My translation of most of these Book XIV passages is here. I now include the Fisher & Friis-Jensen translation / edition of the same plus some additional Wendish pieces below. Note that I took the liberty to correct a few more glaring issues with their English. Matters relating to Slavic religion are in shown in color. The notes are mostly the translators’.

Finally, note that the translations uses the word “Wends” but the manuscripts use the word “Slavs.” Presumably, the translators chose “Wends” to separate the Polabian tribes from Pomeranians, Poles and other “central” Slavs.

Chapter 1

5. It was during this period that Harald Gille was thrust out of Norway and journeyed to Denmark in order to gather a number of troops from Erik. Because Magnus had repudiated his marriage, Erik received Harald, that king’s rival, as a suppliant and, delighted to have been offered a plausible excuse for war, decided to furnish him with aid. Although Harald had been blessed with scarcely any spiritual gift apart from generosity, his power lay in his physique, where he was abundantly endowed. At the town of Helsingborg, confident in his strength, he laid a bet with Erik to see if he could outstrip the other’s finest horses; two of these were put in for the contest, but Harald reached the finishing-post ahead of both. Supported by two staves as he flew along, his body sped forward, leap upon leap. It was also his wont to give another display of extraordinary athleticism: during a voyage he would frequently jump from the stern and run across the extended blades of the oars up to the prow; from there he would change direction to the opposite side of the boat and traverse the remaining banks of oars to regain the position he had left. If only Nature had dealt him qualities of mind to match, there would have been no way he could have surrendered himself to his rival, to be struck down in the embraces of a mistress. Though Erik desired to assist him, the Danes’ internal peace was being disturbed by the Wends, and he was unable to follow up his intentions actively.

6. In consequence, overlooking his friend’s worries, Erik attended to his own and, when he had collected a fleet to sail against Ruegen so that he might dispatch his campaign more efficiently, he was the first to introduce horses on a Danish naval expedition, assigning four animals to each ship, a custom which later generations have been at careful pains to preserve. A count of his numerous fleet revealed eleven hundred vessels. After they had landed from them on Riigen, the Danes discovered that the city of Arkona had been strengthened with a stout defensive garrison. To make sure that they did not allow assistance to be sent from the bordering tribes, the Danes used mattocks to break up the strip which joins the edge of Arkona to the mainland of Ruegen, from which it is almost cut off; then they built the earth up into a high rampart that cast a good deal of shadow. The Hallanders were entrusted to guard it and instructed to take orders from Peder as their leader. This contingent was unprepared for a night attack by the men of Ruegen, who had sought out a crossing through the shallows, but after they had cut down a large number of our soldiers, they were driven back by the rest of the army. As the Arkona garrison had insufficient strength to engage in battle and since they saw no present opportunity of enlisting support, overcome by necessity they bargained for their safety by agreeing to be converted to Christianity, and capitulated to the Danes on the understanding that they could keep their revered statue. This local effigy was worshipped by the citizens with special awe and the neighboring peoples would flock to pay it ceremonial honour, but the name of Saint Vitus, by which it was distinguished, was a false one. However, now that this idol had been saved, the townsfolk could not bear to have their ancient mode of ritual completely abolished.

7. First, then, ordered to undertake the solemn observance of baptism, they proceeded to the pool, keener to slake their thirst than to embark on a novel faith, and under the guise of a religious act refreshed their siege-weary bodies. In like manner the people of Arkona were given a holy priest to direct them to the pattern of a more refined existence and to impart the first precepts of the new religion. Nevertheless, following Erik’s departure they threw out Christianity, priest and all. In fact the inhabitants of Arkona, renouncing affection for the hostages they had submitted, returned to their ancient totem cult, and with just the same sincerity they had shown in adopting God’s worship, abandoned it.

Chapter 2

2. But Christiern brought him right before the people at one of their assemblies, where he recalled the kindnesses bestowed on them by the boy’s father: how he established laws and privileges at home, how he crushed the foe abroad, how he rid his country of robberies and pillaging, how he again made Denmark dominant over the Wends, even though she had been almost drained and lifeless, how he also restored anew to each individual whatever had been taken from him by force, and how in recompense for all these activities the realm deserved to be allotted to someone of his blood. Even so, because his son’s years were not yet ripe enough for royal command, and since it was no advantage to the Danes to serve in the army under an immature leader, some man should be sought out who might look after the kingdom as regent until his ward came of age. They could adopt no one more fitted for this duty than Erik, grandson of the preceding Erik through his daughter, for his boldness and conscientiousness were both remarkable and he was descended from a kingly line on his mother’s side; this Person would yield supreme power to his protege when he reached adulthood. So royal authority was conferred on Enk by popular acclaim and because of the grandeur that surrounded the boy.

14. Nevertheless his foreign wars were not conducted with the same talent as those fought on Danish soil. The campaigns he led against the Wends did not strike dread into them so much as cause them laughter. Everything about him was so indolent and relaxed that you would surely not have thought a real man could have acted in this way. The wishes of the meanest individual were observed when it came to disbanding the soldiery. He would often accede to the campfollowers’ shouts of ‘Let’s go home\ and dismiss the fleet. On account of his irresolution the barbarians in their spirited ferocity not only despised him as he ranged abroad, but also came marauding when he stayed in his own dominions. While he chanced to be sailing swiftly from Zealand to Funen and caught sight of pirates looming in his rear, he raced frantically to the shore, where he left behind al the tackle to be claimed as their booty when he abandoned the ship, shamefaced and frightened.

Chapter 3

6. Thus they mended the strife arising from their competition for the kingdom by agreeing on a joint campaign; uniting their forces, they set off for Wendish territory, while [at the same time], according to a compact [an agreement], the Germans simultaneously invaded a region on a different side of that country. The Jutlanders under the generalship of Cnut and men from the Hedeby area led by Sven swooped on the enemy’s port. The Zealanders and Scanians were last to appear and, wherever there was a space for each contingent, formed a ring with their ships round those which had already arrived. On the shore the Saxons came up to meet them, desperately anxious to champion the faith and prepared to become military allies of the Danes. Soon, when both armies surrounded Dobin, a town famous for piracy, the whole Danish host abandoned their vessels apart from a small band who were left to guard the fleet. Realizing how few in number these sentinels were, the inhabitants of Ruegen resolved to extend help initially to the besieged by violently seizing the attackers’ navy. Shortly afterwards they fell upon the Scanians, who were closest to them because of the naval formation, and routed them almost in their entirety, whilst the Jutlanders thought their calamity gratifying, for they did not consider those soldiers as allies who they knew had a different leader from their own. Moreover, their recollections of the battle at Fodevig had not yet faded away, ensuring that the recent animosity between their two sides still seethed. Indeed people driven by personal resentments have never publicly banded together in mutual association. Asser of Roskilde, whom the king had made admiral of the fleet, was suddenly prompted by cowardice to forsake his ship and board a merchant vessel after rowing over to it in a skiff; through finding a hiding place there instead of rousing his followers’ valour by setting a shining example in battle, as he should have done, he struck fear into their hearts with this disgraceful exhibition of flight.

7. First, however, the Scanians joined their vessels closely together in a squadron with linking chains, to prevent those with more timorous spirits from running away, but soon, when they had been worsted, they shattered these ties, which had been so purposefully provided, by snapping them at random; some of the Danes were put to the sword, others hastened their own deaths by letting themselves fall headlong into the waves. As the men from Ruegen perceived that quite a few of the ships would be difficult to take because of their size, they wished to instil dread into their foes by making their own numbers appear vast; consequently they doubled their own fleet by appropriating the boats of the dead crews, and erected awnings over them as though they were filled with oarsmen, veiling the empty benches with canopies. They also employed another, no less ingenious, ruse to misrepresent their fleet; at night they would put out to sea silently and bring back their vessels at first light, in order to give the appearance of a new flotilla and make it seem as if reinforcements had just arrived on the scene. But because they did this on a number of occasions, their subtlety proved fruitless.

8. Meanwhile, as the Danes were pressing on with the siege, they received a report that their fleet had been overpowered in a raiding attack. As soon as this news had brought them back to the port, after laying hold of the remnants of their navy they expelled the men of Ruegen (who were too fearful to withstand them) from the harbour and avenged the butchery of their comrades by routing these enemies, even though the sea was still hardly navigable owing to the welter of corpses.

Chapter 5

1. At that rime Danish affairs were in a tattered, fragmented state indeed, since, while civil war was raging within, the country was plagued by piratical raids from outside. In order to repel these, Sven waged war on the whole of Wendish territory, but with greater frequency than triumph. His fury and impetuosity were notable in these battles, but his perseverance less so. When he had to think about withdrawal, it was his wont to regain the shore so impatiently that his return appeared tantamount to flight. Nor did he concern himself with his soldiers’ welfare, provided he had rushed to board his vessel first. This spineless behaviour on the king’s part instilled such boldness into the Wends that they regularly crushed his troops as they were tracing their route home. In order to make it a safer retreat for himself, Sven built a ring of earthworks round Viborg, which till then had lacked fortifications, and fitted it out at great expense.

2. Despite Cnut’s being initially welcome to his stepfather in Sweden, after a short time he began to be considered a burden, with the result that he had to put up for sale all the estates he had owned in that region to provide himself with food. There is no race readier to take in outcasts, and none that rejects them more easily. Now Sverker’s son, Jon, was an extremely vigorous lad, though not over-polite, and he retold the tale of Cnut’s battles and flight in a derisive poem, a mock-heroic ballad which aroused the shamefaced man’s sense of guilt. So that he might steep their guest in disgrace and humiliation, Jon started to jeer at him, to ridicule his fortunes, and to upbraid him for his cowardice and the regrettable occurrences of the war, while he spattered jests and bantering turns of phrase. Exasperated by these taunts, Cnut purchased a ship and provisions and, placing great trust in his uncles and relatives on his mother’s side, escaped to Poland.

Chapter 6

1. Now that Sven was seemingly relieved of personal dangers, he put his mind to repelling threats to the nation. He established many defences for the country people at coastal stations that were protected by nature, and set about building two fortresses alongside the straits, one in Funen, the second in Zealand, which would fill marauders with dread but at the same time provide a place of shelter for the natives of those regions. Nevertheless, both are reported to have been destroyed by the Wends. Sven fought with great bravery against them on Funen. In hacking down their forces, the majority of his soldiers hands were so chafed by their swords that the skin between their fingers turned red with blood.

Chapter 15

1. In the meantime there came a report that the Wends had mounted an invasion and advanced on the eastern flanks of Zealand with a navy of unprecedented size. As they had already devastated the terrain, they now passed over all the places that had been stripped of plunder and decided to make an unexpected assault on Roskilde. For this reason they totally abstained from lighting fires, so that no trace of smoke would betray their presence. The fact that their scouts had told them the city was quiet and that the king had set off to distant parts increased their daring. Furnished with this information, they accordingly left the rural areas untouched, and aimed at Roskilde with great eagerness. A few of them with speedier horses had reached the outlying districts and almost arrived at the perimeter of the town. The king, who was now appreciatively catching up on the sleep he had lost during his wakeful stretch of the night, received news of the serious crisis when it was quite late to make provision for it.

2. The first of the Danes to confront the enemy, thanks to a swifter was Radulf, an exceedingly skillful cavalryman. Since he was on his own, his military exercises stood him in good stead as he now jodged his adversaries, now gave chase to them. Whenever he galloped off into the uncultivated countryside it was awkward for him to halt his career [?] in that direction owing to the bulkiness of his armour; the Wends, on the other hand, being unencumbered by any such weight, were aided by the greater freedom and agility of their horses. Observing this, and pinning his hopes more on his mount’s strength than its fleetness of foot, he began deliberately to guide it into the cultivated fields. The Wends’ nags, which were deficient in stamina, stumbled among the corn stalks, unable to keep up with Radulf’s immensely powerful charger. As long as it was a test of physique rather than a race between their steeds, he could not be seized by the foes pressing at his heels, for the thick crops hampered the progress of the inferior beasts more than that of the robust animal. Asked who he was, he answered, ‘A merchant’. On their demanding to know what sort of merchandise he carried, his reply was, ‘Weapons, which I generally exchange for horses’; and the one he was riding, he added, had come into his hands through trading. When they enquired whether the king was present in Roskilde, he said yes. After they objected that Sven had recently left the city to confer with his kinsmen, Radulf affirmed that this was certainly true, but he had since returned. However, as his response did not tally with their spies’ assertions, they imagined he was lying. For this reason Radulf thought it best to speak the truth about the king’s situation, because, if his words were genuine, he believed his enemies were bound to suppose the opposite.

3. While this exchange was taking place, the king’s horsemen joined Radulf, each according to his speed in arming himself and his dexterity; from there they retired to form a close-knit squadron and would have instantly made a strike against the foe had not Radulf, eyeing their sparse company, thought it necessary to await reinforce”lent from their comrades. Their continual success in war prompted them to such strong assurance of victory. On the opposing side the Wends recalled their companions from pillaging and lined them together in formation. As soon as Radulf realized from signs of raised dust that the king was almost with them, he joined battle, confident of imminent support. Although the Wends fell back as their infantry were butchered, their cavalry, massing in a cluster away from the rest, first turned tail as if it were their intention, but soon, when Sven threatened their rear and they spied the small numbers of his knights, wheeled round and put our men to flight. Radulf then interrupted his slaughter of the foot soldiers to attack these cavalry with his own squadron and this time forced them to beat an unfeigned, breakneck retreat. Nevertheless he withdrew from pursuing them very far because their horses could outstrip his, so that, mingling with the royal troop, he turned his sword back on the enemy infantry. Yet the fugitives still cherished such a passion for spoil that, even as they sped away, they stripped the skins from the carcasses of some rams they had killed. What greed we must presume was locked in those hearts, when amid the utmost peril, after flinging away their weapons, they could not bear to relinquish this contemptible booty, a worthless hindrance to their retreat, by which they thought to better themselves! A very few of them got away to the beaches, whence they made for their ships by swimming through the hazardous waves. Soon others, desiring even more frantically to escape, entered the waters in blind terror, and perished indiscriminately, throwing away those lives in the sea which they had striven to save from the enemy.

4. Meanwhile the Wendish cavalry rushed forward from a place of concealment as though they might attempt to snatch victory from king’s hands by craft. At the moment when the Danes imagined end of the battle had come, the fighting was renewed. The Wends, defeated by the valour of our soldiers, desperately took to flight; so anxious were they to remove themselves out of sword reach and to safety, that in their womanish panic they rode their horses long over the sheer cliffs by the coast to end their existence and glve up the ghost among the rocks in an ugly cascade of bodies, even they had shrunk from shedding their lives courageously on field of battle. Owing to the wholesale destruction of these sailors emaming oarsmen were scarcely equal to the task of rowing their clear of the shore.

Chapter 17

1. Sven, however, remained continuously in exile for a space of three years at the home of his father-in-law until, when the latter had died, he gave pledges to Henry, duke of Saxony, promising him a large sum if he could restore him to his Danish kingdom. After agreeing to the fee, the duke advanced with all his best troops as far as the earthwork which they call Dannevirke, and was enabled to pass through it by bribing the gatekeeper, the cost of which, having besieged Schleswig, he extorted from its citizens. Then Hartwig, archbishop of Bremen, who was deputy leader of the expedition under Henry, declared that the man who had opened the gate had deserved not only the money he had bargained for, but simultaneous hanging, so that people might see the traitor and the reward of treachery on the same gallows and be instilled with dread at the thought of performing a similar deed. It was here that Sven plundered a foreign fleet and paid the soldiers with goods pillaged from the Russians. By this action he not only drove away many hundreds of future arrivals, but also reduced a distinguished trading city to a mean, cramped settlement. When the Saxons traversed the countryside, now abandoned by its inhabitants, and met with no resistance, they fell violently upon it, and with less restraint the farther they went. The southern Jutlanders, fearful because of their sparse numbers, sneaked away to the northern region, where the population was denser, and under the guise of flight started to prepare for war; having previously guaranteed their support for Sven, they now denied their assistance to one who had surrounded himself with forces from abroad, not wishing to give the appearance of having helped a foreign contingent attack their own country.

7. Shortly after this the Wendish forces inflicted such brutal devastation on Funen that, if its inhabitants had met with another similar calamity, they would have remained totally devoid of agriculture and their condition would have been not so much distressed as utterly hopeless.

8. Yet Sven, not satisfied with having approached the Saxons as a suppliant once already, again sped to Henry and with the help of the Wends, who were under the duke’s sovereignty, made the effort to travel to his native land. As soon as Sven had crossed with their fleet to Funen, to the joy of its citizens he turned to the city of Odense, intending to guard his life against countless antagonists with the aid of a few adherents. He promised his supporters that the Wends would guarantee their tranquillity and freedom. So, whether their consideration was to obtain a peaceful life for themselves or to pay respect to his royal dignity, the islanders displayed such ardent concern to view and honour him that a crowd of men and women rushed to his assistance from every quarter, reckoning it an excellent thing to retrieve the shattered fortunes of the king in the face of those who wielded supreme power.

9. When they heard of these developments, Valdemar and Cnut brought together all the rest of the realm’s troops on land and sea to strike against Funen. The great multitude of these forces would easily have obliterated the meagre detachment from Funen, had not Valdemar, pitying this remnant, believed it necessary to have some mercy on the island’s unfortunate circumstances; he feared that if he exhausted this residue of the populace following the damage of fresh destruction, he might seem to have harmed his own country more than he had the enemy. Considering it therefore preferable to tolerate a rival who threatened his overthrow rather than break an enfeebled of his homeland, he suspended hostilities in favour of a conference. At Valdemar’s instigation action turned into discussion, during which it was agreed that Sven should go off to Lolland with his enlisted bodyguard and there pass the time virtually alone, until full unanimity could be found between himself and the other two leaders on the question of peace.

Chapter 18

6. While this was occurring and others were opening the shutters so that mistakes made in the darkness should not hinder their wrongdoing, Detlev jumped up from the floor and stabbed Cnut in the forehead, as the other’s right hand was trying to fend off his sword. Absalon, thinking he was Valdemar, caught him up in his arms while he still breathed, and clasped to his bosom the head streaming with blood, choosing amid the clash of weapons to tend the king, as long as his panting breast showed some signs of life, in preference to seeking his own preservation. At length he realized from his attire that this was Cnut he was holding, and felt a mingling of joy with his sorrow. A man of supreme bravery, Dobik [Dobicus], tried to avenge the monarch’s death on its perpetrators, but was struck down in the attempt.

7. A rush was made with drawn swords at those who had moved near to the doors, but no one could be clearly discerned in the deep gloom, since the onset of night had made it difficult to distinguish friend from foe. For this reason Konstantin, closest of Cnut’s friends, not wishing to be prevented from getting away, softly asked Absalon, in whose warm embrace Cnut had now expired, to approach one of the entrances, so that he himself might have a better chance of escape through the other; Absalon complied, but Konstantin, gliding away by himself, was intercepted and killed by the men who had stationed themselves near the doors. However, Absalon, after inclinmg more to the man’s request than to his own safety, moved Cnufs body reverently to one side, then without concern for danger walked ahead towards the armed warriors and scorned to divulge his name in answer to their barrage of questions. So, aided by his firm resolution and silence, he gained an exit unmolested by his enemies.

Chapter 19

2. Later, after Esbern had presented him with tackle and provisions, Valdemar set out on a night voyage with his followers but, when a storm suddenly broke, encountered seas of remarkable ferocity. The soldiers themselves, drenched with the spray of gigantic billows, were gripped by such freezing cold that every single limb was numbed and they were unable to haul the sail round to assist their navigation. Apart from that, such violent rain beat on the yardarm that it snapped and fell into the waves, and the ship was weighed down with as much water from the clouds as from the sea. The steersman left everything to the surge, abandoned his guidance and, baffled as to which way he should turn the prow, merely waited for the wind to take command. The sky, coruscating with repeated lightning flashes against the blackness, boomed with massive claps of thunder. Eventually, amid the excessive raging of the tempest they lost course and were driven on to an island; because the anchor was incapable of holding it, they dragged their ship out of the breakers and fastened it tightly by twisting the branches of surrounding trees into the oar holes to prevent it sliding back and bmg battered to pieces. That same night saw the destruction ot the w fleet, for when they had put in to the coast of Halland, their fifteen hundred vessels were wrecked. All who reached the shore alive faced death by the sword.

Chapter 20

1. After matters had been settled in this fashion, Valdemar desired to make a good beginning to his reign by conducting energetic military operations; in order therefore to retaliate against violence and restore his fatherland, which for all these years had been tormented by pirate raids, with almost a third of its area constantly reduced to waste and desolation, he took the state navy and sailed to Masnede, intending to wage war on the Wends. But while he was stirring the enthusiasm of the common people at a meeting, the elders, who customarily spoke from the platform, told him that it would not be safe for the fleet to put out, for his troops had insufficient supplies and the enemy were already aware ofValdemar’s purposes. To watch for the right opportunity, then the expedition needed to be postponed until better means of handling affairs presented themselves. It was the height of imprudence to test their chances against a foe who was on the lookout and already fortified with arms. Not only that, but the flower of Danish manhood were collected together so completely in that fleet that, if these found themselves in a dangerous situation, the Wends could undoubtedly overmaster their country by dint of a single victory. Should the result turn out to be far from their wishes, would not their homeland be utterly destroyed with their deaths? There was very little reason why they should devote the strength of so many nobles to one battle, considering that they would carry away scant glory if they inflicted defeat, and maximum disgrace in suffering defeat. The votes of the whole assembly showed they agreed with this judgement. So, compelled by its decision to call off the campaign, the king abandoned his proposal sooner than he felt inclined to.

Chapter 21

4. His first encounter with the Wends took place at the village of Boeslunde on the day before Palm Sunday. As soon as their invasion had been reported, Absalon, provided only with the eighteen soldiers who made up his retinue, battled against the troops from twenty-four ships, a contest as successful as it was dangerous. After a large number of the horsemen on the opposing side had been routed, he laid low almost all their infantry. Yet in a clash as hazardous as this he lost just one of his own men, a handsome victory which marked an auspicious beginning to his episcopal and military careers. A few of the enemy, cravenly jettisoning their weapons and booty so that they might make an easier getaway, were preserved by a forest on the edge of the fields.

Chapter 22

1. In this year it is related that the town of Arhus suffered savage raids from pirates. At the same time the Falster community, with their small population, were protecting themselves behind the communal defence works against an enormous Wendish fleet, when one of the king’s butlers, who had been dispatched to that province so that he could attend to other business affairs, happened to be caught in the general siege; one of the provincials, criticizing the sloth of the king’s attendants, is said to have stated that previous kings had normally worn their spurs on their heels, but this one wore his on his toes. Stung by the recognition of his indolence, the butler, interpretlrig this quip maliciously, forced it on the king’s ears in a reprehensible manner, for what was meant as a rebuke to himself was twisted lnto an insult to the throne.

2. Then the butler inflamed the king’s already exasperated mind by another, no less serious, accusation against the Falstrings, since it was his desire to punish the forcefulness of one hasty tongue by their universal destruction. He fastened the nefarious crime of treason on them, as though it was their habit to pass to the Wends information about every scheme which the Danes devised against them; elaborating into a felony the friendship which from time to time the Falstrings had adopted towards the foe in order to win safety for themselves, he imputed to treachery the compliance which they rendered out of fear rather than liking. It had been their custom to keep under guard prisoners entrusted to them by the Wends and, induced by terror, not kindness, on a number of occasions they had given advance warning of their country’s offensives by conveying a message to the enemy, presumably so that they might at least secure their preservation by a favour, when they were too weak to be able to safeguard it otherwise.

Chapter 23

1. The monarch was then given the benefit of their experienced advice by Absalon, Peder, Sune, and Esbern, his principal counsellors, under whose guidance he adopted the idea of launching a campaign against the enemy with an army that was rapidly mobile rather than large, and of attacking unexpectedly rather than with a plainly visible fleet; it is a much easier business to assault someone who is unprepared and not forewarned, and in any case the profitable instructions of the nobility are very often resisted as a matter of course by the determination of the powerful masses, with whom fear of the Wendish name held more force than the king’s ordinance. Consequently Valdemar admitted very few persons to be party to his intentions, for he knew that any act of war must be conducted through the people’s strength, but planned in private; and because he had no qualms about the Zealanders’ allegiance to him, he preferred to take personal command of a navy drawn from Scania.

4. During the period of idleness while these instructors were giving their attention to a fourteen-day review of this military body, the majority of the stores had been consumed and there was a shortage. When they emerged from harbour, they enjoyed a calm voyage right across the sea. Nevertheless in order to make a secret, surprise landing, they preferred to pursue the journey with oars rather than sails; Absalon was sent ahead with seven ships to carry out a detailed search for easy access to the coast of Ruegen. They determined on an attempt to set fire to the town of Arkona, famous for its ancient worship of an idol, before the citizens were aware of it, and to overwhelm unexpectedly all those who were bent on seeking the god’s protection; the fortifications would be left unmanned and only made fast with bolts and bars, for the inhabitants used to reckon there was little need of human guardianship while it remained defended by the unsleeping presence of the deity. When the fleet had been drawn together and arranged in formation, it totalled two hundred and sixty vessels.

5. Absalon had almost reached Rugen in pursuit of his reconnaisance, when he was informed by his sailors that the royal vessel had suddenly exchanged oars for sail; wondering why the remainder of the fleet were advancing in like manner, seeing that shortly before they had agreed not to unfurl the sails so that their passage might be unperceived, he first realized that the others were disregarding their

Joint resolution; then, since his colleagues were not sticking to their plan, in utter perplexity he shifted his course last of all and steered, more sad than willing, to join the king where he had sought anchorage in the harbour of Men. Because he was left without comrades in this enterprise, he dejectedly turned his prow from the crossing he had set out on, disgusted by this neglect of an excellent chance to accomplish their task, at a time when the clement weather and the soldiers’ eagerness were both favourable to the venture.

