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the accusations of Herkia by plunging her beautiful arm into 
the scalding caldron, and drawing it out unscathed, having 
seized the iarknastein, the milk-white opal of innocence, at the 
bottom. On the whole, we may say that marriage, though in 
the outset more a matter of expediency than of pure inclina- 
tion, yet in practice brought with it a mutual fidelity that 
often ripened into strong affection. The wife died in ancient 
times on the bier of her husband, less, it would seem, from 
conventional obligation than from real sentiment, for w'idows 
were free to re-marry, and, in doing so, they retained their 
social status and the respect of their kindred. 
19. Domestic rule seems to have been orderly. The Northern 
laws and practices show far more consideration for individual 
rights than those of Germany. A man was master of all in his 
house, but the rights of wife, children, and hired servants were 
accurately defined. He might strip his wife to her sark, and 
drive her from his door, keeping her dower and her wedding 
gifts, if she were proved to be faithless; but whatever he did 
must be done openly, and in the presence of her own kindred. 
The rest of the laws of the household partook of this rigid 
formality. Strict regulations guarded the interests of free 
servants, who could claim wages and compensation for unjust 
dismissal. Hired servants could leave the master’s house if 
not well fed, or even in case they were not nursed when ill. 
But they could be beaten and forced to work, if they were 
lazy. 
20. It was in the treatment of slaves, however, that the 
savagery of pagan life made itself most keenly felt. Redress 
was to be found for all freemen, but there was no redress for 
slaves. They formed an indispensable portion of every Norse 
family, for no race of free artisans existed, and all hand labour 
was intrusted to bondmen. This unhappy section of the com- 
munity consisted of the descendants of earlier, conquered races, 
or of criminals Avho had been punished by loss of liberty. They 
w r ere held in the deepest contempt ; it was shameful to join in 
the same work with a slave ; to die by the hands of one was 
held to be a terrible disgrace. They might be killed if they 
were mutinous or disobedient, and in some cases they were eveu 
offered in sacrifice to the gods, like cattle. They were bought 
and sold like chattels ; their marriages were informal and 
unrecognized, and they were not counted as members of the 
household. They possessed nothing on earth, and after death 
were hurried out of sight like beasts. In spite of these social 
indignities, however, there is no reason to believe that any 
