Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
'^W^'.
ok,
thers. Containing all the Myths of the Eddae, carefully systematized and interpreted. With an Introduction, Vocabulary,
and Index.
47-3
Historical
The book
is full
Queries.,
London.
Price $2.00.
Price $1.00.
IN PREPARATION.
THE ELDER EDDA;
2 vols.,
OB,
crown 8vo.
1 vol.
part of
this volume.
AN HISTOEICAL SKETCH
IN THE
TENTH CENTURY.
si
By RASMUS
B.
ANDERSON,
A.M.,
WITH AN APPENDIX
ON THE
^V.
S.
C.
EDITION.
CHICAGO:
GRIGGS AND COMPANY
LONDON: TRttBNER
187
7.
& CO.
COPTRIGHT,
By
S. C.
1874,
PEEFACE.
"TN
-^
made
use
such
of
material
he considered
as
B. F.
M.
R.
others,
S.
De
Costa, A. Davis,
Ballantyne, P. A.
and he
N. L. Beamish, G. Gra-
is
Washington Irving,
for
valuable suggestions.
may seem
The
style
that
author
the
American
public.
it is
faults.
hoped
criticising
an
The
of
object
this
sketch
Norway, and
especially in
the
Iceland,
Ultima Thule
PREFACE.
of the
ill
University of Wisconsin,
June 18, 1874.
CONTENTS,
CHAPTER
I.
in
35
CHAPTER
n.
CHAPTER
in.
45
Antiquity op America,
CHAPTER
Phenician, Greek, Irish, and
IV.
Welsh
CHAPTER
Who Were
41
47
V.
the Norsemen?
CHAPTER
Claims,
49
VI.
52
Iceland,
CHAPTER
VII.
58
Greenland,
CHAPTER
The Ships of the Norsemen,
VIII.
61
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
IX.
CHAPTER
Bjarne Herjulfson,
64
X.
68
986,
CHAPTER XL
Leif Erikson,
71
1000,
CHAPTER
Thorvald Erikson,
75
1003,
CHAPTER
Thorstein Erikson,
XII.
XIII.
78
1005,
CHAPTER
XIV.
1007,
79
84
85
CHAPTER XV.
Other Expeditions by the Norsemen,
CHAPTER
XVI.
CHAPTER
XVII.
93
Conclusion,
APPENDIX.
The Scandinavian Languages,
95
NEW
PREFACE TO THE
SINCE
the
EDITION.
first
book was
much
The
attention.
Irish, the
all
new
In presenting this
er's attention to
edition of
"America not
we
some of the
discovered by Columbus,"
We
pass
arti-
over in silence
all
Immediately
Achievements of the
so-called Christopher
Columbus,
Columbus
a fraud,
&
Co.).
Goodrich pronounces
He
as
mean,
selfish,
has evidently
made
a very
state-
ments.
will
be found a brief
{a) "
The
Its
Young
Norse discovery.
"A
States,"
Norse discovery.
Kingsley.
The
third lecture
is
upon the
first
discov-
ery of America.
{e)
"Fusang, or the
Discovery of America by
named
monk
is
The
claimed to be Old
in this
new and
strange country
PREFACE TO THE
an abundance of the
which he
maguey
EDITION.
resembling
and
it,
country
the
NEW
this
name (Fusang) he
book
Leland's
itself.
applied to
worth
well
is
reading.
The
In the
first
et
many
Cie.,
valua-
Norsemen, "Welsh
and on the
ages
will
of this society
there can be
no doubt that
it
pre-Columbian America.
the savans
We
who assembled
Nancy
in
in
1875 fully
this
list
"Summer
Norway;"
Griffin's
"My
are vindicated.
Aaron QoodricU.
The
all
above-mentioned worl? of
PREFACE TO THE
10
(a) "
An
land.
(h) "
min
EDITION.
In 1876 appeared
3.
tion
NEW
discovery of America.
Bowen
F.
devoted to a presenta-
ISTorse
(Lippincott, publisher).
The voyages
covery of America, in
and his
assign
tlie
them
American
dis-
Madoc
"to
history."
tory
American
his-
call
histories of the
"
title-
History of the
to the present
origines
coveries
etc.
"
Norsemen
the
11
in the
New World
the dis-
etc.
United
States,
now being
published,
we
"A Popular
History
discovery of the
first
to the
end of
Union
is
Welsh,
it
etc.
continent
This
is
right,
it.
by the
Norsemen,
Irish,
"Truth crushed
to earth
Norsemen
to the
honor of having
is
a beautiful
fact that
the Norsemen, as
w^ell as others,
is
Norsemen and
that of
Columbus
or, in
other words.
PREFACE TO THE
12
that
Colnmbus
profited in
NEW
EDITION.
knowledge of America.
This
the
is all
more
singular, since
none of them
Columbo,* his
son, that
he (Christopher Columbus)
"We
He
was
Why
not also of
Adam
of Bremen,
and Strabo.
who
in his vol-
account of Yinland
Adam
(New
went
and Helluland
Yinland ?
We
must
insist that it
is,
to
way
to
way
obtained
is
found in Chapter
iv of the biography,
Columbo."
"Vita
dell'
admiraglio Chrisophoro
PREFACE TO THE
NEW
13
EDITION.
We know
positively
possible,
is it
we
ask, that
Columbus could
visit Ice-
We
covery of America
is
We believe
concerned.
that the
in the dis-
Columbus added
the last link of the golden chain that was to unite the
two
continents.
scholar,
who
We
believe that
industriously studied
Columbus was a
all
who
The
G^ographie,
ii,
and
all
Paschal
when
Rome was
in Italy,
we know
in 1121.
la
had heard of
that
Pope
1112,
and
NEW
PREFACE TO THE
14
EDITION.
voyage to Iceland.
And
conviction
the firm
we
thus
that
him
to
make
his
Columbus invariably
ex-
we
can
thus
account for the absolute certainty and singular firmness with which he talked of land across the ocean
knowledge
of
Many have
Columbus never
objected that
was
Why
that he
What
enter-
of
it?
Adam
of
Bremen wrote
about,
he wanted to
know
if
cific
Grant that
Iceland.
to
it
confirmed in
that the
If
Norsemen had
discovered India.
in Iceland,
why
did he not
of Yinland
sail
when he was
New England?
West
This question
must
that
their Sagas,
far
they state
as
in
Yinland was
to the south of
16
Florida,
route would be to
sail
IS'orse
in described,
would
feel sure
of reaching Irland-it-Mikla
as did
ment
the Old
that
detracting
ing him as a
dinary
man
all
fruit
that
his
of patient
discovery
of
and persevering
tion, or as
We
by showing
reach,
of
ability,
study of
Columbus.
repeat a state-
research,
we
some would
like to
have
it,
inspiration.
traditions
had been
believe he
swallowed
16
had read
Adam
we
believe
the
he
lips of
We
neglected
mention in our
to
to
first
America,
edition
Are
Mar-
we
The Landnamabok
The powerful
chieftain,
in Iceland, was,
in
is
as follows
Are Marson,
of Reykjanes,
this account
was
The
first
author of
surnamed
Frode, the
self a
son,
first
The
compiler of Landnama,
Are
on
his
uncle, Thorkel
17
worthy of
all credit,)
recog-
ment
This
in great respect.
state-
D. 983)
The
Saga
Book) expressly
states that
Great Ireland
sailing west
from Ireland
some mistake or
YI
YI
the
lies to
days'
w^as of
original manuscript,
which
XX,
is
now
lost,
and were
XI, or perhaps
XY,
distance.
er-
which
The
mis-
in this
Bjorn Asbrandson, surnamed the Champion of Breidavik, spent the latter part of his
life.
