KEY TO THEM. * 327 



a shield, and iu the ship an animal holding a "fot-sit/a," 

 or emblem of a "foot-print," in its mouth) to render it 

 quite impossible even to guess their import. Then, again, 

 there are other figures having no counterpart in nature, 

 and can therefore be only considered as creations of the 

 artist's own brain, and the meaning of which was only 

 known to himself, and those to whom he chose to 

 impart it. It is tbese fancy figures (if I may so call 

 them), coupled with the strange arrangement of some 

 whose signification is tolerably well known, that has 

 bewildered the learned, and caused them to cease from 

 all further attempts to decii)her the Hallristningar, " now 

 looked on as a puzzle that never can be guessed." 



Large limbs and members (particularly aiooTa avfifog), 

 it may be proper to state, are understood to mean courage 

 and virility ; upraised and unarmed hands, fear ; fot- 

 sitlor or foot-prints, journeys, more especially on foot (if 

 near a ship, a landing on the enemy's coast ; but if 

 attached to the prow of a vessel, it has been captured by 

 boarding) ; horses, riding ; horned cattle, spoil taken from 

 the foe ; stags, elks, wild beasts, &c., hunting ; serpents, 

 witchcraft, cunning, and prudence ; birds,* defeat ; 

 weapons of attack, combats, and shields, victory and mar- 

 tial renoicn. Ships imply voyages by sea and Viking 

 expeditions ; if they be without tlie usual upright lines, 

 which represent the crew, it is a sign that the men have 

 perished in battle. The so-called nAla — a mere dot 

 or jooint — is generally a symbol of unity of numbers, as 

 in the ancient Mexican hieroglyphics ; though not unfre- 

 quently it signifies misfortunes ; as, for example, lohen 



'' Everj^vhere, when a battle is depicted, bii-ds are invariably seen, in 

 like manner as in the "Sagas," which, when describing a combat, always 

 make mention of the Raven and the Eagle as tJui guests of heroes and of the 

 ensanguined field. 



