RELIGION IN THE HEROIC AGE.
In the course of the Heroic Age many of the Teutonic peoples were
converted to Christianity. The change of faith began among the Goths
soon after the middle of the fourth century and must have spread
very quickly to the Vandals. The Gepidae and Langobardi seem to
have followed the example of these peoples in the course of the
following century. At the time of Justinian's accession the Heruli
were probably the only Teutonic people in eastern central Europe who
remained heathen. In the west the Burgundians accepted Christianity
apparently about the beginning of the fifth century, and the Franks
before its close. The conversion of England took place in the seventh
century; that of the Frisians and Old Saxons for the most part in the
eighth. The Northern Kingdoms in general were little affected by the
change until towards the close of the tenth century, though the first
missionary efforts in Denmark and Sweden began before the middle of the
ninth. In parts of Sweden the heathen religion lingered on until late
in the eleventh century.
In the Nibelungenlied it is clearly recognised, perhaps through
scholastic influence, that the multitude assembled at Attila's court
included both Christians and heathens; but no such distinction is
drawn in the English and Norse poems. In the former all the characters
are made to speak as Christians, though they observe heathen rites;
in the latter no indication is given that any of the characters were
Christians. In point of fact there can be little doubt that most of
the persons who figure in the heroic stories were heathens. In all
probability such was the case with the earlier Goths, Eormenric
and his contemporaries, as well as with all the characters of the
Danish cycles. On the other hand the later Goths, Theodric and his
contemporaries, were certainly Christians, and so also were the
Burgundians, Guthhere and his brothers, as well as Alboin, king of the
Langobardi.
With the Christian religion we are not concerned here; for, greatly
as it influenced the Teutonic peoples, it was in no sense native. It
is to the religion which Christianity displaced that we must give our
attention. Unfortunately however the records which have come down to us
from the Heroic Age itself are entirely of foreign authorship, and on
the whole they give us extremely little information on this subject. We
are bound therefore to base our account of Teutonic religion upon the
comparatively abundant evidence preserved in Scandinavian literature,
though we must not assume that the religion of the Heroic Age possessed
the characteristics which we find in the North some five centuries
later. When we have given a brief summary of the chief features of
this later religion we shall have to discuss in somewhat more detail
the small amount of information available for the earlier period. This
is rendered all the more necessary by the fact that in works dealing
with the subject the religion of the Heroic Age has not generally been
distinguished from that of the Germans of Tacitus' time.
Now the feature which will probably strike any one most forcibly from
a careful study of Northern religion is an extraordinary discrepancy
between the mythical stories contained in the Edda and elsewhere on
the one hand and references to actual religious observances on the
other. In the former we find the gods grouped together in an organised
community, of which Othin is the recognised head. Frigg is his wife,
Thor and many of the other gods his sons. Most of the mythical stories
deal with Othin's exploits and adventures, and serve to illustrate his
power and wisdom. On the other hand the references to religious rites
point in quite a different direction. In Iceland, for which our records
are most full, there is practically no evidence for the worship of
Othin. Thor is by far the most prominent figure, and after him Frey;
occasionally also we hear of Niörðr[586]. References to the worship
of other supernatural beings, elves and landvættir (_genii locorum_),
are not unfrequent. In notices referring to Norway the evidence is
not very different. We do indeed sometimes hear of worship paid to
Othin, especially in legendary stories, relating to early times; but in
references to what may be called the historical period--the tenth and
eleventh centuries--Thor and Frey are distinctly more prominent.
Two explanations have been given of this curious phenomenon. One is
that the cult of Othin was introduced into the North at a comparatively
late period and that it had not yet obtained a real hold at the time
when Iceland was settled. This explanation has no foundation in
tradition. Indeed the evidence of the stories points to an entirely
opposite conclusion. Moreover it is worth noting that according to
Procopius (_Goth._ II 15) the inhabitants of 'Thule' (i.e. Scandinavia)
worshipped 'Ares' more than any other god. Since Othin is essentially a
god of war it is natural to suppose that he is the deity meant, rather
than the somewhat obscure Týr.
The other explanation is that the cults of Othin and Thor belonged
to two different classes of the community, the former to princely
families and their retinues, the latter to the country people, more
especially the (non-official) landowners. This explanation seems to be
in complete accordance with the facts. There is no evidence for the
worship of Othin either in early or late times except by princes or
persons attached to their courts, while there are very few instances
of the worship of Thor by such persons. Further we may note that while
names compounded with _Thór-_ (e.g. _Thórkell_, _Thórolfr_) are about
the commonest type of all among the ordinary free population, both in
Norway and Iceland--and such names are significant since they denote
that the persons who bore them were dedicated to the god--they are
practically unknown in royal families. It will be convenient now to
give a short sketch of the two deities and their cults.
Thor is represented as a middle-aged man of immense bodily strength.
He is well disposed towards the human race and looked upon as their
protector against harmful demons, to whom he is an implacable foe. In
the poems Thrymskviða and Hýmiskviða and in a number of prose stories
we have descriptions of Thor's adventures with giants, in which he is
generally represented as breaking their skulls with his hammer. He uses
no weapon except the hammer, and when he travels he either walks or
drives in a car drawn by goats. When he comes to the assembly of the
gods he is said to wade through certain rivers on the way. His escort
never consists of more than three persons; very often he goes alone.
The picture which the stories give us is clearly that of an idealised
Norwegian countryman of primitive times. There are scarcely any traces
of his original connection with the thunder, though in Sweden it was
clearly remembered.
The portraiture of Othin offers the greatest possible contrast to that
of Thor. He is represented as an old man, generally with one eye, and
he gains his ends not by bravery or physical strength but by wisdom and
cunning. Sometimes we find him coming, usually in disguise, to giants
or witches, in order to gain from them some magical power or knowledge
of the future; sometimes he imparts his knowledge, again generally
magical, to men. He presents his favourites with weapons and instructs
them in the art of war. Above all he is the god who gives victory in
battle.
Othin's chief dwelling is called Valhöll (the 'hall of the slain'),
and all persons who fall in battle were believed to go to him there.
Hence we find such expressions as 'to go to lodge with Othin' or 'to
go to Valhalla' used as euphemisms for 'to be killed.' Before joining
battle it is said to have been customary to throw a javelin over the
enemy with the words 'Othin has you all.' After a battle prisoners
were commonly sacrificed to Othin, and on such occasions, and indeed
at all human sacrifices, the formula regularly used was: 'I give thee
to Othin.' The usual method of sacrifice was by hanging or stabbing
or a combination of both. With this practice we may probably connect
a somewhat obscure myth recorded in Hávamál, str. 138, according to
which Othin was sacrificed to himself, by hanging and stabbing, on the
world-tree. Certainly it is to be noted that the sacrifices to Othin
seem to have been invariably human. They were clearly rites of quite a
different character from the sacrificial feasts frequently mentioned
in the sagas, where the victims consisted of horses, oxen and other
edible animals, part of which was offered to the gods, while the rest
was consumed by the worshippers. We do sometimes hear of horses being
sacrificed with men, but on such occasions dogs and hawks are also
mentioned, and there is no evidence that any of the victims were eaten.
There are very few records of human sacrifices to any god except Othin.
The picture of Valhalla presented to us in the poems is a glorified
copy of a military king's court[587]. The vast number of slain warriors
assembled there in Othin's service spend their days in single combats
and their evenings in feasting. Beside them we find the Valkyriur
('choosers of the slain'), Othin's adopted daughters, who distribute
ale to the feasters. These also are sent out by Othin to decide the
issue of battles and to select warriors for Valhalla. It is noteworthy
that the term _Valkyriur_ seems to be applied both to supernatural
beings--what may perhaps be called minor divinities--and also to living
women endowed with supernatural powers, such as that of flying. Thus
both Brynhildr and Sigrún, the wife of Helgi Hundingsbani, are called
Valkyries; and it was for deciding a fight contrary to Othin's command
that the former was punished with perpetual sleep.
In Ynglinga Saga, cap. 8, Othin is said to have ordained "that all dead
men should be burnt and brought on to the pyre with their property.
He said that every dead man should come to Valhöll with such property
as he had on the pyre.... But the ashes were to be cast out into the
sea or buried down in the earth." Valhalla seems to be represented
as a spirit world somewhat far away and not connected at all with
the burial place. This observation brings us to another remarkable
discrepancy between the traditions and the customs which we find
actually prevailing in the North. We know both from descriptions in
the sagas and from discoveries made in modern times that in the last
few centuries before the adoption of Christianity it was customary
to bury the dead in their ships or in elaborately constructed wooden
chambers--the whole being covered with a barrow of considerable size.
In the Prologue to Snorri's Heimskringla this custom is said to be
of later date than the one attributed to Othin; first was the age of
burning, then the age of barrows. Now there is evidence both from
the discoveries and from the sagas themselves that the barrows were
regarded as sacred and that the spirits of the dead were believed
to dwell either within them or in the immediate neighbourhood. Not
unfrequently we hear of persons coming to a barrow to consult the
spirit. Sometimes the ghost, embodied in the corpse, even defends
his property against grave-robbers. The activities of the dead are
often represented as injurious; but this is by no means always the
case. On one occasion we hear of a dispute between several different
districts for the possession of the body of a king whose reign had been
distinguished by great prosperity.
On the whole then it is clear that the cult of the dead was practised
in the North very much as in most other parts of the world. Yet modern
discoveries have brought to light abundant evidence for cremation in
the early iron age--sometimes in spots which are marked by no external
monument--so that the statements of Ynglinga Saga may be regarded
as based on good tradition. We are driven to conclude therefore
that in their conception of immortality, as in their theology, the
inhabitants of the North held two wholly inconsistent views--or,
perhaps it would be more correct to say, two entirely opposite views
as to the desirability of retaining the souls of the dead. In Iceland
the practice of cremation seems to have been extremely rare, but when
it was resorted to the object is said to have been to get rid of a
troublesome ghost. The one view of immortality was by no means so
closely bound up with the cult of Thor as the other was with that of
Othin. But it certainly prevailed among Thor's worshippers.
