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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: In Northern Mists (Volume 1 of 2) - Arctic Exploration in Early Times - -Author: Fridtjof Nansen - -Translator: Arthur G. Chater - -Release Date: September 1, 2012 [EBook #40633] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN NORTHERN MISTS (VOLUME 1 OF 2) *** - - - - -Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - - - - -IN NORTHERN MISTS - - - - -[Illustration: - - "THE GOLDEN CLOUDS CURTAINED THE DEEP WHERE IT LAY, - AND IT LOOKED LIKE AN EDEN AWAY, FAR AWAY"] - - - - - IN NORTHERN MISTS - - ARCTIC EXPLORATION IN EARLY TIMES - - - BY FRIDTJOF NANSEN - G.C.V.O., D.Sc., D.C.L., Ph.D., - PROFESSOR OF OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE - UNIVERSITY OF CHRISTIANIA, ETC. - - - TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR G. CHATER - - ILLUSTRATED - - VOLUME ONE - - LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN: MCMXI - - - - - PRINTED BY - BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD - AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS - TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN - LONDON - - - - -PREFACE - - -This book owes its existence in the first instance to a rash promise made -some years ago to my friend Dr. J. Scott Keltie, of London, that I would -try, when time permitted, to contribute a volume on the history of arctic -voyages to his series of books on geographical exploration. The subject -was an attractive one; I thought I was fairly familiar with it, and did -not expect the book to take a very long time when once I made a start with -it. On account of other studies it was a long while before I could do -this; but when at last I seriously took the work in hand, the subject in -return monopolised my whole powers. - -It appeared to me that the natural foundation for a history of arctic -voyages was in the first place to make clear the main features in the -development of knowledge of the North in early times. By tracing how ideas -of the Northern World, appearing first in a dim twilight, change from age -to age, how the old myths and creations of the imagination are constantly -recurring, sometimes in new shapes, and how new ones are added to them, we -have a curious insight into the working of the human mind in its endeavour -to subject to itself the world and the universe. - -But as I went deeper into the subject I became aware that the task was far -greater than I had supposed: I found that much that had previously been -written about it was not to be depended upon; that frequently one author -had copied another, and that errors and opinions which had once gained -admission remained embedded in the literary tradition. What had to be done -was to confine one's self to the actual sources, and as far as possible to -build up independently the best possible structure from the very -foundation. But the more extensive my studies became, the more riddles I -perceived--riddle after riddle led to new riddles, and this drew me on -farther and farther. - -On many points I arrived at views which to some extent conflicted with -those previously held. This made it necessary to give, not merely the bare -results, but also a great part of the investigations themselves. I have -followed the words of Niebuhr, which P. A. Munch took as a motto for "Det -norske Folks Historie": - -"Ich werde suchen die Kritik der Geschichte nicht nach dunkeln Gefühlen, -sondern forschend, auszuführen, nicht ihre Resultate, welche nur blinde -Meinungen stiften, sondern die Untersuchungen selbst in ihrem ganzen -Umfange vortragen." - -But in this way my book has become something quite different from what was -intended, and far larger. I have not reached the history of arctic voyages -proper. - -Many may think that too much has been included here, and yet what it has -been possible to mention here is but an infinitesimal part of the mighty -labour in vanished times that makes up our knowledge of the North. The -majority of the voyages, and those the most important, on which the first -knowledge was based, have left no certain record; the greatest steps have -been taken by unknown pioneers, and if a halo has settled upon a name here -and there, it is the halo of legend. - -My investigations have made it necessary to go through a great mass of -literature, for which I lacked, in part, the linguistic qualifications. -For the study of classical, and of mediæval Latin literature, I found in -Mr. Amund Sommerfeldt a most able assistant, and most of the translations -of Greek and Latin authors are due to him. By his sound and sober -criticism of the often difficult original texts he was of great help to -me. - -In the study of Arabic literature Professor Alexander Seippel has afforded -me excellent help, combined with interest in the subject, and he has -translated for me the statements of Arab authors about the North. - -In the preparation of this work, as so often before, I owe a deep debt of -gratitude to my old friend, Professor Moltke Moe. He has followed my -studies from the very beginning with an interest that was highly -stimulating; with his extensive knowledge in many fields bordering on -those studies he has helped me by word and deed, even more often than -appears in the course of the book. His intimate acquaintance with the -whole world of myth has been of great importance to the work in many ways; -I will mention in particular his large share in the attempt at unravelling -the difficult question of Wineland and the Wineland voyages. Here his -concurrence was the more valuable to me since at first he disagreed with -the conclusions and views at which I had arrived; but the constantly -increasing mass of evidence, which he himself helped in great measure to -collect, convinced him of their justice, and I have the hope that the -inquiry, particularly as regards this subject, will prove to be of value -to future historical research. - -With his masterly knowledge and insight Professor Alf Torp has given me -sound support and advice, especially in difficult linguistic and -etymological questions. Many others, whose names are mentioned in the -course of the book, have also given me valuable assistance. - -I owe special thanks to Dr. Axel Anthon Björnbo, Librarian of the Royal -Library of Copenhagen, for his willing collaboration, which has been of -great value to me. While these investigations of mine were in progress, he -has been occupied in the preparation of his exhaustive and excellent work -on the older cartography of Greenland. At his suggestion we have exchanged -our manuscripts, and have mutually criticised each other's views according -to our best ability; the book will show that this has been productive in -many ways. Dr. Björnbo has also assisted me in another way: I have, for -instance, obtained copies of several old maps through him. He has, -besides, sent me photographs of vignettes and marginal drawings from -ancient Icelandic and Norwegian MSS. in the Library of Copenhagen. - -Mr. K. Eriksen has drawn the greater part of the reproductions of the -vignettes and the old maps; other illustrations are drawn by me. In the -reproduction of the maps it has been sought rather to bring before the -reader in a clear form the results to which my studies have led than to -produce detailed facsimiles of the originals. - -In conclusion I wish to thank Mr. Arthur G. Chater for the careful and -intelligent way in which he has executed the English translation. In -reading the English proofs I have taken the opportunity of making a number -of corrections and additions to the original text. - -FRIDTJOF NANSEN - -Lysaker, August 1911 - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - - INTRODUCTION 1 - - I. ANTIQUITY, BEFORE PYTHEAS 7 - - II. PYTHEAS OF MASSALIA: THE VOYAGE TO THULE 43 - - III. ANTIQUITY, AFTER PYTHEAS 74 - - IV. THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 125 - - V. THE AWAKENING OF MEDIÆVAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NORTH 168 - - VI. FINNS, SKRIDFINNS [LAPPS], AND THE FIRST SETTLEMENT - OF SCANDINAVIA 203 - - VII. THE VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN: DISCOVERY OF ICELAND - AND GREENLAND 233 - - VIII. VOYAGES TO THE UNINHABITED PARTS OF GREENLAND IN - THE MIDDLE AGES 279 - - IX. WINELAND THE GOOD, THE FORTUNATE ISLES, AND THE - DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 312 - - - - -[Illustration] - - -INTRODUCTION - - "For my purpose holds - To sail beyond the sunset and the baths - Of all the Western stars until I die." - Tennyson, "Ulysses." - - -In the beginning the world appeared to mankind like a fairy tale; -everything that lay beyond the circle of familiar experience was a -shifting cloudland of the fancy, a playground for all the fabled beings of -mythology; but in the farthest distance, towards the west and north, was -the region of darkness and mists, where sea, land and sky were merged into -a congealed mass--and at the end of all gaped the immeasurable mouth of -the abyss, the awful void of space. - -Out of this fairy world, in course of time, the calm and sober lines of -the northern landscape appeared. With unspeakable labour the eye of man -has forced its way gradually towards the north, over mountains and -forests, and tundra, onward through the mists along the vacant shores of -the polar sea--the vast stillness, where so much struggle and suffering, -so many bitter failures, so many proud victories, have vanished without a -trace, muffled beneath the mantle of snow. - -When our thoughts go back through the ages in a waking dream, an endless -procession passes before us--like a single mighty epic of the human -mind's power of devotion to an idea, right or wrong--a procession of -struggling, frost-covered figures in heavy clothes, some erect and -powerful, others weak and bent so that they can scarcely drag themselves -along before the sledges, many of them emaciated and dying of hunger, cold -and scurvy; but all looking out before them towards the unknown, beyond -the sunset, where the goal of their struggle is to be found. - -We see a Pytheas, intelligent and courageous, steering northward from the -Pillars of Hercules for the discovery of Britain and Northern Europe; we -see hardy Vikings, with an Ottar, a Leif Ericson at their head, sailing in -undecked boats across the ocean into ice and tempest and clearing the -mists from an unseen world; we see a Davis, a Baffin forcing their way to -the north-west and opening up new routes, while a Hudson, unconquered by -ice and winter, finds a lonely grave on a deserted shore, a victim of -shabby pilfering. We see the bright form of a Parry surpassing all as he -forces himself on; a Nordenskiöld, broad-shouldered and confident, leading -the way to new visions; a Toll mysteriously disappearing in the drifting -ice. We see men driven to despair, shooting and eating each other; but at -the same time we see noble figures, like a De Long, trying to save their -journals from destruction, until they sink and die. - -Midway in the procession comes a long file of a hundred and thirty men -hauling heavy boats and sledges back to the south, but they are falling in -their tracks; one after another they lie there, marking the line of route -with their corpses--they are Franklin's men. - -And now we come to the latest drama, the Greenlander Brönlund dragging -himself forward over the ice-fields through cold and winter darkness, -after the leader Mylius-Erichsen and his comrade, Hagen, have both -stiffened in the snow during the long and desperate journey. He reaches -the depot only to wait for death, knowing that the maps and observations -he has faithfully brought with him will be found and saved. He quietly -prepares himself for the silent guest, and writes in his journal in his -imperfect Danish: - - Perished,--79 Fjord, after attempt return over the inland ice, in - November. I come here in waning moon and could not get farther for - frost-bitten feet and darkness. - - The bodies of the others are in the middle of the fjord opposite the - glacier (about 2-1/2 leagues). - - Hagen died November 15 and Mylius about 10 days after. - - JÖRGEN BRÖNLUND. - -What a story in these few lines! Civilisation bows its head by the grave -of this Eskimo. - -What were they seeking in the ice and cold? The Norseman who wrote the -"King's Mirror" gave the answer six hundred years ago: "If you wish to -know what men seek in this land, or why men journey thither in so great -danger of their lives, then it is the threefold nature of man which draws -him thither. One part of him is emulation and desire of fame, for it is -man's nature to go where there is likelihood of great danger, and to make -himself famous thereby. Another part is the desire of knowledge, for it is -man's nature to wish to know and see those parts of which he has heard, -and to find out whether they are as it was told him or not. The third part -is the desire of gain, seeing that men seek after riches in every place -where they learn that profit is to be had, even though there be great -danger in it." - -The history of arctic discovery shows how the development of the human -race has always been borne along by great illusions. Just as Columbus's -discovery of the West Indies was due to a gross error of calculation, so -it was the fabled isle of Brazil that drew Cabot out on his voyage, when -he found North America. It was fantastic illusions of open polar seas and -of passages to the riches of Cathay beyond the ice that drove men back -there in spite of one failure after another; and little by little the -polar regions were explored. Every complete devotion to an idea yields -some profit, even though it be different from that which was expected. - -But from first to last the history of polar exploration is a single mighty -manifestation of the power of the unknown over the mind of man, perhaps -greater and more evident here than in any other phase of human life. -Nowhere else have we won our way more slowly, nowhere else has every new -step cost so much trouble, so many privations and sufferings, and -certainly nowhere have the resulting discoveries promised fewer material -advantages--and nevertheless, new forces have always been found ready to -carry the attack farther, to stretch once more the limits of the world. - -But if it has cost a struggle, it is not without its joys. Who can -describe his emotion when the last difficult ice-floe has been passed, and -the sea lies open before him, leading to new realms? Or when the mist -clears and mountain-summits shoot up, one behind another farther and -farther away, on which the eye of man has never rested, and in the -farthest distance peaks appear on the sea-horizon--on the sky above them a -yellowish white reflection of the snow-fields--where the imagination -pictures new continents?... - -Ever since the Norsemen's earliest voyages arctic expeditions have -certainly brought material advantages to the human race, such as rich -fisheries, whaling and sealing, and so on; they have produced scientific -results in the knowledge of hitherto unknown regions and conditions; but -they have given us far more than this: they have tempered the human will -for the conquest of difficulties; they have furnished a school of -manliness and self-conquest in the midst of the slackness of varying ages, -and have held up noble ideals before the rising generation; they have fed -the imagination, have given fairy-tales to the child, and raised the -thoughts of its elders above their daily toil. Take arctic travel out of -our history, and will it not be poorer? Perhaps we have here the greatest -service it has done humanity. - -We speak of the first discovery of the North--but how do we know when the -first man arrived in the northern regions of the earth? We know nothing -but the very last steps in the migrations of humanity. What a stretch of -time there must have been between the period of the Neanderthal man in -Europe and the first Pelasgians, or Iberians, or Celts, that we find there -in the neolithic age, in the earliest dawn of history. How infinitesimal -in comparison with this the whole of the recent period which we call -history becomes. - -What took place in those long ages is still hidden from us. We only know -that ice-age followed ice-age, covering Northern Europe, and to some -extent Asia and North America as well, with vast glaciers which -obliterated all traces of early human habitation of those regions. Between -these ice-ages occurred warmer periods, when men once more made their way -northward, to be again driven out by the next advance of the ice-sheet. -There are many signs that the human northward migration after the last -ice-age, in any case in large districts of Europe, followed fairly close -upon the gradual shrinking of the boundary of the inland ice towards the -interior of Scandinavia, where the ice-sheath held out longest. - -The primitive state--when men wandered about the forests and plains of the -warmer parts of the earth, living on what they found by chance--developed -by slow gradations in the direction of the first beginnings of culture; on -one side to roving hunters and fishers, on the other to agricultural -people with a more fixed habitation. The nomad with his herds forms a -later stage of civilisation. - -The hunting stage of culture was imposed by necessity on the first -pioneers and inhabitants of the northernmost and least hospitable regions -of the earth. The northern lands must therefore have been first discovered -by roving fishermen who came northwards following the rivers and seashores -in their search for new fishing-grounds. It was the scouting eye of a -hunter that first saw a sea-beach in the dreamy light of a summer night, -and sought to penetrate the heavy gloom of the polar sea. And that -far-travelled hunter fell asleep in the snowdrift while the northern -lights played over him as a funeral fire, the first victim of the polar -night's iron grasp. - -Long afterwards came the nomad and the agriculturist and established -themselves in the track of the hunter. - -This was thousands of years before any written history, and of these -earliest colonisations we know nothing but what the chance remains we find -in the ground can tell us, and these are very few and very uncertain. - -It is not until we come far down into the full daylight of history that we -find men setting out with the conscious purpose of exploring the unknown -for its own sake. With those early hunters, it was doubtless new ground -and new game that drew them on, but they too were attracted, consciously -or unconsciously, by the spirit of adventure and the unknown--so deep in -the soul of man does this divine force lie, the mainspring, perhaps, of -the greatest of our actions. In every part of the world and in every age -it has driven man forward on the path of evolution, and as long as the -human ear can hear the breaking of waves over deep seas, as long as the -human eye can follow the track of the northern lights over silent -snow-fields, as long as human thought seeks distant worlds in infinite -space, so long will the fascination of the unknown carry the human mind -forward and upward. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration: Ship of the Egyptian Punt expedition, 17th century B.C. (J. -DÜMICHEN)] - - -CHAPTER I - -ANTIQUITY, BEFORE PYTHEAS - - -The learned world of early antiquity had nothing but a vague premonition -of the North. Along the routes of traffic commercial relations were -established at a very early time with the northern lands. At first these -ran perhaps along the rivers of Russia and Eastern Germany to the Baltic, -afterwards along the rivers of Central Europe as well. But the information -which reached the Mediterranean peoples by these routes had to go through -many intermediaries with various languages, and for this reason it long -remained vague and uncertain. - -What the people of antiquity did not know, they supplied by poetical and -mythical conceptions; and in time there grew up about the outer limits of -the world, especially on the north, a whole cycle of legend which was to -lay the foundation of ideas of the polar regions for thousands of years, -far into the Middle Ages, and long after trustworthy knowledge had been -won, even by the voyages of the Norsemen themselves. - -[Sidenote: Origin of the word Arctic] - -Long before people knew whether there were lands and seas far in the -north, those who studied the stars had observed that there were some -bodies in the northern sky which never set, and that there was a point in -the vault of heaven which never changed its place. In time, they also -found that, as they moved northwards, the circle surrounding the stars -that were always visible became larger, and they saw that these in their -daily movements described orbits about the fixed point or pole of the -heavens. The ancient Chaldeans had already found this out. From this -observation it was but a short step to the deduction that the earth could -not be flat, as the popular idea made it, but must in one way or another -be spherical, and that if one went far enough to the north, these stars -would be right over one's head. To the Greeks a circle drawn through the -constellation of the Great Bear, which they called "Arktos," formed the -limit of the stars that were always visible. This limit was therefore -called the Bear's circle, or the "Arctic Circle," and thus this -designation for the northernmost regions of the earth is derived from the -sky. - -[Illustration: The world according to Hecatæus (BUNBURY)] - -[Sidenote: Oecumene and Oceanus] - -[Sidenote: Herodotus on the ocean] - -According to the common Greek idea it was the countries of the -Mediterranean and of the East that formed the disc of the earth, or -"oecumene" (the habitable world). Around this disc, according to the -Homeric songs (the Iliad was put into writing about 900 B.C.), flowed the -all-embracing river "Oceanus," the end of the earth and the limit of -heaven. This deep, tireless, quietly flowing river, whose stream turned -back upon itself, was the origin and the end of all things; it was not -only the father of the Oceanides and of the rivers, but also the source -whence came gods and men. Nothing definite is said of this river's farther -boundary; perhaps unknown lands belonging to another world whereon the sky -rested were there; in any case we meet later, as in Hesiod, with ideas of -lands beyond the Ocean, the Hesperides, Erythea, and the Isles of the -Blest, which were probably derived from Phoenician tales. Originally -conceived as a deep-flowing river, Oceanus became later the all-embracing -empty ocean, which was different from the known sea (the Mediterranean) -with its known coasts, even though connected with it. Herodotus (484-424 -B.C.) is perhaps the first who used the name in this sense; he definitely -rejects the idea of Oceanus as a river and denies that the "oecumene" -should be drawn round, as though with a pair of compasses, as the Ionian -geographers (Hecatæus, for example) thought. He considered it proved that -the earth's disc on the western side, and probably also on the south, was -surrounded by the ocean, but said that no one could know whether this was -also the case on the north and north-east. In opposition to Hecatæus[1] -and the Ionian geographers (the school of Miletus) he asserted that the -Caspian Sea was not a bay of the northern Oceanus, but an independent -inland sea. Thus the "oecumene" became extended into the unknown on the -north-east. He mentions several peoples as dwelling farthest north; but to -the north of them were desert regions and inaccessible mountains; how far -they reached he does not say. - -[Illustration: The world according to the ideas of Herodotus (J. MURRAY)] - -He thus left the question undetermined, because, with the sound -cool-headedness of the inquirer, which made him in a sense the founder of -physical geography, he trusted to certain observations rather than to -uncertain speculations; and therefore he maintained that the geographers -of the Ionian school had not provided adequate proofs that the world was -really surrounded by sea on all sides. But nevertheless, it was, perhaps, -his final opinion that the earth's disc swam like an island in Oceanus. - -[Sidenote: Division of the ocean] - -This common name for the ocean was soon dropped, and men spoke instead of -the Outer Sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules in contradistinction to the -Inner Sea (i.e., the Mediterranean). The Outer Sea was also called the -Atlantic Sea after Atlas. This name is first found in Herodotus. South of -Asia was the Southern Ocean or the Erythræan Sea (the Red Sea and Indian -Ocean). North of Europe and Asia was the Northern Ocean; and the Caspian -Sea was a bay of this, in the opinion of the majority. Doubtless, most -people thought that these various oceans were connected; but the common -name Oceanus does not reappear as applied to them until the second century -B.C.[2] - -[Sidenote: Homeric ideas of the universe] - -According to the Homeric conception the universe was to be imagined -somewhat as a hollow globe, divided in two by the disc of the earth and -its encircling Oceanus; the upper hemisphere was that of light, or the -heaven; the lower one Tartarus, hidden in eternal darkness. Hades lay -beneath the earth, and Tartarus was as far below Hades as the sky was -above the earth. The solid vault of heaven was borne by Atlas, but its -extremities certainly rested upon Oceanus (or its outer boundary), or at -least were contained thereby. According to Hesiod (about 800 B.C.) an -anvil falling from heaven would not reach earth till the tenth day, and -from the earth it would fall for nine days and nine nights and not reach -the bottom of Tartarus until the tenth. This underworld is filled to the -brim with triple darkness, and the Titans have been hurled into it and -cannot come out. On the brink the limits of the earth, the waste Oceanus, -black Tartarus, and the starry heaven all coincide. Tartarus is a deep -gulf at which even the gods shudder; in a whole year it would be -impossible to search through it.[3] - -So early do we find three conceptions which two thousand years later still -formed the foundation of the doctrine of the earth's outer limits, -especially on the north: (1) the all-embracing Oceanus or empty ocean; (2) -the coincidence of sky, sea, land and underworld at the uttermost edge; -and lastly (3) the dismal gulf into which even the gods were afraid of -falling. - -[Sidenote: Spherical form of the earth] - -These or similar ideas still obtained long after the mathematical -geographers had conceived the earth as a sphere. Pythagoras (568-about 494 -B.C.) was probably the first to proclaim the doctrine of the spherical -form of the earth. He relied less upon observation than upon the -speculative idea that the sphere was the most perfect form. Before him -Anaximander of Miletus (611-after 547 B.C.), to whom are attributed the -invention of the gnomon or sun-dial, and the first representation of the -earth's disc on a map, had maintained that the earth was a cylinder -floating in space; the inhabited part was the upper flat end. His pupil -Anaximenes (second half of the sixth century B.C.) thought that the earth -had the form of a trapezium, supported by the air beneath, which it -compressed like the lid of a vase; while before him Thales of Miletus -(640-about 548 B.C.) was inclined to hold that the earth's disc swam on -the surface of the ocean, in the middle of the hollow sphere of heaven, -and that earthquakes were caused by movements of the waters.[4] - -[Sidenote: Doctrine of zones] - -[Sidenote: The abyss] - -Parmenides of Elea (about 460 B.C.) divided the earth's sphere into five -zones or belts, of which three were uninhabitable: the zone of heat, or -the scorched belt round the equator, and the two zones of cold at the -poles. Between the warmth and the cold there were on either side of the -hot zone two temperate zones where men might live. This division was -originally derived from the five zones of the heavens, where the Arctic -Circle formed the boundary of the northern stars that are always visible, -and the tropics that of the zone dominated by the sun. Pythagoras seems to -have been the first to transfer it to the globe, the centre of the -universe.[5] This idea of the earth's five habitable and uninhabitable -zones was current till nearly the end of the Middle Ages; but at the same -time one finds, often far on in the Middle Ages, the former conceptions of -the empty ocean encircling all, and of the "oecumene" swimming in it as an -island. Occasionally we meet with a vast unknown continent beyond this -ocean, belonging to another world, which no one can reach.[6] Together -with these theories, though not very conspicuously, the belief in the -immeasurable gulf at the edge of the world also persisted; and this became -the "Ginnungagap" of our forefathers. - -The conception of the earth's form and of its uttermost limits was thus by -no means consistent, and on some points it was contradictory. We must -always, and especially in dealing with past times, distinguish between the -views of the scientific world and those of ordinary people, two aspects -which were often hopelessly mixed together. And again in the scientific -world we must distinguish between the mathematical-physical geographers -and the historical, since the latter dealt more with descriptions and were -apt to follow accounts and legends rather than what was taught by physical -observations. - -[Sidenote: The Rhipæan Mountains] - -[Sidenote: Læstrygons and Cimmerians] - -The world which the Greeks really knew was bounded in the earlier period -on the north by the Balkans. These again gave rise to the mythical Rhipæan -Mountains, which were soon moved farther to the north or north-east[7] as -knowledge increased, and so they and the Alps were made the northern -boundary of the known world. As to what lay farther off, the Greeks had -very vague ideas; they seem to have thought that the frozen polar -countries began there, where it was so cold that people had to wear -breeches like the Scythians; or else it was a good climate, since it lay -north of the north wind which came from the Rhipæan Mountains. But that -some genuine information about the North had reached them as early as the -time of the Odyssey seems to be shown by the tale of the Læstrygons--who -had the long day, and whose shepherds, driving their flocks in at evening, -could call to those who were setting out in the morning, since the paths -of day and night were with them so close to one another--and of the -Cimmerians at the gates of the underworld, who lived in a land of fog, on -the shores of Oceanus, in eternal cheerless night. It is true that the -poet seems to have imagined these countries somewhere in the east or -north-east, probably by the Black Sea; for Odysseus came from the -Læstrygons to the isle of Ææa "by the mansions and dancing-places of the -Dawn and by the place where the sun rises." And from Ææa the Greek hero -steered right out into the night and the mist on the dangerous waters of -Oceanus and came to the Cimmerians,[8] who must therefore have dwelt -beyond the sunrise, shrouded in cloud and fogs. It might be supposed that -it was natural to the poet to believe that there must be night beyond the -sunrise and on the way to the descent to the nether regions; but it is, -perhaps, more probable that both the long day and the darkness and fog are -an echo of tales about the northern summer and the long winter night, and -that these tales reached the Greeks by the trade-routes along the Russian -rivers and across the Black Sea, for which reason the districts where -these marvels were to be found were reported to lie in that direction. A -find in the passage-graves of Mycenæ (fourteenth to twelfth century B.C.) -of beads made of amber from the Baltic,[9] besides many pieces of amber -from the period of the Dorian migration (before the tenth century) found -during the recent English excavations of the temple of Artemis at -Sparta,[10] furnish certain evidence that the Greek world had intercourse -with the Baltic countries long before the Odyssey was put into writing in -the eighth century, even though the northern lands of this poem seem to -have been limited by a communication by sea between the Black Sea and the -Adriatic, running north of the Balkan peninsula. Perhaps this imaginary -communication may have been conceived as going by the Ister (Danube), -which, at any rate later, was thought to have another outlet in the -Adriatic. We may also find echoes of tales about the dark winter and light -summer of the North in Sophocles's tragedy, where we are told that -Orithyia was carried off by Boreas and borne over - - ... the whole mirror of the sea, to the edge of the earth, - To the source of primæval night, where the vault of heaven ends, - Where lies the ancient garden of Phoebus[11] - ---though images of this sort may also be due to an idea that the sun -remained during the night beyond the northern regions. - -[Sidenote: The Hyperboreans] - -According to a comparatively late Greek conception there was in the far -North a happy people called the Hyperboreans. They dwelt "under the -shining way" (the clear northern sky) north of the roaring Boreas, so far -that this cold north wind could not reach them, and therefore enjoyed a -splendid climate. They did not live in houses, but in woods and groves. -With them injustice and war were unknown, they were untouched by age or -sickness; at joyous sacrificial feasts, with golden laurel-wreaths in -their hair, and amid song and the sound of the cithara and the dancing of -maidens, they led a careless existence in undisturbed gladness, and -reached an immense age. When they were tired of life they threw -themselves, after having eaten and drunk, joyfully and with wreaths in -their hair, into the sea from a particular cliff (according to Mela and -Pliny, following Hecatæus of Abdera). Among other qualities they had the -power of flying, and one of them, Abaris, flew round the world on an -arrow. While some geographers, especially the Ionians, placed them in the -northern regions, beyond the Rhipæan Mountains,[12] Hecatæus of Abdera -(first half of the third century B.C.), who wrote a work about the -Hyperboreans, collected from various sources, and more like a novel than -anything else, declares that they dwelt far beyond the accessible regions, -on the island of Elixoea in the farthest northern Oceanus, where the tired -stars sink to rest, and where the moon is so near that one can easily -distinguish the inequalities of its surface. Leto was born there, and -therefore Apollo is more honoured with them than other gods. There is a -marvellous temple, round like a sphere,[13] which floats freely in the air -borne by wings, and which is rich in offerings. To this holy island Apollo -came every ninth year; according to some authorities he came through the -air in a car drawn by swans. During his visit the god himself played the -cithara and danced without ceasing from the spring equinox to the rising -of the Pleiades. The Boreads were hereditary kings of the island, and were -likewise keepers of the sanctuary; they were descendants of Boreas and -Chione. Three giant brothers, twelve feet high, performed the service of -priests. When they offered the sacrifice and sang the sacred hymns to the -sound of the cithara, whole clouds of swans came from the Rhipæan -Mountains, surrounded the temple and settled upon it, joining in the -sacred song. - -Theopompus (Philip of Macedon's time) has given us, if we may trust -Ælian's account ["Varia," iii. c. 18; about 200 A.D.], a remarkable -variation of the Hyperborean legend in combination with others: - - Europe, Asia, and Africa were islands surrounded by Oceanus; only that - land which lay outside this world was a continent; its size was - immense. The animals there were huge, the men were not only double our - size, but lived twice as long as we. Among many great towns there - were two in particular greater than the rest, and with no resemblance - to one another; they were called Machimos (the warlike) and Eusebes - (the pious). The description of the latter's peaceful inhabitants has - most features in common with the Hyperborean legend. The warlike - inhabitants of Machimos, on the other hand, are born armed, wage war - continually, and oppress their neighbours, so that this one city rules - over many peoples, but its inhabitants are no less than two millions. - It is true that they sometimes die of disease, but that happens - seldom, since for the most part they are killed in war, by stones, or - wood [that is, clubs], for they are invulnerable to iron. They have - such superfluity of gold and silver that with them gold is of less - value than iron is with us. Once indeed they made an expedition to our - island [that is, Europe], came over the Ocean ten millions strong and - arrived at the land of the Hyperboreans. But when they learned that - these were the happy ones of our earth, and found their mode of life - bad, poverty-stricken and despicable, they did not think it worth - while to proceed farther. - - Among them dwell men called Meropians, in many great cities. On the - border of their country is a place which bears the significant name - Anostos (without return), and resembles a gulf ("chiasma"). There - reigns there neither darkness nor light, but a veil of mist of a dirty - red colour lies over it. Two streams flow about this place, of which - one is called Hedone (the stream of gladness), the other Lype (the - stream of sorrow), and by the banks of each stand trees of the size of - a great plane-tree. The fruit of the trees by the river of sorrow has - the effect that any one who eats of it sheds so many tears that for - the rest of his life he melts away in tears and so dies. The other - trees that grow by the river of gladness bear fruit of a quite - different kind. With him who tastes it all former desires come to - rest; even what he has passionately loved passes into oblivion, he - becomes gradually younger and goes once more through the previous - stages of his existence in reverse order. From an old man he passes to - the prime of life, becomes a youth, a boy, and then a child, and with - that he is used up. Ælian adds: "And if the Chionian's [that is, - Theopompus of Chios] tale appears credible to any one, then he may be - believed, but to me he seems to be a mythologist, both in this and in - other things." - -There can be no doubt that the regions which we hear of in this story, -with the Hyperboreans, the enormous quantities of gold, the gulf without -return, and so on, were imagined as situated beyond the sea in the North; -and in the description of the warlike people of Machimos who came in great -hordes southward over the sea, one might almost be tempted to think of -warlike northerners, who were slain with stones and clubs, but not with -iron, perhaps because they had not yet discovered the use of iron.[14] - -The legend of the happy Hyperboreans in the North has arisen from an error -of popular etymology, and it has here been treated at some length as an -example of how geographical myths may originate and develop.[15] The name -in its original form was certainly the designation of those who brought -offerings to the shrine of Apollo at Delphi (perhaps also in Delos). They -were designated as "perpheroi" or "hyper-pheroi" (bringers over), which -again in certain northern Greek dialects took the forms of "hyper-phoroi" -or "hyper-boroi;" this, by an error, became connected in later times with -"Boreas," and their home was consequently transferred to the North, many -customs of the worship of Apollo being transferred with it [see O. -Crusius, 1890, col. 2830]. This gives at the same time a natural -explanation of their many peculiarities, their sanctity, their power of -flight and the arrow (Apollo's arrow), their ceremonial feasts, and their -throwing themselves from a certain cliff,[16] and so on, all of which is -derived from the worship of Apollo. Apollonius of Rhodes (about 200 B.C.) -relates that according to the legends of the Celts (in North Italy ?) -amber originated from the tears of Apollo, which he shed by thousands when -he came to the holy people of the Hyperboreans and forsook the shining -heaven. - -When, after the conquests of Alexander, the Greeks became acquainted with -the mythical world of India, they naturally connected the Indians' -legendary country, "Uttara Kuru," beyond the Himalayas, with the country -of the Hyperboreans. "This land is not too cold, not too warm, free from -disease; care and sorrow are unknown there; the earth is without dust and -sweetly perfumed; the rivers run in beds of gold, and instead of pebbles -they roll down pearls and precious stones." - -The mythical singer Aristeas of Proconnesus (sixth century ?)--to whom was -attributed the poem "Arimaspeia"--is said (according to Herodotus) to have -penetrated into the country of the Scythians as far as the northernmost -people, the Issedonians. The latter told him of the one-eyed, long-haired -Arimaspians, who lived still farther north, at the uttermost end of the -world, before the cave from which Boreas rushes forth. On their northern -border dwelt the Griffins, lion-like monsters with the wings and beaks of -eagles;[17] they were the guardians of the gold which the earth sends -forth of itself. But still farther north, as far as the sea, were the -Hyperboreans. - -But the learned Herodotus (about 450 B.C.) doubted that the Hyperboreans -dwelt to the north of Boreas; for, said he, if there are people north of -the north wind, then there must also be people south of the south wind. -Neither did he credit the Scythians' tales about goat-footed people[18] -and Sleepers far in the North. Just as little did this sceptic believe -that the air of Scythia was full of feathers which prevented all seeing -and moving; it was, he thought, continuous snowfall that the Scythians -described thus. On the other hand, he certainly believed in the Amazons, -though whether they dwelt in the North, as later authors considered, he -does not say. - -The idea of the Sleepers, who slept for six months, may very probably be -due to legendary tales of the long northern winter-night, the length of -which was fixed at six months by theoretical speculations, these tales -being confused with reports that the people of Scythia slept a great part -of the winter, as even to-day the peasants are said to do in certain parts -of Russia, where they almost hibernate. Nor must the possibility be -overlooked of stories about the winter's sleep of animals, bears, for -example, being transferred to men. - -Later learned geographers, in spite of the scepticism of Herodotus, -occupied themselves in assigning to the Hyperboreans a dwelling-place in -the unknown. The founder of scientific geography, Eratosthenes of Cyrene -(275-195 B.C.), declared that Herodotus's method of disproving the -existence of the Hyperboreans was ridiculous. [Cf. Strabo, i. 61.] - -Even so long as five hundred years after Herodotus, Pliny declared the -Hyperboreans to be a historical people, whose existence could not be -doubted; and on the maps of the Middle Ages we always find them in the -most northern inhabited regions, together with the Amazons and other -peoples; we even find the Hyperborean Mountains ("Hyperborei Montes") in -Northern Europe and the Hyperborean Sea ("Oceanus Hyperboreus") to the -north of them. Adam of Bremen (eleventh century) thought that the -Scandinavians were the Hyperboreans. - -[Illustration: Trade-routes between the Mediterranean and the North] - -[Sidenote: Trade-routes between the Mediterranean and the North] - -Archæological finds show that as long ago as the Scandinavian Bronze Age, -or before, there must have been some sort of communication between the -Mediterranean and the northern lands. One of the earliest trade-routes -between the Mediterranean and the Baltic certainly went from the Black Sea -up the navigable river Borysthenes (Dnieper), of which early mention is -made by the Greeks, thence along its tributary the Bug to the Vistula, and -down the latter to the coast. We also find this route in common use in -later antiquity. When we first meet with the Goths in history they are -established at both ends of it, by the mouths of the Vistula and of the -Borysthenes. The Eruli, who came from the North, are also mentioned by the -side of the Goths on the Black Sea. What the wandering nation of the -Cimmerians was we do not know, but, as before remarked (p. 14), they may -have been Cimbri who in those early times had migrated to the northern -shore of the Black Sea by this very route. This trade-route was well known -in its details to our forefathers in Scandinavia, which likewise points to -an ancient communication. Somewhat later it is probable that men travelled -from the Baltic up the Vistula and across to the March, a tributary of the -Danube, and so either down this river to the Black Sea or overland to the -Adriatic. A similar line of communication certainly ran between the North -Sea and the Mediterranean along the Elbe to the Adriatic, and up the -Rhine across to the Rhone and down this to the coast, or across the Alps -to the Po. - -[Illustration: Cromlechs: on the right, in Portugal (after Cartailhac); on -the left, in Denmark (after S. Müller)] - -But very early there was also communication by sea along the coasts of -western Europe between the Mediterranean and the North. This is shown -amongst other things by the distribution, about 2000 B.C., of cromlechs -over Sicily, Corsica, Portugal and the north of Spain, Brittany, the -British Isles, the North Sea coast of Germany, Denmark and southern -Scandinavia as far as Bohuslen [cf. S. Müller, 1909, p. 24 f.], and -perhaps farther. Somewhat later, in the middle of the second millennium -B.C., the passage-graves or chambered barrows followed the same route -northward from the Mediterranean. That this sea-communication was -comparatively active in those far-off times is proved by the fact that -cromlechs, which originated in the grave-chambers of the beginning of the -Mycenæan period in the eastern Mediterranean, reached Denmark, by this -much longer route round the coast, before the single graves, which were an -older form in the Mediterranean countries, but which spread by the slower -route overland, through Central Europe. - - That as far back as the Stone Age there was communication by one way - or another, perhaps along the coast between Spain and the shore of the - North Sea or the Baltic, appears probable from the fact that amber - beads have been found in the Iberian peninsula containing 2 per cent. - of succinic acid, a proportion which is taken to indicate its northern - (Baltic) origin [cf. L. Siret, 1909, p. 138]. - -On account of the many intermediaries, speaking different languages, -through which it passed, the information which reached the Mediterranean -by these various routes was very defective. According to Herodotus [iv. -24] the Scythians on their trading journeys to the bald-headed Agrippæans -required no fewer than seven different interpreters to enable them to -barter with the peoples on the way. Their first more direct knowledge of -northern and western Europe must certainly have reached the Mediterranean -peoples through the tin trade and the amber trade. It is worth remarking -that it was precisely these two articles, representing two powerful sides -of human nature, utility and the love of ornament, that were to be of such -great importance also as regards knowledge of the North. - -[Illustration: Ancient Egyptian ship; from a grave in western Thebes -(after R. Lepsius)] - -[Sidenote: Tin in antiquity] - -We do not know when, where, or how tin first came into use, the metal -which, together with copper, was as important in the Bronze Age as iron is -in our time. In Egypt it is found in the oldest pyramid-graves, and in the -third millennium B.C. bronze was in general use there, though we know not -whence the tin came to make it. Tin-ore occurs in comparatively few places -on the earth, and if China, which formed a world by itself, be excluded, -the only places where we know that the metal was obtained in ancient times -are north-west Spain, the Cassiterides (probably in Brittany) and -Cornwall,[19] which still possesses rich deposits; and as far as we can -trace history back, the civilised peoples of the Mediterranean and the -Orient obtained their tin from western Europe.[20] If the first tin in -Egypt and in the valley of the Euphrates also came from there, the -civilisation of western Europe, implied by regular working of mines, would -be given a venerable age which could almost rival the oldest civilisations -of the Mediterranean. But this is difficult to believe, as we should -expect to find traces of this early connection with Egypt along the -trade-routes between that country and the place of origin of the tin; and -no archæological evidence to prove this is at present forthcoming.[21] - - This possibility is nevertheless not wholly excluded: finds of beads - of northern (?) amber in Egyptian graves of the Fifth Dynasty (about - 3500 B.C.) may point to ancient unknown communication with the - farthest parts of Europe. In Spain, too, neolithic objects have been - found, of ivory and other substances, which may have come from Egypt - [cf. L. Siret, 1909]. It is certain that the earliest notices of tin - in literature mention it as coming from the uttermost limits of - Europe. In his lament over Tyre the prophet Ezekiel says [xxvii. 12]: - "Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of - riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs." - Herodotus [iii. 115] says that it came from the Cassiterides. As - Tarsis was the starting-point of the tin-trade with the - Cassiterides,[22] these two statements are in agreement. - - Figures and thin rods of tin have been found in association with stone - implements on the sites of pile-dwellings in Switzerland. Tin rings - have also been found at Hallstatt. In barrows (of the Bronze Age ?) in - the island of Anrum, on the west coast of Sleswick, there were found - a dagger or arrowhead and several other objects of tin, besides a lump - of the metal, and in Denmark it is known that tin was used for - ornament on oak chests of the earliest Bronze Age, which again points - to coastal traffic with the south-west. - -In the Iliad tin is spoken of as a rare and costly metal, used for the -decoration of weapons, and it appears that arms were then made of copper, -bronze not being yet in general use, as was the case in the later time of -the Odyssey. But in the excavations at Troy, curiously enough, bronze -objects were found immediately above the neolithic strata, which would -seem to show that the Bronze Age reached the Greeks from Egypt without any -intervening copper age. - - * * * * * - -The Homeric songs do not allude to tin as a Phoenician commodity, like -amber. This may mean that the Greeks even in the earliest times obtained -it through their own commercial relations with Gaul, without employing the -Phoenicians as middlemen. - -Possibly the Greek word for tin, "kassiteros," and the name of the -tin-islands, "Kassiterides," themselves point to this direct connection. -The same word is also found in Sanscrit, "kastîra," and in Arabic, -"qazdir." Professor Alf Torp thinks that the word both in Greek and in -Sanscrit "must be borrowed from somewhere, but whence or when is not -known. 'Kassiteros,' of course, occurs as early as Homer, 'kastîra' is in -Indian literature much later, but as far as that goes it may well be old -in Sanscrit. I do not know of any Celtic word one could think of; a -'cassitír' (woodland) is hardly to the point; it is true that 'tír' means -'land,' but no other 'cass' is known to me except one that means 'hair'" -(in a letter of November 9, 1909). We may therefore look upon it as -certain that "kassiteros" is not an original Greek word; it must in all -probability have come from the country whence the Greeks first obtained -tin (analogous cases are the name of copper from the island of Cyprus, -that of bronze from Brundisium, etc.). That this country was India, as -some have thought, is improbable, since it is stated in the "Periplus -Maris Erythræi" [xlix.], confirmed by Pliny [xxxiv. 163], that tin was -imported into India from Alexandria in exchange for ivory, precious stones -and perfumes; we must therefore suppose that the name reached India with -the tin from the Greeks, and not vice versâ. It is very possible that the -word consists of two parts, of which the second "-teros" may be connected -with the Celtic word "tír" for land (Latin "terra"). The first part, -"kassi," occurs in many Celtic words and names. Ptolemy [ii. 8] mentions -in Gaul, in or near Brittany: "Bidu-kasioi," "Uenelio-kasioi," -"Tri-kasioi," and "Uadi-kasioi." As mentioned by Reinach [1892, p. 278], -there was a people in Brittany called "Cassi" (a British king, -"Cassi-vellaunos," an Arvernian chief, "Ver-cassi-vellaunos," etc.). It -may be supposed that the country was named after these people, or was in -some other way referred to by such a word and called "Kassi-tír." In this -case the Cassiterides might be sought for in Brittany, and this agrees -with what we have arrived at in another way. But this would entail the -assumption that the Celts were already in Gaul at the time of the Iliad. - -Professor Alf Torp has called attention to the remarkable circumstance -that "the Cymric word for tin, 'ystaen,' resembles 'stannum,' which cannot -be genuine Latin. I am inclined to think that both words are derived from -an Iberian word; the Romans would in that case have got it from Galicia, -and the Cymri doubtless from a primitive Iberian population in the British -Isles. In some way or other our word 'tin' must be connected with this -word, though the 'i' is curious in the face of the Cymric 'a'" (letter of -November 9, 1909). In connection with this hypothesis of Professor Torp, -it may be of interest to notice that in the tin district of Morbihan in -Brittany, by the mouth of the Vilaine, is "Penestin," where the deposits -still contain much tin, and the name of which must come from the Celtic -"pen" (== head, cape) and "estein" (== tin).[23] It is conceivable that -the Latin "stannum" was derived from Brittany rather than from Galicia. - -In ancient Egyptian there is no word for tin; as in early Latin, it is -described as white lead (dhti hs), which may point to a common western -origin for these two metals. - -There has been great diversity of opinion as to where the Cassiterides of -the Greeks were to be found. Herodotus [iii. 115] did not know where they -were: "in spite of all his trouble, he had not been able to learn from any -eye-witness what the sea is like in that region [that is, on the north -side] of Europe. But it is certain that tin comes from the uttermost end, -as also amber." Posidonius mentioned the islands as lying between Spain -and Britain (see above, p. 23). Strabo says [iii. 175]: - - "The Cassiterides are ten, and lie near to one another, in the midst - of the sea northwards from the harbour of the Artabri [Galicia]. One - of them is unoccupied, while the others are inhabited by people in - black cloaks, with the robe fastened on the breast and reaching down - to their feet, who wander about with staves in their hands like the - Furies in tragedy. They live for the most part as herdsmen on their - cattle; but as they also have mines of tin and lead they barter these - metals and hides for pottery, salt, and articles of copper with the - merchants. Formerly the Phoenicians alone carried on this trade from - Gadir and kept the sea-route secret from every one else; but as the - Romans once sailed in pursuit of one of their vessels with the object - of finding out the position of their markets, the captain - intentionally allowed his ship to be stranded on a sandbank and - brought the same destruction upon his pursuers; but he saved himself - from the wreck, and was compensated by the State for the value of his - loss. Nevertheless the Romans discovered the sea-route after repeated - attempts, and when Publius Crassus [under Cæsar] had also traversed it - he saw the metals dug out from near the surface and that the - inhabitants were peaceful, and he proved this sea-passage to be - practicable, if one wished to make it, although it is longer[24] than - that which divides Britain [from the continent]." - -[Illustration: Places where tin is found in western Europe (marked with -crosses), and routes of the tin-trade in ancient times (after L. Siret, -1908)] - -It is unlikely that the Cassiterides were Cornwall, as has been commonly -supposed, since this peninsula can with difficulty be regarded as a group -of islands; moreover this would not agree with the descriptions which -always mention them as separate from Britain, and usually farther south. -The Scilly Isles, lying far out in the sea, where tin has never been -worked to any great extent, and whose waters are dangerous to navigate, -are out of the question. On the other hand, it may almost be regarded as -certain that the Cassiterides are the same as the "Oestrymnides" (see -below), and these must be looked for on the coast of Gaul. Furthermore tin -is mentioned as "Celtic" by several Greek authorities; in the "Mirabiles -auscultationes" of Aristotle or Pseudo-Aristotle [i. 834, A. 6] it is so -called, and Ephorus (about 340 B.C.) speaks [in Scymnus of Chios] of -Tartessus [i.e., Gadir], "the famous city," as "rich in alluvial tin from -Celtica [Gaul], in gold, as also in copper."[25] It may further be -mentioned that Mela referred to the Cassiterides[26] as "Celtican," which -would mean that they belonged to the north-west coast of Spain, unless it -is confused with Celtic; and in his description of the islands of Europe, -going from south to north, he puts them immediately before "Sena," or the -Île de Seine at the western extremity of Brittany, which means in any case -that they would be to the south of that island. Everything points to the -islands being situated on the south coast of Brittany, and there is much -in favour of Louis Siret's assumption [1908] that they are the islands of -Morbihan ("Les Îles du Morbraz"), west of the mouth of the Loire, exactly -where "Penestin" is situated. This agrees very well, as we shall see -later, with the description of Himilco's voyage to the Oestrymnides. The -free alluvial deposits along the shore in this district, near the mouth of -the Vilaine, still contain a good deal of tin, together with gold and -other precious metals; but in those distant times they may have been very -rich in tin, and as they lie on the very seashore they were naturally -discovered early and became the most important source of tin until they -were partly exhausted. In the meantime the rich tin deposits of Cornwall -had begun to be utilised, and they became in turn the most important, -while the Cassiterides were gradually forgotten. - - Diodorus [v. 22] alludes to the tin trade in the following terms: "On - that promontory of Prettanike [Britain] which is called 'Belerion,' - the inhabitants are very hospitable, and they have become civilised by - intercourse with foreign merchants. They produce tin, by actively - working the land which contains it. This is rocky and contains veins - of earth, and by working and smelting the products they obtain pure - metal. This they make into the form of knuckle-bones and bring it to - an island which lies off the coast of Britain and is called 'Ictis.' - For when the intervening space becomes dry at ebb-tide they bring a - quantity of tin to the island in waggons. A curious thing happens with - the islands near the coast between Europe and Britain; for when the - dividing strait is filled at high water they appear as islands, but - when the sea recedes at the ebb and leaves a great space of dry land, - they look like part of the mainland. Here the merchants buy it from - the natives and bring it across to Gaul; but finally they journey on - foot through Gaul, and bring the goods on horses to the mouth of the - river Rhone." In another place [v. 38] he says that the tin is - conveyed on horseback to Massalia and to the Roman commercial town of - Narbo. - - Bunbury [1883, ii. p. 197] thinks that "this characteristic account - leaves no reasonable doubt that Ictis was St. Michael's Mount in - Cornwall (Belerion), to which the description precisely answers, and - which contains a small port such as would have been well suited to - ancient traders." The description decidedly does not fit, as some have - thought, the island of Vectis (Wight); moreover the tin would in any - case have had to be brought to the latter by sea from Cornwall, and - not in waggons. It is, however, also possible that we have here some - confusion with the original tin district in Brittany, where such - places as Ictis, with the change between flood and ebb tide, are well - known, from Cæsar's description among others. But as Diodorus did not - know the tin-mines of Brittany, which in his time had lost their - importance, and had heard of tin-mines in Belerion, he transferred to - the latter the whole description which he found in earlier writers. - This supposition may be confirmed by Pliny's statement [Hist. Nat. iv. - 16, 104]: "The historian Timæus says that in six days' sailing inwards - from Britain the island of 'Mictis' is reached, in which white lead - (tin) occurs. Thither the Britons sail in vessels of wicker-work, - covered with hides." Originally the passage doubtless read "insulam - Ictis," which by transference of the "m" became "insula Mictis," and - this again has been amended to "insulam Mictis." It is impossible to - identify the description with Vectis, which moreover has just been - mentioned by Pliny, and it is also difficult to understand how it - could be a place in Cornwall, but it is consistent with the tin - district of Brittany. - -We do not know how or at what period this tin industry first developed. -Perhaps it was as early as the end of the neolithic period; but it is -improbable that it should have been independently developed by the Iberian -aborigines who lived in the tin districts of Iberia, and doubtless also of -Brittany; it is far more likely to be due to communication with the -Mediterranean through a seafaring, commercial people, and we know of none -other than the Phoenicians. How early they began their widespread commerce -and industry is unknown; but they must have reached this part of the world -long before Gadir was founded by the Tyrians about 1100 B.C. It is -conceivable that in their search for gold and silver they discovered these -deposits of tin and knew how to take advantage of them. As already -remarked, there was as early as 2000 B.C. a continuous communication by -sea along the coasts of western Europe, and it is probable that there -arose at a very early time efficient navigators on the coasts of northern -Spain and Brittany, just those districts which are rich in tin, where -there are many good harbours. For a long time the tin trade was carried on -by sea, southward along the coast to Tarsis in southern Spain; but by -degrees an overland trade-route also came into use, going up the Loire and -down the Rhone to the Mediterranean. This route became known to the -Greeks, and the Phocæan colony Massalia was founded upon it about 600 -B.C.; later the Greek colony of Corbilo was possibly founded at its other -extremity, by the mouth of the Loire (?). Later still another trade-route -ran along the Garonne overland to the Roman Narbo (Narbonne). On the -development of the Cornish tin industry, the same routes by sea and land -continued to be used. Thus it was that the tin trade furnished one of the -first and most important steps in the path of the exploration of the -North. - -[Sidenote: Amber in ancient times] - -When Phaëthon one day had persuaded his father Helios to let him drive the -chariot of the sun across the sky, the horses ran away with him and he -first came too near the vault of heaven and set fire to it, so that the -Milky Way was formed; then he approached too near the earth, set the -mountains on fire, dried up rivers and lakes, burned up the Sahara, -scorched the negroes black, until, to avoid greater disasters in his wild -career, Zeus struck him down with his thunderbolt into the river Eridanus. -His sisters, the daughters of the sun, wept so much over him that the gods -in pity changed them into poplars, and their tears then flowed every year -as amber on the river's banks. "For this reason amber came to be called -'electron,' because the sun has the name of 'Elector.'" In this way the -Greeks, in their poetry, thought that amber was formed. The mythical river -Eridanus, which no doubt was originally in the north (cf. Herodotus), was -later identified sometimes with the Rhone, sometimes with the Po. -Herodotus [iii. 115] says of northern Europe: "I do not suppose that -there is a river which the barbarians call Eridanus, and which flows into -the sea to the northward, from whence amber may come.... For in the first -place the name Eridanus itself shows that it is Hellenic and not -barbarian, and that it has been invented by some poet or other"; and in -the second, he was not able to find any eye-witness who could tell him -about it (cf. p. 27); but in any case he thought that amber as well as tin -came from the uttermost limits of Europe. - -[Illustration: Places where amber is found (marked with crosses)] - -The most important sources of amber in Europe are the southern coast of -the Baltic, especially Samland, and the west coast of Jutland with the -North Frisian islands. It is also found in small quantities in many places -in western and central Europe, on the Adriatic, in Sicily, in South -Africa, Burmah, the west coast of America, etc. Northern amber, from the -Baltic and the North Sea, is distinguished from other kinds that have been -investigated, by the comparatively large proportion of succinic acid it -contains, and it seems as though almost all that was used in early -antiquity in the Mediterranean countries and in Egypt was derived from the -north. Along the coasts of the Baltic and North Sea the amber is washed by -the waves from the loose strata of the sea-bottom and thrown up on the -beach. When these washed-up lumps were found by the fishers and hunters of -early times they naturally attracted them by their brilliance and colour -and by the facility with which they could be cut. It is no wonder, -therefore, that amber was used as early as the Stone Age for amulets and -ornaments by the people on the Baltic and North Seas, and spread from -thence over the whole of the North. In those distant times articles of -amber were still rare in the South; but in the Bronze Age, in proportion -as gold and bronze reach the north, they become rarer there, but more -numerous farther south. In the passage-graves of Mycenæ (fourteenth to -twelfth centuries B.C.) there are many of them, as also in Sparta at the -time of the Dorian migration (twelfth to tenth centuries B.C.; cf. p. 14). -It is evident that amber was the medium of exchange wherewith the people -of the North bought the precious metals from the South, and in this way it -comes that the two classes of archæological finds have changed their -localities. The neolithic ornaments of amber at Corinth, already referred -to, the amber beads of the Fifth Dynasty in Egypt, and those of the -neolithic period in Spain, show, however, if they are northern, that this -connection between South and North goes back a very long way. But the -Greek tribes among whom the Iliad originated do not appear to have known -amber, as it is not mentioned in the poem, and it is first named in the -more recent portions of the Odyssey (put into writing in the eighth -century B.C.). Among the jewels which the Phoenician merchant offered to -the Queen of Syria was "the golden necklace hung with pieces of amber" -[Od. xv. 460]. We must therefore believe that the Phoenicians were the -middlemen from whom the Greeks obtained it at that time. But it was not so -much esteemed by the Greeks of the classical period as it became later, -and they rejected it in their art industries, for which reason it is -seldom mentioned by Greek authors. Thales of Miletus (600 B.C.) discovered -that when rubbed it attracted other bodies, and from this important -discovery made so long ago has sprung the knowledge of that force which -dominates our time, and which has been named from the Greek word for -amber, "electron." - -Among the Romans of the Empire this substance was so highly prized that -Pliny tells us [xxxvii., chap. 12] that "a human likeness made of it, -however small, exceeds the price of a healthy living person." This was -both on account of its beauty and of its occult properties; when worn as -an amulet it was able to ward off secret poisons, sorcery and other evils. -It therefore naturally became an article that was in great demand, and for -which merchants made long voyages. - -It has been thought that the North Sea amber came into the southern market -before that of the Baltic, and as the Eridanus of the myth was sometimes -taken for the Rhone and sometimes for the Po, it was believed that in -early times amber was carried up the Rhine and across to both these -rivers, later also up the Elbe to the Adriatic [cf. Schrader, 1901, -"Bernstein"]. It was thought that the archæological finds also favoured -this theory; but it must still be regarded as doubtful, and it is scarcely -probable that the Phoenicians obtained it from the mouths of the Rhone and -the Po, while they may have brought it by sea at an early period. By what -routes amber was distributed in the earliest times is still unknown. - -[Illustration: Phoenician warship, according to an Assyrian -representation] - -[Sidenote: Voyages of the Phoenicians] - -Even though the Phoenicians were for the most part a commercial and -industrial people, who were not specially interested in scientific -research, there can be no doubt that by their distant voyages they -contributed much geographical knowledge to their age, and in many ways -they influenced Greek geography, especially through Miletus, which from -the beginning was partly a Phoenician colony, and where the first Greek -school of geographers, the Ionian school, developed. Thales of Miletus was -himself probably a Semite. How far they attained on their voyages is -unknown. Hitherto no certain relics of Phoenician colonies have been found -along the coasts of western Europe farther north than south-west Spain -(Tarsis), and there is no historically certain foundation for the -supposition that these seafaring merchants of antiquity, the Phoenicians, -Carthaginians and Gaditanians, on their voyages beyond the Pillars of -Hercules and northwards along the coasts of western Europe, should have -penetrated beyond the tin country and as far as the waters of northern -Europe, even to Scandinavia and the Baltic, whence they themselves might -have brought amber.[27] But a hypothesis of this sort cannot be disproved, -and is by no means improbable. Everything points to the Phoenicians having -been uncommonly capable seamen with good and swift-sailing ships; and a -seafaring people who achieved the far more difficult enterprise of -circumnavigating Africa, and of sailing southwards along its west coast -with whole fleets to found colonies, cannot have found it impossible to -sail along the west and north coast of Europe, where there are plenty of -natural harbours. It would then be natural for them to try to reach the -North Sea and the Baltic, if they expected to find the precious amber -there, and on this point they certainly had information from the merchants -who brought it either by land or by sea. It has already been remarked that -it is first mentioned in history as a Phoenician article of commerce.[28] -It may be supposed that the Phoenicians at an early period obtained amber -from their harbours on the Black Sea;[29] but after having pursued this -prosperous carrying-trade from their harbours here and in the west, it is -not improbable that they themselves tried to penetrate to the amber -countries with their ships.[30] The Phoenicians, however, tried to keep -their trade-routes secret from their dangerous and more warlike rivals the -Greeks, and it is therefore not surprising that no mention of these routes -should be extant, even if they really undertook such voyages; but it is -undeniably more remarkable still that no certain trace of them has been -found along the coasts of western Europe. - -[Sidenote: Himilco's voyage, 500 B.C.] - -The only thing we know is that about the year 500 B.C. the Carthaginians -are said to have sent out an expedition under Himilco through the Pillars -of Hercules and thence northwards along the coast. This is the first -northern sea voyage of which mention is to be found in literature. At that -time Tyre, the mother-city of Gadir, had been destroyed. Until then she -had controlled the trade of the west. It was natural that Gadir in her -isolated position should seek support from Carthage, which was now rising -into power. To strengthen her trade communications, therefore, this -flourishing city sent out Hanno's great expedition along the west coast of -Africa, and Himilco to the tin country in the north. Himilco seems to have -written an account of the journey; but of this all that has been preserved -is a few casual pieces of information in a poem ("Ora Maritima") by the -late Roman author Rufus Festus Avienus[31] (of the end of the fourth -century A.D.). The only other place where Himilco's name is mentioned is -in Pliny [Hist. Nat. ii. 67, 169], who merely says that he made a voyage -to explore the outer coast of Europe, contemporary with Hanno's voyage to -the south along the west coast of Africa, and in addition he names him in -the list of his authorities. But Pliny himself probably never saw his -work; it cannot be seen that he has made use of it. - -It is true that Avienus makes a pretence of having used Himilco's original -account, but certainly he had never seen it. He may have utilised a Greek -authority of about the time of the Christian era [cf. Marx, 1895]. This -again was a compound of Greek tales, of which a part may have been taken -from a Punic source, but of the latter no trace is found in any other -known classical writer, with the exception of Pliny. Unfortunately the -information given us by Avienus shows little intelligence in the use of -his authorities, and his poem is often obscure. - -In the description of the coast of western Europe [vv. 90-129] we read: - - "And here the projecting ridge raises its head--the older age called - it 'Oestrymnis'--and all the high mass of rocky ridge turns mostly - towards the warm south wind. But beneath the top of this promontory - the Oestrymnian Bay opens out before the eyes of the inhabitants. In - the midst of this rise the islands which are called Oestrymnides, - scattered widely about, and rich in metals, in tin and in lead. Here - live a multitude of men with enterprise and active industry, all - having continually commercial interests; they plough in skilful - fashion far and wide the foaming sea ['fretum,' literally, strait], - and the currents of monster-bearing Ocean with their small boats. For - these people do not know how to fit together [literally, weave] keels - of fir or maple; they do not bend their craft with deal, in the usual - way; but strange to say, they make their ships of hides sewed - together, and often traverse the vast sea with the help of hides. Two - days' voyage from thence lay the great island, which the ancients - called 'the Holy Island,'[32] and it is inhabited by the people of - Hierne [i.e., Ireland] far and wide, and near to it again extends the - island of Albion. And it was the custom of the men of Tartessus to - trade to the borders of the Oestrymnides, also colonists from Carthage - and the many who voyage between the Pillars of Hercules visited these - seas. The Carthaginian Himilco assures us that these seas can scarcely - be sailed through in four months, as he has himself related of his - experience on his voyage; thus no breeze drives the ship forward, so - dead is the sluggish wind of this idle sea. He also adds that there is - much seaweed among the waves, and that it often holds the ship back - like bushes. Nevertheless he says that the sea has no great depth, and - that the surface of the earth is barely covered by a little water. The - monsters of the sea move continually hither and thither, and the wild - beasts swim among the sluggish and slowly creeping ships." - -It may be difficult to decide how much of this is really derived from -Himilco. The name "Oestrymnis" is not found elsewhere in literature, and -may be taken from him.[33] The supposition that it was Cape Finisterre and -that the Oestrymnic Bay ("sinus Oestrymnicus") was the Bay of Biscay is -improbable; a bay so open and wide could scarcely have been described in -terms which a Latin author would have rendered by "sinus"; besides which -there would be difficulties with the Oestrymnides which were widely spread -therein. Oestrymnis is certainly in Brittany, and since it "turns chiefly -towards the warm south wind," we may suppose it to be a headland on the -south coast. That the Oestrymnic Bay opens out beneath this headland ("sub -hujus") agrees with all that we know of it. As already stated, the -tin-producing Oestrymnides are undoubtedly the Cassiterides, which may -probably be the islands in the bay by the mouth of the Vilaine and -Quiberon, on the south side of Brittany, where tin occurs. - - It is just in this district, at the mouth of the Loire, that we find - the Veneti as the only people famous for seamanship in ancient times - in these parts. But, according to Cæsar's valuable description, they - had strong, seaworthy ships, built wholly of oak and with leather - sails. This seems scarcely to tally with the statement that the people - of the Oestrymnides sailed the sea in boats of hide, the coracles of - the Celts, which is also confirmed by Pliny's statement [xxxiv. c. 47] - that "according to fabulous tales tin was brought in ships of - wicker-work sewed round with hides from islands in the Atlantic - Ocean." Either the Veneti must have acquired the art of shipbuilding - after the voyage of Himilco--perhaps, indeed, through their - intercourse with Carthaginians and Gaditanians--or else we must - believe that the statement in Avienus rests upon a misinterpretation - of the original authorities, and that the flowery language really - means that the ships were not built of fir, maple or spruce, but of - oak, the omission of which is striking. - -Thus a comparison of the various statements points definitely to Brittany -as the place where we must look for the tin-bearing islands. That it was -two days' voyage thence to the holy island of Hierne, and that near to it -lay the land of Albion, also agrees; but too much weight must not be laid -upon this, as we do not know for certain whether this is really derived -from Himilco. - -The sea-monsters may be taken as accessories put in to make the voyage -terrible; but on the other hand they may be the great whales of the Bay of -Biscay, of which there were many in those days, before whaling was -undertaken there. The exaggerated description of the length and -difficulties of the voyage fits in badly with the information that the men -of Tartessus and the Carthaginians were in the habit of trading there. How -much of this is due to misunderstanding of the original, or to downright -interpolation, we do not know. With the universal desire of the -Carthaginians and Phoenicians to keep the monopoly of their trade-routes, -Himilco may have added this to frighten others. It is also possible that -he made a longer voyage in four months, but that Avienus's authority gave -an obscure and bungled account of it. - -The description of the shallow water, and of the seaweed which holds the -ships back, etc., seems to correspond to the actual conditions. In another -part of the poem something similar occurs, where we read [v. 375]: -"Outside the Pillars of Hercules along the side of Europe the -Carthaginians once had villages and towns. They were in the habit of -building their fleets with flatter bottoms, since a broader ship could -float upon the surface of a shallower sea."[34] One is reminded of the -shallow west coast of France, where the tide lays large tracts alternately -dry (covered with seaweed) and under water, so that it might well be said -that "the surface of the earth is barely covered by a little water." Ebb -and flood were, of course, an unknown phenomenon in the Mediterranean. In -this respect also the description suits the voyage to Brittany, where the -sea is shallow. It has been asserted that the expression "seaweed among -the waves" might show that Himilco had been near to or in the Sargasso -Sea; but there is no reason whatever for supposing this; the explanation -given above is more natural, besides which the Sargasso Sea could hardly -be described as shallow and as lying on the way to Oestrymnis.[35] - -On the Atlantic Ocean Avienus has the following [vv. 380-389]: - - "Farther to the west from these Pillars there is boundless sea. - Himilco relates that the ocean extends far, none has visited these - seas; none has sailed ships over these waters, because propelling - winds are lacking on these deeps, and no breeze from heaven helps the - ship. Likewise because darkness ['caligo' == darkness, usually owing - to fog] screens the light of day with a sort of clothing, and because - a fog always conceals the sea, and because the weather is perpetually - cloudy with thick atmosphere." - -If we may believe Avienus that this description is derived from Himilco, -it possesses great interest, since here and in the description (above) of -the voyage to Oestrymnis we find the same ideas of the western sea and of -the uttermost sea which appear later, after Pytheas's time, in the -accounts of the thick and sluggish sea without wind round Thule, and in -this case it shows that already at that early period ideas of this sort -had developed. Müllenhoff [1870, pp. 78, 93 f.], it is true, takes it for -granted that these descriptions in Avienus cannot be derived from Himilco, -but his reasons for so doing do not appear convincing. Aristotle says -["Meteorologica," ii. 1, 14] that the sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules -was muddy and shallow, and little stirred by the winds. This shows clearly -enough that ideas of that kind were current among the Greeks even before -Pytheas, and they must doubtless have got them from the Phoenicians. - -That some very ancient authority is really the basis of the description of -the west coast of Europe as far as the Oestrymnides, which we find in -Avienus, is proved again by the fact that the regions farther to the north -or north-east are clearly enough represented as entirely unknown, when we -read [vv. 129-145]: - - "If any one dares to steer his boat from the Oestrymnic Islands in the - direction where the air is cold at the axis of Lycaon,[36] he will - arrive at the country of the Ligurians, which is void of inhabitants. - For by the host of the Celts and by numerous battles it has lately - been rendered void. And the expelled Ligurians came, as fate often - drives people away, to the districts where there is hardly anything - but bush. Many sharp stones are there in those parts, and cold rocks, - and the mountains rise threateningly to heaven. And the refugees lived - for a long time in narrow places among rocks away from the sea. For - they were afraid of waves [i.e., afraid to come near the coast] by - reason of the old danger. Later, when security had given them - boldness, peace and quietness persuaded them to leave their high - positions, and now they descended to places by the sea." - -Müllenhoff thinks [1870, pp. 86 f.] that this mention of the expulsion of -the Ligurians by the Celts is necessarily a late addition by a man from -the district of Massalia where the Ligurians lived; but it seems more -probable that the name is here used as a common designation for the -pre-Celtic people who dwelt in these north-western regions; and if it is -the north side of Brittany which is here spoken of, the Ligurians of -southern Gaul will not be so far away after all. It is clear that in -ancient times the people of west and north-west Europe were called -"Ligyans." Hesiod mentioned them as the people of the west in -contradistinction to the Scythians of the east [cf. Strabo, vii. 300], and -in the legend of Phaëthon occurs the Ligyan king Cycnus at the mouth of -the amber-producing river Eridanus, which doubtless was originally -supposed to fall into the sea on the north or north-west. We may interpret -it as meaning that the aborigines, Ligyans or Ligurians, were driven by -the immigrant Celts up into the bush-covered mountainous parts of -Brittany. In any case this passage in Avienus, which assumes that the -districts farther north are unknown, is a strong proof that his -information is ancient and derived from Himilco, and that the latter -penetrated as far as the north coast of Brittany, or the south of Britain, -but no farther. - - - - -[Illustration] - - -CHAPTER II - -PYTHEAS OF MASSALIA - -THE VOYAGE TO THULE - - -Among all the vague and fabulous ideas about the North that prevailed in -antiquity, the name of Pytheas stands out as the only one who gives us a -firmer foothold. By his extraordinary voyage (or voyages ?) this eminent -astronomer and geographer, of the Phocæan colony of Massalia (now -Marseilles), contributed a knowledge of the northern countries based upon -personal experience, and set his mark more or less upon all that was known -of the farthest north for the next thousand or fifteen hundred years. Even -though later writers like Polybius and Strabo declared themselves -unwilling to believe in his "incredible" statements, they could not -neglect him.[37] - -Pytheas wrote at least one work, which, if we may believe Geminus of -Rhodes, was called "On the Ocean"; but all his writings have been lost for -ages, and we only know him through chance quotations in much later -authors (chiefly Strabo and Pliny) who have not even read his work -themselves, but quote at second hand; and several of them (especially -Polybius and Strabo) tried to represent him as an impostor and laid stress -upon what they thought would make him ridiculous and lessen his -reputation.[38] The scraps of information we possess about him and his -voyages have thus come down on the stream of time as chance wreckage, -partly distorted and perverted by hostile forces. It is too much to hope -that from such fragments we may be able to form a trustworthy idea of the -original work, but nevertheless from the little we know there arises a -figure which in strength, intelligence, and bold endurance far surpasses -the discoverers of most periods. - -[Sidenote: Personal circumstances and date of the voyage] - -Of Pytheas's personal circumstances we have no certain information, and we -do not even know when he lived. As he was unknown to Aristotle, but was -known to his pupil Dicæarchus (who died about 285 B.C.), he was probably a -contemporary of Aristotle and Alexander, and his voyage may have been -undertaken about 330-325 B.C. So little do we know about the voyage that -doubts have been raised as to whether it was really a sea-voyage, or -whether a great part of it did not lie overland. Nor do we know whether -Pytheas made one or several long journeys to the North. According to a -statement of Polybius, Pytheas was a poor man: for he finds it (according -to Strabo, ii. 104) "incredible that it should be possible for a private -individual without means to accomplish journeys of such wide extent." If -it be true that he was poor, which is uncertain, we must doubtless suppose -that Pytheas either had command of a public expedition, fitted out by the -merchants of the enterprising city of Massalia, or that he accompanied -such an expedition as an astronomer and explorer. At that time the city -was at the height of its prosperity, after it had expelled the -Carthaginians, as the result of the successful war with them, from the -rich fisheries of the Iberian coast, and had also succeeded in -establishing commercial relations there, whereby its ships were able to -sail out beyond the Pillars of Hercules; a thing which cannot have been so -easy for them during the former sea-supremacy of Carthage in the western -Mediterranean, which was re-established in 306 B.C., whereby the western -ocean again became more or less closed to the Massalians. It is very -probable that the flourishing city of Massalia desired to send out an -expedition to find the sea-route to the outer coasts of the continent, -from whence it was known that the two important articles of commerce, tin -and amber, were obtained. But it is evident that Pytheas had more than -this business motive for his journey. From all that we know it appears -that with him too the object was to reach the most northern point -possible, in order to find out how far the "oecumene" extended, to -determine the position of the Arctic Circle and the Pole, and to see the -light northern nights and the midnight sun, which to the Greeks of that -time was so remarkable a phenomenon. - -[Sidenote: Astronomical measurements] - -We know that Pytheas was an eminent astronomer. He was the first in -history to introduce astronomical measurements for ascertaining the -geographical situation of a place; and this by itself is enough to give -him a prominent position among the geographers of all times. - -By means of a great gnomon he determined, with surprising accuracy, the -latitude of his own city, Massalia,[39] which formed the starting-point of -his journey, and in relation to which he laid down the latitude of more -northerly places. - -[Illustration: Gnomon] - -[Illustration: Sundial] - -Pytheas also made other astronomical measurements which show him to have -been a remarkably good observer. He found that the pole of the heavens did -not coincide, as the earlier astronomer Eudoxus had supposed, with any -star; but that it made an almost regular rectangle with three stars lying -near it.[40] The pole of the heavens was naturally of consequence to -Pytheas, who steered by the stars; but it is nevertheless striking that he -should have considered it necessary to measure it with such accuracy, if -he had not some other object in doing so. He may have required the pole -for the adjustment of the equinoctial sun-dial ("polus"), whose pointers -had to be parallel with the axis of the heavens;[41] but it is also -possible that he had discovered that by measuring the altitude of the -pole above the horizon he obtained directly the latitude of the spot on -the earth, and that this was a simpler method of determining the latitude -than by measuring the altitude of the sun by a gnomon. Nor is it likely -that he possessed the requisite knowledge for calculating gnomon -measurements unless they were taken either at the solstice or the equinox. -To judge by quotations in various authors he must have given the latitude -of several places in numbers of parts of a circle north of Massalia.[42] -These results of his may perhaps be partly based on measurements of the -polar altitude. Whether Pytheas was acquainted with any instrument for the -measurement of angles we do not know; but it is not unlikely, since even -the Chaldeans appear to have invented a kind of parallactic rule, which -was improved upon by the Alexandrians, and was called by the Romans -"triquetrum" (regula Ptolemaica). The instrument resembled a large pair of -compasses with long straight rods for legs, and the angle was determined -by measuring, in measure of length, the distance between these two -legs.[43] As the pole of the heavens did not coincide with any star, -such measurements cannot have been very accurate, unless Pytheas took the -trouble to measure a circumpolar star in its upper and lower culmination; -or, indeed, in only one of them, for he may easily have found the distance -of the star from the pole by his earlier observations to determine the -position of the pole itself. It is also quite possible that by the aid of -the rectangle formed by the pole with three stars, he was able to obtain -an approximate measurement of the altitude of the pole. Another indication -used by the Greeks to obtain the latitude of a place was the length of its -longest day. To determine this Pytheas may have used the equinoctial dial -("polus"), or the water-clock, the "clepsydra" of the Greeks. - -[Illustration: Greek trading-vessel and longship (warship), from a vase -painting (about 500 B.C.)] - -[Sidenote: Pytheas's ship] - -It is not known what kind of ship he had for his voyage; but if it was -equal to the best that Massalia at that time could afford, it may well -have been a good sea-craft. As it was necessary to be prepared for -hostilities on the part of the Carthaginians and Gaditanians, he doubtless -had a warship (longship), which sailed faster than the broader -merchantmen, and which could also be rowed by one or more banks of oars. -It may have been considerably over 100 feet long, and far larger than -those in which later the Norsemen crossed the Atlantic. It has been -asserted that Pytheas must have gone on foot for the greater part of his -journey, since, according to Strabo [ii. 104], he is said to have stated -"not only that he had visited the whole of Britain on foot, but he also -gives its circumference as more than 40,000 stadia." But, as Professor Alf -Torp has pointed out to me, it is not stated that he "traversed" it, but -"visited" it on foot. The meaning must be that he put in at many places on -the coast, and made longer or shorter excursions into the country. That a -man should be able to traverse such great distances alone on foot, through -the roadless and forest-clad countries of that period, seems impossible. - -[Illustration: Pytheas's probable routes] - -We do not know what previous knowledge Pytheas may have had about the -regions visited by him; but it is probable that he had heard of the tin -country through the merchants who brought the tin overland through Gaul -and down the Rhone to Massalia. In a similar way he had certainly also -heard of the amber country. Besides this, he may have been acquainted with -the trading voyages of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians along the west -coast of Europe, and with the voyage of Himilco. Although it is true that -the Phoenician sailors tried to keep the secret of their routes from -their dangerous rivals the Greeks and Massalians, they cannot have been -altogether successful in the long run, whether their intercourse was -hostile or friendly; a few sailor prisoners would have been enough to -bring the information. - -[Sidenote: The voyage northward] - -When Pytheas sailed out through the Pillars of Hercules he soon arrived, -in passing the Sacred Promontory (Cape St. Vincent), at the limit of the -world as known to the Greeks. He sailed northward along the west and north -coast of Iberia (Portugal and Spain). He made observations of the tides, -that remarkable phenomenon to a man from the Mediterranean, and their -cause, and was the first Greek to connect them with the moon. He proceeded -farther north, and found that the north-western part of Celtica (Gaul) -formed a peninsula, Cabæum (Brittany), where the Ostimians lived. He -supposed that it extended farther west than Cape Finisterre; but errors of -that sort are easily understood at a time when no means existed of -determining longitude. - -[Sidenote: Britain] - -Farther north he came to Brettanice (Britain), which he appears to have -circumnavigated. The Sicilian historian Diodorus, an elder contemporary of -Strabo, says [v. 21]: "Britain is triangular in form like Sicily; but the -sides are not of equal length; the nearest promontory is Kantion [Kent], -and according to what is reported it is 100 stadia distant (from the -continent). The second promontory is Belerion [Cornwall], which is said to -be four days' sail from the continent. The third lies towards the sea -[i.e., towards the north] and is called Orkan.[44] Of the three sides -the one which runs parallel to Europe is the shortest, 7500 stadia; the -second, which extends from the place of crossing [Kent] to the point -[i.e., Orkan], is 15,000 stadia; but the last is 20,000 stadia, so that -the circumference amounts to 42,500 stadia." - -These statements must originally have been due to Pytheas, even though -Diodorus has taken them at second hand (perhaps from Timæus). But Pytheas -cannot very well have acquired such an idea of the shape of the island -without having sailed round it. It is true that the estimate attributed to -him of the island's circumference is more than double the reality,[45] a -discrepancy which is adduced by Strabo as a proof that Pytheas was a -liar;[46] but neither Strabo nor Diodorus was acquainted with his own -description, and there are many indications that the exaggeration cannot -be attributed to himself, but to a later writer, probably Timæus. Pytheas -in his work can only have stated how many days he took to sail along the -coasts, and his day's sail in those unknown waters was certainly a short -one. But the uncritical Timæus, who was moreover a historian and not a -geographer, may, according to the custom of his time, have converted -Pytheas's day's journeys into stadia at the usual equation of 1000 stadia -(about 100 geographical miles) for one day's sailing.[47] Timæus served to -a great extent as the authority for later authors who have mentioned -Pytheas, and it is probably through him that the erroneous information as -to the circumference of Britain reached Polybius, Strabo, Diodorus, -Pliny, and Solinus. In this way geographical explorers may easily have -gross errors attributed to them, when their original observations are -lost. - -[Sidenote: Astronomical measurements in Britain] - -From statements of Hipparchus, preserved by Strabo [ii. 71, 74, 75, 115, -125, 134], we may conclude that Pytheas obtained astronomical data at -various spots in Britain and Orkan. Hipparchus has made use of these in -his tables of climate, and he was able from them to point out that the -longest day in the most northern part of Britain was of eighteen -equinoctial hours,[48] and in an inhabited country, which according to -Pytheas lay farther north than Britain, the longest day was of nineteen -equinoctial hours. If the length of day is fixed in round numbers of -hours, a longest day of eighteen hours fits the northernmost part of -Scotland,[49] while the country still farther north with a longest day of -nineteen hours agrees exactly with Shetland.[50] These data are important, -as they show that Pytheas must have been in the most northerly parts of -the British Isles, and reached Shetland.[51] - -[Sidenote: Thule] - -But the bold and hardy explorer does not seem to have stopped here. He -continued his course northward over the ocean, and came to the uttermost -region, "Thule," which was the land of the midnight sun, "where the tropic -coincides with the Arctic Circle."[52] - -On this section of Pytheas's voyage Geminus of Rhodes (1st century B.C.) -has an important quotation in his Astronomy [vi. 9]. After mentioning that -the days get longer the farther north one goes, he continues: - - To these regions [i.e., to the north] the Massalian Pytheas seems also - to have come. He says at least in his treatise "On the Ocean": "the - Barbarians showed us the place where the sun goes to rest. For it was - the case that in these parts the nights were very short, in some - places two, in others three hours long, so that the sun rose again a - short time after it had set." - -The name of Thule is not mentioned, but that must be the country in -question. It does not appear from this whether Pytheas himself thought -that the shortest night of the year was of two or three hours, or whether -that was the length of the night at the time he happened to be at these -places; but the first case is doubtless the more probable. At any rate -Geminus seems to have understood him thus, since in the passage -immediately preceding he is speaking of the regions where the longest day -is of seventeen or eighteen hours, and he goes on to speak of those where -the longest day is of twenty-three hours. If on the other hand it is the -length of the night at the time Pytheas was there that is meant, then it -seems strange that he should require to be shown by the barbarians where -the sun rose and set, which he could just as well have seen for himself; -for it is scarcely credible that after having journeyed so far his stay -should have been so brief that the sky was overcast the whole time.[53] - -If the longest day of the year was determined by direct observations of -the points at which the sun first appeared and finally disappeared in -places with a free horizon to the north, then days of twenty-one and -twenty-two hours at that time will answer to 63° 39' and 64° 39' N. lat. -Calculated theoretically, from the centre of the sun and without taking -refraction into account, they will be 64° 32' and 65° 31' N. lat. -respectively.[54] - -In addition to this there are two things to be remarked in the passage -quoted in Geminus. First, that the country spoken of by Pytheas was -inhabited (by barbarians). Secondly, that he himself must have been there -with his expedition, for he says that "the barbarians showed us," etc. -Consequently he cannot, as some writers think, have reported merely what -he had heard from others about this country (Thule). Statements in Strabo -also show clearly that Pytheas referred to Thule as inhabited. - -Other pieces of information derived from Pytheas establish consistently -that Thule extended northwards as far as the Arctic Circle. Eratosthenes, -Strabo, Pomponius Mela, Pliny, Cleomedes, Solinus, and others, all have -statements which show clearly that Pytheas described Thule as the land of -the midnight sun. - -If we now sum up what is known of Pytheas's voyage to the North, we shall -find that it all hangs well together: he first came to the north of -Scotland, where the longest day was of eighteen hours, thence to Shetland -with a longest day of nineteen hours, and then to a land beyond all, -Thule, where the longest day was in one place twenty-one hours and in -another twenty-two, and which extended northwards as far as the midnight -sun and the Arctic Circle (at that time in 66° 15' N. lat.). There is -nothing intrinsically impossible in the supposition that this remarkable -explorer, who besides being an eminent astronomer must have been a capable -seaman, had heard in the north of Scotland of an inhabited country still -farther to the north, and then wished to visit this also. We must remember -how, as an astronomer, he was specially interested in determining the -extent of the "oecumene" on the north, and in seeing with his own eyes the -remarkable phenomena of northern latitudes, in particular the midnight -sun. It is not surprising that he was prepared to risk much to attain this -end; and he had already shown by his voyage to the northernmost point of -Britain that he was an explorer of more than ordinary boldness, and equal -to the task. - -Nevertheless it has seemed incredible to many--not only in antiquity, but -in our own time as well--that Pytheas should have penetrated not only so -far into the unknown as to the islands north of Scotland, but that he -should have ventured yet farther into the absolutely unexplored Northern -Ocean, and found an extreme country beyond this. He would thus have -pushed back the limit of the learned world's knowledge from the south -coast of Britain to the Arctic Circle, or about sixteen degrees farther -north. As a feat of such daring and endurance has appeared superhuman, a -great deal of ingenuity has been employed, especially by Müllenhoff [1870, -i., pp. 392 f.], to prove that Thule was Shetland, that Pytheas himself -did not get farther than the Orkneys or the north of Scotland, and that he -heard from the natives of the country still farther north, which he never -saw. But in order to do this almost all the statements that have been -preserved on this part of Pytheas's voyage must be arbitrarily distorted; -and to alter or explain away one's authorities so as to make them fit a -preconceived opinion is an unfortunate proceeding. Unless, like Polybius -and Strabo, we are willing to declare the whole to be a freely imaginative -work, which however is remarkably consistent, we must try to draw our -conclusions from the statements in the authorities as they stand, and in -that case it must for the following reasons be regarded as impossible that -Thule means Shetland: - -[Sidenote: Thule is not Shetland] - -(1) It is improbable that (as Müllenhoff asserts) so capable an astronomer -as Pytheas should have made a mistake of several hours when he gave the -length of the night as two or three hours. There is little intrinsic -probability in the conjecture that he had overcast weather all the time he -was in the north of Scotland and Orkney, and therefore relied on the -approximate statements of the natives, which he did not fully understand, -and which when translated into Greek measures of time might produce gross -errors. But it is worse when we look at it in connection with Hipparchus's -statements from Pytheas, that in Britain the longest day was of eighteen -hours, and nineteen hours in a region (i.e., Shetland) farther north, -where the sun at the winter solstice stood less than three cubits above -the horizon. Unless he has given the latter region a long extension to the -north, he must have made several conflicting statements about the same -region. It will be seen that this leads us to a violent and arbitrary -alteration of the whole system of information, which is otherwise -consistent. - -(2) The assertion that Pytheas did not himself say that he had been in the -country where the night was two and three hours long, conflicts with the -words of Geminus. Cleomedes also tells us that Pytheas is said to have -been in Thule. - -(3) The definite statements in a majority of the authorities that Thule -lay within the Arctic Circle and was the land of the midnight sun, also -exclude the Shetland Isles. The astronomer Pytheas cannot have been so far -mistaken as to the latitude of these islands. - -(4) That it was six days' sail to Thule from Britain[55] will not suit -Shetland, even if we make allowance for the frequently obscure statements -as to the day's journeys that are attributed to Pytheas (e.g., by Strabo). - -(5) That Strabo in one place [ii. 114] calls Thule "the northernmost of -the British Isles" cannot be used, as Müllenhoff uses it, as a proof of -its belonging to these islands and having a Celtic population. There is -not a word to this effect. To Strabo, who also placed Ierne (Ireland) out -in the sea north of Britain, it must have been natural to call all the -islands in that part of the world British. Indeed, he says himself in the -same breath that Thule, according to Pytheas, lay within the Arctic -Circle. How little weight he attached to the expression British is -additionally apparent from another passage [ii. 75], where he says that -"Hipparchus, relying on Pytheas, placed these inhabited regions [Shetland] -farther north than Britain." - -(6) Pliny [Nat. Hist. iv. 104] mentions among islands north of Britain as -"the greatest of all, 'Berricen,' which is the starting-place for Thule." -Berricen, which in some MSS. is written "Nerigon," has been taken for -Mainland of Shetland,[56] while others have seen in the form Nerigon the -first appearance in literature of the name of Norway ("Noregr"),[57] -though with doubtful justification, since this name was hardly in -existence at that time. But whether the island be Shetland or Norway, this -passage in Pliny puts Thule outside the Scottish islands. And the -reference to that country makes it probable that the statements, in part -at any rate, are derived from Pytheas. - -(7) Finally, it may perhaps be pointed out that Thule is nowhere referred -to as a group of islands; the name rather suggests the idea of a -continuous land or a single island. To this it may be objected that -neither is Orkan referred to as an archipelago in the oldest authorities; -but it is uncertain whether in Pytheas, as in Diodorus, Orkan was not used -of the northern point of Brettanice, and only later transferred to the -islands lying to the north of this. Thule, on the other hand, always -appears as a land far out in the ocean, and it is moreover uncertain -whether Pytheas ever expressly described it as an island. - -[Sidenote: Thule is not Iceland] - -But if none of the statements about Thule answers to Shetland, it becomes -a question where we are to look for this country.