IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3}
/>4t^
1.0
1.1
I
1^1^ |Z5 ■tt l&i 12.2
S; US |2.0
1-25 i 1.4
M
m
6"
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80
(716) S72-4503
I^A^
.**
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHM/ICIVIK Collection de microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproduct^ons / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notat techniques et bibliographiques
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checlted below.
D
n
D
D
D D
D
Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur
I I Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagte
Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pelliculAe
I I Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
Coloured maps/
Cartes g6ographiques en couleur
□ Coloured Ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
D
Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur
Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/
La re liure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmdes.
Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires;
L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiqute ci-dessous.
□ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur
□ Pages damaged/ Pages endommag^ss
I I Pages restored and/or laminated/
T» to
D D
Pages restaurdes et/ou peUiculies
Pages discoloured, stained or foxec Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes
Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes
Showthroughy Transparence
Quality of prir
Quality inigaie de I'impression
Includes supplementary materii Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire
FTI Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
I I Pages detached/
[~7| Showthrough/
r~~| Quality of print varies/
I I Includes supplementary material/
Only edition available/ Seule Mition disponible
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes A nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible.
Th
P« of fill
Or be thi sic oti firs sic or
Thi shi TIN
wh
Ma| diff enti beg rigK req inei
This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous.
10X 14X 18X 22X
26X
30X
7
12X
16X
20X
24X
28X
?2X
lire
details les du modifier ler une filmage
The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanlcs to the generosity of:
Seminary of Quebec Library
The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in Iceeping with the filming contract specifications.
L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grice A ia g^nArositi de:
Siminaire de Quibec Bibliothique
Les images suivantes ont 4tA reproduites avac la plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA de rexemplaire film*, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage.
iBS
Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the laat page with a printed or illustrated impres* sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion. and ending on the last page with a printed or itiustrated impression.
Les exempleires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimAe sont film6s en commenpant par la premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernlAre page qui comporta une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration. soit par la second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres examplairas originaux sont filmis an commandant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — »■ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies.
Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols —*- signifie "A SUIVRE '. le symbols V signifie "FIN".
9
errata to
pelure, sn i
Maps, plates, charts, etc.. may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method:
12 3
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent itre filmAs A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichd. il est film6 A psrtir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche k droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
4 |
6 |
6 |
yfe^f: i//?r>^ay ^/t^/f^^fc^ /^fa^oO 4.^
St.
91^
<^^^-
THE
C-i
=«i
5
ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS:
THEIR MARITIME EXPEDITIONS, THEIR DISCOVERIES, AND THEIR RELIGION.
Le S^minaire de Qu4b«- 4 nje de I'UniveisitA^ Quebec 4> QUE.
BY PROFESSOR PAUL 0. SINDING;"
OP COPEXHAGEN, DENMARK, COR. MEM. OF QUEBEC LIT. AXD HIST. SOC
^e^D 5efoi*eii)e 3[Ifelr{)i*[j fjifO ifl^foKcf
^=
QUEBEC: PRINTED BY HUNTER, ROSE & CO., ST. URSULE STREET.
1865.
«
. THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS;
THEIR MARITIME EXPEDITIONS, THEIR DIS- COVERIES, AND THEIR RELIGION.
By PROFESSOR PAUL C. SINDING, op Copenhagen, Denmauk,
OOR. MEM. or QDEBEO LIT. AND niST. SOC.
{Head before the Society, bth Ajtril, 1865.)
