Siward Digri of Northumberland: A Viking Saga of Danes in England

8/12/2019 Siward Digri of Northumberland: A Viking Saga of Danes in England

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SIW ARD DIGRI OF NOI\THUMBERLAND.A VIKING-SAGA OF T H E D A N E S IN E N G L A N D .

By D R . A X E L O L R I K .

Be T few monuments exist of the intellectualand literary life of the Danes during the periodof their conversion to Christianity. T he runicinscriptions of the oth, roth, and r i th centuries arenumerous, but short; we have no scaldic poetry fromcontemporaneous authors, nor the wealth of Icelandicsaga traditions. From t he h isto ry and the h eroic tra ditions of Saxo we must determine the genius of the fore-going period in Denmark. But from the Danishcolonies abroad even fewer of the literary traditionssurvive, Only exceptional circumstances have broughtabout the writing down of a group of \-iking tales w hichI shall here present to you.

In the rzth century, a monk of Crowland Abbey Williarn Ramsay, it is said; he was later abbot of thesame cloister, and died 1180 wrote an account of thenoble family of Huntingdon, whose most celebratedmember, Earl \Yaltheow, was buried in the AbbeyChapel and worshipped as a saint. T he first part ofthis description treats of the family s Danish ancestor,Siward Digri, and contains a tradition, which, to asurprising degree, reminds one of the ScandinavianSaga-world. Th e narrative is not found in the author s

The English translation is du e to my friend, Dr. Henry G. Leach, ofHarvard University. The original Danish text, now somewhat altered,was printed in Arkiv for Nordisk Filologi, xix., 199


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Stuiard Digri of Northumberland. 3own redaction, but in two shortened versions. TheseI shall indicate bv A and B.The beginning is fuller and better in B: B) Therewas in the kingdom of the Danes an earl of royal bloodwho had an only daughter. One day she went with hermaids out into the woods, and met there a bear in A:\\ hitebear); all the girls fled, and the bear seized theearl s daughter, and carried her away; he begot by hera son, who received the name Beorn , and had, as areminder of his singular origin, the ears of a bear.Later, he took the earldom after his grandfather, andbecame a mighty warrior. He was known by thesurname Beresun , i e ., bear s son.

Beorn performed many adventures, and begot a son,who was like him in courage and prowess. He wascalled Siward, surnamed Digri, .e ., the stout, Hewas so ambitious that he was not satisfied to stay athome and inherit an earldom, but had a large and strongship fitted out with a full supply of food and \veapons,1A anonymous) is printed in John Leland, Itinerary 1744), IV.,

141-148; Langebek, Scriptores Rerum Danicarum 1774), III., 288-293;Michel. Croniques Anglo-Normandes, II., I04-III; and Giles, VitaQuorundum Anglo-Saxonum 1854); 5-10. B by John Brompton) isprinted in Roger Twysden, Scriptores 1652), X. cols, 945-6; andLangebek. III., 300-2. I have used Langebek s texts. For the authorshipof William Ramsay he cites Leland, Scrip t. Bri tan. , 215.

2 This form of the name and what follows is taken from A, where thewhole section reads: O ld people relate that a nobleman,-whom theLord. contrary to the usual manner of birth, had caused to be engenderedby a white bear for father and a gentlewoman for mother,-Vrsus, byname, begot a son Sprakling, Sprakling again Ulsius, and he againBeorn surnamed Beresun var . Boresun) i.e., bear s son. This Beornwas Danish, a distinguished earl and a celebrated warrior. But, as atoken of the strangeness of his birth, he had his father s ears, namelythe bear s. This confusion about the one who is bear s son ( V rsus or Beom) arises from the fact that the author of the abstract hascombined William s account with a Vita Gualdevi from the sameabbey (Langebek, III. 299; Michel, II. IIII, which gives Siward Digria wholly different (historically incorrect) pedigree.

S Siwardus cogn. Dicre , i.e., grossus, A: cf. Vita quem Dicre Danicovccabulo, id est fortem cognominabant.


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2 L J Saga Book the k lg Cluband put to sea with 50 brave and chosen warriors Hesailed before the wind, and came to a safe harbour inOrknev But on the island dwelt a dragon, who killednot only cattle, but men also, in large numbers. WhenSiward heard of this, he went to fight the dragon singlehanded, not like professional warriors, who let themselves be paid for the work, but simply to show hisstrength and courage. He defeated the dragon an 1draw him away from the island.' This done, he wentdown to -he ship, and they rowed away. He came toNorthumberland, and heard that there was anotherdragon there. So he went up into the land, to killit ordrive it away. He saw an old man sitting on the topof a steep hill and asked the man what he could tell himabout the dragon. The old man addressed him byname and said: know well why you have comehere, it is to try your strength against the dragon; butyou cannot find it; go back to your men, and tell themyour fate: when you come on board, you shall get afair wind at once, and, when you have hoisted sail youwill soon find a harbour in a river called Thames; whenyou sail up this river you will land at a city calledLondon. There you will find the king of the realm; hewill take you into his service and, before long, g inyou land. Siward replied that he placed noconfidence in this advice, and, if he went to the ship, hismen would think it a lie. Then the old man took abanner from his breast, and gaw it to him; and the oldman called the banner Rayeniandeye, which means: Raven, terror of the land. Then Siward returnedto his men, embarked, and, as the old man hadpredicted, after knocking about on the sea landed at lastat London, where he found King Edward. His arrivalwas reported at once to the king, who sent for Siward

1 Socii; this expression is constantly used, in what follows for Siward'screw. while, for ex., Earl Tosti's following are always called: hominesTostii.

2 Non operas ocans arenariorum more, sed robor corporis et animivirtutem in hoc declarans, ilium devicit et ab insula effugavit. A.


