620 



DENMAR K. 



Woden or 

 Odin. 



History, pelled from their habitations, cannot be supposed to 

 '" — ""Y~"~"' have been on very friendly terms with the latter, nor 

 to have been regarded by them with much respect, it 

 is hardly to be supposed that they would unite in an 

 expedition of 9uch a magnitude and duration. It is not 

 easy to conceive how the Cimbri, if they were a Celtic 

 race, should have been left in possession of the Cimbric 

 Th? Cimtu i Chersonesus, afa period when we know that the Gothic 

 were a Go- tribes had poured round that country in all directions, 

 thic pcop e. an( j w j ien j-^g Xeutones had actually settled themselves 

 to the soutli and east of it. It may be further mention- 

 ed, in support of the opinion, that the Cimbri were a 

 Gothic people, that the names of most of their leaders, as 

 given by the Roman historians, are evidently of Gothic 

 construction and etymology. The only objection to 

 this hypothesis arises from the circumstance that they' 

 were called Cimbri, but this objection maybe plausibly, 

 if not satisfactorily, obviated, by supposing that the Ro- 

 mans gave them this name from the county which they 

 inhabited, in the same manner as modern historians give 

 the name of Americans to all who inhabit that quarter 

 of the world, without meaning to imply that they are 

 of the aboriginal race. In the time of Tacitus and 

 Ptolemy, the Chersonese still retained the appellation 

 Cimbri, though, from the testimony of these authors, it 

 was entirely inhabited by Gothic tribes; according to 

 Tacitus, those were the Angli, Varini, Eudoses, Suar- 

 dones, and Nuithorus. In the island of Zealand, he 

 places the Suiares. Ptolemy gives different appella- 

 tions to these tribes, but the authority of Tacitus seems 

 entitled to more credit. 



In treating of the ancient history of Denmark, the 

 tradition respecting Woden or Odin, must not be en- 

 tirely passed over in silence. According to Snorro, 

 an ancient historian of Norway, and Torfaces, an 

 Icelandic writer of great erudition, Odin lived in the 

 time of Pompey, and reigned in those districts to which 

 Mithridates fled when defeated by the Roman general. 

 Odin was persuaded by the defeated monarch to assist 

 him in his distress ; but being unable to resist the dis- 

 cipline and skill of the Romans, he was compelled to 

 leave his own country along with his followers. How 

 he contrived to fight his way, and to subsist during his 

 long flight from the neighbourhood of the Black Sea 

 till he reached the Scandinavian regions, is not known, 

 nor even conjectured. He is said first to have reduced 

 the island of Funen, and there to have laid the founda- 

 tion of a town, which, from himself, is called Wodensee, 

 or Odensee. From Funen he passed to Sweden, which 

 iie also subdued ; and to which, after having made an 

 equally successful expedition into Norway, he returned, 

 when he died. Though much obscurity prevails re- 

 specting the era of Odin, and much fable is undoubted- 

 ly mixed up with the traditionary account of his origin, 

 adventures, and conquests, yet there can be no doubt 

 that such a person existed, and that he came from some 

 part of Asia, and established himself in Scandinavia. 



But to return more immediately to Denmark. Ac-. 

 cording to the Danish Chronicles, Schiold, the first king 

 of this country, reigned about 6"0 years before Christ ; 

 and lie was succeeded by eighteen kings, to the time of 

 l , &\ }TOg Ragner, surnamed Lodbrog, who began his reign A. D. 

 a I). 7.1o. 750, and who, in his attempt to invade England, was 

 made prisoner and put to death. The Danes, at this 

 period, were very formidable to most of the nations 'of 

 the north and middle of Europe. For 200 years they 

 spread terror on the coasts of England, and at last con- 

 quered the whole kingdom. They likewise made in- 

 cursions on the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, Livonia, 



-.ill 

 A.C 



Id, 



Courland, and Pomerania. And it is said, though on History, 

 doubtful authority, that they even set fire to the palace — *"Y""~*' 

 of Charlemagne, at Aix-la-Chapelle, and carried their 

 ravages into Spain and Italy. They were enabled to 

 effect these conquests, and to carry on these depreda- 

 tions, by their expertness and skill as sailors. The 

 greatest part of the people were from their childhood 

 brought up to a maritime life. Their vessels were al- 

 ways well provided with arms, and all the men were 

 taught to swim. A very striking proof of the atten- 

 tion which the government at this period paid to the 

 establishment of a maritime force, is exhibited in the 

 manner in which the lands were divided in Denmark 

 and Norway. Every division took its name from the 

 number of vessels which it was capable of equipping ; 

 and in some places these names are still in use. 



On the death of Ragner Lodbrog, who was the last 

 of the powerful princes, under whose dominion the 

 three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden 

 were united, his sons divided these territories, and 

 Denmark again acknowledged a separate king. Soon Sarm, 

 after this period, the more certain history of Denmark - A - °- 9 -°- 

 commences, with Surm, or Sormo, A. D. 920. It is 

 not known, however, whether he was descended from 

 a native race, or whether he was of Swedish or Nor- 

 wegian origin. The confusion w r hich, before the reign 

 of this sovereign, is found in the Danish history, is 

 plausibly supposed to have arisen from the circumstance, 

 that Denmark, in fact, was never completely, or for 

 any length of time, under the dominion of one prince ; 

 but being divided among two or three, one historian 

 writes the history of one prince, and another of another 

 prince ; all representing their heroes as sovereigns of 

 the whole of Denmark. Sormo united, in reality, as Harold 

 well as nominally, the whole of Denmark under one Blaara.id, 

 sovereign. He was succeeded in 9^5 by Harold Blaa- A ' ' < - ,! *" 

 taud, his son. This prince not only made war in France 

 and England, but attacked part of Germany, during 

 the absence of the Emperor Otho. On his return, 

 however, the Danes were expelled with great slaughter, 

 and followed into Jutland, where Harold was compel- 

 led to solicit a peace, which was granted him, on con- 

 dition that he and his son Swane should be baptized. 

 In 985, Swane succeeded to the throne. From the cir- 

 cumstance of his having been baptized, at the command 

 of Otho, he is sometimes called by the Danish historians, 

 Swane-Otho. This sovereign is well known in English 

 history, by his invasion of England. 



A new epoch in the history of Denmark commences Canu'e the 

 with the reign of Canute the Great, who succeeded his Great, 

 father Swane, on the thrones of Denmark, England, and A D. 1017. 

 Norway, (SeeCAKUTE.) The conquest of this last country 

 had been begun by his father, and was completed by him- 

 self. The reign of this prince is principally distinguish- 

 ed by a code of laws, which he made for Denmark, un- 

 der the title of the Laws of the Court. The chief ob- 

 ject of those laws was the regulation of the differences 

 which were continually arising between the officers of 

 the army and those of the court, which were terminated 

 by duel, a practice which Canute thought should no 

 longer be permitted or continued in Denmark, after 

 it had been converted to the Christian faith. Canute 

 gave great offence to the Danes, by fixing his abode in 

 England, and only occasionally visiting Denmark, and 

 by filling all the places of trust in this kingdom with 

 Englishmen. The discontent at last became so general 

 and loud, that he thought it prudent to pass a whole 

 winter in Denmark ; while there, he employed himself 

 in subduing part of Norway, which had revolted under 



Swnne, 

 A. D. £i8j 