' History has scarcely recorded the aDDals of a people who have occasioned greater, more sudden, or more numerous revolutions in Europe than the Scandinavians, the Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, or whose antiquities, at the same time, are so little known. At what period of time these three ancient kingdoms began to be inhabited, historians have never been able te ascertain with any full degree of certainty. But it is very probable that tl^ .Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, who belonged prinoipi Gothic tribe, were, like the Teutonic nations, a colony who dwelt round about the IHack Sea, and that fi first colonies were sent into Denmark. From this p that branch of them which was called the Cimmcrial they, in all probability, inherited the name of Ci name they bore long before they got that of Danes, ed, a long time before the nativity of Christ, the country th&t^^, had from them the name of the Cimbn'ca Chcrsonesus or Cimhric Peninsula, which now is called Jutland, and is a part of the Danish monarchy. But all that passed in Denmark before Christ would be entire darkness to us, if the famous expedition of the Cimbri and Teutons, 150 years before Christ, into Italy, had not drawn upon them the attention of a people who enjoyed the advantage of having historians. More than 300,000 men, consisting both of Cimbri and Teutones, left their country, and roamed wildly about in Germany, killing and plundering wherever they went. The Gauls also were overwhelijaie^ with this torrent, whose course was then
-■♦'*,
'^■Ai
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
for quite a long time, marked by the most horrible desoIatioD ; and when at length it was reported in Rome that they were disposed to pass into Italy, the consternation there became general. Upon entering Italy they scut an embassy to the Romans to olfor them their services, upon condition that they would give them land to cultivate. The Senate, unwilling to enter into any kind of accom- modation with ^uch ruthless" enemies, returned a direct refusal to their request. The Cirabri and Toutones now resolved to take by force what they could not gain by entreaty, attacked the Roman provinces in Southern Germany, and defeated the Romans five times in succession with immense slaughter. The Teutoncs (the Germans) now separated themselves from the Cimbri, the Teutoncs going into Spain, the Cimbri into France. In this melancholy conjuncture the Romans appointed the great and brave Marius commander- in-chiei', and lie saved Rome He marched into France, and pitched his camp opposite the Teutoncs, who had now returned from Spain. In the camp of the Teutoncs were heard continued bowlings like those of savage beasts, so hideous, that the Romans, and even their general himself, could not but testify to their horror. At length the battle commenced with great impetuosity, when finally the victory declared itself entirely in favour of the Romans. This victory, Marius, the Roman general, gained at Aquae Sextico in Southern France, in the year 102 B.C., and the Roman historians relate that the inhabitants of Marseilles made inclosures for their gardens and vineyards with the bones of the slaughtered Teutones, and that the soil thereabout was so much fattened that its increase of produce was prodigious. But the Cimbri (the Danes) who had separated themselves from the Teutones, still threatened Rome. Marius was charged to raise a new army with the utmost speed, and to go and engage them. The Cimbri sent a message a second time to demand an allotment of land, which demand again met with an unconditional refusal. Then the Cimbri prepared immediately for battle, and their General approached the Roman camp to agree with Marius on a day and place of action. Marius announced that although it was
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
not the custom of the Ilomans to consult their enemies on this subject, he would, however, oblige them, and appointed the next day but one, and the plain of Verceil, in Northern Italy, for the hostile meeting. The Cimbri were, after a most desperate engage^ meiit, routed, and 120,000 of this fierce and valiant nation were mowed down. This battle was fought in the year 101 before Christ, and put an end to their invasion of Rome. I do not pre- tend to decide whether the first inhabitants of the three Scandin- avian countries were, all of them, without any mixture, Cimbri and Teutones ; for although it appears probable with regard to Denmark, it cannot be denirfd that the Finns and Laplanders anciently possessed a much more considerable part of Scandinavia than they do at present, and were formerly spread over the south- ern parts of Norway and Sweden, whence in process of time they have been driven out by new colonics of Scythians, and banished a"i:oDgst the northern rocks, in like manner as the ancient inhabi- tants of Britain have been dispossessed by the Saxons of the greatest and most pleasant part of their island, and forced to con- ceal themselves amongst the mountains of Wales, where to this day they retain, as we know, their peculiar language. But to return to Denmark. Up to this very year, 101 B. C, when the Cimbri were, as we have heard, defeated by Marius, and even until 250 years after Christ, the Danes were called Cimbri. In Christ's time Frode Fredegod (Pacific) is said to have been king of Denmark. The rulers of that time, however, were not called kings, but Drosts, that is to say, generals ; and Rig, ruler of Skane, a province in the southern part o^ Sweden, adopted first the title of king. A new generation begins with Dan Myhillati (the Splendid), whom all historians consider the founder of the country called Denmark, 250 A.D. Some have from him derived the name Denmark, but it is more probable that it has originated from the word Dauy denoting loxo oxjlat, and from Mark, denoting overgrown ivith wood, — the name Denmark thus signifying a flat land over- grown with wood. About 150 years before the time of Dan Mykillati lived Nor, a prince from Finnland . Ho went through
6
THJi! ANCIENT BCINDINAVIANS.
Lapland into Norway, oonquering most of this country. All that he subdutid he called Norway, and this country has alwoys since borne this name.
