Ss 56 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;! JJ-f CM �-/

Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Cambridge andnbsp;Fellow of Clare College

Associate of Namp;wnham College; formerly Lecturer in the University of St Andrews

IS it possible to trace the operation of any general principles in the growth of literature? We shall endeavour to answer this questionnbsp;by a comparative study of the literary genres found in variousnbsp;countries and languages and in different periods of history.

For such comparative study the modern literatures of the West offer only a very limited amount of material. Owing to the constant interaction of these literatures upon one another for several centuries past,nbsp;and before that to the common influence of Latin upon all of them, theynbsp;have had little chance of independent development. The most valuablenbsp;material for our purpose comes from ancient records unaffected, or onlynbsp;partially affected, by the influence of Latin or other languages of widenbsp;circulation, and from isolated or backward communities of the presentnbsp;day which are still unaffected by cosmopolitan literature.

The plan which we have set before ourselves is, in the first place, to examine a number of literatures, some ancient and some modern. Innbsp;making our selection, the guiding consideration has been to find suchnbsp;literatures as would seem to be at least partly independent. And herenbsp;we may remark that the possibility of external influence is a factor whichnbsp;can never be wholly ignored; wherever evidence pointing to connections occurs it must be noted. But other considerations also have hadnbsp;to be taken into account�the accessibility of the material and thenbsp;limitations of our own knowledge. For instance, we have no doubtnbsp;that a study of early Chinese records would prove very instructive; butnbsp;such a study would be entirely beyond our powers. In general, we havenbsp;had to limit the scope of our enquiry to literatures of which we havenbsp;some personal knowledge, or which are intelligible to us throughnbsp;translations and other sources of information.

An initial obstacle to studies of this kind is presented by the fact that the literatures which one would expect to be most independent arenbsp;generally those for which information is most difficult to obtain. Wenbsp;refer to the literatures of isolated and remote peoples. These are as anbsp;rule �unwritten� literatures; and they are now fast perishing before thenbsp;incoming tide of cosmopolitan literature. A similar course of historynbsp;may be traced in our own part of the world. Our ancestors once hadnbsp;unwritten literatures of their own, which in time had to give way beforenbsp;the tide of cosmopolitan late Roman or medieval literature. Fortunately something of the old order has been preserved in both cases�in

the former partly by the European travellers, missionaries and officials of last century, and partly by natives who had received a foreignnbsp;education; in the latter perhaps almost entirely by educated natives. Innbsp;both cases alike the records committed to writing and preserved bynbsp;these persons supply the material upon which we have to draw.

But it is not only in remote lands, such as Central Africa and the islands of the Pacific, that we now find unwritten literature independent�more or less�of cosmopolitan literature. Even in Christian andnbsp;Mohammedan countries such literatures often flourish, side by sidenbsp;with a written literature which is cultivated by the religious andnbsp;educated. In these cases the former is probably never wholly unaffectednbsp;by the latter ; but it sometimes retains a remarkable amount of vitalitynbsp;and independence. �Backward� literatures of this type, like the literatures of more remote lands, were little known to the outside worldnbsp;before last century. Intrinsically they are less valuable than the latternbsp;for our purpose; for they are usually limited to certain genres, and evennbsp;these often show traces of learned or foreign influence. But they havenbsp;been more systematically studied, and consequently have yielded anbsp;much larger amount of material.

In the course of our enquiry we shall take examples from the literatures of both remote and backward communities of the present day, as well as from ancient literatures. In each literature we shall attempt anbsp;descriptive analysis of the available records with a view to ascertainingnbsp;how far the genres and the general features of the various literaturesnbsp;correspond, and wherein the chief differences He. Not until this is donenbsp;will it be possible to formulate any general principles governing thenbsp;growth of literature.

We are not concerned with the origins of literature. That is a subject which must be left to those who have made a special study of the mostnbsp;primitive peoples. None of the literatures which have come under ournbsp;notice gives an impression of recent origin. There can be little doubtnbsp;that in the civilised world literature has had a history of several thousand years.

On the other hand we shall not, in general, pursue our examination beyond the stage at which writing comes into regular use for literarynbsp;purposes. On this point a word of explanation is perhaps necessary.nbsp;We are accustomed to think of literature as inseparably bound up withnbsp;writing. But in reality the connection between the two is accidental,nbsp;and belongs only to a secondary phase in the history of literature.nbsp;There are peoples with highly developed literatures who until recently

seem to have made little use of writing for literary purposes, though they have been acquainted with the art of writing for thousands of years.nbsp;Somewhat similar conditions are said to have prevailed among thenbsp;ancient Gauls. Our own ancestors were acquainted with writing fornbsp;centuries�perhaps many centuries�before they applied it to the preservation of literature. Again, most of the literary genres familiar to usnbsp;are found among peoples to whom writing is�or was until yesterdaynbsp;�wholly unknown. And there is no reason for doubting that amongnbsp;our ancestors, if not throughout the whole civilised world, these genresnbsp;had taken form before writing was employed. In this formative period,nbsp;as among remote and backward communities of the present day,nbsp;�literature� must have consisted of records of intellectual activitiesnbsp;preserved in speech, not in writing. A man�s memory was his library.

The remains of ancient literatures, however, are usually�in Europe without exception�preserved only in the form of written records; andnbsp;many of these records were doubtless written from the beginning.nbsp;Indeed in the ancient^ (pre-medieval) literatures of Europe, withnbsp;which we are concerned in this volume, it is only seldom that a worknbsp;now surviving is definitely known to have been in existence before thenbsp;time of written literature. On the other hand there is usually sufficientnbsp;evidence that literature of some kind�on lines similar, apparently, tonbsp;existing types�was cultivated before this time. And in all these literatures there are a number of records which may have been composed,nbsp;not necessarily in their present form, long before they were committed to writing, though decisive evidence to this effect is not oftennbsp;to be found.

In regard to the origin of these records much difference of opinion prevails. Those whose interest lies in comparative studies generally tendnbsp;to lay weight upon the resemblances between the early records of

I Some readers may perhaps demur to our use of the word � ancient which is commonly applied only to the literatures and history of Rome, Greece and thenbsp;East. We use it also for the earliest literatures of the British Isles. It is true that thenbsp;latter do not begin�as written literatures�until much later than those of Romenbsp;and Greece, though they come next among the literatures of Europe. But there is nonbsp;other suitable word. The term � medieval �, sometimes applied to them, is misleading,nbsp;since it is also, and more commonly, applied to the more or less �cosmopolitan�nbsp;literature of the succeeding period, which was essentially different. The transitionnbsp;took place to a large extent during the times with which we have to deal ; but thenbsp;medieval element was of foreign origin, and had nothing in common with the nativenbsp;elements, which concern us. The latter had literary traditions of their own, which innbsp;our belief had had a long history�certainly reaching back to �ancient� times�nbsp;before anything was written down.

different literatures; and where definite evidence, literary or historical, for connection is wanting they are inclined to attribute such resemblances to parallel development in the growth of literature during itsnbsp;earlier (�spoken�) phase. On the other hand those whose interest isnbsp;concentrated upon the history of one special literature tend to stress thenbsp;fact that such records have usually much in common�sometimes onlynbsp;in diction and metre, sometimes also in subject-matter�with recordsnbsp;which certainly belong to the �written� phase. They see no adequatenbsp;reason for distinguishing between the two series of records, and arenbsp;inclined to ascribe everything to the written phase, except in casesnbsp;where there is definite evidence to the contrary. These scholars usuallynbsp;attribute resemblances between the early records of different literaturesnbsp;to the influence of written texts, just as in later times. In all the ancientnbsp;European literatures, except Greek, their tendency is to reduce thenbsp;native element to a minimum and to trace foreign (Latin) influence innbsp;the presentation of subjects, even when the subjects themselves arenbsp;derived from native tradition. It may be observed here, parenthetically,nbsp;that a similar tendency is to be found in recent works dealing with thenbsp;modern backward literatures of Europe.

A generation ago, when the study of Comparative Philology was flourishing, the former school of thought was in the ascendant. Butnbsp;in recent years the decline in the study of Comparative Philology hasnbsp;led to the neglect of other comparative studies; and now it is oftennbsp;declared with confidence by those who adhere to the opposite schoolnbsp;that in this literature or that the case has been finally settled in theirnbsp;favour. Yet little new evidence of a convincing character appears to havenbsp;been produced. The case of the � comparative� school would seem rathernbsp;to have been allowed to go by default owing to the general neglect ofnbsp;comparative studies, as against the increasing tendency to specialise innbsp;one literature only, or perhaps in two literatures which are not independent of one another. The change of attitude has also been affectednbsp;no doubt by a growing distrust in the speculative theorising which wasnbsp;popular with the last generation, especially in regard to the compositenbsp;authorship of various ancient works, and which is not always easy tonbsp;avoid in comparative study. On the other hand very little accountnbsp;seems to have been taken of the new material for comparative studynbsp;which has been made accessible during the last half century. We thinknbsp;therefore that the time has come for a restatement of the �comparative�nbsp;case by a wider collection of material and in the light of new evidencenbsp;derived from it.

Twenty years ago in The Heroic Age one of the authors called atten- X tion to many striking analogies between ancient Teutonic and Greeknbsp;heroic poetry, and endeavoured to show that these were due to parallelnbsp;development, arising from similar social and political conditions.nbsp;Subsequent study convinced him that this parallel development between the two literatures was by no means limited to the category ornbsp;genre in question. But owing to the pressure of teaching duties it wasnbsp;impossible for many years to make any further systematic study of thenbsp;subject.

About nine or ten years ago both authors began to take the work seriously in hand. By this time we had realised that in order to obtainnbsp;a sound basis for such comparative study it was necessary to make anbsp;detailed examination of other literatures, both ancient and backward.nbsp;But in the course of the next two or three years we became morenbsp;interested in the general aspect of the problem than in its specialnbsp;application to ancient Teutonic and Greek literature. Hence the worknbsp;has changed its character and grown to much larger dimensions thannbsp;was at first intended.

The plan of the book is explained in the introductory chapter. The greater part of it consists necessarily of a descriptive analysis of thenbsp;material. In the present volume the ancient literatures of Europe�nbsp;those which we believe to be wholly or partly independent�arenbsp;treated concurrently. In the following volumes other literatures will benbsp;examined according to the same scheme; but a separate section will benbsp;devoted to each literature. The work will conclude with a generalnbsp;survey of the results to which the evidence leads.

It would be out of place here to anticipate these results. In the present volume, which is merely preliminary, we have practically confined our attention to the literatures concerned. References have notnbsp;often been given to the evidence of other literatures, though our judgment has doubtless been influenced by it. It will be seen that we Vnbsp;believe (unwritten) literary tradition to have been a more developed andnbsp;potent force and to have had a longer life than many scholars are willingnbsp;to allow. We cannot admit that the MS. was quite so formidable a foenbsp;to this tradition as the printing press now is among remote and backward peoples, or that it won its way so quickly. The evidence seems tonbsp;us to point to a long period of transition, during which in the northernnbsp;literatures the native tradition became restricted in scope�somewhatnbsp;as in the modern backward literatures noticed above�before it wasnbsp;finally submerged. But this restriction was due to the religious in-

fluences which accompanied the introduction of the MS., rather than to the influence of the MS. itself.

General considerations such as these must wait for discussion later. But in the meantime there is one aspect of the subjects treated in thisnbsp;volume which we would take the opportunity of pointing out tonbsp;British readers, though it lies apart from our main theme. It will benbsp;seen that of the five �ancient literatures of Europe� discussed here, fournbsp;belong to languages which were formerly current in this country, whilenbsp;three of them are spoken here still. And this is not due to any arbitrarynbsp;selection. The five literatures in question are the only ancient Europeannbsp;literatures of native growth which have left any substantial records.

This country is in all probability unique in the opportunities which its early records afford for the comparative study of literature. It may benbsp;of some interest therefore to see how far these opportunities arenbsp;recognised.

Curiously enough Greek, the only literature of the five which is essentially foreign, is the only one which has been long and widelynbsp;studied.

The Celtic literatures are practically unknown, except to persons who have spoken the languages from childhood. A few adaptationsnbsp;of early Irish sagas have recently had a certain vogue; but it maynbsp;safely be said that very few people in this country have any conception of the extent and value of early Irish literature.

Half a century ago early Norse literature also was practically unknown in this country, except to a small number of private scholars. In recent years its study has made a good deal of progress. But it isnbsp;still neglected in a number of our Universities ; and, so far as we know,nbsp;no permanent endowments have been provided anywhere for its studynbsp;or teaching. This literature, owing to its varied character, is perhapsnbsp;the most valuable of all for comparative purposes.

Anglo-Saxon is now far more widely known than any other of the northern languages. But its position in the educational system of thenbsp;country seems to be somewhat anomalous, and indeed pathetic. Innbsp;most of our Universities it is hardly recognised, at least in principle, asnbsp;possessing a literature, but rather as an accessory to the study of thenbsp;English language. One must admit that the amount of literature whichnbsp;is of independent native origin is much smaller in Anglo-Saxon than innbsp;Irish and Norse; but it is of singular value and interest and by no meansnbsp;deserves the sad fate which has befallen it. We claim that more provision

should be made for its study, not as ancillary to a later literature which, owing to the break in continuity, can contribute nothing to its elucidation, but for its own sake, and with the aid of other literatures, e.g.nbsp;early Norse and Celtic, in a similar stage of growth. Not until this isnbsp;done shall we be able to get rid of certain widely prevalent fantasies,nbsp;such as e.g. that every element of thought and culture which the literature contains must be derived from Roman sources, and that thenbsp;English themselves down to the time of their conversion were thoughtless and uncultured boors.

It is not only in the domain of literature that the unintelligent use of Anglo-Saxon is to be deplored. Who would think of making any seriousnbsp;study of Classical Latin without a knowledge of Roman history or ofnbsp;Roman history without a knowledge of Latin But in our enlightenednbsp;educational system the student of Anglo-Saxon is not required to knownbsp;the history of the period, nor is the student of early English historynbsp;required to know Anglo-Saxon�the two subjects belong to differentnbsp;�schools�. Yet Anglo-Saxon is far more valuable to the student ofnbsp;English history than to the student of English literature. It is the language of our early laws and of important historical records, the knowledge of which is essential to any true understanding of early Englishnbsp;history and institutions.

Again, the student of Latin is expected to have some knowledge of Roman antiquities, and the student of Roman archaeology to have somenbsp;knowledge of Latin. In recent years great progress has been made innbsp;archaeology�more perhaps than in any other branch of knowledge�nbsp;and much light has been thrown upon the early Anglo-Saxon period,nbsp;as well as upon the periods which preceded it. But here again there is innbsp;general no co-ordination with literary and linguistic studies. The literarynbsp;schools, owing to their one-sided and narrowly linguistic tradition, contribute little or nothing to the knowledge of Anglo-Saxon civilisation,nbsp;while the British archaeologist, unlike the Roman or Greek archaeologist, regards the study of literary and linguistic evidence as lying outside his sphere and unnecessary. It is true that much can be done in thenbsp;study of material culture without such evidence. But the more enterprising archaeologist will not rest content with the study of museumnbsp;objects. He is attracted by problems relating to the settlement andnbsp;early history of the country�problems which usually cannot benbsp;settled by archaeological evidence alone�and here unfortunately, owingnbsp;to the lack of co-ordination, the results of important work are toonbsp;often vitiated by an uncritical use of literary records.

It is to be hoped that before long the study of Anglo-Saxon may be freed from its present anomalous position and allowed to develop on itsnbsp;own lines, in connection with studies which can both benefit it and benbsp;benefited by it. We refer to the study of the early history and civilisation of our country and to that of literatures which are related or in anbsp;similar phase of growth.

Of these literatures the early Norse is the most important; indeed it is essential to the progress of Anglo-Saxon studies. This literaturenbsp;cannot be regarded as wholly foreign. Much of it relates to this country;nbsp;the language was once widely spoken and some of the existing poetrynbsp;composed here. But apart from this historical connection, Anglo-Saxonnbsp;and early Norse literature have common elements reaching back to anbsp;high antiquity; and our defective knowledge of Anglo-Saxon civilisation and thought can be supplemented very largely from the richernbsp;stores of Norse literature.

The early Celtic literatures should not be ignored, as they are at present. It is a question how far they can be utilised, owing to thenbsp;serious linguistic difficulties which they present. But much can be donenbsp;by translations, just as in Greek and other literatures which will benbsp;noticed in this book. And we would take this opportunity of impressingnbsp;upon Celtic scholars the need of good and accessible translations, provided with commentaries. Early Celtic records are perhaps even morenbsp;important for the history of institutions than for that of literature.

For the full development of such studies as we have indicated further endowments are required; and it may be urged that conditions atnbsp;present are unfavourable and that there are needs of a practical character more pressing than the study of the past. All very true. But in ournbsp;country, as in all civilised countries, there are still many people who arenbsp;interested in the study of the past. Even in recent years many generousnbsp;endowments have been provided for Classical studies, with the resultnbsp;that these studies are still able to draw upon a large proportion of thenbsp;best intellects in the country.

Why is the same generosity not shown to the study of our own past.^ The chief reason is simple enough. Because it is not believed to benbsp;worthy of it.

Our ancestors had a language, which may be studied with advantage by those who are interested in the later history of our language. Theynbsp;had institutions and laws of some kind, which may be studied to anbsp;limited extent, but only in translations, by a different set of people,nbsp;those who are interested in the later history of English institutions.

They had also certain distinctive elements of material culture, e.g. in weapons, utensils and ornaments, which may be studied by a third setnbsp;of people. But they are hardly recognised as possessing an intellectualnbsp;culture before they came under Roman influence. And the idea thatnbsp;their civilisation should be worthy of study as a whole, like those ofnbsp;Rome and Greece, seems so unfamiliar and fantastic as not to deservenbsp;serious consideration.

Hence, naturally, endowments are not forthcoming. Who would endow Latin studies if such studies were only to be utilised here fornbsp;illustrating the history of the French language, there for first lessons innbsp;Roman Law.^ The house must first be put in order, and the study ofnbsp;British antiquity established on the same footing as that of Roman ornbsp;Greek antiquityh

It may be long before this is accomplished. Apart from the widespread ignorance of British antiquity and the lack of interest in it, which prevails throughout our educational system, our studies arenbsp;under the great disadvantage that they are usually controlled by authorities who have little or no personal knowledge of them. They arenbsp;attached�something here and something there�to other studies, tonbsp;which they are made subservient. We do not deny of course that in thisnbsp;function they may serve a useful purpose, just as a knowledge of Romannbsp;history is helpful to the study of later history, and a knowledge ofnbsp;Latin to various other studies. But this should be only a secondarynbsp;object. The primary object of a school of British antiquity, like that ofnbsp;a school of Classical studies, should be to devote its energies to thenbsp;promotion of its own subjects as a whole; and for this object it isnbsp;essential that such schools should be made independent as soon asnbsp;possible.

As University teachers we have entered upon the academic side of these questions perhaps at greater length than we ought to have done�nbsp;for which we must crave the reader�s pardon. We are aware that in thenbsp;study of British antiquity the Universities have not always�perhapsnbsp;not even usually�led the way. The great progress in our knowledgenbsp;made last century was due in the main to private students. And in

I The mistake of narrowing down the scope of Anglo-Saxon studies was made in the closing decades of last century, and arose out of the establishment of examination courses in English. The earlier scholars, like Kemble, realised clearly enoughnbsp;the many-sided importance of these studies. The chair which I have the honour tonbsp;hold was founded for the promotion of the study of � the antiquities and history ofnbsp;the Anglo-Saxons �, as well as � the Anglo-Saxon language and the languages cognatenbsp;therewith �.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;H. M. c.

archaeology, which is now the most progressive branch of our studies, the work is at present being done more in connection with museumsnbsp;than with Universities. But it is to be regretted that on the literary andnbsp;linguistic sides there is less activity outside the Universities than therenbsp;was formerly. Yet the private student of today is better oif in manynbsp;respects�e.g. in linguistic handbooks, translations, and works ofnbsp;reference�than his predecessor of last century.

The contents of this volume will, it is hoped, give some idea, incidentally, of the field which is to be explored in literature and of the attractions which it offers. To those who are interested in the study ofnbsp;antiquity it may perhaps help to expose the groundlessness of thenbsp;prevalent notion that the Greeks and Romans were the only �ancients�nbsp;whose history and literature are worth study, and to make clear that ournbsp;own ancestors had literary traditions and intellectual activities of theirnbsp;own, less familiar to us but of equal interest. Aesthetic considerationsnbsp;are not our concern; but we think that if anyone will be at the pains tonbsp;examine for himself the records in the northern literatures to which wenbsp;refer, he will find that in general they will bear comparison with thenbsp;Greek records. In narrative poetry we have nothing equal to thenbsp;Homeric poems; but on the other hand the northern literatures arenbsp;frequently rich in genres which are barely represented in early Greek.nbsp;With Latin literature and Attic and later Greek literature comparisonnbsp;is of course impossible; for these belong to a more advanced stage ofnbsp;growth. But we venture to doubt whether those who have devoted annbsp;equal amount of time to the study of Classical Latin and early Norsenbsp;would as a rule prefer the former to the latter. At all events the northernnbsp;literatures are all, in greater or less degree, products of independentnbsp;native growth, which is not the case with Latin literature.

A few words more must be said here with regard to the treatment of our proper theme�the comparative study of literary genres. The best thatnbsp;can be hoped for by one who embarks upon an unfamiliar line of worknbsp;is that he may stimulate others to follow it up to better effect. It isnbsp;needless to say that we ourselves are quite aware of many defects;nbsp;and many more will doubtless come to light in course of time. A newnbsp;departure cannot hope to be more than tentative at the best.

We have not often entered upon the discussion of views opposed to our ownk Had we done so the task would have been endless; for we do

� For a learned and able treatment of the Teutonic material, from a point of view opposed to ours (cf. p. xi f.), the reader may be referred to Heusler, Altger-

not suppose that there are many pages in the book to which one scholar or another would not object. Many scholars also, who regard literaturenbsp;as a kind of lusus naturae, will consider the whole work to be mistakennbsp;in principle.

One criticism we may as well anticipate. It may very justly be brought against us that we �do not know the (modern) literature ofnbsp;the subject ��or rather of the various subjects included in this volume.nbsp;In order to save critics the trouble of looking for references we maynbsp;state at once that we do not know the literature of any of the subjectsnbsp;treated in this book. We have read some books which happen to havenbsp;come in our way; and to some of these we refer occasionally. But wenbsp;do not for a moment claim to have made any exhaustive examination ofnbsp;the modern literature bearing on these subjects. We have doubtlessnbsp;missed many important works, and thereby failed to obtain muchnbsp;valuable information. If we had read more widely we should not havenbsp;completed the book�which perhaps might have been the better course.nbsp;The amount of time at our disposal is limited; and we have preferred tonbsp;give as much of it as possible to the primary authorities.

In the spelling of Greek, Anglo-Saxon and Norse names we have followed the same system as in The Heroic Age. In Irish names we havenbsp;generally followed Thurneysen, Die irische Helden- und K�nigsage�anbsp;work to which we are indebted more than to any other in this volumenbsp;�but the quantity of the vowels has not been marked, except (by accents)nbsp;in italics. It will be found that there is a good deal of inconsistency innbsp;the writing of certain names (e.g. Coirpre, Cairpre, Cairbre') but this isnbsp;hardly to be avoided, unless one normalises, as many scholars do,nbsp;according to the later forms. In Welsh names we have used modernnbsp;orthography in the writing of the consonants. Its consistency is a greatnbsp;advantage, and it seems to represent the pronunciation of early timesnbsp;more clearly than does that of the MSS.�though we do not deny thatnbsp;objection may be taken to such forms as Gwallawg. The medieval vowelsnbsp;have commonly been written, though not according to the earliestnbsp;MSS.; but sometimes we have used modern forms, as in Cadwallon.nbsp;In the same way we write such names as Edwin and Alfred in theirnbsp;modern form.

