Olaf and Svend, King of Denmark 193 



an alliance with her might have ended in a union of 

 Sweden and Norway : then Olaf would have been 

 strong enough to defy the power of Denmark. But 

 Queen Sigrid refused to accept Olaf's new religion; and 

 Olaf, who, as we have seen, was something of a fanatic, 

 was so enraged with her for her obstinacy that he 

 raised his hand and struck her in the face with his 

 glove, saying : ' Why should I marry thee, a heathen 

 jade ? ' The Queen answered : ' This blow may some 

 day be thy death.' And the truth of her words was now 

 about to be proved. 



There soon arose an occasion of enmity between the 

 kings of Denmark and Norway. Svend had disposed 

 of his sister Thyri to a Slav king of Vendland {i.e. 

 somewhere aliout Mecklenburg or Pomerania) ; Burislaf 

 was his name, and he was a heathen. Thyri was so 

 grieved at being sent among heathens that she would 

 neither eat nor drink among them. After seven days, 

 by the aid of her foster-father, she stole away, hid her- 

 self in a wood, and eventually effected her flight out of 

 the country. She took ship and came to Norway, to 

 Nidaros, where King Olaf was. Eventually a marriage 

 was brought about between Olaf and Thyri. 



There was now a queen at either court bent on stir- 

 ring up strife between the two kings. Thyri claimed all 

 the dower which Svend had paid over to Burislaf. She 

 taunted Olaf that he dared not go to the Danish 

 dominions for fear of Svend. Olaf replied with a loud 

 oath : ' Never did I fear thy brotlier Svend, and if we 

 meet he shall give way before me.' Sigrid, too, was 

 busy in trying to excite the enmity of her husband 

 against Olaf. However, in the matter of Thyri's portion, 



