"THE SAGA OF KING OLAF."

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 86

"THE SAGA OF KING OLAF."

Br Jessix Mackat. The rendering of Edward Elgar s fine work "King Oiaf" by the Christchurch. Musical Union some time ago set a namber of middle-aged people reading their Longfellow again for the sake of the fine old Saga which has been the joy of Eng-. lish-speaking youth for half a century., And for those further afield who yet remember the thrill of "Einar Tamberskelver" and the gentle spell of "Nidaros," it may be worth while recalling not only the battle verses dear to our youth, but supplementing them with a few historical details. For in the main the Saga is history, the events being chosen so as to be fashioned into a light singing epic. A word o:r the school from which the Saga sprang Like that of the Slavs, the first literature of the Teutons took form so late that it has still a medieval quaintness and a childlike simplicity of diction. The Teuton was indeed long silent in his snowy home. The dim dawn of Arvan thought is seen in already beautiful hymns of the Rig-Veda, probably as old as Abraham, The rich stores of Homeric poetry lived for unknown centuries in the memory of Greek bards before they were committed to writing by Pisistratus of Athens, 500 b.c. But no fragment of Teutonic writing exists of a date before 300 a.d. And for centuries all that is known of it is found in brief runic inscriptions on stone pillars, ojp wood, and on the golden ornaments oJJ that day. How long the Norseman has occupied Scandinavia is unknown. How long he was evolving his wild Pantheon of Valhalla is also unknown. The cruel cult of Odin was in its -flower- when the Jutes landed in Kent in 449; but no songs are definitely handed down till later. The rich literature of the Low German branch of the Teutons began fairly with Caedmon in the .seventh century; their wild Norse cousins doubtiess Bang many a rude warsong in these dim ages, but . it does not seem that the "fresh vivid art of the true saga-man was reached till the ninth century. J. Tulford Vicary, in his charming book "Saga-Time," places that literary period between 870 and 1030, while the stories were not written down for a century after that. It is impossible to iay how far this definite statement regarding the Norseman's art depends on the first definite knowledge Europe obtained of the Norseman himself. The Germanic tribes af the mainland, Saxons, Frisians, and Goths, had scourged -' Europe for 400 years before the Norseman thought of leaving his peninsular home. Then, when every country in Western Europe had. acknowledged some Teuton, Goth, Vandal, Frank, or Saxon for lord, and when these invaders had been tamed into .semi-civilisation, then the Norseman found Scandinavia too narrow, and in the latter half of the ninth century Europe was scourged anew by the Vikings—men of the viks or bays of Norway and Sweden. That Viking period was Saga-time. Not only did the Northman conquer by force of arms ; the newfound beauty of the wild Icelandic songs won an easy victory throughout Europe;. At every court the scald was a guest as honoured as the troubadour in old Provence. The scald was himself a warrior, and often a prince ; he sang with c childlike yet manly directness the things he had seen and known, not forgetting to . rehearse with a faith, still undimmed the mighty deeds of Thor and Odin and the tragedy of Balder. The Saga proper was a record in stirring verse of some god's or hero's life and deeds. The smaller portions of a Saga are' now generally called runes, this somewhat elastic name (from "run," secret) at first meaning the old Teutonic characters, then short poems, more particularly those dark sayings which either invoked the gods or expanded their mind to man. The. imagery of the Saga-man was esoteric and startling, such as "the river's flame" for the sunshine on water, "Odin's leeches" for gold, "snakes with bitingtongues" for swords. But when he sang of living men and .women he did so gene" rally with a terse power of epigram, a racy descriptiveness, and an underlying simple humanity that still , charm after a thousand years. A golden rule of art had the old Saga-man—to tell his tale impersonally, as if no more than a voice. A good modern Saga-fragment is " Ha« bard and Signe," lately published in the Otago Witness by Mr Johannes C. Andersen.

The Sagas were sometimes of known authorship, often anonymous. It was not till the wild faith that inspired them had got its death-blow that they were gathered l into written form. The three chief preservers of these old poems were Icelandic Christians of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The two first were Are Frode and Saemund Frode (not related ; "Frode" only meaning "man of acquired knowledge"). Saemund Frode compiled the Elder Edda, a unique Icelandic treasury of northern myths and annals; he also compiled a history of the Norse kings up to his own time." The cleverest and most famous of these great Saga-men, however, was the quarrelsome, treacherous, ■self-indulgent, and money-loving Snorre Sturlasson—without doubt the most remarkable Teuton of his time. Nominally a Christian priest, Snorre found time to marry much, sometimes for love, more often for money, to win the favour of dukes and kings, to embroil himself ins every intrigue preceding the final seizure of Iceland by Norway, while all the time collecting the Younger Edda, and writing his own "Heimskringla," a history of the Norse tings. It was out of "Heimskringla" that Longfellow took the "Saga of King Olaf." The gentle reflective American seemed the 1 last pet to catch the fierce Viking atmosphere of the time, but his high scholars-hip and fine artistic taste enabled him to" select well from his material and give w faithful and spirited, yet not repulsive rendering of the poems chosen; He con-

fined himself to the brief but glorious career of Olaf as King of Norway, either leaving out the romantic adventures of his youth or touching on them slightly in the second poem. The artistic unity of his selection is strengthened by the fine pagan poem, "The Challenge of Thor," and the beautiful conclusion, "The Nun of Nida ros," both modern interpolations; otherwise the text of "Heimskringla" has been closely followed. There were two kings of Norway named Olaf in the same half century; both were men of generous mind, though often, stern in action; both were singularly endowed by Nature; both devoted their lives to spreading Christianity in Norway; both were killed in battle before theii object was fully attained. The hero of this poem was the younger of the two, Olaf Tryggveson, who died 13 years before the other, commonly called St. Olaf, was crowned. Olaf Tryggveson was the great grandson of Harold the Fairkaired, who first made Norway one kingdom. Olaf's father was murdered by his uncle, Eric Bloodaxe, and his mother, Astrid, a brave and beautiful woman, had to fly with her infant child from the malice of Eric's 'irife, Gunhild the sorceress. On their way to Russia they were captured by pirates.' Olaf was sold into slavery, while Astrid was recognised and redeemed by a. rich Norse merchant, whom she married. The young Olaf was discovered by his uncle and taken to Russia, to the court of Vladimir the Great (Valdemar). Froni being the Queen's page he became the hero of the Court, went to Vendland, and served King Burislaf, afterwards his rival and foe. Here, though not yet 21, he was given Burislaf's sister or daughter for a wife, who soon died, on which he went to Greece, and there became a Christian convert. He then went to Britain, married an Irish princess, and, with Sweyn Forkbeard (father of Canute), was confirmed in the Court of Ethelred the Unready. ' Both young Vikings swore to harass Ethelred's coast no more. Olaf kept his vow, but history tells of Sweyn'* faithlessness, and fearful final vengeance for the Danish massacre of 1002, after which two Danish kings ruled England. It is strange to find Danish, Norse, and English chronicles interlacing in this familiar way, bringing the people of the Sagas curiously near to us as"real personages.

(To be continued.)