CHAPTER XLIV._The Viking Age. Volume 1 (of 2) The early history, manners, and customs of the ancestors of the English-speaking nations

REVENGE.

The duty of the nearest relative—Procedure—Blood-nights—Secret

slaying—Incitement to revenge by women—Intentional

wounding—Arbitration—Manslaughter—Murder by

lunatics—Insults—Punishment of derision.

Revenge played a conspicuous part in the daily life of the Norsemen, and

it was the duty of the nearest relative to avenge the death of a

kinsman. This duty first belonged to the brother of the deceased, and,

if he had no brother, to his next of kin. Relatives as far as the fourth

degree were obliged, if there was no one nearer, to undertake the duty.

If the relative could not find the murderer, his revenge fell upon the

innocent kinsman of the murderer, or upon the servants of the latter.

Procedure depended on the nature of the case. If a man was slain in his

own Herad, his wife or heir, or the nearest of kin present in the Herad,

the same day that the death became known sent out an arrow from farm to

farm through the Herad to summon the bœndr. The summons ordered them to

meet the same day, or, if it was already late, the next day, at the

place of murder, to attend the Arrow-thing. At the Arrow-thing those

more especially had to appear to whom the murderer had announced the

slaying, with his name and residence; those assembled examined the

circumstances of the slaying, and what was practically a coroner’s

inquest took place.

“Thither came nine bœndr who lived next to the slaying-place. Mörd (who

caused the slaying and declared it) had ten men with him. He showed to

the bœndr the wounds of Höskuld, and named witnesses to the wounds, and

one to every wound except one. He feigned not to know who had given it,

for he had given it himself. He declared that Skarphedin had slain him,

and that his brothers and Kari had given the wounds. Then he summoned

the nine neighbours of the slaying-place to come to the Althing, then he

rode home” (Njala, 112).

The days and nights immediately following a murder were called

_blood-nights_.

Hrolleif, the son of a witchcraft-knowing woman, slew the chief

Ingimund. When he came home and told his mother what he had done, she

said:

“‘It is my advice that thou goest away, for the blood-nights are the

quickest for revenge’”[581] (Vatnsdæla, c. 24).

“Glum went out one day to slay Sigmund; he put on the blue cloak, and

had a spear in his hand, ornamented with gold. When he had killed him he

rode off to his brother Thorstein, who, seeing blood on the inlaid

ornaments of the weapon, asked if he had struck anyone with it just

before. Glum said: ‘It is true, I forgot to tell thee that I have slain

Sigmund Thorkelsson to-day.’ Thorstein answered: ‘That will be bad

tidings to Thorkel (Sigmund’s father) and the Esphol men, his

sons-in-law.’ Glum added: ‘It is an old saying, that during the

blood-nights every one is most passionate; but they will think little of

it as time passes’” (Viga Glum’s Saga, c. 8).

If at least twenty-seven bœndr had come to the Thing, and the nearest

kinsman of the murdered man was present, and the slayer himself, after

having received truce (_grid_), appeared, or it was stated that although

the arrow had reached him he did not desire to appear, the Arrow-thing

possessed the right to at once render judgment in the case.

The fifth day the prosecution took place at the _Fimtarthing_, which was

an extraordinary _Heradsthing_.

To this Thing the slayer, or the person accused of the murder, was

summoned, and here the case was carried to completion, and judgment

given by the Thingsmen.

If the slaying was murder, and there was no certainty as to the

murderer, then the next of kin could require three persons, on whom his

suspicions had fallen, to free themselves one after the other, by

_tylftareid_ (an oath of suspicion).

“If the king accuses a man of land-treason (high-treason), he must repel

the charge by a tylftareid. Charge of murder and of breach of faith must

also be repelled in this way. Six men, equal to him (the accused) in

rétt, shall be summoned on both sides of him, two of them selected, then

two of his nearest kinsmen, himself as the fifth, and seven fangavattar

(witnesses summoned at random)” (Gulathing’s Law, 132).

“Further, if thou findest a man slain out on the field, thou shalt hide

the body and tell the first man whom thou meetest, and then go to his

heir if he is in the Fylki; else thou shalt cut a Thing-summons and call

a Thing. The man that does not come to the Thing is fined six aurar,

called the large Thing-fine, and proves himself to be the slayer if the

heir wants to accuse him of it” (Gulath., 161).

If a reconciliation took place between the slayer and family of the

slain, the nearest of kin to the slain at once assured the slayer of

intermediate truce (_grid_), and later, when the indemnity was paid,

which generally took place in several instalments, assured him of

security (_tryggdir_), whereby the matter was regarded as completely

settled.[582]

If the slayer left the weapon in the wound of his foe his act was not

considered murder, but only a lesser crime, termed “secret slaying.”

“One morning, just before day-light, while Véstein was still in bed,

some one entered the room, thrust a spear through his breast, and went

out again. When Vestein tried to rise he fell dead. His sister Aud

called upon a thrall of hers, Thord the faint-hearted, and bade him take

the weapon from the wound. It was the custom for the man who pulled the

weapon from a wound to be obliged to avenge the slain; but it was called

secret slaying, and not murder, if the slayer left the weapon remaining

in the wound” (Gisli Sursson’s Saga).

To slay a man for revenge at night, or to put any one to death at night,

was considered murder.

“King Olaf sat down in his seat when the room had been prepared, and was

very angry. He asked where the slayer was. He was told that he was

guarded out on the balcony. The king said: ‘Why is he not slain?’

Thorarin Nefjulfsson answered: ‘My lord, do you not call it a murder to

slay men at night?’ Then the king said: ‘Put him into fetters, and slay

him to-morrow’” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 126).

“Then Arinbjörn said: ‘The king will not let himself be incited to all

thy nithing-deeds. He will not let Egil be killed this night, because

night-killings are murders.’ The king replied: ‘It shall be as thou

askest, Arinbjörn, that Egil shall live this night’” (Egil’s Saga, c.

62).

Incitement to revenge was often given by women. Thorbjörg, the wife of

Indridi, heard that her brother Hörd had been treacherously slain by

Thorstein Gullknapp.

“When she and her husband came into their bed in the evening, Thorbjörg

drew a sax and thrust it at Indridi; but he parried the blow with his

hand and got much wounded. He said: ‘Thorbjörg, it is difficult to know

what to do, and thou art very hard upon me. What shall I do that we may

become friends again?’ ‘Thou canst do nothing but fetch the head of

Thorstein Gullknapp for me’” (Hörd’s Saga, c. 37).

To him who performed _nabjargir_ (ceremony attending the dead) belonged

the duty of avenging the dead.

Höskuld, a son of Njal by his concubine Hródný, was found wounded with

sixteen wounds. Hródný laid him against the wall in Njal’s sheephouse

and went in to Njal’s bed, as it was night.

“She asked if Njal was awake. He answered: ‘I have slept, but now I am

awake. Why art thou here so early?’ Hródný replied: ‘Rise from the bed

of my rival and go out with me, and also thy wife and thy sons.’ They

rose and went out. Skarphedin said: ‘Let us take our weapons with us.’