The next most important deity after Othin and Thor was Frey. His cult
was widely spread in Norway and Iceland; yet according to tradition
its true home was Sweden[588]. The Swedish royal family and nobility
traced their descent from Frey, and Upsala, their capital and the chief
sanctuary of the North, was believed to have been founded by him. In
Ynglinga Saga, cap. 12 f., we have an account of him which is worth
quoting as an illustration of Northern manes-worship. Frey is here
represented as a prince whose reign was characterised by unparalleled
prosperity. His death was concealed for three years. But when it became
known, the Swedes would not burn him; for they believed that prosperity
and peace would last as long as Frey was in Sweden. They made a great
barrow for him therefore and poured into it the tribute which they had
been wont to pay him; and they worshipped him for prosperity and peace
ever afterwards. A very similar account is given of the Danish king
Fróði the Peaceful--from which we may infer that in Frey we have to
deal not with a deified man but with a mythical character--a 'king of
the golden age.' His name originally seems to have meant 'prince' or
'lord' (Ang.-Sax. _frea_, cf. ἄναξ); very probably it was at one time a
title of the Swedish kings[589].
Frey appears to be regarded as a youthful god. The blessings for which
he was worshipped were peace and fertility, both of the crops and
livestock, as well as of the human race. His power of controlling the
weather may be accounted for by his association with the Swedish kings
(cf. p. 367); but it is clear that his character contains elements
drawn from more than one source. His father Niörðr, who is sometimes
associated with him, possesses much the same characteristics, though
he appears to be more particularly connected with the sea. There can
be little doubt however that both he and his son have inherited the
attributes of an ancient earth-goddess. Although there has been a
change of sex, Niörðr's name is identical with that of Nerthus (_id
est Terra Mater_), a deity who according to Tacitus, _Germ._ 40, was
worshipped on 'an island in the ocean'--in all probability Sjælland.
Niörðr also has a daughter called Freyia (i.e. ἄνασσα, Δέσποινα), who
is represented as a female counterpart of Frey. It is worth noting
that she is sometimes associated with the next world. According to
Grímnismál, str. 14, she shares the slain equally with Othin.
The deities with which we have just been dealing were collectively
known as Vanir. They were held to be of a quite different stock from
the Aesir, to whom Othin and Thor belonged, and according to the
mythology had been given to the latter as hostages. Of the other
deities those who figure most prominently in mythical stories are Frigg
(Othin's wife), Ullr, Hoenir, Týr, Heimdallr, Iðun, Gefion and Balder;
but we seldom hear of worship paid to any of these.
In the Edda all the gods together form a regularly organised community.
Their home is called Ásgarðr, and they hold their meetings beside the
'world-tree,' Yggdrasill's Ash. It is to be observed that Ásgarðr is a
totally different conception from Valhalla[590]; it is not an abode of
the slain. Indeed in this connection Othin himself does not appear to
be represented as a god of the dead. But apart from Ásgarðr each god
has a special abode of his own--Thor at Thrúðheimr, Ullr at Ýdalir,
Niörðr at Noatún, Balder at Breiðablik, etc. All these localities
are mythical--or at all events incapable of identification. It is a
striking characteristic of Northern mythology that the gods are not
associated with any known localities. Practically the only exceptions
are Frey and Gefion, who are connected by tradition with Upsala and
Sjælland respectively; and neither of these connections is preserved
in the poems of the Edda. In order to understand this feature we must
of course bear in mind the fact that our mythological records are
almost entirely derived from Iceland, which lies far away from the old
national sanctuaries.
It is probably due to the same cause that we hear but little of
special cults. In Iceland the only noteworthy exception is that,
beside the more usually prevailing cult of Thor, we find a number of
persons who are devoted to the service of Frey. Certain chiefs bear
the title _Freysgoði_ ('priest of Frey'); in one case a whole family
bore the surname _Freysgyðlingar_. Temples apparently sometimes
contained the figures of a number of gods, though Thor's or Frey's is
usually the only one mentioned by name. In Norway however the case is
somewhat different. We hear frequently of temples and statues of Thor,
occasionally also of those of Frey. But in addition to these there are
notices of sanctuaries belonging to other deities--though not to Othin.
In Friðþiófs Saga, cap. 1 (and passim), mention is made of a temple and
image of Balder in the district of Sogn. It is the fashion to treat
this incident as a product of antiquarian speculation; but there is
little in the story itself to justify such a view, and the fact that
the worship of Balder is not found elsewhere proves nothing. More
important however is the fact that in a number of records we hear of
statues and temples of Thórgerðr Hölgabrúðr, with whom her sister Irpa
is sometimes associated. There can be no doubt that under the rule of
Earl Haakon of Lade the cult of Thórgerðr was more prominent than that
of any other deity, at least in the district of Trondhjem. This fact is
the more remarkable because Thórgerðr and Irpa are never associated in
any way with the rest of the gods; in the poems of the Edda and even in
Gylfaginning their existence is ignored.
A very interesting illustration of the practice of special cults occurs
in Niáls Saga, cap. 88, which describes a temple owned in common by
Earl Haakon and Guðbrandr, a powerful _hersir_ (hereditary local chief)
in the highlands. This temple contained figures of Thórgerðr and Irpa
and also of Thor in his car[591]. We know from other sources that the
cult of Thor was hereditary in the family of Guðbrandr. Indeed it
appears to be generally true that families adhered to the same cult
from generation to generation[592], though in one case we do hear of
an Icelander bearing the title Freysgoði, who belonged to a family
distinguished for its service to Thor.
The relations between the worshipper and his deity were of a personal
and intimate character; he regarded the latter as friend, counsellor
and protector. Where the two are of different sexes the relationship
is apt to take a conjugal form. Thus in the Flateyiarbók, I p. 107
f., Olafr Tryggvason, after robbing one of Earl Haakon's temples, and
carrying off the image, calls out in derision: "Who wants to buy a
wife? I think Thórkell and I are now responsible for this woman, since
she has had the misfortune to lose her husband who was exceedingly dear
to her." One of the bystanders then addresses the image: "How is it,
Thórgerðr, that thou art now so humiliated and stripped in unseemly
wise of the splendid apparel wherewith Earl Haakon had thee clothed
when he loved thee?" So in the poem Hyndlulióð Freyia speaks of her
devoted worshipper, Óttarr the son of Innsteinn, as her husband. We
may compare with this the fact that in the Flateyiarbók, I 337 f., the
priestess in charge of Frey's temple in Sweden is said to have been
called his wife. I see no reason therefore for supposing that Snorri
was giving rein to his imagination when he stated (Yngl. Saga, cap. 5)
that Gefion was the wife of Skiöldr who, though a mythical character
(cf. p. 131 f.), was not a god.
Sometimes again we meet with a definitely hostile attitude towards
a deity--generally Othin--and it must not be supposed that such
ideas first arose after the introduction of Christianity. In Saxo's
translation of the lost Biarkamál the hero suspects that Othin is
among the enemy and expresses his eagerness to attack him. If once
he can catch sight of him, he says, the god will not escape from
Leire unharmed[593]. Such ideas can only be explained by a vivid
anthropomorphic conception of the deities.
The same attitude appears elsewhere. In Gautreks Saga, cap. 7--a story
which contains many archaic features--we find the destiny of a man
being determined by Othin and Thor, the former of whom is friendly
to him, the latter hostile. In the introduction to Grímnismál as the
result of a disagreement with Othin Frigg plays a trick upon him which
leads him into serious trouble. Nor is the married life of Niörðr and
Skaði as happy as might be wished. But the chief cause of discord among
the gods is the malicious Loki. In the poem Lokasenna he charges most
of the chief goddesses with unfaithfulness or unchastity, while at the
same time he reproaches the gods with unseemly conduct or with being
involved in humiliating positions. The picture of the divine community
which the poem presents to us is anything but pleasant. No doubt Loki
is representing every circumstance in the most unfavourable light
possible; but there appears to be a definite mythical foundation for
most of his charges.
Loki serves as a connecting link between the gods and the iötnar
('giants'), a class of beings who are represented as generally hostile
to both gods and men. Yet there are exceptions to this rule; and some
of the gods, e.g. Niörðr and Frey, have wives from the iötnar. Next
to them we must mention the dwarfs, who are distinguished for their
cunning and skill in metallurgy. Neither of these classes however
can properly be regarded as objects of worship. Elves were certainly
worshipped, but only collectively, as far as we know. In early records
they are scarcely ever spoken of as individuals. Most probably their
origin is to be sought in animistic conceptions, connected with the
cult of the dead. On this last subject enough has been said above;
we need only add that the formal deification of dead men was not
unknown[594]. Sacred trees and groves also figure as prominently as in
other parts of Europe.
* * * * *
Thus far we have been dealing with the religion of the Viking Age,
primarily as we know of it in Iceland and Norway. But we have seen
that the actual records of religion in Iceland agree in no way with
the theology of the Edda. Nor can it truly be said that the evidence
for Norway shows a better case. Here too we find the worship of Thor
and Frey. But for the worship of Othin, Niörðr, Freyia and Balder the
evidence is slight and generally doubtful. For that of the rest of the
gods there is no evidence at all. On the other hand we find that the
deity who after Thor figures most prominently of all in these records
is one who is entirely unknown to the theology of the Edda. The only
conclusion which it seems to me legitimate to draw from these facts is
that the mythology of the Edda is not a true reflection of Norwegian
religion, at all events as it existed in the Viking Age.
Now let us consider the various deities individually. It will be
convenient to begin with those whom we know to have been worshipped in
Norway or Iceland. There is no question that Thor was known not only
in Sweden and Denmark but also in Germany and England, under the forms
_Donar_ and _Thunor_ respectively. Apart from local nomenclature and
the use of his name (as a translation of _dies Iouis_) in the fifth day
of the week, there are a few direct references to worship of him--e.g.
in the inscription on a brooch found at Nordendorf in Bavaria and in a
Low German renunciation formula for the use of converts. His cult goes
back without doubt to the Heroic Age and probably much earlier, though
he is apparently not mentioned by Tacitus.
The cult of Frey was believed to have come from Sweden, as we have
seen. How old it was there we do not know; but there is some reason
for believing that it was not originally confined to that country. The
Slavonic inhabitants of eastern Holstein worshipped a deity of the same
name[595]; and the presumption is that they found the cult in existence
when they occupied that district--not later than the seventh century.
But the name _Yngvi_ has a much longer history and can be traced in
various records back to the time of Tacitus. From what is said of Ing
in the Anglo-Saxon Runic Poem it is clear that he was a perfectly
definite, though doubtless mythical, personality[596].
