and friends, and sent some of the latter, to receive the dower and the bride, in his name, from the hands of her father. The friends were answerable for what was entrusted to them, and if they abused that trust the law condemned them to make amends in a sum threefold greater than was awarded for a murder. The damsel's father or guardian followed her into the husband's house, and giving her into his hands, usually addressed to him these words: 'I give you this damsel in honorable matrimony, to share your bed, to have the keeping of the keys of the house, and a third of whatever money you possess or shall possess, and to enjoy other rights determined by the law.' After this the newly married pair sat at table with the guests, who drank to their health, and to their gods and heroes. Then, the friends of the bride raised and carried her on their shoulders, a custom among the Goths used as a mark of esteem, and still not wholly obsolete in our own country. The bride was conducted to the nuptial couch by her father; and before her was borne a number of flambeaux,—an usage common also among the Greeks and Romans, and which is not yet abolished in some countries of the north. The marriage, after this, was deemed consummated; the husband subsequently made divers presents to the wife, as a pair of oxen for the plough, a horse with fine trappings, together with a lance and sword. And however inappropriate such gifts may appear, they were not without their meaning. "It was (says Tacitus) to intimate that she was not to lead a luxurious and idle life, but was called upon to be a partaker of her husband's labours, to be the companion of his dangers whether in peace or war. The wives also, on their part, gave armour. These mutual -tokens were the conjugal bond, the mystic rites, their hymeneals."" The armour, if the husband had made a right use of it, was religiously preserved, given with the portions of their daughters, and transmitted as heir-looms to their posterity. Finally, after some days spent in feasts and diversions, the guests made presents of some cattle to the young pair, to commence housekeeping; and returned to their homes. 8 It was to the extraordinary vigour of their constitution, that the Scandinavians owed that healthy and extreme old age, which (8) Mallet's Introd. pp. 207, 8. (9) Hoc maximum vinculum, hæc arcana sacra, hos conjugales deos arbitrantur. Tac. Germ. c. 18. many of them enjoyed. Yet this advantage they regarded only with indifference, or even with disdain, upon which men generally set so high a value, especially since the invention of so many arts and pleasures to render life more desirable. For few of the northern people awaited that term which nature had allotted them; deeming old age inglorious, they courted death by single combats, general wars, the dangers and fatigues of the sea, and even by suicide so frequent among them; they were eager to quit the world, and to enter upon that glorious route, which alone led to a happy futurity. The influence which this strange persuasion had on them, cannot be more plainly seen, than in the last scenes of their lives, and in their funeral ceremonies. In the more ancient times these were simple. The Scandinavians, before the arrival of Odin among them, were content with depositing the body of the defunct under a heap of earth or stones, together with his arms. But this prince introduced into the North new customs, and attended with some magnificence. In the ages which followed his settlement in Denmark, funeral piles were customary, as was before said, on which the body of the dead was reduced to ashes. These being collected in an urn were buried under an artificial hillock. But this usage was never absolutely universal, and the former was introduced anew, five or six centuries after, as far as can be conjectured. However, in every age, when princes or heroes had perished gloriously in battle, all possible magnificence was put in requisition, to pay to their shades the last offices, in a manner worthy of his rank and merits. On the pile was placed whatever he had held most dear in life, his arms, gold, silver, war-horse, and domestics. Even his dependants and friends thought it an honour and a duty to die with him, and accompany him to Odin's Hall. For nothing appeared to these warriors more glorious, than to enter their sensual Paradise, with a numerous cortege of slaves, friends, horses, accoutred in the finest armour, and clad in the richest robes. For Odin himself had assured them, that whatever had been burnt or interred with the dead, would accompany them to the Walhalla or Region of the Blest. And even the poorest, under this persuasion, carried with them, at least, their most necessary (10) Mallet p. 212. utensils and some money, in order not to be wholly unprovided in the other world. It was from a motive somewhat similar, that the Greeks and Romans put a piece of money into the mouth of the deceased, that he might have wherewith to pay his passagemoney over the river Styx. And the Laplanders now inter with the departed a flint and steel and other apparatus, to light them. along that dark road, which leads to the region of spirits. Now, if polished nations have many observances wherein they differ but little from a rude people, it is especially in those which relate to religion, death, and their future destiny. Men cannot contemplate this awful subject coolly, and without falling into such hopes and fears, doubts, and desires, as leave to them scarcely the use of their reason. Accordingly, whatever Egypt, Greece, or Rome, peoples otherwise so sage-taught upon this mysterious future, was it not a continual delirium, a day-dream, mere romancing, and old wives' tales-which will appear no whit better than the fables of the Celts and Scandinavians, if indeed it was