no

1042. Edward the Confessor. The four earldoms . 110-112 1042-105 1 Ascendency of Godwine .... 113

Duke William visits England . . . ib.

1052-1053 Return and death of Godwine . . . 115-116

Chapter XI

LATER YEARS OF WILLIAM IN NORMANDY. I053-I063.

1053. William marries Matilda of Flanders. Opposition

and reconciliation of Lanfranc . . 116-117

Changed relations between France and Normandy u8

1054. RebeUion against William aided by Henry I. Vic-

tory of Mortemer . . . ... 120

900-1040. Retrospect of Angevin history . . . 121 1058. Coalition of Henry I. and Geoffrey of Anjou against William. Normandy invaded. Victory

of Varaville . . . . . . 123

1060. Death of Henry I. and Geoffrey of Anjou . . ib.

1063. William claims and conquers Maine . . 124-125

CHAPTER XH.

THE CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. IO52-I066.

1052. Supremacy of Harold and his family - 125-126

1064. His oath to WiUiam . . . .127 1066. Death of Edward the Confessor. Harold elected

King of England .... 127-128 Invasion of Tostig and Harald Hardrada. Victory

of Stamford Bridge . . . . ib,

William prepares for invasion of England . . 130 Sept. Lands at Pevensey. The battle of Hastings 131-134

WiUiam marches on London and is elected king by

Contents.

Xlll

PAGE 136

1067. Leaves for Normandy . .

English revolts . . . .

1071. Final conquest of England .

Chapter XIII

WILLIAM'S ENGLISH POLICY. IO70-I087.

I. William and the English. 450-1O66. Sketch of Anglo-Saxon institutions

Social and ofificial ranks .

Tenure of land

Local and ecclesiastical organization

Judicial system

Police ....

Growth of thaneship

Rise of territorial jurisdictions .

Growth of burghs

The Witenagemot

The king

Distinction between Anglo-Saxon and Continental feudalism ..... 1070-1087 William's policy that of adaptation . 151-154

Effect of Norman Conquest on the lower and

higher classes . . . i54-i55

Beneficial results of Norman conquest , . 156

II. William and the Norman barons Introduces feudal system of land tenure gradually, but checks the feudal independence of his barons ....

The Palatine earldoms . . . .

The difference between English and French

feudalism, the result of his policy . 161-165

III. William and the Church.

Importance of ecclesiastical history in early times 165 Degraded condition of Anglo-Saxon Church . 166 Scheme of Gregory VII, . . 167-169

William's ecclesiastical policy. He reforms the Church, increases its power, and makes it a balance to the barons . , , . 170

143 144

145 146

147 148 149

159 159

XIV

Contents,

But refuses homage to the Pope, and claims to rule

the national Church . . . . 171

Results of his policy . . . . 172

Chapter XIV

END OF REIGN OF WILLIAM I. IO73-I087.

1073. Maine revolts and appeals to Fulk ofAnjou. In vasion of Maine and treaty of Blanchelande Robert, Count of Maine 1075-1076 Revolt of Ralph Guader and Roger de Breteuil Fate of Waltheof ....

1077-1080 Rebellion of Robert 1082. Odo of Bayeux arrested

1085. Threatened invasion from Norway and Denmark

1086. The oath at Sarum The Domesday Survey

1087. Quarrel with Philip of France about the Vexin Death of William ....

Chapter XV

WILLIAM RUFUS. I087-IIOO.

1087. Accession of William Rufus

Norman nobles support claim of Robert, William appeals to the English and defeats the rebels

Invasion of Normandy and treaty with Robert 1089. Death of Lanfranc. Rise of Ranulf Flambard

Ecclesiastical policy .... 1093. Anselm made archbishop. His character .

Quarrel between Anselm and William 1097. Anselm appeals to Rome and leaves England 1091-1093 Scotch war. Condition of Scotland

1093. Malcolm invades England and is slain at Alnwick 1093-1097 Civil war in Scotland. Edgar, aided by William

wins the crown ....

1094. Revolts of Norman barons . , ib. ib.

Contents.

XV

War with Robert. Robert pledges Normandy to

William and goes on the First Crusade 1095-1099 The First Crusade.

Causes of the Crusades ....

Influence of Normans on First Crusade :

(a) The Lorraine party

(jS^ The Vermandois party

(y) The Norman party Family alliances of the Normans Types of the Crusaders ....

1099. Foundation of Frankish kingdom of Jerusalem Prosperity and wickedness of William Rufus Normandy pacified. Wars against Philip I. of

France .....

1096-1099 Revolt of Maine ....

1 100. WiUiam II. killed in New Forest ib.

^95 196 197

ib.

198 199 200

Chapter XVI

HENRY I. IIOO-II35.