We have already noticed that Niörðr can be traced back to a goddess
Nerthus, who was worshipped in the first century by the Angli and other
peoples in the south-western part of the Baltic. When the change of sex
took place we do not know. The feminine form of the deity is probably
preserved in Freyia, who under the name _Skialf_ seems to have her
roots in early Swedish tradition.
With Othin we shall have to deal presently. There is abundant evidence
that he was known not only in Sweden and Denmark but also in England
and at least the greater part of Germany. In the two latter countries
he bore the names _Woden_ and _Wodan_ respectively. Even in Tacitus'
time he appears (under the name _Mercurius_) as the chief god.
Balder's history is not so clear. From Saxo's account (p. 70 ff.)
there can be little doubt that he was known in Denmark. The question
whether he was recognised in Germany[597] depends practically upon the
interpretation of the (second) Merseburg charm, to which we shall have
to refer again shortly.
Now let us take the deities who are known to us only from the
mythology. Both Frigg and Týr were certainly known in England and
Germany. Their names are preserved in the sixth and third days of
the week. Frigg (_Frea_) also figures, as the wife of Wodan, in the
Langobardic story quoted above (p. 115), while Týr (_Mars_) is
mentioned more than once by Tacitus.
Of Ullr traces are preserved in local nomenclature both in Denmark
and Sweden. From Saxo (p. 81 f.) it appears that he was remembered in
Danish tradition. Gefion's association with Sjælland (cf. p. 400) is
recorded by Bragi Boddason, the earliest Scandinavian poet of whom
anything has been preserved. Both her name and that of Iðun can be
traced in local nomenclature in the same island[598].
There remain of course a large number of less important deities who
cannot be traced outside the mythology of the Edda. Many scholars hold
that these were invented by Norwegian or Icelandic poets during the
Viking Age; but it is at least equally possible that our inability
to trace them elsewhere is due in part to the extreme poverty of our
information. One piece of evidence which tells in favour of the latter
view is that the Merseburg charm preserves the name of one of the least
prominent of these deities--Fulla, the handmaid of Frigg. The fact
too that these poets made no attempt to incorporate Thórgerðr in the
pantheon seems to show that in their time[599] the theological system
of the Edda was more or less crystallised. At all events it is clear
that, with the exception of Thórgerðr and Irpa, all the deities whose
worship is attested were known beyond Norway, and that most of them can
be traced back to the Heroic Age or still earlier times.
There is a further reason for doubting whether the theology of the
Edda was a product of late Norwegian poetry. Perhaps the most striking
conception in this theology is that of the 'world-tree,' Yggdrasill's
Ash. I have pointed out elsewhere[600] that this conception is largely
derived from a tree-sanctuary and that a fairly close parallel to it
is furnished by the description of the Upsala sanctuary given in
Adam of Bremen's history (IV 26 f.) and the annexed scholia. Similar
sanctuaries may have existed in Norway; but we have no record of
one which possessed the same characteristics, and it is extremely
improbable that any of them ever attained an importance comparable with
that possessed by the Swedish capital. Again, there are features in the
picture of the 'world-tree'--I would allude especially to the presence
of snakes--for which no parallels can be found in any Scandinavian
sanctuary of which we have record. Yet such features do occur in the
tree-sanctuaries of more primitive peoples, especially among the
Prussians and Lithuanians. From this it appears to me highly probable
that the conception of the world-tree dates from a comparatively
early period. The idea of universality which it embodied cannot be
held to prove the contrary; for this idea was possessed also by the
Irminsul[601], the sacred pillar of the Old Saxons. We have no reason
for doubting that a philosophical conception such as this was possible
before the Viking Age.
I am inclined therefore to think that the theological system of the
Edda in its main features dates from times anterior to the Viking Age.
From earlier sources--the works of Tacitus and various German and
English authorities--we know altogether the names of about a score of
deities, half of whom belong to either sex. It is probable however
that a much larger number have been lost. At all events there can be
no doubt that the religion of the Heroic Age was a highly developed
polytheism. Procopius (_Goth._ II 15), speaking of the inhabitants of
'Thule' (Scandinavia), says that they worship many gods and demons
(δαίμονας), both in the heavens and in the atmosphere, in the earth and
in the sea, besides certain other spirits (δαιμόνια) which are said to
be in the waters of springs and rivers. Again, in the preceding chapter
he states that the Heruli of central Europe worshipped a great crowd of
gods (πολύν τινα νομίζοντες θεῶν ὅμιλον), whom they thought it right to
appease even with human sacrifices. Procopius' evidence is important
not only because it is almost contemporary but also because he clearly
distinguishes between the religion of the Teutonic peoples and that of
the Slavs. Of the latter he says (_ib._ III 14) that "they consider
one god, the creator of the lightning, to have sole control over all
things, and they sacrifice to him oxen and offerings of all kinds....
Yet they also reverence rivers and nymphs and some other spirits
(δαιμόνια), and sacrifice to them all, using divination in these
sacrifices." It will be seen that this type of religion is not very far
removed from what we find among the Thor-worshippers of Iceland.
In an earlier chapter (p. 255) we quoted from the Life of St Ansgar
the story of a man who claimed to have been present at an assembly of
the gods. From this story it is clear that in Sweden not very long
after the beginning of the Viking Age the gods were believed to form
an organised community. For earlier times no such explicit information
is to be found; but we can scarcely doubt that some similar belief
prevailed during the Heroic Age. In the Langobardic story quoted above
(p. 115) Fria (Frigg) is the wife of Wodan, as in the Edda. In the
(second) Merseburg charm we find a number of deities taking part in
an incantation. Of the goddesses Sunna is said to be the sister of
Sinthgunt, and Volla the sister of Fria. Evidence to the same effect is
furnished by a letter of Bishop Daniel of Winchester to St Boniface,
in which the writer speaks of a genealogy of the gods and advises
his correspondent to put awkward questions to the heathen regarding
the origin, numbers and relationships of their deities[602]. It may
be noted that the earlier Anglo-Saxon genealogies, which go back
probably to the seventh century, trace Woden's ancestry back for five
generations.
Of course it is not to be denied that some of the deities of whom
we hear may have been recognised only locally or by certain nations
or confederacies. Such an explanation is very likely in the case of
more than one deity mentioned by Tacitus, whom we cannot identify
with any probability. In later times the same may be true of the
god Fosite[603], to whom an island in the North Sea--identified with
Heligoland by Adam of Bremen--was wholly dedicated. It is quite
possible too that the god Seaxneat (_Saxnote_), who is mentioned in the
Renunciation Formula and from whom the kings of Essex claimed descent,
was worshipped only by the Saxons.
But even if such evidence was a good deal stronger than it actually is
we should not be justified in inferring from it that the religion of
the Heroic Age was of an essentially national rather than universal
character. It is not only in Northern records of the Viking Age or the
Christian period that we hear of families which were supposed to be
descended from Othin (Woden). Out of the eight royal genealogies of the
English kingdoms which have come down to us seven are traced back to
the same deity; and it is highly probable that most of these date from
before the conversion[604]--i.e. from within a century of the Heroic
Age. But Woden was not a national but a universal deity.
Moreover what little we do know of this god from English and German
sources is in full conformity with the character which he bears
in Northern records. In the Anglo-Saxon poem on the Nine Herbs
he is skilled in magic; in the Merseburg poem he is an expert in
incantations. In the Langobardic story we find him represented as the
giver of victory. In Tacitus' time he was already worshipped above the
other gods; and human victims were offered to him. The same author
(_Ann._ XIII 57) records the custom of dedicating a hostile army to
Mars and Mercurius--a vow which entailed the total destruction of
everything belonging to the enemy. The great deposits of antiquities
which have been found at Thorsbjærg, Nydam, Vi and elsewhere are
commonly believed to be relics of such dedicatory spoils. Finally,
later popular belief often placed Woden at the head of the Wild Hunt
or ghostly army. For the existence of a conception corresponding to
Valhalla we have no explicit evidence[605]. But such a doctrine would
clearly be in full accord with all that we know of the cult.
In funeral rites both inhumation and cremation were practised. The
latter custom however seems to have died out almost everywhere before
the introduction of Christianity--in England about the middle of
the sixth century, among the Franks and Alamanni much earlier. Only
among the Old Saxons it lingered apparently until towards the close
of the eighth century, when it was rigorously put down after their
subjugation[606]. How far the two practices were associated with
different conceptions of immortality, as in the North, it is impossible
to tell. In Beowulf (cf. p. 54) cremation is regarded as a pious duty
owed to the dead; but all heathen references to the destiny of the soul
hereafter have been removed from the poem. On the other hand there is
evidence from later times for offerings at the grave, necromancy and
all other practices usually associated with the cult of the dead[607].
The most important piece of evidence however on this subject is
furnished by Procopius' account of the Heruli (_Goth._ II 14). He
states that with them it was not lawful for a man to die of old age
or disease. When he felt himself to be dying he had to request his
relatives to make away with him as soon as possible. They had then to
construct a huge pyre and set the dying man in the highest part of
it. A compatriot, though not a relative (cf. p. 346), is then sent up
to stab the man, and on his return the wood is immediately kindled.
When the fire is burnt out the remains are collected and buried
forthwith, and the widow is required to strangle herself at the tomb.
Such rites as this are commonly ascribed to the desire to set the soul
free while in possession of its faculties. But in view of the fact
that in Northern tradition cremation is bound up with the doctrine of
Valhalla[608]--a doctrine which is in no way inconsistent with this
explanation--it is certainly significant that the two rites should be
associated here, more especially since the Heruli were an essentially
military people. On the whole the evidence of this passage is
distinctly favourable to the view that a belief closely approximating
to the doctrine of Valhalla was prevalent during the Heroic Age.
Valkyries (_walcyrgan_) are not unfrequently mentioned in Anglo-Saxon
literature[609], and it is clear that similar beings were known in
Germany, though this word does not occur in extant records. In England,
as in the North, both human and supernatural beings were included
under this term, though they are not always clearly distinguished from
witches. But, more than this, the poetic description of valkyries
which we find in the Edda[610] can likewise be traced in Anglo-Saxon
poetry. In a charm against sudden pains we hear of mighty women who
rode over the hill, mustered their host and cast their spears. The
idea that sudden pains were due to the agency of such beings[611]
comes doubtless from popular belief; but the description cannot be
accounted for in this way. Again, in the (first) Merseburg charm we
find supernatural women (_idisi_) taking part in a battle; and it is to
be remembered that the word _walcyrge_ can hardly mean anything else
than 'chooser of the slain.' Certainly we have no evidence to prove--or
disprove--that the valkyries were associated with Woden in early times.
