The Jolly Roger Tales: 60+ Pirate Novels, Treasure-Hunt Tales & Sea Adventures. Лаймен Фрэнк Баум

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СКАЧАТЬ and requested she would purify the apartment and company assembled, by casting her eyes over them. She was by no means sparing of her words. The table being at length covered, such viands were placed before Thorbiorga as suited her character of a soothsayer. These were, a preparation of goat’s milk, and a mess composed of the hearts of various animals; the prophetess made use of a brazen spoon, and a pointless knife, the handle of which was composed of a whale’s tooth, and ornamented with two rings of brass. The table being removed, Torquil addressed Thorbiorga, requesting her opinion of his house and guests, at the same time intimating the subjects on which he and the company were desirous to consult her.

      “Thorbiorga replied, it was impossible for her to answer their inquiries until she had slept a night under his roof. The next morning, therefore, the magical apparatus necessary for her purpose was prepared, and she then

      1 We may suppose the beads to have been of the potent adderstone to which so many virtues were ascribed.

      2 Like those anciently borne by porters at the gates of distinguished persons, as a badge of office.

      inquired, as a necessary part of the ceremony, whether there was any female present who could sing a magical song called ‘ Vardlokur’ When no songstress such as she desired could be found, Gudrida, the daughter of Torquil, replied, ‘ I am no sorceress or soothsayer; but my nurse, Haldisa, taught me, when in Iceland, a song called Vardlokur’ — ’Then thou knowest more than 1 was aware of,’ said Torquil. ‘ But as I am a Christian,” continued Gudrida, * I consider these rites as matters which it is unlawful to promote, and the song itself is unlawful.” — ’ Nevertheless,’ answered the soothsayer, ‘ thou mayst help us in this matter without any harm to thy religion, since the task will remain with Torquil to provide everything necessary for the present purpose.’ Torquil also earnestly entreated Gudrida, till she consented to grant his request. The females then surrounded Thorbiorga, who took her place on a •ort of elevated stage; Gudrida then sung the magic song, with a voice so sweet and tuneful, as to excel anything that had been heard by any present. The soothsayer, delighted with the melody, returned thanks to the singer, and then said, ‘ Much I have now learned of dearth and disease approaching the country, and many things are now clear to me which before were hidden as well from me as others. Our present dearth of substance shall not long endure for the present, and plenty will in the spring succeed to scarcity. The contagious diseases also, with which the country has been for some time afflicted, will in a short time take their departure. To thee, Gudrida, I can, in recompense for thy assistance on this occasion, announce a fortune of higher import than any could have conjectured. You shall be married to a man of name here in Greenland; but you shall not long enjoy that union, for your fate recalls you to Iceland, where you shall become the mother of a numerous and I honourable family, which shall be enlightened by a luminous ray of good 1 fortune. So, my daughter, wishing thee nealth,’I bid thee farewell.’ The prophetess, having afterwards given answers to all queries which were put to her, either by Torquil or his guests, departed to show her skill at another festival, to which she had been invited for that purpose. But all which she had presaged, either concerning the public or individuals, came truly to pass.” i The above narrative is taken from the Saga of Erick Randa, as quoted by the learned Bartholine in his curious work. He mentions similar instances, f particularly of one Heida, celebrated for her predictions, who attended I festivals for the purpose, as a modern Scotsman might say, of spacing fortunes, c with a gallant tail, or retinue, of thirty male and fifteen female attendants. — v See De Causis Contcmptce a Danis adhuc gcntilibus Mortis, lib. iii. cap. 4.

      Note XI. p. 245. — Promise of Odin Although the Father of Scandinavian mythology has been a deity long 1 forgotten in the archipelago, which was once a very small part of his realm, yet even at this day his name continues to be occasionally attested as security l; for a promise.