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iward igri of orthumberland I

to come to him at W estminster. Siward graciouslycomplied, and after a short conversation the king tookhim into his service, and promised him the first positionof dignity which became vacant in his realm. Afterthat Siward said farewell, and he and his men took theway back to London. On the bridge not far fromthe monastery (Westminster) he met the Earl ofHuntingdon, Tosti, a Dane by birth; the king hatedhim because he had married Earl Godwin s daughter,sister to the queen. This earl crossed the foot-bridgeso near Siward that he soiled his mantle with his dirtyfeet; for at that time it was fashionable to wear a mantlewithout any cord by which to hold it up. Then theblood rushed to his heart; yet he checked himself fromtaking reyenge on the spot, because the shame wasinflicted upon him by one who was on his way to theking s hall. But he remained standing with his menby the same bridge until Tosti came from the king;then he drew his sword and hacked off Tosti s head, andwent with it under his mantle back to the king s hall.Here he asked the king, according to his promise, togive him the earldom of Huntingdon. But, as the earlhad just left him, the king thought he was only joking.Then Siward related his deed, and, as a sure proof, castthe head down before the kings feet. The king thenkept his promise, and proclaimed him at once Earl ofHuntingdon, and afterwards invested him with his newdignity. Earl Siward returned now from the kingshall to his men, who still stood and fought with thefollowers of the fallen earl. At his coming the fightingbecame more severe; Tosti s men were cut down, andwere buried in a field near London. As a memorial ofthe deed, a church was built on the site, which is calleduntil this day the Dane s church.A few days later, the Xorthmen began to attack therealm. The king then was in a state of uncertainty,Accidit quod Norrenses guerram moverent regi (A); rege tandem a

Danis infestato B .


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6 Saga Book of the Viking Cluband deliberated with the great men of his realm as towhat means should be adopted; and they made overwith one voice :\urthumberland, Cumberland, and\\Testmoreland to Earl Siward, and the king investedhim with the earldom over them. He pacified all theland, and avenged manifoldly all the insults andinjuries done to the king; so that it came about, as theancient history of the English predicted, that, from themixture of the natural and preternatural, namely, frombear and woman, a man should be born, who shouldvindicate the king of England with honour against hisenemies. All this was fulfilled by Earl Siward, whoaverig ed invasion and violence against S1. Edward theking.

Later, after Siward had shown his strength and courage on so many occasions, it happened that Dunwal,king of the Scots, was driven from his kingdom, andasked Siward to help him against his enemies. Therefore he collected an army, and advanced to support theking as far as Dundee. There he received tidings thathis own people in :\orthumberland had risen againsthim and his family, and had slain his son, OsbernBole-ax (Osbernus Bulax). So the earl had to turnback, but in his wrath he struck the battle-axe, whichhe had in his hand, so hard on a stone-block, that themark is still visible. He then restored to the king theland which his enemies had seized; then he returnedhome and exterminated his enemies and maligners bythe sword and everv means.

Xlanv years later, in his old age, he was stricken atYork with a flux and then he presented his standard,the aforesaid Ravenlandeve, to the citizens of York, andit wa- preserved there in the old St. Xlarv Church.But when his illness overcame him, he said it was a

1 Nothing about this prophecy in B which , upon the whole, is short.Historia Anglorum is the name of Henry of Huntingdon s Chronicle,which also, a little later, has been before the author s eyes, But it ishard ly tha t which is referred to s Antiqua Anglorum historia.


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iw rd Digri oj Northumberland 7disgrace for a brave warrior to die lying down like acow, and he ordered those who stood about to raise him,and put on his mail-coat and all his arms. And cladthus, in an upright position, he died. He was buried adds- in St. Xlarv s Abbey at York.

Henry of Huntingdon, who lived a little earlier,relates in his Historia Anqlorum, written in 1 1 2 9 2 : At this time, Siward-the brave earl of Northurnbria,almost a giant in size, hard of hand and mind-sent hisson to conquer Scotland. \ \ hen the father was toldthat he had fallen in battle, he asked: D id he get hisdeath wound before or behind? And they answered:, Before. Then he said, I am glad, for no otherdeath would be worthy of me or my son. Siwardadvanced on Scotland at once, conquered its king inbattle, laid waste, and then subjugated to himself thewhole realm. The following year the violent earl wasseized with a flux, and felt death drawing near; he saidthen: \ \ h a t a pity it is that I could not haw died inso manv battles to die at last like a cow. Put on mv -impenetrable byrriie, gird me with my sword, myhelm OIl my head, my shield in my left hand, put mygold inlaid axe in my right, so that I, the bravest ofwarriors. may still die like a champion. . \nd whenhe had said that he died.

The remarkable feature of the narrative is its peculiarstamp of Xorthern life. Although a hundred yearshave passed since ~ i w r d s death and the X(lrman Conquest, which followed S l l ) [ 1 after, there is hardly a traceof the new world of thought. .\ltilough the recorder isa monk, there is not a religious Ieatu n- in the whole

1 In the description of his last hours, both the original text and againthe abstract B have made use of Henry of Huntingdon s HistoriaAnglorum tc] next note). I have used the phrases in A and B whichlie farthest from Henry s.

2 Henry of Huntingdon, Historia AngJorum (Rolls Series) p. 194-96.


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8 Saga Book the z kt ng Clubnarrative. It does not once mention-s-what we knowfrom other sources-that the old St. Marv s Abbey,outside of York, where the raven-banner was kept, wasa religious foundation raised by Earl Sjward himself.What has been recorded is a pure and sheer war tradition. The only feature which can be calleduri-Northern is the prophecy about the man of unusualbirth, who shall overcome England s enemies; but theauthor seems to have that from an antiqua Anglorumhistoria, and its place in the oral tradition is doubtful,to say the least.

