KINGS OF NORWAY. 377 to rad. hi wolde dryfan to thaes cyninges tune, thy the he notes. niste hwaet hi waeron. hine mon of-sloh tha. That woeron tha ajrestan scipu Deniscra monna the Angel-cynes lond gesohton." " Anno 787. Here took (in marriage) Beorhtric the king Offa's daughter Eadburhga. And in liis days came first three ships of Northmen of Heredaland. And then the sheriff rode thereto : he would drive them to this king's town, because he would inquire what they were. This man they slew. These were the first ships of Danish men who sought the English king's land." The following is the Latin version of the passage, given by Gibson : — " An. 787. Hoc anno cepit (in uxorem) Beorhtricus Rex OfFae filiam Eadburgam. Ejus autem temporibus venerunt primum tres naves Norwegiorum de Herethorum terra. Tum eo (regis) praepositus equo vectus illos molitus est compellere ad regis villam, propterea quod nesciret unde essent : ibi autem is occisus est. Istae primae fuerunt naves Danorum quae Anglorum nationem peterent." Now this passage appears not to allow of the strict inter- pretation given to it by our historians. It says that in the year 787 Beorhtric married Offa's daughter, and in liis days — not specially in the year 787 — came the three ships; but Beorhtric lived to the year 800. The three ships are stated first to be of Northmen or Norwegians of Heredaland. Here- daland is either Hordaland, an ancient district of Norway of great note in the sagas, — so great that, in the poetry, king of Hordaland is frequently used for king of Norway, — and situated where South Bergen province now is; or it may be the country on the south side of the Drontheim fiord, still called the Heredland, or the Inhered, comprehending several extensive parishes, and where formerly the main power of the kings of Norway lay; or Hercdalande may mean the king's demesne lands to which the men be- longed. In either interpretation these Northmen of Horda- land were strangers on the coast ; and the king's officer went to inquire what they were. But Danes from Jutland or Sleswick, who had from the year 450 to the year 585 or 600, when the kingdom of Mercia was established, been yearly comino- over the sea in colonies from those coasts (for the
