| 994 C (D, E) In this
year Olaf and Swein came to London on the Nativity of St. Mary with 94
ships, and they proceeded to attack the city stoutly and wished also to
set it on fire; but there they suffered more harm and injury than they
ever thought any citizens would do to them (1). But the holy Mother of
God showed her mercy to the citizens on that day and saved them from their
enemies. And these went away from there, and did the greatest damage that
ever any army could do, by burning, ravaging, and slaying, everywhere along
the coast, and in Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire; and finally they
seized horses and rode as widely as they wished, and continued to do indescribable
damage. Then the king and his councillors determined to send to them and
promise them tribute and provisions, on condition that they should cease
that harrying. And they then accepted that, and the whole army came then
to Southampton and took winter quarters there; and they were provisioned
throughout all the West Saxon kingdom, and they were paid 16,000 pounds
in money.
Then the king sent Bishop
Ælfheah and Ealdorman Æthelweard for King Olaf, and hostages
were given to the ships meanwhile (2). And they then brought Olaf to the
king at Andover with much ceremony, and King Ethelred stood sponsor to
him at confirmation, and bestowed gifts on him royally. And then Olaf promised
- as also he performed - that he would never come back to England in hostility.
Noter:
1. Olaf Tryggvason,
Swein Forkbeard, king of Denmark, 8 September.
2. Of Winchester,
of the Western Provinces.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
ed. D. Whitelock, Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1961, p. 83. |
