VI Our Scandinavian Ancestors56
Few subjects possess greater interest for the British race than the Scandinavian North, with its iron-bound rampart of wave-lashed rocks, its deeply indented fiords, bold cliffs, rocky promontories, abrupt headlands, wild skerries, crags, rock-ledges, and caves, all alive with gulls, puffins and kittiwakes; and in short, the general and striking picturesqueness of its scenery, to say nothing of the higher human interest of its stirring history, and the rich treasures of its grand old literature.
The British race has been called Anglo-Saxon; made up however, as it is, of many elements—Ancient Briton, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Dane, Norman, and Scandinavian—the latter predominates so largely over the others as to prove by evidence, external and internal, and not to be gainsaid, that the Scandinavians are our true progenitors.
The Germans are a separate branch of the same great Gothic family, industrious, but very unlike us in many respects. The degree of resemblance and affinity may be settled by styling them honest but unenterprising inland friends, whose ancestors and ours were first cousins upwards of a thousand years ago.
To the old Northmen—hailing from the sea-board of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark—may be traced the germs of all that is most characteristic of the modern Briton, whether personal, social, or national. The configuration of the land, and the numerous arms of the sea with which the north-west of Europe is indented, necessitated boats and seamanship. From these coasts, the Northmen—whether bent on piratical plundering expeditions, or peacefully seeking refuge from tyrannical oppression at home—sallied forth in their frail barks or skiffs, which could live in the wildest sea, visiting and settling in many lands. We here mention, in geographical order, Normandy, England, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Faröe, and Iceland. Wherever they have been, they have left indelible traces behind them, these ever getting more numerous and distinct as we go northwards.
Anglen, from which the word England is derived, still forms part of Holstein a province in Denmark; and the preponderance of the direct Scandinavian element in the language itself has been shewn by Dean Trench, who states, that of a hundred English words, sixty come from the Scandinavian, thirty from the Latin, five from the Greek, and five from other sources.
In Scotland many more Norse words, which sound quite foreign to an English ear, yet linger amongst the common people; while, as in England, the original Celtic inhabitants were driven to the west before the Northmen, who landed for the most part on the east. In certain districts of the Orkneys a corrupt dialect of Norse was spoken till recently, and the Scandinavian type of features is there often to be met with.
The Norse language is still understood and frequently spoken in Shetland, where the stalwart, manly forms of the fishermen, the characteristic prevalence of blue eyes and light flaxen hair, the universal observance of the Norse Yule, and many other old-world customs, together with the oriental and almost affecting regard paid to the sacred rites of hospitality, on the part of the islanders, all plainly tell their origin.
The language of the Faröe islanders is a dialect of the Norse, approaching Danish, and peculiar to themselves. It is called Faröese. The peaceful inhabitants not only resemble, but are Northmen.
In Iceland we have pure Norse, as imported from Norway in the ninth century, the lone northern sea having guarded it, and many other interesting features, from those modifications to which the Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish have been subjected by neighbouring Teutonic or German influences. This language, the parent, or at least the oldest and purest form of the various Scandinavian dialects with which we are acquainted, has been at different times named Dönsk-tunga, Norræna, or Norse, but latterly it has been simply called Icelandic, because peculiar to that island.
The language, history, and literature of our ancestors having been thus preserved in the north, we are thereby enabled to revisit the past, read it in the light of the present, and make both subservient for good in the future.
Herodotus mentions that tin was procured from Britain. Strabo informs us that the Phœnicians traded to our island, receiving tin and skins in exchange for earthenware, salt, and vessels of brass; but our first authentic particulars regarding the ancient Britons are derived from Julius Cæsar, whose landing on the southern portion of our island, and hard-won battles, were but transient and doubtful successes. The original inhabitants were Celts from France and Spain; but, as we learn from him, these had long before been driven into the interior and western portion of the island by Belgians, who crossed the sea, made good their footing, settled on the east and south-eastern shores of England, and were now known as Britons. With these Cæsar had to do. The intrepid bravery of the well-trained and regularly disciplined British warriors commanded respect, and left his soldiers but little to boast of. The Roman legions never felt safe unless within their entrenchments, and, even there, were sometimes surprised. Strange to realise such dire conflicts raging at the foot of the Surrey hills, probably in the neighbourhood of Penge, Sydenham, and Norwood, where the Crystal Palace now peacefully stands. Even in these dark Druid days, the Britons, although clothed in skins, wearing long hair, and stained blue with woad, were no mere painted savages as they have sometimes been represented, but were in possession of regularly-constituted forms of government. They had naval, military, agricultural and commercial resources to depend upon, and were acquainted with many of the important arts of life. The Briton was simple in his manners, frugal in his habits, and loved freedom above all things. Had the brave Caswallon headed the men of Kent, in their attack upon the Roman maritime camp, Cæsar and his hosts would never, in all likelihood, have succeeded in reaching their ships, but would have found graves on our shores. His admirable commentaries would not have seen the light of day, and the whole current of Roman, nay, of the world’s history might have been changed.
Our British institutions and national characteristics were not adopted from any quarter, completely moulded and finished, as it were, but everywhere exhibit the vitality of growth and progress, slow but sure. Each new element or useful suggestion, from whatever source derived, has been tested and modified before being allowed to take root and form part of the constitution. The germs have been developed in our own soil.
Thus, to the Romans, we can trace our municipal institutions—subjection to a central authority controlling the rights of individuals. To the Scandinavians, we can as distinctly trace that principle of personal liberty which resists absolute control, and sets limits—such as Magna Charta—to the undue exercise of authority in governors.
These two opposite tendencies, when united, like the centripedal and centrifugal forces, keep society revolving peacefully and securely in its orbit around the sun of truth. When severed, tyranny, on the one hand, or democratic license, on the other—both alike removed from freedom—must result, sooner or later, in instability, confusion, and anarchy. France affords us an example of the one, and America of the other. London is not Britain in the sense that Paris is France; while Washington has degenerated into a mere cockpit for North and South.
