BY
KING ALFRED, ETC.
_Translated in_ 1807 _by the Rev. James Ingram_, _M.A._, _Professor of
Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford_.
NOW will we describe the geography of Europe, so far, at least, as our
knowledge of it extends. From the river Tanais, westward to the river
Rine (which takes its rise from the Alps and runs directly north
thenceforward on to the arm of the ocean that surrounds Bryttania), then
southward to the river Danube (whose source is near the river Rine,
running afterwards in its course along the confines of Northern Greece,
till it empties itself into the Mediterranean), and northward even unto
the ocean, which men call Cwen-sea; within these boundaries are many
nations; but the whole of this tract of country is called Germany.
Then to the north of the source of the Danube, and to the east of the
Rine, are the Eastern Franks, and to the south of them are the Suabians;
on the opposite bank of the Danube, and to the south and east, are the
Bavarians, in that part which is called Regnesburh. Due east from thence
are the Bohemians, and to the north-east the Thyringians, to the north of
these are the Old Saxons, to the north-west are the Frieslanders, and to
the west of the Old Saxons is the mouth of the Elbe, as also Friesland.
Hence to the west-north is that land which is called Angleland, Sealand,
and some part of Den-marc; to the north is Apdredè, and to the east-north
the wolds, which are called the Heath-wolds. Hence eastward is the land
of the Veneti (who are also called Silesæ), extending south-west over a
great part of the territory of the Moravians. These Moravians have to
the west the Thyringians and Bohemians, as also part of Bavaria, and to
the south, on the other side of the Danube, is the country of the
Carinthians, lying southward even to the Alps. To the same mountains
also extend the boundaries of the Bavarians and the Suabians. Thence to
the eastward of Carinthia, beyond the waste, is the land of the
Bulgarians. To the east of them is the land of the Greeks, and to the
east of Moravia is Wisle-land; to the east of that are the Dacæ, who were
originally a tribe of Goths. To the north-east of the Moravians are the
Dalamensæ; east of the Dalamensians are the Horithi, and north of the
Dalamensians are the Servians; to the west also are the Silesians. To
the north of the Horiti is Mazovia, and north of Mazovia are the
Sarmatians, quite to the Riphæan mountains. To the west of the Southern
Danes is the arm of the ocean that surrounds Britannia, and to the north
of them is the arm of the sea called Ost Sea; to the east and to the
north of them are the Northern Danes, both on the continent and on the
islands; to the east of them are the Afdredè; and to the south is the
mouth of the Elb, with some part of Old Saxony. The Northern Danes have
to the north of them the same arm of the sea called Ost Sea; to the east
of them is the nation of the Estonians, and the Afdredè to the south.
The Estonians have to the north of them the same arm of the sea, and also
the Winedæ and Burgundæ, and to the South are the Heath-wolds. The
Burgundians have the same arm of the sea to the west of them, and the
Sweons to the north; to the east of them are the Sarmatians, and to the
south the Servians. The Sweons have to the south of them the same arm of
the sea, called Ost Sea; to the east of them the Sarmatians; and to the
north, over the wastes, is Cwenland; to the west-north of them are the
Scride-Finnas, and to the west the Northmen.
“Ohthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he lived to the north of all
the Northmen. He says that he dwelt on the mainland to the northward, by
the west sea; that the land, however, extends to a very great length
thence onward to the north; but it is all waste, except in a few places
where the Finlanders occasionally resort, for hunting in the winter, and
in the summer for fishing along the sea-coast. He said that he was
determined to find out, on a certain time, how far this country extended
northward, or whether any one lived to the north of the waste. With this
intent he proceeded northward along the coast, leaving all the way the
waste land on the starboard, and the wide sea on the backboard, for three
days. He was then as far north as the whale-hunters ever go. He then
continued his voyage, steering yet northward, as far as he could sail
within three other days. Then the land began to take a turn to the
eastward, even unto the inland sea, but he knows not how much farther.
