Paul B. Du Chaillu

“ The law of the people was much influenced by their religion. Great stress was laid upon the sanctity of the oath, which, like a vow, was considered most binding. No other literature points out so clearly and so often the sacredness of an oath and the loathing in which oath-breakers were held. Let the youth of every land learn this noble trait of the character of the Norsemen. No one could absolve a man for breaking his oath, no matter how great might have been the splendour of his achievements. The higher born the man was, the more did he consider himself bound to keep his oath. ”

“ Now this dream is explained, and it will prove to be true. I advise the multitude here assembled to throw up a large mound out on the cape, and make a fence across it higher up, so that no cattle can go thither. Into the mound let every man of prominence put half a mark of silver to be buried with him. Before the disease ceases, I shall be placed in the mound. I warn all not to behave like some who worship by sacrifice, after their death, those in whom they trusted while alive, for I think dead men can do nothing useful. ”

“ It was the custom of the Hersir and of chiefs to sit daily or often on the mound raised over the remains of their ancestors’ kinsmen or wives, so that they could be seen for a long distance, and that every one might have access to them. At such times it seems to have been customary for the chiefs to be alone. They occupied themselves there in playing with their dogs, hunting with hawks, cutting the manes of their horses, or looking at games, &c.; or they quietly contemplated the panorama, and saw before them visions of Odin, of the Valhalla, and of their kinsmen who had gone there. ”

“ In the Norse literature we find Odin referred to not only as a god, but as a hero and leader of men. It is not necessary to believe that any real person of the name of Odin ever existed, but from the frequency with which a migration northwards is mentioned, and from the details with which it is described, it is legitimate to infer that the predecessor of the Norsemen came from the south or south-east of Europe—probably, to judge from literature and archæology combined, from the shores of the Black Sea. ”

“ One summer when Hallfred and his followers came from Iceland to Norway, and asked for tidings, they were told that there had been a change of chiefs in Norway; that Hakon Jarl was dead, and Olaf Tryggvason had come instead with a new creed and commandments.
“Then the men on the ship agreed to make a vow; they vowed to give much property to Frey if they got a fair wind to Sweden, but to Thor or Odin if they got to Iceland; if they should not get a fair wind to sail, the King should have his way.” ”

“ Achilles himself is the priest or butcher, for he occupies the centre of the scene, clad in brazen cuirass and greaves, his long yellow locks uncovered by a helmet, and seizing by the hair the wretched Trojan captive who is seated naked at his feet imploring mercy, he thrusts his sword into his neck, just as the ‘swift-footed son of Peleus’ is represented to have treated Lycaon, the first victim he sacrificed to his friend Patroclus. ”

“ Frey was silent. The king said: ‘Still I speak to thee, Frey; if thou canst give to men strength or power, then spare it not, and do what thou art able to do, and if thou sleepest, awake and defend thee, for now I will attack thee.’ He raised his hand and cut off Frey’s hand, but he did not move. Then he struck one blow after the other until he had cut asunder the whole idol....” (Flateyjarbók, I. Olaf Tryggvason) .
The gods were not the only beings worshipped, for we have some examples of men being worshipped after their death. ”

“ If thou thinkest much of me, thou shalt, when thou comest home, quickly cause to be built a house large enough for sleeping in. It must stand where no house has stood before. Therein shalt thou sleep the first night of the winter, and three nights together; and remember if thou dreamest anything. And thou shalt send men to tell me of thy dreams, if thou hast any, and I will then say whether I will marry thee or not. But do not send if thou dost not dream.’ After this talk, King Gorm remained but a short time at the feast, and made ready to go home, as he was anxious to try her wisdom. ”

“ Every man is allowed to use water and wood on a common. Every one shall have his common as he has had it from old time. If a settlement is made on a common, the king owns it. If there is a field and meadow fenced in, he owns the land as far from the fence as he can throw his knife. The remaining is common. All that is thrown up on the coast of a common is owned by the king. If people sail along the coast or from sea and their ships founder, whoever owns the land where they are wrecked owns as much property as he can prove with witnesses. ”

