Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1905 — SONS OF VIKINGS FREE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SONS OF VIKINGS FREE

The spirit of the ancient Vikings, Who, care-free, enterprising and independent, carried the sword w*st and south, discovered new lands, conquering peoples, and finally bringing the new faith—Christianity —into their pagan temples, has once more assorted Itself in Norway, ever the homo of romance and the garden atkl the idyllic. Always impatient under a yoke, however light, these Northmen have dissolved the act of union by which some ninety years ago they were un-

willingly forced to be bound by Sweden. Although they were forced to unite with Sweden, the Norwegians never at any time relinquished their rights they enjoyed under their Constitution. Yet there were other rights, they claimed, and the history of Norway for the last nine decades Is a story of quiet, firm contention for these const}; tutional rights, until they have every one, save only the demand for a separate consular servic?, been granted. It was the refusal of the King to agree to the law passed by the Storthing, demanded a separate consular service, which has threatened the act of union. Norway is a small country—about the size of New Mexico —and onethird of it lies within the Arctic Circle. It has a population of 2,240,600, or about a quarter million less than Paris. In spite of its limited extent and Its small population, Norway has a navy twice the size of Portugal's, and an army of 26,000 men. or about the size of that of the United States prior to the Spanish-American war. The present-day Norwegian is just as much of a Fiking as were those who lived and fought and conquered In the days of romance; every man In Norway must be a sailor at one period in his life, for Norway is a maritime country, and is quite as much dependent upon the seas for sustenance as is England. Consequently to sail the seas is, for the Norwegian, a national necessity. "On land,” said a noted visitor to Norway a few years ago, “the Norwegians are not specially graceful, but put them into their boats, and they use the oar as the fish uses its fins;.a centaur is s.ircely more a part of the horse than the Norse boy or girl is part of the boat.” Still Cunning i:i Seacruft. With a coastline, Including the shores of the fjords, of 12,000 miles, it is not remarkable that the Norsemen of to-day have retained the cunning

of seacraft possessed by their ancestors. On nearly every ship that plows the waves on the bosoms of the Seven Seas will be found among officers or In the forecastle Norwegians. Like the old Vikings, they roam over the world •wherever ship may take them, and like these ancient mariners, too, they have brought home word of what the world is doing. After the Chino-Japanese war. Japan was visited by hosts of tourists, who warned otheds who had not seen the land of the Rising Sun to hasten ere the nation had put on its new dress. Norway, without a war, however, has awakened, too. Rapidly is the old home of the Vikings losing Its picturesqueness. Ever since BJornson, some thirty years ago, became an Influence es modernity in Norway, the little country has advanced at a rate that would be considered tremendous had there not been In the same period more wonderftf progress shown in the East

The primitive is fast disappearing from the Land of the Midnight Sun. Norwegians who cling to the past will tell you that it is “the Americans and English who have ruined Norway." And, in a measure, it is due to the sumer tourist, who usually hails from America or England, that the picturesque garb of the people in the interior has becq replaced by clothing similar to that of “the speckled tourist,” as he was once called by these people. The Arcadian simplicity of the rustic Norwegian is almost a thing of the past. The farmers, like those in Switzerland, have found that innkeeping G far more profitable than working hard to garner a puny harvest of grain, although, as yet, the Norse farmer has not allowed summer guests with long purses to swerve him from bls regular pursuit. While historians may still dispute whether the Finland discovered by Lief Erickson was really a part of America, there is a popular notion among Norwegians—not the really educated classes, of course—that America was discovered and populated by Norsemen. The peasants have a notion that, until about half a century ago, America was principally in the keeping of the red men and buffaloes. Then there was considerable emigration from Norway, and the impression prevails that it is the descendants of these Norwegians who return to visit

