LETTER XII. 



THROXDHJEM — HARALD HAARFAGER — K1XG HACOX's LAST BATTLE — '■ 

 OLAF TRYGGVESSOX — THE "LONG SERPENT " — ST.OLAVE — THORMOD 

 THE SCALD — THE JARL OF LADE — THE CATHEDRAL — HARALD 

 HARDRADA — THE BATTLE OF STANFORD BRIDGE — A NORSE BALL 

 — ODIX — AXD HIS PALADIXS. 



Off Munkholm, Aug. 27, 1856. 



Throndhjem (pronounced Tronyem) looked very pretty and 

 picturesque, with its red-roofed wooden houses sparkling in 

 the sunshine, its many windows filled with flowers, its bright 

 fiord covered with vessels gaily dressed in flags, in honour 

 of the Crown Prince's first visit to the ancient capital of the 

 Norwegian realm. Tall, pretentious warehouses crowded 

 down to the water's edge, like bullies at a public show 

 elbowing to the foremost rank ; orderly streets stretched in 

 quiet rows at right angles with each other, and pretty villas 

 with green cinctures sloped away towards the hills. In the 

 midst rose the king's palace, the largest wooden edifice in 

 Europe ; while the old grey cathedral — stately and grand, in 

 spite of the slow destruction of the elements, the mutila- 

 tions of man's hands, or his yet more degrading rough-cast 

 and stucco reparations — still towered above the perishable 

 wooden buildings at his feet, with the solemn pride which 

 befits the shrine of a royal saint. 



I cannot tell you with what eagerness I drank in all the 

 features of this lovely scene ; at least, such features as Time 

 can hardly alter — the glancing river, from whence the city ; s 

 ancient name of Nidaros, or " mouth of the Nid," is derived, 

 — the rocky island of Munkholm, the bluff of Lade', — the 

 land-locked fiord and its pleasant hills, beyond whose grey 

 stony ridges I knew must lie the fatal battle-field of Stickle- 

 stad. Every spot to me was full of interest, — but an interest 