11. Praising his counsellor, the monarch assigned Absalon the duty of observing the gales in order to inform him the moment he perceived they would allow the oarsmen to get to work. Absalon eagerly complied with the order which he had fashioned with his own suggestions, and the following night, when the wind had perceptibly relaxed its onslaught, rejoicing at their fortune, he went straight to the king before daybreak, after mass was over; he announced that the turbulence had partially subsided and that it would certainly permit them to sail on; navigation would be possible but hard and its fulfilment would definitely pose severe problems for the rowers. On King Valdemar’s reply that they must force an end to their delays, Absalon facetiously put in a rejoinder that they would be applying their efforts wonderfully well if, now half their journey was accomplished, they returned to the point where they had originally weighed anchor. The impudence of his retort, even though it seemed to carry more sting than a joke should, gave the king a strong incentive to engage in acts of valour. Nevertheless the bishop did not escape mocking wit, when his sovereign added that if he hlmselfwent home; he would be’able to learn from Absalon what was being done among the Wends.

14. Then, resolved to leave nothing unexplored, Absalon assigned the task of reconnaissance to Vedeman, who was distinguished for his piratical exploits, and learnt from him that the harbors of Ruegen were empty of enemy ships and the natives were not fearing attack from any foe. The fact that no anxiety was shown by the herdsmen whose cattle were straying on the shore made the Danes confident that the inhabitants were unprepared. The king’s crossing had been delayed owing to the fatigue of his oarsmen, but as soon as he gained the harbour, he immediately boarded Absalon’s ship and, worn out by fatigue and sleeplessness, surrendered his body to sleep. When the remainder who had survived the sea journey with him were counted, they made up the crews of a mere sixty vessels.

18. Afterwards, when they had disembarked on to the island, the monarch summoned the ships5 captains and urged them to tell him what their plan of action should be. Several of them, he said, thought it would profit them to go home, seeing that they could not assail their foes without hazard. He maintained that he could sympathize with this plan, were it not that such a return would prove a grave embarrassment to their country and a strong incentive to their adversaries. The Rugians would discover the presence of the Danish expeditionary force from traces of their camp and attribute their secretive withdrawal to pure fearfulness. This was why he preferred to lay himself open to danger, not disgrace, and there was nothing on earth that would make him turn his prows round without first having challenged their enemies. Apart from that, they would be matching the craven conduct of those men who had absconded on the grounds of their vessels’ supposed frailness, if they did not surpass in courage people they had outstripped in endurance and, after an abortive voyage, made for home.

19. Then Vedeman, after his recent observation of Ruegen and its unprepared state, recommended that the Danes bring up their forces to its coast, for if the residents were unconscious of their presence, they could get away with plundering and slaughtering, but if the Rugians were forewarned, they could return quickly without an engagement. He maintained that they would be able to gauge which of these two courses to adopt by the habits of the ploughmen: once they had completed the first half of a day’s work, it was their custom to lie down to sleep, so that they could come back to their labours with greater vigour. But repose normally steals up on individuals only if they are free from anxiety and secured by deep composure; if the Danes discovered that none of them were sleeping, it should be taken as a sign that these folk were very much on their guard. Valdemar remarked that Vedeman’s suggestions were more in line with a pirate’s occupation than in harmony with his own eminence as a king. History had never recorded the rout of any Danish ruler by the Wends, and he was certainly not going to be the first to besmirch the royal honour with this scandalous type of behaviour.

20. Next Gnemer, a man from Falster, whether acting on his own initiative or persuaded by the king’s fortunes, although on other occasions he was considered more active than intelligent, by his practical encouragement dismissed everyone’s deep uncertainty as they wavered between opposite inclinations, and drew the assembly, unclear what scheme to adopt, to his own way of thinking, since, he declared, it would be a piece offoolhardiness for a meagre troop such as theirs to engage with a huge body of opponents. However, the district of Earth, separated from Rugen by a narrow strait, would be very easy to ravage because of its small area, whatever its state of preparation. Finally he bade the king take to his bed for some rest; sleep would restore his strength, depleted as it was by wakeful nights, and also his mind, worn by cares, so that he could bring his fleet to land m the evening when it would be possible to rush in with less warning. He also told the ships to disperse and as they were on the point of entering the narrow river, full of shallows, to complete their journey by rowing silently, so that the sound of splashing oars did not dispel the inhabitants’ peace of mind and, where the shoals were of uncertain depth, their vessels did not run aground on the mud and have to remain lodged there for some time. He undertook to carry out all other explorations himself.

21. The king, enthusiastically following his scheme, signalled to his men to hoist sail in the evening and invested the river which was their goal. So that it might be penetrated more readily, he gave an order to progress with the ships lashed together in groups of three, to make certain they did not all become entangled in the narrow stretches of water and thus slow down their speed. Gnemer, after watching for a chance to fall upon the natives, drew alongside Valdemar in his vessel, bringing with him several local watchmen he had intercepted. The king was delighted by this and at daybreak, having marched through the woods, burst upon the fields and villages all the more incisively because he had been concealed; with this sudden onset he crushed the countrymen, who were still fuddle-headed after their untroubled sleep. A good many of them, arrested by the thundering din of the cavalry, imagined that their country’s leaders were coming. However, this illusion of theirs was demolished when they found spears suddenly thrust into their bodies. A number of them poked their heads out of doors to enquire whether Kazimar or Bugislav was arriving. Their own deaths supplied an answer to the question.

22. When the bishop, after taking a detachment of troops on a different route, had occupied a remote tract of that region, he reached a point where a vast swamp separated him from the king’s far-off squadron. Rather uncertain about Valdemar’s course, he hit on the bright idea of not allowing the villages he had sacked to be set alight. Finally, a long way away, he caught sight of blazes started by the king and, proclaiming that he himself had the power to act in a similar banner, immediately threw firebrands on to the roofs and in this way made sure the success of his invasion was announced to his comrades by the spread of flames across the countryside. Once they reckoned they had done their fill of ransacking, Absalon traced the way back with his followers to the ships, and though his and Valdemar’s paths had taken them an immense distance from each other, they revealed their tracks by reciprocal fire and smoke, so that they should not appear to have striven to return unseen and one to have anticipated lhe other through over-impulsive haste.

23. In the meantime Skjalm, known as the Bearded, left on duty to watch over the fleet, brought the vessels back to the sea, bearing in mind that the enemy might row to that point before them and blockade the river mouth. When the Rugians sought to make an attack on him with their navy, he transferred the fleet’s guards to a few of the boats, choosing to confront the foe with a handful of welldefended ships in preference to a large flotilla. As soon as Skjalm sailed straight at them, they turned tail, but, in case he came back rather late for taking his fellow-soldiers on board when they returned, he gave up chasing the fugitives and withdrew to the harbour. M-olested a second time, he resisted his attackers with the same resolution as before. Though his foes tried again and again, he kept on opposing their repeated provocations and overcame them on each occasion. Harassed by the persistence of their assaults more than their severity, he made suitable retaliation, bearing hard on his adversaries.

24. Meanwhile, when the king arrived at the coast, he was not a little surprised to find Skjalm absent and the ships without sentinels. At length Valdemar, with the rest of the troops, proceeded with him on his return from action; spreading sail, he pursued the Rugians, who had resorted to their oars as an aid to flight. But the enemy were helped by a head start and the speed of their rowing, so that the king could only vex them by his threat from the rear and not by capturing them. Then, catching sight of the captain of one of his vessels nearby, who had advanced towards the bow of his ship in a show of bravery, Valdemar shouted words of high praise across to him, declaring finally that whatever wage was paid to a courageous man was money spent admirably and deservedly. At last, held back when the wind veered round, he reversed direction and equalled the distance he had traversed under sail by letting the oars serve his need. Nevertheless, the rowing was as difficult as the sailing had been straightforward.

25. While the Danes struggled to steer their way against adverse seas, the Wends, who knew the topography of the area clearly, took a short cut by cleaving a stretch of the deep unknown to our men, and !u enly transformed their flight into an ambush. When Absalon spied them shooting out via the waters of concealed bays, although his fellow~captains accelerated their progress in consternation, he preferred not to precede them but to follow closely in their wake, intent on safeguarding the rear of the foregoing fleet by watching over them with a high sense of his duty. I am embarrassed to have to relate what follows: the majority of the Danes, regarding a sense of shame as less important, forsook the king, even though they could perceive the enemy ready to fall on them, and had the nerve to crowd on sail. Valdemar, left with only a very few vessels, felt more displeasure with these runaways than he did towards the foe. Noticing then that even the warrior he had spoken well of shortly beforehand, when this man had been standing at his prow, was now extending his reduced sail by adding more canvas so that he might scud along faster, he altered his commendation to reproach, swearing that the affection he had bestowed on timorous fellows had been squandered foolishly. It is no easy matter to identify the quality of true, reliable courage except in a situation of desperate danger.

26. The bolting sailors could not be resummoned, either by shouting, or by signals, or by any other kind of appeal, so firmly had panic blocked everyone’s ears. When the king called for a short halt in rowing and asked all those present what their best line of action ought to be, everyone hesitated till Absalon urged him to make towards the island of Hiddensee, where they must await a following breeze. But Peder, not without declaring his reasons, said this should be avoided, since, as long as the high winds prevailed, there seemed to be little hope of return or of any supplement for their fleet, while the Wends would be recruiting daily additions to the forces ranged against them. They ought therefore to spread their sails and aim for uniform progress in their voyage; the ships with a greater turn of speed should furl some of their canvas and wait for the slower craft, and in this way, by rules of partnership, they must escort in a convoy those they surpassed in swiftness. So, Absalon’s vigorous instigation gave way to Peder’s eminent discretion. Each one’s ideas were consistent with his age: the former proposed schemes that suited a young man’s mind, the latter put forward suggestions which accorded with his grey hairs.

27. Now that the whole Danish fleet had shrunk in this fashion to a paltry seven vessels, the Wends, relying on their throng of ships and scorning the sparse numbers of their foe, rushed in upon them, rowing full tilt and bellowing with shrill voices. Yet they handled the engagement with greater vehemence than boldness. For immediately they felt our arrows, they did not dare move their oars any closer. Shortly after this they began to beat first their necks, then their shields, with the flat of their drawn swords, believing that this mode of intimidation would strike terror into Danish hearts. Next, accompanying their rowing with loud roars, they raised their cacophonous din far and wide. But this charge was no better than the last; as soon as they encountered the Danes’ missiles, they fell back, and at once began to pull in the opposite direction. They tried to terrify their opponents yet a third time with their weaponry: with water they began to soak their shields, which had been in contact with the salt sea, and to stretch these by kneeling on them, so that they could use them to fight with, just as if there was no doubt of their doing battle with our warriors. Then, at the very last, roused by their greed for booty or a strong sense of humiliation, they drove their vessels even more furiously at the Danes. This display initially appeared as fierce as it eventually turned out to be meaningless. Just as before, frightened by the attack of our darts, they no longer continued to harry our small band, whose steadfastness had remained undefeated, even though they could see that the Danish challenge constituted a huge disparagement to them.

Chapter 24

1. During the autumn the king had made an attack on the territory bordering the city of Arkona at the head of a band largely composed of Zealanders and Scanians, with a few Jutlanders; but when they had seized immense plunder and were returning to the coast, the men of Ruegen, eager to surround our army surreptitiously from the rear as it was on its way back to the ships and prepared to embark, crossed to the island from the mainland with massive forces. During that same time there rose a heavy mist, which draped the sky with thick darkness. The Danes, enveloped in this bewildering haze and doubtful of their route, were forced to halt for a while. I am prepared to believe that a kind fate had intervened to make these weather conditions favour their coming victory. And now, because the opacity of the cloud would not allow the Wends to see ahead, they wandered in the gloom till they were drawn to a point where they had almost stumbled into the midst of their enemy, when suddenly the sun dispersed the fog, and you might have observed the armies almost confronting one another.

2. Then Prislav, who had previously come as a refugee from the Wendish region, galloped forward on his horse to report that the barbarians were close by, now was offered the chance for the battle they had been praying for, and, he urged, they must all try to live up to the Danish reputation for invincible courage. The king answered that their opponents would encounter men who would be glad to meet their fate rather than flee. So immediately they sighted their adversaries, carried away by a sudden passion for combat, the Danish troops began to rush at them without waiting to form ranks, contrary to normal fighting practice. But victory came as soon as they attacked, with the Wends running ahead of them to escape any conflict. While dashing forwards, two royal Wendish warriors crashed into one another as their steeds unfortunately collided, with the result that each was dislodged and thrown to earth. When the king’s horse tripped over them he was pitched to the ground and his left elbow, boring a hole through his shield, dug deep into the soil. Although Absalon wanted to dismount so that he could pull him up, Valdemar gave a gesture signalling him not to halt, for he reckoned his tumble would be counted a happy one if only he could be uplifted by the enemy’s destruction. In the event the accident gave a happier forecast than the sight of it would suggest. For the king’s fall presaged the foe’s collapse; the barbarians were conquered without an engagement and were crushed with no loss to the Danes.

3. In their fervour the majority of the Wends once again sought the creek over which they had crossed and in the waters lost the lives trying to preserve; indeed, just as great a number perished the waves as by the sword. Some, to gain greater safety from their enemies, deliberately ducked below the tide as far as their mouths. Yet this subterfuge gave them no sort of help in hiding from the Danes, who descended into the same shallows in order to exterminate them. The rest had been destroyed under water, but one of them, who had gripped a hidden rock firmly with his feet, could be seen to have survived the slaughter of his comrades; as the Danish soldiers were hesitating to go down and dispatch him through their fear of the depth, Absalon cried: ‘This fellow’s not so tail, men, that your height can’t match his. And he’s not planted himself in a flood where he can stand more easily than we can.’

4. Absalon’s brother, Esbern, took his words as an exhortation, and, though he had no doubt that the Wend had the support of a concealed rock, set the authority of his brother’s wish before his own safety; while the others kept refusing, he entered the waters stained with the enemies’ blood, wearing all his armour. But after he had hurled his spear into the barbarian and wanted to regain the shore, the waves swirled round his head, so that he was swept into the depths and went under; if his fellow-warriors had not been there to lend aid, he would have drowned. Oluf, eager to drag him out of the waves, spurred his horse into that deep stretch, grabbed him by the arm and tried to haul him up, but was almost flung headfirst out of his saddle.  As he saw death staring him in the face and felt his own preservation more important than another’s, he abandoned his attempt to take care of his friend and looked to his own interest. A man named Niels tried to follow suit and did not restrain himself from urging his horse forward and riding into the flood, though with more bravery than success. In fact, confronted by the same kind of danger, he changed his mind and gave up the effort. In this way Esbern was bereft of help from the knights, but, as it turned out reached safety through the exertions of his footsoldiers. When he had been resorted to land the onlookers believed him dead, since the brine which had flowed into his lungs had encroached on his breathing. Finally, after his comrades had been shaking his body for some time, he began to spew up the sea water. Once freed of this load he had the strength to raise his eyes, but not to speak. The bystanders then tended him by applying a compress of clothing to his torso, which was numb with cold. This warmed him through until he could not only move his eyes, but recovered the use of his voice. Nevertheless all that day he remained so lifeless that his face scarcely lost the features of a corpse.

5. l am convinced that the valour of another Danish knight should not be consigned to oblivion: unaccompanied by any of his associates, he had pursued the fugitive barbarians with greater enthusiasm than wariness, till, having ceased flight, they demanded that he surrender himself as their prisoner; spurning this request, however, he leapt from his horse, since he preferred to struggle to the death rather than admit defeat and survive. So, as long as a large horde of his foes strove to crush him, he slew anyone who came within reach and, battling away without a sign of fear, eventually, covered in glorious wounds, sank on top of the bodies he had piled up. In consequence he not only made countless men share his fate, but also left the survivors dumbfounded at the sight of his bravery. He accomplished so much by his outstanding courage that after this the Wends dared not engage in armed combat with Danish troops.

Chapter 25

1. The following year, while the Danes were preparing their campaign, the people of Ruegen, having lost the confidence to undertake warfare owing to the recent disaster they had suffered, designated a certain Dombor, an extraordinarily gifted speaker, to treat for peace on their behalf. After welcoming him, Absalon turned over this enemy’s ship to his own use in the campaign but made sure that accommodation and expenses were provided for its crew until he returned to Denmark; when he went to where the royal fleet was assembling, he took Dombor with him. According to the mutual custom of the Rugians and the Danes, it was proper to detain the enemy’s ambassadors, received at the time the expedition was being mounted, right up to the point of its homecoming, in case they went back to their countrymen to report on these foreign affairs and fulfill the duties of spies, not of a legation. However, uninterrupted bad weather delayed the navy’s departure, and during this period the Jutlanders, because of dwindling food supplies, seemed intent on abandoning the campaign, until the Zealanders and Scanians helped out their shortage by a generous outlay of rations, wishing not to be deprived of a large section of their forces because of a wicked and frustrating scarcity. Yet though the inhabitants of Funen had more than enough provisions, they contributed not even the smallest fraction towards alleviating the wants of their confederates.

2. Noting all this, despite the fact that he had earlier supplicated for peace, Dombor now offered it only on equal terms. Beyond that, he asked Absalon to act as go-between with the king. When the bishop requested that he should back up his proposal with a clear assurance, Dombor declared that he would pledge himself by throwing a pebble into the water. If barbarians intended to make a covenant, they followed the ritual of casting a pebble into the waves and prayed that if they went against the agreement, they would be lost, like the sunken stone. For his part Absalon demanded hostages, telling him that in serious negotiations the spurious falsehoods of pagan belief were not acceptable, but Dombor was in no way discouraged from his bold claim for the mutual exchange of hostages. This Absalon felt to be intolerable and stressed that the people of Ruegen in the past had not only been accustomed to send over hostages to Denmark, but money and reinforcements for the fleet as well; the Danes had no recollection of ever granting anything of this sort or of repaying them in such a manner.

3. Then Dombor said to Absalon: ‘If your good sense is as strong as you reckon, you’ll accept ungrudgingly what I have to suggest and make sure you secure it firmly in your memory. When anyone acts in a sensible manner, he gives particular consideration to three periods of time: he devotes less attention to two of these, but observes the nature of the third more closely than the others. He remembers the past, looks forward to the future, and examines the present. The foolish individual, on the other hand, between his expectations for the future and his recollection of the past usually neglects present opportunities and lets slip what he holds in his hands. In this way even you, enmeshed in pointless tangles of anxiety, call to mind scenes of the past and are preoccupied with future events, showing such conscientious concern that you can’t look to those things set within your grasp or floating before your eyes. As you direct your thoughts back to the recollectjon of a previous era, you measure the future by the yardstick of that happiness, and gather hope from your reminiscences, missing what the current period has to offer. I admit that at one time the Danes gained ascendancy over our people, but now kindly Fortune exhibits to our side the same flattering partiality with which she would once honour yours, and has brought our circumstances to this height of felicity which at a certain stage your own national affairs had reached. At the moment we surpass you in strength and success as much as you once did us, so that under the guidance ofFate we’ve advanced to the point to which the growing prosperity of Denmark had formerly risen. But while you rashly aggrandize yourself with wishful thinking, you pass over new situations, recently arisen, in your foolish pretence that these are still the old days, and try to urge me into accepting stipulations which, as things look at present, you yourselves should have offered rather than demanded of us. Your lands, wretchedly battered by our armed forces, lie waste and neglected, destitute of cultivation; our widespread regions are scarcely large enough to feed the myriads they have produced, and yet, though you perceive that we’re everywhere more powerful, you scorn to regard us not just as your superiors, but even as your equals. It will be fair to invite us to pay you tribute on the day when you’ve finally matched our fortunes with your own successes, and when you see us doomed to the evils which now oppress you.’ So spoke Dombor. Absalon, however, hiding the exasperation that had risen within him, listened to his words with few replies, and then reported what he had heard to the king. Nevertheless, the persistent raging of the seas obstructed the voyage and put an end to the expedition.

4. Although the king’s earlier attacks on the Wends had yielded satisfactory results, observing that this assault against them would require greater labour than he could accomplish with his own powers, he urged the duke of Saxony to combine arms and soldiery with him on the promise of huge recompense. The other, attracted by the prospect of gaming enormous profit and by the hope of acquiring control of Us neighbours, engaged himself to be a partner in enterprise.

7. While he was hurrying to carry out these instructions, the expeditionary fleet, which as luck would have it, had put in “to harbour together, was rejoicing at the sudden onset of calm and. longing eagerly to set off, was preparing to unfurl canvas. Nevertheless, the result of their actions did not correspond with the vigour they put into them; becoming a sport for the wayward bluster of the winds, they headed this way and that, now east, now west, and the constantly veering gusts cheated the sailors of their desired course. You might have thought it God’s plan not to allow Absalon to journey on his own, or make slower progress than the rest. This was also clearly confirmed on his arrival: as he came up to the other ships, all the delusive mists evaporated, a steady breeze settled on the ocean, and the following wind which sprang up remained so reliable that, where previously they had pursued a wavering tack with sails shifting, they immediately enjoyed fine conditions and an orderly voyage. In this way, out of consideration for Absalon, the universe provided clement weather it had grudged the rest. As he also perceIved that the craft entrusted to him by yaldemar had been given a pounding when the tempest had risen to its height and that it ran a very close risk of foundering, he at once had it hauled up on to the beach and refitted it with the timbers needed to hold it together, so that it was restored from a torn, almost shattered, wreck to its former durability. However, the points of its prow and stern he decked with golden spikes to make it look more elegant in its progress. The king was received on board at Masnede and made for the province of Poel, attended by his navy.

8. So, with separate forces, but working to a common end, the Danes invaded one side of Wendish territory, while the Germans harassed the other, and from time to time the two armies were able to catch sight of one another. When a number of the duke’s followers happened to stray somewhat far afield in their search for food, the Wends attacked them in an ambush and slaughtered them; but the German cavalry sought to avenge this new outrage with a skilful stroke of audacity: they hid their cuirasses and other military attire with which they had been protecting their bodies with a camouflage of dirty, everyday clothes, and began to reap corn as though they were foragers; as soon as the Wends under their commander, Niklot, dashed out of hiding to overwhelm them, the Germans leapt swiftly onto their steeds, exchanged sickles for swords, and cut them down. Niklot’s head was sheered off, fixed to a spear, and brought into camp, to provide a gratifying spectacle for the gaze of both armies.

9. When the news was brought during dinner to Niklot’s son, Prislav, who, owing to his love of Christian worship and his hatred for heathen superstition had been driven from his country and had crossed over to Denmark, for a while he withdrew his hand from the food and with it supported his bowed head; then he declared that it was right and proper for one who scorned God to provide such an example by his death and, summoning his mind back from its reflections, displayed his usual cheerfulness of expression and thoughts to his fellow-diners. He was a man of great stoicism, but even greater awareness of his devotion to the Deity. He could not count as his parent one whom he knew to be a challenger of our common faith. It would therefore be difficult to assess whether his strong spirit or his pious utterance was the finer. With less than normal sentiment towards his native land, with his leadership and inducements he compelled it to become the prey of two peoples.

10. After a few days’ interval Valdemar approached Duke Henry to have a talk with him and, accompanied only by Absalon, was conducted into Henry’s tent, where he was given a feast, at which a large flock of noblemen performed the role of servants. Though the banquet contained a brilliant variety of many different dishes, there was rather more splendour in the attendance than in the feast itself, and particular regard was paid to ostentation at the expense of enjoyment. Valdemar’s retinue were entertained at tables that were set apart.

11. When on his return Valdemar, troubled by recent turns of events, proclaimed that his mind was eager to ascertain where he might be able to meet Henry in order to discuss essential business with him, and that he needed an astute man to settle this matter, some made out that their horses were lame, others that their mounts needed more attention to their hooves. All concealed their dread with cunning excuses, for none dared undertake so perilous a mission; but as Absalon happened to be coming out of the forest, where he had been cutting wood, a favourite leisure occupation of his, and was asked whether he would be willing as an envoy to represent the king’s interests, he promised to go.

12. After he had been told to choose select companions, he took mostly relatives and others with whom he had family connections, believing that the trustworthiness of kinsmen was preferable to that of outsiders. With them also was Prislav, the son of Niklot, who had been the most powerful among the Wendish chieftains; because Prislav had married Valdemar’s sister and been admitted to the worship, he had long since been banished from his father’s sight as though he had been weaving a plot against him, and now he guaranteed to act as a guide along the projected route owing reliable knowledge of the region. Because of his tested loyalty and his connection by marriage, the king had granted him the ownership of a large number of beautiful Danish islands.

13. Absalon made his journey, spoke to the duke, and was asked to stay overnight with him, but answered that King Valdemar was troubled with unease as he awaited his vassals and must not be allowed further anxiety by the introduction of a longer delay. Apart from that, he affirmed, the fleet had no anchorage and was exposed to the shock of the winds from every quarter. When he had given the reasons for his haste and they had mounted their steeds towards nightfall ready for departure, a nobly born Saxon took it upon himself to address the duke, complaining that, if the Danish ambassadors departed with so few attendants, they would be liable to come to grief; and he ventured to rebuke Henry quite forcibly for letting this small band of important men leave his presence unaccompanied, beset as they were by so many hazards. The envoys were recalled and offered the assistance of an escort; but Absalon was as firm in refusing a bodyguard as he had been in rejecting the polite offer of their staying the night, since he thought it more praiseworthy to trust his own and his comrades’ safety to uncertain chances than to be protected by foreign weapons.