From the feudal system of the Normans, notwithstanding its abuses, we have derived the safe tenure and transmission of land, with protection and security for all kinds of property. British law has been the growth of a thousand years, and has been held in so much respect that even our revolutions have been legally conducted, and presided over by the staid majesty of justice. Were more evidences wanting to show that the Scandinavian element is actually the backbone of the British race—contributing its superiority, physical and moral, its indomitable strength and energy of character—we would simply mention a few traits of resemblance which incontestably prove that the “child is father to the man.”
The old Scandinavian possessed an innate love of truth; much earnestness; respect and honour for woman; love of personal freedom; reverence, up to the light that was in him, for sacred things; great self-reliance, combined with energy of will to dare and do; perseverance in overcoming obstacles, whether by sea or land; much self-denial, and great powers of endurance under given circumstances. These qualities, however, existed along with a pagan thirst for war and contempt of death, which was courted on the battle-field that the warrior might rise thence to Valhalla.
To illustrate the love of freedom, even in thought, which characterises the race, it can be shewn that, while the Celtic nations fell an easy prey to the degrading yoke of Romish superstition, spreading its deadly miasma from the south, the Scandinavian nations, even when for a time acknowledging its sway, were never bound hand and foot by it, but had minds of their own, and sooner or later broke their fetters. In the truth-loving Scandinavian, Jesuitical Rome has naturally ever met with its most determined antagonist; for
“True and tender is the North.”
In the dark days of the Stuarts, witness the noble struggles of the Covenanters and the Puritans for civil and religious liberty.
Notwithstanding mixtures and amalgamations of blood, as a general rule the distinctive tendencies of race survive, and, good or bad, as the case may be, reappear in new and unexpected forms. Even habit becomes a second nature, the traces of which, centuries with their changes cannot altogether obliterate.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Puritan Fathers, their descendants, and men like them, have been the salt of the north; while many of the planters of the south, tainted with cavalier blood, continue to foster slavery—“that sum of all villanies”—and glory in being man-stealers, man-sellers, and murderers, although cursed of God, and execrated by all right thinking men. John Brown of Harper’s Ferry, who was the other day judicially murdered, we would select as an honoured type of the noble, manly, brave, truth-loving, God-fearing Scandinavian—The Times and Athenæum notwithstanding.57 His heroism in behalf of the poor despised slave had true moral grandeur in it—it was sublime. America cannot match it. Washington was great—John Brown was greater. Washington resisted the imposition of unjust taxes on himself and his equals, but was a slave-holder; John Brown unselfishly devoted his energies—nay, life itself—to obtain freedom for the oppressed, and to save his country from just impending judgments. The one was a patriot; the other was a patriot and philanthropist. The patriotism of Washington was limited by colour; that of Brown was thorough, and recognised the sacred rights of man. He was hanged for trying to accomplish that which his murderers ought to have done—nay, deserved to be hanged for not doing—hanged for that which they shall yet do, if not first overtaken and whelmed in just and condign vengeance; for the cry of blood ascends. He was no less a martyr to the cause of freedom than John Brown of Priesthill, who was ruthlessly shot by the bloody Claverhouse. These two noble martyrs, in virtue alike of their name and cause, shall stand together on the page of future history, when their cruel murderers and the abettors of them have long gone to their own place. For such deeds there shall yet be tears of blood. The wrongs of Italy are not to be named in comparison with those of the slave. Let those who boast of a single drop of Scandinavian blood in their veins no longer withhold just rights from the oppressed—rights which, if not yielded at this the eleventh hour, shall be righteously, though fearfully, wrested from the oppressors, when the hour of retribution comes.58
Perhaps the two most striking outward resemblances between Britons and Scandinavians may be found in their maritime skill, and in their powers of planting colonies, and governing themselves by free institutions, representative parliaments, and trial by jury.
The Norse rover—bred to the sea, matchless in skill, daring, loving adventure and discovery, and with any amount of pluck—is the true type of the British tar. In light crafts, the Northmen could run into shallow creeks, cross the North Sea, or boldly push off to face the storms of the open Atlantic. These old Vikings were seasoned “salts” from their very childhood—“creatures native and imbued unto the element;” neither in peace nor war, on land nor sea, did they fear anything but fear.
“Tameless spirits of the past!
Boldest and noblest of earth’s kind were ye—
Conquerors of nations—fathers of a race
Of giant princes.”59
In them we see the forerunners of the buccaneers, and the ancestors of those naval heroes, voyagers, and discoverers—those Drakes and Dampiers, Nelsons and Dundonalds, Cooks and Franklins, who have won for Britain the proud title of sovereign of the seas—a title which she is still ready to uphold against all comers.
In Shetland, we still find the same skilled seamanship, and the same light open boat, like a Norwegian yawl; indeed, planks for building skiffs are generally imported from Norway, all prepared and ready to put together. There the peace-loving fishermen, in pursuit of their perilous calling, sometimes venture sixty miles off to sea, losing sight of all land, except perhaps the highest peak of their island-homes left dimly peering just above the horizon-line. Sometimes they are actually driven, by stress of weather, within sight of the coast of Norway, and yet the loss of a skiff in the open sea, however high the waves run, is a thing quite unknown to the skilled Shetlander. The buoyancy of the skiff (from this word we have ship and skipper) is something wonderful. Its high bow and stern enables it to ride and rise over the waves like a sea-duck, although its chance of living seems almost as little, and as perilous, as that of the dancing shallop or mussel-shell we see whelmed in the ripple. Its preservation, to the onlooker from the deck of a large vessel, often seems miraculous. It is the practice, in encountering the stormy blasts of the North Sea, to lower the lug-sail on the approach of every billow, so as to ride its crest with bare mast, and to raise it again as the skiff descends into the more sheltered trough of the wave. By such constant manœuvering, safety is secured and progress made. When boats are lost—and such tragedies frequently occur, sometimes leaving poor lonely widows bereft, at one fell swoop, of husband, father, and brothers, for the crews are too often made up of relatives—it is generally when they are caught and mastered by strong currents running between the islands, which neither oar nor sail can stem. Such losses are always on the coasts—never at sea.
