The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-10-22

| after the lldies rose and left tho men to their
| potations, a custom which English society has
| faithfully preserved to our own day.
| The vikings, invariably ermed with four weap-
one Of offence, the axe, tho sword, the lance, and
bow, together with one defensive implement.
| the buokler. knew nothing OF our military dis
| unctions. but were by turns eeamen, foot sol
diers and troopers, IS circumstances might re
| quire. Their costume. however, approached a
| aailors-loose trousers, q shirt OF coarse red
wool shoes Of bulls hide, and peaked bonnets
tied under the chin. Only the best appointed
had coat OF mail and nat steel casque. Their
vessels deserve sDecilI mention, being no longer
| the leather-sheathed willow canoes In which the
ancient pirates mad skirted the Roman province
| OF Gaul, or even those long, low boats whose
appearance frightened Charlemaane. They we're
now nne a,lleys. very high and sh irplv curved
at now and stern. holding nfty oar-b benches and
manned by crews OF one hundred aud NIFTY or
two hundred men. Artisticaiy carved, painted
and gilded, furnished with sails made 10 Of
| alternate red, blue and green strlps decorated
with ornaments and sculptured images, they
| had the generic name OF dragons or war snakes.
| because they presented tho semblance OF a ser
pent whose head impended from the prov.
| Some Of these ornaments were Of metal, and 1t
| IL a curious fact that Enelind seems 10 have had
n monopoly Of their manufacture. Thus, &C.
| cordine To Carlyle, the AnRlo-Saxons sold to
| King sweyn 1gure- eads for the vessels with
| which he subsequently conquered their country.
Besides their general title OF" war serpent" each
| snip bore a distinctive name, such as Bison, Dear,
! Raven, soa-horso. When naval action was
| contemplated all those vessels wero tied to-
| gciher by ropes, so as ~ show the enemy a
| moro impenetrable battle front. u the line.
| however, were onoo broken, the rout became
! Inevitable, or the general engagement broke no
into a hundred Individual and commonly unde-
cisive encounters.
or the three most impressive occasions In
human life the vikings, not marrying, reoog-
nzed only funerals which they celebrated ac-
| cordinR TO the rites OF Olin. When, after
combat, they remained masters OF the field, they
| carefully washed the wounds OF their dead.
combed their locks. aud arrayed them In their
| finest garments, leaving, however, for the mo-
ment, tho feet bare. rnersupon the body OF
| each warrior was laid upon his shield aud his
weapons placed beside him. In order that he
| might appear becomiuglY before the valorous
company In Odins Ill. II only remained to
provide him with shoes for the / st journey,
which was long and fatiguin1 enough, since he
must betake himself TO the abode OF IIola. which
lies at a depth OF nine worlds beneath the earth,
and where the goddess withhulds slaves aud
| towards. but suffers brave men TO push on TO
ValhaliA The duiy OF fastening the so-calcd
"belIs shoes belonged to the nearest relatives
oftbe deceased, OF, In default OF them, 10 bis
brOther-in-arms, the latter species OF fraternity
| being held In associations, like those OF JOINS
burg'much closer than ties OF blood. These cere-
| monies accompliahed,thev vikings lifted the dead
upon their bucklers and conveyed them to the
place Of burial. II the surrounding country pre-
scented natural tuLitaus, they dug a trench in It
a tf,l oil ttaa
raised above them a great heap OF earth. This
was the rite followed for common soldiers. The
| viking chiefs were inferred In their war ships,
| which, after the manmast hal been taken out.
| were 1lled and surrounded with earth. aud at
| length transformed into a vast IN ound crowned
| with enormous stones.
| As we have mentioned, King Sweyn OF the
| FOrked- ard was the Involuntary founder OF
Jomsburg bastard, like William of Nor
mandy, he had violent quarrel with Harold
| Biue-tooth, who refused to recognize him as a
son. The vikings, however. opened their arms
TO sweyn, one of their leaders. Palnatoki, hav-
ing been his tutor Ia arms or foster father. 1t
| happened that on one occasion the old rover
| returning from voyage To Wales. where he had
| won for hi nself princi paty, found his foster
| son trapped by the royal forces In little creek
| OF the swedish coas'. Pdlnatoki could hit on
no other means OF saving the young man except
| bv giving him the throne. Accordingly, the vik-
ing, throwing himself In boat with one com
panion, approached Harold's camp by night.
| The king stood beside his tent, easily dstn-
| guishabe by his steel c isque pc liked With gold
An arrow Missed through tina air, and the next
morning the natural son OF Harold was salu.ed
sovereign OF Denmark. Piln .tok WIS by no
means inclined to boast OF the service no had
| rendered his fpster-son. well knowing that
among his compatriots gratitude was powerless
to confront the duty Imposed by the olood-fedd
| Sweyn guessed. however, whence tho stroke
had come, and wrenchlng the arrow from his
fathers body, kept 1t In reserve for the hour
when vengeance, enjoined alike by nature aud
| tradition, could be accomplished. 1t was a Gus
tom In scandinavian countries, from kings and
the most potent jarss down to the hunoes
peasants to celebrate the accession to an iuheri-
| lance by a festival in honor OF the deceased.
This they called drinking the funeral beer.
| when Sweyn announced his intention OF
drinking the funeral beer for Harol the willy
| viking .gged to be excused from attending. on
the prete1t that inns ortaut Isiness would de-
tam him in Wales, whereupOn tho king ad-
journed the ceremony. Several times the inyi-
taton was repeated. and at length took the
shape Of formal summons. which Palnatoki
was constrained 10 obey. He brought with him,
however, 10 tue royal banquet, hundred men,
well arm ed, and three stout ships, which he
ranged on the beach, with prows turned sea-
ward, and ordered the rowers to keep their oars
In hand. ready 10 start at moments warning
Whent feastiug over and tina toasts be
gan, the king gave the arrow to one OF his SER
wants, with Instructions TO hand II round tn ,
board, and see II any OF the wa riors would
recognize II as his own. When the attendant
came to Pdnatokl the latter c tlled out boldly,
give me the shaft, for II IL mins" "Palna-
toki," cried the king, "when dicst thou
lose that arrowf' ION the night l slew
Harold, thy fatnerw returned the pirate, and
vita that broke ont precise duplicate OF the
combat which took place in the hall OF Attiia
a. Kremhid's banq let, AS recoun,ed IN tue
Nlbe.ungenlied At last the viking, ceaying a
pas a-e WITH his oatileaxe, gained his vessels,
and flying to the country OF the Wends-the
modern Pomerania-bullt the stronghold of
JomHburr. All the attempts OF the Danish
monarch to di'lodge the pirates from this fnst-
ness proved frui less, until the passion Of love
which plays SO decisive a role in Morse poetr,
and history, supplied tho coveted opportunity
or all the pledges which knit together tn,
Jomsburg Vikings the most efficient was Thu