



INAVIAK MYTH": 



KINO. 



M 



ha* chosen are immediately conveyed, while the other half are received 

 by the Valkyrien in Valhalla. Ijwtly. in Idavolle i* the Mat of 

 judgment, under the aah Yggdra*il. HI-.., the action* of god* and 

 HMO. Saats were bore provided for the twelve god* already men- 

 tioned. In like manner, upon earth, court* of judgment were t.. i. 

 hfld under a aacnd tree and near a sacred well After having dis- 

 [anssil justice, the A*ar ride on splendid horses. 6. Thrymhcim 

 (groaning or thunder-home), where dwelt the giant Thiami, and after 

 his death hi* daughter Skadi. 7. Breida-blik (world-glancing) the 

 most magnificent of the heavenly dwelling*, where i* not the least soil, 

 and which U Baldur* residence. 8. Himun biorg (heavenly palace) on 

 the border of the celestial region, where resides the wine god Heiuidall, 

 who is entrusted with the care of the bridge Windhjalm, from K-inj- 

 n: 01111-1 of the Giallarhorn, which i* heard throughout the world, 

 iroiu his sleeplessness, and from hi* wonderfully acute senses ; in order 

 that the Asar may not be unex|>cctdly surprised, one end of this 

 bridge, called Bifrbst (rainbow), i* close to HeimdaU's abode. At 

 the time of the destruction of the world, the invader* from Ifaafsjheim 

 will attempt the passage, the bridge will break or dissolve. 9. Folkn- 

 vaogr (field of the combatant*}, the abode of Freyja ; a splendid 

 palace, surrounded by a beautiful garden, in which is the hall Sessruniri , 

 wherein the fortunate, who have been selected by the benevolent 

 goddess, enjoy every bliss the world can bestow. 10. ( i litnir (splendour), 

 lai-r <( Forseti, resting on gnldm pillars, the windows of 

 diamonds, and the roof covered with silver. 11. Noa-tun (Newcourt), 

 the palace of Niord; and 12. Laudvidi (Broadland), overgrown with 

 long gnus, that of Vidur. 



That under the symbols of these twelve palaces, the twelve months. 

 or the zodiacal signs, are to be understood, there can be little doubt, 

 though it has been controverted, and although we are unable to decide 

 ln. -h month or sign the various palaces are meant to represent. 



In Asgard the gods had placed their dwellings in the earliest times 



.t), and they will all perish in the general conflagration. But 



this conflagration, though destroying everything, is to give birth to a 



new creation, in which Asgard will re-appear with increased splendour, 



and the Asar will revive to resume their original powers. Odin and 



Thor only will disappear, and the late palace of Odin will become, after 



this terrific crisis, the abode of Baldur and Hodur. In the first poem, 



ius-pd (the decision or judgment of the Veli or prophetess ), it 



u said, 



" The sun becomes black, The earth sinks in the sea, 

 From heaven fall The blight stars, 



A fiery vortex rages round The all-nourishing world's tree, 

 The hot flames Lick the rkics." 



After which the Asar are to reassemble, to find fields that bear produce 

 without sowing, whence everything evil has vanished ; and 



" There ride the mighty To the council (or judgment] of the gods ; 

 The great above all. Who guide* all things. 

 He decides dispute). Appeases quarrel*, 

 And ordains for ever His institutions." 



Of this " great above all," the ' HyndluHodh ' (the song of Hyndlu) 

 nay*, after having given a genealogy of the Asar : 



"Then come* another. Mightier th:m he, 

 Yet him to name I do not venture. 

 Few would wish Further to look 

 Than when Odin The wolf attacks." 



AVe shall not attempt to give any of the legends incorporated with 

 this system, nor with the esoteric meaning. On the whole it. will In- 

 seen that the deities are personifications of physical forces and of 

 human passions, fashioned by a northern imagination. J. Grimm, in 

 his ' Deutsche Mythologie/ endeavours to prove that the northern 

 deities are nearly identical with the Greek and Roman and the HIM* hi 

 deities. There are, necessarily, points of resemblance, but sufficient 

 differences to render the conceptions in each case original. 



The Hawamal, or High Song, contains the ethics of the system ; 

 there are many striking sayings in it, but we cannot do more than give 

 a specimen : 



" With his weapon No one should part 

 , In the open field ; 



No one knows. How soon on the wy 

 He may need his speir." 



" Moderately wine Should a man be 

 Bat not too wise; 



The heart of the wi*c I* seldom serene 

 If it become* too wise." 



