The King of Sweden
Part 2:
The King of Sweden
King Sven quickly defeated the rebels in both Värmland and Närke and then spent some time winning the loyalty of his vassals.
Falbygden, Västergötland, 1073
The group of hard-faced and battle-scarred warriors looked at the population of the village with slight contempt. They had ridden into the village only some moments ago and had dragged the village alderman into the small space between the houses which served as a “square”. Now their leader was addressing the villagers from his saddle, barking out a proclamation in a tone that did not invite to protests.
“This village will now swear fealty to king Sven Kolsson of the line of the Skilfings. You will partake in the ledung and each year contribute one hundred bushels of rye. You will give proper offerings to the gods of old and no longer take heed to the whisperings of the pope-father and his weak Krist. By decree of King Sven the Sacrificer and lord of Uppsala öd.”
The villagers looked at eachother. From the back of the crowd came a voice: “What of the parish priest? He won’t like this…”
The warrior who had read the proclamation smiled and reached for a small sack tied to his saddle. With a sweeping gesture he emptied the contents in front of the villagers.
“Why don’t you ask him?”
Nobody did, and the severed head did not seem to have any major compunctions.
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In his own demesne, though, no time was wasted. He appointed loyal nobles throughout his domain and wnet to work with clearing out the Christian priests. Those who did not convert of their own accord were subjugated to higher taxes, loss of miling rights, even prima noctae in places.
All the time, though, the cold from Värmland seemed to follow the king around. He never seemed to be able to shake the darkness of that place from his mind.
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Rekarne, Södermanland, 1074-1075
The young woman looked at the almost-as-young man lying in the bed next to her. His face was drawn into a mask of fear.
"It's the dreams again," she thought. For months now, it'd been the same. He would walk into the hall, eat his meal, give the necessary orders with a faraway look on his face, then sleep. Sleep like the dead. And as for their marriage... he hadn't touched her or looked at her for a long time. Where they once had fought tooth and nail over the slightest detail and he had
demanded his rights as a husband, there was now nothing.
"It's as if the fire has left him," she thought. Suddenly she shuddered. She looked at him again and felt a wave of sympathy well over her. It was a strange feeling. To think that she had once hated him so? She put his arms around him, and his face relaxed, if only for a second.
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Allra Svía þing, Uppsala, 1074
"And so I claim that the lawlessness must end! We have seen that the new king the
Geats have put forth have given us nothing but chaos, weakness and servitude to the Pope-king in faraway Rome. I tell you now: It is time it stopped! I say we return to the old line of kings - the ones descended from Óðinn himself. Only with a return to that bloodline can we have glory again!" King Sven was standing in fron of the gathered people at the thing in Uppsala, his back towards the burial mounds of the very kings of that line. He was very aware of this, of course.
"Who did you have in mind - yourself?" The taunt came from somewhere in the crowd, but a grumbling of agreement came from many.
"And what if it were so? I am descended from Kol, son of Sörkver, son of Helmfrid Eriksdotter, daughter to Erik Segersäll - the greatest of the old line. My claim is as good as any mans claim. I challenge him to step forward who would say otherwise!" Nobody stepped forward. Even with tingsfrid, only a fool would challenge the king's honour. The king went on. "Have I not performed the blot? Have I not thrown off the christian king? Have I not given you glory? What's more, beside me here today stand not only those of my own house, but all the Jarls of the land and all the chiefs of Svitjod. Even old Stenkils son stands here today joint in this demand!"
It was something of an exaggeration, but basically true. The only Jarl left after the troubled time was the Jarl of Dal, a province so small that nobody had really bothered to war for it. The Jarl of Östergötland was the king himself, and the Jarl of Uppland had died in a hopeless rebellion a few years back. The few remaining local chiefs were all pagans who had no intention of reverting to Christianity. And there was Inge Stenkilsson, brother to the last king and also, conveniently enough, Sven's brother-in-law.
"Well, what say you?"
There were a few moments of silence, but eventually the cheers started.
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Danska Brödrafejden 1076-1078
(The danish brother's feud)
The sons of the Danish king Sven Estridsen were legion. Furthermore, they never got along and at his death they were predictably at eachother's throats, each demanding his rightful place at the helm of Denmark, each a weak power ripe for picking.
Denmark had long been the strongest power in Scandinavia and a constant potential threat to Sweden. Now, in their time of weakness, the moment had come to put the old rivals in their place. King Sven mobilized all the vassals of the realm and stormed into Skåne. The fighting was hard at first, but when the reinforcements from Svealand started to arrive the tide turned against the Danes. Eventually, several of Knýtlings had no other choice than to bow before king Sven as their liege.
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Allra Svía þing, Uppsala, 1078
For a while, all was quiet. Then Thorgny stood up; and when he arose all the
bondes stood up who had before been sitting, and rushed together from all parts to listen to what Lagman Thorgny would say. At first there was a great din of people and weapons; but when the noise was settled into silent listening, Thorgny made his speech.
"The disposition of Swedish kings is different now from what it has been formerly. My grandfather's grandfather
Thorgny could well remember the Upsala king Eirik Eymundson, and used to say of him that when he was in his best years he went out every summer on expeditions to different countries, and conquered for himself Finland, Kirjalaland, Courland, Esthonia, and the eastern countries all around; and at the present day the earth-bulwarks, ramparts, and other great works which he made are to be seen. And, more over, he was not so proud that he would not listen to people who had anything to say to him. I also remember the tale of King Eirik the Victorious, and his many war-expeditions. He enlarged the Swedish dominion, and defended it manfully; and it was also easy and agreeable to communicate our opinions to him. The king we have now got stands not after these kings in glory. Wilt thou, however, reconquer the kingdoms in the east countries which thy relations and forefathers had there, we will all for that purpose follow thee to the war and pay for these wars you have made. But if thou wilt not do as we desire, we will now attack thee, and put thee to death; for we will not suffer law and peace to be disturbed. So our forefathers went to work when they drowned five kings in a morass at the Mula-thing.
Now tell us, in all haste, what resolution thou wilt take."
Then the whole public approved, with clash of arms and shouts, the lagman's speech.
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Finska tåget 1086
(The Finnish Campaign 1086)
And so it came to be that the thing demanded of King Sven that he should re-take the old tributary lands to the east and perform a campaign there. The Finns quickly yielded, for even though all the
Finnish tribes had sworn fealty to king Voitto, none came to his support when the Swedish longships arrived. King Voitto surrendered and agreed to proclaim Sven the King of all Finns and to be his loyal Jarl as long as he lived.