INTRODUCTION. 
li 
One of these is still to be seen at Thingevalle *: 
it is of an oval form, a little pointed on the top. 
Such stones in the times of heathenish super¬ 
stition served not only as altars for sacrifice but as 
places of execution for criminals, who, being first 
stretched across them with their faces towards 
heaven, were doomed in that position to suffer 
the punishment of having their backs broken, 
after which their throats were cut, or they were 
dispatched, like oxen, with repeated blows. 
Equally insignificant are the ancient inscrip¬ 
tions that have been found in the island ; the 
most remarkable among which is that at Borg, 
in Myrar, the epitaph of one Kartari a man of 
regal extraction, who fell by the hands of an 
assassin. It is engraved in Runic characters 
upon a kind of rock resembling basalt. 
Some fragments are still preserved of the ar¬ 
mour of former days, such as an halbert, long 
kept in the cathedral of Skaiholt; and a few 
swords, with a lance and helmet, which are to 
be seen at Hlidarende; but they are said to 
possess nothing remarkable in their form. Se¬ 
pulchral monuments, consisting of heaps of 
stones, resembling the cairns of Wales and Scot- 
* Voyage en Islande. 