Early hfe of Henry I. . . . . 200

1 100. His election and charter . . . 201, 202

Political importance of elective principle . . 203

HOI. Robert claims the crown and invades England . ib.

Resigns the crown. .... 204

Henry attacks his partisans . . . . ib.

Anarchy in Normandy .... 205

1 104. Henry invades Normandy . = . . ib.

1106. Robert taken prisoner at Tinchebrai . . ib.

1 106. Normandy and England united . . . ib:

Henry's policy towards Wales . . . 206

I III. Flemish colony in Pembrokeshire . . . ib.

iioo. Quarrel with Anselm on question of investitures . ib.

1 106. Question compromised .... 207

His general ecclesiastical policy . . . 208

1111-1113 Wars with France and William CHto . . 210

1113. Treaty of Gisors . . . . . 211

His alliances . . . . . ib.

1115-1119 Renewed war in France , . . , ib. M.li. a xvi Contents.

PAGE

1 1 19. Victory of Brenneville . . . .211

Death of Prince William . . . . ib.

1124-1128 Renewed war in Normandy , . . 212 1 128. Death of William Clito. Normandy, Maine, and

Brittany finally secured . . . . ib.

Extent of Henry's dominions . . . ib. Marries Matilda to Geoffrey of Anjou and tries to

secure h»r succession . . . . 213 1 135. His death in Normandy. Review of his policy 213-216

His character . . , . . . 216

1135-1154 Anarchy of Stephen's reign . . . . 218

Beneficial results of the civil war . . . ib.

Review of the period ■ . . . 219

Condition of Norman and Scandinavian kingdoms 220

Close of the Norman period . . . . 221

CHAPTER XVH.

NORMAN ADMINISTRATION.

The king

The Officers of the Household

High Steward

Chamberlain

Constable The Ministei'ial Officers :

The Justiciary

The Treasurer

The Chancellor The Curia Regis

■ 223 ib.

The Exchequer

Local Courts of Shire, Hundred, and Manor.

Township and Forest Courts . . 227-232

Guilds — Frith, Merchant and Craft . 231-233

Military System : . . • . .

The Militia . .... 234

The Feudal levy . . . . ib.

The Mercenaries . . . . 235

Contents. xvii

PAGE

1135-1154 The Commune Concilium .... 235

Ecclesiastics, Earls, Barons, Knights . 235-236

Administration of Normandy . . . 237

GENEALOGICAL TABLES 239

INDEX 247

MAPS.

England and Normandy under Henry I ,, 206 '

LIST OF AUTHORITIES.

The standard English authorities for the period are : — ■

Freeman, 'The Norman Conquest of England.'

Gibbon, ' Decline and Fall.'

Lappenberg, 'Anglo-Saxon and Norman Kings.'

Milman, 'Latin Christianity.'

Stubbs, ' Constitutional History and Documents Illustrative of English History.'

Palgrave Sir Francis, (i) 'England and Normandy' ; (2) ' English Commonwealth.'

The following will also be found useful: — For Chapter I, Dasent, 'Norsemen in Iceland,' Oxford Essays, 1858. Keyser, ' Private Life of Northmen ' ; ' Religion of Northmen. ' Laing, ' Sea Kings of Norway.' Maurer, Konrad, (i) ' Beitrage zur Rechtsgeschichte des Ger-

Chapter II.

Burton, ' History of Scotland.'

Dasent, 'Jest and Earnest' ; 'The Vikings of the Baltic' Maurer, Konrad, 'Island.' Leveque, ' Histoire de Russie.' Ralston, ' Lectures on Early History of Russia.' Robertson, ' Scotland under her Early Kings.' Skene, ' Highlands of Scotland. '

Chapter VL Amari, ' Storia dei Mussulmani di Sicilia' (Florence). Gianone, ' History of the Kingdom of Naples ' (translated). Lalumia, ' Storia di Sicilia sotto Gulielmo il Buono ' (Florence). Gregorio Rosario, ' Considerazione suUa Storia di Sicilia'

(Palermo).

Chapter IX.

THE

NORMANS IN EUROPE.

Chapter I. The Northmen In Their Home

If we would thoroughly appreciate the importance of the Northmen and their influence on Europe, we must realise the wide extent of their conquests and settle- wide extent ments. To treat of the conquest of Eno;land ofthesettie-

'^ ^ ments of the

by the Normans as an isolated event would be Northmen, entirely to obscure its real meaning and effect ; and this is equally true of the other settlements of the Northmen. Leaving their Northern homes in the ninth century, they had by the end of the twelfth penetrated into nearly every country of Europe. So close were their political and family relations with all the countries of the West, from Iceland to Constantinople, from Russia to Spain, during the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, that a history of the Northmen is little short of a history of Europe during those ages. The great Exodus of the Scandinavian peoples which began in the ninth century, must accordingly be treated as a whole — and such will be the object of this book.