He
had been
Dr. G.
W.
18
them
Sweden.
His
illicit
Gode, drew
latter, in
sail
made
when he
summer he and
his
company came
was.
On
their landing, a
knew
at last to
an ex-
crowd of the
anybody
it
Irish.
it
natives, several
laid
The
natives
now
took
make
deliberating, a large
a banner, close to
slaves of them.
NEW
PREFACE TO THE
which rode a
was
far
man
19
EDITION.
of distinguished appearance,
who
The
hair.
He was
He
the
On
he came.
Bjorn made
many
he was an Icelander,
Thurid of Frod
and who
estate of
at that
Frod River.
them
company
cision.
decision,
as counselors,
Bjorn
and took
them
own
his
He
summer was
already far
difficult to deal
He
sword
for Kjartan,
to their disadvan-
20
become
old,
where expect a
hostile reception.
company accordingly
'
way back
to Dublin,
the next
summer they
it
was
really
met with
in
that
far-off
country.
An
American
saga narrative of
poem
is
" Thurid."
The above
"Antiquitates Americanse,"
is
narrative, taken
from
may
interest.
and poetic
we
we must
Anent
corre-
county, Massachusetts.
will
say,
general,
in
21
that
until
sufficient
we
proof of
them
in claiming
as relics of the
shall persist
Now
Norsemen.*
Dear
Sir,
at
of the river.
As you
much
the subject of
learned
discussion
various
at
Dighton Rock
Geologically,
is
silicious
and,
sand-
think,
and
deposited in
still
water;
is
was probably
I have carefully measured the rock, and the following is the result of my work:
The face of the rock, on which are the inscriptions,
* We are fully aware that the Copenhagen runologists do not regard the
Dighton Rock Inscription as a work of the Norsemen. But in the first place
the writing is not claimed to be runic, but Roman. Prof. Rafn himself did
not try to show more than two or three runic letters in it. And in the second
place we are not aware that either Stephens or Worsaae have ever made any
careful examination of the inscription. When they have made a thorough
study of it and reported, we are willing to accept their decision on the subject.
NEW
PREFACE TO THE
22
EDITION.
it
in the
the ground
Its
Its
Its contents
Its
weight
its
face
above
1,293 meters.
is
is
1,768 meters.
the
The rock
tide,
to
three-eighths of an inch
made
deep.
At
the time
nearly
all
it
of the chalk
was photographed
marks myself, and no chalking was made where
I
the
the eye^
touched^
work on Taunton
was present when the photograph was taken,
and he is engaged upon a history of the Norsemen's
discovery of America, in connection with Dighton
Eock, by request of the United States government.
His report, when completed, will be a valuable
River,
work.
I am,
my
dear
Your obedient
sir,
very respectfully.
servant,
Elisha Slade.
23
in his opinion,
Here
is
his
answer:
March
Dear
Sir,
You
ask
my
13, 1876.
are.
made by
the lazy
Indian of Schoolcraft.
I have a decided interest in the JSTorsemen's visit
New
acquainted
24
In reference to
this
curious rock
we
XIY
will
now
of this book.
his
River),
Hope)."
and
and
they
Hope
signifies a
is
called
the
Hop (Mount
place
hojpa^ to recede,
The
river.
present situation of
Fay's paper.
(We
it
Here
is
Mr.
by permission of the
author.)
It is
now
found,
who have
Bay with
26
names in J^arragansett
Norsemen did not look elsewhere on
the
their route.
The Rev.
Isaac
"
Words and
the author of
Taylor,
published by Macmillan
&
Co., of
work
London, entitled
of the names of
the* places
He
says,
without exception
seter or
hoy and
" the name of Greenland
called
holl
ster,
"
26
Monomoy
did, in
on or near which is the light-house, overlooking a land-locked anchorage on the inside called
sandy
hill,
Powder Hole
a score or
left,
ISTashawena
is
Now
all
have
hills in
guishing landmarks.
as applied
word
is
holl,
them
meaning
to
And why
is
a corruption of
hill
The
the Norwegian
mon between
them.
The
is little else in
localities
now
is
com-
called Quick's
27
may seem
It
or Monomoy Point is a
on the chart Butler's Hole, which lies
in the course from Handkerchief Shoal to Pollock
Rip, where there is now^ not only no hill but no land.
But it is to be considered that almost within the
memory of man there was land in that vicinity, which
has been washed away by the same strong and eccen-
that south of
Powder Hole
locality called
tric
it
a sand-flat, and
np Powder Hole
which still casts
Cod.
It
men,
would seem
their
after
when once
of Vineyard
familiar with
PREFACE TO THE
28
NEW
EDITION.
to
What more
and headlands
own
language, should have adopted the appellawhich they were told signified hill, so important as a landmark to these wandering sea kings!
Why may not the I^orsemen have called them so,
until the natives adopted the same title, and handed it
down to the English explorers under Bartholomew
Gosnold, who gave their own patronymics to those
their
tive holl,
now
called
The statement
is,
that he
29
advanced that
in
of the world,
be commonly
here in a
dis-
How
can
it
them by
appropriate
of Holl.
the
we wish
to
add a few
At
30
floor
it
was known
which connected
ties
hoped that
life
to every
had spent
artist
in knotting those
It
was
in
of
whom
he had spoken.
It
of
gratitude
to
any expression
for
work, as
his
He
the
but of
all
countrymen,
He
whom
remembered, although
ago,
when
much
such
it
was nearly
an
audience
theirs.
forty years
as
he
saw
when
when
one of the
last
of his public
poems he
The
NEW
PREFACE TO THE
31
EDITION.
last
were
Thorvald
He [the speaker]
New England that
aye in Thorwaldsen.
thought
it
was a misfortune
this
their
for
Norse
ancestors.
New
But
wish.
it,
It
was an
enter-
prise
come
New
England, in conjunction
was
this effect,
and
The committee
of the
and
so
are,
uel
W.
C. Cobb,
Wm.
Kice,
Sam-
H.
W.
Paine,
Henry
NEW
PREFACE TO THE
32
Alpheus Hardy,
Jos. B. Glover,
EDITION.
John
"W. Candler,
Oliver Ditson,
W. W. Clapp, Jerome
Jones, George O. Carpenter, Clias. W. Wilder, Dexter
Smith, Wm. Emerson Baker, James W. Bartlett, Jos.
H. Danforth, Curtis Guild,
Jas.
John G. Whittier, E.
W. Holmes, J.
W. Eliot, G. W.
ford, O.
Chas.
JN".
Hors-
nett,
Simmons,
Wm.
H. Baldwin, Fercival
L. Everett,
A.
This committee
First,
To
is.
first
monument
in
now
in
Taunton Biver.
The committee
issued,
January
12,
cular, of
Bock,
an extract
is
The
origin of
have been,
1877, a
to the
cir-
Dighton
study of histo-
33
rians.
Society of
it
to
Boston.
historic
They
researchers
invite
to the
as
the deductions of
all
authenticity of these
inscriptions.^
Thus
it
monument
in
Boston committee
and
w^e are
At
it
is
now
certain that
all
memory
of those
and describes
it
Drawings made
in 1680 can
is
be found in
may be
West
obtained at
street,
Boston.]
