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collections which the clergy in other countries succeeded in 

 destroying. The Irish annals, therefore, differ only in regard 

 to language from the Latin annals of other countries ; whilst the 

 Icelandic sagas, like historical novels, are quite descriptive of 

 the state, the manners, and the habits of the people at the 

 periods to which they referred. 



Mr. Worsaae here read a scene of the saga of King Ha- 

 rald Haardraade (cap. 99), which gives an idea of the origin 

 of the sagas. It shewed that in Iceland there were men whose 

 principal business it was to learn sagas and tell them to the 

 people ; such men were called sagamen, and they were very 

 often bards (Skjalde). These bards accompanied kings on 

 their expeditions, or lived at their courts, both in Scandinavia 

 and in foreign countries. Several bards are known to have 

 been in Ireland with the Norse Kings of Dublin. They had 

 thus the best means of obtaining information respecting all 

 events of importance. Both the bards, the vikings, and the 

 merchants, after they had returned to their home, amused the 

 people in the long winter evenings by describing the battles 

 and other events they had been present at. This was an amuse- 

 ment in the house of the yeoman and in the hall of the king. 

 The scene of the saga just quoted furnishes a proof that the 

 sagamen and bards did not think it necessary to flatter the 

 kings. On the other hand, the old Danish and Norse kings 

 themselves were not very fond of flattery : the well-known 

 story of the Anglo-Danish king, Canute, and the flatterers on 

 the sea-shore, presents a striking example of this. We have 

 thus an assurance of the general truth of the old sagas. 



A few other extracts from the sagas, particularly illustrating 

 the connexion between Ireland and Scandinavia, were read by 

 Mr. Worsaae. The first was a dialogue between Eistein and 

 Sigurd the Crusader, both Kings of Norway in the twelfth 

 century, and sons of the Norse King Magnus Barfod or Bare- 

 foot (so called because he wore the Highland dress), who was 

 killed in Ulster, a.d.1103. Sigurd had been married, as the sagas 