But how formidable soever, as we have seen, the ancient Scan- dinavians were by land to most of the inhabitants of Europe, it must yet be allowed that their maritime expeditions occasioned still more destructive ravages. We cannot read the history of the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries without observing with surprise the ocean covered with their vessels. During the space of two hundred years, they almost incessantly ravaged England, often invaded Scotland and Ireland, and made incursions on the coasts of Livonia and Pomerania. Charlemagne is known to have shed tears on hearing that these barbarians had, on some occasion, defied his name, and he foresaw what his people would suffer from their martial spirit under his successors. And his fear was well grounded. They soon spread like a devouring flame over Lower Saxony, Holland, Flanders, and the banks of the Khine, and wherever they went, they went as lords and rulers. They pillaged and burnt Paris, Bordeaux, Angouleme, aqd many other cities. In short, they ruined France, levied immense tribute on its monarchs, and burnt the palace of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapolie. They often carried their arms into Spain, and in the year 844, a band of these sea-rovers attacked Sevilla, which they soon made themselves masters of. The better to account for that strange facility with which the Scandinavians so long plundered, and so frequently conquered the Anglo-Saxons and the French, we must remark that their cruelty, which gave no quarter, had impressed these nations with such terror, that they were half /anquished at their very appearance. The profession of piracy was so far Irom appearing disgraceful to them, that it was in their eyes the certain way to honors and fortune. Hence it is that in the ancient chronicles, more than one hero boasts of being the most renowned pirate in the North, and that often the sons of the great lords and kings made voyages in their youth, in order to make themselves illustrious. This is what we sec happen very frequently after
tHE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
Harold Hoirfair had onco made himself master of all Norway, which before hia time was divided into several petty states. This Harold made a vow neither to comb nor cut his hair until ho had subdued the whole of Norwuy, and as it took him several years to do this, it p^rew so long and ihiok that ho was called Harold the* Hermit. Having finally a'!com[iliahed the conquest of all Norway, he took a bath, combed and trimmed his hair. His appearance was so much changed for the better by these cleansing operations, that ho was given the surname : Hairfair. The vessels cf these Scandinavian pirates were always well provided with offensive weapons, such as stones, slings and arrows, which they considered their dearest property, and therefore we must not be surprised that they should tako it into their, heads almost to worship their instruments of war, without which their passion for conquest could not have been gratified. The respect they had for their weapons made them almost swear by instruments so valuable, as being the most sacred things they knew. It is therefore with peculiar pro- priety that Shakspeare makes Hamlet, his Prlncoof Denmark,
call upon his companions to swear upon his sword,-^ " Come hither, geutlomen, Aud lay your handa uponmy sword : Never to speak of this that you have heard Swear by my sword."
The soldiers engaged themselves by an oath of this kind, not to flee though their enemies should be superior in number, aud they often formed amongst themselves a kind of societv or confraternity in which the several members engaged, at the expense of their own lives, to avenge the death of their associates, provided it were honorable and violent. Accordingly, we never find any amongst these people guilty of cowardice, the mere suspicion of that vice being always attended with universal contempt. A man, who had lost his buckler or whd had received a wound behind, could never more appear in public. In the history of England we therefore see a famous Norwegian captain, who had sent his son to attack a province in Scotland, ask with great coolness those who brought the intelligence of his son's death, whether his son
»
TltE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
had vocoived his wounds behind or before. The messengers telling him that his son was wounded before, the father cried out : " Then I have every reason to rejoice, for any other death would have been disgraceful both to my son and myself."
