Polabian Gods Part Vb – Saxo Grammaticus on the Siege of Arkona

We continue here with the story of the Danish invasion of Ruegen in 1168 as told by Saxo Grammaticus.  The first part is to be found here.

The King Has a Feeling

“The [Danish] King was filled with a desire of destroying their fortifications no less than he wanted toe stroy the pagan cult which was present in this town; he believed, namely that if he were able to tame Arkona, then all of paganism  on Rugia would be destroyed for he had no doubt that so long as this statue stood, it was easier for him to conquer the country’s fortifications than to defeat the pagan cult.  In order to bring the siege to a quicker end, all of his warriors greatly labored on his orders to bring from nearby forests many a tree trunk that could be used to build siege engines.  Whereas the engineers began to build [the siege engines], he appeared among them saying that their hard labors won’t bring any benefits and that the town will fall in their hands faster than they expected.  When he was asked why he thinks this, he answered that he arrived at this conclusion for the following reason.  He said that the Rugians at one time were conquered by Charlemagne and they were then ordered to pay tribute to the Abbey (of Saint Vitus) in Corvey, who became known thanks to his martyr’s death; but when Charlemagne died, they immediately dropped the enslaving yoke and returned to paganism; they then supposedly raised at Arkona this statue that they called Saint Vitus [i.e., Svantevit] and on whose worship they used all the money that earlier had been sent to Saint Vitus at Corvey with whom/which they now wanted nothing to do, for they said, that they were satisfied with the Saint Vitus [i.e., Svantevit] that they had at home and they felt no desire to subordinate themselves to some foreign [one].  Therefore, Saint Vitus, given that his day was drawing closer [i.e., the day of the feast of Saint Vitus]  will destroy their walls as a penalty for them having portrayed him in such a barbarous way; they have earned his wrath for they have established a blasphemous cult in lieu of a holy commemoration [of his].  This was not revealed to him in a dream, said the King nor did he arrived at this conclusion from analyzing any occurrence that may have happened, but rather he only had this strong conviction/feeling that this is what had to happen.”

But His Warriors Are More Pragmatic

“Such prophesy generated more doubt than belief in it, and because the island on which Arkona stood that was called Wittow was separated from Rugia by only a thin strait that was only so wide as a small river and it was feared that the Arkonians could get reinforcements by this path, people were sent there so as to guard the ford and prevent the enemy from crossing.  With the rest of the army he [the King] besieged the city paying careful attention to pace the catapults close to the walls.  Absalon was tasked with dividing the people and telling them where they should set up camp and in order to do this he measured the country between both shores exactly.”

And the Arkonians Are More Impressed with Their Banner

“In the meantime the Arkonians filled the gate with a great quantity of earth so as to make it harder for the enemy to attack it and they blocked access to it with a wall made of turf and this filled them with such confidence that they neglected to post warriors in the tower over the gate but only hanged there several banners and pennants.  One of their insignia that stood by reason of its color and of its size was called Stanica and the Rugians venerated this banner with such great reverence as almost all of their Gods taken together, for when it was carried in front of them they believed that they had sufficient might so as to challenge both gods and men and that there was not a thing they could not [lawfully?] do then [with the banner at their front] if they so should choose to such as plunder towns, destroy altars, commit dishonorable acts and to turn houses on Rugia into ruins.  They were so tremendously supersticious when it came to this rag that they ascribed to it more authority and power than to a kingly [banner] and they venerated it as a divine standard, and even those who had been harmed [by the bearers of it] gave the banner great reverence and honor, irrespective of hoe much harm it brought them.”

BTW Note that the Stanica banner is also mentioned by Thietmar in his description of the temple at Radogost/Riedegost.

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