We are indebted to Professor A. D. Nock of Harvard University, formerly Fellow of Clare College, for many valuable references and fornbsp;manische Dichtung in the Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft. Similar views will benbsp;found expressed in many important recent works, among which we may mentionnbsp;Thurneysen�s Irische Heldensage and Chambers� Beowulf.

the kind encouragement which he gave us in the earlier stages of the work; to Mr J. M. de Navarro, formerly Fellow of Trinity College, fornbsp;valuable help in the final stages�; and to Mr N. G. L. Hammond,nbsp;Fellow of Clare College, for kindly letting us consult him about certainnbsp;Greek passages. More especially we have to thank Mr C. E. Wright,nbsp;B.A., of Clare College, and Mr K. H. Jackson, B.A., of St John�snbsp;College, for reading the proofs and for much helpful criticism. Thenbsp;great care which Mr Wright has bestowed upon the work is responsiblenbsp;for the removal of many oversights and obscurities.

As in the past, we have to thank the staff of the Cambridge University Library for the kind attention which we have constantly received fromnbsp;them. For special favours we are under obligations to the Librariansnbsp;of the National Library of Wales and of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Lastly, we have to thank the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press for undertaking the publication of the book and the staff for thenbsp;efficiency with which it has been printed. Among the latter we maynbsp;mention Mr H. A. Parsons, who has prepared the Index.

The work for this volume has been done by the two authors in collaboration. Nearly all the material for the Irish sections has beennbsp;supplied by my wife; and she has also contributed largely to the othernbsp;sections. But I am responsible for its form.

And, in accordance with the wishes of us both, I ask the Master and Fellows of my College, which has sheltered and supported me for overnbsp;forty years, to accept it, as a tribute, small but sincere, of gratitude.

I We had hoped to receive much valuable help also from another friend and colleague, the late Dame Bertha Newall. To our great sorrow it was too late.

IN the Middle Ages Latin was in general use as the language of serious literature throughout western and central Europe. In thenbsp;literature of entertainment the same uniformity did not prevail.nbsp;French was in use in England, as well as in France; but this was due tonbsp;political causes. Elsewhere the vernaculars of the various countriesnbsp;were commonly employed. Yet there was an underlying uniformity;nbsp;from the twelfth century onwards literature was dominated everywherenbsp;to a great extent, in both form and substance, by French and Proven�alnbsp;models. Since that time various changes have taken place; movementsnbsp;in literature and thought have arisen in different countries. But contactnbsp;and interaction have never ceased.

From times earlier than the latter part of the eleventh century hardly any literature of entertainment has been preserved in the vernaculars ofnbsp;the Continent. A certain amount of vernacular literature has beennbsp;preserved in Germany and a little in France; but in both cases thisnbsp;consists almost wholly of translations and adaptations from Latin. Fornbsp;literature of this period which is independent of Latin, whether it benbsp;literature of entertainment, thought, celebration, or any other kind ofnbsp;literature, we have to turn to the islands�the British Isles and Iceland.

It will be seen, therefore, that in western and central Europe, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean, the materials available for a comparative study of literature�we mean of course independent literature-are very limited. Practically we have to take into account only Latinnbsp;and the languages of the islands. The latter, of course, had a verynbsp;different history from the former. They did not find their way intonbsp;writing for literary purposes before the seventh century�in Iceland notnbsp;until much later.Latin, on the other hand, was essentially a writtennbsp;language and had possessed a written literature for many centuriesnbsp;before this time.

In the east of Europe written literature in the Middle Ages was limited in the main to the two ecclesiastical languages, Greek andnbsp;Church Slavonic. The history of the latter goes back to the ninth

I Not until the twelfth century (cf. p. 9) ; but many of the poems are known to date from the ninth and tenth centuries.

century; but it was almost wholly inspired and dominated by the former. In Russia a modified form of this language, which seems not tonbsp;have differed greatly from the vernacular, was written as early as thenbsp;eleventh century. But literature independent of foreign inspirationnbsp;does not make its appearance before the twelfth at the earliest, though innbsp;modern times it is richly represented.

Hence it may be said that in Europe as a whole, before the eleventh century, independent literature is preserved only in Greek, Latin, andnbsp;the languages of the islands�before the seventh century only in Greeknbsp;and Latin. Both the latter had a written literature of great antiquity.nbsp;Yet for the purpose of comparative study Latin literature is practicallynbsp;useless, since it was almost wholly modelled upon Greek from the timenbsp;of its earliest records.

Greek literature itself contains certain foreign elements, especially the ecclesiastical element, which was derived chiefly from Hebrew andnbsp;Aramaic. But in the main it appears to be a product of independentnbsp;native development. Its history is all-important; for it can be tracednbsp;back to�and even beyond�the time when writing came into use fornbsp;literary purposes. We believe the same to be true in the case of thenbsp;island languages�more than twelve hundred years later.

From what has been said it will be seen that for the comparative study of literature�independent literature�in Europe the followingnbsp;materials are available:

To these we may add (iii) the vernacular literatures of the Continent, which are preserved in writing from the eleventh century, or later�innbsp;so far as these also are independent of Latin influence. It is to be observed that in general these literatures were essentially literatures ofnbsp;entertainment or celebration. Any literature of thought which theynbsp;have to show is translated or derived, directly or indirectly, from thenbsp;ecclesiastical book-languages, Latin or Greek.

There can be no doubt that in all these three groups written literature was preceded by a time when poetry or saga (i.e. prose story) of somenbsp;kind was cultivated. Indeed we may say that, in so far as it was independent, the written literature was derived in some form from thisnbsp;�unwritten literature�, though opinions may often difler as to the precise

3 nature of the relationship between the two. In eastern Europe �unwritten literature� has been preserved and cultivated down to our ownnbsp;times.

At this point it will be well to define what we mean by the word �independent� when we are speaking of the island fiteratures. Hithertonbsp;we have used the word in the sense of � independent of Latin�. By thisnbsp;we do not mean that any one of these literatures as a whole was freenbsp;from Latin influence, even in the times when it was first written, butnbsp;that each of them contained elements, by no means inconsiderable,nbsp;which were not of Latin origin. But further, it is certain that the islandnbsp;literatures themselves were not wholly independent of one another. Innbsp;this case, however, we may distinguish between influence throughnbsp;written texts and influence conveyed through oral channels, especiallynbsp;before the days of writing. We are under the impression that influence /nbsp;of the former kind is limited in general�we will not say wholly�tonbsp;those elements which are ultimately of Latin origin. But influencenbsp;through oral channels seems to be much more widespread. The earliestnbsp;English poetry has much in common with early Norse poetry, preservednbsp;in Iceland; and these common elements clearly date from before thenbsp;time of written literature. As traces of the same elements are to benbsp;found in Germany, we should in this case perhaps speak of a commonnbsp;Teutonic poetry, rather than of influence. Again, early Welsh and earlynbsp;Irish poetry have elements in common, which clearly show the influence of one upon the other. It is not likely that in general this influence was conveyed through written texts. Or, to take an instancenbsp;from our third group, it is clear that much of the matter contained innbsp;French romances of the twelfth century is ultimately of British origin;nbsp;but there is little or no satisfactory evidence for written sources.

A word may be said here as to the fate of the three groups of literature. (i) Greek literature became, indirectly, the main source of European literature, (ii) The island literatures, or rather the nativenbsp;elements contained in them, withered away gradually. English disappeared quickly after the Norman Conquest, to some extent probablynbsp;even before. Only Irish maintained its vitality down to modern times.nbsp;Certain elements of British heroic story, however, obtained a new leasenbsp;of life in French literature, by which they were carried over the greaternbsp;part of Europe, (iii) The Continental literatures of entertainment,nbsp;which appear first in the eleventh century or later, maintained themselvesnbsp;throughout the Middle Ages�Spanish even down to the present time innbsp;remote places. In Germany native elements reappeared by the end of

the twelfth century, though the form of the poetry was borrowed from Romance. In the North also native elements reappeared, somewhatnbsp;later, in the heterogeneous literature of ballads. In the east of Europe,nbsp;with probably one important exception, native elements, independent ofnbsp;the Greek-Slavonic book-literature, hardly make their appearance untilnbsp;towards the close of the sixteenth century, though we believe they hadnbsp;long existed in oral tradition. For the most part indeed they did notnbsp;find their way into writing before the nineteenth century. Both poetrynbsp;and saga are still current orally in many districts.

This brief survey will be enough to show that the native literatures, in so far as they retained their independent character, have not beennbsp;able to maintain themselves against the current of modern civilisationnbsp;and the cosmopolitan literature (of Greek ancestry) which accompaniesnbsp;it. For the survival of oral literature in the south-east of Europe�nbsp;whether Yugoslav, Greek, Spanish or Albanian�we have to thanknbsp;the unprogressive conditions arising from Turkish government.

The scheme of comparative study which we have adopted is as follows. In this volume we have attempted to treat the early history ofnbsp;Greek literature and the island literatures parallel. Since ancient Greeknbsp;literature was the source from which the main current of Europeannbsp;literature is derived, we have usually taken this first; but in cases wherenbsp;the Greek evidence is less full or clear we have begun with one or morenbsp;of the island literatures.

We have not attempted in this volume to treat any of the medieval and modern literatures included in our third group. To treat them allnbsp;according to our scheme would of course be impracticable�the materialnbsp;is far too great. Moreover their evidence for the history of literature asnbsp;a whole is much less valuable than that of the island literatures. Innbsp;certain branches or categories of literature some of them supply verynbsp;full and important evidence. But other categories are representednbsp;feebly or not at all�owing to the fact that in every case there existednbsp;beside the vernacular language a learned language which more or lessnbsp;monopolised the literature of thought. The influence of the latter makesnbsp;itself felt also in various other ways.

It has been necessary therefore to make a selection; and in the next volume we propose to examine two of these literatures�Russian andnbsp;Yugoslav�in so far as they appear to be of purely native origin. Wenbsp;have chosen these two partly because they are the fullest and mostnbsp;varied, and partly because they supply abundant evidence as to the way

in which an unwritten literature is preserved and cultivated. Our plan is next to examine a selected number of representative non-Europeannbsp;literatures, some of which in general resemble the first and secondnbsp;groups noted above, while others, which belong to Christian ornbsp;Mohammedan peoples, resemble the third group. When this has beennbsp;done, we hope it may be possible to formulate some general principlesnbsp;in regard to the history of literature. The present volume, however, isnbsp;concerned only with the history of literature in Europe before thenbsp;Middle Ages, and must be regarded as merely preliminary.

We believe that in Europe the only parallels to our first two groups are to be found among the Finns and related peoples; and we are undernbsp;the impression that these peoples possess a good deal of material whichnbsp;would be of importance for the comparative study of literature in itsnbsp;earlier stages. But unfortunately only a small portion of this material isnbsp;easily accessible; beyond that one is faced with linguistic and othernbsp;difficulties, which are prohibitive.

In this volume we shall see that the early literatures of Greece and of the islands have very many features in common. Indeed we may saynbsp;that in general their history seems to have followed very similar lines,nbsp;though separated by an interval of a thousand to fifteen hundred years.nbsp;Yet the parallelism extends only to a certain point. Greek literaturenbsp;appears to have had an unbroken history. But the independent development of the island literatures was cut short by the introduction ofnbsp;Christianity and of the Latin literature which accompanied it. Nowherenbsp;does it seem to have been extinguished all at once. Literature of thoughtnbsp;usually succumbed�or underwent a complete transformation�longnbsp;before literature of entertainment. The former was incompatible withnbsp;Christianity. The latter gave way, gradually except in England, beforenbsp;the introduction of new fashions from the Continent. Our task is tonbsp;trace the history of literature down to the point where parallelismnbsp;ceases.

As mentioned above, there is no doubt that the island literatures were originally oral. Writing was used occasionally even before thenbsp;Roman alphabet became known. But the intimate connection betweennbsp;literature I and writing, which is familiar to us from childhood, was

� Purists may perhaps object to this use of the word on the ground that etymologically it implies writing. But there is no other term available, apart from cumbrous circumlocutions. Commonly we use the expression �poetry and saga�; but this isnbsp;not entirely comprehensive. The reader will doubtless understand what we mean,nbsp;and that is enough.

wholly foreign to our ancestors before the introduction of Roman writing. Indeed the evidence clearly indicates that a long period elapsednbsp;even after this event before writing was generally employed fornbsp;vernacular literature. We are under the impression, for reasons whichnbsp;will be considered later, that similar conditions prevailed in Greecenbsp;until about th� close of the seventh century�or, to take the country asnbsp;a whole, between 650 and 550 b.c. It is about this time that the parallelism between Greek literature and the island literatures ceases, justnbsp;before the great advance in Greek thought, to which the island literatures never attained.

In Greek we have the Iliad and Odyssey, the Homeric Hymns, the poems and fragments attributed to Hesiod, and a large number of shortnbsp;poems and fragments in hexameter, elegiac, iambic, and various lyricnbsp;metres, including a number of epitaphs and a few oracles. No writtennbsp;prose, beyond a few short inscriptions, has survived from this period.nbsp;It is believed that apart from laws and legal documents, which havenbsp;perished, prose literature had hardly begun. But some of the storiesnbsp;recorded by Herodotos, Plutarch and other writers may date substantially from these times.

In English a very considerable amount of literature has survived from the period between the seventh and the twelfth centuries. But wenbsp;have to distinguish between literature of native origin and literaturenbsp;derived or inspired from foreign (Latin) sources. To the latter�apartnbsp;from works written in Latin�must be assigned all translations,nbsp;adaptations, religious poems, sermons, legal documents due to ecclesiastical (Roman) law, and various other works of similar origin. Evennbsp;the Saxon Chronicle cannot properly be regarded as a native product,nbsp;though only the first part of it�down to the ninth century�is translated from Latin sources. What remains is only a small proportion ofnbsp;the whole. The poetry amounts to perhaps between 5000 and 6000 linesnbsp;and includes poetry of thought, as well as poetry of entertainment andnbsp;celebration. In prose, apart from the Laws, which are largely native,nbsp;only a few short pieces of narrative and description are preserved.

It would seem that for some time after the introduction of Christianity, which began at the end of the sixth century, native and foreign literature ran largely in separate channels. There can be little doubt thatnbsp;heroic poetry was the most highly cultivated form of native literature.nbsp;Yet it is never noticed by Bede, who wrote c. 700-735. The firstnbsp;ecclesiastic who refers to it is Alcuin, who wrote towards the end of the

eighth century, and who condemns it in unsparing terms for its heathen associations. Yet all the poetry of native types which has come down tonbsp;us contains passages of a Christian character, while references to heathennbsp;beliefs have disappeared, with rare exceptions, though in other respectsnbsp;native characteristics seem to have been well preserved. Religiousnbsp;(Christian) poetry, which began in the latter part of the seventh centurynbsp;and was soon widely cultivated, took over the diction and metre of thenbsp;native types. In the ninth century English was much written and becamenbsp;the language of education, owing to the decay of the knowledge ofnbsp;Latin. But by this time Latin learning had been assimilated to a considerable extent.

Welsh poetry earlier than the twelfth century is by no means so well preserved as English. With one exception the poems are known onlynbsp;from medieval or later MSS., of which the four most important datenbsp;from c. 1150 to 1350. Three of these MSS. contain religious poetry ofnbsp;Latin ancestry; but the majority of the poems belong to the nativenbsp;tradition. In these latter also passages of a Christian character occurnbsp;frequently; but references to heathen beliefs and ideas are more innbsp;evidence than in the English poems�a curious fact, since Britain hadnbsp;been nominally a Christian country since the Roman period. On thenbsp;other hand, in contrast with English poetry which, with rare exceptions,nbsp;is purely native in form, Welsh poetry regularly shows rhyme, which isnbsp;presumably of Latin origin. The use of stanzas, of three, four or morenbsp;lines, is also extremely frequent. Native features are, however, preserved in the frequent prevalence of alliteration and in the occurrence ofnbsp;much irregularity in the length of the lines. In other respects Latinnbsp;influence seems to be slight. The poetry is of very varied character;nbsp;but narrative is practically wanting. Very little prose survives fromnbsp;before the twelfth century, and this is of Latin derivation. But from thenbsp;twelfth and following centuries there are a small number of stories,nbsp;especially the four Mabinogion, which belong to the native (saga)nbsp;tradition, in form as well as in substance. A few others are undernbsp;French influence. A large amount of native tradition is summarised innbsp;the form of Triads^ some of which will be quoted later. The Laws,nbsp;though late, appear to be of native origin, in form and substance.

A large proportion of the poems and Triads relate to persons of the sixth century, the majority of whom belonged to Scotland and thenbsp;north of England. We use the term �British� when speaking of thisnbsp;period. Difficulties of every kind�textual, linguistic and historical�nbsp;abound both in these and many other poems. Some of them appear to

be veritable palimpsests; in others the train of thought is extremely obscure. The chief MSS. have been published in a way which leavesnbsp;nothing to be desired. But numerous variants require consideration;nbsp;and there is everywhere the most urgent need of new translations andnbsp;commentaries.

Ireland and Iceland are the chief homes of saga literature. Both countries have preserved a large amount of literature from nativenbsp;tradition.

In Ireland Latin literature begins in the fifth century with the writings of St Patrick. Irish, apart from inscriptions, seems to have beennbsp;first written in the seventh century, both in Laws and in religiousnbsp;literature of Latin derivation. The writing of literature from nativenbsp;tradition can be traced back to the early part of the eighth century,nbsp;though none of the existing MSS. of it are earlier than the twelfthnbsp;century. Many forms of native literature are represented; but saga isnbsp;perhaps the most extensive and important. Much of it relates to verynbsp;early times. Latin influence is often visible, but usually it is more or lessnbsp;superficial. Heathen beliefs are of common occurrence; and even godsnbsp;are frequently introduced, though they are not described as gods. Thenbsp;poetry is not so well preserved as the prose. Apart from what is contained in sagas, it consists very largely of fragments. In form two stratanbsp;can be distinguished. The later type, which is clearly of Latin origin,nbsp;shows rhyme (assonance), a fixed number of syllables in the line, andnbsp;stanzas with a fixed number of lines, usually four. The earlier type hasnbsp;none of these features, but shows alliteration. In sagas a poem of thisnbsp;type is called �rhetoric� (j-etoric). Many intermediate types are found.nbsp;Lastly, we may mention that there is a very large amount of antiquarian literature, both prose and poetry, in which Latin learning andnbsp;native tradition are commonly combined.

Iceland also possesses an extensive and varied literature. This is in part of native origin, especially the saga literature. But much of thenbsp;poetry and of the tradition contained in the sagas was brought fromnbsp;Norway during the period of colonisation (c. 870-930) or later. As anbsp;rule therefore we use the term �Norse� for this literature, although thenbsp;sagas were doubtless composed in Iceland. In Norway itself literaturenbsp;of native tradition seems to have gone out of favour in the course of thenbsp;twelfth century. The literature which survives in that country is partlynbsp;of religious character, derived from Latin, partly romance literaturenbsp;from the Continent. A certain amount of Latin literature too has beennbsp;preserved. All these are found also in Iceland. But Iceland has become

9 the sole repository of literature of native tradition, whether from thenbsp;homeland or the colonies. Both in Norway and in Iceland the writingnbsp;of the vernacular seems to have begun with the Laws, which werenbsp;written early in the twelfth century. In Iceland the writing of the sagasnbsp;began not much later. Of these the most important are the �Sagas ofnbsp;Icelanders� {Islendinga S�gur)�stories from oral tradition of men andnbsp;families belonging to the period c. 870-1030. Next come the �Sagasnbsp;of the Kings� of Norway {Konunga S�gur'), which were compiled bynbsp;literary men from similar stories. On the other hand the �Sagas ofnbsp;Ancient Times� {Fornaldar S�gur}, relating to times anterior to c. 870,nbsp;are largely works of imagination, composed in the twelfth century ornbsp;not much earlier, though some of them are based on early poems ornbsp;traditions. As records of ancient times this last series is of much lessnbsp;value than the Irish heroic sagas. Much poetry has been preserved fromnbsp;heathen times, i.e. before a.d. 1000. In addition to works by knownnbsp;poets, we may mention especially the collection of anonymous poemsnbsp;commonly called Edda^ some of which deal with stories of the gods,nbsp;others with heroic stories. Hardly a trace of Latin influence is to benbsp;found in all this literature, except a few of the �Stories of Ancientnbsp;Times �. Even in antiquarian works it is extremely rare.

It has been mentioned above (p. 3) that the earliest English poetry has much in common with early Norse poetry, and that traces of thenbsp;same elements are to be found in Germany. These common elementsnbsp;certainly date from early times�hardly later than the sixth century.nbsp;They apply to both the diction and the metre of the poems, as well asnbsp;the subject-matter; and they may be taken as reflecting characteristicsnbsp;of a poetry which was once common to the various Teutonic peoples.nbsp;Much additional information relating to Teutonic poetry and traditionnbsp;is supplied by Latin and Greek writers of the sixth century and earlier.nbsp;We may therefore speak of the characteristics of this poetry with somenbsp;confidence, though nothing of it has been preserved in its originalnbsp;form.

There are also elements common to early Welsh and Irish poetry. The relationship here is by no means so close as between English andnbsp;Norse. Thus the heroic stories of the two peoples are totally distinct.^ ?nbsp;But there are certainly common elements in metre and diction whichnbsp;point to communication between the two countries. These may be due

� One Welsh poem is concerned with an Irish heroic story; and there is other evidence that Irish heroic stories were not unknown in Wales. But the two series ofnbsp;stories are entirely independent.

in part to the ecclesiastical connection which began in the fifth century and would seem to have been especially close in the sixth. Instancesnbsp;occur as late as the ninth. But there are other parallels, especially innbsp;�mantic� poetry, which must point to a connection by no means confined to the Church. The problems arising from these parallels will benbsp;discussed in Ch. xv. But evidence is not wanting for a much earliernbsp;connection than this�a connection which seems to be shared by thenbsp;Gauls of the first century b.c. This subject will require notice in Ch. xix.nbsp;The evidence points to the existence of what we may call a commonnbsp;Celtic element. But this common element is of much earlier date, andnbsp;the traces it has left in our records are much slighter than is the casenbsp;with the common Teutonic element in English and Norse.

In the present volume, as already indicated, we shall attempt a parallel treatment of these five literatures. The enquiry will be limitednbsp;to the purely native elements in each literature. Reference to the elements of Latin derivation will be merely incidental, in so far as theynbsp;contribute evidence of value for the history or interpretation of thenbsp;native elements.

The material will be arranged according to subjects, not according to form. Poetry and prose will be treated together in each section.

First we have to distinguish between literature relating to individuals and literature of general reference. The former of these is then to be divided according as it relates to specified or unspecified individuals,nbsp;and again according as it relates to human beings or to deities and othernbsp;supernatural beings.

By far the largest of these classes is that which comprises literature relating to specified human beings; and this it will be convenient tonbsp;subdivide. Now every one of the peoples with whom we are concernednbsp;in this volume possesses what is generally called a �Heroic Age�, whichnbsp;has come to an end long before the close of the period of literaturenbsp;comprised within the scope of our study. Many stories, though not all,nbsp;which relate to this Heroic Age are commonly known as �heroic�nbsp;stories. We may therefore perhaps speak of�heroic literature� and alsonbsp;of � non-heroic literature � relating to the Heroic Age, without referencenbsp;to the times when such literature was composed, whether during thenbsp;Heroic Age itself or later. For literature relating to times later than thenbsp;Heroic Age we may conveniently use the term � post-heroic�.

