Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 1.djvu/208

well received; and it may be supposed that on this journey he collected the information relative to former transactions in Sweden and Denmark, as well as in Norway, that he gives in his Chronicle. The Lady Christina was a daughter of King Sigurd the Crusader, by Malmfrid, a daughter of King Harald of Novogorod, whose mother was Gyde, a daughter of the English King Harald, the son of Earl Godwin, who fell at the battle of Hastings. This Lady Christina appears to have been married first to Erling Skakke, by whom she had a son, who was king of Norway, Magnus Erlingsson, in the middle of whose reign Snorro's Chronicle ends. She was then married to Earl Hakon Galin, after whom she married the Lagman Askel. On his return from this visit Snorro remained two years with Earl Skule in Norway. It is evident that, as a chronicler, Snorro Sturleson had thus enjoyed opportunities of collecting or correcting the accounts of transactions of former times, which few contemporary writers possessed. He was made a cup-bearer, or dish-bearer, equivalent to the modern dignity of chamberlain, by King Hakon; and is accused by his enemies of having entered into a private agreement with the king and Earl Skule that he should use his influence to subvert the independence which Iceland had hitherto enjoyed, and to persuade the Thing to submit to the government of the King of Norway; and that he should be made the king's lenderman, or even earl over the country, in reward of this service. Whatever may have been Snorro Sturleson's ambition or want of principle, no grounds for this charge appear in his life. The subjection of Iceland to the crown of Norway was, on the contrary, carried into effect two years after his murder by his personal enemies; and the event may rather be considered the inevitable result of the changes which had taken place in the social condition, military spirit, and arrange-