Historical Tales, Vol. 9 | Page 8

Then courage came back to the troops and the townsmen were filled
with terror. And in the midst of the fighting Ragnwald came up with
the men left to guard the ships. He was determined to win some of the
glory of the exploit and attacked the townsmen with fury, rushing into
their ranks until he was cut down. But in the end the townsmen were
defeated and the valiant brothers returned with great honor and spoil,
after destroying the castle. Thus it was that the sons of Kraka gained
reputation as valiant warriors.
But meanwhile Kraka herself was like to lose her queenly station, for
Ragnar visited King Osten of Upsala who had a beautiful daughter
named Ingeborg. On seeing her, his men began to say that it would be
more fitting for their king to have this lovely princess for his wife,
instead of a beggar's daughter like Kraka. Ragnar heard this evil
counsel, and was so affected by it that he became betrothed to Ingeborg.
When he went home he bade his men to say nothing about this
betrothal, yet in some way Kraka came to know of it. That night she
asked Ragnar for news and he said he had none to tell.
"If you do not care to tell me news," said Kraka, "I will tell you some.
It is not well done for a king to affiance himself to one woman when he
already has another for his wife. And, since your men chose to speak of
me as a beggar's daughter, let me tell you that I am no such thing, but a
king's daughter and of much higher birth than your new love Ingeborg."
"What fable is this you tell me?" said Ragnar. "Who, then, were your
parents?"

"My father was King Sigurd Fafnisbane and my mother was the
Amazon Brynhilda, daughter of King Budle."
"Do you ask me to believe that the daughter of these great people was
named Kraka and brought up in a peasant's hut?"
The queen now told him that her real name was Aslög and related all
the events of her early life. And as a sign that she spoke the truth, she
said that her next child, soon to be born, would be a son and would
have a snake in his eye.
It came out as she said, the boy, when born, having the strange sign of
which she had spoken, so that he was given a name that meant Sigurd
Snake-in-Eye. So rejoiced was Ragnar at this that he ceased to think of
Ingeborg and all his old love for Kraka, or Aslög as she was now called,
came back.
The remainder of the lives of Ragnar and Aslög and of their warlike
sons is full of valiant deeds and magic arts, far too long to be told here,
but which gave them a high place in the legendary lore of the north, in
which Ragnar Lodbrok is one of the chief heroes. At length Ragnar was
taken prisoner by King Ethelred of England and thrown into a pit full
of serpents, where he died. Afterwards Iwar and his brothers invaded
England, conquered that country, and avenged their father by putting
Ethelred to death by torture. Iwar took England for his kingdom and the
realms of the north were divided among his brothers, and many more
were the wars they had, until death ended the career of these heroes of
northern legend.

HAROLD FAIR-HAIRED FOUNDS THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY.
To the far-off island of Iceland we must go for the story of the early
days of Norway. In that frosty isle, not torn by war or rent by tumult,
the people, sitting before their winter fires, had much time to think and
write, and it is to Iceland we owe the story of the gods of the north and
of the Scandinavian kings of heathen times. One of these writers,

Snorri Sturlasson by name, has left us a famous book, "The Sagas of
the Kings of Norway," in which he tells of a long line of ancient kings,
who were descended from the gods. Here are some of their names, Aun
the Old, Ingjald Ill-Ruler, Olaf the Wood-Cutter, Halfdan Whiteleg,
and Halfdan the Swarthy. There were others whom we need not name,
and of these mentioned the names must suffice, for all we know of
them is legend, not truth.
In those times there was no kingdom of Norway, but a number of petty
provinces, ruled over by warriors who are spoken of as kings, but
whose rule was not very wide. Most powerful among them was
Halfdan the Swarthy, who was only a year old in 810 when his father
was killed in battle.
He lived for many years, and he and his wife