THE ANCIENT DIGNITY OF HERSIR, 491 



He coped iu runes " Why wilt thou, young Kon, 



Against Rig jarl ; Kill birds ? 



Used tricks Thou shouldst rather 



And outdid him; Horses ride 



Then he got And fell the host. 1 



And then he owned 



The name of Rig, Dan and Danp 



The knowledge of runes. Own costly halls, 



A higher odal 



Ihe young Ron rode m , 



m, j e Than you nave ; 



through copse and forest, ,, 



J hey know well 



Shot the bolt, , J . , 



.,, , , . , lo ride the keel, 



Rilled birds. rp 



lo teach the edges 



Then said a crow ; To cut wounds." 



It sat alone on a bough : 



Towards the end of the Pagan era the grades of the people 

 were Konung, Jarl, Hersir or Lend mann, Hauld, Bondi, Leys- 

 ingi, and Thrall. 



The Hersir. The dignity of Hersir was hereditary and of 

 great antiquity, but was not as ancient as that of the Drottin or 

 Godi. 2 The records in regard to his functions are very meagre. 

 He was the leader of the her (host, or community), their chief in 

 war and in the administration of justice ; high " priest (Godi) " 

 in regard to worship, and as such took care of the temple, super- 

 intended the sacrifices and other religious ceremonies. As a 

 godi he held the farms and estates belonging to the temple, 

 and sometimes received a temple-tax from the boendr for the 

 maintenance of the temple and sacrifices. In most instances 

 the temple property from time immemorial belonged to the 

 Hersir who presided at the Thing. The change of the name 

 of the ruler from that of Godi to that of Hersir seems to point 

 to the time when the temporal and spiritual authority were 

 united, but we have no knowledge how it came to pass- 

 probably it did so very gradually and insidiously. 



By Harald Fairhair the independence of the Hersir, con- 

 sequently of the Herad, was well-nigh annihilated, and the 

 former never regained his position. Thus died this ancient 

 and noble dignity, connected with the very earliest history of 

 the ancestors of the English-speaking people. It was an office 



1 From this we see that the business 

 of a young kins; was war. 



2 See p. 525. 