Again, it must be remembered that the three Northern countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all shared in £iriM. H. B the general movement, and that the expeditions were often joined indiscriminately by Dane and Swede and Norseman.

It will be well, therefore, to direct our attention in the ^, ^^ , first instance to these three countries, and

The North- . , . ,

men in obtam as accuratc a knowledge of the condi-

their home. ^-^^^ ^^ ^l^^ Northmen in their home as is possible from the scanty evidence which exists.

Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were, in the eighth century, inhabited by a people called the ' Northmen,' a name universally used to describe the inhabitants of the Scandinavian continents.

These Northmen were, there is little doubt, closely akin to the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, who had left their homes on the shores of the German Ocean some five centuries before for England, — branches therefore of the great Teutonic family of the Indo-European or Aryan race, which, coming originally from the East, broke in upon the Roman Empire, and overwhelmed the earlier Keltic or Finnish tribes who preceded them.

That this people should have turned north rather than south, that they should have occupied the inhospitable regions of the Scandinavian conti-

Reason for , . ^ , , i mi

their settle- nents m preference to the more accessible Denmark l^^^i'^s to the south of them, may, at first, Norway, appear extraordinary. But, apart from the probability that they were forced northwards by the pressure ensuing on the general migration of the Gothic races and their conflict with the Roman Empire, the fact is not hard to explain on other grounds. These continents, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, with all their apparent savageness, offered to a people of hunters better opportunities for supporting life, than the trackless forests of Germany. The land abounded in animals which could be more easily captured in the broken counyoo-Soo. The Northmen in their Home. 3

try of the North than in the dense forests and wide plains of Germany. The rivers and fiords teemed with fish and wild-fowl ; fossil belemnite and other stones used for weapons in an early state of society, are said to abound on the Norwegian coast ; and Sweden was singularly rich in iron and copper ore, which lay very near the surface. Everything, in fact, required by people in an early state of civilisation was to be found there.

Of the condition of the Northmen at the time of their first settlement we can assert nothing. We do not know whether they had already passed out of the ^ . ,

•^ ■' ^ social and

hunting stage and become a pastoral people, political nor can we mark the date at which this con- ^°" "^°"' dition was abandoned for the more fixed one which marks the rise of the agricultural system. The analogy of all other tribes of which we have any historical evidence would lead us to suppose that they had, at some time, passed through these stages. But, when we first meet with them, they had certainly become an agricultural people, and dwelt in settled homes.

The origin of society amongst the Northmen, in common with the rest of the Germanic peoples, is probably to be sought in the ' village community,' an ^j^^ ^^^^^ association founded en the real or fictitious tie System. of the family. According to this system, the district occupied by each community was the cr mmon possession of the family or tribe, in whom the absolute ownership resided, and was divided into three parts : the village, the arable 'land,' and the common pasture. In the village, each of the tribal members had his homestead. Of the arable lands he had a right to a share, but he had to follow the prescribed rotation in his crops, and, when it was to lie fallow, changed his plot for another. On the pasture lands he might turn out his cattle, and cut his firewood, and when they were taken up for hay, each marks-

TJie Normans in Europe.

A.D.

man would have his hay-field. Thus the tribes-man was the tenant rather than the owner, and individual proprietorship, as we have it, was unknown. Each village community would have its assembly, in which every free mark-man enjoyed a right to sit, and here the petty laws which regulated the self-governing body would be passed. This state of things, however, soon passed away. The improvement of agriculture led to the desire of a more permanent system of allotment, and personal With the risc of separate ownership, ine-

owners ip. quality of estate grew up. Thus, by the eighth century, the mark system had, partially, at least, disappeared.

Here, again, we are surrounded with difficulties arising from want of evidence. The Sagas are our T., c only authority. Of these there exist two

our only compilations, both of comparatively late date.

ority. ^ 'Y\i^ elder Edda, a collection of the Sagas (lays), handed down from heathen times, and compiled about 1090 by a Christian priest of Iceland, Saemund Sigfusson by name. 2. The younger Edda, a prose mythology, written in the thirteenth century by, or under the direction of, Snorro Sturleson, another Icelander of noble family. In this, the old traditions gathered from the elder Edda and other Sagas, now lost, are strung together and given with matchless simplicity and pathos.

