The ancient Scandinavians [microform] : their maritime expeditions, their discoveries, and their religion

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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. "

• )»

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