But the mind of the Scandinavlaim was not only bent on piracy nud robbery; they directed also their uttontioii to discoveries in the North and in the far West. The Faroe IAch had been discov- ered at the latter end of the ninth century, by some Scandinavian pirates, and soon after this, Iceland was colonized by the Norwe- gians, where a flourishing republic was established, in which the old Danish or old northern language was preserved unchanged for centuries, and Iceland became the cradle of a northern historical literature of immense value. The Icelandic chronicles also relate that the Northmen discovered a great country to the west of Ireland, and it seems very clear that they made their way to Greenland in the end of the tenth century, and they are thus the first discov<;rers of America. The settlement made in Greenland seems to have been very prosperous. They had bishops and priests from Europe, and paid the Pope an annual tribute. But the art of navigation must h?.vc been at a very low pitch, for the voyage from Greenland to Iceland and Norway and back again, consumed five years, and upon one occasion, the government of Norway did not hear of the death of the Bishop of Greenland until six years after it had occurred. But the same age which saw the bearded sea-kings and vikings of the North discovering Iceland and Greenland, beheld them also in New England, in the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and with extraordinary energy. The very first of the old documents to which I briefly will request the attention of my hearers, is the Saga of Bjarne Herjulfsoyu On a voyage from Iceland to Greenland, in the year 98G, this man was driven far out to sea, towards the South-west, and for the first time beheld the coasts of the American land, afterwards visited by his countrymen. In order to examine these countries more minutely, Loif the Fortunate purchased Bjarn's vesssl, and under, took a voyage thither in the year 1000. With thirty-five hardy
THE ANOIBMT SOANDIKAVIANS.
d
tnon ho landed on the shoros dosoribcd by Bjarae, detailed the oharaotor of thoso lands uioro exactly, and named them according to their appearance, llel Inland (Newfoundland) was so called from its flat stoncd, the word llcllu signifying a flat 8tono ; Mark- land (Nova Scotia), from its woods, the word Marklaixl Rignifying woodland ; and Vinoland (Now Kpglund), from its vines. A (lorman, named Tyrkcr, who aooompugniod Leif on this voyage, was the man who found the wild vines which ho recognized from having seen them in his own land, and he gave tho country the name of Vineland from this circumstance. But amongst the most interest- ing of tho old djcunicnts at this period, is that of Thorfinn. lie was an Tcolandio merchant, whose genealogy is carried back in the old northern annals to Danish, Norwegian, Scottish and Irish ancestors, some of thoja oven of royal blood. In the year 1008 this chief, on a merchant voyage, visited Geenland, when he married a woman by tho name of Gudrid. Accompanied by her and a crew of 160 men, he repaired to Vineland (New England), where he remained for three years, and had many communications with the aborigines. Hero his wife, Gudrid, bore him a son, called Snorre, who was the very first child of European purenfs born in America, and this child bocame the founder of an illustrious family in Iceland, which gave that island several of its first bishops. Tho notices given by this illustrious navigator, Thorfinn, respecting the climate, the soil and the productions of New 'England, are very characteristic, and correspond with the language of l^ss questionable narrators five hundred years later. Upon the whole, it is the total result of the nautical, geographical and astronomical evidences in the original documents, which places the location of the countries discovered beyond all doubt. The number of days' sail between the several newly-found lands, the striking description of the coasts, especially the white s»nd-banks of Nova Scotia and the long branches of a peculiar appearance on Cape Cod, arc not to be mistaken, and cannot but open our eyes with interest. In addition hereto we have the astronomical
remark, that .the shortest day in Vineland (New England) was 2
10
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
nine hours long, which fixes the latitude of 41° 24' 10", or just that of the promontories, which limit the entrances to Mount Hope Bay, it the district around which the old North^ien had their liead establishment. Thus the claim that the Northmen were the very first discoverers of America seems to bo placed on good foundation, and it is embodied in the learned work of Dr. 0. C. Rafn of Copenhagen, " Antiquitates Americanos." However, this does not, I may be allowed to remark, lessen the great merits of the immortal Columbus, nor have I referred to it for this pur- pose ; but we ought, nevertheless, not to forget that Columbus visited the Danish island, Iceland, in the year 1477, had access to the archives there, and must doubtless have heard of the xormer discoveries of .the northern roving sea-kings. •