We shall not at this point attempt to define the term �heroic�. The word �hero� and its derivatives are of great antiquity, as we shall see

in the next chapter. So far as Greece is concerned, no ambiguity as to the meaning of the expression �Heroic Age� is possible; and we believenbsp;that similar �Ages� are to be traced in the past history of the othernbsp;peoples now under discussion. Some scholars, however, in relation tonbsp;Anglo-Saxon and Norse literature use the expression in a wider sense�nbsp;without analogy to the Greek �Heroic Age�. In order to avoid anynbsp;misunderstanding therefore we must state that what we meani by thenbsp;expression^in this volume�is �an age famous in literature or tradition, in which heroic conditions are predominant�. What we mean bynbsp;�heroic conditions� will, we think, be made clear for all practicalnbsp;purposes in the next few chapters. But the underlying principles ornbsp;causes cannot profitably be discussed until we have considered thenbsp;evidence available from other peoples. In the meantime it will be seennbsp;that �heroic� conditions are still predominant in certain parts of thenbsp;world. Consequently we ought perhaps to regard the first part of ournbsp;definition of �Heroic Age� as not essential, though it is valid for thisnbsp;volume. On the other hand we must emphasise the word �predominant�. Heroic conditions occur, for example, sometimes in the sagas ofnbsp;Icelanders; but they were not the predominant conditions of Iceland innbsp;that period.

We shall not attempt to take the various divisions of our subject, as noted above, in what may be called their logical order. In this volume,nbsp;which is merely preliminary, it is convenient to use the history of onenbsp;literature, as far as possible, as a standard of comparison, and fornbsp;obvious reasons we have chosen Greek literature. We begin withnbsp;heroic literature (poetry and saga), because Greek literature, as knownnbsp;to us, begins with heroic poetry. Literature relating to unspecifiednbsp;individuals does not make its appearance as such in the earliest timesnbsp;of Greece; consequently it will be left until late in the volumenbsp;(Ch. xiv).

Heroic literature is all-important in the earliest times; and we shall therefore devote several chapters to special aspects of it. But antiquarian literature, though it is in part based upon heroic stories, is alsonbsp;concerned with traditions and speculations relating to many othernbsp;subjects. We shall therefore treat this in a special chapter, independentlynbsp;of the divisions noted above. Mantic literature requires similar treatment. The �descriptive� literature which comes within the scope of thisnbsp;volume is usually of general, not particular, reference; and it is often

� It is the same meaning in which the expression is used in The Heroic Age (Cambridge, 1912).

very closely connected with gnomic literature. We shall therefore treat these two subjects in consecutive chapters.

After this chapter we shall generally use the expression � poetry and saga� instead of�literature�. As a description of the material this expression is less liable to misconception; and in general it applies to allnbsp;the subjects treated except the four last mentioned. Of these two�nbsp;mantic literature and �descriptive� literature�consist almost wholly ofnbsp;poetry, so far as they come within our province, while we doubtnbsp;whether the term �literature� is properly applicable to all the antiquarian traditions and speculations which require to be noticed�somenbsp;of them may never have assumed any definite literary form.

The next fourteen chapters are occupied with the discussion of the various categories of literature�heroic, non-heroic, antiquarian, etc.�nbsp;noted above. The last five chapters are concerned, not with separatenbsp;categories, but with questions relating to the growth and preservationnbsp;of literature in general.

The story of mankind, as told by the poet Hesiod, is divided into five stages, each of which is represented by a separate race. Thenbsp;first stage is that of the Golden Race, who were blessed with everynbsp;joy and knew nothing of sorrow, and who, when they died �as overcome by sleep�, became good spirits upon the earth. Next came thenbsp;Silver Race, far inferior to their predecessors. Then, thirdly, came thenbsp;Race of Bronze, who had all their implements and weapons of bronze,nbsp;since iron did not yet exist. This was a fierce and insolent race, whollynbsp;given up to warfare. They died by each other�s hands, and their namesnbsp;perished with them.

A further and final stage of deterioration is marked by the Race of Iron; but before this is reached the poet introduces another race, justernbsp;and better than the last��a godlike race of Hero men who are callednbsp;Demigods, who of old peopled the boundless earth. These too werenbsp;destroyed by war and the roar of battle, some at Thebes of the sevennbsp;gates, the land of Cadmos, striving for the flocks of the son of Oidipus,nbsp;and others at Troy, whither they had been led by war in ships, over anbsp;great expanse of sea, for the sake of fair-haired Helen. There indeednbsp;did some of them meet their end in the embrace of death, while othersnbsp;were granted life and abodes apart from men by the Father, Zeus thenbsp;son of Cronos, and planted at the ends of the earth�.

In Teutonic legend also references to a Golden Age are not unknown ; but the people of this are represented as divine. Nothing is said of anbsp;Silver Age; and all memory of the Age of Bronze had faded away beforenbsp;the time of our earliest records. On the other hand all Teutonic peoplesnbsp;long preserved vivid memories of an Age of Heroes, who are celebratednbsp;alike in English, German and Norse poetry. Among the earliestnbsp;references to this age is a passage in Jordanes� History of the Goths

i This and the following chapters (iii-v, vii, viii) are concerned to a large extent with the subjects treated in The Heroic Age, by H. M. Chadwick (Cambridge,nbsp;1912), to which�in order to save unnecessary repetition�the reader is referred fornbsp;a more detailed study of the material. In general the Greek and Teutonic evidence isnbsp;treated more briefly in the following chapters. We adhere to the views expressed innbsp;the former work, except that we now recognise the existence of non-heroic-storiesnbsp;relating to the Heroic Age.

(cap. 5), which states that the Goths �used to sing to the strains of the harp, in ancient poetry, the deeds of their ancestors... Fridigernus,nbsp;Vidigoia and others, who have a great reputation in that nation. Thenbsp;marvellous ancient world can hardly claim that its Heroes were theirnbsp;equals�. We may also refer here to another passage in the same worknbsp;(cap. 13). The context contains a historical error; but this hardlynbsp;affects the passage itself, which offers a rather interesting parallel to thenbsp;one quoted above from Hesiod. The Goths � now called their chiefs, tonbsp;whose good fortune it would seem that they owed their victory, notnbsp;mere men but Demigods, that is Ansis�.�

In both the Greek and the Teutonic worlds the Heroic Age was the earliest period of which memory survived. In both cases it forms thenbsp;subject of the oldest literature which has come down to us. And later,nbsp;as new literary forms grew up, it continued to supply them with themes.nbsp;Thus the Athenian drama of the fifth century drew almost all its subjectsnbsp;from this source. In the North the heroic stories were treated first innbsp;poetry of the native traditional type, then in prose narratives, and laternbsp;again in rhyming verse and popular ballads�some of which may stillnbsp;be heard in remote islands even in our own day.

The Heroic Age of the Teutonic peoples has no direct connection with this country, although it is in English poetry that its earliestnbsp;records are preserved. There is, however, another Heroic Age, whichnbsp;belongs wholly to Britain. Its earliest records are to be found in Welshnbsp;poetry; but the persons and events celebrated in these poems appear tonbsp;be distributed over various parts of the country, from the Channel tonbsp;the Forth.

In later times many of the British heroes were forgotten. Those who were remembered were mostly drawn into connection with Kingnbsp;Arthur�who figures in very few of the early poems�and the scenenbsp;came to be laid usually in Wales and on the Welsh borders. In Walesnbsp;itself the heroic stories were preserved probably in the form of saga ornbsp;traditional prose narrative. But from the twelfth century onwards, ifnbsp;not somewhat earlier, they gained a much wider circulation�apparentlynbsp;through Breton channels�in France and among the Normans settlednbsp;in England ; and before long they became famous as themes of poetrynbsp;throughout the greater part of Europe.

Non puros homines sed semideos, id est Ans is, uocauerunt. Ansis is doubtless identical with the Norse Aesir, �gods�, though there is a difference in the use of thenbsp;name.

The Britons possessed also a learned literature, mainly religious, which began probably before the time of any of the heroes of whomnbsp;record has survived. In early times, however, this literature seems tonbsp;have been wholly in Latin, and consequently, from the fifth centurynbsp;onwards, confined to ecclesiastical circles. So far as the secular world isnbsp;concerned the Heroic Age may be said to occupy the same position in /nbsp;Welsh literature as it does in Greek and Teutonic.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;.

The British heroes, being Christians, did not become �demigods�; . but they seem to have been regarded as superior, at least in size, tonbsp;people of later times. In the Dream of Rhonabwy, King Arthur deploresnbsp;that the country should now be in the keeping of men like Rhonabwynbsp;and his companions, so puny in comparison with the men of old. Thenbsp;same idea recurs elsewhere both in medieval and modern stories.

Ireland also had a Heroic Age of its own. The records of this Age are more abundant than those of any of the preceding, if we exclude thenbsp;late foreign outgrowths of the British. They are mostly in the form ofnbsp;saga, though a large amount of poetry also is preserved, chiefly in thenbsp;sagas themselves. Many of the heroic stories relate to times apparentlynbsp;anterior to either the Teutonic or the British Heroic Ages, and amongnbsp;these are to be found the longest and most famous. But there are othernbsp;stories, which can only be regarded as heroic, dealing with times whennbsp;the Teutonic and the British Heroic Ages had come to an end. Thenbsp;Irish Heroic Age therefore covers an exceptionally long period.

Until recently the heroic stories were widely known among uneducated people both in Ireland and in the Gaelic-speaking parts of Scotland, whither they had been carried in the course of time. Indeednbsp;there are persons still living, at least in Ireland, who can recite some ofnbsp;the stories. But nearly everything seems to have been committed tonbsp;writing long ago�for the most part between the eighth and thenbsp;eleventh centuries.

The more famous stories and their heroes were regarded with a kind of veneration, as may be seen, e.g., from the way in which they arenbsp;introduced at times into legends of saints. According to one (late)nbsp;story St Ciaran wrote the Tain Bo Cuailnge at the dictation of the heronbsp;Fergus mac Roich, who had been raised from the dead for the purpose.nbsp;In another, much earlier, story St Patrick at King Loegaire�s requestnbsp;brings CuChulainn in his chariot before him. In a third story Cailte,nbsp;the comrade of Finn, is represented as entertaining St Patrick withnbsp;accounts of his adventures. Here, as elsewhere, the heroes are described

as men of much greater size than people of later times�though Cu-Chulainn is always said to be small.

Next, we may consider briefly the question of date. It will be seen at once that the Greek Heroic Age is separated from the others by anbsp;long interval of time.

There is no difficulty in fixing approximately the date of the Teutonic Age; for many of the persons and events mentioned in the poems , . . .t- are well known from the writings of contemporary Roman and Greeknbsp;, historians. The period to which these belonged extends from the fourthnbsp;. 1* �quot; to the sixth century; but it is probable that a few of the earliest heroesnbsp;;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;lived in the third century. The latest reference which can be fixed is to

the presence of Aelfwine (Alb�in), king of the Lombards, in Italy, i.e. about the year 570. The Heroic Age therefore coincides with the periodnbsp;of upheaval which preceded and followed the fall of the Roman Empirenbsp;in the west�the period generally known as the Age of Nationalnbsp;Migrations.

The British Heroic Age was in part contemporary with the Teutonic, though it began and ended later. Most of the heroes belong to thenbsp;sixth century. Arthur, however, may have lived before the end of thenbsp;fifth century; and there is one�doubtful�case of still earlier date. Onnbsp;the other hand, if Cadwallon be included, the Heroic Age extends downnbsp;into the seventh century. Cadwaladr, the son of Cadwallon, figures innbsp;a number of poems; but these are of a totally different character, andnbsp;will require discussion in a later chapter.

The limits of the Irish Heroic Age are more difficult to determine. There are a number of heroic stories relating to events of the seventhnbsp;century, but after this they are rare. The evidence of two early lists ofnbsp;sagas, which are believed to come from a common original, probably ofnbsp;the tenth century, seems to point to the same date. Many of the storiesnbsp;mentioned are unknown; but very few of them appear to fall after 700,nbsp;although there is one well-known story�found in both the lists andnbsp;therefore presumably derived from the original�which is concernednbsp;with events as late as the early part of the tenth century. In truth, anynbsp;date which may be fixed for the end of the Irish Heroic Age must benbsp;more or less arbitrary; but for practical purposes we prefer to date itnbsp;early in the eighth century. We may perhaps include the story of thenbsp;Battle of Allen {Cath Almaitie), A.D. 718.

As to the beginning of the Irish Heroic Age all that can be said with certainty is that it goes back to prehistoric times. Genealogies and the

17 chronological schemes of the early chroniclers refer a number of storiesnbsp;to times even anterior to the Christian era. Until some corroborativenbsp;evidence is forthcoming little trust can be put in such dating, althoughnbsp;we suspect that the value of the genealogies has been underrated bynbsp;many modern writers. Our view is that Irish heroic tradition maynbsp;well reach back, in some form or other, to the early centuries of thenbsp;Christian era, and possibly still further. No external evidence is available before the fifth century�the time of St Patrick�and very littlenbsp;before the seventh; but we see no reason for doubting that St Patrick�snbsp;times were separated by a long interval from those of Cormac macnbsp;Airt, who is assigned by the chronologists to the third century, and thenbsp;latter again by another long interval from the period to which the Ulsternbsp;stories relate. The question as to the historicity of these early periodsnbsp;will have to be noticed later.

The Greek Heroic Age is wholly prehistoric. The persons and events recorded in the poems are known to us only from native tradition. Nonbsp;certain reference to any of them has yet been found in Egyptian or othernbsp;foreign contemporary records and there are still scholars�though bynbsp;no means so many as formerly�who regard them all as mythical. Thenbsp;ancients, however, believed them to be historical, and in the Alexandriannbsp;period, at least from the third century onwards, the leading events ofnbsp;the Heroic Age were included in various chronological schemes. Thesenbsp;schemes themselves were based on calculations made by writers of thenbsp;fifth century (and earlier) from genealogies; but unfortunately thenbsp;mistake was made, usually it would seem, of reckoning forty years to anbsp;generation. Consequently, in order to obtain the dates really indicatednbsp;by the genealogies it is necessary to deduct about twenty-five per cent,nbsp;from the figures actually given.^ The trustworthiness of the genealogiesnbsp;is, of course, a different question. But their evidence, such as it is,nbsp;points to c. 1000 B.C., or perhaps even rather later, for the end of thenbsp;Greek Heroic Age.

It is of importance to note the difference which exists between the records of the Heroic Age and those of later times in Greece. Storiesnbsp;relating to the Heroic Age are numerous and the persons mentionednbsp;in them amount to many hundreds�perhaps thousands�while the

� The recently discovered Hittite records will be noticed in Ch. vn. The most probable identifications derived from them relate to times long anterior to those ofnbsp;the heroes celebrated in the Homeric poems.

This has been disputed. The question will be discussed briefly in Ch. vii (adfin.').

centuries which intervene between it and the beginning of the historical period are practically blank, except for the bare lists of names whichnbsp;occur in a handful of genealogies. Yet the stories which can properlynbsp;be called heroic�as distinguished from aetiological myths�arenbsp;represented as extending over only a small number of generations, suchnbsp;as might amount to two, or possibly three, centuries.

Several questions relating to all the Heroic Ages discussed above must be reserved for consideration in later chapters, (i) What is it thatnbsp;constitutes a Heroic Age? Is the Heroic Age�or can it be�a purelynbsp;�literary� phenomenon, or does it necessarily involve the existence ofnbsp;certain social and political conditions ? (2) Is the presence of historicalnbsp;elements essential to a heroic story i' As said above, opinion on thisnbsp;I subject has changed somewhat; but many scholars still hold to the oldnbsp;position, especially in regard to the Irish stories. (3) Is it justifiable tonbsp;speak of the �beginning� of a Heroic Age, as we have done? Does thenbsp;fact that there are no heroic stories before a certain date mean anythingnbsp;more than that all the earlier heroic stories are lost and forgotten.^ Itnbsp;will be seen that these questions are all connected with one another,nbsp;more or less closely.

Greek literature begins with the two great heroic epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Of other such works we have onlynbsp;�tables of contents�, together with a few brief quotations. Thenbsp;only exception is the Shield of Heracles., a short heroic poem traditionallynbsp;ascribed to Hesiod, but now generally assigned to a later date, thoughnbsp;not later than the seventh century. Not long afterwards heroic subjectsnbsp;began to be treated in lyric poetry, but of such poems also we have onlynbsp;short fragments before the end of the sixth century. By this time a newnbsp;field for the treatment of heroic subjects was supplied by the Atheniannbsp;drama. In still later times the same subjects were treated in variousnbsp;kinds of poetry and in prose works, but with these we are not concerned.

The earliest phase of Teutonic poetry is represented by the English heroic epic Beowulf with the fragments of Finn and ifaldhere. Thenbsp;elegy of Deor and the catalogue poem IFidsith date from approximatelynbsp;the same period. They deal with heroic subjects, though they are notnbsp;primarily narrative poems like the other three. The German Hilde-brandeslied, a fragment of a heroic narrative poem, closely resembles thenbsp;English pieces and belongs no doubt to the same phase. But the greatnbsp;mass of German heroic poetry dates from a much later time�not earliernbsp;than the twelfth century�and shows a totally different style and metricalnbsp;form. From the tenth century, however, there is a Latin heroic poemnbsp;Waltharius Manu Fortis, dealing with the same story as the Anglo-Saxon IFaldhere.

Of extant Norse poems none are believed to be earlier than the ninth century, at least in their present form. Among the oldest are thosenbsp;contained in the large collection commonly known as Edda, whichnbsp;range in date probably from the ninth to the eleventh century, and ofnbsp;which more than half deal with heroic subjects. A few other heroicnbsp;poems, such as the Battle of the Goths and Huns and a fragment of thenbsp;Bjarkamdl, seem to belong to the same period. From the thirteenthnbsp;century we have prose narratives�largely paraphrases of poems�onnbsp;heroic subjects.

In the present chapter we shall deal first with the Iliad and Odyssey and with the earliest Teutonic narrative poems, Beowulf, Finn, Waldhere

and Hildebrand-, next with the other Greek poems, and with Dear and Widsith-, and then with the Norse poems.

Now if the Homeric poems be compared with the earliest Teutonic narrative poems, it will be seen that there are many striking resemblancesnbsp;between the two groups. It will be convenient to give a list of these andnbsp;at the same time to call attention to the chief points in which theynbsp;differ.

These characteristics seem to be constant in the poems which we are now considering. It is true that Beowulf contwxs a number of didacticnbsp;passages, partly of a religious (Christian) character; but these are notnbsp;sufficient to affect the general character of the poem.

As a further characteristic common to the two groups of poems we may add (5) that they may for all practical purposes be regarded asnbsp;anonymous. This is strictly true of the Teutonic poems, though it is tonbsp;be remembered that three of them are mere fragments. The Iliad andnbsp;Odyssey were ascribed by Greek tradition to � Homer � ; but it is extremelynbsp;doubtful if anything was really known of this person. At all events thenbsp;personality of the author is never disclosed. Such expressions as �Tellnbsp;me, O Muse� (e.g. at the opening of the Odyssey}, or �to my knowledge � or � I have heard � (in Beowulf} doubtless represent conventionalnbsp;diction; and though sententious passages occur not unfrequently innbsp;Beowulf, there is no reason for supposing that they do more than voicenbsp;the generally recognised opinions of the day.

Further, in regard to form, the two groups of poems have the following features in common :

The Greek and Teutonic types differ from one another considerably. The Greek poems with which we are dealing are in one metre (hexameter), which, like all ancient Greek metres, is governed by quantity,nbsp;without regard to accent. The number of syllables is fixed, and so also

is the quantity in each case, except the last syllable of the line. The metre of the Teutonic poems is also uniform.^ But Teutonic metre isnbsp;governed by accent as well as by quantity, the latter being regardednbsp;only in accented syllables. In certain unaccented positions the numbernbsp;of syllables may vary considerably. The Teutonic poems are governednbsp;also by alliteration, which is unknown in Greek.

Anglo-Saxon and early German poems have the same metrical form, each half-line containing two accented units� and two or (less frequently) three unaccented units or units with secondary accent. Thenbsp;chief difference between Anglo-Saxon and German metre is that halflines containing five units are comparatively rare in the former andnbsp;practically confined to the first half of a line, whereas in German theynbsp;are more frequent and may occur in either half.

Neither the Greek nor the Teutonic poems have strophe or stanza. In the Greek poems sentences usually end with the end of the line, butnbsp;stops in the interior of the line are quite frequent. In the Anglo-Saxon poems interior stops are almost as frequent as those at the endnbsp;of the line.

Speeches are of frequent occurrence in the Homeric poems and are often of considerable length. The space devoted to them varies a goodnbsp;deal in different books�generally from one-third to four-fifths�butnbsp;in both poems the total amount of the speeches exceeds that of thenbsp;narrative. In Beowulf they are nearly as prominent and occupy in allnbsp;more than two-fifths of the whole poem. They occur also in thenbsp;fragments of Finn., Waldhere and Hildebrand.

This is a marked feature both of the Homeric poems and of Beowulf Typical examples may be found in descriptions of the arrival andnbsp;reception of visitors, e.g. the reception of Telemachos and Peisistratosnbsp;at the court of Menelaos (f)d. iv. 20 ff.) and that of Beowulf at thenbsp;court of Hrothgar I�. ff.). Other instances of the same leisurelynbsp;type of narrative occur in the accounts of the movements of royalnbsp;personages in their palaces (e.g. Od. i. 328 ff., iv. 121 ff.; B. 920 ff.,

' Apart from a few examples of an extended type of line, which occurs in pairs or short groups. The Hildebrandeslied, however, is less regular.

� An accented unit consists either of one long syllable or of two syllables, of which the first is short. Unaccented units may in certain positions contain more thannbsp;one syllable�sometimes up to four or five.

1162 ff.) and in the descriptions of funerals (e.g. II. xxiii. no If.; B. 3134 ff.) and of quite uneventful voyages (e.g. Od. n. 413 fF.;nbsp;.5. 2.0') IF., 1903 IF.). Even the undressing of heroes, when they gonbsp;to bed, is described in the same leisurely style (e.g. Od. i. 4361F.;nbsp;B. 671 IF.).

This is the feature which most clearly distinguishes the language of the earlier heroic poems, both Greek and Teutonic, from that of laternbsp;poetry and of prose. Examples are extremely numerous in the Homericnbsp;poems and plentiful enough in Beowulf. The epithets sometimes consist of simple or compound descriptive adjectives or adjectival expressions, sometimes of nouns in apposition. Thus, where we should saynbsp;�the sea�, the Homeric poems and Beowulf commonly add an epithet,nbsp;e.g. �grey� (ttoAi�s, fealu'). Similarly, a ship is often described asnbsp;�hollow� (ko��o�) or �broad-bosomed� O^dfebmedf, or, again, asnbsp;�curved� (xopcovls), which is also possibly the meaning of wundenstefna,nbsp;etc. Headlands or cliffs have the epithet �breezy� (fivEu�ei�, windig).nbsp;Buildings are called �lofty� (�vpriA�s, heaK). Heroes have variousnbsp;epithets, denoting prowess, etc., applied to them, while their squires ornbsp;personal followers are often described as �dear� or �own dear� (��Aos,nbsp;swces). Not unfrequently also we meet with more picturesque expressions, such as �the dawn clad in saffron� (fid�� KpoKoire-irAos) or �thenbsp;sun clad in radiance� {s^nne sweglwered).

In addition to these adjectival descriptions there are others which contain nouns, often in apposition with personal names, e.g. � lord ofnbsp;men� (�va� �vSp�v) or �lord of knights� leorla dryhten). One of thenbsp;most noticeable of these is the description of a king as �shepherd� ornbsp;�keeper� of troops (Troiphv Aa�Sv, folces hyrde). Other expressions, ofnbsp;a more metaphorical character, are � rampart� of a nation (�pKo� �Axaic�v,nbsp;eodor Scyldingd) and even �helmet�, in the same sense {helm Scyldingd).nbsp;Periphrases like � sons of the Achaioi � or � sons of the Geatas � are alsonbsp;of common occurrence.