But the features noted here again point clearly to the existence of a
conception akin to Valhalla and, what is more, to the poetic treatment
of such a conception.
In the course of this discussion[612] I have endeavoured to point out
that the theological system of the Edda cannot properly be regarded as
an invention of (Norwegian-Icelandic) poets of the Viking Age--that, on
the contrary, it is derived in great measure from much earlier times.
I do not mean to deny that the growth of the system has been very
largely influenced by poetry. But the evidence seems to me to show that
the poetic treatment of the subject had begun--and probably more than
begun--in the Heroic Age and among many of the Teutonic peoples. It
is perfectly true that the notices of Teutonic religion contained in
Tacitus' works convey the impression that religion was regarded as a
very serious matter and that the general attitude towards the gods was
highly reverential. The same impression is conveyed by Alcuin's account
of Fositesland; and probably no one will deny that the euthanasia of
the Heruli was based upon a very real conception of immortality. But
to compare such records with the poetry of the Edda would manifestly
be absurd. For analogies to them we must turn to notices relating to
actual religion, and here we shall find evidence that the people of the
Viking Age were no less religious than those of earlier times. We may
instance the reverence shown by Thórolfr of Mostr to his holy hill and
Earl Haakon's devotion to Thórgerðr Hölgabrúðr.
On the other hand the attitude towards the gods shown in the Edda finds
an exact analogy in the only record of 'theological' poetry which has
survived from the Heroic Age. In the Langobardic story (cf. p. 115) the
anthropomorphisation of the deities is already complete; and the chief
god[613] is duped by his wife. We could scarcely wish for a better
parallel to the account given in the introduction to Grímnismál. In
view of this story it is scarcely possible to doubt that familiarity,
not to say levity, in the treatment of the gods characterised the
poetry of the Heroic Age, just as much as that of the Viking Age.
It would be well to hesitate however before assuming that the gods of
Tacitus' time were treated in the same way. His account shows that
Teutonic theology had then passed beyond the purely tribal stage,
and that certain deities were worshipped by a number of peoples, if
not universally. But it does not suggest the existence of a highly
anthropomorphic conception of the gods. Further we have to bear in mind
that Tacitus is separated only by a century and a half from Caesar.
The account of German religion given by the latter (_B. Gall._ VI 21)
is difficult to account for by any explanation. But unless we are to
believe that Caesar was thoroughly imposed upon we must conclude that
nothing in the nature of a developed polytheism can have existed in his
day. To the theology of the Heroic Age his account of the Gaulish gods
(_ib._ VI 17) would be far more applicable than what he says regarding
the worship of the Germans.
The question we have been discussing appears to throw some light
upon the rapidity with which most of the Teutonic peoples accepted
Christianity. The facts which we know with regard to the conversion are
as follows: (1) that it almost invariably began in the king's court;
(2) that violent opposition was offered only in kingless communities,
as among the Old Saxons, or in defiance of the king's authority, as in
Norway; (3) that after the conversion the gods (in general) disappear
at once and for good; (4) that magical practices and the belief in
spirits and even in certain female agricultural deities ('Erce,' Holda,
Berhta, etc.) lasted among the country people for many centuries. From
(4) we may probably infer that the religion of the country people
was chiefly animistic--similar no doubt to what we find in Iceland,
with the exception that we have little evidence for the cult of the
thunder-god. Again, the explanation of (3) hangs together with (1);
for the statements of ecclesiastical writers render it clear that the
religion of the courts was essentially theistic. But it is plain from
the discussion in the Northumbrian council recorded by Bede (_H. E._
II 13)--the only discussion of this kind of which we have any detailed
account--that here at least this religion retained little vital
force[614]. This fact is fully explained if, as I have endeavoured to
point out, theology had largely passed from the realm of dogma into
that of poetry.
The conclusion then to which we are brought is that Teutonic religion,
at all events in the courts, underwent a profound change in the course
of the Heroic Age. It is to be observed that in the earlier part of
that age--as in the earlier part of the Viking Age--we find, especially
among the more northern peoples, a fanatical devotion to warfare
for its own sake, accompanied by lust for destruction and apparently
also by a vivid conception of a life hereafter. In the latter part
of the Heroic Age these phenomena disappear, except among the Heruli
who, according to Procopius, differed from all the rest of mankind.
The ideal which the princes of the later period set before themselves
may be gathered both from Beowulf and from Roman authorities; it was
to enjoy wealth and splendour in this life and to have their fame
celebrated by future generations. For their attitude towards a future
life the speech of the Northumbrian councillor recorded by Bede
(_l.c._) may probably be regarded as typical[615].
* * * * *
In a work such as this it is scarcely necessary to give even a brief
summary of the characteristics of Greek religion, since the main
outlines of the subject are probably much more familiar than those
of even the later religion of the North. At the same time the amount
of information which has been preserved is so great and the unsolved
problems presented by the subject so numerous that it is clearly
better left in the hands of experts. I shall attempt no more therefore
than to call attention to the salient points in which the religion of
the Homeric poems differs from that of later times and to the chief
characteristics in which the former resembles or differs from the
religion of the Teutonic Heroic Age and the Viking Age.
The various objects of worship recognised in Greece belong in general
to much the same categories as those which we have noticed above. They
may be classified roughly as gods, genii locorum and manes. In the last
class we may perhaps include the 'heroes,' though the position occupied
by them is somewhat peculiar. They were for the most part characters
of the Heroic Age, and sometimes we find the cult of the same hero
recognised in a number of different states. In general the worship of
the gods took a different form from that paid to the manes and heroes,
though occasionally the cult of a deity seems to have been associated
with, or superimposed upon, that of a hero.
In the Homeric poems the gods figure much more prominently than the
other classes. The most frequently mentioned of them are Zeus, Hera,
Poseidon, Athene, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaistos, Aphrodite, Ares and
Hermes. Zeus, as head of the divine community, corresponds to Othin
(Woden); but in other respects there is little resemblance between the
two. As god of the thunder his affinities are rather with Thor. Hera,
as wife of the chief god, may be compared with Frigg, while Poseidon,
as god of the sea, has an element in common with Niörðr; but he is also
an earthquake god, which the latter is not. His characterisation also
is much more clearly marked. Apollo and Artemis, as a pair of young
deities, brother and sister, with certain characteristics in common,
bear some resemblance to Frey and Freyia; but the sexual element, so
prominent in the Northern deities, is wanting in the Homeric poems.
On the whole the translator of the Icelandic New Testament seems
to have been happily inspired in rendering _Diana_ (Artemis) by
_Gefion_[616], while Freyia's true counterpart is rather to be found
in Aphrodite[617]. Hephaistos, the smith of the divine community, has
no Northern god corresponding to him; as the maker of heroes' armour
and other metal objects he plays the same part as Weland. Ares, as god
of war, has an element in common with Týr. The Homeric Hermes bears no
resemblance to Othin; his duties are to a certain extent discharged
by the valkyries in Northern mythology. Athene is a character totally
foreign to Northern theology.
All the above deities, together with a number of others less important,
form a regularly organised community, like the Aesir. Their home
is located on Mount Olympos in the north of Thessaly--a conception
probably more primitive than Ásgarðr, which is never represented as a
place known to the human race. But, though Olympos is the home of the
gods collectively, most of them (like the Northern deities) have also
one or more dwelling-places of their own, often in distant localities.
Thus Poseidon's home is at Aigai and Apollo's at Delphoi, though he
is also connected with several localities on the eastern side of the
Aegean--Chryse, Cille, Tenedos, etc. Athene has a home at Athens, while
Hephaistos is connected with Lemnos, Ares with Thrace and Aphrodite
with Paphos in Cyprus. Zeus himself, apart from Olympos, has abodes at
Dodona and Ida.
The belief that the gods had homes of their own in various localities
is clearly to be taken in connection with the fact that they are said
to have sanctuaries in the same places. Thus Aigai is mentioned,
together with Helice, as a place where sacrifices were offered to
Poseidon (Il. VIII 203 f.). Zeus' home at Dodona is his sanctuary
(_ib._, XVI 233 ff.), and it is to her sanctuary at Paphos that
Aphrodite goes (Od. VIII 362 f.). We need not doubt therefore that,
as in later times, the cults of the various deities were largely of
a local character. It is a different question of course whether the
cults--or rather the deities themselves--were of local or tribal
origin; but in certain cases such an explanation appears to be by no
means improbable. Many scholars believe that Ares was originally a
Thracian deity; and the fact that he is represented as the father of
Boeotian heroes can scarcely be regarded as conclusive evidence to the
contrary. In Il. IV 51 f. Hera states that three cities, Argos, Mycenae
and Sparta, are specially dear to her; and there is little evidence
that her cult was ever prominent in any other part of the Greek
mainland. If the same explanation is true of such deities as Apollo
and Aphrodite we must suppose either that their cults have spread
from one locality to another or that deities belonging to different
localities have been identified. The local origin of river gods, such
as Spercheios and Scamandros, is of course clear enough; but these are
little more than genii locorum.
But the really important feature in Homeric theology is that the
various deities, whether of local origin or not, are all brought
together as members of one community, or rather family, and that as
such they are represented as meeting with universal recognition.
Indeed, they are not regarded even as peculiar to the Greek race; the
Trojans recognise the same divinities, and Poseidon goes to receive
sacrifices even from the Ethiopians. A similar, though less important,
community is that of the marine deities, one of whom, Thetis, figures
prominently in the Iliad.
