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INTEODUCTION. 73
1. Jomsvikingarsaga, tlie history of the renowned
Sea-rovers, who were established at Jomsburg, near
the mouth of the Oder, and who were for a long
time the terror of all the neighboring coasts. It be-
gins with an account of the race of Palnatoki, the
founder of J6msburg, and relates how Sven was
brought up by him, and incited to continual pirati-
cal excursions against the lands of his father, Har-
ald Blatand, how King Harald fell by Palnatoki,
and the latter, after Sven's ascension to the throne,
was pursued by him, and built a large fortress on
the Vendian coast, in which he formally established
a community of Sea-rovers, and strengthened it by
appropriate laws. In the second part it ti'eats of
the causes which brought about the celebrated expedition
of the J6msburgers against Norway, which
it describes, and paints circumstantially the battle
in which the power of the Sea-rovers was broken
down by Hdkon Jarl. This Saga was written in
the eleventh or the beginning of the twelfth century,
from authentic sources, as many Icelanders were in
Hakon Jarl's army at the aforesaid battle. It is
distinguished for the perspicuity with which cir-
cumstances and persons are represented, and is
important, not only to Danish, history, but also to
Mythology, since the" chief personages are the last
representatives of Heathendom in the North, and
consequently heathen sentiments and manners are
everywhere presented.
2. Kjiytlinga-saga, a history of the Danish Kings
from Harald Bldtand to Knut VI., of whom the
successors of Knut the Great were named " Knyt-