The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-11-17
For the National Era.
POETRY AND PROSE.

Most of the modern nations of Europe are
either of Celtic, Gothic, or Savonian origin.
The Celtic element is found only in the west of
Europe, in Bretagne, Wales, Ireland, and some
parts of Scotland. England, France, Germany,
Scandinavia, &C., are peopled by the Gothic
race, and the Slaves, who were last in the great
swarm Of nomads that poured from the hive of
Central Asia, the store-house of nations" oc-
cupy the extreme east of Europe-Russa, Pc
land, Hungary, and some parts of Turkey. Of
all these races, the Gothic has most attracted the
attention of modern antiquarians and ethnolo
gists The richness Of its letters, and the pc
culiar characteristics of its people, are of the
the history of nations far beyond any written
record and it is by means Of the ancient
monuments of it's literature that the philologist
detects, in the polished phrases of to-day, yes
tiges of language, the rude chords and har
monies Of which still culver on the ear. Scan
dinavia, especially Iceland, is rich in this spe
cies of literature. Much has been unfortunate
ly lost or destroyed, but her Eddas, Sagas, and
Skaldic compositions, still remain to US, those
fragments, petrifed as it were by time, of a
gigantic poesy, each a hieroglyph, revealing to
US, from the by-gone times Of the NORTH the he
roc deeds, recollections and manners, of the
great emigrations in the full energy of primeval
paganism." 1t is remarkable that by far the
greater part of this literature is furnished by
Iceland. Settled by hardy band of Morse
men, who sought amid FIRE and ice the liberty
denied them elsewhere, the population of this
A, 900; and yet, such the mental activity of
her inhabitants, that the compositions of her
Skalds and Saga-men were renowned among
contemporaries, and even now she is regarded
by many as the foster mother of northern his
tory. Interesting and even fascinating as are
these records of the rude nations who peopled
Norway, Sweden, and the northern Peninsula,
it is matter of surprise that they are so rarely
read and studied by many Americans. There
is nothing in which we should feel more PRIDE
than that arc of the same stock with those
sturdy heroes of old, who so long ruled the
northern seas Of those Vikings, who, by their
daring forays, struck terror to the hearts of the
effeminate people of the south of Europe, and
and the delights of Valhalla. 1t was the cours
| ing of their love of freedom and intolerance of
restraint in the veins of their descendants that
wrung from a reluctant King the Great Char
ter of English liberties, and that laid the head
of another of Englands oppressors in the dust
| And too, it was the same indomitable spirit
that made Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience
to God the watchword of American Freedom
But reuenOus d nos montons, let us return to
the point we we're endeavoring to make plain.
In surveying the literature ofthe Scandinavians,
the Elder, or Samhndic, Edda at once strikes
the eye as the most ancient and venerable
record of the Morse: folk. The thirty nine
poems Of which it is composed were first col
lected in the latter part of the eleventh century
by Samund Sigfusson, learned IcelaHder
from Runic slaves and inscriptions as some
suppose, but, according to the opinion of most
writer's, from oral tradition. The antiquity of
these poems is undeniable, bearing internal ev
idence of remote origin. Handed down from
mouth to mouth, for many generations, they
finally came to embody the cosmogony, mythol-
ogy, religious belief, and forms of worship, Of
the Mortimer. 1t is here that we find their
conceptions of future state, and their acknowl
edgment of the Immortality of the human soul
In rude poetry, they sing of Odin the eloquent
who first taught them the art of song, whose
every word was believed to be true, and whose
discourse wore the garb of poetry;" of the
crafty and treacherous Loke, the gentle Baldur
and Foigga, with her attendant nymphs. In
more elevated strains they tell of Hela in her
dreary palace of death, where were congregated
those who died cowardly or ignoble death of
Valhalla and its many gates, its halls crowded
with heroes, who after daily combat quaffed
foaming mead from the skulls of their enemies;
and they attain rugged snblimity when de-
scribing Rdgnarok, the twilight of the gods,
when the world will be scourged by wars and
bloodshed. "When brother shall rise against
brother, and there will be no mercy, even from
parents to their children"
The most interesting of these poems is the
" V6tuspd," (the Song of the Prophetess.) 1t
is kind of sybillne lay, containing the whole
system of Scandinavian mythology the crea-
ton, the origin of man, how evil and death were
brought into the world, and concludes by a
prediction of the destruction and renovation of
the universe, and description of the future
abodes of bliss and misery" This poem is sup
posed to have been recited before the people at
stated intervals, probably on their festive and
holidays. We are thus particular in describing
it, inasmuch as the poem in its general features,
and in the use made of IT, bears striking anal
ogy to similar features in the religious observ-
ances of entirely distinct races. The reader
will remember, that in former article we re-
ferred to the use of the Books of Thoth,n by
the Egyptian priests. These books were formed
from the earliest traditions and religious notions
of the Egyptians, and was customary for the