The spirit in which the gods are treated is in general very similar to
what we find in the Edda, and in no way more reverential. Sometimes the
treatment is humorous, as in Thrymskviða; sometimes again the deities
are represented in a very unfavourable light. For the trick played
upon Wodan by Fria in the Langobardic story (cf. p. 115) we have an
interesting parallel in Il. XIV 292-353, where Hera distracts Zeus'
attention from the war and coaxes him to sleep. But this is only one
of a number of incidents which give a generally unpleasant picture of
the domestic life of this pair, much more so than is the case with
Othin and Frigg in the Edda. Again, the story of Ares and Aphrodite,
which forms the subject of Demodocos' lay (Od. VIII 266-366), is very
much what we should expect to find in a poem dealing at length with the
scandalous charges brought against the goddesses in Lokasenna. Ares'
speech in v. 292 ff.--as also Hermes' remarks in v. 339 ff.--may be
compared with those of Frey in Skírnismál. In the Iliad the same two
deities are more than once treated contemptuously.
The same spirit is shown in the treatment of the relations of gods with
men. It is frequently recognised that deities ought to show gratitude
to their worshippers for the sacrifices offered to them, as Freyia does
in Hyndlulióð, though at the same time they are at liberty to refuse a
petition, as in Il. VI 311--a case which may be compared with Frey's
conduct in Víga-Glúms Saga (cf. p. 253). In the Iliad we find several
deities taking an active interest in the fortunes of the war--Poseidon,
Hera and Athene on the side of the Achaeans, and Apollo, Ares and
Aphrodite on that of the Trojans. Poseidon more than once comes to
rouse the Achaeans, when he thinks they are becoming slack. Apollo and
Athene interfere in the struggle in a manner which strikes the reader
as unfair; indeed the latter is frequently guilty of flagrantly mean
and dishonourable conduct towards her opponents. The attitude of the
heroes themselves to the gods is quite in keeping with the way in which
the latter treat them. Achilles openly abuses Apollo for deceiving
him (Il. XXII 15 ff.); and Diomedes attacks and wounds both Ares and
Aphrodite, but only after assurances or assistance from Athene. In
this respect the Homeric princes are not quite so bold as the hero of
Biarkamál (cf. p. 402 f.).
But it is by no means only towards communities that the deities
display their favour or hatred. Indeed their attitude towards the
contending forces at Troy seems to be largely determined by their
relations with certain individuals, especially Helen and Paris. In
the Odyssey Poseidon is represented as persecuting Odysseus, one of
the Achaean leaders, for many years on account of the injury done
by him to Polyphemos. On the other hand both this hero and Diomedes
enjoy the special favour of Athene. It is worth noting that Diomedes
appears to have inherited this favour from his father (cf. Il. V 800
ff.), and the same may be true in the case of Odysseus (cf. Od. XXIV
367 ff., 517 ff.); at all events it is continued towards his son.
In neither of these cases is any hint given of conjugal relations,
such as we find in the North; indeed the sexual element seems to be
practically absent from Athene. Elsewhere however such relations are
clearly involved, e.g. in the cases of Aineias and Achilles, who are
the sons of Aphrodite and Thetis respectively. In the Odyssey (V 119
ff.) the principle is stated plainly; and the hero himself has conjugal
relations with Circe and Calypso, both of whom are described as
goddesses.
Of other mythical beings the genii locorum are perhaps the most
prominent. The distinction between them and the class with which we
have been dealing is by no means so clearly drawn as in the north of
Europe (cf. p. 407 f.). Many of them are even described as gods (θεοί).
River gods, such as Spercheios and Axios, are represented as the
fathers or ancestors of several heroes. Among other, less important,
beings of the same type we may mention the nymphs[618] to whom certain
caves and springs were sacred (e.g. Od. XIII 347 ff., XVII 205 ff., 240
ff.).
References to chthonic deities are not very frequent. The Erinyes
are mentioned several times, especially in curses; but they are
not individualised, though the singular is occasionally used. The
most important person in the under-world appears to be the queen,
Persephoneia; but she is never actually brought upon the scene. Hades
himself is seldom more than a name.
The sacrifices to the gods mentioned in the Homeric poems are as a rule
similar to the sacrificial feasts of which we hear in the North.[619]
A portion of the victims, usually bulls or rams, was offered to the
deity, while the rest was consumed by the worshippers. On the other
hand we hear occasionally of victims which were given wholly to the
gods. Such appears to have been the case with the victims sacrificed
on the occasion of a solemn oath; thus in Il. XIX 267 f. the boar is
thrown into the sea[620]. It is perhaps worth noting that both here and
in III 276 ff. the oath refers to chthonic deities[621], as well as to
Zeus, the Sun and Earth. Victims sacrificed to the dead likewise seem
to be offered entire (e.g. Od. XI 44 ff.; Il. XXIII 166 ff.). Moreover
it is only in connection with funeral rites that we hear of human
sacrifices, namely when Achilles puts to death twelve Trojan youths
at the pyre of Patroclos (_ib._, 175 f.). Horses and dogs are also
sacrificed on this occasion, as well as oxen and sheep, and the whole
scene is in accordance with Northern custom. No mention is made in the
poems of sacrifices such as that of Polyxene, which form so favourite a
theme with the dramatists; but in view of the Northern evidence[622] we
are entitled to doubt whether they are altogether inventions of later
times.
The theology of the Homeric poems received formal recognition in
Greece down to the acceptance of Christianity; but there is no evidence
that the system as a whole possessed any vital force even in the
earliest times of which we have record. From the sixth century onwards
poets and philosophers began to regard Zeus as much more than the chief
of the gods; but even in popular religion it appears that each state
honoured certain deities, while the rest were largely or altogether
neglected. Thus at Athens more prominence seems to have been given to
Athene, and perhaps also to Poseidon, than to Zeus, while Hera was
predominant at Argos and Samos, and Apollo at Delphoi, etc. This is
a feature for which the Homeric poems themselves give evidence, as
we have seen, and there is no reason whatever for supposing it to be
of later growth. Sometimes too we find prominence given to deities,
such as Demeter and Dionysos, who seem to be of little consequence in
the Homeric poems, while other cults, such as that of Serapis, were
introduced from abroad in comparatively late times.
Chthonic deities are more prominent in later literature than in the
Homeric poems; and many authors describe the worship paid to them down
to a comparatively late period. Yet the rites seem to have been of
a primitive character. But perhaps the most striking element in the
religion of classical Greece was the worship of 'heroes.' Every city
possessed shrines (ἡρῷα), at which sacrifices were offered to heroes
with rites similar in general to those used in the worship of chthonic
deities. Originally these heroes seem to have been local persons and
the shrines their tombs; but characters prominent in heroic poetry
sometimes received worship in many different states.
In the Homeric poems there is no evidence for this hero-worship. Indeed
these poems contain few traces of a cult of the manes at all, except
in funeral ceremonies and in connection with the necromantic sacrifice
of Odysseus. This fact has been connected with the Homeric doctrine
of immortality[623], and in view of the Northern evidence (cf. p. 397
ff.) there can be little doubt that the true explanation is to be found
herein. The method used in the disposal of the dead is cremation,
and, as in the North, it was believed that this sent the spirit away
from the body to a place of the dead--not a separate place for each
particular family or community but a common home for the souls of the
whole Greek race. In Il. XXIII 65 ff. the spirit of Patroclos comes and
exhorts Achilles to pay him the last rites: "Never again shall I return
from Hades, when ye have allotted me the due of fire" (V. 75 f.). So
also when Odysseus visits the home of Hades the first spirit he meets
is that of his follower Elpenor, who reproaches him with not attending
to his obsequies and begs him, when he returns to Circe's island, to
"burn him up with his arms, all that he possesses." The idea is clearly
the same as in Ynglinga Saga, cap. 8. The honourable way therefore to
treat a fallen foe is not to strip him but to burn him with his armour,
as in Il. VI 417 ff.[624] Even at the beginning of the historical
period this belief seems not to have entirely died out. According to
the story told by Herodotus (v. 92), when Periandros sent to consult
the spirit of his wife Melissa, she complained that the clothes which
he had given her at her funeral were of no use because they had not
been burnt.
It has already been mentioned (p. 261) that this story seems to show
that at one time the home of the dead was located in a definite, though
probably not very well known, region; and the vague indications given
as to the hero's wanderings in the Odyssey can hardly be regarded as
evidence to the contrary. If this is correct the home of Hades is in
one respect probably a more primitive conception than Valhalla, just as
Olympos is more primitive than Ásgarðr. A reasonable explanation would
be offered if we had evidence that part of the population of Greece
was believed to have come from that region[625]. An idea of this kind
was certainly in Snorri's mind when he wrote the Ynglinga Saga; but
unfortunately the account which he has given is obviously, at least to
a large extent, of scholastic origin.
In other respects however the Homeric conception of immortality
appears to be less simple than the doctrine of Valhalla, as we find
it in certain Northern records. The use of the verbs θάπτειν and
ταρχύσουσι is probably capable of a different explanation; but there
are certain other words and expressions, e.g. κατῆλθεν, ἔνεροι, Ζεὺς
καταχθόνιος (Hades; cf. also Il. XX 61 ff.), which seem to point to
a belief that the world of the dead was beneath the earth. That is
the conception implied in certain local beliefs which we meet with in
later times, at Hermione and elsewhere, where a deep cavern or lake was
supposed to lead thither. More important however is the fact that the
home of Hades is totally devoid of the attractiveness of Valhalla; the
gloomy picture which is drawn of it accords rather with the Northern
home of Hel. The burning of the body, together with armour and funeral
sacrifices, appears to procure little real advantage to the soul; it
is regarded, as in Beowulf, rather in the nature of an honour due to
the deceased. Yet in view of the parallels which we possess, both from
the North and elsewhere[626], we can scarcely doubt that the custom had
its origin in a much stronger motive, the force of which was scarcely
appreciated in later times. For a change of feeling, if not of actual
faith, positive evidence is supplied by the reprobation expressed in
Il. XXIII 176--a passage as significant in its way as the homiletic
verses which follow the reference to heathen sacrifices in Beow. 175
ff. (cf. p. 53).
* * * * *
In the course of this chapter we have noticed a considerable number
of features common to Greek and Teutonic religion. Many of them are
to be found in other religions also, and these we need not discuss
further. Here we are concerned only to determine what may be regarded
as characteristic of the Heroic Age. In this category we may probably
include the following features.
1. The religion was predominantly a worship of gods, rather than of
spirits. Herein lies the chief contrast with the religion of later
times in both regions[627]. In Classical Greece chthonic worship and
hero worship seem on the whole to be more prominent than that of the
gods. The same is true of Scandinavian countries in the latest heathen
period, though Thor is still prominent and hero worship is scarcely
distinguished from manes worship. In Germany and England, where
Christianity was adopted during the Heroic Age or soon afterwards, the
gods disappear at once, while forms of chthonic worship survive for
centuries.