34:
who
the
first
of
Christians
all
soil
(Leif's Booths) in
New
first
on
cabins
England.
we may
of
the
that
time
the
may
of Breidavik)
(the
United
States.
in every house
champion
shall
have
and hamlet
Good.
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, Wis., April
3, 1877.
CHAPTER
I.
iHE
pages
to present
is
-*-
Western
this discovery
to find
which
will
formed
conflict
to
with
The
historical
interest manifested
if,
in
these
reader's
and about
erally,
is
happen
America
previously-
facts especially.
reads
his
is
own
country or with
ancestors.
The American
to dwell
own
student, on
the
history.
He
36
admires the resolution, the fortitude and perseverance of the Pilgrim Fathers as they passed through
scenes of hardship and adversity
their varied
they made
their
England shores;
first
settlement
upon
is
when
our
New
filled
with
the
of
incidents
thrilling
who
and
sufferings
as well as for
tionary war.
The Norse
das,
student,
takes
special
European waters
and
ical
Baldur,
myths and
Loke,
the
stories
Giant
Ymer,
Ragnarok,
Yg-
drasil,
that illuminate
history,
and
the
glitter
brilliant
ancient
diamonds in the
The
the
subject to
Discovery of America^
is,
if
is
invited,
properly presented,
those
soil
who
are born
For
fertile
liberty,
must
facts
naturally
may
deep
feel
is
87
interest
whatever
in
first dis-
while
who
those
among
the rugged,
saw the
first
snow-capped
feel
still
mountains
veins, must,
equally
deep
interest
faced
men who
its
in
old
way through
matter of course,
as
of
beaming
sunlight
learning
that
ocean, and
an
interest, too, I
the claims
of
their
native
dare
say,
country to
feel
their
an
own
first pale-
gem
of the
in
having
this
honor
vindicated.
The
subject
Germans^
as
is
it
will
appear in
men on
is
and there
is
course of
who accompanied
country;
the
this
the Norse-
Western World,
first
name
of this
means of bringing
to
about America.
The Welsh
also
* Tyrtcer.
have an interest
t
Adam
in this subject;
of Bremen.
38
for
is
it
made
1170
a settlement in
thus,
this
they were
although
170
making the
in
years
later
discovery, they
were
still
men,
therefore, claim
in
this
Welshmen's
question,
We
[i
the
might
presentation
of
this
subject;
in
for,
1029,
Saga, Chapter
64,)
Eyrbyggja
Norse navigator,
the year
by name
sail
to Iceland
far
to the west
sea.
was.
and southwest
be seen.
It
in
was
And
it
came
Then they
that
that
to
from the
it
already late in
party,
to
resolved to
sail to
land
They found
there a good
har-
there
to them.
it
39
them that
'
North and
" Irland-it-MiMa^'^
claimed
that
that
is,
the name,
Great
is
in
13, called
Ireland.
It is
Gudlaugsoii^ s
visit,
by the
Irish,
and
that,
own
native
There
appropriate.
soil,
is
who
visited
and inhabited
hundred miles
who, early
and whose
as
Isles
of ordinary occurrence
people so
"
of
discovering
4:0
exhaustively
without
bringing
back
to
Isle,
tlie
mind
which was
as
it.
CHAPTER
II.
TT^NLIGHTENED men
-^-^
New
the
all
over
the
world are
watching,
proceeded, and
in
in
human
wonderful as they
it
the
results,
in ]^orway, or in
is
it
common
interesting
better than
to
taining to America.
they
know
their
and the
you
countries,
the
are,
If
intense interest.
many,
careful scrutiny,
posted
those of their
on
own
the
aifairs
country.
who keep
of
themselves
America
tlian
on
,42
V
Until
that
recently,
it
supposed
European
Columbus; but
gations by learned
to
it
na-
investi-
beyond
certain,
knowledge of
this
Columbus, and
it
living
here at the time of Columbus' discovery of this continent were descendants of Europeans.
As
tion
to
the
IN^orth
of
Europe
in
relation
to
this
subject,
and
portion
in a great
hence the
measure, neglected
North furnish
the
coast
latter
part
light
of
which
this
extreme
of the
in the
Norsemen
fur-
by the Norsemen
it
was
visited
century; nay,
also,
that
more, that
it
teenth century.
further-
But even
this
is
not
all.
four-
These
43
also
among
Norsemen found
The
also
learned
here.
men
y'
of the
not
has
to
blame
due
received
the
early as
year
1705, and
and Wormskjold
and
ScHCENiNG and
Lagerbring
and
ScHRCEDER,
say nothing
have
all
many
Not
until
1837,
when
the
of
celebrated
and
other one
Pro-
ceeded,
to all
enterprise of the
Society
to
others,
fessor Kafn,
Koyal
of
works.
this.
to
him Suhm
besides
examine
man
the importance
rature.
Thus
recently
it
is
that
scholars
lite-
of other nations
their
attention
to
Northern Antiquities, Northern Languages and His* Antiquitates Americanse, Hafnise, 1837.
44
tory.
add America,
much
are
valuable
material
is
would
now beginning
to
like to
realize
how
be found in these
to
institutions
fessors
work
excellent
Germany
at
their
respective
Pro-
are doing
Universities
in
Universities
the
in
lan-
guages.
It is
nations
becoming
gradually
are
conscious
of
the
and we may
when
in
character,
their
true
their
and
right
at the
safely
the
Norsemen
social,
will
political
same time
is
be recog-
and
as navigators
literary
assume
of America.
CHAPTER
III
ANTIQUITY OF AMERICA.
T3EF0IIE
-*
ing
to
Louis
emerged
Agassiz,
World
in
is
reality
abundant proof of
But who
period
close
it
is
its
able
life.
and Agassiz
Old,
of the
tenth
gives
hoary age.
even
to
conjecture
watery
the
Hence
the
from
century
We
its
at
Down
written
what
the
to
history
is
We
great
yet
among
all
no monument, mound, or
satisfactorily the
mystery of their
origin.
There are
46
tribes
infer
that age
have continued
fall,
to
after
rise
age nations
into
Compare De
greatness
Costa, page
11.
CHAPTER
IT,
"TN
WELSH
CLAIMS.
Ocean, like
all
other
feelings of fear
especially
Continent, in
warml}^ advocated
and awe.
was
It
Sea of Darkness.
and
it is
Tyrian voyages
to
have been
early times,
that
the
Atlantic
Behring's Strait.
instead
of
piercing
to
icy
From
the
it
is
sailors
of
could
easily
and
safely
be wafted
to
the
western
shore.
of the days
dis-
in
4:8
He
certainly discovered
mined
its
Thule ^
and we may
latitude,
discovery he opened
this
the
(Iceland),
and deter-
way
to
America
by
foi*
Norsemen.
the
by the
crossed
it
is
claims
these
learned discussion
tlie
and
Atlantic
the
Columbus, but
upon
and by
Irish
not
in
found
my
this
America
before
purpose to comment
short
sketch.
Much
until
to a great extent,
era
can
we
point,
and not
century of the
present
to a
veiled in mystery,
is
^
II,
6.
CHAPTER
Y,
/
1/
rr^HE
-^
first
voyage
any perfectly
to
reliable
performed
by the Norsemen.
