Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-10-27

not harm Baldr. While on her mis-
sion Ereya came TO one little plant, the
mistletoe, which appeared to be iEcapa-
bic OF working harm and thus no oath
was exacted of it When Freya had
finished her task she returned home
and told Ba,dr and his friends what
she had done, and the gods in their
plays often amused themselves by
shooting arrows or throwing stones at
his invulnerable body to see them
swerve aside just before reaching him.
Loki. however. being 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
injuring his enemy. Then, hurrying
away, he found the little mistletoc, and,
carving it into an arrow, returned to
the spot where the gods amused them
selves 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 Ba ldr's body be carried
to the seashore and be placed upon khe
ship Stringholmi, together with his
armor. splendid clothes, and his horse
with all its trappings. The ship was
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.
"Of crematories of this kind the shlr
grave at Mokklebyist. Norway. affords
an excellent illustration. The mound
is located in 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, OF the south
and west. is traversed by a bridge
like dam. The interior of the IN ound
presents two layers, one of bone
splinters intermixed with soil and
cinders, and the other consisting of
cindcrs and burned remains. Over this
4 number OF objects were st-ewn, which
showed that here a ship had been
hauled ashore and gayly 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
fat bronze vessel, together with some
personal property OF the owner, con-
sisting of two combs checl<ermen, dice
and arrow heads. This receptacle
holding the remains of the dead chief
was placed in an excavation at the bot
tom of the mound. Above it Il number
Of articles were piled In an Unframed
goatsllin were found the unburned
remains of animal bones. posi-
bly, the portion assigned to the dead
man from the funeral feast for his long
Journey to Walhalla. The bottom OF
the mound was covered with hundreds
of nails. mountings. mast rings, an
chors. shields and other things.
IN another kind of Morse burial the
body was placed in the ski p without
being burned, the entire vessel being
covered with Il layer OF earth SO as to
form large mound. The best-known
example of this style OF interment is
afforded by the buried ship at GolIstad.
An excavation Of this mound. conduct
ed with great care by opening a pas
sageway through the middle, rewarded
the scientific explorers by revealing an
entire ship eighty feet in length. In
the middle of the ship was large
grave chamber of wood in the form OF
a span roof with gable, in which
the remains of the dead Were
deposited. The spot for the mound
was required to have 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 eXcava ton. being staid on each side
with struts. The sepulchral chamber
was then built. When it was ready
the corpse. arrayed in state attire and
Cirt with arms, was drawn to the
ground. introduced into the chamber
through an opening temporarily left
for that purpose, and laid on a couch
within. The opening was then perma-
nently closed. Finally. animals We're
slain, and. together with other articles
that had belonged to the deceased,
were laid in the remaining unoccupied
parts of the vessel. it's entire hold, with
the exception of the sepulchral cham
Der. being filed up with clay. The
surface of the CLAW was in turn COW
cred with n layer of moss and hazel
branches. the mound was heaped over
it, and all was finished. '-Washington
Star.