Ki 
 
 * 
 
 HHH
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES

 
 Northern Antiquities. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 pefcription of the Manners, &c. of 
 the Ancient DANES.
 
 Northern Antiquities: 
 
 OR, 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Manners, Cuftoms, Religion and Laws 
 o F T H E 
 
 ANCIENT DANES, 
 
 And other Northern Nations; 
 
 Including thofe of 
 
 Our own SAXON ANCESTORS. 
 
 WITH 
 
 A Translation of the ED DA, or 
 Syftem of RUNIC MYTHOLOGY, 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER PIECES, 
 
 From the Ancient I SL AN DIG Tongue. 
 In T W O V Q L U M E S. 
 
 TRANS I. ATED 
 
 From Monf. M AL L E T'S IntroduRion a /' Hijloire 
 fie Dannemarc, &c. 
 
 With Additional NOTES 
 
 By the Englifh Tranflator, 
 
 AND 
 
 Goranibu's Latin Verfion of the EDO A. 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for T. CARNAN and Co. at No. 65. in 
 St. Paul's Church-yard. M DCC LXX.
 
 

 
 
 
 TO HIS GRACE 
 
 THE 
 
 DUKE 
 
 O F 
 
 NORTHUMBERLAND. 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 TH E following work is infcribed to 
 your Grace with the moft genuine 
 refpect, and, I flatter myfelf, not without 
 propriety, fmce it may poffibly afford 
 amufement to one of the moft polifhed No- 
 blemen of the prefent age, to obfcrve from 
 what rude and fimple beginnings our 
 higheft improvements have been derived; 
 and to trace, to their fource, thofe pecu- 
 liarities of character, manners and govern- 
 ment, which fo remarkably diftinguim the 
 Teutonic nations. 
 
 Among the hiftorical digrefiions which 
 our Author has fcattered through his work,- 
 is a full relation of the firft Settlement of 
 the NORMANS in France. This cannot 
 
 VOL. I. A 2 (2) but
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 but be intereiling to your Grace, as the 
 great Family, which you fo nobly repre- 
 fent, derived their origin from one of the 
 N< V<' ^rn Chiefs, who aflifted in that con- 
 quell, i icm the place of their refidence in 
 Lower Normandy *, they took the name 
 ot : ; a name, which was afterwards 
 
 eminent!}' o-lcbrated in our Englifh annals, 
 and which you have revived with additional 
 luftre. 
 
 Among the many mining and amiable 
 qualities which diftinguifh your Grace and 
 theDutchefs of Northumberland, none have 
 ppeared to me more truly admirable than 
 ; :at high refpecl; and reverence, which you 
 both of you mow for the heroic Race 
 whofe pofleffions you inherit. 
 
 Superior to the mean and felfifh jealoufy 
 of thofe, who, confcious of their own want 
 of dignity or worth, confign to oblivion the 
 illuftrious dead, and wim to blot out all 
 remembrance of them from the earth; 
 you, my Lord, have, with a more than 
 filial piety, been employed for many years 
 in reftoring and reviving every memorial of 
 the PERCY name. 
 
 Defcended, yourfelf, from a moft ancient 
 and refpectable Family; and not afraid 
 to be compared with your noble predecef- 
 fors the Earls of NORTHUMBERLAND, you 
 
 * Near VILLEDIET, in the diftrift of ST. Lo. 
 
 have
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 have repaired their monuments, rebuilt their 
 caftles, and replaced their trophies : and 
 whatever appears to be any way connected 
 with them, is fure to attracT: your attention 
 and regard. 
 
 With this generofity of mind, added to 
 your tafte, munificence, and love of the 
 arts, can we wonder that your name is the 
 delight and ornament of the EngFifh nation ? 
 or that it is equally dear to a fifter country, 
 where your upright and difmterefted plan 
 of government, your politenefs and magni- 
 ficence eftablimed your dominion over every 
 heart ; and where the engaging and exalted 
 virtues of the Putchefs have left an impref- 
 fion never to be effaced, 
 
 That you may both of you long enjoy 
 thofe diftinguimed honours and that princely 
 fortune, which you fo highly adorn : That 
 they may be tranfmitted down, in your own 
 pofterity, to the lateft ages, is the fincere 
 and fervent wifh of 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your Grace's 
 
 Moft humble, and 
 
 MDCCLXX. Moft devoted fervant, 
 
 THE EDITOR, 
 
 i 
 
 VOL. I. A a (3)
 

 
 CONTENTS 
 
 O F 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 Proofs that the Teutonic and Celtic Nations 
 were ab origine tivo diftinfl People. 
 
 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 General Account oj the Work-, its Connexion 
 'with his propofed Hijlory of Denmark^ 
 &c. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ^Denmark defcribed and the federal Countries 
 fubjeft to its cro r wn- t viz. Norway, Ice~ 
 land) Greenland. Page I 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the firft Inhabitants of Denmark^ and 
 particularly of the Cimbri. p. 20 
 
 AS C HA P.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 G H A P. HI. 
 
 Of the Grounds of the Ancient Hijlory of 
 Denmark and of the different opinions con- 
 cerning it. p. 4.1 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of Odin, his Arrival in the north ^ his Con- 
 cjuejls and the Changes which he made. 
 
 P. 58 
 
 CHAP. v. 
 
 A general idea of the Ancient Religion cf 
 the Northern Nations. p. 74 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Of the Religion 'which prevailed in fLe 
 North, and particularly in Scandinavia 
 after the death of Odin. p. 84 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Of the Exterior Worfhip and Religious Cere- 
 monies cf the Northern Nations, p. I V 24 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Of the form of Government which formerly 
 prevailed in the North, p. 156 
 
 C H
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 The pajfion of the antient Scandinavians for 
 Arms : their Valour : the manner in 'which 
 they made War. A DigreJJion concerning 
 the Jlate of Population among them. 
 
 P- '93 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Of the Maritime Expeditions of the ancient 
 Danes. p. 245 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 Sequel of the Maritime Expeditions of the 
 ancient Danes and Norwegians. The dif- 
 covery of Iceland and Greenland, and 
 of an unknown country called Vinland 
 {thought to be part of North America.] 
 
 p. 268 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Of the Cuftoms and Manners of the ancient 
 Northern Nations. p. 306 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Sequel of the Cuftoms, Arts, and Sciences of 
 the ancient Scandinavians. p. 347 
 
 Conclujion. p. 405 
 
 A 4 An
 
 An Account of the AUTHOR, extracted from 
 
 La France Liter aire, 2 Tom. 1769, izmo, 
 
 [Tom. I. pag. 326.] 
 
 PAUL HENRY MALIET 
 
 is a native of Geneva: He was fometims 
 Royal Profeffor of Belles Lettres at Copen- 
 hagen, and one of the Preceptors of the 
 Prince of Denmark, now King Chriftian 
 VII. He is a member of the Academies at 
 Upfal and Lyons; and a correfpondent of 
 the Academy of Infcriptions and Belles- 
 Lettres in France. His works arc, 
 
 iTiftoire de Dannemarck, &c. (i. e. The 
 Hiftory of Denmark) 1755. 3 -vol. 4/0. or 
 1763. 6 vol. izmo. 
 
 Forme du Gouvernement de Swede, (i. e 
 The Form of Government of Sweden.) 
 1756- 
 
 Abrege de IHljloire dc Dannemarck. (i: e. 
 An Abridgment of the Hiftory of Den- 
 mark.): 1760. 
 
 Hljloire de He/e. (i. e. The Hiftorv of 
 Hefle.) 1766. Qvo. 
 
 THE
 
 (i) 
 
 THE 
 
 TRANSLATOR'S 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE Author of the following Work had a fbar~ 
 in the education of that amiable Pnn e CHRIS- 
 TIAN VII. King of Denmark, who late!\ honoured 
 this nation with a vifit. During his refidence in irni 
 North, our Author Monf. MALI.ET , 'who has all the 
 talents of a fine writer) was engaged by the hte King 
 FREDERICK V. to wrice a Hiftory of Denraa--;. ;u tue 
 French Language. By way of introduction 10 that 
 Hiftory, he drew upthefe two prefatory Volumes, the 
 merit of which has long been acknowledged in moft 
 parts of Europe. 
 
 Though intended only as a Preliminary Piece, it 
 has all the merit of a complete independent woik ; 
 and, except to the natives of Denmark, i.s much more 
 interefting and entertaining than the Hiftory it. elf, 
 which it was intended to precede. It very earh en- 
 gaged the attention of the prefent Tranfiator : whofs 
 reading having run fomewhat in the fame track with 
 that of the Author, made him fond of the lubjici, ml 
 
 VOL. I. A 5 tempted
 
 tempted him to give in an Englifii drefs a work in 
 which it was difplayed with ib much advantage. As 
 he happened alfo to have many of the original books 
 from which the French Author had taken his mate- 
 rials, he flattered himfelf they would fupply fome J3- 
 luflrations, which might give an additional value to 
 the Verfion. 
 
 For this reafon, as alfo to afford himfelf an agree- 
 able amufement, the Tranflator fome time ago under- 
 took this work ; but a feries of unexpected avocations 
 intervened, and it was thrown afide for feveral years. 
 At length he was prevailed upon to refume it; and as 
 many of his friends were fo obliging as to {hare among 
 them different parts of the Tranflation, he had little 
 more to do but to compare their performances with 
 the original, and to fuperadd fuch REMARKS as oc- 
 curred to him. Thefe are generally diftinguilhed 
 from thofe of the Author by the letter T^*. 
 
 fie was the rather invited to undertake this tsfk, 
 as he perceived the Author had been drawn in to adopt 
 an opinion that has been a great fource of miftake and 
 ccnkihon to many learned wri-ers of the ancient hif- 
 tory of Europe j viz. that of ftippoftng the ancient 
 Gauls and Germans, the Britons and Saxons, to have 
 been all originally one and the fame people ; thus con- 
 founding the antiquities of the Gothic and Celtic na- 
 tions. This crude opinion, which perhaps was firft 
 taken up by CLUVERIUS f, and maintained by hi:n 
 n <.;uJitior>, has been fince incau- 
 
 * When the prffer.t Trarflation was undertaken, only the full e-iiiion 
 had appeared ; ana from that icveraJ of ihe firlt cl 
 
 ion hr Frfr. volume was rot, as here, divided 
 
 III. CHAPTERS, but into V. HOOKS. Afterwards the Author 
 . iii; v,', >:<, and p'lbliffced a nrw frfitirn, i:i whk-! h- .-.or . '/ ma;:e 
 
 rj-ionj 
 
 >. tlic Tex' ape No r cs. Ir wns r.ecefiiiry to accommodate the Ver- 
 
 .1!, but the Trjr.Ji.itor co!J not Kt!' retailing in 
 
 the mirpin rrany of the ivj ..; .: too valuable 
 
 I : t-r-n-!"ia: Antiqu* Libri Tres, &c. Lugduni 
 A pud Lite*. ifciO. Klij.
 
 ( iii ) 
 
 tioufly adopted by KEYSLER J and PELLOUTIER , 
 the latter of whom has, with great diligence and fkill, 
 endeavou-ed to confirm it. In fhort, fo much lc .,-n-* 
 ing and ingenuity have fcarcely ever been more per- 
 verfely and erroneoufly applied, or brought to adorri 
 and fupport a more groundlefs hypothecs. This mif- 
 take the 'I ranflator thought might be eafily corrected 
 in the prelent work; and by weeding out this one 
 error, he hoped he fhould obtain the Author's pardon, 
 and acquire fome merit with the Englifh Reader ]|. 
 
 And that it i> M* c-rr-ir he thinks will appear from 
 the attentive confideration of a few particulars, which 
 can here be oniy mentioned in brief: For to give the 
 fubjc.fr. a thorough difcuffion, and to handle it in its 
 full extent, would far exceed the limit.* of this fhort 
 Preface. 
 
 The ancient and original inhabitants of Europe, 
 according to Cluverius and Pclloutier, confifted only 
 of two diftinct race of men, viz the CELTS and SAR- 
 MATIANSS and that from one or other of thefe, but 
 chiefly from the former, all the ancient nations of Eu- 
 rope are defcended. The Sarmatians or Sauromatas, 
 were the anceftors of all the Sclavonian Tribes, viz. 
 the Poles, Ruffians, Bohemians, Walachians, &c. 
 who continue to this day a diftinct and feparate people, 
 extremely different in their character, manners, laws 
 and language from the other race, which was that of 
 the Celts; from whom (they will have it) were uni- 
 formly defcended the old inhabitants of Gaul, Ger- 
 
 J Antiquitates Seleftae Septentrionales et Celtics, &c. Autore Job. 
 Gsorgio KEYSLER, &c. Hannoveias 1720. 8vo. 
 
 Hiftoire des Celtes, et particulierement des Gaulois et des Gerrnains, 
 ire. par Mr. Simon PELLOUTIEH. Haye '750. 2 Tom. nmo. 
 This learned Writer, who is a protelrant minilter, counfellor of the 
 Confiftory, and librarian to the academy at Berlin, is defcended from a 
 family originally of Lang'iedoc, and was born at Leiplic, 2j October, 
 1694. O. S. (<v. France literaire, Tom. 1. ) 
 
 || Though the words GOTHIC or TEUTONIC are often fubftituted in 
 the Tranflation, inftead of tiie Author's t'avuurite word CELTIOJJEJ 
 yet care has been taken to reprefent the Author's own exprefiion in the 
 piargin. Sometimes where it was not needful to be very precife, the 
 word GOTHIC has only been added to the Author's word CELTIC j but 
 the infertion is carefully diilinguiflied by inverted comma:, 
 
 YOJ, . I. A 6 many,
 
 (iv) 
 
 many, Scandinavia, Britain and Spain, who were all 
 included by the ancients under the general name of 
 Hyperboreans, Scythians, and Celts, being all origi- 
 nally of one race and nation, and having all the fame 
 common language, religion, laws, cuftoms and man- 
 ners. 
 
 This is the pofition which thefe Writers have 
 adopted and maintained, with an uncommon difplay of 
 deep erudition, and a great variety of fpecious argu- 
 ments. But that their pofition, fo far as relates to the 
 Celts, is erroneous, and the arguments that fupport it 
 inconclufivc, will appear, if it can be fhown, That an- 
 cient Germany, Scandinavia, Gaul and Britain were 
 not inhabited by the defendants of one (ingle race ; 
 but on the contrary, divided between two very dif- 
 ferent people j the one of whom we fhall call, with 
 moft of the Roman authors, CELTIC, who were the 
 anceftors of the Gauls, Britons and Irifh ; the other 
 GOTHIC or TEUTONIC, from whom the Germans, 
 Belgians, Saxons and Scandinavians derived their ori- 
 gin ; and that thefe were ab origine two diftinft people, 
 very unlike in their manners, cuftoms, religion and 
 laws. 
 
 As to the Arguments by which Cluverius and Pel- 
 Joutier fupport their hypothecs that the Gothic and 
 Celtic nations were the fame, they may all be reduced 
 to Two Heads ; viz. either to QUOTATIONS from the 
 ancient Greek and Roman writers; or to JiTYMOLq- 
 CIES of the names of perfons or places, &c. 
 
 With regard to the latter, (viz. ETYMOLOGIES) 
 thefe two writers lay it down that the prefent German 
 or High Dutch is a genuine daughter of the ancient 
 Celtic or Gaulifti language * ; becaufe, frorrTit they 
 can explain the Etymology of innumerable names that 
 were well known to be Gaulifh or Celtic f ; and 
 this being admitted, it muft follow that the Germans 
 
 La Impu jUemotidt eft un nftt dt Tantlennt langvt dtiCel:n. Pellou- 
 jr, TO). 1. p. 165, Itc, 
 f Vid. CluT. lib. 1. wp. ri, tii, viii, fee. Fallout, liv. I, chap. xv. 
 
 are
 
 ( v) 
 
 are a branch of the Celts, and confeqaently, that the 
 Celtic and Teutonic nations were the fame. In pro- 
 fecuting this argument it muft be acknowledged, that 
 they have produced many inftances that appear at firft 
 fi^ht very plaufiblr. But whoever confiders how little 
 \ve can depend upon the Etymology of obiolete words, 
 derived from barbarous dead languages, in which there 
 are no books extant, will not build very fecurely on 
 proofs of this fort. No one will aflert that the prefent 
 German bears any refemblance now to the modern 
 Welfli and Jrifh languages ; and yet there are writers 
 in abundance who will undertake to account for the 
 aame of almoft every place, perfon or office in ancient 
 Europe, from one or other of thefe two living tongues, 
 and will produce inftances, full as plaufible and conclu- 
 five, as any adduced by Cluverius or his followers *. 
 After all, there is probably a good deal of truth on 
 both fides ; I can readily believe that all the names of 
 places and perfons in ancient Germany, or fuch other 
 countries as any of the Gothic or Teutonic nations at 
 any time penetrated into, will be reducible to the lan- 
 guage now fpoken by their defendants : And that in 
 like manner, from the Irifh and Welfti language?, 
 .which may be allowed to be genuine daughters of the 
 ancient Gallic or Celtic tongue f it will be eaf'y to ex- 
 plain fuch names as were impofed by any of the ancient 
 Celtic or Gallic tribes. Indeed in the very remote 
 ages, prior to hiftory, one cannot pretend to fay what 
 were the diftinct bounds or limits of each people. 
 They were like all other barbarous nations, roving 
 and unfettled j and often varied their fituation j being 
 
 * See that excellent antiqua'y Lluyd, in Archaeologia Britannica, i-e. 
 not to mention many late writers of a different Stamp, viz. JONES, 
 PARSONS, &c. &c. 
 
 J- That the prefent Welfli language is the genuine daughter of the 
 ancient Briufh fpoken in the time of the Romans, cannot be difputed j 
 becaufe we have now extant MSS. writ in every age from the Roman 
 times down to the prefent, which plainly prove the defcfnt, and are not 
 unintelligible to the prefent inhabitants of Wales. (See Evans's fpeci- 
 fnens of Weirti poetry, 410.) Now that the ancient Bririfli differed i; tie 
 from the G^ulifh, we are allured by Tacitus, Strmo laud multum di-vtr. 
 jut. TackC A grit, c, ii. 
 
 fometimes
 
 ( vi ) 
 
 Sometimes fpread over a country ; at other times driven 
 out by fome ftronger tribe of barbarians, or forfaking 
 it themfelves in fearch of new fettlements. Csefar in- 
 forms us, that fome of the Gallic tribes forced their 
 way into Germany, and there efrablifhed themfelves*. 
 It is equally probable, that before his time, bands of 
 Germans might at different periods penetrate into 
 Gaul -|- ; where, although their numbers might be too 
 fmall to preferve them a diitincl nation, yet thefe emi- 
 grants might import many names of perfons and places 
 that would outlive the remembrance of their founders. 
 This will fufficiently account for the difperfion ot" 
 words derived from both languages, and inform us 
 why Celtic derivations may be found in Germany and 
 German names difcovered in Gaul. So much for 
 arguments derived from Etymology ; which are fa 
 very uncertain 2nd precarious, that they can only 
 amount to preemptions at beft, and can never be op- 
 pofed to foliclpofitive proofs. 
 
 "With regard to the other fource of Arguments, by 
 which thefe learned writers fupport their opinion of 
 the identity of the Gaub and Germans, viz. QUOTA- 
 TIONS from the ancient Greek and Roman authors ; 
 thefe they have produced in great abundance. But 
 even if it {hould be granted that the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans applied fon.ctimes the names of Celtic, Scythian 
 or Hyperborean indifcriminately to the ancient inhabi- 
 tants of Germany and Gau!, of Britain and Scandi- 
 navia, the inference will {till be doubted by thofe that 
 confider how little known all thefe nations were to the 
 early writers of Greece and Rome ; who, giving them 
 all the general name of Barbarians, inquired little far- 
 ther about them, and took very little pains to be 
 
 * Full anna ttmpus cum Cermanos Gall'i inrtute fuperartnt et ultra belle, 
 isfdient, ac . . . . dans Ki'crum culonlai mitterent, Z?c. Vid. plura 
 apud Ca-f. de Bell. Gall. III,, vi. 
 
 f This Cat-far exprelly tells us of the Belgae, who were fettled to the 
 riotth or the S*ine and the Marne. Pltrofque Kelgai effi ortos a Germania ; 
 Rh, r.itmqut antiquitui tranfJufios, profiler loci ftrtilitattm ibi (onfedijje ; 
 gut ca loca in;ollercrt, txfultjje. De Bell. Gall. lib. ii. 
 
 accurately
 
 ( vii ) 
 
 accurately informed about their peculiar differences and 
 diftin&ions. Even a long time after thefe rude nations 
 had begun to prefs upon the empire, and had made 
 the Romans dread their valour, ftill their writers con- 
 tinued to have fo conrufed and indiftinct a knowledge 
 of their different dcfcent and character, as to confound 
 both the Celts and Goths with the Sarmatians, whom 
 all writers allow to have been a diflindl nation from 
 them both* : XhusZofimus, an hiftorian of the third 
 century, includes them all under the common name 
 of Scythians -f ; and this, at a time when, after their 
 long and frequent intercourfe with the Romans, their 
 hiftorians ought to have been taught to diftinguifh 
 them better. 
 
 However, the Greek and Roman authors were 
 not all equally indiftin<5l and confufed on this fub- 
 jecl:. It will be (hewn below, that fome of their beft 
 r.nd moft difcerning writers, when they had an oppor- 
 tunity of being well informed, knew how to diftin- 
 guifli them accurately enough : So that both Cluverius 
 and Pejloutier have found themfelves much puzzled 
 how to reconcile fuch ftubborn paflages with .their own 
 favourite hypothefes, and have been entangled in great 
 difficulties in endeavouring to get over the objections 
 thefe occafion. Even with regard to the more early 
 hiftorians, they appear to have been fometimes more 
 precife and accurate in their defcriptions. There is a 
 remarkable paflage of this kind in Strabo J ; in which 
 lie informs us that, although the old Greek authors 
 gave all the northern nations the common name of Scy- 
 thians or Celtofcythians, yet that writers STILL MORE 
 ANCIENT , divided all " the nations who lived be- 
 " yond the Euxine, the Danube and the Adriatic Sea, 
 '* into the HYPERBOREANS, the SAURCMATJE, and 
 
 * See Pelloutier, vol. I. liv. i. c!i. ii. paflim. 
 
 $ See Pelloutkr, vol. I. p. 17. 
 
 j Stiabo, lib. xi. Awav'a; pn Jn tcve n-crS^-o^ M'<; : Tr^atit rxv 
 EXXnv&v eruyy{o^E f , Jxtfln xa ( KiXr^KySai ixxXot/v. &c. Vid. Cluv. 
 Jib. i. p. 42. Pellout. vol.1, p. 2. 
 
 't C, ^. ET1 nPDTJPON JttXovlf?, c. 
 
 ' i " ARI-
 
 ** ARIMASPIANS ; as they did thofc beyond the Caj*- 
 " pian Sea into the SACX. and MESSAGETJE." Thefe 
 SACJE and MESS AGE TJE. might pofiibly be the ancef- 
 tors of the Saxons and Goths, (as thefe laft are fully 
 proved to have been the Getae of the ancients *) who, 
 in the time of thofe very remote Greek writers, pofli- 
 bly had not penetrated fo far weftward as they did 
 afterwards : As it is well known that the GERMANII 
 are mentioned by Herodotus f as a Perfian people. 
 Now the moft authentic hiftorians and poets of the 
 Gothic or Teutonic nations all agree that their ancef- 
 tors came at different emigrations from the more eaftern 
 countries J. But with regard to the three other na- 
 tions, the HYPERBOREANS, theSAUROMAT^and the 
 ARIMASPIANS ; if we agree with Pelloutier , that 
 under the two former the Celts and Sarmatians arc 
 plainly defigned ; when he contends || that the Arimaf- 
 pians are a meer fabulous people, which never exifted, 
 who does not fee that he is blinded by hypothecs ? 
 Why may not the ancient Finns or Laplanders have 
 been intended by this term, which he himfelf inter- 
 prets from Herodotus to fignify ONE-EYED, and fup- 
 pofes it defer iptive of fome nation that excelled in 
 archery, as alluding to their practice of winking with 
 
 * See Pelloutier, liv. i. ch. viii. vol I. p. 46, 47. &c. notes. 
 
 f Heiod. in Clio. A>Ai ti irfj-ai r-n .-, n-<6>)Xcti:, Arjjiwriaiej, 
 FrPMAM I. Edit. R. Steph. 1570. pag. 34. 
 
 1 All the old northern Scalds and hiftorians agree that their anceftors came 
 thither from the Ea!t, but then fome of them, to do the greater honour 
 lo their country, and to its antiquities, pretend that they firft made an 
 emigration into the Eaft from Scandinavia. See Sheringham De dngli>- 
 rum Ct-.r/ii origine. Canabr\gs<t 1670. %-vo, parTim. It is the great 
 fault of SHERINGHAM not to know how to diftinguifh what is true and 
 credible from what is improbable and fabulous in the old Northern Chre- 
 n.clt-s : Becaufe fome parts are true, he receives all for authentic ; as 
 late ingenious writer, becaoie fome parts are fabulous, is for rejecting all 
 asfalfe. (See CLARKE, in his learned Treatife on the Connexion between 
 the Roman, Saxon and Englifh Coins, &c. Lond. 17*7. 410.) By the 
 fame rule we might reject the whole Grecian hiftory : For that of the 
 North has, like it, its FABULOUS, its DOUBTFUL, and more ci- 
 TAJN PIRJODSJ which acute and judiciouj criticks will eafily diftin- 
 grnft. 
 
 Liv. i. chap. i. J Vol. I. p. 9, 10. 
 
 one
 
 (ix) 
 
 one eye in order to take aim *. Tacitus exprefly af- 
 furcs us that the FENNI were great archers f ; and, 
 as is oblerved in the following book J, it is highly 
 probable that at fome early period of time, both the 
 Finns and Laplanders were poflefTed of much larger 
 and better traces of country than the northern deferts 
 to which they are now confined. 
 
 But whether this interpretation be admitted or not, 
 and whatever the more early Greek and Roman wri- 
 ters knew concerning the Celtic and Gothic nations, 
 it is very certain that in latter times, fuch of them as 
 had moft difcernment, and the beft opportunities of 
 being informed, have plainly and clearly delivered 
 that the Germans and Gauls were two diftindr, people, 
 of different origin, manners, laws, religion and lan- 
 guage, and have accurately pointed out the difference 
 between them. 
 
 Before we defcend to particulars, it may be pre- 
 mifed, that thefe two races of men were in many 
 things alike, as would necefTarily happen to two fa- 
 vage nations who lived nearly in the fame climate, 
 who were expofed to the fame wants, and were obliged 
 to relieve them by the fame means. The more men 
 approach to a ftate of wild and uncivilized life, the 
 greater refemblance they will have in manners, becaufe 
 favage nature, reduced almoft to meer brutal inftinft, 
 is fimple and uniform ; whereas art and refinement 
 are infinitely various : Thus one of Ihe rude natives 
 of Nova Zembla will bear a ftrong refemblance in his 
 manner of life to a favage of New Holland : They 
 will both live upon fifh and fea fowls, becaufe their 
 defart fhores afford no other food ; they will both be 
 clad in the fkins of feals and other fea animals, becnu'b 
 their country affords no other cloathing ; and they 
 
 Pelloutier, ibid. Avf**rvw; i*ovo$9<t> pn t . : * APTMA 
 Xiscri ii/0ai, 2HOT Js TOV 0<f>8aXjui'. Herod, p. 129. 145. 
 f Sola infagittit $j>c:. Tac. de Mor. Germ, cap. ult. 
 I Pag- 38, 59. 
 
 VOL, I. a
 
 will both live by fifhing in little boats, and be armed; 
 with lances pointed, tor want of metal, either with 
 {harp flints or the bones of fifties : But will it therefore 
 be inferred that the inhabitants of thefe two oppofite 
 poles of the globe were originally one and the fame peo- 
 ple ? The ancient Britons in the time of Csefar painted 
 their bodies, as do the prefent Chcrckees of North 
 America, becaufe it would naturally enough occur to 
 the wild people of every country, that by this practice 
 they might render themfelves terrible to their enemies : 
 Nor will this prove that the Cherokces are defcended 
 from the ancient Britons. When therefore Cluverius 
 and Pelloutier foiemnly inform us That the Germans 
 and Gauls lived both of them in fmall huts or caverns ; 
 That they fubfifted either on venifon flain in hunting, 
 or on the milk and cheefe procured from their flocks : 
 That both people led a wandering roving life, and 
 equally difliked to live in cities, or follow agriculture, 
 and of courfe ate little or no bread : That they both 
 of them drank out of the horns of animals *, and 
 either went naked, or threw a rude {kin over their 
 fhoulders : XVhen they collect a long feries of fuch 
 refemblances as thefe, and bring innumerable quota- 
 tions from ancient authors to prove that all thefe de- 
 fcriptions are equally given of both people, who does 
 not fee that all thefe traits are found in every favage 
 nation upon earth, and that by the fame rule they 
 might prove all the people that ever exifted, to be of 
 one race and nation ? 
 
 But notwithstanding thefe .general refemblances, 
 we have fufficient teftimony from fome of the moft 
 difberning ancient authors, that the Germans and 
 Gauls, or in other words, the Celtic and Teutonic 
 nations were fufficiemly difUnguifaed from each other, 
 and differed confiderably in PERSON, MANNERS, 
 .LAWS, RELIGION and LANGUAGE. 
 
 * Some of the ancient German tribes drank BEER and AIT, as did 
 the old inhabiting of Gaul. (See Pelloutier, vol. I. lib. 2. ch. ii. 
 p. 216, 117, &c.) This, however, proves thrm not to be the fame 
 pe.-ple, any tr.irs thin our dtinking rea and.coSee, proves us to be de- 
 Mended from the Chicefe and Arabians. 
 
 C^SAR,
 
 ( xi ) 
 
 CJESAR, whofe judgment and penetration will be dif- 
 puted by none but a perfon blinded by hypothefis *$ 
 and whofe long refidence in Gaul, guvc liim better 
 means of being informed than almoft any of his country- 
 men ; Csefar exprefly affures us that the Celts or com- 
 mon inhabitants of Gaul " differed in Language, 
 <c Cuftoms and Laws" from the Belgae, on the one 
 hand, who were chiefly a Teutonic people f, and front 
 the inhabitants of Aquitain on the other; who, from, 
 their vicinity to Spain, were probably of Iberian 
 race. Caefar pofitively affirms that the nations of 
 Gaul differed from thofe of Germany in their Manners* 
 and in many other particulars, which he has enume- 
 rated at length | : And this alTertion is not thrown out 
 at random, like the paflagcs brought by Cluverius 
 againft it ; but is coolly and cautioufly made, when he 
 
 * Catrar is fo much more precife and pofitive againft the hypothefis 
 efpoufed by Cluverius, Keyflcr, Pelloutier, &c: than the- comrfion 
 Roman authors, who were generally inattentive to the differences of the 
 barbarous nations ; that all the writers above- mentioned fet out with 
 siccufing Caefar of being for ever miftaken ; whereas he and Tacitus were 
 probably the only Romans that were generally exadl. 
 
 f Gailia tjl emnis di-vifa In panes tres i quorum unam !>icolunt Betgtf, 
 aliam Aqultani t terliam qu] i^forum lingua Celt*, n?[ira Galli apellantur. 
 Hi cmnn LINGUA, INST!TUTIS, LEGIBUS inter je differunt. Cafa* 
 de BelloGalJ. lib. i. 
 
 Plerefyue Belgai rffi ortot a Gtrmanis, &c. Ib. lib. a, (fee abovc^ 
 page vi.'Kote -\.) 
 
 tcftimony is precife and formal ; but Cluverius ar~.il Pelloutier 
 have found a fimilar pafljge in Strabo, in which he fays of the dquitanl, 
 that their language only differed A LITTLE from that of the other 
 Gauls, :i;u,- MIKPON jrc^aXXa-rWra? TI? ylxrai;. (Strabi initio 
 lib. 4.) This I apprehend does not afFcft the difference between the 
 Gauls and the Bel^se : 5. e. the Celts and Goths, which is rniy tl)e or- 
 jecl of my preftnt inquiry. (Vid. Cluv. p. 50. 52. Pellont, vol. I. 
 p. 180.) After all, I much doubt whether the original inhabitants nf 
 Spain were of Celtic race : There is found no refemblance between the 
 old Cantabrian language (till fpoken in Bifcay, and any of th; CH<:c: 
 diajecls, viz. the VVelfh, Armoric, Irifri, &c. (See the Specimens fubjoin- 
 cd to this Preface.) 1 am therefoie inclined to follow the ancient autho- 
 rities collected by Pelloutier, (in vol. I p. 27. note.) which affirm that ' 
 the Iberians weie a different people from the Celts, arid that from an 
 intermixture of the two.nations were prodnced the Celt- beriais. Pellou- 
 tier feems to me to have produced no convincing ptoofs to the contrary, 
 though he has laboured the point much. A: for the *ic : -ji:ar<i their in- 
 tercourfe with the other Gauls may hare brought their lanjuige to a 
 much nearer referr.blance when StraL-o wrcte^ ihan it bad v.'hen Cafar 
 refided in Gaul. 
 
 J De Beilo GalHco, lib, 6. Vide locum. 
 
 a 2 It
 
 is going to draw the characters of both nations at 
 length in an exacl and well finifhed portrait, which 
 fhowi him to have fludied the genius and manners of 
 both people with great attention, and to have been 
 eompleatly matter of his iubjet *. 
 
 It is true, the Gauls and Germans refembled each 
 other in Complexion, and perhaps in fomc other re- 
 fpects, as might be expected from their living under 
 the fame climate, and nearly in the fame manner ; yet 
 that they differed fufficiently in their PERSONS, ap- 
 pears from Tacitus, who fays that the inhabitants of 
 Calidonia refembled the Germans in Features, whereas 
 the Silures were rather like the Spaniards, as the inha- 
 bitants of South-Britain bore a great refemblance to 
 the Gauls f : This plainly proves that the Spaniards, 
 Germans and Gauls were univerfally known to differ 
 in their Perfons. 
 
 They differed alfo in MANNERS and CUSTOMS. 
 To inftance only in one point, among the Germans, 
 the wife did not give a dowry to her huiband, but the 
 hufband to the wife, as Tacitus exprefly aflures us J : 
 Whereas we learn from Caefar, that among the Gauls, 
 the hufband received a portion in money with his wife, 
 for which he made her a fuitable fettlement of his 
 goods, &c. . 
 
 They differed no lefs in their INSTITUTIONS and 
 LAWS. The Celtic nations do not appear to have 
 had that equal plan of liberty, which was the peculiar 
 
 * S?c the pafiage in Caefajy lib. 6* at large, it was too long to b 
 in r erted he^e. 
 
 f IL-Mui ecrforum i-arij : . . . Rutll<e CaJiJor.iam babitantlum ccm* t 
 mjgti aiKt Germanic'" or:?inem aj/everant. Silurvm cikrati -vultus, et 
 t'.rti plcrujr.tj-Ji crirtt & pojitu contra Hifpanlam, Hxros iieter*t trajeci/t 
 tefaue ftdet cccupajj',: fidem fifiunt. Proximt (rallii et fimllet funt, &c. 
 Tacit, in Vit. Agricol*, c. n. 
 
 J Dctim tun Vxor Marito, fed Uxri ATaritut offert. De Mor. Germ, 
 c. 18. 
 
 riri <j'jar.:at prtum'-as at Uxtrlbut DoT.i s nomine accffemnt , ta*t< f* 
 Jun bir.lt, trftir-a.-K.re faff.!, cum iktibus cvr.mumtant. De Bello GalJ. 
 lib. 6. 
 
 honour
 
 honour of ail the Gothic tribes, and which they car- 
 ried with them, and planted wherever they formed lei- 
 tlements : On the contrary, in Gaul, all the freedom 
 and power chiefly centered among the Druids and the 
 chief men, whom Caefar calls Equates, or Knights: But 
 the inferior people were little better than in a ftate of 
 Jlavery *; Whereas every the meaneft German was in- 
 dependent and free f. 
 
 But if none of thefe proofs of difference of Perfon, 
 Manners, Inftitutions or Laws could have been produc- 
 ed, or fliould be explained away, ftill the difference 
 was fo great and effential between the Celtic and Teu- 
 tonic nations, in regard to RELIGION and LANGUAGE, 
 as can never be got over, and plainly evince them to 
 have been two diftinct and different people. Thefe 
 two points are fo ftrong andconclufive, that the whole 
 proof might be left to reft upon them. 
 
 In comparing the Religious Eftablifhment and In- 
 ftitutions of the Celtic tribes, with thofe of the Go- 
 thic or Teutonic nations, the moft obfervable difference, 
 and what ftrikes us at firft fight, is that peculiar Hie- 
 rarchy or facred College among the Celts, which had 
 the entire conduct of all their religious and even civil 
 affairs, and ferved them both for magiftrates and 
 priefts, viz. that of the DRUIDS ; which has nothing 
 to refemble it among any of the Gothic or Teutonic 
 nations %. This difference appeared to Caefar foftrik- 
 
 * In emu! Gallia eorum bominum, qin allquo funt numero atquc bonore ge- 
 Tura funt duo : ram Plebt fetne Servorum babttur kco. , . . De bit drobus 
 grr.iribut alttrum ift Druidum, alterum Equitumf &c, De Bel. Gal. lib. 6. 
 
 f Tacirus de Mor. Germ, pafTim. 
 
 j Our Author, Monf. MALLET, thinks that the twelve Pontiffs, 
 called Drcttar, who were afiiftants to Odin in adminiftring juftice, (p.6i.) 
 were a kind of Druids ; and that their name Drgttes, has fome affinity to 
 the Celtic word DRUID {p. 140.) this however is meer fancy; there 
 appears no more c nneftion between the tunHons or offices of thefe two 
 orders of men, than there is between their names : That of DRUID 
 being generally derived from the Greek A;it, or rather from the Celtic 
 Dertvor DM, an OAK, their facred Tree : (Vid. Borlacr, p. 67.) where- 
 at the worJs Dmttar and Drcittt come from the IcclinJic DrOttCIt, Da~ 
 minus. SweJ. Drxitt, Htrtu. 
 
 a 3 ing,
 
 ing, that he fets out with this, at his entrance on hfa 
 defcription of the Germans, as a fundamental and 
 primary diftincHon . I do not here enter into a minute 
 defcription of the nature of the Diuids' eftablifhment, 
 or an enumeration of their privileges, becaufe thefe 
 may be found in Csefar and Pliny among the ancients, 
 and in fo many authors among the moderns || : It will 
 be fufficient to fay that, although the Teutonic nations 
 had Priefts, they bore no more refemblaiue to the 
 
 Druids 
 
 ^ OlS MAKI mnltiim ah k'ic cenfuctudlrte [fe, G Atl.ORt'M] frffirtirt : 
 sue DRUIDES habttit, yui rebut Diitints prafmt usque (acr'jicih Jiu~ 
 tier', &c. Dr Bell. Gal. lib. 6. 
 
 |! Vid.CjESAR. De Bello Gall. Comment, lib. 6. PMKII Nat. 
 Hift. lib. 16. c. 44. 
 
 Of the moderns, fee TOLAND'S Specimen of a Kiit. of the Drurds, 
 :.f]. Work?, vol. Ift, 1747. 8vo. STUKF. L Y'S Stonehenge, and 
 Abury. 2 vo'E. 1740, !fc. folio. But efpecially Dr. BORL ACE'S Anti- 
 quities of Cornwall, xd edit. 1769. folio. This learned and ingenious 
 v.-r.:er has left nothing to be clcfntd on the fubjedi of the DRUIDS, and 
 Thrir iriftitufions : He has however been ihawn in by KEYSLER and the 
 other German antiquaries, to adopt their hypothefis, that the Religion of 
 the ancient GerTans was, in fundamentals, the lame with that of the 
 Gauls and Britains, (vid. p. 71.) As nothing that falls from fo excellent 
 9 writer ought to be difrcgard-d, I fhall confider his arguments with 
 attention. He proves the identity of the German and Gulilh Reli- 
 p on from the conformity of the Germans and Gauls in the following 
 points: viz. " (i.) The principal Deity of both nations was Mercury ; 
 f (.) They facrificed human viflims : (3.) They had open temples, 
 *' and (4.) no idols of human ihape. (5.) They had confecrated groves : 
 ' (6 ) WonTiipped oaks : (7.) Were fond of aufpicial rites : and (8.) 
 *' Ccmpvted by nights and not by days." 
 
 I ftall confidfr each of thefe proo's in their order: And as for the 
 FIRST, that " both nations worshipped MERCURY :'' This amounts 
 to no mere than this, that the Gauls and Britons worshipped for their 
 fhief Deity, fome Celtic God, which Cxfar finding to refemble in fame, 
 of \.',s attributes the Roman MERCURY, fcruple-d not to call by thac 
 Ro.-T:an name : So again the Germans woifliipped for their fupreme 
 God, a Divinity of their own, whom Tacitus likewife called MERCU- 
 RY, from a fancied refembiance to that Roman Deity, perhaps in other 
 of h's auricles. We know very wtll tbt the Supreme Deity of all 
 the Teutonic natioris was ODIN or WOPEN, calKd by the ancient Ger- 
 nuns VOTAM and GOTAM, or GODAM, (vid. not. in Tac. Varior. 
 p. foi.) who feems chiefly to have refembled the Roman Mercury, in 
 Laving a particular power over ihe glicfes of the departed : (Vide Bartho- 
 (in. lib. I. c. 7. Odiaut Maniutnfuit Dim-nut : Mercuric cr.mparandus.) 
 r refpecls, how much they differed will appear at firft fight in the 
 f.nriA. Now if the Celtic Mercury refembled the Roman no more than 
 e fee how uiJ(k: chey might be to each other. We are not
 
 (xv) 
 
 Druids, than the Pontiffs of the Greeks and Romsns, 
 or of any other Pagan people. 
 
 Not 
 
 even Cure that thefe two MERCURIES of the Cauls and Germans agreed 
 with the MERCURY of the Romans in the fame points of referrblancc. 
 
 But (2.) Both nations facritked human victims: (3.) Had open 
 " temples; (5.) Confecrated Groves ; and (7.) were fond of aufpicial 
 " rites." Thefe defcriptions I believe maybe applied to all the Pagan 
 nations in the world, during their early barbsrous ftate. For (2.) all 
 Pagan nations have offered human victims: Have haJ (3.) open tem- 
 ples, before they got covered ones: And, previous to their ereft.ng mag- 
 nificent domes for their religious rites, have ei-her fet up circles cf rude 
 Hones, or retired under the natural Shelter of (5.) folemn groves, which, 
 upon that account, they confecra ted : And (7.) ail Pagan people have 
 dealt in omens, aufpices, and all the other idle fuperftitions of that 
 fort. There is not one of the above circumftances but what is men- 
 tioned in Scripture, as praflifed by the idolatrous nations which furrounded 
 the Jewi/h people, and was equally obferved by iome or other of the inha- 
 bitants of Italy and Greece: Si that the Germans refembled the Gauls 
 with regard to thefe particulars no more than they did the old idolatrous 
 inhabitants of Canaan, Aflyria, Greece and Italy. As for the Teutonic 
 nations, they very foon got covered temples, (lee below; p. 127.) and 
 alfo idols of human Shape, (p. 129.) as had indeed the Celtic nations 
 alfo in the time ofCa?farj for fo Dr. Borlace himfelf (p. 107.) inter- 
 prets that pafTage of his concerning the Gauls, (lib. 6.) Dcummaxlmi 
 Mercur ium alunt : Hyusfuatri.vit.iMA SIMULACRA. If thefe SIMU- 
 LACRA had not been images, but only rude unformed ftones, Caefar 
 would doubtlefs have exprefled himfelf with more referve. When, 
 therefore, Dr. Borlace fays that the Gauls and Germans refembled each 
 other in having, (4.) " No idols of human Shape," he muft cn!y mean 
 in their more early ftate of idolatry ; which I fuppofe may alfo be predi- 
 cated of every fa v age nation, before they have attained any Skill in 
 fculpture. 
 
 But he fays, (6.) that both nations " worshipped Oaks." His prcof, 
 however, that the Germans had this fuperflition only, is, that " the 
 " SCLAVONIANS (a people of Germany) worshipped Oaks, inclofed 
 " them with a courr, and fenced them in, to keep off all unhallowed ac- 
 ' eels;" and for this he refers to the note in Tacit. Variorum ad c. 9. 
 where Helmoldus has faid, that the RUSSIANS held their groves and 
 fountains facred, and, that the SCLAVI worshipped OAKS. This proves 
 nothing with regard to the Teutonic nations; but plainly {hows <hat 
 rnar.y of the Diuidic fuperftitions had been caught up and adopted by 
 nations no ways allied to the Celts; and therefore fuggefls an eafy an- 
 fwer to the laft proof that is urged of the refemblance of the Germans 
 and Gauls in their religious rites and opinions ; viz. that, 
 
 (8.) Both people " computed by nights, and not by days." This is 
 in reality the only folid argument that has been produced. But to this, 
 the anfwer is very obvious. The Teutonic nations, it is allowed, had 
 this very peculiar arbitrary cuftom, which they probably borrowed from 
 their Celtic neighbours, although of a very different race, and profefiing, 
 in the main, a very different religion : For if the Kclavonian trjb e w hofe 
 fi'.uation lay fo much more remote from the Celts, had ad npt ed their 
 fuperftitious veneration for the Oak, which feems in no d C g rce to j, ave 
 a * ' infeclcd
 
 Not only in the peculiar nature of their prlefthood, 
 but in their internal doctrines as well as outward rites, 
 they differed. 
 
 The Druids taught, and the Celtic nations believed 
 the Metempfichofis, or a Tranfmigration of the foul 
 out of one body into another : This is fo pofitively 
 aflerted of them by Caefar *, who had been long con- 
 verfant among them, and knew them well, that it is 
 not in the power of any of the modern fyftem-makers 
 to argue and explain his words away, as they have at- 
 tempted to do in every other point relating to the Cel- 
 tic antiquities : However, they attempt to qualify it, 
 by aflerting that the Celtic nations believed only that 
 the foul pafled out of one human body into another, 
 and never into that of brutes f: Which diftincYion I 
 fhall not now ftay to examine, but proceed to obferve, 
 that all the Gothic and Teutonic nations held, on the 
 contrary, a fixed Elizium, and a Hell, where the va- 
 liant and the juft were rewarded ; and where the cow- 
 ardly and the wicked fufFered punifhment. The de- 
 fcripiion of thefe forms a great part of the EDDA $. 
 
 Jn innumerable other inftances, the inflitutions of 
 the Druids among the Celts, were extremely different 
 
 infe&ed the Germans; it \vould have been wonderful indeed, if the lat- 
 ter, who lay contiguous to the Celts, had picked up none of their opi- 
 nions or practices. 
 
 * In firirr is bet volant ferfuaJere, Nun interire arlaias, fed ab aliii f>oft 
 mortem traxfrt ad alias. Lib. vi. Vid. Dioior. Sicul. lib. v. c. 2. & 
 Val. Max. )ih. ii. c. 6. Arr.mian. Marcel. Jib. xv. 
 
 f Vid. KETSLER Antiq. Sept. p. 117 BOR LACE, p. 98, 99, tec. 
 
 j It muft not be concealed, that Bartholine has produced a pafiage 
 from an ancient Ode in the EDDA of S^EMUND FRODE, which plainly 
 fnews ihr.t tl-.s doctrine of the Tranfmigration was not wholly unknn<- a 
 to the Scandinnvh-.s ; tut Bartholine hirr.felf fpeaks cf it as a fingje 
 inf ancf, and it appears from the pafTnge itfelf, that this opinion was ton- 
 fidcred by tl:e Scardinavians, as an idle old wives fable. Vid. Barthclin. 
 Cant Ccnterr p. a Dar.is Mortis, pag. 208. > v "/ffld (Hclgonis Uxor) 
 tftiere ei tr.jfl'u-a cx::r.{la tfl. Crtdtlatur ant'iquitut homines iterutn rafct, 
 iHn/i tit re N u N c PRO ANILI tRjiORE tal-tiur, fie.'go tt Sigrurta itf^m 
 rail fuij^t d'.cunturj lt,rsa ille Helgc HatL':nga- SlaJi dlcebatur ; Mia vf 
 Kara, il~!i~ii:.::: J'^-.j. Jt is probable that in thi* one inllance they only 
 copied the Hofliine ot" the Druids- As the Celtic nations preceded the 
 Teutonic tribes in rr.any of their fettlements, it was probably by the 
 former that thi <u::.'it error tntiyuirvs credcLatur, which was foon ex- 
 ploded among their Teutonic fuccdTbrs, whole cftabiilhed belief was very 
 ilifferent,
 
 ( xvii ) 
 
 from thofe of the Gothic nations. To mention a 
 few : The former frequently burnt a great quantity of 
 human vi&ims alive, in large wicker images, as an 
 offering to their Gods . The Gothic nations, though 
 like all other Pagans, they occafionally defiled their 
 altars with human blood, appear never to have had 
 any cuftom like this. 
 
 The Druids venerated the Oak and the Mifleltoe, 
 which latter was regarded by them as the moft divine 
 and falutary of plants ||, and gathered with very par- 
 ticular ceremonies. In the Gothic mythology, if any 
 tree feems to have been regarded with more particular 
 attention than others, it is the ASH 1T : And as for the 
 Mifleltoe, it is reprefented in the Edda rather as a 
 contemptible and mifchievous fhrub *. 
 
 But what particularly diftinguiflies the Celtic infli- 
 tutions from thofe of the Gothic or Teutonic nations, 
 is that remarkable air of Secrecy and Myftery with 
 which the Druids concealed their doctrines from the 
 laity j forbidding that they (hould ever be committed to 
 writing, and upon that account, not having fo much 
 as an alphabet of their own f. In this, the inftitu- 
 tions of Odin and the Gothic Scalds was the very 
 reverfe.' No barbarous people were fo addicted to 
 writing, as appears from the innumerable quantity of 
 Runic inscriptions fcattered all over the north ; no 
 barbarous people ever held Letters in higher reverence, 
 afcribing the invention of them to their chief deity J, 
 and attributing to the letters themfelves fupernatural 
 virtues 4- Nor is there the leaft room to believe that 
 "any of their doctrines were locked up or concealed 
 from any part of the community. On the contrary, 
 their Mythology is for ever difplayed in all the Songs of 
 
 $ Vid. Csfar de Bell. Gall. lib. vi. Borlace, p. 117. 
 
 j| See vol. II. p. 144. &c. f See the Ed<ia fcjfm. 
 
 See vol. II. p. 159, 140, 143, 145, &c. 
 
 f Nequefat effe txijlimant ta litter'n mandart ; cum in reliju'n fere rebut, 
 publicii frivatlffue ranonikui, GRVECIS LJTIRI. vta'.f.ir. . . . Ntjut 
 in -vulgui Difciflinam efferri -vt!int. Caefar. Jib. vi. . 
 
 J Vid. infra, p. 70. 371, 371. &c. 
 
 4. Vid. infra, p. 374, 375. &c. 
 
 their
 
 ( xviii ) 
 
 their SCALDS, juft as that of the Greeks and Romans 
 is in the Odes of Pindar and Horace. There never 
 exifted any inftitution in which there appears lefs of 
 referve and myftery than in that of the Gothic and 
 Scandinavian people. 
 
 After all, it may poffibly be true that the Gothic 
 nations borrowed fome opinions and practices from the 
 Celts, without being at all defcended from them, or 
 having any pretenfions to be confidered as the fame 
 people. The Celtic tribes were probably the firft 
 that travelled weftward, and it is not impofTible but 
 that feveral of the Druidic obfervances might be caught 
 up and imitated by the other nations that came after 
 them j| . Some reliques of the Druidic fuperflitions, 
 we have feen (p.xv. Note. 6.) prevailed among theScla.- 
 vonians : And ftill more might be expected to be found 
 among thofe of Gothic or Teutonic race, both from 
 their nearer vicinage and greater intercourfe with the 
 Celtic nations ; from whom the Sarmatians lay more 
 remote. Nothing is more contagious than fuperfli- 
 tion ; and therefore we muft not wonder, if in ages 
 of ignorance, one wild people catch up from another, 
 though of very different race, the moft arbitrary and 
 groundlefs opinions, or endeavour to imitate them in 
 iuch rites and practices as they are told will recommend 
 them to the Gods, or avert their anger. 
 
 Before I quit this fubje<St of the Religion of the Cel- 
 tic and Gothic nations, I muft beg leave to obferve, 
 that the Mythology of the latter was probably, in the 
 time of Caefar and Tacitus, a very crude and naked 
 thing, compared . to what it was afterwards, when 
 the northern Scalds had had time to flourifli and adora 
 it. From a very few rude and fimple tenets, thefe 
 wild fablers had, in the courfe of eight or nine centu- 
 ries, invented and raifed an amazing fuperftructure of 
 
 D See what has been (aid abovp, p. xv. Not. (8.) I know not whether we 
 tre to attribute to imitation the practice that prevailed among both peo- 
 ple of burying th::r <^ad under BARROWS or TUMULI, (fee p. 211.) 
 This mode of Sepulture, however, makes a great figure in all the old 
 Northern SACAS or Hiftories, as weH as in the Songs of the SCALDS. 
 
 fi&ion.
 
 fi&ion. We muft not therefore fuppofe that all the 
 fables of the EDDA were equally known to the Go- 
 thic nations of every age and tribe. As truth is uni- 
 form and limple, fo error is mod irregular and various ; 
 and it is very poffible, that different fables and different 
 obfervances might prevail among the fame people in 
 different times and countries. PYom their imperfect 
 knowledge of the divine attributes, all Pagan nations 
 are extremely apt to intermix fomething LOCAL with 
 their ideaof theDivinity, to fuppofepeculiar Deities pre- 
 fiding over certain diftri&s, and to worfhip this or that 
 God with particular rites, which were only to be obferved 
 in one certain fpot. Hence, to inattentive foreigners, 
 there might appear a difference of religion among na- 
 tions who all maintained, at the bottom, one. common 
 creed ; and this will account for whatever difagree- 
 ment is remarked between Csefar and Tacitus in their 
 defcriptions of the Gods of the ancient Germans : 
 It will alfo account for whatever difference may appear 
 between the imperfect relations of the Roman writers, 
 and the full difplay of the Gothic mythology held 
 forth in the EDDA. It is indeed very probable 
 that only the mere firft rudiments of the Gothic 
 religion had begun to be formed, when the Germans 
 were firft known to the Romans : And even when the 
 Saxons made their irruptions into Britain, though they 
 had the fame general belief concerning Odin or Wo-* 
 ilen, Thor and Frigga, &c. yet probably the com- 
 plete fyftem had not arrived to the full maturity it 
 afterwards attained under the inventive hands of the 
 Scalds. 
 
 THE cffcntial difference remarked above, between 
 the Religion of the Celtic and Gothic nations, in their 
 Tenets, Initituticns and Worfhip, affords a ftrong proof 
 that they were two races of men ab origine diftin& : 
 The fame truth is proved ftill more ftrongly, if pofii- 
 ble, by their difference in LANGUAGE; this is an 
 argument of fa6i, that amounts in qucftions of this na- 
 ture almoft to demonftration. 
 
 Tacitus
 
 Tacitus aflures us ff, that the ancient Britifli lan- 
 
 Siage was very little different from that fpoken in 
 aul ; Sermohaud multian diverfus : There was probably 
 no more than a fmall difference in dialect. But that 
 the Gaulifh language widely differed from that of the 
 Germans, appears from the whole current of hiftory. 
 Thus Cxfar not only afierts in the paffage above 
 quoted, (pag. xi. Note.) that the Gauls differed in lan- 
 guage from the Belgas, but plainly {hows that the 
 German and Gaulifh languages were very different, 
 when he tells us that Arioviftus, a German prince, 
 only learnt to fpeak the latter by his long refidence in 
 Gaul *. Again, Suetonius tells us, that Caligula, 
 returning from his fruitlefs expedition againft the 
 Germans, in order to grace his triumph with an ap- 
 pearance of prifoners of that nation, for want of real 
 Germans, chofe from among the Gauls fuch as were 
 of very tall ftature, whom he caufed to let their hair 
 grow long, and to colour it red, to learn the German 
 language, and to adopt Germ:.:i names ; and thus he 
 paffed them off for prifoners from Germany f Thefe, 
 and other proofs from Tacitus, are produced by Pel- 
 loutier himfelf, though he afterwards endeavours to 
 obviate their force, by pretending that the languages 
 of Gaul and Germany differed only in dialect, &c J. 
 But that they were radically and effentially different, 
 will appear beyond contradiction, to any one that will 
 but uie his eyes and compare any of the living lan- 
 guages which are defcended from thefe two ancient 
 tongues. This queftion receives fo clear, fo full, and 
 fo eafy a folution, by barely infpedling fuch of the 
 languages of Celtic and Gothic origin as are now 
 extant, that to conclude the inquiry, I fhall only lay 
 before the reader Specimens of them both. 
 
 That the languages now fpoken in Germany, Swe- 
 den, Denmark, Holland and England arc all derived 
 
 ^[ See above, pag. v. Note \, 
 
 * Sjua multa jam Anoviftui longlngua tcnfuetudlnc utcbatur, De Bell. 
 Gall. lib. i. c. 47. 
 
 j- Sucton, Caligula, c. 47. J Pelkut. vol. I. liv. i. ch. XT. 
 
 from 
 5
 
 (xxi) 
 
 from or allied to the ancient German no one can deny; 
 becaafe the words are vifibly the fame in them all, 
 only differing in dialect. On the other hand, that the 
 ancient Britifh was a language very little different 
 from that of the Gauls, we have the exprefs tefti- 
 mony of Tacitus above-mentioned. Let us now com- 
 pare the feveral dialects of the ancient Britifh, viz. 
 the Welfh , the Armoric and the Cornifh, and fee 
 whether they contain the moft diftant refemblance to 
 any of the Teutonic dialects above mentioned. 
 
 Whoever looks into the following Specimens, will 
 obferve, that the modern Englifh and German are 
 two languages evidently derived from one common 
 fource; almoft all the words in both being radically 
 the fame ; and yet it is near 1200 years fmce the Eng- 
 lifh language was tranfplanted out of Germany, and 
 cut off from all intercourfe with the mother tongue. 
 In the mean time, the people who have fpoke it have 
 undergone amazing revolutions and changes in their 
 government, religion, laws and manners, and their 
 language in particular has been fubject to more than 
 common innovations. On the other hand, let him 
 compare the fame Englifh fpecimen with that of the 
 Welfh language, and fee if he can difcover the moft 
 diftant refemblance between them: And yet both ihefe 
 are fpoken upon the fame ifland, and that by fellow citi- 
 zens, who for many hundred years have been fubjedts 
 to the fame prince, governed by the fame laws, have 
 profefled the lame religion, and adopted nearly the fame 
 fyftem of manners : And now at laft, after all this 
 intercourfe, what two languages can be more unlike ? 
 Can this radical diflimilitude be called only a difference 
 in dialect ? During the rude ages prior to hiftory, 
 
 That the prefent Welfh language is the genuine daughter of the 
 ancient Britiih, fee proved (if it needs any proof) in ROWLAND'S Atina 
 Ar.tiqua re/iaurata. ad. edit. 1766. 410. feft. iv. p. 35. &c. See alfo 
 above, p. v. note f. 
 
 See liltewife in CAMDFN'S Britannia, his Effay, De prlmis Jw.7.', &c. 
 "Where that great Ant quary (hows the immediate defcent of the prefent 
 Wj LSH nation from the ancient BR ITONS, and their near affinity to the 
 ohi inhabitants of GA u j ; but efpecially proves, by innumerable inftan- 
 ccs, the ftrong connexion between their feveral LANGUAGES. 
 
 before
 
 ( xxii ) 
 
 before the Brif.ons or Germans were invaded by of-her 
 nations_, or had adopted any foreign refinements, \vhilc 
 both people were under the uninterrupted influence of 
 their original institutions, cuftoms and manners, no 
 reafon can be affigned why their language fhould un- 
 dergo any material alterations. A favage people, wholly 
 occupied by their prefent animal wants, aim at no men- 
 tal or moral improvements, and are fubject to no confider- 
 able changes. In this ftate, their language being affected 
 by none of the caufes that commonly introduce very 
 great innovations, will continue for many aacs nearly 
 the fame. The great caufes that introduce the molt 
 confiderable changes in language, are invafions of fo* 
 reigners, violent alterations in religion and laws* 
 great improvements in literature, or refinements in 
 manners. None of thefe, fo far as we know, had 
 happened either to the Germans or Britons before the 
 time of Caefar, and yet even then there appeared no 
 refemblance between the languages of thefe two peo- 
 ple. On the other hand, all thefe caufes have been 
 operating with combined force ever fince, and yet no 
 confiderable refemblance has obtained between the 
 languages of England and Wales ; nor has the radical 
 affinity between thofe of England and Germany been 
 effaced or deftroyed. Upon what grounds then can it 
 be pretended, that the ancient languages of Gaul and 
 Germany flowed from one common fource ? Or who 
 will believe fo improbable a far,? 
 
 M. Pelloutier tells us jj, that " it having been pre- 
 " tended that the ancient Celtic is preferred to this day 
 " in the languages of Wales and Brittany in France, 
 " he had looked into a few Gloflaries of the Welfh 
 *' and Armoric tongues ^1, and had indeed difcovered 
 
 " that 
 
 I! Hid. dcs Celtes, vol. I. p. 155. 
 
 ^[ The ARMORIC language, now fpoken in Brittany in France, Is 
 a dialeft of the WELSH ; that province being peopled with a colony 
 from Britain in the 4th century ; and though the two people have been 
 Separated fo ma:iy ages, and have been fob] eft to two nations fo different 
 in their laws, religion and manner 1 ;, ftill the two languages contain fo 
 flrong a refemblance, that in our late contjueft of Bdliflr, fuch of our 
 
 :' l-'I?:s
 
 ( xxiii ) 
 
 " that SEVERAL words of the ancient Celtic were, In 
 " effecl:, preferred in thofe tongues :" But he plainly 
 hints, that he could not confider the bulk of the lan- 
 guage as there perpetuated ; and indeed, confidering 
 how thick a film the prejudice of fyftem had drawn 
 over his eyes, it is a wonder he could difcover any Cel- 
 tic words at all : For he, taking it for granted that 
 the High-Dutch language was the genuine Celtic, 
 only looked for fuch words as bore any refcmblance to 
 that tongue ; and there being, as indeed there are, 
 very few that have any fimilitude, no wonder that he 
 found fo few Celtic words in a genuine Celtic lan- 
 guage *. 
 
 foldicrs as came out of Wales were eafily understood by the country peo- 
 ple, and with their Welfh language, fervcd for interpreters to the other 
 foldiers who only fpoke Enplifh. This is a fad related to the Editor by 
 a perfon who was there. Perhaps, upon comparing the Specimens fub- 
 joined, the two dialers may appear to the eye more remote from each 
 other, than the above relation fuppofes ; but, it may be obferved, that 
 their orthography not having been fettled in concert, the fame found may 
 have been exprefTed by very different combinations of letters, and the other 
 differences may be oniy thofe of idiom 5 fo that the two languages, when 
 fpoken, may have a much greater refemblance, than appears upon paper 
 to a perfon ignorant of them both. To give one inftance j the Welfti 
 vrorADrwg, and the Armoric Drouc, (Eng. EVIL.) though fo differently 
 written, are in found no further diftant than Droog and Drook t the vowels 
 in both being pronounced exaUy alike. 
 
 * It is much to be lamented that a Writer of fo much learning, faga- 
 city and diligence as Monf. pELtouTim, fhould have fpoiled, by one 
 unfortunate hypothefif, fo excellent a work as his HISTORY OF THE 
 CELTS, -after all, certainly is. Had he not been drawn into this funda- 
 mental error, which infels his whole book ; but on the contrary had 
 been apprized of the radical diftir.ftion between the GOTHIC and CEL- 
 TIC antiquities; had he affigned to each people die feveral defcrip'.ion* 
 which occur of them in ancient hiftory ; had he pointed out the diftinft 
 features of their refpeclive characters, and ftiown in what particulars they 
 both agreed, and wherein they differed ; had he endeavoured to afcertain 
 the limits of each. people in ancient Europe, and fhown by which of 
 them.the feveral countries were formerly inhabited, and from which of 
 them the modern nations are chiefly defccnded ; he would then have per- 
 formed 1 a noble taflc, and have deferved equally well of the part and fu- 
 ture ages : His Book, inftead of being a perpetual fource of miftake and 
 confulion, would then have ferved as a clue to guide us through the laby- 
 rinth of ancient hiftory, and he would have raifed a noble monument 
 to the memory alike of the CELTS and GOTHS, from one or other of 
 which ancient people fo many great nations are dcfcended. 
 
 Ifhall
 
 ( xxiv ) 
 
 I /hall now proceed to lay before the Reader SPEC*- 
 MENS of the GOTHIC and CELTIC Languages, properly 
 clafled and confronted with each other: Which, it is 
 apprehended, will decide this queftion better than any 
 conjectural or moral reafoning. 
 
 That the SPECIMENS maybe the better underftood, 
 it will be ufeful to give a fhort GEN'EALOGICAL TA- 
 BLE, fhowing what particular Languages aredefcended 
 
 from 
 
 GOTHIC. 
 
 i. Ol< 
 
 i SAX- 
 
 2. FRANCIC, 3. CIMBRIC, 
 
 ON, or AN- 
 
 or FRANCO- or Old ICE- 
 
 GLO-S 
 
 AXON. 
 
 THEOTISC. LANDIC. 
 
 J~ 
 
 w w 
 
 i 
 
 r^-> 
 
 W *=1 
 
 m 1,1, 
 
 o c % x i o 5 
 
 5 ^ 
 
 W ?3 
 
 w m ^ w > 
 
 o o 
 
 ^* 
 
 * t* * y * 
 
 n M 
 
 2 s 
 
 S K ? > ^ S H 
 
 
 >P w 
 
 > > M 
 
 5j 
 
 o 
 
 5 55 T 3 
 
 2 
 
 O "* 
 
 = 2, ? > 
 
 o 
 
 o S* 
 
 w ^ 
 
 SL 
 
 ? 8 
 
 o > S 
 
 I 
 
 f s 
 
 b? I 
 
 2 
 
 ^ 
 
 G 
 H * 
 
 H 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 ^ Cf<9 
 
 s 
 
 X 
 
 T3 C 
 
 
 
 I* 
 
 o 
 

 
 from thofe two great Mother Tongues, by what im- 
 mediate Branches they derive their defcent, and what 
 degree of affinity they feverally bear to each other. 
 This fcheme of the GOTHIC Languages is copied from 
 the Preface to Dr. HICKES'S Inftitutiones Grammatics 
 Anglo-Saxonicts, &c. Oxon. 1689. 4*** *^is of the 
 CELTIC Tongues, from the beft writers I have met 
 with on the fubjeci. 
 
 CELTIC, 
 
 1. The Ancient 
 GAULISH. 
 
 2. The Ancient 
 BRITISH. 
 
 3. The Ancient 
 IRISH. 
 
 I? > r 
 
 5 S S 
 
 * g ? 
 
 at 
 
 ? fe 
 
 - 
 
 8- 
 
 Tfil 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 ( xxvi ) 
 
 SPECIMENS of the GOTHIC LANGUAGES. 
 
 The ancient GOTHIC of ULPHILAS *. 
 Atta unfarthu in Himinam. i. VeihnaiNamo thein. 2- 
 Quimaithiudinaflustheins. 3. Vairthai Vilja theins, fuein 
 Himina, jah ana Airthai. 4, Hlaif unfarana thana fmtei- 
 nan gif uns himmadaga. 5. Jah afiet uns thatei Sculans 
 frjaima fua fue jah veis afietam thaim Skulam unfaraim. 
 6. Jah ni bringais uns in Fraiftubnjai. 7. Ak laufei uns 
 af thamma Ubilin. Amen. 
 
 [From Chamberlayn's Orath Dcn:\r,\ca ir r.iverfat cmr.iutr. fere Gertium Lin- 
 guasi-erfa, &V. Amft. IT 15. 410. p. 53. "and from Sacrorum E-vang t~ 
 Ururn Vtrfit Gttb'ua Ed. Edit). Lye. Gxon. I7-.O. 410. p. 9.] 
 
 The ANCIENT LANGUAGES derivci 
 I. II. 
 
 from the GOTHIC. 
 III. 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON. 
 
 FRANCO-THEO- CIMBRIC, or old 
 TISC. ICELANDIC. 
 
 Uren Fader, 
 
 Fater unfer thu 
 
 Fader uor, fom 
 
 thic arth in Heof- 
 
 tharbift inHimile. 
 
 eft i Himlum. i. 
 
 nas. i. Sie ge- 
 halgud thin No- 
 
 i. Si geheilagot 
 thin Namo. 2. 
 
 Hal^ad wardethitt 
 Kama. 2. Til- 
 
 ma. 2. To cy- 
 
 QuemethinRihhi. 
 
 komme thitt Ri- 
 
 meth thin Rye. 
 
 3. Si thin VVillo, 
 
 kie. 3. Skie thin 
 
 3. Sie thin Willa 
 
 Ib her in Hi mile 
 
 Vilie, fo fom i 
 
 fue is in Heofnas, 
 
 ift o fi her in Er- 
 
 Himmalam,fooch 
 
 and in Eortho. 
 
 du. 4. Unfar 
 
 po lordanne. 4. 
 
 4. Uren H'af ofer- 
 
 Brot tagalihhr.z 
 
 Wort dachlicha 
 
 wiftlic fei us to 
 
 gib uns huitu. 5. 
 
 Brodh gif os i 
 
 daeg. 5. And 
 
 In-ti furlaz uns 
 
 dagh. 5. Ogh 
 
 forgcfe us ScylJa 
 
 nufara Sculdi fo 
 
 forlat os uor a 
 
 urna, fue we f'or- 
 
 uuir furlazames 
 
 Skuldar, fo fom 
 
 gefan Sqldgum 
 
 unfaron Sculdi- 
 
 ogh vi forlatc 
 
 urum. 6. And no 
 
 gon. 6. Inti ni 
 
 them os Skildighe 
 
 in lead uiig in 
 
 gileitefl unfih in 
 
 are. 6. Ogh in- 
 
 Cuftnung. 7. Ah 
 
 Coftunga. 7. U- 
 
 led os ikkiei Fre- 
 
 gefrig ufich from 
 
 zouh srlofi unfi 
 
 italfan. 7. Utan 
 
 Me. Amen. 
 
 fonUbile. Amen. 
 
 frels os ifraOndo. 
 
 (from Chair.beilavn, 
 
 [From Chan 
 
 Amen. 
 
 P-46] 
 
 p. 6i.J 
 
 [From Chi.iiberlayn, 
 
 
 
 P- S4-] 
 
 is is alfo called MoEso-GoT'nc, bring the D : aVa o^ the Goths io 
 where Uirhil*; 3*6.
 
 ( xxvii ) 
 SPECIMENS of the CELTIC LANGUAGES. 
 
 3" I am not able to produce any Specimen of the CELTIC, 
 at leaft any Verfion of the Lord's Prayer, which can 
 be oppofed in point of antiquity to the GOTHIC Spe- 
 cimen from ULPHILAC, who flourifhed A. D. 365. 
 As the CELTS were fettled in thefe countries long 
 before the GOTHS, and were expo fed to various re- 
 volutions before their arrival, their Language has, 
 as might be expected, undergone greater and earlier 
 changes than the GOTHIC; fo that no Specimen of 
 the old original CELTIC is, I believe, now to be 
 found. 
 
 The ANCIENT LANGUAGES derived from the CELTIC. 
 
 I. 
 
 III. 
 
 ANCIENTGAUL- 
 ISH. 
 
 Of this Lan- 
 guage I cannot 
 rind any Specimen 
 to be depended 
 on. 
 
 II. 
 
 CAMBRIAN, or 
 ANCIENT BRI- 
 TISH. 
 
 Eyen Taadrbuvn 
 wyt yn y Neofoe- 
 dodd. i. Santeid- 
 dier yr Hewu tail. 
 2. Devedy dyrnas 
 dau. 3. Guneler 
 fly Wollys ar ryd- 
 dayar megis ag yn y 
 Nrfi. 4. Eyn Bara 
 beunyddvul dyro in- 
 r.i beddivu. 5 . Am - 
 maddeuynny eyn de- 
 It don, me? is ag i 
 itiaddevu in dele- 
 divir ninaiv. 6. 
 Ag'ia tbowvs nr in 
 brcffdigae'b. j. 
 Namyn gwared ni 
 i hag Drug. Amen, 
 
 [From C'liambolayn, 
 
 P-47-J 
 
 * The above Specimen of ths ancient Irifh i-- jn.^ed to h? a thoufand yeais 
 old. See O Conner's L 1 ;!!'- utitn on the Hiibry ct l;ela:.a. Dublin, jj&fc. 
 Svo. * 
 
 b 2 
 
 ANCIENT IRISH, 
 or GAEDHLIG. 
 
 Our Narme ata 
 ar Neamb. I. Bca- 
 nich a Tainin. 2. 
 Go diga de Riogda. 
 3. Go dent a duHoill 
 air Talm in matte 
 ar Nearnb. 4. Ta- 
 balr dam aniugh ar 
 Naran limbaii. 5. 
 Angus mai duin ar 
 Fiacb amball ina- 
 amhid arfiacba. 6. 
 Na leigfin amaribb* 
 7. Acbfaarfafin o 
 Ok. Amen. 
 
 [F'.om Dr. Anthony 
 Raymond's Introduc- 
 tion to the Hiftory of 
 Ireland, p, , 3, 
 &c.J -
 
 ( xxviii ) 
 SPECIMENS of the GOTHIC LANGUAGES. 
 
 I. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the 
 
 OLD SAXON. 
 I. II. 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 Our Father, which art 
 in Heaven, i. Hallowed 
 be thy Name, 2. Thy 
 Kingdom come. 3. Thy 
 Will be done in Earth as 
 it is in Heaven. 4. Give 
 us this day, our daily 
 Bread. 5. And forgive 
 us our Debts as we forgive 
 our Debtors. 6. And lead 
 us not into Temptation. 
 7. But deliver us from 
 Evil. Amen,. 
 
 [Fiom the Eng. Teftament.] 
 
 III. 
 
 Low-DuTCH, or BEL- 
 
 GIC. 
 
 Onfe Vader, die daer 
 zljt in de Hemelen. i. 
 Uwen Naemworde ghe- 
 heylight. 2. U Rijcke 
 kome. 3. Uwen Wille 
 ghefchiede op der Aerden, 
 gelijck in den Hemel. 
 4. Onfe dagelijcktBroodt 
 gheeft ons heden. 5. 
 Ende vergheeft ons onfe 
 Schulden, ghelijck wy 
 oock onfe Schuldenaren 
 vergeven. 6. Ende en ley t 
 ons niet in Verfoeckinge. 
 7. Maer verloft ons van- 
 den Boofen. Amen. 
 
 {From theNewTeft. in Dutch, 
 Ainft. 1630. lamo.J 
 
 Broad SCOTCH. 
 
 Ure Fadir, whilk art 
 in Hevin. I. Hallouit 
 be thy Nairn. 2. Thy 
 Kingdum cum. 3. Thy 
 Wull be dun in Airth, as 
 it is in Hevin. 4. Gie 
 ufs this day ure daily 
 Breid. 5. And forgie ufs 
 ure Debts, afs we forgien 
 ureDebtouris. 6. Andleid 
 ufs na' into Temptation. 
 7. Bot deliver ufs frae 
 Evil. Amen. 
 
 [From a Scotch Gentleman.] 
 
 IV. 
 FRISIC, or Friezeland 
 
 Tongue. 
 
 Ws Haita duu derftu 
 bifteyneHymil. i. Dyn 
 Name wird heiligt. 2. 
 Dyn Rick tokomme. 3. 
 Dyn Wille moet fchoen, 
 opt Yrtryck as yne Hy- 
 mile. 4. Ws deilix Brx 
 jov ws jwed. 5. In ver- 
 jou ws, ws Schylden, as 
 wy vejac ws Schyldnirs. 
 6. In lied ws nadt in Ver- 
 fieking. 7. Din fry ws 
 vin it Quaed. Amen. 
 
 [From Chatnberlayn, p. 6$.}
 
 ( xxix } 
 
 SPECIMENS of the CELTIC LANGUAGES. 
 
 II. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the 
 ANCIENT BRITJSH, or CYMRAEG. 
 
 I. 
 
 WELSH, or CYMRAEG. 
 
 Ein Tady yr hwn ivyt yn 
 y Nefcedd. I. Sanfieid- 
 dier dy Enw. 2. Dtved 
 dy Deyrnas. 3. Bydded 
 dy Eivyllys ar y Ddaiar 
 meis y mat yn y Nefcedd. 
 4. Dyro i ni Heddyw fin 
 Bar a beunyddial. 5. A 
 rnaddc ini ein Dyhdlon fel y 
 tnaddeuwn ni i'n Dyled- 
 u-yr. 6. Ag nag arwain 
 ni i Brofedigaeth. 7. Ei- 
 tbr givared ni rbag Drwg. 
 Amen. 
 
 [Communicated by a Gent, of 
 Jefus College Oxon.] 
 
 II. 
 
 ARMORIC, or Language 
 of Britanny in France. 
 
 HonTady pehudij fou en 
 Efatu. i . Da Hancu bezet 
 janttifiet. 2. Devet aor- 
 ti'.mp da rouantelaez. 3. 
 Da eolbexetgraet en Douar^ 
 eual maz ten en Euf. 4. 
 Ro dimp hyziou hon Bar a 
 femdeziec. 5. Pardon dimp 
 hon fechedoti) eual ma par- 
 don omp da nep pegant ezomp 
 offanczet. 6. ha na dilaes 
 quet a hanomp en Tempta- 
 tion. 7. Hoguen ban diliur 
 diouz Drouc. Amen. 
 
 [From Chamberlayn, p. 51. J 
 
 III. 
 
 CORNISH. 
 
 Ny Taz, Z yn Neau. 
 
 1 . Bonegas yiv tha Hanaw. 
 
 2. Tha Gwlakctb doaz,. 
 
 3. 7 ha bonagath bogweez 
 en nore poctragen Neau. 
 
 4. Roe tkenycn dythma gon 
 dyth Bar a givians. 5. A^ 
 gan rabn ueery car a ny gi- 
 vians mens. 6. O cabin 
 ledia ny nara idn Tent at: on. 
 7. Buz dilijcr ny thart 
 Doeg. Amen. 
 
 [From Chambcrlayn, p. 50.^ 
 
 b 3
 
 ( XXX ) 
 
 SPECIMENS of the GOTHIC LANGUAGE si 
 
 II. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the AN- 
 CIENT GERMAN, or P'RANCIC, &c. 
 
 J. II. 
 
 HIGH-DUTCH, (pro- HIGH-DUTCH of the 
 
 per.) SUEVIAN Dialect. 
 
 Unfer Vater in dem Fatter aufar dear du 
 
 Himmel. i. Dein Name bifcht em Hemmal. i. 
 
 \verde geheiliget. 2. Dein Gehoyliget wearde dain 
 
 Reich komme. 3. Dein Nam. 2. Zuakommedain 
 
 WillegefcheheaufErden, Reych. 3. Dain Will 
 
 wie im Himmel. 4. Un- gfchea ufF Earda as em 
 
 fer taeglich Brodt gib uns Hemmal. 4. Aufar de- 
 
 heute. 5. Und vergib glich Braud gib as huyt. 
 
 uns unfere Schulden, wie 5. Und fergiab as aufre 
 
 wir unfern Schuldigern Schulda, wia wiar fergea- 
 
 vergeben. 6. Und fuehre ba aufarn Schuldigearn. 
 
 uns nicht in Verfuchung. 6. Und fuar as net ind 
 
 7. Sondernerloefeunsvon Ferfuaching. 7. Sondern 
 
 dem Vbel. Amen. erlais as fom Ibal. Amen. 
 
 [From the common German 
 
 New Teftamrnt, printed at [From Chamberlayn's Oratit) 
 
 Lc.-.icn. J2T.O-] Do.T,inic, p. 64.] 
 
 III. 
 
 The Swiss Language. 
 
 Vatter unfer, der du 
 bift in Himlen. i. Ge- 
 heyligt werd dyn Nam. 
 2. Zukumm uns dijn 
 Rijch. 3. Dyn Will 
 gefchahe, wie im HimmeJ, 
 alfo auch ufF Erden. 4. 
 Gib uns hut unfer taglich 
 Brot. 5. Und vergib uns 
 unfere Schulden, wie 
 anch wir vergaben unfern 
 Schuldneren. 6. Und 
 fuhr uns nicht in Ver- 
 fuchnyfs. 7. Sunder 
 crlos uns von dem Bofen. 
 Amen. 
 
 [From Chaaiberlajn, p. 65.}
 
 ( XXXI ) 
 
 SPECIMENS of the CELTIC LANGUAGES'. 
 
 III. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the 
 ANCIENT IRISH. 
 
 I. 
 
 IRISH, or GAIDHLIG. 
 
 Ar nathair ata ar Neamb. 
 I. Naomhthar Hainrn. 2. 
 Tigeadb do Riogbacbd. 3. 
 Deuntar do Tboil ar an 
 Ttalamh, mar do nithcar ar 
 Neamh. 4. Ar raran lae- 
 aibambail tabhair dhuinn 
 a nlu. 5. Agus maith 
 dhuinn ar Bhfiacha, n.ar 
 mhaithmidne dar bbfiitbe- 
 amhnuibb fein. 6. Agus 
 na leig Jinn a ccatl.ugbadh. 
 7. Acbd fayr ftnn o O/c. 
 
 -.op Bedel'i Ir'nTi Bi- 
 ble. Lond. 1690. 8vo.] 
 
 II. 
 
 ERSE, or GAIDHLIG 
 ALBANNAICH. 
 
 Ar n Atha'ir ati air 
 Neamb. I. Gu naombal- 
 chcar t Tinm. 2. 'Tigcadb 
 do Ricgkacbd. 3. Dean- 
 thar do Thzil air an Ta ant!) 
 mar a nithtar air Neanh. 
 4. Tabbair dhuinn an dnt 
 ar n Aran laitkeil. 5. 
 Agns tnaitb dbuinn ar Fia- 
 cba ambuil mar mbaitbmid 
 d'ar luebd-facbaibh *. 6. 
 Agus na lelg am bua'ireadb 
 ftnn. 7. Acb faor Jinn 9 
 Olc. An:en. 
 
 * Tcichneiniuh. 
 [From the New Teflament In 
 the Erfe Language, printed at 
 Edinburgh, 1767. Svo, Mat. 
 vi. g.J 
 
 in. 
 
 MANKS, or Language of 
 the ISLE of MAN. 
 Ayr ain, t'ayns Ntau ; 
 I . Cajherick dy row dt'En- 
 nym. 2. Dy jig dty Reeri- 
 cgbt. 3. DfcngJiey dy rcw 
 jfant er y Tbalav^ myr te 
 fiyns Niau. 4. Cur d oln 
 nyn Arran jiu as gagblaa, 
 5. As lelb dcoin nyn I gb- 
 tyn t myr ta Jhln lew daue- 
 jyn ta jannoo logbtyn nyrf 
 oc. 6. As ny lee id Jhin 
 ayns ml'.lagb. 7. Agb t'rj- 
 r.yfiin vdb Oik. Amen. 
 
 [From the Liturgy in Mankt, 
 printed a't London, 1765. 
 Svo.J 
 
 b
 
 ( xxxii ) 
 SPECIMENS of the GOTHIC LANGUAGES. 
 
 III. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the AN' 
 CIENT SCANDINAVIAN, or ICELANDIC, called 
 (byfome Writers} CIMBRIC, or CiMBRo-Go- 
 THIC. 
 
 I. 
 
 ICELANDIC. 
 
 Fader vor thu fom ert 
 a Himnum. i. Helgeft 
 thittNafn. 2. Tilkome 
 thitt Riike. 3. Verde 
 thinn Vilie, fo a Jordu, 
 fem a Himne. 4. Gieff 
 thu ofs i dag vort daglegt 
 Braud. 5. Og fiergieff 
 ofs vorar Skulder, fo fem 
 vier fierergiefum vorum 
 Skuldinautum. 6. Og 
 inleid ofs ecke i Freiftne. 
 7. Heldr frelfa thu ofs 
 fra lllu. Amen. 
 
 [From Chamberlayn, p. 70.] 
 III. 
 
 DANISH. 
 
 Vor Fader i Himmelen. 
 i. ' Helligt vorde dit 
 Navn. 2. Tilkomme dit 
 Rige. 3. Vorde din Vil- 
 lie, paa lorden fom i 
 Himmelen. 4. GifF ofs 
 i Dag vort daglige Bred. 
 5. Oc forlad ofs vor 
 Skyld, fom wi forlade 
 vore Skyldener. 6. Oc 
 leede ofs icke i Friftelfe. 
 7. Men frcls os fra Ont. 
 Amen. 
 
 (From Charabcrlayn, p. 70.] 
 
 II. 
 
 NORWEGIAN, orNoRsE. 
 Wor Fader du fom eft 
 y Himmelen. j. Gehai- 
 liget worde ditNafn. 2. 
 Tilkomma os Riga dit. 
 3. Din Wilia gefkia 
 paa lorJen, fom hamlt er 
 udi Himmelen. 4. GifF 
 os y Tag wort dagliga 
 Brouta. 5. Och forlaet 
 os wort Skioldt, fom wy 
 forlata wora Skioldon. 6, 
 Och lad os icke homma 
 voi Friftelfe. 7. Man 
 frals os fra Onet. Amen. 
 
 [Frcm Ckamberlayn, p 71.] 
 
 IV. 
 
 SWEDISH. 
 
 Fader war fom aft i 
 Himmelen. i. Hclgat 
 warde titt Nampn. 2. 
 Till komme titt Ricke. 
 3. Skei tin Wilie faa paa 
 lordejine, fom i Himme- 
 len. 4. Wart dagliga 
 Brod gifFofs i Dagh. 5, 
 Och forlat ofs wara Skul- 
 der fa fom ock wi forlaten, 
 them (,fs Skildege ar, 
 6. Och inlecd ofs icke j 
 Freftelle. 7. Ut an frals 
 ofs i fra Ondo. Amen. 
 [Frcm Chaniberbyn, p. 7$,]
 
 xxxiii ) 
 
 SPECIMENS of the FINN and LAPLAND TONGUES. 
 
 I. II. 
 
 The FINN Language. The LAPLAND Tongue. 
 
 /fa met Jan joca olet tat- Atki mijam juco lee al- 
 
 waj/a. I. Pybitetty olcm menfifne. I. Aitii ziaddai 
 
 ftnum Nimes. 2. Lakes tu Nam. 2. Zweigubatta 
 
 tulcon ftnum Jf^aldacundas. tu Ryki. 3. Ziaddus tu 
 
 3. Olcon finun tables n'rin Willio naukuchte almefne 
 
 maafa cuin taiwafa. 4. nau el cdna manna!. 4. 
 
 Anna meile tanapaiwana IVadde mijai udni inijan 
 
 meidan jcca paiwainen lei- Jecrt pafwen laibtbm. 5. 
 
 pam. 5. Sa anna me'ille Jah andagafloite ml jemijan 
 
 meidan fynd.m andexi nun- Juddoid, naukuchte mije an- 
 
 cuin mekin andex annam dagajloitebt kudi mije wj- 
 
 meidan u:elwAtiflcn\. 6. gogas lien. 6. Jah JlJJa- 
 
 Ja ala johdata meita kiu- laidi mijabn''. y. &!e 
 
 jauxen. 7. Mutta paajla tocfa kackztsllebrna pakaft. 
 
 meita pabajla. Amen. Atntn. 
 
 [From Chambcrlayn, p. 8z.] [From Chamberlayn, p. 83.] 
 
 A SPECIMEN of the CANTABRIAN or BISCAYAN 
 
 LANGUAGE, ftill preferved in SPAIN, 
 
 The BASQUE. 
 
 Cure Aita keruetan ca~ 
 rena. I. Erabilbedi fain- 
 dutjui fure Jcena. 2. E- 
 thorbedi fure ErreJJiima. 
 3. Eguinbedi fare Boron~ 
 datea feruan becalaturre an 
 ere. 4. En.nndie^agucu. 
 tgun gure egunorczco oguia. 
 5. Eta barkhadietcaigutfu 
 gure forrac gucere gure car- 
 dunei bat kkatcendiotfagutert 
 becala. 6. Eta ezgait^at- 
 (u utc tentacionetan erortfe- 
 rat. 7. Aitcitic beguira- 
 gaitcal^u gaitc gucittaric. 
 
 [From Chamberlayp, p. 44.]
 
 ( xxxiv } 
 
 -.I. 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 FOREGOING VE'RSIONS; 
 
 AND PIRST 
 
 Of the GOTHIC SPECIMENS. 
 
 TH E great and uniform fimilitude, difcoverable 
 at firft fight between all the Specimens of the 
 Gothic or Teutonic Languages, muft be very ftriking, 
 even to foreigners unacquainted with thefe Tongues : 
 But to thofe that know them intimately the affinity 
 muft appear much nearer and ftronger, becaufe many 
 words that were originally the fame, are difguifed by 
 the variations of Pronunciation and Orthography, as 
 well as by the difference of Idiom : Thus, the Ger- 
 man GeheiKget) and the Englifh Hallowed, are both 
 equally derived from the Teutonic HELIG, Holy. 
 