What gives interest to Siwards history is not onlyits fresh impress of Northern life, but also its wonderfulaccord with Northern saga-narratiye. Siward sfictitious youth is like a romantic fornaldarsaga, thelast part like an historical Islendingasaga, with itsscenes of fight and revenge. Taken as a whole, thisseries of stories is a saga, half fictitious, half historical,about a Viking s adventures. This is of value, for itshows how such saga stuff was fashioned outside theindividual Icelandic world. Therefore it will repay usto rehearse it scene by scene.

First of all comes the storv about Beorn Beresun asson of the white bear, and the earl s daughter. He wasa Danish earl, and the motive leads us to Denmark.Saxo has (Xliiller, p. 512) a similar narrative aboutKing Sven Estridssons ancestors: A bonder inSweden had a yery beautiful daughter. One day shewent out to play with her maids; and a great bear came,and frightened them myay, seized the bonder s daughterin his paws, and bore her carefull to his cave in thethicket. Here he made love to her, and she lived inthe cave, nourished by his cattle raids, until the bearwas tracked by hunters and dog s, and pierced withmany spears. A little later, bonder s daughterbore a SOil, whom she named after his father. Thenhe grew up, and came to know his birth, he tookrn enge on his father s slayers. His son was Thrugill


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Siward Digri of orthumberland 9Sprageleg, who resembled his father in courage; andhe became, in his turn, father to Earl Wulf (died 1026),who betrayed, in his manners, his descent from a wildbeast.

The story which appears here linked to historical, orrather semi-historical, persons, is found far and widein European folk-tales, as an introduction to the narrative about the strong hero, who fetched the stolenprincess back from the trolls. Evervwhere, the hero,just as here in the story, is named after the bear whichhas carried off his mother: Jean de l ours, Peter Beer,the Icelandic Bjarndreingur, etc., etc. He alwayssuggests the bear in his more than mortal strength,sometimes, also, by being more or less shaggy on hisbody, or the like.

A quite remarkable feature is the fact that BeornBeresun has bear s ears, in memory of his birth. Thislikewise leads us to Danish traditions. In a Jutlandversion of the folk-tale just mentioned, about the threeprincesses, the hero is called Bjernare, although thestory gives no reasonable explanation for thisextraordinary name . The old story explains it for us.To his bear parentage he owes both this defect and hisunusual strength. we could entertain a doubt, itwould be dispelled by a folk-tale from the Avars in the,Caucasus, where the hero likewise has the name Bear s Ears, because he is a son of a bear and aking s daughter, and by his ears testifies to his birth.Likewise in Russian, in Xlorigolian, also, and inKoriakan, the hero has bear s ears, due to his origin.

1 K. Berntsen, Folkeseventyr 1873) or. 12: in a printed and anunprinted Danish version this name is distorted to Bjerno (E. T.Kristensen, Jyske folkeminder, XIII., nr. 32; S. Grundtvig s unpublished }Eventyr, 5p. in the national folklore coilection at Copenhagen).

The hero is the offspring of a king s daughter by a bear, and iscalled Bear s Ears from a peculiarity which he owes to his parentage.(Hartland. Legend of Perseus-1906-II. 24).

8 Kohler, Kleinere Schriften, 543 f.; W. Jochelson, Uber asiatischeund amerikanische Elemente in den My then der Koriaken, p. 2, inVerhandlungen der Amerikanist-Congress zu Stuttgart, 1904.


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Saga Book the z kz llg Clubmust then be accepted that this feature is not

historically connected with the Danish \ iking chief,but that it belongs to the old folk-motive, bearparentage. Accordingly we have, on Danish ground,plenty of connections with the bear story.

But we have connections also in the Icelandic sagaworld, Beorn Beresun s parentage occurs again in thecase of Bothvar Bjarki, the celebrated championof King Hrolf in Denmark. Bothvars parentsare Bjorn, the king s son, transformed to abear, and Bera, the peasant s daughter. addition to the names, the connection is betrayedby the fact that the bear, as in Saxos story, ishunted and slain, and the son later takes revenge,But, at the same time, the theme is more richlydeveloped, since the transformation caused by the step,mother has entered in, and the heritage of the wildbeast is divided among three sons, the first and secondhaying bear-like appearance, the third bear strengthand the faculty of transformation. The Danish andthe Icelandic versions are of different character; theDanish giYl s us the legendary elements from wh ich thesaga arises, while the Icelandic Hrolfssaga andBjarkarimur (poem of Bjarki) show us its furtherdevelopment into a romantic saga. The .:\orthemEnglish Siward s saga stands midwav, as a curious linkin the chain.

ri now Siward hist. .rv , Its first scene, the onlyone which actually portrays his Yiking-life, is thedragon fight in the Orknevs. The saga connection iseasy to see. Ragnar Luthbrok, too, the especial heroof Yiking life, has the dragon-fight for his first exploit.Still nearer, in certain \\ ays, lie two :\of\\ egian

In the Viking colonies in England, A, Bugge adds, (Vik ingerne, IT.306, note) the bear saga must have been widespread. For example thehalf historical hero Here\vard slays in York a bear which had humanreason. isfather is said to have ravished a maiden in the forest andbegotten by her Biernus, K. of Norway ;l.Iichel, Croniques AngloNormandes, II., 7-8).