For a fuller investigation we may refer to Jacob Grimm's ' DeuUcbe 

 Mythologie,' 1854 ; Karl Simrock's Die Edda, die altere und die 

 jungere,' 1855 ; and ' Das Mythologische Handbuch,' 1 853 ; L. UhlamVs 

 ' Sagenforschungen. Der My thus von Thor,' 1886 ; Berger's ' Nordische 

 Mythologie,' 1S34 ; Dr. J. C. Bauch's 'Nordische Mythologie,' 1847; 

 Rank's ' Snorra Edda, rfvamt Skalda ogtharmeth fylgjundi Ritgjorthum,' 

 Stockholm, 1818; varioiu paper* by Uhlaml, Dietrich, Mxillcnhoff, 



Thi- ft.rm of the word U perhaps deserving of a notice, ai giving the origin 

 of Hit Scottish word ipar, to foretell ; and iptuvift, a fortune-teller. 



(irinmi, and other*, in ' Xeilschriiten fur Ceschichtswissenschaft;' 

 Mannhanlt's 'Geniiiinisrhc Mythen:' \V. (!. Krye'a 'Trois Chants de 

 1'Kdda, 1 I'arin, 1844; and Mallet'* 'Northern Antiquities,' edited by 

 I A Illackwell, 1847. 



SCANTLING, a term used by carpenters to express the transverse 

 dimension* of a piece of timber ; and also in some cases as a general 

 name for small timbers, such as the quartering for a |urtiti..n. rafters, 

 purlins or polo plates in a roof, &c. All quartering or squared i 

 under five inches square is designated scantling. [TiMiin:. ) 



In masonry the same word is used to express the size of stones in 

 length, breadth, and thickness. 



SCAPEGOAT, or A/AXEL (^KJ5). On the great day of 

 incut among the Jews, the high-priest was to choose two goats, and 

 after presenting them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle, he 

 was to cast lots upon them, one lot being for the Lord, and the other 

 " for Azazel." The one upon which the Ixird's lot fell was to be sacri- 

 ficed as a sin offering, and the other was to be presented alive before the 

 Lord to make an atonement with him, which was done by the high- 

 priest laying both his hands on the head of the goat, and confessing 

 over him the sin* of all the people, which were thus said to be " put, 

 upon the head of the goat." The goat was then to be sent away into 

 the wilderness by the hand of a fit man, who was to let him go in the 

 wilderness. (Levit, xvi. 8-28.) 



The meaning of 'the word Aiazrl is very doubtful. It seems to be 

 derived from a root (which still exists in Arabic) meaning In </ 

 1. The common interpretation refers it to the goat itself as being tent 

 aaay. 2. Some take it to be the place to which the goat was sent, as 

 being cither a proper name, or merely a general term for n separate 

 place or wilderness. 3. Spencer and most of the German critics con- 

 sider it to be the name of an evil spirit, who was supposed to inhabit 

 desert places ; and they would translate Levit. xvi. 10, " to let him !/ 

 to Auisel (instead of, fur a tcapeyoat) into the wilderness." 4. It i 

 maintained by Hengsteuberg and others, that Satan is typified by the 

 goat, the separated one, and this view seems corroborated by tin- 

 passage in Zech. iii. Representing the sins of the people, which arc 

 upon repentance to be forgiven, he is driven away into the desert. It 

 is also considered to be typical of Christ, so far as a vicarious atonement 

 is to be accepted under certain conditions for committed sins. 



SCARFING, the mode of joining two pieces of timber end ' 

 in auch a manner that they may appear but one, and cannot be pulled 

 asunder by a force applied in the direction of their length, without 

 breaking oil' part of the wood at the joint. 



Other modes of uniting two timbers into one continuous length are 

 sometimes practised; as for instance, the simple plan called ji. 

 beam, in which the ends abut against each other, and pieces of wood 

 are added on each side, as shown in /f//. 1 ; the whole being li.-ld 



Fig. l. 



together by iron bolts. The strain on the bolts may be reduced by 

 indenting the pieces added at the joint into the beam, as represented 

 in the lower part of the figure; or by transverse keys of hard \\..,.d 

 driven into grooves, of which one-half is cut in the beam, and the 

 other in the supplementary pieces, in a similar manner to th..sc 



, . 



Where neatness is more essential than strength, scarfed joints are 

 preferred to any arrangement of this kind, because a beam united by 

 them is of the same breadth and depth at the joints as at other part*. 

 t'iy. '2 and 3 represent two of the simplest forms of scarfing, in both 



. 



rig. 3. 



of which the strain is borne wholly by the bolts. It is advisable t> 

 odd a plate of iron on the faces of the beam where the heads and nnti 

 of the bolts pass through, and the ends of these plates may be f 

 into the wood, as shown in the cuts. Of these two plans the first 

 appears rather preferable, because the screwing up of the bolts I 

 tendency to alter the position of the parts; while in the sc< m<l it 1. 

 a tendency to make the inclined faces slide upon each other, .-md 

 thereby to open the joint. 



It is desirable to avoid depending 'solely upon bi.lt* fur tl.o Mtrength 



