of men, answering to the description of giants in every particular, and existing as late as the eleventh century. They were kept by the chiefs about their households, more in the light of brutes than of men, and lodged in a kind of porch, about the outhouses, or beneath the steps of the castle gates, like watch dogs; leading the kind of life which in the romance of Valentine and Orson is attributed to the last named warrior: and it is to them we must refer the origin of the "salvage men" used in heraldry as supporters. They were forbidden to seek shelter during the most tremendous storms, and were not allowed to dress their wounds until the conclusion of the battle. Alf of Norway had sixty, and none were enrolled among the number who could not lift a stone in his court yard which required the strength of twelve ordinary men to raise. They were subject to a species of frenzy termed "Bersæksgangr," not like the mook or muck of the Malays, which is a kind of drunkenness produced by opium, but resembling, it would rather seem, the paroxysms of epilepsy. They felt the approach of the fit, during which they were ungovernable and irresistible; and if no enemy was at hand, they would go into the woods and spend the force of the paroxysm upon trees and rocks after which they were so greatly debilitated that they were less than other men. A similar affection seems to have been prevalent at a comparatively late period among the Scottish Highlanders, where it was called "miri-cath," or the madness of battle.

There can be little or no doubt but that these Iotun and Bersækir have been one of the principal types of the giant or ogre of romance. Sufficiently terrible in themselves, they

c Is there not a reference to the Bersæksgangr in the Romance of Merlin, (Ellis, vol. i.) where it is said of Sir Gawaine, "that from nine in the morning till noon, his muscular powers were doubled-from thence till nones they relapsed into their ordinary state, and from nones till evensong they were again doubled?"

have been made ten times more so in the wild mythology of the north, into which they have been incorporated, with "additions and corrections." The Trollds, who originally seem to have been of giant stature, and who have been curiously confounded with the more genuine Duergar or Elf, are indebted to the Iotun for more than one characteristic: throughout the middle ages they were believed to wander through ploughed lands about Christmas, and seem thus connected with the hellequin and wild army of the German forests; for these also were a mixture of real historical recollections with the primeval idea of tutelary genii, spirits of the earth, air, fire, and water.d

The system, or rather systems of the edda, harmonize fully with these rude and fierce ideas. There would seem to be at least two distinct cosmogonies contained in these poems, one of which, that of the ash-tree yggdrasil, under which the whole universe is figured, has apparently more of an oriental cast, and is therefore the most recent. It is this character of orientalism, which, having undergone a reformation in the north, has produced some of the most singular forms of German superstition. The enchanted crocodiles have become enchanted frogs-who again turn out universally to be dignitaries in disguise. Lions of all hues, black, red, grey and brown, flourish abundantly in these fertile storehouses: dragons were their daily companions, griffins their most intimate friends. The "Genii" of Iceland and Norway are to all intents and purposes identical with the "gins gins" and "deevs who dwell in the great sand deserts of central Asia—and the mystic ceremonies of

d Scheffer (History of Lapland) gives a singular reason for this belief,-"In like manner they esteem the first day of Christmas to be unlucky, insomuch that masters of families go not out of their cottages, not so much as to Church, but send their children and servants, for fear of I know not what Spirits and Dæmons, which they suppose to wander about the air in great companies upon that day. This superstition, I suppose, sprang from a misinterpretation of the story, which they heard from their Priest, how a great host of Angels came down from heaven, upon our Saviour's Nativity, and frighted the Shepherds."

the drött differ scarcely at all from the priestly rites of ancient Persia. Strange as it may appear, the history of the far-famed Tom Thumb may be illustrated by a reference to the marvellous deeds of an ancient Rajah; and Whittington's Cat yet receives homage in the wild mountains of Affghanistan. Odin's palace, again, is singularly identical with the wonderful cities of the eastern Ginnistan. Shadukiam and Amberabad, with all their marvels, where

"Rose the gold branches, hung with emerald leaves,
Blossomed with pearls, and rich with ruby fruit.”