Njal did not speak, and they ran in and fetched their weapons. Hródný

walked on in front, and when they came to the sheephouse she went in and

asked them to follow. She took up a lantern and said: ‘Here, Njal, is

thy son Höskuld with many wounds on him, and he needs to be healed.’

Njal answered: ‘I see death-marks on him, and no life-marks; why hast

thou not given him nabjargir, as his nostrils are open?’ ‘I intended

Skarphedin to do that,’ she answered. Skarphedin walked up to Höskuld’s

body and closed the nostrils, eyes, and mouth. Then he asked his father,

‘Who, sayest thou, is the slayer?’ Njal answered: ‘Lýting of Samstadir

and his brothers have probably slain him.’ Hródný said: ‘I give it into

thy hands, Skarphedin, to revenge thy brother; and I expect thee to

behave well and perform the greatest part (in the revenge), though he

was not legitimate.’ Bergthóra (Njal’s wife) said: ‘It is strange that

you slay men for slight reasons, while you ponder over and digest this

matter until nothing comes of it; Höskuld Hvitanesgodi will soon be here

and ask you to come to terms, and you will grant him them; if you intend

to do anything, do it now.’ Skarphedin said: ‘Now our mother incites us

with lawful provocation’” (Njala, c. 98).

Then follows in the Saga a long account of how the two brothers of

Lýting were killed, and how he himself was wounded and escaped. Lýting

went to a man called Höskuld, who was a godi, and asked him to reconcile

him with Njal and his sons. Höskuld consented, and went with him to

Njal’s home.

If a man intentionally wounded an innocent man, or offended him in such

a way that full rétt was due to him, the offended could slay him if he

had not offered surety.

It was not uncommon to resort to arbitration when cases of revenge

occurred for which weregild would have to be paid.

Gunnar of Hlidarendi, the famous champion, with his brother Kolskegg had

slain eight men. After the prosecution of the case had begun at the

Althing, some proposed that good men should arbitrate.

“It was determined, according to the advice of the wisest men, that all

the suits which followed should be submitted to arbitration; six men to

arbitrate, and it was done at once at the Althing. It was decided that

the death of Skamkel should not be paid for, the wound of the spur

making up for the wergild; for the other a befitting payment was made.

The kinsmen of Gunnar gave property, so that all the weregilds were at

once paid at the Althing” (Njala, c. 56).

Manslaughter was murder if it was not acknowledged by the slayer; if

there was no witness to the deed, he had to acknowledge it at the farm

nearest to the place of slaughter, and tell his name and home. If

kinsmen of the slain were present, he might pass the place; but in no

case could he go further than the third farm without declaring it.

“Further, if men meet at the crossing of roads, and the one slays the

other, and the man is alive when people come to him, then he is the

slayer whom the man declares to be, unless the _great evidence_ help

him. If another man declares himself to be the slayer, then they are

both slayers, though there is only one wound on the dead man. When a man

declares the slaying lawfully, he goes from the place in whatever

direction he likes, and declares it at the next house, unless kinsmen on

male or female side or near relatives of the dead are there; in this

case he shall pass on to the next house, unless they (kinsmen) are also

there; then he shall go to the third house and declare it, whoever are

in it. He is neither called Ulf (wolf), nor Björn (bear), unless it be

his name. He shall tell the _jartegn_ (by which he is known), and tell

where he slept last night. At the Arrow-thing evidence of the

declaration of the slaying shall be given” (Gulathing’s Law, 61).[583]

If a man acknowledged a slaughter lawfully, and also in the presence of

witnesses gave surety that he would pay weregild and _thegngildi_

(weregild for a thegn), he thereby made himself holy and sacred, so that

he could not be slain.

“If a man wounds an innocent man, or injures him publicly by deeds

liable to full rétt, and revenge is taken by the man or his kinsmen

before a lawful offer with full surety has been made, then the one who

first broke the peace is outlawed, whether he has been slain or outraged

in other ways, unless the king and other men of good sense think

otherwise. But if he offers full surety he is peace-holy, and the one

who slays him is outlawed” (Frostath., Introd. 6).

An insane man who committed murder, though not accounted responsible for

his actions, was expelled the country.

“If a man becomes mad so that he breaks his chains and kills a man, he

shall leave the land, and have all his property in half a month’s truce

during summer, and one month during winter” (Frostath.).

“If a father becomes so mad that he slays his son, or a son slays his

father, or a brother his brother, he shall be outlawed, and leave the

land, and never come back again” (Frostath., iv. 31).

Among the insults which were most resented were those caused by “_nid_,”

or derision. Derision was of two kinds: the first called “_tungunid_,”

tongue derision; that is, derisive or mocking words, which were chiefly

in songs and lampoons (nidvisur), which sometimes were also thought to

possess magical power, thus scaring away the guardian spirits, and

bringing misfortune on the person in question. The second were _trenid_

(wooden derision), that is, derisive images carved or traced on wood.

These were placed at spots where they would draw attention, generally on

the grounds of the enemy; and some of them must have corresponded to the

caricatures of our own times.

These derisive songs were so much resented that Harald Gormsson, King of

Denmark, intended to go to Iceland to take revenge upon the people for a

derisive song which had been made upon him by an Icelander.

“Harald Gormsson King of Denmark heard that Hakon jarl had cast away

Christianity, and made warfare in many places in his lands. Then he

levied a host and went to Norway, and when he came into the realm of

Hakon he plundered there, and devastated the country, and went with his

host to the islands called Solundir. Only five farms were left in

Laradal, and all the people fled to the mountains and forests with all

the loose property they could take with them. Then he wanted to

sail[584] to Iceland, to take revenge for the derision (nid) which all

the Icelanders had made on him. The Icelanders had enacted a law that as

many nid-songs (derisive songs) should be made about the King of Denmark

as there were noses (heads, men) in the country. The reason for this was

that a ship owned by Icelanders had been wrecked in Denmark, and all the

property on board taken by the Danes, who called it wreckage; this was

done by the king’s steward Birgir, and the derision was on both of

them”[585] (Olaf Tryggvason’s Saga, c. 36).

Derision was forbidden by law, and punished by outlawry.

“No man shall make tongue-nid (derision) on another, nor wood-nid (nid

carved on wood). If it be known and proved that he has done this, he is

liable to outlawry; he shall redeem the offence with an oath of

reconciliation; he falls as an outlaw if he is slain. No man shall make

exaggeration or slander about another: that is exaggeration if a man

says about another what cannot take place, or will not, or has not,

saying he is a woman every ninth night, and has borne a child, and calls

him _gylvin_ (she-wolf). He is an outlaw, if it is proved; he shall

redeem the offence with an oath of reconciliation; he falls as an outlaw

if he is slain” (Earlier Gulathing’s Law, 138).

END OF VOL. 1.

-----

Footnote 1:

A kind of baptism.

Footnote 2:

The assembly of the people.

Footnote 3:

The hall and abode of the slain.

Footnote 4:

“Sueonum hinc civitates, ipso in oceano, præter viros armaque

classibus valent. Forma navium eo differt quod utrinque prora paratam

semper appulsui frontem agit. Nec velis ministrantur, nec remos in

ordinem lateribus adjungunt: solutum, ut in quibusdam fluminum, et

mutabile, ut res poscit, hinc et illinc remigium” (Germ. xliv.).

