340 
collections which the clergy in other countries succeeded in 
destroying. The Irish annals, therefore, differ only in regard 
to language from the Latin annals of other countries ; whilst the 
Icelandic sagas, like historical novels, are quite descriptive of 
the state, the manners, and the habits of the people at the 
periods to which they referred. 
Mr. Worsaae here read a scene of the saga of King Ha- 
rald Haardraade (cap. 99), which gives an idea of the origin 
of the sagas. It shewed that in Iceland there were men whose 
principal business it was to learn sagas and tell them to the 
people; such men were called sagamen, and they were very 
often bards (Skjalde). These bards accompanied kings on 
their expeditions, or lived at their courts, both in Scandinavia 
and in foreign countries. Several bards are known to have 
been in Ireland with the Norse Kings of Dublin. ‘They had 
thus the best means of obtaining information respecting all 
events of importance. Both the bards, the vikings, and the 
merchants, after they had returned to their home, amused the 
people in the long winter evenings by describing the battles 
and other events they had been present at. This was an amuse- 
ment in the house of the yeoman and in the hall of the king, 
The scene of the saga just quoted furnishes a proof that the 
sagamen and bards did not think it necessary to flatter the 
kings. On the other hand, the old Danish and Norse kings 
themselves were not very fond of flattery: the well-known 
story of the Anglo-Danish king, Canute, and the flatterers on 
the sea-shore, presents a striking example of this. We have 
thus an assurance of the general truth of the old sagas. 
A few other extracts from the sagas, particularly illustrating 
the connexion between Ireland and Scandinavia, were read by 
Mr. Worsaae. The first was a dialogue between Eistein and 
Sigurd the Crusader, both Kings of Norway in the twelfth 
century, and sons of the Norse King Magnus Barfod or Bare- 
foot (so called because he wore the Highland dress), who was 
killed in Ulster, a.p.1103. Sigurd had been married, as the sagas 
