( '&aii\i \WE iiill\/rnriv THE ENGLISHMAN AND THE SCANDINAVIAN. ■BaflimtEne -press BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON THE ENGLISHMAN AND THE SCANDINAVIAN: OR, A COMPARISON OF ANGLO-SAXON AND OLD NORSE LITERATURE. KY FREDERICK METCALFE, M.A. FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD; TRANSLATOR OF "GALLUS" AND " CHARICI.KS ; " AUTHOR OF "THE OXONIAN IN ICELAND," ETC. LONDON: TEUBNEE & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 1880. [All rights reserved.] F PREFACE. The germ, or rather an outline sketch, of this volume is contained in a tractate, printed by the author for private circulation in the autumn of 1S76. This caught the attention of persons who read it, men and women alike. They were interested in the subject, which in this light was comparatively new to them. Could not the outline be filled in and the essay developed into a book ? What they wanted was an exposition of the subject — the cus- toms, notions, language, and literature of the two peoples, based on the most rigid research, but adapted for a wider class of readers than students only — a kind of bird's-eye view of the whole matter, but with sufficient depth and colour. Dry facts by all means, but so grouped as to catch the fancy as well as inform the understanding. The two need not clash. The author took the hint, and has striven to the best of his ability to meet their wishes. The result is before the reader. When the writer was a boy, the days of our forefathers seemed portentously far off, almost more so than those of the ancient Greeks. In the study of them, it required, so to say, a strong effort in order to place oneself in a posture of mind suitable to the occasion : " Um sich ein 1334279 vi PREFACE. zu denken," as the Germans would say. To take in and comprehend the dim and the distant was more of a task than a treat. Aforetime and to-day seemed unable to shake hands even in metaphor. Our ancestors and our- selves appeared to have few points of sympathy or con- tact. A master of the ceremonies was wanted to throw down the barrier. For want of this missing link, Anglo- Saxon times, and things, and thoughts have been voted by most Englishmen obsolete and abstruse ; in fact, a bore, and out of their line. Might not this indisposition to culti- vate an intimacy so natural and improving be in part due to the way of introducing the parties ? Was there not too much stiffness and formality in the manner in which they have been presented ? It seemed as if a few natural easy words had to be said by somebody, and they were lacking. The writer has, as far as was possible, essayed to do this, though he may have failed in the execution. Familiar expressions may occur in the work, which might jar on the nice ear of fastidious critics. To such he will recount a scene he once saw in a court of law. It was a suit be- tween an author and a publisher. A frivolous and vexa- tious witness emphatically condemned the style of a book, much to the wonderment of the judge, a Senior Wrangler and Chancellor's Medallist. " What's the matter with the phrase ? " inquired his Lordship. " I consider it too familiar, and beneath the dignity of the historic style." " Humph ! that's your opinion ! Now to my mind it is good, strong, idiomatic English, such as might well ap- pear in a Times leading article." Whereupon counsel hurriedly withdrew the hypercritical censor. The jury would not allow the judge to sum up, and the author won PREFACE. vii his suit. " The woj 3 of the wise are as goads," and what the judge said stuck deep in the author's memory. He has endeavoured to treat the subject in a free, uncon- strained, natural manner, avoiding anything like a solemn and doctrinaire tone. Instead of taking all things au serieux, he has ever and anon, as Horace recommends, tried to temper the grave with the gay, to enliven the subject with illustrations new and old, to point the theme with novel applications, and thus to carry off agreeably what might otherwise have proved heavy read- ing. He has, moreover, abstained — as being beyond the aim and object of the book — from all pretence at generali- sations and philosophic speculations, about which people, desirous of combining entertainment with instruction, often don't care one farthing. The Scandinavians are very communicative ; they have placed themselves before us with great minuteness of detail. Unfortunately, the Anglo-Saxons are too reticent concerning themselves, their domestic interiors, and the ways and manners of the sexes out of doors. In the absence of any Anglo-Saxon Pei- thetaerus or Euelpides, to show us how citizens of London viewed current matters in those days ; of any Gorgo or Praxinoc, any wife of a burgher of Eboracum chatting at home under the roof-tree while the husbands are away, or pushing through the crowd in the streets at a religious festival, with the accompanying adventures, full of natu- ral humour, — we are compelled to glean scanty traits of notions and manners, bits of mosaic, as it were, here and there, and thus to impart as much human interest as may be to our theme. The author has given prominence to any touches of nature, any characteristic incident, which might viii PREFACE. make their world and our world more akin and acquainted. He has tried to interview the two races, the Anglo-Saxon and his Scandinavian brother. He has asked the nineteenth- century man to turn aside and survey his incunabula ; to stand by the cradle, so to say, of two great branches of the Gothic family when they were just crossing the thresh- old of history ; to follow the young hopeful onwards in his career through his several ages, to listen to his untutored words and language, to take note of his thoughts and feel- ings, his ways of looking at things, from the days when his writing was runes scratched on wood or stone, to the time when he copied beautifully and cunningly on vellum. He has shown how the An^lo-Saxon nature was some- what dull and devoid of " go," while the Scandinavian was just the reverse, far removed from the lotus-eater, and not in the least disposed to get behind the north wind for shelter. He has exhibited them in the infancy of their faith, not so much perhaps stretching out their palms to heaven, if haply they might find the true God, as dividing their worship and belief indiscriminately between the god Thor and their own might and main. Passing from their Pagan days to those of their new Christian creed, he has shown how it sat on each people, loosely or otherwise ; picturing, too, the quaint stopgap, often dashed with drollery, that intervened between Paganism and Christianity, and the way the missionaries looked on the affair — the more pious of the clergy aghast at the fatuous jumble, while others winked at it, or perhaps in- dulged in the same themselves. The Scop and the Scald are here confronted, their social status, their modes of song. The Anglo-Saxon, sober and didactic, sedate and subdued, PREFACE. ix but with a high moral and religious idealism redeeming the prevailing gloom ; the Icelander with the poetic in- stinct vibrating through his whole being ; the one waver- ing on the brink of emotion, the other plunging into its inmost depths ; submitting often, unfortunately, to the restraint of green withes and cords, the strait waistcoat of artificial poetic rules, but still a Samson. He has given specimens of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Snorri's His- tory of the Kings ; the one accurate and precisely kept as a ledger, the other a history, if history means recalling the dead past and making it speak for itself. He has tried to show how much the Anglo-Saxon has revealed to us of his family life and individuality, and how much the Scandi- navian. Ecclesiastical and legal documents of both races have been quoted ; their stores of proverbial wit and wis- dom, their vocabulary, without which our knowledge of the meaning of our speech is incomplete, have each passed in review. The last thing we discover in making a book, says Pas- cal, is to know what to put at the beginning. This has certainly been the present writer's experience. Here were two things to be treated of, neither of which need, of necessity, precede the other ; except that the Anglo-Saxons stand first in history, and their word -hoard is older. It was not, however, a case of horse and cart, when to put theone before the other would be absurd and a solecism. The literature and language of the Anglo-Saxon and the Scandinavian, as well as the people themselves, nationally and individually, was the subject to be discussed, and the one branch of it might be taken first, or the other, with almost equal propriety and convenience. But there were x PREFACE. other elements in the decision. Scandinavian literature is very attractive in itself, very sparkling, full of verve and energy, like the people themselves, and would have made an excellent head and front to the book. Anglo-Saxon litera- ture, on the other hand, is not so attractive. Good, solid, honest work it is, dignified and melodious, but of no great brilliancy. The average John Bull, however, would not have relished seeing the Scandinavian put first, and him- self postponed. He prides himself above all things on being an Anglo-Saxon. He vaunts of his pure Saxon speech, and delights to vapour about his downright Saxon character. So John Bull comes first. As you might say, " Business first, pleasure afterwards." If he will only read the book through, he will perhaps be disenchanted of his chauvinis- tic illusion that he is Anglo-Saxon pure and simple, and nothing if not that. The author is not aware of any book of the same cha- racter, instituting a comparison between the Anglo-Saxon and the Scandinavian. Doubtless it abounds with imper- fections and shortcomings, which he must beg the reader to be lenient with. The precious ore lay remote or hidden deep, and it was no light matter for him both to rough- hew and to shape the material to his purpose. For the rest, his best thanks are due to Professor Stubbs, who, in the midst of incessant and engrossing work, has most kindly read through the proofs for the press. Nor must he omit to mention the name of Professor C. Unger of Christiania, one of the foremost of that band of Scandinavian scholars, distinguished alike for patient industry and sagacity, pursuing knowledge for its own PREFACE. xi sake with self-denying simplicity of purpose. To his intimacy with that gentleman and Professor Stephens of Copenhagen through many years, and the encourage- ment they gave him, the author chiefly owes his own interest in these studies. Last, not least, he must thank his two fair amanuenses who wrote out the whole book for the printer. Oxford, March 1SS0. CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. Page 32, for " Ethelred," read " Ethelbert." ,, 112, for " Skorunger," read " Skorungr." ,, 121. The identity of the supernatural story of Glamr in Gretti's Saga with that of Grendel in "Beowulf" was first suggested to the author by Mr. Vigfusson. As it stands in the Icelandic tale, it is adventitious, and has nothing to do with the real exploits of the hero of it. 131, omit " on a sudden he." 182, for "unmitigated," read "unmixed." 185, for "Oswin," read "Oswiu." 226, for "Johnson," read "Johnstone." 250, for "aitte," read "oitte," 235, for " Bartholimus," read " Earth olinus." 258, for " Jon Finsen," read "Fin Jonson." 267, for "Sigudrifa," read "Sigdrifa." 273, for "Grami," read "Grani." 281, for "Skidbladnir," read " Sleipnir." 300, for "Drottkvdedi," read " drottkvseSi. " 324, for "Eyrlyggia," read "Eyrbyggia." 327, for "Rafn," read "Hrafn." 327, after " survive," insert "long." 333, add Gunlaug's Saga, ed. O Rygh, Christiania, 1862. 371. Saga of Thomas a Becket, ed. E. Magnussen, Rolls Series. CONTENTS. fart !♦ OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. CHAPTER I. THE STUDY OF ANGLO-SAXON REVIVED BY ARCHBISHOP PARKER AND SIR H. SPELMAN. PAGE Archbishop Parker rescues Anglo-Saxon MSS. from destruction — Sir Henry Spelman follows him — His correspondence with Ole Worm, the Danish antiquary — The origin of family names in England — The etymology of 'rune' — Spelman's glossary — His death, ....... 1-13 CHAPTER II. JUNIUS, HICE^S, AND SIR ROBERT COTTON HELP ON THE WORK. Francis Junius : His industry in the restoration of Anglo-Saxon learning — George Hickes : His "Thesaurus" a complete palaeography of the Northern tongues — Sir Robert Cotton : A great collector of Anglo-Saxon books — The net outcome of their labours— The beauty of the Anglo-Saxon tongue — The earliest Christians in Britain — King Alfred translates Latin books into Anglo-Saxon— His " Orosius " — The interest- ing original episode therein, ..... 14-26 xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTEE III. BEDE : HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE ANGLES. PAGE Bede : His addiction to Latin — His "Ecclesiastical History of the Nation of the Angles" — Its scope — The dates of the conversion of the different parts of England — Aidan and the Northumbrian Church — The Italian Church forgets the in- structions of Gregory— The different rules about Easter and the tonsure — The speech of the Northumbrian noble — A pic- ture of Paulinus, the apostle of Lincolnshire — King Oswald's miracles — Aidan gives his horse to a beggar— The visions of Fursey — Purgatory — Wilfrid's theory of mission-work — The miracles of John of Beverley — The Yorkshire love of horse- racing— Dryhthelm's passion for cold water — Adamnan's "Life of Columba," ...... 27-43 CHAPTER IV. -,>o BEDES LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT AND OF THE ABBOTS OF WEAR- MOUTH AND JARROW — ST. EDMUND, ST. SWITHIN, ST. NEOT, AND ST. GUTHLAC. Anglo-Saxon biographies teeming with miracles — Cuthbert : His fondness for athletics — He becomes a zealous missionary — Some of his presumed miracles may be explained in a natu- ral way — His visit to Coldingham — He spends the night up to his neck in the sea — He is watched by a monk — A similar incident in the life of Columba — Cuthbert at Lindisfarne — The refractory Chapter — He retires to Fame Island, but is compelled by the King and Archbishop to become Bishop of Lindisfarne — Again retires to Fame — He is visited by the monks — His austerities bring him to death's door — He dies — His name a word of power for centuries in England — His re- mains "translated" — "The Grave" — St. Edmund murdered by the Danes — St. Swithin — St. Neot spreads the Gospel in Cornwall— Asser's "Life of Alfred"— St. Guthlac in the Fens — The tale of Wayland (Weland) Smith localised on the banks of the "Welland, ...... 44-66 CHAPTEE V. THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, BONIFACE, AND ALCUIN. Aldhelm : He becomes Abbot of Malmesbury— His letter to Gerun- tius — The Roman system triumphs— His skill in English poetry — Boniface, the apostle of Germany — His correspond- ence — Alcuin : Is librarian at York — Enters the service of Charlemagne — Head of the monastery at Tours — His corre- spondence — Warns the English against the luxury of the age — Tithes — He is visited by friends from England— Dies, . 67-84 CONTENTS. xv CHAPTER VI. THE LAWS. PAGE The Anglo-Saxon laws extend from Ethelbert to the Conqueror— Bot, or scale of compensation for injuries— By Ina's laws a serf forbidden to work on Sunday— Alfred's dooms— The peace of "Wedmore— The Denalagh— Disunion among the Irish— The Codex Aureus— The ordeal— Coiners— The " Parish "—Forest laws — The condition of slaves— A bishop's day's work— Lyke- wakes— Morals of the clergy— Penitentials— The Wer— Charm for barren land — Cuthbert and the crows, . . . 85-106 CHAPTER VIL ANGLO-SAXON CHARTERS. Anglo-Saxon Charters a valuable source of information— The names of boundaries in grants of land—' Tun ' and ' ham '—The will of JSthelstan the Atheling— Ancient swords — The sign of the cross — The business habits of our forefathers — A woman of mettle — Swine-feeding — Scene at the sick-bed of Harold Harefoot— The will of Leofric, Bishop of Exeter, . . 107- 114 CHAPTER VIII. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY BEOWULF, BRUNANBURH, ETC. Anglo-Saxon poetry— The epic "Beowulf" of foreign extraction- Fine passages in the poem— My.tli.ic accretions in the Icelandic Saga of Grettir traceable to the ''Beowulf legend— Descrip- tion of the Goda-foss— "The Gleeman's Tale"— Odes on the battle of Brunanburh and of Saucourt — Norsemen in the army of Athelstan — Poem attributed to King Canute — "The Battle of Maldon "—Earl Byrhtnoth a benefactor to Ely, . 1 15-128 CHAPTER IX. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY CONTINUED — " JUDITH," "ANDREAS," "ELENE," ETC. " Judith " conjectured to be by Coedmon— It is a poem of the highest raer it — The story of Caedmon — A similar one to be found in Iceland— German theory that the " Heliand" and " Csedmon" are by the same author disproved— Many transcripts of Eng- lish poems made in Germany — Beautiful Irish MSS. — " Elene, or the Finding of the Cross," by Cynewulf— " Dream of the Cross" proved from the Kuthwell Cross to be by Csedmon — " Adventures of St. Andrew " conjectured by J. Grimm to be by Aldhelm— "The Wanderer "—"The Exile"— The Life of St. Guthlac— In " Deor the Scald's Complaint " reference is made to xvi CONTENTS. PAGE the Weland myth— " The Ruin" — The sombre tone of Anglo- Saxon poetry — " The Whale" — The Gnomic verses a string of proverbial sayings — Murder will out— " The Departed Soul's Address to the Body " found in Icelandic — Alliterations — The German poem of "Gudrun" — Was there an Anglo-Saxon Edda? — The expedient of the missionaries— Their use of mythic words — An old Shetland ditty — " King Waldere's Lay," ........ 129-159 CHAPTER X. THE M VTHOLOGY OF GERMANY, SCANDINAVIA, AND ENGLAND ALIKE. Folklore attests this as well as the allusions in "Beowulf" — The Merseburg charm recurs in Scandinavia — Old abjuring formula — Aser worship in England proved by the spell against sudden stitch, ........ 160-164 CHAPTER XL " jELFRIC's COLLOQUY ANGLO-SAXON WRITERS SOMEWHAT VAGUE AND TAME. ■'^ilfric's Colloquy'' throws light on the home-life of the Anglo- Saxons — Hunters and fishermen — Divers trades — The various lots of men — The game of Toefi — Domestic manners of the nuns — The Saxon Chronicle disappointing — The origin of " King Lear" — Vagueness of Anglo-Saxon writers as compared with Scandinavian, ....... 165-175 CHAPTER XII. THE NATIONAL SITUATION IN BRITAIN DURING THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. The national situation in Britain before and after the departure of the Romans — The Saxon Shore — Precipitate retreat of the Romans — The Celts fly from the new invaders as one fleeth from fire — The sack of Anderida and victory at Mons Badonicus — England now seems to disappear from view — Procopius's description of it as the .abode of souls — Remains of Roman grandeur in the island — Its great fertility — The Roman Church succeeds to the dominion of the Roman Empire — Latin learning overspreads the land to the exclusion of the vernacular— The Exeter Codex— National poetry discouraged by the clergy — Many of these in Alfred's time could not un- derstand the Church service, ..... 176-184 PAGE CONTENTS. xvu CHAPTEE XIII. PILGRIMAGES FALSE MONASTERIES THE NORTHMEN THEY SETTLE DOWN WITH THE ANGLO-SAXONS ANGLO-SAXON IS DEBASED, BUT REVIVES AS MODERN ENGLISH. The Northumbrian Church submits to Rome— Aidan more beloved than Paulinus— Rage for pilgrimages to Rome— Abbot Ceol- frid dies on the journey— High-born ladies join the rush— Alcuin, Bede, and Boniface are all against the movement- Various motives alleged for it— Bede's letter to Archbishop Ecgbert on the low state of morals of the clergy as well as laity— Boniface holds the like opinion— England, priestridden and spiritless, is unable to cope with the Northmen — "Was Rollo a Dane or a Norwegian ?— The irruption of the Vikings —Their descent upon Lindisfarne— With them piracy was an honourable profession— Their passion for foreign travel— Our naval heroes descended from them— They infused new blood into England— The Saxons and Northmen settle down ami- cably—The Norman Conquest— The national speech is de- based and again revives, ....-• 185-196 CHAPTER XIY. THE SCANDINAVIANS IN RUSSIA AND THE EAST. Nestor's Chronicle— Russ, the name of the Swedish immigrants into Russia— They descend the river Dnieper to the Black Sea- Mentioned by Arabian authors — Their method of interment on board ship— Illustration of this in the museum at Chris- tiania— Some of them visit Ingleheim— Their nomenclature of the rapids on the Dnieper— Many Arabic coins found in S we( jen—' Ruotsi,' the Finnish appellation for Sweden— The Varangians from Thule mentioned by Anna Comnena— The etymology of ' Varangian,' ..... 197- 202 CHAPTER XV. A MEDLEY. Anglo-Saxon considered philologically and grammatically — Our infinitive mood— The sound of ' th '—Anglo-Saxon cumbrous case-endings well-nigh abolished — Curious shiftings in the meaning of words— Etymologies of words— The name Iona arose from a blunder— Anglo-Saxon names for the months- Alliteration more easy in Anglo-Saxon than in English — Bishop Lupus's address— Latimer's " Sermon of the Plough" — Alliteration in the confessional, .... 203-212 xviii CONTENTS. $art & ICELANDIC LITERATURE. CHAPTEE I. THE REFORMATION IN ICELAND. PAGE Suppression of the monasteries— Bishop Jon Areson firmly opposes the movement — He is beheaded, .... 213-222 CHAPTER II. COLLECTORS AND COPYISTS OP MSS. — ARNE MAGNUSSON. Icelandic MSS. rescued from destruction by private enterprise- Various copyists— The fire at Copenhagen— The great collec- tor, Arne Magnusson — Bishop Percy provokes the study of Icelandic literature in England — The poet Gray and the Rev. J. Johnstone help the movement, .... 223-228 CHAPTEE III. PROSE EDDA AND ITS DISCOVERER, ARNGRIM JONAS. The discovery of the Prose Edda due to Arngrim Jonas — His cor- respondence with Worm — Who wrote the Edda? — Sir H. Spelman sends greetings to Arngrim— Arngrim's death and epitaph— Cardinal Mazarin's interest excited in the Edda, . 229-235 CHAPTEE IV. THE PROSE EDDA. The Gothic deities of the Edda a revelation to Europe— The Volva and the Valkyrs— Snorri's main object in composing the Prose Edda to teach the art of poetry to hi3 countrymen— The "Shield Lays," 236-239 CONTENTS. xix CHAPTER V. THE PROSE EDDA— CONTINUED. PAGE The plot of " Gylfaginning "— The Aser and Asgaard— King Gylfi in the lofty hall — A new tale of creation— Night and day — Whence comes the wind? — Odin or All-Father — His son Baldr— His death— Loki, the Evil One— The earth-serpent— Valhalla— The twilight of the gods— Fenris wolf loose— The strand of the dead— Palingenesis— The Ash Yggdrasil— Droll tales in the Edda— Thor's adventures — The preface to the Prose Edda an absurd jumble, '240-249 CHAPTER VI. THE POETIC EDDA. Various meanings ascribed to the word— The discovery of the Kegius Codex by Bishop Sweinson — The idea that Saemund the Learned was the author of the Edda has no solid basis — The age of the Eddaic poems— Their preservation by oral tradition compared with that of the Veda hymns— The Solar Ljod by a Christian author — The different kinds of metre used by the Icelandic poets— The contents of the Poetic Edda— The " Voluspa" resembles the Chaldean legend of chaos and creation— The " Grimnismal"— The earth, sea, and sky made from the giant Ymir— The apples of immor- tality stolen by Loki— Remarkable coincidence between the religion of the Edda and other faiths, Pagan as well as Christian— The " Wessobrunner Gebet "—Thor's hammer— A catechism font— Odin merges into All-Father — Grisly de- scription of Hel— The sacred writings of India— Recent theories as to the authorship and the date of the Eddaic poems, . . 250-264 CHAPTER VII. HEROIC EDDA. Sigurd, Brynhild, and Gudrun— Brynhild's jealousy and revenge- Murder of Sigurd— The suttee of Brynhild— The fierceness of the Northern blood— Gudrun deaf to all consolation— At the sight of Sigurd's corpse her tears flow— Women true to the death — Sigyn and Bergthora — The Anglo-Saxon women fair and colourless— The fatal fascination of gold — The demon Fafner— The Volsungs— The slaughter of an otter considered a great crime— Regin the dwarf— The language of birds— The question of the nationality of the tale of Sigurd— Points in the story historically true, .... 265-278 xx CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. OTHER POEMS IN THE EDDA. FACJE The ballad of Sigrun and Helgi compared to a Danish ballad — The god Freyr in love — The origin of 'honeymoon' — The song of Thrym humorous and beautiful— The wedding banquet — The flaming collar — The holy sign in Scandinavia and the East, . 279-283 CHAPTER IX. THE MYTHIC WORDS IN " BEOWULF." The earth called Eormengrund — Thor's fishing — The Noras — Eagor or the sea — Ran and her nine daughters — Wayland Smith — Volundr's brother, Egil, the prototype of Tell — Alfred's mistaken translation of a passage in " Boethius " — Regn-heard — The story of Sigurd immortalised in the Runic inscription on the Gowk Stone — Hiddan-geard, 284-291 CHAPTER X. SAGAS OF ICELAND. The minute personal details in the Icelandic Sagas — Causes of the literary activity of the Icelanders — Literature will germinate even in frost — Snorri's " Heimskringla," lost sight of for some time, made known by Clausen — Its literary power and historic value — Its basis — Thorodd the Icelandic gram- marian — Ari Frodi and the ' ' Landnama bok " — His authorities for his History — Snorri's statement as to his own authorities — Paulus Diaconus and Jornandes— The truthfulness of the Greenland Chronicle — The pillar of Forres explained by the "Flateybok" — Prose description of battles based on the words of the Scalds who were eye-witnesses — The "Biarka- mal " : Scaldic circumlocution — Snorri indebted to his genius rather than his education — He was deeply versed in poetry — His character — The battle of Svoldr and death of Olaf Tryggvason — Snorri's predecessors in history-writing — The fascination of his descriptions — The murder of Hacon Jarl — Snorri rises above the superstition of the age — Eric Bloody-axe and Hacon Athelstan's foster-son — Gregory's missionaries compared with those of King Olaf, .... 292-307 CHAPTER XI. THANGBRAND, THE MISSIONARY OF ICELAND. Thangbrand— His visit to England— Sets about the conversion of Norway — His riotous living there displeases the king — Is sent to convert Iceland — The first baptisms in the island— Romish CONTENTS. xxi PAGE doctrines gain a footing— Rain the Red's belief in the efficacy of pilgrimage — Thangbrand ridiculed at the parliament — Makes short work of his lampooners— He slays a Berserker — Primsigna— Hiallti's doggrel on Frey— Olaf Tryggvason in- censed against Iceland — The great controversy at the Althing —Description of the Law Hill— Thorgeir the Speaker's sage compromise— In a few years heathenism discarded, . . 308-3x5 CHAPTER XII. THE EGIL'S SAGA. Egil's family hatred to Harold Fairhair— The contradictions in his character — Wrecked on the English coast— Falls into Eric's hands — Composes a "Drapa" under adverse circumstances — Poetic use of the natural world in Icelandic poetry as in Shakespeare— The victory of Brunanburh vividly described — Portrait of Egil in the presence of King Athelstan — His sorrow for his drowned son— His meditated self-destruction —"Sonar torrek "—England a mart for the furs of Finmark, 316-323 CHAPTER XIIL OTHER ICELANDIC SAGAS. The Northman at home— Visiting his stables— Surrounded by his friends at Yule— Horse-fights— Wrestling— Thor and Elli — The Saetersdal throw — Ball- play — The poet-blacksmith— The women — Gudrun and Kjartau — The awful widow — Realistic pictures — Dr. Todd's theory on the composition of the Sagas — Irish bombast and alliteration— Sars refers the descriptive power of the Saga writers partly to Irish culture — Importance of family pedigrees in Iceland, . . . 3 2 4~33 2 CHAPTER XIV. THE GTJNLAUG'S SAGA. Gunlaug betrothed to Helga — One tongue in England, Norway, and Denmark — He composes a poem in honour of King Ethelred and slays a Berserker — Passes over from London to Dublin— Arrives at Upsala, where he quarrels with Hrafn the Soald— The Danish gold-diggings— Hrafn in revenge courts Helga— Gunlaug again in London — Arrives in Iceland too late to prevent Hrafn's marriage with Helga — Holmgang at the Althing — Interview with Helga — He is treacherously slain by Hrafn— Helga's grief — All these circumstances were fresh in the people's memory when the Saga was written — Death of Ronald, the Orkney Earl, ..... 333"343 xxii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. THE SWERRl's SAGA. PAGE Swerrir brought up to the Church in Faro — Lands in Norway and competes for the throne — King John of England his friend — His striking qualities — Resemblance to Cromwell — Carl Jonsson, Abbot of Thingore, wrote the Saga at the dicta- tion of Swerrir — The accounts of Swerrir by the English Chronicles inspired by his enemy, Archbishop Eystein — Norway at the time at the feet of Home — The Pope excommu- nicates Swerrir, but he is crowned king notwithstanding — A picture of the man and of his rival, King Magnus — Is he justly branded as a hypocrite? — His speeches before the battle of Ilevold and at the grave of Jarl Evling — His Birkibeins — He dies like a king in his high seat — Innocent III.'s jubilation thereupon, ....... 344~354 CHAPTER XVI. THE " KING'S MIRROR." The ' ' King's Mirror " not written by King Swerrir — Graphic account of early Arctic discovery — A Norse Lord Chesterfield— Irish wonders — The origin of Yorick to be found in this book — The Saga of Hacon Haconson — The defeat of Largs due to the ele- ments — The Melrose Chronicle errs — King Hacon dies at Kirkwall — He is shown by Professor Munch to have been fond of literature and the arts of peace — The Faroese Saga — Its hero, Sigmund, receives the fatal ring — He gives off ence to King Olaf Tryggvason — He is murdered by Thorgrim the Bad — Thrand's and Helga's jumbled creeds, . . . 355-365 CHAPTER XVII. HAROLD HARDRADA AND THE SCALDS. Harold Hardrada and his Scalds — His adventures in the East — A saga-teller arrives at his court — The king becomes his patron — Stump, the son of Cat, recites poems by the score, and is taken into the royal household— The Njal Saga— Halgerda'a thief's eyes— She marries Gunnar against the will of his friends —She embroils him with everybody, and is the death of him at last — Irish deerhounds — The woof of war— Gray's ver- sion of it, . . . . . . . 366-369 CONTENTS. xxiii CHAPTER XVIII. ICELANDIC PROSE LITERATURE OF FOREIGN EXTRACTION. PAfiK The saga of Thomas a. Becket— " Barlaam and Josaphat," a version of the Greek legend of John of Damascus — An Eastern parable of life — The high culture of the Norwegian kings — The vision of Duggal the Irishman— Purgatory— The story of Theophilus, who sold himself to the devil — Diter Bernhard — Old Norse version of Gregory's Dialogues, . . . 370-380 CHAPTER XIX. OLD NORSE SCALDS. Starkadr— Bragi— Song of Lodbrog— Thiodolf and Hornklofi— " The battle of Hafrsfjord" — Harold Fairhair's court — The dirge on Eric Bloody-axe — " Hakonarrnal " — Death of Hjalmar — Her- vor and Angantyr — The best Scalds natives of Iceland, . 381-393 CHAPTER XX. THE LAWS. The origin of Greygoose — Ironside and Jonsbook— The various sub- jects embraced by the Greygoose— The Gulf Stream— A whale ashore— Our word 'law' is of Icelandic origin — The law- speaker — Trial by jury : is it derived from Iceland?— Court leet and hustings— The status of the Thrall— The " Rigsmal" —Few intercede for a slave— Grottisongr— Princess Herborg in " Gudrun "—Dead men tell no tales, . . . 394-403 CHAPTER XXI. ICELANDIC CHARTERS, ETC. The Archbishopric of Hamburg founded — Icelandic pilgrims at Beichenau— The " Liber Vita; " of Durham— Nicholas Break- spear — The sale of falcons a monopoly of the Church— Bull of Innocent III.— Bishop Thorlak's Penitential— The Bann— The founder of Norwich Cathedral and the poachers— The witty Archdeacon of Oxford on clerical celibacy— The Viking in Rome— Macbeth absolved— The Suet Bishop—" Diploma- tarium Norwegicum," ....•• 404-410 xxiv CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XXII ICELANDIC WIT COMPARED WITH ANGLO-SAXON. PAGE The composition of Adam — The " Demaundes Joyous" — "Who wrote the poems ridiculing the gods ? — A step from the sublime to the ridiculous — J. P. Richter's paradox —The slanging dia- logue in the Harbard's Lay— Odin and Thor's shares in the slain, ........ 411-419 CHAPTER XXIII. ICELANDIC WIT CONTINUED. Icelandic riddles — Likeness between a Danish ballad and one of our Christmas carols — The ballad of the "Four Sisters" — " Captain Wedderburn's Courtship"— Features in the ballad of " Svend Vonwed." reappear in the " Mabinogion " — Its Eddaic source — Trougemundslied— Why the sea is salt — Fenia and Menia, the goblin grinders — King Frodi's end — The cause of the Swelkie — Hamlet traceable to an Icelandic poem — Loki's bet— The pound of flesh — The fate of Kvasir a caution — Let every man be wise but not overwise, . . . 420-428 CHAPTEE XXIV. ICELANDIC PROVERBS. Icelandic proverbs and Alfred's proverbs— " The Song of the High One" — Its reflections on friendship — A string of wise saws — A motto for the Temperance League — Soft words butter no parsnips — Legal maxims, ..... 429-434 CHAPTER XXV. ICELANDIC AND DANISH BALLADS. Icelandic ballads dispense with alliteration — German poets domi- ciled at the Danish court — Theories on the date of the Danish ballads — Identity of Scotch ballads and Northern songs — The story of Gunhilda, daughter of Canute — Explanations of Geyer and Grimm of the likeness between the songs of the two countries — Jack and his Beanstalk and the Man in the Moon appear in the Edda — The mythology of the Eskimo mainly Scandinavian, ...... 435"439 CONTENTS. xxv CHAPTEE XXVI. A MEDLEY. PAGE English words and phrases which are of Scandinavian parentage — 'Fellow,' whence derived— The Boar's Head at Queen's — Drink- ing Sconces— Beefsteak and dreams — The Yorkshire Bidings and Filey Brigg — The Calf of Man— Carr and Scroggs — Worsnae, the Danish antiquary — Sir Hugh Evans — 'Ban- sack' — Foster-brotherhood, ... . 440-450 CHAPTEE XXVII. FURTHER STUDY OF WORDS. Bita and Bista— ' Spick and span ' — The etymology of ' fussy ' — To count noses — Ale v. beer — Sir John Barleycorn — The language of the gods and the language of men— Nightmare — " Alvismal" — The etymology of 'lady-,' .... .451-456 CHAPTEE XXVIII. RUNES. Professor A. Munch thereupon — Their origin still a vexed question — Professor Thorsen on Danish Bunic monuments — Professor G. Stephens's old Bunic fragments — He believes runes to be absolutely of Scandinavian, not German origin — Wimmer's theory is opposed to this — Bugge's theory on the origin of runes — His explanation of the runes on the Forsa church door-ring — English missionaries in Sweden — Helsing runes — The legend of the two Jotuns — Thorsen 's Dew book on non-monumental runes— The Bunic MS. of the Scanian law — Bunes first mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus — The " sealed letters " in Hamlet— Egil's " Coronach "—The Danes wrote the deeds of their ancestors on the rocks — A priest ship- wrecked in Greenland leaves a record of his sufferings in runes — Snorri Sturleson warned by runes — Tree-runes — Bind-runes — Love-runes — A Jutland ballad — The Bunic book at Holar full of black art— Bede's curious story of the captive whom no fetters could bind — Alcuin's mention of the heathen phy- lacteries worn by the English — Literse Ephesise — Bunes in ordinary use in Dalecarlia in Ihre's time — Bask's father — Three hundred runes on one tombstone — Isaac Taylor's new theory on the origin of runes, ..... 457-479 xxvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIX. CONCLUSION. PACK The power and range of Old English and of Old Norse — The Scan- dinavian pen very versatile — Vast numbers of Anglo-Saxon writings may or may not have perished — The Aureus Codex most likely written by Irish monks at Bobbio— The Lindis- farne Gospels— Much in "Beowulf" has a strong Scandinavian tinge— Aldhelm gets a MS. cheap— Picture- words in the Old Norse — ' Blue-moor ' for the sea — Many features of our natural scenery reappear in Scandinavian — Sweyne's vow — The god Thor driving through the air — Our national character partly derived from Scandinavia — Rask's verdict on the Icelandic tongue, i . . . . . . . • 480-486 APPENDIX. The fight of Ferdiad and Cuchulaind— A mixture of prose and verse like the Old Edda — O'Curry's works on the ancient Irish, . 487-497 Index, . . . . . . . . . 499 THE ENGLISHMAN AND THE SCANDINAVIAN. Part L OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. CHAPTEK I. THE STUDY OF ANGLO-SAXON REVIVED BY ARCHBISHOP PARKER AND SIR H. SPELMAN. In the days of Queen Elizabeth, about as little was known of Anglo-Saxon lore as of the papyrus rolls at Pompeii, or the terra- cotta tablets in arrow-head lying dormant under the mounds at Nimroud. What our forefathers had written was clean forgotten and out of mind. It was a happy inspiration which prompted that mighty collector of books, Archbishop Matthew Parker (born at Norwich, 1504, died 1575), to rescue from present oblivion and near impending destruction the monuments of our old English language and literature which still survived in various corners of England. Armed with an order from the Privy Council, his hue and cry was pretty successful, 6700 volumes being, according to Strype, 1 collected by one of his emissaries, Batman, alone. Never was a law of treasure-trove passed to better purpose. It was a measure after Sir John Lubbock's own heart. It came, too, in the 1 II. 497. 2 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. very nick of time ; for, says Bale, 1 " A great number of them that purchased the monasteries reserved the books of those libraries ; some to serve their , some to scour their candlesticks, some to rub their boots; some they sold to grocers and soapsellers, and some they sent over sea to the bookbinders, not in small numbers, but at times whole ships full, to the wondering of foreign nations." Foreign- ers, however, need not so greatly wonder, for did not an Italian, Polidore Vergil, according to Strype, having got a licence from Henry VIII. to search the libraries of Eng- land in writing his history, after accomplishing his work by the aid of the books he found therein, " pile those same books together, and set them all on a light fire"? — a piece of insensate Vandalism, which reminds us of that " moun- tain heap" into which Archbishop Zumarraga collected the picture-written national archives of Mexico before reducing them to ashes ; or of the similar auto-da-f6 of Arabic MSS. which Cardinal Ximenes perpetrated in Granada not many years before — symbols forsooth of a pestilent superstition, and doomed as such to be extir- pated ! To this timely raid of Parker's for the preservation of ancient monuments the College of St. Benet's, Cam- bridge, owes her priceless collection of 482 manuscripts, the bequest of the Archbishop, of which Fuller says that it contains more materials relating to the history of this kingdom, both civil and ecclesiastical, than can be found anywhere else. Among the spolia opima thus achieved was the MS. which has every title to rank first in the list of Saxon Chronicles, 2 the curious " Dialogue between Solomon and Saturn," 3 and Alfred's " Paraphrase of Gre- gory's Pastoral Care." 4 But besides collecting, Parker at once wisely resolved to multiply the scarcest of these old books, and kept in his employ a number of skilful penmen to copy as well as make good deficiencies. He also re- 1 Leland's laboryouse journey and - Ed. Earle, Oxford, 1865, B. seiche for Englandes antiquities, given Thorpe, llolls Series. as a newe years gifte to King Henry 3 J. M. Kemble, London, 1845. VIII. , enlarged by John Bale. Lou- 4 Ed. Sweet, London, 1871. don, 1549. THE STUDY OF ANGLO-SAXON. 3 vived the study of Anglo-Saxon (or, as it is the fashion nowadays to call it, ' Old English '), by ' putting out ' in print several books in that language. He will always be remembered for the publication of the first Anglo-Saxon book printed in this country — iElfric's " Easter Homily" — which is chiefly valuable for the light it throws on the doctrine of the Eucharist as held by the primitive Church of England. Before the doctrine of the real presence gained a footing among us, it was customary, as we know from Bede's description of the death of Crednion (a.d. 680), to receive the consecrated Eucharist in the hand. 1 To him also we owe the " Anglo-Saxon Gospels," edited by Eoxe, not to mention Gildas, and our other earliest historians. Of Parker's immense industry there can be ouly one opinion, but his merits as an editor have found but scant favour from the keen criticism of modern investigators. In spite of his protestation, 2 however, that he had, according to his invariable practice, not added or diminished, interpolations and errors have been clearly brought home to him or his copyists. 3 When the master-mind of Parker was removed by his death, another dark time seems to have gathered round these studies, and Camden saw reason to fear that " de- vouring Time would soon swallow up the study of Anglo- Saxon antiquities." After an interval of some years, 1 Lingard (Anglo-Saxon Church, ii. from St. Alban's to Westminster, 314) will have it that iElfric's Ian- where the manuscript was continued guage was borrowed from a foreigner, by other writers ; and from the latter Bertram, and that nothing like it is portionsof it being the work of amonk to be found in any Anglo-Saxon writer at Westminster, the entire work was before or since. attributed to one Matthew of that 2 Preface to Asser's "Alfred," 1574. house, — a mistake which, though de- 3 It is from Parker, or from Josce- tected by Palgrave and apparently line his secretary, that we trace the proved by Madden from the original story of one Matthew of Westminster copy of the work which he discovered being the author of the " Flores His- in the Chetham Library at Manches- toriarum," when in fact the existence ter, is perpetuated in Bonn's edition, of such a person is doubtful. Matthew and will no doubt die very hard, if at Paris, the monk of St. Alban's, was all. Be it said, however, that Sir J. author both of the greater History and Hardy very stoutly contested Mad- of this abbreviation, the "Flores." den's conclusions, and the question This last was continued by another cannot be regarded as closed. hand down to 1265, and then removed 4 OLD ENGLISH LITERA TURE. however, that learned knight of Norfolk, Sir Henry Spel- man (born 1 561, died 1641), stepped upon the scene, destined hereafter to be called by Whelock " heros litera- turae A. Saxonicse." How he found matters he has himself left on record : " Taulatim ita exhalavit animam nobile illud majorum nostrorum et pervetustum idioma, ut in universo, quod sciam, orbe nee unus reperiatur, qui hoc scite perfecteque calleat, pauci quidem qui vel literas noverint." With no grammar or dictionary to help him, he set about the study of Anglo-Saxon ; and subsequently, encouraged by Usher, Lord Keeper Williams, Selden, E. Cotton, and others, he projected his Glossary. In collect- ing materials for this and his other well-known works, he entered into correspondence with the learned men of Germany and Northern Europe. Among these, not the least notable in those days was Ole Worm. Born at Aarhus in Jutland, 1588, he studied medicine in Germany. Thence proceeding to Italy, he frequented the famous anatomical school of Padua, where he arrived in 1608, just six years after the great Harvey, who most likely conceived there his first idea of the circula- tion of the blood, had obtained the degree of M.D. from that University. Journeying into Trance, he became the personal friend of Isaac Casaubon at Paris, 1 which city he left on the murder of Henry IV. Subsequently he resided for a year and a half in England, and visited Oxford in 161 1, where, as his panegyrist, Thomas Bartolinus, tells us, " Acadeniice Bibliothecam nulli in orbe secundam vidit simul et obstupuit." He does not seem to have ever revisited Oxford himself, but his son became a student of the University, 2 where his father's merits were duly re- cognised. Antony Wood records that Walter Charlton's " Chorea Gigantum, or Stonehenge Kestored to the Danes " 1 The acquaintance did not drop, student this year and after in Oxford, Worm writes to Arngrim Jonas, 1634, where, obtaining several aecomplish- "I used to talk famdiarly with Ca- ments, he became after his return to saubon twenty years ago in England." his own country secretary to the King 2 " Peter Worm, a Dane, son of the of Denmark." A. Wood, Fasti, ii. great antiquary, Olaus Worm, was a 318 (a.D. 1619). THE STUDY OF ANGLO-SAXON. 5 (London, 1 663), was due chiefly to a correspondence between the author and Worm, " the great antiquary of Denmark." After his return to Denmark, Worm was appointed Pro- fessor of Medicine at the University of Copenhagen, 1624. But he by no means confined his energies to the study of medicine and chemistry. As an antiquary, 1 his fame had become widely spread, and to him Spelman longs to turn for help in his Northern studies ; but how was he to approach him ? An opportunity presently offers. A tractate by Worm on an old Danish monument had been shown to him by an attache - of the Danish Embassy in London, in which Worm had sought to show that family names were in use in the North as early as 290 a.d. The knight, in a letter to Pahemon Eosencrantz, the Danish ambassador in London, replete with learning, not unmixed with a spice of delicate banter, takes exception to this statement. Neither in any English historian, nor in Gregory of Tours, nor in Paulus Diaconus, has he ever met with a family name. " The people of England, whether Anglo-Saxons or Anglo-Danes, never used family names before the arrival of the Normans ; and in the whole of this country, which even now abounds with Danish vils and families, I have, after a careful inquiry, failed to dis- cover any instance of two names. There is an old story extant in support of this. A noble Norman lady refused the offer of an Englishman because he had onlv one name, whereupon everybody rushed into the custom of the Nor- mans, and assumed a second name from farms, villages, towns (which was a habit very prevalent among the Normans as well as the French), or from endowments of mind or body, or from an office, magistracy, handicraft, illustrious deeds, and so forth, and left the same to their posterity." He goes on, " De Uteris Eunicis plura cupio : unde nomen, quaenam regio, quis populus ? " Pliny talks 1 Modern criticism acknowledges in of the translation into Danish of Worm a man of wonderful capacity Snorri's " History of the King," begun and industry. To him belongs the by P. Clausen, who died before it was merit of bringing out the first edition finished. 6 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. of the Einuci, 1 who, according to modern authors, were near the Frisii, the tongue of which people is said to be very like the old Gothic. Then Tacitus in his " Germany " speaks of the ' Sunici,' where some read ' Eunici.' Doubt- less all this enigma would be explained in Ole Worm's " Literatura Eunica," if he could only get a sight of it. 2 He then gives a copy of a Runic inscription on the stone cross at Beaucaster, also another ancient inscription from Cumberland. Would his Excellency the ambassador send these to the great Mystagogus, Wormius, of whom he hopes to become the friend and correspondent? This letter was written from London, xiv. Calend. Maj 1629 old style, and the correspondence which ensued, and which lasted till 1640, is to be found in that delightful volume, containing one thousand and thirty-four letters, 3 all in Latin, written by or addressed to Worm, from many of the literary celebrities of Europe, on all sorts of topics : medicine, chemistry, physics, runes, Icelandic MSS., the site of Thule, whales, narwhales, nephrite (jade), &c. Most of them are couched in excellent Latin, though perhaps that of the Danish professor in purity of style surpasses all the rest of his distinguished and hetero- geneous correspondents. His sentences are short, sharp, and vigorous, as appears still more fully when we compare them with the prolix periods of Cardinal Mazarin's erudite librarian Naudreus. Keen, clear- eyed criticism, quite in keeping with the searching look of the portrait heading the book, is everywhere apparent. While he is learned 1 Compare Camden's guess at the of Firbolgs = men of the bags, i.e., etymology of Britain, viz., from Brith leathern bags, in which the Greeks = painted, to which the old Greek had, whilst slaves, made them carry rovers added tania (as in Mauretania), burdens of earth. Skene's "Celtic i.e. , the land of the painted men. Scotland," i. 173. Modern Celtic pliilologers derive the 2 As early as 1561, D. Rogers, Eng- word from Breit= cloth; the Britons lish ambassador at Copenhagen, had. pluming themselves on being clothed, got a copy of a .Runic alphabet from not sansculotte savages like their Ibe- the Chancellor Frij's, which doubtless rian predecessors in parts of these found its way to Spelman. islands, who erected the Megalithic 3 Olai Wormii Epistolas Havnise, monuments. These went by the name 1751. THE STUDY OF ANGLO-SAXON. 7 he is never tedious; when brief he never becomes obscure; and there is a happy goodhumour manifest throughout, which gives a relish to all he says. 1 As with the exception of one letter by Spelman, which is printed in his Glossary under the word ' Fame/ none of this correspondence has ever appeared in an English dress, we shall give further notices of it. In the following July the Northern anti- quary replies to Spelman direct, thanking him for a copy of his Glossary (Part I.), and begging his acceptance of his " Fasti Danici," inviting the knight's candid criticism; for indeed all this is quite new ground, and he has such an infinity of other occupations, that it is quite possible errors may be found in it. He next defends his assertion of the great antiquity of family names in Denmark by citing Saxo and others. That family names were not used in England before the Conquest he is ready to admit, but one could not argue from thence for a similar absence of them in the North. He then proceeds to chaff the knight in most elegant Latin on his ignorance of runes — though he himself was destined, as we shall see, to be set right by him in the next letter, even on the origin of the name — winding up with most genuine expressions of delight at this commencement of their friendship. Spelman having received from Worm a sketch of his forthcoming " Literatura Runica," writes from the Barbican, London, nones of May 1630, " when the epidemic (plague) was just beginning, which may God avert." He excuses the apparent temerity of an Englishman in venturing to dispute with a Dane on the etymology of a Northern word, and he does so on the ground that " English is quadruply allied to the Danish. First, through the old Saxons ; secondly, through the Jutes or Goths, who came over with the Saxons ; thirdly, through the Danes themselves ; and 1 One sentence in a letter to Arn- have been a plain speaker when need- grim Jonas, referring to some supposed f ul : " What would they not attempt, spurious inventions by monkish hands to make the legends of their saints in a document about Greenland, indi- appear more probable, and to gain cate3 Worm, with all his suavity, to greater credit for their gods!" S OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. fourthly, through the Norwegians, who came with the Danes, and afterwards with the Normans." He takes leave to doubt the correctness of Worm's conjectures as to the origin of the word 'rune.' ' Eun' = ' ductus aquarum,' and Eun=:'mark of the plough,' find no favour with the knight ; who in the Anglo-Saxon 'geryne' 1 = 'res occulta vel mysterium,' with which he compares to ' roune one in the ear ' — an expression then common in the vernacular — had soon ferreted out the true linguistic affinity for ' rune.' Rune then was a mysterious and occult character, similar to those of the Egyptian priests or the statue of Canopus. He moreover shows that Ulfilas, the translator of the Scriptures into Gothic, was not the inventor of runes, but of the Gothic alphabet, which was likewise, it is true, used for a sacred purpose — thus anticipating the dictum of Hickes in his Thesaurus. To this letter, dated nones of May, which he only got in the succeeding November — let- ters for abroad being, in those days, generally confided to a private friend, who might be delayed on the journey — Worm replies at once in his usual flowing Latin. He at once assents, with the best grace imaginable, to Spelman's etymology of ' rune.' " Nunquam ejus fui animi ut mordicus meas defenderem opiniones." All he wants is to elicit truth. He would write more, but he is prevented " infinitis negotiis." This letter, sent by a private hand, does not reach Spelman for more than a year. In his hurried reply, necessitated by the imminent departure of the messenger, and by his own carriage waiting at the door to take him into the country, he rejoices that Worm agrees with him about the word ' rune.' " What you write is most true, that, in antiquarian researches, your tongue and ours may mutu- 1 ' Heofena rices gerynu,' ' The mys- words but great mysteries are enclosed teries of the kingdom of heaven;' in it.' By an easy transition it came Anglo-Saxon, Matt. xiii. ir. Cf. the to signify 'confidant,' 'bosom friend.' address in Old High German to the Jarls and courtiers are the king's heathens of the eighth century: 'runes,' Prose Edda, 1,458. "Wifeisher 'Fohiu uuort sint : uzan michilu husband's rune, ibid., ii. 612; cf. M. garuni dar inne sint pivangen '— 'Few Casaubon.DeLinguaSaxon ,v. 'round. ' THE STUDY OF ANGLO-SAXON. 9 ally help each other." He has therefore been trying to get an old Danish or Latin vocabulary and some works on the Danish laws and ancient rites, but hitherto without success. A Mr. Hoel, secretary to Lord Leicester, the British ambassador to the court of Denmark, had promised to convey a whole budget of letters from Spelman to his friends living ' prope circulum Arcticum,' but to Spelman's considerable chagrin, as he writes to Worm from the Bar- bican, February 14, 1634, old style, he had left them at Hamburg. "As for the second part of the Archseologia (Glossary), which theDanish ambassador Bosencrantz drove to my house to inquire about, it cleaves to the shelves, a prey to the moths and worms, and I have not bestowed so much as a thought or an effort on the printing of it. The fact is, our printers and booksellers are a bad lot. Through their devices the first part, which was printed at my own expense, has been a wreck and a failure, as far as I am concerned. But for a whole six years I have been called away from these studies by the weighty duty his Majesty has imposed on me of inquiring into the extortions and illegal exactions, both in town and country, committed by the magistrates and officials of the kingdom, as well ecclesiastical as civil. Meantime I have not forgotten the matter, and long to bring out the second part of the work, being moved thereunto not a little by the kind letters of yourself and many other friends. As you write me you can hardly get hold of the copy of the first part which I sent you, I herewith send another unbound copy, which you must take care not to let slip from your own hands. Farewell, and let us both do all diligence to foster our friendship." From the above letter we see that the book- sellers of the days when Charles the First was king enjoyed quite as evil a report among authors as they do now. Worm in his reply, written in the autumn of 1634, offers a suggestion how Spelman may baffle the common enemy. " In Belgium I have no doubt you will meet with more willing publishers than in England, where they seem to be i o OLD EN( tL ISH L 1 TERA TURE. pretty nearly as slow-paced as here in Denmark, and fonder of books that are likely to be popular and profitable to themselves than of what is rare and useful." This is the very reason why his own treatises on Gothic letters and Runic monuments have never yet seen the light. Referring to the Runic monuments from the North of England mentioned above, he expresses a hope that some Selden would bring the powers of his mind to bear on matters. In answer to Spelman's inquiry, he informs him that no Danish work had ever appeared on the ancient 3 of the country. Of the laws there were three different codes: the Cinibricce, which are in print; the Selandicce, which only existed in rare manuscripts; and the Scanicce, 1 which are nearly out of print. lie, however, sends him his own copy of the last as a present, together with a Nomenclator Danicus, or Danish dictionary for the use of schools. As for the old tongue (Icelandic), he was not aware that any vocabulary of it existed. 2 Spelman in his reply (5 Id. Jim. 1635) explains the difference between the two methods of purgation of an accused person among the Anglo-Saxons, that called Corsned 3 (or offa judicialis), and that by panis Eucharistica ; and he quotes Canute's Ecclesiastical Laws, cap. 5, in proof of his statement. The Corsned was one of those curious ordeals once used in this land. If one ministering at the altar was accused of crime, a slice of barley cake or cheese was given him by a priest. If he ate it freely he was considered innocent, but if it stuck in his throat he was guilty. In the ordeal by water, the accused had no chance of escape, for if he floated he was pronounced guilty, and if he sank, innocent. In the 1 A beautiful Runic MS. of these dictionary of Magnus Olafsson, an last, six hundred years old in the Icelandic clergyman, who had died opinion of Professor G. Thorsen (the twelve years before. It was entitled editor), and which formerly belonged " Specimen Lexici Kunici ;" and hence to O. Worm, has recently (1877) been it was that the word 'Runic' was published in facsimile at Copen- applied to ' Icelandic' hagen. 3 According to Ettmiiller=' Curse- 2 In 1650 Worm published in the bite;' Grimm, 'proof-bite.' See Runic character the MS. Icelandic Schmidt, Anglo-Saxon Laws, sub voce. THE STUDY OF AXGLO-SAXOX. n ordeal by hot iron or hot water, the odds were quite against him. This erudite epistle closes with a pun on his friend's name, " Vivat valeat floreat quasi 6 Xaov opfios" On the 28th October 1636, Worm writes from Copenhagen with a copy of his " Literatura Runica," and he begs Spelman to tell him candidly if he has committed any blunders, which is quite on the cards, as this field of letters is an entirely new one. 1 Of course the old topic, the appearance of the second part of the Glossary, is not overlooked. He never ceases to urge, entreat, conjure Spelman, ' per omnium musarum sacra,' to bring it out and complete the work. " People kept borrowing the first part, and were devouring it one after another." And he winds up his appeal with, "Cave igitur, vir humanissime, tot vigilatarum noctium tsedio, tot olidarum membranarum fcetore, tot priscorum voluminum tricis, ingenium te frustra fatigasse dicat pos- teritas." " The King's Chancellor begs me to urge upon you the necessity of no further delay. You see how that man of lofty intellect, Selden, has been snatched away. Who can promise himself the morrow ? " The knight replies from his house at the Barbican, July 1, 1638, thanking his " dearest Ole " for his present. "lam a mere sojourner here, quite alone and solitary, as all my family are in the country to escape the plague, if God so will. You need not mourn for Selden; he is not dead but alive, and, as. far as I know, has never been sick. Meanwhile I was supposed by everybody to be dead, and was so announced by the passing bell; and the same was re- ported to the King, who deigned to present me with a most splendid testimony of his munificence at this pro- vidential escape of mine from the jaws of the grave. By God's mercy I have escaped death, it is true, but with all my vital faculties shaken almost out of me, especially my memory, which, however, I hope will never fail in regard to you." It is nearly a year, May 1638, 1 Johan Bure was the first to awaken in the North an interest in runes by his " Kline kituslones Larospiin, 1 ' Upsala, 1599. t 2 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. before Worm replies. No wonder at the delay. Apart from the tardiness of the messenger, — " a learned youth, and modest withal, one Ivar Bang," — for the plague has been raging in Denmark, and carried off four thousand people, and among them his dearest wife, 1 overwhelming him with grief, and so prostrating his mental vigour that he had scarcely been able to attend to his usual occupations. " Sed quid agam ? Yoluntati Divinoe quis resistat ?" " The wound is still so fresh that I cannot touch it without 4 ) CHAPTER II. JUNIUS, H1CKES, AND SIR ROBERT COTTON HELP ON THE WORK. That must be counted a day of good omen for the study of Anglo-Saxon and the kindred dialects in this country when Francis Junius, born at Heidelberg, 1589, arrived in Oxford for the purpose of working in the library. Here he discovered (says Grsevius, the writer of his Life) some Anglo-Saxon books of great antiquity, upon which he began to study that language, which was here greatly neglected, and spent much time and labour to obtain a true knowledge of it. In all, he was thirty years in Eng- land, eight of which he spent at Oxford. The corre- spondent of Archbishop Ussher, of Hugo Grotius, of Claudius Salmasius, of Gerhard John Voss ; upright in character, of engaging and modest manners, full of anec- dote and humour, he was clearlv a man worth knowing, and he was much sought after accordingly. Vandyke's portrait of him in the Bodleian shows a capacious head, shaded by curly hair, thin face, and most intelligent eyes ; one could hardly have imagined that he was capable of such superhuman labour. Rising at four, winter and summer, he laboured at his manuscripts till one, when he dined. At three he again repaired to the Museum, 1 work- ing till eight, when he supped. He seldom appeared in the streets of Oxford, but took his exercise "'in area sub- divali" (a college cloister), now at a walk, now at a run ; and if the weather was bad, " per omnes scalas in ccenaculo ascendendo valetudinis tuendi causa." Such was the life 1 The Bodleian was opened in 1604. Macray, Annals of Bodleian. JUNIUS AND OTHERS HELP ON THE WORK. 15 of a student in those days. But, as his biographer explains, he had a formidable task before him ; great darkness pre- vailed in the domain which he was exploring. "Loca peragrabat avia, et tetra caligine, necnon vepribus et dumis horrida." True there have been men since who, for hard literary work, have surpassed Junius. There was Balsac, who beat him daily by two hours. He used to rise at midnight, breakfast at eight in fifteen minutes, work till five p.m., when he dined, and then to bed, and by this means wrote five volumes in forty days. But what a difference in the objects which actuated these men ! The one worked from a simple love of learning, the other to gratify his taste for luxury and display. Lane, the author of the Arabic Dic- tionary, who for some years worked from breakfast to mid- night, is a fair parallel to Junius. After a short stay in his native land, Junius returned to Oxford three years before his death, and dwelt in a house opposite Lincoln College, to be near his former pupil, Dr. Marshall, the rector, whom he helped in his Anglo-Saxon works. Here, finding himself much interrupted by the visits of his many friends, with no oak perhaps to sport, he removed to an obscure house in Beef Lane, where his acquaintance could not so easily find him out. Junius died at Windsor, at the house of his nephew, Isaac Voss, November 29, 1677, and is buried in St. George's Chapel, with a monument to his memory erected by the University of Oxford. Besides writing a voluminous and learned work, " De Pictura Veterum," he brought out an edition of the "Codex Argenteus," the very sight of which costly relic threw him into a rapture of delight : he first edited the so-called " Coedmon," 1 and wTote a polyglott " Etymologicon Lingua? Ano-licana;," 2 and a " Dictionarium Saxonicum," 3 which includes Mseso - Gothic words, and Icelandic words in liunic characters. In the former of these works he cites 1 Amsterdam, 1655. 2 Edited by Lye, Oxon., 1743. 3 On this is based Lye's Diet. Sax., London, 1772. 1 6 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. " nobilissimi Spelmanni glossarium " with great respect. A transcript of Alfred's translation of Boethius' 1 " Consola- tions of Philosophy," of the King's translation of Gregory's " Pastoral Care," of Caedmon and Orosius. were also among his labours. These, with other elaborate compilations, written in a beautiful fair hand, ready for the press — a miracle of accuracy, considering the scanty appliances of those days — together with his transcripts and many origi- nal vellum manuscripts, he bequeathed, as is well known, to the University of Oxford. But perhaps it is not as well known that, according to the statement of a recent critic, all our Anglo-Saxon dictionaries, as far as prose is concerned, are based on Junius' wonderful work — dic- tionary-makers having borrowed from his accumulated stores without acknowledgment and without revision. " Sic vos non vobis." We have mentioned three representative men who stand forth pre-eminently as preservers of Old English learning from utter extinction. But another yet remains to be mentioned, the well- known George Hickes (born 1642), servitor of St. John's, Fellow of Lincoln, 1664; D.D. 1679, two years after the death of Junius: 1683, Dean of Worcester, but deprived for refusing allegiance to King William III. It was in his impoverishment and seclusion in London that this learned scholar collected the materials for his " Thesau- rus," a complete palaeography of the Northern tongues and of the literature of the Gothic tongues, of which little was then known. In this work, which is a huge storehouse of information to all time, 2 Hickes, who was 1 The single original MS. of Al- remains to be found here (I. pt. iii. fred's metres of Boethius in the p. 99) is the famous sermon of Bishop Cotton Library was burnt up. For- Lupus (alias Archbishop Wulfstan tunately Junius bad previously made of York), so valuable as a picture of a copy, which is now in the Bodleian, the wretchedness of the times some - Thesaurus Grammatico - Criticus three or four years before Ethelred's et Archoeologicus, linguarum vete- death (1016), which the writer of rum Septentrionalium, Oxon., 1705. the Saxon Chronicle whines over so One of the many curious literary piteously; what with the ravages of JUNIUS AND OTHERS HELP ON THE WORK. 17 a great admirer of Icelandic, gives an annotated edition of Eunolph Jonas' Icelandic grammar and glossary, in his preface to which he tells Eoger Sheldon, who had been questioning him closely — as to what was that mysterious Eunic tongue — that the tongue of the old Jutes and Angles was the same, or not much different from what is called by writers the Danica, Cimbrica, Scandica, Eunica lingua, which is, in fact, all one tongue with many names ; the last appellation being derived from the fact that the ancient inhabitants of the North used to incise inscriptions in Eunic letters upon their monuments. The " Dissertatio Epistolaris," addressed to his friend Bartholomew Shower, on the utility and beauty of the ancient Northern tongues, is in itself a mine of learning out of which whole treatises have been elaborated. 1 Last, not least, among the contents of this work is Wanley's catalogue of all the Northern manuscripts then known in England, which preserves its interest to the present day, although many of the manuscripts are burnt or lost. Hickes' work, imperfect as -it may be in some respects, being written at a time when philology was less understood, did much to stimulate inquiry and check the progress of popular indifference to these branches of learning. Sir E. Cotton also (b. 1570, d. 163 1) for his Anglo-Saxon charters alone is entitled to great praise. "While the bequeathal by Eichard Gough to Oxford the heathen and the miserable immo- burn, they drag to their ships; we rality and cowardice of the English, give, give. " Here was a man who and their treacherous treatment of could write like very few Anglo- their Saxon kith and kin. Anti- Saxons. Bede in his letter to Egbert christ, says the impassioned preacher, had at an earlier period put his ringer was indeed on earth, and the devil on that plague spot of England, the too ! Here also we have notices of accumulating in the hands of monas- the slave-trade and its results in teries falsely so called of lauds which England ; these down-trodden people ought to be given to the worthy joining the invaders when they had a defenders of the country. chance. " But the upshot was this," l " As the father of the study of the continues the Arch bishop, "that by Anglo-Saxon language, as a careful < rod's permission the English now, investigator in old Northern tongues for long, are unvictorious, and the and antiquities, Hickes is immortal." mariners so strong that often, in fight, — Ersch and Grubefs Encyclopedia, one chaseth ten ; they devastate, they sub voce. B iS OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. University, 1809, of his valuable library of Old Northern literature, worked in the same direction. What Spelman had done in the seventeenth century for Cambridge, in the foundation of an Anglo-Saxon chair, was achieved with more permanent success by Dr. Eawlinson in 1755 for the University of Oxford. Subsequently the appearance of Grimm's " Deutsche G-rammatik," * and of E. Hash's "Angel Saksisk Sprog- laere," 2 set up a new standard of philological criticism, which quite eclipsed all previous insular conceptions in that department. No time was lost by our modern English philologers in making us acquainted with the new lights thrown on the Anglo-Saxon language from abroad. Of these, Kenible perhaps has done more than any other Englishman to make us acquainted with the remains of Anglo-Saxon literature and the genius of Anglo-Saxon institutions. Next to him Thorpe will always be known as the editor of " Beowulf," of " Apollonius," of " Caedmon," iElfric's Homilies, of the Ancient Laws of England, of the five parallel Chronicles, under the Master of the Eolls, &c, &c, and as the translator of Eask's Grammar, of Lappenberg's " Anglo-Saxons," and of Pauli's " Alfred;" while Wright, Bosworth, and others have helped to bring us more abreast of the foreigners. But what has been the net outcome of the labours of Parker, of H. Spelman, of Junius, of Hickes, not to mention Lambarde, and Camden, and Cotton — almost as successful a collector of Ancrlo-Saxon books as Parker, his field of operations being the bookstall and the private hands into which the MSS. had passed on the plunder of the monas- teries — Gibson and others ? They have rescued and made intelligible to us the records of our early history. Had it not been for Parker and his coadjutors, those fast perishing memorials of our island might have perished altogether. We know from occasional allusions in later writers that 1 Grimm, first edition, 1819 ; second edition, 1822. 2 Stockholm, 1817. JUXIUS AND OTHERS HELP ON THE WORK. 19 there were once sources of our history which do not now exist. Aldhelm was styled by Alfred the prince of native poets, but all his ballads in the vernacular have disappeared, while his pedantic Latin effusions have come down to us. Henry of Huntingdon's graphic and spirited narrations are, with good cause, thought to be owing to his intimate acquaintance with the old songs of the people. Surely it was the monks as well as the Danes who wrought their destruction ; for was it not a main charge against Dunstan by the clerical bigots that he was fond of pagan poems, " avitse gentilitatis vanissima carmina " ? Would that King Alfred had caused those national songs about his ancestors to be copied down, which at an early age, as Asser tells us, he committed to memory, and to which he was never tired of listening ! Infinitely more entertaining they than all the lucubrations inter- preted by him of Gregory, Orosius, and Boethius ! Had there been a man of Parker's advanced intelligence and energy living in earlier days, the world would not now have to deplore the loss of that precious collection of old ballad literature which, according to the reliable tes- timony of his secretary, Eginhard, " the man of little stature and large mind," the great Frank Emperor caused to be collected, 1 and which the dotard, Louis the Pious, would not even read, but carelessly permitted to perish — poems which, while they caught hold of the fancy, would doubtless have been rich with domestic and his- toric traits of that Teutonic race from which we are partly sprung. But this is only a thrice-told tale, an experience of many lands, wdiich has made early his- tory what the Frenchman called it, nothing but a fable convenue. " Would," exclaims Cicero (Brutus, xix.), " we had the old ballads of which Cato speaks ! " He is here alluding to the statement of Cato the Censor that many ages before his time (in the second 1 Einhardi Vita Caroli Magni, 29. Pertz. 20 OLD ENGLISH LITERA TURE. Punic War) there were ballads in praise of illustrious men, which it was the fashion for the guests at a banquet to sing in turn to the sound of the pipe. Pity these ballads are gone, which might have thrown so much light on modern Eoman excavations ! But then Macaulay's lays would never have seen the light. Again, the Saxon Chronicles, jejune though they be, yet by the very changes in the vernacular as centuries went on, and different writers took up the tale, guarantee- ing the innate truth and fidelity of the record of passing events, — had these humble records perished amid the ravages of the Danes, or in the cold shadow of the Norman aristocracy, what a history of these isles we should have had from A.D. 597, the date of the landing of St. Augustine, to 1066, the landing of William ! Tradi- tion would have done little for us, for tradition in England, with all its stir and turmoil, and in quiet Iceland, where even now the natives will recite whole Sagas by heart, were two very different tilings. 1 Or had the homilies and other religious treatises of yElfric, pronounced by Sweet to be the most perfect model extant of pure simple literary English of the be- ginning of the eleventh century perished — whether the author was Archbishop of York (died 105 1), or of Canter- bury (died 1006), or the Abbot of Eynsham, does not greatly matter, 2 — we should have never seen his beauti- ful exposition of the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. "We should have been indebted to Rome, not only for the conversion of Saxon England, for which she 1 When Professor Keyser was in miracle of Europe. Wkataquickener Iceland, he listened to an old lady to their memories ! reciting "Njala" by the page to- 2 "Homilies," edited by Thorpe; gether ; and he verified the accuracy see vol. ii. p. 267, that for Easter of her memory by the volume in his Day. He also translated into Anglo- hand. See Metcalfe's "Oxonian in Saxon, with abridgments and omis- Iceland," p. 185, for a similar case, sions, the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, As Hickes rightly observed some hun- and portions of the books of Kings, dred and eighty years ago, " The Esther. Job, Judith, and Maccabees, tongue of these people is almost the The Pentateuch has been edited by same as of yore." It is the linguistic the late Professor Grein. JUNIUS AND OTHERS HELP ON THE WORK. 21 lias our thanks (without prejudice, however, to the share Ireland and Wales may have had in our earlier conver- sion and civilisation), but also for a description of what our primitive faith was ; to Rome, not as she was in Gregory's time, but what she became in later days, when the lust of power and wealth and worldly importance and the adoration of saints and the bribes of sinners, and that sore temptation, the fatuity of the multitude, had so altered her that her best friends would not know her acrain. 1 Had Saxon England known the end from the beginning, spiritually begotten though she was of Eome, she would have been less effusive and gushing in her respect and regard for her parent, less anxious to slip the collar on her own neck — the pall, for instance (see Alcuin, 1 Parts of Britain, inaccessible to the Romans, had been evangelised by 208 A.D. Tertullian is our warrant. What happened before that it is dif- ficult to say. Was Claudia, men- tioned by St. Paul (Tim. ii.), the Claudia, wife of Pudens (Mart. iv. 13), and identical with the beautiful English lady of that name (ibid., xi. 53), whom British tradition calls Gladys? If so, there were British Christians in Britain in St. Paul's time, A.D. 68. Bede expressly tells us that King Lucius of Britain sent messagers to Pope Eleutherius, A.D. 156, asking to be admitted to Chris- tianity, and that he and his people were evangelised accordingly. But this story, palmed upon Bede, was clearly hatched at Rome, and that after a very long incubation — three hundred years or more (Haddan & Stubbs' "Councils," &c, p. 25). More reli- able is Bede's story that on St. Aug- ustine's arrival, A.D. 598, he found outside of the walls of Canterbury a chapel dedicated to St. Martin, built during the Roman occupation. And further, his statement that King Ethelbert, when converted, permitted Augustine and his followers to build and repair churches in all places, points to an earlier Christianity down south (Bede, i. 26). Most likely Christian emigrants reached this island from Southern Gaul just after the fierce persecution in Lyons and Vienne, A.D. 177. British bishops — Eburius of York, Restitutus of Lon- don, and Adelphius, probably of Lincoln, i.e., representatives of the three chief cities of Romano-Britain — were at Aries Synod in 314. So much for British Christianity as a settled Church during the Roman period. Subsequently it seems gradu- ally to have succumbed. Its first resuscitation in the North seems to have been due indirectly to St. Pat- rick, born A.D. 393, near Dumbarton, in the British principality of Strath- clwyd, and the founder of the Irish Church about A.D. 430, who drew his teaching and ordination from the Gallic and not the Roman Church. In 563 the monastery of Iona, an off- shoot from Ireland, was founded by St. Columba, more than thirty years before the arrival of St. Augustine in Britain. From Iona Columba carried the torch of Christianity to Pagan Northumberland (Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, 565) ; and an eccle- siastical community on the model of 22 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. a.d. 780), that symbol of submission to Eome, which she had very much ado to get rid of in after days. The Anglo-Saxon version of the four Gospels 1 might not have come down to us. We do not refer to the tw r o Northumbrian glosses — the so-called Lindisfarme and Iiushworth. Such vivid passages as, e.g. (St. Matt, vii.), the parable of the house on the sand and the house on the rock would not have challenged our attention and admiration. Scarce an Englishman in the sixteenth cen- tury had a notion how his simple forefathers voiced their worship of the Supreme, w T hat a beautiful word they had in ' Haeland,' the Healer, for Him whom we call the Saviour ; what concrete force there lay in ' Wuldor,' a word connected with the Gothic ' vul})us,' and with ' Uller,' the name of the snow-bright winter god of the North, which has long since given way to the romance ' glory.' ' Invit ' = ' inward sense/ may be understood by a child, whereas for the English equivalent, ' con- science,' he requires a dictionary, and for ' Pharisees,' acquaintance with Hebrew, when ' sunder-halga,' i.e., ' separated from others by holiness,' bears its meaning on its face. ' Patriarch ' may be a very good word, but it is mere Greek. Why should it have superseded the venerable ' hehfader ' of our early tongue ? What a the Celtic Church was established at of Mayo, "A great light of know- Lindisfarne, whence it passed later ledge has gone out from you to divers southward to other parts of England parts of our country." not under Saxon sway or conforming i London, 1571, with dedication to to the customs of the Roman Church. Queen Elizabeth by Foxe, the mar- In the fifth century St. Perran and tyrologist, under the auspices of St. Petroc, both Irishmen, invaded Archbishop Parker. The edition in us in the far west, and converted the 4to, by Dr. Marshall, rector of Lin- people of Cornwall, so that Ireland coin, Dordrecht, 1665, with Junius' or Scotia bore no mean part in the Gothic version. Anglo-Saxon Gos- conversion of Britain. This is further pels, Thorpe, 1842. The Anglo-Saxon attested by a MS. at St. Gall, the and Northumbrian versions (Lindis- work of Dubduin, an Irishman, which fame and Rushworth), synoptically celebrates the praises of those many arranged, begun by Kemble in 1858 ; Irish saints, " Semina qui vita? Anglo- the last three Gospels by Skeat, rum sparsere per agros " (Report on Cambridge University Press ; a tri- Eymer's " Fcedera," App. A., p. 92). umph of editorial labour and accu- So Alcuin writes to monks in county racy. JUNIUS AND OTHERS HELP ON THE WORK. 23 volume of instruction there lay in a single word, ' dsed- bot ' = ' deed-boot,' ' amendment of our ways,' which modern English obscured into ' repentance,' a term to which your average Englishman will be found to attach very little practical and active significance. Again, our " strain at a gnat " forsakes the meaning of the original Greek, which the Anglo-Saxon version, "ge drehniag aweg " (ye drain (strain) away the gnat), does not (Matt, xxiii. 24). Surely there is something more than senti- ment at stake in these matters. Had it not been for Parker and others, that interview between Abbot Gregory and the fair-haired Angle slave boys, which led, when he became Pope, to his sending missionaries to their heathen home, would not have been told us in the Saxon tongue. The great similarity between Anglo-Saxon and English ought to encourage beginners in our early tongue. Take the passage, St. Luke iii., " And his fan is in his hand," &c. Here is the Anglo-Saxon, almost word for word the same : " And his fan ys on his handa, and he feormaS (to farm = cleanse) his bernes flore, and gaderag his hwaete into his berne ; biet ceaf he forbasrnS on unacwencedlicum fyre." No better witness is wanted to the beauty and power of Anglo-Saxon than the fact that Gray's " Elegy," the widest known of all our poems, is Saxon throughout, in its words, its alliterations, its homely music, and staid earnestness. But for Parker, the Bodleian Library would not pos- sess that Anglo-Saxon version of Gregory's " Dialogues, ' attributed by Asser to Werfrith, Bishop of Worcester, written at a time apparently when the language was at its best, which hitherto has remained unpublished. 1 So also but for him the " Pastoral Care " of Pope Gregory, with its translation by King Alfred, sometimes word for word, as he explains in the preface, sometimes the mean- 1 An Icelandic version of these " Heilagra Manna Sogur," C. Unger Dialogues has recently appeared in (i. 179), (Jhristiania, 1877. 24 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. ing of a whole sentence given, might never have reached us, although this very preface, with the similar one pre- fixed to the King's version of Boethius, affords us one of our most satisfactory glimpses into the character of our great King. Here we have the true Pater Patrice, only solicitous for the welfare of his countrymen, and work- ing honestly in their behalf, quite content to submit to the drudgery of a translator if he can elevate the character of the clergy and, through them, of his people. He intends, he says, to send a copy of this book to all the bishops in his land. And well he might, for " few priests on this side the Humber, and not many beyond it, could under- stand the ritual in English, or translate a letter from Latin into their native tongue." This " Pastoral Care " and the translation of Orosius — Bede copied whole chapters from it — are the. only works of Alfred preserved in contemporary manuscripts. 1 The latter book, the work of the Spanish presbyter Orosius, the friend of St. Augus- tine, Bishop of Hippo, a Latin history of the world on Christian principles, was very popular in those days. But it is uninteresting enough, its chief feature being the way in which the author retorts on those who inveigh against Christianity, by showing how much better things were now than in the times of heathenism. What cdves the work an interest not its own is the sudden interpola- tion by Alfred, without any preface, of two narratives of travel, the one by Ohthere, a native of Haligoland in the north of Norway, of a coasting voyage of discovery to the White Sea and Biarmaland ; the other up the Baltic, by Wulfstan, starting from the old town of Hedaby or Sleswig. The two narratives only fill up about five pages, but the bit of real life in them — so simple, so pithy, and direct, so refreshing after the pompous phraseology and artificial reflexions of the Spaniard — is worth infinitely more than all his volume put together. The notices of the Finmark coast and of the Quains, the account of the 1 Gregory's "Pastoral Care," by II. Sweet, Introd., p. xxi. JUNIUS AND OTHERS HELP ON THE WORK. 25 curious burial customs of the Esthonians, and of the rise in the price of horses in consequence, are quite unique. The two navigators throw a light on points of contem- porary manners and geography to be found nowhere else. Ohthere, the Norwegian, was, if the dates can be properly adjusted, very likely one of the great men of Norway, driven thence by the tyranny of Harold Harfager after the knock-down blow to the freedom of the petty states by his signal victory at Hafursfiord. He then became attracted to England by the fame of King Alfred, to whose court he attached himself as one of his gesigas or com- rades, and who would therefore be Ohthere' s Hlaford. A distinguished historian has stated that Alfred fore- stalled our own age in sending expeditions to explore the Northern Ocean. This inference can hardly be made from the text of Orosius. Ohthere tells the King that he once started up north, partly from motives of curiosity, to find out how far the land lay northwards, and partly and chiefly for the walruses (hors-hvaelum), which have teeth of very costly bone : some of which teeth he brought to the King. This .' extraordinary voyage,' as it"' has been called by another writer, sinks into nothing in comparison with the Swede Gardar's discovery of Iceland, 860, with that of Greenland, 877, and that of America, by North- men, centuries before Columbus. But we must give the reader a paragraph or two from Wulfstan :— " There is a custom among the Esthonians, that when arjy one is dead he lies in the house unburnt with his relations and friends for one month, sometimes two; and the kings and other great men so much longer as they have more wealth. Sometimes it is half a year that they remain unburnt, and lie aboveground in their houses ; and all the while that the corpse is in the house it is the fashion to have drinking and sports till the day they burn it. Then, the same day that they carry it to the pile, they divide the property that is left, after the 26 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. drinking and the sports, into five or six, sometimes more, parts, according to the value of it. Then they lay the largest part about a mile from the homestead, then another, then a third, until it is all laid within the mile ; and the last portion must be nearest to the dwelling where the dead man lies. Then shall be assembled all the men who have the swiftest horses in the country to the distance of five or six miles from the property. Then they all run towards the property ; then comes the man who has the swiftest horse to the first and largest portion, and so each after other, until the whole is taken, and he takes the least portion who gets that which is nearest the dwelling. And then each one rides away with the property and they may have it all ; and for this cause swift horses are uncom- monly dear. And when all his wealth is thus distributed, they carry him out and burn him with his weapons and raiment. And chiefly they spend the whole wealth of the deceased by the dead man's lying so long in the house, and for that they lay on the way that which the strangers run to and take." All honour to Alfred for the way in which he resolutely assays to rehabitate the vernacular. Pity he had nobody at his elbow to hint to him that Latin literature had something more worth translating than Boethius and Orosius. As, however, he frequently inserts matter of his own, and himself penned the prefaces to three of his translations, we are not left without the means of seeing that his style was clear and forcible. The loss of his ' day-book,' mentioned by Malmesbury, leaves a hiatus, val dc deflendus, in our knowledge of the King and his character. ( 2 7 ) CHAPTER III. BEDE : HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE ANGLES. But before continuing our list of Anglo-Saxon works saved to us by Parker, perhaps it will be best to begin at the beginning and say something about English writers before Alfred, whether they wrote in the vernacular or not. Bede of course stands foremost (born 672 or 673, died 735). He was one of that bright galaxy of pious, learned, and energetic men who, each in their several vocations, contributed to make Northumbria during the seventh century the famous abode of learning and religion. While that other great Northumbrian, the splendid Wil- frid, was ever on the move revealing the wonders of foreign art in connection with religion, and spreading abroad learning and culture, Bede was content to keep at his monastic home and move the world with his pen. Born in the vicinity of Wearmouth, he entered the monastery at the age of seven as chorister, and passed thence to the sister foundation at Jarrow, where he dwelt all his days hard at work. " It was my constant delight either to learn or teach or write " (H. E. A., v. 24). But though thus preoccupied, he did not neglect to set a good example to the brethren in his conscientious attend- ance on public worship. " Bede, our master and your patron, used to say, ' I well know angels visit the congre- gations of the brethren at canonical hours. What if they should not find me there with the rest ? Will they not say, Where is Bede ? why comes he not with his brethren to the prescribed prayers ? ' ,: (Alcuin's Epistles, 844). 28 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Assisted most likely in bis study of Latin and Greek by the successors of Tbeodore and Adrian, be would doubtless ransack tbe many literary treasures brougbt chiefly from Rome and stowed away in tbe twin monas- teries of Wearmoutb and Jarrow, and the result was tbe ripest scholar of tbe time. None more illustrious in tbe history of literature and science is to be found in the Middle Ages. Anything from bis pen was eagerly sought for abroad as well as at home. ' Send me that tractate of Bede's,' was the constant request of tbe learned. His treatises on chronology and astronomy are more clear, comprehensive, and accurate than those of his contem- poraries or immediate successors. Skilled in the theory of music, he was no trifling mathematician. In fact, had an encyclopaedia been started in those days, Bede must have written every article. But it is as a divine that be is pre- eminent. In tbe list of thirty-seven works written by him which he appends to his History, at least thirty are of a theological character. Good use indeed must he have made of bis opportunities. That he was able to construct a history at all is a marvel. It was but tbe other clay, so to speak (a.d. 626), that tbe Eoman mis- sionary Paulinus had effected the renaissance of Chris- tianity in Pagan Northumbria, and with his departure darkness must have crept again over the land. But must we not believe that from the days of the Scot, Columba (565), and his mission to the Picts, a protoplasm of cul- ture and Christian light had always been alive in the North, which further developed after the Scots (634) began their episcopal government of Northumberland in the person of Aidan. Or rather we know that, long before Bede, many English resorted to Ireland for study and instruction (H. E., iii. 27). He was a light in a dark place ; the lamp of the Church, as Boniface said (Monumenta Moguntina, p. 181), when she was groping along blindly with uncertain step. A signal testimony to bis erudition is offered by Iceland, BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 29 which spoke of him as ' Frogi,' the learned. In the pre- face to the " Landnamabok " or history of the colonisation of Iceland, Ari FroSi (born 1067, died 1148) states that Bede, who died more than a hundred years before the Northmen set foot in Iceland, talks of it under the name of Thule ; and he conjectures that Bede must have got his information from the Papaj or Irish monks, Culdee eremites, who visited Iceland long before the Norwegians, and disappeared again, leaving, however, traces of their visit in Irish books, bells, and croziers, which were found in the north-west of the island. 1 The solution of the question why so godly a man came to be called 'venerable,' and not 'saint,' after his death, is given in an Icelandic MS. of the fourteenth century. A clerk wished to compose his epitaph, he got as far as " Hac sunt in fossa," but could not manage to introduce ' sanctus ' into the rest of the hexameter. Soon after he visited Bede's tomb, and sure enough 1 Here then we have traces of that Ireland said to have been known as the Isle of Saints and of learning as early as the fifth century. From hence is- sued men like St. Gall, 585, St. Colum- bauus, about 612, St. Kilian, 680, St. Fridolin, the patron saint of Glarus, compassing sea and land to spread Christianity. Of these men wrote Alcuin (Ep. p. 714), " In ancient times most learned men used to go from Ireland to Britain, Gaul, and Italy, to the great profit of the Churches of Christ.'' Let us here describe an inci- dent in their Swiss mission. St. Gall was once fishing with a net in the silence of the night when he heard the spirit from the top of the mountain calling to the spirit of the lake, ' Kise and help me ! The strangers have come and ejected me from my temjilc.' (Saints Gall andColumbauus had been breakingthree gilded idols worshipped by the natives.) 'Come and help me to turn them out of the land.' The spirit of the lake answered, 'Lo! oneofthcm is on the lake, whom I seek to hurt, but in vain. I sought to damage his net, but I was foiled. He never sleeps, and is always guarded by the emblem of prayer.' The saint hearing these words, at once crossed himself all round by way of safeguard, and cried, ' In Christ's name I bid you vanish and hurt no one in this place. ' Then he at once made for the shore and told his abbot what he had heard." — Pertz, Mon. Germ. Historica (anno 610), ii. 7. To the ear of the enthu- siast at supreme crises of human fate such notes have often sounded. Such was that agonised cry, "Great Pan is dead ! " heard in the reign of Tiberias on that loue isle in the Ionian Sea. Such that mysterious "Let us depart hence ! " proceeding from the Holy of Holies when Titus was advancing to the siege of Jerusalem. So Cuculain, borne aloft on his fairy chariot, an- nounced to weeping Evin the coming of the Christian. 3° OLD ENGLISH L 1 TERA TUR E. there was the line complete "Hac sunt in fossa Bedse venerabilis ossa." This tale is somewhat varied in the ^Iariusaga, 65 1 (Unger, Christiania). It greatly resembles a legend in the Flateybok, i. 214, told of a Scald. Bede's great work, written by him 731, is the "Ecclesi- astical History of the Nation of the Angles : ' n a name which he, a native of Anglian JSTorthumbria, and born during the predominance of that state, applied to the whole of Eng- land. It is derived from original and valuable materials, and abounds with facts otherwise unknown, and a number of traditionary anecdotes and bits of verbal information from the mouths of different individuals. Such were Albinus, Abbot of Canterbury, who sent Nothelm to Eome to search the Papal archives for information; Daniel, Bishop of the West Saxons, who enlightened him on his part of the island ; and the monks of Lastingham, near Whitby (iii. 23). Abbot Esi was his authority about the eastern counties; while Bishop Cunebert and others of credit informed him about Lindsey. For Northumbria there was no lack of reliable people whom he consulted. All these sources he seems to have drawn upon with honest careful- ness and impartiality. As for the earliest portion of the book, he copies some portions straight from Eutropius, Orosius, and Gildas. His history cannot be considered as ^presenting the general, much less the political, history of the people for whom he wrote. 2 But such was the badge of the whole tribe of mediaeval historians ; they were always special and local. Secular matters he doubtless was acquainted with, but they were not in his line. Moreover, Bede's History has another drawback. It is written in Latin, which, with no claim to purity and elegance, is nevertheless free from the pedantic affectations of Aid- helm, the upholder of learning in the South of England. Not that he was a mere Latiner. He could quote with 1 Venerabilis Bedae, Hist. Eccles. 2 Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue of Gentis Anglorum renens. J. Steven- Materials for British History, p. son. Londiui, 1838. Moberly, Ox- xiii. ford, 1869. ] BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 31 approbation the laws of Ethelbert, written in Anglo-Saxon (H. K, ii. 5). He cited a snatch of an old ballad on the death of King Oswald near Oswestry. He turned, as he says, the Lord's Prayer and Creed into the vernacular for the use of the idiotse, or clergy ignorant of Latin (Epist. ad Ecgb., p. 211); and, as we learn from the affecting letter of Cuthbert, 1 in his last moments he sang bits of old Saxon religious hymns, " in which literature he was well skilled ; " such, for instance, as that one concerning the fearful severance of soul and body, which ran thus : — " Before his need-faring (death) none can be More careful than he should In reflecting ere his exit On his soul, whether good or evil At his death-day will be doomed." This addiction to Latin somewhat denationalised Bede. What would Livy's countrymen have thought had his History been composed in Greek ? What should we Englishmen have deemed of Scott or Macaulay had they written in Latin, even though their Latin might savour, like that of Bede, of the refined influence of Virgil ? But, putting aside this defect, Bede's work must ever be the pride and rejoicing of England, as being a monument of literary power when literary power was rare. His last work was no doubt a translation in Old Northern English of St. John's Gospel, the last verse of which he penned just before he died. But surely this is slender ground for the assertion made by some, that he tried to render English the literary language of England. His History does exist, it is true, in an Anglo-Saxon dress, the free translation attributed to King Alfred, but which could not have seen the light till some century and 1 When he died, all his worldly among his friends. Truly an admir- goods consisted of pepper, napkins, able character, simple, self-denying, and incense, which he distributed affectionate. 