It may be added that repetitions and recurrent lines are extremely frequent both in Greek and in English. We may note especially thenbsp;formulae with which speeches are introduced.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature in the diction of Teutonic�as against Greek�heroic poetry is the love of � kennings � or periphrasticnbsp;expressions. There are indeed many expressions in the Homeric poemsnbsp;which would be regarded as kennings in Teutonic poetry. They occurnbsp;especially as descriptions of heroes and deities, e.g. when � husband of

Hera� is used for Zeus. But it is less easy to find analogies for the use of such expressions as �road of the whale� or �bath of the gannet�, whichnbsp;occur so frequently for the sea in Anglo-Saxon poetry.

The chief distinctive feature of Greek�as against Teutonic�heroic poetry is the love of similes. These are, of course, by no means unknown in the early Teutonic poems; but they are much less numerous,nbsp;and seldom run to more than a few words. It is only very rarely, asnbsp;in B. 2444 if., that one meets with a simile of the lengthy and detailednbsp;character which is so striking a feature of the Iliad.

The characteristics common to Teutonic and Greek heroic poetry which we have discussed above are for the most part such as are oftennbsp;known as �epic�. It will be seen later that they are likewise character-istic of the extempore narrative poetry of modern barbaric peoples;nbsp;and there can be little doubt that their origin is, in part at least, to be 'nbsp;traced to a desire to make the entertainment last over as long a time as

The events narrated in the Qdyssey are represented as extending over a period of not more than six weeks, while the action of the Iliad isnbsp;limited to a still shorter period. In both cases a considerable proportionnbsp;of this time is passed over in the course of a few lines.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;reallynbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;,:h-

consis^ts of two stories, connected merely by the person of the hero, and � separated from one another by an interval of more than half a century.nbsp;The action of the first part (1-2199), apart from the introduction, isnbsp;limited to four or five days ; that of the second may be said to extendnbsp;over two or three weeks, though nearly the whole takes place in onenbsp;day. As regards the fragments, it is impossible to speak with certainty;nbsp;but the action of W'aldhere and Hildebrand probably covered only a fewnbsp;days.

This concentration of the action upon a brief period is doubtless to be connected with the tendency to fullness of detail noted above.

The Homeric poems sometimes� use the phrase �such men as there now are�, contrasting the men of the poet�s own day with the heroes ofnbsp;the stories. But this phrase does not necessarily mean that the heroesnbsp;were regarded as belonging to a very remote past, for similar expressionsnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;; �-3

' E.g. II. V. 304 (olol V�V PpOTOf E�O-1). nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;3 Cf. II. I. 272.

of the generation next before their own. Indeed there is no indication in the poems that the times of the heroes were believed to be very-remote. The same remark is true of Beowulf. It is plain that the eventsnbsp;related are regarded as belonging to the past; but there is nothing tonbsp;show that they happened very long ago.

The above list of characteristics common to the two groups of poems is by no means exhaustive. Thus in both we frequently meet withnbsp;episodes in the form of stories relating to the past, usually but notnbsp;always contained in speeches. Stories of the past which are not contained in speeches seem to be proportionately more frequent in Beowulfnbsp;than in the Homeric poems. In both also we find changes of scene,nbsp;where the narrative passes from one character or set of characters tonbsp;another; but in this case the examples found in Beowulf (e.g. 1591,nbsp;1605) are much less striking than those in the Iliad., while Beowulf nonbsp;parallels to the transitions from one strand of narrative to another,nbsp;which form one of the chief features of the Odyssey. In addition tonbsp;these there are certain other common characteristics�the concentrationnbsp;of interest upon individuals, the aristocratic milieu, the presence of bothnbsp;historical and unhistorical elements�which we shall have to considernbsp;in the following chapters. For the moment, however, the list givennbsp;above will be sufficient.

Up to now our discussion has been confined to the Iliad and Odyssey on the one hand and to Beowulf Finn, IFzldhere and Hildebrand on thenbsp;other. The Shield of Heracles, apart from the long description of thenbsp;shield itself (139-320), conforms to the same type, though the narrativenbsp;is more condensed�a feature which is perhaps observable in Finn asnbsp;compared with the other Teutonic poems. The lost Cyclic poems alsonbsp;seem in general to have been of this type, if we may judge from the fewnbsp;fragments and references which have been preserved. There are,nbsp;however, certain indications of the presence in these poems of elementsnbsp;of a different character, as we shall see in a later chapter.

It is difficult to form an opinion as to the character of Greek lyric heroic poetry from the minute fragments which have come down to us.nbsp;The evidence, however, such as it is, would seem to indicate that thesenbsp;poems differed considerably from the type discussed above. The objectnbsp;appears to have been to depict a scene rather than to tell a story; andnbsp;they were occupied apparently more with situations and emotions thannbsp;with adventures. Their metrical character was of course entirelynbsp;different.

Greek tragedies, the great majority of which derive their themes from heroic stories, follow and develop the line set by the earlier lyric poets.nbsp;Apart from the fact that the stories are drawn from the Heroic Age andnbsp;that the action is limited to a brief period�much briefer indeed than innbsp;the epics�the characteristic features discussed above are almost whollynbsp;wanting in these works.

The Anglo-Saxon poems Dear and Widsith are concerned with heroic themes; but they do not conform to the type which we have beennbsp;considering. They cannot properly be described as narrative poems,nbsp;although they contain narrative elements. The references to adventurenbsp;which occur in them are merely incidental, and it can hardly be said thatnbsp;their primary object is to entertain. JVidsith indeed has much in commonnbsp;with didactic poetry, for it consists largely of catalogues�which will benbsp;discussed in a later chapter. De.or also is a short catalogue of scenesnbsp;from heroic story. Both poems, however, contain passages describingnbsp;what purport to be personal experiences of the authors, and which�atnbsp;least in the case of Deor�approximate to �occasional� poetry.

Both poems are in the ordinary Teutonic alliterative metre mentioned above. Dear, however, is divided into short sections of unequal length, which are separated from one another by a refrain. W'idsith hasnbsp;no refrain; but, except from the brief prologue, the close of the sentencenbsp;almost invariably comes at the end of a line. Both poems, apart fromnbsp;the prologue in Widsith, are in the form of speeches by the authors.nbsp;They contain no internal speeches. In language and metre they shownbsp;no remarkable differences from the poems discussed above.

Both poems profess to be the work of court minstrels of the Heroic Age. Deor states (3 5 ff.) that he had been the minstrel of the Heoden-ingas�an expression which seems to mean Heoden and his family ornbsp;perhaps Heoden himself�and that he had been displaced from hisnbsp;position by an accomplished poet named Heorrenda. The first of thesenbsp;persons is without doubt the famous hero HeSinn of Norse tradition,nbsp;called Hetele in the medieval German poem Kudrun, while the secondnbsp;is clearly Horant, the minstrel of Hetele. Widsith describes his visit asnbsp;a minstrel to the courts of Eormenric, king of the Goths, and othernbsp;famous kings. His permanent abode was at the court of Eadgils, princenbsp;of the Myrgingas, who were neighbours of the English in their Continental home.

It is a disputed question whether the statements given in the poems are to be accepted at their face value, i.e. whether we are to beUeve that

the poems are really the work of the persons who are represented as their authors. Against this it is urged that Widsith claims to havenbsp;visited kings who lived in different periods, e.g. Eormenric who diednbsp;c. 370 and Aelfwine, king of the Lombards, who died c. 570. If thenbsp;poem was originally composed in Eormenric�s time, considerablenbsp;additions must have been made to it subsequently. As a matter of factnbsp;it contains a certain amount of material derived from Latin sources,nbsp;which can hardly have formed an original part of it, unless it wasnbsp;composed at a late date.

There is no reason for doubting that poetry of the �occasional� type was composed in the Heroic Age. Historical evidence for this is to benbsp;found in Procopios� History of the War against the Wandals. (il. 6).nbsp;Cnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;When Gelimer, the last king of the V andals, was besieged by the Romans

on Mt Papua in 534, he wrote to the commander of the besieging army, begging him to send him a harp. The explanation given by the messengernbsp;was that the king had composed a song upon his misfortunes, and as henbsp;was a good minstrel he was anxious to accompany it with a mournfulnbsp;tune on the harp, as he bewailed his fate.

The case of poems which bear the names of ancient authors is one which we shall encounter again, and discussion of this question mustnbsp;therefore be deferred for the present. It may, however, be observednbsp;here that we have no knowledge of the poets Deor and Widsith fromnbsp;other sources. The name Widsith (�Far-travelled�) is indeed clearlynbsp;fictitious. It occurs only in the prologue, which is perhaps a subsequentnbsp;addition to the poem.

Several of the heroic poems of the Edda conform in general to the type discussed on p. 20 ff. Such are VSlundarkviSa^ HelgakviSanbsp;Hundingsbana I, SigurSarkviSa hin skamma^ Atlakviba, Atlam�l,nbsp;Hambismdl, and probably the fragmentary SigurSarkvida hin meiri. Tonbsp;these may be added the Battle of the Goths and Hurts^ which is preservednbsp;in Hervarar Saga. All these may fairly be described as narrative heroicnbsp;poems, dealing with stories of adventure and composed for the purposenbsp;of entertainment.

There are, however, other heroic poems in the Edda which can hardly be described as narrative, and which deal with situations and emotionsnbsp;rather than with adventure. Such are Gubr�narkviba f Helreiti Bryn-hildar, Oddr�nargr�tr., and Gubr�narhv�t.^ In all these cases the object

I Intermediate between the two classes stands the short poem Gudrilnarkvida IIIgt; in which the narrative is outweighed by the speeches.

HEROIC POETRY AND SAGA nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;2?

Thus Gudr�narkvida I consists chiefly of a dialogue, depicting the grief of GuSnin after SigurSr�s death and the efforts made by hernbsp;relatives and others to comfort her. This poem may be compared withnbsp;the final scene in the Iliad (xxiv. 719 ff.)�the lamentation over Hector.nbsp;Both cases are examples of a widespread custom, which we shall meetnbsp;with in several other regions�the lamentation over a dead man by hisnbsp;wife and relatives. Irish parallels will be noticed below.

A different kind of situation is depicted in the Helreid Brynhildar. The heroine on her way to Hell encounters an ogress, who upbraids hernbsp;for the calamities she has brought about. The greater part of the poemnbsp;is occupied with Brynhildr�s apologia.

The other two poems, Oddr�nargr�tr and Gu�r�narhv�t, consist largely of dialogue, leading up in each case to a longer speech by thenbsp;heroine, in which she gives a retrospect of her experiences. With thesenbsp;we may compare Gubr�narkviba II, which is wholly in the form of anbsp;retrospective monologue.

All these poems, except Gudrdnarkvida I, contain a story�the story of the speaker�s life�told in the first person; but in all cases� it is not sonbsp;much the story as the situation or feelings of the speaker at the momentnbsp;to which our attention is chiefly called.

Here also we may refer to two other poems, Hdgakviba Hj�rvar�s-sonar and Helgakvida Hundingsbana II, which consist almost wholly of dialogue. Each of these is divided into a number of scenes, the connecting narrative being supplied in prose. It would seem that thenbsp;Bjarkamdl also was a dialogue poem, if we may judge from the Latinnbsp;version given by Saxo.

Mention may also be made of the Grottas�ngr, a poem preserved in the Prose Edda, if this can properly be regarded as a heroic piece. Thenbsp;subject is the plight of two giant maidens, who are forced to grind goldnbsp;on the quern Grotti for Fr�Si, the legendary peace king of the Danes.nbsp;The greater part of the poem is occupied with a grinding spell, bynbsp;means of which they eventually bring a raid upon Fr�Si; and the quernnbsp;breaks.

Lastly, there remain three Edda poems, Reginsmdl, Fdfnismdl, and Sigrdrifumdl, which form a connected Trilogy, relating to the earlynbsp;adventures of SigurSr, and ought perhaps to be treated as parts of anbsp;single work. They consist wholly of speeches, with connecting narrativesnbsp;� Except perhaps Gu�r�narkvida IP, but the end of this poem is lost.

in prose. But in these poems the predominant element is didactic. In the Sigrdrifumdl indeed the story furnishes little more than an openingnbsp;� for a discourse by the Valkyrie Sigrdn'fa on magical and gnomic lore,nbsp;similar to the second half of the didactic poem Hdvamdl.

Among the � speech � poems themselves therefore we have to distinguish between two different types�a type dealing with situation or emotion,nbsp;and a type of predominantly didactic interest. It will be convenient nownbsp;to describe the three types of heroic poems in the Edda as follows :nbsp;fl Type A: Narrative poems.

Type B: Poems dealing with situation or emotion, and consisting wholly or mainly of speeches.

Type C: Poems of didactic interest. The examples in the Edda are speech poems; but in the following pages we shall meet with didacticnbsp;heroic poems which are not of this character.^

The English narrative poems, discussed on p. 19 ff. above, correspond, as we have seen, in their primary characteristics to the poems of Type A, and may be classed under the same heading. But it is notnbsp;clear that there are any English poems corresponding to the other twonbsp;types. The personal elements in Dear and Widsith may be referred tonbsp;Type B if we are to regard these poems as speeches in character, likenbsp;Gubr�narky 'via II\ but this is uncertain. And in any case the personalnbsp;elements form only a minor part of either poem. Widsith might benbsp;referred rather to Type C, if the author is not speaking in proprianbsp;persona-, for in that case the catalogues, of which the poem is largelynbsp;made up, will be of a quasi-didactic character�comparable, of course,nbsp;not with the magical and gnomic didacticism of the Sigrdrifumdl, butnbsp;with the slight antiquarian element found in the Fdfnismdl. The firstnbsp;catalogue indeed can hardly be regarded otherwise than as antiquarian,nbsp;whatever view be taken of the poem as a whole; and the same remarknbsp;applies to certain elements in the other catalogues in their presentnbsp;form.� But even Beowulf contains an appreciable amount of didacticnbsp;matter�of the gnomic variety�though it is merely incidental.

There is, however, one English poem�the short piece which stands at the beginning of the Riddles in the Exeter Book�which maynbsp;perhaps be taken as an example of Type B. It consists of a speech by anbsp;woman addressed to a man called Eadwacer. The piece is full of diffi-

�To the catalogues in Widsith we shall have to refer again in the chapter on antiquarian poetry. It may be mentioned here that similar catalogues seem to havenbsp;been cultivated by the Goths and other Teutonic peoples.

29 culties and has been variously interpreted�by some as a riddle, bynbsp;others as a scene from some heroic story. The latter would seem to benbsp;the more probable explanation, although the story cannot be identifiednbsp;with certainty. It is hardly possible to regard this piece as a genuinenbsp;case of personal poetry.

In early Greek poetry the Homeric poems and the Shield correspond toTypeA. Itis likely that lyric heroic poetry had much in common withnbsp;Type B, though this cannot be proved from the scanty fragments whichnbsp;have been preserved. At all events tragedy, which probably owednbsp;much to it, shows a highly developed form of this type. Type C was wellnbsp;represented in early Greek poetry. The Instructions of Cheiron (addressednbsp;to Achilles), a poem sometimes attributed to Hesiod, may have beennbsp;similar to the Sigrdrifumdl. But the bulk of the didactic heroic poetrynbsp;was doubtless antiquarian in character. In this body of poetry, however, the heroic elements were combined with theological, aetiological,nbsp;and other matter; we shall therefore postpone discussion of it until wenbsp;deal with antiquarian poetry in general.

We may now return to the Edda poems. Of the characteristics enumerated on p. 20 ff. the first applies, as we have seen, only tonbsp;rather less than half of the poems. The second and third may perhaps benbsp;said to apply to all the poems except (in part) the Trilogy. But thenbsp;interest of poems of Type B lies rather in emotional situations arisingnbsp;from adventure than in adventure itself. In the Trilogy the prevailingnbsp;interest is didactic or informative.

I These explanations are intended for readers who are not familiar with the Norse terms. We may add that we are far from claiming to speak with any authoritynbsp;upon Norse metres (or those of any other language). But it will be necessary tonbsp;refer to these terms occasionally in later chapters. Dame B. S. Phillpotts, in Thenbsp;Elder Edda, renders Fornyrdislag by �old-lore metre�, Malahdttr by �speechmetre�, and Lj�dahattr by �chant-metre�. See also note on p. 63.

derived from the type of line which is used in the Anglo-Saxon and the earliest German poems. In the former the half-line consists of fournbsp;units, in the latter of five. It would appear therefore that the Malahattrnbsp;has generalised the longer type of half-line�which is much morenbsp;frequent in German than in English. The irregular variety found in thenbsp;Atlakviba, etc., seems to be earlier than the fully developed Malahattr.

The poems of the Trilogy (Type C) are for the most part in a totally different metre, the Lj�Sahattr, in which a line of the FornyrSislag ornbsp;M�lahdttr type alternates with a shorter line. The latter has threenbsp;accented units, two of which alliterate, but no caesura. The effect isnbsp;somewhat similar to the Greek elegiac. This metre is the one chieflynbsp;used in the mythological speech poems of the Edda., as well as in thenbsp;gnomic Hdvamdl. Sometimes, however, in the same poems we find anbsp;related form of metre called Galdralag (�Metre of Spells�), in which thenbsp;longer line is followed by two (or more) of the shorter lines in either thenbsp;first or second half of the stanza (rarely in both)�which consequentlynbsp;contains five (or more) lines.

The four metres mentioned above�Fornyrdislag, Malahattr, Ljodahattr, Galdralag�are practically the only metres found in thenbsp;Edda poems.

� We suspect that the four-line stanza is due to the influence of the Dr�ttkv�tt metre, in which it is practically universal. This metre is not used in the Edda poems.nbsp;It has internal rhyme (assonance), as well as alliteration, and is perhaps due tonbsp;foreign influence.

St. 3 ff., or that of Helgi�s embarkation and voyage in H. Hund. I, 26 if. But on the whole, though the dialogues are often fairly long, the narrative tends to be concise and even hurried. These remarks apply primarily to poems of Type A.

(10) Static epithets are similar in character to those which are found in the English poems; but they are of much less frequent occurrence.nbsp;A building is described as � lofty � (Jidr), a spear as � whistling � {gjallandi}.,nbsp;as in English, a stag as �high-legged� (Jidbeinri), a horse as �trained tonbsp;coursing� {gangt�mr}. For a king we find such descriptions as �lord ofnbsp;men� (^gumna dr�ttinn) and �distributer of treasure� {baughroti., etc.), asnbsp;in English. Repetitions and recurrent formulae are not infrequent,nbsp;especially where speeches are introduced.

As regards the length of time covered by the action, Norse heroic narrative poems (Type A) mostly consist of two parts, of which thenbsp;first is usually the shorter and more or less introductory to the second.nbsp;In Helgakviba Hundingsbana I the first fourteen stanzas give a kind ofnbsp;summary of the hero�s life previous to the main action. In H�lundar-kvida and Sigurdarkvina hin skamma the first parts are brief narratives ofnbsp;events which cover a considerable length of time. On the other handnbsp;in Atlakvi^a, Atlamdl., Hamhismdk and the Battle the first part consistsnbsp;of a single scene separated by a short interval�several months in thenbsp;Battle�from the action which follows. In all these poems the secondnbsp;part is limited to a few days at most.

In the Trilogy (Type C) and in those poems of Type B which contain prose narratives these often cover a considerable time. The othernbsp;poems of Type B consist of one scene only.

In regard to the time of action relative to the poets, the Norse poems frequently show a striking contrast to Greek and Anglo-Saxon heroicnbsp;poetry. In four cases�Helgakvida Hundingsbana I, Sigurdarkvida hinnbsp;skamma., Gudrunarkvida I, and the Battle�the poem begins with thenbsp;word dr, �long ago�, while Oddrunargrdtr opens with a reference tonbsp;�ancient stories�. The beginning of Hamdismdl emphasises the greatnbsp;length of time which has elapsed since the events related in it tooknbsp;place.

It may be added that the Norse heroic poems�apart from inferences which may be drawn from their language, diction, etc.�furnishnbsp;no evidence as to the time or region in which they were composed,nbsp;except that the Atlakvida and Atlamdl are described as belonging tonbsp;Greenland in the titles under which they stand in the Codex Regius ofnbsp;the Edda.

In addition to the heroic poems there are a number of prose stories relating to the Heroic Age. Some of these are paraphrases of poems.nbsp;The E�lsunga Saga is largely derived from some of the poems discussednbsp;above. But the source of the early chapters, which deal with thenbsp;adventures of Sigmundr, is unknown; and the same is true of nearly thenbsp;whole of Hr�lfs Saga Kraka and of several heroic stories preserved innbsp;the Prose Edda and elsewhere. It is probable that these stories also werenbsp;ultimately derived from poems. References to some of them occur innbsp;works of poets of the ninth century; and it is doubtful whether thenbsp;cultivation of saga in Norway had begun before this time. A parallelnbsp;may perhaps be seen in the Battle-, for the latter part of this poem contains a good deal of prose, which appears to have been paraphrasednbsp;from lost stanzas, whether by design or through forgetfulness.

There can be no question that a large amount of heroic poetry has perished. The heroic poems of the Edda all come from one collectionnbsp;(now represented by only one early MS.), from which also the E�lsunganbsp;Saga is mainly derived. The great majority of these poems are concernednbsp;with SigurSr or his wife GuSrun. The remainder deal with the adventures of (i) Helgi Hj�rvarSsson, (ii) Helgi Hundingsbani, andnbsp;(iii) HamSir and S�rli. But Helgi Hundingsbani was believed to be anbsp;half-brother of SigurSr, while HamSir and S�rli are said to be sons ofnbsp;GuSrun, who plays a part in the poems relating to them. The wholenbsp;collection may therefore be regarded as belonging to one cycle, with thenbsp;exception of the poem dealing with Helgi Hj�rvarSsson, who is saidnbsp;(in the prose) to be a previous incarnation of his namesake. But it is notnbsp;certain that this group of poems was as a whole more popular than othernbsp;heroic poetry. References to the story of HamSir and S�rli are verynbsp;frequent; but early poets refer less often to the stories of SigurSr andnbsp;Helgi than to those of HeSinn and H�gni and of HagbarSr and Signy,nbsp;which are preserved only in prose paraphrases or by Saxo.

Saxo in his Danish History gives many Latin poems which are clearly�in some cases avowedly�translations of vernacular poems.nbsp;It is from him that we know the Bjarkamdl, of which only a fragment isnbsp;preserved in Norse, the story of HagbarSr and Signy, to which we havenbsp;merely allusions elsewhere, and that of Ingjaldr (Ingellus) and StarkaSr,nbsp;of which there is a brief account in Beowulf (2024 if.). Saxo�s poemsnbsp;consist wholly of speeches, and it may be that the heroic poems,nbsp;Danish or Norse, known to him were all of Type B, with the narrativesnbsp;in prose, like Helgakvida Hjorvar^ssonar and Helgakvt�aHimdingshananbsp;II (cf. p. 27). Indeed many scholars hold that this was the original

33 type of heroic poetry in the North. This, however, is a very doubtfulnbsp;question, to which we shall have to return in a later chapter.

The chief records of the British Heroic Age consist of (i) a considerable number of Welsh poems, most of which are quite short, (ii) a few Welsh sagas, only two of which seem to be of strictly nativenbsp;origin, and (iii) a very large body of foreign medieval literature. To thenbsp;last we shall only refer incidentally. Mention must also be made ofnbsp;Triads, genealogies, and incidental notices in various Latin and Welshnbsp;works. These are usually of antiquarian interest, and they will thereforenbsp;require some discussion in Ch. x. It may be noted here, however, thatnbsp;both the Triads and the incidental references sometimes point to thenbsp;existence of heroic stories which are now lost.