[58] The Irish monk -Dicuil, who wrote about 825 A.D., regarded it as self-evident that -Iceland, which had then been discovered by Irish monks, must be Thule, and -called it so. After him Adam of Bremen and many others have looked upon -Iceland as the Thule of the ancients. The objections to this hypothesis -are: first, that Thule was inhabited (cf. Geminus, Strabo, and others, see -pp. 54-55), while Iceland probably was not at that time. Even in Dicuil's -time only a few monks seem to have lived there (see below on the discovery -of Iceland). Nor is it likely that Pytheas should have continued his -voyage at haphazard across the ocean, unless he had heard that he would -find land in that direction. To this must be added that Iceland lies so -far away that the distance of six days' sail will not suit it at all. -Finally, if Pytheas had sailed northward at haphazard from Scotland or -from Shetland, the least likely thing to happen was for him to be carried -towards Iceland; neither the currents nor the prevailing winds bear in -that direction; but, on the other hand, they would carry him towards -Norway, and it would be natural for him to make the land there, perhaps -just between 63° and 64° N. lat. or thereabouts. - -[Sidenote: Thule is Norway] - -All the statements about Thule which have been preserved answer to -Norway,[59] but to no other country; and even if it may seem a bold idea -that there should be communication over the North Sea between the Scottish -islands and Norway 300 years before Christ, or 1000 years before the age -of the Vikings, we are compelled to accept it, if we are to rely upon our -authorities as they stand, without arbitrarily altering them; and Pytheas -will then be the first man in history to sail over the North Sea and -arrive on our coasts.[60] - -That Thule, according to Strabo, lies six days' sail "north of" Brettanice -is no objection to its being Norway. "North of" can only mean "farther -north than," in the same way that Brittany and places in Britain are -described as being so many stadia north of Massalia. It also looks as -though Eratosthenes, according to the latitudes and distances which he has -taken from Pytheas, actually puts Thule to the north-east of Britain (see -his map, p. 49), or precisely where Norway lies. Besides, Pytheas had no -means of determining his course in overcast weather, or of fixing the -longitude, for which reasons he supposed, for instance, that Cabæum (the -extreme point of Brittany) lay farther west than Cape Finisterre. - -That Thule is often referred to as an island by later authors is of little -weight. In the first place we do not know whether Pytheas himself so -described it; according to all the geographical ideas of the ancients -about the north a land in the ocean farther north than the British Isles -must necessarily have been an island, even if Pytheas did not say so. In -the next place, if a traveller sails northwards, as he did, from one -island to another, and then steers a course over the sea from Shetland and -arrives at a country still farther north, it would be unlikely that he -should believe himself back again on the continent. Besides, Pytheas made -another voyage eastwards along the north coast of Germany, past the mouth -of the Elbe, and then he had the sea always to the north of him in the -direction of his Thule. In order to discover that this land was connected -with the continent, he would have had to sail right up into the Gulf of -Bothnia. It would therefore have been illogical of Pytheas if he had not -conceived Thule as a great island, as in fact it was spoken of later. It -is mentioned indeed as the greatest of all islands. When the Romans first -heard of Sweden or Scandinavia (Skåne) in the Baltic, they likewise called -it an island, and so it was long thought to be. - -According to what has been advanced above we must then believe that -Pytheas had already received information in northern Brettanice or in the -Scottish islands about Thule or Norway across the sea. But from this it -follows that in his time, or more than a thousand years before the -beginning of the Viking age, there must have been communication by sea -between North Britain and Norway. It may seem that this is putting back -the Norsemen's navigation of the high seas to a very remote period; but as -we shall see in a later chapter on the voyages of the Norsemen, there are -good reasons for thinking that their seafaring is of very ancient date. - -Pytheas may have sailed from Shetland with a south-westerly wind and a -favourable current towards the north-east, and have arrived off the coast -of Norway in the Romsdal or Nordmöre district, where the longest day of -the year was of twenty-one hours, and where there is a free outlook over -the sea to the north, so that the barbarians may well have shown him where -the sun went to rest. From here he may then have sailed northwards along -the coast of Helgeland, perhaps far enough to enable him to see the -midnight sun, somewhere north of Dönna or Bodö; this depends upon how -early in the summer he reached there. On midsummer night he would have -been able to see a little of the midnight sun even at about 65-1/2° N. -lat.; or south of Vega.[61] - -It is nowhere expressly stated that Pytheas himself saw the midnight sun; -but a passage in Pomponius Mela [iii. 6, 57] may perhaps point to this. He -says of Thule: "but at the summer solstice there is no night there, since -the sun then no longer shows merely a reflection, but also the greater -part of itself." It is most reasonable to suppose that this statement is -due to actual observation; for if it were only a theoretical conclusion it -seems extraordinary that he should not rather mention that the whole of -the sun is above the horizon in northern regions, which was clearly enough -grasped long before his time (cf. for instance Geminus of Rhodes). Now it -may, of course, be thought that such an observation was made by people who -came from northernmost Europe later than Pytheas's time and before Mela -wrote; but so long as we do not know of any such authority it is doubtless -more reasonable to suppose that like so many other pieces of information -it is derived from Pytheas. - -[Sidenote: The inhabitants of the northern regions] - -Strabo has a statement about what Pytheas said of the peoples of the -northernmost regions. In a special section wherein he is speaking of -Thule, and, as usual, trying to cast suspicion on Pytheas's veracity, he -says: - - "Yet as far as celestial phenomena and mathematical calculations are - concerned, he seems to have handled these subjects fairly well. [Thus - he says not inappropriately that] in the regions near the cold zone - the finer fruits are lacking and there are few animals, and that the - people live on millet [i.e., oats] and other things, especially green - vegetables, wild fruits and roots; but among those that have corn and - honey they make a drink thereof. But because they have no clear - sunshine they thresh the corn in large buildings after the ears have - been brought thither; for it becomes spoilt on the open - threshing-floors by reason of the want of sunshine and the heavy - showers." - -As Diodorus [v. 21] says something similar about the harvest in Britain, -it seems possible that Strabo is here thinking rather of what Pytheas had -said in a more general way about the peoples near the cold regions, than -of his observations on the actual inhabitants of Thule, though, as already -remarked, the passage occurs in a section devoted to the latter. The -mention of honey may strengthen this view; for even though bee-keeping is -now practised in Norway as far north as Hedemarken, and also on the west -coast, it is doubtful whether such was the case at that time, though it is -not impossible. That wild honey is alluded to, or honey imported from -abroad, is improbable. - -In the MSS. of Solinus there is a statement about the people of Thule -which will be referred to later. Even if the passage were genuine it could -hardly, as some have thought, be derived from Pytheas; in any case it does -not agree with what he is said by Strabo to have related of the people of -the North. In particular it may be pointed out that while the inhabitants -of Thule according to the Solinus MSS. lived principally as herdsmen, and -are not spoken of as agriculturists, Strabo says nothing about cattle, but -on the contrary calls them tillers of the soil. In both accounts they also -live on herbs and wild fruits; but, in spite of that, these two passages -cannot be derived from the same description. It is true that Strabo was -not acquainted with Pytheas's original work, in which other northern -peoples may have been referred to; but this is not very likely. - -[Sidenote: Length of the voyage] - -Most writers have thought that Pytheas completed his voyage in -comparatively few months, and that he was only some few days in Thule; -while others have considered that he spent many years over it.[62] There -is no cogent reason for assuming this. As regards the first hypothesis, it -is by no means impossible that he should have sailed from Spain to -Helgeland in Norway and back again in one summer. But as the greater part -of the voyage lay through unknown regions, and as he frequently stopped to -investigate the country and the people, he cannot have proceeded very -rapidly. To this must probably be added that he often had to barter with -the natives to obtain the necessary provisions, since he certainly cannot -have carried stores for so long a time. It therefore seems doubtful -whether he was ready to return the same summer or autumn, and it is more -reasonable to suppose that he wintered at some place on the way. - -Whether it be Thule or Britain that is referred to in the passage quoted -above from Strabo, it seems to imply that he was in one of these countries -at the harvest, and saw there the gathering in of the corn; but, of -course, there is also the possibility that the people may have told him -about it (through interpreters): and more than that we can scarcely say. -It might be objected that if Pytheas had spent a winter in Norway it is -probable that he would have furnished many details, remarkable at that -time, about the northern winter, of which we hear nothing in any of our -authors. But it must always be remembered how utterly casual and defective -are the quotations from him which have been preserved, and how little we -know of what he really related. - -[Sidenote: The sea beyond Thule] - -Pytheas also furnished information about the sea on the other side of -Thule. This may be concluded from the following passages in particular: - -Strabo says [i. 63]: "Thule, which Pytheas says lies six days' sail north -of Brettanice, and is near to the congealed sea ([Greek: pepêgoia -thalatta], i.e., the Polar Sea)." - -Pliny [iv. 16 (30)]: "After one day's sail from Thule the frozen sea -('mare concretum') is reached, called by some 'Cronium.'"[63] - -Solinus [22, 11]: "Beyond[64] Thule we meet with the sluggish and -congealed sea ('pigrum et concretum mare')." - -Finally we have a well-known passage in Strabo [ii. 104] which says that -Pytheas asserted that in addition to having visited the whole of Britain -... - - "He had also undertaken investigations concerning Thule and those - regions, in which there was no longer any distinction of land or sea - or air, but a mixture of the three like sea-lung, in which he says - that land and sea and everything floats, and this [i.e., the mixture] - binds all together, and can neither be traversed on foot nor by boat. - The substance resembling lung he has seen himself, as he says; the - rest he relates according to what he has heard. This is Pytheas's - tale, and he adds that when he returned here, he visited the whole - ocean coast of Europe from Gadeira to Tanais." - -This much-disputed description of the sea beyond Thule has first passed -through Polybius, who did not believe in Pytheas and tried to throw -ridicule upon him. Whether Polybius obtained it directly, or at second -hand through some older writer, we do not know. From him it came down to -Strabo, who had as little belief in it, and was, moreover, liable to -misunderstand and to be hasty in his quotations. The passage is evidently -torn from its context and has been much abbreviated in order to accentuate -its improbability. It is, therefore, impossible to decide what Pytheas -himself said. As it has come down to us the passage is extremely obscure, -and it does not even appear clearly how much Pytheas asserted that he had -himself seen, and how much he had heard; whether he had only heard of the -stiffened and congealed sea (the Polar Sea), while he had really seen the -condition that he compared to a lung. As to the meaning of this word there -have been many and very different guesses. Some have thought that a common -jelly-fish may have been called a sea-lung in the Mediterranean countries -at that time, in analogy to its German designation, "Meerlunge." It may -also be thought that Pytheas merely wished to describe a spongy, soft -mass, like an ordinary lung.[65] In both cases the description may mean a -gelatinous or pulpy mass, and what Pytheas himself saw may have been the -ice sludge in the sea which is formed over a great extent along the edge -of the drift ice, when this has been ground to a pulp by the action of -waves. The expression "can neither be traversed on foot nor by boat" is -exactly applicable to this ice-sludge. If we add to this the thick fog, -which is often found near drift ice, then the description that the air is -also involved in the mixture, and that land and sea and everything is -merged in it, will appear very graphic. But that Pytheas should have been -far enough out in the sea north of Norway to have met with drift ice is -scarcely credible.[66] If, on the other hand, he wintered in Norway, he -may well have seen something similar on a small scale. Along the Norwegian -coast, in the Skagerak, there may be ice and ice-sludge enough in the late -winter, and in the fjords as well; but in that case it is probable that he -would also have seen solid ice in the fjords, and would have been able to -give a clearer description of the whole, which would have left no room for -such misunderstandings on the part of Polybius and Strabo. It may also -appear unlikely that Pytheas should not have known ice before; he must, -one would think, have seen it on pools of water in the winter even in -Massalia, and from the Black Sea ice was, of course, well known to the -Greeks. But then it is strange that he should have given such an obscure -description of such a condition, and have said that the land was also -involved in the mixture; unless we are to regard the whole passage as -figurative, in which case the word land may be taken as an expression for -the solid as opposed to the liquid form (the sea) and the gaseous (the -air). - -It appears most probable that Pytheas himself never saw the Polar Sea, but -heard something about it from the natives,[67] and his description of the -outer ocean has then been coloured by older Greek, or even Phoenician, -ideas.[68] It may suggest the old conception, which we find even in Homer, -that at the extreme limits of the world heaven, earth, ocean, and Tartarus -meet. To this may possibly have been added Platonic ideas of an -amalgamation of the elements, earth, sea, and air; and this may have led -to a general supposition that in the outer ocean everything was merged in -a primeval chaos which was neither solid, liquid, nor gaseous. It is -further legitimate to suppose that Pytheas in the course of his voyage in -northern waters may have thought in some way or other that he had found -indications of such a state of things as pointed out by Kähler [1903], for -example, when he arrived at the flat coasts of Holland and North Germany -(die Wattenzone), where the sea at high water pours in over the swampy -land through a network of innumerable channels, which might suggest the -idea of a lung, and where the peat bogs are sometimes impossible to -traverse, being neither land nor sea. If Pytheas said that this was like a -lung, he can only have used the word as a figure of speech, for it is -incredible that he should have really regarded this as the lung of the -sea, whose breathing was the ebb and flood, as he had discovered the -connection between the tides and the moon. - -Other interpretations are also possible; but as we do not know what -Pytheas really said, a true solution of the riddle is unattainable, and it -is vain to speculate further upon it. In any case one thing is certain: -his description of the outer ocean gave rise to an idea in the minds of -others that it was sluggish and stiffened, or congealed, a conception -which is current with most later authors who have written on it, far down -into the Middle Ages. It is the same idea which we recognise as the -congealed ("geliberôt") sea in the "Meregarto" and under the name of -"Lebermeer" in German mediæval poetry, "la mar betée" in French, and "la -mar betada" in Provençal poetry. Seafaring peoples between the Red and the -Yellow Seas have similar tales,[69] but whether they are due to Greek -influence or the reverse is not easy to decide. - -[Sidenote: The voyage along the coast of Germany] - -Since Pytheas, as mentioned above, was probably acquainted with both the -east and west coasts of Britain, we must assume either that on his way -back from Norway he sailed southwards along the side which he had not seen -on his voyage northwards, or else that he made more than one voyage to -Britain. From Strabo (see above, p. 66) we know that Pytheas also asserted -that he had visited "the whole ocean coast of Europe from Gadeira to -Tanais," and that he had furnished information "about the Ostiæi[70] and -the countries beyond the Rhine as far as the Scythians," all of which -Strabo looks upon as imaginary. As Thule is never alluded to as lying -north of these regions, but always as north of Britain, we cannot believe -that he went straight from Norway south or south-eastwards to Jutland or -the north coast of Germany. The meaning of Strabo's words must be that he -claimed to have sailed along the west and north-west coast of Europe -(which looks towards the ocean) as far as the borders of Asia, since -Tanais (the Don) was generally used as defining the frontier of the two -continents. - -We do not know when Pytheas undertook this voyage; but the passage quoted -from Strabo [ii. 104] points to some time after the journey to Thule. -There is no sufficient reason for believing that it was all accomplished -at one time, or even in one year, as some will have it. It is more -probable that a discoverer and explorer like Pytheas made several voyages, -according as he had opportunity; and the rich commercial city of Massalia -was greatly interested in the communications with the tin and amber -countries, and in hearing about them. - -[Sidenote: Abalus and Balcia] - -On his voyage along the coast beyond the Rhine, Pytheas must have come to -an island where there was amber, for according to Pliny [Nat. Hist., -xxxvii. 2, 11]: "Pytheas relates that the 'Gutones,' a Germanic people, -dwelt on a bay of the sea ('æstuarium') called 'Metuonidis,'[71] the -extent of which was 6000 stadia. From thence it was one day's sail to the -island of 'Abalus.' Here in the spring the waves cast up amber, which is -washed out of the congealed sea ['mare concretum,' the Polar Sea]. The -natives use it instead of wood for fire, and sell it to the neighbouring -Teutons. This was also believed by Timæus, but he calls the island -'Basilia.'" - -It is possible that this island, Abalus, is the same as the amber island -mentioned in another passage of Pliny [iv. 13, 27], where he says of the -Scythian coast that there are reports of "many islands without a name, and -Timæus relates that among them is one off Scythia, a day's sail away, -which is called 'Baunonia,' and on which the waves cast up amber in the -springtime." In any case they are both mentioned in very similar terms -[cf. Hergt, 1893, pp. 31 f.]. In the same place we read that "Xenophon, of -Lampsacus [about 100 B.C.], mentions that three days' sail from the -Scythian coast there is an island called 'Balcia,' of immense size. -Pythias calls it 'Basilia.'" This conflicts with the passage quoted above -from Pliny, and here there must be a misunderstanding or confusion of some -kind, either on the part of Pliny or of his authority. A possible -explanation may be that Pytheas referred to his island of Abalus as a -[Greek: basileia nêsos], i.e., an island with a king [cf. Detlefsen, 1904, -p. 18]. This would agree with the statement of Diodorus Siculus (1st -century B.C.) [v. 23], which he gives without quoting any authority: "Just -opposite Scythia, above Galatia [Gaul], an island lies in the ocean called -'Basilia'; upon it amber is cast up by the waves, which is otherwise not -found in any place on the earth." It is probable that this is taken from -Timæus and originally derived from Pytheas, and that the island is the -same as Abalus. It is to be noticed that in Pytheas's time the name -Germania was not yet used; northern Europe, east of the Rhine, was counted -as Scythia, whereas the name Germania was well known in the time of -Diodorus. - -Pytheas may also have heard of, or visited, a country or a large island -(Jutland ?), which lay three days' sail from the coast he was sailing -along, and he may likewise have referred to it as a king's island ([Greek: -basileia]). Timæus, or others, may have taken this for a name, both for -Abalus and for this larger and more distant island, which has later been -assumed to be the same as Balcia, a name that may be derived either from -Pytheas or from some later writer. - -As the Gutones resemble the Gytoni (Goths) of Tacitus, who lived on the -Vistula, and as further Basilia and Balcia were the same country, the name -of which was connected with that of the Baltic Sea, and as this country -was identified with the south of Sweden, it was thought that Pytheas must -have been in the amber country on the south coast of the Baltic, and even -in Skåne. This view may appear to be supported by the fact that Strabo -says he lied about the "Ostiæi," who might then be the Esthonians. But as -already remarked this word may be an error for "Ostimians"; and Gutones -may further be an error for Teutones, since a carelessly written [Greek: -Teu] may easily be read as [Greek: Gou] [cf. Hergt, 1893, p. 33], and -immediately afterwards it is stated that the Teutones (not Gutones) lived -near Abalus. Whether Pytheas really mentioned "Balcia" or "Baltia" is, as -already remarked, extremely doubtful; but even if he did so, and even if -it lay in the Baltic, it is not certain that he was there, and he may only -have been told about it. We need not therefore believe that he went -farther than the coast of the North Sea. "Abalus" may have been Heligoland -[cf. Hergt], or perhaps rather one of the islands of Sleswick,[72] where -beach-washed amber is common, as along the whole west coast of Jutland. -The statement that the natives used amber as fuel is a misunderstanding, -which may be due to a discovery of Pytheas that amber was combustible. If -he had really sailed past the Skaw and through the Belts into the Baltic, -it is unlikely that he should only have mentioned one amber island Abalus, -and another immense island farther off. We should expect him to have -changed the ideas of his time about these regions to a greater extent than -this. It is true that he might have travelled overland to the south coast -of the Baltic; but neither is this very probable. It must nevertheless be -borne in mind, as will be pointed out later, that until Strabo's time no -other voyages in these regions were known in literature, and it is, -therefore, possible that much of what we find in Mela and Pliny on the -subject was originally derived from Pytheas. If we did not possess this -one chance passage in Pliny about Abalus and the amber, we should not know -that Pytheas had said anything about it. But of how much more are we -ignorant for want of similar casual quotations? - -[Sidenote: Importance of Pytheas] - -Little as we know of Pytheas himself, he yet appears to us as one of the -most capable and undaunted explorers the world has seen. Besides being the -first, of whom we have certain record, to sail along the coasts of -northern Gaul and Germany, he was the discoverer of Great Britain, of the -Scottish isles and Shetland, and last, but not least, of Thule or Norway, -as far north as to the Arctic Circle. No other single traveller known to -history has made such far-reaching and important discoveries. - -But Pytheas was too far in advance of his time; his description of the new -lands in the North was so pronouncedly antagonistic to current ideas that -it won little acceptance throughout the whole succeeding period of -antiquity. His younger contemporary, Dicæarchus, doubted him, and Polybius -and Strabo, who came two hundred and three hundred years later, -endeavoured, as we have seen, to throw suspicion upon Pytheas and to stamp -him as an impostor. The two eminent geographers and astronomers, -Eratosthenes and Hipparchus, seem to have valued him more according to his -deserts. Polybius's desire to lessen the fame of Pytheas may perhaps be -explained by the fact that the former, a friend of Scipio, had taken part -in many Roman campaigns, and claimed to be more widely travelled than any -other geographer. But as his farthest north was the south of Gaul, he did -not like the idea that an earlier traveller, who enjoyed great renown, -should have penetrated so much farther into regions which were entirely -unknown to himself. Men are not always above such littleness. - - - - -[Illustration: The World according to Strabo (K. Kretschmer, 1892)] - - -CHAPTER III - -ANTIQUITY, AFTER PYTHEAS - - -There was a long interval after the time of Pytheas before the world's -knowledge of the North was again added to, so far as we can judge from the -literature that has come down to us. The mist in which for a moment he -showed a ray of light settled down again. That no other known traveller -can have penetrated into these northern regions during the next two or -three centuries appears from the unwillingness of Polybius and Strabo to -believe in Pytheas, and from the fact that Strabo pronounces him a liar -[i. 63], because "all who have seen Britain and Ierne say nothing about -Thule, though they mention other small islands near Britain"; furthermore, -he says expressly [vii. 294] that "the region along the ocean beyond Albis -[the Elbe] is entirely unknown to us. For neither do we know of any one -among the ancients who made this voyage along the coast in the eastern -regions to the opening of the Caspian Sea, nor have the Romans ever -penetrated into the countries beyond Albis, nor has any one yet traversed -them by land." If any other traveller had been currently mentioned in -literature it is incredible that the well-read Strabo should not have -known it. He therefore ascribed all that he found about these regions to -Pytheas. - -There are nevertheless indications that the Greeks had commercial -relations with the coasts of the Baltic and North Sea, and fresh obscure -statements, which may be derived from such a connection, appear later in -Pliny, and to some extent also in Mela. It may be supposed that -enterprising Greek traders and seamen, enticed by Pytheas's accounts of -the amber country, attempted to follow in his track, and succeeded in -reaching the land of promise whence this costly commodity came. And if -they had once found out the way, they would certainly not have -relinquished it except upon compulsion. But it must be remembered that the -voyage was long, and that they had first to pass through the western -Mediterranean and the Pillars of Hercules, where the Carthaginians had -regained their power and obtained the command of the sea. The overland -route was easier and safer; it ran through the country of tribes which in -those distant times may have been comparatively peaceful. The trade -communication between the Black Sea and the Baltic countries seems, as -mentioned above, to have developed early, and it may be thought that the -active Greek traders would try it in order to reach a district where so -much profit was to be expected; but no certain indication of this -communication can be produced from any older author of note after -Pytheas's time, so far as we know them, and even so late an author as -Ptolemy has little to tell us of the regions east of the Vistula. - -[Sidenote: Eratosthenes, c. 200 B.C.] - -The founder of scientific geography, Eratosthenes (275-circa 194 -B.C.),[73] librarian of the Museum of Alexandria, based what he says of -the North chiefly on Pytheas. He divided the surface of the earth into -climates (zones) and constructed the first map of the world, whereon an -attempt was made to fix the position of the various places by lines of -latitude and meridians. He started with seven known points, along the old -meridian of Rhodes. They were: Thule, the Borysthenes, the Hellespont, -Rhodes, Alexandria, Syene, and Meroe. Through these points he laid down -lines of latitude (see the map). He also made an attempt to calculate the -circumference of the globe by measurement, and found it 250,000 stadia (== -25,000 geographical miles), which is 34,000 stadia (== 3400 geographical -miles) too much. He placed the island of Thule under the Arctic -Circle,[74] far out in the sea to the north of Brettanice. This was to him -the uttermost land and the northern limit of the "oecumene," which he -calculated to be 38,000 stadia (== 3800 geographical miles) broad,[75] -which according to his measurement of the circumference of the earth is -about 54° 17', since each of his degrees of latitude will be about 700 -stadia. His "oecumene" thus extended from the latitude of the Cinnamon -Coast (Somaliland) and Taprobane (Ceylon), 8800 stadia north of the -equator, to the Arctic Circle. South of it was uninhabitable on account of -the heat, and north of it all was frozen. - -Eratosthenes was especially an advocate of the island-form of the -"oecumene," and thought that it was entirely surrounded by the ocean, -which had been encountered in every quarter where the utmost limits of the -world had been reached. By a perversion of the journey of Patrocles to a -voyage round India and the east coast of the continent into the Caspian -Sea, he again represented the latter as an open bay of the northern ocean, -in spite of the fact that Herodotus, and also Aristotle, had asserted that -it was closed. The view that the Caspian Sea was a bay remained current -until the time of Ptolemy. Eratosthenes also held that the occurrence of -tides on all the outer coasts was a proof of the continuity of the ocean. -He said that "if the great extent of the Atlantic Ocean did not make it -impossible, we should be able to make the voyage from Iberia to India -along the same latitude." This was 1700 years before Columbus. - -[Illustration: Reconstruction of Eratosthenes' map of the world (K. -Miller, 1898)] - -With the scientific investigator's lack of respect for authorities, he had -the audacity to doubt Homer's geographical knowledge, and gave offence to -many by saying that people would never discover where the islands of -Æolus, Circe, and Calypso, described in the Odyssey, really were, until -they had found the tailor who had made the bag of the winds for Æolus. - -[Sidenote: Hipparchus, 190-125 B.C.] - -Hipparchus (circa 190-125 B.C.) also relies upon Pytheas, and has nothing -new to tell us of the northern regions. Against Eratosthenes' proof of the -continuity of the ocean, to which allusion has just been made, he objected -that the tides are by no means uniform on all coasts, and in support of -this assertion he referred to the Babylonian Seleucus.[76] But it is not -clear whether Hipparchus was an opponent of the doctrine of the -island-form of the "oecumene," as has been generally supposed; probably he -merely wished to point out that the evidence adduced by Eratosthenes was -insufficient. Hipparchus calculated a continuous table of latitude, or -climate-table, for the various known localities, as far north as Thule. He -introduced the division into degrees. It is also probable that he was the -first to use a kind of map-projection with the aid of converging -meridians, which he drew in straight lines; but as he was more an -astronomer than a geographer it is unlikely that he constructed any -complete map of the world. - -[Illustration: Terrestrial globe, according to Crates of Mallus (K. -Kretschmer)] - -[Sidenote: Polybius, 204-127 B.C.] - -Polybius (circa 204-127 B.C.), as we have seen, pronounced against the -trustworthiness of Pytheas, and declared that all the country north of -Narbo, the Alps, and the Tanais was unknown. Like Herodotus, he left the -question open whether there was a continuous ocean on the north side; but -he appears to have inclined to the old notion of the "oecumene" as -circular. - -[Sidenote: Crates of Mallus, 150 B.C.] - -The Stoic and grammarian Crates of Mallus (about 150 B.C.), who was not a -geographer, constructed the first terrestrial globe, in which he made the -Atlantic Ocean extend like a belt round the world through both the poles, -and with the Stoic's worship of Homer he thought he could follow in this -ocean Odysseus's voyage to the regions of the Læstrygons' long day and -the Cimmerians' polar night. Since the school of the Stoics considered it -necessary that there should be ocean in the torrid zone, so that the sun -might easily keep up its warmth by the aid of vapours from the sea--for -warmth was supported by moisture--Crates placed a belt of ocean round the -earth between the tropics, which formed the limits of the sun's path. -These two belts of water left four masses of land of which only one was -known to men. - -[Sidenote: Posidonius, 135-51 B.C.] - -The physical geographer Posidonius of Apamea in Syria (135-51 B.C.), who -lived for a long time at Rhodes, took the Rhipæan Mountains for the Alps, -and speaks of the Hyperboreans to the north of them. He thought that the -Ocean surrounded the "oecumene" continuously: - - "for its waves were not confined by any fetters of land, but it - stretched to infinity and nothing made its waters turbid." - -A ship sailing with an east wind from the Pillars of Hercules must reach -India after traversing 70,000 stadia, which he thought was the -half-circumference of the earth along the latitude of Rhodes. The greatest -circumference he calculated at 180,000 stadia. These erroneous -calculations were adopted by Ptolemy, and were afterwards of great -significance to Columbus. - -He made a journey as far as Gadir in order to see the outer Ocean for -himself, to measure the tides and to examine the correctness of the -generally accepted idea that the sun, on its setting in the western ocean, -gave out a hissing sound like a red-hot body being dipped into water. He -rightly connected the tides with the moon, finding that their monthly -period corresponded with the full moon; whereas others had thought, for -instance, that they were due to changes in the rivers of Gaul. - -[Sidenote: Cæsar, 55-45 B.C.] - -Cæsar's Gallic War and his invasion of Britain (55-45 B.C.) contributed -fresh information about these portions of Western Europe; but it cannot be -seen that they gave anything new about the North. Cæsar describes Britain -as a triangle. This is undoubtedly the same idea that we find in his -contemporary Diodorus Siculus, and is derived from Pytheas. Cæsar merely -gives different proportions between the sides from those of Diodorus. He -puts Hibernia to the west of Britain, not to the north like Strabo, and -makes its size about two-thirds of the latter, from which it is separated -by a strait of about the same breadth as that between Gaul and Britain. -Between Ireland (Hibernia) and Britain is an island, "Mona" (Anglesey), -and scattered about it many other islands. In some of them there was said -to be a month of unbroken night at the winter solstice; but of this Cæsar -was unable to obtain certain information. This must be an echo of the -tales about Thule, which he had got from older Greek or Roman authors. - -Cæsar is a good example of the Romans' views of and sense for geography. -In spite of this military nation having extended their empire to the -bounds of the unknown in every direction, they never produced a scientific -geographer, nor did they send out anything that we should call a voyage of -exploration, as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks had done. They -were above all a practical people, with more sense for organisation than -for research and science, and in addition they lacked commercial interests -as compared with those other peoples. But during their long campaigns -under the Empire, and by their extensive communications with the most -distant regions, they brought together an abundance of geographical -information hitherto unknown to the classical world. It is natural that it -should have been a Greek who, in one of the most important geographical -works that have come down to us from ancient times, endeavoured to collect -a part of this information, together with the knowledge already acquired -by the Greeks, into a systematic statement. - -[Sidenote: Strabo, Christian era] - -This man was the famous geographer Strabo, a native of Asia Minor (about -63 B.C.-25 A.D.). But unfortunately this critic has nothing to tell us -about the North, and in his anxiety to avoid exaggeration he has, like -Polybius, been at great pains to discredit Pytheas, of whose statements he -will take no account; nor has he made use of the knowledge of the -northernmost regions which we see, from Pliny among others, that other -Greek authors possessed. He has not even made use of the geographical -knowledge which was gained in his own time during the Roman campaign in -Northern Germania under Augustus, if indeed he knew of it. To him the -Ister (Danube), the mountainous districts of the Hercynian Forest, and the -country as far as the Tyregetæ formed, roughly, the northern boundary of -the known world. He thinks it is only ignorance of the more distant -regions that has made people believe the fables "of the Rhipæan Mountains -and the Hyperboreans, as well as all that Pytheas of Massalia has invented -about the coast of the ocean, making use of his astronomical and -mathematical knowledge as a cloak." "Ierne" (Ireland) was placed by Strabo -out in the ocean to the north of Britain. He took it for the most northern -land, and thought that its latitude (which would have to be about 54° N.) -formed the boundary of the "oecumene." - - "For," he says [ii. 115], "living writers tell us of nothing beyond - Ierne, which lies near to Britain on the north, and is inhabited by - savages who live miserably on account of the cold." He says further - [iv. 201] of this island at the end of the world: "of this we have - nothing certain to relate, except that its inhabitants are even more - savage than the Britons, as they are both cannibals and omnivorous [or - grass-eaters ?], and consider it commendable to devour their deceased - parents,[77] as well as openly to have commerce not only with other - women, but also with their own mothers and sisters. But this we relate - perhaps without sufficient authority; although cannibalism at least is - said to be a Scythian custom, and the Celts, the Iberians, and other - peoples are reported to have practised it under the stress of a - siege." - -Strabo evidently attributes to a cold climate a remarkable capacity for -brutalising people, and he considers that the reports of the still more -distant Thule must be even more uncertain. - -The breadth of the "oecumene," from north to south, he made only 30,000 -stadia, and thought that Eratosthenes, deceived by the fables of Pytheas, -had put the limit 8000 stadia (== 11° 26') too far north. Of the countries -beyond the Albis (Elbe), he says, nothing is known. Nevertheless he -mentions the Cimbri as dwelling on a peninsula by the northern ocean; but -he has no very clear idea of where this peninsula is. - - No one can believe, he thinks [vii. 292], that the reason for their - wandering and piratical life was that they were driven out of their - peninsula [which must be Jutland] by a great inundation, for they - still have the same country as before, and it is ridiculous to suppose - that they left it in anger at a natural and constant phenomenon, which - occurs twice daily [i.e., the tides], etc. But it appears from - Strabo's statements that there had been many reports of a great - storm-flood in Denmark, which the Cimbri escaped from with difficulty. - - Of the customs of these people Strabo relates among other things that - they were accompanied on their expeditions by priestesses with gray - hair, white clothes, and bare feet. "They went with drawn swords to - meet the captives in the camp, crowned them with garlands and led them - to a sacrificial vessel of metal, holding twenty amphoræ [Roman cubic - feet]. Here they had a ladder, upon which one of them mounted and, - bent over the vessel, they cut the throat of the prisoner, who was - held up. They made auguries from the blood running into the vessel; - while others opened the corpse and inspected the entrails, prophesying - victory for their army. And in battle they beat skins stretched upon - the wicker-work of their chariots, making a hideous noise." This is - one of the first descriptions of the customs of the warrior-hordes - roving about Europe, who came in contact with the classical world from - the unknown north, and who in later centuries were to come more - frequently. But the description is certainly influenced by Greek - ideas. - -Strabo thought that besides the world known to the Greeks and Romans, -other continents or worlds, where other races of men dwelt, might be -discovered. - -[Sidenote: Albinovanus Pedo] - -In a work called "Suasoriæ" (circa 37 A.D.) of the Spanish-born -rhetorician Seneca there are preserved fragments of a poem, written by -Albinovanus Pedo (in the time of Augustus), which described an expedition -of Germanicus in the North Sea. It has been thought that this may have -been the younger Germanicus's unfortunate campaign in 16 A.D., when he -sailed out from the Ems with a fleet of a thousand ships. This supposition -is strengthened by the fact that Tacitus mentions a cavalry leader, -Albinovanus Pedo, under the same commander in 15 A.D., and it is easy to -believe that he was the poet.[78] But as this unhappy fleet did not get -far from the coast, and the poem describes a voyage into unknown regions, -others have thought that it might be an expedition undertaken by Drusus, -the elder Germanicus, in some year between 12 and 9 B.C.[79] How this may -be is of less importance to us, as the poem does not mention any fresh -discoveries. It is interesting because it gives us a picture of the ideas -current at that time about the northern limits of the world. Where the -fragments commence, the travellers have long ago left daylight and the sun -behind them, and, having passed beyond the limits of the known world, -plunge boldly into the forbidden darkness towards the end of the western -world. There they believe that the sea, which beneath its sluggish -("pigris") waves is full of hideous monsters, savage whales ("pistris"), -and sea-hounds ("æquoreosque canes" == seals ?), rises and takes hold of -the ship--the noise itself increases the horror--and now they think the -ships will stick in the mud, and the fleet will remain there, deserted by -the winds[80] of the ocean--now that they themselves will be left there -helpless and be torn to pieces by the monsters of the deep. And the man -who stands high in the prow strives with his eyes to break through the -impenetrable air, but can see nothing, and relieves his oppression in the -following words: "Whither are we being carried? The day itself flees from -us, and uttermost nature closes in the deserted world with continual -darkness. Or are we sailing towards people on the other side, who dwell -under another heaven, and towards another unknown world?[81] The gods call -us back and forbid the eyes of mortals to see the boundary of things. Why -do we violate strange seas and sacred waters with our oars, disturbing the -peaceful habitations of the gods?" - -This last conception is clearly derived from the "Isles of the Blest" of -the Greeks (originally of the Phoenicians), which were situated in the -deep currents of Oceanus and are already referred to in Hesiod. - -Seneca, on the other hand, says of the outer limits of the world: "Thus is -nature, beyond all things is the ocean, beyond the ocean nothing" ("ita -est rerum natura, post omnia oceanus, post oceanum nihil"), and Pliny -speaks of the empty space ("inane") that puts an end to the voyage beyond -the ocean. - -[Sidenote: Augustus, 5 A.D.] - -In the year 5 A.D. the emperor Augustus, in connection with Tiberius's -expedition to the Elbe, sent a Roman fleet from the Rhine along the coast -of Germania; it sailed northward by the land of the Cimbri (Jutland), past -its northern extremity (the Skaw), probably into the Cattegat, and perhaps -to the Danish islands. Augustus himself, in the Ancyra inscription, tells -us of the voyage of this fleet, and says that it came "even to the people -of the Cimbri, whither before that time no Roman had penetrated either by -land or sea,[82] and the Cimbri and the Charydes (Harudes, Horder), and -the Semnones, and other Germanic peoples in those districts sent -ambassadors to ask for my friendship and that of the Roman people."[83] -Velleius [ii. 106] also gives an account of this voyage, and Pliny [ii. -167] gives the following description of it: "The Northern Ocean has also -been in great part traversed; by the orders of the divine Augustus a fleet -sailed round Germania to the Cimbrian Cape, and saw therefrom a sea that -was immeasurable, or heard that it was so, and came to the Scythian region -and to places that were stiff [with cold] from too much moisture. It is -therefore very improbable that the seas can run short where there is such -superfluity of moisture." Müllenhoff thinks [iv., 1900, p. 45] that on -this voyage they saw the Norwegian mountains, the immense "Mons Sævo" (see -later under Pliny), rising out of the sea. This is not impossible, but we -read nothing about it; nor indeed is it very probable. On the other hand, -it is likely that the voyage resulted in fresh knowledge about the North, -and that at any rate some of the statements in Mela and Pliny may be -derived from this source. - -[Sidenote: Mela, c. 43 A.D.] - -The oldest known Latin geography, "De Chorographia," was written about 43 -A.D. by an otherwise unknown Pomponius Mela, of Tingentera, in Spain. -With the strange mental poverty of Roman literature, Mela bases his work -chiefly on older Greek sources (e.g., Herodotus and Eratosthenes) which -are several centuries before his time; but in addition he gives much -information not found elsewhere. Whether this is also for the most part -taken from older writers it is impossible to say, as he nowhere gives his -authorities. His descriptions, especially those of more distant regions, -are sometimes made obscure and contradictory by his evidently having drawn -upon different sources without combining them into a whole. - -[Illustration: The world according to Mela] - -He begins with these words of wisdom: "All this, whatever it is, to which -we give the name of universe and heaven, is one and includes itself and -everything in a circle ('ambitu'). In the middle of the universe floats -the earth, which is surrounded on all sides by sea, and is divided by it -from west to east [that is, by the equatorial sea, as in Crates of Mallus] -into two parts, which are called hemispheres." Whether one is to conclude -from this that the earth in his opinion was a sphere or a round disc, he -seems to leave the reader to determine. He divides the earth into the five -zones of Parmenides. The two temperate or habitable zones seem, according -to Mela, to coincide with the two masses of land, while the uninhabitable -ones, the torrid and the two frigid zones, are continuous sea. On the -southern continent dwell the Antichthons, who are unknown, on account of -the heat of the intervening region. On the northern one we dwell, and this -is what he proposes to describe. - -Europe is bounded on the west by the Atlantic, and on the north by the -British Ocean. Asia has on the north the Scythian Ocean. - - [iii. c. 5.] In proof of the continuity of these oceans he appeals not - only to the physicists and Homer, but also to Cornelius Nepos, "who is - more modern and trustworthy," and who confirms it and "cites Quintus - Metellus Celer as witness thereto, and says that he has narrated the - following: When he was governing Gaul as proconsul the king of the - Boti[84] gave him some Indians," who "by stress of storm had been - carried away from Indian waters, and after having traversed all the - space between, had finally reached the shores of Germania." - -Mela has many ancient fables to tell of the peoples in the northern -districts of Germania, Sarmatia and Scythia, which last was his name for -what is now Russia and for the north of Asia. It appears that he too was -of the opinion that a cold climate develops savagery and cruelty. - - He says of Germania [iii. c. 3]: "The inhabitants are immense in soul - and body; and besides their natural savagery they exercise both, their - souls in warfare, their bodies by accustoming them to constant - hardship, especially cold." "Might is right to such an extent that - they are not even ashamed of robbery; only to their guests are they - kind, and merciful towards suppliants." The people of Sarmatia were - nomads. [iii. c. 4.] "They are alike warlike, free, unconstrained, and - so savage and cruel that the women go to war together with the men. In - order that they may be fitted thereto the right breast is burned off - immediately after birth, whereby the hand which is drawn out [in - drawing a bow] becomes adapted for shooting [by the breast not coming - in the way or because the arm grew stronger] and the breast becomes - manly.[85] To draw the bow, to ride and to hunt are employments for - the young girls; when grown up it is their duty to fight the foe, so - that it is held to be a shame not to have killed some one, and the - punishment is that they are not allowed to marry."[86] It would appear - that the northern countries, according to the view of Mela, had a - tendency to "emancipate" women, even though he always regards it as a - severe punishment for them to have to live as virgins.[86] Among the - Xamati in his western Asia, at the mouth of the Tanais [i. c. 19], - "the women engage in the same occupations as the men." "The men fight - on foot and with arrows, the women on horseback, not using swords, but - catching men in snares and killing them by dragging them along." Those - who have not killed an enemy must live unmarried. Amongst other - peoples the women do not confine themselves to this snaring of men; - the Mæotides who dwell in the country of the Amazons are governed by - women; and farthest north live the Amazons; but he does not tell us - whether the latter could dispense with men altogether, and reproduce - themselves like the women he tells us of on an island off the coast of - Africa, who were hairy all over the body. "This is related by Hanno, - and it seems worthy of credit, because he brought back the skin of - some he had killed." [iii. c. 9.] - -But this increasing savagery towards the north had a limit, as in the -early Greek idea, after which things became better again; for beyond the -country of the Amazons [i. c. 19] and other wild races, like the -Thyssagetæ and Turcæ who inhabited immense forests and lived by -hunting,[87] there extended, apparently towards the north-east (?), a -"great desert and rugged tract, full of mountains, as far as the -Aremphæans, who had very just customs and were looked upon as holy."[88] -"Beyond them rise the Rhipæan Mountains and behind them lies the region -that borders on the Ocean." In addition, the happy "Hyperboreans" dwelt in -the north. In his description of Scythia he says of them [iii. c. 5]: -"Then [i.e., after Sarmatia] come the neighbouring parts of Asia [or the -parts bordering on Asia ?]. Except where continual winter and unbearable -cold reigns, the Scythian people dwell there, almost all known by the name -of 'Belcæ' (?). On the shore of Asia come first the Hyperboreans, beyond -the north wind and the Rhipæan Mountains under the very pivot of the -stars" [i.e., the pole]. In their country the sun rose at the vernal -equinox and set at the autumnal equinox, so that they had six months day -and six months night. "This narrow [or holy ?] sunny land is in itself -fertile." He goes on to give a description of the happy life of the -Hyperboreans, taken from Greek sources. - -[Illustration: Europe according to the description of Mela] - -On north-western Europe Mela has much information which is not met with in -earlier authors. The tin-islands, the Cassiterides, lay off the north-west -of Spain, where the "Celtici" lived [iii. c. 6]. "Beyond ('super') -Britain is Juverna [Ireland], nearly as large, with a climate unfavourable -to the ripening of corn, but with such excellent pastures that if the -cattle are allowed to graze for more than a small part of the day, they -burst in pieces. The inhabitants are rude and more ignorant than other -peoples of all kinds of virtue. Religion is altogether unknown to them." - -"The Orcades are thirty in number, divided from each other by narrow -straits; the Hæmodæ seven, drawn towards Germany" ("septem Hæmodæ contra -Germaniam vectæ"). This is the first time, so far as is known, that these -two groups of islands are mentioned in literature. Diodorus, it is true, -had already spoken of "Orkan" or "Orkas," but not as a group of islands. -As this name is probably derived from Pytheas, it is likely that the -other, "Hæmodæ," is also his. Possibly the groups were re-discovered under -the emperor Claudius (about 43 A.D.) or more definite information may have -been received about them; but on the other hand, Mela says that the -knowledge of Britain that was acquired during this campaign would be -brought back by Claudius himself in his triumph. It will be most -reasonable to suppose that Mela's thirty Orcades are the Orkneys--the -number is approximately correct--and not the Orkneys and Shetlands -together. The seven Hæmodæ, on the other hand, must be the latter, and can -hardly be the Hebrides, as many would believe, since Mela mentions the -islands off the west coast of Europe in a definite order, and he names -first "Juverna," then the "Orcades," and next the "Hæmodæ," which are -"carried ('vectæ') towards Germany"[89] (cf. also Pliny later). - -In his description of Germania [iii. c. 3] Mela says: - - "Beyond ('super') Albis is an immense bay, Codanus, full of many great - and small islands. Here the sea which is received in the bosom of the - shore is nowhere broad and nowhere like a sea, but as the waters - everywhere flow between and often go over [i.e., over the tongues of - land or shallows which connect the islands] it is split up into the - appearance of rivers, which are undefined and widely separated; where - the sea touches the shores [of the mainland], since it is held in by - the shores of the islands which are not far from each other, and since - nearly everywhere it is not large [i.e., broad], it runs in a narrow - channel and like a strait ('fretum'), and turning with the shore it is - curved like a long eyebrow. In this [sea] dwell the Cimbri and the - Teutons, and beyond [the sea, or the Cimbri and Teutons ?] the extreme - people of Germania, namely the Hermiones." - -The meaning of this description, which seems to be as involved as the many -sounds he is talking about, must probably be that in the immense bay of -Codanus there are a number of islands with many narrow straits between -them, like rivers. Along the shore of the mainland there is formed, by the -almost continuous line of islands lying outside, a long curving strait, -which is nearly everywhere of the same narrowness. In this sea--that is to -say, on the peninsulas and islands in this bay--dwell the Cimbri and -Teutons, and farther away in Germania the Hermiones. - -[Illustration: Island with Hippopod or horse-footed man (from the Hereford -map)] - -In his account of the islands along the coast of Europe, Mela says further -[iii. c. 6]: - -[Sidenote: Codanus] - - "In the bay which we have called Codanus is amongst the islands - Codanovia, which is still inhabited by the Teutons, and it surpasses - the others both in size and in fertility. The part which lies towards - the Sarmatians seems sometimes to be islands and sometimes connected - land, on account of the backward and forward flow of the sea, and - because the interval which separates them is now covered by the waves, - now bare. Upon these it is asserted that the Oeneans dwell, who live - entirely on the eggs of fen-fowl and on oats, the Hippopods with - horses' feet, and the Sanalians, who have such long ears that they - cover the whole body with them instead of clothes, since they - otherwise go naked. For these things, besides what is told in fables, - I find also authorities whom I think I may follow. Towards the coast - of the Belgæ[90] lies Thule, famous in Greek poems and in our own; - there the nights in any case are short, since the sun, when it has - long been about to set, rises up; but in the winter the nights are - dark as elsewhere.... But at the summer solstice there is no night at - all, because the sun then is already clearer, and not only shows its - reflection, but also the greater part of itself." - -Thus we see here, as in so many of the classical authors, and later in -Pliny, old legends and more trustworthy information hopelessly mixed -together. The legends, whose Greek origin is disclosed by the form of the -names, may be old skippers' tales, or the romances of merchants who went -northward from the Black Sea, but they may also in part be derived from -Pytheas. A fable like that of the long-eared Sanali (otherwise called -Panoti) originally came from India and is later than his time. The -statement about the Oeneæ, or, doubtless more correctly, Oeonæ (i.e., -egg-eaters), who live on eggs and oats, may, on the other hand, have -reached him from the north, where the eggs both of fen-fowl (plovers' -eggs, for example) and of sea-birds were eaten from time immemorial. Cæsar -had heard or read of people who lived on birds' eggs and fish on the -islands at the mouth of the Rhine, but he may indeed have derived his -knowledge from Greek sources [cf. Müllenhoff, i., 1870, p. 492]. - -[Illustration: Island with long-eared man (from the Hereford map)] - -What Mela says about Thule probably comes from Pytheas, as already -mentioned (p. 90), and it is very possible that the remarkable statements -about the immense bay of Codanus are likewise derived from him, although -they may also be ascribed to the circumnavigation of the Skaw under -Augustus, or to other voyages in these waters of which we have no -knowledge. - -[Sidenote: Codanovia] - -Whether Codanovia (which is not found in any other known author) is the -same name as the later Scadinavia in Pliny, must be regarded as uncertain. -It is the first time that such an island or that the bay of Codanus is -mentioned in literature. This "immense bay" must certainly be the Cattegat -with the southern part of the Baltic; and the numerous islands which close -it in to a curved strait or sound must be for the most part the Danish -islands and perhaps southern Sweden. Whence the name is derived we do not -know for certain.[91] - - Ptolemy mentions three peoples in southern Jutland, and calls the - easternmost of them "Kobandoi." It is not likely that three peoples - can have lived side by side in this narrowest part of the peninsula, - and we must believe that some of them lived among the Danish islands, - where Ptolemy does not give the name of any people. The "Kobandoi" - would then be on the easternmost island, Sealand [cf. Much, 1893, pp. - 198 f.]. Now it will easily be supposed that "Codanus" and "Kobandoi" - have some connection or other; the latter might be a corruption of the - name of a people, "Kodanoi" or "Kodanioi." But as precisely these - islands and the south of Sweden were inhabited by tribes of the - Danes--of whom several are mentioned in literature: South Danes, North - Danes, Sea Danes, Island Danes, etc.--it may be further supposed that - "Kodanioi" is composed of "ko" or cow[92] and "Daner" (that is, - Cow-Danes), and means a tribe of the latter who were remarkable for - the number of their cows, which would be probable enough for a people - in fertile Sealand (or in Skåne).[93] In this case "Codanus" must be - derived from the name of this people, just as most of the names of - seas and bays in these regions were taken from the names of peoples - (e.g., "Oceanus Germanicus," "Mare Suebicum," "Sinus Venedicum," - "Quænsæ"). The name "Daner" is one of those names of peoples that are - so ancient that their derivation must be obscure.[94] Procopius uses - it as a common name for many nations ("ethne"), in the same way as he - names the "ethne" of the Slavs (see later, p. 146). It is also used in - the early Middle Ages as a common name for the people of the North, - like Eruli, and later Normans. It is therefore natural that there - should have been special names for the tribes, like Sea-Danes, - Cow-Danes, etc. "Kodan-ovia" ("ovia," equivalent to Old High German - "ouwa" or "ouwia") for island, Gothic "avi," Old Norse "ey" [cf. - Grimm, 1888, p. 505], must be the island on which this tribe lived, - and this might then be Sealand (though Skåne is also possible). - -That the Cimbri lived in Codanus suits very well, as their home was -Jutland;[95] on the other hand, we know less about the country inhabited -by the Teutons. They must have been called in Germanic "*þeodonez" (Gothic -"*þiudans" means properly kings), and the name has been connected with -Old Norse "þiód," now Thy (Old Danish "Thythesyssel") with its capital -Thisted, and the island Thyholm, in north-western Jutland [cf. Much, 1893, -pp. 7 ff.; 1905, p. 100]. - -Whether the Vistula had its outlet into Codanus or farther east Mela does -not say, nor does he tell us whether Sarmatia was bounded by this gulf; -but this is not impossible, although Codanus is described at the end of -the chapter on Germania. Strangely enough, he says, according to the MSS. -[iii. c. 4], that "Sarmatia is separated from the following [i.e., -Scythia] by the Vistula"; it would thus lie on the western side of the -river, which seems curious. It might be possible that the islands off the -coast of Sarmatia are among the many which lay in Codanus (?). As Sarmatia -lay to the east of Germania, these islands would in any case be as far -east as the Baltic, if not farther; but there is no ebb and flood there by -which the connecting land between them might be alternately covered and -left dry; on the other hand, the description suits the German North Sea -coast. Either Mela's authority has heard of the low-lying lands--the -Frische Nehrung and the Kurische Nehrung, for instance--off the coast of -the amber country, and has added the tidal phenomena from the North Sea -coast, or, what is more probable, the Frisian islands, for example, may by -a misunderstanding have been moved eastwards into Sarmatia, since older -writers, who as yet made no distinction between Germania, Sarmatia and -Scythia, described them as lying far east, off the Scythian coast (perhaps -taken from the voyage of Pytheas).[96] - -[Sidenote: Voyage to Samland, circa 60 A.D.] - -The emperor Nero's (54-68 A.D.) love of show led, according to Pliny [Nat. -Hist., xxxvii. 45], to the amber coast of the Baltic becoming "first known -through a Roman knight, whom Julianus sent to purchase amber, when he was -to arrange a gladiatorial combat for the emperor Nero. This knight visited -the markets and the coasts and brought thence such a quantity that the -nets which were hung up to keep the wild beasts away from the imperial -tribune had a piece of amber in every mesh; indeed the weapons, the biers, -and the whole apparatus of a day's festival were heavy with amber. The -largest piece weighed thirteen pounds." This journey must have followed an -undoubtedly ancient trade-route from the Adriatic to Carnuntum (in -Pannonia), the modern Petronell on the Danube, where the latter is joined -by the March, and from whence Pliny expressly says that the distance was -600,000 paces to the amber coast, which agrees almost exactly with the -distance in a straight line to Samland. From Carnuntum the route lay along -the river March, thence overland to the upper Vistula, and so down this -river to Samland. It may easily be understood that much fresh knowledge -reached Rome as a result of this journey. - -[Sidenote: Pliny 23-79 A.D.] - -The elder Pliny's (23-79 A.D.) statements about the North, in his great -work "Naturalis Historia" (in thirty-seven books), are somewhat obscure -and confused, and so far are no advance upon Mela; but we remark -nevertheless that fresh knowledge has been acquired, and it is as though -we get a clearer vision of the new countries and seas through the northern -mists. He himself says, moreover, that he "has received information of -immense islands which have recently been discovered from Germania." His -work is in great part the fruit of an unusually extensive acquaintance -with older writers, mostly Greek, but also Latin. He repeats a good deal -of what Mela says, or draws from the same sources, probably Greek. - -His information about the North must have been obtained, so far as I can -see, mainly in three different ways: (1) Directly through the Romans' -connection with Germania and through their expeditions to its northern -coasts (under Augustus and Nero, for example). Pliny himself lived in -Germania for several years (45-52 A.D.) as a Roman cavalry commander, and -may then have collected much information. (2) He has drawn extensively -from Greek sources, whose statements about the North may have come partly -by sea, chiefly through Pytheas (perhaps also through later trading -voyages); partly also by land, especially through commercial intercourse -between the Black Sea and the Baltic.[97] (3) Finally he received -information from Britain about the regions to the north. This may be -derived partly from Greek sources, partly also from later Roman connection -with Britain. Mela expressly says of this country that new facts will soon -be known about it, "for the greatest prince [the Emperor Claudius] is now -opening up this country, which has so long been closed ... he has striven -by war to obtain personal knowledge of these things, and will spread this -knowledge at his triumph." The information obtained by Pliny through these -different channels is often used by him uncritically, without remarking -that different statements apply to the same countries and seas. - -His theory of the universe was the usual one, that the universe was a -hollow sphere which revolved in twenty-four hours with indescribable -rapidity. "Whether by the continual revolution of such a great mass there -is produced an immense noise, exceeding all powers of hearing, I am no -more able to assert than that the sound produced by the stars circulating -about one another and revolving in their orbits, is a lovely and -incredibly graceful harmony." The earth stood in the centre of the -universe and had the form of a sphere. The land was everywhere surrounded -by sea, which covers the greater part of the globe. - -In his description of the North [iv. 12, 88 f.] Pliny begins at the east, -and relies here entirely on Greek authorities. - - Far north in Scythia, beyond the Arimaspians, "we come to the 'Ripæan' - Mountains and to the district which on account of the ever-falling - snow, resembling feathers, is called Pterophorus. This part of the - world is accursed by nature and shrouded in thick darkness; it - produces nothing else but frost and is the chilly hiding-place of the - north wind. By these mountains and beyond the north wind dwells, if we - are willing to believe it, a happy people, the Hyperboreans, who have - long life and are famous for many marvels which border on the - fabulous. There, it is said, are the pivots of the world, and the - uttermost revolution of the constellations." The sun shines there for - six months; but strangely enough it rises at the summer solstice and - sets at the winter solstice, which shows Pliny's ignorance of - astronomy. The climate is magnificent and without cold winds. As the - sun shines for half the year, "the Hyperboreans sow in the morning, - harvest at midday, gather the fruit from the trees at evening, and - spend the night in caves. The existence of this people is not to be - doubted, since so many authors tell us about them." - -Having then mentioned several districts bordering on the Black Sea, Pliny -continues [iv. 13, 94 f.]: - - "We will now acquaint ourselves with the outer parts of Europe, and - turn, after having gone over the Ripæan Mountains, towards the left to - the coast of the northern ocean, until we arrive again at Gades. Along - this line many nameless islands are recorded. Timæus mentions that - among them there is one off Scythia called Baunonia, a day's sail - distant, upon which the waves cast up amber in the spring. The - remaining coasts are only known from doubtful rumours. Here is the - northern ocean. Hecatæus calls it Amalcium, from the river - Parapanisus[98] onwards and as far as it washes the coast of Scythia, - which name [i.e., Amalcium] in the language of the natives means - frozen.[99] Philemon[100] says that it was called by the Cimbri - Morimarusa, that is, the dead sea; from thence and as far as the - promontory Rusbeas, farther out, it is called Cronium. Xenophon of - Lampsacus says that three days' sail from the Scythian coast is an - island, Balcia, of enormous size; Pytheas calls it Basilia." He goes - on to mention the Oeonæ, Hippopods, and Long-eared men in almost the - same terms as Mela. - -This mention of lands and seas in the North is of great interest. But in -attempting to identify any of them in Pliny's description we must always -remember that to him and his Greek authorities, and to all writers even in -much later times, all land north of the coasts of Scythia, Sarmatia and -Germania was nothing but islands in the northern ocean. Further, it must -be remembered that the ancient Greeks did not know the name Germania, -which was not introduced until about 80 B.C. To them Scythia and Celtica -(Gaul) were conterminous, and their Scythian coast might therefore lie -either on the Baltic or the North Sea. - -It has not been possible to decide where the name "Rusbeas" (called by -Solinus "Rubeas") comes from;[101] but it is best understood if we take it -to be southern Norway or Lindesnes. As the description begins at the east -on the Scythian coast, it follows that "Amalcium" is the Baltic as far as -the Danish islands and the land of the Cimbri. "Morimarusa,"[102] which -extends from Amalcium to Lindesnes, will be the Cattegat (in part, at any -rate) and the Skagerak. Cronium will be the North Sea and the Northern -Ocean beyond Lindesnes.[103] We must believe that Philemon has obtained -his information about the Cimbri (at the Skaw), about Morimarusa, and -about Rusbeas either from Pytheas--whose mention thereof we must then -suppose to have been accidentally omitted by other authors--or else from -later Greek merchants. In the same way Xenophon must have got his Balcia, -which is here named for the first time in literature. As these two Greek -authors (probably of about 100 B.C.) are expressly mentioned as -authorities, the statements cannot be derived from the circumnavigation of -the Skaw in the time of Augustus, nor from any other Roman expedition. It -is clear enough that Pliny himself did not know where Rusbeas and Balcia -were, but simply repeated uncritically what he had read. On the other -hand, he knew from another source that the sea he calls Cronium lay far -north of Britain, and must therefore be sought for to the north-west of -the Scythian coast. - -Balcia must be looked for most probably in the Baltic. As already -mentioned (p. 72) it may be Jutland; but as it is described as an island -of immense size and three days' sail from the Scythian coast, it suits -southern Sweden better, although Pliny has also the name Scadinavia for -this from another source. - -After these doubtful statements about the north coast of Scythia, taken -from Greek sources and interwoven with fables, Pliny reaches firmer ground -in Germania, when he continues [iv. 13, 96]: - - "We have more certain information concerning the Ingævones people who - are the first [that is, the most north-eastern] in Germania. There is - the immense mountain Sævo, not less than the Riphæan range, and it - forms a vast bay which goes to the Cimbrian Promontory [i.e., - Jutland], which bay is called Codanus and is full of islands, amongst - which the most celebrated is Scatinavia, of unknown size; a part of it - is inhabited, as far as is known by the Hilleviones, in 500 cantons - ('pagis'), who call it [i.e., the island] the second earth. Æningia is - supposed to be not less in size. Some say that these regions extend as - far as the Vistula and are inhabited by Sarmatians [i.e., probably - Slavs], Venedi [Wends], Scirri, and Hirri; the bay is called - Cylipenus, and at its mouth lies the island Latris. Not far from - thence is another bay, Lagnus, which borders on the Cimbri. The - Cimbrian Promontory runs far out into the sea and forms a peninsula - called Tastris." Then follows a list of twenty-three islands which are - clearly off the North Sea coast of Sleswick and Germany. Among them is - one called by the soldiers "Glæsaria" on account of the amber - ("glesum"),[104] but by the barbarians "Austeravia" [i.e., the eastern - island], or "Actania." - -Here are a number of new names and pieces of information. The form of some -of the names shows that here too Pliny has borrowed to some extent from -Greek authors; but his information must also partly be derived from Roman -sources, and from Germany itself. His "Codanus" must be the same as that -of Mela, and is the sea adjacent to the country of the Cimbri, which is -here for the first time clearly referred to as a promontory -(promunturium). It is the Cattegat, and, in part at any rate, the -Skagerak. The enormous mountain "Sævo" will then be most probably the -mountains of Scandinavia, especially southern Norway, which forms the bay -of Codanus in such a way that the latter is bounded on the other side by -the Cimbrian Promontory.[105] It will then be in the same mountainous -country that we should look for the promontory of Rusbeas (see above). - -[Sidenote: Scandinavia] - -The name "Scatinavia" or "Scadinavia" (both spellings occur in the MSS. of -Pliny) is found here certainly for the first time; but, curiously enough, -we also find the name "Scandia" in Pliny; it is used of an island which is -mentioned as near Britain (see below, p. 106). "Scandia" has often been -taken for a shortened form of "Scadinavia"; but if we consider the -occurrence of both names in Pliny in conjunction with the fact that Mela -has not yet heard either, but has, on the other hand, a large island, -"Codanovia," in the bay of Codanus, then it may seem possible that -originally there were two entirely different names: "Codanovia," for -Sealand (and perhaps for south Sweden), and "*Skânovia" ("Skáney," -latinised into "Scandia") for Skåne. By a confusion of these two the form -"Scadinavia" for south Sweden may have resulted in Pliny, instead of -Mela's "Codanovia," while at the same time he got the name "Scandia" from -another source. The latter is the only one used by Ptolemy both for south -Sweden and the Danish islands; he has four "Scandiæ," three smaller ones -and one very large one farther east, "Scandia" proper (see below, p. 119). -By further confusion of the two names, "Scadinavia" has become -"Scandinavia" in later copyists and authors.[106] - - In conflict with this is the hitherto accepted opinion among - philologists that the name "Skåne" must be derived from "Scadinavia," - which would regularly become by contraction "*Skadney," and this by - losing the "d" would become "Skáney." But this similarity may after - all be accidental, and it is difficult to reconcile the hypothesis - with the fact that the form "Scandia" (and not "*Skadnia") already - appears in Pliny and later in Ptolemy. To this must be added that the - form "*Skadney," or a similar one, is not known; the first time we - find the word Skåne in literature is in the story of Wulfstan the Dane - to King Alfred (about 890, see later), where it takes the form "Scôn - eg," which is the same as "Skáney." "Skania," which is a latinised - form of "Skáney," is found in a Papal letter of 950, and a Swedish - runic inscription of about 1020 reads "a Skanu," which also is the - same as "Skáney." It therefore appears probable that this is the - original form, the same as the Norwegian name "Skáney," and that it - has not resulted from a contraction of "Skadinavia." Professor Torp - agrees that a form "*Skânovia" might possibly be the original. - -What may be the meaning of the name "Hilleviones" in Scadinavia is -difficult to make out; it does not occur in any other writer, but is in -all likelihood a common term for all Scandinavians. One is reminded of the -"Hermiones" who occur in Mela in the same connection, but a little later -Pliny mentions these also. "Æningia," which is said to be no smaller than -Scadinavia, is a riddle. Could it be a corruption of a Halsingia or -Alsingia (the land of the Helsingers), a name for northern Sweden, which -thus lay farther off and was less known than Scadinavia?[107] When we read -that these regions were supposed to extend as far as the Vistula, this -might indicate a vague idea that Scadinavia and Æningia were connected -with the mainland, whereby a bay of the sea was formed, called -"Cylipenus,"[108] which will thus be yet another name for the Baltic, -taken from a new source; but the whole may be nothing more than an obscure -statement. - -"Latris," which lay at the mouth of Cylipenus, may be one of the Danish -islands, and one may perhaps be reminded of Sealand with the ancient royal -stronghold of "Lethra" or Leire, Old Norse "Hleidrar." The bay of -"Lagnus,"[109] which borders on the Cimbri, must then be taken as a new -name for the Cattegat, while "Tastris" may be Skagen. According to the -sources Pliny has borrowed from, we thus get the following names for the -same parts: for the Baltic or parts thereof, "Amalcium" and "Cylipenus," -and perhaps in part "Codanus"; for the Cattegat, "Lagnus" and "Codanus"; -for the Skagerak, "Morimarusa," in part also "Codanus"; for south Sweden, -"Scadinavia" and "Balcia"; for Jutland or Skagen, "Promunturium Cimbrorum" -and "Tastris." At any rate, this superfluity of names discloses increased -communication, through many channels, with the North. Communication with -the North is also to be deduced from Pliny's mention [viii. c. 15, 39] of -an animal called "achlis," as a native of those countries. - - It had "never been seen among us in Rome, though it had been described - by many." It resembles the elk [alcis], "but has no knee-joint, for - which reason also it does not sleep lying down, but leaned against a - tree, and if the tree be partly cut through as a trap, the animal, - which otherwise is remarkably fleet, is caught. Its upper lip is very - large, for which reason it goes backwards when grazing, so as not to - get caught in it if it went forward." It might be thought that this - elk-like animal was a reindeer; but the mention of the long upper lip - and the trees suits the elk better, and it may have been related of - this animal that it was caught by means of traps in the forest. The - fable that it slept leaning against a tree may be due to the - similarity between the name "achlis" (which may be some corruption or - other, perhaps of "alces") and "acclinis" (== leaning on). - -Finally, Pliny had a third source of knowledge about the North through -Britain, which to him was a common name for all the islands in that -ocean. Some of the statements from this quarter originated with Pytheas; -but later information was added; Pliny himself mentions Agrippa as an -authority. Among the British Isles he mentions [iv. 16, 103]: "40 -'Orcades' separated from each other by moderate distances, 7 'Acmodæ,' and -30 'Hebudes.'" His 7 "Acmodæ" (which in some MSS. are also called -"Hæcmodæ") are, clearly enough, Mela's 7 Hæmodæ, and probably the Shetland -Islands, while the 30 "Hebudes" are the Hebrides, which are thus mentioned -here for the first time in any known author. - -After referring to a number of other British islands "and the 'Glæsiæ,' -scattered in the Germanic Ocean, which the later Greeks call the -'Electrides,' because amber (electrum) is found in them,"[110] Pliny -continues [iv. 16, 104]: "The most distant of all known islands is 'Tyle' -(Thule), where at the summer solstice there is no night, and -correspondingly no day at the winter solstice."[111]... "Some authors -mention yet more islands, 'Scandia,' 'Dumna,' 'Bergos,' and the largest of -all, 'Berricen,' from which the voyage is made to Tyle. From Tyle it is -one day's sail to the curdled sea which some call 'Cronium.'" We do not -know from what authors Pliny can have taken these names, nor where the -islands are to be looked for; but as Thule is mentioned, we must suppose -that in any case some of them come originally from Pytheas. As Scandia -comes first among these islands, one is led to think that Dumna and the -two other enigmatical names are of Germanic origin. "Dumna" might then -remind us of Scandinavian names such as Duney, Dönna (in Nordland), or -the like; but it is more probable that it comes from the Celtic "dubno" or -"dumno" (== deep), and may be the name of an island off Scotland. "Bergos" -may remind us of the Old Norse word "bjarg" or "berg."[112] It is not so -easy with the strange name "Berricen," which in some MSS. has the form -"Verigon" or "Nerigon" (cf. above, p. 58). If the first reading is the -correct one, it suggests an origin in an Old Norse "ber-ig" ("ber" == -bear; the meaning would therefore be "bear-y," full of bears), not an -unsuitable name for southern Norway, whence the journey was made to Thule -or northern Norway; but this is doubtful. If "Nerigon" is the correct -reading, it will not be impossible, in the opinion of Professor Torp, that -this, as Keyser supposed, may be the name Norway, which in Old Norse was -called, by Danes for example, "*NorþravegaR" (like "AustravegaR" and -"VestravegaR"). If any of the names of these islands are really Germanic, -like Scandia, then they cannot, as some have thought, refer to islands off -Scotland or to the Shetlands, as these were not yet inhabited by Norsemen. -The islands in question must therefore be looked for in Norway. It is -important that Scandia is mentioned first among them in connection with -Britain, and that at the same time another is described as the largest of -them all, and as lying on the way to Thule. This again points to -communication by sea between the British Isles and Scandinavia, of which -we found indications four hundred years earlier. - -[Sidenote: Agricola, 84 A.D.] - -In 84 A.D. Agricola, after his campaign against the Caledonians, sent his -fleet round the northern point of Scotland, "whereby," Tacitus[113] tells -us, "it was proved that Britain is an island. At the same time the -hitherto unknown islands which are called 'Orcadas' (the Orkneys) were -discovered and subdued. Thule also could be descried in the distance; but -the fleet had orders not to go farther, and winter was coming on. Moreover -the water is thick and heavy to row in; it is said that even wind cannot -stir it to much motion. The reason for this may be the absence of land and -mountains, which otherwise would give the storms increased power, and that -the enormous mass of continuous ocean is not easy to set in motion." This -Thule must have been Fair Island or the Shetland Isles, and this is the -most northern point reached by the Romans, so far as is known. The idea of -the heavy sea, which is not moved by the winds, is the same that we met -with in early antiquity (see pp. 40, 69). - - In the preceding summer some of Agricola's soldiers--a cohort of - Usippii, enlisted in Germania and brought to Britain--had mutinied, - killed their centurion and seized three ships, whose captains they - forced into obedience. "Two of them aroused their suspicions and were - therefore killed; the third undertook the navigation," and they - circumnavigated Britain. "They were soon obliged to land to provide - themselves with water and to plunder what they required; thereby they - came into frequent conflict with the Britons, who defended their - possessions; they were often victorious, but sometimes were worsted, - and finally their need became so great that they took to eating the - weakest; then they drew lots as to which should serve the others as - food. Thus they came round Britain [i.e. round the north], were driven - out of their course through incompetent navigation, and were made - prisoners, some by the Frisians and some by the Suevi, who took them - for pirates. Some of them came to the slave-markets and passed through - various hands until they reached Roman Germania, becoming quite - remarkable persons by being able to relate such marvellous - adventures."[114] It is possible that certain inaccurate statements - may have found their way to Rome as the result of this voyage. - -[Sidenote: Tacitus, 98 A.D.] - -Cornelius Tacitus, who wrote his "Germania" in the year 98 A.D., was a -historian and ethnographer, not a geographer. His celebrated work has not, -therefore, much to say of the northern lands; he has not even a single -name for them. On the other hand, he has some remarkable statements about -the peoples, especially in Sweden, which show that since the time of Pliny -fresh information about that part of the world must have reached Rome. - -[Illustration: The nations of Tacitus (after K. Miller)] - -Tacitus makes the "Suebi," or "Suevi," inhabit the greater part of Germany -as far as the frontier of the Slavs (Sarmatians) and Finns on the east -(and north ?). The name, which possibly means the "hovering" people and is -due to their roving existence, is perhaps rather to be regarded as a -common designation for various Germanic tribes. After them he called the -sea on the eastern coast of Germany, i.e., the Baltic, the Suebian Sea -("Suebicum mare"). On its right-hand (eastern) shore dwelt the "Æstii" -(i.e., Esthonians; perhaps from "aistan" == to honour, that is, the -honourable people [?]). "Their customs and dress are like those of the -Suevi, but their language more nearly resembles the British" (!). "The use -of iron is rare there, that of sticks [i.e., clubs, fustium] common. They -also explore the sea and collect amber in shallow places and on the shore -itself. But they do not understand its nature and origin, and it long lay -disregarded among things cast up by the sea, "until our luxury made it -esteemed." "They have no use for it,[115] they gather it in the rough, -bring it unwrought, and are surprised at the price they receive" [c. 45]. -From this it may be concluded that there was constant trading -communication between the Mediterranean and the Baltic, and that Roman -merchants had probably penetrated thither. - -[Illustration: Boat found at Nydam, near Flensburg. Third century A.D. 70 -feet long (after C. Engelhardt)] - -"In the Ocean itself (ipso in Oceano) lie the communities of the Suiones, -a mighty people not only in men and arms, but also in ships." The Suiones, -who are first mentioned by Tacitus, are evidently of the same name as the -Svear (Old Norse "svíar," Anglo-Saxon "sveon") or Swedes.[116] Their ships -were remarkable for having a prow, "prora," at each end (i.e., they were -the same fore and aft); they had no sail, and the oars were not made fast -in a row, but were loose, so that they could row with them now on one -side, now on the other, "as on some rivers."[117] In other words, they had -open rowlocks, as in some of the river boats of that time, and as is -common in modern boats; the oars were not put out through holes as in the -Roman ships, and as in the Viking ships (the Gokstad and Oseberg ships). -The boat of the Iron Age which was dug up at Nydam had just such open -rowlocks. - -The Suiones (unlike the other Germanic peoples) esteemed wealth, and -therefore they had only one lord; this lord governed with unlimited power, -so much so that arms were not distributed among the people, but were kept -locked up, and moreover in charge of a thrall,[118] because the sea -prevented sudden attacks of enemies, and armed idle hands (i.e., armed men -unemployed) are apt to commit rash deeds [c. 44]. - -The neighbours of the Suiones, probably on the north, are the "Sitones" -[c. 45], whom Tacitus also regards as Germanic. "They are like the Suiones -with one exception, that a woman reigns over them; so far have they -degenerated not only from liberty, but also from slavery. Here Suebia ends -(Hic Suebiæ finis)." Suebia was that part of Germany inhabited by the -Suevi. It looks as though Tacitus considered that courage and manliness -decreased the farther north one went. The Suiones allow themselves to be -bullied by an absolute king, who sets a thrall to guard their weapons, and -the Sitones are in a still worse plight, in allowing themselves to be -governed by a woman. The Sitones are not mentioned before or after this in -literature, and it seems as though the name must be due to some -misunderstanding.[119] It has been supposed that they were Finns -("Kvæns")[120] in northern Sweden, and their name may then have been taken -as the word for woman ("kvæn," or "kván," mostly in the sense of wife [cf. -English queen]), and from this the legend of womanly government may have -been formed[121] in the same way as Adam of Bremen later translates the -name Cvenland (Kvænland) by "Terra feminarum," and thus forms the myth of -the country of the Amazons. But this explanation of the statement of -Tacitus may be doubtful.[122] We have already seen that Mela mentions a -people in Scythia, the "Mæotides," who were governed by women, and, as we -have said, it would not have seemed unreasonable to him that the -government of women increased farther north. - -Of the regions on the north Tacitus says: "North of the Suiones lies -another sluggish and almost motionless sea (mare pigrum ac prope -immotum); that this encircles and confines the earth's disc is rendered -probable by the fact that the last light of the setting sun continues -until the sun rises again, so clearly that the stars are paled thereby. -Popular belief also supposes that the sound of the sun emerging from the -ocean can be heard, and that the forms of the gods are seen and the rays -beaming from his head. There report rightly places the boundaries of -nature." As mentioned above (see p. 108), he thought that even to the -north of the Orkneys the sea was thick and sluggish. - -Tacitus is the first author who mentions the Finns (Fenni), but whether -they are Lapps, Kvæns or another race cannot be determined. He says -himself: "I am in doubt whether to reckon the Peucini, Venedi and Fenni -among the Germans or Sarmatians (Slavs)." He speaks of the Fenni -apparently as dwelling far to the north-east, beyond the Peucini, or -Bastarnæ, from whom they are separated by forests and mountains, which the -latter overrun as robbers. - - "Among the Fenni amazing savagery and revolting poverty prevail. They - have no weapons, no horses, no houses ['non penates,' perhaps rather, - no homes];[123] their food is herbs, their clothing skins, their bed - the ground. Their only hope is in their arrows, which from lack of - iron they provide with heads of bone. Hunting supports both men and - women; for the women usually accompany the men everywhere and take - their share of the spoils. Their infants have no other protection from - wild beasts and from the rain than a hiding-place of branches twisted - together; thither the men return, it is the habitation of the aged. - Nevertheless this seems to them a happier life than groaning over - tilled fields, toiling in houses and being subject to hope and fear - for their own and others' possessions. Without a care for men or gods - they have attained the most difficult end, that of not even feeling - the need of a wish. Beyond them all is fabulous, as that the - 'Hellusii' and 'Oxionæ' have human heads and faces, but the bodies and - limbs of wild beasts, which I leave on one side as undecided." - -These Fenni of Tacitus consequently live near the outer limits of the -world, where all begins to be fable. The name itself carries us to -northern Europe, or rather Scandinavia, for it was certainly only the -North Germans, especially the Scandinavians, who used the word as a name -for their non-Aryan neighbours. No doubt it appears from the description -that they lived in northern Russia, and were only separated from the -Peucini by forests and mountains; but, as was said above, Tacitus had -neither sense for nor interest in geography. If he heard of a savage and -barbarous Finn-people far in the North, and if it suited him on other -grounds to bring them in beyond the Peucini or Bastarnæ, but before the -Hellusii and Oxiones, who not only led the life of beasts, but even had -their bodies and limbs, then certainly no geographical difficulties would -stop him. It is of interest that these Fenni are described as a typical -race of hunters, using the bow as their special weapon. As Tacitus only -states that they had no horses, he had doubtless heard of no other -domestic animals amongst them. Consequently it is not likely that they -were reindeer-nomads. The interweaving of branches that the children were -hidden in, to which the men returned, and which was the dwelling of the -old men, must be the tent of the Finns, which was raised upon branches or -stakes. As early as Herodotus [iv. 23] we read of the Argippæans, who were -also Mongols, that "every man lived under a tree, over which in winter he -spread a white, thick covering of felt." It is clearly a tent that is -intended here also [cf. Müllenhoff, ii., 1887, pp. 40, 352]. The idea that -among the barbarians men and women frequently did the same work does not -seem to have been uncommon in antiquity, and it can scarcely have been -regarded as something peculiar to the Finns; in this connection it is no -doubt derived from the legends of the Amazons. Herodotus, and after him -Mela (see above, pp. 87 f.), describes such a similarity between men and -women among the Scythian people and the Sauromatians; and Diodorus [iv. -20, v. 39] says of the Ligurians that men and women shared the same hard -labour. - -[Sidenote: Dionysius Periegetes, 117-138 A.D.] - -The so-called Dionysius Periegetes wrote in the time of the emperor -Hadrian (117-138 A.D.) a description of the earth in 1187 verses, which -perhaps on account of its simple brevity and metrical form was used in -schools and widely circulated [cf. K. Miller, vi., 1898, p. 95]. But -unfortunately the author has merely drawn from obsolete Greek sources, -such as Homer, Hecatæus, Eratosthenes and others, and has nothing new to -tell us. The whole continent was surrounded by ocean like an immense -island; it was not quite circular, but somewhat prolonged in the direction -of the sun's course (i.e., towards the east and west). - -After Greek scientific geography had had its most fruitful life in the -period ending with Eratosthenes and Hipparchus it still sent out such -powerful shoots as the physical-mathematical geographer Posidonius and the -descriptive geographer Strabo; but after them a century and a half elapses -until we hear of its final brilliant revival in Marinus of Tyre and -Claudius Ptolemy, whose work was to exercise a decisive influence upon -geography thirteen centuries later. - -[Sidenote: Marinus of Tyre] - -Marinus's writings are lost, and we know nothing more of him than is told -us by his younger contemporary Ptolemy, who has relied upon him to a -considerable extent, and whose great forerunner he was. He must have lived -in the first half of the second century A.D. He made an exhaustive attempt -to describe every place on the earth according to its latitude and -longitude, and drew a map of the world on this principle. He also adopted -Posidonius's insufficient estimate of the earth's circumference (instead -of that of Eratosthenes), and his exaggerated extension of the "oecumene" -towards the east; and as this was passed on from him to Ptolemy he -exercised great influence upon Columbus, amongst others, who thus came to -estimate the distance around the globe to India at only half its real -length. In this way Marinus and Ptolemy are of importance in the discovery -not only of the West Indies, but also of North America by Cabot, and in -the earliest attempts to find a north-west passage to China. Thus -"accidental" mistakes may have far-reaching influence in history. - -[Sidenote: Ptolemy, circa 150 A.D.] - -Claudius Ptolemæus marks to a certain extent the highest point of -classical geographical knowledge. He was perhaps born in Egypt about 100 -A.D. He must have lived as an astronomer at Alexandria during the years -126 to 141, and perhaps longer; and he probably outlived the emperor -Antoninus Pius, who died in 161 A.D., but we do not know much more of him. -In his celebrated astronomical work, most generally known by its Arabic -title of "Almagest" (because it first reached mediæval western Europe in -an Arabic translation), he gave his well-known account of the universe and -of the movements of the heavenly bodies, which had such great influence in -the later Middle Ages, and on Columbus and the great discoveries. His -celebrated "Geography" in eight books (written about 150 A.D.) is, as he -himself tells us, for the most part founded upon the now lost work of -Marinus, and shows a great advance in geographical comprehension upon the -practical but unscientific Romans. With the scientific method of the -Greeks an attempt is here made to collect and co-ordinate the geographical -knowledge of the time into a tabulated survey, for the most part dry, of -countries, places and peoples, with a number of latitudes and longitudes, -mostly given by estimate. His information and names are in great part -taken from the so-called "Itineraries," which were tabular and consisted -chiefly of graphic routes for travellers with stopping-places and -distances, and which were due for the most part to military sources -(especially the Roman campaigns), and in a less degree to merchants and -sailors. - -Cartographical representation was by him radically improved by the -introduction of correct projections, with converging meridians, of which a -commencement had already been made by Hipparchus. His atlas, which may -originally have been drawn by himself, or by another from the detailed -statements in his geography, gives us the only maps that have been -preserved from antiquity, and thus has a special interest. - -As to the North, we find remarkably little that is new in Ptolemy, and on -many points he shows a retrogression even, as it seems, from Pytheas; but -the northern coast of Europe begins to take definite shape past the -Cimbrian Peninsula to the Baltic. His representation of Britain and -Ireland (Ivernia), which is based upon much new information,[124] was -certainly a great improvement on his predecessors, even though he gives -the northern part of Scotland (Caledonia) a strange deflection far to the -east, which was retained on later maps (in the fifteenth century). He -mentions five Ebudes (Hebrides) above Ivernia, and says further [ii. 3]: - - "The following islands lie near Albion off the Orcadian Cape; the - island of Ocitis (32° 40' E. long., 60° 45' N. lat.), the island of - Dumna (30° E. long., 61° N. lat.), north of them the Orcades, about - thirty in number, of which the most central lies in 30° E. long., 61° - 40' N. lat. And far to the north of them Thule, the most western part - of which lies in 29° E. long., 63° N. lat., the most eastern part in - 31° 40' E. long., 63° N. lat., the most northern in 30° 20' E. long., - 63° 15' N. lat., the most southern in 30° 20' E. long., 62° 40' N. - lat., and the central part in 30° 20' E. long., 63° N. lat." - -Ptolemy calculates his degrees of longitude eastwards from a meridian 0 -which he draws west of the Fortunate Isles (the Canaries), the most -western part of the earth. It will be seen that he gives Thule no very -great extent. His removing it from the Arctic Circle south to 63° is -doubtless due to the men of Agricola's fleet having thought they had -sighted Thule north of the Orkneys. In his eighth book [c. 3] he says: - - Thule has a longest day of twenty hours, and it is distant west from - Alexandria two hours. Dumna has a longest day of nineteen hours, and - is distant westward two hours. - -It is evident that these "hours" are found by calculation, and are merely -a way of expressing degrees of latitude and longitude; they cannot -therefore be referred to any local observation of the length of the -longest day, etc. It is curious that Ptolemy only mentions Ebudes and -Orcades, and not the Shetland Isles; perhaps they are included among his -thirty Orcades. - -[Illustration: The northern part of Ptolemy's map of the world, Europe and -Asia. From the Rome edition of Ptolemy of 1490 (Nordenskiöld, 1889)] - -He represents the Cimbrian Peninsula (Jutland) with remarkable -correctness, though making it lean too much towards the east, like -Scotland. Upon it "dwelt on the west the Sigulones, then the Sabalingii, -then the Cobandi, above them the Chali, and above these again and farther -west the Phundusii, and more to the east the Charudes [Harudes or Horder; -cf. p. 85], and to the north of all the Cimbri." It was suggested above -(p. 94) that possibly the name Cobandi might be connected with the Codanus -of Mela and Pliny. The Sabalingii, according to Much [1905, p. 11], may be -the same name as Pytheas's Abalos (cf. p. 70), which may have been written -Sabalos or Sabalia, and may have been inhabited by Aviones. To the north -of the Cimbrian Chersonese Ptolemy places three islands, the "Alociæ," -which may be taken from the Halligen islands, properly "Hallagh" [cf. -Detlefsen, 1904, p. 61], off the coast of Sleswick.