Of the Scandinavian powers of colonising:—There is ample evidence of their having settled in Shetland, Orkney, and on our coasts, long before those great outgoings of which we have authentic historical records. To several of these latter we shall briefly advert, viz., the English, Russian, Icelandic, American, and Norman.
We may first mention that, in remote ages, this race swept across Europe from the neighbourhood of the region now called Circassia, lying between the Black Sea and the Caspian, to the shores of the Baltic, settling on the north-west coast of Europe. Their traditions, and numerous eastern customs—allied to the Persians and the inhabitants of the plains of Asia Minor in old Homeric days—which they brought along with them, all go to confirm their eastern origin. Nor did they rest here, but, thirsting for adventure in these grim warrior ages, sailed forth as pirates or settlers, sometimes both, and, as can be shewn, made their power and influence felt in every country of Europe, from Lapland to the Mediterranean.
They invaded England in A.D. 429, and founded the kingdoms of South, West, and East Seaxe, East Anglia, Mercia, Deira, and Bernicea; thus overrunning and fixing themselves in the land, from Devonshire to North of the Humber. From the mixture of these Angles, or Saxons, as they were termed by the Britons, with the previous Belgian settlers and original inhabitants, we have the Anglo-Saxon race. The Jutes who settled in Kent were from Jutland. In A.D. 787, the Danes ravaged the coast, beginning with Dorsetshire; and, continuing to swarm across the sea, soon spread themselves over the whole country. They had nearly mastered it all, when Alfred ascended the throne in 871. At length, in A.D. 1017, Canute, after much hard fighting, did master it, and England had Danish kings from that period till the Saxon line was restored in 1042.
In the year A.D. 862, the Scandinavian Northmen established the Russian empire, and played a very important part in the management of its affairs, even after the subsequent infusion of the Sclavonic element. In the “Mémoires de la Société Royale des Antiquaries du Nord,” published at Copenhagen, we find that, of the fifty names of those composing Ingor’s embassy to the Greek Emperor at Constantinople in the year A.D. 994, only three were Sclavic, and the rest Northmen—names that occur in the Sagas, such as Ivar, Vigfast, Eylif, Grim, Ulf, Frode, Asbrand, &c. The Greeks called them Russians, but Frankish writers simply Northmen.
In the year A.D. 863, Naddodr, a Norwegian, discovered Iceland,60 which, however, had been previously visited and resided in at intervals for at least upwards of seventy years before that time, by fishermen, ecclesiastics, and hermits, called Westmen, from Ireland, Iona and other islands of the Hebrides. Of these visits Naddodr found numerous traces.
In A.D. 874, Ingolf with followers, many of whom were related to the first families in Norway, fleeing from the tyranny of Harold Harfagra, began the colonisation of Iceland, which was completed during a space of sixty years. They established a flourishing republic, appointed magistrates, and held their Althing, or national assembly, at Thingvalla.
Many of the Northmen who at various times had settled on our shores, accompanied by their acquired relatives, also set sail and joined their brethren; thus making use of Britain as a stepping stone between Scandinavia and Iceland. Many traces of these early links yet remain. We heard of a family in the island that can trace its descent, in a direct line, from a royal ancestor of Queen Victoria.
Thus, in this distant volcanic island of the Northern Sea, the old Danish language was preserved unchanged for centuries; while, in the various Eddas, were embodied those folk-songs and folk-myths, and, in the sagas, those historical tales and legends of an age at once heroic and romantic, together with that folk-lore which still forms the staple of all our old favourite nursery tales, as brought with them from Europe and the East by the first settlers.61 All these, as well as the productions of the Icelanders themselves, are of great historical and literary value. They have been carefully edited and published, at Copenhagen, by eminent Icelandic, Danish, and other antiquarians. We would refer to the writings of Müller, Magnusen, Rafn, Rask, Eyricksson, Torfæus, and others. Laing has translated “The Heimskringla,” the great historical Saga of Snorro Sturleson, into English.62 Various other translations and accounts of these singularly interesting Eddas, sagas, and ballads, handed down by the scalds and Sagamen, are to be met with; but by far the best analysis, with translated specimens, is that contained in Howitt’s “Literature and Romance of Northern Europe.”63 We would call attention, in passing, to that Edda, consisting of the original series of tragic poems from which the German “Niebelungen-lied” has been derived. Considered as a series of fragments, it is a marvellous production, and, to our thinking, absolutely unparalleled in ancient or modern literature, for power, simplicity, and heroic grandeur.
Christianity was established in Iceland in the year 1000. Fifty-seven years later, Isleif, Bishop of Skálholt, first introduced the art of writing the Roman alphabet, thus enabling them to fix oral lessons of history and song; for, the Runic characters previously in use were chiefly employed for monuments and memorial inscriptions, and were carved on wood staves, on stone or metal. On analysis, these rude letters will be found to be crude forms and abridgments of the Greek or Roman alphabet. We have identified them all, with the exception of a few letters, and are quite satisfied on this point, so simple and obvious is it, although we have not previously had our attention directed to the fact.
Snorro Sturleson was perhaps one of the most learned and remarkable men that Iceland has produced.
In 1264, through fear and fraud, the island submitted to the rule of Haco, king of Norway:—he who died at Kirkwall, after his forces were routed by the Scots at the battle of Largs. In 1387, along with Norway, it became subject to Denmark. In 1529, a printing press was established; and in 1550 the Lutheran reformation was introduced into the island—which form of worship is still retained.
