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??rnson, Bj??rnstjerne, 1832-1910

"Poems and Songs"

He went on to
say that the Swedish nation must crave again its (pure) flag: "For
in our ancient blue-yellow Swedish flag, that waved over L?tzen's
blood-drenched battlefield, are our honor, our memories, and
thousand-fold deaths."
The (pure, i.e., without the mark of union) Swedish flag consists
of a yellow cross on a blue ground, the (pure) Norwegian flag of a
blue cross within a white border on a red ground; in each the cross
extends to the four margins. At the date of this poem each flag
showed a mark of union, a diagonal combination of the colors of
both, in the upper field nearest the staff. (For a brief history of
the flag of Norway, see Note 66.)
Stanza 2. Magnus the Good, son of Olaf the Saint, reigned from 1035
till his death in 1047. He was victorious in conflict with the
Danish King Knut the Hard, and by agreement received Denmark after
his death. Magnus died in Denmark on one of several successful
expeditions against the rebellious Svein Jarl.
Fredrikshald, see Note 5.
Ad(e)ler, Kort Sivertsen (1622-1675), was a distinguished admiral,
born in Norway. He reorganized the Danish-Norwegian fleet, which
late in the seventeenth century several times defeated the Swedish.
Stanza 3. L?tzen. In the battle of L?tzen, November 16, 1632,
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed.
Grandsire's ancient seat, symbol of Norway's ancient power and
glory.


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