 It may further be obferved, that Time has intro- 
 duced a change, not only in the Form, but in the 
 Meaning of many Words, fo that though they are 
 equally preferved in the different Dialects, they no 
 longer retain the fame uniform appearance, nor can 
 be ufed with propriety to exprefs the fame exacT: mean- 
 ing. Thus, the Latin Word Panis is tranflated in the 
 Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Hlaf, or Hlaif, which word 
 is ftill current among us in its derivative Leaf, but 
 with a variation of fenfe that made it lefs proper to 
 be ufed in the Pater-nofter than the other Teutonic 
 word BREAD, which is preferved in all the other 
 Dialedts, but in a great variety of Forms. Thus 
 from the old Francic Brot, or Cimbric Brodh, come 
 the Swifs, Bret; The Swedifh, Broch, The High 
 
 and
 
 ( XXXV ) 
 
 and Low Dutch, Broodt j The Norfe, Brauta j The 
 Icelandic, Brand-, The Englifh, Bread; The Scot- 
 tifh, Breid\ The Danifh, Bred; and the Frific, Bra. 
 
 Again, it is poflible that in many of thefe Lan- 
 guages there was more than one word to exprefs the 
 fame idea; and if there was a variety, then the dif- 
 ferent Tranflators, by ufmg fome of them one word, 
 and the reft another, have introduced a greater dif- 
 ference into their Verfions than really fubfifted in their 
 feveral Languages. Of this kind I efteem the word 
 Atta> (Pater) ufed by Ulphilas, whofe countrymen 
 had probably another word of the fame origin a? 
 FADER or FATHER, as well as all the other Gothic 
 nations : So again, the Anglo-Saxons (befides their 
 word HLAF) had probably another term, whence we 
 derived our prefent word BREAD. As for the Gothic 
 word ATTA, (whence the Frific Haita, and perhaps 
 the Lapland Atki,) however Ulphilas came by it, it 
 feems evidently of the fame origin as the old Canta- 
 brian Aha, 
 
 Laftly, a great difference will appear to Foreigners 
 from the different arrangement of the fame words, but 
 more efpecially from the difference of Tranflation ; 
 for the Pater-nofter has rot been rendered in the fe- 
 veral Verfions in the fame uniform manner. Thus, 
 in the High Dutch and Danifh, the nrft fentence is 
 exprefled contra&edly, NoJIer Pater in Ccelis. In the 
 Gothic of Ulphilas, Pater Nojlcr tu in Ccelis. In the 
 others more at large, Pater Nofter tu es in Coeli^ or 
 NoJIer Pater qui es in Cat/is, &c. &c. And what is ftill 
 more remarkable in the Anglo-Saxon, the fourth Pe- 
 tition is rendered, not pancm noflrnm quotidianum, but 
 panem nojlrum fupcrnaturalcm ; as it was interpreted alfo 
 by fome of the ancient Fathers. 
 
 But to confirm the foregoing Remarks by one ge- 
 neral Illuftration, I fhall confront the HIGH DUTCH 
 Specimen, with a literal ENGLISH Verfion, which 
 will fupport the afiertion made above, (p. xxi.) that 
 thefe two Languages ftill prove their affinity, notwith- 
 ftanding the different mediums through which they 
 have defcended, and the many ages that have elapfed 
 {ince their feparation. 
 
 GERMAN.
 
 ( xxxvi ) 
 
 GERMAN. ENGLISH. 
 
 Unfar Our [Ure, Northern Dla- 
 
 Vater 
 
 in dem Himmel. 
 
 1. Dein Name 
 werde geheiliget. 
 
 2. Dein Reich 
 komme. 
 
 3. Dein Willc 
 gefchehe 
 
 auf Erden, 
 wie in Himmel. 
 
 4. Unfar taeglich Brodt. 
 gib uns 
 
 heutej. 
 
 5. Und vergib 
 
 uns unfere 
 Schulden, 
 wie wir unfern 
 
 Schuldigcrn 
 vergib en. 
 
 6. Und fuehre 
 uns nicht in 
 Verfuchung. 
 
 7. Sondern 
 erloefe uns 
 von dem Ubel. 
 
 Father [Vather, Vader, 
 Somerfetjhire DiaUft.} 
 
 in the Heaven, [in them 
 Heavens, vulgar Dia- 
 led. ] 
 
 1. Thine Name 
 
 were [may it be] hallow- 
 ed. 
 
 2. Thine [Kingdom f ] 
 come. 
 
 3. Thine Will 
 fobe 
 
 of [in] Earth, 
 as in Heaven. 
 
 4. Our daily Bread 
 give us 
 
 [this Day.] 
 
 5. And forgive [vorgive, 
 Somerfetjhire Dialed.} 
 
 us our 
 
 [Debts, Debita^ Lat.] 
 as we our [ou'rn, Ruflic 
 Dialed.} 
 
 forgive, [vorgiven, Somer- 
 fetjhire Dialed .} 
 
 6. And [lead] 
 us not in [into] 
 [Temptation, Lat.] 
 
 7. But 
 
 loofe [deliver, French} us 
 from the Evil. 
 
 J Perhaps from the La*, btdie. 
 
 This is evidently a contraction of Unfar, antiqu. Unfcr, fc. U'er," 
 Ure. In our midland counties, Our is pronounced War or H'er, like the 
 Swedifli or Norfe. 
 
 The S*-ifs, and fome of the other German Dialers give the firft fen- 
 tence more fully, thus; Du bift in Himlen : This is literally the fame 
 with our vulgar phrafc, Thou betft, or bift in Heaven. 
 
 \ The old Teutonic word Rick, is (till pieferved in the termination of 
 our Englifli Bijbcf-rick ; and even King-rikt for Kingdoms was in ufe 
 
 among
 
 ( xxxvii ) 
 
 Before I quit this fubjecT: of the GOTHIC or TEU- 
 TONIC Languages, I muft obferve, that the old Scan- 
 dinavian Tongue is commonly called CIMBRIC, or 
 CiMBRo-GoxHic, as it was the dialect that chiefly 
 prevailed among the Gothic Tribes, who inhabited 
 the Cirnbrica Cherfonefus^ &c. But whether the an- 
 cient CIMBRI, and their confederates the TEU- 
 TONES, who made the irruption into the Roman Em- 
 pire in the time of Marius f, were a CELTIC or a GO- 
 THIC people, may perhaps admit of fome difquifition. 
 
 They who contend that they were CELTS, may 
 urge the refemblance of the name of Cimbri to that of 
 Cymri^ by which the Britons have always called 
 themfelves in their own language : They may alfo pro- 
 duce the authority of Appian, who exprefsly calls the 
 Cimbri CELTS ; as well as of feveral of the Roman 
 Authors, who fcruple not to name them GAULS . 
 It may further be obferved in favour of this opinion, 
 that the emigration of fo large a body of the old 
 Celtic inhabitants, would facilitate the invafion of the 
 Gothic tribes who fucceeded them in thefe northern 
 fettlements, and will account for the rapid conquefts 
 of Odin and his Afiatic followers : It might alfo be 
 conjectured, that the fmall fcattered remains of thefe 
 old Celtic Cimbri, were the Savage Men who lurked 
 up and down in the forefts and mountains, as defcrib- 
 ed by the ancient Icelandic Hiftorians ||, and who, in 
 their fize and ferocity, fo well correspond with the 
 
 among our countrymen fo late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth : Thus, 
 in the famous libel of STUBS, intitled, " The Difcoverie of a gaping 
 " Gulf, whereinto England is like to be fwallowed by another French 
 " Marriage," &c. printed Anno 1579. fmall 8vo. (Sign. C. 7. b.) The 
 Author talks of the Queen's " having the Kingrikc in her own per- 
 " fon j" meaning the regal dominion, authority, &c. See alfo Verfti- 
 gan's Antiquities, Lond. 1634. p. 215. 
 
 t Defcribed below, in Chap. II. 
 
 J " APPIANUS in lllyric'u Cimbros Celtas, addito qu?t Cimbros vacant, 
 ' appellavit. Et evolve FLORUM, Lib. III. Cap, 3. SALUSTIUM Bell. 
 " J u g" rt h'injine. RUFUM Brei>. Cap. VI. qui omnes Cimbros diferte 
 *' Ga/Ioi, et ab extremit Calliif profu jos, nominarunt." Speneri Notitia 
 Cermaniae Antiquae. Hal. Magd. 1717. 4'o. p. 113. 
 
 H See below, p. 35, &c. 
 
 defcrip-
 
 ( xxxviii ) 
 
 defcriptions given us of their countrymen that invaded 
 the Roman Empire. Thus far fuch an opinion is 
 equally confiftent, both with the Roman and Nor- 
 thern Hiftorians. 
 
 On the other hand, that the Cimbrl of Marius were 
 not a Celtic, but a German or a Gothic people, is an 
 opinion that may be fupported with no flight argu- 
 ments. On this head it may be obferved, with our 
 Author Monf. Mallet, " that the Ancients generally 
 " confidered this people as a branch of the Ger- 
 " mans *," and that their tall ftature and general 
 character rather correfponds with the description of the 
 Germans than of the Celts : That as for the name of 
 Cimbri or Cimber, it is refolvable into a word in the 
 German Language, which fignifies WARRIOR or 
 WARLIKE -j- : And that the authorities of the Ro- 
 man Hiftorians cannot much be depended on, becaufe 
 (as has been before obferved %} they were feldom ex- 
 at in the names they gave to the Barbarous Nations. 
 It may further be urged, that the facility with which 
 the Cimbri made their way through Germany into 
 
 See below, p. ar. 
 
 f" Cermanis quidem Camp rxercltum aut locum uli exercitus caflra ntetatur t 
 fg"ifi""j tr.de ifjis -vir cajirer/is et tnHita'is Kemft'cr et Kempher tt 
 Kcmper et Kimber et Kamper, fro var-etate JialeStrutn -vccatvr ; -voca- 
 bulum hoc roftro [fc. dr.gl\co~\ Sermtne ncr.dum penitui exolti'it ; Norfol. 
 fiences enim pltbeio et proietario fermone dicunt ' He is a Kemper Old 
 " Man," ;. e. Senex ftgetui eft, Sheringham, p. 57. See alfo, 
 K.EMPERYE MAN, in the Reliqucs of Ancient Englifli Foetry, Vol. I. 
 p. 7- 
 
 Sheringham afterwards adds, lHud autcm bcc loco cmittendum nan eft, 
 CIMBROS qutque a proceritale corporit bcc r.imcn babere potuifle - - - - 
 Kimber cr.'im alia Jignif'catione totiiinem gigantea corporit mole frced\t urn de- 
 fignat. " Danico btdic idiomate^ (inquit Pontanus, in additam. ad 
 " Hift. Dan. lib. I.) Kimber Jive Kempe et Kerrper ncn bellatcrem tan- 
 *' turn, fed proprie Gigar.tcm ttotat," Sheringh. p. 58. From hence it 
 fl-.ould feem, that a gigantic perfon was called Kitr.bcr, from his refem- 
 tlance to the ancient Cimbri\ rather than that this people were called 
 Cimlri, from their gigantic fizc ; fo that this favours the opinion that the 
 Cimbri were a different Race from the ancient Danes, &c. becaufe no na- 
 tirn would think of calling thcmfelves Giants; for if they were all uni- 
 formly gigantic, there would appear to themfelves nothing remarkable 
 in their f.ze : whereas this would firikc another people, as a primary 
 and leading Diftinflion. 
 
 T See p. vi. 
 
 Gaul,
 
 ( xxxix ) 
 
 Gaul, renders it probable that they were rather a 
 branch of the German people, than of a race in con- 
 ftant enmity with them, like the Celts, and who, 
 upon that account, would have been oppofed in their 
 paflage ; efpecially as the Germans appear in thefe 
 countries rather to have prevailed over the Celts, and 
 to have forced them weftward, driving them out of 
 many of their fettlements. But laftly, if the Cimbri 
 had been a Celtic people, then fuch of them as were 
 left behind in their own country, and were afterwards 
 fwallowed up among the fucceeding Gothic Tribes 
 who invaded Scandinavia, would have given a tincture 
 of their Celtic Language to that branch of the Teu- 
 tonic, which was (poke in thefe countries: Or, at 
 leaft, we (hould have found more Celtic names of 
 Mountains, Rivers, &c. in the Cimbric Cherfonefe 
 than in other Gothic Settlements : But I do not find 
 that eithsr of theie is the cafe ; the old Icelandic feems 
 to be as free from any Celtic mixture, as any other 
 Gothic Dialect ; nor is there any remarkable preva- 
 lence of CJtic names in the peninfula of Jutland, 
 more than in any part of Germany; where I believe 
 its former Celtic inhabitants have up and down left 
 behind them a few names of places, chiefly of natural 
 iituations, as of Rivers, Mountains, &c. This at leaft 
 is the cafe in England, where, although the Britons 
 were fo intirely extirpated, that fcarce a Jingle word 
 of the Welfa Language was admitted by the Saxons ; 
 and although the names of Towns and Villages are al- 
 moft univerfally of Anglo-Saxon derivation, yet the 
 Hills, Forefts, Rivers, &c. have generally retained 
 their old Celtic names *. 
 
 But whether the old Cimlri were Celts or Goths, 
 yet forafmuch as from the time of Odin, both the 
 Cimbrica Cherfonefus, and all the neighbouring re- 
 gions were become entirely Gothic fettlements, the 
 Gothic Dialect which prevailed in thefe countries is 
 called by Antiquaries CIMBRIC, and CiMCRo-Go- 
 
 * See PF.NIGENT, ARDEN, AVON, &c, in Camden's Britannia, 
 and that Aether fajfa, 
 
 THIC:
 
 (XI) 
 
 THIC : It is alfo fometimes termed Old ICELANDIC, 
 becaufe many of the beft writers in it came from Ice- 
 land, and becaufe the Cimbric has been more perfectly 
 preferved in that ifland than in any other fettlement. 
 To the old original mother tongue of all the Gothic 
 Dialers, it has been ufual (after Verftegan *) to give 
 the name of TEUTONIC, not fo much from the Teu- 
 tones or Teuton'^ who inhabited the Danifh iflands, 
 and were brethren to the Cimbri, as from its being 
 the ancient TUYTSH, the language of TUISTO f and 
 his votaries; the great Father and Deity of the Ger- 
 man Tribes. 
 
 To conclude this fubje ; whoever would trace the 
 feveral TEUTONIC Languages up to their fource, and 
 proceed upon fure and folid principles in inquiries of 
 this kind, need only have recourfe to that great and 
 admirable work, LINGUARUM Vctt. Septentriona- 
 lium THESAURUS Grammatico-Critlcus et Arcbaologi- 
 cus Autore GEORGIO HICKES. S. T. P. Oxon. 1705. 
 a Vols. folio. 
 
 * Reftitution of decayed Intelligence. 410. pajjim. See alfo Spenerl 
 Notit. Antiq. Germ. L. 4. p. 104. 
 
 j- Celtbrant Carminibui antlq-uh (quod unum afud illos. fc. Germanos, 
 memeria et antialium genus eft) TUISTO N EM Deum, Terr&tditum, et fliun: 
 MANNUM originem gentis, condltorejque. Tacit, de Mor. German. 
 This MANNUS is evidently MAN, the offspring of TUISTO, the fu- 
 preme Deity. 
 
 Of the G E L T i c SPECIMENS. 
 
 AS the ftrong refemblance of the feveral GOTHIC 
 Specimens to each other, fo their radical difli- 
 militude to thofe of CELTIC origin, muft appear deci- 
 five of the great queftion difcufled in the foregoing 
 PREFACE. Had thefe two Languages ever had any 
 pretenfions to be confidered as congenial, the further 
 ther we traced them back, the ftronger would be the 
 refemblance between them ; but the mod ancient 
 Specimens appear as utterly diflimilar, as themoft mo- 
 dern ;
 
 clern ; not but here and there a word rmy have been 
 accidentally caught up on either fide: viz. borrowed 
 by the Goths from the Celtic Language, and via 
 verfa'i or perhaps adopted by each of them f;om fomc 
 third Language radically different from them bo;h. 
 Thus, from the Welfti T&d^ our vulgar have got the 
 common Englifti word Dad and Daddy : And from 
 the French Delivre, are derived both the En^lifh De- 
 liver^ and the Armoric Diluir, whence the Cornflh 
 Dilver. 
 
 In conformity to the opinion of the moft knowing 
 Antiquaries, I have given the IRISH and ERSE 
 Tongues as drfcended from one common original 
 with the Cambrian, or ancient Britijh Languages, viz. 
 the WELSH, ARMORIC, and CORNISH. But, tocon- 
 fefs my own opinion, I cannot think they are equally 
 derived from one common CELTIC Stock; at leaft 
 not in the fame uniform manner as any two branches 
 of the GOTHIC ; fuch, for inftance, as the ANGLO- 
 SAXON and FRANCIC, from the Old Teutonic. 
 Upon comparing the two ancient Specimens given 
 above in pag. xxvii. fcarce any refemblance appears 
 between them ; fo that if the learned will have them 
 to be ftreams from one common fountain, it muft be 
 allowed, trnt one or both of them have been greatly" 
 polluted in their courfe, and received large inlets from 
 fome other channel. 
 
 But, notwithftandinsr this apparent diffimilitud^ 
 the celebrated Lluyd, and others who have invefti- 
 gated this fubjedl:, firmly maintain, that there is a real 
 affinity between the Irifh and Cambrian Tongues, 
 and that a great part of both Languages is radically 
 the fame. He has further fhown, that many names of 
 places in South-Britain, and even in Wales itfelf, the 
 meaning of which is loft in the Wei fh Language, can 
 only be explained from words n^w extant in the Irifh. 
 and Erfe Tongues: An inconteftible proof either that 
 the Irifh or Erfe Language originally prevailed all 
 over the fouthern parts of this ifiand, or that it is of 
 congenial origin with the Cambi'ian or Welfh, ar.-d !o 
 
 VOL. I. c has
 
 has preferved many words, which arc now loft in the 
 other *. 
 
 Indeed a good reafon may be afligned why the fe- 
 veral branches of the Old CELTIC differ to the eye fo 
 much more than the derivatives of any other Lan- 
 guage : viz. In the Celtic Tongue words are declined 
 by changing, NOT the Terminations, but the Initial 
 Letters in the oblique cafes, or by prefixing an article 
 with an apoftrophe (either exprt fled or implied); fo 
 that thofe who are ignorant of this language are apt 
 to confound the radical Letters, with fuch as are 
 merely fuperadded and accidental ; or to think two 
 words utterly diflimilar, that are only made fo by an 
 occafional Prefix or a variety of Declenlion : To give 
 one inltance (out of innumerable) of the latter kind, 
 the Britim word Pen t in conftru&ion regularly aflumes 
 the form of Ben, Pben and Mben. e. g. 
 
 Pen y a Head. 
 
 Pen gufy a Man's Head. 
 
 / Ben, his Head. 
 
 i Pben, her Head. 
 
 y'm Mben^ my Head. 
 
 * LLUYD thinks both thefe caufes have concurred, viz. I. That the tn- 
 ceftors of the Irifh and Highland Scots, fc. the ancient GVYDHEII ANS, 
 were the old original Celts, who firlr. inhabited this ifland : And that the 
 Cymri, or Welfh, were another and different race of Celts, (a branch 
 of the Celtic Cimbri) who fucceeded the o'her, and drove them north- 
 wards. II. That the Language of both thefe people, though yiiginally the 
 fame, had defcended down through different channels, and was rendered 
 ftill more widely diftant ) I. By the additional mixture of Cantabrian 
 words irnpoited into Ireland by the Scots, who came from Spain and fet- 
 tled among the old Guydelian Celts from Britain: And, 2. By the 
 changes the Cymraeg or Welfli Language fuffered during the fubjeclion 
 of 500 Years to the Romans, fee. (See Lluyd's WELSH and IRISW 
 Prefaces, translated in the Appendix to Nicholfon's JR n>n HISTORI- 
 CAL LIBRARY, -c. 1736. folio.) 
 
 See alfo MAITLANB'S " Hiftory of Scotland, 2 Vols. folio." who- 
 has fome things curious on this fu!>jec~t, particularly on the paf- 
 fape of the Cimkri into Biitain; but the generality of his book 
 fhews a judgment fo warped by national prejudice; is fo evidently de- 
 figmd to fnpport a favourite hypothefis, and is writ with fuch a fpirit 
 of coarfe invedivc, that the Reader will be conftantly kd to fufpecl that 
 his quotations arc unfair, and his arguments fallacious. To mention only 
 one inMance of this Writer's ftrange perverfion of Hiftory, he fcts or.t 
 with denying, in the teeth of Cscfar and all the ancients, that the OLD 
 B;;ITONI wjiuc t :VE* PAINTZB ! 
 
 5 Before
 
 f xliii ) 
 
 Before I conclude thefe flight Remarks, I muft beg 
 leave to obferve, that as the great fubjecl of this pre- 
 fent book is GOTHIC ANTIQUITIES, which I appre- 
 hend to be totally diftinft from the CKLTIC, I only 
 pretend to be exar and precife as to the GOTHIC or 
 TEUTONIC Languages; but do not take upon me 
 to decide on any of the points which relate either to 
 the CELTIC Antiquities or CELTIC Tongues. For 
 this reafon I avoid entering into the difpute, which 
 has of late fo much interefted our countrymen in North- 
 Britain : viz. Whether the ERSE Language was firft 
 fpokcn in Scotland or Ireland. Before the inquifitive 
 Reader adopts either opinion, he would do well to con- 
 fider many curious hints, which arc fcattered up and 
 down in LLUYD'S moft excellent Arcbceologia Britan- 
 tiica^ 1707. fol. and efpecially in his WELSH and 
 IRISH Prefaces, referred to in the foregoing Note. 
 
 The Specimen of the ERSE or HIGHLAND SCOT- 
 TISH, in p. xxxi. is extracted from the New Tefta- 
 ment lately publifhed at Edinburgh, wherein this 
 Language is called Gaidblig dibannaicb ; and upon the 
 authority of that book I have fo named it here. This 
 I mention by way of caveat againft the cenfure of 
 thofe who contend that the true name is GAELIC or 
 GALIC, and that this word is the fame with GALLIC, 
 the name of the ancient Language of GAUL. With- 
 out deciding the queftion as to the origin of the ERSE 
 Language itfelf, I muft obferve upon the ancient 
 name of GALLIC, that this does not fcem to have 
 been ufed by the natives of GAUL themfelves, but to 
 have been given them by foreigners : They called 
 themfelves CELTIC, and their Language CELTIC *; 
 
 * Sjiii ipfirum lingua CtLTf., nc/lra OALLI apftKatitur. Csefar de 
 
 Bell. Gal. L. i " CELT*, tie Gauls, Gadi!, Cadil, or Keill, 
 
 " and in the plural, according to our dialcft, Ktiliet, or Keilt, (now 
 " Guidhelod) Irishmen. The word Ke:!t could not be othrrwife vnrit- 
 " ten by the Romans, than Ciilte or C /:<*." Sse Lloyd's Iiiih Preface, 
 f. 107. in Nicbolfun's Iriih Hilfcrijn. 
 
 c Jn
 
 ( xliv ) 
 
 in like manner as the inhabitants of Wales, though 
 called WELSH by us, term themfelves CYMRU, and 
 their own Language CYMRAEG ; who at the fame 
 time call us SAISSONS, and our Tongue SAISSONAEG, 
 thus reminding us of our Saxon origin. 
 
 In the fame place the Reader will find many of the ancient names 
 of offices, perfons, &c. mentioned by Casfar as prevailing in Gaul, ex- 
 plained from 'he modern Iiifh Language, as, JU/obrox, Divitiacus, Vtr- 
 clngetoriXf Vergafillaunus, Vcrgobretus, &c. 
 
 Of the FINN and LAPLAND Specimens: 
 And of the CANTABRIAN or BASQJJE. 
 
 TH E two former of thefe are fubjoined, in order 
 to illuftrate what our Author has faid below, in 
 
 P- 38, 39- 
 
 Of the FINN Language it may be obferved, that it 
 appears quite original, and underived from any other 
 Tongue with which we are acquainted. But as to that 
 of the LAPLANDERS, it is apparently a derivative 
 from feveral others : Many of the words are evidently 
 borrowed from the FINN LANGUAGE, and others 
 from the NORSE, mixed, it may be, with derivatives 
 from the GREENLAND Tongue, or perhaps the SCLA- 
 VONIC. From the FINN Language are apparently 
 borrowed thefe words in the Pater- nofter, viz. Mi- 
 jam, juco, laibcbm, pabaji, &c. and thefe from the 
 NORSE, or fome filler dialed!, viz. Nam t Ryki, Wil- 
 
 HOy &C. 
 
 As to the CANTABRIAN or BASQUE, if has no ap- 
 parent affinity with any dialect either of the TEUTO- 
 NIC or CELTIC Languages. Yet LLUYD has given a 
 lift of derivatives from this Language which are ftill 
 extant in the IRISH Tongue, and which confirm the 
 opinion that an ancient colony from Spain actually 
 
 intermixed
 
 ( *lv ) 
 
 intermixed among the original inhabitants of IRE- 
 LAND. 
 
 To this excellent writer, fo often quoted, I refer 
 all fuch as would proceed on fure and folid grounds 
 in thdr inquiries concerning the CELTIC LANGUAGE 
 and ANTIQUITIES: A fubjeft which has proved the 
 great ftumbling-block of modern Antiquaries and Ety- 
 mologifts, and which has occafioned fo many wild, 
 abfurd, and childifh publications, to the difgrace of 
 all etymology and fcandal of literature. Inftead of 
 imitating the caution, diffidence, and modeity of 
 LLUYD, who fpent feveral years in travelling and re- 
 fiding among the different branches of the CELTS, 
 thefe writers make up a jargon of their own, which 
 they call Celtic, and, without knowing any one of the 
 ancient Languages truly, fet out confidently to explain 
 them all. 
 
 That I may not appear invidious, I will not pro- 
 duce inftances of the dotage and folly of fome of cur 
 countrymen in what they call Celtic Etymologies, 
 and Illuftrattons of Celtic Antiquities; but will refer 
 the Reader to a work of a fuperior clafs, the celebrated 
 Memoir is de la Langue Celtique par M. BULLET. Be~ 
 fan$on 1754. 3 Vols. folio. This learned, and in other 
 refpedts, ingenious writer, is a glaring inftance how 
 much a good judgment may be drawn away by a dar- 
 ling hypothefis, and is a warning to others not to write 
 upon fubjech they do not underftand : For, having 
 little or no acquaintance with the Englifh Language, 
 he undertakes to explain, from his own imaginary 
 Celtic Vocabulary, the names of innumerable places in 
 England, in what he calls a Defcription Etymokgiqite * : 
 Where, if he had confined himfelf to (ome of our Ri- 
 vers, Mountains and Forefts, he had ftood fome chance 
 of being right^ fince many of thefe retain their old 
 
 ' Une Defcnplitn Etyrr.ohgique da i/.'.'/t-i, rlvierts, montafna, fortts. 
 nriofitfi nature,'/:! d'S GauUi ; de la meuliure far: if del* Efpagr.e it de 
 <" Italic ; dt la Grande Brltagnt, dent la Gaulm<. nt <te let primien babi- 
 tans. This writer has, however, fome things very ingenious and folid. 
 
 c 3 British
 
 ( xlvi ) 
 
 Britifti names: But when he boldly proceeds to our 
 names of Villages and Towns, which are moft of them 
 purely Saxon and Englifh, he falls into fuch diverting 
 blunders as thefe, viz. 
 
 ACTON (which is from the Saxon Ac, an Oak, and 
 Ten, a Town) he derives from Ac, a River, and Ton 9 
 Habitation. 
 
 ASTON (which is merely Eajl-tcwn, as in fome 
 parts of England Eafier is ftill called After) he will 
 have from As, River, and Tcn 9 Habitation. 
 
 AUKLAND (which is probably old Englifh for 
 OAK-LAND) he fetches from Oc, a little Hill, Lan, 
 River, and D from Dy, Two. 
 
 COLBROKE, he fays, comes from the Saxon Broke * 
 a Bridge ; i. e. a Bridge over the Colnc. 
 
 DICH-MARSH, he derives from Dich, which he 
 fays is from Dichlud, Borne, and Mar, Water. Dich- 
 mar, Land borne up by Water. 
 
 HANWELL, he fays, is from Han, a Bending, and 
 Val, in competition rel, a River. 
 
 HICHAM (a borough in Northamptonfhire, which 
 ftands on a hill, at fome diftance from any river, and 
 which was doubtlefs named from its elevated fituation, 
 High-ham ; i. e. the Home or Habitation on High 
 Ground: See Verftigan :) this writer derives from 
 J, a River, and Cam, in compofition Gam, a Bending. 
 
 NORTHAMPTON, (either fo named in contradif- 
 tindlion to SOUTH HAMPTON, or, according to Cam- 
 den, originally Nortb-avonton ;) this egregious Ety- 
 mologift derives from Nor, (Embouchure) the Mouth 
 of a river, Tan, a River, and Ton, Habitation. 
 
 NORTHILL, (which f fuppofe is merely North- 
 Hill) he derives from Nor, River, and Tyle, Habita- 
 tion. 
 
 OUNDALE fcontra&ed for Avon-dale! he derives 
 from /fi/on, a River, and Dal, Inclofed, furroundcd. 
 
 RING WOOD (i. e. J fuppofe, a *' Wood ring-fenc- 
 " ed," a common foreft term) he derives from Ren 
 (Portage) a Divifion, Cw, River, and Hed, a Fo- 
 rcft. 
 
 STANFORD
 
 ( xlvii ) 
 
 STANFORD (i. e. Stone, or Stony Ford) he de- 
 rives from Stan (Embouchure} a Mouth of a River, 
 Vor^ pronounced For, Near. 
 
 STRATTON (r. e. Street-Town, the name of a 
 Town on the Watling-ftreet) from Strat t Land near 
 a River, and Tow, Habitation : Or, from Ster, Rii- 
 vers, jit, Junction or Joining, and To, Habitation. 
 
 UXBRIDGE, (fuppofed by fome to be corrupted from 
 Oufe- bridge) he derives from Uc 9 River, and Bri^ 
 (Portage) Divifion. 
 
 Such are the derivations of a writer who fets out to 
 explain the meaning of Englifh names of places, with- 
 out underftanding the fignification of our common 
 Englifti words LAND, BROOK, MARSH, WELL, 
 HIGH, NORTH, HILL, DALE, WOOD, FORD, 
 STREET or BRIDGE ! 
 
 So much for Celtic Etymologies ! 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 *Tp O the modern Tongues derived from the QZd 
 * CiMBRo-GoTHic above mentioned in p. xxxii. 
 may be added a Specimen of the Language fpoken by 
 the common people in the Ifles of Orkney. This is 
 preferred by Dr. Wallace, in his ACCOUNT of thofe 
 Jflands, 4< Lond. 1700. 8vo." Who reUs us it is called 
 by the natives Narns* It feems to be a corruption of 
 the NORSE, Icelandic, &c. and is as follows : 
 
 " Favor i ir i Chimrie. i. Helleur ir i Nam thite. 
 " 2. Gilla cofdum thite cumma. 3. Veya thine mota 
 *' var gort o Yurn finna gort i Chimrie. 4. Gav 
 * vus da on da dalight Brow vora. 5. Firgive vus 
 c< Sinna vora fin vee firgive Sindara mutha vus. 6. 
 " Lyv vus ye i Tumtation. 7. Min delivera vus fro 
 " Olt ilt. Amen. 
 
 y^- I fufpeft the abo^ve Copy to be incorrectly print- 
 ed by Wallace : that u Helleur" fliould be " Hel- 
 '* leut," &c. &c. 
 
 c 4
 
 of literature and promoter of knowledge: it is therefore but juftue to 
 thn Monarch to mention a few of th- literary undertakings which owe 
 their nfe and eflabliflunent to bis bounty and love of Science. 
 
 I. He imlinited a Society, confifling of four or five gentlemen, who 
 have a fahry of 400!. per annum affigned thrm, purpofely for the cul- 
 ?!>r.f;on of the Dar.ifh Language, and illustration of the Icelandic and 
 Northern Antiquities. They have in their poflefiion a great quantity of 
 .Tunufciipts relative to the lait?r 5 and, among the reft, the intire Vo- 
 VUSPA. This Society has already publifoed two volumes upon Mifcel- 
 lan^ous Subj?h; in which are two Diflfertations relative to the ICELAN- 
 DIC ANTJOjJiTir:. 
 
 IF. He directed and enabled his ProfefTor of Botany, Dr. OEDER, to 
 publjih that magnificent work, the Fhra Danica; of which he com- 
 manded prefents to be made to all the principal clergy, engaging them 
 tc contribute their afliftance towards perfecting an undertaking fo ufeful 
 and extenfive : And, in order to promote the fame defign all over Eu- 
 rope, he commanded this work to be printed in the Latin and French, 
 as well as German and Danifh Languages ; and to be carried on till it 
 fhall be found to contain the figures and defcriptions of all the plants 
 '* hich grow within the limits of the polar circle, and the j3d degree of 
 latitude. 
 
 TIL He fent the celebrated Mifiion of Literati to explore the interior 
 f arts of Arabia, at d to give us a more perfect account of that now almoft 
 unknown country, which was once the feat of learning and fcience: as 
 alfo to collect whatever reliques could be found of the old Arabian books, 
 biftory, ibc. Thefe Miflionaries were FIVE in number, viz. Mr. Pro- 
 feilbr Dt HAVEN, for Philology and Language: Mr. ProfefTor Fos- 
 SXAL (a Difciple of Lianaeus) for Natural Hiftcry : a lieutenant of 
 engineers, Mr. NIEBVHK, f.-.r Geography and Aftronomy: Dr. CRA- 
 MER, for Medicine, and Mr. PAUENFEIND for Drawing and taking 
 View, &c. The whole defign and plan of their voyage may be feen in 
 Monf. MICHAELIS'S " Recueil da quefliw prepoffes a une Sttiete de 
 * Sai-ar.s, jui far ardrc tie fa Maj, Dan. fsnt It voyage de /' Arahit, &c." 
 Frjncf. 1763. izmo. Of hete r I VE Literati, only one is returned alive 
 out of the f.aft. Their join-, obfervations, however, are in the hands of 
 Mr NIKBUHR the furviv.. r , which he is preparing for the prefs in the 
 permah Lang'i.->ge. As fome of the travellers died early in their tour, 
 we mud not rxpcft to find the original plan entirely compleated. The 
 work will be found moft perfect in svhat relates to Geography and Natu- 
 ral Hiftory : but though it muft, from the circumftances abive menrioned , 
 prove fomewhat deftflive, the world nmy neverthelefs form confidEriliC 
 expeclafions of it; and it will, as we- are affured, be given to the Publ 
 in the uurk ot this prefem year, M,DCC,LXX.
 
 ( xlix ) 
 
 THE 
 
 FRENCH AUTHOR'S 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IF it be allowed that the Hiftory of a confiderablc 
 people is in itfelf ufeful and interefting, indepen- 
 dent of all accidental circumftancesi it muft alfo be 
 acknowledged that there are certain points of time, 
 when fuch a Hiftory runs a better chance of being re- 
 ceived, than at any other. This is more particularly 
 the cafe when a general curiofity is excited concern- 
 ing the nation which is the fubjeft of that hiftory. 
 An illuftrious reign *, diftinguifhed by whatever can 
 render it dear to a people, and glorious in the eyes of 
 fenfible obfervers, cannot attract the attention of man- 
 kind, without infpiring at the fame time, a defire of 
 knowing the principal events which have preceded 
 that reign. 
 
 This reflection fufficiently juftifies my defign of pub- 
 lifhing a new Hiftory of Denmark in the French 
 Language. If I am fortunate enough to fucceed in 
 my undertaking, I (hall be the more happy, as I {hall, 
 in many refpects, anfwer the ends of my prefent em- 
 ployment, and (hall give, at the fame time, a proof 
 of my gratitude to the Danifh nation, who have fo 
 generoufly adopted me for their fellow-citizen. 
 
 Our Author here (and below, p. lv.) pays a compliment to the late 
 King of Denmark , FREDERICK V ; with what reafon fee the preceding 
 page 
 
 lam
 
 (1) 
 
 I am not ignorant that many perfons have executed 
 long ago, either in the whole or in part, a work of 
 the fame kind with mine ; and I (hall, in its proper 
 p!ace, do juftice to their diligence *. But as the vo- 
 lume which I now offer to the public relates to a fub- 
 jel which thefe Authors have treated either very 
 iuperfkially, or not at all ; I fhall here, in a few 
 words, give my reafons why, at fetting out, I have 
 followed a plan fomewhat different from theirs. 
 
 To run curforily over a number Q( events, uncon- 
 nected and void of circumftances, .without being able 
 to penetrate into their true caufes; to fee people, 
 princes, conquerors and legiflators fucceed one an- 
 other rapidly upon the ftage, without knowing any 
 thing of their real character, manner of thinking, or 
 of the fpirit which animated them, this is to have 
 only the fkeleton of Hiftory; this is meerly to be- 
 hold a parcel of dark and obfcure fhadows, inftead of 
 living and cenverfing with real men. For this reafon I 
 have all along refolved not to meddle with the body 
 of the Danifh Hiftory, till I have prefcnted my Rea- 
 ders with a (ketch of the manners and genius of the 
 firft inhabitants of Denmark. But I imagined, like 
 thofe who have preceded me in this attempt, that a 
 few pages would have fufficed for illuftrating the mod 
 effential of thefe points ; nor was it, till 1 had exa- 
 mined this matter with new attention, that I difco- 
 vered my mrftake. I then found, that too much 
 brevity would defeat the end I propofed, which was 
 to place my fubjeft in different points of view, all of 
 them equally new and interesting. 
 
 Our Author probably alludes to a former hiftory of Denmark in the 
 French Language, (dedicated to the prefent King's grandfather, K. 
 FREDERICK IV.) iniitled, " ISHifloirt de Dannemarc avar.t et defnh 
 u rEtabL/ementdc la Monarchic : Par Mr. J. B. D r s R o c H E s , Effvyer, 
 Cbtjet/ter et JT.*cat Central du Roi 7r. Cbr. au Bureau lies Finances et 
 " Cbambrc. dti Domaiie dt la Gtneralite de la Roebelle." AMST. 1730. 
 6 Vol. iimo. To this work is prefixed a PRFFACF HISTOR IQ^UK 
 four ftruir d' Introduction a rHiJloirt de Dfxtitmarc j which contaias a 
 tolerable difplay of the Northern Antiquities, &c. 
 
 In
 
 (li) 
 
 In fair, Hiftory has not recorded the annals of a 
 people who have occafioned greater, more fudden, or 
 more numerous revolutions in Europe than the Scan- 
 dinavians ; or whofe antiquities, at the kme time, arc 
 fo little known. Had, indeed, their emigrations been, 
 only like thofe fuddci. toi rents of which all traces and 
 remembrance are foon effaced, the indifference ;hat has 
 been (hown to them would have been fufficiently ju- 
 ftified by the barbarifm they have been reproached 
 with. But, during thofe general inundations, the face 
 of Europe underwent fo total a change; and during 
 the confufion they occafioned, fuch different eftablifh- 
 ments took place; rew focieties were formed, ani- 
 mated fo intirely with a new fpirit, that the Hiftory 
 of our own manners and inftitutions ought neceflarily 
 to afcend back, and even dwell a confiderable time 
 upon a period, which difcoversto us their chief origin 
 and fource. 
 
 But I ought nofbarely to affert this. Permit me to 
 fupport the affertion by proofs. For this purpofe, let 
 us briefly run over all the different Revolutions which 
 this part of the world underwent, during the long 
 courfe of ages which its Hiftory comprehends, in or- 
 der to fee what mare the nations of the north have 
 had in producing them. If we recur back to the 
 remoteft times, we obferve a nation iffuing ftep by 
 ftep from the forefts of Scythia, inceffantly increafing 
 and dividing to take pofleffion of the uncultivated 
 countries which it met with in its progrefs. Very 
 foon after, we fee the fame people, like a tree full of 
 vigour, extending long branches over all Europe ; 
 we fee them alfo carrying with them, wherever they 
 came, from the borders of the Black Sea, to the ex- 
 tremities of Spain, of Sicily, and Greece, a religion 
 fimple and martial as themfelves, a form of govern- 
 ment dictated by good fenfe and liberty, a reftlefs 
 unconquered fpirit, apt to take fire at the very men- 
 tion of fubje&ion and conftraint, and a ferocious 
 courage, nourimed by a favage and vagabond life. 
 While the gentlenefs of the climate foftened impercep- 
 tibly
 
 tibly the ferocity of thofe who fettled in the fouth, 
 Colonies of Egyptians and Phenicians mixing with 
 them upon the coafts of Greece, and thence pafT- 
 ing over to thofe of Italy, taught them at lalt to 
 live in cities, to cultivate letters, arts and commerce. 
 Thus their opinions, their cuftoms and genius, were 
 blended together, and new ftates were formed upon 
 new plans. Rome, in the mean time, arofe, and ac 
 length carried all before her. In proportion as fhe in- 
 creafed in grandeur, fhe forgot her ancient manners, 
 and deftroyed, among the nations whom {he over- 
 powered, the original fpirit with which they were 
 animated. But this fpirit continued unaltered in the 
 colder countries of Europe, and maintained itfelf there 
 like the independency of the inhabitants. Scarce 
 could fifteen or fixteen centuries produce there any 
 change in that fpirit. There it renewed itfelf incef- 
 fantly ; for, during the whole of that long interval, 
 new adventurers ifluing continually from the original 
 inexhauftible country, trod upon the heels of their 
 fathers towards the north, and, being in their turn 
 fucceeded by new troops of followers, they puflied 
 one another forward, like the waves of the fea. The 
 northern countries, thus overftocked, and unable any 
 longer to contain fuch reftlefs inhabitants, equally 
 greedy of glory and plunder, difcharged at length, 
 upon the Roman Empire, the weight that opprefled 
 them. The barriers of the Empire, ill defended by a 
 people whom profperity had enervated, were borne 
 down on all fides by torrents of victorious armies. 
 We then fee the conquerors introducing, among the 
 nations they vanquiihed, viz. into the very bofom of 
 ilavery and iloth, that fpirit of independance and equa- 
 lity, that elevation of foul, that tafte for rural and 
 military life, which both the one and the other had 
 originally derived from the fame common fource, but 
 which were then among the Romans breathing their 
 laft. Difpofitions and principles fo oppofite, ftruggled 
 long with forces fufficiently equal, but they united in 
 the end, they coalefced together, and from their coa- 
 lition
 
 lition fprung thofe principles and that fpirit which 
 governed, afterwards, almoft all the ftates of Europe, 
 and which, notwithflanding the differences of climate, 
 of religion and particular accidents, do ftill vifibly 
 reign in them, and retain, to this day, more or leis 
 the traces of their firft common original. 
 
 It is eafy to fee, from this fbort (ketch, how greatly 
 the nations of the north have influenced the different 
 fates of Europe: And, if it be worth while to trace 
 its revolutions to their caufes, if the illuftration of its 
 inftitutions, of its police, of its cuftoms, of its man- 
 ners, of its laws, be a fubjecl of ufeful and intereft- 
 ing inquiry ; it muft be allowed, that the Anti- 
 quities of the north, that is to fay, every thing which 
 tends to make us acquainted with its ancient inhibi- 
 t.mts, merits a {hare in the attention of thinking men. 
 But to render this obvious by a particular example ; 
 Is it not well known that the moft flourifhing and ce- 
 lebrated ftates of Europe owe originally to the nor- 
 thern nations, whatever liberty they now enjoy, 
 either in their conftitution, or in the fpirit of their 
 government? P'or although the Gothic form of govern- 
 ment has been almoft every where altered or abolifhed, 
 have we not retained, in moft things, the opinions, 
 the cuftoms, the manners which that government had 
 a tendency to produce ? Is not this, in far, the 
 principal fource of that courage, of that averfion to 
 flavery, of that empire of honour which charadterife 
 in general the European nations ; and of that mode- 
 ration, of that eafmefs of accefs, and peculiar atten- 
 tion to the rights of humanity, which fo happily dif- 
 tinguifh our fovereigns from the inacceffible and fu- 
 perb tyrants of Afia ? The immenfe extent of the 
 Roman Empire had rendered its conftitution fo de- 
 fpotic and miiitary, many of its Emperors were fuch 
 ferocious monfters, its fenate was become fo mean- 
 fpirited and vile, that all elevation of fentiment, every 
 thing that was noble and manly, feems to have been 
 for ever banifhed from their hearts and minds : Info- 
 muchj that if all Europe had received the yoke of 
 
 Komr
 
 (Uv) 
 
 Rome in this her (late of debafement, this fine part 
 of the world, reduced to the inglorious condition of 
 the reft, could not have avoided falling into that kind 
 of barbarity, which is of all others the moft incurable; 
 as, by making as many flaves as there are men, it 
 degrades them fo low as not to leave them even a 
 thought or defire of bettering their condition. But 
 Nature had long prepared a remedy for fuch great 
 evils, in that unfubmiting, unconquerable fpirit, with 
 which (he had infpired the people of the north ; and 
 thus {he made amends to the human race, for all the 
 calamities which, in other refpefts, the inroads of 
 thefe nations, and the overthrow of the Roman Em- 
 pire produced. 
 
 " The great prerogative of Scandinavia, (fays the 
 " admirable Author of the Spirit of Laws) and what 
 ** ought to recommend its inhabitants beyond every 
 people upon earth, is, that they afforded the great 
 refource to the liberty of Europe, that is, to almoft 
 all the liberty that is among men. The Goth 
 JORNANDES, (adds he) calls the north of Europe 
 THE FORGE OF MANKIND. I fhould rather 
 call it, the forge of thofe inftruments which broke 
 the fetters manufactured in the fouth. It was 
 there thofe valiant nations were bred, who left 
 their native climes to deftroy tyrants and flaves, 
 " and to teach men that nature having made them 
 " equal, no reafon could be afligned for their becom- 
 " ing dependent, but their mutual happinefs." 
 
 If thefe confiderations be of any weight, I (hall 
 cafily be excufed for having treated at fo much length, 
 the Antiquities of the nation whofe Hiftory I write. 
 The judicious public will fee and decide, whether I 
 have conceived a juft idea of my fubjefr, or whether, 
 from an illufion too common with Authors, I have 
 not afcribed to it more importance than it deferves. 
 I fhould not be without fome apprehenfions of this 
 kind, if that were always true which is commonly 
 faid, that we grow fond of our labours in proportion 
 as they are difficult. Many tedious and unentertain- 
 
 ing
 
 (hr) 
 
 ing volumes I have been obliged to perufe : I have had 
 more than one language to learn : My materials were 
 widely fcattered, ill digefted, and often little known: 
 It was not eafy to collect them, or to accommodate 
 them to my purpofe. Thefe are all c ire urn (ranees, ill 
 calculated, it muft be owned, to give me much aflur- 
 ance. But I have likewife met with very confiderable 
 affiftances ; feveral learned men have treated particular 
 points of the Antiquities of the north, with that deep 
 erudition which chara&erifes the frudies of the laft 
 age. I cannot mention, without acknowledgment and 
 praife, BARTHOLINUS, WORMIUS, STEPHANIUS, 
 ARNGRIM JONAS, TORF^EUS, &c. I have alfo con- 
 fulted, with advantage, two learned ftrangers, MefH 
 PELLOUTIER and DALIN. The firft, in his fiiftory 
 of the Geltes, has thrown a great deal of light upon 
 the religion of the firft inhabitants of Europe. The 
 fecond has given a new Hiftory of Sweden, which 
 difcovers extenfive reading and genius. In three or 
 four chapters, where the Author treats of the reli- 
 gion, the laws and manners of the ancient Swedes, 
 we find thefe fubjecls di (cuffed with unufual perfpi- 
 cuity and elegance. 
 
 There are people of that happy genius, that they 
 need only wifh in order to fucceed, and have every re- 
 fource within themfelves. As for me, I dare hardly 
 reckon among my advantages, the ftrong motives and 
 inducements I have had to my undertaking. I dare 
 not tell ftrangcrs, that I have had the happinefs of be- 
 ing encouraged by more than one Maecenas, and by a 
 Prince, alike knowing, and zealous in the advance- 
 ment of knowledge. They would judge of me, un- 
 queftionably, according to what fuch numerous and 
 great encouragements ought to have produced, when, 
 perhaps, I hardly find myielf capable of Jifcharging 
 the duties which lie upon me in common wilh all 
 Hiftorians. 
 
 Is it neceflary that I fhould take notice, before I 
 conclude, that 1 am about to delineate a nation in its 
 infancy, and that the grcateft part or the other Euro- 
 peans
 
 (Ivi) 
 
 peans were neither lefs favage, nor lefs uncivilized, 
 during the fame period ? I (hall give fufficient proofs 
 of this in other places, being perfuaded that there is 
 among nations an emulation of glory, which often 
 degenerates into jealoufy, and puts them upon afTum- 
 ing a pre-eminence upon the moft chimerical advanta- 
 ges: That there glows in their bofoms a patriotic 
 zeal, which is often fo blind and ill informed, as to 
 take alarm at the moft (lender and indifferent declara- 
 tions made in favour of others. 
 
 In the fecond Volume will be found a Tranflation 
 of the EDDA, and of fome other fragments of Mytho- 
 logy and ancient pieces of Poetry. They are fingu- 
 lar, and, in many refpects, precious monuments, 
 which throw much light upon the Antiquities of the 
 north, and upon thoie of the other l Gothic *' na- 
 tions. They will ferve for Proofs, and be a Supplement 
 to this Defcription of the Manners of the Ancient 
 Danes ; and for this reafon, as well as out of deference 
 to the advice of fome perfons of tafte, 1 was induced 
 to tranflate them, and to annex them to it. 
 
 * d!:t:. Orig. 
 
 A DES-
 
 A 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, Vc. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ANCIENT DANES 
 
 And other NORTHERN NATIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Denmark defcribed, and the federal countries 
 fubjetf to its crown, 'viz. Norway, Iceland, 
 Greenland. 
 
 THE feveral countries, which com- 
 pofe the Danim monarchy, have 
 feldom juftice done them by thf- 
 other nations of Europe. The notions en 
 tertained of them are not commonly the 
 moft favourable or true. This is owing to 
 various caufes. The lituation cf Tome of 
 the provinces is fo remote, that fkilful 
 travellers have feldom had occafion to vifit 
 them; Thofe who have pretended to de- 
 VOL. I. Chap. I, B fcribe
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 fcribe them have been generally wanting in 
 fidelity or exadnefs ; Some of their defcrip- 
 tions are grown obfolete, fo that what was 
 once true, is no longer fo at prefent ; Laftly, 
 fuch confufion and prejudices have been 
 occafioned by that vague term THENoRTH, 
 that we are not to wonder if Denmark 
 has been thought ilightly of by the fouthern 
 nations. To correct thefe miftakes I mall 
 lay before the Reader a faithful account of 
 the prefent ftate of thefe countries : In 
 which I fhall be more or lefs diffufe in pro- 
 portion as they are more or lefs known to 
 foreigners, for whom this work is princi- 
 pally defigned. And if the piclure I draw, 
 prefents .nothing very agreeable or ftriking, 
 I dare at leaft promife that it mall be very 
 exact and faithful. 
 
 DENMARK is naturally divided into con- 
 tinent, and iilands. Among the iflands, 
 the firfr. that merits attention, as well on 
 account of its lize as fertility, is ZEALAND. 
 In this iile is feated COPENHAGEN, the 
 capital of the whole kingdom ; which de- 
 rives its name from its harbour*, one of 
 the fmeft in the world. This city is built 
 
 * It's name in the Da- ./kViffr/,andHAFFN, For- 
 
 rifli language is KIOBEN- tus. This city has been 
 
 MAFFN; which literally is reckoned by travellers to 
 
 a " Haven for merchandize be about the fize of Brif- 
 
 or traffic;" frcm KIOBE, tol; T 
 
 4 upon
 
 (3) 
 
 upon the very edge of that channel, fo well 
 known by the name of the SOUND, and re- 
 ceives into its bofom a fmall arm of the fea, 
 which divides Zealand from another ifle of 
 lefs extent, but of very agreeable fituation, 
 named AM AC. Copenhagen, which is at 
 prefent very ftrong, wealthy, and populous, 
 hath continually improved in its dimenfions 
 and beauty ever fince king Chriftopher of 
 Bavaria fixed his refidence there in the year 
 1443 : but it owes its greater! fplendor to 
 the laft reign, and that of the prefent king 
 Frederic V. in which it hath been adorned 
 with a palace worthy of the monarch who 
 inhabits it, and with many ftately build- 
 ings, as well public as private. 
 
 At fome leagues diftance towards the 
 north, this channel, which wafhes the 
 walls of Copenhagen, grows gradually nar- 
 rower, being confined between the two 
 oppofite coafts of Zealand and Schonen, 
 till it forms at length what is properly 
 called the PafTage of the Sound ; one of the 
 moft celebrated and moft frequented ftraits 
 in the world ; and which opens the prin- 
 cipal communication between the ocean and 
 the Baltic. ELSE N ORE, which is fituated 
 -on the brink of the Sound, and defended by 
 the fortrefs of CRONENBERG, enjoys the 
 ever-moving picture of a multitude of 
 (hips, which pafs and repafs, and come to 
 
 Chap. I. B 2 pay
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 pay their tribute to the king *. About a 
 league diftant the oppofite fhore terminates 
 the proipect in a very agreeable manner ; 
 and not far off, between the two banks, 
 rifes the little ifle of WE ME, famous for 
 the obfervations of Tycho Brahe. Although 
 the other parts of Zealand afford nothing 
 fo ftriking as this ; the eye will find enough 
 to entertain it every where elfe. Here are 
 vail plains covered with a mod delightful 
 verdure, which fprings earlier and continues 
 longer than the fouthern nations would ima- 
 gine. Thefe plains are interfperfed with 
 little hills, lakes, and groves ; and adorned 
 with feveral palaces, many gentlemens 
 feats -J-, and a good number of cities and 
 towns. The foil, though light and fome- 
 what fandy, produces a great quantity of 
 grain, particularly of oats and barley : nor 
 is it deficient in woods and paflures. Be- 
 fides, the fea and lakes furnifh this illand 
 with fifh in fuch abundance, as might well 
 fupply the want of the other fruits of the 
 earth in a country lefs fertile or lefs addicted 
 to commerce. 
 
 But fertility is in a flill more eminent de- 
 gree the character of FUNEN, which is the 
 fecond of the Danifh ifles in point of fize, 
 
 * A certain toll paid by the merchant- (hips for paf- 
 fing the Sound. T. 
 
 f In French, Chateaux. 
 
 5
 
 ( 5) 
 
 but the firft in goodnefs of foil. This ifland 
 rifes higher than that of Zealand, and is fe- 
 parated from it by an arm of the fea, which, 
 on account of its breadth, is called the 
 GREAT BELT, to diftinguifli it from an- 
 other fmaller channel, that divides it from 
 Jutland, and is called the LESSER BELT. 
 Corn, pafture, and fruits grow plentifully 
 in this ifland, which prefents the mofl de- 
 lightful appearance. In the middle of a 
 vaft plain ftands ODENSEE, the capital of 
 the province ; and feven towns lefs con- 
 fiderable adorn the fea-coafts at almoft equal 
 distances. 
 
 The ifles of LALAND and FALSTRIA 
 yield not much in point of fertility to Funen, 
 being both of them famous for their fine 
 wheat : but the latter of thefe produces 
 alfo fruits in fuch abundance, that one 
 may juftly call it the Orchard of Denmark. 
 Amidft the multitude of lefier iflands, that 
 are fcattered round the principal ones, there 
 are few which do not fupply their inhabi- 
 tants with neceffaries, and even afford them 
 an overplus for traffic. LAN GLAND hath 
 plenty of fine corn-fields. Bo KN HOLM, 
 MoNA,and SAMSOE have excellent paftures. 
 AM AC is found very proper for pulfe, -and 
 is become a fruitful garden under the 
 hands of thofe induftrious Flemings, who 
 were brought hither by queen Elizabeth, 
 
 Chap. I. 63 wife
 
 (*) 
 
 wife of Chriftian II. and fifter of Charles 
 .V. 
 
 If we pafs over to the provinces on the 
 continent, we (hall find new reafons to 
 convince us, that Denmark plentifully fup- 
 ports its inhabitants, and is able to enrich 
 even a numerous people. JUTLAND, the 
 largeft of thefe provinces, forms the head 
 of that long peninfula, which is bounded 
 by the ocean to the weft, by the gulph of 
 Categade and the Baltic to the eaft, and 
 which opens a communication into Ger- 
 many towards the fouth. From this pro- 
 vince they carry into Norway a great 
 part of the corn ufed in that kingdom; and 
 hence are exported thofe thoufands of head 
 of cattle, which are every year brought 
 into Holland and other' countries. Here 
 are alfo bred thofe Danifh horfes, whofe 
 beauty makes them fo much fought after 
 in all parts of Europe. If the inland 
 parts are barren in fome places, the coafts 
 extremely abound with fifh. This affords 
 a refource fo much the greater, as they 
 increafe and breed in the long bays, 
 which fun up into the country, in fuch 
 a manner that almoft all the inhabitants 
 enjoy the benefit of the fimery. The 
 gulph of LIMFIORDE in particular reaches 
 almoft from one fea to the other ; and 
 the fifh ing therein is fo rich, that, after 
 
 it
 
 (7) 
 
 it has fupplied the wants of the province, 
 it constantly produces large quantities for 
 exportation *. 
 
 Nature hath been no lefs indulgent to 
 the fouthern part of this peninfula, which 
 forms the dutchy of SLESWIC. Although 
 the inland parts of this country have large 
 tracts of heath and barren fields, yet the 
 fertility of its coafts, its advantageous fitu- 
 ation between the ocean and the Baltic, the 
 number and convenience of its harbours, 
 and the large traffic which it carries on, have 
 enriched many of its cities, and rendered it 
 an agreeable and flourishing province -f- . 
 
 What I have faid of the dutchy of Slef- 
 wic is pretty nearly applicable to the dut- 
 chy of HOLSTEIN. This province is in 
 general rich, fertile, and populous J. Fat 
 B 4 and 
 
 * " The principal ci- " REN,andTcNNiNGEV, 
 
 * ties of Jutland are AL- " are cities of tolerable 
 
 * c BURG, NYCOPPING, " fize." Flrjl Edit. 
 
 " WYBURG, AARHU- % Lord Molefworth ob- 
 
 ec SEN, RANDERS, HOR- ferves, that this country 
 
 "SENS, WARDE, RIDE, very much refemblesENC- 
 
 FREDERICIA, COLD- LAND. Another traveller 
 
 ING, &c.'' Flrjl Edit. has remarked, that the in- 
 
 -j- '* SLESWIC, an an- habitants are in their per- 
 
 cient and confiderable Tons very like the ENG- 
 
 city, is the capital of LISH. See"Howeli's Let- 
 
 the dutchy. FLENS- ters," vol. i. fel. 6. lett. 4. 
 
 BURG hath an extenfive It feems this writer was at 
 
 commerce. FREDE- Rendfburg (or as he calls 
 
 RICKSTADT, TONDE- it Rainfburg) when the 
 
 CJiap. I. king
 
 (8 ) 
 
 and plentiful paftures; large and trading 
 cities fituate near together ; coafts abound- 
 ing in fifh, and a large river* which termi- 
 nated the province towards the fouth, form 
 its principal advantages -f*. 
 
 On the other fide of the Elb, after crof- 
 fing the country of Bremen, we find two 
 fmall provinces, which have been long 
 united to the crown of Denmark. Thefe 
 are the counties of OLDENBURG and DEL- 
 MEN HORST, which are comprized within 
 
 king of Denmark held an 
 afTembly of the ihtes there 
 in 1632. " Among other 
 " things, he fays, I put 
 *' myfelf to mark the car- 
 " riage of the Holftein 
 " gentlemen, as they were 
 <c going in and out at the 
 <* parliament-houfe : and 
 tl obferving well their phy- 
 " fiognomies, their com- 
 " plections, and gait ; I 
 ** thought verily I was in 
 " P.ngland ; for they re- 
 " femblethe Englifh more 
 " than either Welfli or 
 " Scot (though cohabiting 
 f( u-on the fame iflandj 
 "or any other people that 
 " ever I faw yet ; which 
 *' makes me verily believe, 
 " that the Englifli nation 
 *< came firft from this 
 *' lower circle of Saxony; 
 " and there is one thing 
 " that flrengthencth me 
 
 in this belief; that there 
 is an ancient town hard 
 by, called Lunden, and 
 an ifland called Angles; 
 * whence it may well be 
 that our country came 
 from Britannia to be 
 Anglia." This remark 
 is confirmed by the moft 
 diligent inquirers into this 
 fubjeft,whopla<;e the coun- 
 try of our Saxon anceftors 
 in the Cimbric Cherfonefe, 
 in the tracts of land fmce 
 known by the names of 
 Jutland, Angelen, and 
 Holftein. T. 
 
 * The Elb. 
 
 t " The kingofDen- 
 " mark pofleiTes here 
 " RF.NDSBURG, a very 
 " ftrong place, 'ALTON A, 
 " a town of grqat trade, 
 " and GLUCKERSTADT, 
 " a good fortification." 
 
 F'irjl Edit, 
 
 the
 
 (9) 
 
 the circle of Weftphalia, and have re- 
 ceived their names from their two principal 
 cities. 
 
 The temperature of the air is nearly the 
 fame in the greateft part of thefe provinces, 
 and, except in the north of Jutland, is much 
 milder than their fituation would incline one 
 to believe, being rarely fubject to very long 
 or rigorous cold. To comprehend this, 
 it will be fufficient to remind the rea- 
 der, of this general obfervation, that coun- 
 tries furrounded with the fea, have their 
 atmofphere loaded with vapours continually 
 exhaling from it, which break and blunt 
 the nitrous particles of the air, and foften 
 its rigours. When the flraits and gulphs, 
 which furround the Danifh iflands, become 
 frozen in very (harp winters, it is lefs ow- 
 fng to the prevalence of the froft there, 
 than to the large flakes of ice, which are 
 driven by the winds out of the northern 
 feas, and are there aflembled and united. 
 The fummer feafon commonly begins with 
 the month of May, and continues till Oc- 
 tober : and during its continuance, the 
 beauty of the country, the fremnefs and 
 Ihortnefs of the nights, and the convenience 
 of navigation in a country furrounded and 
 crofted by the fea, eaiily repair and make 
 the inhabitants forget the languors and in- 
 terruptions, which winter caufes in their 
 bufmefs and amufements. 
 
 Chap. I. If
 
 If travellers for the mod part have not 
 been very favourable in their accounts of 
 Denmark, they have been ftill lefs tender of 
 NORWAY. They have often confounded 
 it with Lapland, and have given defcrip- 
 tions of its inhabitants, and their man- 
 ners, which are hardly applicable to the 
 favages of that country. The notion that 
 is generally entertained of the extreme 
 coldnefs of the climate here is no lefs 
 unjuft. It is true, that in a kingdom 
 which extends thirteen degrees from north 
 to Ibuth, the temperature of the air cannot 
 every where be the fame : accordingly the 
 mofl northern parts of Norway, thofe 
 which face the eaft, and which are not 
 flickered by the mountains from the fury 
 of the north winds, are undoubtedly ex- 
 pofed to rigorous winters. But almoft all 
 that length of coaft, which is wafhed by 
 the fea towards the weft, and which forms 
 fo confiderable a part of Norway, com- 
 monly enjoys an air tolerably temperate, 
 even in the middle of winter. Here are 
 none of thole " defolate regions, where 
 " Winter hath eftablimed his eternal em- 
 " pire, and where he reigns among horrid 
 " heaps of ice and fnow," as ignorance 
 hath often led travellers, and a fondnefs for 
 the marvellous induced poets to fpeak of 
 Norway. It is feldom that a very marp 
 froft lafts there a fortnight or three weeks 
 
 together ;
 
 together -, it rains frequently at BERGEN in 
 the midft of winter*, and the ports of 
 Hamburg, Lubeck, and Amfterdam, are 
 locked up with froft ten times for once 
 that this city is fo expofed. In fhort, this 
 is an accident that doth not happen more 
 than two or three times in an age. The 
 vapours, which rife from the ocean, con- 
 tinually foften the fharpnefs of the cold ; 
 and it is only in the coafts of Iceland, Fin- 
 mark, and Greenland, that are found thofe 
 immenfe and eternal banks of ice, of which 
 voyagers make fuch a noife, and which, 
 when they are fevered, may fometimes float 
 along the coafts of Norway. 
 
 The greateft inconvenience to which this 
 vaft country is expofed, arifes without dif- 
 pute, from the inequality of the ground, 
 from it's being almoft entirely covered with 
 rocks and ftones, and croft every wny by high 
 and large mountains, which render a great 
 part of it wild and defert. There grow, not- 
 withftanding, feveral forts of grain in 
 many of the provinces, as in the UPLANDS, 
 the RYFOLKE, JEDEREN -f ; the reft 
 which have not this advantage may eafily 
 be fupplied from Jutland or the Danirfi 
 iflands, by means of the navigation. Various 
 
 * Sec PONTOPPIDAN'S og. Norg. Beflcrivelfe. 
 
 natural hiftory of Nor- [i. e. Defcription of Den- 
 
 >vay, vol. i. mark and Norway.] p. 36. 
 
 f HOLBERG'S Danm, & feqq. 
 
 Chap. I. products,
 
 ( 12) 
 
 products, with which this country abounds, 
 fufficiently compenfate for that difadvan- 
 tage. 
 
 The other nations of Europe cannot be 
 ignorant that great part of the pitch and tar, 
 of the mafts, planks, and different forts of 
 timber, which are every where ufed, come 
 from Norway. Thefe articles alone would 
 be fufficient to procure an eafy competence 
 for the inhabitants of the inland and eafterri 
 parts of this country. The weftern coafl 
 hath a refource not lefs rich or lefs certain, 
 in the prodigious abundance of its fifh. 
 Cod, falmon and herrings are no where 
 found in greater quantities. The Norwe- 
 gians fupply part of Europe with thefe; 
 and this fruitful branch of commerce be- 
 comes every day more extenfive by the care 
 of a wife adminiftration. The very moun- 
 tains of this country, which at firil: fight, 
 appear fo barren, often conceal great riches 
 in their bofoms. Some of them are intirc 
 quarries of fine marble, which the luxury 
 of all the cities of Europe could never ex- 
 hauft. In others are found jafper, cryftal 
 and fome precious flones ; feveral mines of 
 gold, though hitherto not very rich ; two 
 mines of filver by no means fcanty ; much 
 copper ; but above all fo great a quantity of 
 iron, that this fingle article brings almoft 
 as much money into the kingdom, as what 
 arifes from the fale of its timber. 
 
 At
 
 ( '3) 
 
 At the northern extremity of this ki'ng- 
 tlom and of Europe, dwells a people, which, 
 from the earlieft ages, have differed from 
 the other inhabitants of Scandinavia, in fi- 
 gure, manners, and language. This na- 
 tion, known by the name of FINNS, or 
 LAPLANDERS, not only poffefs the northern 
 parts of Norway, but alfo vaft countries in 
 Mufcovy and Sweden. They are a coarfe 
 and favage race of men, yet by no means 
 barbarous, if we underftand by this word 
 mifchievous and cruel. Such of them as 
 live upon the fea-coafts fupport themfelves 
 by fiming, and by a traffic they carry on 
 with a fort of little barks, which they make 
 and fell to the Norwegians. The reft wan- 
 der up and down in the mountains without 
 any fixed habitation, and gain a fcanty fub- 
 fiftence by hunting, by their pelteries, and 
 their rain-deer. Such of them as are neigh- 
 bours to the Norwegians have embraced 
 chriftianity, and are ibmewhat civilized by 
 their commerce with that people. The reft 
 live ftill in ignorance, not knowing fo much 
 as the names of the other nations of the 
 world; preferved by their poverty and their 
 climate from the evils which difturb the en- 
 joyments of more opulent countries. Their 
 whole religion confifts in fome confufed no- 
 tions of an invifible and tremendous being : 
 and a few fuperftitious ceremonies compoie 
 their worihip. They have no laws, and 
 
 Chap. I. fcarce
 
 fcarce any magistrates : yet have they great 
 .humanity, a natural foftnefs of difpofition, 
 and a very hofpitable temper. 
 
 They were nearly the fame in the time 
 of Tacitus. " The FINNS*," he fays, 
 *' live in extreme favagenefs, in fquallid 
 " poverty : have neither arms, nor fteeds, 
 " nor houfes. Herbs are their food, fkins 
 " their cloathing, the earth their bed. All 
 " their refource is their arrows, which 
 " they point with fifh-bones, for want of 
 " iron. Their women live by hunting, 
 <: as well as the men -f. For they every 
 " where accompany them, and gain their 
 " mare of the prey. A rude hovel fhelters 
 " their infants from the inclemencies of 
 " the weather, and the beafts of prey. 
 " Such is the home to which their young 
 " men return ; the afylum to which the 
 " old retire. This kind of life they think 
 " more happy, than the painful toils of 
 " agriculture, than the various labours of 
 " domeftic management, than that circle 
 " of hopes and fears, in which men are 
 " involved by their attention to the fortune 
 " of themfelves and others. Equally fe- 
 tf cure both as to gods and men, the Finns 
 
 * FENNI. TACIT. De . that herbs are their food : 
 
 raorib. Germ, ad fin. I fuppofe herbs were their 
 
 t This feems to con- ordinary food j flefh gain- 
 
 tradict the paflage above, ed by hunting their regale. 
 
 " have
 
 ( '5) 
 
 " have attained that rare privilege, not to 
 " form a (ingle wifh." 
 
 I ought not to feparate ICELAND from 
 Norway. This ifland, the largeft in Eu- 
 rope next to Great Britain, is furrounded 
 by that part of the northern fea, which 
 geographers have been pjeafed to call the 
 Deucalidonian ocean. Its length from eaft 
 to weft is about 112 Danifh miles (12 to 
 a degree) and its mean breadth may be 50 
 of thofe miles J. Nature itfelf hath marked 
 out the divifion of this country *. Two long 
 chains of mountains run from the middle of 
 the eaftern and weftern coafts, riling by de- 
 grees till they meet in the center of the ifland : 
 from whence two other chains of fmaller 
 hills gradually defcend till they reach the 
 coafts that lie north and fouth ; thus mak- 
 ing a primary divifion of the country into 
 four quarters (fierdingers) which are di- 
 ftinguifhed by the four points of the co'm- 
 pafs towards which they lie. 
 
 The whole ifland can only be confidered 
 as one vaft mountain, interfperfed with long 
 and deep vallies, concealing in its bofom 
 heaps of minerals, of vitrified and bitu- 
 minous fubftances, and rifing on all fides 
 out of the ocean in the form of a fhort 
 blunted cone -j~. 
 
 t About 560 Englifh p. 18. 6. 
 miles long, and 250 broad. f Vid. HORREBOW'* 
 
 T. Natural Hiftory of Ice- 
 
 * EGERH. OLAI E- land, paffim. 
 narrat. Hiftor. de Ifland. 
 
 Chap. I. Earth-
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 Earthquakes and volcanoes have thro' all 
 ages laid wade this unhappy ifland. Hecla, 
 the only one of thefe volcanoes, which is 
 known by name to the reft of Europe, feems 
 at prefent extinct; but the principles of 
 fire, which lie concealed all over the ifland, 
 often break out in other places. There have 
 been already within this century many erup- 
 tions, as dreadful, as they were unexpected. 
 From the bofom of thefe enormous heaps 
 of ice we have lately feen afcend torrents of 
 fmoke, of flame, and melted or calcined 
 fubftances, which fpread fire and inunda- 
 tion wide over the neighbouring fields, 
 whilft they filled the air with thick clouds, 
 and hideous roarings caufed by the melting 
 of fuch immenfe quantities of fnow and ice. 
 One meets almoft every where in travelling 
 through this country with marks of the 
 fame confufion and difbrder. One fees 
 enormous piles of fharp and broken rocks, 
 which are fometimes porous and half 
 calcined, and often frightful on account 
 of their blacknefs, and the traces of fire, 
 which they ftill retain. The clefts and 
 hollows of the rocks are only filled with 
 thofe hideous and barren ruins ; but in the 
 valleys, which are formed between the 
 mountains, and which are fcattered here 
 and there all over the ifland very often at 
 a confiderable diftance from each other, are 
 found very extenfive and delightful plains, 
 
 where
 
 ( -7) 
 
 xvhere nature, who always mingles Corns 
 allay with the rigour of her feverities, af- 
 fords a tolerable afylum for men who know 
 no better, and a moft plentiful and delicate 
 nourilhment for cattle. 
 
 I ought to beftow a word or two upon 
 another northern country dependent on the 
 kingdom of Norway, as well as Iceland, 
 but much more extenfive, more unknown, 
 and more favage : I mean GREENLAND, a 
 vaft country, which one knows not whe- 
 ther to call an illand or continent. It ex- 
 tends from the 6oth to the Scth degree of* 
 latitude ; farther than that men have not 
 penetrated. All that we can know for 
 certain of it is, that this country, little 
 known to geographers, ftretches away from 
 its fouthern point, named Cape Farewel, 
 continually widening both towards the eaft 
 and weft. The eaftern coaft in fome places 
 is not diftant more than 40 rniles from Ice- 
 land, but the ice, which furrounds it, or 
 other unknown caufes, make it now paf3 
 for inacceflable. Yet it was chiefly on this 
 coaft, that the Norwegians formerly efta- 
 bliihed a colony, as we fhall mow here- 
 after : a colony which at this time is either* 
 deftroyed, or perhaps only neglected, and 
 cut oft from all communication with the 
 reft of the world. With regard to the 
 weftern coaft, which alone is frequented by 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. I. C / the
 
 th-e Danes at prefent ; it is known no far- 
 ther than the yoth degree. It is very pro- 
 bable that on this fide, Greenland joins to 
 the continent of America. Yet no one 
 hath hitherto reached the bottom of the 
 Bay, or Straits of Davies. The Savages 
 whom the Danes have found on this coaft, 
 are not unlike the Laplanders in figure, yet 
 fpeak a language quite different from theirs. 
 They are fhort of feature, and thick-fet, 
 their vifage is broad and tawny, their lips 
 are thick, and their hair black and coarfe. 
 They are robuft, phlegmatic, incurious, 
 and even fhipid when their own intereft is 
 not immediately concerned. Yet their 
 children have been found capable of the 
 fame inflrudions, as thofe of Europeans. 
 They live without laws, and without fu- 
 periors, yet with great union and tranqui- 
 lity. They are neither quarrel fome, nor 
 mifchievous, nor warlike ; being greatly 
 afraid of thofe that are : and they keep fair 
 with the Europeans from this motive. 
 Theft, blows and murder are almoft un- 
 known to them. They are chafle before 
 marriage, and love their children tenderly. 
 Their nailinefs is fo great, that it renders 
 their hofpitality almoft ufelefs to Europe- 
 ans ; and their fimplicity hath not been 
 able to preferve them from having priefts, 
 who pals among them for enchanters, and 
 
 are
 
 ( '9) 
 
 arc in truth very great and dexterous cheats. 
 As to their religion it confifts in the belief 
 of certain good and evil Genii, and of a 
 Land of Souls, to which, however, they 
 pay little or no regard in their actions. 
 
 Chap. I. C 2 CHAP.
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 Of the firft Inhabitants of Denmark^ and 
 particularly of the Cimbri. 
 
 IT is ufelefs to enquire at what period 
 of time Denmark began to be inhabit- 
 ed. Such a refearch would doubtlefs lead 
 us up to an age when all Europe was plung- 
 ed in ignorance and barbarity. Thefe two 
 words include in them almofl all we know 
 of the hiftory of the firft ages. It is very- 
 probable, that the firft Danes were like all 
 the other Teutonic nations, a colony of 
 Scythians, who fpread themfelves at dif- 
 ferent times over the countries which lay 
 towards the weft. The refemblance of 
 name might induce us to believe that it 
 was from among the Cimmerian Scythians 
 (whom the ancients placed to the north 
 of the Euxine fea) that the firft colonies 
 were fent into Denmark ; and that from 
 this people they inherited the name of 
 Cimbri, which they bare fo long before 
 
 they
 
 ( 2' ) 
 
 they a/Turned that of Danes*. But this 
 refemblance of name, which many hifto- 
 rians produce as a folid proof, is liable to 
 ib many different explanations, that it is 
 better to acknowledge once for all, that 
 this fubject is as incapable of certainty, 
 as it is unworthy of refearch. 
 
 Whatever was the origin of the Cimbri, 
 they for a long time before the birth of 
 Chrift inhabited the country, which receiv- 
 ed from them the name of the Cimbrica 
 Cherfonefus *)-, and probably comprehend- 
 ed Jutland, Slefwic, and Holftein, and 
 perhaps fome of the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces. The ancients coniidered this peo- 
 ple as a branch of the Germans, and never 
 diftinguimed the one from the other in the 
 defcriptions they have left us of the man- 
 ners and cuftoms of that nation. The 
 hiftorical monuments of the north give us 
 ilill lefs information about them, and go 
 no farther back than the arrival of 
 Odin; the epoque of which, I am 
 
 * Thehiftcrians of the appears to have made ufe 
 
 .north do not inform us of it. We fhall fee below, 
 
 when this name began to what we are to think of 
 
 be in ufe. Among fo- the etymologies which 
 
 reign writers, PROCOPIUS have been given of this 
 
 %n author of the Vlth name, 
 
 century, is the firft who f Or Cimbric Peninfula. 
 
 Chjp, II. C 3 in-
 
 (22) 
 
 inclined to place, with the celebrated Tor- 
 faeus, about 70 years before the birth of 
 Chrift. All that pafledin Denmark before 
 that period would be intirely unknown to 
 us, if the famous expedition of the Cimbri 
 into Italy had not drawn upon them the 
 attention of a people who enjoyed the ad- 
 vantage of having hiftorians. It is a fingle 
 gleam, which for a moment throws light 
 upon the ages of obfcurity : fliort and tran- 
 iient as it is, let us neverthelefs catch it, 
 in order to difcover, if poffible, a feature 
 or two of the character of this people. 
 
 The hiflory of Rome informs us, that 
 in the confulmip of Caecilius Metellus and 
 Papirius Carbo, about one hundred and 
 eleven years before the Chriftian aera J, the 
 republic was agitated by inteftine divifions 
 which already began to threaten it's liberty, 
 when the intrigues of the feveral factions 
 were all at once fufpended by the fudden 
 news of an irruption of Barbarians. More 
 than three hundred thoufand men, known 
 by the name of Cimbri and Teutones, who 
 chiefly iflued from the Cimbric Cherfonefe 
 and the neighbouring iflands, had forfaken 
 their country to go in fearch of a more fa- 
 
 See PLUTARCH in T. Liv.epit 1.68. Flor. 
 Mario. OROS. 1.5. 1. 3. c. 30. 
 Vel. PATERCUL. 1. 2. J AnnoUrb, cond. 640. 
 
 vourable
 
 vourable climate, of plunder and glory. 
 They attacked and fubdued at once what- 
 ever people they found in their pafTage, and 
 as they met with no refiftance, refolved to 
 pufh their conquefts farther. The Gauls 
 were overwhelmed with this torrent, whole 
 courfe was for a long time marked by the 
 moft horrible defolation. Terror every 
 where went before them, and when it was 
 reported at Rome, that they were difpofed 
 to pafs into Italy, the confternation there 
 became general. The fenate dilpatched Pa- 
 pirius Carbo with an army to guard the paf- 
 fage of the Alps, deeming it a fufficient 
 degree of good fortune, if they could but 
 preferve Italy from thefe formidable guefts. 
 But, as they took a different rout, and 
 flopped fome time on the banks of the Da- 
 nube, the Romans refumed courage, and 
 condemning their former fears, fent in a 
 menacing tone to the Cimbri, to bid them 
 take care not to difturb the Norici their al- 
 lies. At the fame time, the Cimbri being 
 informed that a Roman army approached 
 them, and refpecling the character of the 
 Republic, fent ambaffadors to the Conful 
 Papirius, " to excufe themfelves, foraf- 
 " much as having come from the remote 
 ' parts of the north, they could not pof- 
 " iibly know that the Norici were the 
 " allies of the Romans :" adding ; " that 
 Chap. II. C 4 " they
 
 ct they only knew it to be a received law 
 <f among all nations, that the conqueror 
 " hath a right to whatever he can acquire : 
 " and that the Romans themfelves had no 
 st other pretenfions to moft of the countries 
 tf they had fubdued, than what was found- 
 " ed on the fvvord. That they had how- 
 " ever, a great veneration for the Roman 
 ff people, on account of their virtue and 
 " bravery ; in confideration of which, al- 
 (f though they knew not what it was to 
 " fear, they con fen ted to leave the Norici 
 " in peace, and to employ their valour in 
 f ' fome other quarter, where they could do 
 " it without incurring the difpleafure of 
 ft the common- wealth." Satisfied with fo 
 moderate an anfwer, the conful fuffered 
 them quietly to remove ; but when the 
 Cimbri were retired into Dalmatia, and ex- 
 pected nothing lefs than hofl ilities from the 
 Romans : a party of thefe commanded by 
 Carbo, furprized them by night, afleep and 
 unarmed. Thefe brave warriors full of in- 
 dignation, flew to their arms, and defend- 
 ed themfelves with fo much intrepidity, 
 that they wrefted the victory out of their 
 enemies hands, and forced them to feek 
 their fafety by flight. But although the 
 Romans almoft all efcaped the vengeance 
 of their enemies, this defeat was not the 
 lefs fatal to the republic -, for the fplendour 
 
 and
 
 and reputation which it added to the arms 
 of the Cimbri, drew on all fides under 
 their banners fuch nations as were either 
 impatient of the Roman yoke, or jealous 
 of their incroachments : particularly the 
 Tigurini and Ambrones, two people ori- 
 ginally of Helvetia. With thefe new auxi- 
 liaries, they overwhelmed Gaul a fecond 
 time, and advancing to the foot of the 
 Pyrenees, endeavoured to eftablifh them- 
 felves in Spain : bat meeting with a vigo- 
 rous repulfe from the Celtiberians, and tired 
 of fo many unprofitable invafions, they fenta 
 new embafly to the Romans, to offer them 
 their fervices, upon condition they would 
 give them lands to cultivate. The Senate 
 too prudent to enter into any kind of ac- 
 commodation with fuch dangerous enemies, 
 and already divided among themfelves about 
 the diftribution of lands, returned a diredl 
 refufal to their demand. Upon which the 
 Cimbri refolved to feize by force what they 
 could not gain- by intreaty, and immediately 
 fell with 16 much fury upon the new con- 
 ful Silanus, who had received orders to 
 march againft them, that they forced his 
 intrenchments, pillaged his camp, and cut 
 all his army in pieces. This victory was 
 foon after followed by another, which their 
 allies the Ambrones gained over Caffius 
 konginus at the mouth of the Rhone $ and 
 Chap. II. to
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 to compleat the misfortune, a third army 
 of Romans more confiderable than the two 
 former, was foon after entirely defeated. 
 Scaurus, who commanded it, was made 
 prifoner, and afterwards put to death ; his 
 two fons were flain, and more than four- 
 fcore thoufand of the Romans and their 
 allies were left dead in the field. Laft of 
 all, two other generals, the conful Man- 
 lius, and the proconful Caepio, to whom 
 had been intrufted a fourth army already 
 half vanquifhed with fear, and who were 
 difunited and jealous of each other, were 
 attacked near the Rhone, each of them in 
 his camp, and entirely defeated. 
 
 Such repeated lofles filled Rome with 
 grief and terror; and many began to def- 
 pair even of the fafety of the ftate. In 
 this melancholy conjuncture, minds lefs 
 firm than thofe of thefe fpirited Repub- 
 licans, would doubtlefs, have fuggefted the 
 imprudent meafure of granting to the con- 
 querors conditions capable of foftening 
 them : they would have given them at once 
 the lands they had required, or perhaps 
 have purchafed their friendship with a fum 
 of money. This dangerous policy would 
 probably have ruined Rome in this exi- 
 gence, as it did fome ages after. The 
 Gauls, the Germans, and the Scythians, 
 poor and greedy nations, who gafped after 
 
 nothing
 
 (27) 
 
 nothing but flaughter and booty, roving 
 and warlike as well by inclination as ne- 
 ceffity, would have harafled by continual 
 inroads, a people which had let them fee 
 that they were at once richer and weaker 
 than themfelves. The prudent firmnefs of 
 the Senate, and the valour of Marius faved 
 Rome for this time from the danger under 
 \vhichitafterwardsfunk. All thecitizensnow 
 turned their eyes towards the conqueror of 
 Jugurtha, as their laft and only fupport. 
 They decreed him confular honours for the 
 fourth time, and aflbciated with him Ca- 
 tulus Ludtatius, a perfon fcarcely inferior 
 to him in military {kill, and who far ex- 
 celled him in all the other qualities, which 
 make a great ftatefman. 
 
 Marius having quickly difcovered that 
 the ill fuccefs of his predeceflbrs was the 
 effect of their imprudence, formed to him- 
 felf a very different plan of conduct. In 
 particular, he refolved not to join battle 
 with the enemy, till their furious ardour was 
 abated, and till his foldiers familiarized to 
 the fight of them, fhould no longer con- 
 fider themfelves as conquered before 
 they came to blows. Their former victo- 
 ries, their tallnefs of flature, rendered ftill 
 more terrible by their drefs, their ferocious 
 air, their barbarous fhouts, and unufual 
 manner of fighting, had all contributed to 
 
 Chap. II. {hike
 
 { 28) 
 
 ftrike the Romans with the greateft terror; 
 and this terror was the firfl enemy he had 
 to encounter; an enemy which time 
 alone could fubdue. With this view, Ma- 
 rius judged it necefTary to encamp on the 
 banks of the Rhone, in a iituation natu- 
 rally advantageous, where he laid in all 
 forts of proviSons in great abundance, that 
 he might not be compelled to engage before 
 he favv a convenient opportunity. This 
 coolnefs of the general was regarded by 
 thofe Barbarians, as a mark of cowardice. 
 They refolved, therefore, to divide them- 
 felves into different bodies, and fo penetrate 
 into Italy. The Cimbri and Tigurini went 
 to meet Catulus 3 the Ambrones and Teu- 
 tones hoping to provoke the Romans to 
 fight,, came. and encamped in a plain full in 
 their front. But nothing could induce 
 Marius to change his refolution. 
 
 Neverthelefs, thefe Barbarians infulted 
 the Romans inceflantly by every means they 
 could devife : they advanced as far as the 
 very intrenchments of their camp, to re- 
 proach and deride them ; they challenged 
 the officers and the general himfelf to 
 fingle combat. The Roman foldiers were 
 by degrees accuftomed to look their ene- 
 mies in the face, while the provocations 
 they received every day, more and more 
 whetted their refentment. Many of them 
 
 even
 
 ( 29 ) 
 
 even broke out into reproaches againft Ma- 
 rius for appearing fo much to diitruft their 
 courage ; and this dexterous general to ap- 
 peaie them, had recourfe to a Syrian pro- 
 phetefs in his camp, who allured them 
 that the Gods did not yet approve of their 
 fighting. 
 
 At length, the patience of the Teutones 
 was exhaufted, and they endeavoured to 
 force the Roman intrenchments ; but here 
 they were repulfed with lofs : upon which,, 
 they refolved to abandon their camp, and 
 attempt an irruption into Italy. They filed 
 off for fix days together in the prefence of 
 Marius's army, infulting his foldiers with 
 the moft provoking language, and afking 
 them, if they had any mefTage to fend to 
 their wives, whom they hoped foon to fee. 
 Marius heard all thefe bravados witl> his 
 accuftomed coolnefs ; but when their whole 
 army was pafied by, he followed them as 
 far as Aix in Provence, haraffing their 
 rear-guard without intermiffion. When he 
 was arrived at this place, he halted, in or- 
 der to let his foldiers enjoy what they had 
 ardently defired fo long, a pitched battle. 
 They began with fkirmifhing on both fides, 
 till the fight infenfibly growing more fc- 
 rious, at length both armies made the 
 moft furious attacks. Thirty thoufand Am- 
 brones advanced firft, marching in a kind 
 Chap. IL of
 
 (3) 
 
 of meafure to the found of their inftru- 
 ments. A body of Ligurians, fupported 
 by the Romans, repulfed them with great 
 lofs : but as they betook themfelves to 
 flight, their wives came forth to meet them 
 with fwords and hatchets in their hands, 
 and bitterly reproaching them, and finking 
 indifcriminately friend and foe, endeavour- 
 ed to fnatch with their naked hands the 
 enemies weapons, maintaining an invin- 
 cible firmnefs even till death. This firft 
 action raifed the courage of the Romans, 
 and was the prelude to a victory ftill more 
 decifive. 
 
