346 



RELIGION. WORSHIP, SACRIFICES, ETC. 



gold. He placed one hand on its head and one on its bristles, 

 and made a vow that never should a man transgress so much 

 that he should not have the lawful judgment of his wise 

 men, and these men should take care of the boar, or else he 

 should come with riddles which the king could not guess" 

 (Hervarar Saga, c. 14). 



In the evening vows were made, and the atonement-boar 

 (xniiar golt) was led forward ; the men laid their hands on it, and 

 made vows at the Bragi toast " (Helga Kvida Hjorvardssonar). 1 



" In the winter the foster-brothers (Ingolf and Leif) made a 

 feast for the sons of the Jarl (Herstein, Hastein and Holmstein, 

 the sons of Atli-jarl). At this feast Holmstein made a vow that 

 he would marry Helga, the daughter of Orn, or no other 

 woman. Men disliked this vow, but Leif was seen to become 

 red (in his face), and he and Holmstein were no friends when 

 they parted at the feast" (Landnama i., c. 3.) 



" Thorodd was with another man at Thorar's. There was 

 a great Yule-feast, the ale being provided by each one himself. 

 There were many besides in the hamlet, who all drank together 

 during Yule. A short way off there was another hamlet. There 

 the brother-in-law of Thorar, a powerful and wealthy man, 

 lived ; he had a grown-up son. They were to drink during 

 the half of the Yule at each other's farm, and first at Thorar's" 

 (St. Olaf, c. 151). 



" One winter at Yuletide, when the people were assembled 

 to drink, Finn said : ' Vows will be made in many places this 

 evening, where it is not better to be than here ; now I vow 

 that I will serve the king who is the highest and in all things 

 surpasses others' ' (Fornmanna Sogur ii., ch. 201.) 



The third, called SigrUut (Victory sacrifice), for luck and 

 victory, occurred in the beginning of spring, about the middle 

 of April, being fixed at that time of the year because warfare 

 and most Viking expeditions took place in the summer. It 

 was in honour of Odin, to whom alone, as we see from the 

 Sagas, sacrifices were made for victory. 2 



In those warlike days sacrifices relating to war were the 

 most important, for the life of the nation depended upon vic- 

 tory, and they were consequently foremost among the people. 



1 Cf. also Herd's Saga and Hervarar 

 Saga, c. 14. The boar was consecrated 

 to Frey. 



2 Cf. also Hakon Adalsteinsfostri's 

 Saga, c. 15; Olaf Tryggvason (Hkr.), 

 c. 28. 



