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northern history; Oddr Siiorrason aiul Gunnlauyr Leifsson
(cl. 1*218). the biographers of King Olaf Tryggvason; the prior
Styrmir Kdrason (d. 1*245). the biographer of St. Olaf; the abbot
Karl Jönsson (d. 1212), the biographer of King Sverre; and lastly
Eirfkr Oddsson, Snorri Sturluson (d. 1241), and Sturla Thordarson
(d. 1284), who were both historians of the kings of Norway and
zealous collectors of their own island lore. The bards attached to
the Scandinavian courts were also generally Icelanders. To
Norwegian authorship are traceable comparatively few literary works,
the most important being juridical compilations, the ‘King’s
Mirror’, which affords an insight into the court-life and
commercial transactions of the 13th cent., the ‘Anekdoton Sverreri’, a
polemic in favour of the crown against the church, several ballads
of the earlier Edda, and a number of romances translated from
English and French. This poverty of the literature of the
mainland is doubtless to be accounted for by the fact that it was
constantly harassed by wars and intestine troubles at this period,
while Iceland was in the enjoyment of peace. While, moreover,
in Norway the clergy held themselves aloof from the people and
from secular pursuits, and the nobles were busily engaged in
fashioning their titles, their manners, and their costumes on the
model of those of their more civilised neighbours, the Icelanders
of all classes retained their national coherence in a far higher
degree, all contributing with equal zeal to the patriotic task of
extolling their island and preserving its ancient traditions.
Sweden before the Union.
With regard to the early history of Sweden there exist no
chronicles similar to those of the Icelanders and Norwegians. It
is ascertained, however, that the country was partly evangelised
in the 9th cent, by Anskar (d. 865) and other German missionaries,
and by his successor Rimbert (d. 888). Archbishop Unni
afterwards preached the Gospel in Sweden, where he died in 936, and
after the foundation of several bishoprics in Denmark about the
middle of the 10th cent., Sweden was visited by several other
German and Danish missionaries. The secular history of the
country is involved in much obscurity, from which, however, it
to some extent emerges when it comes into contact with that of
Norway. About the end of the 10th century Olaf Skötkonung
(‘tributary king’) took part in the battle of Svold against Olaf of
Norway and in the subsequent dismemberment of that country.
He was afterwards compelled by his own peasantry to promise to
come to terms with St. Olaf, and on his failure was threatened
with deposition. He was then obliged to assume his son Önund
as co-regent, and had to make peace with Norway about the
year 1019. Olaf and Önund are said to have been the first
Christian kings of Sweden. Önund was succeeded by his brother
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