[125] - - To the east of the peninsula are the four so-called "Scandiæ," three - small [the Danish islands], of which the central one lies in 41° 30' - E. long., 58° N. lat.; but the largest and most eastern lies off the - mouths of the Vistula; the westernmost part of this island lies in - 43° E. long., 58° N. lat., the easternmost in 46° E. long., 58° N. - lat., the northernmost in 44° 30' E. long., 58° 30' N. lat., the - southernmost in 45° E. long., 57° 40' N. lat. But this one [i.e., - south Scandinavia] is called in particular Scandia, and the western - part of it is inhabited by the Chædini, the eastern by the Phavonæ and - Phiresii, the northern by the Phinni, the southern by the Gutæ and - Dauciones, and the central by the Levoni. - -It will be seen that Scandia would not be much larger than Thule: 20' -longer from west to east, and only 10' longer from north to south. - -[Illustration: The Scandinavian North according to Ptolemy. The most -northern people in Scandinavia, the Phinni, are omitted in this map, as in -most MSS.] - -The "Chædini" must be the Norwegian "Heiðnir" or "Heinir," whose name is -preserved in Heiðmork, Hedemarken [cf. Zeuss, 1837, p. 159; Much, 1893, p. -188; Müllenhoff, 1900, p. 497]. This is the first time that an undoubtedly -Norwegian tribe is mentioned in known literature. "Phinni" (Finns) is only -found in one MS.; but as Jordanes (Cassiodorus) says that Ptolemy mentions -seven tribes in Scandia, it must have been found in ancient MSS. of his -work, and it occurs here for the first time as the name of a people in -Scandinavia. Ptolemy also mentions "Phinni" in another place as a people -in Sarmatia near the Vistula (together with Gythones or Goths); but these -must be connected with the "Fenni" of Tacitus, and doubtless also belong -originally to Scandinavia. The "Gutæ" must be the Gauter or Göter, unless -they are the Guter of Gotland (?). The "Dauciones," it has been supposed, -may possibly be the Danes, and the "Levoni" might perhaps be the -Hilleviones mentioned by Pliny, whose name does not otherwise occur. Thus -a knowledge of Scandinavia slowly dawns in history. - -[Illustration: Ptolemy's map of Europe, etc., compared with the true -conditions (in dotted line)] - -To the north of the known coasts and islands of Europe there lay, -according to Ptolemy and Marinus, a great continuous ocean, which was a -continuation of the Atlantic. On the extreme north-west was "the -Hyperborean Ocean, which was also called the Congealed ([Greek: pepêgos]) -or 'Cronius' or the Dead ([Greek: nekros]) Sea." North of Britain was the -Deucaledonian Ocean, and east of Britain the Germanic Ocean as far as the -eastern side of the Cimbrian Chersonese, that is, the North Sea and a part -of the Baltic. This was joined by the Sarmatian Ocean, with the Venedian -(i.e., Wendish) Gulf, from the mouths of the Vistula north-eastwards. The -Baltic was still merely an open bay of the great Northern Ocean. But -whether the latter extended farther to the east, round the north of the -oecumene, making it into an island, was unknown. Ptolemy and Marinus -therefore put the northern boundary of the known continent at the latitude -of Thule, and made this continent extend into the unknown on the -north-east and east; they thus furnish the latest development of the -doctrine that the oecumene was not an island in the universal ocean, since -they considered that guesses about the regions beyond the limits of the -really known were inadmissible, and no one had reached any coast in those -directions; for the Caspian Sea was closed and not connected with the -Northern Ocean. In the same way the extent of Africa towards the south was -uncertain, and they connected it possibly with south-eastern Asia, to the -south of the Indian Ocean, which thus also became enclosed. - -[Illustration: Ptolemy's tribes in Denmark and South Sweden] - -Ptolemy wrote at a time when the Roman Empire was at its height, and he -had the advantage of being able, as a Greek, to combine the scientific -lore of the older Greek literature with the mass of information which must -inevitably have been collected from all parts of the world by the -extensive administration of this gigantic empire. His work, like that of -Marinus, was therefore a natural fruit which grew by the stream of time. -But the stream had just then reached a backwater; he belonged to a -languishing civilisation, and represents the last powerful shoot which -Greek science put forth. Some thirteen centuries were to elapse before, by -the changes of fate, his works at last made their mark in the development -of the world's civilisation. In the centuries that succeeded him the Roman -Empire went steadily backwards to its downfall, and literature degenerated -rapidly; it sank into compilation and repetition of older writers, without -spirit or originality. It is therefore not surprising that the literature -of later antiquity gives us nothing new about the North, although -communication therewith must certainly have increased. - -[Sidenote: Solinus, 3rd century A.D.] - -The geographical author of antiquity most widely read in the Middle Ages -was C. Julius Solinus (third century A.D.), who for the most part repeated -passages from Pliny, with a marked predilection for the fabulous. All that -is to be found in the MSS. of his works about Thule, the Orcades and the -Hebudes, beyond what we read in Pliny, consists, in the opinion of Mommsen -[1895, p. 219], of later additions by a copyist (perhaps an Irish monk) of -between the seventh and ninth centuries, and as this has a certain -interest for our country it will be dealt with later under this period. - -[Sidenote: Avienus, circa 370 A.D.] - -Rufus Festus Avienus lived in the latter half of the fourth century A.D. -and was proconsul in Africa in 366 and in Achæa in 372. His poem "Ora -Maritima" is mainly a translation of older Greek authors and, as mentioned -above (p. 37), is of interest from his having used an otherwise unknown -authority of very early origin. His second descriptive poem is a free -translation of Dionysius Periegetes. - -[Sidenote: Macrobius, Orosius, Capella, etc.] - -Amongst other authors who in this period of literary degeneration compiled -geographical descriptions may be named: Ammianus Marcellinus (second half -of the fourth century) in his historical works, Macrobius[126] (circa 400 -A.D.), the Spaniard Paulus Orosius, whose widely read historical work -(circa 418 A.D.) has a geographical chapter, Marcianus of Heraclea -(beginning of the fifth century), Julius Honorius (beginning of the fifth -century), Marcianus Capella (about 470 A.D.), Priscianus Cæsariensis -(about 500 A.D.) and others. - -Their statements about the northern regions are repetitions of older -authors and contain nothing new. - -[Sidenote: Itineraries] - -Much of the geographical knowledge of that time was included in the -already mentioned (p. 116) "Itineraries," which were probably illustrated -with maps of the routes. Partial copies of one of them are preserved in -the so-called "Tabula Peutingeriana" [cf. K. Miller, vi. 1898, pp. 90 -ff.], which came to be of importance in the Middle Ages. - -Thus at the close of antiquity the lands and seas of the North still lie -in the mists of the unknown. Many indications point to constant -communication with the North, and now and again vague pieces of -information have reached the learned world. Occasionally, indeed, the -clouds lift a little, and we get a glimpse of great countries, a whole new -world in the North, but then they sink again and the vision fades like a -dream of fairyland. It seems as though no one felt scientifically impelled -to make an effort to clear up these obscure questions. - -Then followed restless times, with roving warlike tribes in Central -Europe. The peaceful trading communication between the Mediterranean and -the northern coasts was broken off, and with it the fresh stream of -information which had begun to flow in from the North. And for a long time -men chewed the cud of the knowledge that had been collected in remote -antiquity. But Greek literature was more and more forgotten, and it was -especially the later Roman authors they lived on. - - - - -[Illustration: Map of the World from a ninth-century MS. (in the Strasburg -Library)] - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES - - -Thus it came about that the geographical knowledge of later antiquity -shows nothing but a gradual decline from the heights which the Greeks had -early reached, and from which they had surveyed the earth, the universe -and their problems with an intellectual superiority that inclines one to -doubt the progress of mankind. The early Middle Ages show an even greater -decline. Rome, in spite of all, had formed a sort of scientific centre, -which was lost to Western Europe by the fall of the Roman Empire. To this -must be added the introduction of Christianity, which, for a time at any -rate, gave mankind new values in life, whereby the old ones came into -disrepute. Knowledge of distant lands, or of the still more distant -heavens, was looked upon as something like folly and madness. For all -knowledge was to be found in the Bible, and it was especially commendable -to reconcile all profane learning therewith. When, for instance, Isaiah -says of the Lord that He "sitteth upon the circle of the earth" (i.e., -the round disc of the earth), and "stretcheth out the heavens as a -curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in" [xl. 22], and that -He "spread forth the earth" [xlii. 5, xliv. 24], and when in the Book of -Job [xxvi. 10] it is said that "He has compassed the waters with bounds, -where light borders on darkness," such statements did not agree with the -doctrine of the spherical form of the earth; this was therefore regarded -with disfavour by the Church; the circular disc surrounded by Ocean, which -was the idea of the childhood of Greece, was more suitable, and according -to Ezekiel [v. 5-6] Jerusalem lay in the centre of this disc. It was -inevitable that knowledge of the earth and of its farthest limits should -be still more crippled in such an age, and this is especially true of -knowledge of the North. - -[Illustration: Cosmas's Map of the World. The surface of the earth is -rectangular and surrounded by ocean, which forms four bays: the -Mediterranean on the west (with the Black Sea), the Caspian above on the -right, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf below on the right. The Nile -(below), the Euphrates and the Tigris flow from the outer world under the -ocean to the earth's surface] - -Those writers who in the early part of the Middle Ages occupied themselves -with such worldly things as geography, confined themselves mostly to -repeating, and in part further confusing, what Pliny and later Latin -authors had said on the subject. The most widely read and most frequently -copied were Solinus and Capella, also Macrobius and Orosius. This was the -intellectual food which replaced the science of the Greeks. Truly the -course of the human race has its alternations of heights and depths! - -[Illustration: Cosmas's representation of the Universe, with the mountain -in the north behind which the Sun goes at night. The Creator is shown -above] - -But even if the migrations had for a time interrupted peaceful trading -intercourse with the North, they were also the means of new facts becoming -known, and it was inevitable that in the long run these migrations, and -subsequent contact with the northern peoples, should leave their mark on -the science of geography. The knowledge of the North shown in the -literature of the early Middle Ages is thus to be compared with two -streams, often quite independent of one another; the one has its source in -classical learning and becomes ever thinner and more turbid; the other is -the fresh stream of new information from the North, which we find in a -Cassiodorus or a Procopius. Sometimes these two streams flow together, as -in an Adam of Bremen, and they may then form a mixture of like and unlike, -in which it is often hopeless to find one's way. - -[Sidenote: Cosmas Indicopleustes, 6th century] - -It is true that some were found, even in the early Middle Ages, who -maintained the doctrine of the earth's spherical form, whereas early -Christian authors, such as Lactantius (ob. 330) and Severianus (ob. 407), -had asserted that it was a disc; the latter also thought that the heaven -was divided into two storeys, an upper and a lower, with the visible -heaven as a division; the earth formed the floor of this celestial house. -One ancient notion (in Empedocles, Leucippus, Democritus) was that this -disc of the earth stood on a slant, increasing in height towards the -north, which was partly covered by high mountains, the Rhipæan and -Hyperborean ranges (as in Ptolemy's map). These childish ideas took their -most remarkable shape in the "Christian Topography," in twelve books, of -the Alexandrine monk, Cosmas Indicopleustes (sixth century). In his -younger days he had travelled much as a merchant and seen many wonderful -things, amongst others the wheel-ruts left by the Children of Israel -during their wanderings in the wilderness. The Jews' tabernacle, he -thought, was constructed on the same plan and in the same proportions as -the world. Consequently the earth's disc had to be made four-cornered, -with straight sides, and twice as long as it was broad. The ocean on the -west formed a right angle with the ocean on the south. On the north was a -high mountain; behind it the sun was hidden in its course during the -night.[127] As the sun in winter traverses the sky in a lower orbit, it -appears to us as though it receded behind the mountain near its foot, and -it stays away longer than in summer, when it is higher. The whole vault of -heaven was like a four-cornered box with a vaulted lid, which was divided -by the firmament into two storeys. In the lower one were the earth, the -sea, the sun, moon and stars; in the upper one the waters of the sky. The -stars were carried round in circles by angels, whom God at the creation -appointed to this heavy task. It was impossible for the earth to revolve, -simply because its axle must be supported by something, and of what kind -of material could it be made? He had nothing else worth mentioning to say -about the North. But notions such as these had their influence on the -earliest mediæval maps. - -[Sidenote: Cassiodorus, 468-570 A.D.] - -The first mediæval author who, so far as we know, definitely gave new -information of value about the countries and peoples of the North, was the -Roman senator and historian Cassiodorus (born at Scylaceum, it is supposed -about 468), who was an eminent statesman under Theodoric, King of the -Goths (493-526). After the victories of Belisarius in Italy, Cassiodorus -retired into a monastery in southern Italy (Bruttium), which he himself -had founded, and died there, perhaps 100 years old (about 570). He wrote -several valuable works, amongst them, probably by order of Theodoric, one -in twelve books on "The Origin and Deeds of the Goths," which was perhaps -completed about 534. This work has unfortunately been lost, and we only -know it through the Goth Jordanes, who has made excerpts from it. There is -reason to believe [cf. Mommsen, 1882, Prooemium, p. xxxvii.] that -Cassiodorus's knowledge of Gothic was defective, and that he has borrowed -his information about the North, especially Scandinavia, from a -contemporary, or perhaps somewhat older writer, Ablabius, who is referred -to in Jordanes' book as "the distinguished author of a very trustworthy -history of the Goths," but who is otherwise unknown. Through the Norwegian -king Rodulf and his men (see below, under Jordanes), or other Northerners -who visited Theodoric, and who were "mightier than all the Germans in -courage and size of body," first-hand information was brought concerning -the countries of the North, which Ablabius, who certainly knew Gothic, may -have written down, and from him Cassiodorus has thus derived his -statements, which again are taken from him by Jordanes. In addition to -various classical authors, some Latin and some Greek, of whom Jordanes -mentions many more than he has made use of, it is probable that -Cassiodorus has also drawn upon the maps of Roman itineraries [cf. -Mommsen, 1882, Prooemium, p. xxxi.], and perhaps also Greek maps. - -[Sidenote: Jordanes, circa 552] - -The Gothic monk (or priest) Jordanes lived in the sixth century, and wrote -about 551 or 552 a book on "The Origin and Deeds of the Goths" ("De -origine actibusque Getarum"), which for the most part is certainly a poor -repetition of the substance of Cassiodorus's great work on the same -subject; and in fact he tells us this himself, with the modest addition -that "his breath is too weak to fill the trumpet of such a man's mighty -speech." It is true that Jordanes asserts in his preface that he has only -had the loan of the work to read for three days, for which reason he -cannot give the words but only the sense, and thereto, he says, he has -added what was suitable "from certain histories in the Greek [which he did -not understand] and Latin tongues," and he has mixed it with his own -words. But this is only said to hide his lack of originality; for the book -evidently contains long literal excerpts from the work of Cassiodorus, -while Jordanes' Latin becomes markedly worse when he tries to walk alone. -Not even the preface to the work is original; this is copied from -Rufinus's translation of Origines' commentary on the Epistle to the -Romans. - -Of the uttermost ocean we read in Jordanes: - - "Not only has no one undertaken to describe the impenetrable uttermost - bounds of the ocean, but it has not even been vouchsafed to any one to - explore them, since it has been experienced that on account of the - resistance of the seaweed and because the winds cease to blow there, - the ocean is impenetrable and is known to none but Him who created - it." This conception has a striking resemblance to Avienus's "Ora - Maritima" (see above, pp. 37-40), and may very probably be derived - from it. - -Of the western ocean he says, amongst other things: - - "But it has also other islands farther out in the midst of its waves, - which are called the Balearic Isles, and another Mevania; likewise the - Orcades, thirty-three in number, and yet not all of them are - cultivated [inhabited]. It has also in its most western part another - island, called Thyle, of which the Mantuan [i.e., Virgil] says: 'May - the uttermost Thule be subject to thee.' This immense ocean has also - in its arctic, that is to say, northern, part, a great island called - Scandza, concerning which our narrative with God's help shall begin; - for the nation [the Goths] of whose origin you inquired, burst forth - like a swarm of bees from the lap of this island, and came to the land - of Europe." - -After having spoken of Ptolemy's (also Mela's) mention of this island, -which according to his version of the former had the shape of "a citron -leaf, with curved edges and very long in proportion to its breadth" (this -cannot be found in Ptolemy), and lay opposite the three mouths of the -Vistula, he continues: - - "This [island] consequently has on its east the greatest inland sea in - the world, from which the River Vagi discharges itself, as from a - belly, profusely into the Ocean.[128] On the western side it [the - island of Scandza] is surrounded by an immense ocean and on the north - it is bounded by the before-mentioned unnavigable enormous ocean, from - which an arm extends to form the Germanic Ocean ('Germanicum mare'), - by widening out a bay. There are said to be many more islands in it, - but they are small,[129] and when the wolves on account of the severe - cold cross over after the sea is frozen, they are reported to lose - their eyes, so that the country is not only inhospitable to men but - cruel to animals. But in the island of Scandza, of which we are - speaking, although there are many different peoples, Ptolemy - nevertheless only gives the names of seven of them. But the - honey-making swarms of bees are nowhere found on account of the too - severe cold. In its northern part live the people Adogit, who, it is - said, in the middle of the summer have continuous light for forty days - and nights, and likewise at the time of the winter solstice do not see - the light for the same number of days and nights; sorrow thus - alternating with joy, so are they unlike others in benevolence and - injury; and why? Because on the longer days they see the sun return to - the east along the edge of the axis [i.e., the edge of the pole, that - is to say, along the northern horizon], but on the shorter days it is - not thus seen with them, but in another way, because it passes through - the southern signs, and when the sun appears to us to rise from the - deep, with them it goes along the horizon. But there are other people - there, and they are called Screrefennæ, who do not seek a subsistence - in corn, but live on the flesh of wild beasts and the eggs of - birds,[130] and such an enormous number of eggs [lit., spawn] is laid - in the marshes that it serves both for the increase of their kind - [i.e., of the birds] and for a plentiful supply for the people." - -[Sidenote: Screrefennæ or Skridfinns] - -The "Screrefennæ" of Jordanes (in other MSS. "Crefenne," "Rerefennæ," -etc.) are certainly a corruption of the same word as Procopius's -"Scrithifini" (Skridfinns), and were a non-Germanic race inhabiting the -northern regions (see later). The mention of these people, together with -their neighbours the "Adogit," who had the midnight sun and a winter night -of forty days (cf. also Procopius), shows without a doubt that Jordanes', -or rather Cassiodorus's, authority had received fresh information from the -most northern part of Scandinavia, possibly through the Norwegian king -Rodulf and his men. - -[Sidenote: Adogit] - -The mysterious name "Adogit" is somewhat doubtful. P. A. Munch [1852, p. -93], and later also Müllenhoff [ii., 1887, p. 41], thought that it might -be a corruption of Hálogi ("Háleygir," or Helgelanders) in northern -Norway. Sophus Bugge [1907] does not regard this interpretation as -possible, as this name cannot have had such a form at that time; he (and, -as he informs us, Gustav Storm also independently) thinks that "adogit" is -corrupted from "adogii," i.e., "andogii," meaning inhabitants of And or -Andö in Vesterålen.[131] The termination -ogii he takes to be a mediæval -way of writing what was pronounced -oji, i.e., islanders.[132] But it -should be remembered how much the name "Screrefennæ" has been corrupted, -and that it is very possible that other names may have been so equally. - -[Sidenote: Impossibility of forty days' daylight in summer and night in -winter] - -The statement that the Adogit had forty days' daylight in summer and a -corresponding period of night in winter is, unfortunately, of no -assistance in the form in which it is given for deciding the locality -inhabited by them, for no such phenomenon occurs anywhere on the earth. If -we suppose that the Adogit people themselves observed the rising and -setting of the sun above a free horizon, then we must believe that they -reckoned the unbroken summer day from the first to the last night on which -the upper limb of the sun did not disappear below the edge of the sea. And -they would have reckoned the unbroken winter night from the first day on -which the sun's upper limb did not appear above the horizon at noon, until -the first day when it again became visible. - -If we reckon in this way, and take into account the horizontal refraction -and the fact that the obliquity of the ecliptic about the year 500 was -approximately 11' greater than now, we shall find that at that time the -midnight sun was seen for forty days (i.e., from June 2 to July 12) in -about 66° 54' N. lat., or in the neighbourhood of Kunna, south of Bodö; -but at the same place more than half the sun's disc would be above the -horizon at noon at the winter solstice; it was therefore not hidden for a -single day, much less for forty days. But, on the other hand, it was not -until 68° 51' N. lat., or about Harstad on Hinnö, that they had an -unbroken winter night, without seeing the rim of the sun, for forty days -(from December 2 to January 11); but there they had the midnight sun in -summer for about sixty-three days. The fable of a summer day of the same -length as the unbroken winter night cannot therefore have originated with -the Northerners; it must have been evolved in an entirely theoretical way -by astronomical speculations (in ignorance of refraction) which were a -survival of Greek science, where the length of the northern summer day was -always assumed to be equal to that of the winter night. But that -information had been received at this time from the Northerners is -probable, since the statement of a forty days' summer day and winter night -is not found in any known author of earlier date,[133] and Jordanes' -contemporary, Procopius, has an even more detailed statement, especially -of this winter night (see later). The probability is that what the -Northerners took particular notice of was the long night, during which, as -Procopius also relates, they kept an accurate account of the days during -which they had to do without the light of the sun, a time in which "they -were very depressed, since they could not hold intercourse." This must -also have been what they told to the Southerners, while they did not pay -so much attention to the length of the summer day, when of course they -would in any case have plenty of sunlight. We must therefore suppose that -the latitude worked out according to the winter night of forty days is the -correct one, and this gives us precisely Sophus Bugge's And--Andö, or, -better still, Hinnö. - -[Illustration: The more important tribal names in Southern Scandinavia, -according to Jordanes] - -[Sidenote: Northern Tribal Names] - -Jordanes counts about twenty-seven names of tribes or peoples in Sweden -and Norway; a number of them are easily recognised, while others must be -much corrupted and are difficult to interpret.[134] He mentions first the -peoples of Sweden, then those of Norway. "Suehans" is certainly the -Svear. - - They, "like the Thuringians, have excellent horses. It is also they - who through their commercial intercourse with innumerable other - peoples send for the use of the Romans sappherine skins ('sappherinas - pelles'), which skins are celebrated for their blackness.[135] While - they live poorly they have the richest clothes." - -We see then that at this time the fur trade with the North was well -developed, as the amber trade was at a much earlier date. Adam of Bremen -tells us of the "proud horses" of the Svear as though they were an article -of export together with furs. In the Ynglinga Saga it is related [cf. -Sophus Bugge, 1907, p. 99] that Adils, King of the Svear at Upsalir, - - "was very fond of good horses, he had the best horses of that time." - He sent a stallion "to Hålogaland to Godgest the king; Godgest the - king rode it, and could not hold it, so he fell off and got his death; - this was in Omd [Amd] in Hålogaland." - -The original authority for the statement in Jordanes was probably King -Rodulf, who perhaps came from the northern half of Norway, and it looks as -though the Norwegians even at that time were acquainted with Swedish -horses. - -Jordanes further mentions five tribes who "dwell in a flat, fertile land -[i.e., south Sweden], for which reason also they have to protect -themselves against the attacks of other tribes ('gentium')." Among the -tribes in Sweden are mentioned also the "Finnaithæ"--doubtless in -Finn-heden or Finn-veden (that is, either Finn-heath or Finn-wood), whose -name must be due to an aboriginal people called Finns--further, the -"Gautigoth," generally taken for the West Göter, who were a specially -"brave and warlike people," the "Ostrogothæ" [East Göter] and many more. - -Then he crosses the Norwegian frontier and mentions - - "The 'Raumarici'[of Romerike] and 'Ragnaricii' [of Ranrike or - Bohuslen], the very mild [peaceful] 'Finns' ('Finni mitissimi'), who - are milder than all the other inhabitants of Scandza;[136] further - their equals the 'Vinoviloth'; the 'Suetidi' are known among this - people ['hac gente' must doubtless mean the Scandinavians] as towering - above the rest in bodily height, and yet the 'Danes,' who are - descended from this very race [i.e., the Scandinavians ?] drove out - the 'Heruli' from their own home, who claimed the greatest fame [i.e., - of being the foremost] among the peoples ['nationes'] of Scandia for - very great bodily size. Yet of the same height as these are also the - 'Granii' [of Grenland, the coast-land of Bratsberg and Nedenes], the - 'Augandzi' [people of Agder],[137] 'Eunix' [islanders, Holmryger in - the islands ?], 'Ætelrugi' [Ryger on the mainland in Ryfylke], - 'Arochi' [== 'arothi,' i.e., Harudes, Horder of Hordaland], 'Ranii' - [in other MSS. 'Rannii' or 'Rami,' Sophus Bugge (1907) and A. Bugge - see in this a corruption of '*Raumi,' that is, people of Romsdal], - over whom not many years ago Roduulf was king, who, despising his own - kingdom, hastened to the arms of Theodoric king of the Goths, and - found what he had hankered after. These people fight with the - savageness of beasts, more mighty than the Germans in body and soul." - -The small (?), "very mild" Finns must, from the order in which they are -named, have lived in the forest districts--Solör, Eidskogen, and perhaps -farther south--on the Swedish border. P. A. Munch [1852, p. 83] saw in -their kinsmen the "Vinoviloth" the inhabitants of "Vingulmark" (properly -"vingel-skog," thick, impenetrable forest), which was the forest country -on Christiania fjord from Glommen to Lier. Müllenhoff agrees with this -[ii., 1887, pp. 65 f.], but thinks that "-oth," the last part of the word, -belongs to the next name, Suetidi, and that "Vinovil" may be a corruption -of Vingvili or Vinguli (cf. Paulus Warnefridi's "Vinili" ?). But however -this may be, we must regard this people and the foregoing as "Finnish" and -as inhabiting forest districts, as hunters, as well as a third Finnish -people, "Finnaithæ" in Småland. We shall return later to these "Finns" in -Scandinavia. It has been thought that "Suetidi" may be from the same word -as "Sviþjoð"; but as Jordanes has already mentioned the Svear ("Suehans"), -and as the name occurs among the Norwegian tribes, and there is evidently -a certain order in their enumeration, Müllenhoff may be right in seeing in -it a corruption of a Norwegian tribal name. He thinks that "Othsuetidi" -may be a corruption of "Æthsævii," i.e., "Eiðsivar" (cf. Eidsivathing), -"Heiðsævir" or "Heiðnir" in Hedemarken, who were certainly a very tall -people. The mention of the Norwegian warriors has a certain interest in -that it is due to the Roman statesman Cassiodorus (or his authority), who -glorified the Goths and had no special reason for praising the -Northmen.[138] It shows that even at that time our northern ancestors were -famed for courage and bodily size, and that too above all other Germanic -peoples, who were highly esteemed by the Romans. It is not clear whether -Rodulf was King of the "Ranii" (Raumer ?) alone, or of all the Norwegian -tribes from Grenland to Romsdal. It may be supposed that he was a -Norwegian chief who migrated south through Europe at the head of a band of -warriors, composed of men from the tribes mentioned, and that finally on -the Danube, hard pressed by other warlike people, he sought alliance and -support from the mighty king of the Goths, Theodoric or Tjodrik (Dietrich -of Berne). This may have been just before 489, when the latter made his -expedition to Italy. Many circumstances combine to make such a hypothesis -probable.[139] - -We know that about 489 the Eruli were just north of the Danube, and were -the Goths' nearest neighbours. Now, as we shall see later, Eruli was -perhaps at first a common name for bands of northern warriors, and these -Eruli on the Danube may therefore certainly have consisted to a greater -or less extent of Norwegians. We know, further, that at this time there -was a king of the Eruli to whom Theodoric sent as a gift a horse, sword -and shield, thereby making him his foster-son [cf. Cassiodorus, Varia iii. -3, iv. 2]. Finally, we know from Procopius that the Eruli just at this -time had a king, Rodulf, who fell in battle against the Langobards (about -493). When we compare this with what Jordanes says about the Norwegian -king Rodulf, who hastened to Theodoric's arms and found there what he -sought, it will be easy to conclude that this Norwegian chief is the same -as the chief of Eruli here spoken of. Rodulf, or "Hrodulfr," is a known -Norwegian name. "Rod-," or "Hrod," is the same as the modern Norwegian -"ros" (i.e., praise), and means probably here renowned. - -One is further inclined to believe that it was from this Rodulf or his -men, of whom some may have come from And in Hålogaland, that Cassiodorus -or his authority obtained the information about Scandinavia and northern -Norway, which is also partly repeated in Procopius. - - Sophus Bugge [cf. 1910, pp. 87 ff.; see also A. Bugge, 1906, pp. 35 - f.] has suggested that the "Ráðulfr," who is mentioned in the runic - inscription on the celebrated Rök-stone in Östergötland (of about the - year 900), in which Theodoric ("Þiaurikr") is also mentioned, may be - the same Norwegian chief Rodulf who came to Theodoric and who fell in - battle with the Langobards. He even regards it as possible that it is - an echo of this battle which is found in the inscription, where it is - said that "twenty kings lie slain on the field"; in that case the - battle has been moved north from the Danube to "Siulunt" (i.e., - Sealand). There are other circumstances which agree with this: it is - said of the Eruli that they had peace for three years before the - battle [cf. Procopius]; on the Rök-stone it is stated that the twenty - kings stayed in Siulunt four winters; the latter must have been - Norwegian warriors of different tribes: Ryger, Horder, and Heiner - (from Hedemarken), perhaps under a paramount king Ráðulfr, who settled - in Sealand--while the Eruli were bands of northern warriors, who under - a king Rodulf had established themselves on the north bank of the - Danube. Bugge's supposition may be uncertain, but if it be correct it - greatly strengthens the view (see p. 145) that the Eruli were largely - Norwegian warriors, since in that case the king of the Eruli, Rodulf - (== Ráðulfr), would have been in command of tribes for the most part - Norwegian: Ryger, Horder, and Heiner. - -[Sidenote: Procopius, circa 552 A.D.] - -The Byzantine historian Procopius, of Cæsarea (ob. after 562), became in -527 legal assistant, "assessor," to the general Belisarius, and -accompanied him on his campaigns until 549, amongst others that against -the Goths in Italy. In his work (in Greek) on the war against the Goths -("De bello Gothico," t. ii. c. 14 and 15), written about 552, he gives -information about the North which is of great interest. He tells us of the -warlike Germanic people, the Eruli, who from old time[140] were said to -have lived on the north bank of the Danube, and who, with no better reason -than that they had lived in peace for three whole years and were tired of -it, attacked their neighbours the Langobards, but suffered a decisive -defeat, and their king, Rodulf, fell in the battle (about 493).[141] - - "They then hastily left their dwelling-places, and set out with their - women and children to wander through the whole country [Hungary] which - lies north of the Danube. When they came to the district where the - Rogians had formerly dwelt, who had joined the army of the Goths and - gone into Italy, they settled there; but as they were oppressed by - famine in that district, which had been laid waste, they soon - afterwards departed from it, and came near to the country of the - Gepidæ [Siebenbürgen]. The Gepidæ allowed them to establish themselves - and to become their neighbours, but began thereupon, without the - slightest cause, to commit the most revolting acts against them, - ravishing their women, robbing them of cattle and other goods, and - omitting no kind of injustice, and finally began an unjust war against - them." The Eruli then crossed the Danube to Illyria and settled - somewhere about what is now Servia under the eastern emperor - Anastasius (491-518). Some of the Eruli would not "cross the Danube, - but decided to establish themselves in the uttermost ends of the - inhabited world. Many chieftains of royal blood now undertaking their - leadership, they passed through all the tribes of the Slavs one after - another, went thence through a wide, uninhabited country, and came to - the so-called Varn. Beyond them they passed by the tribes of the Danes - [in Jutland], without the barbarians there using violence towards - them. When they thence came to the ocean [about the year 512] they - took ship, and landed on the island of Thule [i.e., Scandinavia] and - remained there. But Thule is beyond comparison the largest of all - islands; for it is more than ten times as large as Britain. But it - lies very far therefrom northwards. On this island the land is for the - most part uninhabited. But in the inhabited regions there are thirteen - populous tribes, each with a king. Every year an extraordinary thing - takes place; for the sun, about the time of the summer solstice, does - not set at all for forty days, but for the whole of this time remains - uninterruptedly visible above the earth. No less than six months - later, about the winter solstice, for forty days the sun is nowhere to - be seen on this island; but continual night is spread over it, and - therefore for the whole of that time the people are very depressed, - since they can hold no intercourse. It is true that I have not - succeeded, much as I should have wished it, in reaching this island - and witnessing what is here spoken of; but from those who have come - thence to us I have collected information of how they are able [to - count the days] when the sun neither rises nor sets at the times - referred to," etc. When, during the forty days that it is above the - horizon, the sun in its daily course returns "to that place where the - inhabitants first saw it rise, then according to their reckoning a day - and a night have passed. But when the period of night commences, they - find a measure by observation of the moon's path, according to which - they reckon the number of days. But when thirty-five days of the long - night are passed, certain people are sent up to the tops of mountains, - as is the custom with them, and when from thence they can see some - appearance of the sun, they send word to the inhabitants below that in - five days the sun will shine upon them. And the latter assemble and - celebrate, in the dark it is true, the feast of the glad tidings. - Among the people of Thule this is the greatest of all their festivals. - I believe that these islanders, although the same thing happens every - year with them, nevertheless are in a state of fear lest some time the - sun should be wholly lost to them. - - "Among the barbarians inhabiting Thule, one people, who are called - Skridfinns [Scrithifini], live after the manner of beasts. They do not - wear clothes [i.e., of cloth] nor, when they walk, do they fasten - anything under their feet, [i.e., they do not wear shoes], they - neither drink wine nor eat anything from the land, because they - neither cultivate the land themselves nor do the women provide them - with anything from tilling it, but the men as well as the women occupy - themselves solely and continually in hunting; for the extraordinarily - great forests and mountains which rise in their country give them vast - quantities of game and other beasts. They always eat the flesh of the - animals they hunt and wear their skins, and they have no linen or - anything else that they can sew with. But they fasten the skins - together with the sinews of beasts, and thus cover their whole bodies. - The children even are not brought up among them as with other peoples; - for the Skridfinns' children do not take women's milk, nor do they - touch their mothers' breasts, but they are nourished solely with the - marrow of slain beasts. As soon therefore as a woman has given birth, - she winds the child in a skin, hangs it up in a tree, puts marrow into - its mouth, and goes off hunting; for they follow this occupation in - common with the men. Thus is the mode of life of these barbarians - arranged. - - "Nearly all of the remaining inhabitants of Thule do not, however, - differ much from other peoples. They worship a number of gods and - higher powers in the heavens, the air, the earth and the sea, also - certain other higher beings which are thought to dwell in the waters - of springs and rivers. But they always slay all kinds of sacrifice and - offer dead sacrifices. And to them the best of all sacrifices is the - man they have taken prisoner by their arms. Him they sacrifice to the - god of war, because they consider him to be the greatest. But they do - not sacrifice him merely by using fire at the sacrifice; they also - hang him up in a tree, or throw him among thorns, and slay him by - other cruel modes of death. Such is the life of the inhabitants of - Thule, among whom the most numerous people are the Gauti (Göter), with - whom the immigrant Eruli settled." - -[Sidenote: Erulian sources of Procopius] - -[Sidenote: Common source of Procopius and Jordanes] - -This description by Procopius of Thule (Scandinavia) and its people bears -the stamp of a certain trustworthiness. If we ask whence he has derived -his information, our thoughts are led at once to the Eruli, referred to by -him in such detail, who in part were still the allies of the Eastern -Empire, and of whom the emperor at Byzantium had a bodyguard in the sixth -century. There were many of them in the army of the Eastern Empire both in -Persia and in Italy; thus Procopius says that there were two thousand of -them in the army under the eunuch Narses, which came to Italy to join -Belisarius. Procopius thus had ample opportunity for obtaining first-hand -information from these northern warriors, and his account of them shows -that the Eruli south of the Danube kept up communication with their -kinsmen in Scandinavia, for when they had killed their king "Ochon" -without cause, since they wished to try being without a king, and had -repented the experiment, they sent some of their foremost men to Thule to -find a new king of the royal blood. They chose one and returned with him; -but he died on the way when they had almost reached home, and they -therefore turned again and went once more to Thule. This time they found -another, "by name 'Datios' [or 'Todasios' == Tjodrik ?]. He was -accompanied by his brother 'Aordos' [== Vard ?] and two hundred young men -of the Eruli in Thule." Meanwhile, as they were so long absent, the Eruli -of Singidunum (the modern Belgrade) had sent an embassy to the emperor -Justinianus at Byzantium asking him to give them a chief. He sent, -therefore, the Erulian "Svartuas" (== Svartugle, i.e., black owl ?), who -had been living with him for a long time. But when Datios from Thule -approached, all the Eruli went over to him by night, and Svartuas had to -flee quite alone, and returned to Byzantium. The emperor now exerted all -his power to reinstate him; "but the Eruli, who feared the power of the -Romans, decided to migrate to the Gepidæ." This happened in Procopius's -own time, and may therefore be regarded as trustworthy; it shows how easy -communication must have been at that time between Scandinavia and the -south, and also with Byzantium, so that Procopius may well have had his -information by that channel. But he may also have received information -from another quarter. His description of Thule shows such decided -similarities with Jordanes' account of Scandza and its people that they -point to some common source of knowledge, even though there are also -dissimilarities. Among the latter it may be pointed out that Jordanes -makes a distinction between Thule (north of Britain) and Scandza, while -Procopius calls Scandinavia Thule, which, however, like Jordanes, he -places to the north of Britain, and he does not mention Scandia. It may -seem surprising that Jordanes' authority, Cassiodorus (or Ablabius ?), -should have known Ptolemy better than the Greek Procopius. The explanation -may be that when Procopius heard from the statements of the Eruli -themselves that some of them had crossed the ocean from the land of the -Danes (Jutland) to a great island in the north, he could not have supposed -that this was Scandia, which on Ptolemy's map lay east of the Cimbrian -peninsula and farther south than its northern point; it would seem much -more probable that it was Thule, which, however, as he saw, must lie -farther from Britain and be larger than it was shown on Ptolemy's map; for -which reason Procopius expressly asserts that Thule was much larger than -Britain and lay far to the north of it. As it was not Procopius's habit -to make a show of unnecessary names, he keeps the well-known name of -Thule and does not even mention Scandia. It may even be supposed that it -was to west Norway itself, or the ancient Thule, that the Eruli sailed. If -their king Rodulf was a Norwegian, as suggested above, this would be -probable, as in that case many of themselves would have come from there -too; besides which, we know of a people, the Harudes or Horder, who had -formerly migrated by sea from Jutland to the west coast of Norway; there -had therefore been an ancient connection, and perhaps, indeed, Horder from -Norway and Harudes from Jutland may have been among Rodulf's men, and -there may also have been Harudes among the Eruli whom the Danes, according -to Jordanes, drove out of their home (in Jutland ?). There was also, from -the very beginning of Norwegian history, much connection between Norway -and Jutland. - -Another disagreement between the descriptions of Procopius and Jordanes is -that according to the former there were thirteen tribes, each with a king, -in Thule, while Jordanes enumerates twice as many tribal names in Scandza, -but of these perhaps several may have belonged to the same kingdom.[142] - -A remarkable similarity between the two authors is the summer day forty -days long and the equally long winter night among the people of Thule as -with the Adogit, and the fact that in immediate connection therewith the -Scrithifini and Screrefennæ, which must originally be the same name, are -mentioned. The description in Procopius of festivals on the reappearance -of the sun, etc., points certainly to information from the North; but, as -already pointed out, the statement in this form, that the summer day was -of the same length as the winter night, cannot be due to the Norsemen -themselves; it is a literary invention, which points to a common literary -origin; for it would be more than remarkable if it had arisen -independently both with the authority of Procopius and with that of -Jordanes. An even more striking indication in the same direction is the -resemblance which we find in the order of the two descriptions of Thule -and of Scandza. First comes the geographical description of the island, -which in both is of very great size and lies far out in the northern -ocean; then occurs the statement that in this great island are many -tribes.[143] Next we have in both the curious fact that the summer day and -the winter night both last for forty days. Then follows in both a more -detailed statement of how the long summer day and winter night come about, -and of how the sun behaves during its course, etc. Immediately after this -comes the description of the Skridfinns, who have a bestial way of life, -and do not live on corn, but on the flesh of wild beasts, etc., with an -addition in Jordanes about fen-fowl's eggs (perhaps taken from Mela), -while Procopius has a more detailed description of their mode of life, -which reminds one somewhat of Tacitus. Finally, there is a reference to -the Germanic people of Thule or Scandza; but while Procopius mentions -their religious beliefs and human sacrifices, and only gives the name of -the most numerous tribe, the Gauti, Jordanes has for the most part a -rigmarole of names. - -Even if the method of treating the material is thus very different in the -two works, the order in which the material is arranged, and to some extent -also the material itself, are in such complete agreement that there must -be a historical connection, and undoubtedly a common literary source, -through a greater or less number of intermediaries, is the basis of both -descriptions. One might think of the unknown Ablabius, or perhaps of the -unknown Gothic scholar Aithanarit, whom the Ravenna geographer mentions in -connection with his reference to the Skridfinns, if indeed he did not live -later than Procopius. It is striking also that the passage about Thule in -Procopius gives rather the impression of having been inserted in the -middle of his narrative about the Eruli, without any very intimate -connection therewith, and it may therefore be for the most part taken from -an earlier author, perhaps with alterations and additions by Procopius -himself; but it is not his habit to inform us of his authorities. - -[Sidenote: The Eruli are Norsemen] - -Procopius's description of the Eruli is of great interest. It is a -remarkable feature in the history of the world that at certain intervals, -even from the earliest times, roving warrior peoples appear in Europe, -coming from the unknown North, who for a time fill the world with dread, -and then disappear again. One of these northern peoples was perhaps, as -already mentioned, the "Cimmerians," who in the eighth century B.C. made -an inroad into Asia Minor. Six hundred years later, in the second century -B.C., bands of Cimbri and Teutones came down from northern Europe and were -pressing towards Rome, till they were defeated by Marius and gradually -disappeared. Five hundred years later still, in the third to the fifth -centuries A.D., the Eruli come on the scene, and after they have -disappeared come the Saxons and Danes, and then the Normans. We may -perhaps suppose, to a certain extent at all events, that the races which -formed these restless and adventurous bands were in part the same, and -that it is the names that have changed. The Eruli are also mentioned by -Jordanes and by many other authorities besides Procopius. Together with -the Goths they played a part in the "Scythian" war in the third century, -but afterwards disappear to the north of the Black Sea. They must have -been the most migratory people of their time; we find them roaming over -the whole of Europe, from Scandinavia on the north to Byzantium on the -south, from the Black Sea on the east to Spain on the west; from the third -to the fifth century we find Eruli from Scandinavia as pirates on the -coasts of western Europe, and even in the Mediterranean itself, where in -455 they reached Lucca in Italy [cf. Zeuss, 1837, p. 477 f.; Müllenhoff, -1889, p. 19]. When we read in Procopius that some of the Eruli would not -"cross the Danube, but determined to establish themselves in the uttermost -ends of the world," this means, of course, that they had come from thence, -and that rather than be subject to the Eastern Empire they would return -home to Scandinavia. The name also frequently appears in its primitive -Norse form, "erilaR," in Northern runic inscriptions.[144] Since "erilaR" -(in Norwegian "jarl," in English "earl") means leader in war, and is not -known in Scandinavia as the original name of a tribe which has given its -name to any district in the North, we must suppose that it was more -probably an appellative in use in the more southern parts of Europe for -bands of northern warriors of one or more Scandinavian tribes [cf. P. A. -Munch, 1852, p. 53]. They may have called themselves so; it was, in fact, -characteristic of the Scandinavian warrior that he was not disposed to -acknowledge any superior; they were all free men and chiefs in -contradistinction to thralls. Gradually these bands in foreign countries -may have coalesced into one nation [cf. A. Bugge, 1906, p. 32]. But as -expeditions of Eruli are spoken of in such widely different parts of -Europe, the name must, up to the end of the fifth century, have often been -used for Norsemen in general, to distinguish them from the nations of -Germany, like the designation Normans, and sometimes also Danes, in later -times. That the latter was used as an appellative as early as the time of -Procopius seems to result from his mentioning the tribes ("ethne") of the -Danes in just the same way as he speaks of those of the Slavs. What is -said about the Eruli suits the Scandinavians: they were very tall (cf. -Jordanes, above, p. 136) and fair, were specially famed for their -activity, and were lightly armed; they went into battle without helmet or -coat of mail, protected only by a shield and a thick tunic, which they -tucked up into a belt. Their thralls, indeed, had to fight without -shields; but when they had shown their courage they were allowed to carry -a shield [Procopius, De bello Pers., ii. 25]. "At that time," says -Jordanes, "there was no nation that had not chosen the light-armed men of -its army from among them. But if their activity had often helped them in -other wars, they were vanquished by the slow steadiness of the Goths," and -they had to submit to Hermanaric, King of the Goths by the Black Sea, the -same who is called Jörmunrek in the Völsunga Saga. The people here -described can scarcely have been typical dwellers in plains, who are -usually slow and heavy; we should rather think of them as tough and active -Scandinavian mountaineers, who by their hard life in the hills had become -light of foot and practised in the use of their limbs; but who, on the -other hand, had been ill-supplied with heavier weapons and had had scant -opportunities of exercise as heavy-armed men, for which indeed they had no -taste. This also explains their remarkable mobility. We are thus led once -more to think of Norway as the possible home of some of the Eruli. To sum -up, we find then that they had a king with the Norse name Rodulf, and -there are many indications that he was the same as the Norwegian king -Rodulf (from Romsdal ?) who came to Theodoric. They returned through -Jutland and sailed thence to Thule, where they settled by the side of the -Gauti, i.e., to the west of them in Norway, which from old time had had -frequent communication with Jutland, from whence the Horder (and probably -also the Ryger ?) had immigrated. They are described as having -characteristics which are typical of mountaineers, but not of lowlanders. -An Erulian name, "Aruth" ([Greek: Arouth]), mentioned by Procopius [De -bello Goth., iv. 26], also points to Norway, since it appears to be the -same as the Norwegian tribal name "Horder" ("*Haruðr," gen. "Haruþs," on -the Rök-stone [cf. S. Bugge, 1910, p. 98], or "Arothi" in Jordanes). - - Other Erulian names in Procopius may be common to the northern - Germanic languages. In the opinion of Professor Alf Torp it is - probable that "Visandos" is bison, "Aluith" is Alvid or Alvith - (all-knowing); in "Fanitheos" the first syllable may be "fan" or "fen" - (English, fen) and the second part "-theos" may be the Scandinavian - termination "-ther"; "Aordos" may be Vard. The King's name "Ochon" - seems to resemble the Norwegian Håkon; but the latter name cannot have - had such a form at that time, it must have been longer. - -What Procopius tells us [De bello Goth., ii. 14] about the manners and -customs of the Eruli agrees with what we know of the Norsemen generally. -They worshipped many gods, whom they considered it their sacred duty to -propitiate with human sacrifices. Aged and sick persons were obliged to -ask their relatives to help them to get rid of life;[145] they were killed -with a dagger by one who did not belong to the family, and were burnt on a -great pile, after which the bones were collected and buried, as was the -custom in western Norway amongst other places. "When an Erulian died, his -wife, if she wished to show her virtue and leave a good name behind her, -had to hang herself not long after with a rope by her husband's grave and -thus make an end of herself. If she did not do this, she lost respect for -the future, and was an offence to her husband's family. This custom was -observed by the Eruli from old time." Their many gods and human sacrifices -agree, as we see, with Procopius's description of the inhabitants of -Thule, and with what we know of the Scandinavians from other quarters. As -human sacrifices with most peoples were connected with banquets, at which -slain enemies were eaten,[146] the assertion that our Germanic ancestors -did not practise cannibalism rests upon uncertain ground. When, therefore, -in finds of the Stone Age in Denmark, Sweden and Norway broken or scraped -human bones occur, which point to cannibalism, it cannot be argued from -this, as is done by Dr. A. M. Hansen [1907], that the finds belong to a -non-Germanic people. - -For the rest, Procopius paints the Eruli in crude colours; they are -covetous, domineering and violent towards their fellow men, without being -ashamed of it. They are addicted to the grossest debauchery, are the most -wicked of men, and utterly depraved. - -[Sidenote: Skridfinns] - -The "Scrithifini" of Procopius (and Jordanes' corrupted form, -"Screrefennæ" or "Scretefennæ") are undoubtedly a people of the same kind -as Tacitus's "Fenni" (Ptolemy-Marinus's "Finni"); but they have here -acquired the descriptive prefix "scrithi-," which is generally understood -as the Norse "skriða" (== to slide, e.g., on the ice, to glide; cf. -Swedish "skridsko," skate). The Norsemen must have characterised their -Finnish (i.e., Lappish) neighbours on the north as sliding (walking) on -ski ("skriða á skiðum"), to distinguish them from other peoples in the -outlying districts whom they also called Finns. If this is so, it is the -first time that a reference to ski-running is found in literature. There -is, moreover, considerable similarity between Procopius's description of -these hunters and Tacitus's account of the "Fenni," who must certainly -also have lived in Scandinavia (see above, p. 113), and who may have been -the same people. They have many peculiar characteristics in common, e.g., -that both men and women go hunting; and the statement that while the -mothers go hunting, the children, in Tacitus, are hidden in a shelter of -boughs (i.e., a tent), and in Procopius are hung up in a tree (perhaps -the Lapps' "komse," i.e., a cradle made of wood to hang up in the tent). -Procopius himself probably did not know Tacitus's "Germania," but it is -possible that his unknown authority did so, although this work was -generally forgotten at that time. But even if the description of Procopius -may thus be partly derived from Tacitus, in any case fresh information has -been added, the name Skridfinns itself to begin with, and certain correct -details, such as their fastening the skins together with the sinews of -beasts. The fable that the children did not touch their mothers' breasts -may (like the masculine occupation of the women) be due to legends about -the Amazons, who were not brought up on their mothers' milk. That the -children were given marrow instead may be due to the fact that this people -of hunters, like the Lapps of the present day, ate much animal fat and -marrow. The Eskimo often give their children raw blubber to chew. - -[Illustration: Map of the world in the MS. of Isidore, tenth century, St. -Gallen (K. Miller)] - -[Illustration: The oldest known map of the world, from the MS. of Isidore -of the end of the seventh century, St. Gallen (K. Miller)] - -[Sidenote: Isidorus Hispalensis, before 636 A.D.] - -Thus while valuable information about the North is to be found in the -early mediæval authors we have mentioned, this is not the case with the -well-known Isidorus Hispalensis of Seville (ob. 636, as bishop of that -city), who, however, exercised the greatest influence on the geographical -ideas of the Middle Ages. His geographical knowledge was derived from late -Latin authors, especially Orosius, Hieronymus and Solinus, and contributed -nothing new of value. But as he was one of the most widely read authors of -the early Middle Ages, he is of importance for having in that dark time -continued the thread of the learning of antiquity, even though that thread -was thin and weak. He was also to have an influence on cartography. With -his fondness for bad etymological interpretations he derived the word -"rotunditas," for the roundness of the earth, from "rota," wheel, and he -taught that "the word 'orbis' is used on account of the roundness of the -circumference, since it is like a wheel. For in every part the -circumfluent ocean surrounds its borders in a circle." Hence the -conception of the earth's disc as a wheel came to be general in the early -Middle Ages, and hence the designation of wheel-maps. Isidore divided the -earth's disc into three parts, Asia (including Paradise) at the top of the -wheel-map, and Europe and Africa, also called Lybia, at the bottom; and -the boundaries between these continents formed a =T= with the rivers -Tanais and Nile horizontally at the top, and the Mediterranean ("Mare -Magnum") below. Therefore maps of this type, which was maintained for a -long time, are also called =T=-maps.[147] Otherwise Isidore declared -clearly enough in favour of the spherical form of the earth. - -[Sidenote: Bede, 673-735] - -The Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar, Beda Venerabilis (673-735), who in his -work "Liber de natura rerum" also mentions the countries of the earth, but -without making any fresh statement about the North, was strongly -influenced by Isidore. He asserts, however, the spherical form of the -earth in an intelligent way, giving, amongst other reasons, that of the -ancient Greeks, that earth and water are attracted towards a central -point. The form of a sphere was also the only one that would explain why -certain stars were visible in the north, but not in the south. - -[Illustration: Europe on the reconstructed map of the world of the Ravenna -geographer (after K. Miller)] - -[Sidenote: The Ravenna geographer, seventh century] - -A few new facts about the North are to be found in the anonymous author -who wrote a cosmography at the close of the seventh century. As, according -to his own statement, he was born at Ravenna, he is usually known as the -Ravenna geographer, but otherwise nothing is known of him, except that he -was probably a priest. He bases his work on older authors; the Bible, -some Latin, some Greek, and some later writers; but he certainly had a -Roman itinerary map like the Tabula Peutingeriana. His statements about -the North are in part taken from Jordanes, but he also quotes three other -"Gothic scholars," who are otherwise entirely unknown. One of them, -Aithanarit (or Athanaric ?), is mentioned particularly in connection with -the Skridfinns. The other two, Eldevaldus (or Eldebald ?) and Marcomirus -(or Marcomeres ?), have also described western Europe; the latter is -specially used in the description of the countries of the Danes, Saxons -and Frisians. - - The Ravenna geographer regarded the earth's disc as approximately - round, and surrounded by ocean, but the latter was not entirely - continuous, for it did not extend behind India. It was true that some - cosmographers had described it so, but no Christian ought to believe - this, for Paradise was in the extreme East, near to India; and as the - pollen is wafted by the breath of the wind from the male palm to the - female near it, so does a beneficent perfume from Paradise blow upon - the aromatic flowers of India. Some thought that the sun in its course - returned to the east under the depths of ocean; but the Ravenna - geographer agreed with those who said that the sun moved all night - along paths which cannot be traced, behind lofty mountains, in the - north beyond the ocean, and in the morning it came forth again from - behind them. - - [iv. 12.] "In a line with Scythia and the coast of the ocean is the - country which is said to be that of the 'Rerefeni' and 'Sirdifeni' - ('Scirdifrini'). The people of this country, according to what the - Gothic scholar Aithanarit says, dwell among the rocks of the - mountains, and both men and women are said to live by hunting, and to - be entirely unacquainted both with meat and wine. This land is said to - be colder than all others. Farther on by the side of the Serdifenni on - the coast of the ocean is the land which is called Dania; this land, - as the above-mentioned Aithanaridus and Eldevaldus and Marcomirus, the - Gothic scholars, say, produces people who are swifter than all - others." [These must be the Eruli.] "This Dania is now called the land - of the Nordomanni." This is the first time the name Norman is used, so - far as is known. - - [v. 30.] "In the northern ocean itself, after the land of the - Roxolani, is an island which is called Scanza, which is also called - Old Scythia by most cosmographers. But in what manner the island of - Scanza itself lies, we will with God's help relate." - -He says, following Jordanes (see above, p. 130), that from this island -other nations, amongst them the Goths and the Danes, besides the Gepidæ, -migrated. - -It will be seen that the Ravenna geographer's statements about the -Skridfinns, whose name is varied and corrupted even more than in Jordanes, -bear a striking resemblance to those of Procopius, although he says he -derived them from the Goth Aithanarit; if this is correct, then the latter -must either have borrowed from Procopius, which is very probable, or he is -older and was the common authority both of Procopius and the Ravenna -geographer, and, if so, perhaps also of Cassiodorus (?). - -[Illustration: Cynocephali on a peninsula north-east of Norway (from the -Hereford map)] - -[Sidenote: Æthicus Istricus, seventh century (?)] - - An enigmatical work, probably dating from about the seventh century, - which was much read in the Middle Ages, professes to be a Latin - translation, by a certain Hieronymus, from a Christian book of travel - by a Greek commonly called Æthicus Istricus.[148] He is said to have - travelled before the fourth century. The translator asserts that - Æthicus had related many fabulous things, which he has not repeated, - as he wished to keep to the sure facts; but among them we find many - remarkable pieces of information, as that Æthicus had seen with his - own eyes on the north of the Caspian Sea the Amazons give the breast - to Centaurs and Minotaurs, and when he was living in the town of - Choolisma, built by Japhet's son Magog, he saw the sea of bitumen - which forms the mouth of Hell and from which the cement for - Alexander's wall of iron came. In Armenia he looked in vain for Noah's - ark; but he saw dragons, ostriches, griffins, and ants as large and - ferocious as dogs. He also mentioned griffins and treasures of gold in - the north between the Tanais and the northern ocean. "The Scythians, - Griffins, Tracontians and Saxons built ships of wattles smeared over - with pitch" (perhaps it is meant that they were also covered with - hides). These ships were extraordinarily swift. Among the Scythians - there was said to be an able craftsman and great teacher, Grifo, who - built ships with prows in the northern ocean. He was like the griffins - or the flying fabulous birds. Æthicus visited an island called Munitia - north of Germania. There he found "Cenocephali" (dog-headed men). They - were a hideous race. The Germanic peoples came to the island as - merchants and called the people "Cananei." They go with bare calves, - smear their hair with oil or fat and smell foully. They lead a dirty - life and feed on unclean animals, mice, moles, etc. They live in felt - tents in the woods far away by fens and swampy places. They have a - number of cattle, fowls and eggs.[149] They know no god and have no - king. They use more tin than silver. One might be tempted to think - that this fable of dog-headed people in the north had arisen from the - word "Kvæn" (Finn), which to a Greek like Æthicus would sound like - "cyon" (dog). The name "Cenocephali" may have been introduced in this - way, while that of "Cananei" may have arisen by a sort of corrupt - similarity of sound between Kvæn and the Old Testament people of - Canaan. It might thus be Kvænland or Finland that is here spoken of. - Their going with bare calves and living in felt tents may remind us of - the Argippæi of Herodotus, who were bald (while in Mela they went - bare-headed) and had felt tents in winter. - -[Illustration: The Seven Sleepers in the Cave by the North Sea (from Olaus -Magnus)] - -[Sidenote: Paulus Warnefridi, 720-790] - -The Langobard author Paulus Warnefridi, also called Diaconus (about -720-790), gives for the most part more or less confused extracts from -earlier authors, but he seems besides to have obtained some new -information about the North. Just as the Goth Jordanes (or Cassiodorus, or -Ablabius) makes the Goths emigrate from Ptolemy's Scandza, so Paulus, -following earlier authors,[150] makes the Langobards proceed from Pliny's -island Scatinavia, far in the north. It looks as though at that time a -northern origin was held in high esteem. But Paulus describes the country, -from the statements of those who have seen it, as not "really lying in the -sea, but the waves wash the low shores." This points to a confusion here -with a district called Scatenauge by the Elbe, which in a somewhat later -MS. (about 807) of the Langobardic Law is mentioned as the home of the -Langobards [cf. Lönborg, 1897, p. 27]. Paulus further relates that on the -coast "north-west towards the uttermost boundaries of Germany" there lie -seven men asleep in a cave, for how long is uncertain. They resemble the -Romans in appearance, and both they and their clothes are unharmed, and -they are regarded by the inhabitants as holy. The legend of the Seven -Sleepers is already found in Gregory of Tours, who has it from Asia Minor, -where it arose in the third century and was located at Ephesus [cf. J. -Koch, 1883]. The legend was very common in Germania, and we find it again -later in tales of shipwreck on the coast of Greenland.[151] - - "Near to this place [i.e., the cave with the seven men] dwell the - 'Scritobini';[152] thus is this people called; they have snow even in - summer time, and they eat nothing but the raw flesh of wild beasts, as - they do not differ from the beasts themselves in intelligence, and - they also make themselves clothes of their skins with the hair on. - Their name is explained from the word 'to leap' in the foreign tongue - [i.e., Germanic], for by leaping with a certain art they overtake the - wild beasts with a piece of wood bent like a bow. Among them is an - animal which is not much unlike a stag, and I have seen a dress made - of the hide of this animal, just as if it was bristling with hairs, - and it was made like a tunic and reached to the knees, as the - above-mentioned Scritobini wear it, as I have told. In these parts, at - the summer solstice, there is seen for several days, even at night, - the clearest light, and they have there much more daylight than - elsewhere, as on the other hand, about the winter solstice, even if - there is daylight, the sun itself is not seen there, and the day is - shorter than in any other place, the nights also are longer; for the - farther one goes away from the sun, the nearer the sun appears to the - earth [the horizon], and the shadows become longer."... - -[Illustration: The oldest known picture of a ski-runner (from the Hereford -map's representation of Norway, thirteenth century)] - - "And not far from the shore which we before spoke of [by the cave] on - the west, where the ocean extends without bounds, is that very deep - abyss of the waters which we commonly call the ocean's navel. It is - said twice a day to suck the waves into itself, and to spew them out - again; as is proved to happen along all these coasts, where the waves - rush in and go back again with fearful rapidity. Such a gulf or - whirlpool is called by the poet Virgil Caribdis, and in his poem he - says it is in the strait by Sicily, as he says: - - 'Scilla lies on the right hand - and the implacable Caribdis on the left. - And three times it sucks the vast billows - down into the abyss with the deep whirlpool - of the gulf, and it sends them up again into the air, - and the wave lashes the stars.' - - "By the whirlpool of which we have spoken it is asserted that ships - are often drawn in with such rapidity that they seem to resemble the - flight of arrows through the air; and sometimes they are lost in this - gulf with a very frightful destruction. Often just as they are about - to go under, they are brought back again by a sudden shock of the - waves, and they are sent out again thence with the same rapidity with - which they were drawn in. It is asserted that there is also another - gulf of the same kind between Britain and the Gallician province" - [i.e., northern Spain], whereupon there follows a description of the - tides on the south coast of France and at the mouths of the rivers, - after which there is a highly coloured account of the horrors of the - Ebudes, where they can hear the noise of the waters rushing towards a - similar Caribdis. - -Paulus Warnefridi evidently had a very erroneous idea of ski-running, -which he made into a leaping instead of a gliding motion. He may have -imagined that they jumped about on pieces of wood bent like bows. That the -abyss of waters or navel of the sea is thought to be in the North may be -due to reports either of the current in the Pentland Firth or of the -Mosken-ström or the Salt-ström, which thus make their appearance here in -literature, and which were afterwards developed into the widespread ideas -of the Middle Ages about maelstroms and abysses in the sea, perhaps by -being connected with the ancient Greek conception of the uttermost abyss -(Tartarus, Anostus, Ginnungagap; see pp. 11, 12, 17), and as here with the -description of the current in the Straits of Messina. - -[Illustration: The Maelstrom near the Lofoten Islands (from Olaus Magnus)] - -Viktor Rydberg [1886, pp. 318, 425, ff.] supposed Paulus's description of -the whirlpool to be derived from the Norse legends of the world's well, -"Hvergelmer"--which causes the tides by the water flowing up and down -through its subterranean channels--and of the quern "Grotte" at the -bottom of the sea, which forms whirlpools when the waters run down into -the hole in the mill-stone.[153] But it is perhaps just as probable that -it is the southern, originally classical ideas which have been localised -in the Norse legends. As we have seen, we find in Virgil the same -conception of a gulf in the sea which sucks the water into itself and -sends it up again. Isidore says of the abyss (also repeated in Hrabanus -Maurus): - - "Abyssus is the impenetrable deep of the waters, or the caves of the - hidden waters, from whence springs and rivers issue forth, but also - those which run concealed beneath the ground. Therefore it is called - Abyssus, for all streams return by hidden veins to their mother - Abyssus." - -It is credible that ideas such as this may have originated, or at any rate -coloured, the myth of "Hvergelmer" (i.e., the noisy or bubbling kettle). -Isidore was early known in England, Ireland and Scandinavia. The whirlpool -is also found among Orientals; thus Sindbad is drawn into it. Paulus's -mention of whirlpools not only in the North, and off the Hebrides, but -also between Britain and Spain and in the Straits of Messina, does not -show that he derived the legend solely from the North. Later, on the other -hand, in Adam of Bremen, the whirlpool becomes more exclusively northern, -and later still we shall get it even at the North Pole itself. - -Paulus Warnefridi also mentions Greek fabulous people such as the -Dog-heads (Cynocephali) and the Amazons in North Germania. He says that -the Langobards fought with a people called "Assipitti," who lived in -"Mauringa," and that they frightened them by saying that they had -Cynocephali in their army, who drank human blood, their own if they could -not get that of others. The Langobards were said to have been stopped by -the Amazons at a river in Germany. The Langobard king, Lamissio, fought -with the bravest of them, while he was swimming in the river, and slew -her; and according to a prearranged agreement he thereby obtained for his -people the right of crossing unhindered. Paulus regards the story as -untrue, as the Amazons were supposed to have been destroyed long before; -but he had nevertheless heard that there was a tribe of such women in the -interior of Germany. The same idea of a female nation in Germany occurs -again later in literature (cf. King Alfred's "Mægða-land"). - -[Sidenote: Interpolation in Solinus, circa eighth century] - -It has already been mentioned (p. 123) that in the MSS. of Solinus of the -ninth century and later there is found a mention of the Ebudes, the -Orcades and Thule which in the opinion of Mommsen is a later addition; and -as it is not found in Isidore Hispalensis, who made extensive use of -Solinus, it must have been introduced after his time (seventh century), -but before the ninth century, when it occurs in a MS. As the addition -about Thule, so far as I can judge, must show that this country is -regarded as Norway, and as there are many indications that it was made by -an Irish monk, it is further probable that it belongs to the period before -the Irish discovery of Iceland, which then, according to Dicuil's book, -became regarded as Thule. I think, therefore, we can place the addition at -the beginning of the eighth century, and it will then be evidence of the -knowledge of Norway which prevailed in the British Isles at that time. -After having mentioned Britain and the neighbouring islands the account -proceeds [Solinus, c. 22]: - - "From the Caledonian Promontory it is two days' sail for those who - voyage to Tyle [Thule]. From thence begin the Ebudes islands - [Hebrides], five in number [the five principal islands]. Their - inhabitants live on fruits, fish and milk. Though there are many - islands, they are all separated by narrow arms of the sea. They all - together have but one king. The king owns nothing for himself alone, - all is common property. Justice is imposed upon him by fixed laws, and - lest he should be led away from the truth by covetousness, he learns - righteousness by poverty, since he has no possessions; he is therefore - supported by the people. No woman is given him in marriage, but he - takes in turn her who pleases him at the moment. Thus he has neither - the desire nor the hope of children. The second station for the - voyager [to Thule] is provided by the Orcades. But the Orcades lie - seven days' and the same number of nights' sail from the Ebudes, they - are three in number [i.e., the three principal isles of the - Shetlands]. They are uninhabited ('vacant homines'). They have no - woods, but are rough with reeds and grass, the rest is bare sandy - beach and rocks. From the Orcades direct to Thule is five days' and - nights' sail. But Thule is fertile and rich in late-ripening fruits. - The inhabitants there live from the beginning of spring with their - cattle, and feed on herbs and milk; the fruits of the trees they keep - for winter. They have women in common, regular marriage is not known - among them." - -This description cannot well be pure invention, and unless it may be -thought to be transferred from another place, we must believe it to be -derived from a distant knowledge of Norway. Their living with the cattle -in spring is in accordance with this, but not their subsistence on the -fruits of the trees. Here one would rather be led to think of the -Hesperides and their golden apples, unless we are to suppose that they -collected nuts and berries. That the inhabitants of Thule had women in -common might be connected with the predilection of the Scandinavians for -polygamy, of which we also hear from other sources; but this is uncertain. -Even the Greeks and Romans saw in the absence of regular marriage a sign -of barbarism, which brought man near to the beasts, and which they -therefore attributed to people at the extreme limits of the earth; cf. -Herodotus, and Strabo's description of the Irish (p. 81). If the -Caledonian Promontory means Scotland, it is surprising that it should be -two days' sail to the Hebrides, and that these were the first and the -Orcades the second station on the way to Thule. We must then suppose that -there has been a jumbling together of several authorities, which is not -very probable if this is a later interpolation, since we must doubtless -believe the interpolating copyist to have thought himself possessed of -knowledge of these matters. If, however, we suppose him to have been an -Irishman, and to have looked upon the voyage to Thule with Ireland as a -starting-point, then it becomes more consistent. It is then two days' sail -from Ireland to the Hebrides, seven days thence to the Shetlands, and then -five to Thule; that is, the whole voyage will last fourteen days; and -this may be about right. It is undeniably somewhat surprising that there -should be no inhabitants on the Orcades, or Shetland, at that time. - - -THE DISCOVERY OF THE FAROES AND ICELAND BY THE IRISH IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY - -[Sidenote: Dicuil, circa 825] - -The earliest voyages northward to the Arctic Circle, of which there is -certain literary mention in the early Middle Ages, are the Irish monks' -expeditions across the sea in their small boats, whereby they discovered -the Faroes and Iceland, and, at all events for a time, lived there. Of -these the Irish monk Dicuil gave an account, as early as about the year -825, in his description of the earth, "De Mensura Orbis Terræ" [cf. -Letronne, 1814, pp. 38 f., 131 f.]. It is characteristic of the spiritual -tendency of that period of the Middle Ages that these remarkable voyages -were not, like other voyages of discovery, undertaken from love of gain, -thirst for adventure, or desire of knowledge, but chiefly from the wish to -find lonely places, where these anchorites might dwell in peace, -undisturbed by the turmoil and temptations of the world.[154] In this way -the unknown islands near the Arctic Ocean must have seemed to satisfy all -their requirements; but their joy was short-lived; the disturbers of the -North, the Vikings from Norway, soon came there also and drove them out or -oppressed them. - -What Dicuil tells us of the Scandinavian North is chiefly derived from -Pliny, and contains nothing new. But of the unknown islands in the -northern ocean he writes [7, 3]: - -[Sidenote: Discovery of the Faroes by the Irish] - - "There are many more islands in the ocean north of Britain, which can - be reached from the northern British Isles in two days' and two - nights' direct sailing with full sail and a favourable wind. A - trustworthy priest ('presbyter religiosus') told me that he had sailed - for two summer-days and an intervening night in a little boat with two - thwarts [i.e., two pairs of oars],[155] and landed on one of these - islands. These islands are for the most part small; nearly all are - divided from one another by narrow sounds, and upon them anchorites, - who proceeded from our Scotia [i.e., Ireland], have lived for about a - hundred years ('in centum ferme annis'). But as since the beginning of - the world they had always been deserted, so are they now by reason of - the Northman pirates emptied of anchorites, but full of innumerable - sheep and a great number of different kinds of sea-birds. We have - never found these islands spoken of in the books of authors." - -[Illustration: The Faroes] - -This description best suits the Faroes,[156] where, therefore, Irish monks -had previously lived, and from whence they had been driven out by -Norwegian seafarers, probably at the close of the eighth century. As, -however, Dicuil is so well aware of the islands being full of sheep, the -Irish may have continued to visit them occasionally, like the trustworthy -priest referred to, who sailed there in a boat with two thwarts. Dicuil's -statement that they were then "emptied of anchorites" must doubtless be -interpreted to mean that they were uninhabited; but this does not sound -very probable. Rather, there are many indications that the islands had an -original Celtic population, which continued to live there after the -settlement of the Norsemen. - - There are some Celtic place-names, such as "Dímon" (the islands "Stora - Dímon" and "Litla Dímon," or "Dímun meiri" and "Dímun minni") from the - Celtic "dimun" (== double neck, thus like Norwegian "Tviberg").[157] - As such Celtic place-names cannot have been introduced later, the - Norwegians must have got them from the Celts who were there before, - and with whom they had intercourse. The language of the Faroes has - also many loan-words from Celtic, mostly for agriculture and - cattle-farming, and for the flora and fauna of the islands. These - might be explained by many of the Norwegian settlers having previously - lived in the Scottish islands or in Ireland, or having had frequent - communication with those countries [cf. A. Bugge, 1905, p. 358]; but - it seems more natural to suppose that the loan-words are derived from - a primitive Celtic population. To this must be added that the people - of the Southern Faroes are still dark, with dark eyes and black hair, - and differ from the more Germanic type of the northern islands [cf. D. - Bruun, 1902, p. 5]. The name "Færöene" (sheep-islands) shows that - there probably were sheep before the Norsemen came, which so far - agrees with Dicuil; these sheep must then have been introduced by the - earlier Celts. - -According to this it seems possible that the Irish monks came to the -islands not merely as anchorites, but also to spread Christianity among a -Celtic population. The Norwegians arrived later, took possession of the -islands, and oppressed the Celts. - -[Sidenote: Irish Discovery of Iceland] - -But the bold Irish monks extended their voyages farther north. Dicuil has -also to tell us how they found Iceland, which he calls Thule, and lived -there. After having mentioned what Pliny, Solinus, Isidore (Hispalensis) -and Priscianus say about Thule (Thyle), he continues [7, 2, 6]: - - "It is now thirty years since certain priests, who had been on that - island from the 1st of February to the 1st of August, told that not - only at the time of the summer solstice, but also during the days - before and after, the setting sun at evening conceals itself as it - were behind a little mound, so that it does not grow dark even for - the shortest space of time, but whatsoever work a man will do, even - picking the lice out of his shirt (pediculos de camisia extrahere), he - may do it just as though the sun were there, and if they had been upon - the high mountains of the island perhaps the sun would never be - concealed by them [i.e., the mountains]. In the middle of this very - short time it is midnight in the middle of the earth, and on the other - hand I suppose in the same way that at the winter solstice and for a - few days on either side of it the dawn is seen for a very short time - in Thule, when it is midday in the middle of the earth. Consequently I - believe that they lie and are in error who wrote that there was a - stiffened (concretum) sea around it [i.e., Thyle], and likewise those - who said that there was continuous day without night from the vernal - equinox till the autumnal equinox, and conversely continuous night - from the autumnal equinox till the vernal, since those who sailed - thither reached it in the natural time for great cold, and while they - were there always had day and night alternately except at the time of - the summer solstice; but a day's sail northward from it they found the - frozen (congelatum) sea." - -This description, written half a century before the Norwegians, according -to common belief, came to Iceland, shows that the country was known to the -Irish, at any rate before the close of the eighth century (thirty years -before Dicuil wrote in 825), and how much earlier we cannot say. With the -first-hand information he had received from people who had been there, -Dicuil may have blended ideas which he had obtained from his literary -studies. The sun hiding at night behind a little mound reminds us of the -older ideas that it went behind a mountain in the north (cf. Cosmas -Indicopleustes and the Ravenna geographer); but of course it may also be -due to local observation. The idea that the frozen sea ("congelatum mare") -had been found a day's sail north of this island is precisely the same as -in the Latin and Greek authors, where, according to Pytheas, the stiffened -sea ("concretum mare") or the sluggish sea ("pigrum") lay one day's sail -beyond Thule (cf. p. 65). But this does not exclude the possibility of the -Irish having come upon drift-ice north of Iceland; on the contrary, this -is very probable. - -Dicuil's statement of the Irish discovery of Iceland is confirmed by the -Icelandic sagas. Are Frode (about 1130) relates that at the time the -Norwegian settlers first came to Iceland, - - "there were Christians here whom the Norwegians called 'papar' - [priests]; but they afterwards went away, because they would not be - here together with heathens, and they left behind them Irish books, - bells and croziers, from which it could be concluded that they were - Irishmen." In the Landnámabók, which gives the same statement from - Are, it is added that "they were found east in Papey and in Papyli. It - is also mentioned in English books that at that time there was sailing - between the countries" [i.e., between Iceland and Britain]. - -In many other passages in the sagas we hear of them,[158] and the -Norwegian author Tjodrik Monk (about 1180) has a similar statement. Many -places in south Iceland, such as "Papafjörðr" with "Papos," and the island -of "Papey," still bear names derived from these first inhabitants. A -former name was "Pappyli," which is now no longer used. But besides these -place-names there are many others in Iceland which are either Celtic or -must be connected with the Celts. Thus, among the first that are mentioned -in the Landnámabók are "Minþakseyrr" and "Vestmanna-eyjar." "Minþak" is an -Irish word for a dough of meal and butter, and Westmen were the Irish. It -is true that in the Landnámabók [cf. F. Jónsson, 1900, pp. 7, 132, 265] -these names are placed in connection with the Irish thralls whom Hjorleif, -the associate of Ingolf, had brought with him, and who killed him; but, as -the more particular circumstances of the tale show, it is probable that it -is the place-names that are original, and that have given rise to the tale -of the thralls, and not the reverse. A. Bugge [1905, pp. 359 ff.] gives a -whole list of Icelandic place-names of Celtic origin, mostly derived from -personal names;[159] he endeavours to explain them as due to Celtic -influence, through Irish land-takers; but the most natural explanation is -certainly here as with the Faroes, that there was a primitive Celtic -population in Iceland, and not merely a few Irish monks, when the -Norwegians arrived; and that from these Celts the Icelanders are in part -descended, while they took their language from the ruling class, the -Norwegians, who also became superior in numbers. Future anthropological -investigations of the modern Icelanders may be able to throw light on -these questions. The original Celtic population may have been small and -dispersed, but may nevertheless have made it easier for the Norwegians to -settle there, as they did not come to a perfectly uncultivated country, -and to subdue men takes less time than to subdue Nature. As to how, and -how early, the Celts first came to Iceland, we know in the meantime -nothing. - -[Sidenote: Einhard, ninth century] - -[Sidenote: Hrabanus Maurus] - -[Sidenote: Rimbertus] - -Einhard (beginning of the ninth century), the biographer of Charlemagne, -speaks of the Baltic as a bay eastwards from the western ocean of unknown -length and nowhere broader than 100,000 paces (about ninety miles), and -mentions the peoples of those parts: "'Dani' and 'Sueones,' whom we call -'Nordmanni,'" live on the northern shore and on all the islands, while -Slavs and Esthonians and other peoples dwell on the southern shore. The -well-known German scholar, Hrabanus Maurus (circa 776-856), Archbishop of -Mayence (847-856), bases his encyclopædic work, "De Universo" (completed -in 847), in twenty-two books, chiefly upon Isidore, from whom he makes -large extracts, and has little to say about the North. Rimbertus (end of -the ninth century), on the other hand, in his biography of Ansgarius, -gives much information about Scandinavia and its people, while the nearly -contemporary Bavarian geographer ("geographus Bawarus") describes the -Slavonic peoples. - - - - -[Illustration] - - -CHAPTER V - -THE AWAKENING OF MEDIÆVAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NORTH - - -KING ALFRED, OTTAR, ADAM OF BREMEN - -In the ninth century the increasingly frequent Viking raids, Charlemagne's -wars and conquests in the North, and the labours of Christian -missionaries, brought about an increase of intercourse, both warlike and -peaceful, between southern Europe and the people of the Scandinavian -North. The latter had gradually come to play a certain part on the world's -stage, and their enterprises began to belong to history. Their countries -were thereby more or less incorporated into the known world. Now for the -first time the mists that had lain over the northern regions of Europe -began to lift, to such an extent that the geographical knowledge of the -Middle Ages became clearer, and reached farther than that of the Greeks a -thousand years earlier. - -[Sidenote: King Alfred, 849-901] - -But while in the foregoing centuries the clouds had moved slowly, they -were now rapidly dispelled from large tracts of the northern lands and -seas. This was due in the first place to the voyages of the -Scandinavians, especially of the Norwegians. By their sober accounts of -what they had found they directed geographical science into new and -fruitful channels, and freed it little by little from the dead weight of -myths and superstitions which it had carried with it through the ages from -antiquity. We find the first decisive step in this direction in the -Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great of England (849-circa 901 A.D.). - -King Alfred had Orosius's Latin history done into Anglo-Saxon, and himself -translated large portions of the work. By about 880 he was at peace with -the Danish Vikings, to whom he had been obliged to cede the north-eastern -half of England. He died about 901. His literary activity must no doubt -have fallen within the period between these dates. Finding the -geographical introduction to Orosius's work inadequate, especially as -regards northern Europe, he added what he had learnt from other sources. -Thus, from information probably obtained from Germans, he gives a survey -of Germany, which he makes extend northwards "to the sea which is called -'Cwên-sæ.'" What is meant by this is not quite clear; it might be the -Polar Sea or the White Sea; on the other hand, it may be the Baltic or the -Gulf of Bothnia; for the text does not make it certain whether King Alfred -regarded Scandinavia as a peninsula connected with the continent or not. -He speaks of countries and peoples on the "Ost-sæ",[160] and he mentions -amongst others the South Danes and North Danes both on the mainland -(Jutland) and the islands--both peoples with the Ost-sæ to the north of -them--further the "Osti" (probably the Esthonians, who also had this arm -of the sea, the Ost-sæ, to the north), Wends and Burgundians (Bornholmers -?), who "have the same arm of the sea to the west of them, and the -Sveones (Svear) to the north." "The Sveones have south of them the -Esthonian ['Osti'] arm of the sea, and east of them the Sermende -[Sarmatians ? or Russians ?]; and to the north, beyond the uninhabited -tracts ['wêstenni'], is 'Cwên-land'; and north-west of them are the -'Scride-Finnas,' and to the west the Norwegians ('Norðmenn')." - -[Illustration: Map of Northern Scandinavia and the White Sea] - -[Sidenote: Ottar's voyage to the White Sea, ninth century] - -King Alfred's most important contribution to geographical knowledge of the -North is his remarkable account of what the Norwegian Ottar (or "Ohthere" -in the Anglo-Saxon text) told him about his voyage to the North. The brief -and straightforward narrative of this sober traveller forms in its -clearness and definiteness a refreshing contrast to the vague and confused -ideas of earlier times about the unknown northern regions. We see at once -that we are entering upon a new period. - - "Ottar told his lord, Alfred the king, that he dwelt farthest north of - all the Norwegians.[161] He said that he dwelt on the northern side of - the land by the 'West-sæ.' He said however that the land extends very - far to the north from there; but that it is quite uninhabited - ('weste'), except that in a few places the Finns[162] live, hunting - in the winter and fishing in the sea in summer. He said that once he - wished to find out how far the land extended due north, and whether - any man lived north of the waste tracts. So he went due north[163] - along the coast; the whole way he had the uninhabited land to - starboard and the open sea to port for three days. Then he was as far - north as the whalers go.[164] Then he went on due north as far as he - could sail in the next three days. There the land turned due east, or - the sea turned into the land,[165] he did not know which; but he knew - that there he waited for a west wind, or with a little north in it, - and sailed thence eastward, following the coast as far as he could - sail in five days. Then he had to wait for a due north wind, because - the land there turned due south, or the sea into the land, he did not - know which.[166] Then he sailed thence due south along the coast, as - far as he could sail in five days. There lay a great river going up - into the land, so they turned up into the river, because they dared - not sail past it for fear of trouble, since all the country was - inhabited on the other side of the river. He had not met with - inhabited country before, since he left his own home; but all the way - there was waste land to starboard, except for fishermen, fowlers and - hunters, and they were all Finns, and there was always sea to port. - The land of the Beormas was well inhabited; but they [i.e., Ottar and - his men] dared not land there; but the land of the Terfinnas was - entirely waste, except where hunters or fishers or fowlers had their - abode. - - "The Beormas told him many stories both about their own country and - the countries that were about it, but he knew not what was true, - because he had not seen it himself. The Finns and the Beormas, as it - seemed to him, spoke almost the same language. He went thither chiefly - to explore the country, and for the sake of the walruses, for they - have much valuable bone in their tusks--some such tusks he brought to - the king--and their hide is very good for ships' ropes. This whale is - much smaller than other whales, not more than seven cubits long; but - in his own country is the best whaling, there they are forty-eight - cubits, and the largest fifty cubits long; of them ('þara'), said he, - he with six others ('syxa sum') had killed sixty in two days."[167] - -Since King Alfred, as has been said, must have written between 880 and -901, Ottar may have made his voyage about 870 to 890. This remarkable man, -who according to his own statement undertook his expedition principally -from desire of knowledge, is the second northern explorer of whom we have -definite information in history. The first was the Greek Pytheas, who went -about as far as the Arctic Circle. Some twelve hundred years later the -Norwegian Ottar continues the exploration farther north along the coasts -of Norway and sails right into the White Sea. He thereby determined the -extent of Scandinavia on the north, and is the first known discoverer of -the North Cape, the Polar Sea (or Barents Sea), and the White Sea; but he -did not know whether the latter was a bay of the ocean or not. It is -unlikely that Ottar was the first Norwegian to _discover_ the coasts along -which he sailed. It is true that the expressions "that he wished to find -out how far the land extended due north, or whether any man dwelt to the -north of the uninhabited tracts," might be taken to mean that this was -hitherto unknown to the Norwegians; but it should doubtless rather be -understood as a general indication of the object of the voyage: this was -of interest to King Alfred, but not whether it was absolutely the first -voyage of discovery in those regions. The names Terfinnas and Beormas are -given as something already known, and when Ottar reaches the latter he -understands at once that he ought not to proceed farther, for fear of -trouble; it may be supposed that he knew them by report as a warlike -people. A. Bugge [1908, p. 409] quotes K. Rygh to the effect that the -names of fjords in Finmark must be very ancient, e.g., those that end in -"-angr." This termination is not found in Iceland, and would consequently -be older than the Norwegian colonisation of that country; nor does "angr" -(== fjord) as an appellative occur in the Old Norse literary language. It -may therefore be possible that these names are older than Ottar. Bugge -also, from information given by Mr. Qvigstad, calls attention to the fact -that the Lapps call Magarö "Makaravjo," and a place on Kvalö (near -Hammerfest) "Rahkkeravjo." The latter part of these names must be the -primary Germanic word "awjô" for island or land near the shore. According -to this the Norsemen must have been as far north as this and have given -names to these places, while this form of the word was still in use, and -the Finns or Lapps have taken it from them. - -The land of the Terfinnas, which was uninhabited, is the whole Kola -peninsula. Its name was "Ter" (or "Turja"), whence the designation -Ter-Finns. The common supposition that the river Ottar came to was the -Dvina cannot be reconciled with Ottar's narrative given above, which -expressly states that he followed the coast round the peninsula all the -way, "and there was always open sea to port."[168] He cannot, therefore, -have left the land and sailed straight across the White Sea; moreover he -could not be aware that there was land on the other side of this wide bay -of the ocean.[169] The river which "went up into the land" was -consequently on the Kola peninsula, and formed the boundary between the -unsettled land of the Terfinnas and that of the Beormas with fixed -habitation. The river may have been the Varzuga, although it is also -possible that Ottar sailed farther west along the southern coast of the -Kola peninsula, without this alteration of course appearing in Alfred's -description. He may then have gone as far as the Kandalaks. - -What kind of people Ottar's Beormas[170] may have been is uncertain. We -only hear that they lived in the country on the other side of the river, -that their country was well settled (i.e., was permanently inhabited by an -agricultural population ?), that they were able to communicate with Ottar, -and that they spoke almost the same language as the Finns. The -description may suit the East Karelians, whom we find, at any rate -somewhat later, established on the south and west side of the White Sea, -as far north as the Kandalaks, perhaps also as far as the Varzuga. If this -is correct, we must suppose that Ottar's Finns and Terfinns spoke a -Finno-Ugrian language, very like Karelian. As Ottar knew the Finns well, -his statement about the language deserves consideration. - -This view, that the Beormas were Karelians, agrees with Egil -Skallagrimsson's Saga, which doubtless was put into writing much later, -but which mentions Ottar's contemporary, Thorolf Kveldulfsson, and his -expeditions among the Finns or Lapps to collect the Finnish or Lappish -tribute (about 873 and 874). We read there: "East of Namdal lies Jemtland, -and then Helsingland, and then Kvænland, and then Finland, then -Kirjalaland. But Finmark lies above all these countries." Kirjalaland is -Karelia, which thus lies quite in the east upon the White Sea, and must be -Ottar's Bjarmeland (Beormaland). On his Finnish expedition of 874 Thorolf -came far to the east, and was then appealed to by the Kvæns for help -against the Kirjals (Karelians), who were ravaging Kvænland. He proceeded -northward against them and overcame them; returned to Kvænland, went -thence up into Finmark, and came down from the mountains in Vefsen. This -mention of the ravages of the Kirjals agrees with the impression of -Ottar's Beormas, who were so warlike that he dared not pass by their -country. - -Ottar's account of himself was that - - "he was a very rich man in all classes of property of which their - wealth [i.e., the wealth of those peoples] consists, that is, in wild - beasts ('wildrum'). He had further, when he came to the king, six - hundred tame, unsold animals. These animals they called reindeer. - There were six decoy reindeer ('stæl hranas'), which are very dear - among the Finns, for with them they catch the wild reindeer. He was - among the principal men in that country [Hålogaland], although he had - no more than twenty horned cattle, and twenty sheep, and twenty pigs; - and the little ploughing he did was done with horses [i.e., not with - oxen, as among the Anglo-Saxons]. But their largest revenue is the - tribute paid them by the Finns; this tribute consists of pelts and - birds' feathers [down] and whalebone [walrus tusks], and they gave - ships' ropes made of whales' [walrus] hide, and of seals'. Each one - pays according to his rank; the chiefs have to pay fifteen martens' - skins, five reindeers' skins, one bear's skin, ten ankers of feathers, - a kirtle of bear- or otter-skin, and two ships' ropes, each sixty - cubits long, one made of whales' [i.e., walrus] hide, and the other of - seals'." - -This description gives a valuable picture of the state of society in -northernmost Norway at that time. Ottar's Finns had tame and half-tamed -reindeer, and their hunting even of such sea-beasts as walrus and seal was -sufficiently productive to enable them to pay a considerable tribute. -These early inhabitants of the most northerly regions of the old world -will be treated of later in a separate chapter. - -Ottar's mention of walrus-hunting is of great interest, as showing that it -was regularly carried on both by Norwegians and Finns even at that time. -Of about the same period (about the year 900) is the well-known -Anglo-Saxon casket, called the Franks Casket, of which the greater part is -now in the British Museum, one side being in Florence. The casket, which -on account of its rich decoration is of great historical value, is made of -walrus ivory. It has been thought that it might be made of the tusks that -Ottar brought to King Alfred. If this was so, it is in any case improbable -that so costly a treasure should be worked in a material the value and -suitability of which were unknown. We must therefore suppose that walrus -ivory sometimes found its way at that time to this part of Europe, and it -could come from no other people but the Norwegians. They certainly carried -on walrus-hunting long before Ottar's time. This appears also from his -narrative, for men who were not well practised could not kill sixty of -these large animals in a couple of days, even if we are to suppose that -they were killed with lances on land where they lie in big herds. If these -sixty animals were really whales (i.e., small whales), and not walruses, -it is still more certain evidence of long practice. We see, too, that -walrus ivory and ships' ropes of walrus hide had become such valuable -objects of commerce as to be demanded in tribute. So difficult and -dangerous an occupation as this hunting, which requires an equipment of -special appliances, does not arise among any people in a short time, -especially at so remote a period of history, when all independent -development of a new civilisation, which could not come from outside, -proceeded very slowly. It is therefore an interesting question whether the -Norwegians developed this walrus-hunting themselves or learned it from an -earlier seafaring people of hunters, who in these northern regions must -consequently have been Ottar's Finns. To find an answer to this, it will -be necessary to review the whole difficult question of the Finns and Lapps -connectedly, which will be done in a later section. - -The walrus, called in Norwegian "rosmal"[171] or "rosmål" (also "rosmar," -and in Old Norse "rostungr"), is an arctic animal which keeps by -preference to those parts of the sea where there is drift-ice, at any rate -in winter. It is no longer found in Norway, but probably it visited the -coasts of Finmark not unfrequently in old times, to judge from place-names -such as "Rosmålvik" at Loppen, and "Rosmålen" by Hammerfest. Even in the -seventeenth and eighteenth centuries its visits to the northern coasts of -the country were frequent, perhaps annual [cf. Lillienskiold, 1698]. But -as these places were certainly the extreme limit of its distribution, it -can never have been very numerous here; like the herds of seals in our own -time, it must have appeared only for more or less short visits. Curiously -enough, so far as is known, walrus bones have not been observed in finds -below ground in the North, while bones of other arctic animals, such as -the ring-seal (Phoca foetida), are found. - -Since, therefore, the walrus cannot be supposed to have been common on the -northern coasts of Norway at any time during the historical period, and -since its hunting gave such valuable products, we must suppose that the -Norwegian walrus-hunters were not long in looking for better and surer -hunting-grounds eastward in the Polar Sea, where there is plenty of -walrus. It was there too that Ottar went, for this very reason (probably -because there was not enough walrus in his home waters) and, as he says, -to find out how far the land extended; but it is also probable that -walrus-hunters had been in these waters long before him. It is true that -the statement that after three days' sail from home he "was as far north -as the farthest point reached by whalers" ("þa hwælhuntan firrest farraþ") -might mean that walrus-hunting was not carried on farther east than Loppen -(where there is still a "Rosmålvik"), that is, if by these whalers is -meant walrus-hunters; but doubtless these expressions are not to be taken -so literally, and perhaps the meaning is rather that this was the usual -limit of their voyages. Unfortunately, we have no information as to -Ottar's own catch on the eastward voyage. - -[Sidenote: Norwegian whaling] - -From Ottar's statement that "in his own country there is the best whaling, -they are forty-eight cubits long, and the largest are fifty cubits long," -we must conclude that the Norwegians, and perhaps the Finns also, carried -on a regular whaling industry, with great whales as well as small (see -later, chap. xii.). - -[Sidenote: Ottar's voyage to South Norway and Sleswick] - -Of Ottar's statements about Norway we read further in King Alfred: - - "He said that Nordmanna-Land was very long and very narrow. All that - is fitted either for grazing or ploughing lies on the sea, and that, - however, is in some places very rocky, with wilderness [mountainous - waste] rising above the cultivated land all along it. In the - wilderness dwell the Finns. And the inhabited land is broadest - eastward, and always narrower farther north. On the east it may be - sixty leagues broad, or a little broader; and midway thirty or more, - and on the north, he said, where it was narrowest, it may be three - leagues to the waste land; and the wilderness in some places is so - broad that it takes two weeks to cross it; and in others so broad that - one can cross it in six days. - - "There is side by side with the land in the south, on the other side - of the wilderness, Sveoland, extending northwards, and side by side - with the land in the north, Cwêna-Land. The Cwênas sometimes make - raids upon the Norsemen over the wilderness, sometimes the Norsemen - upon them; and there are very great freshwater lakes in this - wilderness; and the Cwênas carry their ships overland to these lakes, - and from thence they harry the Norsemen. They have very small ships - and very light. - - "Ottar said that the part of the country where he lived was called - Halgoland [Hálogaland]. He said that no man [i.e., no Norseman] lived - farther north than he. Then there is a harbour in the southern part of - that country which men call 'Sciringes heale' [Skiringssal[172] in - Vestfold]. Thither, said he, one could not sail in a month, anchoring - at night, with a favourable wind every day; and all the while he must - sail near the land: and to starboard of him would be first - 'Iraland,'[173] and then the islands which lie between Iraland and - this country [Britain ?]