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iward igri of orthumberlandlegendary sagas preserved by Saxo; so Frothi (in thesecond book) begins his legendary life by felling adragon on a remote island off the coast of Norway; and,in the sixth book, something similar is told of Frithleif s expedition to Norwav , It is certainly a littleextraordinary to see such a dragon fight ascribed toSiward Digr i -a man whose actual history \H knowfrom many contemporary records-but, otherwise, it isnot more remarkable than what is t(il about thecontemporaneous Icelander, Bjorn Hitdoelakappi, thathe came to England on his Viking expedition, andthere killed a dragon, which attacked the ship ; not tospeak of King Harald Harthrathes subterraneandragon-fight in Constantinople. Only one of the mosthighly developed Islendingasogur describes dragonfights with obvious irony towards the persons to whomthey are ascribed (Xjala, chap. 119). T he saga ofSiward Digri stands here on common Scandinavianground.In one respect, however, Siward s fight has something peculiar to itself. The ordinary Scandinaviandragon fight, down from Sigurth s slaying of Fafnir,has, for its object, the, wi nn np' of the dragon s gold.For Siward Digri this motive does not ex ist : he wishesto deliver the afflicted people. Of all the Icelandicdragon fights, on y that of orri H itdcelakappi hasanything corresponding, and here it is hardly bychance that it also is localized in English waters. t isthe English dragon-motive : it is Beowulf, whose ghostrules the story-world; we come acro-.s his tracks also inlater : orthumbrian traditions of the fight between theknight and the dragon.In another respect the Siward tory stands in evensharper contrast to the Scandina\ ian material. Theother accounts describe. without xceptiori, the hillillgof the serpent or the dragon; Siward is contented withdriving it from the land. ; \5 an heroic scene this is

1 Sagan af Birni hirda-lakappa (1847) p. 12.


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Saga Book of the Viking Clubwholly unsatisfactory; the end is too insignificant; thepurely local character of the deed contributes too littleto the hero conception. It is quite another matter withthe popular belief; here, localization is everything.Again and again it turns, not on killing, but on drivingout the trolls. Let me, as a typical example, mentionthe Sealandish legend about Pope Lucius, who drivesawav the sea-troll from Storebelt. To such localpopular belief Siward stands much nearer than any ofthe other saga heroes. Accordingly we have an outlookin two directions. On one side the story has pointsin common with the literary mode of the Icelandicromantic sagas; on the other side it has root in Englishsoil: battle against the destructive dragon, and themonster's expulsion from the land. The situation isjust as it was with the bear parentage: theSiward tradition adopts and adapts new elements,which soon go over into the style characteristic of the fornaldarsaga.The dragon fight is only an introduction to Siward's

exploits. The motive which stretches over his wholelife is the meeting U ith the old m l the mountainHere the course of his life is predicted-his term ofsen-ice to the king, and his earldom, so quickly won;besides, he gets the banner, which was made famous byhis numerous victories. Who is then this old man,who giYes prophecy and counsel? The saga itselfanswers only that it is a man in :'\orthumberland, whoseeks him on his way to the dragon. Some light isthrown by the fact that one of the Norwegian romanticsagas which stands nearest to Siwards dragon fightknows a similar figure. Frothi in Saxo's second book)begins his Yiking life y meeting a natiYe, whogin:,s him directions how he shall kill the serpent andwin its gold. It is uncertain if Frothi's Saga clearlyrealized who this guide reallv was. But if we T to thebottom of the question, t r ~ can be no doubt about the

1 Aarb. f. nord. oldk. IS74, p. 40 6


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Simard Digri of N orthumberlandanswer. This scene is a fainter repetit ion of the scenein heroic poetry where Odin gives advice to Sigurthabout killing Fafnir . f we test this possibility in theSiward saga, all features appear to fit. Everywhere hero sagas Odin is the unknown old man who isencountered. He talks from the top of a steep knoll orhill, just as Odin shouts from the mountain toSigurtll Fafnir s bane. That Siward, going by, isaddressed by his own name, although a stranger inthe land, is a trait common to all supernatural beings(and is of no consequence to the course of the action).The particular manner in which the old man instructshim in all he shall undertake has its counterpart inHadding:s meeting with the one ey old man.Finally, the raven-banner (which may be supposed tobring victory) is a counterpart to Odin s gift of aweapon: Sigmund gets the sword Gram; h ga\ eHermod helm and breast-plate ; and he offers RolfKraki good weapons at their parting All this showsthat the old man who addresses Siward from the hill isOdin himself. Let us see what objections can be madeto this view. It will perhaps be said that such aheathen idea was not taken up by a cloister monk? Butthere is not the least ground to suppose that the authorhas discovered that it was the heathen war-god who wasmeant. \\Then Saxo himself has by no means alwaysrecognized the heathen god in his disguise, one canexpect it still less of a contemporary English clerk: Orone may object that the Danish-Xorwegian populationof Xorthern England in the r th century was so firmlyrooted in Christianity, that it could ruIt create such anarrative in earnest. But when new Odin-incidentscould still be manufactured in Scandinavia in thebeginning of the 13th century at the battle of Lena,

1Volsnngasaga ch. 18.2 Elder Edda: Reginsmal s tr . 16. Saxo s 1. book, p. 40 (Muller) . A. Olrik, Danm. helterligtning (Ig03) p. 2 65 A. Olrik, Ki lderne til Sakses oldhistorie, 18g2 p. 30.


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Saga Book of the Vz king Club.r208 , it was much easier in the middle of t h e r rth.The story then may decide for itself. The singleobjection which it seems possible to raise is this, thatOdin elsewhere never sits on the edge of the cliff, butalways stands.' This feature, however (which is of noconsequence to the action) may have been added by alater narrator.

From the Korthern English standpoint, such anappearance does not seem to be exceptional. TheViking saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his three sons,which in its origin is closely knitted to England, contains, in its oldest form, an unquestionable Odin figurein the midst of historical personages from the Vikingtime: narnelv, that Rostar who heals Sigurth Snakeeye's wound, and demands, as a reward, the championswho fall in battle (Norwegian saga in Saxo, p. 449 .But we have a still more pronounced survival of beliefin Odin S power, in an old battle-song from the city ofHawick: Teeryebus ye Teer ye Odin, T i r help usHelp, Tir, help Odin

There can, then, scarcely be raised a well-groundedobjection against the tradition having interpreted its oldman as Odin himself. On the other hand, it must beadmitted that there is no wholly convincing evidence.All the single features of the tradition are in goodaccord with Odin's appearance in the hero sagas, andcertainly rise from them; but the situation can be likethat in the:\ ' orwegian Frothi saga, where the originalOdin traits are applied to a supernatural helper ingeneral. \\-e are not, then, in the region of myth, butof folk-lore, where the o ld man (who has wipedawav the too evident religious features) appearsas the hero's helper and counsellor. Such romanticfigures, which dimlv remind one of Odin, are indeedmet also in other places in the Icelandic-:\'orwegian fornaldarsagas ; but we must remember that not