He remembers, however, that he stayed there waiting for a western wind,
or a point to the north, and sailed thence eastward by the land as far as
he could in four days. Then he was obliged to wait for a due north wind,
because the land there began to run southward, quite to the inland sea;
he knows not how far. He sailed thence along the coast southward, as far
as he could in five days. There lay then a great river a long way up in
the land, into the mouth of which they entered, because they durst not
proceed beyond the river from an apprehension of hostilities, for the
land was all inhabited on the other side of the river. Ohthere, however,
had not met with any inhabited land before this since he first set out
from his own home. All the land to his right, during his whole voyage,
was uncultivated and without inhabitants, except a few fishermen,
fowlers, and hunters, all of whom were Finlanders; and he had nothing but
the wide sea on his left all the way. The Biarmians, indeed, had well
cultivated their land; though Ohthere and his crew durst not enter upon
it; but the land of the Torne-Finnas was all waste, and it was only
occasionally inhabited by hunters, and fishermen, and fowlers.
“The Biarmians told him many stories, both about their own land and about
the other countries around them; but Ohthere knew not how much truth
there was in them, because he had not an opportunity of seeing with his
own eyes. It seemed, however, to him, that the Finlanders and the
Biarmians spoke nearly the same language. The principal object of his
voyage, indeed, was already gained; which was, to increase the discovery
of the land, and on account of the horse-whales, because they have very
beautiful bone in their teeth, some of which they brought to the king,
and their hides are good for ship-ropes. This sort of whale is much less
than the other kinds, it is not longer commonly than seven ells: but in
his own country (Ohthere says) is the best whale-hunting; there the
whales are eight and forty ells long, and the largest fifty; of these, he
said, he once killed (six in company) sixty in two days. He was a very
rich man in the possession of those animals, in which their principal
wealth consists, namely, such as are naturally wild. He had then, when
he came to seek King Alfred, six hundred deer, all tamed by himself, and
not purchased. They call them reindeer. Of these six were stall-reins,
or decoy deer, which are very valuable amongst the Finlanders, because
they catch the wild deer with them.
“Ohthere himself was amongst the first men in the land, though he had not
more than twenty rother-beasts, twenty sheep, and twenty swine; and what
little he ploughed, he ploughed with horses. The annual revenue of these
people consists chiefly in a certain tribute which the Finlanders yield
them. This tribute is derived from the skins of animals, feathers of
various birds, whalebone, and ship-ropes, which are made of whales’ hides
and of seals. Everyone pays according to his substance; the wealthiest
man amongst them pays only the skins of fifteen marterns, five reindeer
skins, one bear’s skin, ten bushels of feathers, a cloak of bear’s or
otter’s skin, two ship-ropes (each sixty ells long), one made of whale’s
and the other of seal’s skin.
“Ohthere moreover said that the land of the Northmen was very long and
very narrow; all that is fit either for pasture or ploughing lies along
the sea coast, which, however, is in some parts very cloddy; along the
eastern side are wild moors, extending a long way up parallel to the
cultivated land. The Finlanders inhabit these moors, and the cultivated
land is broadest to the eastward; and, altogether, the more northward it
lies, the more narrow it is. Eastward it may perhaps be sixty miles
broad, in some places broader; about the middle, thirty miles, or
somewhat more; and northward, Ohthere says (where it is narrowest), it
may be only three miles across from the sea to the moors, which, however,
are in some parts so wide, that a man could scarcely pass over them in
two weeks, though in other parts perhaps in six days. Then parallel with
this land southward is Sweoland, on the other side of the moors,
extending quite to the northward; and running even with the northern part
of it is Cwenaland. The Cwenas sometimes make incursions against the
Northmen over these moors, and sometimes the Northmen on them; there are
very large meres of fresh water beyond the moors, and the Cwenas carry
their ships overland into the meres, whence they make depredations on the
Northmen; they have ships that are very small and very light.
