In 860 the valorous Naddodd discovered Iceland, and fourteen years later a republic form of government was established, which flourished four centuries. In 984 Erik The Red discovered Greenland, and in the name of his native country, Norway, took possession of the frozen territory, and unfolded to the breeze the banner of liberty. "To the West! To the West!" thought Leif Erikson, son of Erik The Red, "spite waves and breakers," and in the year 1000 pointed the bow of his bark for the shore of America, landed at Helluland, now known as Newfoundland. He reconnoitered the coast as far south as Massachusetts, and christened the New World, _Vinland_. Not here do the Vikings stop. In 1002 Thorwald Erikson set sail for Vinland, spent three years exploring the green-clad banks of New England with zealous desire to unveil to his countrymen the characteristic features of the new possession. In a collision with the Skrællings (Indians) his precious life was blown out, the first European to succumb to the arrows of the red race. Not here do their voyages for the New World cease. The sagas plainly picture their pilgrimages across the howling waste for Vinland in 1005, 1007, 1011, 1121, 1347. True, the Scandinavians have been heroes on sea, but no less so on land. King Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, poured his life blood on the battlefield of Lutzen, not for military glory, but to liberate millions of innocent souls from the fire of tyranny, the poisonous hands of the chief of superstition, the narrow-minded Philip II., of Spain. He was not only a military genius but the father of his people, a benefactor of humanity. In 1638 a company of Swedes colonized in the New World, who made the hills and forests of Delaware ring with the music of their picks and axes. As years rolled by emigration started from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The wilderness of America was their object, the building of homes their love. They braved the interior, fought the lion and the bear, conquered the frowning forests and subdued the spreading prairies. First huts of logs and sods, then quaint dwellings rose to mark their energy. Fields and gardens smiled, school-houses reared the air, and happy lads and lasses pranced their way to school to drink freely from the fountain of knowledge. Home, sweet home echoed from rocks and trees. The frontier was their chance, and thither they steered their lots. They knew how to swing the axe and use the hoe, climb mountains and make themselves contented in the most hazardous exposure.