KING HAKON'S SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN CHILD. 367 



In the beginning of the battle of the Jomsvikings against 

 Hakon Jarl and his sons luck was against him, and the Jarl 

 called his sons ashore, where he and they met and took 

 counsel. 



" Hakon Jarl said : ' I think I see that the battle begins to 

 turn against us ; and I dislike to fight against these men ; 

 for I believe that none are their equals, and I see that it 

 will fare ill, unless we hit upon some plan ; you must stay 

 here with the host, for it is imprudent for all the chiefs to 

 leave it, if the Jomsvikings attack, as we may at any moment 

 expect. I will go ashore with some men and see what can be 

 done.' The Jarl went ashore north to the island. He entered 

 a glade in the forest, sank down on both his knees and 

 prayed ; he looked northwards and spoke what he thought 

 was most to the purpose ; and in his prayers he called upon 

 his fully trusted Thorgerd Hordatroll ; but she turned a deaf 

 ear to his prayer, and lie thought that she must have become 

 angry with him. He offered to sacrifice several things, but 

 she would not accept them, and it seemed to him the case was 

 hopeless. At last he offered human sacrifices, but she would 

 not accept them. The Jarl considered his case most hopeless 

 if he could not please her ; he began to increase the offer, and 

 at last included all his men except himself and his sons Eirik 

 and Svein. He had a son Erling, who was seven winters old, 

 and a very promising youth. Thorgerd accepted his offer, 

 and chose Erling, his son. When the Jarl found that his 

 prayers and vows were heard, he thought matters were better, 

 and thereupon gave the boy to Skopti Kark, his thrall, who 

 put him to death in Hakon's usual way as taught by him " 1 

 (Fornmanna Sogur, xi. 134). 



Human sacrifices were resorted to by kings in order to 

 lengthen their own life. 



" When King Aun was sixty he made a great sacrifice in 

 order to secure long life ; he sacrificed his son to Odin. King 

 Aun got answer from Odin that he should live another sixty 

 winters. Thereupon he was king for twenty-five winters at 

 Uppsalir. Then Ali the Bold, son of King Fridleif (in Deii- 



which were illustrative of Hellenic toms, funeral observances, or religious 



myths, but since their discovery that creed of their native land " (Dennis's 



of the Grotta del Oreo at Corneto has ' Etruria '). 



afforded us additional proof that the ' From this passage we see that it 



Etruscans did not always confine the was the custom of Hakon Jarl to make 

 pictorial adornments of their sepulchres { sacrifices, but unfortunately the manner 



to the illustration of the peculiar cus- in which he made them is not told. 