. Afterwards there is this country [to - starboard] until he comes to Sciringesheal; and all the way on the - port side there is Norway (Norðweg).[174] South of Sciringesheal a - very great sea [the Skagerak and Cattegat] goes up into the land; it - is broader than any man can see across; and 'Gôtland' [Jutland] is on - the opposite side, and then 'Sillende.'[175] This sea goes many - hundred leagues up into the land. - - "And from Sciringesheal he said that it was five days' sail to the - harbour which is called 'Hæðum' [Heidaby or Sleswick]; it lies between - the Wends and the Saxons and the Angles, and belongs to the Danes. - When he sailed thither from Sciringesheal, he had on the port side - Denmark[176] [i.e., southern Sweden, which then belonged to Denmark], - and on the starboard open sea for three days; and for the two days - before he came to Heidaby he had to starboard Gôtland and Sillende, - and many islands. In those countries dwelt the Angles before they came - to this land. And for these two days he had on the port side the - islands which belong to Denmark." - -This account of Ottar's of his southward voyage is remarkable for the same -sober lucidity as his narrative of the White Sea expedition; and as, on -all the points where comparison is possible, it agrees well with other -independent statements, it furnishes strong evidence of his credibility. - -[Illustration: Anglo-Saxon Map of the World, "Cottoniana," perhaps of the -eleventh century (from K. Miller)] - -Alfred next gives a description of Wulfstan's (== Ulfsten's) voyage from -Heidaby eastward through the southern Baltic to Prussia, with references -to Langeland, Laaland, Falster and Skåne ("Scóneg"), which all belonged to -Denmark and lay to port. After them came on the same side Bornholm -("Burgenda land"), which had its own king, then Blekinge, "Meore," Öland -and Gotland, and these countries belonged to Sweden ("Sweom"). To -starboard he had the whole way Wendland ("Weonodland" == Mecklenburg and -Pomerania) as far as the mouths of the Vistula ("Wislemuðan"). Then -follows a description of "Estmere" (Frisches Haff), Esthonia, which was -approximately East Prussia, and the Esthonians. Henceforward we can count -these parts of Europe as belonging to the known world. - -[Sidenote: "Meregarto," eleventh century] - -In the old German poem "Meregarto," which is a sort of description of the -earth and probably dates from the latter half of the eleventh century -[Müllenhoff and Scherer, 1892, ii. p. 196], we find the following -remarkable statements about the "Liver sea" and about Iceland:[177] - - "There is a clotted sea in the western ocean. - When the strong wind drives ships upon that course, - Then the skilled seamen have no defence against it, - But they must go into the very bosom of the sea. - Alas! Alas! - They never come out again. - If God will not deliver them, they must rot there. - - I was in Utrecht as a fugitive. - For we had two bishops, who did us much harm. - Since I could not remain at home, I lived my life in exile. - When I came to Utrecht, I found a good man, - The very good Reginpreht, he delighted in doing all that was good. - He was a wise man, so that he pleased God, - A pious priest, of perfect goodness. - He told me truly, as many more there [also said], - He had sailed to Iceland--there he found much wealth-- - With meal and with wine and with alder-wood. - This they buy for fires, for wood is dear with them. - There is abundance of all that belongs to provisions and to sport - [pleasure] - Except that there the sun does not shine--they lack that delight-- - Thereby the ice there becomes so hard a crystal, - That they make a fire above it, till the crystal glows. - Therewith they cook their food, and warm their rooms. - There a bundle of alder-wood is given [sold] for a penny." - -We find in this poem the same idea of a curdled or clotted sea--here -probably in the north-west near Iceland--as appeared early among the -Greeks and Romans, perhaps even among the Carthaginians and Phoenicians -(see pp. 40, 66 f.).[178] It is possible that it may have found its way -into this poem by purely literary channels from classical authors; but the -description seems to bear traces of more life, and it rather points to a -legend which lived in popular tradition. - -In this poem and in Adam of Bremen Iceland is mentioned for the first time -in literature,[179] in both works as a country that was known, but of -which strange things were told, which is natural enough, since it lay near -the borders of the unknown. The pious Reginbrecht may have travelled to -Iceland as a missionary or clerical emissary, which would not be -unnatural, as the country was under the archbishopric of Hamburg. On the -other hand, it is surprising that people as early as that time sailed -thither from Germany with meal, wine and wood. But as these articles must -have been precisely those which would be valuable in Iceland, with its -lack of corn and poverty in trees, it points to knowledge of the facts, -and does not seem improbable. That there should be great wealth there does -not agree with Adam's description, which tends in the contrary direction; -but as immediately afterwards abundance of provisions is spoken of, it is -probable that the rich fisheries were meant, and perhaps the breeding of -sheep, which was already developed at that time. - -[Illustration: Europe on the Anglo-Saxon Map of the World, "Cottoniana" -(eleventh century ?)] - -The strange idea that the ice becomes so hard that it can be made to glow, -which occurs again in another form in Adam of Bremen, is difficult to -understand. Can it have arisen, as Professor Torp has proposed to me, from -a misunderstanding of statements that the Icelanders heated stones for -their baths? In some parts of Norway red-hot stones are also used for -heating water for brewing and cooking [cf. A. Helland: Hedemarkens Amt]. -Perhaps tales of their sometimes using melted ice for drinking water may -also have contributed to the legend (?). In any case, as Adam's account -shows still better, diverse statements about ice, fire (volcanoes), and -steam (boiling springs ?), etc., may have been confused to form these -legends about the ice in Iceland. - -[Sidenote: Adam of Bremen, about 1070] - -The first author after King Alfred to make valuable contributions to the -literature of the North is Adam of Bremen, who not only gives much -information about the Scandinavian North and its people, but mentions -Iceland, and for the first time in literature also Greenland and even -Wineland, as distant islands in the great ocean. Of the life of the -learned magister Adam we know little more than that he came to Bremen -about 1067 and became director of the cathedral school, and that he spent -some time at the court of the enlightened Danish king Svein Estridsson. -This king, who had spent twelve years campaigning in Sweden, "knew the -history of the barbarians by heart, as though it had been written down," -and from him and his men Adam collected information about the countries -and peoples of the North. On his return to Bremen he wrote his well-known -history of the Church in the North under the archbishopric of Bremen and -Hamburg ("Gesta Hammaburgensis," etc.), which in great part seems to have -been completed before the death of Svein Estridsson in 1076. In the fourth -book of this work is a "description of the islands [i.e., countries and -islands] in the North" ("Descriptio insularum aquilonis"). Adam's most -important literary geographical sources seem to have been the following: -besides the Bible, Cicero and Sallust, he has used Orosius, Martianus -Capella, Solinus, Macrobius and Bede; he was also acquainted with Paulus -Warnefridi's history of the Langobards, and probably Hrabanus Maurus, -possibly also with some of Isidore. In the archiepiscopal archives he was -able to collect valuable materials from the missions to heathens in the -North, and to these was added the verbal information he had obtained at -the Danish court. - -Adam's work has thus become one of the most important sources of the -oldest history of the North. It would carry us too far here to go into -this side of it, and we shall confine ourselves for the most part to his -geographical and ethnographical statements. - -He describes Jutland, the Danish islands, and other countries and peoples -on the Baltic. This too he calls [iv. 10] the Baltic Sea, "because it -extends in the form of a belt ('baltei')[180] along through the Scythian -regions as far as 'Grecia' [here == Russia]. It is also called the -Barbarian or Scythian Sea." He quotes Einhard's description of the Baltic, -and regards it as a gulf ("sinus"), which, in the direction of west to -east, issues from the Western Ocean. The length of the gulf [eastwards] -was according to Einhard unknown. This, he says, - - "has recently been confirmed by the efforts of two brave men, namely - Ganuz [also Ganund] Wolf, Earl (satrapæ) of the Danes, and Harald - [Hardråde], King of the Norwegians, who, in order to explore the - extent of this sea, made a long and toilsome voyage, perilous to those - who accompanied them, from which they returned at length without - having accomplished their object, and with double loss on account of - storms and pirates. Nevertheless the Danes assert that the length of - this sea (ponti) has frequently been explored and by many different - travellers, and even that there are men who have sailed with a - favourable wind from Denmark to Ostrogard in Ruzzia." - -It therefore looks as if Adam had understood that Scandinavia was -connected with the continent, which also appears from his words [iv. 15]: - - "Those who are acquainted with these regions also declare that some - have reached as far as Græcia [i.e., Russia] by land from Sueonia - [Sweden]. But the barbarous people, who live in the intervening parts, - are a hindrance to this journey, wherefore they rather attempt this - dangerous route by sea." - -[Illustration: Adam of Bremen's geographical idea of the countries and -islands of the North, as represented by A. A. Björnbo (1910)] - -But he nevertheless speaks of the countries of the North as islands, and -he seems to draw no sharp distinction between island and peninsula. -Kurland and Esthonia he seems to regard as true islands. - - The entrance to the Baltic, he says [iv. 11], "between Aalborg, a - headland of Denmark [i.e., the Skaw], and the skerries of Nortmannia - [Norway], is so narrow that boats easily sail across it in one night." - -[Sidenote: The Land of Women] - - There are in the Baltic [iv. 19] "many other islands, all full of - savage barbarians, and therefore they are shunned by sailors. On the - shores of the Baltic Sea the Amazons are also said to live in the - country which is now called the Land of Women ('terra feminarum')." - -This designation is a translation of the name "Kvænland," which was -thought to be formed of the Old Norse word for woman: "kvæn" or "kván" -(chiefly in the sense of wife; modern English "queen"); and it is very -possible that the name was really derived from this, and not from the -Finnish "Kainulaiset." We have seen that Alfred called it in Anglo-Saxon -"Cwên-Land" or "Cwêna-Land," which also means woman-land. Here it is -probably Southern Finland. Adam probably took the idea from earlier -authors.[181] To him this name is a realisation of the Greeks' Amazons, -who have been moved northward to the Gulf of Bothnia, just as the -Scandinavians become Hyperboreans. In this way ancient geographical myths -come to life again and acquire new local colour. Of these Amazons, he -says: - -[Sidenote: Cynocephali] - - "some assert that they conceive by drinking water. Others however say - that they become pregnant through intercourse with seafaring - merchants, or with their own prisoners, or with other monsters, which - are not rare in those parts; and this appears to us more - credible.[182] If their offspring are of the male sex, they are - Cynocephali; but if of the female, beautiful women. These women live - together and despise fellowship with men, whom indeed they repulse in - manly fashion, if they come. Cynocephali are those who have their head - in their breast; in Russia they are often to be seen as prisoners, and - their speech is a mixture of talking and barking." - -It has already been mentioned (p. 154) that the Greek writer Æthicus had -already placed the Cynocephali on an island north of Germania. The -revival of the Greek-Indian fable of dog-headed men seems, on the one -hand, to be due to Greeks who had understood the word "Kvæn" as Greek -[Greek: kyôn] (dog), and either through Æthicus or some other channel the -idea thus formed must have reached Adam. On the other hand, the notion of -them as prisoners in Russia may be due to Germanic-speaking peoples, who -misinterpreted the national name "Huns," which was used both for Magyars -and Slavs, and have taken it to mean Hund (dog).[183] But Adam himself did -not understand the Greek name's meaning of dog-heads, and confuses it with -another fable of men with heads in their breasts [cf. Rymbegla, 1780, p. -350; Hauksbók, 1892, p. 167]. Of the Scandinavians Adam says [iv. 12]: - -[Sidenote: Nortmanni or Hyperboreans] - - "The Dani and Sueones and the other peoples beyond Dania are all - called by the Frankish historians Normans ('Nortmanni'), whilst - however the Romans similarly call them Hyperboreans, of whom Martianus - Capella speaks with much praise." - -It does not seem as though Adam made any distinction between the names -Norman and Norseman. - - [iv. 21.] "When one has passed beyond the islands of the Danes a new - world opens in Sueonia [Sweden] and Nordmannia [Norway], which are two - kingdoms of wide extent in the north, and hitherto almost unknown to - our world. Of them the learned king of the Danes told me that - Nordmannia can scarcely be traversed in a month, and Sueonia not - easily in two. This, said he, I know from my own experience, since I - have lately served for twelve years in war under King Jacob in those - regions, which are both enclosed by high mountains, especially - Nordmannia, which with its Alps encircles Sueonia." - -Sweden he describes as a fertile land, rich in crops and honey, and -surpassing any other country in the rearing of cattle: - - "It is most favoured with rivers and forests, and the whole land is - everywhere full of foreign [i.e., rare ?] merchandise." The Swedes - were therefore well-to-do, but did not care for riches. "Only in - connection with women they know no moderation. Each one according to - his means has two, three or more at the same time; the rich and the - chiefs have them without number. For they count also as legitimate the - sons which are born of such a connection. But it is punished with - death, if any one has had intercourse with another man's wife, or - violated a virgin, or robbed another of his goods or done him wrong. - Even if all the Hyperboreans are remarkable for hospitality, our - Sueones are pre-eminent; with them it is worse than any disgrace to - deny a wayfarer shelter," etc. - - [iv. 22.] "Many are the tribes of the Sueones; they are remarkable for - strength and the use of arms, in war they excel equally on horseback - and in ships." - -[Illustration: Uniped (from the Hereford map)] - -Adam relates much about these people, their customs, religion, and so -forth: - -[Sidenote: Finns and Skridfinns] - - [iv. 24.] "Between Nordmannia and Sueonia dwell the Wermelani and - Finnédi (or 'Finvedi') and others, who are now all Christians and - belong to the church at Skara. In the borderland of the Sueones or - Nordmanni on the north live the Scritefini, who are said to outrun the - wild beasts in their running. Their greatest town ['civitas,' properly - community] is Halsingland, to which Stenphi was first sent as bishop - by the archbishop.... He converted many of the same people by his - preaching." Helsingland was inhabited by Helsingers, who were - certainly Germanic Scandinavians and not Skridfinns; but Adam seems to - have thought that all the people of northern Sueonia or Suedia (he has - both forms) belonged to the latter race. - - "On the east it [i.e., Sweden] touches the Riphæan Mountains, where - there are immense waste tracts with very deep snow, where hordes of - monstrous human beings further hinder the approach. There are the - Amazons, there are the Cynocephali, and there the Cyclopes, who have - one eye in their forehead. There are those whom Solinus calls - 'Ymantopodes' [one-footed men], who hop upon one leg, and those who - delight in human flesh for food, and just as one avoids them, so is - one rightly silent about them.[184] The very estimable king of the - Danes told me that a people were wont to come down from the mountains - into the plains; they were of moderate height, but the Swedes were - scarcely a match for them on account of their strength and activity, - and it is uncertain from whence they come. They come suddenly, he - said, sometimes once a year or every third year, and if they are not - resisted with all force they devastate the whole district, and go back - again. Many other things are usually related, which I, since I study - brevity, have omitted, so that they may tell them who assert that they - have seen them." - -It is probably the roving mountain Lapps that are here described. -Descending suddenly into the plains with their herds of reindeer, they -must then, as now, have done great damage to the peasants' crops and -pastures; and the peasants were certainly not content with killing the -reindeer, as they sometimes do still, but also attacked the Lapps -themselves. Although the latter are not a warlike people, they were forced -to defend themselves, and that the Swedes and Norwegians are scarcely a -match for them in strength and activity may be true even now. - -[Illustration: Cannibals in Eastern Europe (from the Hereford map)] - -[Sidenote: Nortmannia or Nordvegia] - - [iv. 30.] "Nortmannia [Norway], as it is the extreme province of the - earth, may also be suitably placed last in our book. It is called by - the people of the present day 'Norguegia' [or 'Nordvegia'] ... This - kingdom extends to the extreme region of the North, whence it has its - name." From "projecting headlands in the Baltic Sound it bends its - back northwards, and after it has gone in a bow along the border of - the foaming ocean, it finds its limit in the Riphean Mountains, where - also the circle of the earth is tired and leaves off. Nortmannia is on - account of its stony mountains or its immoderate cold the most - unfertile of all regions, and only suited to rearing cattle. The - cattle are kept a long time in the waste lands, after the manner of - the Arabs. They live on their herds, using their milk for food and - their wool for clothes. Thus the country rears very brave warriors, - who, not being softened by any superfluity in the products of their - country, more often attack others than are themselves disturbed. They - live at peace with their neighbours, namely the Sveones, although they - are sometimes raided, but not with impunity, by the Danes, who are - equally poor. Consequently, forced by their lack of possessions, they - wander over the whole world and by their piratical expeditions bring - home the greater part of the wealth of the countries." But after their - conversion to Christianity they improved, and they are "the most - temperate of all men both in their diet and their morals." They are - very pious, and the priests turn this to account and fleece them. - "Thus the purity of morals is destroyed solely through the avarice of - the clergy." - -[Illustration: Elles (elk) and Urus (aurochs) in Russia (from the Ebstorf -map, 1284)] - - "In many parts of Nordmannia and Suedia people even of the highest - rank are herdsmen,[185] living in the style of the patriarchs and by - the labour of their hands. But all who dwell in Norvegia are very - Christian, with the exception of those who live farther north along - the coast of the ocean [i.e., in Finmark]. It is said they are still - so powerful in their arts of sorcery and incantations, that they claim - to know what is done by every single person throughout the world. In - addition to this they attract whales to the shore by loud mumbling of - words, and many other things which are told in books of the sorcerers, - and which are all easy for them by practice.[186] On the wildest alps - of that part I heard that there are women with beards,[187] but the - men who live in the forests [i.e., the waste tracts ?] seldom allow - themselves to be seen. The latter use the skins of wild beasts for - clothes, and when they speak to one another it is said to be more like - gnashing of teeth than words, so that they can scarcely be understood - by their neighbours.[188] The same mountainous tracts are called by - the Roman authors the Riphean Mountains, which are terrible with - eternal snow. The Scritefingi [Skridfinns] cannot live away from the - cold of the snow, and they outrun the wild beasts in their chase - across the very deep snowfields. In the same mountains there is so - great abundance of wild animals that the greater part of the district - lives on game alone. They catch there uri [== aurochs; perhaps rather - 'ursi' == bears ?], bubali [antelopes == reindeer ?], and elaces - [elks] as in Sueonia; but in Sclavonia and Ruzzia bisons are taken; - only Nortmannia however has black foxes and hares, and white martens - and bears of the same colour, which live under water like uri - (?),[189] but as many things here seem altogether different and - unusual to our people, I will leave these and other things to be - related at greater length by the inhabitants of that country." - -Then follows a reference to Trondhjem and the ecclesiastical history of -the country, etc. - -[Sidenote: The Western Ocean] - -Of the Western Ocean, from which the Baltic issues, Adam says [iv. 10] -that it - - "seems to be that which the Romans called the British Ocean, whose - immeasurable, fearful and dangerous breadth surrounds Britannia on the - west ... washes the shores of the Frisians on the south ... towards - the rising of the sun it has the Danes, the entrance to the Baltic - Sea, and the Norsemen, who live beyond Dania; finally, on the north - this ocean flows past the Orchades [i.e., the Shetlands, with perhaps - the Orkneys], thence endlessly around the circle of the earth, having - on the left Hybernia, the home of the Scots, which is now called - Ireland, and on the right the skerries ('scopulos') of Nordmannia, and - farther off the islands of Iceland and Greenland; there the ocean, - which is called the dark ['caligans' == shrouded in darkness or mist], - forms the boundary." - -Later [iv. 34], after the description of Norway, he says of the same -ocean: - -[Sidenote: The Orkneys] - - "Beyond ('post') Nortmannia, which is the extreme province of the - North, we find no human habitations, only the great ocean, infinite - and fearful to behold, which encompasses the whole world. Immediately - opposite to Nortmannia it has many islands which are not unknown and - are now nearly all subject to the Norsemen, and which therefore cannot - be passed by by us, since consequently they belong to the see of - Hamburg. The first of them are the Orchades insulæ [the Shetlands and - Orkneys], which the barbarians call Organas" ... and which lie - "between Nordmannia and Britannia and Hibernia, and they look - playfully and smilingly down upon the threats of the foaming ocean. It - is said that one can sail to them in one day from the Norsemen's town - of Trondhjem ('Trondemnis'). It is said likewise to be a similar - distance from the Orchades both to Anglia [England] and to Scotia - [Ireland ?]."... - -[Sidenote: Thule or Iceland] - - [iv. 35.] "The island of Thyle, which is separated from the others by - an infinite distance, lies far out in the middle of the ocean and, as - is said, is scarcely known. Both the Roman authors and the barbarians - have much to say of it which is worth mentioning. They say that Thyle - is the extreme island of all, where at the summer solstice, when the - sun is passing through the sign of Cancer, there is no night, and - correspondingly at the winter solstice no day. Some think that this is - the case for six months at a time. Bede also says that the light - summer nights in Britain indicate without doubt that, just as at the - summer solstice they have there continuous day for six months, so it - is nights at the winter solstice, when the sun is hidden. Pytheas of - Massalia writes that this occurs in the island of Thyle, which lies - six days' sail north of Britain, and it is this Thyle which is now - called Iceland from the ice which there binds the sea. They report - this remarkable thing about it, that this ice appears to be so black - and dry that, on account of its age, it burns when it is kindled.[190] - This island is immensely large, so that it contains many people who - live solely upon the produce of their flocks and cover themselves with - their wool. No corn grows there, and there is only very little - timber,[191] for which reason the inhabitants are obliged to live in - underground holes, and share their dwellings with their cattle. They - thus lead a holy life in simplicity, as they do not strive after more - than what nature gives; they can cheerfully say with the Apostle: 'if - we have clothing and food, let us be content therewith!' for their - mountains are to them in the stead of cities, and their springs serve - them for pleasure. I regard this people as happy, whose poverty none - covets, but happiest in that they have now all adopted Christianity. - There is much that is excellent in their customs, especially their - good disposition, whereby everything is shared, not only with the - natives, but with strangers." After referring to their good treatment - of their bishop, etc., he concludes: "Thus much I have been credibly - informed of Iceland and extreme Thyle, but I pass over what is - fabulous." - -[Sidenote: Greenland] - - [iv. 36.] "Furthermore there are many other islands in the great - ocean, of which Greenland is not the least; it lies farther out in the - ocean, opposite ('contra') the mountains of Suedia, or the Riphean - range. To this island, it is said, one can sail from the shore of - Nortmannia in five or seven days, as likewise to Iceland. The people - there are blue ['cerulei,' bluish-green] from the salt water; and from - this the region takes its name. They live in a similar fashion to the - Icelanders, except that they are more cruel and trouble seafarers by - predatory attacks. To them also, as is reported, Christianity has - lately been wafted. - -[Sidenote: Hálogaland] - - "A third island is Halagland [Hálogaland], nearer to Nortmannia, in - size not unlike the others.[192] This island in summer, about the - summer solstice, sees the sun uninterruptedly above the earth for - fourteen days, and in winter it has to be without the sun for a like - number of days.[193] This is a marvel and a mystery to the barbarians, - who do not know that the unequal length of days results from the - approach and retreat of the sun. On account of the roundness of the - earth ('rotunditas orbis terrarum') the sun must in one place approach - and bring the day, and in another depart and leave the night. Thus - when it ascends towards the summer solstice, it prolongs the days and - shortens the nights for those in the north, but when it descends - towards the winter solstice, it does the same for those in the - southern hemisphere ('australibus').[194] Therefore the ignorant - heathens call that land holy and blessed, which has such a marvel to - exhibit to mortals. But the king of the Danes and many others have - stated that this takes place there as well as in Suedia and Norvegia - and the other islands which are there." - -[Sidenote: Winland] - - [iv. 38.] "Moreover he mentioned yet another island, which had been - discovered by many in that ocean, and which is called 'Winland,' - because vines grow there of themselves and give the noblest wine. And - that there is abundance of unsown corn we have obtained certain - knowledge, not by fabulous supposition, but from trustworthy - information of the Danes. (Beyond ('post') this island, he said, no - habitable land is found in this ocean, but all that is more distant is - full of intolerable ice and immense mist ['caligine,' possibly - darkness caused by mist]. Of these things Marcianus has told us: - 'Beyond Thyle,' says he, 'one day's sail, the sea is stiffened.' This - was recently proved by Harold, prince of the Nordmanni, most desirous - of knowledge, who explored the breadth of the northern ocean with his - ships, and when the boundaries of the vanishing earth were darkened - before his face, he scarcely escaped the immense gulf of the abyss by - turning back.)[195] - -[Sidenote: Frisian expedition to the North Pole] - - [iv. 39.] "Archbishop Adalbert, of blessed memory, likewise told us - that in his predecessor's days certain noblemen from Friesland, - intending to plough the sea, set sail northwards, because people say - there that due north of the mouth of the river Wirraha [Weser] no land - is to be met with, but only an infinite ocean. They joined together to - investigate this curious thing, and left the Frisian coast with - cheerful song. Then they left Dania on one side, Britain on the other, - and reached the Orkneys. When they had left these behind on the left, - and had Nordmannia on the right, they reached after a long voyage the - frozen Iceland. Ploughing the seas from this land towards the extreme - axis of the north, after seeing behind them all the islands already - mentioned, and confiding their lives and their boldness to Almighty - God and the holy preacher Willehad, they suddenly glided into the - misty darkness of the stiffened ocean, which can scarcely be - penetrated by the eye. And behold! the stream of the unstable sea - there ran back into one of its secret sources, drawing at a fearful - speed the unhappy seamen, who had already given up hope and only - thought of death, into that profound chaos (this is said to be the - gulf of the abyss) in which it is said that all the back-currents of - the sea, which seem to abate, are sucked up and vomited forth again, - which latter is usually called flood-tide. While they were then - calling upon God's mercy, that He might receive their souls, this - backward-running stream of the sea caught some of their fellows' - ships, but the rest were shot out by the issuing current far beyond - the others. When they had thus by God's help been delivered from the - imminent danger, which had been before their very eyes, they saved - themselves upon the waves by rowing with all their strength. - - [iv. 40.] "And being now past the danger of darkness and the region of - cold they landed unexpectedly upon an island, which was fortified like - a town, with cliffs all about it. They landed there to see the place, - and found people who at midday hid themselves in underground caves; - before the doors of these lay an immense quantity of golden vessels - and metal of the sort which is regarded by mortals as rare and - precious; when therefore they had taken as much of the treasures as - they could lift, the rowers hastened gladly back to their ships. Then - suddenly they saw people of marvellous height coming behind them, whom - we call Cyclopes, and before them ran dogs which surpassed the usual - size of these animals. One of the men was caught, as these rushed - forward, and in an instant he was torn to pieces before their eyes; - but the rest were taken up into the ships and escaped the danger, - although, as they related, the giants followed them with cries nearly - into deep sea. With such a fate pursuing them, the Frisians came to - Bremen, where they told the most reverend Alebrand everything in order - as it happened, and made offerings to the gentle Christ and his - preacher Willehad for their safe return." - -As will be seen, Adam obtained from the people of Scandinavia much new -information and fresh ideas about the geography of the North, which add -considerably to the knowledge of former times; but unfortunately he -confuses this information with the legends and ancient classical notions -he has acquired from reading the learned authors of late Roman and early -mediæval times; and this confusion reaches its climax in the last tale, -which is chiefly of interest to the folk-lorist. The first part of it -(section 39) is made up from Paulus Warnefridi's description of the -earth's navel, to some extent with the same expressions (see above, p. -157); the second part (section 40) is based upon legends on the model of -the Odyssey, of which there were many in the Middle Ages. While his -description gives a fairly clear picture of his views regarding the -countries on the Baltic, it is difficult to get any definite idea of the -relative position of the more distant islands; but it is probable, as -proposed by Gustav Storm, that he imagined them as lying far in the north. - -[Sidenote: Wineland] - -As Wineland is mentioned last, and as it is added that beyond this island -there is no habitable land in this ocean, but that all is full of ice and -mist, it might be thought that this is regarded as lying farthest out in a -northern direction. But this would not agree with Adam's earlier statement -[iv. 10], where Iceland and Greenland are given as the most distant -islands, and "there this ocean, which is called the dark one, forms the -boundary." The explanation must be that, as already remarked (p. 195), his -statement about the ocean beyond Wineland is probably a later addition, -though possibly by Adam himself. It is obviously inserted somewhat -disconnectedly, and perhaps has been put in the wrong place, and this is -also made probable by the quotation from Marcianus about Thyle, which has -nothing to do with Wineland, but refers on the contrary to Iceland (cf. p. -193).[196] Omitting this interpolation, the text says of the geographical -position merely that the King of the Danes also mentioned the island of -Wineland, as discovered by many in that ocean, i.e., the outer ocean, and -so far as this goes it might be imagined as lying anywhere. That no -importance is attached to the order in which the islands are named appears -also from the fact that Halagland is put after Iceland and Greenland, -although it is expressly stated that it lay nearer Norway. That Adam, -after having described the last-named country a long while before, here -gratuitously mentions Halagland (Hálogaland) as an island by itself[197] -together with Iceland and Greenland, shows how deficient his information -about the northernmost regions really was. - -As will be further shown in the later chapter on Wineland, Adam's ideas of -that country, of the wine and the corn there, must be derived from -legends about the Fortunate Isles, which were called by the Norsemen -"Vínland hit Góða." This legend must have been current in the North at -that time, and possibly it may already have been connected with the -discovery of countries in the west. But it is, perhaps, not altogether -accidental that Wineland should be mentioned immediately after Halagland. -For as the latter name was regarded as meaning the Holy Land,[198] it may -be natural that Wineland or the Fortunate Isles, originally the Land of -the Blest, should be placed in its neighbourhood. To this the resemblance -in sound between Vinland and Finland (or, more correctly, Finmark, the -land of the Finns or Lapps) may, consciously or unconsciously, have -contributed; later in the Middle Ages these names were often confused and -interchanged.[199] Finns and Finland were sometimes spelt in German with a -V; and V and F were transposed in geographical names even outside Germany, -as when, in an Icelandic geographical tract attributed to Abbot Nikulás -Bergsson of Thverá (ob. 1159), Venice is transformed by popular etymology -to "Feneyjar" [cf. F. Jónsson, 1901, p. 948]. It is particularly -interesting that the Latin "vinum" (wine) became in Irish legendary poetry -"fín," and the vine was called "fíne," as in the poem of the Voyage of -Bran [Kuno Meyer, 1895, vol. i., pp. xvii., 9, 21]. - -[Illustration: The so-called St. Severus version, of about 1050, of the -Beatus map (eighth century)] - -[Sidenote: Conception of the earth and the ocean] - -It is not clear from Adam's description whether he altogether held the -conception of the earth, or rather the "oecumene," as a circular island or -disc divided into three, surrounded by the outer ocean (the Oceanus of the -Greeks, see p. 8), as represented on the wheel-maps of earlier times (cf. -p. 151, and the Beatus map); but his expression that the Western Ocean -extends northwards from the Orchades "infinitely around the circle of the -earth" ("infinites orbem terræ spaciis ambit") may point to this. It is -true that immediately afterwards he has an obscure statement that at -Greenland "ibi terminat oceanus qui dicitur caligans," which has usually -been translated as "there ends the ocean, which is called the dark one" -(?); but it is difficult to get any sense out of it. One explanation might -be that he imagined Greenland as lying out on the extreme edge of the -earth's disc, near the abyss, and that thus the ocean (which in that -region was called dark ?) ended here in that direction (i.e., in its -breadth), while in its length it extended farther continuously around "the -circle of the earth." This view would, no doubt, conflict with his -statement in another place that the earth was round, which can only be -understood as meaning that it had the form of a globe. But this last idea -he took from Bede, and he has scarcely assimilated it sufficiently for it -to permeate his views of the circle of the earth and the universal ocean, -as also appears from his mention of the gulf at its outer limit. If we had -been able to suppose that Adam really thought the Western Ocean on the -north flowed past the Orchades, and thence infinitely towards the west -around the globe of the earth (instead of the circle of the earth), this -would better suit the statement that Ireland lay to the left, Norway to -the right, and Iceland and Greenland farther out (also to the right ?). -This would agree with the statement that Norway was the extreme land on -the north, and that beyond it (i.e., farther north ?) there was no human -habitation, but only the infinite ocean which surrounds the whole world, -and in which opposite ("ex adverso") Norway lie many islands, etc. -According to this, these islands must be imagined as lying to the west, -and not to the north of Norway. But besides the fact that such a view of -the extent of the ocean towards the west would conflict with the -prevailing cartographical representation of that time, it is contradicted -by his assertion that Greenland lies farther out in the ocean (than -Iceland) and opposite the mountains of Suedia and the Riphean range, which -must be supposed to lie on the continent to the north-east of Norway; this -cannot very well be possible unless these islands are to be placed out in -the ocean farther north than Norway, and there is thus on this point a -difficult contradiction in Adam's work. The circumstance that Hálogaland -is spoken of as an island after Iceland and Greenland is also against the -probability that the ocean, in which these islands lay, was imagined to -extend infinitely towards the west; the direction is, in this manner, -given as northerly. The same thing appears from the description of the -voyage of the Frisian noblemen: when they steered northward with the -Orkneys to port and Norway to starboard they came to the frozen Iceland, -and when they proceeded thence towards the North Pole, they saw behind -them all the islands previously mentioned. Dr. A. A. Björnbo has suggested -to me that according to Adam's way of expressing himself "terminat" must -here mean "forms the boundary," whereby we get the translation given above -(p. 192), which seems to give better sense; but in any case Adam's -description of these regions is not quite clear. - -We are told that Magister Adam obtained information about the countries -and peoples of the North from Svein Estridsson and his men; but as regards -Iceland he might also have had trustworthy information from the Archbishop -of Bremen, Adalbert, who had educated an Icelander, Isleif Gissursson, to -be bishop. The latter (who is also mentioned by Are Frode) might also have -told him about Greenland and Wineland; but Adam says distinctly that he -had been informed about the latter country and the wine and corn there, -which must have seemed very remarkable to him, if he imagined the country -to be in the north, by the Danish king, and that the information had been -confirmed by Danes. We shall return later to these countries, to Adam's -ideas of Wineland, and to the alleged polar expeditions of King Harold and -of the Frisian noblemen. - -Just as these pages are going to press I have received from Dr. Axel -Anthon Björnbo his excellent essay on "Adam of Bremen's view of the North" -[1909]. By Dr. Björnbo's exhaustive researches the correctness of the -views just set forth seems to be confirmed on many points; but he gives a -far more complete picture of Adam's geographical ideas. The reasons -advanced by Dr. Björnbo for supposing that Adam imagined the ocean as -surrounding the earth's disc, with Iceland, Greenland, etc., in the north, -are of much interest. His map of the North according to Adam's description -is of great value, and gives a clear presentation of the main lines of -Adam's conceptions. With his kind permission it is reproduced here (p. -186). But, as will appear from my remarks above (pp. 197 f.), I am not -sure that one is justified in placing Winland so far north, in the -neighbourhood of the North Pole, as Dr. Björnbo has done in his map. -Possibly he has also put the other islands rather far north, and has -curved the north coast of Scandinavia somewhat too much in a westerly -direction. - -Through Dr. Björnbo's book I have become acquainted with another recently -published work on Adam of Bremen by Hermann Krabbo [1909], of which I have -also been unable to make use; it also has a map, but not so complete a one -as Björnbo's as regards the northern regions. - - - - -[Illustration] - - -CHAPTER VI - -FINNS, SKRIDFINNS (LAPPS), AND THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF SCANDINAVIA - - -Before we proceed to the Norwegians' great contributions to the -exploration of the northern regions, we shall attempt to collect and -survey what is known, and what may possibly be concluded, about the most -northern people of Europe, the Finns, and the earliest settlement of -Scandinavia. - -[Sidenote: Earliest mention of the Finns] - -The Finns are mentioned, as we have seen (p. 113), for the first time in -literature by Tacitus, who calls them "Fenni," and describes them as -exclusively a people of hunters. Procopius does the same, but calls them -"Skridfinns," and removes their home to the northernmost Thule or -Scandinavia. Cassiodorus (Jordanes) also mentions the "Skridfinns" as -hunters in the same northern regions, but speaks moreover of "Finns" and -"Finaiti," and another people resembling the Finns ("Vinoviloth" ?) -farther south in Scandinavia. The Ravenna geographer also mentions the -"Skridfinns" (after Jordanes). Then comes Paulus Warnefridi, who speaks of -the ski-running of the Skridfinns, though indeed in a way which shows he -did not understand it very well, and mentions a deer of whose skin they -made themselves clothes, but does not say that this deer was domesticated. -Next King Alfred mentions "Skridfinns," "Finns," and "Ter-Finns," and in -the information he obtained from Ottar he speaks of the hunting, fishing -and whaling of the "Finns," and of their keeping reindeer in the north of -Norway. This description is in accordance with what we learn of the Lapps -from later history, with this difference only, that on account of the -killing-off of the game their hunting in recent times became of small -importance. Lastly we have Adam of Bremen's description of the Finns, -which contains nothing new of note. He mentions "Finnédi" or "Finvedi" -between Sweden and Norway (near Vermeland) and "Skridfinns" in northern -Scandinavia. Besides these he speaks of a small people who come down at -intervals, once a year or every three years, from the mountains, and who -are probably the Mountain Lapps with their reindeer. He mentions also a -people skilled in magic on the shores of the northern ocean [Finmark], and -skin-clad men in the forests of the north, who may be Fishing Lapps or -Forest Lapps. In connection with this we may also refer to the mention of -the Lapps in the "Historia Norvegiæ": - - Norway "is divided lengthways into three curved zones [i.e., parallel - to the curved coast-line]: the first zone, which is very large and - lies along the coast; the second, the inland zone, which is also - called the mountain zone; the third, the forest zone, which is - inhabited by Finns [Lapps], but is not ploughed." The Lapps, in the - third zone, which was waste land, "were very skilled hunters, they - roam about singly and are nomads, and they live in huts made of hides - instead of houses. These houses they take on their shoulders, and they - fasten smoothed pieces of wood [literally, balks, stakes] under their - feet, which appliances they call 'ondrer,' and while the deer [i.e., - reindeer] gallop along carrying their wives and children over the deep - snow and precipitous mountains, they dash on more swiftly than the - birds. Their dwelling-place is uncertain [it changes] according as the - quantity of game shows them a hunting-ground when it is needed." - -From the earliest accounts referred to, especially from that of Adam of -Bremen, it looks as though there were Fishing Lapps and Reindeer Lapps in -northern Scandinavia in those remote times, as there are now, and they -were called Finns or Skridfinns; but besides these there were people who -were called Finns in southern Scandinavia, from whence they have since -disappeared. This has led to the hypothesis that the primitive population -in southern Scandinavia also was composed of the same Finns (Lapps) as are -now found in the northern part, to which they were compelled to retreat by -the later Germanic immigrants [cf. Geijer, 1825, pp. 411 ff.; Munch, 1852, -pp. 3 ff.; Sven Nilsson]. But for various reasons this hypothesis has had -to be abandoned, and the question has become difficult. - -[Illustration: Men of the Woods in Northern Scandinavia (from Olaus -Magnus)] - -[Sidenote: The name "Finn"] - -The word "Finn" as the name of a people does not occur, so far as is -known, outside Scandinavia. The only place farther south where there are -place-names which remind one of it is in Friesland, where we find a -Finsburg. The origin of the national name "Finn" is unknown. Some have -thought that it might be connected with the word "finna" (English, to -find), and that it means one who goes on foot. - -Since in Swedish and Norwegian the name has come to be applied to two such -entirely different peoples as, in Norway, the Fishing Lapps and Reindeer -Lapps and, in Sweden, the people of Finland, we must suppose that in the -primitive Norse language it was a common designation for several -non-Germanic races, whom the later Germanic immigrants in south -Scandinavia drove into the wastes and forest tracts, where they lived by -hunting and fishing. This would provide a natural explanation of the -curious circumstance that Jordanes, as well as Adam of Bremen (later also -Saxo), mentions Finns, Finvedi, and other Finn-peoples in many parts of -south Scandinavia; in our saga literature there are also many references -to Finns far south. But the most decisive circumstance is, perhaps, that -the word Finn occurs in many place-names of south Scandinavia, from -Finnskog and Finnsjö in Uppland, and Finnheden or Finnveden in Småland, to -Finnö in the Bokn-fjord [cf. Müllenhoff, ii. 1887, p. 51; A. M. Hansen, -1907]. It may be quoted as a strong piece of evidence that a people called -Finns must have lived in old times in south Norway, that the oldest -Christian laws, of about 1150, for the most southern jurisdictions, the -Borgathing and Eidsivathing, visit with the severest penalty of the law -the crime of going to the Finns, or to Finmark, to have one's fortune told -[cf. A. M. Hansen, 1907, p. 79]. It may seem improbable that here (e.g., -as far south as Bohuslen) this should have referred to Finns (Lapps) in -the north, in what is now called Finmark; and we should be rather inclined -to believe it to refer to the Finns (and Finnédi) mentioned by Jordanes -and Adam of Bremen nearer at hand, in the forest tracts between Norway and -Sweden, where we still have a Finnskog, which, however, is generally -connected with the later immigration of Kvæns or Finns from Finland (the -so-called wood-devils; compare also Finmarken between Lier and Modum). But -it might be thought that these Christian laws were compiled more or less -from laws enacted for northern Norway, and thus provisions of this kind, -which were only adapted for that part of the country, were included. And -it must be borne in mind that the northern Finns (Lapps) in particular had -an ancient reputation for proficiency in magic and soothsaying, and, -further, that Finmark in those times was often regarded as extending much -farther south than now, as far as Jemteland and Herjedalen. - -[Sidenote: Immigration to Scandinavia] - -It is difficult to decide with certainty what kind of people the "Finns" -who were found in many parts of south Scandinavia may have been. The -supposition that they were the same people as the Finns (Lapps) of our -time has had to be abandoned, as we have said, in the face of more recent -archæological, anthropological and historical-geographical researches. -Müllenhoff [ii. 1887, pp. 50 ff.] has proposed that the word "Finn" may -originally have been a Scandinavian common name for several peoples who -were diffused in south Scandinavia, but who in his opinion were -Ugro-Finnish, like the Kvæns, Lapps and others [cf. also Geijer, 1825, pp. -415 f.]. He even goes so far as to suppose that the very name of -Scandinavia may be due to them (like that of the ski-goddess "Skaði,"[200] -who was a Finn-woman, cf. p. 103). But it has not been possible to point -either to linguistic or anthropological traces of any early Finno-Ugrian -people in any part of south Scandinavia, and there are many indications -that the southern diffusion of the Mountain Finns (Reindeer Lapps) is -comparatively late. - -Dr. A. M. Hansen, therefore, in his suggestive works, "Landnám" [1904] and -"Oldtidens Nordmænd" ["The Norsemen of Antiquity," 1907], has put forward -the hypothesis that the Finns of earliest history, whom he would include -under the common designation of "Skridfinns," were a non-Aryan people, -wholly distinct both from the Finno-Ugrian tribes and from the Aryan -Scandinavians, who formed the primitive population of northern Europe and -were related to the primitive peoples of southern Europe, the Pelasgians, -Etruscans, Basques and others. In Scandinavia they were forced northwards -by the Germanic tribes, and have now disappeared through being partly -absorbed in the latter. In the east and north-east they were displaced by -the Finno-Ugrian peoples who immigrated later. The last remnants of them -would be found in the Fishing Lapps of our time, and in the so-called -Yenisei Ostyaks of north-western Siberia. This bold hypothesis has the -disadvantage, amongst others, of forcing us to assume the existence of a -vanished people, who are otherwise entirely unknown. In the next place, -Dr. Hansen, in arbitrarily applying the name of Skridfinns to all the -"Finns" in Scandinavia, does not seem to have laid sufficient weight on -the difference which early writers make between Skridfinns in the north -and the other Finns farther south. - -In earlier times there was a strong tendency, due to old Biblical notions, -to imagine all nations as immigrants to the regions where they are now -found. But when a zoologist finds a particular species or variety of -animal distributed over a limited area, he makes the most natural -assumption, that it has arisen through a local differentiation in that -region. The simplest plan must be to look upon human stocks and races in -the same way. When we have tried in Europe to distinguish between Celts, -Germans, Slavs, Ugro-Finns, etc., the most reasonable supposition will be -that these races have arisen through local "evolution," the home of their -differentiation being within the area in which we find them later. As such -centres of differentiation in Europe we might suppose: for the Celts, -western Central Europe; for the Germans, eastern Central Europe; for the -Slavs, Eastern Europe; for the Ugro-Finns, northern East Europe and -western Siberia, etc. - -[Sidenote: Southern Finns in Scandinavia] - -This is doubtless a linguistic division, but to a certain extent it -coincides with anthropological distinctions. Since the North was covered -with ice till a comparatively recent period, we cannot expect any local -differentiation of importance there since that time, but must suppose an -immigration to the north and to Scandinavia of already differentiated -races, from southern Europe. We may thus suppose that tribes belonging to -the parent-races of brachycephalic Celts and Slavs, and dolichocephalic -Germans, came in from the south and south-east, and Ugro-Finns and -Mongoloid tribes immigrated from the south-east and east. In this way we -may expect, at the commencement of the historical period, to find -Celto-Slavs and Germans in southern and central Scandinavia, and Mongoloid -and Finno-Ugrian people in the northernmost regions and towards the -north-east and east (Finland and North Russia). This agrees fairly well -with what is actually found. If we except the northernmost districts, -anthropological measurements (principally by Brigade-Surgeon Arbo) show -that the people of Norway are descended not only from the tall, fair, and -pronouncedly dolichocephalic Germanic race, but also from at least one -brachycephalic race, which was of smaller stature and dark-haired.[201] -Measurements in Sweden and Denmark show a similar state of things, but in -Denmark and the extreme south of Sweden the short-skulls are more numerous -than in the rest of Scandinavia. In order to explain these anthropological -conditions, we must either suppose that the various Germanic tribes which -have formed the people of Scandinavia were more or less mixed with -brachycephalic people, even before they immigrated,[202] in proportions -similar to those now obtaining, or that tribes immigrated to Scandinavia -belonging to at least two different races, one specially dolichocephalic -and one specially brachycephalic. The latter hypothesis will be, to a -certain extent at all events, the more natural, and as it is not probable -that the short-skulls arrived later than the long-skulled Germanic tribes, -it is most reasonable to suppose that there was at least one short-skulled -primitive people before they came. These primitive people were hunters and -fishermen, and must therefore in most districts have wandered over a wide -area to find what was necessary to support life. It was only the more -favourable conditions of life in certain districts--for instance, the -abundance of fish along the west coast of Norway--that allowed a denser -population with more permanent habitation. As the taller and stronger -Germanic tribes spread along the coasts, the older short-skulled hunters, -who may have been Celts,[203] were in most districts forced towards the -forest tracts of the interior, where there was abundance of game and fish. -In districts where they lived closer together and had more permanent -settlements, as on the west coast of Norway, they were not altogether -displaced. For this dark primitive people, who were shorter of stature -than themselves, and who hunted and fished in the outlying districts, the -Germanic tribes may, in one way or another, have found the common name of -"Finns," whether the people called themselves so or the name arose in some -other way.[204] When the Germanic people then came across another short, -dark-haired people of hunters and fishermen in the north, they applied the -name of "Finn" to them too, although they belonged to an entirely -different linguistic family, the Finno-Ugrian, and to an even more -different Mongoloid race. But to distinguish them from the southern Celtic -people of hunters, the northern were sometimes called "Skridfinns." -Gradually, as the southern Finns became absorbed into the Germanic -population and disappeared as a separate people, the name in Norway -remained attached to the other race and country (Finmark) in the north, -and in Sweden to the very different people and country (Finland) in the -north-east. - -The southern Finns were an Aryan people, and as the Aryan languages at -that remote time, when they became detached from the more southern -short-skulls of Europe, the Celts and Slavs, did not vary very much, it -is easily explicable that scarcely a single ancient place-name can be -found in southern Norway which can be said with certainty to bear a -non-Germanic character. If, on the other hand, the southern Finns, who are -mentioned so late as far on in the Middle Ages, had been a Finno-Ugrian or -other non-Aryan people, it is incredible that we should not be able easily -to point to foreign elements in the place-names, which would be due to -their language. - -[Illustration: Skridfinns hunting (from Olaus Magnus)] - -Scandinavian finds of skulls of the Stone Age, and later, are so few and -so casual that we can conclude very little from them as regards the race -to which the primitive population belonged. Further, it must be remarked -that the early people of hunters, the short-skulled "Finns," must have -been very few in number, and have lived scattered about the country, in -contrast to the later Germanic tribes who had a fixed habitation. That -among the earliest skulls found there should only be a few short ones is, -therefore, what we should expect. It must also be remembered, of course, -that the proportion of skulls left by each people depends in a great -degree on its burial customs. - -[Sidenote: Northern "Finns" in Finmark] - -We now come to the northern Finns, of whom Ottar gives a sufficiently -detailed description to enable us to form a fairly accurate picture of -their culture. Since they were able to pay a heavy annual tribute in -walrus-tusks, ropes of walrus-hide and seal-hide, besides other skins and -products of fishery, we must conclude that they were skilled hunters and -fishermen even at sea, and such skill can only have been acquired through -the slow development and practice of a long period, unless they learned it -from the Norsemen. But on the other hand they also kept reindeer, -resembling in this the eastern reindeer nomads. These two ways of living -are so distinct that they can scarcely have been originally developed in -one and the same people, and we must therefore conclude that a concurrence -of several different cultures has here taken place. - -Now as regards whaling and sealing, it is remarkable that along the whole -northern coast of Europe and Asia there is no trace of any other race of -seafaring hunters. Not until we come to the Chukches, near Bering Strait, -do we find a sea-fishery culture, but this is borrowed from the Eskimo -farther east, and originally came from the American side of Bering Strait. -In Novaya Zemlya, it is true, there is a small tribe of Samoyeds who live -by hunting both on sea and land, and who do not keep reindeer, but on the -other hand use dogs for sleighing; but their sea-hunting is primitive, -like the more casual sealing and walrus-hunting I have seen practised by -the reindeer Samoyeds along the shores of the Kara Sea, with firearms, but -without special appliances and with extremely clumsy boats. It is -difficult to see in this the remains of an older, highly developed people -of hunters. - -This sealing culture which was found in Ottar's time in northernmost -Norway and on the Murman coast cannot, therefore, have come from the east -along the coast of Siberia, but must have been a local development, -perhaps arising from the amalgamation of the original hunting culture of -these "Finns" with a higher European culture from the south. - -[Sidenote: Archæological relics of "Finns" in Varanger] - -It fortunately happens that at Kjelmö, on the southern side of the -Varanger Fjord, a rich find of implements has been made, which must belong -to the very same people of "Finns" who, as Ottar says, lived here and -there along the coast (of Finmark and Terfinna Land) as hunters, fishermen -and fowlers. Dr. O. Solberg in particular has in the last few years made -valuable excavations on this island.[205] The many objects found lay -evenly distributed in strata, the thickness of which shows that they must -be the result of many centuries of accumulation. Solberg refers them to -the period between the seventh and about the eleventh centuries. - -In North Varanger many heathen graves containing implements have been -found. By the help of the latter Solberg has been able to show that the -graves are partly of the same age and partly of a somewhat later time than -the Kjelmö find, and certainly belong to the same people. By comparing -these various finds we can form a picture of this people's culture and its -associations. - -[Illustration: 7-9, Fish-hooks (of reindeer-horn); 10, potsherds; 1-6, -harpoon-points (of reindeer-horn), from Kjelmö; less than half natural -size (after O. Solberg, 1909)] - -In addition to a number of bones of fish, birds and mammals, the Kjelmö -find contains a variety of implements, mostly made of reindeer-horn and -bone, which have been remarkably well preserved in the lime-charged sand, -while on the other hand the iron, with few exceptions, has rusted entirely -away. There are also many fragments of pottery, baked at an open fire and -made of clay found on the island. These hunters and fishermen, therefore, -understood the art of the potter as well as that of the smith, and thus -the culture of this northern district on the shores of the Polar Sea was -not on such a very low level. But it was not of independent growth; the -pottery shows a connection with that of the older Iron Age in south -Scandinavia; while on the other hand a couple of bronze objects, -especially the small figure of a bear, found in a grave in North Varanger, -are typically representative of the early part of the Permian Iron Age in -eastern Russia (from the eighth century). Many other objects found in the -graves also point to connection with the south-east, partly with Russia or -Ottar's Beormaland, and perhaps with Finland; while on the other side -there may have been communication westwards and south-westwards (Ottar's -route) with Norway. Solberg has found marks of ownership on the Kjelmö -implements which he shows to have much resemblance to those still in use -among the Skolte-Lapps.[206] But the use of owner's marks was an ancient -and universal custom among the Germanic peoples, and the Finns probably -derived it from them. The owner's marks found by Solberg bear a -resemblance to many ancient Germanic ones [cf. Hofmeyer, 1870; Michelsen, -1853], and seem rather to point to cultural connection with the Norsemen. - -[Illustration: Probable mode of using the harpoon-points from Kjelmö] - -Among the implements of reindeer-horn and bone in the Kjelmö find there -are especially many fish-hooks, which show that fishing played an -important part in the life of these people on the island, probably mostly -in the summer months. Possibly there are also some stone sinkers which -would show that they had nets. There are also fish-spears of -reindeer-horn, which were used for salmon-fishing in the rivers. Further, -there is a quantity of arrow-heads; but of special interest to us are a -number of harpoon-points of various form, which doubtless do not show so -highly developed a sealing culture as that of the Eskimo, but which are -nevertheless quite ingenious and bear witness to much connection with the -sea. It is worth mentioning that, while some of these harpoon-points -(Figs. 2 and 3 above) resemble old, primitive Eskimo forms, which are -found in Greenland, another still more primitive form (Fig. 1 above) bears -a striking resemblance to harpoon-points of bone which are in use, amongst -other places, in Tierra del Fuego, and which are also known from the Stone -Age in Europe. This proves how the same implements may be developed quite -independently in different places. - -It is curious that among the same people such different forms of -harpoon-points should be found, from the most primitive to more ingenious -ones. This may tend to show that their sealing culture was not so old as -to have acquired fixed and definite forms like that of the Eskimo. - -It is remarkable that by far the greater number of harpoon-points were -made entirely of reindeer-horn, without any iron tip. Only on two of them -(see Fig. 2, p. 214) are there marks of such a tip, which was let in round -the fore-end, but which has rusted completely away. There is nowhere a -sign of the use of any blade of iron (or stone), such as is used by the -Eskimo. All these harpoon-points were made fast to a thong by deep notches -at the base, or by a hole; and they have either a tang at the base which -was stuck into a hole in the end of the harpoon-shaft, or else they have a -hole or a groove at the base, which was surrounded by an iron ring, and -into which a tang at the end of the shaft was inserted. As no piece of -reindeer-horn or bone has been found which might serve as a tang for -fixing the harpoon-points, it is possible that these were fastened -directly on to the wooden shaft. With the help of the thong, which was -probably made tightly fast (on a catch ?) to the upper part of the shaft, -the point was held in its place. But when the harpoon was cast into the -animal, the point remained fixed in its flesh and came away from the -shaft, which became loose, and the animal was caught by the thong, the end -of which was either made fast to the boat or held by the hunter; for it is -improbable that it was made fast to a buoy or bladder, which is an -invention peculiar to the Eskimo. All the harpoons found at Kjelmö are -remarkably small, and cannot have been used for any animal larger than a -seal. Among the objects found there is only one piece cut off a -walrus-tusk, and none of the implements were made of this material, -except, perhaps, one arrow-head. The explanation of this cannot be merely -that the walrus was not common in the neighbourhood of Kjelmö; it shows -rather that these Finns did not practise walrus-hunting at all; for if -they had done so, we should expect their weapons and implements to be -made to a large extent of walrus-tusk, which has advantages over -reindeer-horn. - -Whether the harpoons, which we know to have been used later by the -Norsemen, resembled those from Kjelmö, and whether they learned the use of -them from the Finns, or the Finns had them from the Norsemen, are points -on which it is difficult to form an opinion. Nothing has been found which -might afford us information as to the kind of boats these northern sealers -used. It is possible that they were light wooden boats, somewhat like the -Lapps' river-boats, and that they used paddles. Nor do the Kjelmö finds -tell us whether these people kept tame reindeer. It is true that bones of -dogs have been found, like the modern Lapp-hound; but whether they were -used for herding reindeer cannot be determined, nor can they have been -common on the island, since otherwise the animal bones would have shown -marks of having been gnawed by dogs. - -The masses of bones found show that the people lived on fish to a great -extent, many kinds of birds, among them the great auk (Alca impennis), -reindeer, fjord-seal (Phoca vitulina), the saddleback seal (Ph. -groenlandica), grey-seal (Halichoerus grypus),[207] porpoise, beaver, etc. - -It will be seen that everything we learn from this find agrees in a -remarkable way with the statements of Ottar, with the single exception -that there are no indications of walrus-hunting, beyond the one piece of -tusk mentioned.[208] - -As has been said, this sealing of the Finns must be regarded as a locally -developed culture, which was not diffused farther east than Ter or the -Kola peninsula. But with their reindeer-keeping the opposite is the case; -this has its greatest predominance in Asia and north-eastern Europe, and -is specially associated with the Samoyeds. It seems, therefore, most -probable that it was brought to north Scandinavia from the east. - -[Sidenote: Ottar's "Finns"] - -If, then, Ottar's description of his Finns' and Terfinns' diffusion -towards the east (as well as the description in Egil's Saga) tallies -almost exactly with the diffusion of the Fishing Lapps and Reindeer Lapps -of our time, and if what he tells us of the Finns' manner of life agrees -in all essentials with what we know of the life of the Lapps long after -that time, down to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, then this in -itself points to Ottar's "Finns" having been essentially the same people -as the present-day Lapps. But to this may be added the statement of Ottar, -who must have known the Finns and their language well: that they and the -Beormas spoke approximately the same language. Since, then, the Lapps of -our time--who live in the same district as Ottar's Finns--and the East -Karelians--who live in the same district, on the western side of the White -Sea, as Ottar's Beormas--speak closely related languages, and since, -further, the Karelians are a people with fixed habitation like the -Beormas, then it will be more natural to suppose that they are the same -two peoples who lived in these districts at that early time, instead of -proposing, like Dr. A. M. Hansen, to replace them both by an unknown -people, who spoke an unknown language.[209] - -The correctness of this hypothesis is also supported, as we have seen, by -the rich Kjelmö find, which shows that in Ottar's time there was in the -Varanger Fjord a well-developed sealing culture, to which we know no -parallel from finds farther south, and which both in date and -characteristics is distinct from the Arctic Stone Age. Through grave-finds -in North Varanger, belonging to later centuries, we have, as Solberg shows -[1909], a possible transition from the Kjelmö culture to that of the Lapps -of our own time, and there is thus a connected sequence. - -[Sidenote: Ancient Lappish skulls] - -In old heathen burial-places on the islands of Sjåholmen and Sandholmen, -in the Varanger Fjord, Herr Nordvi found a number of skulls and portions -of skeletons, which probably belonged to the same people as the dwellers -on Kjelmö. Some of these skulls are in the collection of the Anatomical -Institute at Christiania, and have been described by Professor J. Heiberg -[1878]. They are brachycephalic with a cephalic index between 82 and 85; -one was mesocephalic with an index of 78. Dr. O. Solberg has also found a -few such skulls. Time has not permitted me to subject these heathen -skulls at the Anatomical Institute to a detailed examination; I have only -made a purely preliminary comparison between them and half a dozen skulls -of modern Reindeer Lapps and Skolte-Lapps, and found that in certain -features they differ somewhat from the latter. Doubtless the Lapps and -Skolte-Lapps of our time are very mixed, partly with the Finns (Kvæns) and -partly with Norwegians and others; but the typical Reindeer Lapp skulls -are nevertheless quite characteristic, and as they are somewhat more -brachycephalic than the skulls from the heathen graves, it is difficult to -suppose that this is due to any such recent mixture of race. As possible -differences the following may be noted: the heathen skulls as compared -with the Reindeer Lapp skulls are not quite so typically brachycephalic; -seen from the side they are somewhat lower (i.e., the length-height index -is less, according to Heiberg's measurements it would be about as 77 to -86); the forehead recedes somewhat more from the brow-ridges, which are -more prominent than in the typical Reindeer Lapp skulls. The Skolte-Lapp -skulls examined were of more mixed race, and were more mesocephalic; but -they bore most resemblance to the Reindeer Lapp skulls, although some of -them also showed a transition to the heathen skulls. According to this it -does not look as though the heathens to whom these graves belonged can be -accepted offhand as the ancestors of our Reindeer Lapps. They may have -been an earlier, kindred race who, to judge by Ottar's statements, spoke a -similar language, closely related to Karelian. The Reindeer Lapps must in -that case have immigrated later. - -[Sidenote: Place-names of the Lapps] - -It remains to examine what place-names can tell us. It is remarkable, as -Qvigstad [1893, p. 56 f.] has pointed out, that while the Lapps have -genuine Lappish names for the inner fjord coasts--e.g., Varanger, Tana, -Lakse, Porsanger, and Alten fjords--all their place-names for the outer -sea-coasts, even in Finmark, are of Norwegian origin, if we except the -names of a few large islands, such as "Sallam," for Sörö in West Finmark -and for Skogerö in Varanger, and "Sievjo," for Seiland in West Finmark. It -would therefore seem as though the Norwegians arrived on the outer coasts -before either the Fishing Lapps or Reindeer Lapps, while the latter came -first to the inner fjord coasts. This conclusion may be supported by the -fact that the Lapps' names for sea-fish and sea-birds are throughout -loan-words from Norwegian, as also are their words for appliances -belonging to modern boats and sailing, which may indicate that they -learned fishing and navigation from the Norwegians. Their name for walrus -has probably also originally come from Norwegian, but on the other hand, -the names of river fish, and their numerous names for seals, are as a rule -genuine Lappish [Qvigstad, 1893, p. 67]. This conclusion, however, does -not agree with Ottar's description, which distinctly says that "Finns," -who were hunters and fishermen, lived scattered along the coasts of -Finmark and the Kola peninsula, while the Norwegians (i.e., Norwegian -chiefs) did not live farther north than himself, and did not practise -whaling farther north than, probably, about Loppen. Dr. Hansen therefore -thought to find in this a support for his theory, that the "Finns" of that -time, whom he called Skridfinns, were a non-Aryan primitive people -entirely distinct from the Reindeer Lapps of our day. But this bold -hypothesis is little adapted to solve the difficulties with which we are -here confronted. Thus, in order to explain the Lappish loan-words from -Norwegian, one is obliged to assume that these Skridfinnish ancestors of -the Fishing Lapps first lost their own language and their own place-names -and words for the implements they used and the animals they hunted, etc., -and adopted the Norwegian language entirely; and then again lost this -language and adopted that of the later immigrant Reindeer Lapps, who -chiefly lived in the mountainous districts of the interior. At this later -change of language, however, they retained a number of Norwegian words, -especially those used in navigation and place-names; but strangely enough -they acquired new, genuinely Lappish names for certain large islands, and -moreover they adopted the many names for seals, which were the most -important object of their fishery, from the nomadic Reindeer Lapps, who -previously had known nothing about such things. The question arises of -itself: but if these Skridfinns were capable of undergoing all these -remarkable linguistic revolutions, why may they not just as well have -begun by speaking a language resembling Lappish, and gradually adopted -their loan-words and place-names from Norwegian? This will be a simpler -explanation. Nor, as we have seen, is Dr. Hansen's assumption probable, -that the Beormas also belonged to these same Skridfinns, and spoke their -language, while they were not replaced by the Karelians until later;[210] -but still less so is the hypothesis which is thereby forced upon us, that -the Reindeer Lapps came as reindeer nomads from the district east of the -White Sea, and learned their language, allied to Karelian, through coming -in contact with the Karelians on their journey westward round the south of -the White Sea. This contact cannot have lasted very long, as the country -on the south side of the White Sea is not particularly favourable to -reindeer nomads. And if in so short a time they lost their old language -and adopted an entirely new one, it will seem strange that they have been -able to keep this new language comparatively unchanged through their later -contact with the Norwegians, to whom moreover they were in a position of -subjection. In any case it must be considerably less improbable that an -original people of hunters, established in Finmark, who from the beginning -spoke Karelian-Lappish, should have adopted loan-words and place-names -from the later immigrant and settled Norwegians, to whom they were -subject, and who were skilled sailors with better seagoing boats. In more -or less adopting the Norwegians' methods of navigation and fishery, with -better appliances, they also acquired many loan-words from them. But on -the whole we must not attach too much weight to such linguistic evidence, -when we see that the Lapps have such a great quantity of loan-words from -other languages. - -[Sidenote: Conclusions as to the origin of the Northern "Finns"] - -To sum up what has been said here, the following explanation may be the -most natural: in prehistoric times the coasts and inland districts of -north Scandinavia and the Kola peninsula were inhabited by a wandering -people of hunters, who belonged to the same race or family as the Fishing -and Reindeer Lapps, and who were thus related to the Samoyeds farther -east; but through long contact with the Karelians on the White Sea and -with the Kvæns they had acquired a Karelian-Finnish language. Their -language, however, as Konrad Nielsen has shown, contains also many words -which resemble Samoyed, whether this be due to original kinship or to -later influence. These people were called by the Norsemen Finns, or, to -distinguish them from the other sort of Finns farther south, Skridfinns, -because they were in the habit of travelling on ski in the winter. People -of this race of hunters learned the domestication of reindeer from contact -with reindeer nomads, the Samoyeds, farther east. Most of them continued -their life of hunting, sealing and fishing, but adopted reindeer-keeping -to some extent as an auxiliary means of subsistence. The Eskimo are a good -example of how, in northern regions, a wandering people of hunters may -have a fairly uniform culture and language throughout a much greater -extent of territory than is here in question; for they have essentially -the same culture and language from west of Bering Strait to the east coast -of Greenland. A tribe related to these hunter Finns, who spoke very nearly -the same language but lived farther east, where there was certainly -hunting to be had on land but little at sea, gradually became transformed -entirely into reindeer nomads, and diffused themselves at a comparatively -late period over the mountainous tracts westward, and along the Kjölen -range southward. As the Norsemen pressed northward along the coast of -Nordland they encountered the hunter Finns or Fishing Lapps. Through this -contact with a higher culture these Lapps learned much, but on the other -hand the Norsemen learned something from their sealing and hunting -culture, which was well adapted to these surroundings. Thus a higher -development of sea-hunting arose. Originally the Lapps had a light boat, -the planks of which were fastened together with osiers, with a paddle, -which was well adapted to sea-fishing, and for which they still have a -genuine Lappish word in their language. From the Norsemen they learned to -build larger boats and to use sails, whence most of their words for the -new kind of navigation were Norse loan-words. We see from Peder Claussön -Friis's description that in the sixteenth century the Fishing Lapps even -"had much profit of their shipbuilding, since they are good carpenters, -and build all the sloops and ships for the northward voyage themselves at -their own cost and to a considerable amount.... They also build many -boats...." In other words, we see that they had completely adopted the -Norwegians' boat- and ship-building, and with it the words connected -therewith. In the same way they certainly acquired better appliances for -sea-fishing than those they originally had; consequently in this too they -learned of the Norwegians, and it was therefore natural that they -gradually adopted Norse names for sea-fish too, even if they had names for -them before; besides which they were always selling this fish to the -Norwegians. It was otherwise, however, with sealing, which had previously -been their chief employment on the sea. In this they were superior to the -Norsemen, as the implements of the Kjelmö find show, and here the Norsemen -became their pupils. For this reason then they kept their own names for -seal, and the many genuine Lappish words they have for them prove that -this was an important part of their original culture. If we should imagine -that the Lappish language came in at a comparatively late period with the -Reindeer Lapps, as Dr. Hansen thinks, we should be faced by incomparably -greater difficulties in explaining how they acquired these many genuine -Lappish words for seal, than would confront us in explaining how they got -loan-words for reindeer-keeping from the Norwegians, or how the original -Fishing Lapps took Norse loan-words for sea-fishing and the use of boats. -And now as regards place-names, it is not improbable that these were -determined for later times principally by the permanent settlements of the -Norsemen, along the outer sea-coast, and not by the scattered Finns -(Lapps), who led a wandering life as hunters and fishermen, and who no -doubt were driven out by the Norsemen. If we suppose that these Finns were -kept away from a place, a fishing-centre or a district, by the Norwegian -settlement, it would only require the passing of one or two generations -for them to forget their old place-names, and in future they would use -those of the Norwegians settled there. But that they once had names of -their own is shown by the genuine Lappish names for some of the larger -islands. Within the fjords, where the Norwegians were late in establishing -themselves, and where the Finns (Lapps) could live with less interference, -it was different, and there they kept their own names. - -We do not seem therefore to have any information or fact which is capable -of disproving the unbroken connection between Ottar's Finns, along the -coasts of Finmark and Ter, and the Fishing Lapps of our time, although the -latter at present consist to a large extent of impoverished Reindeer -Lapps, especially in West Finmark. The original culture of the Fishing -Lapps and the distinction between it and that of the Reindeer Lapps who -immigrated later have been preserved to recent times in their broader -features. It is true that the Fishing Lapp no longer keeps reindeer; he -only has a poor cow or a few sheep to milk [cf. A. Helland, 1905, p. -147]; but amongst other descriptions we see from that of the Italian -Francesco Negri of his travels in Norway in 1664-5 [L. Daae, 1888, p. 143] -that the Fishing Lapps of Nordland and Finmark still kept reindeer in the -latter part of the seventeenth century. He says of the Finns [i.e., -Fishing Lapps] in Finmark that - - "they live either along the coast or in the forests of the interior. - They are, like their neighbours the Lapps, small in stature, and they - resemble them in face, clothing, customs and language. The only way in - which they differ from the Lapps is, that the latter are nomads, while - the Finns of this part have fixed dwellings. They possess only a few - reindeer and a little cattle. They are also called Sea Lapps, while - the other nomads are called Mountain Lapps...." - -[Sidenote: Fishing Lapps and Reindeer Lapps] - -This distinction between Finns (i.e., Fishing Lapps) and Lapps (i.e., -Reindeer Lapps) seems to have been common. Thus in the royal decree of -September 27, 1726, both Finns and Lapps are mentioned, and in mediæval -maps of the fifteenth century, beginning with that of Claudius Clavus, of -about 1426, we find on the Arctic Ocean in north-east Sweden "Findhlappi," -and farther north "Wildhlappelandi," and in later Clavus maps -[Nordenskiöld, 1889, Pl. xxx.] we find to the north-east of Norway a -"Finlappelanth," and farther north an extensive "Pillappelanth," sometimes -also "Phillappelanth," besides a "Finlanth" in the east. Pillappelanth is -the same as Claudius Clavus's "Wildlappenland."[211] This word may be -thought to have arisen through a misunderstanding of the word "Fjeldlap" -(Mountain Lapp), which Clavus may have seen written as Viellappen and -taken to mean Wild Lapp (he calls them "Wildlappmanni"). But, as Mr. -Qvigstad has pointed out to me, the name "Wild Lapps" for Mountain -(Reindeer) Lapps is also found in Russian. Giles Fletcher (English -Ambassador to Russia in 1588) writes:[212] - - "The Russe divideth the whole nation of the Lappes into two sortes. - The one they call 'Nowremanskoy Lapary,' that is, the Norvegian - Lappes.... The other that have no religion at all but live as bruite - and heathenish people, without God in the worlde they cal 'Dikoy - Lapary,' or the wilde Lappes." - -There is, however, a possibility that this Russian name may have come from -the maps or in a literary way. In any case we have as early as the -fifteenth century a distinction between Finnlapps (i.e., Fishing Lapps) -and Mountain Lapps or Wild Lapps, besides Finns in Finland; but this shows -at the same time that they must have been nearly akin, since both are -called Lapps. - -Of great interest is Peder Claussön Friis's description of the Lapps, -which is derived from the Helgelander, Judge Jon Simonssön (ob. 1575). He -draws a distinction between "Sea Finns," who live on the fjords, and -"Lappe-Finns" or "Mountain Finns," "who roam about the great mountains," - - "and both sorts are also called 'Gann-Finns' on account of the magic - they use, which they call 'Gan.'" "The Finns [i.e., Lapps] are a thin - and skinny folk, and yet much stronger than other men, as can be - proved by their bows, which a Norse Man cannot draw half so far as the - Finns can. They are very black and brown on their bodies, and are - hasty and evil-tempered folk, as though they had the nature of bears." - - "The Sea Finns dwell always on Fjords, where there is sufficient fir - and spruce, so that they may have firing and timber to build ships of, - and they live in small houses or huts, of which the half is in the - ground, albeit some have fine houses and rooms.... They also row out - to fish like other Northern sailors, and sell their fish to the - merchants, who come there, for they do not sail to Bergen, and they - are not fond of going where there are many people, nor do people wish - to have them there, and they apply themselves greatly to shooting seal - and porpoise, that they may get their oil, for every Finn must have a - quart of oil to drink at every meal...." - - "They keep many tame reindeer, from which they have milk, butter, and - cheese ... they also keep goats, but no sheep. - - "They shoot both elks and stags and hinds, but for the most part - reindeer, which are there in abundance; and when one of them will - shoot reindeer, he holds his bow and arrow between the horns of a tame - reindeer, and shoots thus one after another, for it is a foolish beast - that cannot take care of itself." - - "The Finns are remarkably good archers, but only with handbows, for - which they have good sharp arrows, for they are themselves smiths, and - they shoot so keenly with the same bows that they can shoot with them - great bears and reindeer and what they will. Moreover they can shoot - so straight that it is a marvel, and they hold it a shame at any time - to miss their mark, and they accustom themselves to it from childhood, - so that the young Finn may not have his breakfast until he has shot - three times in succession through a hole made by an auger. - - "They are called Gann-Finns for the witchcraft they use, which they - call 'Gann,' and thence the sea or great fjord which is between Russia - and Finmark, and stretches to Karelestrand, is called Gandvig. - -[Illustration: Skridfinn Archer (from Olaus Magnus)] - - "They are small people and are very hairy on their bodies, and have a - bear's nature...." - - "The Sea Finns can for the most part speak the Norse language, but not - very well.... And they have also their own language which they use - among themselves and with the Lapps, which Norse Men cannot - understand, and it is said that they have more languages than one; of - their languages they have however another to use among themselves - which some[213] can understand, so it is certain that they have nine - languages, all of which they use among themselves."[214] - - "Of the Mountain Finns the same is to be understood as has now been - noted of the Sea Finns; the others [i.e., the former] are small, hairy - folk and evil, they have no houses and do not dwell in any place, but - move from one place to another, where they may find some game to - shoot.[215] They do not eat bread, nor do the Sea Finns either.... And - he [the Mountain Finn] has tame reindeer and a sledge, which is like a - low boat with a keel upon it...." - -From this description it appears with all desirable clearness that, on the -one hand, there was no noticeable external difference in the sixteenth -century between the small Fishing Lapps and the small Reindeer Lapps, and -on the other there was no essential difference between the Lapps of that -time and the Finns described by Ottar--we even find the decoy reindeer -still used in the sixteenth century; further, that the Lapps were -unusually skilful hunters and archers, for which they were also praised -by earlier authorities (we read in many places of Finn-bows, Finn-arrows, -etc. Some thought that the man who at the battle of Svolder shot and hit -Einar Tambarskelve's bow so that it broke, was a Lapp). We see too that -the Reindeer Lapp was not exclusively a reindeer nomad, but practised -hunting to such an extent that he moved about for the sake of game, and it -even looks as if this was his chief means of livelihood, which is -therefore mentioned first. That the reindeer-keeping mentioned by Ottar -should have been so essentially different from that of the present day, as -A. M. Hansen asserts, is difficult to see. That the decoy reindeer which -Ottar tells us were used for catching wild reindeer, and which were so -valuable, are no longer to be found in our day is a matter of course, -simply because the wild reindeer in northern Scandinavia has practically -disappeared from the districts frequented by the Lapps with their tame -reindeer. Furthermore, with the introduction of firearms decoy reindeer -became less necessary for getting within range of the wild ones; but we -see that they were still used in the sixteenth century, when the Lapps -continued to shoot with the bow. So long as there was abundance of game, -before the introduction of the rifle, the Reindeer Lapp also lived, as we -have seen, to a large extent by hunting; but then he was not able to look -after large herds of reindeer. It is therefore probable that a herd of 600 -deer, as mentioned by Ottar, must then have been regarded as constituting -wealth, although to the Reindeer Lapps of the present day, who live -exclusively by keeping reindeer, it would be nothing very great.[216] - -Those of the modern Lapps whose manner of life most reminds us of Ottar's -"Finns" are perhaps the so-called Skolte-Lapps on the south side of the -Varanger Fjord. Helland [1905, p. 157] says of them: "They have few -reindeer and keep them not so much for their flesh and milk as for -transport. Their principal means of subsistence is salmon and trout -fishing in the river, and a little sea-fishing in the fjord on Norwegian -ground. They are also hunters." - -We must suppose that the "Finns" who according to Ottar, or to Alfred's -version of him, paid tribute in walrus-hide ropes, etc., lived by the sea -and engaged in sealing and walrus-hunting, and in any case they cannot -have kept reindeer except as a subsidiary means of subsistence, like the -Fishing Lapps in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But Alfred's -expressions do not exclude the possibility of there having been amongst -the "Finns" some who were reindeer nomads like the Reindeer Lapps of our -time. That they already existed at that time and somewhat later seems to -result from the statements in the sagas of the sheriffs of Hâlogaland -(e.g., Thorulf Kveldulfsson), who in order to collect the "Finn" tribute -travelled into the interior and up into the mountains. It cannot have been -only wandering hunters who paid this tribute, and they must certainly also -have had herds of reindeer. - -[Sidenote: Decline of hunting] - -That the Lapps have degenerated greatly as hunters and sealers in the last -few centuries, and that the Fishing Lapps no longer enjoy anything like -the same prosperity as they did in Ottar's time, and even as late as the -seventeenth century, is easily explained. For on the one hand the game -both in the sea and on land has decreased to such an extent that it can no -longer support any one, and on the other it is a well-known fact that a -people originally of hunters loses its skill in the chase to a -considerable extent through closer contact with European civilisation, -while at the same time it becomes impoverished. How this comes about may -be accurately observed among the Eskimo of Greenland in our time. So long -as the Lapps were heathens, as in Peder Claussön Friis's time, and were -still without firearms and, what is perhaps equally important, without -fire-water, and not burdened with schooling and book-learning, they -retained their old hunting culture and their hereditary skill in sealing -and hunting; but with the new culture and its claims, the new objects, -demands and temptations of life, their old accomplishments suffered more -or less; nor were they any longer held in such high esteem that the Lapp -child had to shoot three times running through an auger-hole before he -might have his breakfast. And just as the Eskimo of the west coast of -Greenland have been obliged to take more and more to fishing and -bird-catching, which were looked down upon by the old harpooners, so have -our Fishing Lapps become more and more exclusively fishermen. - - - - -[Illustration: Snæfells Glacier in Iceland] - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN: DISCOVERY OF ICELAND AND GREENLAND - - -SHIPBUILDING - -The discovery of the Faroes and Iceland by the Celts and the Irish monks, -and their settlement there, give evidence of a high degree of intrepidity; -since their fragile boats were not adapted to long voyages in the open -sea, to say nothing of carrying cargoes and keeping up any regular -communication. Nor did they, in fact, make any further progress; and -neither the Irish nor the Celts of the British Isles as a whole ever -became a seafaring people. It was the Scandinavians, and especially the -Norwegians, who were the pioneers at sea; who developed an improved style -of shipbuilding, and who, with their comparatively good and seaworthy -craft, were soon to traverse all the northern waters and open up a -prospect into a new world, whereby the geographical ideas of the times -should undergo a complete transformation. It has been asserted that the -Phoenicians in their day ventured out into the open ocean far from land; -but this lacks proof and is improbable. The Norwegians are the first -people in history who definitely abandoned the coast-sailing universally -practised before their time, and who took navigation away from the coasts -and out on to the ocean. From them other people have since learnt. - -First they crossed the North Sea and sailed constantly to Shetland, the -Orkneys, North Britain and Ireland; then to the Faroes, Iceland and -Greenland, and at last they steered straight across the Atlantic itself, -and thereby discovered North America. We do not know how early the passage -of the North Sea originated; but probably, as we have seen, it was before -the time of Pytheas and much earlier than usually supposed. J. E. Sars -[1877, i. (2nd ed.), p. 191] concluded on other grounds that it was at a -very remote period, and long before the Viking age. - -[Sidenote: The First Viking Expeditions] - -[Sidenote: Earliest navigation of the Scandinavians] - -The beginning of the more important Viking expeditions is usually referred -to the end of the eighth century, or, indeed, to a particular year, 793. -But we may conclude from historical sources[217] that as early as the -sixth century Viking voyages certainly took place over the North Sea from -Denmark to the land of the Franks, and doubtless also to southern -Britain,[218] and perhaps by the beginning of the seventh century the -Norwegians had established themselves in Shetland and even plundered the -Hebrides and the north-west of Ireland (in 612).[219] We know further from -historical sources that as early as the third century and until the close -of the fifth century the roving Eruli sailed from Scandinavia, sometimes -in company with Saxon pirates, over the seas of Western Europe, ravaging -the coasts of Gaul and Spain, and indeed penetrating in 455 into the -Mediterranean as far as Lucca in Italy.[220] From these historical facts -we are able to conclude that long before that time there had been -intercommunication by sea between the countries of Northern Europe. -Scandinavia, and especially Norway, was in those days very sparsely -inhabited, and all development of culture that was not due to direct -influence from without must have taken place with extreme slowness at such -an early period of history, even where intercourse was more active than in -the North. As we are not acquainted with any other European people who at -that time possessed anything like the necessary skill in navigation to -have been the instructors of the Scandinavians, we are forced to suppose -that it was after centuries of gradual training and development in -seamanship that the latter attained the superiority at sea which they held -at the beginning of the Viking age, when they took large fleets over the -North Sea and the Arctic Ocean as though these were their home waters. -When we further consider how, since that time, the type of ships, rigging -and sails has persisted almost without a change for eleven hundred years, -to the ten-oared and eight-oared boats of our own day--which until a few -years ago were the almost universal form of boat in the whole of northern -Norway--it will appear improbable that the type of ship and the -corresponding skill in seamanship required a much shorter time for their -development.[221] - -[Illustration: Rock-carvings in Bohuslen] - -[Sidenote: The Ships of the rock-carvings] - -The first literary mention of the Scandinavians' boats occurs in Tacitus, -who speaks of the fleets and rowing-boats without sails of the Suiones -(see above, p. 110). But long before that time we find ships commonly -represented on the rock-carvings which are especially frequent in Bohuslen -and in the districts east of Christiania Fjord. If these were naturalistic -representations they would give us valuable information about the form and -size of the ships of those remote times. But the distinct and -characteristic features which are common to all these pictures of ships, -from Bohuslen to as far north as Beitstaden, show them to be conventional -figures, and we cannot therefore draw any certain conclusions from them -with regard to the appearance of the ships. - - Dr. Andr. M. Hansen [1908], with his usual imaginativeness, has - pointed out the resemblance between the rock-carvings and the - vase-paintings of the Dipylon period in Attica, and thinks there is a - direct connection between them. It appears highly probable that the - style of the rock-carvings is not a wholly native northern art, but is - due more or less to influence from the countries of the Mediterranean - or the East, in the same way as we have seen that the burial customs - (dolmens, chambered barrows, etc.) came from these. Dr. Hansen has, - however, exaggerated the resemblance between the Dipylon art and the - rock-carvings; many of the resemblances are clearly due to the fact - that the same subjects are represented (e.g., spear-throwing, - fighting with raised weapons, rowers, horsemen, chariots, etc.); it - may also be mentioned that such signs as the wheel or the solar symbol - (the eye) are common to wide regions of culture. On the other hand, - there are differences in other important features; thus, the mode of - representing human beings is not the same, as asserted by Hansen; the - characteristic "Egyptian" style of the men depicted in the Dipylon - art, with broad, rectangular shoulders and narrow waists, is just what - one does not find in the rock-carvings, where on the contrary men are - depicted in the more naturalistic style which one recognises among - many other peoples in a savage state of culture. Hansen also lays - stress upon resemblances to figures from Italy. But what most - interests us here is the number of representations of ships in the - rock-carvings, which for the most part show a remarkable uniformity as - regards their essential features, while they differ from all pictures - of ships, not only in the art of the Dipylon and of the Mediterranean - generally, but also in that of Egypt and Assyria-Babylonia. The boats - or ships depicted in the rock-carvings are so strange-looking that - doubts have been expressed whether they are boats or ships at all, or - whether it is not something else that is intended, sledges, for - instance. There is no indication of the oars, which are so - characteristic of all delineations of ships in Greece, Italy, Egypt - and Assyria; nor is there any certain indication of sails or rudders, - which are also characteristic of southern art. Moreover, the lowest - line, which should answer to the keel, is often separated at both ends - from the upper line, which should be the top strake. On the other hand - the numerous figures in the "boats" can with difficulty be regarded as - anything but men, and most probably rowers, sometimes as many as fifty - in number, besides the unmistakable figures of men standing, some of - them armed; and it must be added that if these pictures represented - nothing but sledges, it is inconceivable that there should never be - any indication of draught animals. But one remarkable point about - these numerous carvings is the typical form both of the prow and of - the stern-post. With comparatively few exceptions the prow has two - turned-up beaks, which are difficult to understand. It has been - attempted to explain one of these as an imitation of the rams of Greek - and Phoenician warships; but in that case it ought to be directed - forward and not bent up. The shape of the stern-post is also curious: - for what one must regard as the keel of the ship has in all these - representations a blunt after end, curiously like a sledge-runner; - while the upper line of the ship, which should correspond to the top - strake, is bent upward and frequently somewhat forward, in a more or - less even curve, sometimes ending in a two- or three-leaved ornament, - somewhat like the stern-post of Egyptian ships (see p. 23). This mode - of delineation became so uniformly fixed that besides occurring in - almost all the rock-carvings it appears again in an even more - carefully executed form in the knives of the later Bronze Age. Such a - type of ship, with a keel ending bluntly aft, is not known in ancient - times in Europe, either in the Mediterranean or in the North.