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78 THROUGH NORWAY WITII A KNAPSACK.
tlicm a Christian signification ; and in like manner they
adopted the architecture of pagan temples for their
churches : first those of Greece and Rome, and
afterwards, when modifications of these came to be
associated with Christianity, they carried some of these
elements to Scandinavia, and amidst the conquering
Vikings who had settled on almost every coast of
Europe. Then, by combining the Scandinavian
ship-temple with the columns and arcades of the decaying
Roman or Byzantine architecture, they produced the
beginnings of what we call Gothic. Such, at least,
appears to me the true theory of the origin of Gothic
architecture; and this cathedral of Trondhjem is one of
the most interesting illustrations of it.
The family pews are very curious; they are tiers
of boxes made of deal wood, like rabbit hutches piled
one above another. A colossal figure of Christ, after
Thorwaldsen, is well placed in the choir, and is very
impressive; the most effective and appropriate statue
I have ever seen in any church. Standing alone, and
visible from every part of the building as the dominant
object, its presence and influence are felt to be diffused
throughout, and are finely suggestive of the living
influence that should be similarly felt; and really is in
a Norwegian church, if anywhere.
I paid another visit to the cathedral in the afternoon,
and in a kind of vault or cellar saw a large number of
mummies, said to be the bodies of Norwegian kings;
which I doubt, for kings can scarcely be so cheap.*
* Unless they are the Vikings, or Sea-kings.
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