1 Reginsmal; Saxo, 1. book, p. 52.2Aarb. f nord. oldie 1875, 114.


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Siuiard Digri of orthumberlandonly is our saga s hero a Dane, but that probably themajority of those among whom the saga came intoexistence (the Xorthumbriansj were of Danish birth. e come then a little farther a\yay from the mythicreligious Odinic conception, for, as far as we know, theDanish heroic traditions, they do not let Odin revealhimself in disguise, but in his strength From theDanish point of view, then, this old man, who presentsSiward with the banner, must, in still higher degree,have over him the glamour of folk-lore. Therefore Ihold this view as the most correct, that he is an Odin,but that the religious-mythic features are as slight aspossible.

From a literary point of view it is significant that itis the :\of\wgian-Icelandic heroic poetry which canfurnish parallels to all the single traits, wh ile theDanish songs and stories stand farther removed. Thisindicates that here in Northumberland a Norweg ianinfluence asserted itself in shaping the saga. the slaying of the earl we meet the historic saga

style. the meeting on the foot-bridge, the narrativeseizes the brief encounter, which causes enmity betweenthe two leaders, while it does not allow itself to unravelpolitical contrasts or other unromantic motives. Thoseyery half-accidental, bodily injuries, are the favouritetheme of the historical sagas; and they let the herobecome indignant, but restrain himself, until thefavourable moment arrives to set a weapon in hisopponent s head. :\11 the scenery at the king s court,with the narrow foot-bridge (ponticulus) and the pressupon it, is wholly in saga style; likewise the remarksabout the dress of the time, which gave opportunity totread on the mantle. Thus the saga narrative links itschain of cause and effect where blame and blamelessnessare involved in each other.

Likewise, the tradition which Herirv of Huntingdon1See my Sakses oldhistorie, 31, and Danmarks heltedigtning, 1.

1903 p. 11.


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22 6 Saga Book of the Viking Clubhas preserved for us about the son s Osbern Bole-ax s)death, reminds one of the sagas. A similar sceneoccurs in Egil s Saga, where the old Kveldulf receivestidings of the fall of his son Thorulf, and carefullyinquires whether .he fell on his breast or his back, butcertainly with the still more suggestive reply: t issaid that he who falls forward will be revenged. (InSiwards mouth also this expression would have suitedthe circumstances far better; but it would be too bold toguess that originally it went so, and later was mademore popular and knightly).

The revenge for the death of Osbern Bole-ax, as thesaga records it, sounds more Scandinavian; and thestrong expression of violent emotion-his blow on thestone when he learns of the murder-reminds one of thecelebrated scene in Ragnars saga, where the ffect ofthe death-tidings on the sons is depicted in the case ofeach.

The last scene, also, is full of orthern character,where th c dyin earl has himself clad ill his armour inorder not to d ie lying down like a cow.. I know,however, no scene from literature which correspondsexactly; and Earl Siward s death is probably the lastuse of an old custom. From Icelandic tradition weknow a slightly differing custom, when one who is aboutto die of sickness cuts himself with a spear-point inorder to belong to Odin (Y nglinga Saga, c. 10); butthe manner of death described in the tradition is rather,in its lack of religious consecration, a Danish practice.

Taken as a whole, Siwards saga is a remarkableblending of romantic and historical saga style. Itsnearest kin is Ragnar s saga, which also begins in aheroic manner with the serpent fight, and ends in moretruthfullv coloured scenes; likewise is Odin involved inthe course of events. Only Siwards saga goes so muchfurther in strong and historicallv coloured scenes and insmall local traditions.

:-;i\\ ard s saga-like the Ragnar saga-gives us a


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Siward Digri of orthumberlandliterary problem of peculiar nature. treats of aDanish hero and it is related in territory where Danishcolonists were probably as numerous as theNorwegian ; but it deviates from the essential characterof all Danish tradition as we know it from Saxo and histime. T he disposition to spin uniting threads betweenth e inc ide nts is greater and there is an especial fondness for supernatural elements to which we have noparallels in Danish. Just in these features especiallyin the dragon fights and in the figures of Odin there isa close relation to orwegian-Icelandic tradition. TheXorwegians who settled in northern England musthave had an e nric hing and developing influence Thisholds true not only for Siward s saga but also forRagnar Lothbrok s history in so far as it first cameinto existence in England. On the other hand we mustn ot con si der Northern England as a detached branch ofNorwegian culture; it is also a pioneer in its richerdevelopment. W e have seen it in the case of the dragonfight which it t ak es e ssen tia lly from English conceptions and this certainly enters in that way theNorweg ian-Icelandic romantic sagas and historicaltraditions; and in the same way with the bearparentage which has its root in Danish legendary stuffbut becomes more r ic hl y d ev el op ed as a NorwegianIcelandic romantic saga. On the whole theScandinavian colonists in England appear to be aremarkable link between Danish and Norwegianintellectual life and play an important role in thedevelopment of saga-narrative.

Srward. Earl of Northumberland is an historical

figure. e know the year of his death OSS andmany other facts about his life Already in thebeginning of Cnur s reign or rather in company withCnut himself he had come to England. n IOIg

p


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Saga Book of the Viking ClubSiward minister comes last in the list of the king s

northern thanes, in 1032, as the most distinguished; (aletter of 1026, which speaks of him as earl, is surely notgenuine.) Under Harthacnut he plays a moreprominent rule. He was Earl of Xorthumberland in when Harthacnut sent out his earls at the head ofthe royal house-carles to punish the turbulent\Vorce;ter. The same year, Siward, at the king sincentive, slew Eadwulf , Earl of Northumberland(Bernicia), and received his earldom as reward. Likewise, about the same time, he got the earldom of Huntingdon. From the time Edward the Confessor cameto the throne, he was one of the king s most importantsupporters; he helped him get possession of QueenEmma s treasure (as early as 1043), and he stood byhim in the strife with Earl Godwin, in 1051. He ledthe attack on Scotland, 1054, in reyenge for the deathof his kinsman, King Xlalcolm, and he slew KingMacbeth in the bloody battle of July j th In thefollowing spring, he died himself, and was buried inthe church which he had erected, Olaf s church atYork.

