WALL ORNAMENTATION. 247 



" King Gunnar was put into a pit in which were many 

 snakes, and his hands were tied firmly. Gudrun sent him a 

 harp ; he showed his art, and played on it with great skill, 

 striking the strings with his toes. He played so well and 

 wonderfully that few thought they had heard the harp played 

 so well with hands, and he continued this idrott until all the 

 snakes fell asleep except a large hideous viper, which crawled 

 to him, and pierced into his body with its snout till it reached 

 his heart ; and there he lost his life with great prowess " 

 (Volsunga Saga, c. 37). 



The halls had two doors, one for the men, the other for 

 women ; l many of them, which were often covered with 

 designs in ironwork and runic inscriptions, must have been 

 extremely beautiful. Sweden is especially rich in them. The 

 church door of Versas, represented on the next page, is un- 

 doubtedly of great antiquity, as the svastica is found upon it. 



The walls of the halls were hung with tapestry, made by the 

 wives and daughters of the family, often representing the 

 deeds of their forefathers or those of their lord ; the carvings 

 on the walls were occasionally very fine. An idea of the vast 

 size of these festive halls can be gleaned from the number of 

 guests and attendants they could hold. Some walls were 

 adorned with shields put so closely together that they over- 

 lapped each other ; many were inlaid or ornamented with gold 

 and silver, which must have added to the brilliancy of the 

 scene. 



" King Knut began his journey to Borgundarholrn (Born- 

 holm), where Egil had made a grand feast for him ; he went 

 to this with a large hird. 2 There he had a hall as large as a 

 king's, hung all over with shields " (Flateyjarbok iii., p. 401). 



" King Harald Sigurdarson came to the chief Aslak, and 

 invited himself to his house. Aslak went to meet him, and 

 received him very well. The king and his men were shown in 

 to a hall and seated ; it was covered with shields and most 

 splendidly adorned in all respects " 3 (Flateyjarbok iii., p. 401). 



Once Thorfinn (an Icelandic poet) sat on an easy chair 

 before King Olaf. The king said to him : 



1 "The Ian 1 -owner shall pay the value 2 Bodyguard, 



of the laud at the Karlibjr (men's door)." 3 Cf. also Njala, 117. 



Gnigas ii. 