14. As soon as he had ridden a little way from the tents, Prislav told them all to draw in their reins and said: ‘If we’d had to see this business through under my guidance, we shouldn’t have shrunk from supplying our inadequate troop with accompanying reinforcements. To have a surplus of numbers in the face of dangers is a proof of conscientiousness, not a sign of fear. Bravery is all the more commendable, the less it’s allied with stupidity; but the valour that is lent stamina by foolhardiness deserves censure. Nonetheless, it would now be quite disgraceful to demand the provision we scorned to accept when it was offered a short while ago. All that remains, then, is to count reliance on our hearts and strength as our only way to safety, and for us to derive the surest hope from our desperate situation. So, we must try to live up to the high standards of the Danish race and Danish honour, and strive with all our energies to ensure either that victory allows our homecoming, or that a glorious death provides us with a memorial of everlasting renown. There’s little doubt at all that the horses’ hoofprints have informed the enemy of our transit, and there’s no less certainty that they’ll lie in wait for the return of those whose arrival Aey discerned from the evidence of this well-trodden path. Yet it’s better you should die, my fellows, than be captured. Should we be taken prisoner, your savage end will fulfil the penalty for the killing of my father, as if we were his actual murderers, and my brothers will offer your blood as a sacrifice to their sire’s ghost by subjecting you to the harshest rigours of torture. It’s rather more satisfactory to yield your lives as a result of your own courage than survive to undergo a wretched punishment from others’ ferocity. I’ve ventured to give this advice not in fear for my personal danger, bur rather bearing ln mind my affection for you, because I originate from a family which no Wend was ever daring enough to assail. By our almighty and most beneficent Father and by the name of Denmark, famous throughout all nations, I beg and call upon you not to set feebleness and faint-heartedness before courage and self-confidence.’ These were Prislav’s words.

15. His speech was promptly received with a happy shout of universal approval, causing him to affirm that he had no qualms about their winning through, for the men’s ardour had boded well, particularly since the sight of any Wendish offensive was usually more terrifying than its effect. In this march they ought to follow a special formation: the young men who were lightly armed and mounted should occupy a central position among the troops, who in this way could form a guard to protect them on all sides. Their military squadrons, divided into two companies, must provide mutual cover and defence; certainly the view of twin platoons might well undermine their enemies5 spirits. Moreover, he instructed them to set up a loud noise as they marched and to sing a medley ofrowdy songs, imitating the assurance generally felt by a huge crowd of people. His scheme paid off: they were led through to the port where their fleet lay at rest, undisturbed by any attacks; here the monarch, worried like any other waiting person, was suffering gloom and anxiety for the long-delayed envoys, and only by reading works of piety could he assuage the misery he had caused himself by sending off his liegemen on such a rash errand. The minute he learnt of their return, he quickly let succumb to the allurement of sleep, which had been deferred through his despondency.

16. From there they sailed off as far as the River Goderak. Its entrance, full of shallows, could on no account accommodate large vessels, but in the normal run of things only allowed access to light craft. For this reason King Valdemar found a mooring for his ship by dropping anchor close to the mouth, seeing that the meagreness of the stream would not admit its great draught. A more manageable flotilla, one which could take the depth of the channel, attempted the tight bends of the river under Absalon’s command. Under his direction they reached the spot where the waters spread out to give the impression of a massive lake. The natives had blocked off its narrow opening with numerous boats to stop their foe getting through. In their eagerness to disperse them and ignorant of the depth, our people made errors of judgement through their inexperience of piloting those stretches, and ran their vessels aground in the shallows. When they saw that the water was not sufficiently deep and they wanted to launch their ships afresh into more navigable reaches, because there was less scope for rowing they jumped down into the shoals on every side, fitted their hands into the oar holes, and let their physical strength do the work of oars. Using their ships as if they were ramparts, the Wends hurled missiles down on the Danes. Not content with assailing them by this method, they came leaping down themselves into the shallows, looking for a place where they could grapple with the Danes at close quarters. Even so, our men opposed them so vigorously that they scrambled back to their ships as fast as they had left them. A pair of Prislav’s vessels reached the lake ahead of the others. However, such swarms of those who had been standing in the shoals sprang onto one of these that its sides were completely buckled and it split down the middle. As they piled on board impetuously, the weight of these large numbers cracked the centre of the boat. Once the Danish fleet sailed up, the barbarians fled and their abandoned ships were captured. The villages adjoining the bank were also burnt to the ground.

17. While Absalon was returning by night, the king was still unable to sleep and, as he lay awake, suffered torment over his bishop’s prolonged absence. He welcomed Absalon with joy and, having sent his war galley home because its huge size apparently made it unwieldy to handle, he transferred to a somewhat smaller vessel; in it he journeyed to the lake, where he furnished Sune with twin ships and a plundering venture to the distant confines of the marshlands. Valdemar had no trouble sending Rostock up in flames, a town which its cowardly citizens had deserted. He also consigned to the fire an effigy which that race in its pagan superstition honoured with religious rites as though it were a deity from heaven. Subsequently, when
Henry arrived with his army to engage in talks, Sune conducted him across a bridge built for the purpose.

18. During the same period Niklot’s other son, Pribislav, appeared on the farther bank and, when he caught sight of Prislav traveling in the same vessel  as Bernhard, whose hand was reputed to have slain Niklot, he lashed his brother with abuse, upbraiding him for his disloyalty in having the gall to be on friendly terms with his father’s assassin. For his part Prislav retorted that Bernhard had done him a favour in depriving him of a godless father, and he had no wish to be counted the son of a parent who was well known to have been exceedingly wicked.

19. in the meantime, while these events were happening, a sudden report came through that a fleet from Ruegen and Pomerania, determined to blockade the Danes on the river, had assembled by previous agreement. Therefore Valdemar, warned by Henry that he needed to escape if he did not wish to be imprisoned in a tight corner, immediately left that stream behind him. Since as yet there were no indications to confirm the story about the convergence of Wendish forces, roused by suspicions of a stratagem, he decided to counter the foe’s guile with his own. In fact, they had gathered in obscure creeks along the shores, seeking an opportunity to harry the king’s fleet if he ravaged the countryside. With a view to drawing them out under pretence of giving them an opening, Valdemar assigned to a man named Magnus the task of setting ablaze the coastal villages and ordered his soldiery to hide themselves inside the ships, knowing full well that the Wends would believe the arson was being conducted by the entire army and so would make an attempt to spring their trap on the Danes all the sooner. His supposition corresponded closely to the enemy’s plans.

20. While Magnus was setting fire to the towns, the Rugians, believing all the Danish forces were occupied with this project in their excitement seized the courage to put their scheme into operation, imagining they would find their adversaries’ fleet bare of defenders. They were, however, encountered somewhat too prematurely by soldiers who were unaware of the king’s command, and the Wends’ enthusiasm for assault unexpectedly turned to flight. The remainder of the Danish navy, frantically pursuing them with mighty pulls at their oars, found they could not keep up with the speed of their foes’ rowing. And when the Danes mitigated the heat with canopies to relieve their fatigue, the archbishop of Lund, coming up to the contingent who were occupying the harbor, spied the sunshades stretched over the ships when it was almost midday, and accused them all of idleness: ‘Are we enjoying by burying our bodies in these graves, comrades, when we should deb exercising our spirits?’ His question filled the soldiers with shame for taking their ease in the daytime and taught the king, in the grip of his lethargy, to arouse the dormant energies of his militia. He, too, moderately affronted at the archbishop’s words, yet forcibly reminded of his sluggishness by this legitimate rebuke, quickly replied that it was possible to quit these graves and, after sweeping aside the awnings, immediately made haste to set foot on enemy soil.

21. After this they carried off spoils from the southern tracts of Ruegen for two days, and from there sailed to Walung [Shaprode district]. When an attack by the Rugians was reported, under the gaze lof his fellow soldiers one of the Danes broke off a section of his spear so that it would be less cumbersome to wield in the battle line; the rest followed his example, piling the butts in one spot, where they built a great heap within a short space of time.

22. Meanwhile, however, the inclinations of the enemy were moving rapidly towards peace and away from war. In order to negotiate this, Dombor was directed to parley with the Danes. Since they had departed to their ships, he lit a fire on the beach, a signal to show that he had come as a spokesman. Nevertheless Absalon forbade anyone to receive him on their vessel, in case the Danes might also appear to be aiming at a mutual reconciliation of the sort he had come to plead for. So Dombor, denied a boat by anyone else, had to sail to the fleet in his own and, applying to Absalon through an interpreter, begged him to act as peacemaker between the king and the people of Rugen, promising hostages to show their compliance. Absalon, on the other hand, behaved as if he had no idea what Dombor’s plea was about, and instead of an answer listed the Danish islands which had had to be abandoned, reminding the Wend bitterly of how he had pointed to their destitute state in his recent remonstrance.

23. Realizing from the interpreter that he was receiving far from satisfactory replies to his appeal, Dombor said: ‘There’s good reason, most blessed of bishops, for the fact that in asking for an intercessor we choose your help rather than anyone else’s. At this time its more suitable for us to have recourse to your name and fame with our entreaties, because we once relied on the assistance of your grandfather [Skjalm the White] to win agreement with the Danes. And we were happy to accede to his pleasure as if we were following royal decrees. Since no son of his survives, we stretch our hands as suppliants to the knees of his grandson, for we don’t want it to seem that we’ve been seeking aid outside the line of the family we’ve approached in the past. But we’ve certainly been just as purposeful in bypassing your brother [Esbern], even though he’s your senior. It’s your reputation, not your years, not the prerogative of age, but the distinctions of high office that win you the privilege of authority. Before you all polluted your country’s peace with civil wars, we Wends showed unflinching loyalty to Danish sovereignty. But when factious opinions began to spread in your state and you started to arm people who had designs on the kingdom, we eventually became more anxious for our own with another folk’s domestic rivalries, and chose to sever our connection with Denmark before abandoning our national duty. In making war on you, what else have we tried to do but offer you a reason for ending your disagreements and enable you to discover the need for mutual harmony when there was the prospect of encountering our weapons? In this way we turned the axe blades dripping with your citizens’ blood against ourselves, preferring to see you fight foreigners instead of destroying your own fatherland. We acted as your foes in outward appearance, but in reality as your friends, and under pretence of enmity played an affectionate role towards you. The pirate raids we carried out arose from our amicable feelings, whereby we sought not so much to plunder your possessions as to ally you with one another. Indeed, it’s again due to us that you’ve been pulled back from your aberrant purposes and internecine struggles, so that you ought properly to thank those who’ve contrived this great boon for you. Well then, now that you Danes have all reached a congenial understanding with one another, why are we the only ones not allowed to step inside the gates of your confederacy, those gates whose bolts we shot back to throw the entrance open? Why is the wisdom of our actions, a wholesome corrective of your transgressions, valued so little and perceived so ungratefully by men famous for their discernment?’

24. He had already ended, but as Absalon was still reckoning up the Danish provinces that had been ravaged, Dombor continued: ‘Nothing’s been done to make you repel people who need your protection, and refuse that benign sympathy which no suppliant ever found difficulty in obtaining. If you reject us, we’ll repeatedly fall prostrate before you, imitating the persistence of young children who, the more severely they’re beaten and tormented by their angry mother, press forward all the more eagerly to slip into her lap. If, however, you believe you’ve exacted too mild a punishment from us, you’ll be able to glut your rage by inflicting on us all the calamities you please, without fear of retaliation. Though our fields are laid waste, our villages burnt down our towns destroyed, and our population decimated, we’ll confront you with prayers, not arms, aspiring to seek pardon instead of fighting you. If you thirst for our blood, we’ll voluntarily present our throats for your swords to cut. If you aim to make us slaves, what more can we offer than our surrender? Yet whose mind is so fierce that he wouldn’t be ready to spare any who proposed surrendering themselves? Wanting to gain something by one’s exertions is the very height of madness, if it could be acquired by remaining idle. I know it occurs to you that in our earlier conversation I counted the devastation of your homeland as a disgrace to you, and I’m also aware that you re being so persevering in your estimate of those wasted areas because you’re unwilling to treat for peace before your forces have brought about the same total amongst us. For some time I’ve employed prudent admonitions foolishly, carefully teaching you the functions of an opponent contrary to our interests, and not realizing that as an instructor I’d have such an attentive audience. It would have been preferable if I’d talked pure childish nonsense. I’m now sorry to have spoken words which will also have vexed you to listen to.

25. If, however, at that time I presented to your ears any arguments mrthy of your grasping, listen, too, with similar reasonable judgement to the message I’ll now utter, taking my current demonstrations in the same spirit as you did when you received the proofs in my earlier address to you. Inasmuch as you Danes wreak greater carnage on us, it will leave a smaller number of subjects to serve in your army. What else do you accomplish by inflicting destruction on us than weakening your vitals and draining them of strength? Nonetheless, if you consider that even yet we’ve been insufficiently punished, send us to be trampled down inthe front line against your foes, so that by our deaths you’ll derive abundant revenge, or, if we defeat them, you’ll still have us rebels beneath your yoke. Conquered, we’ll induce little grief in your minds, conquering we’ll bring you a great deal of joy; either outcome will satisfy your success rate. Besides that, if you persist in molesting us with your troops, the chances are that you may pay for our slaughter by the loss of one of your number whose life won’t easily be compensated for by the subjugation of all Ruegen.’ As this advice appealed to him, Absalon fulfilled the wishes of the Rugians with his entreaties to the king. After accepting hostages Valdemar returned home.

Chapter 27

1. After these events, Valdemar, accompanied by the Rugians according to their agreement, laid the fortress of Wolgast under siege. Although this was situated in Wendish territory, it remained separate from the overall jurisdiction and was ruled by its own chiefs.

Its inmates called on Bugislav, prince of Pomerania, to assist them, but he was looking for peaceful rather than warlike measures. On their behalf he reached a settlement with the king on these terms: they must render obedience to Valdemar and also keep in check the pirates who were wont to sail out of their river estuary, confirming this agreement by surrendering hostages.

2. At that point a quarrel happened to arise between the men of Rugen, who had been summoned to the meeting, and Bernhard, a son of Count Henry; because he had married the king’s niece, Bernhard had followed Valdemar with two vessels. When he asked them why they thought it unnecessary to court the favour of the famous duke of Saxony they answered that they felt no high regard for the Saxon race; he retorted that it would not be long before they found out the duke’s strength. Then a number, snapping their fingers at the power of this prince whom he rated so highly, criticized Bernhard’s interrogation and poured scorn on his threats. When the king had calmed down this dispute, Maske, a man pre-eminent in birth and influence among the Rugians, blind, but clear-sighted in the keenness of his intellect, and as lively as he was long-lived, said: ‘It’s usual for rather mettlesome and temperamental horses to pull more strongly at the reign, the more tightly you hold them back. This is why you must slacken the Saxons’ reins; otherwise, if you strain at them too hard, they might snap. These people are well aware of our strength, just as we are of theirs.’ Once this speech had been made known to the duke, it became a seedbed of strife between him and king Valdemar.

Chapter 28

16. But the accomplishment of his [Absalon’s] plan was nipped in the bud by the emperor’s cunning. Fearing to exert force on the king, because he was unable to win Valdemar’s fealty by pressure he tried to buy it with a favour. He made all the German princes swear under compulsion of an oath that they would lay the territory of the Wends under Valdemar’s dominion. If they carried this out less than adequately, he swore to effect it personally the moment he returned from Italy; by this stratagem he enticed the king to offer him both hands and agree to comply with his wishes. But Valdemar was not obliged to attend court as princes normally did, nor lead an army to defend the Holy Roman Empire, and he was allowed to give only the semblance of homage, not the actuality. The son who next succeeded to his crown would be free to reject the stipulations binding his father, so that this submission should not be inherited and extend to include the whole Danish race. The fact that the sovereign power of the British king had bowed to French control in a similar kind of obedience seemed to diminish the shame of this servitude.

Chapter 30

2. After this the king discovered there had been a revolt among the eastern Wends, who had risen up assured of their own strength; having agreed on a military partnership with Henry, duke of Saxony, in order that their alliance might be welded more stably together he approved the engagement of Henry’s daughter, born of a wife whom he had later divorced, to his son Cnut, even though the latter was not yet one year old and she was still in her cradle. Henry therefore gathered an army, with equipment for fighting land battles, while Valdemar himself embarked with his naval forces; when the Danish king arrived at Ruegen, he asked Absalon to see that auxiliary troops were levied from among the inhabitants, who had sought to cultivate his friendship but were not above suspicion. To make sure that, he was not too late in his rendezvous with Henry and so failed to fulfill his promise, he then steered a course at top  speed towards the River Peene.

2. Though Absalon’s pact with the people of Ruegen till now depended only on the security of a few hostages, he attended their assembly, where at his reception he was allotted the seat of highest honour amongst them; while he was putting forward the commands he had been delegated to deliver, and explaining his mission through an interpreter to those ignorant of the Danish tongue, it so happened that a youth from Ruegen pretended with a Wend’s cunning that he wanted to buy a horse belonging to a Danish warrior, and after mounting it as though intending to try out its paces, tried to gallop off. As soon as news of the theft had been brought to Absalon, he announced it to the assembly, upon which the whole mass of people, judging that one man’s dishonesty had brought their trustworthiness into dlsrepute, gave way to an almost mad rush and flew in all direcuonsm their frantic dash to overtake the culprit.

3. While Absalon’s companions were astounded to the point of fear and bewilderment at this unexpected stampede by the crowd, a few of the Rugians who were related by marriage to the young man, swayed more by personal affection than public shame, threw themselves in supplication at the bishop5s feet, guaranteeing that they would see the horse restored if only he would call the assembly back from its purposes. As Absalon pitied their mingled tears and appeals, he sent men to quieten the populace, and, calming their dismay in this fashion, subdued the riot; the horse was at once returned, but the bishop cursed his soldier for the obtuse way he had let the robber hoodwink him through laziness and stupidity. Then, once Tetislav, king of that nation, had promised to supply extra ships for the Danish fleet, Absalon hurried after his king.

In the meantime Henry sent ahead with a detachment of his finest troops Count Adolf of Holstein, Henry of Ratzeburg, and Gunzelin, count of Schwerin, a municipality which had recently been brought under their control by the Saxons and had received the rights and status of a city; with them also went a certain Reinhold, a man of ignoble birth, more distinguished for his deeds than by his family, and this group had the task of preparing an easy advance for Henry. When the Wends learnt, partly by report, partly from proofs, that these foreigners had entered their territory, they preferred to clash with this contingent of their foe rather than attack their body, believing that much of the enemy’s power would drain away if they could destroy their advance party. While they were were on the march to crush their adversaries, striving their utmost and blazing with ardor, they spied a demon, of dreadful appearance, hanging in the air over their heads. Nevertheless, fortified by this apparition as if by the arrival of a heaven-sent leader and taking it as a portent of success, they suddenly plunged into their opponents’ camp and slaughtered them before the Saxons could arm themselves.

5. Adolf and Reinhold were killed at the very entrance to the camp, paying with their life’s blood the cost of not attending to sensible military precautions. After these two had been cut down in the first bout of carnage, Gunzelin and Henry, slipping through the middle of the invading bands, snatched up the standards and raked together the remnants of their fleeing comrades; at length, boldly assaulting the foe, who were preoccupied with plundering, they turned flight into victory. In this way, though they had broached battle without preparation, the Saxons’ valor legit one guessing whether they and dealt or received greater harm.*

[*note:  “These two encounters make up the so-called Battle of Verchen,  July 6-7, 1164, described in greater detail by Helmold (Chronica, chapter 100); Verchen lies circa 11 km SW of Demmin.”]

6. When Duke Henry was informed of this event, he was enraged by the massacre of his men, a reasonable reaction on his part, and intent on exacting vengeance, hurried with all the speed he could muster to lay siege to the town of Demmin. The moment he found out that its inhabitants had burnt it down of their own accord, he gave orders that what was left of its walls should be razed to the ground, to make certain that its every defence was demolished. And as he was not permitted to vent his anger on human beings, he had the stronghold of Gutzkow, similarly abandoned by its terrified citizens, put to the torch, as though he would wreak punishment on dumb objects. The people of Wolgast followed the example of their neighbours, the destruction of whose localities filled them with panic, and deserted their township by secretly crossing the river with their wives and children, content to leave only their houses, now emptied of contents, to the savagery of the foe. The king, after taking this town of theirs with little effort, furnished it with a garrison and resources, and handed it over to the care of Vedeman, the pirate. The inhabitants of Osna also derived more fear from the fate of the other strongholds than confidence from their own ramparts, so that they looked to their interests on the model of nearby municipalities, whose alarm they repeated; again they forsook and burnt down their city to prevent the enemy occupying it, since they would rather give up their homes to the flames than to the foe.

7. Then the king broke down the bridge, which was seen to cut the river into two halves, and removed all the other obstacles to navigation before moving on towards the settlement at Stolpe, where he also later met the duke. Valdemar wanted to prevent Wolgast from being abandoned as readily as it had been captured and so being delivered back to their enemies after his departure; therefore, believing that, once the Danes in particular held rule over it, they would maintain sway over the Wends permanently, he decided to create Absalon, Buris, and Sven, at that time the eminent bishop of Arhus, governors of that township; with them he associated his son Christoffer, so that the others would feel greater assurance of his own help. When these four were told to conscript friends and relatives to participate in their duties, only the Zealanders pledged themselves to cooperate in assisting Absalon, whereas the others could find neither the disposition nor partners to counter the massive dangers that loomed; yet the whole fleet had determined to share its stock of food with them and as a public duty to carry the corn from the neighbourhood into their granaries; orders were in fact issued that the army should do the reaping, and the harvest be given over to the use of those remaining behind.

8. Then, having had his scheme thwarted, since there was neither the chance of fighting nor any truce with the enemy, the king hit on a subtle and ingenious idea to force his opponents to adopt one or other of these courses. He gave secret instructions to Absalon that he should make the oarsmen toil hard to gather up all the stakes that were fixed in the stream, together with every other hindrance to navigation, for he intended to pass right through with the whole fleet. When at last the waters were cleared of obstacles and the navy had proceeded to a stretch where the channel was narrower, many Danes were wounded at close quarters by Wends riding along either bank. Peder Elivson, being a gallant soul, could not stand this bold impudence from the enemy and with his rowers immediately leapt overboard to drive his foes vigorously before him and compel them to quit the river’s edge. In Ae end, because his cowardly comrades left him to it, he ensured that they sailed through unscathed at the price of his own death.

9. This enabled the king not merely to advance without anxiety, but to allow Henry and all his troops to cross over on boats lashed tightly together, as if across a bridge. As soon as they realized this, the Wends, dreading the overthrow of their remaining strongholds and eager to forestall this threat, offered hostages to Valdemar for the armistice they had hitherto spurned, for they declared that they would never give these to Henry under any circumstances. The king, however, considering it would be underhand to conclude terms with the enemy without his military partner, sent Thorbjern to inform Henry what conditions their adversaries were putting forward. When Henry affirmed that he would gladly accept any provisions Valdemar agreed on, the latter made a pact with the foe that the territories of wolgast should be divided between three overlords, Tetislav, Kazimar, and Prislav, son of Niklot; the mouths of the River Peene should be blocked against the buccaneers who had constantly been trying to seize booty from the Danes; and Henry should retain undisputed possession of the Wendish fortresses he had occupied. Following Henry’s departure, Kazimar’s associates, sharply resenting this league with outsiders but not daring to use force against them, harassed the Rugians with constant pillaging and, after reducing them through brigandage to the level of destitution and famine, compelled them to vacate the stronghold which they held in common. They also allowed latitude for piracy and in a variety of ways broke the treaty that had been struck.

Chapter 31

1. Later the men of Ruegen, after being given assurance by Henry, professed open hostility towards the Danes, so that the king found his ally just as treacherous as his enemies were fickle; he then mounted a spring campaign against the territory round Arkona and sent it up in flames. From there he steered a course to the harbour which its inhabitants call Por. Reckoning he should attack the Rugians piecemeal because he had no wish to join battle with them en masse, he instructed Absalon to sail ahead of him by night to Ziudra. To make sure he followed immediately in Absalon’s wake, Valdemar told the sentinels they must watch closely the time of the bishop’s departure. However, since they put the pleasure of sleep before their orders, Absalon went ahead unaccompanied by the king and not~only~ravaged Ziudra but the fields and adjacent villages too, partly by fire, partly by the sword.

2. There were two of his knights who had earlier engaged in a dispute as to which of them was the bolder; pursuing this rivalry in courage, they were charging along with equal vigour to achieve some military feat, when they chanced to catch sight of some of their foes who had been driven to seek escape in rowing-boats over a lake; more concerned to overtake them than to notice the hazard to themselves, in case one of them should happen to outstrip the other in bravery, they both spurred on their steeds regardless of their lives and rode them into the deeps, where, forgetting they were wearing armour, they sank under its weight and were drowned. In this way the water punished their rashness, at one and the same time supplying death and a grave to these warriors, who raced to their doom more intent on than on self-preservation.

3. In the meantime Absalon traversed the province, looting and burning as he went until, having decided to retrace his steps to the ships, carrying massive plunder and rich spoils he descried a large squadron of the enemy at his heels; it was now his wish to make an intentional retreat to the farther side of two fords, which were rather awkward to wade, so that by simulating panic he could draw on his foes, enmesh them eventually in the snares of that locality and overwhelm them. When the Wends had effected a straightforward crossing of the first shallows, they stopped at the second, unsure how they were going to return. Almost at that very moment two footsoldiers from Zealand, who were shouldering a large bundle of booty and had mistaken their direction, nearly stumbled into the thick of the Wendish force. When these Danes were assailed by two of the enemy’s cavalry, despite the fact that it would have been easy for them to slip safely across the ford, they did not want to let it seem as if cowardice had prompted their withdrawal and chose instead to oppose their adversaries rather than join their friends, believing it disgraceful to be surpassed in daring by an equivalent number of antagonists. So that they would be less encumbered, they halted and threw down the load before unsheathing their swords. Fortune granted them the safety which their perseverance and valour deserved, for seeing that neither of the horsemen dared venture nearer, they resumed their burden and Pursued the path they had started out on. When the Wends next time had sent two pairs of knights to crush them, the Zealanders repulsed their attack with equal resolution. Their actions drew the admiration of foes and fellow-countrymen alike, filling the former with deep shame, while the latter hovered between fear and joy. Finally, assaulted by six riders, they stood firm wi the same unflinching spirt, giving the impression of taunting the enemy’s faint-heartedness with their wholly intrepid souls.

