ABSTRACT
THAT most renowned writer of Danish history, Saxo Grammaticus, tells us that Ragnar, king of the Danes, after making raids on the coasts of Russia for a full five years, resolved to attack the neighbouring Biarmians, that is to say, the people inhabiting the northern mountains and plains, in order to bring them low by armed aggression and his incomparable might. As soon as they became aware of his arrival, they assailed the sky with magic spells and by agitating the clouds brought about rain-storms of the utmost violence. For some time this prevented Ragnar from sailing and removed any means of provisioning his men; then suddenly the tempests abated, whereupon he and his men were scorched by a baking fiery heat, a plague which certainly proved no more bearable than the intense cold that had been conjured up against them. So, this double evil, the twin extremes of temperature which played in succession upon his soldiers, broke their constitutions under the affliction of each excessive climatic condition. But when the king took note that he was hampered by a spurious, rather than a genuine, power in the air, he returned to make a second, surprise attack, in order to bring retribution on the Biarmians for their arrogance. The king of the Biarmians, relying on the highly skilled service of bowmen belonging to his neighbour, the Duke of Finnmark, shattered the army of Ragnar, who was wintering in Biarmia, without his being able to retaliate.
King Ragnar
Sky is stirred with spells
Changes in the elements
Army is shattered without retaliation
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