2. The same gods were, to a large extent at least, recognised
everywhere. Whether by borrowing or by identification of cults they had
ceased to be merely tribal deities. How far back this feature goes in
Greece we cannot tell. Among the Teutonic peoples we can trace it in
part back to Tacitus' time; but it was probably intensified during the
Heroic Age.
3. The conception of the gods was definitely anthropomorphic. For
the Teutonic Heroic Age this is made clear by the Langobardic story.
There is no absolutely conclusive proof that the gods in general were
regarded as forming a regularly organised community, as in the Edda and
the Homeric poems; but all the evidence which we have (cf. p. 407 f.)
points in this direction.
4. The relations between gods and human beings are of a somewhat
peculiar character both in Teutonic poetry and in the Homeric poems;
but they are almost identical in the two cases. The gods are not
treated with any very great reverence. The conduct attributed to them
is not unfrequently reprehensible, their purposes can often be thwarted
by the help of other gods, and the bravest warriors are sometimes even
ready to attack them openly. Yet the human and the divine are not
confused; a man is not a god, though many heroes, both Teutonic and
Greek, are sprung from gods. It should be observed that the deity from
whom most English princes claimed descent is Woden, a universal and not
a tribal god. This belief must be regarded as an anti-tribal force.
5. Both in Northern tradition and in the Homeric poems the practice of
cremation was associated with the belief in a common home for the souls
of the dead. This practice does not appear to have been common even
in the earlier part of the Viking Age; and consequently the tradition
probably comes down from the Heroic Age, at which time we know that
cremation was widely prevalent. The cheerless home of Hades[628]
differs considerably from Valhalla, though there is some ground for
suspecting that the Greeks of the Heroic Age had once cherished a
belief endowed with greater vitality. But both conceptions possess
certain essential features in common, namely the removal of the soul to
a distant place--a belief really incompatible with the local worship of
heroes or manes--and the fact that this distant place of souls was a
universal home and not reserved for the souls of one tribe. This belief
again was doubtless an anti-tribal force of considerable importance.
Briefly then we may define as the predominant characteristic of
heroic religion, both Greek and Teutonic, the subordination of
chthonic and tribal cults, which as a rule go together, to the worship
of a number of universally recognised and highly anthropomorphic
deities--coupled with the belief in a common and distant land of souls.
These characteristics, at all events among the Teutonic peoples,
seem properly to have belonged only to the religion of the royal and
military classes. Hence, when the royal families are converted to a new
faith, as in England, or when kingless states grow up, as in Iceland,
we find in all cases more or less of a reversion to the more primitive
forms of religion. It is on the same principle that I would account for
the differences in religion between heroic and historical Greece.
FOOTNOTES:
[586] These are the three gods mentioned in the solemn oath which,
according to Landnámabók, IV 7 (Hauksbók), had to be sworn on the
sacred bracelet at all legal proceedings: _hialpi mér svá Freyr ok
Niörðr ok hinn almáttki Áss_, etc. In the later Melabók (a compilation
of the seventeenth century) it is suggested that _Áss_ here means
Othin; but I do not think this explanation is generally accepted. It is
scarcely credible that Thor should be ignored on such an occasion.
[587] The description in Grímnismál, str. 23, curiously recalls what
is said of Egyptian Thebes in Il. IX 383 f. The nearest approach to
Valhalla to be found among Northern kingdoms is Ibn Fadhlan's account
of the Russian court; cf. Frähn, _l.c._ (p. 367, note).
[588] Frey's connection with Sweden appears in Saxo's History
(frequently) as well as in sagas, but not in the Edda.
[589] The full form, _Yngvifreyr_ or _Ingunarfreyr_, is clearly
connected with _Ingwina frea_, a title borne by the king of the Danes
in Beowulf; cf. p. 367 and note.
[590] The two conceptions are sometimes confused, e.g. in Völuspá, str.
34. But the eschatological conception involved by the story of Balder
is that of the 'house of Hel'; and there can be no doubt that this
conception itself is ancient, although the description of Hel in Gylf.
34 is probably quite late.
[591] The text does not say (as is stated in several works on Northern
mythology) that Thor occupied the central position, but merely that he
was robbed after Thórgerðr and before Irpa. This is the only mention,
so far as I am aware, of a cult figure of Thor in his car--a feature
which occurs in Hýmiskviða and Gylfaginning and may possibly have some
ethnological significance. It is somewhat remarkable that in the tract
Frá Fornióti (in Hrafn's _Fornaldar Sögur_, II p. 6 f.) the ancestry of
Guðbrandr is traced to the giant Thrymr, Thor's antagonist.
[592] Cults peculiar to certain families appear to have been common
among the Lithuanians and kindred peoples; cf. Lasicius, _De diis
Samogitarum_ (Respublica ... Poloniae, etc.; Leyden, 1642, p. 280):
_sunt etiam quaedam ueteres nobilium familiae, quae peculiares colunt
deos, ut Mikutiana Simonaitem, Micheloviciana Sidzium, Schemietiana et
Kiesgaliana Ventis Rekicziovum, aliae alios_.
[593] p. 66:
_Et nunc ille ubi sit qui uulgo dicitur Othin
armipotens, uno semper contentus ocello,
dic mihi, Ruta, precor, usquam si conspicis illum.
* * * * *
si potero horrendum Frigge spectare maritum,
quantumcunque albo clypeo sit tectus et altum
flectat equum, Lethra nequaquam sospes abibit.
fas est belligerum bello prosternere diuum._
[594] Cf. Adam of Bremen, IV 26: _colunt et deos ex hominibus
factos_, etc. (with reference to the passage from the Vita Anscharii
quoted on p. 255 f.). It is not clear whether Grímr Kambann, the
great-great-grandfather of Thórsteinn Sölmundarson who settled in
Iceland (cf. Landnámabók, I 14), was deified; but the worship paid to
him is evidently regarded as something exceptional. Some scholars hold
that Bragi, the god of poetry, is no other than the poet Bragi Boddason.
[595] _Proue(n)_; cf. Helmoldus, _Chron. Slavorum_, I 53, 70, 84.
[596] I have discussed this subject (also Niörðr and Freyia) in detail
in _The Origin of the English Nation_, chapters IX-XI.
[597] I do not think that Aethelweard's substitution of _Balder_
for _Baeldaeg_ (the first part of which is certainly _bǣl-_) in the
genealogy of King Aethelwulf (III 3) can be held to prove the existence
of the cult of Balder in England. The theory that the word _baldor_,
'prince,' arose out of the god's name is open to still more serious
question.
[598] Cf. Olrik, _Gefion_ (_Danske Studier_, 1910), p. 21 ff.
[599] There is no reason for supposing that the cult of Thórgerðr was
first introduced by Earl Haakon. In the Flateyiarbók, p. 408, it is
stated that she had been worshipped by successive rulers of the land.
Her cult too was not unknown in Iceland; according to Harðar Saga,
cap. 19, Grímkell, the son of a settler from Orkadal (to the south of
Trondhjem), had a temple dedicated to her.
[600] _The Cult of Othin_, p. 75 ff. Cf. R. M. Meyer, _Altgermanische
Religionsgeschichte_, p. 474 ff.
[601] _Irminsul ... quod Latine dicitur uniuersalis columna, quasi
sustinens omnia_, Mon. Germ., II 676.
[602] Jaffé, _Bibliotheca Rerum Germanicarum_, III 71 ff.: _neque
enim contraria eis de ipsorum, quamuis falsorum, deorum genealogia
astruere debes.... utrum autem adhuc generare deos deasque alios aliasque
suspicantur? uel, si iam non generant, quando uel cur cessauerunt a
concubitu et partu; si autem adhuc generant, infinitus iam deorum
effectus numerus est, et quis tam inter tot tantosque potentior sit,
incertum mortalibus est; et ualde cauendum, ne in potentiorem quis
offendat._
[603] This explanation would not hold of course if Fosite is to be
identified with Forseti the son of Balder. But the identification seems
to me extremely problematical.
[604] Cf. Bede, _H. E._, I 15: _Voden, de cuius stirpe multarum
prouinciarum regium genus originem duxit_. From these genealogies and
Bp Daniel's letter (quoted above) it would seem that such compositions
(including theogonies) were much in vogue among the heathen Teutonic
peoples in the period immediately following the Heroic Age. It is to
the same period that I would ascribe the development of the theology
of the Edda, though I do not mean to suggest that the poems which have
come down to us were composed then.
[605] There is an unfortunate ambiguity about the history of the word
_Áss_. In Old Norse it is applied both to Thor and Othin, as well
as other gods, while _Aesir_ (pl.) denotes the gods collectively
and _Ásgarðr_ their home (quite distinct from Valhalla). In Gothic
however the same word (pl. _ansis_) seems to have meant a dead hero
(cf. p. 172, note). If this was its original meaning--a view somewhat
favoured by Skr. _asu_, Av. _anhu_, 'spirit,'--we must conclude that
the terms _Ásgarðr_ and _Aesir_ (also _Áss_, as applied to Thor) have
undergone a complete change of meaning in Old Norse. Such a change
could be explained satisfactorily by the (poetic) inclusion of θεοὶ
οὐράνιοι and θεοὶ νέρτεροι in one pantheon; but in that case the
doctrine of Valhalla, or something very much like it, must be of great
antiquity. This explanation is perhaps favoured by the popular use of
_Aasgaardsreia_ for the Wild Hunt in Norway.
[606] Cap. quae de partibus Saxoniae constituta sunt, No. VII (Mon.
Germ., Leg. I 49). Whether the practice was common I do not know.
References to the cult of manes occur in the same Capitula, as well as
in the Indiculus Superstitionum, etc.