The Welsh heroic poems are almost all contained in the following four MSS.� : (i) the Black Book of Carmarthen, dating from the twelfth

The poems contained in these Books are all printed and nearly all of them translated in Skene�s Four Ancient Books of JFales (Edinburgh, 1868)�a work aboutnbsp;which it is necessary here to say a few words. Skene�s interest lay in early Scottishnbsp;history, and it was this which led him to undertake the work. He was looking outnbsp;for references to Scotland, and perhaps he found too many of them. Much morenbsp;serious is the fact that the translation of the poems was a task beyond the powers ofnbsp;the scholars whom he employed. Welsh philology has made considerable progressnbsp;since the book was published; and it is now clear that the translators frequentlynbsp;went astray through imperfect knowledge of the old language. But it is also clear,nbsp;as we shall see in later chapters, that the text of the poems is very frequently ill-preserved in the MSS. In many cases we doubt whether even the best Welshnbsp;scholars now would undertake to translate without a liberal use of emendation.nbsp;Instead of emending or leaving blanks Skene�s translators took the course ofnbsp;giving the nearest literal translation they could get, and thereby not unfrequentlynbsp;produced gibberish. The effect of this has been to raise a general feeling of distrustnbsp;and prejudice against the poems in the minds of those who do not know thenbsp;language, while Welsh scholars themselves have discarded the translations, thoughnbsp;Skene�s texts are for the most part still in use.

Our own feeling is that Skene�s work has been somewhat unduly disparaged. It was a great undertaking; and his introduction contains a large amount of valuablenbsp;matter, even if he rode his hobby too hard. We believe that even the translations cannbsp;be of considerable service, if used with caution. In the great majority of cases�nbsp;though not always�they give at least an idea of the general drift of a poem; and itnbsp;appears to us far better to make use of them than to ignore the existence of a verynbsp;interesting and important collection of literature�which is at present the onlynbsp;alternative for the general reader. But at the same time we would impress uponnbsp;Welsh scholars the imperative need of producing new translations and commentaries�with no more emendation of the texts than is absolutely necessary. We ourselves have rarely ventured translations of our own, because our knowledge isnbsp;insufficient for the purpose. But we have given references to more recent translations

century; (2) the Book of Aneirin, from the middle of the thirteenth century; (3) the Book of Taliesin, from the late thirteenth century; andnbsp;(4) the Red Book of Hergest, from about a century later. Of these MSS.nbsp;the Book of Aneirin contains little except heroic poetry. The other threenbsp;contain also poems on various other subjects, religious and secular,nbsp;some of which will require discussion in later chapters.

Most of the poems contained in these MSS. are difficult and obscure. Often the language is archaic, and the orthography points to derivationnbsp;from much earlier originals�sometimes, as e.g. in the �Appendix� tonbsp;the Book of Aneirin, as early as the tenth century. Indeed many of thenbsp;poems claim to be works of poets of the sixth century�Taliesin,nbsp;Aneirin and Llywarch Hen�but the authenticity of this claim has longnbsp;been a subject of controversy. Here it will be enough to note that if thenbsp;poems are so old as this they must have undergone a great deal ofnbsp;modernisation.

There are no heroic poems corresponding to the Greek and Teutonic narrative poems discussed on p. 19 ff. Type A is practically unrepresented in Welsh heroic poetry.

On the other hand Type B is represented by several poems. Speech poems relating to the Heroic Age are indeed numerous; but thenbsp;majority of them are of a didactic or semididactic character. Moreover,nbsp;in many of them, though they may refer to heroic characters, the interestnbsp;lies primarily in the speakers themselves, who are famous poets ornbsp;prophets. Among these we will reserve for discussion in Ch. vi thenbsp;poems in which Myrddin (Merlin) is the speaker, or one of the speakers.nbsp;In the same chapter we will also include poems of a didactic characternbsp;in which the speaker is said to be�or appears to be�Taliesin.

Of the remaining poems we will take first BBC. xxxiv�an extremely difficult and obscure piece. It appears to consist of two separate fragments relating to the story of Tristan. In the second and shorter ofnbsp;these the speaker, apparently a woman, is addressing a dwarf. She saysnbsp;that Tristan is furious at his coming; that she has betrayed March fornbsp;his (the dwarf�s) sake in order to obtain vengeance upon Kyheic, butnbsp;that the dwarf�s anger has been fatal to her. The first fragment is evennbsp;of poems whenever we could find them, except in cases where emendation has beennbsp;allowed to run riot.

It may be added here that variant texts of a good many poems are to be found in The Myvyrian Archaiology of ITales, which is cited from the edition published atnbsp;Denbigh in 1870. Some of diese are derived from early MSS,; but in other casesnbsp;the MS. source seems to be unknown.

HEROIC POETRY AND SAGA nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;3?

more obscure, though it seems to contain an allusion to the messages which were sent floating down the stream.^

A piece somewhat similar to this occurs in Tai. XLii; but it relates not to the British but to the Irish Heroic Age�the story of CuRoi andnbsp;CuChulainn.

Among other dialogue poems we may refer to BBC. xxxv, where the speakers are Taliesin and a certain Ugnach, who appears to be a prince.nbsp;Taliesin is passing on his way through Ugnach�s city, and Ugnachnbsp;invites him to stay with him. Taliesin thanks him but declines. In thisnbsp;case, as in BBC. xxxiv above, one cannot help feeling that some kind ofnbsp;introduction is needed to explain the circumstances, as in some of thenbsp;Norse poems of Type B cited above (p. 27). Or they could be ex-plained even better if originally they formed part of a saga, like thenbsp;poems contained in the late story Hanns Taliesin.

Another dialogue poem, which has something in common with the last, is BBC. xxxiii. Here the speakers are Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwy-ddneu Garanhir. The latter part of the poem consists of a list of battlesnbsp;at which one of the speakers had been present. In form this bears a slightnbsp;resemblance to the catalogues of Widsith.'^

Next perhaps we ought to mention BBC. xxxi,3 which likewise begins with a dialogue. The speakers are Arthur, who is accompaniednbsp;by Cai, and the porter Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr. But after the first tennbsp;lines the poem becomes a monologue�apparently by Arthur, thoughnbsp;he is referred to in the third person�which is entirely occupied with anbsp;list of Arthur�s heroes and their exploits. This list is obviously thenbsp;essential part of the poem; the short dialogue at the beginning is intended merely to lead up to it. The poem should therefore be referrednbsp;to Type C rather than to Type B. It may be noted that here again there 'nbsp;is a resemblance to the latter part of Widsith.

BBC. I is possibly to be taken with the last poem. It is in the form of a dialogue between the poets Myrddin and Taliesin; but thenbsp;interest lies apparently not so much in the speakers themselves as in

I For a translation and discussion of this poem see Loth, Rev. Celt, xxxni. 403 ff. M. Loth holds that the poem represents an early form of the story, differingnbsp;in several respects from the later versions, especially in regard to the position of thenbsp;dwarf.

� A much closer analogy to the second and third catalogues of Widsith is to be found in Tai. XIV. But this poem, although it has heroic interests, is of still greaternbsp;importance in relation to the poet Taliesin, who is the speaker. We shall discuss itnbsp;therefore in Ch. vi.

the heroes and the battles of which they speak. This is another of the cases where one can only deplore the absence of an explanatorynbsp;context.

Next we come to a group of three monologue poems, BBC. xxx, XXXIX, and RBH. xi, in which the speaker, who is called Llywarch ornbsp;Llywarch Hen, bewails the deaths of his sons, killed in battle. The firstnbsp;begins with a long description of winter, and the last with a lamentationnbsp;over the troubles of old age, several stanzas being addressed to thenbsp;speaker�s crutch. It is known from the royal genealogies�which willnbsp;be discussed later�that the speaker was a man of princely family and anbsp;cousin of Urien, a king who figures prominently in a number of poemsnbsp;soon to be discussed. According to the genealogies Llywarch Hennbsp;must have lived in the latter part of the sixth century. The line of kingsnbsp;which ruled in Gwynedd from the ninth century onwards traced theirnbsp;descent from him.

In the preceding cases we have assumed that the poems are speeches in character. The possibility that any of them were actually composednbsp;by the speakers or in the circumstances indicated is not worth consideration. But here the case is obviously different. There is no reasonnbsp;why Llywarch should not have composed such elegies upon the deathsnbsp;of his sons. An analogy may be found in the SonatoTrek.^ an elegynbsp;composed by the Icelander Egill Skallagrfmsson for his sons�whichnbsp;we shall have to notice in a later chapter. The difficulty is that thenbsp;language of the poems is that of a period several centuries later thannbsp;Llywarch. Hence many scholars deny the possibility that the poems cannbsp;be by him. Yet why should a poet of, say, the eleventh century want tonbsp;compose such elegies upon people who had died five hundred yearsnbsp;Xnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;before And what record of them had he We know hardly anything of

Llywarch or his sons except from these poems; but it is possible, of course, that a poet of the eleventh century may have known earliernbsp;poems, now lost, from which he may have derived his theme.

These poems, like many others, are composed of three-line stanzas� a form probably derived from Latin hymns.^ The line commonlynbsp;contains seven syllables; but there is much irregularity. The conditionnbsp;of the text may be estimated from the fact that half of the stanzas con-

* We do not believe that the rhyming metre of these (and other) poems is in any way inconsistent with a sixth century origin. Rhyme presumably became knownnbsp;through Latin hymns in the fifth century. But in Welsh after the loss of finalnbsp;syllables�which seems to have taken place not later than c. 500�the stimulusnbsp;towards rhyme must have been much greater than in Latin (or any other language)nbsp;because all words were accented on what had now become the final syllable.

37 tained in BBC. xxxix occur also either in BBC. xxx or in RBH. xi.nbsp;It is impossible to believe that the poems can be preserved in theirnbsp;original form. We shall see later that the evidence points to oral�^notnbsp;written�tradition. But for the present we must leave the questionnbsp;until we meet with other analogous cases. The poems clearly belong tonbsp;Type B, if they are not the work of Llywarch himself.

Among the speech poems noticed above we have assigned one or two to Type C rather than Type B owing to their predominantly antiquarian interest. They may be conveniently described as CB. There are,nbsp;however, other poems of antiquarian interest (Type C) which are not innbsp;the form of speeches in character.

The obscure poem Tai. xxx^ clearly belongs to Type C. It is full of references to the Heroic Age, especially to Arthur and his ship Prydwen,nbsp;and to various incidents which occur in the story of Culhwch andnbsp;Olwen; and the interest, so far as the substance goes, is essentiallynbsp;antiquarian. But this is subordinated, as in some other poems, to anbsp;desire for rhetorical effects, which is shown especially in the variationnbsp;of recurrent sentences. The poem gives the impression of being anbsp;�graduation� exercise of some kind�perhaps composed for the purposenbsp;of obtaining the chair of a Pencerdd.'^

Next we come to a large group of poems which differ in character from any of those considered hitherto. They consist partly of elegiesnbsp;upon dead heroes and partly of panegyrics upon princes who arenbsp;represented as still alive. The former are not of the subjective characternbsp;which distinguishes the elegies of Llywarch Hen. They are concerned,nbsp;primarily at least, with the valour and virtues of the heroes whom theynbsp;celebrate.

We will take the elegies first. Among these we may include the Gododdin (An. i),3 the most famous work in early Welsh literature. Itnbsp;celebrates the heroes who fell at �Catraeth�. Nothing is known of thenbsp;battle from historical sources, but it is generally believed to have beennbsp;fought against the Northumbrian English towards the end of the sixthnbsp;century. The heroes themselves too are almost all unknown, includingnbsp;even the leader, Mynyddawg Mwynfawr. A notable exception is Cynon

3 Transi, by T. Stephens, The Gododin of Aneurin Gwawdrydd (ed. by T. Powell); by Sir E. Anwyl, The Book of Aneirin in Trans, of the Hon. Soc. ofnbsp;Cymmrodorion, 1909-10; by T. Gwynn Jones, T Cymmrodor, xxxii. i ff.; and elsewhere. The order of the stanzas is rearranged in some of the translations.

ap Clydno Eidyn,� who is perhaps the sole survivor. The heroes are celebrated seriatim�sometimes one stanza, sometimes two or morenbsp;being devoted to each; sometimes several heroes are celebrated in onenbsp;stanza. The text, however, appears to be in great disorder. Variants tonbsp;many of the stanzas have been added in the MS. both at the end of thenbsp;poem itself and at the end of the book; and in a poem so loosely constructed it would be unwise to assume that all the stanzas originallynbsp;belonged to it.

Two, or perhaps three, other poems in the same book (An. iii, iv, v) are elegies upon individual heroes who perished apparently in the samenbsp;disaster. These also present great difficulty.

The Book of Taliesin contains two somewhat similar poems. Tai. jnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;XLiv� is a short elegy on the death of Owein, the son of Urien, com-

I nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;memorating briefly his victories over the Saxons. Tai. xlvi seems to be

( nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;an elegy on the death of Cunedda, a prince of the fifth century, from

i nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;but it is extremely difficult and obscure.3 It claims to be the work of

! nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Taliesin himself.

The Red Book also contains two elegies (RBH. xn, xvi), which resemble one another rather closely; but they differ greatly from thosenbsp;we have been considering. In form they have much more in commonnbsp;Inbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;with the elegies of Llywarch Hen, discussed above; but they are

primarily concerned with the heroes whose deaths they commemorate. The first is an elegy on the death of Urien, whom the poet speaks ofnbsp;(st. 20, 23) as his cousin and lord. In all probability this implies hisnbsp;identity with Llywarch, though the name is not mentioned. The secondnbsp;is an elegy on Cynddylan, an unknown prince of Powys,4 who has beennbsp;:nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;killed in battle with the Saxons, and whose home and country the poet

The poems which celebrate living heroes are almost confined to the Book of Taliesin. Most of them are concerned with Urien, son ofnbsp;Cynfarch; and these may conveniently be divided into two groups.

� There seems to be much difference of opinion as to the true form of these names. We have followed Morris-Jones, Y Cymmrodor, xxvni. 77 ff., where thenbsp;evidence adduced for Eidyn seems decisive. The spelling Clytno in BBC. xix.nbsp;9, II points to Clyddno-, but it is possibly a case of archaic orthography.

3 A new interpretation is given by Morris-Jones, op. cit. p. 204 ff., where also a translation will be found.

�t Sometimes identified with the Condidan mentioned in the Sax. Chron., ann. 577; but this is quite uncertain. The poem relates to Shropshire.

39 One group, consisting of Tai. xxxii-xxxiv, xxxvi, xxxvn andnbsp;XXXIX,I is occupied with the praise of this hero�s prowess in general,nbsp;his virtues and generosity. The other, consisting of Tai. xxxi and xxxv,nbsp;deals with particular events�battles fought by Urien. The latter approach more nearly to narrative (Type A) than do any other earlynbsp;Welsh poems. Indeed Tai. xxxv can hardly be regarded except as anbsp;narrative poem, though it is very short. Intermediate between the twonbsp;groups, but more nearly akin to the former, lies Tai. xviii, whichnbsp;celebrates the martial exploits of Owein, the son of Urien. This poemnbsp;does not mention Urien by name ; but in all the others he is representednbsp;as alive and ruling.

It may be observed that Tai. xxxiii claims to be the work of Taliesin himself; and the same claim is perhaps implied in Tai. xxxvii. As Tai.nbsp;XXXIII ends with a refrain which occurs also in most of the other poems,nbsp;including xxxi and xxxv, it is not unlikely that they are of the samenbsp;origin, though the refrain may have been borrowed by some poemsnbsp;from others.

Two poems, Tai. xi and xxxviii, are devoted to the praise of a prince called Gwallawg, the son of Llenawg. The latter shows a generalnbsp;resemblance to the poems of the first group above, while the formernbsp;has perhaps more in common with Tai. xviii. In both of them the heronbsp;is represented as alive and ruling.

Another poem {Tai. xxiii) celebrates the generosity of Cynan Garwyn (�Cynan of the white carriage�), son of Brochfael, and thenbsp;victories won by him and his family in Gwent, Anglesey, Dyfed andnbsp;elsewhere. This Cynan was king of Powys, perhaps at the time of thenbsp;battle of Chester (c. 615), at which his son Selyf was killed.� The poemnbsp;is very similar to Tai. xi and xviii, above. The hero seems to benbsp;represented as still alive and ruling.

Very different from all these is a poem {BBC. xxii, RBH. xiv) which celebrates a battle fought by Gereint, son of Erbin, at a place callednbsp;Llongborth. This poem is of the rhetorical kind, like Tai. xxx (cf.nbsp;p. 37), about half of it being taken up with phrases applied to the hero�snbsp;horses and repeated over and over again with variations. The poet says

� Tai. xxxi-xxxni, xxxv and xxxix are translated by Morris-Jones, Y Cymmrodor, XXVIII. pp. 162, 172, 176, 156, 181.

� Ann. Cambr. CLXix (i.e. probably A.D. 614). If the Brochfael (Brocmail) mentioned by Bede in his account of the battle {Hist. Eccl. ii, 2) was Cynan�snbsp;father, he must have been a very old man. The name, however, was a common one innbsp;the dynasty of Powys. Both Cynan Garwyn and his grandsons, the sons of Selyf,nbsp;figure in the Life of St Beuno.

that he witnessed the battle. This piece is sometimes called an elegy; but it is not clear that Gereint�s death is mentioned.^

Lastly, reference may be made to some fragmentary pieces. BBC. XXXII evidently comes from a poem on Gwallawg. It is in a rhetoricalnbsp;style, somewhat similar to the last piece; but the meaning is obscure tonbsp;us. RBH. XVII seems to have taken its opening and concluding linesnbsp;from panegyrics upon Urien, like those discussed on p. 38 f. above. Butnbsp;the bulk of the poem belongs to a totally different milieu�not to thenbsp;Heroic Age at all. To this case we shall have to return in a later chapter.nbsp;It may be observed here, however, that the concluding lines claim to benbsp;the work of Taliesin and speak of Urien as still reigning.�

The series of poems, both elegies and panegyrics, which we have been considering in the last few pages, have given rise to much discussion and difference of opinion. Heroic poems of Types B and C maynbsp;be composed centuries after the Heroic Age has come to an end�in factnbsp;as long as sufficient interest is taken in the subjects. But with the poemsnbsp;now under discussion the case is obviously different. It is conceivablenbsp;that in certain circumstances, e.g. at anniversaries or other commemorations, elegies might be composed in honour of famous men for somenbsp;considerable time after their death. Such an explanation would perhapsnbsp;be permissible also for a poem like that on Gereint; for the use of thenbsp;word gweleis (T saw�) may be merely rhetorical. But it is hardlynbsp;possible to account in this way for the panegyrics upon Urien, Gwallawg and Cynan Garwyn, which represent these heroes as living men.nbsp;These poems belong to a type which is widespread, as we shall see,nbsp;among heroic societies and also among societies which are not primarilynbsp;heroic; but apparently they are always composed within the lifetime ofnbsp;the heroes themselves. The same may be said, in general, with regard tonbsp;elegies of a subjective character, like those of Llywarch Hen (cf. p. 36).

On the other hand, if these poems really date from the Heroic Age, we have to account for the fact that the language in which they arenbsp;preserved is that of a very much later period. It is a strange thing too

� The Red Book text (st. 13) says that he was killed in the battle. But the corresponding passage in the Black Book (st. 9) seems to mean that Gereint�s brave men from Devon were killed (not the hero himself), and it is clear from the context thatnbsp;this must be the original form of the sentence. BBC. has �and before they werenbsp;slain they made slaughter (of the enemy) �, while RBH. likewise has the plural here,nbsp;though the exact meaning is not quite clear to us; cf. Strachan, Introd, to Earlynbsp;Welsh, p. 84.

� These lines are perhaps disconnected tags; cf. Morris-Jones, Y Cymmrodor, xxvni. 196 f.

that so much should have survived from the Heroic Age when the next five hundred years are almost a blank. Welsh historical poetrynbsp;begins practically with the twelfth century.

During the past century many scholars have been unwilling to allow that these poems are what they appear to be; and it is still widelynbsp;believed that they date from much later times than the Heroic Age. Innbsp;addition to the reasons given above various arguments, both good andnbsp;bad, have been brought forward against their authenticity. Thus, e.g.,nbsp;the fact that they contain much which is unintelligible�both propernbsp;names and other matter�affords no real ground for doubting theirnbsp;antiquity; on the contrary it is what might reasonably be expected ifnbsp;they are very ancient. On the other hand there is no doubt thatnbsp;references to events of the twelfth century occur in some poems whichnbsp;profess to come from the Heroic Age, if not in these poems themselves.nbsp;A critical attitude is therefore necessary.

It has sometimes been suggested that the persons whom the poems celebrate themselves lived long after the Heroic Age. This suggestionnbsp;might of course get rid of the difficulties we have noticed ; but we arenbsp;not aware that anyone has seriously attempted to face the problemsnbsp;which such a theory would necessarily raise. There is a large andnbsp;compact mass of heroic tradition, in which these heroes are deeplynbsp;embedded. In particular Urien and Llywarch Hen have connections innbsp;all directions. It is true that from the thirteenth century onwards wenbsp;find Welsh records {Histories, Triads, etc.) which are derived or influenced from Geoffrey of Monmouth. But this element is easilynbsp;distinguishable. And in point of fact the heroes with whom we arenbsp;concerned, with the exception of Arthur, are little more than names tonbsp;Geoffrey, if he mentions them at all. But it would have been far beyondnbsp;the power of any medieval writer to produce the material with whichnbsp;we have to deal. Moreover there are numerous genealogies and anbsp;certain amount of historical material of other kinds which, though notnbsp;strictly contemporary, yet deserve very serious consideration. Thesenbsp;records will require to be examined at length in Ch. vn, when we comenbsp;to discuss the historical and unhistorical elements in heroic traditionnbsp;generally.^

i We may say at once that we cannot undertake to consider suggestions which have been put forward from time to time with regard to the wholesale fabrication ofnbsp;records. Fabrication or falsification of individual records is a well-known phenomenon under certain conditions. But these suggestions apply to practically thenbsp;whole of the early literature and early records of a nation�many of them preservednbsp;in an ancient form of language. The day for theories of this kind has gone by.

At all events we must now recognise the existence of types of poetry other than the three (A, B, C) which we distinguished on p. 28.nbsp;Elegies and panegyrics may be grouped together under a Type D, asnbsp;� celebration� poetry. To this type must be assigned the poems which wenbsp;have been considering, whatever may be thought as to their date;nbsp;and further examples are to be found among historical Welsh poems ofnbsp;the twelfth century. Nothing of it survives among the remains ofnbsp;Teutonic and Greek heroic poetry; but it certainly existed in the former.nbsp;Widsith (99 ff.) says that he sang the praises of Ealhhild; and we shallnbsp;see later that Greek and Latin writers refer to such poems. We shallnbsp;find examples also in Greek and Norse poetry (other than heroic), innbsp;Irish, and in many other languages. Indeed it is one of the mostnbsp;widely distributed types of poetry.

At the same time it will be convenient to distinguish a fifth type� Type E�which we may call �personal� poetry or, more specifically,nbsp;� poetry relating to the poet�s own feelings or experiences, or to personsnbsp;in immediate relationship with him, or to things which have come undernbsp;his observation but which are not of general significance�. To this typenbsp;we may assign the elegies of Llywarch Hen, in view of their subjectivenbsp;character, and also the personal references in Dear and Widsith�nbsp;provided that, in each case, these poems are what they profess to be.nbsp;A reference to the cultivation of poetry of this type in the Teutonicnbsp;Heroic Age has already been given (p. 26) ; and numerous examplesnbsp;will be found later�in Greek, Norse, and various other languages.

We may now compare the characteristics of Welsh heroic poetry with those of Greek and Teutonic, according to the analysis proposed onnbsp;p. 20 ff. (cf. p. 29 ff.) above. The comparison is of course renderednbsp;difficult by the fact that most of the Greek and Teutonic poems belongnbsp;to Type A, which is wanting, or almost wanting, in Welsh; while, onnbsp;the other hand. Type D is unrepresented in Greek and Teutonic, andnbsp;more fully represented than any other type in Welsh. Types B and C,nbsp;however, and perhaps E also, are represented both in Teutonic and innbsp;Welsh.

