the ninth century, or nearly two hundred years before
the Norman conquest, there was a great exodus or outswarming
of the Norsemen from their original home in Norway. A
certain King Harold had succeeded in making himself
supreme in Norway, and great numbers of the lesser chiefs
or jarls preferred to seek new homes across the seas
rather than submit to his rule. So they embarked with
their seafaring followers--Vikings, as we still call
them--often, indeed, with their wives and families, in
great open ships, and sailed away, some to the coast of
England, others to France, and others even to the
Mediterranean, where they took service under the Byzantine
emperors. But still others, loving the cold rough seas
of the north, struck westward across the North Sea and
beyond the coasts of Scotland till they reached Iceland.
This was in the year 874. Here they made a settlement
that presently grew to a population of fifty thousand
people, having flocks and herds, solid houses of stone,
and a fine trade in fish and oil with the countries of
Northern Europe. These settlers in Iceland attained to
a high standard of civilization. They had many books,
and were fond of tales and stories, as are all these
northern peoples who spend long winter evenings round
the fireside. Some of the sagas, or stories, which they
told were true accounts of the voyages and adventures of
their forefathers; others were fanciful stories, like
our modern romances, created by the imagination; others,
again, were a mixture of the two. Thus it is sometimes
hard to distinguish fact and fancy in these early tales
of the Norsemen. We have, however, means of testing the