CHAPTER XXII. 



RELIGION. HUMAN SACRIFICES. 



Sacrifices to Odin Human sacrifices resorted to on momentous occasions 

 Kings sacrificed Children sacrificed by their fathers Sacrifice to pro- 

 long life Warriors given to Odin after battle Sacrificing springs 

 Sacrifices on Thor's stone Sacrificing place at Blomsholm Sacrificing 

 mound The blood-eagle sacrifice Giving oneself to Odin on a sick- 

 bed The earliest account of human sacrifice in the North The 

 abandonment of human sacrifices. 



BESIDES the sacrifices already mentioned others were held 

 when the aid of the gods was required; the most important 

 of them were human sacrifices, which were offered in times 

 of great calamity, such as famine, or in order to avoid some 

 great evils, or to obtain victory, or for some other weighty 

 reasons. 



" At this time occurred a very bad year in Reidgotaland, and 

 it looked as if the land would become a waste. Lots were 

 then thrown by the wise men, and they threw the sacrificing- 

 chip ; the answer came that there never would be a good year 

 in Reidgotaland until the highest-born boy in the land should 

 be sacrificed. A Tiling was summoned, and all agreed that 

 Angantyr, sou of Heidrek, was the foremost there, because of 

 his kin, but nobody dared to mention it. Then they resolved 

 to submit this question to the decision of King Hofund in 

 Glo3sisvoll (Heidrek's father); the most high-born were to be 

 chosen for the journey, but everybody declined. King Harakl 

 and many others asked King Heidrek to assist in deciding this 

 question, and he consented. He at once had a ship made ready, 

 on which he went with many renowned men, and sailed to 

 Risaland. When King Hofund heard of his arrival he at once 

 wanted to have him slain, but Queen Hervor remonstrated, and 

 so managed that they were quite reconciled. Then Heidrek 

 told his errand and asked for his decision, and Hofund said 

 that his son was the foremost in the land. At this King 

 Heidrek changed colour and thought the case became difficult ; 

 he asked his father to give him advice how to save the life of the 

 boy. Hofund said : ' When thou goest home to Reidgotaland, 

 thou must summon the men to a Thing from thy possessions 