One notes that what the saga compresses into theevents of a few days-his coming to England, the slaying of the earl, his service to King Edward-in realitydistributes itself over three reigns. The tradition hasapparently lost every memory of Siward s youth,down to the slaying of the earl, and has filledthe gap with features from folk-tales. The youthfuladventures on the Orknevs have mothing to do with theDanish Earl Siward. Most likely they are borrowedfrom another earl of the same name, S-igurth Digri of

As earl of Huntingdonshire, he is mentioned in a royal letter ofEdward (Kemble, Codex dip\. Sax. IY., m. 792) ; it is said to be fromthe beginning of Edward s reign,- according to Freeman, NormanConquest, 3rd ed, I., 792, which has not been accessible to me.

2 For Siward s life see Dictionary of National Biography, LII. ;Freeman, Norman Conquest, I, 586.88, IL, 363-65. 613.19.


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Siward Digri of orthumberland

the Orknevs, who fell in the great Battle of Clontarf,Oq B. Kahle (Arkiv , for nordisk filologi, xx., 2g8)suggests that the idea of the magical raven-banner wasalso borrowed from the same Sigurth, who waved it atthe battle of Clontarf, 1 q and that its name of Lande e is borrowed from the famous Landeytha ( landdevastator ), the banner of King Harald Harthrathe,on his ill-fated expedition to England, ro66.

On the other hand the story has increased the distancebetween events which do not hang together in epicsequence. It conceives of the expedition to Scotlandas taking place in Edward s prime, and his death many years later ; in reality less than a ear laybetween.

Most remarkable, however, are the alterations in thestory s chief scene, the slaying of the earl. There isjust enough resemblance in the action for us to see thatit is the same event which is referred to. Eadwulf, Earlof Northumberland, comes to Harthacnut to bereconciled to him, and he is then slain by Siward, whoafterwards gets the earldom from the king; thenHarthacnut deceived the earl in grith (sworn peace),and became a traitor, as the chronicle says. Thedetails of the assault are, on the contrary, not known bythe older records. Here, a marked change in personsand circumstances has taken place. The slaying of theearl did not occur during Edward s reign, but in theyear 1041, under Harthacnut; the name of the slain earlwas not Tosti, but Eadwulf, and his earldomwas not Huntingdon, but Northumberland. This storyin transmission has such a slight hold on concretedetails; Tosti, who was Siward s successor as earl ofNorthumberland, is changed about, to be hispredecessor, and the earldom is removed to the placewhich later became an inheritance among Siward sdescendants. The information also that the Dane sChurch was raised where Tosti s men were buried, asa memorial of the deed, is incorrect. The church of St.


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3 Saga Book of the Viking ClubClement Danes, outside of London, was the churchyard for Danish citizens, and here, as early as 1040,Harald Harefoot s mishandled corpse was consigned tothe earth. Freeman, I., 572 .

T he chroniclers givt: a further connection which thetradition totally ignores. Siward had married thedaughter of Ealdred, earl of : \ orthumbria; afterEaldred was murdered, his brother. Eadwulf, becamehis successor as earl over the n orth ern part of the land;but Siward, who calculated that his own claim toinheritance and his son s was set aside, slew Eadwulf,when he came to the king under safe conduct, in orderto be reconciled to Harthacnut; an d H arth acn ut madet he ch am pi on an earl n place of the deceased, and thusshowed h is sat isfa cti on o ve r the deed; the ground of theking s hatred towards the earl cannot be that reportedin the story; but Eadwulf had probably been one ofHarald Harefoot s adherents, as Harthacnut was angry.This does not exclude th e s tat em en t in the story, thatan accidental meeting on the bridge and an injury inpassing were Siward s reason for s ee ki ng r e\ en ge ; butit gives the true background of family politics andambitious schemes which the saga lacks. is possiblethat the meeting on the bridge, with its realisticcolouring and its firm localization, preserves historicaltraits, which we otherwise do not know, fromEadwulf s death, or perhaps from other scenes nSiward s life.

Concerning the exp ed it io n i nt o Scotland, it is said inone manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ; 1054.n this year Earl Siward advanced on Scotland with agreat army, both fleet and land force, and fought withthe Scots, and put to flight the king Macbeth, and slewall that was best in the land, and carried awav greatplunder, such as no man had obtained before. But hisson, Osbern, and his sister s son, Siward, and some ofh is h ou se ca rls, and likewise of the king s. were slain

1 COil. Tiber. B. IV.


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Siward igriof Northumberland 23there, on the day of the Seven Sleepers (July 27th).From this we see that the story about the sons death isa transformation of the facts. He actually fell in battle,but the story lets it be his death at home in Northumberland which hinders Siward from pursuing his victory.The other traditional account, that of Henry ofHuntingdon, is more reliable, in so far as it lets the sonfall in war against the Scots. But both accounts lackthe story of the expedition of revenge for Osbern sdeath; this was a motive which the tradition could dowithout. It shall merely be remarked that also thename Duneval of the king of Scots is a combinationof the murdered Duncan and l\la1colm, his avenger.

Only the information about his death in York iswholly reliable. The chronicle reads: 1055. In thisyear died Earl Siward, in York, and he lies buried inGalmanho, in the church which he himself had raisedand consecrated to God and Olaf; Tosti took theearldom, which he had.