[222] - Egyptian, Assyro-Phoenician, Greek and Roman representations of ships - (see pp. 7, 23, 35, 48, 241, 242), all show a keel which bends up to - form a continuously curved stern-post; and both the Nydam boat from - Sleswick (p. 110) and the Norwegian Viking ships that have been - discovered agree in having a similar turned-up stern-post, which forms - a continuous curve from the keel itself (pp. 246, 247); it is the same - with delineations of the later Iron Age (p. 243). Even Tacitus - expressly says that the ships of the Suiones were alike fore and aft. - The only similar stern-posts to be found are possibly the abruptly - ending ones of the ship and boats on the grave-stone from Novilara in - Italy; but here the prows are quite unlike those of the rock-carvings. - -[Illustration: Rock-carving at Björnstad in Skjeberg, Smålenene. The -length of the ship is nearly fifteen feet (from a photograph by Professor -G. Gustafson)] - -[Illustration: Bronze knife with representation of a ship, of the later -Bronze Age. Denmark] - -[Illustration: Carvings on a grave-stone at Novilara, Italy] - - As therefore this representation of the ship's stern-post does not - correspond to any known type of ancient boat or ship, as it is also - difficult to understand how the people of the rock-carvings came to - represent a boat with two upturned prows, and as further there is a - striking similarity between the lowest line of the keel and a - sledge-runner, one might be tempted to believe that by an association - of ideas these delineations have become a combination of ship and - sledge. These rock-carvings may originally have been connected with - burials, and the ship, which was to bear the dead, may have been - imagined as gliding on the water, on ice, or through the air, to the - realms of the departed, and thus unconsciously the keel may have been - given the form of a runner. It may be mentioned as a parallel that in - the "kennings" of the far later poetry of the Skalds a ship is called, - for instance, the "ski" of the sea, or, vice versa, a ski or sledge - may be called the ship of the snow. The sledge was moreover the - earliest form of contrivance for transport. In this connection there - may also be a certain interest in the fact that in Egypt the mummies - of royal personages were borne to the grave in funereal boats upon - sledges. That the rock-carvings were originally associated with - burials may also be indicated by the fact that the carved stones of - the Iron Age, which in a way took the place of the rock-carvings, - frequently represent the dead in boats on their way to the underworld - or the world beyond the grave (see illustration, p. 243). That ships - played a prominent part in connection with the dead appears also from - the remarkable burial-places formed by stones set up in the form of a - ship, the so-called ship-settings, in Sweden and the Baltic provinces, - as well as in Denmark and North Germany. These belong to the early - Iron Age. The usual burial in a ship covered by a mound, in the later - Iron Age, is well known. We seem thus to be able to trace a certain - continuity in these customs. A certain continuity even in the - representation of ships may also be indicated by the striking - resemblance that exists between the two- or three-leaved, lily-like - prow ornament on the rock-carvings, on the knives of the later Bronze - Age, on the grave-stone of Novilara, and on such late representations - as some of the ships of the Bayeux tapestry. The upturned prows of the - ships of the rock-carvings also frequently end in spirals like the - stern-post on the stone at Stenkyrka in Gotland (p. 243), and both - prows and stern on other stones of the later Iron Age from Gotland. - -[Illustration: Ship from the Bayeux tapestry (eleventh century), and -rock-carving] - -All are agreed in referring the rock-carvings to the Bronze Age; but while -O. Montelius, for example, puts certain of them as early as between 1450 -and 1250 B.C., A. M. Hansen has sought to bring them down to as late as -500 B.C. In any case they belong to a period that is long anterior to the -beginning of history in the North. From whence and by what route this art -came it is difficult to say. Along the same line of coasts by which the -megalithic graves, dolmens and chambered barrows made their way from the -Mediterranean to the North (see p. 22) rock-carvings are also to be found -scattered through North Africa, Italy (the Alps), Southern France, Spain, -Portugal, Brittany, England, Ireland and Scotland. It may be reasonable to -suppose that this practice of engraving figures on stone came first from -Egypt at the close of the Stone Age; but the rock-carvings of the west -coast of Europe and of the British Isles are distinct in their whole -character from those of Scandinavia, and do not contain representations of -ships[223] and men, which are such prominent features of the latter; but -common to both are the characteristic cup-markings, besides the wheel, or -solar signs (with a cross), foot-soles, and also spirals. There may thus -be a connection, but we must suppose that the rock-carvings underwent an -independent development in Scandinavia (like the Bronze Age culture as a -whole)--if it could not be explained by an eastern communication with the -south through Russia, which however is not probable--and as the -representation of ships came to be so common, we must conclude it to be -here connected with a people of strong seafaring tendencies. Since the -ships depicted on the rock-carvings cannot, so far as we know at present, -have been direct imitations of delineations of ships derived from -abroad--even though they may be connected with forms of religion and -burial customs that were more or less imported--we are, as yet at least, -bound to believe that the people who made the rock-carvings had boats or -ships which furnished the models for their conventional representations. -And when we see that these people went to work to engrave on the rocks -pictures of ships which are fifteen feet in length, and have as many as -fifty rowers,[224] we are bound to believe that in any case they were able -to imagine ships of this size. It is also remarkable that rock-carvings -are most numerous precisely in those districts, Viken and Bohuslen, where -we may expect that the seamanship of the Scandinavians first attained a -higher degree of perfection if it was first imported from the south-east. -With this would also agree Professor Montelius's theory: that at a very -much earlier time, about the close of the Stone Age, direct communication -already existed between the west coast of Sweden and Britain, which he -concludes from remarkable points of correspondence in stone cists with a -hole at the end, and other features. - -[Illustration: Shipment of tribute. From the bronze doors from Babavat, -Assyria (British Museum)] - -[Illustration: Warship of Ramses III., circa 1200 B.C.] - -[Sidenote: The earliest boats of Northern Europe] - -It is difficult to say how the Scandinavians at the outset arrived at -their boats and ships, such as we know them from the boats found at Nydam -in Sleswick and the Viking ships discovered in Norwegian burial-mounds. -They are of the same type that in Norway, in the districts of Sunnmör and -Nordland, has persisted to our time, and they show a mastery both in their -lines and in their workmanship that must have required a long period for -its development. From the accounts of many contemporaries, as well as from -archæological finds, we know that even so late as the first and second -centuries A.D. large canoes, made of dug-out tree trunks, were in common -use on the north coast of Germany between the Elbe and the Rhine, and -there can be no doubt that this was the original form of boat in the north -and west of Central Europe. In England similar canoes made of the dug-out -trunks of oaks have been found with a length of as much as forty-eight -feet; they have also been found in Scotland, in Bremen and in -Sleswick-Holstein (in many cases over thirty-eight feet long), with holes -for oars. It is related of the Saxons north of the Elbe, who at an early -period made piratical raids on coasts to the south of them, that they -sailed in small boats made of wicker-work, with an oaken keel and covered -with hides. Besides these they clearly had dug-out canoes; but in the -third century A.D. it is recorded that they built ships on the Roman -model. The only people north of the Mediterranean of whom we know with -certainty that they had their own well-developed methods of shipbuilding -are, as already mentioned (p. 39), the Veneti at the mouth of the Loire, -whose powerful and seaworthy ships of oak are described by Cæsar. That the -Scandinavians should have derived their methods from them cannot be -regarded as probable, unless it can be proved that the intervening peoples -possessed something more than primitive canoes and coracles. We must -therefore believe, either that the Scandinavians developed their methods -of shipbuilding quite independently, or that they had communication with -the Mediterranean by some other route than the sea. Now in many important -features there is such a great resemblance between the Norwegian Viking -ships and pictorial representations of Greek ships, and of even earlier -Egyptian and Assyrian ships, that it is difficult to avoid the conclusion -that some connection must have existed. For instance, the resemblance -between the strikingly lofty prows and stern-posts, sometimes bent back, -with characteristic ornamentation, and animal heads, which are already to -be found in Egyptian and Assyrian representations, cannot be explained -offhand as coincidences occurring in types independently developed. They -are decorations, and cannot have contributed to the seaworthiness of the -boats or had any practical purpose, unless the animal heads were intended -to frighten enemies (?). It is true that lofty and remarkable prows are to -be found in boats from such a widely separated region of culture as -Polynesia; but in the first place it is not impossible that here too there -may be a distant connection with the Orient, and in the second, the -Mediterranean and Scandinavian forms of ship are so characteristic, -compared with those of other parts of the world, that we necessarily place -them apart as belonging to a distinct sphere of culture. Another -characteristic of these boats and ships is the oars with rowlocks (open or -closed), instead of paddles. The rudder of the Viking ship (see -illustrations, pp. 246, 247, 248, 250) is also in appearance and mode of -use so remarkably like the Egyptian rudder of as early as circa 1600 B.C. -(see illustrations, pp. 7, 23), and the Greek (p. 48),[225] that it is not -easy to believe that this, together with all the other resemblances, were -independent discoveries of the North. The square sail and mast of the -Scandinavian boat also closely resemble those of Egyptian, Phoenician, -Greek and Italian ships as depicted. - -[Illustration: Stone from Stenkyrka in Gotland (ninth century)] - -It may be supposed that the communication which originally produced these -resemblances did not take place by the sea-route, round the coasts of -western Europe, but overland between the Black Sea and the Baltic. It is -thus possible that the Scandinavian type of boat first began to be -developed in the closed waters of the Baltic. It is here too that the -boats of the Scandinavians (Suiones) are first mentioned in literature by -Tacitus, and it is here that the earliest known boats of Scandinavian type -have been found; these are the three remarkable boats of about the third -century A.D. which were discovered at Nydam, near Flensburg. The best -preserved of them (p. 110) is of oak, about seventy-eight feet long, with -fourteen oars on each side, and it carried a crew of about forty men. The -boats terminated in exactly the same way fore and aft, agreeing with what -Tacitus says of the boats of the Suiones; and they could be rowed in both -directions. They had rowlocks with oar-grummets like those in use on the -west coast and in the northern part of Norway. There is no indication of -the boats having had masts and sails, which also agrees with Tacitus. -There can be no doubt that we have here the typical Scandinavian form of -boat, with such fine lines and such excellent workmanship that it can only -be due to an ancient culture the development of which had extended over -many centuries. - -From the Baltic this form of boat may have spread to Norway, where it -gradually attained its greatest perfection; and it is worth remarking that -in that very district where the Baltic type of boat derived from the -south-east reached a coast with superior harbours, richer fisheries, and -better opportunities for longer sea voyages, namely, in Bohuslen and -Viken, we find also the greater number of rock-carvings with -representations of ships. It is moreover a question whether the very name -of "Vikings" is not connected with this district, and did not originally -mean men from Viken, Vikværings; as they were specially prominent, the -name finally became a common designation for all Scandinavians, as had -formerly been the case with the names Eruli, Saxons, Danes.[226] In the -course of their voyages towards the south-west the Scandinavians may also -have met very early with ships from the Mediterranean, which, for -instance, were engaged in the tin trade with the south of England, or may -even have reached the amber coast, and thus fresh influence from the -Mediterranean may have been added. When we see how in the fifth century -roving Eruli reached as far as Italy in their ships, this will not appear -impossible; and if there is any contrivance that we should expect to show -a certain community of character over a wide area, it is surely the ship -or boat. - -Tacitus says that the fleets of the Suiones consisted of row-boats without -sails. It is difficult to contest the accuracy of so definite a statement, -especially as it is supported by the Nydam find, and by the circumstance -that the Anglo-Saxons appear to have crossed the sea to Britain in nothing -but row-boats; but Tacitus is speaking of warships in particular, and it -is impossible that sails should not have been known and used in -Scandinavia, and especially in Norway, at that time. There are possibly -indications of sails even in the rock-carvings (see the first example in -illustration, p. 236), and in the ornaments on the knives of the Bronze -Age (see illustration, p. 238). In the case of a people whose lot it was -to live to so great an extent on and by the sea, it is scarcely to be -supposed that any very long time should elapse before they thought of -making use of the wind, even if they did not originally derive the -invention of sails from the Mediterranean. - -Just as the Phoenicians and the Greeks had swift-sailing longships for war -and piracy, and other, broader sailing-ships for trade (see p. 48), so -also did the Scandinavians gradually develop two kinds of craft: the swift -longships, and the broader and heavier trading-vessels, called "bosses" -and "knars." - -[Sidenote: Shipbuilding in Norway] - -But even if northern shipbuilding exhibits a connection with that of the -Mediterranean, and thus was no more spontaneous in its growth than any -other form of culture in the world, the type of ship produced by the -Scandinavians was nevertheless undoubtedly superior to all that had -preceded it, just as they themselves were incontestably the most skilful -seamen of their time. The perfection and refinement of form, with fine -lines, which we find in the three preserved boats from Nydam, and in the -three ships of the beginning of the Viking age, or about the year 800, -give evidence in each case of centuries of culture in this province; and -when we see the richness of workmanship expended on the Oseberg ship and -all the utensils that were found with it, we understand that it was no -upstart race that produced all this, but a people that may well have -sailed the North Sea even a thousand years earlier, in the time of -Pytheas. - -[Illustration: The preserved portion of the Viking ship from Gokstad, near -Sandefjord (ninth century)] - -The immigration to Norway of many tribes may itself have taken place by -sea. Thus the Horder and Ryger are certainly the same tribes as the -"Harudes" (the "Charudes" of the emperor Augustus and of Ptolemy), -dwelling in Jutland and on the Rhine (cf. Cæsar), and the "Rugii" west of -the Vistula on the south coast of the Baltic (from whom possibly Rügen -takes its name).[227] They came by the sea route to western Norway -straight from Jutland and North Germany, and there must thus have been -communication between these countries at that time; but how early we do -not know; it may have been at the beginning of our era, and it may have -been earlier.[228] But the fact that whole tribes were able to make so -long a migration by sea indicates in any case a high development of -navigation, and again it is on the Baltic that we first find it. - -[Illustration: The Viking ship from Oseberg, near Tönsberg (ninth -century)] - -The shipbuilding and seamanship of the Norwegians mark a new epoch in the -history both of navigation and discovery, and with their voyages the -knowledge of northern lands and waters was at once completely changed. As -previously pointed out (p. 170), we notice this change of period already -in Ottar's communications to King Alfred, but their explorations of land -and sea begin more particularly with the colonisation of Iceland, which -in its turn became the starting-point for expeditions farther west. - -We find accounts of these voyages of discovery in the old writings and -sagas, a large part of which was put into writing in Iceland. A sombre -undercurrent runs through these narratives of voyages in unknown seas; -even though they may be partly legendary, they nevertheless bear witness -in their terseness to the silent struggle of hardy men with ice, storms, -cold and want, in the light summer and long, dark winter of the North. - -[Illustration: Ships from the Bayeux tapestry (eleventh century)] - -[Sidenote: The Norwegians' appliances for navigation] - -They had neither compass, nor astronomical instruments, nor any of the -appliances of our time for finding their position at sea; they could only -sail by the sun, moon and stars, and it seems incomprehensible how for -days and weeks, when these were invisible, they were able to find their -course through fog and bad weather; but they found it, and the open craft -of the Norwegian Vikings, with their square sails, fared north and west -over the whole ocean, from Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen to Greenland, -Baffin's Bay, Newfoundland and North America, and over these lands and -seas the Norsemen extended their dominion. It was not till five hundred -years later that the ships of other nations were to make their way to the -same regions. - -[Illustration: Landing of William the Conqueror's ships in England. Bayeux -tapestry (eleventh century)] - -The lodestone, or compass, did not reach the Norwegians till the -thirteenth century.[229] As to what means they had before that time for -finding their course at sea, Norse-Icelandic literature contains extremely -scanty statements. We see that to them, as to the Phoenicians before them, -the pole-star was the lodestar, and that they sometimes used -birds--ravens--to find out the direction of land; but we also hear that -when they met with fog or cloudy weather they drifted without knowing -where they were, and sometimes went in the opposite direction to that they -expected, as in Thorstein Ericson's attempt to make Wineland from -Greenland, where they arrived off Iceland instead of off America. Even -when after a long period of dull weather they saw the sun again, it could -not help them to determine their direction at all accurately, unless they -knew the approximate time of day; but their sense of time was certainly -far keener than ours, which has been blunted by the use of clocks. Several -accounts show that on land the Scandinavians knew how to observe the sun -accurately, in what quarter and at what time it set, how long the day or -the night lasted at the summer or winter solstice, etc. From this they -formed an idea of their northern latitude. Amongst other works a treatise -of the close of the thirteenth century or later included in the fourth -part of the collection "Rymbegla" [1780, pp. 472 ff.] shows that they may -even have understood how to take primitive measurements of the sun's -altitude at noon with a kind of quadrant. But they can scarcely have been -able to take observations of this kind on board ship during their long -voyages in early times, and they still less understood how to compute the -latitude from such measurements except perhaps at the equinoxes and -solstices. It is true that from the narrative, to be mentioned later, of a -voyage in the north of Baffin's Bay, about 1267, it appears that at sea -also they attempted to get an idea of the sun's altitude by observing -where the shadow of the gunwale, on the side nearest the sun, fell on a -man lying athwartships when the sun was in the south. With all its -imperfection this shows that at least they observed the sun's -altitude.[230] In order to form some idea of their western or eastern -longitude they cannot have had any other means than reckoning; and so long -as the sun and stars were visible, and they knew in what direction they -were sailing, they undoubtedly had great skill in reckoning this. In thick -weather they could still manage so long as the wind held unaltered; but -they could not know when it changed; they were then obliged to judge from -such signs as birds, of what country they were, and in what direction they -flew; we hear occasionally that they had birds from Ireland, or from -Iceland, and so on. The difference in the fauna of birds might give them -information. In their sailing directions it is also stated that they -observed the whale; thus in the Landnámabók (Hauksbók) we read that when -sailing from Norway to Greenland one should keep far enough to the south -of Iceland to have birds and whales from thence. This is more difficult to -understand, as the whale is not confined to the land, and the same whales -are found in various parts of the northern seas. But drift-ice or -ice-bergs, if they met them, might serve to show their direction, as might -occasionally driftwood or floating seaweed. The colour of the sea may -certainly have been of importance to such keen observers, even though we -hear nothing of it; it cannot have escaped them, for instance, that the -water of the Gulf Stream was of a purer blue than the rather -greenish-brown water of the coastal current near Norway and in the North -Sea, or in the East Iceland Polar Current; the difference between the -water of the East Greenland Polar Current and in the Atlantic is also -striking. It may likewise be supposed that men who were dependent to such -a degree on observing every sign may have remarked the distribution in the -ocean of so striking a creature as the great red jelly-fish. If so, it may -often have given them valuable information of their approximate position. -They used the lead, as appears, amongst other authorities, from the -"Historia Norwegiæ," where we read that Ingolf and Hjorleif found Iceland -"by probing the waves with the lead." - -[Illustration: Seal of the town of Dover, 1284] - -But that it was not always easy to find their course is shown, amongst -other instances, by the account of Eric the Red's settlement in Greenland, -when twenty-five ships left Iceland, but only fourteen are said to have -arrived. Here, as elsewhere, it was the more capable commanders who came -through. - -[Illustration] - - -THE NORWEGIAN SETTLEMENT IN ICELAND - -[Sidenote: Oldest authorities] - -The island of Iceland is mentioned, as we have seen, for the first time in -literature by Dicuil, in 825, who calls it Thyle and speaks of its -discovery by the Irish. As he says nothing about "Nortmannic" pirates -having arrived there, whereas he mentions their having expelled the Irish -monks from the Faroes, we may conclude that the Norsemen had not yet -reached Iceland at that time. The first certain mention of the name -Iceland is in the German poem "Meregarto" (see p. 181),[231] and in Adam -of Bremen, where we find the first description of the island derived from -a Scandinavian source (see p. 193). - -Narratives of its discovery by the Norsemen and of their first settlement -there are to be found in Norse-Icelandic literature; but they were written -down 250 or 300 years after the events. These narratives of the first -discoverers mentioned by name and their deeds, which were handed down by -tradition for so long a time, can therefore scarcely be regarded as more -than legendary; nevertheless they may give us a picture in broad outlines -of how voyages of discovery were accomplished in those times. - -As the Norwegians visited the Scottish islands and Ireland many centuries -before they discovered Iceland, it is highly probable that they had -information from the Irish of this great island to the north-west; if so, -it was natural that they should afterwards search for it, although -according to most Norse-Icelandic accounts it is said to have been found -accidentally by mariners driven out of their course. - -[Sidenote: Are Frode on the settlement of Iceland] - -According to the sagas a Norwegian Viking, Grim Kamban, had established -himself in the Faroes (about 800 A.D.) and had expelled thence the Irish -priests; but possibly there was a Celtic population, at any rate in the -southern islands (cf. p. 164). After that time there was comparatively -active communication between the islands and Norway, and it was on the way -to the Faroes or to the Scottish islands that certain voyagers were said -to have been driven northward by a storm to the great unknown island. The -earliest and, without comparison, the most trustworthy authority, Are -Frode,[232] gives in his "Íslendingabók" (of about 1120-1130) no -information of any such discovery, and this fact does not tend to -strengthen one's belief in it. Are tells us briefly and plainly: - - "Iceland was first settled from Norway in the days of Harold Fairhair, - the son of Halfdan the Black; it was at that time--according to Teit, - Bishop Isleif's son, my foster-brother, the wisest man I have known, - and Thorkel Gellisson, my uncle, whose memory was long, and Thorid, - Snorre Gode's daughter, who was both exceeding wise and truthful--when - Ivar, Ragnar Lodbrok's son, caused St. Edmund, the king of the Angles - [i.e., the English king], to be slain. And that was 870 winters after - the birth of Christ, as it is written in his saga. Ingolf hight the - Norseman of whom it is truthfully related that he first fared thence - [from Norway] to Iceland, when Harold Fairhair was sixteen winters - old, and for the second time a few winters later; he settled south in - Reykjarvik; the place is called Ingolfshövde; Minthakseyre, where he - first came to land, but Ingolfsfell, west of Ölfosså, of which he - afterwards possessed himself. At that time Iceland was clothed with - forest [i.e., birch forest] from the mountains to the strand. There - were Christian men here, whom the Norsemen called 'Papar' ..." and who - were Irish, as already mentioned, pp. 165 f. "And then there was great - resort of men hither from Norway, until King Harold forbade it, since - he thought that the land [i.e., Norway] would be deserted," etc. - -We may certainly assume that this description of Are's is at least as -trustworthy as the later statements on the same subject; but as Are -probably also wrote a larger Íslendingabók, which is now lost, there is a -possibility that he there related the discovery of Iceland in greater -detail, and that the later authors have drawn from it. - -[Illustration: Dragon-ship with a king and warrior (from the Flateyjarbók, -circa 1390)] - -[Sidenote: Tjodrik Monk on the discovery of Iceland] - -The next written account of the discovery of Iceland is found in the -"Historia de Antiquitate regum Norwagiensium"[233] of the Norwegian monk -Tjodrik (written about 1180), where we read: - - "In Harold's ninth year--some think in his tenth--certain merchants - sailed to the islands which we call 'Phariæ' ['Færeyjar' == the - Faroes]; there they were attacked by tempest and wearied long and - sore, until at last they were driven by the sea to a far distant land, - which some think to have been the island of Thule; but I cannot either - confirm or deny this, as I do not know the true state of the matter. - They landed and wandered far and wide; but although they climbed - mountains, they nowhere found trace of human habitation. When they - returned to Norway they told of the country they had found and by - their praises incited many to seek it. Among them especially a chief - named Ingolf, from the district that is called Hordaland; he made - ready a ship, associated with himself his brother-in-law Hjorleif and - many others, and sought and found the country we speak of, and began - to settle it together with his companions, about the tenth year of - Harold's reign. This was the beginning of the settlement of that - country which we now call Iceland--unless we take into account that - certain persons, very few in number, from Ireland (that is, little - Britain) are believed to have been there in older times, to judge from - certain books and other articles that were found after them. - Nevertheless two others preceded Ingolf in this matter; the first was - named Garðar, after whom the land was at first called Garðarsholmr, - the second was named Floki. But what I have related may suffice - concerning this matter." - -[Sidenote: "Historia Norwegiæ"] - -It is probable that Tjodrik Monk was acquainted with Are Frode's -Íslendingabók, or at least had sources connected with it. In the "Historia -Norwegiæ" by an unknown Norwegian author (written according to G. Storm -about 1180-1190, but probably later, in the thirteenth century)[234] we -read of the discovery of Iceland [Storm, 1880, p. 92]: - - "Next, to the west, comes the great island which by the Italians is - called Ultima Tile; but now it is inhabited by a considerable - multitude, while formerly it was waste land, and unknown to men, until - the time of Harold Fairhair. Then certain Norsemen, namely Ingolf and - Hjorleif, fled thither from their native land, being guilty of - homicide, with their wives and children, and resorted to this island, - which was first discovered by Gardar and afterwards by another (?), - and found it at last, by probing the waves with the lead." - -[Sidenote: The Landnáma on the discovery of Iceland] - -In Sturla's Landnámabók, called the Sturlubók, of about 1250, we find -almost the same story of the first discovery as in Tjodrik Monk. It runs: - - "Thus it is related that men were to go from Norway to the - Faroes--some mention Naddodd the Viking among them--but were driven - westward in the ocean and there found a great land. They went up a - high mountain in the East-fjords and looked around them, whether they - could see smoke or any sign that the land was inhabited, and they saw - nothing. They returned in the autumn to the Faroes. And as they sailed - from the land, much snow fell upon the mountains, and therefore they - called the land Snowland. They praised the land much. It is now called - Reydarfjeld in the East-fjords, where they landed, so said the priest - Sæmund the Learned. There was a man named Gardar Svavarsson, of - Swedish kin, and he went forth to seek Snowland, by the advice of his - mother, who had second sight. He reached land east of East Horn, where - there was then a harbour. Gardar sailed around the country and proved - that it was an island. He wintered in the north at Husavik in - Skialfanda and there built a house. In the spring, when he was ready - for sea, a man in a boat, whose name was Nattfari, was driven away - from him, and a thrall and a bondwoman. He afterwards dwelt at the - place called Natfaravik. Gardar then went to Norway and praised the - land much. He was the father of Uni, the father of Hroar Tungugodi. - After that the land was called Gardarsholm, and there was then forest - between the mountains and the strand." - - In Hauk's Landnámabók (of the beginning of the fourteenth century) - Gardar's voyage is mentioned as the first, and Naddodd's as the - second, and it is said of Gardar that he was "son of Svavar the Swede; - he owned lands in Sealand, but was born in Sweden. He went to the - Southern isles [Hebrides] to fetch her father's inheritance for his - wife. But as he was sailing through Pettlands firth [Pentland, between - Orkney and Shetland] a storm drove him back, and he drifted westward - in the ocean, etc." The Sturlubók was doubtless written some fifty - years before Hauk's Landnámabók, and was the authority for the latter - and for the lost Landnámabók of Styrmir enn froði[235] (ob. 1245); but - as the copy that has come down to us of the Sturlubók is later (about - 1400), many have thought that on this point the Hauksbók is more to be - relied upon, and have therefore held that according to the oldest - Icelandic tradition the Swedish-born Dane Gardar was the first - Scandinavian discoverer of Iceland. Support for this view has also - been found in the fact that in another passage of the Sturlubók we - read: "Uni, son of Gardar who first found Iceland." It has therefore - been held that it was not till after 1300 that a transposition was - made in the order of Gardar's and Naddodd's voyages at the beginning - of the book [cf. F. Jônsson, 1900, p. xxx.]. But this assertion may be - doubtful; it seems rather as though the Icelandic tradition itself was - uncertain on this point. We have seen above that the Norwegian work - "Historia Norwegiæ" mentions Gardar as the first; while the yet - earlier Tjodrik Monk [1177-1180] has a tale of a first accidental - voyage to Iceland, which is the same, in parts word for word, as the - stories of both the Sturlubók and the Hauksbók of Naddodd's voyage, - only that Tjodrik mentions no name in connection with it. He certainly - says later that Gardar and Floki went there before Ingolf; but this - must mean that all three came after the first-mentioned nameless - voyage. If we compare with this the vague expression of the Sturlubók - that "some mention Naddodd the Viking" in connection with that first - accidental voyage, the logical conclusion must be that there was an - old tradition that some one, whose identity is uncertain, had been - long ago driven by weather to this Snowland, in the same way as there - was a tradition in Iceland that Gunnbjörn had been driven long ago to - Gunnbjörnskerries, before Greenland was discovered by Eric the Red. - Some have then connected this first storm-driven mariner with a - Norwegian Viking-name, Naddodd. Thus are legends formed. But the first - man to circumnavigate the country and to become more closely - acquainted with it was, according to the tradition, Gardar, whose name - was more certainly known; for which reason he was also readily named - as the first discoverer of the country (just as Eric the Red and not - Gunnbjörn was named as the discoverer of Greenland). Hauk Erlendsson - then, in agreement with this, amended the Landnámabók by placing - Gardar's voyage first, while at the same time he made the mention of - Naddodd more precise, which was necessary, since his was to be a later - and therefore equally well-known voyage. He also gives Naddodd's kin, - which is not alluded to in the Sturlubók. This hypothesis is - strengthened by the latter's vague expression, above referred to, - about Naddodd, and by the fact that only Gardar's and Floki's names - are mentioned by Tjodrik Monk, and only Gardar and another (Floki ?) - in the "Historia Norwegiæ." If Naddodd's voyage had come after - Gardar's, and consequently was equally well known, it would be strange - that it should not be mentioned together with his and with the third - voyage that succeeded them. But the whole question is of little - importance, since, as we have said, these narratives must be regarded - as mere legends. - -The third voyage, according to both the Hauksbók and Sturlubók, was made -by a great Viking named Floki Vilgerdarson. He fitted out in Rogaland to -seek Gardarsholm (or Snowland). He took with him three ravens which - - "were to show him the way, since seafaring men had no 'leidarstein' - [lodestone, magnetic needle] at that time in the North...." "He came - first to Hjaltland [Shetland] and lay in Floka-bay. There Geirhild, - his daughter, was drowned in Geirhilds-lake." "Floki then sailed to - the Faroes, and there gave his [other] daughter in marriage. From her - is come Trond in Gata. Thence he sailed out to sea with the three - ravens.... And when he let loose the first it flew back astern [i.e., - towards the Faroes]. The second flew up into the air and back to the - ship. The third flew forward over the prow, where they found the land. - They came to it on the east at Horn. They then sailed along the south - of the land. But when they were sailing to the west of Reykjanes and - the fjord opened up, so that they saw Snæfellsnes, Faxi [a man on - board] said, 'This must be a great land that we have found; here are - great waterfalls.' This is since called Faxa-os. Floki and his men - sailed west over Breidafjord, and took land there which is called - Vatsfjord, by Bardastrond. The fjord was quite full of fish, and on - account of the fishing they did not get in hay, and all their cattle - died during the winter. The spring was a cold one. Then Floki went - northward on the mountain and saw a fjord full of sea-ice. Therefore - they called the country Iceland.... In the summer they sailed to - Norway. Floki spoke very unfavourably of the country. But Herjolf said - both good and evil of the country. But Thorolf said that butter - dripped from every blade of grass in the country they had found; - therefore he was called Thorolf Smör [Butter]." - -These three voyages of discovery are supposed to have taken place about -860-870. A few years after that time began the permanent settlement of the -country by Norwegians; according to the chronicles this was initiated by -Ingolf Arnarson with his establishment at Reykjarvik (about the year 874), -which is mentioned as early as Are Frode (see above, p. 253), and this -establishment may be more historical. Harold Fairhair's conquest of the -whole of Norway, of which he made one kingdom, and his hard-handed -procedure may have been partly responsible for the emigration of -Norwegians to the poorer island of Iceland; many of the chiefs preferred -to live a harder life there than to remain at home under Harold's -dominion. A larger part of the settlers, and among them many of the best, -had first emigrated from Norway to the Scottish isles and to Ireland, but -on account of troubles moved once more to Iceland.[236] As has been -suggested already (p. 167), there was probably, besides the Irish priests, -some Celtic population before the Norwegians arrived, which gave Celtic -names to various places in the country. The omission of any mention of -these Celts, with the exception of the "Papar," in the Landnáma is no more -surprising than the strange silence about the primitive people of -Greenland, whom we now know with certainty to have been in the country -when the Icelanders came thither. - - -THE DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF GREENLAND BY THE NORWEGIANS - -[Sidenote: Oldest authority on Greenland] - -The earliest mention of Greenland known in literature is that found in -Adam of Bremen (see above, p. 194). It was written about a hundred years -after the probable settlement of the country, and shows that at least the -name had reached Denmark at that time. In another passage of his work Adam -says that "emissaries from Iceland, Greenland and the Orkneys" came to -Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen "with requests that he would send preachers -to them." - -[Illustration: Greenland. The shaded parts along the coast are not covered -by the inland ice, which otherwise covers the whole of the interior] - -[Sidenote: Are Frode, circa 1120] - -The oldest Icelandic account of the discovery of Greenland, and of the -people settling there, is found in Are Frode's Íslendingabók (c. 1130). He -had it from his uncle, Thorkel Gellisson, who had been in Greenland and -had conversed with a man who himself had accompanied Eric the Red -thither. Thorkel lived in the second half of the eleventh century, and -"remembered far back." Are's statements have thus a good authority, and -they may be regarded as fairly trustworthy, at all events in their main -outlines; for the events were no more remote than a couple of generations, -and accounts of them may still have been extant in Iceland. Unfortunately -the records that have come down to us, from the hand of Are himself, are -very brief. He says: - - "The land which is called Greenland was discovered and settled from - Iceland. Eirik Raude [Eric the Red] was the name of a man from - Breidafjord, who sailed thither from hence and there took land at the - place which is since called Eiriksfjord. He gave the land a name and - called it Greenland, and said that having a good name would entice men - to go thither. They found there dwelling-sites of men, both in the - east and the west of the country, and fragments of boats - ('keiplabrot') and stone implements, so that one may judge from this - that the same sort of people had been there as inhabited Wineland, - whom the Greenlanders[237] call Skrælings.[238] Now this, when he - betook himself to settling the country, was fourteen or fifteen - winters before Christianity came here to Iceland,[239] according to - what Thorkel Gellisson was told in Greenland by one who himself - accompanied Eric the Red thither." - -It is strange that we only hear of traces left by the primitive people of -Greenland, the Skrælings or Eskimo. This looks as though Eric the Red did -not come across the people themselves, though this seems improbable. We -shall return to this later, in a special chapter on them. - -It is probable that in other works, which are now lost, Are Frode wrote in -greater detail of the discovery of Greenland and its first settlement by -the Icelanders, and that later authors, whose works are known to us, have -drawn upon him; for where they speak of other events that are mentioned in -Are's Íslendingabók, the same expressions are often used, almost word for -word. The oldest of the later accounts known to us, which give a more -complete narrative of the discovery of Greenland, were written between -1200 and 1305. The Landnámabók may be specially mentioned; upon this is -based the Saga of Eric the Red (also called Thorfinn Karlsevne's Saga), -written, according to the opinion of G. Storm, between the years 1270 and -1300, while Finnur Jónsson [1901] assigns it to the first half of the -thirteenth century. By collating these various accounts we can form a -picture of what took place; even though we must suppose that traditions -which have been handed down orally for so long must in course of time have -been considerably transformed--especially where they cannot have been -based on well-known geographical conditions--and that they have received -many a feature from other traditions, or from pure legend. - -[Sidenote: Gunnbjörn Ulfsson] - -Many accounts, both in Hauk's Landnámabók and in the Sturlubók, and in -other sagas, mention that Greenland was first discovered by the Norwegian -Gunnbjörn, son of Ulf Kråka, shortly after the settlement of Iceland. On a -voyage to Iceland, presumably about the year 900, he was carried out of -his course to the west, and saw there a great country, and found certain -islands or skerries, which were afterwards called "Gunnbjörnskerries." -These must have been off Greenland, most probably near Cape Farewell; but -if it was late in the summer, in August or September, when there is little -ice along the east coast, he may even have come close to the land farther -north, and there found islands, at Angmagsalik, for instance. It is, -however, of no great importance where it was; for when he saw that it was -not Iceland that he had made, but a less hospitable country which did not -look inviting for winter quarters, he probably sailed again at once, in -order to reach his destination before the ice and the late season stopped -him, without spending time in exploring the country. Whether Gunnbjörn -established himself in Iceland we do not know; but it is recorded that his -brother, Grimkell, took land at Snæfellsnes and was among the first -settlers, and his sons, Gunnstein and Halldor, took land in the north-west -on Isafjord. - -Various later writers have interpreted this to mean that Gunnbjörnskerries -lay to the west of Iceland, and far from the great land that Gunnbjörn -saw; but the earliest notices (in the Hauksbók and Sturlubók) do not -warrant such a view. It has even been suggested as possible that -Gunnbjörnskerries lay in the ocean between Iceland and Greenland, but -were destroyed later by a volcanic outbreak. In the Dutchman Ruysch's -map of 1508 an island is marked in this ocean, with the note that: "This -island was totally consumed in the year 1456 A.D."[240] It is -inconceivable that such an island midway in the course between Iceland and -Greenland should have entirely escaped mention in the oldest accounts of -the voyages of Eric the Red and later settlers in Greenland, to say -nothing of the circumstance that it would certainly have been mentioned in -the ancient sailing-directions (e.g., in the Hauksbók and Sturlubók) for -the voyage from Iceland to Greenland. Nor are there any known banks in -this part of the ocean which might indicate that such an island had -existed. It is in itself not the least unlikely that Gunnbjörn reached -some islands of the Greenland coast, and that these in later tradition -received the name of Gunnbjörnskerries. - -That they were gradually transferred by tradition to a place where islands -were no longer to be met with, or which in any case was unapproachable on -account of ice, appears from the description of Greenland ascribed to Ivar -Bárdsson (probably written in the fifteenth century), where we read:[241] - - "Item from Snæfellsnes in Iceland, which is shortest to Greenland, two - days' and two nights' sail, due west is the course, and there lie - Gunnbjörnskerries right in mid-channel between Greenland and Iceland. - This was the old course, but now ice has come from the gulf of the sea - to the north-east ['landnorden botnen'] so near to the said skerries, - that none without danger to life can sail the old course, and be heard - of again." - -Later in the same statement we read: - - "Item when one sails from Iceland, one must take his course from - Snæfellsnes ... and then sail due west one day and one night, very - slightly to the south-west[242] to avoid the before-mentioned ice - which lies off Gunnbjörnskerries, and then one day and one night due - north-west, and thus he will come straight on the said highland Hvarf - in Greenland." - -This description need not be taken to indicate that the Gunnbjörnskerries -were supposed to lie in the midst of the sea between Iceland and -Greenland; some place on the east coast of Greenland (e.g., at -Angmagsalik) may rather be intended, which was sighted on the voyage -between Iceland and the Eastern Settlement (taking "Greenland" to mean -only the settled districts of the country). The direction "due west, -etc.," for the voyage to the Eastern Settlement is too westerly, unless it -was a course by compass, which, although possible, is hardly probable. But -as we shall see later there is much that is untrustworthy in the -description attributed to Ivar Bárdsson. - -A later tradition of Gunnbjörn's voyage also deserves mention; it is found -in the "Annals of Greenland" of the already mentioned Björn Jónsson of -Skardsá (1574-1656), which he compiled from older Icelandic sources, with -corrections and "improvements" of his own. He says there ("Grönl. hist. -Mind.," i. p. 88) that the reason why Eric the Red - - "sailed to Greenland was no other than this, that it was in the memory - of old people that Gunnbjörn, Ulf Kråka's son, was thought to have - seen a glacier in the western ocean ('til annars jökulsins i - vestrhafnu'), but Snæfells-glacier here, when he was carried westward - on the sea, after he sailed from the Gunnbjörn's islands. Iceland was - then entirely unsettled, and newly discovered by Gardar, who sailed - around the country from ness to ness ('nesjastefnu'), and called it - Gardarsholm. But this Gunnbjörn, who came next after him, he sailed - round much farther out ('djúpara'), but kept land in sight, therefore - he called the islands skerries in contradistinction to the holm [i.e., - Gardarsholm]; but many histories have since called these islands land, - sometimes large islands." - -This last statement is in any case an explanatory "improvement" by Björn -Jónsson himself, and doubtless this is also true of the rest. According to -this the Gunnbjörnskerries lay even within sight of Iceland. In this -connection it is worth remarking that his contemporary Arngrim Jónsson -imagines ("Specim. Island.," p. 34) the Gunnbjörnskerries as a little -uninhabited island north of Iceland. This would agree best with the little -Meven-klint, which lies by itself in the Polar Sea fifty-six nautical -miles north of land, and perhaps it is not wholly impossible that it was -rumours of this in later times that gave rise to the ideas of the -Gunnbjörnskerries, which however by confusion were transferred westward. - -It was long before any attempt was made, according to the narratives, to -search for the land discovered by Gunnbjörn. In Hauk's Landnámabók [c. -122] we read: - -[Sidenote: Snæbjörn Galti and Rolf of Raudesand] - - "Snæbjörn [Galti, Holmsteinsson] owned a ship in Grimså-os, and Rolf - of Raudesand bought a half-share in it.[243] They had twelve men each. - With Snæbjörn were Thorkel and Sumarlide, sons of Thorgeir Raud, son - of Einar of Stafholt. Snæbjörn also took with him Thorodd of Thingnes, - his foster-father, and his wife, and Rolf took with him Styrbjörn, who - quoth thus after his dream: - - 'The bane I see - of both of us, - all dolefully - north-west in the sea, - frost and cold, - all kinds of anguish; - from such I foresee - the slaying of Snæbjörn.' - - "They went to seek for Gunnbjörnskerries, and found land. Snæbjörn - would not let any one land at night. Styrbjörn went from the ship and - found a purse of money in a grave-mound ['kuml,' a cairn over a - grave], and hid it. Snæbjörn struck at him with an axe, and the purse - fell. They built a house, and covered it all over with snow ['ok lagdi - hann i fonn']. Thorkel Raudsson found that there was water on the fork - that stuck out at the aperture of the hut. That was in the month of - Goe.[244] Then they dug themselves out. Snæbjörn made ready the ship. - Of his people Thorodd and his wife stayed in the house; and of Rolf's - Styrbjörn and others, and the rest went hunting. Styrbjörn slew - Thorodd, and both he and Rolf slew Snæbjörn. Raud's sons and all the - others took oaths [i.e., oaths of fidelity] to save their lives. They - came to Hálogaland, and went thence to Iceland, and arrived at - Vadil." There both Rolf and Styrbjörn met their death. - -[Illustration: The Eastern Settlement of Greenland. The black points mark -ruins of the homesteads of the ancient Greenlanders (from Finnur Jónsson, -1899)] - -It is possible that this strange fragmentary tale points back to an actual -attempt at settlement in Greenland, due to Snæbjörn and Rolf having to -leave Iceland on account of homicide. The attempt may have been abandoned -on account of dissensions, or because the country was too inhospitable. -From the genealogical information the voyage may possibly be placed a -little earlier than Eric the Red's first voyage to Greenland [cf. K. -Maurer, 1874, p. 204]. Whereabouts in Greenland they landed and spent the -winter is not stated; but the fact that the snow first began to thaw in -the month of "Goe" would point to a cold climate, and this agrees best -with the east coast of Greenland. But the story is so obscure that it is -difficult to form any clear opinion as to its general credibility; the -grave-mound and the purse of money must in any case have come from -elsewhere. The circumstance that on their return they sailed first to -Norway and thence to Iceland may be derived from a later time, when there -was no direct communication between Greenland and Iceland, but the -communication with Greenland took place by way of Norway. - -[Illustration: The Western Settlement of Greenland. The black points mark -ruins of the homesteads of the ancient Greenlanders (from F. Jónsson, -1899)] - -[Sidenote: Eric the Red] - -The greatest and most important name connected with the discovery of -Greenland is without comparison that of Eirik Raude (Erik the Red). The -description of this remarkable man (in the Landnáma and in the Saga of -Eric the Red) forms a good picture; warlike and hard as the fiercest -Viking, but at the same time with the superior ability of the born -explorer and leader to plan great enterprises, and to carry them out in -spite of all difficulties. He was a leader of men. He was born in Norway -(circa 950); but on account of homicide he and his father Thorvald left -Jæderen and went to Iceland about 970. They took land on the Horn-strands, -east of Horn (Cape North). There Thorvald died. Eric then married -Tjodhild, whose mother, Thorbjörg Knarrar-bringa (i.e., ship's breast), -lived in Haukadal. Eric therefore moved south and cleared land in Haukadal -(inland of Hvamsfjord, north of Snæfellsnes) and lived at Eirikstad by -Vatshorn. Eric quarrelled with his neighbours and killed several of them. -He was therefore condemned to leave Haukadal. He took land on Brokö and -Öksnö, islands outside Hvamsfjord; but after fresh conflicts and slaughter -he and his men were declared outlaws for three years, at the Thorsnes -thing, about 980. Eric then fitted out his ship, and a friend concealed -him, while his enemies went all round the islands looking for him. - - "He told them [i.e., his friends] that he meant to seek the land that - Gunnbjörn, Ulf Kråka's son, saw when he was driven west of Iceland and - found Gunnbjörnskerries. He said he would come back for his friends, - if he found the land. Eric put to sea from Snæfells-glacier;[245] he - arrived off Mid-glacier, at the place called Bláserk. [Thence he went - south, to see whether the land was habitable.] He sailed westward - round Hvarf [west of Cape Farewell] and spent the first winter in - Eiriksey near [the middle of] the Eastern Settlement. Next spring he - went to Eiriksfjord [the modern Tunugdliarfik, due north of - Julianehaab; see map, p. 265] and gave names to many places. The - second winter he was at Eiriksholms by Hvarfsgnipa [Hvarf Point]; but - the third summer he went right north to Snæfell[246] and into - Ravnsfjord.[247] Then he thought he had come farther into the land - than the head of Eiriksfjord. He then turned back, and was the third - winter in Eiriksey off the mouth of Eiriksfjord. The following summer - he went to Iceland, to Breidafjord. He passed that winter at Holmlåt - with Ingolf. In the spring they fought with Thorgest [Eric's former - enemy], and Eric was beaten. After that they were reconciled. That - summer Eric went to settle the land that he had found, and he called - it Greenland; because, said he, men would be more willing to go - thither if it had a good name." - - "[Eric settled at Brattalid in Eiriksfjord.] Then Are Thorgilsson says - that that summer twenty-five ships sailed to Greenland from - Borgarfjord and Breidafjord; but only fourteen came there--some were - driven back, others were lost. This was sixteen winters before - Christianity was made law in Iceland."[248] This would therefore be - about 984. - -[Illustration: View from the mountain Igdlerfigsalik (see map, p. 271) -over Tunugdliarfik (Eiriksfjord and Brattalid), farther to the left -Sermilik (Isafjord and the Mid-fjords) into which a glacier falls; in the -right centre Korok-fjord, with a glacier falling into it. The whole -background is covered by the inland ice; behind it on the right the -Nunataks near the east coast. (After D. Bruun, 1896)] - -Eric the Red's first voyage to Greenland is one of the most remarkable in -the history of arctic expeditions, both in itself, on account of the -masterly ability it shows, and for the vast consequences it was to have. -With the scanty means of equipment and provisioning available at that time -in the open Viking ships,[249] it was no child's play to set out for an -unknown arctic land beyond the ice, and to stay there three years. -Perhaps, of course, he did it from necessity; but he not only came through -it alive--he employed the three years in exploring the country, from Hvarf -right up to north of Davis Strait, and from the outermost belt of skerries -to the head of the long fjords. This was more than 500 years before the -Portuguese came to the country, and exactly 600 before John Davis thought -himself the discoverer of this coast. - -But not only does Eric seem to have been pre-eminent, first as a fighter -and then as a discoverer; as the leader of the colony founded by him in -Greenland he must also have had great capabilities; he got people to -emigrate thither, and looked after them well; and he was regarded as a -matter of course as the leading man and chief of the new free state, whom -every one visited first on arrival. His successors, who resided at the -chief's seat of Brattalid, were the first family of the country. - -[Illustration: Part of the interior of Eiriksfjord, at Brattalid and -beyond. The mountain Igdlerfigsalik in the background (after D. Bruun, -1896)] - -Immigration to Greenland must according to the saga have gone on rapidly; -for in the year 1000 there were already so many inhabitants that Olaf -Tryggvason thought it worth while to make efforts to Christianise them, -and sent a priest there with Eric's son Leif. Eric's wife, Tjodhild, at -once received the faith; but the old man himself did not like the new -doctrine, and found it difficult to give up his own. Tjodhild built a -church at some distance from the houses; "there she made her prayers, and -those men who accepted Christianity, but they were the most. She would not -live with Eric, after she had taken the faith; but to him this was very -displeasing." In Snorre's Heimskringla we read that men called Leif "the -Lucky [see Chap. ix.]; but Eric, his father, thought that one thing -balanced the other, that Leif had saved the shipwrecked crew and that he -had brought the hypocrite ['skæmannin'] to Greenland, that is, the -priest." - -The Norsemen established themselves in two districts of Greenland. One of -these was the "Eastern Settlement" [Österbygden], so called because it lay -farthest to the south-east on the west coast, between the southern point, -Hvarf, and about 61° N. lat. It corresponds to the modern Julianehaab -District. It was the most thickly populated, and it was here that -Eiriksfjord and Brattalid lay. In the whole "Settlement" there are said to -have been 190 homesteads ["Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 228]. Ruins of -these have been found in at least 150 places [cf. D. Bruun, 1896; G. Holm, -1883]. - -[Illustration: The central part of the Eastern Settlement. Black points -mark ancient ruins, crosses mark churches] - -[Sidenote: The Western Settlement] - -The other district, the "Western Settlement" [Vesterbygden], lay farther -north-west between 63° and 66-1/2° (see map, p. 266), for the most part in -the modern Godthaab District, and its population was densest in -Ameralik-fjord and Godthaabsfjord. There are said to have been ninety -homesteads in this settlement. Many ruins of Norsemen's stone houses are -still found in both districts, and they show with certainty where the -settlements were and what was their extent. - -On the east coast of Greenland, which is closed by drift-ice for the -greater part of the year, the Norsemen had no permanent settlement, and it -was only exceptionally that they were able to land there, or they were -sometimes wrecked in the drift-ice off the coast and had to take refuge -ashore. Several places are, however, mentioned along the southern part of -the east coast, where people from the Eastern Settlement probably went -hunting in the summer. - -[Illustration: The plain by Igaliko (Garðar) with ruins. In the background -the peaks of Igdlerfigsalik, and in front of them Iganek (after N. P. -Jörgensen)] - -[Sidenote: Population] - -[Sidenote: Bishops] - -The population of the two settlements in Greenland can scarcely have been -large at any time; perhaps at its highest a couple of thousand altogether. -If we take it that there were 280 homesteads, and on an average seven -persons in each, which is a high estimate, then the total will not be more -than 1960. But the long distances caused the building, after the -introduction of Christianity, of a comparatively large number of churches, -namely, twelve in the Eastern Settlement (where the ruins of only five -have been found) and four in the Western Settlement, besides which a -monastery and a nunnery are mentioned in the Eastern Settlement. About -1110 Greenland became an independent bishopric, although it is said in the -"King's Mirror" that - - "if it lay nearer to other lands it would be reckoned for a third part - of a bishopric. But now the people there have nevertheless a bishop - of their own; for there is no other way, since the distance between - them and other people is so great." - -The chief's house Garðar in Einarsfjord (Igaliko) became the episcopal -residence. There is a fairly complete record of the bishops of Greenland -down to the end of the fourteenth century. During the succeeding century -and even until 1530 a number of bishops of Greenland are also mentioned, -who were appointed, but never went to Greenland. - -[Sidenote: Norse literature in Greenland] - -Even if the conditions of life in the Greenland settlements were not -luxurious, they were nevertheless not so hard as to prevent the -development of an independent art of poetry. Sophus Bugge points out in -"Norroen Fornkvædi" [Christiania, 1867, p. 433] that the "Atlamál en -groenlenzku" of the Edda is, as its title shows, from Greenland, and was -most probably composed there. Finnur Jónsson [1894, i. pp. 66, 68 ff.; -1897, pp. 40 ff.] would even refer four or five other Edda-lays to -Greenland, namely: "Oddrúnargrátr," "Goðrúnarhvot," "Sigurðarkviða en -skamma," "Helgakviða Hundingsbana," perhaps also "Helreið Brynhildar." As -regards the two last-named, the assumption is certainly too doubtful, but -in the case of the other three it is possible. The "Norðrsetu-drápa," to -be mentioned later (p. 298), was composed in Greenland; and the so-called -"Hafgerðinga-drápa" may be derived thence; in the Landnámabók, where one -or two fragments of it are reproduced, it is said to have been composed by -a "Christian man (monk ?) from the Southern isles" (Hebrides), on the way -thither. The fragments of lays on Furðustrandir and Wineland, which are -given in the Saga of Eric the Red, may possibly also be from Greenland. -The fact that the "Snorra-Edda" gives a particular kind of metre, called -"Grönlenzkr háttr,"[250] agrees with the view that Greenland had an -independent art of poetry. - -The Greenland lays like the Atlamál are perhaps not equal to the best -Norse skald-poetry; but there runs through them a weird, gloomy note -that bears witness of the wild nature and the surroundings in which they -were composed. - -[Illustration: View from the mountain Iganek, looking south over -Igalikofjord (Einarsfjord) and on the right Tunugdliarfik (Eiriksfjord) -with the isthmus at Igaliko (Garðar) between them (after N. P. Jörgensen, -see D. Bruun, 1896)] - -[Sidenote: Ruins] - -[Sidenote: Food] - -Within the fjords of both the ancient Greenland settlements many ruins of -former habitations have been found (see maps, pp. 265, 266, 271); most of -these are found in the Eastern Settlement or Julianehaab District [cf. -especially D. Bruun, 1896; also G. Holm, 1883]. In a single homestead as -many as a score of scattered houses have been found; among them was a -dwelling-house, and around it byres and stables for cattle, horses, sheep -and goats, with adjoining hay-barns, or else open hay-fences (round stone -walls within which the hay was stacked and covered with turf), besides -larders, drying-houses, pens for sheep, fenced fields, etc. There were -also fenced outlying hayfields with barns and with summer byres for sheep -and goats, for they had even mountain pastures and hayfields. Near the -shore are found sheds, possibly for gear for boats, sealing and fishing, -but, on the other hand, there are no actual boathouses. Ruins of several -churches (five in the Eastern Settlement) have also been found. The -dwelling-houses were built of stone and turf, like the Icelandic -farmhouses; in exceptional cases clay was also used, while the outhouses -were mostly built with dry stone walls. For the timber work of the roofs -drift-wood must have been usually employed. The winter byres were of -course made weatherproof. The size of the byres shows that the numbers of -their stock were not inconsiderable, mostly sheep and goats; only where -the level lands near the fjords offered specially good pasture was there -any great number of horned cattle. Everywhere in the neighbourhood of the -ruins stone traps are found which show that the Greenlanders occupied -themselves in trapping foxes; a few large traps have been thought to have -been intended for wolves (?), which are now no longer to be found in -southern Greenland. Near the main buildings are found great refuse heaps -("kitchen middens"), which give us much information as to the life they -led and what they lived on. Great quantities of bones taken from five -different sites in the Eastern Settlement (among them the probable sites -of Brattalid and Gardar) have been examined by the Danish zoologist, -Herluf Winge [cf. D. Bruun, 1896, pp. 434 ff.]. The great predominance of -bones of domestic animals, especially oxen and goats, and of seals, -especially the Greenland seal or saddle-back (Phoca groenlandica), and the -bladder-nose or crested seal (Cystophora cristata), show that -cattle-rearing and seal-hunting were the Greenlanders' chief means of -subsistence; and the latter especially must have provided the greater part -of their flesh food, since as a rule the bones of seals are the most -numerous. Curiously enough, few fish-bones have been found. As we know -with certainty that the Greenlanders were much occupied in fishing, this -absence now is accounted for by fish-bones and other offal of fish being -used for fodder for cattle in winter. Various reindeer bones show that -this animal was also found in ancient times in the Eastern Settlement, -where it is now extinct. Besides these, bones of a single polar bear and -of a few walrus have been found, which show that these animals were -caught, though in small numbers; a few bones of whale have also been -found. There are, strangely enough, comparatively few bones of birds. The -bones of horses that have been found belong to a small race and the cattle -were of small size and horned. - -[Illustration: Remains of a sheep-pen at Kakortok. On the right the ruined -church (after Th. Groth)] - -[Sidenote: Life and conditions] - -In the otherwise very legendary tale, in the Saga of the Foster Brothers -(beginning of the thirteenth century), of Thormod Kolbrunarskald's voyage -to Greenland and sojourn there, to avenge the death of his friend -Thorgeir, we get here and there sidelights on the daily life of the -country, which agree well with the information afforded by the remains. We -hear that they often went to sea after seals, that they had harpoons for -seals ("selskutill"), that they cooked the flesh of seals, etc. From the -"King's Mirror" (circa 1250) we get a good glimpse of the conditions of -life in Greenland in those days: - - "But in Greenland, as you probably know, everything that comes from - other lands is dear there; for the country lies so distant from other - lands that men seldom visit it. And everything they require to assist - the country, they must buy from elsewhere, both iron (and tar) and - likewise everything for building houses. But these things are brought - thence in exchange for goods: buckskin and ox-hides, and sealskin and - walrus-rope and walrus-ivory." "But since you asked whether there was - any raising of crops or not, I believe that country is little assisted - thereby. Nevertheless there are men--and they are those who are known - as the noblest and richest--who make essay to sow; but nevertheless - the great multitude in that country does not know what bread is, and - never even saw bread."... - - "Few are the people in that land, for little of it is thawed so much - as to be habitable.... But when you ask what they live on in that - country, since they have no corn, then [you must know] that men live - on more things than bread alone. Thus it is said that there is good - pasture and great and good homesteads in Greenland; for people there - have much cattle and sheep, and there is much making of butter and - cheese. The people live much on this, and also on flesh and all kinds - of game, the flesh of reindeer, whale, seal and bear; on this they - maintain themselves in that country." - -We see clearly enough from this how the Greenlanders of the old -settlements on the one hand were dependent on imports from Europe, and on -the other subsisted largely by hunting and fishing. It appears also from a -papal bull of 1282 that the Greenland tithes were paid in ox-hides, -seal-skins and walrus-ivory. - -It has been asserted that Greenland at that time possessed a more -favourable climate, with less ice both on land and sea than at present; -but, amongst other things, the excellent description in the "King's -Mirror," to be mentioned directly, shows clearly enough that such was not -the case. Many will therefore ask what it was that could attract the -Icelanders thither. But to one who knows both countries it will not be so -surprising; in many ways South Greenland appeals more to a Norwegian than -Iceland. It lies in about the same latitude as Bergen and Christiania, and -the beautiful fjords with a number of islands outside, where there are -good channels for sailing and harbours everywhere, make it altogether like -the coast of Norway, and different from the more exposed coasts of -Iceland. Inside the fjords the summer is quite as warm and inviting as in -Iceland; it is true that there is drift-ice outside in early summer, but -that brings good seal-hunting. There was, besides this, walrus-hunting and -whaling, reindeer-hunting, fishing in the sea and in the rivers, fowling, -etc. When we add good pasturage on the shores of the fjords, it will be -understood that it was comparatively easy to support life. - -The grass still grows luxuriantly around the ruins on the Greenland -fjords, and might even to-day support the herds of many a homestead. - - - - -[Illustration] - - -CHAPTER VIII - -VOYAGES TO THE UNINHABITED PARTS OF GREENLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES - - -THE EAST COAST OF GREENLAND - -[Sidenote: Drift-ice] - -The sagas give us scanty information about the east coast of -Greenland--commonly called, in Iceland, the uninhabited regions -("ubygder") of Greenland. The drift-ice renders this coast inaccessible by -sea for the greater part of the year, and it was only very rarely that any -one landed there, and then in most cases through an accident. As a rule -sailors tried as far as possible to keep clear of the East Greenland ice, -and did not come inshore until they were well past Hvarf, as appears from -the ancient sailing-directions for this voyage. The "King's Mirror" (circa -1250) also shows us clearly enough that the old Norsemen had a shrewd -understanding of the ice conditions off these uninhabited regions. It -says: - - "Now in that same sea [i.e., the Greenland sea] there are yet many - more marvels, even though they cannot be accounted for witchcraft - ('skrimslum'). So soon as the greater part of the sea has been - traversed, there is found such a mass of ice as I know not the like of - anywhere else in the world. This ice [i.e., the ice-floes] is some of - it as flat as if it had frozen on the sea itself, four or five cubits - thick, and lies so far from land [i.e., from the east coast of - Greenland] that men may have four or five days' journey across the - ice [to land]. But this ice lies off the land rather to the north-east - ('landnorðr') or north than to the south, south-west, or west; and - therefore any one wishing to make the land should sail round it [i.e., - round Cape Farewell] in a south-westerly and westerly direction, until - he is past the danger of [encountering] all this ice, and then sail - thence to land. But it has constantly happened that men have tried to - make the land too soon, and so have been involved in these ice-floes; - and some have perished in them; but others again have got out, and we - have seen some of these and heard their tales and reports. But one - course was adopted by all who have found themselves involved in this - ice-drift ['ísavök' or 'ísaválkit'], that is, they have taken their - small boats and drawn them up on to the ice with them, and have thus - made for land, but their ship and all their other goods have been left - behind and lost; and some of them have passed four or five days on the - ice before they reached land, and some even longer. These ice-floes - are strange in their nature; sometimes they lie as still as might be - expected, separated by creeks or large fjords; but sometimes they move - with as great rapidity as a ship with a fair wind, and when once they - are under way they travel against the wind as often as with it. There - are indeed some masses of ice in that sea of another shape, which the - Greenlanders call 'falljökla.' Their appearance is that of a high - mountain rising out of the sea, and they do not unite themselves to - other masses of ice, but keep apart." - -This striking description of the ice in the polar current shows that -sailors were sometimes wrecked in it, and reached land on the east coast -of Greenland. - -The story of Snæbjörn Hólmsteinsson and his companions, who may have -reached East Greenland (?), has been given above (p. 264). - -[Sidenote: Thorgils Orrabeinsfostre] - -An early voyage,[251] which is said to have been made along this coast, is -described in the "Floamanna-saga." The Icelandic chief, Thorgils -Orrabeinsfostre, is said to have left Iceland about the year 1001, with -his wife, children, friends and thralls--some thirty persons in all--and -his cattle, to join his friend, Eric the Red, who had invited him to -Greenland. During the autumn they were wrecked on the east coast; and it -was not till four years later, during which time they lived by whaling, -sealing and fishing, and after adventures of many kinds, that Thorgils -arrived at the Eastern Settlement. The saga is of late date, perhaps about -1400; it is full of marvels and not very credible. But the description of -the country, with glaciers coming down to the sea, and ice lying off the -shore for the greater part of the year, cannot have been invented without -some knowledge of the east coast of Greenland; for the inhabited west -coast is entirely different. The narrative of Thorgils' expedition may -therefore have a historical kernel [cf. Nansen, 1890, p. 253; Engl. ed. i. -275]; and moreover it gives a graphic description of the difficulties and -dangers that shipwrecked voyagers have to overcome in arctic waters; but -at the same time it is gratuitously full of superstitions and dreams and -the like, besides other improbabilities: such as the incident of the -travellers suffering such extremities of thirst that they were ready to -drink sea-water (with urine) to preserve their lives,[252] while rowing -along a coast with ice and snow on every hand, where there cannot have -been any lack of drinking water. Thorgils, or the man to whom in the first -place the narrative may be due, may have been wrecked in the autumn on the -east coast of Greenland, near Angmagsalik, or a little to the south of it, -and may then have had a hard struggle before he reached Cape Farewell -along the shore, inside the ice; but that it should have taken four years -is improbable; I have myself in the same way rowed in a boat the greater -part of the same distance along this coast in twelve days. It is hardly -possible that the voyagers should have lost their ship much to the north -of Angmagsalik, as the ice lies off the coast there usually the whole year -round; nor is it credible that they should have arrived far north near -Scoresby Sound, north of 70° N. lat., where the approach is easier; for -they had no business to be there, if they were making for the Eastern -Settlement. - -In the Icelandic Annals there are frequent mentions of voyagers to -Greenland being shipwrecked, and most of these cases doubtless occurred -off East Greenland. In the sagas there are many narratives of such wrecks, -or of people who have come to grief on this coast. - -[Sidenote: "Lik-Lodin"] - -In Björn Jónsson's version of the somewhat extravagant saga of Lik-Lodin -we read:[253] - - "Formerly most ships were always wrecked in this ice from the Northern - bays, as is related at length in the Tosta þáttr; for 'Lika-Loðinn' - had his nickname from this, that in summer he often ransacked the - northern uninhabited regions and brought to church the corpses of men - that he found in caves, whither they had come from the ice or from - shipwreck; and by them there often lay carved runes about all the - circumstances of their misfortunes and sufferings." - -The Northern bays here must mean "Hafsbotn," or the Polar Sea to the north -of Norway and Iceland; the ice will then be that which thence drifts -southward along the east coast of Greenland. According to another ancient -MS. of the Tosta-þáttr,[254] Lik-Lodin had his name (which means -"Corpse-Lodin") "because he had brought the bodies of Finn Fegin and his -crew from Finn's booths, east of the glaciers in Greenland." This also -shows that the east coast is referred to; it is said to have happened a -few years before Harold Hardråda's fall in 1066. - -[Sidenote: Einar Sokkason] - -In the Flateyjarbók's narrative of Einar Sokkason, who sailed from -Greenland to Norway in 1123 to bring a bishop to the country, it is -said[255] that he was accompanied on his return from Norway by a certain -Arnbjörn Austman (i.e., man from the east, from Norway) and several -Norwegians on another ship, who wished to settle in Greenland; but they -were lost on the voyage. Some years later, about 1129, they were found -dead on the east coast of Greenland, near the Hvitserk glacier, by a -Greenlander, Sigurd Njálsson. "He often went seal-hunting in the autumn to -the uninhabited regions [i.e., on the east coast]; he was a great seaman; -they were fifteen altogether. In the summer they came to the Hvitserk -glacier." They found there some human fire-places, and farther on, inside -a fjord, they found a great ship, lying on and by the mouth of a stream, -and a hut and a tent, and there were corpses lying in the tent, and some -more lay on the ground outside. It was Arnbjörn and his men, who had -stayed there. - -[Sidenote: Ingimund the priest] - -In Gudmund Arason's Saga and in the Icelandic Annals [Storm, 1888, pp. -22, 120, 121, 180, 181, 324, 477] it is related that in 1189 the ship -"Stangarfoli," with the priest Ingimund Thorgeirsson and others on -board--on the way from Bergen to Iceland--was driven westwards to the -uninhabited regions of Greenland, and every man perished, - - "but it was known by the finding of their ship and seven men in a cave - in the uninhabited regions fourteen winters[256] later; there were - Ingimund the priest, he was whole and uncorrupted, and so were his - clothes; but six skeletons lay there by his side, and wax,[257] and - runes telling how they lost their lives. And men thought this a great - sign of how God approved of Ingimund the priest's conduct that he - should have lain out so long with whole body and unhurt." [Cf. "Grönl. - hist. Mind.," ii. p. 754; Biskupa Sögur, 1858, i. p. 435]. - -We see that the legend of the Seven Sleepers, perhaps from Paulus -Warnefridi (see above, p. 156), has been borrowed; but here it is only one -of the seven who is holy and unhurt. The shipwreck itself may nevertheless -be historical.[258] The craft was doubtless lost on the southern east -coast of Greenland, near Cape Farewell, which part was commonly -frequented, and where the remains were found. - -[Sidenote: Einar Thorgeirsson] - -It is also related in Gudmund Arason's Saga that, some time before this, -another ship was lost in the uninhabited regions of Greenland, with the -priest Ingimund's brother, Einar Thorgeirsson, on board; but the crew -quarrelled over the food. Einar escaped with two others and made for the -settlement (i.e., the Eastern Settlement) across the glaciers (i.e., the -inland ice). There they lost their lives, when only a day's journey from -the settlement, and they were found one or two winters [i.e., years ?] -later (Einar's body was then whole and unhurt). The shipwreck may -consequently be supposed to have taken place on the southernmost part of -the east coast. - -[Sidenote: New Land] - -In the Icelandic Annals it is mentioned (in various MSS.) that a new land -was discovered west of Iceland in 1285. A MS. of annals, of about 1306 -(written, that is, about twenty years after the event), says that in 1285: -"fandz land vestr undan Islande" (a land was found to the west of -Iceland). A later MS. (of about 1360) says of the same discovery: "Funduz -Duneyiar" (the Down Islands were found). In another old MS. of annals -there is an addition by a later hand: "fundu Helga synir nyia land -Adalbrandr ok Þorvalldr" (Helge's sons Adalbrand and Thorvald found the -new land). Finally we read in a late copy of an old MS. of annals: "Helga -synir sigldu i Groenlandz obygðir"[259] (Helge's sons sailed to the -uninhabited regions of Greenland). According to this last statement, this -would refer to the discovery of land on the east coast of Greenland, west -of Iceland.[260] It may have been at Angmagsalik or farther south on the -east coast that Helge's sons--two Icelandic priests--landed.[261] In the -late summer this part is usually free from ice. From other Icelandic -notices it may be concluded that they returned to Iceland the same autumn. -We see that some years later the Norwegian king Eric attempted to get -together an expedition to this new land under the so-called Landa-Rolf, -who was sent to Iceland for the purpose in 1289. In 1290 Rolf went about -Iceland, inviting people to join the Newland expedition; but it is -uncertain whether it ever came to anything, and in 1295 Landa-Rolf died. -All this points to the east coast of Greenland having been little known at -that time, otherwise a landing there could not be spoken of as the -discovery of a new land; and it is not easy to see why the king should -send Rolf to Iceland to get up an expedition to a country which, as they -must have been aware, was closed by ice for the greater part of the year. -As to the situation on this coast of islands to which the name of Down -Islands might be appropriate, I shall not venture to offer an opinion. - -[Illustration: The southern glacier (Hvitserk) in 62° 10' N. lat.; seen -from the drift-ice in July 1888] - -[Sidenote: The northern east coast] - -In the introduction to Hauk's Landnámabók we read: "en doegr sigling er -til vbygda a Groenalandi or Kolbeins ey i norðr" (it is a day's sail to -the uninhabited regions of Greenland northward from Kolbein's island). -Kolbein's island is the little Mevenklint, out at sea to the north of -Grim's island and 56 nautical miles (100 kilometres) north of Iceland. The -uninhabited regions here referred to are most probably East Greenland at -about 69° N. lat. (Egede Land), which lies to the north-west (to the north -there is no land, unless the magnetic north is meant). But it is scarcely -credible that the Icelanders ever reached land on this part of the coast, -which is nearly always closed by ice. It may be supposed that they often -sailed along the edge of the ice when seal-hunting, as the bladder-nose is -abundant there in summer; they may then have seen the land inside, and so -knew of it, without having reached it. In this way the statement as to the -distance may have originated, and the day's sail may mean to the edge of -the ice, whence the land is visible. - - According to statements in the fourth part of the "Rymbegla" [1780, p. - 482], a "doegr's" sail (doegr == half a day of twenty-four hours) was - equivalent to a distance of two degrees of latitude. But even if we - accept this large estimate, it will not suffice for the distance - between Mevenklint and the coast of Greenland to the north-west of it, - which is about equal to three degrees of latitude (180 geographical - miles). - -It has been assumed that the Icelanders and Norwegians were acquainted -with the east coast of Greenland north of 70° N. lat., and visited it for -hunting seals, etc. But in order to reach it, it is nearly always -necessary to sail through ice, and during the greater part of the summer -one has to go as far north as Jan Mayen, or farther, to find the ice -sufficiently open to allow one to reach the land. It is a somewhat tricky -piece of sailing, which requires an intimate knowledge of the ice -conditions; and it is not to be expected that any one should have acquired -it without having frequently been among the ice with a definite purpose. -That storm-driven vessels should have been accidentally cast ashore on -this coast is unlikely; as a rule they would be stopped by the ice before -they came so far. We may doubtless believe that the Norwegians and -Icelanders sailed over the whole Arctic Ocean, along the edge of the ice, -when hunting seals and the valuable walrus; but that on their sealing -expeditions they should have made a practice of penetrating far into the -ice is not credible, since their clinker-built craft were not adapted to -sailing among ice; nor have we any information that would point to this. -It is nevertheless not entirely impossible that they should have reached -the northern east coast, since it may be comparatively free from ice in -late summer and autumn. There would be plenty of seals, and especially of -walrus, and on land there were reindeer and musk ox, which latter, -however, is nowhere mentioned in Norse literature. - -[Sidenote: Glaciers on the east coast] - -The old sea-route, the so-called "Eiriks-stefna," from Iceland to -Greenland (i.e., the Greenland Settlements) went westward from Snæfellsnes -until one sighted the glaciers of Greenland, when one steered south-west -along the drift-ice until well past Hvarf, etc. This is the route that -Eric followed, according to the oldest accounts in the Landnáma, when he -sailed to Greenland, and the glacier he first sighted in Greenland is -there called "Miðjokull" (see above, p. 267). This name (the middle -glacier) shows that two other glaciers must have been known, one to the -north and one to the south, as indeed is explained in a far later work, -the so-called "Gripla" (date uncertain, copied in the seventeenth century -by Björn Jónsson), where we read:[262] - - "From Bjarmeland [i.e., northern Russia] uninhabited regions lie - northward as far as that which is called Greenland. But there are bays - (botnar gánga þar fyrir) and the land turns towards the south-west; - there are glaciers and fjords, and islands lying off the glaciers; as - far as [or rather, beyond] the first glacier they have not explored; - to the second is a journey of half a month, to the third a week's; it - is nearest the settlement; it is called Hvitserk; there the land turns - to the north; but he who would not miss the settlement, let him steer - to the south-west" [that is, to get round and clear of the drift-ice - that lies off Cape Farewell]. - -[Illustration: The mountains from Tingmiarmiut Fjord northward in 62° 35' -N. lat. Seen from the drift-ice in July 1888] - -Not taking the distances into account, a sail of half a month and of a -week, this is an admirable description of East Greenland from about 69° N. -lat. southwards. By "glaciers" is obviously meant parts of the inland ice, -which is the most noticeable feature of this coast, and which could not -easily be omitted in a description of it. When we read that there are -glaciers and fjords, and that islands lie off the glaciers, then every one -who is familiar with this part of Greenland must be reminded of what -catches the eye at the first sight of this coast from the sea: the dark -stretches of land, not covered by snow, and the islands, lying in front of -the vast white sheath of the inland ice, which is indented by bays and -fjords. The three glaciers mentioned cannot, in my opinion, be three -separate mountain summits covered with snow or ice, as has frequently been -supposed. There is such a number of high summits in this country that, -although I have sailed along the greater part of it, I am unable to name -three as specially prominent. If one has seen from the sea the white -snow-sheet of Vatnajökel in Iceland (compare also, on a smaller scale, the -Hardangerjökel and others in Norway), then perhaps it will be easier to -understand what the ancient Icelanders meant by their three glaciers on -the east coast of Greenland, where the mass of glacier has a still -mightier and more striking effect. Now, on that part of it which they and -the Greenlanders knew, or had seen from the sea--and which extends towards -the south-west (as we read) from about 70° N. lat.[263]--there are -precisely three tracts where the inland ice covers the whole country and -reaches to the very shore, so that the glacier surface is visible from the -sea, and forms the one conspicuous feature that must strike every one who -sails along the outer edge of the ice (or drifts in the ice, as I have -twice done). The northernmost tract is to the north of 67° N. lat. (see -map, p. 259); there the inland ice covers the coast down to the sea -itself. This was the "northern glacier," which no one was able to -approach on account of the drift-ice, but which was only seen from a great -distance. It was not until a few years ago that Captain Amdrup succeeded -in travelling along this part of the country in boats, inshore of the ice. - -[Illustration: The northern part of the "Miðjokull" (to the left) and the -country to the west of Sermilik-fjord, in 65° 40' N. lat. Seen from the -drift-ice in July 1888] - -The second tract is the coast by Pikiutdlek and Umivik, south of -Angmagsalik, between Sermilik-fjord (65° 36' N. lat.) and Cape Mösting -(63° 40' N. lat.), where the inland ice covers the whole coast land, and -only a few mountain summits, or "Nunataks," rise up, and bare, scattered -islands and tongues of land lie in front. This was the "Miðjokull" (middle -glacier), which was the first land made in sailing west from Snæfellsnes, -and which was a good and unmistakable sea-mark. In some MSS. it is called -"hinn mikla Jokull" (the great glacier). There the sea is often -comparatively free of ice in August and September, but we may be sure that -the voyagers to Greenland did not as a rule try to land there; in the -words of Ivar Bárdsson's directions, they were to "take their course from -Snæfellsnes and sail due west for a day and a night, but then to steer to -the south-west, in order to avoid the above-mentioned ice" (cf. above, p. -262). - -The third tract is the coast south of Tingmiarmiut and Mogens Heinesen's -Fjord (62° 20' N. lat.), where again the inland ice is predominant, and -the only conspicuous feature that is first seen from the sea. This was the -third or "southern glacier"; it lay nearest to Hvarf and was the sure -sea-mark before rounding the southern end of the country. It appears to me -that in this way we have a natural explanation of what these disputed -glaciers were. Between them lay long stretches of mountainous coast. -Northward from Cape Farewell to the "southern glacier" are high mountains, -so that one does not see the even expanse of the inland ice from the sea. -North of the "southern glacier" is the fjord-indented mountainous country -about Tingmiarmiut, Umanak and Skjoldungen, and so northward as far as -Cape Mösting; there the mighty white line of the inland ice is wholly -concealed behind a wall of lofty peaks. On the north side of the -"Miðjokull" again is the mountain country about Angmagsalik, from -Sermilik-fjord north-eastwards, with a high range of mountains, so that -neither is the inland ice seen from the sea there. The most conspicuous -summit of this range is Ingolf's Fjeld. - -[Illustration: The mountains near Angmagsalik, east of Sermilik-fjord. -Seen from the drift-ice in July 1888] - -[Sidenote: Bláserkr] - -Thus, according to my view, the statements as to the glaciers on the east -coast of Greenland are easily explained. It is a different matter when we -come to the two names "Bláserkr" and "Hvítserkr," which, in later times -especially, were those most frequently used. They have often been confused -and interchanged, and while "Bláserkr" is found in the oldest authorities, -the name "Hvítserkr" becomes more and more common in later writers. More -recent authors have frequently regarded them as standing in a certain -opposition to each other, one meaning a dark glacier or summit, and the -other a white one, which may indeed seem natural. But it is striking that, -while "Bláserkr" alone is mentioned in the oldest authorities, such as the -Landnáma (and the Saga of Eric the Red, in the Hauksbók), it soon -disappears almost entirely from literature, and is replaced by -"Hvítserkr," which is first mentioned in MSS. of the fourteenth century -and later; and in the fifteenth century MS. (A.M. 557, qv.) of the Saga of -Eric the Red (as in other late extracts from the same saga) we find -"Hvítserkr" instead of "Bláserkr."[264] I have not found the two names -used contemporaneously in any Icelandic MS.; it is either one or the -other, and nowhere are both names found as designating two separate places -on the coast of Greenland. It may therefore be somewhat rash to assume, as -has been done hitherto, that they were two "mountains," one of them lying -a certain distance to the north on the east coast of Greenland, and the -other near Cape Farewell. The view that they were mountains is not a new -one. In Ivar Bárdsson's description Hvítserk is called "a high mountain" -near Hvarf; while Björn Jónsson of Skardsá says that it is a "fuglabiarg i -landnordurhafi" (i.e., a fowling cliff in the Polar Sea). - -[Illustration: The inland ice at "Miðjokull." In the centre the mountain -Kiatak, 64° 20' N. lat. Seen from the drift-ice in July 1888] - -From the meaning of the names--the dark ("blá") sark and the white -sark--we should be inclined to think that they were applied to -snow-fields, or glaciers, like, for instance, such names as Snehætta and -Lodalskåpa in Norway. But another possibility is that it was the _form_ of -the sark that was thought of, and that the names were applied to mountain -summits; in a similar way "stakk" (stack, or gown) is used for peaks in -Norway (cf. Lövstakken near Bergen); and in Shetland corresponding names -are known for high cliffs on the sea: Blostakk (== Blástakkr), Grostakk -(== Grástakkr), Kwitastakk (== Hvíti stakkr), Gronastakk and Gronistakk -(== Groeni stakkr, cliffs with grass-grown tops), etc. [cf. J. Jakobsen, -1901, p. 151]. - -[Illustration: The mountains about Ingolf's Fjeld, seen from a distance in -June 1888] - -In the Landnámabók (both Hauksbók and Sturlubók) we read: "Eirekr sigldi -vndan Snæfells nese. En hann kom utan at Midiokli þar sem Bláserkr -heitir." (Eric sailed from Snæfellsnes, and made the Mid-Glacier at a -place called Blue-Sark.) In Eric the Red's Saga this has been altered to -"hann kom utan at jokli þeím er Bláserkr heitir." (He made the glacier -that is called Blue-Sark.) It is obvious that the Landnáma text is the -more original, and thus two explanations are possible: either Bláserkr is -a part of the glacier, or it is a dark mountain seen on this part of the -coast. I cannot remember any place where the inland ice of this district, -seen at a distance from the drift-ice, had a perceptibly darker colour; -its effect is everywhere a brilliant white. On approaching an ice-glacier, -as, for instance, the Colberger Heide (64° N. lat., cf. Nansen, 1890, p. -370; Engl. ed., i. 423), it may appear somewhat darker and of a bluish -tinge; but this can never have been a recognisable landmark at any -distance. One is therefore tempted to believe that Bláserkr was a black, -bare mountain-peak. But the peaks that show up along the edge of the -"Miðjokull" (between Sermilik and Cape Mösting) are all comparatively low; -the mountain-summit Kiatak, near Umivik [see Nansen, 1890, pp. 370, 374, -444; Engl. ed., i. 423, 429, ii. 13], answers best as regards shape, and -is conspicuous enough, but it is only 2450 feet high. It is possible that -Bláserkr did not lie in Miðjokull itself, but was the lofty Ingolf's -Fjeld (7300 feet high), which is the first mountain one sees far out at -sea, on approaching East Greenland from Iceland; and it is seen to the -north in sailing past Cape Dan and in towards Miðjokull. It may then have -been confused with the latter in later times. But this supposition is -doubtful. The most natural way for the Icelanders when making for -Greenland must in any case have been first to make the edge of the ice, -west-north-west from Snæfellsnes, when they sighted Ingolf's Fjeld (or -Bláserkr ?); then they followed the ice west or west-south-west, and came -straight in to Miðjokull, at about 65° N. lat., or the same latitude as -Snæfellsnes. Here the edge of the ice turns southward, following the land, -and the course has to be altered in order to sail past the southern -glacier and round Hvarf. This agrees well with most descriptions of the -voyage, and among them the most trustworthy. But the names have often been -confused; Hvítserk and Bláserk especially have been interchanged;[265] and -this is not surprising, since the men who wrote in Iceland in the -fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were themselves unacquainted with these -waters. - -[Sidenote: Hvítserkr] - -The name "Hvítserkr" would appear most appropriate to a glacier, and in -reviewing the various contexts in which it is mentioned in the narratives, -my impression is rather that in later times it was often used as a name -for the inland ice itself on the east and south coasts of Greenland; and -as, on the voyage to the Eastern Settlement, the inland ice was most seen -on the southern part of the east coast, which was also resorted to for -seal-hunting, the name Hvítserk became especially applied to the southern -glacier, as in the tale of Einar Sokkason (see above, p. 283); but it -might also be the mid-glacier. This view is supported by, for instance, -the so-called Walkendorff addition to Ivar Bárdsson's description, where -the following passage occurs about the voyage from Iceland to Greenland -["Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 491]: - - "Item when one is south of Breedefjord in Iceland, then he must steer - westward until he sees Hvidserch in Greenland, and then steer - south-west, until the above mentioned Hvidserch is to the north of - him; thus may one with God's help freely seek Greenland, without much - danger from ice, and with God's help find Eric's fjord." - -It is clearly enough the inland ice itself, the most prominent feature on -the east coast, that is here called Hvidserch. It is first seen at -Miðjokull, in coming westwards from Iceland; and one has the inland ice -(ice-blink) on the north when about to round Cape Farewell. No single -mountain can possibly fit this description; but this does not exclude the -possibility of others having erroneously connected the name with such a -mountain, in the same way as Danish sailors of recent times have applied -it to a lofty island, "Dadloodit," in the southernmost part of Greenland -["Grönl. hist. Mind.," i. p. 453]. The fact that Hvítserk in Ivar -Bárdsson's description is called "a high mountain," which is seen one day -before reaching Hvarf, must be due to a similar misunderstanding. As -Bláserk, although originally it may have been a mountain, was confounded -with the Mid-Glacier, it is comprehensible that the name Bláserk should be -gradually superseded by Hvítserk. - -In one or two passages of the old narratives it is related that when one -was half-way between Iceland and Greenland one could see at the same time, -in clear weather, Snæfells glacier in Iceland and Bláserk (or -Hvítserk)[266] in Greenland. According to my experience this is not -possible, even if we call in the aid of a powerful refraction, or even -mirage; but, on the other hand, one can see the reflections of the land or -the ice on the sky, and when sailing (along the edge of the ice) eastwards -or westwards, one can very well see the top of the Snæfells glacier and -the top of Ingolf's Fjeld on the same day. - -[Sidenote: Place-names on the east coast] - -The Icelandic accounts mention several places in East Greenland, such as -"Kross-eyjar," "Finnsbuðir," "Berufjord" ("bera" == she-bear), and the -fjord "Öllum-Lengri." Frequent expeditions for seal-hunting were made to -these places from the Eastern Settlement, and they must have lain near it, -just north of Cape Farewell. - - -VOYAGES TO THE NORTHERN WEST COAST OF GREENLAND, NORÐRSETUR, AND BAFFIN'S -BAY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - -[Sidenote: Runic stone from 72° 55' N. lat.] - -To the north of the northernmost inhabited fjords of the Western -Settlement lay the uninhabited regions. Thither the Greenlanders resorted -every summer for seal-hunting; there lay what they called the "Norðrsetur" -("seta" == place of residence; the northern stations or fishing-places), -and it is doubtless partly to these districts that reference is made in -Eric the Red's Saga, where it is said of Thorhall the Hunter that "he had -long been with Eric hunting in summer," and that "he had a wide -acquaintance with the uninhabited regions." We have no information as to -how far north the longest expeditions of the Greenlanders extended, but we -know that they reached the neighbourhood of the modern Upernivik; for, -twenty-eight miles to the north-west of it--on a little island called -Kingigtorsuak, in 72° 55' N. lat.--three cairns are said to have been -found early in the nineteenth century (before 1824); and in one of them a -small runic stone, with the inscription: "Erling Sigvathsson, Bjarne -Thordarson, and Endride Oddson on the Sunday before 'gagndag' [i.e., April -25] erected these cairns and cleared ..."[267] Then follow six secret -runes, which it was formerly sought to interpret, erroneously, as a date, -1135. Professor L. F. Läffler has explained them as meaning ice;[268] it -would then read "and cleared away ice." Judging from the language, the -inscription would be of the fourteenth century;[269] Professor Magnus -Olsen (in a letter to me) thinks it might date from about 1300, or perhaps -a little later. Why the cairns were built seems mysterious. It is possible -that they were sea-marks for fishing-grounds; but it is not likely that -the Greenlanders were in the habit of going so far north. One would be -more inclined to think they were set up as a monument of a remarkable -expedition, which had penetrated to regions previously unknown; but why -build more than one cairn? Was there one for each man? The most remarkable -thing is that the cairns are stated to have been set up in April, when the -sea in that locality is covered with ice. The three men must either have -wintered there in the north, which seems the more probable alternative; -they may then have been starving, and the object of the cairns was to call -the attention of possible future travellers to their bodies--or they may -have come the same spring over the ice from the south, and in that case -they most probably travelled with Eskimo dog-sledges, and were on a -hunting expedition, perhaps for bears. But they cannot have travelled -northwards from the Eastern or Western Settlement the same spring. In any -case they may have been in company with Eskimo, whom we know to have lived -on Disco Bay, and probably also farther south at that time. From them the -Norsemen may have learnt to hunt on the ice, by which they were able to -support themselves in the north during the winter. - -[Illustration: Runic stone from Kingigtorsuak (after A. A. Björnbo)] - -The earliest mention of hunting expeditions to the northern west coast of -Greenland is found in the "Historia Norwegiæ" (thirteenth century), where -it is said that hunters "to the north" (of the Greenlanders) come across -"certain small people whom they call Skrælings" (see later, chapter x.). - -[Sidenote: Norðrsetur] - -There are few references to the "Norðrsetur" in the literature that has -been preserved. A lay on the subject, "Norðrsetudrápa," was known in the -Middle Ages, written by an otherwise unknown skald, Sveinn. Only a few -short fragments of it are known from "Skálda," Snorra-Edda [cf. "Grönl. -hist. Mind.," iii. pp. 235 ff.]. It is wild and gloomy, and speaks of the -ugly sons of Fornjót [the storms] who were the first to drift [i.e., with -snow], and of Ægi's storm-loving daughters [the waves], who wove and drew -tight the hard sea-spray, fed by the frost from the mountains. - -Reference is also made to these hunting expeditions to the north in -"Skáld-Helga Rimur," where we read ["Grönl. hist. Mind.," ii. p. 492]: - - "Gumnar fóru i Greipar norðr - Grönlands var þar bygðar sporðr. - virðar áttu viða hvar - veiðiskapar at leita þar. - - Skeggi enn prúði skip sitt bjó, - skútunni rendi norðr um sjó, - höldum ekki hafit vannst, - hvarf i burtu, en aldri fannst."[270] - - - Men went north to Greipar, - There was the end of Greenland's habitations. - Men might there far and wide - Seek for hunting. - - Skegge the Stately fitted out his ship, - With his vessel he sailed north in the sea, - By the men the sea was not conquered, - They were lost, and never found. - -It appears from Håkon Håkonsson's Saga that the Norðrsetur were a -well-known part of Greenland; for we read of the submission of the -Greenlanders to the Norwegian Crown that they promised - - "to pay the king fines for all manslaughter, whether of Norsemen or - Greenlanders, and whether they were killed in the settlements or in - Norðrsetur, and in all the district to the north under the star [i.e., - the pole-star] the king should have his weregild" ["Grönl. hist. - Mind.," ii. p. 779]. - -In Björn Jónsson's "Grönlands Annaler" (cf. above, p. 263) these -expeditions to the Norðrsetur are mentioned in more detail, as well as a -remarkable voyage to the north in 1267 ["Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. pp. 238 -ff.]. We there read: - - "All the great franklins of Greenland had large ships and vessels - built to send to the 'Norðrsetur' for seal-hunting, with all kinds of - sealing gear ('veiðiskap') and cut-up wood ('telgðum viðum'); and - sometimes they themselves accompanied the expeditions--as is related - at length in the tales, both in the Skáld-Helga saga and in that of - Thordis; there most of what they took was seal-oil, for all - seal-hunting was better there than at home in the settlements; melted - seal-fat was poured into sacks of hide [literally boats of hide], and - hung up against the wind on boards, till it thickened, then it was - prepared as it should be. The Norðrsetu-men had their booths or houses - ('skála') both in Greipar and in Króksfjarðarheiðr - [Kroksfjords-heath]. Driftwood is found there, but no growing trees. - This northern end of Greenland is most liable to take up all the wood - and other drift that comes from the bays of Markland...." - -In an extract which follows: "On the voyage northward to the uninhabited -regions" (probably from a different and later source) we read: - - "The Greenlanders are constantly obliged to make voyages to the - uninhabited regions in the northern land's end or point, both for the - sake of wood [i.e., driftwood] and sealing; it is called Greipar and - Króksfjarðarheiðr; it is a great and long sea voyage thither;[271] as - the Skáld-Helga saga clearly bears witness, where it is said of it: - - "'Garpar kvomu i Greypar norðr. The men came to Greipar in the north, - Grönlands er þar bryggju sporðr.'[272] There is the bridge-spur (end) - of Greenland. - - "Sometimes this sealing season ('vertið') of theirs in Greipar or - Króksfjardarheidr is called Norðrseta." - -[Sidenote: Greipar and Króksfjardarheidr. Their situation] - -According to this description we must look for Nordrsetur, with Greipar -and Króksfjardarheidr, to the north of the northern extremity of the -Western Settlement, which from other descriptions must have been at -Straumsfjord, about 66-1/2° N. lat. (see map, p. 266). There in the north, -then, there was said to be driftwood, and plenty of seals. The latter -circumstance is especially suited to the districts about Holstensborg and -northward to Egedes Minde (i.e., between 66° and 68-1/2° N. lat.), and -further to Disco Bay and Vaigat (see map, p. 259). Besides abundance of -seals there was also good walrus-hunting, and this was valuable on account -of the tusks and hide, which were Greenland's chief articles of export -[cf. for instance, "The King's Mirror," above, p. 277]. There was also -narwhale, the tusk or spear of which was even more valuable than walrus -tusks. "Greipar"[273] may have been near Holstensborg, about 67° N. lat. -"Króksfjarðarheiðr" may have been at Disco Bay or Vaigat.