Permit
me
to
of a branch
and northward,
part of
down
what
in
is
now
and spoken
kingdom of Norway.
the
in Iceland,
and upon
is
it
still
Their lanpreserved
The
Norsemen were
ancient
pendent people.
rulers
They were
were elected
assembled, and
all
a free
by the people
bold
and inde-
people.
in
Their
convention
Abroad
they
became
the
most
daring
adven-
50
They
turers.
part of the
civilized
sol-
and navigators.
diers
every
in
plant-
ing colonies.
of
fairest
made
Under Robert
Guiscard
they made
themselves masters
of
Sicily
power there
During
the
Europe
over
in rescuing the
Antioch
and
Tiberias
under
Harald.
They
passed between the pillars of Hercules, they desolated the classic fields of Greece
walls of Constantinople.
they
originally
came,
we
find
east,
from where
as
throne.
They carved
their
mystic runes
61
commemoration of
in
The
their
conquest of
this
city.
Schelde, the
conquering Cologne
stable,
the
filling
heart
of even
the great
The
Norsemen.
Ganger
name
by the
friend,
of
rulers
Rolf,
Rollo,
known
son of
in
English history
Harald Haarfagr's
the
in
Normandy; and
in
England
and
Ganger
Rolf, conquered
it is
that
came from
colonists of his
tled
fire
but
in
most
opposition
Northumbria.
He
own
race,
serious
met with
who had
set-
we
find
their
energy,
their
perseverance
The marble
lion
dialects.
their runes
was afterward
it
may
CHAPTER
VI
ICELAND.
"OUT
set
In the year
upon
this island
The
years.
Icelandic republic
Political
circumstances
in
HaarfactR
{i.
e.
Harald
DATTEK (daughter),
and proud
fair
whom
have to be king of
the conditions;
ing, during
and
all
he
loved
man
and
Adils-
courted;
Norway.
after
Pagna
Harald accepted
fight-
his
once,* in
Hafersfjord, ISTorway
53
slain the
usurping
it
for
numerous
all
leaders,
freehold tenure
To
the crown.
this
not submit.
and
set out
now
own,
Some went
Isles
went
some
as
go,
Orkney
many
and therefore
more secure
Iceland,
which
He made
a pledge to
cut nor
comb
his
Norway.
Norse
odel, allodium,]
i.
e.
independent
Hakon
Gtood in the year 935, and has never since been taken away from them.
the
54
Naddodd
in 860,
and
by him Snowland;
called
re-
and
whom
870, by
in
and thus
Norsemen,
whom
it
Norway
Holm
Gardar's
called
two
by
visited
(Hjorleifr)
was
it
before
You must
began in
and
Leif
Iceland.
called
to Iceland
was peopled
and
Ingolf
was
(island),
It
in a
was not
it
mind
bear in
It
was
in a climate
little
was
below
where grain
it.
island presented a
But
main support of
tion.
Fishing, the
still
their
harbors,
ice
from the
soil.
They were
sur-
or boiling springs.
try,
Still
winters,
when
65
the
seemed only
in reciting the
of their ancestors.
(/ Perhaps I ought to beg your pardon for dwelling
upon the
so long
ogy
subject of Iceland
it
really the
is
swings
which
island
had been
Christ
It
apol-
America
opened
visited
and,
the next
in
to
Europe.
This
monk
by some Irish
an
who wrote
visited
my
but
is
priests in the
Dicuu^rs,
had been
it
summer
of 795.* ^
island
this
and
it
is
and
Greenland
fine historical
taste of
the
to instruct
Columbus how
to find America,
and
Iceland
is
*Vid. Dicuilus,
De Meusura
p. 38.
56
latitude,
are
Its
without
almost
mountains without
trees.
no
who
square miles.
1,800 geographical
of about
valleys
live a peaceable
Still,
less
and
verdure,
it
its
contains, even at
and contented
life,
cling-
still
we do
who
live in milder
the earthquake,
the
geysers
spout
still
torch,
as
if
Mount Hekla,
snow, brandishes
threatening to set
their
mud,
heavens on
l^ow,
as in olden
of
clad in
aloft
the
its
very
fire.
to
become the
sanc-
North.
and shortly
after
the introduction
of
cen-
memory,
Christianity
The
traditions of Iceland
middle ages.
The
Icelandic
poems have no
parallel
in Iceland.
57
There are
whelming
Greece.
tragedies in
The
becoming recognized
equal
as
to
that
now
is
of
ot
fast
ancient
The
and more
and mature
the full-blown
flower of Teutonic
and
sufficiently to
it
had developed
rose to
Saxon
beautiful
land,
its
heathendom.
eminence in
literature.
letters,
CHAPTER
VII.
GREENLAND.
"13 UT,
-^-^
as
felt
new impulse
for
colonizing
new and
force
toward
Greenland, in
its
w^retched climate.
The
natural
con-
Between
Greenland
there
is
of
only forty-live
to
this island
and
wind, which
scarcely
distance
geographical miles.
sailed
is
later,
no rare occurrence
in those regions,
sufficiently
even to land on
its
islands
jokuls,
and promontories.
nay,
Thus
said that
59
storm.
About
from time to
a century
later
fled
from
had
and
Here he
settled
in
western
the
was outlawed
also
part
of
Iceland.
manslaughter, by
for
He
therefore fitted
and
resolved
to
He
set
sail
land as he had
expected,
At
and
two
re-
years.
Greenland,
who would
a
for
in order, as
he
country the
name
of
name.
The
men
result
emigrated
to
Greenland,
which
crown of Norway.
tained
its
and
Gardar
flourishing
became subject
to the
60
a period of
disappeared,
gives a
list
Greenland.
no
less
and
of
was
almost
seventeen
yet
forgotten.
bishops
who
it
finally
Torfseus
ruled
in
CHAPTER
VIII
"OEFOEE
-*-^
their
following
the
westward course,
Norsemen
it
may
not be out of
is
Having
is
have
on
farther
iJ^orse
Yiking
I have
ships,
which
seemed to
form and
old
me
Now,
size.
were then,
as they are
New York
is this,
sea-going vessels,
of large size.
We
able.
crafts
as
now
and Liverpool;
that the
Norsemen
son's Saga, of
it
feet
long.
None but
the choicest
62
material
was used in
thirty-four
construction.
its
rowing-benches,
and
It contained
its
voyage.
They
certainly
way adapted
were
for
an ocean
we
also
learn
From
that
they
the stars.
knew how
nautical knowl-
edge they could never have accomplished their voyFrance, Spain, Sicily, Greece, and
ages to England,
those
more
still
difficult
voyages
to
and
Iceland
Greenland.
I have
now
done
this
to
have
*This ship of Olaf Trygveson was called the Long Serpent, and was
built
each.
is
sixty,
and King
Compare
men
as ducks or
ens Frsekna," (the Saga of Fridthjof the Bold, in ''Viking Tales of the
North,") chapter
1,
is
described.
America
nay,
that
63
was
it
in
life-
so
that
even
takable language
able
to
assert,
if
we
of the
we might
still
be
cer-
found
its
way
into the
Their
spirit
Magna Charta*
of England
and into the Declaration of Inependence in America.
The spirit of the Yikings still survives in the bosoms
of Englishmen, Americans and l^orsemen,
extending
commerce, taking bold positions against tyranny, and producing wonderful internal
improvetheir
ments
in these countries.
*
CHAPTER
IX
themselves
'
civilized
seen
made
the I^orsemen
that
known
every
in
part
of
possessing
nation,
necessary
for
in
fact
actually
Open an
or at the
civ-
means
the
all
There
the
certainly
atlas
maps
at
no.
the
of the
discover
now known
improbability
map
question,
vital
and
America?
as
in
explore
the
of the Atlantic
two hemispheres.
idea.
