"But all men said that this great hurt befell the King because that
he brake the oath he swore upon the sacred body of the Lord."
The wars of Valdemar were over, but his sorrows were not. Four years
later the crushing blow fell when Dagmar's son, who was crowned king
to succeed him, lost his life while hunting. With him, says the
folk-song, died the hope of Denmark. The King had other sons, but to
Dagmar's boy the people had given their love from the first, as they
had to his gentle mother. The old King and his people grieved
together.
But Valdemar rose above his sorrows. Great as he had been in the
days of victory, he was greater still in adversity. The country was
torn by the wars of three-score years, and in need of rest. He gave
his last days to healing the wounds the sword had struck. Valdemar,
the Victor, became Valdemar, the Law-giver. The laws of the country
had hitherto made themselves. They were the outgrowths of the
people's ancient customs, passed down by word of mouth through the
generations, and confirmed on Thing from time to time. King
Valdemar gave Denmark her first written laws that judged between
man and man, in at least one of her provinces clear down into our
day. "With law shall land be built" begins his code.
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