4. Absalon of course quickly thought to lend backing to their pluck and self-reliance. He sent over by way of reinforcements as many of his own knights as he observed their opponents had launched in fight. The Wends for their part vied with them by assisting the small body of their combatants with dozens of warriors. As the number of support troops grew at much the same rate on each side and the horsemen encountered one another from opposite quarters as if they were taking part in a tournament, the entire squadron of Zealanders dashed forward to meet their foes, for they could not bear to watch them flaunt their insolence any more. Because the fords lay across the Wends’ escape route, the Danes could not press very far after them, and so slaughtered more of their horses than they did their men. Afterwards, when the Danes turned round to go back to their ships, they ran into a line of their own oarsmen who had equipped themselves with both weapons and standards, and whose bravery had induced them to bring aid to their comrades, after a random report had informed them of the situation. Certainly they shared the honour of victory with Absalon, since they spontaneously offered themselves as his companions in valour.

5. Meanwhile the king, having been alerted by an overdue word from the sentries, through his frantic haste made up for the delay he had suffered in not sailing earlier. As soon as he sighted the Zealanders, he would have liked to put in to seek booty, but was informed by Absalon that there were no enemy spoils left for plundering; Valdemar congratulated him warmly on the fact that on their own initiative such a small band had acquitted themselves as dynamically as if their monarch had been present. After he had harried other stretches of the island with fire and sword, he departed from Ruegen for home.

Chapter 32

1. Returning once more with his navy near the beginning of autumn, he devoted his intial energies to devastating the fields, so that, once the crops had been destroyed, the islanders would be denied the wherewithal to defend their strongholds. When he had reached the fortress of Arkona with his troops in spread formation, the townsfolk, confident of their strength, issued from the city’s single gate and came forward to meet him, reluctant to have their brave hearts confined within the walls. Valdemar tried to lure them farther away from the ramparts by having the Danes retreat deliberately, but after he perceived the Rugians more cautious than he had hoped, he attacked and forced them to make for the town again. Nevertheless he held back from the gate, in case his men’s steeds should be pierced by javelins.

2. Then Niels, a knight from Zealand of outstanding physique and manliness, hurled a spear through the gateway and laid dead one of those foes who were putting up resistance at the threshold; promptly wheeling his horse round, he rode off unharmed. Thorbjorn, who must be counted one of the foremost knights of Zealand, tried to emulate his deed with comparable boldness, but without comparable luck, for when he had aimed his lance at a knot of his adversaries and wounded one of them, in attempting to return he pulled his horse round, only to be hit so hard with a stone that streams of blood gushed from his head. This brought on a long-lasting physical infirmity and it was a difficult task for him to regain eventual health. Again there was Buris, who, striving to match the lustre of his birth with notable feats of valour, had fallen upon the defenders of the gate with no less audacity than the others, when he received such a harsh blow on the skull from a rock that he almost slid lifeless from his mount. His limp body was rescued by the intervention of his friends; otherwise his enemies would have destroyed him. So it came about that the Rugians believed they had no prospect at all of combating safely outside the walls, in view of the fact that they felt the presence of the enemy so unrelenting even while they stayed within.

3. From there the whole fleet withdrew to the Jasmund district. Since Absalon throve on account of his courage and his supreme skill in the art of war, he would usually lead the foremost troop as the army approached its target and accompany the rear squadron as it returned; his companions were always those young Danes who were most disposed to aim for booty or renown, while the king’s habit was simply to advance gradually with the more solid element of his forces, the serious, disciplined warriors. As the Danes were nowhere given any opportunity for action, they covered a large extent of that territory, till eventually Valdemar gave his band of cavalry leave to disperse for pillaging and retained only the handful left as his bodyguard.

4. Then he heard a chance report that some of his followers had been hemmed in and it was said they were unable to break out unassisted; Valdemar did not wait till his soldiers were recalled before going off to save those in distress, nor did he let the small number of his comrades act as an excuse against seeking out the surrounded company; ordering the standard-bearer to raise the banner, he immediately made his way with a heart full of self-confidence to the place where they had been encircled, gathering to his side those knights, now sick of plundering, who came when they saw the signs of his urgent progress. Valdemar’s confidence was so high that he believed speed rather than his fellow-soldiers would provide the better answer. When the Zealanders, who were penned inside a gorge amid harsh terrain, got wind of his arrival, trusting to his forthcoming aid they started to launch strikes against the beleaguering foe, since they did not wish to give the impression of averting the peril with anyone’s courage but their own.

5. So the Wends melted away, escaping over ground that was partly firm, partly marsh; Eskil, a knight of the very noblest spirit and family, despite being weighed down very heavily with his armour, was pursuing on foot across a boggy expanse an unarmed adversary, who was tearing away at full speed; although the Wend’s feet pressed down into the soft slime, Eskil did not sink into the filthy morass under his load of armour, but raced on to achieve an easy success. Indeed, once he had seized the barbarian and taken off his head he then returned to solid land without having even gathered muddy stains on his soles. This exploit truly deserves our pious awe, for it had been achieved not simply by fleetness of foot, but by God’s grace, and we should reckon it more the effect of a heavenly miracle than the result of human powers.

6. Later, after the soldiers had set their hands to firing all the villages in that neighbourhood, they extended their burning in a farreaching raid right to Cape Gohren. It was then that the Rugians found their expectations of deriving help from the Saxons cheated, so that, after offering four hostages, they sought peace from the king by payment on the island of Strela.

Chapter 34

1. As spring approached, the leadership of a separate expedition against the Wends was entrusted to Absalon, Christoffer, and Magnus, for the eastern Danes together with the men of Funen had brought together a fleet by themselves; command of the Scanians was given to Christoffer, but the overall decisions rested with Absalon. When they had attacked the province of Tribsees, Christoffer, being the youngest, was allocated the middle station in the battalion between Absalon’s and Magnus’s troops, to ensure that the ruler’s blood relation should be enclosed on the flanks by loyal adherents. The firing of villages was so thorough that, still desolate of cultivation anywhere, the same places even now bear witness by their appearance to the huge extent of that earlier conflagration.

2. As it came to the time for marching back to the ships, Absalon was keeping an eye on the rearguard when the enemy’s arrival was announced, and although the vehemence of the cold was so devastating that it was out of the question to recall the van, attended only by a mere forty horsemen he essayed the enemy before tackling the river crossing, where his path of return lay. As soon as he had sent them packing, he withdrew to the stream at a leisurely pace. Having erected a bridge to pass over it, he was loathe to dismantle the construction once it was at his back, for he had no desire to leave any apparent traces of alarm behind him. When he reached the coast, however, he discovered that the navy had put in at a different harbour. Such was the ferocity of the winter frost that the sailors buried their horses, half-dead with cold, in holes they had dug in the ground; not one man in the entire army might be found who could apply both hands at once to his essential tasks. In that area their mattocks uncovered a horde of snakes, a sight which occasioned more amazement than fear, for the incredibly low temperature had numbed the creatures’ strength and vital spirits. At that time the Scanians gained permission to depart by taking advantage of the favourable breezes, but they were soon prevented from following their route once these winds turned against them, till finally, when the whole fleet experienced a benign change in the weather, they sailed home to their country accompanied by the men from Zealand and Funen.

4. The next summer Valdemar renewed his campaign, because the citizens of Wolgast had infringed the stipulations of their treaty twice over: they had robbed and expelled from their town the Rugians with whom they had shared a fortress and they had also allowed pirates free access to the estuary of the River Peene. While the king was aiming a blow at the Liutizians, a letter arrived from Henry warning Valdemar to beware of a plot being hatched by a relation who might well be striving to gain the kingdom; he was suggesting that Buris had concocted a plan with the Norwegians to overthrow him, and since these same confederates had promised to waylay the monarch when the expedition returned, Buris had it in mind to seize either the sovereign himself or his royal title. The surest proof of this conspiracy would be if the Norwegian fleet intercepted his expeditionary force as it was returning from the Wendish territories. At almost the same moment he received a letter from some Norwegians which gave a similar indication of treason. As soon as the king had revealed the business to a few of his advisers, but holding back the names of the informants, his distrust was deepened and further credence given to the letter when Tyge, bishop of Vendsyssel, expressed his own confirmation, telling how Buris had forced his troops to swear they would proceed with whatever action he himself initiated. Valdemar nevertheless kept the matter concealed and, after sailing rapidly to the locality known as Ostrusna, destroyed that province’s possessions before moving back with his whole fleet to Vordingborg.

Chapter 35

2. The capricious reliability of the Germans stopped Danish valour from taking a quick revenge on the Norwegians for their outrage. When in his dread of the Danes Bugislav fled to Henry and swore his allegiance, the latter thought little of rescinding the alliance he had formed with the king, as though it were an absurd and discreditable bond. In addition, when Henry came to the River Krempe [in Holstein] for consultation with Valdemar, he complained that, without having made any charge before him against Bugislav, his own vassal, the king was challenging this prince to war; if Valdemar considered his actions criminal, then he should assault him with accusations before doing so with arms. On his side Valdemar stated that no regard for any authority would hinder his freedom to repay with corresponding damage the wrongs he had received. Since their dispute continued unresolved, this conference put an end to their league.

4. God, approving of the vow, soon enlisted on his behalf the patronage of that noble prince, Conrad. Through his agency Henry became heir to his father’s estates, but although the men who’d taken the vow never shirked their duty to exhort him, both avarice and sloth prompted him to cease prosecuting war against the Wends, and he looked without gratitude upon the generosity he’d enjoyed. Those who had pronounced the vow were very concerned to fulfil their role of guides; one of them, in the final stages of life, had been granted access with other advisers to the duke’s private counsels, but would continually fall into the habit of snoring; as soon as he had been woken, those seated around would ask him his opinion on the current business, and with his mind retaining a stronger recollection of the past vow than of their present concerns, he would reply: ‘An army must be led against the Wends.’ What immeasurable steadfastness! Even in his declining years he could not forget his commitment! Would anyone in his right senses have believed these words of scrupulous advice were the ramblings of a senile mind? I’m afraid the man most dear to my heart, by spurning the devoutness of his friends is likely to come tumbling down in sheer disgrace from the highest pinnacle of prosperity to the lowly condition of a private citizen. During my service as a soldier in this war we undertook to fight long ago, I’ve received three wounds on the front of my body. If I’d added two more to these in following the same campaign, on the day of the Last Judgment my bold eyes would have ventured to look upon the same number of wounds received by Christ’ His speech foretold Henry’s temporal ruin and the eternal reward of his own bravery.

Chapter 36

3. Of the six ships which were escorting the prelate, three had withdrawn into the farther winding inlets, where their crews could gather firewood more conveniently; however, these vessels were suddenly denied return when the ebb tide stranded them on the swampy mud, while Absalon remained outside the entrance to the bay with the three others. As he was chanting the psalms in the holy ceremony of matins together with his secretary, a confused uproar was heard in the distance, the nature of which Absalon asked his fellow-singer to investigate. When the other reported that he could discern nine longships, Absalon had no doubt that they were pirates, and loudly rebuked his oarsmen because they were still busy snoring. As soon as the rowers leapt to their feet in a complete daze, covering their bodies with their armour instead of clothing, Absalon urged them to assail the enemy with all speed, for now their foes were observed to be so close that they were able to batter the Danes with volleys of stones. Snapping the anchor cables to cut short any delay, Absalon’s vessel thrust out its oars.

4. Fancying they could easily instil fear into our men and petrify their minds with uncouth yells, these Wends began to set up a huge roaring clamour. But when they perceived their efforts were futile, they scattered in different directions, and one of their ships was captured with all its crew. Even the retreats of Bjerne Wood did not help them in their scramble for safety, since the peasants took it upon themselves to comb it thoroughly.

Chapter 37

1. During this period the Danish nation, encompassed all about with stressful dangers, was assailed by her neighbours frequent stratagems, on one side by the Norwegians, on the other by the Wends and Saxons, who were all trying to contrive her ruin. As a result she did not trust herself to sustain a bold encounter with any of her adversaries, fearing that while she thrust back one, she would be pressed hard by a second. Roused by the desperate straits of the fatherland, Gottschalk, who was regarded as a close ally by the Wends owing to his fluency in their language, the kindly disposition of his father towards them, and because he himself had for some time lived amongst them, secretly hinted to Absalon that he had found a clever method of suddenly converting them from friends to foes of the Saxons. He explained how he wanted to go off to Wendish country not under the guise of ambassador, but purely as if to demonstrate his goodwill, pretending that, prompted by personal affection, he wished to impart useful advice to his sympathizers. He would trap these credulous opponents in his subtle snares of falsehoods and make them seek amity with the Danes, after they had thrown off the lordship of the Saxons. He said it was the character of that nation which particularly induced him to undertake this mission, since most of them were inclined to be impulsive and would carry out all their activities with more enthusiasm than discretion.

2. Believing that individual cunning sometimes has the advantage over communal force, Absalon praised Gottschalk’s diligence, but warned him to be careful not to make any false promises on the Danes’ behalf, for he was anxious for the integrity of his country to be seen as blameless and was mindful that, packed as Denmark was with valiant men, it ought to practise warfare with weapons, not fabrications. Gottschalk first approached the Pomeranians, telling them that he was there because he had been deeply touched by recollection of their old friendship and by his love for the whole Wendish people; he wished to hold them back, for he had noted the way they believed certain factors advantageous which were actually dangerous. They ought to realize how they had accepted the yoke of an injurious tyranny and were prepared to give allegiance to those who yearned to strip them eventually of their homeland. Whatever breadth of territory the Saxons took from the Wends they immediately settled and cultivated; not satisfied with booty or fame, and greedy to extend their empire, they confirmed their gains of victory by constant occupation. This was the reason why they had deprived Niklot of his life, Pribislav of his country, and why they had surrounded Ratzeburg, Illow, and Schwerin with ramparts and ditches, with a view to the complete destruction of the Wends. The Danes, however, had different aims when they waged war, and did not strive to grasp their foes’ lands, but only desired the commerce gained by a reciprocal peace treaty, since they were bent more on guarding their own acres than appropriating another’s. Above all they should exert themselves to rid their motherland of Saxon garrisons and, once all this German rabble had been tipped out of the realm, join in fellowship with the Danes, who they could not doubt were hostile to the Saxons; in this fashion they would at last deck their country with the advantages of everlasting freedom.

3. Influenced by these counsels, the Pomeranians overran the localities held by the Saxons within the Wendish domains; although the other strongholds remained in Saxon hands through the courage of their defenders, the Wends captured Illow and acknowledged the suzerainty of the Danish king, so that they would not seem to lack a leader. Gottschalk thus sowed enmity to separate the two powerful races who were a threat to the Danes, and by his conscientious fabric of lies saved our homeland from the impending danger of her neighbours’ troops, to whom it was exposed on every quarter. When the fame of his exploit foreran Gottschalk’s return, the king was filled with admiration, but after Absalon had told him who was responsible for the scheme, he praised its originator even more extravagantly.

4. Henry now sought to restore his rejected friendship with the king, for without it he could not keep the Wends at bay; Henry of Ratzeburg and the bishop of Lueibeck were burdened with the mission of proposing a marriage between the duke’s younger daughter and Valdemar’s son, for the elder girl, to whom he had previously been betrothed, had died of an illness. The same envoys were instructed to promise Valdemar an early meeting with the duke in the province of Bramnaes, so that he could ratify the offer. When the king had set out on the instigation of the two legates, he encountered Gunzelin, who excused the duke’s absence on the grounds of his suffering from ill health, and guaranteed that Henry would speedily join him at the Elder. When the duke eventually arrived there, he fulfilled his assurances and, sharing the same wishes, they agreed to launch a military offensive against the Wends. But while Henry made his way to Demmin, the king set out for Wolgast, where, leaving aside an assault on the town, he and his troops swarmed over the surrounding countryside. Once more he set the town of Osna alight, though little rebuilding had taken place there after its recent devastation. Making for various points in the locality, he laid them waste in the same manner. Because the Wends could not depend on their strength, they appeased each of their adversaries with coin and hostages.

Chapter 38

1. After this operation the king, released from a large portion of his anxieties, began to reflect upon a war against Norway, for up to this moment such a design had been interrupted by Wendish concerns. Consequently, at the outset of spring he followed up his plan with a plentiful supply of Danish soldiers and, since the inhabitants of the Vik showed very strong partiality towards him, he not only had free access there, but a joyful welcome too. He delivered a speech to them more like a leader than a foe, exchanging arms for orations. Being so pleased with their friendly inclinations, he forgot about his opponents and, by advancing at a slow, leisurely pace, gave Erling an amazing amount of time to muster his forces. The huge size of Valdemar’s army drew delighted stares from the people of the Vik. The Danish navy also sailed out unimpeded, watched with glad eyes by the populace. In their wonder at this host of Danes many folk were drawn to the fjord through which the ships had to pass in succession, and so that they might get a better idea of the number of vessels, they thronged the heights, eager to gaze at the sight rather than cause any harm.

Chapter 39

1. While these events were taking place, because the king had been preoccupied with activities too far distant, the inhabitants of Ruegen, gaining self-confidence, staged a rebellion. Since at the end of winter these folk became aware that Valdemar was planning a campaign against them, they secretly instigated someone of striking intelligence and accomplished fluency to undermine the king s proposal with his excellent skills in flattery. Nevertheless, when he found himself quite unable to achieve this, he was reluctant that his own return should precede their enemy’s arrival, in case he should incur suspicion by dissuading the citizens from war, or prove to be their ruin by urging them to resist. He therefore entreated Absalon to allow him to accompany the expedition until such time as his fellowislanders requested his advice, because men of dull understanding are usually better content with recommendations they have asked for than with those offered to them. The king attacked Ruegen at various points, but, whereas he found sources of booty everywhere, nowhere could he discover an occasion for battle, so that, drawn on by a craving to shed blood, he mounted a siege offensive against the town of Arkona.

2. This fortress was situated high up on the peak ofapromontory and was protected to the east, south, and north by natural rather than man-made defences; these cliffs looked like ramparts, whose summit exceeded the trajectory of an arrow shot from a crossbow. Their faces were also washed all round by the sea, but to the west the place was enclosed by a wall fifty cubits [about 28-32 meters] tall, whose lower half was formed of earth, while timbers interspersed with sods constituted the upper section. On the north side gushed the waters of a spring, to which the townsfolk had access by virtue of a shielded path. At one time Erik had forcibly blocked off their use of this, putting just as much hard pressure on the besieged citizens through thirst as with his armaments. In the middle of the city was a level space, on which could be seen a wooden temple of fine craftsmanship, inspiring reverence not only for the splendour of its decoration, but also because of the religious authority attaching to the idol set up there. Elaborate carvings glinted over the whole exterior circuit of the building, varied figures and shapes wrought with crude, primitive artistry. A single door gave admittance. The temple itself was enclosed by two surrounding screens, one inside the other; the outer one was solid and topped with a red roof, while the inner consisted, not of walls, but of bright curtains, hanging between four pillars, and was only linked with the outer structure by the roof and a few ceiling panels.

3. Within the shrine stood a huge effigy, its size surpassing the height of any human figure, and it was amazing to look upon in that it possessed four heads and necks, two of which looked over its chest, two over its back. They were so arranged that, in front and behind, one head appeared to direct its gaze to the right, the other to the left. They were fashioned with shaved beards and cropped hair, so that you would have thought the sculptor had tried hard to imitate the Ruegen style of head adornment. In its right hand the idol carried a horn embellished with various types of metal, into which the priest who was versed in the god’s rituals would once a year pour wine, and from the appearance of the liquid would predict the degree of plenty in the coming year. The left arm was bow-shaped, for the artist had shown it bent back into the statue’s side. The god was represented with a tunic extending to its shins: these were made from a different species of wood and were attached at the knees, with the joining so well hidden that the point of connection could scarcely be detected except by minute scrutiny. The feet were to be seen touching the floor, but the base on which they stood was hidden beneath ground level. Not far away the deity’s bridle and saddle were on view, together with a great many of its divine accoutrements. People’s astonishment at these was enhanced by the sight of a remarkably large sword, whose scabbard and hilt, quite apart from the exceptional beauty of the engraving, were set off by the silver sheen of their surface.

4. Its attendant worship was observed in this manner: once every year, after the crops had been harvested and when beasts had been offered as sacrificial victims, a milling throng from the whole island celebrated a ritual feast at the front of the temple to pay reverence to this idol. On the day before he was obliged to perform the sacred ceremony, its priest, conspicuous for his lengthy hair and beard, which went counter to common fashion in that land, used to take a broom and meticulously sweep out the sanctuary, where only he was allowed to enter; yet he had to be careful not to exhale within this part of the temple; each time he needed to breathe in or out he must run to the door, I suppose to avoid contaminating the god’s presence by contact with the air from human lungs.

5. The next day, while the populace kept watch in front of the doors, the priest would intently examine the drinking-vessel, which he had taken down from the statue, and if the quantity of fluid there had at all diminished, he concluded that it pointed to scarcity in the following year. Once he had perceived this, he would give orders for some of the latest crops to be stored away against the future. However, should he have observed no decrease in its usual level of fullness, he foretold a coming season of agricultural fertility. As a consequence of the omen he used to advise the people to avail themselves of the present year’s resources, sometimes more sparingly, sometimes more lavishly, as the case might be. Then, having poured away the old wine as a libation at the image’s feet, he filled the empty receptacle with the new vintage and, going through the motions of offering the god a drink, paid homage to the statue; afterwards, pronouncing a solemn formula, he begged prosperity for himself and his country, and increases in wealth and victories for its citizens. As soon as this was ended, he put the vessel to his lips and with great speed drained it in one uninterrupted draught, whereupon he replenished it with wine and restored the horn to the idol’s right hand. A round cake baked with honey was also brought as an offering, of such vast proportions that it almost matched the height of a man. Placing it halfway between himself and the crowd, he would ask whether he was visible to the islanders. When they answered that he was, the priest expressed the hope that they would not be able to see him in twelve months’ time. By this manner of request he was not asking for his own or the people’s deaths, but for an increase in the harvest to come.

6. Immediately after that in the name of the effigy he greeted the multitude assembled there, further urging them to complete their obeisance to this god by scrupulously carrying out the ceremonial rites, and guaranteed that they could absolutely depend on land and sea victories as a reward for their piety. Once these procedures were accomplished, they passed the rest of the day consuming a sumptuous banquet, turning the sacrificial feast into an entertainment in which they gratified their stomachs, and making the victims consecrated to the god serve their own self-indulgence. At this festive meal it was thought devout to abandon all temperance, but wicked to observe one’s normal decorum.

7. In adoration of this idol each male and female offered annually the present of a coin. A third of all spoils and booty was also allotted to it, just as though these had been gained and won with its assistance. This deity had three hundred horses assigned to it and the same number of votaries who rode to battle on them; all the profits acquired by these men, either through fighting or by theft, were submitted to the care of the priest; he melted down every weapon handle to make emblems of different kinds and various adornments for the temples, and consigned them to the inside of bolted chests, in which were stored many purple fabrics rotted with age, quite apart from vast sums of money. There too could be seen a huge number of public and private gifts, donated to accompany the anxious prayers of those petitioning for favours.

8. This totem, then, to which all the Wends rendered adoration and tribute, was also honoured with offerings by neighbouring rulers with no regard for the violation of Christian principles. Among these others even Sven, king of Denmark, paid reverence to it, seeking to appease it with a choicely embellished goblet, and being prepared to yield his devotion to a foreign religion in preference to his native faith; for this sacrilege he later suffered the punishment of a miserable end.

9. The god had other shrines, too, at a good many sites, and these were supervised by priests, not quite of equal rank with the first and wielding less power. Moreover, it had a claim to a particular white horse, the hairs of whose mane and tail it was considered impious to pluck out. Only the high priest had the right to feed and mount this animal, in case a more repeated use of the sacred creature should cause it to be held in less esteem. The people of Ruegen believed that on its back Svantevit (that was the name they gave the idol) waged war against the opponents of his religion. Their major proof of this supposition was that, although it occupied its stall during the night, it frequently appeared bathed in sweat and splashed with mud in the morning, as if it had come back from hard exercise and had galloped over vast distances in its travels.

10. Auguries of the following nature were also taken from this horse: when they had decided to prosecute war against some region, three sets of spears would be erected in front of the temple by servants; each set consisted of a pair of spears joined crosswise with the points thrust into the earth, and the same amount of space lay between each arrangement. At the time when they were thinking of conducting an enterprise against an enemy, a solemn prayer would first be offered, and then the priest would lead the horse in its trappings out from the forecourt; if it stepped over each formation of spears with the right hoof before the left, this was accepted as a favourable prediction for undertaking the war. Yet if the left even once preceded the right, the plan to attack that territory was altered, and their date of sailing was only fixed properly after they saw the horse take three paces in turn which made the creature’s advance auspicious.

12. When they were about to tackle various other pieces of business, they would divine the prospects for their wishes from the first meeting they had with an animal. If the omens were pleasing, they cheerfully pursued the journey they had embarked on. But if these were gloomy, they turned round and sought their own homes once more. The practice of prophesying fate was by no means unfamiliar to them. Three splinters of wood, white on one side, black on the other, were thrown like lots into their laps; the white uppermost enabled them to recognize good fortune, the dark, bad luck. Not even women were without this type of skill. Sitting by the hearth, they used to draw random lines in the ashes without counting them. If their number turned out to be even, they supposed that it forecast agreeable circumstances; if odd, they reckoned they could expect adverse events.