 After the greateft part of the Ambrones 
 had perimed in that day's action, Marius 
 caufed his army to retire back to his camp, 
 ordering them to keep ftrict watch, and to 
 lye clofe without making any movement; 
 as if they were affrighted at their own 
 victory. On the other hand, in the camp 
 of the Teutones were heard continual 
 bowlings, like to thofe of favage beafts -, 
 fo hideous, that the Romans, and even 
 their general himfelf could not help teftify- 
 ing their horror. They notwithstanding 
 lay quiet that, night, and the day following, 
 being bufily employed in preparing all 
 things for a fecond engagement. Marius, 
 on his part, took all neceflary precautions ; 
 he placed in an ambufcade three thoufand 
 4 men
 
 (3' ) 
 
 men commanded by Marcellus, with or- 
 ders to attack the enemy in the rear, as 
 foon as they mould perceive the battle was 
 begun. When both armies were come 
 within fight of each other, Marius com- 
 manded his cavalry to difmount ; but the 
 Teutones hurried on by that blind impetuo- 
 fity which diftinguimes all barbarous na- 
 tions, inftead of waiting till the Romans 
 were come down into the plain, attacked 
 them on an eminence where they were ad- 
 vantageouily ported. At the fame inftant, 
 Marcellus appeared fuddenly behind with 
 his troops, and hemming them in, threw 
 their ranks into diforder, fo that they were 
 quickly forced to fly. Then the victory 
 declared itfelf entirely in favour of the 
 Romans, and a moft horrible carnage en- 
 fued. If we may take literally what 
 fome of the Roman hiftorians have * re- 
 lated, there periihed more than a hundred 
 thoufand Teutones including the prifoners. 
 Others content themfelves with faying, 
 that the number of the {lain was incredible ; 
 that the inhabitants of Marfeilles for a long 
 time after, made inclofures for their gar- 
 dens and vineyards with the bones ; and 
 that the earth thereabouts was fo much 
 fattened, that its increafe of produce was 
 
 * See Plutarch's Life of Marius. 
 
 Chap. II. pro-
 
 (SO 
 
 prodigious. Marius loaded with glory, after 
 a victory fo illuflrious in itfelf, and fo im- 
 portant in its confequences, was a fifth time 
 honoured with the confular fafces -, but he 
 would not triumph till he had fecured the 
 repofe of Italy, by the entire defeat of all 
 the Barbarians. The Cimbri, who had fe- 
 parated themfelves from the Teutones, ftill 
 threatened its fafety. They had penetrated 
 as far as the banks of the Adige ; which 
 Catulus Ludtatius was not flrong enough 
 to prevent them from croffing. The pro- 
 grefs they made ftill caufed violent alarms 
 in Rome; Marius was charged to raife a 
 new army with the utmoft fpeed, and to go 
 and engage them. The Cimbri had halted 
 near the Po, in hopes that the Teutones, 
 of whofe fate they were ignorant, would 
 quickly join them. Wondering at the delay 
 of thefe their aflbciates, they fentto Marius a 
 fecond time, to demand an allotment of 
 land, fufficient to maintain themfelves, and 
 the Teutones their brethren. Marius an- 
 fwered them, that " iheir brethren already 
 <c poiTefled more than they defired, and that 
 " they would not eaiily quit, what he had 
 " affigned them." The Cimbri irritated 
 by this raillery, inflantly refolved to take 
 ample vengeance. 
 
 They prepared immediately for battle, 
 
 and their king or general, named Bojorix, 
 
 i ap-
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 approached the Roman camp with a fmail 
 party of horfe, to challenge Marius, and 
 to agree with him on a day and place of 
 action. Marius anfwered, that although 
 it was not the cuftom of the Romans to 
 confult their enemies on this fubje<5t, he 
 would notwithstanding for once oblige 
 them, and therefore appointed the next 
 day but one, and the plain of Verceil for 
 their meeting. At the time appointed, 
 the two armies marched thither ; the Ro- 
 mans ranged themfelves in two wings : Ca- 
 tulus commanded a body of twenty thou- 
 fand men, and Sylla was in the number of 
 his officers. The Cimbri formed with their 
 infantry an immenfe fquare batallion : their 
 cavalry, confiding of fifteen thousand men, 
 was magnificently mounted ; each ibldier 
 bore upon his helmet the head of fome 
 favage beaft, with its mouth gaping wide ; 
 an iron cuirafs covered his body, and he 
 carried a long halberd in his hand. The 
 extreme heat of the weather was very fa- 
 vourable to the Romans. They had been 
 careful to get the fun on their backs ; while 
 the Cimbri little accuftomed to its violence, 
 had it in their faces. Befides this, the duil 
 hid from the eyes of the Romans the 
 aftonifhing multitude of their enemies, fo 
 that they fought with the more confidence, 
 and of courfe more courage. The Cim- 
 VoL.I. Chap. I r. D bri,
 
 ( 34) 
 
 . bri, exhaufted and difpirited, were quickly 
 routed. A precaution, which they had 
 taken to prevent their being difperfed, only 
 ferved to forward their ruin : they had 
 linked the foldiers of the foremoft ranks to 
 one another with chains -, in thefe they were 
 entangled, and thereby expofed the more to 
 the blows of the Romans. Such as could fly, 
 met with new dangers in their camp ; for 
 their women who fat upon their chariots, 
 clothed in black, received them as enemies, 
 and malTacred without diftinction their fa- 
 thers, brothers and hufbands : they even car- 
 ried their rage to fuch a height, as to dam out 
 the brains of their children ; and compleated 
 the tragedy, by throwing themfelves under 
 their chariot wheels. After their example, 
 their hufbands in defpair turned their arms 
 againft one another, and feemed to join 
 with the Romans in promoting their own 
 defeat. In the dreadful Daughter of that 
 day, a hundred and twenty thoufand are 
 faid to have perimed ; and if we except a 
 few families of the Cimbri, which remain- 
 ed in their own country, and a fmall num- 
 ber who efcaped, one may fay, that this 
 fierce and valiant nation was all mowed 
 down at one fingle ftroke. This laft vic- 
 tory procured Marius the honours of a 
 triumph, and the fervices he thereby ren- 
 derdd the commonwealth appeared fo great, 
 2 that
 
 ( 35) 
 
 that he received the glorious title of third 
 founder of Rome. 
 
 Thus have we given in a few words, 
 what hiftorians relate of the expedition of 
 the Cimbri ; it drew upon them for a mo- 
 ment, the attention of all Europe. But 
 as literature, and the fine arts, can alone 
 give Lifting fame to a nation, and as we 
 eafily lofe the remembrance of thofe evils 
 we no longer fear, this torrent was no 
 foqner withdrawn within its ancient bounds, 
 but the Romans themfelves loft fight of it, 
 fo that we fcarcely find any farther mention 
 of the Cimbri in any of their writers. 
 Strabo only informs us, that they after- 
 wards fought the friendship of Auguflus, 
 and fent for a prefent a vafe, which they 
 made ufe of in their facrifices ; and Taci- 
 tus tells us, in one word *, that the Cim- 
 bri had nothing left but a celebrated name, 
 and a reputation as ancient as it was ex- 
 tenfive. 
 
 Thus whatever figure this expedition 
 made, we know but little the more of the 
 nation which fent it forth. Neverthelefs, 
 what is related of their tall ftature and fe- 
 rocity deferves to be remarked, becaufe if we 
 may believe all the antient hiftorians of the 
 
 * Parva nunc civitas, fama late "jejllgia ma-i-^ft 
 fed gloria ingcns^ veterifque Tacit. Germ. c. 37. 
 
 Chap. II. D 2 north,
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 north, and even many among the moderns, 
 Scandinavia was peopled only with giants 
 in thdie remote ages, which precede the 
 epoque of hiftory. The Icelandic mytho- 
 logy, which I mall have more than once 
 occafion to quote, relates very exactly all 
 the engagements, which the giants had with 
 thofe Scythians, whom Odin brought with 
 him out of Afia. 
 
 They pretend that this monftrous race 
 fubfifted for a long time in the mountains 
 and ferefts of Norway, where they con- 
 tinued even down to the ninth century ; 
 that they fled from the open day, and re- 
 nounced all commerce with men, living 
 only with thofe of their own fpecies in the 
 folitudes and cliffs of the rocks ; that they 
 fed on human rlefh, and clothed themfelves 
 in the raw jfkins of wild beads ; that they 
 were fo /killed in magic, as to be able to faf- 
 cinate the eyes of men, and prevent them 
 from feeing the objects before them ; yet 
 v. crc at the lame time fuch religious obfervers 
 of their word, that their fidelity hath pafled 
 into a proverb * ; that in procefs of time, 
 they intermixed with the women of our 
 fpecies, and produced demi-giants, who 
 approaching nearer and nearer to the hu- 
 man race, at length became mere men, like 
 
 * Trolhram TV 
 
 our-
 
 ( 37) 
 
 oarfelves -f. If all thefe circumftances 
 are compared and examined, we mall 
 find no great difficulty in clearing up the 
 truth. When Odin and his companions 
 came to eftablifh themfelves in the north, 
 there is no doubt but the Cimbri, or ori- 
 ginal inhabitants of the country, would 
 lloutly difpute the poffeflion of it with 
 them. Afterwards when they were con- 
 quered and driven out, the remains of this 
 barbarous nation would be apt to take re- 
 fuge among the rocks and defarts, where 
 their rough and favage way of living J 
 could not but increafe their native ferocity. 
 The fear of being difcovered by the con- 
 querors, reduced them to the necefiity of 
 feeking by night the only provillons that 
 were left them ; and as their tallnefs of ila- 
 ture, their cloathing of fkins, and their 
 favage air could not fail ibmetimes to make 
 
 f TORF. Hift. Norveg. fon, fays, " that he was 
 
 Tom. i. Lib.' 3'. cap. 4 " fo well clothed, that 
 
 ARNG. JON. Crymogria. 4C you would take him for 
 
 Lib. i. p. 44. " one of the [AsEs] A- 
 
 J The Afiatics brought ** fiatics." P. 3. cap. 10. 
 
 with them into the north, p. 102. apud Sperling, in 
 
 a degree of luxury and nov. liter. M. 13. an. 1699. 
 
 magnificence^ which were M. Jim. Hence proceeded 
 
 before unknown there. their contempt for the an- 
 
 The author of an old It- cient inhabitants of the 
 
 landic chronicle, intitl- country, who were worfe 
 
 ed, LAN'ONA-MA-SAGA, clad and lefs civilized than 
 
 fpeakingof a certain per-r themfelv^s. 
 
 . II. D 3 their 
 
 47M8
 
 ( 33) 
 
 their conquerors tremble; that hatred which 
 is always mixed with fear, may have given 
 birth to the charge of their being canibals 
 and magicians. Excefs of fear fafcinates 
 and dazzles the fight more certainly than 
 the forceries of which they were accufed : 
 and their enemies may have encouraged 
 this opinion partly through fuperftition, 
 and partly to fet off their own courage. 
 The probity for which this people was fo 
 famous, proves pretty plainly that the pic- 
 ture was over-charged. In prccefs of time, 
 the fubjecl of thefe ancient wars was for- 
 gotten ; love performed the office of me- 
 diator between both people, their mutual 
 fhynefs infenfibly wore off, and as foon as 
 they began to fee one another more near- 
 ly, all thefe prodigies vanished away. 
 
 After all, I do not pretend to decide 
 whether the firft inhabitants of thefe coun- 
 tries were all of them, without any mixture, 
 of Germanic origin, Cimbri and Teuto- 
 nes. For although to me this appears very 
 probable with regard to Denmark, it can- 
 not be denied that the Finns and Lap- 
 landers anciently poflefTed a much more con- 
 fiderable part of Scandinavia than they do 
 at prefent. This was the opinion of Gro- 
 tius and Leibnitz. According to them, 
 thefe people were formerly fpread over the 
 fouthern parts of Norway and Sweden, 
 
 whence
 
 ( 39) 
 
 whence in procefs of time, they have been 
 driven out by new colonies of Scythians 
 and Germans, and banimed among the 
 northern rocks ; in like manner as the an- 
 cient inhabitants of Britain have been dif- 
 pofTefled by the Saxons of the greateft and 
 moft pleafant part of their ifland, and con- 
 ftrained to conceal themielves among the 
 mountains in Wales, where to this day, 
 they retain their language, and preferve 
 fome traces of their ancient manners. But 
 whether the Finlanders were formerly the 
 in tire pofTeffors of Scandinavia, or were 
 only fomewhat more numerous than they 
 are at prefent, it is very certain that this 
 nation hath been eftablimed there from the 
 earlieft ages, and hath always differed from 
 the other inhabitants of the north, by fea- 
 tures fo ftrong and remarkable, that we 
 muft acknowledge their original to be as 
 different from that of the others, as it is 
 utterly unknown to us. The language of 
 the Finns hath nothing in common with 
 that of any neighbouring people, neither 
 doth it referable any dialect of the ancient 
 ' Gothic,' Celtic or Sarmatian tongues, 
 which were formerly the only ones that 
 prevailed among the barbarous people of 
 Europe. The learned, who have taken 
 the pains to compare the great Finland bible 
 printed at Abo, with a multitude of others, 
 Chap, II. D 4 could
 
 ( 40) 
 
 could never find the leaft refemblance be- 
 tween this and any other known language *j 
 fo that after all their refearches on this 
 head, they have been obliged to propofe 
 mere conjectures, among which mankind 
 are divided according to the particular light 
 in which every one views the fubjecl:. 
 
 , * Stiernhelm, a learn^ 
 ed Swede, thought hedif- 
 covcred in the Finland 
 tongue, many Hungarian 
 words, and ftill more 
 Greek ones. (Vid. Prx- 
 fat. in Evangel. Gothica 
 
 167 r. 410,) But what the 
 author lays above, may be 
 notwithftancfing true of 
 the general ftructureofthe 
 language ; and Stiernhelm 
 was probably fanciful. 
 
 C II A P-
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The grounds of the ancient hi/lory of Den- 
 mark) and of the different opinions con- 
 cerning it. 
 
 ON whatever fide we direct our in- 
 quiries concerning the firft inhabi- 
 tants of Denmark, I believe nothing certain 
 can be added to the account given of them 
 above. It is true, if we will take for our 
 guides certain modern authors, our know- 
 ledge will not be confined within fuch 
 fcanty limits. They will lead us ftep by 
 flep through an uninterrupted fucceffion of 
 kings and judges, up to the firft ages of the 
 world, or at leaft to the deluge : and there, 
 receiving the defcendants of Noah, as foon 
 as they let foot out of the ark, will conduct 
 them acrofs the vaft extent of deferts into 
 Scandinavia, in order to found thofe ftates 
 and kingdoms, which fublift at prefent. 
 Such is the fcheme of Petreius, Lyfchander, 
 and other authors, who have followed what 
 is called, among Danilh hiftorians, the 
 Chap. III. Gothlandic
 
 ( 42 ) 
 
 Gothlandic hypothecs *, becatife it is built 
 upon fome pretended monuments found in 
 the ifle of Gothland on the coaft of Swe- 
 den : monuments which bear fo many 
 marks of impofition, that at prefent they 
 are by common confent thrown afidc 
 among the moft ill-concerted impoftures. 
 
 The celebrated Rudbeck, a learned 
 Swede, zealous for the glory of his coun- 
 trymen, hath endeavoured no lefs to pro- 
 cure THEM the honour of a very remote 
 original; as if, after all, it were of any 
 confequence, whether a people, who lived 
 before us fo many ages, and of whom we 
 retain only a vain refentblance of name, 
 were po^elled fooner or later of thofe 
 countries, which we quietly enjoy at pre- 
 fent. As this author joined to the mod 
 extenfive learning an imagination emi- 
 nently fruitful, he wanted none of the ma- 
 
 * PETREIUS is a Da- " times." The argu- 
 
 nifh author of the i6th ments on which thefe au- 
 
 century : LYSCHANDER thors found their accounts 
 
 was hiftoriographer to did not merit the pains, 
 
 king Chriftian IV. His which Torfaeus and others 
 
 work, printed in Den- have taken to refute them, 
 
 mark at Copenhagen in The reader may confult, 
 
 1662, bears this title : on this fubjeft, the laft- 
 
 " An abridgment of the cited writer in his " Series 
 
 " Danifh hiilories from " of kings of Denmark." 
 
 ' the beginning of the Lib. i. c. 8. 
 4 * world to our own 
 
 terials
 
 (43 ) 
 
 terials for ere&ing plaufible and frivolous 
 fyftems. He hath found the art to apply 
 to his own country a multitude of pafTages 
 in ancient authors, who probably had never 
 fo much as heard of its name. According 
 to him Sweden is the Atlantis of which 
 Plato fpeaks, and for this reafon he af- 
 fumed that word for the title of his book., 
 He makes no doubt but Japhet himfelf 
 came thither with his family, and he un- 
 dertakes to prove the antiquity of the 
 Scandinavians by the expeditions, which 
 according to him they have undertaken in 
 the remoteft ages *. The firft of thefe he 
 places in the time of Serug, in the year of 
 the world 1900 : the fecond under the di- 
 rection of Hercules in the interval between 
 the years 2200, and 2500. He lays great 
 ftrefs upon the conformity which is found 
 between the names, manners and cuftoms 
 of certain nations of the South and thofe 
 of the North, to prove that the former had 
 been fubdued by the latter; which he af- 
 firms could never have been done, if Scan- 
 dinavia had not been for a long time back 
 overcharged, as it were, with the number 
 of its inhabitants. It doubtlefs cannot be 
 expected that I mould go out of my way to 
 encounter fuch an hypothefis, as this : it is 
 
 * See Ol. Rudbedk, Atlantica, cap. xxxv. 
 Chap. III. very
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 very evident that Rudbeck and his followers 
 have falfely attributed to the Goths of Scan- 
 dinavia, whatever the Greek or Latin hifto- 
 rians have faid of the Getae, or Goths, 
 who dwelt near the Euxine fea, and 
 were doubtlefs the anceftors of thofe 
 people, who afterwards founded colonies 
 in the North. And as to the arguments 
 brought from a refemblance of names, we 
 know how little thefe can be depended on. 
 Proofs of this kind are eafily found where- 
 ever they are fought for, and never fail to 
 offer themfelves in fupport of any fyflem 
 our heads are full of. 
 
 Having thus fet aiide thefe two pretended 
 guides, there only remains to chufe between 
 Saxo Grammaticus* and ThermodTorfaeus. 
 
 The 
 
 * SAXO, fill-named on who engaged him to write 
 
 account of his learning, the hiftory of Denmark; 
 
 Grammaticus, or The for which he furniihed 
 
 Grammarian, wrote about him with various helps. 
 
 the middle of the I2th Saxo's \vork is divided in- 
 
 century, under the reigns to XVI books, and hath 
 
 of Valdemar theFirftand been many times printed. 
 
 Canute his fon. He was Stephanius published a 
 
 provoft of the cathedral very good edition of it at 
 
 church of Rofchild, then Sora, in the year 1664, 
 
 the capital of the kine- with notes which difplay 
 
 dom. It was. the cele- a great profufion of learn- 
 
 brated Abfalon, archbi- ing. SWENO, the fon of 
 
 {hop of Lund, one of the Agg> contemporary with 
 
 greateft men of his time, Saxo, wrote alfo, at the 
 
 r fame
 
 (45 ) 
 
 The firft of thefe fuppofes that a certain 
 perfon, named Dan, of whom we know 
 nothing but that his father was named 
 Humble, and his brother Angul, was the 
 founder of the Danifh monarchy, in the 
 year of the world 2910 : that from him 
 Cimbria aflumed the name of Denmark ; 
 and that it hath been ever fince governed by 
 his pofterity. Saxo himfelf takes care to 
 give us, in his preface, the grounds on 
 which his account is founded. Thefe are, 
 firft, the ancient hymns or fongs, by which 
 the Danes formerly preferved the memory 
 of the great exploits of their heroes, the 
 wars and moft remarkable events of each 
 reign, and even fometimes the genealogies 
 of princes and famous men. Secondly, the 
 infcriptions which are found up and down 
 in the North, engraven on rocks and other 
 durable materials. He alfo lays great ftrefs 
 on the Icelandic chronicles ; and on the re- 
 lations which he received from archbiiliop 
 Abfalon. It cannot be denied but Saxo's 
 
 fame time, and by the particular concerning the 
 command of the fame founder of the monarchy, 
 prelate, a hiilory of Den- who, according to him, 
 mark which is {till extant. was Skiold the fon of 
 But this author feems ra- Odin, the fame who, ae- 
 ther to lean to the Ice- cording to the Icelandic 
 landic hypothecs ; for he chronicles, was the firft 
 differs from Saxo in many king of Denmark, 
 cjfiential points, and in 
 
 Chap. II J. 7 work
 
 (46) 
 
 work is written with great elegance for the 
 time in which it was compofed, but the 
 rhetorician and the patriot are every where 
 fo apparent, as to make us fometimes diftruft 
 the fidelity of the hiftorian. In fhort, to be 
 convinced that this high antiquity, which 
 he attributes to the Danifh monarchy, is 
 extremely uncertain, we need only examine 
 the authorities on which he builds his hy- 
 potheiis. Torfaeus *, a native of Iceland, 
 and hifloriographer of Norway, hath (hewn 
 this at large in his learned " Series of kings 
 w of Denmark." He there proves that 
 thofe fongs, from which Saxo pretends to 
 have extracted part of what he advanced, 
 are in very fmall number -, that he can quote 
 none of them for many entire books of his 
 hiftory ; and that they cannot exhibit a 
 chronological feries of kings, nor afcertain 
 
 * THERMCDiusToR- tie too credulous, efpeci- 
 FJEUS, who was born in ally where he takes for 
 Iceland, in the laft cen- his guides the ancient 
 tury, and died about the Icelandic hiftorians, upon 
 beginning of the prefent, whofe authority he hath 
 had received his educa- filled the firft volumes of 
 tion at Copenhagen, and his hiftqry of Norway 
 pafied the greateft part of with many incredible e- 
 his life in Norway. He vents. His trcatife of the 
 was a man of great inte- Series of the Princes and 
 grity and diligence, and Kings of Denmark con- 
 extremely converfant in tains many curious re- 
 the antiquities of the fearches, and feems to me 
 North, but perhaps a lit- to be his beft work. 
 
 the
 
 (47) 
 
 the date of any one event. Nor could the 
 infcriptions, adds he, afford greater affift- 
 ance to that hiftorian ; they contain very 
 few matters of importance, they are for the 
 moil part eaten away with time, and are 
 very difficult to underftand*. With re- 
 gard to the Icelandic chronicles, Torfasus 
 thinks that they might have been of great 
 life to Saxo, had he often confulted them ; 
 but this, notwithitanding his aifertions, 
 does not fufficiently appear, fince they 
 rarely agree with his relations. Finally, 
 the recitals of archbifhopAbfalon are doubt- 
 lefs of great weight for the times near 
 to thofe, in which that learned prelate 
 lived ; but we do not fee from whence he 
 could have drawn any information of what 
 pafled a long time before him. Upon the 
 whole, therefore, Torfseus concludes, with 
 
 * WORMIUS had read 
 almft all thofe which are 
 found in Denmark and 
 Norway, as Verelius had 
 alfo done the greateft part 
 of thofe which fubfifted, 
 in his time, in Sweden. 
 Both of them agree, that 
 they fcarce throw any 
 light upon ancient hiftory. 
 To be convinced of this, 
 one need only to examine 
 the copies and explana- 
 tions they have given of 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 them. See " OLAI 
 
 " WORMII Monuments. 
 " Pvunica." Lib. iv. and 
 " OLAI VERELII Ru- 
 " nagraphia Scandica an- 
 
 " tiqua," &c. Since 
 
 Verclius'swork, there hath 
 been publilfhed a com pleat 
 collection of all the in- 
 fcriptions found in Swe- 
 den, by JOHN GORANS- 
 SON ; at Stockholm- 
 1750. Folio. 
 
 reafon,
 
 (48) 
 
 reafon, that Saxo's firft books, 'that is to 
 fay, nearly half his hiftory, fcarce deferve 
 any credit fo far as regards the fucceffion of 
 the kings, and the dates of the principal 
 events, although they abound with various 
 paffages, which contribute to throw light 
 on the antiquities of the North. Having 
 thus overturned the hypothefis of that an- 
 cient hiftorian, let us now fee whether Tor- 
 faeus is equally fuccefsful in creeling a new 
 one in its ftead. 
 
 The knowledge which this learned man 
 had of the old Icelandic language, enabled 
 him to read a confiderable number of an- 
 cient manufcripts, which have been found 
 in Iceland at different times, and of which 
 the greater! part relate to the hiftory of that 
 ifland and the neighbouring countries. Af- 
 ter having carefully diftinguifhed thofe 
 which appeared to him moil worthy of 
 credit, from a multitude of others which 
 ftrongly favoured of fiction and romance, 
 he thought he had found in the former, 
 materials for drawing up a compleat Series 
 of Danim kings, beginning with Skiold the 
 fon of Odin, who, according to him, began 
 his reign a fhort time before the birth of 
 Chrift. Thus he not only cuts off from 
 hiftory all the reigns which, according to 
 Saxo, preceded that aera j but he changes 
 alfo the order of the kings, which fucceeded 
 
 it;
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 it ; affirming that Saxo had one while in- 
 ferted foreign princes, another while lords 
 or powerful varTals ; that he had reprefented 
 as living long before Chrift fome who did 
 not reign till many years after ; and that, 
 in fhort, he hath vifibly inlarged his lift of 
 monarchs, whether with defign to flatter 
 his own nation by making the Danifh mo-" 
 narchy one of the mod ancient in the 
 world, or whether he only too creduloufly 
 followed the guides who feduced him. 
 
 It will appear pretty extraordinary to hear 
 a hiftorian of Denmark, cite for his authori- 
 ties, the writers of Iceland, a country cutoff, 
 as it were, from the reft of the world, and 
 lying almoft under the northern pole.- But 
 this wonder, adds Torfseus, will ceafe, when 
 the Reader mall be informed, that from the 
 earlieft times the inhabitants of that ifland 
 have had a particular fondnefs for hiftory, 
 and that from among them have fprung 
 thofe poets,, who* tinder the name of 
 SCALDS, rendered themfelves fo famous 
 throughout the North for their fongs, and 
 for the credit they enjoyed with kings and 
 people. In effec~l, the Icelanders have always 
 taken great care to pfeferve the remem- 
 brance of every remarkable event that hap- 
 pened not only at home, but among their 
 neighbours the Norwegians, the Danes, 
 the Swedes, the Scots, the Englilh, the 
 
 VOL, L Chap. III. E Green-
 
 Greenlanders, &c. The firft inhabitants 
 of Iceland were a colony of Norwegians, 
 who, to withdraw themfelves from the ty- 
 ranny of Harold Harfagre *, retired thither 
 in the year 874 ; and thefe might carry 
 with them the verfes and other historical 
 monuments of former times. Befides, they 
 kept up fuch a conftant intercourfe with 
 the other people of the North, that they 
 could readily learn from them whatever 
 pafled abroad. We muft add, that the 
 odes of thefe Icelandic Scalds were conti- 
 nually in every body's mouth, containing, 
 if we may believe Torfxus, the genealogies 
 and exploits of kings, princes, and heroes: 
 And as the poets did not forget to arrange 
 them according to the order of time, it 
 was not difficult for the Icelandic hiftorians 
 to compofe afterwards, from fuch memoirs, 
 the chronicles they have left us. 
 
 Thefe are the grounds of Torfseus's fyf- 
 tem : and one cannot help highly applaud- 
 ing the diligence and fagacity of an author, 
 who has thrown more light on the firft 
 ages of Danifh hiftory than any of his pre- 
 deceffors. At the fame time we muft con- 
 fefs, that there ftill remains much darknefs 
 and uncertainty upon this fubjeft. For 7 
 
 * HAP.PAGRF. is fynonimous to our Englifh FAIR- 
 FAX, and fignifies FAIR LOCK*. T. 
 
 although
 
 (51 ) 
 
 although the annals of the Icelanders are 
 without contradiction a much purer fource 
 than thofe which Saxo had recourfe to ; and 
 although the reafons alledged byTorfaeus in 
 their favour are of fome weight ; many 
 perfons, after all, will hardly be perfuaded 
 that we can thence draw fuch exacl: and full 
 information, as to form acompleat and firm 
 thread of hiftory. For, in the firft place, 
 the Icelandic writers have left us a great 
 number of pieces which evidently mew 
 that their tafle inclined them to deal in the 
 marvelous, in allegory, and even in that 
 kind of narrations, in which truth is de- 
 fignedly blended with fable. Torfaeus him- 
 felf confefTes * that there are many of their 
 books, in which it is difficult to diftinguifh 
 truth from falQiood, and that there are 
 fcarce any of them, but what contain fome 
 degree of fiction. In following fuch guides 
 there is great danger of being fometimes 
 mifled. In the fecond place, thefe annals 
 are of no great antiquity : we have none 
 that were written before chrifKanity was 
 eftablifhed in the North : now between the 
 time of Odin, whofe arrival in the North, 
 according to Torfseus, is the firfl epoque 
 of hiftory, and that of the earlieft Icelandic 
 
 * See his Series Dynafl. et Reg. lib. i. cap. 6. 
 
 Chap. III. E 2 hiftorian,
 
 (50 
 
 hiftorian, elapfed' about eleven centuries *< 
 And therefore if the compilers of the Icelan- 
 dic annals found no written memoirs earlier 
 than their own, as we have great reafon to 
 believe, then their narratives are only 
 founded on traditions, infcriptions, or re- 
 liques of poetry. 
 
 But can one give much credit to tradi- 
 tions, which muft have taken in fo many 
 ages, and have been preferved by a people 
 fo ignorant ? Do not we fee that among 
 
 * This firfr. Icelandic 
 hiftorian was ISLEIF, bi- 
 fhop of Scalholt, or the 
 fouthern part of Iceland. 
 He died in the year 1080. 
 His collections are loft, 
 but there is room to be- 
 lieve that ARE, theprieft, 
 who is furnamed the SAG E, 
 made ufe'of them to com- 
 pofe his Chronicles, part 
 of which are ftill extant. 
 This writer lived towards 
 the end of the fame cen- 
 tury : as did alfo R^E- 
 MUND, furnamed the 
 WISE or LEARNED, an- 
 other Icelandic hiftorian, 
 fome of whofe works ftill 
 remain. He had com- 
 piled a very voluminous 
 mythology, the lofs of 
 which is much to be re- 
 gretted, fince what we 
 
 have of it, which is only 
 a very fhort abridgment, 
 throws fo much light 
 upon the ancient reli- 
 gion of the firft inhabi- 
 tants of Europe. SNORRO 
 STURLESON 13 he of all 
 their hiftorians, whofe 
 works are moft ufeful to 
 us at prefent. He com- 
 pofed a Chronicle of the 
 kings of Nonvay, which 
 is exal as to the times 
 near to his own. He was 
 the chief magi ftrate or fu- 
 preme judge of the king- 
 dom of Iceland, and was 
 (lain in a popular infur- 
 re&ion, in 1241. With 
 regard to the other Ice- 
 landic hiftorians, the rea- 
 der may confultTorfzus's 
 Series Dynaft. ac Regum 
 Dan. lib. \. 
 
 the
 
 (53) 
 
 the common clafs of men, a fon remembers 
 his father, knows fomething of his grand- 
 father, but never beftows a thought on his 
 more remote progenitors ? With regard to 
 infcriptions, we have already feen what af- 
 fiftance they were likely to afford : we may 
 add that there are very few of them, which 
 were written before the introduction of 
 chriftianity into the North 5 and, indeed, 
 as we (hall prove in the fequel, before that 
 time very little ufe was made of letters. 
 Laftly, as for the verfes or fongs which 
 were learnt by rote, it cannot be denied, 
 but the Icelandic hiftorians might receive 
 great information from them, concerning 
 times not very remote from their own. 
 But was a rough and illiterate people likely 
 to beftow much care in prefer ving a great 
 number of poems, through a fucceffion of 
 eight or nine centuries ? Or can one expect 
 to find in fuch compofitions much clearnefs 
 and preciiion ? Did the poets of thofe 
 rude ages obferve that exactnefs and me- 
 thodical order, which hiftory demands ? In 
 the third place, if the Icelandic annalifts 
 could not know with certainty, whatpafTed 
 a long time before them in Iceland and 
 Norway, muft not their authority be ftill 
 weaker in what relates to a diftant itate 
 like that of Denmark ; which doubtlefs in 
 thofe times had not fuch intimate connec- 
 Chap. III. E 3 tions
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 tlons with the other countries of the North, 
 as it hath had fmce ? We muft be fen- 
 fible, that almoft all that .could be then 
 known in Iceland of what pafled in other 
 nations, confifted in popular rumours, and 
 in a few longs, which were handed about 
 by means of fome Icelandic Scald, who re- 
 turned from thence into his own country. 
 
 What courfe then ought an hiftorian to 
 perfue, amid fuch a wide field of contrary 
 opinions, where the momentary gleams of 
 light do not enable him to difcover or trace 
 out any certain truth. Jn the firft place, I 
 think he ought not to engage himfelf and 
 his readers in a labyrinth of entangled and 
 ufelefs refearches; the refult of which, he 
 is pretty fure, can be only doubt. In the 
 next place, he is to pafs rapidly over all 
 thofe ages which are but little known, and 
 all fuch fads as cannot be fet clear from 
 fiction. The interefl we take in paft 
 events is weakened in proportion as they 
 are remote and diflant. But when, befides 
 being remote, they are alfo doubtful, un- 
 connected, uncircumflantial and confufed, 
 they vanim into fuch obfcurity, that they 
 neither can, nor ought to engage our at- 
 tention. In thofe diflant periods, if any 
 events occur, which ought not wholly to 
 be part over in filence, great care mould be 
 taken to mark the degree of probability 
 
 which
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 which appears to be due to them, left 
 we debafe hiftory by reducing it to one 
 undiftinguiflied mafs of truth and fable. 
 It is true, by conforming to this rule, 
 an hiftorian will leave great chafms in 
 his work, and the annals of eight or 
 nine centuries which, in fome hands, 
 fill up feveral volumes, will by this means 
 be reduced within very few pages. But 
 this chafm, if it be one, may be ufe- 
 fully filled up. Inftead of difcuiimg the 
 doubtful facts which are fuppofed to have 
 happened .among the Northern nations, 
 during the dark ages of paganifm, let us 
 ftudy the religion, the character, the man- 
 ners and cuftoms of the ancient inhabitants 
 during thofe ages. Such a fubject, I (hould 
 think, may intereft the learned, and even 
 the philofopher. It will have to moil rea- 
 ders the charm of novelty, having been but 
 imperfectly treated of in any modern lan- 
 guage : and fo far from being foreign to 
 the Hiftory of Denmark, it makes a very 
 eflential part of it. For why mould 
 hiitory be only a recital of battles, fieges, 
 intrigues and negotiations ? And why 
 fhould it contain meerly a heap of petty 
 facts and dates, rather than a juft picture 
 of the opinions, cufloms and even incli- 
 nations of a people ? By confining our 
 inquiries to this fubject, we may with 
 Chap. III. E 4 confidence
 
 confidence confult thofe ancient annals, 
 whofe authority is too weak to afcertain, 
 events. It is needlefs to obferve, that 
 great light may be thrown on the cha- 
 racter and fentiments of a nation, by thofe 
 very books, whence we can learn nothing 
 exact or connected of their hiftory. The 
 moft credulous writer, he that has the 
 greateft pamon for the marvelous, while 
 he falfifies the hifcory of his contempo- 
 raries, paints their manners of life and 
 modes of thinking, without perceiving it. 
 His fimplicity, his ignorance, are at once 
 pledges of the artlels truth of his draw- 
 ing, and a warning to diftruft that of his 
 relations *. This is doubtlefs the beft, 
 if not .the only ufe, we can make of thofe 
 old reiiques of poetry, which have efcaped 
 the mipwreck of time. The authors of 
 thofe fragments', erected into hiftorians by 
 Succeeding ages, have caufed ancient hif- 
 tory to degenerate into a meer tiffue of 
 fables. TO avoid this miftake, let us 
 
 * This is the opinion tiquos eruendos, eos quoque 
 
 pf the learned BARTHO- evohi pofle codices exijli- 
 
 LJN, who hath written maverim^ quos fabulojis In- 
 
 with fo much erudition terfperjos narration! bus ^ in 
 
 and judgment, upon cer- bljloria concinnanda baud 
 
 tain points of the anti- tutofequqris. Vid. Thorn, 
 
 quities of Denmark. Jd Barthol. de Cauf. &c. 
 
 ritxs, fays he, morefque an- prsefat. 
 
 confider
 
 (57) 
 
 conflder them only on the footing of poets, 
 for they were in effect nothing elfe ; let us 
 principally attend to and copy thofe ftrokes, 
 which, without their intending it, point 
 out to us the notions, and mark the cha- 
 racter of the ages in which they lived. 
 Thefe are the moffc certain truths we can 
 find in their works, for they could not help 
 delivering them whether they would of 
 not. 
 
 Chap. III. CHAP-
 
 (53 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of Odin> his arrival in the North, his con- 
 quefts, and the changes which he made. 
 
 BEFORE I defcribe the ftate of an- 
 cient Scandinavia, I muft flop one 
 moment. A celebrated tradition, confirm- 
 ed by the poems of all the northern na- 
 tions, by their chronicles, by inftitutions 
 and cuftoms, fome of which fubfift to this 
 day, informs us, that an extraordinary per- 
 fon named ODIN, formerly reigned in the 
 north : that he made great changes in the 
 government, manners and religion of thole 
 countries ; that he enjoyed there great au- 
 thority, and had even divine honours paid 
 him. All thefe are facts, which cannot 
 be contefted. As to what regards the ori- 
 ginal of this man, the country whence he 
 came, the time in which he lived, and the 
 other circumftances of his life and death, 
 they are fo uncertain, that the moft pro- 
 found refearches, the moft ingenious con- 
 jectures about them, difcover nothing to 
 
 us
 
 (59 ) 
 
 us but our own ignorance. Thus pre- 
 vioufly difpofed to doubt, let thofe ancient 
 authors, I have mentioned, relate the ftory : 
 all their teftimonies are comprized in that 
 of SNORRO, the ancient hiftorian of Nor- 
 way, and in the commentaries and expli- 
 cations which TORF^US hath added to his 
 narrative *. 
 
 The Roman Common-wealth was arriv- 
 ed to the highefl pitch of power, and favv, 
 all the then known world fubject to its 
 laws, when an unforefeen event raifed up 
 enemies againfl it, from the very bofom of 
 the forefls of Scythia, and on the banks of 
 the Tanais. Mithridates by flying, had 
 drawn Pompey after him into thofe defarts. 
 The king of Pontus fought there for re- 
 fuge, and new means of vengeance. He 
 hoped to arm againfl: the ambition of Rome, 
 all the barbarous nations his neighbours, 
 whofe liberty me threatened. He fucceed- 
 ed in this at firfl; but all thofe people, ill- 
 united as allies, ill-armed as foldiers, and 
 ilill worfe difciplined, were forced to yield 
 to the genius of Pompey. ODIN is faid to 
 have been of this number. He. was ob- 
 liged to withdraw himfelf by flight from 
 
 * Vid. Snorro. Sturl. ac Reg. Dan. c. u. p. 
 Chron. Norveg. in initio. 104. & feq. 
 Xoif-yeus Ser. Dynaft. 
 
 Chap. IV. the
 
 ( 6o) 
 
 the vengeance of the Romans ; and to go 
 feek in countries unknown to his enemies, 
 that fafety which he could no longer find 
 in his own. His true name was Stgge, 
 fon of Fridulph -, but he afTumed that of 
 ODIN, who was the Supreme God among 
 the Scythians : Whether he did this in 
 order to pafs among his followers for a man 
 infpired by the Gods, or becaufe he was 
 chief-prieft, and prefided over the worfhip 
 paid to that Deity. We know that it was 
 ufual with many nations to give their pon- 
 tiffs the name of the God they worfhipped. 
 Sigge, full of his ambitious projects, we 
 may be allured, took care to avail himfelf 
 of a title fo proper to procure him refpect 
 among the people he meant to fubjecl. 
 
 Odin, for lo we mail hereafter call 
 him, commanded the Afes, a Scythian peo- 
 ple, whofe country muft have been fituated 
 between the Pontus Euxinus, and the Caf- 
 pian fea. Their principal city was As- 
 GARD *. The worfhip there paid to their 
 
 fu- 
 
 * The teftimony of the country. L. 2. Pliny 
 Icelandic annalifts is con- fpeaks of the Afeens, a 
 firmed by that of feveral people feated at the foot 
 ancient authors, of whom of mount Taurus. L. 6. 
 it is not likely that they c. 17. Ptolemy calls them 
 had any knowledge. Stra- Afiotes. Stephen of By- 
 bo places a city named fantium intitlcs them Af- 
 Afburg in the very fame purgians [ Afyurgitanl. } 
 
 Mo-
 
 (61 ) 
 
 Supreme God was famous throughout tn6 
 circumjacent countries '; and it was Odin 
 that performed the functions of it in chief, 
 aflifted by twelve other Pontiffs (Diar or 
 Drotfar, a kind of Druids) whoalfodiftribut- 
 
 ed 
 
 Modern relations make 
 mention alfo of a nation 
 of Afes or Ofles feated in 
 the fame country ; and 
 there is reafon to believe, 
 that the city of Af-hof de- 
 rived its name from the 
 fame fource ; this word 
 fignifies in the Gothic 
 language, the fame as Af- 
 gard, or Afburg. [Vid. 
 Bayer, in A&. Academ. 
 Petropol. Tom. 9. p. 387. 
 & Dalin. S. R. Hift. T. 
 i. p. 101, & feqq-] But 
 notwithftanding all this, 
 it is (till doutbtful whether 
 Odin and his companions 
 came fo far. Snorro is 
 probably the author of this 
 conjecture founded on the 
 fimilitude of names. The 
 moft eminent chronicles, 
 the poets, and tradition 
 it is likely, faid only, that 
 Odin came from the coun- 
 try of the Afes : Now As 
 in the Scythian language 
 fignifies a Lord, a God, 
 and this name was in ufe 
 among many Celtic na-> 
 Chap. IV, 
 
 tions. See Sueton. Aug." 
 c. 97. Af-gard then fig- 
 nifies the court or abode 
 of God, and the refem- 
 blance of this name may 
 have deceived Snorro. The 
 learned Eccard in his 
 Treatife of the Origin of 
 the Germans, thinks that 
 Odin came from fome 
 neighbouring country of 
 Germany, where we find 
 many names of places 
 which are compounded of 
 the word As, and it is 
 pofllble that he may have 
 ibjourned there a long 
 time, and formed efta- 
 blimments ; though he or 
 his nation came originally 
 from fome country of Scy- 
 thia. 
 
 [Thus far our author 
 in his fecond Edition: in 
 his firft edit, he had ob- 
 ferved that there was a 
 ftriking refemblance be- 
 tween feveral cuftoms of 
 the Georgians, as defcrib- 
 ed by Cbardin, and thofe 
 of certain Cantons of 
 Nor-
 
 ( 62 ) 
 
 cd juftice *. Odin having united under 
 his banners the youth of the neighbouring 
 nations, marched towards the north and 
 weft of Europe, fubduing, we are told, all 
 the people he found in his paiTage ; and 
 giving them to one or other of his fons for' 
 fubjedts. Thus Suarlami was made king 
 over a part of Ruffia : Baldeg over the 
 weftern parts of Saxony or Weftphalia : 
 Segdeg had eaftern Saxony, and Sigge had 
 
 Norway and Sweden, 
 which have beft preferved 
 the ancient manners. The 
 learned Bifliop Pontoppi- 
 dan mentions feveral of 
 thefe in his Nat. Hift. of 
 Norway. Tom. 2. c. 10. 
 . i, 2, 3. The Geor- 
 gians (adds our author) 
 poflefs at prefent one part 
 of the country, which 
 was inhabited by the Afes, 
 whom Odin conducted 
 into the north.] 
 
 * Among the feveral 
 nations to whom thefe 
 men diftributed juftice, the 
 TURKS are often men- 
 tioned in the Icelandic 
 chronicles. There was 
 in effet, at the foot of 
 mount Taurus, a Scy- 
 thian people from the ear- 
 )ieft times known by that 
 name. Pomponius Mela 
 
 mentions them exprefly ; 
 [Lib. i. cap. 19. towards 
 the end.] Herodotus him- 
 felf feems to have had 
 them in his eye. [Lib. iv. 
 p. 22.] One part of the 
 Turks followed Odin in- 
 to the north, where their 
 name had long been for- 
 gotten by their own def- 
 cendants, when other off- 
 fhoots from the fame root, 
 over-fpreading the oppo- 
 fite part of Europe, re- 
 vived the name with new 
 fplendor, and gave it to 
 one of the moft powerful 
 empires in the world. 
 Such ftrange revolutions 
 have mankind in general 
 undergone, and efpecially 
 fuch of them, as long led 
 a wandering unfettled life, 
 Firfl Edit 
 
 Fran-
 
 Franconia. Many fovereign families of the 
 north, are faid to be defcended from thefe 
 princes *. Thus Horfa and Hengifl, the 
 chiefs of thofe Saxons, who conquered 
 Britain in the fifth century, counted Odin 
 or Woden -f- in the number of their ansef- 
 tors : it was the fame with the other An- 
 glo-Saxon princes ; as well as the greateft 
 part of thofe of Lower Germany and the 
 north. But there is reafon to fufpecl: that 
 all thefe genealogies, which have given 
 birth to fo many infipid panegyrics and fri- 
 volous refearches, are founded upon a meer 
 equivoque, or double meaning of the word 
 Odin. This word fignified, as we have 
 feen above, the fupreme God of the Scy- 
 thians, we know alfo that it was cuftomary 
 with all the heroes of thefe nations to fpeak 
 of themfelves as fprung from their divini- 
 ties, efpecially their God of War. The 
 hiftorians of thofe times, that is to fay the 
 
 * Snorro Sturlefon. We find there ten or 
 
 Chron. Norveg. p. 4. twelve genealogies of the 
 
 f ODIN in the dialed Englifh princes traced up 
 
 of the Anglo-Saxons was to the fame fource : and 
 
 called WODEN or Wo- the Author concludes with 
 
 DAN. The ancient chro- this reflection : " It is 
 
 nicies of this people, par- " from Odin that all our 
 
 ticularly that published " royal families derive 
 
 by Gibfon, exprefly affert " their defcent," V. p. 
 
 that Hengift and Horfa 13. 
 were defcended from him. 
 
 Chap. IV. poets,
 
 (64) 
 
 poets, never failed to beftow thefame honour 
 on allthofewhofepraifes theyfung: and thus 
 they multiplied the defcendants of ODIN, 
 or the fupreme God, as much as ever thej 
 found convenient. 
 
 After having difpofed of fo many coun- 
 tries, and confirmed and fettled his new 
 governments, Odin direded his courfe to- 
 wards Scandinavia, palling through Cim- 
 bria, at prefent Holftein and Jutland. 
 Thefe provinces exhaufted of inhabitants, 
 made him no refinance ; and mortly after 
 he palTed into Funen, which fubmitted as 
 foon as ever he appeared. He is faid to 
 have ftaid a long time in this agreeable 
 ifland, where he built the city of ODEN- 
 SEE, which ftill preferves in its name the 
 memory of its founder. Hence he ex- 
 tended his arms over all the north. He 
 fubdued the reft of Denmark, and made 
 his fon Skiold be received there as king ; 
 a title, which according to the Icelandic an- 
 nals, no perfon had ever borne before, and 
 which pafled to his defcendants, called after 
 his name Skioldungians *. Odin, who 
 was apparently better pleafed to give crowns 
 to his children, than to wear them him- 
 
 * If this name was not med to bear, for this is 
 rather given them on ac- called SKIOLD in the Da- 
 count of the SHIELD, nifh language to this day. 
 n-hich they were accufto- Firfl Edit. 
 
 felf,
 
 felf, afterwards patted into Sweden, where 
 at that time reigned a prince named Gylfe, 
 who perfuaded that the author of a new 
 wormip confecrated by conquefts fo brilliant, 
 could not be of the ordinary race of mortals, 
 paid him great honours, and even worfhip- 
 ed him as a divinity. By favour of this opi- 
 nion which the ignorance of that age led men 
 eafily to embrace, Odin quickly acquired 
 in Sweden the fame authority he had ob- 
 tained in Denmark. The Swedes came 
 in crowds to do him homage, and by com- 
 mon confent beftowed the regal title and 
 office upon his fon Yngvon and his pofle- 
 rity. Hence fprung the Ynlingians,anameby 
 which the kings of Sweden were for a long 
 time diftinguifhed. Gylfe died or was for- 
 gotten. Odin governed with abfolute do- 
 minion. He ena&ed new laws, introduced 
 the cuftoms of his own country ; and efta- 
 blifhed at Sigtuna (a city at prefent deftroy- 
 ed, fltuate in the fame province with Stock- 
 holm) a fupreme council or tribunal, com- 
 pofed of thofe twelve lords (drottar) men- 
 tioned above. Their bufinefs was to watch 
 over the public weal, to diftribute juftice 
 to the people, to prefide over the new wor- 
 fhip, which Odin brought with him into 
 the north, and to preferve faithfully the 
 religious and magical fecrets which that 
 prince depofited with them. He was 
 VOL. I. Chap. IV. F quickly
 
 (C6) 
 
 quickly acknowledged as a fovereign and a 
 God, by all the petty kings among whom 
 Sweden was then divided and he levied art 
 import or poll-tax upon every head through 
 the whole country. He engaged on his part 
 to defend the inhabitants againft all their 
 enemies, and to defray the expence of 
 the worfhip rendered to the gods at Sig- 
 tuna. 
 
 Thefe great acquifitions feem not how- 
 ever to have fatisfied his ambition. The 
 defire of extending farther his religion, his 
 authority and his glory, caufed him to un- 
 dertake the conqueft of Norway. His 
 good fortune or addrefs followed him thi- 
 ther, and this kingdom quickly obeyed a 
 fon of Odin named Saemungve, whom they 
 have taken care to make head of a family, 
 the different branches of which reigned 
 for a long time in that country. If all the 
 fons of Odin were to have been provided 
 for in the fame manner, all Europe would 
 not have afforded them kingdoms ; for ac- 
 cording to fome chronicles, he had twenty 
 eight by his wife Frigga, and according to 
 others thirty one, or thirty two. 
 
 After he had finimed the fe glorious at- 
 chievements, Odin retired into bweden ; 
 where perceiving his end to draw near, he 
 would not wait till the confequcnces of a 
 lingering difeafe mould put a period to that 
 
 life,
 
 life, which he had fo often bravely hazard- 
 ed in the field : but affembling the friends 
 and companions of his fortune, he gave 
 himfelf nine wounds in the form of a circle 
 with the point of a lance, and many other 
 cuts in his fkin with his fword. As he 
 was dying, he declared he was going back, 
 into Scythia to take his feat among the 
 other Gods at an eternal banquet, where 
 he would receive with great honours all 
 who mould expofe themfelves intrepidly 
 in battle, and die bravely with their fwords 
 in their hands. As foon as he had breath - 
 edhislaft, they carried hie body to Sigtu- 
 ria, where conformably to a cuftom intro- 
 duced by him into the north, his body was 
 burnt with much pomp and magnificence. 
 
 Such was the end of this man, whofe 
 death was as extraordinary as his life. The 
 loofe Sketches which we have here given of 
 his character, might afford room for many 
 curious conjectures, if they could be de- 
 pended on as well founded. Among thofc 
 which have been propofed, there is never- 
 thelefs one which deferves fome attention. 
 Several learned men have fuppofed that a 
 defire of being revenged on the Romans 
 was the ruling principle of his whole con- 
 duct. Driven from his country by thofe 
 enemies of univerfal liberty j his refent- 
 ment, fay they, was fo much the more 
 
 Chap. IV. Fa vio-
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 violent, as the Scythians efteemed it a fa- 
 cred duty to revenge all injuries, efpecially 
 thofe offered to their relations and country. 
 He had no other view, according to them, 
 in running through fo many diftant king- 
 doms ; and in eflabliming with fo much 
 zeal his fanguinary doctrines, but to fpirit 
 up all nations againft fo formidable and 
 odious a power. This leven, which he 
 left in the bofoms of the northern people, 
 fermented a long time in fecret ; but the 
 fignal, they add, once given, they all fell 
 as it were by common confent upon this 
 unhappy empire; and after many repeated 
 fhocks, intirely overturned it ; thereby re- 
 venging the affront offered fo many ages 
 before to their founder. 
 
 I cannot prevail on myfelf to raife ob- 
 jections againft fo ingenious a fuppofition. 
 It gives fo much importance to the hiftory 
 of the North, it renders that of all Europe 
 fo interefting, and, if I may ufe the ex- 
 preffion, fo poetical, that I cannot but ad- 
 mit thefe advantages as fo many proofs in 
 its favour. It muft after all be confeffed, 
 that we can difcover nothing very certain 
 concerning Odin, but only this that He was 
 the founder of a new Religion, before un- 
 known to the rude and artlefs inhabitants 
 of Scandinavia. I will not anfwer for the 
 truth of the account given of his original : 
 3 I only
 
 (69) 
 
 I only fufpeft that at fome period of time 
 more or lefs early, either he, or his fa- 
 thers, or the authors of his Religion, came 
 from fome country of Scythia, or from the 
 borders of Perfia. I may add, that the 
 God, whofe prophet or prieft he pretended 
 to be, was named ODIN, and that the ig- 
 norance of fucceeding ages confounded 
 the Deity with his prieft, compofing out 
 of the attributes of the one and the hiftory 
 of the other, a grofs medley, in which we 
 can at prefent diftinguim nothing for cer- 
 tain. New proofs of this confufion will 
 occur in all we mall hereafter produce on 
 this fubject ; and it will import the Reader 
 never to lofe fight of this obfervation. I 
 fhall now mention fome farther particu- 
 lars recorded of Odin by the Icelandic 
 writers ; which though it will confirm 
 what I have been faying, will yet perhaps 
 give us fome infight into his character. 
 
 One of the artifices, which he employed 
 with the greateft fuccefs, in order to con- 
 ciliate the refpedl of the people, was to 
 confult in all difficult emergencies the head 
 of one MIMUR, who in his life time had 
 been in great reputation for his wifdom. 
 This man having had his head cut off, 
 Odin caufed it to be embalmed, and had 
 the addrefs to perfuade the Scandinavians, 
 
 Chap. IV. F 3 that
 
 (7) 
 
 that by his enchantments he had reffored 
 to it the ufe of fpeech. He carried it 
 every where about with him, and made it 
 pronounce whatever oracles he wanted. 
 This artifice reminds us of the pigeon, 
 which brought to Mahomet the commands 
 of heaven, and proves pretty plainly, that 
 neither of thefe impoftors had to do with 
 a very fubtle and difcerning people. We 
 find another feature of great refemblance 
 jn their characters, and that is the eloquence, 
 with which both of them are faid to have 
 been gifted. The Icelandic chronicles paint 
 out Odin as the moft perfuafive of men. 
 They tell us, that nothing could refifl the 
 force of his words, that he fometimes in- 
 terfperfed his harangues with verfes, which 
 he ccmpofed extempore, and that he was 
 not only a great poet, but that it was he 
 who firfl taught the art of poefy to the 
 Scandinavians. He was alfo the inventor 
 of the runic characters, which fo long pre- 
 vailed among that people. But what moil 
 contributed to make him pafs for a God, 
 was his {kill in magic. He perfuaded his 
 followers, that he could run over the world 
 in the twinkling of an eye, that he had the 
 diredion of the air and ternpefts, that he 
 could transform himfelf into all forts of 
 ^ could raife the dead, could foretel 
 
 things
 
 (7- ) 
 
 things to come, could by enchantments de- 
 prive his enemies of health and vigour, and 
 difcover all the treafures concealed in the 
 earth. The fame authors add, thathealfo 
 knew how to fing airs fo tender and melo- 
 dious, that the very plains and mountains 
 would open and expand with delight j and 
 that the ghofts attracted by the fweetnefs 
 of his fongs, would leave their infernal 
 caverns, and ftand motionlefs about him. 
 
 But if his eloquence, together with his 
 auguft and venerable deportment, procured 
 him love and refpedt in a calm and peace- 
 able affembly, he was no lefs dreadful and 
 furious in battle. He infpired his enemies 
 with fuch terror, that they thought they 
 could not defcribe it better, than by faying 
 he rendered them blind and deaf; that he 
 changed himfelf into the fhape of a bear, 
 a wild-bull, or a lion ; that he would ap- 
 pear like a wolf all defperate ; and biting 
 his very fhield for rage, would throw him- 
 felf amidft the oppofing ranks, making 
 round him the moft horrible carnage, with- 
 out receiving any wound himfelf. 
 
 Some later hiftorians feem to be a good 
 deal puzzled how to account for thefe 
 prodigies. In my opinion, the only thing 
 that ought to aftonim us, would be the 
 weak credulity of the people whom Odin 
 
 Chap. IV, F 4 .
 
 (70 
 
 was able fo to impoic upon, if fb many ex- 
 amples ancient and modern had not taught 
 us how far ignorance is able to degrade all 
 the powers of the human mind. For why 
 need we fuppofe this famous leader ever 
 really employed the pretended fcience 
 of magic, when we know in general that 
 mankind hath been at all times and in 
 . all countries the dupes of the firft im- 
 porter, who thought it worth his while 
 to abufe them ; that the people who then 
 inhabited Scandinavia were in particular 
 plunged in the thickeft clouds of igno- 
 rance ', that the hiftorians who have tranf- 
 initted to us the accounts of all thefe 
 prodigies were Poets, figurative and hy- 
 perbolical in their language, fond of the 
 marvellous by profefiion, and at that time 
 difpofed to believe it by habit. That the 
 refemblance of names makes it very eafy 
 for us at this time to confound the def- 
 criptions given by ancient authors of their 
 fupreme Deity, with thofe which cha- 
 racterize this Afiatic Prince; and finally, that 
 the latter bringing along with him arts be- 
 fore unknown in the North, a luxury and 
 magnificence thought prodigious in that 
 rude country, together with great fub- 
 tilty, and perhaps other uncommon ta- 
 lents, might eafily pals for a God, at a 
 
 time
 
 (73) 
 
 time when there were fo few real men ; 
 and when the number of prodigies coul3 
 not but be great, fince they called by that 
 name whatever filled them with furprizc 
 and wonder. 
 
 Chap. IV. C H A P-
 
 (74) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ji general idea of the ancient religion of the 
 northern nations* 
 
 IT is not eafy to form an exact notion of 
 the religion formerly profefled in the 
 north of Europe. What the Latin and 
 Greek authors have written on this fubjedt 
 is commonly deficient in point of exactnefs. 
 They had for many ages little or no inter- 
 courfe with the inhabitants of thefe coun- 
 tries, whom they ftyled Barbarians ; they 
 were ignorant of their language, and, as 
 * moft of thefe' nations * made a fcruple of 
 unfolding the grounds of their religious 
 doctrines to ftrangers, the latter, who were 
 thereby reduced to be meer fpectators of 
 
 * Particularly all thofe pie," fuppofmg the Go- 
 of Celtic origin. The thic nations to be the fame 
 author had exprefled it with the Celtic : but this 
 fimply " As all the Cel- opinion is confidered in 
 *' tic nations made a fcru- the preface. 
 
 their
 
 (75) 
 
 their outward forms of wor/hip, could not 
 eafily enter into the fpirit of it. And yet 
 if we bring together the few fhort Sketches 
 which thefe different writers have pre- 
 ferved of it, if we correct them by one an- 
 other, if we compare their accounts with 
 thofe of the ancient poets and hiftorians of 
 thefe nations themfelves, I flatter myfelf, 
 we (hall throw light enough upon this fab- 
 ject to be able to diftinguifh the mofl impor- 
 tant objects in it. 
 
 The religion of the Scythians was, in the 
 firft ages, extremely fimple. It taught a few 
 plain eafy doctrines, and theie feem to have 
 comprized the whole of religion known 
 to the firft inhabitants of Europe. The 
 farther back we afcend to the aera of the 
 creation, the more plainly we difcover traces 
 of this conformity among the feveral na- 
 tions of the earth ; but in proportion as we 
 fee them difperfed to form diflant fettle- 
 ments and colonies, they feem to fwerve 
 from their original ideas, and to afliime 
 new forms of religion. The nations, who 
 fettled in the fouthern countries, were they 
 who altered it the firft, and afterwards 
 disfigured it the moft. Thefe people de- 
 rive from their climate a lively, fruitful, and 
 reftlefs imagination, which makes them 
 greedy of novelties and wonders : they have 
 
 Chap, V. alfo
 
 ( 76 ) 
 
 alfo ardent paflions, which rarely fufFer 
 them to preferve a rational freedom of 
 mind, or to fee things coolly and impartially. 
 Hence the wild frenzies of the Egyptians, 
 Syrians and Greeks in religious matters ; 
 and hence that chaos of extravagances, in 
 fome refpects ingenious, known by the 
 name of mythology : through which we 
 can hardly difcover any traces of the an- 
 cient doctrines. And yet we do difcover 
 them, and can make it appear, that thofe 
 firft doctrines, which the fouthern nations 
 fo much difguifed, were the very fame that 
 compofed for a long time after all the re- 
 ligion of the Scythians, and were preferved 
 in the North without any material altera- 
 tion. There the rigour of the climate ne- 
 ceflarily locks up the capricious delires, 
 confines the imagination, leffens the num- 
 ber of the paffions, as well as abates their 
 violence, and by yielding only to painful 
 and unremitted labour, wholly confines to 
 material objects, that activity of mind, 
 which produces among men levity and dif- 
 quiet. 
 
 But whether thefe caufes have not al- 
 ways operated with the fame efficacy, or 
 whether others more powerful have pre- 
 vailed over them -, the greateft part of the 
 Scythian nations after having, for fome 
 
 time,
 
 (77) 
 
 time, continued inviolably attached to the 
 religion of their firft fathers, fuffered it at 
 length to be corrupted by an intermixture 
 of ceremonies, fome of them ridiculous, 
 others cruel.; in which, by little and little, 
 as it commonly happens, they came to 
 place the whole effence of religion. It is 
 not eafy to mark the precife time when 
 this alteration happened, as well for want 
 of ancient monuments, as becaufe it was 
 introduced by imperceptible degrees, and 
 at different times among different nations : 
 but it is not therefore the lefs certain, that 
 we ought to diftinguifh two different 
 epoques or ages in the religion of this 
 people : and in each of thefe we mould be 
 careful not to confound the opinions of 
 the fages, with the fables or mythology of 
 the poets. Without thefe diftinctions it is 
 difficult to reconcile the different accounts, 
 often in appearance contradictory, which 
 we find in ancient authors. Yet I cannot 
 promife to mark out precifely, what be- 
 longs to each of thefe claffes in particular. 
 The lights which guide us at intervals 
 through thefe dark ages, are barely fuffi- 
 cient to mew us fome of the more ftriking 
 objects ; but the finer links which conned: 
 and join them together, will generally 
 cfcape us. 
 
 Chap. V. Let
 
 (78) 
 
 Let us, firft of all examine this religiort 
 in its purity. It taught the being of a 
 " fupreme God, mafter of the univerfe, to 
 ct whom all things were fubmiflive and 
 " obedient*." Such, according to Ta* 
 citus, was the fupreme God of the Ger- 
 mans. The ancient Icelandic mythology 
 calls him " The author of every thing 
 " that exifteth ; the eternal, the ancient, 
 " the living and awful Being, the fearcher 
 " into concealed things, the Being that 
 " never changeth." It attributed to their 
 deity " an infinite power, a boundlefs 
 c< knowledge, an incorruptible juftice." 
 It forbade them to reprefent this divinity 
 under any corporeal form. They were not 
 even to think of confining him within the 
 inclofure of walls *j-, but were taught that 
 
 it 
 
 * No do&rine was held 
 in higher reverence among 
 the ancient Germans than 
 this. Regnator omnium 
 Deus, catcrafubjefta atque 
 parentia* fays Tacitus, 
 fpeaking of their religion. 
 JDe Mor. Germ. c. xxxv. 
 The epithets that follow 
 above are exprefsly given 
 to the Deity in the old 
 treatife of Icelandic my- 
 
 thology, intitled the ED- 
 DA, which has been men- 
 tioned abovei See the 
 tranflation of this in the 
 next volume. 
 
 f Ceeterum nee cobibere 
 parietibus Deos, fteque in 
 ullam humani oris jpeciem 
 ajjimilare ex magnitudine 
 ceelejliwn arbitrantur. Lu~ 
 cos ac nemora confecrant y 
 Deorum qua nominibus 
 appellant 
 
 9
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 h was only within woods and confecrated 
 forefts, that they could ferve him properly. 
 There he feemed to reign in filence, and 
 to make himfelf felt by the refpedt which 
 he inlpired. It was an injurious extrava- 
 gance to attribute to this deity a human 
 figure, to erect ftatues to him, to fuppofe 
 him of any fex, or to reprefent him by- 
 images. From this fupreme God were 
 fprung (as it were emanations of his divi- 
 nity) an infinite number of fubaltern deities 
 and genii, of which every part of the vi- 
 fible world was the feat and temple. Thefe 
 intelligences did not barely refide in each 
 part of nature ; they directed its operations, 
 it was the organ or inftrument of their love 
 or liberality to mankind. Each element 
 was urkder the guidance of fome Being pe- 
 culiar to it. The earth, the water, the 
 
 c t ppeUant fecrctum illud quod feverely prohibited the ufe 
 frjla reverentid vident. Ta- of temples, idols, images, 
 cit. Germ. c. ix. One &c. But it is fufficient 
 might here bring together to refer thofe, who would 
 a great multitude of au- fee this fubjeft treated 
 thorities to prove that fo more at large, to M. Pel- 
 long as thefe J nations had loutier's Hijlsire des Celtts, 
 no communication with torn. ii. 
 Grangers, their religion 
 
 t * The Celtic nations.' Orig. 
 
 Chap. V. fire,
 
 (8o) 
 
 fire, the air, the fun, moon, and ftars had 
 each their refpective divinity. The trees, 
 forefts, rivers, mountains, rocks, winds, 
 thunder and tempefts had the fame ; and 
 merited on that fcore a religious worfhip, 
 which, at firft, could not be directed to 
 the vifible object, but to the intelligence 
 with which it was animated. The motive 
 of this worfhip was the fear of a deity irri- 
 tated by the fins of men, but who, at the 
 fame time, was merciful, and capable of 
 being appeafed by prayer and repentance. 
 They looked up to him as to the active 
 principle, which, by uniting with the 
 earth or paflive principle,, had produced 
 men, animals, plants, and all vifible be- 
 ings j they even believed that he was the 
 only agent iij nature, who preferves the 
 feveral beings, and difpofes of all events. 
 To ferve this divinity with facrifices and 
 prayers, to do no wrong to others, and to 
 be brave and intrepid in themfelves, were 
 all the moral confequences they derived 
 from thefe doctrines. Laftly, the belief of 
 a future ftate cemented and compleated the 
 whole building. Cruel tortures were there 
 referved for fuch as defpifed thefe three 
 fundamental precepts of morality, and joys 
 without number and without end awaited 
 every religious, juft and valiant man. 
 
 Thefe
 
 ( 8. ) 
 
 Thefe are the principal heads of that ari- 
 cient religion, which probably prevailed for 
 many ages through the greateft part of the- 
 north of Europe, and doubtleiS among fe- 
 veral nations of Afia. It was preferved tole- 
 rably pure in the North till towards the de- 
 cline of the Roman republic: One may judge 
 at leaft by the teftimony of feveral authors, 
 that the Germans had maintained till that 
 time the chief of thefe doctrines, whilil 
 the inhabitants of Spain, Gaul and Britain, 
 rialf fubdued by the arms and luxury of the 
 Romans, adopted by degrees new Gods, at 
 the fame time that they received new rria- 
 fters *. It is probable then, that it was 
 hot till the arrival of Odin in the North, 
 that the Scythian religion among the an- 
 cient Danes and other Scandinavians began 
 to lofe the moft beautiful features of its 
 original purity. Though the fact itfelf is 
 probable, it is not fo eafy td affign the 
 caufes of it. Whether this change muft 
 be attributed to the natural ir^onftancy of 
 mankind and their invincible pronenefs te 
 whatever is marvellous, and flrikes the 
 fenfes. Or whether we ought to throw the 
 blame on that conqueror, and fuppofe with 
 fome authors that he had a formed defigri 
 
 * Pelloutier, chap. xvii. 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. V. G to
 
 ( 82 ) 
 
 to pafs among the northern people for a 
 formidable deity ; and to found there a new 
 worfhip, on which to eftablifh his new do- 
 minion, and to eternize his hatred for the 
 Romans, by planting among thofe valiant 
 and populous nations a perpetual nurfery 
 of devoted enemies to every thing that 
 (hould bear that name. It is difficult to 
 decide this queftion. The eye is loft and 
 bewildered, when it endeavours to trace out 
 events fo remote and obfcure. To unravel 
 and diftinguim the feveral caufes, and 
 to mark exactly the diftini influence of 
 each, is what we can hardly do in the 
 hiftory of fuch ages as are the moft en- 
 lightened and beft known to us. Let us 
 then confine ourfelves within more narrow 
 limits, and endeavour to fketch out a new 
 picture of this fame religion, as it was af- 
 terwards altered, and like a piece of cloth 
 fo profufely overcharged with falfe orna- 
 ments, as hardly to mew the leaft glimpfe 
 of the original groundwork. This picture 
 will take in a (pace of feven or eight cen- 
 turies, which intervened between the time 
 of Odin and the converfion of Denmark 
 to the Chriftian faith. The Icelandic Ed- 
 da, and fome ancient pieces of poetry, 
 wherein the fame mythology is taught, 
 are the fources whence I (hall draw my in- 
 formation. But the fear of falling into 
 
 needlefs
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 needlefs repetitions, prevents me at prefent 
 from defcribing the nature of thefe ancient 
 works, which ar- known but to few of 
 the learned. This difctiffion will find its 
 moft proper place in the article which I 
 refer ve for the ancient literature of the 
 North. 
 
 Chap. V. G 2 C H A P-
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Of the Religion, which prevailed in tkt 
 North, and particularly in Scandinavia> 
 after the death tf Odin. 
 
 TH E moft {hiking alteration in the 
 doctrines of the primitive religion, 
 was in the number of the Gods who were 
 to be worshipped. A capital point among 
 the Scythians, was that preheminence, I 
 have been defcribing, of one only all power- 
 ful and perfect being over all the other in- 
 telligences with which univerfal nature was 
 peopled. The firm belief of a doctrine fo 
 reafonable had fuch influence on their minds* 
 that they openly teftifted on feveral occa- 
 lions their hatred and contempt for the 
 polytheifm of thofe nations, who treated 
 them as Barbarians ; and made it their firll 
 care to destroy all the objects of idolatrous 
 worfhip in whatever place they eftablifhed 
 their authority *. But the defcendants of 
 
 theft 
 
 * They demolifhed of their Gods : this was 
 the temples and ftatues done bv the Perfians 
 
 (whofc
 
 thefe people being, in all appearance, weary 
 of this fimplicity of religion, aflbciated 
 to the fupreme God many of thofe Genii 
 or fubaltern divinities, who had been always 
 fubordinate to him. As thefe differed ra- 
 ther in degree of power, than in eflence, 
 the tranfition was very eafy to a people, who 
 were not very refined and fubtle. To this 
 another reafbn alib contributed. As each 
 of thefe inferior divinities governed with 
 abfolute power every thing within his ref- 
 pedlive fphere ; fear, defire, all their wants, 
 and paffions inclined a rude people to have 
 recourfe to them, as to a more prefent, 
 fpeedy and more acceflible help in time of 
 need, rather than to the fupreme God, 
 whofe name alone imprinted fo much ref- 
 pec~t and terror. It is an inevitable miftake 
 of the human mind to carry the imperfec- 
 tions of its own nature into the idea it forms 
 of the Oeity. The deep conviction, we 
 have every moment of our own weaknefs, 
 prevents us from conceiving how it is pof- 
 iible for one fingle being to move and fup- 
 port all parts of the univerfe. This is ef- 
 pecially inconceivable to an ignorant peo- 
 
 (whofe religion fecms pri- when, lyider the banners, 
 
 finally to .have differed of Xerxes they entered 
 
 but little from that of the Greece. See Cicero de 
 
 Scythians and Celtes) legibus, L, 2. 
 
 Chap. YI, G 3 pie,
 
 (86) 
 
 pie, who have never fufpedted that there 
 is any connexion between the feveral parts 
 of nature, and that a general methanifm 
 can produce fo many different phenomena. 
 Accordingly, all barbarous nations have ever 
 fubftituted, inftead of the iimple and uni- 
 form laws of nature which were unknown 
 to them, the operation of fpirits, genii 
 and divinities of all kinds, and have given 
 them as affiftants to the fupreme Being in 
 the moral and phyflcal government of the 
 world. If they have paid to any of them 
 greater honours than to others, it has ufual- 
 ly been to thoie whofe dominion extended 
 over iiich things as were moft dear to them, 
 or appeared moft worthy of admiration. 
 This was what happened in Scandinavia. 
 In procefs of time that fupreme Being, the 
 idea of whom takes in all exiftence, was 
 reftrained to one particular province, and 
 pa/Ted among the generality of the inha- 
 bitants for the God of war. No object, 
 in their opinion, could be more worthy his 
 attention, nor more proper to /hew forth 
 his power. Hence thofe frightful pictures 
 which are left us of him in the Icelandic 
 Mythology*, where he is always meant 
 under the name of Odin. He is there 
 called The terrible and fevere God ; the 
 
 * See the EDDA, Mytbol. 3. & feq. 
 
 father
 
 " father of (laughter; the God that carrieth 
 <c defolation and fire ; the adlive and roar- 
 " ing deity ; he who giveth victory, and 
 " reviveth courage in the conflict ; who 
 " nameth thofe that are to be flain." The 
 warriors who went to battle, made a vow 
 to fend him a certain number of fouls, 
 which they confecrated to him ; thefe fouls 
 were Odin's right, he received them in 
 VALHALL,his ordinary place of refidence, 
 where he rewarded all fuch as died fword in 
 hand. There it was that he diftributed to 
 them praifes and delight ; there he received 
 them at his table, where in a continual 
 feaft, as we fliall fee hereafter, the plea- 
 fures of thefe heroes confifted. The af- 
 fiftance of this Deity was implored in every 
 war that was undertaken; to him the vows 
 of both parties were addrefled ; and it was 
 believed that he often defcended to intermix 
 in the conflict himfelf, to inflame the fury 
 of the combatants, to ftrike thofe who were 
 to perim, and to carry their fouls to his ce- 
 leftial abodes. 
 
 This terrible Deity, who took fuch plea- 
 fure in medding the blood of men, was at 
 the fame time, according to the Icelandic 
 mythology, their father and creator. So 
 eafily dogrofs and prejudiced minds recon- 
 cile the mofl glaring contradictions : this 
 fame God, whom they ferved under a cha- 
 
 Chap. VI. G 4 rafter
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 rafter that would make even a man abhor 
 red, according to the EDDA*, " liveth 
 " and governeth during the ages, he di- 
 <f recleth every thing which is high, and 
 " every thing which is low, whatever is 
 " great and whatever is fmall ; he hath 
 " made the heaven, the air, and man, who 
 < c is to live for ever : and before the heaven 
 <c and the earth exifted, this God lived al- 
 " ready with the giants." The principal 
 ftrokes of this picture are found many times 
 repeated in the fame work. They have 
 been frequently ufed by other northern 
 poets. Nor were they peculiar to the in- 
 habitants of Scandinavia. Many ancient 
 people, the Scythians, and the Germans 
 for example, attributed in like manner to 
 the fupreme God a fuperintendance over 
 war. They drew their gods by their own 
 character, who loved nothing fo much 
 themfelves, as to cjifplay their ftrength and 
 power in battle, a.nd to fignalize their ven- 
 geance upon their enemies by flaughter and 
 defolation. Without doubt, this idea had 
 taken deep root in the minds of the ancient 
 Danes before the arrival of Odin. The 
 expedition of the Cimbri plainly mows, 
 that war was already in thofe early times 
 become their ruling pafiion, and mod 
 
 * See Mythol. 3. 
 
 im-
 
 ( 8 9 ) 
 
 important bufinefs : but it is neverthelefs 
 probable that this northern conqueror in- 
 creafed their natural ferocity, by infiif- 
 ing into minds fo prepared the fangui- 
 nary doctrines of his religion. Without 
 doubt, that intimate perfuafion of theirs, 
 that the fupreme God appeared in battle ; 
 that he fupported thofe who defended 
 themfelves with courage ; that he fought for 
 them himfelf ; that he carried them away 
 into heaven, and that this delightful abode 
 was only open to fuch as died like heroes, 
 with other circumftances of this kind was 
 either the work of this ambitious prince, 
 or only founded upon fbme events of his 
 life, which they attributed to the fupreme 
 God, when they had once confounded them 
 together *. The apotheofis of this Chief 
 and his companions which followed it, in- 
 volves the hiftory of thofe times in great 
 obfcurity. The Icelandic mythology never 
 diftinguifhes the fupreme Being, who had 
 been adored in the north under the name 
 
 * Abbe Banier fays ing been deified for fome 
 
 very fenfibly, that we great actions, have been 
 
 (hould always diftinguifh honoured with the fame 
 
 in the Gods of Antiquity, worfhip, as the Gods 
 
 thofe whofe worfhip has whofe names they have 
 
 been antecedent to the taken. See his mytholo- 
 
 exiftencc of their great gy. Vol. 3. Book 7. c. 2. 
 men, from thofe who hav- 
 
 Chap. VI. of
 
 ( 90) 
 
 of Odin many ages before, from this princ c 
 of the ! \SES, who ufurped his name and 
 the worfhip that was paid to him. Ail that 
 one can juft make mift to difcover amidft 
 fo much darknefs, is that the Scandinavians 
 were not feduced hy the impoftures of the 
 Aiiatic Odin fo far as to be generally per- 
 fuaded, that he was the fupreme God, 
 whole name he had affumed, and to lofe all 
 remembrance of the primary belief. I 
 think one may conjecture that it was prin- 
 cipally the poets, who delighted to con- 
 found thefe two Odins for the better adorn - 
 ing the pictures they drew of them both *. 
 Mention is fometimes made of an ancient 
 Odin, who never came out of Scythia, and 
 who was very different from that other Odin 
 that came into Sweden, and caufed divine 
 honours to be paid him at Sigtuna. Some 
 authors make mention alfo of a third Odin, 
 ib that it is very poflible this name may 
 have been ufurped by many different war- 
 riours out of policy and ambition ; of all 
 whom pofterity made in procefs of time 
 but one fingle perfon ; much in the fame 
 manner as hath happened with regard to 
 Hercules, in thofe rude ages when Greece 
 and Italy were no lefs barbarous than the 
 
 * Wormii Monumen- Regum & Dynaft. Dan. 
 ta Danica. Lib. i. p. 12. Lib. 2. c. 3. 
 Therm. Torfcei Series 
 
 northern
 
 (91 ) 
 
 northern nations *. However that be, 
 there remains to this-day fome traces, of 
 the worfhip paid to Odin in the name given 
 by almoft all the people of the north to the 
 fourth day of the week, which was for- 
 merly confecrated to him. It is called by 
 a name which fignifies ODIN'S DAY-f-: 
 For as this God was reputed alib the au- 
 thor of magic, and inventor of all the arts, 
 he was thought to anfwer to the Mercury 
 of the Greeks and Romans, and the name 
 of the day confecrated to him was expref- 
 fed in Latin Dies Mercurii%. 
 
 The principal Deity among the ancient 
 Danes, after ODIN, was FRIGGA or FREA 
 his wife. It was the opinion of all the 
 Celtic nations, of the ancient Syrians, and 
 of the firil inhabitants of Greece, that the 
 fupreme Being or celeftial God had united 
 
 * 'Several learned men * from Afia to form fettle- 
 have proved very clerrly ' ments in the north?' 
 that the word HERCU- f I* is called in Ice- 
 LES, was a name given Jandic IVonfdag, in Swe- 
 to ail the leaders of Co- di(b Odinfdag^ in Low 
 Ionics, who came out of Dutch lycer.fdag, in An- 
 Afta to fettle in Greece, glo-Siixon Wodcnfdag^ in 
 ;.-.! Spain. May Englifh IVednefday^ that 
 not one conjecture with is, the DAY of WODEN or 
 fome probability, that Odin. Vide Junii Ety- 
 thc name of ODIN was mologicon Anglicanum. 
 ;.iven in like manner to Fol. 1748. 
 all ihe leaders of Scy- \ In French Mecredi. 
 rhian colonies, who cajne 
 
 Chap. VI. with
 
 (9*) 
 
 with the Earth to produce the inferior di^ 
 vinities, man, and all other creatures. 
 Upon this was founded that veneration they 
 had for the Earth, which they confidered 
 as a goddefs, and the honours which were 
 paid her. They called her MOTHER 
 EARTH, and MOTHER OF THE GODS. The 
 Phenicians adored both thefe two principles 
 under the names of TAUTES and ASTAR- 
 TE. They were called by fome of the Scy- 
 thian nations JUPITER and APIA; by the 
 Thracians COTIS and BENDIS; by the in- 
 habitants of Greece and Italy, SATURN an4 
 Qps. All antiquity is full of traces of this 
 wormip, which was formerly univerfal. 
 We know that the Scythians adored the 
 Earth as a goddefs, wife of the fupreme 
 God; the Turks celebrated her in their 
 hymns 3 the Perfians offered facrifices to, 
 her. Tacitus attributes the fame worfhip 
 to the Germans, particularly to the inha- 
 bitants of the north of Germany. He 
 fays, " T ne y adore the goddefs HER- 
 " THUS*, (meaning the EARTH") and 
 
 * The name which Anglo-Saxon, Eorthe, Er- 
 
 Tacitus gives to this god- tha^ ' Hertha : Englifh, 
 
 defs, fignifies the EARTH Earth: in Danifb, Jord : 
 
 in .all the northern (or in Belgic, Aerde^ &c. 
 
 Teutonic) languages. Vid. JunjiEtymolog. An- 
 
 Thus it is in the ancient glican. T. 
 
 Gothic, Airina : in the 
 
 gives
 
 ( 9.5 ) 
 
 gives a circtimftantial defcription of the 
 ceremonies which were obferved in honour 
 of her in an ifland, which he does not 
 name, but which could not have been far 
 from Denmark *. We cannot doubt, but 
 this fame goddefs was the Frigga or Frea 
 of the Scandinavians. The word FREA or 
 f- FRAU fignifies a woman in the German 
 language. When therefore the Afiatic 
 prince came into Denmark, and had found 
 the wormip of Odin and his wife the Earth 
 eftablimed, there is no doubt but the famci 
 people, who gave him the name of ODIN 
 
 * Cluverius pretends 
 that it is the ifle of Ru- 
 CEN, which is in the Bal- 
 tic fea, on the coaft of 
 Pomerania. Germ. Antiq. 
 p. 134. Yet as Tacitus 
 places it in the ocean, it 
 is more likely to have been 
 
 the ifleofHEILIGELAND, 
 
 which is not far from the 
 mouth of theElb. The AN- 
 GLES (Angl'i) from whom 
 Our Englifh anccftors de- 
 rived their name) were 
 feated on this coaft : and 
 Arnkiel hath mown in his 
 Cimbric Antiquities, that 
 the ancient Germans held 
 this ifland in great ve,nera" 
 
 Chap. VI. 
 
 tion. The word Heili- 
 geland^ fignifies " Holy 
 " Land." See Pellou- 
 tier's Hift. des Celtes. 
 
 Tom. 2 Chap. 18. 
 
 Other learned men pre- 
 tend that the ifle in quef- 
 tion was ZEALAND, but 
 it is after all, not very 
 certain or important. Via. 
 Mallets Firft Edit. T. 
 + The Lydians and o- 
 ther people of Afia minor 
 acknowledged her under 
 the name of Rkea, which 
 is doubtlefs the fame as 
 Frea with a different af- 
 piration. Fir/1 Edit. 
 
 or
 
 ( 94) 
 
 or God, gave his wife alfo the name of 
 FREA confecrated to the Earth, and that 
 they paid her the fame compliment they 
 had done her hulband. Thus the fame 
 confufion, which prevails in the defcrip- 
 tions given us of Odin, equally obtains in 
 that of his wife ; and without doubt the 
 worfhip of both the one and the other un- 
 derwent an alteration at this period. This 
 Frea became in the fequel, the goddefs of 
 love and debauchery, the Venus of the north, 
 doubtlefs becaufe (he patted for the princi- 
 ple of all fecundity, and for the mother of 
 all exiftence. It was (he that was addreffed 
 in order to obtain happy marriages and eafy 
 child-births. She difpenfed pleafures, en- 
 joyments and delights of all kinds. The 
 Edda (Hies her the moft favourable of the 
 goddefles ; and in imitation of the Venus 
 of the Greeks, who lived in the mod tender 
 union with Mars, Frea went to war as well 
 as Odin, and divided with him the fouls of 
 the (lain : and indeed it would have been 
 very hard if the goddefs of pleafures had been 
 deprived of an amufement which her vota- 
 ries were fo fond of. It appears to have been 
 the general opinion, that (he was the fame 
 with the Venus of the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans, fmce the fixth day of the week 
 which was. confecrated to her under the 
 2 name
 
 (95 ) 
 
 name of Freytag, Friday, or Frea's day, 
 was rendered into Latin Dies Veneris, or 
 Venus's day *. 
 
 x The third principal deity of the ancient 
 Scandinavians was named THOR, and was 
 no lefs known than the former among the 
 Celtic nations. Julius Caefar fpeaks ex- 
 prefly of a God of the Gauls, who was 
 charged with the conduct of the atmof- 
 phere, and prefided over the winds and 
 tempefls -f-. He mentions him under the 
 Latin name of Jupiter : But Lucan gives 
 him a name, which bears a greater refem- 
 blance to that of Thor, he calls him Ta- 
 ranis, a word which to this day in the 
 Welfli language lignihes thunder J. It 
 plainly appears, and is the exprefs opinion 
 of Adam of Bremen, that the authority of 
 this god, extended over the winds and, 
 feafons, and particularly over thunder and 
 
 * She was alfo known 
 under the name of dfta- 
 godor the goddefs of love, 
 a name which is not very 
 remote from that of Af- 
 iarte^ by which the Phe- 
 nicians denoted her ; and 
 under that of Goya, 
 which the ancient Greeks 
 gave to the earth. She 
 was fometimes confound- 
 ed with the moon who was 
 
 thought as well as her to 
 have influence over the in- 
 creafe of the human fpe- 
 cies, for which reafon the 
 full moon was confidered 
 as the moft favourable 
 time for nuptials. 
 
 t Crefar Comment. L. 
 6. c. 17. 
 
 t Pellout. Hift. des 
 Celtes. Lib. 3. c. 6. 
 
 Chap. VI. 
 
 light-
 
 (96) 
 
 lightning . In the fyftem of the primi- 
 tive Religion, the God Thor was probably 
 only one of thofe genii or fubaltern divi- 
 nities, fprung from the union of Odin or 
 the fupreme being, and the Earth. The 
 Edda calls him exprefly the moft valiant of 
 the fons of Odin *, but I have not difcovered 
 that the employment of launching the 
 thunder was ever attributed to him. In 
 reading the Icelandic mythology, I find 
 him rather confidered as the defender and 
 avenger of the Gods. He always carried a 
 mace or club, which as often as he dif- 
 charged it, returned back to his hand of 
 itfelf j he grafped it with gauntlets of iron> 
 and was further poflefTed of a girdle which 
 
 Thar prafidet in atre ; 
 fuimina^ frugis gubernat. 
 (Adam Brem. Hift. Ec- 
 cles. c. 233.) Dudo de St. 
 Quentin obferves the fame 
 thing of the Normans and 
 Goths, adding that they 
 offered human facrifices. 
 There was alfo a day con- 
 iecratcd to THOR* which 
 llill retains his name in 
 the Danifh, Swedifh, 
 Englifh, and Low-dutch 
 languages, [e. g Dan. 
 Thirfdeg, Sued. Torf-dag. 
 T.ng.Tburfday. Belg: Don- 
 dcrdag. Vide Jun. Etym.] 
 This word has been ren- 
 
 8 
 
 dered into Latin, by Dies 
 Jovis, or Jupiter's day* 
 for this Deity, according 
 to ideas of the Romans 
 alfo, was the God of 
 Thunder. In confequence 
 of the fame opinion^ this 
 day hath received a fimi- 
 lar name in the dialect of 
 High - Germany. It is 
 called there by a name 
 tompofed of the word Peit 
 or Penning, which figni- 
 fies the fummit of a moun - 
 tain, and the God, who 
 prefides (in that place) 
 over thunder and tempeft. 
 * Edda Mvthol. 7. 
 
 had
 
 (97) 
 
 had the virtue to renew his ftrength as often 
 as was needful. It was with thefe formi- 
 dable arms that he overthrew to the ground 
 the menders and giants, when the Gods 
 fent him to oppofe their enemies. 
 
