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9. LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. 37
called upon to give hostages for his conduct as king, and
to take an oath to observe the provincial laws. The right
of the Sveas to have the prerogative voice in choosing the
king was disliked by the Goths, but never denied by them.
The life which centred round the king and his family can
best be described in one word as
"
Homeric "
an epithet
which I find that Carlyle has anticipated. Religion was
especially concerned with two things sacrifice as a
propitiation of the gods and a way of securing their favour
at the beginning of an enterprise, and divination as a
means to enquire their will.
25
It was also a shield and pro
tection to human intercourse. To judge by parallel
descriptions of other Scandinavian temples, the Upsala
Temple had in its centre a table, on which lay an unjointed
gold ring or bangle reddened with the blood of victims,
on which oaths were sworn, and which was worn by the
king or head of the assembly on his wrist at all gatherings
of the people.
26
The oath ran as follows :
"
I take so and
so as witnesses herein that I take oath on the ring, a lawful
oath so help me Frey and Niord, and the Almighty
Anse, as I shall pursue (or defend) this suit, or bear wit
ness, or give verdict, or judgment, according to what I
know to be most right and true in accordance with the
law."
This oath was held to be very sacred and binding.
The perjurer was treated as a vile and worthless person, a
social outcast or niding, on a level with the adulterer. Be
sides the ring there was a bowl for the blood of victims,
and in it twigs for divination by lot. Apparently, before
the lots were drawn, the bystanders were sprinkled with the
blood contained in the bowl. We shall find instances of
this divination in the history of the mission of Anskar.
Idols were in use by the south-faring Goths, in the form
of human busts on pillars draped with cloths, as early at
25
Compare C. P. B., Vol. i., p. 403, and Craigie, I.e.,
especially chapters 4 and 5.
26
Compare C. P. #., Vol. i., p. 422, and Craigie, I.e., p. 43.
The "
Anse "
may probably be Thor.
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