12. King Valdemar was eager to overthrow the religious rites of this city just as much as he wished to destroy its fortifications, and believed that by razing Arkona the heathen cult might be stamped out through the whole of Ruegen. He was quite certain that as long as the idol remained it would be less easy to overcome the paganism of the inhabitants than their defences. So that he could take the place by storm all the more quickly, he set the entire army to the heavy labour of fetching a huge quantity of timber, suitable for building siege engines, from the nearby forests.

13. While his engineers were bending their efforts to constructing these machines, Valdemar stated that it was useless for them to give their attention to such preparations, seeing that they were going to capture the city sooner than expected. Being asked what auspice had led him to understand this, he replied that his prediction stemmed particularly from the fact that, when Charlemagne had at one time taken Ruegen by assault and commanded its inhabitants to pay tribute to St Vitus of Corvey, who had died an illustrious martyr’s death,* the islanders, anxious to claim back freedom after their vanquisher’s decease, exchanged thraldom for superstition and erected within their community an effigy which they proposed to call St Vitus. With contempt for the monks of Corvey, they started to transfer the amount they gave in tribute to this native cult, maintaining that they were quite satisfied with their local Vitus and were not obliged to render homage to a foreign equivalent. Therefore, said Valdemar, because the citizens had admitted him in a shape no better than that of a monster, the real St Vitus would cause a humiliating demolition of the walls when the time of his festival** came round. Surely the saint must rightly exact vengeance for that insult on men who had recalled his revered memory with such sacrilegious worship. Valdemar declared that he had come to this conclusion not through inferences taken from dreams or random occurrences, but entirely through the acuteness of his own presentiments. Everyone found his forecast more astounding than credible.

[*note: “Saxo’s source for the legendary Carolingian conquest of Ruegen is probably Helmold
(Chronica, chapter 108), who attributes it to Charlemagne’s son, Louis the Pious. The story was fabricated in the monastery of Corvey, whose abbots tried to gain influence on Ruegen in the 12th century.”]

[**note: “Saint Vitus’s Day is June 15th]

14. Connection between Ruegen and the island of Wittow, on which Arkona stands, is cut off by a narrow sea channel, which scarcely appears to reach the breadth of a river; to make sure that the people of Arkona were offered no reinforcements from that quarter, soldiers were dispatched to watch the crossing and to prevent the enemy coming over, while with the remainder of his troops Valdemar hastened to beleaguer the city, which he first put into effect by placing his siege engines near the rampart. Absalon, directed to apportm campsites to the various companies, measured the area between season each side and carried out the required dispositions.

15. In the meantime the townsfolk had built up a huge mound of turves in front of the city gate in order to give their foe smaller chance to attack it; from the operation of blocking the entrance with this heaped edifice of clods they derived such a measure of confidence that they only kept banners and standards to defend the tower situated above the gate. Among these was one known as Stanitza, conspicuous in its size and colour, to which the people of Ruegen paid as much veneration as almost all the other deities were accorded for their majesty. Whenever the citizens displayed this ensign before them they felt entitled to vent their rage against all things human and divine, and reckoned that in these circumstances they were allowed to do anything they pleased. In this way they would be able to devistate cities, dismantle altars, observe no difference between right and wrong, and destroy any home on Ruegen by tearing it down or burring it to the ground; so addicted were they to this false belief that for them the power inherent in this paltry piece of cloth surpassed the efficacy of a king’s might. Those who were hurt because of the emblem accorded honour to it as though it were a sacred totem, returning service for injury, for severity obedience.

16. Meanwhile Valdemar’s soldiers were pressing on with the assorted labours involved at the start of a siege, busying themselves with military concerns for their essential needs, some putting up stables, some erecting tents, while the king alleviated the excessive daytime heat by taking his ease in the shade; at the same time certain Danish lads, making impudent sallies, which, as it happened, brought them up to the ramparts, began to hurl pebbles at the defence works from their whirling slings. As the inhabitants of Arkona were more diverted than alarmed by the temperament of their assailants, they felt it demeaning to intercept their advances militantly, for they seemed rather like a game and made the citizens want to watch instead of repulsing them. Very soon some young men started to vie with the boys’ attempts, using similar provocations, till the townspeople relinquished the pleasure of observation and reluctantly resorted to fighting. Then our younger soldiers, too, abandoned the different duties they were engaged in and rushed to bring aid to their comrades, with the cavalry leading the way and taking the place of those juvenile sportsmen.

17. Although the affair had begun with insignificant, almost ridiculous preliminaries, it advanced by leaps and bounds to transform the contest into a major event; slowly but surely the incitement of the youngsters’ frolic developed into a serious form of adult battle. Now it so chanced that, as the mass of sods settled down, the earth heaped up at the gate collapsed into the shape of a cavern or tunnel, and an immense gap yawned between the tower and the pile of turves. At that point a youthful fellow of excellent spirit, but otherwise unknown, saw this as an opportunity to contrive a feat, and begged his companions help him achieve it; if he could go in advance with their backing, he guaranteed that the storming of the city would follow as an immediate consequence and he would set them on the road to victory. When they asked how they could oblige him, he told them to plunge the points of their spears into the middle part of the heap of earth, so that he could climb up the shafts as if on the steps of a ladder; while he was raised up in this way and was aware of being protected on all sides by the cavelike walls of the mound, which prevented the enemy from harming him, he demanded straw to build a fire. Asked whether he had any means of lighting it, he answered that he had equipped himself with iron and flints, after giving a reminder that, as soon as the blazed flared up, he needed to be caught by them in his descent.

18. As they were looking about for fuel to start the fire, chance provided the material. As luck would have it, a cart was being driven past loaded with straw for the usual purposes. After commandeering the load, each soldier threw a truss over to the next and proferred them on their spear points to the young man, so that in a short time the open cavity was filled in, while the fact that the tower was deserted allowed him safe access. The townsfolk were deceived partly by their ignorance of what was going on, partly by the emptiness of the tower whose extensive width also gave protection to the attackers at each side. Suddenly the tinder caught, the building began to go up in flames; and the one who had produced the conflagration slid to the ground into the arms of his comrades, having taken the first step towards victory.

19. As soon as they glimpsed the smoke, the townsmen were flabbergasted at the unforeseen danger and dithered about, uncertain whether to combat fire or foe. Eventually collecting their wits, they rushed at the blaze with all their energies and, showing no concern for their adversaries, began to wage war on the flames; at the same time our troops were trying to prevent them extinguishing it, with the result that one side seemed possessed with a passion to stifle the furnace, the other equally wild to keep it alive. Finally, when the garrison had run out of water, they tried to douse the flames with milk, but the more frequently they poured this liquid over them the more fiercely they flared up. The whole process increased the blaze to an inferno.

20. When he heard the uproar, the king left his camp to enjoy the spectacle and was at once smitten with astonishment at the occurrence; he was unsure whether or not the fire would be an important factor in the capture of the city, and pressed Absalon with questions about his best course of action. The bishop urged him not to get mixed up in youthful escapades or attempt anything suddenly without previously examining the situation, and began to make insistent request that Valdemar first allow him to reconnoitre and see if the fire could be a useful tool for taking possession of Arkona. Without hesitating over the investigation, he simply donned shield and helmet before approaching the gate, where he started to exhort the young men who were endeavouring to assault it to nurse the blaze instead. The fire, fed by the combustibles kindled everywhere, leapt higher and, nourished also by the oak doorposts and columns, devoured the wooden floor of the tower. It then seized hold of the roof, and reduced to ashes the flag specially associated with the idol and the other emblems of Arkona’s religion. As soon as the king heard of this event from Absalon’s mouth, he took the prelate’s advice and gave orders for his men to encircle the city. Meanwhile he hurriedly positioned his chair outside the camp so that he could sit and view the battle.

21. At that moment a splendidly courageous young Danish warrior was struggling to scale the bulwarks before his fellow soldiers, uncommonly eager to win glory; then he received a fatal blow to the body but, as he collapsed, he bore himself in such a manner that he appeared to fall as though deliberately springing forward and had not been subjugated by death. His bravery left it doubtful whether he fought or perished the more nobly.

22. The Pomeranians [see chapter 37] under their leaders Kazimar and Bugislav thought it an excellent occupation to engage in combat as the king was looking on, and gave a unique exhibition of valour in a singularly bold attack on the stronghold. Their distinguished efforts delighted Valdemar as he beheld them with gratified amazement.

23. The majority of the town-dwellers, encompassed by a double peril, fell to earth either through being burnt or from being struck by the enemy’s missiles, and were unsure whether they should be more terrified of fire or foe. Some, disregarding safety, conducted their city’s defence so resolutely and stubbornly that they were overwhelmed by the concurrent downfall of the flaming ramparts and were thrown onto the pyre of their blazing walls, letting themselves be cremated in the general conflagration. Such deep affection was felt for their fortified home that they chose to share in its destruction and not survive it.

24. When the inhabitants had despaired of their predicament and were close to death and annihilation, one of them shouted from the battlements at the top of his voice, asking if he might talk with Absalon. The bishop first ordered him to withdraw to the quietest area of the city, in other words, the district which lay farthest away from the noise and carnage, and then demanded to know what offer he had to make. The other, reinforcing the effect of his voice with hand gestures, begged for a remission in our military action, in order that the inhabitants might be given time to surrender. Absalon replied that there would be no relaxation in the onslaught unless the townsfolk simultaneously withdrew their efforts to stop the blaze. When the barbarian assented to this condition, Absalon at once presented to the king the entreaties he had received, whereupon Valdemar immediately recalled his captains from the fighting so that they could confer about the situation; Absalon added that they should accede to the infidel’s pleas, also pointing out that the later the citizens tried to calm the advance of the encroaching flames, the harder they would find the task. If they stopped trying to curb it, they would be ceding victory to the bonfire, even though their opponents remained at a distance. Our soldiers, on the other hand, though allowing themselves to remain inactive, would gain an advantage from the fire’s strength which they could not attain with their own, seeing that the fire was itself fighting in the Danes’ interests. Even if for the moment they desisted from the fray, they must not consider themselves idle; they were principally doing battle by means of outside assistance with no danger to themselves.

25. After Absalon’s scheme had received approval, the king gave the townsfolk a pledge of security, with the following provisos: they should hand over their effigy together with all the treasure dedicated to it, free the Christian prisoners from their imprisonment, letting them go without ransom, and undertake to honour all the articles of the true faith according to Danish ritual. Furthermore, they must turn over all the lands and estates consecrated to their gods for the use of the Christian priesthood and, whenever circumstances demanded, must be ready to assist in any campaign launched by the Danes, so that, once given the summons, they would never show reluctance to accompany the king’s soldiery. Meanwhile every year they were to contribute 40 pieces of silver for every single yoke of oxen they possessed, and yield the same number of hostages as a guarantee that they would abide by those terms.

26. On hearing this decree, our people were suddenly kindled by the torches of mutiny and, avid for the spoils and blood of their foe, started to grumble loudly: if they were deprived of the rewards of their forthcoming victory, they would have carried away nothing from that debilitating struggle but wounds and bruises, and were not at liberty to take the vengeance they wished on those they had come close to conquering, to compensate for the many injuries they had received; now they were obliged to give consideration, they muttered, to the welfare of those on whom, with a minimum of trouble, they could have exacted spectacular retaliation for all the booty wrested from them, all the devastation they had suffered on their own soil. Moreover, they threatened to forsake the king since, they maintained, he had not allowed them to capture the city and preferred a mean payment to a resounding victory. Annoyed by these buzzing criticisms, Valdemar took the commanding officers outside the camp, right away from the tumult, and enquired whether they would be better satisfied with the surrender or the sack of the town.

27. When they in turn aksed Absalon to state what he felt on this question, he declared firmly that the stronghold could undoubtedly be taken, but only at the expense of a long and costly siege. Though his aspirations, he said, were perversely interpreted by the common crowd, in giving beneficial advice he preferred to displease those who credited him with mischievous intentions, and not impair the safety of his friends by striving for a dubious advantage. Even if the fire, which had started more, it seemed, by a miracle from heaven than through any human agency, had almost turned to debris the upper section of the fortifications, composed of wattle, the solider structure of the lower portion would not yield to the flames, and on account of its height did not afford easy access to a hostile assault. Furthermore, the townsfolk would have repaired almost all the parts that had burnt down by reconstructing them with clay, and though the inhabitants to a certain extent were kept at bay by the violence of the blaze, they had been somewhat safeguarded by its help, since its fierce heat hindered our army’s attack no less than it did their defence. Besides, if the dwellers in Arkona were denied preservation, all the other towns on Ruegen would make a virtue of necessity and turn on our troops all the more passionately inasmuch as they were resisting in desperation. But if they knew that the citizens had received our assurances of safety, the other towns would easily view their example as determining some protection for themselves. Therefore, as it might be considered more praiseworthy to encompass the storming of many strongholds on the one campaign rather than batter away doggedly at the siege of a single fortress, offers of surrender ought not to be snubbed. However, if the rest of his audience thought otherwise, they still should return their hostages unmolested, in case they might be judged as having treated these prisoners with less than genuine trustworthiness, or the Danish word be associated, contrary to custom, with any taint of unreliability.

28. Archbishop Eskil made sure that Absalon’s views met with assenting voices, since he affirmed that the ordinary people should submit to their lords, not the lords to the people, and that it was wrong for the greater to yield to the will of the lesser. What more desirable conquest could anyone achieve—not just making the devotees of a pagan religion liable to tribute but making them bow to Christian worship? He suggested that the Danes also utilize the people of Arkona’s energies to combat their remaining adversaries rather than look eagerly for their slaughter; it was all the more laudable to bring an enemy to submission than to kill him, inasmuch as gentleness is recognized as far superior to harsh treatment. On top of that, it would be somewhat more fitting to take over the garrisons of many strongholds at the same time than to prefer the blockade of one to the appropriation of all. His line of argument swayed the captains and won them over to his and Absalon’s way of thinking. The king, too, was encouraged by their forceful advice, so that, patiently blocking his ears, he spurned the dangerous tongues of the mob.

29. Once the soldiers had been sent away to attend to their bodies’ needs, Absalon assumed the charge of taking hostages, and accepted as pledges either children, or in some cases their parents, who were admitted as security for their offspring, but only until the next day. While the bishop was snatching some sleep during the early hours of the following night, loud shouts were heard from one of the heathen, who was calling for the services of Gottschalk, the man Absalon used as an interpreter with the Wends. Gottschalk, woken by his voice, shouted back to ask what report he was bringing. When the visitor had requested access to Absalon and been given permission to approach, the prelate went to meet him outside his tent, where they spoke through the translator; the other began earnestly to beseech the bishop to let him bring news of Arkona’s fortunes to the men of Karenz, so that he could urge them to forestall disaster without delay by concluding a similar kind of pact and thus ensure their own and their city’s safety; he promised that he would return the following day to disclose their wishes. In addition he declared that his name was Granza, son of Littog, and that he had been born in Karenz; he said he was not a citizen of Arkona here, but a stranger who had arrived against his will after being sent over with others as reinforcements. In case his statements should be taken as deceptive, he showed how he had been disabled by a wound in the arm, which rendered him useless for giving assistance to the townspeople.

30. Since Absalon judged that a man so seriously injured could hardly contribute anything vital to the enemy’s power, and as he believed that it made little difference whether he incited his fellowcitizens to fight or surrender, he referred a decision on the man’s request to the king. Having woken up Valdemar there and then, he sought his opinion on the question. The monarch told Absalon to make up his own mind on the matter, whereupon the bishop gave the answer to the waiting heathen that Valdemar had granted everything apart from the three days’ armistice that had been sought, for he was anxious to ensure that the foe were not given this long period to refortify their city. He promised to allow him the duration of the following day, because he did not wish to send him off entirely without cover of a truce, and stated that unless he presented himself wlth all the chieftains of Ruegen for a meeting at the agreed rime on next to his home town, there would be no further possibility of striking a pact.

31. The next day Esbern and Sune, to whom the king had assigned the task of demolishing the idol, found themselves unable to wrest it from its position without the use of axes; they therefore first tore down the curtains which veiled the shrine, and then commanded their servants to deal swiftly with the business of hacking down the statue; however, they were careful to warn their men to exercise caution in dismantling such a huge bulk, lest they should be crushed by its weight and be thought to have suffered punishment from the malevolent deity. Meanwhile a massive throng of townsfolk ringed the temple, hoping that Svantevit would pursue the instigators of these outrages with his strong, supernatural retribution.

32. The effigy, hewn off at the lower end of its shins, fell backwards against the nearby wall. Sune exhorted his helpers to smash down this wall so that they could haul out the image, but instructed them to be wary, since in their appetite for its destruction he did not want them to be too imperceptive of their own danger, exposing themselves negligently to the risk of being flattened by the falling staute. With a gigantic crash the idol tumbled to earth. The swathes of purple drapery which hung about the sanctuary certainly glittered, but were so rotten with decay that they could not survive touching. The sanctum also contained the prodigious horns of wild animals, astonishing no less in themselves than in their ornamentation. A devil was seen departing from the inmost shrine in the guise of a black animal, until it disappeared abruptly from the gaze of the bystanders.

33. The inhabitants were then ordered to cast ropes round the idol so that it could be carted out of the city, but their ingrained, superstitious fear was such that they dare not perform this action themselves; they therefore commanded their prisoners and the town’s foreign traders to drag it outside, considering it best for base creatures to expose themselves to the hazard of drawing divine wrath down on their heads. The inmates of Arkona were convinced that the sovereign power of the god, which they had always honoured with such devout worship, would wreak dire, instantaneous vengeance on its desecrators. It was then that different voices might be heard from among the citizens, some mourning the violence done to their deity, others greeting it with derision. Without doubt the more judicious members of the community were invested with deep shame when they realized how, like simpletons, they had been deceived in paying such senseless homage for so many years. When the totem had been lugged into the camp, it was met with astonishment by the assembled troops; nor did the captains allow themselves a proper chance of viewing it before the common soldiers had had their fill of gaping and then moved aside.

34. The rest of the day was spent taking the hostages who had stayed in the town the day before. But the army commanders sent their chaplains into the city to exercise their priestly duties and accustom a people ignorant of the faith to Christian rites by instilling holy teaching into their profane understandings. As evening approached, all those who ran the cookhouse attacked the effigy with their cleavers and chopped it into small faggots and sticks suitable for their fires. I could have imagined the men of Ruegen at that stage being disgusted by their ancient idolatry, when they saw the divinity which they, their fathers, and grandfathers had regularly honoured with the most pious veneration disgracefully fed into the fire and watched it provide the service of cooking their enemies’ food. Afterwards our troops went about the double task of burning down the temple and building a church from the wood of their siege engines, thus transforming their instruments of war into an abode of peace. So the machines they had designed for crushing the bodies of their adversaries were now devoted to saving their souls. A day was also determined for the people of Ruegen to hand over the treasure which had been dedicated to Svantevit as votive offerings.

35. Once all this was finished Absalon explained to the Danish military leaders the promise made by Granza of Karenz and they all judged that his offer should be put to the test; the prelate therefore departed at night with thirty ships, after the king had been advised to follow shortly before dawn. The inhabitants of Karenz were so terror stricken at the news of Arkona’s fall that they reached the spot fixed by Absalon even before the appointed hour. There Granza, seated on horseback, shouted from a distance to enquire who was in charge of the fleet. As soon as he learnt that it was headed by Absalon, he made known his identity and informed the bishop that King Tetislav had come there with his brother, Jarimar,* and all the higher nobility of Ruegen. Having pledged their safety, Absalon received them aboard his ship, where, after they had agreed to surrender on exactly the same terms as the citizens of Arkona, he kept them continuously until Valdemar’s arrival.

[*note: “King Tetislav and his brother Jarimar became Christians, and as Valdemar’s vassal, Tetislav reigned as prince of Ruegen until at least 1170; Jarimar succeeded him and reigned until 1218.”]

36. When the Danish sovereign consented to all the stipulations of the covenant, Absalon, taking Jarimar alone of all the Rugen aristocracy, proceeded to Karenz accompanied by Sven of Arhus; but to make sure that he should travel to that city in greater security, the remaining lords were inveigled to a feast by Esbern, brother of Absalon, who had given instructions that they were not to be released before his return. The prelate was attended solely by thirty men-atarms from his household, the majority of whom he sent back when the people of Karenz begged that his retinue should not start up any brawls in the town; then he speedily made his way there, better furnished with confidence than companions. The stronghold was encircled by a barrier of deep bogs and pools, so that the only approach to it lay through a hazardous, marshy ford; if anyone strayed from this and thoughtlessly left the true path, he must necessarily plunge into the swampy abyss.* Those who had traversed the ford were confronted by a footway which stretched to the city, extending between the marsh and the ramparts and leading right up to the gate.

[*note: “Karenz was the stronghold of the Rugian kings. It has traditionally been identified with an oval fortification situated outside the town of Garz in south-east Ruegen. However, a more likely one has been suggested recently, namely the huge fortification of Venz in central Ruegen, much closer to Arkona, and therefore one which squares better with Saxo’s description of events (see Kratzke et al., ‘Garz und Rugendahl auf Ruegen im Mittelalter’).]

37. The citizens of Karenz, wishing to make their surrender more striking, formed a company of six thousand men, who streamed out from the gates carrying their weapons; after planting the tips of their spears in the earth, they began to border the route along which it suited our people to advance, in lines facing one another. When Sven grew numb at this sight and asked Absalon what the enemy’s exodus spelt for them, the latter bade him have no fear, and explained that their emergence from the town arose from a keen desire to demonstrate obedience; if they had had it in mind to inflict harm, they could have executed their mischief more simply within the city walls. What supreme assurance, then, we should attribute to this man, who did not shrink from letting power over his life so readily be subject to the uncertain whim of an armed foe! Our warriors, also, strengthened by his example, did not waver in their expression or their ranks, but maintained a constantly steady pace, resting more hope merely in Absalon’s protection than fear of the massed enemy. When the Danes had crossed the ford and begun to march along the road leading up to the fortifications, the people of Karenz, who had flocked round them in their hundreds on either side, prostrated their bodies on the ground, as if they were paying the reverence due to their gods; on rising they started to trail the soldiers’ steps with friendly enthusiasm. As Absalon entered the city, the populace eagerly flowed out to welcome him, and he was received not so much as a diplomat pursuing his private negotiations as a facilitator of public peace.

38. The town was famous for three very notable temples that had been built there, worth visiting for the splendour of their noble architecture; the authority attaching to the local deities had won them almost as much reverence as was commanded by the powerful god of the state among the citizens of Arkona. Now this locality, though empty in the time of peace, at that period stood crammed with numerous dwellings. These were three storeys high, the lowest one providing support for the weight of the middle and highest floors. Moreover, the houses were so tightly packed together that, were boulders to be hurled into the city from ballistas, they would never strike bare earth when they fell. In addition, such a fierce stench of filth pervaded every home in the community that it tormented their bodies no less than fear racked their minds. In view of these factors it was obvious to our army that the people of Karenz could not have resisted a siege; the Danes saw no reason to be any longer amazed at the inhabitants’ swift capitulation when they clearly perceived how confined they were forced to be.

39. The largest shrine was surrounded by its own forecourt, but both spaces were enclosed with purple hangings instead of walls, while the roof gable rested only on pillars. Therefore our attendants tore down the curtains adorning the entrance area and eventually laid hands on the inner veils of the sanctuary. Once these had been removed, an idol made of oak, which they called Ruegevit, lay open to the gaze from every quarter, wholly grotesque in its ugliness. For swallows, having built their nests beneath the features of its face, had piled the dirt of their droppings all over its chest. A fine deity, indeed, when its image was fouled so revoltingly by birds!* Furthermore, in its head were set seven human faces, all contained under the surface of a single scalp. The sculptor had also provided the same number of real swords in scabbards, which hung on a belt at its side, while an eighth was held brandished in its right hand. The weapon had been inserted into its fist, to which an iron nail had clamped it with so firm a grip that it could not be wrenched away without severing the hand; this was the very pretext needed for topping it off. In thickness the idol exceeded the width of a human frame, and its height was such that Absalon, standing on the toes of its feet, could hardly reach its chin with the small battleaxe he used to carry.

[*note: “Saxo’s description of Ruegivit has the lively details of an eyewitness account, but the feature of the nesting swallows is more probably an inheritance from early Christian polemics against the pagan gods, as in Lactanius (Divinarum institutionum libri septum, ed. Heck and Wlosock, 2005), ii. 4) and Arnobius (Adversos nationes, ed. van der Putten, vi. 16).”]

40. The men of Karenz had believed this to be the god of war, as though it were endowed with the strength of Mars. Nothing about the effigy was pleasant to look at, for its lineaments were misshapen and repulsive because of the crude carving. Every citizen was possessed by sheer panic when our henchmen began to apply their hatchets to its lower legs. As soon as these had been cut through, the trunk fell, hitting the ground with a loud crash. Once the townsfolk beheld this sight, they scoffed at their god’s power and contemptuously forsook the object of their veneration.

41. Not satisfied with its demolition, Absalon’s workforce now stretched their hands all the more eagerly towards the image of Porevit, worshipped in the temple close by. On it were implanted five heads, though it had been fashioned without weapons. After that effigy had been brought down, they assailed the sacred precinct of Porenut. Its statue displayed four faces and a fifth was inserted in its breast, with its left hand touching the forehead, its right the chin. Here again the attendants did good service, chopping at the figure with their axes until it toppled.

