"The law," it
says, "must be honest, just, reasonable, and according to the ways
of the people. It must meet their needs, and speak plainly so that
all men may know and understand what the law is. It is not to be
made in any man's favor, but for the needs of all them who live in
the land." That is its purpose, and "no man shall judge (condemn)
the law which the King has given and the country chosen; neither
shall he (the King) take it back without the will of the people."
That tells the story of Valdemar's day, and of the people who are so
near of kin with ourselves. They were not sovereign and subjects;
they were a chosen king and a free people, working together "with
law land to build."
King Valdemar was married twice. The folk-song represents Dagmar as
urging the King with her dying breath
"that Bengerd, my lord, that base bad dame
you never to wife will take."
Bengerd, or Berengaria, was a Portuguese princess whom Valdemar
married in spite of the warning, two years later. As the people had
loved the fair Dagmar, so they hated the proud Southern beauty,
whether with reason or not. The story of her "morning gift," as it
has come down to us through the mists of time, is very different
from the other.
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