32 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. a half after Bede's death. Over and above the linguistic loss there is another and a real one. The writer in a foreign tongue can never give his nicer shades, whether of feeling or thought. The native aroma is exhaled and lost. For the rest, we may be assured that to the best of his ability he employed the materials before him conscien- tiously and with fidelity. In proof of this, we may state that he wrote a work called " Betractationes," to correct errors in his previous writings. Through Bede only our forefathers learned all about their conversion from Borne, and the order in point of time in which the various parts of England received the gospel ; how Christianity ebbed and flowed throughout the country till at last Paganism and the British Church were alike overborne by the mighty tide setting in from Borne ; how Kent received it first, a.d. 597, owing greatly no doubt to the fact that its king, Ethel- red, had a Christian wife from over sea ; the East Saxons, in 604, apostatising, however, on the death of their king, Saberct, and not recovered till 653 ; how Northumbria was gained over, 627; how Lincolnshire renounced Paganism in 628 at the teaching of Paulinus ; how the West Saxons, called by Bede " Paganissimi " (iii. 7), were converted, 635, by Birinus, who had been consecrated bishop by the Arch- bishop of Milan ; how Mercia, which longest resisted the Christian teachers, succumbed in 656 ; and Sussex was first converted by Bishop Wilfrid in 681 ; and how the Nor- thumbrian Church, which at its first conversion received the Boman use, on the death of Edwin went to pieces, and was restored by King Oswald, but upon the Scotch model, like many other Boman Churches in Britain. To aid him in his enterprise the King sent for Aidan from Iona (H. E., iii. 2), where he himself had learned Christianity in his exile. Aidan was a bad hand at Saxon, and so, when he preached, the King acted as his interpreter, " a very beautiful spec- tacle" (iii. 31). Aidan, says Bede, was a man of kindness, piety, and moderation. " He was zealous towards God, but not fully according to knowledge." In fact, he and BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 33 his successors at Lmdisfarne adhered to the more ancient rule about Easter and the tonsure, 1 and being now virtually the ecclesiastical heads of England north of the Humber, the Eoman teaching of course went to the wall. But the usages of Iona and Lindisfarne grew out of favour, and the memorable synod at Whitby, 664, rehabilitated Eomau Christianity as taught by Paulinus. On this occasion, in spite of the sturdy arguments of Bishop Colman, the ultra- montane Wilfrid triumphed, and his discomfited antago- nists retired to Iona ; and thus British Christianity was squared on the Procrustes bed of Borne, and the Celtic Church, the purer and more self-denying of the two,- sub- ordinated to the Apostolic See — a state of subjection which was further consummated by the despatch from Rome, four years later, of the Greek monk, Theodore, who became Archbishop of Canterbury. But much of this was achieved by Rome's usual methods. She persecuted all gainsayers to the bitter end. Even St. Augustine carried matters with too high a hand in his dealings with the British Christians. In her zeal for conformity the Italian Church forgot the instructions of the great and tolerant Gregory. But leaving these and other grand historic features of the work to the researches of the student, let us rather cull 1 Bede, iii. 25. Up to the Council knew nothing of the new - fangled of Nice the practice of the British tonsure, which had meantime come harmonised with that of the Roman into fashion in Rome. It claimed to Church. The most ancient Roman be derived from St. Peter, and oc- table for Easter tallies precisely with cupied the crown of the head, while the British Easter. From the Coun- the Irish or more primitive style of cil of Nice up to the middle of the tonsure, said by its adversaries to have fifth century, the Britons agree with come from Simon Magus, was marked Rome in its gradual divergence from by a line drawn over the forehead from that of Alexandria and the East, aris- ear to ear in the form of a large semi- ing mainly from the use of different circle, the hair behind being allowed lunar cycles. But in 458 the Roman to grow naturally. Columbanus and Church changed its rule, and the his followers startled the Continentals British Church, owing to its long not a little by his old-fashioned ton- isolation, was unaware of the novel sure. He claimed the right to follow method of keeping Easter brought the Irish Church in these matters. See over by Augustine. Another red rag in Reeves' " Adamnan," Haddan and Rome's eyes was the tonsure. Owing Stubbs, i. 152. to the same cause, the British Church 34 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. from it here and there bits likely to interest the general reader, premising, however, that the first chapter describes England as it was then — its vines and its corn and cattle ; the fishes in the sea and in the rivers ; the tin, iron, lead, and silver in its mines. To talk of this History and not to mention the famous chapter xiii. of the second book, would be to give the play of "Hamlet" without the Prince of Denmark. It is the account of the conversion of the Pagan King Edwin of JSTorthumbria in 627, and the speech of one of his notables at the supreme controversy upon the re- spective merits of the one true God and His counterfeits, where a woman, the King's spouse, Ethelberga, alias Tata, daughter of Ethelbert, had, as in the case of the conversion of Kent, a good deal to do with the final decision : an old storv, we see — " When love can teach a monarch to be wise, And gospel light first dawned in Boleyn's eyes." This speech was clearly that of a man whose mind owed its culture, not to book learning, but to the poetic fancies of the minstrel; interesting, moreover, as the first recorded specimen of British parliamentary eloquence. "Man's present life upon earth, when compared with the uncer- tain future, is to my mind somehow thus : When you sit at supper, King, in winter-time, with the fire blazing in the middle of the hall, and all is warm within while rain and snow are raging without, in comes a solitary sparrow, entering by one door and presently passing out at another. AVhile it stays in the hall it is secure from the winter's storm, but anon it returns to whence it came and vanishes from thy sight, Just so the life of man appears for a little while ; but of its past and future we know nought. Wherefore, if this new doctrine can give us any more certitude about this matter, I vote for its adoption." What a true picture! The poor shivering sparrow — sparrows, we see, did frequent men's houses in England a thousand years ago, as they did in Palestine goodness BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 35 knows how long before — rushing, as birds will do in the blustering night, towards the light revealed to it by the opening of the hall door; forthwith aghast at the blaze and the din of the hall, and fluttering hither and thither till it finds a place of exit and is seen no more. The com- parison of this bird's lot and ours, that is a piece of homely poetry which goes straight to its mark. It makes us feel we should have liked to have had speech with that man ; yes, and we are delighted with an author who could, out of his abundant material, select an incident so simple and telling to illustrate his narrative. The picture, which succeeds, of the Saxon Coifi, 1 converted by the preaching of Paulinus, and riding lance in rest to the destruction of the heathen altar at Goodmanham, will recall to the Ice- landic student similar iconoclastic doings in Norway, where Christianity, however, found much less favourable material to work upon than among the more tractable Saxons. The short tale of the conversion of Lincolnshire by Paulinus (a.d. 628), told to Bede by Deda, a most vera- cious monk of the monastery of Partney, has a special interest from the realistic portrait of the great missionary. "He used to relate that Paulinus was a man of tall stature, somewhat bent, with black hair, lank face, a curved very thin nose, with a venerable and awful look " (H. E., ii. 16). And the anecdote of this same King Edwin is no less interesting, viz. : — " In his reign so profound a peace reigned in Britain that, as the proverb ran, a woman with a newly-born baby might have gone through the whole island on foot without molestation." 2 But, after all, this might only have been an echo of the much more ancient 1 A nickname for cof (= Is. akafr), 2 " The Lay of Grotti ; or, The 'bold,' 'strenuous.' Can our slang Mill Song." The contemporary 'cove' be a descendant of Coifi? Our author of the " AVar of the Gaudhill forefathers affected nicknames. The with the Gaill" (cap. lxxx.), de- sons of Saberct, king of East Anglia, scribes the universal peace that pre- called their defunct father 'Saba' vailed in Ireland during the reign of (H. E., ii. 5). Others derive it from King Brian Borumha (died 1014) in coibhi = helpful. these terms : — " A lone woman might 36 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. mythological tale in Snorri's " Skaldskaparmal," cap. 43, of King Fro'Si's peace, and how it came to an end. King Frofti was a powerful king, who is said to have ruled in Denmark about the Christian era. In those Saturnian days " no man injured another, though he might chance to meet his father's or brother's murderer in freedom or in fetters. Then there was no thief or robber, so that a gold ring long lay untouched on Jalanger heath." Bede tells another tale about this king. " So much did he consult the convenience of his people, that in many places, for the refreshment of travellers, he erected fountains at the public cross-ways, near which he suspended brazen cups on poles, which nobody, either out of great fear or great love of the king, dared to touch except to drink out of " (ii. 16). So that we see the public fountain movement is not so modern as some people imagine. Was a more miraculous cure ever heard of than that effected by the mere dust of the spot where the young King Oswald of Northumberland fell at Maser- fieldl — one of the five monarchs slain by the ferocious Penda. " It chanced that a horseman, not long after this monarch's death, rode by the place, when his horse sud- denly made a dead stop, bent its head to the earth, foamed at the mouth, and, as its pain became intense, was on the point of falling. The rider leaped down, and strewing some straw about, began to await the hour when his steed would get better or die. The animal in its agonies kept rolling about till it came to the spot where that famous monarch died, when on a sudden it ceased from its mad contortions, . . . rose up at once, and, with all the appearance of being perfectly well, began greedily brows- ing on the herbage around " (iii. 9). " This was merely the offspring of chance," exclaims some Judams Apella. Then listen and be convinced. have walked in safety from Torach Glandore, co. Cork), i.e., through (i.e., Tory Island, in Donegal) to the whole length of Ireland, carrying Cliodhna (a rock in the harbour of a ring of gold on a horse-rod." BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 37 How, to wit, the deceased monarch's queen, when once staying at Bardney Abbey, now a railway station a few miles east of Lincoln, gave to that venerable lady, the Abbess Edilhilda, who came to see her, a modicum of the dust which had been scraped from the spot where the said king's soap-suds used to be cast out of his bed-chamber window. The Abbess stored it up in a little box. Not long after, a stranger, who had called at her abbey and received a good supper, went to bed and was suddenly seized with a fit of ' the blue devils,' or rather, as he foamed, gnashed his teeth, writhed his body, he gave every sign of being possessed by the devil himself. A servant immediately ran to arouse the Abbess. Up she got, and, accompanied by a single female attendant, went to the men's quarter, and called out a presbyter to accom- pany them. On reaching the patient, the priest began exorcising with all his might, but his efforts were of no avail. What was to be done ? In this strait the Abbess bethought herself of the powder, and at once despatched a female to fetch the box. With this she entered the apartment where the sufferer writhed in agony. Imme- diately on her entrance he became silent, sank down his head, and composed his limbs to slumber. " Conticuere omnes," says the historian, in Virgilian vein, " intentique ora tenebant." Those around looked on in silent amaze- ment. After about an hour the sufferer sat up, gave a great sigh, and in reply to the anxious questionings of the bystanders said, " When this lady entered the apartment with the box, all the evil spirits left me" (iii. 11). The tale Bede tells us (iv. 24), in his History of Coedmon, how that when the rustics of the North Biding were at the ale-bench, the fiddle (cithara) passed round in order, and each one sang his song to its accompaniment, surely whets our curiosity to know what the songs were about; certainly they were not of a grave cast. Bede distinctly says they were sung " lsetitise causa." Berhaps songs of Ingald, an epic hero in Beowulf, which the 3S OLD ENGLISH LIT ERA TURE. monks of Lindisfarne used to sing after supper, and were reprimanded by Alcuin for so doing (Mon. Ale, 357). William of Malmesbury mentions these profane songs. We may here observe that in the so-called Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Bede the impromptu verses of the heaven-made poet are given in Anglo-Saxon. But whether these are the actual words of the cowherd, or a metrical paraphrase, or retranslation from the Latin text, which, Bede himself confesses, gives the sense and not the order of the words, is a moot-point, 1 Be it remembered that the poem of Caedmon, as it is called, is quite another thing centuries after the date of the poet. When we read anecdotes like the following, one seems to regret that no charity organisation society was at work in those days. " King Oswin was tall and handsome, of pleasant address and attractive manners, and open-handed to rich and poor alike. He gave Aidan the priest a first- rate horse, in order that he might cross the rivers, or use it wherever there was need, although he was in the habit of journeying on foot. Shortly after he encounters a beggar who asked for alms. He immediately descended from his horse, and made the beggar a present of it, royally caparisoned as it was " (iii. 14). The King naturally resented this, and took the holy man to task for giving to such a person so valuable an animal. Certainly in this age such an act would be justly looked on as absurd, but the duties of Christianity were in those times somewhat misunderstood, to the encouragement, doubtless, of much idleness and imposture. But it must be remembered that those were days when a man who deserted his wife and family and went touring it to Eome was thought to be doing a most meritorious act. The visions of Fursey, who had arrived in England, 6^, must have been of a very striking character, for we are 1 Wanley's Catalogue, p. 287, prints initial lines in the old Northumbrian from the margin of a MS. of Bede's dialect. These, therefore, probably Latin History of the year 737 the are the ipsissima verba of the poet. BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 39 told that when narrated by that holy man himself, it made an auditor sweat as if it were the dog-days, although it was really midwinter, the earth bound with ice, and he wearing at the time quite a light suit of clothes (iii. 19). An incident of a somewhat ugly look is recorded in one of this saint's visions. In company with an angel he approached close to a very fierce fire, when the unclean spirits immediately pitched at him one of those whom they were engaged in burning, and who, coming in con- tact with him, burnt his shoulder and jaw, leaving a mark never to be erased. The guardian angel pitched back the man, but not before Fursey recognised him as one who, just before he died, made him a present of his cloak. The enemy cried out, " Don't repel one whom you formerly took charge of. You got this sinner's goods, why not partake of his punishment." The angel resolutely stood up in defence of Fursey, but said aside to him, " It is all your fault ; if you had not received the money of this man, who died in his sins, you would not have had a part of his punishment" (iii. 19). 1 Fursey here, inadvertently as it were, draws back the coverings from a very sore spot in Popish history. In a book like Bede's, abounding in miracles and visions, a circumstantial vision of the abodes of the saved and the lost and of purgatory was to be expected ; and such is to be found at v. 12, which is written with considerable fervour of style and description. 2 Touching the five years' work of Bishop Wilfrid among the South Saxons, after his quarrel with King Ecgfrith and deposition from the bishopric of Northumbria, Bede relates one thing as having paved the way towards the conversion of the people of Sussex, a.d. 68 i, viz., that in a time of great scarcity he caused " both their souls and bodies to rejoice " by teaching them how to catch fish, 1 See Tungulus or Duggal in Icelandic Tart. - See " Monumenta Moguntina," an account of similar visions seen by a monk of Wenlock. 40 OLD ENGLISH L1TERA TURE. which abounded in the rivers and on the sea coast of the county. Their piscatorial skill extended hitherto only to catching eels, but he caused all their eel-nets to be collected and cast into the sea for a draught, which was most successful, three hundred and three fishes of divers kinds being captured, which were distributed in three equal portions among the poor, the net-owners, and the missionaries (iv. 13). Assuming this alleged ignorance of fishing to be a fact, which seems almost incredible, the anecdote becomes interesting in these days when the question is much disputed whether Christian missions to the heathen should be preceded by, accompanied, or succeeded by, teaching them the arts of civilisation. Dr. Livingstone, in a conversation with the present writer, certainly inclined to making trade go hand in hand with the teaching of Christianity in Africa, a theory which seems suited to our composite requirements, and in con- nection with which we may quote the words of a colonial bishop : " In the eyes of Pagan savages a display of the arts of civilisation almost takes the place of the miracles wrought in the days of founding Christianity." The anecdote related by Wilfrid's biographer, Eddius, the Itipon man, the choir-master of the Northumbrian churches, about the wreckers in this same county, who assailed the Bishop when his ship was stranded on their shore, it being their wont to make slaves of all ship- wrecked mariners, and slay them if they resisted, is a much more probable affair. Here, too, we see the first glimpses of a custom which has only recently been sup- pressed in these isles. The state of medical science in that age is aptly illus- trated by our historian (v. 3). A nun called Qucenburg, in a Yorkshire monastery, had been bled in the arm (phlebotomata est brachio) ; she had returned to her studies, when the arm swelled to such a size that it could scarcely be clasped by two hands, and she seemed at the point of death. At this juncture John of Beverly, one of BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 41 the greatest miracle-workers that these isles ever had, chanced to arrive. He was told about the unfortunate damsel, with the entreaty that he would use his miraculous powers in her behalf. Being an adept in medicine, he inquired when she was bled, and on the Abbess informing him that it was on the fourth of the moon, he blamed her severely for her ignorance. " I remember," added he, " Archbishop Theodore of blessed memory said that bleed- ing at that time was highly dangerous, when both the b>ht of the moon and the flood of the ocean are on the increase." J It is needless to say that he cured the patient at once. The following shows that in Yorkshire the passion for horse-racing is not of yesterday. Once on a time the said Bishop John was riding, attended by his chaplain, Here- bald, afterwards Abbot of Tynemouth, and other youths, chiefly of the laity, when they came upon a flat piece of turf. " Would your reverence allow us to have a gallop?" was their submissive request. " Yes, if you wish," was the reluctant reply ; " all of you except Herebald ; he must stay beside me." But as the steeds thundered by, it was too much for the chaplain, " lascivo superatus animo non me potui cohibere," as he expressed it in after years. Un- fortunately when in full career his horse put his foot on a loose stone covered with grass, and fell with his rider, who broke his thumb and the suture of his cranium, and vomited blood. But what of that ? John passed the night in prayer, applied his hand to the wound, and finally spat in the patient's face, a method of treatment which enabled him to mount his horse the next day (H. E., v. 6). But John's powers by no means ceased with his death, for is it not recorded by Folcard, his biographer, that a French fratricide, who wore for penance, like Pascal in later times, an" iron girdle, once arrived at Beverly, and on entering the minster crack went the girdle ; nay, the author was present and heard the report (1 170-1180). 1 See Eede's curious tractate, " De rblebotouiia." 4: OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Some readers may be interested in the following: — " Dryhthelm 1 the monk had a cell just over the river Tweed. Into this he used constantly to descend, and stand fixed like a statue, with the water sometimes up to his loins, sometimes his neck. After the bath he never changed his wet dress, but let it dry on his body. On one occasion, when the river was frozen, he broke the ice and plunged into the water. ' I wonder, brother,' said the bystanders, ' how you can possibly endure such cold.' Dryhthelm replied, for he was a man of a quiet and simple turn, ' I have known it colder.' And when they said, ' It is quite extraordinary that you lead so austere a life,' he rejoined, 'I have seen austerer'" (v. 12). The old " Cyclolytes " Club doubtless had a fancy portrait of this bather in all weathers suspended in their room of meeting. But we must turn to graver matters. As we have seen above, the true time of calculating Easter was in the early days of Roman Christianity a moot-point discussed with great heat between the Scottish (Irish) Church, which held one rule, and the Church of Rome, which held another. It is not a little interesting, then, to be informed by the author (v. 15) how the Irishman Adamnan, Abbot of Iona, and author of the " Life of St. Columba," after a long residence in the kingdom of ISTorthumbria, sailed to his native country, and converted the people to the Roman rule, a.d. 703. It was this same monk that wrote the work on the geography of the East from the descrip- tion, by word of mouth and on waxen tablets, of the Erankish bishop, Arculplms, who, on his return from Palestine at the end of the seventh century, had been wrecked on the western shores of Britain (ibid.). What makes Arculph's narrative about the holy places especi- ally interesting is the picture of Bethlehem, Golgotha, &c, as they were less than seven centuries after the year of redemption. This work of Adamnan probably, together 1 Corrupted in Anglo-Saxon Chron., 693, into Brihthelm. BEDE AND HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 43 with the later Vikings' expeditions eastward, helped to pave the way for those Eastern pilgrimages which eventu- ated centuries after in the Crusades, one of the mightiest factors in the work of European civilisation. Enough has been said to show what Bede's famous His- tory is like. It was meet that, though written in a foreign tongue, this national book should be noticed thus at length; for, in fact, with the exception of that remarkable work, our " Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," and of Ethel weard's Latin " History of the Anglo-Saxons," l which closes with the last year of Eadgar's reign, 975, with a few Latin monastic chronicles — e.g., those of Ely, Ramsey, and the " Historia de Dunelmensi Ecclesia," 635-1096, attributed to Simeon of Durham, much of which comes from Bede — it is all that is left to us of regular history. 2 1 Printed in Saville,"Scriptores post Church of York," vol. i.) to be "an Bedam." London, 1596. The original invaluable and almost unknown evi- MS. burnt with the Cotton Library. dence for the reigns of Edgar and 2 Add to these an anonymous Latin Ethelred." Eddi's " Life of Wilfrid ;" "Life of Oswald, Archbishop of two Lives of Dunstan, edited by York," pronounced by Professor Stubbs ; and Abbo's " Life of St. Ed- Stubbs (see Raines' " History of the mund '' (see next chapter). ( 44 ) CHArTEE IV. BEDe's LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT AND OF THE ABBOTS OF WEARMOUTH AND J ARROW — 52". EDMUND, ST. S WITHIN, ST. NEOT, AND ST. GUTHLAC. But there is another source of information upon Anglo- Saxon times which in no little degree fills up what regular history fails to supply — we mean biographies, chiefly of saints. Sometimes they are the only source whence in- formation upon points of much moment can be derived. Not only are these interesting in a historical point of view, but they also abound with much curious information of another sort. In them we find descriptions of character for which we search in vain in the more dignified pages of the professed historian. References are made here to the manners and customs, the dress, amusements, and super- stitions, the agriculture and political economy, the arts and sciences, the society and the literature of our ances- tors ; and it may be affirmed that there is scarcely a legend, however absurd, from which some information may not be gleaned. But although these biographies form so important a link in the chain connecting the past with the present, they abound in dross which must be separated from the true ore. For, be it remembered, these Middle -Age writers moved in fetters. Superstition held them in its iron grip. In the simplest concerns of life, where we look for natural causes to explain events, they dragged in the supernatural, and thought it impious to do otherwise. A murrain or a famine, with the Anglo-Saxon, was a direct judgment of BEDES LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 45 Heaven ; while with the modern it would be referred, like commercial distress, to spots in the sun or some other physical phenomena. The author of " Midsummer Night's Dream " did not, like Bede, profess to be writing history when he ascribed the plague of waters to a quarrel between the wayward rulers of the fairy world. Still it is often hard to say whether the inditers of these Anglo-Saxon lives of saints meant what they w 7 rote to be understood symbolically or as matters of fact, or as sober certainties veiled under poetic imaginings, after the fashion of the " Pilgrim's Progress." The whole matter, perhaps, was regulated by the law of supply and demand. Eooted in Paganism, the craving for miracles was fed by the Chris- tian priests, and grew by what it fed on. In their zeal for spreading the gospel, they poured the new wine into old vessels, and it savoured perilously of the cask. Bede's great work abounds, as we have seen, with notices of the lives of holy men. But he also wrote regular bio- graphies — e.g., that of St. Cuthbert — both in prose and verse. Both of these have been preserved. Before having it transcribed, he sent it to Lindisfarne to be overhauled by the brethren and the mistakes amended ; so that we have here a veritable narrative of the saint's life. Resolved to bid adieu to the world, the soldier of the cross betook himself to Melrose, and became a monk there under the virtuous Abbot Boisil. Later he joined the community at Papon, from which place he and his companions were eliminated to make way for Wilfrid and his friends, who adhered to Rome in the great question of the day as to how to compute Easter. On Boisil's death Cuthbert suc- ceeded him at Melrose, from whence, after an abode of many years, he was transferred to Lindisfarne as prior. When he had passed some years as the active head of this church, he resolved to seek the devil-haunted seclusion of the barren rock at Fame. Here he hoped to go on from strength to strength, and so to gain nearer glimpses of the Deity. But he was not permitted to rest in his retreat ; for in 684 a synod, presided over by Archbishop Theo- 46 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. dore, and at which King Ecgfrid was present, elected him unanimously Bishop of Lindisfarne. It was in vain he said "Nolo Episcopari," and meant it. The King would take no refusal ; and he and Bishop Trumwin, and a host of great folks, lay and clerical, rowed over to Fame and with tears in their eyes forced the mitre on the reluctant anchorite. A hazardous translation, considering his ante- cedents ; and, in fact, two years later we find him again in Fame. But we are anticipating. Cuthbert was not naturally an ascetic. As a hoy he was fond of a joke or a good howl when playing with other boys. Agile he was in all his limbs, expert beyond his age in jumping, running, wrestling, and all muscular exercises ; indeed not a lad of the district could compete with him. But before he grew to man's estate he put away these childish things. And the occasion of it was this: Cuthbert was one day at his favourite resort, the wrestling-ring, with a crowd of boy hero-worshippers eagerly admiring him as he twisted his limbs like a very Python. At this moment a small boy, about three years of age, pushed into the crowd, and, with that preternatural gravity and unction supposed to be peculiar to a Scotch revival, rebuked him for his grotesque contortions of the body and his too great love of fun and frolic. " Fudge ! " laughed Cuthbert. On which the small boy threw himself to the earth and bedewed his face with tears. " How can you," at last he sobbed convulsively, "how can you, most revered priest Cuthbert, act in a manner so unbecoming your exalted destiny ? " &c, &c. Upon which Cuthbert from that moment ceased to indulge in childish sports, cut his wisdom-teeth on the spot, and forthwith went home with an old head grown, mushroom-wise, upon young shoulders, notwithstanding all adages to the contrary (Vit. Cuth., p. 50). Let us here take note that the love of wrestling, so characteristic of Cumberland and the ad- joining counties, is not a fashion of yesterday. We now see Cuthbert fairly embarked on his noble mission of preaching the gospel to the North. Terrible EEDE'S LIFE OF ST. CUT H BERT. 47 epidemics, we know, used to make the sparse population still sparser in those days. Thus in 661 A.D., when he was still at Melrose, Cuthbert catches the distemper then prevalent, apparently the plague, for he had a tumour on the groin, which ate inwards almost to the intestines. But he is cured by the prayers of the brethren, and is presently about again, with his boots on his feet and his stick in his hand. The lower orders were, of course, terribly alarmed at these visitations, and, although nominally Christians, had recourse to necromancy and amulets fastened to various parts of the body (incan- tationes vel alligaturas). ' Flectere si nequeo Superos Acheronta movebo ;' notwithstanding that Cuthbert, some- times on horseback, sometimes on foot, went all round the country rebuking their superstition. He would thus be absent from home a week or a month on a stretch, visiting out-of-the-way places in the mountains, where no teacher had ventured before, being deterred by the dangers of the path or the abject poverty of the rustics. In those days, whenever a missionary appeared, the country folks flocked in crowds to hear him, Cuthbert especially, whose face was so full of angelic love and penetrating insight, that the mere look at it made people confess the innermost thoughts of their heart (cap. 9). One day, while preaching in a hamlet, he became aware of the approach of the old enemy, bent on seduc- ing the minds of the hearers; so he determined to be beforehand with him, and observed parenthetically, " Now, dearly beloved, as often as the mysteries of heaven are preached to you, give great heed to the discourse, lest the devil distract your attention," after which he resumed the thread of his sermon. On this the enemy set fire to the adjoining house, and presently flames were seen flitting through the whole hamlet. Instantly nearly the whole of the audience, excepting a few whom the preacher managed to hold back, rushed away to extinguish the flames ; but all to no purpose, until Cuthbert's prayers 4^ OLD ENGLISH LIT ERA TURE. made the 'fantastic flames' vanish into thin air. The solution of the miracle is not far to seek. The fire was clearly a will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus, generated from the marshy surface of the ground (13). The miraculous sustentation of the prophet by the ravens in the Old Testament was, of course, repeated mutatis mutandis for the benefit of men so saint-like as Cuthbert. One day he was particularly sharp set for a meal, having forgotten to take food with him when he started on his journey, and no house was visible for miles. " That eagle flying yonder," said the saint to the boy with him, " can, if God wills, supply us with meat. But stay ! he has alighted on the river bank yonder. Go and see what he has got." Presently the lad returned with a big fish, which the bird had just caught in the river. "Not so," said the saint ; " we must share and share alike with this minister of the Lord." Whereupon he pulled out his knife, sliced the fish in twain, and sent one to the bird, and made a hearty meal of the other (ib. 73). Then we have another anecdote related to Bede by Brother Ingwald of Wearmouth, a most veracious witness (cap. 5). One morning late in the autumn the saint stopped to refresh not so much himself as his weary steed. " Pray, alight, father, and take somewhat to eat," said the good woman of the house. "No," was his steadfast and re- peated answer; "this is a fast- day," although the matron told him that there was not a vestige of a house to be seen on the road all day. Towards evening, seeing that he would not be able to get to his journey's end that day, he made for a miserable shieling used in summer by the shepherds, but now altogether deserted. Fastening his horse outside, he collected for him a bundle of hay, blown off the roof by the wind. This done, the saint betook himself to his hour of prayer and praise, in the middle of which he perceived that his horse had got his nose aloft, and was pulling down the thatch, along with which he saw a linen cloth fall to the earth. BEDE'S LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 49 Having duly completed his religious exercises, he went out and discovered wrapped up in the cloth half a loaf, quite warm, and some meat, enough for one meal. Giving thanks to Heaven for the miracle, the saint forthwith shared the bread with his horse, who devoured it with as much relish as his master (Vit. Cuth., p. 58). In the former anecdote we learn incidentally that once on a time the osprey might be seen shooting down like a falling star into the lone rivers of England, and emerging thence with captive fish in his talons ; while in the latter the interesting fact comes out that in those days the people of the North of England, like the natives of Norway now, had chalets (tuguria) in the hills, where they abode during the summer along with their flocks and herds, returning home with them on the approach of winter. Discarding the warmth of the bread, we should say it was part of the solitary shepherd's weekly provi- sions, which, on his return thither later from another chalet, he would sorely feel the want of. Like Dryhthelm, Cuthbert was at times smitten with a great love of cold water. When on a visit to Ebba, the Abbess of Coldingham 1 in Berwickshire, he used to steal out in the dead of the night, and absent himself for hours. The curiosity of one of the monks being excited, he stealthily followed him. Descending to the sea, which was close by, the saint waded into it up to his neck, and for hours kept singing psalms to the music of the waves. On the approach of dawn he issued from the water, and knelt down to pray on the shingle, when two quadrupeds, commonly called lutrse (i.e., otters 2 ), came out of the deep, and began warming his feet with their breath and 1 Eighteen years later, 679, the an otter that Hreidmar's son was slain place was destroyed by fire, a judg- by Loki (Prose Edda, i. 352), the first merit on the levity of the nuns (H. seed of that never-ceasing crop of E., iv. 25). greed and slaughter, the theme of the - What if this story he a waif of the Volsung story. ^Elfric must be mis- old mythology, and these otters of taken when he says in his sermon 011 human origin '! It was in the form of St. Cuthbert that they were seals. 5 o OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. diving them with their fur; after which, having whisked a blessing out of him, they retired to their native element, while he returned with the dawn to the monastery. All this was witnessed by ' Peeping Tom,' who, afraid to go home, lay among the rocks half dead with fear. At last he sneaked back to his cell, threw himself at Cuthbert's feet, and implored his forgiveness. This was granted on one condition, viz., that he should never reveal the secret to mortal man as long as Cuthbert lived — a vow which the other religiously kept (ib., 10), so he must have out- lived the saint. Some of the features of this tale seem borrowed from a like incident in the life of St. Columba, who predeceased Bede by 138 years, as he died a.d. 597 (Beeves' Adamnan, p. 219). There, too, the culprit is let off on undertaking not to reveal what he had seen in the saint's lifetime. Intrusive curiosity sometimes got off less easily. When Columba was at Drum Fionn, he borrowed a book from St. Finian, the Abbot, which he copied by night in the church by the light of the fingers of his other hand. The Abbot, anxious about his vellum, sent a messenger to the church, who peeped through the keyhole and saw the saint writing by the light of his luminous hand. But while so engaged, a pet crane, which had followed Columba into the building, drew nigh to the door, and putting his hill to the hole, pecked out the observer's eye (ib., 226). Columba, be it said, used to recite the Psalter every night immersed in cold water. In due time Cuthbert was transferred to the monastery of Lindisfarne, founded 635 by Aidan, the Celtic monk of Iona, and con- verter of Bernicia. It was, in sooth, no bed of roses, but that he did not covet. Exceedingly gentle in his manners and address, there lurked within — as is not unfrequent with such exteriors — a most indomitable will, that could successfully cope with the sternest opposition : the old energy this, but in another shape, which made him a victor in the wrestling-ring. Now Cuthbert was a follower of the new or straitest monastic rules, while the monks of BEDES LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 51 Lindisfarne inclined to the older and less austere. It can be easily imagined, therefore, that they would have rather had times of it. They liked to slumber through the night undisturbed, and have besides their midday siesta. But he seems to have had a way of poking them up in their sleep, to their great discontent. At such times he reviled their pusillanimity, saying he for his part liked to have his sleep broken, as he at once got up and busied himself in useful occupations. Not unfrequently the matter was discussed in chapter, and so irate were the fraternity, that they would proceed to the fiercest abuse of their Head ; on which he would suddenly rise and dismiss the meeting with the blandest look imaginable. Next day, however, he would return to the charge, as if he had encountered no opposition whatever, and by these tactics, often persisted in, he eventually gained the day, and beat his opponents (ib., 16). Apropos of the above-mentioned old and new monastic rules, we need not be astonished that in those early days of Christianity in England, when everything ecclesiastical was invested with novelty, in the absence, moreover, of any intelligent public opinion on politics, social matters, or anything whatever, all the minutiae of monkery and ritual filled so vast a space in the eyes of the dramatis personam, if not of the general population. What the monks and nuns were to eat, drink, and avoid, what dress they should wear, let alone vestments and their presumed symbolism of doctrine, was always a burning question. Cuthbert himself would have no colours, but a habit of the natural hue of the sheep. But the vis inertice which a body of monks could oppose to the reforming- tendencies of their Head would vex his ardent spirit more than enough — more than even he, with all his readiness to court opposition for religion's sake, would in the long-run, and as years advanced, feel disposed to face. And so, having had enough of Lindisfarne and its monks, he retired with a good grace to that desolate 52 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. islet — they gave it out for no other reason but to acquire increased perfection — to end his days in seclusion (c. 16). The abode which, by the help of the brethren, he had con- structed for himself on the rock was surrounded by a lofty agger, so as to exclude the sight of everything but the sky overhead. The monks from Lindisfarne occasionally visited him. At first he used to wash their feet, then he would talk with them through an open window, and subsequently the window was closed, and only the sound of his voice heard, the speaker being invisible. Whereas formerly he loved cold water, he seems now to have had a fit of hydro- phobia, so that he would keep his boots or gamashes on for a year together, and never washed his feet except at Easter (c. 1 8). But in the Middle Ages dirt and sanctity were often closely allied, at least in this life ; witness the condition of Becket's underclothing when he came to be laid out. Compelled by a king and archbishop, he emerged from this living tomb to become Bishop of Lindisfarne. But apparently he was unable to bear the strain, for in two years, after working several miracles, e.g., curing a man of the plague, and turning water into wine, he returns to Fame. By constant kneeling a callus was formed on both tibiae, and by increased austerities he reduced himself to semi-starvation. Under these circumstances the odour of his sanctity spread far and wide, and people flocked from all parts of England to the island to receive from him con- solation and advice. The mighty preacher, the winning missionary, were in their eyes nought compared with the wonder-working hermit. But no man is accounted a prophet by his neighbours, and so it proved here. The Lindisfarne monks turned up their noses, and no wonder, at his frugal fare. One day a party of them rowed across to the island, to whom, after imparting much ghostly counsel, together with his blessing, he said, as he returned to his cell in the rock, " You had better take some food in the guest-house before you return. BED PS LIFE OF ST. CUT H BERT. 53 There is an auca x there hanging against the wall ; boil it, and eat it for your dinner." They, however, had taken care to bring eatables with them, and did not care to touch the bird. After their repast they betook themselves to their boat, but a sudden tempest arose and prevented their return. Seven mortal days did it continue, and very miserable they were ; but their act of disobedience, on account of which they were really suffering imprison- ment, did not once occur to them. On the seventh day the saint, whom they had frequently gone to see in his retreat, loudly complaining of their detention, came to see them, and professedly to console them. No sooner did he enter than he clapped eyes on the untouched wildfowl. " Why, you have never eaten the auk, as I bade you. What wonder, then, the sea would not let you go ! Boil it as quick as ever you can, and eat it, and then the sea will go down." At once they obeyed his orders, and no sooner did the pot begin to boil than the sea ceased to do so. The monks, however, did go through the ordeal of swallowing the auk. Their wry mouths may be easily imagined. Whereupon they embarked, and returned home with a mixture of joy and shame. This miracle was told Bede by that most venerable presbyter of the same monastery, Cynewulf (c. 36). The inhabitants of St. Kilda are perhaps the only subjects of Great Britain who would now eat auks. But such food was quite of a piece with the meagre fare, not to say with the filth and the discom- fort, of an Anglo-Saxon dwelling. Up to 6y6 A.D., when Bede tells us Benedict Biscop introduced French makers of glass into England, that " art was there hitherto unknown " (Vit. Benedict, c. 5). And even these artificers were im- ported for the purpose of making sacra vasa for the churches rather than to glaze the windows of men's dwellings. It must not be supposed, however, that the saint lived a life 1 "A goose, or any bird" (Du- easily caught by the hand? — Isl. cange). May we not conjecture an ' alkr,' — a dish much more in keeping ' auk,' the common food of Faro, and with Cuthbert's larder than a goose. 54 OLD EXGL1SH LITERATURE. of idleness. It was, in fact, by the labour of his own hands that he managed to exist. In those days the monks were by no means the idle drones of later times. The stalwart and genial Eosterwini, once minister of King Ecgfrid, but who adopted the religious life and became an abbot, used, Bede tells us in one of his best passages, " to winnow and grind corn just like the other monks, milk the sheep and the cows, and join in the work of the bakehouse, the garden, and the kitchen with the utmost readiness and hilarity. Nay, when he visited other monasteries he at once turned a willing hand to any work going forward, whether it was driving the plough, forging iron, handling the fan, and so forth ; while he ate the same meals and used the same dormitory as the others till within two days of his death " (ib., c. 8). Return we for a parting look at Cuthbert in his retirement. If the secrets of his prison-house could be revealed, sharp and sore must have been the searchings of that emotional heart ; hard to bear the passive nihilism, self-imposed, into which the man of high spirit, the ener- getic athlete, the man who had traversed the Northern hills as no missionary had cared to do before, who had swayed others by his eloquence and converted by his miracles, had now subsided. The old Adam would crop up in spite of him. Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop. The tale above shows that his love of authority, his claim to implicit obedience, had not yet deserted him. Further traces of his chagrin at the refractoriness of his quondam monks are visible when he was near his end. " I have met with much contradiction from the brethren, and I know," said he, " that to some my life has seemed con- temptible ; but when I am dead you will see what I was, and that my teaching was not to be despised." Abbot Herefrid of Lindisfarne, who went over to see the lonely anchorite in his last sickness, gave a circumstantial ac- count of it to Bede. He was not permitted to stay, but dismissed by Cuthbert with the simple request that he BEDE'S LIFE OF ST. CUT H BERT. 55 might be buried close by his oratory, with his face towards the east. Uneasy about the sufferer, the good Abbot was no sooner back at Lindisfarne than he assayed to return, but was prevented by a storm, lasting five days and nights. He then crossed over, and found Cuthbert close upon his end, but his mind still harping, even in death, on his ruling idea. " Beware," said he, " of celebrating Easter at the wrong time or living not according to the regular Catholic rule." He then received the viaticum, and, with eyes and hands lifted to heaven, departed, March 20, a.d. 687. It being night when he passed, the news was flashed across the water by two lighted candles. The watchman at once espied the signal, and reported it to the brethren, who were assembled singing a nocturnal mass. Uncon- sciously they had commended his soul to his Maker. The true verdict of a coroner's inquest in these days upon the transaction would undoubtedly, out of Ireland, run pretty much thus : " Died of an envenomed ulcer in the foot and other disorders, aggravated by wilful self- neglect, want of proper nursing, or all nursing, and of the common necessaries of life ; the deceased having, in fact, subsisted for five days on one or two bits of onion, being all alone at his own request, and unable to move from his seat." His adversaries (concertatores) mightily plagued him, as he told Herefrid, during these five days. How, the Abbot dared not ask. Alas ! poor Cuthbert ! Surely they were not those evil spirits which, before his arrival in Fame Isle, were reputed to invest it ; not such the spirits which tormented him, but rather the demons of man's own device — demons of cold, and hunger, and thirst, punishing him worse than ever they did poor hunger- bitten Tom in " Lear." So much for counsels of perfection, or rather so much for the mistaken ideas of the age in which he lived ! Far be it from us to carp at the self-denying energy, the burning devotion, of this early missionary, whose per- suasive tones had once thrilled the dead hearts, all stark and stiff, of those men of the Northern wilderness, awaken- 56 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. ing in them a responsive echo as erst the first beams of the morning sun — so Egyptian legends told — drew unearthly music from the hard granite statue of the city in ruins. Alas for the greatness and littleness of man! They do with the bright light from above what Sir Isaac Newton did with a ray of the sun. He got it into a dark room, distorted it, broke it up into a mass of many colours, and its pure whiteness was gone. Instead of one plain gateway into the kingdom, they construct all sorts of byways and doors. St. Cuthbert's way was voluntary sepulture in a penal settlement of his own choice. The vision itself of heaven becomes blurred and obscured, the foundation of topaz and amethyst changed into wood and stubble. Had he lived in the days when the tale of spiritual bricks was grown too big to bear, and Teutonic Europe groaned for a Moses, he might have figured grandly at some Council of Constance or Diet of Worms. Had he lived in our day, he might, like a Selwyn, have gone forth to the Isles of the Pacific to renew primitive experiences in perils of water, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness and painfulness, in cold and nakedness. Much of this he did undergo, but scarcely in a field of congenial labour. Few were the sheaves he brought with him in the work at Lindisfarne ; and in the end he wore his heart out in cutting blocks with a razor, in correcting obtuse monks, rebuking false brethren, and finally shutting himself out from the sight of his fellow- men. And yet who shall say that, though the man was thus unnaturally self-effaced, the spectacle was not one of those many forces which kept the great stone rolling in Northumbria and gradually wrought out the end in view ? The sight of the anchorite macerating the flesh even unto death in his lonely hermitage, and thus setting the seal to his work, would take the ignorant by storm. The scene of his sufferings was hallowed for all time, and no sooner was he gone than another tenant succeeded, Brother Odilwald of Eipon. Cuthbert's name must have been a word of power for centuries in Britain. That anecdote of BEDE'S LIFE OF ST. CUTHBERT. 57 Malmesbury (ii. 4) proves it. 1 Who was it that appeared to England's future greatest king when he lay hidden in the impenetrable lagoons of Somerset, revolving in his mind the ways and means of liberating his people from the Danes ? It was in this supreme moment of Alfred's life that popular imagination made St. Cuthbert come to him in a vision, foretelling his coming victory and exaltation. A word more. Some may say that the above sketch does scant justice to Cuthbert. Let them turn to the Biography. It contains forty-six chapters in all. Of these, about six or seven give the real features of his life. They must be our main authority in an estimate of the saint. All the remaining chapters go beyond the bounds of pro- bability and relate miracles. These are, of course, mere padding, of no solid value. And yet the miracles recorded must not shake our belief in the truth of the other parts of the recital ; nay, rather they serve to corroborate it ; for if no miracles had been thrown in by the monks when the belief in miracles was general, we should have been inclined to view the work with suspicion, and no genuine picture of the thoughts and feelings of the day, but as the result throughout of cooking. 2 As it is, the miracles of Cuthbert are few compared with those of Columba, whose Life by Adamnan is quite a glut of wonders. 1 Cf. Hist, i., Transl. St. Cuthb., The King, warned by a soldier for- cap. i. It is this same historian, merly in Olaf's service, shifted his and not Asser, who relates the story tent. — Gaedhill and Gaill, 282. of Alfred masquerading as a min- 2 To those who plead for the possi- strel, and so gaining free access to bility of these miracles on the occa- the Danish camp, meanwhile learn- sion of England's conversion, one ing their plans. It is not mentioned word. How about Africa, and New in the most ancient Saxon accounts. Zealand, and Australia in the present Indeed, it sounds more like a Scan- day ? The work before the mission- dinavian than a Saxon story, an echo aiies is stupendous, and yet they per- of which lias reached us in the tale form no miracles. Why? The 'bulls- of King Estmere, who adopted a eye' of sifted evidence and modern similar disguise. A story was current enlightenment is flashed full upon of Olaf Cuaran entering Athelstan's them, and any so-called miracle would camp disguised as a harper two days be at once subjected to the test, before the battle of Brunauburh. 58 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. The Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow were also written by Bede. On the business habits of Benedict Biscop, and his live journeys to Eome, from which he never returned empty-handed — such pilgrimages had a real meaning and excuse — bringing books, architects, and makers of glass-windows, we need not comment, beyond saving that while pilgrimages were often fraught with evil and disaster to his compatriots, male and female, his seem to have redounded to his own credit and the advantage of his country. He died 685. Eostenvini, and his laborious simplicity, have been already referred to. His bones, like those of Cuthbert 1 and Abbot Sigfrid, were in due time translated (Vit. Abbatum, c. 20). In fact, all through those ages a body- snatching epidemic seems from time to time to have invaded the monasteries. Whether it was to raise money, or to relieve the tedium of their existence by an exciting function, or to give a prestige to this or that monastery — as, e.g., Canterbury employed the possession of Wilfrid's bones as an argument for its superiority over York — or to add a feather to the cap of some notable abbot, no ecclesiastic of any eminence was safe in his grave. Talk of dis- jeeti membra jpoetce ! Why the members of a defunct saint, after being once removed from their first resting- 1 Exhumed 1 104 in the presence of clothed him all with new clothing, Simeon of Durham. There is a strange and took from him his old clothes: narrative in an Anglo-Saxon charter some I left there, and some I have addressed by Eadwine the monk to here." The ivory comb and silver scis- ^Elfsige, the Bishop of Winchester, sors found in the saint's coffin, 1104^ 1015-1032. "I lay within my cell are perhaps further evidence of the about noon-tide, when St. Cuthbert good monk's method of gratifying a appeared to me. At this I was very spiritual freak (Thorpe, Diss. A., p. blithe, and went to my Abbot MM- 821). It does not exactly appear wine and prayed him that I might go where the saint's body then rested, north to the saint. But iElfwine, Attended by a chosen few, it was re- my abbot, refused. On this I took my moved in the Danish troubles from own counsel, and went thither, and Lindisfarne, and performed any Bishop ^Egelwiue received me with amount of peregrinations before it worship ; and God and the saint was finally enshrined at Durham, granted me that I washed him, and See the published account of its re- combed his head with a comb, and opening by Dr. Baine. sheared his head with shears, and ST. EDMUND. 59 place, were, as we know, often scattered to the four winds of heaven, to be gaped at and applied to the lips as if they were live coals from the altar of the Eternal. But this relic-monrreriiiCT was a two-edged tool : witness the droll irony of Eldebert the heretic from Gaul, who, to the mighty confusion of Boniface, gave parings of his nails and locks of his own hair to the Germans to adore along with the correlative relics of St. Peter. Shakespeare's anathema, " Cursed be he that moves my bones," l would have availed but little against these " resurrection-men." The author of that extraordinary Anglo-Saxon fragment, " The Grave," reckoned without his host when he sang that nobody would care to look into the dead man's grave. 2 " Thine house is not loftily timbered, It is unhigh and low wherein thon dost lie ; The heel- walls are low, the side walls also, The roof it is built full nigh to the breast. Thus shalt thou dwell in mould full cold ; Dimly and darkly fouleth the hole, Doorless the house, and dark within, "Where thou art caged, and Death has the key. Loathly is the earth-house, grim to dwell in, Where thou shalt lodge, shared by the worms. Thus art thou laid ; thy friends they do loathe thee ; Friends none hast thou that will fare to thee, That ever will look (and see) how the house likes thee, That ever will undo for thee the door And after thee descend ; for soon art thou loathly And hateful to see, for soon is thy head Of locks bereaved Of thy hair all the fairness is gone, None with the finger will clasp it or stroke it. Another English saint, the odour of whose sanctity brought much gain to the monastery of Bury St. Edmunds, named after him, was Edmund, son of King Alcmund, 1 There is nothing new under the the purpose of deterring possible dis- sun, this kind of bugbear among the turbers of the tombs, rest. In a graveyard at Athens, dat- 2 Thorpe, Analecta, second edition, ing from before the days of Sylla, p. 153, from the edge of a Saxon ho- similar strong anathemas are used for mily book in the Bodleian Library. 60 OLD ENGLISH LIT ERA TURE. who ascended the throne of East Anglia, 855, being then fourteen years old. It is hard to say which stood fore- most in popular veneration, he, or St. Cuthbert, or St. Thomas of Canterbury. Thorpe (Analecta, p. 119) prints a homily in the dialect of East Anglia detailing his martyrdom. It is founded on the narrative of his sword-bearer, who witnessed the transaction. Dunstan repeated it to Abbo of Fleury, who wrote a Latin account of it still extant; of this the homily is a translation. There are versions of it extant in pure Anglo-Saxon (Hardy, 526-538). 1 The Danes, we read, tried to make the captive king renounce Christianity, but in vain. Upon this, after transfixing him with spears till they looked like the quills of the porcupine (yles burstse), they cut off his head and hid it in some thick . bramble bushes. Some time after, people sent in quest of it kept crying out, " as folks are wont to do who often traverse the woods, ' Where art thou now, my mate ? ' when the head answered, ' Here, here, here ! ' and kept doing so till the searchers came to the call ; when lo ! and behold, there was a grey wolf with the head in his two claws, protect- ing it from the wild beasts, and not daring for the fear of God, though he was hungry, to taste of it." This excellent wolf followed them with the head (we presume in his mouth), just as if he were a tame beast, till they came to the town, when he turned back and went to the wood again. The head was at once applied to the trunk, which lay in the church, when, marvellous to relate, the two joined together (just like the toy of our infancy with the loadstone inside), and the only mark of the decapitation was something like a silken thread passing round the neck ! St. Swithin, born 800, died 863, would doubtless have 1 One MS. is in the Public Library the Bodleian. Another (Harl. 2278), at Cambridge. It is of the eleventh ornamented with over a hundred or twelfth century, and given by limnings, is said to have been pre- Parker. The "Life and Acts of St. sented to Henry VI. by the poet Edmuud," by J. Lydgate, is now in himself. ST. SU'ITHIN AND ST. NEOT: 6i dropped out of all popular recollection in these isles but for the legend connecting him with the weather. But he was among the not least conspicuous people of his day as Bishop of Winchester, Chancellor of King Alfred's father, Ethelwulf, and probably the chaperon of the youthful prince on his first visit to Pope Leo IV. at Eome, 853. A number of Latin Lives crammed with his miracles, but at the same time throwing light on the manners and customs of the age, show what an impression he made upon the folks in the monasteries (Hardy, i. pt. 2, p. 513). One life in hexameters, 3600 lines long, was commended by Leland as the best Latin poetry of the time in England. But what is more to our purpose, is an account of the saint in the vernacular in a folio of the eleventh century, Miracula S.S. Saxonice (MS. Cott. Jul. E. vii.), 1 which contains forty- four leaves (Hardy). St. Neot, another worthy of Alfred's days, is said, but on very suspicious authority, not only to have started the original idea of the foundation of the University of Oxford, but to have himself filled a professorial chair there. He survives to us in several Lives full of legendary matter, the most ancient of those now extant being a sketch in Anglo-Saxon in the British Museum (Duffus Hardy, p. 539). It is printed in Gorham's " History of Antiquities of Eynsbury and St. Neots," and was pro- bably first written a.d. 986. Born in the early part of the ninth century, St. Neot renounced the world for the life of a monk. His fame attracted many to Glastonbury to profit by his instruction. Averse to notoriety, he retired to a secluded valley in Cornwall, where he abode for seven years, after which he paid seven visits to Eome. By the advice of the Pope he returned to Cornwall to spread the gospel, and founded a monastery, of which he became abbot, at the desolate spot where the Cornish St. 1 Three leaves of this Life (from another defective MS. copied from a common source) have beeu printed by Professor Earle. 62 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. Neots now stands, about ten miles from the convent of St. Petroc (Bodmin). In this monastery the present Life, which omits all the miracles elsewhere recorded of him, was very likely read as a homily. Another Life dates from after the Conquest. It attributes many miracles to the saint, which are represented in the ancient stained- glass windows of the present church. His daily diet was a fish, one out of two swimming in a pool close at hand, yet there was always a miraculous quorum of two the next day. St. Neot being sick, his over-officious attendant caught two, boiling one and broiling the other. The saint, with much presence of mind, had one of them thrown back into the water, and prayed until two were seen swimming as before. The deer which, on his oxen being stolen, drew the plough, and whose descendants bear the mark of the yoke " to the present day ; " his remarkable feat of impounding in a ring of moor stones those obsti- nate crows whom he had to "tent" in the cornfield, — these and other events in the saint's life may here be seen depicted. In another Life it is recorded that some time after his burial the saint appeared to the sacristan, and ordered him to remove his remains elsewhere. He was translated accordingly, and found a resting-place at the other place, called after him St. Neots, in Huntingdonshire. The reader can believe as much or as little of these records as he pleases. What has given them an interest not their own are the anecdotes here preserved, true or not true, of King Alfred. 1 But while glancing thus rapidly at Anglo-Saxon bio- graphical works, we must not omit the well-known biography of Alfred (Gesta Alfrcdi), written, with now and then an exception, in commonplace Latin, which goes 1 In one Life of St. Neot the saint who appeared to the King and aided is seen leading the forces of Alfred to him in his deliverance. The story of battle. According to Malmesbury it the cakes first appeared in the Life of was not St. Neot but St. Cuthbert St. Neot. A SSER ; ST. G UTHLA C. 63 under the name of Asser, the Welshman, Bishop of Sher- borne. The German school generally have been content to accept the work as contemporary and authentic ; and Alfred's latest biographer, Pauli, inclines in that direction. While the book is believed in by most historical critics, others affirm that what we know of the facts of Alfred's life is not of early authority, but on a par with those romances put together by later monkish compilers, such as even Bede, with all his wisdom, was content, as we have seen, to retail as absolute truth. The former part, they assert, is merely a translation from the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, and the latter part, containing legendary matter, could not have been written in Alfred's time, but is probably the work of a monk who collected some of the numerous traditions about Alfred current at the end of the tenth century, and published the work under the name of Asser. The much-cherished stories of his mother Osbuma, the Jute, having enticed him to read by the promise of the old illuminated book of Saxon ballads, 1 or the burning of the cakes, 2 &c, so dear to Englishmen, rest on the authority of Asser's narrative. Lettered East-Anglians are doubtless well acquainted with Bede's description of Ely (iv. 19) in the year 695, as a region containing about six hundred families, resem- bling an island surrounded either by marshes or water, which abound in eels, and whence its name. " Nomen ab anguilla ducit insula nobilis ilia." But for an admirable description of the look of the Fens in those days we must refer to the Life of St. Guthlac, the hermit of Croyland, originally writen in Latin by Eelix of Croyland about a.d. 730, and subsequently translated into Anglo-Saxon in the tenth century. " There is in Britain a fen of immense size, which begins from the river Granta, not far from the city which is named Grantchester. There are immense marshes, now a black pool of water, now foul running streams, and also many islands, and reeds, and hillocks, 1 Asser, 474, 480. 2 St. Neot's Life. 64 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. and thickets; and with manifold windings wide and loner it continues up to the North Sea. When the aforesaid man, Guthlac of blessed memory, found out this unculti- vated spot of the wild wilderness, he was comforted with divine support, and journeyed forthwith by the straightest way thither. And when he came there, he inquired of the inhabitants of the land where he might find himself a dwelling in the waste. Whereupon they told him many things about the vastness of the wilderness. There was a man named Tatwine, who said that he knew an island especially obscure, which oft-times many men had at- tempted to inhabit, but no man could do on account of manifold horrors and fears, and the loneliness of the wide wilderness, so that no man could endure it, but every one on this account had fled from it. When the holy man Guthlac heard these words, he bade him straightway show him the place, and he soon did so : he embarked in a vessel, and they went both through the rough fens (pa rugan fennas) till they came to the spot which is called Crowland ; this land was situated in the midst of the waste of the aforesaid fen, very obscure, and very few men knew of it but the man who showed it to him, as no man ever could inhabit it before the holy man Guthlac came thither, on account of the dwelling of the accursed spirits there." 1 The author's skill in limning is attested thus by an old writer : " If a painter would pourtraite devils, let him paint them in his colours as Felix the olde monke of Crowland depainted the bugges in his verses, and they will seem right hel-hounds." It w T ould be curious to know whether Hellfire Breughel, who lived not long after the above was written, ever saw the " Vita St. Guthlaci " printed in the " Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedict!." But besides the interest attaching to this picture of the physical features of that wild district in those days, this matter of the evil spirits has very probably a mythic solution of even greater 1 St. Guthlac, by Goodwin, London, 1848. THE LEGEND OF WELAND. 65 interest. 1 The marshy river which ran past the hermit's retreat was called by its oldest English name, ' Welandes Ea' (in Latin, Aqua de Weland), Weland's river, now the river Welland ; the vowel having been corrupted into a short one. Here then we find localised the tale of the famous smith so well known in England, and which King Alfred, in his mistranslation of Boethius' " Consolations of Philosophy," alludes to. 2 In the primitive tradition (the " Lay of Volundr," in the old Edda), he was hamstrung and "set on a holm." This island prison in the grand and gloomy old poem would be desolate enough with this Northern Prometheus brooding over his wrongs, " with weariness, and pain, and winter-cold for his companions." 3 This is one of those mythic legends which had taken so fast a hold on the vulgar imagination that they became attached, not to one spot, but to several, as, indeed, in their origin they belonged not to Scandinavia merely, but to the whole Teutonic race, 4 just as the place of Siegfrid's slaying was pointed out in Sweden, in Norway, and in Germany. No wonder the sapient rustics looked on such a spot as the abode of horrors and uninhabitable. But it was precisely the place for a person of Guthlac's blessed stamp. As a child he never gave the least trouble, always did what he was bid, took no pleasure in those vain things which lads generally like, such as idle talk, &c. Nay, even the song of birds had no charms for him. Judges of character might possibly, on hearing this, anticipate that such a boy would not have fathered so good a man as we are told he did. The feathered tribe, however, did not reciprocate Guthlac's aversion, for did it not befall one day that a worthy brother, Wilfrid by name, came to visit him, and while they were comparing their spiritual experiences, two swallows suddenly flew into the ancho- 1 "Two Leaves of King Waldere's 3 Deor the Scald, 1. 7 (Exeter Book). Lay," by Professor G. Stephens, p. 4 Keysir, " Efterladte Skrifter," 41. Copenhagen, 1860. 152, considers Volundr to be a per- - Chap. xix. Bonification of craft or skill. E 66 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. rite's abode, settled on his shoulders after the manner of Odin's ravens — very possibly this legend is an adultera- tion from the Northern mythology — commenced singing, perched familiarly on his breast, then on his arms and knees, when the holy man at once cited Scripture to prove that he who leads a life far from the men of this world, even the wild animals draw nearer to him. 1 (Vide " Metrical History of Guthlac") 1 The legendary Irish saints often mention their familiarity with birds. When a flock of cranes destroyed the crops in his neighbourhood, St. Ailbhe sent his man to fetch them, who soon returned driving the birds before him like a flock of sheep. That night they were penned up by the saint ; next day he released them with his blessing. " The Voyage of Brendanus " abounds with marvel- lous bird-stories. The Lincolnshire antiquarian will call to mind St. Hugh and his pet birds, from the " Burneta " to his swan. But he was no Anglo-Saxon, and could com- bine with a deeply devotional spirit a love for the inferior animals. " He prayeth well who loveth well Both man and bird and beast ; " or something like it, must have been his rule. ( 6 7 ) CHAPTER V. THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, BONIFACE, AND ALCU1N. The private correspondence of distinguished men, wher- ever to be had, in any age or country, is sure to be a use- ful contribution to the history of manners, customs, and ways of thinking. Witness, for instance, the letters of Cicero and Pliny the younger. In this department the Anglo-Saxons are not to seek. But here, as elsewhere, the man is partly tongue-tied. Latin supersedes the ver- nacular. He writes, thinks, and speaks in a language not his own. Let us, as earliest in point of time, first mention Aid- helm, said, but incorrectly, to have been a nephew of Ina, king of the West Saxons. His Life was written by William of Malmesbury, 1 as he considered Bede's account of him did not do him justice. He was born about 656 and died 709. In his early years he was a disciple of the monk Maildulf, the Scot, who opened a school and founded a monastery at Bladunum, afterwards called Maildulfs- bury, the modern Malmsbury. He afterwards went to Canterbury, where he was taught Greek by Archbishop Theodore and Adrian, Abbot of St. Augustine's monas- tery. On the death of Maildulf, Aldhelm was made Abbot of Malmsbury (675-705). Numerous pupils flocked to him, not only from Ireland and Scotland, but also from 1 Printed in " Anglia Sacra," ii. See " Gesta rontificum," Rolls Series. 68 OLD RXGL1SH LITERATURE. Gaul. He was a man of lofty stature, and, though a monk, fond of ladies' society. Four years before his death he became Bishop of Sherborne. Whatever his antecedents may have been in early days, we find him in later life a firm adherent of the Roman as against the Scottish rule, especially as regards the time of keeping Easter and the fashion of the tonsure. Indeed, he was, while, abbot, de- puted by a formal synod to draw up an epistle on this subject — called by Bede "liber egregius" (v. 18) — and wherein he combats the pestilent doctrines of the Scots and forcibly advocates conformity. The document, which may be foun 1 at length in Jaffc's " Monumenta Mogun- tina," p. 24, is addressed to King Geruntius of Cornwall and the clergy of Devon. Simon Maims and his connection with the Scotch tonsure of course figures here in the forefront. He next touches on the schismatical keeping of Easter, which he calls a yet " crudelior animarum pernicies." The gulf that separates the two rival communions is next graphi- cally described. He has heard that beyond the estuary of the Severn there are priests of the Deinetse (Cardigan- shire) pluming themselves on their own personal purity of conversation, and holding our Church in great abhor- rence. They join neither in the prayers of our Church nor in our communion ; nay, rather than partake, they hurl the remnants of the feast of charity to voracious dogs and unclean pigs, and the vessels used thereat they purify by sand or ashes. Neither will they offer the kiss of fraternal charity; and if any of the Catholics go to reside among them, they refuse to associate with them till after they have undergone a forty days' penance. No doubt the old British Church had a deep-rooted antipathy to the Saxons and everything belonging to them. But Aldhelm's picture was perhaps overdone. Later researches seem to refute the charge brought against them of not trying to convert their Saxon invaders. It was only shortly before THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, ETC. 69 the arrival of the Italian mission that Theonas, Bishop of London, and Thadioc, Bishop of York, fled from their Sees, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's fable, accepted by Eaine. By this energetic remonstrance, well reasoned out according to the Roman view of the matter, Aldhelm won over, says Bede, many Britons subject to the West Saxons to the Catholic celebration of Easter. Thus a Scot (Mon. Mogunt., 34) writes to Aldhelm begging to be instructed by him in the faith ; and more especially is he moved to do this because " Aldhelm was himself at Rome 1 (a.d. 687-701), and was brought up by a pious man of the Scottish race (Maildulf)," and was there- fore, of course, fully acquainted with both sides of the question. And thus by unyielding pertinacity the Pope had his will. But " quantum mutatus ab illo Hectore." How different he was from the great Gregory, whose special charge to Augustine w r as, " Do not stickle for Eome a la mode. The customs of different Churches are diverse. Select from each Church what is pious, religious, and right" (Bede, i. 27). Little by little the primitive British Church, of as lofty aims and high endeavours, as pure and pious as that of Rome, succumbed. The current of controversy sub- sided, or rather stagnated, and all became serene; but at the same time surely the old Church lost her elasticity and much of her vigorous life. In things ecclesiastical as well as poli- tical, divergences of opinion will often prevent rot. Look at Spain of to-day, with her boasted unity of faith and absence, among the masses, of all culture, moral and intellectual, to be convinced of this. Had things gone otherwise, and had Rome failed to reduce all England to her own dead level, thus engendering an atmosphere fruitful of many unwhole- 1 While there, his chasuble was popular odium, and post hoc, if not one day suspended on a sunbeam, propter hoc, obtained a Papal Bull By assisting at a miracle he rescued conferring privileges on his beloved Tope Sergius I. from an outburst of Malmesbury. Ibid., p. 370. 70 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. some abominations, the great cleansing out of a later age might perhaps never have been wanted. England would not have enjoyed the homely wit of William Langlaud, the politer sarcasm of Chaucer, or the fearless invective of Wycliffe, expressions of the national consciousness, diverse indeed in method, hut one in end and aim — the downfall of sacerdotalism. So that, after all, the alien pressure of Rome was a blessing in disguise — a blessing which tarried long, but came at last. It lent the Anglo-Saxon genius a force which he needed. " Merses profundo pulchrior t'venit." But we are losing sight of Aldhelm as an author. His biographer tells us that amid his graver studies he did not neglect verse ; and that, citing Alfred as his authority for it, nobody of his day in England was his match in writing English poetry, and a song of his was still sung in Malmesbury's time, four hundred years after his death, in the streets of England — Carmen triviale. The rational excuse for so great a man — the author, moreover, of a poem, " De Laudibus Virginitatis," in imita- tion of Sedulius, 1 that poet of world-wide celebrity — in- dulging in such " trivialities," was that he endeavoured thereby to catch the ear, and so gradually to obtain a hearing for his doctrines among the semi-barbarous Saxons. Indeed Malmesbury (Gesta Pontificum, p. 281) relates the very interesting anecdote that Aldhelm used after service to fix himself on a bridge just in the way of the country - people, and begin singing ballads familiar to their ears, gradually gliding into hymns : " inter ludicra verbis scrip- turce insertis." It has been generally supposed that all he composed in the vernacular had vanished. Jacob Grimm, however, has started the conjecture, upholding it by cogent reasoning, that the noble Anglo-Saxon poem, " Andreas," which teems with real poetry — Christian in name and outward form, but savouring much of the old pagan ballad — is the genuine work of Aldhelm, and that he wrote it at 1 Bede, v. 18. THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, ETC. 71 the instance of Ine and his queen, iEdelburg (Andreas, li.). Others, perhaps with more probability, contend for Cyne- wulf as its author. A metrical paraphrase of Psalms 51-150 (ed. Thorpe, Oxon. 1835) has also been ascribed to Aldhelm. It only remains to mention that many miracles were wrought at his sumptuously-jewelled tomb at Malmes- bury. Numerous pilgrims resorted thither on his festival day, to the no small gain of the inhabitants. But by the end of the eleventh century the spell began to flag. The augurs smiled, or rather the proletariat mobbed the devo- tees, and grinned forth bits of low wit (ibid., 438). Another letter-writer was Boniface, otherwise Wynfrid, born a.d. 670. Commissioned by Gregory II. 1 to convert the Pagans, he became Archbishop of Mayence, an office which he held for thirty-six years, and was murdered at Dockum by Pagan Frisians, 755, an event which cut all Christian England to the heart. He was the greatest, if not the first in point of time, of that long line of English missionaries, ending in Grimkel, 2 Bishop of Trondjem, the right-hand man of St. Olaf, who, starting with Eriesland, carried the light of Christianity southwards through Ger- many to the confines of Italy, and northwards through Denmark to beyond the Malar Pake and the Bay of Trondjem. We have the excellent Daniel, Bishop of AVinton, 3 bidding Boniface God-speed, and giving him curious hints how to go to work with the Pagan Saxons in the propagation of the gospel ; e.g., " If they say this world never had a beginning, but existed from ever- lasting, ask them who governed it before the gods were born, and how could they subject it to their dominion 1 Monumenta Moguntina, p. 62 - Without doubt lie was consecrated (Jaffe, : Berlin, 1866). Bishop Grandi- bishop in England. Adam of Bremen son, temp. Edward III., in his mentions the fact that he accom- ' ' r.egen J a, " states that he was a native pauied Olaf to Norway (Keyser). of Crediton. But there is no earlier 3 Monumeuta Moguntina, p. 72. authority for this. 73 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. when it subsisted before them from everlasting. How was the first god or goddess born ? do they still go on breeding? If they don't, when did they cease to do so, and why ? If they still generate, the number of gods must be infinite. Again, are these gods to be wor- shipped for the sake of temporal or eternal prosperity ? If they say temporal, then ask them in what respect the pagans are better off in temporals than the Christians ? Now, if the gods are omnipotent and just, they will not only reward those who worship them, but punish those who contemn them. "Why, then, don't they punish the Christians, who are throwing down idols and seducing people from their worship all the world over ? Instead of this, the Christians possess vineyards and oliveyards, and leave to the pagans and their gods nothing but regions of cold and barrenness. Along with these arguments, we must deliver little delicate side-thrusts at their supersti- tions as compared with the Christian dogmas ; but with the utmost blandness, so as to confound rather than irri- tate them." Then we have Boniface taking the oath of allegiance to Pope Leo (a.d. 722), and imprecating on him- self the doom of Ananias and Sapphira if he in any way breaks it. 1 We have Gregory II. commending Boniface to Charles Martel, the saviour of Europe from the Saracens, as a preacher of the gospel to the people of Germany and the nations east of the Rhine. Amidst these grave and anxious occupations the missionary keeps up a regular correspondence with female friends at home and abroad. One lady, an abbess, he tries to dissuade from her fancy of going on a pilgrimage to Rome. Leobgitha inflicts upon him some Latin hexameters of her own composition. His great skill in the laws of metre, attested by a pupil of his, 2 doubtless led her to invite his criticism. To Eadburga, Abbess of Thanet, who has consoled him with many gifts, he prefers the request that she will copy out for him the 1 Monumental Moguntiua, p. 76. 2 Ibid., p. 242. THE LETTERS OE ALDHELM, ETC. 73 Epistles of St. Peter, written in letters of gold. 1 Possibly she used for this purpose the gold pen which Lullus the deacon had sent her. 2 The spiritual confidences, by the by, of exalted ladies must at times have been somewhat puzzling to him ; e.g., that effusive epistle of Egburg (M. M., 63). In the midst of her desolation, the love of him is as a flavour of honeyed sweetness in her bowels ; though defrauded of the bodily sight of him, she con- tinually clasps his neck with sisterly embraces. She pre- fers him to all of the male sex. Not so much does the shipwrecked mariner long for port or the parched fields for the showers as she does to enjoy the sight of her Wynfrid. The new missionary, like Augustine in England, finds himself confronted with various difficulties in his ministry among the Saxons and Thuringians, and propounds to the Pope a string of knotty questions. Some of them have already been baptized by Pagans, or they don't know whether they have already been baptized or no. In such cases what was to be done ? The answer is, " Baptize them." 3 Again, as to eating horse-flesh. This his Holiness pronounces to be impure and execrable. He had no easy work of it, for later on (a.d. 746) he is taken to task by the Pope for re-baptizing some persons whom a priest, ignorant of Latin, had baptized in nomine Patria instead of in nomine Patris. Also, if any one has slain his mother, brother, or sister, he is not permitted to receive the body of our Lord, except as a viaticum on his decease. 4 A letter of Pope Gregory III., circa 738, to the bishops of Bavaria, 5 shows him to be sorely exercised by the advent in those parts of Britons whom he classes with " false heretics." These were very likely the Irish mission- aries, with the wrong Easter and diabolic tonsure — the gnat magnified by Rome into a very camel — though some of these Scots, as Sampson, were really unsound in matters 1 Monumcnta Moguntina, p. 99. 2 Ibid., p. 214. 3 Ibid., p. 93. Headers wHl think of the "Codex Ar- 4 Ibid., p. 93. B Ibid., p. 103. genteua" and the "Codex Aureus." 74 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. of graver import. 1 We have (p. 107) Boniface, servant of the Apostolic See, asking all England to pray for the conversion of the Saxons. Much, indeed, did he require support, for he was withstood, not only by the Pagans, but by those of his own household ; for, as we find in a letter from Pope Zacharias, a.d. 744, one Aldebert, a priest of not very correct life, had ventured to put up crosses and oratories in the fields for the people to worship at instead of the public churches. " Small blame to him!" Whitfield would perhaps have said. But he did not stop here. He had his nails and hair reserved for worship along with St. Peter's relics. Luther would have cried '• Bravo ! " Further, this schismatic consecrated churches and invoked eight angels, or rather demons, in his prayers — Uriel, Raguel, Tubuel, Michael, Adinus, Tubuas, Sabaoc, Simiel (= Samiel, who is so prominent in Weber's opera of " Der Freischiitz ") — whereas the Church only knew of three, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Another priest, Clement, had a concubine and two daughters by her, and still claimed to be a priest ; hold- ing this to be according to the Old Testament, which said it was lawful for a man to marry the wife of his de- ceased brother. 2 But the chief dead fly in the pot of oint- ment to Roman nostrils was his doctrine that Christ, when He descended into hell, liberated all, thus abolishing pur- gatory — Rome's special rotten borough. Boniface had put both of them in prison. His Holiness praises the step he has taken, and the two heretics are afterwards solemnly condemned, excommunicated, and anathematised by a synod of twenty-five bishops at Rome. Not the least interesting in the collection is a Latin letter by one of Bede's disciples, Abbot Gutberct, of Wear- mouth and Jarrow, to Archbishop Lullus of Mayence (Mon. Mogunt., p. 300). Herewith he sends the prose and verse books on Cuthbert by Bede. It had been so dread- fully cold this winter that the copyist could not write 1 Monumenta Moguntina, p. 189. 2 Ibid., p. 133. THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, ETC. 75 more just now. At the same time he thanks the Arch- bishop for a piece of silk sent by him to enwrap the re- mains of Bede, apparently as a return for a present of twenty knives and another skin gown, sent by him to the Northumbrian six years before. " All the race of Angles," he continues, " ought to thank God for giving the nation a man so wonderful, so endowed with various gifts, so moral as Bede." The love of this worthy abbot for his monas- tery comes out in the letter. The Archbishop had sent the old man a piece of thick stuff to keep out the cold, but he won't have it, not he. He has given it to clothe the altar of St. Paul at Jarrow, under whose protection he has lived forty-six years. He also begs the Archbishop to look out for a man skilled in making glass vessels; and to send him, at the same time, a citharista, to play on ' the rote.' x He has a rote, but not an artist. Had the workmen brought from France by Benedict Biscop, 676, left no successors in their craft ? Not the least interesting of the letters is one written about 747 to King Ethelbald of Mercia, warning him to reform the dissolute morals of England, if he would not have such a judgment overtake him as had fallen on the Spaniards and Burgundians through the Saracenic inva- sion. In Old Saxony, he says, a girl who breaks the law of chastity is compelled to hang herself, and is then burnt. Sometimes an army of women assembles and flogs her through the villages, and, tearing off her garments to the waist, punctures her body with their knives, a fresh band of flagellants ever reinforcing each other till they leave her for dead. Even the "Wends, the foulest and worst of races, set so much store by marriage, that a woman whose husband dies refuses to survive him, and is burnt on the same pile as her husbanl. While busy in Germany, Boniface ever kept a watch fid eye on the state of the English Church. How matters fared there is clear from his letter to Archbishop Cuthbert 1 For a description of the rote, see O'Curry's "Maimers and Customs of Ireland." 76 OLD EXGLISH LITER A JURE. of Canterbury, a.d. 748. With a passage from it, especially interesting to Englishmen, we will close this notice : — " I hear that in England drunkenness is a vice of only too common occurrence ; and the bishops not only do not pro- hibit it, but get drunk themselves, and make others drunk by pressing big bowls upon them. ... A vice this is which is a specialty of Pagans and of Englishmen, neither Franks, nor Gauls, nor Lombards, nor Romans, nor Greeks being addicted to it" (Monum. Mogunt., p. 210). As the chief object of this work is to give extracts from Anglo-Saxon works, Alcuin, albeit pronounced by Malmesbury to be, after Bede and Aldhelm, the most learned of Englishmen, would, strictly speaking, have no place here, for nothing of his in the vernacular survives. But he rilled in his day far too great a place in the public eye, not only of England, but of the continent of Europe, to be passed over in silence. Born at York, of noble family, about 735, the year in which Bede died, he was brought up there by the monks (Monumenta Alcui- niana, ed. Jaffe, p. 249), and in due time, on the retire- ment of Archbishop iElbert, was intrusted by him with the care of the school and library. His poem in Latin hexameters, some 1700 lines long, entitled "Versus de Sanctis Eboracensis Ecclesise," and first rightly ascribed to Alcuin by Gale, places before us those great luminaries of religion and learning in the North of England, together with glimpses of the localities adorned by their presence, while at the same time we learn some particulars about the writer. Alcuin also wrote a Latin history of St. Wilibrord, the first Apostle of Friesland (died 738). But it is in his correspondence, amounting to more than three hundred letters, 1 that we get a picture of the man and his age. Very interesting are these letters on many accounts. The man of taste, the polite scholar, the schoolmaster, as contradistinguished from those pioneers of Christianity 1 Edited by Canisius, 1601, Quercetanus, 1617, Mabillon, 1685, Frobenius, 1777, and best by Jaffe, with his poem and Life of Willibrord, "Monumenta Alcuiniaua," Berlin, 1873. THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, ETC. 77 in Germany, the missionaries, in whose wake he followed, the preceptor of Charlemagne and counsellor in his efforts to civilise his subjects here appears before us. The fights of the Western warriors with the Saracens, Charlemagne's expeditions against the Frisians, Saxons, and warlike Huns (Avari), who in 788 had burst into Italy and Bavaria, 1 appear upon the canvas. Alcuin had been dispatched by Archbishop Eanbald, the successor of Albert, to Borne (Yita, p. 17). On his return he met Charles, the greatest monarch of his age, at Parma, a.d. 781, who begged him to return to France on the completion of his mission. Well aware of his own educational deficiencies and the ignorance of his subjects, Charles's discerning mind saw that here was the very man of whom he stood in need, and invited him to leave England and become his minister of public education, giving him at the same time two ahbeys as a retaining fee. Alcuin, having obtained the permission to do this from his superiors in England, ecclesiastical and civil, where he remained for a season, accepted the offer, and eventually became head of the monastery of Tours, a.d. 796, and factotum of the great emperor, leaving a gap in England not to be filled up, and this in spite of his friends' entreaties to him to return. 2 See his letter to Offa, King of Mercia (Jaffe, p. 290). And one can hardly wonder at the step he took when one considers the insecure state of his country in those days, and the comparative quiet to be enjoyed at the court of the triumphant emperor. But though armed with great autho- 1 His ultimate victory over these Eede, that most learned presbyter, people was by no means a barren one. who, after Gregory, was the most skil- Tbe treasure brougbt to Aquisgranum ful commentator on the Scriptures. (Aix-la-Chapelle) on the occasion, con- — Monumenta Carolina, 632. Again, sisting of gold, silver, and silk, filled Notker Teutonicus, the chief repre- fifteen waggons. sentative of theological and classical 2 The monk of St. Gall says, "Alcuin learning in Germany in the tenth ceu- came to Charlemagne, who received tury, speaks of Alcuin as without a him willingly. He was accomplished rival in profane and sacred lore, while in all the Scriptures above men of as a grammarian he left Donatus aud modern times, as being a disciple of Priscian far behind.— Jaffe, 132. 78 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. rity, lie essentially continued to be what lie was by nature — a gentleman. His lofty altitude did not induce glaciation. The way in which he keeps up old friendships with those whom he outstripped in the race of life proclaims him clearly to have had nought of one main feature of your ' creeping climber ' in his composition. There was an abid- ing vein of kindly humour in the man which ever and anon crops up. Sallies of wit and shrewd common sense break through the stiff rampart of erudition, and a fountain of sen- sibility and affection wells up from under the dead weight of court etiquette and sacerdotal gravity. In his familiar correspondence he delights to assume the nom de plume of 'Flaccus,' or 'Flaccus Albinus ' (p. 199), while the great personages his correspondents must perforce unbend and submit to be styled by some fanciful sobriquet. He feels he can get at their hearts better when he does this. Thus Charlemagne appears as ' his most sweet David ; ' Bishop Higbald is Speratus ; Kiculf, Archbishop of May- ence, 1 becomes the ' pastoral swain,' Damcetas ; his pupil, Hrabanus, head of the seminary at Fulda, is Maurus; and his exceedingly dear friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg, Aquila, ' most beloved bird of all birds on alpine heights,' while Alcuin subscribes himself with due humility as 'the anser with strident voice' (ibid., 445) Gundrada, sister of the Abbot of Corvey, is Eulalia (Jaffe, 685), and the Abbess ^Edilberga, daughter of Offa, King of Mercia, whom he bids soar to heaven on wings of charity and chastitv, is transformed into Eugenia. 1 An interchange of presents is conundrum : a beast had entered his continually going on between Alcuin doors having two heads and sixty and his male and female correspon- teeth, and yet he was not alarmed, dents — charming courtesies which but pleased at its appearance, for it is do credit to all concerned. Some- not of elephantine size but of Ebur- times the reception of such a proof nean beauty. Of. his facetious verses of affection leads Alcuin to perpetrate to one Cuculus, p. 237. The Anglo- a joke. Thus Damcetas sends him a Saxons were fond of riddles. See comb of ivory, a novelty in those those by Cynewulf in the Exeter days, though bone combs were not Book, which are full of grace and rare in prehistoric times. In his true poetry, letter of thanks he encloses a poetical THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, ETC. 79 But though his hands were doubtless pretty full of Charles's affairs, secular and spiritual, it is clear that the old haunts of his youth in Northumbria always held a warm place in his heart, and that he never ceased to be anxious for the spiritual wellbeing of the Church. His letters to Bishop Higbald and the monks of Lindisfarne, who had escaped massacre when the Danes had murdered many of the brethren and despoiled and profaned the monastery of St. Cuthbert, a place more venerable than any in Britain, are among the best known. He condoles with them in their distress, but bids them beware of drunkenness, and gormandising, and avarice. " Besides," adds he, "you are not the only sufferers. Almost all Europe has been devastated by the Huns and Goths with fire and sword, 1 but the Holy Church shines like a star." He gives them, too, a piece of practical advice, viz., to make interest with Charlemagne about getting the captives ransomed from the heathen. The monks of "Wearmouth and Jarrow, where the great Bede had lived and died, are also bid by him to take warning from the fate of St. Cuthbert's Church. "Mind and observe a regular life, such as Benedict (died 703) and Ceolfrid pre- scribed for you. Often read over the rule of Benedict, and explain it in Anglo-Saxon (Jaffe, p. 198). You live on the coast which is exposed to the first assaults of the desolating plague. Amend your ways. The words of the prophet (Jer. i. 14) have been fulfilled, 'Out of the north all ills break forth.' Imitate Bede, who was so studious and renowned while on earth, and now also in heaven. Let the youths attend to the praises of the Heavenly King, not dig foxes out of their burrows or pursue the winding mazes of hares." So he writes to Hechstane the presbyter, " When the soul is hurried to judgment, what will drunken- ness, carnal luxury, pomp of vestments, rings on fingers, gold in purse, profit you?" But Alcuin flew at higher game than lowly monks. yEthelred, King of Northumber- ^lon. Alcuin., p. 190, Jaffe. Cf. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 793. So OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. land, and his great men are exhorted (i.e., well winged) about the paramount duty of a virtuous life in face of recent calamities (ibid., 180), such as have never occurred to Britain for 350 years. From the king downward the land has been full of heinous sins since the days of iElf wald ; adultery, avarice, rapine, wrested justice. Think too of your luxurious habits and the way in which you imitate the pagans in the tonsure of the beard and hair! Obey the priests of God. It was clearly a judgment of Heaven. That shower of blood which fell in the preceding Lent on the roof of St. Peter's Church at York was clearly a presage of what was to befall (ibid., 182). Specially does he warn Bishop Higbald, in a letter written after June 793, to indulge in sobriety, not inebriety ; his apparel suited to his grade and not conformed to the vanity of the age. Better to adorn his soul with good manners, than pamper his poor body. It is this same Bishop whom he urges four years later to let the words of God be heard at the table, not a citharista; sermons of the fathers, and not carrnina gentilium ; for what has Ingald (mythic hero, see Beowulf) to do with Christianity ? The Northern monks, we see, could not refrain from passing round the old national ballad after their dinner, and small blame to them. Alcuin's words must indeed have been a power in England when he could write to ^Ethelhard, Archbishop of Canterbury, ' Esto pater, non mercenarius, rector, non subversor.' And he goes on (Jaffe, p. 206), ' Gildas tells us how the Britons lost their country through the avarice and rapine of the chiefs, the injustice of the judges, the sloth of the bishops, and the luxury and immorality of the people. Again he warns Eanbald the Second on his becom- ing Archbishop of York (331) to avoid the pomp of the age, luxury of food, variety of vestments, not to keep company with drunkards : his companions must not pursue the fox over the plain, but ride along with him singing psalms in sweet modulation. And (338) he urges this prelate to have always by him Gregory's " Pastoral Care," for it is a THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, ETC. 81 mirror of pontifical life, and an antidote to the wounds inflicted by the devil. Well might Alcuin speak thus plainly, for, as he says (373), the servants of God in the monasteries live like laymen and not like monks. The pill administered to the prelate must doubtless have been hard to swallow, but Alcuin gilded it by getting him the honour of the pallium from Pope Leo III., the consecrated lamb's-wool symbol of submission to Eome (ibid., 358). Of course the hat went round in England on these occasions. Sometimes the king or the people could not see it. Thus Coenulf, King of the Mercians, sent this same Pope only 125 mancusses, 1 whereupon Leo wrote to "his very ex- cellent son Coenulf," a.d. 797 (ibid., 363), that he expected yearly not less than 365 mancusses, as per agreement between King Offa and the blessed Peter, holder of the keys of heaven. It was only a step we see from the mundane to the celestial. Well might there be a saying among us, " England was the Pope's ass : it bore all the burden he chose to lay on it." But England had no monopoly. Witness the grotesque print which appeared in Nuremberg in A. Durer's time, which went by the name of Pabstesel, ' Pope's ass.' Quaint Thomas Fuller, had he been versed in modern Stock Exchange phraseology, might have said here, " The Papal stool was always ' bulling ' the market, and operating for the rise in its commodities." In another way Alcuin did not forget to mix a due quan- tum of the dulce with the acre. He sends his dear Symeon (this same Eanbald) a little wine to comfort his friends at York, also 100 pounds of tin alloy to cover the belfry. Besides being self-constituted director-general of reli- gious matters, and corrector morum in England, Alcuin seems to have performed the same function- through the length and breadth of Charles's dominions. Here we have him exhorting King Pepin of Italy (ibid. 343) to chastity, there the monks of Salzburg to diligence and regularity 1 Mancns=ith of a pound. No mancus has ever been found : it is thought therefore not to be a coin, but an expression of value. F S2 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. (ibid., 382), now combating the pernicious heresy of the Spaniard Felix, whom he confronted before Charles and utterly annihilated (559). We find him acting as father- confessor to exalted abbesses, interceding effectually for captives with Charles, condoling with a mother who has lost her son, and with the Emperor himself on the death of his queen, Liutgard (533). Again we find him promising Charles (421) to be his Tyrtseus and send him a military hymn. Alas ! that it no more exists. A version of the ' Wacht am Ehein ' of those days would be interesting. In one letter he mentions his Commentary on St. John, which he dedicates to Gisla, Charles's sister, while in another he gives the Emperor lessons in astronomy. It is not a little interesting to find him borrowing books from York, bessin^ Abbot Angilbert of St. Pdquier near Abbeville (627) to lend him Jordanes' or Jornandes' " Historia Gothorum," and asking Richbode, Archbishop of Treves, for Bede's tract on Tobit. But amidst his abstruse studies his mind was always greatly occupied with the removal of the stumbling- blocks to the advance of nascent Christianity in Germany. One of the leading questions of the day was how best to reconcile the claims of God and Caesar. The new converts, in fact, expected to be taught gratis, imagining that the missionaries, though unprovided with scrip or purse, would be able to exist somehow, or perhaps not caring to ask any questions about it. In this strait they had recourse to the source of revenue prescribed of old — tithe — which at once excited the bile and shook the faith of the barbarians. We see that the " parson's nose tickled by a tithe pig's tail in his sleep " was a standing joke against the cloth, not to say rebuke, long before the days of Elizabeth. But how were the clergy to exist unless the laity con- tributed some sure and fixed quantum to their support ? If they did not ' live of the gospel,' the alternative was starvation. Alcuin recommends the by-hook-or-by-crook method of getting on for the present. The converts were to be gradually accustomed to the new order of things. THE LETTERS OF ALDHELM, ETC. 83 Charlemagne having triumphed over the Huns, a.d. 796 and anxious about their conversion to Christianity, dis-, patches Arno, Bishop of Salzburg, on this errand. Here- upon the Bishop and the Emperor are warned by Alcuin against levying tithes (ibid., 301, 308), a measure to which even faithful Christians were averse. Tithes had alienated the Saxons from the faith. So don't lay down a hard and fixed rule about collecting tithes from house to house in the first instance. Later on, the full tale may be enforced. " Be gentle with them," he says : " Infantilis ffitas lacte est nutriendane per austeriora prsecepta fragilis mens evomat quod bibit." In a.d. 796 he writes enthusi- astically to the Emperor (ibid., 344) of the schools he has established at Tours. " To some he is ministering the honey of the Holy Scriptures, to others the old wine of ancient discipline, others he will commence feeding with the apples of grammatic subtlety. He has become all things to all men for the profit of Holy Church and the glory of the empire. In the heyday of his life he sowed the seed of learning in Britain, now in its evening he ceases not to sow in France." Still the polite scholar of York must have laboured invito, Minerva. It was but uphill work, for he writes to Charles, 799 (ibid., 457), " Although I make but little progress, still I fight daily with the dullards of Tours." And at a later period, as old age with its increasing infirmities drew on, he asks per- mission to finish his days in retirement at Fulda, 1 a pro- position to which Charles would not listen for a moment. Alcuin was far too useful and distinguished a personage to let slip. Occasionally he would pay the old man the honour of a personal visit. At one of these he even con- sulted him as to which of his sons he should make his successor. Doubtless friends from Britain, or promising 1 A place for which he seems to has sent the monks wherein to en- have an especial affection as the last velop the remains of the martyr resting-place of Boniface. One of his (Jaffe, 656). letters mentions a pallium which he 84 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. youths provided with letters of recommendation, would often call at the monastery of Tours, the one just to see an old intimate, the other hoping perhaps through his influence to obtain preferment. This was by no means relished by his Gallic entourage, Thus one Aigulf, a presbyter, one day knocks at the gate and overhears the monks say (he understood their talk, though they were not aware of it), " Here is another Briton or Scot come to see that Briton within. The Lord deliver this monas- tery from those fellows ! Like bees to their queen, so they all come swarming about him" (Vita, 25). And so he passed his days. In 801 he writes he is quietly waiting at St. Martin's till the voice should come : " Aperi pulsanti, sequere jubentem et audi judicantem" (ibid., 624). At last the peaceful end of a varied and busy life arrives, "Migravit Albinus levita Christi, 14 Kal. June 804," i.e., ten years before his friend and patron Charlemagne. ( 8 5 ) CHAPTER VI. THE LAWS. But there are still works to be added to our list which, but for Parker and men of like conservative genius, might have disappeared. It has been said that the laws, the romances, and the newspaper press of a country, indicate the state of its civilisation in any given age. The last, of course, was non-existent in those days, and of romances, as we shall see, there is mighty little extant for us to judge by; but of laws there is no lack. The "Anglo-Saxon Laws," edited first by W. Lambard, 1 then by A. Whelock, by Wilkins, 2 then by Thorpe, 3 and now in a more correct text, and accompanied with a capital antiquarian glossary, by Schmidt, 4 throw as interesting and important a light as can be imagined on the early institutions of this land. If in the statute-book all great movements, political, religious, and social, are reflected, if personal transactions between individuals from age to age are therein treated and adjusted according to the views prevalent at the time, then in the laws of the Saxons, as far as they remain to us, in the code of Ethelbert of Kent (circa 600), of Wihtred (699), in the laws of Ine of Wessex (before 694), in the 'Dooms' of Alfred (embodying a selection from the jurisprudence of his predecessors), in the laws of 1 " Apxcuovofxia, sive de prisci3 3 "Ancient Laws," &c, London, Anglorum Legibus," London, 1568. 1840 ; cf. " Mouumenta Historica 2 " Leges Anglo-Saxonicae," by D. L'ritannise." Wilkins, London, 1721. 4 Leipzig (second edition), 1858. 86 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. Edward the Elder, &c, and in the sensible laws of Canute, the Litter approaching to the character of codes, we have the very bone and marrow of the whole matter, as far as the social history of the Anglo-Saxons is concerned. Still those laws make up the history only to a certain extent ; they may be the skeleton, but they are not the flesh and blood, any more than would be the presentments of grand juries, which, according to a recent ingenious writer, would afford a good basis for the history of our country. True, modern critics pronounce the Anglo-Saxons to have been very obtuse in legal matters, to have had no grasp of the subject, and unable to organise it scientifically. Yet, notwithstanding, no other branch of the Teutonic race has bequeathed to us such a rich treasure of legal documents illustrating its early period of development as the Anglo- Saxons. Besides the laws, extending over a space of five hundred years, with no break in the continuity from Ethelbert to the Conqueror, there are several very ancient private ecclesiastical documents full of supplementary information upon the legal usages and the social customs, &c. While dwelling on the fact that in the Anglo-Saxon laws lie to a great extent the foundations of the English constitution and of English law, the Germans further point with pride to the fact that, although on the Continent German law became supplanted to a certain extent by the Eoman law, in England the Anglo-Saxons stuck to the legal principles of the parent stock ; so that it has been said English law, even later than the Normans, is more German than German law itself. 1 Being couched in the very earliest extant German dialect, of course these laws solve for the German legal antiquarians many a knotty point in the barbarous Middle- Age Latin. At the same time the Germans are so gracious as to allow that the old Scandinavian and Frisian legal documents do throw some light on these matters. Any attempt at a detailed description of these laws as 1 Schmidt, preface. THE LA WS. 87 bearing on the growth of the constitution is of course out of the scope of this work, and it has been already done by others. It will be more to our purpose to dip into them here and there, if perchance by so doing we may place before our readers something illustrative of Anglo- Saxon England, the state of the country, and the customs of the people. "We may here note that the rhythmical quantity and alliteration still visible in our judicial formulas, &c, will find their true origin and explanation in Anglo-Saxon, if not in Old Norse ; for, as Mr. Thorpe observes, this is a feature common to all branches of the Teutonic race. The laws of Ethelbert (according to Bede, fourth king of Kent after Hengist) only consist of ninety short heads. Of their genuineness there can be no question. Bede himself (ii. 5) mentions the fact of their promulgation in English by Ethelbert. They accurately fix the punish- ment to be inflicted in case of damage done to person or property according to his exact degree and rank. There was the bot = the compensation to the injured party, as damages for the wrong sustained, and also the wite, or penalty claimed by the crown. Holy Church's rights were, of course, looked well after. If any man stole from a bishop, he had to pay an elevenfold recompense (cap. 1) ; while in the case of a mere cleric the compensation was threefold only. Surely it was an Anglo-Saxon hierarch who said to the waiter at a diocesan dinner, " Waiter, the room is close ; open the window behind the minor canon." An assault upon the servant of an earl cost the offender twice as much as if it was a ceorl's domestic. Not only had each man his exact price or value, according to his rank and degree, to be paid to his heirs and assigns if taken off, but, as was the case among all Teutonic races, every member of his body was exactly appraised, after the fashion of your modern Accidental Insurance Company. To seize a man by the hair was a luxury that cost the offender four sccattar= nearly four shillings of our money S3 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. (sec. 33). Violent dentistry cost, in case of its being the four front teeth, six shillings each ; the next to them, four shillings ; the next, three, and the rest one shilling each. To cut off a man's foot involved a penalty of fifty shillings ; his great toe, ten shillings. The shooting (fore) finger cost eight shillings ; the gold finger (ring-finger), six shillings ; the little finger, eleven shillings, this being doubtless con- sidered a greater injury to the personal appearance than the loss of another finger. In the same way a black bruise outside the clothes cost thirty shillings, but inside them ten shillings less. A blow on the nose with the fist (whether the blood was drawn or not is not specified) cost the offender three shillings, indicating those boxing proclivities said to be peculiarly characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon. Offences with the tongue met with due punishment. In the laws of Kings Hlothar and Eadric of Kent (circa 680) we have, " Whoever calls another mansworn x (perjured) in another man's flat (house), or addresses to him any other such scandalous language, let him pay one shilling to the owner of the flat, six shillings to the man he abused, and twelve shillings to the king" (11). The idea of an Englishman's house being his castle further comes out in the enactment (13), that if a man draws his sword at a drinking bout without using it, he must pay the master of the house a shilling, and to the king twelve shillings. That Church and Eoyalty had already become peers in the days of Wihtrced, king of the Kenters, is clear from the enactment that the fine for the violation of the mundbyrd (protection) of the king and of the Church is the same, viz., fifty shillings. Holy Church, neverthe- less, had peccant ministers. " If a priest breaks the seventh commandment, or neglects to baptize a sick person, or is so drunken that he is unable to do it, let him be suspended during the bishop's pleasure " (6). " If 1 This word has nothing to do with ' man ' or ' to mean,' but is from A.S. ' Man,' Is. ' mein ' — injury. THE LA WS. 89 a tonsured man goes loafing about in search of hospi- tality, let it be granted to him once, but not oftener, unless he has permission " (7). In those days the word of the bishop and the king (note the sequence) was irrefragable, without oath. A priest might purge himself of accusa- tions by standing at the altar in his vestments and saying, " Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior;" but a churl in order to do so had to get four of his class, and all of them must swear by the altar. The laws of Ine, king of the West Saxons, the friend of Boniface, the patron of Aldhelm, who, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, abdicated and retired to Koine, 726, contain, in seventy-six heads, enactments, civil and eccle- siastical, bearing manifest traces of the finger of a church- man — said in the preface to be Eorcenwald, made Bishop of London, 675 : e.g., " If a serf work on Sunday by his lord's behest, let him be free, and his lord pay a fine of thirty shillings. But if the serf work without his knowledge, let him suffer in his hide (be flogged), or in a pecuniary com- mutation " (3). The disturbed state of the country in his day, and the precautions necessary against possible spies from the bordering kingdoms, come out forcibly in a law like this, which also occurs in Wihtrsed (28) : " If a man from afar or stranger go off the highroad through the woods, and does not cry out or blow a horn, he is to be tried as a thief, either to slay or let go" (20). This reminds one of the state of things said to have existed in Yorkshire at the close of the last century. Scene — suburbs of some little town. Stranger approaches. A rough observes him and addresses another rough. " Dost thee knoa that chap?" " Noa. Dost thee?" " Noa." " Then wang a stoan at his head." Stranger falls to the earth. Roughs exeunt. A very effectual provision was made against trespass as follows : " If a beast break through hedges, and its owner won't or can't keep it in, and anybody meets it on his field, he may take and slaughter it, and the owner may have its fell and flesh, 9o OLD ENGLISH LITERA TURE. but nothing more " (42). The multitude of pigs that were fattened in the forests would not add to the charms of these sylvan solitudes. Special fines are imposed here on trespasses upon other people's mast. In 44 the size of a tree is described as one under which thirty swine can stand. When we read (58) that the worth of an ox-tail is one shilling, the thought at once occurs that the soup must have come very expensive ; but the enactment refers to the cutting off the tail of the animal maliciously or by accident. In these laws of Ine we discern the inequality before the law between the Saxon and the older inhabi- tants of the country — a striking testimony to which is the fact that ' Wealh ' or ' Wylisc ' (originally = ' Welsh '), be- came later synonymous with ' slave.' l Alfred prefaces his ' Dooms ' with the Jewish decalogue and the Mosaic law. Cap. 5 secures to every church consecrated by a bishop the right of asylum to a fugitive for seven nights, if he can manage to hold out without food for that time ; and anybody who violates this is pronounced to be a breaker of the king's peace — an offence of great magnitude. If the neighbours want the use of the church, they are to guard the fugitive in another building, with no more doors in it than the church. By cap. 8 the abduction of a nun involved a payment of 120 shillings, half to the king, half to the bishop and the proprietor of the church to whom she belonged. 2 One of Alfred's laws (12), on the penalties for setting fire to the forest, indicates the price of wood in his times. "The fine for each great tree is five shillings, and for all others, whatever their number, five pennies ; besides a mulct of thirty shillings to the crown." He who stole a foal or a calf got off with a shilling (ibid., 16). The owners of savage dogs had it not all their own way. If such a dog 1 Athels-tan, vi. 6, § 3. build churches. The bishop bestowed 2 Mixed motives, pious zeal, or the patronage of the new church on vanity, or ambition, or a desire to the founder. Hence simoniacal prac- conciliate the favour of Heaven, led tices arose. Theod. Capit., Thorpe, people in those days (as in these) to ii. 73 ; Kemble, ii. 420. THE LAWS. 91 tore or bit a man, the penalty fixed by Alfred (23) was six shillings the first offence, for the second twelve shillings, and for the third thirty shillings, and afterwards the full value of the man each time. It was quite necessary to have stringent rules about these animals, for mad dogs were not wanting, at least there is an Anglo-Saxon re- ceipt for the bite of a mad dog. Indeed there is a letter extant from Pope Zacharias to Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, A.D. 751, ordering animals that have been bitten by rabid wolves and dogs to be kept separate least they should infect others, or if few, to be buried (Mon. Mogunt., p. 223). No less than thirty-five chapters (44-77) are devoted to appraising the damage to the several parts of a man's body — an index this of the constant state of assault and battery in which the Anglo-Saxons lived at home, exclu- sive of fights with the Danes. Last, not least, among the laws of Alfred, we have (Schmidt, 2d ed. p. 106) the provisions of that celebrated compact, ' Alfred and Guthrum's Peace,' * made between the Saxon king and the king of the Danes, after the OCT * latter had been thoroughly beaten in the battle of Ethandune (878) 2 by the men of Somerset, Wiltshire, and 1 Kemble (Saxons, ii. 218) was of father doing what all godfathers are opinion that this agreement was supposed to do from that day to this, drawn up at Wedmore just after and long before that— making hand- the battle. But Schmidt (xxxviii. ), some presents to his stalwart godson, pointing to its provisions, seems to In 882 Aschloh, near Maestricht on prove satisfactorily that it must be of the Meuse, witnessed the equally later date. Like all great victories sudden conversion of Godfred, the over the heathen in those days, that leader of the Flanders Vikings, when of Wedmore witnessed so-called con- Charles the Fat stood godfather. versions to Christianity by wholesale. Steenstrup, Vikingetogene, 204. Guthrum with thirty of his chiefs 2 Poor France and Flanders were were baptized at Princes Island, and not long in feeling the effects of it. paradedabout in their whitebaptismal Their rivers were soon alive with garments for eight days — Cuthrum fresh swarms of Vikings, whose oc- having King Alfred for his ' gossip,' cupation was for the time gone in and changing his name to Athel- England. Ethandune is supposed to stan. What feasting there was for have been on the high ground near twelve days long at that royal manor- Alfred's Tower, on the borders of house ! Aud then we have the god- Somerset and Wilts. 92 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Hants, with Alfred leading them in virtue of the previous agreement come to at Ecgbryte's Stone the seventh week after Easter. What a narrow escape England had of being un-Saxonised from the shores of the North Sea to the confines of Wales, becomes at once apparent from the terms of this document. Herein is given up to the Danes all the country east of a line running from the Thames up the river Lea to its source, thence west to Bedford, and along the Ouse to Watling Street, that great Roman road stretching right across England through Mercia to Chester. This was the so-called Denala^h. Further, the subjects of each dominion are forbidden under severe penalties to cross the frontier, even for purposes of trade, without a previous exchange of hos- tages (5). Contrast with the united front opposed by Alfred's subjects the conduct of the Irish chieftains under similar circumstances (830-855), when the Northern Philistines were upon them. To fish in troubled waters was their motto. Their country's danger was the signal for gratify- ing clan jealousies and lust for plunder. The same year that the Vikings harried Armagh, the Irish King Concho- bar plundered the cattle of the monastery. Feidhlimidh, King of Cashel, instead of leading his men against the Vikings, fell upon the monastery of Clonmacnois. King Niall invades Leinster, and compels the inhabitants to take Bran for their king. And the same year the men of I Ulster put Keneth, Mall's son, to death, whereupon Niall plunders Meath. 1 No wonder that the Vikings (836) beset the country on all sides and pressed forward to its very centre. So much for Irish patriotism in this great crisis of her history. But what of her religion, the pure faith of the Island of Saints, inherited from St. 1 Wars of Gaedhill, p. xliv. But of every individual member of the there was another inherent source of clan, and the voice he had in all weakness in the Irish warfare against matters of war. Ibid., p. cxviii. the foreigner — the independence THE LAWS. 93 Patrick and Columba ? She would surely stick to that. All her people, from Cape Clear to Malm Head, would not be behind those Sassenach neighbours who enforced Christian baptism on Guthrum and his followers. Yet how dark the prospects of Christianity were in England in those days comes out in the will of Alfred 1 the Ealdor- man, about the same date, bequeathing property to Christ Church, Canterbury, for Alfred's soul, and adding the proviso, " as long as baptism may be, and it may be obtained in the land," which seems to contemplate the possible recurrence to heathenism under the Danish scourge. Out of her own mouth let Ireland be judged. " It came to pass at this time that many people gave up their Christian baptism and joined themselves to the Norwegians (Lochlanns). They plundered Armagh and carried off its treasures, though some repented and made restitution." 2 Nor is this the only case recorded in the Irish annals of her sons turning renegades at that period of sorest need, foretold of old in verses like these 3 — " Gentiles shall come over the soft sea ; They shall confound the men of Erinn ; Of them there shall be an ahbot over every church, Of them there shall be a king over Erinu. There shall be of them an abbot over this my church, Who will not attend to matins ; 1 It was this same Alfred and his alive to the great money value of ■wife Werburg who gave to Canter- these beautiful MSS., and ofteu bury the " Codex Aureus," a beauti- carried them off to await ransom, ful specimen of Keltic art, purchased Thus in 843 they took a great Bible by them of some Vikings, and which from the Basilica at Nantes, which, has recently been published in fac- however— the robbers having subse- simile by a Norse clergyman, Mr. quently come to blows about the Belsheim (Christiania, 1878). He is spoil— fell into the hands of a cap- the first to show that the Latin text tive. Martene, Thesaurus AnccJot., of it was the old Itala and not the iii. 852 ; Steenstrup, v. 245. vulgata. The MS. must have been 2 Three Fragments, ed. O'Dono- written in Ireland at the end of the van. sixth century, or at the beginning of J Todd, Introd. Gaedhill, xliv., ib. the seventh at Bobbio in Italy, where exev. " Country was at that time St. Columbanus had founded a monns- (1014) in Ireland an unknown senti- tury. The Vikings soon became fully ment." 94 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Without pater and without credo ; Without Irish, but only foreign language." l But we must resume our legal jottings. The laws of Athelstan (became king 924 or 925, died 940) are the great authority for that extraordinary institution of the ^Middle Ages, 2 ' ordeal ' = the decision of God; for this alone is the meaning of the word in Anglo-Saxon. Here we have the three several methods duly set forth— the hot iron, the cold and boiling water, and the corsnaed or ' proof bite,' which last, if we remember, Spelman dis- cussed with Worm — a test most likely restricted to spiritual persons. 3 How the suspected person ever escaped from the Scylla and Charybdis which threatened him seems a mystery, unless by the beneficent collusion of the priest. In fact, it seems to have been an ecclesi- astical hocus-pocus throughout. The three days' previous fasting on bread and water, salt and herbs, the church, the service, the adjuration, the manipulation of the ordeal, all appertained to the priest; and he doubtless would take care — and small blame to him, but rather praise — to hedge matters to the best of his ability, so that the guilty should not escape, and Holy Church should at any rate pass unscathed and unsullied through the function. The heating of the hot iron, to be carried by the accused nine feet, or the heating of the water in an iron, bronze, leaden, or earthenware pot, and the bobbing the hand into the boiling fluid in search of the stone therein, would be a comi-tragic spectacle of a highly sensational character. But for classic effect, perhaps the other ordeal by water, when the culprit was first stripped, 1 Gaedbill,ii. The pseudo-abbot was mentioned iu the " Antigone " of So- Turgesius (Thorgils), who evidently phocles, 264. aimed at what the Danes would have 3 There is a sensible and humane liked to have effected in England — letter (a.D. 886-889) by Pope Stephen the suppression of Christianity and VI. to Liutbert, Archbishop of May- the restoration of Paganism. ence, counselling him not to use the 2 That it existed in various shapes test of hot iron and boiling water to at a very early period is certain ; cf. parents who had overlaid their infant Numbers v. 23. Ordeal by fire is children and suffocated them. THE LA WS. 95 then kissed the Gospels and the crucifix, was then sprinkled with holy water, and then plunged into the cold water, while the priest droned out in Latin, " If this man is guilty, float him ; if innocent, sink him ! " would surpass all the other methods. The enduring impression made on the national mind by these rites is evidenced by such phrases as ' sink or swim,' doubtless a reminiscence of the last ordeal, while ' going through fire and water ' is of the others. 1 A modern " smasher " may congratulate himself that he does not live in the days of King Athelstan, for lie would certainly (ii. 14) have lost his hand without the possibility of redemption, which hand was then placed over the shop-door. Stringent measures were adopted to put down a crime which it is clear was very prevalent, for we learn from another statute that the authorities were sometimes accomplices in these frauds. If detected, they suffered the like penalty. 2 He who falsely accused another, to the detriment of his person or property, was equally well provided for : he forfeited his tongue or paid the wer (value) of the injured party (Canute, 16). The meaning of our genuine old Saxon word to ' wed ' = to covenant, comes out strongly in that law of King Edmund's (Schmidt, p. 391) on the betrothing a woman. A mass priest of course officiates at the wedding and joins the pair together with God's blessing. The sixth canon of King Edgar reads a wholesome lesson to certain clergy of the present day, serving to remind them that ' parish ' is a territorial and not a con- gregational term. It runs thus : " We ordain that no priest encroach on another priest in any of those things that belong to him ; neither in his church, nor in his 1 Most likely the drowning man abounded. For instance, at Canter- was tied by a cord and dragged out bury under Athelstan there were if innocent. Sue Athelstan, ii., iii., seven moneyers ; but half a ceu- &c. See also note on ordeals by tuiy later it was ordered that no Spelmau. man might have a mint save the - la the tenth century mints king. 96 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. parish (' scriftscir,' literally ' shriftshire '), nor in his guild." Unbiscopad (ib., 1 5) = unconfirmed, points to the rite of confirmation in England having from early times, and not as in Norway, been performed by bishops only. Canon 26 enacts that the church is devoted to God's service and nothing else. There is to be no idle talking or idle deeds or drinking there, and no dog or swine is to enter the churchyard if it is possible to prevent it. Canon 24 enacts that no one is to be buried inside the church unless during life he was a good Christian. What King Edgar and his bishops would have said to Non- conformists being buried in churchyards can only be surmised. A curious commentary on the state of the country in Canute's time is afforded in 2 1 : " Every man above twelve years of age is to swear that he will not be a thief or the accomplice of thieves;" which is further illustrated by 29 : " If a man meet a thief and let him go of his own accord without crying out, he is to pay the wer of the thief, unless he can clear himself of all evil design." When, by the advice of his Witan, Canute ordained (74) " that a widow should not marry again within twelve months of her husband's decease, under the penalty of losing her dowry (morgen-gyfe) if she did," it might appear to us an intolerable interference on his part with the liberty of the subject; but at all events, the rule evinced a delicacy of feeling, not to say sound views on the due constitution of society, worthy of all commen- dation. Thank your stars, ye poachers, ye did not live in Canute's days, 1 when to hunt a beast of the forest till it panted was punished, in case of a freeman, by a fine of ten 1 Einhard, the secretary of Charle- Church of the Blessed Martyrs Mar- magne, intercedes on one occasion for cellinus and Peter (Mon. Carol., p. two poachers in the imperial forest 470). Canute's forest laws, however, who were too poor to pay the fine, are not genuine, at least in their pre- and had taken sanctuary at the sent shape. THE LA \VS. 97 shillings ; in a man of lower rank, with a fine of twenty shillings ; in a serf, by a sound flogging. But if it was a ' royal beast,' the serf was outlawed. An early instance of encouraging a taste for sailoring, which was somewhat behindhand in his Saxon subjects, is found in that law of Athelstan's time : " If a man has passed the sea three times at his own expense, 1 he shall be worthy of that free- dom which is called thegenship," — a very sensible addition to the requisites for that office found elsewhere, viz., five hides of land, a church and kitchen, and a bell-house. No more Christian sentiment is to be found in any laws than in the second head of Canute's secular ordinances : " We ordain that Christian men shall not be put to death, nor God's handiwork and His own purchase, for which He paid so dearly, be destroyed for all too little a cause." No less creditable is the statute against selling a Christian (slave) out of the kingdom, or at least into a heathen land. Except in the laws, where have we any full or accurate information about the condition of the slaves, who formed a majority, or, as some say, three-fourths of the popula- tion, and who could only find a refuge from the cruelty of their masters, and oftener of their mistresses, in the laws of the country which protected them, since they them- selves had no constitutional or political right, and, like a chattel, were bought and sold at the will of their owner ? Nevertheless, they appear to have " had Sunday to them- selves ; " for in Wihtrasd ( 19 ) we find (according to Schmidt's proposed reading), " If a hireling (esne), by his master's orders, does any menial work from sunset on Saturday till the eve of Monday, his master is to pay him eighty shillings." Such was their condition in serfdom. But better be serfs and under the protection of some lord than be out- laws and liable to be slain by anybody (Laws, Athel- stan), for such was the position of those who were help- 1 "Be his ageuum krafte," which may also mean iu his own 'craft' or vessel. G 9 8 OLD ENGLLSH LITERATURE. less and poor, and had nobody to l>e answerable for them. Truly a miserable dilemma to be placed in. No doubt the death of the lord would often do great things for them. A well-known picture by Armitage exhibits a scene of this kind, where some of the serfs are being set free. In a letter by Wynfrid (Boniface) we find (Monumenta Moguntina, p. 59) a monk of Wenlock in a trance descends to the regions below. Here he sees a poor girl who, while in life, ground in a mill. One day she had set eyes on a brand-new distaff, beautifully carved, and had stolen it. Hence her present position, which was a matter of great glee to five malicious spirits. Further on the monk sees also the unhappy soul of a certain brother recently departed, to whom he had minis- tered the last offices, and who had charged him before he died to urge on his born brother to manumit this very girl for the good of his soul, she being the common property of the two. From motives of avarice the survivor had left his last request unfulfilled, and the deceased vehe- mently reproaches him for his neglect. Columba was more conscientious. He refused to become foster-father of the Scottish king except at the price of freedom to a poor Irish slave. Attestations of these manumissions have been found in the fly-leaves of copies of the Gospels and Missals, many also in the Exeter MS. mentioned elsewhere. Thus one Walter frees Atheluv over his father's corpse for the re- demption of his father's soul and his own (Thorpe, 632). The altar of St. Petroc, i.e., of the church at Bodmin, was the scene of many of these happy liberations. Several are recorded, some in Latin, others in Anglo-Saxon, which took place there in the tenth or beginning of the eleventh century. Such names of slaves as Morhad, Gurient, Hincomhal, Telent, and Gryfyith, indicate pretty clearly that Celts supplied the staple of these unfortunates. Such perorations to a will as " May God blind him who sets this writing aside ! " would secure their freedom eff'ec- THE LAWS. 99 fatally. But the spontaneous humanity of individuals no doubt often befriended them. Of this there are numerous proofs. In William the Conqueror's Laws, § iii. 15 (Schmidt, 356), he prohibits the sale of a man out of the country ; and in the case of full manumission, the owner must deliver him by the right hand to the vice-comes in full comitatus, proclaim him publicly free, show him open doors and roads, and give him a lance and sword, and so he is free. Modern bishops, in the conflict of opinions now current about their true functions, will be curious perhaps to know, if they do not know it already, how men looked on these questions in Anglo-Saxon days. In the " Institutes of Polity " they will learn, among other things, that bishops are beadles (bydelas), which means, however, not our im- posing functionary, but ' messengers ' — preachers. Woe to them if they " mutter with their jaws (clumiath mid ceaflum) when they should speak aloud (clypian)." By the by, this word to 'clepe,' once so common — (e.g., "They clepe us drunkards" — Hamlet) — has entirely dis- appeared from the language, having been displaced by to 'call,' either in the sense of to 'cry aloud,' as here, or 'to summon.' An instance this of those many Norse w T ords which have superseded the Saxon. Among other parts of a bishop's day's-work — daeg-weorc (viii.) — he had to attend to the daily services, seven in number — uhtsang (nocturnes or lauds), primsang (prime), undernsang, from nine till twelve, then middag-, non-, even-, and niht-sang; likewise to wash the feet of the poor. " For this," said a very busy bishop to the present writer, " we really have no time." Besides, a bishop had to learn and practise some handicraft as well as a priest (Edgar's Canons, 11); and, per contra, the duties of the laity are expressly stated, Thus it is enacted, " Every man, from the same craft where- with he provides his body's needs, shall provide for that of his soul also, which is better than his body" (ii. 432), i.e., he must see that the clergy are not starved. Upon the ioo OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. ay hole, the laity seem to have been pretty well taxed. First there was the plough-penny fifteen nights after Easter, and the tithing of the young at Pentecost, and of the fruits of the earth at Omnium Sanctorum, and Rome money on St. Peter's Day, and church-scot at Martinmas (ibid., 54), &c. What church-wakes might degenerate into is clear from Canon 28, which prohibits drink and enforces praying on those occasions. Lyke- wakes must also have been a won- drous jumble of heathendom and Christianity. 1 iElfric's Canon 35 orders " that if a priest is bidden to such cere- monies, he is to forbid the heathen songs of the laity" (would that we had some of them !) " and their loud ' cheahchetungs,' 2 nor to eat or drink in the room where the corpse lies." Pity that nobody from Iceland was by to present us with a picture of the scene ! The dead man stretched out without any breath in his body, and the friends and relatives piping and ' cheachchetunging ' till there was very little breath left in theirs ; the tonsured priest in his sober, well-appointed suit contrasting with the motley garments of the revellers, rebuking the ill- timed mirth, and refusing the proffered refreshments with ill-concealed hunger and thirst of countenance, having probably toiled thither on foot for many a weary mile. This bit of old national custom is, in fact, left to our imagination. The sacramental calic (chalice) is to be of cast metal, ' gegoten,' not of wood, 'treowen' (41). But in iElfric's canons (22), calic and disc to be wrought of 'clsenuni an- timber ' (of pure material). Canon 58 of Edgar (a.d. 957) runs thus : " A priest must 1 The agreement come to at two the human body proscribed ; also British synods between Hadrian I. Pagan fashions in dress, slitting and Kings Off a and Cynewulf (a.d. horses' ears and docking their tails (!), 786) throws a light on the dogged and, what was worse, eating their pertinacity with which the people flesh (Monumenta Alcuiniana, p. 155). clung to the heathenish customs. - Bosworth : "rebuking." Here we find painting and cicatrising THE LAWS. ioi not be a singer of songs at the ale-bench (ealu-scop), nor in anywise play on an instrument (gliwige) by himself or before others ; but he must be, as becomes his calling, wise and worshipful." Again, Canon 64 forbids a priest to hunt, hawk, or play at tables, but to play on his books, as beseemeth his calling. But those in higher places wanted restraints quite as much as their subordinates, as is clear from the letters of Boniface and Alcuin. In the Bamsey Chronicle, a Saxon bishop, who wishes to get some land cheap out of a Dane, resolves, most un- episcopally, to effect his purpose by making the thirsty soul drunk. So the bout is continued till long after dinner, and, if we remember rightly, with complete success. The description of a princely secular monk in France in the ninth century indicates that our neighbours were no better. ' : He went about in a military cloak with a sword. He kept a multitude of hounds, went hunting daily, was a first-rate shot at birds with a bow, and was ignorant of letters" (Bertz, i. 284; Kemble, ii. 45). Going still farther back, we have evidence sufficient as to the state of things in this country. " It was the public talk," wrote Bede to Ecgbert (p. 4), " that some bishops serve Christ in such wise that they have not a single follower of any continence or religion at all ; but, on the contrary, men given up to laughing, jocu- larity, tables, revelries, drunkenness, and such like, and who daily feed their bellies with banquets rather than their minds with heavenly sacrifices." In the ecclesiastical laws, and more especially in the various penitentials x prescribing penalties for divers offences, much light is thrown on the early position of Christianity in this realm, when darkness was gradually dispersing, though there was long yet to wait for anything 1 For the text of the chief English foreign, see Stuhbs and ITaddan, Penitentials, -with a lucid account of "Councils," &c, i. is., sqq., and their complicated literary history and iii. 175 and 413. their various editors, English and io2 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. like clear daylight. As for the morality of both clergy and laity, as revealed in these documents, it is best to say nothing. But in another point of view, they throw some curious light on religious matters. Heavily weighted, in- deed, must the consciences of those poor puzzled heathen converts have been ; for the Christianity current was fre- quently a curious mixture of the false religion and the true. Nay, the very missionaries, as we have printed else- where, like the Jesuits in the East many centuries after, would, for convenience' sake, often engraft slips of the new faith on remains of the ancient stock. 1 They constructed, so to say, a sort of temporary jury-mast, to keep the ark of the Church, ' sola-cymba salutis,' afloat in those danger- ous, unknown seas, exposed to Pagan storms. It was with this object, no doubt, that they winked at the popular regard for the old times, places, and observances, whatever kings and bishops might enact to the contrary. The '• Confessionales " of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, 668-690, and of Egbert, Bishop of York, 734.-766, about a century later than St. Cuthbert, show the state of things subsisting in England. If any one sacrifices in a little degree (in parvis) to devils, let him fast one year; if he sacrifices a good deal (in magnis), ten years. 2 Again, whoever burns corn at a place where a man died for the good of the survivors, let him fast five years (Theo- dore and Egbert). 3 (Ibid.) If a woman sets her daughter over the house 1 Thus an old " catechism font " of tree ; or witchcraft, sacrifices, or such Scandinavia exhibits the god Thunor like practices. It may be said, how- und his exploits, which the catuchist, ever, that much of the superstition with the rustics all round him, would then extant was due to the incorpo- improve for their edification. "Thu- ration of so many Northmen into the nor Carved on a Scandinavian Font population, who were Christians in of about the Year iooo," Dr. G. Ste- little but in name. phens, London, 1878. 3 It is to be hoped that the fasters 2 King Canute long after enacts were allowed a sufficiency of fish-diet. a special statute (Schmidt, p. 273) The people of London were great con- against worshipping of heathen gods, sumers apparently of this esculent, or the sun or the moon, fire or flood, In Ethelred's " Instituta Lundonise," water-wells or stones, or any kind of § 2, mention is made of the men of THE LA WS. 103 or in the oven (a kind of ' passing through the fire to Moloch'), in order to cure her of a fever, let her fast five years — an ordinance repeated in the Penitential of Bartholomew, Bishop of Exeter, 1161 (Reliquiae Antiques, p. 280). Whoever uses auguries and false divinations, or makes vows to a tree or anything except the Church, let him he excommunicated, whether lay or cleric ; or let the cleric undergo penance for three years, the laic for two years. Those who wear diabolic phylacteries (charms), or who do honour to Jupiter, or calculate the kalends of January as the Pagans do, a cleric to do penance five years, a laic three years. Here we see cropping up in a somewhat amusing shape that principle of the Anglo-Saxon law, the valua- tion of a man and the imposition of a penalty according to his rank and station. " The wer (here taken out in fasting) was the penalty," says Bosworth, " by which his safety was guarded and his crimes prevented and punished. If he violated certain laws, it was his legal mulct ; if he were himself attacked, it was the penalty inflicted on others. Hence it became the measure and mark of a man's personal rank and consequence, because its amount was exactly regulated by his condition in life." From the last we see that stray clergy were addicted to sorcery. But what is the following but chartered sorcery, pure and simple, with full benefit of clergy — the way to restore fertility to land rendered sterile by witchcraft or sorcery ? " Take by night, before it is dawn " l (for then the power Rouen, who came to Bylynsgate 'cum blood. A saving clause used to be vino et craspice.' This latter was a introduced whereby the offender, if of very fat kind of whale, which was weakly constitution, might commute caught in great quantities by the ex- his fasting for so many masses, ac- pert Northmen. The toll was six cording to a regular tariff. shillings for a large ship, and the J "Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms," Cock- twentieth part of the fish, ayne, vol. i. p. 399. Thorpe, "Ana- ]iut there was another method of lecta," p. 117, printed from unique escape for poor human flesh and MS. in Cotton Library. 104 OLD ENGLISH LIT ERA TURE. of witchery ceased), " four pieces of turf from four sides of the land. Then take oil, honey, and barm, and the milk of all the cattle on the land, and a bit of every tree grow- ing there except hard beam, and a bit of every principal herb except burr ; pour on these holy water, then sprinkle thrice the place where the turf grew, repeating these words thrice, ' Crescite (i.e., increase), multiplicamini (i.e., multi- ply), et replete terram (i.e., and replenish the earth), in nomine Patris,' &c. Say paternoster an equal number of times ; then carry the turf to the church, and let the mass priest sing four masses over it, the green side turned to- wards the altar ; and then carry the turf before sunset to the place they came from ; and have ready made of juniper tree four crucifixes, and write on each end Mattheus, Marcus, Lucas, and Johanneo. Lay the crucifix down in the hole, and say, 'Crux, Mattheus; crux, Marcus ; crux, Lucas ; crux, Johannes.' Then take the turf and place it thereon, repeating nine times the word ' Crescite' and Pater noster. Then turn to the east, and make an obeisance nine times, and say these words — ' Eastward I stand, Mercies I beg : I beg the great God, The mighty Lord, I beg the holy Guard of heaven ; I be<* earth And high heaven, And the true Sancta Maria, And the lofty mansion, That I may this enchantment, 1 By the favour of the Lord, Utter with my teeth, With firm mind, Awaken the fruits 1 The very word used, ' gealdor ' (Is. Galdor), is a heathen term = enchant- ments, used of the Egyptian enchantments, Exod. vii., and of Circe to her pigs. THE LAWS. 105 Unto us for worldly use, May fill the earth With firm belief, ' " &c. After thrice turning to the east, a prostration on the earth, sundry litanies and sanctuses, a benedicite pro- nounced, with arms outstretched, &c, the chief personage in this ceremonial takes some unknown seed, from alms- men, gathers all the ploughing instruments together, places on the beam incense, fennel, consecrated soap and conse- crated salt ; then he is to take the seed, set it on the plough, and say — " Arch, arch, arch ! Mother of earth, Grant to thee, the omnipotent, Eternal Lord, Fields growing And flourishing, Fructifying And strengthening," &c. Furthermore, on turning the first sod, one is to say — " Hail to thee, earth, Mother of men ! Be thou growing In the bosom of Go 1, Filled with food Fur the use of man," &c. Very probably the whole of this ceremony and the spell itself are survivals of heathendom with slight alterations. The ' archmother ' looks very like the goddess Freyja, the Northern Ceres. In the Scandinavian sagas we have con- stant references to solemn sacrifices to ensure a year of plenty. When the first sod of a railway is turned with religious ceremonies, we are really following in the wake of our heathen progenitors. So our Christmas holly is a reminiscence of the feasting booths, adorned with ever- greens, which the Pagan Anglo-Saxons set up at Yuletide in the neighbourhood of their temples. We have given above a long formula for making earth io6 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. fertile, but St. Cuthbert cut the affair much shorter. When those naughty birds alighted on his barley-field, and were getting it all up as fast as they could, he addressed them, " Why do you touch the corn which you did not sow ? Perhaps you have more need of it than I. If you have (lod's permission to do it, go on; but if not, away with you, and cease to injure what is not your own." It is needless to say that the whole flock flew away and never came again. Nay, more : those crows who pulled the thatch off the cell of the brethren to build their nests, on being expostulated with by Cuthbert, flew away, it is true, but came to the saint three days after, with drooping feathers and hanging heads, as he was digging in his garden — the very picture of that penitent ' Jackdaw of llheims,' drawn to the life by Cruikshank — and signified their contrition, as well as birds could, asking his forgive- ness. He granted it ; whereupon two of the culprits brought him a large piece of swine's fat, which the holy man used often to show to the brethren who visited him, and gave them some of it to grease their boots, with many wise observations on the bright example of humility and obedience which these birds, naturally so proud, set to mankind (Cuthb., c. 20). Let us observe, lastly, that it is chiefly from the Anglo- Saxon laws we obtain trustworthy information on the status of the fair sex, which, upon the whole, seems to have been very tolerable. ( io7 ) CHAPTEE VII. ANGLO-SAXON CHARTERS. But another source of information about the Saxons, and a most reliable one, is still to be mentioned — the charters, and wills, and other like documents. In some of these deeds we discern the foundation laid of a court and aristocracy by the gesiGas (comrades) of a warlike leader, from whom, in reward of their services, they re- ceived gifts of horses, of arms, and jewels, and lands ; a custom for which, besides these papers, the testimony of Tacitus is equally decisive. Here we have grants of land by royal personages, 1 to the aggrandisement of the lords, the ruin of the free cultivators, the encouragement of brigandage, and the impairment of the national defences. For be it noted this land was often carved out of the national stock (folkland), and became private property (bocland), instead of being only a life tenure; the upshot being a state of things more ruinous to the country than all the Northern invasions, and paving the way for Canute's and the Conqueror's easy victories. In Kemble's volume, if we don't see how the folkmot, or muster of the freemen of the country, gradually became converted into a repre- sentative assembly of popular councillors, yet the powers, functions, and composition of the witenagemot are in some degree ascertainable. Cod. Dip., 1019, shows us that the proceedings of the witan commenced with divine 1 DiplomatoriumAnglo-Saxonicum, Thorpe, 1865, the earliest document J. M. Kemble, 1839, sqrj. Diplo- in which is by Ethelbert, king of inatorium Anglicum iEvi Saxonici, Kent, A.D. 605. 10S OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. service and a profession of adherence to the Catholic faith. Nay, " every charter in the book, which is not merely a private will or a private settlement, is the genuine act of some witenagemot, and we thus possess a long and interesting series of records, enabling us to fol- low the actions of Saxon parliaments from the very cradle of our monarchy." These documents are often prefaced by a Latin exordium, ridiculous for its pedantry and bombast, which savours of Byzantine influence — a taste for the Greek lanoethius in English " (clearly Alfred's translation), and " a mickle English book about divers things, wrought song- wise," which can only allude to the famous " Codex Exoniensis," discussed elsewhere. And with this we will close our stray samples of these instructive documents. ( H5 ) CHAPTEE VIII. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. — BEOWULF, BRUNANBURH, ETC. Turn we now to Anglo- Saxon poetry. 1 With the excep- tion of Scandinavia, no other people of Europe has left such a stock. Eirst and foremost comes " Beowulf," a poem upwards of 6000 lines in length, which in epic breadth surpasses anything extant from those times, whether the offspring of Scandinavia or England. But, remark- ably enough, while Snorri constantly cites or alludes to the poems of his countrymen, Beowulf is nowhere men- tioned by any Anglo-Saxon author, which seems to cor- roborate the idea that originally it was not an indigenous production. At all events, it is unlike any extant specimen of Anglo-Saxon poetry, excepting, perhaps Andreas or Elene. The date of its composition has been much debated. By Conybeare it was thought, in its present shape, to be the work of the bards about Canute's court. The leading incidents of the plot are as follows : — Beowulf, the son of Ecgtheow and prince in Scania (South Sweden), hearing how for twelve long years King Hrothgar and his people in North Jutland had been mightily oppressed by a monster, Grendel, resolves to deliver him, and arrives at Hart Hall, the Jutish palace, as an avenger. During the night the monster appears in the hall, where the warriors lay on bed and bolster upon the floor, and after devour- ing a man-at-arms, steps towards the couch on which lay Beowulf all on the alert, and makes a grip at him, but soon finds he has caught a tartar. A desperate tussle 1 See Grein, " Bibliothek der Angelsachsischen Poesie mit Glossar," now out of print, which embraces the whole subject. 1 1 6 OLD ENGLISH L ITER A TURE. ensues, the upshot of which is that Grendel retreats to his fen-shelter minus an arm, which had been torn off by Beowulf. The following night the mother of Grendel, in revenge for her son's mortal wound, carries off an old friend of Hrothgar's, ^Esckere. He follows her to her hiding-place beneath the dread waters of the bottomless lake, and after a hand-to-hand encounter, where the result hung long in the balance, destroys both mother and son, the devil and his dam. Towards the close of the poem the epic continuity is broken by the introduc- tion of a new character, Wiglaf ; and when the interest of the story has culminated, there is the anti-climax of a fight between Beowulf and the fire-dragon. Nevertheless, in this great poem there are passages of much vivid simplicity and beauty : e.g., Canto v., where Beowulf and his men, with their stout shields, grey sarks, and visor helms, march along the stone-varied street to the hall of Hrothgar, and are received by old and hairless chiefs ; or line 2649, where Hrothgar speaks — " Ask not after happiness ; Sorrow is renewed To the Danes' people. iEschere is dead, Yrmenlaf's Elder brother, The partaker of my secrets And my counsellor, Who stood at my elbow When we in battle Our mail hoods defended, When troops rushed together, And boar-crests crashed. " Ever should an Earl be Valiant as iEschere. Of him in Heorot A cunning fatal guest Has become the slayer. • • • • • Now the hand lies low Which was good to you all For all your desires." BEOWULF. 117 Take again the hiding-place of Grendel's mother. Each night is seen fire beneath that flood, over which hangs a barky grove. Should some poor stag, close pressed by the hounds, chance to reach this spot, he will rather resign his life upon the shore than plunge into the horrid pool (1. 2731). This beautiful touch, perhaps the most beau- tiful in the poem, and worthy of the author of "As You Like It," if due to a monk, does him infinite credit. Throughout the poem it is easy to point out what parts belong to the old heathen legend and what are due to a Christian paraphrast. In Canto xxxviii., the descrip- tion of the dragon's cave with its treasure, " the old work of the giants," and the fainting Beowulf, with the mysterious light that shot within the scene, are after the manner of the author of " Vathek" (1. 5505) — " Saw then the bold thane Treasure jewels many, Glittering gold Heavy on the ground, Wonders in the mound And the worm's den, The old twilight-flyer's, Bowls standing ; Vessels of men of yore With the mountings fall'n off. There was many a helm Old and rusty, Armlets many Cunningly fastened. He also saw hang heavily An ensign all golden High o'er the hoard, Of hand- wonders greatest, Wrought by spells of song, From which shot a light, So that he the ground-surface Might perceive, The wonders overscan." Such imaginative forms of thought as the above would thrive to perfection in a weird land like Iceland, so 1 1 8 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. different in her sucgestiveness from the less stimulating landscape of England. And accordingly, if we examine " Beowulf " along with the " G-rettisaga," said to have been written down from an ancient tradition by the nephew of Snorri, Sturla Thordarson (died 1284), we find a striking resemblance between the deeds of Beowulf the Goth — ' moncynnes msegenes strengest ' (the strongest of mankind in might), who had in his hand-gripe the power of thirty men (1. 764), who beat ignominiously the champion swimmer, Brecca — and of Grettir the Strong, the great Icelandic hero, who swam miles for his life, which we will proceed to trace. A real man was this Grettir, like Beowulf, but in whose history there is much mythical accretion. He lived early in the eleventh century, and was a notable Scald. Long had the farm of Thorald, in Shadow Dale, one of those dreary recesses of Vasdal in North Iceland (which we once visited), been haunted by the powers of darkness, till at last it got into such evil repute that poor Thorald was at his wits' end even to get a cowherd. In this strait he goes to the Althing, and meets with a big fellow with large staring blue eyes and hair of a wolf-grey, who came from Sweden. True, the very sight of him gives Thorald quite a start, but a talk ensues, and the stranger — his name is Glamr — agrees to come in the autumn to be cowherd in Shadow Dale. Glamr " likes ghosts, they would make the place less dull." In due time the new shepherd arrives. He was shrill and deep- voiced. When he called, the cattle huddled together in a trice; there were no stragglers. At Christmas Glamr would not go with the other folks to the church, which was near. He was no friend to psalm-singing, not he, neither would he fast on Christmas Eve, notwithstanding the good housewife begged him to do so. He cared nought for those supersti- tions, he could not see that things were any better now than when folks were called heathens. Fearing to put him out of humour, there was something so loathly in GRETTISAGA. 119 his looks, the dame give him his food ; and having eaten his full, he sallied forth. During the day the voice of the cowherd was heard from time to time. The weather was dark and gusty, and as the day advanced grew worse. At evening Glamr did not come home. Next morning a search was made for him. The cattle were found strayed about in the bog in a sorry plight, while some had gone off to the fells. After a long search, they find marks of a struggle, the soil and stones torn up, drops of blood, and the trail of footsteps as big as the bottom of a cask. Not far off lay Glamr's corpse, as blue as Hel, and swelled as big as a bullock. In vain did they try to get it down to the church ; they brought it to the edge of a gill, but no farther would it go. Another day the priest went with them, but this time the body was not to be found. After- wards they went without the priest, and lit upon the body, and, to make short work of it, buried it on the spot. Not long after people became aware that Glamr x did not lie quiet. Those who chanced to catcli a sight of him lost their reason. Many fled from the dale. Thorald's daughter died of sheer fright, the cattle got lamed, and another cowherd who took the place was found with his back broken on the stone in the cow's 'boose.' AVhat gave a touch of the grotesque to this horrible glamoury was the way in which the monster used to bestride the roof-tree at night, and shake the whole house, setting all inside a-quaking. Ever ready for a deed of derring-do, Grettir, like Beowulf, visits the haunted house. The first night his horse is killed in the stall. The next night, like Beowulf, he watches in the hall, in spite of the expostulations of the master. He would so like to have a sight of the fellow who did his horse to death. The place he chooses for his watch is a chair just opposite the sleeping berth of Thorald, with a goat-skin rug thrown over him. A light burned in the hall. 1 Identical with Scotch glamour, which shows that the legend of Glamr was common to Iceland and our neighbours beyond the Tweed. 120 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Half the night was sped, when a monstrous head is pushed through the doorway, and in comes Glamr, stoop- ing, and, when he gets inside, stands erect with his head touching the roof. Grettir lay still and moved not. Presently the sprite catches at the rug, and tugs, and gives a second tug, and then a third with both hands, which brought Grettir to his legs, and between them the rug was torn asunder. Tierce was the struggle. The monster tried his utmost to drag Grettir out of the hall, and Grettir did his utmost to prevent him, all the furni- ture being smashed to bits in the fray. But do what he would the goblin had the best of it, and was pulling him out of the house, when Grettir suddenly ' ran in,' got him by the middle, and spurning against the earth-fast threshold stone, by a supreme effort threw Glamr neck and crop out of the door, himself uppermost. Clouds kept passing over the moon, with here and there an opening, and as Glamr fell, the light shone through one of these openings, when Grettir saw such a ghastly glare l fixed upon him as never faded from his sight ever after. For the moment he sank powerless, and his life lay be- tween this world and the next. But shortly recovering from his swoon, he drew his dagger, and gave the finishing stroke to his antagonist. Much later on in the story — and not as in the Saxon epic, where Beowulf dives into the lake directly after the murder of vEschere — Grettir descends by a rope into the depths of the Godafoss, 2 and in a cavern under the fall 1 "From his eyes (GrendePs) shot grees, and issues from a rugged defile most like flame a horrid light," Beo- of singular grotesqueness. The tor- wulf, 1460. rent has in some places scooped out "He seizes the warrior as he lay," caves in the trap-rock, faced with 1499- skew-arches, which would'have done "He found in the stranger a stronger honour to any rail way contractor. The gripe than his own," 1510. rocks seemed determined not to be "The mead-benches are smashed in outdone by the doings of the water, the struggle," 1555. ' If vou can J" -"" - ) I can scowl. If you 2 For a description of this ghastly can cut capers, I can cut faces.' Un- spot, see "Oxonian in Iceland," by sightly shapes were there, glouring tbe present writer, p. 142 : — among those rifted chasms ; omnium " The broad river contracts by de- gatherum monsters, writhing over the GRETTISAGA. 121 fights with the spirit of the water and slays him, as Beowulf did the monster. The resemblance between these two stories at once appears ; but there is one word in the account of the latter contest which completely identifies Grettir with Beowulf. The water-troll assails him with a weapon " which people called a heptisax," a strange sort of weird dagger, and which therefore required a particular explanation. This is the very name of the hafted sword (hseft-mece) with which Beowulf attacks Grendel's mother, and the word never occurs again, I believe, in any Icelandic author. So much for the value of words as elucidating and connecting ancient legends. The saga itself in its present form, as is seen from internal evidence, was not written down till about the end of the thirteenth century. When, if we pursue it to its source, was this legend of Beowulf borne back to Scandinavia and Iceland ? At the same time, do we not discern some of the germs of the Anglo-Saxon poem in the Icelandic poems themselves ? Beowulf, for instance, perishing, after he had slain the monster, by its venom, looks like a reference to the Edda myth of Thor dying by the poison of Midgardsorm, when the monster was already slain. surging abyss ; sheaves of basaltiform passage from the upper river-bed, trap, some butt-end towards the water, and through the dam, from a hole some inclined, some perpendicular, or in the face of which it bursts forth, gathering to a point like fan-tracery, instead of over it ; and two other The cause of all this chaos is, that the bodies of water, resolved by hook or water-sprite, or the river if you will, by crook not to be left behind in the has been bridled by a curb of stone, race, have mined a short cut deeper which provokes him into leaping still, and are seen leaping out in furi- bodily into a circular pool, over which ous frolic by posterns still lower down two Trolls keep watch and ward. the wall. ' Postica falle clientem,' " In the centre of the semicircular a weird scene, rendered perhaps more barrier is a grassy rock. On its right supernatural by the absence of all one vast stream makes a swoop clean trees to soften and veil its ghastly over a dimly-seen cavern, while on features ; add to which, the moun- its left the water is scattered in a tains in front, in reality of no great continuous chain of beautiful per- height, look dimly huge, quite sky- pendicular falls. One of these, as if high, through the fog, which has impatient of control, and averse to suddenly enwreathed them, rolling waiting for its turn, has actually up from the Northern Sea." tunnelled for itself a slantiudicular 122 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. The " Fight at Finnesburg," recounting, perhaps, one of Ilengist's exploits, is apparently a fragment of a lost epic ; as also "The Scop, or Gleeman's Tale." The gleeman ap- pears under the imaginary name of Widsith, the far- travelled man, who has seen much, and " can therefore sing and tales recite." He relates that he was in the service of Ahild in Anglia. and visited the court of the Gothic King Eormanric, who reigned over the Visigoths in Italy, 460 ; and he also mentions Attila, who died 453 ; so that, if he and his adventures are not a fiction, he must have been contemporary with .Guthere, the Burgundian king, of JSTibelung renown. Indeed, he tells us he received from him a present in reward of his song. Like King Alfred's friend, Ohthere, the minstrel had visited the Fins of the North. He had been among the Picts and Scots, changing the scene to Italy, Egypt, Palestine, &c. Like men of his calling, he has roamed through many lands, and he has always found great people very glad to hear their praises sung, and to pay well for it. For instance, Eormanric pre- sented him with a bracelet, a very heavy one too, which on his return home he gave to his patron in return for a bit of land. We see that he was much better off than his brother, the minstrel of the Exeter Book, and, as such, the tone of his poetry is joyous and elated. In its present shape, the poem is supposed by Conybeare to be a rifa- cimento of fifth-century work. Then we have in the Chronicle, 937, the celebrated epinicion, the "Battle of Brunanburh," where King Ethelstan of Wessex, grandson of Alfred, met Anlaf (or Olaf) Cuaran x and his father-in- law, Constantine of Dublin, who had entered the Humber with 615 ships, and, by the help of St. Cuthbert, 2 beat them, and became king of England. This battle is de- scribed in one of the best Icelandic sagas, that of Egil, 1 Cuaran is an Irish word = a sock, Olaf quitted Ireland and went on a a sandal, a shoe fastened with thongs, pilgrimage to Iona, where he died Being worsted in the battle of Tara (War of the Gaedhill, p. cl.). (980), against Malachi, king of Ire- - Hist. Translat. S. Cuthberti, iv. laud, where he lost his sou Kagnall, 17. BA TTLE OF BR UNA NB URH. 1 2 3 where the site is called Vmheidi. The battle is conjec- tured by Skene, 1 though high authorities dissent, to have been fought at Aldborough, on the Ouse, near which are three ' devil's arrows/ or monoliths of great size. " This year 2 King Athelstan, lord of earls, Giver of rings among the warriors, and eke his brother, Edmund Atheling, lifelong renown Gained in the hght, with the edges of their swords, At Brunanburh. They clave the wall of shields ; They hewed the war-shields, output of hammers, These sons of Edward ; as was to them congenial , From their ancestors, that they in combat oft, 'Gainst all comers, defended their land, Their hoards, and their homes. The foemen cringed (crouched); The Scotch people, the shipmen, Fated, fell ; the field streamed With warriors' blood what time the sun rose At morning-tide, the mighty star Glided over earth, the candle bright of God, The eternal Lord, until the noble creature Sank to his setting. There many a warrior lay Of those Northern men, pierced by the spears, Shot over the shield ; many Scotsmen eke, Weary, war-sated. The West Saxons The livelong day with choice troops Pressed on the track of the loathed race ; They hewed at the runagates fierce from behind, With falchions just whetted. The Mercians refused The hard hand-play to none of the foemen That with Olaf over the weltering waves On the ship's bosom had sought the land, Fey to the fight. There lay five Young kings on that battle-stead, Slain with the sword ; so seven eke Earls of Olaf — foes without number, Shipmen and Scots. There was the Norse chief Put to the rout ; needs must he fly To the stem of his ship. With a little baiid He shoved his ship afloat. The King departed, On the fallow flood he saved his life. Eke the aged one escaped by flight 1 Celtic Scotland, p. 358. - -Munch, ' ' Chronicon Manniae," p. 38, fixes 938 as the date; the Chronicle, 937. 124 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. To his kin in the North. Constantine, The hoar war-hero, he need not vaunt Of the wedlock of swords. He was shorn of his mates, Reft of his friends on the trysting-plaee, Slain in strife ; and he left his son On the slaughter-place, mashed to pieces, Though young in war. Needed not boast That grizzly-lock'd warrior of the clash of bills, That old deceiver ; not he nor Olaf neither. With their armies' relics they needed not to laugh, As though they had the best of it in the work of death, In the rush of banners on the battle-stead, The meeting of javelins, the tryst of men, The clash of weapons wherewithal they played On the slaughter-ground against the sons of Edward. Hied them, the Northmen, in their mailed barks — Remnant of spears — on the sounding sea, O'er the deep water, Dublin to seek, Back to their country, cowed in mood. So, too, the brothers, both together, The King and the Atheling, sought their country— The land of the West Saxons— flushed with victory. They left behind them, to share the carcases, The dusky-robed, swart raven, With horny web, and the dun-coated, White-tailed earn, to gorge on the carrion, Greedy war-hawk, and that grey beast The wolf of the wold. Never was more carnage Ever yet on this island Of men cut down, before this, With the sword-edge — as far as the books tell us, The ancient sages — since from the East hither Angles and Saxons came up on land, O'er the broad seas Britain sought, When proud war-smiths overcame the Welsh Earls, eager for glory, gat hold of the land." 1 1 In "Reliquiae Antiquse," ii. 179, He alone mentions the tale of Canute is a metrical fragment in Latin of this and the tide. With all his rhetoric, poem, very corrupt, and evidently he loved the old simple poetry and copied down hy an ignorant scribe, legends. Macaulay, who held Anglo- Appended to it is a tirade in Latin Saxon andOldNorthern poetry equally prose, apropos to this great exploit, cheap, remarks: — "The exploits of abounding in such names as David, Athelstan were commemorated by the Goliath, Pharaoh, &c. Henry of Anglo-Saxons, and those of Canute by Huntingdon is our only chronicler the Danes, in rude poems, of which a who attempts a version of this poem, few fragments have come down to us." BA TTLE OF BR UNA NB URH. 1 2 5 This poem will certainly hold its own with another hymn of victory, where Ludwig III., king of the West Franks, routed the Vikings of the Seine at Saucourt, half- way between Abbeville and Eu, August 3, 881. It is said to have been composed by Brother Hucbald, a monk of Flanders, died 930, and runs on for some sixty lines : — " God caused heathen men To come over the sea, The Franks to remind Of their manifold sins. Some of them were slain And others were saved ; Those who'd liv'd bad lives Much affliction endured," &c. In this strait the Almighty summons Ludwig : — " Ludwig, my king, Go help my folk ; The Northmen have them So hard bested." Obedient to the call, he raised the war-banner and rode in search of the Northmen, and before long encounters them. " The king he rode bold, Sang a holy song, And all sang together ' Kyrie Eleison.' The song it was sung, The fight was begun ; Blood rose for joy To the cheeks of the Franks. Each battled full hard, Like Ludwig none So snell and so keen — 'Twas his nature, I ween. Some he cut with the sword, Some pierced with the spear ; In the hands of his foes lie poured forth So bitter a drink, They wearied of life. 1 26 OLD ENGLISH L1TERA TURE. Then praised be God's might That Ludwig prevailed ; And praised be all saints That the fight he won." But after all, the fight at Brunanburh is not to be com- pared for grandeur to the Icelandic poem on the death of King Eric Bloody-axe (94 i), 1 or the Spaedom of the Norns in Brian's Battle (10 14), parts of which last not lone since were still remembered in the original in the Orkneys. Both of these poems we purpose giving in their proper place hereafter. Professor Earle ascribes the song of Brunanburh to Cyneweard, Bishop of Wells, whom he conjectures to have been poet-laureate of the day and son of Cynewulf, the author of "Elene." Saxon it is in speech, doubtless, but may we not question whether it is altogether Saxon in origin ? whether, though the hands may be the hands of Esau, the voice is not Jacob's voice? In the army of Athelstan were several hundred Norsemen and Icelanders, the very pink and flower of her nobility, men who had bearded Harold Fairhair and his son Eric, and to whose signal bravery it was due that when Alfgeir had fled from the field, the fortunes of Athelstan were retrieved, and the field of Brunanburh won. Such were Thorolfr and his brother E'dl. ISTow Eail was a famous Scald. After the battle, says the Egil saga (cap. 55), he composed an epic (Drapa) in honour of Athelstan's victory, for which the king presented him with two gold armlets, each of which weighed a mark ( = half a pound), besides a costly mantle which he himself had worn. 2 The presence of such a man at court must have had a strong poetic influence on the Saxon bards. What if he had some- thing to do with this paean of victory ! He was in- 1 Fagrskinna (Christiania, 1847), part ii. of this work. p. 16, imitated by Eyvind Skal- 2 The author of the saga falls into daspiller; ib. p. 22. Cf. Hornclofe's one error, — he kills Olaf, whereas he poem on the battle of Hafursfiord in escaped. BATTLE OF MALDON. 127 deed an improvisatore, which the Anglo-Saxons were not, as far as we know, unless it be Ceedmon ; and he must have been far above all his contemporaries, for a legend was invented to account for his skill. Had they been such, we should surely have had better stuff handed down to us than that rhyming impromptu fathered upon Kino- Canute bv the street ballad-singers of the twelfth century, but which is no more his than were Chatterton s poems composed by the monk Thomas Eowley. " Merie sungen <5e muneclies binnen Ely Tha Knut ching reu Sserby ; KoweS, knites, noer fte land, And bere we Ses muneches sang." i.e., " Merry the monks sang at Ely As steer'd by Knut the king ; Row, row me, my men, near the land, Let us list to the monks' sweet song." — Hist. Eliens (1166-69). The " Battle of Maldon" is a spirited fragment with the right ring about it, albeit the author most probably was one of the cowled fraternity. Byrhtnoth, a Northum- brian by birth, was a great benefactor to Ely. Hence the Ely Chronicle (494) naturally mentions his death, a.d. 991. He is there described as eloquent of speech, of robust strength, and commanding stature. Above all, he honoured Holy Church and its ministers, and applied to their use the whole of his patrimony; and so he is not without a vates sacer. But for the industry of that busy antiquary Hearne, who had transcribed the only known MS. of it, which perished in the fire of the Cottonian Library, 1 73 1, this poem would have- been lost to us. It describes the way in which Earl 1 Byrhtnoth, King Athelstan's man, goes down on the 1 Ealdornian, anglice Alderman, or leader). He was judicial head of The proper signification of the title the county, and leader of the levy en in those days is a long story. In masse. He was equal in blood of the r.uik he stood next to the king. As king, and could intermarry with his leader of the army he was literally family. He was appointed by the ' Heretoga ' (Germ. ' Ilerzog' = duke crown with the assent of the higher 1 2 S OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. banks of the Blackwater before the redoutable Olaf Try- gvasson (Chronicle, 993, where he is called Unlaf or Anlaf), who had invaded England with 390 ships. An envoy comes from the Vikings with the cool request for rings, as a method of buying off the invader and stopping the rush of arms. 1 Up starts Byrhtnoth, brandishing his slender spear, and tells the messenger the only tribute they shall have will be the javelin and the sword-point ; grim battle shall decide between them. Noteworthy are some signs of Scandinavian influence in this South Saxon poem. The freebooters are several times called ' vikings,' as well as ' mariners,' a peculiarly Norse word. The battle phalanx is interchangeably ' vihaga ' and also ' scyldburh ' = ' a wall of shields,' the last being the well-known term in the sagas for an old battle array. ' Drengr ' = ' soldier,' ' plucky fellow,' and ' grid ' = ' peace,' ' truce,' are likewise choice exotics from the same soil. ' Point ' and ' edge ' is a collocation common to Anglo-Saxon and Danish, while ' oder twecra ' = * one or the other,' i.e., ' death or ven- geance,' sounds very Icelandic. nobles, and generally held office for Charles the Bald paid them (a.d. 860) life (Kemble,iii. 145). With the advent five thousand lbs. silver; in 866, four of the Danes the name remained, but thousand lbs. ; and again, 877, they got denoted a much lower class than the five thousand lbs. more, and so on ; or princely officers who had previously rather, much more was subsequently borne the title. Gradually the old obtained (Hincmar). Thus in 883, title ceased altogether, except in twelve thousand lbs. of silver were cities, where it denotes an inferior paid to Sigfred on the condition that judicature, as at the present day ; a the Vikings left Neustria at peace set of officers certainly not elevated for twelve years. But upon the death in character by the Reform Bill. of Carloman, 12th December 884, they 1 Fabulous sums had been extracted at once returned and claimed another by the marauders from the silly kings twelve thousand from his successor, across the Straits of Dover. The re- on the plea that the compact only suit was natural. They returned and referred to the late king's lifetime permanently occupied the country. (Steenstrup,"NornKinnertiden,"2o8). ( 129 ) CHAPTEE IX. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY (CONTINUED) — JUDITH, ANDREAS, ELENE, ETC. One of the most considerable pieces of Anglo-Saxon poetry remaining to us is " Judith," a poem of the highest merit and most finished style, composed in twelve cantos, of which the first eight, and all the ninth but a few lines, are lost. The author is unknown, but is conjectured by Stephens to have been Csedmon. The heroine is here a damsel (meowle), and not the widow of the Apocrypha, whose husband " died of a sun-stroke in the barley-har- vest." "We first meet with her on the eve of the great banquet which Holofernes gave on the fourteenth day after her arrival with her abigail. Nothing can exceed the descriptive power in this poem — the great vessels brimful of wine borne along the benches, the courtiers enjoying themselves, the brutal Holofernes laughing and yelling in his lust, drenching himself with wine the livelong day until he became giddy, and his lords in the same plight. The maiden with braided hair (wunden lokke), loaded with jewels, adorned with rings, led by the attendants to the tent where their master was resting after his debauch, with a golden fly-net hung before it, so that he might see any one who approached. They rouse him and hand over the maiden. Strong in the faith of God, the victim shrinks not a moment from her self-imposed task, draws a finely- tempered sword, and, with a short prayer, approaches the i 130 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. ' warlock,' the inebriate sleeping brute, seizes him fast by his hair, and with two strokes smites off the head of the heathen hound. It rolls upon the floor, and she slips it into a bag, which her pale-cheeked maid had in readiness. His headless carcase still lay on the bed ; " his spirit goes to the abyss, the hall of serpents (wyrm-sele), to live for ever in the dark home devoid of hope." The deed being done, she draws breath again. " There is more room in her bosom." After a night-tramp she arrives at the gate of Bethulia, where dwell the children of her people. The news of her arrival soon spreads through the city. The excitement is prodigious. Jews throng to the gates, men and women, in heaps, in flocks, and thousands. The commotion is at its height when the damsel, all gold- adorned, unwraps the gory head, and bids the people stare at it. She then urges them to march forth to battle at daybreak. So said, so done. We hear the tramp of the warriors as they step forth, bearing their linden shields before their breasts, clad in mail and helmet, keen to the conflict bearing their banners, din their bucklers, loudly resounding. Then follows a description of the onslaught of the Hebrews and Pagans, all conceived in the tone of the ballad poetry. We have the ' ash-play.' The arrows are ' war-serpents ; ' the ' lindens ' (the bucklers made of the wood of the linden) are hewn in pieces, the ' shield- fence ' is broken. Most of the Assyrians are slain in the battle (ret saecce). Literally, they get ' the sack.' Judith becomes possessed of all Holofernes' valuables, and the piece closes with an ascription of praise to Him " who shaped the wind and the lift, the heaven and vast earth." The poem is a good deal in the tone of that noble paean, " In Jewry is God known," &c. There is no pause in the story ; it advances with breathless haste till the victory is won. The onward march sounds actually in our ears. The rhythm keeps time with the incidents portrayed. Never was war painted more to the life ; and then enter, C.-ED.UON. 131 as in " Casdmon " l and in the battle of " Brunanburh," those beasts indispensable to the poet, in monkish eyes savour- ing of the devil, but in the animal mythology of the Pagans looked on rather as the supernatural fellows of man : the lank wolf ; the wan raven, eager for his prey, followed by the earn, tawny-coated, humid of feather, horny-nebbed, greedy of food, and screeching the note of war. jSTo mere para- phrase in the fashion of Credmon's other production (if it be indeed Caedmon), it often travels out of the record, and in a manner truly original, while the setting is quite of home production. Greatly is it to be regretted that it is only a fragment, the torso only of the fine original. Of the Anglo-Saxon poets scarcely any are known by name, while the names and pieces of many Icelandic scalds have come down to us. A notable exception is Ca3dmon, the poet just mentioned — the Anglo-Saxon Milton, as he has been called, from the grandeur of his description of the fallen angels ; indeed Milton, who had possibly been made acquainted with Csedmon by his friend Junius, resembles him a good deal in " Paradise Lost." He was the neat- herd of Whitby Abbey for more than twenty years in the second half of the seventh century. Like the herdman of Tekoa, who, though no prophet, nor yet a prophet's son, became inspired from heaven, on a sudden he caught his poetic afflatus on the instant. 2 1 " Around them screamed quently to repair thither with his The fowls of war, flock, spending the night on the cairn. Greedy of battle, It constantly came into his mind that Dewy feathered, he should like to compose a dirge on Over the bodies of the host, the deceased ; but, being no poet, ho The dark chooser of the slain never could get further than " Here (raven) ; lies the scald." One night as he lay The wolves sung harping on the old string he fell Their horrid even-song asleep, when he saw the cairn open, Jn hopes of food ; and a tall stately man issue from it, The reckless beasts," &o. who came and stood over him, and told him that if he could manage to 2 The legend of Caedmon reappears remember a poem of eight lines which mutatis mutandis in Iceland in the he was about to recite, he should, tenth century. Thorleif Jarlaskald, though no poet, be one at once. For- who had been murdered at the insti- tunately, on awaking, he remembered gation of Hacon Jarl, lay buried in a them, and became a famous scald, cairn near the Hill of Laws. A shep- The cairn on which he slept had been herd, Hallbiorn by name, used fre- his rarnassus (Flateybok, i. 214). 133 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Bede, who tells his story, cites us only a few lines of the introduction of his original religions poem, and these merely in a Latin translation. But Wanley (Cat., p. 287) gives, from the edge of a MS. of Bede's "Latin History" of the year 737, an old Northumbrian version of these lines, which are most likely Credmon's iimssima verba, as they closely agree with Bede's translation of them. The long poem now extant under the name of "Csedmon" is of much later date, and is probably a South English ren- dering of the original, written in the old Northumbrian dialect. A confident discovery has been made recently in Germany, that the author of the "Heliand" 1 and of "Csedmon" are one; in fact, that our " Cffidmon " is a translation of a German original. Professor G. Stephens of Copenhagen has apparently demolished this assump- tion, and turned the tables on the German by asserting, with proofs to back it, that the "Heliand" itself is merely a transcript or translation of an old English original. It is entirely English, he argues, in form and spirit and colour- ing. It is only Saxon in virtue of a slight trans-dialecta- tion. The first evangelisers of Germany, the Culdee and Celtic missionaries, were influenced by the culture and traditions of Iona and Lindisfarne, and therefore Kelto- Anglic. Then came the distinctly English Bomanizing missions under Wynfrid and his followers, who by their influence rapidly Christianized and Bomanized large sweeps of the Teutonic lands. These meii took with them stores of books, many of which, in Latin transcripts, were made in Germany by themselves or their disciples. Even now 1 A far inferior German poem was Mayence, still exists, wherein he states Otfried's "Christ," composed about that the ears of holy men being dis- A.D. 865, some thirty years perhaps quieted by the obscene songs of the after the " Heliand," by the monk laity, he had been asked by certain of Weissenburg. But in one respect brethren, notably by an excellent invaluable. Alliteration is here sue- matron, Judith, to write out part ceeded by the musical principle, of the Gospels in Theotisc, that the rhyme, which has prevailed to the singing of it may be an antidote present day. A letter by the author, to the other (Epistl. Mogunt., p. A.D. 865, to Liutbert, Archbishop of 328). ELENE. 133 great numbers of MSS. written in England, or copied from such, exist in German libraries. Some of them, as, for instance, a MS. at St. Gall, 1 contain the English Punic alphabet. Among the books so taken would be " Cred- mon" in its original old Northern English, the oldest verse in our mother-tongue. It is not likely that a great and gifted Church (like that of England) would enrich itself by translating a piece by a barbarian convert in one of her mission stations abroad, i.e., producing from " Heliand " what we call " Csedmon." 2 As a proof of the English origin of the " Wessobrunn Prayer," Stephens points to two Anglo-Saxon Runic characters which occur in the MS., viz., the bind-rune ~| for ' and,' which mark Grimm (Deutsche Pamer, p. 134) expressly says is an English mark, and also >|<, "gi," which occurs four times. But there is another poet who stands revealed as the author of several poems by means of Punic acrostics on his name inserted therein — Cynewulf. Such is " Elene, or The Einding of the Cross." In this poem the mother of Constantine — whom legend, one of the busiest of pedigree-hunters, makes out to have been a British princess — journeys to Jerusalem, and by the help of one " well-wise in songs, crafty of word, whose name was Judas," finds three crosses buried in Mount Calvary, " twenty foot-measures deep." The real cross is discerned by its touch raising a dead man to life, which the two others fail to do. This marvellous event is generally assigned 1 In this same monastery there these precious specimens of ancient were at the end of the ninth century Celtic caligraphy. King Athelstan twenty codices written Scotice, i.e., sent an embassy to the Swiss monas- in the Irish style, either brought teries, and concluded a friendly al- from Ireland or copied at St. Gall, liance with that of St. Gall. MSS. of this kind were so highly 2 Others reason thus : — Supposing prized from their beautiful workman- the so-called Csedmon to be of the ship, that the Emperor Charlemagne age of Alfred, it might contain some was very thankful to get one as a German-Saxon forms introduced by present. In Appendix A. to the Alfred's Corvey scholars and akin to Report on Rhymer's "Foedera," the " Heliand." there are some beautiful facsimiles of 134 OLD ENG LIS II LITERATURE. to the year A..D. 326. Judas is afterwards baptized, and, under the name of Cyriacus, made Bishop of Jerusalem. There are several fine passages in this poem. The Emperor Constantine, be it observed, poses as a Gothic king ; his head is covered with the national 'boar-shaped helm.' His rencontre with the Huns is thus described : — The trumpets sang Loud before the hosts; The raven rejoiced in the work ; Dewy feathered, The eagle watched their march, The war of the tierce men ; The wolf uplifted his song, The denizens of the forest. Then was clash of shields And crush of men ; Hard hand-swing And crash of armies ; After the arrows' course The first encountered. They broke the wall of shields, They plunged the bill, The bold in battle thronged ; Then was the banner upreared, An ensign before the crowds, A golden helmet. The javelin flashed Hot in the battlefield. Fled at once The people of the Huns " (1. 109). Upon this the Emperor commands Helena to go in search of the true cross, a vision of which had given him the victory. She embarks with her mailed warriors on the Wendelsffi (the Mediterranean) : — " Bound for Holy Palestine, Nimbly we brushed the level brine ; All in azure steel arrayed, O'er the wave our weapons played." DREAM OF THE CROSS. 135 The Anglo-Saxon poet puts it thus : — " Never heard I before or since That on the ocean stream A lady led Upon the sea-street A fairer power. There might he see, Who beheld the journey, Break over the bath-way, The sea-wood rejoice, Under the swelling waves The sea-horse play, The wave-floater wade " (1. 240). Now, at the end of "Elene," line 2512, in the " Vercelli Codex," x the letters of the poet's name are thus given in succession, with references to one who was once "high placed in hall a welcome guest," got gifts of " dappled gold " for his minstrelsy, but was now in exile and dis- grace. In this same poem reference is made to the " Dream of the Cross," which must therefore be also his. It opens thus, though slightly abbreviated, in Kemble's version : — " Lo ! I the costliest of dreams will relate, That met me In the middle of the night. It seemed to me that I saw A wondrous tree Led through the sky Enveloped in light, Brightest of beams ; All that beacon was Surrounded with gold and gems. All the angels of the Lord beheld it, Fair through the firmament. That was no malefactor's gibbet ; Strange was the tree of victory, And I, stained with sins, Wounded with my guilt, *A MS. discovered in 1832 by Report on Rymer's " Foedera," by the J'rofessor Blum in the library of the authority of the Commissioners of Chapter at Vercelli, and printed under Public Records. Edited for the the care of Thorpe as Appendix to iElfric Society by Kemble, 1843. 136 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Saw the tree of glory, Adorned with hangings, Pleasantly shine, Ornamented with gold. I was all ojipressed with sorrow ; Terrified I was at the fair sight. I saw the hastening beacon Change both in hangings and hue ; At times it was damped with wet, Soiled with running of blood, At times adorned with treasure. Until I heard That it gave a sound, These words to speak began : ' It was Ion" a^o, Yet I remember it ; That I was cut down At the end of a wood, Stirred from my sleep ; Then men bore me on their shoulders, Until they set me up upon a mountain. There saw 1 the Lord of mankind Hasten with mighty power That He might mount upon me. I then dared not there Against the Lord's command Bow down or break in sunder. I might all His foes have felled ; Nevertheless I stood fast. Then the young Hero made ready, That was Almighty God, Firm and steadfast of mind. He went up upon the lofty cross, Courageous in the sight of many, Since there He would redeem mankind. I trembled there when the champion Embraced me, But I dared not bow down to earth, Fall on the ground ; But I was compelled to stand fast. A cross was I reared ; I uplifted the Mighty King, DREAM OF THE CROSS. 137 The Lord of the Heavens ; They pierced me with dark nails ; The wounds are visible upon me ; They reviled us both together. I was all wet with blood Poured from the Man's side After He had sent forth his spirit. I saw the Lord of Hosts Hardly serve. Darkness had Covered with clouds The corpse of the Euler ; The bright splendour, Shadow invaded, "Wan under the welkin. All creation wept ; They lamented the fall of their king. Christ was on the cross, But thither hastening, Men came from afar To the Noble One. I beheld it all ; I was cast down with sorrow. There they took Almighty God ; They lilted Him off the heavy torment ; The heroes left me there, Standing covered with steam ; I was all wounded with arrows ; They laid Him down limb weary ; They stood at the head of His corpse ; Then began they to sing over Him a mournful song, The poor people at eventide. Then began they to fell us All to the ground ; They buried us in a deep pit, But me the servants of the Lord Discovered there. They adorned me with gold and silver ; Now mayest thou hear, My dear man, That I the work of criminals Have endured ; But now the time is come 138 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. That men on earth, Far and wide, Honour me, And all this great creation Prays to this sign.' " But after all, Cyuewulf was not the author of the origi- nal poem, but only of the modernised tenth-century ver- sion, just as Dry den modernised Chaucer. Several lines of the original poem are engraved in runes on the Euthwell Cross which stands near Annan in Dumfriesshire. They were deciphered by J. M. Kemble, and on being compared with some lines in the Vercelli poems, discovered later, proved to be almost the same ; and to leave no doubt as to the original authorship, Ceedmon is actually named on the cross as the author : " Cadmon me made." l The name of Cynewulf again occurs in the legend of " Juliana," a martyr story, based on the Bollandist Acta 8. Juliana?. The Phoenix in the " Exeter Codex," 2 which is most likely, as nearly all the rest of the book by the hand of Cynewulf, is merely an expansion of the Latin poem bearing that name attributed to Lactantius. The description of the happy land in the East where the fabled bird dwells is quite delicious. Isaiah, and the Apocalypse, and the Saturnian age of Virgil, have contri- buted their choicest bits to fill out the imagery. The " Adventures of St. Andrew," a poem which is likewise to be found in the " Vercelli Codex," is attributed by J. Grimm, 3 from the epic forms it contains, to Aldhelm, who died 709. Its source is an apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, in Greek (ibid., xvii.), a language which was well understood by learned Anglo-Saxons. But the poem abounds with references to the old Pagan mythology. The mysterious 1 Stephens, Runes, ii. 419. tell you even now, in regretful tones, 2 The precious gift to his cathe- that — dral of Leofric, first Bishop of Exeter, . t-- i 1 . . .f ... . Kirdon was a market-town after the See was moved thither from -,t T , v , , , ,., , „ ..,„., . \\ hen Exeter was a vuzzy down. C rediton, 1050. A facsimile of it is in the British Museum, edited by 3 Andreas und Elene, von J. Grimm Thorpe, 1842. The Creditonians will (Cassel, 1840), p. Ii. ADVENTURES OF ST. ANDREW. 139 skipper who gives Andrew a berth on board his boat to the land of the Mermedonians, reminds us of Odin, who in popular legend often acted the part of a disguised ferryman. So when the wounds inflicted on Andreas by day are cured by night, we think of the Northern Hiad- ning battle, where the dead warriors each morn renew the combat. Many other glimpses of old Northern mytho- logy are visible here to those who can read between the lines. The descriptions of a storm and of winter, of the wolf howling as he presages the battle, and the eagle and raven with dewy wing following on the trail of the foe and screaming their death-song (so in "Judith" and "Bru- nanburh"), betoken the hand of one who knew how to infuse into a religious theme the freshness and truth of the old national ballad. Indeed, the whole character of the lan- guage and poetry in both " Elene " and "Andreas," in Grimm's opinion, seem to point to their having been com- posed about the same time as our present " Beowulf," i.e., soon after the beginning of the eighth century. If the writer of the two poems could rise so high when fettered by a foreign subject, what might he not have achieved had he given his genius free scope in some domestic theme ! Others conjecture Cynewulf the author, as we have seen, of " Elene " and of most of the poems in the Exeter Book. The question then arises who Cynewulf was. Kemble 1 suggests Cynewulf, Abbot of Peterborough, died 1014. For it is to the eleventh century, and not to the eighth or old epic period, he refers the poem. The archaic words and mythic images he regards as the traditional peculiarity of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Nowhere is the stubborn nationality of our forefathers more thoroughly shown than in the way these epic forms continued to assert themselves in spite of the so much over-prized book-learning and the ultramontane feelings which mastered their prose. 1 Kemble, Vercelli Codex, 1843 he seem to have been a minstrel by (yElfric Society). But this hardly profession, who being disgraced and tallies with the autobiographical hints exiled, turned religious poet, which the poet supplies, liather does l4 o OLD ENGLISH LITER TURE. Line 738, a storm : — '• Then was vexed, Excited the whale-lake ; The horn-fish played, Glode through the ocean, And the grey mew Circled round, greedy of slaughter. The weather-candle darkened, The winds waxed, The waves ground together, The streams stirred, The ropes creaked, Wet with waters. Water-terror stood With the might of troops." Line 2512 : — " Snow bound the earth With winter casts, Cold grew the storms, With hard hail showers, And rime and frost, The hoary warriors, Locked up the dwellings of men, The settlements of the people. Frozen were the lands, With cold icicles Shrunk the water's might ; Over the river streams The ice made a bridge, A pale water-road." Line 29S1 reminds us of the cave of Grendel's mother in "Beowulf":— " He saw by the wall Wondrous fast Upon the plain Mighty pillars, Columns standing, Weather-worn, The antique work of giants. Hear, thou marble stone, Now let from thy foundation Streams bubble out ! There was no delay THE WANDERER. 141 More than That the stone split open, The stream bubbled forth, And flowed over the ground. The foaming billows At break of day Covered the earth. The sea-flood increased, Waxed the water's power." But the most considerable extant lyric poem, not on a religious subject, and which is very likely a bit of the same poet's autobiography, is the " Wanderer." The fol- lowing is a sample of it from Thorpe's version : — " Him an exile's track awaits. He remembers the hall retainers And receipt of treasure ; But pleasure all has fallen. When sorrow and sleep At once together A poor solitary Often bind, That seems to him in mind That he his lord Embraces and kisses, And on his knee lavs Hands and head, As when he ere at times, In former days, His gifts enjoyed. Then wakes again : The friendless mortal Sees before him Fallow ways, Ocean fowls bathing, Spreading their wings, Eime and snow descending With hail mingled." Looking at the transitoriness of this dark life, the wise man will say : — " Where is the horse, where is the man ? Where is the treasure-giver \ , 42 ( >/./? ENGLISH LITERA TURE. Where are the festive sittings? 