But before concluding, I must briefly touch the religion pro- lessed in Scandinavia before the introduction of Christianity, or what we call the Scandinavian mythology, a subject replete with interest to all intelligent people. A celebrated tradition, confirmed by the poems of all the northern nations, by their chronicles or sagas, by their institutions and customs, some of which subsist to this very day, informs us that an exti*aordinary person named Odin formerly reigned in the North, that he made great, changes in the government, manners and religion of these countries, that he cujoyod there great authority, and had even divine honors paid him. His true name was Siggo, but he assumed that of Odin, who was the Supreme God amongst the Gothic and Teutonic nations. This Odin, who invaded Scandinavia seventy years before Christ, is, as known almost to everybody, the founder of a new religion, which we call th^ Scandinavian mythology, having undoubtedly some affinity to the old Scythian religion, fronj the borders of which country he probably came, — I mean from the region between the Black and ths Caspian Sea. A space of seven or eight years intervened between the time of Odin and the conversion of DcLmark, Norway and Sweden to Christianity. The motive of the worship introduced by Odin had a great resem- blance to the Christian ideas, containing much of the spirit of
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
11
or
obedience for which St. Paul praises the heathen thai are without the law, but do by nature the things contained in the law, showing the works of the law written in their hearts. It was namely the fear of a divinity irritated by the sins of men, but who, at the same time, was merciful, and capable of being appeased by prayer and repentance. To serve this divinity by sacrifice, to do no wrong to others, and to be bravo and intrepid in themselves, wore the moral consequences. Lastly, the belief in a future state com- pleted the whole building. Cruel tortures were there reserved for such as despised those fundamental precepts of morality, and pleasures without number awaited every valiant man. Odin passed among the inhabitants for the God of War. No oVJect, in their opinion, could be more worthy his attention. Hence he is called in the Icelandic chronicles, " The terrible and severe god, the father of daughter." The warriors who went to battle made a vow to send him a certain number of souls j these souls wero Odin's right ; he received them in Hlidskjalf, the name of his palace, where he* treated them with an inspiring beverage, more inspiring, say the old Sagas, than ever after can be quaffed: The assistance of Odin was implored in every wai', and it was believed that he often descended himself to intermix in the conflict in order to inspire the combatants with courage. But this terrible divinity, who took such pleasure in shedding the blood of men, was, at the same time, according to the old chronicles, their father. He had cseatcd the heavens, the air, and before the heavens and the earth came into existence, he lived already with the giants, that is 'to say, he was eternal. These ideas, however, were not peculiar to Scandinavia. The Germans, for instance, attributed likewise to the Supreme Being a superintendency over war. There remain, up to this very day, some traces of the worship paid to Odin ip the name given by the people of the North and of England to the fourth day of the week, which was consecrated to him. It is called by a name signifying Odin's day. In Old Morse, Odinsdag; in Swedish and Danish, Onsda<j ; in Anglo-Saxon, Wodencsday ; in Dutch, Woensdag ; and in English, Wednesday'
12
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
Oden was, as we have heard, the principal god amongst the Scandinavians, but they had also goddesses, amongst whom Friggay the wife of Odin, was the principal. Another celebrated goddess was Freia. She was the goddess of love, and plays a prominent part in the northern mythology. She was addressed in order to obtain happy marriages and easy childbirths. The celebrated Iceland poem, called the Edda, styles her the most favorable of tlte goddesses, but she went to war as well as Odin, and divided with him the souls of the slain. It appears to have been the general idea that she was the same as Venus of the Romans, since the sixth day of the week, which was consecrated to her under the name of Freya's day, was rendered into Latin, " Dies Veneris," or Venus's day; in Danish,' Fredag ; in German, Freitag ; in ^nglo-Saxon, Frigedag) in English afterwards, Friday. The second principal god of the ancient Scandinavians was Thor, whom the Gothic and Teutonic nations valued about as highly as Odin who was considered his father, and the Scandinavians called him the bravest of the sons of Odin. He always carried a mallet or hammer, which he grasps with gauntlets of iron, and he was further possessed of a girdle which had the power of renewing his strength as often as it was needful. He was considered the defender of the gods, and the god of thunder and lightning. To him the fifth day of the week wsis consecrated — In Danish, Torsdag ; in Old Noree, Thorsdag ; in German, Donnerstag ; in Dutch, Dondertag, and in English, Thursday. These divinizes here mentioned were the principal objects of worship among the old Scandinavians ; but they did not all agree amongst themselves .about the preference which was 'ae to each of them. Thus the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons seem to have paid the highest honor to Odin, the Norwegians and Icelanders to Thor, and the Swedes had chosen for their protecting divinity Frey, the husband of Freia, who presided over the seasons of the year, and bestowed fertility and health. •
Baldur was another son of Odin, wise, eloquent, and endowed, say the old Sagas, with so great majesty that his very glances were
THE 'ANCIENT SCAN!) WIANS.
