214 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF LITERATURE 
or for ensuring success! Odin, with his murderous lance ; Thor, 
with his mace, the emblem of violence ; these were the gods whose 
goodwill they propitiated ; and, when their sages discoursed to them 
of the Valhalla,* with its eternal ‘combats and its inebriating ban- 
quets dispensed by Valkyriar, all this to them constituted the Fu- 
ture ; to them, it was their Heaver! 
Another difficulty obstructed the propagation of Christianity 
among the northern people: this was their language. The French, 
English and German missionaries who successively undertook this 
beneficent office, were alike ignorant of the primitive Icelandic 
tongue and of the modern Scandinavian dialects. In A.D. MLxxvu1, 
Pope Gregory expostulated with the prince Harald Svendsson con- 
cerning this difficulty, and invited him to send some Danish youths 
to Rome, to be instructed in the principles of the Christian religion ; 
and, on returning home, to explain these to their countrymen. 
Like Julian the apostate, Svend Treskiceg the successor of Ha- 
rald renounced the Christian faith, and endeavoured to restore the 
worship of idols. Nevertheless, in spite of the people’s indifference 
to the precepts of the Gospel, and in spite of the impediments op- 
posed to the zeal of missionaries, the voice of Everlasting Truth 
had gradually gained attention, and the Bible was adopted for the 
* In the centre of Ida plain, that is the zenith of the heavens, the #sir 
raised Valhalla, the chief abode of the Gods. Its roof is formed of glittering 
spears and shields; mail corslets are scattered over the seats; the wolf 
guards the western gate; the eagle hangs overhead. Thither the souls of 
the brave are invited to drink the good mead by Odin. They are served by 
celestial Valkyriar ; listen to the harp of Bragi the eloquent ; or pursue the 
exercises of war. Twelve other halls, answering to the signs of the zodiac, 
were also raised by the Hsir. Among these halls, were Alfheim, the dwelling 
of Freyr, the sun-god ; Breidablick, the wide-shining palace, once the habita- 
tion of Baldur ; and Vingol/, the hall of Freya, the moon-queen, where the 
Einheriar and Valkyriar, the pure on earth, join in immortal dances and en- 
joy the happiness of heaven. Odin, the all-father, the father of victories, 
daily selects from the dead those who, by their deeds and virtues, are thought 
worthy of Valhalla. His two ravens, Hugin and Munnin, memory and un- 
derstanding, fly abroad every morning at daybreak and return at meal-time, 
when they whisper to Odin all that has taken place on earth, to enable him 
to make a worthy choice. The VWalkyriar are his messengers to choose the 
slain on earth and to minister to them in Valhalla. The shooting stars were 
thought by the Northmen to he these Valkyriar, and their appearance 
denoted approaching battle. See The Wolusypa, with a free translation and 
illustrative notes; by T. Smith, F.S.A. 8vo, Leicester, 1838, p. 19 and 35, 
—a remarkable Monograph, very highly distinguished by the purest literary 
elegance and the most judicious archzeological research. 