[274] It also -agrees with this that the northern point of Greenland ("þessi norðskagi -Groenlands") was in Norðrsetur, and that "Greipar" was at the land's end -("bygðar sporðr") of Greenland. For what the Greenlanders generally -understood by Greenland was the Eastern and Western Settlements, and the -broad extent of coast lying to the north of them, which was not covered by -the inland ice, and which reached to Disco Bay. It was the part where -human habitation was possible, and where there was no inland ice; it was -therefore natural for them to call Greipar the northern end of the -country. - - In an old chorography, copied by Björn Jónsson under the name of - "Gronlandiæ vetus chorographia"[275] (in his "Grönlands Annaler"), - there is mention of the Western Settlement and of the districts to the - north of it. After naming the fjords in the Eastern Settlement it - proceeds: "Then it is six days' rowing, six men in a six-oared boat, - to the Western Settlement (then the fjords are enumerated),[276] then - from this Western Settlement to Lysefjord it is six days' rowing, - thence six days' rowing to Karlsbuða [Karl's booths], then three days' - rowing to Biarneyiar [Bear-islands or island], twelve days' rowing - around ... ey,[277] Eisunes, Ædanes in the north. Thus it is reckoned - that there are 190 dwellings [estates] in the Eastern Settlement, and - 90 in the Western." This description is obscure on many points. From - other ancient authorities it appears that Lysefjord was the - southernmost fjord in the Western Settlement [now Fiskerfjord, cf. G. - Storm, 1887, p. 35; F. Jónsson, 1899, p. 315], but how in that case - there could be six days' rowing from this Western Settlement to - Lysefjord seems incomprehensible. It might be supposed that it is the - distance from the southern extremity of the Western Settlement that is - intended, and thus the passage has been translated in "Grönl. hist. - Mind.," iii. p. 229; but then it is strange that in the original MS. - the fjords of the settlement should have been enumerated before the - distance to the first fjord was given. If this, however, be correct, - it would then have been twelve days' rowing from the northernmost - fjord in the Eastern Settlement to Lysefjord in the Western. This - might perhaps agree with Ivar Bárdsson's description of Greenland, - where it is stated that "from the Eastern Settlement to the Western - Settlement is twelve sea-leagues, and all uninhabited." These twelve - sea-leagues may be the above-mentioned twelve days' rowing, repeated - in this form. It was a good two hundred nautical miles (forty ancient - sea-leagues) from the northernmost fjord of the Eastern Settlement to - the interior of Lysefjord. With twelve days' rowing, this would be at - the rate of eighteen miles a day; but if we allow for their keeping - the winding course inside the islands, it will be considerably longer. - If we put a day's rowing from Lysefjord northward at, say, twenty - nautical miles, then "Karlsbuðir" would lie in about 65°, and - "Biarneyiar" in about 66°; but there is then a difficulty about this - island, together with Eisunes and Ædanes, which it is said to have - taken twelve days to row round. On the other hand, it is a good two - hundred miles round Disco Island, so that this might correspond to - twelve days' rowing at eighteen miles a day. And if this island is - intended, then either the number of days' rowing northward along the - coast must be increased, or the starting-point was not the Lysefjord - (Fiskerfjord) that lay on the extreme south of the Western Settlement. - But the description is altogether too uncertain to admit of any - definite conclusion. It is not mentioned whether the northern - localities, Karlsbuðir and farther north, were included in Nordrsetur, - but it seems probable that they were. - -In this connection the statement in Ivar Bárdsson's description must also -be borne in mind: - -[Sidenote: Himinrað and Hunenrioth] - - "Item there lies in the north, farther from the Western Settlement, a - great mountain that is called Himinraðzfjall,[278] and farther than to - this mountain must no man sail, if he would preserve his life from the - many whirlpools which there lie round all the ocean." - -It is true that Ivar's description as a whole does not seem to be very -trustworthy as regards details, nor do the whirlpools here spoken of tend -to inspire confidence, suggesting as they do that it was near the earth's -limit, where the ocean ends in one or more vast abysses; but it is -nevertheless possible that the mountain in question may have been an -actual landmark in the extreme north, on that part of the west coast of -Greenland to which voyages were habitually made, and in that case it must -have been situated in "Nordrsetur." - - Mention may also be made of a puzzling scholium to Adam of Bremen's - work [cf. Lappenberg, 1838, pp. 851 f.]; it was added at a late - period, ostensibly from "Danish fragments," but the form of the names - betrays a Norse origin, and we must suppose that it is derived from - ancient Norwegian or Icelandic sources. The following is a translation - of the Latin text: - - "From Norway to Iceland is fourteen dozen leagues ('duodene leucarum') - across the sea (or XIII. dozen sea-leagues, that is, 168 - leagues).[279] From Iceland as far as the green land ('terram - viridem') Gronlandt is about fourteen dozen ('duodenæ'). There is a - promontory and it is called 'Huerff' [i.e., Hvarf], and there snow - lies continually and it is called 'Hwideserck.' From 'Hwideserck' as - far as 'Sunderbondt' is ten dozen leagues ('duodenæ leucarum'); from - 'Sunderbondt' as far as 'Norderbondt' is eleven dozen leagues (d. l.). - From 'Nordbundt' to 'Hunenrioth' is seventeen dozen leagues, and here - men resort in order to kill white bears and 'Tauwallen'" ["tandhvaler" - (?)--"tusk-whales"--i.e., walrus and narwhale (?)].[280] - - This passage is difficult to understand. "Sunderbondt" and - "Norderbondt" are probably to be regarded as translations of the - Norwegian "Syd-botten" and "Nord-botten." The latter might be the - Polar Sea, or "Hafsbotn," north of Iceland and Norway; on Claudius - Clavus's map this is called "Nordhindh Bondh" (Nancy map) and - "Nordenbodhn" (Vienna text).[281] But in that case we should have to - suppose that the distances referred to a voyage from Norway to - Iceland, from thence to Hvarf and Hvitserk, and then back again - northward along the east coast of Greenland. It seems more probable - that the direction of the voyage was supposed to be continued round - Hvarf and up along the west coast; but where "Sunderbondt" and - "Norderbondt" are to be looked for on that coast is difficult to say; - the names would most naturally apply to two fjords or bays, and in - some way or other these might be connected with the Eastern and - Western Settlements; "Norderbondt" might, for instance, have come to - mean the largest fjord, Godthaabs-fjord, in the Western Settlement. - Since "hún" in Old Norse means a bear-cub or young bear, one might be - inclined to connect "Hunenrioth" with Bjarn-eyar, where perhaps bears - were hunted; but in that case "-rioth" must be taken to be the Old - Norse "hrjotr" (growl, roar), which would be an unlikely name for - islands or lands. It is more reasonable to suppose that it means the - same as the above-mentioned mountain "Himinrað," from Ivar Bárdsson's - description. It might then be probable that this was called "Himinroð" - (i.e., flushing of the sky, sun-gold, from the root-form "rioða") a - natural name for a high mountain;[282] by an error in writing or - reading this might easily become "Hunenrioth," as it might also become - "Himinrað." Thus it is possibly a mountain in Nordrsetur (see above). - But in any case the distances are impossible as they stand, and until - more light has been thrown upon this scholium, we cannot attach much - importance to it. - -[Sidenote: Nordrsetur not beyond Baffin's Bay] - -For many reasons it is unreasonable to look for "Greipar" and -"Króksfjardarheidr" so far north as Smith Sound or Jones Sound (or -Lancaster Sound), as, amongst others in recent times, Professor A. Bugge -[1898] and Captain G. Isachsen [1907] have done:[283] - -(1) In the first place this would assume that the Greenlanders on their -Nordrsetu expeditions sailed right across the ice-blocked and difficult -Baffin's Bay and Melville Bay every summer, and back again in the autumn, -in their small clinker-built vessels, which were not suited for sailing -among the ice. We are told indeed (see above, p. 299) that the franklins -had large ships and vessels for this voyage; but this was written in -Iceland by men who were not themselves acquainted with the conditions in -Greenland, and the statement doubtless means no more than that these -vessels, or rather boats, were large in comparison to the small boats -(perhaps for the most part boats of hides) which they usually employed in -their home fisheries. Timber for shipbuilding was not easy to obtain in -Greenland. Drift-wood would not go very far in building boats, to say -nothing of larger vessels, and they must have depended on an occasional -cargo of timber from Norway, or perhaps what they could themselves fetch -from Markland. They could hardly have got the material for building -vessels suited for sailing through the ice of Baffin's Bay in this way. -Moreover, we know from several sources that there was great scarcity of -rivets and iron nails in Greenland; so that vessels were largely built -with wooden nails. In 1189 a Greenlander, Asmund Kastanrasti, came with -twelve others from Kross-eyjar in Greenland to Iceland "in a ship that was -fastened together with wooden nails alone, save that it was also bound -with thongs.... He had also been in Finnsbuðir." He did not sail from -Iceland till the following year, and was then shipwrecked.[284] This ship -must have been one of the largest and best they had in Greenland. It is -therefore impossible that they should have been able to keep up any -constant communication with the countries on the north side of Baffin's -Bay. - -(2) Then comes the question: what reason would they have had for exposing -themselves to the many dangers involved in the long northward voyage -through the ice? Their purpose may have been chiefly to kill seals and -collect driftwood. But where there is much ice for the greater part of the -year, the driftwood is prevented from being thrown up on shore; and it is -the fact that in Baffin's Bay there is unusually little of it, so that the -Eskimo of Cape York and Smith Sound are barely able to get enough wood for -making weapons and implements. In addition to the ice the reason for this -is that no current of importance bearing driftwood reaches the north of -Baffin's Bay. Consequently, this again is conclusive proof that the -Nordrsetur of the descriptions is not to be looked for there, nor was -sealing particularly good; they had better sealing-grounds in the -districts about Holstensborg, Egedes Minde and Disco Bay.[285] - -[Sidenote: Nordrsetur at and south of Disco Bay] - -Everything points to the Nordrsetur having been situated in the districts -either in or to the south of Disco Bay,[286] which must have been a -natural hunting-ground for the Greenlanders, just as the Norwegians sail -long distances to Lofoten for fishing. Moreover, one of the objects of the -voyages to Nordrsetur was to collect driftwood; now the driftwood comes -with the Polar Current round Cape Farewell and is thrown up on shore along -the whole of the west coast northward as far as this current washes the -land--that is to say, about as far north as Disco Bay. In the south of -Greenland, the ancient Eastern Settlement, there is drift-ice for part of -the year, and not so much driftwood comes ashore as farther north, in the -ancient Western Settlement (especially the Godthaab district) and to the -north of it. Besides, in the settlements there were many to find it and -utilise it, while in the uninhabited regions there were only the Eskimo, -of whom perhaps there were as yet few south of 68° N. lat. On their way to -and from the Nordrsetur, therefore, the Greenlanders travelled along the -shore and collected driftwood wherever they found it. In Iceland this was -misunderstood in the sense that driftwood was supposed to be washed ashore -chiefly in Nordrsetur; and they believed it to come from Markland, perhaps -because the Greenlanders sometimes went there for timber, and it was thus -regarded by them as a country rich in trees. It is, however, also possible -that the name Markland, i.e., woodland, itself may have created this -conception. In reality most of the driftwood comes from Siberia, which was -unknown to them, and it is brought with the drift-ice over the Polar Sea -and southward along the east coast of Greenland. - -[Illustration: Driftwood. From an Icelandic MS., fifteenth century] - -[Sidenote: Voyage to Baffin's Bay in 1267] - -The following is the account of the voyage of about 1267, given by Björn -Jónsson (taken, according to his statement, from the Hauksbók, where it is -no longer to be found): - - "That summer [i.e., 1266] when Arnold the priest went from Greenland, - and they were stranded in Iceland at Hitarnes, pieces of wood were - found out at sea, which had been cut with hatchets and adzes - ('þexlum'), and among them one in which wedges of tusk and bone were - imbedded.[287] The same summer men came from Nordrsetur, who had gone - farther north than had been heard of before. They saw no - dwelling-places of Skrælings, except in Króksfjardarheidr, and - therefore it is thought that they [i.e., the Skrælings] must there - have the shortest way to travel, wherever they come from.... After - this [the following year ?] the priests sent a ship northward to find - out what the country was like to the north of the farthest point they - had previously reached; and they sailed out from Króksfjardarheidr, - until the land sank below the horizon ('lægði'). After this they met - with a southerly gale and thick weather ('myrkri'), and they had to - stand off [i.e., to the north]. But when the storm passed over ('i - rauf') and it cleared ('lysti'), they saw many islands and all kinds - of game, both seals and whales [i.e., walrus ?], and a great number of - bears. They came right into the gulf [i.e., Baffin's Bay] and all the - land [i.e., all the land not covered by ice] then sank below the - horizon, the land on the south and the glaciers ('jökla'); but there - was also glacier ('jökull') to the south of them as far as they could - see;[288] they found there some ancient dwelling-places of Skrælings - ('Skrælingja vistir fornligar'), but they could not land on account of - the bears. Then they went back for three 'doegr,' and they found there - some dwelling-places of Skrælings ('nökkra Skrælingja vistir') when - they landed on some islands south of Snæfell. Then they went south to - Króksfjardarheidr, one long day's rowing, on St. James's day [July - 25]; it was then freezing there at night, but the sun shone both - night and day, and, when it was in the south, was only so high that if - a man lay athwartships in a six-oared boat, the shadow of the gunwale - nearest the sun fell upon his face; but at midnight it was as high as - it is at home in the settlement when it is in the north-west. Then - they returned home to Gardar" [in the Eastern Settlement]. - -Björn Jónsson says that this account of the voyage was written by Halldor, -a priest of Greenland (who did not himself take part in the expedition, -but had only heard of it), to Arnold, the priest of Greenland who was -stranded in Iceland in 1266. It was then rewritten in Iceland (or Norway -?), perhaps by one of the copyists of the Hauksbók, who was unacquainted -with the conditions in Greenland; and afterwards it was again copied, and -perhaps "improved," at least once (by Björn Jónsson himself). -Unfortunately, the leaves of the Hauksbók which must have contained this -narrative have been lost. There is therefore a possibility that errors and -misunderstandings may have crept in, and such an absurdity as that "they -could not land on account of the bears" (though they nevertheless saw -ancient Eskimo dwellings!) shows clearly enough that the narrative is not -to be regarded as trustworthy in its details; but there is no reason to -doubt that the voyage was really made, and it must have extended far north -in Baffin's Bay. It cannot have taken place in the same year (1266) in -which the men spoken of came from Norðrsetur, but at the earliest in the -following year (1267). - -We may probably regard as one of the objects of the expedition the -investigation of the northward extension of the Eskimo. The voyagers -sailed out through Vaigat (Króksfjord), in about 70-1/2° N. lat.; they met -with a southerly gale and thick weather, and were obliged to keep along -the coast; the south wind, which follows the line of the coast, also swept -the ice northwards, and in open sea they came far north in the Polar Sea; -but, if the statements are exact, they cannot have gone farther than a -point from which they were able to return to Króksfjardarheidr in four -days' sailing and rowing.[289] If we allow at the outside that in the -three days they sailed on an average one degree, or sixty nautical miles, -a day, which is a good deal along a coast, and if we put a good day's -rowing at forty miles, we shall get a total of 220 miles; or, if they -started from the northern end of Vaigat in 70-1/2°, they may have been as -far north as 74° N. lat., or about Melville Bay. In any case there can be -no question of their having been much farther north. Here the land is low, -and the inland ice ("jökull") comes right down to the sea, with bare -islands outside (see map, p. 259). Here they found old traces of Eskimo. -Then they returned south to Vaigat, but on the way thither they found -Eskimo dwellings (that is, in this case tents) on some islands at which -they put in.[290] It may be objected to this explanation that it does not -agree with the statement as to the sun's altitude. But here there must be -a misunderstanding or obscurity in the transmission of the text. -Króksfjardarheidr is always mentioned elsewhere as a particularly -well-known place in Nordrsetur, to which the Greenlanders resorted every -summer for seal-hunting, and it is far from likely that the statements as -to the midnight sun being visible, as to the frosts at night, and the -detailed information as to the sun's altitude (in a description otherwise -so concise), referred to so generally familiar a part of the country. It -is obvious that it must refer to the unknown regions, where they were -farthest north; but we thus lose the information as to the date on which -the sun's altitude was observed; it must in any case have been four days -before St. James's day, and it may have been more. Moreover, the -information given is of no use for working out the latitude. The -measurement of the shadow on a man lying athwartships does not help us -much, as the height of the gunwale above the man's position is not given. -The statement as to the sun's altitude at midnight might be of more value; -but whether "at home in the settlement" means the Western Settlement, or -whether it does not rather mean Gardar (in the Eastern Settlement) to -which they "returned home," we do not now know for certain, nor do we know -on what day it was that the sun was at an equal altitude in the -north-west. If St. James's day (July 25) is meant, then it is unfortunate -that the sun would not be visible above the horizon at Gardar when it was -in the north-west. According to the Julian Calendar, which was then in -use, July 25 fell seven or eight days later than now. If Midsummer Day is -intended, of which, however, there is no mention in the text, then the sun -would be about 3° 41' above the horizon in the north-west at Gardar. If it -is meant that on July 20 the sun was at this altitude, then the latitude -would be 74° 34' N. [cf. H. Geelmuyden, 1883a, p. 178]. But all this is -uncertain. We only know that the travellers saw the sun above the horizon -at midnight. If we suppose that at least the whole of the sun's disc was -above the horizon, and that it was St. James's day, then they must at any -rate have been north of 71° 48' N. lat. (as the sun's declination was -about 17° 54' on July 25 in the thirteenth century).[291] If the date was -earlier, then they may have been farther south. - - - - -[Illustration: From an Icelandic MS., fourteenth century] - - -CHAPTER IX - -WINELAND THE GOOD, THE FORTUNATE ISLES, AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA - - -[Sidenote: The oldest authorities on Wineland] - -Icelandic literature contains many remarkable statements about countries -to the south-west or south of the Greenland settlements. They are called: -"Helluland" (i.e., slate- or stone-land), "Markland" (i.e., wood-land), -"Furðustrandir" (i.e., marvel-strands), and "Vínland" (also written -"Vindland" or "Vinland"). Yet another, which lay to the west of Ireland, -was called "Hvítramanna-land" (i.e., the white men's land). Even if -certain of these countries are legendary, as will presently be shown, it -must be regarded as a fact that in any case the Greenlanders and -Icelanders reached some of them, which lay on the north-eastern coast of -America; and they thus discovered the continent of North America, besides -Greenland, about five hundred years before Cabot (and Columbus). - -While Helluland, Markland and Furðustrandir are first mentioned in -authorities of the thirteenth century, "Vinland" occurs already in Adam of -Bremen, about 1070 (see above, pp. 195 ff.). Afterwards the name occurs in -Icelandic literature: first in Are Frode's "Islendingabók," about 1130, -where we are only told that in Greenland traces were found of the same -kind of people as "inhabited Wineland" ("Vínland hefer bygt"; see above, -p. 260); it is next mentioned together with Hvítramanna-land in the -"Landnámabók," where it may have been taken from Are Frode, as the -latter's uncle, Thorkel Gellisson, is given as the authority. It has been -thought that the original statement was contained in a lost work of Are's; -in any case it must belong to the period before his death in 1148. We are -only told that Hvítramanna-land lay to the west in the ocean near -Vin(d)land; but the passage is important, because, as will be discussed -later, it clearly shows that the statements about Wineland in the oldest -Icelandic authorities were derived from Ireland. The next mention of -Wineland is in "Kristni-saga" (before 1245) and "Heimskringla," where it -is only said that Leif the Lucky found Wineland the Good. It should be -remarked that while thus in the oldest authorities Wineland is only -mentioned casually and in passing, it is not until we come to the Saga of -Eric the Red, of the thirteenth century, and the Flateyjarbók's -"Grönlendinga-þáttr," of the fourteenth, that we find any description of -the country, and of voyages to it and to Helluland and Markland. But two -verses, reproduced in the first of these sagas, are certainly considerably -older than the saga itself; and they speak of the country where there was -wine to drink instead of water, and of Furðustrandir where they boil -whales' flesh. - - It may be added that in the "Eyrbyggja-saga" (of about 1250) it is - said that "Snorre went with Karlsevne to Wineland the Good, and when - they fought with the Skrælings there in Wineland, Snorre's son - Thorbrand fell in the fight." In the "Grettis-saga" (about 1290), - Thorhall Gamlason, one of those who took part in this expedition, is - called "Vindlendingr" or "Viðlendingr" (which should doubtless be - "Vinlendingr" in each case). If we add to this that in the Icelandic - geography which is known from various MSS. of the fourteenth and - fifteenth centuries, but which is attributed in part (although hardly - the section about Greenland, Wineland, etc.) to Abbot Nikulás Bergsson - of Thverá (ob. 1159), Helluland, Markland and Vinland are mentioned as - lying to the south of Greenland (see later), then we shall have given - all the certain ancient authorities in which Wineland occurs [cf. G. - Storm, 1887, pp. 10 ff.]; but possibly the runic stone from Ringerike - is to be added (see later). - -[Sidenote: The formation of the saga] - -Before I recapitulate the most important features of these voyages, as -they are described more particularly in the Saga of Eric the Red, I must -premise that I look upon the narratives somewhat in the light of -historical romances, founded upon legend and more or less uncertain -traditions. Gustav Storm in his critical review of the Wineland voyages -[1887] has separated the older authorities, which he regarded as -altogether trustworthy, from the later narratives in the Flateyjarbók's -"Grönlendinga-þáttr," which he thought were to be rejected. The last-named -was written about 1387, while Eric the Red's Saga, which we are to regard -as trustworthy, must according to Storm have been written between 1270 and -1300.[292] The accounts of the discovery of Wineland and of the voyages -thither are very conflicting in these two authorities; while the latter -has only two voyages (after the discovery), the former has divided them -into five; while one mentions Leif Ericson as the discoverer of the -country, the other gives Bjarne Herjulfsson, and so on. We are led to ask -whether it is reasonable to suppose that the traditions should have been -handed down by word of mouth in such a remarkably unaltered and -uncorrupted state during the first 250 or 300 years, when they have been -transformed and confused to such an extent scarcely a hundred years later. -This must rather prove that there was no fixed tradition, but that the -tales became split up into more and more varying forms. Perhaps it will be -answered that the Saga of Eric the Red was composed in the golden age of -saga-writing, whereas the Flateyjarbók belongs to the period of -decline.[293] But it cannot be psychologically probable that human nature -in Iceland should suddenly have undergone so great a change, that while -the saga-tellers of the fourteenth century were disposed to invent -romances, they should not have had any tendency thereto throughout the -three preceding centuries. It is particularly natural that many -alterations and additions should be made when, as here, the narratives are -concerned with distant waters which lay so far out of the ordinary course -of voyages, and which for a long time had ceased to be known in Iceland -when the sagas were put into writing. Features belonging to the -description of other quarters of the globe were also inserted. Tales which -in this way live in oral tradition and gradually develop into sagas, -without any written word to support them, and to some extent even without -any known localities to which they can be attached, are to be regarded as -living organisms dependent on accidental influence, which absorb into -themselves any suitable material as they may find it; a resemblance of -name between persons may thus contribute, or a similarity of situations, -or events which bear the same foreign stamp. The narratives of the -Wineland voyages exhibit, as we shall see, sure traces of influences of -this kind. - -[Sidenote: Leif Ericson] - -In the year 999, according to the saga, Leif, the son of Eric the Red, -sailed from Greenland to Norway. This is the first time we hear of so long -a sea-voyage being attempted,[294] and it shows in any case that this long -passage was not unknown to the Icelanders and Norwegians. Formerly the -passage to Greenland had been by way of Iceland, thence to the east coast -of Greenland, southwards along the coast, and round Hvarf. But capable -seamen like the intrepid Leif thought they could avoid so many changes of -course and arrive in Norway by sailing due east from the southern point of -Greenland. Thereby Leif Ericson becomes the personification of the first -ocean-voyager in history, who deliberately and with a settled plan steered -straight across the open Atlantic, without seeking to avail himself of -harbours on the way. It also appears clearly enough from the sailing -directions for navigation of northern waters, which have come down to us, -that voyages were made across the ocean direct from Norway to Greenland. -It must be remembered that the compass was unknown, and that all the ships -of that time were without fixed decks. This was an exploit equal to the -greatest in history; it is the beginning of ocean voyages. - -[Illustration: From an Icelandic MS. (Jónsbók), sixteenth century] - -Leif's plan of reaching Norway direct was not wholly successful according -to the saga; he was driven out of his course to the Hebrides. They stayed -there till late in the summer, waiting for a fair wind. Leif there fell in -love with a woman of high lineage, Thorgunna. When he sailed she begged to -be allowed to go with him; but Leif answered that he would not carry off a -woman of her lineage in a strange country, when he had so few men with -him. It was of no avail that she told him she was with child, and the -child was his. He gave her a gold ring, a Greenland mantle of frieze, and -a belt of walrus ivory, and sailed away from the Hebrides with his men and -arrived in Norway in the autumn (999). Leif became Olaf Tryggvason's man, -and spent the winter at Nidaros. He adopted Christianity and promised the -king to try to introduce the faith into Greenland. For this purpose he was -given a priest when he sailed. In the spring, as soon as he was ready, he -set out again to sail straight across the Atlantic to Greenland. It has -undoubtedly been thought that he chose the course between the Faroes (61° -50' N. lat.) and Shetland (60° 50' N. lat.) to reach Cape Farewell, and -afterwards this became the usual course for the voyage from Norway to -Greenland. But he was driven out of his course, and - - "for a long time drifted about in the sea, and came upon countries of - which before he had no suspicion. There were self-sown wheat-fields, - and vines grew there; there were also the trees that are called - 'masur' ('mosurr'),[295] and of all these they had some specimens - (some trees so large that they were laid in houses" [i.e., used as - house-beams]). - -This land was "Vínland hit Góða." As it was assumed that the wild vine -(Vitis vulpina) grew in America as far north as 45° N. lat. and along the -east coast, the historians have thought to find in this a proof that Leif -Ericson must have been on the coast of America south of this latitude; -but, as we shall see later, these features--the self-sown wheat-fields, -the vines and the lofty trees--are probably borrowed from elsewhere. - - "On his homeward voyage Leif found some men on a wreck, and took them - home with him and gave them all shelter for the winter. He showed so - much nobility and goodness, he introduced Christianity into the - country, and he rescued the men; he was then called 'Leifr hinn - Heppni' [the Lucky]. Leif came to land in Eric's fjord, and went home - to Brattalid; there they received him well." This was the same autumn - [1000]. - -So concise is the narrative of the voyage by which the first discovery of -America by Europeans is said to have been made.[296] - -[Sidenote: Thorstein Ericson] - -Curiously enough, the saga tells us nothing more of Leif as a sailor. He -appears after this to have lived in peace in Greenland, and he took over -Brattalid after his father's death. On the other hand, we hear that his -brother Thorstein made an attempt to find Wineland, which Leif had -discovered. After Leif's return home "there was much talk that they ought -to seek the land that Leif had found. The leader was Thorstein Ericson, a -good man, and wise, and friendly." We hear earlier in the saga, where -Leif's voyage to Norway is related, that both of Eric's sons "were capable -men; Thorstein was at home with his father, and there was not a man in -Greenland who was thought to be so manly as he." We hear nothing about -Leif's taking part in the new voyage; it looks as if it had been -Thorstein's turn to go abroad. But - - "Eric was asked, and they trusted in his good fortune and foresight - being greatest. He was against it, but did not say no, as his friends - exhorted him so to it. They therefore fitted out the ship which - Thorbjörn [Vivilsson] had brought out to Greenland;[297] and twenty - men were chosen for it; they took little goods with them, but more - arms and provisions. The morning that Eric left home, he took a little - chest, and therein was gold and silver; he hid this property and then - went on his way; but when he had gone a little distance he fell from - his horse, broke his ribs and hurt his shoulder, and said, 'Ah yes!' - After this accident he sent word to his wife that she should take up - the property that he had hidden; he had now, said he, been punished - for hiding it. Then they sailed out of Eric's fjord with gladness, and - thought well of their prospects. They drifted about the sea for a long - time and did not arrive where they desired. They came in sight of - Iceland, and they had also birds from Ireland; their ship was carried - eastwards over the ocean. They came back in the autumn and were then - weary and very worn. And they came in the late autumn to Eric's fjord. - Then said Eric: 'In the summer we sailed from the fjords more - light-hearted than we now are, and yet we now have good reason to be - so.' Thorstein said: 'It would be a worthy deed to take charge of the - men who are homeless, and to provide them with lodging.' Eric - answered: 'Thy words shall be followed.' All those who had no other - place of abode were now allowed to accompany Eric and Thorstein. - Afterwards they took land and went home." - -In the autumn (1001) Thorstein celebrated his marriage with Thorbjörm -Vivilsson's daughter Gudrid, at Brattalid, and it "went off well." They -afterwards went home to Thorstein's property on the Lysefjord, which was -the southernmost fjord in the Western Settlement; probably that which is -now called Fiskerfjord (near Fiskernes) in about 63° N. lat. There -Thorstein died during the winter of an illness (scurvy ?) which put an end -to many on the property, and Gudrid next summer returned to Eric, who -received her well. Her father died also, and she inherited all his -property. - -[Sidenote: Karlsevne in Greenland] - -That autumn (1002) Thorfinn Karlsevne came from Iceland to Eric's fjord in -Greenland, with one ship and forty men. He was on a trading voyage, and -was looked upon as a skilful sailor and merchant, was of good family and -rich in goods. Together with him was Snorre Thorbrandsson. Another ship, -with Bjarne Grimolfsson and Thorhall Gamlason and a crew likewise of forty -men, had accompanied them from Iceland. - - "Eric rode to the ships, and others of the men of the country, and - there was a friendly agreement between them. The captains bade Eric - take what he wished of the cargo. But Eric in return showed great - generosity, in that he invited both these crews home to spend the - winter at Brattalid. This the merchants accepted and went with Eric." - - "The merchants were well content in Eric's house that winter, but when - Yule was drawing nigh, Eric began to be less cheerful than was his - wont." When Karlsevne asked: "Is there anything that oppresses thee, - Eric?" and tried to find out the reason of his being so dispirited, it - came out that it was because he had nothing for the Yule-brew; and it - would be said that his guests had never had a worse Yule than with - him. Karlsevne thought there was no difficulty about that; they had - malt, and meal, and corn in the ships, and thereof, said he, "thou - shalt have all thou desirest, and make such a feast as thy generosity - demands." Eric accepted this. "The Yule banquet was prepared, and it - was so magnificent that men thought they had scarcely ever seen so - fine a feast." - -Even if the tale is unhistorical, it gives a glimpse of the life and the -hard conditions in Greenland; they only had grain occasionally when a ship -arrived; for the most part they lived on what they caught, and when that -failed, as we are told was the case in 999, there was famine. But to be -without the Yule-brew was a misfortune to an Icelander; nevertheless we -learn from the Foster-brothers' Saga that "Yule-drink was rare in -Greenland," and that a man might become famous by holding a feast, as did -Thorkel, the grandson of Eric the Red, in 1026. - -After Yule, Karlsevne was married to Eric's daughter-in-law, Gudrid. - - "The feast was then prolonged, and the marriage was celebrated. There - was great merry-making at Brattalid that winter; there was much - playing at draughts, and making mirth with tales and much else to - divert the company." - -[Illustration: From an Icelandic MS. (Jónsbók), fifteenth century] - -[Sidenote: Karlsevne's voyage to Wineland] - -There was a good deal of talk about going to look for Wineland the Good, -and it was said that it might be a fertile country. The result was that -Karlsevne and Snorre got their ship ready to search for Wineland in the -summer. Bjarne and Thorhall also joined the expedition with their ship and -the crew that had accompanied them. Besides these, there came on a third -ship a man named Thorvard--married to Eric the Red's illegitimate daughter -Freydis, who also went--and Thorhall, nicknamed Veidemand (the Hunter). - - "He had been on hunting expeditions with Eric for many summers and was - a man of many crafts. Thorhall was a big man, dark and troll-like; he - was well on in years, obstinate, silent and reserved in everyday life, - but crafty and slanderous, ever rejoicing in evil. He had had little - to do with the faith since it came to Greenland. Thorhall had little - friendship for his fellow men, yet Eric had long associated with him. - He was in the same ship with Thorvald and Thorvard, because he had - wide knowledge of the uninhabited regions. They had the ship that - Thorbjörn [Vivilsson] had brought out to Greenland [and that Thorstein - Ericson had used for his unlucky voyage two years before]. Most of - those on board that ship were Greenlanders. On their ships there were - altogether forty men over a hundred."[298] - -Eric the Red and Leif were doubtless supposed to have assisted both -actively and with advice during the fitting-out, even though they would -not take part in the voyage. It is mentioned later that they gave -Karlsevne two Scottish runners that Leif had received from King Olaf -Tryggvason. - -The three ships sailed first "to the Western Settlement and thence to -Bjarneyjar" (the Bear Islands).[299] The most natural explanation of the -saga making them begin their expedition by sailing in this direction (to -the north-west and north)--whereas the land they were in search of lay to -the south-west or south--may be that the Icelandic saga-writer (of the -thirteenth century), ignorant of the geography of Greenland, assumed that -the Western Settlement must lie due west of the Eastern; and as the -voyagers were to look for countries in the south-west, he has made them -begin by proceeding to the farthest point he had heard of on this coast, -Bjarneyjar, so that they might have a prospect of better luck than -Thorstein, who had sailed out from Eric's fjord. When it is said that -Thorhall the Hunter accompanied Eric's son and son-in-law because of his -wide knowledge of the uninhabited regions, it must be the regions beyond -the Western Settlement that are meant, and the saga-writer must have -thought that these extended westward or in the direction of the new -countries. It must also be remembered that in the spring and early summer -there is frequently drift-ice off the Eastern Settlement, from Cape -Farewell for a good way north-westward along the coast. The course would -then naturally lie to the north-west of this ice--that is, towards the -Western Settlement. But it may also be supposed that they had to begin by -going northward to get seals and provision themselves with food and oil -(fuel), which might be necessary for a long and unknown voyage. This -explanation is, however, less probable. - -From Bjarneyjar they put to sea with a north wind. They were at sea, -according to the saga, for two "doegr."[300] - - "There they found land, and rowed along it in boats, and examined the - country, and found there [on the shore] many flat stones so large - that two men might easily lie stretched upon them sole to sole. There - were many white foxes there.[301] They gave the land a name and called - it 'Helluland.'" - -It may be the coast of Labrador that is here intended, and not Baffin -Land, since the statement that they sailed thither with a north wind must -doubtless imply that the coast lay more or less in a southerly and not in -a westerly direction from Bjarneyjar. From Helluland - - "they sailed for two 'doegr' towards the south-east and south, and - then a land lay before them, and upon it were great forests and many - beasts. An island lay to the south-east off the land, and there they - found a polar bear,[302] and they called the island 'Bjarney'; but the - country they called 'Markland' [i.e., Wood-land] on account of the - forest." - -The name Markland suits Newfoundland best; it had forests down to the -sea-shore when it was rediscovered about 1500, and even later. - -When they had once more sailed for - - "two 'doegr' they sighted land and sailed under the land. There was a - promontory where they first came. They cruised along the shore, which - they kept to starboard [i.e., to the west]. It was without harbours - and there were long strands and stretches of sand. They went ashore in - boats, and found there on the promontory a ship's keel, and called it - 'Kjalarnes' [i.e., Keel-ness]; they also gave the strands a name and - called them 'Furðustrandir' [i.e., the marvel-strands or the - wonderful, strange strands], because it took a long time to sail past - them."[303] - -This may apply, as Storm points out, to the eastern side of Cape Breton -Island; but in that case they must have steered west-south-west from the -south-eastern promontory of Markland (Newfoundland). Kjalarnes must then -be Cape Breton itself. That they should have found a ship's keel there -sounds strange; if this is not an invention we must suppose that it was -driven ashore from a wreck; no doubt it happened often enough that vessels -were lost on the voyage to Greenland. When Eric, according to the -Landnámabók, sailed with twenty-five ships, many of them were lost. -Wreckage would be carried by the currents from Greenland into the Labrador -current, and by this southward past Markland. But it is more probable that -the origin of the name was entirely different; that, for example, the -promontory had the shape of a ship's keel, and that the account of the -keel found has been developed much later.[304] This is confirmed by the -fact that the "Grönlendinga-þáttr" gives a wholly different explanation of -the name from that in Eric's Saga. - - South of Furðustrandir "the land was indented by bays ('vágskorit'), - and they steered the ships into a bay." Here they landed the two Scots - (the man "Haki" and the woman "Hekja") whom Karlsevne had received - from Leif and Eric, and who ran faster than deer. They "bade them run - southward and examine the condition of the country, and return before - three 'doegr' were past. They had such garments as they called - 'kiafal' [or 'biafal']; it was made so that there was a hood above, - and it [i.e., 'the kiafal'] was open at the sides, and without - sleeves, and caught up between the legs, fastened there with a button - and a loop; otherwise they were bare. They cast anchor and lay there a - while; and when three days were past they came running down from the - land, and one of them had grapes in his hand, the other self-sown - wheat. Karlsevne said that they seemed to have found a fertile - country." - -They then sailed on until they came to a fjord, into which they steered -the ships. - - "There was an island outside, and round the island strong currents. - They called it 'Straumsey.' There were so many birds there that one - could hardly put one's foot between the eggs. They held on up the - fjord, and called it 'Straumsfjord,' and unloaded the ships and - established themselves there. They had with them all kinds of cattle, - and sought to make use of the land. There were mountains there, and - fair was the prospect. They did nothing else but search out the land. - There was much grass. They stayed there the winter, and it was very - long; but they had not taken thought of anything, and were short of - food, and their catch decreased. Then they went out to the island, - expecting that there they might find some fishing or something might - drift up [i.e., a whale be driven ashore ?]. There was, however, - little to be caught for food, but their cattle throve there. Then they - made vows to God that He might send them something to eat; but no - answer came so quickly as they had hoped." The heathen Thorhall the - Hunter then disappeared for three "doegr," and doubtless held secret - conjurations with the red-bearded One (i.e., Thor). A little later a - whale was driven ashore, and they ate of it, but were all sick. When - they found out how things were with Thorhall and Thor, "they cast it - out over the cliff and prayed to God for mercy. They then made a catch - of fish, and there was no lack of food. In the spring [1004] they - entered Straumsfjord and had catches from both lands [i.e., both sides - of the fjord], hunting on the mainland, eggs on the island, and fish - in the sea." - -This description gives a good insight both into the Norsemen's manner of -equipping themselves for voyages to unknown countries, and into their -superstition. - -It looks as if a dissension now arose between the wayward Thorhall the -Hunter and the rest, since he wanted to look for Wineland to the north of -Furðustrandir, beyond Kjalarnes. - - "But Karlsevne wished to go south along the coast and eastward. He - thought the land became broader the farther south it bore;[305] but - it seemed to him most expedient to try both ways" [i.e., both south - and north]. - -Thorhall then parted from them; but there were no more than nine men in -his company. Perhaps they were desirous of going home; for from an old -lay, which the saga attributes to Thorhall, it appears that he was -discontented with the whole stay there: he abuses the country, where the -warriors had promised him the best of drinks, but where wine never touched -his lips, and he had to take a bucket himself and fetch water to drink. -And before they hoisted sail Thorhall quoth this lay: - - "Let us go homeward, - where we shall find fellow-countrymen: - let us with our ship seek - the broad ways of the sea, - while the hopeful - warriors (those who praise - the land) on Furðustrandir - stay and boil whales' flesh." - - "Then they parted [from Karlsevne, who had accompanied them out] and - sailed north of Furðustrandir and Kjalarnes, and then tried to beat - westward. Then the westerly storm caught them and they drifted to - Ireland, and there they were made slaves and ill-treated. There - Thorhall lost his life, as merchants have reported." - -The last statement shows that according to Icelandic geographical ideas -the country round Kjalarnes lay directly opposite Ireland and in the same -latitude. - -Karlsevne, with Snorre, Bjarne, and the rest, left Straumsfjord and sailed -southward along the coast [1004]. - - "They sailed a long time and until they came to a river, which flowed - down from the interior into a lake and thence into the sea. There were - great sandbanks before the mouth of the river, and it could only be - entered at high water. Karlsevne and his people then sailed to the - mouth of the river and called the country 'Hóp' [i.e., a small closed - bay]. There they found self-sown wheat-fields, where the land was - low, but vines wherever they saw heights ('en vínviðr allt þar sem - holta kendi'). Every beck ('lökr') was full of fish. They dug trenches - on the shore below high-water mark, and when the tide went out there - were halibuts in the trenches. In the forest there was a great - quantity of beasts of all kinds. They were there half a month amusing - themselves, and suspecting nothing. They had their cattle with them. - But early one morning, when they looked about them, they saw nine - hide-boats ('huðkeipa'), and wooden poles were being waved on the - ships [i.e., the hide-boats], and they made a noise like - threshing-flails and went the way of the sun. Karlsevne's men took - this to be a token of peace and bore a white shield towards them. Then - the strangers rowed towards them, and wondered, and came ashore. They - were small [or black ?][306] men, and ugly, and they had ugly hair on - their heads; their eyes were big, and they were broad across the - cheeks. And they stayed there awhile, and wondered, then rowed away - and went south of the headland." - -This then would be the description of the first meeting in history between -Europeans and the natives of America. With all its brevity it gives an -excellent picture; but whether we can accept it is doubtful. As we shall -see later, the Norsemen probably did meet with Indians; but the -description of the latter's appearance must necessarily have been coloured -more and more by greater familiarity with the Skrælings of Greenland when -the sagas were put into writing. The big eyes will not suit either of -them, and are rather to be regarded as an attribute of trolls and -underground beings; gnomes and old fairy men have big, watery eyes. The -ugly hair is also an attribute of the underground beings. - - "Karlsevne and his men had built their houses above the lake, some - nearer, some farther off. Now they stayed there that winter. No snow - fell at all, and all the cattle were out at pasture. But when spring - came they saw early one morning a number of hide-boats rowing from the - south past the headland, so many that it seemed as if the sea had been - sown with coal in front of the bay, and they waved wooden poles on - every boat. Then they set up shields and held a market, and the people - wanted most to buy red cloth; they also wanted to buy swords and - spears, but this was forbidden by Karlsevne and Snorre." The - Skrælings[307] gave them untanned skins in exchange for the cloth, and - trade was proceeding briskly, until "an ox, which Karlsevne had, ran - out of the wood and began to bellow. The Skrælings were scared and ran - to their boats (keipana) and rowed south along the shore. After that - they did not see them for three weeks. But when that time was past, - they saw a great multitude of Skræling boats coming from the south, as - though driven on by a stream. Then all the wooden poles were waved - against the sun ('rangsölis,' wither-shins), and all the Skrælings - howled loudly. Then Karlsevne and his men took red shields and bore - them towards them. The Skrælings leapt from their boats and then they - made towards each other and fought; there was a hot exchange of - missiles. The Skrælings also had catapults ('valslongur'). Karlsevne - and his men saw that the Skrælings hoisted up on a pole a great ball - ('knottr') about as large as a sheep's paunch, and seeming blue[308] - in colour, and slung it from the pole up on to the land over - Karlsevne's people, and it made an ugly noise when it came down. At - this great terror smote Karlsevne and his people, so that they had no - thought but of getting away and up the river, for it seemed to them - that the Skrælings were assailing them on all sides; and they did not - halt until they had reached certain crags. There they made a stout - resistance. Freydis came out and saw that they were giving way. She - cried out: 'Wherefore do ye run away from such wretches, ye gallant - men? I thought it likely that ye could slaughter them like cattle, and - had I but arms I believe I should fight better than any of you.' None - heeded what she said. Freydis tried to go with them, but she fell - behind, for she was with child. She nevertheless followed them into - the wood, but the Skrælings came after her. She found before her a - dead man, Thorbrand Snorrason, and a flat stone ('hellustein') was - fixed in the head of him. His sword lay unsheathed by him, and she - took it up to defend herself with it. Then the Skrælings came at her. - She takes her breasts out of her sark and whets the sword on them. At - that the Skrælings are afraid and run away back to their boats, and go - off. Karlsevne and his men meet her and praise her happy device. Two - men of Karlsevne's fell, and four of the Skrælings; but nevertheless - Karlsevne had suffered defeat. They now go to their houses, bind up - their wounds, and consider what swarm of people it was that came - against them from the land. It seemed to them now that there could - have been no more than those who came from the boats, and that the - other people must have been glamour. The Skrælings also found a dead - man, and an axe lay beside him; one of them took up the axe and struck - at a tree, and so one after another, and it seemed to delight them - that it bit so well. Then one took and smote a stone with it; but when - the axe broke, he thought it was of no use, if it did not stand - against stone, and he cast it from him." - - "Karlsevne and his men now thought they could see that although the - land was fertile, they would always have trouble and disquiet with the - people who dwelt there before. Then they prepared to set out, and - intended to go to their own country. They sailed northward and found - five Skrælings sleeping in fur jerkins ('skinnhjúpum'), and they had - with them kegs with deer's marrow mixed with blood. They thought they - could understand that they were outlaws; they killed them. Then they - found a headland and a multitude of deer, and the headland looked like - a crust of dried dung, from the deer lying there at night. Now they - came back to Straumsfjord, and there was abundance of everything. It - is reported by some that Bjarne and Gudrid remained behind there, and - a hundred men with them, and did not go farther; but they say that - Karlsevne and Snorre went southward with forty men and were no longer - at Hóp than barely two months, and came back the same summer." - -[Illustration: From an Icelandic MS. (Jónsbók), fourteenth century] - -Karlsevne went with one ship to search for Thorhall the Hunter. He sailed -to the north of Kjalarnes, westwards, and south along the shore (Storm -thought on the eastern side of Cape Breton Island to the northern side of -Nova Scotia), and they found a river running from east to west into the -sea. - - Here Thorvald Ericson was shot one morning from the shore with an - arrow which they thought came from a Uniped [legendary creature with - one foot] whom they pursued but did not catch. The arrow struck - Thorvald in the small intestines. He drew it out, saying: "There is - fat in the bowels; a good land have we found, but it is doubtful - whether we shall enjoy it." Thorvald died of this wound a little - later. "They then sailed away northward again and thought they sighted - 'Einfötinga-land' [the Land of Unipeds]. They would no longer risk the - lives of their men," and "they went back and stayed in Straumsfjord - the third winter. Then the men became very weary [so that they fell - into disagreement]; those who were wifeless quarrelled with those who - had wives."[309] - -The fourth summer [1006] they sailed from Wineland with a south wind and -came to Markland. - - There they found five Skrælings, and caught of them two boys, while - the grown-up ones, a bearded man and two women, "escaped and sank into - the earth. The boys they took with them and taught them their - language, and they were baptized. They called their mother 'Vætilldi' - and their father 'Vægi.' They said that kings governed in - Skrælinga-land; one of them was called 'Avalldamon,' the other - 'Valldidida.' They said that there were no houses, and the people lay - in rock-shelters or caves. They said there was another great country - over against their country, and men went about there in white clothing - and cried aloud, and carried poles before them, to which strips were - fastened. This is thought to be 'Hvitramanna-land' [i.e., the white - men's land] or Great-Ireland." Then Karlsevne and his men came to - Greenland and stayed the winter with Eric the Red [1006-1007]. - - "But Bjarne Grimolfsson [on the other ship] was carried out into the - Irish Ocean [the Atlantic between Markland and Ireland] and they came - into the maggot-sea ('maðk-sjá'); they did not know of it until the - ship was worm-eaten under them," and ready to sink. "They had a - long-boat ('eptirbát') that was coated with seal-tar, and men say that - the sea-maggot will not eat wood that is coated with seal-tar." "But - when they tried it, the boat would not hold more than half the ship's - company." They all wanted to go in it; but Bjarne then proposed that - they should decide who should go in the boat by casting lots and not - by precedence, and this was agreed to. The lots fell so that Bjarne - was amongst those who were to go in the boat. "When they were in it, a - young Icelander, who had accompanied Bjarne from home, said: 'Dost - thou think, Bjarne, to part from me here?' Bjarne answers: 'So it must - be.' He says: 'This was not thy promise when I came with thee from - Iceland....' Bjarne answers: 'Nor shall it be so; go thou in the boat, - but I must go in the ship, since I see that thy life is so dear to - thee.' Bjarne then went on board the ship, and this man in the boat, - and they kept on their course until they came to Dyflinar [Dublin] in - Ireland, and there told this tale. But most men believe that Bjarne - and his companions lost their lives in the maggot-sea, since they were - not heard of again." - -Thorfinn Karlsevne returned in the following summer (1007) to Iceland with -Gudrid and their son Snorre, who was born at Straumsfjord in Wineland the -first winter they were there. Karlsevne afterwards lived in Iceland. - -[Sidenote: The composite and legendary character of the whole saga] - -If we now review critically the Saga of Eric the Red and the whole of this -tale of Karlsevne's voyage, together with the other accounts of Wineland -voyages, we shall find one feature after another that is legendary or that -must have been borrowed from elsewhere. If we examine first of all the -relation of the various authorities to the events they narrate, we must be -struck by the fact that in the oldest authorities, such as the Landnáma, -Eric the Red has only two sons, Leif and Thorstein, whereas in Eric's -Saga and in the "Grönlendinga-þáttr," for the sake of the trilogy of -legend, he has begotten three sons, besides an illegitimate daughter. In -the oldest MS., Hauk's Landnámabók, Leif is only mentioned in one place, -and nothing more is said of him than that he was Eric's son and inherited -Brattalid from his father; he is not given the nickname "heppni" (the -lucky), and it is not mentioned that he had discovered Wineland, nor that -he had introduced Christianity. In the Sturlubók he is again mentioned in -one place as the son of Tjodhild and Eric, and there has the nickname "en -hepni"; but neither is there here any mention of the discovery of Wineland -or the introduction of Christianity [cf. Landnámabók, ed. F. Jónsson, -1900, pp. 35, 156, 165]. As this passage is not found in Hauk's Landnáma, -it may be an addition in the later MS., which was wanting in the original -Landnámabók. In the great saga of St. Olaf[310] (chapter 70)--where King -Olaf asks the Icelander Thorarinn Nevjolfsson to take the blind king Rörek -to Greenland to "Leif Ericson"--the latter again is not called the Lucky, -nor is Wineland or its discovery mentioned. This saga was written, -according to the editors, about 1230. As neither this nickname nor the -tales of Leif's discovery of Wineland are found earlier than in the -Kristni-saga and Heimskringla, it looks as if these features did not -appear till later. There is a similar state of things with regard to the -mention of Thorfinn Karlsevne; only in one passage in Hauk's Landnáma is -it mentioned that he found "Vin(d)land hit Góða"; but as this does not -occur in the Sturlubók, it may be an addition due to Hauk Erlendsson, who -regarded Thorfinn as his ancestor. The silence of the oldest authorities -on the voyages to Wineland becomes still more striking when we compare -with it the fact that the Landnámabók contains statements (with careful -citation of authorities, showing that they are derived from Are Frode -himself) about Are Mársson, his voyage to Hvítramanna-land, and his stay -there, which have generally been regarded as far less authentic than the -tales of the Wineland voyages. If Are Mársson's voyage is a myth, then one -would be still more inclined to regard the latter as such. The objection -that it would have been beside the plan of the brief and concise earlier -works (Íslendingabók and Landnámabók) to include these things, scarcely -holds good. If Are has room in the Íslendingabók for a comparatively -detailed account of the discovery, naming and natives of Greenland, and -further for a description of the introduction of Christianity into -Iceland; if the Landnámabók also gives details, derived, as we have said, -from him, of Are Mársson's voyage to Hvítramanna-land, then it is -difficult to understand why neither Are Frode nor the authors of the -Landnámabók, when mentioning Eric the Red and Leif, should have found room -for a line about Leif's having discovered Wineland and Christianised -Greenland--two not unimportant pieces of information--if they had known of -it. At any rate, the Christianising of Greenland must have been of -interest to the priest Are and to the priest-taught authors of -Landnámabók. This silence is therefore suspicious. - -The personal names in the Saga of Eric the Red are also striking. With the -exception of Eric himself, his wife Tjodhild and his son Leif, and a few -other names in the first part, which is taken almost in its entirety from -the Landnámabók, almost all the names belonging to this saga are connected -with those of heathen gods, especially Thor. Eric has got a third son, -Thorvald, who is not mentioned in Landnáma, besides his daughter Freydis, -and his son-in-law Thorvard. The name Freydis is only known from this one -woman in the whole of Icelandic literature, and several names in Norse -literature compounded of Frey- seem, according to Lind,[311] to belong to -myths (e.g., Freygarðr, Freysteinn and Freybjorn). Other names connected -with the Wineland voyages in this saga are: Thor-björn Vivilsson (his -brother was named Thor-geir and his daughter's foster-father Orm -Thor-geirsson) came to Thor-kjell of Herjolfsnes, where the prophetess was -called Thor-björg. Leif's woman in the Hebrides was called Thor-gunna, and -their illegitimate son Thor-gils. Thor-stein Ericson had a property -together with another Thor-stein in Lysefjord.[312] We have further -Thor-finn Karlsevne (son of Thord and Thor-unn), Snorre Thor-brandsson, -Thor-hall Gamlason, Thor-hall Veidemand (who also had dealings with the -red-bearded Thor), and Thor-brand Snorrason who was killed. An exception, -besides Bjarne Grimolfsson (and the runners Haki and Hekja; see below), is -Thorfinn Karlsevne's wife Guðriðr,[313] daughter of Thorbjörn Vivilsson, -and mother of Snorre. But perhaps one can guess why she is given this name -if one reads through the description of the remarkable scene of -soothsaying--at Thorkjell's house on Herjolfsnes--between the fair Gudrid, -who sang with such a beautiful voice, and the heathen sorceress Thorbjörg, -where the former as a Christian woman refuses to sing the heathen charms -"Varðlokur," as the sorceress asks her to do. These numerous -Thor-names--with the two women's names, the powerful Freydis and the fair -Gudrid--which are attributed to a time when heathendom and Christianity -were struggling for the mastery (cf. the tale of Thorhall the Hunter and -the whale), have in themselves an air of myth and invention. To this must -be added mythical descriptions like those of the prophetess of -Herjolfsnes, the ghosts at Lysefjord the winter Thorstein Ericson died, -and others. - -The Saga of Eric the Red tells of two voyages in search of Wineland, after -Leif's accidental discovery of the country. The first is Thorstein -Ericson's unfortunate expedition, when they did not find the favoured -Wineland, but were driven eastward into the ocean towards Iceland and -Ireland. In the Irish tale of Brandan ("Imram Brenaind," of the eleventh -century), Brandan first makes an unsuccessful voyage to find the promised -land, and arrives, it seems, most probably in the east of the ocean, -somewhere about Brittany (cf. Vita S. Brandani; and Machutus's voyage); -but he then makes a fresh voyage in which he finally reaches the land he -is in search of [cf. Zimmer, 1889, pp. 135 ff.]. This similarity with the -Irish legend is doubtless not very great, but perhaps it deserves to be -included with many others to be mentioned later. - -[Illustration: The relative distances between the countries. The scale -gives "doegr's" sailing (== 2 degrees of latitude), according to the -"Rymbegla." A white cross marks the valley of the St. John] - -If we now pass to the tale itself of Karlsevne's voyage, we have already -seen (p. 321) that its beginning with the journey to the Western -Settlement is doubtful; next, the feature of his sailing to three -different countries in turn (Helluland, Markland and Furðustrandir), with -the same number of days' sail between each, must be taken directly from -the fairy tales.[314] Such a voyage is in itself improbable; in the saga -the countries are evidently imagined as islands or peninsulas, but nothing -corresponding to this is to be found on the coast of America. It is -inconceivable that a discoverer of Labrador and of the coast to the south -of it should have divided this into several countries; it was not till -long after the rediscovery of Newfoundland and Labrador that the sound -between them was found. If we suppose that Karlsevne was making southward -and came first to Labrador (== Helluland ?), with a coast extending -south-eastward, it is against common sense that he should voluntarily -have lost sight of this coast and put to sea again in an easterly -direction, and then sight fresh land to the south of him two days later; -on the other hand, this is the usual mode of presentment in fairy tales -and myth. But let us suppose now that he did nevertheless arrive in this -way at Newfoundland (== Markland ?), and then again put to sea instead of -following the coast, how could he know that this time instead of sailing -eastward he was to take a westward course? But this he must have done, for -otherwise he could not have reached Cape Breton or Nova Scotia; and he -must have got there, if we are to make anything out of the story. The -distances given, of two "doegr's" sail to each of the countries, as -remarked on p. 322, are also foreign to reality.[315] This part of the -description has therefore an altogether artificial look. It reminds one -forcibly of many of the old Irish legendary tales of wonderful voyages; in -particular the commencement of one of the oldest and most important may be -mentioned: "Imram Maelduin" (the tale of Maelduin's voyage), which is -known in MSS. of the end of the eleventh century and later, but which was -probably to a great extent first written down in the seventh, or at the -latest in the eighth century [cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 289]. - - When Maelduin and his companions put to sea from Ireland in a coracle - with three hides (while Karlsevne has three ships), they came first to - two small islands (while Karlsevne came to Bjarneyjar). After this for - three days and three nights the Irishmen came upon no land; "on the - morning of the third day" they heard the waves breaking on a beach, - but when daylight came and they approached the land, swarms of ants, - as large as foals, came down to the beach and showed a desire to eat - them and the boat (these are the gold-digging ants of Indo-Greek - legend). This land is the parallel to Helluland, where there were a - number of arctic foxes (cf. the description of the arrival there, p. - 323).--After having fled thence for three days and three nights, the - Irishmen heard "on the morning of the third day" the waves breaking on - a beach, and when daylight came they saw a great, lofty island with - terraces around it and rows of trees, on which there were many large - birds; they ate their fill of these and took some of them in the boat. - This island might correspond to the wooded Markland, with its many - animals, where Karlsevne and his people killed a bear.--After another - three days and three nights at sea, the Irish voyagers "on the morning - of the fourth day" saw a great sandy island; on approaching the shore - they saw there a fabulous beast like a horse with dog's paws and - claws. For fear of the beast they rowed away without landing. This - great sandy island may be compared with Furðustrandir, where there - were no harbours and it was difficult to land.--The Irishmen then - travelled "for a long time" before they came to a large, flat island, - where two men landed to examine the island, which they found to be - large and broad, and they saw marks of horses' hoofs as large as a - ship's sail, and nutshells as large as "coedi" (a measure of capacity - ?), and traces of many human beings. This bears a resemblance to - Karlsevne's having "a long way" to sail along Furðustrandir before he - came to a bay, where the two Scots went ashore to examine the country, - were absent three days, and found grapes and wheat.--After that the - Irishmen travelled for a week, in hunger and thirst, until they came - to a great, lofty island, with a great house on the beach, with two - doors, "one towards the plain on the island and one towards the sea"; - and through the latter the waves of the sea threw salmon into the - middle of the house. They found decorated couches and crystal goblets - with good drink in the house, but no human being, and they took meat - and drink and thanked God. Karlsevne proceeded from the bay and came - to Straumsey, which was thick with birds and eggs, and to - Straumsfjord, where they established themselves (i.e., built houses). - And there were mountains and a fair prospect and high grass; and they - had catches from two sides, "hunting on the land, and eggs and fish - from the sea"; and where, to begin with, they did nothing but make - themselves acquainted with the land.--From the island with the house - Maelduin and his men travelled about "for a long time," hungry and - without food, until they found an island which was encompassed by a - great cliff ("alt mor impi"). There was a very thin and tall tree - there; Maelduin caught a branch of it in his hand as they passed by; - for three days and three nights the branch was in his hand, while the - boat was sailing past the cliff, and on the third day there were three - apples at the end of the branch (cf. Karlsevne's runners who returned - after three days with grapes and wheat in their hands), on which they - lived for forty days. Karlsevne and his men suffered great want during - the winter at Straumsfjord; and from that place, where they lived on - land in houses, they sailed "for a long time" before they came to the - country with the self-sown wheat and vines, where there were great - sandbanks off the mouth of the river, so that they had a difficulty in - landing. - -It is striking that in the voyage of Maelduin, the distance is only given -as three days' and three nights' sail in the case of the three first -passages to the three successive islands, after the first two small -islands, while between the later islands we are told that they sailed "a -long way," "for a week," "for a long time," etc.; just as in the Saga of -Eric the Red, where, after Bjarneyjar, they sail for two "doegr" to each -of the three lands in turn, and then they had "a long way" to sail along -Furðustrandir, to a bay, after which "they went on their way" to -Straumsfjord, and thence they went "for a long time" to Wineland, etc. I -do not venture to assert that there was a direct connection between the -two productions, for that there are perhaps too many dissimilarities; but -they seem in any case to have their roots in one and the same cycle of -ideas, and the original legend certainly reached Iceland in the shape of -oral narrative. - - The number three plays an important part in Eric's Saga. Three voyages - are made to or in search of Wineland, Karlsevne has three ships, three - countries are visited in turn, three winters are spent away (as with - Eric the Red on his first voyage to Greenland, but there this was due - to his exile), they meet with the Skrælings three times, three men - fall (two in the fight with the Skrælings, and afterwards Thorvald - Ericson)--just as Maelduin (and also Brandan) loses three men--the - expedition finally resolves itself into three separate homeward - voyages, Thorhall the Hunter's, Karlsevne's and Bjarne Grimolfsson's, - etc. etc.[316] In the Irish legends and tales, e.g., those of Maelduin - or of the Ua Corra, the repetition of the number three is even more - conspicuous. - - We may regard it as another feature of fairy tale that Eric the Red - has three sons who set out one after another, first Leif, then - Thorstein, and lastly Thorvald, who finds the land and takes part in - the attempt to settle it. But this feature is not conspicuous enough - to allow of our attaching much importance to it, especially as here it - is the first son who is the lucky one, while it is not so in fairy - tale. - -[Sidenote: Sweet dew and manna] - -In Leif's voyage in the "Grönlendinga-þáttr" (which voyage partly -corresponds to Karlsevne's), when they came to a country south-west of -Markland, they landed on an island, to the north of the country, - - "looked around them in fair weather, and found that there was dew on - the grass, and it happened that they touched the grass with their - hands and put them in their mouths, and they thought they had never - tasted anything so sweet as it was." - -This reminds one forcibly of Moses' manna in the wilderness, which -appeared like dew [Exodus xvi. 14]. In the Old Norwegian free rendering of -the Old Testament, called "Stjórn,"[317] of about 1300, therefore much -earlier than the "Grönlendinga-þáttr," the account of this says that dew -came from heaven round the whole camp, "it stuck like slime on the hands -as soon as they touched it" ... "they found that it was sweet as honey in -taste...." But here again we come in contact with Irish legendary ideas. -In the tale of the Navigation of the Sons of Ua Corra (of the twelfth -century) the voyagers come to an island with a beautiful and wonderful -plain covered with trees, full of honey, and a grass-green glade in the -middle with a glorious lake of agreeable taste. Later on they come to -another marvellous island, with splendid green grass, and honeydew lay on -the grass [cf. Zimmer, 1889, pp. 194, 195]. - -[Sidenote: Furðustrandir] - -The name "Furðustrandir" (marvel-strands), as we shall see later (p. 357), -may come from the "Tírib Ingnad" (lands of marvel) and "Trág Mór" (great -strand) of Irish legend, far in the western ocean. - -[Sidenote: Mythical figures: the Scottish runners] - -When Karlsevne arrived off Furðustrandir he sent out his two Scottish -runners, the man "Haki" and the woman "Hekja," and told them to run -southwards and examine the condition of the country and come back in three -days. This is evidently another legendary trait; and equally so the -circumstance that King Olaf had given these runners to Leif and told him -"to make use of them if he had need of speed, for they were swifter than -deer." We know of many such features in fairy tale and myth. Then, after -the traditional three days, the man and woman come running from the -interior of the country, one with grapes, the other with self-sown wheat -in their hands. We are tempted to think of the spies Moses sent into -Canaan, with orders to spy out the land, whether it was fat or lean, and -who came back with a vine-branch and a cluster of grapes, which they had -cut in the vale of Eshcol (i.e., the vale of grapes).[318] - -But there are other remarkable points about this legend. Professor Moltke -Moe has called my attention to a striking resemblance between it and the -legends of the two runners or spies who accompanied Sinclair's march -through Norway in 1612. They are called "wind-runners" or "bloodhounds," -or again "weather-calves" or "wind-calves"; others called them "Wild -Turks." - - "They were ugly folk enough. Sinklar used them to run before and - search out news; in the evening they came back with their reports. - They were swifter in running than the stag; it is said that the flesh - was cut out of their thighs and the thick of their calves. It is also - said that they could follow men's tracks."[319] - - We are told elsewhere that "these 'Ver-Kalvann' ('wind-calves') were - more active than farm-dogs, swift as lightning, and did not look like - folk. The flesh was cut out of the thick of their calves, their thighs - and buttocks; their nostrils were also slit up. People thought this - was done to them to make them so much lighter to run around, and every - one was more frightened of them than of the Scots themselves. They - could get the scent of folk a long way off and could kill a man before - he could blow his nose: they dashed up the back and broke the necks of - folk."[320] - -The trait that the wind-runners "did not look like folk" is expressed in -another form in H. P. S. Krag's notes; he thinks that they - - "were nothing else but Sinclair's bloodhounds, which we may assume - both from the description and from its being related of the one that - was shot at Ödegaard that it ran about the field and barked." - -Something similar also occurs about the runners in Wineland in a late form -of the legend of Karlsevne's voyage, where we read that - - "he sailed from Greenland south-westward until the condition of the - country got better and better; he found and visited many places that - have never been found since; he found also some Skrælings; these - people are called in some books Lapps. In one place he got two - creatures ('skepnur') more like apes than men, whom he called Hake and - Hekja; they ran as fast as greyhounds and had few clothes." [MS. A. - M., old no. 77oc, new no. 1892, 3; cf. Rafn: "Antiquitates Americanæ," - 1837, p. 196.] - -It may be mentioned in addition that in the Flateyjarbók's saga of the -Wineland voyages no runners appear, but on the other hand, in the tale of -Leif's voyage, which has features in common with Karlsevne's, there is a -"Southman" ("suðrmaðr," most frequently used of Germans)[321] of the name -of "Tyrker," who was the first to find the wild vine in the woods (like -Karlsevne's runners) and intoxicated himself by eating the grapes.[322] As -Moltke Moe observes, there is a remarkable resemblance between the rare -name Tyrker and the fact that Sinclair's runners were called Wild Turks. - -Both in the legend of Karlsevne and in that of Sinclair the two runners -are connected with Scots or Scotland. One is therefore inclined to suppose -that some piece of Celtic folklore is the common source of both. Now there -is a Scottish mythical creature called a "water-calf"; and the -unintelligible Norwegian name "weather-calf" or "wind-calf" ("veirkalv") -may well be thought a corruption of this. It is true that this creature -inhabits lakes, but it also goes upon dry land, and has fabulous speed and -the power of scenting things far off. It can also transform itself into -different shapes, but always preserves something of its animal form. - -That the runners in Eric's Saga have become a man and woman may be due to -a natural connection with Thor's swift-footed companions, Tjalve and -Röskva. But there seems here to be another possible connection, which -Moltke Moe has suggested to me. The strange garment they wore is called in -one MS. "kiafal" and in another "biafal." No word completely corresponding -to this is known in Celtic; but there is a modern Irish word "cabhail" -(pronounced "caval" == "a body of a shirt"), which shows so much -similarity both in meaning and sound that there seems undoubtedly to be a -connection here. That "caval," corrupted to "kiafal" (through the -influence of similar-sounding names ?), has been transformed into "biafal" -may be due to the influence of the Norse "bjalfi" or "bjalbi" (== a fur -garment without sleeves). As their costume plays such an important part in -the description of the runners, and special stress is laid upon the Celtic -word for it, it is probable that this word was originally used as a name -for the runners themselves--in legend and epic poetry there are many -examples of people being named from their dress. But gradually the Celtic -word used as a name has been replaced by the corresponding Old Norse -"hakull" (or "hokull" == sleeveless cloak open at the sides; cf. -"messe-hagel," chasuble) and its feminine derivative "hekla" (== -sleeveless cloak, with or without a hood). The use of these two words of -masculine and feminine gender may be due to conceptions of them as man and -woman, derived from Tjalve and Röskva. In course of time it was natural -that a personal name formed from the costume, like Hakull, should easily -be replaced by a real man's name of similar sound, like "Haki," specially -known in legend and epic poetry as a name of sea-kings, berserkers and -troll-children. Then "Hekja" was derived from "Haki," in the same way as -"Hekla" from "Hakull." Hekja as a name is not met with elsewhere.[323] - -That the whole of this story of the runners in the Saga of Eric the Red -has been borrowed from elsewhere appears also from its being badly fitted -in; for the narrative of the saga continues without taking any notice of -the finding of the sure tokens of Wineland: the self-sown wheat and the -vine; and in the following spring there is even a dispute as to the -direction in which the country is to be sought. Furthermore, after the -discoveries of the runners Karlsevne continues to sail southward, at -first, the same autumn, to Straumsfjord, and then still farther south the -following summer, before he arrives at the country of the wheat and grapes -that the runners had reached in a day and a half in a roadless land. - -[Sidenote: Mythical figures: Thorhall and Tyrker] - -The description of the stay in Straumsfjord also contains purely mythical -features, such as Thorhall the Hunter's being absent for the stereotyped -three days ("doegr"), and having, when they find him, practised magic arts -with the Red-Beard (Thor), as the result of which a whale is driven ashore -(see p. 325). There is further a striking resemblance between the -description of Thorhall's state when found and that of Tyrker after he had -eaten the grapes. When, in Eric's Saga, they sought and found Thorhall on -a steep mountain crag, - - "he lay gazing up into the air with wide-open mouth and nostrils, - scratching and pinching himself and muttering something. They asked - why he lay there. He answered that that did not concern anybody, and - told them not to meddle with it; he had for the most part lived so, - said he, that they had no need to trouble about him. They asked him to - come home with them, and he did so." - -In the Flateyjarbók's "Grönlendinga-þáttr" Tyrker was lost in the woods, -and when Leif and his men went in search and found him again, he too -behaved strangely. - - "First he spoke for a long time in 'þýrsku,' and rolled his eyes many - ways and twisted his mouth; but they could not make out what he said. - After a while he said in Norse: I did not go much farther, and yet I - have a new discovery to tell of; I have found vines and grapes - ('vínvið ok vínber')." - -This shows how features taken from legends originally altogether different -are mingled together in these sagas, in order to fill out the description; -and it shows too how the same tale may take entirely different forms. Of -Tyrker we hear further that "he was 'brattleitr' (with a flat face and -abrupt forehead), had fugitive eyes, was freckled ('smáskitligr') in the -face, small of stature and puny, but skilful in all kinds of dexterity." -Thorhall, on the other hand, "was tall of stature, dark and troll-like," -etc. (see p. 320), but he was also master of many crafts, was well -acquainted with the uninhabited regions, and altogether had qualities -different from most people. Both had long been with Eric the Red. There -can scarcely be a doubt that these two legendary figures, perhaps -originally derived from wholly different spheres, have been blended -together. - -[Sidenote: The stranded whale] - -The whale that is driven ashore and that they feed on resembles the great -fish that is cast ashore and that the Irish saint Brandan and his -companions live on in the tale of his wonderful voyage (see below). This -resemblance is confirmed by the statement in the Icelandic story that no -one knew what kind of whale it was, not even Karlsevne, who had great -experience of whales. There are, of course, no whales on the north-eastern -coast of America that are not also found on the coasts of Greenland and -Iceland; the incident therefore appears fictitious. The great whale in the -legend of Brandan, on the other hand, is a fabulous monster. There is this -distinction, it is true, that Karlsevne's people fall ill from eating the -whale,[324] while it saves the lives of the Irish voyagers; but in both -cases it is driven ashore after God, or a god, has been invoked in their -need, and disappears again immediately (in the tale of Brandan it is -devoured by wild beasts; in the saga it is thrown over the cliff). This -difference can easily be explained by the whale in the Norse story having -been sent by a heathen god, so that it was sacrilege to eat of it. In the -tale of Brandan the whale is perhaps derived from Oriental legends [cf. De -Goeje, 1891, p. 63]; it may, however, be a common northern feature. - -[Sidenote: Eggs in the autumn and egg-gathering] - -When it is stated of Straumsfjord that there were places where eggs could -be gathered, and of Straumsey that "there were so many birds that one -could scarcely put one's foot down between the eggs," this is evidently an -entirely northern feature, brought in to decorate the tale, and brought in -so infelicitously that they are made to find all this mass of eggs there -in the _autumn_ (!) when they arrive. If Straumsfjord was in Nova Scotia -there could not be eider-ducks nor gulls either[325] in sufficient number -to form breeding-grounds of importance, and among sea-birds one would be -more inclined to think of terns, as Professor R. Collett has suggested to -me. As the coast is not described as one with steep cliffs, and there is -mention of stepping between the eggs, auks, guillemots and similar -sea-birds are out of the question, even if they occurred so far south. - -[Sidenote: Wineland the equivalent of Fortunate Isles] - -But then comes the most important part of the saga, the description of the -country itself, where grew self-sown fields of wheat, and vines on the -hills, where no snow fell and the cattle were out the whole winter, where -the streams and the sea teemed with fish and the woods were full of deer. - -Isidore says [in the "Etymologiarum," xiv. 6, 8] of the Fortunate Isles: - - "The Insulæ Fortunatæ denote by their name that they produce all good - things, as though fortunate ('felices') and blessed with fertility of - vegetation. For of their own nature they are rich in valuable fruits - ('poma,' literally tree-fruit or apples). The mountain-ridges are - clothed with self-grown ('fortuites') vines, and cornfields ('messis' - == that which is to be cut) and vegetables are common as grass [i.e., - grow wild like grass, are self-sown]; thence comes the error of the - heathen, and that profane poetry regarded them as Paradise. They lie - in the ocean on the left side of Mauritania [Morocco] nearest to the - setting sun, and they are divided from one another by sea that lies - between." He also mentions the Gorgades, and the Hesperides. - -These ideas of the Fortunate Isles were widely current in the Middle Ages. -In the English work, "Polychronicon," by Ranulph Higden, of the fourteenth -century, Isidore's description took the following form: - - "A good climate have the Insulæ Fortunatæ that lie in the western - ocean, which were regarded by the heathen as Paradise by reason of the - fertility of the soil and of the temperate climate. For there the - mountain ridges are clothed with self-grown vines, and cornfields and - vegetables are common as grass [i.e., grow wild]. Consequently they - are called on account of the rich vegetation 'Fortunatæ,' that is to - say, 'felices' [happy, fertile], for there are trees that grow as high - as 140 feet...." - -The resemblance between this description and that of Wineland is so close -that it cannot be explained away as fortuitous; the most prominent -features are common to both: the self-sown cornfields, the self-grown -vines on the hills, and the lofty trees (cf. Pliny, below, p. 348), which -are already present in the narrative of Leif's voyage (see above, p. 317). -If we go back to antiquity and examine the general ideas of the Fortunate -Land or the Fortunate Isles out in the ocean in the west, we find yet more -points of resemblance. Diodorus [v. 19, 20] describes a land opposite -Africa, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, as fertile and mountainous, -but also to a large extent flat. (Wineland also had hills and lowlands.) -It invites to amusements and delights.[326] The mountainous country has -thick forests and all kinds of fruitful trees, and many streams; there is -excellent hunting with game of all sorts, big and small, and the sea is -full of fish (precisely as Wineland). Moreover, the air is extremely mild -(as in Wineland), and there is plenty of fruit the whole year round, etc. -The land was not known in former times, but some Phoenicians on a voyage -along the African coast were overtaken by a storm, were driven about the -ocean for many days, until they came thither (like Leif). - -It is said of Wineland, in the Saga of Eric the Red, that "no snow at all -fell there, and the cattle were out (in winter) and fed themselves," and -in the Flateyjarbók we read that "there was no frost in the winter, and -the grass withered little." These, we see, are pure impossibilities. As -early as the Odyssey [iv. 566] it is said of the Elysian Fields in the -west on the borders of the earth: - - "There is never snow, never winter nor storm, nor streaming rain, - But Ocean ever sends forth the light breath of the west wind - To bring refreshment to men." - -In the early civilisation of Babylon and Egypt this fortunate land seems -to have been imagined as lying in the direction of the rising sun; but the -ideas are always the same. An ancient Egyptian myth puts "Aalu" or "Hotep" -(== place of food, land of eating), which is the abode of bliss and -fortune, far in the east, where light conquers darkness. - - "Both texts and pictures bear witness to the beauty which pervades - this abode of life; it was a Paradise as splendid as could be - imagined, 'the store-house of the great god'; where 'the corn grows - seven cubits high.' It was a land of eternal life; there, according to - the oldest Egyptian texts, the god of light, and with him the - departed, acquire strength to renew themselves and to arise from the - dead."[327] - -In the same colours as these the Odyssey describes many fortunate lands -and islands, such as the nymph Calypso's beautiful island Ogygia, far in -the west of the ocean; and again "Scheria's delightful island" [vii. 79 -ff.], where the Phæacians, "a people as happy as gods," dwell "far away -amid the splashing waves of the ocean," where the mild west wind, both -winter and summer, ever causes the fruit-trees and vines to blossom and -bear fruit, and where all kinds of herbs grow all the year round (remark -the similarity with Isidore's description). The fortunate isle of Syria, -far in the western ocean, is also mentioned [xv. 402], - - "North of Ortygia, towards the region where the sun sets; - Rich in oxen and sheep, and clothed with vines and wheat," - -where the people live free from want and sickness. These are the same -ideas which were afterwards transferred to the legend of the Hyperboreans -(cf. pp. 15 ff.).[328] It is natural that among the Greeks wine and the -vine took a prominent place in these descriptions. In post-Homeric times -the "Isles of the Blest" ([Greek: Makarôn nêsoi]) are described by Hesiod -(and subsequently by Pindar) as lying in the western ocean-- - - "there they live free from care in the Isles of the Blest, by the - deep-flowing Ocean, the fortunate heroes to whom the earth gives - honey-sweet fruits three times a year." - -It is these ideas--perhaps originally derived from the Orient--that have -developed into the Insulæ Fortunatæ. - -These islands are described by many writers of later antiquity. Pliny says -[Nat. Hist., vi. 32 (37)] that according to some authors there lie to the -west of Africa - - "the Fortunate Isles and many others, whose number and distance are - likewise given by Sebosus. According to him the distance of the island - of Junonia from Gades is 750,000 paces; it is an equal distance from - this island westward to Pluvialia and Capraria. In Pluvialia there is - said to be no water but that which the rain brings. 250,000 paces - south-west of it and over against the left side of Mauritania - [Morocco] lie the Fortunate Isles, of which one is called Invallis on - account of its elevated form, the other Planaria on account of its - flatness. Invallis has a circumference of 300,000 paces, and the trees - on it are said to attain a height of 140 feet." - -But as usual Pliny uncritically confuses statements from various sources, -and he here adds information collected by the African king Juba about the -Fortunate Isles. According to this they were six in number: Ombrios, two -islands of Junonia, besides Capraria, Nivaria, and Canaria, so called from -the many large dogs there, of which two were brought to Juba. Solinus -mentions in one place [c. 23, 10] that there are three Fortunatæ Insulæ, -but in another place [c. 56] he gives Juba's statement from Pliny. That -these islands were located to the west of Africa is certainly due to the -Phoenicians' and Carthaginians' knowledge of the Canary Islands, and -Ptolemy also places them here (see above, p. 117). Strabo [i. 3] thinks -that the Isles of the Blest lay west of the extremity of Maurusia -(Morocco), in the region where the ends of Maurusia and Iberia meet. Their -name shows that they lie near to the holy region (i.e., the Elysian -Fields). - -In his biography of the eminent Roman general Sertorius ("imperator" in -Spain for several years, died in 72 B.C.), Plutarch also mentions the -Isles of the Blest. He tells us that when Sertorius landed as an exile on -the south-west coast of Spain (Andalusia), - - "he found there some sailors newly arrived from the Atlantic Isles. - These are two in number, separated only by a narrow strait, and they - are 10,000 stadia (1000 geographical miles) from the African coast. - They are called the 'Isles of the Blest.' Rain seldom falls there, and - when it does so, it is in moderation; but they usually have mild - winds, which spread such abundance of dew that the soil is not only - good for sowing and planting, but produces of itself the most - excellent fruit, and in such abundance that the inhabitants have - nothing else to do but to abandon themselves to the enjoyment of - repose. The air is always fresh and wholesome, through the favourable - temperature of the seasons and their imperceptible transition.... So - that it is generally assumed, even among the barbarians, that these - are the Elysian Fields and the habitations of the blest, which Homer - has described with all the magic of poetry. When Sertorius heard of - these marvels he had a strong desire to settle in these islands, where - he might live in perfect peace and far from the evils of tyranny and - war." - -But this remarkable man soon had fresh warlike under-takings to think -about, so that he never went there. It appears too from the fragments that -have come down to us of Sallust's Histories[329] that Sertorius did not -visit these islands, but only wished to do so. In fragment 102 we read: - - "It is related that he undertook a voyage far out into the ocean," and - Maurenbrecher adds that a scholium to Horace [Epod. 16, 42] says: "The - ocean wherein are the Insulæ Fortunatæ, to which Sallust in his - Histories says that Sertorius wished to retire when he had been - vanquished." - -But in L. Annæus Florus, who lived under Hadrian (117-138 A.D.), we read -[iii. 22]:[330] - - "An exile and a wanderer on account of his banishment, this man [i.e., - Sertorius] of the greatest but most fatal qualities filled seas and - lands with his misfortunes: now in Africa, now in the Balearic Isles - he sought fortune, was sent out into the ocean and reached the - Fortunate Isles: finally he raised Spain to conflict." - -It thus appears that by Florus's time the idea had shaped itself that -Sertorius really had sought and found these islands; which, besides, in -part at all events, were thought to be the same as those said to have been -already discovered by the Carthaginian Hanno on the west coast of Africa -about 500 B.C. - -Of great interest is the description which Horace gives in his Epodes -[xvi. 39 ff.] of the Fortunate Isles in the ocean, though he does not -mention them by name. He exhorts the Romans, who were suffering from the -civil wars, to abandon the coast of Italy (the Etruscan coast) and sail -thither, away from all their miseries. Lord Lytton[331] gave the following -metrical translation of the poem: - - Ye in whom manhood lives, cease woman wailings, - Wing the sail far beyond Etruscan shores. - Lo! where awaits an all-circumfluent ocean-- - Fields, the Blest Fields we seek, the Golden Isles - Where teems a land that never knows the ploughshare-- - Where, never needing pruner, laughs the vine-- - Where the dusk fig adorns the stem it springs from, - And the glad olive ne'er its pledge belies-- - There from the creviced ilex wells the honey; - There, down the hillside bounding light, the rills - Dance with free foot, whose fall is heard in music; - There, without call, the she-goat yields her milk, - And back to browse, with unexhausted udders, - Wanders the friendly flock; no hungry bear - Growls round the sheepfold in the starry gloaming, - Nor high with rippling vipers heaves the soil. - These, and yet more of marvel, shall we witness, - We, for felicity reserved; how ne'er - Dark Eurus sweeps the fields with flooding rain-storm, - Nor rich seeds parch within the sweltering glebe. - Either extreme the King of Heaven has tempered. - Thither ne'er rowed the oar of Argonaut, - The impure Colchian never there had footing. - There Sidon's trader brought no lust of gain; - No weary toil there anchored with Ulysses; - Sickness is known not; on the tender lamb - No ray falls baneful from one star in heaven. - When Jove's decree alloyed the golden age, - He kept these shores for one pure race secreted; - For all beside the golden age grew brass - Till the last centuries hardened to the iron, - Whence to the pure in heart a glad escape, - By favour of my prophet-strain is given. - -Rendered into prose, Horace's poem will run somewhat as follows: - - "Ye who have manliness, away with effeminate grief, and fly beyond the - Etruscan shore. There awaits us the all-circumfluent ocean: Let us - steer towards fields, happy fields and rich islands, _where the - untilled earth gives corn every year, and the vine uncut_ [i.e., - unpruned, growing wild] _continually flourishes_, and the - never-failing branch of the olive-tree blossoms forth, and the fig - adorns its tree, honey flows from the hollow ilex, the light stream - bounds down from the high mountain on murmuring foot," etc. - -We thus find here in Horace precisely the same ideas of the Elysian Fields -or the Fortunate Isles that occur later in Isidore and in the saga's -description of the fortunate Wineland; especially striking are the -expressions about the corn that each year grows wild (on the unploughed -earth) and the wild vine which continually yields fruit (blossoms, -"floret"). - - These myths of the Fortunate Isles--originally derived from - conceptions of the happy existence of the elect after death (in the - Elysian Fields), for which reason they were called by the Greeks the - Isles of the Blest--have also, of course, been blended with Indian - myths of "Uttara Kuru." Among the Greeks they were sometimes the - subject of humorous productions; several such of the fifth century - B.C. are preserved in Athenæus. Thus Teleclides says: "Mortals live - there peacefully and free from fear and sickness, and all that they - need offers itself spontaneously. The gutter flows with wine, wheat - and barley bread fight before the mouths of the people for the favour - of being swallowed, the fish come into the house, offer themselves and - serve themselves up, a stream of soup bears warm pieces of meat on its - waves," etc. Cf. also Lucian's description of the Isle of the Blest in - Vera Historia (second century A.D.): "The vines bear fruit twelve - times a year ... instead of wheat the ears put forth little loaves - like sponges," etc. [Wieland, 1789, iv. p. 196]. - -[Sidenote: Schlaraffenland and Fyldeholm] - - In the Middle Ages the tale of the land of desire was widespread: in - Spain it took the name of "Tierra del Pipiripáo" or "Dorado" (the land - of gold), or again "La Isla de Jauja," said to have been discovered by - the ship of General Don Fernando. In it are costly foods, rich stuffs - and cloths in the fields and on the trees, lakes and rivers of Malmsey - and other wines, springs of brandy, pools of lemonade, a mountain of - cheese, another of snow, which cools one in summer and warms in - winter, etc. In the Germanic countries this took the form of the - legend of Schlaraffenland.[332] This mythical country has in Norway - become "Fyldeholmen" (i.e., the island of drinking),[333] which shows - that to the Norwegians of later days wine or spirits were the most - important feature in the description of the land of desire, as the - wine was to the ancient Norsemen in the conception of Wineland. - -To sum up, it appears to me clear that the saga's description of Wineland -must in its essential features be derived from the myth of the Insulæ -Fortunatæ. The representations of it might be taken directly from Isidore, -who was much read in the Middle Ages, certainly in Iceland (where a -partial translation of his work was made) and in Norway (he is often -quoted in the "King's Mirror"), or orally from other old authorities, who -gave still more detailed descriptions of these islands. But the difficulty -is that the name of Wineland, connected with the ideas of the self-grown -vine and the unsown wheat, is already found in Adam of Bremen (circa 1070, -see above, pp. 195 ff.). We might therefore suppose that it was his -mention of the country which formed the basis of the Icelandic -representation of it, although his fourth book (the description of the -isles of the North) seems otherwise to have been little known in the North -at that time; but here again the difficulty presents itself that the later -description, that of the saga, is more developed and includes several -features which agree with the classical conceptions, but which are not yet -found in Adam of Bremen. I think therefore that the matter may stand thus, -that "Vínland hit Góða" was the Norsemen's name for "Insulæ Fortunatæ," -and was in a way a translation thereof; and oral tales about the -country--based on Isidore and later on other sources as well--may have -formed the foundation of the statements both in Adam and in Icelandic -literature. In the latter, then, an ever-increasing number of features -from the classical conceptions have crystallised upon the nucleus, when -once it was formed, especially through the clerical, classically educated -saga-writers. - -[Sidenote: Irish happy lands and Wineland] - -As Norway, and still more Iceland (cf. pp. 167, 258), were closely -connected in ancient days with Ireland, and as Norse literature in many -ways shows traces of Irish influence, one is disposed to think that the -ideas of Wineland may first have reached Iceland from that quarter. This -exactly agrees with what was said at the beginning of this chapter, that -the statements (in the Landnámabók) from the oldest Icelandic source, Are -Frode, point directly to Ireland as the birthplace of the first reports of -Wineland. We read in the Landnámabók: - - "Hvítramanna-land, which some call 'Irland hit Mikla' [Ireland the - Great], lies westward in the ocean near Wineland (Vindland) the Good. - It is reckoned six 'doegr's' sail from Ireland." - -Nothing more is said about Wineland.[334] As it is added that Are -Mársson's voyage to Hvítramanna-land - - "was first related by Ravn 'Hlymreks-farer,' who had long been at - Limerick in Ireland," - -we see that Ravn, who was an Icelandic sailor of the beginning of the -eleventh century, must have heard of both Hvítramanna-land and Wineland in -Ireland, since otherwise he could not have known that one lay near the -other.[335] But as Hvítramanna-land or "Great Ireland" is an Irish -mythical country (see later), it becomes probable that Wineland the Good, -at any rate in this connection, was one likewise. The old Irish legends -mention many such fortunate islands in the western ocean, which have -similar names, and which to a large extent are derived from the classical -myths of the Elysian Fields and the Insulæ Fortunatæ. Voyages to them form -prominent features of most of the Irish tales and legends. In the heathen -tale of the Voyage of Bran ("Echtra Brain maic Febail," preserved in -fifteenth and fourteenth century copies of a work of the eleventh century, -but perhaps originally written down in the seventh century)[336] there are -descriptions of: "Emain" or "Tír na-m-Ban" (the land of women), with -thousands of amorous women and maidens, and "without care, without death, -without any sickness or infirmity" (where Bran and his men live -sumptuously each with his woman);[337] "Aircthech" (== the beautiful -land); "Ciuin" (== the mild land), with riches and treasures of all -colours, where one listens to lovely music, and drinks the most delicious -wine; "Mag Mon" (== the plain of sports); "Imchiuin" (== the very mild -land); "Mag Mell" (== the happy plain, the Elysium of the Irish), which -is described as lying beneath the sea, where without sin, without crime, -men and loving women sit under a bush at the finest sports, with the -noblest wine, where there is a splendid wood with flowers and fruits and -golden leaves, and the true scent of the vine; there is also "Inis Subai" -(the isle of gladness), where all the people do nothing but laugh.[338] It -is said in the same tale that "there are thrice fifty distant islands in -the ocean to the west of us, each of them twice or thrice as large as -Erin." - -That western happy lands in the Irish legends (even in the Christian -"Imram Maelduin") should often be depicted as the Land of Women ("Tír -na-m-Ban") or Land of Virgins ("Tír na-n-Ingen"), with amorously longing -women, might be thought to have some connection with Mahomet's Paradise -and the Houris; but the erotically sensuous element is everywhere so -prominent in mediæval Irish literature that this feature may be a genuine -Irish one.[339] It must, by the way, be this "Tír na-n-Ingen" that we -meet with again in the Faroese lay "Gongu-Rólv's kvæði," where the giant -from Trollebotten carries Rolv to "Möyaland" (cf. Småmöyaland); there Rolv -slept three nights with the fair "Lindin mjá" (== the slender lime-tree, -i.e., maid), and on the third night she lost her virginity. But the other -maidens all want to see him, they all want to torment him, some want to -throw him into the sea, - - "Summar vildu hann á gálgan föra Some would carry him to the gallows, - summar ríva hans hár, some would tear his hair, - uttan frúgvin Lindin mjá, except the damsel Lindin the slender, - hon fellir fyri hann tár." she shed tears for him. - -She sends for the bird "Skúgv," which carries him on its back for seven -days and six nights across the sea to the highest mountain in Trondhjem. -[Cf. Hammershaimb, 1855, pp. 138 ff.] - -[Illustration: From a MS. of the thirteenth century (Royal Library, -Copenhagen)] - -The "Promised Land" ("Tír Tairngiri") with the "Happy Plain" ("Mag -Mell")[340] became in the Christian Irish legends the earthly Paradise, -"Terra Repromissionis Sanctorum" (the land of promise of the saints). -Other names for the happy land or happy isles in the west are: "Hy -Breasail" (== the fortunate isle), "Tír na-m-Beo" (== the land of the -living), "Tír na-n-Óg" (== the land of youth), "Tír na-m-Buadha" (== the -land of virtues), "Hy na-Beatha" (== the isle of life). The happy isle of -"Hy Breasail," which was thought to be inhabited by living people, was -also frequently called the "Great Land" (which when translated into Old -Norse might become "Víðland"); just as the "Land of the Living," where -there were only enticing women and maidens, and neither death nor sin nor -offence, was called the "Great Strand" ("Trág Mór").