Footnote 5:

“Hujus est civitatis longe amplissima auctoritas omnis oræ maritimæ

regionum earum, quod et naves habent Veneti plurimas, quibus in

Britanniam navigare consuerunt, et scientia atque usu nauticarum rerum

reliquos antecedunt, et in magno impetu maris atque aperto, paucis

portibus interjectis, quos tenent ipsi, omnes fere qui eo mari uti

consuerunt, habent vectigales” (Gallic War, iii. c. 8).

“Namque ipsorum naves ad hunc modum factæ armatæque erant; carinæ

aliquanto planiores, quam nostrarum navium, quo facilius vada ac

decessum æstus excipere possent; proræ admodum erectæ, atque item

puppes ad magnitudinem fluctuum tempestatumque accommodatæ; naves totæ

factæ ex robore ad quamvis vim et contumeliam perferendam; transtra

pedalibus in latitudinem trabibus confixa clavis ferreis digiti

pollicis crassitudine; ancoræ pro funibus ferreis catenis revinctæ;

pelles pro velis alutæque tenuiter confectæ, hæ sive propter lini

inopiam atque ejus usus inscientiam, sive eo, quod est magis

verisimile, quod tantas tempestates Oceani tantosque impetus ventorum

sustineri, ac tanta onera navium regi velis non satis commode posse

arbitrabantur. Cum his navibus nostræ classi ejusmodi congressus erat,

ut una celeritate et pulsu remorum præstaret; reliqua, pro loci

natura, pro vi tempestatum, illis essent aptiora et accommodatiora.

Neque enim his nostræ rostro nocere poterant (tanta in his erat

firmitudo), neque propter altitudinem facile telum adjiciebatur, et

eadem de causa minus commode copulis continebantur. Accedebat, ut, cum

sævire ventus cœpisset et se vento dedissent, et tempestatem ferrent

facilius, et in vadis consisterent tutius, et ab æstu relictæ nihil

saxa et cautes timerent; quarum rerum omnium nostris navibus casus

erat extimescendus” (c. 13).

Footnote 6:

Ἐπὶ τὸν αὐχένα τῆς Κιμβρικῆς χερσονήσου Σάξονες (Geog. lib. ii. c. 2).

Footnote 7:

Βαστάρνας δε, Σκύθικον ἔθνος, ὑποπεσόντας αὐτῷ προσέμενος κατῴκισε

Θρᾳκίοις χωρίοις· καὶ διετέλεσαν τοῖς Ῥωμαίων βιοτεύοντες νόμοις. καὶ

Φράγκων τῷ βασιλεῖ προσελθόντων καὶ τυχόντων οἰκήσεως μοῖρά τις

ἀποστᾶσα, πλοίων εὐπορήσασα, τὴν Ἑλλάδα συνετάραξεν ἅπασαν καὶ Σικελίᾳ

προσσχοῦσα καὶ τῇ Συρακουσίων προσμίξασα πολὺν κατὰ ταύτην εἰργάσατο

φόνον. ἤδη δε καὶ Λιβύῃ προσορμισθεῖσα, καὶ ἀποκρουσθεῖσα δυνάμεως ἐκ

Καρχηδόνος ἐπενεχθείσης, οἵα τε γέγονεν ἀπαθὴς ἐπανελθεῖν οἴκαδε.

(Zosimus. de Probo, i. 71).

Footnote 8:

“Quid loquar rursus intimas Franciæ nationes jam non ab iis locis quæ

olim Romani invaserant, sed a propriis ex origine sui sedibus, atque

ab ultimis barbariæ littoribus avulsas, ut, in desertis Galliæ

regionibus collocatæ et pacem Romani imperii cultu juvarent et arma

delectu?” (Eumenius. Constantin. Aug. c. vi.)

Footnote 9:

“Recursabat quippe in animos illa sub Divo Probo et paucorum ex

Francis captivorum incredibilis audacia et indigna felicitas, qui a

Ponto usque correptis navibus Græciam Asiamque populati nec impune

plerisque Libyæ littoribus appulsi ipsas postremo, navalibus quondam

victoriis nobiles ceperant Syracusas, et immenso itinere pervecti

Oceanum, qua terras irrupit intraverant atque ita eventu temeritatis

ostenderant nihil esse clausum piraticæ desperationi quo navigiis

pateret accessus” (Eumenius Panegyr. Const. Cæs. xviii. circ. A.D.

300)

Footnote 10:

“Per hæc tempora (i.e. 287) etiam Carausius, qui vilissime natus in

strenuæ militiæ ordine famam egregiam fuerat consecutus, cum apud

Bononiam per tractum Belgicæ et Armoricæ pacandum mare accepisset,

quod Franci et Saxones infestabant, multis barbaris sæpe captis, nec

præda integra aut provincialibus reddita aut imperatoribus missa

consulto ab eo admitti barbaros ut transeuntes cum præda exciperet

atque hac se occasione ditaret; a Maximiano jussus occidi purpuram

sumpsit et Britannias occupavit” (Eutropius, Breviarium Historiæ, ix.

ch. 21).

Footnote 11:

Orat. 1. Φράγκοι καὶ Σάξονες τῶν ὑπὲρ τὸν Ῥῆνον καὶ τὴν ἑσπερίαν

θάλατταν ἐθνῶν τὰ μαχιμώτατα.

Footnote 12:

“Hoc tempore velut per universum orbem Romanum bellicum canentibus

buccinis, excitæ gentes sævissimæ limites sibi proximos persultabant.

Gallias Rhætiasque simul Alamanni populabantur; Sarmatæ, Pannonias et

Quadi; Picti, Saxonesque, et Scoti, et Attacotti Britannos ærumnis

vexavere continuis” (Rerum Gestarum, lib. xxvi. s. 4).

Footnote 13:

“Gallicanos vero tractus _Franci_, et _Saxones_ iisdem confines, quo

quisque erumpere potuit terra vel mari, prædis acerbis incendiisque et

captivorum funeribus hominum violabant” (Ammianus Marcellinus, d.

circ. 400, lib. xxvii. c. 8, § 5).

Footnote 14:

“Maduerunt Saxone fuso

Orcades; incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thule;

Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis Ierne.”

(De Cons. Hon. iv. 31.)

Footnote 15:

“Vita omnis in venationibus atque in studiis rei militaris consistit.

Ab parvulis labori ac duritiæ student ... in fluminibus promiscue

perluuntur et pellibus aut parvis rhenonum tegimentis utuntur magna

corporis parte nuda” (Cæsar De Bello Gallico, vi. 21).

Footnote 16:

“Nec enim immensa barbarorum scuta, enormes hastas, inter truncos

arborum et enata humo virgulta perinde haberi quam pila et gladios et

hærentia corpori tegmina ... non loricam Germano, non galeam, ne scuta

quidem ferro nervo ve firmata, sed viminum textus vel tenues fucatas

colore tabulas, primatu utcunque aciem hastatam, cæteris præusta aut

brevia tela” (Tacitus Annals, ii. 14).