 The three deities, whom we have men- 
 tioned, compofed the court or fupreme 
 council of the gods, and were the principal 
 objects of the worfhip and veneration of 
 all the Scandinavians : but they were not all 
 agreed among themfelves about the pre- 
 ference which was due to each of them in 
 particular. The Danes feem to have paid 
 the higheft honours to Odin. The inha- 
 bitants of Norway and Iceland appear to 
 have been under the immediate protection 
 of Thor : and the Swedes had chofen for 
 their tutelar deity FREYA, or rather FREY, 
 an inferior divinity, who, according to the 
 Edda, prefided over the feafons of the year, 
 and beftowed peace, fertility and riches. 
 The number and employment of thefe 
 deities of the fecond order, it is not very 
 eafy to determine, and the matter befides 
 being of no great confequence, I mall point 
 out fome of the moil material. The 
 Edda* reckons up twelve gods and as many 
 g-oddefTes, to whom divine honours were 
 
 * Edda, Mythol. 18. 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. VI. H due,
 
 (9S ) 
 
 due, and who though they had all a certair* 
 power, were neverthelefs obliged to obey 
 Odin the moft ancient of the gods, and the 
 great principle of all things. Such was 
 NioRD-f-, the Neptune of the northern 
 nations, who reigned over the fea and 
 winds. This was one of thofe genii, 
 whom the Celts placed in the elements. 
 The extent of his empire rendered him 
 very reipeclable, and we find in the North 
 to this day traces of the veneration which 
 was there paid him. The Edda exhorts 
 men to wormip him with great devotion 
 for fear he Ihould do them mifchief: a 
 motive like that which caufed the Romans 
 to erect temples to the FEVER : for fear is 
 the moft fuperftitious of all the paffions J. 
 BALDER was another fon of Odin, wile, 
 eloquent, and endowed with fuch great 
 rmjefty, that his very glances were bright 
 and mining. TYR, who mufl be diftin- 
 guimed from THOR, was alib a warrior 
 deity, and the protedor of champions and 
 
 f Mythol. 21. of beauty and love, who 
 
 t Niord was the father hath been confounded 
 
 of that Frey, the patron with Frea or Frigga, the 
 
 of the Swedes, whom I wife of Odin. See the 
 
 Ji;i\c mentioned above, EdJa, 20. Firfl&dit. 
 and of Freya the goddels 
 
 brave
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 brave men*. BRACE prefided over elo- 
 quence and poetry. His wife, named 
 ID UN A, had the care of certain apples, 
 which the gods tafted, when they found 
 themfelves grow old, and which had the 
 power of infiantly reftoring them to youth ||. 
 HEFMDAL was their porter. The gods 
 had made a bridge between heaven and 
 earth : this bridge is the Rain-bow. Heim- 
 dal was employed to watch at one of the 
 extremities of this bridge, for fear the gi- 
 ants fhould make ufe of it to get into hea- 
 ven. It was a difficult matter to furprize 
 him, for the gods had given him the fa- 
 culty of fleeping more lightly than a bird, 
 and of difcovering objects by day or night 
 farther than the diftance of a hundred 
 leagues. He had alfo an ear fo fine that he 
 could hear the very grafs grow in the mea- 
 dows and the wool on the backs of the 
 {heep. He carried in the one hand a fword, 
 and in the other a trumpet, the found of 
 which could be heard through all the 
 
 * From Tyr is derived This proves that Tyr an- 
 
 the name given to the fwered to Mars. The Ger- 
 
 third day of the week in mans in High Dutch call 
 
 moft of the northern Ian- this day R^ichi-tag, from, 
 
 guages, viz. in Dan. the word Heric^ or Harec, 
 
 Tyrfdag or Tiifdag ; Sued. a Warrior, which comes to 
 
 Tifdagy Engliih, Tuefday y the fame thing, 
 in Low Dutch, Dingf-tag : }\ Edda Mythol. 25. 
 
 in Latin, Dies Martis, 
 
 Chap. VJ. H 2 worlds.
 
 worlds. I fupprefs here the names of the 
 r gods, who made up the number of 
 twelve ; but I ought to beftow a word 
 upon LOKE, whom the ancient Scandina- 
 vians feem to have regarded as their evil 
 principle, ,and whom notwithftanding they 
 ranked among the gods. The Edda* calls 
 him " the calumniator of the gods, the 
 " grand contriver of deceit and frauds, the 
 <f reproach of gods and men. He is beau- 
 '* tiful in his figure, but his mind is evil, 
 " and his inclinations inconftant. No 
 " body renders him divine honours. He 
 " furpafTes all mortals in the arts of per- 
 " fidy and craft." He hath had many 
 children by SEGNIE his wife : betides three 
 monfters who owe their birth to him j the 
 wolf FEN RIS, the ferpent MID CARD, and 
 HELA or Death. All three are enemies to 
 the gods -, who after various ftruggles have 
 chained this wolf till the lail day, when he 
 lhall break loofe and devour the fun. The 
 ferpent hath been caft into the fea, where 
 he fhail remain till he is conquered by the 
 god Thor. And Hela or death {hall be ba- 
 jiimed into the lower regions, where fhe 
 hath the government of nine worlds, into 
 which me diftribntes thofe who are fent to 
 her. We find here and there in the Edda 
 
 * Mythol. 26. 
 
 fever nl
 
 feveral other ftrokes concerning Loke, his 
 wars with the gods, and efpecially with 
 Thor, his frauds, their refentment againfl 
 him, and the vengeance they took of him, 
 when he was feized and fhut up in a ca- 
 vern formed of three keen-edged ftones, 
 where he rages with fuch violence that he 
 caufes all the earthquakes that happen. He 
 will remain there captive, adds the fame 
 mythology, till the end of the ages ; but 
 then he mall be flain by Heimdal the door- 
 keeper of the gods. 
 
 We have feen above that the Icelandic 
 mythology reckons up twelve goddefles, in- 
 cluding Frea or Frigga, the fpoufe of Odin, 
 and the chief of them all. Each of them 
 hath her particular fundions. EIRA is the 
 goddefs of medicine; GEFIONE of virgi- 
 nity : FULL A is the confident of Frea and 
 takes care of her drefs and ornaments. 
 FREYA is favorable to lovers, but more 
 faithful than the Grecian Venus, me weeps 
 inceffantly for the abfence of her hufband 
 ODRUS, and her tears are drops of gold. 
 LOFNA makes up differences between lovers 
 and married perfons though never fb much 
 at variance. VARA receives their oaths 
 and punifhes fuch as violate them. SNO- 
 TRA is the goddefs of learning and of good 
 manners. GNA is the mefTenger of Frea. 
 Chap. VI. II 3 Befides
 
 Befides thcfe twelvegoddeffcs there are other 
 virgins in VALHALLOF the paradife of the 
 heroes. Their bufinefs is to wait upon 
 them, and they are called VALKERIES. 
 Odin alfo employs them to chufe in battles 
 thole who are to perifh, and to make the 
 victory incline to whatever fide he pleafes. 
 The court of the gods is ordinarily kept 
 under a great am-tree, and there they diftri- 
 bute juftice *. This am is the greateft of all 
 trees j its branches cover the furface of the 
 earth, its top reaches to the higheft hea- 
 ven, it is fupported by three vaft roots, one 
 of which extends to the ninth world, or hell. 
 An eagle, whofe piercing eye difcovers all 
 things, perches upon its branches. A 
 fquirrel is continually running up and down 
 it to bring news j while a parcel of ferpents, 
 fattened to the trunk, endeavour to deftroy 
 him. From under one of the roots runs a 
 fountain wherein Wifdom lies concealed. 
 From a neighbouring fpring (the fountain 
 of paft things) three virgins are continually 
 drawing a precious water, with which they 
 water the am- tree : this water keeps up 
 the beauty of its foliage, and after having 
 refreshed its leaves, falls back again to the 
 earth, where it forms the dew of which 
 
 * See the EDDA : Mythol. 14. 
 
 the
 
 the bees make their honey. Thefe three 
 virgins always keep under the afh; and it 
 is they who difpenfe the days and ages of 
 men. Every man hath a Deftiny appropri- 
 ated tohimfelf, who determines the duration 
 and events of his life. But the three Defti- 
 nies of more efpecial note are URD (the 
 paft), WE RAND i (the prefent), andScuLDE 
 (the future). 
 
 Such were the principal deities, for- 
 merly worfhipped in the north of Europe* 
 Or rather thefe were the ideas which the 
 poets gave of t^em to that credulous people. 
 It is eafy to difcover their handy-work in. 
 thefe ficlions, fometimes ingenious, but 
 more frequently puerile, with which they 
 thought to let off the fimplicity of the an- 
 tient religion ; and we ought not to believe, 
 as we mall prove hereafter, that fuch of them 
 as were men of fenfe and difcernment ever 
 confidered them in any other light. But after 
 having fhewn the names and attributes of 
 their principal Deities, let us proceed to fet 
 forth after the Edda and the poem named 
 VOL us PA *, the other Doctrines of their 
 Religion. 
 
 VOL. I. H 4 We 
 
 * It is belie: eJ, that very extenfiveMythoIogy, 
 S^EMOND, futra-ned the of which at prefent we 
 LEARNED, compiled a have only an abridgment. 
 
 VI. W 9
 
 \Ve have feen that among the qualities 
 of which they fuppofed Odin or the Su- 
 prcam God to be poflefled, that of the 
 creator of heaven and earth is exprefsly at- 
 tributed to him. It is very probable that 
 moft of the nations which were of Celtic 
 race held opinions fimjlar to this, although 
 the few monuments which remain at prefent 
 of the Celtic religion, leave us ignorant in 
 what manner their Druids or their philofo- 
 phers conceived this great event to hav 
 happened, What the Icelandic mytho^ 
 logy hath preferred to us on this head, me- 
 rits fo much the more attention, as it dif- 
 covers to us the fentimcnts of the ancient 
 Scythians on this important point, and at 
 the fame time expreffes them frequently 
 with a greatnefs and fublimity equal to the 
 fined ftrokes of claflical antiquity on the. 
 fame fubjec~t *. The poet begins by a 
 
 delcription 
 
 We have flill three or tains an abftra of all th 
 
 four fragments of this firft northern Mythology, and 
 
 EDDA, the moft valuable appears very ancient ; but 
 
 of which is a poem of is not every where eafy to 
 
 about 400 verfes, which be underftood. 
 is frill extant, and inti tied 
 
 the VOLUSPA, that is to * I quote as much as 
 
 lav, " The Oracle of the poflible the very words of 
 
 * k Prpphetefs.'* Jt con- he VOLUSPA, and when
 
 defcription of Chaos. " In the day-fpring 
 *' of the ages, fays he, there was neither 
 " fea, nor more, nor refreshing breezes. 
 " There was neither earth below, nor hea- 
 " ven above to be diftinguifhed. The 
 " whole was only one vait abyfs without 
 " herb, and without feeds. The fun had 
 " then no palace : the ftars knew not their 
 " dwelling-places, the moon was ignorant 
 <c of her power." After this, continues 
 he, " there was a luminous, burning, 
 (t flaming world towards the fouth ; and 
 <c from this world flowed out incefTantly 
 " into the abyfs that lay towards the 
 tc north, torrents of fparkling fire, which 
 " in proportion as they removed far away 
 " from their fource, congealed in their 
 " falling into the abyfs, and fo filled it 
 ft with fcum and ice. Thus was the 
 <c abyfs by little and little filled quite full : 
 (l but there remained within it a light and 
 " immoveable air, and thence exhaled icy 
 " vapours. Then a warm breath coming 
 " from the fouth, melted thofe vapours, 
 " and formed of them living drops, whence 
 " was born the giant YMER. It is re- 
 
 they appear to me too ob- em. See efpecially My- 
 
 ifcure, I fupply them from thol. 4, 5, & feqq. Edd. 
 
 the EDDA, which is for Ifland. Refenii. Havniac, 
 
 the moft part, only a kind 1665. Firjl Edit. 
 of paraphrafe of this po- 
 
 Chap, VI. ported
 
 <c ported that whilft he flept, an extraordi- 
 < { nary fweat under his arm-pits produced 
 a male and female, whence is fprung the 
 " race of the giants ; a race evil and cor- 
 " rupt, as well as Ymer their author. 
 " Another race was brought forth, which 
 " formed alliances with that of the giant 
 " Ymer : This was called the family of 
 " BOR, fo named from the firft of that fa- 
 " mily, who was the father of Odin. The 
 " fons of Bor flew the giant Ymer, and 
 " the blood ran from his wounds in fuch 
 " abundance, that it caufed a general in- 
 " undation, wherein perimed all the 
 <c giants, except only one, who fav- 
 " ing himfelf in a bark, efcaped with all 
 " his family. Then a new world was 
 *' formed. The fons of Bor, or the Gods, 
 " dragged the body of the giant in the 
 ** abyls, and of it made the earth : the fea 
 and rivers were compofed of his blood ; 
 " the earth of his fle(h ; the great moun- 
 " tains of his bones ; the rocks of his teeth 
 " and of fplinters of his bones broken. 
 " They made of his fcull the vault of hea- 
 " ven, which is fupported by four dwarfs 
 " named South, North, Eaft and Weft. 
 " They fixed there tapers to enlighten 
 ' it, and affigned to other fires certain 
 <4 fpaces which they were to run through, 
 " fome of them in heaven, others under 
 
 " the
 
 the heaven : The days were diftinguimed, 
 
 and the years were numbered. They 
 
 made the earth round, and furrounded it 
 
 with the deep ocean, upon the banks of 
 
 which they placed the giants. One day, 
 
 " as the fons of Bor, or the gods, were 
 
 " taking a walk, they found two pieces of 
 
 " wood floating upon the water; thefe they 
 
 " took, and out of them made a man and 
 
 " a woman. The eldeft of the gods gave 
 
 " them life and fouls; the fecond motion 
 
 " and knowledge ; the third the gift of 
 
 " fpeech, hearing and fight, to which he 
 
 " added beauty and raiment. From this 
 
 " man and this woman, named ASKUS and 
 
 *' EMBLA, is defcended the race of men 
 
 " who are permitted to inhabit the earth.'" 
 
 It is eafy to trace out in this narration 
 veftiges of an ancient and general tradition, 
 of which every feel of paganifm hath al- 
 tered, adorned or fupprelTed many circurn- 
 ftances, according to their own fancy, and 
 which is now only to be found intire in the 
 books of Mofes. Let the ftrokes we have 
 here produced be compared with the be- 
 ginning of Hefiod's Theogony, with the 
 mythology of fome Afiatic nations, and 
 with the book of Genefis, and we mall in- 
 flantly be convinced, that the conformity 
 which is found between many circum- 
 itances of their recitals, cannot be the 
 Chap. VI. mere
 
 mere work of chance. Thus in the Edda 
 the defcription of the Chaos ; that vivifying 
 breath which produces the giant Ymer ; 
 that fleep during which a male and female 
 fpring from his fides ; that race of the fons 
 of the gods *, that deluge which only one 
 man efcapes, with his family, by means of 
 a bark ; that renewal of the world which 
 fucceeds ; that firft man and firft woman 
 created by the gods, and who receive from 
 them life and motion : all this feems to be 
 only remains of a more ancient and more 
 general belief, which the Scythians carried 
 with them when they retired into the 
 North, and which they altered more flowly 
 than the other nations. One may difcover 
 alfo in the very nature of thefe alterations 
 the fame fpirit of allegory, the fame defire 
 of accounting for all the phenomena of 
 nature by fictions, which hath fuggefted to 
 other nations the greateft part of the 
 fables with which their theology is infected. 
 To conclude, the ftyle itfelf, in which the 
 expremons, one while fublime, one while 
 extravagant and gigantic, are thrown toge- 
 ther without art ; the littlenefles that ac- 
 company the moft magnificent defcription s ; 
 the diforder of the narrative ; the uniform 
 turn of the phrafes, confirms to all who 
 read this work an idea of a very remote 
 antiquity, and a mode cf thinking and 
 
 writing
 
 writing peculiar to a fimple and grofs 
 people, who were unacquainted with any 
 rules of compofition, and whofe vigorous 
 imagination, defpifing or not knowing any 
 rules of art, difplays itfelf in all the liberty 
 and energy of nature. 
 
 It was thus the world was created ; or to 
 exprefs it in a manner, more conformable 
 to the Celtic notions, It was thus that the 
 matter already exifting but without order 
 and without life, was animated and dif- 
 pofed by the Gods in the prefent ftate in 
 which we behold it. I have already re- 
 marked, that they were far from fuppoling 
 that after it had received the firft motion 
 from the hands of the Gods, the world 
 continued to fubfift, and to move indepen- 
 dent of its firft movers. Perhaps no re- 
 ligion ever attributed fo much to a divine 
 providence as that of the northern nations. 
 This doctrine ferved them for a key, as 
 commodious, as it was univerfal, to un- 
 lock all the phenomena of nature without 
 exception. The intelligences united to 
 different bodies, penetrated and moved 
 them; and men needed not to look any 
 farther than to them, to find the caufe of 
 every thing they obferved in them. Thus 
 entire nature animated and always moved 
 immediately by one or more intelligent 
 caufes, was in their fyilem nothing more 
 Chap. VI. than
 
 than the organ or instrument of the divi- 
 nity, and became a kind of book in which 
 they thought they could read his will, in- 
 clinations and defigns. Hence that weak- 
 nefs formerly common to fo many nations, 
 and of which the traces ftill fubfift in 
 many places, that makes them regard a 
 thoufand indifferent phenomena, fuch as 
 the quivering of leaves, the crackling and 
 colour of flames, the fall of thunderbolts, 
 the flight or finging of a bird, mens invo- 
 luntary motions, their dreams and vifions, 
 the movements of the pulfe, &c. as inti- 
 mations which God gives to wife men, of 
 his will. Hence came oracles, divinations, 
 aufpices, prefages, and lots ; in a word all 
 that rubbim of dark fuperftitions, called at 
 one time religion, at another magic, a 
 fcience abfurd to the eyes of reafon, but 
 fuitable to the impatience and reftleflhefs of 
 our defires, and which only betrays the weak- 
 nefs of human nature, in promifing to re- 
 lieve it. Such notwithflanding was the prin- 
 cipal confequence which the * Gothic' na- 
 tions drew from the doctrine of a Divine 
 Providence. The ancient Danes carried it 
 to as extravagant a pitch as the reft, as will 
 appear from what I fhall fay of their facri- 
 fices and prefages, when I come to treat of 
 their exterior wor/hip. With refpecl to 
 the moral precepts, we know very well that 
 
 it
 
 ( III ) 
 
 it hath ever been the failing of mankind to 
 regard thefe as the leaft effential part of re- 
 ligion. When they admitted that conti- 
 nual and immediate action of the divinity 
 on all creatures, the Scandinavians had 
 thence concluded that it was impoffible 
 for men to effect any change in the courfe 
 of things, or to reiift the deftinies. The 
 Stoics themfelves did not underftand this 
 term in a more rigorous fenfe than the peo- 
 ple of the North. Nothing is more com- 
 mon in the ancient Chronicles than to hear 
 their warriours complaining that the defti- 
 nies are inflexible, that they are unatirable 
 and cannot be furmounted. We have feen 
 above that they reckoned the Parcae or God- 
 defles of deftiny to be three in number, as 
 well as the Greeks ; and like tkem attri- 
 buted to them the determination of all 
 events. Every man had alfo his own de- 
 fbiny* who affifted at the moment of his 
 birth, and marked before hand the period 
 of his days *. It is yet probable that they 
 confidered Odin or the fupreme God, as the 
 author and arbiter of the deftinies. This 
 
 * It is this doctrine of mances, as that ofthcan- 
 the ancient Celtic (and cient Romances, is found- 
 northern) Mythology, ed on the Greek and Ro- 
 which has produced all man Mythology. This 
 theftoriesoffairies,andthe will appear more plainly 
 marvellous of modern Ro- in the fequel of this work, 
 
 Chap. VI. the 
 
 6
 
 the Edda infinuates pretty clearly, when 
 it tells us, that he hath eftablimed from the 
 beginning governors to regulate the defti- 
 nies of mortals. One may conceive what 
 impreffion this doctrine muft have made 
 upon men who v/ere naturally warlike. 
 Recent examples have (hewn us, that it 
 never fails among men to add ftrength to 
 their ruling paffion, and to produce parti- 
 cularly in fuch as love war, a blind temerity 
 which knows neither meafure nor danger *. 
 But to this unlucky prejudice the ancient 
 inhabitants of the north added another, 
 the effects of which v/ere no lefs barbarous : 
 which was, that the term of a man's life 
 might be prolonged, if any one would put 
 himfelf in his place and die in his ftead. 
 This was, often pradtifed when a prince or 
 illuftrious warrior was ready to perim by 
 fbme accident ; Odin appeafed by fuch a 
 facrifice, and content to have a victim, 
 revoked, they faid, the decree of the def- 
 tinies and lengthened the thread of HIS 
 life whom they were fo delirous to fave. 
 
 The other precepts of this religion -f- 
 probably extended no farther than to be 
 brave and intrepid in war, to ferve the 
 
 * The author (I fup- Hiftory by Voltaire, 
 pofe) alludes to Charles f As among all the 
 
 XII of Sweden : See his Celtic nations. Orig. 
 
 Gods,
 
 ( "3 ) 
 
 Gods, and to appeafe them by Sacrifices, 
 not to be unjult, to mow hofpitality to 
 Grangers, to keep their words inviolably, and 
 to be faithful to the marriage bed. There 
 are many remarks to be made upon the 
 fenfe in which thefe precepts were taken, 
 and upon the manner in which they were 
 obferved ; but to avoid repetitions, I fhall 
 referve them for the article in which I fhall 
 treat of the Manners of the ancient Danes : 
 There we fhall be beft able to judge, what 
 influence their religion had upon thefe peo- 
 ple, and by a natural circle, thence form the 
 moft exact idea of the fpirit of the reli- 
 gion itfelf. It is now time to difcufs an- 
 other of its doctrines, that of the flate of 
 man after death, and the final deftiny of 
 the world he now inhabits. 
 
 " There will come a time, fays the Ed- 
 " da*, a barbarous age, an age of the 
 " fword, when iniquity fhall infeft the 
 < earth, when brothers (hall flam themfelves 
 " with brothers blood, when fons fhall be 
 " the murderers of their fathers, and fa- 
 " thers of their fons, when inceft and adul- 
 
 * See Mythol. 48. and alfo the fragments cited 
 49. and the Poem of the by Bartholin. De Cauf. 
 VOLUSPA towards the Contempt, a Dan. Gen- 
 end, as it is found in til. mortis. L. 2. c. 14. 
 the Edit, of Refenius. See 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. VI. I " tery
 
 et tery fhall be common, when no man mall 
 " fpare his friend. Immediately mail fuc- 
 " ceed a defolating winter ; the mow fhall 
 " fall from the four corners of the world, 
 " the winds fhall blow with fury, the whole 
 " earth fhall be hard bound in ice. Three 
 " fuch winters fhall pals away, without being 
 " foftened by one fummer. Then fhall fuc- 
 " ceed aftonifhing prodigies : Then fhall 
 " the monfters break their chains and cf- 
 w cape : the great Dragon fhall roll himfelf 
 " in the ocean, and with his motions the 
 ** earth mall be overflowed : the earth mall 
 " be fhaken ; the trees fhall be torn up by 
 " the roots ; the rocks fhall be darned 
 " -again ft each other. The Wolf Fenris, 
 *< broke loofe from his chains, fhall open 
 * l his enormous mouth which reaches from 
 " heaven to earth ; the fire fhall flafh out 
 " from his eyes and noftrils j he fhall devour 
 '" the fun : and the great Dragon who fol- 
 " lows him, fhall vomit forth upon the 
 <{ waters and into the air, great torrents 
 <{ of venom. In this confufion the flars 
 ** fhall fly from their places, the heaven 
 <( mail cleave afunder, and the army of evil 
 " Genii and Giants conducted by SORTUR 
 * c (the black) and followed by LOKE, (hall 
 " break in, to attack the gods. But HE- 
 " IMDAL the door-keeper of the Gods, 
 *' -rifes up, he founds his clanging trumpet; 
 
 the
 
 :< the Gods awake and aflemble ; the great 
 " Afh-tree makes its branches ; heaven and 
 " earth are full of horror and affright. The 
 " Gods fly to arms j the heroes place 
 " themfelves in battle-array. Odin appears 
 " armed in his golden cafque and his re- 
 " fplendant cuirals ; his vail fcimetar is in 
 " his hands. He attacks the Wolf Fenris ; 
 " he is devoured by him, and Fenris pe- 
 " rimes at the fame inftant. Thor is fuf- 
 '* focated in the floods of venom which the- 
 " Dragon breathes forth as he expires. 
 " Loke and Heimdal mutually kill each 
 " other *.. The fire confumes every 
 Chap. VI. I 2 " thing, 
 
 * It is very difficult to to have nothing in corn- 
 comprehend why the mon with ODIN. The 
 Scandinavians make their Stoics had probably the 
 Gods to die thus, with- fame ideas : there is at 
 out ever returning again leaft a very remarkable 
 to life : For after the de- paflage of Seneca the tra- 
 feat of the three principal gedian on this fubjecl. It 
 divinities, we fee an nil- is where he defcrioes that 
 powerful Deity appear up- conflagration which is to 
 on tke ftage, who feems put an end to this world. 
 
 Jam jam legibus obrutis 
 Mundo cum veniet dies 
 Auftralis polus obruet 
 Quicquid per Lybiam jacet, &c. 
 Arclous polu^ obruet 
 Quicquid fubjacet axibus. 
 i Amiftum trepidus polo 
 
 Titan excutict diem.
 
 ( "6) 
 
 " thing, and the flame reaches up to heaven. 
 " But prefently after a new earth fprings 
 " forth from the bofom of the waves, 
 " adorned with green meadows j the fields 
 '? there bring forth without culture, cala- 
 " mities are there unknown, a palace is 
 " there raifed more mining than the fun, 
 " all covered with gold. This is the place 
 " that the juft will inhabit, and enjoy de- 
 " lights for evermore. Then the POWER- 
 
 " FUL, the VALIANT, he WHO GOVERNS 
 
 " ALL THINGS, comes forth from his 
 " lofty abodes, to render divine juftice. 
 " He pronounces decrees. He eftabliihes 
 " the facred deftinies which mail endure 
 " for ever. There is an abode remote from 
 
 Cceli regia concidens 
 Ortus atque obitus trahet 
 Atque omne s pariter Deos 
 Perdet mors aliqua^ et Chaos 
 Et mors et fata noviflima 
 In fe conftituet fibi 
 Quis mundum capiet locus ? 
 
 So remarkable a confor- felves, flrongly prejudic- 
 mity feems to fuppofe that ed as they were againlt 
 the two fyftems had gjy them : And it is very pro- 
 common original, jK bable that more than one 
 would it be aftonifhing V philofopher had picked 
 they had. There wery "Uj> among the Scythians 
 among the barbarous na- or Thracians, confider- 
 tions Sages of great repute, able information, efpeci- 
 as is acknowledged by the ally with regard to reli- 
 G reeks and Romans them- gion and morality. \ft Ed. 
 
 ' the
 
 ( "7) 
 
 " the fun, the gates of which face the 
 " North ; poifon rains there through a thou- 
 " fand openings : This place is all compofed 
 " of the carcafTes of Serpents : There run 
 " certain torrents, in which are plunged 
 " the perjurers, afTaffins, and thofe who 
 " feduce married women. A black, winged 
 " Dragon flies inceflantly around, and de- 
 " vours the bodies of the wretched who 
 <c are there imprifoned." 
 
 Notwithstanding the obfcurities which 
 are found in thefe defcriptions, we fee that 
 it was a doctrine rendered facred by the re- 
 ligion of the ancient Scandinavians, that 
 the foul was immortal, and that there was a 
 future ftate referved for men, either happy 
 or miferable according to their behaviour here 
 below. All the c Gothic and ' Celtic nations 
 held the fame opinions, and it was upon 
 thefe they founded the obligation of ferv- 
 ing the Gods, and of being valiant in battle : 
 But although the Greek and Latin hiftorians 
 who have fpoke of this people, agree in at- 
 tributing thefe notions to them, yet none of 
 them have given any particular account of 
 the nature of thefe doctrines j and one ought 
 to regard in this refpect the Icelandic my- 
 thology as a precious monument, without 
 which we can know but very imperfectly 
 this important part of the religion of our 
 fathers. I mult here facrifke to brevity 
 
 Chap. VI. I 3 many
 
 many reflections, which the picture I have 
 here copied from thence, naturally pre- 
 fents to the mind. Many in particular 
 would arife on the furprizing conformity 
 that there is between feveral of the fore- 
 going ftrokes, and thole employed in the 
 gofpel to defcribe the fame thing. A con- 
 formity fo remarkable that one mould be 
 tempted to attribute it to the indifcreet zeal 
 of the Chriftian writer who compiled this 
 mythology, if the Eiida alone had tranf- 
 mitted to us this prophecy concerning the 
 laft ages of the world, and if we did not 
 find it with the fame circumftances in the 
 VOLUSPA, a poem of greater antiquity, 
 rind in which nothing can be difcovered that 
 has an air of interpolation, or forgery. 
 
 One remark however ought not to be 
 omitted, which is, that this mythology ex- 
 prefly diftinguimes TWO different abodes 
 for the happy, and as many for the culp- 
 able : Which is what feveral authors who 
 have writ of the ancient religion of Eu- 
 rope, have not fufficiently attended to. The 
 firft of thefe abodes was the palace of Odin 
 named VALHALLA, where that God re- 
 ceived all fuch as died in a violent manner, 
 from the beginning to the end of the world, 
 that is, to the time of that univerfal defo- 
 lation of nature which was to be followed 
 by a new creation, and what they called 
 
 RA-
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 RAGNAROCKUR, or the Twilight of the 
 Gods. The fecond, which after the reno- 
 vation of all things was to be their eternal 
 abode, was named GIMLE, that is, the 
 Palace covered with Gold, the defcription 
 of which we have feen above, where the 
 juft were to enjoy delights for ever. It was 
 the fame as to the place of punifliments ; 
 they diftinguifhed two of thofe, of which 
 the firft named XIFLHEIM*, was only to 
 continue to the renovation of the world, 
 and the fecond that fucceeded it, was to 
 endure forever. This laft was named NAS- 
 T R OND "\- -, and we have feen in the defcrip- 
 tion of the end of the world, what idea 
 was entertained of it by the ancient Danes. 
 With regard to the two firft places, the 
 VALHALLA andNiFLHEiM, they are not 
 only diftinguimed from the others in being 
 only to endure till the conflagration of the 
 world, but alfo in that they feem rather in- 
 tended to reward violence than virtue, and 
 rather to flifie all the focial affe&ions than to 
 deter men from crimes. Thofe only, whofe 
 blood had been fhed in battle, might afpire 
 to the pleafiires which Odin prepared for 
 them in Valhalla. The pleafures which 
 they expecled after death, fhew us plainly 
 
 * This word fignifies and Helm home, 
 the Abode of the wicked, f The ihore of the 
 irom the ifland Afr/7cvil, dead. 
 
 Chap. VI. I 4. enough
 
 enough what they relimed during life. 
 " The heroes, fays the Edda *, who are re- 
 " ceived into the palace of Odin, have 
 " every day the pleafure of arming them- 
 " felves, of palling in review, of ranging 
 " themfelves in order of battle, and of 
 " cutting one another in pieces ; but as foon 
 " as the hour of repaft approaches, they 
 " return on horfeback all fafe and found 
 " back to the Hall of Odin, and fall to eat- 
 <{ ing and drinking. Though the number 
 " of them cannot be counted, the fiem of 
 " the boarSERiMNER is fufHcient for them 
 " all ; every day it is ferved up at table, and 
 " every day it is renewed again intire : their 
 " beverage is beer and mead ; one fingle 
 " goat, whofe milk is excellent mead, fur- 
 " nifhes enough of that liquor to intoxicate 
 " all the heroes : their cups are the fkulls of 
 *' enemies they have flain. Odin alone, 
 " who fits at a table by himfelf, drinks 
 " wine for his entire liquor. A crowd of 
 tl virgins wait upon the heroes at table, and 
 " fill their cups as faft as they empty them." 
 Such was that happy ftate, the bare hope 
 of which rendered all the inhabitants of the 
 North of Europe intrepid, and which made 
 them not only to defy, but even feek with 
 ardor the moft cruel deaths. Accordingly 
 
 * Edda Iceland. Mythol^i, 33, 34, 35. '1
 
 King Regner Lodbrog * when he was going 
 to (lie, far from uttering groans, or form- 
 ing complaints, exprefled his joy by thefe 
 verfes. " We * are' cut to pieces with 
 " fwords : but this nils me with joy, when 
 " J think of the feaft that is preparing for 
 ct me in Odin's palace. Quickly, quickly 
 " feated in the fplendid habitation of the 
 " Gods, we mail drink beer out of the 
 <c fkulls of our enemies. A brave man fears 
 " not to die. I mail utter no timorous 
 " words as I enter the Hall of Odin." 
 This fanatic hope derived additional force 
 from the ignominy affixed to every kind of 
 death but fuch as was of a violent nature, 
 and from the fear of being fent after fuch 
 an exit into NIFLHEIM. This was a place 
 coniifting of nine worlds, referved for thofe 
 that died of difeafe or old age. HE LA or 
 death, there exercifed her defpotic power ; 
 her palace was ANGUISH ; her table FA- 
 MINE; her waiters were EXPECTATIOM 
 and DELAY -, the threfhold of her door, 
 was PRECIPICE ; her bed LEANNESS : (he 
 vfas livid and gh airly pale ; and her very 
 looks infpired horror. 
 
 After this defcription of the religion of 
 the Scandinavians, can we be furprized 
 
 * See " Five Pieces of Lend. 1763. 8vo. Olaii 
 " Runic Poetry, tranfla- Wormii Literatur. Run. 
 *' ted from the Icelandic. ad calc, 
 
 Chap. VI. that
 
 that they mould make war their only bu- 
 iinefs, and carry their valour to the utmoft 
 excefles of fanaticifm. Such alfo will be 
 the features which I {hall moft frequently 
 have occaiion to prefent, when I come to 
 give a picture of their manners : there the 
 influence of a doctrine fo pernicious will he 
 felt in its utmoft extent. But juftice obliges 
 me to obferve here, that the reproach ari- 
 fing from it does not affect the ancient in- 
 habitants of the North more, than thofe of 
 all Europe in general, unlefs it be that they 
 continued to deferve it longer. However 
 ftrange to a man who reafons coolly may 
 appear the madnefs of making war habitu- 
 ally, for the fake of war itfelf: it muft not- 
 withilanding be allowed, that this hath 
 been for a fucceffion of ages the favourite 
 paffion of all thofe nations at prefent fo po- 
 lite - y and it is but, as it were, of yefterday 
 that they began to be fenfible of the value 
 of peace, of the cultivation of arts, and of 
 a government favourable to induftry. The 
 farther we look back towards their infancy, 
 the more we fee them occupied in war, di- 
 vided among themfelves, cruelly bent on 
 the deftrudtion of each other, by a fpirit of 
 revenge, idlenefs and fanaticifm. There 
 was a time when the whole face of Europe 
 prefented the fame fpedtacle as the forefts 
 of America -, viz. a thoufand little wandering 
 
 nations,
 
 ( 123) 
 
 nations, without cities or towns, or agri- 
 culture, or arts ; having nothing to fubfift 
 on but a few herds, wild fruits and pillage, 
 harraffing themfelves inceflantly by inroads 
 and attacks, fometimes conquering, fome- 
 times conquered, often totally overthrown 
 and deftroyed. The fame caufes every 
 where produce the fame effedls : a favage 
 life neceflarily produces cruelty and in- 
 juflice ; difquiet, idlenefs and envy natu- 
 rally lead to violence, and the defire of ra- 
 pine and mifchief. The fear of death is 
 no restraint when life has no comfort. 
 What evidently proves the unhappinefs of 
 thofe nations who live in fuch a ftate as 
 this, is the facility with which they throw 
 their lives away. The pleafure arifing from 
 property, from fentiment and knowledge, 
 the fruits of induftry, laws and arts, by 
 foftening life and endearing it to us, can 
 alone give us arelim for peace andjuftice. 
 
 Chap. VI, C H A P-
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Of the exterior worjhip and religious cerfi 
 monies of the northern nations. 
 
 IN laying open the principal doctrines of 
 the ancient Danes, I have already had 
 frequent occafion to remark their confor- 
 mity with thofe of the other ' Gothic and ' 
 Celtic nations of Europe. The fame con- 
 formity is obfervable in the worfhip which 
 they paid the Deity ; and one may prefume 
 that it would appear ftill greater if it were 
 eafy to purfue with exa&nefs, the hiftory 
 of that religion through its feveral ftages of 
 purity and alteration. Thus, for inftance, 
 it is eafy to comprehend why the ancient 
 Danes made ufe of temples ; although, on 
 the other hand, it is very certain, that the 
 ufe of them was profcribed by the primitive 
 religion, which taught that it was orTenfive 
 to the gods to pretend to inclofe them with- 
 in the circuit of walls ; and that men 
 thereby checked and reftrained their action, 
 
 which
 
 ( -25) 
 
 which is to penetrate all creatures freely irl 
 order to fupport them in being. There was 
 doubtlefs a time, when the Danes, admitting 
 the fame doctrine, worshipped theirdivinities 
 only in open air, and either knew not or 
 approved not of the ufe of temples. Al- 
 though we want the greateft part of the 
 monuments which might inftruct us con- 
 cerning that flage of their religion, the 
 traces of it are not yet entirely deftroyed. 
 We find at this day here and there in Den- 
 mark, Sweden, and Norway, in the middle 
 of a plain, 'or upon fome little hill, altars, 
 around which they aflembled to offer facri- 
 fices and to affift at other religious cere- 
 monies. The greateft part of thefe altars 
 are raifed upon a little hill, either natural 
 or artificial. Three long pieces of rock fet 
 upright ferve for bafis to a great fiat ftone, 
 which forms the table of the altar. There 
 is commonly a pretty large cavity under 
 this altar, which might be intended to re- 
 ceive the blood of the victims ; and they 
 never fail to find ftones for ftriking fire 
 fcattered round it ; for no other fire, but 
 fuch as was ftruck forth with a flint, was 
 pure enough for fo holy a purpofe. Some- 
 times thefe rural altars are conftrufted in a 
 more magnificent manner ; a double range 
 of enormous ftones furround the altar and 
 the little hill on which it is erected. In 
 Chap. VII. Zealand
 
 Zealand we fee one of this kind * j which 
 is formed of ftones of a prodigious magni- 
 tude. Men would even now be afraid to 
 undertake fuch a work, notwithftanding all 
 the afliftance of the mechanic powers 
 which in thofe times they wanted. What 
 redoubles the aftonimment is, that ftones 
 of that fi'e are rarely to be feen throughout 
 the ifland, and that they muft have been 
 brought from a great diftance. What la- 
 bour, time and fweat then muft have been 
 beftowed urjon thefe vaft rude monuments, 
 which are unhappily more durable than 
 thofe of the fine arts ? But men in all 
 ages have been perfuaded, that they 
 could not pay greater honour to the 
 Deity, than by making for him (if I may 
 fo exprefs it) a kind of ftrong bulwarks ; 
 in executing prodigies of labour j in confe- 
 crating to him immenfe riches. The fa- 
 crifice of whatever is vicious in our paffions, 
 which he only requires of us for our own 
 happinefs, is always the laft thing that is 
 thought of to offer to him, becaufe it is 
 perhaps what is after all the moft difficult. 
 At Ephefus they difplayed their devotion, 
 by laying out upon one fingle temple all the 
 treafures of Greece and Ana. The Goths, 
 whofe bodily ftrength was all their riches, 
 
 * Vide Olai Wormii Monum. Danic. 
 
 {hewed
 
 ( '27 ) 
 
 fhewed their zeal by rolling enormous 
 rocks to the fummits of hills. 
 
 In fome places of Norway, are found 
 grottos, which have alfo been employed for 
 religious ufes. Some of them have been 
 cut with incredible pains in the hardeft 
 rocks 5 others are formed of prodigious 
 ftones brought near and combined together 
 with a force no lefs furprizing*. 
 
 By degrees, as the Scandinavians formed 
 new intercourfes and connections with the 
 other nations of Europe, whether by the 
 expeditions they undertook, or by the fo- 
 reign colonies which came to eftabliih 
 themfelves among them, their religion, 
 changing by degrees, tolerated infenfibly 
 temples and idols, and at length adopted 
 them without referve. The three principal 
 nations of Scandinavia -f- vied with each 
 other in creeling temples, but none were 
 more famous than that of Upfal in Swe- 
 den. It glittered on all fides with gold. 
 A chain of the fame metal (or at leaft 
 gilded) ran round the roof, although the 
 circumference was not lefs than nine hun- 
 dred ells. Hacon earl of Norway had 
 built one near Drontheim, which was not 
 inferior to that of Upfal. When Olaus 
 
 * Worm. Monum. Danic. lib. i. p. 6. 
 f Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. 
 
 Chap. VII. king
 
 ( 128 ) 
 
 king of Norway introduced the ChrifKan 
 faith into that country, he caufed this 
 temple to be razed to the ground, and 
 broke to pieces the idols it contained : 
 They found there great riches, and parti- 
 cularly a ring of gold of great value. Ice- 
 land had alfo its temples, and the chro- 
 nicles of that country fpeak with admira- 
 tion of two efpecially, one lituate in the north 
 of the ifland, the other in the fouth. In 
 each of thefe temples, " there was," fays 
 an author of that country *, a private 
 chapel, which was regarded as a holy 
 " place : There they placed the idols upon 
 " a kind of altar, around which they 
 " ranged the victims that were to be 
 " offered up. Another altar flood oppo- 
 " fite to it, plated with iron, in order that 
 " the fire which was to burn there perpe- 
 " tually, fhould not damage it : Upon this 
 * c altar was placed a vafe of brafs, in which 
 " they received the blood of the victims : 
 " Befide it flood a brufh which they made 
 " life of to fprinklethe blood upon the by- 
 " ftanders. There hung up likewife a 
 " great filver ring which they ftained with 
 " blood, and which whoever took an oath 
 * on any occafion was required to hold 
 " in his iiand. In one of thefe temples, 
 
 * Vid. Arngrim. Jon. Crymogrea. 
 
 " there
 
 ec there was alfo near the chapel a deep 
 " pit or well, into which they caft the 
 " victims." 
 
 When Denmark had embraced the Chri- 
 ftian faith, they applied themfelves with as 
 much zeal to deftroy thefe temples, as they 
 had a little before to ferve their falfe gods 
 in them. In a fhort time they were all 
 razed to the ground, and the very remem- 
 brance of the places where they flood was 
 totally loft. But the altars that are very 
 often found fcattered upon the mountains 
 and in the woods, teftify at this day, that 
 the ancient Danes were not lefs attached to 
 this mode of wormip than the other nor- 
 thern nations. 
 
 All the gods whofe names I have enu- 
 merated, and many others of inferior note, 
 were worfhipped and invoked by the 
 ancient Scandinavians, but not all in the 
 fame manner, nor on the fame account. 
 The great temple of Upfal feemed to be 
 particularly confecrated to the three fupe- 
 rior deities, and each of them was charac- 
 terized by fome particular fymbol. ODIN 
 was reprefented holding a fword in his 
 hand : THOR flood at the left hand of 
 Odin, with a crown upon his head, a 
 fceptre in one hand, and a club in the 
 other. Sometimes they painted him on a 
 chariot, drawn by two he- goats of wood, 
 VOL, I. Chap. VII. K with
 
 ( '30 ) 
 
 with a filver bridle, and his head fur- 
 rounded with ftars. FK IGG A flood at theleft 
 hand of Thor ; (he was reprefented of both 
 fexes (as an hermaphrodite) and with di- 
 vers other attributes, which characterized 
 the goddefs of pleafure. Odin was in- 
 voked as the god of battles and victory. 
 Thor, as the governor of the feafons, who 
 difpenfed rains, dry weather and fertility. 
 Fngga as the goddefs of pleafures, of love 
 .and marriage. I do not here enter into a 
 minute account of the worfhip rendered to 
 the other gods : That which was paid to the 
 three fuperior deities confifted principally 
 in facrifices, and deferves to be defcribed 
 more at large. 
 
 There were three great religious feftivals 
 in the year. The firft was celebrated at the 
 winter folftice. They called the night on 
 which it wasobferved, the MOTHER-NIGHT, 
 as that which produced all the reft : and this 
 epoch was rendered the more remarkable as 
 they dated from thence the beginning of the 
 year, which among the northern nations 
 was computed from one winter folftice to 
 another, as the month was from one new 
 moon to the next. .. This feaft which was 
 very confiderable, was named IUUL *, and 
 
 * Hence is derived the old name for Chriftmas. 
 
 word YEOL or YULE, Vide Junii Etymolog. 
 
 [Ang. Sax. Deol,] the Anglican. T.
 
 was celebrated in honour of THOR, or the 
 fun, in order to obtain a propitious year, 
 and fruitful feafons. Sacrifices, feafting, 
 dances, nocturnal affemblies, and all the de- 
 monftrations of a moft diilblute joy, were 
 then authorized by the general ufage : 
 Thefe anfwered to the Saturnalia of the 
 Romans, and were in a great meafure re- 
 newed afterwards among the people, on oc- 
 cafion of the feaft of Chriftmas< The fe- 
 cond feftival was inftituted in honour of 
 the earth or of the goddefs GOYA or 
 FRIGGA, to requeft of her pleafures, fruit- 
 fulnefs, and victory : And it was fixed at 
 the firft quarter of the fecond moon of the 
 year. The third, which feems to have 
 been the moft confiderable in ancient times, 
 was inftituted in honour of ODIN ; it was 
 celebrated at the beginning of the fpring, 
 in order to welcome in that pleafant feafon, 
 aad efpecially to obtain of the god of battles 
 happy fuccefs in their projected expeditions. 
 There were alfo fome feafts in honour of 
 the other gods, and they were often mul- 
 tiplied on occafion of particular events. 
 
 In the earlieft ages the offerings were 
 fimple, and fuch as fhepherds and ruftics 
 could prefent. They loaded the altars of the 
 gods with the firft fruits of their crops, and 
 the choiceft products of the earth : After- 
 wards they facrificed animals. Thev offered 
 
 Chap. VII. K 2 to
 
 ( 13*) 
 
 to Thor, during the feaft of IUUL, fat oxen 
 and horfes ; to Frigga the largefl hog they 
 could get * -, to Odin horfes, dogs, and fal- 
 cons, fometimes cocks, and a fat bull. 
 When they had once laid it down as a 
 principle that the effufion of the blood of 
 thefe animals appeafed the anger of the 
 gods, and that their juftice turned afide up- 
 on the victims thoie ftrokes which were 
 deftined for men; their great care then 
 was for nothing more than to conciliate 
 their favour by fo eafy a method. It is the 
 nature of violent deiires and exceffive fear 
 to know no bounds, and therefore when 
 they would aik for any favour which they 
 ardently wimed for, or would deprecate 
 fome public calamity which they feared, 
 the blood of animals was not deemed a price 
 fufficient, but they began to med that of 
 men. It is probable that this barbarous 
 pradice was formerly almoft univerfal, and 
 that it is of a very remote antiquity : It 
 was not entirely abolimed among the nor- 
 thern nations till towards the ninth century, 
 becaufe before that time they had not re- 
 ceived the light of the gofpel, and were ig- 
 norant of thofe arts which had foftened 
 
 * MatremDcumveneran- ticnis, formas aprorum ge- 
 tur JFJlii : injigne fuperjli- Jtant. Tacit. Germ. 0.45. 
 
 the
 
 . ( '33 ) 
 
 the ferocity of the Romans and Greeks 
 whilft they were ftill pagans. 
 
 The appointed time for thefe facrifices 
 was always determined by another fuper- 
 ftitious opinion which made /the northern 
 nations regard the number xJ&&%s facred 
 and particularly dear to the gods. Thus in 
 every ninth month they renewed this bloody 
 ceremony, which was to lad nine days, 
 and every day they offered up nine living 
 victims whether men or animals. But the 
 mofl folemn facrifices were thofe which 
 were offered at Upfal in Sweden every ninth 
 year. Then the king, the fenate, and all 
 the citizens of any distinction, were obliged 
 to appear in perfon, and to bring offerings, 
 which were placed in the great temple de- 
 fcribed above. Thofe who could not come 
 themfelves, fent their prefents by others, or 
 paid the value in money to priefts whofe 
 buiinefs it was to receive the offerings. 
 Strangers flocked there in crowds from all 
 parts ; and none were excluded except 
 thofe whofe honour had ftiffered fome 
 ftain, and efpecially fuch as had been ac- 
 cufed of cowardice. Then they chofe 
 among the captives in time of war, and 
 among the flaves in time of peace, nine 
 perfons to be facrificed : The choice was 
 partly regulated by the opinion of the by- 
 ftanders, and partly by lot. The wretches upon, 
 
 Chap. VII, K 3 whom
 
 ( '34) 
 
 whom the lot fell, were treated with fuch 
 honours by all the affembly, they were 
 fo overwhelmed \vith carefles for the pre- 
 fent, and with promifes for the life to 
 come, that they fometimes congratulated 
 themfelves on their deftiny. But they did 
 not always facrifice fuch mean perfons : In 
 great calamities, in a preffing famine for 
 example, if the people thought they had 
 fome pretext to impute the caufe of it to 
 their king, they even facrificed him with- 
 out hefitation, as the higheft price with 
 which they could purchafe the divine fa- 
 vour. \In this manner the firft king* of 
 VERM LAND was burnt in honour of Odin 
 to put an end to a great dearth j as we read 
 in the hiftory of Norway. The kings, in 
 their turn, did not fpare the blood of 
 their fubje&s ; and many of them even fhed 
 that of their children. Hacon, king of 
 Norway, offered his fon in facrifice, to ob- 
 tain of Odin the victory over his enemy 
 Harald -j-. Aune, king of Sweden, devoted 
 to Odin the blood of his nine fons, to pre- 
 vail on that god to prolong his life J. The 
 ancient hiftory of the North abounds in fi- 
 
 * This was a petty f Saxo Grammat. lib. 
 king of a province of x. 
 
 Sweden. See Wormius, Worm. Monum. 
 
 in Monum. Dan. p. 25, Danic. lib. i. p. 28. 
 26. 
 
 milar
 
 milar examples. Thefe abominable facri- 
 fices were accompanied with various cere- 
 monies. When the victim was chofen, 
 they conducted him towards the altar where 
 the facred fire was kept burning night and 
 day : It was furrounded with all forts of 
 iron and brazen veflels : Among them one 
 was diftinguimed from the reft by its fu- 
 perior fize ; in this they received the 
 blood of the victims. When they offered 
 up animals, they fpeedily killed them at the 
 foot of the altar j then they opened their 
 entrails to draw auguries from them, as 
 among the Romans ; afterwards they drefTed 
 the flefh to be ferved up in a feaft prepared 
 for the afTembly. Even horfe-flem was 
 not rejected, and the grandees often eat of 
 it as well as the people. But when they 
 were difpofed to facrifice men, thofe whom 
 they pitched upon were laid upon a great 
 ftone, where they were inftantly either 
 ftrangled or knocked on the head. Some- 
 times they let out the blood ; for no pre- 
 fage was more refpected than that which 
 they drew from the greater or lefs degree 
 of impetuofity with which the blood guflied 
 forth. Hence the priefls inferred what 
 fuccefs would attend the enterprize which 
 was the object of their facrifice. They alfo 
 opened the body to read in the entrails, 
 and efpecially in the heart, the will of the 
 Chap. VII. K 4 gods,
 
 ( '36 ) 
 
 gods, and the good or ill fortune that was 
 impending. The bodies were afterwards 
 burnt, or fufpended in a facred grove near 
 the temple. Part of the blood was 
 fprinkled upon the people, part of it upon 
 the facred grove ; with the fame they alfo 
 bedewed the images of the gods, the altars, 
 the benches and walls of the temple both 
 within and without. 
 
 Sometimes thefe facrifkes were per- 
 formed in another manner*. There was 
 a deep well in the neighbourhood of the 
 temple : The chofen perfon was thrown 
 headlong in -, commonly in honour of 
 GOYA or the EARTH. If he went at once 
 to the bottom, the victim had proved 
 agreeable to the goddefs, and me had re- 
 ceived it : If it fwam a long time upon the 
 furface, me refufed it, and it was hung up 
 in a facred foreft. Near the temple of Up- 
 fal, there was a grove of this fort, of which 
 every tree and every leaf was regarded as 
 the moft facred thing in the world. This, 
 which was named ODIN'S GROVE, was full 
 of the bodies of men and animals who had 
 been facrificed. They afterwards took them 
 down to burn them in honour of Thor or 
 the fun : And they had no doubt that the 
 holocauft had proved agreeable, when the 
 
 * See Arngrirn. Jonas in Crymogrea. lib. i. 
 
 frnoke
 
 ( 137 ) 
 
 fmoke afcended very high. In whatever 
 manner they immolated men, the prieft al- 
 ways took care in confecrating the vi&im 
 to pronounce certain words, as, " I devote 
 c thee to Odin." " I fend thee to Odin." 
 Or, " I devote thee for a good harveft; 
 " for the return of a fruitful feafon." The 
 ceremony concluded with feaftings, in 
 which they difplayed all the magnificence 
 known in thofe times. They drank im- 
 moderately ; the kings and chief lords 
 drank firft, healths in honour of the gods : 
 Every one drank afterwards, making fome 
 vow or prayer to the god whom they 
 named. Hence came that cuftom among 
 the firft Chriftians in Germany and the 
 North, of drinking to the health of our 
 Saviour, the apoflles, and the faints : A cuf- 
 tom which the church was often obliged to 
 tolerate. The licentioufnefs of thefe feafts 
 at length increafed to fuch a pitch, as to be- 
 come mere bacchanalian meetings, where, 
 to the found of barbarous mufic, amidft 
 fhouts, dancing and indecent geftures, fo 
 many unfeemly actions were committed, 
 that the wiieit men refufed to aflift at 
 them. 
 
 The fame kinds of facrifices were of- 
 fered, though perhaps with lefs Iplendor, 
 in Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Let 
 us hear on this fubjecl: an hiftorian of the 
 
 Chap. VJJ. eleventh
 
 ( 133 ) 
 
 eleventh century, Dithmar bifhop of Merle- 
 burg*. " There is," fays he, " in Zea- 
 " land a place which is the capital of 
 " Denmark, named Lederun (this is now 
 " Lethra or Leyre, of which I (hall fpeak 
 " hereafter). At this place, every nine 
 *' years, in the month of January, the 
 " Danes flock together in crowds, and 
 " offer to their gods ninety nine men, as 
 " many horfes, dogs and cocks, with the 
 " certain hope of appealing the gods by 
 " thefe victims." Dudo of St. Quentin, a 
 French hiftorian, attributes the fame prac- 
 tice to the Normans or Norwegians -{- : But 
 he informs us, that it was in honour of 
 Thor that thefe facrifices were made. 
 Arngrim Jonas, an Icelandic author who 
 hath writ with great learning upon the an- 
 tiquities of his nation J, remarks, that 
 there were formerly in Iceland, two tem- 
 ples in which they offered up human vic- 
 tims, and a famous pit or well in which 
 they were thrown headlong. There are 
 ftill in Friezland, and in feveral places of 
 Germany, altars compofed of fuch large 
 ftones that they could neither be deftroyed 
 by the ravages of time, nor by the zeal of 
 
 * Dithm. Merfeburg. t J. Arngr. Crymog. 
 Chronic, lib. i. p. 12. lib. i. c. 7. 
 
 t DudoQiiint.fubinit. 
 
 the
 
 ( "39 ) 
 
 the firft converts to Chriftianity. Thefe al- 
 tars, according to the tradition of the inha- 
 bitants, and the reports of creditable hifto- 
 rians, have ferved for the fame horrid pur- 
 pofes *. The Gauls for a long time offered 
 men to their fupreme god Esus, or TEV- 
 TAT -f. The firft inhabitants of Italy, 
 and Sicily, the Britons, the Phenicians, 
 the Carthaginians, and all the nations we 
 know of in Europe and Afia, have been 
 covered with the fame reproach. And can 
 we wonder at it ? Every nation buried in 
 ignorance muft inevitably fall into error, 
 and from thence into fanaticifm and cru- 
 elty. Men are born furrounded with dan- 
 gers and evils, at the fame time that they 
 are weak and naked. If, as they grow up 
 to manhood, the arts of c vil life and the 
 fecurity of laws do not difperfe their fears, 
 foften their difpofitions, and difFufe through 
 their minds, calmnefs moderation and the 
 fbcial affections, they become a prey to a 
 thoufand gloomy terrors, which paint 
 out all nature to them as full of dan- 
 gers and enemies, and keep them perpe- 
 tually armed with ferocity and diftruft. 
 Hence that thirft of revenge and deftruclion 
 which barbarous nations cannot lay afide : 
 
 * Ubbo Emmius Hift. thinks was the fame as 
 Frif. lib. i. p. 21. Odin. T. 
 
 f This our Author 
 
 Chap. VII. Hence
 
 Hence that impious prejudice which makes 
 them imagine the gods to be as fanguinary 
 as themfelves. It is the unhappinefs of our 
 nature, that ignorance fuggefts fear, and 
 fear cruelty. They muft therefore be very 
 little acquainted with human nature, and 
 ftill lefs fo with hiflory, who place the 
 golden age of any people in the age of its 
 poverty and ignorance. It is fo true that 
 men are every where alike in this refpect, 
 that nations who have never had any com- 
 merce with thofe of Europe, have run into 
 the fame excefles with equal fury. The 
 Peruvians anciently offered human facri- 
 fices. The Mexicans once offered up to 
 their gods, upon one fingle occafion, five 
 thoufand prifoners of war. Multitudes of 
 people, half-unknown and wandering in 
 the deferts of Afric or forefts of America, 
 do to this day deftroy each other, from the 
 fame principles and with the fame blind 
 fury. 
 
 The priefts of thefe inhuman Gods were 
 called DROTTES, a name which probably 
 anfwers to the Gallic word DRUIDS : They 
 were alfo frequently ftyled Prophets, Wile 
 Men, Divine Men. At Upfal each of 
 the three fuperior deities had their ref- 
 pective priefts, the principal of whom to 
 the number of twelve, prefided over the 
 facrifkes, and exercifed an unlimited au- 
 thority
 
 ( HI ) 
 
 thority over every thing which Teemed to 
 have connection with religion. The refpe^t 
 fhown them was fuitable to this authority. 
 Sprung for the moft part from the fame fa- 
 mily*, likethofe of the Jews, they perfuaded 
 the people that this family had God himfelf 
 for its founder. They often united the prieft- 
 hood and the fovereignty in their own per- 
 fons, after the example of Odin their legifla- 
 tor. And it was in confequence of that cuf- 
 tom that in later times kings ftill performed 
 fome functions of the priefthood, or fet apart 
 their children for an office fo highly revered. 
 The goddefs Frigga was ufually ferved by 
 kings daughters whom they called PRO- 
 PHETESSES and GODDESSES; thefe pro- 
 nounced oracles, devoted themfelves to per- 
 petual virginity, and kept up the facred fire 
 in her temple. Tacitus informs us, that 
 among the Germans the power of inflidting 
 pains and penalties, of ftriking, and bind- 
 ing a criminal was vefted in the priefts alone. 
 And thefe men fo haughty, who thought 
 themfelves difhonoured if they did not re- 
 venge the flighteft offence, would trembling 
 fubmit to blows and even death itfelf from 
 
 * Among the northern with the care of the tem- 
 
 nations, fays Diodorus pies, and the worfhip of 
 
 Siculus,afamilyis charg- the gods. Hift. lib. ii. 
 
 cd (from father to fon) c. 47. 
 
 Chap. VII. the
 
 ( 14* ) 
 
 the hand of the pontiff, whom they took 
 for the inftrument of an angry deity *. In 
 fhort, the credulity of the people, and the 
 craft and prefumption of the prieft went fo 
 far, that thefe pretended interpreters of the 
 Divine Will dared even to demand, in the 
 name of heaven, the blood of kings them- 
 felves ; and they obtained it. To fucceed 
 in this, it was only requifite for them to 
 avail themfclves of thofe times of calamity, 
 when the people, diftra&ed with forrovr 
 and fear, lay their minds open to the mod 
 horrid impreffions. At thofe times, while 
 the prince was flaughtered at one of the 
 altars of the gods ; the others were covered 
 with offerings, which were heaped up on 
 all fides for their minifters. 
 
 I have already obferved, that the ancient 
 religion of the northern nations -J- made the 
 deity to interpofe in the moft indifferent 
 events, as well as the moft confiderable ; 
 and they only confidered the elements, as 
 fo many organs by which he manifejfted 
 his will and his refolves. This opinion 
 once admitted, intereft or fuperflition 
 quickly drew from thence a confequence 
 natural enough : namely, that by ftudying 
 
 * Neque animadvertere > velut Deo imperante. Ta- 
 
 neque vincire, neque verbe- cit. Germ. 
 rare nift facerdotibus per- f Celtic nations. O- 
 
 mijfumy non due is j"J/u y ftd rig. 
 
 with
 
 ( '43) 
 
 with care the phenomena of nature, or, 
 to fpeak in the fpirit of that religion, the 
 vifible actions of that unfeen deity, men 
 might come to know his will, inclinations, 
 and defires : in one word, they entered into 
 a kind of commerce with him; oracles, 
 auguries, divinations, and a thoufand prac- 
 tices of that kind quickly fprung up in 
 crowds, from this erroneous principle. Ac- 
 cordingly in all our ancient fables and chro- 
 nicles, we fee the northern nations extremely 
 attached to this vain fcience. They had 
 oracles like the people of Italy and Greece, 
 and thefe oracles were not lefs revered, nor 
 lefs famous than theirs. It was generally 
 believed either that the gods and goddefles, 
 or, more commonly, that the three deftinies 
 whofe names I have given elfewhere, de- 
 livered out thefe oracles in their temples. 
 That of Upfal was as famous for its ora- 
 cles as its facrifices. There were alfo 
 celebrated ones in Dalia, a province of 
 Sweden ; in Norway and Denmark. " It 
 " was," fays Saxo the Grammarian, " *a 
 " cuftom with the ancient Danes to con- 
 " fult the oracles of the Parcsc, concerning 
 " the future defliny of children newly 
 " born. Accordingly Fridleif being de- 
 " firous to know that of his fon Olaus, 
 " entered into the temple of the gods to 
 ' pray ; and being introduced into the 
 Chap. VII. " fanftuary,
 
 ( 144) 
 
 " fan&uary, he faw three goddefles upon 
 " fo many feats. The firft, who was of a 
 " beneficent nature, granted the infant 
 " beauty and the gift of pleafing. The 
 <c fecond gave him a noble heart. But 
 " the third, who was envious and fpiteful, 
 <{ to fpoil the work of her fillers, im- 
 " printed on him the ftain of covetoufnefs." 
 It mould feem that the idols or itatues 
 themfelves of the gods and goddefles de- 
 livered thefe oracles vrva voce. In an ancient 
 Icelandic chronicle we read of one Indrid, 
 who went from home to wait for Thor- 
 jftein his enemy. " Thorflein," fays the 
 author, " upon his arrival, entered into 
 " the temple. In it was a ftone (cut pro- 
 " bably into a flatue) which he had been 
 " accuftomed to worfhip ; he proftrated 
 " himfelf before it, and prayed to it (to 
 " inform him of his defliny). Indrid, 
 " who flood without, heard the ftone 
 <' chaunt forth thefe verfes. " It is for the 
 " laft time, it is with feet drawing near 
 " to the grave, that thou art come to this 
 <c place : For it is moil certain, that before 
 " the fun ariieth, the valiant Indrid fhall 
 make thee feel his hatred *." The 
 people perfuaded themfelves fometimes that 
 thefe idols anfwered by a gefture or a nod 
 
 * Holmveria faga apud Bartholin. lib. iii. c. i r. 
 
 Of
 
 ( H5 ) 
 
 of the head, which fignified that they' 
 hearkened to the prayers of their fuppli- 
 cants. Thus in the hiitory of Olave Tryg- 
 gefon king of Norway, we fee a lord 
 named Hacon, who enters into a temple, 
 and proftrates hi mfelf before an idol which 
 held in its hand a great bracelet of gold. 
 Hacon, adds the hiftorian, eafiiy conceiv- 
 ing, that fo long as the idol would not part 
 with the bracelet, it was not difpofed to be 
 reconciled to him, and having made fome 
 fruitlefs efforts to take the bracelet away, be- 
 gan to pray afrem, and to offer it prefents : 
 then getting up a fecond time, the idol 
 loofed the bracelet, and he went away very 
 well pleafed. I (hall not lofe time in en- 
 tering into a defcription of the other kinds 
 of Oracles. Enough has been faid to con- 
 vince the difcerning reader, that here was 
 the fame credulity oit the one fide, and the 
 fame impofture on the other, as had for- 
 merly procured credit to the oracles of 
 Greece and Afia. There is no eflential 
 difference between thofe of the two coun- 
 tries, though fo far diftant from each other. 
 If the luxury of the fouthern nations fet 
 theirs off with more pomp and magnifi- 
 cence than comported with the lirnplicity 
 of the rude inhabitants of the North, the 
 latter had no lefs veneration and attachment 
 to their own oracles, than they. It has 
 VOL. I. Chap. VII. L been
 
 ( 146 ) 
 
 been thought to be no lefs for the intereft of 
 religion to attribute thefe of the North to the 
 artifices of the devil, than the others, as well 
 as the pretended fcience of magic, of which 
 the North has pad fo long for the mofl ce- 
 lebrated fchool and peculiar country. It rt 
 true that men have not advanced on the 
 iubjeft of the northern oiacles, as they 
 have done with refpecSt to thofe of the 
 fouth, that they ceafed at the birth of 
 Chriil *, although the affertion is as true, 
 of the one as the other : But for want 
 of this proof, an ill-grounded zeal hath 
 found plenty of others ; as if the advan- 
 tages refulting from, true religion were lefs 
 important, or our gratitude lefs due, be- 
 caufe the evils from which it hath deli- 
 rered mankind, did not proceed from fu- 
 perpatural caufes. 
 
 ' Oracles were not the only efforts made 
 by the curiofity of the Scandinavians to pene- 
 trate into futurity, nor the only relief im- 
 pofture afforded them. They had diviners 
 both male and female, honoured with the 
 name of prophets, and revered as if they 
 
 * Pope Gregory writ- rati, &c. &c. Ex EpifK 
 
 ing to the Saxons newly Bonifac.aSerar. Mogunt. 
 
 converted, fays, Falfedica in 4 edit. Nothing was 
 
 numlna in qiiibus dtcmones more common at that 
 
 habitare nofciintur Oro ut time than this fort ot 
 
 J.nt a diabolitd Jraude, like- language- 
 
 had
 
 ( 
 
 had been fuch. Some of them were faid 
 to have familiar fpirits, who never left 
 them, and whom they confulted under the 
 form of little idols : Others dragged the 
 ghofts of the departed from their tombs, 
 and forced the dead to tell them what 
 would happen. Of this laft fort was Odin 
 himfelf, who often called up the fouls of 
 the deceafed, to know what pafled in dif- 
 tant countries. There is ftill extant a very 
 ancient Icelandic ode upon a fubjecl: of this 
 kind * > wherein the poet reprefents, in 
 very ftrong imagery, Odin as defcending to 
 the infernal regions, and calling up from 
 thence a celebrated prophetefs. Poetry was 
 often employed for the like abfurd pur- 
 pofes, and thofe fame SCALDS or bards, 
 who as we mall fee hereafter enjoyed fuch 
 credit among the living, boafted a power of 
 difturbing the repofe of the dead, and of 
 dragging them fpite of their teeth out of 
 their gloomy abodes, by force of certain 
 fangs which they knew how to compofe. 
 The fame ignorance, which made poetry 
 be regarded as fomething fupernatural, 
 perfuaded them alfo that the letters or 
 RUNIC characters, which were then ufed 
 by the few who were able to write and 
 
 * This the reader will find tranflated in the fecond 
 part of this work. 
 
 Chap. VII. L 2 read,
 
 read, included in them certain myfleriotts 
 and magical properties. Importers then 
 eafily perfuaded a credulous people, that 
 thefe letters, difpofed and combined after a 
 certain manner, were able to work won- 
 ders, and in particular to prefage future 
 events. It is faid, that Odin, who was the 
 inventor of thofe characters, knew by their 
 means how to raife the dead. There were 
 letters, or RUNES, to procure victory, to 
 preferve from poiibn, to relieve women in 
 labour, to cure bodily difeafes, to difpel evil 
 thoughts from the mind, to diffipate melan- 
 choly, and to foften the feverity of a cruel 
 iniilrcfs. They employed pretty nearly the 
 fame characters for all thefe different pur- 
 pofes, but they varied the order and com- 
 bination of the letters : They wrote them 
 either from right to left, or from top to 
 bottom, or in form of a circle, or contrary 
 to the courfe of the fun, &c. In this 
 principally coniifled that puerile and ridi- 
 culous art, as little underftood probably by 
 thofe who profciTed it, as it was diftrufted 
 by thofe who had recourfe to it. 
 
 I have already remarked, that they had 
 often no other end in facrificing human 
 victims, than to know what was to happen 
 by infpeciion of their entrails, by the effu- 
 fion of their blood, and by the greater or lefs 
 degree of celerity with which they funk to 
 
 the
 
 ( H9 ) 
 
 the bottom of the water. The fame mo- 
 tive engaged them to lend an attentive ear 
 to the fmging of birds, which fome di- 
 viners boafted a power of interpreting. The 
 ancient hiftory of Scandinavia is as full of 
 thefe fuperftitious practices, as that of Rome 
 itfelf. We fee in Saxo Grammaticus, as in 
 Livy, auguries which forebode the fuccefs 
 of an expedition, warriors who are ftruclc 
 by unexpected prefages, lots confulted, days 
 regarded as favourable or unlucky, female 
 diviners who follow the armies, ihowers of 
 blood, forebodings, wonderful dreams which 
 the event never fails to juftify, and the 
 ilightefl circumftances of the moft import- 
 ant actions taken for good or bad omens. 
 This hath been, we well know, a general 
 and inveterate difeafe in human nature, of 
 which it hath only begun to be cured in Eu- 
 rope. To recall to view a fpectacle, which 
 tends fo much to mortify and humble us, 
 would be a labour as ufelefs as difcouraging 
 to an hiftorian, if the knowledge of all 
 thefe practices did not make an eiTential 
 part of that of Manners and of the caufes 
 of events, without which there could be 
 no hiftory ; and alfo if the fketch of the 
 errors and miftakes of human reafon did 
 not convincingly prove to us the necemty 
 of cultivating it. A perfon endued with 
 natural good fenfe will alfo find by this 
 Chap. VII. L 3 means
 
 ( '5) 
 
 means remedies proper to cure whatever 
 remains of fuch weaknefs and credulity 
 hang about him. It is true, one cannot al- 
 ways refute the marvellous and fupernatural 
 fiories of ancient hiftorians, by the bare 
 circumftances of their relations ; becaufe, 
 befides that it would be endlefs to enter 
 continually upon fuch difcuffions, we often 
 want the pieces necefTary to enable us to> 
 make all the refearches fuch an examina- 
 tion would require. But what needs there 
 more to convince us that we have a right 
 to reject, without exception, all facts of 
 this kind, than to confider, on the one 
 hand, how ignorant the vulgar are even in 
 our days, how credulous, how eafy to be 
 impofed on, and to be even the dupes of 
 their own fancy, greedy of the marvel- 
 lous, inclined to exaggeration, and pre- 
 cipitant in their judgments : And, on the 
 other hand, that among thofe nations whofe 
 hiftory appears fo aftoniming at prefent, for 
 a long time all were vulgar, except per- 
 haps a few obfcure fages, whofe voice was 
 too feeble to be heard amid the clamours of 
 fo many blind and prejudiced perfons ? Is it 
 .not fufficient to confider further, that the 
 age of the greater! ignorance of fuch na- 
 tions is prccifely that which hath been mofl 
 fruitful of oracles, divinations, prophetic 
 dreams, apparitions, and other prodigies 
 
 of
 
 of that kind ? that they appear more fel- 
 dom in proportion as they are lefs believed ? 
 and finally, that the experience of our own 
 times (hows us, that wherever reafon is 
 brought to the greateft perfection, all things 
 fall into the order of natural and fimple 
 events, infomuch that the lowed and mean- 
 eft clafs of men accuftom themfelves to be- 
 lieve nothing which is not agreeable to 
 good fenfe and accompanied with fomc 
 probability ? 
 
 But I repeat it once more, that fuper- 
 ftition did not blind all the ancient Scan- 
 dinavians without exception : And hiftory 
 teftifies, that there were, after all, among 
 them men wife enough to dilcover the 
 folly of the received opinions, and coura- 
 geous enough to condemn them without 
 referve. In the hiftory of Olave * king of 
 Norway, a warrior fears not to fay publickly, 
 that he relies much more on his own 
 ftrength and on his arms, than upon Thor 
 or Odin. Another, in the fame book, 
 fpeaks thus to his friend. " I would have 
 " thee know, that I believe neither in 
 " idols nor fpirits. I have travelled in 
 " many places ; I have met with giants 
 <c and monftrous men : they could never 
 
 * Or Olaus furnamed Trygguefon. Vid. Bar- 
 tholin. de Caufis, &c. p. 80. 
 
 Chap. VII. L 4 " over-
 
 " overcome me j thus to this prefent hour 
 " my own force and courage are the fole 
 " objecls of my belief." Unluckily there 
 feems too much room to lufpect that this 
 contempt of fuperftition did but throw 
 them for the moft part into the oppofite ex- 
 treme. So true is it that we feldom 
 are able to obferve a juft medium. At 
 leaft, many of the northern warriors feem 
 to have been fo intoxicated with their cou- 
 rage as to efteem themfelves independent 
 .beings, who had nothing to aik or fear from 
 the gods. In an Icelandic chronicle, a 
 vain-glorious perfon makes his boaft to a 
 Chriftian miffionary, that he had never 
 yet acknowledged any religion, and that 
 his own ftrength and abilities were every 
 thing to him. For the fame reafon, 
 others refufed to facrirke to the gods 
 of whom they had no need. St. Olave 
 king of Norway demanding of a war- 
 rior, who offered him his fervices, what 
 religion he profeffed ; the warrior an- 
 Avered, " I am neither Chriftian nor 
 " Pagan ; my companions and I have no 
 <: other religion, than the confidence in 
 '' our own flrength, and in the good iiic- 
 " cefs which always attends us in war; 
 " and we are of opinion, it is all that is 
 " necelTary." The fame thing is related 
 pf R.OLF furnamed KP.ACK, king of Den- 
 mark 3
 
 ( "53 ) 
 
 mark ; one day when one of his compa-r 
 nions propofed to offer a facrifice to Odin, 
 he faid that he feared nothing from that 
 bluftering fpirit, and that he fhould never 
 ftand in awe of him. But as it was not al- 
 ways kings who durft manifeft fentiments fb 
 bold and hardy, the followers of the pre- 
 vailing religion fometimes punimed thefe 
 irreligious perfons. In the life of king 
 Olave Tryggefon, mention is made of a 
 man who was condemned to exile for hav- 
 ing fung in a public place, verfes, the fenfe 
 of which was to this purpofe. " I will 
 " not infult or affront the gods : Never- 
 " thelefs, the goddefs Freya infpires me 
 " with no refpect : It mufl certainly be 
 " that either me or Odin are chimerical 
 " deities." It is eafy to conceive how 
 much, natural good fenfe, fupported by 
 that confidence which bodily ftrength in- 
 fpires, could excite in thofe ancient war- 
 riors contempt for their mute and feeble 
 deities, and for the childifh or trouble- 
 fome rites in their worfhip. But befides 
 this, it is certain, as I have already ob- 
 ferved, that the Scythian religion, in its 
 original purity, admitted only a limple and 
 reafonable worfliip, and one fole, principal 
 Deity, who was invilible and almighty. 
 One may then fuppofe, with a good deal 
 of likelihood, that tin's religion \vas not 
 Chap. VII. by
 
 ( J54) 
 
 by length of time fo much defaced, but that 
 fome traces of it ftill remained in the memory 
 of fenfible perfons, and in the founded part 
 of the nation. Indeed we fee appear at 
 intervals, in the ancient Scandinavia, fome 
 men of this ftamp endued with a real 
 Strength of mind, who not only trampled 
 under foot all the objects of the credulity 
 and idle fuperftition of the multitude, (an 
 effort which pride renders eafy, and fome- 
 times alone produces) but who even raifed 
 their minds to the invifible mafter of every 
 thing we fee; " the father of the fun, and 
 " of all nature." In an Icelandic chro- 
 nicle, a perfon named GIEST fays to his 
 nephew, who is juft ready to embark 
 for Greenland * : " I befeech, and conjure 
 " him who made the fun, to give fuccefs 
 " to thy undertaking." A celebrated Nor- 
 wegian warrior, named THORSTEIN, fays, 
 fpeaking of his father, " He will receive 
 *' upon this account a recompence from 
 " him, who made the heaven and the 
 " univerfe, whoever he be :" And, upon 
 another occasion, he makes a vow to the 
 fame being, " who made the fun," for, adds 
 he, " his power muil needs have been 
 " exceflive to produce fuch a work." All 
 his family entertained the fame fentiments, 
 
 * Vatzdzla, apud BarthoJ. c. 6. lib. i. p. 83. 
 
 and
 
 ( '55 ) 
 
 and It is exprefsly noted in many places of 
 the fame chronicle, that it was their re- 
 ligion to believe in him " who was creator 
 of the fun." TORCHILL, afupreme judge 
 of Iceland, a man of unblemimed life, and 
 diftinguifhed among the wifeft magiftrates 
 of that ifland during the time that it was 
 governed in form of a republic, feeing his 
 end draw near, ordered himfelf to be fet 
 in the open air, with his face turned to- 
 wards the fun, and having retted there 
 fome moments in a kind of extacy, ex- 
 pired, recommending his foul to HIM 
 among the gods, who had created the fun 
 and the ftars *. But of all the ftrokes 
 of this kind, none is more remarkable 
 than what a modern Icelandic hlftorian 
 relates in his manufcript-fupplement to 
 the hiftory of Norway. Harold Harfax, 
 the firfl king of all Norway, fays this au- 
 thor, being yet but young, held the fol- 
 lowing difcourfe in a popular aflembly. ** I 
 " fwear and proteft in the moft facred 
 ' manner, that I will never offer facrifice 
 " to any of the gods adored by the people, 
 " but to him only, who hath formed this 
 " world, and every thing we behold in it." 
 Harold lived in the middle of the ninth 
 century, at a time when the Chriftian reli- 
 gion had not yet penetrated into Norway. 
 
 * Arn. Jon. Crymog. lib. i. c. 6. 
 
 CHAP-
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Of the form of government which formerly 
 prevailed in the North. 
 
 THE character of the ancient nor- 
 thern nations is, in fome meafure, 
 laid open in the former book. It is the 
 nature of every religion which is the handy- 
 work of men, always to carry marks of the 
 weaknefs of its authors, and to breathe 
 forth the fame fpirit, with which they 
 themfelves were animated. Their govern- 
 ment and laws are another faithful mirrour, 
 wherein that fpirit may be feen with no 
 lefs advantage. It is obvious, that the laws 
 cannot long be contrary to the genius of a 
 nation. Sooner or later they will be im- 
 preffed with its character, or they will give 
 it theirs. Thefe are two ftreams very dif- 
 ferent in their fources, but which as foon as 
 they unite in the fame channel, have but one 
 force and one direction. The importance 
 of this fubject makes it incumbent on me 
 to treat it with fome extent, and to bring 
 
 together
 
 ( '57) 
 
 together with the utmoft care all the feebfe 
 and fcattered rays, which throw any light 
 upon it amid the obfcurity of fo many 
 dark ages. 
 
 In the firft place, let us confult Tacitus, 
 that excellent hiftorian of ancient Germany, 
 who in his little compendious narrative, 
 hath given in a few pages a mofl ftrik- 
 ing picture of the inhabitants of this 
 vaft country. It is needlefs to repeat 
 here what is known to all who have read 
 his treatife concerning Germany, that he 
 comprehended under this name all Scan- 
 dinavia ; and whatever he fays of the for- 
 mer equally regards the latter. His words 
 ought to be given here intire, and weighed 
 with care. Among this people, he fays, 
 * e the chiefs, or princes *, determine fome 
 " affairs of lefs importance ; all the reft 
 " are referved for the general afTembly : 
 c Yet even thefe the decifion of which is 
 " vefted in the people, are beforehand 
 
 " difcufled by the chiefs 
 
 " At thefe afTemblies they take their feats 
 " all of them armed. Silence is com- 
 " manded by the priefts, whofe buflnefs it 
 
 * De minor ibus nrflff PftlNcrfES confult ant ; demajc- 
 ribus OMNES. Tacit. Germ. c. ir, 12, 13, 14, &V. 
 
 Chap. VIII. " is
 
 " is at fuch times to maintain order. Then 
 " the king or chief fpeaks firft j afterwards 
 es the great men are heard in their turns 
 " with that attention which is due to their 
 " age, to their nobility, their reputation in 
 " war, their eloquence j greater deference 
 " being paid to their power of perfuafion, 
 " than to their perfonal authority. If 
 ' their advice difpleafes, the people reject 
 " it with a general murmur : If it is ap- 
 " proved of, they clam their lances -f. It 
 " is the moft honourable way of expreffing 
 " their affent, or of conferring praiie, to do 
 " it by their arms. . . . Criminal caufes 
 " mayalfobe brought before this great coun- 
 ** cil of the nation. ... In the fame af-^ 
 ** femblies are elected the chiefs or princes, 
 " whofe bufinefs it is to diftribtite juflice 
 " thro' the towns and villages. To each of 
 " thele are joined a hundred affeflbrs cho- 
 " fen out of the peopk, who affift the chief 
 
 ** with their advice and authority 
 
 t( * The kings are chofen for their no- 
 *' ble birth j the leaders or generals for 
 " their perfonal valour. The power of 
 " the kings is not arbitrary, but limited. 
 
 j- Frame as concutiunt. Tacit. 
 * REGES ex nobilitate:, DUCES ex vh'tute fvmunt. 
 Tacit, c. 7. 
 
 '* The
 
 " The leaders are not fo much to give of- 
 " ders, as examples : They muft fignalize 
 " themfelves by their courage and activity, 
 <c and their authority muft be founded on 
 " eftecm and admiration. . ^ . . Extreme 
 " youth does not exclude from the rank of 
 " prince or chief, thofe, whom their noble 
 " birth, or the diftinguifhed merit of their 
 " fathers intitle to this dignity. As they 
 " advance in age and acquire efteem, other 
 " young warriors attach themfelves to 
 " them and fwell their retinue. Nor does 
 " any one blufti to be feen among thefe 
 " ATTENDANTS or FOLLOWERS-}-. Yet 
 ' they have different degrees of rank, 
 " which are regulated by the chief's own 
 " judgment. Among the followers is 
 " great emulation, who mall ftand higheft 
 " in the chief's or prince's favour : Among 
 " the princes, who mall have the moft nu- 
 *' merous and valiant attendants. This is 
 " their dignity, their ftrength, to be always 
 " furrounded with a body of chofen youths : 
 * c This is their glory in peace ; their fecu- 
 " rity in war. And not only in their own 
 " nation, but among neighbouring ftates, 
 " they acquire a name and reputation, in 
 
 t Nfc rubor inter CoMlTES afpid. T?.c. 
 
 Chap. VIII. " proportion
 
 " proportion to the number and valour of 
 e their attendants. Then is their friendfhip' 
 " fought after by embaffies, and cultivated 
 *' by prefents. .... In battle, it would 
 " be a difgrace to the chief to be excelled 
 " in courage by any of his followers : A 
 < difgrace to his followers not to equal 
 " their chief. Should he perifh, they 
 " would be expofed to the higheft infamy 
 " through life if they mould furvive him, 
 
 " and efcape from battle The 
 
 < chiefs fight for victory : They for their 
 " chief. .... To retain their followers; 
 " in their fervice, no prince or chief hath 
 " any other refource but war. They re- 
 " quire of him one while a horfe trained 
 " for war : One while a victorious and 
 " bloody lance. His table rudely ferved, 
 *' but with great abundance, ferves them 
 " inftead of pay." 
 
 All the moft diftinguifhed circumftances 
 which characterize the ancient Gothic form 
 of government, are contained in this re- 
 markable palTage. Here we fee Rings; 
 who owe their advancement to an illuftrious 
 extraction, prefiding, rather than ruling, 
 over a free people. Here we fee the Na- 
 tion ailembling at certain flated times, and 
 making refolutions in their own perfons on 
 all affairs of importance, as to enaft laws, 
 
 to
 
 to chufe peace or war, to conclude alliances, 
 to distribute juftice in the laft refort, and 
 to elecl: magiftrates. Here alfb We diftin- 
 guim a body of the Grandees or Chiefs of 
 the nation, who prepare arid propofe the 
 Important matters, the decifion of which 
 is referved for the general affembly of all 
 the free men : That is, we trace here the 
 firft lineaments, if I may fo fay, of what 
 Was afterwards named in different countries, 
 " The council of the nation," " The fe- 
 *' nate," " The houfe of peers," &c. 
 Here We difcoVer the origin of that fingu- 
 lar cuftom, of having an elective General, 
 under an hereditary King : a cufto'm re- 
 ceived among moft of the nations of Ger- 
 man extraction, who had either Mayors of 
 the Palace, or Grand Marfhals, or Cori- 
 ftables, or Counts : For all theie different 
 names only exprefTed the fame thing in 
 different countries. Laftly, if we examine 
 with attention the words of Tacitus, we 
 cannot doubt but VafTalagfc and the' Feudal 
 Tenure had already taken footing among 
 this people before ever they left their na- 
 tive forefls. For although perhaps they 
 did not in thofe early times give lands in 
 fee, and although their Fees or Fiefs were 
 then perhaps nothing but arms, war-horfes, 
 and banquets ; what we read of the reci- 
 procal engagements between the Princes or 
 VOL. I. Chap. VJII. M Chiefs
 
 ( 162) 
 
 Chiefs and their Followers, evidently con- 
 tains whatever was eflential to the nature 
 of VaflTalage, and all the changes which 
 were afterwards made in it were only flight 
 and accidental, occafioned by the conquefts 
 and new eftablUhments, which followed 
 from it. 
 
 If we confider after this, the character 
 of thefe nations, as it is fketched out by 
 Tacitus, we mall not be furprized to fee 
 them wedded to institutions which they 
 found fo fuitable to their fituation and tem- 
 per : For being the moft free and warlike 
 people upon earth, they muft have had a 
 natural averfion to the authority of a fingle 
 perfon ; and if they placed themfelves un- 
 der leaders, it was only becaufe war cannot 
 be conducted in any other form. As free 
 men, they would only obey from choice, 
 and be lefs influenced by perfonal authority 
 than by reafon : As warriors, they con- 
 ceived no other duty to be owing to a 
 prince, than to be ready to fhed their blood 
 for his caufe. 
 
 But how came thefe men to preferve 
 themfelves in fo great a degree of liberty ? 
 This was owing to their climate and man- 
 ner of life, which gave them fuch ftrength 
 of body and mind as rendered them ca- 
 pable of long and painful labours, of great 
 and daring exploits. " Accordingly we 
 
 " have
 
 " have fince found liberty to prevail in Nortri 
 " America: But not in the South*." For 
 the bodily ftrength of the northern warriors 
 kept up in them that courage, that opinion 
 of their own valour, that impatience of 
 affronts and injuries, which makes men 
 hate all arbitrary government and defpife 
 thofe who fubmit to it. Being lefs fenfible 
 of pain than the more fouthern nations, 
 lefs eafily moved by the bait of pleafure, 
 lefs fufceptible of thofe paffions which 
 fhake the foul too violently, and weaken it 
 by making it dependent on another's will, 
 they were the lefs a prey to ambition, which 
 flatters and intimidates by turns, in order 
 to gain the afcendant : Their imagination 
 more conftant than lively, their conception 
 more fteady than quick, naturally refifting 
 novelties, kept them from falling into thofe 
 fnares, out of which they would not have 
 known how to efcape. 
 
 They were free, becaufe they inhabited 
 an uncultivated country, rude forefts and 
 mountains ; and liberty is the fole treafure 
 of an indigent people : for a poor country 
 excites no avidity, and he who poffefles 
 little, defends* it eafily. They were free, 
 becaufe they were ignorant of thofe plea- 
 fures, often fo dearly bought, which render 
 
 * Montefquieu. L'Efprit des Loix. Tom. 2. 
 
 Chap. VIII. M 2 the
 
 the protection of a powerful matter ne- 
 ceilary. They were free, becaufe hunters 
 and fhepherds, who wander about in woods 
 through inclination or neceffity, are not fo 
 eafily opprefled as the timorous inhabitants 
 of inclofed towns, who are there chained 
 down to the fate of their houfes : and be- 
 caufe a wandering people, if deprived of 
 their liberty in one place, eanly find it in 
 another, as well as their fubfiftence. Laftly, 
 they were free, becaufe knowing not the 
 ufe of money, there could not be employed 
 againft them that inftrument of flavery and 
 corruption, which enables the ambitious to 
 colled and diflribute at will the figns of 
 riches. 
 
 Further, that fpirit of liberty, arifing 
 from their climate, and from their ruftic 
 and military life, had received new ftrength 
 from the opinions it had produced ; as a 
 fucker which moots forth from the root of 
 a tree, ftrengthens by embracing it. In 
 effect, thefe people, efteeming beyond all 
 things, the right of revenging an affront, 
 the glory of defpifing death and perifhing 
 fword in hand, were always ready to attack 
 tyranny in the firft who dfred to attempt 
 it, and in whatever formidable ihape it 
 appeared. 
 