[607] Cremation is sometimes accompanied by a cult of the dead, e.g.
among the heathen Prussians; cf. Matthias a Michov (Grynaeus, _Novus
Orbis_, etc., Basel 1537, p. 520): _Habebant praeterea in syluis
praefatis focos, in familias et domos distinctos, in quibus omnibus
charorum et familiarium cadauera cum equis, sellis et uestimentis
potioribus incendebant. locabant etiam ad focos huiusmodi ex subere
facta sedilia, in quibus escas ex pasta in casei modum praeparatas
deponebant, medonemque focis infundebant, ea credulitate illusi quod
mortuorum suorum animae quorum illic combusta fuerant corpora nocte
uenirent escaque se exsatiarent._ Inhumation however was also practised
by the same nation; cf. Erasmus Stella (Grynaeus, _op. cit._, p.
582): _Statuit_ (sc. _Viduutus_) _et dies natalitios et funera pari
modo celebranda, mutuis scilicet commessationibus et compotationibus,
tum lusu et cantu, absque moerore cum summa hilaritate et gaudio,
utque alterius uitae spem prae se ferrent. illo saltem ostenderunt
quod exutos spiritu armatos uestitosque ac magna supellectilis parte
circumposita humarunt. quo more usque nunc sepeliuntur_, etc. Both
these notices of course refer to a late period--the fifteenth century.
[608] Cf. p. 397 f. We may refer also to the funeral of Sigurðr Hringr,
as described in Arngrim's epitome of the lost Skiöldunga Saga, cap.
26 (Aarbøger f. nord. Oldkynd., 1894, p. 132): _Hinc post acerrimam
pugnam ... Siguardus etiam male uulneratus est. qui, Alfsola funere
allato, magnam nauim mortuorum cadaueribus oneratam solus uiuorum
conscendit, seque et mortuam Alfsolam in puppi collocans nauim pice,
bitumine et sulphure incendi iubet: atque sublatis uelis in altum,
ualidis a continente impellentibus uentis, proram dirigit, simulque
manus sibi uiolentas intulit; sese tot facinorum patratorem, tantorum
regnorum possessorem, more maiorum suorum, regali pompa Odinum regem_
_(id est inferos) inuisere malle quam inertis senectutis infirmitatem
perpeti, alacri animo ad socios in littore antea relictos praefatus_,
etc.
[609] In the glossaries the word is used to translate _Eurynis_,
_Herinis_ (i.e. Erinys), _Tisifone_, _Allecto_, _Bellona_. The first
three cases occur in the Corpus glossary; hence the suggestion that the
word _walcyrge_ is borrowed from Norse is inadmissible.
[610] From the inscription of Rök it appears probable that the
conception of Valkyries found in the Edda was familiar in the
south-east of Sweden before the end of the ninth century. This is by no
means the only point in which the same inscription bears witness to a
highly developed interest in antiquarian lore.
[611] An interesting analogy is furnished by the Servian belief that
sunstroke is due to arrows shot by Vile (cf. p. 317, note; and Krauss,
_Slav. Volkforschungen_, p. 372 ff.).
[612] I have not attempted to give a complete list of the mythical
beings mentioned in the records. In general we find the same classes of
such beings as in the North--elves, dwarfs, giants (Ang.-Sax. _eoten_,
_þyrs_), etc.
[613] It will be observed that here (as commonly in the Edda) Wodan's
character as god of the dead (slain) is entirely lost sight of.
[614] We may note especially the two speeches of Coifi, the chief
priest: _Nihil omnino uirtutis habet, nihil utilitatis religio illa
quam hucusque tenuimus.... Iam olim intellexeram nihil esse quod
colebamus; quia uidelicet quanto studiosius in eo cultu quaerebam,
tanto minus inueniebam._
[615] _Ita haec uita hominum ad modicum apparet; quid autem sequatur,
quidue praecesserit, prorsus ignoramus._
[616] Artemis in the Homeric poems seems to be chiefly a women's deity
(cf. Od. XX 59 ff.). The same may have been the case with Gefion;
cf. Gylfaginning, cap. 35: "She is a maiden, and those who die in
maidenhood serve her."
[617] In origin however Freyia, the daughter of Niörðr (Nerthus),
corresponds probably rather to Persephone, the daughter of Demeter; cf.
p. 400.
[618] Even beings such as these are sometimes affiliated to Zeus; cf.
Il. VI 420.
[619] So also with the ceremonial drinkings, which in both sets of
records form so prominent a feature in the life of human and divine
communities alike. Among the Greeks the libation corresponds to the
Northern 'toast' (_full_) in honour of the gods. A good example may be
found in Saga Hákonar Góða, cap. 16.
[620] Reference may be made to the boar which was sacrificed to Frey
(or Freyia) in Hervarar Saga, cap. 10, and on which oaths were sworn.
It is not made clear however what was done with the body of the boar.
[621] With the punishment of perjurers by the Erinyes in Il. XIX 259
f. we may compare what is said regarding the fate of such persons in
Völuspá, str. 39.
[622] Reference may be made to Procopius' account of the Heruli (cf.
p. 411) and more especially to the stories of Ibn Dustah and Ibn
Fadhlan, quoted by Thomsen, _The Relations between Ancient Russia
and Scandinavia_, etc., pp. 30 f., 34. Native records preserve only
somewhat vague traditions relating to such a custom; cf. _The Cult of
Othin_, p. 41 f.
[623] Cf. especially Ridgeway, _The Early Age of Greece_, p. 512 ff.
[624] Reference may be made to the story of Haraldr Hilditönn and
Sigurðr Hringr; cf. _The Cult of Othin_, p. 22 f.
[625] The existence of a tradition to this effect is perhaps implied by
Aristotle, _Meteorolog._, I 14, 21 f.; cf. p. 437, note.
[626] In addition to the examples cited by Prof. Ridgeway we may refer
to the account of the Livonians given by Bartholomaeus Anglicus, _De
Proprietatibus Rerum_, XV 88: _mortuorum cadauera tumulo non tradebant,
sed populus facto rogo maximo usque ad cineres comburebat. post mortem
autem suos amicos nouis uestibus uestiebant et eis pro uiatico oues et
boues et alia animantia exhibebant. seruos etiam et ancillas cum rebus
aliis ipsis assignantes una cum mortuo et rebus aliis incendebant,
credentes sic incensos ad quandam uiuorum regionem feliciter pertingere
et ibidem cum pecorum et seruorum sic ob gratiam domini combustorum
multitudine felicitatis et uitae temporalis patriam inuenire_. This
record dates from the thirteenth century (probably about 1260); so that
Northern influence is not impossible.
[627] This contrast is all the more noteworthy in view of the fact
that the two chief 'heroic' deities, Woden (Othin) and Zeus, are of
essentially different origin. The affinities of the former lie rather
with Hades--not as a chthonic being, properly speaking, but as lord of
the spirit world.
[628] The characterisation of the home of Hades resembles rather
that of the Northern abode of Hel (cf. p. 400, note). There can be
little doubt that the latter conception is founded upon a belief
of considerable antiquity, though, except in the North, all our
information relating to it comes from sources affected by Christian
influence. From references in early poetry, as well as from popular
belief in later times, it seems probable that the early Teutonic
conception of Hell (Goth. _halja_, etc.) involved something more than
a survival of the soul in or about the place of sepulture, though
there is nothing to show that it was identical with Valhalla. For the
personification of Hell definite evidence is wanting; yet note should
be taken of the fact that such beings as Holda and Berhta (like Freyia
and Gefion) were connected with the spirit world.
NOTE VIII. THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
CELTIC AND SLAVONIC HEROIC AGES.
In the last three chapters we have confined our attention almost
exclusively to the Teutonic and Greek Heroic Ages. It is not to be
overlooked however that similar phenomena occur elsewhere. The closest
and most interesting parallels, at least in Europe, are probably to be
found in the history of the ancient Gauls.
It has been mentioned above that Gaulish literature has entirely
perished. We are dependent therefore for our information upon a few
scattered references in the works of Greek and Roman writers. These
however are sufficient to show that the Gauls possessed a well-known
and influential class of professional minstrels (βάρδοι), whose chief
occupation seems to have been the composition of heroic poetry[629].
Like the minstrels of the Teutonic and Greek Heroic Ages these persons
were attached to the courts of kings, and their poems dealt with the
praises of living princes as well as with the deeds of heroes of the
past[630]. With the disappearance of kingship, early in the first
century (B.C.), their standing seems to have been impaired. At all
events they are never mentioned by Caesar, who has so much to say about
the Druids.
It is probable therefore that by this time what may be termed the
Gaulish Heroic Age was already at an end. How long it had lasted we
cannot tell, since all the stories have perished. We may certainly note
however that the accounts of Gaulish life which have come down to us
from the time before the nation became Romanised show a most striking
resemblance to the conditions described in Teutonic and Greek heroic
poetry. The longest of these accounts is the one given by Diodoros
(V 26 ff.), where their customs are described with a considerable
amount of detail. The picture which he draws of their methods of
fighting, their love of boasting[631], their habits in entertaining
strangers[632] and many other particulars furnishes a parallel to
Homeric life closer perhaps than may be found even in Anglo-Saxon
poetry.
The principle of personal allegiance seems to have been developed among
the Gauls to a very high degree, although our information dates chiefly
from times when kingship had almost entirely disappeared. We have
scarcely sufficient evidence for determining whether the development
of this principle had been accompanied by a relaxation of the bonds
of kindred. But Caesar's statement (_Gall._, VI 11) regarding the
universal prevalence of party spirit points in this direction[633]; and
it is perhaps worth noting that attempts were made upon the lives of
more than one of the princes who had submitted to him. There is reason
for suspecting that among the Celtic peoples, as among the Teutonic,
the organisation of the kindred had undergone a change, probably at
no very remote period. The Picts adhered to succession in the female
line, at all events in the royal family, down to the eighth century;
and there are said to be traces of the same type of succession in
Ireland. It is commonly assumed that the Pictish succession was a
pre-Celtic institution; but no evidence worth consideration has been
adduced in favour of this view. We need not doubt the existence of
pre-Celtic inhabitants in Scotland. But the same remark applies to the
rest of the British Isles and at least a considerable part of Gaul,
and I see no reason why in Scotland alone (or Scotland and Ireland) so
important a change should have been taken over from the aborigines. In
Gaul succession certainly passed in the male line in the first century
(B.C.). But in the earliest Gaulish tradition of which we have record
the title to sovereignty seems to go, as among the Picts, to the sons
of the king's sister[634].