Footnote 17:

“Nam super hac re varia opinio est, aliis arbitrantibus de Danis

Northmannisque originem duxisse Saxones, aliis autem aestimantibus, ut

ipse adolescentulus audivi quendam praedicantem de Graecis, quia ipsi

dicerent, Saxone reliquias fuisse Macedonici exercitus qui secutus

magnum Alexandrum inmatura morte ipsius per totum orbem sit dispersus”

(Ann. lib. 1).

Footnote 18:

“Dani et Sueones, quos Northmannos vocamus, et Septentrionale litus et

omnes in eo insulas tenent” (Vita Caroli Magni, c. 12; Eginhard,

historian and friend of Charlemagne).

Footnote 19:

“Dani more quoque Francisco dicuntur nomine Manni.”

Footnote 20:

Völuspa is derived from _völva_, _sybil_ and _spá_, foretelling. The

name _völva_ seems to be derived from _völr_ (staff, stick), as we see

that the sibyls or prophetesses used to walk from place to place with

a stick.

Footnote 21:

Vafthrudnir. _Vaf_ = weave, or entangle: _thrudnir_ = strong, or

mighty; hence Vafthrudnir = mighty in riddles which cannot be

disentangled.

Footnote 22:

The awful = Odin.

Footnote 23:

The one who gives useful advice.

Footnote 24:

When the heart, which is near the ribs, is cold, the ribs are also

cold; therefore this means _cold-hearted_.

Footnote 25:

Fœda means both to give birth to, to raise, and to feed.

Footnote 26:

_Ividi_, a very obscure word (only found here in the whole Northern

literature), which has been translated differently without any

particle of authority in any case, and in each case only as a mere

guess. The word vid means tree, perhaps the world-tree, _Yggdrasil_,

which extended its roots under the world.

Footnote 27:

It is well known that the later Edda bears strong marks of the

influence of Christianity, and we quote it with caution and only when

it essentially agrees with Voluspa and other parts of the earlier

Edda.

Footnote 28:

_Vili_, will; _Ve_, sanctuary, holy place. Cf. also ‘Lokasenna,’ 26;

‘Ynglinga,’ c. 3.

Footnote 29:

Gjöll (the sounding one).

Footnote 30:

Gjallar bridge (the bridge of Gjöll).

Footnote 31:

Modgud (the valkyrja of anger).

Footnote 32:

Nanna is told of in Baldr’s burning, as she, his wife, was burnt with

him.

Footnote 33:

In Sigurdrifumal it is said the runes were in the holy mead, sent to

Asar, Alfar, and Vanir.

Footnote 34:

Elivagar, the streams flowing from the well Hvergelmir in Niflheim

froze into a Jötun.

Footnote 35:

_i.e._, a Jötun woman.

Footnote 36:

A kind of trough used for flour; so the boat is called in which he

saved his life as is seen by what follows. In the lay of Hyndla we

read:—

“All Jötnar came from Ymir.”

Footnote 37:

Mundilfori, from _mondul_ = a handle, and _fara_ = to go; the one

veering or turning round.

Footnote 38:

A Jötun.

Footnote 39:

Sun, in the north, is of feminine gender, and the moon masculine.

Footnote 40:

The rim of heaven = the line of the sky from the horizon.

Footnote 41:

The sun.

Footnote 42:

The moon.

Footnote 43:

Rökstól—_stol_, seat or stool; _rök_, judgment.

Footnote 44:

Wind-chilly.

Footnote 45:

Sweet mood.

Footnote 46:

Bloody surf means poetically the sea, and the expression, the bones of

Blain, a name nowhere else mentioned in the earlier Edda, seems to

refer to a fight, the record of which is lost to us.

Footnote 47:

Modsognir and Durin, only mentioned here, refer to some lost myth.

There seem to have been three kinds of tribes of Dvergar, having for

chiefs, respectively, Modsognir, Durin, Dvalin. “Many _man-likenesses_

in the earth,” namely Dvergar, who are often described as living under

the earth.

Footnote 48:

The five stanzas (Nos. 11, 12, 13, 15, 16) omitted give a long list of

names of Dvergar, among them those of Nyi, the growing moon; Nidi, the

waning moon; Nordri, the north, &c.; Althjof, all-thief; Dvalin, the

delayer, &c., &c.

Footnote 49:

The Dvergar clan of Dvalin, who is not mentioned before, seems to have

been the highest among all the Dvergar.

From Alvismal we may infer that the Dvergar were related to the

Thursar.

Footnote 50:

There seems to be something missing between the stanzas 16 and 17,

unless the poet means the host of the Dvergar, who were under the

three above-named chiefs.

Footnote 51:

It seems that the house in which Ask and Embla were to live was in

existence already. _Ask_ means ash-tree, like _Yggdrasil_; _Embla_

only occurs here in the Völuspa, and it is most difficult consequently

to give a meaning to it; the elm-tree is called _alm_, and perhaps is

here meant to be in contrast to the ash.

Footnote 52:

Odin, Hœnir, and Lodur gave them life. Hœnir is mentioned in the later

Edda. Lodur is only mentioned in the beginning of Heimskringla.

Footnote 53:

Jarnvid, or iron forest; the word is only found here and in the Later

Edda. The old one means a Jötun woman, Angrboda, by whom Loki begat

the Fenrir wolf (‘Later Edda,’ c. 34).

Footnote 54:

The son of Fenrir. According to the prose Edda _Mánagarm_ is the name

of the son of the Fenrir wolf who swallowed the moon. See

Gylfaginning, c. 12.

Footnote 55:

A third bird not named lives in the halls of Hel. They represent the

Jötnar, the Asar, and the third Hel (the home of the dead), and seem

to be the wakers of these three different realms.

Footnote 56:

The Asar, after taking Loki, bound him to a rock with fetters made of

the entrails of his son, Vali (who must not be confused with his

namesake, Baldr’s brother).

“Now Loki was without any truce taken to a cave. They took three

slabs, set them on edge, and made a hole in each. They took the sons

of Loki, Vali and Nari or Narfi, and changed Vali into a wolf which

tore Narfi asunder. Then they took his entrails and with them tied

Loki over the three slabs; one was under his shoulders, another under

his loins, the third under his knees, and these bands changed into

iron. Then Skadi (a goddess) took a poisonous serpent and fastened it

above him, so that the poison should drip into his face; but his wife

Sigyn stands at his side, and holds a vessel under the poison-drops.

When it is full she goes out to pour it down, but in the meanwhile the

poison drips into his face; then he shudders so hard that the whole

earth trembles; that you call earthquake. There he lies in bands till

the doom of the gods” (Gylfaginning, c. 50).

“Loki begat the wolf

With Angrboda,

And Sleipnir

With Svadilföri;

One monster was thought

Most terrible of all;

It was sprung from

The brother of Býleist (= Loki).”

[Hyndluljód, 40]

The Asar were afraid of Fenrir wolf, Loki’s son, and twice tried to

chain it, but could not.

