IN NORTHERN MISTS 



When the fish is awake and wants to go back [into the sea], it pulls its skin 

 off from the tail along the back and head, and leaves it behind there. And 

 afterwards it is caught not far from the spot, when it has exhausted its 

 Strength, as it floats bloodless upon the sea, or lies half dead on the shore." 



He also tells us that walrus-rope ^ was commonly sold at 

 the fair at Cologne, which shows that walrus hunting must 

 have acquired great importance at that time. It can only 

 have been carried on by the Norwegians (and Icelanders?), 

 the Finns, or Lapps, the peoples of the north coast of Russia, 

 and the Greenlanders. It is unlikely that the ropes were brought 

 all the way from Russia by land to Cologne; they must rather 

 have come from Norway. The Norwegians obtained a certain 

 quantity of walrus-rope (" svarSreip ") through the trade with 

 Greenland, and perhaps with North Russia, but they probably 

 got most from their own hunting in northern waters. The 

 quantity of walrus they could kill in Finmark would not be 

 sufficient to satisfy the demand, and, as suggested earlier (Vol. 

 I, p. 177), they must certainly have sought fresh hunting- 

 grounds, above all eastward in the Polar Sea. 



Norse-Icelandic literature does not tell us that the Norwe- 

 gians in their voyages to Bjarmeland went any farther east than 

 " Gandvik " (the White Sea) and the Dvina. But it is to be 

 noted that the sagas, as a rule, only mention the expeditions of 

 chiefs, with warlike exploits, fighting, and slaughter of one kind 

 or another; while peaceful trading voyages, which were cer- 

 tainly numerous, are not spoken of, nor walrus hunting and 

 hunting expeditions in general, since such occupations were not 

 usually followed by chiefs. We cannot, therefore, expect to find 

 an5rthing in the sagas about countries or waters where there were 

 no people, and where only hunting was carried on. 



From Ottar however, who was not a saga writer, we learn 

 that walrus hunting was practised, and doubtless very per- 

 severingly, in the ninth century (Vol. I, p. 176), and that 

 even at that time he went in pursuit of it as far as the White Sea. 



1 This was very valuable on account of its strength, and was much used for 

 ships' cables, mooring-hawsers, and many other purposes. 

 164 