13
shining. Tyr^ to be distinguished from Thor, was also a warrior divinity, from whom is derived the name given to the third day of tlie week — in -Danish and Norwegian, Tirsdag ; in German, Di'cnstmj ; in Anglo-Saxon, Tyrsdag; and English, Tuesday. Bragi, another son of Odin, presided over eloquence and poetry. His wife's name was Idunna. She had the care of certain apples, which the gods tasted when finding themselves growing old, and which had the power of instantly restoring them to youth. Hcini- dul was the doorkeeper of the gods. The gods had made a bridge between heaven and earth ; this bridge was the rainbow. HeimdaF was employed to watch this bridge for fe&r the giants should make use of it to get into heaven and make war upon the gods. But this Heimdal was, besides his office, quite a remarkable peraou ; it was a difficult matter to surprise him, because the gods had given him the faculty of sleeping more lightly than a bird, and a ear so fine that he could hear the very grass grow, and the wool on the backs of the sheep. I suppress here the other gods who made up the number of twelve, but I must bestow a few words upon Loki, whom the ancient Scandinavians seem to have regarded as the serpent is regarded in the Bible. Genesis says, ** The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made." The serpent is the evil, seducing principle. So is Loki in the Scandinavian mythology ; but the diflerence is, that the Bible does not rank the serpent like a god, which the Scandin- avian mythology does in respect to Loki, who is ranked amongst the gods. Ho 1.3 like a god, beautiful in his figure, but his mind is evil, and he surpasses ail mortal beings in perfidy and craftiness. He continually fights with the gods, who, however, at last conquer this evil principle, and shut him up in a prison, where he remains captive till the end of the ages, when he shall be slain by Heimdal the doorkeeper of the gods. Then a new earth shuU spring forth froni the bosom of the waves, the fields shall bring forth without culture, calamities shall be. unknown, a palace is there erected more shining than the sun, all covered with gold>. This is the place that the just will inhabit, and enjoy delights for evermore.
14
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
I have remarked that there were twelve gods, and the Scandin- aviaa mythology reckons also twelve goddesses, iuoludiDg Frigga, the spouse ot Odin, and the chief of them all. !Pho court of the gods was ordinarily kept under a great ashtrce called Ygrdrasill. This ash is the greatest of trees ; its branches cover the surface of the earth, its top reaches heaven. From under one of the roots of this tree runs a fountain, wherein wisdom is concealed, and from a neighbouring spring three virgins, young maidens, are continually drawing precious water, with which they water the 'ashtree. These three virgins always keep under the ashtrce, and they are considered they who dispense the days and ages of men, like the three Parcoe or Destinies in the Greek mythology, who presided over human life and span it out.
But when we now advert to observing the prevailing mode of worship i^ng these divinities, then wc find almost the same idea of these deities amongst the ancient Scandinavians as the Bible, 2d Chron. chap. 6, expresses, where Solomon says when dedicating the temple, " Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot con- tain thee, 0 God, how much less this house, which I have built," for it was at first thought offensive to the gods to pretend to inclose them within the circuit of walls. The ancient Scandin- avians, therefore, worshipped first their divinities in the open air, and neither knew nor approved they of the use of temples. We find thus up to this very day here and there in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in the middle of a plain, or upon some little hill, altars around which they assembled to offer sacrifices. But by degrees, as the Scandinavians formed new connections with the other European nations, whether by the numerous maritime expe- ditions they undertook, or by the foreign colonics established amonst them, their religion tolerated at length grottoes, artificial caves, which tre especially find in Norway, cut with incredible paiog in the hardest rocks, until they at length commenced to use temples and idols, and at length adopted them without any reserve. Their most famous temple was that at Upsal in Sweden. The ancient Scandinavians had three religious festivals in the
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
15
year. The first was celebrated at the winter-solstioe, and they called the night on which it was observed, the mother-night, as that which produced all the rest, and this epoch was rendered the more remarkable, as they dated from thence the beginning of the year, which, amongst the Northern nations, was computed from one winter-solstice to another, as ihc month was from one new moon to the nest. This festival was named Yvle, the name anciently also in England given to Christmas, and was celebrated in honour of the sun, in order to obtain a propitious year. When Christianity had been introduced, this festival was, as we know, celebrated as the biithday of our Saviour, and in England called Christmas, but the three Scandinavian nations retained the name Yule, which name is still used. Sacrifices, feastings, nocturnal assemblies, and all the demonstrations of a most dissolute joy were then authorized by the general custom, and they answered in their character to the Koman saturnalia. The second festival was instituted in honour of the Earth, which was considered a goddess, to request of her fertility, and this festival was fixed at the first quarter of the second moon of the year. This was the chief fes- tival of the Swedes, during which they held their Supreme Court. The tidrd festival, which seems to have been the most conspicuous, was instituted in honour of Odin, and was celebrated at the begin- ning of spring, in order to obtain from him, being the God of Battles, happy success in their military and maritime expeditions. In the infancy of mankind all offerings consisted, as we know, of the fruit of the ground,, and of the firstlings of the flock. We read in Genesis, chap. 4th, " In process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the ground an offering unto the Lord, and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fut thereof." Such were also the offerings which the ancient Scandinavians brought unfo their gods and goddesses, such namely as husbandmen and shepherds could present. They loaded the altars with the first fruits of their crops and with the choicest animals. Nevertheless, when they would ask for any favor which they ardently wished for, or would deprecate some public calamity
r.
