20 
THE A MERIC A N-S C A NDIN A VIA N REVIEW 
In his lust of danger, and in his touch of the flamboyant and melo¬ 
dramatic, Tordenskjold is like his great Swedish adversary; but his 
bright figure is undimmed by the tragic clouds that gather around 
Charles XII. 
Popular tradition has been busy even with Tordenskjold’s boy¬ 
hood. We do not know whether he ever really sat on a grindstone to 
wear out the leather patches that had been put on the seat of his trousers 
as a punishment for always tearing his clothes, or whether he was really 
apprenticed to a tailor because he refused to learn his lessons. We do 
know that he was born in Trondhjem, October 28, 1690, the son of a 
substantial merchant, that his name was Peter Jansen Wessel, and 
that his pranks culminated in running away at the age of fourteen with 
a lackey in the suite of King Frederik IV, who that year visited the 
city. A year and a half later he managed to get into the hands of the 
king a petition that he be allowed to become a naval cadet, and after 
a time of apprenticeship in the royal merchant marine, his wish was 
granted. The underlying seriousness of his purpose is shown by a say¬ 
ing attributed to the eighteen year old youth: “My mind inclines to 
nothing else but to perfect myself for the service of my country.” 
Through the favor of Baron Lowendal, who took a fancy to him, 
the newly-made cadet, though he was not yet twenty, was put in com¬ 
mand of a small privateer 
and later of a larger frigate 
known as Lowendal’s Galley. 
Then began a series of bril¬ 
liant exploits in which his 
quickness of action, his fool¬ 
hardy courage, and his love of 
the dramatic had full play. 
He dashed hither and thither, 
swooped down upon the 
Swedish coast when he was 
least expected, and hauled in 
his booty of prizes to Copen¬ 
hagen. Later he did distin¬ 
guished service in the Baltic 
with the squadron which de¬ 
stroyed the Swedish provision 
fleet and thereby forced the 
surrender of General Sten- 
bock and the return of that 
part of South Jutland which 
had been taken from Den- 
_ mark. In 1715 it fell to his 
Portrait of Tordenskjold at r 1 rederiksborg, by , . . n 
an Unknown Artist lot to receive as prisoner Ot 