The mode of approaching Valhalla was by the bridge Bifrost, or the Rainbow, the red or centre part of which was fire, and was intended to prevent the scaling of heaven by the frost-trolls and mountain giants of Utgarda land, with whom the gods were constantly at war: at its foot stood Heimdall, the porter of the gods-he slept more lightly than a bird, and could discover objects by night or day farther off than an hundred leagues; he could hear the grass in the meadows, and the wool on the backs of sheep, growing; and carried in one hand a sword and in the other a trumpet, the sound of which could be heard through all the nine worlds. Around Valhalla itself grew a thick wood, called Glasir, but it had nothing in common with earthly shades, for the leaves of the trees were of pure gold, and the sound of the wind through them made the most delicious music. The palace itself was of enormous dimensions, having five hundred and forty gates, and it was roofed with golden shields. On its summit was an eagle with its wings spread, and its courts were thronged with the einheriar, or souls of the warriors who had fallen in battle; they were fed on the flesh of the boar serimner,

e Skaldæ codex Upsaliensis. (1. c. pag. 130.)—Finn Magnussen. sub. voc. Valhall.
f Grimnis, mal, st. viii.
g Grimnis mal, st, x.

who, though killed and eaten every day, was always alive again in the evening. Andrimner, a master of the gastronomic science, before whom Jarrin would tremble and Mrs. Glasse look pale, prepared the meal; and the mead was furnished by the goat Heidrun. At the däised end of the hall sat the shadowy form of the "king of men,”—Odin, the terrible and severe God,-on his shoulders were two ravens, who wander over the whole world in the course of each day, and return about the hour of repast, with a due report of what is going on in "middle earth." Odin never eats, but gives his share of food to two wolves who crouch beside his throne, and contents himself with wine, "which" says the Edda, "is both meat and drink to him." Early each morning the einheriar are awakened by the crowing of a cock with a golden comb, and eight hundred of them issue from each of the five hundred and forty gates, which are all of silver. They passed their time till the hour of dinner in fighting, and with such hearty good will, that multitudes fell; but when that great moment arrived, all arose, perfectly well, to contend over the cups as strenuously as they had done in the field. They were served by the Valkyriæ, the only females admitted into Valhalla.

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The remarkable similarity which this description bears to the famous abode of the faërie, the mysterious Isle of Avalon, is well deserving of attention. "Avalon," says the romance of “Guillaume au court nez,' "h" is the most magnificent palace which has ever been built, and whoever touches one of its stones, although covered with wounds, shall instantly be healed. It shines like fireevery gate is of ivory, and its walls of gold inlaid with pearls, had five hundred windows to admit the light of day-its roof was also of gold, and on its summit was an

h See an extract in the Appendix to Le Roux de Lincy-Livre des Legendes.

eagle having eyes of "carbuncle stone," and in its beak an enormous diamond. The country around presented all the delights of the golden age-the vine and the pomegranate rose in every direction; the corn field waved unsown. "No dainty flower, or herb that grows on ground," but flourished there in wildest beauty and luxuriance. It was in sooth—

"a pleasant paradise,

Full of sweet flowers and daintiest delights;
Such as on earth man could not more devise,
With pleasures choice to feed his cheerful sprights;
Not that which Merlin by his magic slights

Made for the gentle squire to entertain

His fair Belphœbe, could this garden stain."i

As in Valhalla the inhabitants of Avalon pursued amusements similar to those which had occupied them when on earth-the ladyes go forth on their hawking expeditions,

"And of game they find grete haunt,

Partrich, and fesaunt, and cormoraunt.”

the pipe and tabor, "and all manner of minstrelsye,” are constantly heard under the green shade, "when the wedur is cler and bryght," and

"The Kynge of Fairye with his route

Comes to hunt alle about,

With dunnynge and with blowinge,

And houndys gret cryinge."

Like Valhalla, too, it was far from the land of the living, and full of

"Folk that were thider ybrought,

And thought dead and wer not.” i

i Spenser-Ruins of Time.

F

j Romance of Sir Orfeo. (Ritson, vol. ii.)