s by which peace can be purchased at
any rate. So it happened here that many men went into the service of the
kings, and agreed to submit to them. Wheresoever they went they laid the
country all round subjection to them, and otherwise laid waste all with
fire and sword.

Of this foray Sigvat the skald speaks, in a ballad he composed
concerning King Canute the Great:--

"'Canute is on the sea!'
The news is told,
And the Norsemen bold
Repeat it with great glee.
And it runs from mouth to mouth--
'On a lucky day
We came away
From Throndhjem to the south.'
Across the cold East sea,
The Swedish king
His host did bring,
To gain great victory.
King Onund came to fight,
In Seeland's plains,
Against the Danes,
With his steel-clad men so bright.
Canute is on the land;
Side to side
His long-ships ride
Along the yellow strand.
Where waves wash the green banks,
Mast to mast,
All bound fast,
His great fleet lies in ranks."

156. OF KING CANUTE THE GREAT.

King Canute had heard in England that King Olaf of Norway had called out
a levy, and had gone with his forces to Denmark, and was making great
ravages in his dominions there. Canute began to gather people, and he
had speedily collected a great army and a numerous fleet. Earl Hakon was
second in command over the whole.

Sigvat the skald came this summer (A.D. 1027) from the West, from Ruda
(Rouen) in Valland, and with him was a man called Berg. They had made a
merchant voyage there the summer before. Sigvat had made a little poem
about this journey, called "The Western Traveller's Song," which begins
thus:--

"Berg! many a merry morn was pass'd,
When our vessel was made fast,
And we lay on the glittering tide
or Rouen river's western side."

When Sigvat came to England he went directly to King Canute, and asked
his leave to proceed to Norway; for King Canute had forbidden all
merchant vessels to sail until he himself was ready with his fleet. When
Sigvat arrived he went to the house in which the king was lodged; but
the doors were locked, and he had to stand a long time outside, but when
he got admittance he obtained the permission he desired. He then sang:--

"The way to Jutland's king I sought;
A little patience I was taught.
The doors