In Northern Mists Volume I Part 31

[204] As Professor Alf Torp has pointed out to me, the word "Fin" must, on account of the Germanic mutation of sounds, be expected to have sounded something like "Pen" at that remote time. "Pen" in Celtic means head, and it is not altogether impossible that such a word might have been transformed into a national name.

[205] Cf. O. Solberg, 1909. The particulars here given of this remarkable find are for the most part taken from Solberg's interesting paper, the proofs of which he has allowed me to see. He has also been kind enough to give me an opportunity of examining the objects.

[206] Lapps belonging to the Greek Church, who live in a Russian enclave on the Pasvik, Varanger Fjord. (Tr.)

[207] Curiously enough, no bones of the great bearded seal (Phoca barbata) are mentioned; but its absence may perhaps be accidental.

[208] In a grave in North Varanger some fragments were found, probably of walrus-tusk [cf. Solberg, 1909, p. 93].

[209] Professor G. Storm [1894, s. 97] and others have thought that the Karelian-Finnish name "Kantalaksi" ("Kandalaks") and "Kantalahti" for the north-western bay of the White Sea, and the town at its inner end, may be a corrupted translation of the Norwegian name "Gandvik" for the White Sea, as "kanta" ("kanda") might be the Finnish-Karelian p.r.o.nunciation of the Norwegian "gand," and the Finnish-Karelian "lahti" or "laksi" has the same meaning as the Norwegian "vik" (bay). Dr. Hansen, considering this explanation probable, takes it as proof that the Karelians must have come to the region later than the Norwegians, and later than the Beormas of Ottar's time. But if the Karelians had immigrated thither after the Norwegians had given it this name, it would be equally incomprehensible that they should not have taken their place-names from the settled Beormas instead of from the casually visiting Norwegians. Storm's explanation of the name "Kandalaks" is, however, in my opinion highly improbable; the casually visiting Norwegians cannot possibly have given the settled Beormas or Karelians the name of their own home. It is then, according to my view, much more probable that the Norwegian "Gandvik" is some kind of "popular etymological" translation of "Kantalaksi," which must then be a name of Finnish-Karelian origin. I have asked Professor Konrad Nielsen, of Christiania, about this, and he has also discussed the question with Professor E. Setala, and Professor Wichmann, of Helsingfors. All three are of my opinion. The meaning of "Kantalaksi" (or "Kannanlaksi," from an older word "Kananlaksi," where the first part is genitive) seems to Nielsen to be quite certain: "kanta" (genitive, "kannan") is heel, basis.

The name should, according to Setala, be translated, "the broad bay." The Norwegians must consequently have corrupted the first part of the name in a "popular etymological" manner to their "gand" (which means sorcery), and the latter part of the name they have translated by "vik" (bay). The name "Gandvik" may already have been known in Norway in the tenth century, as it is mentioned by the heathen skald, Eilif Gudrunsson, in Thorsdrapa.

This seems to prove that the Beormas of the tenth century (and then evidently also of Ottar's time) were Karelians, using the Karelian name "Kantalaksi" for the White Sea. This name consequently leads to conclusions contrary to those of Dr. Hansen, and it goes against the correctness of his views.

[210] Dr. Hansen seeks to explain the difficulty that the Beormas near the Dvina, according to the name of the G.o.ddess "Jomale" in the tale of Tore Hund's journey to Beormaland, must have spoken Karelian, by supposing that the Beormas on the Dvina and those on the Gulf of Kandalaks were two entirely different peoples, although in the old narratives no support for such an a.s.sertion is to be found. Besides, we have above found evidence that the Beormas at Kandalaks also spoke Karelian, because this name is a Karelian word, which was used already in the tenth century.

[211] Cf. Bjornbo and Petersen, 1904, p. 178. In Michel Beheim's travels in Norway in 1450 "Wild lapen" are also mentioned, cf. Vangensten, 1908, pp. 17, 30 f.

[212] Hakluyt: "The Princ.i.p.al Navigations, etc." (1903), iii. p. 404.

[213] Gustav Storm [1881, p. 407] altered "some" to "none," evidently thinking it would make better sense of this obscure pa.s.sage; following him therefore Magnus Olsen, J. Qvigstad and A. M. Hansen have recently discussed the pa.s.sage as though it read: "which none can understand." It appears to me that "which some [i.e., a few] can understand" gives clearer sense.

[214] This pa.s.sage seems somewhat confused and it is difficult to find a logical connection in it. The first part is simple; most of the Sea Finns (Fis.h.i.+ng Lapps) speak Norwegian, but badly. Among themselves and with the Mountain Finns (Reindeer Lapps) they do not use this, but their own language. The language of the latter people must consequently have been the same, unless we are to make the improbable a.s.sumption that the Fis.h.i.+ng Lapps had a language different from that of the Reindeer Lapps, which the latter however had learned, although they are still in our time very bad linguists, and speak imperfect Norwegian. So far there cannot be much doubt of the meaning, but it is different when we come to the statement that they had more languages than one, and that of "their languages they have however another to use among themselves." It seems to me that the certain examples mentioned by Qvigstad [1909] of the Lapps having been in the habit of inventing jargons at the beginning of the eighteenth century give a natural explanation of this pa.s.sage [cf. also Magnus Olsen, 1909].