Ocean,
Observe
You
perceive
it
is
more
it is
it
is
between
Now,
foundland.
Norse
colonies
conceding
after
existed
the
Greenland
in
65
fact
that
at
least
for
knows
by
covered
be a
to
the
for
we must prepare
fact,
proposition
gether
unreasonable
people
like
suppose
to
would
It
that
who
Norsemen,
the
America was
that
Norsemen.
the
be
ourdis-
alto-
seafaring
traversed
the
voyage of
for three
live
vast
this
aware of
and
become
never
existence.
its
But fortunately on
conjecture.
continent
We
this point
we
men must
the discovery.
Intelligent
in blotting out
history
ticated
before
While
darkness
the
overspread
continent for
letters
is
many
succeed
first
whole
the
of
centuries following
literary
European
the
tenth,
containing a record
That
originated.
Columbus
is
as
of
they
easy
this
the
were
to
discovery
written
demonstrate
of
America
long
as
before
the
fact
J
The
Christ.
Alex-
Cosmos,^ by Malte-
in his
further discussion
is
scholars
at
time
this
and
un-
The
manuscripts,
relating
Codex
tlie
preserved in
in
the
celebrated
in
Cosmos, Vol.
"We
style
of art,
now
is
its
ii.,
on
are here
where
269-272,
pp.
found
year 138Y.
and executed
in
America, are
to
discovery
historical
Von
Alexander
Humboldt,
of
By
gi'ound.
documents
in regard
to the
mouth
(the
of
Nova
Scotia),
The discovery
cannot be disputed.
The length
and
to
Vinland
commented upon.
by the Norsemen
which
they sailed, the time of the sun's rising and setting, are accurately given.
still
still
flour-
ished in Persia, America was discovered, about the year 1000, by Leif. sou
of Erik the Red, at about 4H/2 N. L."
t Vid. Nouvelles annales des voyages, de la geographic, de I'histoire
et
commission centrale de
la
societe de
Aout,
geographic de
1858, p. 253.
Paris,
member de
men,
We
at the
it
is
67
to be
University of Wis-
after discovering
shall
in
1860-1868.
"
CHAPTER
X.
BJARNE HERJULFSON,
<v
"TK
from
E-ED
Greenland,
moved from
numerous
his
986.
above-named
the
Erik the
among
v^ho
friends,
man
who
of
enterprise
and reputation.
ered wealth
He
his father
He
to Greenland,
he was so much
hearing of his
father's
he would
unload
not
ship,
Who
will
he to his men.
replied the
men.
go with
"We
by
be
and on returnon
disappointed
departure with
his
to
chanced to be away in
moved over
his father.
used
year at
ing to Iceland
said
who was
but
up
me
will all
his
Erik,
that
resolved
to
abode with
to Greenland
go with you,"
of us
ever
We
mind not
for
the wind
and
days
three
sailed
sailing
so
sight
lost
After
failed.
that
Bjarne.
said
away they
of
Iceland.
north wind
set in,
many
This lasted
to.
men,
Then
and fog
Sea before,"
69
days,
the sun
until
at
sky, and lo
detei--
in the horizon
known
it
They approached
land.
They saw
it.
that
and
there were
that
small
hills
Bjarne
inland.
far south
so
he
ward two
when they
days,
it
was
if this
"For
not,
in
was Greenland
flat
ashore,
turning the
Greenland," he
but
said,
when
days,
Bjarne would
not
a third land
go ashore,
reported
of
for
was
it
seen.
Still
was not
like
Greenland.
So
they
70
description of Greenland.
for
it
be
cannot
parts of the
where
he
his father
determined
American
happened
had
with
coast Bjarne
to
land
settled.
certainty
saw
what
but from
sumed
the year
first
the second
first
Nova
whose name
He went
is
Scotia,
The
first
continent,
and
\^
is
recorded, was
Are Marson
(see p. 18).
Chesapeake country),
Irish
CHAPTER
XT.
LEIF ERIKSON,
Xr/^HEK
later,
censured
Bjarne
and
visited
told
of
1000.
JS'orway,
his
few years
adventure,
was
he
in
these lands,
definite
was
and
gone
ashore and
because he could
account of them.
Still,
explored
give no
more
thirty-five
men,
and
found
the
lands just
as
Helluland
(JS'ewfoundland) and in
Markland
(J^ova Scotia),
72
sound.
It
ship
But
the water.
to
ebb-tide,
at
into
sailed
that
so
their
They
before they
desire to land
that
so
much
did they
give themselves
river
out
flows
But
lake.*
as
soon as the
skin
where they
of the
out
cots
up the
river
cast anchor,
ship,
in
and thence
brought their
tents.
There
The
seen.
good that
cattle
Day and
winter.
Greenland or Iceland,
for
till
than
in
in
half-past four in
half-past seven
the
afernoon
in
;
the
which
10"
*This lake
rail, will at first
is
take
in traveling that
way by
B. F. DeCosta. p, 32.
73
i^eif
by
was a prisoner of war, but
had
become Leif s special favorite.
He was missing one
day after they came back
from an exploring expedi-
name Tykker.
tion
He
Leif
eommg home,
The
which
he had found and which
he held up i his hands
shouting: "Weintrauben!
Weintrauben
Weintrauben
" The sight and
taste of this fruit,
to which
he had been accustomed
in his own native
land
had excited him to such
an extent that he seemed
drunk, and for some
time he would do
nothing
but laugh, devour
grapes and talk German,
whicli
language our Norse
discoverers
!
At
last
0r Norse
t. eTr
Z
which
colonists i Vinland
had frequent intercourse
with
ZT:JT Tr
""" '""
means slim,
4
lean
Compare
the
74:
his
surprise,
name
From
this circumstance
that a
Here
tion to
is
'New England.
whom
it
is
lirst
first
pale-faced
end sought,
tion, the
his
The nature
avowed
man
by
expedi-
It
etc.,
was
as clearly defined in
as well understood
by
his coun-
by Columbus
in 1492.
set
heaven
and earth
in
commotion
in reference to the
matter
of going
across
the
Ocean.
bought
seamen
father,
Bjarne's
like
and
Atlantic
engaged
ship,
himself,
set sail
said
//
He
thirty-five
good-bye
to
simply
fearless
his
aged
CHAPTER
XII,
THORVALD ERIKSON,
1003.
The
much
WALD, Leif's
Thorvald
Yinland,
if
"
who went
it
And
like."
so
of,
Then
ex-
and Thor-
the land
that
you
was
but
explored.
little
son,
years;
thought
brother,
talked
said
had
Leif to
ship, brother, to
another expedition
him
cost
his
life,
for in a battle
with
America pierced
his
side,
causing
death.
He
was
one
dust of the
who
first
his
at
Hallowed ground,
this,
Christian
died in America!
gains interest in
at
his
feet.
and the
first
European
in
also
the year
skeleton
in
armor
it
and many of
are so wonderful
76
that
it
skeleton in
time,
year 1841, a
poem about
fearful
his
the
at the
in
the
guest!"
about
This
beginning:
it,
Norway, about
were
discussion,
and
it
!
tell
about his
pine forests of
discovery
America,
of
concerning
which he says:
"Three weeks we westward
And when
Cloudlike
bore,
we saw
the shore
Stretching to leeward;
my
There, for
lady's bower,
Which
to this very
hour
The
following are
the
last
poem:
"Still
grew
Still as
my
bosom, then.
a stagnant
me
Hateful to
The sunlight
The
Island,
in claiming
it,
is
fen,
were men.
hateful
the famous
built by the
shown
1620.
that
it
77
Clad in
Fell I
my
upon
warlike gear,
my
spear,
scars,
Up
My
soul ascended.
warrior's soul:
Thus the
The
a part
tale
ended."
and
skeleton,
found
that
in
composition
ISTorth
it
corre-
during the
old
to correspond
When
wald,
J^orthern armors,
with these in
it
was
found
also
style.
they returned
to
Leifsbudir
(Leif's
booths),
*A
table
shows the
Breastvlate
from
America.
