THE oldest account of the nations of Europe in the far north is that given by Pytheas, who lived three hundred and fifty years before the Christian Era. His voyages carried him to the shores of Britain and Scandinavia. The Goths were the most ancient inhabitants of Scandinavia, occupying the south, and were earlier in Sweden than the Sueones. These two tribes were at war for many years, but finally united and formed the Swedish nation. During twelve centuries after the visit of Pytheas to northern countries, nothing was known of the Scandinavian people in their own homes, although wild tribes from the north overran southern Europe, and were known as the Cimbri, Teutons, Germans, and Goths. But in the time of Alfred the Great, two travellers from Scandinavia visited the court of the English king. From the account they gave of their travels, King Alfred wrote a brief history and made a chart of modern Europe. In this book Scandinavia was described. [Illustration: GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.] Of the three Scandinavian countries, Sweden did not become known to the nations of southern Europe as soon as Denmark and Norway. Like the Danes, the Swedes traced the descent of their early kings back to Odin. Olaf was the first Christian king of Sweden, and received Christian baptism about the year 1000 A.D. The son and successor of Charlemagne, Louis le Débonnaire, took an ardent interest in sending Christian missionaries to the pagans of the north. The union of the kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway was consummated in 1387. In 1523 the union with Denmark was dissolved, and Gustavus Vasa was proclaimed king of Sweden. This king was one of the ablest of the monarchs of the sixteenth century. He was the grandfather of Gustavus Adolphus. Charles IX., the father of Adolphus, came to the throne of Sweden in 1604. During the reigns of the elder brothers of Charles, there had been constant conflicts with Denmark. Charles IX. died in 1611, leaving an unfinished war with Denmark to be completed by his illustrious son, Gustavus Adolphus, then seventeen years of age. His father, Charles, had entered into friendly alliances with all the principal Protestant powers, and for the first time Sweden had been brought into important political relations with the more influential European nations. Gustavus Adolphus was born at the royal palace in Stockholm, Dec. 9, 1594. His mother, Christine, was the daughter of Adolphus, duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and grand-daughter of Frederic I., king of Denmark.