“ The gods, it would seem, had it in their power, if not to secure everlasting life, at least to retain perpetual youth, unlike poor Tithonus of the well-known Greek myth. It may not be inappropriate to continue here the legend relating to this. Idun, the wife of Bragi, who was celebrated for his wisdom and eloquence, kept in a box the apples which when the gods felt old age approaching they ate in order that they might keep their youth till Ragnarök.
“Odin, Loki and Hœnir went from home over mountains and uninhabited land, and it was not easy for them to get food. ”

“ One of them is the hammer Mjolnir which the Hrim Thursar and Berg Risar know when it is aloft, and that is not strange, for he has broken many a head of their fathers or kinsmen. The next best of his costly things is the belt of strength. When he girds himself with it his Asa-strength doubles. He owns a third thing, which is worth much, iron-gloves, without which he cannot hold the handle of the hammer. No man is so wise that he may reckon up all his great feats, but I can tell thee so many tales of him that the hours will be whiled away before I have told all that I know. ”

“ And thy welcome, Jötun;
Long time have I travelled.
Vafthrudnir.
Why standing on the floor
Dost thou speak to me?
Take a seat in the hall.
Then we shall try
Who knows more,
The guest or the old wise one.
Odin.
When a poor man
Comes to a rich one
Let him speak useful things or be silent;
Great babbling
I think turns to ill
For one who meets a cold-ribbed [24] man. We are told in the Völuspa that Odin, in the quest of information, went to visit the Völva, or Sybil, Heid, who was possessed of supernatural powers of knowledge and foresight. ”

“ In order to replenish the waste of war, we find that thralls were allowed to follow their masters on expeditions, and that they could win their liberty by bravery.
“If they meet a host and fight, and a thrall slays a man, then he is free, though he was a thrall before” (Gulathing’s Law, 312) .
“A bondi is not allowed to send his paid servant into a levy instead of himself, unless the steersman (of the ship) consents to it; for, if a servant comes from the harbour for the bondi, he shall redeem himself from flogging. ”

“ Thou wilt settle in a land called Iceland; it is still to a great extent unsettled; there thou wilt become a man of rank and grow old; many of thy kinsmen will also be famous men in that land.’ Ingimund said, ‘This is well told, because I have made up my mind never to go to that place, and I should be a poor trader if I sell my many good family lands and go into deserts.’ The Finn answered: ‘It will happen as I tell, and it shall be a token that the image has disappeared from thy purse which King Harald gave thee in Hafrsfjord, and it now lies on the stone ridge where thou wilt settle ”

“ I have come to thee because I think that neither of us need envy the other as to virtue or religion.’ The man answered: ‘I am pleased that thou trustest fully in me, and more than in the belief of thyself and thy kinsmen. It is strange with those who have this belief, they fast and have vigils, and think thus to be able to know the things they desire, and though they do such things they know less of the things they wish to know the more important they are. We undergo no afflictions, and yet always know the things our friends think important. ”

“ Men and women were educated from their childhood to believe in the superiority or inferiority of their own being, of the position inherited by them at their birth, and consequently to think themselves superior or inferior to the other people of the commonwealth. This belief was intensified by the education they received, their surroundings and their mode of life, as seen throughout from the day of their birth to the time when they were buried. The class that governed held that they were born to rule, and the slave to remain a slave. The lot of each had been hereditary, fate had so decreed. ”

“ The Northmen who had adopted Christianity turned again to their sacrifices as before, like the people did in the northern part of the country (Norway) . Olaf Tryggvason said he would christianize the whole of Norway or lose his life. ‘I will make you all great and powerful men, for I trust you best for the sake of kinship and other relationship.’ They all consented to do whatever he commanded, and follow him in all that he wished, with all those who would take their advice. ”

“ But the greatest of all outrages in the eyes of these monkish scribes was that the Northmen burned a church or used it for sheltering their men or stabling their horses.
The writers of the English and Frankish chronicles were the worst enemies of the Northmen, ignorant and bigoted men when judged by the standard of our time; through their writings we hardly know anything of the customs of their own people. They could see nothing good in a man who had not a religion identical with their own. ”

