LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

buildings,²⁴⁴ with a rounded addition at one end like the apse of a church. Some had two parts: an inner or more sacred one, where the images of the gods were placed; and an outer one, where the sacrificial feasts were held. At the blotveitsla or sacrificial feast the people seem to have remained standing, high seats existing only for the blotgodi (sacrificing priest). At the farther end the God (god-idols) stood on their stall (altar).

      “Olaf sailed to Hladir, and had the temple broken down, and all the property and ornaments taken out of it and off the gods. He took a large gold ring from the temple door, which Hakon Jarl had made, and then had the temple burnt.

      “Olaf sent the large gold ring which he had taken from the temple door to Queen Sigrid, Storrada (the Proud) in Sweden (he wanted to marry her). She had it broken, and brass was found inside. She got angry, and said that Olaf was likely to be false in more things than this” (Olaf Tryggvason, 65, 66).

      Sometimes these buildings were magnificently furnished and adorned with costly and precious metals; their walls were hung with tapestries, and otherwise ornamented,²⁴⁵ and on the door was a golden ring.²⁴⁶ Many of them must have been the property of powerful and wealthy bœndr,²⁴⁷ as may be inferred from the fact that some chiefs when they left the country tore them down and took them away, together with the temple mould on which they stood, which was holy.

      “Ketilbjörn, a famous man in Norway, went to Iceland, and dwelt at Mosfell. He was so rich in personal property that he told his sons to make a cross-beam of silver in the temple which they were building. As they would not, he with his thrall Haki and his bondmaid Bót drove the silver up on the mountain with two oxen; they hid it so that it has never been found since; then he killed Haki in Hakaskard, and Bót in Bótarskard” (Landnama v. 12).

      “Thorhad the old was temple-priest in Thrandheim, in Mœri. He wished to go to Iceland, but first took down the temple, and carried with him the temple mould and the altars. He came into Stödvar-fjord and made the whole fiord as holy as the temple place in Mœri, and allowed nothing to be slain there except homestead cattle. He lived there all his life afterwards; the Stodfirdings are descended from him”²⁴⁸ (Landnama).

      The hof-godi or temple-priest was occasionally a woman.

      “Steinvör was a priestess, and took care of the head temple; to this all bœndr had to pay temple tax. Steinvör went to the chief Broddhelgi, for she was related to him, and told him her trouble, that Thorleif, the Christian, did not pay temple tax like other men. Broddhelgi said he would take up this case for her against Thorleif.”²⁴⁹

      A tax, as we have seen, was said to have been imposed in Odin’s time for the support of the temple; in the time of Frey a change took place, according to the sagas, and certain lands and properties in the several districts called Uppsala-Aud (Uppsala wealth) were set apart for this purpose; but in later times again, in Norway at least, and probably in other parts of the North, the bœndr had to pay taxes for the support of the temples, some of which seem to have been the private property of the godi.

      The temples were considered so holy that any one damaging them or entering them armed was declared an outlaw, and no one who had committed an offence punishable by law was allowed to enter; such person was called Varg i Veum (wolf in the sanctuary). The grove or fields surrounding the temples were often regarded as inviolate, so that no act of violence would be permissible within their precincts. This was expressed by the ancient name of Ve (sanctuary, sacred place), which was extended so as to embrace the Thing-place, which was also regarded as sacred, while the Thing was going on.

      “Ingimund went into the temple, and before he was aware of it Rafn ran in with a sword. Ingimund turned towards him and said, ‘It is not the custom to bring weapons into the temple, and thou wilt turn the wrath of the gods against thee; such a thing is impossible unless it is atoned for’ ” (Vatnsdœla, c. 17).

      “Búi went to the temple, and when he arrived there, saw that the enclosure as well as the temple was unlocked. He entered and perceived that Thorstein lay on his face in front of Thor. Búi walked silently until he came to Thorstein, and grasped his knees with one hand and his shoulders with the other in such a manner that he lifted him and struck his head so hard against a stone that his brains were scattered over the floor; he died immediately. Búi carried him out and threw him near the fence of the enclosure, and entered the temple again. He took the sacred fire, and, kindling lights, carried them around the temple and set the hangings on fire. The fire quickly caught one thing after the other, and in a short time the temple was in flames. He went out and locked both the temple and the enclosure, and threw the keys into the fire and departed. Thorgrim Godi awoke in the morning and saw the temple burning; he called on his people, men and women, to run with water vessels and save it; he also called upon his son, Thorstein, but he was nowhere to be found. When they reached the gate of the enclosure it was not easy to pass, for it was locked, and the keys were nowhere to be found; they were obliged to break open the door, for the fence was so high that they could not get over it. Entering the enclosure, they saw Thorstein there dead; the temple was also locked, and nothing in it could be saved. Hooks were brought and the temple was pulled down, and thus part of the temple was saved” (Kjalnesinga Saga, c. 4).

      For this Búi was outlawed by Harald Fairhair, but was subsequently forgiven.

      “King Beli ruled over Sygna-fylki (in Norway); he had three children; Helgi and Hálfdán were his sons, and Ingibjörg his daughter. Ingibjörg was fair-looking and wise; she was the foremost of the king’s children. On the shore west of the fjord there was a large bœr,²⁵⁰ called Baldr’s hagi (Baldr’s field or enclosure), which was a place of peace,²⁵¹ where a large temple stood, surrounded by a high wooden fence; there were many gods, though Baldr was most worshipped. The heathen²⁵² men were so careful about the temple that neither man nor beast was to be hurt there; men were not allowed to stay with women there” (Fridthjóf’s Saga, 1).²⁵³

      “When Fridthjóf had left Norway the kings held a Thing, and outlawed him from all their lands, and took to themselves all his possessions. King Hálfdán settled at Framnes, and rebuilt the burned part of the farm; and they repaired the whole of Baldr’s hagi, but it was a long time before the fire was extinguished. King Helgi disliked most of all that the gods had been burned. It was very costly to build Baldr’s hagi again as good as it was. King Helgi then resided at Syrstrond” (Fridthjóf’s Saga, c. 10).

      The fact that some of the old temples were a subject of pilgrimage to those who had emigrated from the land is further proof of the veneration paid to them.

      “Lopt Ormsson went from Gaulardal in Norway to Iceland when young, and took up land along the Thjórsá river. Lopt went to Norway every third summer for himself and for his mother’s brother Flosi, to sacrifice in the temple which his grandfather Thorbjörn had guarded” (Landnama v., ch. 8).

      Inside the principal door of the temple stood the high-seat pillars, which were highly venerated, and in which were placed the so-called reginnaglar (sacred pegs). It was the custom for families to take these pillars when they left their old home for Iceland, and when at sea to throw them overboard, and settle where they came ashore: they, the timbers of the temple, and the mould under the altars of the gods, were considered sacred.

      “The summer that Ingólf and Hjörleif went to settle in Iceland, Harald Fairhair had been king in Norway for twelve years. There had passed from the beginning of this world six thousand and seventy-three winters; but from the birth of our Lord, eight hundred and seventy-four winters.

      “They sailed together till they saw Iceland, and then separated. When Ingólf saw Iceland, he threw overboard his high-seat pillars for luck, saying that he would settle where the pillars went ashore.

      “Ingólf took up his abode where his high-seat pillars had come to land; this was at Reykjarvik, and there the high-seat pillars still remain in a hall”²⁵⁴ (Landnama).

      “Thórólf Mostrarskegg made a great sacrifice, and inquired from his beloved friend Thor whether he should reconcile himself to the King (Harald Fairhair), or go away from the country and

Скачать книгу