The account was written down in Crowland Abbey,on the fertile plains of central Anglia, where people feltno personal interest in Siward Digri, but much for hisson, Earl \ Valtheow, who, executed by William theConqueror. found his grave in the cloister, and wasreverenced as a popular saint. In Nottingham andHuntingdon sat the i\orman race of counts, whodescended from the daughter of Siwar son. But tonone of these does the saga stand in any closer relation.Its interest collects about two points-the slaying bywhich he won his earldom (which is to sayhistorically: the .:\orthumbrian ), and his r v ll-banner which was presented. at his death, to thecitizens of York; the saga names also the place whereit was preserved. Besides. the border fights presentthemselves with a certain fulness, and a stone with themarks of his blow is mentioned as the most :\ orthernpoint he reached. All this indicates that the saga shorizon IS the Xorthumbr ian : on the coast of


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Sag a-Book the Viking Club.Northumberland the fictitious portion of the saga takesplace-the meeting with the supernatural helper.York, especially, plays a distinct role and its citizenswere associated with him in the gift of the banner.Here in northernmost England, especially in York, thesaga must have taken form. And here there must havebeen a Scandinavian population pure enough to bringforth a work of such \ orthern colouring.It is very interesting to compare the Saga with theHuntingdon tradition, as it is presented by the littleolder Henry of Huntingdon (seep. 6 . has theusual traits of the war-hero: his death in arms and hisquestion about his son s fall. But it lacks names,details, places, combination of scenes, and supernaturalfeatures-all of which gives the saga its life and itsNorthern colour.

IV.One of the most remarkable things about the narra

tive is the fact that the traditional account shows astronger c ndin vi n colouring than the true history.All its personages, with the exception of King Edward,are o f Danish birth. knows nothing of theEnglishmen who played a role in Siward s life hisfather-in-law, Ealdred, Earl of : \orthumberland, andEaldred s daughter, Ethelflsed no more than the nameof his second wife; of his sons it mentions only OsbernBole-ax (Bulax), but not \ \ altheow, with his AngloSaxon name, who in his youth, was trained for thechurch; the name of the slain Xorthumbrian earlEadwulf, is exchanged for the Scandinavian Tosti.The Anglo-Saxon names which play such an importantrole in his life are omitted from his saga.

All the surnames are Scandinavian: Beresun, digri ,bulax . Of the places in London there is only mention

Although obsolete in English (Murray, N.E.D. 972 the word stillexists in Danish popular speech, in the form bulekse (timber-axe, forest-axe cf. Eng. bul bole O.N. bolr; bulr tree-trunk). (Kalkar, Ordbog overdet zeldre danske sprag, 1. 300; Feilberg, Jysk Ordbog, 1. 141, etc.


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Siuiard Digri of Northumberland. 233of th Danes Church. Since the first appearanceof this study, Alexander Bugge has pointed out thatthe Latin Beam transliterates the Old Norse Biprnand that the Latin text of the saga uses theScandinavian name for the Orkneys tOrluuieia = OldNorse, Orkney jar instead of the Latin (arcades). Thename of Siward s banner, Rauenlandeye is alsoScandinavian; probably identical with Landeytha thename of the banner carried before Harald Harthrathe,on his ill-fated expedition to England, 1066. Siwarddied years before, so that the Harthrathe traditioncould easily be grafted upon his own.P So theexplanation of Ravenlandeye as corvus terra? terror is amisunderstanding, Landeytha meaning that whichlays waste the land.

vWe still have the question about Siward Digri s

forefathers Our saga gives the name of his father,Beam Beresun. When it relates that he was the sonof an ear l s daughter and a bear, it cannot be correct;the zoologists deny the possibility of such a pregnancy.That he had ears resembling a bear s is for rationalistichistorians, an actual circumstance and cause for thestory. According to the testimony of the study oftradition, it is only a widespread romance feature. Itwould indeed also be remarkable, if a reliable historicaldetail were remembered about a man, whose exploitshave been entirely forgotten. The only thing abouthim, then, which can be historical, is the name, BeamBeresun. His surname, however, cannot, as the tradition interprets it mean bear s son. It must be anOld Norse Biorn Beruson, or Berason; he has therefore had a mother named Bera or a father named Beri.But a man s name, Beri, can scarcely be pointed out in

1 A. Bugge, Vikingerne, II. 306 8.B. Kahle, in Arkiv f. nord, filol XX, 292 30r.


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234 Saga Book of the Viking ClubScandinavia. j and it is so much more probable that hismother s name is Bera, because, in the Bothvar storyalso, the farmer s daughter carried off by the bear isnamed Bera. I t is not so seldom in the old Korth thatthe son is named after his mother, especially if thefather is dead. this name Beorn Beresun we havethe story s origin. It is a well-known feature of storymaking, that, when a celebrated hero or race can onlybe carried back to a mother parent, a story is formedabout preternatural parentage. Here the names Biernand Bera (she-bear) must have led the mind in a fixeddlrection : and the old folk motive fastened itself uponthe family because Earl Siward s enormous strengthand courage was accounted for in this way. A story ofancestry is formed as a rule to explain the peculiaritiesmanifested by the descendants.

Again, I must speak of Siward Digri s supposedkinship with the Sprakalegg family. The only thingupon which it is grounded is the genealogical table inVita Gualdevi (p. 299; and in A): Gauldevus, filiusSiwardi ducis Northanumbrise, filii Beam, filii L Isiifilii Spratlingii, filii U rsii. For Earl Beam, SvenEstridssons brother, Florence of Worcester gives thefollowing genealogy: Beam comes, f i l i u sDanici comitis Ulfi, filii Sprac1ingi, filii U rsi. Forthe last named, the table is, in the main, historicallycorrect, since it is supported by the Danish traditionin Saxo : Sven, son of Earl \\ olf, son of ThrugilsSpragelegg, son of Beam, son of the farmer s daughterand the bear, and also bv the Icelandic sources: Sveinnand Bjorn, sons of Earl Ulfr, son of ThorkellSprakaleggr. For Siward Digri the table is whollyimpossible j the l lsius, who is made his grand-

1 A man s name, Beri, is known from \Vestern Sleswiz, and is presumably Frisian. The corresponding Danish form is Bjari (0. Nielsen.Oldd. p e r s o n n v n ~ 12 . Bero in Saxo, etc., is, whenever one can testit, a Latinized form of Biorn. For the woman s name, Bera, O. Rygh,Gamle personnavne i norske stedsnavne, p. 33.


