Ill] 



AND HISTORIC TIMES 



119 



on foot, whilst Odin never rides except on his mysterious 

 steed, eight-legged Sleipnir, it would appear not improbable 

 that the Swedes were riders of horses before the Norse, and 

 that therefore they, like the Prussians, had got them from 

 the tribes of western Russia, such as the Sarmatians, who, 

 as I have already shown, possessed admirable cavalry from 

 at least the beginning of the Christian era. It is therefore not 



fir.. 



^ — ~ -idi- ra n I . m a : _ 



Fig. 48. Norse Pony from the Isle of Eodo. 



improbable that the Norse derived their horses in great part, 

 if not altogether, from Sweden. Otherwise they must have 

 derived them from Germany, for we have already noticed 

 (pp. 23-4) the sharp contrast between the ' Celtic ' ponies of 

 Iceland and the Faroes and those of a clumsier build, with 

 large heads, and large hock callosities, which are almost cer- 

 tainly to be ascribed to the introduction of Norwegian blood 

 In either case then it is probable that the original stock of 

 horses in Norway and Sweden, whether derived from Russia or 