“Thereupon they were afraid that they could not chain the wolf; then

Allfödr (Odin) sent the servant Skírnir, the messenger of _Frey_, down

to Svartálfaheim (world of the black Álfar) to some Dvergar, and had a

chain made, called Gleipnir. It was made of six things: Of the noise

of the cat, of the beard of women, of the roots of the mountain, of

the sinews of the bear, of the breath of the fish, of the spittle of

the bird.”

At last they succeeded in chaining it with the chain, but Týr lost his

right hand, which he was obliged to put into the mouth of the wolf as

a pledge.

“When the Asar saw that the wolf was fully tied they took the band

which hung on the chain and was called Gelgja, and drew it through a

large slab, called Gjöll, and fastened the slab deep down in the

ground. They took a large stone and put it still deeper into the

ground; it was called Thviti, and they used it as a fastening pin. The

wolf gaped terribly and shook itself violently, and wanted to bite

them. They put into its mouth a sword; the guards touch the lower

palate and the point the upper palate; that is its gag. It groans

fiercely and saliva flows from its mouth and makes the river Von;

there it lies till the last fight of the gods” (Later Edda, c. 34).

Footnote 57:

Dvergar.

Footnote 58:

Hrym. This name occurs nowhere else.

Footnote 59:

Jörmungand is the world serpent, Midgard’s serpent, the son of Loki.

“Angrboda was a Jötun woman in Jötunheimar. Loki begat three children

by her: Fenrir wolf, Jörmungand, or Midgardsorm, the serpent, and Hel.

When the gods knew that these three children were brought up in

Jötunheimar, they had foretellings that great misfortune and loss

would be caused by them, and all thought much evil must be expected

from them, first on account of their mother, and still more of their

father. Allfödr (Odin) sent the gods to take and bring them to him.

When they came to him he threw the serpent (Midgardsorm) into the deep

sea that lies round all lands, and it grew so much that it lies in the

middle of the sea round all lands and bites its tail” (Later Edda, c.

34).

Footnote 60:

“Naglfar.” The ship, said in the Later Edda, Gylfaginning 51, to be

made of nails of dead men; when it is finished the end of the world

comes.

Footnote 61:

Loki being the chief enemy of the gods.

Footnote 62:

The first sorrow is not mentioned. Hlin, a maid of Frigg (see

Gylfaginning, 35). Her second sorrow is the death of Odin.

Footnote 63:

Slayer of Beli = Frey.

Footnote 64:

The wolf Fenrir.

Footnote 65:

Loki is the father of Fenrir-wolf, who is called the Jötun’s son, as

Loki was a Jötun.

Footnote 66:

Odin’s son, Vidar, avenges his father by slaying the Fenrir-wolf.

Footnote 67:

Here the Völva again sees how everything is destroyed. Ragnarök, “the

doom of the powers and the end of the world,” is mentioned in

Lokasenna where Loki is taunting the gods; when he comes to Tyr, the

latter answers him—

I have no hand

And thou hast no praise;

We are both badly off;

Nor is the wolf well

That in bands shall

Wait for Ragnarök.

In Atlamal Ragnarök is also mentioned in the dreams of Glaumvor (see

p. 462). In the later Edda the word is corrupted by having an “r”

added, which gives the meaning of _twilight_ instead of _doom_ of the

gods, as it really meant.

Footnote 68:

The Völva seems never to tire reminding her hearers that the dog Garm

barks loud, &c.

Footnote 69:

The Völva.

Footnote 70:

Midgard—_midr_, middle; _gardr_, yard, enclosed space; also, courtyard

and premises; a house in a village or town; a stronghold; a fence or

wall; a collection of houses, a farm.

Footnote 71:

Asgard in olden times meant a place surrounded by walls, and also a

collection of houses enclosed by a fence, hence the modern name in

Scandinavia of gård for farm. The residence of the gods is also called

by this name in the Edda.

Footnote 72:

_Mannheimar_ (always in plural _mannheimar_, the singular is

_mannheim_) means homes of men.

Footnote 73:

The word _Gullveig_ is only found as a compound word this once in the

literature of the North. _Gull_ = gold; _veig_ = draught, also

strength. It may be a metaphor for the thirst of gold being the root

of evil, and the cause of the first fight and manslaying in the world,

as the thirst is never dying.

Footnote 74:

Hár = Odin.

Footnote 75:

Here evidently the reference is to the war between the Vanir and the

Asar. This shows that they had been defeated. Feast means sacrifice,

which was always followed by the feast; this would imply that they

wanted to make a sacrifice for peace or victory.

Footnote 76:

A stockade made like Danavirki or other strongholds in the north.

Footnote 77:

Wergild, indemnity.

Footnote 78:

Alfheimar. In one text, Jötunheimar. In later times Risar, Troll, and

Dvergar became synonymous with giants, dwarfs, and wizards.

Footnote 79:

Kvisl—a forked river, one of the forks where they unite—it also means

a branch of a tree.

Vana-kvisl means the river of the Vanir; it is supposed now that it

was the river Don which flows into the Sea of Azow, but it is

doubtful.

Footnote 80:

This was probably the river Don, which is near the Ural Mountains.

Footnote 81:

Svíthjód the Great seems to be Russia—Norway, Sweden, perhaps Denmark

and the shores of the Baltic.

Footnote 82:

Gefjon was one of the Asynjur.

Footnote 83:

Svithjód = Sweden, but it can hardly be taken in these early Sagas as

exactly corresponding to modern Sweden.

Footnote 84:

People were buried with their wealth.

Footnote 85:

The one who owned the burning in the text. Heaven means space, not a

blessed abode.

Footnote 86:

This word is not found elsewhere in Scandinavian literature.

Footnote 87:

See priest.

Footnote 88:

Idróttir, a name for all kinds of athletic and intellectual games.

Footnote 89:

We must here remark that nowhere is Thor called the God of Thunder.

Footnote 90:

See Havamal, the lord of the gallows; see Havamal where he is said to

have hung on a tree.

Footnote 91:

Grimnismál, 19–20, also mentions these ravens.

19.

The battle-tamer (Odin) feeds

Geri and Freki,

The famous father of hosts (Herjafödr)

And by wine alone

The weapon-famous

Odin always lives.

20.

Hugin and Munin

Fly every day

Over the wide earth;

I am afraid Hugin

Will not come back,

But still more of Munin.

Poetical names were given to these ravens by Eyvind Skalda-spillir;

they are called the Swans of Farmatýr (the god of cargoes), _i.e._,

the Swans of Odin.

Footnote 92:

Because he was always fighting against the Jötnar.

Footnote 93:

The fires were always in the centre, lengthwise.

Footnote 94:

This man was Odin, who is always represented as having only one eye.

Footnote 95:

Cfr. also Volsunga Saga, c. 11.

Footnote 96:

The story of Odin’s ship reminds one of the tent mentioned in the

‘Arabian Nights,’ which could cover an army, and yet could be folded

and carried in a small pocket.

Footnote 97:

Odin himself hung in Yggdrasil to learn wisdom, and this is a like

custom (Havamal, 139); it seems that Odin learned wisdom from the one

hanging in the gallows by sitting under it.