1 Where are the joys of the hall ? Alas ! bright cup ! Alas ! mailed warrior ! Alas ! chieftain's splendour ! How the time has passed, Has darkened under veil of night, As if it had not been ! " The " Exile," who dwells alone in the cavern under the oak tree, weary of the dim dells and the high downs, laments in the same doleful key, but the lay contains snatches of pathetic beauty. Another poem in the Exeter Book, p. 107, thought from the style to be by ( Ynewulf, is the Life of St. Guthlac, based on the Latin prose Life by Felix of Croyland, and of which we have given an account above. It is many hundred lines in Length. Two angels compete for the saint's soul — a good one, who spoke of heaven, a bad one, who urged him to join a meeting of robbers; but the fiend is put to flight. By the help of his good angel he overcomes all the malice of the imaginary foe. 2 Though — ' ; The torments were intense, Grim the ministers. They brought him, In wrathful mood, The glorious Champion, 1 All this might have been written And some are taken from me. many generations later. Charles All are departed ! Lamb, the Londoner of the nine- All, all are gone, the old familiar teenth century, wrote much in the faces ! " same tone : — 2 Half the misery of life is said to " I have been laughing, I have been \ e ideal - With tllese high-strung carousin"- devotees it was nearer the whole. Drinking late, sitting late, with They were the architect3 of their my bosom cronies. owu mlsel 7- T ° Oswald, the founder All, all are gone, the old familiar of Kamse y Church, the devil was f aces ; present in everything, in the baaing of sheep, the barking of dogs, the braying of asses, the roaring of lions, How some they have died, and the grunting of pigs, the noise of the some they have left me, people. ST. GUTHLAC. 143 The holy housel Child, To hell door, Into that dire house Down under earth's foundations, Depths profound " (p. 135). But he answers them — " Ye are faith-breakers, Thus ye in exile Long have lived With flame for drink, Dark, deluded, Of heaven deprived, From joy cast down, To death consigned" (p. 139.) He dwells thus fifteen years in the waste, consorting with wild beasts, the world despised ; still he had some slight satisfactions. " Sweet the birds' song, the earth flowery, cuckoos announced the year" (ibid., p. 146). He now falls sick, but his courage was steadfast. He is visited every day by a disciple, Beccel (p. 200), who dwelt near. On the seventh day the saint dies. Of course sweetest odours issue from his mouth, fragrant as the plants in summer-tide. His disciple takes boat and goes to Guthlac's sister with the news : — " Hastened the ocean wood Light, hurrying its course, The water-horse sped rapidly, Laden to the hithe, So that the floater of the surge After its ocean play Spurned the sandy land, Ground against the gravel." On his arrival he tells her how " the broken bone-house " is at rest, while " the part of glory " is " in the light of God." " Deor the Scald's Complaint," another of these curious lyric poems, is remarkable for being interspersed at inter- vals with a regular burden. It makes reference to the legend of Weland, whom King Nidad bound with a thong : 14+ OLD ENGLISH LIT ERA TURE. while in the old Edda he fares harder, the King severing the tendons of his knees. Thorpe, on the principle that tales gain by transmission, thinks the Anglo-Saxon poem the older of the two. The " Ruin," which might have been the work of a Saxon poet as he looked on the ruins of Bamborough, or some stately castle scathed by the Danes, is highly picturesque but lamentably imperfect. It is pitched in the key of " The Moated Grange." In English the piece loses much from the exclusion of alliterations, which it is difficult to retain : — " Wondrous is this wall stone ; The Fates have broken it, Have burst the burgh place. Perishes the work of giants ; The roofs are fallen, The towers tottering, The hoar gate-towers despoiled ; Rime on the lime, Shattered the battlements, Riven, fallen, Under the Eotnish race. The earth-grave has Its powerful workmen ; Decayed, departed. Fallen are the hard of gripe. • ••••. Bright were the burgh dwellings, Many its princely halls, High its steepled splendour ; There was martial sound great, Many a mead-hall Full of human joys, Till obdurate fate Changed all that. They perished in wide slaughter ; Came pernicious days, Death destroyed all Their renowned warriors. Therefore these courts are drearv. Where many a chief of old, THE SEA-FARER. 145 Joyous and gold-bright, Splendidly adorned, Proud, and with wine elated, In warlike decorations shone, Looked on treasure, on silver, On curious gems, On luxury, on wealth, On this bright burgh Of a broad realm." But all has perished in the stream of flame. A capital instance of the chapfallen tone of some of the Anglo-Saxon poems, as contrasted with the buoyant, exult- ing strain of the Icelandic scalds, is to be found in " The Seafarer," albeit it is tinctured with much of lyric beauty. Had it been less fragmentary, this abject state of mind would very likely have stood out more conspicuously. None of that laying one's hand familiarly " on the ocean's mane," and careering through the storm — like an Ariel or a Lapland witch — that one encounters in the Northern Muse ! The teller of " the true tale " recounts how the fell rolling of the waves has often drenched him at the anxious night-watch ; how his feet were pierced with cold, bound with frost ; how his heart was hot with care. 1 Hunger, the sea-wolf's rage, tore him within. When winter came, and hail fell on the earth, coldest of grains, he was hung o'er with icicles. He who enjoys life in cities, elate and wine-flushed, with misfortunes few, hardly can believe what he felt. In fact, it was a case of — " Ye gentlemen of England, who live at home at ease, How little do ye think of the dangers of the seas !" Only that it is always " De profundis," the voice seems to come from the very trough of the sea. " No man living, be he ever so good, but he must feel fear on a sea- voyage. He has no mind for the sound of 1 Care may bring a chilly feeling to friend (Gutlilac, xii. 39), was simi- your modern Englishman, but it made larly affected on the saint's death, the heart of the Seafarer "hot" People seem to have altered psycho- within him. Sorrow comes to the logically, as well as in constitution, boil in "Beowulf." Beccel, Guthlac's since those days. K* 146 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. the harp, not even for the receipt of rings, nor for the charms of woman. He thinks of nought else but the roll- ing of the waves and the ice-cold sea as he wanders over the whale's home." 1 Then why go to sea at all ? There is, fortunately, one little bit of ornithology, throwing a momentary light on the utter gloom of the whole piece. Be it noted here that there is generally but scant mention of birds of any kind in Anglo-Saxon works, or indeed of animals of any sort, except the stock figures, the eagle, hawk, raven, and wolf ("the grey one"). To one bird, however, the phoenix, which has by common consent be- come tabooed as a figure in English poetry, a whole poem, as we have seen above, is dedicated. But here this forlorn seafarer at times in his distress makes " a pastime of the gannet's 2 cry, and the song of the swan, and the 'huilpe's' 3 note. For men's laughter he listens to the song of the sea-mew." Towards the close this piece — like many of the others — diverges into a train of moral and pious reflection. Another poem in the Exeter Book is "The Whale," which is most likely a paraphrase from the Latin. The ocean-floater, while resting, is taken by seafarers for an island. They fasten their high-prowed ships, their sea-horses, to it. " Him, haply slumbering on the Norway foam, The pilot of some small night-founcler'd skiff, Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, With fixed anchor in his scaly rind, Moors by his side under the lee, while night Invests the sea and wished morn delays." So far Milton. But the Anglo-Saxon, following his well- informed authority, carries us on to the fatal catastrophe. The seafarers mount on the supposed land, encamp, and kindle a fire. Annoyed at the liberty taken with him, "the guileful beast" suddenly goes down, ship and all, 1 The Seafarer, p. 308. 3 The authorities are in the dark 2 " When they (the gannet or solan about this bird, so called from its cry. goose) rise in the air, they stun the Was it the willock, as the guillemot are with their noise" (Bewick). is called on our eastern coasts? GXOMIC VERSES. 147 into the abyss, " the hall of death." No tub or tubs thrown overboard will satisfy him. " So is the way of the devils ; they deceive the virtuous, and sink them into groundless fire, misty gloom." Again, this fish has another property. When hungry, the water-rager opens his wide blubber lips, whence issue pleasant odours : much like at the entrance to a tavern, we should suppose. The little fishes, attracted by it, swim eager in, when around his victims he crushes together his grim gums. The portcullis being down, the fate of the prisoners may be readily imagined. " So the accursed one shall hereafter engulf in hell's latticed doors those who here sought the body's pleasure only." 1 A similar bit of natural history is recounted in that remarkable twelfth-century book, written in Norway, the " Speculum Regale." 2 The first recorded instance of whale-fishing we are acquainted with is that told in the old Edda, " HymiskviSa," 21, where Hymer succeeds in hooking two of these monsters ; while Thor had finer sport still, playing the earth serpent himself a considerable time, though eventually he lost him. In the Exeter MS. (333) we have what are called " Gnomic Verses," a string of proverbial sentences, often mere truisms, which are conjectured to have been anterior to the first migration of the Teutonic tribes to this island. Like the " Havamal," in the Edda, they were an oral embodiment of the current wisdom of the people on social and other topics. Singular to relate, woman's love is nowhere described in extant Anglo-Saxon poetry. But, natheless, in the metrical sayings we find evidence that these Anglo-Saxons, though so sedate and slow, must, like other folks, have been liable to lose their heads when overtaken by the tender passion ; for one sentence runs, " Lovers require a leech." 3 Domesticity was clearly much prized in those days, for we read — 1 Cf. "A Bestiary," in the Early English Text Society's Series, edited by Morris. -' Kongespdlet, p. 32, Ckiistiania, 1848. 3 Gnomic Verses, p. 336. i .| S OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURK. ■A rambling woman scatters words ; A man thinks of her with contempt, Oft her cheek smites." 1 That the acquisition of a wife was, in the earliest states of society, very much an affair of sale and barter, at least in the upper classes, is clear from "A king shall with cattle buy a queen, with cups and bracelets." There is also here a pleasant glimpse of life in Friesland, imported, doubtless, by one of the Saxon settlers in these isles : — " Dear is the welcome guest To the Frisian wife. When the ship is come, And her husband to home, Her own provider ; And she calls him in, "Washes his squalid garment, And gives him new raiment. 'Tis pleasant on land to him Whom his love awaits." 2 The origin of our common proverb, " Murder will out," is perhaps to be sought in "Who seeks to conceal murder must bury it underground ; " 3 and this device even some- times fails, as that treacherous thane, Thunor, had good reason to know, who murdered the two young orphan rela- tives of his master, Egbert, and hid them under his high seat, when a magic light revealed the crime, as it did in the case of St. John Nepomuk. After so flagrant an iniquity, we need not wonder that the earth opened be- neath Thunor and swallowed him. 4 Such sayings as " A friendless man takes wolves for his comrades ; full oft the comrade tears him," pictures the wild state of the country in the early days, long before the days of Leofric, first Bishop of Exeter, the whilome owner of this precious Codex. The passion for gambling with the dice, so ab- sorbing as "to make sorrow glide away and men forget this miserable world," is also noted in this ancient work. 1 Gnomic Verses, p. 337. 2 Ibid., p. 339. 3 ibid., p. 340. 4 Anglo-Saxon Leuehdoius, iii. 423. DEPARTED SOUL'S ADDRESS TO THE BODY. 149 In conclusion, we may observe, however, that this poem, unlike much of the " Havamal," must in its present shape date from Christian times ; for in it we read, " Woden wrought idols, but the Almighty the spacious heaven." The "Departed Soul's Address to the Body" (Cod. Exon., 367) 1 is by no means open to the charge of vague- ness, so true of much that is strictly Anglo-Saxon. The subject, however, was not exclusively Anglo-Saxon, but one very common in mediaeval times. The departed (condemned) soul visits the body every seventh night during a period of three hundred years, and bitterly does it upbraid its quondam yokefellow. " Gory dust ! Why didst thou torture me ? Foulness of earth, Thou art all rotting, Likeness of clay. Thou wert in food luxurious And 'with wine sated ; In splendour thou didst need, And I was thirsty for God's body, Spirit's drink. Thou art not now dearer To any living, To any one as mate, Than the swart raven, After that I alone from thee Passed out. May not now take thee hence The red ornaments, Nor gold, nor silver, Not any of thy goods ; But here shall abide The bones, stripped bare, Torn from the sinews, 1 A prose Icelandic dialogue be- It dates from the middle of the four- tween the soul and the body is teenth century, and is a free transla- printedin "Heilagra m una sogur," tion of cap. 26, "Philippi Gaulteri i. 465, ed. Linger, Chvistiania, 1877. Moralium Dogma." , 5 o OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. And thee thy soul shall, Against my will, Oft seek, Insult with words, As thou hast wrought for me. Therefore for thee 'twere better That thou wert at the beginning A bird, Or a fish in the sea, Or a beast of earth ; Yea, though thou wert of wormkinds The worst." The horror now culminates — " The head shall be laid open, The hands disjointed, The jaws distended, The gums rent, The sinews shall be sucked dry, The neck gnawed, Fierce worms The ribs shall tear, Shall drain out the carcase in swarms Thirsty for corruption. 1 Gifer hight the worm (Whose jaws are Than needle sharper), He sets to First of all In that earth cavern ; He the tongue tears asunder, And the teeth pierces, And the eyes eats through, Up in the head, And, as for a feast, Clears the way for other " The worm hight Gifer, i.e., Sir Greedy, reminds us of ' my lady worm ' keeping court in those tongueless skulls 1 "I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the -worm, Thou art my mother and my sister," Job xvii. 14. "The worm shall feed sweetly on him," ib. xxxiv. 20. ALLITERATION. 151 turned up by the spade of the facetious clowns in the Danish churchyard. In the Anglo-Saxon the scene is too harrowing. It lapses into the foul and revolting without mitigation. Shakespeare, in the homely wit and quaint moralizings of the rustics, has thrown a grim humour over the charnel-house (the object of which might be to act as a foil to the impending fight in the grave-hole), but which has surely not made the sad lesson of frail mortality a whit less telling and incisive. He approaches nearer the tone of the older poet when, in order to describe all that is most loathsome on this earth, he makes Juliet say — " Or shut me nightly in a charnel-house, O'er-covered quite with dead men's rattling bones, With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls ; Or bid me go into a new-made grave, And hide me with a dead man in his shroud, — Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble." In the original Anglo-Saxon, the grimness of the worm banquet, how they crept in and crept out, their probing, and tunnelling, and sapping of the fallen citadel of life, is intensified by the alliterations. Those early Teutonic tongues, and the Celtic also to a much greater degree, 1 revelled in this trick of speech, and with great effect ; not only in solemn legal formularies, in spells of horror, and in the flights of the poet, but also in ordinary de- scriptions ; and, as a matter of course, in those centos of folk- wisdom, common proverbs, the jingling repetition of letters at the beginning or elsewhere in a word heightened the effect. And the language readily lent itself to the device. But it is not so now. Many words have dis- appeared which we once had. The burial service, for instance, and that for a wedding, 2 striking as these are, 1 See "Gaedhill and Gaill,"p. 158. nesse and in Lele ; to be bonere 2 In the York Manual we have, (gentle) and buxom (obedient) in "I, M., take thee, N., to my wedded bedde and at the borde, tyll dethe us housbonde, to have and to holde fro departhe, if holy chyrche it wol this day forwarde, for better, for ordeyne, and thereto I plight thee wors, for richer, for poorer, iu syke- my troathe."— Maskell, 341. 1 5 2 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. would have been more striking then. Those were the days when 'rich and poor' were 'welig and wsedl;' to 'bequeath and devise' was ' becwsedan and becwaelan;' 'life and property/ ' feorh and feo;' 'might and renown' were 'maht and mserS;' 'food for the worms' was 'wyrmum wist.' to 'insult with words;' 'wemman wor- dum.' But since then much has happened. Alliteration has become an anachronism. And the poet who should attempt at this time of day to galvanise into life again this defunct limb of his art may behold his own probable fate in that of Rogers, the last word of whose polished line, " So up the tide of time I turn my sail," was at once con- verted into ' tail ' by irreverent critics. Some twenty pages of the Exeter Book are occupied by riddles, many of them very curious. To one of these the name of Cynewulf is attached, whence most of the rest are ascribed to him. 1 But the generality of the Anglo-Saxon poems, as before hinted, have the sober and sombre touch about them so characteristic of the people. ' All joy is darkened. Hence, vain deluding joys ! worldly vanities, avaunt !' A perpetual Lent seems to brood over their spirit. There is. hardly a spark about them of dithyrambic fire. They excite our curiosity as to what the lost specimens are like, but we cannot avoid the conclusion that the Anglo-Saxon poet, as he was inferior in position 2 to the old Northern scald, so was he in poetic fervour, in vigour of genius, in culture of imagination, no match for his Northern brother. If the Scandinavian poets indulged in far-fetched conceits, it was at all events in vigorous vernacular : they sinned not tamely and in a foreign tongue, as did Anglo-Saxon Latin 1 "Leo, qufe de ipso Cynewulf us ordain that no priest be a singer over ididerit," Halis, 1857. ale (ealuscop), nor in any wise be a - That among the Saxons the pro- gleeman (glivige) by himself, or with fession of Scop or poet was below that other men ; but be, as beseemeth his of the Northern scald, seems to be calling, wise and worshipful. " The attested curiously in the old canon of significationgivenbyBosworthof 'ealu King Edgar, cited elsewhere. "We scop,' 'brewer,'is sufficiently amusing, HO RANT OF TENEMARK. 153 poets, — e.g., Aklhelm, who, though in his early days capable of so much better things, indulged later in clumsy com- pounds, strained metaphor, stilted rhodomontade, enigmati- cal methods of expression, and could think of nothing but trying his poetic wings in the newly-acquired learned tono-ue, to the neglect of the noble vernacular and home scenes. Horace's eulogy on the Eoman poets will not apply to such : — 1 " Nee minimum meruere decus, vestigia Grseca Ausi deserere et celebrare domestica facta." It is not a Saxon, but a Dane, Horant of Tenemark, who in "Gudrun" (381) sings so sweetly. When he begins, all the birds in the wood cease their song, the beasts of the forest cease to feed, the insects among the trees and the fishes in the sea intermit their restless motion, the workmen forget their tasks, the sick believe they are well ; and the singer w T ins the maiden he had been sent for, Hilda, the daughter of the Irish king. In the " Dialogue of Solomon and Morolf," of the twelfth century, Solomon's wisdom, Absalom's beauty, and Horant's music are mentioned on a par as the things to be desired above all others. In the battle of the singers on the Wartburg, Wolfram von Eschenbach is compared to Horant. 1 We have passed in review most of the principal sources 1 Cf. Preface to " Gudrun " by K. in " Deor the Scald's Complaint" Bartsch. Thistale of "Gudrun, "with (Exeter Book, p. 379), where Horant a change of names, is to be found in is transmuted into Heorrenda. De- the Skaldskaparmal, 50, where occurs veloped out of a germ common to that striking legend of the renewal of the Northern and German races, this the battle day by day through the myth was carried by wandering min- nocturnal witchery of Hilda, the strels from the North Sea to the in- Helen of the war (Hjathiinga vetr). terior of Germany, and so on to [So in the very early Irish poem the Austria, where it was shaped into a fight between Cuchulaind and Ferdiad lyric epic by a gifted poet of the (O'Curry, iii. 415) the combatants twelfth century. He must have seen renew the strife day by day.] The the sea, so true is his description of it. story existed as a ballad in Shet- A model for his works was not far to land in the eighteenth century. It was seek. Little more than a generation commemorated by Bragi in the song before, a poet had put together the of Kagnar Lodbrok (Edda, ib.). Saxo Nibeluugen Lied out of the story has an account similar to the Danish of Sigurd and the fall of the Bur- one, and there are traces of the saga gundians. r 54 ' / > A W( ?L IS II LI I 'ERA TURK. of our information respecting the Saxons: their Chronicle, their version of the Scriptures and other sacred writings, their laws, their testamentary and other documents, and their poems. We may also mention a work of romantic character, " Apollonius," from the Latin, on which Shake- speare based his "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," and which also appeared in an Icelandic dress. It is assigned in its present form to the early part of the eighth century. Of course our business can only be with the bird in the hand, leaving the bird in the bush to shift for itself. Things non-apparent must of necessity be treated for the most part as things non-existent. Great authorities, we are aware, have persistently affirmed that there is every reason to suppose that the best specimens of Anglo-Saxon literature, and those most worth preserving, have come down to us. Others, again, have asserted the contrary. 1 Take ancient national poetry, for instance. They argue that those who have eyes to see and ears to hear may, apart from the old national epic, " Beowulf," and the Scop's Tale, and the Fight of Finnesburh, detect signs not to be mistaken of a great field of epic poetry. The Scald's Lament, in the Exeter Book, they say, points to the former existence of Anglo-Saxon Edda songs, the work of our most gifted bards, sung in the halls of our mightiest chieftains. Further, this school of early song was destroyed by various causes. The Italians and other foreigners, in alliance with the great ecclesiastical interest, jealous for their Latin, would naturally have the main hand in the extirpation of our mother-tongue in its most popular shapes. In this respect, at all events, they acted very differently from the people in Iceland, where the oldest heathen lays and fables were happily rescued by Christian priests, whereby alone we have some toler- 1 Such people will quote an account raries, and the few fragments remain- of the martyrdom of St. Ulfade ing were carefully collected by Duu- (Hardy, Materials, xxxiv.), wherein stan. Cf. " Gaedhill and Gaill," and we read that the Danes during many Malmeshury. years made havoc of monastic lib- MYTHIC WORDS USED BY THE CLERGY. 155 able notion of the religion of our Pagan ancestors — infor- mation vouchsafed from no other quarter whatever. That canon of Edgar's (18), which in one breath proscribes the indulgence in Pagan songs and decries games on Sundavs, speaks volumes for the possible fate of this poetry in England. Next this old poetic literature yielded to another influence. It was kidnapped, and its features so altered and disguised as not to be recognisable. It was supplanted by Christian poetical legends and Bible lays, produced in rivalry of the popular lays of their heathen predecessors. Finding that the people would listen to nothing but these old lays, the missionaries affected their spirit and language, and borrowed the words and phrases of heathenism. They remind one of the clergyman presented to the living of Broek in Holland, who finding that his parishioners thought of nothing but washing and scrubbing and cleaning, and would listen to nothing else, in his first sermon described the future bliss as a continuation and more thorough gratification of their sublunary tastes. " They would be scrubbing and washing, and washing and scrubbing for ever and ever. Amen." By this device he caught the ear of his parish- ioners when every one before him had failed. Anglo- Saxon missionaries, men like Aldhelm, skilled in music and song, adopted the same expedient. 1 They embarked in the same train with their future converts, but presently shunted into a siding. They stood at the cross-roads and bridge-ends on Sundays, and seemingly started singing a heathen ditty, a lay abounding with words and phrases of the oldest heathen poetic terminology, and insensibly passed into strains of a more serious nature. The great enemy of man, hitherto described as a 'roaring lion' — an animal quite beyond the personal experience of the natives — became in the mouth of the Christian poet or preacher a ' werewolf,' and at once they were all attention; for a chord of interest had been struck, and they be- 1 Malmesbury, "Gesta Pontificum," p. 281, Rolls Series. i 56 OLD ENGLISH LITERA TURK. thought them of that old wide-spread belief of their forefathers, viz., that there were people who could change into wolves for a time and forsake the abodes of men. At a later period, when the shrewd Canute at the Council of Winchester, Christmas, 1018, promulgated his weighty ecclesiastical code, he knew of no more striking appella- tion for the devil than ' se wod freca werewolf ' = ' the fierce devouring werewolf (i. 26). In one of the most impassioned parts of Lupus' 1 sermon, describing the abject state of England, what with foes without and within, Danish invaders, and Anglo-Saxon traitors and cowards, he exclaims, " Here in England are witches and valkyrs," a reference sure to be popular in the extreme. Or the feast of Belshazzar might be the theme, and the poet would sing of the ' runes ' upon the wall. All those supernatural and magical powers attributed to ' spell-runes ' would at once come vividly into their minds. We have proofs of this method of attracting popularity in some of the metrical pieces that have sur- vived. In " Judith," for instance, which only exists in a tenth-century version, but which is conjectured to have been the work of Caedmon in the seventh century, w r ar is called ' Hild,' a mvthological name for the Northern Bellona ; while the slayer of Holofernes is ' elfin '-bright. So again in the " Dream of the Cross " there are half- veiled allusions to the beliefs of heathendom, curious contrasts between the Edda and the Bible. The dying Christ is wounded like Baldr with missiles (strselum), and all creation weeps at his death. 2 He hangs on the ' gallows- tree,' the word which Ulfilas himself used of the cross. But still more remarkable is the way in which Odin has passed from the Edda, and lives on still, though they know it not, in the mouths of the North Shetlanders. In 1 Archbishop of York, 1002-1023. Norway and Iceland. See Flatey- 2 Hence Stephens and others have luok, i. 214, for the parallel myth been led to assert that these Northern about Csedmon's and Halbjorn's sud- myths belonged to Northumbria in den supernatural inspiration. the seventh century as well as to RE-APPEARANCE OF OLD-WORLD TERMS. 157 the "Havamal" (138) Odin mentions a mysterious passage in his early life when he was suspended on the world tree, Vingameid or Yggdrasil : — " I wot that I hung On the wind-rocked tree, Wounded with spear, And to Odin offered Myself to myself, On that tree Of which none knows From what root it springs." The religious ditty of Shetland, recently discovered by Mr. Blind, runs thus — " Nine days he hung fra da riitless tree, For ill wis da folk, in giid wis he ; A bliidy maet wis in his side, Made wi a lance, 'at wid na hide. Nine king nichts i' da nipping rime Haeng he dare wi' his naked limb ; Some de leuch, Bit iddens iivet.'' 1 o We have seen above (p. 138), how in "Andreas," as well as in " Elene," Pagan mythology reappears. When the poet invested his Bible story in such familiar old- world terms as this, he would at once take the auditors by storm. These children would imbibe the wormwood commended to their lips by the honey on the goblet rim. We have mentioned above the only remains we had to show, until within a recent period, of the mass of legen- dary heathen epic presumed to have existed in England. But in i860 Professor Werlauf discovered in the Copen- hagen National Library two stray leaves of an Anglo- Saxon MS. which Stephens thinks, looking at the language and the writing, must have been a transcript made at the close of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century, of an original poem, composed not later than the beginning 1 See " Nineteenth Century" for June 1079. 1 58 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. or middle of the eighth century. On examination it appears to be a portion of a mythical poem on the exploits of Theodoric, afterwards called Amaling, i.e., of the race nf Amal the Goth, who became gradually confounded with the historical Theodoric of Verona, one of those wild, dim traditions of heroes connected with the infancy of all the Northern, Gothic, Germanic, and Scythian races — stories full of life, of horror, of beauty, which lived side by side with the Anglo-Norman and Kymric cycles of legends about Charlemagne and his peers, about King Arthur and his round table; romances which are preserved in that delightful story book of the thirteenth century, the " Theodoric's or Vilkina Saga." One of the episodes of this cvclus relates to King Walther of Aquitaine, and to it this interesting fragment is conjectured to belong. A fine version of the tale, notwithstanding certain clerical and classical affectations, is to be found in a Latin hexa- meter poem of the tenth century, the work of a German ecclesiastic, and probably translated from an old German epic. The plot is as follows : — Attila and his victorious Huns compel Alphere of Aquitaine to deliver up to him his son, Walter Stronghand, whose youthful love had long been fixed on Hiltgund, daughter of Henrich of Burgundy, who was likewise a hostage with the Hun king. Eventually Walther rises into high favour with Attila, and becomes his chosen general. At a great banquet given by Walther he manages to intoxicate the Huns, and escapes with the beauteous Hiltgund and the choicest of Attila's treasures while they are sunk in drunken slumber. His swift steed carries the pair over hill and dale, and he is drawing mar to his own country, when he is basely attacked by Giinthar, king of the Franks, and eleven other stalwart swordsmen, unable to resist the attraction of the knight's gold-hoard. A deadly combat ensues, described with great splendour in these Latin hexameters. The fidelity of Hiltgund, who acts as the page and guard and butler of her sore-pressed lover, is very touchingly dwelt on. KING WALDERES LA V 159 Walther slays ten of the foes, only one at a time being able to assail him in his impregnable mountain cave. At last, when the king, the damsel, and the knight alone survive, and all of them wounded, peace is made. The hero enters his own land, is mated with the partner of his hazardous flight, and in due time succeeds to the throne of his father. Here the Latin version breaks off with the remark that it could tell much more of Walther's later exploits, but not a word on the subject occurs in other writers. In this fragment, however, of 119 lines more is told us, and with a breadth of treatment which makes Mr. Stephens conjecture that it is part of a great epic, say some 8000 lines. 1 Like in " Beowulf," expressions occur here which indicate that the poem had been retouched by a Christian. 1 '• Two Leaves of King Waldere's localised in England at Attleburg in Lay," by G. Stephens (Copenhagen, Norfolk, as is evidenced by a romance i860), who draws attention to the of King Atla of East Anglia still fact that the name of Atli (Attda) existing, was from a very ancient period ( i6o ) CHAPTEE X. THE MYTHOLOGY OF GERMANY, SCANDINAVIA, AND ENGLAND ALIKE. Some might adduce the epic of "Beowulf," 1 with its scat- tered bits of mythology, as a proof of Germany and Scan- dinavia having possessed the self-same mythus. This would, of course, involve the preliminary question whether "Beowulf" is at root German at all, and not rather a plant of Scandinavian soil later acclimatised in Anglo-Saxon England. Then, as Germany has no Ed da, is there any evidence to show that German and Scandinavian hea- thenism worshipped the same gods ? That there was a stock of heroic mythus common to both peoples is clear from the corresponding traditions, that of the Nibelungs and that of the Volsungs, the hero of both being the mythic Sigurd or Sigfried. Again, much of that which has been called the last echoes of a forgotten mythology — we mean the folklore and popular superstitions — is often very similar in Germany and Scandinavia, as has long ago been substantiated by the 1 Professor Stephens interprets font before which the priest took his 'Gastbona' (line 356, Thorpe) the stand, and point to the discrowned 'bane of the spirits,' of the god Thor, deity as the Spartans would to the the bane of the Trolls (" Thunor the drunken Helot, by way of caution to Thunderer," Copenhagen, 1878). This his simple hearers. ' Don't believe in tract, by the way, describes a unique Thor and his hammer, but in Christ Scandinavian font of granite, date and His cross. Resist the evil spirits, about 1000 A.D., whereon is carved as did the fabled Thor ; battle an you the god Thor putting to flight the list, but with the sword of the Spirit, powers of darkness. In those early not for the one-eyed Odin, but for days, when Paganism was in the air, Allfather and for Christ.' Professor when the language teemed with Pagan Thorsen figures a stone whereon is words and phrases, the rude sculptor the Ruuic inscription, ' Thor bless this would carve the exploded gods on the stone.' ANGLO-SAXON POETRY. 161 Grimms and others. And though no German Edda exists, still bits of mythological poetry at times will crop up. A lucky find in this direction, with which we may compare that in Shetland by Mr. Blind (see p. 156 ante), was the High German poem of the ninth or tenth century, discovered by Waitz at Merseburg some years ago, which runs thus in English : — " Phol and Woden Went to the wood ; Then was of Balder's colt His foot wrenched ; Then Sinthgunt charmed it, And Sunna her sister ; Then Frua charmed it, And Volla her sister ; Then Woden charmed it, As he well could ; As well the bone-wrench, As the blood- wrench, As the joint-wrench, Bone to bone, Blood to blood, Joint to joint, As if they were glued together." The verses refer to some incident in Balder's life, of which no record exists elsewhere. Here Balder appears under the name of Phol. Frua is Frigg, the wife of Odin, while Volla is the Northern Eulla. Now this very charm was recited, with many crossings and mutterings, by an old crone to Asbjornsen. 1 And from Scandinavia it passed to Scotland. " The Lord rade And the foal slade ; He lighted And he righted : Set joint to joint, Bone to bone, And sinew to sinew, Heal in the Holy Ghost's name." 2 1 Folkesagen,p. 45. - E. Chambers, Popular llhymes of Scotland, p. 37, edit. 1842. L i6 2 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. But, alas ! how shrivelled and shrunken is the German Balder — Caesar's dust stopping a bunghole ! A poor spell to mend a ricked leg — or at least this is all that remains of their Balder. Turn for a moment to the Northern beauti- ful Balder myth — Balder, perfect type of manly beauty and moral excellence, adored alike by gods and men, and kept from all harm like Dornroschen ; invulnerable, indeed, except to that mistletoe arrow pointed at him by the malicious spirit of evil. Balder is slain. The envoy sent by the gods to bring back the desire of their eyes from Hel, the chilly, cheerless abode, fails in his object from the obstinacy of that tearless hag who was Loki in dis- guise. Balder's wife too, Nanna, inconsolable for his loss, perishing on the same funeral pile ! Was this tale too loftily and tenderly imagined for the dull wits of the Saxons ? or was the myth early swallowed up in the popular mind by the realities of Calvary ? Of the worship of Thor (Anglo-Saxon Thunor, the God of Thunder) among the Germans there is only one direct piece of evidence in an old abjuring formula. " I renounce all the works and words of the devil, of Thunser, Woden, and Sa'xnot, and of all the fiends that are their associates." Saxnot appears once in the genealogy of the kings of Essex as son of Woden (Lappenberg, England, i. 288). Another evi- dence of the worship of Tyr, Odin, Thor, and Freyja, the I)i Majores of Scandinavia, in Germany also, is contained in the names of four days of the week common to both nations, though, as Thorpe points out, Woden's name does not occur in any High German dialect as that of the fourth day of the week. 1 But after all, it is perhaps from the prohibitions against 1 The Icelandic Bishop John al- day, instead of O'omsdagr), fimtadagr tered the names of the days of the (= fifth day, instead of Jorsdagr), week in order to abolish all recollec- fiistudagr ( = fast-day, instead of frya- tion of the heathen gods Odin, &c., so dagr), laugardagr (— washing-day), that they were Sunnadagr, manadagr, But in Norway the heathen names J>ritfiadagr (= third day, instead of were retained, tysdagr), miSvikudagr (—mid-week- THE MYTHOLOGY OF GERMANY, ETC. 163 German heathenism contained in the laws and decrees of councils that we get the best information on the subject. Such is a catalogue of the heathen practices forbidden at the Council of Lestines, in the diocese of Cambray (a.d. 543), where not only the worship of Woden, Thor, Frey, but also all the usual machinery of sorcery and witchcraft are mentioned, &c. (see " Anglo-Saxon Laws," quoted above). Giants and elves were as much objects of superstition in Germany as in Scandinavia. Of Aser- worship in all its minutiae there must have been plenty in these isles. Many curious reminiscences of it are scattered about in the " Book of Leechdoms," edited by Mr. Cockayne. That genuine bit of rude poetic heathenism (ibid., iii. 53, and " Iieliquias Antiquoe," ii. 237), the spell against sudden stitch, is alive with valkyrs, and Aser, blast- ing the sufferer with witch-arrows as they sweep by hurt- ling in the air. ' Heme the Hunter ' in " The Merry Wives of Windsor" comes of the same ghostly stock. Vilipenders of folklore would do well to remember how Shakespeare at once perceived its value and penetrated into its inner meaning. SPELL AGAINST SUDDEN STITCH. " Loud were they, lo ! loud, When over the hill they rode ; They were of stout mood When over the land they rode : Shield thee now, thou mayst save this nithling. Out, little spear, if herein it be ! He stood under the linden broad, Under a light shield, Where the mighty witch wives Their main strength proved, And yelling sent their darts. In return I'll send them another Flying feathered bolt from the front against them. Out, little spear, if herein it be ! Sat the smith, he sledged a sword. Little iron, wound sharp ! Out, little spear, if herein it be ! Six smiths sat, 164 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Slaughter spears they wrought. Out, spear, not in, spear, If herein there he of iron a hit ; A witches' work It shall inelt, If thou -well (iii fell shotten, Or wert on flesh shotten, Or wert on hlood shotten, Or wert on limh shotten. Never let he thy life a-teased. If it were an ^Esir shot, Or it were an Elfin shot, Or it were a witches' shot, Now will I help thee. Here's this to cure iEsir shot, Here's this to cure Elfin shot, Here's this to cure witches' shot ; I will help thee. Fled Thor to the mountain ; Hallows he had two. May the Lord help thee ! " Then take the knife and put it into liquid. ( 165 ) CHAPTEE XL yELFRld's COLLOQUY — ANGLO-SAXON WRITERS SOME- WHAT VAGUE AND TAME. But in all these works we fail to get the insight we long for into the character of the Anglo-Saxons personally and in the aggregate. " Beowulf " is really no exception, for the poem is generally reputed to be of Swedish origin : the hero starts from Gottenburg, and the scene is laid in Jut- land, the most northerly point of which, the Scaw, across the Cattegat, lies about sixty miles due west from the mouth of the Gotha river; though the heathen poem would possibly suffer a considerable change, greatly to its detriment in a poetical sense, in the hands of its old English editor, apparently some Christian monk. More- over, £he scene is laid in the halls of the great, and not among the walks of everyday life. There is, however, a little work which does incidentally give us some curious information about the material side of home-life among the Saxons, the well-known " Collo- quium " of iElfric, compiled not indeed to tell Englishmen in after days something that they wanted to know, but to teach Saxon boys the Latin tongue, — a tongue, as we have seen, of which the Saxons, owing probably to their great original error in permitting the Church services to be in Latin, were all too fond. The school to which we are introduced in this dialogue must have been a sort of Saxon 'night-school,' designed not only for boys, such as the acute little chorister, who won't tell any tales about his mates in the choir, and the amount of flogging they daily incurred for their misdeeds, but also for backward scholars of a more advanced age. 1 66 OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. We have here a ploughman, a shepherd, a cowherd (but curiously enough no swineherd), some huntsmen (huntan), fishermen, fowlers, chapmen, shoemakers, salters, and a baker, who are all seized with an equal thirst for classical attainments. The ploughman relates how he goes out at dawn (daegraed) with his oxen — he dare not stay at home whatever be the weather — and goes on ploughing all day, with no company but a boy to urge the oxen with a goad (gad-isene), who is now hoarse with cold and shouting. And that is not all; when he gets home, he has to feed and water his oxen and clean out their stalls, — all which duties, as well as lying out at 'the Lord's fold,' along way from the homestead in the dark winter months, were in those days among the burdens of the vassal and cottier, though his bit of land raised him above the serf. But the worst of all is, the speaker here is not free. Then there is the shepherd, who drives the sheep afield early in the morning, and stands by them with the dogs all day, in heat and cold, for fear the wolves should devour them and he takes them back to the stalls, and milks them twice a day, and he makes the cheese and the butter, and is faithful to his lord. Then there is the oxherd, who is watching the cattle all night in the leas, for fear of thieves. But here comes a hunter, in the king's service too, who braids his nets, and sets them in a suitable spot, and then urges his dogs to drive the wild animals into the net unawares. But he has another way of taking them; he pur- sues them with swift dogs (swiftum hundum). He catches harts and boars, and deer and roe-deer, and sometimes hares, in this manner : he has not been hunting to-day for it is Sunday. Yesterday he stuck (of stikode) a boar, driven to him by the dogs. Hunters must not be timid, for there are many wild beasts in the woods. What he catches he takes to the king his master, who clothes him well, and feeds him, and sometimes gives him a horse or an armlet (beah), to make him more keen in his craft. Then there is a fisherman, who also tells his tale : how he jELFRICS COLLOQUY. 167 jrets into his boat, and lavs his nets, or his line, or his baskets (spyrtan) in the river, and whatever they catch he takes ; the unclean fish he throws away. What fish does he catch ? Eels, and pike, and eel pouts (sele putan), and trout, &c. Sometimes he fishes in the sea, and catches crabs, lobsters, plaice, flounders, salmon, and herring, &c. x He should not like to catch whales ; it is a dangerous thing. 2 He prefers going to the river with his boat to going in company with a number of ships whale-fishing, 3 for the whale with one blow may sink the ship and kill him and his companions, although many do go whale- fishing with impunity. Then there is a fowler, who catches birds with nets, with bird-lime, with snares, with traps, with whistling, and sometimes with a hawk, which he can train himself. He has two sorts of them, a large and small kind. In winter they feed him and themselves both ; in the spring he lets the old ones fly to the forest, and in the autumn he takes their young and trains them. Many people do keep the old ones all through the summer, but he can't afford the expense and trouble of their keep. The next person interrogated is the merchant, who sails to foreign parts, sometimes gets wrecked, scarcely escaping alive (unease cwic a3tberstende). He brings back pell (satin), and silk, and gems, and gold, and dyes, and wine, and oil, and ivory, and brass, and tin, and brass vessels (msestlinge), and sulphur, and glass. Then there is the shoemaker (who is clearly a currier also) ; he makes, besides shoes and boots, leathern hose and leathern bottles, and bi idle-reins and harness, and holsters and travelling bags. Then there is the Salter, a trade of vast consequence in 1 Weirs were often a prime source Bishop of Worcester, leased forty of subsistence to the country people, acres of land and a fishery for three Then, for the rent to the landlord, lives to one Leofenoth, on condition in one case recorded it was every he delivered yearly on Ash Wednes- second fish, besides every uncommon day, during the bishop's residence, fish worth having : sturgeons, por- fifteen salmon, and those good ones poise, herring, or sea-fish ; and no fish (C<>d. Dip.). was to be sold away when the lord is 2 See " The Whale," cited above, in residence. But some tenants had 3 " Capiuntur et baheme," H. E., a fishery on very easy terms. Eadulf, i. 5. 1 68 OL D ENGLISH LITER A TURE. those days of salt flesh 1 and salt fish, and he is quite aware of it. The baker boldly asserts that without his loaves at table people would loathe their food. "By it I strengthen man's heart (heortau niannes gestrangie)." This points to the clerical calling of the author of this Dialogue. The cook next steps to the front and magnifies his office: without him they would eat their worts green and their flesh raw, and have no good sauce; indicating to us that the culinary art had not advanced among the Six. ms beyond plain roast and boiled. "But who are those other intending scholars?" asks the pedagogue. First (Mines the smith (smip), who makes ploughshares, goads for the farmer, hooks for the fisherman, his awl for the shoemaker, and for the tailor his needle (seamere, nsedl). Then comes the carpenter (treowyrta), who makes houses, and boats, and all sorts of vessels : nobody could do with- out his craft. " How so," puts in the smith, " you who cannot drive one hole (byrl) without my art?" &c. "A truce to your dissensions," exclaims a gebeata, a sort of wise friend, a counsellor, who appears to have joined the conference ; " let us have no quarrelling, but let us peace- fully meet as usual at the farmer's (possibly the school might be held on his premises), where we have food for ourselves and fodder for our cattle ; and I give this advice to all workmen, to ply their craft (cneft) diligently, for he who leaves his craft, his craft will leave him, whether he be priest, or monk, or churl, or soldier, or whatever he is ; for it is a loss and a shame for a man not to wish to be that which he is and that which he ought to be." In sootli, a piece of homely wisdom, with the record of which we will now take leave of these worthy craftsmen. But there is still one other composition which affords 1 In olden times salt meat was the bably different trades occupied differ- rule, fresh the exception ; so that ent quarters, because we meet with salters were very important function- Fellmonger, Fleshmonger, Horse- aries. Next to nothing is, unfortu- monger, Tanner, Salter, and Billiter nately, known of the local distribution (i.e., Bellfounder) Streets. of the Anglo-Saxon town. Most pro- MANNERS OF OUR FOREFATHERS. 169 glimpses into the manners and habits and notions of our forefathers during a period when our knowledge about them is extremely vague and scanty. It is a fragment in the Exeter Book on the ' Various lots of men ' and the parts they play ; many indeed of anything but a happy kind. One the wolf eats, the hoary heath-stepper, and his mother his death shall mourn. One dies of hunger, one by the spear. One falls from a tree, 1 and hovers aloft windless till he falls to the earth. One rides on the curved gallows till the raven takes his eyes, the sallow- coated, and tears him lifeless, and he can't defend himself againt the robber of the air. Another perishes by fire. This man lets his tongue wag too much at the mead- bench and loses his life in a drunken brawl, and men deplore " the mead-mad " drinking. 2 But we have the per contra (by God's allotment), the man brave in war ; another who is a good shot with bow and spear ; to this man is given skill at tables, 3 cunning at the parti-coloured board. One is wonderfully skilled in the goldsmith's art, and decorates a powerful noble, and gets broad lands for his pains. One makes men merry at the drinking bench (as a gleeman). One sits with a harp at his lord's feet; another tames the wild hawk and trains him, teaches him with his little gaffles till the Welsh bird becomes docile. But now the author sinks into moral- ising commonplace. The poem on the " Endowments and Pursuits of Men " is apparently by the same author. Other scraps afford us insight into nooks and corners of Anglo-Saxon life ; such, for instance, is the " Domestic 1 As the shepherd did whose soul Saxon remains we meet with thechess- was seen going to heaven by St. Cuth- player in the abstract and impalpa- bert. See Life of St. Cuthbert, c. 34. ble. Not so in Icelandic. Gunluug 2 To those various ills to which and Helga play at tables and make human flesh is exposed we might add love at the same time. King Canute's " the evil eye" (" eagena bearhtm "), game with Ulf in Koeskilde, a.d. mentioned in a like enumeration in 1027, ended in the death of the '* Beowulf," 3537. Cf. Grimm, D. latter. The spaces were alternately M., p. 1053. of gold and silver in Frithiof's game 3 Taefl was a game like draughts ; with Bjorn. it also signified chf.ss. In Anglo- i7o OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. Manners of the Nuns." l They are never to be idle, never to keep any animal but a cat, never to eat in com- pany, for they are dead to the world. One has heard of the dead speaking with the quick, but never of their tog with them. Next the skin they shall not wear n except it be of harde and greate heorden, 2 i.e., of hemp or ilax refuse. She is not to wear hair nor hedge- hog, nor beat herself therewith, nor with leaded scourge, nor bloody herself with holly or with the briars, without the leave of the confessor. Their shoes to be large and warm ; but in summer they have leave to walk and sit barefoot. After this we need not wonder that rings and brooches and gloves are tabooed. Their occupation is to shape and sew, and mend church clothes and poor men's garments. They are not to send letters nor receive letters, nor write without leave. They are to have their hair cut (i-dodded) every year fifteen times, and let blood four times, and oftener if necessary. After this last operation, for three days they are not to do anything that is grievous to them, but they are to talk to their servants, and cheer themselves with moral tales. After all this insanity, " Wash ye if needful as often as ye will," is as refreshing as a tub after a mud-bath. Eeceipts for the cure of maladies also indicate the class of diseases prevalent. Ophthalmia, adder bites, wounds by violence, are conspicuous. But the remedies are of the most futile character, with quantum suff. of superstition, 3 as we have seen above in the remedies for bewitched land. The impartial student of Anglo-Saxon lore — a ver- nacular historical school like the Scandinavians they never seem to have had 4 — if he be not carried away by 1 Reliquiae Antiquae, vol. ii. p. 5. sage,' as the Icelanders called him— No doubt of ancient date, but here iu who died 735, had written in his own a later shapeof thethirteenthcentury. tongue ! Then we might have known 'Hards '=tow in Lincolnshire. what the English of that day really :i Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms, Coc- was. A little echo of it lingers in the kayne. inscription on the Ruthwell Cross, 4 \VouldthatBede— 'hinnfrodi,"the and in those five lines improvised by THE SAXON CHRONICLE DISAPPOINTING. 171 the patriotic enthusiasm which led a revered Saxon scholar to affirm that the Chronicle x is the most valuable original composition extant in any language, must confess that it is disappointing. True, it may compare with any similar work of its age, if such exist, but that is not saying much. In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king. Critics have apologized for the lack of attractive details by explaining that it is merely a book of annals, not a history ; but when once or twice the spell is broken and a real historic interest is given to the narrative — as, for instance, when Egbert's grandson, Alfred, after many ups and downs, makes head against the Danes, and his exploits are recorded with abundant life and vigour — they point with rapture to the fact. This seems rather like running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. But generally, if we discard an unduly optimist tone in our judgment, must we not admit that there is a some- Bede just before his death, somewhat in the spirit of those verses of the dying Roman emperor. 1 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, by Benja- min Thorpe, Rolls Series. Two Anglo- Saxon Chronicles, by J. Earle, M.A., Oxford, 1865. Down to 981 this work is supposed to have been compiled and •written by Archbishop Plegmund of Canterbury, one of Alfred's learned men, in whose reign copies of it were distributed among certain religious houses. It was continued from time to time by different writers until the break up of the language in the middle of the twelfth century. But surely there is no proportion observed in it. The demise of a worm or death of a giant are recorded in the same breath and with like emphasis. The entire entry in 671 is, " Here," i.e., this year, "was the great mortality of birds." 678, " The great comet appeared, and Bishop Wilfrid was driven from his bishoprick by King Ecgferth.' The entry at 690 is a fact worth narrating : " O si sic omnia ! Archbishop Theo- dorus died, and Beorhtwald succeeded to the bishoprick. Before were Ro- man bishops, since English bishops." Again, the description of the death of Cynewulf, 755, is so real and natural that it seems to have been slipped in by accident. 773, " A red cross ap- peared in the heavens after sunset, and the Mercians fought with the men of Kent at Otford, and wonder- ful snakes were seen in the land of the South Saxons." 889, " This year no pilgrimage to Rome, except Alfred the king sent two lepers with letters." But independently of this vestry-book style, rigorous critics say the dates are not always to be relied on, especially from 878 to 896. Thegreat defeat of the Vikings in Friesland was 884, not 885 ; and Pope Maximus dies 884, not 885 (Steenstrup, " Vikingetogene," 74). Again, strangely enough, it sometimes makes the English conquer but the Northmen to retain possession of the field. Not unlike this the way in which, in the Frankish chronicles, the Christians triumph, but appar- ently with not the slightest result (ibid., 354). 172 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. thing wanting generally in the extant works of the Saxon pen. an absence of iilling up the outlines, which makes those days somewhat vague in their import, bald and unsatisfying in their presentment? We should like to be inure intimate with our Saxon forefathers; we do not quite know what manner of men they were. But few of the personages on the stage step forward to the foot- lights that we may have a good look at them. "They come like shadows, so depart." We want more sharply- drawn marks of identity, more firmness and definiteness of conception, a more vivid exhibition of their human characteristics. A few homely and natural touches will picture primitive manners to the life, but this quality we generally seek for in vain in extant Anglo-Saxon writers. In Latin Lives of the Saints this is less the case. There is much more colour in Bede's "Lives of the Abbots" than in all the five books of his History. To speak broadly, they had little of Bunyan or Boswell in them. And yet those monks who were selected in each monastery to draw up the annals of each reign were doubtless the pick of the fraternity, men, too, who had the best Latin writers before them for their models. What did that man look like? Was he tall or short? Of what fashion were his wife and daughters — ' his people,' in the slang phrase of the day ? These points it seldom occurred to the Anglo-Saxon writer to mention. Was it because Anglo-Saxon history was lost and forgotten in Shakespeare's days, or because what was extant was so colourless and vague, that he whose genius found materials in all lands, who could press into his service early Scotch history and British legend, totally ignores Anglo-Saxondom ? 1 Such a remark 1 Others -will have it that " Ina, thinke one day it would come to passe king of the West Saxons, had three that she should affect another man daughters, of whom he demanded on more fervently, meaning her husband, a time whether they did love him, who, being made one flesh with her, and so would do all their lives above she was to cleave fast to. One re- all others. The two elder swore ferreth this to the daughters of Leir." ply they would. The youngest — Memaines Concerning Britain, by but the wisest told her father she did M. N. (i.e., Camden), London, 1614. ANGLO-SAXON WRITERS VAGUE. 173 as that recorded by Snorri as made by the gigantic Harold Hardrada, just before the battle of Stamford Bridge, about the personal appearance of Harold Godwinson, " He was a little man, but he sat firmly in his stirrups," does not find its parallel in the Saxon Chronicle from end to end. 1 The breezy downs of Berkshire, with their precipitous slopes, which Alfred must have scrambled up when a lad; or the Yorkshire wolds and woodlands, with their wild undulating glades — as yet sacred to the Saxon dryads, and unpolluted by the deposit of chimney-stalks or the breath of the steam monster — what a treat it would have been to have had them mapped out before us ! True, Alcuin, in his Latin poem, mentions the plain of York, with the Ouse rich in fish, winding among the fertile meadows, and the hills and woods and habita- tions which adorned the landscape, and the multitude of foreigners who resorted to Eboracum. But we should have liked to have seen a little more of the granges, and the strongholds, and the cottages dotted here and there, and the people inside them — an Anglo-Saxon Baucis and Philemon, with " their homely joys and destiny obscure," and the way they were quite put out by a visit to their cottage of the " quality ; " some Yorkshire Pyramus and Thisbe, with their course of true love all unsmooth; a Penelope waiting her husband's return from the long voyage. Bede describes Ely as containing about six hundred families and abounding in eels, but that is all. The monk Felix was more explicit. Bede dilates also on Drythelm, standing heron-like in the Tweed at Melrose, and the otters drying Cuthbert's legs on the seashore at Coldingham. We would fain have beheld fair Tweed in 1 No le>s graphic an account is in is that big man in a blue kirtle and the Fagrskinna, by another unknown beautiful helmet?" asked Harald the hand. Harald Sigurdson, the Nor- English king. "That is the king of •wegian king, rode a black horse with the Northmen," answered his men. a white blaze (blesottr) on his fore- "A fine fellow," was the reply, ''and head. The horse fell and threw his with the look of a leader ; but it rider, who cried out, " A fall is lucky seems as if his good luck had deserted at starting "(Icelandic proverb). "Who him." i-4 OLD ENGLISH LITER A TURE. spate, with salmon rushing up in their hundreds, and the peasants trapping the otters, whose skins made such warm garments for the monks. In sooth, the people when they got Latinized seem to lose their dramatic faculty. But Mas not this partly due to their antecedents and sur- roundings? Did not education and the circumstances into which they were thrown contribute not a little to the want of directness and vivid force which marks Anglo-Saxon literature ? Did not its character reflect the progress of their history ? We fear that patriotic devotees at the shrine of Anglo- Saxon literature will think of the writer of the above as of one sitting in the seat of the scorner, guilty of scanda- //. 796, is willing to give every facility to foreign pilgrims to Borne. They are free to come and go; hut he hears that among them are people who go 1 hit her not for religion's sake, but in order to snmwde (fraudulenter negotiari)} It is the old tale. Cucullus non facit monachum. Neither does the tonsure, what- ever its mode, the true man of God. "He (the youth Wilfrid) had not yet received the tonsure, but he had the ornaments of meekness and obedience, which are greater than the tonsure," shows what Bede in his heart thought of the matter (H. E., v. 19). "What the multiplication of the priests, all shaven and shorn according to one type, did for the country, is pretty clear from the very plain speak- ing of Bede to his friend Ecgbert on his becoming Arch- bishop of York. He has heard that "there were many villages among the mountains or in the thick forests where for years together the face of a bishop was never seen to confirm, or of a priest to teach, the true faith and explain the difference between a bad and a good action." " Some of the bishops won't preach or confirm gratis, and, what is worse, having got their offerings from the faithful, they contemn the ministry of the Word. The old root of all evil is the cause of this degeneracy of the clergy — the love of money." But what was worse, members of the laity, to escape secular services, by giving bribes to the king, under the pretence of erecting monasteries, got hold of territories where they might more easily live in idleness and gratify their lusts, assembling at these spots a herd of monks banished from the true monasteries, or monks of their own manufacture, who led quite a secular life within the walls, surrounded by their wives and children ; and this to the exclusion of soldiers who defended the kingdom. They exemplified, says Bede, the proverb that 'wasps can make cells, but they store up therein not honey, but rather poison.' Here, then, as everywhere, we discern the trail of 1 Monumenta Moguntina, p. 286. FALSE MONASTERIES. 189 that false system which, wherever it has passed, has some- how never failed to leave behind it national idleness, impotence, and degradation. And all this when Eoman Christianity was fresh, and had hardly had time to grow callous. As with the priest, so with the people. They were both stamped with the same brand. The community at lame, for good or for evil, took their colour from their teachers, who, if they were steeped in Eoman learning, were not averse to Eoman vices. What Boniface, that man of saintly life and great worldly experience, thought about the fast waxing de- generacy of the clergy, may be gathered from the saying attributed to him. " In olden times there were golden prelates and wooden chalices, but in his time there were wooden prelates and golden chalices." So stirred was his spirit within him at hearing of the state of things in England, that he writes, a.d. 748, from Germany to Cuth- bert, Archbishop of Canterbury, about it. He would no longer play the part of a dumb dog. To think that the laity, princes or their retainers, dared to seize on monas- teries and themselves play the abbot ! Our forefathers would have called such people sacrilegious robbers, homi- cides of the poor, wolves of the devil. 1 A population reared under such auspices, all the spirit of manliness and of free intellectual play priest-ridden out of them, were hardly the men to cope with that irresistible rush of Pagan adventurers that was soon to burst on the land, flaming amazement and destruction from Dan to Beersheba, from Sheppey to Lindisfarne, and round Cape Wrath to the Sudreys and Ireland. And so it was that, when the Northmen began to ravage the island in 787, the people were as a body altogether changed, slow, 2 and sub- 1 Monumenta Moguntina, p. 209. trious and great name of Saxon origin 2 Nay, this inertness seems to have throughout our history. They were become engrained in the breed, if we characterised by Kingsley as the are to believe the very strong asser- female, and the Scandinavians as the tion of a recent writer, that, with few male, of the English stock, exceptions, there is hardly an illus- [go OLD ENGLISH LITER. I TURE. sequently slower as time wore on, and they were served by the 1 >anes as they of yore served the Celts. We altogether miss in them the quickness of the native Northman, -whose motto was ' keep moving.' That old tale in the Chronicle of Tours of the answer given by Eolf to Kin.; ( 'harles, when called upon to kiss the monarch's foot, • Ne se, bigoth,' 1 ' Catch me at it, by Thor!' photographs the race. Mincing matters or picking phrases did not jump with their humour, still less being put upon in any shape or form. This sturdy spirit of independence, heritage from our X i irthern and not our Saxon ancestry, has permeated Eng- lish veins through and through, and flows on still. A not- able instance this of the conservation of energy in nations as well as in physics and philosophy. No wonder the Saxon Liturgy admitted a new clause, " A furore Norman- norum, libera nos." No wonder Charlemagne wept as ho foresaw what this people would do to his people in the latter days, viz., nothing more nor less than bring about, in combination with other forces, the break up of his un- \\ ieldy empire, torn as it was by internal dissensions, now one province, now another bidding for the pirates' help. Did not St. Liudger, the Frisian missionary, have a dream which he narrated with tears in his eyes to his sister, wherein lie beheld a total eclipse of the sun, which he interpreted as a presage of the irruption of the Northmen ? Was not their approach heralded by fearful prodigies, which terrified the wretched nation of the Angles, inas- much as horrid lightnings and dragons in the air and flashes of fire were often seen glancing and flying to and 1 Truly a chip of the old block, perforce ' gang ; ' and that the earlier •■ I lis father was a man," says Dudo, Viking expeditions to France and the "who would never bow the neck to colonization of Normandy proceeded any one." The latest theory about from Denmark. Steenstrup, " Nor- this Rollo is that he was a pure Dane manuertiden," Copenhagen, 1876,— a and no Norwegian ; that Rollo is not proposition which he reasserts with identical with the Norwegian Ganger emphasis in " Vikingetogene mod Rolf, who was too tall to ride the Vest i det, 9 author of "Ingoldshy" has immortalised in his " Car- dinal." In the above pages we have endeavoured to show gene- rally what tlit> Anglo-Saxon literature is and what it is not, 1 and have hinted how, philologically and grammati- cally, it hears upon English. We have not attempted to i r. at the subject exhaustively, hut rather in a popular and suggestive form. Having by this time got a fair notion of how much Anglo-Saxon literature, language, and cus- toms bear upon these things in modern England, the der will, if he so list, address himself to the further prosecution of the study. Those who have neither oppor- tunity nor inclination to venture further will have, at all events, acquired a certain amount of information, we hope interesting and instructive, though necessarily fragmentary and incomplete. And we may promise the reader that the value of this will be greatly enhanced by a study of our Second Part. Every step taken in the field of Ice- landic literature will throw fresh light on what has been already said, and to Icelandic we shall therefore now turn. 1 Semi-Saxon with its Layamon and Ormulum does not enter into the scope of this inquiry. Part IE ICELANDIC LITERATURE. CHAPTER I. THE REFORMATION IN ICELAND SUPPRESSION OF THE MONASTERIES CONSEQUENT DISPERSION OF MSS. We have seen above, in the First Part of this work, how Archbishop Parker, with others, rescued from destruction the almost forgotten remnants of Anglo-Saxon learning which still survived in England in his day after the destruction of the monasteries. In Iceland, where the literary activity had been wonderfully fertile, a vast quan- tity of old vellum MSS. was stored in these establish- ments, mementoes of that past Augustan age. But the voice of Luther began to be heard in this distant isle, conveyed, doubtless, in heretical tracts and treatises by German traders from Hamburg. 1 Jon Einarson, rector of Skalholt, who had secretly read some of these publications, ventured, one Candlemas Bay, under the very nose of Bishop Ogmund, to call invocation of saints idolatry. But, worse still, another clerk, Gizur Einarson, whom the Bishop had sent to school at Hamburg at his own expense, heard Luther and Melancthon preach at Wittenberg, and came back to Iceland a staunch Lutheran, to the intense disgust of his patron. Meantime, one Didrik of Minden, a German by descent, who had for some years been fac- 1 Keyser, Norske Kirkes Historie, p. 847. 2 1 4 ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. totum of the Danish authorities in Iceland, thought he might as well follow the lead of his royal master, Christian III., in Denmark, and set about despoiling the religious houses in the island on his own account. The Augustinian Abbey of Vido was his first quarry. The inmates were packed off, and their goods and chattels appropriated. This took place May 25, 1539, which was Whitsunday. Be next started off fur the monasteries of Thykkvabo and Kirkiubo, breathing out threatenings against the unfortu- nate monks. On the road it occurred to him to turn aside and pay a visit to Ogniund, the Bishop of Skalholt, who was dow blind. Loading the aged prelate with insults, he boasted to him that he could take all Iceland with six men. The soft answers of the old man failed to turn away the wrath of the spoiler, who only became more violent, pouring out a torrent of the vilest abuse in German. At this juncture a noise was heard outside. It was the Bishop's nearest tenants, who had got word from his assessor to come to the rescue, and had beset all the approaches to the apartment where Didrik sat carousing. Resistance availed not, and the whole band, leader and all, fell, save a boy of twelve, August 10, 1539. The Bishop swore he was not privy to the transaction, which seems to have been strictly true. But shortly after, the old man, now eighty years of age, was surprised in his bed, and, in spite of the remonstrances of his attached and I sister, set upon a horse and carried off, thinly clad and in cold weather, to the coast, after being cajoled, by false promises of liberty, out of his gold and all his valu- ables. He was then carried off to Denmark, and died the next year at Soro. Charges of complicity in this transac- tion and of base ingratitude to his old patron, and appa- rently not without reason, were brought against Gizur Einarson, who succeeded him in the see of Skalholt. At heart he was a Reformer, but the stiff-necked Icelanders still stuck to the old faith, and the new one made but little progress. THE REFORM A TION IN ICELAND. 2 1 3 A great hindrance to the Eeformation had, it is true, been removed in Bishop Ogmund, but in Jon Areson, the Bishop of Holar in the North, it had a much more formid- able and potent antagonist to contend with. A staunch Papist in all but the matter of celibacy, which he had practically scouted when yet a priest, living in open con- cubinage with Helga Sigurd's daughter, by whom he had five sons and two daughters, he nevertheless thought it best for the present to profess much respect for the royal ordinances proclaiming the establishment of the Eefor- mation. Gizur, his episcopal brother of Skalholt, on the other hand, did what he could in the contrary direction, doing away with Eomish observances whenever he could. Not far from Skalholt stood a wayside cross, by the mouth of the Olve river, which was the object of much supersti- tious veneration. It stank, consequently, in the nostrils of the Eeforming Bishop. In February 1548 he rode to the spot and had the cross pulled down. On his home- ward ride he was seized with illness, took to his bed, and died in a month — a signal instance, of course, in the eyes of the Eomanists, of the just judgment of God. Mean- while news of the victory achieved over the Protestants by the Emperor Charles V. in the preceding April (1547) at Muhlber" had reached Jon Areson, and he was embol- dened to throw off the mask. He at once wrote, it is said, to the Emperor, begging him to send an expedition to Ice- land from the Netherlands. He also wrote to the then Pope, Paul III., August 7, 1548, asking for counsel. The former letter miscarried. To the latter he received an answer the following year, dated 8th March, encouraging him to resist King Christian III.'s introduction of the Eeformation into the island. This Papal rescript came in the nick of time. Sooth to say, at this very moment, the sturdy upholder of the old faith needed moral as well as physical support ; for only a few months before the new Protestant Bishop of the Southern See, Skalholt, returned to the island from Denmark with a royal letter proclaim- 2 1 6 ICE I. A XDIC LITER A TURE. in« Jon Areson an outlaw. Verily it was an occasion to be made the most of. All the priests and clerks of the (limes.' were summoned to the cathedral of Holar to hear Papal letter read, while Bishop Jon, standing before the altar in his most gorgeous vestments, crosier in hand and mitre on his head, thanked God and the Pope, and vowed he would die rather than betray either the one or the other. As good as his word, he had the letter translated into the vernacular and distributed about the country, and at a meeting of the clergy resolutions were agreed to for the suppression of the new " idolatry." That autumn Bishop Jon, learning that his brother prelate, Martin of Skalholt, was on a visitation on the borders of his own diocese, secretly despatched a hundred armed men, who succeeded in surprising the Bishop and carrying him away captive. Previous to this, Bishop Peter Plade of Seeland, in I lenmark, had written to Bishop Jon Areson, urging him to submit to the King, and telling him that it was vain to expect help from his friend, Pope Paul III., as he was dead, and before another Pope was elected Jon might be dead too. To this friendly advice the Bishop paid no regard. Xay more, he resolved to meet his adversaries face to face, and journeyed to the Althing with four hun- dred armed men. With such a force he carried everything >re him, and succeeded in deposing the speaker, and placing his own son, Are, in his stead. Thence he made a swoop upon Skalholt; and when the garrison showed is of resistance, put the captive Bishop, whom he had with him, in front of his men as a mark to their missiles, and so caused them to surrender. During his stay he re- >ecrated the cathedral, which he pronounced defiled by Protestant worship, and he had Bishop Gizur's corpse dug up and buried outside the churchyard, as the corpse of a heretic. He then held a meeting of the clergy, and had himself proclaimed lawful administrator of the dio- cese; and he finished up his thoroughgoing proceedings THE RE FORM A TION IN ICE LA ND. 2 1 7 with the consecration of a priest in the church, after the approved Bomish fashion. He then made a round of the western coast, visiting monasteries, routing out the Danish officials who had snugly ensconced themselves therein, reconsecrated churches, and returned to his episcopal seat at Holar, saying he had now got all Iceland under him save a boor's son or two, alluding, doubtless, to his great opponent, the captive Bishop's brother-in-law, Dade Gud- mundson, who was of low birth, but the most powerful person in Western Iceland, notwithstanding his being under the ban of Jon Areson. 1 He next placed the Church's ban on Gisle Jonson, priest of Seladal, on the ground that he was a married man, 2 an offence of which, as we have seen, the prelate was ecpually guilty ; but the real cause of his ire was that, on his own deposition, he ascertained Gisle Jonson was nominated by the King to succeed him. The Bishop's sons did not all of them approve of their father's proceedings. Sigurd the priest kept aloof entirely. Are often said he knew his father was in the wrong, but he did not like to desert him in his old age ; while Bjorn, on the other hand, egged him on still farther along the 1 An anecdote is related bereanent lak, born 1133, i.e., just forty-five which illustrates the old Icelandic years after the death of Dunstan, on saying, that when people are slander- his return to Iceland from a six years' ing or gossiping about a person behind residence in Paris and England, medi- his back, he hiccoughs every time his tated marriage with a rich and noble name is mentioned. The same day widow. Unluckily, or luckily, for that the Bishop fulminated the ex- the latter, the night before he iu- communication against Dade, the lat- tended to propose to her, he was ter was seized with a violent fit of warned in a dream not to do so, and hiccough, when he observed, " About ever after he remained a bachelor me is the word, when I am not at the (Hist. Ecclesiast., p. 288). Nay, in the board." year 1179, we find him formally pro- 2 Liberty of lawful marriage to the mulgating the edict of Archbishop clergy, and the legitimisation of their Eistein enjoining celibacy on the offspring, was at last conceded by clergy (ibid., i. 112), a law never King Christian III., in a rescript, accepted by the clergy. They were (hited Copenhagen, St. Gall's Day, quite ready to attend to Papal pre- 1551. Cf. Firini Johannei Historia cepts about shaving their beards and Ecclesiastica Islandica, vol. ii. p. 308. clipping their hair, so that the lobes Long had this matter been a bone of of the ears might be visible ; abstain contention in Iceland. Even St. Thor- from gaudy colours in their dress 2 1 8 'ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. slippery path of fanaticism and ambition. And thus he on his course, spite of threats and warnings, till an abyss opened in front of him from which there was no retreat. Dado Gudmundson, whom he regarded as his sole re- maining foe of any note in the island, he now determined i i crush at one powerful stroke. With ninety armed men he marched, 29th September 1550, to Saudafell, a country- house belondncr to Dade, but which was claimed as his own property by Are, the son of the Bishop. But Dade ie to the rescue with a larger force, and beset the place in spite of the fire of the Bishop's men. He offered those inside liberty to depart unharmed, which was refused by the Bishop. Presently the Episcopalians retired to the church close by, closely pressed by the besiegers. They managed, however, to make good their entrance, and bar- ricaded themselves inside. But not for long; and on an entrance being effected by Dade and his men, the Bishop was q standing in front of the high altar in full pontificals, the consecrated wafer in one hand, an image of the Virgin in the other. But in Dade's fierce followers the sight failed to inspire awe. The Bishop had acted too much like a Viking to escape the fate of one. In his ambitious violence his sanctity had collapsed. One profane fellow threw himself on the unfortunate prelate, and with ex- aii'l so on (Keyser, Norske Kirke) ; were, by the end of the eleventh cen- but when they were forbidden matri- tury, brought under this detestable re- mony, this was the addition to the striction, and knuckled down to Rome burden that broke the camel's back, in the long-run in everything great lii' y resented the order as an in- and small, notwithstanding cases of fringement of their natural rights; individual resistance. Dunstan long and the country sustained them, and had the discredit of backing up the marry they did, like good honest Popes in these celibatic encroach- fellows; and Lsleifr and his brother ments on his brother clerics (see Mil- bishops and clergy, and their succes- man) ; but he, like Henry VIII. and to the days of the Reformation others, has been whitewashed, in this and after, were the fathers of happy case most justly, of the charges made families born in wedlock. Nought against him, and it has been proved by sun ly be predicated of our Stubbs that "he vindicated clerical Anglo-Saxon clergy, who, with the marriage against the Popes" ("Memo- B (inish clergy of the rest of Europe rials of S. Dunstan," cxviii., Stubbs). THE RE FORM A TION IN ICE LA ND. 2 1 9 treme violence, like the men of Brennus did on the Con- script Fathers, and dragged him out of the church, and he was sent forthwith, together with his two sons, under a strong escort to Snakedal. A court was set three weeks later, at which the liberated Bishop Martin and the Danish commissary, Christian, were present, and it pro- nounced the memorable ' Doom of Snakedal,' to wit, that the Bishop and his sons were lawful prisoners. The prisoners were then removed to Skalholt, and a council was held to determine what was next to be done. Opi- nions were divided, and the deliberations lasted for several days. The Danish commissary, fearing an attack from the Bishop's friends in the North, was averse to being his jailor. What w r as to be done ? " Do ! " exclaimed one of the inquisitors, Priest Jon Bjarneson, " why the axe and the earth will make all safe." The words fell upon willing ears, and after a show of opposition on the part of Dade and others, the death of the captives was resolved on with- out any regular trial. The Bishop now saw what his own 'unbounded stomach' and the evil counsels of others had brought him to. Still he retained his firmness. Of his sons, Bjorn behaved pitifully; but his other son, Are, as usual, carried himself calmly and courageously. The three were placed in separate cells, but allowed to see each other occasionally : and on the last day of their life received the " body of God " from the hands of Bishop Jon. On Friday the 7th November, a simple block was erected in the courtyard of- the palace at Skalholt, at which stood a man fetched from Bessastad, axe in hand. Are, the son, strode first to the place of execution, with a constancy which never left him. He had been offered, it was said, free pardon if he would swear never to seek revenge, but lie refused. Taking leave of Bishop Martin and Dade, who stood by, he knelt down and stretched his head on the block, and it was severed at a blow. Bjorn was next led out, and as he laid his head on the block kept exclaim- ing in piteous accents, " My poor little children ! " In his ICE LAX DIC LITER A TURE. extremity of fear he screwed neck and shoulders close together, and it was not till the fourth blow that he was apitated. Between each blow he is said to have cried f >r mercy. The old Bishop came next. He was offered life. "No," said he; "they have followed me well, and I will follow them." As he passed Dade, he offered to release him from the interdict he had placed on him. - Interdict ! " retorted Dade, " thou canst see no more trace of interdict on me than on thyself." At the block he kneeled and said in Latin, " Lord, into Thy hands I com- mend my spirit." His shoulders were much bent from and it was not till the fifth or sixth blow that his head was separated from his body. After lying exposed for some hours, the bodies were at last, at the prayer of some humanely-disposed persons, removed and buried in the churchyard behind the choir. So fell the last Popish Bishop of Iceland, betokening, in his resistance to the new order of things and in the un- ruffled calmness of his end, the blood that ran in his veins. He had children who had enoucrh of their father and the old Northern strain about them to determine on a blood revenge. His daughter, Thorun, a bigoted Eoman Catho- lie, and a woman of a high and vengeful spirit, equipped some of the Northern people with arms on their road to the great south country fishing-gathering that Christmas. Either came, among the rest, Christian, the Danish com- missary, and at the first opportunity he was set upon by the emissaries, and, after a long resistance, a lad of Tho- run's despatched him by forcing a spear under his coat of mail and up through his bowels. So fell the chief doomer of the Bishop, hated by most people. The next 30th March, thirty men, accompanied by three priests, suddenly arrived at Skalholt, and demanded of Bishop Martin permission to disinter the three corpses, and he dared not refuse the request. The bodies were :en up with the utmost haste, and placed in coffins brought for the purpose. Arrived at Holar, all the cathe- THE RE FORM A TION IN ICELAND. 221 dral bells rang, responding to the bells attached to each coffin, and a number of clergy stationed outside conducted the cavalcade into the church, where the three were buried with great pomp. They were looked upon as saints, and many people, blind, or affected with other disorders, pressed forward to touch the coffins, and apparently received a cure. Shortly after two Danish men-of-war appeared off the coast, and Sigurd, the Bishop's son, who had been elected to succeed him, thought it best to subside into private life, and thus the old Roman Church of Iceland fell, and the Reformed Church took its place, a.d. 155 1. The adherents and relations of the Bishop were on the whole treated with clemency, but most of the valu- ables belonging to the cathedral were escheated to the King and carried off to Copenhagen. When the present writer visited the place, a few hangings in cunning needle- work were the sole memorials of the pomp and state of this Icelandic compound of Wolsey and Becket. The memory of the Bishop is held in honour to this day among the Icelanders. The first families in the island count it a great distinction to be of his stock. Nor has it escaped remark that of Iceland's later bishops, five of Skalholt and three of Holar were descended from him. Possessed of fine natural gifts, Jon Areson was of a thoroughly ungovernable spirit. He was just the man to play the part of a great potentate in those days. Fond of splendour, hospitable, munificent, proud, and energetic, he was every way calculated to win the admiration of his countrymen. Not a whit behind Bishop Ogmund in worldly ambition and love of rule, he was inferior to him in intellectual acquirements : not so, however, in the force of his understanding. A poor Latin scholar, he was an excellent poet, perhaps the very best of his day, and, like the old Scalds, ever ready with some metrical effusion when occasion required. In the society of intimate friends ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. :. as cheerful and jocose, but in ordinary life, and in the business of his calling, lie could display a dignity in keep- ing with his high office. 1 His chief adversary, Dade, on the other hand, was held in no such regard; and when, some years later, 1563, he died of a cancer in the face, it arded by his coteniporaries as a judgment from Heaven. 1 Keyser, Den Norske Kirkes Hist., p. 845. ( 223 ) CHAPTER II. COLLECTORS AND COPYISTS OF MSS. — ARNE MAGNUSSON. We have given in the preceding chapter a leaf out of the history of the Icelandic Reformation, not only for its own romantic interest, but in order to show how matters began to fare with the monasteries, the chief receptacles of old Icelandic learning. Of course all the MSS. were scattered abroad or destroyed, pretty much as had happened in England a few years before ; but with this difference, that there was no Archbishop Parker empowered by royal mandate to rescue literary remains from destruction. What was done for the immense stock of Icelandic MSS. was due to private intelligence and enterprise. 1 It was not till 1600, some fifty years after the suppression of the monasteries in Iceland (in Norway, where they were never popular, they were suppressed twenty years earlier), that a new intellectual life began to be awakened. Oddr Einarson, Bishop of Skalholt, a wise and learned man, was the first to set about making collections and copying the old documents found there. His collection of deeds and diplomas is the best extant, though the originals are lost. A little later, Arngrim Jonas began rummaging out of their various hiding-places all over the island the stray MS. treasures, and acquiring everything he could lay his hands on. A taste at once commenced for making paper copies of the old vellums which turned up. One of the most industrious of these copyists was Jon Gizurarson (died 1648), brother of Bishop Brynjolf- 1 BLskupa Sosur, p. viii. 2:A ICELANDIC LITERATURE. son. A number of his autograph copies are still in existence. His contemporary, Bjorn of Skardsa, a most conscientious and trustworthy person, got hold of a great number of old MSS. Bishop Thorlak Skulason, who lived ,t the same date, was the first to collect and copy those most interesting biographies, the Lives of the Ice- landic Bishops from a.d. 1056 to 1330 (Biskupa Sogur), ie of which were first written down shortly after a.d. 1 200. These throw a world of light on all sorts of matters connected with the history of the twelfth, thirteenth, and f( turteenth centuries. It must be remembered that no work of a similar kind appeared in England till the latter half of the nineteenth century. Skulason's collection consists of three books, two upon parchment, which, as the originals have been lost, are exceedingly valuable. But 11!' all the copyists of old Icelandic lore, Bishop Brynjolfr Sveinson bears the palm. What he did in this line, with the able assistance of the Eev. Jon Erlendsson (1632-72), is truly astonishing. By the exertions of these men and others, to whom Iceland and the literary world owes an exceeding debt of gratitude, a heap of the best sagas have survived which would otherwise have been lost. This will become the more apparent when we state that many of these sagas survived in their day only in a single vellum in all Iceland, and of some of these original vel- lums not a shred remains, so that were it not for the ies then taken, they would have been utterly lost. Such were the " Islendingabok," the " Landnamabok," " Svarfdcela," " Vatnsdcela," and others. " Vigastyr Saga " * is entirely lost. At the great lire in Copenhagen, 1728, which utterly destroyed the University Library, irre- able havoc was made among the Icelandic trea- sures. In the seventeenth century many choice vellums 1 Failing to obtain a copy of this original vellum, perished in the great saga in Iceland, Arne Magnusson fire. A year later the copyist set procured the M.S. from Stockholm, down from memory what he remem- A coj.y was made of it by John bered of the original. Olaffsen, which, together with the COLLECTORS AND COPYISTS OF MSS. 225 had been sent from Iceland as presents to Ole Worm, Eesenius, and others : many of these had got into the library and utterly perished, e.g., the "Eyrbyggia," also "Fagrskinna" and " Kringla," which came from Norway and belonged to the library. The vellums in the Eoyal Library which did not suffer from that fire, including the priceless " Codex Eegius " of most of the old Edda, sent by Bishop Sweinson of Skalholt to King Frederick III. of Denmark, were saved. The Icelandic MSS. sent to Sweden in the middle of the seventeenth century are now for the most part safe in the libraries of Stockholm and Upsala. But we must here make mention of the man who did for Icelandic MSS. at the beginning of the eighteenth century what Archbishop Parker did for Anglo-Saxon in the sixteenth. We mean Arne Magnusson (died 1730), the professor of Northern antiquities at Copenhagen. Many admirable persons, as we have seen, had laboured before him, and to some extent he entered into their labours ; but as a most untiring collector of old Icelandic MSS. he was facile princeps. For ten years of his life he was occupied in travelling in Iceland from farm to farm, hunting up MSS. which might be stored up in those huge oak chests, receptacles of the wardrobe and everything accounted valuable by the peasants, or lurking perad venture over the doors of the guest chambers or elsewhere. Being armed with authority as a Danish official, his facilities were great, and, like Parker, he was equal to the occasion. Nothing escaped him, and whatever was to be found in Iceland in the shape of a valuable record about 1700, he found it and carried it off to Copenhagen. In Norway, likewise, he secured many manuscripts, penetrating as far as Nordland in quest of them. Many of these were presents from private persons, e.g., from Dean Miltsow in Voss ; some which he borrowed were never returned. But, of course, these book collectors are apt to be oblivious. ' At the above disastrous conflagration pretty near all his vellums escaped. But, besides this, he had a staff of p ICELANDIC L1TERA TURK. scribes, headed by Asgeir Jonsson, constantly at work transcribiDg vellums not in his possession. To crown all, be Left by will the whole of his library of MSS. to the University of Copenhagen, together with a sum of money to be employed in their printing and publication. The result of which beneficence has been the appearance of that goodly array of quarto volumes, containing all the chief Icelandic works, each volume having on its title- page a representation of the founder. To tell the truth, many of the texts are very badly clone. Arne Magnusson would turn over in his grave were he to see them. The first impulse to inquiry into Icelandic literature in England — not so much, perhaps, in a learned as in a popular sense — was given by Bishop Percy's translation of Mallet's "Northern Antiquities," a.d. 1770, dedicated " to such persons as study the ancient languages of the North" — at that period a very select few. The trans- lator's preface had no little share in provoking the study which has since yielded such valuable fruit. And if in his " Relics of Early English Poetry " he conferred a lasting benefit on our own language and poetic litera- ture, his Scandinavian illustrations were perhaps scarcely less valuable in directing attention to the errand old fountain-head of our legendary lore. The poet Gray, with his odes " The Eatal Sisters " and the " Descent of Odin," i.e., to Hel's abode — translations from the Icelandic, the former from the Norn song in the Njal saga, the latter from ' Yegtamskvioa " in the old Edda, through the medium, however, of Latin versions — would, doubtless, whet English curiosity to know more of this vigorous language and literature. 1 In 1782 the Pubv. James John- son, chaplain to the British embassy, published at Copen- 1 Mr. Ritson, however, "Early Eng- savage and degraded people, from lish Metrical Romances," preface, p. -whom it is vain to expect proofs of • xxvi., regrets that Mr. Gray should genius." The Saxons, too, were by have polluted his sublime Pindarics no means in his good graces. He with the Scandinavian mythology, tells us that there is only one single With him the Northmen are "a Saxon romance in existence, " Apol- COLLECTORS AND COPYISTS OF MSS. 227 hagen "The Death-Song of Lodbrog," followed (1786) by his " Antiquitates Celto-Scandicte," and containing speci- mens of Snorri, &c. Walter Scott followed suit in the same line in his translations and imitations from the Icelandic. Now, will the reader be surprised to hear that this language, of which, perhaps, he knows so little, was once so well understood in England, at all events by the higher classes, that the old Norse tongue in the mouth of the Northern Minstrel was current at the English court ? Nay, Gunlaug, a famed scald, talked with King Ethelred about matters in general in London streets, while, as we have seen, the tale of a Northern navigator was perfectly appreciated by King Alfred. In this language, and in it alone, is embalmed much that is interesting to us as Englishmen. We know that, though now Christians, we were once Pagans. We once had a mythology which, though it very early grew pale in the light of Christianity, was once more or less common in its main features to all the Teutonic races. But of that mythology all memory as a systematic whole would have perished, had not two documents been pre- served to us which present to us, in words that cannot die, the very form and fashion of that wondrous edifice of mythology which our forefathers in the dawn of time imagined to themselves — their theogony and cosmogony. 1 "We mean the two Eddas : " The Older Edda," a collec- tion of traditional legends, first collected, it is said, by Saemundr Sigfusson (born 1054, died 1 1 33), but which existed previous to the emigration to Iceland, and is probably as old as the seventh century — the century to which belong the oldest remnants of Saxon, of Low lonius" (a translation from the Latin), whether Scots, Picts, or Danes." Cf. forgetting apparently that "Beowulf" "For dullness the creeping Saxons," — which was in his time, however, in a poetical list of national charac- hardly known— may be fairly classed teristics in Macfirbi's "Book of Gene- in that category. These Saxons he alogies," cited byO'turry (Materials pronounces to be "a spiritless and for Irish History, p. 224). cowardly race, at the mercy of any 1 Dasent, '"Introduction to Ice- one who sought to invade them, laudic Dictionary." J28 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. German and High German, as represented respectively in " Beowulf," in the " Heliand," and Otfried's "Christ." • The Xounger Edda," designed by Snorri as an Ars Poetica, a course of poetical lectures illustrated by old poetic scraps, for his young countrymen desirous of cultivating verse. He wrote it circa 1241. Coupled with it was a prose ver- sion of the lays contained in the elder Edda, to explain the many figures and allusions in old Icelandic poetry. 1 1 The reader will have observed days all over Scandinavia, yet they that we have generally used the were almost invariably the work of term 'Icelandic' The rich and racy Icelanders living in Iceland, e.g., language in which these imperishable Ari Frodi, Ssemund, Snorri Sturle- monuments were cast— the Old Norse, son, and Sturla Thordarson, the con- Danish, or Icelandic, as it is indifre- tinuer of the sagas after Snorri. rently called— was current in those 229 ) CHAPTEE III. PROSE EDDA AND ITS DISCOVERER, ARNGRIM JONAS. The disinterment of the (prose) Edda, and its publica- tion to Europe is due primarily to Arngrim Jonas, an Icelandic clergyman, who, in his " Crymogsea sive Eerum Islandicarum," libri iii. (the first edition of which appeared at Hamburg, 1609, only six years after the death of Queen Elizabeth), seriously set about spreading a know- ledge of his remote Thule to the outside world. Hearing much in his lone and simple parsonage at Mel- stad in North- Western Iceland, of the activity of Ole Worm, the great Danish antiquary, in Eunic and Northern lore, he writes to him at the request of their common friend , Thorlak Skulesen, Bishop of Holar, 15th August 1626. Worm replies in great delight at meeting with so congenial a spirit. " It was no pay, no promised reward that led him, when his grave avocations permitted it, to disinter Northern antiquities, but the sheer love of the thing." He is soon deep in a discussion on the value of the rune, /f\, and concludes by saying that "the royal Chancellor had got the books sent by Arngrim, but so injured by shipwreck, so wet and dirty, that hardly a letter was decipherable." Here the enormous difficul- ties with which Icelandic literature had to contend begin to come out. Wonderful to see men writing, as this Arngrim did, in the midst of epidemics, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fearful cold, and prodigiously deep snow, the last preventing all access to Eunic inscriptions which Worm was anxious to have. To these fates, so 2 3 o ICE LA NDIC LIT ERA TURE. adverse to the historic Muse, add frequent shipwrecks, where all was lost, not only "man and mouse," but the Long and anxiously-looked for letter or paper to print on, expected from the lands of civilisation. Well might Arngrim donas exclaim in a letter to Worm, 1638, "0 Neptunum, piratas nostrarum literarum commercio invidentes!" But he adds hopefully, "Seel erit post nubila Phoebus." Then another year, 1633, the Danish ships, on which Arngrim depended for everything, could not approach the north of Iceland till August on account of the Greenland ice besetting the coast. The author of this work knows by personal experience what a magazine of cold is there stored up to vex the poor Icelanders. No less untoward were the fates to Ole, on his side, in the pursuit of knowledge. He writes, March 1635, "The letters I expected from Arngrim this year perished in a shipwreck ; " and in November of that year, " No news this season from Iceland yet, but I am daily expecting some, unless they have been lost in a shipwreck. Three Icelandic ships, they say, have gone down." Talk of your argosies laden with rich wares ! Why, to these votaries of learning the interests at stake on such occa- sions were far costlier than the merchandise of gold and silver. Think of the copy of that Eunic inscription that has since been broken up for building purposes, or that unique vellum MS. destined for Copenhagen and for the longing eyes of the antiquary, who would never see them. Sometimes the bearer of the letter from Iceland abroad, or vice versa, lost it, or mislaid or forgot it, and then the correspondence did not come to hand till the Greek kalends. The go-between was, may be, an ingenious Icelandic student or a merchant. On one occasion it is John Mummius of Eotterdam, "a fowler (catcher of falcons), who for many years has, to his great profit, been the privileged falcon-catcher through nearly all Iceland." Quaint obstacles sometimes occur to bar Worm's ap- PROSE EDDA AND ITS DISCOVERER. 