True to the instinct of race, the early settlers in Iceland did not remain inactive, but looked westward, and found scope for their hereditary maritime skill in the discovery and colonising of Greenland. They also discovered Helluland (Newfoundland), Markland (Nova Scotia), and Vineland (New England). They were also acquainted with American land, which they called Hvitramannaland, (the land of the white men), thought to have been North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. We have read authentic records of these various voyages, extending from A.D. 877 to A.D. 1347. The names of the principal navigators are Gunnbiorn, Eric the Red, Biarni, Leif, Thorwald, &c. But the most distinguished of these American discoverers is Thorfinn Karlsefne, an Icelander, “whose genealogy,” says Rafn, “is carried back, in the old northern annals, to Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Scottish, and Irish ancestors, some of them of royal blood.” With singular interest we also read that, “in A.D. 1266, some priests at Gardar, in Greenland, set on foot a voyage of discovery to the arctic regions of America. An astronomical observation proves that this took place through Lancaster Sound and Barrow’s Strait to the latitude of Wellington’s Channel.”
When Columbus visited Iceland in A.D. 1467, he may have obtained confirmation of his theories as to the existence of a great continent in the west; for, these authentic records prove the discovery and colonisation of America, by the Northmen from Iceland, upwards of five hundred years before he re-discovered it.
The Norman outgoing is the last to which we shall here allude. In A.D. 876 the Northmen, under Rollo, wrested Normandy from the Franks; and from thence, in A.D. 1065, William, sprung from the same stock, landed at Hastings, vanquished Harold, and to this day is known as the Conqueror of England. It was a contest of Northmen with Northmen, where diamond cut diamond.
Instead of a chapter, this subject, we feel, would require a volume. At the outset we asserted that northern subjects possessed singular interest for the British race. In a very cursory manner we have endeavoured to prove it, by shewing that to Scandinavia, as its cradle, we must look for the germs of that spirit of enterprise which has peopled America, raised an Indian empire, and colonised Australia, and which has bound together, as one, dominions on which the sun never sets; all, too, either speaking, or fast acquiring, a noble language, which bids fair one day to become universal.
The various germs, tendencies, and traits of Scandinavian character, knit together and amalgamated in the British race, go to form the essential elements of greatness and success, and, where sanctified and directed into right channels, are noble materials to work upon.
It is Britain’s pride to be at once the mistress of the seas, the home of freedom, and the sanctuary of the oppressed. May it also be her high honour, by wisely improving outward privileges, and yet further developing her inborn capabilities, pre-eminently to become the torch-bearer of pure Christianity—with its ever-accompanying freedom and civilisation—to the whole world!
Notes
1. Nos. 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, and 31.
2. Reduced to extreme destitution, by the failure of crops, subscriptions are at present (1862) being collected to enable the inhabitants of Fair Isle to emigrate.
3. The original name is Fitfiel—probably the white mountain—fit signifying white, and fiel, fell or mountain. In the same way England was called Albion, from its white cliffs.
4. For a selection of these, see Appendix.
5. Where the two Icelandic letters occur which are wanting in the English alphabet, they are here represented, respectively, by d and th.
6.
“Di rado
Incontra, me rispose, che di nui
Faccia il cammino alcun per quale io vado.” L 19-21.
7. Pronounced Tingvatla.
8. In the same way a river in Perthshire is called Bruar; evidently from the natural rock-bridge by which it is spanned.
9. Dr. Black’s analysis of the Geyser water is—
| Soda, | 0.95 |
| Dry Sulphate of Soda, | 1.46 |
| Muriate of Soda, | 2.46 |
| Silica, | 5.40 |
| Alumina, | 0.48 |
| 10.75 |
10. From the specific gravity of the globe, taken in connection with the increasing ratio of heat as we descend from the surface, it is calculated that all metals and rocks are melted at a depth of thirty miles below the sea level, and that the fluid mass is chiefly melted iron; while the temperature would indicate somewhere about 4000° Fahrenheit.
11. The specimens nearly all became red before they got home, and Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S. &c., has since fully confirmed my surmise as to the origin of the colours.
12. See Olafsen’s Reise, th. ii. p. 138-140. Finnsen’s Efterretning om Tildragelserne ved Bierget Hekla. (Copenhagen 1767). Barry’s Orkney Islands, p. 13; quoted by the author of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faröe Islands, pp. 30-1.
13. See illustration at p. 84.
14. See note at foot of page 65.
15. Alluding to the old Icelandic female head-dress which is now again being introduced—See p. 68.
16. See at p. 53.
17. Hassel, vol. 10. p. 231-233. Mackenzie, p. 312-323. Henderson, vol. 1. p. xxvi. Barrow, pp. 293-305. Iceland, Greenland, and the Faröe Islands, pp. 209-10.
18. “Iceland, Greenland, and the Faröe Islands,” p. 37.
19. Since our visit, there has been another eruption of Kötlugjá in 1860, the particulars of which have been collected by Lauder Lindsay, Esq. M.D., F.L.S. &c., and published in the Edinburgh “Philosophical Journal” for January. From his interesting and admirable scientific paper, which treats the subject largely, we learn that this eruption, like that of 1823, was “mild and innocuous.” It began on the 8th, and continued to the 28th or 29th of May, and was preceded for several days by earthquakes. On the morning of the eighth a dark cloud was seen to rise from the mountain, which at the same moment sent forth an enormous flood of water, with very large pieces of ice, running with the water-stream into the sea. Some of the pieces of ice were so large that they were stranded at a twenty fathom depth in the sea. On the 12th of May the flames could be seen from Reykjavik, although this town is no less than about eighty English miles distant. During the evenings flashes of lightning were seen in the same direction. On the 16th May, the smoke was about twenty-four thousand (?) feet high; it was sometimes of a dark colour, but at other times it resembled steam. At this time the fire was seen from several places at a distance of about 80 English miles. The wind being northerly during the eruption, the sand and ashes fell chiefly in Myrdals-sand, which was the direction also taken by the water-floods. Sulphur was found floating in the sea, and the fish disappeared from certain parts of the neighbouring coasts. A large quantity of cinders was mixed with the water-floods. Cinders and balls of fire, as well as smoke, were thrown up; but the cinders and ashes, from being carried by the wind partly into the sea and partly to the neighbouring snow-fields, did comparatively little damage to the lowland farms; although the well-known devastations of former eruptions, especially those of 1665 and 1755, gave rise to extreme alarm and the most serious apprehensions among the poor inhabitants.
