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Chap. XVI.
MUSEUM: AGE OF BRONZE.
241
for the neck, one of triple circlet, most ponderous to
look at, but less heavy to wear, being hollow and stuffed
with wool; large hair-pins of gold, a foot in length,
terminated in a coil; and bracelets, plain and twisted.
One cabinet puzzled me much. It contained what to
my ignorant eye appeared a collection of wire elastics,
rampant from some dilapidated arm-chair, and I began
to imagine the Scandinavian Vikings slept upon spring
mattresses, as we degenerate mortals of the present
day. These said elastics were, it appears, worn as
arm-lets, and served as preservatives against sword-cuts, and
at the same time as money: you measured off a piece of
your armlet, according to the value of the article
purchased. Anything more irritating than these machines
crawling up one’s arms I can hardly imagine. The
same species also is there in gold, and whole cases of
rings of similar form and precious material. A pin or
brooch for fastening the dress or plaid is a facsimile of
those worn in the Highlands in the present day.
Let us now turn to the heroes of the age of Bronze.
Of swords this collection boasts of upwards of 300—
some long, but the greater part not exceeding two feet
six inches in length, short like the Highland dirks,
two-edged, the blade thickest towards the middle. The hilts
are often ornamented with plates of gold, overlaid, for
at this period the art of gilding was undiscovered:
they appear as though ivory had been inserted between
the plates, as we often now see. The scabbards were of
wood, covered with leather both without and within.
One sword, discovered near the Liimfiorde, in Jutland, is
of bronze, and of exquisite workmanship. As the gem
of the collection, it is honoured with a small case lined
with black velvet.
VOL. I. R
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