 By thefe means was liberty preferved 
 among the inhabitants of Germany and the 
 
 North,
 
 ( '65 ) 
 
 North, as it were in the bud, ready to blof- 
 fom and expand through all Europe, there 
 to flourish in their feveral colonies. This 
 powerful principle exerted the more ftrength 
 in proportion as it was the more preffed, 
 and the whole power of Rome having been 
 unable to deftroy it, it made that yield in 
 its turn from the time it began to be en- 
 feebled till it was entirely overturned. In- 
 deed there was fcarce a moment wherein 
 thefe two oppofite powers prefer ved an 
 even ballance. As foon as ever that of 
 Rome ceafed to be fuperior, it was de- 
 ftroyed. Its celebrated name, that name 
 which had been fo long its fupport, was 
 only a fignal of vengeance, which ferved as 
 it were to rally and affemble at the fame 
 inftant all the northern nations: .And im- 
 mediately all thefe people breaking forth as 
 it were by agreement, overturned this un- 
 happy empire, and formed out of its ruins 
 limited monarchies ; ftates not lefs known 
 before by name, than by their form of 
 government. 
 
 In effect, we every where fee in thefe 
 fwarms of Germans and Scandinavians, a 
 troop of favage warriors who feem only 
 born for ravage and deftru&ion, changed 
 into a fenfible and free people as foon as 
 ever they had confirmed their conquers ; 
 impregnating (if I may fo fay) their inOi- 
 Chap. VIII. M 3 tutions
 
 ( '66 ) 
 
 tutions with a fpirit of order and equality j 
 electing for their kings fuch of their 
 princes of the blood royal as they judged 
 inoft worthy to wear the crown > dividing 
 between thofe kings and the whole nation 
 the exercife of the fovereign power -, referv- 
 ing to the general aiTemblies the right of 
 making laws, and deciding important mat- 
 ters ; and laftly, to give a folid fupport to 
 the powers immediately eiTential to mo- 
 narchy, diftributing fiefs to the principal 
 warriors, and affigning certain privileges 
 proper to the feveral orders of the ftate. 
 
 Such for a long time was the conftitu- 
 tion of all the governments which thefe 
 people founded in Italy, in Spain, in Gaul, 
 in Britain at that memorable sra, which 
 changed the fate and place of abode of fa 
 many nations : An asra for ever memorable, 
 fince here we trace the firfl link (as it 
 were) of a new chain of events ; and hence 
 we fee fpring forth the laws, the manners 
 and principles which have ever fince go- 
 verned fo many celebrated nations, whofe 
 fuperiority of genius feems to have called 
 them forth to determine one day the fate 
 of almoft all the reft of the world. 
 
 One cannot without difficulty quit an 
 
 objecl: fo pleafmg. It is time however 
 
 to confine myfelf to what more parti- 
 
 V relates to my fubjedt. All that 
 
 we
 
 we learn from the hiftorical monuments 
 of the North perfectly confirms the tefti- 
 mony of Tacitus, and either gives or re- 
 ceives new light from the annals of the 
 other Teutonic nations. This remarkable 
 agreement made M. de Montefquieu fay 
 that " in reading Tacitus, we every where 
 " fee the codes of the barbarous nations : 
 " And in reading the codes of the barba- 
 " rous nations, we are continually reminded 
 " of Tacitus." Notwithftanding this, we 
 muft not flatter ourfelves that we can dif- 
 cover exadtly the extent of power, which 
 the ancient kings of Scandinavia enjoyed, 
 nor the particular rights and privileges of 
 each order of the ftate. If thefe were 
 never very precifely determined among a 
 rude people, who had no other laws but 
 cuftom, how can we diftinguim them ex- 
 aftly at the prefent great diftance of time ? 
 All that we can obfcurely difcover, is, that 
 the Danes, who before the arrival of Odin, 
 were divided into many nations, and lived in 
 great independence, were by force of arms 
 lubjeded to kings more abfolute, whom this 
 conqueror placed over them. It is ftill 
 more probable, that the fame thing hap- 
 pened to the Swedes, who, according to 
 Tacitus, were in his time under the go- 
 vernment of a fmgle perfon. If this hifto- 
 rian is well informed, the point of time in 
 Chap. VIII. M 4 which
 
 ( -63 ) 
 
 which he has defcribed the Swedes, piuft 
 have been that immediately after their con- 
 quefl. This event alone will account for 
 that ftate of defpotifm in which he fuppofcs 
 them to be funk. (i The Swedes*," he tells 
 us, " honour riches as well as the Romans. 
 " And for this reafon they have fallen un- 
 " der the dominion. of a fingle perfon. 
 " Their monarchy is no longer moderated 
 t( and limited by any reftridtions ; but is 
 " entirely deipotic. - The arms are not 
 '* there as among the other Germanic 
 " people, promifcuouily found in every 
 " one's hand, but they are kept fhut up 
 " under a clofe guard * and are even under 
 " the cuftody of -a -Have." This govern- 
 ment fo '- entirely deipotic " was doubtlefs 
 owing to fome accident : accordingly it 
 could not be of long duration. An ar- 
 bitrary government hath fince been re- 
 eftablifhed in Sweden upon feveral occa- 
 fions, but never for any long continuance. 
 This climate, made for liberty, always 
 triumphs in the end over defpotic fway, 
 which in other countries hath always tri- 
 umphed over liberty. 
 
 The Danes were not long before they 
 recovered their right of electing their 
 kings, and coniequently all the other rights 
 
 * Lat. Suisnes. Tacit. Germ. c. 44. 
 
 left
 
 lefs effential to liberty. It is true, the 
 people feem always to have made it a law 
 to chufe the neareft relation of the deceafed 
 king, or at leaft fome one of the royal fa- 
 xnily, which they refpe&ed as iflued from 
 the gods. They ftill fhew the places where 
 thefe elections were made : And as Den- 
 mark was for a long time divided into three 
 kingdoms, we find accordingly three prin- 
 cipal monuments of this cuftom j the one 
 near Lunden in Scania, the other at Leyra 
 or Lethra in Zealand, and the third near 
 Viburg in Jutland. Thefe monuments, 
 whofe rude bulk has preferved them from 
 the ravages of time, are only vaft unhewn 
 ftones, commonly twelve in number, fet 
 upright and placed in form of a circle. In 
 the middle is ere<5ted a flone much larger 
 than the reft, on which they made a feat 
 for their king *. The other ftones ferved 
 as a barrier to keep off the populace, and 
 marked the place of thofe whom the people 
 had appointed to make the election. They 
 treated alfo in the fame place of the moft 
 important affairs. But if the king chanced 
 to die in war or at a diftance from home, 
 they formed upon the fpot a place after the 
 fame model by bringing together the 
 largeft fto-nes they could find. The prin- 
 
 * Worm. Monum. Danic. 
 Chap. VIII, cipal
 
 ( '70) 
 
 cipal chiefs got upon thefc Hones, and with 
 a loud voice delivered their opinions ; then 
 the fbldiers who Hood in crowds about 
 them lignified their approbation or affent 
 by clafhing their fhields together in a kind 
 of cadence, or by raifing certain mouts. 
 We know that this cuftom of electing 
 their kings in the open field prevailed 
 among all the northern nations, and was 
 for a long time neceflary, becaufe they had 
 no cities. The emperors of Germany were 
 for many ages elected after the fame man- 
 ner; and the Poles, more attached to their 
 ancient cufloms than other nations, have 
 not to this day, forfaken it. 
 
 In Sweden, they joined to the other ce- 
 remonies which I have been defcribing, an 
 oath, reciprocally taken between the king 
 and his fubje&s *. One of the fenators, 
 or judges of the provinces, convoked an 
 affembly to make a new election imme- 
 diately after the death of the king, and de- 
 manded with a loud voice of the people, if 
 they would accept for king the perfbn he 
 named, who was always one of the royal 
 family. When they had all given their 
 content, the new king was lifted up on the 
 moulders of the fenators -f , in order that 
 
 all 
 
 * Dalin. Suea Rikes. t We preferve in Eng- 
 Jlift. torn, i. chap. 7. land to this day a relique 
 
 of
 
 ( '7' ) 
 
 all the people might fee and know him. 
 Then he took Odin to witnefs, that he 
 would obferve the laws, defend his country, 
 extend its boundaries, revenge whatever in- 
 juries his predeceflbrs had received from 
 their enemies, and would ftrike fome fignal 
 ftroke which mould render him and his 
 people famous. This oath he renewed at 
 the funeral of his predecefTor, which was 
 ufually celebrated with great pomp : And 
 alfo on occafion of the progrefs which he 
 was obliged to make through the chief 
 provinces of the kingdom, in order to re- 
 ceive the homage of his fubje&s. I relate 
 here all the particulars of this ceremony, 
 becaufe the exacT: conformity which we 
 find between the manners of the Danes and 
 Swedes during the ages of paganifm, will 
 not fuffer us to doubt but that the kings of 
 Denmark were elected after the fame man- 
 ner. This fuppofition is confirmed by 
 what we can difcover of the ancient con- 
 ftitution of the kingdom of Norway. But 
 it is fufficient juft to mention here this 
 identity of government in the three princi- 
 pal kingdoms of the North. To defcribe 
 
 ofthiscuftom, by carry- on the fhoulders of the 
 
 ing our members of par- burgefles, and fo expo- 
 
 Jiament, as foon as they fing them, to general 
 
 are ele&ed, in chairs up- view. T. 
 
 Cha. VIIL it
 
 it minutely in them all would occasion 
 tirefome repetitions. We have a remark- 
 able fad:, relative to this matter, which it 
 will be of much greater confequence to 
 know, as well on account of the great light 
 which it throws on this fubject, as on ac- 
 count of its own finking Angularity. 
 
 A colony of Norwegians driven from 
 their own country by the tyranny of one 
 of their kings, eftablimed itfelf in Iceland 
 towards the end of the ninth century *. 
 Hiftory informs us that immediately, with- 
 out lofing time, they proceeded to elect 
 magiftrates, to enact laws, and, in a word, 
 to give their government fuch a regular 
 form, as might at once infure their tran- 
 quillity and independence. The fituation 
 in which thefe Icelanders found themfelves 
 is remarkable on many accounts. The ge- 
 nius of this people, their natural good 
 fenfe, and their love of liberty appeared 
 upon this occafion in all their vigour. Un- 
 interrupted and unreftrained by any out- 
 ward force, we have here a nation deli- 
 vered up to its own direction, and efta- 
 bliming itfelf in a country feparated by 
 vaft feas from all the reft of the world : We 
 Ibe therefore in all their inftitutions nothing 
 
 * See a more particular relation of this below, 
 fr Chap. XI. 
 
 but
 
 ( '73 ) 
 
 but the pure dictates of their own irfcli- 
 nations and fentiments, and thefe were fo 
 natural and fo fuited to their fituation and 
 character, that we do not find any general 
 deliberation, any irrefolution, any trial of 
 different modes of government ever pre- 
 ceded that form of civil polity which they 
 at firft adopted, and under which they 
 lived afterwards fo many ages. The whole 
 fettled into form as it were of itfelf, and 
 fell into order without any effort. In 
 like manner as bees form their hives, 
 the new Icelanders, guided by a happy in- 
 ftinct, immediately on their landing in a 
 defert ifland, eftablifhed that fine conftitu- 
 tion wherein liberty is fixed on its proper 
 bafis, viz. a wife diftribution of the differ- 
 ent powers of government. An admirable 
 difcovery, which at firft fight, one would 
 think muft have been the matter-piece of 
 fome confummate politician ; and which, 
 neverthelefs, according to the remark of 
 a great genius of this age *, was compleated 
 
 * M. de MONTES- felves : Of which we 
 
 QUIEU. The follow- find various notices and 
 
 ing account is built on extracts in a multitude of 
 
 the teflimony of many books, particularly in 
 
 ancient annals, both that of Torfaeus cited 
 
 printed and manufcript, above, and in Arngrim's 
 
 of the Icelanders them- work iiuitled Crymogxa. 
 
 Chap. VIII. here,
 
 ( 174 ) 
 
 hc, as in other countries, by favages in 
 the inidft of forefts. 
 
 Nature having of itfelf divided the ifland 
 into four provinces, the Icelanders followed 
 this divifion, and eftablifhed in each of 
 them a magistrate who might be called the 
 Provincial Judge. Each province was fub- 
 divided into three Prefectures *, which had 
 their reTpedtive Judges or Prefects. And 
 laftly, each Prefecture contained a certain 
 number of Bailywicks ; in each of which 
 were commonly five inferior magistrates, 
 whofe bufmefs it was to diftribute juftice in 
 the firft inftance through their own diftrict ; 
 to fee that good order Was preferved in it -f* ; 
 and to convoke the aflemblies of the Baily- 
 wick, as well ordinary as extraordinary, of 
 which all free men, who poflefled lands of a 
 certain value, were members. In thefe 
 
 * Only the northern Arngrim thus renders in- 
 province or quarter, be- to Latin. Ejufmodi nun- 
 ing larger than the reft, did impune CASTRANDJ 
 contained four of thcfe eiiamft cum eorundem nece 
 Prefectures. conjunttum foret. Tit. de 
 
 f It was the bufmefs Pupil, c. 33. There is 
 ef thefe magiftrates to in the fame code another 
 punifti the difiblute, par- Law which forbids the 
 ticularly fuch as were giving fuftenance or re- 
 poor through their own lief of any kind to com- 
 iault. We find in the mon beggars. Tit. de 
 Icelandic code this re- Mendic. c. 39 & 36. 
 maskable law, which Firft Edit; 
 
 aflemblies
 
 aflemblies they elected the five Judges or 
 Bailifs, who were to be perfons diftin- 
 guimed for their wifdomj and were required 
 to enjoy a certain income in lands, for fear 
 their poverty ihould expofe them to con- 
 tempt or corruption. When the caufes were 
 of any importance, the whole affembly gave 
 their opinion. Without its full confent a 
 new member could not be received into 
 their community. If any fuch offered 
 himfelf, he applied to the afTembly, who 
 examined his motives for making the 
 requeft, and rejected it, if the petitioner 
 had failed in honour on any occafion, or 
 was merely too poor : For as the com- 
 munity maintained fuch of its own mem- 
 bers as were by any accident reduced to 
 mifery or want *, it was their common in- 
 tereft to exclude fuch perfons as were indi- 
 gent : They had for that purpofe a fund 
 fupported by contribution, as alfo by what 
 arofe from the fines, which were the more 
 confiderable, as they ufed in thofe times 
 fcarce any other kind of punifhmcnt-j-. 
 
 Laftly, 
 
 * Thus the Auembly per, &c. In thefe cafes 
 
 rebuilt (at leaft in part) the Bailiffs taxed each ci- 
 
 any man's houfe that was tizen according to his 
 
 burnt down, beftowed a fubttance. Firji Ed:t. 
 
 new ftock of cattle on f It is a remark of the 
 
 fuch as had loft their own Author of the SPIRIT OF 
 
 fey any contagious diftem- LAWS, a remark con- 
 
 . Chap. Vili. firmed
 
 ( 176 ) 
 
 Laftly, this fame aflembly of the Bally- 
 wick took care to examine into the conduct 
 of the Bailiffs, received the complaints that 
 were made agairift them, and punimed 
 them when convicted of abufing their au- 
 thority. 
 
 A re-afTembly of the members, or at 
 leaft of the deputies of ten fuch communi- 
 ties, reprefented, what I call a Prefe&ure. 
 Each quarter or grand province of the 
 ifland contained three of thefe, as we have 
 
 firmed by the Hiftory of 
 all nations, that in pro- 
 portion as any people 
 love liberty, the milder are 
 their punifhments. The 
 ancient Germans and 
 Scandinavians, the moft 
 brave and free race of men 
 that perhaps ever exifted, 
 knew fcarcely any other 
 than pecuniary penalties. 
 They carried this fpirit 
 with them thro' all parts of 
 Europe, as appears from 
 the Codes of the Vifi- 
 goths, the Burgundians, 
 c. But the govern- 
 ments, which they efta- 
 blifhed in the more fou- 
 thern countries could not 
 fubfift with fo much le- 
 nity. 
 
 In Iceland and Nor- 
 VTJV all crimes were rated 
 
 zt a certain number of 
 Marks. The Mark was 
 divided into eight parts, 
 each of which was equi- 
 valent to fix ells of fuch 
 fluff, as made their ordi- 
 nary cloaths. Confe- 
 quently a Mark was in 
 value equal to 48 ells of 
 this cloth. Now a Mark 
 confuted of fomewha* 
 more than an ounce of 
 fine filver. A cow com- 
 monly coft two Marks 
 and a half. Hence we 
 may judge of the quantity 
 of filver that was then in 
 thofe countries. But fliis 
 remark muft not be ex- 
 tended to Denmark, 
 which was apparently 
 richer. See Arngrim. 
 Jon. Crymog. lib. i. p. 
 86. Fir ft Edit. 
 
 already
 
 already feen. The Chief of a Prefecture 
 enjoyed confidcrable dignity. He had a 
 power to aflemble the ten communities 
 within his diftrict, and prefided himfelf 
 over all afTemblies of this fort, as well or- 
 dinary as extraordinary ; he was at the 
 fame time head of the religion within his 
 Prefecture. It was he who appointed the 
 facrifices, and other religious ceremonies, 
 which were celebrated in the fame place 
 where they regulated their political and ci- 
 vil affairs. There lay an appeal to thefe 
 AfTemblies from the fentence pronounced 
 by the magistrates of the Bailywicks, and 
 here were determined whatever difputes 
 arofe between thofe inferior communities. 
 Here alfo the prefect received the tax, 
 which each citizen was obliged to pay to- 
 wards the expences of the religious wor- 
 fhip; and here he judged, in the quality 
 of pontiff, fuch as were accufed of pro- 
 faning temples, of ipeaking irreverently of 
 the gods, or of any other act of impiety. 
 The penalties inflicted on criminals of 
 this fort confifted for the moil part of 
 fines, which the ailemblies empowered 
 the prefedt to levy, in order to lay them 
 out in repair of the temples. But when 
 any affair occurred of great importance, 
 or which concerned the whole pro- 
 vince, then the members, or perhaps only 
 VOL. I. Chap. VIII. N ths
 
 ( "73 ) 
 
 the deputies of the three Prefectures met 
 together and compofed, what they called 
 the States of the Quarter, or Province. 
 Thefe States did not afTemble regularly 
 like the ethers, who were required to meet 
 at leaft once a year ; nor do we know ex- 
 actly what were the objects of their delibe- 
 rations. All that one can conjecture is, that 
 they had recourfe to it, as to an extraordi- 
 nary means of terminating fuch quarrels as 
 arofe between the communities of the dif- 
 ferent Prefectures, or to obviate fome dan- 
 ger which threatened the whole province in 
 general. 
 
 Superior to all thefe AfTemblies of the 
 lefTer Communities and Provinces were the 
 STATES GENERAL of the whole ifland 
 (Altingj, which anfwered to the Ah-he~ 
 riar-ting of the other Scandinavian natisns, 
 to the Wittena-Gcmot or Parliament of the 
 Anglo-Saxons *, to the Champs de Mars or 
 de May of the French, and to the Cortes of 
 the Spaniards, &c. Thefe ^fTembled every 
 year, and each citizen of Iceland thought it 
 his honour and his duty to be prefent at 
 
 * Al-tir.v is compound- //?<?/, " The Meeting of 
 
 eJ of /ft//'?. 11, ami 7 ing, " the Wife- men." It is 
 
 * court of juftice, aflrzc : evident, that all thefe ex- 
 
 Ah-bcriar-ting flgnifics, preflions contain at the 
 
 fc< The Court of all the bottom the fame idea. 
 " Lord:,;" Wiitena-Gi- 
 
 thena.
 
 ( '79 ) 
 
 them. The prefident of this great aflem- 
 bly was Sovereign Judge of the ifland. He 
 poflefled this office for life, but it was con- 
 ferred upon him by the States. His prin- 
 cipal bufmefs was to convoke the General 
 Aflembly, and to fee to the obfervance of the 
 laws -, hence the name of JLcigman, or Man 
 of the Laws, was given to this magiftrate. 
 Pie had a power of examining before the 
 General Eftates, and of reVerfmg all the 
 fentences pronounced by inferior judges 
 throughout tlie ifland, of annulling their 
 ordinances, and even of puniming them, if 
 the complaints brought againft them were 
 \vell-fotmded. He could propofe the enact- 
 ing of new laws, the repealing or changing 
 of the old ones : and if they pafled in the 
 General Aflembly, it was his bufmefs to put 
 them in execution. After this people began 
 to have written laws, and the whole ifland 
 had adopted one common form of juriipru- 
 dence, it was the Supreme Judge, who had 
 the keeping of the original authentic copy, 
 to which all the others were to be con- 
 formable. To his judgment and that of 
 the aflembly, lay an appeal from the fen- 
 tences given in the interior courts. The 
 Bailiffs or Prefects, whofe fentence he re- 
 viled, were obliged to judge the caufe over 
 again in his prefence, and he afterwards pro- 
 nounced fentence both on the contending 
 Chap. Vlll. N 2 parties,
 
 ( i8o ) 
 
 parties, and on the judges. The fear of 
 "being condemned and punimed before fo 
 numerous an aflembly, was (as Arngrirn 
 well remarks) a great check upon all thefe 
 fubaltern judges, and ferved to keep every 
 magiftrate within the bounds of his duty. 
 Commonly the Seffion of thefe General 
 Eftates lafted fixteen days, and they mow 
 at this time the place of their meeting, 
 which began and ended with folemn facri- 
 fices. It was chiefly during that femon, 
 that the Sovereign Judge exercifed his au- 
 thority. Out of this afiembly his power 
 feems not to have been confiderable : But 
 he was at all times treated with great ho- 
 nour and refpect; and was always confi- 
 dered as the oracle of the laws and pro- 
 te3or of the people. The Icelandic chro- 
 nicles carefully note the year, wherein 
 each Judge was elected, and the time was 
 computed by the years of his election, as 
 among the Lacedemonians by thole of the 
 EPHORI. We fee by the lift, which Arn- 
 grim has preferred of them, that there were 
 thirty-eight from the beginning of the 
 commonwealth to its diflblution : And we 
 find in this number the celebrated hiftorian 
 Snorro Sturlefon, whom I have already in- 
 troduced to the reader's knowledge *. 
 
 * Sec above, Pag. 52. 
 
 Such
 
 Such was the conftitution of a republic, 
 which is at prefent quite forgotten in the 
 North, and utterly unknown through the 
 reft of Europe even to men of much read- 
 ing, notwithstanding the great number of 
 poets and hiftorians, which that republic 
 produced. But fame is not the portion of 
 indigent nations, efpecially when remote, 
 unconnected with the reft of mankind, and 
 placed under a rigorous climate. It is eafy 
 to difcover here the genius of all the ' Go- 
 ' thic * ' tribes, and their notions of go- 
 vernment. That diftribution of the people 
 into different communities fubordinate to 
 one another, that right of being judged 
 every one by the members of his own com- 
 munity, that care of watching over each 
 citizen committed to the community of 
 which he was a member, thofe general af- 
 femblies of the whole nation, with whom 
 ajone the legislative power was depofited, 
 &c. All thefe inftitutions exifted among 
 the Germans already in the time of Ta- 
 citus, and without doubt long before. 
 They prevailed in Denmark and Sweden, 
 and we find numerous traces of them at 
 this day. They were carried into Iceland, 
 and there brought to perfection. They 
 followed the Saxons into England ; and 
 
 * Celtic. Orig. 
 
 Chap. VIII, N 3 when
 
 when the times of confufion had caufed 
 them to wear out of memory, the great 
 Alfred immortalized his name by reviving 
 them. It would be eafy to fhew traces of 
 them in the firft eftablifhments of the 
 Francs in Gaul, of the Goths in Spain, and 
 the fame in feveral countries of Germany : 
 But a dilplay of fo much erudition would 
 be foreign to my plan. I only point out 
 the way to the reader, and (hall leave him 
 to perfue at his leifure a fubject fo fruitful 
 and fo interesting, whether he is difpofed ta 
 read what others have written on it, or 
 to follow the train of his own reflec- 
 tions. 
 
 With regard to the laws, which pre- 
 vailed in Scandinavia during the times of 
 paganifm, all that we can fay for certain 
 about them may be reduced within very 
 fmall compafs. Tradition, cuftom, maxims 
 learnt by heart, and above all, fimplicity of 
 manners, ferved this people in the firft: ages 
 inftead of laws. They had maxims, which 
 from time immemorial 'had been in the 
 mouths of their fages, and which were 
 thought to have been delivered to the firft 
 men by the gods themfelves. Such were 
 thofe of which the Icelandic poets have 
 preferved fome fragments, under the title 
 of the " Sublime Difcourfe of Odin," as 
 will be more particularly (hewn in the 
 
 fequel
 
 fequel of this work *. It is doubtful whe^ 
 ther the ancient Danes, as well as their 
 neighbours, had written laws, before their 
 converfion to Chriftianity. It is true, if 
 we will believe Saxo the Grammarian, a 
 king of Denmark named Frotho, who lived 
 many ages before that period, publimed 
 laws both civil and military, which were 
 tranfmitted down to the time of that au- 
 thor. But this great antiquity renders the 
 fact too fufpicious to be admitted upon the 
 iingle authority of fuch an hiftorian as Saxo. 
 It would be running too great a hazard, to 
 argue on a fuppofition, built on fuch weak 
 foundations; and that regard to truth, which 
 ought to prevail over all other motives, 
 obliges me for once to neglect domeftic 
 information, and to have recourfe to foreign 
 intelligence. 
 
 The ancient inhabitants of Germany and 
 Scandinavia emerged but flowly from a ftate 
 of nature. The ties which linked different 
 families together were for a long time no- 
 thing but a confederacy to exercife violence 
 or to repel it. They poflefled a great extent 
 of lands, of which they cultivated but little, 
 and refided on lefs : In fhort, they lived 
 too feparate from each other, to have any 
 great need of civil laws ; and their Chiefs 
 
 * See Vol. II. towards the end. 
 
 Chap. VIII. N 4 had
 
 had too little authority to make them ob- 
 ferved, if they had. Hence To many little 
 focieties and confederacies. Men band- 
 ed together to revenge an injury : and the 
 fentiment of honour, as well as intereft, 
 made them faithful to each other in an af- 
 fcciation fo necefTary to their welfare. A 
 man's relations and friends who had not 
 revenged his death, would inftantly have 
 loft that reputation, which conftituted their 
 principal fecuri'ty. The inhabitants of 
 Friezeland lived for a long time in a Hate 
 of this kind. Moft of the other German 
 nations had already advanced a ff.ep beyond 
 this in the time of Tacitus. Endlefs dif- 
 orders, the unavoidable confequences of the 
 right of felf- revenge, had fuggefted to the 
 wifer fort among them, the neceffity of 
 magistrates, who mould interpofe their 
 authority in private quarrels, and oblige 
 the offended perfon or his relations to re- 
 ceive a prefent from the aggrefTor j, that fo 
 a compensation being made for an injury, 
 might prevent the confequences of an 
 eternal refentment, which from private 
 perfons might extend to the public. And 
 for fear ,that this manner of terminating 
 differences mould become a new fource of 
 them, the compenlation was determined 
 by an invariable rule, and commonly li- 
 mited to a certain value in cattle, the only 
 
 monkey
 
 ( 185) 
 
 money known in thofe rude ages. A 
 mark of fubmiffion of this fort fatisfied mens 
 pride as to the point of honour, gratified 
 their avarice, and fufficiently fecured them 
 from a repetition of the offence. The 
 Danes, in this refpect, followed the fteps 
 of the neighbouring nations. Mere parity 
 of reafon might give one a right to fuppoie 
 this, even if we had not more poiitive 
 proofs ; but without accumulating thefe 
 unnecefTarily, we need only caft our eyes 
 on the ancient laws of the conquerors of 
 Great Britain. It is well known that the 
 Angles and Jutes, who fhared with the 
 Saxons in the honour of that conqueft, were 
 Danim nations, who came from Jutland 
 and Slefwick. Now mod of the laws of 
 that people are ftill extant, and whoever 
 will run over the collections, publifhed by 
 Lambard, Wilkins, and Leibnitz, will not 
 doubt but they were all dictated by the 
 fame fpirit, and were really the fame at the 
 bottom. It will be fufficient to quote a 
 few particulars, to enable us to judge of 
 their general fpirit j for this is all I under- 
 take to mew of them. As to their more 
 particular minute circumftances they have 
 doubtlefs varied a thoufand times, in dif- 
 ferent ages, and countries : But thefe we 
 ihall not defcend to at prefent. 
 
 . Chap. VIII. The
 
 C '86 ) 
 
 The laws of the Saxons, as regulated by- 
 Charlemagne, and published by Leibnitz *, 
 eftablifhed a competition in money for moft 
 forts of crimes ; and for want of money this 
 was to be paid in the flem of cattle, every 
 limb and joint of which had its known va- 
 lue regulated by law. They carefully dif- 
 tinguifhed the different degrees of offence, 
 as well as thofe of the rank, which the 
 offended perfon bore in the ftate. Accord- 
 ingly for the murder of a grandee or a 
 prince the competition was 1440 fous-\- t 
 and the fame for every wound that deprived 
 him of his hearing, tight, or ufe of his 
 limbs. But if this injury was done to a 
 freeman, and not to a noble J, the- com- 
 petition was only 120 fous^; at the fame 
 time the murder of a Have was rated but 
 30 ; which was precifely the price of a 
 iimple blow, that produced neither fwelling 
 nor blacknefs, if given to a prince or 
 noble. Much the fame proportions were 
 obferved by the law of the Angles. Wounds 
 
 * Leibnitz Rer.Brunf- whence comes the word 
 
 wic. torn. i. Rotitrier, by which the 
 
 t If the Author com- French exprefs at prefent, 
 putes by modern money : One who is not a gentle- 
 It is 720 pence Englifh, man. 
 or about 3l.fterling. T. 60 pence or 55. fter- 
 
 \ The original hRoda^ ling. Tt 
 
 given
 
 given to a maiden were eftimated at double 
 the rate they would have been, if given to 
 a man of the fame rank of life. It was not 
 the fame with a woman who had borne 
 children. Outrages againft modefty were 
 alfo valued with a degree of exaclnefs, of 
 which one would not have thought matters 
 of that nature fufceptible. " The laws of 
 .' thefe people," fays M. de Montefquieu, 
 " judged of infults offered to men by the 
 " fize of the wounds, nor did they {hew 
 tc more refinement as to the offences com- 
 " mitted againft women : So that they 
 " feem to have meafured injuries, as one 
 " meafures figures in geometry." 
 
 Thefe laws vary more in what relates to 
 theft. By the law of the Saxons, it was in 
 moft cafes punimed with death. By that 
 of the Angles, which doubtlefs approaches 
 nearer to the laws of the other Danifh na- 
 tions, the robber compounded by paying 
 tripple the value of what he had ftolen. 
 But when government had acquired a little 
 more {lability, and when the manners were 
 a little more civilized, men were not fatif- 
 fied with oppofmg to the diforder a barrier 
 fo often ineffectual. The magiftrates ap- 
 pointed to watch over the public peace, 
 pretended that THEY were infulted as often 
 as that peace was broken, and therefore 
 over and above the coinpofition which was 
 
 Chap. VIII. to
 
 ( '83 ) 
 
 to atone for the offence, they exacted a 
 fine, either as a fatisfaclion due to the pub- 
 lic, or as a recompence for the trouble 
 given themfelves in making up the differ- 
 ence and in protecting the offender. Thefe 
 fines were for a long time all, or almoft all 
 the punimment, which could poffibly pre- 
 vail among a valiant and free people, who 
 efteemed their blood too precious to be 
 fhed any other way than in battle. Their 
 kings had for many ages no other revenue 
 than what arofe from thefe fines, and from 
 their own private demefnes : All other 
 kinds of impofition were not known till 
 long after that period of time, to which we 
 at prefent confine our refearches. 
 
 If this way of puniming crimes may 
 juftly pafs for fingular, that of eftabliming 
 proofs in the adminiftrstion of juftice may 
 be efteemed no lefs fo. Here all the igno- 
 rance, all the barbarity of our anceftors 
 manifeft themfelves fo plainly, that it is 
 not in the power of our reflections to add 
 to them. Their embarraffment was fo 
 great when they endeavoured to diftinguifh 
 truth from falfhood, that they were obliged 
 to have recourfe to the moft ftrange expe- 
 dients and moft ridiculous practices. Thus 
 they foinetimes obliged the accufed to 
 produce 1 a certain number of perfons called 
 COMPURG ATORS 3 not that thefe men had, 
 
 or
 
 or were fuppofed to have any knowledge of 
 the affair in queftion, but they were fimply to 
 fwear they were perfuaded the accufed fpoke 
 true. Befides this, they often appointed 
 what was called the JUDICIARY COM- 
 BAT, and how abfurd foever this cuftorn 
 was, it was fo intimately connected with 
 their opinions concerning deftiny and pro- 
 vidence, that it triumphed for a long time 
 over Religion, Popes, and Councils; and 
 though a hundred times profcribed, as of- 
 ten revived and appeared again under dif- 
 ferent fhapes. Laftlv, when the difcovery 
 of truth appeared to them to exceed all hu- 
 man powers, they had recourfe to fuperna- 
 tural means, and what they called DIVINE 
 JUDGMENTS. They had many ways of 
 confulting that oracle. For as, according to 
 their notions, all the elements were ani- 
 mated by an Intelligence as incorruptible 
 in its juftice, as the Deity whence it fprung, 
 they thought they had nothing to do but 
 to unite the accufed perfon to one of thefe 
 divinities, and fo oblige it to declare by 
 the manner of its acting upon him, what 
 judgment it entertained of his innocence. 
 Thus fometimes they caft him into a deep 
 xvater, tied about with cords : If he funk, 
 that is, if the Genius of the water received 
 him into its bofom, it declared him to be 
 innocent : If it rejected him, if he fwam 
 Chap. VIII. upon
 
 upon the furface, he was looked upon as 
 convicted of the crime *. This was called 
 the WATERY-ORDEAL. The proof by 
 fire, or FIERY-ORDEAL feems to have 
 been more in ufe afterwards, and founded 
 upon a different train of reafoning ; for in 
 things of this nature, we muft not ex- 
 pect fuch rude minds to adt very con- 
 Mently. 
 
 * This kind of proof 
 was more dangerous, than 
 it appears to have been at 
 firft fight ; for though a 
 tnan thrown into the 
 water commonly finks at 
 firft to the bottom, yet as 
 they tied him about with 
 large cords, 4 and withs,' 
 he fometimes f\vam on 
 the furface fpight of his 
 teeth. This kind of proof 
 indeed, as well as that of 
 Boiling Water was only 
 for perfons of inferior 
 rank. Others handled 
 hot iron, or put their 
 hands into a red hot 
 gauntlet, or walked blind- 
 fold over burning plough- 
 fhares. If at the end of 
 certain days there remain- 
 ed any marks of the fire 
 on the hands or feet, the 
 accufed were judged guil- 
 ty ; if not, he was ac- 
 
 quitted. There is reafon 
 to think that, notwith- 
 ftanding they took all 
 poflible precaution, they 
 alfo had recourfe to cer- 
 tain prefervatives againft 
 the effects of fire, and 
 perhaps the fame that 
 mountebanks in our times 
 make ufe of, as oft as 
 they am ufe the people 
 with fpectacles of the 
 fame kind. Befides this, 
 men who were accuf- 
 tomed to hard labour, to 
 the toils of hunting, and 
 conftanthandlingof arms, 
 had rendered their fkins 
 fo thick and callous, that 
 they could not eafily be 
 hurt ; and as for the La- 
 dies, they were generally 
 allowed Champions to 
 undergo the trial for 
 them. 
 
 Fwjl Edit. 
 
 As
 
 ( '9' ) 
 
 f As for the ceremonies which accom- 
 panied thefe kinds of proof, the cafes in 
 which they were appointed, and the other 
 minute circumftances, tliey varied in dif- 
 ferent times and places : And as imitation 
 and habit perpetuate cuftoms long after 
 the caufes of them have ceafed, the OR- 
 DEAL was pradtiied during many ages by 
 men, who doubtlefs believed nothing about 
 the genii prefiding over the feveral ele- 
 ments, or the other doctrines of the an- 
 cient religion *. I mall not enter on the 
 minute hillory of the ORDEAL, &c. which 
 was not peculiar to the ancient Danes, and 
 may be found defcribed in other books J. 
 I thought proper only to mark the con- 
 nection between them and the dodlrines of 
 that religion, which I defcribed in the pre- 
 ceding chapters : A connection which has 
 
 f From hence to the own times, the WATERY 
 
 end of the chap, is o- ORDEAL, or Proof by 
 
 mitted in the 2d edit, of Swimming, has been em- 
 
 the original. ployed by the Vulgar for 
 
 * Thus long after the trial of Witchcraft, 
 Chriftianity waseftablifh- whenever they could find 
 ed among the Anglo- means to put it in prac- 
 Saxons, king Edward the tice. T. 
 Confeflbr( a reputed faint) % Vid. Wormius Mo- 
 is faid to have put his mo- num. Danic. lib. i. c. 
 ther to the proof of the n. and Steph. Stepha- 
 Burning Plough-Shares. nius in his Notes on Saxo 
 And even down to our Gramraaticus. 
 
 Chap. VIII. been
 
 ( 192 ) 
 
 been feldom attended to, and which mews 
 that it is only for want of ftudying man- 
 kind, that they appear to aft wholly with- 
 out motives or principles of conduct. It 
 was king Valdemar the fecond J to whom 
 the glory belongs of having abolifhed this 
 abfurd and inhuman practice in Den- 
 mark . 
 
 $ &e reigned from the 
 year 1202, to 1241, 
 
 I cannot conclude 
 this fubjedt without ob- 
 ferving that we find fome 
 traces of the ORDEAL 
 among the ancient Greeks 
 and Romans. Thus in 
 the fragments of a tragedy 
 of Sophocles, called AN- 
 TIGONUS, we have a re- 
 markable paflage, which 
 fhews it was not unknown 
 in Greece. The guards 
 being willing to clear 
 themfelves from fome 
 crime that was imputed 
 to them, fay to king Cre- 
 on, " We are ready to 
 *' take HOT IRON in our 
 " hands, to carry it thro' 
 ** the midft of the FIRE, 
 
 " and to fwear in the 
 " name of the gods that 
 " we are innocent." Vide 
 Stiernhok de Jur. Vet. 
 Suec. lib. i. c. 8. apud 
 Dalin. Sue. Rik. Hift. 
 torn. i. ch. 7. 
 
 Pliny fpeaking of a 
 feaft, which the ancient 
 Romans celebrated every 
 year in honour of the fun, 
 obferves that the priefts, 
 who were to be of the fa- 
 mily of the Hirpians, 
 danced on this occafion, 
 bare- foot on burning coals 
 without burning them- 
 felves : This was appa- 
 rently a relique of the 
 Fiery Ordeal. Plin. Hift. 
 Nat. lib. vii. 2. 
 
 CHAP-
 
 ( 193 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 je pajjlon of the ancient Scandinavians 
 for arms: their valour: the manner in 
 which they made war. A digrejjion con- 
 cerning the Jlate of population among 
 them. 
 
 ^ E had reckoned from its 
 foundation fix hundred and forty 
 years, when the arms of the Cimbri 
 were firfl heard of among us. From 
 that time to the prefent have elapfed two 
 hundred and fix years more. So long 
 have we been in conquering Germany. 
 And in the courfe of fo tedious a war, 
 what various lolles have been fuftained 
 by each party ? No nation hath given 
 us more frequent alarms ; neither the 
 Samnites, the Carthaginians, the Spa- 
 niards, the Gauls, nor even the Par- 
 thians : fo much lefs vigour hath the 
 defpotic power of Arfaces had, than the 
 liberty of the Germans. For, except 
 VOL. I. O the
 
 " the defeat of Craflus, what hath the 
 { < conquered and proftrate Eaft to object 
 " to the current of our fuccefs ? Whereas 
 <c the Germans have taken or defeated five 
 tl generals of the Republic, who com- 
 " manded fo many confular armies. They 
 " cut oft Varus and three legions from 
 " Auguftus himfelf. Nor was that ad- 
 tl vantage obtained with impunity, which 
 " Marius gained over them in Italy, the 
 " divine Julius in Gaul, and Drufus, Ti- 
 " berius and Germanicus in their own 
 " country. And even prefently after this, 
 " the tremendous threatsof Caligula became 
 " the objedt of their fport. A refpitc 
 " followed, till profiting by our difcord 
 " and civil wars, they attacked our le- 
 " gions in their winter quarters, and even 
 " undertook the conqueft of Gaul. We 
 " have fince driven them back beyond the 
 " Rhine : but in thefe latter times, our 
 " vi&ories over them have been lefs real, 
 
 " than the pomp of our triumphs 
 
 <c If this people cannot be brought to love 
 " us, at leaft may they always hate each 
 " other ! fince in the prefent declining 
 <{ fates of the empire, fortune can grant 
 " us no greater favour, than the diflen- 
 '* tions of our enemies*." 
 
 * Tacit* Germ. c. 37, et c. 33. 
 
 Such
 
 ( '95) 
 
 Such was the opinion entertained of the 
 German and northern nations, by the 
 people who conquered the reft of the 
 world. Such, according to the confeffion 
 of Tacitus, was that martial courage, that 
 ardour, that conftancy in defending and 
 avenging their liberty, which fo early 
 threatened the power of Rome, and in a 
 few ages after overturned it. It is not 
 my prefent bufinefs to write the hiftory of 
 that great revolution, which changed the 
 face of Europe, but my fubject leads me 
 to difclofe its caufes, fince they are con- 
 tained in the opinions and manners which 
 I am defcribing. We only want here that 
 penetrating eye, that deep fenfe and energy 
 of ftyle, which diftinguimed the author I 
 have been tranflating. The fources whence 
 iflued thofe torrents of people, which from 
 the North overwhelmed all Europe, the 
 principles which put them in motion, and 
 gave them fo much activity and force, 
 thefe objects, fo grand and interesting, 
 have been but flightly and weakly treated of. 
 The more enlightened people, who were 
 the victims of thefe ravages, were too 
 much preffed with the weight of their ca- 
 lamity, to have leifure to trace its remote 
 caufes. Like the thunder which remains 
 unfeen in the clouds till the m6ment it 
 burfts forth, and whofe nature we have no 
 
 Chap. IX. O 2 time
 
 ( 196 ) 
 
 time to ftudy while it is linking us ; thefe 
 unexpected irruptions would hardly be- 
 come the objects of refearch, till after their 
 effects were forgotten. Hence the rela- 
 tions that have been given us of them, are 
 fo uninterefting, confufed and obfcure : 
 faults to which every hiftory will be liable 
 which only gives us a4ieap of facts, with- 
 out being able to develope their caufes. 
 The greateft part then of the hiftorical 
 phaenomena of the middle ages can only 
 be explained by a deep infight into the 
 manners of the northern nations. It is 
 only from thence we can ever be able to 
 comprehend what could induce whole na- 
 tions to tranfport themfelves from one ex- 
 tremity of Europe to the other ; could 
 break through the tyes of country, which 
 fo ftrongly attach men to the places of 
 their birth ; could render them unanimous 
 in fuch ftrange projects, and make them 
 thus fpread themfelves beyond their own 
 boundaries with fuch exuberance and im- 
 petuofity. 
 
 I have already hinted, that the ancient 
 Scandinavians breathed nothing but war, 
 which was at once with them the fource of 
 honour, riches and fafety. Their educa- 
 tion, laws, prejudices, morality and reli- 
 gion, all concurred to make that their 
 ruling pafiion and only object. From 
 
 their
 
 ( '97) 
 
 their moft tender age they applied them- 
 ielves to learn the military art ; they har- 
 dened their bodies, and accuftomed them- 
 felves to cold, fatigue and hunger. They 
 exercifed themfelves in running, in the 
 chace, in fwimming acrofs the greateft ri- 
 vers, and in handling their arms. The 
 very fports of childhood itfelf, and of early 
 youth were directed all towards this end : 
 dangers were always intermingled with 
 their play. For it coniifted in taking 
 frightful leaps, in climbing up the fteepeft 
 rocks, in righting naked with offenfive 
 weapons, in wreftling with the utmoft 
 fury : it was therefore common to fee them 
 at the age of fifteen years already grown 
 robuft men, and able to make themfelves 
 feared in combat. It was alfo at this age 
 that their young men became their own 
 matters, which they did by receiving a 
 fword, a buckler and a lance. This cere- 
 mony was performed in fome public meet- 
 ing. One of the principal perfons of the 
 aflembly armed the youth in public. 
 " This, we are told by Tacitus, was his 
 " Toga Virilis, his entrance upon digni- 
 *' ties ; before this he made only part of a 
 " family, now he became a member of 
 " the ftate." After this he was obliged 
 to provide for his own fubfiflence, and was 
 either now to live by hunting, or by joining 
 Chap. IX. O 3 in
 
 ( 195) 
 
 in fome incurfion againft an enemy. Par- 
 ticular care was taken to prevent thefe 
 young foldiers from enjoying too early an 
 acquaintance with the oppofite fex, till 
 their limbs had acquired all the vigour of 
 which they were capable. Indeed they 
 could have no hope to be acceptable to the 
 women, but in proportion to the courage 
 and addrefs they had mown in war and in 
 their military exercifes. Accordingly we 
 fee in an ancient fong, preferved by Bartho- 
 lin *, a king of Norway extremely fur- 
 prized that, as he could perform eight dif- 
 ferent exercifes, his miftrefs mould pre- 
 fume to reject his fuit. I mail frequently 
 have occafion to produce new inftances of 
 this manner of thinking among their wo- 
 men : it is fufficient at prefent to obferve, 
 that they were not likely to foften their 
 children by too much delicacy or indul- 
 gence. Thefe tender creatures were ge- 
 nerally born in the mklft of camps and 
 armies. Their eyes, from the moment 
 they were firft opened, faw nothing but 
 military fpedtacles, arms, efFufion of blood, 
 and combats either real or in fport : thus 
 as they grew up from their infancy, their 
 fouls were early difpofed to imbibe the cruel 
 prejudices of their fathers. 
 
 * See a tranflation of this in the fecond volume. 
 
 Their
 
 ( 199 ) 
 
 Their laws for the moft part (like thofc 
 of the ancient Lacedemonians) fet'med to 
 know no other virtues than thofe of a mili- 
 tary nature, and no other crimes but 
 cowardice. They inflided the greateft pe- 
 nalties on fuch as fled the firft in battle. 
 The laws of the ancient Danes, according 
 to Saxo, excluded them from fociety, and 
 declared them infamous. Among the Ger- 
 mans this was fometimes carried fo far as 
 to fuffocate cowards in mud ; after which 
 they covered them over with hurdles : to 
 {hew, fays Tacitus, that though the pu- 
 nimment of crimes mould be public, there 
 are certain degrees of cowardice and in- 
 famy which ought to be buried in eternal 
 filence. The moft flattering diftindtions 
 were referved for fuch as had performed 
 fome fignal exploit ; and the laws them- 
 felves diftributed men into different ranks 
 according to their different degrees of cou- 
 rage. Frotho, king of Denmark, had or- 
 dained, according to Saxo, that whoever 
 folicited an eminent poft in the army, 
 ought upon all occafions to attack one 
 enemy; to face two; to retire only one 
 Irep back from three > and not to make an 
 adual retreat till affaulted by four. Hence 
 was formed that prejudice fo deeply rooted 
 among thefe people, that there was no 
 other way to acquire glory, but by the 
 
 Chap. IX. O 4 pro-
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 profeffion of arms, and a fanatic valour : a 
 prejudice the force of which difplayed it- 
 felf without obftruction at a time, when 
 luxury was unknown ; when that defire, 
 fo natural, and fo adive among men, of 
 drawing upon themfelves the attention of 
 their equals, had but one fingle object and 
 fupport ; and when their country and their 
 fellow citizens had no other treafure but 
 the fame of their exploits, and the terrour 
 thereby excited in their neighbours. 
 
 The rules of juftice, far from checking 
 thefe prejudices, had been themfelves 
 warped and adapted to their bias. It is no 
 exaggeration to fay, that all the ' Gothic 
 and' Celtic nations entertained opinions on 
 this fubjecl:, quite oppofite to the theory of 
 our times. They looked upon war as a real 
 act of juftice, and efteemed force an incon- 
 teftible title over the weak, a vifible mark 
 that God had intended to fubjecl: them to 
 the ftrong. They had no doubt but the 
 intentions of this divinity had been to efta- 
 blifh the fame dependance among men 
 which there is among animals, and fetting 
 out from the principle of the inequality 
 of men, as our modern civilians do from 
 that of their equality, they inferred thence 
 that the weak had no right to what they 
 could not defend. This maxim, which 
 formed the bafis of the law of nations 
 
 among
 
 (201 ) 
 
 among the ancient inhabitants of Europe, 
 being dictated by their moil darling paf- 
 fion, we cannot wonder that they mould 
 fo fteadily aft up to it in practice. And 
 which, after all, is worft ; to aft and think 
 as they did, or like the moderns, with bet- 
 ter principles to acl: as ill ? As to the 
 ancient nations, we attribute nothing to 
 them here but what is juftified by a thou- 
 fand facts. They adopted the above max- 
 im in all its rigour, and gave the name 
 of Divine Judgment not only to the JU- 
 DICIARY COMBAT, but to conflicts and 
 battles of all forts : victory being in their 
 opinion the only certain mark by which 
 Providence enables us to dillinguim thofe, 
 whom it has appointed to command others. 
 " Valour, fays a German warrior in Ta- 
 " citus, is the only proper goods of men. 
 " The Gods range themfelves on the fide 
 " oftheftrongeft*." 
 
 Laftly, Religion, by annexing eternal 
 happinefs to the military virtues, had given 
 the lad degree of activity to the ardour 
 and propensity thefe people had for war. 
 There were no fatigues, no dangers nor tor- 
 ments capable of damping a paffion fo well 
 countenanced, and the defire of meriting 
 
 * Tacit, hift. lib. IV. c. 17. Pellouticr hift. des 
 Celtes, torn. J. p. 415. 
 
 Chap. IX, fo
 
 ( 202 ) 
 
 fo great a reward. We have feen what 
 motives this religion offered to its votaries ; 
 and we cannot fail to recall them in read- 
 ing fome inftances of that courage which 
 diftinguifhed the ancient Scandinavians, and 
 of their contempt of death itfelf, which I 
 mail produce from the mod authentic 
 chronicles of Iceland. 
 
 Hiftory informs us, that HAROLD fur- 
 named BLAATAND or BLUE TOOTH (a 
 king of Denmark, who reigned in the 
 middle of the tenth century) had founded 
 on the coafts of Pomerania, which he had 
 fubdued, a city named Julin or Jomf- 
 hurg ; where he fent a colony of young 
 Danes, and beftowed the government on a 
 celebrated warrior named Palnatoko. This 
 new Lycurgus had made of that city a fe- 
 cond Sparta, and every thing was directed 
 to this {ingle end, to form complete fol- 
 diers. The author who has left us the 
 hiftory of this colony allures us, that " it 
 " was forbidden there fo much as to men- 
 <c tion the name of Fear, even in the moft 
 tc imminent dangers *." No citizen of 
 Jomfburg was to yield to any number how- 
 ever great, but to fight intrepidly without 
 flying, even from a very fuperior force. 
 
 * See Jomfwikinga Saga, in Bartholin. de cauf, 
 contempt, mort. lib. i. c. 5. 
 
 The 
 6
 
 The fight of prefent and inevitable death 
 would have been no excufe with them for 
 making any the leaft complaint, or for 
 mewing the flighteft apprehenfion. And 
 this legiflator really appears to have eradi- 
 cated from the minds of moft of the youths 
 bred up under him, all traces of that fenti- 
 ment fo natural and fo univerfal, which 
 makes men think on their definition with 
 horror. Nothing can mew this better than 
 a fingle faft in their hiftory, which de- 
 ferves to have place here for its fingularity. 
 Some of them having made an irruption 
 into the territories of a powerful Norwe- 
 gian lord, named Haquin, were overcome 
 fpite of the obftinacy of their refiftance ; 
 and the moft diftinguifhed among them be- 
 ing made prifoners, were, according to 
 the cuftom of thofe times, condemned to 
 death. The news of this, far from afflict- 
 ing them, was, on the contrary, received 
 with joy. The firft who was led to pu- 
 nifhment was content to fay, without 
 changing countenance, and without ex- 
 preffing the leaft fign of fear, <c Why 
 " mould not the fame happen to me, as 
 " did to my father ? He died, and fo 
 " muft I." A warrior, named Thorchill, 
 who was to cut off the head of the fecond, 
 having afked him what he felt at the fight 
 of death, he anfwered, that " he remem- 
 Chap. IX. " bered
 
 ( 204 ) 
 
 " bered too well the- laws of Jomfburg to 
 tl utter any words that denoted fear." The 
 third, in reply to the fame queftion, faid, 
 *f he rejoyced to dye with glory, and that 
 " he preferred fuch a death to an infamous 
 " life like that of Thorchill's." The 
 fourth made an anfwer much longer and 
 more extraordinary. " I fufFer with a 
 " good heart ; and the prefent hour is to 
 " me very agreeable. I only beg of you," 
 added he, addrefiing himfelf to Thorchill, 
 " to be very quick in cutting off my head ; 
 *' for it is a queftion often debated by us, 
 " at Jomfburg, whether one retains any 
 " fenfe after being beheaded. I will there - 
 tf fore grafp this knife in my hand; if after 
 t( my head is cut off I ftrike it towards 
 " you, it will (hew I have not loft all fenfe : 
 <{ if I let it drop, it will be a proof of the 
 " contrary. Make hafte therefore, and 
 " decide the difpute." ' Thorchill,' adds 
 the hiftorian, cut off his head in moft 
 ' expeditious manner, but the knife, as 
 ' might be expected, dropt from his hand/ 
 The fifth mewed the fame tranquillity, and 
 died rallying and jeering his enemies. The 
 fixth begged of Thorchill, that he might 
 not be led to punimment like a meep * ; 
 " ftrike the blow in my face," faid he, 
 
 * Barthpl. lib. i. c. 5. p. 51.
 
 " I will fit dill without (blinking ; and 
 " take notice whether I once wink my 
 " eyes, or betray one fign of fear in my 
 <{ countenance. For we inhabitants of 
 " Jomlburg are ufed to exercife ourfelves 
 " in trials of this fort, fo as to meet the 
 * ftroke of death, without once moving." 
 He kept his promife before all the fpec- 
 tators, and received the blow without 
 betraying the leaft fign of fear, or fo 
 much as winking his eyes *. The feventh, 
 fays the hiftorian, " was a very beautiful 
 " young man, in the flower of his age. 
 " His long fair hair, as fine as filk, floated 
 " in curls and ringlets on his moulders. 
 ' Thorchill afked him what he thought of 
 " death ? I receive it willingly, faid he, 
 " fince I have fulfilled the greateft duty of 
 " life, and have feen all thofe put to death 
 " whom I would not furvive. I only beg 
 " of you one favour, not to let my hair be 
 " touched by a Have, or ftained with my 
 " blood f." 
 
 * Barthol. ibid. his 2d. edit. 
 
 f In Barthplin it is, Bartholin gives the 
 
 Id unicumate peto^ne tnan- fpeech of the EIGHTH 
 
 fipia me ad mortem ducant^ perfon, which, though 
 
 neu quis te inferior capillum fpirited, being not fo 
 
 meumten(at,&cc. M.Mai- ftriking as the former, 
 
 let has omitted the cir- our author has omitted, 
 
 cumftance of the hair in T. 
 
 Chap. IX. This
 
 This confbncy in the lafl moments was 
 not, however, the peculiar effecl: of the 
 laws and education of the Jomfburgians. 
 The other Danes have often given the fame 
 proofs of intrepidity ; or rather this was 
 the general character of all the inhabitants 
 of Scandinavia. It was with them an in- 
 ftance of mameful puiillanimity to utter 
 upon fuch occafions the leaft groan, or to 
 change countenance, but efpecially to fhed 
 tears. The Danes, fays Adam of Bre- 
 men *, " are remarkable for this, that if 
 " they have committed any crime, they 
 " had rather fuffer death, than blows. 
 c There is no other punimment for them 
 " but either the ax, or fervitude. As for 
 " groans, complaints and other bemoan- 
 " ings of that kind, in which WE find 
 " relief, they are fo detefted by the Danes, 
 " that they think it mean to weep for 
 " their fins, or for the death of their dear- 
 " eil relations." But if a private foldier 
 looked upon tears as peculiar to weaknefs 
 or flavery, their great warriours, the chiefs, 
 all who afpired to fame and glory, carried 
 the contempt of death much further. King 
 Regner, who, as I have once before ob- 
 ferved, dyed fmging the pleafure of re- 
 ceiving death in the field of battle, cries 
 
 * Adam Bremen, deiitu Danias, c, 213. 
 
 out
 
 out at the end of a ftanza, *' the hours of 
 " my life are patted away, I mall die 
 " laughing* :" And many paflages in an- 
 cient hiftory plainly mow that this was not 
 a poetical hyperbole. Saxo, fpeaking of a 
 fingle combat, fays, that one of the cham- 
 pions FELL, LAUGHED, AND DYED, an 
 
 epitaph as mort as energetic -f. An officer 
 belonging to a king of Norway, celebrating 
 in verfe the death of his mailer, concludes 
 his elogium with thefe words, " It (hall 
 " hereafter be recorded in hiftories, that 
 " king Halfer died laughing ||." A warrior 
 having been thrown upon his back, in 
 wreftling with his enemy, and the latter 
 finding himfelf without his arms, the van- 
 quifhed perfon promifed to wait without 
 changing his pofture while he fetched a 
 fword to kill him; and he faithfully kept 
 his word. To die with his arms in his 
 hand was the vo\v of every free man ; 
 and the pleating idea they had of this 
 kind of death, would naturally lead them 
 to dread fuch as proceeded from dif- 
 eafe and old age. In the joy therefore 
 which they teftihed at the approach of a 
 violent death, they might frequently ex- 
 
 * Barthol. p. 4. Saga apud Barthol. lib. u 
 
 f Saxo Gram. lib. ii. c. J. p. 5. 
 et vide Bodvar's Biarka || Barthol. p. 6. 
 
 Chap.. IX, prefs
 
 ( 208 ) 
 
 prefs no more than their real fentiments, 
 though doubtlefs it was fometimes inter- 
 mixt with oftentation. The general tenor 
 of their condud: proves that they were moft 
 commonly fincere in this ; and fuch as 
 know the power which education, example 
 and prejudice have over men, will find no 
 difficulty in receiving the multitude of tef- 
 timonies, which antiquity hath left us of 
 their extraordinary valour. " The philo- 
 " fophy of the Cirnbri," fays Valerius 
 Maximus, *' is gay and couragious : they 
 " leap for joy in a battle, that they are 
 " i n g to q 1 " 1 life m f glorious a man- 
 " ner : in ficknefs they lament for fear of 
 " a mameful and miferable end *. M Ci- 
 cero remarks, that in proportion as men 
 are intrepid in war, they are weak and im- 
 patient under bodily pains. " Happy in 
 " their miftake," fays Lucan, " are the 
 people who live beneath the Pole ! per- 
 fuaded that death is only a paffage to a 
 long life, they are undifturbed by the 
 moft grievous of all fears, that of dy- 
 ing. Hence they eagerly run to arms, 
 and their minds are capable of meet- 
 ing death : hence they efteem it cow- 
 " ardice to fpare a life which they mall 
 
 * Val. Max. lib. ii. cap. 6. p. n. Cicero Tufc. 
 Quaeft. lib. ii. cap. ult. 
 
 " fo
 
 ( 2 9 ) 
 
 * r fo foon recover*." The hiftory of an* 
 cient Scandinavia is full of pafTages expref- 
 Hve of this manner of thinking. The il- 
 luftrious warriors, who found themfelves 
 wafting by fome lingering illnefs, were 
 not always content barely to accufe their 
 fate. They often availed themfelves of 
 the few moments that were yet remain- 
 ing, to make off life by a way more glo- 
 rious. Some of them would be carried 
 into a field of battle, that they might die 
 in the engagement: others flew themfelves: 
 many procured this melancholy fervice to be 
 performed them by their friends, who con- 
 fidered this as a moft facred duty. " There 
 " is on a mountain in Iceland," fays the 
 author of an old Icelandic romance -f , " a 
 
 " rock 
 
 * As only a loofe pa- Reader will be glad to 
 yaphrafeof Lucan's words lee the original here, 
 is given in 'the text, the 
 
 Orle aJlo kngce^ tanltls fi cogMa^ vita 
 MorS media eft. Certepopull quos defplclt Arftos 
 Felices errore juo ! quos llle tiniontm 
 Maximum baud urget lethi metus ; Inde ruendi 
 In ferrum mens pfona i/iris^ anlmetque capaces 
 Msrtls : et igxavum redliurcs parcere vita;. 
 
 Lib. i 
 
 f The old SAGA, or and fi&ion, but fliews iw 
 
 hiftory here quoted, con- plainly what opinion was 
 
 tains a mixture of truth held of SUICIDE, and 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. IX. P
 
 " rock fo high that no animal can fall 
 " from the top and live. Here men be- 
 " take themfelves when they are afflicted 
 " and unhappy. From this place all our 
 " anceftors, even without waiting for fick- 
 *' nefs, have departed unto Odin. It is ufe- 
 " lefs therefore to give ourfelvesupto groans 
 " and complaints, or to put our relations 
 " to needlefs expences, fince we can eafily 
 " follow the example of our fathers who 
 " have all gone by the way of this rock.'* 
 There was fuch another in Sweden, appro- 
 priated to the fame ufe, which was fi- 
 guratively called the HALL OF ODIN, 
 becaufe it was a kind of veftibule or entry 
 
 to 
 
 how commonly it was fenium ouupaj/et, out mor- 
 
 pra&ifed heretofore in the bus, rogare is cogebatur pro- 
 
 North. pinquoS) ut quamprimum 
 
 Procopius attributes the bominum numero turn tol- 
 
 fame thing to the Heruli, lerent. Procop. Goth, 
 
 a Gothic people. JIfud lib. ii. c. 14. 
 
 HeruloSy fays he, nee Jerri- Silius fays of the an- 
 
 bus, nee agrotis fas erat vi- cient inhabitants of Spain, 
 tarn producer? : et Ji quern 
 
 Prodlga gens an: ma, fff proper are facillima mortem ; 
 Nar.que ubi tranfcendit flcrcntcs viribus annas , 
 Impatient &vi fpernit ncvrjje fine flam 
 Etfati modus in tkxtra ejt. 
 
 Air
 
 to the palace of that God 
 
 La%, if 
 none 
 
 All thefe authorities, 
 which it would be eafy to 
 multiply, prove that I 
 attribute nothing to the 
 northern nations, which 
 is not pofitively confirmed 
 by hiftorians, as well 
 ftrangers zs their own 
 countrymen ; and that 
 one cannot reproach the 
 ancient Scandinavians 
 with thefe barbarous pre- 
 judices, without con- 
 demning at the fame time 
 the anceftors of half the 
 nations of Europe. Vid. 
 Pelloutier, torn. ii. lib. 3. 
 ch. 1 8. Fir ft Edit. 
 
 % We have a particular 
 defcription of this place 
 by Sir William Temple j 
 which it will be worth 
 while to produce at large. 
 
 " I will not," he fays, 
 <{ trouble myfelf with 
 " more paflages out of 
 " the Runic poems con- 
 " cerning this fuperfti- 
 " tious principle [of pre- 
 " ferring a violent death, 
 " &c.Jbutwilladdatefti- 
 " mony of it, which was 
 " givenmeatNimeguen, 
 " bv count Oxenftern, 
 
 Chap. IX.. 
 
 " the firft of the Swedifh 
 " embailadors in that af- 
 " fembly. In difcourfe 
 " upon this fubjeft, and 
 " in confirmation of this 
 " opinion having been 
 " general among the 
 " Goths of thofe coun- 
 " tries i he told me there 
 ' was ftill in Sweden a 
 ' place which was a me- 
 ' morial of it, and was 
 : called ODIN'S-HALL, 
 * That it was a great bay 
 4 in the fea, entompafled 
 " on three fides with 
 44 fteep and ragged rocks ; 
 <c and that in the time of 
 " the Gothic paganifm, 
 *' men that were either 
 *' fick of difeafes they 
 <c efteemed mortal or in- 
 ** curable, or elfe grown 
 * c invalid with age, and 
 " thereby paft all military 
 " action, and fearino; to 
 " die meanly and bafely 
 " (as they efteemed it) 
 " in their beds, they 
 : ufually caufed them- 
 " felves to be brought to 
 the neareft part of thefe 
 " rocks, and from thence 
 " threw themfelves down 
 P 2 " into
 
 (212 ) 
 
 none of thefe reliefs were afforded, and 
 eipecially when Chriftianity had banifhed 
 thefe cruel practices, the heroes confoled 
 themfelves at leaft by putting on complete 
 armour as foon as they found their end ap- 
 proaching; thus making (as it were) a folemn 
 proteft againft the kind of death to which they 
 were forced involuntarily to fubmit. After 
 this it will not be thought wonderful that 
 the clients of a great lord, and all thofe who 
 inlifted under a chief for fome expedition, 
 fhould make a vow not to furvive their com- 
 mander; or that this vow mould always be 
 performed in all its rigour *. Neither will it 
 be furprizing that private foldiers mould 
 fometimes form among themfelves a kind of 
 fociety or confraternity, in which the feveral 
 members engaged, at the expence of their 
 own lives, to avenge the death of their aflb- 
 ciates, provided it were honourable and vio- 
 lent. All thefe dangers were, in their opinion, 
 fo many favourable and precious occasions of 
 
 " into the fea, hoping by lanea, Part II. Efiay 3. 
 
 " the boldnefs of iuch a part 4. T. 
 
 violent death, to renew * The fame thing pre- 
 
 the pretence of admif- vailed among diverfe Cel- 
 
 fion into the Hall of tic nations : they called 
 
 Odin, which they had thofe who thus engaged 
 
 loft, by failing to die themfelves to their chiefs, 
 
 " in combat and v/ith faldurii. Firjl Edit. 
 
 " their arms." Mifcel- 
 
 meriting
 
 meriting glory and eternal happinefs. Ac- 
 cordingly, we never find any among theie 
 people guilty of cowardice, and the bare 
 fufpicion of that vice was always attended 
 with univerfal contempt. A man who had 
 loft his buckler, or who had received a 
 wound behind, durft never more appear in 
 public. In the hiftory of England *, we 
 fee a famous Danifh captain named Si- 
 ward, who had fent his fon to attack a pro- 
 vince in Scotland, afk with great coolnefs 
 thofe who brought the news of his 
 death, whether he had received his wounds 
 behind or before ? The meflengers tel- 
 ling him he was wounded before, the 
 father cries out, " then I have only caufe 
 " to rejoice : for any other death would 
 " have been unworthy of me and my fon." 
 A conqueror could not exercife a more ter- 
 rible vengeance upon his captives, than to 
 condemn them to flavery. " There is," 
 fays Saxo, " in the heart of the Danes, an 
 " infurmountable averfion to fervitude, 
 " which makes them efteem it the moft 
 " dreadful of all conditions -)-." The fame 
 hiftorian defcribes to us a king of Denmark, 
 named Frotho, taken in battle by a king his 
 enemy, and obftinately refufing all offers of 
 
 * Brompton. U.bb. Jom. Chronic, p. 946. 
 f Saxo Gramm. lib. xii. 
 
 Chap, IX. P 3 life
 
 life which that prince could make him. "To 
 " what end," fays he, " mould I referve 
 " myfelf for fo great a difgrace ? What 
 " good can the remainder of my life af- 
 " ford me, that can counter-ballance the 
 " remembrance of my misfortunes, and 
 " the regret which my mifery would caufe 
 " me ? And even if you mould reftore me 
 c< my kingdom, if you mould bring me 
 tf back my fitter, if you mould repair all 
 " the lofs of my treafure, would all this 
 " recover my honour ? All thefe benefits 
 <{ would never replace me in my former 
 " ftate, but future ages would always fay, 
 " FROTHO HATH BEEN TAKEN BY HIS 
 te ENEMY." In all combats, and the num- 
 ber of them is prodigious in the ancient 
 hiflories of the North, we always find 
 both parties continually repeating the words 
 glory, honour, and contempt of death, and 
 by this means raifing one another to that 
 pitch of enthufiafm, which produces extra- 
 ordinary actions. A general never forgot 
 to remind his troops of thefe motives when 
 he was going to give battle ; and not infre- 
 quently they prevented him, and flew to 
 the engagement of themfelves, chanting 
 fongs of war, marching in cadence, and 
 raifing mouts of joy. 
 
 Laftly, like the heroes of Homer, thofe 
 of ancient Scandinavia, in the excefs of 
 
 their
 
 their over-boiling courage, dared to defy 
 the Gods themfelves. " Though they 
 " mould be ftronger than the Gods," fays 
 a boaftful warrior fpeaking of his enemies, 
 " I would abfolutely fight them *." And 
 in Saxo Grammaticus we hear another 
 wifliing ardently that he could but meet 
 with Odin, that he might attack him : 
 expreffing his mind by verfes to this effect. 
 " Where at prefent is he, whom they call 
 *' ODFN, that warrior fo completely armed, 
 " who hath but on.e eye to guide him ? 
 if Ah, if I could but ke him, this re- 
 " doubted fpoufe of Frigga ; in vain mould 
 11 he be covered with his fnow-white 
 " buckler, in vain mounted upon his lofty 
 " fleed, he {hould not leave his abode of 
 " Lethra without a wound. It is lawful 
 " to encounter a Warrior god -)-." 
 
 A 
 
 * Bartholin. lib. i.e. 6. 
 
 t SAXO GRAM. lib. 
 ii. apud Barthol. lib. i. 
 c. 8. The lame author 
 relates that a Danifli 
 prince, named Mother, 
 reftfted the united forces 
 of Odin, Thor, and the 
 iquadrons of the gods. 
 <* And the victory," he 
 adds, " would have re- 
 " mained with the god-, 
 " if Hother, breaking 
 
 Chap. IX. 
 
 through their thickeft 
 ranks, and aflailing 
 them with fuch fury as 
 a mortal can fuperior 
 beings, had not ren- 
 dered the club of the 
 god Thor ufelefs, by 
 cutting it off at the 
 handle. Weakened by 
 this fudden and unex- 
 pected ftroke, the gods 
 were forced to beiukc 
 themfelves to flight." 
 P 4 [Saxo.
 
 A pafllon fo ftrong, fo general and fo 
 blind could not but give a tincture of its 
 chara&er to whatever it could poffibly ex- 
 tend to > and therefore we muft not be 
 furprized that they mould take it into their 
 heads to deify the inftruments of war, 
 without which that paffion could not have 
 been gratified. From the earlieft anti- 
 quity they paid divine honours to their 
 fwords, their battle-axes and their pikes. 
 The Scythians commonly fubftituted a 
 fword as the moft proper fymbol to repre- 
 fent the fupreme god. It was by planting 
 a fpear in the middle of a field, that they 
 ufually marked out the place fet apart for 
 
 [Saxo. lib. iii. Barthol. 
 lib. i. c. 6.] It was a 
 received opinion among 
 them, that a man might 
 attack and fight the gods ; 
 and it is needlefs to re- 
 mark with Saxo, that 
 thefe were only imaginary 
 deities. No one is tempt- 
 ed to take fuch relations 
 literally, and they only 
 deferve to be mentioned 
 becaufe they fhew us what 
 manner of thinking pre- 
 vailed among the people 
 who invented {lories of 
 this fort, From them 
 we may at leaft infer that 
 the confidence with which 
 
 their bodily ftrength and 
 courage infpired thefe an- 
 cient Danes muft have 
 been excefilve to make 
 them brave and defy what- 
 ever was moft formidable 
 .in their fyftem of religion. 
 But Diomedes's wound- 
 ing Venus concealed in a 
 cloud, his defying Jupi- 
 ter, as well as the other 
 combats of men with the 
 gods dcfcribed in the Ili-r 
 ad, have already fhown 
 us, to what a degree of in- 
 toxication and madnefs 
 men may arrive, who 
 think themfelves above all 
 fear, Firjl Ed'n* 
 
 prayers
 
 prayers and facrifices : and when they had 
 relaxed from their primitive ftrictnefs, fo 
 far as to build temples and fet up idols in 
 them, they yet preferved fome traces of the 
 ancient cuftom, by putting a fword in the 
 hands of ODIN'S ftatues. The refpedt 
 they had for their arms made them alfo 
 fwear by inftruments fo valuable and fo 
 ufeful, as being the moft facred things 
 they knew. Accordingly, in an ancient Ice- 
 landic poem, a Scandinavian, to affure him- 
 felf of a perfon's good faith, requires him 
 to fwear " by the moulder of a horfe, and 
 " the edge of a SWORD *." This oath was 
 ufual more efpecially on the eve of fome 
 great engagement : the foldiers engaged 
 
 * The paflage at large, as tranflated by Bartholin, 
 [lib. i. cap. 6.J is 
 
 Jttr 'amenta mihl prim cinnla dabis 
 
 Ad latus naviiy et adfcuti extremitatem. 
 
 Ad equi armum, et ad GLADII ACIEM, &c. 
 
 It is therefore with pe- his PRINCE OF DEN- 
 
 culiar propriety and de- MARK call upon his 
 
 corum (as is well obferved companions to SWEAR 
 
 by his commentators) UPON HIS SWORD. 
 that our Shakefpear makes 
 
 Come hither gentlemen, 
 
 And lay your hands againe upon my fword. 
 Never to fpeake of this that you have heard 
 
 Sweare by my SWORD. 
 
 HAMLET. A, i. f<* ult. T. 
 
 Chap. IX. themfelves
 
 themfclves by an oath of this kind, not to 
 flee though their enemies mould be never fo 
 fuperior in number. 
 
 From the fame fource proceeded that 
 propenfity to duels and fingle combats, ib 
 remarkable among all the ' Gothic * ' na- 
 tions, and which of all their barbarous 
 cuftoms has been moft religiouily kept up 
 by their prefect defcendants. In Den- 
 mark, and through all the North, they 
 provoked a man to fight a duel, by pub- 
 licly calling him NIDING or < infamous -f :" 
 
 for 
 
 * Celtic. Orig. 
 
 f In the fame manner 
 as giving the LYE is the 
 higheft provocation in 
 modern times, becaufe it 
 implies a charge of mean- 
 nefs, falfhood and cow- 
 ardice : fo the word NI- 
 DING or NITHIKG an- 
 ciently included in it the 
 ideas of extreme wicked- 
 ncfs, meannefs and in- 
 famy. It fignified a 
 villainous bafe wretch, 
 a , daftardly coward, a 
 fordid ftingy worthlefs 
 creature : (Homo fcclera- 
 tus, nequam, apoftata^ fae- 
 difragus, funnm infamh, 
 Jordide parcus, &<:. being 
 derived by the greateft 
 etymologift of the prefent 
 
 age from the Icelandic 
 UplJ, rejettanea^ contumelia y 
 Cf<r. Vid. LYE, in Junii 
 etymolog. Anglican.) No 
 wonder that an impu- 
 tation of this kind mould 
 be fo reproachful among 
 an open and brave peo- 
 ple : or that they would 
 rather do any thing than 
 incur it. 
 
 We have a remarkable 
 proof in Englifh hiftory 
 how much this name was 
 dreaded and abhorred by 
 our anceftors. King 
 William Rufus having 
 occafion to draw together 
 a fuJden body of forces, 
 only fent word to all fuch 
 as held of him in fee, 
 that thofe who did not 
 repair
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 for he who had received fo deep a ilain, 
 without endeavouring to wafh it out with 
 the blood of his adverfary, would have loft 
 much more than the life he was fo delirous 
 to fave. Banifhed by public indignation 
 from the fociety of men, degraded from 
 his quality of citizen, and fcarce regarded 
 as a human creature, he had nothing left 
 for it but a fhameful and infecure flight. 
 
 repair to his affiftance, 
 fhould be deemed Ni- 
 THING ; and without 
 further fummons they all 
 flocked to his ftandard. 
 Rex ird infammatus, fays 
 Matthew Paris, Jlipendi- 
 arios milites fuos Anglos csn- 
 gregat, et abfque mora, lit 
 ad obfedionem veniant, ju- 
 bety niji velint fub nomine 
 NITHING, quod Latlne 
 NEQUAM fonat, recenfcri. 
 Angli (qui nihil contumelio- 
 fnts et vilius ejlimant quam 
 kujufmadi ignominiofo voca- 
 
 bulo notari) catervqtim ad 
 regcm conjiuntes y ingentes 
 capias conficiunt. (M. Par. 
 fubann. 1089.) The word 
 NITHING for fome ages 
 after continued in ufe in 
 this kingdom, but chiefly 
 in the ienfe of STINGY, 
 
 NIGGARDLY, &C. The 
 
 Tranflator has feen an 
 ancient MS. poem, that 
 was written between the 
 reigns of Edward ILL and 
 Edw. IV. in which a per- 
 fon is thus exhorted, 
 
 tljou tic fcinn ana tumour a 
 Dctnfee be ncicr 
 
 A'liich fcnfe of the word modernis Dams virumfor- 
 
 ftill obtains in Denmark, dide parcitm atque tcnacem. 
 
 as we learn from Bartho- Lib i. c. 7. p. 98. T. 
 1 i n . Denotat N I D I N c 
 
 Chap. IX. The
 
 ( 220 ) 
 
 The dreadful confequences of their fen- 
 fibility with regard to what we falfely 
 call HONOUR, extended often from private 
 perfons to a whole people ; and nations, 
 blind to their true welfare, waged long and 
 cruel wars for fuch chimerical interefts 
 as really ought not to have armed one {ingle 
 Individual againfl another. Under the 
 reign of Harald Blaatand, king of Den- 
 mark, the Icelanders provoked by his hav- 
 ing detained one of their {hips laden with 
 merchandife, flew for revenge to a fpecies 
 of arms that were familiar to them, and 
 made verfes upon him fo very fatirical, that 
 Harald, flung to the quick, fent out a fleet 
 to ravage the ifland. This obliged the in- 
 habitants to make a law, which is ft ill ex- 
 tant in their ancient code, forbidding any 
 perfon, under capital punifhment, to com- 
 pofe fatirical verfes upon the kings of Den- 
 mark, Sweden, or Norway. 
 
 After fo many efforts to acquire glory, 
 it was very natural to think how to 
 perpetuate it. To this end the ancient 
 Scandinavians employed various means 
 fuitable to the groflhefs and rudenels of 
 the times j which if they have deceived 
 the expectation of thole who hoped for 
 fame and immortality from them, have 
 done them no great injustice. The mod 
 
 common
 
 ( "I ) 
 
 common method confifted in burying the 
 heroes under little hills which they raifed 
 in the middle of fome plain *, and in giving 
 
 to 
 
 dore fpeaks of it as a ge- 
 neral cuftom. Afrud ma- 
 jor -fs, he fays, Potent es out 
 
 * Vide Bartholin. de 
 cauf. contempt, a Dan. 
 mortis, lib. i. c. 8. 
 
 There is room to be- ~fub mont'ibus, ant in mon- 
 lieve that this cuftom of tibus fepcliuntur. (Orig. 
 burying; the dead under 
 little hills or mounts of 
 earth prevailed among 
 many or' the apcient in- 
 habitants of Europe. Jfi- 
 
 lib. xv. c. u.) And Vir- 
 gil and Servius exprefsly 
 attribute it to the ancient 
 Italians: See Servius on 
 that verfeof fen, II. 
 
 i Fuit ingens montefub alto 
 
 Regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere lujlum, 
 
 This cuflom Bartholin ments of this kind, which 
 
 thinks ODIN brought 
 with him into the North 
 out of Scythia ; where 
 it anciently prevailed, as 
 we learn from Herodo- 
 tus, lib. iv. c. 71. And 
 Mallet aflures us that 
 fome travellers " havefeen 
 ** in Crim Tartary (part 
 " of the ancient Scythia) 
 " and in the neighbour- 
 ' ing countries, artificial 
 *< hills like thofe which 
 " are found in Denmark 
 * and throughout all the 
 " North." Mallet. i/?. 
 Edit.'} See alfo Bell's 
 Travels, vol. i. This 
 Traveller found thefe fe- 
 pulchral hills in his jour- 
 ney to China. 
 
 We have in England 
 many ancient monu- 
 
 VOL ' Chap. IX. 
 
 are of fuch remote anti- 
 quity that it is not eafy 
 to decide whether they 
 ought to be afcribed to 
 our Gothic anceftors the 
 Saxons and Danes; or to 
 the more ancient inhabi- 
 bants of Celtic race, viz. 
 the Britons, &c. Some 
 antiquaries are for refer- 
 ing every veftige of this 
 fort to the times of the 
 Druids : but it is very 
 certain that the ancient 
 Scandinavians buried in 
 the fame manner : indeed 
 this fort of monument is 
 fo fimple and obvious, 
 that it has doubtlefs pre- 
 vailed among many na- 
 tions of very different 
 original. 
 
 P 7 Monifc-
 
 to thefe hillocks, and ibmetimes to the plains 
 themfelves the name of the perfon wha 
 was there interred. This rude monument 
 kept up at the fame time the memory of 
 the hero, and the emulation of the neigh- 
 bouring inhabitants. We find in Denmark 
 at this day a great number of fuch artificial 
 hills, which bear the name of fome war- 
 rior, or king of antient times *. 
 
 They 
 
 Monuments of this 
 kind particularly abound 
 in the fouth-weft parts of 
 this ifland. " There are 
 ** many in Wiltshire, 
 " round and copped, 
 * c which are called BUR- 
 *' ROWS or BARROWS ; 
 " perhaps raifed in me- 
 " mory of the foldiers 
 (lain there : For bones 
 " are found in them ; 
 " and I bave read that it 
 t; was a cuftom among 
 " the northern people, 
 4i that tvery foldier who 
 ** fjrvived a battle, 
 " fhould bring a helmet 
 ** full of earth towards 
 ** raifmg of monuments 
 ** for their (lain fellows." 
 So far from Cambden : 
 to which Gibfon adds, 
 that *' upon thefe downs 
 44 [in Wiitfhire] are fe- 
 11 veral forts of Barrows. 
 i. Small circular 
 ?' trenches with very 
 
 " little elevation in the 
 " middle. 2. Ordinary 
 " barrows. 3. Barrows 
 " with ditches round 
 " them. 4. Large ob- 
 <c lonw barrows, fome 
 ** with trenches round 
 " them, others without. 
 <c 5. Oblong barrows 
 with ftones fet up all 
 " round them." Of this 
 laft fort " that large 
 *' oblong barrow, called 
 " Milbarrow, is more 
 4< efpecially remarkable, 
 tc as beingenvironecl with 
 " great ilones about 6 or 
 * 7 feet high." Which 
 was doubtlefs " the fe* 
 " pulchre of fome Da- 
 
 Cl niftj commander." 
 
 Cambden's Britannia by 
 Gibfon, 1722. Vol. i. p. 
 127, &c. T. 
 
 * Of this kind was the 
 tomb of HAMLET as de- 
 fer i bed by Saxo, Infignls 
 ejus fepuliurd ac nominr
 
 ( 
 
 They commonly pitched upon Tome pub- 
 lic place, fome great road, fome fountain 
 or other well-frequented fpot, as the moft 
 proper to raife thefe tombs in. They 
 adorned them frequently with one or more 
 large ftones and epitaphs, as will be explained 
 when I come to fpeak of the funerals of 
 this people. But above all, they had re- 
 courfe to the art of poetry, when they were 
 difpofed to immortalize their kings or great 
 captains. The SCALDS or bards were em- 
 ployed to compofe odes or fongs, which 
 related all their moft fhining exploits, and 
 fometimes the whole hiftory of their lives. 
 Thefe fongs were propagated from one re- 
 citer to another : and there was no public 
 folemnity in which they were not fung or 
 chanted. The praifes which thefe poets 
 gave to valour, the warlike enthufiafm 
 which animated their verfes, the great care 
 men took to learn them from their in- 
 
 campus apud Jutlam extat, torian thus relates it, 
 which field we are told is Dani cadaver HUBBLE in- 
 called AMLETS-HEDE td ter cccifes invenientes, illud 
 this day. (Saxo. lib. iv. cum ciamore maxima fepe- 
 Barthol. p. 119.) In like Hermit, cumulum apponentes 
 manner HUBBESTOWE in HUBBELOWE vocaverunt. 
 Devonfhire received its Bromton ad ann. 873. 
 name from HUBBA the Vid. Cambden. Gibfon. 
 Dane, who was flain and vol. i. p. 47. Earth, lib. 
 buried there in the year i. c. 8. T. 
 879 ; as an ancient hit- 
 Chap. IX. fancy,
 
 fancy, being all of them the natural effects 
 of the ruling paffion of this people, ferved 
 in their turn to ftrengthen and extend it. 
 Laftly, the common objects which they 
 ufually had before their eyes, the rocks 
 fcattered all over the country, the bucklers, 
 the trophies raifed in the field of battle, 
 the walls and hangings of their houfes, all 
 contributed to preferve the memory of 
 great actions and intrepid warriors, by 
 means of the Runic characters, the hiero- 
 glyphics, and the fymbols, which were 
 engraven or infcribed upon them. 
 
 A people who nourifhed fo ftrong a paf- 
 fion for war, could feldom be at lofs for 
 occafions of it. Accordingly the ancient 
 Scandinavians were continually involved in 
 one hoftile difpute or other, and their 
 whole hiftory would have confuted of no- 
 thing elfe but melancholy and difgufting de- 
 tails of thefe wars, if they had been at the 
 needlefs pains to write it. But the little 
 that is left of their hiftory is more than 
 fufficient to fatisfy the curiofity of thofe 
 who admire courage, no matter with what 
 fpirit it is animated ; and who are afto- 
 nifhed that men ihould be fo prodigal of 
 their lives, when they were ignorant of the 
 art how to render them agreeable. We 
 have already obferved, that the inhabitants 
 of Germany and the North were accuftomed 
 
 every
 
 every fpring to hold a general affembly, at 
 which every free-man appeared completely 
 armed, and ready to go upon any expedi- 
 tion. At this meeting they considered in 
 what quarter they mould make war : 
 they examined what caufes of complaint 
 had been received from the feveral neigh- 
 bouring nations, their power or their riches, 
 the ealinefs with which they might be 
 overcome, the profpecl of booty, or the 
 neceffity of avenging fome injury. When 
 they had determined on the war, and fettled 
 the plan of the campaign, they imme- 
 diately began their march, furnifhed each 
 of them with a proper quantity of provi- 
 fions ; and almoft every grown man in the 
 country made hafte to join the army thus 
 tumultuoufly affembled. We are not to 
 wonder after this, that there mould iflue 
 from the North fwarms of foldiers, as for- 
 midable for their numbers as their valour : 
 and we ought not haftily to conclude from 
 hence, that Scandinavia formerly contained 
 more people than it does at prefent. I 
 know what is related of the incredible 
 multitudes of men, which that country is 
 faid to have poured forth : but on the other 
 hand, who does not know how much na- 
 tions and hiftorians have been, in all ages, 
 inclined to exaggeration in this refpect; 
 fome being defirous to enhance the power 
 VOL. I. Chap. IX. Q_ of 

 
 ( 226 ) 
 
 of their country, and others, when it has 
 been conquered, being willing to fave its 
 credit by making it yield only to fuperior 
 numbers j but the greateft part have been 
 guilty of enlargement from no other mo- 
 tive than a blind love of the marvellous, 
 Biithorifed by the difficulty of pronouncing 
 with certainty on a fubjecl, in which men 
 often commit great millakes even after 
 long refearches. Betides this, it is very 
 probable that many particular circumflances 
 of thofe famous expeditions made by the 
 Scandinavians, have contributed to coun- 
 tenance that name of Vagina gentium, 
 which an hiftorian gives their country *. 
 For when thefe emigrations were made by 
 lea, the promptitude and celerity with 
 which they could carry their ravages from 
 one coaft to another, might eafily multiply 
 armies in the eyes of the people they at- 
 
 * Jornandes de rebus Milton has "taken a com- 
 
 (ctias. Sir William parifon from thence to 
 
 Temple calls it THE exprefs exuberant mul- 
 
 NORTHERN HIVE : and titudes. 
 
 " A multitude like which the populous North 
 " Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pafs 
 *' Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous fons 
 " Came like a deluge on the South, and fpread 
 " Beneath Gibraltar to the Lybian fands." 
 
