NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 73 
On the outside it was covered with well executed carved figures, represent- 
ing men, beasts, and birds, to which remarkably good and permanent 
colors imparted a life-like appearance. The interior was filled with the 
trophies of war, treasure, and arms, for a tythe of all the booty captured 
upon the water or during an expedition on land had to be deposited 
here, hence there was a great quantity of golden and silver cups used in 
soothsaying, and numerous vessels of all kinds used at the banquets of the 
great. 
The priests of the Slavono-Vendic nations were highly cultivated, and 
possessed a great knowledge of the world and mankind. From the Ger- 
mans they had learned to write, and from the Scandinavians the use of the 
runes. They were, moreover, in constant communication with the priests 
of other nations, and procured from their Greek friends their most beautiful 
cast metal idols. Among themselves they had established a perfect hierarchy, 
and all were divided into classes, the lines of which were drawn with great 
precision. The chief, or high priest, lived always at Arcona, and the priests of 
a number of districts were under his control. Even the secular authorities 
were subordinate to the spiritual power. The ceremonies of the daily 
worship and the service in the temples of the inferior gods were conducted 
by the priests of the lower ranks, but the service of the superior gods could 
be performed only by the high priests. 
All or at least most of the Slavono-Vendic nations observed Monday as a 
sacred day. The most important festival was the annual harvest-home 
celebrated at Arcona. The high priest (A7rive) prepared for its celebration 
by sweeping with his own hands the temple of Svantevit, and then killed 
the sacrificial animals before the gate. Afterwards he took the cornucopia 
from Svantevit and examined its contents. If he found that the mead 
poured into it during the previous festival had diminished in quantity, he 
predicted a scarce harvest, and exhorted the people to husband their 
resources. If on the contrary he found the horn still full, he announced a 
season of abundance, and then poured out the old mead at the feet of the 
idol. Having prayed for a blessing upon the people, he emptied quickly 
the horn now filled with new mead, and then returned it, after it had been 
filled for a second time, to the hand of the idol. The ceremonies concluded 
by his going behind a huge cake made of flour and honey and spices, 
nearly as high as a man, and asking the people whether they could still see 
him. As soon as they had answered in the affirmative, he prayed that the 
abundance of the next year might be such that they would no longer be 
able to see him behind it. Then turning to the assembly, he exhorted them 
to be pious and good, and dismissed them with a blessing. 
The rest of the day was spent in eating, drinking, and carousing, for it 
was considered a sinful thing to retire sober from the banquet. 
Human sacrifices were not uncommon, and Christians were preferred, 
because they were hated for their zeal in making converts. The blood of 
the victims was afterwards used in soothsaying. The Rugians, one of the 
most savage tribes, are said to have been particularly cruel when slaying 
their Christian victims. 
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