Copper
70.29
^!^
28.03.
Tin
^^^^
0.74
Iron
0.03-
Bronze Article
from
Denmark.
6713
-;;;;2o!39
0.91
924
____^
o OQ
0.11
CHAPTER
XIII
THORSTEIN ERIKSON,
rr^HEN
the
youngest
Sagas
son
us
tell
of
Erik
1005.
Thoestein, the
that
Red, was
the
seized
it
all
Thorstein
stature,
fitted
men
with twenty-five
and
prudence, and
discourse.
they
were
driven they
land,
knew not
several
of
Eriksfjord.
his
on
to
Greenland.
men
the
her
manned
their strength
When
Gudrid.
died,
deep,
and were
Finally they
whither.
western coast of
for
about
tossed
sea,
was
her good
vessel,
for
and
selected
himself
besides
out
to
He
be
Lysefjord,
made
on
the
to
CHAPTER
XIY.
rr^HE
most
distinguished
explorer
He
man.
influential
He
1007.
Yinland
of
was a wealthy
Several of his
ancestors had
In the
two
been elected
Karlsefne
ships.
Erikson, and
festival
whom
of
Erikstjord
with
presents to
Leif
during winter.
After the
to the marriage
to
fall
hospitalities of Brattahlid
Yule
kings.
Norway to
made rich
came from
1006 he
of
Leif
tlie
The
conversation
frequently
that
an
expedition
prospects of gain.
accompanied
by
undertaking,
sailed
his
The
result
wife,
to
thither
held
fair
Yinland
many
out
in
to
the
the spring of
80
The Sagas
lay
persuaded him
appears
also
Imagine
taken a prominent
She
part in
Gudrid talking
Gudrid
that
fact
have
to
Greenland.
upon the
stress
to
Gudrid
and
off in
Thorfinn
Karl-
to her
husband in
this wise;
'^I
ships
remain
to
must
of
be,
leafy
woods
hills.
moss-covered
enough
to
those
like
cliffs
for all
of old
and snow-clad
and
rocks
sandy
Trees
soil.
of
large
of
making
Thick and
us.
settlement there.
it
this
the
searching out
try
in
fit
for
besides
warmth
all
and
and snow.
ice
wofully misnamed
You
can
easily
Truly I think
when they
this
called
it
country was
Greenland."
81
The
now
expedition which
scale than
had preceded
set
it.
manent abode
Yinland was
in
that
went
forth
plain,
women nor
on
Karlsefne,
equipped
fully
for
were
there in
and
safety,
up
Skrsellings
fact
nor
the other
hand,
colonization.
The
and
men
number of
flocks
fifty -one
cattle
and sheep
They
also carried
arrived
all
from the
remained,
compelled
as
has
between
hostilities
them
to give
their colony.
The Saga
enterprises
all
sketch.
Yinland
in
Skrsellings;
etc.
of
I
which
must
interesting fact
and
Gudrid
about the
traffic
with the
that
the
am
attention,
call
year
son was
after
however,
Bay).
the
born to Thorfinn
they had
established
to
(Buz-
82
He
was bora
in
the year
1008,
and
From him
any record.
Thorwaldsen,
lineally
is
in
first
descended,
a long
besides
and distinguished
of learned
train
man of
America we have
he was the
and Denmark.
In the
inscription
is
invited
to
an
is
Inscription.
in
Korsemen frequented.
the
acters
is
written
in
tured.
as
stands
It
charsculp-
early
as
1680,
by Cotton Mather
in
1712;
it
first settlers in
was
said about
talked of by the
before Columbus.
discovering America
Roman
tinctly, in
we
scription
83
read dis-
characters,
CXXXI,
which
Then
is
M(en)."
of Thorfinn's party.
M, which may be
for
number
w^e find
Besides
we have
the word
NAM took
first
letter.
Repeating
we have
these characters
^^^fe
ORFIN, CXXXI,
M,
NAM,
as
fol-
lows:
this
land
(landnam)."
In the lower
which
is
left
woman and
figure of a
the letter
of Gudrid and
S,
is
of
if
Upon
Prof.
the whole,
Rafn's plates
all
at
Taunton River,
in the begin-
The
stort
hundrad
t See page
(great hundred),
22.
CHAPTER
XY.
rXlHE
-*-
Sagas
give
Thus
there
is
elaborate
by
expeditions
accounts
Norsemen
the
to
other
of
Yinland.
year 1011
Then
ditions
by I^orsemen
South
Carolina,
to
The
last
will
sketch.'^^
the year
to 1351,
and
Norway
Green-
communication between
the popu-
some idea of
left
America or elsewhere.
See page
18.
It
is
no surplus popula
CHAPTER XVT
THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS.
WILL now
-*-
of
From
1.
a letter
Washington Irving's
in
maturing in
the
mind
Columbus,
made
he
men
of Iceland,
that their
country beyond
ocean,
which seemed
circumstance
active
not
likely
to
1.
p. 59.
rest
tlie
This was
quietly
in
the
great geographer
86
The
and navigator.
Columbus was
dred and
edly
thirty
people
the
crossed
still
whose
living
Atlantic,
and
it
the
since
last
expedition to Yinland.
^N^orse
when
had
grandfathers
would
be
who was
altogether
constantly
2.
made
Snorre,
a pilgrimage to
of her husband.
It
Rome
related
is
that
death
after the
received,
paid
much
took pains
collect
new
all
charts
and reports
Kome
dominion,
new
The Romans
brought
personal evidence.
3.
clearly
by the
fact
that
at
the Yatican
Pope Paschal
is
II,
Iceland,
Erik Upsi
to
4.
map
and
went personally
87
and
opportunity to see a
of Yinland,
Pinzons,
had
he
it
to
We
mind
Columbus
that
England,
discovery;
were vying
with
France,
each
lived
and
Spain
discovering
in
also
an age of
in
Portugal
other
must
new
But in addition
Writing Rock,
the
tainly
by the
early
giants,
the
to
record
was
cer-
settlers
the
of
Norsemen
the
early
in the
and
we have
writings of
Adam
of Bremen, a
He
nephew
in addition
a remarkable
visited the
of
who
died in
home he wrote
a book
''
On
the
Propa-
88
the end
at
geographical treatise
and
''
North of
On
the
Position of Denmarlt
Having given
YiNLAND,
hecause
grow
vines
spontaneously,
there
up there without
Bremen closes his
remarkable words
heing sown
" This
of
from
throughout
as
Adam
of
men
and
DanesP
Now, Adam
first
pub-
Europe,
studies,
especially
when they
treated
of
the
work?
I
must
why Columbus
1.
Gudrid's
visit
to
Rome.
2.
The
appoint-
3.
Adam
II, of
his
89
4.
