358 



ALTAKS, TEMPLES, HIGH-SEAT PILLARS, ETC. 



property of powerful and wealthy bcendr, 1 as may be inferred 

 from the fact that some chiefs when they left the country 

 tore them down and took them away, together with the temple 

 mould on which they stood, which was holy. 



" Ketilbjorn, a famous man in Norway, went to Iceland, and 

 dwelt at Mosfell. He was so rich in personal property that he 

 told his sons to make a cross-beam of silver in the temple 

 which they were building. As they would not, he with his 

 thrall Haki and his bondmaid Bot drove the silver up on the 

 mountain with two oxen ; they hid it so that it has never 

 been found since; then he killed Haki in Hakaskard, and 

 Bot in Botarskard " (Landnama v. 12). 



'Thorhad the old was temple-priest in Thrandheim, in 

 Moeri. He wished to go to Iceland, but first took down the 

 temple, and carried with him the temple mould and the altars. 

 He came into Stodvar-ijord and made the whole fiord as holy 

 as the temple place in Mceri, and allowed nothing to be slain 

 there except homestead cattle. He lived there all his life after- 

 wards ; the Stodfirdiugs are descended from him " 2 (Landnama). 



The liof-godi or temple-priest was occasionally a woman. 



" Stein vor was a priestess, and took care of the head temple ; 

 to this all boendr had to pay temple tax. Steinvor went to the 

 chief Broddhelgi, for she was related to him, and told him her 

 trouble, that Thoneif, the Christian, did not pay temple tax 

 like other men. Broddhelgi said he would take up this case 

 for her against Thorieif." a 



1 Landowner (see p. 496). 



2 Adam of Bremen about 1070 writes 

 that not far from Sictonn (Sigtuna) is 

 the temple Ubsola, where were the 

 three gods, Thor, Wodan and Fricco 

 (Frey). What he says about this temple 

 makes it evident that not only its roof 

 but also the whole inside of the structure 

 was covered with gold plates. Further 

 he says that close to it there was a 

 large tree, which no one knew, and 

 which stretched its branches far out, 

 and was always green, as well as a 

 spring, near which the heathen made 

 their sacrifices, and wherein a live man 

 was thrown ; the people believed that 

 his wishes would be fulfilled, in case he 

 sank; also a golden chain went around 

 the temple, and hung from the roof. 



3 b>a.\o writes that the Danish king 



Halfdan journeyed to Upsala in order to 

 find out the cause of his daughter's 

 sterility, and was answered that he must 

 first satisfy the spirit of his brother, 

 whom he had unwittingly slain ; this he 

 did, and then she, in accordance with 

 the promise of the oracle, bore Harald 

 Hilditonn. 



At the present old Upsala church 

 there were discovered the foundations of 

 an old building, a mass of coals, molten 

 copper and silver pieces, with small 

 traces of pure gold, as well as a rusty 

 nail with a little gold on it, and finally 

 skulls of pigs and hawks, and cheek- 

 bones and teeth of horses, all of which 

 tend to show that the old heathen temple 

 of Upsala, so famous during pagan times, 

 stood there. (Verelius Notae in epist. 

 def. Sheft'eri, p. 16.) 