[341] There is also -mention of "Tír n-Ingnad" (land of marvels) and "Tírib Ingnad" (lands of -marvels). This Irish series of names and conceptions for the same -wonderful land (or strand) may well be thought to have been the origin of -the name "Furðustrandir."[342] The Irish often imagined their Promised -Land, with "Mag Mell" and also the land of women, as the sunken land -under the sea (cf. p. 355), and called it "Tír fo-Thuin" (== the land -under the wave). - -[Sidenote: Brandan's Grape-Island] - -It is not surprising that a name like "Vínland hit Góða" should have -developed from such a world of ideas as this. But Moltke Moe has drawn my -attention to yet another remarkable agreement, in the Grape-Island -("Insula Uvarum"), one of the fortunate isles visited by the Irish saint -Brandan. In the Latin "Navigatio Sancti Brandani"--a description of -Brandan's seven years' sea voyage in search of the "Promised Land"--it is -related that one day a mighty bird came flying to Brandan and the brethren -who were with him in the coracle; it had a branch in its beak with a bunch -of grapes of unexampled size and redness[343] [cf. Numbers xiii. 23],[344] -and it dropped the branch into the lap of the man of God. The grapes were -as large as apples, and they lived on them for twelve days. - - "Three days afterwards they reached the island; it was covered with - the thickest forests of vines, which bore grapes with such incredible - fertility that all the trees were bent to the earth; all with the same - fruit and the same colour; not a tree was unfruitful, and there were - none found there of any other sort." - -Then this man of God goes ashore and explores the island, while the -brethren wait in the boat (like Karlsevne and his men waiting for the -runners), until he comes back to them bringing samples of the fruits of -the island (as the runners brought with them samples of the products of -Wineland). He says: "Come ashore and set up the tent, and regale -yourselves with the excellent fruits of this land, which the Lord has -shown us." For forty days they lived well on the grapes, and when they -left they loaded the boat with as many of them as it would hold, exactly -like Leif in the "Grönlendinga-þáttr," who loaded the ship's boat with -grapes when they left Wineland; and like Thorvald at the same place, who -collected grapes and vines for a cargo [cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," i. pp. -222, 230]. - -[Sidenote: The river at Hóp and the Styx] - -The fortunate island on which the monk Mernoc lived (at the beginning of -the "Navigatio") was called "Insula Deliciosa." The great river that -Brandan found in the Terra Repromissionis, and that ran through the middle -of the island, may be compared to the stream that Karlsevne found at Hóp -in Wineland, which fell into a lake and thence into the sea, and where -they entered the mouth of the river. But the river which divided the Terra -Repromissionis, and which Brandan could not cross, was evidently -originally the river of death, Styx or Acheron in Greek mythology ("Gjoll" -in Norse mythology). One might be tempted to suppose that, in the same way -as the whole description of Wineland has been dechristianised from the -Terra Repromissionis, the realistic, and therefore often rationalising, -Icelanders have transformed the river in the Promised Land, the ancient -river of death, into the stream at Hóp. - -Other passages also of the descriptions of the Wineland voyages present -similarities with Brandan's voyage; and similar resemblances are found -with other Irish legends, so many, in fact, that they cannot be explained -as coincidences. The "Navigatio Sancti Brandani" was written in the -eleventh century, or in any case before 1100[345] (but parts of the legend -of Brandan may belong to the seventh and eighth centuries). The work was -widely diffused in Europe in the twelfth century, and was also well known -in Iceland; we still possess an Old Norse translation of parts of it in -the "Heilagra Manna sogur" [edited by Unger, Christiania, 1877, i.]. -Through oral narratives the mythical features which are included in this -legend have evidently helped to form the tradition of the Wineland -voyages. - -[Sidenote: Wine-fruit and wine in Irish legend] - -In the tale of the voyage of Maelduin and his companions ("Imram -Maelduin," see above, p. 336),[346] it is related that they came to an -island where there were many trees, like willow or hazel, with wonderful -fruit like apples, or wine-fruit, with a thick, large shell; its juice had -so intoxicating an effect that Maelduin slept for a day and a night after -having drunk it; and when he awoke, he told his companions to collect as -much as they could of it, for the world had never produced anything so -lovely. They then filled all their vessels with the juice, which they -pressed out of the fruit, and left the island. They mixed the juice with -water to mitigate its intoxicating and soporific effect, as it was so -powerful.[347] This reminds us of Tyrker in the "Grönlendinga-þáttr," who -gets drunk from eating the grapes he found.[348] - - Wine is, moreover, a prominent feature in many of the Irish legends of - sea-voyages. The voyagers often find intoxicating drinks, which make - them sleep for several days, and they are often tormented by burning - thirst and come to islands with springs that give a marvellously - quickening drink. In the tale of the voyage of the three sons of Ua - Corra (twelfth century ?) they arrive at an island where a stream of - wine flows through a forest of oaks, which glitters enticingly with - juicy fruits. They ate of the apples, drank a little of the stream of - wine, and were immediately satisfied and felt neither wounds nor - sickness any more. In the tale of Maelduin there is an island with - soil as white as a feather and with a spring which on Wednesdays and - Fridays gives whey or water, on Sundays and the days of martyrs good - milk, but on the days of the Apostles, of Mary and of John the - Baptist, and on the great festivals it gives ale and wine [cf. Zimmer, - 1889, pp. 163, 189]. - -[Sidenote: Resemblances to Lucian] - - Brandan's Grape-island, Maelduin who intoxicates himself by eating the - wine-fruit, and the stream of wine flowing through the oak forest, all - bear a remarkable resemblance to what the Greek sophist and satirist - Lucian (second century A.D.) relates in his fables in the "Vera - Historia" about the seafarers who came to a lofty wooded island. As - they wandered through the woods they came to a river, which instead of - water ran with wine, like Chios wine. In many places it was broad and - deep enough to be navigable, and it had its source in many great - vines, which hung full of grapes. In the river were fish of the colour - and taste of wine. They swallowed some so greedily that they became - thoroughly intoxicated. But afterwards they had the idea of mixing - these wine-fish with water-fish, whereby they lost the too-powerful - taste of wine and were a good dish. After wading through the river of - wine they came upon some remarkable vines, the upper part of which - were like well-developed women down to the belt. Their fingers ran out - into twigs full of grapes, their heads were covered with - vine-branches, leaves and grapes, instead of hair. "The ladies kissed - us on the mouth," says Lucian, "but those who were kissed became drunk - on the spot and reeled. Only their fruit they would not allow us to - take, and they cried out in pain if we plucked a grape or two off - them. On the other hand, some of them showed a desire to pair with us, - but two of my companions who complied with them had to pay dearly for - it; for ... they grew together with them in such a way that they - became one stem with common roots." After this strange experience the - voyagers filled their empty barrels partly with ordinary water, partly - with wine from the river, and on the following morning they left the - island. In the Isle of the Blest, at which they afterwards arrived, - there were, in addition to many rivers of water, of honey, of - sweet-scented essences and of oil, seven rivers of milk and eight of - wine. We even find a parallel in Lucian to Maelduin's white island - with the springs of milk and wine, as the travellers come to a sea of - milk, where there was a great island of cheese, covered with vines - full of grapes; but these yielded milk instead of wine [cf. Wieland, - 1789, iv. pp. 150 ff., 188 f., 196]. A direct literary connection - between Lucian and the Irish myths can hardly be probable, as he is - not thought to have been known in Western Europe before the fourteenth - century; but he was much read in Eastern Europe, and oral tales - founded on his stories may have reached the Irish. The resemblances - are so pronounced and so numerous that it does not seem very probable - that they should be wholly accidental. Such an oral connection might, - for instance, have been brought about by the Scandinavians, who had - much intercourse with Miklagard (Byzantium), or by the Arabs, who in - fact preserved a great part of Greek literature, and who were in - constant communication both with Celts and with Scandinavians. - -[Sidenote: Connection of the Brandan legend with northern waters] - -That a mythical island like the Isle of Grapes--or perhaps others as well, -such as the "Insula Deliciosa"--might be the origin of the "Vinland hit -Góða" of the Icelanders, to which one sailed from Greenland (and of Adam -of Bremen's Winland), appears natural also from the fact that many of the -islands and tracts that are mentioned in the "Navigatio," and that for the -most part are also mentioned in the older tale of Maelduin, are -undoubtedly connected with northern and western waters. That this must be -so is easily understood when one considers the voyages of Irish monks to -the Faroes and Iceland. The Sheep Island, which was full of sheep, and -where Brandan obtained his paschal lamb, must be the Faroes, where the -sheep are mentioned even by Dicuil (see p. 163), just as the island with -the many birds also reminds us of Dicuil's account of these islands; the -island on the borders of Hell, whose steep cliffs were black as coal, -where one of Brandan's monks, when he set foot ashore, was instantly -seized and burnt by demons, and which at their departure they saw covered -with fire and flames, may have some connection with Iceland.[349] But it -also bears some resemblance to the Hell Island that Lucian's voyagers -come to, surrounded by steep cliffs, where there were stinking fumes of -asphalt, sulphur, pitch, and roasted human beings. When Brandan arrives at -the curdled sea ("mare quasi coagulatum"), and has to sail through -darkness before he comes to the Land of Happiness, or when we hear of a -thick fog like a wall about the kingdom of Manannan, we again think of the -northern regions where the Liver Sea lay, and where Adam of Bremen had his -dark or mist-filled sea. - -[Sidenote: Classical roots of the Brandan legend] - - While thus many features connect the legend of Brandan with northern - waters, it has, on the other hand--like many other Irish myths--its - roots far down in the mythical conceptions of the classics. Above all, - Brandan's Paradise or "Promised Land of the Saints," Terra - Repromissionis Sanctorum, is nothing but the Greeks' Isles of the - Blest, blended with ideas from the Bible. As shown by Zimmer [1889, - pp. 328 ff.], the Imram Maelduin (which to a large extent forms the - foundation of the Navigatio St. Brandani) and other Irish tales of - sea-voyages have great similarity to Virgil's Æneid, and are composed - on its model. We have already said that Brandan's Grape-island may - have some connection with Lucian. From him is possibly also derived - Brandan's great whale, "Iasconicus," on whose back they live and - celebrate Easter. But similar big fishes are known from old Indian - legends, from the legends about Alexander, etc. It may also be - mentioned that in the Breton legend corresponding to Brandan's, that - of St. Machutus (written down by Bili, deacon at Aleth, ninth - century), the latter and Brandan came to an island where they find the - dead giant "Mildu," whom Machutus awakens and baptizes and who, wading - through the sea, tries to draw their ship to the Paradise-island of - "Yma," which he says is surrounded by a wall of shining gold, like a - mirror, without any visible entrance. But a storm raises the sea and - bursts the cable by which he is towing them. Humboldt already saw in - this giant the god Cronos, who, according to Plutarch, lay sleeping on - an island in the Cronian Sea to the north-west of Ogygia, which lay - five days' voyage to the west of Britain (see above, p. 156). It is - probably the same giant who in the tale of Brandan written in Irish - ("Imram Brenaind") has become a beautiful maiden, whiter than snow or - sea-spray; but a hundred feet high, nine feet across between the - breasts, and with a middle finger seven feet long. She is lying - lifeless, killed by a spear through the shoulder; but Brandan awakens - and baptizes her. She belongs to the sea-people, who are awaiting - redemption. As, in answer to Brandan's question, she prefers going - straight to heaven to living, she dies again immediately without a - sigh after taking the sacrament [cf. Schirmer, 1888, pp. 30, 72; - Zimmer, 1889, p. 136; De Goeje, 1891, p. 69]. This maiden is evidently - connected with the supernaturally beautiful, big, and white king's - daughter from the Land of Virgins ("Tír na-n-Ingen") who seeks the - protection of Finn MacCumaill, and who is also pierced by a spear [cf. - Zimmer, 1889, pp. 269, 325]. Thus do mythical beings transform - themselves till they become unrecognisable. The same woman is found - again in Iceland as late as the seventeenth century.[350] - -[Sidenote: The Brandan legend and Norse literature] - - In many of its features the Brandan legend, or similar Irish legends, - may be shown to have had influence on Norse literature. The theft of - the neck-chain (or bridle ?) by one of the brethren, who comes to - grief thereby, in the Navigatio and in other Irish tales, is found - again, as Moltke Moe points out to me, in the story of Thorkel Adelfar - in Saxo Grammaticus, as a theft of jewels and of a cloak, through - which the thieves also come to grief. The great fish (whale) - "Iasconicus," of which Brandan relates that it tries in vain to bite - its own tail, is evidently the Midgardsworm of Norse literature. In - the same way the little, apparently innocent, but supernatural cat in - the "Imram Maelduin" which suddenly destroys the man who steals the - neck-chain may be connected with the cat that Thor tries to lift in - Utgard. It is doubtless the same little cat that three young priests - took with them on their voyage in another Irish legend [in the Book of - Leinster, of the beginning of the twelfth century]. In the "Imram - Brenaind" this little cat they took with them has grown into a monkey - as large as a young ox, which swims after Brandan's boat and wants to - swallow it [cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 139]. Again, quite recently Von Sydow - [1910, pp. 65 ff.] has shown that the Snorra-Edda's myth of Thor's - journey to Utgard is based on Irish myths and tales. - -[Sidenote: The happy land in the west known in Northern Europe] - -Legends of a happy land or an island far over the sea towards the sunset -were evidently widely diffused in Northern Europe in those days, outside -Ireland. In Anglo-Saxon literature there is a dialogue between Adrianus -and Ritheus (probably of the tenth century), where we read: - - "Tell me where the sun shines at night."... "I tell you in three - places: first in the belly of the whale that is called 'Leuiathan'; - and the second season it shines in Hell; and the third season it - shines upon the island that is called 'Glið,' and there the souls of - holy men repose till doomsday."[351] - -This Glið (i.e., the glittering land) is evidently the Land of the Blest, -Brandan's Terra Repromissionis, that lies in dazzling sunshine, after one -has passed through darkness and mist; but whether the myth reached the -Anglo-Saxons from the Irish seems doubtful. - -Pseudo-Gildas's description (twelfth century) of the isle of "Avallon" -(the apple-island of Welsh myth) is also of interest; it is connected with -exactly the same ideas as the Irish happy isles: - - "A remarkable island is surrounded by the ocean, full of all good - things; no thief, no robber, no enemy pursues one there; no violence, - no winter, no summer rages immoderately; peace, concord, spring last - eternally, neither flower nor lily is wanting, nor rose nor violet; - the apple-tree bears flowers and fruit on the selfsame branch; there - without stain youths dwell with their maidens, there is no old age and - no oppressive sickness, no sorrow, all is full of joy."[352] - -[Sidenote: The name of Wineland derived from Ireland] - -It results, then, from what has here been quoted, that a Grape-island -("Insula Uvarum") makes its appearance in Irish literature in the eleventh -century, at about the same time when Adam of Bremen mentions, from Danish -informants, an island called "Winland." Of the same century again is the -Norwegian runic stone from Hönen in Ringerike, on which, as we shall see -later, Wineland is possibly mentioned (?) From the form of the runes, S. -Bugge ascribes it to the first half of the eleventh century, hardly older, -though it may be later. "Insula Uvarum" translated into the Old Norse -language could not very well become anything but Vínland (or Víney), since -Vínberjarey or Vínberjarland would not sound well. We thus have the -remarkable circumstance that an island with the same name and the same -properties makes its appearance almost simultaneously in Ireland and in -Denmark (and possibly also in Norway). That these Wine-islands or -Winelands should have originated entirely independently of one another, in -countries which had such close intellectual connection, would be a -coincidence of the kind that one cannot very well assume, since it must be -regarded as more probable that there was a connection. But Brandan's -Grape-island can scarcely be derived from a Wineland discovered by the -Norsemen, since, as has been mentioned, the wine and wine-fruit play such -a prominent part in the older Irish legends, and the ancient tale of Bran -("Echtra Brain") describes the Irish Elysium ("Mag Mell") as a land with -magnificent woods and the true scent of the vine, etc. (see p. 355). In -the next place, as has been mentioned, Brandan's Grape-island bears a -resemblance to Lucian's Grape-island; but as Lucian's descriptions seem -also to have influenced, among others, the tale of the intoxicating -wine-fruit in the "Imram Maelduin," it looks as though Lucian's stories -had reached Ireland (e.g., by Scandinavian travellers or through Arabs ?) -long before the Navigatio Brandani was written. As thus the Irish -wine-island cannot well be due to a Norse discovery, it becomes probable -that Adam's name Winland (as well as the possible Norwegian name) was -originally derived from Ireland, and that it reached the northern -countries orally. If the Danes did not get the name from the Norwegians -they may have brought it themselves, as they also had direct communication -with Ireland.[353] This conclusion, that the name of Wineland came from -Ireland, is again strengthened from an entirely different quarter, namely, -the Landnámabók, where it is said that Great-Ireland lay near Wineland. As -suggested on p. 354, this shows that the Icelanders must have heard both -lands spoken of in Ireland. As Ravn Hlymreks-farer is given as the -original authority, and after him Thorfinn, earl of Orkney (ob. circa -1064), this may have been at the beginning of the eleventh century; but as -the statement came finally from Thorkel Gellisson (and consequently was -written down by Are Frode) it may also have been in the second half of -that century. In this way we seem to have a natural explanation of the -simultaneous appearance of the name in the North.[354] - -As the statement in the Landnáma is due to Thorkel Gellisson, it is -doubtless most probable that the Wineland that is mentioned for the first -time in Icelandic literature in a gloss in Are Frode's Íslendingabók also -has Thorkel (who is mentioned immediately afterwards) for its authority -(cf. p. 258), although the sentence might be by Are himself. Thorkel may -have heard of this Wineland in Greenland; but it is more likely to be the -country he heard of in connection with the mythical Hvítramanna-land from -Ireland, and he may have heard that there were said to dwell there wights -(or trolls) that were called Skrælings. Two possibilities suggest -themselves: either this Wineland with its Skrælings was nothing but the -well-known mythical land with its mythical people, which required no -further description. It cannot be objected that the sober, critical Are -would not have mentioned a mythical country in this way; for, if he was -capable of believing in a Hvítramanna-land, he could also believe in such -a Wineland. Or, on the other hand, it was a land which had actually been -discovered and to which the name of the mythical country had been -transferred. The latter hypothesis might be strengthened by other things -that point to the Greenlanders having really found land in the west. But, -on the other hand, if a country actually discovered is meant, it is -curious that neither Are nor the Landnáma makes any mention of the -discovery, whereas the discovery of Greenland is related at some length, -and also that of Hvítramanna-land. Again, when Eric the Red came to -Greenland, such a land had in any case not been discovered, so that it -could not have been he who named the Eskimo after the inhabitants of that -land, whereas Are might readily suppose that he had taken the name of -Skrælings from the people of the mythical country; thus Are's words, as -they now stand, would have a clearer meaning. - -It may also be worth mentioning that in the only passage of the Sturlubók -where Wineland is alluded to, it is called "Irland et Goda." This has -generally been regarded as a copyist's error; but that it was due to -misreading of an indistinctly written "Vinland" is not likely; it might -rather be due to a careless repetition, since "Irland et Mikla" is -mentioned just before. This is most probable. It may, however, be supposed -that it is not an error, and that just as the latter is an alternative -name for Hvítramanna-land, so "Irland et Góða" may be a corresponding -alternative name for Wineland, which was situated near it. We should thus -again be led to Ireland as the home of the name. In any case the -uncertainty which prevails in the versions of the name of Wineland given -in the oldest authorities is striking (as discussed in the last note). -Nothing of the same sort occurs in the transmission of other geographical -names, and a form such as Vindland in Hauk's Landnáma cannot be explained -as merely a copyist's error. Again, Eric's Saga in the Hauksbók has the -name correctly, although this saga as well as the Landnáma was to a great -extent copied by Hauk Erlendsson himself. This may point to the form -Vindland having occurred in the original from which the Landnáma was -copied. This discloses uncertainty in the very reading of the name, and it -seems also to point to its having been a mythical country and not the name -of a known land that had been discovered. - -[Sidenote: Landit Góða, Fairyland] - -To any one who is familiar with Norse place-names, the addition "hit góða" -to Wineland must appear foreign and unusual. It is otherwise only known in -the northern countries from the name "Landegode" (originally "Landit -Góða") on the coast of Norway, for an island west of Bodö. The same name -was also used (and is still used in Stad and Herö) for Svinöi, a little -island off Sunnmör, and for Jomfruland (south of Langesund). It has been -generally taken for a so-called tabu-name;[355] but the explanation -suggested to me by Moltke Moe seems more probable, that it was a -designation of fairylands, which lay out in the ocean, and which were -thought to sink into the sea as one approached them. The above-mentioned -Norwegian islands would quite answer to such conceptions, especially when -they loom up and seem larger, and all three islands were formerly -fairylands ("huldrelande"). The original germ of the belief in fairies -("huldrer") is the worship of the departed. "Hulder" means "hidden" (i.e., -the hidden people). Fairylands are therefore the islands of the hidden, or -of the departed, and these again are the Fortunate Isles or the Isles of -the Blest. A parallel to this is that "Hades" in Greek means the -invisible. And, as we have seen (p. 356), the nymph Calypso (== the hidden -one) answers to our "hulder." When Bran, in the Irish legend alluded to, -meets on the sea Manannán mac Lir (i.e., son of the Sea), king of the -sea-people, lord of the land of the dead, he tells Bran that without being -able to see it he is sailing over Mag Mell (the happy plain), where happy -people are sitting drinking wine, and where there is a splendid forest -with vines, etc.; and the Irish happy land "Tír fo-Thuin" is, as we have -said (p. 358), the land under the wave. The lands or islands of the -departed in course of time became the habitations of the invisible ones -(spirits), of those who possess more than human wisdom, and have a -specially favourable lot; by this means the idea of a fortunate land with -favoured conditions, far surpassing the ordinary lot of men, became more -and more emphasised. This development may be followed both with regard to -classical ideas of the Fortunate Islands and to Norse conceptions of -fairylands. - -That the Greeks connected the happy land with the hidden people who move -upon the sea may perhaps be concluded even from the Odyssey's description -of the Phæacians, who dwelt in the happy land, the glorious Scheria, far -in the western ocean (see above, p. 347). That they may be compared with -our fairies ("huldrefolk") appears perhaps from the name itself, which may -come from [Greek: phaios] (== dark) and mean "dark man," "the hidden man" -[cf. Welcker, 1833, p. 231].[356] They sail at night, always shrouded in -clouds and darkness, in boats as swift "as wings and the thoughts of men" -[Od. vii. 35 f.]. The "huldrefolk" also travel by night (cf. p. 378). In -Ireland and in Iceland the way to fairyland is through darkness and mist, -or sea or water [cf. Gröndal, 1863, pp. 25, 38]; and it is the same in -Nordland. A blending of the fairies ("síd"-people) and the inhabitants of -the happy land or promised land is particularly observable in the Irish -legends [cf. Zimmer, 1889, pp. 276 f.]. The people of the "síd" dwell -partly in grave-mounds (and are thus like our "haugebonde," or mound-elf), -they may also live in happy lands far west in the sea or under the sea, -and are thus sea-elves, but on the whole they most resemble our -"huldrefolk." The "síd"-woman entices men like our "hulder"; in the tale -of "Condla Ruad" [Connla the Fair; cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 262] she comes -from the Land of the Living ("Tír na-m-Beó"), far across the sea, and -entices Connla to go with her in a glass boat to the "Great Strand," where -there only were women and maidens. This Irish paradise of women out in the -ocean has, as we have said (p. 355), much in common with the German -Venusberg, and with the invisible country of our "huldrefolk." But the -"huldrefolk" dwell now in mountains and woods, now on islands in the sea -or under the sea. As will be seen, the ideas of the Fortunate Isles or of -the Promised Land and those of fairyland thus often coincide. It may be -added that among many peoples the souls of the dead are carried across the -sea in a boat or ship to a land in the west. - - This is evidently connected with the river of death, Styx, Acheron or - Cocytus, of the Greeks, over which Charon ferried the souls to the - lower regions in a narrow two-oared boat. Procopius [De bello Goth., - iv. 20] relates that according to legends he himself heard from the - natives, all the souls of the departed are carried every night at - midnight from the coast of Germania to the island of Brittia (i.e., - Britain) which lies over against the mouth of the Rhine between - Britannia (i.e., Brittany) and Thule (Scandinavia). He whose turn it - is among the dwellers on the coast to be ferryman hears at midnight a - knocking at his door and a muffled voice. He goes down to the beach, - sees there an empty, strange boat, into which he gets and begins to - row. He then notices that the boat is filled so that the gunwale is - only a finger's breadth above the water, but he sees nothing. As soon - as he arrives at the opposite shore, he notices that the boat is - suddenly emptied, but still he sees no one, and only hears a voice - announcing the names and rank of the arrivals. The invisible souls, - who always move in silence, answer to the elves. - - In many ways the connection between the dead and the sea is apparent. - Balder's body was laid in a ship on which a pyre was kindled, and it - was abandoned to the currents of the sea. The body of the hero Scild - in the lay of Beowulf was borne upon a ship, which was carried away by - the sea, no one knows whither. Fiosi in Njál's Saga has himself - carried on board a ship and abandoned to the sea, and afterwards the - ship is not heard of again, etc.[357] - -That the fairylands should be called "Landit Góða" may be due to their -exceeding fertility (cf. the huldreland's waving cornfields); but it may -also, as Moltke Moe has pointed out, have a natural connection with the -tendency the Germanic peoples in ancient times seem to have had of -attaching the idea of "good" to the fairies and the dead. In Nordland the -"huldrefolk" are called "godvetter" ("good wights") [cf. I. Aasen]; this -among the Lapps has become "gúvitter," "gufihter," "gufittarak," etc., as -a name for supernatural beings underground or in the sea;[358] the Swedes -in North Sweden use the word "goveiter." The mound-elf ("haugebonden"), -Old Norse "haugbui" (the dweller in the mound), who was the ancestor of -the clan, or the representative of the departed generations, is called in -Nordland "godbonden."[359] - - The underground people are called in Iceland "ljúflingar," in German - "die guten Leute," in English-speaking Ireland, Scotland and the Isle - of Man "the good people," "good neighbours," or "the men of - peace."[360] In Highland Gaelic they are called "daoine sith," in - Welsh "dynion mad." In Swedish and Danish we have the designation - "nisse god-dreng" ("nisse good boy") or "goda-nisse," in Norwegian - "go-granne" ("good neighbour"); (in Danish also "kære granne," "dear - neighbour"); in German "Guter (or lieber) Nachbar," or "Gutgesell" is - used of a goblin; in Thuringia "Gütchen," "Gütel"; in the Netherlands - "goede Kind," and in England "Robin Goodfellow." - -That the epithet "good" applied to supernatural beings, especially -underground ones, is so widely spread, even among the Lapps, shows it to -have been common early in the Middle Ages. - - It is of minor interest in this connection to inquire what the origin - of the epithet may have been. We might suppose that it was the thought - of the departed as the happy, blest people; but on the other hand it - may have been fear; it may have been sought to conciliate them by - giving them pet-names, for the same reason that thunder is called in - Swedish "gobon" (godbonden), "gofar," "gogubben," "gomor," "goa" (goa - går),[361] which is also Norwegian. - -"Hit góða" is the altogether good, the perfect, therefore the fortunate -land. When the legend of the "Insulæ Fortunatæ" and of the Irish happy -lands--one of which was the sunken fairyland "Tír fo-Thuin," the land -under-wave--reached the North, it was quite natural that the Northerners -should translate the name by one well known to them, "Landit Góða" -(fairyland, the land of the unseen); indeed, the name of Insulæ Fortunatæ -could not well have been translated in any other way. But as wine was so -conspicuous a feature in the description of this southern land of myth, -both in Isidore and among the Irish, and as wine more than any other -feature was symbolical of the idea of happiness, it is natural, as we have -seen, that the Northerners came very soon to call this country, like -Brandan's Grape-island, "Vínland"; thus "Vínland hit Góða" may have arisen -by a combination of "Vínland" and "Landit góða," to distinguish it from -the native "Landit Góða," the fairyland of the Norwegians. A combination -of "hit góða" with a proper name is otherwise unknown, and thus points to -"Landit Góða" as the original form.[362] - -[Sidenote: Laudatory names for fairyland] - - Moltke Moe has given me an example from Gotland of a fairyland having - received a laudatory name answering to Wineland, in that the popular - fairyland "Sjóhaj" or "Flåjgland," out at sea, is called - Smörland.[363] Sjóhaj is a mirage on the sea; and "Flåjgland" comes - from "fljuga," to fly, i.e., that which drifts about, floating land. - It now only means looming, but it may originally have been fairyland, - and it is evident that it is here described as particularly fertile. - With "Smörland" may be compared Norwegian place-names compounded with - "smör": "Smörtue," "Smörberg," "Smörklepp." O. Rygh includes these - among "Laudatory names ... which accentuate good qualities of the - property or of the place."[364] Similarly in the place-names of - Shetland: "Smerrin" (== "smjor-vin," fat, fertile pasture), - "Smernadal" (== "smjor-vinjar-dalr," valley with fat pasture), "de - Smerr-meadow" (== originally: "smjor-eng" or "smjor-vin"), "de - Smerwel-park" (probably == "smjor-vollr"), "de Smorli" (probably == - "smjor-hlið"). J. Jakobsen [1902, p. 166] says that "'smer(r)' (Old - Norse 'smjor' or 'smoer,' Norwegian 'smör,' butter) means here - fertility, good pasture, in the same way as in Norwegian names of - which the first syllable is 'smör.'" With this may be compared the - fact that even in early times the word "smör" was used to denote a fat - land, as when Thorolf in the saga said that "it dripped butter from - every blade of grass in the land they had found" (i.e., Iceland, see - above, p. 257, cf. also "smjor-tisdagr" == "Fat Tuesday," "Mardi - gras"). That the fairylands were connected with fertility appears - also from a Northern legend. Nordfuglöi, to the north of Karlsöi, was - once a troll-island, hidden under the sea and invisible to men, thus a - "huldre" island. But then certain troll-hags betook themselves to - towing it to land; a Lapp hag who happened to cast her eye through the - door-opening saw them come rowing with the island, so that the spray - dashed over it, and cried: "Oh, what a good 'food-land' we have now - got!" And thereupon the island stopped at the mouth of the sea, where - it now is.[365] The fertility of fairyland is doubtless also expressed - in the incident of the sow that finds it (see later), usually having a - litter there. Its fertility appears again, perhaps, in H. Ström's - [1766, p. 436] mention of "Buskholm" (i.e., Bush-island) in Herö - (Sunnmör), which was inhabited by underground beings and protected, - therefore wholly overgrown with trees and bushes. The Icelandic - elfland "is delightful, covered with beautiful forests and sweet - smelling flowers" [cf. Gröndal, 1863, p. 25], and the Irish is the - same. - -[Sidenote: Floating islands] - - Legends of islands and countries that disappeared or moved, like the - fairylands, are widely diffused. To begin with, the Delos (cf. [Greek: - dêloô], become visible) of the Greeks floated about in the sea for a - long time, as described by Callimachus [v.]; now the island was found, - now it was away again, until it was fixed among the Cyclades. Ireland, - which also at a very early time was the holy island (cf. p. 38), - floated about in the sea at the time of the Flood. Lucas Debes [1673, - pp. 19 ff.] relates that "at various times a floating island is said - to have been seen" among the Faroes; but no one can reach it. "The - inhabitants also tell a fable of Svinöe,[366] how that in the - beginning it was a floating island: and they think that if one could - come to this island, which is often seen, and throw steel upon it, it - would stand still.... Many things are related of such floating - islands, and some think that they exist in nature." Debes does not - believe it. "If this was not described of the properties of various - islands, I should say that it was icebergs, which come floating from - Greenland: and if that be not so, then I firmly believe that it is - phantoms and witchcraft of the Devil, who in himself is a thousandfold - craftsman." Erich Pontoppidan [1753, ii. p. 346] defends the devil and - protests against this view of Debes, that it is "phantasmata and - sorcery of the devil," and says: "But as, according to the wholesome - rule, we ought to give the Devil his due, I think that the devil who - in haste makes floating islands is none other than that Kraken, which - some seamen also call 'Söe-Draulen,' that is, the sea troll." - - Of Svinöi in the Faroes precisely the same legend exists as of similar - islands in Norway (see p. 378), that they came "up," or became - visible, through a sow upon which steel had been bound [cf. - Hammershaimb, 1891, p. 362]. - - In many places there are such disappearing islands. Honorius - Augustodunensis makes some remarkable statements in his work "De - imagine mundi" [i. 36], of about 1125. After mentioning the Balearic - Isles and the Gorgades, he says: "By the side of them [lie] the - Hesperides, so called from the town of Hesperia. There is abundance of - sheep with white wool, which is excellent for dyeing purple. Therefore - the legend says that these islands have golden apples ('mala'). For - 'miclon' [error for 'malon'] means sheep in Greek.[367] To these - islands belonged the great island which according to the tale of Plato - sank with its inhabitants, and which exceeded Africa and Europe in - extent, where the curdled sea ('Concretum Mare') now is.... There lies - also in the Ocean an island which is called the Lost ('Perdita'); in - charm and all kinds of fertility it far surpasses every other land, - but it is unknown to men. Now and again it may be found by chance; but - if one seeks for it, it cannot be found, and therefore it is called - 'the Lost.' Men say that it was this island that Brandanus came to." - It is of special interest that thus as early as that time a - disappearing island occurred near the Fortunate Isles. - - Columbus says in his diary that the inhabitants of Ferro and Gomera - (Canary Isles) assert that every year they see land to the west. - Afterwards expeditions were even sent out to search for it. The - Dutchman Van Linschoten speaks in 1589 of this beautiful lost land - under the name of "San Borondon" (St. Brandan), a hundred leagues to - the west of the Canaries. Its inhabitants are said to be Christians, - but it is not known of what nation they are, or what language they - speak;[368] the Spaniards of the Canaries have made many vain attempts - to find it. The same island, which sometimes shows itself near the - Canaries, but withdraws when one tries to approach it, still lives in - Spanish folk-lore under the name of "San Morondon."[369] - - On the coast of the English Channel sailors have stories of floating - islands, which many of them have seen with their own eyes. They always - fly before ships, and one can never land there. They are drawn along - by the devil, who compels the souls of drowned men who have deserved - Hell and are damned, to stay there till the Day of Judgment. On some - of them the roar of a terrible beast is heard; and sailors look upon - the meeting with such an island as a sinister warning.[370] - - Curiously enough, there is said to be a myth of "a floating island" - among the Iroquois Indians. In their mythology the earth is due to the - Indian ruler of a great island which floats in space, and where there - is eternal peace. In its abundance there are no burdens to bear, in - its fertility all want is for ever precluded. Death never comes to its - eternal quietude--and no desire, no sorrow, no pain disturbs its - peace.[371] These ideas remind one strikingly of the Isles of the - Blest, and are probably derived from European influence in recent - times. Again, at Boston, in America, there is found a myth of an - enchanted green land out in the sea to the east; it flies when one - approaches, and no white man can reach this island, which is called - "the island that flies." An Indian, the last of his tribe, saw it a - few times before his death, and set out in his canoe to row, as he - said, to the isle of happy spirits. He disappeared in a storm the like - of which had never been known, and after this the enchanted island was - never seen again [cf. Sébillot, 1886, p. 349]. - - Even the Chinese have legends of the Isles of the Blest, which lie 700 - miles from the Celestial Kingdom out in the Yellow Sea, and gleam in - everlasting beauty, everlasting spring and everlasting gladness. The - wizard Sun-Tshe is said once to have extorted from a good spirit the - secret of their situation, and revealed the great mystery to the - emperor Tshe-Huan-Ti (219 B.C.). Then the noblest youths and the most - beautiful maidens of the Celestial Kingdom set out to search for - Paradise, and lo! it suddenly rose above the distant horizon, wrapped - in roseate glow. But a terrible storm drove the longing voyagers away - with cruel violence, and since then no human eye has seen the Isles of - the Blest [after Paul d'Enjoy, in "La Revue"].[372] - - This is the same conception of the floating mirage that we meet with - again in the Norse term "Villuland" (from "villa" == illusion, mirage, - glamour), which is found, for instance, in Björn Jónsson of Skardsá - applied to the fabulous country of Frisland (south of Iceland); it is - called in one MS. "Villi-Skotland," which is probably the mythical - "Irland it Mikla" (Great-Ireland), since the Irish were called Scots. - Are Mársson, according to the Landnáma, reached this "Villuland" and - stayed there. It is remarkable that his mother Katla, according to the - Icelandic legend in the poem "Kotlu-draumr" (Katla's dream), was - stolen by an elf-man, who kept her for four nights.[373] It may be - this circumstance that led to its being Are who found the elf-country - to the west of Ireland, although it is true that according to the - Kotlu-draumr it was his one-year-older brother Kar who was the - offspring of the four nights; but the elf-man had asked that his son - should be called Are. - -[Sidenote: Fairylands which rise and fall] - - There are many such fairylands along the coast of Norway, which used - to rise up from the sea at night, but sank in the daytime.[374] If one - could bring fire or steel upon them, then the spell was broken and - they remained up; but the huldrefolk avenged themselves on the person - who did this, and he was turned to stone; therefore it was usually - accomplished by domestic animals which swam across to these islands. - Many of them have come up in this way, and for this reason they - frequently bear the names of animals. The most probable explanation is - doubtless that they were originally given the names of animals from a - similarity in shape, or some other reason; and the myth is a later - interpretation of the name. It was often a pig, preferably a sow, that - had acquired the habit of swimming over to the fairyland, and it - frequently had litters there; the people of the farm, who noticed that - it occasionally stayed away, bound steel upon it, and the island was - hindered from sinking; "therefore such fairy islands are often called - Svinöi." In this way Svinöi in Brönöi (in Nordland, Norway) came up, - as well as Svinöi in the Faroes, and doubtless it was the same with - Svinöi or Landegode in Sunnmör. It was also through a sow that Tautra, - in Trondhjemsfjord, was raised, besides Jomfruland, and the - north-western part of Andöi (in Vesterålen). Nay, even Oland in - Limfjord (Jutland) became visible through a sow with steel bound on - it, which had a litter. Other islands, like Vega and Sölen, were - raised by a horse or an ox, etc. Gotland was also a fairyland, but it - stayed up through a man bringing fire to it.[375] Some fairy islands - lie so far out at sea that no domestic animal has been able to swim - over to them, and therefore they have not yet come up; such are - Utröst, west of Lofoten, Sandflesa, west of Trænen, Utvega, west of - Vega, Hillerei-öi, and Ytter-Sklinna, in Nordre Trondhjems Amt, and - hidden fairylands off Utsire, off Lister, and to the south-west of - Jomfruland.[376] - - It is interesting that the notion of a sow being the cause of people - coming into possession of fertile islands can also be illustrated from - mediæval England. William of Malmesbury relates in his "De antiquitate - Glastoniensis ecclesiæ" [cap. 1 and 2], which belongs to the twelfth - century before 1143, that Glasteing "... went in search of his sow as - far as Wellis, and followed her from Wellis by a difficult and boggy - path, that is called 'Sugewege,' that is to say, 'the sow's way'; at - last he found her occupied in suckling her young beneath the - apple-tree beside the church of which we are speaking; from this are - derived the names that have come down to our time, that the apples of - this tree are called 'ealdcyrcenes epple,' that is to say, 'the apples - of the old church,' and the sow 'ealdcyrce suge.' While other sows - have four feet, this one, strangely enough, has eight. This Glasteing, - then, who came to this island and saw that it was flowing with all - good things, brought all his family and established himself there and - dwelt there all his life. This place is said to be populated from his - offspring and the race that sprang from him. This is taken from the - ancient writings of the Britons. - - "Of various names for this island. This island, then, was first called - by the Britons 'Ynisgwtrin'; later, when the Angles subdued the - island, the name was translated into their language as 'Glastynbury' - or Glasteing's town, he of whom we have been speaking. The island also - bears the famous name of 'Avallonia.' The origin of this word is the - following: as we have related, Glasteing found his sow under an - apple-tree by the old church; therefore he called ... the island in - his language 'Avallonia,' that is 'The isle of apples' (for 'avalla' - in British means 'poma' in Latin).... Or else the island has its name - from a certain Avalloc, who is said to have dwelt here with his - daughters on account of the solitude of the place."[377] - - This Somerset sow with its young and with eight legs, like Sleipner, - must be Norse. The Norse myth of the sow must have found a favourable - soil among the Celts, as according to the ideas of Celtic mythology - the pig was a sacred animal in the religion of the Druids, specially - connected with Ceridwen, the goddess of the lower world. The Celts - must have heard of the pig that by the help of steel causes fairylands - to remain visible; but regarded this as being connected with the - animal's sacred properties. It cannot have been an originally Celtic - conception, otherwise we should meet with it in other Celtic legends. - Moreover the island in this case is not invisible, nor has the sow any - steel upon her; these are features that have been lost in - transmission. On the other hand the incident of the sow becoming - pregnant in the newly found land has been preserved. - - In the ocean to the west of Ireland there lay, as already mentioned - (p. 354), many enchanted islands. They are in part derived from - classical and oriental myths; but the native fairies (the síd-people) - and fairylands have been introduced here also (p. 371). Even in the - lakes of Ireland there are hidden islands, marvellously fertile with - beautiful flowers.[378] Giraldus Cambrensis (twelfth century) says - that on clear days an island appeared to the west of Ireland, but - vanished when people approached it. At last some came within bowshot, - and one of the sailors shot a red-hot arrow on to it, and the island - then remained fixed. The happy island "O'Brasil" ("Hy-Breasail," see - p. 357) west of Ireland appears above the sea once in every seventh - year--"on the edge of the azure sea ..." and it would stay up if any - one could cast fire upon it.[379] - -It is no doubt possible that myths of "villulands" or "huldrelands" far -away in the sea may have arisen in various places independently of one -another;[380] they may easily be suggested by mirage or other natural -phenomena, and ideas about happiness are universal among men. But through -many of these myths may be traced features so similar that we can discern -a connection with certainty and can draw conclusions as to a common origin -of the same conceptions. - -[Sidenote: The epithet "the Lucky"] - -That Leif of all others, the discoverer of the fortunate land, should have -received the unusual surname of "hinn Heppni" (the Lucky) is also -striking. There is only one other man in the sagas who is called thus: -Hogni hinn Heppni, and he belongs to the period of the Iceland -land-taking, but is only mentioned in a pedigree. Just as according to -ancient Greek ideas and in the oldest Irish legends it was only vouchsafed -to the chosen of the gods or of fortune to reach Elysium or the isle of -the happy ones, so Leif, who according to tradition was the apostle of -Christianity in Greenland, must have been regarded by the Christians of -Iceland as the favourite of God or of destiny, to whom it was ordained to -see the land of fortune. It is just this idea of the chosen of fate that -lies in the words "happ" and "heppinn." That the name has such an origin -is also rendered probable by the fact that the saga-tellers were evidently -not clear as to the reason of Leif's being so called, and it is sometimes -represented as due to his having saved the shipwrecked crew (cf. pp. 270, -317), which is meaningless, since in that case it would be the rescued and -not Leif who were lucky, and moreover rescue of shipwrecked sailors must -have been an everyday affair. The saga-writers therefore knew that Leif -had this surname, but the reason for it had in course of time been -forgotten. - -An interesting parallel to "Leifr hinn Heppni" has been brought to my -notice by Moltke Moe in the Nordland "Lykk-Anders," the name of the lucky -brother who came to the fairyland Sandflesa, off Trænen in Helgeland.[381] -It is important that this epithet of Lucky is thus only known in Norway in -connection with fairyland.[382] That the underground people, "huldrefolk," -bring luck appears also in other superstitions.[383] He who is born with -the cap of victory (Glückshaube, -helm, sigurkull, holyhow), which often -seems to have the same effect as the fairy hat, is predestined to fortune -and prosperity, like a Sunday child. - -Another possible parallel to the lucky name is the monk "Felix" (i.e., -happy, corresponding to "heppinn") who occurs in widely diffused mediæval -legends. He has a foretaste of the joys of heaven through hearing a bird -of paradise; he thinks that only a few hours have passed, from morning to -midday, while he is listening to it in rapture, though in reality a -hundred years have gone by.[384] Moltke Moe considers it probable that in -this case the name Felix may be due to a Germanic conception of the lucky -one. - - Moltke Moe sees another parallel--a literary one, to be sure--to Leif - the Lucky and Lykk-Anders in the Olaf Ásteson of the "Draumkvæde" - (Dream-Lay) which he explains as "Ástsonr" == the son of love, God's - beloved son. He is so called because he is so beloved that God has - given him a glimpse of the future, so that he sees behind the gate of - death.[385] - -All this, therefore, points in the same direction. - -[Sidenote: The oldest authority, Adam of Bremen, untrustworthy] - -Even Adam of Bremen's brief mention of Wineland (cf. pp. 195, 197) bears -evident traces of being untrustworthy; thus he says that the self-grown -vines in Wineland "give the noblest wine." Even if wine could be produced -from the small wild grapes, it would scarcely be noble, and who should -have made it? It is not very likely that the Icelanders and Greenlanders -who discovered the country had any idea of making wine. If we except this -fable of the wine, and the name itself, which seems to be derived from -Ireland (cf. p. 366), but may have been confused with the name of -Finland[386] (cf. p. 198), then Adam's statements about Wineland -correspond entirely to Isidore's description of the Insulæ Fortunatæ, and -contain nothing new. Adam's statement that the island was discovered by -many ("multis") does not agree with the Saga of Eric the Red, which only -knows of two voyages thither, but agrees better with its being a -well-known mythical country, to which many mythical voyages had been made, -or with its being Finmark.[386] Although it may be uncertain whether Adam -thought the ice- and mist-filled sea lay beyond Wineland (cf. p. 199), -this bears a remarkable resemblance to similar Arab myths of islands that -lay near the "Dark Sea" in the west (cf. chapter xiii.); while in any case -it shows how myth is introduced into his description of distant regions, -and there also he places the mythical abyss of the sea. If one reads -through the conclusion of his account (pp. 192 ff.), it will be seen how -he takes pains to get a gradual increase of the fabulous: first Iceland -with the black inflammable ice and the "simple" communistic inhabitants; -then, opposite to the mountains of Svedia, Greenland, with predatory -inhabitants who turn blue-green in the face from the sea-water; then -Halagland, which is made into an island in the ocean, and which is called -holy on account of the midnight sun, of which he gives erroneous -information taken from older authors (cf. p. 194, note 2); then Wineland -(the Fortunate Isles), with Isidore's self-grown vines and unsown corn; -and then finally he reaches the highest pitch (unless in Harold's voyage -to the abyss of the sea) in the tale of the Frisian noblemen's voyage to -the North Pole, which does not contain a feature that is not borrowed from -fables and myths (cf. chapter xii.); now this expedition started from -Bremen, where he lived; and he mentions two archbishops as his authorities -for it. When we find that all these statements about the northern islands -and countries, both before and after the mention of Wineland, are more or -less fables or plagiarisms; when we further see what he was capable of -relating about countries that lay nearer, and about which he might easily -have obtained information--for instance, his Land of Women on the Baltic, -to which he transfers the Amazons and Cynocephali of the Greeks (cf. p. -187), and his Wizzi or Albanians or Alanians (sic) with battle-array of -dogs (!) in Russia [iv. 19][387]--is it credible that what he says about -the most distant country, Wineland, should form the only exception in this -concatenation of fable and reminiscence, and suddenly be genuine and not -borrowed from Isidore, to whom it bears such a striking resemblance? It -must be more probable that he had heard a name, Wineland, perhaps confused -with Finland, and in the belief that this meant the land of wine, he -then, quite in harmony with what he has done in other places (cf. -Kvænland), transferred thereto Isidore's description of the "Insulæ -Fortunatæ." - -When therefore Norsemen (like a Leif Ericson) really found new countries -in the west, precisely in the quarter where the mythical "Vínland hit -Góða" (or "Insulæ Fortunatæ") should be according to Irish legend, this -was simply a proof that the country did exist; and the tales and ideas -about it were transferred to the newly discovered land. - - -END OF VOL. I. - - - PRINTED BY - BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD - TAVISTOCK ST. COVENT GARDEN - LONDON - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Hecatæus of Miletus (549-after 486 B.C.) was the best-known geographer -of the Ionian school. He made a map of the world, and summarised the -contemporary Greek ideas of geography. - -[2] Cf. Kretschmer, 1892, pp. 41-42. - -[3] Berger, 1894, p. 13. - -[4] Men like Empedocles, Leucippus, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, and even -Herodotus entertained the naive view that the earth was a disc. - -[5] Cf. Kretschmer, 1892, p. 99; Berger ii., 1889, p. 36. - -[6] Cf. Theopompus (about 340 B.C.) in Ælian, "Varia," iii. c. 18. - -[7] The celebrated physician Hippocrates (470-364 B.C.) makes Scythia -extend on the north to the Rhipæan Mountains, which stretch far enough to -be just below the Great Bear. From them comes the north wind, which -therefore does not blow farther north, so that there must be a milder -climate where the Hyperboreans dwell. The Rhipæan Mountains had become -altogether mythical, but seem often to have been connected with the Ural -and placed north of Scythia; sometimes also they were connected with the -Alps, or with the mountains farther east. - -[8] The Cimmerians of the Odyssey (xi. 14) are undoubtedly the same as the -historical Cimmerians of the districts north of the Black Sea, who made -several inroads into Asia Minor in the eighth century, and whose name was -long preserved in the Cimmerian Bosphorus. Cf. Niese, 1882, p. 224, and K. -Kretschmer, 1892, p. 7. W. Christ [1866, pp. 131-132] connects the name -with the Cimbri of Jutland, whose name is alleged to have been somewhat -modified under the influence of the Phoenician "kamar," dark, which may be -doubtful; but Posidonius seems to have been the first to take Cimmerii and -Cimbri for the same name [cf. Strabo, vii. 293], and there is nothing -improbable in the supposition that the wandering Cimbri may have reached -the Black Sea and been the same people as the Cimmerians, who were -remarkable just in the same way for their migrations. Similarly, we find -the Goths both on the shores of the Baltic and by the Black Sea, where we -first meet with them in literature. - -[9] O. Helm of Danzig has shown by chemical analysis that the amber of the -Mycenæ beads contains 8 per cent. of succinic acid, and is thus similar to -that found on the Baltic and the North Sea, and unlike all known amber -from districts farther south, Sicily, Upper Italy or elsewhere. Cf. -Schuchhardt, 1890, p. 223, f., and Kretschmer, 1892, p. 10. - -[10] "The Times" of Sept. 28, 1909, pp. 9-10. A. W. Brögger [1909, p. 239] -mentions a find from a grave at Corinth of six necklaces of amber, of the -neolithic period, which is preserved in the Museum für Völkerkunde at -Berlin. Brögger informs me that nothing has been published about this -find, which was bought in 1877 from Prof. Aus'm Weerth of Kessenich, near -Bonn. Prof. Schaafhausen briefly mentioned it at the congress at Stockholm -in 1874 [Congrès internat. d'anthrop. et d'archéol. de Stockholm, Compte -rendu, 1874, ii. p. 816]. Assuming that this is Baltic or North Sea amber, -it points to an intercourse of even far greater antiquity, which is also -probable. - -[11] Strabo, vii. 295. - -[12] Damastes of Sigeum (about 450 B.C., and contemporary with Herodotus) -says that "beyond the Scythians dwell the Issedonians, beyond these again -the Arimaspians, and beyond them are the Rhipæan Mountains, from which the -north wind blows, and which are never free from snow. On the other side of -the mountains are the Hyperboreans who spread down to the sea." - -[13] Since the form of the sphere was the most perfect according to the -opinion of the Pythagoreans. - -[14] It was, moreover, a common belief in mediæval times that people who -were connected with the other world could not be killed by iron. - -[15] "Hyperboreans" are first mentioned in certain poems doubtfully -attributed to Hesiod, but which can scarcely be later than the 7th century -B.C. The full development of the myth is first found in Pindar (about 470 -B.C.); but his Hyperboreans cannot be considered as dwelling especially in -the north; their home, to which "the strange path could be found neither -by sea nor by land," lay rather beyond the sea in the far west, and -thither came Perseus borne by wings on his way to Medusa. - -[16] This idea can be traced back to Delphi, where any one who had -incurred the god's displeasure was thrown from a cliff. Something similar -happened at the annual festivals of Apollo at Leucas, where he who was -chosen as a victim to ward off evil threw himself from the Leucadian rock -into the sea. It is true that all sorts of feathers and birds were -fastened to the victims to act as a parachute, and after their fall they -were rescued by boats and taken beyond the frontier, as bearers of a -curse. According to some it was the priests themselves who made this leap. - -Among the Germanic peoples, if we may believe "Gautrek's Saga" [cf. J. -Grimm, 1854, p. 486; Ranisch, 1900, p. lxxvii. f.], there existed the -custom that the elders of the tribe, when tired of life, used to cast -themselves down from a high crag, called "ætternis stapi" (the tribal -cliff), so as to die without sickness and go to Odin. As a reward for -faithful service the head of the house took his thrall with him in the -leap, so that he too might come thither. After Skapnartungr had divided -the inheritance, he and his wife were conducted to the cliff by their -children, and they went joyfully to Odin. This reminds one strongly of the -happy Hyperboreans. Thietmar of Merseburg (about A.D. 1000) has a similar -legend about the tribal cliff. It is probable that the Germanic peoples in -very early times, like other peoples--the Eskimo, for example--may have -had the custom of taking the lives of the old and useless, or that these -may have taken their own lives, by throwing themselves into the sea, for -instance, as occurs among the Eskimo. On the other hand, it seems very -doubtful that there should have been such tribal cliffs; and it is more -probable that this legend is of literary origin and derived from the -cliffs of Delphi and Leucas, which through the Hyperborean legend came -down to the Roman authors Mela and Pliny, and from them was handed on to -the writers of the Middle Ages and to the scribe of the "Gautrek Saga." It -has been thought that many such "ätte-stupar" can be pointed out in -southern Sweden, but they seem all to be of recent date, and may have been -suggested by this saga. - -[17] These may be the architectonical figures on the roof of the temple of -Delphi, transferred to the North together with the Hyperboreans. At Delphi -they were no doubt regarded as guardians of the temple's treasures. - -[18] This idea has been explained as being derived from stories of people -dressed in breeches of goats' skin. - -[19] Strabo [iii. 147] and Diodorus [v. 38], following Posidonius, mention -these three districts as the places where tin was found. - -[20] In the three districts named tin oxide (SnO_{2}) occurs in lodes in -the solid rock, as well as (sometimes in conjunction with gold and silver) -in the gravel or sand of streams, and it was certainly in the latter form -that tin was first extracted, after its discovery by some accident or -other. - -[21] It is possible, of course, that the first bronze, like silk, may have -reached the people of the Orient and Egypt from China, without their -knowing from whence it was originally derived. Bronze articles have been -found at Troy which may indicate a connection with China, and it has even -been asserted that Chinese characters have been found there [cf. -Schliemann, 1881, p. 519]. Tin is also known to occur in Persia, but it -has not been ascertained that it was worked there in ancient times. Strabo -[xv. 724] says, however, that the Drangæ in Drangiana, near the Indus, -"suffer from want of wine, but tin occurs with them." Tin is found in the -Fichtelgebirge, and it has been thought possible to identify prehistoric -tin-mines there [cf. O. Schrader, 1901, article "Zinn"]. - -[22] The Phoenicians' "Tarsis" (or Tarshish), rich in silver, called by -the Greeks "Tartessos," was on the south-west coast of Spain between the -Pillars of Hercules and the Guadiana. About 1100 B.C. Tyre established -there the colony "Gadir" (i.e., "fortress"), called by the Greeks -"Gadeira," and by the Romans "Gades" (now Cadiz). - -[23] Cf. S. Reinach, 1892, p. 277. In Breton tin is called "sten," a name -which is certainly not borrowed from the Latin "stannum," as Reinach -thinks; according to the above-quoted opinion of Professor Torp we must -believe that the borrowing has been in the opposite direction. - -[24] The explanation of this statement may be that Crassus sailed to the -Cassiterides from the mouth of the Garonne, up which river the route ran -to Narbo. What is alluded to here would then be the sea-passage from the -Garonne. - -[25] Pliny [xxxiv. 162] mentions the tinning of copper objects as a -Gaulish invention. - -[26] Strabo's repeated statement [ii. 120 and 175] that the Cassiterides -lay north of the land of the Artabri [north-west Spain] also points -decisively to Brittany. The idea must be derived from Eratosthenes, who -borrowed from Pytheas, and the latter placed Cabæum, the promontory of -Brittany, farther west than Cape Finisterre. Diodorus [v. 38] says that -the islands lay opposite Iberia in the Ocean. That they are always -mentioned in connection with the Artabri or north-west Spain shows that -the voyage to them was made from that country. - -[27] Georg Mair [1899, p. 20, f.] has allowed himself to be led astray by -Sven Nilsson's fanciful pictures [1862, 1865] into regarding it as a -historical fact that the Phoenicians had permanent colonies in Skane and -regular communication with Scandinavia, even so far north as the Lofoten -isles, whose rich fisheries are supposed to have attracted them. - -[28] In a translation of the cuneiform inscription on the obelisk of the -Assyrian king Asurnasirabal (885-860 B.C.) the Assyriologist J. Oppert has -the following remarkable passage, which is taken as referring to this -king's great predecessor Tiglath Pileser I., of about 1100 B.C.: "In the -seas of the trade-winds his fleets fished for pearls, in the seas where -the pole-star stands in the zenith they fished for the saffron which -attracts." [Cf. Schweiger-Lerchenfeld, 1898, p. 141.] Oppert has since -altered the latter part of his translation to "fished for that which looks -like copper." Both interpretations might mean amber, and if the -translation were correct this inscription would furnish a remarkable piece -of evidence for direct communication between Assyria and the Baltic as -early as the ninth century B.C., and in that case we might suppose it -established by means of the Phoenicians. But unfortunately another eminent -Assyriologist, Professor Schrader, has disputed the correctness of the -translation given above, which he thinks is the result of a false reading -of the inscription. According to Schrader there is no mention of pearls, -or amber, or fleets, or pole-star, or zenith; the whole refers merely to -this ancient king's hunting in the mountains of Assyria which took place -"in the days when the star Sukud shone, gleaming like bronze." [Cf. -Verhandl. d. Berliner Gesellsch. f. Anthrop. Ethnol. u. Urgesch, 1885, pp. -65, 66, 306, 372; and Mair, 1903, p. 47.] The last interpretation is -undeniably more probable than the first, and it may well be thought that -the bronze-coloured star which shone may have been Venus. - -[29] That amber may have followed this route in early times is made -probable by the finds of ornaments of amber in graves of the Bronze Age -(Halstatt period) in the Caucasus, at Koban and Samthavro. - -[30] Franz Mathias [1902, p. 73] draws attention to the statement of Von -Alten ["Die Bohlwege im Gebiet der Ems und Weser," p. 40 and Pl. V.; this -paper has not been accessible to me] that in 1818 there was found a piece -of amber with a Phoenician inscription on one of the oldest and -deepest-lying bog causeways ("Moorbrücken") on the prehistoric trade-route -from the district of the Weser and Ems to the Rhine. As one would expect -amber to be carried from the countries in the north-east towards the -south, and not in the reverse direction, this find, if properly -authenticated, might show that there were Phoenicians on the coast to the -north. But the piece, if it be Phoenician, may also have come from the -south by chance. - -[31] See on this subject specially Müllenhoff, 1870, i. pp. 73-203. Also -W. Christ, 1866; Marx, 1895; G. Mair, 1899; and others. - -[32] This epithet, which constantly recurs when Ireland is mentioned, may -perhaps in ancient times be due to the resemblance between the Greek words -"hieros" (holy) and "Hierne" (Ireland), which latter may be derived from -the native name of the island, "Erin." In later times, of course, it is -due to Ireland's early conversion to Christianity and its monastic system. - -[33] In spite of Müllenhoff's contrary view [1870, p. 92], it does not -appear to me altogether impossible that it may have arisen through a -corruption of the name of the people whom Pytheas calls "Ostimians" or -"Ostimnians," and which in some manuscripts of Strabo [iv. 195] also takes -the forms "Osismians" [cf. also Mela, iii. 2, 7; Pliny, iv. 32; Ptolemy, -ii. 8, 5; Orosius, 6, 8] and "Ostidamnians" [i. 64], and who lived in -Brittany. - -[34] In Cæsar's description [B.G., iii. 13] of the ships of the Veneti it -is also stated that "the keels were somewhat flatter than in our ships, -whereby they were better able to cope with the shallows and the falling -tides." - -[35] It has been alleged as a proof that the Phoenicians really knew of -the Sargasso Sea that Sargasso weed is mentioned by Theophrastus -["Historia Plantarum," iv. 6, 4], but I have not been able to find -anything of the sort in this author; nor can I find any statement in -Aristotle [Miral. Auscult.] which can be thus interpreted, as some have -thought. - -[36] Lycaon was the father of Callisto, and the latter became a she-bear -and was placed among the stars as the constellation of the Great Bear. At -the axis of Lycaon means, therefore, in the north. - -[37] As to Pytheas, see in particular: Müllenhoff, 1870, pp. 211 f.; -Berger, iii., 1891, pp. 1 f.; Hergt, 1893; Markham, 1893; Ahlenius, 1894; -Matthias, 1901; Kähler, 1903; Detlefsen, 1904; Callegari, 1904; Mair, -1906. - -[38] The principal authorities on Pytheas are: Strabo (1st century A.D.), -who did not know his original works, but quotes for the most part from -Polybius (2nd century B.C.), who was very hostile to Pytheas, and from -Erastosthenes, Hipparchus, and Timæus. Pliny has derived much information -from Pytheas, though he does not know him directly, but chiefly through -Timæus, Isidorus of Charax, who again knew him through Erastosthenes, &c. -Diodorus Siculus (1st century B.C.) knows him chiefly through Timæus. -Geminus of Rhodes (1st century B.C.), who has a quotation from him, -possibly knew his original work, "On the Ocean," but he may have quoted -from Crates of Mallus. Solinus (3rd century A.D.), who has much -information about Pytheas, knows him chiefly through Pliny and Timæus. -Further second-hand quotations and pieces of information derived from -Pytheas occur in Pomponius Mela (1st century A.D.), Cleomedes (2nd century -A.D.), Ptolemy (3rd century A.D.), Agathemerus (3rd century A.D.), -scholiasts on Apollonius of Rhodes, Ammianus Marcellinus (4th century -A.D.), Orosius (5th century A.D.), Isidorus Hispaliensis (7th century -A.D.), and others. - -[39] A "gnomon" was the pillar or projection which cast the shadow on the -various Greek forms of sun-dial. In the case mentioned above the gnomon -was a vertical column raised on a plane. By measuring the length of the -shadow at the solstice, Pytheas found that it was 41-4/5 : 120 or 209/600 -the height of the column. According to that the altitude of the sun was -70° 47' 50". From this must be deducted the obliquity of the ecliptic, -which was at that time 23° 44' 40", and the semi-diameter of the sun -(16'), as the shadow is not determined by the sun's centre but by its -upper edge, besides the refraction, which however is unimportant. When the -equatorial altitude thus arrived at is deducted from 90°, we get the -latitude of Massalia as 43° 13' N. The new observatory of Marseilles is at -43° 18' 19"; but it lies some distance to the north of the ancient city, -where Pytheas's gnomon probably stood in the market-place. It will be seen -that this is an accuracy of measurement which was not surpassed until very -much later times. - -[40] It has been supposed that these three stars were [Greek: b] of the -Little Bear, [Greek: a] and [Greek: k] of Draco. The pole was at that time -far from the present pole-star, and nearer to [Greek: b] of the Little -Bear. - -[41] Both "gnomon" and "polus" are mentioned as early as Herodotus; and -Athenæus [v. 42] describes the polus in the library on board the ship -"Hiero" which was built by Archimedes. - -[42] It is not probable that Pytheas divided the earth's circumference -into degrees. Even Eratosthenes (275-194 B.C.) still divided the -circumference of the earth into sixty parts, each equal to 4200 stadia, -and the division into degrees was first universally employed by -Hipparchus. But Aristarchus of Samos, and perhaps even Thales, had already -learnt that the sun's diameter was 2 × 360 or 720 times contained in the -circle described by them. It is possible that they originally had this -from the Chaldæans. - -[43] When it is brought forward as a proof of Pytheas having made such -angle-measurements [cf. Mair, 1906, p. 28], that Hipparchus is said to -have given the sun's height (in cubits) above the horizon at the winter -solstice for three different places in north-west Europe [cf. Strabo, ii. -75], it must be remembered that if these altitudes were direct -measurements by Pytheas himself, he must have been at each of these three -places at the winter solstice, that is to say, in three different winters, -where he found that in one place the sun stood six cubits, in another four -cubits, and in the third less than three cubits above the horizon. This is -improbable, and it is more reasonable to suppose that these altitudes are -the result of calculations either by Pytheas himself or by Hipparchus from -his data. - -[44] In Diodorus it is called Orkan, but this may be the accusative of -Orkas, as in later writers, also in Ptolemy (Müllenhoff, 1870, p. 377, -thinks that Orkan is the real form), and from which the name Orcades has -been formed for the group of islands immediately to the north. Orkneyar or -Orkneys certainly comes from the same word, which must presumably be of -Celtic origin. P. A. Munch [1852, pp. 44-46] thought that the name came -from the Gaelic word "orc" for the grampus (the specific name of which in -Latin was therefore "Delphinus orca," now called "Orca gladiator"). This -species of whale is common on the coasts of Norway, the Shetlands and -Orkneys, the Færoes and farther west. It usually swims in schools, and is -the great whale's deadliest enemy, attacking it in numbers and cutting -blubber out of its sides. The Eskimo in Greenland assert that it is -sometimes dangerous to kayaks; I myself have only once seen a grampus -attack a boat; but in any case it is a species which easily draws -attention to itself wherever it appears. - -[45] Allowing for the greater bays, and putting a degree of latitude at -700 stadia, the sides of Great Britain are about 4000, 7800 and 12,000 -stadia; altogether 23,800 stadia, or about 2375 miles. - -[46] Strabo erred just as much on his side in making the circumference of -Britain much too small. - -[47] Cf. Hergt, 1893, p. 44. This hypothesis is supported by the round -numbers which answer to 7-1/2, 15, and 20 days' sail. - -[48] The Greeks divided the day into twelve hours at all times of the -year; it was thus only at the equinoxes, when the day was really twelve -hours long, that the hours were of the same length as ours. These are, -therefore, called equinoctial hours. - -[49] A similar statement in Cleomedes [i. 7], after Eratosthenes and -Posidonius [i. 10], may also be derived from Pytheas: "the longest day in -Britain has eighteen hours." - -[50] If we assume that the length of the day was found by a theoretical -calculation of the time between the rising and setting of the sun's centre -above the horizon, without taking account of refraction, then a longest -day of nineteen hours answers to 60° 52' N. lat.; but if we suppose that -the length of the day was found by direct observation and was calculated -from the first appearance of the sun's limb in the morning until its final -disappearance in the evening, then horizontal refraction will be of -importance (besides having to take the sun's semi-diameter into account), -and a longest day of nineteen hours then answers to 59° 59' N. lat. Now -the Shetland Isles lie between 59° 51' and 60° 51' N. lat.; while the -northern point of the Orkneys lies in 59° 23' N. lat., and has a longest -day, theoretically of 18 hours 27 minutes, and actually of 18 hours 36 -minutes. A longest day of 18 hours answers theoretically to 57° 59', -actually to fully 57° N. lat. Professor H. Geelmuyden has had the kindness -to work out several of these calculations for me. Hipparchus said that at -the winter solstice the sun attained to a height of less than three cubits -above the horizon in the regions where the longest day was of nineteen -hours. If we take one cubit as equal to two degrees these regions will -then lie north of 60° N. lat. - -[51] It may be possible, as many think, that it was the Shetlands that he -called Orkan (or Orkas); but the more reliable of the known quotations -from him seem rather to show that it was really the northernmost point of -Britain, or the neighbouring Orkneys that were thus called by him, and -have thenceforward been known by that name; while it is later authors who -have extended the name also to Shetland. If this supposition be correct: -that the islands north of Britain mentioned by Pliny [Nat. Hist. iv. 104] -are originally derived from Pytheas, which may be doubtful, and that -Berricen (or Nerigon) is Mainland of Shetland, then Orkan cannot apply to -these. But, as we shall see later, it is very doubtful what Pliny's -islands may have been originally. - -[52] Cf. Strabo [ii. 114] and Cleomedes [i. 7]. The Arctic Circle (or -Circle of the Bear) was, as already mentioned, the circle round the -celestial pole which formed the limit of the continuously visible -(circumpolar) stars, and it had been given this name because in Asia Minor -(and Greece) it ran through the Great Bear (Arctus). Its distance in -degrees from the north celestial pole is equal to the latitude of the -place of observation, and consequently increases as one goes farther -north. At the polar circle, as mentioned above, it coincides with the -Tropic of Cancer, and at the North Pole with the Equator. Cleomedes has -also the remarkable statement that the latitude for a summer day of one -month in length runs through Thule. - -[53] It may be thought that Pytheas is merely relating a legend current -among the barbarians that the sun went to its resting-place during the -night, a myth which is moreover almost universal. But it seems more -probable that as an astronomer he had something else in his mind. If he -had had the two points accurately indicated to him, where the sun set and -rose on the shortest night of the year, he must easily have been able, by -measuring the angle between them, to ascertain how long the sun was down. - -[54] These figures are kindly supplied by Professor H. Geelmuyden. - -[55] According to existing MSS. of Solinus [c. 22] it was five days' sail -to Thule from the Orcades, which must here be Shetland, and which are -mentioned as the second station on the way to Thule; the Ebudes (Hebrides) -were the first station. Mommsen [1895, p. 219] regards the passage as -corrupt, and considers it a later interpolation of between the 7th and 9th -centuries. - -[56] Cf. Brenner, 1877, pp. 32, 98. - -[57] Cf. Keyser (1839), 1868, p. 92. - -[58] If we were able to make out the etymological origin of the name -Thule, it would perhaps give us some indication of where we ought to look -for the country. But the various attempts that have been made to solve -this riddle have been without success. It has been asserted by several -authors that it comes from an old Gothic word "tiele," or "tiule," which -is said to mean limit [cf. Forbiger, 1842, iii. p. 312], or an Old Saxon -word "thyle," "thul," "tell" (or "tell," "till," "tiul"), said to mean the -same [cf. Markham, 1893, p. 519; and Callegari, 1904, p. 47]; but -Professor Alf Torp, whom I have consulted, says that no such word can be -found in either of these languages. The word has been further erroneously -connected with the name Telemarken, which accordingly would mean -borderland, but which in reality must be derived from the Norwegian word -"tele," Old Norse "þeli," frozen earth, and it is by no means impossible -that Thule should be a Greek corruption of such a word. E. Benedikson has -supposed that Thule might come from a Gallic word "houl," for sun [cf. -Callegari, 1904, p. 47], which with a preposition "de" (or other prefix) -might have been thus corrupted in Greek; but Professor Torp informs me in -a letter that no such Gallic word exists, though there is a Cymric "haul," -"which in Gallic of that time must have sounded approximately 'hâvel,'" -and it "is quite impossible that a preposition or prefix 'de' could have -coalesced with initial 'h' so as to result in anything like Thule." The -Irish "temel" (Cymric "tywyll") for dark, which has also been tried -[Keyser, 1839, p. 397; 1868, p. 166], or "tawel" for silent, still -[Müllenhoff, 1870, i, p. 408], are of no more use, according to Torp, -since both words at that time had "m," which has later become "w." The -only Celtic root which in his opinion might be thought of is "'tel' (== -raise, raise oneself), to which the Irish 'telach' and 'tulach' (== a -height, mound); but this does not seem very appropriate. The Germanic form -of this root is 'thel' (modification 'thul'); but in Germanic this is not -applied to soil or land which rises. I cannot find anything else, either -in Celtic or Germanic; it is thus impossible for me to decide to which of -the languages the word may belong; I can only say that the Greek [Greek: -th] (th) rather points to Germanic. For no Celtic word begins with an -aspirate, whereas Germanic, as you know, has transmutation of consonants -(Indo-germanic 't' to 'th,' etc.), and it is not impossible that this -sound-change goes as far back as the time of Pytheas." Professor Torp has -further drawn my attention to the fact that from the above-mentioned -"thel," raise oneself, is formed the Old Norse "þollr," tree (cf. "þoll" -== fir-tree), which in early times was "þull" as radical form. There might -be a bare possibility of Thule being connected with this word. - -If it should appear, as hinted here, that the word Thule is of Germanic -origin, then the probability of the country lying outside the British -Isles would be greatly strengthened; for Britain and the Scottish Islands -were at that time not yet inhabited by a Germanic race, and the native -Celts can only have known a Germanic name for a country from its own -Germanic inhabitants. This land farther north must then be Norway. - -It has been pointed out [cf. Cuno, 1871, i. p. 102; Mair, 1899, p. 15] -that the name Thule reminds one of "Tyle," the capital of the Celtic -colony which was established in Thrace in the 3rd century B.C. But we know -nothing of the origin of this latter name, and here again there is the -difficulty that it begins with "t" and not "th." - -It may be further mentioned that C. Hofmann [1865, p. 17] has suggested -that Thule may come from such a name as "Thumla," which in the Upsala Edda -[ii. 492] is the name of an unknown island, but which was also the name of -an island at the mouth of the Göta river (cf. Thumlaheide in Hising). He -thinks that a Greek could not pronounce such a combination of sounds as -"ml" ([Greek: ml]), but would pronounce it as "l" ([Greek: l]). The word -would therefore become "Thula," or according to the usual form of the -declension "Thule." Meanwhile we know of no name resembling Thumla for any -district which Pytheas could have reached from Britain. - -[59] That Thule was Norway or Scandinavia was assumed as early as -Procopius. In the last century this view was supported by Geijer, 1825; -Sven Nilsson, 1837; R. Keyser, 1839; Petersen; H. J. Thue, 1843, and -others. In recent years it has been especially maintained by Hergt, 1893. - -[60] Müllenhoff's reasons for supposing that Thule cannot have been Norway -are of little weight, and in part disclose an imperfect knowledge of the -conditions. That Pytheas, if he came to Norway, must have found new -species of animals and new races of men, especially the Lapps with their -reindeer, which, according to Müllenhoff, he evidently did not find, is, -for instance, an untenable assertion; for in the first place it is very -uncertain whether the reindeer-Lapps had reached Norway so early as that -time, since they appear to be a comparatively late immigration. In the -second place, if they were really already living in Finmarken and the -northern part of Helgeland (Hálogaland), it is unreasonable to suppose -that a seafarer who went along the coast as far as to the neighbourhood of -the Arctic Circle should have met with these Lapps. Finally, it is -impossible to take it for granted that Pytheas did not mention all the -things that are not to be found in the chance quotations of later writers. - -[61] The Arctic Circle at that time lay in 66° 15' 20". If we put the -horizontal refraction plus the sun's semi-diameter at 50' in round -figures, then the upper edge of the sun would be visible at midnight at -the summer solstice a little north of 65° 25'. - -[62] Cf. Markham, 1893. If the longest day of the year is given in the -different authorities (Strabo, Geminus, etc.) at various places as -seventeen, eighteen, nineteen hours, etc., after the statements of -Pytheas, it must not, of course, be assumed that Pytheas was at each of -these places precisely on Midsummer Day. It was only one of the Greek -methods of indicating the latitude of places. - -[63] The origin of this name for the northernmost or outer sea, which -occurs in several authors, is somewhat uncertain. It is usually supposed -[cf. Hergt, 1893, p. 71] that it comes from the Greek god "Cronos" (Latin -"Saturn"). R. Keyser [1839, p. 396, 1868, p. 165] thought (after Toland in -1725) that it was of Celtic origin and cognate with the Welsh "croni," to -collect together; "Muir-croinn" was supposed still to be Irish for the -Polar Sea, and to have some such meaning as the curdled sea; but no such -word is to be found in Irish or Old Irish [cf. Müllenhoff, 1870, p. 415]. - -[64] Hergt [1893, p. 71] lays stress on the use of "ultra" here and not -"trans," and thinks that this does not indicate an immediate connection -with Thule, but that we must rather suppose an intervening space (?). - -[65] Perhaps it is worth while to remark in this connection that on its -second occurrence in the quotation the word is simply "lung" and not -"sea-lung." If this is not to be looked upon merely as an abbreviation, it -may indicate that the writer was really thinking of a bodily lung [cf. -Hergt, 1893, p. 74]. - -[66] It has occurred that drift-ice has been brought as far as the -neighbourhood of Shetland by the East-Icelandic Polar current; but this is -so entirely exceptional that it cannot be argued that Pytheas might have -seen drift-ice there. - -[67] It is difficult to understand how he was able to converse with the -natives; but probably he took interpreters with him. In the south of -England, for instance, he may have found people who had come in contact -through the tin-trade with the Mediterranean peoples and understood their -languages, and who could thus act as interpreters with the Celts. It would -not be so easy with the Germanic people of Thule. But in Scotland he may -have found Celts who understood the speech of Thule, and who could act as -interpreters through the more southern Celtic people. - -[68] It has already been mentioned that Avienus ascribes even to Himilco -some similar ideas of the extreme parts of the ocean; and that Aristotle -thought that the sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules was muddy and shallow -and little stirred by the winds. - -[69] According to a communication from Professor Moltke Moe. - -[70] It has been supposed by some that this name, which may remind one of -the "Æstii" (Esthonians) mentioned by Tacitus, is really a clerical error -for "Ostimii." - -[71] The more usual spelling "Mentonomon" (after some MSS.) can hardly be -right [cf. Detlefsen, 1904, p. 9]. The name may be connected with the -Frisian "meden" (Old Frisian "mede" or "medu," English "meadow") for -low-lying, swampy pasture, and in that case would suit the German North -Sea coast well, between the Rhine and Sleswick-Holstein. - -[72] The name may have some connection with those of Habel and Appeland -among the Halligen Islands on the west coast of Sleswick [cf. Detlefsen, -1904, p. 60]. It also has some resemblance to "Sabalingii," which is given -by Ptolemy as the name of a tribe in Jutland. The name Abalus (Greek, -Abalos) has a remarkable likeness to Avalon (the apple-island) of Welsh -folk-lore, and it is possibly originally the same word (?). - -[73] As to what we know of the work of this important geographer see in -particular Berger [1880]. - -[74] According to Eratosthenes' accurate calculation the Arctic Circle lay -in 66° 9' N. lat. - -[75] Cf. Strabo, i. 63, ii. 114. More accurately it should be 37,400 -stadia. - -[76] Cf. Strabo, i. 5-6. Seleucus of Selucia on the Tigris lived in the -middle of the 2nd century B.C., and was one of the few who (like -Aristarchus of Samos, c. 260 B.C.) held the doctrine of the earth's -rotation and movement round the sun. - -[77] Herodotus [iv. 26] says of the Issedonians in Scythia that "when a -man's father dies, all the relatives bring cattle; and when they have -slain them as a sacrifice and cut the flesh in pieces, they also cut up -their host's deceased father; then they mix all the flesh together and -serve it for the meal; but the head they decorate with gold, after having -taken the hair off and washed it; and afterwards they treat it as an idol -and bring offerings to it every year." Such a cannibal custom, if it -really existed, may have been connected with religious ideas. But -Herodotus [i. 216] attributes to the Massagetæ the following still more -horrible custom: "when a man grows very old, all his relatives assemble -and slay him, and together with him several kinds of cattle; then they -boil the flesh and hold a banquet. This is accounted among them the -happiest end." - -[78] Cf. M. Schanz: "Geschichte der Römischen Literatur," ii. p. 241, -1899; in I. Müller: "Handb. Klass. Altert.-Wiss.," bd. viii. See also -Müllenhoff, iv., 1900, p. 47. - -[79] Cf. Detlefsen, 1897, p. 197; 1904, p. 45. By his voyage in 12 B.C. -with his fleet along the coast of the North Sea from the mouth of the -Rhine and the Zuyder Zee to the mouth of the Ems, Drusus won fame as the -first general who had sailed in the North Sea. The Romans, of course, were -not great seafarers. - -[80] The MSS. have "flamine" (winds); but it has been thought that -"flumine" (streams) gives a better meaning [cf. Detlefsen, 1897, p. 198]. -"Flamine" (winds) might, however, suit the ideas of the earth's limits -(cf. the description of Himilco's voyage in Avienus, see above, p. 37). - -[81] The text has here "alium liberis (or 'libris') intactum quærimus -orbem," which might be: "towards another world untouched by books," that -is, of which no book has said anything. As such an expression is quite at -variance with the generally pompous style of the poem, Detlefsen [1897, p. -200, 1904, p. 47] has thought that "libris" here was "libra" == "libella," -that is, the level used by builders, with two legs and a plumb hanging in -the middle, and the meaning would then be that this part of the earth's -circumference was not touched by the plumb of the level, but that the -latter was obliquely inclined over the abyss at the end of the world. This -explanation seems to make Pedo's poem even more artificial than it is, and -Detlefsen appears to think [1897, p. 200] that the builder's level is used -to find perpendicular lines, instead of horizontal. It is probable, -however, that such an idea of a gulf or abyss at the end of the world was -current at that time, as it was much later (cf. Adam of Bremen, and also -the Ginnungagap of the Norsemen), even if it does not appear in this poem. -It might be thought that "libris" was here used in the sense of -sounding-lead, so that the meaning would be, "untouched by soundings," in -other words, a sea where no soundings had been made; but this meaning of -"libris" would be unusual, and besides one would then expect some word for -sea, and not "orbem." - -[82] I cannot, with Detlefsen [1904, p. 48], find anything in this -expression to show that Augustus gives the Greeks the credit for having -penetrated beyond the Cimbrian Cape earlier. - -[83] Cf. Müllenhoff, ii., 1887, p. 285, and iv., 1900, p. 45; Holz, 1894, -p. 23; Detlefsen, 1904, p. 47. - -[84] K. Miller [vi., 1898, p. 105] proposes to read "Gotorum rex" (the -king of the Goths) instead of the "Botorum rex" of the MSS. The last name -is otherwise unknown, and has also been read "Boiorum." Pliny, who has the -same story almost word for word [Nat. Hist., ii. c. 67, 170] says that the -same Celer had the Indians from the king of the Suevi. - -[85] This was a common idea among the Greeks about the Amazons [cf. -Hippocrates, [Greek: Peri aerôn], etc., c. 17; Strabo, xi. 504; Diodorus, -ii. 45]; it has even been sought to derive the name itself from this, -since "mazos" ([Greek: mazos]) means breast, and "a" ([Greek: a]) is the -negative particle; this would therefore be "without breasts." But other -explanations of the origin of the name have been given, e.g., that they -were not suckled at the breast. It is possible that the name meant -something quite different, but that owing to its resemblance to the Greek -word for breast it gave rise to the legend, and not vice versa. In Latin -the Amazons were sometimes called "Unimammia" (one-breasted), but in Greek -art they were always represented with well-developed breasts. Hippocrates -says that the right breasts of the Scythian women were burned off by the -mother with a special bronze instrument, while the girls were quite small, -because "then the breast ceased to grow, and all force and development -were transmitted to the right shoulder and the arm." - -[86] Cf. Herodotus, iv. cc. 116, 117. - -[87] Cf. Herodotus, iv. c. 22. - -[88] These are Herodotus's "Argippæi" or "Argimpæi" [iv. c. 23], who lived -in tents of felt in winter. They were bald, whereas those of Mela go -bare-headed. - -[89] To understand [like K. Miller, vi., 1898, p. 105] "vectæ" as the name -of an island ("Vectis" == the Isle of Wight) seems in itself somewhat -improbable, and is moreover excluded by Mela's rhetorical style, which -demands a clause following Hæmodæ to balance that attached to Orcades just -before. - -[90] These "Belgæ" are, of course, the same as the "Belcæ" already -mentioned by Mela as the Scythian people in the northernmost part of -Scythia (see above, p. 89). What people is meant is uncertain. - -[91] Sophus Bugge [1904, pp. 156 f.] thinks that Codanus may come from an -Old Norse word "Koð," which meant a shallow fjord or a shallow place in -the water (equivalent to old Indian "gadhá-m") and which according to him -is akin to the root "Kað" in some Norwegian place-names. "Codanus sinus" -("Koda," accus. "Kodan") is then the shallow sea, or Cattegat, especially -near the Belts. "Codan-ovia" is the island in "Kodan." Müllenhoff [1887, -ii. p. 284] and Much [1893, p. 207] have connected "Codanus" with Old High -German "quoden" (== femina, interior pars coxæ) from the same root as the -Anglo-Saxon "codd" (== serpent, sack, bag), Middle Low German "koder" (== -belly, abdomen), Old Norse "koðri" (== scrotum). It would then mean a -sack-inlet or sack-bay, equal to the Frisian "Jâde," or else a narrower -inlet to an extended bay of the sea (the Baltic ?). The explanation does -not seem quite natural. R. Keyser [1868, p. 82] derives the name from -"Godanus," i.e., the Gothic, although the Goths at that time were usually -called "Gutones" by the Romans. Ahlenius's suggestion [1900, p. 24] that -Codanus might be an old copyist's error for "Toutonos" (Teutons), because -one MS. reads Thodanus, does not sound probable. Detlefsen [1904, p. 31] -thinks that the name Codanus is preserved in Katte(n)-gat, which would -mean the inlet (gat) to Codanus, which would then come to include the -whole of the Baltic. If Bugge's explanation given above is correct, it -might however mean the shallow gat or inlet. - -[92] Professor Alf Torp calls my attention to R. Much's [1895, p. 37] -explanation of "Kobandoi" as a Germanic "*Kowandoz," a derivation from the -word cow. This should therefore be divided "Kow-and-," where "and" is a -suffix, and the meaning would be a cow-people. - -[93] I have proposed this explanation to Professor Alf Torp; he finds that -it "might indeed be possible, but not altogether probable." - -[94] It has been sought to derive "Daner" from an original Germanic word, -equivalent to Anglo-Saxon "denu" (Gothic "*danei") and "dene" for dale, -and its meaning has been thought to be "dwellers in dales or lowlands" -[cf. Much, 1895, p. 40; S. Bugge, 1890, p. 236]. - -[95] That they lived in the sea or bay must, of course, mean that they -lived on islands; and the northern part of Jutland, north of the Limfiord, -was probably looked upon as an island; but the Cimbrian Promontory is not -mentioned; it occurs first in Pliny. The Germanic form of the name, -"himbroz," perhaps still survives in the Danish district of Himmerland, -the old Himbersyssel, with the town of Aalborg [cf. Much, 1905, p. 100]. - -[96] There is a resemblance of name which may be more than accidental -between Mela's "Oeneæ," or Pliny's "Oeonæ," and Tacitus's "Aviones" -["Germania," c. 40], who lived on the islands of North Frisia and the -neighbouring coast. "Aviones" evidently comes from a Germanic "*awjonez," -Gothic "*aujans," Old High German "ouwon" (cf. Old Norse "ey," Old High -German "ouwa" for island), which means islanders. In the Anglo-Saxon poem -"Widsid" they are called "eowe" or "eowan" [cf. Grimm, 1880, p. 330 (472), -Much, 1893, p. 195; 1905, p. 101]. It is possible that the Greeks, on -hearing the Germanic name, connected it with the Greek word "Oeonæ" (== -egg-eaters), and thereby the whole idea of egg-eating may have arisen, -without anything having been related about it. - -[97] To this it might be objected that he ought in that case to have -obtained much information also about the interior of Scythia and Sarmatia; -but in the first place this is not certain, as the special goal of the -merchants was the amber countries, and they would therefore keep to the -known routes and travel rapidly through--and in the second, Pliny actually -mentions a good many tribes in the interior. He says, it is true [iv. 26, -91], of Agrippa's estimate of the size of Sarmatia and Scythia, that he -considers such estimates too uncertain in these parts of the earth; but to -conclude from this, as Detlefsen [1904, p. 34] has done, that Pliny's -Greek authorities cannot have received their information by the land -route, seems to me unreasonable, since Pliny perhaps did not even know how -his authorities had obtained their knowledge. - -[98] This river is not mentioned elsewhere and must be invented, Hecatæus -of Abdera (circa 300 B.C.) having imagined that it rose in mountains of -this name in the interior of Asia and fell into the northern ocean. - -[99] This is certainly wrong. The name "Amalcium" cannot come from any -northern language, but must come from the Greek "malkios" ([Greek: -malkios]), which means "stiffening," "freezing"; "a" must here be an -emphatic particle. - -[100] This Greek is given as an authority in several passages of Pliny; he -is also mentioned by Ptolemy, but is not otherwise known. He may have -lived about 100 B.C. [cf. Detlefsen, 1904, pp. 23-25]. - -[101] On account of the syllable "rus," which is found in Phoenician names -(e.g., Rusazus, Ruscino, Ruspino) and which means headland, cape, it has -been sought to derive it from the Semitic; but Detlefsen [1904, p. 24] -thinks it more reasonable to suppose it Germanic. Not the smallest trace -of Phoenician names has been found in the north. R. Keyser [1868, p. 165] -thinks the name, which he reads "Rubeas," "is without doubt the Welsh -'rhybyz'" (rhybudd == sign, warning); but the word cannot have had this -form in Pliny's time. - -[102] The name may be either Celtic or Old Germanic. In Celtic "mori," -Irish "muir," Cymric "môr," is sea; but R. Much [1893, p. 220] thinks that -Germanic "mari" and Gothic "marei" (German "Meer," Latin "mare") may also -have been pronounced formerly with "o." "Marusa" is related to Irish -"marb," Cymric "marw" for dead; but according to Much it may be of -Germanic origin and have had the form "*marusaz" (cf. "*marwaz") with the -meaning of motionless, lifeless. "Morimarusa" would thus be the -"motionless sea," which reminds one of Pytheas's kindred ideas of the -sluggish, congealed sea ("mare pigrum, prope immotum mare"). If the name -is of Germanic origin, this does not debar its being derived from Pytheas -(and taken from him by Philemon); he may have got it from Norway. If -Rusbeas is southern Norway, this would point in the same direction. But it -is doubtless more reasonable to suppose that the name is derived from the -Cimbri, who are mentioned in connection with it, while Pliny does not -mention any people in Norway. - -[103] Hergt [1893, p. 40] thinks that "Morimarusa" would be the Baltic -(and the Cattegat), which was called dead because it had no tides and was -frozen in winter. "Rusbeas" would thus be the point of the Skaw. In this -way he has two names for the Baltic, and two, if not three, for the Skaw. -This interpretation seems to be even less consistent than that given -above. Pliny in another passage mentions (see pp. 65, 106) that the sea -called "Cronium" was a day's sail beyond Thule, which lay to the north of -Britain and within the Arctic Circle. This in itself makes it difficult -for Cronium to begin at Lindesnes, but if it has to begin at Skagen, and -thus be the Skagerak, it becomes still worse. - -[104] This must come from an Old Germanic word "*glez," Anglo-Saxon -"glær," for amber. It is the same word as the Norwegian "glas" or Danish -"glar," which has come to mean glass. - -[105] The origin of the name "Sævo" cannot be determined with certainty. -Forbiger [1848, iii. p. 237] thinks it is Kjölen, and asserts that it is a -Norwegian name which is still found in the form of "Seve," ridge; but no -such name is known in Norway. It seems possible that the name may be -connected with the Gothic "saivs" for sea (cf. Old Norse "sær"); but it -may also be supposed to have arisen from a corruption of "svevus"; in any -case it was so regarded in the Middle Ages. Solinus says [c. 20, 1], -following Pliny, that "Mons Sævo ... forms the commencement of Germany," -but Isidore Hispalensis says that "Suevus Mons" forms the north-east -boundary of Germany, and on the Hereford Map (about 1280) a mountain -chain, "Mons Sueuus," runs in north-east Germany to a bay of the sea -called "Sinus Germanicus," which may be the Baltic. On the Ebstorf map -(1284) "Mons Suevus" has followed the Suevi southwards to Swabia. It is -also possible that Ptolemy's mountain chain "Syeba" ([Greek: Syêba], vi. -c. 14) in northernmost Asia (62° N. lat.) has something to do with Pliny's -"Sævo." There has been much guessing as to where the latter is to be -sought: some [cf. Detlefsen, 1904, p. 28] think it was Kjölen, although it -is quite incomprehensible how this far northern range could be connected -with Codanus; others [cf. Lönborg, 1897, p. 20] that it was in Mecklenburg -or Pomerania or even in Jutland [Geijer, 1825, p. 77], where no mountain -is to be found, least of all an immense one ("inmensus"). Pliny's words -could be most simply connected with the Norwegian mountains [cf. Holz, -1894, p. 25]. It may indeed be supposed, as Müllenhoff [iv., 1900, p. 600] -thinks, that the men of Augustus's fleet, in 5 A.D., may have seen in the -Cattegat or heard of the "Sea-mountains" of the Scandinavian (or rather, -Swedish) coast, "*Saivabergo" or "*Saivagabërgia," which rose up over the -sea, and the same of which became in Latin "Mons Sævo"; but perhaps it is -just as reasonable to suppose that the information may be derived from the -Germans of Jutland, who had communication with Norway and knew its high -mountainous country, and that therefore it did not originate with the low -west coast of Sweden. - -[106] One might be tempted to connect the name "Scadinavia" with the old -Norse goddess Skade or Skaði, who was of Finnish race; she was -black-haired, lived in the mountains in the interior of the country, and -was amongst other things the goddess of ski-running. The name Scadinavia -would then be of Finnish origin. This derivation has also been put forward -[cf. Müllenhoff, ii., 1887, pp. 55 f., 357 f.]