A. M. Hansen's interpretation [1907 and 1909], that the original mother-tongue of the Fis.h.i.+ng Lapps (called by him "Skridfinnish"), which was quite different from that which they spoke with the Reindeer Lapps, is here meant, cannot be reconciled with the words of the text, for in that case they must have had two mother-tongues; it is expressly said that the second language was "their own," which they spoke among themselves; if it was only the language of the Reindeer Lapps, then it was precisely _not_ their own, nor would they have any reason to speak it among themselves. I understand the pa.s.sage thus: "of their [own] language they have also another [i.e., another form, variant, or jargon] to use among themselves, which [only] some [of them] can understand." But how it should result from this that "it is certain that they have nine languages" is difficult to explain; for even if we a.s.sume with Hansen that nine is an error for three, it does not improve matters; for in any case they did not use all three languages, including Norwegian, "among themselves." It is probable enough, as indeed both Hansen and Magnus Olsen have a.s.sumed, that there is a reference here to the magic arts of the Lapps; and we must then suppose that this mention of the nine languages was an expression commonly understood at the time, which did not require further explanation, to be compared with the nine tongue-roots of the poisonous serpent [cf. M.

Olsen, 1909, p. 91]. Nine was a sacred number in heathen times, cf. Adam of Bremen's tale of the festivals of the G.o.ds every ninth year at Upsala, where nine males of every living thing were offered, etc. Thietmar of Merseburg mentions the sacrificial festival which was held every ninth year at midwinter at Leire, etc.

[215] Remark the resemblance between this pa.s.sage and the mention of the Lapps in the "Historia Norvegiae" (above, p. 204).

[216] Ottar's statement that he owned 600 reindeer is, as pointed out by O. Solberg [1909, p. 127], evidence against the correctness of A. M.

Hansen's a.s.sumption that the Finns mentioned by Ottar had learned to keep reindeer by imitating the Norwegian's cattle-keeping, and that they kept their reindeer on the mountain pastures in summer, but collected them together for driving home in winter; it would have been a difficult matter to manage several hundred reindeer in this fas.h.i.+on, unless they were divided up into so many small herds that we cannot suppose them all to have been the property of one man. Large herds of many deer must have been half wild and have been kept in a similar way to the Reindeer Lapps'

reindeer now.

[217] Gregory of Tours; "Gesta Francorum"; the Anglo-Saxon poems "Beowulf"

and "Widsi," etc.

[218] Zeuss, 1837, p. 501; Mullenhoff, 1889, pp. 18 f., 95 f.; A. Bugge, 1905, pp. 10 f.

[219] Cf. H. Zimmer [1891, 1893, p. 223] and A. Bugge [1905, pp. 11 f.].

In a life of St. Gildas, on an island off the Welsh coast ["Vita Gildae, auctore Carodoco Lancarbanensi," p. 109], we read that he was plundered by pirates from the Orcades islands, who must be supposed to have been Norwegian Vikings. This is said to have taken place in the sixth century, but the MS. dates from the twelfth. The island of Sark, east of Guernsey, was laid waste by the Normans, according to the "Miracula Sancti Maglorii," cap. 5. [A. de la Borderie, "Histoire de Bretagne," Critique des Sources, iii. 13, p. 236.] This part of the "Miracula" was composed, according to Borderie, before 851; but even in the saint's lifetime (sixth century) the "Miracula" places an attack by the "Normans" (cap. 2). It has been suggested [cf. Vogel, "Die Normannen und das Frankische Reich," 1896, p. 353] that this might refer to Saxon pirates; but doubtless incorrectly.

[220] Cf. Zeuss, 1837, pp. 477 f.; Mullenhoff, 1889, p. 19.

[221] What an enormous time such a development requires is demonstrated by the history of the rudder. The most ancient Egyptian boats were evidently steered by two big oars aft, one on each side. These oars were later, in Egyptian and Greek s.h.i.+ps, transformed into two rudders or rudder oars, one on each side aft (see ill.u.s.trations, pp. 7, 23, 35, 48). On the Viking s.h.i.+ps we find only one of these rudders on the starboard side, but fixed exactly in the same way. Then at last, towards the end of the Middle Ages, the rudder was moved to the stern-post. But the rudder of the boats of Northern Norway has still a "styrvold" (instead of an ordinary tiller), which is a remnant of the rudder of the Viking s.h.i.+ps.

[222] The types of Scandinavian craft it most reminds one of are the fjord and Nordland "jagt," in western and northern Norway, and the "pram," which is now in use in south-eastern Norway. It is conceivable that it represents an ancient boat type resembling the form of the "jagt."

[223] Professor Gustafson informed me that in the summer of 1909 he saw in a megalithic grave in Ireland a representation of a s.h.i.+p, which might have some resemblance to a Scandinavian rock-carving; but he regarded this as very uncertain.

