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Odal-Bonder. Thus,
after the advent of the kingdom under Harold Fairhair
and his successors, the royal ship, authorized to kill, burn, and destroy
in lawful war-fare, sailed from the Hafn,
whilst the rover on his own account, put off from the Vik
or open bay. Hence the name Viking. [Scotland Under Her Early Kings, by
E. William Robertson, vol. 1, page 221.]
The Vikings were
the crew of their vessels,
The Sea king was
the commander,
Woe to the
realms which he coasted! for there,
Was shedding of
blood and rending of hair,
Rape of maiden,
and slaughter of priest.
Gathering of
ravens and wolves to the feast!
When he hoisted
his standard black,
Before him was
battle, behind him wrack,
And he burned
the churches, that heathen Dane,
To light his
band to their barks again.
On Erins shores was his
outrage known
The Winds of
France had his bareness blown;
Little was there
to plunder, yet still
His pirates had
foraged on Scottish hill;
But upon Merry
England's coast
More frequently
he sailed for he won the most,
So far and wide
his ravage they knew,
If a sail but
gleamed white against the welkin blue
Trumpets and
bugles to arms did call,
Burghers
hastened to man the wall;
Peasants fled
inland his fury to escape,
Beacons were lighted
on headland and cape;
Bells were
tolled out and aye as they rung,
Fearfully and
faintly the gray brothers sung;
Save us St. Mark
from flood and from fire
From famine and Pest and Count Witikinds
ire.
[The Norse King,
by Sir Walter Scott.]
Hengest and Horsa were of the line of Witta
in Jutland, and the remembrance of their conquest never faded from the
English Chronicles, so that when the new danger threatened from the same
old source, the new comers must necessarily in the minds of the
Chroniclers be of the line of the same Count Witikind,
as Sir Walter Scot records in the poem, The Norseman, by Sir Walter Scott.
There were no
bounds to the conquests made by these expatriated Norsemen except the
shores of the Atlantic Ocean. To them
the sea was without terror and the voyage had not reached its distinction
until the booty filled their vessel to the brim. They did not come to
anchor when the stars were obscured by clouds. They did not despair when
they lost sight of land. On board every Norman vessel was a chest of hawks and
ravens and when the adventurers were uncertain in what direction lay the land, they let one of the birds fly, knowing
that he would instinctively make for the nearest coast, and by his flight
they steered their course. It was not long after the advent of King
Harold Fairhair before these wanderers became tired
of fighting with him, and the idea of definite
settlement in England
and elsewhere becomes apparent. This is an important observation to our
family history, as we shall presently see that our ancestor, one of the
sons of Rognvald, became one of these wandering
sea kings. [The Normans in Europe, by Rev. A. H. Johnson, page 12-14.]
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