The peasants signified loudly, by rattle of arms, their approval of this
sentiment; and the king, quite overawed, rose and said that he would
yield and let the peasants have their way in this matter. The conditions
of peace were thus accepted, and the time for the wedding was fixed.
Björn and his men returned to Norway and received valuable gifts from
King Olaf, for having successfully accomplished a difficult mission.
Unhappily, however, the Swedish king, as soon as the danger was removed,
began to reconsider his promise; and it gave him, no doubt, satisfaction
to hear of his enemy's discomfort when, after vainly waiting for his
bride on the boundary, he returned to Sarpsborg (1018). It did not occur
to him that his own subjects, who had demanded the cessation of
hostilities, might resent his undignified trick; and he was both
surprised and alarmed when a revolt broke out, which came very near
costing him his crown. Once more he had to make concessions, promise to
make peace with the king of Norway, and accept his twelve-year-old son,
Anund Jacob, as co-regent. King Olaf, of Norway, had, in the meanwhile,
contrary to the will of her father, married Aastrid, a younger sister of
Ingegerd. At the peace of Konghelle (1019), where the two kings finally
met, this marriage was recognized by the king of Sweden, and friendly
relations were established. The province of Jemteland remained in the
possession of Olaf of Norway.
This is the first time that Norway, as an integral kingdom, treats with
a foreign power. The kings of Sweden and Denmark who claimed descent
from Ragnar Lodbrok and through him from the gods, had never until now
recognized the descendants of Harold the Fairhaired as rulers of a
united realm and their own equals in dignity. Norway was to them merely
a collection of small, scattered communities which, having once been
united, made haste to fall to pieces again, and had at different times
recognized the overlordship of the kings of Sweden and Denmark. The
reluctance of the Swedish king to give his daughter in marriage to Olaf
Haroldsson is therefore quite comprehensible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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