 Par. Loft. B. I. 351. 
 
 tacked,
 
 ( "7 ) 
 
 tacked, and who heard many different ir- 
 ruptions fpoken of almoft at the fame time. 
 If on the contrary, they iffiied forth by 
 land, they found every where on their 
 march nations as greedy of fame and plun- 
 der as themfelves, who joining with them, 
 afterwards paffed for people of the fame 
 original with the firfl fwarm which put 
 itfelf in motion. It mould alfo be con- 
 lidered, that thefe emigrations did not all 
 of them take place at the fame time ; and 
 that after a nation was thus exhaufted, 
 it probably remained inactive until it had 
 been able to recruit its numbers. The vaft 
 extent of Scandinavia being in thofe times 
 divided among many different people who 
 were little known and onlydefcribed by fome 
 one general name, as that of Goths, for in- 
 ftance, or Normans, ' (that is Northein 
 men) ' it could not exactly be afcertained 
 from what country each troop originally 
 came, and ftill lefs to what degree of de- 
 population each country was reduced after 
 lofing fo great a quantity of its inhabitants. 
 But what, in my opinion, beft accounts for 
 thofe numerous and frequent inundations 
 of northern people, is that we have reafon 
 to believe, entire nations often engaged iu 
 enterprifes of this fort : even the women 
 and children fometimes marched in the 
 rear of the armies, when a whole people 
 Chap. IX. Q_2 either
 
 either by inconilancy, by indigence, or the 
 attraction of a milder climate, refolved to 
 change their place of abode. Projects of 
 this kind, it is true, appear very ftrange to 
 us at prefent : but it is no lefs true that 
 our anceftors the Goths and ' Celts often 
 engaged in them. In the time of Caefar 
 the Helvetians, that is, the ancient inhabi- 
 tants of Swifferland, defirous to eftablifh 
 themfelves in Gaul, burnt their houfes with 
 their own hands, together with fuch of 
 their effects as were not portable, and fol- 
 lowed by their wives and children, fet out 
 with a refolution of never more returning 
 home. What a multitude might not one 
 expect fuch a nation to form? And yet 
 Carfar remarks * that according to the 
 mutters of the Helvetians themfelves, 
 found in their camp, they did not exceed 
 three hundred and fixty thoufand in all, 
 including old men, women and children : 
 a number, without difpute, fmall compared 
 with that of the inhabitants of the fame 
 country at prefent. The expedition of the 
 Cimbri had alfo been an entire tranfplan- 
 tation of that people : for it appears, by 
 the requeft they made to the Romans, that 
 their view was to obtain new lands to fettle 
 in. They, as well as the Helvetians, took 
 
 * De bcllo Gallic, lib. i. c. n. 
 
 with
 
 with them their wives and children * and 
 accordingly Cimbria (at prefent Slefwick 
 and Jutland) continued after this emigra- 
 tion fo depopulated, that at the end of two 
 whole centuries, viz. in the time of Tacitus, 
 it had not been able to recover itfelf, as 
 we have already remarked from this hifto- 
 rian, who had been himfelf in Germany. 
 
 The expedition of the Anglo-Saxons 
 furnifhes us with proofs no lefs con- 
 vincing than thofe I have mentioned. The 
 firfl Angles, who pafTed into Britain under 
 the conduct of Hengift and Horfa, were a 
 mere handful of men. The ancient Saxon 
 chronicle * informs us, that they had only 
 three veflels, and it fhould feem that their 
 number could not well exceed a thoufand. 
 Some other fwarms having afterwards fol- 
 lowed their example, their country was 
 reduced to a mere defert f-, and con- 
 tinued destitute of inhabitants for more 
 than two centuries ; being ftill in this flate 
 in the time of Bede, from whom the au- 
 thor of the Saxon chronicle borrowed this 
 fact. Let any one judge after this, whe- 
 ther it was always out of the funerfluity of 
 its inhabitants, as hath been frequently 
 aflerted, that the North poured forth its 
 
 * Chronic. Ang 1 o Sax. fubjeft towards the end of 
 a Gibfon. edit. p. 13. the next Chapter. 
 
 f See a Note on this T. 
 
 Chap. IX Q^3 torrents
 
 ( 2 3 ) 
 
 torrents on the countries they overwhelmed. 
 For my part I have not been able to dif- 
 cover any proofs that their emigrations ever 
 proceeded from want of room at home : 
 on the contrary, I find enough to convince 
 me that their country could eafily have re- 
 ceived an additional number of inhabi- 
 tants. When Alboin formed the project 
 of leading the Lombards into Italy, he 
 demanded auxiliaries from the Saxons, his 
 allies. Twenty thoufand Saxons, with 
 their wives and children, accompanied the 
 Lombards into Italy : and the kings of 
 France fent colonies of Swabians to occupy 
 the country which the Saxons had left de- 
 fert. Thus we fee the Saxons, who arc 
 thought to have been one of the moft nu- 
 merous people of Germany, could not 
 fend forth this feeble fwarm without depo- 
 pulating their own country : But this is 
 not all. The twenty thonfand Saxons, dif- 
 agreeing with the Lombards, quitted Italy, 
 and returned back (undiminimed in num- 
 ber) into their own country, which they 
 found pofleffed by the Swabians above- 
 mentioned. This prefently gave rife to a 
 war, notwithftanding all the remonftrances 
 of the Swabians, who, as an ancient hifto- 
 rian * afTures us, demonftrated to the Sax- 
 ons, that both nations might ealily mare 
 
 * Paul. Diacon. de geft. Longobard. lib. ii. c. 6. 
 
 the
 
 (23' ) 
 
 the country among them, and live all of 
 them in it very commodionfly. I make no 
 doubt but there were throughout all Sax- 
 ony, as well as Scandinavia, vaft trafts of 
 land which lay in their original uncultivated 
 ftate, having never been grubbed up 
 and cleared. Let any one read the de- 
 fcription which Adam of Bremen * gives of 
 Denmark in the eleventh century, and he 
 will be convinced that the coafts alone were 
 peopled, but that the interior parts formed 
 only one vaft foreft. 
 
 From what has been faid, therefore, I 
 think one may fafely conclude, that as all 
 were foldiers among the ancient Scandina- 
 vians, they could eafily fill all Europe with 
 the noife of their arms, and ravage for a 
 long time different parts of it, although 
 the fum total of the inhabitants mould 
 have been much lefs than it is at prefent. 
 If it was otherwife, we muft acknowledge, 
 that this extreme population can be very ill 
 reconciled, either with what hiftory informs 
 of the manners, cuftoms and principles of 
 the ancient Scandinavians, or with the 
 founded notions of policy with refpect to 
 what makes the true profperity of a people. 
 For we cannot allow them fuch a fupe- 
 riority over us in the number of inhabit- 
 
 * Adam Brem. hift. ecclef. Cap. cie fitu Daniae. 
 
 Chap. IX. Q_4 ants,
 
 ants, without granting them at the fame 
 time a proportionable excellence in their 
 cuftoms, manners, civil regulations, and 
 conftitution of government, as fo many ef- 
 ficacious caufes of the good or bad ftate of 
 all focieties, and confequently of their 
 greater or lefs degree of population. But 
 who can perfuade himfelf, that thofe favage 
 times when men fowed and reaped but little; 
 when they had no other choice but that of 
 the deftru&ive profeffion of arms, or of a 
 drowfy indolence no lefs deflru&ive ; when 
 every petty nation was torn to pieces either 
 by private revenge and factions within, or 
 by war with their neighbours from with- 
 out ; when they had no other fubfiftence 
 but rapine, and no other ramparts but wide 
 frontiers laid wafte ; who, I fay, can be- 
 lieve fuch a flate as this to be more favour- 
 able to the propagation of the human fpe- 
 cies, than that wherein mens goods and 
 perfons are in full fecurity ; wherein the 
 field are covered with labourers, and their 
 cities, rich and numerous, flourifh in tran- 
 quillity j wherein the people are left to 
 breathe during long intervals of peace, and 
 there is never more than a fmall part of 
 the inhabitants to whom war is deftrudtive ; 
 and laflly, wherein commerce, manufac^ 
 tures, and the arts offer fo many refources, 
 and fecond fo well that natural propenfity to 
 
 increafe
 
 increafe and multiply, which nothing but the 
 fear of indigence can check and reftrain. 
 
 Let us now confider in what manner the 
 ancient nations of the North made war. 
 When an army was upon the march, 
 the whole body, as well generals as pri- 
 vate foldiers, equally deiired to terminate 
 the campaign by fome fpeedy and decifive 
 action. Their numbers, their poverty, the 
 want of provifions, and of the other pre- 
 cautions obferved at prefent, did not per- 
 mit thefe people to wait leifurely the fa- 
 vourable occafions of giving battle. The 
 plunder, as it was their principal object, fo 
 it was generally their greatefr. refource : 
 and they were not of a character to brook 
 either long delays, or fevere difcipline, 
 without which all military knowledge is 
 ufelefs. Naturally impetuous and ardent, 
 they only fought with courage fo long as 
 the firft heat of their pamon continued, 
 and while they were encouraged by the 
 hope of fpeedy fuccefs. Whenever they 
 attacked a civilized and warlike people they 
 were always fure to be defeated fooner or 
 later, provided the operations were flow 
 and cautious. It was thus Marius repaired 
 the repeated lofles which Rome had fuf- 
 fered from the imprudence of the former 
 generals, by only oppofing to the Cimbri 
 a Itudied flacknefs which blunted the 
 
 Chap. IX. edge
 
 ( 234) 
 
 edge of their impetuofity, and threw them 
 into dejection and decay by reducing them 
 to inaction. One need only read the ac- 
 count which the Englifh hiftorians give 
 of the irruptions made hy the Danes in 
 England, to be convinced that it was ra- 
 ther by furprize and fudden excurfions than 
 by a regular war, that they made a conqueft 
 of that country. The northern kings, as 
 well as thofe of the other parts of Europe, 
 had not then any regular troops, except- 
 ing perhaps a fmall number of armed cavalry 
 which ferved them for guards. When they 
 would raife an army, they convoked, as we 
 have faid above, a general aflembly of the 
 free- men of the nation : in this aftembly 
 they levied foldiers, and fixed the number 
 which each farm, village or town was to 
 furnim. There is room to believe that in 
 Denmark, as in other kingdoms, the foldiers 
 received no regular pay ; but every one re- 
 turned home as foon as the expedition was 
 finished and the booty divided. Neverthelefs 
 the more valiant among them, unable to lie 
 inactive, till their own country mould offer 
 them new occa/ions to enrich and lignalize 
 themfelves, entered into the fervice of fuch 
 other nations as were at war. This was a 
 general cuftom among all the < Teutonic 
 and ' Celtic nations, and ancient hiilory 
 affords us a thoufand examples of it. We 
 
 have
 
 ( 235 ) 
 
 have feen the Cimbri afk the Romans to 
 aflign them lands, promifing in return to 
 be always ready to arm themfelves in their 
 quarrels. A long time after we frequently 
 fee the Goths and Danes in the pay of the 
 Roman emperours. Saxo informs us that 
 in fucceeding ages the emperours of Con- 
 ftantinople intrufted to them the guard of 
 their perfons, and gave them the firft ranks 
 in their armies *. 
 
 It is very difficult to fay any thing more 
 particular of the Tactics or military art of 
 thefe ancient nations. If we may judge of 
 the Scandinavians by what is related of 
 feveral other Celtic people -f-, we mail not 
 
 form 
 
 * Vid. Pontoppidani 
 gefta et veftig. Dan. ex- 
 tra Dan. torn. i. p. 20. 
 
 f Our author goes 
 here upon the miftaken 
 notion of monf. Peljou- 
 tier, that the CELTS and 
 GOTHS, the GAULS and 
 GERMANS were the fame 
 people ; and therefore in 
 the following lines he ap- 
 plies to the Scandina- 
 vians (a Gothic race) 
 what Pelloutier has col- 
 fered from ancient au- 
 thors concerning the 
 Gauls and other nations 
 of Celtic origin. (See 
 
 Chap. IX. 
 
 Pelloutier hift. des Celts, 
 
 lib. ii. c. 15.) What 
 
 he fays below of their 
 blind fury, of their dif- 
 orderly way of fighting, 
 and being readily broken 
 after the tirft {hock, was 
 true of the Gauls, &c. 
 whereas the nations of 
 Teutonic race, as they 
 had lefs vivacity and were 
 lefs choleric, fo they feem 
 to have had more con- 
 francy and perfeverance, 
 and therefore were reduci- 
 ble to better difcipline, as 
 ou r author allows the Scan - 
 diuavians to have been 
 " when
 
 (236) 
 
 a very advantageous idea of them in 
 this refpect. The Greek and Latin hifto- 
 rians reprefent them to us as mad men, who 
 in battle only followed the inftinc"l of a blind 
 and brutal rage, without regarding either 
 time or place, or circumftances. At the 
 firft fight of an enemy, they darted down 
 upon them with the rapidity of lightning : 
 their impetuofity was a mere drunkennefs or 
 intoxication, which made them march to 
 battle with the moft extravagant joy : but 
 they marched, we are alfo told, without 
 any order, and often without ever confi- 
 dering whether the enemy could be forced 
 in their poft or not. Hence it frequent- 
 ly happened, that their vigour being ex- 
 haufted, it was fufficient to refift the firfl: 
 fhock, and they were defeated. We muft 
 neverthelefs fuppofe, that when fkilful ge- 
 
 " when they had fkilful 
 * generals :" This con- 
 ceflion the current of hif- 
 tory extorted from him 
 contrary to his theory. 
 However, as it is the cha- 
 racter of all barbarous na- 
 tions to be eager and fu- 
 rious in their firfl attacks, 
 we may fuppofe the an- 
 cient Danes and other 
 Gothic nations would 
 not be able to join battle 
 
 with the fame cool and 
 deliberate difcipline, as a 
 civilized people like the 
 Romans did : and this 
 will account for what 
 Plutarch and others tell 
 us of the furious ardor of 
 the Cimbri, (in vit. Marii 
 Flor. III. 3.) and for 
 whatever {imilaj inftances 
 we find in other authors. 
 Vid. Ammian. jMarcellin. 
 XVI. 13. p. 146. T. 
 
 nerals
 
 ( 237 ) 
 
 nerals commanded the armies of the Scan- 
 dinavians, they very well knew how to 
 maintain a proper fubordination and to mo- 
 derate that fenfelefs fury, which always 
 over-moots the mark it aims at j atleaft we 
 fee in the accounts which the ancient chro- 
 nicles give of their battles, that the autho- 
 rity of their generals was very great, and 
 their orders highly refpe&ed. It appears 
 alfo to have been their cuftom to difpofe 
 an army in the form of a triangle or pyra- 
 mid, the point of which was directed againft 
 the center of the enemy's army. This 
 body was only compofed of infantry ; the 
 cavalry being generally upon a very incon- 
 fiderable footing in the North, whether 
 becaufe the country is fo divided there by 
 mountains and arms of the fea, or whether 
 becaufe their principal forces were referved 
 for the marine *. They had only fome 
 foldiers who ferved both on foot and horfe- 
 back, like our dragoons at prefent, and who 
 were commonly placed in the flanks of 
 their armies. When they were going to 
 join battle, they raifed great fhouts, they 
 clamed their arms together, they invoked 
 with a great noife the name of Odin, 
 ,and fometimes fung hymns in his praife. 
 
 * Dalin. Suea, Rikcs hift. torn. i. ch. 8. 
 
 Chap. IX. They
 
 They made an intrenchment with their 
 baggage round the camp, where the wo- 
 men and children remained during the en- 
 gagement. The conquered in vain fled 
 there for refuge if they happened to be 
 routed. Moil commonly the women only 
 waited their coming back to cut them in 
 pieces, and if they could not oblige them 
 to return to battle, they chofe to bury thein- 
 felves and their children in one common 
 carnage with their hufbands rather than fall 
 into the hands of a mercilefs conqueror. Such 
 were the dreadful effects of that inhumanity 
 with which war was then carried on. An act 
 of rigour occafioned an act of cruelty, and 
 this again produced a degree of barbarity 
 ftill greater. The chains and punimments 
 which were referved for the vanquished, 
 only ferved to render the victory the more 
 bloody, and to make it coft the dearer to 
 thofe, who purchaled the honour of de- 
 Itroying their fellow-creatures without ne- 
 ceffity. 
 
 Their offenfive weapons were commonly 
 the bow and arrows, the battle-ax, and 
 the fword. The f \vord was Short, mod 
 frequently crooked in the manner of a 
 fcimetar, and hung to a little belt which 
 parted over the right fhoulder. Yet they 
 foraetimes made ufe of very long fwords 
 
 which
 
 ( 239 ) 
 
 which went by a different name *, and 
 thefe were what the Cimbri employed, ac- 
 cording to Plutarch. Their champions or 
 heroes took particular care to procure very 
 keen fwords, which they infcribed with 
 myfterious characters and called by fuch 
 names as might infpire terror. The battle- 
 ax had two edges ; when it had a long 
 handle it went by the name of an Hal- 
 berd -f-, and was particularly affected by 
 the TRABANTS, or thofe who flood upon 
 
 fuard in the caftles of their kings J. The 
 candinavians were reckoned very fkilful 
 at mooting, and accordingly made great ufe 
 of the bow, as we learn from all the ancient 
 chronicles. But belides thefe arms, fome 
 warriors employed whatever others they 
 judged moft proper to fecond their valour. 
 Thus we fometimes read of javelins, flings, 
 
 * The former went by an Ax, and HALLE a 
 
 the name of SWERD, Court ; Halberds being 
 
 whence our Englifh word the common weapons of 
 
 SWORD : the latter by guards. ( Jahnfon's Dicl. 
 
 that of SPAD or SPADA, Jumi Etymol.) The 
 
 a word which is ftill pre- weapon itfelf however 
 
 ferved in moft of the was probably in ufe from 
 
 fouthern languages, in the earlieft times. T. 
 
 the fame fen fe. J TRABANTS (or ra- 
 
 | Theword HALBARD ther DRABAXTS) is the 
 
 is, I believe, of latter nnme given to the Yeo- 
 
 date, tho' it is of Gothic men of the Guard in the 
 
 origin, being compounded Northern Courts. T. 
 of the Teutonic, BARDE 
 
 Chap. IX. clubs
 
 ( 240 ) 
 
 tlubs ftuck round with points, lances, and Jt 
 fort of daggers. There was no lefs variety 
 in their defenlive arms. Of thefe the mield 
 or buckler was the chief*. This moft com- 
 monly was of wood, bark, or leather. The 
 fhields belonging to warriors of diftinclion 
 were of iron orbrafs, ornamented with paint- 
 ing and fculpture, often finely gilt, and fome- 
 times plated over with gold or filver. We 
 have feen what great account the ancient 
 Danes made of their mields, and what pe- 
 nalties were referved for fuch as loft them 
 in battle. Their fhape and fize varied much 
 in different countries : the Scandinavians 
 generally had them of a long oval form, 
 juft the height of the bearer, in order to 
 protect him from arrows, darts and flones. 
 They beiides made ufe of them to carry the 
 dead to the grave, to terrify the enemy by 
 claming their arms againft them, to form 
 upon occafion a kind of fhelter or tent 
 when they were obliged to encamp in the 
 open field, or when the weather was bad. 
 Nor was the fhield lefs ufeful in naval en- 
 counters; for if the fear of falling into their 
 
 * They had two forts of Shield: andafmallerkind, 
 
 thefe, the great Buckler or Target,with which they 
 
 which refted on the earth parried the thrufts and 
 
 and covered the whole blows of the fword. See 
 
 body, called in the Danifh Dalin. Sue. Rik. hift. 
 
 language SKIOLD, the torn. i. c. 8. . 18. 
 
 enemies
 
 enemies hands obliged one of their warriors 
 to caft himfelf into the fea, he could eafily 
 efcape by fwimming upon his buckler *. 
 Laftly, they fometimes made a rampart of 
 their mields, by locking them one into an- 
 other, in the form of a circle ; and at the 
 end of a campaign, they fufpended them, 
 againft the walls of their houfes, as the 
 fineft decoration with which they could 
 adorn them. 
 
 All thefe ufes which they made of their 
 Shields could not but infpire the Scandina- 
 vians with a high reipecl: for this part of 
 their armour. It was the moft noble man- 
 ner in which an hero could employ his lei- 
 fure, to polifh his fhield to the utmoft 
 brightnefs, and to reprefent upon it either 
 fome gallant feat, or fome emblematical fi- 
 gure expreffive of his own inclinations or 
 exploits : and this ferved to diflinguim him 
 when, being armed at all points, his hel- 
 
 * Vid. Holberg's Dan- placing their BROAD 
 
 nem. og Norg. Befkri- SHIELDS under their bo- 
 
 velfe. chap. xiii. dies, would flide down 
 
 Plutarch in his Life of thofe vaft flippery de- 
 
 Marius tells us, that the fcents. Travellers 
 
 Cimbri, when they were inform us, that the fame 
 
 paffing the Alps, took method of defcending 
 
 great delight in climbing thofe fnowy flopes is 
 
 up to the tops of the pra&ifed to this day. 
 
 mountains over the ice T. 
 and fnow, and there 
 
 VOL, I. Chap. IX. R met
 
 met hid his face. But then every one 
 could not carry thefe painted or carved 
 fhields indifferently. When a young war- 
 rior was at firft inlifted, they gave him a 
 white and fmooth buckler, which was 
 called the " Shield of expedation." This 
 he carried till, by fome fignal exploit, he 
 had obtained leave to have proofs of his 
 valour engraven on it : For this reafon 
 none but princes, or perfons diftinguifh- 
 ed by their fervices, prefumed to carry 
 fhields adorned with any fymbol j the 
 common foldiers could not obtain a dif- 
 tinclion of which the grandees were fo 
 jealous. Even fo early as the expedition of 
 the Cirnbri, the greateil part of the army, 
 according to Plutarch, had only white 
 bucklers. In following times, but not till 
 long after, thefe fymbols which illuftrious 
 warriors had adopted, paffing from father 
 to fon, produced in the North, as well as 
 all over Europe, hereditary coats of arms. 
 
 The cafque or helmet was known to the 
 Scandinavians from the moft early ages. 
 The private foldiers had their helmets fre- 
 quently of leather: thofe of the officers were 
 of iron, and, if their rank or wealth per- 
 mitted, of gilded brafs. The coat of mail, 
 the breaft-plate and back-piece, the armour 
 for the thighs, and other lefs effential pieces, 
 were only for fuch as were able to procure
 
 ( 243 ) 
 
 them.- Thus, although the invention of 
 all thefe was certainly owing to the Scy- 
 thians and firft inhabitants of Europe, few 
 of their defendants were for many ages 
 able to obtain them : a finking proof of 
 their indifference, or rather barbarous con- 
 tempt for all the arts, fince they cultivated 
 fo ill even that which was fo neceflary to 
 them in battle. 
 
 They did not carry to a much greater de- 
 gree of perfection the art of fortifying or 
 attacking places of defence. Their for- 
 trefTes were only rude caflles fituate on the 
 fummits of rocks, and rendered inacceflible 
 by thick mimapen walls. As thefe walls 
 ran winding round the caflles, they often, 
 called them by a name which fignified 
 SERPENTS or DRAGONS, and in thefe 
 they commonly fecured the women and 
 young maids of diftindlion, who were fel- 
 dom fafe at a time when fo many bold 
 warriors were rambling up and down in 
 fearch of adventures*. It was this cuf- 
 tom which gave occafion to ancient ro- 
 mancers, who knew not how to defcribe 
 any thing fimply, to invent fo many fables 
 concerning princefTes of great beauty, 
 guarded by dragons, and afterwards deli- 
 
 * See Dalin. Suea Rikes. hift. lib. i. ch. 7. . 20. 
 & torn. i. ch. 6. . 19. in not. 
 
 Chap. IX. R 2 vered
 
 ( 244 ) 
 
 vered Ly young heroes, Avho could not 
 atchieve their refcue till they had overcome 
 thofe terrible guards. Thefe rude forts were 
 feldom taken by the enemy, unlefs by fur- 
 prize or after a long blockade : however, 
 when thefe were of great importance, they 
 raifed terraces and artificial banks on that 
 fide of the fort which was loweft ; and by 
 this means annoyed the befieged by throw- 
 ing in arrows, Hones, boiling water and 
 melted pitch; oftenfive arms, which the be- 
 fieged, on their part, were not negligent in 
 returning *. 
 
 * There is alfd reafbn 
 to believe that the ancient 
 Northern nations were 
 not wholly unacquainted 
 with the ufe of the Cata- 
 pul ta and other engines for 
 battering, darting ftones, 
 &c. but it is very pro- 
 
 bable that thefe were not 
 common, and were be- 
 fides of very rude and 
 fimple conftruclion. Vid. 
 Loccen. Antiq. Suev. 
 Goth. lib. iii. c. 2. apud 
 Dalin, Suea. Rik. hift. 
 
 Firjt Edit. 
 
 CHAP-
 
 ( 245 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Of the Maritime Expeditions of the ancient 
 Danes* 
 
 IT T O W formidable foever the ancient 
 L Scandinavians were by land to moft 
 of the inhabitants of Europe, it muft yet 
 be allowed that their maritime expedi- 
 tions occafioned flill more deftructive ra- 
 vages and greater terror. We cannot read 
 the hiftory of the eighth, the ninth and 
 tenth centuries, without obferving with 
 furprize, the fea covered with their veflels, 
 and from one end of Europe to the other, 
 the coafts of thofe countries, now the moft 
 powerful, a prey to their depredations. 
 During the fpace of two hundred years, 
 they almoft inceffantly ravaged England, 
 and frequently fubdued it. They often in- 
 vaded Scotland and Ireland, and made in- 
 curfions on the coafts of Livonia, Cour- 
 land and Pomerania. Already feared, be- 
 fore the time of Charlemagne, they became 
 Chap. X. R 3 ftill
 
 ftill more terrible as foon as this great mo- 
 narch's eyes were clofed. He is known 
 to have fhed tears on hearing that thefe 
 barbarians had, on fome occafion, defyed 
 his name, and all the precautions he had 
 made to oppofe them. He forefaw what 
 his people would fuffer from their courage 
 under his feeble fucceflbrs. And never 
 was prefage better grounded. They foon 
 fpread, like a devouring flame, over Lower 
 Saxony, Friezeland, Holland, Flanders and 
 the banks of the Rhine as far as Mentz. 
 They penetrated into the heart of France, 
 having long before ravaged the coafts ; they 
 every where found their way up the Somme, 
 the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne and the 
 Rhone. Within the fpace of thirty years, 
 they frequently pillaged and burnt Paris, 
 Amiens, Orleans, Poitiers, Bourdeaux, Tou- 
 loufe, Saintes, Angouleme, Nants, and 
 Tours. They fettled themfelves in Ca- 
 margue, at the mouth of the Rhone, from 
 whence they wafted Provence and Dau- 
 phiny as far as Valence. In mort, they 
 ruined France *, levied immenfe tribute on 
 its monarchs, burnt the palace of Charle- 
 
 * See in the Colle&ion nonymous Author : See 
 
 of Norman Hiftorians, alfo that of Dudon de St. 
 
 compiled by Duchene, the Quentin, and other an- 
 
 relation of an ancient a- cicnt writers. 
 
 magne
 
 (247) 
 
 magne at Aix-la-Chapelle, and, in con- 
 clufion, caufed one of the fineft provinces 
 of the kingdom to be ceded to them. They 
 often carried their arms into Spain, and 
 even made themfelves dreaded in Italy and 
 Greece. In fine, they no lefs infefted the 
 North than the South with their incur- 
 fions, fpreading every where defolation 
 and terror : fometimes as furioufly bent 
 on their own mutual deftruction, as on 
 the ruin of other nations j fometimes 
 animated by a more pacific fpirit, they 
 tranfported colonies to unknown or unin- 
 habited countries, as if they were willing 
 to repair in one place the horrid defrruction 
 of human kind occafioned by their furious 
 ravages in others. 
 
 A people, who are ignorant of manual arts 
 and profeffions,of juftice, and of all means of 
 providing for their own fecurity or fubfift- 
 ence. except by war, never fail to betake 
 themfelves to piracy, if they inhabit a coun- 
 try furrounded by the fea. The Pelafgi or 
 firft Greeks were generally pirates and 
 robbers. " Some of them," fays Thuci- 
 dides*, " attacked unfortified cities ; others, 
 " fuch as the Carians and Cretans, who 
 " dwelt along the coafls, fitted out fleets 
 " to fcour the feas." But whereas the 
 
 * Sec Thucid. lib. i. cap. 5. 
 
 Chap. X. R 4 Greeks
 
 ( 248 ) 
 
 Greeks are reprefented to us as pirates 
 in the firft periods of their hiflory, it is 
 to be obferved, that the Scandinavians did 
 not become fo till late. Sidonius Apolli- 
 narius, a writer of the fifth century, is, 
 I think, the firft who mentions the piracy 
 of the Northern nations. He attributes 
 this practice to the Saxons, of whom he 
 draws a frightful picture*. The Danes 
 and Norwegians had not as yet ventured 
 far from their coafts. I imagine that their 
 neareft neighbours had not allurements 
 fufficient to tempt them. The inhabit- 
 ants of thofe countries, as poor and war- 
 like as themfelves, were likely to return 
 them blow for blow. Britain and Gaul 
 were too diftant and too well defended 
 to become the firfl attempt of the Scan- 
 dinavian ravagers. They began then by 
 arming a few vefTels, with which they 
 plundered the ftates neareil to them, and 
 overpowered fuch few merchant-mips as 
 traverfed the Baltic. Infenfibly enriched 
 by their fuccefs in little enterprizes, and en- 
 couraged to attempt greater, they were at 
 length in a condition to become formi- 
 
 * Eft Saxenlbus piratis prcvifus aggreditur, pr<z- 
 
 cum difcrimin;bus pelagi vifia c'abitur^ fpcrnit ob- 
 
 non notitia folum fed fa- jttla, jlcrnlt incc.utos. Si- 
 
 miliaritas UcjUs tion. Apolin, lib. viii. 
 
 omni hcjle truculent'iv r - f im- epift. 6. 
 
 dable
 
 ( 249 ) 
 
 dable to diftant nations, fuch as the Anglo- 
 Saxons, the French, or the Flemings, who 
 all of them pofTefled wealth enough to 
 tempt free-hooters, and lived under a go- 
 vernment too defective and weak to repel 
 them. From that time all this people 
 conceived an amazing fondnefs for mari- 
 time expeditions, and towards the begin- 
 ning of the ninth century, we find thefe 
 adventurers vaftly encreafed, who, by a 
 flrange aflbciation of ideas, imagined they 
 acquired eternal glory, by committing 
 every where, without any pretext, the moft 
 horrible violence. 
 
 In proportion as the divifions, incapacity 
 and imprudence of Charlemagne's fuc- 
 ceflbrs weakened their governments, the 
 Scandinavians, encouraged by their grow- 
 ing wealth, conftantly fitted out ftill more 
 numerous fleets. " The French monar- 
 < c chy," fays an author of that age *, " la- 
 " bouring under the weight of a bad in- 
 
 " terior 
 
 * Au&or Vitae Sti. Ge- of war at the mouths of all 
 
 nulfi, lib. xi. the great rivers through- 
 
 The Scandinavians had out his empire, and to 
 
 already, before the time caufe an exa& difcipline 
 
 of Charlemagne, found to be obferved along the 
 
 their way into the neigh- coafts, they were obliged 
 
 bouring feas : but this to keep within the limits 
 
 prince having had the he prefcribed them fo long 
 
 precaution to ftation {hips as he reigned, which was 
 
 Chap. X. from
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 " terior policy, hath been obliged to leave 
 " the feas expofed to the barbarous fury 
 " of the Normans." The mal-admini- 
 ftraticn of the Saxon kings of England 
 produced the fame effect in that iiland, 
 now fo refpectable for its naval power. 
 Both the one and the other had the 
 dangerous imprudence to purchafe peace 
 from thefe pirates i which was not only 
 putting arms into the hands of the 
 enemy, but was alfo attended with this 
 further inconvenience, that the command- 
 ers in thefe expeditions, who had no au- 
 thority over each other, only confidered 
 themfelves as bound by their own fe- 
 parate engagements j fo that thofe harraffed 
 .nations were no fooner freed, by dint 
 of money, from one fet of ravagers, than 
 another fucceeded, ready to attack them 
 with the fame impetuofity, if they were 
 not appeafed by the fame means. The 
 better to account for that ftrange facility 
 with which the Scandinavians fo long 
 plundered, and fo frequently conquered 
 the Anglo-Saxons and the French, we 
 mufl remark, that their cruelty, which 
 
 from A. D. 768 to 814. the feas with the fame 
 
 But they\ quickly found impunity, they had done 
 
 under his feeble fucceflbrs befoie his time. \Jl edit. 
 that they might fcour 
 
 gave
 
 gave no quarter, and which occafioned thofe 
 fad lamentations fo well known *, had im- 
 prefled thefe nations with fuch terror, that 
 they were half vanquifhed at their very ap- 
 pearance. Betides, there was no contend- 
 ing with an enemy who did not make war, 
 like regular forces, on any direct and con- 
 fiftent plan, but by fudden eruptions in a 
 hundred places at once, as expeditious in 
 retreating to their mips where they met 
 with reiiftance, as in darting down upon 
 the coafts where they found them quiet 
 and defencelefs. It is, neverthelefs, pro- 
 bable, that a wife and well-ordered go- 
 vernment might have remedied all thefe 
 evils : and in fact that it did fo, we have 
 an inconteftible proof in the conduct of 
 the great ALFRED, under whofe reign the 
 Danes were obliged to leave England un- 
 rnolefled. But what appears an eaiy mat- 
 ter to us, at this time, required in thofe 
 ages of ignorance and confuiion, the un- 
 common genius of an Alfred to accom- 
 plifh. 
 
 * The Monks infected Northern - men : which 
 
 it as a petition in the Li- afterwards became the 
 
 tany, A furore Norman- proper name of the co- 
 
 norum, Hbera nos, 'D online, lony that fettled in Neu- 
 
 The French called ftria ; whofe hiflory is 
 
 thefe adventurers in ge- giv r cn below. T. 
 
 neral NORMANS, j. e. 
 
 Chap. X. If
 
 If we reflect on the interior flate of 
 Scandinavia, during the times that its in- 
 habitants were fo unfortunately famous, we 
 fhall foon fee the caufe of that amazing ex- 
 terior power which they poflefTed. I have 
 before obferved, that they neglected agri- 
 culture, which, among a thoufand other 
 good effects, extinguimes in a rifing people 
 the relim for favage life, and infpires them 
 with the love of peace and juftice, with- 
 out which the cultivation of their lands 
 is ufelefs. Their flocks being alrnoft their 
 only income, they were neither obliged 
 to a confiant abode on the fame fpot, 
 nor to wait for the time of harveft, and 
 confequently fuch a people, though in 
 fact but few, were able, on mort notice, 
 to levy numerous armies. Moft of them 
 brought up in a maritime country, and 
 inured to the fea from their childhood, 
 had no fear of the dangers, or rather knew 
 not that there were dangers of any kind 
 attending fuch a life. What a bound lefs 
 field for conquefts was here opened by the 
 fole advantage of navigation ! What a free 
 fcope was here afforded a warlike people to 
 fpread univerfally the terror of their arms f 
 The profeffion of piracy was fo far from 
 , appearing difgraceful to them, that it was 
 in their eyes the certain road to honours 
 and to fortune : for it was wifely contrived 
 
 that
 
 that the word HONOUR, to which fo many 
 different ideas are annexed, was among 
 them folely confined to a difregard of dan- 
 gers. Hence it is, that in the ancient 
 chronicles, more than one hero boafts of 
 being the moft renowned pirate in the 
 North ; and that often the fons of the great 
 lords and kings made cruizing voyages in 
 their youth, in order to render themfelves 
 illuftrious, and to become one day worthy 
 of command. This is what we fee hap- 
 pen very frequently after Harold Harfagre 
 had once made himfelf mafter of all Nor- 
 way, which before his time was divided 
 into feveral petty kingdoms. Many princes, 
 dukes or earls, feeing themfelves thus ftrip- 
 ped of their pofTeffions, retired into Ice- 
 land, the Orkneys, the ifles of Faro and 
 Shetland, and . thence covering the fea 
 with their veflels, infefted all the coafts of 
 Scandinavia ; where for many ages there 
 was no failing with any fafety. Adam of 
 Bremen, who travelled through Denmark 
 fome time after Chriftianity was received 
 there, gives a very affecting defcription 
 of the defolations they made in that king- 
 dom *. Nor were they in reality lefs for- 
 midable in the North, than to France or 
 England. The coafts of Denmark, Sweden 
 
 * Vid. Adam Bfem. de fitu Dan paflim. 
 Chap. X. and
 
 ( 254 ) 
 
 and Norway were obliged to be under con- 
 ftant guard. They encreafed fo much, that 
 on fome occafions, and particularly under 
 king Regner Lodbrog, the Danes were 
 perhaps more numerous on fea than on 
 land : fo that the whole nation, according 
 to the account of an ancient hiftorian, wore 
 nothing but the habits of failors, that they 
 might be ready to embark on the firft 
 fignal *. 
 
 As foon as a prince had attained his 
 eighteenth or twentieth year, he commonly 
 requefted of his father a fmall fleet com- 
 
 Eletely fitted out, in order to atchieve with 
 is followers fome adventure that might 
 be productive of glory and fpoil. The 
 father applauded fuch an inclination in his 
 fon, as indicating a riling courage and 
 heroic mind. He gave him (hips, the 
 commander and crew of which mutually 
 engaged not to return, unlefs adorned with 
 laurels and loaded with plunder. That 
 nation became the firft object of their re- 
 fentment, from whom they had received 
 any injury 5 and frequently their principal 
 aim was to make reprizals on fome pro- 
 vince which ferved for the retreat of other 
 corfairs. If the fleets of two different na- 
 tions met by chance in their voyage, this 
 
 * Arnold. Lubeck. Chronic. 
 
 4 was
 
 ( 255) 
 
 was alfo an occafion of fighting which they 
 never neglected. 
 
 The vanquished party was commonly 
 put to death, though fometimes the con- 
 querors were contented to make them 
 flaves ; and often, by a fingular ftrain of 
 generofity, which the love of glory was 
 able to produce in minds in other refpects 
 fo ferocious, if the enemy that fell in their 
 way had fewer mips than themfelves, they 
 fet afide part of their own veflels, that fo, 
 engaging upon equal terms, the victory 
 might not be attributed to fuperiority of 
 numbers*. Many of them alfo regarded 
 it as dimonourable to furprize the enemy 
 by night. Sometimes the chiefs thought 
 it beft to decide the difpute by fmgle com- 
 bat j in this cafe they landed on the nearefl 
 fhore : if one of them happened to be dif- 
 armed or thrown down, he frequently re- 
 fufed to receive quarter, and was killed 
 on the fpot : but if he had defended 
 himfelf gallantly, the victor granted him 
 his life, demanded his friend (hip, adopted 
 him for a kind of Fofter-brother -)-, and 
 they mutually fwore to preferve an eternal 
 
 * So it happened in chronicle called Torftein 
 
 an engagement between Wildnga Saga. 
 
 two heroes, who are men- -j- Fofter-broder, Da- 
 
 tioned in an old Icelandic nice. 
 
 Chap, X. friendship.
 
 (2 5 6 ) 
 
 friendship. In token of this alliance the 
 two heroes made incifions in their hands or 
 arms, and befmeared their weapons with 
 the blood, or mixing it in a cup, each of 
 them covering their heads with a fod, drank 
 of it, fwearing that the death of the firfr. 
 of them who fell in battle mould not 
 pafs unrevenged. Many of thefe piratical 
 princes, whom fuccefs and cuftom had at- 
 tached and habituated to this profeffion, 
 never quitted it, but gloried in paffing the 
 remainder of their lives on board their 
 fhips. We meet with them fometimes, in 
 their ancient hiftories, boafting that they 
 never repofed under an immoveable roof, 
 nor drank BEER in peace by their fire- 
 fide *. 
 
 The vefTels of thefe corfairs were always 
 well provided with offenfive arms, fuch as 
 ftones, arrows, cables, with which they 
 overfet frnall vefTels, and grapling irons 
 to board them, &c. Every individual 
 was fkilful in fwimming, and as their en- 
 gagements were ieldorn far diftant from 
 the fhore, the vanquimed party often faved 
 themfelves by fwimming to land. Each 
 band had its own peculiar ilations, ports, 
 places of rendezvous, and magazines : and 
 many cities in the North owe their prefent 
 
 * Dalin. Sue. Rik. hift. torn. i. c. 4. . 8. 
 
 profperity 
 
 2
 
 profperity to the advantage they had of 
 affording them retreats. Such was Lunden 
 in Scania, which, according to Adam of 
 Bremen *, contained great riches laid up 
 there by the pirates : and for a long time 
 the kings themfelves countenanced and 
 fhared their plunder, by felling them the 
 liberty of retiring into their harbours. 
 
 The manner in which the lands were 
 parcelled out in Denmark and Norway 
 evidently mews, that every thing there 
 was directed towards this one end of hav- 
 ing a powerful maritime force. Each di- 
 vifion, whether more or lefs confiderable, 
 derived its name from the number of vef- 
 fels it was capable of fitting out, and thefe 
 names ftill fubfift in fome places. In the 
 hiftory of Denmark may be feen the par- 
 ticular taxes impofed on each province for 
 that purpofe, and the number of (hips of 
 which their fleets were compofed. At 
 firft they were inconfiderablc, but in pro- 
 portion as the chiefs who followed this 
 piratical profeffion were enriched by it, the 
 northern feas were feen covered with one 
 or two hundred vefTels or ftill more nu- 
 merous fquadrons. We read in hiftory of 
 a fleet of feven hundred mips, commanded 
 by HAROLD BL A AT AND king of Den- 
 
 * Vid. Adam Brem. de fit. Dan. cap. ccxiii. 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. X, S mark,
 
 mark, and a Norwegian lord named count 
 HACON. This number is, no greater than 
 what we often find in the fleets under 
 the following reigns, and befides it is cer- 
 tain, that the veflels of which it confuted, 
 were but fmall. The firft we hear of were 
 only a kind of twelve-oared barks ; they 
 were afterwards built capable of containing 
 one hundred or a hundred and twenty men, 
 and thefe were very common in the eleventh 
 and twelfth centuries. The northern kings 
 alfo fometimes conftruded veflels of an ex- 
 traordinary fize, but thefe were rather for 
 {hew than defence. Such was that of Ha- 
 rold Harfagre: a long fhip which the chro- 
 nicles mention with admiration, under the 
 name of the DRAGON. King Olave 
 Trygguefon had one of the fame kind, 
 named the LONG SERPENT : the chronicles 
 fay it was very long, large and high, and of 
 a mod durable conduction ; a wooden fer- 
 pent was carved on its poop, and both that 
 and its prow were gilded. It carried thirty 
 four banks of rowers, and was, they add, 
 the fined and larger! /hip that had been ever 
 feen in Norway *. 
 
 * See a Diflertation of " Norges Soe Hiftoire:" 
 
 baron Holberg's infert- See alfoTorfaeus's hift. of 
 
 eJ in the 3d tome of Me- Norway in the Life of 
 
 itioirs of the Society of HAROLD and of OLAVE, 
 
 Sciences in Denmark, in- 6cc. Firji Edit, 
 
 titled " Danmarks og 
 
 Thefe
 
 ( 259 ) 
 
 Thefe piratical expeditions were not al- 
 ways confined to the devastation of fome 
 province, or to a few naval engagements ;. 
 events which producing no farther conle- 
 quence than the immediate misfortune of 
 the people who then fuffered by them, 
 were foon forgot by poflerity. 1 mould 
 digrefs from the purpofe of this intro- 
 duction-, were I to relate all the Conquers 
 made by the inhabitants of the North in 
 their cruizing voyages. I will only take 
 notice of the emigration of the ANGLES, 
 who along with the SAXONS, invaded Bri- 
 tain in the fifth century, and gave it their 
 name. As for the reft, I mall only borrow 
 from the old chronicles fome facts and re- 
 lations little known to ftrangers, but which 
 will afford the beft idea of the maritime 
 power of thefe ancient Scandinavians, for- 
 merly dreaded by fo many nations. 
 
 It is well known, that the Britons, unable 
 to defend themfelves from the northern in- 
 habitants of their ifle, fought for affiftance' 
 from the Danes and Saxons, their allies. 
 The ancient Saxon chronicle, publidied by 
 Gibfon *, informs us, that thofe people 
 who went over and fettled in Britain, were 
 originally of three different countries. One 
 party of them were the ancient SAXONS, 
 
 * Chronic. Saxon, p. 12, et feq. 
 
 Chap. X. S 2 that
 
 ( 260 ) 
 
 that is to fay, the people of Lower Saxony ; 
 another were the ANGLES or Englifti, who 
 inhabited that part of the duchy of Slefwic 
 in the neighbourhood of Flenfoourg, ftill 
 called Angelen, and were confequently 
 Danes. Laftly, there pafled over into Bri- 
 tain alfo a confiderable number of JUTES, 
 which is the name given at this day to the 
 inhabitants of Jutland, The Saxons oc- 
 cupied the provinces named, after them, 
 ESSEX, WESTSEX*, SUSSEX, and MID- 
 DLESEX. " The ANGLES," continues the 
 author of that chronicle, * left their own 
 " country totally deferted -f-, and fo it ftill 
 
 " continues. 
 
 * WESTSEX, or the 
 Weft - Saxon kingdom 
 contained Hampfhire, 
 Berks, Wilts, Somerfet, 
 Dorfet, &c. T. 
 
 f We (hall not wonder 
 at this, if we recoiled that 
 they did not fo much con- 
 quer the BRITONS, as ex- 
 tirpate and expel them, 
 and that they entirely 
 new-peopledthree fourths 
 of this large ifland. That 
 the SAXONS fuftered few 
 or none of the old inha- 
 bitants to remain among 
 them, appears from their 
 adopting fcarce any of 
 their cuftoms, laws, or 
 
 language : hardly retain- 
 ing fomuch as their names 
 of places. All which they 
 would infenfibly have 
 done more or lefs had the 
 conquered Britons re- 
 mained among them, tho* 
 in the loweft ftate of fer- 
 vitude. For it is always 
 feen that the conquerors 
 gradually affume the lan- 
 guage and manners of 
 the conquered, where the 
 latter are moft numerous 
 though never fo much 
 deprefled, provided they 
 intermix with them. Thus 
 the Norwegians, under 
 ROLLO, when they had 
 conquered
 
 " continues. This country is fituated be- 
 " tween Saxony and Jutland. Their leaders 
 " were Hengift and Horfa, who derived their 
 " pedigree from Odin, as do all our kings. 
 " From the Angles defcended all the in- 
 < habitants of the eafl and fouthern parts 
 " of England, as well as thofe of Mercia* 
 " and Northumberland. The Jutes or 
 " Jutlanders pofieffed only Kent and the 
 " ifle of Wight." Thus although this 
 people were not yet known by the name of 
 Danes, it is evident, that at leaft two thirds 
 of the conquerors of Great Britain came 
 from Denmark : fo that when the Danes 
 again infefted England about three or four 
 hundred years after, and finally conquered 
 it toward the latter end of the tenth cen- 
 
 conquered Normandy, 
 quickly imbibed the 
 French manners and lan- 
 guage : Thus the fame 
 Normans, when about 
 two centuries after they 
 conquered England, in 
 vain endeavoured to make 
 their Norman- French the 
 national language, and to 
 eftablifh the Norman 
 laws j in the courfe of 
 one or two reigns, the 
 laws, manners, and fpeech 
 of the Englifh had gra- 
 dually recovered the fu- 
 
 Chap. X. 
 
 periority, and were a- 
 dopted by the conquerors 
 themfelves and their de- 
 fcendants. T. 
 
 * MERCIA, or (as the 
 old Englifh name was) 
 MERCH-LAND contained 
 17 counties, viz. Oxford, 
 Gloucefter, Salop, Che- 
 fhire, &c. It was called 
 Merch-land, becaufe it 
 was every way bounded 
 by MARCHES, or lands 
 bordering on other king- 
 doms : It no where verged 
 on the fea. T. 
 
 S 3 tury,
 
 ( 262 ) 
 
 tury, they waged war with the defendants 
 of their own anceftors. 
 
 A particular event ferved to rekindle that 
 fpirit of rapine and conqueft which had al- 
 ready been fo fatal to this ifland. Harold 
 Harfagre having (as I faid above) compleated 
 the conqueft of Norway about the year 
 870, and being defirous of procuring that 
 repofe for fuch of his fubje&s as dwelt 
 along the coafts, which they themfelves 
 would not grant to their neighbours, pro- 
 hibited all pirates of Norway, under the 
 fevereft penalties, from exercifing any hof- 
 tilities againft their own country -f-. But 
 notwithstanding this prohibition a Nor- 
 wegian dukej, named ROLF or ROLLO, 
 fprung, as it is faid, from the ancient kings 
 of Norway, made a defcent on the pro- 
 vince of Viken, nor retired thence till la- 
 den with a great booty of cattle. Harold, 
 who was in the neighbourhood, was en- 
 raged at Rollo to the laft degree, for thus 
 daring to difobey him almoft in his very 
 prefence, and inftantly condemned him to 
 perpetual banimment from Norway. In 
 
 t Torfei hift. Norveg. language JARL, a title of 
 
 torn. ii. lib. ii. Ejufd. the fame original and im- 
 
 DifTertat. deGaungoRol- port, as our Anglor- Saxon 
 
 fo. p. 80. EARL. T 
 
 \ Called in their c\vn 
 
 vain
 
 ( 263 ) 
 
 vain the mother of this unfortunate youth 
 threw herfelf at the king's feet, imploring 
 pardon for her fon, and chanting, according 
 to the cuftom of 'thofe times, thefe verfes, 
 xvhich the chronic'es have preferved to us; 
 " Is the very name of our race become hate- 
 ful to you? You drive from his country 
 " one of the greateft men it has ever pro- 
 c duced, the honour of the Norwegian no- 
 " bility. Ah ! why will you provoke the 
 " wolf to devour the flocks, who wander 
 " defencelefs through the woods ? Fear, left 
 " becoming outrageous, he mould one day 
 " occafion great misfortunes." The king 
 remained inflexible, and Kollo perceiving 
 that he was for ever cut off from all hopes 
 of return to his own country, retired with 
 his fleet among the iflands of the Hebrides 
 to the north-weft of Scotland, whither the 
 flower of the Norwegian nobility had fled 
 for refuge ever fince Harold had become 
 mafter of the whole kingdom. He was 
 there received with open arms by thofe 
 warriors, who, eager for conqueft and re- 
 venge, waited only for a chief to undertake 
 fome glorious enterprize. Rollo Jetting 
 himfelf at their head, and feeing his power 
 formidable, failed towards England, which 
 had been long as it were a field open on all 
 fides to the violences of the northern na- 
 tions. But the great Alfred had fome 
 Chap.X." S 4, year:.
 
 years before eftablilhed fuch order in his 
 part of the ifland, that Rollo, after feveral 
 fruitlefs attempts, defpaired of forming 
 there fuch a fettlement as mould make him 
 amends for the lofs of his own country. 
 He pretended therefore to have had a fu- 
 pernatural dream, which promifed him a 
 glorious fortune in France, and which 
 ferved at leaft to fupport the ardour of his 
 followers. The weaknefs of the govern- 
 ment in that kingdom, and the confulion 
 in which it was involved, were ftill more 
 perfuafive reafons to allure them of fuccefs. 
 Having therefore failed up the Seine to 
 Rouen, he immediately took that capi- 
 tal of the province, then called NEU- 
 STRIA, and making it his magazine of 
 arms, he advanced up to Paris, to which 
 he laid liege in form. The events of this 
 war properly belong to the hiftory of 
 France, and all the world knows, that it 
 at length ended in the entire ceflion of 
 Neuftria, which Charles the Simple was 
 obliged to give up to Rollo and his Nor- 
 mans, in order to purchafe a peace. Rollo 
 received it in perpetuity to himfelf and his 
 posterity, as a feudal duchy dependant on 
 the crown of France *. A defcription of the 
 
 interview 
 
 * This famous treaty A.D. 912, by which K. 
 W23 concluded atS.Clair, Charles agreed to give hi: 
 
 daughter
 
 ( 2 6 5 ) 
 
 interview between Charles and this new 
 duke, gives us a curious pidure of the 
 manners of thefe NORMANS, (as they were 
 called by foreigners : ) for the latter would 
 not take the oath of fealty to his fovereign 
 lord, any other way than by placing his 
 hands within thofe of the king ; and abfo- 
 luiely refufed to kifs his feet, as cuftom 
 then required. It was with great difficulty 
 he was prevailed on to let one of his war- 
 riors perform this ceremony in his ftead j 
 but the officer to whom Rollo deputed 
 this fervice, fuddenly raifed the king's foot 
 fo high, that he overturned him on his 
 back ; a piece of rudenefs which was only 
 laughed at -, to fuch a degree were the Nor- 
 mans feared and Charles defpifed *. 
 
 Soon after, Rollo was perfuaded to em- 
 brace Chriflianity, and he was baptized 
 with much ceremony by the archbimop of 
 Rouen in the cathedral of that city. As 
 foon as he faw himfelf in full pofleffion of 
 Normandy, he exhibited fuch virtues as 
 rendered the province happy, and defer ved 
 
 daughter Gifele in mar- Chriftian religion. (Vid. 
 
 riage to Rollo, together Abrege Chronologique de 
 
 with that part of Neuftria 1'hift. de France, parM. 
 
 fmce called Normandy, Henault.) T. 
 
 upon condition that he * Wilhelm. Gemmet. 
 
 would do homage for it, lib. ii. c. II. 
 and would embrace the 
 
 Chap. X. to
 
 ( 2 66) 
 
 to make his former outrages forgotten. 
 Religious, wife, and liberal, this captain 
 of pirates became, after Alfred, the greateft 
 and moft humane prince of his time. Far 
 from treating Normandy as a conquered 
 province, his whole attention was employed 
 to re-eftablifti it. This country was, by 
 the frequent devaftations of the Scandina- 
 vians, rendered fo defert and uncultivated, 
 that Rollo could not at firft refide in it ; but 
 Charles was obliged to yield up Britanny 
 to him for a while, till Normandy was 
 in a condition to furnim fubfiftence to its 
 new matters. Neverthelete, the fertility of 
 the foil, feconding the induftry of the peo- 
 ple, it became, in a few years, one of the 
 finer! provinces of Europe. Thus it was 
 that this prince, afterwards known under 
 the name of ROLLO or RAOUL I. fecured 
 to his children this noble pofleffion, which 
 they, two hundred years afterwards, aug- 
 mented by the conqueft x of England : As if 
 it were defined that this ifland mould at all 
 times receive its fbvereigns from among the 
 northern nations. As to the French hifto- 
 rians, they agree with the Icelandic chro- 
 nicles, in defcribing Rollo as a man of un- 
 common wifdom and capacity ; generous, 
 eloquent, indefatigable, intrepid, of a noble 
 figure and majeftic fize. Many other Scan- 
 dinavian princes and captains are drawn in 
 
 tho
 
 the fame colours. Such were Harold Har- 
 fagre, Olave Trygguefon, Magnus king of 
 Norway, Canute the Great, &c. men born 
 with truly heroic qualities, which they 
 alas ! degraded by injuftice and inhuma- 
 nity : but who wanted only another age 
 and another education to render them moft 
 accomplifhed perfons. 
 
 Chap. X, CHAP-;
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Sequel of the maritime expeditions of the 
 ancient Danes and Norwegians. he 
 difcovery of Iceland and Greenland, and 
 of an unknown country, called Vinland. 
 
 "FT was not by this expedition alone, im- 
 JL portant as it might be, that the Nor- 
 wegians were diftinguimed under the reign 
 of HAROLD HARFAGRE. The ambition 
 of that prince gave birth to a conqueft of a 
 more peaceable kind, which though little 
 known to the reft of the world, had yet 
 very interefting confequences in the hiftory 
 of the North. For, not fatisfied with having 
 happily fubdued the little tyrants who had 
 for a long time weakened and diftreft Nor- 
 way, he was difpofed to exercife fuch ab- 
 folute authority over his fubje&s, as, far 
 from fubmitting to, they had not even a 
 name for it. The greateft part of the Nor- 
 wegian nobility perceiving that it was in 
 vain to oppofe their ilrength to his, deter- 
 5 mined
 
 mined to abandon a country, where they 
 were obliged to live deprefled, impoverifh- 
 ed and obfcure. Ingulph was one of the 
 firft who went into this voluntary exile. 
 It is, indeed, faid, that the apprehenfion of 
 being punimed for a murder he had com- 
 mitted, was, equally with the tyranny of 
 Harold, a motive for his flight -, but this 
 latter inducement was certainly what en- 
 gaged a multitude of noble families of 
 Norway to join him *. Thefe illuftrious 
 fugitives being imbarked, Ingulph, whom 
 they had chofen for their leader, conducted 
 them, in the year 874, to Iceland, which 
 muft certainly have been long before known 
 to a people who were fuch expert failors, 
 though they had never yet thought of fend- 
 ing colonies thither. As foon as they dif- 
 covered it at a diflance, Ingulph, according 
 to an ancient and fuperftitious cuftom, 
 threw a wooden door into the fea, deter- 
 mining to land where the Gods fliould 
 feem to point out, by the direction of this 
 floating guide; but the waves carrying it 
 out of fight, after a fruitlefs fearch, they 
 were obliged to difembark in a gulph 
 toward the fouth part of the ffland, 
 which ftill bears Ingulph's name. Hiorleif, 
 
 * Arngrim. Jon. Crymogza, five de reb. Ifland. 
 lib. iii. Hamb. 1593. 
 
 Chap. XL his
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 his brother-in-law fettled in another part. 
 They both found the ifland uninhabited 
 and uncultivated, but covered with thick 
 forefts of birch-trees, through which they 
 could not penetrate, but by cutting their 
 way before them. There are now no fo- 
 refts in Iceland, nor any birch-trees, except 
 here and there a few fhort and flender 
 fhrubs : but the trees that are flill found 
 deep buried in the earth, and frequently 
 among the rocks, mould prevent our too 
 haftily rejecting the evidence of the ancient 
 chronicles, when they defcribe the country 
 as different from what it is at prefent *. 
 The Norwegian adventurers imagined that 
 this ifland had been formerly inhabited, or 
 at leaft that people had landed on the 
 
 * Vid. ARNGRIM. 
 JON. Crymogaea. lib. i. 
 
 C. 2. p. 21. TORFJEUS 
 
 remarks the fame thing. 
 *' Should any one obje<5t, 
 " (fays he) that modern 
 " Iceland does not an- 
 " fwer the ancient de- 
 " fcriptions of it, it may 
 *' be juftly anfweredjthat 
 " this country has greatly 
 ** degenerated. This I 
 " can affirm, from what 
 *' I have been an eye- 
 " witnefs 6f fnyfel'f: I 
 " have feen in my youth 
 
 " great alterations in the 
 " face of this country ; 
 " fhores fwallowed, and 
 " others thrown up by 
 the violence of the 
 waves; meadows for- 
 merly fruitful, now bu- 
 ' ried under vaft heaps 
 ' of fand ; plains all co- 
 
 * vered and vallies filled 
 ' up with ftones and 1 
 c fand brought down by 
 
 * the torrents of melted 
 " fnow,"&c. VideTor- 
 faei hift. Norveg. torn. i. 
 .5. p. 12. 
 
 more,
 
 fhore, as Ingulph found there wooden 
 crofles, and other little pieces ofworkman-" 
 fliip, after the manner of the Irifh and Brit- 
 tons. Thefe people had embraced Chrif- 
 tianity before that time, and very poflibly 
 fome of their fimermen thrown upon the 
 coafts, might have left a few of their effecls 
 behind them. On this fuppofition, that 
 Iceland had not been inhabited before the 
 ninth century, it could not poflibly be the 
 THULE of which the ancients fpeak fo of- 
 ten ; and what Procopius and others have 
 written of it, feems rather applicable to the 
 northern provinces of Scandinavia *. 
 
 The fuccefs of Ingulph's expedition be- 
 ing much talked of in Norway, other fa^- 
 milies were eager to fly to this place of 
 refuge from the ambitious encroachments 
 of their king. The Icelandic annals are 
 very exadl: in relating the names of thefe 
 adventurers, the feveral numbers of which 
 they confifted, together with the names of 
 the places where they fettled, which, for 
 
 * All that can, with fome very northern coun- 
 
 any certainty, be faid of try. Indeed it appears, 
 
 this Ultima Thule of the that they applied this 
 
 ancients, is, that they name at different times to 
 
 called by that name the the ifles of Shetland, Fa- 
 
 fartheft country which ro, the Orkneys, Nor- 
 
 they could difcover to the way, Iceland, Lapland, 
 
 North j or in general &c. 
 
 Chap. XL the 
 
 3
 
 ( 27* ) 
 
 the moft part, are ftill retained. All the 
 other circumftances of thefe voyages are 
 handed down with equal precilion, and we 
 may confidently affert, that the ancient 
 hiftory of Iceland is more compleat than 
 that of any other country in Europe. The 
 feveral particulars and the fequel of the 
 event are foreign to this work ; we need 
 only obferve, that this Icelandic colony 
 carried with them a violent hatred for ar- 
 bitrary power, and bravely perferved their 
 liberty and independance againft every at- 
 tempt to deprive them of thofe bleffings. 
 This was endeavoured by feveral Norwe- 
 gian princes in vain ; fo that it was full four 
 hundred years before this republic became 
 fubjecl to Norway, along with which it 
 was afterwards united to the crown of 
 Denmark. 
 
 About a century after the difcovery of 
 Iceland, a Norwegian nobleman, called 
 TORWALD, having been exiled for killing 
 a perfon in a duel, retired thither, along 
 with his fon ERIC, furnamed RUFUS, or 
 the RED *. Torwald dyiag there, his fon 
 was foon after, for a iimilar accident, 
 obliged to withdraw from this ifland. Not 
 knowing where to fly for refuge, necefiity 
 
 * Vid. Torfsei Greenland. Antiq. defcript. Haun. 
 1708. 
 
 determined
 
 determined him to attempt the- difcovery 
 ofacoaft, to the north of Iceland, which 
 had been before defcryed by a Norwegian 
 voyager. His fearch proved fuccefsful, and 
 he landed there in the year 982. He 
 fettled at firft on a little ifland that formed 
 a ftrait, which he called, after his own 
 name, ERIC SUND, and there patted the 
 winter. In the fpring he went to furvey 
 the main land, and finding it covered with 
 a pleating verdure, gave it the name it 
 ftill bears of GROENLAND or GREEN- 
 LAND *. After living there fome years, 
 he returned to Iceland, and prevailed on 
 feveral perfons to go and fettle in this new 
 country. He defcribed it as a land abound- 
 ing in excellent pafturage, in furs and 
 
 * GROENLAND is, in the for though Greenland is 
 
 northern languages, exadl- in the inner parts a high 
 
 ly equivalent to our Eng- mountainous country, co- 
 
 lifh word GREENLAND, vered perpetually with ice 
 
 An old Icelandic hi ftorian and fnovv ; yet on the 
 
 tells us, that ERIC gave fea-coarts, and in the bays 
 
 the country this alluring and inlets are found very 
 
 name, in order to capti- good meadows and paf- 
 
 vate and invite the nor- tares ; or at leaft what 
 
 them people to come and might be deemed fuch by 
 
 fettle there. (Vid. Ani natives of Iceland and 
 
 Po!ybi/iJibelluscleh-landia t Norway. See EGEDE'S 
 
 c - <>' P- 33-) The name " Natural Hift. of Green - 
 
 however was not altoge- " land." Lond. 1745. p- 
 
 thar without foundation ; 4, 12, 44, &c. T. 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. XI. T game,
 
 ( 274 ) 
 
 game, having a coaft well fupplied with fiflh. 
 Returning back with his Icelanders, he 
 applied himfelf to render this infant colony 
 fiouriming and profperous. 
 
 Some years after, LEIF, thefon of ERIC, 
 having made a voyage to Norway, met 
 xvith a favourable reception from king 
 Olave Trygguefon, to whom he painted 
 out Greenland in the mod advantageous 
 colours. Olave, newly become a convert 
 to Chriftianity, was animated with -the 
 warmett zeal to propagate through the 
 North the religion he had embraced. He 
 detained Leif therefore at his court during 
 the winter, and was fo good an advocate 
 for the Chriftian dodrines that he per- 
 fuaded his gueft to be baptized. In the 
 fpring he fent him to Greenland, attended 
 by a prieft, who was to confirm him in his 
 faith, and endeavour to get it received in- 
 to the new colony. Eric was at firft of- 
 fended at his fon's deferting the religion of 
 his anceftors, but was at length appeafed ; 
 and the miffionary, with the affiftance of 
 Leif, foon brought over the whole fettle- 
 ment to the knowledge of the true God. 
 Before the end of the tenth century there 
 were churches in Greenland, and a bi- 
 fhoprick had been creeled in the new town 
 of GARDE, the capital of the country, 
 wrjither the Norwegians traded for many 
 
 years.
 
 years. The Greenlanders foon after en- 
 creafing, founded another little town caUed 
 ALBE, and a monaftery dedicated to St. 
 Thomas. Arngrim Jonas has preferved a 
 lift of the bifhops of Garde : they were 
 fuffragans to the archbifhop of Drontheim. 
 The Greenlanders acknowledged the kings 
 of Norway for their fovereigns, and paid 
 them an annual tribute, from which they 
 in vain endeavoured to free themfelves in 
 the year 1 26 r. This colony fubfifted till 
 about the year 1348, which was the asra 
 of a dreadful peftilence, known by the 
 name of the BLACK DEATH, that made 
 terrible devaftation in the North. From 
 that thne *, both the colony at Garde 
 
 and 
 
 * Though the pefti- 
 lence above - mentioned 
 might contribute to the 
 ruin of the colony, 
 and to cut off its inter- 
 courfe with Norway ; yet 
 EGEDE affures us, that it' 
 ftill fubfifted and main- 
 tained fome correfpond- 
 ence with the mother- 
 country until the year 
 1406, when the laft bi- 
 fhop was fent over to 
 Greenland. The fame 
 autflbr attributes the neg- 
 lect and lofs of that an- 
 cient colony to the dif- 
 
 Chap. XI. 
 
 turbances in the North, 
 occalioned partly by 
 change and tranllation of 
 the government in queen 
 Margaret's reign (about 
 the beginning of the i5th 
 century) and partly by 
 the continual wars, that 
 followed between the 
 Swedes and Danes, which 
 caufed the navigation to 
 thofe parts to be laid a- 
 fuje : to which a natural 
 caufe has alfo probably 
 contributed, viz. that the 
 fcas en the carle rn coaft, 
 which were formerly open, 
 T are
 
 (276 ) 
 
 and that at Albe, with all the other Nof- 
 wegian fettlements on the eaftern coaft of 
 Greenland, have been fo totally forgotten, 
 and neglected, that we are utterly ignorant 
 what became of them. All the endeavours 
 which have been ufed fince, have only 
 tended to the difcovery of the weftern more, 
 where in the prefent age the Danes have 
 made four new fettlements. The Icelandic 
 chronicles unanimoufly atteft, that the an- 
 cient Norwegians eftablimed a colony alfo 
 on the weflern coaft ; but as no remains of 
 it are now extant, many people fufpeded the 
 veracity of thofe hiftorians on this head, 
 and confequently on many others. At 
 length they have recovered all the autho- 
 rity they were in danger of lofing. It is 
 not long fince the Danim miflionaries dif- 
 covered along this coafl the ruins of large 
 ftone houfes, of churches built in the form 
 of a crofs, and fragments of broken bells ; 
 they have alfo difcovered that the favage 
 inhabitants of the country have preferved a 
 diftincl remembrance of thofe ancient Nor- 
 wegians, .of the places where they dwelt, 
 
 are now clofed up with wholly extinct, and even 
 
 almoft perpetual fhoals ,of propoles means of getting 
 
 ice, fo as to render it in- to them. See his Hift. of 
 
 accefiible. EGEDE, how- Greenland, chap, ii, &c. 
 
 ever, offers proofs that tT. 
 is not 
 
 their
 
 (277) 
 
 their cuftoms, the quarrels their ancef- 
 tors had with them, and of the war 
 which ended in the deftruction of thofe 
 ftrangers *. 
 
 We ought not, after this, to doubt 
 what the fame chronicles tell us concern- 
 ing other colonies, founded at the fame 
 time, and particularly thofe in the eaft- 
 ern part of Greenland. The difcovery of 
 fuch an ancient fettlement cannot fail of 
 being a juft object of curiofity. It is true 
 indeed, that feveral unfuccefsful attempts 
 were made towards- it in the laft age ; but 
 were they fo well directed, as to bar all 
 future hopes ? The moil intelligent per- 
 fons are of opinion, that they were not. 
 We may therefore expect that an attentive 
 government will ere long furmount all the 
 obftacles which have hitherto oppofed fo 
 interefting a difcovery. 
 
 The Scandinavians, now matters of the 
 northern ocean, and fluftred with fuccefs, 
 became poffefied, at different times, of all 
 the iilands in thofe feas. Thus, while the 
 Danes were reducing England, the Nor- 
 wegians conquered a confidepable part of 
 
 * SeeEcEDE'sdefcrip- the language of the na- 
 tion of Greenland, p. 6. tive Greenlanders are 
 and particularly the whole found at this day many 
 2<Fchapter. The fame Norwegian words. See 
 author tells us, that in ch. xvii. p, 163. 
 
 Chap. XI. T 3 Scotland*
 
 Scotland, and peopled the Orkneys, tho 
 Hebrides, the iflands of Faro and Shet- 
 land; in moft of which the Norwegian 
 language is fpoken to this day. Towards 
 the end of the eleventh century, Magnus, 
 the fon of Olave, one of their princes, 
 filled that part of the world with the re- 
 nown of his arms. Ordericus Vitalis, whofe 
 acknowledged veracity in the hiftories of 
 France and England, may ferve to eftablifli 
 that of our old Icelandic chronicles, with 
 which he perfeftly agrees, relates, that 
 " in the fifth year of the reign of William 
 " Rufus, king of England *, Magnus king 
 " ot Norway vifited the Orkneys, and made 
 " a tour through part of Scotland, and 
 " all the iflands in thofe feas that be- 
 " longed to him, as far as Anglefey. He 
 " fettled colonies in the Ifle of Man, 
 " which was then a defart, commanded 
 " them to build houfes, and took care 
 " they (hould be provided with neceflaries 
 " of every kind. He afterwards made a 
 *' progrefs through feveral o^her iflands in 
 " the great ocean, which are, in a manner, 
 " beyond the limits of the world ; and, 
 " exerting his royal authority, obliged fe- 
 " veral people to go and inhabit them. 
 
 * This was in the year IOQ2. V.id. OrdericAVi- 
 tal. Hift. ecclef. Jib, x, 
 
 With
 
 " With the fame earneftnefs did this prince 
 <{ apply himfelf for many years to increafe 
 " his lubjects and enlarge his empire." 
 But if in an age when ignorance over- 
 fpread the whole face of Europe ; when 
 the aim of governments was little more 
 than felf- defence ; and when rapine and 
 bloodmed compofed the moft memorable 
 events of hiftory ; if we are furprized to 
 find, in fuch an age, colonies founded and 
 unknown regions explored, by a people 
 who are conlidered as farther removed than 
 other nations from civility and fcience ; 
 how will our furprize be encreafed when 
 we find them opening a way into that new 
 world, which many ages after occaiioned 
 fuch a change among us, and reflected fo 
 much glory on its difcoverers. Strange as 
 this may appear, the fact becomes indif- 
 put.ible, when we confider that the beft 
 authenticated Icelandic chronicles unani- 
 moufly affirm it, that their relations con- 
 tain nothing that can admit of doubt, and 
 that they are fupported by feveral concur- 
 rent teftimonies. This is an event too in- 
 terefting and too little known, not to re- 
 quire a circumftantial detail. I (hall pro- 
 ceed then, without any previous reflections, 
 to relate the principal circumftances, as I 
 find them in the Treatife of Ancient Vin- 
 land, written by Torfsus ; and in the hiftory 
 Chap. XI. T 4 df
 
 ( 2 8o) 
 
 of Greenland by Jonas Arngrim : two Ice- 
 landic authors of undoubted credit, who 
 have faithfully copied the old hiftorians of 
 their own country *. 
 
 There was, fay thofe ancient chronicles, 
 an Icelander, named HKRIOL, who along 
 with his ion BIARN, made every year a 
 trading voyage to different countries, and 
 generally wintered in Norway. Happen- 
 ing one time to be feparated from each 
 other, the fon fleered his courfe for Nor- 
 way, where he fuppofed he fhould meet 
 with his father; but on his arrival there, 
 found he was gone to Greenland, a country 
 but lately difcovered, and little known to 
 the Norwegians. Biarn determined, at all 
 events, to follow his father, and fet fail for 
 Greenland -, although, fays Arngrim, " he 
 
 * This little treatife of ters. The Icelandic ma- 
 Torfbeus appeared in che nufcripts that fpeak of it 
 year 1705, under the title are numerous ; the prin- 
 of cc Hijhr;a V nlcmdits cipal are the Codex Flatey- 
 " antiqua^ feu fars Ame- en/is, Hiemskringla, Land- 
 " rices- Septentrionclisi ubl nama Saga, or " Book 
 *' ntmiinis ratio recenfetvr^ " on the origin of coun- 
 ' rV. ex antlquit. JJJan- " tries 5" and poffibly 
 " dlcis cruta." Arngrim's others that are now loft, 
 Hiflory of Greenland "but of which many ex- 
 came out more than one tra>fh remain in thecol- 
 huncired years before, but legion of a learned Ice- 
 he on'y occasionally men- lander named BICRN DE 
 tioncd this difcovery in SKARDZA. 
 the 9th and loth chap- 
 
 '< had
 
 " had no-body on board who could dl- 
 " rect him in the voyage, nor any par- 
 " ticular inftruclicns to guide him ; fo 
 " great was the courage of the ancients ! 
 ' He fleered by the obfcrvation of *hc ftars, 
 " and by what he had heard of the- iitua- 
 " tion of the country he was in queft of." 
 During the firft three days, he bore towards 
 the weft, but the wind v.r*':,.g to the 
 north, and blo-ving ftrong, he wns forced 
 to run to the fbuthward. The vvind ceaf- 
 ing in about twenty four hours, they dif- 
 covcred land at a diftunce, which as they 
 approached they perceived to be flat and 
 low, and covered with wood j for which 
 reafon he would not go on fliore, as being 
 convinced it could not be Greenland, which 
 had been reprefented to him as dillmguifh- 
 able at a great diftance for its mountains 
 covered with fno\v. They then failed away 
 towards the North-weft, and were aware 
 of a road which formed an ifland, but did 
 not ftop there. After foine days they ar- 
 rived in Greenland, where Biarn met with 
 his father. 
 
 The following fummer, viz. in the year 
 1 002, Biarn made another voyage to Nor- 
 way, where, to one of the principal lords 
 of the country, named count ERIC, he 
 mentioned the difcovery he had made of 
 
 Chap. XI. ibmo
 
 (282) 
 
 fome unknown iflands. The count blamed 
 his want of curiofity, and ftrongly prefled 
 him to proceed on with his difcovery. In 
 confequence of this advice Biarn, as foon 
 as he was returned to Greenland to his fa- 
 ther, began to think ferioufly of exploring 
 thofe lands with more attention. LEIF, 
 the fon of that fame Eric Rufus who had 
 difcovered Greenland, and who was ftill 
 chief of the colony he had fettled there ; 
 this Leif, I fay, being defirous of rendering 
 himfelf illuftrious like his father, formed 
 the defign of going thither himfelf; and 
 prevailing on his father Eric to accompany 
 him, they fitted out a veflel with five and 
 thirty hands ; but when the old man was 
 fetting out on horfeback to go to the fhip, 
 his horfe happened to fall down under him; 
 an accident which he confidered as an ad- 
 monition from heaven to defift from the 
 enterprize ; and therefore returning home, 
 the lefs-fuperftitious J-,eif fet fail witnout 
 him." 
 
 He foon defcryed one of the coafls which 
 Biarn had before feen, that lay neareft to 
 Greenland. He caft anchor and \.ent on 
 fhore, but found only a flat rocky more 
 without any kind of verdure ; he therefore 
 immediately quitted it, after having firft 
 given it the name of HELLELAND, or the 
 
 " Flat
 
 *< Flat Country*." A fhort navigation 
 brought him to another place, which Bi- 
 arn had alfo noted. In this land, which 
 lay very low, they faw nothing but a few 
 fcattered thickets, and white fand. This 
 he called MARK-LAND, or the " Level 
 " country -fv" Two days profperous fail- 
 ing brought them to a third more, which 
 was flickered to the north by an ifland. 
 They difembarked there in very fine wea- 
 ther, and found plants which produced a 
 grain as fweet as honey. Leaving this, 
 they failed weft ward, in fearch of fome har- 
 bour, and at length entering the mouth of 
 a river, were carried up by the tide into a 
 lake whence the ftream proceeded. 
 
 As foon as they were landed, they 
 pitched their tents on the fhore, not yet 
 daring to wander far from it. The river 
 afforded them plenty of very large fal- 
 jnons j the air was foft and temperate ; the 
 foil appeared to be fruitful, and the paftu- 
 
 * Pays plat^ fays the fiightly acquainted with. 
 
 French original. But T. 
 
 PELL EL AND fhould ra- f Pay* d u plaine^ fays 
 
 thcr be fendered " Stony- ourauthor. ButMARK- 
 
 " h'ul :" for He! la figni- LAND rather fignifies 
 
 fies a Stone or Rock, in " Woody-land:" from 
 
 the Northern languages ; Mark (jytotf, tefqua) a 
 
 wh : ch our French author Wood, or Rough Thick- 
 
 feems to have been but et, T. 
 
 Chap. XI. rage
 
 rage very good. The days in winter were 
 much longer than in Greenland, and they 
 had lefs fnow than in Iceland *. Entirely 
 iatisfied with their new refidence, they 
 erected houfes and fpent the winter there. 
 
 But before the fetting in of this feafon, a 
 German who was of their cotnpany, named 
 TYRKER, was one day miffing. Leif, ap- 
 prehenfive for the fafety of a man who had 
 been long in his father's family, and was 
 an excellent handycraft, fent his people all 
 about to hunt for him. He was at length 
 found, fmging and leaping, and expreffing 
 the moft extravagant joy by his difcourfe 
 and geftures. The aftonimed Greenlanders 
 enquired the reafon of fuch ftrange beha- 
 viour, and it was not without difficulty, 
 
 * Arngrim adds, from 
 the ancient chronicles, 
 that their fhorteft day was 
 fix, and their night eigh- 
 teen hours. But it muft 
 be confefied, that nothing 
 can be more uncertain 
 than this reckoning by 
 hours, among a people 
 who had no exaft method 
 of computing tirrfb. The 
 arguments o?Torfeus on 
 this fubjcct make it evi- 
 dent, that the old Icelan- 
 dic \vord which we tranf- 
 Jate HOUR, is of a very 
 
 vague and undetermined 
 fignification ; and that 
 the ancient chronicles may 
 be fo underftood as to 
 give us room to conclude 
 that at the winter folftice 
 the fun rofe there at 8 in 
 the morning and fet at 4. 
 This gives us the 4Qth 
 degree, which is the la- 
 titude of Canada and 
 Newfoundland. See the 
 Supplement to Torfaeus's 
 Ancient Vinland, &c. 
 
 Firjl Edit. 
 
 owing
 
 owing to the difference of their languages, 
 that Tyrker made them underftand he had 
 difcovered wild grapes near a place which 
 he pointed out. Excited by this news, 
 they immediately went thither, and brought 
 back feveral bunches to their commander, 
 who was equally furprized. Leif ftill 
 doubted whether they were grapes ; but 
 the German aflured him he was born in a 
 country where vines grew, and that he 
 knew them too well to be miftaken. Yield- 
 ing to this proof, Leif named the country 
 VINLAND, or the Land of Wine. 
 
 Leif returned to Greenland in the fpring ; 
 but one of his brothers, named THOR- 
 VALD, thinking he had left the difcovery 
 imperfect, obtained from Eric this fame 
 veflel and thirty men. Thorvald arriving 
 at Vinland, made ufe of the houfes built 
 by Leif, and living on fifh, which was in, 
 great plenty, palled the winter there. In, 
 the fpring he took part of his people, and 
 fet out weftward to examine the country. 
 They met every where with very pleating 
 landfcapes, all the coafts covered with fo- 
 refts, and the mores with a black fand. 
 They faw a multitude of little iflands di- 
 vided from each other by fmall arms of the 
 fea, but no marks of either wild beafts, 
 or of men, except a heap of wood piled up 
 in the form of a pyramid. Having fpent 
 Chap. XI. the
 
 ( 2 86) 
 
 the fummer in this furvey, they returned 
 in autumn to their winter quarters; but 
 the fummer following Thorvald being 
 defirous of exploring the eaftern and nor- 
 thern coafts, his veffel was a good deal 
 fhattered by a ftorm, and the remainder of 
 that feafon was taken up in repairing hen 
 He afterwards fet up the keel, which was 
 unfit for fervice, at the extremity of a 
 neck of land, thence called KIELLAR-N^ES, 
 or Cape-Keel *. He then proceeded to 
 furvey the eaftern coafts, where he gave 
 names to feveral Bays and Capes which he 
 then difcovered. 
 
 On his landing one day, attracted by the 
 beauty of the more, he was aware of three 
 little leathern canoes, in each of which 
 were three perfons feemingly half-afleep. 
 Thorvald and his companions inftantly ran 
 in and feized them all excepting one, who 
 efcaped; and by a ferocity as imprudent as 
 it was cruel, put them to death the fame 
 day. Soon afterwards, as they lay on the 
 fame coaft, they were fuddenly alarmed by 
 the arrival of a great number of thefe little 
 vefTels, which covered the whole bay. 
 Thorvald gave immediate orders to his 
 party to defend themfelves with planks and 
 
 * Or as we (bould exprefs it in Englifli, KEEL- 
 NESS. T. 
 
 boards
 
 boards againft their darts, which quite filled 
 the air; and the favages having in vain 
 wafted all their arrows, after an hour's 
 combat, betook themfelves to a precipitate 
 flight. The Norwegians called them in 
 derifion SKR^ELINGUES, /. e. fmall and 
 puny men * : the chronicles tell us, that 
 this kind of men are neither endowed with 
 ftrength nor courage, and that there would 
 be nothing to fear from a whole army of 
 them. Arngrim adds, that thefe Skrse- 
 lingues are the fame people who inhabit 
 the weftern parts of Greenland, and that 
 the Norwegians who are fettled on thofe 
 coafts had called the favages they met witk 
 there by the fame name. 
 
 Thorvald was the only one who was 
 mortally wounded, and dying foon after, 
 paid the penalty that was juftly due for his 
 inhuman conduct. As he defired to be 
 buried with a crofs at his feet, and an- 
 other at his head, he feems to have im- 
 bibed fome idea of Chriftianity, which at 
 that time began to dawn in Norwegian 
 Greenland. His body was interred at the 
 point of the Cape, where he had intended 
 
 * They alfo called ing equivalent to SMALL 
 
 them SMJELINGS, which in Englifh. Vid. Buflaei 
 
 fignifies the f;.me thing j Not. in Arii Polyhilt. 
 
 SMJEL in Icelandic be- Sched. p. 33. T. 
 
 Chap. XL to
 
 ( 2 88) 
 
 to make a fettlement; which Cape was 
 named from the crofTes, KROSSA-N/ES or 
 KORSN^S*. The feafon being too far 
 advanced for undertaking the voyage home> 
 the reft of the crew ftaid the winter there, 
 and did not reach Greenland till the follow- 
 ing fpring. We are farther told, that they 
 loaded the vefTel with vine-fets, and all the 
 raifins they could preferve. 
 
 ERIC "I" had left a third fon, named 
 THORSTEIN, who as foon as he was in- 
 formed of his brother Thorvald's death, 
 embarked that very year with his wife 
 Gudride, and a felecl: crew of twenty meru 
 His principal defign was to bring his bro- 
 ther's body back to Greenland, that it 
 might be buried in a country more agree- 
 able to his manes, and in a manner more 
 honourable to his family. But during the 
 whole fummer the winds proved fo con- 
 trary and tempeftuous, that after feveral 
 fruitlefs attempts, he was driven back to a 
 part of Greenland far diflant from the co- 
 lony of his countrymen. Here he was 
 
 * Or, according to the dently a miftake, for he 
 
 Englifti dialect, CROSS- tells us in the next Iin6, 
 
 NEss,orCAPE-CROss. T. that THORSTEIN was the 
 
 f M. Mallet fays, brother of THORVALDJ 
 
 " Leifavoit laij/e un troi- and he had before called 
 
 ' finne fih nomme Thar- THCRVALD the brother 
 
 " fifing but this is evi- of LEIF. T* 
 
 confined
 
 ( 2 8 9 ) 
 
 confined during the rigor of the winter, 
 deprived of all affiftance, and expofed to 
 the feverity of fo rude a climate. Thefe 
 misfortunes were encreafed by a contagious 
 ficknefs, which carried off Thorftein and 
 moft of his company. His widow took 
 care of her hufband's body, and returning 
 with it in the fpring, interred it in the bu- 
 rial-place of his family. 
 
 Hitherto we have feen the Norwegians 
 only making flight efforts to eftablim 
 themfelves in Vinland. The year after 
 Thorftein's death proved more favourable 
 to the deiign of fettling a colony. A rich 
 Icelander, named Thorfin, whofe gene- 
 alogy the chronicles have carefully pre- 
 ferved, arrived in Greenland from Norway, 
 with a great number of followers. He 
 cultivated an acquaintance with Leif, who 
 fince his father Eric's death was head of 
 the colony ; and with his confent efpoufed 
 Gudride, by whom he acquired a right to 
 thofe claims her former hulband had on 
 the fettlements at Vinland. Thither he foon 
 went to take pofleffion, having with him 
 Gudride and five other women, befides fixty 
 failors, much cattle, provifion, and imple- 
 ments of hufbandry. Nothing was omitted 
 that could forward an enterprize of this 
 kind. Soon after his arrival on the coaft 
 he caught a great whale, which proved 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. XI. U very
 
 ( 29 ) 
 
 very ferviceable to the whole company. The 
 pafturage was found to be fo plentiful and 
 rich, that a bull they had carried over with 
 them became in a fhort time remarkable 
 for its fiercenefs and ftrength. 
 
 The remainder of that fummer, and the 
 winter following were fpent in taking all 
 necefTary precautions for their prefervation, 
 and in procuring all the conveniences of 
 which they had any idea. The fucceeding 
 fummer the Skrelingues or natives of the 
 country came down in crowds, and brought 
 with them various merchandizes * for traf- 
 fic. It was obferved that the roaring of 
 the bull terrified them to fuch a degree, 
 that they burfl open the doors of Thorfm's 
 houfe, and crowded in with the utmoft 
 precipitation. Thorfin fuffered his people 
 to traffic with them, but ftrictly forbad 
 their fupplying them with arms, which 
 were what they feemed moft defirous of 
 obtaining. The Greenland women offered 
 them different kinds of eatables made with 
 milk, of which they were fo fond, that 
 they came down in crowds to beg them in 
 exchange for their fkins. Some difputes 
 that arofe obliged the Skrelingues to retire, 
 
 * The chronicles re- of furs, fable?, the fkins 
 mark, that thefe mer- of white rats, &c. 
 chandizes confifted chiefly 
 
 and
 
 and Thorfin furrounded the manufactory 
 with a ftrong palifade to prevent fur- 
 prize. 
 
 Nothing memorable occurred the next 
 year. The Skrelingues again offered their 
 commodities, and again begged to have 
 arms in exchange. Thefe being always 
 denied, one of them flole an hatchet, and 
 returned highly pleafed to his companions. 
 Eager to try the new inflrument, he gave 
 a violent blow to one of his comrades, and 
 killed him on the fpot. All who were 
 prefent flood filent with aflonifhment 'till 
 one whofe mape and air befpoke him to be a 
 perfon of fome authority among them, took 
 up the inftrument, and after clofely ex- 
 amining it, threw it with the utmoft in- 
 dignation as far as he could into the fea. 
 
 After flaying there three years, Thorfin 
 feturned home, with a valuable cargo of 
 raiiins and other merchandize -, the fame 
 of which fpreading through the North, the 
 incitements of curiolity and gain drew fe- 
 veral adventurers to Vinland. The author 
 of the chronicle, called the MANUSCRIPT 
 OF FLATEY, relates, that after feveral 
 voyages, Thorfin ended his days in Ice- 
 land, where he had built a very fine houfe, 
 and lived in fplendor as one of the firft 
 lords of the country ; that he had a fon 
 named SNORRO, born in Vinland; that hia 
 
 Chap. XI. U 2 widow
 
 ( 292 ) 
 
 widow went on a pilgrimage to Rome af- 
 ter his death, and having at her return 
 devoted herfelf entirely to religion, died in 
 a monaftery in Iceland, near a church 
 erected by her fon. The fame author 
 adds, that this account is confirmed by 
 Thornn himfelf, and mentions the facts as 
 well known to all the world. Another 
 manufcript relates the fame circumftances 
 only with fome inconnderable variations. 
 
 But to return to the new colony, where 
 Thornn had without doubt left fome of 
 his people : two brothers, named HELGUE 
 and FIN BOG, Icelanders by birth, going 
 to Greenland, were perfuaded to fit out 
 two vefiels, and undertake a voyage to this 
 new country. FKEIDIS, the daughter of 
 Eric Rufus, accompanied them; but this 
 woman, unworthy to belong to fo illuf- 
 trious a family, impofed upon the two 
 brothers, and during their flay in Vinland, 
 raifed fuch diflurbances as ended in the 
 maffacre of thirty people. Freidis not 
 daring to ftay after this bloody fcene, fled 
 to Greenland to her brother Leif, where 
 fhe fpent the refidue of her days hated and 
 defpifed by all mankind. Helgue and 
 Finbog were among the unfortunate vic- 
 tims, and it is probable that thofe who 
 eicaped iettled in the country. 
 
