f assuming the title or power of a king except by the vote of
the _Thing_. There he was presented to the people by a free peasant,
and his right must be confirmed by the _Thing_ before he could exert
any act of kingly power. The king had a number of free men in his
service, who had sworn allegiance to him in war and in peace. They
were armed men, kept in pay, and were called _hird-men_ or court-men,
because they were members of the king's hird or court. If they were
brave and faithful, they were often given high positions of trust;
some were made _lendermen_ (liegemen), or managers of the king's
estates.

It is but natural that the ancient Norwegians should become warlike
and brave men, since their firm religious belief was that those who
died of sickness or old age would sink down into the dark abode of Hel
(Helheim), and that only the brave men who fell in battle would be
invited to the feasts in Odin's Hall. Sometimes the earls or kings
would make war on their neighbors, either for conquest or revenge.
But the time came when the countries of the north, with their poorly
developed resources, became overpopulated, and the warriors had to
seek other fields abroad. The viking cruises commenced, and for a long
time the Norwegians continued to harry the coasts of Europe.

At first the viking expeditions were nothing but piracy, carried on
for a livelihood. The name Viking is supposed to be derived from the
word _vik_, a cove or inlet on the coast, in which they would harbor
their ships and lie in wait for merchants sailing by. Soon these
expeditions assumed a wider range and a wilder character, and
historians of the time paint the horrors spread by the vikings in dark
colors. In the English churches they had a day of prayer each week to
invoke the aid of heaven against the harrying Northmen. In France
the following formula was inserted in the church prayer: "_A furore
Normannorum libera nos, o Domine_!" (Free us, O Lord, from the fury of
the Northmen!)

Gradually the viking life assumed a nobler form. There appear to have
been three stages or periods in the viking age. In the first one the
vikings make casual visits with single ships to the shores of England,
Ireland, France or Flanders, and when they have plundered a town or
a convent, they return to their ships and sail away. In the second
period their cruises assume a more regular character, and indicate
some definite plan, as they take possession of certain points,