16
TtlE ANOIeNT SCANDINAVIANS.
which they feared might happen, the blood of animals was not
deemed sufficient, but they began to shed that of men, and this
barbarous custom was not entirely abolished till towards the end of
the ninth century, when they received the glorious light of
the Gospel. Then they chose among the captives in time of
war and among the slaves in time of peace, nine persons to bo
sacrificed, the bodies of which unfortunate victims were afterwards
suspended in a sacred grove near the temple, of which grove every
tree and every leaf was considered the most sacred thing in the
world. And in a great national calamity, if the people believed
that they had some pretext to impute the caofte to their king, they
even sacrificed him as the highest prize with which tlicy could
buy the divine favor. In this manner the first king of Verme-
land, a province of Sweden, was burnt in honor of Odin in order
to put an end to a great famine. The kings in their turn did not
spare the blood of their subjects, and many of them shed even
that of their children. Thus a king of Sweden devoted to Odin
the blood of his nine sons, to prevail upon Odin to prolong his
life. The ceremony always concluded with feastings, by which they
drank immoderately, and the kings and chiefs drank first healths
in honor of the gods; every one drank afterwards, making some
vow or prayer to the god whom they named, and hence came that
custom amongst the first Christians in Scandinavia and Northern
Germany of drinking to the health of our Saviour, the apostles
and the saints, a custom which the Church was obliged, although
reluctantly, for a long time to tolerate.
It was a general belief amongst the anciont Scandinavians that they easily might learn the will, inclinations and desires of their gods and their goddesses through the instrumentality of oracles and divinations like the people of olden Greece, and it was gen- erally believed that the three virgins before mentioned, who watered the celebrated ash tree and dispensed the days and ages of men, delivered out these oracles in the respective temples. Saxo Grammaticus, the famous Danlsn historian of the twelfth century, tells us that it was customary amongst the Danes to consul tthe oracles
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
17
of those three virgios conoerniDg the destiny of children recently horn. But oracles were not the only efforts made by the ancient Scaadinavians to penetrate into futurity. They had diviners, both male and female, honored with the name of prophets and prophetesses, and they did the same as Moses says, Deuter., ehap. 18th, of some pagan nations, " They hearkened unto obser- vers of times and unto diviners/' Some of them were said to have familiar spirits, whom they consulted under the form of idols ; others dragged the ghosts of the departed from their tombs. Poetry was often used for the like absurd purpose, and t£c Skalds or bards boasted of power to disturb the repose of the dead, and to drag them out of their graves by certain songs which they knew how to compose. The belief fh this power ascribed to these skalds or bards was so engrafted in the community, that even after the introduction of Christianity the priests were considered to have inherited this power from the skalds, wherewith they, amongst the superstitious people, made a most lucrative business. Nay, even a long time after the introduction of the Lutheran Reformation, the ministers of the Gospel were believed to understand the blacJc art, as this power was called, and although this imposture was, as an abominfition unto the Lord, severely forbidden by the government; the ministers often clandestinely made use thereof, thereby to increase their income.