20. Longest interval.
21. Shortest interval.
22. Most important eruption.
23. ‘In estimating the seriousness of such a loss, it is necessary to bear in mind that the hay harvest is, so far as the vegetable kingdom is concerned, the only harvest in Iceland; and that hay is almost the sole provender for horses, sheep, and cattle during three-fourths of the year.’
24. Founding his statements on the manuscript of the Surgeon Sveinn Pálsson, and on Horrebow’s Natural History of Iceland—p. 12: London 1758.
25. From the Greek επι and ζωον—a term applied to diseases among animals; e.g. murrain, in which cattle are preyed upon by parasites.
26. ‘The celebrated agitation of the waters of our own Loch Ness occurred contemporaneously with the great earthquake of Lisbon, here also referred to.’
27. Stukesley’s “Philosophy of Earthquakes,” 3d ed., London 1756, 8vo, pp. 9-30.
28. “Journal of a Tour in Iceland in the Summer of 1809,” 2d ed., 2 vols., London 1813, by Sir William Jackson Hooker, K.H., D.C.L., L.L.D., &c., the present distinguished Director of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew.
29. See Dasent’s admirable translation of “Burnt Njal,” since published.
30. Mr. Brynjúlfsson had the following lines—intimating the hopelessness of searching for the treasure concealed below—repeated to him, when recently visiting the locality. They are thus literally rendered by him into English.
| “Thrasa kista audug er | “Thrasi’s chest wealthy is |
| Under forsi Skoga | Under foss of Skogar; |
| Hver sem thángad fyrsti fer | Whosoever thither first goes |
| Fiflsku hefir nóga.” | Foolishness has enough.” |
31. There was a slight eruption of this mountain on March 23, 1861, which only lasted a few days. The smoke and sulphurous gases which it exhaled tarnished metal at 50 miles distance.
32. See, p. 160.
33. See p. 134, where Skaptár is represented as rising in the distance, over a hill-range on the other side of a level plain, which in the wood-cut resembles and might be mistaken for water.
34. This also happened during the eruption of Hekla in 1693.
35. “Greenland, Iceland, and Faröe,” pp. 38-42: chiefly abridged from Stephenson’s “Account of the Eruption,” published at Copenhagen in 1785, which will be found translated in Hooker’s Journal, vol. ii., 124-261. See also Henderson, vol. i., pp. 272-290; and Gliemann, pp. 107-109.
36. Second ed. published in 1841.
37. Should be Kötlugjá. A.J.S.
38. At night it sunk to 50°.
39. See illustration D at p. 53.
40. Compare illustrations pp. 202, 206, and 207.
41. See p. 197.
42. Sæmund Frodi, like other learned men of those days, was supposed to be in possession of magic powers. He was the Friar Bacon of Iceland; and these stories in which his name figures, handed down by tradition, are still often told in Iceland by the fireside on the long winter evenings. Curious to observe, that, in most mediæval stories of this kind, Satan is always outwitted and gets the worst of it. A.J.S.
43. This story may explain the origin of the Scotch proverb, “Deil tak’ the hindmost.”—There is another version of Sæmund’s mode of escape; viz.: That when he was about to be seized, pointing to his shadow on the wall, he said, “I am not the hindmost, don’t you see him that is coming behind me!” Old Nick then caught at the shadow, and thought it was a man; but Sæmund got out, and the door was slammed on his heels. But after that time, it is added, Sæmund was always without a shadow, for Old Nick would not let his shadow free again. Here, in this old-world story, we have the germ of Chamisso’s “Shadowless Man.” A.J.S.
44. The reader will here be reminded of Aladdin’s Lamp, Genii, and of the East, from whence these Stories also originally came in the days of Odin.
45. To the right understanding of the story of “Biarni Sveinsson,” it must be remembered that a superstition prevailed amongst the Icelanders regarding the central deserts. These, they believed, were inhabited by a strange mysterious race of men who held no intercourse with the other inhabitants, and were said to be in the habit of kidnapping women from the country. This belief may have had its origin in the fact, that, in former days, some few outlaws and their families took refuge in the deserts, and lived there for a time in order to escape the hands of justice. A.J.S.
46. In Iceland vegetation is late.
47. These popular northern fireside stories and tales are partly gathered from direct oral narration, and partly taken from a small volume, “Islenzk Æfintyri,” the collection of Messrs. M. Grimson and J. Arnason, published in Icelandic, at Reykjavik, in 1852.
48. Völu-spá or spae, the Prophesy—wisdom, oracle, or mystic song—of Völu (Völu is the genitive of Vala). Scoticê, Vala’s spae, as in the word spae-wife. One of these Valor, or Northern sybills, whom Odin consulted in Neifelhem, when found in the tomb where she had lain for ages, is represented as saying—
“I was snowed over with snows,
And beaten with rains,
And drenched with the dews;
Dead have I long been.”
49. These specimens of old Icelandic poetry are selected from “The Literature and Romance of Northern Europe,” by William and Mary Howitt: 2 vols. 8vo., Colburn & Co., 1852.
50. Written in reply to the following lines, by Delta, sent her by way of a challenge.
“To where the Arctic billow foams
Round Shetland’s sad and silent homes,
There sighs the wind and wails the surge
As ’twere of living things the dirge.”
In these old heathen days, be it remembered, where all were sea-rovers there were good and bad among them. For a fine description of the best type of the Viking and his code of honour, see Tegner’s beautiful northern poem, “The Frithjof Saga.”
51. The “Lay of the Vikings,” translated into Icelandic verse by the Rev. Olaf Pálsson. It is in the free metre of the old sagas—the same as that which Thorláksson adopted in his translation of “Paradise Lost.” The following is the translation of Delta’s lines:
Þar sem um Hjaltlands
Heimkynni þögul
Norðurhafs öldur
Ólmar freyða,
Stynja þar stormar,
Stúra brimboðar,
Lifandi veru
Líkar sorgröddum.