Footnote 98:

A high seat from which Odin could see over all worlds. (Gylfaginning,

17.) In the older Edda there is a long poem, Skirnismál or Skirnisför,

on the story of Njörd falling in love with Gerd.

Footnote 99:

The peace of Frodi, so called from the chief who ruled Denmark at the

time, and who must have become very celebrated.

Footnote 100:

Gymir, a jotun of whom nothing is known.

Footnote 101:

A lady is still called _fru_ all over Scandinavia.

Footnote 102:

In Icelandic Sagas housewife is _hús-freyja_; but in modern Icelandic,

_hús-frú_.

Footnote 103:

_i.e._, mixed with water.

Footnote 104:

This would imply that Sweden was east of Vanaheim.

Footnote 105:

Cf. also Herraud and Bosi’s Saga, c. 1.

Footnote 106:

Cf. also Ynglinga Saga, and _Prologue to Heimskringla_.

Footnote 107:

The _Ynglingatal_ is not given, as it is tedious, and would be

uninteresting to the general reader.

Footnote 108:

Fródi had two sons, Ingjald and Hálfdán. From the first was descended

the great Harald Hilditönn, who was defeated by his kinsman Sigurd

Hring at the Bravalla-battle, see p. 368. From the second was

descended Harald Fairhair, the ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, and

so indirectly of Queen Victoria.

Footnote 109:

This was written after all the petty kingdoms of Denmark had been

consolidated into one; the term Danish tongue at earlier periods did

not exist, but _Norrœna_, or Northern tongue, was used instead.

Footnote 110:

Antiquities of the stone age have been found in bogs at Hœbelstrup;

Sandbjerg, near Hörsholm; Lœsten, near Randers; Kjœr, Ringkjöbing Amt,

Jutland; Samsö, &c.; and in mounds. Among them are numerous amber

beads; flint tools from 4½ to 10 ins. long, many having teeth like a

saw; axe-blades, chisels, spear-points, and ornaments.

Footnote 111:

The following contents of a _Dolmen_ at Luthra, Vestergotland, are

typical:—5 spear-heads, 1 arrow-head, 19 rough flint axes, 4 bone

pins, 18 bone beads, 4 amber beads, 11 pierced teeth of bears, dogs,

and pigs, several bones of cows, and a great number of skeletons.

Footnote 112:

Of the 140 passage graves at present known in Sweden, more than 110

have been found in Skaraborglan, and most of these near Falköping.

Footnote 113:

Some of the forms of these antiquities are met with in parts of

Germany, Hungary, England, and elsewhere in Europe, whilst others, by

far the most numerous, are peculiarly Northern.

Footnote 114:

In one of the slabs (Fig. 28) there seems to be a representation of a

kind of sacrificing altar, with figures of persons coming towards it,

as if they were coming there for some object. There seem to be men

blowing horns. In Fig. 29 are a ship and a large cone, on each side of

which are an axe and another object or sign the significance of which

is unknown.

Fig. 30 has only a ship.

Fig. 31 has four-footed animals, the lower ones coming in opposite

directions, and the others going the same way; but the two subjects

are separated by peculiar marks.

Footnote 115:

The Svastika, or Suvastika, is in its essential form a cross with bent

arms [Illustration: Svastikas], but with many modifications. As a

symbol, it is found widespread over a large part of the Old World. It

is certainly of ancient origin, but authorities are disagreed as to

its symbolical significance. Other symbols equally difficult to

interpret, found in Norse remains, are the three dots, circle of dots,

triangles, the triskele [Illustration: ], &c.

Footnote 116:

In a bog by Taarup several pieces of bronze, such as arm rings,

spear-points, chisels, &c., were found.

Near Aarup, Jutland, two bronze earrings of a similar pattern, two

bracelets made of convex bronze bands with engraved ornaments, a solid

gold ring for the hair, three spiral-shaped loops of gold with

bowl-shaped buttons at the ends. The engraved ornaments seem to point

to the fact that the engraving needle was known in the bronze age.

Somewhat similar objects have been found in other bogs.

Footnote 117:

See ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ for other ornaments of bronze.

Footnote 118:

During the stone and bronze ages the population of Norway was not as

great as that of Sweden, Denmark, and the islands of the Baltic. It is

only during the iron age that that country becomes more thickly

settled, and approximates somewhat in its population to the

neighbouring countries; bronze finds have occurred in Norway as far

north as 66° 10´ N. latitude.

Footnote 119:

Mixed finds precede the advent of each age. Stone implements or

weapons are found together with those of bronze, and later bronze

implements, which are the forerunners of the approaching iron age, are

found with those of iron. Examples of such are—a grave at Stonholt,

Viborg Amt, containing pearl of glass mosaic, with bronze poniard;

grave at Alstrup, Aalborg Amt, containing iron weapons alongside an

urn in which were a knife and ring of bronze; grave at Assens on Fyen,

containing early iron age fibula, with bronze knife, saw, and needle;

at Helsinge Zealand, grave with iron pin and bronze objects; at

Brandtbjerg, near Sorö, Zealand, fragments of iron fibula and objects

from bronze age, &c.

Footnote 120:

Broholm, situated on the S.E. coast of Fyen, forms the centre of the

area of a magnificent archæological field, which extends about four

kilometres all around it. In order to give an adequate idea of the

richness of the place, I cannot do better than use the language of the

late Herr F. Sehested, who in three summers discovered more than

10,000 different pieces belonging to the three ages above mentioned.

Footnote 121:

In an urn in a mound near Veile, Jutland, was found a bent bronze

poniard; and in another mound at Mors, Jutland, an urn containing

burnt bones and a bent bronze poniard.

Sehested mentions (1) a bronze sword broken in four pieces, total

length about 2 feet 8 inches with point missing; (2) fragments of a

bronze sword with hollow handle broken at the top of the handle: (3)

handle of sword with fragments of broken blade; (4) fragments of a

spear-head broken near its socket. These objects had been

intentionally rendered useless.

Footnote 122:

I can give an example that has lately come to my knowledge to prove

this assertion. Professor Lorange found runes on parts of burnt bones

found in a grave which he with Professor Stephens places, judging from

the antiquities which belonged to it, as belonging to the sixth

century.

“RUNE-INSCRIBED BURNT BONE.

“In a letter dated Feb. 27th, 1886, I received from my friend the

gifted Norwegian old-lorist A. Lorange, Keeper of the Bergen

Forn-hall, a facsimile drawing of a piece of burnt bone, shortly

before found in a grave-urn from the early iron age at Jæderen.

Afterwards he kindly sent the original to the Danish Museum, that I

might give a faultless engraving. While there, the frail treasure was

scientifically treated by Hr. Steffensen, the Conservator, and it is

now quite hard and in excellent order. But even when it was taken from

the urn, the runes were sharp and quite readable. These Old-Northern

letters were elegantly cut, most of them in decorative writing, that

is, with two or three strokes instead of one, very much in the style

of the (? 7th century) Old-Danish Bone Amulet found at Lindholm in

Scane, Sweden (‘Old Northern Run. Mon.,’ vol. i., p. 219; iii., p. 33;

4to Handbook, p. 24); and of the ashen Lance-shaft from the Danish

Kragehul Moss, not later than the year 400 (‘O. N. Run. Mon.,’ vol.

iii, p. 133; 4to Handbook, p. 90).

