hero of the Saxon
woods. In truth, he has been made to some extent the Roland or the
Arthur of Saxony, though fancy has not gone so far in his case as in
that of the French paladin and the Welsh hero of knight-errantry, for,
though he and his predecessor Hermann became favorite characters in
German ballad and legend, the romance heroes of that land continued to
be the mythical Siegfried and his partly fabulous, partly historical
companions of the epical song of the Nibelung.

_THE RAIDS OF THE SEA-ROVERS._

While Central and Southern Europe was actively engaged in wars by land,
Scandinavia, that nest of pirates, was as actively engaged in wars by
sea, sending its armed galleys far to the south, to plunder and burn
wherever they could find footing on shore. Not content with plundering
the coasts, they made their way up the streams, and often suddenly
appeared far inland before an alarm could be given. Wherever they went,
heaps of the dead and the smoking ruins of habitations marked their
ruthless course. They did not hesitate to attack fortified cities,
several of which fell into their hands and were destroyed. They always
fought on foot, but such was their strength, boldness, and activity that
the heavy-armed cavalry of France and Germany seemed unable to endure
their assault, and was frequently put to flight. If defeated, or in
danger of defeat, they hastened back to their ships, from which they
rarely ventured far and rowed away with such speed that pursuit was in
vain. For a long period they kept the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts
of Europe in such terror that prayers were publicly read in the churches
for deliverance from them, and the sight of their dragon beaked ships
filled the land with terror.

In 845 a party of them assailed and took Paris, from which they were
bought off by the cowardly and ineffective method of ransom, seven
thousand pounds of silver being paid them. In 853 another expedition,
led by a leader named Hasting, one of the most dreaded of the Norsemen,
again took Paris, marched into Burgundy, laying waste the country as he
advanced, and finally took Tours, to which city much treasure had been
carried for safe-keeping. Charles the Bald, who had bought off the
former expedition with silver, bought off this one with gold, offering
the bold adventurer a bribe of six hundred and eighty-five pounds of the
precious metal, to which he added a ton and a half of silver, to leave
the country.