Page:The Early Kings of Norway.djvu/144

 134 EARLY KINGS OF NORWAY. Denmark for some 400 years ; himself coming, as we see, only by the Distaff side, all of the Sword or male side having died so soon. Early death, it has been observed, was the Great Knut's allotment, and all his posterity's as well ; — fatal limit (had there been no others, which we see there were) to his becoming ' Charlemagne of the North ' in any considerable degree ! Jarl Ulfy as we have seen, had a sister, Gyda by name, wife to Earl Godwin (' Gudin Dlf- nadsson,' as Snorro calls him) a very memorable EngHshman, whose son and hers. King Harald, Harold in EngHsh books, is the memorablest of all. These things ought to be better known to English antiquaries, and will perhaps be alluded to again. This pretty little victory or affront, gained over Knut in Lymfjordy was among the last successes of Olaf against that mighty man. Olaf, the skilful captain he was, need not have despaired to defend his Norway against Knut and all the world. But he learned henceforth, month by month ever more tragically, that his own people, seeing softer prospects under Knut; and in particular that the chiefs of them, industriously bribed by Knut for years past, had