“Ohthere said that the shire which he inhabited is called Halgoland. He
says that no human being abode in any fixed habitation to the north of
him. There is a port to the south of this land, which is called
Sciringes-heal. Thither he said that a man could not sail in a month, if
he watched in the night, and every day had a fair wind; and all the while
he shall sail along the coast; and on his right hand first is Island, and
then the islands which are between Island and this land. Then this land
continues quite to Sciringes-heal; and all the way on the left is Norway.
To the south of Sciringes-heal a great sea runs up a vast way into the
country, and is so wide that no man can see across it. (Jutland is
opposite on the other side, and then Sealand.) This sea lies many
hundred miles up into the land. Ohthere further says that he sailed in
five days from Sciringes-heal to that port which men call Æt-Hæthum,
which stands between the Winedæ, the Saxons, and the Angles, and is
subject to the Danes.
“When Ohthere sailed to this place from Sciringes-heal, Denmark was on
his left, and on his right the wide sea, for three days; and for the two
days before he came to Hæthum, on his right hand was Jutland, Sealand,
and many islands; all which lands were inhabited by the English, before
they came hither; and for these two days the islands which are subject to
Denmark were on his left.”
“Wulfstan said that he went from Heathum to Truso in seven days and
nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. Weonodland
was on his right, and Langland, Læland, Falster, and Sconey, on his left,
all which land is subject to Denmark. “Then on our left we had the land
of the Burgundians, who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land
of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called
from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland,
all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the
way on our right, as far as Weissel-mouth. The Weissel is a very large
river, and near it lie Witland and Weonodland. Witland belongs to the
people of Eastland; and out of Weonodland flows the river Weissel, which
empties itself afterwards into Estmere. This lake, called Estmere, is
about fifteen miles broad. Then runs the Ilfing east (of the Weissel)
into Estmere, from that lake on the banks of which stands Truso. These
two rivers come out together into Estmere, the Ilfing east from Eastland,
and the Weissel south from Weonodland. Then the Weissel deprives the
Ilfing of its name, and, flowing from the west part of the lake, at
length empties itself northward into the sea, whence this point is called
the Weissel-mouth. This country called Eastland is very extensive, and
there are in it many towns, and in every town is a king. There is a
great quantity of honey and fish; and even the king and the richest men
drink mare’s milk, whilst the poor and the slaves drink mead. There is a
vast deal of war and contention amongst the different tribes of this
nation. There is no ale brewed amongst the Estonians, but they have mead
in profusion.
“There is also this custom with the Estonians, that when anyone dies the
corpse continues unburnt with the relations and friends for at least a
month, sometimes two; and the bodies of kings and illustrious men,
according to their respective wealth, lie sometimes even for half a year
before the corpse is burned, and the body continues above ground in the
house, during which time drinking and sports are prolonged till the day
on which the body is consumed. Then, when it is carried to the funeral
pile, the substance of the deceased, which remains after these drinking
festivities and sports, is divided into five or six heaps; sometimes into
more, according to the proportion of what he happens to be worth. These
heaps are so disposed that the largest heap shall be about one mile from
the town; and so gradually the smaller at lesser intervals, till all the
wealth is divided, so that the least heap shall be nearest the town where
the corpse lies.
“Then all those are to be summoned together who have the fleetest horses
in the land, for a wager of skill, within the distance of five or six
miles from these heaps; and they all ride a race toward the substance of
the deceased. Then comes the man that has the winning horse toward the
first and largest heap, and so each after other, till the whole is seized
upon. He procures, however, the least heap who takes that which is
nearest the town; and then everyone rides away with his share, and keeps
the whole of it. On account of this custom fleet horses in that country
are wonderfully dear. When the wealth of the deceased has been thus
exhausted, then they carry out his corpse from the house and burn it,
together with his weapons and clothes; and generally they spend his whole
substance by the long continuance of the body within the house, together
with what they lay in heaps along the road, which the strangers run for,
and take away.
