Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Pages ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
316 COXE’S TRAVELS IN DENMARK. :
Some of thefe odes were written in Runic characters *, the far greater part, how-
ever, were only configned to memory ; but on the introduction of chriftianity into Ice~
land, in the latter end of the ninth century t, the Runic letters were exchanged for the
Roman alphabet : {chools were founded ; the love of {cience, which had in fome degreé
maintained itfelf, even when the inhabitants were in a ftate of paganifm, revived with
frefh vigour, antient poems were collected, many chronicles digefted into a regular
form, and the traditions of pagan theology refcued from oblivion. The Icelanders
poffeffed feveral hiftorians, long before a fingle annalift appeared among the nations from
whom they were defcended. Their authors Iflief, Are, and Semund, who flourifhed
in the eleventh century, preceded Saxo-Grammaticus and Sueno, the earlieft of the
Danifh, Swedifh, or Norwegian writers. : i
It would be an interefting fpeculation in the theory of mankind, to afcertain, * how
it came to pafs that a people difjoined from the reft of the world, few in number, de-
preffed by poverty, and fituated in fo unfavourable a climate, fhould be capable, in thofe
dark ages, of manifefting fuch a tafte for literature. Were we better informed of
certain particulars relating to the ftate of the north during thofe remote ages, we
might poffibly find the caufe of this phenomenon, either in the poverty of the inha-
bitants of Iceland, which drove them to feek their fortunes in the neighbouring coun-
tries, or in the fuccefs of their firft bards at foreign courts, which excited their emula-
tion, and at the fame time prepoffeffed ftrangers in their favour; or laftly, in the na-
ture of their republican government, in which the talent of oratory, and the reputation
of fuperior fenfe and capacity, are the direct roads to dignity, refpect, and prefermentf.’’
To thefe caufes may perhaps be joined the political tranquillity of Iceland; amid the
civil commotions that convulfed the neighbouring nations, the inhabitants had fufficient
leifure for literary occupations; and fome may be induced to add the nature of their
climate, which obliged them to feek for fome relief againft the tedioufnefs of long
nights and continued darknefs €.
“But to return to the Icelandic authors. The moft antient hiftorian was Iflief, bifhop
of Skalholt : he was fon of Giffur Albus, a perfon of great diftin€tion in Iceland, and
defcended from the antient kings of Denmark, who confiderably promoted the eftab-
«« Precipue carmina fumus fecuti, que coram ipfis principibus aut eorum filiis funt decantata, ‘vera re=
putantes omnia, qux iftis in carminibus de eorum geftis aut bellis memoriz funt prodita. More quidem
Skaldis eft receptum, praecipue laudare, cui miniftrant. Aft nemo facile auderet, coram ipfo prineipe, lau-
des et facta cantare, que tam ipfe quam alii prefentes fcirent mera efle figmenta. Hoc dedecori non laudi
effet? See Preface to Schoening’s edition of Snorro Sturlenfis, p. 12. note.
* «¢ Though we have no reafon to believe they were cut upon ftones, as was practifed among us, (no Ru-
nic ftones having been found there, whofe age reaches to the times of paganifm) they ufed, however, to
f{eratch them on their bucklers, and fometimes on their ceilings and walls; and the Laxdaela Saga makes
mention of one Olof of Hiardarhult, who had a large houfe built, on the beams and rafters of which remark-
able {tories are faid to have been marked, in the fame manner as Thorkil Hake cut an account of his own
deeds on his bedftead and chair.”” Letters on Iceland, p. 558.
+ Inthe Kriftni Saga, the introduction of chriftianity into Iceland is thus related: “‘ Thorwaldus, a per-
fon of fome diftin&tion in Iceland, the inhabitants of which were all idolaters, happening to travel through
Saxony, commenced acquaintance with a certain bifhop, whofe name was Frederic; and being inftru@ted by
him in the Chriftian do€trines, was baptized. He then prevailed upon the bifhop to return with him to
Iceland, in order to convert the natives to chriftianity. And as the bifhop was ignorant of the language,
Thorwaldus, receiving inftru€tion, preached to the people, and many were baptized. ‘This event, which
Jaid the firft foundation of the Gofpel in Iceland, happened in the year 9$0.”” See Kriftni Saga, p. 3, Ke.
t Northern Antiquities, vol. i. p. 392. ;
q Ipfi in defoffis fpecubus fecura fub alta
Otia agunt terra ——
Hic noGtem ludo ducunt. Virg. Georg. III. 376,
lifhment
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