The map
pro-
absolute
certainty;
Columbus' own
and,
visit to
5,
and,
if
He
says himself
that he
He
find
therefore,
in
sight of the
new
day
world, he
if lie
dis-
Columbus
a greater
man,
in
90
formed
his opinion
by a chain of
learned writers;
logical deductions
we
knowledge
his theory
We
say,
if
he held
this
the
enviable
firm
name
We
certainty as
is
to
to
possessed
til is
and good
him by Wash-
of
only
not entitled
on
for
scholarship
for
land."
due respect
all
much
conviction
he
biographer,
reputation
never spoke
the promised
fixed in
He
firmness.
upon
"When
became
it
all
those scat-
all
to
he investigated
say, that
that
ordinary minds.
is
tered gleams of
It
gives historical
patience
intellect
facts,
to put together,
importance to the
which
to study out,
The
fault
and
discovery
that
we
is,
frank enough to
tell
that he
91
he
make
dominion of inquisition.
sidered him,
we
as the
still insist
of extraordinary ability.
dicate great
that
It
research,
or inspiration.
inspiration.
It
human
this discovery,
is
to furnish
examples of what
in
the natives.
is
chiefly
fire-arms
to
be
attributed
to
the
fire-arms,
and
them.
In the
Norway and
Washington
If the
Irving.
communication
92
it
is
instead of English.
to
difiicult to
is,
Possi-
CHAPTER
XVII.
CONCLUSION.
"T^UT
it
-^-^
discuss
is
subject
any
farther.
first
white
to
bow
turned the
pose
America.
Let
man who
remember
us
first
his
European and
first
can sod!
who
RiD,
Let us
finding
of
brother,
the
this
established
New
England
man
of European
the ]^ew
World
the
first
nor their
European colony
little son,
blood whose
Snorre, the
birthplace
in
first
was
in
man and
the cause
and
of
Iceland,
crushed
often
that
some
to
lie
it
is
far
let
us
take
this
lesson,
darkened
and
like the
beam
distant
region
that
" truth
truth
may
light
from a
star
the
universe
in
after
94
thousands of years
and gives
it
it
light.
Leif
let
him
''Let us praise
him
us applaud
He
edge.
'
Where now
He
opened
to the
hope invites
ing
successive
generations
from the
old world.
" Such
men
as
an Alexander, or a Tamerlane,
new
Discoverers add
known.
"And
are
not the
more
the troops of
tell
mankind
"
all
To count them
Who
all
"
Value
SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES.
"Der
ar flagga pji
jag
vill folja
vill
Tegner.
ENGLISH VERSION.
'
I will steer
VERY
little
much
known what an
pleasure
quainted with
it.
it
affords
We
We
neglected, if
it
were more
the scholar
who
is
ac-
96
may
justly be considered
competent
importance.
I will
add that
To
knowledge of the Scandinavian languages at once introduces them to several writers of great eminence in the
I will briefly mention a few.
scientific world.
him
He was
(Linngeus)
is
As Linnaeus
is
Ber-
now
in general
use.
He
filled
97
the chair of
and died
Haksteen, and
in
1848.
And now
and astronomy.
dis-
field of
read
we have promised
to
present.
says
"
The
national
records.
"
To
98
narrative
liov/
narrative multiplied
was committed to writing, and how the written relation eventually became sifted and arranged in chrono-
it
logical order."
Samuel Laing,
Esq.
"All
that
men hope
for of
the
British
constitution,
representative
legislature,
mind
by
and person, the influence of public opinion over the conthe
trial
duct of public
affairs,
value to
man
either in
spark
left
in
all
that
is
or has been of
member of society,
America, may be traced to the
modern times
as a
Europe or in
burning upon our shores by the Norwegian
barbarians.
modern Europe.
In
immediately
preceding the first traces of free institutions in our
history, the rude but very vigorous demonstrations of
tions connected with freedom in
we
find, at a period
similar institutions
existing
his time
99
remote, source
most
believe
when
the
first
among
the con-
The
reference of
of the people
Sagas.
is
all
100
'
The
land, are
Sagas, although
composed by natives of
The
Ice-
events,
and they
productions which, like the works of Homer, of
Shakespeare, and of Scott, are strongly stamped with
are
classic
research.
Goths
Of
And it
to
do with
The gods
If
as painted
Parthenon or
M. Mallet
says
annals of a people
greater,
more
little
known.
Had, indeed,
their emigra-
101
which all
and remembrance are soon effaced, the indifference
that has been shown to them would have been sufficiently justified by the barbarism they have been ap-
proached with.
during the
source.
"
But
and of Greece, a
and martial as themselves, a form of
government dictated by good sense and liberty, a restless
unconquered spirit, apt to take fire at the very mention
of subjection and constraint, and a ferocious courage
to the extremities of Spain, of Sicily,
religion simple
102
While the
life.
who settled in the South, colonies of Egypand Phenicians mixing with them upon the coasts
of Greece, and thence passing over to those of Italy,
taught them at last to live in cities, to cultivate letters,
Thus their opinions, their customs
arts and commerce.
and genius, were blended together, and new states were
formed upon new plans. Rome, in the meantime, arose
and at length carried all before her. In proportion as
city of those
tians
manand destroyed, among the nations whom she overpowered, the original spirit with which they were animated. But this spirit continued unaltered in the colder
countries of Europe, and maintained itself there like the
she increased in grandeur, she forgot her ancient
ners,
There
it
renewed
itself
continually from
trod
upon the
the original
for,
during
new adventurers
issuing
incessantly
inexhaustible
country,
new
troops of
waves of the sea. The northern countries, thus overstocked, and unable any longer to contain such restless
inhabitants, equally greedy of glory and plunder, discharged at length upon the Roman Empire the weight
that oppressed them. The barriers of the empire, ill
defended by a people whom prosperity had enervated,
were borne down on all sides by torrents of victorious
armies. We then see the conquerors introducing, among
the nations they vanquished,
viz.,
bosom
and
103
independence and
and
which both the one and the other had
originally derived from the same common source, but
which were then among the Romans breathing their last.
Dispositions and principles so opposite, struggled long
with forces sufficiently equal, but they united in the end,
they coalesced together, and from their coalition sprung
those principles and that spirit which governed afterward almost all the states of Europe, and which, notwithstanding the differences of climate, of religion, and
particular accidents, do visibly reign in them, and retain,
to this day, more or less, the traces of their first common
military
life,
origin.
if
the illustration of
of
its
it
that
is
to say, everything
quainted with
its
its
manners,
which tends
to
make
us ac-
the attention of
thinking men.
obvious by a particular example
:
But
is
it
to render this
not well
known
owe
they
now
104
ment had
a tendency to produce
Is
not
this, in fact,
which
so happily distinguish
our
Asia
rendered
of the
its
its
senate
made amends
to the
human
"The
recommend
earth,
is,
its
Baron
cle
MoiUesquieu (L'Esprit
cle
Lois),
among men.
is,
105
I should ratlicr
fetters
happiness."
abruptness,
metaphors.
its
poetry,
its
the
the
battle,
river,
floats
sea,
fell
in battle he sang to
them
foe.
When
in his Drapa, or
mead
106
grow
the
in
meadows of
He
backs of sheep.
dim
the
He was
earth,
of years,
From
the
deep-voiced
the midnight
gloom of
pines
sea.
Demons
rode the
"Still wilder
Scandinavia.
When
and
its
me
" It
is
to those
who
107
Teutonic race. The religious belief of our remote ancestors, and very many of their primitive legal and social
customs, some of which still influence the daily life of
the people, find their clearest and often their only eluci-
They
nations.
ample of a modern
The
nous.
literature
which
is
completely indige-
Mobius
truly
home, a field^romising
a harvest.
tions,
The few
which
is
nowhere,
are to be
lays, or of the
108
B. F.
De
cating the
us the
first
Costa.