52. The raven was regarded as sacred, and greatly venerated by the old Norse Vikings, who had always one or two of these birds in their ships. When setting out on marauding expeditions the raven was let loose and his flight followed by the bold voyagers, in the belief that he led them to war and victory. These birds it was supposed lived to a fabulous age. Odin’s shield had a raven on it, and so had the Landeyda or battle-flag of Sigurd, which ever led to victory, although its bearer was doomed to die. Hialtland is the ancient name of Shetland. The Norse rovers thought it a disgrace to die in their beds in peace; and when they found their end approaching, clad in armour, had themselves carried on board their ships which were then set fire to and sent adrift, that the old heroes might die, as they had lived, on the ocean, and thence worthily rise to Valhalla.
53. The “Death of the Old Norse King,” translated into Icelandic verse by the Rev. Olaf Pálsson.
54. A rix dollar is equal in value to 2/3 English. A skilling is a fraction more than a farthing.
55. Extracted from the postscript to Mr. William Longman’s “Suggestions for the Exploration of Iceland”—an address delivered to the members of the Alpine Club, of which he is Vice-President.—Longman & Co., 1861.
56. This chapter, written in December 1859, has already appeared in the pages of a periodical.—A.J.S.
57. These journals, while admitting, in a general though apologetic way, that great evils exist in connection with slavery, yet, somehow, on every occasion, systematically and persistently uphold pro-slavery measures and interests.
58. Fuller information and subsequent events in America have justified and amply confirmed this estimate of Brown, formed at the time. Having had access to documents, published and unpublished, and being in a position to judge, we would confidently refer the reader to a volume of 452 pp. 8vo., since published by Smith, Elder & Co.—“The Life and Letters of Captain John Brown, edited by Richard D. Webbe”—as presenting a fair statement of the facts of the case. From Brown’s deeds and words, therein recorded, it will be clearly seen, how calm, noble and dignified was the bearing of the man whom short-sighted trimmers, on both sides the Atlantic, have attempted to brand as a fanatic.
59. See “Lay of the Vikings,” p. 278.
60. The antiquarian book to which we have already referred, erroneously attributes the discovery to Garder, a Dane of Swedish origin. Our authority is Gísli Brynjúlfsson, the Icelandic poet, now resident in Copenhagen, to whose kindness we are also indebted for the copy of this work which we possess.
61. For these last, we would refer to Thorpe’s “Yuletide Stories,” Dasent’s “Popular Tales from the Norse,” our own Nursery Lore, and to preceding Stories and Tales in this appendix.
62. Mr. Dasent has since published an admirable translation of “Njal’s Saga,” which presents a vivid picture of life in Iceland at the end of the tenth century.
63. See the preceding specimens of old Icelandic poetry.
Pg. 167: Quote placement: ‘has ever occurred.’ to ‘has ever occurred.”’—Added missing close-quote to quote end
Pg. 171: Corrected typo: ‘Hsfrsey’ to ‘Hafrsey’
Pg. 171: Hyphenation consistency: ‘west-ward’ to ‘westward’
Pg. 171: Hyphenation consistency: ‘east-ward’ to ‘eastward’
Pg. 171: Punctuation fix: ‘issue from Kötlugjá,’ to ‘issue from Kötlugjá.’—Comma for period
Pg. 172: Corrected typo: ‘counrty’ to ‘country’
Pg. 173: Hyphenation consistency: ‘over-flowed’ to ‘overflowed’
Pg. 176: Duplicate word: ‘the the’ to ‘the’
Pg. 176: Proper name consistency: ‘Guldbringé’ to ‘Guldbringu’
Pg. 176: Quote placement: ‘80 to 90 miles distant.”’ to ‘80 to 90 miles distant.’—Removed extra close-quote
Pg. 177: Proper name consistency: ‘Guldbringé’ to ‘Guldbringu’
Pg. 177: Proper name consistency: ‘Markarflíót’ to ‘Markarfliót’
Pg. 178: Corrected accent: ‘aúdug’ to ‘audug’
Pg. 178: Corrected accent: ‘Fiflskù’ to ‘Fiflsku’
Pg. 178: Spelling consistency: ‘thángast’ to ‘thángad’
Pg. 182: Proper name consistency: ‘Huc’ to ‘Huk’
Pg. 183: Corrected accent: ‘skörsmidr’ to ‘skórsmidr’
Pg. 184: Corrected accent: ‘JOKUL’ to ‘JÖKUL’—Added diaeresis for consistency
Pg. 184: Corrected accent: ‘KOTLUGJA’ to ‘KÖTLUGJÁ’—Added diaeresis for consistency
Pg. 185: Corrected accent: ‘JOKUL’ to ‘JÖKUL’—Added diaeresis for consistency
Pg. 187: Proper name consistency: ‘SKAPTAR’ to ‘SKAPTÁR’
Pg. 189: Corrected typo: ‘distingushed’ to ‘distinguished’
Pg. 189: Extra punctuation: ‘lava. continued’ to ‘lava continued’—Removed extra period
Pg. 194: Proper name consistency: ‘Elldborg’ to ‘Eldborg’