42. Absalon then issued a proclamation that the citizens must burn these idols inside the city, but they immediately opposed his command with entreaties, begging him to take pity on their overcrowded city and not expose them to fire after he had spared their throats. If the flames crept to the surrounding area and caught hold of one of the huts, the dense concentration of buildings would undoubtedly cause the whole mass to go up in smoke. For this reason they were bidden to drag the statues out of the town, but for a long time the people resisted, continuing to plead religion as their excuse for defying the edict; they feared that the supernatural forces would exact vengeance and cause them to lose the use of those limbs they had employed to carry out the order. In the end Absalon taught them by his admonitions to make light of a god who had not power enough to rise to his own defence; once they had become confident of being immune from punishment, the citizens were quick to obey his directions.

43. It ls not surprising to find that they were afraid of the might exercised by those divinities, when they recalled how they had often chastised the people’s lustful behaviour. It was common for males of that town, if they were admitted to have intercourse with women, to get stuck like dogs; after lingering a while they found they were unable to prize themselves apart, and occasionally both parties were hoisted against each other on poles to provide a laughing-stock for the populace through the spectacle of their unwanted union. This unsavoury marvel made the people offer pious reverence to those despicable images, since they believed that a phenomenon wrought by devils’ magic had been accomplished through the influence of these gods.

44. So that he might better show them that the idols deserved disdain, Sven made it his business to stand high on top of them while the men of Karenz were heaving them away. In so doing he added affront by increasing the weight and harassed the pullers as much with humiliation as with the extra burden, when they viewed their deities in residence lying beneath the feet of a foreign bishop.

45. While Sven was indulging in these activities, Absalon returned to Karenz in the evening, after consecrating three burial grounds in the countryside near that city, and, once the idols had been destroyed, made his way to the ships in pitch darkness accompanied by Jarimar, whom he made dine with him. As a result of having spent three consecutive nights without rest, the prelate’s vision had been so impaired by sleeplessness that he almost lost the use of his sight. The following morning the clerics along with those who personally celebrated the sacraments for the army leaders, first donned their sacerdotal vestments and then redeemed the people of that province by performing the rite of baptism. Likewise by constructing churches in a large number of localities, they exchanged the dens of an esoteric superstition for the edifices of public religion. On the same day as the conversions took place, time was found to receive the remaining hostages.

46. During this period the chieftains of Pomerania, reckoning they should shrug off Tetislav’s rule and take control of Ruegen and its affairs themselves as a reward for their military service, begged leave to depart and then abandoned friendship in favour of enmity. Later this defection brought about long-lasting variance and hostilities between these people and the Danes. Soon after our troops had cast off from the harbour in the evening, they put in at the island closest to the mainland.* There the men of Ruegen carried to the king seven chests, all equally large, filled to the brim with money dedicated to the majesty of their gods. As soon as this operation was completed, a decree was broadcast that the expedition should now sail home.

[*note: “Probably Danholm (known as Strela insula elsewhere in Saxo), opposite Stralsund.”]

47. Immediately on his return Absalon equipped new priests with the attire belonging to their station, and with provisions, too; having recalled the earlier nominees, he dispatched their successors to Ruegen, wishing to ensure that they should not live at the expense of others and burden the people they were to instruct in the Holy Scriptures, because they had to be provided with life’s essentials. There was no shortage of miracles as they went about their work of preaching: by their beneficial prayers they restored to a fine healthy condition a good many folk who had been enfeebled by physical infirmities, a boon which, it seems, could have been granted by God more in the interest of winning belief among this race than for enhancing the holiness of the clergy. But if any spurned Christianity, these same priests would exact severe punishment by causing the ruin of their limbs in different ways, so that you might plainly believe the Almighty bestowed profit on those who embraced His worship, but vengeance on those who despised it.

48. In Ruegen, too, there occurred not long ago a celebrated marvel of a kind hitherto unheard of: a married woman against whom her husband had levelled an unwarranted charge of adultery had brought forward her right hand to grasp a glowing plate of metal, so that she might clear her name of dishonour; suddenly the iron which she had been about to take hold of, as though shunning contact with her innocent hand, rose high into the air, regardless of its own weight; there it swung about, following the progress of the woman as she walked along until, when its flight must bring it before the altar, it fell to the ground of its own volition amid the awed wonder of the bystanders. This phenomenon not only freed the wife from disgrace but inclined the dispositions of the onlookers to deeper piety. She was certainly not rash in putting her chastity to the trial of such a precarious proof, since her conscience, sound and untainted, furnished her body and mind with certainty.

49. After the capture of Ruegen every corner of the Baltic was still polluted with the blemish of piracy and so the Danes prepared a clever scheme whereby, when the numbers of their fleet had been surveyed, every fourth ship was to keep watch for those sea robbers, as long as the seasons and conditions would allow it; in this way the continued vigilance of certain crews would relieve them of universal hardship. Our nation saw as great an advantage in the constant service performed by a few as in the divided employment of the entire navy. For this duty they decided to choose young bachelors in particular, so that nostalgia for the marriage bed should not dull men’s zest for warfare. Absalon and Christoffer were appointed as their commanders. Not content with searching the approaches to home waters, they also scoured the coasts of Ruegen and the winding inlets of the Liutizians.

Chapter 40

3. Now though the Swedes and Danes were at loggerheads, the Danish warriors felt it best to spare this island, since they did not care to wreak destruction on Christians that was intended for heathens, choosing rather to honour the faith they shared than keep up hostilities between their realms. Here they learnt from the islanders that a combined gang of Kurlanders and Estlanders was carrying out its raids from a port not far away; forgetful of their king’s warning in their scorn for these foes, they aimed for the location which had been made known to them, each ship as fast as it could travel, and raced each other into the harbour. An Estland lookout vessel, once it had spied this, rowed off to the high seas, preferring to escape by a roundabout route sooner than convey intelligence of this sighting to its fleet of companions.

4. When all the other pirates discovered the assault, they lugged their craft up on to the mainland and began to hide intentionally in the scrub of a neighbouring forest. Foolishly misunderstanding their ruse, Sven Skoling and Neils of Vendsyssel sped furiously with powerful strokes of their oars and jumped out onto the shore with all their rowers; here they were met by the barbarians, who had executed a sudden, crafty volte-face, and after a long and arduous struggle paid for their neglect of the king’s admonitions with death. While Tue the Tall and Esger, two of Absalon’s prominent knights, were desperate to bring them help, they joined in the fate* of those whose lives they so much desired to shield. Magnus the Scanian, vexed more than frightened by these perils his comrades were facing, landed in a different area of the beach, but his encounter with the foe led to a similar result. As soon as the heathens had emptied all these ships ofoarsmen, they hacked through their timbers with battleaxes and sank them in deep water.

[*note: later both appear alive]

5. Christoffer gazed at this slaughter of Danish soldiers, but plied the oars to keep his vessel moving at only a moderate speed and held off from land. When, however, the ship was floating broadside to the shore, these adversaries pelted it with such a heavy barrage of rocks that the oarsmen were happy merely to protect their own persons without finding the power to attack others, and were no longer free to think of dealing, only of ducking blows. As soon as Esbern perceived this situation, loth that the royal blood should be seen as entrusted to his care for nothing, he made a beeline for the mainland and plunged straight into the volley of stones, so that, in interposing his own vessel, he saved the young man, taxed by dangers, from imminent doom. But with brute force the savage throng at once seized the hull, wounded the men stationed at the prow, and made sure they lost no time hauling the ship on to the strand.

6. After Esbern had shot three bolts from his crossbow and seen them all miss their mark, he smashed the weapon which had proved so ineffective in his hands and walked, clad in armour, from poop to prow, where, for a considerable part of the day, with his amazing vigour of mind and body he held offunaided all those opponents. In the end he was so bruised by the stones and pounded by shafts that he even lost the use of his legs and, regaining the stern with some difficulty, sat down on the deck. He had now been abandoned by his fellows, who all except one had dived into the ocean under the pressure of fear; yet when he caught sight of the barbarians leaping into the ship, whose sides they had now breached with their axes, he did not forget his old courage but, gathering his energies yet again, took on these foes once, twice, and even a third time, until he routed them and hurled furiously back at them the missiles they had showered on him, turning to his own advantage what those others in their violence had directed towards his ruin.

7. Finally, with deadened muscles and worn out by utter fatigue, he yielded to weakness rather than to the enemy, and had already begun to retreat step by step in order to recuperate his strength, when a rock struck him such a heavy blow on the head that he nearly collapsed lifeless just before reaching the stern. And when the pagans had climbed into the ship and a horde of them were rushing forward to cut him to pieces as he lay there, his sole remaining companion, finding his words unable to rouse the half-dead man, clasped Esbern with his right arm and pulled him upright; the mere sight of his standing figure was enough to drive back the mob of converging opponents. Their experience of his bravery had been such that his appearance no less than his strength filled them with panic. Once he had eventually returned to his senses, he wished to know why on earth his comrade was annoying him like this; but after he had learnt how the boat had filled with barbarians, regaining his former vitality, he beat them all back, made his way to the bows and briskly took up the fight until, his powers almost spent, he wanted to retreat to the mast, but again fell down semiconscious, and would have perished if Christoffcr’s rowers had not rapidly taken him off the ship and saved his life.

8. These events made the rest warier about landing. For this reason they exercised greater prudence and stood off, waging combat from a distance with their slings and spears. Since the approach of darkness seemed likely to inhibit any further attempts at action, the Danes held a discussion with a view to postponing conflict, but thought it wise for sentinels to keep watch, in case any ship belonging to the heathens slipped unobtrusively out of the harbour in the night and made its escape. Now that the pagans realized they were cooped in by such a large blockading fleet, hopelessness gave way to courage, and they began to consider flight no longer, but victory. Therefore, partly with their own and their adversaries’ vessels which they had commandeered, and to some extent with piles of logs and tree trunks from the forest, they built a fortification the size of a castle with two very restricted doorways, awkward narrow entries through which a person had to creep stooping as if they were back passages. The sides, too, which they had constructed out of ships s timbers, they protected externally by sails rolled into numerous layers, copying as a means of defence the way textiles are stitched together. Apart from that, some people put their effort into cutting stakes and chopped away at the ends until they were sharp, others busied themselves gathering from the beach stones suitable for flinging; to make sure their spirits did not appear at all languid, they sang and danced like maenads to affect gladness, whereas the Danes passed that dreary night without uttering a sound.

9. Then Luke, Christoffer’s secretary and a Briton by birth, poorly versed in letters, yet exceptionally learned in his knowledge of history,* perceived the subdued hearts of our soldiers and, by shattering the gloomy, mournful silence with a ringing voice, brought cheerfulness in place of worry. By recalling the manliness of their ancestors his superb narrative skill excited our men to take revenge on their friends’ murderers; not only did he dispel their depression, but even put fresh resolution into all their hearts, and you would scarcely believe it if I told how much verve was instilled into the minds of our troops by this foreigner’s speech.

[*note: “probably Oluf Glug.”]

10..As soon as daylight returned, a few were left behind to guard against any of the enemy sneaking off, while the rest disembarked on the shore a good way away from their opponents’ camp, so that in the preparatory stages they should not endure attacks if the foe unexpectedly appeared. Those who were better equipped with arms and armour were ordered to march in the front line and all the common soldiers were positioned behind them. The barbarians, however, did not descend from their fortress in battle order but in an uncoordinated fashion; raising ear-splitting yells, they began to shoot forward into the fray, believing that the Danes would be horror-struck by this violent hullabaloo and were bound to succumb at the first sharp encounter. In fact, such massive panic did spread in response to their shouting, that not merely terror but even flight resulted among those stationed in the rear ranks. But the enemy’s reception by the leading warriors was rather different from anything the barbarians anticipated, and they were forced to dash back to their encampment as hurriedly as they had left it. A good number of them were cut down, but only a single man on our side was hurt, Oluf, who had to be carried half-conscious back to the shore, sapped by huge loss of blood after his throat had been pierced by a shaft.

11. Niels Stigson, a man of magnificent family as well as physique, was the first to force his way into the fort being defended by the heathens, but at the very entrance he soon met with a furious blow from a cudgel, which prostrated him. His brother, Age, keen to interpose his own body to protect him, received a terrible wound in the throat. But the rest, following the precedent of these brave individuals and finding a foothold to break in, made an even fiercer assault on their opponents, oblivious of every danger. Those who had been given responsibility for keeping watch now also arrived to lend them aid; others propped up masts, which enabled them to surmount the parapet of the fort and, zealous to assist their comrades, plunged into the enemy throng. The carnage wrought on those heathens was so extensive that out of all their host not one survivor was to be found who could report the disaster. Our countrymen, having shared out the booty and refitted the ships, buried their commoners on the spot, but salted the bodies of their noble colleagues so that they might have them transported back to the fatherland.

Chapter 41

4. When he had reached Odsherred, he found out from his scouts that the king had set off on an expedition to Pomerania; asked whether they had seen any pirates recently, they gave him the information that near on forty vessels had put in at the island of Sejero, but said they could not tell whether these were traders or a squadron of freebooters. Hearing this news, Esbern aimed to skirt past them by night without their knowledge, but paid too little heed to the phase of the moon; he had decided to avoid the land completely, giving it as wide a berth as possible, since he heartily wished to stay out of the pirates’ sight. Nevertheless, while he sought to avail himself of the darkness, he was suddenly betrayed by the brilliant moonlight. For the Wends, sighting his sail on that clear night, blocked with their flotilla the path his vessel would take. As soon as he observed this, Esbern exhorted his sailors to snatch up arms and stand at their stations wearing mail shirts; the remaining warriors he led to the bows and bade them fire their shafts at the enemy from each side of the vessel, so that, compelled to defend their own lives, the pirates would molest those of others with less vigour. He also instructed them that, when their sails had brought them through the first barricade of enemy ships, under his leadership they should set up the same kind of defence at the stern as they had done in the prow; they must also take care that during the struggle no one but himself should venture to utter a syllable, so that their commander’s orders might be better heard. If he chanced to be killed, they must respect Tue’s authority; if Tue should die, it would be Esger’s turn to issue directions if both were struck down, he said, then there would be precious little fighting left to do.

5. At the point where Esbern eventually felt it desirable to don his hauberk, the helmsman was anxious to know how he could protect himself, since both his hands were taken up with the business of steering and neither was free to be employed in the needful task of self-defence. Straight away Esbern handed over the piece of armour which he had been about to put on, preferring to expose his own person to the enemy sooner than allow his helmsman to remain vulnerable. His action equipped one man’s body with steel, and revitalized the spirits of everyone, as he revealed how much he despised his opponents. They strove obediently and energetically to fulfil Esbern’s intentions, and after they had broken through the massed line of the foe’s fleet, they repulsed the first wave of attack by their Wendish pursuers with the power of their missiles. A second assault, carried out with somewhat greater determination, was stayed off in a similar manner. By the third attempt the heathens, astonished at the sheer bravery of a solitary crew, shouted to ask what men they yere battling against.

6. Esbern answered that, because the pirates had no hope of seizing their prey, their enquiry into names had little relevance. Hearing his repartee, Erik Jurison, a man of distinguished lineage, but dull wits, whom, as it happened, the Wends were holding on board as a prisoner, cried out as loudly as he could that there was no possibility of their capturing Esbern. At his words they pronounced curses on one another if they failed to overpower this adversary and in a concerted effort they drove the beaks of their prows at the sides of their enemy’s ship in front of the mast. Amid this contest a great many of the Wends lost their lives, but not one of the Zealanders suffered harm. When the wind, which had given him no small help, appeared to slacken its previous force a little, Esbern’s men asked him whether they should lend support to their sail with oars, but he said no, since he did not want it\o be thought that they were feeling nervous as they completed their voyage.

7. When he realized that the barbarians had not given up but, strengthened in resolve were constantly pressing hard on his tail, he was worried by their determination and asked whether a flint was available on board the ship; told that there was, he gave orders for someone to climb the mast and at the top to strike a flame from the flint. This shrewd move made the barbarians think he was summoning a fleet that was following in his wake and they desisted from further pursuit. Once he reckoned that their sail was out of the enemy’s view, the sailors lowered it before rowing back to their home port. Aided no less by his own ingenuity than his comrades’ toughness, he was given assistance partly by his courage, partly by his subtle brain.

Chapter 42

1. Meanwhile the king, his forces swelled by a navy from Rugen, entered Pomerania though the Swina Channel;* there he devastated the environs ofjulin, though he left the town untouched. Next the royal fleet set out along the river joining Julin and Kammin,** which starts as a single stream, but divides into two near its mouth Their advance was made difficult by numerous obstructive dams set up by the fishermen. Moreover, the middle of the river was spanned by an extremeTy’long bridge, near Julin’s city walls, which cut short the

[*note: “The Swina Channel runs from the Szczecin Lagoon between the islands of Usedom and Wolin and empties into the Baltic.”]

[**note: “The Dziwna, which flows fromt eh Szczecin Lagoon past the town of Wolin/Julin on the island of Wolin to the west, then past Kamien (formerly Kammin) on the eastern mainland, and finally empties into the Baltic.”]

2. The inhabitants of Julin, after slipping out in skiffs and passing by the bridge unobserved, tried desperately to drive away the Danes, but Absalon, who had disembarked at the same time as the king, appropriated ships belonging to others and brought them welcome aid. The shafts hurled at his shield fell away without effect, whilst his companions found that the spear points stuck in theirs. When Absalon’s own vessel, whose crew were absorbed by the spectacle at a distance, had drawn closer at the king’s instigation, the foe were repelled, a considerable portion of the bridge destroyed, and a way opened up for the remainder of the fleet to sail through. The tovvnsfolk assaulted the Danish vessels from their rowing-boats as they passed, but Absalon and Sune launched their own dinghies at them, filled with archers, and there was a skirmish of unpredictable outcome, in which the occupants of the boats fought with various types ofcrossbow. Just as the inhabitants ofjulin were able to take refuge in their town, so our men could resort to the ships. Eventually the skiffs of the townspeople fcll back and allowed a clear passage to the fleet.

3. While Sune was following up in the rear, he sent an arrow from his arbalest and picked off one of the men from Julin as he was dashing impudently to the bank; soon afterwards he struck down with a similar shot another fellow who was trying to come to his friend’s assistance. A second pair ran swiftly up, lifted the corpses onto their shoulders, and carried them away with all speed. This event provoked one of the townsmen to attack our side with bitter invective, as though his purpose was to avenge his comrades’ deaths with imprecations; Gottschalk declared that he was behaving insolently because he wished his violent torrent of abuse to earn him the gifts which he had seen conferred freely on the others. For when he had witnessed our soldiers turn two of their infantry into cavalrymen, this Juliner imagined that if the rest came close, they must be given horses in the same way. Gottschalk’s quip not only deflated the reviler’s sauciness, but also poured scorn on’the effrontery of all the citizens.

4. From there theycame to the island of Gristow, where the king gave instructions that they should refain from incendiarism, for he wanted to spare the corn that was essential for his horses’ fodder. Very soon after, when they had progressed downstream, they reached the town of Kammin; once the territory to the north of it had been laid waste with fire and sword, battle was joined on the bridge there. Crawling beneath it through shallows known only to them, the Wends thrust their spears right up through the cracks in an effort to inflict stealthy wounds on our soldiery. But in no time a mass of Danish boats repelled this cunning interference. The weakness of the bridge, ever on’the point of collapse, was also a cause for concern, more so in fact than the enemy’s ferocity. For this reason the Danes withdrew their attack on the town and returned to Gristow.

5. Here, with the whole army in a state of extreme uncertainty about the expedition’s return, they debated the subject, but were unsure which path to follow back to the sea. Since the Pomeranian Lake flows into the Baltic through three outlets*, they decided to reject two of them, that is, the Peene and the Swina Channels, owing to the wearisome length of those routes, and opted to take the nearest exit, the one close to Kammin. However, there was a man named Gere, who, being well acquainted with the topography of that area, affirmed that this waterway was so shoal-ridden and of such untrustworthy depth that it could only be navigated at high tide. Absalon was dispatched with three ships to investigate matters, but was hindered by the proximity of a wild sea, and was therefore unable to take accurate soundings of the river bed.

[*note: compare Jordanes’ report of Vistula’s three mouths]

6. Where this river emerges from the lake, it flows out into a rather narrow channel and, as it progresses, increasing its breadth beyond that of an ordinary stream, forms or meets a vast marsh; but where it runs into the sea, it again resumes its earlier restricted width. Although the royal fleet should have waited until Absalon’s return, in their impatience to sail, the mariners forgot the warning they had been given and, putting haste before directions, rushed on to where the river branched; by taking pilotage into their own hands they found themselves in some very awkward stretches of that watercourse. As Christoffer was keeping guard behind, protecting the Danes’ rear, the Wendish ships attacked, and he had a hard time of it entering the rlver. Nevertheless, to some extent by his own energies and to some extent with the help of his associates, he fought off this particular assault.

7. On that same day, when the king had mooted a plan to invade the province of Julin once more, Absalon during the first watch of the night sought out suitable landing places; noticing a firmer-looking piece of ground, he fixed stakes there and, as markers, knotted together reeds by the bank, so that at dawn the next day by locating these identifying signs he was able to indicate the access point on the shore where they could easily set down men and their horses. While he was engaged in a daytime sortie to capture booty in conjunction with Magnus Erikson, Absalon heard that his friend, who had been unwarily straying too far afield, had almost been cut off by the foe; though the king, bent on setting fire to villages, had sent him an order to return, Absalon put affection before obedience and, arriving at full speed with a band of followers, immediately rescued Magnus from a hazardous threat of death, for his partner had been pinned in a tight corner, partly by a naval force, partly by a cavalry detachment of his enemies Immensely grateful for his help, Magnus admitted that he owed his safety to Absalon. He also gave profuse thanks to his deliverer and promised that, if he were called upon, he would lay down his life to ensure the other’s preservation.

8. Absalon, however, conscious that in bringing such aid he had transgressed the king’s command, determined that he would regain his goodwill, which he had damaged through his own disregard, by laying spoils before him, since he was loth to receive a stern frown from Valdemar. He therefore issued orders for herds of cattle to be driven before him and for his prisoners to precede him into the camp; this sight softened the king’s gaze and he gave Absalon a sunnier look on his arrival. After he had learnt of Absalon’s achievements and viewed his booty, the bishop’s valour assuaged the anger evoked by his insubordination, and Valdemar was happy to greet his return merely with a light rebuke.

9. When they had regained their ships, there was a debate with regard to putting out the fleet, on which there were two proposals. Some judged it best to open up the river’s narrow mouth, digging it out with mattocks to make it more easily passable, and by using navvies to widen the limited breadth at certain points; but because it was obvious the sea tide would sweep in quantities of sand to block the excavation, the project was not implemented. Others believed that, by laying rollers underneath, a united effort could be made to to the sea, while the cavalry mounted guard on either bank. Only the Rugians, employing this technique, succeeded in bringing six light craft out, but as the remainder were heavily laden with cargo, it would have been simpler to take them to pieces than to haul them away. Thus despite the boundless enthusiasm of our troops to push forward, their prolonged labours to get outside the river mouth were futile, till the king recalled them and they grudgingly relinquished the attempt. So keenly was everyone, Absalon excepted, spurred on by his longing to use this outlet. The prelate, on the other hand, had discovered when he examined the waterway that the depth of its estuary would not admit the draught of their ships.

10. In the meantime Kazimar, delighting in the clumsy withdrawal of our soldiery, fetched a fleet of fifty vessels to the entrance of the river in order to blockade it, considering that his adversaries had run out of luck and nothing was left for them but death or capture. He had two talented bowmen, Kone and Kirin, whom Henry, in his dislike for the Danes, had sent across to support the Wends. Bugislav also appeared with cavalry forces, after having dispatched more ships to assist his brother; yet he charged the people of Julin with cowardice, scorning them for not coming to blows with our army.

11. These occurrences so cramped the hearts of the Jutlanders with fear that, surrounding Absalon as if they were at a public meeting, they had no scruples about openly attacking him with abuse, ascribing to his leadership the actions they had engaged in under the influence of their own impetuosity. On top of that they started to complain in womanish strains, almost with wails, that at one time a king’s resolves depended on the judgement of distinguished men, but were now based on the advice and opinions of every complete fool. The Danes, they said, had arrived at a situation where they must not anticipate any hope of return. All the people should put their backs into dragging a few ships clear, so that the king and his nobles could make their escape, and prevent Danish power and reputation from collapsing in ruins within a second. This tirade Absalon bore so patiently and with such equanimity that he seemed to shed none of his usual qualities of mind or expresssion, and contented himself only with reminding them not to pour out in the present instance a torrent of words which they would squirm to recall in the future.

13. In the meanwhile Kazimar, much excited by the possibility he saw of taking possession of our fleet, and wishing to mount a show of self-confidence, pitched a tent on the riverbank and arranged to drink to his own and his warriors’ health out of gold and silver wine goblets. This overweening pride afterwards turned to chagrin when he was put to flight.

14. While all this was happening, Valdemar called the chiefs away from the operation of dragging the ships and, after they had refreshed their bodies, summoned them to a conference. When he saw that they had assembled in a large crowd on board his ship, he enquired what they believed would be his best course of action. As they ventured no reply, he expressed surprise at their reticence and bade them explain the reason. Then, while all the others remained tongue-tied, one of them remarked that the king ought to bring the youngsters into the council; it was their advice in particular that he normally followed, and therefore those he had chosen as the leaders should also be the ones to lead them back. Valdemar understood that these words were a stricture on his close relations with Absalon and he replied that it was not usual for valiant men to find fault with one another like women; on the contrary, where there was discussion about a public emergency, they ought to put an end to private feuds. If the person they were criticizing for his inexperience were asked his opinion, he would not stay silent, perplexed as to how he should answer; next, turning his eyes towards Absalon, he asked what recommendation he would give.

