INTRODUCTION. liii 



the same in his day as it is in ours, namely, 

 seo Sunne, the Sun. The word Sigel is 

 well known in old Saxon poetry, and it is 

 also the Proper name of that Rune which 

 corresponds to the Roman S. The word 

 Sol is rarer and more remote. It is cog- 

 nate to the Latin word of the same sound 

 and sense, but independent of it. The 

 parallelistic habit of the old alliterative 

 poetry was peculiarly favourable to the 

 retention of words that would else have 

 been long ago forgotten, and in this way 

 we find Sol as parallel to Sunne in the 

 poetic version of Psalm cxxi. 6 ; the sun 

 shall not burn thee by day: 



ne J>e Sunne on daege 

 Sol ne gebserne. 



In the Scandinavian languages it has 

 happened reversely, that Sol has been pre- 

 served in use, while Sunna is known only 

 as a poetic word. Thus in the Icelandic 

 proverb, 'Island er bit betsta land sem 

 solin skin uppa,' Iceland is the best land 

 that the sun shines upon. 



Whichever way we take to examine the 