But the same superstition and ignorance which made the ancient Northern nations believe in the power of the priests to disturb the repose of the dead, and to drag them out of their graves by certain formulas and songs, persuaded them also that some letters or runic characters, consisting of sixteen marks, and beginning with the letter '' F," the origin of which is ascribed to Odin, inducted in them certain mysterious and magical properties. Impostors easily made^a credulous people believe that these letters combined after a certain system, were able to work miracles and to predict future events. There were letters or runes to pro- cure victory, to relieve women in the perils of child-birth, to
soften the severity of a cruel master, and to secure fidelity to the 3
18
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
ooDDubial bed. Some engraved ruDes on their nails to make their Bweet-hearts faithful to them, some on the hilt of their swords to be successful in war, some on the helm of their ships to avoid tempest and hurricane. The same superstition induced thom to lend an attentive ear to the singing of hirdt, which some sorcerers or sorceresses boasted of being able to interpret. The ancient his- tory of Scandinavia is full of these superstitious practices, which continued a long time after the introduction of Christianity, nay, even afler the introduction of the Lutheran Boformation. Upon the wholb, superstition was so engrafted in the people that even men of extensive learning, whose reason was brought to the greatest perfection, and who engaged themselves in the deepest speculations, were more or lesai-superfltitious. Tycho Brahe, the celebrated Danish astronomer of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies, was very superstitious, considering certain days in the year pregnant with misfortune, wherefore in Denmark, up to this very day, the laboring class call such days on which they happen to meet with some unfortunate accident, Tycho Brahe's days. He did even carry his superstition so far, that when going out in tho morning his first meeting was with an old woman, he believed that something unfortunate would happen to him before the conclusion of the day.
But this superstition, however deeply rooted and engrafted, did not blind all tho ancient Scandinavians without exception. History testifies that there were afler all amongst them men wise enough to discover the folly of the received opinions, and coura- geous enough to ridicule them without reserve. In the history of the Nortregian king, Olaf Trygveson, a warrior, did not fear to say th%t he placed more confidence in his own strength and in his arms, than in Odin and Thor. " I have travailed in liiany places," he says, " I have met with giants and monjftrous men ; tliey could never overcome me, thus to this present hour my own strength and courage are the solo objects of my belief" llolf Krake, King of Denmark in the sixth century after Christ, said one day when one of his companions proposed to offer a sacrifice to Odin, that
t?»
r
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
19
*^
he feared nothiog of that blustering and Bwaggeriog spirit, and that he would never reverence him nor make saorifioes to him. Indeed we see appear at intervals men endued with a real strength of mind, who did not only trample upder foot all the objects of credulity and idle superstition, but who even raised their minds to the invisible Master, the Father of the sun and of all nature. In an Icelandic chronicle, a man by the name of Giest says to his nephew, who was about to embark for the discovery of America, " I beseech and conjure Him who made the sun and the stars, to give success to thy great undertaking." But still more remarkable are the words of Harold4Iairfair, the first king of all Norway in the ninth century, when Christianity had not yet found its way to that country, " I swear in the most sacred manacr that I will miver offer sacrifices to any of the gods adored by my people, but to Him only who has formed the world, and what I behold in it." To describe minutely like czpresssions from many wise men would only occasion tiresome repetitions, and I shall therefore^ confine myself to remarking that at the end of the ninth century Christianity was introduced into the throe Scandinavian kingdoms, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the vestiges of the pagan worship were destroyed, its idols overthrown, its altars demolished, and its temples closed, and Christianity has since pre- vailed in Scandinavia, and formed the great bond of the social happiness and the great source of the intellectual eminence which this remote quarter of the globe now so richly enjoys.
It is scarcely necessary, I think, that I should take notice, before concluding, that I here only have been delineating a nation in its infancy, and that the greatest part of the other Europeann were neither less savage nor less uncivilized during the same period ; and the great prerogative of Scandinavia, and what ought to recom- mend its inhabitants beyond almost every people on earth, is that they afforded the great resource to the liberty of Europe. Mon- tesquieu, the admirable author of the Spirit of Laws, calls Scan- dinavia the fabric of those instruments that broke the fetters manu- factured in the South, and I do not hesitate to conclude by saying
20
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS.
that the stalwart inon who ventured upon unknown, cold acd stormy seas, and at longth landed on the New England shores, and who since have controlled the world's history in many things and at many times, and whoso achievements in war and in letters are worthy the most heroic age of Rome and the most finished period of Qreeoo, should bo saluted with respect by all succeed- ing generations. "
• )»
'k
/