" Let
Northmen we honor
those
who not
only give
it is
to
the
and
political
literary characters,
as navigators,
other
modern nation of
its
time.
endures."
Says Sir
Edmund Head, in
translations in
1<)9
literature.
ville
(1202)
cannot name/' he
^'
(1252);
Don Juan
Cronica General
least the
cle
middle of
Manvel, the
1282.
The
Espana was not composed till at
the thirteenth century. About the
till
same time the language of Italy was acquiring that softness and strength which were destined to appear so conspicuously in the prose of Boccaccio and the writers of
the next century.
" Of course there was more or less poetry, yet poetry
is
something that
is
early developed
among
the rudest
become
which
sits
" There
is
nothing
in a divine tranquillity of
all
110
tu
which
all
Amid
strained.
still
beautiful
They
effeminated earth.
of
portance that
it
generally than
The
spirit in it is
known
to us
sublime and
colossal."
Plikt Miles.
"The
When we
many
The
is
of a most interesting
old Icelanders,
is
when little intellectual light beamed from the surrounding nations, were as devoted and ardent workers in
the fields of history and poetry as any community in the
eWorld
Hi
most learned and indefatigable of our lexicographers, both in England and America,
have acknowl-
yet the
The
thetics
ment
Edda must
The
of
the world, are not more decidedly superior
to the misty
scenes and shadowy forms of Ossian, than the
Northern
Edda
is
in
its
"It
must
suffice to re-
112
equaled, in
all
and
faithful
and
among
nations
Icelandic
it
may
well deserve
The
excellent writer,
"
many
'
markable profession, who v/ere at once the poets, hisand moralists of the Norse race,
the Skalds. These men, before writing was much in
use, handed down by memory, in familiar and often
alliterative poetry, the names and deeds of the brave
Norsemen, their victories on every coast of Europe,
their histories and passions, and wild deaths, their
family ties, and the boundaries of their possessions,
their adventures and voyages, and even their law and
torians, genealogists
113
their mythology.
In fact, all that history and legal documents, and genealogical records and poetry transmit
now, was handed down by these bards of the Norsemen.
Iceland became their peculiar center and home. Here,
bold and vivid language, they recorded in works,
which posterity will never let die, the achievements of
the Vikings, the conquest of almost every peo2)le in
in
e.,
found even among these wild rovers the respect for law
which has characterized every branch of the Teutonic
here, and not in the Sioiss cantons, is the
beginning of Parliament and Congress ; here, and not
with the Anglo-Saxons, is the foundation of trial by jury;
race since;
and
here,
among
their
is that
among
the
The
on the waters.
*Eaven Floki,'
pioneers
who
Here, too,
is
the
and venture
prototype of
those
as
the
American
to
5*
114
dissolute
earthly vices,
continued forever.
of the
Northmen
the
'
shall
alone,
create
new
is
(?)
near
Sagas,
day
is
stated with
such precision as to
fix
the
lati-
115
America.
"
1874.
ever dearest
English
'
116
we
shall find
it
of
ing the
rise
ing up
many dark
cannot
so highly
do
imagine
it
Dr. Dasent,
and
"
No
compared with
this."
And
again:
"Whether
in
Europe
in the
The
distinguished
German
scholar,
Ettmuller,
in
comparing the
literature of the
THP:
SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES.
passed in literature."
And
KT
famous island in the remote Northwith distinguished honor to historical studies, the isle of the Anglo-Saxons is especially
entitled to praise from the fact that it produced orators,
who, considering the time in which they lived, were de-
epic poetry.
If the
itself
cidedly excellent."
Max
is
This
"
The
and
remarkable success.
independent literature grew up, flourished, and was
brought to a certain degree of perfection hefoi^e the rewith
Robert Buchakan,
literature,
says:
118
best
and worst
Hugo
Alfred de Miisset
turned politician.
is
criticism.
scendentalism rises
uncommon
From
like a Phoenix,
a bird too
comprehension, but to
tents
a mystery,
of Carlyle's
Wagner
for ordinary
medium
is
Grillparzer
One
at best.
all in-
tires of
east
far.
Turn northward,
Norway yet as in
of summer tourists
lies
flocks
low.'
upon her
shores,
The
and
There are no
titular.
no 'gag' on the press.
Science and poetry alike flourish on this free soil. The
science is grand as Nature herself, cosmic as well as
microscopic.
The poetry is fresh, light, and pellucid,
worthy of the race, and altogether free from Parisian
rule over
hereditary nobles.
taint."
There
is
THE SCANDINAVIAN
LANC^HJAGES.
119
"
Bjornstjerne Bjornson,* one of the most eminent of living Norwegian authors, is something more
than even the finest pastoral taleteller of this generation.
He
is
He
does not
power of imaginative fancy shown by Wergesuch pieces as Jan van Huysums Blomster-
possess the
landf (in
of Peer
Gyut ;\\
abandon of
but, to
" In
my
delicate characterization.
And
here I
may
observe, inci-
"A
Happy
120
feminine types,
is
worthy
a proof,
to take
creators."
might add to the above quotations from Max MillGrimm and many other eminent writers
but in the first place this article is long enough, and in
the next place the works of the last named authors are
I
ler,
the brothers
accessible to all
ject further.
My
opinion of those
who have
show
that, in the
amply rewarding some attention from American stuOf the good or ill performance of this task the
dents.
reader,
whom
PUBLISHED BY
GRIGGS
S. C.
6- CO.,
CHICAGO.
Religion
ail
the
of Wisconsin.
may
"A
to
masterly work.
No American book
American scholarship, or
is
be regarded as
Boston
Globe.
"I have been struck with the warm glow of enthusiasm pervading it, and with
I sincerely wish it a wide
its descriptions and discussions.
William Dwight Whitney, Professor of Sanscrit
circulation and careful study."
and Comparative Philology, Yale College.
the attractiveness of
"I
like
it
decidedly.
a bit of a
is built
You seem
up.
me
to
to
have that
which the
gift
of poetic
"We
and he
an enthusiastic as well as an able scholar
His volume is deeply interesting as well as
in a high degree instructive.
No such account of the old Scandinavian Mythology
has hitherto been given in the English language.
It is full, and elucidates the
subject in all points of view.
It contains abundant illustrations in literal and
"Professor Anderson
is
pretations of the
By Prof. R.
ury.
B.
Scandinavian Languages.
$1 00
full
to
American history.
is
The
object
very remarkable.
is fully
Notes
and
Queries, London.
described in
its
The book is
wonderment."
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VIKING TALES OF THE NORTH.-The Sagas of Thorstein,Vikand Fridthjof the Bold. Translated from the Icelandic by Prof. R. B.
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is
who wish
University.
will please
and
Scandinavian
and espeBut
literature.
every one will be struck with the majesty and force of that old poetry of the north."
The
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"The
kind.
New
York.
literal translations
Whoever
of Anderson
fails to
New
full
of interest of a rare
is
life
of mankind."
York.
is
*v
The 'Saga of
a very valuable and important one.
* teems with magnificently dramatic situations, the
impressiveness of which are rather increased by the calm directness and dignity with
And these
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The
with
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FRIDTHJOF'S SAGA. A
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Norse Romance.
The grand
Y.
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New
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of the most observant student of human nature. * * * Sweden in the person of
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* The Holcomb translation is so well done that
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*
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"
'
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.
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