not more indecent, revolting, and extravagant? Whatever riches were interred with the dead, were said to be under the especial guardianship of Odin, who forbade any trespasses of profane avarice upon the sacred tomb: such depositories were held in the highest sanctity, therefore, and remained inviolate. In the north of Germany such tombs have been frequently discovered, containing arms, spurs, rings, and vases of much value. Mallet records an instance of a grave opened at Guben 1 in Lusatia; which, as may be inferred from its contents, inclosed the remains of one, who had been a great lover of good cheer: for he had been careful to carry with him to Odin's banqueting-room various utensils of cookery, with flagons and drinking cups of much cost and beauty: "In pago, uno milliari a Gubena distante, universus apparatus culinarius erutus est, cacabi, ollæ, catini, phialæ, patinæ, urceoli, lagenulæ, &c." No doubt, this gourmand and votary of Bacchus was resolved to make his entrée into the unknown region with the highest mirth and jollity, and to have a jovial feast with Odin and his boon companions; being of the same opinion as the Platonists of old, to whom were perpetuated after death, those luxuries and pleasures, which formed the (1) Vide Keysler, antiq. select. p. 173. summum bonum of their happiness, while living: according to the words of the poet : Quæ gratia curruum Armorumque fuit vivis, quæ cura nitentes VIRG. EN. VI. 653-5. 7. A people, who neglect the refined and agreeable arts, will cultivate but indifferently the necessary ones. The Scandinavians held both the one and the other in equal contempt. War absorbed every other pursuit. So long as this passion was in full force, whole tribes wandering from forest to forest, and subsisting, like the Scythians, upon the flocks they carried with them, scarcely thought of tillage; indeed, they disdained such drudgery. But this prejudice gradually wore out, probably from necessity. For Christianity having at length triumphed over their fondness for piracy, and restored to Denmark a part of its inhabitants, they were compelled to continue at home, and to draw their subsistence from the soil, especially as other fruits were so rare among them, and the consumption of grain was so large both for food and beverage. But the same necessity did not reconcile them to the other arts, which were still looked upon as degrading occupations, fitting for slaves only. Gauls, Germans, and Scandinavians employed none but slaves, freedmen, women, and old men in handcraft trades, works of drudgery, and domestic service. Thus, they knew but little of what contributes to luxury and refinement, the mechanic arts being in the hands of the lower ranks of society. Gross and sensual, and priding themselves on their animal powers alone, they exerted these, to the neglect of the mental; as indolent in peace, as they were active in war. The women spun the wool, of which part of their garments were made, and skins and furs supplied the rest.' These habits fitted tight to the body and were short and neat, like those of the Gothic nations. In this attire are discernible the rudiments of the modern European costume. It consisted of a kind of waistcoat and breeches or rather trowsers, which came down to the feet and tied at the ankles, like the nether garment of the Cossacks of the Don. Upon the pillars of Trajan and Antonine, the dresses of such nations as (2) Bardon, sur les costumes des anciens Peuples. were of Gothic origin, bear a strong resemblance to those of our sailors. In their mode of lodging, the natives of the northern peninsula had still more of rudeness. Having little of comforts and even conveniences, of ornaments they were entirely devoid, except such as they gained by piracy or on foreign service. In the primitive times, like all semi-barbarians, they dwelt in scattered huts, roofed with the skins of wild beasts or the bark of trees. But, when religion taught them to erect temples to the gods, the concourse of people who came to offer prayers and sacrifices, induced them to build round about these holy places, for convenience and protection; and thus towns insensibly arose. The same took place, and for the same causes, in the environs of the castles of kings and great lords; as in the rest of Europe, in the feudal times, a strong baronial fortress or a monastery formed the nucleus of a town or village. The houses, of which the towns of the Danes were composed, were, for the most part, mere cottages supported by thick clumsy, mis-shapen posts, joined by boards and covered with turf, the light being admitted from the top; for the use of windows was then unknown. The lowest ranks were lodged not even so well; wretched cabins, ditches, or clefts of rocks, served as retreats in the rigour of winter. There couched on the bare ground, and half covered with skins tacked over their shoulders with thorns, they passed days in a kind of stupor, till their ferocious and rude youth, aroused by some call of war, started forth from their holes and caverns, to conquer a nation of conquering warriors, to fire the palaces of Rome, and to tread under foot so many fair monuments of luxury, arts, and industry. But it was only the masses, or the dregs, of the people, that lived in such absolute ignorance of all the conveniences of domesticity; between them and the grandees was as great a contrast, as between the denizens of England's luxurious metropolis, and the wild cottiers of Connemara, nestling in their mud-built cabins. For, the Grandees distinguished themselves, at an early age, by their sumptuous edifices. They prided themselves upon having them of very spacious dimensions, and adorned with elevated A Danish writer assures us, that the most wealthy of towers. (3) Mallet, p. 219. 4 (4) Anagrim Crymag. p. 57. |