The political organisation of the Gauls appears to have been similar
to that of the Teutonic peoples, though kingship was dying out in
the first century. We find a considerable number of comparatively
small nations (_ciuitates_), each of which apparently possessed a
royal family of its own. From time to time one of these acquired a
position of supremacy over all or many of the others. Sometimes too
sections of the same nation appear in widely different regions. Thus
we find Senones and Lingones both in Gaul and Italy, Boii in Bavaria
(Bohemia) and Italy, Volcae Tectosages in Germany and the south of
Gaul--Tectosages also in Galatia. There is little doubt that in such
cases one of these sections is an offshoot from the other and owes its
origin to some military expedition.
In regard to religion Caesar (_ib._, VI 21) draws a striking contrast
between the Gauls and the Germans, though his account of the latter in
this respect will not hold good for the Heroic Age. Gaulish religion
was polytheistic and highly anthropomorphic; it would seem also that
the gods were regarded as forming an organised community. The method
employed in the disposal of the dead was cremation; and here too this
practice was associated with a vivid conception of immortality. In
all these respects Gaulish religion seems to have differed little
from the types which we find in the Teutonic and Greek Heroic Ages,
although apparently the belief in immortality largely took the form of
metempsychosis. Only in one particular can we detect a really important
difference between Gaulish religion and the others, namely in the
influence of the priesthood. This feature however seems to have been
peculiar to Gaul itself and Britain; at all events we hear nothing of
Druids elsewhere. Indeed according to Caesar (VI 13) the institution
was believed to have originated in Britain; and it is by no means
impossible that some of its characteristic features may have developed
in this country. More than this we cannot safely say, since there is
an obvious--and probably by no means superficial--resemblance between
Druidism and the priesthood of the Prussians and Lithuanians.
* * * * *
In previous Notes (p. 101 ff.) we spoke of two other Heroic Ages--those
of the Bosnian Mohammedans, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
and of the Cumbrian Welsh, about a thousand years earlier. In Note VII
we discussed briefly one of the leading incidents in the (Christian)
Servian Heroic Age, of the fourteenth century. In all these cases the
question of religion is better left out of account; for though the form
taken by Christianity or Mohammedanism was doubtless influenced to some
extent by national characteristics, the two religions were essentially
of foreign origin.
Among the Bosnians however the influence of Mohammedanism affected also
the organisation of society, while the government was in the hands of
pashas sent from Constantinople. On the whole the conditions appear to
have little in common with those of the Teutonic and Greek Heroic Ages.
Even the principle of personal allegiance is not much in evidence.
On the other hand this principle is very prominent in the Christian
Servian poems, at all events in those which deal with the battle of
Kossovo. It is exemplified both in the relations of squires (such
as Vaistina) with their lords and in those of the latter with the
king. In the poem on the banquet (Karadžić, II 50 iii), which we have
discussed above (p. 315), it is to this principle alone that Lazar
appeals, when he reproaches Miloš for his suspected disloyalty; and
though the latter in his reply does mention that he intends to die for
the Christian faith, he too evidently regards loyalty to his king as
his primary duty. My knowledge of this subject is unfortunately not
sufficient to enable me to form an opinion as to whether the growth
of the bond of allegiance was accompanied by a relaxation of the
bonds of kinship. In the lower ranks of society however the kindred
has preserved down to the present time perhaps greater vitality
among the Servians than in any other European nation. The type of
government which we find prevailing in the fourteenth century is far
removed from that democratic system which Procopius (_Goth._, III 14)
ascribes to the Slavs some six centuries previously. The governors whom
Dušan appointed in various parts of his dominions became practically
independent princes after his death, although their principalities
rested apparently on no national basis. Both in Servia proper and
elsewhere the control of affairs seems to have been very largely in the
hands of the royal family.
For the Cumbrian Heroic Age our information is sadly deficient. The
evidence of the poems leaves no doubt as to the potency of the force of
personal allegiance. With regard to the kindred I know of no evidence,
unless we take account of the Welsh laws, which belong to a different
region and to a period several centuries later. The kingdoms seem to
have been fairly numerous, and there is nothing to show that their
organisation differed much from that of Teutonic kingdoms of the Heroic
Age. Whether they rested on any national basis we cannot tell; but it
is to be noted that practically all their territories had once been
included within the Roman frontiers[635].
Both these cases then appear to show a number of the features which
characterise the Teutonic and Greek Heroic Ages, though scarcely to
the same degree as is the case with the civilisation of the ancient
Gauls. Analogies may also be found in the French and Russian Heroic
Ages; but I am not aware that either of these presents any remarkable
characteristics which do not occur in one or other of those with which
we have dealt. On the other hand I have no doubt that many interesting
features are to be found in the Irish Heroic Age (or rather perhaps
Heroic Ages[636]). This subject however is beset with such extreme
difficulties of every kind that I dare not touch it.
FOOTNOTES:
[629] Cf. Ammianus Marcellinus, XV 9. 8 (probably from Timagenes):
_et Bardi quidem fortia uirorum illustrium facta heroicis composita
uersibus cum dulcibus lyrae modulis cantitarunt_. Cf. also Diodoros, V
31; Strabo, IV 4. 4; Lucan, Phars. I 447 ff.
[630] Cf. Athenaios, VI 49 (quoting Poseidonios): Κελτοὶ περιάγονται
μεθ' αὑτῶν καὶ πολεμοῦντες συμβιωτὰς οὓς καλοῦσι παρασίτους. οὗτοι δὲ
ἐγκώμια αὐτῶν καὶ πρὸς ἀθρόους λέγουσιν ἀνθρώπους συνεστῶτας καὶ πρὸς
ἕκαστον τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐκείνων ἀκροωμένων. τὰ δὲ ἀκούσματα αὐτῶν εἰσιν
οἱ καλούμενοι Βάρδοι· ποιηταὶ δὲ οὗτοι τυγχάνουσι μετ' ᾠδῆς ἐπαίνους
λέγοντες. Reference may also be made to the story of Luernios, king
of the Allobroges, and the minstrel who arrived too late (_ib._, IV
37). Cf. also Appian, _Celtice_, § 12 (describing the arrival of an
envoy sent by Bitoitos, the father of Luernios): μουσικός τε ἀνὴρ
εἵπετο, βαρβάρῳ μουσικῇ τὸν βασιλέα Βιτοῖτον, εἶτ' Ἀλλόβριγας, εἶτα τὸν
πρεσβευτὴν αὐτὸν ἔς τε γένος καὶ ἀνδρείαν καὶ περιουσίαν ὑμνῶν· οὗ δὴ
καὶ μάλιστα ἕνεκα αὐτοὺς οἱ τῶν πρεσβευτῶν ἐπιφανεῖς ἐπάγονται.
[631] κατὰ δὲ τὰς παρατάξεις εἰώθασι προάγειν τῆς παρατάξεως καὶ
προκαλεῖσθαι τῶν ἀντιτεταγμένων τοὺς ἀρίστους εἰς μονομαχίαν,
προανασείοντες τὰ ὅπλα καὶ καταπληττόμενοι τοὺς ἐναντίους. ὅταν δέ τις
ὑπακούσῃ πρὸς τὴν μάχην τάς τε τῶν προγόνων ἀνδραγαθίας ἐξυμνοῦσι καὶ
τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἀρετὰς προφέρονται καὶ τὸν ἀντιταττόμενον ἐξονειδίζουσι
καὶ ταπεινοῦσι καὶ τὸ σύνολον τὸ θάρσος τῆς ψυχῆς τοῖς λόγοις
προαφαιροῦνται (V 29).
[632] πλησίον δ' αὐτῶν ἐσχάραι κεῖνται γέμουσαι πυρὸς καὶ λέβητας
ἔχουσαι καὶ ὀβελοὺς πλήρεις κρεῶν ὁλομερῶν. τοὺς δ' ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας ταῖς
καλλίσταις τῶν κρεῶν μοίραις γεραίρουσι.... καλοῦσι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ξένους
ἐπὶ τὰς εὐωχίας καὶ μετὰ τὸ δεῖπνον ἐπερωτῶσι τίνες εἰσὶ καὶ τίνων
χρείαν ἔχουσιν (_ib._ 28).
[633] We may compare also what is said (_ib._ I 20) of the relations of
Diuiciacus and Dumnorix. The latter had a large comitatus of his own:
_magnum numerum equitatus suo sumptu semper alere et circum se habere_
(I 18).
[634] Cf. Livy, V 34.
[635] The rise of the Cumbrian kingdoms presents a difficulty which
historians do not seem to me to have sufficiently realised. During the
fourth and fifth centuries the northern parts of the province were
repeatedly menaced and ravaged by Pictish invaders. Yet after the fifth
century we hear practically nothing more of Picts in the south of
Scotland (except in Galloway). On the other hand it was in this region
that the Britons offered the most determined resistance to the English.
In the latter part of the sixth century Urien is said (_Hist. Br._, §
63) to have besieged them on one occasion in Lindisfarne (_Metcaud_);
and in Strathclyde the Britons maintained their independence, except
for one or two brief intervals, until long after the disappearance
of the Northumbrian kingdom. It is often assumed, though on somewhat
slender grounds, that the Britons held only the south-west of Scotland
and that the south-east (Lothian, etc.) was Pictish before the English
conquest. But this hypothesis does not get rid of the difficulties; for
it is from _Manau Guotodin_, a district always regarded as Pictish,
that Cunedda is said to have come (_ib._, § 62). I suspect that the
distinction between Picts and Britons was not so rigid as is commonly
supposed. Unfortunately Celtic scholars have not yet been able to come
to any agreement as to the character of the Pictish language. Some hold
that it was British (Brythonic), others Gaelic (Goidelic), others again
non-Celtic. Possibly all these views may contain a certain amount of
truth. At all events it seems to me quite incredible that Gaelic was
not introduced into Scotland before the sixth century. All indications
appear to me to favour the view that this language belonged to a wave
of Celtic invasion earlier than the British. Yet I see no objection to
supposing that in pre-Roman times the true (Gaelic) Picts--who probably
included a non-Celtic substratum--may have been overlaid in part by a
British element. If so, it is far from improbable that the south of
Scotland in its turn received a 'Pictish' element, when that district
was abandoned by the Romans. A mixed population of this kind would
readily enough coalesce with the native (British) inhabitants.
[636] So also in the Heroic Ages of non-European peoples. Important
parallels are certainly furnished by Sanskrit epic poetry.