580 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



have been the <>Towth of centuries before the times of Tacitus; it is 

 also an historical fact that the fleets of powerful nations do not remain 

 idle, and we thus may infer that the Suioiies navigated the sea long 

 before the time of Tacitus; it is not at all improbable that in follow- 

 ing the coast they extended their journeys to Brittany and Gallia. 



The Ronmn writers after Tacitus mention the naval expeditions of 

 the Saxons and Franks, whose names do not occur in Tacitus, hence, 

 summing u]i all the preceding considerations, it is not improbable that 

 they are the identical people whom Tacitus described as the Suioues 

 and who included all the tribes of the North beyond the line of Roman 

 conquests. 



Sar/as. — The second and more lecent record of the people of the North 

 is found in the sagas. With reference to tliese Laing' says: "It does 

 not appear that any saga manuscrii)t now existing has been written 

 before the fourteenth century, however old the saga itself may be. It 

 is known that in the twelfth century Are, Frode, Siemund, and others 

 began to take the sagas out of the traditionary state and fix them in 

 writing, but none of the original skins appear to have come down to 

 our time, but only some of the numerous copies of them." It is also 

 stated that Saxo Grammaticus has depended on many Icelandic sagas 

 which had then not existed in writing. 



Extensive bibliographies of the saga literature are given in the 

 Heimskriugla and in other works.^ 



The extent of the Northern saga literature being comparatively lit- 

 tle known I reproduce liere a bibliographical list as given by Rasmus 

 B. Anderson in his latest revision of the Heimskriugla. As stated by 

 him " the list is taken from that given by Thormod Torf;eus in his 

 ' Series Dynastarum et Regum Danise,' from that given by Miiller in 

 his ' Sagabibliothek,' and from that of Biorn Haldorson. The notes on 

 the date and contents are extracted chiefly from Miiller's work. The 



' Heimskriugla, trauslatioii by Laing i, 23. 



^ Siio7-re Stiirlasoii : Heimskriugla (Laiug's translation) i, 17. Burton : Ultima Thule 

 I, 237. Bariiig-Gonlcl : Iceland, its scenes and sagas. London, 1863. Appendix 

 D. Karl Maurer : Ueber die Aiisdrlicke altnordisiclie, altnorwegische nud isUindische 

 Sprache. Miiuchen, 1867 (also in Abli. K. B. Akad. d. Wiss.). G. P. Marsh : Transla- 

 tion of P. E. Miiller's 'Origin, progress, and decline of Icelandic historical literature' 

 (in the Amer. Eclectic, N. Y., 1841,vols. i, ii). Lindblohm: Translation of Bishop Troll's 

 Letters sur rislande. Paris, 1781 (cf. P/nA,er^o«'s Voyages, vol. i). Chavanne: Biblio- 

 graphy of the Polar Region, p. 95. Geo. R. BoeUmer : Bibliography of the volcanoes, 

 earthciuakes, and geysers of Iceland, p. 513. Solberg's list of illustrative works 

 appended to Andemoiih- version of Horn\s list of the Scandinavian North. Poole'a 

 Index, 2). 622, and supplement p. 214. A Compendious History of the Goths, Swedes, 

 and Vandals, and other northern people. London, 1650 and 1658 (translated from the 

 Latin of Olaus Magnus). Srearikes HiatorUi : Stockholm, 1746-'62. Malleffn Northern 

 Antiquities. London edition, 1847. Wlieaton : Northmen. Xavier Marmier : Histoire 

 de I'Islande. Dahlmann, F. C: Geschichte von Diinemark, 1840-'43. Geijer, E. J.: 

 History of Sweden, I^nglish translation. Loudon, 1845; CTerman tr.anslatiou, Ham- 

 burg and Gotha, 1832-'57. 