231 proach to the shrine of Bunic lore. Such, for instance, as that alluded to by Magnus Olavius in a letter dated 1640. " I have consulted several Eunists in vain. But there is still one most skilful Bunist, who was brought before our courts this summer on a charge of necromancy, but man- aged to get off. We should have consulted him, but his reputation is so bad that we refrained." So this oracle gave no sound. On the 4th September 1628 Arngrim lends to Worm his copy of the prose Edda, accompanied by the " Skalda," for as long as he likes to keep it ; a welcome solace, doubtless, at a time when " the fury of fierce war had silenced his Muse, and the loss of his beloved wife had almost extinguished his passion for these things." Before long Worm is, like Oliver Twist, asking for more. His appetite has been whetted. He begs Arngrim, 1632, to send him some old Icelandic historic cantilena3 about the Skioldings : his Magnificence the Chancellor wants to see them ; to which Arngrim replies he has never heard of such a thing. But Worm was not the man to be daunted in the pursuit of a literary or scientific object, and we find him in 1635 writing to Gisli Oddsson, Bishop of Skalholt, to be on the look-out for " any old cantilena?, especially such as Saxo referred to at the beginning of his History." The prophetic soul of Worm led him to con- jecture that somewhere among the cavernous abodes of Iceland a manuscript might turn up of those old mythic songs on which the prose Edda confessedly rested, or of the numerous other poets cited in the " Skalda," not to mention the heroic lays alluded to by Saxo, the Danish Livy. The Bishop, however, is drawn blank. " As for Bunic literature, beyond a few trifles, there were no monuments of it to be found in his diocese. Magic runes, he hoped, were banished for ever from the country. Of the ancient cantilena cited by Saxo I am not aware that any exist in this land, with the exception of the Edda and ' Skalda,' which I believe you have already received from Arngrim." 2 3 2 ICE LA NDIC LIT ERA TURE. Objects of natural history were not much in his line, but he will permit himself, D.V., to describe a monster which he had seen with his very eyes in the neighbouring White Kiver, 1 last June, in the presence of four witnesses. From distance off, its form was not clearly to be made out, but it seemed to him like a new island in the very midst of the rapids, with the lower end brooding over the water like an eagle. In about an hour's time it gradually sank. This same month, when a shepherd was boating over with his horse in tow, the animal suddenly commenced wading ; and at another spot there was descried something like a vast serpent with three folds above the water, each of the size of twenty paces or more. What sort of monster it was the Lord knew, he did not." The Bishop was obvi- ously not the man for Worm, and the correspondence drops. Not so with Arngrim. Eunes, the horn of the unicorn, whales' teeth, the site of Ultima Thule, whether Iceland or Thelemarken, or wdiere on earth it w r as, and a world of other matters, are discussed between them ; 2 but Worm's favourite topic, the Edda, constantly crops up. ''Who wrote this Edda?" he asks. "Well," replies Arngrim, 1638, "our old documents plainly state that the (prose) Edda was written down and digested by Ssemundr, and afterwards added to and improved by 1 It was in this river that the au- by the mouth and nose, as we have thor's horse was nearly drowned in its seen our sailors do it ; also how much effort to swim across. In the " Egil- is the correct dose, and is it to betaken saga," cap. 28, we have the account full or fasting?" These weighty que- of Skalagrim, one of the Norwegian ries Worm solves thus : "The history refugees, taking possession of it. His of the Nicotian herb has been investi- men were astonished at the colour of gated by Clusius, and recently again the water, still retaining the tint of by Johannes Neander of Bremen, its parent glaciers, a phenomenon The plant is specially beneficial for quite new to them, and called it cold and humid constitutions, pro- " White River " (hvita) in conse- vided, like other medicaments, it is quence. used in moderation. Smoked through 2 For instance, Arngrim writes, a tube, sailor - fashion, it removes 1631, " That herb by some called In- phlegm from the head and organs of dian, by others Holy, by others Nico- sense; it exsiccates the brain and fcian, vulgarly, tobacco, pray tell me takes away colds and catarrhs ; but I in your next what effect it has when am not aware whether it can be taken inhaled through a tube and exhaled internally with safety." PROSE ED DA AND ITS DISCOVERER. 233 Snorri." l In 1639 he has a welcome piece of intelligence to convey to the simple parson of Melstad. " My friend Henry Spelman, who is mentioned in my book the ' Literatura Danica,' sends his greetings. His very words are, ' Cupio ut si obvius tibi venerit Arngrimus Jonas Islandicus eum meo nomine salutes.' You see," adds Worm, with a little pardonable vanity, " how far your fame has been borne by my ' Literatura.' 2 The knight little knows how far you and I are apart." To this greeting of " the most noble Spelman, to whom, no doubt, as to others, I have become known by your book," Arngrim replies, 1639, " He would acknowledge his message himself if he knew the knight's address, or could ascertain it from the English falcon- catchers." An interesting allusion this to a sport now almost obsolete in England. In June 1640 Worm writes, " I have sent your message to Spelman. He is living still in London at the Barbican, a veteran of seventy-six, and last year brought out the first volume of the ' Councils, Decrees, &c, of Great Britain,' a great and laborious work, which I trust he will be able to bring to a happy con- clusion. He has a son, John Spelman, who bids fair to imitate his father's virtues, from whom we expect great things." Meanwhile, the old man Arngrim was already, 1643, nve years before his end, bethinking him of its ap- proach, and he sends to Worm his future epitaph of forty- four Latin elegiacs to be inscribed on an oaken tablet at Copenhagen, along with the following curious record : — " Arngrim Jonas and Sigrid Bernhardi, married in 1628, he being a widower of sixty, with four children by his former marriage ; she a maiden of twenty-seven. The following are the names of the children by his second marriage, with his age at the time of their birth : — 1 Arngrim, "Crym.," 82, ascribes it "The French ambassador here, De to S. Sturleson, but in a letter cited Thuillerie, has been anxiously collect- by Resenius, to Sitinundr. He halted ing all your works to adorn the library between two opinions. Cf. " Vita of Cardinal Mazarin at Paris. So you Sajmundar," p. xv. see how highly you are esteemed by - iSth June 1646 Worm writes, the literati of Fiance." • j 4 ICELA NDIC LITER A TURE. Bernhard, when the father was 70. Gudbrand, „ „ 71. Hilda, „ „ 75. Gunnar „ „ 77 . Thorkill, when the father was 61. Thorlak, „ „ 63. Jonas, „ „ 64. Solveig, ., „ 66. Ingeborg, „ „ 67. The tablet is duly forwarded by Worm in June 1647; the inscription lettered in gold, not on one block of wood, but on several, owing to its great length. He had added a ' love epigramma ' of his own : " Quod si minus arrideat deleri facile potest. Amor in te meus hoc extorquebat, quern tibi ad rogum volo illibatum." A touching close to this correspondence of twenty-one years, full of quaint Learning and honourable affection. The old man was troubled with some scorbutic affection and also spasms, for the former of which the good doctor in this letter prescribes Gochlearia becapunga and Nasturtium aquatile, and for the latter sends him two rings made of walrus tooth. This was an age, be it remembered, of odd credulities. For instance, the horn of the narhval, so called, says "Worm to J. Peyrere, because it feeds on dead carcasses (ndr), was supposed to be an antidote to poison. Hence Charles IX. had always a piece of it in his wine. In a letter to Clusius, Worm begs for a bit of jade. A friend of his, troubled with calculus, will give any money for it. The veteran Icelander, as we learn from a letter of Einar Arnfinn to Worm, died on the 29th June in the following year (1648). "Sitting in his bed, after exhorting his people, who had been summoned for the purpose, to patience and continuance in the faith, he concluded with a psalm. He then quietly lay back as if to sleep, and in the same moment yielded up his soul to his Creator. To use the last words of your epigram, ' Crede mihi haud moritur qui bene sic moritur.' " But Arngrim Jonas had lit a candle which was not destined to be extinguished. Buried though he was all his life long and out of the world, the light from his living tomb is burning brightly yet. The literary world was now thoroughly on the qui vive about this same PROSE EDDA AND ITS DISCOVERER. 235 Edda. To Thomas Bartholinitis of Leyden Worm writes, 1646, "Edda is not an historian, nor the name of a man or any author, but a book so called, containing various fables, such as were used in old Danish poetry." Cardinal Mazarin meantime desires to have a copy of the Edda, and his librarian, Gabriel Naudaeus, writes to Worm (" Decus literatorum nostri sseculi eximium ! ") on the subject, with a promise of the Cardinal's medallion likeness when it is ready. Worm (1645) writes back that he shall kiss the portrait when it arrives. As for the (prose) Edda, "which is most rare and difficult to understand," he has chartered a young Icelander to make a copy of it from his own copy, with a Latin translation (by Magnus Olavius) appended to it. Be it observed here, that the involved and long-winded sentences of his Eminence's librarian contrast unfavourably with the clear, elegant, and incisive style of the Dane. Next year the transcript being brought ' ad umbilicum,' Worm sends it to the French ambassador, describing it as " Edda Islan- dica, liber quo rarior et intricatior in Septentrione vix invenitur, totius priscae Pceseos fons et fundamentum, in quo qui bene versatus non fuerit frustra in veterum car- minibus et cantilenis enucleandis desudabit." He has paid ten imperials to the Icelandic copyist, " than whom there was not in all Copenhagen one better versed in Northern antiquities, or more modest withal." To the poor Icelander these ten imperials, though not much for a Cardinal reputed to have died worth ten millions sterling, must have been a veritable vision of Potosi, and he at once expresses his perfect readiness to pro- ceed to France, if required, for a suitable consideration. Cardinal Mazarin next year, 1648, showed the value he set upon the Edda by sending to Worm, as the " niuni- mentum et pigmus amoris," a medal with the likeness of the King on one side and of the Queen-mother on the other, besides a watch of ingenious workmanship enclosed in an exquisite gold box inlaid with amber. 236 CHAPTER IV. THE PROSE EDDA. We have seen how the learned men of Europe rose to their feet when the news reached them that a great discovery had been made — as great in its way as that of the tomb of the Homeric hero at Mycenae. Of works proclaiming the names and the doings of the gods of Greece and Rome, European libraries were full, but of the Gothic divinities and the creations of a simple, rugged people, who superseded effete and over-civilised Rome, how little knowledge of these and of the worship paid to them had survived to those days ! Nothing, indeed, but the short and haphazard account by Tacitus (Germania, viii.-ix.), who fitted the names and attributes of the sophisticated Roman deities to the Gothic gods. With Zeus or Jupiter, Mercury or Hermes, Mars and Venus, every schoolboy was well acquainted, but what about Odin and Thor or Freya, and those deities who, if the mi tnths had borrowed their names from the Roman mythology, had anyhow given their names to some five of the Teutonic days of the week? Tacitus might say, in a perfunctory manner, led by some resemblance between the gods of Rome and what he had heard of these Gothic deities, that these people worshipped Mercury and Terra Mater, and sacrificed to Mars ; but surely this Northern worship goes farther back into the ages, at a point nearer to its source in the infantine days of its huge and uncouth development. In Tacitus we may catch a transient glimpse of Alruna or Veleda — a cross between the Delphic THE PROSE EDDA. 237 priestess and Joan of Arc — uttering her oracles from the top of her tower or inciting her countrymen to battle ; but in the Edda we are actually listening to the awful Volva and her Spredoms, with Odin and the Aser for her audience, and shadowy Valkyrs and Norns, arbiters of man's destiny, filling in the scene. A striking testimony, however, in this apotheosis of women to the truth of the record of the Eoman historian that, in the opinion of the Germans, there was something sacred in the female sex, and that they were gifted with prophetic powers. 1 Three Volvas, relates ISTornagestr in his saga, were present at his birth, women who went round the country and arrived at his father's house on the occasion. Two of them spaed good luck for the new-born infant, but the third said he would not live longer than the candle on the table would keep alight. The sequel of the story reminds us of that of Meleager, while to some will recur the sibyl present at the birth of Henry Bertram and Noma of the Fitful Head. But besides these grotesque gods in all their simple massiveness, there are in the Edda, e.g., the 1 The weird females lingered on her supper of the hearts of divers even under the light of Christianity, animals — Sigurd, we remember, had as may be seen in that lifelike picture a taste for that sort of dish — with of the Volva, Thorbjorg, in Thor- porridge made of the milk of the finn Karlsef ne's saga ( Gronlands goat — the beast of Thor, the sworn Historiske Mindesmrerke, cap. 3). foe of evil spirits ; her copper knife The scene is laid in Greenland about shafted with walrus tooth, such as A.D. 1000. The wise woman is sum- are found in the Northern grave- moned to predict the future at a mounds; her belt, from which hung a time of great distress and gloom, bag of magic tools ; her catskin gloves She enters the chamber, and is and shaggy calfskin shoes ; the circle greeted by all with a profound obei- formed round the witch, the old sance. Her get-up is symbolical all Icelandic charm (Vardlokkur), so over. The cushion of the high seat sweetly sung by Gurid, to help in where she sat was stuffed with the appeasing the spirits ; the prophecy feathers of the cock, the bird whose of the abatement of the famine and watchful voice chaseth away evil sickness that pressed upon the land, spirits from the days of the Zenda- and that Gurid should return to vesta to those of the Edda ; her Iceland and be well married there, — blue cloak and glass and amber orna- all this may be despised by the philo- ments, typical mayhap of the sky sopher, but, nevertheless, is an in- and the stars ; her black lambskin teresting link in the history of our cap, lined with white catskin (the race, pet beast of Freja) ; her magic staff ; ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. Havamal, vestiges of really thoughtful and serious culture, while in the Sigurd lays the passions of men and women universal and permanent are expressed. No wonder then that Mazarin and other enlightened men. when they beheld this treasure exhumed, stared with an amazement more intelligent than Virgil's rustic who turns up the grandia ossa of an age which had not begun to degenerate. Hitherto these deities were but lie personages under Latin aliases. Now, however, the curtain lifts, and they stand no longer incognito — revealed, moreover, in all their grandly conceived and sharply defined attributes. But let us preface what we have to say with the remark, that though the first part of the ise or Snorri's Edda, the " Gylfaginning," gives an account of the Scando-Gothic heaven and its deities, this was not the main object of his work, but merely inci- dental to it. His main object was to give a course of poetical lectures, or Ars Poetica, illustrated by old poetic scraps from the skalds, for his countrymen desirous of cultivating verse. Such is the second part, "Skaldska- parmal" with its preface, " BragarteSur," treating of poetic arts and diction. Then follows the " Hattatal," or key to the multifarious metres, from the artificial court heroic, : ' DrottkvseSi," to the simple " FornyrSalag," or narrative epic, exemplified in a laudatory poem on King Hacon Haconson and Skule Jarl, a very surprising and important work. Important, for it contains many stories about gods and heroes not alluded to in "Gylfaginning," and it also explains many bits of old poetry which, but for this, would have been incomprehensible riddles. Surprising, when we look at the author's boundless acquaintance with the works of the ancient scalds by the hearing of the ear alone, as well as the skill displayed by him in employing them for his purpose. The first part, " Gylfaginning," the interesting and popu- lar part, wherein we are introduced to the Northern gods one after another, is a prose conglomerate of the old THE PROSE EDDA. 239 " Shield Lays," x and other mythical rhapsodies, many of which are in the Old Edda, while others are not extant. The verdict of the editors of the Edda, 1787 (pref., p. xi.), is : " Snorri, seeing the utility of the Old Edda (in a poetic and linguistic sense), being himself well versed in poetry and history, sought to preserve these props of poetic art from destruction. His own sagacity showed him that the few remaining mythic verses would either be lost, or, from their archaisms, become difficult and obscure. He there- fore arranged the material into fables written in an easy and popular style, and left it to posterity. To these he added a cornucopia or treasury of poetic phraseology (Eddu-Kenningar), and rules of prosody, i.e., himself or others after him." It was the opinion of Rask that this part, together with the above-mentioned " Skaldskaparmal " and treatises, grew together in the family of Snorri Sturleson (who died 1 241, while Sammnd died 1133), the work of several hands at different times — Ole Hviteskald, Snorri's nephew, among the rest. 1 Such was the famous "Haustlong"' His circling course, and on Orion by Thiodolf, and the "Kagnars KviSa" waits, by Bragi, and the two " Berudrapur " Sole star that never bathes in the by Egil (Cleasby, Diet., sub voce), ocean wave. " severally describing the subjects But ou bow]S; and other objects of carved and painted on the ring of Phoenician workmanship, representa- the shield. Who does not call to tions are found similar to the wonders mind the wonders wrought by He- thus wrought by Hephaestos, amongst photos on the shield of Achilles? them image3 of the sun and moon side by side with symbolic human " Thereon were figured earth and figures, as if sun- and moon-worship sky and sea, were on the point of being transfig- The ever-circling sud and full-orbed ured into sun-myths. A process which moon, in the Edda has been finally com- And all the signs that crowd the pleted and passed into a further stage, vault of heaven, where history and fable— the Scythian Pleiades and Hyades and Orion's conqueror and the deity who had might, been transformed from a power of And Arctos, called the Wain, who Nature to the lord of Valhalla— be- wheels on high came inextrically blended. ( 240 ) CHAPTEE V. THE PROSE EDDA — CONTINUED. THE plot of "Gylfaginning" is as follows : — King Gylfi was a man wise and cunning in spells, who ruled over the country now called Sweden in the days when Odin and his Asir folk x invaded the North. Hearing of the success and cunning of these people, the old Swedish monarch, like another Queen of Sheba, journeyed to see them and their wisdom, and to satisfy himself whether the success of the new-comers was due to their own natural parts or to the great gods whom they worshipped. Like many other potentates on their travels, Gylfi assumes an in- cognito. He dresses up as an old man, Gangleri ('gan- grel ') by name, and journeys to Asgard, the headquarters of the invading king, where he has speech with a wonder- ful sword-player, who had seven swords aloft at once. This man undertakes to lead him to the monarch. Being 1 Greek, Roman, and Chinese au- ray of light. "When Alexander crossed thors mention a people called Asi or the Hindoo Cush and overran the Ansi, who dwelt on the shores of the Oxus lands, multitudes of the inhabi- Oxus or Amu, 200 B.C., and as late tants, and with them probably Odin, also after the Christian era. Accord- fled from the country westward, ing to the " Ynglinga Saga," cap. 2, These people arriving in the North, their chief city was called Asgaard. brought with them a higher civilisa- In it was a great place of sacrifice, tion, and the natives out of gratitude presided over by twelve high priests and admiration looked upon them called Diar, with Odin for their chief, as demigods. The halo of tradition Jornandes mentions that the Goths gradually gathered round them, and called their chiefs Anses, i.e., demi- they came to be worshipped as gods According to Professor Munch, of heaven. Holmboe Forhandlinger i 'Asiiy though of dubious significa- Videnskabs - Selaskabet, Christiania, tion, is generally supposed to mean 1872, p. 61. ' shiuing ones ; ' Sanskr. ' anca ' = a THE PROSE EDDA. 241 entered into a lofty hall, a strange sensation comes over him : — " Six or seven Colossal statues, and all kings, stood round me In a half circle. Each one in his hand A sceptre bore, and on his head a star. ' These are the planets,' said that low old man ; ' They govern worldly fates, and for that cause Are imaged here as kings.' " But no ; the scene differs somewhat from that which Thecla beheld in the hall of the alchemist. He saw three high seats, one above another, and three men sat, one in each. Then asked he what the names of those lords might be. He that led him in answers, " He on the nether- most seat was a king and hight Har; he on the next, Jafnhar; on the next, prigi." And at once the wayfarer, nothing daunted by the splendour of the hall and the awfulness of that presence, puts a series of hard questions to these personages. Those whom Gylfi interrogates are not, in fact, the earthly Odin, but they here expand into the lineaments of the high one himself, the Lord of Valhalla, the heathen trinity ; and by the aid of this machinery Snorri proceeds to give a complete system of the Northern theo- logy, the Asatro, which, according to some old tradition, had been revealed in this manner to a denizen of earth. " Who is the oldest of all the gods ? " first asks Gylfi. " Who created the earth and the heaven ? " They answer him, now one, now the other, as he proposes his questions. The vehicle is prose based on Voluspa and songs in the old Edda and elsewhere — those ballads embodying the myths of former ages. The wondrous tale is told by the three. All-father, and the Eime giants, and Hillogres pass before us. Creation dawns upon us anew. We hear how the monster Ymer was slain by Odin, Vili, and Ve, and of his carcase was made the earth, of his blood seas and waters, of his flesh earth, of his bones the rocks, of his teeth stones and pebbles, 1 and of his skull the arch above. 1 In the Anglo Saxon "Salomon and Saturn " there is something similar. Q 242 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. How they next constructed heaven (Asgard) for their residence. How All-Father gave the swarthy Nott and the fair Dag, her son, 1 a chariot apiece, and set them up in heaven to ride hy turns. Nott drives first the horse called Hrfrofaxi (rime-mane), and every morn he bedews the earth with the foam from his bit: Dag's horse, Skin- faxi, takes up the running, and all the sky and earth glistens from his mane. Gylfi hears of Yggdrasil, the ash of destiny, biggest and best of all trees, under whose wide-spread boughs the gods hold their doom each day. And to his querry, " Whence comes the wind ? " Har answers, " At the northern end of heaven sits a giant, Hnesvelgr (hight) ; he has eagle's feathers, and when he flaps them for flight, then arise the winds under his wings." Next he hears how All-Father or Odin (as he becomes in his earthly avatar) by his wife Jord begat the mighty Thor (in Tacitus, Hercules), whose athletic sports and adventures are also recorded, and form not the least humorous and grotesque, as well as chief, episode in this primeval and more than Titanic drama. The ' march past' still continues. We have Heimdallr, the god's warden, stationed at the end of that dizzy bridge, Bifrost, to look out for possible squalls. The model of porters he, for he needs less sleep than a bird, he sees a hundred miles ahead day or night, he hears the grass grow on the earth and the w r ool on the sheep's back without the aid of the microphone. He far out-Rolands Eoland, 2 for his horn is heard all the world over. His teeth are of gold. For durability we should have preferred bone cased wuth enamel. Har tells also of Baldr, Odin's second son, who is con- jectured to be an allegory of the bright sweet summer season. Of him it is good to speak. He is the best, and 1 So in the Veda night is author Roland, reduced within strictly his- of dawn (Hibbert Lectures). In the toric limits, is just this : " In which Chaldean legend the moon is created battle Hruvaldus with many others before the sun. was slain." Einhard, Vit. Caroli, 2 The circumstantial romance of p. u. THE PROSE EDDA. 243 him all praise. He is so fair of face and so bright that it glistens from him ; and one plant is so white that it is likened to Baldr's brow. It is of all plants the whitest, and thereafter mayest thou mark his fairness both in hair and body. He is the wisest of the Aser, and fairest-spoken and most merciful. But this peculiarity attaches to him, that no doom of his can be ratified. He dwells in a place night Breidablik, that is, in heaven. In that stead naught can be that is unclean, as is here said — " Breidablik night, Where Balder hath Made himself a hall, In that land "Where I wiss lie Fewest foul things." Next we are told how Loki, the Evil One, who, be it said, has none of the grandeur of the rebel archangel, compassed the death of Baldr. It is an affecting story to hear and to tell. His mother's heart broke. The gods were utterly cast down, the desire of their eyes gone with a stroke. Still there was one chance left. Hel may relent and let their darling out of her grim domain. So Hermod [is despatched on this sacred errand. " He shall fare back to the Aser," quoth she, " if all things in the world, quick and dead, will weep for him." So beloved was Baldr, that all things, quick and dead, even the very stones, wept for him. But no ; one old hag refused (it was Loki in disguise), and so Baldr, like Eurydice, was snatched again to realms of endless nitdit. o Midgardsorm, the earth-serpent, vast and hideous, and the rest of Loki's brood, deploy before the Swedish king. He sees Valhalla and its 540 doors, so wide that 800 horsemen might ride in abreast, and no fear of a possible block ; and also its denizens, those, in fact, who in battle were slain. Here is Odin pictured in his state, with ravens twain, one sitting on either shoulder, who at his bidding start forth each morn to fly over the whole world, and : 4 4 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. bring him tidings at breakfast of all that was going on therein — a remarkable anticipation of our modern postal arrangements. These and many like wonders those three men seated on the high seats relate to the disguised king, whom, though he scrupulously kept up his incognito, they knew perfectly well. But the last tale, the crowning point in this strange eventful history, is to be told, to wit, the (•(lining of that dreadful day, the twilight of the gods, all brought about by the demon Loki, whom Thor and his thunderbolts had failed to subdue. It is preceded by an equally dreadful state of things on earth. Brothers fight with brothers, iniquity abounding, love waxen cold, an axe-age, a sword-age, a wolf-age, ere the world stoops to doom. Fenris wolf now gets loose from his fast fetter, and fares with mouth agape, upper jaw in heaven and lower on earth — like the monster Rumour in the iEneid (iv. 177), " Ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit ; " in the Veda, " Fire with burning/aw devours all things ;" — and he would gape more if he had space and verge enough; and he swallows the sun. Another wolf, Mana"arm does the same by the moon. 1 By his side, fit yoke-fellow, breathing venom, is the earth- serpent. On they rush with Loki and legions of hell's spawn, and encounter the gods. Odin, with his golden helm, and bright mail, and his spear, Gungner, singles out the wolf, who was, how T ever, one too many for him, and bolts him entire ; Thor being unable to come to the rescue, as his hands were full with the Midgardsorm, whom he slays ; but, like Beowulf, who is doubtless a reflexion of 1 We have a modern representative ber, took another form. The wolf of him in that dragon who, as the became a witch, whose potent spells Eastern soldier supposes, is ingurgi- (carmina) would have certainly availed tating the moon in eclipse, an extinc- had they not been drowned by the tion which he manages to prevent by incessant clatter of cymbals, which firing cannon till he relinquishes his well-meaning persons interested in hold. In a country like the ancient the preservation of the ' lesser light ' Thessaly, so renowned for magic, the got up for the occasion, cause of her eclipse, we may reinem- THE PROSE EDDA. 245 the Northern god, dies from the blast of his venomous breath when only nine feet off him. Well might the tree of destiny shake and groan at this supreme crisis ! The elves peeping from their stony coverts howl, and fill up the ghastly picture ; rocks dash together ; the sun being irone, all is "loom : the sea boils over the earth and the stars fall. Such is the twilight of the gods. 1 Interspersed in the tale we have pictures such as that of Na-strand = the strand of the dead, where is a mickle hall with doors looking northward. It is wrought and wattled with adders' backs, their heads all pointing into the hall, and dropping venom, in which wade murderers and man- sworn. But in due time a new earth shoots up from the sea, green and fair, and a new heaven, into which the gods come quite promiscuously, and sit and call to mind their old tales, and the tidings which happened aforetime, and they find in the Grass those golden tables which the Aser once had. Gylfi, curious and inquisitive though he was, had forgotten to ask the meaning of these tables, and what in the name of all that is wonderful they were will never be known ; nay, we cannot even guess. The secret is lost for ever. At this moment Gangler, or Gylfi, hears a great din all round, and finds himself standing in a valley with not a vestige of any hall or burgh to be seen ; so he starts homewards, arrives in his kingdom, and relates what he has heard and seen, a great deal more than we have had room to recount, and after him each man told others these sayings. Such is a brief sketch of the contents of the book that Arngrim Jonas sent to Ole Worm, telling us, in fact, all we know about the Gothic deities imagined, and wor- 1 An adumbration of the twilight of tinction ; whereat Momus, Loki-like, the gods may be found in that re- mocks and jeers them unmercifully in markable Dialogue of Lucian, where their hour of need. Momus, how- we have Zeus and the other deities ever, is a mere apprentice-hand in the holding a council as to what is to be art of Billingsgate as compared with done in view of their approaching ex- Loki. 246 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. shipped not by dwellers in cities, in the close and confined centres of over-civilisation and excessive refinement, but by people free and uncultured, living in the forest or the wild, holding converse with Nature in all her moods. What a sublimity there is in the wistful guesses at the truth which occur in these fables ! The connexion of mortality with immortality, of the human with the divine, of the seen present and unseen hereafter, how strikingly is it shadowed forth in the Ash Yggdrasil, with its triple root, one on earth, one among the Eime giants, one in 1 teaven ! What a wonderful conception is Eagnarok, 1 the gods under an eclipse, to be succeeded by a palingenesis, a new heaven and a new earth ! Our rainbow was with them the tri-coloured bridge from heaven to earth built by Aser. Such was their account of the bow in the cloud caused by the sun shining on the drops of rain. What classic people ever developed so supremely fine an idea ? The tale of creation and destruction and of resurrection, with the gods concerned therein, form, as we have seen, the groundwork and serious features of Snorri's prose drama; but there is a mass of facetious byplay interposed, chiefly in reference to Thor's adven- tures, much of which, besides abounding in drollery, is inimitably told. One evening Thor, accompanied by Loki, arrives at a peasant's, and gets a night's lodging The house affording but poor entertainment for such visitors, Thor at once slaughtered his two goats, and, after flaying them, cast them into the boiler which is' always to be found in the corner of every Northern hut. When the flesh was enough sodden, Thor, in the fulness of his heart, bids the husband and wife with their two children, Thialfi and Eauskva, join in the supper. The household were told, when they had picked the bones clean, to cast them into the skins. The lad Thialfi, not 1 Most likely the oldest missionaries Christianity. So Ans°-ar, born 8oi made use of this Eagnarok as a pro- died 86 S . Bugge, " Indskriften paa pnecy of the future introduction of Kingen i Forsa Kirke," p 90 THE PROSE EDDA. 247 content with polishing off the bones, must forsooth split up a thigh-bone with his knife for the marrow. At peep of day Thor rose, and proceeded to hallow the goat-skins with his uplifted hammer. The dry bones at once lived again. Up stood the goats ready to be harnessed to the car, when Thor became aware that one of them went halt, and he at once saw that its thigh must have been broken, and not merely picked, by the clumsy peasant. The god's sublime rage and the abject fright of the simple folks may be imagined, but here it is described. Thor let his brows sink down over his eyes, but enough of these were visible to make the husband think he should fall to the earth at the sight alone. Thor clutched his hammer-haft , so that his knuckles whitened, while the whole household bellowed amain for mercy, and offered all they had for an atonement. Thor softened, and was content to take the son and daughter for a ransom, and they were his bond-servants ever after. 1 Be it observed that the tale about the marrow points to a time for the composition of the legend not far removed from the age of the Danish kitchen -middings, which abound with bones broken evidently for this purpose. Not less full of fun and humour is the well-known tale of the Thunderer and the Jotun Skrymir, on whose sleeping skull his hammer made no more impression than the fall of an acorn from the oak. How glad even Thor was to take leave of such a Brobdignag monster comes out in the narrator's concluding words : " It is not said that when the Aser bade him fare- well they made any allusion to their next merry meeting." 2 The preface to the prose Edda, conjectured to be the work of Thordar Hvitaskald, is a strange jumble by a later hand, based apparently, from the mention of Odin inter- changeably with Woden, on Anglo-Saxon sources. The Tower of Babel, Jupiter, Priam of Troy, Frigga, Priam's wife, whence Phrygia derives its name, Ector, Zoroaster, Erculus, the Turks & Co., are lugged in after a marvellous 1 Prose Edda, 44. '- Ibid., 45- 2 4 S ICELANDIC LITERATURE. fashion. Centuries after Priam, relates this critical histo- rian, Pompey invaded Asia, when a great chief of the land assumed the name of Odin, a divinity of those parts (ori- ginally Priam), fled to Saxland, afterwards progressed to Jutland, and so on to Sweden and Norway. But as this younger Edda was written in Christian times, whereas the old Hilda on which it is based is strongly saturated with heathenism, young scalds are carefully warned in the after-word not to believe in these tales of the heathen gods generally, but at the same time to make such use of these old mythic recitals as would improve their poetic ] lowers. 1 This officious scribe then proceeds to water down the mead goblet as follows : — Eagnarbk is the Trojan war ; and Fenris wolf Pyrrhus, the slayer of Odin ; and Odin in reality was a mere Turk, only famous for wisdom and craft. Thor was no god, not he, but only a son of Troan, daughter of Priam, king of Troy ; and that yarn about him fishing for the earth-serpent 2 with a bull's head is merely an old scene furbished up from the Trojan war, in which Hector enticed Achilles with the head of the slain Volucrontes, and, missing his mark, slew the champion hight Koddrus, as Thor was feigned to have slain the great Ymir, his fellow-boatman, when he missed catching Midgardsorm. Alas ! that this new interpreter of an old tale could not let these Iceland youths still enjoy the quaint imaginings of their forefathers, and revel yet a space in those grand poetic fancies ! Schiller be our warrant ! Listen to his pathetic lament in his ' Gods of Greece' over these extinct creations of a simpler age : — " Where now our sages fain would teach us Turns a fiery ball devoid of soul, 1 Christianity might make wry who would have beeu ennuyed to mouths in the person of bigots like death without the zest of poetry to the two kings Olaf, but the Scalds season their existence, must perforce at their courts were not to be weaned kiss the rod. in a hurry from the old source of in- 2 The tale of Trior's fishing in Gyl- spiration, and continued to fetch most faginning differs from that in "Hymis- of their allusions and images from the kviSa" in the old Edda, so that it discarded Aser-worship. So the kings must be derived from another source. THE PROSE EDDA. 249 Helios there, majestically placid, Drove Lis golden car from pole to pole ; Sylvan nymphs abode in yonder mountain, Every tree became a Dryad's home ; From the urns of lovely Naiads flowing, Sprang the fountain's silver foam." Yes, and listen to that outburst of our greatest sonnet- writer in his complaint that the world is too much with us nowadays. " I'd rather be A Pagan suckled on a creed outworn, So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn ; Have siiiht of Proteus rising from the sea, Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn." So let us take these poems in their natural sense and rejoice therein, not wash the colour out of them, nor seek, with the author of the epic of Hades, for these mythic personages an interpretation of ethic value. ( 250 ) CHAPTER VI. THE POETIC E D D A. The old or poetic Edda, on which the younger or prose Edda was based, was not made known to Europe till the year 1643, when the prose Edda had, as we have seen above, been long in the hands of Ole Worm, who got it from Arngrim Jonas in 1628. Parenthetically we may observe, that the MS. of its German congener, the Nibelungenlied — which, in the opinion of Lachmann, consisted originally of twenty ballads, written between 1190 and 1210, and subsequently thrown into a whole by a poet of the Thu- ringian court — was not discovered till more than a century later, by Bodmer, in the castle of Hohenems, in the Tyrol. As for the meaning of the word Edda, it has been differently interpreted. Until the time of Arne Magnusson it was supposed to mean a great-grandmother, a sort of Gammer (liethel, who was versed in venerable lore, genealogy, religious secrets, and old poetic story, such as aged women used to repeat. But Arne Magnusson mentions that poetry is called Eddu-list by the Abbot of Munkethvera (13) ; and in the "Lily," a song to the Blessed Virgin by Eystein Asgrimsson (died 1361), the rules of poetry are called ' Eddu-reglur.' He therefore conjectures the meaning of Edda to be ' poetry,' and the word to be derived from an old word, oSr = mind, poetry. 1 Others derive it from Odde, the residence of Ssemund, while some connect it with the Sanskrit Veda. The ancients only applied this name to the 1 Professor Rhys suggests (Aca- used for old Irish historic tales of a demy, January 31, 1880), "aideadh," tragic character. See Appendix for a plur. "aitte" = "death," the title typical specimen of the kind. THE POETIC EDDA. 251 work of Snorri. It is uncertain whether he (Snorri) him- self called it so. It occurs on a MS. of it written some fifty years after his death : " This book is called the Edda ; it was compiled by Snorri Sturleson." l The MS. of the old Edda, Eegius Codex, now in the Royal Library at Copenhagen, was first discovered by Bishop Brynjolfr Sweinson of Skalholt (in 1643), in one of the farmhouses belonging to the see of Skalholt, whither, very likely, it had come in the scramble for the contents of the religious houses, which, as we have seen, ensued on their suppression at the Reformation. It was presented by him to King Frederick III. of Denmark. The inter- mixture which it contained of Paganism, and even of magic, would no doubt lead the Papal clergy, in their orthodoxical zeal, to push it and such like stuff into dark holes and corners — a circumstance which might actually contribute to its preservation. Unlike English monks, who were ready to cry out on such finds, "Nehushstan ! Di talem avertite pestem ! " these born inditers of old traditions, whether priest or peasant, would naturally be loth to ex- tinguish utterly a bit of old parchment. Indeed, we have no record of such vandalism in Iceland. All is well, how- 1 Later another MS. of the Edda, notion that the original MS. was in but only fragments, was discovered, runes is as mythic as the songs it bound up with Skalda, which is now contains. When Worm asks Olavius, in the Arne Magnusson Collection, 1627 (cf. Epistolse, p. 353), for his No. 748, quarto. All other MSS. Edda written in runes, he replies, seem to be derived from these two. " Merse nugse." This referred to the There is a lacuna in the Codex Re- prose Edda, but was equally true of gius, which, however, contains thirty- the elder Edda. one pieces, doubtless the cream of the The poems of the old Edda came whole collection. It is of the begin- out at first in detachments under the ning of the fourteenth century, and auspices of Itesenius in 1665, " Vb- contains fifty -three leaves. The luspa" and "Havamal" in 1750, parchment is dirty, dark, and much "Havamal" by Gorannson ; in 1779 thumbed on the margin, testifying to " Vaf]>ruSnismal " by Thorkelin. In the frequent use made of it. It is 1787 appeared part i. of the Arnse- written straight on without any dis- magnsean edition, containing the tinction of verses from the prose, mythic poems; the second part, con- The titles of the poems and initial taining the heroic poems, did not letters are in red and green ink, now appear till 1818, having been antici- pale and nearly illegible. There is pated in 1812 by V. d. Hagen, and in no title to the primary codex. The in 1815 by the brothers Grimm. ICELANDIC LITERATURE. ever, that enda well. And it is owing to the enlightened energy and care of the bishop that the precious relic is safe. Having, it is said, on an examination of it, developed the idea from his inner consciousness 1 that Ssemund the Learned, the student at Erfurth and Paris, the great collector of old national poetry, must have written it ; he affixed Ssemund's name to it, or rather to the copy he had made from it ; but recent critics have deposed Soemund from his pedestal of fame, and deny that he was the author of the old Edda. Poor Ssemund ! The chief reward he got for his great learning while yet alive was to be accounted a necroman- cer, as the poet Virgil was in the Middle Ages. 2 It has been asserted by some, as Bishop Sveinson, that Ssemund was the first to write down these poems, which till then had only floated about in oral tradition, and to throw them into a united whole. Others, as Eesenius, were of opinion that Sremund, who first introduced Latin letters into Iceland — rather say Bishop Isleif, who was educated in Westphalia (Vita, xiv.), and erected a school in Iceland twenty years before Sa3mund returned thither — copied these poems from Runic documents in which they were written. But unfortunately for this theory, such Eunic documents, according to Magnusson, were never heard of or seen; and as for Ssemund's share in the matter, he objects that, had this been the case, as he lived only 180 years before him, Snorri, the composer of the new Edda from the old Edda, would have mentioned his name, which he does not. As to the age of some of the poems, Eunolf Jonas 3 contended that the Asiatics brought Voluspa with them into Scandinavia, and that it was from the mouth of the Erythraean sibyl, who lived before the Trojan war; while he 1 Magnusson, however, distinctly doune fared no better with their Scot- states, " Thormodus Torfasus, when a tish countrymen, both of whom stu- sexagenarian, told me, on the autho- died in foreign universities, and, from rity of his father, that it was called their acquaintance with out-of-the- Saemund's Edda before the time of way sciences, came to be looked on as I ii y njnlfr " (Vita Ssemundi, p. ix. ). dabblers in the black art. - InthecenturysucceedingSsemund, 3 Lingua? Septentrionalis Elementa. Michael Scott and Thomas of Ercil- Copenhagen, 1651. THE POETIC ED DA, 253 and Gudmimdus ascribed the " Havamal " (= ' the sayings of the High ') to Odin, one of whose names was Havi = the High. A. Magnusson seems, with reason, to dispute the stupendous antiquity thus claimed for some of these poems. He says, " If the person who wrote it down was Ssemund, it is certain he could not have done so before he was seventy, and after that time he was too much occupied with his Norwegian History, now for the most part lost." l But, in fact, Ssemund's surmised authorship of these songs is disposed of at once on reference to the Elateybok version of Olaf Tryggvason's saga (i. 356), where it may be seen that two of them, viz., the second ode of " Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer " and the " Helreid Brynhildar," were re- cited at the Norwegian court at Trondjem sixty years before Saemund (born a.d. 1056, died 1133). Gunlaug, the author of the above history of Olaf (Pref. Edda Yet., xxxviii.), would never have made this statement had Ssemund been the author. Bishop Sveinson deplored that the old Edda, as we have it, does not contain a thousandth 2 part of what once ex- isted, and what does remain is a mere shadow of its former self, which but for Snorri's epitome would have also 1 Vita Soemundi, p. xiv. come to the rescue. At every turn 2 Ibid., p. xix. many resemblances may be traced We shall perhaps cease to wonder between the two, the Edda and the that such a mass of metrical legends Rigveda. The direct references to could have been preserved in the worship of fire and of other great mouths of the people, accompanying natural forces, the lightning, the them in their wanderings from the wind, in the Veda reappear in the remote East, when we bear in mind Edda in reference to solar and other the case of the Rigveda, with its thou- celestial myths. The symbolism of sand and more hymns and songs, the the earlier books has here been taken whole containing twice as much mat- for reality. Again, in both there are ter as "Paradise Lost." Here, as clear traces of the recognition of a Su- in the old Edda, is stored the entire preme Being, an All-Father, of whom treasure of the sacred and national such gods as Indra and Odin and poetry. And yet there are priests at Thor are only manifestations. Those the present day in India who can re- who know how deeply imbued the peat the whole of the Rigveda by Northern people were with a love of heart, just as their ancestors did more genealogy will be interested to find than twenty-four centuries ago; so that in his metrical recitations each that if every MS. or printed copy day the Brahmin never omits his of it were destroyed, memory would pedigree. 2 5 4 ICE LA NDIC LIT ERA TURE. perished." No doubt, adds Magnusson, many " oral songs " reached Saxo -which arc now lost. Upon the whole, it is clear that these poems, with the exception of one or two, for instance the Solar Ljod, a vision of heaven and hell after the manner of Dante, 1 which is manifestly of Chris- tian origin, could never have been the composition of one mail. Saemund. Indeed, their style is much simpler than that of Norse and Icelandic poets later than the eighth century. There are less of those transpositions, circum- locutions, recondite and far-fetched nomenclature. 2 The position of the words is mostly simple and natural, so different from that in the Drottkvsegi whose rigid rules enforced much transposition of words. The Edda ap- proaches more nearly the poetry of StarkaS and Bjarki than of Thiodolf Hvinensis and Eyvind and their suc- cessors (ibid., xxxviii.). Its obscurity is due not to con- struction, but to obscure mythical allusions, to archaic expressions, and corrupt readings. The authors were Pagan worshippers, who recited them in honour of their gods and heroes. They were Norwegians, or the scenery is that of a mountainous country like Norway, especially in the myths about Thor, and the treatment is that of the 1 Though a sincere Christian, the The same is the case with the versifica- author, who evidently lived when tion. FornySrlag was undoubtedly istianity was new, could not rid the oldest as it was the simplest himself of the grand poetic ideas of metre. It required only alliteration, heathenism. The S. Ljod is further while in the more artificial Drott- remarkable from the fact that there kvasSi, syllable-rhyme was a neces- is a very old Thelemarken traditional sity. But even this last can be traced ballad which greatly resembles it, to the eighth century. Alliteration, exhibiting the same curious mixture be it said, was the common property of Paganism and Christianity as the of ail German races even before the original. It is entitled " Draum- time of their separation into North kvseol," the dream-song of Landstad's and South, and hence it may be Folkeviser. Christiania, 1853, p. 64. safely stated to have come with them - It would be, however, a mistake from the East (Keysir, "Efterladte to suppose that these obscurities of Skrifter," 82 sqq.). DrottkvseSi is style are the sole offspring of the derived from Drott = a band of sol- eleventh and two following centuries, diers. It was originally the martial They were quite as rife in the ninth song sung in honour of the leader, and tenth centuries and among Harfa- and it very likely developed among gers and Scalds. In fact, these artifices the Norse Christians, beginning with may be traced to the verge of history, the eighth century. THE POETIC ED DA. 255 Norse scalds of the Aser myths. " Hynduljod " must be, Norse from its contents, while one of the Atli lays is named after Gronland, a place in Norway). The stuff of the heroic lays came from the South. Brought to Ice- land by the early colonists and others, these poems had the luck to survive all accidents, till, on the introduction of Christianity and the use of letters along with it, they were copied down by some antiquary, anterior to or con- temporary with Ssemund, from the mouths of men ; l one object of this being doubtless that they might serve as an aid to young poets. Saemund, though this even is doubted by Magnusson, is thought to have collected them, adding more from his own and others' recollection. This farrago of mythic (and heroic), with other papers of Saemund, came into the possession of John Loptson, Ssemund's grandson, under whose roof Snorri Sturleson was brought up. Snorri made or obtained a copy, and upon this foundation composed the prose Edda. But let us now turn to the contents of the elder or poetic Edda, with its samples of the earliest intellectual activities of the Northern Teutonic race, dating, according to Grundvig, from the fourth or fifth century ; according to Bugge, from the ninth or tenth. Its contents are of a twofold character — the mythic and the heroic — the former treating of the origin and fate of the universe, and the latter of the dawn of social life throughout the Teutonic world. The great mass of this is in verse, interspersed, however, with bits of simple prose, connecting or explaining the story, a species of composition which eventually ripened into the finished sagas of after-times. Some of these prose interludes are coeval with the verse, and are poetic in everything but their form. These are of great value. Others are of later date, and added by the copyists (Sars Den Norske Historie, ii., 311). 1 According to Keysir, about 1120, earlier, viz., under Magnus the Good, when old sagas and laws were first writ- 1035-1047. ten down in Iceland, but in Norway ICELANDIC LITERATURE. I >ne of these poems, the " Voluspa," than which nothing more remarkable exists in old Norse literature, first de- mands our attention. The awful Volva, fostered among the Jotuns, embracing with the prophetic eye of a sibyl past, present, and future, she who overlooks all worlds, their beginning and end, like some witch of Endor rises out of the deep and proclaims to gods and men their destiny and that of the world from the first to the last. This is the only existing ancient poem in which an attempt is made to give us as a whole the heathen notion of the world. 1 It discourses of the beginning of things, of a time when this earth was without form and void, and darkness yet brooded over the face of the deep. " It was the morning of time, 2 When yet nought was, Nor sand nor sea was there, Nor cooling streams. Earth was not formed, A yawning gap there was, Nor Heaven ahove, And grass nowhere. Sun that wist not Where she had her halls, Moon that wist not Where he his space had, Stars that wist not Where an abode they had. This Pagan version of chaos is supplemented in another iddic poem, " Grimnismal" (40) — " From Ymir's flesh Was earth shapen : The Chaldean legend of crea- Then the chaos of waters gave birth tion, as written on the tablets of Me- to all of them, sopotamia, and dating back some And the waters were gathered into 4500 years, tells us something like one place ; this : — No men yet dwelt together, noani- " When the upper region was not mals yet wandered about ; yet called heaven. None of the gods had yet been And the lower region was not yet born," &c. — Fox Talbot in .Re- called earth, cords of the Past, vol. ix. p. 117. And the abyss of Hades had not yet 2 The tale is told very differently opened its arms, in "Beowulf," 185. THE POETIC EDDA. 257 From his blood the sea, Rocks of his bones, Trees from his hair, But of his skull heaven. And of bis brows The blithe powers made Midgard for the sons of men. But of his brain Were, hard of mood, The clouds all shapen." Then again, as we have seen in the prose Edda, which was principally worked up out of the elder, at the end of the world — " Surtr fares from the south With blazing brand, Shines the sun From the sword of the god of the slain. Bocks dash together, Giants totter Men tread the way to Hel, But heaven is cleft " (p. 56). Blood, fire, pillars of smoke, a dislocation of nature, a universal catastrophe ! Salvator Eosa and Gustave Dore combined might have made something possibly of such a study. A remarkable coincidence or parallelism here with the account in our religious documents, sue- gesting an original unity, and exhibiting vestiges of an ancient general tradition, inherited from the fathers of the human family of the creation, as we find it in Genesis, and also with the revealed account of what is to be hereafter. All through this striking drama, be it observed, the benignant powers of Asgard, with Odin for their head, are assailed by the evil and malignant spirit, the sinister- minded power, Loki, who had in days of yore been of one heart and one mind with the All-Father ; nay, as the Edda says, had been his foster-brother. It was he who stole from the gods the apples of immortality, 1 whereupon 1 The very name reminds us of the fruit of the Tree of Life. It 2 5 8 ICELA NDIC LITER A TURE. they began to get prematurely grey: lie who by secret pad proposed to barter away sun and moon to the Jotuns, ami thereby to quench the light of heaven: he who fathered that terrible trio, the earth-serpent, Fenris wolf, and hell, authors to be hereafter of unspeakable calamity to the celestials : he who, adding insult to injury, at that memorable carouse (TEgisdrekka) chaffed the Aser, nay, bespattered them with foulest abuse : he who compassed the death of Baldr, the innocent and beautiful. But there is surely little trace of a monk's hand here. The tale is as fresh as if just come from the pine woods of Scythia. We are quite aware that Bishop Jon Finsen (Hist. Eccles., i. 25) points to the Eddaic trinity, to the great All-Father Odin, to the just judge Baldr, to Valhalla's 500 gates (cf. Apocalypse, 212), as proofs that the Scandinavian religion is a distorted and depraved version of the Chris- tian Scriptures. He might have added, the way in which Odin rides the storm astride of his eight-footed horse, Sleipnir, leads us by comparison to think of Him " who maketh the clouds His chariot, and walketh upon the. wings of the wind." But the same might be said surely of the religion of the Brahmins. Indeed the Eig-Veda, as we have shown above, exhibits many similarities to the Old Edda ; or it might be asserted that the parable of Dives is only the tale of Tantalus resuscitated. Coinci- dences of this kind may be pointed out everywhere. It was the occurrence of such that gave rise to the notion, now generally discarded, w r e believe, that Seneca derived some of his best teaching from the very lips of St. Paul. So Socrates discoursed in the spirit of a Christian philo- sopher, while Virgil's fourth Eclogue contains passages redolent of the prophetic inspiration of the Hebrews. There does, however, exist a writing, in other respects almost identical with that in the Voluspa above quoted, which, unlike it, is monkish all over. We refer to the so-called " Wessobrunner Gebet," an alliterative prayer in old High German of the eighth century, which was THE WESSOBRUNNER GEBET. 259 edited by vVackernagel, 1 from a MS. found in the Bavarian monastery of Wessobrun. It runs thus — " This I found to be the greatest of human wisdom : When the earth was not, nor the heaven above, Neither hills nor trees, nor flowers nor fields, When the sun shone not and the moon gave no light, When there was no ocean, no end nor boundary, Then there was an Almighty God. God Almighty ! Thou who didst shape heaven and earth, And didst give so much good to men, In Thy mercy give me the right faith, And good desires, wisdom and prudence, To be doughty in good deeds and resist the devil, To reject the evil and perform Thy will." Again in these Eddas, e.g., in " Vaftkrudnisrnal " and " Grimnismal," we have revealed to us the divinities of Asgard, to whom man owes his existence, and who ever protect him from the race of giants, i.e., the chaotic natural powers. Here is Thor, the god of thunder, the champion alike of gods and men against trolls and evil spirits. He is ever armed with his mighty hammer, Miolner, emblem of the lightning — in the Eussian language lightning is molniya. In shape it is like the cross, and upon it heathen men swore, as Christians do upon the holy rood. With it Thor consecrated the funeral pile of Baldr and the happy wedding of the Jotun and Freya. The account in " Hymiskvida " of Thor's fishing differs from that in the prose Edda, so that the latter must have had other sources now lost (Keysir, 148). Bluff and blunt is Thor, one in whom there is no guile, hot of temper, of few words and ready stroke. No marvel this 1 Feussner, Hanau, 1845. Profes- was labouring among Saxons. One sor Stephens of Copenhagen asserts very convincing proof of this which that this poem was originally Anglo- he adduces is that the MS. of this Saxon, brought from England by the ancient poem has the Anglo-Saxon missionaries, and copied by an Eng- mark "| for 'and,' and % the English lishman, or Englishman's pupil, but sign for 'gi.' in a Saxonised form, as the writer 2 6o ICELANDIC LITERATURE. son of mother earth was such a favourite deity with those downright word-and-a-blow-Gothic races, and that the cream of the Edda falls to his share. His adventures form not the least interesting and grotesque features in this primeval drama. What is also very interesting is the fact that a " cate- chism font," i.e., a font adorned with sculptured events in Bible history, by the side of which the priest used to stand and catechise the rising generation, pointing to these sculptures, has been discovered in Sweden, dating from about a.d. iooo, where Thor and his different exploits are depicted — his raids against all sorts of evil powers — which would point the moral of Christian heroism to the young catechumens. 1 Odin is the chief divinity, who, with two other gods, Hcenir and Lodur or Loki, formed man, giving him each of them a gift, breath (spirit), mind, and craft. He is the fountain-head of wisdom ever since he got that drink at Mirner's well and pawned his eye for it, and thought it a cheap bargain, 2 which curious transaction to a man apt at discovering resemblances in remote ideas is suggestive of that over-addiction to the pursuit of learning which has forfeited the eyes of many, and helped to make the fortune of the spectacle-makers ; as the case of Kvasir, suffocated by a plethora of knowledge, is typical of the fatal effects of overcramming imputed by men like Mr. Lowe to our universities. Again, while Odin, on the one hand, merges in the All-Father, 3 the supreme Author of everything exist- ing, the Eternal, the Ancient of Days, the living and awful Being, the Being that never changeth, the God of battle, the Searcher into hidden things ; so, on the other hand, he is the inventor of runes, of culture, and poetry. What a strange mixture here of the attributes of the celestial and o 1 " Thunor the Thunderer carved - Philosophers, however, regard the on a Scandinavian Font of about the tale as an allegory of sunset in the year iooo," by Dr. George Stephens, sea. F.S.A. Copenhagen and London, s So in parts of the Veda the gods 1878. all merge in All-Father the Supreme. THE FAITH OF THE NORTH. 261 the terrestrial, of the lofty counsels of a divinity and the mundane sayings and doings of one over whom men after- wards threw the mantle of divinity ! True, Odin may not be as sublime as the Olympian Jove, dressed up in all the gorgeous wealth and infinite taste of the Greek imagina- tion, who, when he shook his locks and " nodded," all Olympus trembled at his nod; but there is an un chastised strength about Odin and his paladins that aptly reflects the origin of the Gothic race. Take further, as a sample of the intensity of the Northern imagination, that grisly description of Hel. This daughter of the witch of Jotun- heim has no part or lot in Valhalla and its triumphs. To her belong all who die the " straw death " of sickness or old age, that consummation devoutly deprecated by the old Northmen. 1 " In Niflheim she hath great domains, and her yard walls are of strange height and her gates huge. EliuSnir bight her hall, hunger her dish, starving her knife, Ganglati her thrall, Ganglot her maid (they can scarce creep for sloth) ; an ugsome pit is the threshold of her entry, her bed a sick-bed, gleaming bale the hangings of it ; she is half blue and half the hue of flesh, which makes her easy to know, and she is very stern and grim withal." Such, then, are some of the main points in the wild faith of the Pagan North, its machinery, its personages. We have pointed out above how the Eddaic notion of the creation and end of the world falls in with that revealed to us in the Hebrew Scriptures. But, on the other hand, these gods and goddesses, in their attributes, their doings, their very names, remind us more or less of the deities of Greece and Eome. If in the latter we find Adonis, beloved by Venus, killed by the boar, in the former, Odin, beloved by Freya, the Northern Venus, is destroyed by the wolf. Odin may be compared with Mercury for his eloquence and " quod pias lsetis animas reponit sedibus." 1 In that land of fighting men, Montenegro, at the present clay, when a boy is horn, his friends bless him with this speech, " May he not die in his bed! " 262 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. In the magic sleep-thorn with which Odin sent Bryn- hild to slumber we are reminded of the Caduceus, the sleep-l>rin^jng wand of Mercury. Midgard, that central abode of the hyperborean gods, reappears in Delphi, the navel of the earth, the peculiar abode of Apollo. The god Thor, bluff and colossal, with his brutal honesty of purpose, his hammer, belt, and gloves, at once suggests Hercules with his club, lion-skin, and caestus. He also slew Midgard-snake and fought with the giants, as Her- cules slew the Hydra and overcame the giants. In Thor, the wielder of the hammer, the symbol of the lightning, we descry the Thunderer Jove, who hurled the giants to Tartarus. The sea-deities, the daughters of Ean, are the Greek Nereids, the daughters of Doris. The three Norns are manifestly related to the three Parcse. It was a taste of the dragon's blood that gave Sigurd the power of understanding the language of those sagacious birds * who put him on his guard against the dwarfs' treachery, and it was the application of the serpents' tongues to the ears of Melampus that endowed him with the knowledge of futurity. As we have hinted above, those acquainted with the sacred writings of India will find many points of resem- blance between the religion there developed and those of the old Edda. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva possess attri- butes akin to those of the Scandinavian gods. Krishna destroying the serpent reminds us of Thor and his adven- ture with Midgardsorm. Those thousands of demons who infest Southern India and are kept at bay by the several gods, reminiscences of the older Dravidian men who were conquered by the Aryan invaders, forcibly call to mind those giants (Jotuns) whom it was the business of Thor and other benign deities to subdue, but who were the remains, real or imaginary, of the old original inhabitants, invested by the people with supernatural attributes. 1 IgSa = MotacUla alba, or white and black water-wagtail. Others refer it to the Sitta Europea, or nuthatch, a bird that frequents solitary spots. CURIOUS COINCIDENCES. 263 When we hear of Brahma's body being divided, and its several members doing duty in another capacity among men, his mouth reappearing in the Brahmins, his arm the origin of the military caste, his thigh of the merchants, and his feet of the lowest caste ; the Scandinavian student thinks of Hymer's becoming the sea, his flesh the earth, his bones rocks, his skull the arch of heaven (Prose Edda). These are a few specimens of the curious accordance between the features of the Northern mythology and the religions of other nations ; but there are numberless points which must remain insoluble by any conjecture whatever, not even excepting that great solvent of every mystery, the solar- myth theory, which has, with much probability it must be allowed, been applied to the story of the Volsungs and the Nibelungs. Such is that eagle sitting on Yggdrasil, the world-ash, and the snake Nidhug gnawing at its root, the squirrel running up and down busily between them. Such are the golden tablets discovered by the gods in the grass after the restoration of all things. Again, what numbers of kings, heroes, pirates are men- tioned in the Skalda of whom nothing is known, as in the story of Volundr ; and in the deeds referred to in the " Har- bardsljoS " there is a reference to matters, likely enough of historic origin, now lost to knowledge. We must not expect to find in these Eddas a complete system of Scandi- navian theology ; nor is this to be wondered at when we remember that when Ssemund, or whoever it was, col- lected the poems on which Snorri built Ids Edda, the poems then extant had seen much better days, while others were utterly defunct. Snorri's pages, be it remem- bered, contain much, the foundation and key to which is not apparent at all in the extant rhythmic Edda. And so, on the other hand, there are mythological allusions in the Eddie odes or in other poets which are not explicable by Snorri's Edda. This shows that many monuments of Northern mythology formerly existing in verse have perished. 2 4 ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. Note. — Since the above was in the hands of the printer, the author's attention has been called to the Prolegomena to Vigfusson's edition of the "Sturlunga Saga." Herein, with the exception of "Hava- nial." t he Great Volsung lays, and "HamSismal," which he refers to a very remote age (the two first to Norway), as well as " Atlamal " and "llymiskvio'a," both of which he refers to Greenland proper, he attributes all the other Eddaic poems to Norse poets in the Western Isles in the Viking period. Quite recently, Professor Bugge, whose name is mentioned elsewhere in this work, has come out with a theory not a little startling, though not quite new. He maintains that of the whole mass of mythological and epic tradition handed down in the t \v<> Eddas only a small fraction is common Germanic, the great bulk of it being of foreign origin, based on tales and poems heard by the Vik- ings from Englishmen and Irishmen. The ultimate sources of these K 1 1 glish-Celtic legends being (i.) the old Greek-Roman mythology ; (2.) Jewish-Christian Bible legends of various degrees of apocryphal- ness. Thus the myth of Baldr is mainly Greek, founded on the story of Achilles and Patroclus, who are fused into one person. A work developing Bugge's views is shortly to appear. Meanwhile we are content to rest upon J. Grimm's dictum : " The genuineness of the Norse mythology can no more be doubted than the genuineness and originality of the Norse tongue ; " and further, that " the close kinship existing between Norse mythology and the religious belief of the Teutonic tribes is equally palpable." " Although," as Mr. Sweet says, " the result of these discoveries will, if confirmed, be to depose Norse mythology from its proud position of representative of the original Teutonic beliefs, the value of that mythology as an expo- nent of Norse character and thought will not be in any way dimi- nished. On the contrary, we shall learn to admire still more its harmony and grandeur, and the skill with which the edifice has been built up out of so many discordant materials. The working up of these originals is certainly profoundly original, far more so than the Latin adaptations of Greek myths." And if so, the encomiums which the author has passed on the extraordinary literary power of the old Norsemen receive additional warrant. ( ^6 5 ) CHAPTEE VII. HEROIC EDDA. Turn we now to the second portion of the elder Edda, the heroic, as it is generally called, or more properly the mythic-heroic songs, descriptive of Northern life when mythus was passing into actuality. Foremost among these stands the lay of Volundr the typical smith, the Northern Vulcan, the real personage like Odin, but who, like Odin, assumed the blurred features of some Oriental deity. Here we learn how he was beguiled in Ulfdal by the swan- maiden, and the cruel way in which King Nidud, anxious to avail himself of his skill in metallurgy, ham-strung him, thus fondly hoping to prevent his locomotion : how finally the biter is bit, and the smith, after chopping off the heads of the king's sons, turned their skulls into curious ornaments — much as we should transform a cocoa- nut into a silver-mounted beaker — and baulked the wrath of the father by taking flight in the air with wings of his own invention. But all this will be mentioned in a subsequent chapter. So we will pass at once to the real staple of the heroic Edda, the story of the Niflungs or Giukungs and the Volsungs, of Sigurd, Brynhild, and Gudrun, that story of profoundest pathos and deepest tragedy, retold in music by Wagner, and now recently elaborated into a symmetrical whole by Mr. Morris. This ancient world-renowned saga comes to us in various shapes. We have these old primeval Edda songs, the Middle- Age Volsung, 1 and Vilking (Dietrich) 2 sagas and 1 Composed in the fourteenth, per- 2 It expressly mentions Saxland haj>s as early as the thirteenth cen- {i.e., Lower Germany) as the home tury, from German tales and ballads, of the ballads on which it is based ; (Grundvig, p. 56, cf. ibid, p. 34). in the same manner as it was a Saxun 266 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. the German heroic poems, Nibelungen Lied and the 1 lumen Siegfried, which last is strongly imbued with the mythic element. But there are traces of it in the Anglo- Saxon • Beowulf," the poem of the eighth century. All the history of Sigurd still lives in the national songs of the Faro Islands, 1 and in the Danish ballads. 2 The legend, in fact, was spread over all Scandinavia and a great part of Germanic Europe, and was interwoven with Northern his- tory in the saga of Eagnar Lodbrog, his putative descen- dant; in the South, with the story of Attila and Dietrich. Nay, it was even localised, e.g., in Sweden, where the trea- sure was said to have been concealed in Garphytteklint in Nerike (Geier, i. 118); and again in the Lingwurmswiese near Seyfriedsburg in Lower Franconia, where Satifritz, the swineherd's boy, often bathed in the dragon-spring and so became invulnerable, 3 upon which he started out on adventurous quest, and returned in possession of great treasures and built Seyfriedsburg. 4 The most ancient, the most original and comprehensive, as well as the noblest and most poetic shape in which this old legend has come down to us, is unquestionably to be found in the elder Edda songs, which were noted down in the eleventh century, and in the Volsung saga, which arose from them in the thirteenth century. 5 singer of whom Saxo-Gr. speaks, an Italian fairy tale " Lo Dragone," it Mmie is of opinion that the middle is enough to say that all the resem- High German Nibelungen Not is blance between the different tales is founded on Low German songs. that a dragon appears in all. The 1 Faeroiske Qvgeder, Copenhagen, Brothers Grimm, and after them 1822. Hammershaimb ; and Sjuro'ar- Moe, profess to find the tale of Si- kvaeSi, 1851. gurd recurring in Indo-European fairy - S. Grundvig, Copenhagen, 1853, legends, but in reality all it amounts s r I1- to is that the Scandinavian saga con- ' Metcalfe, German Literature, p. tains colourings and touches common 88. to the legendary store of half the 4 Mone's idea that the legend re- world. Those legends are totally de- curs in the old French poem " Garin void of the groundwork, have nought le Loherain" is baseless. There is only of the grand tragic unity which makes a slight resemblance in certain names the Volsung saga what it is. and situations. Of Grasse's suppo- 5 Grundvig's Danmark's Gamle i-ition, connecting it with the English Folkevisir, i. 1, 45. and French poems of King Horn and SIGURD, BRYNHILD, AND GUDRUN. 267 A battle royal lias always raged among the learned, from the days of the Brothers Grimm till now, as to whether the legend had its root in German or Scandinavian soil, in the ' Fatherland ' or in the far North. It is of the heroic Edda notably that we now speak, the tale of Sigurd the dragon-slayer, who, on his horse Grani, of the race of Sleipnir, the best blood out, sprang over the Shieldburg of fire, and awoke the sleeping beauty of the frowning castle, Brynhild or Sigrdrifa, the Valkyr queen of Hindarfell. Herein we learn how he wooed and won her, and forgot her when he set eyes on the lovely Gudrun, beguiled thereto not by the quicksilver devil of inconstancy, but by the contriving manoeuvring devil, her mother, the sor- ceress Grimhild, who wanted the hero for her own daugh- ter, and gave him a sleeping potion to make him forget all about his first love. We learn how he marries Gudrun, and helps his brother-in-law, Prince Gunnar, to gain the hand of Brynhild, by a stratagem : how the two wives manage to quarrel on a question of precedence, the grim, vulture-eyed Brynhild, and the gentle, dove-like Gudrun, surprised into a momentary irritation to think that her lord should be postponed to Gunnar ; all unconscious, too, of his previous love passages, the root of her rival's jealousy and hate. We behold revenge ! revenge ! rankling and rankling in that fierce one's heart. Surely never was there stronger warrant for the saying, " Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." "Alone she sat without At eve of day, Began aloud With herself to speak : ' Sigurd must be mine ; I must die or that blooming youth Clasp in my arms.' lie is Gudrun's consort And I am Gunnar's; The hateful Norns Long suffering have decreed us.' ICELANDIC LITERATURE. Oftentimes she wandered, Filled with evil thoughts, O'er ice and icebergs, Kvery eve, When he and Gudrun Had to their couch withdrawn." She e propitiate this daughter of Eve (or of Lilith, Adam's other wife, the traditional mother of all preternatural anthropoids) with eleven golden apples ; but in vain. The precious ring, burnt with Baldr, and sent by him from He! as a keepsake to his disconsolate father, which threw out another ring monthly — compare with it the goose THE SONG OF THRYM. 281 that laid the golden eggs — also avails not. Afterwards he threatens to decapitate her, and draws a picture of her horrible fate if she became the wife of some three-headed ogre. "Would she reject such a lover as Ereyr ? She relents, and promises to come in nine nights to the wed- ding. The faithful envov rides back on Skidbladnir and tells Freyr how he has sped. Quoth the impatient god, with whom, as with Claudio, " Time goes on crutches till Love have all his rites " — " Long is one night, Long are two nights, How can I last out three ? Often one month Seemed to me less Than this half night of love." What will perhaps make this tale of short wooing more interesting is, that in the last stanza of the poem occurs a word, ' hy-nott ' = ' wedding-night,' which is conjectured to be the origin of our ' honeymoon,' quasi ' wedding-night month ' (I. Diet.), though the ' honey ' = ' darling,' of Nor- thern England seems more to the purpose. One more leaf out of this very interesting chapter of life, human and divine, humorous and beautiful alike, and we have done. One of the Edda poems is called " The Eeco- very of the Hammer ; or, the Song of Thrym." It is the more interesting as the bridal trousseau and bridal customs are accurately described. While Thor is asleep his ham- mer is stolen from him. He tells Loki of his loss, who discovers that it is in the possession of Thrym, king of the Jotuns. The loathly giant refuses to give it back unless he gets Ereya for a bride. Great was the consternation in heaven. Without that hammer what would become of them ? " Become of you !" echoed the acute Heimdal to the assembled conclave ; " why, dress up Thor as the lady, the obtuse Etin will never know the odds, and leave the rest to me." The refractory god protests that he will be ICELANDIC LITERATURE. nicknamed 'arm-' ever afterwards, but at last yields to Loki'a arguments. He is veiled; round his neck is hung the flaming Brisingamen ; 1 by his side tingle the orthodox bunch of keys; owr his knees hangs the skirt; on his breast are the disk-shaped ornaments still worn by the Scandi- navian bride, and on the head the towering white coif. Loki acts as bridesmaid. Off they post in the car drawn by goats, and arrive at Jotunheim. Affecting apparently language of Odin when he expects guests in Valhalla, Thryni cries, " Up, giants ! dress the benches for my bride, daughter of Niord! Many a treasure I possess, many a necklace; Freya alone is wanting." Huge forms are there in numbers, and the banquet begins. The bride's appetite and thirst are incredible. The bridegroom gets uncomfortable. "Never saw I bride eat and drink so voraciously." " Ah, poor thing ! " explains the bridesmaid, ' Freya has not tasted bit or sup for eight nights, so wud was she to come to Jotunheim." Touched at this pathetic state of things, the giant leaned forward to snatch a kiss under the veil, but started back in affright and right across the hall. " Maggie coost her head fu' heigh, Looked aslent and unco skeigh, Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh. Ha, ha the wooin' o't." ' What dreadfully fierce eyes ! I thought they were all aflame." " Ah, poor dear ! " put in the quick-witted maid, " she has not slept for eight nights ; she was longing so madly for her Jotunheim." A horrific giant maid now appears and claims the customary fee. All now wanting to complete the marriage is the benediction. " Bring in Thor's hammer," said the giant, " to give the holy sign fuf,) and make them lawful man and wife." It is placed Flaming collar." In due time this mythic trinket passed from heaven to earth, and became the property of Hrothgar, whose queen presents it to Beowulf (2403). Cf. Specim. Gloss. Edda Vetus I., sub voce THOR'S HAMMER. = 83 ou the knees of the bride. 1 At the sight of his trusty hammer Thor visibly grinned through his veil. Up he started, swung his pulveriser, and demolished the whole brood, king and all. 1 So Thor consecrated with his hammer Baldr's funeral pile. In Northern mythology, the thunder- bolt was represented as a hammer, or something like one, ^f-i. It was the holy sign with heathens, correspond- ing to the Christian cross. As such, it occurs on a few of the earliest llunic stones (Thorsen, pp. 17, 329). It is the mystic symbol known all over the East. Found at Troy and Mycenae. The Buddhist fylfot or svastika, from a Sanskrit word signifying ' so be it,' is called by others a fire-wheel ; by others said to represent solar power. Here, then, we have a point of con- nection between the Edda gods and the East. ( 2S 4 ) CHAPTER IX. THE MYTHIC WORDS IN " BEOWULF. i > So much for the mythic and heroic Eddas, with their gods and demigods, which for convenience sake we discussed consecutively. Now where in the whole field of Saxon literature will you find such an account of the fabled Pan- theon of our ancestors ; where learn their notions of this earth's starting into bein^ or the end of it ? Will it be in the Chronicle, that most accurate annual register, which does at times carry up the genealogy of our kings to Odin ? Nought of the gods of Asgard is to be found, of course, in the Christian poem of " Ca^dmon," albeit running on for some 9000 lines ; a work, be it said, conceived at times in so lofty a strain that its author, the Northern monk, has been called the Anglo-Saxon Milton, though, sooth be said, this picture of creation savours strongly of what we find in the Northern " Yoluspa." Will it be in the writings of churchmen and divines, who revelled in coarse material fancies of most corporeal demons and devils reeking with sulphur, instead of the more ideal pictures of the grand old gods ? There is, however, one Saxon work which tells us of the Northern mythology, and which we have therefore reserved for further discussion here — " Beowulf," the oldest heroic, or some will have it mythic — perhaps it will be best to call it mytho-heroic — poem in any German language, and which has been pronounced to be older than Homer. It is, as we have already shown, the metrical paraphrase of a poem composed, as is generally supposed, in Sweden, THE MYTHIC WORDS IN "BEOWULF." 285 in the language of the North, and brought to this country probably during the Danish dynasty, or, as others conjec- ture, it came to us in its present shape from the mouth of the Elbe, which seems less likely, regard being had to its Northern tinge. The hero of it is said to have fallen in the year 340 of the Christian era. The poetical vocabu- lary in England, as in Iceland after its conversion, was for a long time strougly impregnated with heathen reminis- cences which would be more or less understood by the people, just as the Pagan Eddaic songs abound with names and allusions not always easy to comprehend. Now this poem is heroic throughout. We have the semi-divine ancestry of the dramatis persona?, the princely hall, the feasting and fighting, the warrior adventurers, with little, however, of the quiet everyday goings-on of ordinary people. But, on the other hand, the poem is full of references to Northern mythological stories and mytho- logical events ; yet they are references only, and would have no meaning for us had there been no Edda, the hoarded treasure of distant Iceland, to throw its flood of light on the obscure allusions of the Saxon epic. 1 Let us dwell a while on this mythological element. Odin and Thor and Loki are absent, but the subordinate beings of the old superstitions are mixed up with the machinery. Perhaps some of the Christian clergy who manipulated these old mythic poems as devoutly believed in them, sub rosd, as their converts, although they did not acknowledge it. Would that Augustine and his successors had just placed on record a slight account of the heathen system, and all would have been plain ! But no ! Those Christian chroniclers were not going to soil their pens with such anathema maranatha. We have here dragon- slayers and nikkrs and jotuns, and byrses (the surly, stupid, giants of our fairy tales), all Northern mythic words. The earth is called Eor- 1 Dasent, Introd. I. Dictionary. 286 ICE LA NDIC LITERA TURE. mengrund, 1 the former part of which word, which has puzzled the editors, occurs again in " Iormungandr " Northern leviathan), and implies something vast or superhuman. Our forefathers who dwelt by the sea fancied, as they looked on the agitated billows, that the motion was due to an invisible creature or creatures endowed with life, glimpses of which, few and far be- tween, were vouchsafed to the storm-tossed mariner. Such a monster was that leviathan of whom the patriarch Job ejaculates, "Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?" The god Thor had an opportunity of solving this question himself when out fishing in company with the giant Hymer. His bait was a bull's head tempt- ingly displayed on the hook. Suddenly he had a run of no ordinary kind. Thor held on hard, and succeeded in bringing the monster fish alongside. It turned out to be the great original Midgardsorm, the veritable earth-ser- pent, which in Eastern mythology surrounded this world, and locked it in his fast embrace, head and tail forming a knot. No sooner did his head show above water than Thor applied his hammer vigorously to it, the result of which was a rending of rocks and a general convulsion of the whole frame of mother earth, upon which the giant, alarmed, cut the line and the monster sank to the bottom. In this pleasant apologue those who can read between the lines may discern the god of thunder engaged in his spring contest with the natural powers, and restoring peace to earth, sea, and sky. The hooking of the monster and the bringing him to the surface of the water seems to allude to some revolution of nature with which we are not further acquainted. 2 But to return from our fishing excursion. There is in o 1 Beowulf, 1722. - Of. Eddse Veteris Lexicon Mythologicum, p. 486, a storehouse of Nor- thern lore. THE MYTHIC WORDS IN "BEOWULF." 287 Beowulf " a clear reminiscence of the Scandinavian Norns in that " Wyrd" who ordains (5142), and in "the web of battle-speed" (1398) there is an allusion to the Valkyrs of Brian's battle, those first cousins to Hotspur's "fire- eyed maid of smoky war." At times we find these two distinct sets of beings, the Norns and the Valkyrs, mixed. Again we have in " Beowulf " Eagor = the sea ; but it is only from the Edda that we learn it is a mythical word, the name of iEsnr, the father of the Oceanides. His wife was Ban, the queen of the ocean, in whose abode dwelt all those who perished at sea. It was her daughters nine that chased Frithiof's ships in the dire tempest, all the accidents of which have been so graphically portrayed by Bishop Tegner, rendering the old Norse saga into Swedish verse so vivid and lifelike that our breath bates and our limbs move in unison as we read of his hair- breadth escapes and deeds of daring. In the calm summer days Kan is sometimes seen even now reclining on the beach, combing her long yellow hair with a golden comb ; and on winter days she will visit the huge fires which the fishermen light on the shores of the Luffodens, for the sake of having a good warm. The Lorelei of the Upper Rhine must be a relation who has left the sea for fresh water. It is the daughters of iEgir who supply the answer to one of the scores of riddles set by Gest the Blind (alias Odin) to King Heidrek (Hervarar Saga, cap. xv.). " Name to me the maidens Who march, a numerous band, At their father's bidding. Pale locks have they, Those white-hooded ones ; They have scant regard to man. " Name to me the widows Who march, a numerous band, At their father's bidding. Seldom are they kind To the hosts of men. They must watch when blows the wind." 288 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. So when the Saxon paraphrast of "Beowulf "calls a sword Y slandswork," the allusion would have been hidden from us but for the old lay in the Edda. 1 Those good people who were debating the other day whether Wayland means Smith, let them be aware that Volundr was a hero of human origin, with not a little admixture of the super- nal about him— a kind of Northern Vulcan, in fact. Such was his skill in working metals, especially gold, that he was reputed to have served his apprenticeship to the underground dwarfs, Dwergar. P. E. Mtiller derives the name from an Icelandic origin, viz., from ' v4l,' wile, and ' lund' disposition. 2 There are some curious coincidences here. Like Vulcan, the Scandinavian hero was maimed in his feet. Like Daedalus, he escaped a king's ire by win^s of his own device ; while their names are similar in meaning. To this day a labyrinth, such as the famed one of Dredalus, is called in Icelandic VolundarhUs — Way- land's house. What a vista of conjecture into the past this opens! A Norman chieftain, bearing this name of Volundr, Anglice, Wayland, ravaged France, a.d. 86 i ; and some chief of like name 3 was probably killed at the battle of Ashdown, in Berkshire, 871, and buried on the spot. 1 Deor the Scald (Exeter Book, Volund are personified the intellec- P- 377) Thorpe) also alludes to the tual gifts, prudence, art, cunning cruelty practised on the great Smith under opposition and misfortune, and by King Nithard. Baldr occurs in their ultimate victory over all the "Judith" and " Elene " in the sense machinations of jealousy and malice "Princeps." (Nidud). - Is not and rather a masc. suffix? 3 Such is the conjecture of P. E. Keyser, " Efterladte Skrifter," 155, Miiller, "Saga Bibliothek," ii. 162. says that Volund is a legendary hero Some modern antiquaries contend common to all the Teutonic race. He that the cromlech now known as Way- is the Velent, son of the giant Vade land Smith's cave was so named first of the Dietrich Saga, c. 57-79. Vade by F. Wise in his letter to Dr. Meade is the son of King Vilkinus by a on the antiquities of Berks (Oxford, mermaid. Velent's son is Vidga = 1758). The Wayland the Smith's men- A.-S. Wudga (Traveller's Song, 250). tioned by the Chronicle of Abingdon The same author concludes from the (i. 158), was adjoining to Compton world-wide extension of the legend near East Ilsley, and not to Compton and the meaning of the name, and Beauchamp. The legend of Wayland for other reasons, that it was a tale Smith was first told to Scott by the quite independent of the rest of the grandmother of " Tom Hughes," who Ajser religion. He thiuks that in lived at Uffiugton hard by. WA YLAND SMITH. 289 Later, the slumberer under the cairn got mixed up in the tradition of the vulgar with his namesake, the ancient mythic hero of Scandinavian story, 1 whose legend had come over with the Northmen ; and the knight Wayland's grave became the tomb of Wayland Smith ; only, instead of working gold rings, he subsided into the baser art of shaping iron horse-shoes. Here, then, we see the origin of the invisible Smith who dwelt under ground near the "White Horse, overlooking Compton Beauchamp. 1 How little were these Berkshire bumpkins aware, when they constructed their modern edifice, from what a grand old fane their materials came ! With the true assimilating instinct of genius, Scott seized upon the legend, penetrated into its deeper meaning, and again transformed it into a character, about whom are grouped some of the most inte- resting features of " Kenilworth." But Volundr had a brother of great renown as an archer, Egil by name. King Nithud, hearing of Egil's skill with the bow, had an apple put on the head of his three-year-old son, and ordered him to shoot it down. The father hit the apple plump in the centre without injuring his son. On being asked by the king what the two remaining arrows were meant for, he replied, " For thee if I hurt my boy." Here, then, we have the Northern prototype of Tell. 2 This tale, given by Saxo-Grammaticus to Toko, by the Jomsvikinga Saga to Palnatoki, and by other authorities to other heroes, from the twelfth to the very end of the fifteenth century, was also known in Eng- land, and lives in the old ballad of William of C":oudesley. E^il would in An^lo- Saxon have borne the form ^Egel, and accordingly we find places compounded with his name, e.g., 1 King Alfred in his translation of a personage would not have been for- " Boethii Consolat. Philosop!i,"cxix., gotten here. So Midler, Sagabl.ii. 161. by a curious misconception, rendered 2 Cf. Kemble's "Saxons in Eng- " Ubi sunt ossa Fabricii " by " Where land," i. 422. Schiern, "Historiske are the bones of Veland?" This seems Studien," Copenhagen, 1856, pp. 40, to indicate that the legend was not of 109, which discusses the wanderings native English descent, else the real of Northern traditions, particularly or reputed burial-place of so renowned in reference to the story of Tell. T roo ICEL. 1 NDIC LITER A TURE. iEgels-burh = Aylesbury, ^Eglesford = Aylesford. The Ice- Landic Saga of this Egil is lost, but a tradition of him survives in the Didriks Saga. 1 It is told at length in the national songs of the Faro Islands. Was this one of those myths that, according to our deep-searching friends the Germans, all nations naturally produce, the germ being native to the East ? But then the accessories would have differed in centres so remote as Switzerland and the Arctic circle. Say rather it was a complete plagiarism, a copy taken by whom and when ? And here we are reminded of another word, 'regn,' which occurs in " Beowulf " in composition expressing ' immense,' ' intense,' e.g., ' Begn-heard ' = ' intensely hard.' This, too, is a mythological word only to be explained by the Edda. In Icelandic it has a derived sense, ' mighty,' 'great,' ' holy.' Now in the Edda 'regin ' = the 'powers,' ' the gods.' A lofty mountain soaring to heaven, fit abode for the deities, is called ' Begin-fial.' The vast sea, the abode of the marine deities, is ' Eegin-haf '— the ' mighty main.' Hence it descended into proper names as a matter of course. ' Ilegnar ' Lodbrok, he of the shaggy inexpressibles, whose family so long ruled in the North of England, is a notable instance. Eagnfridr = a woman of divine beauty. Konald = K6gnvaldr = 'the chief power- ful by the grace of the gods.' The town of Begens- burg tells a similar tale; while reynard 'the sly 'is the old Teutonic Eegin-hart = ' the cunning counsellor.' Of Begin, the dwarf in the Edda, one of those gnomes so skilful in metal-work, he who bamboozled Sigurd and was killed by him for his treachery, we have already spoken. He and his doings, with the whole story of Sigurd the dragon-slayer, have been immortalised in a Eunic picture, and inscriptions cut in the rock at Eamsund, and on the so-called gowk-stone, or cuckoo-stone, both in Suderman- land in Sweden. These have been admirably explained by the late Carl Save of Upsala, more than sufficient, alas ! to 1 Cap. 75, p. 90, ed. Unger. RE GIN THE DWARF. 291 make us regret the death of so enthusiastic a worker in the field of old Norse philology. 1 These rock runes, be it said, are reckoned by competent antiquarians as a proof that this Edda myth is not of German but Scandina- vian origin, coming direct with that people from the East. Yet another word which occurs in " Beowulf," and else- where in Anglo-Saxon remains, and is only intelligible by the old Norse heathen compositions. "We mean ' Mid- dan-geard,' literally = ' middle yard,' the ' central en- closure;' in Anglo-Saxon a name of the earth (from it we have our expression 'mid-earth' or 'middle earth'). Turn to the old Edda, and light is at once shed on the terrestrial darkness. The old Scandinavians fancied that mankind lived in a central temperate region in the middle of the universe, called by them Midgargr, the ' Mianger- dun ' of the Persians, which was protected by the gods of Asgard (the lofty ' burgh of the gods ') from the evil powers. These last had their abode in Utgard = ' out- yard,' that distant land bordering on the sea circling round this earth, but uninhabited from its excessive cold. It was the especial province of the god Thor to be the defender of our vale against the besieging deities, the gigantic supernatural powers, and a tolerably hard life of it he had in consequence. 1 " Sigurds Ristning," Upsala, 1868. ( 292 ) CHAPTER X. SAGAS OF ICELAND. We have talked (p. 170, supra) of the Saxon Chronicle, generally though not always trustworthy in its dates, and identifying beyond dispute the existence of such and such individuals, but as signally failing to satisfy our curiosity as to their personalities, and, until about Alfred's time, when the writer, in describing the king's fights with the Danes, manifestly warms up to the occasion and becomes less wooden, very deficient in the matter of details. 1 Was Alfred bald ? If so, why not say so ? If he had hair, of what colour ? Was there no speculation in those eyes of his ? What was their hue ? Turn to the corresponding literature of Iceland and Norway. Here we have some- thing pleasant to the taste and easy of digestion. Verily it is a cake and not dough. But let us say a few words parenthetically about Ice- land, for though it and Norway in those days spoke and wrote the same tongue, the old Norse, it was in Iceland that the most and best specimens of the Northern litera- ture were composed and copied down. What were the 1 There is, however, one remark- tions offered thein — are all described able exception, the story of the mur- with Icelandic minuteness. Mr. der of King Cynewulf (755) when on Earle renders 'gebaeru' by 'cries.' a visit to a lady in the country, The corresponding Is. ' laeti,' it is where the shape of the house, the true, may = either 'cries' or 'ges- •way in which it is beset and the king tures ; ' but the German analogue slain before his men were aware of 'geberden' always = 'gestures' or it ; how they at length are alarmed ' bearing,' in which sense ' gebaeru ' by the frantic gestures of the lady, occurs twice in the "Exile's Corn- rush to the spot and fight to the last plaint." man, refusing the favourable condi- SAGAS OF ICELAND. 