The Story of Norway
by Hjalmar H. Boyesen
OCTAVO, ILLUSTRATED. PER VOL., $1.50
THE EARLIER VOLUMES WILL BE
THE STORY OF GREECE. By Prof. Jas. A. Harrison
THE STORY OF ROME. By Arthur Gilman
THE STORY OF THE JEWS. By Prof. Jas. K. Hosmer
THE STORY OF CHALDEA. By Z. A. Ragozin
THE STORY OF NORWAY. By Prof. H. H. Boyesen
THE STORY OF GERMANY. By S. Baring-Gould
THE STORY OF SPAIN. By E. E. and Susan Hale
THE STORY OF HUNGARY. By Prof. A. Vámbéry
THE STORY OF CARTHAGE. By Prof. Alfred J. Church
THE STORY OF THE SARACENS. By Arthur Gilman
THE STORY OF ASSYRIA. By Z. A. Ragozin
THE STORY OF THE MOORS IN SPAIN. By Stanley Lane-Poole
THE STORY OF THE NORMANS. By Sarah O. Jewett
THE STORY OF PERSIA. By S. G. W. Benjamin
THE STORY OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. By Prof. J. P. Mahaffy
THE STORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. By Geo. Rawlinson
THE STORY OF THE GOTHS. By Henry Bradley
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON
THE
STORY OF NORWAY
BY
HJALMAR H. BOYESEN
GEBHARD PROFESSOR OF GERMAN IN COLUMBIA COLLEGE, AUTHOR OK "GOETHE &
SCHILLER," "GUNNAR," "IDYLS OF NORWAY," ETC.
NEW YORK & LONDON
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
The Knickerbocker Press
[iii]
COPYRIGHT BY
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
1886
Press of
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York
[iv]
TO
CHRISTIAN BÖRS
KNIGHT OF ST. OLAF, WASA, AND THE NORTH STAR, CONSUL OF
NORWAY AND SWEDEN IN NEW YORK, THIS HISTORY
OF HIS NATIVE LAND IS DEDICATED BY HIS
FRIEND THE AUTHOR
PREFACE.
It has been my ambition for many years to writea history of Norway, chiefly because no such book,worthy of the name, exists in the English language.When the publishers of the present volume proposedto me to write the story of my native land, I thereforeeagerly accepted their offer. The story, however,according to their plan, was to differ in someimportant respects from a regular history. It was todwell particularly upon the dramatic phases of historicalevents, and concern itself but slightly with thegrowth of institutions and sociological phenomena.It therefore necessarily takes small account of proportion.In the present volume m