CAPITALS OF THE NORTHLANDS [Illustration: THREE DEGREES FROM THE ARCTIC CIRCLE TRONDHJEM CATHEDRAL] [_Frontispiece_ CAPITALS OF THE NORTHLANDS TALES OF TEN CITIES BY IAN C. HANNAH, M.A. AUTHOR OF "EASTERN ASIA: A HISTORY," "THE SUSSEX COAST," "THE BERWICK AND LOTHIAN COASTS," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY EDITH BRAND HANNAH [Illustration] HEATH CRANTON & OUSELEY, LTD. FLEET LANE, LONDON, E.C. TO THE LOVED MEMORY OF THE BEST OF MOTHERS WITH WHOM I ONCE MADE A PILGRIMAGE TO THE SHRINE OF ST. OLAF PREFACE Many excellent things have been written about the cities of the South, but little, comparatively speaking, about the cities of the North. True, indeed, they have not moulded kingdoms and shaped the culture of a continent, but England, like Scandinavia, is not a country city-built; she was formed by the dwellers on the land. Yet the less prominent part that they have played does not make our cities less noteworthy than those of the South. Few and peculiarly interesting are the cities of the North. And, with the exception, perhaps, of St. Petersburg, those spoken of in this book have all the charm that comes because they were built by country-loving folk, to whom deep woods and open fields were lovelier than monumental streets and squares. I shall not have written in vain if the perusal of this small book leads any one to study larger works on the Northlands, and particularly the matchless sagas, many of them so skilfully Englished by the joint labour of an Englishman and an Icelander, William Morris and Eirîkr Magnússon. In them we may read of all these ten towns, save that Copenhagen and St. Petersburg have risen in Saga Lands after the sagas were penned. After accuracy I have striven hard, but if any reader should detect any error I should be grateful to have it pointed out for correction in a later edition. I. C. H. FERNROYD, FOREST ROW. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THORSHAVN, CAPITAL OF THE FAROE ISLANDS 11 II. REYKJAVIK, CAPITAL OF ICELAND 28 III. TRONDHJEM, OLD CAPITAL OF NORWAY 66 IV. CHRISTIANIA, CAPITAL OF NORWAY 93 V. ROSKILDE, OLD CAPITAL OF DENMARK 111 VI. COPENHAGEN, CAPITAL OF DENMARK 127 VII. VISBY, CAPITAL OF GOTHLAND 150 VIII. UPSALA, OLD CAPITAL OF SWEDEN 176