2"'> S. X. Sept. 1. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



179 



lors' Company is " Concordia parvae res crescunt," 

 which John Wilkes translated " Nine tailors make 

 a man." J, K. 



Mi^ttllmxtauS. 



MONTHLY FEUILLETOX ON FRENCH BOOKS. 



1. Essni sur le Rigsmaal- Saga et sur les trois Classes de 

 la Societe Germanique, par M. de Ring, 12". Paris. Ben- 

 jamin Duprat. 



It is well known that there are two Eddas; the first, 

 written in a metrical form, and the older of the two, 

 contains a series of Sagas, or heroic and mj'thologic 

 poems, which tradition preserved in the North till the 

 establishment of Christianity ; the second, of more re.- 

 cent date, is in prose; it was composed, at least it is 

 thought to have been composed, by Snorro Sturleson, and 

 is a complete exposition of the whole system of Norse 

 mj'thologj'. The Rigsmaal- Saga (poem or Song of Rig), 

 belongs to the former collection, and is extremely in- 

 teresting, because in it the author has described the three 

 classes which constituted the Germanic society. In ex- 

 amining it, therefore, if we are bound to take into due ac- 

 count whatever share of literary merit it may possess, we 

 must especially view it as a kind of piece justificative of 

 ancient history, and see how far the statements it sup- 

 plies aj;^ corroborated, in this respect, b}' other contem- 

 porary writers, either Teutonic or Latin. This is pre- 

 cisely what M. Maximilian de Ring has done ; and the 

 commentary he has added to his reprint of the Rigsmaal- 

 Saga seems to us peculiarly valuable, as illustrating the 

 political condition of the Teutonic race towards the be- 

 ginning of the mediaeval period. Without entering into 

 any minute detail about the metrical structure of the 

 poem, or the circumstances of its composition, we may 

 just say that its purpose is to describe the peregrinations 

 of the God Heimdall, who under the name of Rig gives 

 birth during his journey to three individuals, the repre- 

 sentatives or prototypes of the three classes of persons 

 which formed the Germanic polity. Tral was the eldest 

 of Rig's children, and Trael is clearly the slave, the serf, 

 of foreign extraction, accustomed to hard labour, and in- 

 capable of rising to a higher position in society. We 

 .quote a stanza from the poem : — 



" Nam hann meir at )jat 

 magno urn Kosta, 

 bast at binda, 

 byr'Sar gorva, 

 bar hann heim at J>at 

 hris gerstan dag." 



That is to saj', in English : " He learnt from an early 

 period how to make use of his strength, by putting to- 

 gether the bark of trees, binding burdens, and dragging 

 home faggots all day long." 



On the contrary, Karl, the second son of Rig, and re- 

 presentative of the freeholders, although not belonging to 

 the highest order, will clearly be able to get out of his 

 comparatively humble position, and to become even a 

 large landed proprietor. Karl, in his turn, has children 

 of his own ; the bard or poet taking care to give them 

 names implying the chief qualities which are character- 

 istic of agriculturists. The list is as follows : — 



" het Hair at Drengr, 

 Hcildr, 4egn, Smi'Sr, 

 Brei^rbindi, 

 Bundinskeggi, 

 Bin ok Boddi, 

 Brakskeggr ok Skeggr," 



The third and last son of Rig is Jarl, the warrior, who, 

 from his tenderest infanc}-, was accustomed to all the 

 exercises and pastimes connected with the chase, the field 

 of battle, and similar engagements. The Saga takes 

 care to put forth before us the unfortunate Trael and his 

 descendants as bound down for ever to their menial em- 

 ployment—incapable of thought, and condemned to ever- 

 lasting degradation. Karl, on the other hand, occupies 

 an intermediate position ; but he is a free man, and this 

 simple fact is enough to ensure his prosperity. Jarl, the 

 chief of the aristocracy, by taking for his wife the lovely 

 Erna, daughter of Herse, who belonged to the Karl 

 family, proves that a species of equality exists between 

 the two races. 



In commenting on the curious poem which we have 

 just been alluding to, M. de Ring proves very clearly that 

 it embraces in a true, though necessarily' concise manner, 

 the leading facts which historians and original documents 

 have preserved respecting the constitutions of Teutonic 

 society. The Saga ends abruptly with the address of a 

 raven, who, speaking to Koiir the young (Kour ungr) 

 son of Karl, urges him to leave his country and to start 

 at the head of his army for the purpose of conquering 

 other lands. The bird of Odin, in his endeavours to 

 rouse the dormant energies of the young warrior, quotes 

 the examples of Dan and Danp, the two princes who 

 subdued Denmark and gave it its name. This circum- 

 stance is worth noting as fixing the date of the tradition 

 upon which the Rigsmaal-saga is grounded ; for if we 

 believe the mythical story, Dan was the eighth descendant 

 from Odin in a direct line. We may conclude, moreover, 

 from our poem, as well as from the corroborative tes- 

 timony of Snorro Sturleson in the Ynglinga- Saga, that no 

 person belonging to the Scandinavian tribes could as- 

 sume the title of King (Cyning, Konig) before he had 

 given proofs of his valour in foreign warfare, as well as 

 in martial employments and pursuits at home. ^ 



With these few remarks we shall dismiss M. de Ring's 

 Essai sur la Rigs7naal- Saga as a work of much interest 

 to those who are engaged in researches on the earlj' his- 

 tory of the Teutonic races. 



Sermon inedit de Jean Gerson sur le Retour des Grecs 

 a V Unite, preche en presence de Charles VI. en 1409; 

 puhlie pour la premiere fois d'apres le Manuscrit de la Bib- 

 liotheque ImpSriale, par le Prince Augustin Galitzin. 4°. 

 Paris, Benjamin Duprat. 



Prince Galitzin is well known as a fervent Roman 

 Catholic and an indefatigable writer. Converted, himself, 

 from the Russian faith, like Madame Swetchine and other 

 of tis distinguished compatriotes, he is most energetic in 

 endeavouring to bring back to what he deems the true 

 church those who still refuse their allegiance to the 

 successor of Saint Peter. But in addition to this. Prince 

 Galitzin has done, and is now doing, much for the cause 

 of literature. Not only does he devote his large private 

 fortune to the publication of rare and valuable works, 

 but, as we have just said, he has enrolled his name on 

 the list of authors, and in that quality contributed much 

 to make us acquainted with the history and antiquities 

 of his own countrj'. 



Discours sur P Origine des Russiens et de leur miraculeuse 

 Conversion, par le Cardinal Baronius, traduict en Frangois 

 par Marc Lescarbot : Discours merveilleux et veritable de 

 la Conquete faite par le jeiine Demetrius ; Legationes AleX' 

 audrince et Ruthenice Ecclesiarum ad Clementem VIII., 

 Pont. Max., ex annalibus Baronii deprompta, etc. etc. 



Such are the titles of a few publications for which we 

 are indebted to Prince Galitzin, and which are clear evi- 

 dences, at once of his enlightened patriotism and of his 

 religious zeal. The brochure we notice on the present oc- 



