Olaf and Cmtt 221 



brought to Cnut. He was not ready to strike yet, but 

 he bided his time. 



Olaf strengthened his forces by land and sea, and 

 settled himself in the south of the kingdom opposite to 

 Denmark ; for presently Cnut returned for a time to his 

 native land, and was reported to be raising an army. 

 Olaf also sought to strengthen himself by an alliance 

 with the Swedish king Onund (Jacob), the son of his 

 old enemy, Olaf the Swede. Onund favoured the 

 Norwegian alliance, in spite of the fact that the too 

 self-confident Olaf would not consent to bury all 

 thought of rivalry between his kingdom and Sweden 

 for the possession of the border lands, and that Onund 

 received at the same time an embassy from Denmark 

 to bribe him to neutrality. 



The expected attack from Denmark was still delayed. 

 St. Olaf went throughout his dominions collecting 

 troops, and preparing a fleet. He held a conference too 

 with King Onund. As still the attack did not come, 

 and the Swedish and Norwegian troops could not safely 

 be disbanded, they determined to take the initiative. 

 Olaf was to fall upon the Danish islands, while Onund 

 attacked the Danish province of Scania, in the lowest 

 bulge of the Swedish peninsula, wliich, as we have 

 already said, was a part of the kingdom of Denmark. 

 No immediate help being forthcoming from their king, 

 most of the inhabitants of Scania made submission to 

 Onund. 



Once more, in the autumn of A.D. 1026, Cnut, having 

 fitted out in England a fleet more formidable, and con- 

 taining larger vessels, than any that had, up till now, 

 taken the seas, set sail for his native country. With him 