“ King Haki rushed forward with such valour that he slew all that were near him, he finally killed Eirik and cut down the standard bearers of the brothers, whereupon Jorund fled to his ship with his men. Haki received such severe wounds that he saw his days would not be long. He then had a skeid which he owned loaded with dead men and weapons, he had it launched on the sea, and the rudder adjusted and the sea sail hoisted. He had tarred wood kindled and a pyre made on the ship, the wind blew towards the sea. Haki was almost dead when he was laid on the pyre. ”

“ We give it the name Ætternisstapi, because by its help we reduce our family in number when it seems to us that some great wonders happen. All our forefathers died there without any sickness, and then went to Odin; we need not have any burden or sulkiness from our fathers and mothers, for this place of joy has been equally easy for all our kinsmen to get to; we need not live with loss of property, or want of food, or any other wonders or portents that may happen. Now my father thinks it the greatest wonder, that thou hast come to our house ”

“ Nothing perhaps can give us a better idea of the refined taste of some of the Northmen than the beautiful glass objects which have been found in different parts of the country. Many of these are evidently of Greek, some perhaps of Roman, origin. In the museums of Italy, Greece, or Russia no such exquisite bowls are found, which after having been painted they seem to have been baked or subjected to heat in order that they might retain their colour. ”

“ This Northern civilisation was peculiar to itself, having nothing in common with the Roman world. Rome knew nothing of these people till they began to frequent the coasts of her North Sea provinces, in the days of Tacitus, and after his time the Mediterranean. The North was separated from Rome by the swamps and forests of Germania—a vague term given to a country north and north-east of Italy, a land without boundaries, and inhabited by a great number of warlike, wild, uncivilised tribes. ”

“ One day Olaf was in the market-place, which was crowded. There he recognised Klerkon, who had slain his foster-father Thórólf Lúsaskegg; he had a small axe in his hand, and went up to Klerkon and cut his head down to the brains. Thereupon he at once ran home and told his kinsman Sigurd. Sigurd took him to the room of Queen Allogia (Olga, which is a corruption of the Northern name Helga) with these tidings, and asked her to help the boy. She looked at him, and said, ‘Such a handsome boy must not be slain;’ and ordered all her men to come thither fully armed. ”

“ THE SETTLEMENT OF BRITAIN BY NORTHMEN. The Notitia—Probable origin of the name England—Jutland—The language of the North and of England—Early Northern kings in England—Danes and Sueones—Mythical accounts of the settlements of England.
Britain being an island could only be settled or conquered by seafaring tribes, just in the same way as to-day distant lands can only be conquered by nations possessing ships. From the Roman writers we have the only knowledge we possess in regard to the tribes inhabiting the country to which they gave the vague name of Germania. ”

“ This sacredness of person meant both inviolability of body and honour: for every breach of this, in deed or word, he could claim a redress consisting of a certain amount of money, which was his rétt.
“It is first in our mannhelgi (man-holiness) that every man in the country shall be peace-holy in and out of the country” (Frostath., iv. 1) .
Blood feuds and revenge were of such common occurrence in these days, that throughout the Sagas there is a great mass of literature which deals with the customs and laws regulating the indemnity for murder. ”

“ He would hold Norway’s realm subject to himself, though no King of Sweden has before desired this, and thereby causes trouble to many a man. Now this is the will of us bœndr, that thou, King Olaf, should make reconciliation with Olaf the Stout, and marry thy daughter Ingigerd to him. If thou wilt win back to thyself those realms in the east which thy kinsmen and forefathers once owned, we will all follow thee thither. ”

“ At a very early period of this age remains of brynjas, or coats of ring armour, have been found in graves where burning of the dead has taken place; this shows that they were known in the North even in the beginning of the Christian era, if not before; they are also met with in graves of a later period, and in the bog finds of the third and fourth century.
Along with iron the people became also acquainted with silver, lead, glass, &c., and knew the art of soldering and gilding metals. The jewels and ornaments in their design and workmanship show a considerable advance in taste. ”