“This burnt bone is nearly 4 inches long; average width, ½ inch. It

bears over forty rune-staves, cut in two lines, in the _Boustrophedon_

order.

“From the rune-types and language I judged this piece to date from the

6th century. But as Hr. Lorange was familiar with the build and

grave-gear of the tumuli of a similar class, I begged him to say

whether—exclusively from his standpoint as archæologist—he agreed with

me. He replied, _that he did_.

“If I have read the runes aright, this object also has been a heathen

amulet. It is the first burnt bone yet found _risted with runes_.

Other such we may have lost, for want of lynx-eyed examination.

“George Stephens,

Cheapinghaven, Denmark.

_November 6, 1886_.”

Footnote 123:

Similar runes also occurred on a scabbard found at Varpelev, and on a

gold horn.

Footnote 124:

Danish coins with runic characters have been obtained from as early a

period as that of Svein Úlfsson, or the 12th century. A runic _kefli_,

according to its contents, carved soon after 1200, is preserved in the

Danish museum. It was found in Vinje church, Upper Telemarken, of

Norway. The inscription thereon signifies: _Sigurd Jarlson traced

these Runes the Saturday after Botolf’s mass, when he journeyed hither

and would not be reconciled to Sverre, the slayer of his father and

brother_. Sigurd was the son of the well-known Erling Skakke; he lost

a battle against Sverre in 1200. As the latter died in 1202, it was

between these two dates that the unsuccessful attempt at

reconciliation occurred. (Stephens, p. 515.)

Footnote 125:

Dennis, p. 306. See Signor Gamurrini, who has described and

illustrated them (see Ann. Inst. 1871, pp. 156–166). Franzius, in his

‘Elementa Epigraphices Græcæ,’ p. 22, 4to, Berolini, 1840, gives three

Greek alphabets found inscribed in the same manner on various objects.

No. 1, of twenty-four letters, is on the Agyllic vase first engraved

by Lepsius (‘Annal. Hist. Archæol. Rom.,’ vol. viii., p. 186). The

second is a fragment, only sixteen letters, found on the wall of an

Etruscan sepulchre (‘Lanzi Saggio di ling. Etr.,’ ii., p. 436). The

third is incomplete, having only the beginning, or the first fourteen

letters.

Footnote 126:

Tacitus (Germ. c. 19) says: “_Litterarum secreta viri pariter ac

feminæ ignorant_” (Men and women are equally ignorant of the secrets

of letter writing). The earliest Latin inscriptions found in the North

have characters unlike the runes.

Footnote 127:

In the Royal Library at Copenhagen there exist three most remarkable

manuscripts in runic characters, showing the late period at which

these still were in use. The first of these manuscripts, bearing the

date of 1543, was written as a journal by Mogens Gyldenstjerne (a

Danish noble) of Stjernholm, during a voyage into the North Sea

undertaken by him in that year. The second bears the date of 1547, and

is written as a note on a rough draft of a power of attorney by Bille

of Bregentved, another Danish noble. The third is a notice about the

last-mentioned estate, also containing a line in runic characters.

The Runic codex containing the Scanian law also contains, in a

different hand, a list of Danish kings, and among these one Ambruthe

as having been king in Jutland. The time of this codex can be

approximately fixed at about the year 1300.

Footnote 128:

The sacred or mystical number.

Footnote 129:

We see that Odin had to go through a terrible ordeal to learn the

runes.

Footnote 130:

Bölthorn and Bestla are nowhere else mentioned in the earlier Edda.

Footnote 131:

Song-rouser, one of the vessels holding the sacred mead.

Footnote 132:

From this stanza we learn which tribes or people knew the art of

writing runes.

Footnote 133:

Thund = Odin.

Footnote 134:

Three last lines of stanza are missing.

Footnote 135:

The edges of weapons. Some persons were supposed to have the power to

deaden weapons’ edges.

Footnote 136:

Spells on the roots of a young tree or sticks.

Footnote 137:

Witches and ghosts were believed to ride on hedges and tops of houses

at night.

Footnote 138:

Hanged corpse.

Footnote 139:

Man.

Footnote 140:

Here the Alfar are reckoned among the gods.

Footnote 141:

The mighty rearer.

Footnote 142:

Delling is the father of Day (Vafthrúdnismál, 25; Later Edda).

Footnote 143:

Odin.

Footnote 144:

Loddfafnir is some one whom Odin is teaching.

Footnote 145:

One must not tell his secret to any one.

Footnote 146:

We see by this and many other passages that the Jötnar were the

enemies of the Asar.

Footnote 147:

Property here means gold.

Footnote 148:

Of witches = shape-stolen.

Footnote 149:

Undecipherable.

Footnote 150:

Take care of his clothes, &c.

Footnote 151:

Cf. also Gretti’s Saga. c. 62.

Footnote 152:

Kvædi, a poem or song. The poem consists of seventy-one stanzas with

eight verses each, and the manuscripts are late and corrupted. It is

evidently made up from the lives of several warriors, and often

exaggerated, e.g., that he lived 300 years, and that his height was 16

or 24 feet.

Footnote 153:

Speldi = tablet, flat piece of wood.

Footnote 154:

A form of duelling.

Footnote 155:

Professor Stephens in ‘Handbook of Old Northern Runic Monuments,’

says: “The only Northern stone known to me which bears two words, cut

far apart and running in different directions. I would therefore

suggest that the one name is carved later than the other. Perhaps the

husband or wife died first, and shortly after the partner was called

away: thus they most likely lay in the same grave, and were remembered

on the same block.”

Footnote 156:

Bugge, by comparing the runic inscription on the Piræus marble lion

now at Venice, comes to the conclusion that, while the damaged state

of the inscription makes it impossible to decipher it as a whole,

enough can, however, be read to show its approximate date, and also

the home of the tracer. The snake-slings and runes on this lion in all

probability are traced by a man from Sweden, who has been among the

Værings or Varangians.

Footnote 157:

Bog finds belonging to the bronze age, as well as to the iron age,

have been discovered in many places in the North. Those of the bronze

age consist chiefly of swords, lance-heads, axes, sickles, &c. Objects

of the bronze age are also found deposited under stones or in fields.