Pg. 194: Proper name consistency: ‘Guldbringé’ to ‘Guldbringu’
Pg. 195: Proper name consistency: ‘Skeideræ’ to ‘Skeidará’
Pg. 195: Proper name consistency: ‘Skeideræ’ to ‘Skeidará’
Pg. 196: Proper name consistency: ‘Elldborg’ to ‘Eldborg’
Pg. 196: Corrected typo: ‘Heinabegr’s’ to ‘Heinaberg’s’
Pg. 196: Proper name consistency: ‘Skeidaræ’ to ‘Skeidarár’
Pg. 197: Proper name consistency: ‘Briedamerkasandr’ to ‘Breidamerkr-sandr’
Pg. 197: Proper name consistency: ‘Breidamerks’ to ‘Breidamerkr’
Pg. 190: Corrected typo: ‘Skuptaà’ to ‘Skaptaá’
Pg. 199: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Breida-fiords’ to ‘Breida fiords’
Pg. 205: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Buttercups’ to ‘Butter-cups’
Pg. 208: Chapter / TOC consistency: ‘N/A’ to ‘SEYDISFIORD, BY FARÖE TO LEITH’—Added section heading where indicated in TOC
Pg. 209: Corrected typo: ‘similiar’ to ‘similar’
Pg. 215: Punctuation fix: ‘breakfast on board,’ to ‘breakfast on board.’—Comma at end of sentence
Pg. 219: Corrected accent: ‘PALSSON’ to ‘PÁLSSON’
Pg. 220: Proper name consistency: ‘Kalfar’ to ‘Kalfur’
Pg. 221: Corrected typo: ‘dont’ to ‘don’t’
Pg. 221: Heading consistency: ‘II.—SÆMUND GETS’ to ‘II. SÆMUND GETS’—Removed em-dash in section title to match other headers
Pg. 226: Proper name consistency: ‘A. J. S.’ to ‘A.J.S.’—Usually without spaces
Pg. 228: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Iceland moss’ to ‘Iceland-moss’
Pg. 228: Corrected typo: ‘wont’ to ‘won’t’
Pg. 229: Proper name consistency: ‘Skagafiörd’ to ‘Skagafiord’
Pg. 232: Corrected typo: ‘wont’ to ‘won’t’
Pg. 234: Proper name consistency: ‘Skagafiörd’ to ‘Skagafiord’
Pg. 234: Proper name consistency: ‘Skagafiörd’ to ‘Skagafiord’
Pg. 235: Proper name consistency: ‘Skagafiörd’ to ‘Skagafiord’
Pg. 236: Corrected typo: ‘dont’ to ‘don’t’
Pg. 239: Missing punctuation: ‘such a rib as this’ to ‘such a rib as this?’—Added missing ‘?’ at para end
Pg. 241: Corrected typo: ‘wont’ to ‘won’t’
Pg. 242: Missing punctuation: ‘if she does’ to ‘“if she does’—Added missing opening quotation mark
Pg. 252: Corrected typo: ‘Fairies’’ to ‘Fairies’
Pg. 254: Corrected typo: ‘dont’ to ‘don’t’
Pg. 255: Corrected typo: ‘parishoners’ to ‘parishioners’
Pg. 259: Quote placement: ‘little porridge pot.’ to ‘little porridge pot.”’—Added missing close-quote at quote end
Pg. 260: Proper name consistency: ‘Volu’ to ‘Völu’
Pg. 260: Proper name consistency: ‘Vola’ to ‘Vala’—Nominative form corrected, see next sentence
Pg. 260: Chapter / TOC consistency: ‘N/A’ to ‘FROM THE “VÖLUSPÁ”’—Added section heading where indicated in TOC
Pg. 261: Corrected typo: ‘Gjallarborn’ to ‘Gjallarhorn’
Pg. 261: Corrected typo: ‘Nighögg’ to ‘Nidhögg’
Pg. 262: Chapter / TOC consistency: ‘N/A’ to ‘FROM THE “SÓLAR LJÓD”’—Added section heading where indicated in TOC
Pg. 264: Quote placement: ‘this Sun’s Song!’ to ‘this Sun’s Song!”’—Added missing close-quote at poem end
Pg. 265: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Niebelungen lied’ to ‘Niebelungen-lied’
Pg. 265: Corrected typo: ‘illustrions’ to ‘illustrious’
Pg. 265: Corrected typo: ‘mornfully’ to ‘mournfully’
Pg. 265: Quote placement: ‘Odin’s High Song’ to ‘“Odin’s High Song’—Added missing open-quote at quote beginning
Pg. 265: Chapter / TOC consistency: ‘N/A’ to ‘FROM THE POEMS RELATING TO SIGURD & BRYNHILD.’—Added section heading where indicated in TOC
Pg. 267: Missing punctuation: ‘the man speaks his mind’ to ‘the man speaks his mind.’—Missing period added at stanza end
Pg. 269: Repeated word: ‘and and a straw-rick’ to ‘and a straw-rick’
Pg. 272: Missing punctuation: ‘live without crime’ to ‘live without crime.’—Missing period added at stanza end
Pg. 274: Hyphenation consistency: ‘fire-wood’ to ‘firewood’
Pg. 274: Missing punctuation: ‘in her breast’ to ‘in her breast.’—Missing period added at stanza end
Pg. 275: Corrected typo: ‘CXII’ to ‘XCII’
Pg. 277: Quote placement: ‘Gunlöd is weeping.’ to ‘Gunlöd is weeping.”’—Added missing close-quote at poem end
Pg. 279: Corrected accent: ‘I’shafs’ to ‘Íshafs’
Pg. 279: Corrected accent: ‘O’lmar’ to ‘Ólmar’
Pg. 279: Proper name consistency: ‘Thorlakson’ to ‘Thorláksson’
Pg. 280: Corrected typo: ‘Ogöruggar’ to ‘Og öruggar’
Pg. 280: Corrected accent: ‘I’brjósti’ to ‘Í brjósti’
Pg. 280: Corrected accent: ‘A´’ to ‘Á’
Pg. 280: Corrected typo: ‘Horrfiun’ to ‘Horrfinn’
Pg. 280: Corrected accent: ‘I’vöggu’ to ‘Í vöggu’
Pg. 280: Corrected accent: ‘A´’ to ‘Á’
Pg. 280: Corrected typo: ‘þaðað’ to ‘það að’
Pg. 280: Corrected accent: ‘I’talska’ to ‘Ítalska’
Pg. 280: Corrected typo: ‘semheyri’ to ‘sem heyri’
Pg. 281: Corrected accent: ‘I’mekkjum’ to ‘Ímekkjum’