15. The bishop stated that there was a plan of action in readiness, whenever it suited the king to pursue it; what seemed like hazards and hindrances to the others could easily be dispersed, and even the blockading navy or a cavalry attack would not be able to stop an exit lying open to the Danes at the point where they had made their entrance. Once he had disembarked with his cavalry on the mainland, the king must withdraw with them to the river mouth in order to protect his fleet; thither several vessels furnished with oarsmen in chain mail should precede the rest, one by one, and as soon as there was a large company of them, they should make inroads into the enemy fleet. When everyone else laughed and asked if he wanted to go first, he responded: ‘I don’t want my words to have seemed braver than my deeds. It’s appropriate for the inventors of bold schemes to give a practical demonstration with their hands of the proposals they advocate with their mouths.’

16. Delighted with his scheme, the king instructed that the ships and rowers Absalon requested should be fetched and, without more ado, proceeding to the bank amid a troop of horsemen, Valdemar hastened to the spot where the river entered the sea. When Kazimar spied him coming in the distance, he swiftly quitted his tent and rushed in alarm back to his fleet. The Danes then made a choice, picking out seven vessels, each equipped with armoured rowers. Of these, two belonged to Absalon, while Esbern and Sune were in charge of another two; Thorbjorn, Oluf, and Peder Thorstenson commanded the remaining three. Having directed the rest of his squadron to form a line in his wake, Absalon took the lead in his ship, and, seeing that there was no obstruction, made his way into an unfamiliar branch of the stream, as a short-cut along his route; his other vessel however, owing to a miscalculation by the helmsman, suddenly ran aground on the shoals. Even so, the speed of rowing compensated for this departure from her true course, and the stern was propelled off the sands; the barbarian fleet at once scattered in various directions as though it had been whisked away by the winds.

17. The Danes, greeting their flight with loud and joyful halloos, shouting in unconstrained gladness, declared that the cord fastening the wineskin had been cut; instead of Absalon’s detractors they now became his worshippers, fulsome in their gratitude, redeeming their insults with praises. But his mind was endowed with strong control and firmness, with the result that he thought little of being decked with the flattery of the fickle multitude, and behaved much the same in despising their compliments as he had in spurning their condemnations. This was all the trouble the Danes had in dispersing such a prodigious peril.

18. Two Wendish vessels, relinquished by their terrified oarsmen, were taken by our troops at Gristow; a third, tied to piles standing in the water, was rescued with the help of their allies. After the king had ridden full gallop to Julin, Bugislav, engrossed in the repair of the bridge because he was very eager to enter the town, caught sight pf the Danes, stopped work, and fled; so immediate was his panic that it made him forget his earlier arrogant bragging. The king, however, quickly restored the bridge, as if to bring the enemy’s labours to completion, and sent his horsemen across it to the southern bank;* in this way the fleet would be relieved of its load and would move more easily along the stretches of the river obstructed by stakes.

[*note: “The western bank of the River Dziwna.”]

19. When Absalon had conducted the ships, sailing one behind the other, as far as this point, in an attempt to stop the people ofjulin from attacking them, as was their habit, he boarded a longboat filled with archers and steered it to a place in mid-stream between the town and the fleet. But the townsfolk, paralysed by an excessive intake of fear, were drained of all military confidence, and in their desperation and distress hid themselves within the enclosure of their walls. Having passed successfully through the obstacles, the Danes had the horses brought back on board ship and the fleet was assembled in the harbour to give the exhausted rowers a rest. Once the anchors had been dropped, Absalon and Sune took up their stations as usual for the last watch; but as the wind veered round, becoming anxious that the vessels might be blown nearer to land and so be exposed to a night assault from cavalry, the pair pushed off in small boats and began to carry out a detailed survey in order to discover how far it was from the riverbank to the actual sea.

20. Meanwhile one of the men from Julin, the worse for drink but accompanied by quite an elegant set of attendants, rode rather proudly up to the water’s edge and, addressing the Danes in an affable manner with Gottschalk acting as interpreter, promised to deliver hostages the next day to secure peace, with a request that the remainder of their possessions be spared and that the Danes hold back from plunder. But when he wished to withdraw, he swaggeringly spurred his horse in an effort to put on an impressive display, whereupon it suddenly stumbled and fell, pitching him to the ground with a violent thud, which left him stretched nearly lifeless. His retinue ran up swiftly and tried without success to raise him to a standing position, for he had had all his breath knocked out of him and apparently the severity of his fall had made him lose consciousness; when our archers started shooting at them, they left their master to be taken by the foe. He was at once tossed into the rowing-boat by Absalon’s servants and transported to the galley, where he eventually recovered his vision and powers of movement; however, believing that he had been set down amongst his own people, he tried to kiss and hug the folk who were seated by him. His misapprehension aroused the spectators mirth.

21. In the meantime a false report spread, which reached the army, telling how their opponents in a keen effort to block our departure had invested Swinemunde with a mass of ships. Nevertheless, the barbarian who had just been captured scotched any belief in this idea by condemning the rumour as untrue, and stated that his own thorough inspection of the Wendish force had shown him that it would not be able to compete with Danish strength. If the combined Pomeranian and Polish troops had had to match swords with the Danes, even then he would prefer to back the Danish side in preference to its opponents, and could do so more safely. If, however, Saxon reinforcements had also joined the Poles and Wends when they were about to contend with the Danes, he did not know which company he would forecast as the more likely to win. His affirmation put new spirit into our men and made them ready to undertake the voyage in scorn of their enemies.

22. Such a powerful dread had mesmerized the Wends that they did not even think it advisable to assail those who tagged along behind, as was their former custom. Peder Todde had split the timbers of his vessel when it collided with the stakes and had let his comrades’ ships depart without him while he repaired the damage, yet he spent the period of its refurbishment entirely unmolested, even though his craft was all alone; once the restoration was finished, still unharassed by anyone, he closed in on his companions and rejoined the fleet after sailing without harm or hindrance. To such an extent did the remnants of their earlier fear check the Wends’ brashness. Thus it came about that the expedition was brought to completion and its return was uneventful; the remainder of the year was given over to relaxation.

Chapter 43

1. During this interim period Kazimar and Bugislav, apprehensive of Danish might, subjected themselves to Duke Henry and made their realm a fiefdom of the Saxons, though hitherto they had stayed independent. So, while they stood in awe of one of their enemies, they bowed to the other’s yoke, and looking for support lost the privilege of their ancient freedom. Notwithstanding this, since Valdemar judged that the Wends were applying fruitlessly for Saxon help, he showed disdain for both foes and, having fitted out his fleet, made for Szczecin, the oldest town in Pomerania. Absalon, who sailed at the front, had a pilot whose sympathies lay with the people of Szczecin. By this man’s cunning the bishop was taken out of his way by a roundabout route along the River Oder, and whereas the others followed a straight, direct path, he arrived at the town in the rear instead of at the head of the fleet. Szczecin is remarkable for the height of its towering ramparts, fortified as it is by nature as well as by human skill, so that it might be considered virtually impregnable. From this we have derived the popular saying about those who idly boast of being secure, that they are not protected by the defenses of Szczecin.

2. With greater confidence than their powers justified, the Danes set themselves to take this place by assault, and after they perceived that part of the enclosing wall was combustible, they wove branches together to make smallish hurdles, which they carried before them like shields to fend off spears; trusting to these screens for their greater safety, they began to dig away under the rampart with picks, their intention being to spread fire without as much risk inside the recesses of their tunnels. In the meantime the king launched his attack and, in the absence of engines for assailing the walls, moved his circle of besiegers in. Only the bowmen and slingers found it possible to reach the lofty battlements with their missiles and the parapet was too high for the troops to gain access. There were, however, some young soldiers who, thirsting for renown, climbed to the top of the walls, safeguarded only by their shields. Others, scorning the defenders, went close up and pitched into the gates at ground level with their battleaxes; these men were less at risk than the more distant fighters, because such a thick barrage of weapons was hurled everywhere at the enemy that only those farther off could be seen or shot at by the town’s protectors. The result was that boldness won safety, cowardice spelt danger, and proximity gave greater immunity than remoteness. On the other side the rest of the town’s populace found themselves just as much under pressure from the Danish army as the defenders, for the missiles which flew over the pallisade surmounting the rampart struck at random. The factor that weighed most against the stronghold in the face of such multitudinous assailants was the relatively small number of those fighting to hold out, for they had no one who could bring helpful reinforcements in their martial struggle.

3. The governor of the city was Vartislav,* believed to be a blood relation of Bugislav and Kazimar. His mind had been allotted almost nothing in common with the temperaments of his fellow citizens, but burned with such enthusiasm for extending and glorifying Christianity that you would have said he was neither born of Wendish stock nor tinged with barbarian characteristics; to recall his benighted country from its deluded worship and put forward an example whereby it might amend its self-deception, he had called from Denmark men who led a monastic existence, built an abbey for them on his estate, and enriched it with many handsome revenues.** When his comrades were tired out from the battle and he realized that the city was close to capture, fearing the enemy’s ferocity he sought a truce so that he might offer surrender; as soon as he had been given a promise of safe-conduct, he was immediately lowered on a rope by friends who shared his fears and lost no time in making his way to the royal camp.

[*note: “The castellan, Vartislav, was the son of Svantibor, who was presumably a brother of Prince Vartislav; in that case the castellan would be the cousin of Kazimar and Bugislav.”]

[**note: He founded an abbey, perhaps in 1174, at Kolbacz (Kolbatz), whose territories extend along the banks of the River Plonia, south-east of Szczecin. Cistersian monks from the Danish abbey of Esrum were sent there at its inception.”]

4. When they saw this, the Danish common soldiers became less enthusiastic for combat and complained that the king was receiving money which they were paying for by risking their lives; his avarice was cheating them of both victory and plunder. Observing this, Valdemar very much desired to quash such reproaches and, circling the town on horseback, began to urge his forces to press on vigorously. But later, after they had toiled away laboriously, he discerned that it was a formidable, even pointless, undertaking to storm the stronghold, and therefore, returning to camp, he granted an audience to Vartislav. Touched by the man’s pleas, he allowed the townspeople the chance to surrender, after agreeing to accept hostages and a sum so vast that the whole Wendish nation could only discharge it with some difficulty; he also determined that the town should be wrested away from the control of the Wendish community, and that Vartislav should receive it as a fief by way of a royal gift. He therefore recalled his soldiery from the assault, would not allow Stettin to be captured and sacked, and ordered that his banner should be flown from the battlements to give notice that the capitulation had been accepted. There you could see arrows planted everywhere in the wall, from top to bottom, so that you might have imagined it a bed of reeds; our men plucked them out very readily and restored them to their quivers.

5. Afterwards he retraced the route by which his ships had come, took Lubin,* and then sailed back to Ruegen; and because the islanders’ fishing season had arrived, for the common good it was resolved to set watch there with a third of the total fleet, in case their anxiety about foes in the neighbourhood should interfere with their search for food. The king instructed Cnut Prislavson** to command this squadron, but the other discourteously refused to carry out his bidding; he objected that he held no possessions in Denmark apart from the narrow confines of Lolland, and this was not worth so much that he was eager to run an undoubted risk merely to protect the Rugians. That job belonged more properly to bishops, who were the only individuals the king employed as his advisers; it was all the more unsuitable to pass it to him in that he occupied a place quite far removed from Valdemar’s inner circle. Infuriated by the young man’s cheeky reply, the monarch retorted that Cnut had been granted small fiefdoms because he deserved only small ones, and in future, if he himself had anything to do with it, Cnut would be shorn of honours, not rewarded with them. Nor should he think his sovereign s intimacy with bishops a matter for reproach; it would be simple to find one of their number who would not decline to take the present task in hand personally and bring it to a close.

[*note: “The fortress of Lubin, near the present-day village of the same name, was situated on the south-west coast of the island of Wolin opposite the southern entrance to the Swina Channel.”]

[**note: “The son of Prislav, prince of the Abotrites, and Catharina, one of Valdemar’s sisters.”]

8. When he knew this, Valdemar expressed his gratitude to them, and to Absalon especially, because his sterling qualities had won for the monarch such willing cooperation from his subjects. So it was that, when he was left behind to watch the borders of Ruegen after the king’s departure, he enabled the inhabitants to come and go free from molestation, but even more importantly secured an untroubled period of tranquillity for the Danes, since the Pomeranian fleet dared not overstep the boundaries of its home waters. Sven of Arhus with a reasonably-sized band of Jutlanders also volunteered to be a companion and associate of Absalon’s labours.

Chapter 44

1. During that time, Tetislav prince of Ruegen, arrived with his brother, Jarimar; after thanking Absalon, the prince very generously offered to supply adequate provisions for him and his crews while they kept guard, and requested that conscientious individuals from our force should be appointed to distribute them between the ships. But when the Jutlanders grabbed rations indiscriminately before they were shared out, Absalon refused to accept the Rugians’ liberality any further, apart from having the herring from the catch delivered to himself, because he had no wish to repay kindness with an affront. On his way home he dismissed the accompanying flotilla of Jutlanders at the island of Femo. Some of these, less wary than their fellows, were coasting the southern shores of Funen when they ran into pirates near the fortress established by Cnut Prislavson; they thereupon aimed to save their skins by escaping across country, and in their consternation felt it no disgrace to vacate their ships.

2. The moment this story reached Absalon he flew into a rage and, after quickly collecting the fleet together, bent on carrying out a meticulous search, he combed the localities which he knew were particularly frequented by the sea rovers. Ceaselessly probing the obscure, winding inlets among the islands and the secluded corners of the seas, he discovered the pathetic remnants of the captured vessels and dismal traces of loot from them. These finds made Absalon even more desperate for revenge and, splitting up his fleet, he gave each detachment the task of scouring a separate area; he himself sailed back to Masnedo with the stronger Zealand squadron.

3. By departing from the rest and going on ahead, Absalon had now nioved out of sight of his colleagues’ ships, when, as it chanced, a man standing on the shore they were sailing towards waved his cap energetically in a way that suggested he wanted a talk with him. Absalon, believing this person had some important news to communicate and wishing to find out anything he himself was unaware of, furled his sail and rowed towards land in a longboat; but after recognizing the man* from a distance, with his first words he condemned the fellow for his unreliability, for he had not apprised the bishop beforehand that a horde ofWendish rovers had recently put out to sea. This individual, in fact, had struck a bargain that he should be paid 12 pounds a year in cash on the guarantee that he would bring notification to Absalon whenever four or more fast sailing vessels weighed anchor with the specific intention of launching a buccaneering raid on Denmark. The man had no other way of sustaining the integrity of his promise than to affirm that the pirates had already set out before he had entered into the agreement. When he had asked Absalon where he was bound for and learnt that it was his desire was to return home, he went on to point out that Absalon was disbanding the expedition at the very point when it should have been starting out. The Wends had now assembled a large navy to attack Denmark; but, he said despite all the information he had gained, he was still uncertain about what regions of Denmark it intended to aim at.

[*note: “The man must have been a Wend living in Denmark.”]

4. With anxlety to have prior knowledge of where the enemy were going to pounce, Absalon was in a ferment of indecision, so that the spy promised he would make further investigation, having carefully enquired whereabouts he should carry his report back to. Absalon chose the cliff on Men, and asked when he should send someone to meet him; the other set the limit at the sixth day. Off he went without lingering for more than a moment and had disappeared from viewbefore Absalon’s accompanying squadron put in. Disliking the presence of our Danish soldiers, he made it his business to melt away there and then, since he had no desire for his circumstances to become known, seeing that he would have to endure the punishment of death or banishment if it were discovered he had betrayed the schemes of his countrymen.

5. But Absalon made no secret of the matter; when the remaining ships arrived, he announced to his comrades the intelligence he had received, but withheld his informant’s name, and stated that they were turning back home just at the time when it was more advisable to put out the fleet. No one else knew from whom he had obtained his facts and they were amazed at his considerable foreknowledge; he told them to consider two possible options: whether they preferred to repulse the approaching foe with an enlarged fleet or after assembling cavalry together. If they approved neither course of action, they should tell the dwellers in the coastal regions to leave their properties and retreat to safer areas, to prevent their being exposed to the barbarity of the pirates.

6. The leading men were in general agreement as to their decision, believing it was neither practical to send cavalry to meet the enemy when their landing was unpredictable, nor laudable to evacuate to the interior the people who lived along the coast, and so they determined to fight a naval battle. The ships therefore returned to the ports with a view to swelling the size of the fleet, and the oarsmen, instructed to leave the rigged vessels, began to scurry round in every direction searching for supplies before a further campaign. Absalon rode off to Roskilde to attend to some business. However, on his return he was suddenly met by the cold of winter, which was so intense that it promptly covered the waters with a layer of ice; when the peasants of Zealand had collected food and were taking their waggons loaded with provisions back to the ships, such a mass of frozen mud clogged the wheels that nothing would make them turn. The tenacious frost had cemented the sludge to the wood as if it were some sort of glue. As a result the drivers had to abandon their carts and pile their loads on the backs of the animals that drew them, so that they themselves had the task of leading them on foot; and the congealed wetness of the slime added a weight to their leggings which was more than their shin bones could bear. As Absalon rode past he addressed them with words of commiseration, reminding them, however, that they were suffering these hardships for their country’s sake; they answered that it was an even greater misery to be a prisoner of the pirates, sitting amidships, and that they gained more pleasure than bitterness from their present toils.

7. So, Absalon set off on his expedition and, as he drew near to Men, found waiting to meet him a man he had recently sent to the cliff on that island to see what news there was from the Wend informant. There he learnt that the Wendish fleet had anchored in the harbour of Svold with plans to attack Mon; they would send ashore heir horsemen on the south side, and their infantry on the north, while their ships would sail into the twisting cove near Keldby; the Wends reckoned they should disperse their troops in this way to stop the islanders having any area they could escape to. Armed with this information, he considered it best to steer towards Koster, sailing unhurriedly and without turning aside before the enemy fleet had streamed into the narrow inlet according to their intended design; if he could come upon their navy by surprise, he was sure he would be able to attack the rest of the foe without any trouble, when there was no sea transport to allow them return.

8. But the Wends moved rather slowly, and Absalon, marvelling at their delay, made for Falster, where he chose two ships out of the whole fleet, to whom he gave the responsibility of keeping a watch on enemy activities. One of these he ordered to be manned by Zealanders, the other by Falstrings, on condition that if by chance they were apprehended by their opponents, their ransom should be paid out of the purses of all the other crews. On hearing this, the man whom the Zealanders had appointed as helmsman of one of the two vessels declared that he would do his utmost to avoid having to agree to the favour of a ransom after the indignity of capture; he did not interject this statement because he was refusing the duty through cowardice, but because he was confident they could maintain an alert surveillance and took for granted they would remain safe.

9. After Absalon had returned to Koster, a certain Gnemer* put on a feast for the Falstrings and with the pleasures of the table held back the ship they should have been fitting out for reconnaissance purposes; indeed, concealing treachery under the cloak of goodheartedness, he fuddled everyone’s wits by plying them with an overabundance of liquor and rendered them virtually inert and quite unfit to accomplish Absalon’s sensible command. This Gnemer, led astray in his too-close dealings with the Wends, had made it his habit to reveal our national policies to them covertly; and during the same period he had served with the Zealand fleet, but in body rather than mind. Now, as they sailed out of Svold intending to raid Falster, they sent in advance to Gnemer’s home to enquire secretly about Danish moves. It was then that Gnemer, summoned by Absalon to the fleet, seemingly acted as lookout for his country, but in reality as its betrayer. The Wendish messengers learnt the requisite information from his servants and quickly reported these words to their associates.

[*note: “Probably the same as the Gnemer of Falster who appears in book 14, chapter 23, 20-1.” The name is very likely Slavic.]

10. Their communication put paid to the project set in motion by the Wendish navy. In consequence they relinquished all their other plans and were content to sail as far as the strait known as Gronsund. On its shore stood a cross, raised by the pious ministrations of the inhabitants; the Wends set about cutting it down, believing that the spectacular overthrow of that wooden emblem would redound to their greater reputation as marauders. This sacrilegious indiscretion earned its punishment afterwards in their dishonourable flight and grievous shipwrecks. They would have caught the men of Falster napping, for these fellows were somewhat Ae worse for the previous evening’s drinking, had not the scout from zealand slipped with difficulty between the enemy ships and startled Ae inebriates out of their sleep with his cries.

11. This man let Absalon know of the enemy’s coming, so that the bishop directed Ingvar and Oluf, men of proven perspicacity, to go off in light craft from the island of Bog0 and spy out their intentions. Immediately they had set off he grew too impatient to await their return, and therefore decided to follow in their wake, reckoning it even better to precede them than copy their movements, in case he had to linger rather a long while for their report and so carry everything out too sluggishly. He recalled that it was Wendish custom, when they were bringing in an armed force, to be fond of making forays just before dawn and then, after a swift completion of their activities, aim to beat a hasty retreat. Concerned not to be too late in his counter-attack, Absalon prepared his oarsmen in good time, ready to play the parts of scout and commander simultaneously.

12. After catching sight of him at daybreak, the Wends turned all their poops towards his oncoming vessel and their prows in the direction of the high seas, as if they had thoughts of fleeing instead of fighting an engagement. And when the Zealanders’ ensign was unfurled, they sought rapid flight with a violent straining at their oars, displaying men’s physique but girlish souls. Absalon pressed after the fugitives with gusto and was only halted in his pursuit by the sudden outbreak of a tempest, which forced him to retire to Falster once more. The waves crashed together with such ferocity that every ship was tossed against another and they had a heavy struggle to prevent themselves being battered; every vessel alike took a nasty pounding, and our own folk would have drowned if they had not been quick to withdraw before the storm.

13. The Wends found it impossible to battle with their oars against the raging billows and wanted to assist themselves by hoisting sail, but the tremendous gales capsized and sank their galleys. The surest indication of the trials they had undergone was shown by the numerous spars of pirate vessels, washed up on the coasts of our land. Two of their ships which stood firm against the waves through the capable strength of the rowers fell into the hands ofjarimar, prince of Ruegen, who subsequently sent one over as a prize to Absalon, since he credited the capture of both to the bishop’s efforts. This all happened on the feast of St Nicholas,* and it is through his protection that the wendish army has never since dared to make a hostile assault on Denmark to this very day.

[*note: “December 6th.”]

Chapter 45

1. When spring came round again, Christoffer, supported merely by the soldiery from his dukedom, made a successful raid on Bramnaes.* As soon as this was accomplished, another sortie was immediately prepared on the king’s orders. Absalon and Christoffer were the first to come to Masnedo to serve as joint leaders of the expedition. As the king was rather slow to move, the two of them had decided to strike at Bramnaes once more, when Eskil arrived in the midst of a fine naval squadron from Scania. He had come back from Jerusalem a little while earlier326 and wore a beard long enough to testify to his pilgrimage to remote regions. Considering he would necessarily be blamed if he undertook any action without conferring with such an eminent man, Absalon revealed his purposes to him through Esbern. Highly commending his adventurousness, Eskil begged to be taken on as a colleague in his designs and prayed that, despite his grey hairs, he might be allowed just for once to have a shot at youthful enterprises. When he had chosen the most able of his Scanians, he followed the bishop promptly and, sailing abreast of the others, put in at Lolland.

[*note: “The region of East Holstein, otherwise known as Wagria.”]

2. There were seven vessels from Ruegen there, waiting to meet our own; and when they had weighed anchor during the night, Eskil demanded a skilled pilot from Absalon, because, he said, he was afraid of going off course. By taking this individual on board he enjoyed a successful voyage and followed the shortest route to the port they were heading for. However, the gloomy night sent Absalon astray, so that he sailed somewhat out of his true path, and indeed caused the Zealanders also to wander. The same unawareness betrayed the crews from Rtigen and, as it chanced, they lit upon the spot near which the Bramnaesian fleet had assembled before going off on a pillaging foray. Ignorant of this, the Rugians mingled with our forces at first light and launched into this military venture at their side, leaving behind a few guards for their ships. But these were spotted by the people of Bramnaes, who looted them after the sentries had scattered in terror; not satisfied with ransacking them for booty, they hauled away two of the vessels, which were seen to be of superior construction. However, as soon as the watchmen of the Zealand squadron stopped them from taking these ships any farther off, the men of Bramnaes punctured them with their swords and sent them to the bottom.

3. This province had only one stronghold, which the Danes found completely emptied, for the population did not dare trust it to protect them. Its abandonment was due partly to a shortage of defenders, partly to the lack of ramparts. The name given to it by its denizens was Oldenburg [Starigard/Stargard in Wagria or East Holstein]. Having no faith in their town walls, they had decamped with their wives and children, racing one another to a church situated outside the perimeter, for they felt that piety would offer them more reliable preservation than warfare and that they would evade peril in a home of peace. In consequence none of our soldiers would venture to lay hands on their goods, since there was the possibility that their lust for spoils might involve them in sacrilege, even though in the house of God it would not have been wicked to hunt after ill-gotten wealth; nor should the precepts of religion have acted as a support and cover for its disparagers. While Absalon remained for the time being under arms, Eskil, not wishing to neglect any element of his usual devotions, first of all took pains to say mass. His mind had conceived such utter scorn for his foes that when he was with the troops he wore a robe instead of chain mail.

4. Meanwhile a man named Home along with Markrad, whom Count Adolf of Holstein on his deathbed had left as guardian to his son, with harangues expressing a haughty contempt of the Danish forces had gathered together an enormous band of Wends and Saxons. At a moment when our men happened to be reclining on the ground as they were recovering breath for a while during a respite from the exertion of cavalry patrol, Eskil asserted that, being a person of his years, he was so bruised and buffeted that he could not even get astride his horse without a helping hand. Nevertheless, as soon as the foe appeared on the horizon, he leapt onto his steed faster than any stripling, in a fashion that would have made you imagine his physical stamina was not impaired in the slightest; so strongly does merit overmaster age. In this way someone who had been excusing himself with pleadings about his elderliness later enhanced it with actions that smacked more of youth; nothing but manliness could have impelled him to this concealment of manliness.