Of the characteristics (1-4) noted on p. 20 the first�that of narrative�is wanting. As regards the second, most of the poems arenbsp;founded upon incidents of adventure, though this cannot be insistednbsp;upon in all cases, e.g. in BBC. xix, xxxv, and some of the panegyrics.

� In later chapters we shall extend the application of this type to �poetry of invocation and exhortation�, as well as �poetry of celebration�.

As regards the third, the poems of Type B were doubtless intended for entertainment, while those of Type C are informative or learned, andnbsp;those of Types D and E concerned with celebration and reflectionnbsp;respectively. As regards the fourth, all the poems are usually believednbsp;to relate to the Heroic Age, though in the case of the panegyrics thisnbsp;view has been questioned.

J It seems hardly necessary to assume that the non-stanzaic metres are of purely Latin origin. But they are presumably affected by Latin influence in the introductionnbsp;of rhyme and in a tendency to make the lines of approximately equal length. Thenbsp;latter process is far from complete. But we may repeat here that we do not feelnbsp;ourselves qualified in any way to express opinions on the subject of metre�least ofnbsp;all on Welsh and Irish metres.

The other characteristics discussed on p. 23 scarcely need consideration here. As there is no narrative poetry no question can arise as to the length of time covered by the action. As regards the time of thenbsp;action relatively to the poet�most of the poems of Type D representnbsp;it as present or immediately past. In poems of Type B or Type C nonbsp;indication is given.

There can be little doubt that heroic saga was cultivated in some form or other from early times; but very little has actually been preserved.nbsp;Neither the Mabinogion proper, i.e. the Four Branches of the Mahinogi.,nbsp;nor the stories called Lludd and Llefelys and the Dream of Maxennbsp;JFledig can fairly be regarded as heroic. The former will need consid�ra-

Rhonabwy is said to have been an ofiicer of Madawg, prince of Powys, about the middle of the twelfth century. He dreamed that henbsp;encountered Iddawg, one of Arthur�s knights, who took him to a placenbsp;on the Severn, between Montgomery and Welshpool, where Arthurnbsp;was encamped with all his host. Arthur himself is playing chess withnbsp;Owein, son of Urien; and the game is constantly interrupted by messengers who say that Arthur�s men are fighting with Owein�s ravens.nbsp;Apart from this there is little in the way of incident. The greater part ofnbsp;the Dream is occupied with descriptions of the various heroes, theirnbsp;robes and horses.

In the other story Culhwch comes to King Arthur, whose relative he is, and appeals to him and all his knights to assist him in obtaining thenbsp;hand of Olwen, daughter of the ferocious Yspaddaden Pencawr. Thenbsp;latter names a large number of apparently impossible tasks as the price ofnbsp;his consent; but Arthur and his knights succeed in carrying them out.nbsp;The chief incident is the hunting of the boar Twrch Trwyth.

Indirect evidence for saga is perhaps to be obtained from the romances, in which names known from native tradition have often been substituted for the French or Breton names. Thus the substitution ofnbsp;Gereint and his Cornish (Devonian) family for Erec, with his Bretonnbsp;connections, may have been due to the existence of similar storiesnbsp;relating to the former. The appearance of the Gododdin hero Cynon,nbsp;son of Clydno (Eidyn), in place of Calogrenant in the opening scenenbsp;of the Lady of the Fountain, may be due to a similar cause; he may havenbsp;already figured in such stories of adventure.

Apart from the stories noticed above a few very brief narratives relating to the Heroic Age are preserved in the Laws and elsewhere.nbsp;One passage describes how Maelgwn secured the supremacy of thenbsp;kingdom of Gwynedd by means of a throne made of wings, which was

* By this we mean a didactic or informative piece in narrative form, whereas we apply the letters CB to didactic or informative poems which consist of speeches innbsp;character, like the Edda Trilogy.

able to float, and in which he could maintain his position against the incoming tide. Another relates how certain heroes from the northnbsp;made an expedition against Arfon and how, when a counter-expeditionnbsp;was undertaken from Wales, Rhun, son of Maelgwn, obtained certainnbsp;privileges for the men of Arfon. These stories are of an explanatorynbsp;character and belong definitely to Type C.

But the chief source of information is to be found in the Triads�a species of compositions, originally perhaps of a mnemonic character,nbsp;in which heroes (inter alia} are grouped together in threes on account ofnbsp;some distinction or peculiarity which they were believed to have innbsp;common. It is only from them that one can gather how great a body ofnbsp;heroic tradition must once have existed. Many of the heroes who figurenbsp;in them are now known otherwise only from genealogies.

As illustrations of the character�and also the difficulties�of the Triads we may quote the following examples: 34.1 �Three loyal retinuesnbsp;of the Island of Britain: The retinue of Cadwallon, son of Cadfan, whonbsp;were seven years in Ireland with him and asked him for no paymentnbsp;during this time, for fear of being obliged to leave him. And the retinuenbsp;of Gafran, son of Aeddan, who, when he disappeared, went to sea fornbsp;their lord. And, third, the retinue of Gwenddoleu, son of Ceidiaw, atnbsp;Arderydd, who continued the battle for six weeks after their lord wasnbsp;slain. Now the number of men in each of these retinues was a hundrednbsp;and twenty�. 49. �Three shackled^ retinues of the Island of Britain:nbsp;� The retinue of Cadwallon the Long-handed, who bound the shacklesnbsp;(hobbles) of their horses to their feet, each pair of them (together),nbsp;when they were to fight with Serrigi the Irishman at the Rocks of thenbsp;Irish in Anglesey. And the retinue of Rhiwallon, son of Urien, whennbsp;they fought against the Saxons. And the retinue of Belyn of Lleyn,nbsp;when they fought against Edwin at Bryn Ceneu in Rhos�.

The first item in No. 34 is one of the few pieces of evidence for the existence of saga relating to Cadwallon. The third item in No. 49 maynbsp;come from the same saga or cycle. The second item in No. 34 is obscure.nbsp;The third relates to one of the most famous events of the Heroic Age,nbsp;a subject which will require discussion in Ch. vi. In No. 49 the Cadwallon who figures in the first item was an ancestor of his namesake and

� These numbers refer to the first of the series of Triads contained in The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, 2 ed. (1870), pp. 388-94.

The practice of binding warriors together by the feet�to prevent any thought of escape�seems to have been not unknown in Ireland. An example occurs in thenbsp;longer version of the Battle of Mag Rath (cf. p. 53, note).

father of Maelgwn. He is known otherwise only from genealogies; but this passage suggests that it was he who drove the Irish out of Anglesey.nbsp;Rhiwallon, son of Urien, who appears in the second item, seems not tonbsp;be mentioned in the poems.

It should be noted that the Triads vary greatly in age and value. Some are quite late and worthless�derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth and similar sources. But many reflect the same milieu as thenbsp;poems; very often they relate to persons mentioned in the poems or tonbsp;near relatives of them. The sagas from which they were derivednbsp;represented no doubt different strata of tradition, like those which havenbsp;actually been preserved. Thus in the Dream of Rhonabwy we findnbsp;Rhun, son of Maelgwn, and Owein, son of Urien, among Arthur�snbsp;heroes. They are missing, however, in Culhwch and Olwamp;n, although thenbsp;list of Arthur�s heroes given here is enormous and drawn from foreign,nbsp;as well as native, sources. The latter saga represents an earlier stage ofnbsp;tradition, in which the different generations of the Heroic Age had notnbsp;yet been completely fused. Yet it belongs itself to a different worldnbsp;from the historical milieu reflected in many of the poems.

The records of the Heroic Age of Ireland are of a somewhat different character from any of those which we have been considering. There is anbsp;considerable amount of heroic poetry, mostly of Types B and C. Typenbsp;A rarely occurs in early texts. But the poetry is, as a whole, of lessnbsp;importance than the saga, a great body of which has come down fromnbsp;early times�far superior to any of the heroic saga discussed above.nbsp;Most of the poetry of Type B is contained in sagas in the form ofnbsp;speeches. It will be advisable therefore to consider the saga first.

The records, both saga and poetry, are preserved in a large number of MSS. The most important of these are the Book of Leinster, which wasnbsp;written in 1160-70, and the Yellow Book of Lecan, written towards thenbsp;end of the fourteenth century. The oldest important MS. is the Book ofnbsp;the Dun Cow (^Lelor na-hUidre)^ part of which dates from the earlynbsp;years of the twelfth century. But there is no doubt that these and othernbsp;MSS. are largely derived from earlier ones, now lost, some of whichnbsp;were written in the eighth and ninth centuries. The earliest MS. containing heroic matter of which there is any trustworthy record�thenbsp;Book of Druim Snechta^�is believed to have been written in the first

* The contents of this book (cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 17) seem to have been mainly non-heroic sagas of the Heroic Age; but they include some of thosenbsp;noticed above.

half of the eighth century. The written record therefore reaches back practically to the Heroic Age itself.

The Irish Heroic Age without doubt covered a long period, and the stories relate to many different generations. But there is one group ornbsp;cycle of stories which seems to have been cultivated far more than anynbsp;of the others at the time when writing was first used for this purpose.nbsp;This cycle relates to a very remote period, but covers apparently onlynbsp;about one generation. The chief figures are Conchobor, king ofnbsp;Ulster, and his heroes, CuChulainn, Conall Cernach, Fergus macnbsp;Roich and others, and also Ailill and Medb, king and queen of Connaught, who are frequently at war with Conchobor. To this cyclenbsp;belong a large number of stories, only a few of which can be mentionednbsp;here.

The longest and most famous of all the heroic stories is the Tain Bo Cuailng�^ (�Cattle Raid of C.�). The subject is a raid made upon Ulsternbsp;by Ailill and Medb for the purpose of seizing a valuable bull. Advantagenbsp;is taken of a time when the Ulster heroes are incapacitated by a cesnbsp;or �infirmity�. But the youthful CuChulainn is not affected by thisnbsp;infirmity, and sets out to resist the invaders. In a series of combats henbsp;slays many of Medb�s champions and makes great havoc among hernbsp;forces. He continues his resistance until the Ulster army is able to takenbsp;the field. A considerable number of poems�nearly all speech-poems ofnbsp;Type B�are contained in the narrative.

The Tochmarc Ferbe (�Courtship of Ferb�)� is one of the very rare cases where the earliest form of the story is a narrative poem (Type A).nbsp;Conchobor learns in a dream that Maine, a son of Ailill and Medb, isnbsp;coming to marry Ferb, daughter of a chief named Gerg, apparently innbsp;Ulster. He sets off with a large band of warriors and comes upon thenbsp;wedding party by surprise. Maine and Gerg and most of the combatantsnbsp;on both sides are killed. The story ends with reprisals by Medb, whichnbsp;lead to further fighting.

� Ed. and transi. (German) by Windisch, Irische Texte (Extraband); Engl, transi, by Dunn, The Ancient Irish Epic Tale, Tain Bo Cualnge. The references givennbsp;below are to the lines of Windisch�s edition and the pages of Dunn�s translation.nbsp;When the earlier text is cited the references are to the Yellow Book of Lecan fYBLI),nbsp;published in a Suppl. to �riu, i-ni.

49 CuChulainn attacks a fort across the sea and carries off a princess andnbsp;three marvellous cows. The princess is in one version Blathine, daughternbsp;of Conchobor; elsewhere she is called Blathnat and appears to benbsp;foreign. A disguised man takes part in the raid and is wholly or partlynbsp;responsible for its success. Afterwards he carries off the booty, andnbsp;CuChulainn, when he tries to stop him, gets roughly handled. Eventually he is discovered to be CuRoi, a famous king in west Munster.nbsp;The men of Ulster attack his fort, and he is betrayed to CuChulainn bynbsp;Blathine (Blathnat), who has stolen his sword. The details of the betrayalnbsp;vary; in one version she gives the signal by pouring the milk of thenbsp;cows into a stream. Vengeance is taken upon her by the fill (�poet�)nbsp;Ferchertne; but the details again vary.

There are certain poems connected with this story, which are in part preserved independently of the prose narratives. One of them is annbsp;early elegy, in which the speaker is Ferchertne, and which we maynbsp;regard as an example of BD. The story forms the subject also of a difficult Welsh poem of Type B {Tai. xlii), which perhaps refers to thenbsp;incident of the milk.

Next we may take the short saga Sc�l Mucce Male Dath� (� Story of Mac Datho�s Pig�).� Mac Datho has a valuable dog, which isnbsp;coveted by Conchobor and also by Ailill and Medb. Not wishing tonbsp;offend either party he promises it to both, and invites them to come fornbsp;it with their retinues at the same time. For the entertainment of hisnbsp;visitors he provides a huge pig. The question now arises who is tonbsp;divide the pig, since this was the privilege of the greatest champion.nbsp;The Ulster heroes have to give way, one after another, to the Connaughtnbsp;champion Cet mac Matach; but at the last moment Conall Cernachnbsp;arrives, and to him Cet is obliged to yield. But Conall divides the pignbsp;so unfairly that the feast ends in a free fight between the two parties.

Fled Brierenn (�Bricriu�s Feast�)^ resembles the last story in its chief motif. Bricriu Nemthenga (� Poison-tongue �), a chief at Dundrum,nbsp;builds a great hall and invites Conchobor with all his court to a feast.nbsp;The invitation is accepted after some hesitation, but owing to Bricriu�snbsp;mischief-making propensities it is stipulated that he himself shall not benbsp;present. He contrives, however, to intercept Laegaire Buadach,nbsp;Conall Cernach and CuChulainn, and to persuade each of them tonbsp;demand the �champion�s portion�. Trouble arises therefore as soon asnbsp;the feast begins; but eventually the combatants are persuaded to refer

their claims to Ailill and Medb for decision. In the meantime Bricriu persuades the wives of the three heroes each to claim precedence fornbsp;herself. This leads to a riotous scene, in the course of which CuChulainnnbsp;pulls down the house. Afterwards the heroes take their claims first tonbsp;Ailill and Medb, and then to CuRoi mac Dairi, for whom CuChulainnnbsp;performs some fantastic feats. But the others are unwilling to accept thenbsp;decisions in favour of CuChulainn until an unknown warrior�said tonbsp;be CuRoi�enters Conchobor�s hall and asks if anyone is brave enoughnbsp;to let him cut off his head�a challenge which only CuChulainn willnbsp;accept.

Tongas mac n-Uislenn (� the Exile of the Sons of Uisliu�) � is primarily the story of the life of Derdriu, a daughter of Conchobor�s story-teller.nbsp;At her birth the druid Cathbad had prophesied that she would causenbsp;great strife in Ulster; but Conchobor had her brought up in secretnbsp;because of her beauty. When she grew up she induced Noisiu and hisnbsp;brothers�the sons of Uisliu�to carry her off to Britain. The Ulsternbsp;chiefs are anxious for the heroes to return, and they consent to do so ifnbsp;Fergus, Dubthach and Conchobor�s son, Cormac, will guarantee theirnbsp;safety. But the latter are prevented from accompanying them, thoughnbsp;Fergus sends his son Fiacha. When they arrive at Conchobor�s capital,nbsp;Noisiu and Fiacha are murdered by Eogan, son of Durthacht; Derdriu isnbsp;delivered up to Conchobor, and the rest of the party massacred. Fergusnbsp;and the other securities take up arms, and after some fighting enter thenbsp;service of Ailill and Medb (in whose army we find them in the Tain}.nbsp;Derdriu refuses to be consoled, and is given by Conchobor to Eogan;nbsp;but she kills herself by leaping out of his chariot.

The story is very briefly told. But the latter part of it�from the return of the heroes�is related at much greater length in a later saganbsp;called Oided Chlomne, n-Uisnig � the Fate of the Children of Uisnech �).^nbsp;Here Conchobor�s treachery is greatly accentuated. Derdriu is endowed with second sight and repeatedly warns the heroes, in poems ofnbsp;Type B, against returning. She dies at the burial.

� Transi, by Thurneysen, Sagen aus dem alten Irland, p. ii ff.; Leahy, Heroic Romances of Ancient Ireland, 1. 87 ff. ; Dottin, L��pop�e Irlandaise, p. 76 ff.

� Ed. and transi, into English by Stokes in Windisch, Irische Texte, IL ii. p. 109 ff.; also (anonymously) for the Society for the Preservation of the Irishnbsp;Language (Dublin, 1914).

3 Cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 547 ff. The first part of the story is transi, by Dottin, op. cit. p. 147 ff. Cf. also Stokes, Rev. Celt. in. 175 ff.; Hull, The Cu-chullin Saga, p. 253 ff.

51 son of CuRoi, and Ere, son of Cairpre Nia Fer, whose fathers had bothnbsp;been slain by him, led an army against the. men of Ulster at the timenbsp;when the latter were incapacitated by their infirmity. The defence wasnbsp;left to CuChulainn, who set out against the enemy in spite of unfavourable omens. His death was due to certain wizards, sons of Calatin,nbsp;whose father also had been killed by him. His charioteer Laeg is shotnbsp;first, then one of his horses, and then the hero himself. Then the armynbsp;retires, but Lugaid, who is carrying off his head, stays behind to bathenbsp;in the Liffey. Here he is overtaken and killed by Conall Cernach, whonbsp;is under a vow to avenge CuChulainn before sunset on the day onnbsp;which he is slain. Cuchulainn�s favourite horse comes to his wife Emer,nbsp;and lays its head on her knee; and the story ends with an elegy bynbsp;her.

We may now take some of the stories which do not belong to the Ulster cycle. Or gain Dinn Rig (�the Destruction of Dinn Rig�)i isnbsp;apparently the earliest story�i.e. the story relating to the earliest times�nbsp;which can properly be called heroic. The genealogies indeed would datenbsp;it back to a time several centuries before the Christian era. Ugainenbsp;the Great, high-king of Ireland, left two sons, Laegaire Lore andnbsp;Cobthach Coel Breg, of whom the former succeeded his father asnbsp;high-king, while the latter was king of Bregia (south of Dundalk).nbsp;Cobthach wasted away from chagrin at the superior position of hisnbsp;brother and appeared to be dying. He requested Laegaire to arrange fornbsp;his funeral on the following day, and then apparently died and wasnbsp;laid out in his chariot. But while his brother was bending over his bodynbsp;he stabbed him in the back. Soon afterwards he brought about thenbsp;murder of Laegaire�s son, Ailill, who was king of Leinster, and drovenbsp;into exile his son Moen, known later as Labraid Loingsech. The latternbsp;took refuge with Scoriath, a king in west Munster, whose daughter henbsp;married. He had a harper named Craiphtine who was able to lull everyone to sleep, and by his help he succeeded in capturing and sacking thenbsp;fortress of Dinn Rig; whereupon he became king of Leinster. He thennbsp;made peace with Cobthach and invited him to a feast. For his receptionnbsp;Labraid had an iron house built in Dinn Rig. Thirty kings were beingnbsp;feasted within it, when it was heated and they were all roasted alive.nbsp;Labraid�s mother gave herself up to perish with them, apparently innbsp;order to ensure the success of the plot.

Tochmarc �t�ine (� the Courtship of Etain�) J The first of these stories is concerned with gods only, while the second and third belong to anbsp;heroic milieu; but it can hardly be assumed that the three stories werenbsp;originally composed to form a sequence. In the first Etain is the wife ofnbsp;the god Midir; but she is taken away from him and eventually born as anbsp;mortal. In the second she becomes the wife of the high-king Eochaidnbsp;Airem; but after this she is courted by her previous (divine) husband innbsp;disguise. In the third story Eochaid finds in Tara to his surprise anbsp;young and handsome man, who has entered the fort before the gatesnbsp;were open. The stranger makes known to him that he is Midir andnbsp;challenges him at chess; and the king, who is a great chess-player,nbsp;accepts and wins. Here there is a lacuna in the text; but it appears that asnbsp;a forfeit he compelled his opponent to build a causeway over a certainnbsp;swamp�a task which was carried out by night and involved greatnbsp;hardship to Midir�s followers. But he challenges the king again andnbsp;wins; and now, as a forfeit, he claims the right to embrace and kissnbsp;Etain once. Eochaid asks for a month�s delay, and then assembles all hisnbsp;warriors and bars the gates. But Midir appears suddenly in the midstnbsp;and demands his forfeit. The king is obliged to let him put his armnbsp;round his wife; and then he rises with her through the opening in thenbsp;roof, and they are seen flying away together in the form of two swans.nbsp;The king then sets out with his troops to break open the elf-hills. Atnbsp;this point the text comes to an end. From later accounts it seems that henbsp;recovered his wife, but that the gods afterwards got their revenge andnbsp;slew him.

A considerable number of stories centre round the famous king Cormac mac Airt, but in many of them non-heroic characteristicsnbsp;predominate. To these we shall have to refer in Ch. vi. Here we maynbsp;perhaps mention the story called Cath Chrinna (� the Battle of Crinna�).�nbsp;An attack upon Cormac was planned by Fergus Dubdetach (�Blacktooth�), king of Ulster, who had two brothers also called Fergus.nbsp;Cormac fled to Munster to seek for help. There he caught a famous heronbsp;Lugaid Laga, while he was bathing. To save his own head he had tonbsp;promise to bring to Cormac that of Fergus Dubdetach. Anothernbsp;famous hero, Tadg, son of Cian, was induced to give his services by thenbsp;promise that he should have as much land as he could drive roundnbsp;between the close of the battle and sunset on the same day. The valour

t Transi, by Leahy, Heroic Romances of Ireland., I. 27 ff. ; cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 612 fF.

53 of these two heroes gained the victory for Cormac. Lugaid had tonbsp;bring the heads of all the three Ferguses, because he did not know whichnbsp;of them was the king. Then he tried to kill Cormac, but the latter hadnbsp;taken the precaution of dressing a druid in his armour and setting himnbsp;on his throne. Tadg now demanded his reward, but he was so exhaustednbsp;that he could not keep awake. Cormac therefore ordered his charioteernbsp;to turn the horses whenever he went to sleep�with the result that henbsp;was able to get round only a small area before sunset.

As may be seen from the above story, Cormac himself is not represented as a hero; he gains his ends by craft, not by his own prowess. Most of the heroic stories relating to his time are concerned with thenbsp;exploits of Finn mac Cumaill, his son Oissin (Ossian), and their followers,nbsp;the Fian, of whom perhaps the best known are Cailte and Diarmait.nbsp;One of the most famous of these stories is that of the Battle of Gabra.,nbsp;which tells of the death of Oscar, son of Oissin. Cormac�s son, thenbsp;high-king Cairpre, fell in the same battle. In later times this group ofnbsp;stories became the most popular of all. There are also numerous poemsnbsp;connected with them.

Another group of stories relates to the high-king Eochaid Mugme-don, his wife Mongfinn, and his sons, of whom the most famous was Niall Noigiallach (�Niall of the Nine Hostages�). The best known ofnbsp;these stories is perhaps that of the poisoning of Crimthann, brother ofnbsp;Mongfinn.i On the death of Eochaid he had become high-king; but hisnbsp;sister wanted to get the throne for one of her own sons. She thereforenbsp;offered her brother a poisoned cup. He, being suspicious, insisted uponnbsp;her drinking first; and they both perished. This story brings us near tonbsp;the beginning of the historical period ; for Niall, the successor of Crimthann, was the father of Laegaire, who was high-king at the time ofnbsp;St Patrick�s mission (a.d. 432).

There are a number of stories relating to historical events of the sixth and seventh centuries. Of these perhaps the best known is that ofnbsp;the Battle of Mag Rathf which was fought in 637 by the high-kingnbsp;Domnall mac Aeda against the Ulster prince Congal Claen and hisnbsp;allies from Dal Riada in Scotland. The story has only been preserved innbsp;late texts, but it shows well-marked heroic features.

* Ed. and transi, by O�Grady, Silva Gadelica, I. 330 IF., ii. 373 fF.; by Stokes, Rev. Celt. XXIV. 175 ff.