Footnote 158:

Thorsbjerg is situated south of Flensborg, in Southern Jutland. Among

the objects found were fragments of swords, all double-edged, the

hilts of all, with one exception, of wood, inlaid with bronze and

silver, with scabbards of wood with metal mountings (on the metal

bottom-piece of one scabbard is a very clear runic inscription); a

sword-belt of thick leather, 41½ inches long and 3½ inches wide;

buckles for sword-belts, all of bronze, with broken pieces of iron

buckles; bows and arrows in a more or less complete state, the most

perfect bow being about 60 inches long, but both ends are somewhat

damaged, and the original length seems to have been a couple of inches

more; a great number of arrow-shafts, all of similar shape, between

26–35 inches long and ½ inch thick, but the arrow-points are all

destroyed, the iron having rusted; remnants of shields, flat and

circular, composed of several smoothly-planed and pretty thin wooden

boards, which are not equally broad all over, but become narrower

towards the border:—the largest cross-measure is 42½ inches, the

smallest 21 inches, the thickness of the middle boards, which as a

rule are somewhat heavier than the rest, is about ½ to ¼ inch (the

shield-buckles are of bronze, but broken pieces of iron ones have been

found also; their cross-measure is between 6–7 inches); axes, whose

blades are much decomposed by rust, with thirty good handles of ash

and beechwood, which measured between 23 and 33½ inches in length; a

few well-preserved spear-points, and others more or less destroyed by

rust; four spear-handles, 32, 98½, 107½, and 116 inches in length;

several riding and driving accoutrements; more than sixty fibulæ of

many different styles; many broken pieces of gold rings, only two of

which have been fitted together so as to form one complete ring; two

spiral rings of bronze; a round pendant of gold; a hollow ornament of

silver-mixed gold; a mass of beads; a piece of unworked amber;

pincers; dice of amber; a variety of utensils and tools for domestic

use, such as bowls of wood and clay, spoons, jugs, knives, &c.; two

pairs of coarse woollen trousers, &c.; and several objects, the use of

which is unknown.

Footnote 159:

Thirty-seven _Roman coins_ were found altogether. The earliest is of

the year 60 A.D.; the latest, 194 A.D.—1 of _Nero_, 1 of _Vitellius_,

4 of _Vespasianus_, 1 of _Domitianus_, 7 of _Trajanus_, 6 of

_Hadrianus_, 1 of _Aelius_, 6 of _Antoninus Pius_, 1 of _Faustina the

elder_, 3 of _Marcus Aurelius_, 2 of _Faustina the younger_, 3 of

_Commodus_, and 1 of _Septimius Severus_, the last-named being struck

in the year 194 of our era.

Footnote 160:

On a superb silver vase at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, found in

Southern Russia, is a representation of a man wearing similar

trousers.

Footnote 161:

The principal objects in this find included a very great number of

arrow shafts (most of them thoroughly decayed), with arrow-points of

bone or iron; a remnant of a quiver of wood about 25 inches long; a

mass of wooden scabbards, mostly for edged swords; 390 pieces of metal

and bone mountings for the scabbards, some of silver, and one of

bronze covered with silver and thin gold plates, with runes lightly

traced; shield-boards, handles and buckles (180 of the latter of

iron); about 150 knives, all of iron and different shapes; several

remnants of belts, as well as about 40 buttons of bronze, some covered

with gold, and about 60 double buttons of bronze; about 250 different

pieces of buckles and other mountings of iron and bronze; about 150

different pieces of riding harness; a few horses’ bones; bronze bowls,

needles, keys; scissors; scythe-blades; 1 millstone; 1 small anvil; 6

hammers; 25 iron chisels; 3 iron files; 2 iron pincers; 57 bone combs,

some with _svastica_, and one with runes on; 4 square, 2 oblong dice;

amber, glass, and mosaic beads; fibulæ of bronze, iron, silver, &c.,

&c.

Footnote 162:

This Greek writer, who lived at the beginning of the 3rd century, was

called to the Roman Court by Faustina, wife of Septimius Severus,

whose numerous coins are found, and if this art was known by the

Romans he would certainly have described it.

“Around this youth is a group of young men of fine appearance, and

engaged in fine pursuits, as beseems men of noble birth. One of them

seems to bear on his countenance traces of the palæstra, another gives

evidence of gentleness, a third of geniality: here is one who you

would say had just looked up from his book; and of the horses on which

they ride no two are alike, one is white, another chestnut, another

black, another bay, and they have silver bridles, and their trappings

are adorned with golden and decorated bosses (φάλαρα). And it is said

that the barbarians by the ocean pour these colours on red-hot copper,

and that the designs become hard, like stone, and are

durable.”—Philostratus, Imagines. Chapter on Boar-hunting.

Footnote 163:

The articles found include glass, mosaic, and porcelain beads;

fragments of four bone combs; four tweezers of bronze, of which two

hang on bronze rings; remains of wooden shields with metal mountings;

bronze mountings; 10 iron swords, damascened in several patterns, the

length of the blades being from 31 to 35 inches, their width 1¾ to 2

inches; and fragments of several others; fragments of wooden

scabbards, of which one has remains of leather on it; several metal

mountings for scabbards; a buckle of bronze; about 80 points of iron

spears, all of different shapes; 30 spear-handles, ornamented with

engraved lines, some straight, and others with snake lines; remains of

a wooden bow, length 47½ inches, and fragments of another; arrows;

four whole iron knives, between 7 and 10 inches long, and several

handles and fragments; four oval-shaped whetstones and fragments of a

square one; five small balance-weights; fragments of a heavy wooden

post and of a small twig; some mountings of silver which probably

belonged to riding harness; bones of three animals; &c., &c.

Footnote 164:

Among the objects found in the bog were 106 iron swords, all

double-edged, with handles of wood sometimes covered with silver, or

of bone or massive bronze; 93 damascened in different patterns, two

wrought from two different pieces, and only eleven simply wrought. On

several there are Latin inscriptions, and on one blade runes inlaid in

gold. The condition in which the swords were when buried is peculiar.

Generally they were without hilts and bent, on many were found deep

cuts on both edges, one having 23 cuts on one, and 11 cuts on the

other edge. Wooden scabbards, with mountings of bronze; mountings to

sword-belts; buckles of iron and bronze; rings with loose

end-mountings; 70 iron shield buckles; iron axes; iron bridles, three

of which were still in the mouths of (skeleton) horses; 552 iron

spear-points, several ornamented with gold; several hundred

spear-handles; numerous household utensils of wood; several hundred

arrow-shafts with traces of marks of ownership on them, and some with

runes, &c.

Footnote 165:

Thirty-four Roman coins, struck between the years 69 and 217 A.D., are

so-called denarii of silver, and date from the time of _Vitellius_

(1), _Hadrian_ (1), _Antoninus Pius_ (10), two of which have the mark

of DIVVS; _Faustina the elder_ (4), _Marcus Aurelius_ (7) (partly as

Cæsar, between the years 140–143, and partly as Imperator), _Faustina

the younger_ (1), _Lucius Verus_ (2), _Lucilla_ (2), _Commodus_ (5),

and _Macrinus_ (1), the latter a very rare coin, struck in 217 A.D.

Footnote 166:

See p. 385.

Footnote 167:

In the coffin itself, on the right side of the skeleton, were found,

among other objects, forty-six checker pieces of glass, sixteen dark

red, the others of whitish colour, ¾ to 1½ inch; three finger-rings of

gold, and a spiral bracelet, similar to the one from Oland (vol. ii.

p. 311); two fibulæ of silver, one gilt. On the left, sixty checker

pieces, thirty-one of which were black, the others whitish; with these

was a small amethyst stone with rough, unworked surface. At the feet,

bronze vessels, one placed on the other, two small bosses of silver of

unknown use.

Footnote 168: