ODIN AND HIS PALADINS. 
383 
of his soul, and his hope that hereafter they should meet 
again in Paradise. “ Then,” we are told, u began the 
belief in Odin, and their calling upon him.” 
On the settlement of the country, the land was 
divided and subdivided into lots—some as small as 
fifty acres—and each proprietor held his share—as their 
descendants do to this day—by udal right; that is, 
not as a fief of the Crown, or of any superior lord, but 
in absolute, inalienable possession, by the same udal 
right as the kings wore their crowns, to be transmitted, 
under the same title, to their descendants unto all 
generations. 
These landed proprietors were called the Bonders, 
and formed the chief strength of the realm. It was 
they—their friends, and servants, or thralls—that con¬ 
stituted the army. Without their consent the king 
could do nothing. On stated occasions they met together, 
in a solemn assembly, or Thing, (i. e. Parliament,) as 
it was called, for the transaction of public business, 
the administration of justice, the allotment of the scatt, 
or taxes. 
Without a solemn induction at the Ore or Great 
Thing, even the most legitimately-descended sovereign 
