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NOTES 229
his sternness led to an uprising, which was supported by the Danish
King, Knut the Great. Olaf died a hero’s death in the battle of Stikle-
stad, and not long after became Norway’s patron saint, to whose grave
pilgrimages were made from all the North. His son, Magnus the Good,
(see page 231), was chosen King in 1035.
Sverre (1182-1202) was a man of unusual physical and mental
powers, calm and dignified,and wonderfully eloquent. Yet he was a war
king, and the civil conflicts of his time were a misfortune for Norway,
although he bravely defended the royal prerogativesand the land against
the usurpation of temporal power by the Church of Rome, and put an
end to ecclesiastical rule in Norway.
Stanza 3. About five centuries of less renown for Norway are passed
over, and this and the following stanza refer to the time of the Great
Northern War, 1700-21, and the danger arising from Charles XII
of Sweden. From 1319 to 1523 Norway was in union with Denmark
and Sweden; from 1523 with Denmark only. In this war, waged by
Denmark-Norway, Russia, and Saxony-Poland against Charles XII, in
order to lessen the might which Sweden had gained by the Thirty Years’
War, Norwegian peasants, men and women, took up arms against the
Swedes.
Peasant is in this volume the usual rendering of the word “bonde”
in the original ; for its fuller significance see the note on page 263.
Tordenskjold, Peter (1691-1720),agreat Norwegian naval hero, whose
original name was Wessel, and who was born in Trondhjem. He re-
ceived the name Tordenskjold when he was ennobled. By his remark-
able achievements he contributed much tothe favorable issue of the
Great Northern War; he often had occasion to ravage the coast of
Sweden and to protect that of Norway.
Stanza 4. Fredrikshald. Here, on September 11, 1718, Charles XII met
his death on his second invasion of Norway. The citizens had earlier
burned the city, so that it might not afford shelter to the Swedes against
the cannon of the fortress Fredriksten.
Stanzas 5 and 6. Again a rather long period of peace is passed over.
In 1807 Denmark was induced by Napoleon to join the continen-
tal system. England bombarded Copenhagen and captured it and the
Danish fleet. The war lasted seven years for Norway also, which was
blockaded by the English fleet and suffered sorely for lack of the neces-
saries of life. But the nation’s sense of independence grew, and when
the Peace of Kiel in January, 1814, separated Norway from Denmark,
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