THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 51 



fying agent, by means of which the dead were rendered fit 

 to be received into the presence of Odin. It was the belief 

 that the warrior whose body was burned on a funeral pyre 

 would go to Valhalla, with such of his possessions as were 

 consumed with him. Hence it was customary for the favour- 

 ite horses, dogs, falcons, and sometimes the thralls, of the 

 dead to be burned or " mounded " (buried) with him, in 

 order to enable him to make an entry into Valhalla befitting 

 his rank and fame. Burial in ships was practised, so far 

 as is known, by no people except the Norsemen. In 

 some instances for example, the ship found at Gokstad 

 the vessel with its mortuary chamber was mounded. The 

 usual practice, however, was to set fire to the ship and send 

 her out to sea, a sight calculated to impress even the fierce 

 Vikings. 



The Norse code of morality is set forth in the Hdvdmal 

 (Song of the High), the authorship of which is attributed 

 to Odin himself. He who practised the apothegms of the 

 Hdvdmal must have been a pattern of wisdom, for many 

 of them are pregnant with the philosophy of life. The 

 Norse criminal laws contained provisions which might be 

 copied with advantage in these days. There were no bank- 

 ruptcy laws to shelter the reckless, the incompetent, or the 

 dishonest trader. Adulteration of food was placed on the 

 same footing as robbery and arson ; the punishment in each 

 case was severe. A wise discrimination was shown in the 

 treatment of criminals. The swindler was outlawed, but 

 the man who stole food in order to sustain life escaped 

 punishment altogether. The crimes visited with the 

 severest punishment were murder, perjury, seduction, adul- 

 tery, and the violation of the sanctity of blood-relationship. 

 Family feuds were frequent, but revenge for injuries com- 

 mitted was frequently satisfied by the system of fines 

 which characterised Gothic legislation ; the aggrieved 

 family having the right to exact compensation (weregild). 



Grave misconceptions sometimes exist as to the character 

 and institutions of the Norsemen of the Viking Age. 

 Rough, strong men ; quick to resent an insult ; relentless 