� Ed. and transi, by O�Donovan, Puhi, of the Irish Arch. Soc., vn (1822). A shorter and quite difFerent text is ed. and transi, by Marstrander, �riu, v.nbsp;232 IF. Congal is here called Congal Caech.

Cath Almame (�the Battle of Allen�)i is a story of a different kind, though the milieu at least is heroic. The high-king Fergal, son ofnbsp;Maelduin, invaded Leinster in 722, but was defeated and slain withnbsp;nearly all his followers at Allen near Kildare. He had taken with him anbsp;minstrel and story-teller named DonnBo, who fell at his side. On thenbsp;evening before the battle DonnBo had been unable to provide anynbsp;entertainment, but he promised to sing to Fergal on the following night,nbsp;wherever they might be. His head was cut off in the battle, and one ofnbsp;the Leinstermen afterwards found it singing. He takes it to the housenbsp;where King Murchad and the Leinster chiefs are feasting; and therenbsp;turning itself to the wall it sings most beautiful and pathetic music�nbsp;�for Fergal, not for Murchad�. Afterwards he takes it back to its body,nbsp;as he had promised ; and the minstrel revives and returns home.

Practically all the stories noticed above contain poetry, and the same is true of heroic sagas in general. The majority of the poems, includingnbsp;nearly all those contained in the Tain Bo Cuailnge, belong to Type B;nbsp;but there are also many which are of an informative (antiquarian)nbsp;character, consisting largely of catalogues, and may be referred to Typenbsp;C. Some of these indeed are merely quotations from antiquarian poems,nbsp;of a class which will be noticed in Ch. x.

Of the poems of Type B some are dialogues, some monologues. The latter are sometimes reflections, by one of the characters, on the situation of the moment. Not unfrequently, however, they are prophecies�nbsp;as in the Adventure of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon, where the poetnbsp;Torna prophesies the future greatness of his foster-son Niall Noi-giallach, who has been abandoned by his mother through fear ofnbsp;Mongfinn. Another instance, already referred to, is the prophecy of thenbsp;druid Cathbad relating to Derdriu, in the Exile of the Sons of Uisliu.nbsp;Further examples occur in the Tain Bo Cuailnge, and elsewhere. Innbsp;other cases again the monologue is an elegy. For an example we maynbsp;refer to the elegy on CuChulainn�s death by his wife Emer (cf. p. 51)�nbsp;which may be compared with the laments of the princesses overnbsp;Hector at the close of the Iliad and with the speech of GuSnin innbsp;Gulir�narkvitia I (cf. p. 27). Such pieces resemble�and are of coursenbsp;modelled upon�poems (elegies) of Type D ; and they may convenientlynbsp;be described as BD.

Apart from the poetry contained in the sagas there are a number of poems which are found without context in the MSS.�though theynbsp;sometimes have two or three explanatory sentences in prose prefixed tonbsp;� Transi, by Stokes, Rev, Celt. xxiv. 45 ff.

55 them. Some of them are of antiquarian character and will be noticednbsp;in Ch. X. Others are elegies, similar to those mentioned above; but it isnbsp;not always easy to distinguish between speech poems in character�ofnbsp;the BD variety�and what may be genuine elegies. We need notnbsp;hesitate to assign to BD the dialogue elegy upon Niall Noigiallach, innbsp;which the speakers are the poet Torna and his son Tuirn.� The subjectnbsp;was a very famous king, and one of the speakers was a very famousnbsp;poet. But the same explanation cannot be given for the elegy of Crede,nbsp;daughter of Guaire, upon Dinertach.� This poem is attributed to thenbsp;tenth century; but the battle of Carn Conaill, in which Guaire, king ofnbsp;Connaught, was defeated, and in which Dinertach seems to have beennbsp;killed, took place in 649. Yet neither Crede nor Dinertach appears to benbsp;known apart from the poem. How then are we to account for such anbsp;composition Is the poem really three centuries older than the linguisticnbsp;evidence seems to indicate Or is it a work of pure fiction.^ Or, again,nbsp;was it originally a speech in character contained in a saga.^ There is anbsp;saga on the battle of Carn Conaill; but it is more religious than heroic innbsp;character ; and neither Crede nor Dinertach is mentioned in it.

It should be observed that besides the complete poems, such as those just noticed, there are in existence also a large number of fragments,nbsp;both of elegies and of panegyrics upon living princes.3 Many of themnbsp;are preserved in metrical tracts, where they are quoted e.g. as illustrations of certain metres, and there is no context. But many others arenbsp;found in annals, in connection with notices of the princes� deaths.nbsp;Some of the persons celebrated in them belong to the sixth and seventhnbsp;centuries. It is generally agreed that from the eighth or ninth centurynbsp;onwards these pieces are for the most part what they profess to be�i.e.nbsp;contemporary works of Type D. But linguistic and metrical considerations are said to preclude the possibility of this being the case withnbsp;pieces which celebrate persons of earlier times. This is, it will be seen,nbsp;practically the same difficulty which we encountered in regard to certainnbsp;Welsh and Anglo-Saxon poems.

The fragments of elegies preserved in annals are sometimes attributed to a poet whose name is known, sometimes to the dead prince�s widow�

* Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Gaelic Journal, x. 578 ff.; transi, also in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 69 ff.

� Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Eriu, ii. 15 fF.; transi, also in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 63 F.

3 See K. Meyer, Bruchst�cke der �lteren Lyrik Irlands (Abh. d. preuss. Akad. 1919, No. 7), pp. 5 iF., 37 ff.

a fact which suggests that they were composed, like Egill�s Sonatorrek, for the funeral celebrations. We may quote from a fragment attributednbsp;to a poet (ecej) named Ninnine, celebrating the death of a prince callednbsp;Coning�a son of Aedan mac Gabrain, king of Argyll�who accordingnbsp;to the annals was drowned in 621 or 622�: �The transparent waves ofnbsp;the sea and the sand have covered them; they have hurled themselvesnbsp;over Coning in his frail little wicker coracle�. It seems to us unlikelynbsp;that such an elegy should be composed a century or more after thenbsp;event, in memory of a comparatively obscure prince. On the othernbsp;hand, if they are genuine these elegies are probably the earliest Irishnbsp;compositions which are capable of precise dating. At all events therenbsp;can be no doubt that this type of poetry was cultivated during thenbsp;Heroic Age. Examples survive from the ninth, and probably from thenbsp;eighth, centuries; and its existence is implied also by the occurrence ofnbsp;BD poems, such as Emer�s lament (cf. p. 51), in early texts of the sagas.

We know of no examples of Type E (heroic); but this again must not be taken as implying that such poetry was not then cultivated.nbsp;Examples from the following centuries will be cited in Ch. xi.

Now if we compare the Irish heroic records in general with the Greek, Teutonic and Welsh, as analysed on pp. 20 IF. and 42 ff., wenbsp;, shall have to take into account the fact that here saga, not poetry, formsnbsp;what we may call the backbone of the material. It will be convenientnbsp;to make a brief survey of the records according to the scheme proposednbsp;on p. 20 ff.

I Ann. Ult. 621; Chron. Scot. 622; etc. For Ann. Tig. see Rev. Celt. xvii. 175, Cf. also K. Meyer, op. cit. p. 39. We cannot see how there can be any doubt asnbsp;to the identity of this Coning, in spite of what is said by Meyer, l.c., and by Pokorny,nbsp;Historical Reader of Old Irish., p. 29 f. The death of one of his sons, named Rigullan,nbsp;is mentioned shortly afterwards in Ann. Tig. �Rev. celt. xvii. i8o); cf. Arm. Ult.nbsp;628. Another son, named Ferchar, was king of Argyll about the same time,nbsp;according to the Synchronisms published by Skene, Chronicles of the Picts andnbsp;Scots, p. 19. The obscure reference to Bile Torten (perhaps here a kenning fornbsp;� prince �) can hardly count against the evidence of the historical records.

I Cf. K. Meyer, Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century, p. 16. On the other hand Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 5 5, points out that the Irish rhetorics differ from thisnbsp;style of Latin in the construction of the sentences, and also that they are very oftennbsp;used in prophecies. He suggests that this was their primary origin, though henbsp;seems to admit Latin influence (ib. p. 54). We would call attention in particular tonbsp;their use in spells�in which Latin influence is improbable. We think the Latinnbsp;derivation requires to be proved. The use of the word retoric may mean no more thannbsp;that Latin scholars and scribes were struck by a�perhaps merely superficial�nbsp;resemblance to Latin rhetorical prose.

poems which show a transitional form�with rhyme and alliteration, but without a fixed number of syllables�suggesting that the influencenbsp;of the Latin hymns made itself felt gradually.

The transitional forms noted above, both those with and those without rhyme, seem to occur only in antiquarian and religious poetry�nbsp;not in heroic sagas. The poetry found in the sagas consists partly ofnbsp;rhetorics and partly of the later rhyming type; but the latter is by farnbsp;the more common. There appears to be no difference in usage. Rhetoricsnbsp;are used e.g. for the dialogue between Get and Conall Cernach in thenbsp;story of Mac Datho�s Pig (cf. p. 49), and for Emer�s elegy in the storynbsp;of GuChulainn�s death (cf. p. 51); and the later metres are used innbsp;similar cases. The difference indeed seems to be merely chronological.nbsp;Rhetorics occur only in the older sagas, and they are probably to benbsp;regarded as survivals of an earlier usage. The language is generally verynbsp;difficult and archaic. How old the type is may be gathered from the factnbsp;that the transitional form with rhyme is attributed to the seventh, andnbsp;that without rhyme to the sixth, centuries.

59 the ordinary, familiar scenes of life are not depicted so fully. On thenbsp;other hand, we frequently meet with long and minute descriptions notnbsp;only of the armour of heroes, as in Greek and Anglo-Saxon, but also ofnbsp;their clothes and their personal appearance, though as a rule thesenbsp;descriptions conform to a few familiar and strictly conventional types.nbsp;The same remarks apply to the descriptions of heroines and othernbsp;women.

(to) Static epithets are not frequent or striking in either poetry or saga. Repetitions or refrains occur in the poems, though not to thenbsp;same extent as in Welsh poetry. In sagas the most striking feature ofnbsp;this kind is the frequent recurrence of the conventional descriptions�nbsp;to which we have just alluded�of the appearance and dress of heroesnbsp;and heroines. For an extreme example we may refer to the descriptionnbsp;of Etain at the opening of the Destruction of Da Dergas Hall.^

It will be convenient now to make a brief comparative survey of the various heroic records. The Irish records are by far the most extensive,nbsp;owing to the very large amount of saga (Type A) which has beennbsp;preserved and which serves as a backbone for this Heroic Age as a whole.nbsp;For the British Heroic Age unfortunately no such backbone exists.nbsp;Type A here is practically unrepresented, whether in poetry or saga,nbsp;and for our knowledge of this Heroic Age we are dependent upon anbsp;limited number of poems of Types B, D and E, and a considerablenbsp;amount of antiquarian matter (Type C), both verse and prose. Thenbsp;� Rev. Celt. xxn. 13 ff.

Greek Heroic Age is represented by two narrative poems, which are very full, the Teutonic Heroic Age by a larger number, which are not sonbsp;full, as well as by a few Norse poems of Type B; but these supply usnbsp;with only a very limited number of stories. Apart from them we arenbsp;practically dependent upon antiquarian records, which in Greece werenbsp;extremely numerous and seem to have been drawn largely from earlynbsp;poems of Type C.

It will be seen that the distribution of the types is very uneven. Type A (narrative poetry) is represented in Greek and Teutonic, and tonbsp;a very small extent, and not very early, in Irish. Type A (saga) isnbsp;represented in Irish and, in a late and debased form, in Norse; thenbsp;Welsh sagas belong rather to Type C (CA). Type B (the speech-poemnbsp;in character) is represented in Norse, Welsh and Irish; in the last it isnbsp;incorporated in the sagas. Type C (the didactic and informative type)nbsp;is found everywhere, in one form or another. Type D (the elegy andnbsp;panegyric) is found in Welsh and perhaps in Irish. Type E (personal ornbsp;occasional poetry) certainly existed in Teutonic, and appears to benbsp;preserved in English and Welsh. Some scholars, however, refuse tonbsp;allow that any of the surviving poems of Types D and E are genuine.

Next we may take the list of characteristics discussed on pp. 20 ff., 29 if., 42 if, and 56 if., above. This list was originally drawn up fornbsp;Greek and English narrative poetry. We must now see how it appliesnbsp;to the heroic records in general.

(6), (7) In regard to metre the poetry of the two Celtic languages shows a striking contrast to early Teutonic and the earliest Greeknbsp;poetry. In the former we find multiformity, stanza or couplet, andnbsp;rhyme; in the latter uniformity and a tendency to an unbroken flow ofnbsp;speech. These characteristics are not in either case confined to heroicnbsp;poetry. But it is to be noted (i) that Greek uniformity disappears in thenbsp;seventh century�the couplet and the stanza make their appearance;nbsp;(ii) that neither stanza (or couplet) nor rhyme occurs in the earliestnbsp;Irish poetry, whatever its origin; (iii) that Norse poetry seems to be in|nbsp;course of transition from the Teutonic to the Celtic type; even heroic!nbsp;poetry is stanzaic and not uniform, while post-heroic poetry of Typesnbsp;D and E shows both rhyme and much variety in other respects. Lastly,nbsp;it is to be remembered that rhyme in both Welsh and Irish seems to be �nbsp;derived from Latin. Hence the features noted above as common tonbsp;Welsh and Irish poetry cannot be founded upon any peculiarly Celticnbsp;characteristics.

A question of greater importance is whether the resemblance between Greek and Teutonic may be due to the existence in both of heroicnbsp;narrative poetry. The metres in question are not confined to suchnbsp;poetry ; but it is highly probable that this was in early times the dominating influence in the poetry of both peoples. Moreover it may be notednbsp;(i) that the two Anglo-Saxon heroic poems which are not narrative show Inbsp;end-stops (cf. p. 25), and (ii) that traces of a non-uniform-line metrenbsp;occur in Anglo-Saxon gnomic poetry.

(to) Static epithets are a conspicuous feature of Greek and English heroic poetry, and they occur also, though less frequently, in Norsenbsp;heroic poetry, where they may have a common origin with the English.

Repetitions are of frequent occurrence in the heroic poetry of all these languages. In Greek, English and Norse they consist largely of staticnbsp;formulae. But in Welsh poetry�and to some extent also in Irish, wherenbsp;they seem to be less frequent�they are of a more rhetorical character�nbsp;refrains rather than mere repetitions. These differences are doubtlessnbsp;due in part to the fact that the Greek, English and Norse poems belongnbsp;mainly to Type A, whereas most of the Welsh poems belong to Typenbsp;D. It may be observed that the English poem Deor^ which has a refrainnbsp;(cf. p. 25), does not belong to Type A.

It need hardly be pointed out that the analysis of the heroic records , * into types (A, �, C, D, E), adopted above, is merely for convenience; ; �nbsp;the distinctions must not be pressed too rigidly. Thus, one could cutnbsp;out from the Iliad a passage which in itself would be similar in allnbsp;respects to GuSrunarkviSa I. Indeed the attraction of Type A, at least tonbsp;a modern reader, depends largely upon the extent to which it approximates to Type B. Again, it may seem arbitrary to refer Culhwch andnbsp;Olwen to Type C, when Irish sagas which contain much informativenbsp;matter are given under Type A. We suspect, however, that in the latternbsp;this element is largely secondary. We have had more hesitation innbsp;refusing to admit Tai. xxxv as a Welsh example of Type A; for it isnbsp;practically a narrative poem and contains three speeches. This is indeednbsp;clearly a case of transition from D to A. Lastly, it must be borne innbsp;mind that if the poems referred to Types D and E are not admitted tonbsp;be genuine, they must all be assigned to Type B.

Our analysis raises several questions, which will need consideration in later chapters :

Note. An admirable account of early Norse metres (cf. p. 29 f.) and of the Edda poems generally will be found in Edda and Saga (Home University Library)nbsp;by B. S. Phillpotts (the late Dame B. S. Newall), which has been published sincenbsp;this book went to Press.

IN this chapter we propose to discuss certain features which appear to be characteristic of the life portrayed in the heroic stories. Theynbsp;may conveniently be classified under the following headings:nbsp;(i) The social standing of the personnel�the characters who figure innbsp;heroic poetry and saga; (2) the scenes of the stories; (3) the accessoriesnbsp;of heroic life; (4) the social standards and conventions observed innbsp;heroic poetry and saga.

(i) The personnel of the Iliad consists almost wholly of princes and their military followers. The latter themselves sometimes belong tonbsp;princely families, as in the case of Achilles� followers, Patroclos andnbsp;Phoinix. The few remaining persons include several priests, such asnbsp;Chryses, Dares and Dolopion, and seers, such as Calchas and Helenos.nbsp;But some of these are of princely birth; Helenos is a son of Priam.nbsp;There are also a few heralds, like Talthybios, Eurybates, Idaios andnbsp;Dolon. These appear to be personal servants of princes, though Dolonnbsp;declares that he is wealthy. An incidental reference to a shield-maker,nbsp;Tychios, occurs in vn. 220. Various other references of a generalnbsp;character to persons engaged both in handicrafts and in agriculture arenbsp;to be found, especially in similes; but these persons are never named.nbsp;Lastly, there is the abusive orator Thersites, a character who willnbsp;require discussion in Ch. viii.

In the Odyssey the range is somewhat wider. Penelope�s suitors are said to be of princely rank�a fact which seems to indicate that thenbsp;princely class was very numerous. Mention is made of several othernbsp;inhabitants of Ithaca, who may belong to the same class. There are alsonbsp;a number of Phaeacians, mostly athletes, whose rank is not stated;nbsp;their names show them to be fictitious characters created for thenbsp;occasion. Besides these we find a priest, Maron, minstrels like Phemiosnbsp;and Demodocos, and heralds, such as Medon. The seers mentionednbsp;seem to be princes. There are occasional references to handicraftsmennbsp;(ni. 425, XIX. 57). Two passages deal with Phoenician merchantsnbsp;(unnamed), who are presented in a very unfavourable light; and anothernbsp;passage (vin. 161 if.) contains a derogatory reference to merchants innbsp;general. Certain slaves belonging to Odysseus� family�Eumaios,

Philoitios, Melanthios, D olios, Eurycleia and Melantho�figure prominently, especially in the latter part of the poem; and even a beggar,nbsp;whom the suitors call Iros, is introduced.

Taking the evidence of the two poems as a whole, it may be said that the interest is concentrated exclusively upon persons of princelynbsp;rank and their households. Even the servants come in for a share ofnbsp;notice. But the merchant, the farmer, and the artisan are practicallynbsp;ignored.

In Beowulf all persons mentioned by name, whether in the main action or in episodes, appear to be members either of royal families ornbsp;of the courts or military retinues of princes. To the former class belongnbsp;the hero himself and presumably his relative Wiglaf, as well as thenbsp;other princes of the Geatas, the Danes and the Swedes. The othernbsp;persons mentioned by name are as follows: Wulfgar, King Hrothgar�snbsp;herald�described as Wendla leof which probably means that he is annbsp;aristocrat; Hunferth, the same king�s �spokesman� Ifyle'},^ who lendsnbsp;Beowulf his sword ; Aeschere�with his brother Yrmenlaf�Hrothgar�snbsp;old councillor and former comrade in arms; Hondscio, a member ofnbsp;Beowulf�s retinue; Eofor and Wulf, two brothers who slay the Swedishnbsp;king Ongentheow�the former subsequently marries King Hygelac�snbsp;daughter. Probably all the characters mentioned in the episodes belongnbsp;to the same classes. In addition to these there are speeches by fivenbsp;persons, whose names are not given : the officer who guards the Danishnbsp;coast, Hrothgar�s minstrel, Wiglaf�s messenger, the man who (in a pastnbsp;age) buried the treasure, and the old warrior�known in Scandinaviannbsp;tradition as StarkaSr�who incites Ingeld to revenge. There is practically no reference in the poem to any person of a rank inferior to thosenbsp;enumerated above, with the exception of the unfortunate man who firstnbsp;discovered the dragon�s hoard. He is described probably^ as the � slavenbsp;of someone or other of the sons of heroes � (2223 f.). Later (2406 ff.),nbsp;when he has to act as guide, his plight is referred to with scorn rathernbsp;than pity.

What has been said of Beowulf appears to be true also of the other English heroic poems. All the characters mentioned by name seem tonbsp;be either princes or members of princes� retinues. Among the latternbsp;may be included the court minstrels Deor and Widsith. There are nonbsp;references to persons of humbler rank.

The same remarks apply to the Norse heroic poems. In these the � The meaning of this term will be discussed in Ch. xix.

personnel is much less numerous; and nearly all the characters belong to princely families. The few exceptions appear to be military followers ornbsp;servants. Such is the case with Kn�fr�Sr or Vingi, the messenger ofnbsp;Atli, and presumably with the cowardly Hjalli of the Atlakviba, who innbsp;the Atlamdl is called a scullion. Among liegemen of more distinguishednbsp;rank we may mention Ormarr�the Wyrmhere of W^idsith�and thenbsp;aged Gizurr in the Battle of the Goths and Huns.

It is clear also that most of the leading characters of the British Heroic Age were of princely rank. Maelgwn and his descendant Cad-wallon were kings of Gwynedd. Cynan Garwyn was king of Powys,nbsp;and Rhydderch Hael king of Dumbarton. Urien and Gwallawg reignednbsp;over districts which cannot be identified with certainty. In the Gododdinnbsp;poems Mynyddawg Mwynfawr, leader of the ill-fated expedition, wasnbsp;evidently a king, though his genealogy has not been preserved.nbsp;Gwenddoleu was probably a king, like his cousin Dunawd. Arthur andnbsp;Gereint appear as kings in later records. The poet Llywarch Hen isnbsp;a cousin of Urien.

Most of the other persons mentioned in the poems appear to be military followers of princes, similar to those who figure in the Englishnbsp;poems. Such no doubt are the heroes celebrated in the Gododdin poems,nbsp;in so far as they are not princes themselves, like Cynon, son of Clydnonbsp;Eidyn, who belongs to the same family as Gwenddoleu and Dunawd.nbsp;The same may be said of Cai, Bedwyr, and the other warriors associatednbsp;with Arthur. Indeed it is not clear that persons of any other class arenbsp;mentioned, except perhaps the poets themselves. Myrddin is made tonbsp;say that he had been an honoured military follower of Gwenddoleu.nbsp;Taliesin, whatever may have been his origin, is clearly a court poet�atnbsp;first in the service of Elphin.

The Irish evidence is in general similar to the rest. The number of persons who figure in the sagas is of course very much greater, butnbsp;with comparatively few exceptions they belong either to princelynbsp;families or to the military retinues of princes. The latter class is mostnbsp;fully represented in sagas of the Ulster cycle, where the personnel isnbsp;more numerous than elsewhere. But the two classes are not easilynbsp;distinguished. CuChulainn and Conall Cernach are sons of Kingnbsp;Conchobor�s sisters, and the latter belongs on his father�s side also tonbsp;the Clann Rudraige, the royal house of Ulster�as do many more ofnbsp;Conchobor�s warriors. Stories relating to later times, which are lessnbsp;detailed, usually deal with high-kings and kings of provinces, but manynbsp;minor chiefs are often mentioned.

THE HEROIC MILIEU nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;67

Of persons not belonging to these classes the most distinguished are the druids, who are hardly inferior to kings. Cathbad, the Ulsternbsp;druid, is King Conchobor�s father in the older records. Some storiesnbsp;represent him as a warrior in earlier life. Filid, a class which willnbsp;require notice in Ch. xix, were also highly honoured. Sometimes theynbsp;are attached to princes, as Ferchertne to CuRoi. Amorgein, the fathernbsp;of Conall Cernach, is a warrior as well as a fill. We hear also of smithsnbsp;who were distinguished and wealthy. Amorgein�s father, Ecet Salach,nbsp;is a smith. Another smith, Caulann, is able to entertain King Conchobornbsp;and part of his retinue; he cannot afford to provide for the whole, asnbsp;he is not a landowner. But Da Choca has a hall Ihruideri} at crossroads, at which everyone is entitled to receive hospitality. Other hallsnbsp;of the same kind are owned by Forgoll, the father of Emer, Da Derga, �� C 'nbsp;Mac Datho, and Blai. Of these Mac Datho is a king of Leinster; butnbsp;Blai is merely a wealthy landowner, while the rank of the others isnbsp;apparently not stated.

