Perhaps it
must be so, and perhaps a single man cannot rule so great an empire.
But it is sad to perceive in history that every great achievement
carries within it the seeds of decay, and that the heights are
always bordered by deep abysses. Brother Thiodolf brought
disquieting news from France. The Saxons, who were finally
overthrown with their powerful chief Widukind, have devised a
terrible revenge. They have invited Danish and Swedish pirates,
called Vikings, into the country. These have sailed up the Rhine, up
the Seine as far as Rouen, and up the Loire. These Scandinavians are
of German stock, and are therefore of kin to us Franks, but are more
nearly related to the Goths, Heruli, Rugieri, and Longobards, of
whom the last three are Scandinavian. Odovacer, who overthrew the
Western Roman Empire, and deposed the last Emperor Romulus
Augustulus, was a Rugier from the Danish island Rugen. These men
from the North seem to be now about to step on the stage. Possibly
they are the Gog and Magog concerning whom the Old Testament
prophesied that they should come from the North. We did not end
our conversation till midnight, Thiodolf and I; then we walked up
and down in the garden till early mass, for we could not sleep.
Now I close this letter, dear wife, by wishing you happy days far
from all the tumult of the world.
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