293 moving causes of this literary activity ? A great part of the Icelanders were of the very best families of "Western Norway, people who for generations had led a life of energy and movement, and had been in constant com- munication with the best European races, particularly the Irish, a people very early pre-eminent among the islands of the west in the possession of a higher culture. This would prove contagious, and foster among the Icelanders a taste for literary production, and help to generate among them the historic faculty. Then, again, the very physical characteristics of the island had a hand in the matter. Their isolation would naturally make the people anxious to hear stories of the world outside, especially about the pre- sent and past of the mother country. How intensely eager our American cousins have always been for a similar treat ! In long winter nights, when the frozen breath of the near Greenland would drive the people cowering to the fire- side, their energetic mind would at once seek for a fillip, and an antidote to the tedium of the hour, in story-telling. Then again, literary power was not a mere matter of senti- mental amusement. The native knew full well that to excel in history or poetry would secure for him favour at the Scandinavian and English courts ; it would place him " high in hall a welcome guest," and fill his pocket with gold pieces. Strongly impressed with this fact, they would turn their abundant leisure to profitable account in the composition, not only of poetry, but of long mythic and historic sagas in prose. At an early period this literature would be oral and traditional. Runic charac- ters, the only existing method of writing, was only a clumsy vehicle for the transmission of their literary speci- mens, much less handy than their tenacious and nimble memories. The introduction of Christianity, a.d. iooo, brought with it Latin characters. But it was a century and more before these were employed for copying down productions in the vernacular. About the middle of the twelfth century a beginning was made with laws and legends, 29 4 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. religious and genealogical. By degrees the movement grew. The poetic and historic traditions saw the light, and for a couple of centuries vernacular composition was in full swing, culminating about the middle of the thir- teenth century, and dying out about 1400. Of the original Scandinavian MSS. still extant, the greater part belong to the fourteenth and latter half of the preceding century, and there are one or two which belong to the beginning and end of the twelfth century. But it is time we should turn to a book with which Europe had no contemporary work in the vernacular to compare, the pink and plume and pride of old Norse literature — the " Heimskringla," or history of the kings of Norway, by Snorri Sturluson. "Why, here we have a Macau- lay in the thirteenth century, a man to whom all who wish to be good story-tellers, to interest the mind and stir the heart, may well apprentice themselves — a man in a remote valley of Iceland, that sunless land of snow and ice, that howling wilderness of lava and cinder heaps, over which night broods so many weary hours of the year. Surely .1. H. Newman had forgotten Snorri when he laid it down as an axiom that " science, literature, and art refuse to germinate in frost" (Historic Sketches, i. 60). You should see the place, the site of his abode, with the bath of hewn stone, in that valley of bogs and reek, and you would be lost in amazement if you did. See him picking up the threads of history, and working them into a tissue pic- turesque in the extreme, in his own vernacular too, when we English, who had not the wit to throw off the old Roman influence — dumbfounded, too, with that French jargon which the Norman had brought into the land, the language of the royal court, the courts of law, and the baronial castle — were maundering away in Latin. 1 " Oh ! 1 This taste for Latin originated fected our vernacular prose compo- probably with the habit we so early sitiou. Priscian was highly reputed indulged in of translating from that among us. The entry, 1528, Chvo- language, which, whatever may be nicle, shows this : " Tunc Prisdanus said to the contrary, must have af- profunda grammatica rimatus est." SNORRI AND THE " HE1MSKRINGLA? =95 but Snorri is not at all true. He drew upon his imagination for his facts. His history may rather he likened to that of Herodotus, which Niebuhr looked on as a work of epic rather than of historic value." Indeed ! let us see. In his preface he states that he based his work on living tra- dition, which had long before received its defined inner character, and also its complete outer form, and was now passed from the tongue to the pen (Key sir, 15); also on old genealogical registers, which were preserved with ex- traordinary care, and on ancient poems, the authors of which believed what they related was true. 1 Among these poets were Thiodolfr and Hornklovi, the scalds of King Harold Fairhair, and Eyvindr, also a Norwegian, nick- named Skalda-spiller, 2 who celebrated Hacon Jarl. " These We are reminded here of an Anglo- Saxon fragment on vellum of a gram- matical treatise, based on Priscian, in All Souls' College Library, and sup- posed to belong to the eighth or ninth century. The writer, after explain- ing that an ox loweth (hlae wj>), a sheep bleats (blaet), a pig grunteth (grunaS), &c, facetiously observes that it would be very absurd (dysig) if a man were to "bark" or "bleat." Some of the Anglo-Saxon grammatical terms may well reconcile us to the cease of the ancient tongue. For " in the indica- tive mood" we find " on gebicnigend- licum gemette," and so on. Priscian penetrated to Iceland. In the treatises on grammar and speech appended to the prose Edda, pro- perly so called, which are marvels of literary work in such an age, time, and place, constant reference is made to the great grammarian, and in prose Edda, ii. 7, we have extracts from his work " De Partibus Orationis," written A.D. 520. The writer of the Icelandic grammatical treatise was a carpenter, Thorodd, who, while at work building Holar church, heard the pupils of the cathedral school re- citing their Latin exercises, and so caught the taste for learning. 1 In the universal darkness that preceded the Reformation, Snorri's History encountered the fate of many more books, and was lost sight of by the world of letters. A Danish monk, ChristiernPederson, who, in his book on Saxo, gave extracts from the " Heimskringla," was the first to re- introduce it to literature. About 1550 appeared a book of extracts, in Danish, from the old MS. ' Kringla ' in Bergen. But it was not till the close of the sixteenth century that the Danish translation by Peder Claus- sen, priest of Undal in Norway (born 1545, died 1614), edited with a pre- face by Ole Worm, restored Snorri to some extent to his place in literature. The MSS. from which he worked are lost. Other and better MSS. of the original have since been discovered, but his work, especially in respect to Swerrir's Saga, is very valuable (Storm, 216). 2 Skalda-spiller = spoiler of scalds, i.e., he took the shine out of all the other poets. Others interpret it ' poetaster,' plagiarist, and say lie was so nicknamed because two of his chief poems were modelled on the works of contemporary poets : the " Haleygja- tal" after the " Ynglinga-tal," and the "Hakonar-mal" after the "Eriks- mal." Of. Fagrskinna, 33. 296 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. old Bongs," proceeds Snorri, "live in men's mouths to this day.'' — lie lived four centuries after Harfagr. — "They were sung before the chieftains whose battles or expedi- t ions they celebrate, or, at all events, in the presence of their sons, and we believe they were true accounts ; for scalds would not have dared to proclaim, before the face of their patron, exploits of his which not only he but all those present knew to be stuff and nonsense. This would have been mockery and no praise." But besides these old traditionary ballads, the common source, be it said, of every nation's history in their earliest days, he had, he says, another most reliable source of his- tory in Ari Frodi, born 1068, died 1 148, the beginner of the " Landnama bok," or " History of the Discovery and Settlement of Iceland," and writer of the " Islendigabok," another work of the same character. Ari was a very sage person. He lived to a great age, and he was well versed in the histories of Norway, and Denmark, and England, as well as in all the great events of the day in his own island. Hence everything he relates is considered by many wise men deserving of the utmost attention. His chief informant was Oddr, who got his information direct from Thorgeir, a man who was so old that he was living when the great Hacon Jarl was murdered. From his seventh to his twenty-first year Ari lived with Hallr of llawkdale, a man of good memory and very wise, who could remember being baptized at the age of three by Priest Thangbrand, the year before Christianity was estab- lished in Iceland by law. Hallr travelled about a good deal, and was the intimate friend of Saint Olaf. He was twelve years old when Bishop Isleifr died, which was eighty years after the fall of King Olaf Tryggvason. He lived sixty-four years in Hawkdale, and died at the age of ninety- four. Under the roof of Hallr, Ari met with his foster-son, Teitr, son of Bishop Isleifr, who told him a good deal of lore, which he subsequently wrote down. "No wonder," continues the great historian, "Ari was truly THE GREENLAND CHRONICLE. 297 informed on distant events, both at home and abroad, having thus learned from ancient men and sages, being, moreover, himself a man eager to learn and having a reten- tive memory. But as for old songs, they are, methinks, of all things, least likely to be corrupted, if they are correctly sung and sensibly interpreted." x That is a plain, unvar- nished tale at all events, and a complete set-down to those who will have it that Snorri was given to romancing. So was Herodotus, until modern travellers have been able to prove his statements to be true. Snorri frankly confesses whence he got his information ; and very good sources they were. The best, too, then procurable. He makes no mystery about the mine he worked in, the hole of the pit whence his history was dio-cred. But to know facts is one thing. To be gifted with the power of exposition is another ; and that power Snorri possessed in a very eminent degree. Besides another circumstance corroborates Snorri. The truthful- ness of the Greenland Chronicle, most likely by an equally ancient hand, has been practically tested by modern visitors to that country in the description of localities and of the time of sun-rising at certain places, which correspond with what they themselves saw. In this, to a creat extent, we have a guarantee for the truthfulness of these chronicles generally. 2 In Snorri's chain of evi- dence for his History there was hardly then a link wanting, while the histories of Paulus Diaconus and Jornandes were evidently based on ancient poems of 1 So thought, too, Snorri's prede- 2 Cf. " Antiquitates American* " cessors in history-writing. The au- (Copenhagen, 1837), where the ac- thor of " Historia Norwegise " frames count of the discovery of America his early annals on Thiodolf's " Yng- at the end of the tenth and begin- lingatal." Theodoric the monk speaks ning of the eleventh century, viz., with approbation of the chronological Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, as well poems of the Icelanders. Odd Monk as New Brunswick and Canada, is gives several of Half red's verses about given from the "Flateybok" and Olaf. But none of them before Snorri other ancient vellum MSS. obtained knew how to turn these old verses to from Iceland. the proper account. Storm, ib., p. 20, isqq. 2 9 8 /( 'EL A NDIC LIT ERA TURE. whose authors they knew nothing — such ancient pieces as those mentioned by Tacitus. 1 Neither was there any break here in the continuity, as there was at Rome, where the old annals were destroyed by the Cauls, and a long space intervened between that date and the date of the first annalist, Fabius Pictor, ffivine time for the old ballads mentioned by Ennius and Cato the Censor to be forgotten and become obsolete. Snorri quotes from poets almost his contemporaries, the lampadephoroi and mantel-bearers of scalds of earlier times. While in the whole Anglo-Saxon Chronicle there are but three poems, in Snorri there are hundreds. Poetic books of Jasher are cited in every page. The sagas, to say the least of it, often help us to facts, and to the causes and connections of facts, which our own writers leave obscure. 2 Take an instance. The ancient sculptured pillar at Forres has always been an enigma to antiquaries, with its opposing bands of horse and foot, betokening some fierce encounter of olden days. Now it is recorded in the "Flateybok" (i. 221) how Earl Sigurd of the Orkneys invaded Scotland and slew Earl Melbrigda of the Tusk, a kind of Northern " wild boar of the Ardennes/' and all his men. This done, they rode off in triumph, with the heads of their foes fastened to their cruppers. On the way, Earl Sigurd, w r hile spurring his horse, struck the calf of his leg against the tooth projecting from Melbrigda's head. It was only a slight scratch, but the leg swelled and suppurated, and led to the death of the Earl. He was buried, says the saga, on the banks of the Oykel (Ekki- alsbakki). But the battle may very well have been fought at Forres, and the sculptured pillar may be a representa- tion of it, for the leader appears with a human head hanging at his crirdle. 3 1 Tacitus, Germania, ii. : " Cele- 2 Freeman's " History of the Nor- brant carminibus antiquis quod unum man Conquest," i. 258. ;q>udillos memoriae etannaliuni genus 3 Skene's " Celtic Scotland," i. 337. est." THE BIARKAMAL. 299 Let us cite other examples. At the battle of Hjoruii- ^ava^ with the Jom vikings, Haeon Jarl had five celebrated scalds to animate his men (Bartholin, p. 172). 1 This custom in Northern armies is corroborated by Alfred's traditionary visit as a minstrel to the Danish camp, these gentry being as privileged as wearers of the Red Cross in our days. At Stikklestad, where St. Olaf fell, he pre- viously told Thormodr Kolbrunar scald, " You shall not only record what you have heard, but what you have seen." The scald was there to animate the soldiers with his war-songs as they rushed to the onset, to sing the paean of victory or a dirge, as the case might be, and, if he lived, to record the deeds of the day thereafter. At early dawn Thormodr with lusty voice broke into the Biarka- mal, or song of Biarke, a genuine old heathen ditty, telling of the fight where Iiolfe Krake, wakened from his slum- bers, fell with all his men, of which Saxo (lib. ii. 90), who makes sad work of the obscure Icelandic words, gives a long metrical Latin paraphrase. Borne upon Northern ears, it would stir them like the voice of a trumpet. Here is Laing's version, which, though not literal, gives the spirit of the original : — 2 '• The day is breaking, The house-cock shaking 1 Harald Hardrada sang before the Olafsaga, cap. 220. Three other battle of Stamford Bridge. So Tail- stanzas are cited by Snorri in the lefer, before the battle of Hastings, Edda, cap. 45. They are a notable in- struck up the song of Charlemagne stance of the circumlocution in which and Roland, to inspirit the Normans, the best bards revelled. Imagine in The Fraukish Emperor's wars with an affair of life and death, while en- the neighbouring Saxons had fired gaged in rousing the men-at-arms to the imagination of the North, and the rescue of their princely bene- in Scandinavia he, like Theodoric factor, imagine the scald stopping of Bern (Verona), became a sort of his spirited reveille to run through a legendary hero. One of the finest double diapason of sixteen mystic ancient Norwegian ballads recites the names for gold, e.g., The burden of death of Roland (Bugge,"Norske Fol- Grani, the drudge- work of Fenia, keviser," xiv. Cf. Worsaae, "Minder the fine for the Otter, the red ore um de Kordmandene i Englaud, of the Rhine, the hair of Siv, the 168). strife of the Niflungs, &.c. - This is all that is given in S. 3 oo ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. His rustling wings ; While priest-bell rings — Crows up the morn, And touting horn Wakes thralls to work and weep. Ye sons of Add, cast off sleep ! Wake up ! wake up ! Nor wassail cnp Nor maiden's jeer Awaits you here. Hrolf of the bow, Hare of the blow, Up in your might ! the day is breaking, 'Tis Hilda's x game that bides your waking." No bunglers these scalds ; no dabblers in Helicon, who, with blue-visaged Hel staring them in the face, would pour out sustained dirges, surpassing all the swans that ever were. Egil, for instance, and Bragi, the author of the famous song of Eagnar Lodbrok — both of whom, be- tween night and morning, composed many-stanzaed pane- gyrics to put away a king's wrath and save their own heads, albeit the first-named was terribly bothered by a swallow that would keep twittering against the window. It really was a witch, emissary of the blood-thirsty Queen, bent on confounding his muse. One thing is to be regret- ted, that Icelandic poetry, which could be so simple and natural (witness the Voluspa and other specimens of the old ballad in the metre called Fornyrgalag), indulged very early, especially in the DrottkvdeQi, Drapa, and such-like court poetry, in an obscure medley of studied artifices. 1'ity that men to whose lips rushed spontaneous poetry in accents vigorous and full of fire should have wasted their great powers in laborious bombast ; that their originality should have been cramped by self-imposed rigid rules, till at last public taste ran riot in a chaos of inversions, forced metaphors, stilted phrases, and prepense obscurities. 1 Hiklr was the 'fire-eyed maid of without warrant "the priest-bell," smoky war' in Scandinavia. We which is not to be found in the origi- have given Laing's version, which, in nal. P. E. Midler places this poem other respects faithful, introduces at the beginning of the ninth century. SNOKRrS YOUTH. 301 But to return to Snorri. The man who could digest these scattered and obscure materials into that admirable whole, — whence did he acquire the mental discipline, the critical power, necessary for such a purpose ? The answer must be that to his own natural genius, rather than to any great educational advantages, Snorri was indebted for his writing power. No doubt from a child Snorri had great advantages. In his fourth year, 1 182, he became domi- ciled in the abode of Jon Loptsson of Odde, grandson of Saemund, one of a very learned family, and he remained there till his foster-father's death in 1 197, when Snorri w T as nineteen years old. Some Latin, theology, and geo- graphy, much law, 1 an awakened interest in history, and a deep insight into the theory of poetry, were, roughly speaking, the sum of what he took away with him from the home of his youth. The occurrence of errors in his work in respect to English and French history would indicate that he was by no means well posted up in the French and English Chronicles. 2 Adam of Bremen seems to have been unknown to him. Strictly speaking, his main literary studies seem to have been confined to the traditions and ballads of his country, which in his case, as in Sir W. Scott's, were the substratum, the chief corner-stone, of those marvellous compositions which have delighted the world. He himself became a very considerable scald ; like all the Sturlung race, he had the poetic gift, and as such he appeared at the Norwegian court. How intimately he was versed in the theory and prac- tice of scaldic poetry is abundantly evident from that master-work of learning, his prose Edda, the ripe fruit of many years of profound study, completed about 1222:'' 1 It was this which got him the potentate on his arrival in Norway, Speakership of the AlthiDg, which he 1218 (Sturl.,ii. 25), is in a metre which, often visited attended by nine hun- if skilfully done, is pronounced by dred armed followers. Snorri the most beautiful, as it is the 2 See (j. Storm, ib., 78. most difficult, iu the whole list of 3 The burden of bis poem to Skule scaldic metres. Jarl, which he recited before that ICELANDIC LITERATURE. No doubt when lie visited Norway he had the plan of his great work floating in his brain, and examined many of the localities described, for the sake of identi- fication. Those personal visits were not thrown away by him, for in his battles, e.g., that of Hiorungavag, his local knowledge is more accurate than that of other contemporary writers, although a recent critic, Storm, has by personal investigation detected mistakes in his details. For be it understood that there were several history-writers before him. 1 But, previous to him, Norse history was mere biography. He avoids the faults of his predecessors and contemporaries, and makes the history of the Norse kings a connected whole. Prudence, verg- ing on cunning, love of money, of which he had good store, as well as of flocks and herds, and an insatiate ambition, appear to have been the salient points in the character of this extraordinary man. We may add that to him Iceland mainly owed her subjection to the yoke of Norway. Just read such a piece of writing as that battle of Svoldr under the isle of Eugen, sung in the first instance by Halfred Vandrsedaskald. One version is by Snorri, the other from the Latin of Odd Munk (died 1 200). The treacherous Swedes and Danes set upon Olaf Tryggvason as he comes careering along eastward in the Long Serpent from his visit to Pomerania (Vendland), and behold the king at last, when all is over, and nothing can be done to retrieve the fortunes of that luckless day, covering him- self with his shield and plunging into the blue "Ostsse" to rise no more. For many a long day the Northmen would not believe that the fiery king, who held the horse- eating, blood-bowl-licking Swedes and coward Danes so 1 Theodoric the monk's " Historia TJngerland" Fagrskinna" (ed.TJnger), \utif|uitate Regum Norwegiaj," a which after " Heimskringla " is the latin " Historia Norwegise," now ex- most original composition. The Egil isting in a Scotch MS. of the fifteenth Saga (1190) also supplied Snorri century, "Agripaf Noregs Konunga with some of his materials. Storm, Bogum," the history of the Orkney " Snorre Sturlason's Historie Skrivn- Jarls, " Morkinskinna" (edited by ing," p. 20, Kjobenhavn, 1873. THE BATTLE OF SVOLDR. 303 cheap, was really dead. Like Barbarossa, who in the loving imagination of his Germans was not drowned in the waters of the Selef, but holds his secret court in the marble halls of the Kiffhiiuserberg, surrounded by his paladins, he would once more reappear among men. Did not popular superstition recognise in the pale-visaged monk of Chester the Saxon King Harold Godwinson, whom eye-witnesses had avouched to have fallen at Hast- ings pierced through the brain by an arrow ? Nay, to go a step farther back, did not the vanquished Britons, ac- cording to the veracious account of Layamon, imagine that Arthur, though " passed," was still alive, dwelling in Avalon ? " Still look the Britons for the day Of Arthur's coming o'er the sea." Arthur, the defender of Christianity against the wor- shippers of Odin ! Ay ! and to this day he lives on, while his competitor, Odin, by a sort of poetic revenge, is non- existent in the heart of an Englishman. In none of his sagas more than that of Olaf Tryggvason does the Icelander give us greater cause to wonder at the consummate genius with which he marshals forth and groups his incidents, and puts them vividly before our very eyes. These sagas may contain accounts of battles which a Milton might liken, as he did the internal feuds of the Saxons, to the flytings of kites and crows ; but they also contain the history of Harold Fairhair, the Egbert of Norway, whose idolatry for the sex was the mainspring of his martial propensities, and who at the battle of Hafurs- fiord smote those scores of kinglets that infested Norway no less than they did Anglo-Saxon England. 1 They tell 1 His vow not to submit to the his hair on his shoulders dishevelled barber till he had achieved the cou- and red, binding himself by a solemn quest of Norway, and all for a woman, vow not to have it cut till he con- rtnds many parallels in history. Pass- quered. Suetonius tells us that ing over Samson, we have Civilis Julius C;esar after the Titurian (Tacit. Hist., 61), who when he first slaughter wore his hair uucut till he took arms against the Komans, wore got his revenge. 3 o 4 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. us of that striking personage Hacon Jarl, who had to take the pi .'due of Christianity perforce from the Emperor ( >tto at the Danevirke ; but no sooner was he on his own quarterdeck again, than— just as Bede relates of the con- verts! Saxons— he relapsed into the old faith. He threw his mass-books and all thereto appertaining overboard, and died at last the victim of a miserable thrall, wedded to a creed which was waning in the light of the new gods. But the murder scene is too dramatic to pass over in silence. He had fled away from the pursuit of his out- raged and revolted subjects, and, with none but Karker to bear him company, was hidden in the subterranean crypt under the hogstye of Kimol. The future king, Olaf Trygg- vason, unaware of his proximity, was holding a thing overhead, standing on a great stone. " In his speech, the king promised money and honour to the man who would slay Hacon. These words were overheard by the Jarl and Karker. Said the Jarl, ' Why art thou so pale and then swart as mould ? Art thou going to betray me ? ' ' No,' said Karker ; ' we were born on the same night.' Said the Jarl, ' There will be but a short space between our deaths.' Meantime, it drew towards evening, and Olaf left the spot. When night came on the Jarl kept watch, but Karker slept and was disturbed in his sleep. Then the Jarl woke him and asked what he was dreaming of. He said, ' I was at Lade, and King Olaf was laying a gold ring round my neck.' Says the Jarl, 'It will be a blood-red ring the king will lay about thy neck if he catches thee. So beware! From me thou shalt have nothing but good, as heretofore ; therefore betray me not.' After this they both kept awake, as though each one were watching the other. But towards day the Jarl dropt asleep, and at once became so disturbed in his sleep that he drew up his heels under him with neck erect, as if he was about to rise, and gave an awful scream. On this, Karker, des- perately frightened, seized a great knife from his belt and stuck it into the Jarl's throat, and slashed it right across HA CON JARL. 305 and caused his death. Then Karker cut off the Jarl's head and ran away with it That evening he came to Lade and brought it to the king, and told him all that had passed between him and Jarl Hacon, as above re- recorded. Olaf had him led out and beheaded." x A man of great power both of body and mind, of un- surpassed courage, without his match for sagacity among his contemporaries, so bigoted a devotee of Paganism that he could even offer up his own son for victory; — such a character was just the one to interest Snorri ; but, like a shrewd man of the world as he was, he acquiesced in the fait accompli, the downfall of his hero, with the remark, " The time was now come when idolaters and idolatrous worship were to be discarded, and the right faith and worship to take its place." 2 And so exit Hacon and enter Olaf. Specially ought we to notice here how, in an age steeped in the belief of supernatural intervention at every turn of existence, Snorri, when writing history, pre- ferred giving a natural explanation of life's phenomena, rather than clog his pages with the monkish tales about trolls and demons, and the way in which St. Olaf over- come them. These sagas tell us of Eric Bloodyaxe, and his witch wife and worthy mate, Gunhilda, a Northern Jezebel, who tempted her husband, he said, to be grim more than ever man did (Egil, 48) ; and how they were packed off out of Norway to make room for Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, of whom the people said at the first sight of him, " Here is Harold Eairhair come and grown young again." Eric subsequently had the good luck to get from the English king, as blackmail for not harrying the English coast and for resisting the inroads of the Scots and Irish, the rule of England north of the Humber. Further, these historians tell us, with great individuality of description, with the keenest and clearest perception of humour and reality, in 3 Heimskringla, vol. i. p. 236, eJ. Unger, Christiania, i368. 2 Olaf Tryggvason's Saga, p. 192 ; Storm, p. 102. U 306 ICEL , 1 NDIC 1. 1 TERA TURE. a style racy and idiomatic, of that Harold who fell at Stamford Bridge ; of a host of other potentates, who in the English stories would have had little more life and colour in them than the long-drawn ghost procession in Macbeth. [ndeed we cannot sufficiently admire the remarkable faculty Snorri possessed for the description of character in his dramatis personal, so as to keep pace with the develop- ment of the story. Dialogue is often the vehicle he uses for this purpose, where every sentence brings out some new feature in the portrait. Or take the Kristni Saga, said to be the work of Ari, with the account of the violent doings of that unique missionary Thangbrand, 1 the envoy of Olaf Tryggvason, to Iceland, in the interests of the Christian religion. And then compare with this the amiable way in which Gregory's missionaries first set about their task ; how an Anglo-Saxon monarch like Ethelbert viewed the method of embracing the new faith, leaving everything to the people's choice, and permitting no compulsion. While a Scandinavian king, true to the strong-willed instincts of his race, brooked not a shadow of opposition to his behests. How, again, the people of England showed none of that desperate clinging to the old faith at all hazards, even to fire and sword, evinced by the Scandinavian heathendom. There is none of that resolute and fiery opposition to the missionaries. The reason might be that the Saxon priests did not belong to a strong semi-political, semi-religious organisation, such as did the Icelandic Gogi, uniting in himself priest and chief. It must also be taken into account that England was not, like Iceland, virgin soil on the arrival of St. Augustine. The Paganism of the Angles and Saxons had come in contact previously with British 1 The first missionaries to Norway and as such had an affection for the were nearly all from England. It was Norse tongue, which they used alike they who brought Latin characters, in speech and writing, in secular ink and parchment, and skill in their matters as well as in theology. Key- use. Most likely they were kin of sir, " Efterladte Skrifter," 14.] the Norse families settled in England, ENGLAND AND ICELAND CONTRASTED. 307 and Gallic Christianity, and must have been worn down a good deal in consequence. Indeed, Odinisni was quite on the wane. And so it was that within a century of Augustine all German England was nominally united under a metropolitan, Theodore of Tarsus. If much of these sagas is necessarily based on tradition, so also some of Bede's History, on which the earliest part of our Chronicle is founded, was. as he himself distinctly records, 1 taken down from the sayings of men. They tell us of these men, but they also paint them to the life. 1 '" Ex scriptis vel traditione priorum " (Hist. Ecclesiast. preface). ( 303 ) CHAPTER XL THANGBRAND, THE MISSIONARY OF ICELAND. But the reader will perhaps desire to know something more about the envoy of the missionary society of that day. Born, like Coluniba, rather a soldier than a mis- sionary, a man of strife and passion and not of peace, son of Vilibald, Count of Bremen, Thangbrand in his youth became secretary to Albert, Bishop of Aaihus, in Jutland, on his translation to that see from the bishopric of Bre- men. This Albert had a brother, Bishop of Canterbury, 1 to whom he on one occasion paid a visit with young Thang- brand in his suite. At the usual distribution of presents to the visitors on their departure, Bishop Hubert surveyed Thangbrand, and said, " You have the look of a knight about you, therefore I shall give you a shield with the cross and the likeness of our Lord upon it." Shortly after our shield-bearer met King Olaf Tryggvason in the land of the Wends, who asked what was the figure on the cross that the Christians worshipped, and received for answer that it was Jesus Christ ; and then in a few heartfelt words Thangbrand told the king the story of redemption. On this Olaf purchased the shield, paying for it in pure silver, and added, ' If thou art ever in need of help, come to me ; I will reward thee for the shield.' Shortly after Olaf was baptized in Scilly. Meantime, Thangbrand buys a pretty Irish girl with the price of the shield, and returned home with her to Denmark. But a youth, who had been given as a hostage by the Emperor Otto, catching sight of her, tried to 1 So says the saga. See cap. v., note, Copenhagen ed., 1773- THANGBRAND. 309 take her from her lawful owner, which he manfully resisted, and a duel taking place, he slew his adversary. After this, Denmark being no longer a safe residence for him, he fled to Olaf Tryggvason, took orders, and became chaplain in ordinary to his majesty. This was just the man to aid the king in his projects for the conversion of Norway. Thang- brand was made priest of the first church at Mostr, with a good residence and glebe. But this by no means sufficed for the wants of so prodigal and wasteful a man ; and his purse being empty, as a means of refilling it he turned rover and ravaged among the heathen. The king, who was in Eussia, on his return home heard of his chaplain's doings, ordered him to his presence, and summarily dismissed him as a robber from his service. Very penitent, the offender begged the king to dispatch him on some dangerous mis- sion. " Well," said the king, " I will make it up with you if you will go and convert Iceland." So to Iceland he went. On learning his business, the Icelanders gave him the cold shoulder; but he succeeded in making friends with Hall, a chief man of the country, and celebrated his first service in a tent on Michaelmas Day, 997, in the presence of Hall and his retainers. What specially impressed the heathen was the tingling of the bells, the odour of the incense, and the velvet and purple vest- ments of the priests. But Hall and his people still de- clined to be Christians. At last he made this proposal : — Before he was himself baptized he should like to test its effect on two crones at his house, old, ragged, and bedridden. Experimentum fiat in corpore vili ! If these feeble creatures, hard at death's door, could endure thrice repeated immersion without risking their lives, or rather were all the better for it, why then baptism could not be such a very unwholesome thing, and he and his would be baptized. The old women, on being applied to, expressed their readiness to be baptized ; and baptized they were forthwith in the river. " And how do you feel ? " inquired Hall next day. " Very well," was the reply, "not more 3 1 o ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. than the usual infirmities of old age ; nay, if anything, they felt rather hotter than usual." After this the conversion of Hall and his people was a fait accompli, and they were all baptized in the Wash river. Such was a very good sample of the opus operatum principle on which many of these Pagans were converted to Christianity. It is re- corded in Olaf Tryggvason's Saga, that one bard, on being baptized, asked the king, " Am I good now ? " " Of course you are," replied the king. 1 The first step in the good work had thus been taken. The missionaries soon did the rest. The chief Koniish doctrines, purgatory, the autho- rity of the Apostolic See in all matters, civil as well as ecclesiastical, and especially Papal infallibility, would no doubt be inculcated, to judge from the notion which pre- sently sprung up that a journey to Pome on foot would secure to the pilgrim perfect remission of all sins what- ever. Thus about the year 1012 the principal actors in the infamous burning of Njal adopted the infallible spe- cific. Nay, Flosi had the honour of receiving absolution from the Pope's own hands, but he had to pay a large sum of money for it (Njal, 159). Persons placed in ex- treme danger would vow a pilgrimage to Pome. Eafn the Ped fancied he saw hell, and the devils trying to draw him thither, on which he cried out, " Holy Peter ! thy dog hath twice run to Pome, and by thy leave he will run thither a third time ; " on which the devils let him go, and he got safe over the river. " All roads lead to Pome ! " Next summer our bold missionary went to the Althing or Great Parliament, preaching there with much boldness, and converting several to the new faith. But there were some who believed not, and who assailed Thangbrand, 1 The water was consecrated by ing an infant to be baptized. Eanish- making the sign of the cross over it ment was the penalty. A boy of thrice, with the words, " Consecro te twelve could and must, in case of aqua in nomine Patris, Filii, et Spiri- need, baptize an infant; nay, a boy tus Sancti." It was believed that of seven might by the old ecclesiasti- those who died unbaptized were lost, cal law perform the rite, provided he Woe to him who refused horse, ship, could say the Credo and Pater Noster. or carriage to those who were carry- Hist. Eccles. Is., i. 151. TH ANGER A ND. 3 1 1 and he was only saved from death by the help of Njal and his followers. Others attacked the missionary with the favourite national weapon, " nith-song," i.e., mocking, spiteful ditty, so attractive and popular an institution in the country, that to this very day the Eskimo in Green- land have both the word and the thing 1 — the enduring legacy of Scandinavian colonists who, after living in the country for five hundred years, died out or were absorbed among the Skraelings. Subsequently, from early in the fifteenth century, Greenland vanished for some two hundred years out of European ken. But to return to Thangbrand. He was not the man to brook an insult unavenged, and on his rounds through the country, he dropped unawares on his chief lampooners, one after another, and made short work of them. The island was now getting too hot to hold him and his followers ; and the climax was reached when a berserker 2 or bearskin- clad warrior, one of those strange champions of that age who were subject to fits of foaming frenzy, challenged him to single combat. At the same time he intimated that he was rather a tough customer, as he could walk over hot embers barefoot and fall on a sword-point without taking any harm. Thangbrand said God must decide. Where- upon he consecrated the fire and made the sign of the cross over the sword. The result might be expected. The berserker not only burnt his feet, but, metaphorically speaking, his fingers also, for the sword-point spitted him completely, and he fell dead on the spot. This miracle was followed by the conversion of Gest the Wise, who with some of his friends was " primsigned " 3 But our mis- 1 There are many interesting bits and admitted him to certain parts of in the Greenland Saga. Copenhagen, the mass. In those heathen days, the 1838. Northmen, who, as mercenaries or as 2 For account of these people, cf. merchants, were much abroad, found Kristni Saga, p. 142. Copenhagen, this rite, as being the open sesame 1773. to social intercourse with Christians, 3 ' Primsigna ' = to give the prima of great advantage, and submitted to signatio crucis, a religious act prepa- it accordingly. It was the first step ratory to christening, which made the towards a full espousal of Christian- person a sort of proselyte of the gate, ity. Egil and his brother, flying from 3 i2 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. sionary had had enough of it, and that summer, 999, he .sailed from Trondjem with a report to the king, his patron, of what he had achieved during his three years' residence on the island. The leaven he had left speedily began to work. At the meeting of the Icelandic Parliament in that summer there were two parties present — the heathen, who blasphemed Christ, and the Christians, who jeered at the old gods. Foremost among the latter was a leading man, Hiallti, who seems to have given vent to his scorn of the exploded Pantheon in the utterance of barking sounds, interspersed with verse — " These gods I will greet with a howl and a yelp. Why, Frey at the best is only a whelp. I say it again, no harm thence foreboding, Frey's a dog, or leastways a dog is old Odin." This doggrcl, however, led to the poetaster's outlawry. He repaired with others to King Olaf. The king was des- perately incensed at the Icelanders for their stubbornness and bad treatment of his envoy, who, with that taste for slight embellishments inseparable, it is said, from the reports of missionaries in foreign parts, had told him the people were such experts in magic that they could make the earth open at his feet, ready to swallow up himself and his horse quick. A native of Bremen would, of course, be at a loss to account, except by necromancy, for the volcanic the vengeance of Eric Bloody- axe (Egil paving the way for the missionaries Saga, 50) received the rite at the re- of Olaf, who would never have quest of our King Athelstan, whom effected the conversion of Iceland so the Norsemen nicknamed 'True-fast.' soon but for this small end of the The author of the saga explains : wedge preceding the larger effort ; so " Primesigned men had full inter- that trade, in fact, was the first and course with both Christians and best spreader of Christianity. To heathens, but held to that faith be jmrnesigned jumped with men's which they liked best." Gisli, the out- material interests. A low ground, law, who was primesigned A. D. 960 at people may think, for the cross to Viborg, the holy city in Jutland, left be planted in. But such is human off all heathen sacrifices (see Gisli nature. " The true way," said Dr. Sursson's Saga, cap. 27,35). After this, Livingstone to the present author, heand others would in due time revisit "to evangelize Africa is to establish their Pagan home, and introduce there a trade with the natives. Commerce the first notions of Christianity, thus first, then Christianity." THE ALTHING. 313 chasms that would so commonly open on a sudden and engulf the inhabitants. Egged on by Thangbrand, Olaf was bent on massacring and maiming all the Icelanders in Trondjem ; not the least prominent among whom was Kiartan, who in an impromptu swimming match had, without knowing him, ducked and almost drowned in the bay that great swimmer, his august majesty of Norway. Milder counsels, however, prevailed, and the king listened to reason, on the chief men telling him they would undertake to evangelise the island if he would let them go. To this he agreed, taking the precaution, neverthe- less, to impound as hostages the above Kiartan and others. The next spring, Hiallti and his friend Gizur take ship for Iceland, and in the summer of the year of Grace 1000 we meet once more the Christian party and the heathen face to face at the Althing, both of them sworn to decide the great controversy between the fast waning gods of Scandinavia and the Day Star from on high. The scene is strikingly interesting in itself 1 — we never saw one more so — from the deep marked features which Nature 1 The following description of the disappears and escapes by subter- spot is from the author's "Oxonian in ranean ducts into the adjoining lake Iceland." "A rough walk of a few of Thingvalla. Atone spot the sides score yards brings us to the justly of this giddy cleft contract to within celebrated Logberg (Law Hill), the nine ells of each other; and over this site for a thousand years of the open- yawning chasm once sprang for his air parliament. The religio loci is life, like Morton, in ' Old Mortality ' well calculated to work strongly on over the Black Linn of Linkwater, a the mind of the spectator, but its criminal named Flosi ! . . . About natural features are such as to make the centre of the enclosure is the an impression never to be obliterated, place where the president sat in a Fancy yourself on a tolerably even, booth (the ruins of which were visible grass-grown plateau, on the edge of a forty years ago) ; and around him, on plain of dark, rugged, moss-dappled banks of earth, which are still to be lava ; and then fancy that all along traced, the forty-eight dommer or the edges of this plateau, which is in doomsmen. A few paces to the north the shape of a rude irregular lozenge, of this is an eminence, from which yawning rifts open out, perpendicular another functionary recited the old and very many fathoms deep. The laws and promulgated new ones, bottom of the abyss is tilled with Without, were the people of the deep sapphire-tinted water, which has country crowding round to the edge flowed down from the mountains by of the abyss, and barred by it from concealed channels, and again speedily entering the sacred precinct3." 3 1 4 ICE LA A 7 DIC LITER A TURE. in her most terrific mood had indelibly impressed on it; and doubly striking must it have been at that moment when Odin and Christ met, so to say, with their respective adherents eager for the fray. It was an adjourned meeting from the day before, and Thorgeir, the speaker of the law, was himself a heathen. On the close of yesterday's debate he had gone to his tent, laid himself down, and covered his face with his fell, and lay all that afternoon and all the night without speaking a word. In the morning he got up, and sent word for men to go to the Law Hill. There he delivered his verdict, and a most sage one it was, though that stupid chronicler of the " Njal Saga " has tried to disenchant us about his up- rightness and wisdom, by stating that he received half a pound of silver from Hall of the Side, a kind of ' reward of divination ' to quicken his decision. Well, his fiat was, that they must not let the opposing parties carry matters out to the bitter end. "We must mediate between them, so that both of them shall have their own way to a certain extent. His compromise was agreed to. Christianity was to be the law of the land. Bygones were to be bygones. Nothing was said about the present condition of deceased ancestors. Three hundred years before King Eathbod of the Frisians was within an ace of being lost to Christianity, with one foot already in the baptismal bath, through the blundering remark of the over-zealous missionary, to wit, that the king's ancestors were all in hell. That was a bit of history which had become philosophy, so no allusion was made to this delicate subject. Everybody was to receive baptism, but to be free, if he liked, to expose his infant children 1 (but before the child had tasted food or been sprinkled with water), and to eat horse-flesh ; nay, even to keep private teraphin at home to worship, but at the risk of a money fine if found out. Not worse this 1 In Plato's model state infanti- by law 130 winters after the murder cide in certain cases was permitted, of Edmund, and 1000 after Christ. Christianity was received in Iceland " Islendingabok," 13. A COMPROMISE. 315 than, for instance, the habitual toleration by the Jesuit missionaries of Pagan practices in China. But the event proved Thorgeir's wisdom. His compromise succeeded, where any violent measures would have been sure to work an effect the opposite of what was intended. " In a few winters (years)," says the " Islendigabok," " these last traces of heathenism, like many others, fell into disuse." In fact, though Thangbrand's violence stirred the Scan- dinavian blood, the island did not exhibit many martyrs. Originally the colonists, passing as many of them did through Ireland and England, had to some extent got acquainted with the new creed. The aristocratic Gogi, moreover, was sharp enough to bury the hatchet while Christianity was yet in its infancy, and, by an easy transi- tion, got metamorphosed into a Christian clergyman, thus saving his order along with the temporalities and old poli- tical influence. ( 3'6 ) CHAPTER XII. THE EGIL'S SAGA. One of the most interesting Icelandic sagas is Egil's Saga, 1 written by an unknown author about the middle of the twelfth century, or at the same time as the Saga of Njal. Snorri in his Edda cites Egil's verses. Here we are let into the secret of Harfager's influence. If a chief proved refrac- tory, he had a way of swooping down upon him and burn- ing him alive, like Changarnier did the Arabs in the cave. It recounts the remarkable incidents in the life of one of Iceland's greatest scalds, her national hero, the progenitor of the famous ' Moor-men,' with whom the Sturlung family were connected on the female side. Unlike most of the Icelandic scalds, he did not seek the Norwegian court for fame or profit. Harald Harfager was the family bete-noire. The poet's father had avenged himself on the king by slaying two of his cousins, composing on the occasion a rhyming song, the oldest known. With a power of pen no less felicitous than Snorri's, the author depicts the character of Egil, his courage and sagacity, his portentous strength, his tender love for his children, and constant affection for his friend Arinbjbrn, contrasting strangely with his brutal ferocity — " the rage of the vulture and love of the turtle combined "—and, to cap all, his intense love of lucre, along with the warm poetic inspiration rising ever unpremeditated to his lips. These very contradictions in the man's character, portrayed with the boldest simplicity, without any toning down, extenuation, or embellishment, 1 Copenhagen, 1809. THE SPECTRE BIRD. 317 stamp the history with an air of truth which, had the hero been faultless, it would not have exhibited. One incident described is (62) Egil being wrecked on the English coast, and falling into the hands of King Eric, who kept court at York. The queen, Gunhilda, was the poet's sworn foe, and, of course, he is condemned to death. " Women's counsels are ever cruel," said the proverb. A terrible moment it must have been when the scald stood before the king in his hall. He describes the situation afterwards : — " The monarch sat With awful eye, In song renowned, The country's lord. Full grim of mood, He fiercely glared. With his bloody sword drawn, In Jorvik's town." But there is one chance for him. If he can only compose a " Drapa," heroic poem, in honour of Eric before dawn. 1 His friend Arinbjbrn visits him in his prison to see how he is getting on with the composition. To his consternation he finds the Muse is not propitious. The scald has not composed a line. He had been disturbed by that swallow twittering till midnight at the window of the loft. His friend looks out and sees the dusky visitor disappearing in the gloom. Our iElfric would have compared it to that " black throstle " which came flickering about the face of St. Benedict ; such being for the nonce one of the protean shapes of the Evil One. 2 It was a witch (hamhleypa) sent by the sorceress Queen Gunhilda to hinder the compo- sition and presage the poet's death. But the opportune arrival of his friend scares away the spectre. May we not have here the origin of the strange bird who fluttered and tapped at the window of Lord Lyttelton at Pitt Place, and 1 Other instances occur of this kind of alternative, death or a diapa. Keysir, 274. • Homily on St. Benedict. 3 1 S ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. impressed him with the fixed idea that his end was at hand \ This ancient superstition, viz., that a person about to die is forewarned by a bird, is hardly yet extinct in this country. Sometimes the visitor was a raven, sometimes a dove. But Egil was superior to all such auguries. In Icelandic poetry we often see the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field, Nature herself, brought, as it were, into rapport with the mood of the human agents; a highly poetic exercise of this gift of the imagination, bringing home to us the interdependence of man and nature. The Greek mind had fastened on the idea cen- turies before the Christian era in that strange legend, when the conscience-stricken slayers of Ibycus, in the cry of the clamorous cranes wheeling overhead, hear themselves denounced as the murderers. It is a cue which Shakespeare often takes, whencesoever he obtained it. With him. the cheery confidence of the martlet, guest of summer, consorting with men and selecting his coign of vantage right under the eaves, is quite in keeping with the calm equanimity of the unsuspecting Banquo ; while the raven grows hoarse croaking the fatal entrance of Duncan under Macbeth's castle. When the lady is waiting to hear that the deed is done, she hears " the owl shriek, that fatal bellman, which gives the sternest good-night." Again, when withered Murder is abroad, moving like a ghost to his design, the wolf is his sentinel. Compare the use made of the brute creation by the Englishman and the Icelander with the sorry stuff vamped up by the Anglo-Saxon author of the Life of St. Guthlac. He could turn the two swallows that visited the hermit to no better account than to make them sit on his shoulders, breast, and knees with " shocking tameness," and strike up a song. The good man being quite equal to the occasion, shows from Holy Writ that the saints of old were privileged to be familiar with wild animals. It has been said that the sagas often illustrate the Chronicle. They do more. Take, for instance, that great BATTLE OF BRUN AN BURH. 319 event in King Athelstan's reign. Lis victory at Brunanburh, recorded in the Saxon Chronicle in a stirring piece of poetry, a version of which is given on p. 122. That is all the particulars given by the Saxon writer. A very meagre affair indeed. Now look at Egil Saga. A most minute account is here given of the events preceding the engagement of the battlefield, fringed on either side by woods, the river flowing between, and the two old castles, the n ive headquarters of King Athelstan and of the son-in-law of the Irish Constantine, King Olaf Kvaran. 1 We follow with great interest the preceding negotiations between the two kings, and the way in which Olaf kept increasing his demands, and Athelstan kept submitting to them until his powers of endurance were exhausted. The extreme pitch of ignominy was reached when, bursting indignantly from the snare, the English king stood forth in bold defiance of the aggressor. " Bear these my words to your master, King Olaf. I will give him leave to fare home to Scotland (the name of Ireland till the eleventh century), but he must first restore the goods of which he has wrongly possessed himself in this land. "We will then make a treaty between our peoples, and neither shall war upon the other ; but with this promise, that Olaf shall be my vassal, and hold Scotland of me as my viceroy. Xow fare ye back again, and tell him my decision." Not a word of this is in our Chronicle. We next behold Athel- stan's right-hand man, Thorolf, and his brother Egil, two redoubtable Icelandic Vikings, in the very armour they wore, swinging lustily their respective swords, ' Mail- piercer ' and ' Serpent,' in a triumphant resistance to the nocturnal surprise of the Scots. "We see the Scots advanc- 1 A Celtic -word signifying 'sock,' Cf. Revue Celtique, p. 186, vol. iii. perhaps in allusion to the encasings J. W. Stokes on the "Celtic iS'ames .of his lower limbs, as in the well- in Landnamabok and Runic Inscrip- known instance of Magnus Barefoot tions." Herein light is thrown on the (see note, p. 320). Gaelic forms pronunciation of Irish consonants in abound in early Icelandic literature, those days. 3 2o ICE I.. I NDIC LITER A TURE. ing to the onset " in open line according to their wont;" the fall of Thorolf by an ambuscade of Olaf's British auxiliaries from the forest ; how Egil, thirsting, for revenge, charged with irresistible might into the heart of the foe and slew Adils, the British leader. The varying sway of the battle is vividly painted. Then comes the disorder in Olaf's ranks, which soon becomes a route ; the final charge of Athelstan, the death of Olaf (this is a mistake of the Icelander) amid a great host of slain ; winding up with " Athelstan gained an immense victory." x But we prefer giving the following scene verbatim, as a sample of simple lifelike description. " Egil went after- wards to visit the king, as he sat drinking in loud merri- ment. When the king saw Egil come in, he called out to make room for him on the second high seat just opposite to him. Egil sat down, placing his shield at his feet. He wore his helmet, and setting his sword upon his knees, he drew it every now and then half way out of the sheath and then slammed it back again. He sat quite upright, scowling fiercely. Egil's face was large, his fore- head broad, with mickle eyebrows. His nose not long, but excessively thick ; his upper lip wide and long ; while his chin and jawbones were enormously broad. He was thick necked, and his shoulders of superhuman breadth. Hard featured, and grim when angered. In shape he was well built, and taller than other men. The hair thick and of a wolf-grey, but the crown prematurely bald. As he sat thus, as aforesaid, he kept jerking one brow downwards to his cheek, and the other up to the roots of his hair. His eyes were black and eyebrows swarthy. He would not drink, though the cup was offered him, and he kept working his brows up and down. King 1 We are bound to mention that kilt was a national costume in the Professor Munch doubts the accuracy AVest of Scotland as early as 1098, of this account. Chronicon Man- when King Magnus of Norway, win- niae, p. 39; cf. ibid., 67, where tering there, adopted it, and was attention is called to the fact, in- called ' Barelegs ' in consequence by teresting to Highlanders, that the his subjects on his return home. EGIL. 3:1 Athelstan sat in his high seat ; he also had laid his sword on his knees. When they had sat for a time, the king drew his sword from the sheath, and took from his arm a gold ring, large and goodly, which he placed on the point of his sword. He then rose up and reached it across the fire to Egil. Egil stood up, drew his sword, stepped upon the floor, stuck his sword-point through the ring, drew it towards him, and returned to his place, while the king resumed his high seat. After sitting down, Egil pulled the ring on to his arm. His brows unknitted ; he put off his sword and helmet, took the horn offered to him, and drank. He then improvises a stanza expressive of his satisfaction at the honour con- ferred on him. Egil then took his share in the drinking and mixed in the conversation. Hereupon the king had two chests full of silver brought in, each by two men. These he gave to Egil, and told him when he returned to Iceland he was to give them to his father as a compensation for the loss of his son Thorolf ; adding that if Etril would like to stay in England, he would reward him with broad lands or money, and with any honour or dignity he liked." We see from the above of what stuff the freemen of Scan- dinavia were made, and what kittle cattle they were to deal with. But Athelstan knew the breed well, and their great value when rightly guided. It was not for nothing that Fairhair's son had been nurtured at his court. But the man of iron could melt. Behold him in love, melan- choly as Jacques, making a wof ul ballad to his mistress's eyebrow, and afraid even to mention her name. He might have been one of those bashful dreamers of the thirteenth century, the Minnesingers of Germany, whose diffidence was such that they hardly dared to look up and meet the glance of their fair enslaver. Neither did he, like the 1 toman father, triumph o'er his tears of parental sorrow " and call that valour." To the tale of Gudrun in the Old Edda, and her revulsion of feeling, we find a prose counterpart in the Egil Saga, 3 2 2 ICE LA NDIC LIT ERA TURE. chapter lxxx. The old man has a son, young Bbdvar, as handsome a fellow as ever stepped, tall and strong, the darling of his father. One summer's day the youth is drowned with a whole boat's crew in the White River, the wind and out rush of the water being contrary, and getting up a sudden sea. Egil rode off to the shore, found his son's body, placed it on his knees, and then carried it to the family grave-mound, where he laid it by the side of Skalagrim. It may seem an exaggeration when we are told that during the interment the frame of the agonised father so swelled with emotion that his red, tiidit-fitting tunic was rent. But if so, a very great writer was guilty of equal extravagance when he tells us how the leathern coat of the wounded stag " stretched almost to bursting." After this Egil went straight home, betook himself to his sleeping- berth (lokreckia), fastened the door inside, and refused all manner of meat. Nobody dared to approach him. So matters went on till the third dav, and he would have died of starvation but for the marvellous ready wit and cool- ness of his favourite daughter, Thorgerda, the wife of the celebrated Olaf the Peacock, the great-grandson of an Irish king, Myrkiartan. She was sent for from Hiardarholt, and at once started off, riding all night. On her arrival she would have no refreshment — not she. If father starved himself she would starve too. She would sup that night with Freyja. Besides, if Egil died thus, who would " wake " the dead boy, and who sing his requiem, when the only one able to do it befittingly was gone ? And so the old scald mastered his tears for a while and composed his famous ' Sonar torrek,' a coronach for the deceased son, his daughter the while scratching it down in runes on a piece of wood (rista a kefli). The poem is a very long one, of twenty-four stanzas of eight lines each, and, owing either to the perturbation of his mind or the faults of transcribers, is very obscure. It is steeped in sorrow — " For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime, Young Lycidas, and hatli not left his peer, EGIL. 323 Sunk beneath the watery floor ; Oh, the heavy change, now thou art gone, Now thou art gone and never must return." " Oh, the dire gap in my household and in my heart, never to be filled up. Ean hath vexed me sore. The sea has snapped asunder those ties so clear ; has robbed me of my mainstay, the support of my age and of my roof-tree, the upholder of my might, my right hand in the day of battle." But the ruse of the daughter succeeded. She had broken his dread resolve. The old man's spirit revived under the awakening fire of his own muse. He sat up and took meat, and lived on, though a sad and solitary man. Before quitting this saga we may just mention that from it we learn that England in those days was the great market for the sable, beaver, and askrakkr (marten or squirrel) skins of Finrnark (p. 57), — See Ohthere's Narra- tive in Orosius; also that Dublin was a celebrated mart for merchandise (p. 157). CHAPTER XIII. OTHER ICELANDIC SAGAS. Again, what has England from Saxon times 'to compare with other private sagas of Iceland, e.g., Vasdaela, Eyr- byggia, Laxdaela, Vigaglum, or that finished little idyl the Saga of Hrafnkel, the priest of Frey, or, to omit a score of others, Njal Saga, the finest of them all ? l I shall never forget what I felt when, after a long and hurried trot with the priest from Odde Eectory, we jumped off our horses on the very spot where that sage old counsellor — in a rude age the very pink of courtesy and gentleness, the staunch friend of the chivalrous Gunnar — was, with his wife and his sons, ruthlessly burnt, house and all. You have the saga in English, thanks to Mr. Dasent. In these histories the men are not always the fierce and cruel depredators that used to swoop down on terrified England, crying havoc. We have the Northmen at home, in undress, under the influence of the family and the social ties. He who perhaps had carried the Eaven banner on an English battle-field rushes off, like the old Cornish wreckers, on the news of a whale ashore ; or he is busy spearing seals or sal- mon, or in the pursuit of game to improve the larder ; or we find him, like the old Eoman dictator, following the plough- tail ; or perhaps we see him taking a prominent part in the haymaking. Sometimes the noble owner visits the stables, and whiles an hour away clipping the mane of " Old White- face," or " Young Whiteface," or " Silver Top," or " Eaven," 1 There are some 150 sagas extant. Miiller, "Saga Bibliothek. " The best of them are published. THE CUSTOMS OF THE NORTHMEN. 325 or fondling his pet oxen " Dapple " or " Intrepid ; " 1 or he goes up the mountains to have a look at his stud-horse "Freyfaxi," whom he has so called after his favourite god, Freyr. 2 Or perhaps it is Yule-tide. Behold the Scan- dinavian noble surrounded by hosts of friends, whom he is lodging and boarding for the week, horses and all, drinking potations pottle-deep, and then making most sumptuous presents to each friend in succession on his departure : something foreign most likely ; for instance, a long flowing silk cloak with gold buttons from neck to toe, after the manner say of the cassock of the future ; or an English suit of many colours of the newest cut, such as that presented by Arinbjorn, the courtier of Eric Bloody-axe, to Egil (cf. Egil, p. 516). When he lacks mental excitement he journeys to the Althing (the Am- phictyonic Council of Iceland), and joins there in wordy contests, striking his shield after a speech in token of applause. If physical excitement is wanted, then there is the horse-fight (hestajjing), where the backers often get to fighting as well as the horses ; an amusement quite as absorbing as our horse-racing, and, like it, popular with all classes from the king to the clown. Then there was that favourite national sport, the wrestling-match (glima), which was the invariable accompaniment of every meeting and festival. Here, as in almost every Icelandic custom, we are transported to a very remote antiquity. In the Prose Edda (i. 159), which throws so much light on ancient customs, these games are in full vigour. Flat race and wrestling, each have their turn. The wrestling- match, however, has a special interest, for the combatants are Thor himself and a great carlin, Elli. They grapple, but the harder Thor tightened his hold, the firmer stood she, and the end of it was that Thor fell down on one knee, when Loki interposed. But it was all a mocking show of tli at demon Loki, for Thor had been wrestling with Eld (Elli), and who can ever hope to give her a 1 Prose Edda, i. 480. 2 Hrafnkel Saga. 3 26 ICE LA NDIC LI TERA TURE. throw ? Olafsen and Povelsen, in their travels through the country one hundred and twenty years ago, describe the game of wrestling as still practised and very interesting to witness, and there were regular names for the various tricks. One kind of wrestling they mention as just the same as that in Cornwall (sec. 6j and sec. 517). In Saetersdal, that part of Norway where, as Mr. Ivar Aasen has shown us, the old Icelandic tongue may even now be recognised embedded in the country talk — wrestling still prevails. The Scetersdal ' throw ' no uninitiated wrestler can withstand. In the Vale of the Whitehorse, by the by, this manly exercise has quite fallen into disuse since the days of ' Tom Brown.' But to return to our Northern friends. When winter had bridged the lakes and brought friends, at other times too remote, within the compass of a day's visit, off they would dash in their sledges, drawn by those splendid little horses, straight across to their destina- tion. But let them beware of the fatal vok (hole in the ice), which often brought to an untimely end some gay young Bonder, and was the death of more than one king, scudding merrily along to his Christmas rendezvous. Ball-playing, too, on the ice was a favourite exercise, apparently a cross between hockey and football ; the ball being struck with a sort of bat, as w r ell as hurled with the hand (see "Vigaglum's Saga"). In Egil Saga, cap. 40, " Grimr caught the ball and cut off with it, pursued by the rest of the lads." This game ended in a quarrel which was the death of seven men. Nor must we omit to present the Icelander to our readers in another favourite character — as a skilful black- smith. This huge, bald-headed fellow of sinister look, who has risen so early on the winter morning, and is busy with the " rauda-blastr," i.e., forging haematite on the stone anvil at the seaside hut, and poking fun mean- while, in the shape of a ditty, at the sulky, laggard bellows-blower, was one of the proudest and noblest stock in Norway. He was not going to be one of Harold PICTURES OF WOMEN. 327 Fairhair's courtiers — not he. All the king's offers of broad acres and titles did not move him. Better start for the new country ; and here he is, no other than Skalagrim or Grim the Bald, lord of Borgarfiord and father of Egil, described above (Egil Saga, 141), whose memory as a deft worker in metals will never be for- gotten, any more than that of another striking personage, a frequenter of royal courts, the Englishman Dunstan (died 988). In these sagas we have also pictures of Northern women, such as they were in those days, as well as of the sterner sex. They are human nature all over. Deeply imbued with the influences of those rough times and the colour of their company ; big- framed and strong in body as in mind, and equal to any emergency. Independent, open, frank, and noble, brave alike in heart and in char- acter, appearance, and manner — for that is the meaning of that expressive word ' skoiungr,' so often applied to them — tender, and true, and loyal to their husbands and their duties when fitly mated. But crafty withal and false, when they had got a twist, and by that means alone could compass their ends. 1 Look at Gudrun, the victim of conflicting passions, love and hatred to Kjartan, and confessing at last, like many of her sex, that 'she treated him worst whom she loved best.' Look at the girl Helga the Fair, who was cheated out of her promised spouse by the treachery of Bafn. Unable to survive the death of her lover, she asks them to bring her the gold- embroidered mantle which King Ethelred of England had presented to him in reward for his lay (drapa) ; and so she passed away, musingly gazing at this memento of her lover. Had such a character been only due to the imagination of the writer, this alone would have been sufficiently remarkable. 1 For specimens of your strong- Saga, expanding into the ' met;iii- minded females, we have Droplaug, ekkia,' the awful widow who could in the saga of that name, and the cow a man of blood and iron and loving maiden Thurida, in the Fwro craft like Tlirand. 3 2 S ICE LA NDIC LITER A TURE. Admire, again, the minute descriptions of dress and persona] appearance of these people, while Beowulf wears in it 1 ling apparently from head to foot but a coat of ring- mail, which always shone and sang. Why, it is as if a Walter Scott, or a greater than he in the portraiture of bygone days, had arisen in the twelfth century and made the men and the women of an earlier generation — with all their passions and their foibles, their good and evil qualities — play their parts over again before us as they played them of yore; such is the individuality and pre- cision with which their characters, and all they thought, and said, and did, their likes and dislikes, their tastes and habits, their notions and modes of looking at things, are brought out. To a friend meditating a history of the Crusades Southey wrote : " Omit none of those little circumstances which give life to the narration, and bring old manners, old customs, old feelings, and old times before our eyes." The writers of these histories, both of kings and families, knew this by intuition; gifted with the true historical instinct, and adepts in an art which they had learned in no school. Historical recitals, without personal characteristics, without realistic pictures of the dramatis persona; — " Sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat" — they felt to be a thing of nought. Thackeray thought so too. While engaged in writing the " Virginians," he went into the London Library and asked for a book about " Wolfe." " I do not," said he, " want to know about his battles ; I can learn about them from the histories. I want something that will tell me the colour of the breeches he wore." Dr. Todd suggests that the Icelandic saga literature was an imitation, on the part of the Northmen, of the histori- cal tales and bardic poems which they found in Ireland. The reader has in this volume specimens of the Icelandic sagas. Side by side with these we will place specimens of the Irish. The following is a description by an eye-wit- ness of the Northmen opposed to King Brian at the battle IRISH BOMBAST. 329 of Clontarf (23d April 1014), when the Icing was slain. 1 "Now on one side of that battle were the shouting, hateful, powerful, wrestling, valiant, active, fierce moving, dan- gerous, nimble, violent, furious, unscrupulous, untameable, inexorable, unsteady, cruel, barbarous, frightful, sharp, ready, huge, prepared, cunning, warlike, poisonous, mur- derous, hostile Danars ; bold, hardhearted Danmarkians, surly, piratical, foreigners, blue - green pagans ; without reverence, without veneration, without honour, without mercy for God or for man. These had for the purposes of battle and combat, and for their defence, sharp, swift, bloody, crimsoned, bounding, barbed, keen, bitter wound- ing, terrible, piercing, fatal, murderous, poisoned arrows, which had been anointed and browned in the blood of dragons and toads, and water-snakes of hell, and of scor- pions and others, and wonderful venomous snakes of all kinds, to be cast and shot at active and warlike and vali- ant chieftains. They had with them hideous, barbarous quivers, and polished, yellow- shining bows ; and strong, broad, green, sharp, rough, dark spears, in the stout, bold, hard hands of freebooters. They had also with them polished, pliable, triple-plaited, heavy, stout corslets of double-refined iron and of cool uncorroding brass for the protection of their bodies, and skin, and skulls, from sharp, terrible arms, and from all sorts of fearful weapons. They had also with them valorous, heroic, heavy, hard- striking, strong, powerful, stout swords" (ibid., c. 91). It is only fair to state that the editor pronounces the above chapter not authentic (p. xxviii. note). But chapter cii., the genuineness of which is not impugned, is hardly less bombastic : — " Then the fearful, murderous, hard - hearted, terrific, vehement, impetuous battalion of the Danmarkians, and the vehement, irresistible, unanswerable phalanx, and the fine, intelligent, acute, fierce, valorous, mighty, royal, gifted, renowned champions of the Dal Cais and all the descen- 1 " War of Gaedhill with the Gaill," edited by Dr. Todd. 33 o ICELANDIC LITERATURE. dants of Oilioll Olum met in one place ; and there was fought between them a battle, furious, bloody, repulsive, crimson, gory, boisterous, manly, rough, fierce, unmerciful, hostile, on both sides ; and they began to hew and cleave, and stab, and cut, to slaughter, to annihilate each other, and they maimed, and they cut comely, graceful, mailed bodies of noble, pleasant, courteous, affable, accomplished men on both sides there. That was the slashing of two bodies of equal hardness, and of two bodies moving in contrary directions in one place. And it is not easy to imagine what to liken it to ; but to nothing small could be likened the firm, stern, sudden, thunder motion, and the stout, valiant, haughty, billow-roll of these people on both sides. I could compare it only to the variegated, bound- less, wonderful firmament, that had cast a heavy sparkling shower of flaming stars over the surface of the earth ; or to the startling, fire-darting roar of the clouds and the heavenly orbs, confounded and crushed by all winds in contention against each other ; or to the summit of heaven, or to the rapid, awfully great sea, and the fierce conten- tious roaring of the four transparent pure burst, directly opposing winds, in the act of breaking loose from the order of their respective positions ; or to the stern, terrific judg- ment-day that had come to confound and break down the unity of the four surrounding elements, to crush and finally shiver the compact world, and to take vengeance on it. To all these could I compare the smashing, powerful, strong barbarians, shield-shining, target-bossed, red-spark- ling, starry onset of the Clann Ludech, under the stout, bright axes of the stern, murderous Danars, mutilating and crushing them ; and the gleaming, bright, glassy, hard, straight swords of the Dal Cais in hard, powerful clashing against the free, sparkling, thrice-riveted steel, powerful protective armour of the piratical Danmarkians. ... So that the sound of them and the uproar of them were rever- berated from the caverns. . . . And it was attested by the foreigners and foreign women who were watching from the DID IRELAND INFLUENCE ICELAND? 331 battlements of Ath Cliath (Dublin), as they beheld, that they used to see flashes of fire from them in the expanse of air on all sides." Now this was written in the vernacular and not in the Latin of the monasteries ; so were the Icelandic sagas, and so far they are like. But in other respects we fail to dis- cover any resemblance between this laboured farrago of sesquipidalian bombast and bathos and the curiously feli- citous style, the nervous energy, of the prose narratives of the sagas. Truly does Dr. Todd say, " The Irish style is inflated and bombastic, and dealing largely in alliterative epithets." In the above passage in the original Irish there are instances of seven words runniug commencing with the same initial letter ! x A subsequent chapter is a panegyric on the native troops, the " Franks and Israelites " of Ireland, which is not without traces of the imaginative faculty of the Celt. " Woe unto all who shunned not this people, who did not yield to them. Woe to those who aroused their anger, if it were possible to escape from it. Woe to those who attacked them, if they could have avoided attacking them, for it was swimming against a stream ; it was pummelling an oak with fists ; it was a hedge against the swelling of a spring-tide ; it was a string upon sand or a sunbeam ; it was the fist against a sunbeam to attempt to give them battle or combat, for it is not easy to conceive any horror equal to that of arousing the fierce battle and hard con- flict of these warriors" (G. and G., c. 93). Not less figurative is the description of King Brian's conduct on the treacherous murder of Math-gamhain. " He was not a stone in the place of an egg, and he was not a wisp in the place of a club, but he was a hero in the place of a hero, and he was valour after valour " (ibid., p. 101). We are bound, however, to confess, that, besides Dr. Todd, another recent eloquent writer 2 refers this power 1 See Appendix, the " Battle of Ferdiad and Cuchulaind." 2 Sars, "Den Norske Historie," i. 158 sqq., 150 sqq., aud ii. 266. 3 3 2 ICELA NDIC LIT ERA TURE. of minute and felicitous description partly to the Celtic culture x which many of the aristocratic settlers in Iceland had imbibed during their residence in Scotland, the West- ern Isles, and Ireland — a circumstance that seemed to destine Iceland for the focus of that literary development begun in Norway and its older colonies in Britain. Then, again, as your modern New Englander is very keen to trace his descent from some notable in the old country, so the Landnama chieftain felt that his station in Iceland would depend very much on his proved position in Norway. The family pedigree, therefore, was a vital affair. If noble, it was the passport to influence and nobility in Iceland. It was of the last moment to keep it clear, and to make out his ancestors to be men of mark. And so every old scrap of family or popular tradition was treasured up, and how his forbears acquitted themselves on critical occasions, their sayings and doings. Habits and dress were in their eyes of the last importance. And thus were laid the foundations of the historic faculty which distinguished the islanders. 1 Celtic culture does not shine conspicuously in books like the " Gaedhill and the Gaill ; " yet in ornamental art no doubt it bore the palm over all Northern Europe. See O'Curry's "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish," and his " Lectures on Irish History." ( 333 ) CHAPTER XIV. gunlaug' s saga. But perhaps the reader would like to have a sketch in detail of the simply told tragic story of Gunlaug and Helga (980 to 1008). 1 Gunlaug, while quite a youth, was a noted scald, and with a sharp tongue of his own ; whence his nickname, Serpent-tongue. He was broad in the shoulders and narrow in the waist, tall and muscular, his eyes black, his hair light brown, with a handsome face, but for one feature, his nose, which was ugly. No sooner did he and Helga meet than they fell in love with each other, and the games at draughts they played together did not diminish their affection. She had good blood in her veins, being grand-daughter of the famous Egil, who had fought on the side of Athelstan at Brunanburh. With the proverbial fairness of her race, her hair, which was as bright as a gold head-band, was so abundant that it could cover her whole person. In short, there was no such match as Helga through all Castlefiord and in the whole country-side. Her father, Thorstein, was appealed to, but said no. He was proud of his family, and Gunlaug was very young and comparatively unknown ; besides which, he was just on the point of sailing to foreign ports. Without this his education would have been incomplete, true to the old proverb, " Heimskt er heimalit barn " — " Home-keeping youths have ever homely wits." But Illugi, his father, backed him up strenuously, and at last Helga's father consented to her being the promised spouse (heitkona), but not the betrothed (festarkona), of Gunlaug. 1 Copenhagen, 1847 and 1775. 3 34 ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. She was to bide three years, and if Gunlaug did not " come out " (i.e., return) in that time, the engagement was to be off. Our suitor now commences the grand tour, and arrives at Nidaros, the court of Eric, son of the great Hacon Jarl. " What ails thy foot, Icelander ? 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JO ( 3«i ) CHAPTER XIX. OLD NORSE SCALDS. From Lints dropped here and there throughout this part of our work, it is clear there was no lack of the vates sacer to sing the deeds and the doings of the bygone heroes and ladies of the North. But while the names of the great personages thus live, the singer's name is often involved in obscurity or lost. With few exceptions, the grandest and most characteristic perhaps of the poems, living in tradition long before they passed from the tongue to the pen, those deepest in feeling and instinct with the truest and highest poetic inspiration, are anonymous. Notably this is the case with the Edda songs, a proof of their great antiquity ; for had Snorri known the names of the authors, and seeing that in his Skalda he cites by name some seventy old scalds or more, he would doubtless have mentioned them. Starkadr is the name of one scald, who must have lived not later than 750. His " Vikarsbolk," of which Saxo gives a Latin version, is a good deal in the lugubrious tone of the Anglo-Saxon singer in the Exeter Book. Bragi the Old is another renowned poet, died about 830, bits of whose poems are cited in Skalda. A very remark- able anonymous poem is the "Song of Lodbrog," 1 consisting of twenty-nine stanzas, supposed to be sung by him in the A^iper dungeon, to which he was consigned by the English 1 English version by Rev. J. Johnston, Copenhagen, 1782. 3 82 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. king, Ella. Lodbrog's very existence, be it observed, is disputed by recent critics. It ends thus — " Home me bid the Valkyrs, Who from high Valhalla Odin hither sent me. Gladly ale with Aser Shall I drink in high seat. Passed are now life's moments, Smiling shall I die." But while so little is certain about the scalds before the days of Harfagr, afterwards more is known of their names and their works. The poems whose authors' names survive are authen- ticated chiefly in viJtue of the distinguished position of the singer as a court scald in high favour. Many of them are panegyrics on kings or great chiefs, and were esteemed in that day as the perfection of art. It was perhaps this, with their historic nature, and not their intrinsic poetic value, that consecrated them to fame. And yet the times were full of stirring incidents, well adapted to inspire the Muse. Harold's court was the focus of all the poetic talent in the land, and the scald did not lack the very highest patronage, sitting, according to tradition, in the seat of honour facing the king, who was himself a scald. Thus Thiodolf and Hornklofi were less poets than histo- rians. Such poems Snorri called historic songs. 1 Thiodolf of Hvin was the chief of Harfagr's scalds, many of whose pieces appear in that king's saga. To judge from what remains, e.g., in " Hostlang " and " Ynglingatal," he was well up in mythic circumlocution and inversion. Interspersed among the sagas there is a vast amount of lyric poetry, not only in the historical, but also in the private sagas. Many of these lays, as we have said, are so crammed with mythological allusions, far-fetched figures, strained epi- thets, and inverted constructions, that they frequently involve the would-be interpreter in a maze of difficulties. 1 Storm, Snorri Sturleson, 90. BATTLE OF HAFRSFJORD. 383 All-potent fashion had turned the heads of the scalds. Still there are not a few specimens of verse touched with lyric fire, full of simplicity and beauty. Such is the " Battle of Hafrsfiord," " Ericsmal," &c. We may here remark that about the precise method used by the scalds in their delivery there rests much obscurity. Most likely they would use a kind of singing tone, and were occasion- ally accompanied, at all events in later times, by the harp. The old simple lays (" Fornyrgalag ") were, it is conjec- tured, sung to a kind of artless melody in monotone ; while the drapas were declaimed in recitative, the burden being joined in by the chorus. The presence of the king and court would add to the solemnity. The author, if possible, sang in person, but sometimes it was done by deputy. The drapas of the middle of the tenth century, alike in form and spirit, stand highest. Let us contrast with the , " Battle of Brunanburh " the " Battle of Hafrsfjorcl," which made Harold Eairhair supreme sovereign of Norway. The author was the above Thiodolf, though others attribute it to Hornklofi. In those days it would be the equivalent of " Lillebullero " or " Ye Mariners of England." " Have you heard of the fight The Wolf-skins howled At Hafrsfjord 'Mid the din of iron. 'Tween a high-born king And Kiotni' the Rich ? The ^ P ut to the P roof Came ships from the east, ° ne who tau o ht them to fl >'> All keen for the fray, The Stintless King Harold, With silver inlaid, The Lord of Utstein - And agape were their beaks. He launched from the shore In view of the stir ; " They were manned with Udal- What a thumping of shields lers, Ere Haklang * fell ! And piled with white shields, And West Country spears, " He tired right soon And Gallic swords. Of facing King Harfagr; Bellowed the Bare-sarks To an island fled he, In Hilda's train ; The thick-throated ruler. 1 The son of Kiotni, who laid his ship alongside of the king's, as described in the " Heimskringla." 3S-I ICELANDIC LITERATURE. On their backs their shields, Bright roof of Valhalla. 1 Wild with fear, they fled home Around Jadar's shores, On their mead-bowls intent, From Hafrsfjord." Under the row-seat The wounded they huddled, With backs stuck up And faces bent down. " In the storm of stones, As they fled, they cast Another favourite poet and man-at-arms of Fairhair's was Thorbjorn, nicknamed Hornklofi = ' horn - cleaver.' In " Fagrskinna" there is a spirited but perfectly simple poem by him, describing the court of the king. A peep into the hall of our Alfred's contemporary is interesting. The scald relates an imaginary conversation between a Valkyr and some ravens, who being the constant compa- nions of Harold in his expeditions, were able to gratify the lady's curiosity about him. In literal prose it runs — " Listen, ye ring-bearers (i.e., nobles), While I recount the accomplish- ments Of King Harold, The immensely rich ; I must tell of the colloquy Which I heard between A white fair-haired maid And a raven. " Wise was the Valkyr ; She knew the voice of birds. The white-throated one, The sharp-sighted one, Spoke to the air-cleaver, Who sat on a point of the rocks. " ' Why here, ye ravens ? Whence are ye come, With gory beak, At the approach of day ? Flesh sticks to your claws, The reek of carrion comes from your mouth : Surely you set off by night, For ye knew that corpses lay on the plain.' " He of the plumed skull shook his feathers ; The eagle's sworn brother Dried his beak, And bethought him of an answer. " 'We've followed Harold, Halfdan's son, The young noble, Ever since the egg we left.' " ' I thought you'd know the king, He who abides at Hvin, The lord of the Northmen, Who owns the deep galleys, The ruddy rimmed shields, The tarred oars, The weather-stained awnings. 2 " ' He'll drink his Yule feast atsea, If he alone shall decide, This courageous chief, And play Frey's game. 3 1 Valhalla was roofed with golden shields instead of shingles. 2 ' Tjald' — - tent, which survives in our 'tilted' {i.e., covered) cart. No sooner was a vessel in harhour than tents or awnings were spread between the raised poop and the prow. Bishop Tegner in " Frithiof " brings before us the Vikings on shipboard. 3 War. HAROLD FAIRH AIR'S COURT. 3*5 The youth loathes the fireside The warm ladies' hower, And sitting at home ; And cushions stuffed with down.' " The Valkyr then asks whether Harold is munificent to his men — " Many a present His warriors get, Who in Harold's court Throw with the dice ; They're with money endowed, And handsome swords, With German armour, And Eastern slaves. Then are they glad, The skilful men-at-arms, Agile to jump And swing the oars, Till they break the loops ' And snap the thole-pins ; Splash goes the water At the word of the king. " The condition of the court scalds is next described. " You may see by their trappings And their gold rings That they're familiar with the king; They're possessed of red cloaks And fair rimmed shields, And silver-strapped swords And gilt belts, And chased helmets And armlets good store, These servants of Harold." His Berserker champions are next described. Wolf-skins they're hight, Who redden the spears They who in battle When they gather to the fray, Bear the bloody shields, When they rush to the onset." The poem concludes with a description of the players and jugglers at Harold's court. Some of them indulge in unheard-of pranks, to the great amusement of the king. The beginning of the " Ericsmal," the dirge which Queen Gunhilda caused to be composed on her husband, Eric Bloody-axe, when he fell on an English battlefield, is all that survives. The author is unknown. Most likely one of those scalds who followed the fortunes of this son of Harfagr to Northumberland, he was clearly a poet of no ordinary power. Odin is described preparing to receive a distinguished guest. Odin. I bade them rise up, " What ! have I dreamed ? Strew the benches with fresh Methought, just before day, straw Valhalla I caused And wash out the ale-stoup ; For slain folk to be cleared ; Bade the Valkyrs bring wine, I waked the dead warriors. As a king were at hand. 1 In the mythic Atluinal, 38, a similar result is attained. 2b 3S6 ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. I from the earth Expect some guests, Men of renown, So my heart is glad. BllAGI. '• What noise was that there, As though thousands were mov- ing, Or a host very mickle ? The wainscot all groans, As if Balder were coming Back to Odin's halls. Odin. " Wise Bragi, quoth Odin, Tis folly you talk, Though thyself so wise. This crash is for Eric, Who's just coming in, Brave warrior, to Odin's halls. Sinf jotli and Sigmund 1 Rise up with all speed, And go meet the king ; Bid ye him in If Eric it he ; 'Tis for him I was warned. Sigmund. " Why expect Eric Rather than other kings ? Odin. " Why, hecause many lands With the sword he has reddened, And a bloody blade borne. Sigmund. " Then why of victory rob him When you deemed him sosnell? Odin. " 'Cause the future's so doubtful. That grey Fenris wolf Us gods is greedily eyeing. Sigmund. " Then hail to thee, Eric ! Right welcome art here ; Come, enter, O sage one, The hall ; but just tell me What chieftains are with you From the clash of the swords. Eric. ' ' Five kings are here, I know their names all : Myself am the sixth. " Eric's brother, Hacon the Good (925-961), the foster-son of our King Athelstan, was also a patron of poets. In his saga are some verses of a martial song by him to encou- rage his soldiers at the battle of Stord, where he received his death- wound. The dirge " Haconarmal " on that occa- sion was composed by Eyvind Skalda-spiller, in imitation of the "Ericsmal;" so says " Fagrskinna," 33. 2 It is one of the best samples of scaldic poetry extant : — HAKONAMAL. " Gondul and Skogul 3 Of Yngvi's race which The god of the Goths sent With Odin should fare To choose 'mong ihe kings And live in Valhalla. 1 Those mythic heroes, already in Valhalla. 2 An independent Chronicle of the kings, in which alone are " Haf rs- fjord" and "Ericsmal." 3 Two Valkyrs or choosers of the slain. The names of all these maidens are given in the Prose Edda. hAkonamAl. 387 " Bjorn's brother found they Faring in mail-coat, Marching 'neath gonfalon ; Scared were the foe, The shafts shook, The battle began. " ' On, Halogalanders ! On, ye West Islanders ! ' Cried the earl-slayer, Hushed to the fray. Well did his Northmen Follow their noble lord, Dread of the Isle Danes, Helmed in gold. " Flung off his armour Down on the plain, The chief of the bodyguard, Ere he set on. Joked with his men-at-arms, ' We'll keep the laud safe ; ' Laughed the king gaily, Helmed in gold. " So sliced his sharp sword In the chief's hand Right through the mail-coats As they were water. Crash went the arrows, Split were the shields ; Battled the blades On the foemen's skulls. " Through targets tough, Through plates of iron, Smashed irresistible The Norse king's brand. Th' isle pealed with battle-din, .. Crimsoned the kings Their glistening shields In the blood of the throng. " Quivered the flashing swords In the wounds gory ; Loutcd the halberds, ( ! reedy of life ; Soused the red wound-stream '< iainst the splashed bucklers ; Fell crimson arrow-rain On Stord's shore. " All blood-bedabbled Surged the fierce fray ; Thundered the shield-rims 'Mid storm of war ; Pattered down point-stream l Odin's red shower. Many fell fainting In their life's blood. " Sat were the princes, Drawn were their swords, Battered their bucklers, Armour all gashed ; 111 at ease felt the Monarch, for he was Bound to Valhalla. " Gondul she spoke, Leaning on spear-shaft : ' Grows the gods' company ; They have bid Hacon, With a great retinue, Home to their hall ! ' " Heard the fey chieftain What said the Valkyr- Maids from their steeds ; Thoughtful their faces looked As they sat helmed, Sheltered with shields. Hacon. " Why so the contest Dealt'st thou, Geirskogul '.' Worthy of victory We from the gods ! Skogul. " We were the cause The battle you won And the foes fled. Now will we speed, Quoth mighty Skogul, To heaven's green glades, King Odin to tell A great lord is coming, Who longs him to see ! 1 Blood drawn by the sword-point. 3 ss ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. " ' Hermod and Bragi,' Quoth aloud Odin, ' Go meet the chieftain ; Hither is Earing A king, and a valiant one, Lo ! to my hall.' l " The captain he cried, Just fresh from the fray, All dripping with gore : ' Very hard-hearted Truly meseemeth Odin to be.' Odin. " All of my warriors Welcome thee in ! Drink of our ale-cups, Bane of the Jails. " ' Already you've here Eight brothers,' quoth Bragi. Hacon. " All our war-gear, Quoth the good king, Ourselves will we hold ; Our helmet and mail We'll guard them full well ; 'Tis pleasantto handle the spear. ' : Then straight it appeared How the good king had Protected the temples, 2 For Hacon they bade Be heartily welcome, The assembly of gods. On fortunate day Was that monarch born, With such a mind gifted ; His age and day Must ever be held In kindly remembrance. Ere will break his chain And rush on mankind Fell Fenris wolf, 3 Ere a man so good In his footsteps tread, One of royal birth — Riches depart, And likewise friends, The land is laid waste : Since Hacon fared To the heathen gods, Sunk have many to slaves." 4 DEATH OF HJALMAR IN HERVARAR SAGA. One Christmas night, at a festival in the hall of King Ingve at Upsala, that redoubtable bravo, Angantyr, vowed he would have to wife the fair Princess Ingibjorg. Up- 1 All that bad fallen in fight from the beginning of the world dwelt in Valballa, but these and many more would be all too little to cope with the wolf when he got loose ; and this was why Odin was so glad to get fresh auxiliaries. Prose Edda, p. 124. - The poet supposes, with or with- out reason, the king to have been a great tolerationist. The words of the saga are, "When King Hacon knew that his wound was mortal, he called his counsellors, and ex- pressed his sorrow for his many sins against God and the laws of Chris- tian men. Then his friends begged that they might remove his corpse to England and bury him in a church. The king answered, ' I am not worthy of this ; I lived like heathen men live, and I will be buried like them'" (Fagrskiuna, p. 26). 3 At the twilight of the gods, the wolf, hitherto kept in magic chains and gagged with a sword, will get loose. The forging of that chain, so slender, so strong, is well told in the Prose Edda. 4 This is supposed to allude to the tyrannical doiugs of his successor, one of the sons of Eric Bloody- axe. DEATH OF HJALMAR. 3§9 rose Hjalmar and claimed the maiden for the reward of his faithful services. The king left it to his daughter to choose, and she chose Hjalmar, whom she knew, and not the stranger. The result is a challenge to fight on Samso, an island off Jutland, which the favoured lover accepts. Great was the peril lie ran, for Angantyr was armed with the sword Tyrfing, forged by those cunning smiths, the trolls Dvalin and Dulin, which never missed its man, and always brought death to the owner. The fateful battle is fought. Angantyr and his Berserkers are all slain, but Hjalmar is mortally wounded, and found by one of his friends, Odd, weltering in his blood. Odd. " What aileth thee, Hjalmar ? For shifted is thy hue ; Surely thou art faint With full many wounds. Hewn and hacked thy helmet, Thy mail-coat all rent ; 'Tis, methinks, all over With thy span of life. Hjalmar. " Sixteen wounds have I, Hewn and hacked my mail ; 'Tis dark hefore my sight, I cannot see to go. The sword of Angantyr It smote me to the heart, Hardened with adders' poison The keenly-whetted point. " I owned in my own country Five estates in all, But with my goodly lot Could never be content ; Now I perforce must lie Bereft of life and breath, AVounded of the sword In Sam's fatal isle. " In the kingly hall The men are drinking mead, All adorned with jewels, At my father's house ; Many folks are there, Knocked down by the ale ; Me the wounds by sword-points In this isle constrain. " The goddess fair I left Of the jewelled brow, At Agnafit's green mead, Yonder in the North. " The tale it must come true Which she told to me, That I never should To my love come back. " Draw, then, from my hand This red ring ; Bear it to the young Ingibjorg. Ever must it be To her an inward pain That I ne'er return To Upsala again. " I parted from the sweet Singing of the maids At Sote's rock, far east ; Full of hope and joy, I hastened my leave-taking. And mounted straight on board, Began my latest faring, Far from faithful friends. 39o ICELANDIC LITERATURE. " Flies a raven westwards From the Lofty tree, Follows in its wake An eagle's waving wing : To that eagle I Shall ;i banquet give ; He will on my gore Make his greedy feast." 1 M tiller thinks that this saga in its present shape is of bhe thirteenth century, but the following weird poem in it bears so strong an Old Norse impress, that he places its composition not later than the tenth or eleventh century. Angantyr had left a daughter, Hervor, who, when she grew up, went to sea, "daubed her lily-white hands all over with the nasty pitch and tar ; " turned Viking, in short, and went on the 'war-path,' under the assumed name of Herward. Once on a time she anchored at Munarvoe in Samso, the very isle where her father, Angantyr, lay buried in a howe, and at sunset she went alone on shore, where she meets a shepherd. Shepherd. " Who art all alone To this island come ? Haste and seek some cot For to shelter in. Herward. ' ' I will never go Shelter for to seek, For I none do know Of the island beards. 2 Tell me speedily, Fore you go from hence, Where about's the spot Known as Herward's cairn? Shepherd. " Don't about it speer, If thou'rt truly wise. Thou, the Viking's friend, In great peril art. Let us speed away, Haste with might and main ; All abroad are horrors For the sons of men. Herward. " Here a brooch I'll give thee If you'll tell me true. Vain to try to hinder Thus the Viking's friend. No ! the brightest treasure, All the rings on earth, Would not let or hinder Me from my intent. Shepherd. " Foolish is, methinks, He who hither fares, All alone and friendless, In the murky night. Flames are flickering, Cairns are opening, Burning earth and fen ; Let us hurry on. Herward. ' ' I am not af eard At such snorting sounds, E'en though all the island Bursts out in a blaze. 1 Hervarar Saga, ch. v. 2 i.e., Bearded men of the isle. HERVOR AND ANGANTYR. 