. The termination "avi," -"avia," must then be the same as "ovia" (see p. 94). This explanation -would take for granted an original non-Germanic, so-called "Finnish" -population in south Sweden (which does not appear impossible; see below); -but it will then be difficult to explain why the name should have survived -only in the most southern part, Skåne. Sophus Bugge [1896, p. 424] thought -that "Scadinavia" (later "Scadanavia") is related to the common Norwegian -place-name "Skoðvin" or Sköien ("vin" == pasture) and may come from a lost -Old Norse word "*skaða" (old Slavonic "skotu") for cattle. "Skoðvin" would -then be cattle-pasture. From "*skaða" the word "*skaðanaz" may be -regularly derived, with the meaning of herdsman; and "Skadan-avia" or -"Skadinavia" will be herdsman's pastures, since the termination "avia" may -have the same meaning as the German "Au" or "Aue" (good pasture, meadow). -The Old Norse "Skáney" ("Skáni," now "Skåne") would then come from -Skaðney, where the "ð" has been dropped as in many similar instances. -Bugge himself afterwards [1904, p. 156] rejected this explanation and -derived "Scadinavia" from the same word as "Codanus" (see p. 93), taking -it to mean the island or coast-land by "Kodan," which has had a prefixed -"s," while the long "o" has been changed into short "a." This explanation -may be very doubtful. In many parts of Norway a name "Skåney" is known, -which comes from "skán" (meaning crust), and it may therefore not be -improbable that the Swedish "Skáney" or Skåne is the same name. - -[107] Ahlenius [1900, p. 31] has tried to explain the name as a copyist's -error for "Æstingia," which he connects with the "Æstii" (Esthonians) of -Tacitus; but the people would then have been called Æstingii rather than -Æstii. One might then be more inclined to think of Jordanes' "Astingi" or -"Hazdingi," the same as the Old Norse Haddingjar (Hallinger). - -[108] R. Keyser [1868, p. 89] explains the name as the same as in the Old -Norse name for a people, "Kylpingar," in northern Russia, neighbours of -the Finns. He thinks that there may have been an Old Norse name -"Kylpinga-botn" for the Baltic; but it is not likely that this word -Kylpingar existed at that time. - -[109] Keyser [1868, p. 80] derives the word from Gothic "lagus" -(corresponding to Old Norse "logr") for sea. - -[110] The same islands which are here spoken of as British, have been -previously referred to (see above, p. 101) by Pliny as Germanic, or rather -as a single island with the name "Glæsaria." This is another proof of how -he draws directly from various sources without even taking the trouble to -harmonise the statements. In this case he has probably found the islands -mentioned in connection with facts about Britain, or a journey to that -country. And it may be supposed that the original source is Pytheas. - -[111] In his ignorance of astronomy Pliny adds that "this is said to -continue alternately for six months." - -[112] Some MSS. read "Vergos." - -[113] Tacitus, "Agricola," c. 10; see also c. 38. Cf. also Bunbury, 1883, -ii. p. 342. - -[114] Tacitus, "Agricola," c. 28. - -[115] Here Tacitus is mistaken, as amber was extensively employed for -amulets and ornaments even in the Stone Age (see above, p. 32). - -[116] Much [1905, p. 133] connects the name with "ge-swio" == "related by -marriage." It may be just as reasonable to suppose that the name means -"burners" ("svier"), since they cleared the land by setting fire to the -forests [cf. Müllenhoff, iv., 1900, p. 499]. - -[117] Cf. Müllenhoff, iv., 1900, p. 502. - -[118] This might be thought to show that arms of metal, especially of -iron, were still rarities in Scandinavia, which only rich and powerful -chiefs could obtain, and this might agree with the statement about the -esteem in which wealth was held among this particular people. But perhaps -the more probable explanation is that the idea may have arisen through -foreign merchants (South Germans or Romans) having been present at the -great annual "things" and fairs at some well-known temple, e.g., Upsala -[cf. Müllenhoff, 1900, p. 503], where for the sake of peace and on account -of the sacredness of the spot it was forbidden to carry arms, and where -arms were therefore left in a special "weapon-house," like those which -were later attached to churches in Norway, and there guarded by a thrall. -The foreigners may have seen this without understanding its meaning, and -Tacitus may have given his own explanation. - -[119] The name "Sitones" reminds one forcibly of the "Sidones" mentioned -by Strabo and Ptolemy [cf. Geijer, 1825, p. 82]; but the difficulty is -that Strabo includes the latter among the Bastarni, with the Peucini who -lived on the north and east of the Carpathians and therefore far to the -south of the Baltic [cf. Ahlenius, 1900, p. 36]. Ptolemy's "Sidones" also -lived in the neighbourhood of the Carpathians, and to the north of them. -But it is nevertheless possible that Tacitus may have heard a similar word -and confused it with this name, or he may have heard a story of a reigning -woman or queen among Strabo's Sidones, somewhere north of the Carpathians, -and thought that anything so unheard of could only be found in the -farthest north. It is also to be noted that Tacitus himself mentions -"Peucini" or "Bastarnæ" as neighbours of the "Fenni" (Finns), and -therefore inhabiting some distant tract bordering on the unknown in the -north-east; on the other hand he does not mention the Sidones in this -connection, though they are spoken of in conjunction with the Bastarnæ -both by Strabo before him and by Ptolemy after him. Add to this the -similarity of names between Sitones and Suiones, and it seems likely that -he thought they must be near one another. Müllenhoff [ii., 1887, p. 9] -supposes that the word "Sitones" may have been an appellative which has -been mistaken for the name of a people, and he connects it with Gothic -"*sitans," Old Norse "*setar," from the same root as the Norwegian "sitte" -(to sit, occupy). If this is correct we might suppose it to be used in the -sense of colonists (cf. Norwegian "opsitter"). Much [1905, p. 31] suggests -that perhaps it may be derived from Old Norse "siða" == to practise -witchcraft (cf. "seid"), and mean sorcerers. On the "Sidones" cf. Much, -1893, pp. 135, 187, 188; Müllenhoff, 1887, pp. 109, 325. - -[120] Wiklund [1895, pp. 103-117] thinks that the "Kvæns" in north Sweden -were not Finns, but colonists from Svearike (middle Sweden). - -[121] Cf. Zeuss, 1837, p. 157; Müllenhoff, ii., 1887, p. 10. - -[122] Cf. Lönborg, 1897, p. 136; Ahlenius, 1900, p. 37. - -[123] Cf. Baumstark, 1880, p. 329; Müllenhoff, iv., 1900, p. 516. - -[124] Many of his place-names in Ireland especially point to frequent -communication, probably due to trade, between this island and the -continent, perhaps with Gaul. - -[125] Much [1895, a, p. 34] thinks that the "Alociæ" may have been some -small rocky islands which have now disappeared. Upon them he supposes -there may have been colonies of auks, which have given them their name, as -in Gothic, for instance, they may have been called "*alakô." The -hypothesis is improbable; even if any such rocky islets had been washed -away by the sea they must have left behind submerged rocks, and none such -are known in the sea off Jutland. - -[126] Macrobius's division of the earth into zones after Parmenides with -an equatorial ocean like Mela, in graphic representation, had great -influence during the Middle Ages. - -[127] Similar conceptions are to be found in Avienus ("Ora Maritima," vv., -644-663), and are derived from ancient Greek geographers (Anaximenes, cf. -Müllenhoff, i., 1870, p. 77). - -[128] This description would best suit the Baltic (and the Belts) as -forming the eastern side of Scandza; but the term inland sea ("lacus") -does not agree well with Scandza being an island and lying just opposite -the Vistula, which "with its three mouths discharged itself into the -Ocean"; and in the rear of the Vidivarii at the mouths of the Vistula -"dwelt likewise on the Ocean the Æstii, that very peace-loving people" [v. -36, cf. Tacitus]. Besides which Jordanes' Germanic Ocean may be the -Baltic, although his very obscure description may equally well suit the -North Sea, or both together. The supposition that the great inland sea and -the River Vagi might be Lake Ladoga and the Neva [cf. Geijer, 1825, p. -100] or Lake Vener and the Göta River [cf. Lönborg, 1897, p. 25, and -Ahlenius, 1900, p. 44] does not agree with the description of Jordanes, -which distinctly asserts that it lay on the east side of Scandza in -contradistinction to the immense ocean on the west and north. The fact -must be that Jordanes had very obscure ideas on this point, and this has -made his description confusing. - -[129] These small islands have been taken to be the Danish islands [cf. -Ahlenius, 1900, p. 43]; but as we hear in immediate connection with them -of severe cold and of the wolves losing their eyes on crossing the frozen -sea ("congelato mari"), our thoughts are led farther north and we would be -inclined to take them for the Åland islands. - -[130] This reminds us of Mela's statement respecting the Oeneans, who -lived on fen-fowl's eggs (see above, pp. 91, 95). - -[131] And or Amd was used formerly not only for the island of And (Andö), -but for a great part of Vesterålen and Hinnö. - -[132] I will mention as yet another possibility a corruption of Ptolemy's -islands, the "Alociæ," which lay at the extreme north of his map, north of -the Cimbrian Chersonese and farther north than the island of Scandia (see -above, pp. 119 f.). A Greek capital lambda, [Greek: L], may easily be -mistaken for a capital delta, [Greek: D], especially in maps, and in such -corrupted form may have been transferred to Roman maps, and thence have -been used for the name of a people who were said to live specially far -north. Läffler [1894, p. 4] thinks that "Adogit" was a Lappish people, and -that the name certainly cannot be of Scandinavian-Germanic origin, but he -does not say why. - -[133] Cleomedes says that the summer day in Thule lasted a month, while -the astronomically ignorant Pliny puts it at six months. - -[134] As to these tribal names see especially Läffler [1894, 1907] and -Sophus Bugge [1907], besides P. A. Munch [1852], Müllenhoff [1887], and -others. - -[135] The origin of the word "sappherinas" is uncertain. Lönborg [1897, p. -26] proposes that it may have meant deep sapphire blue, and have been used -of the skins of blue foxes. Probably it is rather a northern word, not -Germanic, but either Slavonic or Finnish (?). - -[136] Müllenhoff, Mommsen, Läffler, and others think that the "mitiores" -(milder) of the MSS. may be an error for "minores" (smaller), which gives -better sense, in contradistinction to the "Suetidi" who come just after -and were taller than all the rest. Sophus Bugge proposes that "mitissimi" -and "mitiores" may be errors for "minutissime" and "minutiores," and that -it should therefore be translated "the very small Finns who are smaller -than all the other, etc." [cf. also A. Bugge, 1906, p. 18]; but the -necessity for so great a change is doubtful [cf. Läffler, 1907, p. 109]. - -[137] S. Bugge thought [1907, p. 101] at one time that these might be -people of Gond or Gand, i.e., Höiland, south of Stavanger, but afterwards -changed this view [cf. 1910, p. 97]. - -[138] Jordanes, who was a Goth, had even less reason for glorifying the -Northmen at the expense of the Germans or Goths. - -[139] Cf. Mommsen, 1882, p. 154; A. Bugge, 1906, pp. 21, 33 f. - -[140] This is certainly incorrect; probably they came from the north and -established themselves near the Danube in the neighbourhood of the -Langobards. - -[141] Paulus Warnefridi gives a mythical account of the cause of the war -and of the battle and death of king Rodulf [Bethmann and Waitz, 1878, pp. -57 ff.]; the fight and king Rodulf are also referred to in the "Origo -Gentes Langobardorum" (of about 807). In both these works it is stated -that it was the Langobards (and not the Eruli) who had lived in this -country (by the Danube ?) in peace for three years. - -[142] It is probable that the mention of the tribes in Jordanes is taken -from two different sources; for he begins by saying that Ptolemy only has -the names of seven, without mentioning any of these, and later on he gives -a whole series of others, which may have been added from another author -who supplemented the one from whom the mention of Ptolemy is taken. - -[143] Jordanes here repeats Ptolemy, from whom the name of Scandza, == -Scandia, is taken (and the statement as to the shape of the island ?), -while Procopius has nothing about it. - -[144] The name appears in the runic inscriptions to be often a designation -of the author of the inscription. Sophus Bugge thought that the Eruli had -obtained their knowledge of runes from the Goths, and that they kept them -a secret (this reappears in the word "run" itself, which means secret), -especially in the leading families, who turned them to account. During -their centuries of roving life they carried the knowledge of runes with -them to various parts of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In this way the -uniformity of language in the inscriptions from widely separated places -may also be explained. - -[145] It appears to have been a general custom among the Germans to put -old people to death (cf. p. 18). Herodotus [i. 216] relates of the -Massagetæ, who may have been a Germanic tribe, that "when any one has -grown very old all his relatives come together and slaughter him, and with -him other small cattle; they then cook the flesh and hold a banquet. This -is considered by them the happiest end. But they do not eat one who dies -of sickness, but bury him underground, and lament that he did not live to -be slaughtered." - -[146] This widespread form of anthropophagy is due to the superstition -that by eating something of another, beast or man, or particular parts, -e.g., the heart (cf. Sigurd Favnesbane), one acquired the peculiar -properties of the other, such as strength, courage, goodness, etc. It is -thus a similar idea to that in the Christian sacrament. - -[147] They were also called =O T= maps; =O T= being the initials of Orbis -Terrarum. - -[148] Cf. Wuttke, 1854. - -[149] The text has "ovium" (== sheep), but this is doubtless a copyist's -error for "ovum" (== egg). This may remind us of the Oeonæ of Mela and -Pliny, who lived on the eggs of fen-fowl (see above, p. 92). - -[150] Cf. the "Origo Gentis Langobardorum" (of the second half of the -seventh century), where the "Winnilians," who were later called -Langobards, live originally on an island called "Scadanan," or in another -MS. "Scadan." The latter name, with the addition of a Germanic word for -meadow or island, might become Scadanau, Scadanauge, or Scadanovia. Cf. -also Fredegar Scholasticus's abbreviated history after Gregory of Tours, -where it is related that the Langobards originated in "Schatanavia," or in -one MS. "Schatanagia." - -[151] It is difficult to understand how Paulus has managed to transfer the -legend to the North. It might be thought that the idea, which already -appears in Herodotus, that the people of the North sleep for the six -winter months (see p. 20), is connected with it. Plutarch ["De defectu -oraculorum," c. 18] relates that in the ocean beyond Britain there was -according to the statement of Demetrius an island "where Cronos was -imprisoned and guarded, while he slept, by Briareus. For sleep had been -used as a bond, and there were many spirits about him as companions and -servants." According to another passage in Plutarch ["De facie in orbe -Lunæ," 941] this island was north-west of the isle of Ogygia, which was -five days' sail west of Britain. It is possible that this myth of the -sleeping Cronos has also helped to locate the legend of the Seven Sleepers -on the north-west coast of Europe. Viktor Rydberg [1886, i. pp. 529 ff.] -thought that the legend and its localisation in the North might be -connected with Mimer's seven sons, who in the Volospo's description (st. -45) of Ragnarok were to spring up at the sound of the horn Gjallar, after -having lain asleep for long ages. But this interpretation of the strophe: -"Leika Mims synir" is improbable. - -[152] In other MSS. Scridowinni and Scritofinni, etc. - -[153] According to the "Grottasongr," Mysing carried off the quern and the -two female thralls, Fenja and Menja, on his ship and bade them grind salt, -and they ground until the ship sank (according to some MSS. it was in the -Pentland Firth), and there was afterwards a whirlpool in the sea, where -the water falls into the hole in the quern. Thus the sea became salt. This -is the same legend which is repeated in the tale of the mill which grinds -at the bottom of the sea. - -[154] As will be mentioned later, the islands were possibly inhabited by -Celts before the arrival of the monks. In that case the latter must -doubtless have visited them with the additional object of spreading -Christianity. - -[155] It has also been translated: "two rows of oars," which is -improbable. - -[156] Some writers have thought that they might be the Shetlands; but this -seems less probable. - -[157] Cf. A. Bugge, 1905, pp. 55 f. Several names of fishing-banks, which -A. Bugge gives from Dr. Jakobsen, are also of interest. Off Sandey is a -fishing-bank called "Knokkur" (or "á Knokki"), and one of the same name -lies west of Syd-Straumsey. West of Sudrey is a fishing-place called -"Knokkarnir." The fishing-banks are called after the landmarks; "cnoc" is -Celtic for hill, and must have been the name of the heights that formed -landmarks for the fishing-places in question; on land these names have -given way to more modern Norse ones, but have held their own out to sea. -A. Bugge thinks that the Celtic place-names may be due to Norwegians who -before they came to the Faroes had lived with Irish-speaking people in the -Scottish islands or in Ireland; but it nevertheless seems very improbable -that they should have used a foreign language to give names to their new -home. A more natural explanation is that they had the names from the -earlier Celtic inhabitants, whether these were only the Irish monks, or -whether there were others. Names of islands and hills are usually among -the most ancient of place-names. - -[158] Cf. Landnáma, Prologue. Further on in the Landnáma places are -frequently mentioned where priests had formerly lived, and where in -consequence heathens dared not settle. - -[159] It is explicable that places and estates may be called after the -personal names of Irish land-takers; but it is more difficult to -understand how the Norwegians should have come by Celtic names, derived -from appellatives, for mountains, fjords, and rivers--which are everywhere -among the earliest of place-names--if the Celts had not been there before -they came. Among such place-names of Celtic origin, or which indicate a -Celtic population, may be mentioned: "Dímunarvág, Dimunar-klakkar" (an -inlet and two rocky islets in Breidifjord); "Dímon," in many places as the -name of a ridge, a mountain, and an islet; "Katanes"; "Katadalr"; -"Kúðafljót," the name of a confluence of several rivers into a large piece -of water, in Vester-Skaftarfells district, from Irish "cud" (== head). -"Minþakseyrr" is mentioned above. Further, there are many names after -Irishmen: a river "Irá," two places "Iragerði," a channel into Hvammsfjord -"Irska leið," "Irsku búðir," a hill "Irski hóll," besides -"Vestmanna-eyjar," etc. - -[160] The "Ost-sæ" is the southern and western part of the Baltic with the -Cattegat and a part of the Skagerak, as distinguished from the sea to the -west of Jutland (the land of the South Danes), which is "the arm of the -sea which lies round the country of Britain." The sea west of Norway he -also calls the "West-sæ." As the Ost-sæ is called an arm of the sea, it -might be urged that King Alfred therefore regarded Scandinavia as a -peninsula; but we see that he also calls the sea round Britain, which he -knew better, an arm of the sea. - -[161] In another passage somewhat later he says that "no men [i.e., -Norsemen, Norwegian chiefs] lived to the north of him." This may have been -somewhere about Malangen or Senjen, which archæological remains show to -have formed the approximate northern boundary of fixed Norwegian -habitation at that time. Norwegians may have lived here and there farther -north to about Loppen [cf. A. Bugge, 1908, pp. 407 ff.]; but Ottar -doubtless means that no nobles or people of importance lived to the north -of him. - -[162] It may be explained that the Lapps are called "Finns," both in Old -Norse and modern Norwegian. As it is not absolutely certain to what race -these ancient "Finns" belonged, it has been thought best to retain Ottar's -name for them here. - -[163] It is clear Ottar reckoned north and south according to the -direction of the land, and not according to the meridian; this is a common -habit among coast-dwellers who live on a coast that lies approximately -north and south. Ottar's north is consequently nearly north-east. - -[164] This would be, according to the number of days' sail given, about -midway between Malangen and the North Cape, that is, about Loppen. - -[165] That is to say, made a bay of the sea into the land. Ottar has now -reached the North Cape. - -[166] This was at the entrance to the White Sea, near Sviatoi Nos, or a -little farther south-east. If Ottar took as much as six days on the voyage -from Malangen to the North Cape, but only four from the North Cape to the -entrance to the White Sea, which is nearly double the distance, this may -possibly be explained by his sailing the first part within the skerries, -among islands, thus making the distance longer and stopping oftener, while -on the latter part of the voyage, where there are no islands, he may have -sailed much faster with open sea and a favourable wind, and have had less -temptation to stop. - -[167] The most reasonable way of reading this last much-contested -statement is to take "of them" as referring to the walruses, which were -seven cubits long, and to understand the sentence about the Norwegian -whales, which are larger, as an inserted parenthesis [cf. Japetus -Steenstrup, 1889]; for it is impossible that six men could kill sixty -large whales in two days, and the sobriety of Ottar's narrative makes it -very improbable that he made boasts of this sort. King Alfred evidently -did not grasp the essential difference between walrus and whale. Another -explanation might be that these sixty were a school of a smaller species -of whale, which were caught by nets in a fjord, so that King Alfred has -only confused their size with that of the larger whales of which he had -also heard Ottar speak. An attempt has been made to save the sense by -proposing that instead of "with six others" we should read "with six -harpoons" ("syx asum") or "with six ships" ("syx ascum"); but even if such -an emendation were permissible, it does not make the statement more -credible. What should Ottar do with sixty large whales, even if he could -catch them? It must have been the blubber and the flesh that he wanted, -but he and his men could not deal with that quantity of blubber and flesh -in weeks, to say nothing of two days. Even a large whaling station at the -present time, with machinery and a large staff of workmen, would have all -it could do to deal with sixty large whales ("forty-eight" or "fifty" -cubits long) before they became putrid, if they were all caught in two -days. - -[168] Cf. G. Storm, 1894, p. 95. S. E. Lönborg's reasons [1897, p. 37] for -rejecting Storm's view and maintaining the Dvina as the river in question -have little weight. Lönborg examines the statements of direction, south, -north, etc., as though King Alfred and Ottar had had a map and a modern -compass before them during the description. He has not remarked that Ottar -has merely confined himself to the chief points of the compass, north, -east, and south, and that he has not even halved them; how otherwise -should we explain, for instance, that he sailed "due north along the -coast" from Senjen to the North Cape? This course is no less incorrect -than his sailing due south, for example, from Sviatoi Nos to the Varzuga. -To one sailing along a coast, especially if it is unknown, the -circumstance that one is following the land is far more important than the -alterations of course that one makes owing to the sinuosities of the -coast. The statement that they had the uninhabited land to starboard all -the way is consequently not to be got over. - -[169] His own words, that he did not know whether the land (at Sviatoi -Nos) turned towards the south, or whether the sea made a bay into the -land, show also that Ottar cannot have sailed across the White Sea and -discovered the land on the other side. - -[170] Alfred's word "Beormas" is perhaps linguistically of the same origin -as "Perm" or "Perem," which the Russians, at any rate in later times, -apply to another Finno-Ugrian people, the Permians, of Kama in north -Russia [cf. Storm, 1894, p. 96]. - -[171] "Rosmal" comes from Old Norse "rosm-hvalr"--horse-whale, of the same -meaning therefore as "hval-ross." - -[172] Sciringesheal had a king's house and a well-known temple; it may -have been situated on the Viksfjord, east of Larvik, where the name -Kaupang (i.e., "kjöpstad" == market town) still preserves its memory [cf. -Munch, 1852, pp. 377, 380]. Possibly the name may be connected with the -Germanic tribe of "Skirer," who are mentioned on the shores of the Baltic, -near the Ruger (or Ryger). Connected with Sciringesheal was a kingdom in -South Jutland, with the port of "Sliesthorp" (mentioned by Einhard about -804), "Sliaswic" [Ansgarii Vita, c. 24] or "Slesvik," also called -"Heidaby." It is possible that Sciringesheal may have been originally -founded by Skirer who had immigrated from South Jutland (?). Another -hypothesis has been put forward by S. A. Sörensen, who thinks that -Sciringesheal may be a translation into Norse of "baptisterium" ("skíra" -== to baptize); and that the place was situated near Sandefjord. In that -case we should look for a church rather than a heathen temple, and we -should have to suppose that attempts had been made to introduce -Christianity even before Ottar's time. - -[173] Dr. Ingram, in 1807, and Rask [1815, p. 48] propose to read -"Isaland" (i.e., Iceland, which was discovered by the Norsemen just at -this time), but this does not improve the sense. Besides which, the form -"Isaland" for Iceland is not known, and it would mean the land of "ices" -and not of ice. That the true Ireland should be intended would seem to -betray greater geographical ignorance than we are disposed to attribute to -Ottar or Alfred. Alfred himself mentions "Ibernia" or "Igbernia" (i.e., -Ireland) as lying west of Britain, and says that "we call it Scotland." He -does not use the name Ireland elsewhere; but here he is quoting Ottar, and -the latter may possibly have meant Scotland (?) [cf. Langebek, Porthan and -Forster], which was colonised by Irishmen, although it would then be -difficult to understand the reference which follows to islands lying -"between Iraland and this country" (i.e., Britain). Meanwhile it must be -remembered that it was not unusual at that time to place Ireland to the -north of Britain (cf. later Adam of Bremen), and there may here be a -confusion of this sort. The simplest supposition would be to take -"Iraland" for Shetland; but it is difficult to understand how the islands -could have received such a designation. - -[174] So far as I can discover this is the first time this name for Norway -occurs in literature. Lönborg [1897, p. 142] is consequently incorrect in -saying that the name "Norvegia" first occurs in the eleventh century. - -[175] Einhard calls it "Sinlendi," and it was a part of South Jutland or -Sleswick [cf. Munch, 1852, p. 378]. - -[176] "Denemearc" is mentioned by Alfred for the first time in literature. - -[177] Professor Alf Torp has kindly given me a [Norwegian] translation of -the poem. - -[178] It may be of interest in this connection to remind the reader that -Plutarch ["De facie in orbe Lunæ," 941] mentions that the island of Ogygia -lay five days' sail west of Britain, and that upon one of the islands in -the north-west lay Cronos imprisoned (cf. above, p. 156), for which reason -the sea was called Cronium. According to the statements of the barbarians -"the great continent [i.e., that which lies beyond the ocean, cf. above, -p. 16] by which the great ocean is enclosed in a circle" lies nearer to -these islands, "but from Ogygia it is about five thousand stadia when one -travels with rowing-boats; for the sea is heavy to pass through, and muddy -on account of the many currents; but the great land sends out the streams -and they stir up the mud, and the sea is heavy and earthy, for which -reason it is held to be curdled." These are similar conceptions to those -we have already found in Aristotle's Meteorologica (cf. above, p. 41), and -Plutarch is also inclined to place this sluggish sea towards the -north-west. Moreover, it seems as though the ancients imagined the -stiffened sea (usually in connection with darkness) everywhere on the -outer limits of the world. Curtius (of the time of Augustus) in a speech -makes Alexander's soldiers (when they try to force him to turn back) use -such expressions as that this leads to nowhere, all was covered with -darkness and a motionless sea, and dying Nature disappears. Similar -conceptions of a curdled and stinking sea and an ocean of darkness near -the outer limits of the world are also found in Arabic literature [cf. -Edrisi, 1154 A.D.]. - -[179] On maps the name possibly appears earlier. On an English map of the -world (Cottoniana), possibly of the close of the tenth century (992-994), -there is an "Island" (see p. 183); but the possibility is not excluded -that the existing copy of this map may be later, and may have taken some -names from Adam of Bremen [cf. K. Miller, iii. 1895, p. 37]. - -[180] This name appears here for the first time in literature (cf. -"Balcia" in Pliny, pp. 71, 99, above). It has also been sought to derive -it from the Old Prussian (Lettish and Lithuanian) "baltas," white; it -would then mean the white sea, and the name would be due to the sandy -coasts of the south-east [cf. Schafarik, Slav. Alt., i. pp. 451 ff.]. - -[181] We may compare with this the tale of the Arab author Qazwînî, of the -thirteenth century [cf. G. Jacob, 1896, pp. 9, 37]: "The City of Women is -a great city with a wide territory on an island in the western ocean. -At-Tartûshî says: its inhabitants are women, over whom men have no -authority. They ride horses, and themselves wage war. They show great -bravery in conflict. They have also slaves. Every slave in turn visits his -mistress at night, remains with her all night, rises at dawn, and goes out -secretly at daybreak. If then one of them gives birth to a boy she kills -him on the spot; but if a girl she lets her live. At-Tartûshî says: the -City of Women is a fact of which there is no doubt." This, as we see, is -an adaptation of the Greek legend of the Amazons, and of the Scythian -women who had children by their slaves [cf. Herodotus, vi. 1]. As a -similar story of the City of Women, "west of the Russians," is attributed -to the Jew Ibrâhîm ibn Ja'qûb (of the tenth century), which he says he had -from the emperor Otto (the Great), it probably dates from the tenth -century. Jacob thinks the legend here was due to the name of Magdeburg, -which was translated "civitas virginum"; but as the women lived in an -island in the ocean it is more probable that it may be derived from -Kvænland. Similar legends seem to have been common in the Middle Ages, and -occur in many authors. (Cf. Paulus Warnefridi, above, p. 160). Isidore is -said to have made Sweden the original home of the Amazons. - -[182] Cf. Plutarch, Thes. 26; Strabo, xi. 504; and others. - -[183] Adam's statement (immediately afterwards in the same section) that -the land of the Alani or Wizzi was defended by an army of dogs, must be -due to a similar misinterpretation of the name "Huns." - -[184] This passage is undoubtedly taken from Solinus, and we see how -Magister Adam confuses together what he has heard and what he finds in -classical authors. - -[185] It seems very probable, as Mr. F. Schiern [1873, s. 13] suggests, -that this conception of even the noblest men (nobilissimi homines) being -herdsmen may be due to a misunderstanding of the old Norse word -"fehirðir," which might mean herdsman, but was also the usual word for -treasurer, especially the king's treasurer. - -[186] This description refers, probably, to the Lapps and their magic -arts. - -[187] This must be another misunderstanding of tales about Kvæns, whom -Adam took for women. - -[188] These skin-clad hunters, who spoke a language unintelligible to the -Norwegians, were certainly Lapps. - -[189] It might be thought that "uri" was here a corruption for "lutræ" -(otters); but as "uri" is found in two passages without making sense in -its proper meaning, aurochs, it may also be supposed that it is here used -as a name for walrus, as proposed by A. M. Hansen; and then the last -sentence will be quite simple, that the white bear lives under water like -the walrus. The confusion may have arisen through a belief that the tusks -of the walrus were aurochs' horns. The horns in the picture of the "Urus" -on the Ebstorf map (1284) are very like walrus tusks. But it is striking -that the common land bear is not mentioned, while the white bear is spoken -of. As the latter seldom comes to Finmark, its mention points to the -Norwegians having hunted it in the Polar Sea; if it be not due to the -connection of Norway with Iceland and Greenland, but as these lands are -mentioned separately this seems less probable. - -[190] This idea may possibly be due on the one hand to the mist, which may -have been regarded as brought about by heat; for in a scholium (possibly -by Adam himself, or not much later) we read: "By Iceland is the Ice Sea, -and it is boiling and shrouded in mist ('caligans')." On the other hand it -may be due to statements about volcanoes and boiling springs which have -been confused with it. The black colour and dryness of the ice may be due -to confusion with lava or with floating pumice-stone in the sea, and -statements about the lignite of Iceland ("surtarbrand") may also have -given rise to this idea [cf. Baumgartner, 1902, p. 503]. Lönborg's -suggestion [1897, p. 165] that it may be due to driftwood is less -probable. Compare also the idea in the "Meregarto" (above, p. 181) of the -ice as hard as crystal, which is heated. In two MSS. of Solinus, of which -the oldest is of the twelfth century [cf. Mommsen's edition of Solinus, -1895, pp. xxxiv., xxxvii., 236; Lappenberg, 1838, pp. 887 f.], there is an -addition about the northern islands in which we read of Iceland: "Yslande. -The sea-ice on this island ignites itself on collision, and when it is -ignited it burns like wood. These people also are good Christians, but in -winter they dare not leave their underground holes on account of the -terrible cold. For if they go out they are smitten by such severe cold -that they lose their colour like lepers and swell up. If by chance they -blow their nose, it comes off and they throw it away with what they have -blown out." This passage cannot be derived from Adam of Bremen (nor has it -any resemblance to the Meregarto); it may indicate that similar ideas of -the ice of Iceland were current at that time. Saxo's remarkable allusion -to this ice (in the introduction to his work) also shows that it was -connected with much superstition. - -[191] The woods consisted then as now solely of birch-trees, which were -however larger at that time. - -[192] In a scholium, possibly by Adam himself, there is this correction: -"According to what others report, Halagland is the extreme part of Norway, -which borders on the Skridfinns and is inaccessible by reason of the -forbidding mountains and the harshness of the cold." - -[193] This statement that the summer day and the winter night were of the -same length cannot here, any more than in Jordanes and Procopius, be due -to direct observation on the part of Northerners, but must be an echo of -classical astronomical speculations (cf. above, pp. 134, 144). It is -strange, too, that while in Jordanes (and Procopius) the length of the -summer day and winter night was forty days (among the "Adogit" in -Hálogaland), it is here given as fourteen days in Hálogaland. Possibly the -number fourteen may be due to a confusion or a copyist's error for forty. - -[194] Probably Adam has taken this explanation from Bede [cf. Kohlmann, -1908, pp. 45 ff.]. - -[195] This passage, from "Beyond this island," is not found in all the -MSS., whence Lappenberg [1876, p. xvii.] thinks it is a later -addition--but by Adam himself, as the style resembles his. To this latter -reason it may be objected that when Adam mentions Harold Hardråde earlier -in his work, he is disposed to disparage him, which is not the case here. -But since he does not disparage him either in his mention of the Baltic -voyage (see p. 185), this is of little importance. - -[196] While this sheet is in the press I happen to see that the same -opinion has been advanced, almost in the same words, by Sven Lönborg -[1897, p. 168]. - -[197] Adam's idea of Hálogaland (Halagland) as an island may be due to its -similarity of sound to the "Heiligland" (Heligoland) mentioned by him. As -one of these lands was an island it must have been easy to suppose that -the other was one also. The interpretation of the name as meaning holy may -come from the same source. Heiligland was regarded as holy on account of -the monastery established there. A corresponding name, "Eyin Helga," is -applied in the sagas to two islands: Helgeö in Mjösen, and the well-known -Iona in the Hebrides [Magnus Barfot's Saga, cap. 10]. The latter was holy -on account of Columcille's church. - -[198] See note 2, p. 197. - -[199] Adam did not apparently know the name "Finn," he only mentions -Finnédi and Scritefini. It might then seem natural that he should intermix -the names Vinland and Finland, and believing that this Fin- or Vin- had -something to do with Wine, he may have applied to this land Isidore's -description of the Fortunate Isles, in a similar manner as he applied the -Greek story about the Amazons to Kvænland with the Cynocephali, etc. - -[200] S. Bugge has since maintained the probability that the name "Skaði" -is of Germanic origin. - -[201] We shall not here enter into the difficult question of the blond -short-skulls, as it has no bearing on our argument. - -[202] It might, for instance, be supposed that the Ryger and Horder, who -came from north-eastern Germania, were already mixed with short-skulled -Slavs before their immigration to western Norway. - -[203] Among the known brachycephalic peoples of Europe we have the Celts -and the western Slavs, Poles, Czecks, etc. These are linguistically far -apart, but it is a question whether the brachycephalic element in both is -not originally the same. It must be borne in mind that, at the remote -period of which we are now speaking, the linguistic difference between -them was certainly small, and for that matter it is of little importance -from which of them the first immigration into Scandinavia came. - -[204] As Professor Alf Torp has pointed out to me, the word "Fin" must, on -account of the Germanic mutation of sounds, be expected to have sounded -something like "Pen" at that remote time. "Pen" in Celtic means head, and -it is not altogether impossible that such a word might have been -transformed into a national name. - -[205] Cf. O. Solberg, 1909. The particulars here given of this remarkable -find are for the most part taken from Solberg's interesting paper, the -proofs of which he has allowed me to see. He has also been kind enough to -give me an opportunity of examining the objects. - -[206] Lapps belonging to the Greek Church, who live in a Russian enclave -on the Pasvik, Varanger Fjord. (Tr.) - -[207] Curiously enough, no bones of the great bearded seal (Phoca barbata) -are mentioned; but its absence may perhaps be accidental. - -[208] In a grave in North Varanger some fragments were found, probably of -walrus-tusk [cf. Solberg, 1909, p. 93]. - -[209] Professor G. Storm [1894, s. 97] and others have thought that the -Karelian-Finnish name "Kantalaksi" ("Kandalaks") and "Kantalahti" for the -north-western bay of the White Sea, and the town at its inner end, may be -a corrupted translation of the Norwegian name "Gandvik" for the White Sea, -as "kanta" ("kanda") might be the Finnish-Karelian pronunciation of the -Norwegian "gand," and the Finnish-Karelian "lahti" or "laksi" has the same -meaning as the Norwegian "vik" (bay). Dr. Hansen, considering this -explanation probable, takes it as proof that the Karelians must have come -to the region later than the Norwegians, and later than the Beormas of -Ottar's time. But if the Karelians had immigrated thither after the -Norwegians had given it this name, it would be equally incomprehensible -that they should not have taken their place-names from the settled Beormas -instead of from the casually visiting Norwegians. Storm's explanation of -the name "Kandalaks" is, however, in my opinion highly improbable; the -casually visiting Norwegians cannot possibly have given the settled -Beormas or Karelians the name of their own home. It is then, according to -my view, much more probable that the Norwegian "Gandvik" is some kind of -"popular etymological" translation of "Kantalaksi," which must then be a -name of Finnish-Karelian origin. I have asked Professor Konrad Nielsen, of -Christiania, about this, and he has also discussed the question with -Professor E. Setälä, and Professor Wichmann, of Helsingfors. All three are -of my opinion. The meaning of "Kantalaksi" (or "Kannanlaksi," from an -older word "Kanðanlaksi," where the first part is genitive) seems to -Nielsen to be quite certain: "kanta" (genitive, "kannan") is heel, basis. -The name should, according to Setälä, be translated, "the broad bay." The -Norwegians must consequently have corrupted the first part of the name in -a "popular etymological" manner to their "gand" (which means sorcery), and -the latter part of the name they have translated by "vik" (bay). The name -"Gandvik" may already have been known in Norway in the tenth century, as -it is mentioned by the heathen skald, Eilif Gudrunsson, in Thorsdrápa. -This seems to prove that the Beormas of the tenth century (and then -evidently also of Ottar's time) were Karelians, using the Karelian name -"Kantalaksi" for the White Sea. This name consequently leads to -conclusions contrary to those of Dr. Hansen, and it goes against the -correctness of his views. - -[210] Dr. Hansen seeks to explain the difficulty that the Beormas near the -Dvina, according to the name of the goddess "Jomale" in the tale of Tore -Hund's journey to Beormaland, must have spoken Karelian, by supposing that -the Beormas on the Dvina and those on the Gulf of Kandalaks were two -entirely different peoples, although in the old narratives no support for -such an assertion is to be found. Besides, we have above found evidence -that the Beormas at Kandalaks also spoke Karelian, because this name is a -Karelian word, which was used already in the tenth century. - -[211] Cf. Björnbo and Petersen, 1904, p. 178. In Michel Beheim's travels -in Norway in 1450 "Wild lapen" are also mentioned, cf. Vangensten, 1908, -pp. 17, 30 f. - -[212] Hakluyt: "The Principal Navigations, etc." (1903), iii. p. 404. - -[213] Gustav Storm [1881, p. 407] altered "some" to "none," evidently -thinking it would make better sense of this obscure passage; following him -therefore Magnus Olsen, J. Qvigstad and A. M. Hansen have recently -discussed the passage as though it read: "which none can understand." It -appears to me that "which some [i.e., a few] can understand" gives clearer -sense. - -[214] This passage seems somewhat confused and it is difficult to find a -logical connection in it. The first part is simple; most of the Sea Finns -(Fishing Lapps) speak Norwegian, but badly. Among themselves and with the -Mountain Finns (Reindeer Lapps) they do not use this, but their own -language. The language of the latter people must consequently have been -the same, unless we are to make the improbable assumption that the Fishing -Lapps had a language different from that of the Reindeer Lapps, which the -latter however had learned, although they are still in our time very bad -linguists, and speak imperfect Norwegian. So far there cannot be much -doubt of the meaning, but it is different when we come to the statement -that they had more languages than one, and that of "their languages they -have however another to use among themselves." It seems to me that the -certain examples mentioned by Qvigstad [1909] of the Lapps having been in -the habit of inventing jargons at the beginning of the eighteenth century -give a natural explanation of this passage [cf. also Magnus Olsen, 1909]. -A. M. Hansen's interpretation [1907 and 1909], that the original -mother-tongue of the Fishing Lapps (called by him "Skridfinnish"), which -was quite different from that which they spoke with the Reindeer Lapps, is -here meant, cannot be reconciled with the words of the text, for in that -case they must have had two mother-tongues; it is expressly said that the -second language was "their own," which they spoke among themselves; if it -was only the language of the Reindeer Lapps, then it was precisely _not_ -their own, nor would they have any reason to speak it among themselves. I -understand the passage thus: "of their [own] language they have also -another [i.e., another form, variant, or jargon] to use among themselves, -which [only] some [of them] can understand." But how it should result from -this that "it is certain that they have nine languages" is difficult to -explain; for even if we assume with Hansen that nine is an error for -three, it does not improve matters; for in any case they did not use all -three languages, including Norwegian, "among themselves." It is probable -enough, as indeed both Hansen and Magnus Olsen have assumed, that there is -a reference here to the magic arts of the Lapps; and we must then suppose -that this mention of the nine languages was an expression commonly -understood at the time, which did not require further explanation, to be -compared with the nine tongue-roots of the poisonous serpent [cf. M. -Olsen, 1909, p. 91]. Nine was a sacred number in heathen times, cf. Adam -of Bremen's tale of the festivals of the gods every ninth year at Upsala, -where nine males of every living thing were offered, etc. Thietmar of -Merseburg mentions the sacrificial festival which was held every ninth -year at midwinter at Leire, etc. - -[215] Remark the resemblance between this passage and the mention of the -Lapps in the "Historia Norvegiæ" (above, p. 204). - -[216] Ottar's statement that he owned 600 reindeer is, as pointed out by -O. Solberg [1909, p. 127], evidence against the correctness of A. M. -Hansen's assumption that the Finns mentioned by Ottar had learned to keep -reindeer by imitating the Norwegian's cattle-keeping, and that they kept -their reindeer on the mountain pastures in summer, but collected them -together for driving home in winter; it would have been a difficult matter -to manage several hundred reindeer in this fashion, unless they were -divided up into so many small herds that we cannot suppose them all to -have been the property of one man. Large herds of many deer must have been -half wild and have been kept in a similar way to the Reindeer Lapps' -reindeer now. - -[217] Gregory of Tours; "Gesta Francorum"; the Anglo-Saxon poems "Beowulf" -and "Wîdsîð," etc. - -[218] Zeuss, 1837, p. 501; Müllenhoff, 1889, pp. 18 f., 95 f.; A. Bugge, -1905, pp. 10 f. - -[219] Cf. H. Zimmer [1891, 1893, p. 223] and A. Bugge [1905, pp. 11 f.]. -In a life of St. Gildas, on an island off the Welsh coast ["Vita Gildæ, -auctore Carodoco Lancarbanensi," p. 109], we read that he was plundered by -pirates from the Orcades islands, who must be supposed to have been -Norwegian Vikings. This is said to have taken place in the sixth century, -but the MS. dates from the twelfth. The island of Sark, east of Guernsey, -was laid waste by the Normans, according to the "Miracula Sancti -Maglorii," cap. 5. [A. de la Borderie, "Histoire de Bretagne," Critique -des Sources, iii. 13, p. 236.] This part of the "Miracula" was composed, -according to Borderie, before 851; but even in the saint's lifetime (sixth -century) the "Miracula" places an attack by the "Normans" (cap. 2). It has -been suggested [cf. Vogel, "Die Normannen und das Fränkische Reich," 1896, -p. 353] that this might refer to Saxon pirates; but doubtless incorrectly. - -[220] Cf. Zeuss, 1837, pp. 477 f.; Müllenhoff, 1889, p. 19. - -[221] What an enormous time such a development requires is demonstrated by -the history of the rudder. The most ancient Egyptian boats were evidently -steered by two big oars aft, one on each side. These oars were later, in -Egyptian and Greek ships, transformed into two rudders or rudder oars, one -on each side aft (see illustrations, pp. 7, 23, 35, 48). On the Viking -ships we find only one of these rudders on the starboard side, but fixed -exactly in the same way. Then at last, towards the end of the Middle Ages, -the rudder was moved to the stern-post. But the rudder of the boats of -Northern Norway has still a "styrvold" (instead of an ordinary tiller), -which is a remnant of the rudder of the Viking ships. - -[222] The types of Scandinavian craft it most reminds one of are the fjord -and Nordland "jagt," in western and northern Norway, and the "pram," which -is now in use in south-eastern Norway. It is conceivable that it -represents an ancient boat type resembling the form of the "jagt." - -[223] Professor Gustafson informed me that in the summer of 1909 he saw in -a megalithic grave in Ireland a representation of a ship, which might have -some resemblance to a Scandinavian rock-carving; but he regarded this as -very uncertain. - -[224] Professor G. Gustafson has in recent years examined and figured many -Norwegian rock-carvings for the University of Christiania. The -illustration reproduced here (p. 237) is from a photograph which he has -kindly communicated to me. - -[225] The Viking ships had, however, only one rudder on the starboard -side, while the ancient Egyptian, Phoenician and Greek ships had two -rudders, one on each side. - -[226] But "Viking" is also explained as derived from a Celtic word, and is -said to mean warrior [cf. A. Bugge]. - -[227] Cf. P. A. Munch, i., 1852; Müllenhoff, ii., 1887, p. 66; iv., 1900, -pp. 121, 467, 493, etc.; Much, 1905, pp. 124, 135; Magnus Olsen, 1905, p. -22; A. Bugge, 1906, p. 20. - -[228] H. Koht [1908] has suggested the possibility that the name -"Hålöiger" (Háleygir) from Hålogaland (Northern Norway) may be the same as -the Vandal tribe Lugii, which about the year 100 inhabited the region -between the upper course of the Elbe and Oder. With the prefix "há" they -are distinguished as the high Lugii. Moltke Moe thinks that "Hallinger" or -"Haddingjar" may come from another Vandal tribe, the "Hasdingi" (Gothic -"Hazdiggôs"), which had its name from the Gothic "*hazds," long hair [cf. -Müllenhoff, iv., 1900, p. 487; Much, 1905, p. 127]. It may also be -possible that the name of Skiringssal in Vestfold was connected with the -Sciri in eastern Germany [cf. Munch, 1852]. - -[229] O. Irgens [1904] thinks the Norwegians may have had the compass very -early (lodestone on a straw or a strip of wood floating on water in a -bowl), perhaps even in the eleventh century; indeed, he considers it not -impossible that the lodestone may have been brought to the North even much -earlier than this by Arab traders. But the expression often used in the -sagas that they drifted about the sea in thick and hazy weather (without -seeing the heavenly bodies), and did not know where they were, seems to -contradict this. - -[230] O. Irgens [1904] has suggested the possibility that they might -measure the length of the shadow of the gunwale by marks on the thwart, -and determine when the boat lay on an even keel by a bowl of water, and -that thus they might obtain a not untrustworthy measurement of the sun's -altitude even at sea. He further supposed that the Norwegians might have -become acquainted with the hour-glass from Southern Europe or from the -plundering of monasteries, and that thus they were able to measure the -length of the day approximately at sea. But no statements are known that -could prove this. - -[231] Presuming that King Alfred's "Iraland" is not an error for "Isaland" -and does not mean Iceland (see p. 179). - -[232] The priest Ari Thorgilsson, commonly called Ari hinn Fróði or Are -Frode (i.e., the learned), lived from 1068 to 1148. - -[233] G. Storm, "Monumenta Historica Norvegiæ," 1880, pp. 8 f. - -[234] R. Meissner [1902, pp. 43 f.] thinks it was written between 1260 and -1264. - -[235] The original Landnámabók, which was the source of both Styrmir's and -Sturle's versions, must have been written at the beginning of the -thirteenth century. - -[236] Cf. Vigfússon, 1856, i. p. 186; P. A. Munch, 1860; J. E. Sars, 1877, -i. p. 213; A. Bugge 1905, pp. 377 ff. Finnur Jónsson, 1894, ii. p. 188, is -against this view. - -[237] Thus the Norsemen settled in Greenland are always described in the -Icelandic sagas, while the Eskimo are called Skrælings. - -[238] Opinions have been divided as to the origin of this name; but there -can be no doubt that the word is Germanic, and is the same as the modern -Norwegian word "skrælling," which denotes a poor, weak, puny creature. - -[239] This took place, according to Are Frode's own statements, in the -year 1000. - -[240] It seems possible that this note may refer to an island which -appeared in 1422 south-west of Reykjarnes, and later again disappeared -[cf. Th. Thoroddsen, 1897, i. pp. 89 f.]. - -[241] See "Grönlands historiske Mindesmærker," iii. p. 250; F. Jónsson, -1899, p. 322. - -[242] Instead of the words "very slightly ..." some MSS. have: "but then -steer south-west." - -[243] Both Snæbjörn and Rolf had to fly from Iceland for homicide. Rolf -and Styrbjörn fell in blood-feud when they returned. - -[244] Goe began about February 21. What is here related would thus show -that it was not till after that time that mild weather began, so that the -snow melted and there was water on the stick that stuck out through the -aperture. - -[245] It was, perhaps, not altogether by chance that Eric was supposed to -have sailed west from this point, as Gunnbjörn's brother, Grimkell, lived -on the outer side of Snæfellsnes; and it may have been on a voyage thither -that Gunnbjörn was thought to have been driven westward [cf. Reeves, 1895, -p. 166]. - -[246] Snæfell lay far north on the west coast of Greenland. A Snæfell far -north is also mentioned in connection with the Nordrsetu voyages (see -later); it lay north of Króksfjardarheidr; but whether it is the same as -that here mentioned is uncertain. - -[247] In the Eastern Settlement there was a Ravnsfjord (Hrafnsfjörðr), -which is probably the same as that intended here, as it is compared with -Eiriksfjord. - -[248] The above is for the most part a translation from Hauk's -Landnámabók. - -[249] We know little of how the ancient Scandinavians were able to provide -themselves on their long voyages with food that would keep; they used salt -meat, and it is probable that when they were laid up for the winter they -often died of scurvy, as indeed is indicated by the narratives. Meat and -fish they could doubtless often obtain fresh by hunting and fishing; for -grain products they were in a worse position; these can never have been -abundant in Iceland, and they certainly had no opportunity of carrying a -large provision with them; but as a rule they can scarcely have got on -altogether without hydro-carbons, which are considered necessary for the -healthy nourishment of a European. Milk may have afforded a sufficient -compensation, and in fact we see that they usually took cattle with them. -In the narrative of Ravna-Floki's voyage to Iceland it is expressly said -that the cattle died during the winter (see above, p. 257), and it must -have been for this reason that they thought they must go home again the -next summer, which shows how important it was. Probably Eric also took -cattle with him on his first voyage to Greenland, and thus he was obliged -before all to find a more permanent place of abode on the shores of the -fjords where there was grazing for the cattle; but it is likely that he -lived principally by sealing and fishing. In that case he must have been a -very capable fisherman. - -[250] Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, i. pp. 686, 688, Hafniæ, 1848. - -[251] If the Gunnbjörnskerries lay on the east coast, then Gunnbjörn -Ulfsson was the first to reach it; but, as has been pointed out above (p. -261), they are more likely to have been near Cape Farewell, assuming the -voyage to be historical. - -[252] This incident is obviously connected with Irish legends, with which -that same saga shows other points of resemblance. We read in the -Floamanna-saga [cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," ii. p. 118]: "They were then -much exhausted by thirst; but water was nowhere in the neighbourhood. Then -said Starkad: I have heard it said that when their lives were at stake men -have mingled sea-water and urine. They then took the baler, ... made this -mixture, and asked Thorgils for leave to drink it. He said it might indeed -be excused, but would not either forbid it or permit it. But as they were -about to drink, Thorgils ordered them to give him the baler, saying that -he wished to say a spell over their drink [or: speak over the bowl]. He -received it and said: Thou most foul beast, that delayest our voyage, thou -shalt not be the cause that I or others drink our own evacuation! At that -moment a bird, resembling a young auk, flew away from the boat, screaming. -Thorgils thereupon emptied the baler overboard. They then row on and see -running water, and take of it what they want; and it was late in the day. -This bird flew northwards from the boat. Thorgils said: Late has this bird -left us, and I would that it may take all the devilry with it; but we must -rejoice that it did not accomplish its desire." - -In Brandan's first voyage, in the Irish tale, "Betha Brenainn," etc., or -"Imram Brenaind" (of about the twelfth century; cf. Zimmer, 1889, pp. 137, -319), the seafarers one day suffered such thirst that they were near to -death. They then saw glorious jets of water falling from a cliff. His -companions asked Brandan whether they might drink of the water. He advised -them first to say a blessing over it; but when this was done, the jets -stopped running, and they saw the devil, who was letting the water out of -himself, and killing those who drank of it. The sea closed over the devil, -in order that thenceforth he might do no more evil to any one. The -similarities are striking: both are perishing of thirst and about to drink -urine, the Icelanders their own, the Irish the devil's. They ask their -leaders--the Icelanders Thorgils, the Irish Brandan--whether they may -drink it. In both cases the leaders require a prayer to be said over it. -Thereupon in both cases they see the devil: the Icelanders in the form of -a bird that screams and finally leaves them to trouble them no more, and -the Irish in the form of the devil himself, who is passing water, and -disappears into the sea to do no more evil. The Icelandic tale is to some -extent disconnected and incomprehensible, but is explained by being -compared with the Irish; one thus sees how there may originally have been -a connection between the bird (the Evil One) and the drink, which is -otherwise obscure. The Icelandic account may have arisen by a distortion -and adaptation, due to oral transmission, of the Irish legend. - -[253] Cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," ii. p. 656. - -[254] Cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," ii. p. 662. - -[255] _Ibid._ pp. 684 ff. - -[256] According to the "Islandske Annaler" [pp. 121, 181, 477] it was in -1200, therefore eleven years later, not fourteen; it is there related -merely that Ingimund the priest was found uncorrupted in the uninhabited -region, but the other six are not mentioned. - -[257] I.e., wax tablets to write on. - -[258] The Arab Qazwînî (thirteenth century) tells a story, after Omar al -'Udhri (eleventh century), of a cave in the west where lie four dead men -uncorrupted [cf. G. Jacob, 1892, p. 168]. - -[259] Cf. "Islandske Annaler," edited by G. Storm, 1888, pp. 50, 70, 142, -196, 337, 383. - -[260] Cf. G. Storm's arguments to this effect, 1888a, pp. 263 ff.; 1887, -pp. 71 f. - -[261] It is true that in Bishop Gissur Einarsson's (bishop from 1541 to -1548) copy-book there is an addition to the ancient sailing directions for -Greenland that "experienced men have said that one must sail south-west to -New Land (Nyaland) from the Krysuvik mountains" (on the Reykjanes -peninsula) [see "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 215; and G. Storm, "Hist. -Tidskr.," 1888, p. 264]; but it is impossible to attach much weight to a -statement of direction in a tradition 260 years old; it may easily have -been altered or "improved" by later misconceptions. - -[262] "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. pp. 222-224. - -[263] As we have said, they can scarcely have known anything of the coast -to the north of this, which runs in a more northerly direction. - -[264] Cf. G. Storm, 1891, p. 71; "Grönl. hist. Mind.," i. p. 361. - -[265] The mathematician and cosmographer Jacob Ziegler (ob. 1549) in his -work "Scondia" (printed at Strasburg, 1536) placed the promontory of -Hvítserk ("Hvetsarg promontorium") in 67° N. lat. [cf. "Grönl. hist. -Mind.," iii. pp. 500, 503]. This may be the usual confusion with Bláserk. -It happens to be by no means ill suited to Ingolf's Fjeld, which lies in -66° 25' N. lat. - -[266] In the Walkendorff additions to Ivar Bárdsson's description of -Greenland it is called Hvítserk, which may be a confusion with Bláserk; -the passage continues: "And it is credibly reported that it is not thirty -sea-leagues to land, in whichever direction one would go, whether to -Greenland or to Iceland" [see "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 491]. The -distance here given is remarkably correct. In Björn Jónsson's "Grönlands -Annaler" (written before 1646) it is related that "Sira Einar Snorrason," -priest of Stadarstad, near Snæfellsnes (he became priest there in 1502), -owned a large twelve-oared boat, which, with a cargo of dried cod, was -carried away from Öndverdarnes (the western point of Snæfellsnes) "and -drifted out to sea, so that they saw both the glaciers, as Gunnbjörn had -done formerly, both Snæfells glacier and Bláserk in Greenland; they had -thus come near to Eric's course ('Eiriksstefnu')" ["Grönl. hist. Mind.," -i. p. 123]. Here, then, we have the same idea that both glaciers can be -seen simultaneously, as is also found in Björn's work with reference to -Gunnbjörn Ulfsson's voyage (see above, p. 263). - -[267] Cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 843. Captain Graah brought the -stone to Denmark in 1824. - -[268] In a paper read before the Archæological Society at Stockholm, March -13, 1905. Cf. "Svenska Dagbladet," March 14, 1905. I owe this reference to -Professor Magnus Olsen. - -[269] Cf. A. Bugge, 1898, p. 506. By a printer's error, seventeenth -century is given instead of fourteenth. - -[270] See also the 5th and 6th cantos of the same poem, "Grönl. hist. -Mind.," ii. pp. 522 ff., for the voyage to Greipar and its being the -resort of outlaws. - -[271] Captain Isachsen [1907] has attached much weight to this expression -(which he translates from "Grönl. hist. Mind." by "long and dangerous -sea-route"; but the original is "mikit og lángt sjóleiði") in order to -prove that the Nordrsetur must lie far north. But it is seen from the text -itself that this idea of a long sea voyage is taken from the Skáld-Helga -lay (where also similar expressions are used), which is of late origin, -and consequently an untrustworthy base for such conclusions. Moreover, -according to the lay itself, Skald-Helge belonged probably to the Eastern -Settlement, and thence to Holstensborg, 67° N. lat., was a long voyage. - -[272] This is obviously an error for "bygðar sporðr" (end of the inhabited -country), as in the "Skáld-Helga Rimur" (see above, p. 298). - -[273] "Greipar," plural of "Greip," would mean literally the grip or -interval between the fingers, but it may also be used of mountain ravines. -The name seems to point to a particularly rugged or fjord-indented coast, -and would be appropriate to the whole country north of Straumsfjord, for -instance about Holstensborg, in about 67°. - -[274] "Króksfjarðar-heiðr" would literally mean the flat, waste mountain -tract ("heiðr") by the crooked fjord, Kroksfjord. The latter name would be -very appropriate to Disco Bay and Vaigat. The flat plateaux of basalt, -which form Disco on one side, and the Nugsuak Peninsula on the other side -of Vaigat, might be called "heiðr." - -[275] Cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 226; F. Jónsson, 1899, p. 319. - -[276] Perhaps these names of fjords were so indistinct in the original MS. -that Björn Jónsson could not read them, and therefore inserted these words -(cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 233). - -[277] The name of this island is left blank, and was doubtless illegible -in the original. - -[278] So the mountain is called in an Icelandic translation, and this form -may be nearest to the name in the original Norwegian text. In the various -Danish MSS. the mountain is called "Hemeuell Radszfielt" (oldest MS.), -"Hammelrads Fjeld," "Himmelradsfjeld," etc. In a MS. which is otherwise -considered trustworthy, it is called "Hemelrachs Fjeld," and this has been -frequently supposed to mean the heaven-reaching mountain [cf. "Grönl. -hist. Mind.," iii. p. 259]. As will be mentioned later, the real name of -the mountain was possibly "Himinroð" (flushing of the sky), or perhaps -"Himinroð" (wall of heaven, i.e., wall reaching towards heaven). - -[279] The words in parenthesis are in German, and are certainly an -explanation added later. XIII. is evidently an error for XIIII. - -[280] It is also possible that it means whales from which "tauer" or ropes -are obtained, i.e., the walrus; the ropes of walrus-hide being so very -valuable. - -[281] One might then suppose that "Hunenrioth" was connected with the -Norwegian word "hun" for a giant (sometimes used in our day for the Evil -One). The name might then be applied to the mythical Risaland or -Jotunheim, in the Polar Sea, north-east of Greenland; but it would then be -difficult to explain the meaning of the latter part of the name, -rioth. - -[282] Professor Moltke Moe has suggested to me this explanation of the -name. One might also suppose it to mean the western land of sunset, that -is, America, but it would be unlike the Scandinavians to use such a name -for a country. There is a possibility that it was connected with "roð" -(gen. "raðar," a ridge of land) and meant the ridge or wall of heaven, -i.e., reaching toward heaven. It is, perhaps, less probable that "-rioth" -or "-rað" came from a word of two syllables like "roða" (a rod, later a -cross, Anglo-Saxon "rod," modern English "rood") or the poetical word -"róði" (wind, storm). In O. Rygh: "Norske Gaardnavne," xvi. Nordlands Amt -[ed. K. Rygh, 1905, p. 334], there is the name of an estate "Himmelstein" -(in Busknes), which in 1567 was written "Himmelstand," "Himmelstaa" [from -1610 on == "sten"]. K. Rygh remarks of this: "Himmel occurs occasionally -in names of mountains: thus, a little farther north we have the lofty -Himmeltinder on the border of Busknes and Borge. One is disposed to regard -this name as similar to the Danish Himmelbjerg, meaning a very high -mountain...." Professor Torp has mentioned to me the similarity of name -with the giant Hymer's ox "Himinhrjotr" in the Snorra-Edda; but it is -difficult to think that a mountain should have been called after the -proper name of an animal. - -[283] Rafn, in "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. pp. 881-885, commits the -absurdity of separating these two places by the whole of Baffin's Bay, in -spite of their being mentioned together in the old accounts under the -common designation of "Nordrsetur." He puts "Greipar" in about 67° N. -lat., but makes Króksfjardarheidr into Lancaster Sound, 74° N. lat., on -the other side of the ice-blocked Baffin's Bay. - -[284] Cf. "Islandske Annaler," ed. Storm, p. 120, etc.; "Grönl. hist. -Mind.," ii. pp. 754, 762. As is pointed out by Finnur Jónsson [1893, p. -539], most of the coffins found in graves in Greenland are fastened -together with wooden nails. We are also told how all the iron spikes and -nails were carefully taken out of a stranded Norwegian ship (about 1129). - -[285] Since this chapter was written a few years ago, an excellent -treatise by O. Solberg on the Greenland Eskimo in prehistoric times has -appeared [1907]. The author has here reached conclusions similar to the -above as regards the northward extension of the Nordrsetu voyages; but he -proposes to place Kroksfjord south of Disco Bay, since he does not think -the Greenlanders came across the Eskimo who lived there. I do not consider -this view justified; on the contrary, it seems to me probable (as will be -mentioned later) that the Greenlanders had intercourse with the Eskimo. - -[286] Otto Sverdrup found on two small islands in Jones Sound several -groups of three stones, evidently set up by human hands as shelters for -sitting eider-ducks, similar to those with which he was acquainted in the -north of Norway. Whether these stone shelters were very ancient could not -be determined. Captain Isachsen [1907] thinks they may be due to the -ancient Scandinavians of the Greenland settlements, and sees in them -possible evidence of Jones Sound having been Kroksfjord. But too much -importance must not be attached to this: no other sign of Europeans having -stayed in Jones Sound was discovered, whereas there were many signs of -Eskimo. Unless we are to believe that the latter set up the stones for -some purpose or other, it is just as likely that they may have been placed -there by chance hunters in recent times as that they were due to the -ancient Norsemen. - -[287] As these pieces of driftwood must have been carried by the East -Greenland Polar Current, this seems to show that there were already Eskimo -on the east coast of Greenland at that time. As they are spoken of as -something remarkable, the pieces, with wedges of tusk and bone, cannot -have been due to Norsemen, either in Greenland or Iceland. Their being -shaped with "hatchets" or "adzes" (i.e., Eskimo tools) was looked upon as -strange. - -[288] This passage seems obscure, and there may be some error or -misunderstanding on the part of the various copyists. But as it now -stands, it may be best taken to mean that all known land and all the known -glaciers had disappeared beneath the horizon; but that the "jökull" (i.e., -snow-field or inland ice) which they saw to landward extended southward -along the coast as far as they could see. The expression "to the south of -them" is not, of course, to be interpreted as meaning due south of the -spot where they were, but rather as southward along the coast, from the -part off which they lay; this is confirmed by the addition "as far as they -could see," which can only refer to a coast along which they were looking -southward. - -[289] The text has three "doegr" (and one long day's rowing), that is, -three times twelve hours; but in this case it seems most natural to -suppose that days are meant, and that they put in to shore at night. - -[290] The text says that these islands were to the south of "Snæfell"; but -where this was we do not know. In the Saga of Eric the Red we read that in -the third summer Eric (see above, p. 267) "went as far north as 'Snæfell' -and into 'Hrafns-fjord.'" Whether this was the same Snæfell is uncertain, -but quite possible; while Hrafns-fjord (Ravnsfjord) is most probably to be -regarded as the Hrafnsfjord that lay in the Eastern Settlement, near -Hvarf. - -[291] Cf. "Grönl. hist. Mind.," iii. p. 885. - -[292] Finnur Jónsson [1901, ii. p. 648] thinks it was written about 1200. - -[293] Gudbrand Vigfusson [1878, i. pp. lix. f.] thinks that Eric the Red's -Saga and the Flateyjarbók's "Grönlendinga-þáttr" are derived, in complete -independence of one another, from oral traditions, which were different in -the west, at Breidafjord, where the former was written, and in the north, -from whence the latter is derived. - -[294] We cannot here take any account of Rolf Raudesand's having come to -Norway on his return from Greenland (see p. 264); for even if this were -historical, which is doubtful, and even if it be referred to a date -anterior to Leif's voyage, which is not certain either, he was driven -there accidentally instead of to Iceland. - -[295] "M surr" (properly "valbirch") was probably a veined tree, like -"valbjerk," which was regarded as valuable material. "Valbjerk" is birch -grown in a special way so that it becomes twisted and gnarled in -structure. It is still much used in Norway, e.g., for knife-handles. - -[296] I do not mention here the fourteenth-century tale (in the -Flateyjarbók) of Bjarne Herjulfsson's discovery of Wineland as early as -985, since, as G. Storm has shown, this account hardly represents the -tradition which in earlier times was most current in Iceland. - -[297] Thorbjörn Vivilsson came from Iceland to Greenland in 999, the same -summer that Leif sailed to Norway. His daughter was Gudrid, afterwards -married to Thorstein Ericson. The exact statement as to which ship was -used on this occasion, and as to those which were used later on Thorfinn -Karlsevne's expedition, shows how few ships there were in Greenland (and -Iceland), and in what esteem the men were held who owned them. The Saga of -Eric the Red seems to assume that Leif's ship was no longer very fit for -sea after his last voyage, as we hear no more about it. This may perhaps -be regarded as the reason for his not going again, if indeed there be any -other reason than the patchwork character of the saga. In the -Flateyjarbók, on the other hand, we are told that it was Leif's ship, and -not Thorbjörn Vivilsson's, that was used first by Thorvald and afterwards -by Thorstein. - -[298] If the "great hundred" is meant, this will be 160 men. - -[299] From the context it would seem probable that these islands, or this -island (?), lay in the Western Settlement. If they had been near -Lysefjord, Karlsevne, as Storm points out, might be supposed to go there -first because his wife, Gudrid, had inherited property there from -Thorstein, and there might be much to fetch thence. But the name -Bjarneyjar itself points rather to some place farther north, since the -southern part of the Western Settlement (the Godthaab district) must have -been then, as now, that part of the coast where bears were scarcest. In -Björn Jónsson's "Gronlandiæ vetus Chorographia" a "Biarney" (or "-eyiar") -is mentioned, to which it was twelve days' rowing from Lysefjord [cf. -above, p. 301], and as they are the only islands (or island ?) of this -name mentioned on the west coast of Greenland, there is much in favour of -their being the place here alluded to. - -[300] "Doegr" was half a twenty-four hours' day [cf. Rymbegla]; but -whether twelve hours or twenty-four, the distance, like those given later, -is impossible. They cannot have sailed from Greenland to Labrador, or even -if it was Baffin Land they made, in two days of twelve hours, and scarcely -in two of twenty-four. According to the MS. in the Hauksbók "they sailed -thence [i.e., from Bjarneyjar] two half-days [i.e., twenty-four hours in -all] to the south. Then they sighted land." It might be supposed that this -should be taken to mean that the difference in latitude between this land -and their starting-point was equivalent to two half-days' sail. It is true -that we read in the "Rymbegla" [1780, p. 482] there are two dozen -sea-leagues, or two degrees of latitude, in a "'doegr's' sailing," and two -"doegr" would therefore be four degrees; but when we see later that from -this first land they found to Markland (Newfoundland ?) was also only two -half-days' sail, then these distances become altogether impossible [cf. G. -Storm, 1888, pp. 32-34; Reeves, 1895, p. 173]. Reeves proposes that "tvau" -might be an error for "siau" (i.e., seven; but in the MS. of the Hauksbók -we have "two" in numerals: II). It is probable that this repetition of the -same distance, two "doegr's" sail, in the case of each of the three new -countries, has nothing to do with reality; it reminds us so much of the -stereotyped legendary style that we are inclined to believe it to be -borrowed from this. Storm thinks that as Iceland was supposed to lie in -the same latitude as the Western Settlement, and Wineland in the same -latitude as Ireland, there would naturally be the same distance between -the Western Settlement and Wineland as between Iceland and Ireland, and -the latter was put at five (or three ?) "doegr." However, it is not five, -but six "doegr" between Bjarneyjar and Furðustrandir, according to the -Saga of Eric the Red [cf. Storm's ed., 1891, p. 32]. In the copy in the -Hauksbók, it is true, the distance is given as two "doegr" between -Bjarneyjar and Helluland, two "doegr" between this and Markland, and -"thence they sailed south along the coast a long way and came to a -promontory ..."; but this circumstance, that the distance is not given the -third time, again inclines one to think of the fairy-tale, and here again -there is no statement that the distance was five "doegr" from the Western -Settlement to Kjalarnes. - -[301] The arctic fox is common in Labrador, but also in the northern -peninsula of Newfoundland. - -[302] Polar bears come on the drift-ice to the north and east coasts of -Newfoundland, but not farther south. - -[303] The name comes from "furða." (warning, marvel, terror); "furðu" -(gen. sing.) placed before adjectives and adverbs has the meaning of -extremely ("furðu góðr" == extremely good). As "Furðustjarna" (the -wonder-star) surpassed the others in size and brilliance, these strands -may be supposed to surpass others in length, and thus to be endless; but -it is doubtless more likely that it means marvel-strands, where there were -marvels and wonderful things. In Örskog, Sunnmöre, Norway, there is a -place-name "Fúrstranda" (with long, closed "u"). K. Rygh [Norske -Gaardnavne, xiii., 1908, p. 155] remarks: "The first syllable must be the -tree-name "fura" [fir], though the pronunciation with a long, closed 'u' -is strange...." - -[304] In the Faroes (Kodlafjord in Straumsey) there is a "Kjal(ar)nes," -the origin of which is attributed to a man's name: "Kjölur á Nesi" [J. -Jakobsen, 1898, p. 147]; but it is more probable that the name of the ness -is the original one, and that the legend of Kjölur is later. As to -place-names ending in "-nes," O. Rygh [Norske Gaardnavne, Forord og -Indledning, 1898, p. 68] says: "Frequently the first part of the name is a -word signifying natural conditions on or about the promontory.... Very -often the first part has reference to the form of the promontory, its -outline, greater or less height, length, etc.... Personal names are not -usual in these combinations." In Norway names beginning with "Kjöl-" -("-nes," "-berg," "-stad," "-set," etc.) are very common; they may either -come from the man's name "Þjóðlfr" (which now often has the sound of -"Kjölv," "Kjöl," or "Kjöle"), or from the Old Norse poetical word "kjóll," -m., "ship," or from "kjolr" (gen. "kjalar"), "keel of a vessel, and hence, -mountain-ridge" [cf. O. Rygh, Norske Gaardnavne, i., 1897, p. 269; iv. 2, -ed. A. Kjær, 1902, p. 57; vi. ed. A. Kjær, p. 237; xiii. ed. K. Rygh, -1908, p. 344]. Our Kjalarnes above must undoubtedly be derived from the -last. In Tanen, east of Berlevåg, there is a "Kjölnes"; in Iceland, just -north of Reykjavik, outside Faxafjord, there is a "Kjalarnes." - -[305] This idea, that the land became broader towards the south, and the -coast there turned eastward, must be the same that we meet with again in -Icelandic geographies of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, where -Wineland is thought to be connected with Africa (see later). - -[306] "Svart" (i.e., black-haired and black-eyed) is the reading of -Hauksbók, but the other MS. has "small." - -[307] The word "Skrælingar" here occurs for the first time in this saga, -and seems to be used as a familiar designation for the natives, which did -not require further explanation; of this more later. - -[308] Blue (blá) perhaps means rather dark or black in colour (cf. -"Blue-men" for negroes), and is often used of something uncanny or -troll-like. - -[309] Nothing of the kind is related in the "Grönlendinga-þáttr"; where, -however, we are told of the first winter of Karlsevne's voyage that the -cattle pastured upon the land, "but the males ('graðfe') soon became -difficult to manage and troublesome." - -[310] Ed. by P. Munch and C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1853, p. 75. - -[311] E. H. Lind: Norsk-Isländska dopnamn, p. 283. I owe it to Moltke Moe -that my attention was drawn to this feature of the numerous heathen names. - -[312] His wife is called "Sigríðr," which is thus an exception; but in the -Grönlendinga-þáttr she is called "Grímhildr," so that her name is -uncertain. There is also mentioned a thrall "Garði," but being a thrall -perhaps he could not have the name of a god. - -[313] It is very curious that in the chapter-heading in the Hauksbók she -is called "Þuriðr," but in the text "Guðriðr" [cf. Storm, 1891, p. 23; -"Grönl. hist. Mind.," i. p. 392]. - -[314] It is perhaps more than a coincidence that in the classical legends -there were three groups of islands, the Gorgades, the Hesperides and the -Insulæ Fortunatæ, to the west of Africa. Marcianus Capella says that it -was two days' sail to the Gorgades, then came the Hesperides, and besides -the Insulæ Fortunatæ. Pliny also has two days to the Gorgades; beyond them -there were two Hesperides; he mentions also that it was two days' sail to -the Hesperian Æthiopians, etc. In the Flateyjarbók's description of Bjarne -Herjolfsson's voyage, which is still more purely fairy-tale, he sails for -two days from the first land he found (== Wineland) to the second (== -Markland), then three days to the third (== Helluland) and finally four -days to Greenland. - -[315] If we assume that a "doegr's" sailing is equal to two degrees of -latitude or 120 nautical miles (twenty-four ancient sea-leagues), then, as -shown on the map above, it will be about _four_ doegr's sail from -Greenland to the nearest part of Labrador (not _two_). From Bjarneyjar to -Markland should be _four_ doegr according to the saga; but the map shows -that it is between _eight_ and _ten_ doegr from the Western Settlement -along the coast of Labrador to Newfoundland. On the other hand, between -Newfoundland and Cape Breton _two_ doegr's sail will suit better. - -[316] One must, of course, be cautious of seeing myth in all such -trilogies. As warning examples may be mentioned, that the Norwegians -settled in Hjaltland (Shetland), Orkney, and the Suderöer (Hebrides); they -discover the Faroes, thence Iceland, and then Greenland, in the same way -as they are said from the last-named to have discovered Helluland, -Markland and Wineland. On the east coast of Greenland there were three -glaciers, etc. But in Eric's Saga the triads are so numerous and sometimes -so peculiar, and the saga proves to be made up to such an extent of loans, -that one is disposed to regard the number three as derived from mythical -poetry. - -[317] Cf. Unger's edition, Christiania, 1862, p. 292. - -[318] Cf. also Joshua's two spies, who by the advice of Rahab the harlot -concealed themselves in the mountains for three days, after which they -descended and came to Joshua. - -[319] Cf. Andreas Austlid: "Sinklar-soga," p. 21 (Oslo, 1899). H. P. S. -Krag: "Sagn samlede i Gudbrandsdalen on slaget ved Kringlen den 26de -august 1612," p. 19 (Kristiania, 1838). - -[320] Ivar Kleiven: "I gamle Daagaa, Forteljingo og Bygda-Minne fraa -Vaagaa," p. 63 (Kristiania, 1907). - -[321] We are told that he talked in "þýrsku." Similarity of sound may here -raise the question whether he was not originally supposed to be a Turk -(cf. the Wild Turks above), to which the name itself would point. - -[322] It is noteworthy that we are told of this Tyrker that he was -"brattleitr" (i.e. with a flat, abrupt face); this is the only passage in -Old Norse literature where this rare expression is used. The only context -in which Moltke Moe has found it used in our time is in connection with -the tale of the youngest son (Askeladden) in Sætersdal [cf. also H. Ross], -where it is said that "Oskefis was also brasslaitte" (Ross thinks it means -here "stiff in his bearing, full of self-esteem, self-sufficient"). Can it -be merely a coincidence that this rare word is used of none other than the -fairy-tale hero who is favoured by fortune, and of the lucky finder of the -wild grapes, by eating which he intoxicates himself? - -[323] Professor Moltke Moe has called my attention to resemblances to -these runners in the Welsh tale of "Kulhwch and Olwen." In this there -occur two swift-footed knights, and Queen Gwenhwyvar's two servants -(Yskyrdav and Yscudydd) "as swift as thought," and finally Arthur's -wonderfully swift hound "Cavall" (in older MSS. "Cabal") [cf. Heyman, -"Mabinogion," 1906, pp. 80, 82, 101, 103; J. Loth, "Les Mabinogion," i. -and ii.]. Of Tjalve it is related in the Snorra-Edda that he was -"fóthvatastr" (the swiftest), and in Utgard he ran a race with thought -(Hugi). This trait is Irish, as will be shown by Von Sydow [1910]. It -resembles the two servants ("swift as thought") in the Welsh legend. The -runners in the Saga of Eric the Red are also Celtic, and this in itself -points to a connection. - -[324] In the "Grönlendinga-þáttr" the whale they found was both large and -good; they cut it in pieces, and "they had no lack of food." - -[325] According to information given by Professor R. Collett, the Larus -argentatus is the only species of gull that occurs in Nova Scotia in -sufficiently large numbers to make it seem probable that it might breed -extensively on an island. Can it be possible that these close-lying eggs -are derived from the white and red "scaltæ" (?) which covered the -Anchorites' Isle in the Navigatio Brandani (see below, p. 360)? - -[326] Cf. Karlsevne's people, who on arrival rested for half a month and -amused themselves. - -[327] W. Brede Kristensen: "Een of twe boomen in het Paradijsverhaal." -Theologisch Tijdschrift, 1908, p. 218. - -[328] Of less importance in this connection is the question how far these -names of islands in the Odyssey were originally connected with islands in -the Mediterranean [cf. V. Bérard, 1902, i.]; in the description in the -poem they have in any case become wholly mythical. - -[329] C. Sallusti Crispi Historiarum Reliquiæ. Ed. Bertoldus -Maurenbrecher, Lipsiæ, 1891, pp. 43 f. - -[330] L. Annæus Florus, Epitome rerum Romanum, ex editione J. Fr. Fischeri -Londini, 1822. Vol. i. pp. 278 f. - -[331] Lytton: The Odes and Epodes of Horace. London, 1869. - -[332] Cf. Johannes Peschel, 1878. Moltke Moe has called my attention to -this essay, but, as he says, Peschel is certainly wrong in assuming that -ancient notions like that of Schlaraffenland are the originals from which -the ideas of the happy abodes of the departed, the Isles of the Blest (the -Elysian Fields), have been developed. The reverse is, of course, the case. - -[333] Cf. J. N. Wilse: "Beskrivelse over Spydeberg Præstegjæld." -Christiania, 1779-1780. In the appended Norwegian vocabulary, p. xiii.: -Fyldeholmen == Schlarafenland. I. Aasen [1873] has "Fylleholm" in the -phrase "go to Fylleholm" (== go on a drinking bout), from Sogn, and other -places. This may be derived from the same mythical country. H. Ross [1895] -gives "Fylleholm" from Smålenene. From this it looks as if the idea was -widely spread in Norway. - -[334] In Hauk's Landnámabók Vin(d)land is mentioned in one other passage -[cap. 175], in connection with Karlsevne, who is said to have discovered -it; but nothing is said about this in the Sturlubók, and it may be a later -addition (cf. p. 331). - -[335] Ravn told the story to Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney (ob. circa 1064), -who in turn told it to some Icelanders, and from them it reached Thorkel -Gellisson, Are Frode's uncle. - -[336] Cf. Zimmer, 1889, pp. 257, 261; Kuno Meyer, 1895, i. - -[337] This is evidently the land that in the Christian Breton legend of -St. Machutus (ninth century) has become the paradisiacal island of "Yma," -inhabited by heavenly angels. - -[338] In the Christian Irish legend "Imram Maelduin," the voyagers arrive -at two islands, that of the lamenting people with complaining voices, and -that of the laughing people. The same two islands are mentioned in the -Navigation of the Sons of O'Corry, "Imram Curaig Ua Corra" [cf. Zimmer, -1889, pp. 160, 171, 188, 189]. They are evidently connected with Greek -conceptions, as we find them in Theopompus, of the rivers Hedone and Lype -in the distant land of Meropis (see above, p. 17; cf. also the springs of -voluptuousness and laughter in Lucian's Isle of Bliss in the Vera -Historia). There may further be a connection with the island of the -lamenting people in the statement of Saxo Grammaticus, in the introduction -to his Danish history, that it was thought that in the noise of the -drift-ice against the coast of Iceland the lamenting voices of lost souls -could be heard, condemned to expiate their sins in that bitter cold. - -[339] These Irish ideas of a happy land of women have, it may be remarked, -many points of resemblance with our Norwegian belief in fairies ("hulder") -and with the German Venusberg myth, since the "hulder," like Frau Venus, -originally Frau Holle or Holda [cf. J. Grimm, 1876, ii. p. 780], kidnaps -and seduces men, and keeps them with her for a long time; but the sensual -element is more subdued and less prominent in the Germanic myths. It may -seem probable that the Irish land of women also has some connection with -the amorous, beautiful-haired nymph Calypso's island of Ogygia, far off in -the sea, in the Odyssey [v. 135 ff.; vii. 254 ff.]. Just as the men in the -Irish legends neither grow older nor die when they come to the land of -women, and as the queen of the country will not let the men go again (cf. -Maelduin), so Calypso wished to keep her Odysseus, and to make him "an -immortal man, ever young to eternity." In a similar way the men who come -to the "hulder" in the mountain do not grow old, and they seem to have -even greater difficulty in getting out again than kidnapped women. (It is -a common feature that they do not grow older, or that a long time passes -without their noticing it in the intoxication of pleasure. Lucian also -relates that those who come to his Isle of Bliss grow no older than they -are when they come.) Odysseus longs for his home, like one of Bran's men -(and like Maelduin's men, the kidnapped men in the German myths, etc.), -and at last receives permission to go, like Bran. Calypso means "the -hidden one" (from [Greek: kalyptô] == hide by enveloping) and thus answers -to our "hulder" (== the hidden one, cf. "hulda," something which covers, -conceals, envelops), and the German Frau Holle or Holda (== "hulder"). -They are precisely the same beings as the Irish "síd"--people, who are -also invisible, and the women in "Tír na-m-Ban," the island in or under -the sea precisely like our "huldreland" (see later). - -It may further be supposed that there is some connection between the ideas -which appear in certain Irish legends of the land of virgins--where there -are no men, and the virgins have to go to the neighbouring land of men -("Tír na-Fer") to be married [cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 269]--and the -conceptions of Sena, the Celtic island of priestesses or women, off the -coast of Brittany, where according to Dionysius Periegetes there were -Bacchantes who held nightly orgies, but where no men might come, and the -women therefore (like the Amazons) had to visit the men on the -neighbouring coast, and return after having had intercourse with them. -Similar ideas of islands with women and men separated occur already in old -Indian legends. - -[340] Cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 287; Whitley Stokes, Revue Celtique, xv. Paris -1894, pp. 437 f.; F. Lot, Romania, xxvii. 1898, p. 559. - -[341] Cf. "Lageniensis," 1870, p. 116; Zimmer, 1889, pp. 263, 279. - -[342] It is stated in an Irish legend that the hero Ciaban went as an -exile to "Trág in-Chairn" (the strand of cairns) [cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. -271]. This might remind us of Helluland (?). - -[343] In the tale of Maelduin's voyage, which is older than the -"Navigatio" (see above, p. 336), there occurs a similar mighty bird -bringing a branch with fruit like grapes, possessing marvellous -properties; but there is no grape-island [cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 169]. - -[344] In the Latin translation of the Bible in use at that time, the -Vulgate [Num. xiii. 24 f.], the passage runs: "And they came to the valley -of grapes, cut a branch with its cluster of grapes, and two men carried it -upon a staff. They also took away pomegranates and figs from this place, -which is called Nehel-escol, that is, the valley of grapes, because the -children of Israel brought grapes from thence." - -[345] In France a poem on Brandan of as early as 1125, founded on the -"Navigatio," is known, dedicated to Queen Aélis of Louvain; cf. Gaston -Paris: La Littérature Française en Moyen Age, Paris, 1888, p. 214. - -[346] The Irish made a distinction in their tales of voyages between -"Imram," which was a voluntary journey, and "Longes," which was an -involuntary one, usually due to banishment. In Icelandic literature there -seems to be no such distinction, but the voyages are often due to outlawry -for manslaughter or some other reason; cf. Ganger-Rolf's voyage, Ingolf's -and Hjorleif's voyage to Iceland, Snæbjörn Galti's and Rolf of Raudesand's -voyage to the Gunnbjörnskerries, Eric the Red's voyage with his father -from Norway, and afterwards from Iceland, etc. Björn Breidvikingekjæmpe -was also obliged to leave Iceland on account of his illicit love for -Snorre Gode's sister. This agreement may, of course, be accidental, but -together with the many other resemblances between Irish and Icelandic -literature, it may nevertheless be worth mentioning. - -[347] Cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 168; Joyce, 1879, p. 156. - -[348] To these wine-fruits in the "Imram Maelduin" correspond, perhaps, -the white and purple-red "scaltæ," which in the "Navigatio Brandani" cover -the low island, bare of trees, called the "Strong Men's Island" [Schröder, -1871, p. 24]. Brandan pressed one of the red ones, "as large as a ball," -and got a pound of juice, on which he and his brethren lived for twelve -days. It might be supposed that these white and red "scaltæ" from the flat -ocean-island were connected with Lucian's water-fishes (which seem to have -been white) and wine-fishes (which had the purple colour of wine) (see -above). The meaning of "scaltæ" ("scaltis") is uncertain. Schröder says -"sea-snails"; Professor Alf Torp thinks it may be a Celtic word, and -mentions as a possibility "scalt" (== "cleft"). In that case it might be a -mussel, which is "cleft" in two shells. - -[349] D'Avezac's hypothesis [1845, p. 9] that it might be an echo of -Teneriffe [cf. also De Goeje, 1891, p. 61], which in mediæval maps was -called "Isola dell' Inferno," is untenable, since the Phoenicians' -knowledge of the Canaries had long been forgotten at that time, and it was -only after their rediscovery by the Italians, about 1300, that Teneriffe -was called on the Medici map of 1351 "Isola dell' Inferno." In classical -literature there is no indication that any of the Canaries was regarded as -volcanic; on the contrary, Pliny's "Nivaria" (i.e., the snow-island) seems -to be Teneriffe with snow on the summit. - -[350] Jens Lauritzön Wolf's Norrigia Illustrata, 1651. - -[351] Cf. John M. Kemble: The Dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus, London, -1448, p. 198. Moltke Moe also called my attention to this remarkable -passage. - -[352] W. Mannhardt: Germanische Mythen, Berlin, 1858, pp. 460 f. Cf. "Vita -Merlini," the verses on the "Insula pomorum, qvæ Fortunata vocatur" (the -apple-island which is called Fortunate) [San-Marte, 1853, pp. 299, 329]. -"Avallon" has a remarkable resemblance in sound to Pytheas's amber-island -"Abalus" (p. 70). - -[353] Since the above was printed in the Norwegian edition of this book, -Professor Moltke Moe has called my attention to the fact that, according -to Icelandic sources, the Icelandic chief Gellir Thorkelsson, grandfather -of Are Frode, died at Roskilde, in Denmark, in 1073, after having been -prostrated there for a long time. He was then on his way home from a -pilgrimage to Rome. Adam's book was written between 1072 and 1075, and he -had received the statements about Wineland from Danes of rank. The -coincidence here is so remarkable that there must probably be a -connection. It is Gellir Thorkelsson's son, Thorkel Gellisson, who is -given as the authority for the first mention of Wineland in Icelandic -literature, and according to Landnámabók he seems to have got his -information from Ireland through other Icelanders. - -[354] It is not, however, quite certain that "Vínland" (with a long "í") -was the original form of the name, though this is probable, as it occurs -thus in the MSS. that have come down to us of the two oldest authorities: -Adam of Bremen ("Winland") and Are Frode's Íslendingabók ("Vinland"). But -it cannot be entirely ignored that in the oldest Icelandic MSS.--and the -oldest authorities after Are and Adam--it is called: in Hauk's Landnámabók -"Vindland hit goða" (in the two passages where it is mentioned), in the -Sturlubók "Irland et goda," in the Kristni-saga (before 1245) probably -"Vindland hit goða" [cf. F. Jónsson, Hauksbók, 1892, p. 141], and in the -Grettis-saga (about 1290, but the MS. dates from the fifteenth century) -Thorhall Gamlason, who sailed with Karlsevne, is called in one place a -"Vindlendingr" and in another a "Viðlendingr." It is striking that the -name should so often be written incorrectly; there must have been some -uncertainty in its interpretation. Another thing is that in none of these -oldest sources is there any mention of wine, except in Adam of Bremen, who -repeats Isidore, and after him it is only when we come to the Saga of Eric -the Red that "Vinland" with its wine is met with. It might therefore be -supposed that the name was originally something different. The -Greenlanders might, for instance, have discovered a land with trees in the -west and called it "Viðland" (== tree-land). Influenced by myths of the -Irish "Great Land" ("Tír Mór"), this might become "Viðland" (== the great -land, p. 357): but this again through the ideas of wine (from the -Fortunate Isles), as in Adam of Bremen, might become "Vínland." We have a -parallel to such a change of sound in the conversion of "viðbein" (== -collar-bone) into "vinbein." A form like "Vindland" may have arisen -through confusion of the two forms we have given, or again with the name -of Vendland. A name compounded of the ancient word "vin" (== pasture) is -scarcely credible, since the word went out of use before the eleventh -century; besides, one would then have to expect the form "Vinjarland." In -Are Frode's work, which we only know from late copies (of the seventeenth -century), the original name might easily have been altered in agreement -with later interpretation. But it is nevertheless most probable that -"Vinland" was the original form, and that the variants are due to -uncertainty. It may, however, well be supposed that there were two forms -of the name, in the same way as, for instance, the "Draumkvæde" is also -called the "Draug-kvæde"; or that several names may have fused to become -one, similarity of sound and character being the deciding factor. - -[355] Cf. Peder Claussön Friis, Storm's edition, 1881, p. 298; A. Helland, -Nordlands Amt, 1907, i. p. 59, ii. pp. 467 f. Yngvar Nielsen [1905] has -remarked the resemblance between the epithet "hit Góða," applied to -Wineland, and the name Landegode in Norway; but following Peder Claussön -he regards this as a tabu-name. K. Rygh [Norske Gaardnavne, xvi. Nordl. -Amt, 1905, p. 201] thinks that P. Claussön's explanation of the name of -Jomfruland is right in all three cases, that "Norwegian seamen 'from some -superstition and fear' did not call it by the name of Jomfruland, which -was already common at that time, while under sail, until they had passed -it." "It is, or at any rate has been, a common superstition among sailors -and fishermen that various things were not to be called by their usual -names while they were at sea, presumably a relic of heathen belief in evil -spirits, whose power it was hoped to avoid by not calling their attention -by mentioning themselves or objects with which their evil designs were -connected, while it was hoped to be able to conciliate them by using -flattering names instead of the proper ones. The three islands are all so -situated in the fairway that they must have been unusually dangerous for -coasting traffic in former times." Hans Ström in his Description of -Söndmör [Sorö, 1766, ii. p. 441] thought, however, that "Landegod" in -Sunnmör was so called because it was the first land one made after passing -Stad; and "Svinö" he thought was so called because pigs were turned out -there to feed, especially in former times (see below, p. 378); he gives in -addition the name Storskjær for the island. - -[356] V. Bérard's explanation [1902, i. p. 579] that Phæacians ([Greek: -Phaiakes]) means Leucadians, the white people, and comes from the Semitic -"Beakim" (from "b.e.q." "to be white") does not seem convincing. Professor -A. Torp finds the explanation given above more probable. - -[357] Cf. J. Grimm, D. M., ii. 1876, pp. 692 ff., iii. 1878, pp. 248 f. - -[358] Cf. J. A. Friis: Ordbog for det lappiske Sprog, Christiania, 1887, -p. 254; J. Qvigstad, 1893, p. 182; Moltke Moe's communications in A. -Helland: Finmarkens Amt, 1905, vol. ii. p. 261. - -[359] Cf. Moltke Moe's communications in A. Helland: Nordlands Amt, 1907, -vol. ii. p. 430. - -[360] Cf. W. Grimm, Kleinere Schriften, i. p. 468. - -[361] Rietz: Svensk Dialekt-Lexikon, 1867. - -[362] It may also be worth mentioning that just as there is a Björnö -(Björnö Lighthouse) near Landegode off Bodö, so is there mention of a -Bjarn-ey near Markland on the way to "Vinland hit Góða." This may, of -course, be purely a coincidence; but on the other hand there may be some -connection. - -[363] Cf. P. A. Säve: Hafvets och Fiskarens Sagor, spridda drag ur -Gotlands Odlingssaga och Strandallmogens Lif. Visby, 1880. - -[364] Norske Gaardnavne. Forord og Indledning. 1898, p. 39. - -[365] O. Nicolayssen: Fra Nordlands Fortid. Kristiania, 1889, pp. 30 ff. - -[366] Remark that thus in the Faroes Svinöi is also a fairy island, as in -Sunnmör and at Brönöi in Norway. - -[367] This astonishing etymological explanation of the ancient Phoenician -legendary islands of the Hesperides is evidently due to a confusion of -Brandan's sheep-island with Pliny's statements [Nat. Hist., vi. 36] about -the purple islands off Africa (near the Hesperides) which King Juba was -said to have discovered, and where he learned dyeing with Gætulian purple. -The idea that the sunken land Atlantis was where the "Concretum Mare" now -is may be connected with the Greek myth which appears in Plutarch (see -above, pp. 156 and 182) of Cronos lying imprisoned in sleep on an island -in the north-west in the Cronian Sea (== "Mare Concretum"), where also the -great continent was, and where the sea was heavy and thick. - -[368] This is the same myth as that of Hvítramanna-land in the Eyrbyggja -Saga; see later. - -[369] Cf. A. Guichot y Sierra, 1884, i. p. 296; Dumont d'Urville: Voyage -autour du monde, i. p. 27. The same idea that the island withdraws when -one tries to approach it appears also in Lucian's description (in the Vera -Historia) of the Isle of Dreams. - -[370] Cf. P. Sébillot, 1886, p. 348. - -[371] Cf. Harriet Maxwell Converse: Iroquois Myths and Legends. Education -Department Bulletin, No. 437, Albany, N.Y., December 1908, pp. 31 f. - -[372] My attention has been drawn to this by Mr. Gunnar Olsen. Similar -myths are found in Japan [cf. D. Brauns, Japanische Märchen und Sagen, -1885, pp. 146 ff.]. - -[373] Grönl. hist. Mind., i. pp. 144 f., 157 ff. - -[374] This belongs to the same cycle of ideas as that of the dead rising -from their graves or from the lower regions at night, but being obliged to -go down again at dawn, or of trolls having to conceal themselves before -the sun rises. In the same way, too, the fallen Helge Hundingsbane comes -to Sigrun and sleeps with her in the mound; but when the flush of day -comes he has to ride back to the west of "Vindhjelms" bridge, before -Salgovne awakes. It has been pointed out above (p. 371) that the Phæacians -of the Odyssey sail at night. - -[375] According to the "Guta-saga" of the thirteenth century. - -[376] Cf. Moltke Moe's communications in A. Helland, Nordlands Amt, 1907, -ii. pp. 512 ff. In Brinck's Descriptio Loufodiæ [1676, p. ii] it is stated -that the mythical land of Utröst in Nordland was called "Huldeland." - -[377] Cf. F. Lot, "Romania," 1898, p. 530. Moltke Moe has also -communicated to me this curious tale. - -[378] Cf. P. Crofton Croker, 1828, ii. p. 259 f. - -[379] Cf. "Lageniensis," 1870, pp. 114 ff., 294; Joyce, 1879, p. 408. V. -Bérard [1902, i. p. 286] explains the Roman name "Ispania" (Spain) as -coming from a Semitic (Phoenician) root "sapan" (== hide, cover) denoting -"the isle of the hidden one," which he thinks originally meant Calypso's -isle; this he seeks to locate on the African coast near Gibraltar. The -explanation seems very doubtful; but if there be anything in it, it is -remarkable that Spain, the land rich in silver and gold, should have a -name that recalls the huldre-lands (lands of the hidden ones). - -[380] Cf. E. B. Tylor: Primitive Culture, 1891, ii. pp. 63 ff. - -[381] Asbjörnsen: Huldre-Eventyr og Folke-Sagn, 3rd ed., pp. 343 ff.; -"Tufte-folket på Sandflæsen." Cf. also Moltke Moe's note in A. Helland: -Nordlands Amt, i. pp. 519 f. - -[382] The name of "Lycko-Pär" in Sweden for one who "has luck" [Th. -Hielmqvist, Fornamn och Familjenamn med sekundär användning i Nysvenskan, -Lund, 1903, p. 267] has come from the Danish "Lykke-Per," which is a -purely literary production, and does not concern us here. - -[383] In Norway the "nisse" brings luck. "Lycko-nisse" in Småland (Sweden) -is a "luck-bringing brownie. Also used occasionally of little friendly -children" [Th. Hielmqvist, 1903, p. 224]. - -[384] Cf. Moltke Moe's communications in A. Helland: Nordlands Amt, 1907, -ii. pp. 596 f. - -[385] Conceptions of a somewhat similar nature appear in the legends of -Arthur, where only the pure, or innocent, are permitted to see the Holy -Grail. - -[386] The names Finmark (the land of the Finns or Lapps) and Finland were -often confused in the Middle Ages (cf. Geographia Universalis, Eulogium, -Polychronicon, Edrisi), and the latter again with Wineland (cf. Ordericus -Vitalis, Polychronicon). It should be remarked that Adam does not know the -name "Finn," but only "Finnédi" and "Scritefini." - -[387] It must be remembered that Kvænland (Woman-land), like Norway and -"the island of Halagland" (!), were neighbouring countries to Sweden, -where King Svein had lived for twelve years, the same who is supposed to -have told Adam so much about the countries of the North; and between -Sweden and Russia (Gardarike) there was also active communication at that -time. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. - -Passages in bold are indicated by =bold=. - -Subscripted characters are indicated by X_{subscript}. - -The original text contains letters with diacritical marks that are not -represented in this text version. - -The original text includes Greek characters. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: In Northern Mists (Volume 1 of 2) - Arctic Exploration in Early Times - -Author: Fridtjof Nansen - -Translator: Arthur G. Chater - -Release Date: September 1, 2012 [EBook #40633] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN NORTHERN MISTS (VOLUME 1 OF 2) *** - - - - -Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40633 ***</div> <div class="transnote"> <p class="center">The index in this electronic text was not printed in the original book.</p> @@ -17366,386 +17324,6 @@ have told Adam so much about the countries of the North; and between Sweden and Russia (Gardarike) there was also active communication at that time.</p> - - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In Northern Mists (Volume 1 of 2), by -Fridtjof Nansen - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN NORTHERN MISTS (VOLUME 1 OF 2) *** - -***** This file should be named 40633-h.htm or 40633-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/6/3/40633/ - -Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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