Torfeus^s 

 opinion of a 



NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 241 



fpect, and feems expreilive of the ftrength of their intellectual 

 faculties. Along the coaft the people, for the generality, are not 

 fo tail arid rbbuft, but on the contrary more corpulent and phleg- 

 matic, and have a rounder vifage. This difference is obferved by the 

 officers in the militia, according to the feveral. diftricts of which 

 their men are natives, and when they draw up their regiments, 

 coniifting of both forts, they can pretty well guefs to which' clafs 

 each belongs *. 



That the firft inhabitants of Norway had fome of the giant- 

 kind amongft them, is afferted by Thormod. Torfaeus, who is 

 not very credulous in other refpecls, in his Hift. Norv. p. i. 1. iii. 

 cap. 3 & 4. p. 117. His words are, u Edda nihil operoftus £iantkind ' 

 tradit, quam quas Afis tranfmigrantibus cum gigantibus iftis inter- 

 cefferunt. Sed & hiftoria Hervoriava, cap. 1. conceptis verbis 

 cpponit iftorum gigantum nomina, qui inter primos feptentrio- 

 nem incoluerant— Primos Daniag incolas Saxo Grammaticus gigan- 

 tes, gigantes Arngrimus primos Norvegias agnofcit : illos auteili 

 pofteros fuiffe 8c reliquias Cananaeorum agro Paheftino, a Tofua 

 ■& Calebo, divinis aufpiciis in Pal^ftinam moventibus, expulforum, 

 circa annum mundi 2506. Hancque orbis plagam, ad ea ufque 

 tempora, aut forlitan diutius, prorfus incultam manfifle exiftimat, 

 Genebrandi authoritatem allegans . . . cui licet Pontano vel maxime 

 repugnante, Hift. Dan. p. 55. fuffragatur Rabbi David Kimki ad 

 finem Abdias, qui Canana3os ex agro Palaeftino ab Hebraeis ejecl:os, 

 in Illyricum & Panoniam migrafTe tradit, citante Bodino. Meth. 

 Hiftor. cap. iv. Accedit Mefienius, qui tomo I. Scandiae illuft. a 

 Jofua Palasftina ejeclios Scandiam intraffe exiftimat ... Celeberri- 

 mus antiquitat. feptentrionalium profeffor, Olaus Yerelius, folos 

 gigantes hunc tradum quondam incoluiffe, creditu arduum judi- 

 cat, adjeda ratione his verbis : not. ad cap. I. hiftor. Hervoriana?, 

 p. 11. Neque enim, inquit, e terra hie potius quam alibi prog- 

 nati funt, fi vero aliunde advenerunt, aliorum injuriis hie pulii 

 dicentur & vero, proinde iimiiius eft, gigantes hie quondam 



* L'air & k terre influe beaucoup far k forme des homines, des animaux, des 

 plantes : Qu'on examine dans le meme canton, les hommes, qui habitent les terres 

 ekvees, commes les cotaux, ou le deffus des collines, & qu'on les compare avec ceux 

 qui occupent le milieu des vallees voifines, on trouvera que les premiers font agiles, 

 difpos, bienfaits, fpirituels ; & que les femmes y font communement jolies ; au lieu 

 que dans le plat pays, ou la terre eft groffe, Pair epais, & l'eau moins'pure, les pay- 

 fans font groffiers, pefans, malfaits, ftupides, & les payfannes toutes laides. Buffon 

 hift. naturelle, torn. iii. p. 203, 



Part II. Q.q q fuiffe, 



