New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-10-27

| its own was militant one, and IL made no prac'
teal difference to Morse ancestors whether they
fought under the cross or the hammer, for In botn
| cases they struck equally hard They were the
Spartans Of their time, and in their culture OF the
| body and the purely physical faculties they I'M
| consciously laid the foundations for the higher
civilization which was to follow them. MIR. Du
Challu is enabled 10 demonstrate their possession
of several of the mechanic arts, They turned out
some really beautiful metal-work, for instance,
and in Woodworking they attained considerable
| skill But they never developed architecture,
their most ambitious structures being OF wood,
and monotonous and ungraceful in form.
Weapons they of course wrought with care
and craft, though Judging from the manner In
which all the swords and spears found III the
mounds have been twisted TO destroy their use
fulness before burylng them with the dead, the
/ temper Of their blades may be open IA suspicion.
But they spared no pains upon anything related
to fighting on land sea, and. rs in several
instances they actually buried their ships in the
mounds, the exact fashion of these vessels is not
| left 10 conjecture They evidently possessed vast
fleets cases being mentioned in the Sagas in which
/ between two and three thousand ships fought on
/. one side alone. On the other hand IL Is clear
! that strong as these open boats were, they couh
! easily be rendered untenantable. Precisely row
the Vikings managed TO preserve their balance
! while fighting the stems and sterns OF these
craft il is difficult to understand The Sagas do
not refer to the matter and while there plenty
of instances of warriors being thrown or knocked
overheard nobody ever seems TO have fallen over
through losing his balance. IT. was one of the
cruel customs of the age TO slaughter all the
prisoners after battle though many OF the yarls
and chiefs objected TO this and saved their cap
tives either for ransom the slaVC-markct.
One Of the most significant Morse practices was
that Of opposing infants. Mr.. Du ChaiIlu curousy
observes that the popular voice condemned the
custom, though it maintained. That can
hardly have been the case. When the popular
judgment once disapproves of custom, that
custom is abandoned; for all custom depends
primarily upon the popular voice, and none can
he maintained against it. That exposure was not
abandoned by the Norsemen is proof positive that
il was not generally condemned and the survival
of the most cruel of all savagisms may also be
taken to indicate that the real status Of women
was much lower than Mr.. Du Chaillu represents.
For it is clear that where woman had any voice
she would raise it against the outrage upon ma
ternity, and that where her wishes and opinions
were at all seriously regarded such custom could
not live. We know that the Greeks practised the
same vice. and we know that among them the
wife and mother was virtually without influence.
The reasonable inference from analogy is that the
Morse women occupied nearly the same place in
the social scale. Women, however were often
Sorceresses and Trolls and the ValSyrie were Of
their SEX Naturally the maidens of that period
demanded men of proves for their lovers and
husbands and the gcntlest of them thought moth
ing of approaching youth on the ground that the
wolf and the vuture did not follow his trail, which
was equivalent to saying that he had not yet
shown proficiency as o murderer. The young Fiji
girls used, few years ago, to hold the same kind
of language to their beauX, and this natural,
but it is not an evidence Of civilization.
Mr. Du Chailu has gone very fully and very
carefully over the whole of his ground, and to
illustrate each custom, institution and usage, he
has cleaned from the Sagas. opposite instances and
specific cases, which inserted at frequent in
tervals, and which enhance the realism of the
work greatly. In the second volume he gives
liberal excerpts from the Sags, containing de-
scriptions of famous fights by seq and land The
extreme relish with which the old Saga-men told
of these events, and the patient mnuteness with
which they elaborated every sanguinary incident,
are Characteristic Of the age. OF course in work
so voluminOus it must happen that much by no
means new matter is included. Our knowledge
of Morse institutions, laws and customs was tOler-
ably full many years ago The rich finds now
for the first time duly represented in English CON
sttute the most important contributions to the
general subject They enable us to fortfy and
extend our previous information, and TO form
measurably clear and sharply defined picture of
the old Norseman in his habit as he lived. To
this realization the illustrations in Mr., Du Chail
lu's book valuable helps, and between them
and the references to the Sagas little need
is felt for further interpretation This extensive
and important work must he of high interest 10 a
Notwithstanding people who desire 10 trace back
the beginnings Of that marvellous racial develop
mcnt and expansion which in these days promises
TO replenSh the earth and suiluc it. and all
such Will follow Mr.. Du Challu with ever-increas-
ing fascination as he reconstructs for their nforma
ton the stern, strong, rough potent and almost
wholly material progenitor Of the modern intellect