ANIMALS FOR SACRIFICES. 



347 



"Dag, son of Hogni, made a sacrifice to Odin, to avenge his 

 father (who was slain by Helgi) ; Odin lent his spear to him. 

 Dag met his brother-in-law Helgi at the place called Fjotur- 

 lund, he pierced him with the spear, and Helgi fell there " 

 (Helga kvida Hundingsbana II). 1 



"In Sweden it was an old custom, from heathen times, that 

 the chief sacrifice (hofudblot) should be at Uppsalir in the 

 month of Goi, and that the sacrifice should be for peace ami 

 victory for the King, and men should come thither from all 

 over the Swedish realm " (St. Olaf, c. 76, Heimskringla). 



When Hakon jarl returned from Denmark, he ravaged 

 both shores. 



" When he had sailed eastward as far as the Ganta Skerries 

 (rocky islets), he went ashore and made a great sacrifice. Two 

 ravens, which croaked loudly, flew towards him, and the jarl 

 thought that Odin must have accepted the sacrifice and that he 

 would have a good chance of victory. He thereupon set fire 

 to his ships and burned them all, and went into the country with 

 his men with warlike intentions " (Fornmanna Sogur, vol. i.). 



Sacrifices. The superintendents of the sacrifices as we have 

 seen were in the earliest times in the North the Hofgodi 

 (temple priests), who were called Diar and Drotnar, and were 

 held in great esteem and veneration by the people ; but in 

 later times temporal rulers were also priests, and had charge 

 of the sacrifices. 2 



" All over Sweden men paid taxes to Odin ; one penning 

 (piece of money) for every nose; and lie had to defend their 

 land against war ; and sacrifice for a good year " (Ynglinga 



Saga, c. 8). 



The animals for sacrifice, which were generally oxen, horses, 

 sheep, boars, and falcons, fattened in order to be of large size 

 and fine appearance, were slaughtered by the temple priest, 

 and in later times, as a rule, in front of the idols. 3 Sometimes 

 the superintendence of the sacrificing feast alternated between 

 a certain number of the foremost boandr * of the fylki. 5 



"It happened in Sweden that the bull which was to lie 

 sacrificed was old and so well fed that it was vicious ; when 



1 Cf. Hakon Adalsteinsfostri's Sa^a, 

 c. 15. Snorri's Olaf Tryggvason, c. - JX. 



2 See chapter on Godis, p. 52o. 



3 Olaf Tryggva^on in Fins. ii. 173. 



4 See p. 4-96, a landowner. 



5 St. Olaf 115, Heimskringla. 