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Siward Digri of Northumberland 35father, is his own contemporary, Earl \Vo1, andSprakling consequently cannot be his great-grandfather; about this the historians are unanimous. Onthe other hand, thev seem not to have found the solution of the problem - although it lies so near. \ \ ord forword, the same family tree is ~ v n for Earl BeornWolfsson and Earl Beorn Beresun; for Beorn \ \ olfsson it is correct, for the other it is wrong. It is theBeorn Wolfssons family-tree which has beentransferred to Beorn Beresun, because one confusedthe two earls of the same name. The transfer did nottake place in oral, but in written tradition; for in bothpedigrees we find U rsus as a translation of theScandinavian Beorn : and slight discrepancies in thenames are due only to written distortions is onlythe carelessness of the author, which sets Siward inrelationship with the Sprakling family; no source for itis to be found. Of Siwards ancestors we onlv knowthat the tradition gaw his father s name as BeamBeresun. The fact that the name Bera is misunderstood in the tradition makes it probable that it is notwilfully fabricated.

The question carries us back to the bear parentage.It is not the bear-motive s occurrence, which in itselfcauses any difficultv : we have seen how both name andbear s ears go back to popular tradition. But it is thecircumstance that two different persons lay claim tobear-parentage-Thrugils Sprakelegg s father Beorn,and Siward Digri s father, Beorn , would bestanswer the purpose if they could both be the sameperson, but there is precisely a generation betweenthem. The storv must have been carried over fromone to the other. - But, if so, there can be no doubt thatBeorn Beresun is the true claimant. In his case the

Filii Ulsii filii Spratlingii f is read as a long s : c as t ii can havecome from filii; Ulsi us is a late conversion of the Ags. Wulfsige : seeSearle, norn st icon .

2 The genealogy cunstructed by J. Steenstrup INormannerne, IlL, 439.I Dansk Biogr. Lexicon XV. p. 616 , hereby falls to the ground.


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6 Saga-Book of the Vtking Club.surname is connected with the bear-parentage in hiscase there are the bear s ears, the distinguishing markfound in the folk-tale and, before all, there is thecelebrated son, Siward Digri, whose unusual size,strength and recklessness are explained by his preternatural birth. On the contrary, nothing was said ab ou tanything unusual in the appearance of Earl YoH or hissons. The tradition must have been transferred to thatfamily in Denmark, an d d urin g the time w hen not morewas remembered about the v alian t E arl Siward,

At last we may answer the question: W h a t can afterall be known about Siward Digri s ancestors in Denmark? e have the mere name of his father, Beorn Beresun,

and from that we may make out that his grandmotherwas named Bera, and that she survived or surpassed)her husband. All that was told about Beorn and Berawas only fancy, arising from a misunderstanding oftheir names. Also their descent from an earl s familyin Denmark is not very c re dible; suc h an honour couldeasily h a w been transferred to her from herdistinguished descendant.

Siward D igri was a warrior who won his way up inCnut the Great s cam paig ns . Bodily strength he wasgiven the surname most used in his time: digri,i e. big and strong) and violent activity were hisprominent characteristics. Through a long warlikecareer, he works his way, before he gets the name ofearl there is nothing to show that he h as a dv an ced sofar on the strength of his parentage. 1

l i t is possible that Beorn Beresun s family stood in some connectionwith Earl Wolf s family; not because a mistaken chronicle tell us so,or because the bear parentage is connected with each of t h e m , - b u tbecause the same names, Beorn and Osbeorn, occur in the case of each,and, with the strong rules for the inheritance of names, which prevailedamong the Scandinavians of the Viking age ef. Gustav Storm in Arkiv,IX, 219), a common descent must ordinarily express itself in commonnames. But names like Beorn and O sb eor n w ere too often used to giveus any certainty regarding ancestry; and Earl Si ward looks most like aself-made man. Bu t how was it with Spracling, the father of W olf?Vas he also a champion who made his own fortune? And was hi s.cble ancestry only an ornament in the bear tale?)


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im rd Digri Northumberland 37As he near the middle of the t th century, reached

the position of a prominent chief of his time: the question of his ancestors and earlv deeds had to arise.Because there were no historical facts to remember,there was subject enough for fancy. The poverty ofancestors was supplied by the supernatural birth, thepoverty of youthful deeds by mingling him togetherwith the Orcadian Sigurth the dragon fight and bythe repetition of mythical features the standard-givingdivinity).

The historical Siward was a symbol of that Vikingrealm which suddenly arose to astonishing greatnessand suddenly sank into dust, with only a small effectupon later times.

But from this historical Siward sprang up a tradition saga like that of Ragnar Lothbrok or other Vikingchiefs a fantastic story with details of realisticcharacter and with historical value. Streams fromthat fountain ran into the great Icelandic ocean of sagatelling: its bear motive came into the Hrolf s Saga,enlarged into a tale of the c ham pi on B ot hv ar and hisstepmother but the same bear tale went also toDenmark, as an ancestry tale of the royal Danish race.M ost r em ar ka bl e of all is the evolution of such combined sagas among the Scandinavians in England,bearing witness on their part to the especialScandinavian culture, and to the intellectual facultiesthat existed among them.

Documents

Siward Digri of Northumberland: A Viking Saga of Danes in England