Though, then, we cannot be sure as to the exact date of the Sagas themselves, they most probably belong to the period anterior to the movement of the Scandinavian people, and contain the traditions of the earher condition of their ancestors. The following description of Scan- Social dinavian society is that which has impressed classes. itself upon the scalds or rhymers. They speak of society as divided into two classes, i. The unfree —

700-800. The Northmeii in their Home. 5

This class, arising after the mark system had died out and the land had been to some extent divided, enjoyed personal freedom, but no civil rights. They did not hold land, nor were they entitled to sit in the local assemblies. They formed a body of labourers, and were in many cases the personal followers of those above them. 2. The odal proprietors, or yeomen, formed a numerous body of small landowners, and were the only aristocracy. These Avere the original members of the old village community, who had established their right of individual ownership. They held their land in absolute proprietorship, and owed no taxes or dues to the Government beyond the bare necessity of contributing to the defence of their country. Any land yet undivided remained the common property of the tribe, and was ' leased ' out to these odal proprietors on varying terms of tenure.

The political organization was based upon the mark system, which here left more enduring traces. Each village formed a separate community with its PoHtical orvillage assembly, in which the odal proprietor, gamzation. or yeoman, enjoyed an inalienable right of sitting. Summoned to these ' Things,' as they were called, village comby a ' Bod,' or stick, which was passed from mumties. house to house, they there in concert managed the affairs of the district.

Each village had its village thing, and head-man, and enjoyed considerable independence. A number of village communities formed a small tribal State, with villages and its own petty king and assembly, larger than States. the village ' thing.'

The assemblies of the states and villages enjoyed together a supreme legislative, judicial, and administrative authority, the greater '■ things ' assuming the legislative and judicial, the lesser, the administrative functions within their respective spheres. So that the village

'■ thing ' would be bound to carry Out the laws made, or the sentences passed, by the assembly, or ' thing/ of the state, just as an English Town Council is bound to carry out the provisions of an Act of Parliament at the present day, while the village ' thing ' would have smaller matters i under its own control just as the Town Council has. Lastly, these states were sometimes, though not neces- , sarily, loosely united in a semi-federal union.

The kings of the tribal states were generally taken from a noble family, sometimes representing the kingly line in virtue of a supposed descent from Odin. Their office was in many cases partly hereditary, though probably, as with the Anglo-Saxons, elective within the limits of the privileged family. Their power was balanced by the assemblies of the state and village, without the concurrence of which they could perform no important act. Still, the king was not a imere nonentity. He presided in the assemblies and over the administration of justice ; he officiated in the sacrificial feasts, led the host to war, and, as in all early societies, the personal influence of a powerful king would extend his authority far beyond its theoretical limits.

Feudal aristocracy there was none. The proud Northern yeoman would brook no superior, and the Ab n e of physical and historical circumstances of their feudal aris- country prevented the growth of any such tocracy. caste. The comparative barrenness of the

soil — small pasture lands cooped in on all sides by rugged rocks, and separated by deep fiords — could not afford sufficient produce to furnish a rent to a great lord over and above the sustenance required by the occupier of the soil, while the isolation of these fertile spots fostered the independence of each family. The hard primary rocks of the Scandinavian continents were unfit for build-

700-800. The Northmeii in their Home. y

ing purposes, and no baron's castle rose to overawe the neighbourhood. Kings and people alike dwelt in wooden houses, which could easily be stormed and burnt.

The physical peculiarities of the country were aided by other circumstances. The absence of the law of primogeniture hindered the accumulation of large properties in one hand. At a later date the surplus population was drawn off by successive colonisations, while the levelling influence of war was not wanting to call forth individual merit, and to beat down the exclusive privileges of any one class. In the absence of writing, no learned class monopolised the management of state and village affairs, or pursued their studies in a literary language unknown to the lower classes, as was the case among the Anglo-Saxons in England, where the churchmen often wrote in Latin.

As in all early societies, the prosecution of offenders was left to the individual or to his kith and kin. Pecuniary compensations were resorted to in all Criminal cases, the state merely assessing the sum; ^^'^• but in the case of greater offences, the blood-fine might be refused when it was deemed dishonourable to the kith of the injured man if his death or wrong were not revenged. This rough and ready system of justice explains many of the bloody struggles of those times.

For the mythology of the Scandinavians, we must again turn to the elder and the younger Eddas. And this is what we there learn. In the beginning of time, when yet there was naught, two ^ oogyregions lay on each side of chaos. To the north Niflheim, the abode of mist and snow and cloud and cold. To the south, Muspell, where it is so hot and bright that it burns, and none may tread save those who have an heritage there. The king of that land is

8 The Noj'mans in Europe. a.d.

Surtr, who guards the land with a flaming sword. When the hot blasts from Muspell met the cold rime and frost that came out of Niflheim, the frost melted by the might of Surtr, and became a great giant, Ymir, the sire of all the frost giants. But, besides the giant, the ice-drops as they melted formed a cow, on whose milk Ymir fed ; and as she licked the stones covered with rime, a man named Buri arose, v^ho was the father of Odin and his brethren. These are the ^sir, or good gods, and between these and tlie frost giants war arose, till at last Ymir was slain and all his race but one. From this one the later race of frost giants sprang.