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the udalmen, they say The king, if he could have his way, Would seize the bondes' udal land, And free-born men must this withstand. In truth the man whose udal field, By any doom that law can yield From him adjudged the king would take, Could the king's throne and power shake." This verse is the last:-- "A holy bond between us still Makes me wish speedy end to ill: The sluggard waits till afternoon,-- At once great Magnus! grant our boon. Then we will serve with heart and hand, With thee we'll fight by sea or land: With Olaf's sword take Olaf's mind, And to thy bondes be more kind." In this song the king was exhorted to observe the laws which his father had established. This exhortation had a good effect on the king, for many others held the same language to him. So at last the king consulted the most prudent men, who ordered all affairs according to law. Thereafter King Magnus had the law-book composed in writing which is still in use in Throndhjem district, and is called "The Grey Goose" (1). King Magnus afterwards became very popular, and was beloved by all the country people, and therefore he was called Magnus the Good. ENDNOTES: (1) "The Grey Goose", so called probably from the colour of the parchment on which it is written, is one of the most curious relics of the Middle Ages, and give us an unexpected view of the social condition of the Northmen in the eleventh century. Law appears to have been so far advanced among them that the forms were not merely established, but the slightest breach of the legal forms of proceeding involved the loss of the case. The "Grey Goose" embraces subjects not dealt with probably by any other code in Europe at that period. The provision for the poor, the equality of weights and measures, police of markets and of sea havens, provision for illegitimate children of the poor, inns for travellers, wages of servants and support of them in sickness, protection of pregnant women and even of domestic animals from injury, roads, bridges, vagrants, beggars, are subjects treated of in this code.--"Schlegel."--L. 18. OF THE ENGLISH KINGS. The king of the English, King Harald, died (A.D. 1040) five years after his father King Canute, and was buried beside his father at Winchester. After his death his brother Hardak
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