391 Do not let us two By the champions dead Thus be made to shiver ; Let us have discourse. " Then the herdsman fled To the forest near, She now sees the cairns all standing outside, but is not flames as if it were only reek, ker's howe. Then she speaks Herward. ' ' Wake thee, Angantyr ; Hervor waketh thee. I'm the only daughter Of Tofa and of thee : Give me from the howe That sword whetted sharp, Which for Swarfurlam Was forged by the dwarves. "Hervard and Hjorvard, Hran and Angantyr ! I wake you, ye buried Under the forest roots, With your helm and mail-sark, With your whetted sword, With your polished shields, And your bloody darts. " Ye are turned indeed, Arngrim's sons so bold, Such redoubted champions, To poor bits of mould, If of Eyfur's sons Not one dares with me To come and hold discourse Here in Munarvoe. " Hervard and Hjorvard, Hran and Angantyr ! May it be to all Of you within your hearts As if you were in anthills, With torments dire bested, Unless to me the sword Ye give that Dvalin forged. It not beseemetli Draugies Such weapons choice to hide. Frightened by the speech Of this manly maid. Of undaunted mettle Fashioned, Hervor's breast Swelled within her fiercely At the shepherd's fright." alight and the howe- dwellers afraid ; passes through the till she gets to the Berser- Angantyr. "Hervor, my daughter, why Dost thou cry out so loud ? Thou'rt hastening to destruction, Past all redemption, maid ! 'Tis mad you are become, Bereft of sober sense ; You must be wandering, surely, To wake up men long dead. Herward. " One thing tell me true, So may Odin shield thee : In thy ancient cairn, Tell me, hast thou there The sword Tyrring bight ? Oh, you're very slow A small boon to grant To your single heir. The cairn opens, and it seems all ablaze. Angantyr. " Hell gates have sunk down, Opened is the cairn ; See the island's shore Is all bathed in flame ; All abroad arc sights Fearful to behold. Haste thee, while there's time, Maiden, to thy ships. Herward. " Were you burning bright, Like bale-fire at night, 392 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. I'd not fear a jot ; your fierce burning ilame Quakes not maiden's heart — Tis of sterner stuff — Gibbering ghosts though she In the doorway see. Angantyr. " Listen, Hervor mine ! ['11 a tale unfold ; Listen, daughter wise ! II 1 tliy fate foretell. Trow my words or not, Tyrfmg's fate is tins, 'Twill to all thy kin Nought but mishap bring. Herward. • ' I will sure bewitch All these champions slain ; Ye shall fated be Ever and aye to lie With the Draugies dead, Rotting in your graves, (live me, Angantyr, Out your cairn straightway Sword to harness dangerous, Young Hjalmar's bane. Angantyr. *' Maiden, I aver you're Not of human mould, Roaming 'mong the cairns In the dead of night, With engraved spear, With a sword beside, With helmet and with hauberk My hall-door before. Herward. " Meseemed I altogether Was framed in human mould 'Fore I visit paid To your halls of death. Hand me from the cairn Straight the byrnie's foe, Smithied by the dwarves; To hide it won't avail. Angantyr. " I have 'neath my shoulder Young Hjalmar's bane, It is all en wrapt In a sheet of Ilame. On the earth I know not Any maid so bold That shall dare the sword By the hand to take. Herward. " Gladly I will take it, Gladly keep it too, That sharp-edged sword, If I have it may. I've no fear at all Of the burning flame ; Straight abates the fire, When thereon I gaze. Angantyr. " Foolish art thou, Hervor, Though so stout of heart, If with open eyes In the lire you dart. Rather will I hand thee Out the cairn the sword. Maiden young, I will not Thy request refuse. The sword is cast out of the cairn. Herward. ' ' Well and bravely done, Say I, Viking's son ! Thou hast me the sword Handed out the tomb. Better far, methinks, King, this precious boon, Than the whole of Norway Were I to possess. Angantyr. " Ah ! you do not know, Ali too rash of speech, Maiden void of counsel, What is good or ill. HERVOR AND ANGANTYR. 393 This sword Tyrfing will, If you me can trow, Will thy race hereafter Utterly destroy. Herward. " Off to my sea-horses, Off, off, and away ! Now the prince's daughter- Is all blithe of mood. Little do I fear, Sire of lordly strain, What my race hereafter Haply shall befall. Angantyr. "Long thou shalt possess it, And enjoy it long ; Only keep it hidden, Young Hjalmar's bane. Touch not e'en its edges, They are poisoned both ; Nought exists more baneful Than this sword to man. Herward. " Dwellers in the cairns ! Dwell unscathed on. I'm longing to be gone, Fast I haste away. I myself, methought, Hung 'twixt life and death When the roaring flame Girt me all around." x 1 The series of Norwegian kings cele- brated in verse begins with Harold Fairb.air, whose six court scalds seem to have been all Norwegians. Of his two sons, King Hacon was celebrated by two very famous Norwegian poets ; Eric by two Icelandic ones. After Hacon's death, 961, all the court scalds named are Icelanders. So that from about the year 950 to the death of King Eric Magnusson (1299), Ice- landic scalds only were the court poets of Norway, and celebrated its exploits in verse. Of the Danish kings, Sweyn Forkbeard (died 1014) is the first men- tioned who was commemorated by an Icelandic poet, Ottar the Black ; and the last was Waldemar II., who died 1241. In England, Athelstan and Ethelred were commemorated by two celebrated scalds, Egil Skalagrim and Gunlaug Serpent-tongue, in the tenth, and beginning of the eleventh century. In England the age of Northern poetry may be said to have lasted down to the Norman Conquest, or about the middle of the eleventh century ; in Denmark and Sweden to the middle of the thirteenth ; in Nor- way to a little over the end of that century. After the departure of the scalds from the royal halls, their tongue by degrees became weakened and succumbed. It now sought refuge in Iceland, where it continued still to be loved and cultivated. But instead of singing the praises of foreign kings and magnates, its themes were the Virgin Mary and the Cross, the Apos- tles and Martyrs. Jon Sigurdson, p. xiii. pref . to Egilsson's ' ' Lexicon Poet. Linguae Septentr. ," Copenhagen, i860. For an amusing account of an an- cient minstrel, as represented in cor- rect costume before Queen Elizabeth at Killingworth revels, 1575, see Percy's "Relics of Ancient Poetry," vol. i. p. xxxiv. ed. 1767. They were indeed out of date by that time. The 39th of Elizabeth, towards the end of the sixteenth century, includes " min- strels wandering abroad" among " rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beg- gars." ( 394 ) CHATTEK XX. THE LA WS. We have talked above of the Saxon laws as a valuable con- tribution to our knowledge of the Saxons, but the laws of Iceland and Noi ;vay are no less so. There were the codes of the shire-courts of Gula and Frosta and HeiSscevi in Norway, established by Hacon Haroldson, and afterwards the common law for all the land (nyere Landslov), settled by Magnus Haconson, 'law-mender;' 1 and the " Greygoose" (i 1 1 6) ; and the " Ironside " and " Jonsbook" for Iceland proper. But we must say a few words about the " Grey- goose," probably so called from the colour of the parch- ment on which it was written. It was the work of King Magnus, son of St. Olaf, together with the wisest men of his realm, and upon a very memorable crisis in its history. He had commenced his reign with acts of violence and confiscation. The free bonders, in whose memory dwelt the beneficent reign of Hacon the Good, would not brook this, and were rising in arms. At this moment Sigvat the Scald, a great friend of the king's father, but who was absent on a pilgrimage to Eome at the fatal battle of Stikkelstad, addressed to the king his " Bersoglisvisur " = "Free-speaking Song," a very good specimen of Norse poetry and of that free spirit of liberty that animated them. Herein he tells him how discontent and treason are abroad ; hoary men are to be seen laying their heads together under their cloaks, and that, " if he seizes the bonders'udal land, it will shake his throne." The king wisely took the plain-spoken advice, and secured his people's rights in this 1 See " Norges Gamle Love," ed. R. Keyser and P. A. Munch, Christiania, 1846. THE CREYGOOSE. 395 celebrated code. The " Greygoose " l embraces subjects not dealt with probably by auy other contemporary code of Europe — provision for the poor, weights and measures, inns for travellers, vagrants, beggars, &c. The game-laws are noteworthy. The following will be interesting to our Fishery Boards : — " A net must not be laid right across a stream, so as to hinder fish from going up ; nor must a man set a box or basket in the river, or fence it, so that there is no way back again, unless one owns the whole river. Nets must be laid along the bank ; any net or fence set or laid right across a river may be destroyed with impunity (er oheilact), and the man who makes the obstruction is liable to a fine of three marks to every one of the owners of the fishery above him " (ii. 208). The Gulf Stream was quite as willing to do a good turn for the people then as it is now. 2 On the north- west coast we have ourselves seen a great deal of drift- wood ashore. The coast- dwellers would doubtless keep a sharp look-out for the flotsam and jetsam. Minute regulations were therefore necessary. " It is lawful for a man to carry off timber which he finds floating farther out at sea than one can see from the shore an unsplit fish on the boat's side. The fish must be a cod, so bio- that when it is split up it is an ell thick across the back. Such a fish is called ' gildingr.' It must be seen on that side of a boat that is towards the land from the lowest water-mark" (ib. 211). Whales were constantly ashore 1 Gragas, Copenhagen, 1829, and af. is Prof. K. Maurer. See his " Bekekr- "W. Finsen, 1852. ung der Norw. Stammes," &c. Before assuming the shape of a 2 Nay, centuries before it was de- regular code, the law would no doubt monstratively busy at work for the be restricted to legal traditionary benefit of the North. "Without it, in maxims and sayings, couched in the fact, mankind generally would have form of verse ; and this is the reason been nowhere. For is it not recorded of its alliterative formulae— a garb in in the Edda that Odin and his bre- which sage life-rules, religious doc- thren, as they went along the sea- trine, as well as history and genea- strand, found two stocks, and shaped logy, passed on from age to age.— Key- out of them men, and gave them bouI, ser, Eit. Skr., 11. Cf. J. Arnesen, life, wit, motion, speech, hearing, and "Island. Kettergang/'Copenb., 1762. eyesight? And that was the origin The best authority on Northern law of our race. 3 96 ICE LA NDIC LITER A TURE. in those days, so it was necessary for the law to make stringent rules thereon. Several chapters accordingly are '1'' voted to this subject. " If a whale drives up on a man's foreshore, lie may, although it is Sunday, fasten it to his land in such a way that he considers it won't break loose, whether the fastenings are old ropes or such as he cuts from the whale for the purpose. He is entitled to fasten it with strips (of skin) cut from the whale bent round some stock or stone. He may cut off the blubber. If pieces of the blubber or flesh break loose, and go ashore on another man's strand farther from the boundary-mark than a bow- shot, they belong to the owner of the land. If the whale breaks loose with the rope and drives on another man's strand, it belongs to the owner of the shore where the whale was first fastened, if only a bit of the rope remains on the land, and if the verdict pronounce that the whale was fastened in such a manner that it would have held if the same weather had continued. But if the finding of the inquest is that it would not have held, then it is as if the whale had never been fastened at all, and he who fastened it has no share in it" (ii. 213). The following points to a bit of Koine's work : " If a father baptizes his sick child, he shall not on that account be divorced from his wife (i.e., in spite of the spiritual relationship he has thus entered into with her.) 1 A boy of seven shall baptize a bairn if an adult is not to be had. None younger must do it unless he knows his Pater Noster and Credo. A female shall baptize if a male is not at hand, and there is the same penalty for a female as for a male if she does not know how to do it (namely, outlawry). A child must not be baptized again on account of the omission of 1 When Alfhild's child was bom, he knew would be acceptable to his 1024, and was baptized at once, as master, who had spent a year in being not likely to survive, Sigvat Rouen, and who took the Frankish the Scald ventured on naming it in emperor as his ideal. Things had im- tlie absence of St. Olaf, the father, proved since Norse Vikings had plun- He called it Magnus, after Charle- dered Charlemagne's grave at Aix, and ", "the best man upon earth" turned the mausoleum into a stable. (S. Olaf's Saga, c. 137), a name which Cf. G. Storm, Karlmagnus Saga, p. 12. ICELANDIC LAW. 397 any words or part of the ceremony, provided the child has been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and it became somewhat wet" (ii. 215). By sec- tion 268 ib. the permission to row out to fish or fowl on holydays is withdrawn ! But whence do we get the word ' law ' ? In Saxon it was ' ae ' for civil, and ' dom ' for criminal law ; the for- mer a most interesting word, signifying permanence. 1 But as has been extruded from our tongue, and dom (doom) nearly so. by 'law,' a Scandinavian word, which appeared first in the laws of Edward the Elder and Guthrum, in the word 'lan-slit' (c. 901), and reigns paramount in this land from the days of Ethelred the Unready, 2 signifying ' some- thing laid down and established,' as appears very clearly in the line of the old Edda, " baer log 16g-Su," " They (the Norns) laid down the laws" (Volsupa, 23). How interesting for us Englishmen to find that in the early heathen days of Iceland, when the law was oral and not written, there was an officer at the great Parliament of the Althing, the ' 16g-sogu-inao>,' the ' law-sayer,' the ' law- speaker,' who had to say from the Speaker's chair on the Lawhill what the law was in cases of doubt. That e.g., in the right of toll from vessels trading to Iceland, for the purpose of buying church vestments for that island : " all gainsayers to be denied Christian burial." Pope Innocent III. (Reate, 30 July 1198) permits the Bishop of Skalholt to buy falcons as his predecessors did, not for their own advantage, but for that of the Church. At the same time the Bishops are enjoined to correct the im- morality of the Icelanders. Yes, and what was worse, they 1 The sharp sound of th, e.g., in not of Old Northern hlood, yet from "thick," is only to be found in Eng- their close proximity to the North- land and Iceland. In fact, our pro- men most likely adopted their lingu- nunciation generally is very like that istic peculiarities; but, secondly, to of Scandinavia : due in the first the arrivals in later centuries from place perhaps to the Jutes, who, if the great Northern hive. 4 o6 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. had presumed to hold communion with Swerrir (a king, as Ave have seen, much cherished in his country's memory), " the excommunicate and apostate, the enemy of God and His saints." His dear Iceland is very remote, but he embraces it with the arms of affection. Its "peccata" would fill an immense page, " si ad unguem," &c. But this missive is only a foretaste (prselibatio) of what they would get if they did not amend their ways. He intends to return to the subject. The island lay far from Eome, but not too far, we see, for the long arms of the Jupiter on the Seven Hills to reach. If England groaned under the discipline of pen- ance, Iceland was not in clover. If our island abounded in Penitentials, prescribing suitable penance for all sorts of offences, civil as well as ecclesiastical, Iceland had, in the " Liber Peuitentialis " of Bishop Thorlak, a book of dread authority in such gear. Bell, book, and candle, that brimstone trio, were in full blast, emulating the belching sulphur pools of the soil. At a later period, the greater excommunication, a form of which, in Anglo- Saxon, is still extant (Schmidt, Laws, 422), was, under the name of " Bann," current also in Iceland (Historia Ecclesiastica Islandicoe, i. 115). On a given day, in the presence of clergy and laity, the Bishop, clad in full pon- tificals, standing at the altar, book in hand, imprecated the curse upon the head of the offender, there present. Both the ears of every one that heard must have tingled, their limbs quaked, and their hearts sunk within them, as the voice of the Bishop resounded through the edifice. Bells kept pealing at intervals, while the culprit was cursed, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, in all his members, asleep or awake, in his going out and coming in, and finally, his soul was bid perish in hell, as the light of the candle, plunged into a vessel of water by the episcopal hands, was there and then extinguished. A dread of the Church's anathema, fulminated by the Bishop, often brought additional security to his own private pro- MAPES, ARCHDEACON OF OXFORD. 407 perty. But, like the notice of " Man-traps and spring-guns set here," which once guarded our orchards, those behind the scenes would, in process of time, trouble little about it. The juggler, says a Chinese proverb, can't deceive the man who beats the gong. The founder of Norwich Cathedral, early in the twelfth century, had a plentiful stock of these weapons to hurl at the slayers of his deer. " I interdict them from entrance into the church and from the sacrament. May the curse and the excommunication rest upon them in their homes ; in the ways and in the fields, in the woods and in the waters, and in all places wheresoever they shall be found. May the flesh of those who have devoured my stag rot as the flesh of Herod rotted; may they have their portion with Judas, with Ananias and Sapphira, with Dathan and Abiram. Let them have the anathema maranatha, unless they shall come to a better mind, and make me some repa- ration. Amen. Amen. Amen." One thing, however, the Pope was never able to enforce in Scandinavia — the celi- bacy of the clergy. Many were the heart-burnings the odious yoke caused in England. The witty Archdeacon of Oxford, Mapes, tried what ridicule would do — " Prisciani regula penitus cassatur, Sacerdos per Hie et Hcec olim declinatur ; Sed per Hie solummodo nunc articulatur, Cum per nostrum prasulem Hcec amoveatur." That was a yoke which the Northern ecclesiastics, bishops and all, never would stoop to, and the common sense and spirit of independence of the laity upheld them in their contumacy. The marriage was a sort of Scotch one, with- out religious ceremony, and the ladies were called " adju- trices." But, apart from this, the Northern populations, lay and learned, were most submissive to the Papal stool. And no wonder, when we remember that the great ones of the earth were quite as voracious of eating humble-pie at Pome as their subjects. Our own Alfred as a child, Canute the murderer of Duncan, each in his season repaired thither, 4 oS ICELANDIC LITERATURE. fed the voluptuous cardinals, largessed the lazy beggars, 1 and got what they wanted, whether it was justice or injustice they sought, security in the possession of their plain rights, or absolution for abominable crimes. Non old, all was grist that came to this mill. But whv should the Northern barbarians complain? Were they not rescued by Eome from the dreary isolation of their woods and forests, their mountains and morasses, into the mellow light of Southern civilisation; were they not admitted within the pale of the great European commonwealth, and made, as it were, citizens of no mean city ? If the blood-stained Viking, as he stalked about Eome surveying in mute wonder its art glories, ever and anon felt his armlet was shorter by several links, and his purse much lighter than when he came thither, was he not, on the other hand, much lighter of heart, and the burden that weighed upon his conscience lifted clean off it by the clerical conjurors, just as easily as he used himself to lift the pack-saddle off his tired nag at the end of the day's journey among his Northern wastes ? But we must return to the " Diplomatarium." March i, 1206, in answer to a query of the Archbishop of Nidaros, whether, if a child is not likely to live and no water is at hand, it may be baptized rightly with spittle, the Pope's answer is, " One must be baptized with water and the Spirit, and there is no doubt that, if both or one of these are wanting, the baptism is not right." Further light is thrown on the demeanour assumed by the Popes to the laity of Iceland in the bull, March 1 206 : " If the priests shed blood, they are to be deposed from their office ; but those who kill such clerks shall sue for pardon at the Pope's residence." One document gives the names of bishops in Iceland of noble birth. A proof of the 1 1062. Duncan, king of Scotland, Eome. 1079. Macbeth is killed, and is killed (19 Calend. Septemb.) by his succeeded by Malcolm, son of Duncan general, Macbeth, who succeeded him (Latin Chronicle of Marianus Scotus, as king, and reigned seventeen years, from Vatican MS., ZSTo. 830: printed 1072. Macbeth, king of Scotland, dis- in Pertz, Mon._Germ. v. 556). tributed money among the poor at BISHOP THORLAK STUDIED AT LINCOLN. 409 learning of these islanders is afforded in the fact that, in the twelfth century, two of the four bishops in Norway were from Iceland (F. B., i. 205). There are also several chartularies, all in the vernacular, illustrative of the infant Church in Iceland. An order in Latin of our King Henry III., London, 23d August 1224 (Rolls Series, vol. i. pp. 1204 and 1224), empowers the governor of Yarmouth to admit free all merchant ships from Iceland and all fish ships. There are many proofs that, in the eleventh and twelfth centu- ries, there was an active intercourse between Iceland and England. Thus, from an order of the Althing, circa 1200, we learn that most of the garment stuffs for Iceland used to come from England. It is recorded of Bishop, after- wards Saint Thorlak, that he studied " much and usefully for himself and others at Lincoln," after he came from Paris (Biskupa Sogur, i. 127), 1 and that one Audunn (ibid., i. 357) had an image of him made and set up at Lynn, which he no doubt visited in the course of his trading voyages. It was most likely a votiva tabula, promised by him when he was in danger of shipwreck. This was circa 1 200-1 220. "One day an English clerk went into the Church of Lynn (al. Kynn) in England, and asked whose likeness that was. He was told it was the image of Thor- lak, bishop in Iceland. Then he, with great laughter and ridicule, went into a kitchen, took a sausage, came before the image, and held out the sausage with his right hand, and thus spoke mockingly to the image : ' Will you, suet- chap' (a nickname given by the Norwegians to the Ice- landers, who lived chiefly by flocks and herds), ' have a bit ? You are a suet-bishop.' After this he wished to go away, but could not move from the place whereon he stood with his hand rigidly clenched to the sausage. A number of people drove together to see the miracle, and asked how it came to pass ; whereupon he confessed his folly before all the bystanders, showed a true repentance, and begged 1 Copenhagen, 1858. 4 1 o ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. them to assist him in his prayers, and ultimately he got well again." One document indicates a source of revenue to the Ice- landic priest which had been, as we see from the sagas, a fruitful occasion of bloodshed in former days : we mean the driving of a whale ashore. In 1250 there is an agree- ment about the jetsam whales in the district under Thin- gore Monastery, up north. When a whale comes ashore, the monastery takes half, the other landholders half. In the royal right of quartering themselves and their retainers on the landholders, kings were alike in Norway and England. The right, which once pertained to them also in England, of the use of horses for themselves or their messengers, survives only in the compulsory postal service of Norway. But enough has been said to show that there is much that is attractive for students in the " Diplomatarium Islandicum," as well as in the correspond- ing Anglo-Saxon collection. The "Diplomatarium Norwegicum," Lange and Unger (Christiania, 1847), is also most interesting, and proves that, in the early days, the language spoken in Norway was still as pure as that of Iceland. The entry in it perhaps most interesting to an Englishman is that, i. 1 5 : A bull of Pope Gregory to the Archbishop of Nidaros (Trondjem), dated Viterbo, 1237 A.D., charging him to ex- tirpate the abuse (matrimony), and visit the offenders with ecclesiastical censure. But they set up in reply uninter- rupted custom. From mention made in Anglo-Saxon documents of the sons of bishops and clergy, Kemble argues that there were always secular clergy in England, who, braving the Papal rule, did marry and rear families. — Saxons in England, ii. 442. ( 4U ) CHAPTER XXII. ICELANDIC WIT COMPARED WITH ANGLO-SAXON. That our Saxon forefathers could relish wit, though perhaps of a somewhat ponderous character, is clear from passages in their writings. In " Beowulf," for instance, we have one Hunferth, a Northern Thersites, who makes some elaborate attempts at ridiculing the hero before the assembled com- pany, which he defeats with much dexterity. So again, there was a very old Anglo-Saxon version of the jesting German legend of " Solomon and Markolf r." l Contests of knowledge of this kind evidently found favour among our forefathers. The riddles in the Exeter Book are very interesting. In " Solomon and Markolfr," the latter sets Solomon hard questions. The wit of the thing, if wit it can be called, seems to have consisted in not being posed, and in having an answer ready for every question. Here is a specimen: — " Q. Tell me what was Adam's name made of ? A.I tell thee it was made of four stars. Q. Tell me what they were called ? A. I tell thee, Arthox, Dux, Arotholem, Minsymbrie," a bit of quadruple gibberish which finds its interpretation in the Icelandic Elucidarius (Annalar f. Nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1878, p. 62). "Adam took his name from the four quarters of the world in the Greek tongue : — East, West, North, and South, which in Greek are Anatole (A), Dysis (D), Arctos (A), Mesembria (M)." We further learn that the forbidden fruit of which Adam 1 See Mr. Kemble's edition, 1848, composition redolent with heathen- published by the JSAh'\c Society. The ism, and is clearly of long descent, poetic "Salomon and Saturn" is a 4 1 2 ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. tasted was that of the fig-tree. It was on a Friday, and for his disobedience he was put in hell for 5228 winters. Equally facetious or infacetious is the following, a passage which derives its main interest from its resem- blance to the Edda myth of the world being made out of the giant Ymer's body : — " Q. Of what material was Adam, the first man, made ? A. Of viii. pounds' weight. Q. What were they ? A. First, there was a pound of earth : of that was his flesh wrought ; next there was a pound of fire : hence was his blood red and hot; the third was a pound of wind: thence he got breath; the fourth was a pound of welkin : thence came his inconstancy of mood ; the fifth was a pound of grace : thence he got fat and growth ; the sixth was a pound of blossoms : thence he got the variety of his eyes; the seventh was a pound of dew : thence he got sweat ; the eighth was a pound of salt : thence his tears were salt." This and other answers were perfect flies in amber, worth preserving for all time, and accordingly they appear in " The Maister of Oxinford and his Scholar," dating from the reign of Henry V. (vide "Beliquise Antiquse "). With equal wisdom we are informed that Adam was 116 inches long, and that the wives of Noah, Ham, and Japhet respectively were called Dalila, Jaitarecta, and Catafluvia ; each, however, had an alias, viz., Olla, Ollina, and Ollibana. The monk, or who- ever he was, who gave us this version of " Solomon and Markolfr," treats us to fresh facts in natural history, e.g., ' The reason why stones are barren is that when Cain slew his brother with the jawbone of an ass, his blood fell upon a stone." Item : " There are 54 kinds of fowls, and 26 kinds of fishes ; " and " the sun is red in the evening because it faces hell." Lastly, " The sea is salt because Moses cast the two tables of stone into it, and also poured his salt tears therein." 1 Verily this is poor stuff. Of Attic salt, at all events, it is quite destitute. This taste for riddles, the amusement of most nations in their early days, crops 1 Cf. Halliwell's " Popular Songs." " DEMAUNDES JOYOUS:' 413 up again later in such delectable scraps as the " Demaundes Joyous," abridged from a very rare French tract of the same title in the British Museum, a copy of which is in the Public Library of the University of Cambridge, re- printed by Mr. Kemble (ib. p. 2S5), and which we cannot resist quoting. 1 Here is a sample : — " Dernaunde. Which is the brodest water, and leest jeopardye to passe over ? A. The dewe. Dernaunde. What thynge is it that never was nor never shall be ? A. Never mouse made her neste in a catte's ere. Dernaunde. Why dooth a dogge tourne him thryes aboute or that he lyeth hym doune ? A. Bycause he knoweth not his beddes hede from the fete." " Tush ! " says Mr. Tyler ; " it is a survival of his ancestor, the wild dog, who before lying down went round and round first to flatten the grass." "Dernaunde. W r hy dryve men dogges out of the chyrche ? A. Because they come not up to offre. Dernaunde. W r hy come dogges often to the chyrche 1 A. Because whan they see the aulter covered, they wene theyr maysters goo thydere to dyner. 2 Dernaunde. Which e ben the moost profytable sayntes in the chyrche ? A. They that stande in the glasse wyndowes, for they kepe out the wynde for wastynge of the lyghte." One of the straws, this last, that betoken which way the wind was setting, soon to increase into a tempest, and which burst upon Europe in the shape of the Reformation. The " saints," once a word to conjure with in England, a spell which in its days of ignorance and simplicity had enthralled the nation, and now in vulgar estimation only fit "to stop a chink to keep the wind away!" Our specimens shall close with one more riddle, also indicative of that decay of reverence which was abroad. "Dernaunde. What people be tho that getethe theyr lywynge moost merylyest ? A. Tho be prestes and fullers, for one syngeth and the other daunceth." 1 Reliquiae Antiquse, ii. 73. 2 This reminds one of the canine part of a Scotch congregation in Dean Iiamsay's book. 4 1 4 ICELANDIC LIT ERA TURE. " Thus endeth the Demaundes Joyous, imprynted at Lon- don in Flete Strete, at the sygnne of the sonne, by me Wyn- kyn de Worde. In the yere of our Lorde mccccc and xi." x In Scandinavia also trials of wit and wisdom were, from the very earliest times, as popular as feats of strength and skill in arms. Capping verses and setting riddles were a common amusement. Of this we have evidence in the Edda and the sagas. The choice dialogue between Solomon and Saturn finds its counterpart in the famous flyting between Thor and the ferryman in the " Harbard's Ljod " of the Old Edda. The mention of this poem calls to mind a subject of much interest. Both in the Old and New Edda, which, as we have seen, contain our only account of the Scandina- vian deities, we have, strange to say, passages, nay, whole poems, the object of which can be nought else than to hold up these very gods to ridicule. The explanation offered by some for this phenomenon is that such poems were composed by the first Christians as a weapon against Aser-worship and its follies. Others attribute them to heathen free-thinkers, whose good sound natural sense, without the light of Christianity, as had been the case in the classic nations, had taught them to perceive the inner contradictions of their religion, its confusion of the human and divine, and the limited power of those whom they worshipped. So they wanted to get rid of the supersti- tious elements that had crept in, and to effect this they made a joke of its absurdities. 2 But, in opposition to both these theories, we must remember that though in these poems the gods do get placed by their enemies, the giants, in painful and laughable plights, yet, never- theless, they always in the end retrieve their position, and get out of the mess with honour. So that these poems could hardly have been the work of Christians, and of those whose aim it was, not merely to discredit Aser- worship, but to abolish it entirely. They would have laid 1 Reliquiae Antiquae, ii. 72 sqq. 2 Keyser, Efterladte Skrifter, p. 140. THE GODS RIDICULED. 415 the axe at the very root of the tree. Odin, like Moloch, would have fled, Thor hidden his diminished head, or rather Valhalla would have fallen down flat over the heads of its potentates, crushing them utterly and for ever ; and this would have been effected, not by the race of giants, whom the early Christians regarded as the counterparts of devils, i.e., the very co-workers, as they be- lieved, and yoke-fellows in evil, of these waning powers, but by the Babe of Bethlehem, or some angel of might, or canonised saint. One of these would have been chosen to annihilate the damned crew. Is it not better, then, to look on these poems, so face- tious at the expense of the deities, as pure freaks, out- breaks of the droll humour of the Northman ; a sudden step on his part from the sublime to the ridiculous ; the mocking echo of Nature's voice at her grandest; a case of "medio de fonte leporum surgit amari aliquid" read backwards ; one of those inscrutable contradictions in our being which makes misery jeer at itself and death turn punster? Shakespeare once and again touches on this odd mental phenomenon — " How oft when men are at the point of death Have they been merry." That daring paradox of Jean P. Eichter, that no man believes his own creed thoroughly till he can afford to jest upon it, may be mentioned here. Tins quaint juxta- position of things naturally lying toto ccelo asunder is to be found in many shapes. The mighty master employs it with great effect in Caliban, whose brutal grossness and unreason enhance the moral worth and kingly dignity of Prospero, and the innocence of that type of unspoilt woman- hood, Miranda : and again, in the fool in " Lear," whose wild babblings amid the storm serve to "gauge the horrors of the scene." Again, in your Gothic minster, with its arches soaring heavenward, the whole conceived apparently in the highest spirit of Christian reverence, we often stumble upon some impish form, laughing, as it were, in his sleeve, 4 i 6 ICELANDIC LIT ERA TURE. and treating the whole affair as a joke. 1 " Dulce est desipere in loco." True, but surely, some would argue, this was not the locality for it. But they forget the old saying, " Extremes meet," and always will. But the most appo- site illustration of this tendency is to be found in ancient Greece, where, side by side with the august solemnities of tragedy, the old comedy indulged in extreme license, running a-muck at gods and men alike. A phenomenon which has been explained on the principle that gods as well as men were subordinate to Nemesis, and wished, by such sacrifices of dignity, to appease her awful power. " The mighty awful gods, ah ! to be sure ! But how would they comport themselves if they got into such straits, a fix so inextricable, as sometimes befalls poor me ? Surely they would act pretty much as you or I." But no ; the gods are omnipotent. By their inherent might they over- come all opposition, and emerge from the struggle brighter and more glorious than ever. But the question then arises, which must be answered in the affirmative, Would not these probings of the Asers' weaknesses, this laying bare of the limbs of their power, shake and undermine at last their influence over men's minds, in the same way as sly raps at the foibles of the great, jocular criticism of time- honoured institutions, will often effect their downfall, although the prime agent, in his wantonness, never dreamt of such a catastrophe ? Piegarded in this light, then, these poems would, in the order of Providence, have paved the way for the reception of Christianity ? In the " Harbard's Lay " we have a case in point. The mighty god Thor is, as usual, the laughing-stock of the nonce : a greater than Samson — whom, by the by, a modern writer has elevated into a sun-god — shorn, and as other 1 Canon Kingsley was once observed doubtless, such carvings had a very to start in the middle of Divine ser- real meaning. An old legend of St. vice at Chester Cathedral. His eye Cuthbert describes a grotesque piece had caugbt sight of a monkey in the of such ecclesiastical sculpture, viz., midst of the crockets of one of the a monk turned into a fox for stealing canopies! — Life, ii. 412. Sometimes, cheese. — Hardy, p. xxv. THOR AT THE FERRY. 4i7 men. Though usually the god gets well out of the scrape with might unscathed, as a god should do, yet here he does not. He is baffled, laughed at, thoroughly whipped. And why? It is not a giant whom he copes with, but Odin himself, who appears under the guise of Harbard = ' shaggy beard,' which is, in fact, one of Odin's names else- where. 1 Thor has been " faring east," i.e., against the giants, and arrives at a ferry. " Halloo ! Boat ahoy ! " " Boatman, do not tarry, And I'll give thee a silver pound To row me o'er the ferry." But being Thor, and not the Highland chieftain, he hailed somewhat differently — " Who is that slave of slaves That stands yon side the Sound ? " Harbard answers — Who is that churl of churls That halloos over the water ? Thor. Now ferry me over the Sound, For a fee, your morning'smeal; A basket I've on my back, With meat in it of the best. Thor asks who is the owner of Harbard. Hildolf is he hight, Bade me keep to this side, And no cattle-lifters Row over, or horse-thieves ; Good people alone, And those I'm acquaint with. Now tell me thy name Since vou list to fare over. Harbard. You don't seem to me To be any great shakes ; Barefoot you go, and are clad like a tramp ; You've not even got your breeches. the boat. Thor. I'm Odin's son, Brother of Meili, And father to Main. The gods' doughty defender, With Thor you are talk- inf This now will I speer, What your name might be 1 1 Grimnismal, iv. 9. The mysteri- ous skipper in the Anglo-S ixou poem "Andreas," in reality God Almighty in disguise, indicates that its Christian author (Grimm suggests that it was Aldhelm) had appropriated a leading character of the old heathen ballad poetry, the god Odin or Woden. So the resuscitation of " Andreas," when left for dead, is a reminiscence of another Edda myth, the slain Hedin and his men restored to life each morning by the enchantress Hilda. 2 D 4 1 S 1CELA NDIC LITER A TURK. Harbard. For your jeering words Harbard am I bight ; If I get o'er the Sound. 1 ne'er bide my name. Thor Harbard. Foul shame it meseems Here I'll take my stand To wade over to thee And bide ; never tougher And wet all my dinner ; Have you customer had I'll pay you, you bantling, Since Hrungnir fell dead." 1 The mention of the giant with a stone head, whom Thor slew, leads him to ask what Harbard was doing then. They now each in turn boast of their exploits. Thor brags of his deeds among the giants and trolls ; Harbard of his disreputable adventures among the fair sex, and his share in mortal strife of which he himself was the stirrer-up. At last the Thunderer gives it up as a bad job and retires with a parting shot at his reviler. Won't he serve him out the next time they meet ! But Harbard gets the last word — " Just take yourself off, And the trolls take the whole of you." The merit of the piece consists in the description and contrast of the character of the two gods as conceived by the popular imagination — Thor simple-minded and strong, and the shrewd and crafty Odin ; the one the defender of earth, and man living on it, from all disturbing and devas- tating natural powers — in a word, the patron of peaceful, industrious peasant life; the other in the character so suitable to the warlike instincts developed among his worshippers, as the god of war, ever on the look-out for fresh company in Valhalla, for new recruits to his phan- tom battalions against the inevitable day when the powers of evil will be loose and Fenris Wolf break his chain, and as such, no friend of peaceful agricultural pursuits — " The Jarls they are Odin's, In battle who fall ; The Thralls they belong to Thor." 1 Prose Edda, 57; see "Lexicon Mythologicum." THOR AND ODIN. 419 Slain warriors are Odin's fit associates ; Thor must be fobbed off with those who subsist by the sweat of their brow. The keynote of the old poem then seems to be the opposition between the life of the peasant and the warrior. The author was, perhaps, a warlike Viking, and worshipper of Odin as his patron deity, whose religious susceptibilities were wounded at hearing Trior's name made the theme of so many panegyrics, especially in Norway. ( 4^0 ) CHAPTEE XXIII. ICELANDIC WIT CONTINUED. But to return to the subject of riddles. In the " Vafpru- gnismal," Odin, in the disguise of a traveller, Gangradr, visits the wisest and strongest of the race of the giants. After an interchange of compliments, the two worthies begin posing each other with riddles. The guessing seems equally matched on both sides, till at last Odin puts a query which he alone was able to solve, and the giant submits to the stern penalty of death which awaited defeat. In a very ancient poem in the "Hervarar Saga" (cap. xv.), one Gest the Blind, otherwise Odin, sets King Heidrek no less than thirty-two riddles at a sitting. One of them is — " Four gang, Four hang, Two show the way, Two ward off dogs, One trails behind, And is dirty ever and aye." Answer, " Cow." Which, if not others, is well known in Thelemarken at the present day. 1 There is a famous Danish ballad, in several versions, " Svend Vonwed," 2 the remote date of which comes out most strongly in its pointed resemblance to the old Edda, both in incidents and in identical words — the last a very important archaeological clue. In this ballad 1 See " Oxonian in Thelemarken," ii. 215. 2 Gruudtvig's Danske Volkeviser, 18. RIDDLES. 421 again we have a good illustration of what, from the days of the son of Manoah downwards, was always a favourite pastime for the folks from those Eastern countries in the early stages of their civilisation — the setting and guessing of riddles. Witness the " hard questions " with which the Queen of Sheba " proved " the Oriental sage. Witness Ezekiel's riddle of " the great eagle, long- winged, and full of feathers." The Anglo-Saxon learned men, Aldhelm, Alcuin, Archbishop Tatwin, and such like, were fond of making them. The knight on his travels encounters a tall herdsman on a mountain-top, and commences posing him as follows : — " What is rounder than a wheel ? Where is kept the merriest Yule 1 What wears its beard upon its back ? What wears a nose beneath its chin ? What is blacker than a sloe 1 What is fleeter than the roe 1 Which of bridges is the broadest ? What to mortals is the loathest 1 " The answers to which are — the sun, heaven (Valhalla), peewit, troll, sin, mind, ice, toad. Now all this seems a very simple and frivolous affair, mere child's-play ; but surely nothing is insignificant that contributes to the true history of man's culture when just emerging from the childhood of his race. There is an archaeology even in the playroom. But what more interests an Englishman is to find like productions evidently descended from the same antique stock in his own country at the present day. Such is the Christmas Carol (Jameson, ii. 155) — " What is louder than a horn 1 What is sharper than a thorn '? What is broader than the way ? What is deeper than the sea ? " Such, again, is the " Four Sisters," a North Country ballad, partly perhaps of the fourteenth century x — 1 Cf. Halliwell's "Popular Rhymes," &c, 1849, p. 150. 422 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. " I have four sisters beyond the sea, Ami they did send four presents to me. The first it was a bird without e'er a bone ; The second was a cherry without e'er a stone ; The third it was a blanket without e'er a thread ; The fourth it was a book which no man could read." Then follow the answers to the above riddles — " When the bird's in the shell, there is no bone ; When the cherry's in the bud, there is no stone ; When the blanket's in the fleece, there is no thread ; When the book is in the press, no man can read. Para mara dictum Domine." The last line at all events points to a later date for its composition. Compare with this " Captain Wedderburn's Courtship " a — " Oh, I must have to my supper A cherry without a stone ; And I must have to my supper A chicken without a bone ; And I must have to my supper A bird without a ga' ; Before I lie in your bed, Either at stock or wa'," &c. Of the same kith and kin is the humorous ballad of King John and the Abbot of Canterbury. 2 King John sends for the abbot, and swears he shall die or solve three riddles. Three weeks' respite are allowed, during which the abbot takes counsel of the most learned men in Ox- ford and Cambridge, but all to no purpose. In this strait his herdsman undertakes to go to London in his stead and solve the riddles, which he does and succeeds. The mere idea of setting riddles referring to everyday objects in nature w T ould be so natural a recreation that we nmy well imagine, says Grundtvig, this kind of composition to have been at home in many countries at once, without the necessity of suggesting that they are due to tradition. Sometimes, however, it is clear that tradition must have 1 Ilulliwell, ibid. 2 Percy's Eelics, ii. 306, ed. 1767. SVEND VONWED RESEMBLES KILHWCH. 423 been at work, as in the remarkable likeness in all the inci- dents of Svend Vonwed's ballad — his ride over the moor, his talk with the shepherd on the hill, his gift to him of a gold ring for guessing the riddles — with those of an old Celtic ballad, 1 where Kilhwch, King Arthur's relative, does duty for Vonwed. If this extraordinary resemblance is the result of tradition, says Grundtvig, to explain the way in which the tradition passed is a riddle harder of solution than any in the ballad. This poem, in fact, is heroic-mythic in its origin. The meeting of the shepherd on the hill is a frequent feature of the old Edda (cf. " Skir- nismal " and " prymskviga "). Again, in " Alvismal," the sun is called by the elves ' fair-wheel.' The second an- swer above (p. 420), ' heaven,' must originally have been ' Valhalla,' where mirth could seldom Hag, so stin^in^ (vafenginn) was the mead at Yule-tide. Indeed, the very meaning of Yule 2 is mirth and jollity, and Odin himself was called ' Joiner,' as the host of the occasion. Then for ' ice,' the seventh answer, that riddle must appertain to a very hoary antiquity, for in the old Eunic alphabet, ' Ice is the broad bridge,' is the descriptive jingle appended to the Eunic letter | ; pretty much as in our " Tom Thumb's Alphabet for Children " — " I was an innkeeper, and loved to bouse ; J was a joiner, who built a house." But there are other still more striking coincidences be- tween the poem and bits of the " Grimnismal," placing the Eddaic source of it beyond all doubt, but which we have not space to enter into more at large. Of course, we might expect to meet, as we do, with a very similar ballad in Norway and the Faroes. 3 It occurs in an old German poem, full of riddles from end to end, extant in a MS. of the fourteenth century, " Trougemundslied." 1 Mabinogion, ii. 271. Cf. Skene's "Four Ancient Books of Wales," i. 535, Riddle on the Wind. - Grimm derives it from Hjol, a wheel. :; Bugge, Norske Volkeviser, p. 369; Hamarshairnb Fajroi.ske Kvajder. 424 ICELANDIC L1TERA TURE. Above we have seen why, according to the Anglo-Saxon •• Salomon," the sea was salt. Contrast with this the reason for the same phenomenon told in the weird old Scandina- vian tale of King Prodi's quern. We have it in the " Lay of Grotti," or the « Mill Song," in the old Edda, already mentioned ; but it is given with a prose preface in Snorri's •■ Skalda" (i. 378). " There was a king of Denmark descended from Odin, Prodi, the son of Fridleif. He was the most powerful monarch of the North. In his times nobody harmed another ; there was no thief or robber, so that a gold ring lay on Jalanger heath for a long time, and none meddled with it. King Frodi went to a festival in Sweden, to which he was bidden by King Fjolnir. While there he bought two female slaves, Fenia and Menia. 1 They were mickle and strong. At this time there were in Denmark two millstones so mickle that nobody was strong enough to turn them. These stones had the property of grinding anything that the grinder bade them. This hand-mill was called Grotti. Hangjaw was his name who gave the kincj the quern. King Frodi had the bondwomen led to the quern, and bade them grind gold and peace and prosperity for Frodi. He gave them no longer time to rest or sleep than the cuckoo was silent or a catch mi^ht be sumj. Then they sang, it is said, the song called the " Mill Song," and before they stopped singing they ground an army against Frodi ; so that the same night came the sea-king, hight Mysing, and slew Frodi and took great booty. Then Frodi's peace ended." In the early stanzas given on p. 400 they have just arrived at Frodi's court and begun to grind. They prolong their chant, and afford us glimpses of their early history. " Since then we two, Smashed we shields, In Sweden's land, Broke through and through Both of us fore-wise, The grey-sarked line ; Lived among men ; Cast down one king, Baited we hears, Set up a second ; 1 See Lexicon My thologicum Veteris Eddse, s. v. "Menia." THE END OF KING FRODI. To good Guthorni Ministered help ; There was no rest Till Knui fell. " Still we held on All those years ; Gained in battles Mighty renown. There we started With sharp javelins Blood from the wounds, Reddened the brand. " Now are we come To a king's halls, All unpitied, treated as slaves; Mud corrodes our feet, Cold are our limbs, Whirl Ave the strife-queller ! 'Tis a sad life at Frodi's. " Rest should our hands, The stone stand still ; Enough and to spare, I've my part done ; But to my hands No repose comes, Till Frodi deems enough Milling we've done. " Still must our hands Ply the hard twirling pins, Bathed in blood. Rouse thee, then, Frodi ! Rouse thee, then, Frodi ! And thou wilt hear Our songs, Our ancient lore ! " Fire I see burning East of the burgh, Presage of slaughter, Beacon, I ween ; Come will an army Here in a trice, And fire the halls Of Frodi the king. " Shalt thou no longer Hold Leidra's throne ; Neither red rings nor Heaven-high halls ? Twirl we the handle, 1 Sharp, wench, sharper, We are unsprinkled with Blood of the slain." " My father's daughter Right gaily ground, For she saw many men Doomed to die ; Huge stones, hooped With iron, are flying Off from the quern-bed. Grind with a will ! Grind faster, faster ! " Ground on the maidens, Put forth their might ; Maidens ferocious With giant strength. Quivered the handles, Down dropt the quern-props, Sundered the heavy Millstones in twain. " But the mill-ogre's Bride, she screech'd out : Ground have we, Frodi, All that we dare ; Ground have the maids, Enough and to spare. Mysing carried away with him in his ship the mill and the two goblin grinders, and bade them grind salt, and at midnight they speered whether he was not tired of salt, and he bade them grind on. They ground a little longer, when down went the Viking's ship, and ever after there 1 0. N. Mondul q. mundull, from mund = manus = hand. 426 ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. was a whirlpool in the sea, where it is falling into the Grotti's eye. That made the sea salt. Header, did you ever cross the Pentland Firth on the road to " the storm- tossed Orcades " ? Then mayhe you have seen that whirl- pool, so dangerous to the mariner, the Swelkie, in which Hacon lost one of his ships on his retreat from Largs, 1 Octoher 29, 1263, where the sea roars and pours down into the gurgling gullet. That is the spot where the wonder millstones went down, turned by the hand of those maidens. In this fable we see an allusion to the stormy ocean, which, millstone-like, ground the stones and shells into the fine white sand now strewing the beach. So that, in fact, those ghostly viragos were a couple of iEgir's nine daugh- ters, the god of the sea, who are evermore busy in their father's mill. In the fragment of Snaebjorn's poem of the tenth century cited by Snorri, 2 the sea-shore is called " the flour-bin of Amlodi," i.e., the flour-bin of the idiot. For such a person might very well, when he saw the white sea-sand, call it the flour of the sea-mill. Saxo, 250 years later, puts words to this effect in the mouth of the sham natural, Hamlet, Amlodi (lib. iii.). The courtiers had told him that a wolf he met in the forest was a young colt. They next bring him to the sea-shore, and tell him that the sand is flour. " Quite so," said Amlethus, " ground by the stormy sea." Here, then, we are able to trace the royal Dane of Shakespeare to an obscure Icelandic poem, for Saxo himself tells us that he got his story from the oral traditions of the Icelanders. The fact that in Ice- landic the words for meal and sand are almost the same, may serve to throw some light on this old story. There is another tale in the Prose Edda, the incidents of which resemble those in a passage in the "Merchant of Venice." Loki had made a bet with the dwarf Brokr. The Aser had to decide, and they pronounced Loki to have 1 Munch, Chronicon Mannise, 127. - Prose Edda, i. 328, which is more elaborate, and therefore more modern, than the tale in the old Edda. Keyser, V. S., 229. KVASIR'S FATE A CAUTION. 427 lost. The stake was Ms head. He offered a money com- pensation, but the dwarf was obdurate. No money would he take,, and prepared to decapitate the god. He will have nothing but the prescribed penalty. But the astute Loki interposes. " My head, yes, but not my neck, is yours. Soft, no haste. He shall have nothing but the penalty." * Clearly your Northman was not deficient in humour. Witness Thor's search for the hammer, and his somewhat coarse adventures in his journey to the abode of Geirrod. Very amusing also is the tale told by Snorri of the dread result of over-cramming and the awful end of the sufferer. Among their other devices we are told the Asir formed a person called Kvasir, 2 who became so clever that no question could be proposed to him which he was not able to solve ; and he traversed the whole world teaching wisdom. But merit, then as now, excited envy ; and two dwarves, a race always proverbial for spite, set upon him unawares and slew him. His blood they caught in a vessel, mixed it with honey, and so brewed a liquor which renders all who drink of it good poets. Meantime the gods, missing their offspring, of whom they were so justly proud, inquired of the dwarves what was become of him. The assassins boldly replied — and the gods, for aught we know to the contrary, accepted the explanation — that Kvasir had been suffocated by his own knowledge, be- cause he could not meet with persons able to ease and disembogue his mind of the wisdom there accumulated, by proposing to him such learned questions as were necessary 1 According to the latest accounts, a jar in token of amity. The result Ceneda, a Jew, lost a bet to a Chris- was Kvasir. Here we see the origin tian, one Secchi, the stakes being of the North Country practice of spit- 1000 scudi to a pound of the Jew's ting into your hat for good-luck. The flesh. The Christian insisted on hav- crooked sixpence which lurks at the ing the flesh. The Jew appealed to bottom of many a breeches' pocket, the Governor of Venice, and he to the is a remnant of the piece of money Pope, who sentenced them both to bent over the sick man in Anglo- the galleys. Saxon days, and which on his re- 2 The Aser and Vanir on conclud- covery he carried as an offering to ing a peace spat simultaneously into the church. 4 2S ICE LA NDIC LITER A TURE. to his relief. It is a pity that there was no Vulcanian midwife, or Civil Service Examiner, at hand to do for Kvasir what was done with Jupiter, to his great comfort and speedy recovery, when he was similarly afflicted. Were these two myths descended from some common ancestry ? The reader will be happy to learn that this piece of astute villany got wind ; the brew aforesaid fell into Odin's hands. This was how he became so skilful a poet, and this was why poetry came to be called the language of the Then I missed my way ; " Knowest thou hast a friend Was rich, methought, Whom thou well canst trust. When a friend I found ; And wilt get good from him ? 'Tis man that gladdeneth man. Thy thoughts shalt thou hlend with his " Hast thou a friend And with him gifts exchange, 1 Tll0U wel1 canst trust ? Often to visit him go. Fare thee to him often "> With bush o'ergrown " Hast thou another And lofty weeds Whom thou ill canst trust ? Is the way that no man treads." Wilt thou get good from him 9 But no age, no country, or literature has ought better to show than the last saw we shall quote from this poem — " Dieth foe, But good name Dieth friend, It dieth never, Dieth too oneself, Once thou hast it gained." Christianity may shrug the shoulder at some of these sayings, but in the main they evince a lofty tone of mind, 1 Cf. the old saw, " Giffe-gaffe was a good fellow." 2 " Speake faire and think what you will."— Old English Proverb. NORTHERN WIT AND HUMOUR. 431 much sound sense, and an abundance of life and energy among the people where they grew into a whole. 1 But to judge of the wit and humour of the Scandin- avians, we must read their literature. It is there in the rich setting that we become aware of the full beauty and wit of their sayings and saws ; and not in a book of pro- verbs, where we are left in the dark about the original context, the occasion, the company, the features of the locality, which led to the impromptu. A brick out of the wall or a fragment of moulding fails to give us a notion of what the fine old building looked like. To come sud- denly on a saw pat to the purpose, as, for instance, when Arinbjorn with his"nattvig ero mordvig" — three words only to be given in English by the roundabout " to put a man to death at night is murder " — deters Eric, ruler of Northumberland, from his fell purpose of slaying on the spot the huge Viking poet Egil. Or again, a proverb in the mouth of a Njal is a very different thing from meeting it away from its proper belongings in the two- volume edition of " Icelandic Proverbs." 2 But we will mention a few, remarking that, as with us, every proverb seems to have its counter-proverb. Step-mothers, of course, are in bad odour in the North as elsewhere. This is quaint : — "A step-child will never get so well into the bosom but that the feet will hang out." "Wit comes with waxing "= S. Weller's "width and wisdom," or "You can'tput an old head on young shoulders;" and it is well it is so, for " Wise children never wax old." That " the boy gets bigger, but not his breeches," was a fact not unknown to Cyrus. " Blood goes far, but breeding farther," says much for the enlightenment of the Northern heathens. " Better one crow in the hand than two in the wood " is more definite than our modern English counterpart. 1 Keyser, Efterlatlte Skrifter, Christiania, 1866. 2 Safn af Islenzkum Oi'&skviftuin, Copenhagen, 1830. 432 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. " Ale is another man" is a motto picturing to us the man disguised in liquor more vividly than "When the wine's in the wit's out." It might well serve as a badge for the Tem- perance League. In the " Havamal" (12) there is also a fine ii"ure. "The heron of oblivion hight the bird that broods over the drunkard and steals away his senses." The poet doubtless had his eye on that frequent feature in a Scan- dinavian landscape — one of these birds, standing stock- still for hours as if in deep slumber, rooted to the shore of one of his native lakes. In " Though the spoon has taken it up, the tongue has not tasted it," we recognise an old friend. " The best muck is the mould that falls from the master's shoes " is a saying which every practical farmer will appreciate. It is not unlike our " The master's eye maketh the horse fat." '"Tis hard to have the needy for neighbours," for " where the goat's tethered, there the goat gnaws," was of course only a pre-Christian sentiment. " Love your neighbour, but let his gate stand still," is not unlike another, " Seldom-come is welcome." Both must have originated in a year of famine. " Men's odds is not great," reminds us of Burns's " A man's a man for a' that ; " while " No man makes him- self" seems to contradict the existence of that special phenomenon of our age — the self-made man. From " They can't all have the Bishop for their uncle," we surmise that in Iceland an episcopal berth was pretty snug. "He falls not from the roof who lies on the floor" (Pilgrim's Progress) is a sop for those of lowly estate, who are told elsewhere "that the lower must lout." "Wisdom may be hid, wit-want not," and "It's hard to hunt for one's wits," are the sayings of a quick and ready people. Never was truer proverb than " Soothsaying is wise man's weening." ICELANDIC PROVERBS. 433 "The haddock never wanders so wide it hasn't the same spot by its side," is the saw of a maritime race, who had found out, like us, that " what is bred in the bone is never out of the flesh." That " It is hard to bring many heads under one hat " most chairmen must have found out. " Man's list is not land's law " is pithy in the extreme. " Healing sores should not be riven " = " Don't rouse sleeping dogs." " He who lives awaiting dies with wanting " corresponds with " It is ill waiting for dead men's shoes." " Mighty near my nose, as the seal said when he was hit in the eye," reminds us that the nose is the vulner- able part of that animal. " Many tell of St. Olaf who never saw him " has a local colouring, but is true all the world over. The English counterpart is, " Many speake of Eobin Hood that never shot in his bowe." That consolatory proverb, " When wale is best, bote is nest," in its Scandinavian original was " J>egar bol er hsest er bot naest." " Home is home, though it be never so homely," occurs in " Havamal" (37), " Where wolf's ears are, wolf's teeth are near," 1 is highly characteristic of the country and that age of violence. " It is easy getting into the king's house, but hard get- ting out " (Egil, cap. 7 1 ), is a saw which shows that in those days the king's notions of meum and tuum were necessarily somewhat lax. For the sake alike, then, of his purse and his liberty, the udaller knew it was better " to hear the lark sing than the mouse cheep," to stay at home in simple country quarters rather than f reorient a royal hall which might at any moment become a dungeon. " Too bland is a blemish, too gruff greater," is a multum in parvo. The other shape, " Good words won't fill a fast- ing wame " = our " Soft words butter no parsneps," a proverb which requires explanation. Objectively it is 1 Volsung Saga, cap. 19. 2 i: 434 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. true, but subjectively it is the most efficacious way to thrive. We know without the aid of the public analyst that the article is adulterated ; but we swallow it whole- sale, deleterious though it be ; " Populus vult decipi et deci- piatur," and that in spite of the Psalmist's plain caution, " With the flatterers are busy mockers." " Havamal " (25) renders it thus, " In the eyes of the unwise all assenters are friends, but when he gets into court he finds his mis- take." " The kettle banters the pot, and black they are both," shows whence comes our homely English equivalent. "'Tis fox that fox shall fetch (catch)" — " Set a thief to catch a thief," has been fully realised in quite modern days, and on a grand scale in our metropolis. " It is merely a transition, said the fox when they flayed him alive," is an observation attributed in England to the eel. " The meanest guest has keenest eye " is well under- stood by all, especially by the entertainers of poor rela- tions. " Eolk are found even over the Fells " is the remark of a people who had seen the world. " Many meet who made no tryst " appeals to the expe- rience of all the ages. " Bad will not be good till worse comes after" reminds us of "In the country of the blind a one-eyed man is king." " Thanks are good, but a gift is better," is full of worldly wisdom. " You must aim at the bird before you can get him "=: " Nothing venture, nothing have." " Faint heart never won fair lady " is of course found in the North as well as elsewhere, by way of encouragement to those lords of creation who are so fearful of their fate, or of so small deserts, that they dare not put it to the test either of winning or losing all. " One must cultivate the oak under which one has to ICELANDIC PROVERBS. yjo live " = to make the best of a bad job (Egil, c. 71), or to establish a modus vivendi with those among whom we live. Again, in "Harbard's Ljod" (21), "The oak gets what another tree loses " = " One man's meat is another man's poison." Some of the legal saws and maxims are particularly terse, but they lose in transference, the alliteration being absent. Such is the famous motto, " With laws shall man build up the land, with unlaw lay it waste " l (Njal) ; " One witness is nought, two as good as ten ; " " Landmarks are neighbours' peacemakers," &c. 1 Written over the Court of Law in Copenhagen. ( 436 ) CHAPTER XXV. ICELANDIC AND DANISH BALLADS. In this rapid survey of the literature of Iceland, as com- pared with that of the Anglo-Saxons, we must not omit the ballads (I. fornkvceSi, D. Keempeviser). In the Stur- lunga Saga, 1 which is a most interesting history of Ice- land in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, besides some lines from the " Voluspa," there are two bits of ballads (danz) preserved, one of a.d. 1221, and one referring to the year 1 264, which are exactly of the same metre and flow as that of the modern ballads. 2 Many of the burdens of these are of great beauty, and may be centuries older than the ballads to which they are affixed. They refer to lost love, merriment, &c. The historical ballads seem to have been of later growth. For seven hundred years were these ballads sung in Iceland as an accompaniment to the dance at their country wakes, in spite of the bishops, who endeavoured to put them down ; and it was only in the last century that they died out, about the time that Percy's "Eelics" were published in England (1770). The Icelandic ballads are remarkable as often dispensing with the characteristic alliteration. 3 Specially worthy of our attention are the old Danish ballads, 4 the number of which is very great. Those on the old Northern gods stand foremost. Then come heroic- 1 Oxford University Press, edited 3 Cleasby's Dictionary, sub voce by G. Vigfusson. "Danz." 2 Collected in the west of Iceland 4 Danske Folkeviser af Svend in the seventeenth century. Cf. Is- Grundtvig, Copenhagen, 1853, sqq., lenzk FornkvaeSi af Svend Grundt- not yet finished; a truly interesting vig og Ion Sigurdson, 1854-59. work. DANISH BALLADS. 437 mythic ballads, with Dietrich, Grimild, &c, for their cen- tral figure, followed by others of a heroic or romantic character. The age of these ballads has been a moot- point with antiquaries. Looking at the MSS., they must all be older than 1500. Now Saxo in his " Historia Danica" (1200-10) gives Latin versions of several of these ballads ; and those who are well up in such matters discern plain evidence of Saxo's models having been in the old ' Stave rhyme ' and ' Fornyrgalag ; ' so that these ballads in their present shape are subsequent to him. In all probability they are modelled after the German lyric court-poetry of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Indeed, at this period, several knightly poets of Germany were domiciled at the Danish court. Thus the celebrated Heinrich Frauenlob (died 13 18) composed a poem in honour of Eric Menved. 1 He and other poets having brought their German rhymes and melodies to Denmark, the fancy of the people was so much caught by them that they transformed their old ballads into this new foreign style. In the background of all these ballads we have the Danish nobleman with his castle, his gardens and orchards, the lordly hall and lady's bower, his knightly tastes, manners, and sympathies. Storm, therefore, in opposition to Grundtvig's theory of their being popular ballads at bottom, argues that these originated with, and were spread through the land by, the knightly class, who in the warlike days of the Waldemars became so powerful as to overshadow all others, the king being only the president of the council, and the clergy bound to them by self-interest. To conclude, then ; the Danish ballads, according to Storm, are, in their present shape, not older at farthest than the end of the thirteenth cen- tury, and are transformations of old ballads in an older shape and metre, the historic facts taking the colouring of the time of their composition. 1 Sagnkredsene om Karl den Store og Didrik af Bern hos den Norske Folk af Gustav Storm, Christiania, 1874. >. 43 S ICE LA NDIC LITER A TURE. The identity of many of our Border and Scottish ballads with these Northern songs has been pointed out by several authors. " Fair Anna " occurs in Danish, though Walter Scott (" Border Minstrelsy," iii. 36) referred it to a French source. " The Cruel Sister " is likewise among the Danish ballads. " The Watersprite's Treachery " reappears in the '■ I )emon Lover" of Scotland ; while " Hrosmer" is the pro- totype of the Scotch " Burd Ellen," which receives fresh interest when we call to mind that in " King Lear" (act iii. scene 5) Edgar quotes from it : " Child Eoland to the dark tower came," &c. But these by no means exhaust the list of coincident ballads. We may here enlarge upon one instance, and a typical one, of the world-wide spread of these ballads, and their tenacity of life. " Eavngard og Memmering " 1 is the name of a Danish ballad, being the story of Gunhilda, daughter of Canute the Great, who was married (1036) to the Ger- man Emperor Henry. After she had lived for some time as his exemplary wife, the false Eavngard impeaches her honour. To meet her accuser in the field, her only cham- pion was the faithful Memmering, an old retainer, the rest having shrunk from the contest. By the favour of Heaven, her humble knight gained an unexpected victory, and the traitor was defeated. Now William of Malmesbury 2 relates that Gunhilda, the daughter of Canute, married the Emperor Henry of Germany, and was falsely accused by a courtier of gigantic stature, against whom her only champion was a little boy she brought from England. He, nevertheless, slew the traitor. The lady was thus shown to be innocent of the charge ; but, with the spirit of her race, she sepa- rated from her husband never to return, in spite of all his entreaties, and took the veil. He further adds that this tale was sung as a street-ballad " in his century," i.e., the twelfth. Matthew Paris, again, in the fourteenth century, mentions it as among the ballads of his day. A very 1 Grundtvig, i. 117. 2 Gesta Reg. Angl., ii. 197. DANISH BALLADS IN SCOTLAND. 439 romantic tale, doubtless, but unfortunately not true of Gunhilda, who lived on the best terms with her husband, and died of the plague only two years after her marriage (1038). Somehow the popular imagination had con- founded her with the Empress Kunigunde, her contem- porary, who, on her virtue being called in question, had proved her innocence by walking barefoot over hot plough- shares. She died two years after Gunhilda. We find this tale in " Sir Hugh le Blond " in Scott's " Border Minstrelsy," ii. 274, where the traitor's name is Eodingham, and in " Sir Aldingar " in Percy's " Eelics," ii. 53 ; both which names recall the original perjurer, Eaven- gard. But the story existed also in Lombardy, according to Paulus Diaconus, who wrote in the year 800. The king there is Eodoald, Gundiberta the queen, and her champion Carel. So that there is good reason to suppose it had followed the migrations of the Gothic races, adapting itself parasi- tically to like events or names in the countries through which it passed. Curiously enough, under the name of Olif and her son Landres it appears as an episode, and a very incongruous one, in the Norse saga of Charlemagne. 1 It is there stated that this tale was met with by Bjarni Erlingson during the winter which he spent in Scotland after the death of Alexander, grandfather of Princess Margaret of Norway. He took a copy of it home to Nor- way, where he had it translated (1287-90) from English into Norse. One English word occurs in it: Stivard= steward. In this tale, which extends over more than twenty pages of prose, Olive is supposed to be sister of ( li;irlemagne. The English poem was itself aversion of the French " Doon de la Eoche," with an alteration of the names. 2 We may add that the singular likeness of many of the songs of the two countries in depth of feeling, in views of society, in external form, has been explained by Geyer, by ' Ed. Unger, Christiania, i860, p. 50. 2 Cf Storm, Karlmagnus Saga, 66. 440 ICELANDIC LITER A TURE. W. Grimm, and others, on the principle that we and the Scandinavians received these traditions as our common property from the most remote period, before the immi- gration of our ancestors to England. 1 Be it here noted in passing, if such minor matters are worthy the attention of the learned, that our nursery rhymes once lulled to sleep the infants of those rough Northern mothers, before they came to us. 2 From the ash Yggdrasil, Jack's beanstalk is a sucker. That ami- able stranger who smiled on our wondering infancy, 'The Man in the Moon,' is all that is left to us of " I)il and Iliuki," the lass and the lad who, while engaged in carrying water from the fountain, in a bucket slung athwart their shoulders, were conveyed to heaven by Mani ; an allegory most likely of two phases of the moon, and an allusion to the rise and fall of the tide. 3 So Odin pawning his eye for a drink of Mimer's fount must be an anthropomorphic version of sunset in the sea. Such is the burr-like tenacity with which mythological stories, especially when so life-like as those of Scandinavia, cling to the memory of a race in its age of ductility and im- pression. The mythology of the Eskimo in Greenland is mainly Scandinavian, although the natives were cut off from that race early in the fifteenth century. In this connection we must not omit to mention that the Green- land Saga is very interesting. 4 1 Cf. Jamieson, Northern Anti- 3 Prose Edda, i. 56. quities and Popular Ballads, ii. 87. i Gronlands Historiske Mindes- 2 Cf.Halli well, "Nursery Rhymes," mserker, Copenhagen, 1838. Cf. preface to second edition ; "Oxonian Antiquitates Americanse, Hafniaj, in Thelemarkeu," ii. 180, sqq. 1837. ( 44i ) CHAPTER XXVI. A MEDLEY. It is quite beyond the scope of this work to enter into any elaborate discussion on the abstruse points of the old Norse or Anglo-Saxon philology ; how, for instance, a Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, or old Norse word would of necessity shape itself in English. Rather let us address ourselves to the more salient features of family likeness between English and Scandinavian. There are many English phrases from the North, but words perhaps which find their analogues only in Scandinavia are more interesting. Looking at them, we feel inclined to ask, if our tongue is so Northern now, what would book-English have been if our capital had been York ? Take that genuine old quasi- relative, used all over England in the dialects, ' as,' e.g., ' him as ' = ' he who.' It is the Is. indec. particle ' es,' more commonly ' er,' the Old-Norse language possessing no relative pronoun. And this reminds us that ' are,' third per. plur. pres. of ' to be,' one of the very hinges and pivots of our tongue, is the Northern ' eru,' which has utterly superseded the Anglo-Saxon 'sindon' (Germ. 'sind'). 'To call' and 'to take,' which are such indispensable words, and used by all grades of society, for these we must thank Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon ' niman ' (Germ, 'nehmen' = 'take'), and 'clepan' = 'to clepe,' we could not away with, though the latter still lingers on in ' yclept.' " That be far from thee " is an Icelandic, not an Anglo-Saxon, form of speech. Again, the preposition 'a' seems to afford us an instance of the triumph of Ice- landic over Anglo-Saxon. In Anglo-Saxon it was ' on,' 442 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. which has given place to ' a ' in the compounds ' aloft ' (= in the lift or air), 'athwart,' ' abroad,' and numberless others. 'Alone,' however, is referred to the German 'allein' = all one. In the participial forms, ' a-doing,' ' a- talking,' the ' a ' is possibly not a preposition, but a prefix. The ' a ' in our ' once a year ' is not an article, but a preposition. By the way, one hears in the Eastern counties ' to year' for ' this vear.' When a Northumberland man talks of ' ffanc- ing till a place,' he is using the old Norse tongue, which, not having the form ' to,' employed ' til ' for definitions both of time and place ; whereas modern English uses ' till ' of time only, and ' to ' of place. Take the English word ' fellow.' It is not to be found in early Anglo-Saxon. Your ' good fellow,' your ' college fellow,' must go to Ice- land for his name ; ' fe-lag ' = the laying of one's fees together = partnership. 1 Your ' good fellow ' naturally suggests the thought of his yoke-fellow, the 'jolly fellow.' Now the dictionaries, of course, refer this word ' jolly ' to the French ' joli.' But this etymology admits of reconsi- deration if it is true that ' J61 ( — ' Yule ') signifies 'mirth,' 'jollity,' and that Odin, as the Christmas host of the deities, was called ' Jolnir.' But to pass from the heathen to the corresponding Christian festival. When the Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, marches into hall in that preprandial procession on Christmas Day, chanting the praises of the boar's head, it is generally supposed that it is in memory of a learned scholar of Queen's, who hundreds of years ago choked a boar, which attacked him in Shotover Wood, by ramming an Aristotle down his throat. But it is not so. The Pro- vost is only doing what the Pagan priest of Freyr, the germinal god, did at the Temple of Upsala, to propitiate him for the new year, a thousand years ago ; to say nothing about the like offerings to Osiris in Egypt thousands of 1 ' Felagus ' occurs in late Anglo-Saxon. Our ' boy ' is not to be found in Anglo-Saxon. We recognise him again in the Danish ' pog,' Swedish ' poike,' and Welsh ' bacbgen.' A MEDLEY. 443 years before that. The boar's head, borne aloft in a lordly dish, " bedecked with a gay garland," " bedecked with bays and rosemary," is surely " Gullinbursti " (Gold-mane), the hog sacred to Freyr, as well as his sister Freya. In the "Herv. and Heidr. Saga" (332, Bugge, Christiania, 1873), King Heidrek, a great worshipper of Freyr, fattened up a boar till it was as big as the biggest steer, and so sleek that every bristle shone like gold. The Swedish rustics used to have pastry pigs on their tables all through Yule. These they kept till sowing-time, when they were shared between the horse and the ploughman. 1 In Olaf the Peacock's grand hall 2 at Hjardaholt, one of the carvings on the wall pictured Freyr riding in his chariot, drawn by Gold-mane, to the funeral of Balder, as we learn from the verse pre- served in the prose Edda of that celebrated poem, " Hus- drapa," the extempore effusion of Ulfr Uggason as he sat at meat and drink and surveyed these sculptured myths. 3 Beowulf (2910; cf. 2227) wore a helmet with the boar's head upon it, " wondrously wrought in days of yore." Indeed this porcine device was common to all the Northern nations who worshipped Freya and Freyr. The helmet of the Norwegian king, Ali, was called Hildigolltr, ' the boar of war,' and was prized beyond measure by his victors (Prose Edda, i. 394). But long before that, Tacitus (Germ., 45) had recorded that the Esthonians, east of the Baltic, wore swine-shaped amulets, as a symbol of the mother of the gods. Let us here mention that the cross-buns, &c, of Good Friday, which recent antiquaries have identified with the cakes laid on the bier of Adonis, are most likely a survival of a Northern rite. Certainly the custom among undergraduates of drinking sconces in College Hall is the ' at drekka viti ' of the sagas. That variously spelt word ' undorn ' (in Volusp., 6, it must mean ' afternoon ; ' see MU lie's Colloquy) survives 1 "Lexicon Mythologicum" in Edd. Poet, iii., tub voce "Gullinbursti." - See "ujcouiau in Iceland." 3 Laxdsela Saga, c. 29. 444 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. in the English dialects in its derived sense 'luncheon' (cf. Peacock, " Dialect of Corringham," ' Andra '). The latter syllable of our national dish, beef-steak, is from the Ice- landic ' steikja,' to broil, not from the German ' stuck,' a piece, as suggested by Archbishop Trench. That matter of such importance to us all, ' harvest,' Icelandic ' haust,' we find in Sleswig in the form of ' harrest.' But not only do our substantial realities hail from Scandinavia, but also our most evanescent fancies and visions. Our ' dreams ' are the old Norse ' draumr.' The Anglo-Saxon 'dream' — 'joy/ ' music,' while the old Norse ' svefn ' (= ' sleep ') was used by our forefathers for sleep's accident, a dream. We have shown elsewhere that the common etymology of our 'warlock' is Anglo-Saxon 'vger-loga' = 'truce-breaker.' But in Cleasby's Dictionary it is derived from ' varft- lokkur ' = ' weird songs,' the wizard's utterances having come to mean the wizard himself. Many of our features of physical geography are pure Scandinavian. That place so well known to us at the foot of the white cliffs of Cleveland (Klivlond), Whitby, was known to the Saxons only by the less euphonious name of Streonschalch. The three ' Biding ' of Yorkshire are merely a third part (Icelandic ' Tjridjungr ') ; every county in Iceland was divided into three parts. The ' Rape ' of Bramber in Sussex is Icelandic ' hreppr,' a division or district. Filey-' brigg,' the natural pier of rock which runs far out to sea, in sight of Scarborough, is the Icelandic ' Bryggja' = a pier: Icelandic 'brii' = bridge; and yon- der ' coble,' skimming over Bridlington Bay, is the ' kei- pull ' of the old Norse fishermen. When a vessel ' rides ' at anchor in Yarmouth ' Roads,' the expressions are Scan- dinavian. The Scotch ' skerries ' remind us of a time when the Danes, not the Saxons, were lords of the ocean ; a tale repeated in the name of those two headlands, the Great and Little Orm's (serpent's) Head, between which lies the modern Welsh bathing- place, Llandudno. And not far from thence is ' the Calf,' at the southern extremity of the A MEDLEY. 4+5 Isle of Man, which signifies in Icelandic ' a little island near a large one/ ' the Cow ; ' a signification not found in Anglo-Saxon. That wonderful gap in the Shetland cliff, ' Grind of Navir,' would have a clearer meaning for the islanders if they had read of that desperate leap of Her- moder's over ' Helgrind,' x i.e., ' Hellsgate,' when he went to bring back Balder (Prose Edda, 49). Our Stanhopes may learn from St. Margaret's ' Hope ' in the Orkneys, with its rounded hooped shape, that their old name is ' Stonehaven,' or recess of the sea, in which sense ' hop ' constantly occurs in the map of Iceland, while its Celtic analogue meant the upper nook of a valley. The ' bore ' or tidal wave in the Trent is there called the ' E^er,' the Scan- dinavian river-god. And being down, so to say, at the waterside, let us point out that the ' foreshore,' so often mentioned in our courts of law = Icelandic ' fjara,' as in the alliterative phrase 'milli fjalls og fjoru,' 'between fell and foreshore.' 'Gill,' 'carr' (= brushwood), 'scroggs' ( = wild woodland), of Lincolnshire are purely Icelandic. The drizzling fog borne down on the coast of that country in bad weather is known there by the Scandinavian name ' sea- rog' = ' sea-smoke.' Our commonplace 'waterfall' becomes a picture - word in Scandinavia, ' fors ' = the ' force ' of Westmoreland, i.e., the stream in a state of rage and fury. The ' gates ' (streets) of York and Leeds are the same thing as the ' gade ' of Copenhagen. Tooley Street in the Borough, as well as the church in the Old Jewry, pre- serves the memory of St. Olaf. Why should I insist upon what the Danish antiquary, Worsaae, first prominently brought before us, 2 that the invariable mark of a Scandina- vian settlement in England is the termination ' by ' (from ' bua,' to dwell) ? We find scores of villages with their names ending thus, from the east coast to Bugby and 1 Some derive the name of the mon- Irland," Copenhagen, 1859. Cf. " Den ster Grendel from 'grind,' quasi a Danske Erobering af England og Nor- 'prisoner,' one pent up within a mandiet," Copenhagen, 1863. "Fagr- lattice or gate. skinna," p. 15, mentions Grimsby 2 " Minder om de Danske og Nor- and Hogsfleet as places with Norse maendene i England, Skotland, og names. 446 ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. Derby (Deoraby, one of the five towns taken from the Panes; S. Chron., 942), the town of wild beasts, pointing to a time when the Northman and the wolf both held their own in the Midlands; while Tenby in the west tells a similar tale. Our 'ills' come from Scandinavia, as the Saxons thought for many generations; but ' evil' comes from the Saxons. When we call a man ' stone-deaf,' the intensive ' stone ' finds its parallel in the Icelandic ' stein,' e.g., 'stein ogr ' = ' stone wud ' = ' very mad.' In Icelandic the negative is u, e.g., ' lifriSr ' = ' unpeace,' which is quite in accordance with the genius of the En dish tongue, or Mr. Bright — self-constituted judge ! — would not have attri- buted to a great English statesman ' hearty unwisdom,' or a child say, this is very 'uneasy,' instead of 'difficult.' Hunferth in " Beowulf " is called ' J>yle,' which Bosworth connects with j)il (= deal), making him to be ' the speaker from a boarded place,' like the public orator at Commemo- ration. But this word (})ulr) occurs very early indeed on the Snoldelev Eunic stone (Thorsen, " De Danske Eune- mindesmaerker," p. 19), and is generally interpreted to mean ' a sayer of saws,' ' an orator' (cf. " Havamal," 135), where reverence for the grey-haired reciter of sao-as is inculcated. So, again, in " VafbruSnismal" (9), one night a stranger arrives at the abode of the giant, but hesi- tates to advance into the hall. JSTow it was always the custom in Scandinavia to make the meal a feast of reason and flow of soul, poets and elders reciting things new and old for the gratification of the company, whether poems or stories, enigmas or questions of ancient wisdom. So the giant summons the stranger, who was Odin, to advance and take his seat, and says, " Now we shall try who knows most, the guest or the aged speaker" (Jrnlr). Tidings, good or bad, come to us from Scandinavia. Iceland is the only Scandinavian, and indeed Euro- pean country, except England, where ' the good tidings ' are called ' gospel ; ' and that old-fashioned preacher of it, Sir Hugh Evans, of Shakespeare notoriety, were he in the A MEDLEY. 447 flesh, would delight to recognise his own title in ' Siva' the prefix to a clergyman's name in that country, his patro- nymic being omitted. The Anglo-Saxons do not seem to have been acquainted with the word ' to die,' which is Icelandic ' deyja ; ' they used instead ' ge-swiltan,' which in Icelandic (' svelta ') = ' to starve,' ' to die of hunger.' Our 'skin' came probably straight and unaltered out of Scandinavia, otherwise it would have been ' shin,' after the analogy of ' ship,' Icelandic ' skib.' Our ' wrist,' by the way = Icelandic ' vrist,' i.e., the junction of the foot with the leg, i.e., the instep. Icelandic 'skapr '=.' case ' or ' drawer,' still extant in the Lincolnshire schoolboy's 'scob.' 1 When the East Anglian mother ' bastes ' her child, she is unwit- tingly using an Icelandic word. That ' haunt ' comes from ' ond,' ' a spirit,' is, we fear, a more ingenious than correct etymology. The word ' ransack ' will be sought for in vain in Anglo- Saxon dictionaries, though the meaning of the word was known to our forefathers by a too sad experience. It is the Is. 'rannsaka,' to search a house (rann), which the Danes often did without any warrant. Pity we did not naturalise among us the terse Scandin- avian word ' ifa ' - = ' to if ' = ' to doubt ; ' a word which Richard III. was on the verge of coining in his "If! talkest thou to me of ifs ! " The same may be said of those handy words 'hausta'='to draw near to autumn,' and 'vara' = 'to draw near to spring;' 'jata' = 'to say yea,' and ' nita ' = ' to say nay ; ' ' tvi-henda ' = ' to wield with two hands ; ' a method of speech which the acute Yankee is beginning to affect when he 'tables' a motion or 'wires' a message. In Anglo-Saxon, however, we had ' dagian ' = ' to day,' i.e., ' to dawn.' This mulLum-in-parvo method further appears in Is. in ' feSgin ' = ' father and daughter,' ' mseSgin' = ' mother and son,' ' systkin' = ' brother and sister.' Our ' arch ' = ' sly,' is very different in mean- 1 A Winchester boy would make it 'box' spelt backwards. 2 From this word Thorpe would derive ' Ifing,' the ever-moving (vacil- lating) river between the giants and the gods, which never froze. 448 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. ing from Is. ' argr ' = ' effeminate.' Our ' ignorant,' ' silly ' fellow once meant a ' happy ' fellow ; reminding us of the old saw which makes ignorance and bliss tro together. What a singular instance of degeneracy is our word ' gossip,' originally = the sponsor in baptism : the relation according to the Spirit : cf. Anglo-Saxon ' sib ' = ' affinity, peace;' Is. ' sif.' But in Icelandic, ' Sif ' took a more poetical shape. She was the wife of Thor, the golden- haired goddess, i.e., mother earth with her golden grain. She was the goddess of the sanctity of the family and of wedlock, whence her name. In this connection our Eng- lish word ' friend,' Is. ' vinr,' occurs to us, a word quite at home in Anglo-Saxon, ' freond,' Ulf. ' frijonds,' Germ. ' freund.' The word is also to be found in Scandinavia, but never in the sense of ' friend,' always of ' kinsman : ' a change in the sense of the word not to be passed unnoticed, being in itself curious, and characteristic of our ancestors on the Northern side. With them, the bonds of kinship and brotherhood were strong, and each family formed a kind of confederacy or fellowship, equally bound in rites and in duties. But every rule has an exception, for there is an Icelandic proverb meaning that friendship is some- times more trustworthy than kinship : * Let there be a firth between kindred, but a creek between friends.' Talking of fjords, who would have thought that ' Water- ford ' is a corruption from ' vedra fjord,' the ' creek of the wethers ' ? (M. Miiller, " Chips "). The mention of ' fostr,' which is not found in Anglo- Saxon proper, or in any of the Teutonic tongues, will not be out of place here. It is, in fact, an Icelandic word = ' the fostering of a child,' an institution well known to the Northern nations, and also in Scotland, as we learn from W. Scott and other writers. When our King Athelstan fostered Hacon, the son of Harold Harfagr, he was uncon- sciously performing an act of submission in the eyes of the crafty Norwegian ; for, says Snorri, " Sa var utignari er oSrum fostragi barn." He was looked on as inferior in FOSTER-BROTHERHOOD. 449 rank who fostered other men's children. There was a very curious custom in Scandinavia, ' foster-brotherhood ' = a vow on the part of two persons to eternal friendship, and to avenge the death of the survivor of them. A religious rite consecrated the act. The parties gashed the palms of their hands, and let the blood run into a hollow in the ground (a foot-mark in the case of Gunnar and Sigurd, " Brot af Sigurgarkvigu," 18), and then stirred it together, mould and all, upon which they shook hands, and the cere- mony was complete. In the gold-age of Heaven, which was spoilt by the coming thither of the women out of Jotunheim, 1 in those days when strife was unknown, Loki, afterwards the representative of all that was evil in the world, and Odin, the type of the higher and nobler life, were one, and joined together by this blood-brother- hood : a fact of which Loki reminds Odin when on the point of being kicked out of the banquet of the gods, 2 and Odin cannot resist the appeal to so sacred a tie. Later on the rite was more elaborate. In the " Saga of Gisli Sur- son," the four men pare from the earth a long strip of turf, leaving the ends still adhering to the ground. This arch they support with a rune-lettered spear, and then pass under it. Which done, they wound themselves till blood comes, which is let flow into the mould from which the sod was cut, and the whole is stirred together. After- wards they all kneel and swear an oath that each would avenge the other's death, as though he were his brother ; and they call all the gods to witness, and shake hands upon it. 3 One of the most interesting of the Icelandic sagas, the "Foster-brother Saga," relates the adventures of two such sworn brothers. The custom can be traced farther east. Joinville, "Memoirs of St. Louis," a.d. 1250, p. 483: " 1 1 Prose Edda, cap. xiv. = ' duel ') the old heathen method of 2 ^Egisdrekka, ix. ordeal (Laxdsela, 18), hefore that of 8 Gisla Surss. Saga, p. 11, Copen- bearing hot iron was introduced with liagen, 1848. This passing beneath the Christianity from England and Ger- sud was (together with 'holmganga' many. Is. Diet., nub voa "B ra." 2 F 45 o ICELANDIC LITERATURE. heard the noble Knight Coucy tell the King that the King of the Commains, in order to have greater faith in the professions of the Emperor of Constantinople, caused their people on both sides to be blooded, and made each drink alternately of the other's blood, a sign of brotherhood, saying they were brothers of the same blood." In Africa a similar rite still exists. Sir S. Baker relates how he entered into brotherhood with a chief on the Upper Nile by each drawing his own blood and placing a drop of it on the tongue of the other. Connected doubtless with this is, and was, that custom for the new-made members of secret societies to be ini- tiated by the tasting of blood. There are those who would quote here, as a parallel, that sacred brotherhood into which each new member is fully and finally admitted by partaking figuratively of the blood of the Founder, as He himself prescribed. But they forget that the initiatory rite among the Pagans was quite incapable of repetition. " Do this as oft as ye drink it " is absolutely inconsistent with the above idea. Preferring to ancient faiths, we may here note that the Voluntary principle in religion, so dear in these days, and in all days to Englishmen, was in full operation in Iceland a thousand years ago. The Pre- fects of the districts in heathen times combined in their own person the office of magistrate and priest, and that was one reason why, on the introduction of Christianity, it was impossible to put down clerical marriage. But every man might build a temple for himself, and it was quite free to the neighbours " to sit under him " or go to the mother temple of the chief lord. ( 45i ) CHAPTER XXVII. FURTHER STUDY OF WORDS. But let us proceed with our study of words. The ' book ' you are reading is a word common to all the Teutonic and Scandinavian languages from Ulfilas to the present day, "being doubtless akin to the Latin, ' fagus,' Greek, ' <£>fyo?,' ' beech,' the bark of which tree in the early days did duty for the future parchment to write upon. Our ' write,' however, from the Anglo - Saxon ' writan ' (from which language Scandinavia also seems to have adopted it as (' (v)rita '), which always means ' to write on parchment,' nowhere occurs on the Eunic stones or in the old poets, the word there used being ' rista ' = to carve or scratch characters. 1 In the East -Anglian saw, 'A good riddance of bad rubbish,' riddance = clearing away. In Icelandic, ' rydja ' = to clear away, to make a clearing in a forest. To ' scamp ' (work), a not uncommon thing, it is said, in these days of high wages, is akin to 'skammr' (= short), i.e., = to cut it short, not finish it. Our ' to cap verses ' and ' handicap ' are analogous to Icelandic ' kapp ' = contention, from ' kamp.' In ' spick and span ' we are reminded of ' spannyr ' = span-new, from ' span ' = a shaving. In " Egil," 77, it is used of the hero who came out of a great fight unscathed. 'Fussy' has degenerated in meaning; in Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic, ' fus ' or ' fiiss.' ' Eusan ' in Anglo-Saxon = 1 In mediaeval Latin ' charaxare '= both 'to write' and ' to scratch,' e.g., "Charaxat ungulis genas. " — Prudent. 452 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. to hurry, to drive, a word used later by the amiable Gornoille in Layamon's " Brut " when she proposed to eliminate old Leir's retainers. Our word ' window ' (Anglo-Saxon, eag-byrl, ' eye-turl ') l is also an Icelandic word, ' vindauga,' wind's-eye ; while ' windlass ' is a corruption of ' vindass ' = winding-pole. ' Gain,' the sole object, it is said, of this nation of shop- keepers, is only found in the Icelandic dictionary, not in Anglo-Saxon or German. Our ' to count noses ' surely refers to Icelandic ' nose-tax ' = poll-tax. Hence arose the amusing legend that King Thorgisl, the Norse conqueror of Ireland (830-845), levied a tax on the natives in default of which they were to lose their noses ; — an instance of how, on the sandy foundation of a mistaken word, a circum- stantial historical edifice gets built, which, in this case, it took the energetic onslaught of Professor Munch to over- throw. Take another salient feature of the human body, 'the toe.' This is to be found in Anglo-Saxon 'ta/ as well as in Icelandic, but, singularly enough, ' heel ' is pure Icelandic, ' heell,' which is not to be found in Anglo-Saxon. Our ' beard ' is probably radically identical with Icelandic ' barg,' which signifies ' edge,' ' rim.' The Icelandic for this hirsute appendage is 'skegg' (= ' shagginess'), a much more expressive term. Let us here devote a few words to the favourite liquor of Englishmen — 'ale,' otherwise 'beer.' But though we use both words, the former used to be the more common. Now ' beer ' is a word of German extrac- tion, while ' ale ' is a purely Scandinavian word, which meant any intoxicating drink. So in that fearfully inte- resting passage in the Old Edda, when Gudrun, in revenge for the slaughter of her brothers, had murdered her chil- dren by Atle and dished their hearts up for supper, we are told how there was " a resounding of the ale-cups heavy with wine as the stately long-bearded Huns took 1 See p. 206. It would be more correct there to describe ' Turl ' as origin- ally the postern in the city wall, visible in the old map of Oxford. ALE v. BEER. 453 their places in the hall." There is another passage in that cnrious philological poem, the " Alvismal," where light is thrown upon the two words. Thor, on returning home, encounters the dwarf Alvis (all- wise) in the act of eloping with his beloved daughter. " Who are you with that pallid look? You must have been to-nisht anions the dead." The dwarf declares himself to be one of the underground folks ; but he says the lady had been pro- mised him, and that she was his, and fair play's a jewel. The god replies he was absent, and not consulted in the matter, but agrees, if 'All -wise,' who has been a great traveller, having, in fact, visited all nine worlds, will answer some questions he has to put to him, he shall have the damsel. Thor's stratagem succeeded. The wise dwarf, put on his mettle, and evidently flattered by the ever- recurring soft sawder of the god, does his very best to enlighten his interrogator, and quite forgets the approach of day, which surprises him above-ground, and he has to pay the usual penalty inflicted on any of his race who are found loafing about on this earth after daybreak. He is turned into stone. Among the many objects of which he gives the names " in the talk of men, of gods, dwarves, Vanir, Aser, the Jotuns, and the elves," he is asked to say what the juice of malt and hops is called by gods and by men. " Men," he replies, " call it ' ale ; ' but the gods call it ' beer. ' Now what is the meaning of ' crods and men,' let alone the other beings mentioned ? l It has been surmised that ' men ' refers to the inhabitants of Scandinavia, ' sods ' to an immigrant people. Anyhow the chief object of the 1 Before we quit the subject of ale, beard had grown he underwent a new we must mention that in Frey's serv- series of sufferings from the sharp ing-man, Byggvir, at the banquet of scythe, the heavy flail, and the hard the Aser in the Old Edda (iEgis- millstone ; but he ended at last in drekka, 44), S. Grumltvig discerns the becoming a mighty lord who con- prototype of Allan o' Maut and his quered the greatest in the land, and English relation, Sir John Barley- won the hearts of all the women, corn, whom the peasant killed, and What is this but barley (' byg '), buried in the earth with the plough- winch becomes malt and subsequently share, but who, when the weather ale. Jamieson's " Popular Ballads. " grew warm, rose up again. After his ii. 240. 