The Pearl of Normandy-Parentage of Emma-Quarrels settled— Emma's Marriage with Ethelred, 1002, at Winchester-She receives the popular name of Elfgiva-Unsuitableness of Ethelred-His personal appearance-The songs of Gunnlaugr the Scald-The Sagas their value-Danegelt, its odiousness to the EnglishMassacre of the Danes on the Eve of St. Brice-Gunilda's fateHer anathema-Emma's sorrow concealed-The neglect of Ethelred towards his wife-She appeals to her brother-Anger of the Duke of Normandy-Reconciliation-Hugh and Alwyn-Siege of Exeter-Oath of fealty to Emma's unborn babe—Birth of her son, Edward the Confessor-Alfred, the eldest son, set aside on account of a prophecy-Emma flies from the troubles in England, with her children, to Normandy-Remains there two years-They are followed by Ethelred-" Unready" a title fitting for the weak King -London Bridge is broken down-Edmund Ironside-Algitha at Malmesbury Abbey-Death of Ethelred-Canute marries Emma -Her weight in gold-Influence of Emma-Mutual attachmentDanish dandies-Drinking-cups-Back-gammon-Poets-Story of Canute and his courtiers- Splendid gifts to abbeys-The King's

verses-Vauland, the smith-Hardicanute and Gunilda-King Olaf-Death of Canute-Earl Godwin's power-Treacherous letter to Emma's sons-Murder of Alfred-Suspicions-Harold— Emma's exile and return-Hardicanute-The gilded ship-The dwarf Mimicon-Death of Hardicanute-Edward succeeds-His conduct to his mother-The trial of the ploughshares-TriumphDeath of Emma.

THE first alliance between the English and the Normans, who afterwards ruled England with such despotic sway, took place in 1002, when Emma, who for her beauty was surnamed "the Pearl of Normandy," became the wife of Ethelred, the reigning monarch.

The family of Emma was of Scandinavian origin. Rollo, or Robert, her great-grandfather, after an unsuccessful invasion of England, in the reign of Alfred, had turned his arms against the natives of the neighbouring coast of France, who, finding themselves unable to oppose their warlike invaders, offered Robert a settlement in their territories. Charles the Simple, then on the French throne, yielded to Rollo part of the Province of Neustria, and bestowed on him at the same time the hand of his daughter Gisla, on condition that the Dane should do him homage as a vassal. The territory ceded to Rollo from that time went by the name of Normandy, and the Duke, when he died, bequeathed it to his son, Duke William I., who held it for twenty-five years. This prince was succeeded by Richard his son, then a minor, whose wife was Agnes, daughter of Hugh the Great, Earl of Paris, by whom he had no children. By Gunnora, his second wife, he had three sons, Richard, Robert, and Mauger; and three daughters, EmmaAgnes, Helloie or Alix, and Maud. The eldest of these princesses, named after Richard's first consort, was

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afterwards Queen of England, Alix espoused Geoffrey, Earl of Bretagne, and Maud became the wife of Eudes, Earl of Chartres and Blois.

Ethelred, King of England, had quarrelled with Duke Richard I., on some subject which has not been handed down to us. A fleet was prepared by Ethelred for the invasion of Normandy, and Richard, on his part, arrested all the English pilgrims and merchants in his dominions, some of whom he threw into prison, while others he condemned to death. Pope John XV. employed his legate Leo, Bishop of Treves, to reconcile the contending princes. Leo visited first Ethelred, and afterwards Richard, and, at his request, commissioners were appointed to meet at Rouen, when it was agreed that all ancient causes of dissension should be forgotten, that a perpetual peace should subsist between the King of England and the Marquess1 of Normandy, their children born and to be born, and all their true liege-men; that every infraction of this peace should be repaired by satisfactory compensation; and that neither prince should harbour the subjects nor the enemies of the other, without a written permission.2 This, the oldest treaty now extant between any of our kings and a foreign power, is drawn up in the name of the Pope, and confirmed by the oaths and marks of one bishop and two thanes on the part of Ethelred, and of one bishop and two barons on the part of Richard:3 it was signed at Rouen, March 1st, 991.

1 The title of Marquess or Duke is indiscriminately used, in the treaty, for the father of Emma.

2 Malmsbury says that the subjects of either Prince were to be provided with passports under seal, in travelling through the other's dominions, * Lingard.

In the eighth year after Ethelred's accession, he had married Ethelgina, daughter of Earl Thorold, by whom he had five children, Edmond, surnamed Ironside, for his strength of mind and body, Edwy, and three daughters. The Queen dying in 1002, Ethelred sent ambassadors to Normandy to demand the hand of Emma, sister of the reigning duke, Richard II. It is not unlikely that some overtures had been made at an earlier period, prior to Ethelred's first marriage, for this beautiful princess, who was then but a child; for Roger of Wendover says that Emma was the cause of the quarrel between her father and Ethelred, but no particulars have reached us.

Duke Richard II. gave a most honourable reception to the English embassy. The negotiation for the marriage was speedily concluded, and the same year that witnessed the death of Ethelgina, saw the young and blooming "Flower of Normandy" solemnly bestowed on the recently widowed King. In Lent, 1002, the new Queen came over to England, attended by a numerous retinue of French men and women. The nuptial ceremony was performed at Winchester, which, from that time, became a favourite residence of Emma, and was the spot in which she passed the earlier years of her married life. Both Saxon and Norman chroniclers unite in representing the youthful Queen Emma' as in a peculiar degree gifted with elegance and beauty; so that many flattering epithets had been bestowed on

1

Ingulphus, Gale, Saxon Chronicle.

2 Gemma and Ymma, Imma and Eme are various readings of the name Emma, which some say is identical with Amy, in Latin written Amata and Eutrophine; in Greek it signifies a good nurse, or help-giver, as the Saxons say.

her as "the Pearl," "the Flower," or "the Fair Maid" of Normandy. As she readily adopted the manners of the English on her arrival, she became so much beloved by them as to receive the popular surname of Elfgifa, the Elf or "Fairy Gift," and is called in the Saxon Chronicle Emma Elfgiva: several of her female predecessors among the queens-consort of England having, as has been before named, assumed this title, in honour of the wife of Edmund the Pious.

Ethelred was much older than Emma, being about thirty-four years of age at the time of his second marriage, and in some respects exceedingly unsuited to win the affections of the young and lovely bride whom he had selected. The son of Elfrida, who had perhaps herself witnessed the second nuptials of Ethelred, or at least lived to counsel them, inherited his mother's beauty of person, with many of its accompanying vices. He is represented to have been "a tall, handsome man, elegant in manners, beautiful in countenance, and interesting in his deportment," yet Malmesbury characterises his personal appearance, sarcastically calling him

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a fine sleeping figure." Amongst other weaknesses, he was open to flattery, as is evident from the patronage he afforded to Gunnlaugr the Scald, who, having sailed to London from Norway, presented himself to the King with an heroic poem which he had composed on the royal virtues.

"The adulatory style of this composition, which the author sang before the English Monarch, may be seen by the following lines:

1 Turner, from Gunnlaugr Saga.