orshippers, and their chief god was Odin.

Denmark means _a land of dark woods_. In ancient times it was
probably covered with sombre firs. One of its early kings was Dan
the Famous. His descendants were called Danes.

Many ages after the reign of this king, the land was filled with
peace and plenty. It was the Golden Age of the North. Frode the
Peaceful was king in the Golden Age. He ruled over all lands from
Russia to the Rhine, and over two hundred and twenty kingdoms of two
hundred and twenty subjugated kings. There was no wrong, nor want,
nor thieves, nor beggars in the Golden Age. This happy period of
Northern history was at that age of the world when Christ was born.

According to the Scalds, the god Odin used to appear to men. He
appeared the last time at the battle of Bravalla, a contest in which
the Frisians, Wends, Finns, Lapps, Danes, Saxons, Jutes, Goths, and
Swedes all were engaged. The dead were so thick on the field, after
this battle, that their bodies reached to the axle-wheels of the
chariots of the victors. At the time of this battle Christianity was
being proclaimed in England. It was approaching the North. With the
battle of Bravalla the mythic age of Denmark and the North comes to
an end.

I have told you something of Louis le Debonnaire, who went to die on
a rock in the Rhine, that the waters might lull him to his eternal
repose. He was a missionary king, and he desired nothing so much as
the conversion of the world to Christ. He was the son of
Charlemagne. "It is nobler to convert souls than conquer kingdoms"
was his declaration of purpose. He sent missionary apostles to the
North to convert Denmark. His missions at first were failures, but
in the end they resulted in giving all the Northern crowns to
Christ's kingdom, that Louis loved more than his own.

The Danes in the Middle Ages became famous sea-kings. Before
England, Denmark ruled the sea. One stormy day in December Gorm the
Old appeared before Paris with seven hundred barks. He compelled the
French king to sue for peace.

The sea-kings conquered England. Canute the Dane was king of all the
regions of the northwest of Europe. His kingdom embraced Denmark,
England, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, and Cumberland. Such is the
second wonderful period of Denmark's history.

THE ROYAL FAMILY OF DENMARK.

Royal people, as well as "self-made men," often undergo remar