332 



sr RIALS. 



" Then she went down to the sea, and when it dawned she 

 saw that the ships had left. The vikings had been afraid of 

 the thunderings and the fires in the island " 1 (Hervarar Saga, 

 c. 10). 



Burial in ships. The mode of burial in ships would appear 

 to have belonged exclusively to the North, where it seems to 

 have been in much favour, and shows in a remarkable manner 

 the seafaring character of the people. 



Until recently few descriptions have been more ridiculed by 

 persons who did not believe in the Saga literature, than those 

 which gave accounts of burials of chiefs, warriors, and others 

 in ships. Here again archaeology has come to our aid to prove 

 the truthfulness of the Sagas, and in such a perfect manner as 

 to settle the question beyond controversy ; for we find ships in 

 which the body of the dead warrior was not burned, and other 

 ships which have been used as a pyre. The earliest account 

 of such burial is in Voluspa, amplified in the later Edda, 

 which gives us a vivid description of the funeral of Baldr, the 

 son of Odin. 



" The Asar took the body of Baldr and carried it down to 

 the sea. Hringhorni was the name of Baldr's ship ; it was 

 larger than any other ship. The gods wanted to launch it for 

 the burning -voyage of Baldr, but it did not move. Then the 

 gyg (Jotun-wonian) 2 in Jotunheim, named Hyrrokkin, was sent 

 for. She came riding on a wolf, with snakes for reins. She 

 leapt from the steed, and Odin called to four Berserks to take 

 care of it, but they could not hold it except by throwing it 

 down. She wenfcto the stem of the ship and pushed it forward 

 at the first attempt, so that fire issued from the rollers and the 

 ground trembled. Then Thor grew angry, seized his hammer, 

 and would have broken her head if the gods had not asked 

 him to spare her. The body of Baldr was carried out on the 

 ship, and his wife Nanna, Nep's daughter, on seeing tiiis died 



1 I visited the island of Samso iu order 

 to see if I could discover any indication 

 of the mound of Angantyr. This island 

 stands in the middle of the gpeat belt ; 

 it is only in clear weather that part of 

 the coast of the peninsula of Jutland can 

 be seen; its shores are in many parts 

 lined with huge boulders. In some parts 

 mounds, passage graves, dolmens, &c., are 

 to be seen ; everything tends to show that 

 in olden times it was a great burial place. 



Many of the mounds are either hidden 

 by woods, or stand solitary amidst culti- 

 vated fields. The scene described in 

 Hervara came forcibly upon my mind, 

 and I wondered not that Hervor knew 

 not where the mound of her father wa-. 

 This island was well chosen for the rest- 

 ing-place of these men of the sea. 



- The gyg (ogress, witch) seem to 

 have been women of Jotun race, pos- 

 sessing supernatural strength. 



