of that enervation which luxurious living had induced in the Saxon kings
of the octarchy, and succeeded in occupying a large portion of the north
and east of England; and they have exerted in language, in physical type,
and in manners a far greater influence than has been usually conceded.
Indeed, the Danish chapter in English history has not yet been fairly
written. They were men of a singularly bold and adventurous spirit, as is
evinced by their voyages to Iceland, Greenland, and thence to the Atlantic
coast of North America, as early as the tenth and eleventh centuries. It
is more directly to our purpose to observe their character as it is
displayed in their conquest of the Frankish kingdom of Neustria, in their
facile reception and ready assimilation of the Roman language and arts
which they found in Gaul, and in their forcible occupancy, under William
the Conqueror, of Saxon England, in 1066.


V. THE NORMAN CONQUEST.--The vigor of the Normans had been trained, but
not weakened by their culture in Normandy. They maintained their supremacy
in arms against the efforts of the kings of France. They had long
cultivated intimate relations with England, and their dukes had long
hankered for its possession. William, the natural son of Duke
Robert--known to history and musical romance as Robert le Diable--was a
man of strong mind, tenacious purpose, and powerful hand. He had obtained,
by promise of Edward the Confessor, the reversion of the crown upon the
death of that monarch; and when the issue came, he availed himself of
that reversion and the Pope's sanction, and also of the disputed
succession between Harold, the son of Godwin, and the true Saxon heir,
Edgar Atheling, to make good his claim by force of arms.

Under him the Normans were united, while divisions existed in the Saxon
ranks. Tostig, the brother of Harold, and Harald Hardrada, the King of