5. It so happened at this time that a very small detachment of our army had chanced to separate themselves from the rest for the enjoyment of plundering, when a superior number of enemy soldiers appeared; the Danes held it disgraceful to run out of their reach, but, not having the courage to take them on in combat, stayed transfixed between fear and shame, awaiting their comrades’ arrival. Between them and the remainder of our troops flowed the muddy waters of a river that was only fordable in one spot. When his standard-bearer hung back, Absalon took the initiative and rode across to show those following the easy way to overcome this obstacle. Unaware of what was occurring, the enemy stood waiting with more complacency than circumspection, for a lofty hill intervened to hide the appearance of the Danish cavalry. As a result the band which had earlier become segregated from our main body, seeing their comrades so near, did not wait for their aid but charged spiritedly at the foe, because it might otherwise seem as if they had deferred an encounter owing to their own dread, but now aspired to it when they could rely on others’ strength. The Wends had been belittling the slender size of the Danish platoon when they caught sight of the larger troop, which had passed beyond the lower-lying terrain and was now surmounting the high ridges; they turned tail, routed without difficulty by those whose powers they had denigrated with their extremely insolent attitude and language. When arrogance is brought to a halt, it always becomes a prime target for derision.

6. At this point some of our militia, if they overtook any escapers, were happy to dislodge them from their horses with the blunt end of their lances, since they were prepared, as an acknowledgement of their common faith, not to strike them down with the steel tip; they were concerned that an orgy of slaughter might be more harmful to the aggressor’s soul than profitable to his honour. I could believe that the recipients might have taken this sort of affront as a kindness. Next, when they had secured a vast haul, the Danes remained constantly on the shore for as long as it took to refit the Rugians’ vessels, which the men from Bramnaes had gashed open.

Chapter 47

1. Afterwards the king voyaged to Riigen and resolved to attack the district of Circipen. While he was thrusting in this direction, he came up against a vast, slimy bog, a prodigious hazard. Its surface, garbed with soft turf, was certainly luxuriant in its grass, but was so incapable of bearing a person’s tread that any who set foot on it were generally buried beneath it. The mire subsided totally, and they would slide down into the muddy abysses of that foul swamp. No alternative path offered itself to any who wanted to move forward. In order to alleviate the formidable prospect and avoid exhaustion, the Danish cavalrymen stripped off their arms and armour and loaded them on to their horses, which they then began to lead forward by the bridle. Whenever the beasts had been sucked too deeply into the mud, they hauled them upright, and when the guides found themselves sinking, they were supported by clinging to their steeds’ manes; the numerous streams which zigzagged in every direction across the marsh the Danes managed to pass over by means ofwithies plaited together to form wickerwork.

2. On this occasion, in fact, certain men showed truly remarkable qualities: some of the knights strode forward, leading their mounts behind them and burdened with their armour and weapons, refusing to cast off the weight because they trusted their own nimbleness. Their conduct was all the more notable in that it was so unusual. The horses, however, trying urgently to lift their bodies after they had plunged into pits, sometimes even sent their leaders under with their hooves. The king himself was hoisted on to the shoulders of two of his warriors, having stripped himself down to his shirt, and even then he barely got through the soggy quagmire. Rarely ever have sturdy Danes exuded more sweat. Their amazement at seeing our men cross right over the bog brought colossal stupefaction to the enemy, with the result that they thought it unsafe to resist opponents who they saw had even vanquished nature. Once the army had overcome such a tremendous obstacle, they advanced in high spirits, just as if they had routed their foes.

3. Next, when they had traversed immense forests, Valdemar descried a town surrounded by a navigable fen.* This settlement was better defended by its natural moat than by human skill and a wall had only been built along the side which was touched by a bridge stretching from there to the mainland. As our force drew near, to prevent its access the chief of that stronghold, Otimar, swiftly had this bridge levelled with the water, so that only the remnants of its piles were left amid the waters. Our soldiers managed to obtain these to use as foundations for a new construction and, having brought stakes from a nearby village, by toiling away they gradually erected a direct route across the expanse flowing between. After Absalon had been sent with the larger part of the cavalry on a marauding mission, Valdemar, encouraged by the scanty bulwarks, set about an assault on this community and took the utmost trouble to collect any materials he observed suitable for rebuilding the bridge.

[*note: “Otimar probably commanded the fortress of Luebchin, south-west of Tribsees, mentioned at book 16, chapter 7, 1.”]

4. Fearing the assemblage of this new structure, the townsfolk gathered timber from anywhere they could and raised a wooden tower, intending that it should act as a protective strong point to help ward off the enemy; relying on its defences, they promptly filled it with slingers and then began to attack our soldiers, who were more concerned to push on with their work than screen their persons. The Danes, for their part, began to combat them with arrows, but since they were unable to draw any nearer, they took their aim from a distance; Otimar was no less panic-stricken than his followers at the growth of the new bridge and, after crossing the lake in a boat, sought out the king; as he perceived the progress of our operations becoming either slacker or brisker, so his pleas for a truce were made at one time niore sparingly, at another more pressingly, and he always formulated his phrases of submission according to the current state of the attack.

5. At that point the soldiers’ performance of their task grew decidedly less keen, for they knew that if the fighting had to be called off, there would be no need to fit the bridge together. Such a mass of armed warriors had now moved on to it that there was not even room enough there to supply the materials needed in its construction. This host of men had been so eager to subdue their opponents that they had made the platform too confined for their labours. The huge quantity of piles could only be brought to the front by conveying them hand to hand over the troops’ heads. But this enforced activity did not prove useless, for the beams poised high in the air were no less effective in defending their bodies than for laying a causeway over the water. Those who had suffered wounds were transported back in the same way.

6. Then the fabric of the bridge started to become sparser and more flimsy, since the soldiers5 enthusiasm was directed at increasing its length rather than maintaining its stability. And now they had almost brought it as far as the island when the enemy, depending partly on their resourcefulness, partly on their strength, intensified the battle by a new method of fighting: they reached down from the tower with scythes attached to the ends of spears, aimed them at our warriors’ shields, grabbed these firmly, and plucked them away from the Danish combatants. Sometimes, when the Danes struggled against this, they would give a more forceful tug, which jerked our men off the causeway and consigned them to the depths. If resistance to this mischief had not come in good time, the young Danes would almost all have fallen, after being bereft of their shields; but with the aid of a wooden hook one of our folk gained possession of a scythe which had been jabbed down at him, and, by attacking the rest of thcse implements in the same manner, robbed the foe of their benefit.

7. At this stage the daylight was failing and the king, fearing what the impending night might bring, was unsure of the best course to adopt, for he was worried in case the town should not be taken for a long time and that at some point its inhabitants might set fire to the bridge. When he observed how circumstances were pressing on him, his thoughts gradually turned towards a consideration of Otimar’s entreaties, for he had no desire to withdraw from the siege like a defeated assailant and be covered with deep shame for his lack of enterprise. However, as soon as Absalon arrived on the scene with a large quantity of spoil, in an astonishing way he dispelled Valdemar’s mistaken, negative outlook by a shrewd scheme: he abominated any assent the king made to Otimar’s requests without his own knowledge, and after quietly drawing the interpreter on one side, Absalon urged the man to translate with the opposite meaning any proposals the infidel touched on with regard to a truce; he then armed himself, went down to the bridge and forced the soldiers, who thought he had come to stop the combat, to pursue their efforts with greater ardour, promising them the booty which would be theirs by right if they won The men were pleased by his guarantee. Now, as soon as the work had been brought to completion, they not only seized a brisk foothold on the land. but even occupied the summit of the tower; this they approached up ladders, rung by rung, sent packing those they met, and, if any resisted, slaughtered them.

8. It was at this stage that Herbord, a Danish knight, was searching for an easy route to get at his foes; as he did not wish to reach them too late owing to the frustrating narrowness of the bridge and the crowds of comrades blocking his way, he hit on a novel method of incursion. Without shedding any of his heavy armour he threw himself into the deep water and those he could not pass on foot he outstripped with his amazingly powerful strokes. Everyone else wanted to copy his feat, but this resulted in the soldiers flocking on to the bridge in such numbers that they caused its fragile structure suddenly to give way. Its collapse brought Absalon to grief, for he too hurtled off it along with the rest; nevertheless he was an accomplished swimmer and, although he was entirely clad in armour, did not merely emerge safely from the flood, but even rescued from the threat of death others who had no such skill.

9. Meanwhile as the Wends had an insufficient number of boats to make their escape, they ventured to climb into tubs, but as the circular shape of these vessels made them spin round, the pursuers were able to lay hold of their occupants; it was certainly an extraordinary method of crossing the water and they looked as pitiful to their own people as they were laughable to ours. Thus their unhappiness mingled with our ridicule. After the town had been won, the males were put to the sword and the females enslaved. There were some Danes who tried to impress on the king the idea of taking Otimar captive, but Valdemar was loth to sully the honour of his recent victory by the dishonest imprisonment of one man, so that he sent him away unharmed, choosing to spare his enemy in preference to injuring his own name. Afterwards, retreading his earlier path with the whole army, he first made his way to the ships and in a short time sailed home once again.

Chapter 49

1. After a peace agreement had been reached with Henry, Absalon steered a course along by Stevns Klint, where along the shore he gathered light rocks, suitable for catapulting, and loaded them on his vessel; his purpose was to use them for the defence of the fortress which he had built at Copenhagen, a harbour accessible to all. When he had taken aboard this freight, he reached his stronghold on the following day. But while he was cleansing himself there in the baths, he heard some people talking outside, who made frequent references to a ship sailing towards them from the north. As he was sure it was a pirate vessel, he called for his clothes, even though his body was only half-washed; then he embarked on a ship he had left in the harbour with her sails spread, assembled the oarsmen by a trumpet-call, and had the vessel pointed out towards the high seas.

2. Niels, the man in charge of Absalon’s retinue and his stables, was also there; he had found another ship, which had sunk to the bottom long ago because of the bad leaks in her, pumped out the bilge, and soon got her back into seaworthy condition. While Absalon raced under sail towards the pirates, Niels rowed in their direction. Once they noticed the pace of Absalon’s ship outdoing theirs, the pirate crew chose a clever method of deception to enable them to flee, and with lowered sail struggled against the wind with their oars. As they strove to do this, Niels’s vessel lay directly in their path. The buccaneers came straight at his galley but duped him through the amazing ingenuity of their captain: for when the two craft had almost collided, they sheered off and then, at a given order, all ran at the same moment to the side of their vessel away from the foe; consequently the opposite side rose up like a confronting wall, enabling them to avoid the arrows which rained on them from their enemies. In that way they tricked their adversaries, found an escape route, and aimed to retreat by this shrewd evasive manoeuvre.

3. They were so desperate to get away that when a great spate of missiles showered on their vessel, even when their hands were pierced by arrows, they still did not relax their rowing efforts, although the points were still sticking in their flesh. This showed the extent to which their profound terror made them overlook the vexation of their wounds. There were even some who battled so strenuously against the waves that they expired at their oars. Others, their backs punctured by darts, gave greater attention to their ship’s progress than to plucking out the arrowheads from their own bodies. This was because their dread of more severe wounds had so effectively banished the pain of lesser injuries. For some time the outcome of a contest of speed between the rowers in each boat remained inconclusive, but eventually our own sailors overtook and seized their vessel.

4. Then a number of them, not having the courage to wait for inevitable death from our blades, leapt into the sea and preferred to commit suicide instead of meeting their end at the hands of the enemy. It is generally the case that fear of one danger tosses the fainthearted headlong into another. The majority of those who had held back from plunging into the waves perished by the sword, though it would have seemed right to spare the ones who refused to share the inglorious fate of their comrades. Their heads, rent from their torsos, were set along the walls of Absalon’s fortress, fixed to the same poles which had been crowned with those of other freebooters lately captured by the Zealanders.

5. This incident struck immense terror into the sea robbers; in fact, the harshness of that sight was extremely effective in stamping out brigandage. The Wendish captain, who had been taken along with a very few of his oarsmen, had conceived a deluded notion that he would be released, but when he had happened to catch a glimpse of the rotting heads belonging to his fellow-seamen, he had declared that he would do just the same to the Danes; as a result he was tortured to death in prison, not only having retribution meted out to him for his former privateering, but also by his destruction paying the penalty for his recent threats.

6. During the same period Esbern and Vedeman spent a great deal of effort in voyaging so that they could keep a proper guard on their country; they had embarked on a busy raiding action when their four ships happened to run into seven swift pirate cruisers. It was then that Mirok, a buccaneer of proven valour, unhappy at having to confine the promptings of his manliness to the restricted area of his own vessel and confident of his own bravery while Vedeman’s ship was attacking his, jumped onto it by himself, and when the cowardly rowers gave way before him, found no one there to withstandhim except Vedeman. Esbern, sailing past, was happy merely to laugh at him and did not bring himself either to harm his enemy or countryman, for he did not want to be seen to have lent ald tomany men against one. Esbern continued onwards to capture Strumik, a notable paragon of valour. Mirok, however, could not be forced to withdraw before he was hemmed in by troops arriving in another ship. The victors accorded him so much respect and consideration that on his capture, although he deserved punishment, he received his freedom and they recognized his worth in preference to chastising his crimes. So, even if his ungodliness merited extermination, a reprieve was granted because of his resolute character.

Chapter 51

1. It was at this time, too, that the inhabitants of Wolgast, detesting the cramped space within their walls, began to extend the rather confined area of their town; nor were they even satisfied with increasing its size, but contrived new fortifications for its protection. They fixed stakes at regular intervals all round the ramparts to prevent their foes gaining entrance, blocked the shallows close to the city walls, and made the deeper stretches of the river inaccessible to ships by tipping huge rocks into them. Any other portions of the stream suitable for navigation they made impassable by heaping up stones and other forms of obstruction there.

2. When the king, because of these barriers, could not gain access to the regions he was aiming for in his next expedition, he brought the fleet which he had launched against the Wends into Swinemuende, then attacked and set fire to the undefended houses of julin and, redoubling the devastation of its buildings, destroyed the stronghold after its recent repopulation. Not only did Valdemar ravage the vicinity of Julin, but bypassing Kammin itself, desolated the land round it, in the belief that it would be quicker to effect and more ruinous to the enemy if he laid waste the fertile crops across the exposed countryside rather than battered away at their defensive bulwarks, which might hold out anyway. The people of Julin, observing that the fresh ruins of their city were incapable of withstanding a further siege, were as good as deprived of all strength; they had therefore abandoned their native soil and gone to seek shelter in Kammin, favouring others’ city walls in a situation where they had slender hope of finding security within their own.

3. At length our army was marched away from this territory to the district where the town of Osna lay. Shunning its walls, they invaded the surrounding tract, for they believed that the certainty ofdespoiling the fields was a more desirable strategy than the uncertainty of taking the city by siege, and calculated that it would be somewhat simpler and more effective to pursue scattered groups than bring pressure to bear on the well-defended inmates. Later, when they were pondering the shortest route to sail home, they envisaged that it would serve the common interest to open up the obstructed recesses of the nearby river,* whose estuary, which at one time afforded a passage to shipping, was now choked by sand; if only a channel were dug it could be restored to its old condition. But once the magnitude of this difficult task had been examined, the scheme was dashed, since the king thought it a miserable prospect to try to shovel a way through the huge masl of this embankment; he consequently forbade anyone to undertake the business, for it appeared to require more effort than was profitable. For this reason he once again made for Osna and erected siege engines alongside its walls, so that the appearance of an imaginary blockade might provoke surrender. But the townsfolk scoffed at his pretence and this put an end to the campaign.

[*note: “Since the Peene was blocked at Wolgast, the Danes were forced to find another exit into the Baltic. This might have been effected by opening a passage where the island of Usedom is only a narrow strip of land towards the Baltic; the former river bed mentioned by Saxo cannot be located.”]

4. Now when the king began to prepare another expedition after the following spring, the very notice of it terrified his neighbours, and because the Wends could see that neither their own forces nor their foreign helpers were over-strong when it came to combating Danish arms, Pribislav was deputed to dissuade Denmark from war. After coming upon their fleet in full trim, he offered money in order to strike a pact, whereby he not only stopped it hoisting sail, but even negotiated a two-year truce. However, we did not impose the stipulations of our common faith on these heathens; although the majority of their chiefs acknowledged it, the ordinary people condemned the fellowship of our religion. Even those who were nominally rated Christians renounced this title in their way of life, violating any commitment to it by their actions.

Chapter 52

1. As Henry, who had now settled his affairs in Bavaria was unable to support the Wends against Denmark during this period, he courted Valdemar’s friendship, though with less sincerity than cunning, and having first sought it via intermediaries, soon afterwards officially obtained it at their conference on the Eider. No lasting virtue helped to redeem his headstrong nature; and he never managed to preserve a permanent, unwavering alliance with our people. He considered lying a virtue, cultivated deception instead of moral principles, fostered trust by dissimulation, put expediency before honesty, and continually vexed us through his scandalous breaches of our partnership. In contrast our king was distinguished by striking rectitude of mind and unfailing constancy in all things. Why then should we be surprised to discover that no firm link of association or genuine bond of union could be formed between his virtues and Saxon unreliability?

Chapter 57

1. At the same time Wendish pirates, after robbing Valdemar s emissaries, captured a vessel loaded with gifts which were being sent to him by his father-in-law.3 When the monarch dispatched couriers to demand its return, the pirates gave a scornful reply. Rightly enraged by this insult, Valdemar urged Henry to league with him in taking revenge; because they had knowledge of the enemy s territories, he also summoned the men of Rugen to join him in a military confederacy and, immediately they had sailed up the River Swina, made an incendiary attack on the town ofjulin, which had been deserted by its fleeing inhabitants, while Henry invested Demmin. As soon as the latter realized that this assault would be difficult and the outcome might be uncertain, he dug a cross-channel to divert the river which ran between his camp and the walls, and made it flow past the town on a more distant course. Nevertheless, by doing so he provided the foe with the very best means of protecting their ramparts, and through his endeavours promoted its defence instead of his own attack. These efforts of his ensured that the siege he had mounted in the summer was dishonourably raised in the autumn. His departure was followed by an accidental conflagration of the city, in which Fortune by her own energies gave the success she had not thought fit to grant those of the Saxons.

2. Again Fortune, gazing on the Danes with a more indulgent eye, allowed their labours to send the town of Gutzkow up in flames and compelled its powerless inmates to take flight and wander terrified into regions covered with marshes. When he had discovered what had happened from the information volunteered by a man who had been taken prisoner with his younger brother, wife, and children, Absalon went on to ask him whether he would be prepared to earn his own and his family’s freedom by revealing the hiding-places of his fellow-citizens. The captive eagerly agreed to this bargain and promised that he would take land forces to encircle the fen they were looking for, while his brother would pilot those who intended to sail there; in this way the Wends would find themselves running now one way, now another, and nowhere would there be any opportunity to escape. This marsh, cut off from the upper river by a stretch where the stream narrowed, was only accessible to smaller vessels. While Absalon was using these to reach the area, the prisoner pretended to be unsure of the way and had to be forced by threats into directing them; when he contemplated leaping overboard, Absalon ordered that a noose should be put round his throat. Many of the Wends met the bishop unexpectedly as they were trying to escape in rowing-boats. The herds of cattle which they had driven between the marshes and the sea were commandeered by the Zealanders, but the prelate took care that they should be shared out among all the troops. This move won him more ill-will than praise among his fellow-warriors, who muttered that he had let only the men from Zealand seize booty which everyone had had the right to capture.

3. After Absalon had emerged from these fens, some of the sailors who had rather biting tongues said jokingly that the guide deserved hanging, because when he should have been pointing out which direction they were to sail in, he feigned lack of knowledge and saw to it that those whom he had promised to lead were deceived by his simulated confusion. Taking their mockery seriously, the fellow thought he was marked out for the rope and, while he was going to get water from a lake as though to wash himself, he purposely hurled his body forwards and dived into the depths, choosing to forestall rather than await his doom. It remained doubtful whether he had drowned through his recklessness or had swum to safety below the surface. When he was once more disgorged by the waters, as usually happens, he was busy winding round his hands the cord attached to his neck, to prevent himself being hauled back. Sinking yet again, he filled the onlookers with the same puzzlement as before; but at last the argument as to what might have become of him was settled when they discovered his lifeless corpse.

4. Our armyhad such a vast multitude of livestock they had taken there that each day they had to employ drovers to herd them, but owing to the overall devastation of those regions there was little danger of these men running off; this desolation had been caused by the enormous violence of the fires, which had even deprived the swallows of the roofs they normally lived beneath, so that they built nests in which to hatch out their chicks on the ships5 rudders and prows, obtaining the benefit of homes from the enemy.

5. Afterwards the king marched overland to seek talks with Henry, who was caught up in the everlasting siege of Demmin, and he left the undefended stronghold of Giitzkow wreathed in flames. His progress was checked when he was notified of the difficulties presented first by a particular river, remarkable for its depth, and secondly by the awkward terrain beyond it. From here Valdemar crossed into the province of Kammin, though, as he traversed it he chose to lay waste the countryside more than to attack any of its fortifications; he only made a futile assault on the actual city of Kammin before managing to seize ships so that he could transport the herds he had laid hands on. This territory was so rich in cattle and so useful in supplying provisions, that it afforded our troops food and nourishment for two months.

6. Envoys were then sent to Henry, who gave Valdemar instrucI tions to put an end to the current military expedition, for he was intending very shortly to abandon his pointless siege. As soon as he had received these replies, the king ravaged all the intervening lands, some with the sword, some with fire, till, after total destruction of the foe’s possessions, he approached Wolgast. Immediately they caught sight of him, its inhabitants, under their leader Zulister, started to demolish the farthest section of their bridge in an attempt to stop any of their adversaries breaking into the town by that route. A few of our men, with the aid of their companions, succeeded in climbing up segments of the bridge as if they were the rungs of a ladder, but were attacked by foes who rushed forth in a sortie out of the town. Because of their small numbers our soldiers were powerless to resist and all gave way, with the exception of Hemming.

7. He was a lightly armed squire of Absalon’s, fully prepared to encounter risks and forever plunging himself into dangerous predicaments; while he was confronting his assailants, he took a short step to the rear, tripped over the long sword that was fastened to his side and tumbled flat on his back. Yet his fall afforded him greater honour than inconvenience: amid the countless enemy spears which were being fiercely aimed at him, he was protected not so much by his own as by Fortune’s shield, and the moment he could rise to his knees, he drew his blade and laid into the shins of nearby opponents. When these were forced to withdraw for a short time, he jumped up again to his full height, and as his comrades, finally emboldened by shame, ran up to him, he obliged his attackers to beat a retreat back into the town. Returning to his own side, he was looked on as a marvel, since his body was found to be completely unscathed. Consequently they paid respect not merely to his bravery but also to his good luck.

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Braunschweig (the English “Brunswick”) is a town in central Germany.  In fact, it previously was in West Germany (albeit close to the East German border). Even here, however, there are signs of Slavic settlement. These are excerpts from Richard Andree’s Wendische Wanderstudien.

In the city itself, the northern town gate was referred to in 1254 as valva Slavorum. Similarly, a north south street had been called in 1268 platea Slavorum.

Several Slavic towns are found in the area:

• Wenden (listed in 1031 as villa Guinuthun) – north of Brunswick; it was probably from this place that a certain Balduin de Wenethen shows up in 1219 in the Wolfenbuettel records.
• Schwuelper (listed in 1191 as Suilbore and in 1200 as Suilbere) – the town refers to the Slavic word for forest – bor. It is located west of Wenden, near the Oker River (Okra) in the former Hannover province.
• Oelper (listed in 1241 as Elbere) – same idea as with bor.
• Wendezell – west of Oelper.
• Wendeburg (listed in 1195 as Winedeburg and then as Wenedeburch; aka Winetheborg) – also westwards.
   (1252 Twedorp) – listed as a “Wendish” village (despite the German name).
• Bortfeld (1311 Bortvelde) – listed as a “Wendish” village (despite the German name).
• Wense (1187 Wennehufen and 1290 Wendenihufen).
• Wendebutte (1007) – no longer around.
• Wendhausen – northeast of Brunswick on the river Schunter.
• Wendessen – near Wolfenbuettel on the Asse river.
• Wentfeld – east of Stederburg (Stetterburg).

Here are those place names as best as I can tell:

Here are excerpts from the continuators of Richard of Poitiers’ Chronicle (Chronica Richardi Pictauiensis, monachus cluniacensis de diuersis libris collecta: continuatio) that deal with the religion of the Liutici/Veleti. They were a bit archaic when written in their day but they may nevertheless represent an accurate window on earlier times. Richard himself died in 1174 but his Chronicle was continued by various writers (Amaury d’Augier, Martin of Opava (Troppau) and William Reade) of the 13th and even 14th century. One of them may be the author of the below fragment.

---

“The King of the Danes and the Christians who live in those parts that are in Germania and in the North, went to war with the pagans, who still worship idols and sacrifice to the elements and who are called Leutices or Lutoici and who still call our Christ a new God… They still worship Mercury and Venus in particular; they do not have temples but worship in the woods or nearby to springs.”

“Rex vero Danorum et christiani qui regiones illas incolunt, que sunt in Germania et in septemtrione, bellum habent cum paganis, qui adhuc adorant idola et sacrificant elementis et dicuntur Leutices sive Lutoici, Christum quoque nostrum novum deum appellant… Mercurium tamen et Venerem precipue colunt, non in templis, sed in nemoribus vel iuxta fontes.” 

MGH SS 26, p. 84 (1882)

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