[224] Professor G. Gustafson has in recent years examined and figured many Norwegian rock-carvings for the University of Christiania. The ill.u.s.tration reproduced here (p. 237) is from a photograph which he has kindly communicated to me.

[225] The Viking s.h.i.+ps had, however, only one rudder on the starboard side, while the ancient Egyptian, Phnician and Greek s.h.i.+ps had two rudders, one on each side.

[226] But "Viking" is also explained as derived from a Celtic word, and is said to mean warrior [cf. A. Bugge].

[227] Cf. P. A. Munch, i., 1852; Mullenhoff, ii., 1887, p. 66; iv., 1900, pp. 121, 467, 493, etc.; Much, 1905, pp. 124, 135; Magnus Olsen, 1905, p.

22; A. Bugge, 1906, p. 20.

[228] H. Koht [1908] has suggested the possibility that the name "Hloiger" (Haleygir) from Hlogaland (Northern Norway) may be the same as the Vandal tribe Lugii, which about the year 100 inhabited the region between the upper course of the Elbe and Oder. With the prefix "ha" they are distinguished as the high Lugii. Moltke Moe thinks that "Hallinger" or "Haddingjar" may come from another Vandal tribe, the "Hasdingi" (Gothic "Hazdiggos"), which had its name from the Gothic "*hazds," long hair [cf.

Mullenhoff, iv., 1900, p. 487; Much, 1905, p. 127]. It may also be possible that the name of Skiringssal in Vestfold was connected with the Sciri in eastern Germany [cf. Munch, 1852].

[229] O. Irgens [1904] thinks the Norwegians may have had the compa.s.s very early (lodestone on a straw or a strip of wood floating on water in a bowl), perhaps even in the eleventh century; indeed, he considers it not impossible that the lodestone may have been brought to the North even much earlier than this by Arab traders. But the expression often used in the sagas that they drifted about the sea in thick and hazy weather (without seeing the heavenly bodies), and did not know where they were, seems to contradict this.

[230] O. Irgens [1904] has suggested the possibility that they might measure the length of the shadow of the gunwale by marks on the thwart, and determine when the boat lay on an even keel by a bowl of water, and that thus they might obtain a not untrustworthy measurement of the sun's alt.i.tude even at sea. He further supposed that the Norwegians might have become acquainted with the hour-gla.s.s from Southern Europe or from the plundering of monasteries, and that thus they were able to measure the length of the day approximately at sea. But no statements are known that could prove this.

[231] Presuming that King Alfred's "Iraland" is not an error for "Isaland"

and does not mean Iceland (see p. 179).

[232] The priest Ari Thorgilsson, commonly called Ari hinn Froi or Are Frode (i.e., the learned), lived from 1068 to 1148.

[233] G. Storm, "Monumenta Historica Norvegiae," 1880, pp. 8 f.

[234] R. Meissner [1902, pp. 43 f.] thinks it was written between 1260 and 1264.

[235] The original Landnamabok, which was the source of both Styrmir's and Sturle's versions, must have been written at the beginning of the thirteenth century.

[236] Cf. Vigfusson, 1856, i. p. 186; P. A. Munch, 1860; J. E. Sars, 1877, i. p. 213; A. Bugge 1905, pp. 377 ff. Finnur Jonsson, 1894, ii. p. 188, is against this view.

[237] Thus the Nors.e.m.e.n settled in Greenland are always described in the Icelandic sagas, while the Eskimo are called Skraelings.

[238] Opinions have been divided as to the origin of this name; but there can be no doubt that the word is Germanic, and is the same as the modern Norwegian word "skraelling," which denotes a poor, weak, puny creature.

[239] This took place, according to Are Frode's own statements, in the year 1000.

[240] It seems possible that this note may refer to an island which appeared in 1422 south-west of Reykjarnes, and later again disappeared [cf. Th. Thoroddsen, 1897, i. pp. 89 f.].

[241] See "Gronlands historiske Mindesmaerker," iii. p. 250; F. Jonsson, 1899, p. 322.

[242] Instead of the words "very slightly ..." some MSS. have: "but then steer south-west."

[243] Both Snaebjorn and Rolf had to fly from Iceland for homicide. Rolf and Styrbjorn fell in blood-feud when they returned.

[244] Goe began about February 21. What is here related would thus show that it was not till after that time that mild weather began, so that the snow melted and there was water on the stick that stuck out through the aperture.

[245] It was, perhaps, not altogether by chance that Eric was supposed to have sailed west from this point, as Gunnbjorn's brother, Grimkell, lived on the outer side of Snaefellsnes; and it may have been on a voyage thither that Gunnbjorn was thought to have been driven westward [cf. Reeves, 1895, p. 166].

[246] Snaefell lay far north on the west coast of Greenland. A Snaefell far north is also mentioned in connection with the Nordrsetu voyages (see later); it lay north of Kroksfjardarheidr; but whether it is the same as that here mentioned is uncertain.

[247] In the Eastern Settlement there was a Ravnsfjord (Hrafnsfjorr), which is probably the same as that intended here, as it is compared with Eiriksfjord.