 Thk
 
 ( 293 ) 
 
 This is the fubftance of what we find in 
 the'ancient Icelandic writers concerning the 
 difcovery of VINLAND : and as they only 
 mention it occasionally, this accounts for 
 their filence in refpecl: to the fequel. There 
 is reafon to fuppofe, that the people of the 
 North continued to make voyages to Vin- 
 land for a long time : but as nothing par- 
 ticular occurred afterwards, hiitorians 
 deemed it fufficient to mention fuch cir- 
 cumftances as related to its firft difcovery 
 and fettlement. Yet the Icelandic chro- 
 nicles fometimes fpeak of Vinland after- 
 wards. There is one of them in particu- 
 lar (which the critics efteem very au- 
 thentic) that makes exprefs mention of a 
 Saxon prieft, named JOHN, who after hav- 
 ing ferved a church in Iceland for the fpace 
 of four years, pafTed over to Vinland, with 
 an intention of converting the Norwegian 
 colony ; but we may conclude his attempt 
 did not fucceed, fince we find he was con- 
 demned to death. In the year 1121, ERIC, 
 a bifhop of Greenland, went over there on 
 the fame errand, but we know not with 
 what fuccefs. Since that time Vinland 
 fcems by degrees to have been forgotten in 
 the North ; and that part of Greenland 
 which had embraced Chriftianity being 
 loft, Iceland alfo fallen from its former 
 ilate, and the northern nations being 
 Chap. XJ. U 3 wafted
 
 ( 2 94 ) 
 
 wafted by a peftilence, and weakened by 
 internal feuds, all remembrance of that 
 difcovery was at length utterly obliterated, 
 and the Norwegian Vinlanders themfelves 
 having no further connection with Europe, 
 were either incorporated into, or deftroyed 
 by their barbarian neighbours *. Be this 
 as it may, the teftimony of our ancient 
 chronicles is ftrongly corroborated by the 
 pofitive teftimony of ADAM of BREMEN, 
 a well-eileemed hiftorian, who lived in 
 the very age when the difcovery was made. 
 Adam was a virtuous ecclefiailic, who re- 
 ceived all he relates from the mouth of 
 SWAIX II. -j- king of Denmark, who had 
 entertained him during the long abode he 
 made in that kingdom. Thefe are his own 
 words J, " The king of Denmark hath 
 " informed me, that another ifland has 
 " been difcovered in the ocean that wafhes 
 " Norway or Finmark, which ifland is 
 * { called Vinland, from the vines which 
 
 * In his firft edit, our white fkins, their fair 
 
 author was of opinion, hair, and bufhy beards : 
 
 that the favages called but upon rcvFfal he found 
 
 ESKIMAUX, who inhabit, reafon to difcnrd this opi- 
 
 Newfoundland, might nion. T. 
 
 poffibly be defcended from f Called by the Danes 
 
 that Norwegian colony, SUENON ESTRIDSEN. 
 
 as being diftinguifhed Fir/1 Edit. 
 
 from the other inhabit- J Vid.AdamBrem.de 
 
 ants of America by their fitu Dan. c. 246. 
 
 *' grow
 
 " grow there fpontaneoufly ; and we learn, 
 <f not by fabulous hearfay, but by the ex- 
 " prefs report of certain Danes, that fruits 
 * c are produced there without cultivation." 
 Hence we fee, that this was not only ad- 
 mitted as a certain fad: in Greenland, Ice- 
 land and Norway, but the fame of it was 
 alfo fpread abroad in Denmark * ; and we 
 may add in England, Normandy, and un- 
 doubtedly much further. Ordericus Vita- 
 lis, the hiflorian of the Normans and 
 Englifh, whom I before mentioned, reckons 
 Vinland along with Greenland Iceland and 
 the Orkneys as countries under the domi- 
 nion of the king of Norway, and wfyofe 
 commerce encreafed his revenues -f-. What 
 Adam of Bremen immediately adds after 
 the foregoing pafTage, merits likewife fome 
 attention, as it indicates the ftrong propen- 
 fity of the Norwegians for maritime en- 
 terprizes, and (what we mould little ex- 
 
 * Rudbek pretends, 
 that in this place ADAM 
 means Finland in Swe- 
 den. Among the many 
 bold conjectures of this 
 man, there is not one lefs 
 i defeiifible than this. A- 
 dam of Bremen was \vell 
 acquainted with Finland, 
 
 Chap. XL 
 
 fince he exprefsly names 
 it in that fame work. It 
 is needlefs to confute an 
 opinion fo contrary to 
 probability, and devoid of 
 all foundation. 
 
 f Order. Vital, hifr, 
 Ecclef. ad an. i o^ 8. 
 
 U 4
 
 ( 29 ) 
 
 pe<3 from fo unenlightened a people) for 
 expeditions that had even no other end 
 but to make new difcoveries/ In ad- 
 " vancing farther towards the North," 
 fays he, " we meet with nothing but a 
 '* boundlefs fea, covered with enormous 
 *' pieces of ice, and hid in perpetual dark- 
 " nefs." (He certainly means thofe almoft 
 continual fogs, fo well known to fuch as 
 frequent the feas of North America.) 
 " Harold, prince of Norway, lately was 
 ts very near having a fatal proof of this, 
 (f when being defirous of knowing the ex- 
 (i tent of the northerA ocean, he tried to 
 c difcover it with feveral veiTels ; but the 
 *' limits of the world being hid from their 
 " fight by thick darknefs, they were with 
 " difRculty preferved from deftruction in 
 " that vaft mafs of waters." We fee, not- 
 withflanding this figurative manner of 
 fpeaking, that Harold had formed fome great 
 defign, concerning which hiftory leaves us 
 in the dark ; and without doubt he was 
 not the only one of his age and nation, 
 whofe enterprizes of this kind are buried in 
 oblivion. Fame, as well as all other fub- 
 lunary things, is governed by Chance, and 
 without her afliftance, the attempt made 
 by Alfred the Great to difcover a north-eaft 
 paflage to the Indies, would have flill 
 
 remained
 
 ( 297 ) 
 Remained unknown to us *. 
 
 In 
 
 all ages 
 the 
 
 * In the Cotton Libra- 
 ry is happily preferved a 
 Relation of this Voyage, 
 written in the Saxon lan- 
 guage by ALFRED him- 
 ielf, as he took it down 
 from the mouth of Oc- 
 TH ER, a Norwegian, who, 
 it mould feem, had been 
 fent by him into thofe 
 feas, for the purpoie men- 
 tioned in the text. The 
 narrative, it muft be 
 owned, appears to us in 
 this enlightened age but 
 fhort and fuperficial : but 
 if we confider the time in 
 which it was written, 
 what muft we think of 
 the amazing capacity of 
 that great monarch, who 
 could conceive or encou- 
 rage fuch an attempt, and 
 who could condefcend to 
 write down with his own 
 hand the refult of the 
 enquiry, which probably 
 the Norwegian adven- 
 turer was not able to do 
 himfelf, and which the 
 king might not chufe 
 to truft to the pen of 
 another, who might not 
 have been fo exact or 
 (Curious ? 
 
 Chap. XL 
 
 In the fame tract the 
 king has alfo given the 
 report of WULFSTAN, 
 an Anglo-Saxon, whom 
 he had lent to explore thfc 
 Baltic. The fubftance 
 of Octher's account may 
 be feen in Hackluyt's 
 Voyages, and in part in 
 Spelman's Life of Alfred, 
 p. 153. The original was 
 firft published with a La- 
 tin verfion, at the end of 
 Walker's Lat. tranflatioa 
 ofSpelman, and has been 
 reprinted (at the end of 
 jlr'n Polyhijl. Schceda dc 
 JJlandici al> Andrea BuJ/ao, 
 Hafn. 1733, ^to.) under 
 this title, Periplus Oc- 
 T H E R i Halgolando - Nor- 
 vegi-t ut ft WULFSTANI 
 Angli^ fecundum narrations 
 eorundcm de fuis^ Unius in 
 ultlmam plagam feptentrio- 
 nalcm^ Utriujqve auton in 
 man Balthico Navigatfa 
 nibtis^ jujj'u ALFREDI 
 MAGNI Anglcrum regis, 
 feculo a nativitate Cbrijli 
 
 Anglc-Saxomca lingua dt- 
 fcriptus, demum Latinc 
 si (t nr.a cum " Joh. 
 Spelmaaai Vita jEl- 
 frcdi
 
 (298 ) 
 
 the Europeans feem to have had a kind of 
 inflincl: peculiar to themfelves, for great 
 and daring enterprizes. Hence we may 
 forefee, that the glory of pervading the 
 whole globe is referved for them. And 
 doubtlefs the time will come, when they 
 will explore and meafure the vaft countries 
 of Terra Auftralis, will cruife beneath the 
 Poles, and will fecurely, and freely in every 
 fenfe of the expreffion, SAIL ROUND THE 
 WORLD. 
 
 To return to our fubjecl:. The difcovery 
 of a diftant country called Vinland, and the 
 reality of a Norwegian colony's fettling 
 there, appear to be facts fo well attefted on 
 all fides, and related with circumftances fo 
 probable, as to leave no room for any 
 doubt. But to fettle the geography of the 
 country where this happened, is not fo eafy 
 a matter. To fucceed in an enquiry of 
 this kind we mould know what part of 
 America lies neareft to Greenland j by 
 what nations it is inhabited; what are 
 their languages and traditions ; as alfo the 
 cuftoms and produce of their countries -, 
 
 " fredi Magni," e veteri iifinem, rcpriitus^ ac brevi- 
 
 cod. MS. Bibl. Cotton, edi- ^lus NOT is adauftus al> 
 
 tus : " Jam vero, ob ANDR/EA BUSSAO." 
 
 Gntlquitatis feptentrionalis T. 
 turn tu/ifcr'u Jlatus coxi-, 
 
 branches
 
 ( 2 99 ) 
 
 branches of knowledge thefe, which we 
 fliall but very imperfectly learn from the 
 books hitherto published. Neverthelefs, 
 though we may not be able to afcertain ex- 
 actly the fituation of Vinland, we have fuf- 
 ficient room to conjecture that this colony 
 could not be far from the coafts of Labra- 
 dor, or thofe of Newfoundland which are 
 not far from it : nor is there any circum- 
 ftance in the relations of the ancient chro- 
 nicles, but what may be accounted for on 
 fuch a fupppfition. 
 
 The firft difficulty that muft be obviated, 
 is the fhort fpace of time that appears to 
 have been taken up in paffing to this coun- 
 try from Greenland. To this end we muft 
 obferve, that the Norwegians might fet fail 
 from the weftern, as well as from the 
 eaftern coaft of that country, fince (as hath 
 been laid before) they had fettled on botli 
 fides of it. Now it is certain, that Davis's 
 S freight, which feparates Greenland from 
 the American continent, is very narrow in. 
 feveral places ; and it appears from the 
 journal taken by the learned Mr. Ellis, in 
 his voyage to Hudfon's Bay, that his paf- 
 fage from Cape Farewell, which is the 
 mofl fouthern point of Greenland, into 
 the entrance of the Bay, was but feven or 
 eight days eafy fail with a wind indiffer- 
 ently favourable. The diftance between 
 
 Chap. XI. the
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 the fame Cape and the neareft coaft of La- 
 brador is ftill much lefs. As it cannot be 
 above two hundred French leagues, the 
 voyage could not take up above feven or 
 eight days, even allowing for the delays 
 that muft have happened to the ancients 
 through their want of that (kill in naviga- 
 tion which the moderns have fince ac- 
 quired. This could therefore appear no 
 iiich frightful diflance to adventurers who 
 had newly difcovered Greenland, which is 
 feparated from Iceland at leaft as far. This 
 reafoning is ftill farther enforced, when we 
 reflect that the diflance of Iceland itfelf, 
 from the neareft part of Norway, is double 
 to that above-mentioned. 
 
 In effect, the hiftory of the North 
 abounds with relations of maritime expedi- 
 tions of far greater extent than was necef- 
 fary for the difcovery of America. The 
 fituation of Greenland, relative to this new 
 country, not being fufficiently known, is 
 the only circumftance that can prejudice 
 one againft it ; but when we have mattered 
 the greater objection, why mould we make 
 any difficulty of the lefs ? We mould ceafe 
 to be furprized at thofe fame men croffing 
 a fpace of two hundred leagues, which 
 was the diftance between them and Ame- 
 rica, whofe courage and curioiity had fre- 
 quently prompted them to traverle the 
 
 ocean,
 
 ocean, and who had been accuflomed to per- 
 form voyages of three or fourhundred leagues 
 before they quitted their former fettle- 
 ments. We may indeed fuppofe, that when 
 they made incurfions into England, France, 
 Spain, or Italy, they were directed by the 
 coafls, from which they were never far 
 diftant ; but how can the rapidity of their 
 motions be accounted for, if they never loft 
 fight of land ? How could fo imperfect a 
 kind of navigation ferve to convey into 
 England fuch numerous fleets as failed from 
 Denmark and Norway ? How were Ice- 
 land, the ifles of Faro, Shetland and Green- 
 land explored ? There is nothing then in 
 the diftance of America that can render it 
 unlikely to have been difcovered by the 
 Norwegians. Let us fee if there are not 
 other greater difficulties. 
 
 The relations handed down to us in the 
 chronicles, and the name affixed to this 
 new-difcovered country, agree in defcribing 
 it as a foil where the vine fpontaneoufly 
 grows. This circumftance alone has ferved 
 with many people to render the whole 
 account fufpecled ; but on a clofer view, 
 we fhall find it fo far from overthrow- 
 ing, that it even confirms the other parts 
 of the relation. I mall not evade the diffi- 
 culty (as I might) by anfwering, that very 
 poffibly the Norwegians might be fo little 
 Chap. XL acquainted
 
 ( 3 02 ) 
 
 acquainted with grapes, as to miftake cur- 
 rants for them, which in the Northern 1 
 languages are called Viin-b&r *, or vine- 
 berries ; and of which in feveral places they 
 make a kind of fermented liquor : but I 
 can aflert on the faith of the moft credible 
 travellers, "that not only in Canada the vine- 
 grows without cultivation, and bears a fmall 
 well-tafted fruit ; but that it is alfo found 
 in far more northern latitudes, and even 
 where the winters are very fevere. The 
 evidence of Mr. Ellis -f- may here render all 
 others needlefs. This curious and fenfible 
 obferver met with the fame kind of vine 
 about the Englifh fettlements in Hudfon's 
 Bay ; the fruit of which he compares to 
 the currants of the Levant. Now Labra- 
 dor is not far from thence ; it lies partly 
 in the fame, and partly in a more fouthern 
 latitude, and their feveral productions feem 
 to be much alike. Befides, as the Europeans 
 never penetrated very far into the country, 
 it would not prove that there were no vines 
 there, even if THE"? had not met with any. 
 But we have room to expect greater dif- 
 coveries on this fubjecT: from Mr. CALM,; 
 a Swedifh botanift, educated under Lirr- 
 
 * Vim-bar^ or rather Grapes. T. 
 
 Wm-ler, is a general name f Voyage to Hudfon's 
 
 in the North for Goofe- Bay, by Mr. Ellis. Vol. 
 
 berries, Currants, and II. 
 
 nseus,
 
 nasus, who fome years fince made a curious 
 progrefs through Canada, with a view to- 
 its natural hiftory and productions. Ac- 
 cording to him, the colony of VINLAND 
 was in the ifland of Newfoundland, which 
 is only feparated from the continent of La- 
 brador by a narrow ftreight of a few leagues 
 called BELLE-ISLE*. This he has under- 
 taken to prove in a part of his work not 
 yet publimed ; nor can any writer invefti- 
 gate fuch an inquiry fo well as one who has 
 been himfelf upon the fpot. 
 
 As to the other circumftances of the re- 
 lation, the account given by the ancient 
 chronicles agrees in all refpedls with the 
 reports of modern voyagers. Thefe tell us, 
 that the native favages of thofe countries, 
 from the frequent ufe they make of them in 
 fiming, can in a mort time colled: together 
 a vaft number of canoes ; that they are very 
 fkilful with their bows and arrows; that 
 on the coafts they fim for whales, and in 
 the inland parts live by hunting , fo that 
 their merchandize confifts of whale-bone 
 and various kinds of fkins and furs ; that 
 they are very fond of iron or hardware, 
 efpecially arms, hatchets, and other inftru- 
 ments of like fort -f ; that they are very 
 
 * Calm's Refa til Norra-America. Tome ii. p. 471.- 
 t Vid. Ellis ubi fupra. 
 
 Chap. XL a-pt
 
 apt to rob Grangers, but are otherwife 
 "cowardly and unwarlike. 
 
 If to this picture you add, that they are 
 for the moll: part of a middle ftature, and 
 little {killed in the art of war, it is no 
 wonder that the Norwegians, the largeft, 
 flrongeft and moll active people of Europe 
 fhould look upon them with contempt, as 
 a poor, weak, degenerate race. It is re- 
 markable that the name they gave them of 
 SKRELINGDES is the fame with which 
 they denoted the Greenlanders, when they 
 firfi difcovered them. In reality thefe 
 GREENLANDERS and the ESKIMAUX feem 
 to have been one people ; and this likenefs 
 between them, which has fo much {truck 
 the moderns, could not fail of appearing in 
 a ftronger light to the Norwegians, who 
 were ftill better able to compare them to- 
 gether. " I believe, lays Mr. Ellis, that 
 " the Efkimaux are the fame people with 
 " the Greenlanders; and this feems the 
 " more probable, when we confider the 
 " narrowness of Davis's Streight, and the 
 " vagabond {trolling life we find all this 
 * 4 nation accuftomed to lead wherever we 
 " meet with them." This is alfo the opi- 
 nion of Mr. Egede, who knew the Green- 
 landers better than any body. He obferves, 
 that according to their own accounts, Da- 
 vis's Streight is only a deep bay, which runs 
 
 on
 
 on, narrowing towards the north, till the 
 oppofite American continent can be eafily 
 difcerned from Greenland* and that the 
 extremity of this bay ends in a river, over 
 which, wandering favages, inured to cold, 
 might eafily pafs from one land to the 
 other, even if they had had no canoes. 
 
 The refult of all this feems to be, that 
 there can be no doubt, but that the Norwe- 
 gian Greenlanders difcovered the American 
 continent ; that the place where they fet- 
 tled was either the country of Labrador, or 
 Newfoundland, and that their colony fub- 
 fifted there a good while. But then this is 
 all we can fay about it with any certainty* 
 To endeavour to afcertain the exact lite, 
 extent and fortune of the eftablifhment, 
 would be a fruitlefs labour. Time and 
 chance may poffibly one day inform us of 
 thefe circumf lances. I mall not therefore 
 amufe the reader with uncertain conjec- 
 tures ; neither fhall I trouble him with 
 fuch reflections as he is able to make much 
 better than myfelf. 
 
 VOL. L X CHAP-
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Of the cuftoms and manners of the ancient 
 Northern nations. 
 
 WHOEVER attempts to delineate the 
 manners of the ancient inhabitants 
 of the North, will find their love of war 
 and paflion for arms among the moft cha- 
 ra&eriftic and expreflive lines of the por- 
 trait. Their prejudices, their cuftoms, 
 their daily occupations, their amufements, 
 in mort, every adtion of their lives were all 
 impreffed with this paffion. They paiTed 
 the greateft part of their time either in 
 camps or on board their fleets, employed 
 in real engagements, in preparations for 
 them, or in fham fights j for whenever 
 they were conftrained to live in peace, the 
 refemblance of war furnifhed out their 
 higheil entertainment. They then had 
 reviews, mock battles, which frequently 
 ended in real ones, tournaments, the bo- 
 dily excrcifes of wreftling, boxing, racing, 
 
 &c.
 
 &c. The reft of their time was commonly 
 fpent in hunting*, public bufmefs, drink- 
 ing and fleeping. " The Germans," faya 
 Tacitus, " when not engaged in war, pafs 
 " their time in indolence, feafting and 
 " fleep. The braved and mod warlike 
 " among them do nothing themfelves ; 
 " but transfer the whole care of the houfe, 
 " family and poffefTions to the females, 
 *' the old men and fuch as are infirm 
 " among them : And the fame people, by 
 <c a ilrange contradiction of nature, both 
 " love inaction and hate peace." All the 
 Celtic nations lie under the fame reproach 
 from the Greek and Roman authors ; and 
 it is eafy to conceive, that a people who 
 
 * So Cacfar writes of 
 the Germans, Vita omnis 
 in Vtnationibus atque in 
 Jindiis rei militaris confijlit. 
 
 Tacitus is believed 
 
 to have faid the fame 
 thing in the pafl*age quo- 
 ted below, but as fome of 
 the words are thought to 
 be corrupt, our author has 
 dropt them in his quota- 
 tion. The whole pafTage 
 ftands in the copies thus, 
 Qurtiens belhtm nan insuntj 
 NOV nudtum venatibus ; 
 plus psr otium tranfigunt, 
 dediti fcmno ciboqnc. (Ta- 
 
 cit. Germ. c. 15.) The 
 learned are generally of 
 opinion, that the fecond 
 NON here is fpurious, and 
 that we fhould read mul- 
 turn venatibitS) or turn vitatn 
 venatibus, &c. But Pel- 
 loutier thinks Tacitus 
 meant to infmuate that 
 the Germans beftow a 
 fmall portion of their time 
 in hunting, but much 
 more in idlenefs, feafting 
 and fleeping. Hift. des 
 Celtes. torn. i. p. 449. 
 
 T, 
 
 Chap. XII. 
 
 X 2 
 
 affixed
 
 affixed ideas of contempt to all labour of 
 body and mind, had for the moft part no- 
 thing elfe to do but to caroufe and ileep, 
 whenever the ftate did not call them to 
 arms. This was the badge and noblefl 
 privilege of their liberty ; every free man 
 placed his glory and happinefs in being of- 
 ten invited to folemn entertainments -, and 
 the hopes of partaking of eternal feafts 
 filled, as we have feen, the North with he- 
 roes. Other pleafures and other rewards 
 have been conceived under the influence of 
 other climes : All nations have in their in- 
 fancy been governed by the force of cli- 
 mate j and their firft legiflators, far from 
 endeavouring to ftem this torrent but borne 
 away with it themfelves, have ever by their 
 laws and infKtutions enlarged and en- 
 creafed its natural prevalence. fc Among 
 tl the Celts (as their learned hiftorian tells 
 " us) there was no national or provincial 
 ' affembly held; no civil or religious fefti- 
 <f val obferved ; no birth- day, marriage or 
 " funeral properly folemnized ; no treaty 
 " of alliance or friendship entered into, in 
 " which feafting did not bear a- principal 
 " part*." In all the hiftorical monu- 
 ments of ancient Scandinavia we con- 
 
 * Vid. Pelloutier Hill, cles Ccltcs. Torn, i. lib, 2. 
 chap. 12. 
 
 flantly
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 flantly hear of frequent and exceifive feaft - 
 ings *. Tacitus obferves, that the plenti- 
 ful tables of the chiefs, were* among the 
 Germans, the wages of their dependants -j-. 
 Nor could a great lord or chieftain take a 
 readier way to attract a numerous train of 
 followers, than by often making magnifi- 
 cent entertainments. It was at table that 
 the Germans confulted together on their 
 moft important concerns, fuch as the elect- 
 ing of their princes, the entering into war, 
 or the concluding of peace, &c. On the 
 morrow they re-confidered the refolutions 
 of the preceding night, fuppofing, adds the 
 fame hiftorian, " that the proper time to 
 " take each others opinions was when the 
 " foul was too open for difguife j and to de- 
 " termine, when it was too cautious to err." 
 The common liquors at thefe caroufals 
 were either beer, mead or wine when they 
 
 * We find remarkable number of days not 
 
 jnftances in the Icelandic lefs than 900 perfons, 
 
 Chronicles, quoted by and at laft fent them away 
 
 Arngrim Jonas. Crymog. with prefents. Feafb of 
 
 lib. i. cap. 6. p. 54. Two this fort were frequent iti 
 
 brothers in Iceland at Norway and throughout 
 
 the funeral of thefr fa- all the North. Fir/* Ed;t, 
 ther, made a feaft for f Kamtfula^ ct q;u?i:- 
 
 1 200 perfons, and regaled quam incompti, lirgi tamen 
 
 them fourteen days. An- apparatus, projtlpendio ce- 
 
 other inhabitant of Iceland dunt. Mor. Germ. cap. 
 
 entertained for the fame 14. 
 
 Chao. XII. X 3 could
 
 could get it : Thefe they drank out of 
 earthen or wooden pitchers, or elfe out of 
 the horns of wild bulls with which their 
 forefts abounded, or laftly out of the SCULLS 
 of their enemies. The principal perfon at 
 the table took the cup firft, and rifing up ? 
 faluted by name either him who fat next 
 him, or him who was neareft in rank ; 
 then he drank it off, and cauiing it to be 
 filled up again to the brim, prefented it to 
 the man whom he had faluted *. Hence 
 came the cuftom of drinking to the health 
 of the guefts : But I know not whether 
 that of drinking to the honour of the Gods 
 was generally pra-flifed among all the ' Go- 
 thic and' Celtic people, or only among fome 
 of the northern nations. Snorro Sturlefon. 
 fays, " That in the folemn feftivals, fuch 
 "as ufually followed the facrifices, they 
 f emptied what was called the Cup of 
 " ODIN, to obtain victory an'd a glorious 
 
 * This ancient cere- their heroes, kings and 
 
 rnony is flill kept up, at friends. Herffum, re- 
 
 folemn feafts, in fome of gum, anncorum, et in bello 
 
 the Colleges in our Uni- farther reni gercntiiim, me- 
 
 verfities. In like man- morlales fcyphos t cxbaurie- 
 
 ner our cuftom of drink- bantj quibus ear urn ?)ia;u- 
 
 ing to the memory of de- bus parentare fe credebant. 
 
 parted perfons, is evi- Wormius apud Barthol. 
 
 dently a rel'ique of the Cauf. contempt, mort. 
 
 ancient fuperftition of p. 127. T. 
 drinking to the manes of 
 
 ". reicn ;
 
 ( 3" ) 
 
 " reign ; then the cups of NIORD and of 
 " FREV, for a plentiful feafon ; after 
 " which feveral ufed to take off another 
 " to BRAGE-f-y the God of Eloquence 
 <{ and Poetry." The Scandinavians were 
 fo much addicted to this cuftom, that the 
 firft miffionaries, unable to abolifh it, were 
 forced inftead of thefe falfe deities to fub- 
 fKtute the true God, Jefus Chrift and the 
 faints , to whofe honour they devoutly 
 drank for many ages. In the pagan times 
 they alfo drank to the heroes, and to fuch 
 of their friends as had fallen bravely in 
 battle. Laftly, it was at thefe feafts, for 
 the moft part, that thofe afTociations were 
 formed and confirmed, which the old 
 Chronicles fo often mention. There was 
 fcarcely a valiant man who was not a mem- 
 ber of one or more of thefe focieties ; the 
 chief tie of which was a folemn obligation 
 entered into, to defend and protect their 
 companions on all occafions, and to re- 
 venge their deaths at the hazard of their 
 own lives J. This oath was taken and re- 
 
 newed 
 
 f Vid. Barthol. de protcclion, individuals 
 
 Cauf. contempt, mprt. had no other means of 
 
 lib. i. cap. 8. p. 128. fecuring their lives and 
 
 \ In the early ftate of property, but by entering 
 
 fociety, when the laws into thefe aflbciations, in 
 
 were too weak to afford which a number of men 
 
 . XJI. X 4 engaged
 
 nevved at their feftivals, which had 
 their refpective laws. Fraternities of this 
 fort ftill fubfiiled after the Chriftian reli- 
 gion was received in the North, but by 
 degrees the object was changed. When the 
 harbouring projects of enmity and revenge 
 were forbidden at them, thefe meetings 
 had no other object or fupport but drunk- 
 ennefs and intemperance. More than two 
 hundred years after the Scandinavians had 
 embraced Chriftianity there were ftill con- 
 fraternities of which the firft nobility were 
 
 engaged to vindicate and 
 avenge each other. Thefe 
 confederacies, which were 
 at firft neceflary for felf- 
 prefervation, and might 
 originally be confined to 
 felf - defence, of.en pro- 
 ceeded afterwards to act 
 offenfively, and fo were 
 productive of great mif- 
 chiefs. 
 
 Confraternities of the 
 fame kind prevailed in 
 this kingdom, not only 
 during the Anglo-Saxon 
 fimes, but for fome ages 
 after the conqueft. They' 
 we-e called BANDSHJPS, 
 and were often under the 
 patronage of fome great 
 man ; they had public 
 badges by which each 
 
 band or confederacy was 
 diftinguifhed, and at 
 length grew to fuch a 
 pafs as to fupport each 
 other in all quarrels, rob- 
 beries, murders and other 
 outrages : this occafioned 
 a particular act of parlia- 
 ment for their fupprefiion, 
 i Rich. II. chap. 7. 
 Dr. Hickes has preferred 
 a very curious bond of 
 this kind, which he calls 
 Sodalltium ; it was drawn 
 up in the Anglo-Saxon, 
 times, and contains many 
 particulars which ftron^ly 
 mark the manners and 
 character of thofe rude 
 ages. See his Dlfiertatio 
 9 T. 
 
 \piftotans 9 p. 21 
 
 members.
 
 3'3 ) 
 
 members. But the diforders committed 
 at thefe meetings encreafing, the Coun- 
 cils were at laft obliged to fupprefs 
 them *. 
 
 While the attention of thefe people was 
 thus engrolTed by their paffion for arms 
 and the pleafures of the table, we may 
 conclude that love held no violent domi- 
 nion over them. It is befides well known, 
 that the inhabitants of the North are not 
 of very quick fenfibility. The ideas and 
 
 * The reader will find 
 many curious particulars 
 relating -to the above- 
 mentioned confraternities 
 (or GILDS as they called 
 them in the North) in 
 BARTHOLIN; who has 
 given fome of the laws or 
 llatutes obferved by them, 
 particularly thofe found 
 in a MS. of the thirteenth 
 
 century. One of thefe 
 
 ftatutes will give us an 
 idea of the fobriety of 
 thofe times : Si guts pro 
 ebrietate cecidcrit in ipfa 
 fknn convivii, vel antequam 
 frcpriam curiam intraverit, 
 Gram (a fmall piece of 
 money) perfohat. Not 
 lefs remarkable are the 
 ilatutes of another con- 
 
 fraternity inftituted in 
 honour of S. Olave king 
 of Norway; among which 
 we find thefe : >uicitnque 
 potum fuurn effundit latiut 
 quam pede velare poterit, 
 VI Denarios perfolvat. 
 Shiicunque dormierit in 
 banco convivii in confyeftu. 
 fratrumy Or am perfohat. 
 ^uicunque ebrietatis causa 
 in domo convivii vomitum 
 fccerit^ Dimidiam Marcam 
 perfohat, &c. (Barthol. 
 cauf. contempt, mort. &c, 
 
 P- I33-) 
 
 Our modern CLUBS 
 are evidently the offspring 
 of the ancient GILDS or 
 GUILDS of our northern 
 anceftors. 
 
 T. 
 
 Chap. Xir, 
 
 modes
 
 ( 3'4) 
 
 modes of thinking of the Scandinavians 
 were in this refpect very different from 
 thofe of the Afiatics and more fouthern 
 nations 5 who by a contraft as remarkable 
 as it is common, have ever felt for the fe- 
 male fex the warm paflion of love, devoid 
 of dfcy real efteem. Being at the fame time 
 tyrants and Haves ; laying afide their own, 
 reafon, and requiring none in the object, 
 they have ever made a quick tranfition 
 from adoration to contempt, and from fen- 
 timents of the moft extravagant and violent 
 love, to thofe of the mod cruel jealoufy or 
 of an indifference ftill more infulting. We 
 find the reverfe of all this among the nor- 
 thern nations, who did not fo much con- 
 fider the other fex as made for their plea- 
 fure, as to be their equals and companions, 
 whofe efteem, as valuable as their other 
 favours, could only be obtained by conftant 
 attentions, by generous fervices, and by a 
 proper exertion of virtue and courage. I 
 conceive that this will at firft fight be 
 deemed a paradox, and that it will not be 
 an eafy matter to reconcile a manner of 
 thinking which fuppofes fo much delicacy, 
 with the rough unpolifhed character of 
 this people. Yet I believe the obfervation 
 is fo well grounded that one may venture 
 to afiert, that it is this fame people who 
 have contributed to diffufe throuh all
 
 ( 3'5) 
 
 Europe that fpirit of equity, of moderation, 
 and generality (hewn by the ftronger to 
 the weaker fex, which is at this day the 
 diftinguifhing characterise of European, 
 manners ; nay that we even owe to them 
 that fpirit of gallantry which was fo little 
 known to the Greeks and Romans, how 
 polite foever in other refpecls. 
 
 That there mould in the North be a 
 communication of liberty and equality be- 
 tween the two fexes, is what one might 
 expect to find there in thofe ancient times, 
 when mens property was fmall and almoft 
 upon an equality ; when their manners 
 were fimple , when their paffions difclofed 
 themfelves but flowly, and then under the 
 dominion of reafon ; being moderated by a 
 rigorous climate and their hard way of 
 living ; and laftly, when the fole aim of 
 government was to preferve and extend li- 
 berty. But the Scandinavians went frill 
 farther, and thefe fame men, who on other 
 occafions were too high-fpirited to yield to 
 any earthly power; yet in whatever re- 
 lated to the fair fex feem to have been 
 no longer tenacious of their rights or 
 independance. The principles of the an- 
 cient or Celtic religion will afford us proofs 
 of this refpeft paid to the ladies, and 
 at the fame time may poflibly help us to 
 account for it. I have often alTerted that 
 
 Chap. XII. the
 
 the immediate intervention of the Deity, 
 even in the flighteft things, was one of 
 their moft eftablimed doctrines, and that 
 every, even the moft minute appearance of 
 nature, was a manifeftation of the will of 
 heaven to thofe who understood its lan- 
 guage. Thus mens involuntary motions, 
 their dreams, their fudden and unfore- 
 feen inclinations being confidered as the 
 falutary admonitions of heaven, became 
 the objects of ferious attention. And a 
 univerfal refpect could not but be paid to 
 thofe who were confidered as the organs 
 or inflruments of a beneficent Deity. Now 
 women muft appear much more proper 
 than men for fo noble a purpofe, who be- 
 ing commonly more fubject than we to the 
 unknown laws of temperament and confti- 
 tution, feem lefs to be governed by reflec- 
 tion, than by fenfation and natural inftinct. 
 Hence it was that the Germans admitted 
 them into their councils, and confulted 
 with them on the bufinefs of the ftate. 
 Hence it was that among them, as alfo 
 among the Gauls, there were ten pro- 
 phetefles for one prophet; whereas in the 
 Baft we find the contrary proportion, if 
 indeed there was ever known an inftance 
 in thofe countries of a female worker of 
 miracles. Hence alfo it was, that nothing 
 was formerly more common in the North, 
 
 than
 
 than to meet with women who delivered 
 oracular informations, .cured the moft in- 
 veterate maladies, aflumed whatever fhape 
 they pleafed, raifed ftorms, chained up the 
 winds, travelled through the air, and in 
 one word, performed every fundtion of the 
 Fairy-art. Thus endowed with fuperna- 
 tural powers, thefe prophetefles being 
 converted as it were into fairies or demons, 
 influenced the events they had predicted, 
 and all nature became fubject to their com- 
 mand. Tacitus puts this beyond a difpute 
 when he fays, " The Germans fuppofe 
 " fome divine and prophetic quality refi- 
 " dent in their women, and are care- 
 " ful neither to difregard their admoni- 
 " tions, nor to negleS: their anfwers*." 
 Nor can it be doubted but that the fame 
 notions prevailed among the Scandinavians. 
 Strabo relates that the Cimbri were accom- 
 panied by venerable and hoary-headed pro- 
 phetefles, apparrelled in long linen robes 
 moft fplendidly white. We alfo find this 
 
 * Tacit, de Mor. Ger. " mutieribtts fatidicis vc- 
 
 c. 8. There is a re- *' terum Ceharttm gcnti- 
 
 markable paffage on the " umque Septentrional:- 
 
 fame fubjecl in Polycn. " ?/;," in his learned 
 
 Stratagem, lib. i. and in treatife, " dntlquitates 
 
 Plutarch * c De virtutibus " Selefltt SrptentrionalesJ' 
 
 " mitlierum" SeeKEYS- &c. 1720. I2rno. p. 371. 
 
 LER'S " DiJJ'ertatio de T. 
 
 Chap. XII. people
 
 people always attended by their wives even 
 in their moll diftant expeditions, hearing 
 them with refpecl:, and after a defeat, more 
 afraid of their reproaches than of the 
 blows of the enemy. To this we may add; 
 that the men being conflantly employed 
 either in war or hunting, left to the wo- 
 men the care of acquiring thofe ufeful 
 branches of knowledge which made them 
 regarded by their huibands as prophetefTes 
 and oracles. Thus to them belonged the 
 fludy of fimples and the art of healing 
 wounds, an art as myflerious in thofe times, 
 as the occafions of it were frequent. In 
 the ancient chronicles of the North, we 
 find the matrons and the young women al- 
 ways employed in drefling the wounds of 
 their hufbands or lovers. It was the fame 
 with dreams ; which the women alone 
 were verfed in the art of interpreting *. 
 
 But this is not all. At a time when pi- 
 racy and a fondnefs for feeking adventures 
 expofed weaknefs to continual and unex- 
 pected attacks, the women, efpecially 
 thofe of celebrated beauty, flood in want 
 fometimes of deliverers, and almoft always 
 of defenders. Every young warrior, eager 
 
 * Probably becaufe the men, and gave more cre- 
 women paid more atten- dit to them, 
 tion to them than the Flrjl Edit. 
 
 after
 
 after glory, (and this was often the cha- 
 racter of whole nations) muft have been 
 glad then to take upon him an office, which 
 promifed fuch juft returns of fame, which 
 flattered the moft agreeable of all paflions, 
 and at the fame time gratified another al- 
 moft as ftrong, that for a wandering and 
 rambling life. We are apt to value what 
 we acquire, in proportion to the labour 
 and trouble it cofts us. Accordingly the 
 hero looked upon himfelf as fufficiently re- 
 warded for all his pains, if he could at 
 length obtain the fair hand of her he had 
 delivered ; and it is obvious how honour- 
 able fuch marriages muft have been among 
 the people who thought in this manner. 
 This emulation would quickly encreafe the 
 number of thofe gallant knights : And the 
 women, on their parts, would not fail to 
 acquire a kind of ftatelinefs, confidering 
 themfelves as no lefs neceffary to the glory 
 of their lovers, than to their happine/s and 
 pleafure. That fair one who had flood in 
 need of feveral champions, yielded only to 
 the moft courageous ; and fhe who had 
 never been in a fituation that required pro- 
 teftors, was ft ill defironsof the lover who 
 had proved himfelf capable of encounter- 
 ing all kind of dangers for her fake. This 
 was more than enough to inflame fuch 
 fpirits as thefe with an emulation of fur- 
 Chap. XII. palling
 
 paffing each other, and of difplaying their 
 courage and intrepidity. Belides the cha- 
 racter of the northern women themfelves 
 left the men no other lefs glorious means of 
 gaining their hearts. Naturally chafte and 
 proud, there was no other way but this to 
 come at them. Educated under the in- 
 fluence of the fame prejudices concerning 
 honor as the men, they were early taught 
 to defpife thofe who fpent their youth in a 
 peaceful obfcurity. All the hiftorical re- 
 cords of ancient Scandinavia prove what I 
 advance. We fee there the turn for 
 chivalry as it were in the bud. The hiftory 
 of other nations mews it afterwards as it 
 were opening and expanding in Spain, 
 France, Italy and England, being carried 
 there by the fwarms that ifTued from the 
 North. It is in reality this fame fpirit, 
 reduced afterwards within jufter bounds, 
 that has been productive of that polite 
 gallantry fo peculiarly obfervable in our 
 manners, which adds a double relifh to the 
 moft pleafing of all focial bands, which 
 unites the lafting charms of fentiment re- 
 gard and friendlhip with the fleeting fire 
 of love, which tempers and animates one 
 by the other, adds to their number, power, 
 and duration, and which cherimes and 
 unfolds fenfibility, that moft choice gift 
 of nature, without which neither decorum, 
 
 propriety,
 
 ( 3" ) 
 
 propriety, chafte friendfhip nor true gene- 
 rofity can exift among men. It would be 
 needlefs to prove, that we are not indebted 
 for this manner of thinking to the ancient 
 Romans. We may appeal for this to all 
 who know any thing of their character. 
 But though I afTert that the refpect we 
 fhew to the fair fex is probably derived 
 from that fuperftitious reverence which our 
 anceftors had for them, and is only a re- 
 lique of that ancient authority, which the; 
 women enjoyed among the northern na- 
 tions ; I ought alfo to prove by facts art 
 opinion fo contrary to eftablimed preju- 
 dices, and at firft fight fo unlikely to be 
 true. To do this will be eafy. 
 
 Every page of northern hiflory prefents 
 us with warriors as gallant as intrepid. In- 
 fpired by that paffion which Montagne 
 calls " the fpring of great actions," king 
 REGNER LODBROG, whom I have fo of- 
 ten mentioned, and who was one of the 
 moft celebrated heroes of his time, figna- 
 lized his youth by a gallant exploit. A 
 Swedifli prince had a daughter named 
 THORA, whofe beauty was celebrated 
 throughout the North. Fearing left me 
 might fall into the hands of a ravifher, he 
 fecured her, probably during his abfence, 
 in a caftle of his, under the guardianmip 
 of one of his officers. This man falling 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. XII. Y violently
 
 violently in love with his ward, abfolutety 
 refufed to reiign his charge, and had taker* 
 iuch precautions to keep her in his hands, 
 that the Swediih prince in vain endeavoured 
 to fet her at liberty. Defpairing at laft to- 
 jfucceed in the attempt himielf, he pub- 
 limed through all the neighbouring coun- 
 tries, that he woald beftow his daughter* 
 in marriage on any perfon, of whatever 
 condition, who mould conquer her ra- 
 vifher *. Of all thole who afpired to fo 
 noble a prize, young Regner was the 
 happy man who delivered and married the 
 fair captive. This exploit, as he tells us in. 
 an ode which he wrote a very little time 
 before hi* death, placed him in the rank 
 of heroes. After Thora's deceafe, Regner 
 efpoufed a young (hepherdefs whom he had 
 fcen by accident on- the coaft of Norway, 
 As the particular circumftances of this 
 event are to my prefent purpofe, I will' 
 briefly relate them from a very ancient 
 Icelandic hiftory of the life of Regner -f-. 
 
 * Vich Torf. Bift. Dragon. Allegories of 
 
 Norvcg. torn. i. lib. 10. this fort are quite in the 
 
 This officer being proba- tafte and manner of that 
 
 Ely called ORM, i. e. Ser- age. Firjl Edit.- 
 
 pent, which was a name f Vid. Regnara Lod- 
 
 very common in thole brogs Sa^a. c. 5. ap. Bi- 
 
 tlme% the poets took oc- oneri Hiftor. Reg. Her. &- 
 
 cafion to fay that TnoXA Pugil. Res pr.-rciar. geft. 
 
 v_i g.arded bv a furious Stocidiolm. 1737. 
 
 Ths
 
 
 The name of this moft beautiful nymph 
 was ASLAUGA, who no fooner faw a fleet 
 draw near the more where {he fed her 
 flock, but yielding to the natural paffion 
 of her fex, repaired to a neighbouring 
 fountain where (he carefully waflied her 
 face and hands and combed her long golden 
 hair which hung down to her feet. The 
 people whom Regner had ordered on fhore 
 to feek for provisions, were fo amazed at" 
 her beauty, that they returned to their 
 commander, bringing nothing back with 
 them but aftonifhment and admiration. 
 The king furprized at their account, was 
 defirous to judge himielf whether the 
 young maid was really fo handfome as to 
 make his men forget the orders he had 
 iven them. With this defign he fent one 
 of his chief attendants to invite Aflauga on 
 board ; but fhe was prudent enough to re- 
 fufe him, till Regner had given his ho- 
 nour, that no attempts mould be made 
 on her virtue. Then fuffering herfelf to 
 be conducted to the king, he no fooner 
 faw her than ftruck with admiration, he 
 fung extemporary verfes to this effect ; 
 " O moft mighty Odin ! what a fweet 
 '* and unexpected confolation would it 
 <c be, if this young and lovely mepherdds 
 '* would permit me to join my hands to 
 " hers as a pledge of eternal alliance!" 
 
 Chap. XII. Y 2 Aflauga
 
 Aflauga perceiving that the king's paf- 
 lion every moment increafed, was ap- 1 
 prehenfive he would not keep his word, 
 and in anfwer to fuch a flattering com- 
 pliment, only returned thefe verfes, (for 
 fuch language was at that time much 
 more polite than profe, and argued, as 
 we fhall fee prefently, good breeding and 
 wit) " O prince, "you will deferve to un- 
 " dergo fome misfortune, if you fail in 
 " your word to me. I have paid my re- 
 " fpe&s to the king, and he ought now to 
 " fend me back to my parents." This 
 anfwer only inflamed the Danifh monarch's 
 love, and he propofed to carry her to his 
 court, where her happy lot mould be the 
 envy of all her companions. To add 
 weight to his intreaties, he offered her a 
 rich veftment ornamented with filver, 
 which had belonged to his former queen 
 Thora, and flill addreffing her in verfe, 
 " Take," fays he, " if you are wife, this 
 " robe embroidered with filver, which be- 
 " longed to Thora. Rich garments are 
 " made for you. The lovely hands of 
 " Thora have often run over this piece 
 t of work, and it will be dear to the laft 
 " moment of life, to him whom the North 
 " hath called the prince of heroes." 
 
 Aflauga was fr.il! proof againft this flat- 
 tering attack : " No !" replied fhe linging, 
 
 " I
 
 ( 325 ) 
 
 " I muft not accept of fo fine a robe, the 
 " ornament of queen Thora. I am un- 
 " worthy to bear fuch magnificent gar- 
 " ments ; a fluff, dark and coarfe, is all 
 " that is befitting a fhepherdefs whofe reft- 
 " ing-place is a cottage, and who wanders 
 " along the fandy mores after her flock." 
 Recurring at length to a more natural lan- 
 guage, me afTured the king, that notwith- 
 ftanding the warmth of his paffion, me was 
 determined not to yield to it, till me had 
 feen proofs of his conftancy -, that he muft 
 therefore finifh the expedition which called 
 him out of his kingdom, and then at his 
 return, if he flill perfevered in the fame fen- 
 timents, me was ready to attend into Den- 
 mark thofe whom he mould fend to con- 
 duel: her thither. The amorous Regner 
 was forced to fubfcribe to thefe conditions, 
 and immediately departed, protefting that 
 fhe mould very foon fee him return vic- 
 torious and more captivated with her 
 than ever. In a few months the king 
 repaired with his fleet to the coaft where 
 the fair one dwelt, who was foon con- 
 duded to him. She had however fuf- 
 ficient addrefs and afcendant over him to 
 obtain that their marriage mould not be 
 folemnized till they returned to Denmark, 
 and could celebrate it in prefence of the 
 whole court. 
 
 Chap. XII. Y 3 This
 
 ( 3*6 ) 
 
 This relation, which is literally copied 
 from the original, {hews that decency and 
 decorum were not unknown to the Scan- 
 dinavians of thofe days : for to fee thefe 
 obferved in a cafe where even among the 
 inoft polifhed people they are too often, 
 neglected, and where the moft bewitching 
 of all paffions, when aided by power, unites 
 to caft a veil over them, is the flrongeft 
 evidence that can poffibly be required. 
 For the reft, I will not promife that the 
 ancient writer, who has given us this ftory, 
 may not have added fome circumftances of 
 his own ; though the traditionary records 
 of the country confirm his narrative, and 
 Torfasus places it among the beft-authen- 
 ticated hiftories : but even fuppofmg the 
 greateft part of it fictitious, it is enough 
 that it be ancient, and written by one well 
 verfed in the hiflory and manners of his 
 country. It is really of little confequencc 
 whether Regner actually performed, or not, 
 every action the chronicles relate, provided 
 they attribute nothing to him but what cor- 
 refponds with the genius and character of 
 his contemporaries. 
 
 It were eafy to produce other inftances 
 to juflify the defcription I have drawn 
 above, but it is enough to relate only one 
 more, which we meet with in the life of 
 
 1 1 A R A I. D 1 1 A R F A C, R E , of wliom \VC have 
 
 fo
 
 & often fpoken. His birth and merits 
 were equally illuftrious ; his courage, his 
 line figure, and his long golden iilky locks, 
 confpired to render him, according to our 
 chronicles, the fee-ret paffion of the inoft 
 lovely priacefTes of his time. 
 
 Notwithstanding thefe accompli foments, 
 a young beauty named GIDA, the daugh- 
 ter of a rich Norwegian lord, made him 
 experience a refiftance to which he had no$ 
 been accuftomed. Harald, in love with 
 her from hearfay, commiffioned fome lords 
 of his court to make her an offer -of his 
 hand : but far from readily accepting a 
 propofal which would have rendered her 
 the envy of all the young ladies of the 
 North, fhe haughtily anfwered, That to 
 merit her love Harald fiiotild fignalize 
 himfelf by more noble exploits than he 
 had hitherto performed ; that (liedifdained. 
 to mare the fortune of a prince whole ter- 
 ritories were fo fmall, and that llie could 
 never efteem him worthy of her, till like 
 the other fovereigns of the North, he had 
 reduced all Norway under his power. In- 
 ftead of being piqued at this retufil, Ha- 
 rald's admiration for the ambitious Gida 
 was redoubled, and he made a vow to 
 negledl his fine hair, till he had coin- 
 pleated the conqudr. of Norway : nor did 
 
 Chip. XIL V 4 be
 
 ( 
 
 he marry her, till all that kingdom fub* 
 mitted to him *. 
 
 Now it is not to be fuppofed that fenti- 
 ments of this fort were peculiar only to 
 Harald, Regner, or fome one fingle hero. 
 The northern chronicles prefent us every 
 where with inftances of this female fove- 
 reignty : and we always find none more 
 fubjec~i to it than thofe who were moft 
 diftinguimed for tlieir noble birth and gal- 
 lant adions. 
 
 As few young men of any rank were 
 able to obtain an advantageous or honour- 
 able alliance, until they had diftinguimed 
 themfelves in war, we may naturally con- 
 clude they could not marry till late in life. 
 This is alfo confirmed by other proofs. 
 Casfar fays, that " among the Germans, 
 " the greateft praife is allowed to thofe 
 " who remain the longeft unmarried ; and 
 " that it is reckoned very fhamcful for 
 *' young men to be acquainted with women 
 <f before they are TWENTY YEARS of 
 " age -f." Tacitus adds, that the Ger- 
 *' mans retain the vigour of youth the 
 ? c longer, by deferring their union with the 
 
 * Vid. Torf. H. N. lib. vi. 19. Hocalijla- 
 
 tpm. ii, lib. i. turam^ ali vires, ncrvof- 
 
 f Caef- cle Bell. Gall. que confirmari putant. T. 
 
 <c other
 
 ( < other fex ; nor are they in hade to marry 
 " their daughters *." That age once paft, 
 it was common for the people of the North 
 to marry two wives or more, and this was 
 a very ancient cuftom. Men of wealth 
 and power confidered a number of wives 
 as a mark of grandeur. And according to 
 Tacitus -f-, political reafons alfo fome- 
 times brought about thefe matches, fince 
 the great were often obliged to yield to the 
 importunity of families which fought their 
 alliance. The Chriftian religion, not with- 
 out great difficulty, got the better of this 
 cuftom ; which ftill prevailed in the North 
 fo late as the tenth century. All the 
 children claimed equally from their father, 
 nor was the title of baftard given to any, 
 unlefs to fuch as were born without any 
 kind of matrimonial rite. Neverthelefs, 
 one of the wives feems to have poflefled a 
 fuperior rank, and to have been con- 
 fidered as the chief and moft legitimate. 
 But as it was her diftinguifhed prero- 
 gative to accompany her lord to the 
 grave or funeral pile, me \vould hardly be 
 
 * "Tacit. Germ. c. 20. admodwn panels ^ adds he, 
 
 f He fays, the Ger- qui non tikutine, fed ob no- 
 
 mans in his time were for bilitatem plurimis nuptiis 
 
 the moft part content ambiuntur. De mor. Ger. 
 
 with one wife, Exceptis p, 18. T. 
 
 Chap. XII, an
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 an object of envy or jealoufy amoqg the 
 ladies of the prefent age. 
 
 The matrimonial ceremonies were very 
 Jimple, and chiefly confifted in feafting *. 
 The bridegroom having obtained the 
 maiden's confent, together with that of her 
 parents and guardians, appointed the day j 
 and having alfembled his own relations and 
 friends, fent fome of them to receive in 
 his name the bride and her portion from 
 her father. The friends were anfwerable 
 for the charge that was committed to them, 
 and if they abufed their truft, the law 
 amerced them in a fum treble to what was 
 paid for murder. The father or guardian 
 of the young woman attended her alfo to 
 the hufband's houfe, and there gave her 
 into his hands -J-. After this the new- 
 married pair fat down to table with their 
 guefts, who drank to their healths along 
 with thofe of the gods and heroes. The 
 bride's friends then took her up and bors 
 
 * Vid. Dalin. Suea- 
 Rikes Hift. torn. i. c. 9. 
 
 f At the fame time he 
 commonly made fome 
 ipeech to this effed : " I 
 * 4 give thee my daughter 
 ** in honourable wed- 
 " lock j to have the half 
 " ufrhy bed, the keeping 
 
 of the keys of thy 
 houfe, one THIRD of 
 the money thou art at 
 prefent poflefTed of, or 
 fhalt polFefs hereafter, 
 and to enjoy the other 
 rights appointed by- 
 law." Fir/I Edit. 
 
 her
 
 ( 33' ) 
 
 her on their moulders, which was a mark, 
 ofefteem among the Goths ; her father af- 
 terwards led her to the nuptial bed, a great 
 number of lights being carried before 
 her ; a cuftom known to the Greeks and 
 Romans, and frill in ufe in fome parts of 
 the North. The marriage being confuxn- 
 mated, the hufband made his wife feveral 
 prefents, fuch as a pair of oxen for the 
 plough, an harneffed horfe, a buckler, to- 
 gether with a lance and a fword. " This 
 " was to fignify," fays Tacitus*, " that 
 " {he ought not to lead an idle and lux- 
 " urious life, but that fhe was to be a 
 " partaker with him in his labours, and a 
 ? c companion in dangers, which they were 
 <c to mare together in peace and war." 
 He adds that " the women on their parts 
 " gave fome arms ; this was the facred 
 * f band of their 'union, thefe their myftic 
 ' rites, and thefe the deities who prefided 
 *' over their marriage." The yoked oxen, 
 the caparifoned horfe, and the arms, all 
 ferved to inftruct the women how they 
 were to lead their life, and how per- 
 haps it might be terminated. The arms 
 were to be carefully preferved, and being 
 enobled by the ufe the hufband made of 
 them, were to be configned as portions 
 
 * Tac. de mor. Germ. c. 18. 
 
 Chap. XII. for 
 
 g
 
 ( 33* ) 
 
 for their daughters, and to be handed down 
 to pofterity. 
 
 The German women have been juftly 
 noted for fidelity to the marriage- bed ; and 
 indeed chaftity feems to have been the ge- 
 neral chara&er of this nation. Let us fee 
 what that moft excellent writer Tacitus 
 fays on this fubject : " A ftrict regard for 
 " the fanctity of the matrimonial ftate 
 " characterizes the Germans, and deferves 
 
 " our higheft applaufe Among 
 
 " them female virtue runs no hazard of 
 " being debauched by the outward objects 
 " which are prefented to the fenfes, or of 
 " being corrupted by fuch focial gaieties 
 < as inflame the paffions. The art of 
 " correfpending by letters is equally un- 
 " known to both fexes. Very few adul- 
 " teries happen in that populous nation : 
 " where the power of inftantly inflicting 
 " punimment is granted to the injured 
 " hufband 5 who after having cut off her 
 " hair in the prefence of her relations, 
 " drives her naked out of his houfe, and 
 " whips her through the village. Chaftity 
 ct once proftituted is never forgiven ; nor 
 " to fuch an one can the attractions of 
 " beauty, youth or riches procure an huf- 
 " band. Vice is not there made the ob- 
 " je6t of wit and mirth ; nor can the 
 " fafliion of the age be pleaded in excufe 
 
 ' either
 
 ( 333) 
 " either for being corrupt, or for endea- 
 
 " -vouring to corrupt others Good 
 
 " cuftoms and manners avail more among 
 " thefe barbarians, than good laws among 
 " a more refined people *." 
 
 Our own hiftorical monuments confirm 
 thefe teftimonies. I have before obferved, that 
 their religion threatened the feducers of wo- 
 men with the fevered torments of the next 
 world. Adam of Bremen in his voyage to 
 Denmark obferves, that adultery was there 
 mod ftrictly punimed ; and that the wo- 
 man who was detected in it, was fold on 
 the fpot. The law in Iceland was equally 
 remarkable -, for it not only denounced 
 very fevere punimments againft rapes and 
 adulteries, but proceeded farther ; exprefsly 
 prohibiting even kiffing or fecret embraces. 
 Whoever kifled a woman againft her 
 own confent was condemned to exile ; and 
 even with her confent, he was fined 
 three marks of filver. Every degree of 
 this crime was rated in the fame propor- 
 tion. If a man abufed a free woman he was 
 punifhed with death ; and if one that had 
 been freed, with banishment; if a flave, 
 he was amerced three marks {. Among 
 the Swedes and Danes, the hufband who 
 
 * Tacit. Germ. c. 18, 19. 
 
 f Arngrim. Jon. Crymog. p. 89. 
 
 Chap. XII. caught
 
 ( 334 ) 
 
 caught his wife in the aft of adultery, 
 might immediately kill her, and caftrate 
 the gallant. Saxo takes notice of the 
 fame law, which he attributes to king 
 Frotho*. 
 
 When the people of the North migrated 
 into the fouthern parts of Europe, they car- 
 ried along with their laws, a chaftity and 
 referve, which excited univerfal furprize. 
 Salvian, a prieft of Marfeilles in the 1 5th 
 century, exclaims, " Let us blum," fays 
 he, " and be covered with a confulion 
 " which ought to produce falutary effects. 
 " Wherever the Goths become mafters, 
 " we fee no longer any diforders, except 
 " among the old inhabitants. Our man- 
 *' ners are reformed under the dominion 
 ** of Vandals. Behold an incredible event! 
 " an unheard-of prodigy ! Barbarians have 
 " by the feverity of their difcipline ren- 
 " dered chafte the Romans themfelves : 
 " and the Goths have purified thofe places 
 *' which the others had defiled by their 
 *' debaucheries. A cruel nation," adds he, 
 " but worthy to be admired for their con- 
 " tinence -f-." Thefe virtues were not there 
 of long continuance j the climate foon 
 warmed their frozen imaginations; their 
 
 * Sax. Gram. lib. v. 
 
 f Salvian. lib. vii. ds Gubern. Dei. 
 
 laws
 
 (335) 
 
 lavtfs by degrees relaxed, and their manners 
 ftill more than their laws. 
 
 A numerous offspring was commonly 
 produced from thefe marriages -, but nei- 
 ther the rich, nor the poor fcrupled 
 to expofe fuch of their children as they 
 did not chufe to bring up*. Both the 
 Greeks and Romans were guilty of this 
 barbarous practice, lon-g before they can 
 be faid to have been corrupted by pro- 
 fperity, luxury and the arts : So true is 
 it that ignorance is no fecurity from vice* 
 and that men always know enough to in- 
 vent crimes. It is no lefs remarkable, that 
 a kind of infant baptifm was practiced in 
 the North, long before the firft dawning 
 of Chriftiarvity had reached thofe parts. 
 Snorro Sturlefon, in his Chronicle, fpeak- 
 ing of a Norwegian nobleman, who lived 
 in the reign of Harald Harfagre, re-* 
 lates, that he poured water on the head 
 of a new-born child, and called him HA- 
 CON, from the name of his father -f-. Ha- 
 rald hrmfelf had been baptized in the fame 
 manner, and it is noted of king OLAVE 
 TRYGGUESON, that his mother Aftride 
 had him thus baptized and named as foon 
 as he was born. The Livonians obferved 
 
 * Vid. Verel.Not. ad Hervor. cap.vi. p. 87. 
 t Vid. Snor. Sturlef. c. Ixx. 
 
 Chap. XII. the
 
 the fame ceremony ; which alfo prevailed 
 among the Germans, as appears from a 
 letter which the famous pope Gregory the 
 Third fent to their apoftle Boniface, di- 
 "reding him exprefsly how to act in this 
 refpedt*. It is probable that all thefe 
 people might intend by fuch a rite to pre- 
 ferve their children from the forceries and 
 evil charms which wicked fpirits might 
 employ againft them at the inftant of their 
 birth. Several nations of Alia and Ame- 
 rica have attributed fuch a power to ablu- 
 tions of this kind j nor were the Romans 
 without fuch a cuftom, though they did 
 not wholly confine it to new-born in- 
 fants }-. 
 
 I fhall not here repeat what I have faid 
 above concerning the hardy way of bring- 
 ing up children in the North. But I can- 
 not omit mentioning the great advan- 
 tages gained from it in refpect to their 
 health and bodily force. The Greek and 
 Latin authors fpeak with furprize of the 
 fize and ftrength of the northern men. 
 
 * Vid. Epift. 122. a- collected together a num- 
 
 pud Nic. Serar. in Epift. ber of curious paflages 
 
 Sti Bonifacii martyris. fiom authors ancient and 
 
 t Vid. Keyfler. Antiq. modern, Claflic and Bar-* 
 
 SeledT:. p. 313. who has a barous writers, relating 
 
 very learned NOTE on to this praflice. 
 
 this fubject, where he has T. 
 
 i Cxfar
 
 ( 337) 
 
 Caefar obferves of the Suevi, that they 
 feed chiefly on milk, and exercife them- 
 felves much in hunting, which together 
 with the free unreftrained life they lead, 
 never being from their childhood impelled 
 againft their inclinations to any difcipline 
 or duty, he affigns as effective caufes of 
 their very large and robuft make *. Vege- 
 tius exprefsly affirms, that the tallnefs of 
 the Germans gave them great advantage in 
 combat over the lefTer Romans. The 
 lances, fvvords and other arms which have 
 been preferved to this time, and may yet 
 continue to more remote ages, are objects 
 of curiolity and aftonifhment to thofe 
 whofe anceftors were able to wield them. 
 But the greateft proof of their prodigi- 
 ous flrength arife's from the rude enor- 
 mous monuments of architecture which 
 were raifed by thefe northern people. We 
 have all heard of that monument on Sa- 
 lifbury plain in England, where we fee a 
 multitude of vaft flones of monftrous 
 weight fet up end-wife, and ferving as bafes 
 to other ftones, many of which are in 
 length fixteen feet. Nor are the monu- 
 ments of this kind lefs aflonidiing, which 
 we meet with in Iceland, in Weftphalia, 
 and particularly in Eaft-Friezeland, Brunf- 
 
 * Bell. Gall. lib. iv. c.i. 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. XII. Z wick, 

 
 ( 338 ) 
 
 wick, Mecklenburg, and many parts of 
 the North *. The dark ignorance of fuc- 
 ceeding ages not being able to compre- 
 hend how fuch flupendous edifices could 
 be conftruded by mortals, have attributed 
 them to demons and giants. But although 
 the founders of thefe had not probably all 
 the affiftance we derive from the mecha- 
 nic powers, yet great things might be ac- 
 complifhed by men of fuch mighty force co- 
 operating together -f. The Americans, un- 
 aided by the engines we apply to thefe pur- 
 
 * A defcription of moft 
 of the monuments above- 
 mentioned, with their fi- 
 gures engraven on cop- 
 per-plates, may be feen in 
 KEYSLER. Antiq. Select. 
 Septen. Sett. i. cap. i. 
 (cui titulus Defcriptio mo- 
 nument i Salijburienjisy Jimi- 
 iiumqne qute in Ger mania 
 terrtfque Arfiois cernunlur.) 
 T. 
 
 f In an ancient Ice- 
 landic chronicle mention 
 is made of a Norwegian 
 named FINBOG, celebrat- 
 ed for his Itrength. One 
 day, fays the Author, he 
 pulled up an enormous 
 Itone, that xvas deep fixed 
 in the earth, he took t\vo 
 
 other great (tones and 
 placed them upon it, he 
 carried them all three up- 
 on his belly for fome mi- 
 nutes, and at length threw 
 them from him with fuch 
 violence that the greateft 
 of them remained buried a 
 great way in the earth. 
 (Vid.Chrift.Worm.Difl". 
 de Arse Multifc. vit. & 
 fcript. p. 172.) 
 
 A multitude of fuch 
 men uniting together 
 might be able to difplace 
 large and heavy fragments 
 of rocks, and by means of 
 the fcaffolding they ufed, 
 viz. artificial banks, &c. 
 n^ight be able to fet them 
 upright. Flrjl Edit. 
 
 pofes,
 
 (339 ) 
 
 pofes, have raifed up fuch vaft ftones ia 
 building their temples, as we dare not un- 
 dertake to remove *. One may however 
 conceive that patience united with ftrength, 
 might by taking time, be able to move 
 fuch vaft bodies from one place to another, 
 and afterwards to fet them up an end, by 
 means of artificial banks, down the Hopes 
 of which they made them Hide. It is with- 
 out difpute from fuch proofs of the great 
 fize and ftrength of the firft inhabitants of 
 the earth, that ancient hiftory has generally 
 painted them as giants. The atmofphere, 
 which was formerly more cold and bracing 
 in Europe than it is now -f-, the continual 
 exercifes which men then perfifted in, to- 
 gether with their continence, their avoid- 
 ing an early commerce with the other fex, 
 
 * See ACOSTA'S Hift. " wrought that in many 
 
 of the Indies, lib. vi. cap. " places the joints are 
 
 14. This author fpeak- " hardly feen,:" and as 
 
 ing of the huildings and for their fize, he afiures 
 
 fortrefles which the Incas us he meafured one of the 
 
 had creeled in Cufco, and ftones himfelf, which was 
 
 other places of Peru, fays " 38 feet long, 18 feet 
 
 " they ufed no mortar " broad, and fix thick. 
 
 " nor cement, neither *' And in the wall of the 
 
 had iron nor fteel to " fortrefs of Cufco there 
 
 cut the ftones with ; " are ftones of a ftill 
 
 no engines or other " greater bignefs." T. 
 inftruments to carry f See on this fubjedl 
 
 them ; and yet they the conclufiori of the next 
 
 were fo artificially chapter. 
 
 Chap. XII. Z 2 their
 
 (34) 
 
 their fimple diet and favage life, in the fa- 
 tigues of which the mind bore no part, 
 were without doubt the caufes which pro- 
 duced fuch enormous vegetables ; and will 
 convince us, whenever the like circum- 
 ftances again occur, that Nature, ever 
 young and inexhauftible, will always pro- 
 duce the like effects. 
 
 To that wonderful constitutional vigor 
 the Scandinavians were indebted for fuch a 
 long and healthy old age as many of them 
 enjoyed : an advantage which they for the 
 moft part only regarded with indifference, 
 and even with difdain, though fo highly 
 valued by mankind fince the acquifition 
 of arts, and the refinements of pleafure 
 have Shortened the date, but rendered the 
 journey of life more agreeable. In truth, 
 few of them awaited the diftant period al- 
 lotted by nature ; fingle combats or gene- 
 ral engagements, the dangers and fatigues 
 of the fea, together with the frequent 
 practice of filicide, were fo many paffages 
 ever open to conduct them to that glorious 
 path which they thought led to a happy 
 futurity. The influence which this doctrine 
 had upon their minds, cannot be more 
 particularly feen, than in the cuftoms 
 obferved in their lafl fcene of life and 
 funeral ceremonies. In the moft early- 
 ages thefe were very firnple. Before the 
 
 arrival
 
 ( 34?} 
 
 arrival of Odin the Scandinavians did no- 
 thing more than lay the dead body, toge- 
 ther with his arms, under a little heap of 
 earth and Hones ; but He introduced into 
 the North new cuftoms attended with 
 more magnificence. In the fucceeding ages 
 the Danes were wont to raife funeral piles, 
 and reduce the bodies to ames; which were 
 collected together into an urn, and de- 
 pofited under a little mount of earth. But 
 this foreign cuftom was never quite univer- 
 fal, and the old rite took place again, ac- 
 cording to conjecture, within five or fix 
 hundred years. Thefe two funeral cere- 
 monies have diflinguifhed two diftind: asras 
 in the ancient northern hiftory. The firft 
 was called the AGE OF FIRE*, and the 
 fecond the AGE OF HILLS -f; which 1 aft 
 prevailed 'till Chriftianity triumphed in the 
 North. 
 
 When an hero or chief fell glorioufly in 
 battle, his funeral obiequies were honoured 
 with all poffible magnificence. His arms, his 
 gold and filver, his war-horfe, his domeftic 
 attendants, and whatever elfe he held moft 
 dear, were placed with him on the pile. His 
 dependants and friends frequently made it a 
 
 * Brenne- Alder en. or BARROWS, as they are 
 
 J- Hog-Alderen : That called in the fouth-wcit 
 
 is, the Age of Little Hills, parts of this ifland. T. 
 
 Chap. XII. Z 3 point
 
 ( 34* ) 
 
 point of honour to die with their leader, in 
 order to attend on his made in the palace of 
 Odin. And laftly, his wife was generally 
 confumed with him on the fame pile. If 
 the defunct, as was often the cafe, had 
 more wives than one, the privilege of fol- 
 lowing her dead lord to his grave was 
 claimed by her who had been his chief fa- 
 vourite during life. In this manner was 
 Nanna confumed in the fame fire with 
 the body of her hufband Balder, one of 
 Odin's companions *. In the hiftory of 
 Olave Trygguefon, left us by an old Ice- 
 landic writer, we have a memorable pafTage 
 relative to this ftrange cuftom : " ERIC 
 " king of Sweden (fays this author) put 
 <c away his wife Segride on account of her 
 " intolerably infolent and imperious tem- 
 " per. But others aflert that her difmif- 
 " fion was a voluntary act of her own, be- 
 " caufe fhe had learnt that her hufband 
 " had but ten years to live, and that me 
 " fhould be obliged to be buried with him, 
 " according to the ufage of the country. 
 " For Eric had made a vow during the 
 *' heat of an engagement, to put an end to 
 " his own life at the completion of that 
 
 * Vid. Edda Mythol. Oiof. Trygguafons Saga, 
 43. et vid. etiam Hift. c. 2. et Keyfler Antiq, 
 J\ r orveg. Torf. paflim. Sel. p. 147. 
 
 ^ " fpace
 
 ( 343 ) 
 
 " fpace of time." This (hews, that the 
 Scandinavian women were not always 
 willing to make fo cruel and abfurd a fa- 
 crifice to the manes of their hufbandsj ' 
 the idea of which had been picked up by 
 their Scythian anceftors, when they inha- 
 bited the warmer climates of Afra, where 
 they had had their firft abode. In fome 
 parts of the Indies this cuftom is ftill, and 
 ever has been religiouily obferved. " The 
 "' fame lively imaginations and the fame 
 " delicate nerves" (as the fenfible author 
 of the Spirit of Laws well remarks) " which 
 " infpire the people of thefe hot climates 
 < c with the fear of death, make them at 
 " the fame time dread a thoufand things 
 " worfe even than death itfelf." Although 
 it was thus founded on a principle of reli- 
 gion, fuch an abfurd cuftom has long fub- 
 fided in Europe. Caefar obferves, that this 
 ufage had cealed in Gaul long before the 
 Romans were acquainted with them *. 
 The Germans, in the time of Tacitus, 
 were content to give their departed friends 
 their horfes to accompany them ; and in all 
 probability if it had not been for the infti- 
 tutios of Odin, thefe facrifices of the wives 
 
 * Casfar de bell. Gall. lib. vi. c. 19. Pomp. Mela, 
 lib. iii. c. 8. 
 
 Chap. XII. Z 4 to
 
 ( 344 ) 
 
 to the manes of their dead lords had been 
 abolimed much earlier in Scandinavia. 
 
 Be that as it would : Nothing ieemed to 
 them more grand and noble than to enter 
 the hall of Odin with a numerous retinue 
 of flaves, friends and horfes, all in their 
 fineft armour and richefr. apparel. The 
 princes and nobles never failed of fuch 
 attendants. His arms, and the bones of the 
 horfe on which Chilperic I. fuppofed he 
 ihculd be prefented to this warrior God 
 have been found in his tomb. They did in 
 reality firmly believe, and Odin himfelf 
 had a flu red them, that whatever was bu- 
 ried or confumed with the dead, accom- 
 panied them to his palace. The poorer 
 people, from the fame perfuafion, carried at 
 leaf! their mod neceiTary utenfils and a little 
 money, not to be entirely deftitute in the 
 other world. From a like motive, the 
 Greeks and Romans put a piece of filver 
 into the dead man's mouth, to pay his paf- 
 fage over the Styx. The Laplanders to 
 this day provide their dead with a flint and 
 every thing necefiary for lighting them 
 along the dark paflage they have to traverfe 
 after death. In whatever degree civilized 
 nations refemble the favage part of man- 
 kind, their ftrongeil features are thofe 
 which refped: religion, death and a future 
 (late. Men cannot contemplate thefe in- 
 
 terefting
 
 ( 345 ) 
 
 terefting objects coolly, nor uninfluenced 
 by fuch hopes and fears as {hackle and im- 
 pede the proper exertion of their reafoning 
 faculties. Accordingly all that the theology 
 of the Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans, 
 thofe people in other refpects fo wife, 
 taught them on many points was only one 
 great delirium, and was (if we coniider it 
 impartially) in no refpect fuperior to that of 
 the ancient Celts and Scandinavians; if in- 
 deed it was not more indecent and extra- 
 vagant ftill than theirs. 
 
 Odin was fuppofed to guard thefe rich 
 depofits from the facrilegious attempts of 
 rapine by means of Certain facred and wan- 
 dering fires which played round the tombs. 
 And for their better fecurity the law pro- 
 mulged its fevered edicls againft all of- 
 fences of this kind. The nineteenth 
 chapter of the Salic-law is full of the 
 different punimments decreed againft fuch 
 as mall carry off the boards or carpeting 
 with which the fepulchres were covered ; 
 and interdicts them from fire and water. 
 This law appears to have been well ob- 
 ferved in the North during the times of 
 paganifm, fmce in digging into old burial 
 grounds there are now frequently found 
 arms, fpurs, rings, and different kinds of 
 vafes. Such were the contents of the 
 tomb that was opened near Guben in 
 
 Chap. XII. Germany.
 
 _ ( 346 ) 
 
 Germany*. The perfon who had been 
 interred there, feems to have been a lover 
 of good chear ; for he had carried with 
 him feveral utenfils of cookery, together 
 with flagons and drinking veflels of all 
 fizes. In the Britim Ifles, in Germany, 
 in Scandinavia, and in many countries in 
 the northern and eaftern parts of Afia, are 
 found monuments of the ancient inha- 
 bitants, in the form of little round hills 
 and often furrounded with Hones, on open 
 plains or near fome road, It is the re- 
 ceived opinion that thefe are the burying 
 places of giants, and indeed bones larger 
 than the human fize are often found in 
 them j but we mufl remember that as the 
 ancients durft not approach the palace of 
 Odin on foot, and for that reafon had their 
 horfes buried with them, it is very probable 
 that the bones of thefe animals are often 
 miftaken for thofe of men. 
 
 * Nimifeha in pago uno eating phiafo, patirus, ur~ 
 
 milUari a Gubena dijlante ceoli^ lagenults^ &c. Vide 
 
 unmerfus apparatus culina- Keyfler. Antiq. Selcft. 
 
 rius trutusy cacabiy olla, Scpten. p, 173. T, 
 
 CHAP-
 
 (347) 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Sequel of the cuftoms, arts and fciences of 
 the ancient Scandinavians. 
 
 TH E arts which are necefTary to the 
 convenience of life, are but indif- 
 ferently cultivated among a people, who 
 neglect the more pleafing and refined ones. 
 The Scandinavians held them all equally 
 in contempt : What little attention they 
 beftowed on any, was chiefly on fuch as were 
 fubfervient to their darling paffion. This 
 contempt for the arts, which mens' defire of 
 juftifying their own iloth infpires, received 
 additional ftrength from their fanguinary re- 
 ligion, from their extravagant fondnels for 
 liberty, which could not brook a long con- 
 finement in the fame place, and efpecially 
 from their rough, fiery and quarrel fome 
 temper, which taught them to place all the 
 happinefs and glory of man in being able to 
 brave his equals and to repel infults. 
 Chap. XIII. As
 
 (348 ) 
 
 As long as this inclination had its full 
 fway "among a people, who were perpe- 
 tually migrating from one forefl to another, 
 and entirely maintained from the produce 
 of their flocks and herds, they never 
 thought of cultivating the foil. In the 
 time of Tacitus, the Germans were little 
 ufed to agriculture. * { They cultivate," 
 fays that hiflorian, " fometimes one part 
 " of the country, and fometimes another ; 
 " and then make a new divifion of the 
 * e lands. They will much eafier be per- 
 " fuaded to attack and reap wounds from 
 " an enemy, than to till the ground and 
 " wait the produce. They confider it as 
 " an indication of effeminacy and want of 
 " courage to gain by the iweat of their 
 " brow, what they may acquire at the 
 " price of their blood *." This prejudice 
 gradually wore out, and they applied them- 
 lelves more to agriculture. The great con- 
 fumption of grain in a country, where the 
 principal part of their food and their ordi- 
 nary liquor was chiefly made of nothing 
 elfe, could not but produce this effect. In 
 the ninth and tenth centuries we fee the 
 free men, the nobility and the men of great 
 property, directing the operations of huf- 
 bandry themfelvcs -J-. At length Chriftianity 
 
 * Tac. Germ. c. 14, &c. 
 
 f Vid, Arng. Jon. Crymog. lib. i. p. 52. 
 
 having
 
 ( 349 V 
 
 having entirely extinguished the tafte for 
 piracy, and thus reftored to the land one 
 half of its inhabitants, laid them under a 
 neceffity of deriving from thence all their 
 fubfiftence. 
 
 But the other arts were ftill deprefled 
 under the influence of this prejudice, and 
 were for a long time confidered as abjedt 
 occupations befitting none but flaves ; 
 which not only dimonoured the prefent 
 profeflbrs, but even fixed a ftaia on all their 
 pofterity *. The Gauls, the Germans, and 
 die Scandinavians never employed in any 
 of their domeftic and handicraft trades 
 other than ilaves, freed- men, women or 
 fuch miferable old men as preferred a dif- 
 honourable life to death. They were of 
 courfe ignorant of all the plealmg conve- 
 niences and ornaments of life, excepting 
 fuch as they either acquired by violence in 
 their piratical excurfions, or gained to them- 
 felves by foreign fervice. Their wives 
 fpun themfelves the wool which made one 
 part of their cloathing, and ikins fupplied 
 
 * The Greeks and Ro- thcr Common Senfe, to 
 
 mans did not think more eltimate things in pro- 
 
 philofophically on this portion to their utility, 
 
 luhject than thefc rude and to be ienfibie that we 
 
 uncivilized nations : if owe to the Arts moft of 
 
 indeed it can be called the comforts we enjoy. 
 Philofophy, and not ra- Flrji Edit.. 
 
 Chap. XIII. the
 
 ( 350 ) 
 
 the reft. Their habits fat clofe to their 
 bodies, and were fhort and neat like thofe 
 of all the ' Gothic*' nations : not wide, 
 long and flowing like thofe of the Sarma- 
 tians and eaftern people. They were per- 
 haps ftill lefs luxurious in their manner of 
 lodging. 
 
 In the time of Tacitus, the Germans 
 had not yet built themfelves cities, or even 
 towns : " Every one/' fays that author, 
 " places his houfe on whatever fpot he 
 " chufes, near a fpring, a wood or open 
 <c field, at a diftance from any neighbour, 
 " either from ignorance in the art of 
 " building, or for fear of fire (-." When 
 religion permitted temples to be eredted to 
 the Gods, the concourfe of thofe who came 
 to offer oblations, engaged them to build 
 round about them, and towns infenfibly 
 arofe. The fame thing happened near the 
 caftles of their kings, princes and great 
 
 * (Celtic. Orig.) In flioes ; whereas the an- 
 
 the habits of the ancient cient Romans were naked 
 
 Gothic nations we fee knee'd. Upon the pillars 
 
 evidently the rudiments of of Trajan and Antonine 
 
 the modern European the dreffes of fuch nations 
 
 drefs: They confuted of as were of Gothic race 
 
 a kind of waiftcoat, and bear a great refemblance 
 
 breeches, or rather a kind to thofe of our common 
 
 of trowfers which came failors and peafants. 
 down to the feet, and T. 
 
 were connected with the f Tac. Germ. c. 16. 
 
 men;
 
 ( 35' ) 
 
 men ; and laftly, the markets, whither the 
 peafants repaired for the mutual exchange of 
 thofe few commodities in which the trade of 
 thefe days confided, gave birth to a third 
 kind of towns, which ftill in their names 
 bear evident traces of their original *. The 
 houfes of which thefe towns confided were 
 nothing better, for the moft part, than cot- 
 tages fupported by thick heavy ports joined 
 together by boards and covered with turf -f-. 
 The very loweft rank of people were not 
 even fo well off; having no other defence 
 from the feverity of the winter, but only 
 miferable huts, ditches or clefts in the 
 rocks. There lying on the bare ground, 
 half covered with a few /kins tacked 
 together with thorns, they paffed their 
 time in a kind of drowfy torpor, (happy, if 
 it be poflible to be fo by the meer privation 
 of misfortunes) till roufed by fome call of 
 war, all this ferocious and favage youth 
 rufhed from their caverns to go to fet fire 
 to the palaces of Rome, and to trample 
 under foot all the fine 'monuments of lux- 
 
 * The general termi- was that the ufe of win- 
 nation of thefe; is Koplug^ dows was then unknown, 
 i. e. Market. or regarded by the fagrs 
 
 f lu thefe b;iildino;s of the country as a dan- 
 
 the light for the moit gerous luxury. Vid. 
 
 part was only received Arngr. Jon. Crymog. 
 
 from the top ; whether it lib. i. c. 6. Firji Edit. 
 
 Chap. XIII. ury,
 
 ( 35 2 ) 
 
 tiry, induftry and arts. But I again repeat 
 it, that it was only a fmall part of this 
 people who lived fo totally ignorant of the 
 conveniences of life. Their grandees were 
 early diftinguifhed by edifices fumptuous 
 for thofe times. Their chief ambition was 
 to have them of vaft extent, and adorned 
 with very lofty towers. /The moft wealthy 
 of thofe Norwegian lords who fettled in 
 Iceland built there houfes of monftrous 
 greatnefs. Arngrim * allures us, that In- 
 gulph's palace was 135 feet in length ; 
 and mentions others not inferior to it; but 
 it is very likely that thefe were only a kind 
 of covered inclofures which took in both 
 their flaves and cattle. The moft valuable 
 ornaments of their palaces were the ciel- 
 ings, on which were reprefented in fculp- 
 ture the memorable actions of the poflefTor 
 or his anceftors. Fragments of thefe are 
 ftiil found in Iceland, which appear to 
 have been done eight hundred years ago, 
 and contribute to throw light on thehiflory 
 of the country. Nor is this fculpture fo 
 bad as might be expected. The moun- 
 taineers of Norway and Sweden have to 
 this day a remarkable dexterity at carving 
 with the knife, and in the cabinets of the 
 curious are preferved many pieces which 
 
 * ViJ. Crymog. p. 57. 
 
 furprizingly
 
 (.353 ) 
 
 furprizingly {hew how far genius can ad- 
 Vance unaffifted by art*. Such of" the Scan- 
 dinavians as fettled in richer countries* 
 foon adopted the luxury of their new fel- 
 low-citizens, and were as defirous as they 
 of diftinguifliing themfelves by fumptuous 
 buildings. But although they had ftill 
 before their eyes thofe fine monuments 
 which the envious hand of time has denied 
 to us, yet the beautiful and noble fimpli- 
 city of the antique proportions efcaped ' 
 them ; they disfigured them by that affec- 
 tatiori of exceffive ornament, from whence* 
 Iprang the Gothic ftile of architecture, fd 
 called from this people, which fb long pre- 
 vailed through all Europe, and produced Id 
 many edifices wherein we can find nothing 
 to admire but the inexhauftible patiencb 
 and infinite pains of thofe who built 
 them. 
 
 We may judge from the foregoing pages 
 of the (late of commerce in ancient Scan^* 
 dinavia. It is true, the fondnefs of the in- 
 habitants for navigation ought to have been 
 favourable to it ; but we know that piracy^ . 
 which is the refult of idlenefs in thofe 
 who pradife it, reduces to idlenefs thofe 
 who fufFer by it, as it reridefs all induftrjr 
 
 * Vid. Pontoppid. Hift. Nat. Norr. torn. ii. C, ICN 
 
 VOL. I. Chap, XIII. A a tifelcfs,
 
 ( 354 ) 
 
 ufelefs. We muft not however fuppofe, 
 that this people carried on no kind of traf- 
 fic. I think one may difcover fome views 
 of this fort in thofe maritime expeditions 
 of the Norwegians which have been related 
 above : and this conjecture feems to be 
 confirmed by the great quantity of foreign 
 money which is flill found in different 
 parts of the North ; if indeed this is not 
 rather reliques of the plunder collected 
 by thefe ravagers. It is probable that for 
 a long time commerce was carried on by 
 means of this foreign coin, in thofe parts 
 where they had a fufficient quantity of 
 it, and in other places by an exchange of 
 commodities. We do not find that there 
 was any money coined in the three nor- 
 thern kingdoms before the tenth or at moil 
 the ninth century j and there is reafon to 
 believe, it was Canute the Great who firft 
 brought over Englishmen for the purpofe 
 of coining thofe little pieces of copper 
 money which are flill fhewn, and are ge- 
 nerally imprefTed with the figure of a crofs, 
 the fun, or a flar, without any letters or 
 infcription. Under the pagan princes, 
 money was alfo much in ufe as the com- 
 mon medium of value, but it feems to have 
 only pafTed by weight. 
 
 We may readily fuppofe that the Scandi- 
 fludied aflronomy. A fcience fo 
 4 requifite
 
 ( 355 ) 
 
 requifite for failors could not but make a 
 great part of the education of a people who 
 afpired to fame by maritime enterprizes. 
 The ancient chronicles frequently prefent 
 us with young warriors endeavouring to 
 acquire the good opinion of their miftrefTes 
 by boafting of their accomplishments, fuch 
 as their fkill at chefs, their dexterity in 
 fwimming and fkating, their talents in 
 poetry, and their knowing all the flars by 
 their names. Thefe names had nothing in 
 common with thofe adopted by the Greeks 
 and Romans ; and were often founded on 
 reafons as fantaftical as theirs. Thus they 
 called Urja Major the GREAT DOG, and 
 the leffer Bear CHARLES'S WAIN : The 
 * three flars in the belt of Orion, FRIG- 
 GA'S DISTAFF; the Swan, THE CROSS ; 
 the Milky-way, the ROAD OF WINTER, 
 &c. But whether they only applied their 
 knowledge of aftronomy to conduct them 
 in their voyages, or endeavoured, like the 
 reft of the world, to read their deftiny in 
 the ftars, is a matter I am not able to de- 
 cide. Their curious prying into future 
 events by other means equally ridiculous, 
 will not allow them to claim any merit 
 from either their ignorance or negledt of 
 judicial aftrology. All we can fay with 
 certainty is, that they have at all times be- 
 flowed great care and attention in regulating 
 Chap. XIII. A a 2 the
 
 the courfc of time j whether their religion, 
 which prefcribed them certain periodical 
 facrifices, rendered that care neceflary ; or 
 whether it proceeded from that peculiar 
 turn which the northern people have ever 
 {hewn for calculation and numbers *. 
 Their year commonly commenced at the 
 winter-folftice, and they divided it into 
 two half years, or intervals between the 
 two folftices -)-, which were again divided 
 into quarters and months. There was 
 
 * It is remarkable that 
 the Scandinavians num- 
 bered the unities up to 
 Twelve, without flopping 
 at Ten like all other na- 
 tions. This manner of 
 counting is preferable to 
 ours, as Twelve is a more 
 perfe& number, and more 
 eafily broken into frac- 
 tions, than Ten. The 
 Icelanders and the pea- 
 lants of certain provinces 
 in Sweden, retain to this 
 day a method of reckon- 
 ing by Great Hundreds 
 and Little Hundreds, 
 Great Thoufands and 
 Little Thoufands : But 
 they feem to have con- 
 founded their ancient 
 manner of computation 
 with the modern, fmce 
 
 they make their Great 
 Hundred to confiftof2O 
 times 1 2 or 1 20, and their 
 Great Thoufand of 1200, 
 inftead of multiplying rc- 
 
 Ejlarly 12 by 12. (Vid. 
 al. Su. Rik. Hift. torn, 
 i. p. 245. et Arngr. Jon. 
 Crymog. lib. i. p. 85.) 
 
 Firft Edit. 
 
