Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-24

One of the comrades who heard this story
SAID he knew 1t was true, for he had heard OF
that dog and his name was Ananias.
BURIAL STRANGE AND WEIRD.
How the Vikings of Old Inferred Their
Dead in ships.
FABULOUS TRADITION AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE
cUsToM-THE ARROW THAT WAS MADE OF
MIsrLEToE-A SHIP GRAVE IN NORWAY AND
WHAT IS FOUND THERE-A VESSEL FOR A
KINGS COFFIN
IS ERoM THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN
literature we learn q great deal that Is
interesting about the customs and manner Of
living Of the hardy Norsemen OF DID, said DR..
George II. Boomer Of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton to a STAR reporter. There has been thus
preserved curious story relating to the origin
of ship burial. Those bold Vikings, being
rather more at home on the water than on land,
were commonly inferred in mounds together
with their vessels, the great sea-going boat
sometimes serving as kind of sarcophagus for
containing many corpses. The model Of the
Viking ship now on exhibition in the National
Museum is a restored reproduction on a small
scale OF big vessel that was found some years
ago at Gokstad in Norway. 1t was dug out Of a
mound, which had been known fo- centuries as
the Kings Mound because of tradition to the
effect that a royal parsonage had been inferred
there with all his treasures. 1t was in the ex-
pectation of securing the latter that the mound
was first opened by robbers, who carried away
a great deal that would have been Of interest to
science and the world.
THE LEGEND OF THE NEGLECTED M1srLEroE
The story speak of refers to the age of
fable. when the Scandinavian north was people
by a race of gods whose king was Odin. Odn
| and his wife. Freya. had two sons. Baldr and
Thor. Baldr was beautiful and gentle and was
beloved by the gods, who looked to his dreams
for guidance. He had, however, one enemy
Loki, the evil God. One night Baldr in dream
heard a voice telling h IN tina. his life was in
danger and in the morVing he told his mother
of it. Freya was greatly worried and going to
all things animal, mineral and vegetable she
eXacted OF them an oath that they would not
harm Badr. While on her mission Freya clme
to one little plant. the mistletoe. which APP
peared to be incapable of working harm. and
thus no oath was exacted of it. When Freya
had finished her task she returned home and
told Baldr and his friends what she had done,
and the gods III their plays often amused them
selves by shooting arrows or throwing stones at
LIS luNuiEeEdDie DoGE 10 see them SW6rye aside
just before reaching him. Loki, however, be-
ing determined to do Baldr harm. went to
Freya disguised as an old woman and learned
from her the only thing that might be employed
in InjurinS his enemy. Then. hurrying away,
he found the little mlstletoe and carving it
into an arrow returned to the spot where the
gods amused themselves shooting at Baldr
| Apart from the crowd stood Holder the blind.
and, approaching him, Loki induced him to
shoot the arrow at Baldr. who fell, shot through
the heart.
"Odin mourned three DAYS, and then he
ordered that Baldrs body be carried to the sea-
shore and be placed upon his ship Stringholmi.
together with his armOr, splendid clothes and
his horse with all its trappings. The ship
launched. and fire from the friction Of the
rollers burned it, together with its contents to
ashes And Odin ordered that all dead men
should be burned upon their ships, together
with all their property, the remains TO be col
lected and covered with a mound of earth.
AN IMMENSE CREMAroRY
"Of crematories of this kind the ship grave
! Mt Mokklebyst, Norway, affords an excellent il
! lustration. The mound is located in a plain in
full view of the sea over which the buried ship
used to bound. All around the mound is a
ditch twelve feet wide and three feet deep,
which. on the south and vest, is traversed by q
bridge-like DAM The interior of the mound
presents two LAYERS. one of bone spinters inter-
sisting of cinders and burned remains Over
| this Il number of objects were strewn, which
showed that here a ship had been hauled ashore
and gai1y decorated with shields around its
bulwark and with arms and other articles of
war piled up. serving thus as the funeral pyre
| of its commander.
The remains in this instance having been
consumed they were collected in a fiat bronze
vessel, together with some personal property OF
| the owner, consisting of two combs. check
1 rnran dIen oya1a hx,1 L..
holding the remains of the dead chief was
| placed In an excavation at the bottom Of the
| mound Above 1t a number of articles were
piled. In an untanued goatskin we're found
the unbnrned remains Of animal bones. posi-
| bly, the portion assigned to the dead man from,
the funeral feast for his long journey to Wal
| hala. The bottom of the mound was covered
| with hundreds OF nails. mountings, mast rings,
| anchors, shields and other things.
ANOTHER MODE OF BURIAL.
'sIn another kind of Morse burial the BODY
was placed in the ship without being burned,
the entire vessel being covered with earth so as
/ to form a large mound. The best known ex-
| ample of this style of interment is afforded by
| the buried ship at Gokstad. An excavation OF
this mound, conducted with great care by
opening passageway through the middle, re-
warded the scientific explorers by revealing an
| entire ship. eighty feet in length. In the
middle OF the ship was a large grave chamber
| OF wood, In the form Of a span roof with gable,
in which the remains Of tho dead we're depos-
tied. The spot for the mound was re-
quired to have a free view OF the sea.
After digging away the soil from the
place chosen the ship was drawn thither
by horses and lowered with its stem
! seaward into the excavation, being STAYED on
each side with struts. The sepulchral chamber
| was then built. When it was ready the corpse
arrayed in state attire and girt with arms, was
drawn to the ground, introduced into the cham
ber through an opening temporarily left for
| that purpose, and laid on couch within. The
opening was then perm ,nenty closed. Finally.
animals were slain, and, together with other ar,
ticles that had belonged to the deceased. were
laid in the remaining unoccupied parts OF the
vessel, its entire hold with the exception of the
| sepulchral chamber, being filed up with CLAW
Tho surface Of the clay was in turn covered
with layer Of moss and hazel branches. the
mound was heaped over it, and all was fin-
ished.'
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