“It is also an established custom with the Estonians that the dead bodies
of every tribe or family shall be burned, and if any man findeth a single
bone unconsumed, they shall be fined to a considerable amount. These
Estonians also have the power of producing artificial cold; and it is
thus the dead body continues so long above ground without putrefying, on
which they produce this artificial cold; and, though a man should set two
vessels full of ale or of water, they contrive that either shall be
completely frozen over; and this equally the same in the summer as in the
winter.”
Now will we speak about those parts of Europe that lie to the south of
the river Danube; and first of all, concerning Greece. The sea which
flows along the eastern side of Constantinople (a Grecian city) is called
Propontis. To the north of this Grecian city an arm of the sea shoots up
westward from the Euxine; and to the west by north the mouths of the
river Danube empty themselves south-east into the Euxine. To the south
and west of these mouths are the Moessians, a tribe of Greeks; to the
west of the city are the Thracians; and to the west also are the
Macedonians. To the south of this city, towards the southern part of
that arm of the sea which is called the Egean, Athens and Corinth are
situated. And to the west by south of Corinth is the land of Achaia,
near the Mediterranean. To the west of Achaia, along the Mediterranean,
is Dalmatia, on the north side of the sea; to the north of Dalmatia are
the boundaries of Bulgaria and Istria. To the south of Istria is that
part of the Mediterranean which is called the Adriatic; to the west are
the Alps; and to the north that desert which is between the Carinthians
and the Bulgarians.
Italy, which is of great length west by north, and also east by south, is
surrounded by the Mediterranean on every side but towards the west-north.
At that end of it lie the Alps, which begin westward from the
Mediterranean, in the Narbonense country, and end eastward in Dalmatia,
near the [Adriatic] sea.
With respect to the territory called Gallia Belgica, to the east of it is
the river Rine, to the south the Alps, to the west by south the sea
called the British Ocean, and to the north, on the other side of the arm
of the ocean, is Britannia. The land to the west of the river Loire is
Æquitania; to the south of Æquitania is some part of the Narbonense; to
the west by south is the territory of Spain; and to the south the ocean.
To the south of the Narbonense is the Mediterranean, where the Rone
empties itself into the sea, having Provençe both on the east and west.
Over the Pyrenean wastes is Ispania citerior, to the west of which, by
north, is Æquitania, and the province of Gascony to the north. Provençe
has to the north of it the Alps; to the south of it is the Mediterranean;
to the north-east of it are the Burgundians; and the people of Gascony to
the west.
Spain is triangular, and entirely guarded on the outside by the sea,
either by the great ocean or by the Mediterranean, and also well guarded
within over the land. One of the angles lies south-west against the
island of Gades, the second eastward against the Narbonense territory,
and the third north-west against Braganza, a town of Gallicia. And
against Scotland (i.e., Ireland), over the arm of the sea, in a straight
line with the mouth of the Shannon, is Ispania ulterior. To the west of
it is the ocean; and to the south and east of it, northward of the
Mediterranean, is Ispania citerior; to the north of which are the lands
of Equitania; to the north-east is the weald of the Pyrenees, to the east
the Narbonense, and to the south the Mediterranean.
With regard to the island Britannia, it is of considerable length to the
north-east, being eight hundred miles long and only two hundred miles
broad. To the south of it, on the other side of the arm of the sea, is
Gallia Belgica; to the west, on the other side of an arm of the sea, is
the island Ibernia, and to the northward the Orkney Isles. Igbernia,
which we call Scotland, is surrounded on every side with the ocean; and
hence, because the rays of the setting sun strike on it with less
interruption than on other countries, the weather is milder there than it
is in Britain. Thence, to the west-north of Ibernia, is that utmost land
called Thila, which is known to a few men only, on account of its
exceeding great distance.
Thus have we now sufficiently described all the landmarks of Europe,
according to their respective situations.