 The fame method of 
 reckoning by the Great 
 and Little Hundred ftill 
 prevails among our Eng- 
 lifh farmers, in their fale 
 of cheefe, &c. Their 
 Great Hundred is I2o!b. 
 their Little Hundred 
 H2lb. T. 
 
 f That is, by Summer 
 and Winter, as we in our 
 ordinary converfation do 
 in England. T. 
 
 great
 
 ( 357) 
 
 great variety in the names of thpfe months, 
 which were borrowed generally from the 
 rural occupations to be performed in each 
 of them, or from the religious ceremonies 
 which were then to be obferved ; thefe 
 names are frill in ufe in many places of the 
 North *. The months were divided into 
 weeks of feven days, a divifion which hath 
 prevailed among almoft aft the nations we 
 have any knowledge of, from the extremity 
 of Alia to that of Europe. The day was 
 divided into twelve parts, to each of which 
 $hey afllgned a diftindl name : but in their 
 
 * Vid. Ol. Worm. 
 
 Faft. Danic. paflim. 
 
 Dr. HICKES in his va- 
 luable Thefaunis Ling. 
 Sfptentrion. has given a 
 curious lift of the names 
 of the months in all th,e 
 northern languages, in- 
 cluding thofe of our An- 
 glo-Saxon anceftors. In 
 all thefe languages they 
 are very fignificant, as 
 the reader will judge from 
 thofe of the Icelandic : 
 In which JANUARY was 
 called Midfuetrar-manudr^ 
 the midwinter month. 
 FEBRUARY, Fo/?ensgangs- 
 manudr, the fafting- pro- 
 ceffion-month. MARCH, 
 Jaffadegra - manudi^ the 
 
 Chap. XIII. 
 
 month of equal day and 
 night. MAY, Fardaga- 
 ir.anudr^ the month of fair 
 days. JUNE, Nottlfyfa- 
 manudr^ the night - lef 
 month.. JULY, Madka- 
 mamtdr^ the infel month. 
 AUGUST, Hey anna ma- 
 rnidr^ the hay - making 
 month. SEPTEMBER, Ad- 
 draata-manudr^ ..... 
 OCTOBER, Slatrnnar-nin- 
 nudr^ the daughter-month. 
 NOVEMBER, Rydtrydar- 
 
 DECEMBER, Skamdciges- 
 manudr^ the month of 
 (hort days. Vid. Hickes 
 Gram. 'Maefo-Goth. pu 
 215,216. T. 
 
 Aa 3 
 
 compu-
 
 ( 358 ) 
 
 computation of time, they made ufe of the 
 word NIGHT inftead of DAY. Tacitus 
 obferves the fame thing of the Germans * ; 
 and the Engiifh have flill, on fome occafions, 
 the fame mode of fpeaking -J-. The long- 
 eft night of winter was confidered in the 
 North, as that which had produced all the 
 reft as well as the days ; hence they termed 
 it the MOTHER-NIGHT J, and were per- 
 fuaded that on fuch a night the world was 
 created. This notion certainly gave birth 
 to the mode of expreffion above-related. 
 
 The neceffity of aflifting the memory, 
 led them early to invent a kind of Calen- 
 dars, which they called RUNIC STAFFS. 
 Thefe were a fort of compendious alman- 
 acks marked out by lines upon fhort pieces 
 of board, or fmooth fticks ||. Some of 
 them bear the appearance of great anti- 
 quity, but I believe there are none which 
 do not carry evident marks that their 
 
 * Nee dierum numerum \ See above, chap. VII. 
 
 utnos, fed NOCTIUM com- p. 130. 
 
 putant. Sic conjiituunt, || They were called in 
 
 flc condlcunt^ nox ducere di- the North Rim-flocks^ and 
 
 'emvidetur.. Tacit. Germ. Prim-Jlaff's : they exhibit- 
 
 c. ii. ed by different lines and 
 
 t Thus we fay SEVEN- marks, the Fafts and 
 
 NIGHT, (not SevenDays) Feftivals, the Golden 
 
 and FORTNIGHT, /. e. Number, Dominical Let- 
 
 Fourtcen Nights, (not ter, Epacl, &c. T t 
 Fourteen Days.) T. 
 
 owners
 
 (359 ) 
 
 owners- were Chriilians. The Pagans how- 
 ever may have had inftruments of this 
 kind ; which the firft princes converted to 
 Chrifdanity might alter and adapt to the 
 Chriftian rites. The Runic characters 
 with which they are always infcribed, to- 
 gether with fome other marks of paganifm, 
 feem to prove this : But the queftion can- 
 not pofitively be decided 'till we have ex- 
 amined whether the Scandinavians were 
 acquainted with the ufe of letters before 
 they had embraced Chriftianity. This is a 
 fruitful queftion which deferves particular 
 difcuflion. 
 
 One cannot travel far in Denmark, 
 Norway or Sweden, without meeting with 
 great ftones of different forms, engraven 
 with thofe ancient characters called 
 RUNIC*, which appear at fir ft fight ex- 
 tremely different from all we know. The 
 few who have endeavoured to decipher 
 
 * Runic infcriptions Septentrionale, p. 168. 
 
 are alfo found in this There is even extant a 
 
 ifland : See a defcription coin of king OFF A with 
 
 of a very curious one in a Runic infcription j 
 
 Cumberland, and of an- whence it fliould feem 
 
 other in Scotland, in that this character had 
 
 Hickes's Thefaur. Ling. heen originally ufed by 
 
 Sept. (Gram. I/land. Tax the Saxons, as well as 
 
 VI. & p. 5.) See alfo their Scandinavian bre- 
 
 Gordon's Itinerarium thren. T. 
 
 Chap. XIII. A a 4 them,
 
 them, have difcovered that thefe infcripr 
 >tions are, for the moft part, only epitaphs, 
 written in a language not lefs obfolete than 
 the characters *. Several of them were 
 undoubtedly written in Pagan times : but 
 as a great part of them bear evident marks 
 of Chriftianity, fome learned men of dif- 
 tinction have thought that the German and 
 Scandinavian miffionaries firft inftrucled 
 their converts in the art of writing. The 
 favourers of this opinion alledge feveral 
 proofs in fupport of it, which deferve fome 
 attention. 
 
 They produce the teflimony of feveral 
 Greek and Latin authors to invalidate what 
 tbe northern literati have aflerted concern- 
 ing the great antiquity of the RUNIC cha- 
 racter. Androtion, quoted by Elian -f, af- 
 fures us, that " neither the Thracians, nor 
 " any other of the barbarous people fettled 
 
 * The manner in which in which there are innu- 
 
 pur author fpeaks of the merable books extant in 
 
 Runic infcriptions, fhews the libraries of the North, 
 
 him but little acquainted Almoft all the Runic in- 
 
 \vith this part of his fub- fcriptions found in the 
 
 je&: the Runic characters North have been publifh- 
 
 are not difficult to read to ed in one collection or 
 
 thofe who are moderately other. T 
 
 converfant in northern f ./Elian. Var. Rift. 
 
 antiquities, and the Ian- lib. viii. c. 6. Vid. Pel- 
 
 'guage of them is no other Joutier Hift. des Celtes, 
 
 than the antient Icelandic, torn. i. ch. 10.
 
 < in Europe, make ufe of letters ; look- 
 " ing upon it as fomewhat dishonourable 
 ' to employ them : whereas the ufe of 
 '* them is common among the barbarians 
 " of Alia." Tacitus is more exprefs on 
 this head. " Both the men and the wo- 
 *' men," fays he, fpeaking of the Ger- 
 mans, " are equally ignorant of the 
 fecret of writing letters *." Almoft all 
 the ancients who fpeak of the Celts, af- 
 firm the fame thing. They afliire us, that 
 thefe people held in contempt every occu- 
 pation, except that of arms ; That learning 
 to read and write degraded a perfon in their 
 eyes; That their DRUIDS or priefts, in- 
 duced either by intereft or fuperftition, and 
 probably by both, utterly forbade them the 
 ufe of letters, and encouraged them in the 
 averfion they entertained for this admirable 
 fecret; and That thefe Druids pretended 
 their doctrines ought to be referved for the 
 initiated only, and concealed from all others, 
 which could not have been had they com- 
 mitted them to an indifcreet paper -)-. They 
 
 confirm 
 
 * Litterarum fecrtta vi- are taken by our author 
 
 rl pariter ac feminee igno- from M. Pelloutier's Hift. 
 
 rant. Tac. Germ. c. ties Celtes, liv. ii. ch. 10. 
 
 19. whofe general pofition is, 
 
 f This and moft of the that the GOTHS and 
 
 arguments here produced CELTS were the fame 
 
 Chap. XIII. people:
 
 confirm all thefe authorities by divers facts. 
 Thus Theodoric king of Italy could not fo 
 much as fign the firft letters of his name, 
 tho' he had fpent his youth among the Ro- 
 mans. Eginhard, in his life of Charle- 
 magne, fays, that this emperor, though in 
 other refpedts not unlearned, could not 
 write, and that there were entire nations in 
 Germany fubject to him, whofe laws were 
 not yet committed to writing. The 
 Saxons under Louis le Debonnair, perfift- 
 ing in their refolution of not learning to 
 read, he was obliged to have the Old and 
 New Teftament turned into verfe, which 
 they willingly learned by heart, and fung 
 after their own manner. Laftly, the lite- 
 rati, whofe fentiments we here give, think 
 they can unravel all the difficulty arifmg 
 from the particular form of the Runic cha- 
 racters, and prove that thefe were not 
 known in the North before ChrifHanity, by 
 reducing them to the Roman letters; from 
 which, fay they, thefe do not differ any 
 
 people: But this is a great ids ; but profeffed a very 
 
 miftake : The Celts or different religion ? 
 
 Gauls had DRUIDS, who Some of the inftances that 
 
 made a fecret of their follow arc more to the 
 
 doctrines ; but what has point, being taken from 
 
 this to do with the Go- among the Gothic na- 
 
 thic nations of Scandi- tions, but our author con- 
 
 flavia, who had no Dru- fiders them below. T, 
 
 farther
 
 ( 363 ) 
 
 farther than this, that the people of the 
 North having been obliged at firft to en- 
 grave them in wood and ftone, found it 
 convenient to draw their letters chiefly in 
 ftrait lines, and to avoid as much as pomble 
 all round ftrokes and turnings *. 
 
 Thefe arguments are fpecious, but are 
 they equally folid ? It is true the ancients 
 denied that the Celts in general had the 
 knowledge, or at leaft the ufe of letters 
 among them ; but our prefent enquiry only 
 regards the Scandinavians -f-, and fuch of 
 
 * The word RUNE 
 feems to come from a 
 word in the ancient Go- 
 thic language fignifying 
 TO CUT. [So fays our 
 author, but Wormius, 
 who was a much greater 
 mafter of this fubjecl, de- 
 rives RUNE from either 
 Ryn a FURROW, or Ren 
 a GUTTER or CHANNEL. 
 As thefe chara&ers were 
 firft cut in wood or ftone, 
 the refemblance to a fur- 
 row or channel would ea- 
 fily fuggeft the appella- 
 tion. Vid. Worm. Lit. 
 Run. p. 2. 1636.410. T.J 
 
 The word Bog Stav, or 
 Bucb Stab, which is ufed 
 in Germany and the 
 North to fignify a letter, 
 
 Chap. XIII. 
 
 is doubtlefs derived from 
 Bog or Buck a Beech* 
 tree, of which wood they 
 originally made their wri- 
 ting tables, and from Stav 
 or Stab^ a ftaff or ftick, 
 becaufe moft of the letters 
 were drawn in perpendi- 
 cular lines, as it were 
 " fticks or ftaffs fet upi 
 " right." [Vid. Worm. 
 
 Lit. Run. p. 6 From 
 
 the fame Bog or Buck the 
 beft etymologifts derive 
 the word BOK. or BOOK, 
 which fignifies a Volume 
 not only in ours, but ia 
 all the Gothic or Teu- 
 tonic languages. Vid. 
 Junii Etymol. T.] 
 f Who were not Celts. 
 T- 
 
 the
 
 (364) 
 
 the Germans as lived neareft them. Thefe 
 are the only people among whom the Ru- 
 nic characters are found, and with them 
 the ancients were leaft acquainted. As for 
 Tacitus, he has probably been mifunder- 
 ftood ; thofe who are acquainted with his 
 flile and manner, if they re-confider the 
 pafTage, will not doubt but this is his 
 meaning, that " both the German men and 
 " women were ignorant of the fecret of 
 ** writing letters or epiftles," that is, with a 
 view to carry on an intrigue *. What; 
 they relate of the Druids chiefly refpecls 
 the Gauls, nor is it equally applicable to 
 the othpr northern people. We may eafily 
 fuppofe there were a.mong them many war- 
 riors and illuftrious men who could not 
 write, without concluding from thence that 
 the whole nation was equally ignorant. 
 As for the laft argument which attributes 
 *o the firft millenaries the honour of in- 
 troducing letters into the North; it does 
 not appear to me to carry much weight. 
 The Runic characters might poffibly be 
 borrowed from the Roman alphabet, with- 
 out any neceffary conclufion that the Scan- 
 dinavians had waited for the fecret till the 
 
 * So the beft tranfla- rendered this paflage in 
 tors of Tacitus, and fo his celebrated French 
 the Abbe BJLETTERIE has verfion. 
 
 intro-
 
 ( 365 ) 
 
 introdu&ion of Christianity among them. 
 The Runic letters might even have a great 
 rcfemblance to the Roman without being 
 copied from them, fince both may have been 
 derived from one common original. But 
 the ftrongeft argument of all is* that this 
 refemblance has been nothing lefs than 
 proved ; for that the difference between 
 the RUNIC and ROMAN letters is all owing 
 to the neceffity of writing on wood or 
 ilone, and of tracing the letters in perpen- 
 dicular lines, leaves fuch a latitude for 
 changing, adding or diminiming, that there 
 ate few alphabets in the world, which by 
 means of fuch a commodious hypothefis, 
 might not eafily be reduced to the Roman 
 character. Accordingly the learned Wor- 
 mius found the Runic letters as eafily redu- 
 cible to the Greek and Hebrew alphabets 
 as to the Roman *. 
 
 * Vid. Ol. Worm. to me to be nothing but 
 
 Literatur. Runic, paflim. conjectures. Firjl Edit.] 
 
 [M. Pelloutier cites It was that great matter 
 
 in the firft volume of his of northern literature Dr. 
 
 Hift. des Celtes a manu- HICKES, who firft ftarted 
 
 fcriptDiiTertation, the au- the notion that the Runic 
 
 thoi of which (Mr. CEL- character was borrowed 
 
 Bius, a learned Swede) from the Roman : See his 
 
 hath reduced the RUNIC Tbefaurus Linguar. Sep- 
 
 to ROMAN characters. I te^trion. &c. But this o- 
 
 have read this Diflcrtation pinion is now generally 
 
 vety carefully : it con- given up as unfupport- 
 
 tains many ingenious con- able. T. 
 je6hires, but they appear 
 
 Chap. XIII. We
 
 (366) 
 
 We have hitherto only propofed doubts : 
 Let us now fee if we can afcertain fome 
 truths. The Roman hiftory tells us, that 
 under the reign of the emperor Valens, 
 ULPHILAS *, bimop of thofe Goths who 
 
 were 
 
 * In the year 369. 
 Vid. Socrat. Hift. Ecclef. 
 lib. iv. and Sozomen. lib. 
 vi. 36. 
 
 In the following ac- 
 count of ULPHILAS and 
 the GOTHIC letters, our 
 ingenious author has com- 
 mitted feveral miftakes ; 
 occafioned by his too 
 clofely following WOR- 
 MIUS in his Literaiur. 
 Run. not confidering that 
 fmce the time of Wor- 
 mius fome very important 
 difcoveries have been 
 made, and great light 
 thrown upon this fubje6t. 
 When WORM i us 
 wrote, the tranflation of 
 Ulphilas was fuppofed to 
 be irrecoverably loft, and 
 therefore Wormius hav- 
 ing nothing to guide him 
 but conjecture, fuppofed 
 the Runic character and 
 that of Ulphilas to be the 
 
 fame. But fonie years 
 
 after, there was found in 
 the abbey of Warden in 
 Weftphalia, a very cu- 
 rious fragment < 
 
 believed to have been the 
 identical verfion of UL- 
 PHILAS ; written in the 
 language of the Mcefo- 
 Goths, and exhibiting the 
 characters which that pre- 
 late made ufe of : Thefe 
 are fo very remote from 
 the Runic, that we may 
 now fafely allow the Go- 
 thic bimop the honour of 
 their invention, without 
 in the leaft derogating 
 from the antiquity of the 
 Runic letters. This frag- 
 ment is now preferved in 
 the library at UPSAL in 
 Sweden, and is famous 
 among all the northern 
 literati, under the name 
 of the Codex argentcus, or 
 Silver Book : for which 
 reafon a fhort account of 
 it may not be unaccept- 
 able. 
 
 The Cod:* ar gen teas 
 
 contains at prefent only 
 
 the four Gofpels, though 
 
 ::t mutilated; and 
 
 is b.l.jvcd to be a relic 
 
 of the Gothic Bible, all 
 
 or the greater part of 
 
 which
 
 were fettled in Mcefia and Thrace, tranflared 
 the Bible into the Gothic language. But 
 we know from other authorities, that the 
 
 character 
 
 xvhich Ulphilas had tranf- 
 lated. The leaves are of 
 vellum of a violet colour ; 
 all the letters are of fil- 
 ver, except the initials, 
 which are of gold. Thefe 
 letters (which are all ca- 
 pitals) appear not to have 
 been written with the 
 pen, but ftamped or im- 
 printed on the vellum 
 with hot iron types J, in 
 the fame manner as the 
 book-binders at prefent 
 letter the backs of books. 
 This copy is judged to 
 be near as ancient as the 
 time of Ulphilas, or at 
 leaft not more than a cen- 
 tury or two later ; yet fo 
 near was the copyift to the 
 clifcovery of printing, that 
 if he had but thought of 
 combining three or four 
 of thefe letters together 
 he muft have hit upon 
 that admirable invention ; 
 whereas he only imprinted 
 
 each letter fmgly. 
 
 This curious fragment 
 
 has been feveral times 
 printed in 410, firft by 
 Junius in 1665 ; and 
 lately in a ver-y elegant 
 manner at Oxford by the 
 learned Mr. Lye in 1750. 
 Another fragment of 
 this curious vei fion (con- 
 taining part of the Epiftle 
 to the Romans) has been 
 fince difcovered in the li- 
 brary at Wolfenbcttle, 
 and was published two 
 years ago in a very fplen- 
 did volume in 410 by the 
 Rev. F. A. Knitell,. arch- 
 deacon of Wolfenbottle. 
 It muft not be con- 
 cealed that M. Michaelis 
 and one or two other 
 learned men have oppofed 
 the current opinion, that 
 the Silver Book contains 
 part of Ulphilas's Gothic 
 verfion ; and have offered 
 arguments to prove that 
 it is rather a venerable 
 fragment of fome ancient 
 Francic Bible : but they 
 have been confuted by 
 
 "I See this fully proved in fome late curious TradVs wiittenbyfhe 
 learned Dtm. JOHAN. IHKT, and other Swedifii Literati, 
 
 Chap. XIII.
 
 ( 368) 
 
 character in which this verfion was written, 
 was either Runic, or one nearly refembling 
 it. Several authors fay, that Ulpriilas in- 
 vented it ; but is it probable that any brie 
 fhould form a new character for a nation 
 that had one already? If the Goths of 
 Mcefia and Thrace had not before his time 
 had any knowledge of letters, would it not 
 have been better to have taught them the ufe 
 of the Greek character, already underfiood ? 
 Befides, Ulphilas neither wrote the Gofpels 
 on wood nor on ftone, but on parchment ; 
 he would not therefore be under the necef- 
 fity of disfiguring the alphabet of other 
 nations for the fake of ftrait lines, which 
 it is alledged gave birth to the Runic let- 
 
 M. Knitell and others ; 
 and the Gothic claim has 
 been further confirmed by 
 a curious relic of the fame 
 language lately difcovered 
 to have been left by the 
 fame Goths in Italy ; 
 the explanation of which 
 we owe to the reverend 
 Mr. LYE : See his Notes 
 on the Gothic Gofpels, 
 &c. 
 
 To conclude ; The 
 letters ufed in the Gothic 
 Gofpels, being 25 in 
 number, are formed with 
 (light variations from the 
 
 capitals of the Greek and 
 Latin alphabet, and are 
 extremely different from 
 the Runic. The inven- 
 tion of them may there- 
 fore be very fafely attri- 
 buted to Bp. ULPHILAS 
 (as the ancients exprefsly 
 aflert) ; who might not 
 chufe to employ in fo fa- 
 cred a work as the tranf- 
 lation of the Bible, the 
 RUNIC characters, which 
 the Goths had rendered 
 infamous by their fupcr- 
 ftirious ufe of them. 
 
 T,
 
 ( 369) 
 
 ters. At moft it could not be the Roman 
 alphabet that was altered ; but if any it 
 muft have been the Greek, for Ulphilas 
 was at that time in a country where the 
 Greek language was Ipoken. Nor is it dif- 
 ficult to difcover what it was that led hiflo- 
 rians into the miftake of fuppofing Ul- 
 philas to have been the inventor of thefe 
 characters. The Greeks had probably 
 never heard any mention of them before 
 he came among them : The introducer of 
 a novelty eafily pafles for the author of it ; 
 and when we compare the Runic letters, 
 taken from the infcriptions fcattered up and 
 down on the rocks in the North-, with the 
 alphabet of Ulphilas, it is eaiy to fee that 
 the bifhop has added diverfe characters un- 
 known to the ancient Scandinavians. It 
 was doubtlefs the tranflation of the Bible 
 which obliged him to make thefe addi- 
 tions. The ancient alphabet being com- 
 pofed only of fixteen letters *, could not 
 exprefe many founds foreign to the Gothic 
 language, that neceflarily occurred in that 
 work. Thefe additional letters might ea- 
 fily confer on Ulphilas the credit of invent- 
 ing the whole. This is one of thofe in- 
 accuracies which every day happen. It is 
 no lefs probable that before Ulphilas, the 
 
 * Verel. Runogr. Scand. cap. vii. 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. XIII. Bb Goths,
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 Goths, even while they were involved in 
 the thickeft darknefs of paganifm, had fome 
 knowledge of letters*. 
 
 * An evident proof that teen) and their order and 
 
 the RUNIC were not imi- names, which have no- 
 
 tated from the ROMAN thing in common with the 
 
 letters, arifes not only ROMAN, GREEK or Go- 
 
 from their form which THIC characters of Ul- 
 
 have fo little refemblance philas : Let the reader 
 
 to thefe, but from their truft to his own eyes, 
 number, (being but iix- 
 
 The RUNIC Alphabet. 
 Name, Fie Ur Dufs Oys Ridhur Ivaun Hagl 
 
 Fewer, F. U. D. O. R. K. H. 
 
 Nandur Jis Aar Sol Tyr Biarkan 
 
 K I 4 fy T & 
 
 N. I. A. S. T. B. 
 
 Lagur Madur Yr 
 f\ \17 X 
 
 L. M. YR. 
 
 The GOTHIC Alphabet by ULPHILAS. 
 
 Power, A. B. G. D. E. F. lorY. H. I. 
 
 KAMNRTTO^S 
 
 K. L. M. N. O. P. Q. R. S. 
 
 T * n D x ^ 
 
 T. TH. U. QU. WorU. CH. Z. 
 
 What
 
 ( 57' ) 
 
 What are we to think of thofe infcrip- 
 tions in the Runic character, which travel- 
 lers allure us they have feen in the dcfarts 
 of Tartary * ? Tartary has never yet been 
 converted to Chriftianity ; from this and 
 the circumjacent countries iffued thofe 
 fwarms which peopled Scandinavia ; nor 
 have the Scandinavians ever made any ex- 
 pedition into their mother country fmce 
 they embraced the Chriftian faith. If 
 then the account given us by thefe travellers 
 is true, we muft necefiarily conclude that 
 the Runic writing was an art which had 
 its rife in Afia, and was carried into Europe 
 by the colonies who came to fettle in the 
 North. This is alfo confirmed by all the old 
 chronicles and poems which I have fo of- 
 ten quoted. They univerfally agree in af- 
 iigning to the Runic characters a very re- 
 mote antiquity, and an origin entirely pa- 
 gan. They attribute the invention of them 
 to Odin himfelf ; who, they add, was emi- 
 nently fkilled in the art of writing as wdl 
 for the common purpofes of life, as for 
 the operations of magic -f . Many of thefe 
 
 * Confult Strahlcm- Upfal. 1724. See alfo in 
 
 berg's Description of the the fame book the map of 
 
 northern and eaftcrn parts Tartary. Fir/i }'.,>.] 
 of Europe and Afia, [quo- f Ecida liland. ct Bar- 
 
 ted by Er. Benzcl. Ju:i. thol. p. 649. 
 in PL.icul. Runic. DirT. 
 
 Chap. XIII. B b 2 letters
 
 ( 372 ) 
 
 letters even bore the names of the Gods his 
 companions. In a very ancient ode, quoted 
 by Bartholin, the poet thus fpeaks of the 
 Runic characters J : " The letters which 
 " the Great Ancient traced out : which 
 " the Gods compofed : which Odin the 
 " fovereign of the Gods engraved." Had 
 it been otherwife, how could the pagans 
 have fo foon forgotten that thefe letters 
 were introduced among them by the mi- 
 nifters of a religion that was foreign, un- 
 known, and muft have been hateful to 
 them, fmce they were often compelled by 
 violent means to profefs it ? How could 
 all their poets (who were at the fame 
 time their theologians) fo exprefsly call 
 Odin, " The inventor of the RUNES?" 
 But laftly, what appears to be of great 
 weight, is, that our hiflories often make 
 mention of princes and pagan heroes who 
 made ufe of this character in an age 
 when, in all probability, Chriftianity had 
 not penetrated fo far into the North -f . In 
 
 Blekingia, 
 
 $ Vid. Barthol. de fpeaks even then of the 
 
 Caufis cont. mort. p. 647. Runic characters in one 
 
 f Venantius Fortuna- of his epigrams addrefled 
 
 tus, a Latin poet, who to Flavius. Lib. vii. E- 
 
 wrote about the begin- pig. 18. 
 ning of the fixth century, 
 
 Bar-
 
 (373 ) 
 
 Blekingia, a province of Sweden, there is 
 a road cut through a rock, on which are 
 various Runic characters, faid to have 
 been engraved there by king HAROLD 
 HYLDETAND in honour of his father. 
 Saxo, who lived under Valdemar II. -f- re- 
 lates, that this prince fent people thither 
 to examine them, and that tradition attri- 
 buted them to that king Harold who, ac- 
 cording to Torfa?us, afcended the throne 
 about the beginning of the feventh cen- 
 tury. The fame author affures us that 
 Regner Lodbrog ufed Runic letters to re- 
 cord his exploits in Biarmland J. In- 
 flances of the fame kind are found in 
 almoft every page of the ancient chro- 
 nicles, and of Torfaeus's hiflory of Nor- 
 way. 
 
 We may then fairly conclude, that it 
 was Odin himfelf that introduced the 
 
 Barbara fraxineis pingatur RUN A t alt: His 
 h<odque Papyrus aglt Virgula plana valet. 
 
 i. e. The Barbarians en- 1241. See Sax. Gram. 
 
 grave their Runic cha- in Prasfat. and the Notes 
 
 rafters on aflien tablets, of Steph. Stephan. on 
 
 which ferve them inftead that paflage. 
 
 of paper. Vid. Wor- J A province in the 
 
 mil Literat. Runic, p. 7. north partof Rufiia. Vid. 
 
 t He reigned from Sax. Grammat. lib. ix. 
 A. D. 1202, to A. D. 
 
 Chap. XIII. B b 3 Runic
 
 ( 374) 
 
 Runic characters into the North. Almoft 
 all the Afiatic nations had long before his 
 time been acquainted v/ith letters, and this 
 prince's native country could not be far 
 diftant from many of thofe people among 
 whom they had been long familiar. Nor is 
 it improbable but that an ambitious leader 
 might avail himfelf of them, to acquire 
 refpecl from the rude uncivilized inha- 
 bitants of Scandinavia. The art of writing 
 being of fuch infinite and wonderful ufe, 
 might eafily perfuade them that there was 
 fomething divine or magical in it. Ac- 
 cordingly we fee them more frequent- 
 ly employ it for the foolifh purpofe 
 of working prodigies, than to affift the 
 memory and render words fixed and per- 
 manent. 
 
 This would be the place to fay fomething 
 of thofe fuperftitious practices, if we had 
 not already given fufficient inftances of the 
 weaknefs of the human mind, and of the 
 ftrange errors and extravagances to which 
 ignorant nations are fubjecl:. Let it fufiice 
 then juft to obferve, that the Runic cha- 
 raclers were diilinguimed into various 
 kinds*. The NOXIOUS, or as they called 
 
 * Vid. Worm. Litterat. Runic, p. 33. et Barthol. 
 de Cauf. &c. p. 650. 
 
 them,
 
 ( 375) 
 
 them, the BITTER RUNES, were employed 
 to bring various evils on their enemies: 
 the FAVOURABLE averted misfortunes : the 
 VICTORIOUS procured conqueft to thofe 
 who ufed them : the M & D I c i N A L were in- 
 fcribed on the leaves of trees for healing : 
 others ferved to difpel melancholy thoughts; 
 to prevent (hipwreck : were antidotes 
 againft poifon ; prefervatives againft the re- 
 fentment of their enemies, and efficacious 
 to render a miftrefs favourable : Thefe laft 
 were to be ufed with great caution. Jf an 
 ignorant perfon had chanced to write one 
 letter for another, or had but erred in the 
 minuteft ftroke, he would have expofed his 
 miftrefs to fome dangerous illnefs ; which 
 was only to be cured by writing other 
 RUNES with the greateft niceneis. All 
 thefe various kinds differed only in the ce- 
 remonies obferved in writing them, in the 
 materials on which they were written, in 
 the place where they were expofed, in the 
 manner in which the lines were drawn, 
 whether in the form of a circle, of a fer- 
 pent, or a triangle, &c. In the ftrict ob- 
 iervance of thefe childim particulars con- 
 fifted that obfcure and ridiculous art, which 
 acquired to fo many weak and wicked 
 perfons, the refpedtable name of Priefts 
 and ProphetelTes, merely for filling rude 
 Chap. XIII. B b 4 minds
 
 (376 ) 
 
 minds with fo much jealoufy, fear and 
 hatred*. 
 
 However, the life of letters for more 
 rational purpofes became by degrees more 
 common in the North. In the latter ages 
 of paganifrn, we frequently meet with 
 princes and famous leaders, and in general 
 all perfons whofe rank entitled them to a 
 careful education, writing epiftles, epi- 
 taphs and infcriptions of various kinds J. 
 
 * It is by mifchievous 
 errors of the fame kind 
 that all nations have been 
 diftinguifhed in their firft 
 ages of fimplicity and ig- 
 norance j thofe rirft ages 
 which prejudice makes us 
 regret, and wifo that the 
 arts had never corrupted 
 their primeval innocence. 
 Whereas in proportion as 
 the empire of the Sci- 
 ences hath prevailed in 
 the North, that of Su- 
 perftition hath faded and 
 vanished before its grow- 
 ing light. But the ex- 
 tremity of Scandinavia, 
 where that light hath not 
 yet penetrated, ftill re- 
 mains faithfully fflbjeft to 
 all its ancient errors. Al- 
 lowing for the difference 
 
 of their climate and po- 
 verty, the Laplanders at 
 prefent are in this refpecr. 
 what the Scandinavians 
 were formerly. With the 
 fame ignorance, they are 
 equally fubjedt to fuper- 
 itition and credulity ; for 
 it is a ceitain rule that 
 Magic never fails to work 
 prodigies in all fuch na- 
 tions as believe in it. The 
 Oftiacs and other favages 
 of Afia are no lefsgiien 
 to forcery and witchcraft 
 than the Laplanders, and 
 we have all heard of the 
 JONGLEURS, thofe magi- 
 cians fo revered among 
 the Barbarians of Ame- 
 rica. I Edit. 
 t ViJ. VcrcJ.'Runo- 
 graph. Scand. p. 21. 
 
 The
 
 (377 ) 
 
 The older thefe infcriptions are the better 
 they are engraven. We rarely find them 
 written from the right hand to the left -f- : 
 but it is not uncommon to meet with the 
 line running from the top to the bottom, 
 after the manner of the Chinefe and feveral 
 nations of India; or from the top to the 
 bottom, and then turning round to the 
 left, and fo up again to the place it begins 
 at ; or elfe from the left to the right, and 
 fo back to the left again, which was the 
 manner of the early Greeks, and had its 
 name from the refemblance to a furrow 
 traced by the plough *. The greater part 
 of the ancient monuments written in the 
 Runic character, which are ftill preferved, 
 are infcriptions difperfed here and there in 
 the fields , and cut out on large ftones or 
 pieces of rock. The Scandinavians wrote 
 alfo on wood, on the bark of the birch- 
 tree, and on prepared fkins. When they 
 had occafion to impart any matter to an 
 abfent perfon, they difpatched a meffenger 
 with a bit of bark, or a fmall polimed piece 
 of wood, on which they commonly ex- 
 prefled their meaning with much exaclnefs. 
 
 f Vid. Worm. Littc- found in churches, and 
 
 rar. Run. cap. xxv. fometimes in other build- 
 
 * Bourfof^Jcv. ings* T. 
 
 They are alfo often 
 
 Chan. XIII. There
 
 ( 378 ) 
 
 There are ftill extant fome of thefe epiftles, 
 and even love-letters written on thefe 
 pieces of bark and bits of wood ||. As for 
 books compofed in the Runic character, 
 the moil ancient we can find, appear to 
 have been written about the time that 
 Chriftianity took place in the North, as is 
 judged from feveral proofs, particularly from 
 the frequent intermixture of Roman let- 
 ters in them. In the tenth and eleventh 
 centuries the Runic gave way ftill more 
 and more to the other. Till at length the 
 mifiionaries fucceeded in totally abolifliing 
 the ufe of them, as tending to retain the 
 people in their ancient fuperftitions. But 
 this reformation did not fpeedily take place, 
 and there remained traces of this character 
 for many fucceeding ages ; nor, as we are 
 allured *, is it yet wholly laid afide among 
 the mountaineers of one province in 
 Sweden. 
 
 || Renhielm, a learned 
 Swede, in his Notes up- 
 on the Icelandic chro- 
 nicle, intitled " Tor- 
 " ftcin's Wile Saga," p. 
 35, cites an ancient bil- 
 let-doux, containing only 
 thefe words, " I ihould 
 '' 1' better, you ng maid, 
 '* to repofe on thy bofom, 
 < than to poilefr the 
 " riches 'of the tKrc~ In- 
 
 " dies," Olaus Wor- 
 mius alfo tells us, that he 
 had one in his cabinet of 
 curiofities which was writ 
 upon little tables of wood, 
 but he hath not thought 
 proper to translate it. 
 
 Flrjl Edit. 
 
 * See Dalin. Su. Rik. 
 hift. torn. i. p. 237. and 
 Benzel. colled, hift. p. i. 
 cap. i. 
 
 Ifliall
 
 ( 379) 
 
 I fhall avoid entering into the difputes" 
 which have been raifed on the fubjec~t of 
 the ancient northern tongues : For however 
 the refearch may have been heretofore 
 carried on with much gravity, it was in 
 reality very trifling, nor is it a trifle of 
 that kind which ferves to intereft or amufe 
 the world at prefent. Let it fuffice to re- 
 mark, that from the refult of the whole it 
 appears, that all Europe at firft fpoke the 
 fame language*, excepting the SA;*MA- 
 TIANS who from the earlieft time had 
 one peculiar to themfelves, the GREEKS 
 
 * M. MALLET here 
 goes upon the erroneous 
 hypothecs of M. PEL- 
 LOUTIER in his " Hift. 
 " des Celtcs ;" that the 
 Gauls and Germans were 
 the fame people and had 
 one common language : 
 but this a flight inflection 
 of the dialects of their 
 refpeftive defendants is 
 fufficient to confute, and 
 for this the reader need 
 only caft his eye over the 
 fpccimens fubjoined to 
 
 the preface. For as 
 
 our author obfcrves juft 
 below, " the ancient 
 " languages of the NOR- 
 
 " THERN and WESTERN 7 
 
 " parts of Europe arc 
 
 Chap. XIII. 
 
 " ftill preferved in thofe 
 countries which the 
 Romans never con- 
 quered ; and traces of 
 them are ftill vifible in 
 others : " An ocular 
 nfpeHon therefore of 
 thofe languages thus pre- 
 ferved, compared with 
 their more ancient dia- 
 lects, will ferve to decide 
 a difpute of this fort bet- 
 ter than a thoufand argu- 
 ments drawn from con- 
 jecture and hypothefis, or 
 from obfcure paflages of 
 ancient Lntin and Greek 
 authors, who knew no- 
 thing of any language but 
 their own. T. 
 
 who
 
 who borrowed many of their terms from 
 ^gypt and the Baft, and the ROMANS 
 \vho in part adopted the language of Greece. 
 This ancient language of the northern and 
 weftern parts of Europe has only been 
 preferved in thofe countries, which the Ro- 
 mans never conquered ; although evident 
 traces of it are ftill vifible in others that 
 were long fubjed: to their dominion. The 
 Spanifh and French tongues abound with 
 many words which we find fHll extant in the 
 Teutonic *, fome of them fuch as the Ro- 
 mans could not obliterate, and many others 
 introduced by the frequent migrations from 
 the North, it is true, that the common 
 lot of all the languages in the world hath 
 attended this, to be branched out into al- 
 mofl as many different dialects as there 
 
 * The ancient Ian- the northern parts of Ita- 
 guage of the NORTHERN ly before the Roman con- 
 parts of Europe was the quefts : thofe of TEU- 
 GOTHIC or TEUTONIC ; TONIC derivation were 
 that of the WESTERN imported into thofe coun- 
 parts, the GAULISH or tries by the Gothic emi- 
 CELTIC : Thefe two grants after the decline of 
 languages had originally the Roman empire. This 
 no refemblancc : Yet the diftincHon carefully at- 
 Spanifh and French and tended to, would remove 
 Italian tongues have fomc all the obfcurity, confu- 
 words derived from both. fion and miitake, which 
 Thofe of CELTIC origin fome learned men have 
 were what prevailed in thrown on this fubjc6t. 
 Spain and France and T. 
 
 were
 
 were different nations who fpoke it ; but 
 they all of them retain ample proof of 
 their origin from one common parent. 
 " The Teutonic or Gothic tongue of the 
 " fourth and fifth centuries is very like the 
 " language of Wales and Bas-Bretaign, 
 " and have fome refemblance to the 
 " Irifh *." That tongue is flill fpoken in 
 
 Iceland, 
 
 * This ftrange error, 
 which I chufe to diftin- 
 guifh by inverted commas, 
 our ingenious author 
 could never have fallen 
 into, had he been a na- 
 tive of this ifland, where 
 dialects of the TEUTO- 
 NIC and CELTIC lan- 
 guages are ftiJl fpoken by 
 innumerable multitudes. 
 The TEUTONIC tongue 
 of the fourth and filth 
 centuries was the parent 
 of our ANGLO-SAXON, 
 whence is derived our 
 pixfrnt ENGLISH. The 
 language of WALES, 
 BAS-BRETAIGNE, and 
 the ERSE for IRISH) are 
 Jcnown defcendants (at 
 leaft the two former) of 
 the ancient CELTIC. But 
 we, of this ifland, know 
 that there are hardly any 
 two languages in the 
 Chap. XIII. 
 
 world, radically more 
 different than the WELSH 
 and ENGLISH : And fuch 
 as are acquainted with the 
 ftate of the ANGLO- 
 SAXON and GOTHIC 
 tongue before the times 
 of Chriftianity, well know 
 that it was ftill more re- 
 mote from the WELSH 
 and ERSE, than our mo- 
 dern ENGLISH ; for thefe 
 three languages have at 
 prefcnt many terms in 
 common, relating to re- 
 ligion, government and 
 the conveniences of life, 
 which they have either 
 borrowed from the Latin 
 or from each other, in 
 confequence of their vici- 
 nage, or thei r profefling the 
 fame faith, and their liv- 
 ing under the fame or a 
 fimilar form of govern- 
 ment : Whereas origin- 
 ally
 
 ( 382 ) 
 
 Iceland, and in fome mountainous pro- 
 vinces of Sweden. The Danifh, the Nor- 
 wegian and the Swedish are evidently the 
 fame, and are very like the German, efpe- 
 cialiy the Low Dutch. It feems as if the 
 foreign colonies under the conduct of Odin, 
 who fettled in Scandinavia and the north of 
 Germany, had only introduced a fofter pro- 
 nunciation, a very few new words, and 
 fome fmall difference in the terminations. 
 
 After what we have feen of the cha- 
 racter and manners of the Scandinavians, 
 we cannot form any very high idea of their 
 language. As men only invent terms in 
 proportion as they acquire ideas, lan- 
 guage muft of courfe have been at firft 
 very poor and unadorned, not at all ex- 
 preffive of a variety of abftrad notions; but 
 among a free, independant and warlike 
 people, it muft have borrowed its colour- 
 ings from the genius of the fpeakers*. 
 
 There 
 
 ally thefe were different. 
 And yet after all, the 
 WELSH and ERSE conti- 
 nue as remote as poflible 
 from the ENGLISH (and 
 every other branch of the 
 TEUTONIC whether an- 
 cient or modern) in their 
 genius, idioms, inflection, 
 
 conftru&ion, general co- 
 pia verbortim, and every 
 other criterion of lan- 
 guage. See the Speci- 
 mens annexed to the pre- 
 face. T. 
 * " Nations like fingle 
 " men, have their pecu- 
 " iiar ideas ; thefe pecu- 
 " Jiar
 
 There is always fomething to be admired in 
 the language of a free people, however 
 grofs and ignorant they may be in other 
 relpecls : Such /a language has always an 
 energetic brevity, lively and fententious 
 turns, and picturefque exprefiions, which 
 the conftraint of our education, the fear 
 of ridicule, and the dominion of fa/hion. 
 render the modern tongues incapable of re- 
 taining. But what muft have contributed 
 ftill further to give ftrength and fublimity to 
 that of the ancient Scandinavians was their 
 general and diftinguimed tafte for poetry. 
 This is a fubject fo interefting as to deferve 
 to be treated with particular attention. 
 
 MANKIND, every where efTentially the 
 fame, have been always led to poetical 
 compofition, prior to that of profe. This 
 feems, at prefent, the reverfe of the natural 
 order ; but we think fo either through our 
 prejudices or for want of putting ourfelves 
 in the place of a people who are ignorant of 
 the art of writing. Plealing founds and 
 the attractions of harmony would ftrike at 
 firft every ear ; but long could not long 
 
 " liar ideas become the " type. "H0s? 
 
 " genius of their Ian- " \$i -r avO^wV 
 
 " guage, fmce the fym- HERMES, p. 407. 
 
 " bol muft of courfe cor- 1". 
 
 ** refpond to its arche- 
 
 Chap. XIII. fubfift
 
 fubfift without poetry. No fooner was it 
 obferved how thefe two united powers 
 fixed and impreffed thofe images on the 
 mind, which the memory was defirous of 
 retaining ; than they acquired a new de- 
 gree of efteem, efpecially among fuch as 
 afpired to a lafting fame. Verfe was made 
 ufe of to preferve the memory of remark- 
 able events and great actions. The laws of 
 a people, their religious ceremonies and 
 rural labours were alfo recorded in num- 
 bers, becaufe thefe are fubjects which con- 
 fifting of a great variety of particulars, 
 might eafily fall into oblivion. Hence it 
 was that Greece could already boaft of an 
 Homer, an Hefiod, and of many other 
 poets, feveral ages before PHERECYDES* 
 had written in profe. Hence among the 
 Gauls and other Celtic nations there were 
 poems compofed on all fubjedts from the 
 earlieft ages, which the Druids, who were 
 appointed to educate the youth, frequently 
 employed twenty years in teaching them to 
 repeat -f-. This cuftom, rendered facred 
 by its high antiquity, which ever com- 
 mands refpect from the people, was in 
 
 * He lived 600 years expedition. 
 after the taking of Troy ; f Caefar. Comment, 
 
 whereas there were poets lib. vi, 14. 
 previous to that famous 
 
 force
 
 ($5=) 
 
 force many ages after the art of writing 
 had pointed out a more perfect method of 
 preferving the memorials of human know- 
 ledge. In like manner the Scandinavians 
 for a long time applied their Runic letters 
 only to the fenfelefs purpofes above-men- 
 tioned ; nor did they during fo many years 
 ever think of committing to writing thofe 
 verfes with which their memories were 
 loaded ; and it is probable that they only 
 wrote down a fmall quantity of them at ' 
 laft. The idea of making a book never 
 entered into the heads of thofe fierce war- 
 riors, who knew no medium between the 
 violent exercifes and fatigues of war or 
 hunting j and a ftupid lethargic ftate of 
 inaction. Among the innumerable advan- 
 tages, which accrued to the northern na- 
 tions from the introduction of the Chrif- 
 tian religion, that of teaching them to ap- 
 ply the knowledge of letters to ufeful 
 purpofes, is not the leaft valuable. Nor 
 could a motive lefs facred have eradicated 
 that habitual and barbarous prejudice, 
 which caufed them to neglect fo admirable 
 a fecret. The churches .and monafteries 
 were at leaft fo many afylums where this 
 fecret was preferved, while the ferocity of 
 manners which prevailed in the dark ages, 
 tended again to confign it to oblivion. The 
 theological difputes between the different 
 VOL. I. Chap. XIII. Cc fedls
 
 ( 386 ) 
 
 feds had this good effect, that they obliged 
 them to conlult many ancient books, and 
 to compofe new ones. The Celtic religion 
 on the contrary, by relying on poetry and 
 tradition for the preiervaticn of its tenets, 
 and in a manner forbidding the ufe of wri- 
 ting, left they fhould be divulged, muft 
 needs extend the empire of barbarifm and 
 ignorance. 
 
 So long as that religion prevailed in the 
 North, the ufe of letters being very li- 
 mited , it is no paradox to fay that verfe 
 was a necefTary medium of knowledge, 
 and the poet an eflential officer of the 
 frate. And if it requires a peculiar and 
 uncommon genius to excel in this art, the 
 profeflbrs of it would of courfe acquire a 
 very high degree of efteem and refpeft. 
 All the historical monuments of the North 
 are full of the honours paid this order 
 of men both by princes and people j nor 
 can the annals of poetry produce any age 
 or country which reflects more glory and 
 luftre upon it. The ancient chronicles 
 constantly reprefent the kings of Den- 
 mark, Norway, and Sweden as attended by 
 one or more SCALDS *j for this was the 
 
 * The word SCALD is " of language." Vide 
 judged by Torfieus to Torfaei Praetat. ad Or- 
 have fignified originally cades, folio. T. 
 
 " a fmoothcr and polifher 
 
 name
 
 (#7) 
 
 name they gave their poets. They were 
 more efpecially honoured and carefled at the 
 courts of thofe princes, who diftinguifhed 
 themfelves by their great actions and 
 paffion for glory. HAROLD HARFAGRE, 
 for inftance, placed them at his feafts 
 above all the other officers of his court *. 
 Many princes entrufted them both in peace 
 and war with commifiions of the utmoft 
 importance. They never fet out on any 
 confiderable expedition without fome of 
 them in their train. HACON earl of Nor- 
 way had five celebrated poets along with 
 him in that famous battle of which I have 
 fpoken, when the warriors of Jomfburg 
 were defeated; and hiflory records that 
 they fung each an ode to animate the fol- 
 diers before they engaged -f*. But they 
 enjoyed another advantage, which would 
 be more the envy of the poets of thefe 
 
 * Vid. Hift. Norveg. eye-witnefTcs of his ex- 
 
 vol. II. p. 21. Bartholin. ploits (as defcribed by 
 
 Cauf. Contempt, a Dan. our author below) : thefe 
 
 Mortis, p. 1 66. bards compofed each of 
 
 f See Torf Bartholin, them a fong on the fpot, 
 
 p. 172. who produces other which Bartholin has 
 
 inftances to the fame pur- printed and accompanied 
 
 pofe : particularly that of with a Latin verflon. 
 
 OLAVE king of Norway, Other /bngs of the fame 
 
 who placed three of his kind may be found in the 
 
 SCALDS about him to be fame author. T. 
 
 Chap. XIII. C c 2 days.
 
 days. They were rewarded for the poems 
 they compofed in honour of the kings and 
 heroes, with magnificent prefents. We 
 never find the SCALD finging his verfes at 
 the courts of princes without being recom- 
 penfed with golden rings, glittering arms, 
 and rich apparel. Their refpect for this or- 
 der of men often extended fo far as to remit 
 the punimment of crimes they had commit- 
 ted, on condition they fued out their pardon 
 in verfe ; and we have ftill extant an ode, 
 by which EG ILL, a celebrated poet, atoned- 
 for a murder he had been guilty of*. In 
 a word, the poetic art was held in fuch 
 high eftimation, that great lords and even 
 kings did not difdain to cultivate it with, 
 the utmoft pains themfelves. ROGVALD 
 earl of the Orkney iilands pafTed for a very 
 able poet ; he boafts himfelf, in a fong 
 of his which is flill extant, that he knew 
 how to compofe verfes on all fubjeds -J-. 
 King REGNER was no lefs diftinguifhed for 
 his ikill in poetry, than in war and navi- 
 
 * EGTLL had even kil- with the original, in a 
 
 led the fon of that prince, little 8vo pamphlet, in- 
 
 who remitted his punifh- titled *' 1' ive Pieces of 
 
 mem : This was Eric " Runic Poetry, tranflat- 
 
 Blodox king of Norway. " ed from the Icelandic 
 
 The render may fee an " language," 1763. 
 Englifh verfion of the T. 
 
 poem P^GILL corrpofcd f Vid. Worm. Litter. 
 
 on this occafion, together Runic, p. 195. 
 
 gation.
 
 (389) 
 
 gallon. Many of his poems were long 
 preferved in the North, and may be found 
 inferted in the hiftory of his life : and it is 
 well known that he died no lefs like a 
 poet than an hero. 
 
 The refpecl: however which the nor- 
 thern nations paid to their SCALDS was not 
 owing to the nobility of their extraction. 
 A people whofe object was glory, could not 
 fail of mowing a great deference to thofe 
 who both published it abroad and conligned 
 it to futurity, let their original be what it 
 would. A prince or illuftrious warrior 
 oftentimes expofcd his life with fo much 
 intrepidity only to be praifed by his Scald, 
 who was both the witnefs and judge of his 
 bravery. It is affirmed that this kind of 
 men, altho' poets, were never guilty of flat- 
 tery, and never lavimed their praifes on he- 
 roes and kings themfelves unlefs theirgallant 
 exploits were quite inconteftible *. Hence 
 arofe the cuftom of always bringing them 
 into the fcene of action : CLAVE king of 
 Norway placing three of them one day 
 around him in battle, cried out with fpirit, 
 " You mall not relate what you have only 
 " heard, but what you are eye-witneffes 
 
 * Vid. Bartholin. p, 154. et cap. 10. lib. i, 
 paflim. T. 
 
 Chap. XIII. C c 3 "of
 
 ( 390 ) 
 
 " of yoarfelves *." The fame poets ufually 
 fung their verfes themfelves at folemn fefti- 
 vals and in great aflemblies, to the found of 
 the flute or harp-f-. But the fubject of 
 thefe poems was not confined to one fingle 
 event, fuch as a victory or fome generous 
 action ', it was frequently a genealogical 
 hiftory of all the kings of the country, de- 
 duced down from the Gods to the reigning 
 prince, who always derived his origin from 
 them. Thefe poems were, according to 
 Tacitus, the only annals of the Germans : 
 They had great numbers of them, which 
 were not wholly forgotten in the eighth 
 century ; fince Eginhard relates, that 
 CHARLEMAGNE caufed them to be com- 
 mitted to writing. " And even learnt 
 " himfelf," adds the hiftorian, " the rude 
 " and ancient fongs in which the ex- 
 " ploits and the wars of the firft princes 
 <{ were celebrated." In poems of the 
 fame kind confifted for many ages all the 
 hiftory of the Scandinavians. A bard 
 named THIODOLFE, celebrated in his 
 
 * Vid. Olaf. Saga ap. J Celebrant carmlnibus 
 
 Verel. ad Herv. Sag. p. antiquis (quod unum apud 
 
 178. Bartholin. Cauf. illos memorial et annalium 
 
 Contemp. a Dan. ^c. genus ejl) tuijlonem^ &c, 
 
 p. 172. Tac. Germ. c. 10. 
 
 t Stephan in not. ad T. 
 Saxon, p. 12. 
 
 yerfes
 
 verfes the exploits of Harold and thirty 
 of his predeceflbrs ; another called EY- 
 vi ND, compofed an historical poem which 
 went back as far as Odin. Such are the 
 fources whence Saxo drew his materials for 
 the firft fix or feven books of his hiftory, 
 and he might doubtlefs have derived great 
 affiftance from them, if he had not hap- 
 pened to live in an age wholly deftitute 
 of that exact fkill in criticifm, which 
 knows how to feparate facts from the 
 fictions with which they are blended. 
 
 The neceflity there was for poets, the 
 natural attractions of the art itielf, and 
 thofe it derived from the manners of the 
 age, greatly multiplied the number of 
 SCALDS. An ancient Icelandic manufcript 
 has preferved a lift of all fuch as diftin- 
 guimed themfelves in the three northern 
 kingdoms, from the reign of Regner Lod- 
 brog to that of Valdemar II.* They are in 
 number two hundred and thirty, among 
 whom we find more than one crowned head. 
 Hut what is not lefs remarkable is, that the 
 greateft part of them are natives of Iceland. 
 The reader has doubtlefs by this time obfer- 
 ved that we are indebted to that ifland for 
 almoft all the hiflorical monuments of the 
 
 * Viz. from A. D. 750, to 1157. Vide SCALDA- 
 TAL in Append, ad Lit. Run. Ol. Worm. p. 242. 
 
 Chap. XIII. C c 4 nor-
 
 ( 392 ) 
 
 northern nations now remaining. It cannot 
 eafily be accounted for how it came to 
 pafs, that a people disjoined from the 
 reft of the world, few in number, de- 
 prefTed by poverty, and fituated in fo un- 
 favourable a climate, mould be capable in 
 thofe dark ages, of manifefting fuch a tafle 
 for literature, and mould even rife to 
 the perception *of the more refined men- 
 tal pleafures. While they were heathens, 
 the Icelandic annalifts were always deem- 
 ed the bed in the North. After they 
 had embraced the Chriftian faith, they 
 were the firil who thought of unravelling 
 the chaos of ancient hiftory, who collected 
 the old poems, digefted the chronicles into 
 a regular form, and applied themfelves to 
 refcue from oblivion the traditions of their 
 pagan theology. Were we better informed 
 of certain particulars relating to the ftate 
 of the North during thofe remote ages, we 
 mi jht pcffibly find the caufe of this phe- 
 nomenon either in the poverty of the inha- 
 bitants of Iceland, which drove them to 
 feek their fortunes at the neighbouring 
 courts i Or in the faccefs of their firft bards, 
 which excited their emulation, and at the 
 fame time prepoiierTed ftrangers in their fa- 
 vour -, Or laftly, in the nature of their re- 
 publican government, in which the talent 
 of oratory and the reputation of fuperior 
 
 fenfc
 
 ( 393 ) 
 
 fbnfe and capacity are the direct roads to 
 refpect and preferment. 
 
 The ftile of thefe ancient poems is very 
 enigmatical and figurative, very remote 
 from the common language, and for that 
 reafon, grand, but tumid j fublime, but 
 obfcure. If it be the character of po- 
 etry to have nothing in common with 
 profe, if the language of the Gods ought 
 to be quite different from that of men, if 
 every thing mould be exprefTed by imagery, 
 figures, hyperboles, and allegories, the 
 Scandinavians may rank in the higheft clafs 
 of poets : Nor is this unaccountable. The 
 foaring flights of fancy may poffibly more 
 peculiarly belong to a rude and uncultivated, 
 than to a civilized people. The great ob- 
 jects of nature flrike more forcibly on rude 
 imaginations. Their pafiions are not im- 
 paired by the constraint of laws and edu- 
 cation. The paucity of their ideas and the 
 barrennefs of their language oblige them to 
 borrow from all nature, images fit to cloath 
 their conceptions in. How mould abftract 
 terms and reflex ideas, which fo much 
 enervate our poetry, be found in theirs ? 
 They could feldom have been met with in 
 their moft familiar conventions. The 
 moment the foul, reflecting on its own 
 operations recurs inwards, and detaches it- 
 felf from exterior objects, the imagination 
 
 Chap. XIII. lofes
 
 ( 394 ) 
 
 lofes its energy, the paffions their activity, 
 the mind becomes fevere, and requires 
 ideas rather than fenfations ; language then 
 becomes precife and cautious, and poetry 
 being no longer the child of pure paffion, 
 is able to affect but feebly. If it be aiked, 
 what is become of that magic power which 
 the ancients attributed to this art ? It may 
 be well faid to exift no more. The poetry 
 of the modern languages is nothing more 
 than reaibning in rhime, addreffed to the 
 understanding, but very little to the heart. 
 No longer effentially connected with reli- 
 gion, politics or morality, it is at prefent, 
 if I may fo fay, a mere private art, an 
 amufement that attains its end when it 
 hath gained the cold approbation of a few 
 felecl: judges. &C<V^ "***-* ^A**^.^ - *^- &- 
 The moft affecting and moft Striking 
 paffages in the ancient northern poetry, 
 were luch as now feem to us the moft whim- 
 fical, unintelligible and overftrained : So 
 different are our modes of thinking from 
 theirs. We can admit of nothing but 
 what is accurate and perfpicuous. They 
 only required bold and aftoniming images 
 which appear to us hyperbolical and gi- 
 gantic. What alfo contributes to render 
 their poetry very obfcure at prefent, is that 
 the language of it is borrowed from their 
 mythology; a mythology not fo familiar to 
 
 us
 
 ( 395 ) 
 
 us as that of ,the Greeks and Romans. 
 When they did not allude to their own 
 fables, they took their metaphors from 
 other fubjefts, which were commonly very 
 far-fetched and remote : Thus a poet fel- 
 dom exprefled heaven by any other term 
 than c the fcull of the giant Ymer," al- 
 luding to a fable on that fubjecl. The 
 rain-bow was called " the bridge of the 
 " Gods :" Gold was " the tears of Freya:" 
 Poetry, " the prefent, or the drink of 
 " Odin." The earth was either indiffer- 
 ently " the fpoufe of Odin, The flem of 
 " Ymer, The daughter of the night, The 
 " veiTel which floats on the ages, Or the 
 " foundation of the air :" Herbs and plants 
 were called, " the hair or the fleece of 
 " the earth." A combat was termed " a 
 bath of blood, The hail of Odin, The 
 " fhock of bucklers:" The fea was " the 
 " field of pirates, and the girdle of the 
 " earth :" Ice, " the greateft of all 
 " bridges :" A fhip, " the horfe of the 
 " waves :" The tongue, " The fword of 
 " words," &c. Each of their deities 
 might be. exprefled by an infinite variety 
 of phrafes. In fhort, a peculiar ftudy of 
 this kind of language was neceflary to con- 
 ftitute a poet ; for which reafon they early 
 compofed a dictionary of it for the ufe 
 as well of the Scalds, as their readers. 
 Chap. XIII. The
 
 (396 ) 
 
 The fame Rogvald earl of the Orkneys, 
 before fpok en of, is laid to have compofed 
 a work of this fort, which, according to 
 Wormius, is ftill extant, under the name of 
 THE POETICAL KEY *. Another is found 
 at the end of the Icelandic EDDA, and is 
 in titled SCALD/,, or The art of Poetry. 
 This is a collection of epithets and fynoni- 
 mous words fele&ed from their beft poets, 
 very like thofe which are put .into v the. 
 hands of young people when they firft ap- 
 ply themfelves to Latin poetry. 
 
 Yet they fometimes compofed verfes in a 
 more fimple ftile, and nearer approaching to 
 common language; but this only happened 
 when in converfation a Scald, either to {hew 
 his happy talent, or to do more hoRour to 
 the perfon with whom he converfed, anfwer- 
 ed in extemporary metre. This fingular 
 mode of expreffing themfelves was very 
 common among the ancient Scandinavians, 
 and proves in what degree of efteem this 
 
 * Vid. Worm. Litter. tai, cor.fecijje dicitur, 
 
 Runic, p. 195. Rog- Habnh etiam ille in Pa~ 
 
 valdys Qrcadum comes, l&fiinam navigans itineris 
 
 princfps egregius, inter comites Rhyibfnijias duos 
 
 alias nobiles dotes^ quibus IJlandos^ qtti una cum ipfo 
 
 ornatus e/i, praftantijjimus res quoiidie gejtas rhytbmis 
 
 ft fr'owpt JJimus full Rhyth- comprehenderunt) et niagna 
 
 mljic, ,f/CLAVEM RHYTH- apud ilium in tcjii mat tone 
 
 MITICAM, qua adbuc ex- fucrunt, T. 
 
 people
 
 ( 397) 
 
 people held the art of poetry. The chro- 
 nicles have preferred a great number of 
 fuch converfations in verfe ; and there is 
 reafon to believe that thefe poems, which 
 might be fung at firfl and eafily committed 
 to memory, were oftentimes the text of 
 which fucceeding chronicles were nothing 
 more th?,n commentaries or expolitions. 
 There is no appearance that the verfes 
 were compofed by the authors of thofe 
 hiftories : They are never affigned to any 
 but the SCALDS by profeffion ; and are 
 quoted by the hiftorians as their proofs and 
 vouchers : And befides it is known to have 
 been ufual with the Scalds to interlard 
 their difcourfe with extemporary verfes. 
 There are to this day both in the North, in 
 Italy and in other countries, many famous 
 compofers of impromptu's. Thus it is 
 reported of an Icelandic bard, named Si- 
 VARD *, that when he fpoke in profe his 
 tongue feemed embarrafled and to deliver 
 his thoughts with difficulty, but that he 
 expreffed himfelf in verfe with the greated 
 fluency and eafe. The hiflorians frequently 
 and pofitively afTure us that thefe verfes 
 were fpoken off-hand. This is what is 
 remarked in the life of the poet EG ILL, 
 for inftance, who purchafed his pardon 
 
 * Vid. Olav. in Epift. apud Worm. Litter. Runic. 
 
 Chap. XIII. from
 
 (398 ) 
 
 from the king of Norway by iinging 
 an extemporary ode which ilill remains, 
 and is intitled THE RANSOM OF EGILL*. 
 The fame elogium is often given to an- 
 other more ancient Scald, called EYVIND, 
 and furnamed from his fuperior talents, 
 < The crofs of the poets." All the chro- 
 nicles mention his great facility in com- 
 poiing verfes, as a matter well known 
 throughout the North. 
 
 We muft not however infer, that thefe 
 poets were wholly unconfmed by rules, or 
 that even they were not under very fevere 
 ones : it is true, if Ave may credit Wor- 
 rnius, they were ignorant of the fhackles 
 of rhime, which have fo long galled mo- 
 dern poets -J-. But pombly this learned 
 
 man 
 
 febatur illud genus quo jam 
 ludunt nc/trates, totum ar- 
 lificium in opoiortXfVTois 
 ponentes. Meaning only 
 that there were 136 forts 
 of metre, without includ- 
 ing rhyme ; for he after- 
 wards gives a long poem 
 all in rhyme. But the 
 publifiier having inad- 
 vertently added in the 
 margin (by way of giv- 
 ing the contents of the 
 paragraph ) Modernum 
 Rhythml genus veterlbus in- 
 cdgnitum j fuperficial Rea- 
 ders 
 
 * Vid. Torf. H. I*, 
 torn. ii. p. 188. et feq. 
 t By way of Appendix 
 
 tO his LlTERATURA Ru- 
 
 NICA, Wormius has gi- 
 ven fome, of the laws of 
 the ancient Runic Poetry 
 communicated to him by 
 a friend : One of thefe is, 
 * Rhythmorutn v:terwn ;n- 
 ' finita fere ftmt genera, 
 4 vulgo tamen ufitatiorum 
 4 centum triginta fex ejje 
 ' putantur :" the author 
 adds by way of corollary 
 . . . Nee Inter hcec recen-
 
 ( 399 ) 
 
 man fhould rather have faid, that the old 
 northern poets did not always make ufe of 
 rhime ; for he even quotes, in the fame 
 treatife, ancient poems which are not only 
 in rhime, but even rhimed with the ut- 
 moft exadnefs *. BARTHOLIN has alfo 
 
 ders have been led into 
 the miftake, that Rhyme 
 was wholly unknown to 
 the northern SCALDS, 
 and by parity of reafon 
 to all the Gothic poets ; 
 whereas it was undoubt- 
 edly from thefe that this 
 modern ornament of 
 
 verfe derived its origin 
 and ufe. T. 
 
 * This is the famous 
 Ode of EGILL, mentioned 
 above ; which is not only 
 in fmgle, but double 
 rhymes. Take a ftanza 
 by way of fpecimen : 
 
 Raud hilmer hior 
 That var hrafn-agior 
 Flelnn hitte fior 
 Flugn drey fug fplor 
 Ol Flagds goto 
 Tharbioditr Jkota 
 Tbradnift NARA. 
 Nattuerd ara. 
 
 i e. The king dyed 
 his fword in crimfon ; 
 his fword that glutted 
 the hungry ravens. 
 The weapon aimed at 
 human life. The 
 bloody lances flew. 
 The commander of the 
 Scottifh fleet fed fat 
 the birds of prey. The 
 
 " fifterof NARA [Death] 
 '* trampled on the foe : 
 " file trampled on the 
 " evening food of the 
 " eagle." See FIVE 
 PIECES OF RUNIC PO- 
 ETRY, p. 52. 93. OLAII 
 WORM. LITERATUR. 
 RUNIC, p. 232. 
 
 Chap. XIII. 
 
 given
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 given us two little fongs in rhime, which 
 feem to be older than the tenth century}-. 
 It is probable that many more of the 
 fame age, are either totally loft or con- 
 cealed in manufcripts which I am unac- 
 quainted with. Since that time the poets 
 have more and more run into the ufe of 
 rhime. We find in the collection of an- 
 cient monuments, published by Mr. Bior- 
 ner, a pretty long poem, which, according 
 to that author, was writ in the twelfth or 
 thirteenth century this poem is not only 
 moft exactly and uniformly in rhime, but 
 the meafure feems to be much like what 
 we [the French] call heroic or Alexandrine 
 verfe. Some people have advanced that 
 rhime is of a very ancient date among the 
 Celtic nations ; but it is difficult to give 
 very folid proofs of this : it is however 
 likely enough, if we reflect that the Scan- 
 dinavians* were long acquainted with it, 
 and that there is no kind of harmony or 
 cadence more ilmple or more likely to catch 
 the ear. 
 
 f Vid. Olaf. Tryg- were a branch of the 
 
 guafon. Saa;a apud Bar- Celtes : One may how- 
 
 tholin. Cauf. contempt. ever infer from its being 
 
 a Dan. mortis, p. 8 1, et ufed among thofe nor- 
 
 p. 489. them tribes, that it early 
 
 * This is true, fup- prevailed among the other 
 
 pofing the Scandinavians Gothic nations. T. 
 
 It
 
 It is not eafy to difcover wherein con- 
 fifted the mechanifm and harmony of thofe 
 ancient verfes which were not in rhime. 
 The learned who have made the northern 
 languages their fludy, fancy they difcover 
 in fome of them the Saphic meafure, which 
 many Greek lyric poets and Horace in 
 Latin fo frequently chofe *. In others the 
 
 poet 
 
 * Dalin. Suea. Rik. 
 
 Hift. lib. viii. [This 
 
 refemblance to the Sap- 
 phic meafure, will I am 
 afraid be found only ima- 
 ginary. It may with 
 more certainty be affirm- 
 ed that the vaft variety of 
 metre ufed by the ancient 
 SCALDS may chiefly, if 
 not altogether be reduced 
 to different kinds of Al- 
 literation. In \Vormius 
 we have an exact analyfis 
 of one of thefe forts of 
 metre : in which it was 
 requifite that the ftanza 
 
 or ftrophe mould confift 
 of four diftichs, and each 
 verfe of fix fyllables. In 
 each diftich three words 
 at leaft were required to 
 begin with the fame let- 
 ters, (that is, two words 
 in one verfe, and one in 
 the other), that there 
 mould befides thi_s be two 
 correfpondent fyllables in 
 each verfe, and that none 
 of the correfpondcnces 
 ought immediately to fol- 
 low each other ; &c. as 
 in the following Latin 
 couplet : 
 
 GbriSTus Caput noSTrum 
 CorONet te bONis. 
 
 This appears to us at 
 prefent, to be only a very 
 laborious way of trifling ; 
 however we ought not to 
 
 VOL. I. Chap. XIII. 
 
 decide too haftily : every 
 language has its own pe-; 
 culiar laws of harmony j 
 and as the ancient Greeks 
 D d and
 
 poet feems to have tied himfelf up to begin 
 the two firft lines of each ftrophe with 
 the fame letters, and to confine his verfe 
 within fix fyllables. Others think they 
 obferve that the initial letters of the lines 
 
 correfpond 
 
 and Romans formed their 
 metre of certain artful 
 distributions of their long 
 and fhort fribbles: fo 
 the northern Scalds placed 
 the ftructure of theirs in 
 the ftudied repetition and 
 adaptation of the vowels 
 
 and confonants, The 
 
 fame mode 'of verification 
 was admired by our An- 
 glo-Saxon anceftors, and 
 hath not wholly Ken laid 
 afide much more than 
 two centuries among our 
 Englifli poets; fee * Re- 
 " liques of ancient Ensl. 
 poetry," Vol. II. p. 
 260. . It may not be 
 amifs to add, that the 
 metre of the WELSH 
 bards is altogether of the 
 alliterative kind, and full 
 as artificial as tha^of the 
 ancient Scandinavians : 
 Yet thofe who thoroughly 
 underftand that language, 
 aflcrt that this kind of 
 metre is extremely pleaf- 
 ing to the ear, and does 
 iiot fubjeft the poet to 
 
 more reftraint than the 
 different forts of feet did 
 the Greek and Roman 
 poets. 
 
 Perhaps it will not be 
 difficult to find the differ- 
 ence between tht metre 
 cf the ancient Claflics, 
 and that .of the Gothic 
 and Celtic bards, in the 
 different genius of their 
 refpeitive languages. The 
 Greek and Latin tongues 
 chiefly confifted of poly- 
 fyllables, of words ending 
 with vowels, and not o- 
 verburdened with confo- 
 nants : their poets there- 
 fore (if they would pro- 
 duce harmony) could not 
 but make their metre to 
 con ft ft in quantity, or the 
 artful difpofal of the long 
 and ibort fyllables ; 
 whereas ihe old Celtic 
 and Teutonic languages 
 being chiefly compofed of 
 monofyllables, cculd have 
 had hardly any luch. thing 
 as quantity, and on the 
 other hand abounding in 
 -hsrfh
 
 correfpond in many different refpects, 
 either in the fame or in different ftrophees. 
 The mod fkilful inveftigators of this fub- 
 jedl afTure us, that the poets perpetually 
 invented new meafures, and reckon up one 
 hundred and thirty-fix kinds *. The ex- 
 plication of them we mud leave to the 
 amduity of thofe who have reckoned them 
 up. 
 
 This tafte for the abftrufe and compli- 
 cated, could not fail of running them into 
 allegories and enigmas of every kind : We 
 often meet with princes and great warriors 
 in the ancient chronicles, propofing riddles 
 and affixing penalties on fuch as could 
 not unravel them. In the firft interview 
 king Regner had with the beautiful fhep- 
 herdefs before mentioned, he tried by 
 enigmas to difcover whether her wit was 
 aniwerable to her beauty. Another king, 
 named ERIC, rendered himfelf famous for 
 being able to give immediate anfwers to 
 thirty riddles, which Odin himfelf had 
 
 harfh confonants, the firft interweaving, repeating 
 effort of their bards to and dividing thefe fe- 
 reduce it to harmony muft vcral founds, as to pro- 
 have- been by placing duce an agreeable effedl 
 thefe confonants at fuch from their ftrudure. T. 
 distances from each other, * Worm. App. Litt. 
 fo intermixing them with Run. p. 165. rec. edit, 
 vowels, and fo artfully 
 
 Chap. XIII. D d 2 come
 
 come to propofe to him, having afTumed 
 the appearance of one GEST, a man ex- 
 tremely well verfed in this art. Thefe are 
 ftill extant in an old Icelandic romance*. 
 But excepting fome few, which are toler- 
 ably ingenious, they are either totally un- 
 intelligible, or built on verbal equivoca^ 
 tions. The poets were not limited to this 
 kind only. There is mention made from 
 the earlieft ages "of LOGOGRYPHS -f-, and 
 other {till- more trifling fpecies of wit, for 
 which we happily want even names. Some 
 of them muft have coft much labour, and 
 all imply fuch an acutenefs and patience in 
 the inventors, as would hardly be expeded 
 from a nation of warriors. 
 
 In regard to the old poems, all that is moft 
 needful to be known about them, is the 
 peculiar genius, manner and tafte that runs 
 through them. Some of them prefent us 
 with the faithful and genuine mode of 
 thinking of thofe times, but they are of- 
 ten difficult to underftand, and ftill more 
 to tranflate. JNeverthelefs, to fatisfy the 
 
 * Vid. Hervarer Saga, ent parts of the fame 
 
 c, xv. word. See inftances of 
 
 f A LOGOGRYPH is a this fpecies of falfe wit 
 
 Jcind of enigma, which in Ol. Wormii Literal, 
 
 tonfifb of taking, in dif- Runic, p. 183, 185, &c. 
 
 ferent fqnfes, the differ- T. 
 
 curiofity
 
 ( 405 ) 
 
 cunofity of thofe readers who like to view 
 the original manners and fpirit of a people, 
 I have endeavoured to tranflate fuch frag- 
 ments of ancient northern poetry as would 
 beft anfwer this purpofe. Thefe tranfla- 
 tions, together with a few explanatory 
 notes, will be thrown to the end by way 
 of fequel, and as affording vouchers to this 
 little work. 
 
 THERE remains now but one word to 
 add by way of CONCLUSION. When 
 the truth of fads is once folidly eftablimed, 
 we may fafely reafon concerning their 
 caufes. From a reprefentation of fuch 
 facts, (which are here only brought toge- 
 ther and left to fpeak for themfelves) a 
 picture has been given of the ancient 
 northern nations. But having thus in- 
 formed ourfelves concerning the manners 
 of this people; why may not we proceed a 
 flep farther, to confider the general caufes of 
 their character. It does not feem impofiible 
 here to difcover and perfue the path which 
 nature hath taken. A great abundance of 
 blood and humours, ftrong and rigid fibres, 
 together with an inexhauftible vigour, 
 formed the conftitutional temperament of 
 the Scandinavians and Germans, as they do 
 Chap. XIII. D d 3 indeed
 
 indeed of all favage people who live under 
 a like climate*. 
 
 Hence proceeded that impetuofity and 
 violence of their paffions when they were 
 once roufed ; and hence in their calmer 
 moments that ferious, phlegmatic and in- 
 dolent turn. The exercifes of war and the 
 chace, which are great fatigues to a lefs 
 robuft people, were to them only amufe- 
 ments, the means of making off their 
 lethargy, and of giving an agreeable and 
 even neceffary motion to the body. Their 
 relifli for this kind of life, the efFedt of 
 
 * SubSeptentrionibus nu- 
 tr'mntur gentcs immani- 
 bus corporibitS) eandidis co~ 
 loribus^ fanguine multo, 
 quoniam ab humoris pleni- 
 tate, ccetique refrigera- 
 tionibus funt confirmati. 
 Sanguinis abundantid ferro 
 refijlunt fine tlmore, . . . 
 )ui refrigeratis nafcuntur 
 regionibus ad armorum ve- 
 hementlam paratlores funt^ 
 magnifque vlribus ruunt 
 fine timore^ fed tarditate 
 antml refringuntur. Vi- 
 truv. lib. vi. The an-' 
 cients bear witnefs to 
 tbefe aflertions ; The 
 fentiments of Vitruvius 
 are here nothing more 
 
 than their general opi- 
 nion. [Let the reader 
 caft his eye over the fol- 
 lowing paflages. Septen- 
 trionales populi largo fan- 
 guine redundantes. Veget. 
 I, 2. Got hi confcientia 
 virium freti, robore cor- 
 poris validi) manu prompti, 
 Ifidor. Chronic, p. 730. 
 Germanicee nationes^ fes- 
 vijfimis duratee frigoribus, 
 msrts ex ipfo cceli rigore 
 traxerunt. Ifid. Orig. 
 lib. ix. cap. 2. Scytha 
 gens laboribus et bellls af- 
 pera : vires corporum im~ 
 menfez. Juftin. lib. ii. 
 cap. 3. Fir/I Edit.] 
 
 confti-
 
 ( 407 ) 
 
 conftitution, {lengthened in its turn the 
 caufe that produced it. Thus ftrongly 
 moulded by the hand of nature, and ren- 
 dered hardy by education, the opinion they 
 entertained of their own courage and 
 ftrength muft have given the peculiar turn 
 to their character. A man who thinks he 
 has nothing to fear, cannot endure any 
 fort of conftraint ; much lefs will he fubmit 
 to any arbitrary authority, which he fees 
 only fupported by human power, or fuch 
 as he can brave with impunity. As he 
 thinks himfelf not obliged to court any 
 one's favour or deprecate his refentment, 
 he fcorns difTimulation, artifice or falmood. 
 He regards thefe faults, the effects of fear, 
 as the moft degrading of all others. He is 
 always ready to repel force by force ; hence 
 he is neither fufpicious nor diftruftful. A 
 declared enemy to his enemy, he attacks 
 openly; he confides in and is true to others ; 
 generous and fometimes in the higheft de- 
 gree magnanimous, becaufe he places his 
 dcareft intereft in the idea he entertains 
 and would excite of his courage. He does 
 not willingly confine himfelf to fuch occu- 
 pations as require more affiduity than ac- 
 tion, more application of mind than body; 
 becaufe moderate exercife is not fufficient to 
 put his blood and fibres into fuch a degree 
 of motion as is neceflary to his own eafe. 
 Chap. XIII. D d 4 Hence
 
 Hence that diftafte for the arts ; and as the 
 paflions always endeavour to juftify them- 
 felves, hence alfo that contempt and preju- 
 dice which reprefents the profcffion of the 
 arts as difhonourable.-^ War then becomes 
 the only employment he can exercife with 
 pleafure. The frequent and extreme vi- 
 cimtudes, the fatigues and dangers at- 
 tendant on this way of life, are alone 
 able to throw him into thofe violent and 
 continual agitations his habit of body re- 
 quires. Now if we fuppofe after this a 
 whole fociety compofed of fuch men, to 
 what a degree of emulation muft their eou- 
 rage arife ? The love of diftinction fo na- 
 tural to all men, having here no other 
 object than perfonal valour, with what ar- 
 dour muft that quality have been cultivated 
 and cherimed ? The love of arms becom- 
 ing thus their ruling and univerfal pafiion, 
 would foon characterife their religion, dic- 
 tate their laws, and in fhort form their 
 prejudices and opinions, which decide every 
 thing among mankind. 
 
 But it may be objected, that if the man- 
 ners and character of the ancient northern 
 people proceeded fo much from the climate, 
 as the fame caufe ftill operate.;, why is the 
 effect altered? This is only a fpecious 
 :;uhy. A nation is never folely in- 
 . / climate, except in its infancy; 
 
 while
 
 ( 409 ) 
 
 while it is uncultivated and barbarous, it 
 is only guided by inftinct ; the objects of 
 fenfe and the modes of living being as yet 
 fimple and uniform. When after fome ages, 
 reafon has been expanded by experience 
 and reflection, when legiflators have arifen, 
 who either by the native force of genius, 
 or by obferving the manners of other na- 
 tions, have fo enlarged their underftand- 
 ings as to perceive the neceffity of a change 
 of manners, it is then that a new fyftern 
 of principles combat, and either divide the 
 empire with, or totally triumph over the 
 firft phyfkal caufes. Such was the imme- 
 diate effect of Chriflianity in the North, an, 
 event which, confidered only in a philo- 
 fophical light, mould be ever regarded as 
 the dawn of thofe happy days, which were 
 afterwards to mine out with fuperior fplen- 
 dour. In effect, this religion, which tended 
 to correct the abufe of licentious liberty, 
 to banifh bloody diffentions from among 
 individuals, to reftrain robberies and pi- 
 racy, foftening the ferocity of manners, 
 requiring a certain knowledge of letters and 
 hiftory, re-eftabliming a part of mankind, 
 who groaned under a miserable flavery, in 
 their natural rights, introducing a relimfor 
 a life of peace, and an idea of happinefs 
 independant of fenfual gratifications, lowed 
 the .feeds, if I muy fo fpeak, of that new 
 Chap. XIII. fpirit,
 
 jpirit, which grew to maturity in the fuo 
 ceeding ages, and to which the arts and 
 fciences fpringing up along with it, added 
 frill more flrength and vigour. 
 
 But after all, is it very certain, as the ob- 
 jection fuppofes, that the climate of Europe 
 hath not undergone a change fince the times 
 we fpeak of ? Thofe who have read the an- 
 cients with attention, think differently, and 
 conclude, that the degrees of cold are at 
 this time much lefs fevere than they were 
 formerly. This is not a place to enlarge 
 on a fubjecl: which might appear foreign to 
 the work *. Let it fuffice to obferve, that 
 the rivers in Gaul, namely, the LOIRE and 
 the RHONE were regularly frozen over every 
 year, fo that frequently whole armies with 
 their carriages and baggage could march 
 over them -f-. Even the TYBER froze at 
 Rome, and Juvenal fays pofitively, that it 
 was requifite to break the ice in winter, in 
 order to come at the water of that river . 
 
 jf 
 
 Many 
 
 * L'Hiftoire des Cel- v. Dion alfo mentions 
 
 tes, torn. i. c. 12. maybe the coldnefs of Gaul, 
 
 confulted in this matter, lib. Ixxix. and Statius in 
 
 f Vid. Diod. Sic. lib. Sylv. lib. x. carm. i. 
 
 Hybernum fratta glac'ie dcfcendct in amnem^ 
 
 Ter matutino Tyberi mcrgetur. Juv. Sat. 6. 
 
 The abbe du Bos, from TYBER at Rome now 
 whom this quotation is freezes no more than the 
 borrowed, adds, that the NILE at Grand Cairo, 
 
 and
 
 Many pafiages in Horace fuppofe the ftreets 
 of Rome to be full of ice and fnow*. 
 Ovid afiures us, that the Black Sea was 
 frozen annually, and 'appeals for the truth 
 of this to the governour of the province, 
 whofe name he mentions : he alfo relates 
 feveral circumftances concerning that cli- 
 mate, which at prefent agree only with Nor- 
 way or Sweden . The forefts of Thrace 
 and Pannonia were full of white ' bears 
 and white boars, in like manner as now 
 the forefts of the North -f*. The northern 
 
 part 
 
 and that the Romans 
 reckon it a very rigorous 
 winter if the fnow lies 
 two days on the ground 
 unmelted, and if there is 
 any ice on the fountains 
 which are exppfed to the 
 North. 
 
 * See in particular lib. 
 ii. fat. 3 et 6. 
 
 J Vid. Trift. lib. iii. 
 eleg. 9. De Ponto. lib. iv. 
 eleg. 7. 9. 10. Tourne- 
 fort, a native of Pro- 
 vence, fays in his Voy- 
 ages, that there is no part 
 of the world where the 
 climate is more mild, nor 
 the fruits more abundant 
 than in THRACE ; and 
 that the BLACK SEA is 
 now never frozen. Yet 
 
 Chap. XIII, 
 
 Pliny, Herodian, Strabo, 
 and other authors ex- 
 prefsly fay, that THRACE 
 is in a moft frightful cli- 
 mate, that the inhabitants 
 are forced to bury in the 
 earth and to cover over 
 with dung, during the 
 winter, all the fruit-trees 
 they wifh to preferve. 
 Ovid and Strabo agree in 
 faying, that the countries 
 about the Borifthenes and 
 the Cimmerian Bofpho- 
 rus are both uninhabited 
 and uninhabitable by rea- 
 fon of the cold. Vid. 
 Plin. lib. xv. c. 18. He- 
 rodian. lib. i. p. 26. Stra- 
 bo 1 1. Ovid. Trift. lib. 
 iii. 
 
 t Vid. Paufan. Arcad.
 
 ( 412 ) 
 
 part of Spain was little inhabited for the 
 fame caufe*. In fhort, all the ancients 
 who mention the climate of Gaul, Ger- 
 many, Pannonia ancrThrace, fpeak of it as 
 infupportable -f-, and agree that the ground 
 was covered with fnow the greateft part of 
 the year, being incapable of producing 
 olives, grapes, and moft other fruits. It is 
 eafy to conceive that the forefts being 
 cleared away, the face of the country bet- 
 ter cultivated, and the marfhy places 
 drained, the moift exhalations which 
 generate cold, muft be considerably lef- 
 fened, and that the rays of the fun mufl 
 have a freer accefs to warm the earth. 
 The fame thing has happened in North 
 America fince the Europeans have carried 
 
 c. xii. The Gaulifh and 
 German horfes were very 
 fmall and ill-made, as are 
 thefe of the coldeft parts 
 of Scandinavia, which 
 M. Buffon attributes to 
 the fevere cold of thofe 
 countries. V. Hift. Nat. 
 torn. iv. du Cheval. Equi 
 non forma confpicui. Tac. 
 Germ. Jumenta Germa- 
 nis parva et deformia. 
 Csefar. de bell. Gallic, 
 lib. xiv. 
 
 * Vid. Strab. lib. iii. 
 
 . [Polybius fpeaks 
 
 of Arcadia itfelf as fituate 
 
 under a cold and humid 
 
 climate. Lib. iv. c. 21. 
 
 Firfl Edit.} 
 
 f )uid tflis locis afpe- 
 rius ? Cicer. Sithonia 
 nix. Gennania informis 
 terris. Afpsra ccelo. Ger- 
 mania frugiferarum arbo- 
 rum impatient. Tacitus 
 paflim. Gallica byemefrt- 
 gidior. Petronius. Scy- 
 thico quid frigore pejus. 
 Ovid, &c. 
 
 Firji Edit. 
 
 there
 
 (413 ) 
 
 there their wonted induftry *. The hi~ 
 ftory of the North leaves us no room to 
 doubt, that there have been vaft forefts cut 
 down, and by this fingle means extenfive 
 marfhes have been dried up and converted 
 into land fit for cultivation. Without 
 mentioning the general caufes which in- 
 fenfibly effect the destruction of forefts, it 
 was common to fet thefe on fire in order 
 to procure fertile fields. This was fo ufual 
 a practice in SWEDEN, that this country is 
 fuppofed to have taken its name from 
 thence -f-. A king of that country was 
 
 * " Our colonies in 
 " North- America" (fays 
 a learned Englifhman) 
 " become more tcm- 
 < e perate in proportion 
 " as we cut down the 
 <c forefts j but they are 
 * c in general colder than 
 " the countries of Eu- 
 " rope fituated under the 
 " fame latitude." Vid. 
 Hume's Political Dif- 
 courf, Difc. jo. p. 246. 
 Father Charlevoix ob- 
 ferves the fame of Ca- 
 nada. " Experience," 
 fays he, " puts it paft 
 " contradiction, that the 
 c< cold decreafes in pro- 
 " portion as the country 
 
 Chap. XIII. 
 
 " is difcovered," &c. 
 Journal Hiftorique d' un 
 Voyage en Amerique. 
 Lettre X. p. 188. 
 
 f From the old Cim- 
 bric word SUIDIA to 
 burn : Hence lands 
 cleared away and pre- 
 pared for cultivation are 
 cajled in the North 
 Suidior and Suidioland. 
 The fame derivation 
 holds in the German di- 
 alect ; Sueden from Sueda, 
 to burn. Vid. Olai 
 Vereli Notae in Hift. 
 Gotr. et Rolv. p. 9. 
 1664. I2mo. 
 
 T. 
 
 furnamed
 
 ( 4 J 4 ) 
 
 furnamed the WOOD-CUTTER, for having 
 grubbed up and cleared vaft provinces, and 
 felled the trees with which it was all 
 covered. Nor were they lefs cleared away 
 in Norway and Denmark. Thus a change 
 in the climate muft long have preceded 
 that in the manners. 
 
 What conclulion ought we to draw from 
 all this ? If for theie fifteen or fixteen 
 centuries, the arts, fciences, induftry and 
 politenefs have been inceflantly advancing 
 in the north of Europe, we cannot but 
 evidently difcover three caufes of this, 
 which, though different in their natures, 
 have yet been productive of the fame effect. 
 The firft is that reftlefsnefs natural to the 
 people of all nations, but which acls more 
 forceably on the inhabitants of Europe, and 
 is ever urging them to exchange their pre- 
 fent condition, in hopes of a better : the 
 fecond, flower but equally fure, is the 
 change of climate : the third, more fen- 
 fible, more expeditious, but more acci- 
 dental, is that communication formed 
 between mankind by commerce and reli- 
 gion, and cemented by a thonfand new 
 relations ; which has in a fhort time tranf- 
 ported from the South into the North new 
 arts, manners and opinions. Thefe three 
 caufes have continually operated, and the 
 
 face
 
 ( 4-5 ) 
 
 face of Scandinavia changes daily. It al- 
 ready fhines with fomewhat more than 
 borrowed lights. Time produces ftrange 
 revolutions. Who knows whether the Sun 
 will not one day rife in the NORTH ? 
 
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