Pg. 281: Proper name consistency: ‘Hiatland’ to ‘Hialtland’
Pg. 281: Corrected typo: ‘Ogaldinn’ to ‘Og aldinn’
Pg. 281: Corrected accent: ‘þer’ to ‘þér’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘þèr’ to ‘þér’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘Skjött’ to ‘Skjótt’
Pg. 287: Corrected typo: ‘húrsa’ to ‘húsa’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘A´’ to ‘Á’
Pg. 287: Corrected typo: ‘bœði’ to ‘bæði’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘O´’ to ‘Ó’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘I´’ to ‘Í’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘Fo´tum’ to ‘Fótum’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘I´’ to ‘Í’
Pg. 287: Corrected accent: ‘bùið’ to ‘búið’
Pg. 288: Corrected typo: ‘Ogdökkvir’ to ‘Og dökkvir’
Pg. 288: Corrected typo: ‘Mæki’ to ‘Mœki’
Pg. 288: Corrected typo: ‘Irá’ to ‘Frá’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘O´mur’ to ‘Ómur’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘A´vita’ to ‘Á vita’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘O´ðins’ to ‘Óðins’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘A´skipi’ to ‘Á skipi’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘I´marar’ to ‘Í marar’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘I´niðmyrkvu’ to ‘Í niðmyrkvu’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘I´blindmyrkri’ to ‘Í blindmyrkri’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘I´ógna’ to ‘Í ógna’
Pg. 288: Corrected accent: ‘O´ðinn’ to ‘Óðinn’
Pg. 288: Corrected typo: ‘myskbláu’ to ‘myrkbláu’
Pg. 292: Corrected accent: ‘sỳsla’ to ‘sysla’
Pg. 292: Corrected accent: ‘sỳssel’ to ‘syssel’
Pg. 292: Punctuation fix: ‘lava,’ to ‘lava.’—Comma for period at entry end
Pg. 292: Corrected accent: ‘fljöt’ to ‘fljót’
Pg. 295: Proper name consistency: ‘Caesar’ to ‘Cæsar’
Pg. 304: Corrected typo: ‘flourshing’ to ‘flourishing’
Pg. 305: Proper name consistency: ‘eddas’ to ‘Eddas’—Capitalised elsewhere
Pg. 305: Proper name consistency: ‘eddas’ to ‘Eddas’—Capitalised elsewhere
Pg. 309: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Blaeberries’ to ‘Blae-berries’
Pg. 306: Proper name consistency: ‘Skalholt’ to ‘Skálholt’
Pg. 307: Spelling consistency: ‘Biarne’ to ‘Biarni’
Pg. 309: Proper name consistency: ‘Almanna Gjá’ to ‘Almannagjá’
Pg. 309: Proper name consistency: ‘Ailsay’ to ‘Ailsa’
Pg. 309: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Icedrift’ to ‘Ice-drift’
Pg. 309: Corrected accent: ‘Hrafnagjà’ to ‘Hrafnagjá’
Pg. 309: Corrected accent: ‘Bruarâ’ to ‘Bruará’
Pg. 309: Corrected accent: ‘Bruarâ’ to ‘Bruará’
Pg. 309: Proper name consistency: ‘Salvor’ to ‘Salvör’
Pg. 309: Proper name consistency: ‘Breidamerks’ to ‘Breidamerkr’
Pg. 310: Hyphenation consistency: ‘re-building’ to ‘rebuilding’
Pg. 310: Missing punctuation: ‘days 296’ to ‘days, 296’—Added comma before pg. number
Pg. 310: Missing punctuation: ‘26’ to ‘26.’—Added missing period at end of index subentry
Pg. 310: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Einars-drángr’ to ‘Einarsdrángr’
Pg. 311: Corrected pg. reference in index: ‘265’ to ‘266’
Pg. 311: Corrected accent: ‘tûns’ to ‘túns’
Pg. 311: Hyphenation consistency: ‘surefooted’ to ’sure-footed’
Pg. 311: Proper name consistency: ‘Goldbringé’ to ‘Guldbringu’
Pg. 311: Proper name consistency: ‘Grœnvatn’ to ‘Grœnavatn’
Pg. 312: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Hvità’ to ‘Hvitá’
Pg. 312: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Icedrift’ to ‘Ice-drift’
Pg. 312: Hyphenation consistency: ‘In door occupations’ to ‘indoor occupations’
Pg. 312: Corrected typo: ‘Kleiservatn’ to ‘Kleifervatn’
Pg. 312: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Lighthouse’ to ‘Light-house’
Pg. 312: Proper name consistency: ‘Hrafna Gjá’ to ‘Hrafnagjá’
Pg. 312: Proper name consistency: ‘Logberg’ to ‘Lögberg’
Pg. 312: Proper name consistency: ‘Markarfliot’ to ‘Markarfliót’
Pg. 312: Proper name consistency: ‘Landfogged’ to ‘Landfoged’
Pg. 313: Corrected accent: ‘Oxerâ’ to ‘Oxerá’
Pg. 313: Punctuation fix: ‘Plain, 94.’ to ‘Plain, 94’—Extra punctuation at entry end
Pg. 313: Punctuation fix: ‘Plateau, 74.’ to ‘Plateau, 74’—Extra punctuation at entry end
Pg. 313: Punctuation fix: ‘Pits, 107.’ to ‘Pits, 107’—Extra punctuation at entry end
Pg. 314: Missing punctuation: ‘140’ to ‘140.’—Added missing period at end of index subentry
Pg. 314: Hyphenation consistency: ‘sea pinks’ to ‘sea-pinks’
Pg. 314: Corrected accent: ‘Thiöthölfr’ to ‘Thióthólfr’
Pg. 315: Corrected accent: ‘Tûn’ to ‘Tún’
Pg. 315: Corrected accent: ‘Bruarâ’ to ‘Bruará’
Pg. 315: Hyphenation consistency: ‘Waterfloods’ to ‘Water-floods’