454 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. poem must have been to exhibit the great copiousness of the Old Norse in its wealth of synonyms; 1 and it seems hinted that this arises from the number of different tribes (gods, men, Aser, dwarves, &c.) who were embodied in the Northern race. See three passages in the " Iliad," i. 403, ii. 813, xiv. 291, where the names given respectively by the gods, and by men, to Briareus, to the river Xanthus, and to a species of owl are mentioned. In the " Odyssey " two words are given in the language of the gods, but what they were in the language of men we are not informed. Some would explain this by saying that the two languages referred to the poetic and the common modes of expres- sion. That something ethnological, however, may lie at the bottom of it is indicated by Aristotle, " Hist. Anim.," ix. 1 2, where, in reference to the bird which, according to the "Iliad," xiv. 291, was called by the gods ^aX/cU and by men kv/jllv8ls, he says that " in the language of the Ionians it was called by the latter name, whereas ^oXkU was a more ancient and more poetical expression." Our ' knife ' is found in Icelandic ' knife ' only ; while in the same language we first learn the primitive meaning of ' spoon ' = a slip of wood ; in the Old Edda ' span-hak ' = spoon-thatch, i.e., shingle-roof of Valhalla, which was composed of gilded shields (Old Edda, "Grimnismal," 9, and " Hakonarmal"). The sportsman will delight to hear that in Iceland alone the age of a horse is computed as in England — ' so old next grass.' ' Dapple-grey ' is a corruption of ' apple-grey,' as we see from the Icelandic ' apal-grar.' ' A dark horse,' the sporting phrase for ' an untried horse,' is exactly the ' vanfoli ' in " Burnt Njal," c. 108, while ' hack ' recurs in Icelandic ' eykr' = a beast of burden. Ships were called the 'eykir' of the sea, Latin, 'equus;' Sanscrit, 'aQ-va.' In this connection we will mention 'nightmare,' a puzzling 1 Keyser thinks the whole poem Scalds, a repertory of poetical syno- intended for the use of the Scalds, riyms (i. 157). His view seems to be What the " Skaldskaparmal'' was for hurne out by the Prose Edda (i. 510), the poets of Snorri's day, the " Alvis- which, in a list of synonyms for theuse mal " had been for an earlier race of of young poets, quotes " Alvisrual." ETYMOLOGY OF ' LADY: 455 word, for the nightmare is supposed to ride the sleeper, not the sleeper the mare ; after the fashion of the man in the old tale, who bore the donkey because people said he was too big for the donkey to bear him. But we are puzzled no longer on hearing that ' mara,' the ogress who bestrode the sleeper, is an Icelandic word akin to ' merja ' = to crush. The ' slot ' of game comes from the North, as also ' sleuth - hound.' The ' scut ' = tail of the hare or rabbit, is from the same source. The ' skid ' which the "uard affixes to the coach- wheel is a word well known in Norway. There, however, it is ' a snowshoe,' used to accelerate, and not to retard, motion. The soldier's ' fur- lough ' is nothing but the Icelandic ' orlov ' = ' leave,' with a different prefix, ' fur,' i.e., ' for,' instead of ' or.' Our ( gun,' i.e., ' war-piece,' is akin to ' gunnr ' = war, which early became a common proper name. Many of our Eng- lish names are of mythological origin, see Leo, " Anglo- Saxon Names." ' Giselher ' in the " Nibelungen " = rock- hard ; cf. ' chesil ' = beach at Portland. That elegant piece of superstition, at home in the North of England, of spitting in the hat for good-luck, is only a reminiscence of the gods in the Old Edda, on the cessa- tion of a feud between themselves and the Vanir, spitting in a jar which they carry off in triumph. Our ' prude ' has gone down in the world. In Icelandic the word ' prugr ' = ' a fine, stately lady.' It is only through the medium of Icelandic that we can anatomise the Old English word ' hlafdige,' whence our ' lady,' a word often used in the Saxon Chronicle for the highest lady in the land, the queen. The first part of this word is clear, 'hlaf = loaf. The second part, ' -dige,' is the Icelandic ' deigja ' = a maid who kneads (cf. German, ' deig,' English, ' dough ') ; so that ' la-dy ' originally — per- haps in the days of King Cophetua — signified ' baker woman.' But ' queen ' itself, we must remember, in the outset simply meant ' woman/ Our 'king' means 'gene- rosus,' a man of noble extraction, and is derived from 4 56 ICELA NDIC LITER A TURE. a word common to all Teutonic languages except Gothic, meaning 'genus/ family. It is but a step from the sub- lime to the ridiculous ; so having ' interviewed ' the highest lady and gentleman in the land, let us descend to our excellent friend, whose history has been so well written by an English humourist, ' The Snob.' He, too, with his vulgar pretence, his pushing propensities, and low practices, is mirrored alike in word and deed in Icelandic ' snapr.' ( 457 ) CHAPTEE XXVIII. RUNES. A survey of Scandinavian literature would not be com- plete without some reference to Eunic lore, the most weighty topic perhaps of all ; for here we must look for the very cradle, the first writing-down, of those multi- tudinous dialects which were heard side by side in this our island — beginning, perhaps, a couple of centuries before the days of Hengist — as each succeeding wave of colonists broke upon our shores from the eastern shores of the North Sea. Of spell-runes, i.e., of runes used in magic, we are not speaking. By some it is doubted whether such runes were anything more than fanciful signs supposed to possess a magic power. Still a great deal of interesting matter might be adduced here on this branch of ancient ' Demonology and Witchcraft.' The " Havamal " in the Edda contains a locus classicus on the subject. Young Egil, when a poisoned cup was handed to him by that arch-sorceress, Gunhilda, the Finnish queen of Eric Bloody-axe, wounded his wrist with his knife, and with the blood wrote Eunic signs on the cup, and of such power that it split to pieces (Egil, 44). Edged tools they were, however, with which it was ill to play— "Save with deft and practised hand, Kisk not runes to trace ; Many a man has sorely erred In the darkling maze." Is it not written how that Swedish damsel, Helga, in the year of grace 944, got no sleep, was quite distraught 45 S ICE LA NDIC LIT ERA TURE. (hamstoli), and was pining visibly away, when that scamp of abonderson — ill betide him! — who was smitten with her charms, pretended to cure her by scratching runes, from which day forward she worsened visibly? Did not Egil chance to reach her father's house when it seemed all over with her, discovered the said ' risting ' on a fish-bone under her pillow, read the characters over carefully, scraped them off, and hurled the bone into the fire ? Thereupon he traced some other Runic characters, put them under the girl's pillow, and, when she awoke, she said she felt quite well. And the grateful parent offered to the successful rune-master free quarters for man and horse, by way of doctor's fee (Eg. 75). The question Spelman asked Wormius, 1629, "What are runes, whence do they come ? " is not yet set at rest, though it has taxed the powers of the most learned writers in Scandinavia. In earlier times the chief books on the subject were Worm's " Monumenta," Goranson's " Bautil," and Liliegren's " Eun-urkunder." In 1848 Professor P. A. Munch published his " Den (Eldste Nordiske Bune- skrift." Since then the study has considerably progressed. Not presuming to intrude our opinion on so vexed a ques- tion, we shall simply cite here the four chief modern writers on the subject — Professors Thorsen, Stephens, and Wimmer of Copenhagen, and Professor Bugge of Christiania. The first part of Thorsen's work, already published, is devoted to the Eunic stones of Sleswig, 1 those written documents concerning the history of the North which are many hundred years older than any of the existing manuscripts; monuments which must ever cry out against that great iniquity which consigned an old Danish-speaking popu- lation up to the very borders of Jutland to the tender mercies of a German master. Of it we may say this much, that the first volume makes us only regret that he does not hasten the completion of the second. 1 De Danske Runemindesmaerker, af P. G. Thorsen, Copenhagen, 1864. Part I. STEPHENS ON RUNES. 459 Of the splendid work by our own countryman, Professor George Stephens, 1 accompanied, like Professor Thorsen's, by beautiful facsimiles and illustrations, it is difficult to speak in adequate terms, so full is it of exhaustive criti- cism, of patient research, of varied lore, along with which the author exhibits a power almost of divination in un- riddling some of these Eunic puzzles. His views, it should be said, are not the views of most writers, certainly not of the Germans, whom he excludes from all part or lot in the birthright of runes. His assertion, based on a careful examination of the extant examples of old Eunic monu- ments, is, that runes were first brought to Scando-Gothic Europe or developed therein by the latest clan-wave from the East — the Northern or Scandinavian — an iron-wield- ing tribe who superseded the bronze-age population. Their origin has been the theme of the wildest conjecture. Some 1 He leaves new runes out of the account. The older, whence again the Anglo-Saxon alphabet, consisted of twenty-five letters ; the more modern development, which came into use about 800 A.r>., only of sixteen. The number of monuments inscribed with these new runes may be reckoned by thousands, those with the older runes amount to 180, thirty-six of which were found in England. English Value. F, U, TH, M, R, C = K, G, W, H, N, Old Northern.* E, h, I, F\ R, <, X, P, hi, % New Northern. J, ^ ^ ^ R ^ JT ^ ^ ^ ^ English Value. I, Y, yO, P, A. S, T, B, Old Northern.* I, }N+i ^ \, B H K, ^ SY, T, B, New Northern. ^ ^ „ „ ^ H, T, B, English Value. E, M, L, NG, D, X, M, 9, to, ^- New Northern. -1 ^X ;r K These are the Old Northern, exclusive of English provincial variations. 460 ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. have said that runes are as old as the Deluge ; some have attributed the invention of them to Odin; 1 some date their origin from 2000 B.C. The Swedish scholar Hire thought they were the invention of the Scythians. Shortly, Stephen's conclusions are as follows : — No hint of runes has ever been found in the oldest German or Saxon Chronicles, though such things are mentioned in Anglo-Scandinavian parchments. No indigenous fixed Runic monument has ever turned up on Saxon or German soil, 2 though half-a-dozen Runic jewels, 'wan- derers,' as he calls them, have. Any Runic remains, e.g., an inlaid spear (ibid., p. 882), that may be found in Brandenburg or elsewhere, he would attribute to the Scando-Gothic tribes (subsequently driven out or annihi- lated by the Huns in the third and fourth centuries) who once occupied that region, and not to the Germans, who came later into the land. Of the thousands of blocks discovered in Germany, dating from the first century downwards, not one is Runic, all are Roman. Runes have nothing Roman about them ; the order of the letters is different. The Roman alphabet is an ' Abce- darium,' the Runic a ' Futhorc,' beginning with F. It should be noted here that all Mr. Stephens's decipher- ings of the oldest or Old Northern runes are based on the assumption that the rune UJ =z A, not M or R. He maintains that all the Northmen had these elder Runic staves everywhere, in Scandinavia and in its colony Eng- land, at the same time. No inscriptions in the more 1 The name of Odin appears on only indicate about that date, one known Runic stone. Thor's name 2 " Nos apertum esse arbitramur is found on two. Of the two thousand runas Scandinavioe antiquiores esse, Runic stones known, of course many Germanosque suas a nobis accepisse." are from Christian times. Such, for — Lagerheim, Litterce Gothicce, dec, instance, are two discovered in Sweden Lund, 1805. The late acute antiquary, in memory of one Mani and one Suin, Carl Save of TJpsala, was, we believe, ■who died respectively at Bath and in one with Stephens in holding that London. Possibly they were in the runes are essentially Scandinavian retinue of King Canute, as the runes and not German. STEPHENS ON RUNES. 461 ancient and more numerous alphabet, but only in the shorter and more modern one, have been found in Iceland, Greenland, the Faroes, and the Isle of Man, these being colonies of more recent date; while they abound in England, the oldest Scandinavian settlement. The tongue of all these old Eunic inscriptions is one and the same, Old Northern, but in dialects more ancient than our written specimens of Icelandic, which date at the earliest from the thirteenth century. The oldest Eunic inscriptions — say from the first century to 800 — are as unlike Icelandic as the laneuhagen, 1874. BUGGE ON RUNES. 465 Northern invasions, extending from 787 to 1066, but were many of them welded into the very constitution of our tongue in the last days of the Eoman occupation. It remains for us to mention another notable rune- master, Professor Bugge of Christiania, who first gave to the world what is considered the right interpretation of the old Eunic inscription on the Golden Horn of Gallehus. According to this, 1|J does not = m or a, but r, viz., the r which arose from z, i.e., the soft, s — an idea further developed by Wimmer. Eafn had already hit on this signification of C|J, but he missed the meaning of the inscription ; while Munch, who had also interpreted l^) rightly in the Blekking and Tune runes, would have it that on the Golden Horn it signified m, Hitherto, unfortunately, Bugge's Eunic investigations have only appeared in isolated tracts and pamphlets. It is to be hoped that they will soon assume a collected form. We shall quote from one of these, which gives a short con- spectus of his views on the origin of runes, 1 differing most essentially from those of Stephens. The short alphabet, consisting of sixteen runes, originated, according to Bugge, in the North, out of the longer one of twenty-four runes. The longer alphabet is the oldest known method of writing among the Germans, and must have been known and used by pretty nearly all the Teutonic tribes as early as the first centuries after the Christian era. It was not an ori- ginal invention of theirs, but was connected with the Southern alphabets, which were derived, though not imme- diately, from the Phoenician. They exhibit a nearer rela- 1 Om Runeskriftens Oprindelse af port of the Piraeus, which was called S. Bugge, Christiania, 1874. We iu consequence Porto Leone. The may mention here, as a proof of the true import of these runes is not ascer- ubiquity of the Northmen, the runes tained ; but, from the peculiar snake on the lion in Pentelic marble, 10 feet ornaments which surround them, Pro- high, which stands at the entrance of fessor Bugge concludes that they were the Arsenal at Venice. This lion carved in the middle of the eleventh was brought from Athens to Venice, century by a Varangian of Upland 1687, by Francesco Morosini, when Sweden. — ManadsUad Kong. Acad., that place was taken by the Vene- July 1875. tians. Formerly it stood close to the 2 G 466 ICELANDIC LITERA TURE. tionsliip to the Greek characters and the alphabets issuing from them ; but they were not derived directly from the ( ! reek, but rather from the Latin alphabet, as is clear from certain peculiarities mentioned by Kirchhoff, Jessen, and others. By the Latin alphabet is meant not that used in Eoman public inscriptions at the close of the Eepublic and commencement of the Empire, but the Old Latin char- acter. And yet the Old Latin character is not the imme- diate source of runes. Runes appear to be a system of writing constructed, in the century immediately preceding the Christian era, among a South German race, after a form of the Roman character which the Germans adopted from one of the Celtic tribes that dwelt nearest, north of the Alps. This form of writing, adopted from Keltic neighbours, had for its basis a very old-fashioned form of Eoman writing ; which form of writing, however, had — in its spread north- wards among the ancient tribes of Upper Italy, Gallia Cisalpina, and the vicinity of the Alps — become modified by the influence of the old writing formerly used by these tribes, but which had been superseded by the Eoman alphabet. The old character Bugge alludes to was a branch of the no old Transapennine character, the North Etruscan. This North Etruscan character is shown by Theodor Mommsen to have been used by people using the Celtic language. The above-mentioned influence is shown in the fact that runes often read from right to left, which is a thing originally foreign to Eoman writing proper. Again, the use of three points, one above another, by way of stops, is likewise foreign to Eoman writing. Again, this influence is mani- fest in the form of several characters, most so in the form of the rune A, which, as Weinhold showed, is almost iden- tical with the form that A often has in North Etruscan writing, e.g., in the Celtic inscriptions from Todi in Um- bria, and from Novara in Gallia Cisalpina, and also in the Salassic coins from the Alpine region. In another tract 1 Bugge enters at length upon the i De iEldste Nordiske Kuneindskrifters Sproglige stilling, af S. Bugge, Copenhagen, 1870. BUGGE ON RUNES. 467 burning question of the kind of language in which these older Eunic inscriptions were written. Here (p. 28) he observes, " The oldest Eunic language is the oldest known German tongue, besides the Gothic, which has retained the dual in the verbs." This is so characteristic a peculiarity, that it at once enables us to assert that this rune speech is, next to Gothic, the most antique of the known Old German tongues. Bugge's last work l is an explanation of the runes on the door-ring of the weapon-house of Forsa Church, in Helsingland in Sweden. This part of the country was first evangelised by Stein finn (p. 46), who was sent thither by Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen (1043-72), and the inhabitants were found by King Swerrir to be good Christians, 1 178. But Maurer has called attention to the fact that English missionaries paved the way for Christianity in Sweden, though not in Helsingland, from the end of the tenth century, and this would account for the fact that the Swedish tithe was not apportioned on the same principle as in Germany, but was divided into three parts, as it was in England — a custom which was also introduced into Helsingland after Steinfinn's days. The population of this distant region, however, always made a difficulty about these imposts, which led to several Papal rescripts on the subject. These are to be found in the " Diplomatarium Suecicum." And sure enough, on this identical ring there is now found to be engraved a warning by the authorities about paying tithes, and an authoritative recital of the fines to be levied on a defaulter, which, in case of a thrice-repeated omission to pay, amounted to all his substance. The date, judging from the language, is fixed by Bugge in the latter half of the twelfth century, though the shape of the runes, which is akin to that of the strange Helsing runes, points to an earlier date. But the main interest attaching to the runes consists 1 Rune-Indski if ten paa Iiingen i Forsa Kirke, af S. Bugge, Christiania, 1877. 4 68 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. in this : that here on a church-door ring — which rings, according to some antiquaries, are historic continuations of the rings fixed in the doors of the heathen temples — we have in runes the oldest preserved original copy of a legal enactment (p. 53, ibid.). A legend attaches to the ring, which shows what a hold these mysterious letters graved upon it had upon the popular imagination centuries ago. The recital of it may perhaps prove a little relief to some of our readers, after this erudite discussion on runes. " Two Jotuns (giants), Blacke and Fatte by name, who dwelt the one north and the other west of the great howe, agreed — perhaps on the same principle as the devil will at times quote Scripture — to build a church together there for their own use ; and, to give the requisite finish to the work, they had the identical runic ring, of about a foot's breadth, smithied and fixed in the church door. They both attended church with a regularity quite worthy of modern imitation. But Blacke having far the longest way to come, it was agreed that the last bell should not begin till he was seen topping the hill just by the church. Fur a space, Fatte, who lived much nearer the church, stuck to the compact, but later on he broke it, and one Christmas morning he had the folks rung in before Blacke appeared. When Blacke arrived service had begun, at which he got into a rage and would not go inside. And what should he do but wrench off the door-ring, bind it to his horse's tail, and ride away ; at the same time making a vow that wherever the ring chanced to drop, there he would build a church for himself. In his course he rode through the rapids in the river north of the place where Forsa Church stands. On reaching the opposite shore, his steed shook himself to get rid of the water, when down dropped the ring from his tail ; and upon this very spot Blacke built Forsa Church, and fixed in the door the ring from Hog." In the above short notice of some of this author's Runic writings, it was impossible to give more than a faint THORSEN ON NON-MONUMENTAL RUNES. 469 notion of the critical ingenuity which he has brought to bear on a most recondite subject. It will be seen that his views differ most essentially from those of Stephens. Of course we had nothing to do in the matter but to report progress. " Adhuc sub judice lis est." Fresh finds of Runic monuments will doubtless throw fresh light on the subject. Since writing the above, another work, by Professor G. Thorsen, has reached us, entitled " The Use of Runes other than on Monuments." 1 It is in the form of a preface of some hundred pages to the facsimile of a whole volume written in runes. This unique and very beautiful speci- men of Runic writing is shown by the author to date from six centuries ago, at least the earlier MS., for it is not all by one hand. This first part, which on good grounds he assigns to the last quarter of the thirteenth century, con- tains the Scanian law, civil and ecclesiastical, of King Waldemar II. (died 1241), i.e., the law for Scania, now the southernmost province of Sweden, but which in those days, and long; after, belonged to the Danish crown. The Ian- guage is Old Danish, very different, as may be imagined, from the modern tongue. Here, then, we have one of those ancient Danish codes about which Sir H. Spelman made such searching inquiry of Worm. The second part of the book is by a later hand, about 1300, and contains two lists of Danish kings, among whom appears Hamlet, and an account of the ancient frontier 2 between Sweden and Den- mark. A word here on the history of the MS. From an autograph on the title-page we learn that the widow of Sitzel Goi gave it, in 1569, to the honourable man Peter Seurensen (Severini), Canon of Viborg, and physician to the King of Denmark. An injunction is added by her in runes that he was never to part with it. True to her 1 Om Runernes Brug til Skrif t udenfor det Monumentale, af P. G. Thor- sen, Kjobenhavn, 1877, to which is appended Codex Runicus. - This was marked, and is to the present day, by heaps of stones placed at intervals, called R6s = ' raise,' Old English, as Dunniail 'liaise,' near Ambleside. 470 ICELANDIC LIT ERA TURE. bidding, he kept it through life, and at his death it passed to his son, who was equally tight-fisted, although plied by the great Danish antiquary Ole Worm, the friend of Casaubon and correspondent (see above) of Sir H. Spel- man. to let him have a sight of it. But on the death of Severini, junior, Worm, to his immense delight, obtained possession of the treasure. 1 His handwriting is on the first page. " Nunc optimo jure vendicat Olaus Wormius." On his death "Worm left it to his son William, who left it to the Borck Library at Copenhagen. It was here, perhaps, that it became known to Hickes through the Danish ambassador, who copied the Pamic alphabet, " ex legibus Scaniaj MSS.," in his " Thesaurus " (1702-5), tab. 1. While lying on the shelves of the Borck Library it was lent out to Arne Magnusson, the renowned collector of Icelandic MSS. It was in his possession at the great fire of Copen- hagen (1728), which destroyed very few of his own parch- ments, but annihilated the Worm and Borck Libraries. By good-luck, as we have seen, the book was not in either of these collections, and so escaped destruction. Two years later A. Magnusson died (1730), leaving all his MSS. and all his property to Copenhagen University. This MS. was found among his effects, and so passed with the rest — no questions being asked — to the University. It is at length safe for all time, having been reproduced in facsimile by the trustees of the Magnusson bequest. Thorsen (23) calls attention to the fact that the use of runes is first mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus in the sixth century, not, as stated in Is. Diet., by Martianus Capella. His words are, " Barbara fraxineis pingatur runa tabellis. Quodque papyrus agit virgula plana valet." Hrabanus Maurus, in the ninth century, in giving the letters of the Eunic alphabet, says, " Cum quibus (Dani) car- mina incantationes que et divinationes significare solent." We all remember " the sealed letters " which in Shake- 1 See his letter to J. Terceyjus, Professor of Mathematics at Paris, Jan- uary 24, 1628. THORSEN ON NON-MONUMENTAL RUNES. 471 speare are sent to England by Hamlet's treacherous uncle ; but in Saxo they are "letters carved on wood" (i.e., runes), "for this," he adds, "was in days of yore a celebrated method of writing." l It is quite a mistake, says Thorsen, to suppose, as some have done, that runes were never used for any other purposes than those of simple monumental inscriptions, or brief legends on weapons, sacrificial vessels, drinking-cups, &c. The very title of this tractate shows the contrary. With the entrance of the Christian religion into Iceland, about the year 1000, it is further supposed that runes, like the heathen gods, became obsolete. It is true that the conversion of Denmark to Christianity was the first step to expelling runes from its gravestones, but they still continued to hold their own throughout the North as a common vehicle of writing generally to a much later date, while in Iceland, runes were in full swing till the middle of the twelfth century. Ari Frodi's history must, says the author, have been written in runes, as well as the original Gragas and the genealogical tables. 2 For we find in the Prose Edda (10-12) the author of the gram- matical treatise — conjectured by Egilson to have been Euna Gunnar the priest 3 (died 1 193) — says "he has composed a new alphabet for the Icelanders by taking all the Latin letters which seemed to suit our language and adequately represent its sounds." And he further says " he constructed this alphabet in order that people might be able better to write and read both the laws and genealogical notices or re- ligious expositions, and also the very learned treatises which Ari Frocli has wisely committed to paper books." Until this 1 Saxo, Hist. Dan., i. 145. ed. 2 " Before the invention of writing Miiller. An Icelandic scald of the Latin letters on parchment in ink, the eleventh century, Snaebjorn (cf. Edd. law was certainly not written down Snorri, A. Magn., i. 328), calls the sea in its entirety. But this inscription " Hamlet's churn," which proves that proves what was long suspected, that the details of Hamlet's story were in heathen times brief abstracts of known in Iceland, although the tale laws existed in runes." — S. Bugge, itself, the basis of Shakespeare's play, " Ringen i Form Kirke," p. 53, Chris- has only come down to us in a later tiania, 1877. Danish account, i.e., Saxo's, ii. 3 So Egilson conjectures, ri'tfcThor 133. sen, p. 8. 472 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. time, then (about 1 1 50), runes was the only writing em- ployed ; but from this date the new alphabet of the anony- mous writer of the grammatical treatise became the one in O' vogue. In the third treatise, "MalfroeSinnar grund-vbllr," i.e., the foundation of grammar (Edda, p. 62), it is expressly stated in the preface (4-6) that there were sixteen runes, and that Ari Frodi and Thoroddr Runanieister used runes. But there are other proofs, at an earlier period, that runes were used for ordinary writing in Iceland. When Egil was inconsolable for the death of his son (see Egil Saga, which was written before 1200), the ready wit of his affec- tionate daughter rescued him from his fearful depression by proposing that he should compose a dirge to his memory. He did so, and she wrote it down from his mouth in runes on a piece of wood (kefli). This " Sonar Torrek " (sad loss of a son) was twenty- four stanzas long of eight lines each! Again, in Grettis Saga, 144, Halmund bids his daughter write down the epic he composed just before his death in runes on a Kefli. In the middle, then, of the twelfth century, there existed a mass of compositions written down in runes in the preceding generation. These the many Icelanders who, for 250 years from the days of Sweyne Forkbeard, continued to frequent the Danish court, brought with them, and Saxo, the Danish Livy, who lived about the end of the twelfth century, made great use of them in the writing of his history, as he himself expressly states. 1 Nay, he mentions (lib. iv.) one of these Icelanders, Arnoldus Thylensis (Arnold the Ice- lander), a very skilful antiquary, who attended Archbishop Absolon on his journeys, and who in the " Skaldatal" is said to have been on a visit to Denmark in those days, with five of his countrymen. The last of these Northern visitors, Olaf Thordason Hvitaskald, 2 nephew of Snorri, did not 1 Saxo says, preface, p. 8, that he 2 Hvitaskald gives an account of carefully examined these thesauri this journey, in which he was accom- historicarum rerum, but whether they panied by his brother, Sturla Thor- were in writing, or delivered to him darson, in the Knytlinga Saga, p. orally, non liquet. 396. THORSEN ON NON-MONUMENTAL RUNES. 473 arrive in Denmark till 1239 or 1240, while Saxo's preface was written not later than 1208. After acknowledging the assistance thus received, Saxo goes on, preface, p. 11, to say that the Danes used to write the deeds of their ances- tors on rocks, e.g., Eunamo in Bleking, where, he believed, Harald Hildetand had his father's deeds sculptured ; also on the rocks in Bjarmeland (1-9), where Lodbrog was immortalised. But we cannot say what or how much he got from these stones, many of which have vanished. He had, of course, like Ole Worm, to trust to the explanations of them given by others. Another remarkable proof of the non-monumental use of runes is recorded in " Biskupa Sogur," i. 435. One Ingemund, a priest, was wrecked with others on the Greenland coast, not later than 1190, and he left an account of the calamity written in runes on wax, which was found fourteen years after. This shows, says Miiller, that he thought runes would be best under- stood by mariners who chanced to find the tablet. Again, a very notable instance of the use of runes in common life is afforded by historical facts connected with the death of Snorri (1241). A friend sent him a warning, written in runes, of the plot against his life (Sturlunga, ii. 241), but he was unable to decipher the character, and so lost his life. This has been adduced as a proof of how little runes were understood at the time ; but most likely the runes were of a recondite character, a sort of cypher of which Snorri had not the key. Such runes are mentioned by Sturla Thordarson as having been twice used politically, in 1226 and 1240. Of this nature, we may remark, are tree-runes, so called from each character resembling the stem of a tree, with branches shooting out right and left. If we divide the sixteen runes into three sets, the first set consisting of six letters, /, u, h, 0, r, k, the other two sets of five letters each, then let the strokes on the left hand denote the set, the strokes on the right the place in the set. Thus Nwr — a, the two strokes on the left of the stem denoting the second set, h, n, i, a, s, and the four 47 4 ICELANDIC LIT ERA TURE. strokes on the right its place in the set, viz., fourth, which is a. This might be varied by bending the branches on the left downwards, thus : W which also = a. Some of the inscriptions discovered by Mr. Farrer at Maeshow, Orkney, were in tree-runes. Mr. Burton has recently endeavoured to show that the Arabic alphabet, called by the Arabs El-Mush ajgar, or the tree-formed, explains not only these branch-runes, but also the once mysterious Ogham. 1 Bind-runes, i.e., interwoven letters, were often affected by Eunists, pretty much as the early Christians used as a symbol for Christ the Greek letters X (= eh) and P (= r) thrown into the monogram N^. Then there were the Helsing runes, used in Helsingia Land, a northern part of Sweden, which have no perpendicular stem, and somewhat resemble in this the Ogham character. It was the great ingenuity of Magnus Celsius, a.d. 1694, which first discovered the key to these enigmatical characters. 2 In " Sigdrifumal " we learn that runes were used in fourteen different ways. Each rune had its name, besides its letter value. Thus J) was called ' porn ' (a thorn), of which word it was the ini- tial letter. The origin of these names is not known. Per- haps the name had no more to do with the letter than that it began with that letter ; as in our nursery rhyme, ' A was an Archer.' Sometimes these runes were fancifully inserted in a MS. instead of a word, as, e.g., in " Beowulf " (passim), the runic mark for ce, yS i.e., ethel ' = country. A further evidence adduced by Thorsen of the use of runes in ordinary writing is a section in the extant edition of the " Frostethingslov," probably by Hacon Haconson, about 1244, and not, as he supposes, by Magnus Lawbet- terer, where it is enacted that " if the defendant is not at the Thing, the injured man shall write his name down in runes, if he is able to do so." This is important, as showing 1 Athenaeum, No. 2580, p. 447. 2 Lagerheim, Litterse Gothicae ab Asia Oriundae. Lund, 1805. THORSEN ON NON-MONUMENTAL RUNES. 475 that runes were then used in legal proceedings, and the community were generally supposed to be acquainted with them. In twenty-four of the Danish ballads mention is made of runes, but never as a method of imparting knowledge, but always in a superstitious sense. ' To cast runes ' is the phrase for throwing a four-sided piece of wood with the names of persons or love expressions on it, though written in a fashion only known to the initiated. 1 In the ballad " Sir Peter and Metelille" 2 (Grundtvig, ii. p. 325), the knight cast runes over the haughty maid, from whom, though he pressed his suit five years, he never won a smile : on which she "oes after him over the sea. o v " And while she herself steered the ho-at, Fair Christel pulled the oar." She arrives at his castle, and — " Sir Peter, like a gallant knight, His troth did not hetray, For when the month was duly past He held his wedding-day." A passage in "Midsummer Night's Dream," act 1, scene 1, is supposed to allude to runes — "Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes, And interchanged love-tokens with my child." 2 In a Jutland ballad, a girl, Pedar's sweetheart, lay sick, and wished to let him know of her illness. So she took two doves, set them on her lap, and inscribed runes on the claws, and the messenger carried the message safely to its destination — the first recorded instance, as far as we are aware, of the use of a carrier-pigeon. Again, an old Swedish traveller, Bjornstahl, in his " Eesa til Italien,"&c, 1780, says that in the Bibliotheca Barberina he saw many MSS. in runes, which were unlike those gene- 1 Thorsen, p. 75. 2 Prior, Danish Ballads, ii. 349. 476 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. rally used at home. These runes may have been like the stafkarla letr sent to Snorri (Sturl. ii. 241). The idea of the connection of runes with magic was, in a later age, of course, very prevalent. It was said that there once existed in the school at Holar, in North Iceland, a runic volume, Greyskin, the first part of which was in speech- runes (malrunar), and might be studied by the students with impunity. Even though they read it their souls might be saved. But the older part, written in false runes (villu- riinar), was full of black art of the deepest dye, and the master warned them at their peril not to look into it. Bede (Hist. iv. xxii.) tells an interesting story of one Imma who was wounded in battle. After lying a night and a day unconscious, his spirit revived, and he managed to crawl away in search of friends, but fell into the hands of a leader of the opposite party, who took pity on him, and had him cured of his wounds. Subsequently, lest he should effect his escape, he was fettered. But no sooner was he bound than his fetter loosed. The real reason of this miracle was this : The captive had a brother, one Tunna, Abbot of Tunacester, who, hearing that he was slain, repaired to the battlefield in search of the corpse. Here he discovered a body so exactly like his brother's that he believed it to be his, and took it to the monastery, where he gave it honourable burial. This done, he had constant masses sung for the release of his brother's soul, and this was the reason why Imma's fetters were loosened. The King's gesij?, greatly astonished at what he saw, asked the question whether he had any of those charms about him ("literse solutorise," which were fabled by popular super- stition to set captives free). Now, in the Anglo-Saxon ver- sion of Bede, generally set down to Alfred, the question is altered. " He asked the captive whether he was acquainted with loosing rhymes (one MS. reads ' runes '), and had with him the stones with legends inscribed on them and used as spells, and whether this was the reason why he could not be bound ? " This clearly indicates the use of magic-runes RASK'S FATHER. 477 at the time. 1 This reminds us of the tale in Suidas of the two men wrestling at Olympia, a Milesian and an Ephe- sian. The first would not wrestle because the other had bound literce cphesice to his ankles. But the dodse beino- discovered, the charms were removed, and then the Mile- sian threw the Ephesian thrice. In " Havamal " (clii.), Odin, by his magic-runes, can make the fetter fly from the feet. To return to Tborsen. He further gives instances of Eunic writing having been in common use even in the sixteenth century. Thus the daybook of Admiral Mogens Gyldenstierne, still extant (born 1485), was written in that character. It was about 1560, when runes were fading into the past, that the learned began to busy themselves about them as a matter of antiquarian interest, Johannes Magnus and Olaus Magnus being the first who embarked in this study. In 1561, the King's chancellor, Erijs, gave to Daniel Eogers, the English ambassador at Copenhagen, a Eunic alphabet. This is mentioned by Bonavius Vul- canius. 2 But the runes were not the runes on grave- stones, but those in ordinary use in 1561. Eunic writing, however, never quite died out. Nay, it is recorded by Ihre and Gotlin 3 that the inhabitants of Elfdal, a parish in Dalecarlia, even in their time, retained the use of runes in private memoranda and messages. The reader will be interested to learn that the great philologer Eask's father, a cotter in Eunen, a poor but shrewd man, wrote in a book belonging to him his own name, " Niels Hans Chris- tiansen Easch, Brendkilde, 1789," in fluent runes. So his son, born 1787, might have been stimulated by the sight of these runes to cultivate in himself dormant tastes lying in that direction. ]t may be interesting to cite here a letter by Ole Worm, the Danish antiquary, who first drat; runes from their oblivion. Writing December 18, 1644, to 1 Alcuin, writing to an English et Lingua Getarum sive Gothorum, archbishop (c. 800), censures the Leyden, 1597. 'ligaturae,' phylacteries, worn by the 3 De Uunarum in Suecia Occasu, English. — Mon. Alcuin., 721. *773- 2 Vide Appendix to his De Litteris 473 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. Naudseus, librarian of Cardinal Mazarin, who was anxious to have some specimens of Eunic books, he explains the paucity of them as follows : — " Books written in Eunic are very rarely to be met with ; the reason of which is, that the first Christian missionaries, being utterly ignorant of our characters, to avoid the twofold labour of first learning these and then teaching the people, tried their best to do away with them, pronouncing runes to be connected with the black art, and trying to make the credulous believe it was a mark of impiety to have aught to do with such books. Hence they were condemned to the flames, and in their place were substituted books such as we now possess. So rare, indeed, are the extant specimens of Eunic litera- ture, that I cannot remember to have met with more than two codices in that character." (W. Epist. p. 898.) It is true that, when the new religion came, the Church autho- rities published their notices in Latin and in the Latin character. But that the new clergy were not so univer- sally opposed to runes is proved, says Thorsen, by many Christian Eunic monuments. On a tomb at Aakirkeby, in the island of Bornholm, which dates from the end of the eleventh century, there are as many as three hundred runes, along with scenes from Bible history. On the other hand, when some mentioned that Ssemundr copied the Old Edda from runic books, Arne Magnusson (Vita Sremundi, xiii.) asserts that runes were only cut on wood and stones, arms, or buildings, and that Eunic books were a mere affectation of a later age ; and further, that everything, even the laws, was orally preserved. The researches of Thorsen and Bugge have shown this to be incorrect. Since the above was written a new theory on the vexed question of the origin of runes has been started by the Eev. I. Taylor. 1 Herein he states that the Greek colonies on the shores of the Euxine were derived almost exclu- 1 Greeks and Goths, a Study of the Runes, by Rev. I. Taylor, 1879. I. TAYLOR ON RUNES. 479 sively from Ionia and the isles, the alphabet of which countries has most similarity to the runes : and it is from this source he derives them. The modus operandi was this : — Greek traders pushed up the Dnieper, the Borys- thenes of Herodotus. On it they would meet with the Northern Goths, who, in the second century, left their early homes east of the Vistula, and worked southwards by that river, which was the great highway of the com- merce between the Baltic and the Euxine, the very route taken, as we have seen above, by the Varangian Vikings in later times on their way to the Black Sea. The Goths had thus become acquainted with the form of Greek writing used by these Greeks, and from it they would construct the Eunic alphabet. A portion of these Goths had migrated across the Baltic before the time of Ptolemy, 150 B.C., while the residue remained south of it, and occupied the north of Eussia, east of the Vistula, with the present Grodno, Minsk, and Volhynia for their southern limit, before they commenced their great historical migra- tion down the valley of the Dnieper. Not long ago a spear-head inscribed with old runes was found on the banks of the Privet, an affluent of the Dnieper. ( 4«o ) CHAPTER XXIX. CONCLUSION. In tlie above pages we have endeavoured to institute a comparison — necessarily very imperfect — between the extant remains of Saxon and Scandinavian literature in their chief branches. As Englishmen, each of us natu- rally yearns towards that which must be called his mother tongue — the Old English — the speech of our great King, who has been pronounced to be the greatest and purest character in history. By its power and range, its simpli- city and beauty, it well deserves our admiration. In its affluence of words to interpret the most serious operations of the mind it is pre-eminent. But this very fact indi- cates that leaning towards the didactic and philosophical which stamped the Saxon spirit. To a modern, this some- what solemn style is apt to be oppressive. We long to escape out of the stuffy lecture-room into the fresh air. But the Northern tongue is no less admirable ; nay, more so. In form and vocabulary it is one of the finest and most copious languages known. Its words are cut out sharply, a single one sometimes containing a picture ; the grammar short and handy, its system of inflections carried out without flagging, more so than in Anglo-Saxon, although there are writers who erroneously state the contrary ; the sentences simple, full of nerve and pith, and straight to the point. And so versatile was the Scandinavian pen, that it touched nearly every species of composition then known, grave and gay alike, and seldom failed. Look at HA BE NT SUA FATA LI BELLI. 481 the lively way in which a tale is told, and the salient points instinctively seized upon by the narrator, the very points to engross all our interest. So that the Icelandic is worthy to be learned for its own sake. Deep lessons of experience in human affairs, ever varied, are there described with a readiness and succinctness truly astonish- ing. The court, the camp, the quarter-deck; the Great Parliament and the Provincial Things ; the hall, the bou- doir, the cottage — quicquid agunt homines — the hopes and fears, the scheming, the main principles influencing human life at all these centres, are there exhibited. There may have been a deep romance in the national life of the Anglo-Saxons, but all that can be said is, that there is not much trace of it in their extant literature. Without wishing to be too critical, we must confess that the personages we are introduced to partake sometimes of the character of the lay figure. Cartloads of Old English mythical and heroic epics, finished histories in the ver- nacular, heaps of pieces teeming with sprightly humour, with vivid portraiture, with precious touches of nature, may or may not have been destroyed by the Danes, by the Normans in their contempt for everything Anglo- Saxon, by insensate scribes in want of vellum — who scraped out things of beauty to make room for their own doting effusions, or pasted the leaves of MSS. together to make bindings — by the Reformers, by the Eoundheads, by fire, by crass folly. The dangers and vicissitudes to which precious MSS. were subject in those days of foray and buccaneering were doubtless great, as is illustrated by the following. 1 In the Eoyal Library at Stockholm is a MS. of the four Gospels, richly illuminated and written in letters of gold. It is an old italic version, apparently of Irish workmanship, and executed, perhaps at the monastery of Pobbio, not later than the sixth or beginning of the seventh century. 1 Malmesbury relates how Aldhelm in a storm at Dover miraculously saved a vessel containing a copy of the Gospels, when the sailois let liim have it at his own price. Gest. Pontiff, Rolls ed. 376. -■> II 4S2 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. In the year 1690 this MS. was found by Sparvenfelt at Madrid (not Mantua), and by him given to the Lib- rary. 1 But this book at one time belonged to Christ Church, Canterbury. This fact is attested by a deed of gift in the Old South English dialect, written at the top and bottom of page 11, wherein iElfred Aldorman (Earl) and Werburg his wife, having got this book from a heathen war-troop in exchange for pure gold, do, for their souls' behoof, and because they are unwilling that this holy book should longer abide in heathenesse, present the same to the Brotherhood of Christ Church. The deed of gift must have dated earlier than 871. It is interesting to find the pious donor identified by Stephens with the iElfred, a rich nobleman of Surrey in the days of King TElfred, whose will is printed by Mr. Kemble, which will is witnessed by Archbishop Ethelred or iEdered. 2 A similar book containing the four Gospels, written, like Ulfilas' Gothic Gospels, on purple vellum, but in golden instead of silver letters, and bound in silver gilt, has also escaped every peril, and is now deposited in the British Museum. This is the Lindisfarne Gospels, 3 which, on the approach of the Danes, 875, was carried off by the monks. Still, making every allowance for " Time's effacing fingers," and for accidents of every kind, we are bound to judge by what we see and not by what we do not see. And what we do see is a thing of shreds and patches. 4 And with these fully before him, an American critic of some emi- nence, Marsh, asserts " there is no reason to suppose we have not the best Anglo-Saxon works surviving." Saxon literature may have been splendid, but this can only be 1 Vide "Codex Aureus, sive quat- Hushworth) versions synoptically ar- tuor Evangelia ante Hieronymum ranged, planned by Kemble, and now Latine translata." Ed. J. Belsheim, finished by Professor Skeat, Cam- Christianise, 1878. See " Westwood's bridge University Press. Facsimiles," &c. 4 " Henry of Huntingdon shows a 2 Codex Diplom , vol. ii. p. 120. remarkable acquaintance withAnglo- 3 Published by theSurtees Society. Snxon authorities now lost.'' Kemble, Cf. The Four Gospels in Anglo-Saxon Saxons, ii. 220. and Northumbrian (Lindisfarne and SOUGH OF THE ERNE. 483 surmised. And if we do find in what remains to us aught of heathen vigour, of picturesqueness, of intensity, it often smacks so shrewdly of the Old Norse that we might almost say it was borrowed from thence. The wan raven, the lank wolf, the sallow-plumaged eagle, hasting to the battlefield, ready to feast upon the corpses of the fey warriors, is at home both among Saxons and North- men. So is the song and the story at the feast, and the beauteous lady handing round the twisted beaker. But when the Earl bursts the ' shieldburgh ' — when Beowulf wins his way through the pursuing nikkrs, and visits the grim depths of the lake, so deep that it took him a day to reach the bottom — when his borrowed " heir- loom" sword (Hrunting), adorned with inlaid work of interlacing rings on the hilt, refuses " to bite " (bita), its edge being turned by the horrid head of GrendeFs dam — when the old chief dies, and is borne by his men to the sea-shore, and is placed on the ship that waited there, close by the mast, along with his armour and his treasure — all alone like the weird mariner of Coleridge, who, however, was not dead but alive — and theu the ship is shoved out into the trackless deep ; or when the swart wood-reek ascends from the Swedish pine and consumes the corpse of Beowulf at Hronesnses, and his people raise a mound over it, and on that a beacon overlooking the sea, to be a mark for mariners (Beow., 6280) — surely this is Scandinavian to the core. There is a curiosa felicitas in many expressions of the Northern Scalds, which wins the admiration of the least sympathetic student. "Arnsugr" = "sough of the erne," is the fine word used to describe the rushing sound caused by the flight of the eagle. 1 An eagle truly of large dimensions, for it was the giant Thiazi in the shape of that bird pursuing Loki, who, disguised as a falcon, had carried off the captive Iduna, transformed for the nonce 1 Cf. ori-in of the wind, Prose Edda. 4 S4 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. into the size of a hazel - nut. Our word " breaker " is well enough, but it does not approach to " boSi " = " boder," i.e., the broken water, boding the hidden rocks beneath. What has English or Anglo-Saxon to compare in pictu- resque grandeur to blamser = " blue moor," which a Norse poet, Eyvindr, the author of the " Hakonarmal " (a.d. 960), used of the sea ? " Out on the blue moor " is still used by the fishermen north of Bergen. See Ivar Aasen's " Glos- sary of the Norse Provincial Dialects." If Anglo-Saxon literature is useful in elucidating the topography and the antiquities of these isles, in explaining our proper names and appellations of places, in illustrating our provincial dialects and local customs, of Icelandic this is also true. And how could it be otherwise, when we remember that Saxon and Scandinavian were both dialects of one wide-spread language, from the days of Hengist downwards, which became inextricably blended during the contest of six generations that preceded the Conquest ? Numberless forms and words and phrases have thus, as we have seen, come into our modern English from a Northern and not an Anglo-Saxon source. The heaven x above us, the earth, the sea, 2 the ships moving thereon, the tidal phenomena, the features of natural scenery, reappear with little change in Scandinavia. The points of contact are so numerous that one is puzzled which to select in illustration. In our hours of relaxation and social inerri- 1 "Himinn" is the later form in Testament is explained on the ground Scandinavia, but "hifni" occurs on that the heathen conception of a plu- the Runic stones, and " hifna kong " rality of worlds influenced the Chris- (the king of heaven) in old manu- tian writings. scripts. The mythic origin of heaven 2 But the Norseman had a picture- was the vast skull of the giant Ymir, word for the sea besides, "haf" — heaved aloft by the dwarfs (Old the heaving, lifting mass, which seems Edda). The Anglo-Saxon etymology unknown to the Saxons ; while the (Solomon and Saturn) is that it is so ship's " keel " that ploughs the waves called because it conceals from view was a native of the country which is everything above it (ufan). Rather split midway between the North Sea a poor etymology for the wise man and the Baltic by the keel-shaped to give. The fact that the word is range of the Kiblen. generally in the plural in the New CLAP OF THUNDER. 485 ment the Northman is still at our elbow. Our " toast " is a relic of Northern heathenism, but with this difference : we drink to the living, they drank to the dead. At the funeral feast, the wake, where the parting man was speeded on his way, and the coming heir welcomed to his father's high seat, a memorial cup (minni) was drunk to the deceased. At the funeral of a king, the heir, when he rose to drink this toast, placed his foot on the footstool of his seat, and then made a solemn vow. When the Danish Prince Sweyn "waked" his father at Eingstedt in Sea- land, he vowed such a vow, standing in the midst of those Knights-Templars of the North, the Jomsburg Vikings, the glasses being charged to the brim. The memorable vow ran thus : " Before three winters are over, I vow to invade England, and kill or drive out King Ethelred, or die in the attempt." Englishmen have cause to remember that toast. It was the forerunner to the great Danish invasion of a.d. 994. 1 On the other hand, expressions quite commonplace in our tongue, in the light of the Old Norse assume a weird significance. Take, for example, our " clap of thunder," which in Old Norse is "reigar hruma" = the rumbling rattling sound of chariot-wheels. Here we are at once tran- sported to the days when the Norseman, if his sleep was broken by a rattling peal of thunder, fancied the god Thor, '•' the charioteer," was driving through the air, " flaming amazement" through this nether world. So surely will words interpret the past history of a people, as fossils will unravel the vicissitudes of our earth. We have also shown above that in the North are to be found the germs of many of our institutions, and it is to our cross with the Norsemen that we owe some of the most pronounced and best features of our national character, the keen (hvass) eagerness, the resolute coolness, the " last " and " game " of our race. " Skill " in whatever they attempt is the aim of lead- 1 Fagrskinna, c. 56. 486 ICELANDIC LITERATURE. ing Englishmen. And this word — if not the thing sig- nified by it — came from Scandinavia. The deep majestic stream of English is due mainly to the blending of two distinct sources : the one impetuous, sparkling, telling us of its home in the mountains of the far North; the other slower, statelier, more sedate and measured in its flow. Shall we explore this and not that ? Shall we follow the easy route that winds along the plain, and have no heart to breast the steeper path 1 The two tongues in their similarities and divergences illustrate English and also each other. Without a know- ledge of the Northern literature nobody can be thoroughly furnished for the study of our mother tongue. The words of the great Danish philologer, Erasmus Kask, with which we close our work, will, for yet another reason, commend themselves to an Englishman : — " I was astonished to find that our forefathers had such a noble language. ... I do not study Icelandic in order to learn statesmanship or the science of war, but in order to think like a man, in order to educate my soul to meet danger with contempt, and rather leave the world than budge a jot from principles of the truth of which I have once become thoroughly convinced." APPENDIX. THE FIGHT OF FERDIAD AXD CUCHULAIND. 1 An Episode from the Ancient Tale in Irish of the Tain Bo Chuailgne, or the Cattle Prey of Cooley. " And then it was discussed by the men of Eirin who should go to combat and do battle with Cuchulaind. . . . "What they all said was, that it was Ferdiad, for they had learned the science of arms, braver}'-, and valour with the same tutors. . . . Ferdiad denied and declined and refused those messengers, and he came not with them, because he knew wherefore they wanted him — to fight and combat with his own friend and companion and fellow-pupil, Cuchulaind, and he came not with them. I " It is then Medb sent the Druids, and the Satirists, and the violent exciters for Ferdiad, that they might compose three repressing satires, and three hill-top satires for him, that they 1 This is an episode of one of the however, is wanting in that book, but many Irish tragic tales (aideadh, plur. it is given in the Book of Leinster, a Oitte, whence Rhys conjectures 'edda' MS. of 1150A.I). It is pronounced by to be derived). The events recorded O'Curry to be an example of true are supposed to have corresponded Gaedhelic poetry, as distinguished with the commencement of the Chris- from the inferior modernised legends. tian era, and to be of Pagan charac- The admixture of prose and verse re- ter. The original poem was written minds us of the Edda, cf. p. 331 above, down by St. Ciaran, the founder of the See O'Curry, "Manners and Customs Church of Clonmacnoise (died 548), of the Ancient Irish," iii. 403, sqq., and copied down in the Book of the and "Lectures on the MS. Materials Dun Cow (Leabhar na h-Uidhri) by of Ancient Irish History," Leot. ii. Maelmuir (died 1106). This episode, p. 39- 488 APPENDIX. might raise three blisters on his face — shame, blemish, and disgrace ; so that, if he died not immediately, he would be dead before the end of nine days, if he came not with them. Ferdiad came with them for the sake of his honour, for he prepared to fall rather by the shafts of valour, gallantry, and bravery, than by those of satire, abuse, and reproach. And when he arrived he was received with honour and attendance, and he was served with pleasant, sweet, intoxicating liquor, so that he became intoxicated and gently merry. And great rewards were promised him for making the combat and the fight, namely, a chariot worth four times seven cumals (cumal = three cows), and the outfit of twelve men of clothes of every colour, and the extent of the level plain of Magh Aie free of tribute, . . . and Findabar as his wedded wife, and the golden brooch in Medb's cloak in addition to all these." 1 Then comes a dialogue between Medb and Ferdiad in nearly a hundred verses. He sticks out for more — Ferdiad. " I will not accept it without guarantee ; For a champion without security I will not be. Heavily will it press upon me to-morrow, Terrible will be the battle. Hound indeed is the name of Culand ; He is fierce in combat, 'Tis not easy to withstand him ; Fearless will be the fight." Medb offers as sureties, for the performance of her promises to Ferdiad, Morand and Carpri, gods or mythical personages, 2 and, in a piece of prose which follows, Cuchulaind is forth- with informed by Fergus who it is that is to fight with him early the next morning. And a verse dialogue of eleven quatrains ensues between the two. Fkkdiad. " Cuchulaind, brave in battle ! I see 'tis time for thee to arise ; 1 Medb, the queen of Connacht, is tened with a brooch of gold over her thus described in another part of the breast, a straight ridged slcgh or light poem:— "A beautiful, pale, long- spear blazing red in her hand." faced woman, with long golden-yellow 2 See O'Curry's "Manners and hair upon her, a crimson cloak, fas- Customs," &c, i. p. xxxii. APPENDIX. 489 Here comes to thee with an^er Ferdiad, son of Daman, of the ruddy face." CUCHULAIND. "Should we happen to meet at the ford, I and Ferdiad of never-failing valour, It shall not he a separation without history ; Fierce will he our sharp conflict." " Fergus came back to the court and encampment. Ferdiad went to his tent and to his people, and told them that he was firmly bound by Medb to give combat and fight to six champions on the morrow, or to combat and fight with Cuchulaind alone if he thought it easier. . . . The inmates of Ferdiad's tent were not cheerfid, happy, or in melancholy pleasure on that night, . . . because it was not possible to make combat or fight with Cuchulaind on the Tain B6 Chuailgne. Ferdiad slept the beginning of the night very heavily, and when the latter part of night came, his sleep departed from him, and his intoxication had vanished, and the anxiety of the fight pressed upon him. And he commanded his charioteer to har- ness his horses and yoke his chariot." " Let us go to this challenge, To vanquish this man, Till Ave reach this ford — A ford over which the raven will croak To hattle with Cuchulaind." In spite of the remonstrances of his charioteer, Ferdiad's horses were harnessed and his chariot yoked, and he came forward to the ford of the battle. . . . "Good my servant, spread for me the cushions and skins of my chariot under me here, until I take my deep rest of repose and sleep here, because I slept not the end of the night through the anxiety of the combat and the battle." . . . "The history of Cuchulaind here now I will tell. . . . The horses are harnessed, the chariot is yoked. . . . And then the battle-fighting, dexterous, battle-winning, red-swordcd hero sprang into his chariot. And there shouted round him 15oca- nachs . . . and demons of the air. For they were used to 49° APPENDIX. set up their shouts round him, so that the hatred, and the fear, and the abhorrence, and the great terror of him should be the greater in every battle, in every battlefield, in every combat, in every fight into which he went. And it was not long till Ferdiad's charioteer heard the noise approaching, the clamour, and the rattle, and the whistling, and the tramp, and the thunder, the clatter and the buzz, namely, the shield noise of the missive shields, and the hissing of the spears, and the loud clangour of the swords, and the tinkling of the helmet, and the ringing of the armour, and the friction of the arms, the dangling of the missive weapons, the straining of the ropes, and the loud clattering of the wheels, and the creaking of the chariot, and the tramping of the horses, and the triumphant advance of the champion and the warrior towards the ford approaching him. The servant came and placed his hand on his lord. ' Good, Ferdiad ! ' said the servant, ' arise ; here they come to thee to the ford.' And the servant spake these words there — " I hear the creaking of the chariot With a heautiful silver yoke And the form of a full-grown man in it. It is the roll of a warlike chariot. Over Breg Ross, over Braine, They come over the highway, By the foot of Baile-in-Bile — It is gifted with victories. " He is a heroic hound who urges it, He is a trusty charioteer who yokes it, He is a nohle hawk who speeds His horses towards the South. He is a martial hero, He is (the presage of) hloody slaughter ; Surely it is not witli indexterity He will give us hattle." Ferdiad upbraids his servant for praising Cuchulaind and foretelling evil to his master, and a dialogue ensues, in which the servant does not abate his praises of the enemy. " I see the champion of Cuailgne, He runneth, and 'tis not very slowly, APPENDIX. 491 Fleet as wind, not with difficulty, But like water from a high clifi', Or like the rapid thunder." " Ferdiad's charioteer was not long there until he saw something, the beautiful, flesh-seeking, four-peaked chariot, with speed, with velocity, with full cunning, with a green pavilion, with a thin-bodied, dry-bodied, high-weaponed, long- speared, warlike Creit (body of the chariot), upon two fleet- bounding, large-eared, fierce, prancing, whale-bellied, broad- chested, lively-hearted, high-flanked, wide-hoofed, slender- legged, broad-rumped, resolute horses under it — a grey, broad-hipped, fleet, bounding, long-maned steed under the one yoke of the chariot; a black, tufty-maned, ready-going, broad-backed steed under the other yoke. " Like unto a hawk (swooping) from a cliff on a day of hard wind, or like a sweeping gust of the spring wind on a March day over a smooth plain, or like the fleetness of a wild stag on his being first started by the hounds in his first field, were Cuchulaind's two horses with the chariot, as though they were on fiery flags, so that the earth shook and trembled with the velocity of their motion." Ferdiad welcomes Cuchulaind across the ford, who upbraids him for breaking their bond of friendship and coming to fight him, and tells the fate of other champions with whom he had fought. Ferdiad retorts in a dialogue of seventy-two lines. " Dost thou remember the missive weapons we used to practise with Scathach, and with Uaathlach, and with A'ife?" " I remember them indeed," said Cuchulaind. "Let us resort to them," said Ferdiad. They resorted to their missive weapons. They took two emblematic missive shields upon them, and their eight turned handled spears, and their eight little quill spears, and their eight ivory-hilted swords, and their eight sharp ivory-hafted spears. They used to fly from them and to them like bees on the wing on a fine day. There was no cast that did not hit. Each continued to shoot at the other with those missiles from the twilight of the early morning to the mean mid-day, until all their missiles were blunted against the faces and bosses of the missive shields. And although the shooting was most excellent, so 492 APPENDIX. good was the defence that neither of them bled or reddened the other during that time. They now drop the javelins and select other weapons. " To thee belongs the choice of arms till night," said Cuchu- laind, "because thou hast first reached the ford." "Let us, then," said Ferdiad, " resort to our straight, elegant, smooth, hardened spears, with their perfectly hardened flaxen strings in them." " Let us now indeed," said Cuchulaind. And it was then they took two stout protecting shields upon them. They resorted to their straight, elegant, smooth, hardened spears, with their perfectly hardened flaxen strings in them. They continued to shoot at each other from the middle of mid-day to eventide ; and though the defence was most excel- lent, still the shooting was so good that each of them bled and reddened and wounded the other in that time. They now desist, embrace, and give each other three kisses. ' ' Their horses were in the same paddock that night, and their charioteers at the same fire ; and their charioteers spread beds of green rushes for them, with wounded men's pillows to them. The professors of healing and curing came to heal and cure them, and they applied herbs and plants of healing and curing to their stabs, and their cuts, and their gashes, and to all their wounds. Of every herb and of every healing and curing plant that was put to the stabs and cuts and gashes and to all the wounds of Cuchulaind, he would send an equal portion from him westward over the ford to Ferdiad, so that the men of Eirin might not be able to say, should Ferdiad fall by him, that it was by better means of cure that he was enabled (to kill him)." On the morning of the second day, Cuchulaind, to whom fell the choice of weapons, selected heavy broad spears. Each of them continued to pierce and to wound, to redden and to lacerate the other from the twilight of the early morn- ing until evening's close. If it were the custom for birds in their flight to pass through the bodies of men, they could have passed through their bodies on that day, and they might carry pieces of flesh and blood through their stabs and cuts into the clouds and sky all round. " Let us desist," said Cuchulaind when evening came ; " our horses are fatigued and APPENDIX. 493 our charioteers are dispirited ; and when they are fatigued, why should not we be fatigued too ? " So they ceased, with embraces and three kisses each. The steeds were placed in the same enclosure, and their charioteers sat at the same fire. The professors of healing, &c, found, after careful diagnosis, that their occupation Avas gone. " They could do nothing more for them because of the dangerous severity of their stabs, their cuts, and their gashes, and their numerous wounds, than to apply witchcraft and incantations and charms to them, to staunch their blood, and their bleeding and gory mortal wounds. Every spell, incantation, and charm that was applied to the stabs and cuts of Cuchuiaind, he sent a full moiety of them over the ford westwards to Ferdiad. All sorts of food, and of palatable, pleasant, intoxicating drink, that were sent by the men of Eirin to Ferdiad, he would send a moiety of them over the ford northwards to Cuchuiaind ; because the purveyors of Ferdiad were more numerous than those of Cuchuiaind." Next day Cuchuiaind reproaches Ferdiad for coming to fight with his friend as before. Fer- diad, having the choice of arms, selects heavy, hard-smiting swords. " Each of them began to hew and cut down, to slaughter and destroy, until larger than the head of an infant of a month old was every piece and every lump which each of them cut away from the shoulders, and from the thighs, and from the shoulder-blades of the other." They played this game from dawn till evening, when they ceased. No inter- change of civility took place this third night. The horses were not in the same enclosure, the charioteers were not at the same fire. Ferdiad rose the fourth morning and put on his armour, which was peculiar. " He put on his apron of striped silk, with its border of spangled gold upon it, next his white skin. He put on his apron of brown leather well sewn over that out- side on the lower part (of his body). He put on a huge stone as big as a millstone over that outside on his lower part. He put on his firm deep apron of iron, of purified iron, over the huge stone as large as a millstone, through fear and dread of the Gae Bulg on that day. He put his crested helmet of battle and combat and fight on his head, on which were 494 APPENDIX. forty gems, carbuncles, in each compartment. . . . He took his destructive, sharp-pointed, strong spear into his right hand. He took his curved sword of battle upon his left side, with its golden hilt, with its pommel of red gold. He took his great, large, bossed, beautiful shield on the slope of his back, on which were fifty bosses, upon each of which bosses a full-grown hog would fit, not to mention the great central boss of red gold. Ferdiad displayed many noble, varied, wonderful feats on high on that day which he had never learned with any other person, but which were invented by himself that day against Cuchulaind." Cuchulaind perceiving this, argues no good for himself, and so bids his charioteer to keep him up to the mark by alter- nate praise and reproach. Cuchulaind having the choice of weapons this day, says, " Let us try the ford feat." Each began to shoot at the other, and as the day wore each drew nearer to the other ; and Cuchulaind sprang from the brink of the ford, and lighted on the boss of Ferdiad's shield, son of Daman, to have a blow at his head over the rim of the shield. Ferdiad, however, with a hitch of his left elbow against the shield, sent Cuchulaind flying like a bird to the brink of the ford. Nothing daunted, Cuchulaind repeated the manoeuvre, but Ferdiad, striking at his shield with his left knee, cast Cuchulaind like a little child on the brink of the ford. Laeg (Cuchulaind's attendant) perceived that act. " Alas ! indeed," said he, " the warrior casts thee away as a lewd woman would cast her child. He throws thee as foam is thrown by the river. He grinds thee as a mill would grind fresh malt. He pierces thee as the felling axe would pierce the oak. He binds thee as the woodbine binds the tree. He darts on thee as the hawk darts on small birds, so that hence- forth thou hast not call, or right, or claim to valour or bravery, to the end of time and life, thou little fairy phantom," said Laeg. Then up sprang Cuchulaind with the rapidity of the wind, and with the readiness of the swallow, and with the fierceness of the dragon, and the strength of the lion, into the troubled clouds of the air the third time, until he lighted on the boss of the shield of Ferdiad, son of Daman, to endeavour to APPENDIX. 495 strike his head over the rim of his shield from ahove. And then it was the -warrior gave the shield a shake, and cast Cuchulaind from him into the middle of the ford, the same as if he had never before been cast off at all. And it was then that Cuchulaind's first distortion came on, and he was filled with swelling and great fulness, like breath in a bladder, until he became a terrible, fearful, many-coloured, wonderful Tuaig (giant), and he became as big as a Fomor, or man of the sea, the great and valiant champion, in perfect height over Ferdiad. " So close was the fight they made now, that their heads met above, and their feet below, and their arms in the middle over the rims and bosses of their shields. So close was the fight they made, that they cleft and loosened their shields from their rims to their centres. So close was the fight which they made, that they turned, and bent, and shivered their spears from their points to their hafts. Such was the close- ness of the fight which they made, that the Bocanachs, and the Bananachs, and the wild people of the glens, and demons of the air screamed from the rims of their shields, and from the hilts of their swords, and from the hafts of their spears. Such was the closeness of the fight which they made, that they cast the river out of its bed and out of its course, so that it might have been a reclining and a reposing couch for a king or for a queen in the middle of the ford, so that there was not a drop of water in it, unless it dropped into it by the trampling and the hewing which the two champions and the two heroes made in the middle of the ford." Such was the terror inspired by this tremendous contest that the horses, women, youths, camp-followers present rushed away pell-mell. Meantime Ferdiad found an unguarded moment, and buried his sword in Cuchulaind's body, so that his blood reddened the ford. Upon this Cuchulaind asked his man, as the last resort, to give him the Gae Bulg. " The manner of that was this : — It used to be set down stream and cast from between the toes; it made the wound of one spear in entering the body; but it had thirty barbs to open, ami could not be drawn out of a person's body till it was cut open." The servant set the Gae Bulg down stream ; Cuchu- laind caught it between his toes, and, with fatal facility, 496 APPENDIX. hurled this complex harpoon at Ferdiad, passing through his iron apron, his millstone, &c., and filled every crevice of his body with the barbs. His dying words are truly affecting — " Hound 1 of the beautiful feats, It was not befitting thee to kill me. Thine is the fault of my certain ruin. On thee 'tis best to have my blood. " The wretches escape not Who go into the gap of destruction. My voice is diseased. Alas ! I depart ; my end hath come. ' ' My lacerated ribs are bursting, My heart is all gore. Not well have I given battle ; Thou hast killed me, O Hound." The victor now carries off the body of the slain in prose ; faints, and falls prostrate ; and, on recovering, pours forth a coronach upon his friend — " Dear to me was thy beautiful ruddiness, Dear to me thy comely perfect form, Dear to me thy grey, clear blue eye, Dear to me thy wisdom and thy eloquence," &c. The body of the slain is then stripped, that the victor may see Medb's brooch, for the sake of which Ferdiad undertook the fight. On seeing it, he commences — " Alas ! golden brooch ! O Ferdiad of the poet, O stout hero of slaughtering blows, Valiant was thine arm. " Delightful was thy fellow-pupilship ; Beaming noble eyes ; Thy shield with its golden rim ; Thy chess which was worth riches. 1 "Is thy servant a dog?" in the it differently. In Anglo-Saxon 'the mouth of King Hazael would indicate noble beast' is a common term for that in the East 'a dog' was any- a young brave, "Beowulf," 3904; thing but a term of affection or hon- while the Northern warrior rejoiced our. The Irish seem to have viewed in ' Jofurr ' — a wild boar. APPENDIX. 4 97 Thy fate by my hand I feel it was not right ; It was not a friendly consummation — Alas ! O golden brooch ! alas ! " The trusty squire, Laeg, at the request of his master, " who cannot afford to be without his weapon," now proceeds to extract the Gae Bulg from the corpse. Having completed an autopsy of the mangled remains, Cuchulaind ejaculates — " O Ferdiad ! sorrowful is thy fate ! That I should see thee so gory and pale ; I having my weapon yet unwashed, And thou a blood-streaming mass." '6 He then proceeds to describe a warlike expedition they had made together, after which they were sworn friends — " We pillaged the court of the wily German ; Over the broad sea of spangled waters We brought the German alive With us to Scathacli 1 of the broad shield." " Let us leave this ford," exclaims his henchman. Cuchu- laind still keeps magnifying his achievement. All that he had ever done before was mere child's-play to this last. " Each was a game, each was a sport, Until Ferdiad came into the ford, The lion fiery and furious, The swelling hideous wave Threatening destruction." .-> Each was a game, and so on for five stanzas, endin " Yesterday he was larger than a mountain, To-day there remains of him but his shadow." The fate of Ferdiad so far. 1 This lady, Scathach, kept a military college in Scotland, iii. 402. 2 I INDEX. "A," the preposition, 442. " Aage nnd Else." ballad of. 279. Aakirkeby, Runic monument at, 478. Aasen Ivar, 326, 484. Abbo's Life of St. Edmund, 43. Abingdon, Chronicle of, 288. Acrostics, Runic, 133. Adam of Bremen, 301. Adam's name, 411 ; the materials he was made of, 412. AJamnan, his Life of Columba, 42, 208. Adelphius, Bishop, 21. Adinus, 74. Adonis, 261. Adrian, Abbot of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, 67, 181. M, Anglo-Saxon word for civil law, 397. ^Egelsburh, 290. ^Egelsford, 290. JSgir, 287 ; daughters of, ib. ./Elbert, Archbishop of York, 76. JElfred Aldorman and Werburg, 482. ^Elfric's Easter Homily, 3, 20 ; Col- loquy, 165 sqq. iEscbere, 116. jEtheldritha, 80. .fEthelhard, Archbishop of Canter- bury, 80. iEthelred, King of Northumbria, exhorted by Alcuin, 80. iEthelstan the Atheliug, will of, 110. Agricola, cf. Tacitus. Ai and Edda, 399. Aidan, 28, 32, 38, 185. Aigulf, the Presbyter, 84. Albiruni, 202. Alcuin, 22; reproves Lindisfarne monks for singing songs, 38; cor- respondence of, 70 sqq. ; chief of the school and library at York, 76 ; hispoem, "DeSanctis Ebor. Eccl.," 76, 173 ; his Latin History of St. Wilibrord, 76; becomes factotum of Charlemagne, 77; his conun- drums, 78, 421 ; dies, 84; rebukes use of phylacteries in England, 476. Aldebert, heretic, 74. Aldhelm, "prince of native poets," 19 ; his Life by William of Malmes- bury, 67 ; Abbot of Malmesbury, 67 ; Bishop of Sherborne, 68 ; his letter to King Geruntius, 68; cor- respondence, 67 sqq.; sings ballads at bridge-ends, 155 ; thought by Grimm to be author of "An- dreas," 70 ; paraphrase of psalms ascribed to him, 71 ; his shrine at Malmesbury, 71 ; became stilted in style, 153 ; his riddles, 421. Aldingar, Sir, 439. Ale, 110 ; "is another man," 432. Ale and beer, 452 Alexander's Saga from Alexandrei's of P. Gautier, 370; Alexander III., Pope, excommunicates King Swer- rir, &c, 352. Alfgeir, 120. Alfred. King, his love of national songs, 19 ; a diligent translator, 24 ; his Boethius, 289 ; and Oro- sius, 24; his day-book, 26; dis- guised as a minstrel, 57 ; story of the cakes appeared first in Life of St. Neot, 62; Asser's Life of, 62 ; His mother, Osburga, 63; laws. 85, 90; Guthrum's Peace, !»1 ; preface to the Pastoral, 184 ; his tower, 397. Alfred the Ealdonnan, his will, 93, L13. All-Father, 257, 260. Alliteration common to all branches of Teutonic race, 87 ; in the burial and marriage service, 151, '-'Id. Aloft, 442. Alruna, 236. A (tiling, or Icelandic Parliament, 325. 500 INDEX. Alvismiil, 453. Alvis the dwarf, 453. Amalungs, 277. America discovered before Columbus, 25, 297. " Americanse Antiquitates,"297, 440. Amlo2. Jonsbok, Icelandic code of laws, 394. Jonson, Asgeir, 2LV>. Jonson, Gisle, priest, 217. Jonson, Karl, Abbot of Thingore, writer of Swerrir's Saga, 345. Jordanes alias Jomaudes, S2, 179, 298. Jorvik, 317. Jotuns = giants, passion, 468. Judas, 134. "Judith," poem of, 129. Julian, Emperor, 180. Juliana, poem of, 138. Junius, Francis, comes to Oxford, 14; labours hard at Anglo-Saxon, edits Codex Argenteus, "Caednion,"&c., il). Jury, trial by, 397. Kafirs, 191. Karker the thrall, 304. Keel, 485. Kefli, 472. Kemble, J. M., his edition of "Solo- mon and Saturn." 2, 18 ; Diploma- torium A.-S., 107 ; Anglo-Saxons, 78, 289 ; on pilgrimages, 187 ; on clerical marriage, 410, 429. er, Professor, 20, 65, 213, 218, 254, 288, 306, 349, 414, 426, 431. Kiartan, 313. Kief, 200. Kilwcb, 423. Killing worth revels, .' 9 !. Kingsley, 189, 416. "King's Mirror.' See "Speculum Regale." Kirkwall, 312. Klepsan, 354. Knife. 454; Kormak, 17.~>. Kringla, •_"_-:.. Kristna, :;•;•_•. Kustin Saga, 300. Kunigunde, Empress. 439. Kvasir, 260, 427. 50S INDEX. KviSr, 1598. Kti/uvSis and x a ^/ds, 454. Lady, etymology of, 455. Laeg, 494. Lagerheim, 460. Lah-slit, 397. Laity must see that the clergy are not starved, 99. Landnama B6k, 175, 296, 399, 402. Language of England, Norway, and Denmark, the same, 334. Lappenberg, 162. Largs, battle of, 355. Lathe, 398. Latimer's Sermons, 211. Latinisers, Anglo-Saxon, 182. Latin tongue, 195; characters brought to Norway by the missionaries, 306. Laugardag, 209. Laurentius Saga, 374. Law, the word, 397. Laws, Danish, 10 ; Anglo - Saxon, edited by Lambard, Whelock, Wil- kins, Thorpe, Schmidt, 85 sqq. Laxdsela Saga, 324, 443. Layamon's " Brut," 195, 303. Leechdoms, Anglo-Saxon, 104, 163. Leet court, 398. Legal maxims, 435. Legh, Sir Piers, his mastiff, 307. Leif, 193. Leinster, Book of, 497. Leir, King, 172. Leland's "Laboryouse Journey," 2. Leobgitha, 72. Leofric, Bishop of Exeter, will of, 114; his Codex given to Exeter Cathedral, 138. Lestines, Council of, 163. "Lexicon Eddas Vet. Mythol.," 286, 418, 443. " Liber Vite Eccles. Dunelm.," 404. Liliegren's " Run-urkunder," 458. "Lily," the, 250. Lindisfarne, 191 ; Gospels, 482. Lingard, 3. Lion at Venice, runes on, 465. Literae Ephesise in Suidas, 477. Literse solutorise = charms, 476. Liudger, St., 190. Liutgard, queen of Charlemagne, 82. Livingstone, 312. Lo Dragon e, 266. Lodbrog, the Song of, 381. Liigberg, description of, 312. LiigsogumaSr = the lawsayer, 397. Loki, 243, 257, 273 ; his bet, 426. Loptson, John, 255, 301. Lorelei, 287. Louis the Tious, 199. Lucian's Dialogue, 245. Ludwig, King of West Franks, 125. Lullus, the deacon, 73 ; Archbishop of Mayence, 74 ; sends a piece of silk to enwrap Bede's remains, 75. Lupus (alias Archbishop Wulfstan), his sermon, 16 ; mythic allusions in it, 156 ; alliterations in, 211. Lynn, 409. Lysekloster, 404. Ma AN AG arm, 244. Macaulay, 179. Macbeth visits Rome, 408. Macfirbis' "Book of Genealogies," 227. Maelmuir, 497. Magnus Barefoot, 319. Magnus Celsius deciphers Helsing runes, 474. Magnus Erlingson, King, 344 ; his character, 348. Magnus Johannes and Olaus, 479. Magnusson, Arne, the Icelandic Par- ker, 225. Maidulf the Scot, 67. Main, 417. Malcom, 408. " Maldon, Battle of," 127; rescued by Hearne, 127. Mallet's " Northern Antiquities," 226, 270. Malmesbury, monastery of, 167. Malmesbury, William of, 67, 438. • Mancus, eighth of a pound, 81. Mani, 440. Man in the moon, the, 440. Mansworn, 88. Mapes, Archdeacon, of Oxford, ridi- cules celibacy of clergy, 407. Marcus Monachus, 374. Margaret of Norway, 439. Marianus Scotus, 408. Mariu Saga, 379. Marshall, Dr., his Anglo-Saxon Gos- pels, 22. Marsh on Anglo-Saxon works, 482. Martene's "Thesaurus," 93. Martial, 275. Martianus Capella, 470. Martin, Bishop of Skalholt, 216. Martin, Englishman, chaplain to Swerrir, 344. Math-gamhain, 331. Matthew Paris, 370, 438. Maurer, best authority on Northern law, 395, 467. Maurus alias Hrabanus, 78. Mazarin, Cardinal, 6, 233. Meade, Dr., 288. LXDEX. 509 Medb, queen of Connacht, 487. Medley, 203-212, 440-450. Meili, 417. Melampus, 262. Mellbrigda, Earl, 298. Melrose, Chronicle of, 355. Menia, 424. Michael, 74. Midgard,262, 291. Midgardsorm, 244, 286. Mimer's Well, 260, 440. Minnesingers, 321. Minstrels, at last classed with rogues and vagabonds, 393. Mints, number of, 95. Miollner, 259. Missionaries, Celtic, first evangelise Germany, 132; afterwards Roman, ib. Moe, 266. Monras, 245. Miindul, 425. Mone, 266, 404. Monster in the "White river, 232. Montesquieu, 398. "Monumenta Moguntina," 71, 73, and, passim, " Alcuiniaua," 76; "Carolina," 77. Moon, eclipse of, 244. Moormen, the, 316. Morand, 488. Morkinskinna, 302, 362. Morocco, 193. Mostr, church of, 309. Muller, J. von, 276. Midler, P. E., 289. Mummius, John, 230. Munarvoe, 390. Munch, Professor, on Sigurd-myth, 277, 355 ; Chrou. Manuice, 426". Mundbyrd, 88. Muralt, 192. Muratori, 192, 262. " Murder will out," 148. Myrkiartan, 322. Mysing, 425. Mythic allusions in " Beowulf," 160, 284. Mythology of England, Germany, and .Scandinavia alike, 160. Xaddod, 193. Nanna, 162, 273. Narhval, 207, 235. Nastrand, 245. Naudseus, secretary of Cardinal Ma- zarin, 6, 235. Necrologium Angiense, 404. Nennius, 170. Neot, St., his life and miracles, 62. Nereids, 262. Nestor, 197. Newbury, William of, his character of King Swerrir. 345. Newman, J. H. , 294. Niall, King, 92. Nibelungen Lied, 275, 278. Nicholas, Abbot, 194. Nicholas Breakspear, 405. Nidad or Nithud, 143, 2S9. Nidaros = Trondiem, 405. Nidhug, 263. Nitlheim, 26, 275. Nightmare, 455. Ximan, 441. Nita, 447. Nithsong = lampoon, 311. NjalSaga, 324, 364 sqq. Njorva Sund = Straits of Gibraltar, 193. Noirmoutiers, 191. Norges Garnle Love, 394. Nornagest's Saga. 237. Noras, the three, 262. Northmen in foreign parts, 194 ; be- gin to ravage Britain, 189; at home, 324 sqq. Northunibria converted, 32; Edwin, King of, 34. Norway, conversion of. 309. Norwich Cathedral, the founder of, 407. Noses, to count, 452. Nose tax, 452. Notker Teutonicus, 77. Obituaries, books of, 404. Odd monk, 297. Oddson, Gisli, Bishop of Skalholt, 231. Odilwald of Ripon, ^6. Odin, Northern Hermes, 192; his ravens, 243, 260 ; name of, on Runic stone, 460; his magic runes, 477. Odinism on the wane iu England, 307. CEgisdrekka, 449. Oifa of Essex, 186. Otfa of Mercia, 77 ; his sword, 110, 188, 274. ( Igham character, 47 1. Ogmund, Bishop, 213. Ohthere's voyage, 21. Olaf Cuaran, story of, 57, 319, 335. Olaf, Saint, 299; his son Magnus named after Charlemagne, -"''.Mi. olaf the Peacock, 322, 443. Olafsen and Povelsen's travels in Iceland, 326. Olaf Tryggvason's death, 302; he sends Thangbrand to Iceland, 309. Olif and Bandies, 439. 5io INDEX. Olga, 200. Ordeal by water and hot iron, 11 ; three methods of, 94; Pope Stephen Sixth's letter on, 94. Orkney Saga, 403. Orm's Head, 444. "Ormulum,"the, 195. Ornithology, Anglo-Saxon, limited, 140. " Orosius" translated by Alfred, 24. Oswald, King of Northumbria, mi- racles by, 36, 37. Oswald, Archbishop of York, valu- able Life of, 43. Oswin, King, gives horse to Aidan, 38. Oswiu at Whitby, 185. Otfried's "Christ," 132. Ottar the Black, 393. Otter, penalty for killing, 275. Otto, Emperor, 304. Owl, 454. " Owl and Nightingale," the, 195. Oxonian in Thelemarkeu, 420. Oykel river, 298. Pabstesel, 81. Pagan rites, penalties for, 103. Palingenesis, 245. Palnatoki, 289. Pall, the, 21. Papa, Lesser, 342. Papae, Irish monks in Iceland, 29. Parable of life, a, 373. Parish, meaning of, 95. Parker, Archbishop, collects Anglo- Saxon MSS., 1-3. Passive voice in Icelandic, 4G2. Patrick, St., 21, 183. Paulinus, 28, 32; portrait of, 35, 1S5. Paulas Diaconus, 297, 439. Peacock's "Dialect of Corringham," 444. Pederson Christiern, 295. Peel, 191. Pega, sister of Guthlac, 187. Pell = brocade, 198. Penitentials and Confessionales, 101, 102 ; of Bishop Thorlak, 406. Pepin, King, 81. Percy, Bishop, 226; "Relics of Ancient Poetry," 393, 422, 439. Pertz, 191, 199. Petroc, St. (Bodmin), altar of, slaves manumitted at, 98. Petroc, St., and Perran, St., convent, Cornwall, 22. "Phcenix,"poemof, 138. Phol, 161. Photii Epistol*, 198. Picture-words in Icelandic, 445. Pigs, 90. Pilgrimages, 186. Plegmund, Archbishop, 171. Plutarch, 270. Poachers, 96. Poetry, Anglo-Saxon, 115; the lan- guage of the gods, 428. " Polity, Institutes of," 99. Preface to Prose Edda, 247. Priest, and churl not equal before the law, 89 ; not to sing at the ale- bench, 101. Primsigna, 311. Priscian the grammarian, 79, 294. Procopius, 179. Proverbs, Icelandic, 429 sqq. Prudentius, Bishop of Troyes, 199. Pytheas of Marseilles, 179. QUADRILOGOS, 370. Quern, women grinding the, 402. Quaenburg the nun, 40. Rafn the Red, 310. Ragnar Lodbrok, 266, 290. Ragnarok, 194. Raguel, 74. Ramsey Chronicle, 43. Ran, 287, 323. Raphael, 74. Rask's Anglo-Saxon Grammar, 18 ; opinion about English language, 462 ; his father, 477-486. Raudium, battle of, 269. Rauskva, 246. Ravngard og Memmering, 438. Rawlinson, Dr., 18. Rechru, 191. Regin, the dwarf, 275. Regin = the gods, 290. Regnheard, Reginfial, Reginhart, 290. Reichenau, monastery of, 404. ReiSar bruma, 485. Relic-mougering, 59. "Reliquia3 Antique," 124, 163, 170, 378, 412, 414, 429. " Remains concerning Britain," 172. Resenius, 225. Restitutus, Bishop of London, 21. Rhys, J., 487. Ribbalds, soldiers sent by King John to Swerrir, 344. Richbode, Archbishop of Treves, 82. Richter, Jean P., 415. Riculf, Archbishop of Mayence, 78. Riddles in Exeter Codex, 152 ; in Hervarar Saga, 287, 420. Righ, 399. Rigsmal, 399. Rigveda, 253. INDEX. 5" Rimol, 304. Bita and rista, difference between, 451. Eitson, 226. Eock runes at Eamsund, 290. Eogers, Daniel, 477. Eoland, Norse ballad on, 299. Eolfgangr, 190. Eolf Krake, 299. Eoman baths, 180 ; mission, 181 ; old ballads, 298. Eomans, departure of, from Britain, 177. Eome, pilgrimages to, 186, 408. Eonald, Earl of Orkney, death of, 342. " Euin, The," poem of, 144. Eunes, meaning of, and etymology, 6 ; magic, 457 ; origin of old runes discussed by Stephens, 459 sqq. ; traced by Wimmer direct from the Latin. 464 ; by Bugge indirectly from an old Latin character, 466 ; Thorsen on non-monumental runes, 469 ; bind,- branch,- tree-, 474. Eunic speech, after Gothic, the oldest German known (so Bus:ge), 467. Eunic stones, Swedish, 20. Euotsi. 200. Eurik, 200. Euss or Ehos = Swedes, 197, 199. Eussian state, foundation of, 197 sqq. Euthwell Cross, inscription on, 138. Eydja, 451. Eymer's ' ' Foedera, " report on , 22, 135. Sabaoc, 74. Sabina, Cardinal, 354, 374. Ssmund, 227, 252. Sastersdal throw, 326. Sagas, 292 sqq. ; illustrate Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, 31.S. Salomon and Markolfr, 411. " S domon and Saturn," 399, 411. Salt, why the sea is, 412, 424. Salters, 168. Sam, Gunnar's Irish hound, 3G6. Sampson, a Scot, 73. Samiel and Simiel, 74. Samso, 389. Sandwich harbour, 113. Sara, 192, 255, 331, 364. Saucourt, hymn of victory of, 125. Save, Carl, 290, 400. Saxndt, L62. Saxo-Grammaticus, 202, 289, 299, 437, 471, 17:!. Saxon Shore, 176. Scaldic poetry, duration of, 393. Scalds, 254 ; language of, compared to that of Troubadours, 3(34, 381 sqq. ; I Icelandic, from 950 to 1299 the Court poets of Norway, 393. Scamp, to, 451. Scandinavians in Eussia, 197. Scanian law. Runic MS. of, 469. Scathach, 497. Schedas, 175. Schiern, 289. Schiller, 248. Schmidt's Anglo-Saxon laws, 85 sqq.- 397. ' Scob = Skapr, 447. "Scop, or Gleeman's Tale," 122. Scop and scald, 152. Scots expelled, 186. Scott's "Border Minstrelsy," 439. Scroggs, 445. Sea, Icelandic names for, 484. "Seafarer, The," 145. Sea-smoke, 445. " Sealed letters " in Hamlet = runes, 471. Sedulius, 70. Selden, 11. Selsey, Abbey of, 404. Serf not to work on Sundays, 89. See Slave. Sergius I., Pope, 69. Serpent Tongue, nickname of Gun- laug, 333. Services, Church, seven in number, 99. Shakespeare's use of the bird creation, 318. Shetland, religious ditty of, dis- covered by Blind, 157. Shield lays, 23'.'. Ship discovered in a tumulus, I'.''.'. Siegfrid, legend of, widely spread, 266. Sif, wife of Thor, 448. Sigmund, Bresteson, 357 ; his death, 358. Sigrun, 275. Sigtryggr Silk Beard, King of Dublin, 335. "Sigurd the Dragon-slayer," 253; murder of, 26^, 290. Sigurd the Crusader, 347. Sigurd, Earl of the Orkneys, 298, 336. Sigurdson, Jon, 393, 404. S'igvat the scald, 394, 396. Sigyn, 274. Simeon of Durham's History of Church of Durham, 43. Sir Hugh Evans, 440. " Sisters, Four," ballad of, 421. Skalagrim at the forge, 3,27. Skaldaspiller (Eyvind), 295, 386. Skaldskaparmal, 238. Skapti, 336. 5*: INDEX. Skardsfi, Bjorn of, 224. Skeat, Professor, his Anglo-Saxon Gospels, 22, 334, 482. Skene, Celtic Scotland, by, 123, 298. Skill, 485. Skirnir, 280. Skogul, a Valkyr, 386. Sk.irri, 402. Skorungr, 112, 327. Skrselings, 311. Skrymir, 247. Skulason, Bishop, collects Lives of Icelandic Bishops, 224. Skule, Jarl, poem to, 301. Slaves, laws on, 97 ; manumission of, 98 ; chiefly Celts, 98, 399 ; sayings about, 400. Slavery ceases about the time of Swerrir, 403. Slavonians, 197. Sleipnir, 267, 281. Snrebjorn, 426, 471. Suoldelev, 446. Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda by, 238 ; Heimskringla, 294 ; his edu- cation, 301 ; poem to Skule, 301 ; before his age, 305 ; warned by secret runes, 473. Solar Ljod, 254. Solinus, 179. Sonartorrek=Egil's lament, 322, 472. Southey, 32S. "Spaedom of the Norns," 367. Spannyr, 451. Sparrow, man's life compared to, 34. "Speculum Regale," 147, 207; not by Swerrir, 353. Spelman, Sir Henry, his correspon- dence with Ole Worm, 3, 13 ; his glossary, 7, 11 ; admires Arngrim Jonas, 12: his "Councils of Great Britain," 13 ; founds Anglo-Saxon chair at Cambridge, 13 ; greets Arngrim Jonas, 233. Speratus alias Bishop Higbald, 78. Spoon, 454. Stamford Bridge, battle of, 299. Stanhope, 445. Starkadr, 254, 381. Steenstrup's " Vikingetogene," 91, 93, 171, 190, 193; "Normanner- tiden," 128, 193. Steinfinn, 467. Stephens proves the "Heliand" to be originally English, 132 ; " Runic Monuments," by, 133, 259, 334. Stikklestad, battle of, 299. Stitch, spell for, 163. Stivard, 439. Stokes, J. W., in "Revue Celtique," 319. Stone-deaf, 446. Storm, G. Snorri Sturluson, by, 297, 301 ; Karlmagnus Saga, 396, 437. Stubbs' Lives of Dunstan, 43, 218. Stump, the son of Cat, 363. Sturlunga S;iga, 436. Suetonius, 303. Stindnuth, 208. Sun-myths, 239. Surtees Society, 404. Surtr, 257. Svoldr, battle of, 302. Swafurlam, 391. Swallow, the spectre, 317. Sweet, 264. Swelkie, the, 426. Swerrir, King, Saga of, 344 sqq. placed under an interdict, 344 ; portrait of, 347 ; compared with Cromwell, 348; his speeches before Ilevold, 349 ; over grave of Jarl Erling, 350 ; his death, 352. Sweyne Forkbeard, King, 393 ; his vow, 485. Swine-feeding, 113. S within, St., Bishop of Winchester, 60. Swords, famous, 110, 276. Simeon alias Eanbald, 81. Tacitus, Agricola of, ISO ; Germania, 181, 270, 298, 379 ; History, 303. Taefl=draughts or chess, 169. Tain-B6-Chuailgne = cattle-prey of Cooly, 487. Tancred, the monk, 113. Tat wine, Archbishop, his riddles, 421. Taylor, Isaac, his work on runes, 47S. Teitr, 296. Tell, legend of, in the Faroes, 289. Tertullian, 21. Th, sharp and soft, 204, 405. Thadioc, Bishop of York, 69. Thackeray, 328. Tnanatos=Thanet, 179. Thangbrand, the missionary, 306 ; compared with Gregory's mission- aries, ib. ; his early life, 308 ; slays a Berserker, 311. "Thelemarken, Oxonian in," 420. Theodore, Archbishop, 28, 33 ; death of, 171, 307. Theodoric, 277, 397. Theodoric, the monk, 297, 302. Theodosius, 177. Theonas, Bishop of London, 69. Theophilus, story of, 377. Thialfi, 246. Thiassi, 401. INDEX. 513 Thieves, laws against, 96. Thingore monastery, 410. Thiodolfr, scald of King Harold Fairhair, 295, 382. Thomas a Becket Saga, 370. Thomsen, Dr. W., lecture by, 200. Thor, 242, 246, 2C0, 281; his hammer, 262, 282 ; his wrestling-match with Elli, 325 ; at the ferry, 417, 453. Thora, 358. Thorbjorg, 237. Thord Kolbeinson, 342. Thord, 338. Thordar Hvitaskald, 247. Thorfinn, Earl, 342. Thorfinn Karlsefne's Saga, 237. Thorgeir, Speaker of the Law in Ice- land, his adroit decision, 314. Thorgeir, 296. Thergerda, daughter of Egil, 322. Thorgerda, Holgebrud's temple, 357. Thorgils, Bishop, 356. Thorgrim the Bad, 358. Thorkel, 341. Thorlak, Bishop, 175, 217; his "Liber Penitentialis,'' 406 ; studies at Lin- coln, 409. Thormodr Kolbrunascald, 299. Thorodd the grammarian, 295. Thorolf, 319. Thorpe, Benjamin, 18; his "Analecta" gives Life of St. Edmund, 60 ; Dip- lomatarium Mvi Anglo-Sax onici, 107. Thorsen, Professor, 160, 283, 446 ; en the runes of Sleswig. 458; his work on non monumental runes, 469. Thorstein. father of Helga, 333. Thrand of Faro, 358 ; his creed, 359. prirJi, 241. pulr, 446. Thule, 29, 232. Thunder, clap of, 485. Thunor, 102. Thuridr, 327. Thrym, king of the Jotuns, 281. prymskviSa, 281. Tidings, 446. Tithes in Alcuin's time, 82. Toasts, drinking = Is. minrii, 484. Tobacco, 232. Todd, Dr., 328, 331. Tofig, Prud, 112. Toko, 289. Tonsure, the different methods of. 33 ; Scotch or Irish diabolic, 73. Tooley Street, 445. Torfaeus Thormodus, 252. Tours, Alcuin's school at, 83. T mscripts of old English books in foreign libraries, 133. Trougemundslied, 423. Trumwin, Bishop, 46. Tubuas and Tubuel, 74. Tun, 109. Turgesius, 94. Twilight of the gods, 245. Tyrfing, the sword, 389. Ui.fr Uggason, 443. Ulfilas, inventor of Gothic alphabet, not of runes, 8. Undorn, 443. Unger, 290, 302, 305, 345, 355, 356. 362, 398, 410, 439. Uriel. 74. Upsala, temple of Frey at, 442. VAFbRDDNlSMAL, 259 ; riddles in, 420, 446. Valhalla, 179, 243 ; roof of, 454. Valkyr, 267, 367, 384. Vaner, 427, 453. Vanfoli, 454. Vara 447. Varangians, 197, 202. "Various lots of men," 169. Vasdaela Saga, 324. Vebond, 397. Veda, 260, 276. Vefr darraSar, 367. Veihs, 204. Velandswork = sword, 288. Veleda, 237. Venantius Fortunatus, 470. Vendland = Fomerania, 302. "Venice, Merchant of," 4'_'ii. Vercelli Codex, 135. Vidga = Wudga, 288. Vigaglum's Saga, 324, 326. Vigfusson, Sturlunga Saga, 264. Vikarsbolk, 381. Vikings carry off a Bible from Nantes. 93 ; fabulous sums paid to, 128 ; in Spain, 193. Vilkinaor Theodoric's Saga, 158. Vilking Saga, 265. Vindauga, 452. Vingameid, Odin suspended on, 157. Virgin, legends of, 370. V6k = hole in the ice, 326. Volla, 161. Volsungs, 265. Voluntary system in Iceland. 450. Volundarhus = labyrinth, 288. Viiluspa, 256. Volva, 237, 256. Vonved, Svend, ballad of, 420. Wage, 192. Wackernagel, 259. Waelatow, 483. 2 K 5'4 INDEX. Waitz, 161. Wakes, church or lyke, 100. Walbrand, 404. Waldemar II., King, 393, 469. Waldere, King, lay of, 65, 159. Wales, laws of, 275. "Wanderer, The," poem of, 141. Wanley's catalogue of Northern MSS., 17, 38 ; emotes words of " Csedmon," 132. " Warlock " = Holofernes, 130. "Wars of Gaedhill with the Gaill," 35, 92, 402. Watling Street, 92. Wayland or (Weland), legend of, 65 ; sword of, 110, mentioned in the "Scald's Complaint," 143, 288. Wealh or Wylise = Welsh, later = slave, 90. Wealtheow, Hroihgar's queen, 274. Wearmouth, monastery of, 28. " Web of battle speed," 287. Wed to = to covenant, 95. Wedderbarn, Captain, his courtship, 422. Wedmore, 91. Weirs, 167. Welland river, so called from Weland (the smith), 65. Welsh = French, 334. Wendelsse =§Vfe'diterranean Sea, 134. Wends, the worst of races, 75, 377. Wer, meaning* bf, 103. Werewolf, 155. Werlauf, Professor, fragment of "Walderefe ILay," discovered by him, 157 ; £S$rmbolse ad Geogr, &c, 194 ; Aneccloton Swerriri, 345. WessobrunnG 1 'Debet, 258. Westminstec^-flfatthew of, his exis- tence doumrfnl, 3. "Whale, The," 146: fishing, 167; cast ashore, 396, 410. Whitbv synod, 185, 444. Widsith, 122. Wife, her hnsband's rune, 8. Wiglaf, 116. Wihtred's laws, 85, 89. Wilfrid converts Sussex, 32 ; method of, 39 ; his journeys to Rome, 186. Wilhelmus Gemetencis, 192. William the Conqueror's laws, 99. Wimmer on runes, 465. Window, 452. Wisen's Icelandic homilies, 334. Witenagemot, 107. Woden, 161, 162. Women, the, of Scandinavia, 327 ; proverbs on, 430. Wood, Anthony, 4. Woof of war, the, 367. Worsaae, 299, 445. Words, Icelandic, study of, 451. Wordsworth, 249. World, etymology of, 206. Worm, Ole, correspondence with Spelman, 5-13 ; friend of Isaac Casaubon, 4 ; came to Oxford, ib. ; his sou student at Oxford, ib. ; tractate by, on family names in the Ijorth, 5 ; his "Fasti Danici," 7; his "Literatura Danica," 7; his specimen " Lexici Runici," 10 ; loses his wife, 12 ; correspondence with Arngrim Jonas, 230, 470 ; letter to Naudseus, 478. Wreckers in Sassex, 40. Wright, 182. Wulfsige, Archbishop of York, 184. Wulfstan's voyage, 25. Wynfrid alias Boniface, 71 sqq. ; propounds questions to the Pope, 73. Wyrd, 287. Xanthus, 454. Ximenes, Cardinal, 2. Yarmouth, 409. Yggdrasil, 242, 246, 263, 440. Ymer, 241. Ynglingatal, 382. York Cathedral, library of, 182. Yule, how kept in Scandinavia, 325, 423, 442. Zach arias, Pope, 74, 91. Zoe, Greek empress, 360. Zosimus, 180. Zumarraga, Archbishop, 2. THE END. KWNTHIl BY BAI.LANTVNE, HANSON ANO CO. EDINBURGH ANO LONDON I PLEAS, ^OT REMOVE ^ < i0 : > University Rese ary University Of California. Los Angeles III II L 007 450 724 5 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY III mi mil Mil iiiii mil urn urn mi ■-- in HMiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiH A A 000 297 600 '.n Ji. W W — '