the home of their ancestors and to enjoy the magic of the midnight sun and the qtllet mystery of the deep, still Norwelgaln fjords. The original inhabitants of Norway are believed to have migrated from the Black Sea, but when this passage took place, or rather when It began and when it ended, cannot be even approximately given. Remains of the stone age, bronze age and iron age have been discovered lu the peninsula. and only serve to prove the antiquity of this Germanic people, and indicate that Norway was populated between 4,(XX) and 5,000 years ago. Like that of all ancient countries, the genuine history of Norway cannot be separated from that which Is mythical, and Its recorded history practically begins In the ninth century. Before that time, In lieu of history, we have the romance of the Sugas and Eddas, or tales and songs, which deal In a most picturesque manner with mythological times. Rise of the Fikinge. With the rise of the Fiklngs in what has been called the later Iron age In Norway, or about the year 800. real history is made In the land of fjords. They were distinctly unlike their forefathers, who were peaceable so far as their relations with the outside world were concerned. They were the personification of the mythical Valkyrla—the bloodthirsty sea maidens of the god Odin —they were adventurous, courageous and worthy conquerors. They raided the North Sen, discovered new lands and founded new kingdoms in the British Isles without breaking off Intercourse with their native country. The Fiklngs were the progressives of the Scandinavian peninsula, and to their efforts was due the union of the tribes which In a feudal manner ruled over Norway. Before this time Norway was divided among a number of mutually independent tribes, under or jarls (earls), who directed the worship of gods and took chief command In war. In all the tribes the people’s liberty was carried to the farthest extent. The free men settled their legal disputes and passed laws, and outside the community and the

laws stood the unfree men, the thralls, or slaves.) Northmen .in America. It will be recognized that we are indebted for many things to the old Northmen, and it is not unlikely that they had a oniony on the American coast at the enu of the tenth centuiy —that ‘Finland the Good”-of which there “w’as much talk at Brattahild.” About 995 Eric the Red, discovered Greenland, and there was talk, according to a Norse account, about the other country ■which had been found, and which was called Finland. An expedition of 160 men set out to find and explore it They found a country where “no snow came in winter,” and “where the inhabitants carried shields and used skin canoes.” This has always been considered to point to America, but the location of Finland the Good has not yet been indisputably settled. About the time Greenland was discovered King Olav Trygvesson, a descendant of Harald the Fair-Haired, who had distinguished himself in hla youth as a leader of the Fiking army that had ravished Britain, introduced Christianity, a faith he had embraced lu Britain, into Norway. King Haakon subsequently had the people revert to heathenism, but for a brief period only. Soon the new faith conquered, having been introduced into the Norwegian colonies. From the days of the Fiklngs Norway has had its representative government, the ancient form having been in a manner very similar to that of the United States. Although the Northmen have had their kings, they have insisted upon having a hand in making their laws and in dispensing justice. In almost everything but name it is to-day a democracy. For the last eighty years no titles have been created, and there are no aristocratic classes such as there are in Sweden. It Sounded Plausible. “That horse dealer down to Crosstown is a queer lot,” remarked old Jared Billings, as he sunned himself on the horse-block and watched bis neighbor mend a picket fence. "What's the matter with him?” inquired the other, as he drove a nail home without hitting his thumb. "What’s the matter? Why, he’s a sharper, he is; you’ve got to look alive or he’ll cheat the very eyes out of you!

I'll just tell you what he did to me last week. "I had occasion to get a rig from him—just had to have it that very day to go to town on that court business—and that horse dealer, he said he didu’.t know me, and he’d lost a lot, letting things to strangers, and unless I'd leave the worth o’ the rig with him then and there he •wouldn’t hear to my taking it. “Well, It Just so happened I had the money by me—wasn’t much of a turnout, by the way—and I put it up with him, and when I came back he handed over the price and I give up the rig. “Well, now, what do you suppose that fellow called after me as I was putting off home? ‘Hold on!’ he hollered. ‘You’ve forgot to pay for the hire.’ “ ‘Hire? I said. ‘Hire? I’d like to know if I wasn’t driving my own rig all the afternoon!’ “Did you ever hear the like o’ that for graspingness? Yes, sir, I tell you, that horse dealer's a sharper!”

VIEW OF MUNDAL.

THE NAERODAL VALLEY.

WATERFALL OF LOTEFOS AND ESPELANDFOS.