      It is curious to observe, that the rites with which such attestations are still * made in Orkney, correspond to those of the ancient Northmen. It appears f from several authorities, that in the Norse ritual, when an oath was imposed, 1 he by whom it was pledged, passed his hand, while pronouncing it, through a I-massive ring of silver kept for that purpose.1 In like manner, two persons, I generally lovers, desirous to take the promise of Odin, which they considered ® as peculiarly binding, joined hands through a circular hole in a sacrificial stone, which lies in the Orcadian Stonehenge, called the Circle of Stennis, of which we shall speak more hereafter. The ceremony is now confined to the troth-plighting of the lower classes, but at an earlier period may be supposed £ to have influenced a character like Minna in the higher ranks.

      1 See the Eyrbiggia Saga.

      Note XII. p. 292 — The Pictish Burgh The Pictish Burgh, a fort which Norna is supposed to have converted into her dwellinghouse, has been fully described in the Notes upon Ivanhoe. An account of the celebrated Castle of Mousa is there given, to afford an opportunity of comparing it with the Saxon Castle of Coningsburgh. It should, however, have been mentioned, that the Castle of Mousa underwent considerable repairs at a comparatively recent period. Accordingly, Torfaeus assures us, that even this ancient pigeon-house, composed of dry stones, was fortification enough, not indeed to hold out a ten years’ siege, like Troy in similar circumstances, but to wear out the patience of the besiegers. Erland, the son of Harold the Fair-spoken, had carried off a beautiful woman, the mother of a Norwegian earl, also called Harold, and sheltered himself with his fair prize in the Castle of Mousa. Earl Harold followed^ with an army, and, finding the place too strong for assault, endeavoured to reduce it by famine; but such was the length of the siege, that the offended earl found it necessary to listen to a treaty of accommodation, and agreed that his mother’s honour should be restored by marriage. This transaction took place in the beginning of the thirteenth centuijr, in the reign of William the Lion of Scotland.1 It is probable that the improvements adopted by Erland on this occasion, were those which finished the parapet of the castle, by making it project outwards, so that the tower of Mousa rather resembles the figure of a dice-box, whereas others of the same kind have the form of a truncated cone. It is easy to see how the projection of the highest parapet would render the defence more easy and effectual.

      Note XIII. p. 320. — Antique Coins found in Zetland While these sheets were passing through the press, I received a letter from an honourable and learned friend, containing the following passage, relating to a discovery in Zetland: — ” Within a few weeks, the workmen taking up the foundation of an old wall, came on a hearthstone, under which they found a horn, surrounded with massive silver rings, like bracelets, and filled with coins of the Heptarchy, in perfect preservation. The place of finding is within a very short distance of the [supposed] residence of Norna of the Fitful Head.” Thus one of the very improbable fictions of the tale is verified by a singular coincidence.

      Note XIV. p. 356. — Character of Norna The character of Norna is meant to be an instance of that singular kind of insanity, during which the patient, while she or he retains much subtlety and address for the power of imposing upon others, is still more ingenious in endeavouring to impose upon themselves. Indeed, maniacs of this kind may be often observed to possess a sort of double character, in one of which they are the being whom their distempered imagination shapes out, and in the other, their own natural self, as seen to exist by other people. This species of double consciousness makes wild work with the patient’s imagination, and, judiciously used, is perhaps a frequent means of restoring sanity of intellect. Exterior circumstances striking the senses, often have a powerful effect in undei mining or battering the airy castles which the disorder has excited.

      A late medical gentleman, my particular friend, told me the case of a lunatic patient confined in the Edinburgh Infirmary. He was so far happy that his mental alienation was of a gay and pleasant character, giving a kind of joyous explanation to all that came in contact with him. He considered the large house, numerous servants, &c., of the hospital, as all matters of state and consequence belonging to his own personal establishment, and had no doubt of his 1 See Torfaei Orcadus, p. 131.

      own wealth and grandeur. One thing alone puzzled this man of wealth. СКАЧАТЬ