Among persons who probably belong to a somewhat humbler station mention may be made of Fedlimid, Conchobor�s saga-teller.nbsp;He is evidently in the king�s service; but DonnBo and perhaps also Uanbsp;Maiglinni, the saga-tellers who figure in the Battle, of Allen�a story ofnbsp;much later times�appear to be independent persons. Lastly, a curiousnbsp;figure who enters into many stories is Leborcham, a slave-womannbsp;belonging to Conchobor. She is deformed,�^ but extremely swift of footnbsp;and intelligent, and is employed by the king as his messenger.

There are sagas and poems (non-heroic) relating to filid, which will be noticed later. But in the heroic stories themselves the Irish evidencenbsp;presents little or nothing that is exceptional. Da Choca�s hall is thenbsp;scene of a sanguinary fight; but he himself plays practically no part innbsp;the story, and the other owners of similar halls are hardly more prominent. In Ireland, as elsewhere, the interest of heroic stories is centrednbsp;in members of princely families. Military followers and even slaves ofnbsp;the princes may come in for a share of attention. Priests and minstrelsnbsp;may be noticed. But the remainder of the population is virtuallynbsp;ignored.

(2) In the Iliad the scene is laid sometimes in or among the tents of the Achaean leaders, sometimes on the field of battle, less frequentlynbsp;in the palaces of Troy. In the Odyssey it is much more varied. Much of

� Her knees are turned backwards. This kind of deformity is found in other cases, and seems to be generally associated with fleetness of foot.

the action takes place at Odysseus� home; but at other times the scene is laid at various places in the island of Ithaca, in the land of the Phaea-cians, at the courts of Nestor and Menelaos, and elsewhere. One scenenbsp;is in the swineherd�s hut.^

As heroic stories are primarily concerned with princes, the court scenes are naturally what may be called the normal scenes, the others arenbsp;usually the scenes of adventures. It may be observed that the poetsnbsp;seem to take a certain pleasure in dwelling on the formalities of courtnbsp;life�the reception of visitors, banquets, and even the movements ofnbsp;royal persons about their palaces. For an illustration of the first we maynbsp;refer to Od. iv. 20 ff., where Telemachos and Peisistratos arrive at thenbsp;palace of Menelaos. In Odysseus� own home such formalities are notnbsp;observed; but on Mentes� arrival (i. 118 ff.) Telemachos recognises andnbsp;apologises for the lack of them. As examples of the last we may citenbsp;I. 328 ff., where Penelope comes to hear the minstrel, and iv. 121 If.,nbsp;where Helen�s movements are described. Even in the camp life of thenbsp;Iliad we find a good deal of formality, as, e.g., in ix. 192 If., wherenbsp;Odysseus and Aias are received by Achilles.

In the Teutonic poems also the scenes may be divided into court scenes and scenes of adventure, though adventures sometimes takenbsp;place also in the former. In the first part of Beowulf the scene is laidnbsp;partly in the Danish king�s palace and partly at Grendel�s lair. The lastnbsp;scene is in Hygelac�s palace, on Beowulf�s return home. In the secondnbsp;part the action takes place in the neighbourhood of the dragon�snbsp;barrow. In the court scenes much attention is paid to formalities,nbsp;especially in the reception of visitors. The account of Beowulf�s reception at the Danish court occupies eighty lines before the hero beginsnbsp;to declare his mission. It includes four speeches by the king�s herald,nbsp;one by the king himself and one by Beowulf, before the latter enters thenbsp;king�s presence. Note is made (358 f.) of the correct attitude taken bynbsp;the herald in addressing the king. Again, the movements of the kingnbsp;and queen are rather carefully described, e.g. (920 ff.) their formalnbsp;entry into the hall with their retinues on the morning after the fightnbsp;with Grendel. So also when the queen or a princess passes roundnbsp;the hall with a tankard, as is done by Hrothgar�s queen in 612 ff.,nbsp;2016 ff., by his daughter in 2020 ff., and by Hygd, the wife of Hygelac,nbsp;in 1980 ff.

� It is noteworthy that the similes of the Iliad usually relate to scenes of humbler life. This is a point which will require notice later.

69 descriptions of formalities are naturally not to be found. If a courtnbsp;scene is described at any length some tragic situation or a debate onnbsp;some question of importance is involved. Such scenes in point of factnbsp;occupy by far the greater part of the poems ; but ceremonies and thingsnbsp;which belong to the ordinary routine of court life are dismissed in a fewnbsp;words. Probably the nearest approach to the usage of Beowulf is in thenbsp;Battle of the Goths and Huns, st. 3 ff., where Hl��r arrives at the funeralnbsp;feast of HeiSrekr.

In Welsh heroic poetry, which is mostly of Type D (cf. p. 42), the scene, if so it can be called, lies almost always either at the hero�snbsp;court or on the battle-field. Very often it shifts from one to the othernbsp;�or passages dealing with one contain references to the other. Of thenbsp;panegyrics some are chiefly occupied with the hero�s geniality andnbsp;generosity in his hall, others with his achievements in battle. Thenbsp;Gododdin poems are primarily concerned with the latter, but containnbsp;many references to the former. Perhaps the most interesting poem fornbsp;our present purpose is Llywarch Hen�s elegy on Urien (RBH. xii),nbsp;especially from st. 46 to the end. The poet here draws a contrast betweennbsp;the festive life of which Urien�s hall has been the scene, and its conditionnbsp;in the future, when it will lie ruined and overgrown with brambles.nbsp;Somewhat similar pictures are to be found in the elegy on Cynddylannbsp;{RBH. xvi).

In Irish heroic sagas of the Ulster cycle the variety of scene is as great as in the Homeric poems. In the Tain Bo Cuailnge it is usually laidnbsp;either in the camp of Ailill and Medb or at the various places wherenbsp;CuChulainn encounters their warriors. In other sagas the action takesnbsp;place at Conchobor�s court or that of Ailill and Medb, or at CuChulainn�snbsp;home�and many other places. Not unfrequently the scene is thenbsp;house of some great man, to which the king and his retinue have comenbsp;either by invitation or to seek hospitality. In stories dealing with laternbsp;times the scene is most commonly either a king�s court or a field ofnbsp;battle.

A special characteristic of the Irish sagas is the minute description of the appearance and dress of royal persons, both men and women. Wenbsp;may refer, for example, to the description of Etain at the well at the beginning of the Destruction of Da Dergas Hall, and of CuChulainn andnbsp;other heroes in Bricrius Feast, cap. 45 if. ; but examples are numerous.nbsp;Such descriptions usually follow conventional lines ; sometimes indeednbsp;different sagas have them in almost identical form. For instancesnbsp;of ceremonial receptions we may refer to the Tdin Bo Fraich, cap. 2,

and the next passage in Bricrius Feast (cap. 54 f.)�but for these again there are many parallels. The sagas give the impression that thenbsp;life of the Irish courts was full of ceremonial, perhaps of a somewhatnbsp;barbaric kind. But what they most like to depict is not, as in the Greeknbsp;and the English poems, the ordinary course of the ceremonial, but thenbsp;occasions when it breaks down. A good example occurs in Macnbsp;DathFs Pig^ cap. 6 ff. The custom was that the most distinguishednbsp;warrior present should carve the pig; but a dispute arises, first as to whonbsp;is entitled to this honour, and then as to the fairness of the distribution;nbsp;and the banquet eventually becomes a brawl (cf. p. 49). In Bricriusnbsp;Feast, cap. 14 ff., a similar dispute arises. When the heroes have beennbsp;pacified, their wives each claim the honour of entering the hall first.nbsp;They race for the door; the race becomes a scramble, and the resultnbsp;again is a general brawl. In spite of the abundance of ceremonial, thenbsp;picture which the records suggest is that of a very youthful and unsophisticated society, in which the attraction of a rough and tumblenbsp;m�l�e often proves too much for the dignity of even the most distinguished heroes.

(3) Warfare in one form or other seems to be an essential rather than an accessory of heroic life. On the special features of heroic warfarenbsp;something will have to be said in the course of the next chapter.

It may be questioned whether feasting does not come under the same head ; but we may mention it here. Banquets are frequently spoken ofnbsp;in the Homeric poems, especially at the reception of visitors. Indeed itnbsp;has often been remarked that the amount of feasting recorded as takingnbsp;place in the Achaean camp in the Iliad is astonishing. Banquets innbsp;kings� palaces are usually accompanied by minstrelsy, whether innbsp;Ithaca, among the Phaeacians, or at the palace of Menelaos {Qd. iv.nbsp;17 f.). But minstrelsy is found at other hours also. It is evidently thenbsp;intellectual occupation of the courts ; and it is cultivated by princes, asnbsp;well as by professionals. Achilles is singing heroic poetry to his lyrenbsp;{11. IX. 186 ff.), when Odysseus and Aias come to his tent.

The possessions which heroes seem to value most highly are their horses and armour. In the Iliad desperate adventures are undertakennbsp;for the sake of such booty. We may instance the raid made on thenbsp;Thracian camp by Odysseus and Diomedes for the horses of Rhesos.nbsp;Aineias� horses, which also are captured by Diomedes {II. v. 323 ff.),nbsp;are said to be of supernatural origin {ib. xx. 223 ff.)�descended fromnbsp;Boreas (the North Wind). Achilles� horses, Xanthos and Balios, are the

offspring of Zephyros (the West Wind) and the Harpy Podarge, and are themselves immortal (ib. xvi. 148 ff.). Xanthos once speaks (ib.nbsp;XIX. 404 ff.), and prophesies his master�s death. In armour the articlesnbsp;most valued appear to be the shield and breastplate. Achilles� new shield,nbsp;which was made for him by the god Hephaistos, is described at lengthnbsp;in II. XVIII. 478 ff. Agamemnon�s breastplate, described in xi. 19 ff., isnbsp;also an elaborate work of art.

This breastplate was a gift from Cinyres of Cyprus. Costly gifts like this from one prince to another, but especially to guests, are recorded on several occasions. When Telemachos bids farewell tonbsp;Menelaos and Helen, they present him with a silver mixing-bowl, a cupnbsp;and a costly robe (01. xv. loi ff.). Odysseus receives lavish presentsnbsp;from Alcinoos and his court. As prizes in the funeral games of Patroclos,nbsp;Achilles gives to his friends a great variety of things, including slavewomen, horses, silver and bronze vessels, and weapons.

In the Teutonic poems, both English and Norse, feasting is much in evidence. But it is not the meal itself�of which little or nothing isnbsp;said�but the drinking which follows it. This time of drinking occupiesnbsp;the greater portion of the first part of Beowulf. It so dominates thenbsp;indoor life of the courts that this is commonly described by terms fornbsp;drinking. Whenever there is occasion to mention the relations of a kingnbsp;with the members of his court the reference usually takes the form of annbsp;allusion either to the mead, wine or ale, with which he regaled them or thenbsp;gifts which he bestowed upon them. The drinking is commonly accompanied with minstrelsy. In Beowulf we find both professional minstrelsnbsp;and others; even King Hrothgar himself (2105 ff.) takes his turn innbsp;reciting to the harp.

The articles most valued by the hero are his weapons and armour. Both the sword and the helmet are of more account than in the Homericnbsp;poems, and they are sometimes carefully described. Swords havenbsp;personal names, such as Naegling, Hrunting, Mimming. But the mailnbsp;coat is the most valued of all. Beowulf (452 ff.) begs Hrothgar to sendnbsp;his mail coat back to Hygelac, if he is killed by Grendel. It was madenbsp;by Weland, and has belonged to Hygelac�s father. Waldhere trusts innbsp;the loyalty of his mail coat�which has belonged to his father�when henbsp;is assailed by faithless kinsmen.

Presentations are often mentioned; usually they take place at the feast, i.e. the drinking. As a reward for his fight with Grendel, Hrothgarnbsp;presents Beowulf with a golden standard, a helmet, mail coat and sword,nbsp;and eight horses, one of which was the king�s war-horse, with all its

harness complete. Similar presents are given to him after slaying Grendel�s mother. The queen gives him a magnificent golden necklet,nbsp;which he presents to Hygd, Hygelac�s queen, on his return home.nbsp;Beowulf at his death gives to Wiglaf the gold necklet, helmet and mailnbsp;coat which he is wearing. Widsith is presented by Eormenric and othernbsp;princes with gold armlets or bracelets as a reward for his minstrelsy.nbsp;The presentation of such articles by a king to his military followers is anbsp;commonplace.

The Norse evidence is very similar to the English, though not quite so broadcast. We may quote the Battle, of the Goths and Huns, st. 20,nbsp;where Angant�r, before the beginning of the battle, says: �When wenbsp;were drinking mead we were a great host, but now when we should benbsp;many our numbers are few�. In the same poem, st. 2, it is stated thatnbsp;�Hl�Sr was born in the land of the Huns...with cutlass and withnbsp;sword, with ample coat of mail, with treasure-decked helmet, with keennbsp;blade, and with well-trained steed�. The Hervarar Saga^ in which thisnbsp;poem is preserved, adds in explanation of the passage that it refers to thenbsp;weapons which were being forged at the time the man was born; alsonbsp;to any horses or other animals that were born about the same time.inbsp;Perhaps the most distinctive feature in Norse is the greater prominencenbsp;given to horses. We may refer especially to Gutirunarkvi^a If 4 ff.,nbsp;where SigurSr�s horse, Grani, comes to make his death known tonbsp;GuSriin. It does not speak; but it lowers its head to the ground at hernbsp;feet. �The horse knew that his owner was lifeless.� According to thenbsp;H�lsunga Saga, cap. 13, Grani had been given to SigurSr when he was anbsp;child by Othin; it was sprung from Othin�s horse Sleipnir.

The Welsh evidence also is very similar to the English, though it is expressed in a different form. References to feasting occur everywhere, but it is almost always the mead or wine, not the food, which isnbsp;mentioned. The picture constantly brought before us in the poems isnbsp;that of a festive company�the hearth, the flowing mead and the minstrel.nbsp;In the Gododdin the mead is over and over again said to have been thenbsp;cause of the disaster. Mynyddawg had treated his company so generously that they embarked on a desperate enterprise while they werenbsp;not in complete possession of their senses. Parallels may be found bothnbsp;in Beowulf (480 ff.) and in the Iliad (xx. 83 ff.).

References to warriors� arms�especially the spear, sword and shield�are very frequent; but no details are given, though it is clear

' Cf. Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, pp. 148 f., 201 ; Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, p. 128.

73 from other sources that Welsh princes valued their weapons asnbsp;highly as did the English. Little is said about the giving of arms ornbsp;treasure, except to minstrels; but the custom is probably implied by thenbsp;frequent references to the gold necklets worn by the heroes. Thenbsp;generosity of Owein in giving horses is recorded in the elegy on hisnbsp;death {Tai. XLiv. lo); and the horses of heroes are often mentioned innbsp;other connections. Lists of famous horses are given in Tai. xxv and innbsp;the Triads in BBC. vili. Other Triads attribute marvellous feats to thenbsp;horses of certain heroes.

In Irish heroic sagas we find feasting everywhere. It has already been mentioned that in several sagas the scene is laid in the house ofnbsp;some wealthy man where Conchobor and his court are feasting. Therenbsp;are references to the food as well as the drink; pork appears to be thenbsp;food most valued, as may be seen from the story of Mac Dathds Pig.nbsp;But the drinking is the main thing; enormous quantities are said to benbsp;provided. The extreme case is perhaps the story called Mesca Ulad, ornbsp;the �Intoxication of the Ulstermen�. CuChulainn and another chiefnbsp;named Fintan have invited Conchobor and his court to feasts on thenbsp;same night. Neither of them will give way to the other, and so it isnbsp;settled that they shall go first to Fintan�s until midnight, and then movenbsp;on to CuChulainn�s. But by midnight Fintan has treated them so wellnbsp;that they completely lose their way, and arrive in front of CuRoi�snbsp;fortress before they know where they are. As regards normal times, it isnbsp;stated in the story of CuChulainn�s childhood in the Tdin Bo Cuailng�^nbsp;that Conchobor spends one-third of each day in eating and drinkingnbsp;until he and all his musicians and entertainers fall asleep. In addition tonbsp;saga-telling and minstrelsy, the favourite indoor amusement of thenbsp;heroes is a game called fidchell�apparently something like chess�nbsp;which is very frequently mentioned.

Weapons are often referred to, especially the sword, spear and shield. The most famous are Fergus� sword Caladcolc and an instrument of obscure character, called Gaelulga�perhaps a forked spear�nbsp;belonging to CuChulainn. In his boyhood CuChulainn obtainsnbsp;weapons and a chariot from Conchobor. But presents to grown-up

I We may refer to the Life of St Cadoc, cap. 59 (transi, by Rees, Lives of the Cambro-British Saints, p. 387 f.), where a certain Guengarth, a foster-son of Kingnbsp;Morcant, presents to the Saint�s church a sword called Hipiclaur of the value ofnbsp;seventy cows, together with a donation of land. The whole passage is very interesting for the light it throws on the life of Welsh princes about the close of thenbsp;seventh century.

heroes seem more usually to be in the form of precious vessels. Horses play a great part in the stories. When Conall Cernach fights withnbsp;Lugaid, his horse comes to his rescue and disables his opponent.nbsp;CuChulainn�s horses appear to be of supernatural origin. In the oldernbsp;version of the Conception of CuChulainn they are foaled in the phantomnbsp;house during the night when the child is born, which is reborn asnbsp;CuChulainn (cf. p. 216). When he is grown up they always draw hisnbsp;chariot. But in Bricrius Feast, cap. 31, they come from two differentnbsp;lochs and have just been caught. At his death they flee to their lochs;nbsp;but one of them returns and defends his body, and afterwards makesnbsp;its way home to his wife.^ It lays its head on Emer�s lap, to let hernbsp;know what has happened�a rather striking parallel to the incident innbsp;Gubrilnarkvida II, 4, noted above (p. 72).

(4) Express statements of social standards are of rare occurrence in heroic poetry and saga, except in Beowulf, where they are quite frequent.nbsp;We will therefore begin with the English evidence.

Briefly summarised the cardinal virtues of a hero are courage, loyalty and generosity. Courage seems to be bound up with physicalnbsp;strength ; it is never found without the latter. Loyalty is purely personal ;nbsp;the references are usually to the relations of a prince with his personalnbsp;followers. It involves tbe duty of vengeance, as well as protection�nbsp;� it is better to avenge a friend than to give way to grief�. Generositynbsp;likewise is usually referred to in connection with a prince�s treatment ofnbsp;his followers. Sometimes, however, as in Widsith, there is specialnbsp;reference to the treatment of minstrels. In such cases the expressionnbsp;�winning praise� has come to be equivalent to �showing generosity tonbsp;minstrels �. The vices which receive censure are the antitheses of the virtues mentioned above�cowardice, disloyalty and meanness�togethernbsp;with avarice, arrogance, violence towards one�s own household, andnbsp;disregard of oaths. In Beow. 2864 ff. Wiglaf bitterly upbraids Beowulf�snbsp;retinue for deserting him in the hour of danger. Heremod�s undoing wasnbsp;due to his meanness and his violence towards his followers (1718 ff.).

In some passages we find reference to a different set of standards� of a definitely Christian character. As a rule these are easily distinguishable; but occasionally an attempt to present them seems to gonbsp;astray. Thus a passage (1739 ff.) apparently inspired by some Christiannbsp;homiletic discourse leads to nothing except a denunciation of meannessnbsp;and arrogance. A more interesting question is raised by the fact that thenbsp;* Book of Leinster, fol. 123 a; cf. Thurneysen, It. Heldensage, p. 556.

75 hero�s kindheartedness is emphasised, especially in the closing lines ofnbsp;the poem. It is held by many scholars that this must be due to Christiannbsp;influence. But we are not at all sure that the poet is thinking of anything more than Beowulf�s attitude towards his immediate followers.nbsp;We think that in the first part of the poem Hrothgar and Beowulf are tonbsp;be taken as more or less ideal pictures of the old king and the youngnbsp;prince of heathen times.

Reference has already been made (p. 68) to the love of court ceremony and etiquette shown in the poem. It may be added that annbsp;air of good manners prevails throughout, so far as the human beings arenbsp;concerned. The only exceptions occur in Hunferth�s address to Beowulf,nbsp;where the references to the hero�s past exploits are offensive, and Beowulf�s reply, which in places strikes us as very rude. But there is nonbsp;obscenity even here; and the disputants are quickly reconciled. It is tonbsp;be observed that, apart from details of slaughter, there is nothingnbsp;throughout the poem which could offend the most fastidious taste.

Norse heroic poetry, unlike English, contains few express statements of heroic standards. Those which occur, e.g. in the AtlakviSa, st. 19 andnbsp;32, relate to courage. It is clear that both courage and loyalty arenbsp;expected from a hero. Generosity is rarely mentioned, again in contrastnbsp;with English usage; but it is implied in certain static epithets applied tonbsp;princes in general. There are no references to professional minstrels.nbsp;Gunnarr and H�gni are charged with disloyalty and the violation ofnbsp;oaths in the murder of SigurSr; but the crime is brought about bynbsp;Brynhildr, who has herself been treated with treachery. The death ofnbsp;Gunnarr and H�gni�whose courage largely retrieves their reputationnbsp;�is due to the avarice of Atli, which is followed by his own ruin. Itnbsp;is the avarice and arrogance of Hl�Sr which leads to the tragedy of thenbsp;Battle of the Goths and Huns.

The standard of decorum is not the same as in English heroic poetry. Atli would hardly have been allowed to eat his children in the latter;nbsp;and we doubt if the shrieking coward Hjalli could have made hisnbsp;appearance. But the standard is much higher than in poems relating tonbsp;the gods. The heroes are never made ridiculous; and obscenity is foundnbsp;only in abusive dialogues in the three Hel^ poems.

Welsh heroic poetry also rarely gives express statements of social standards, though they occur frequently enough in gnomic poems.nbsp;The inferential evidence points to much the same standards as innbsp;English. The courage and generosity of heroes are often celebrated, thenbsp;latter especially in relation to minstrels. References to loyalty are rare;

but this is perhaps due to the fact that the poems are exclusively concerned with princes, and hardly mention their followers. We maynbsp;refer to the Triad on the �loyal retinues�, quoted on p. 46, which indicates the recognition of standards very similar to those found innbsp;Beowulf. As an illustration of courage or warlike ardour we may cite annbsp;expression used of certain heroes in the Gododdin {An. i. i, 5), that theynbsp;were more ready to have their blood poured on the ground and tonbsp;become the prey of wolves and ravens than to go to the marriage feastnbsp;and the altar. A very similar description is given of Hervor, the sister ofnbsp;Angant�r, in the Battle of the Goths and Huns, st. 19.

On the other points noticed above the Welsh poems yield little more than negative evidence. Some dreadful and absurd things are said ofnbsp;Gwenddoleu and other heroes in the Triads., while Culhwchand Olwen revels in the grotesque ; but the poems are serious, dignified and fastidious.

In the Homeric poems, again, standards are rarely stated. An expression of moral judgment is hardly to be seen in the remark (fl. xxiii. 176) that Achilles devised evil deeds in his heart�the slaying ofnbsp;Trojan prisoners at Patroclos� pyre�for the same phrase occurs elsewhere without moral significance; and it seems to mean no more thannbsp;� evil for the victims �. But it is not difficult to distinguish the characteristics which meet with approval and disapproval. Of the former bynbsp;far the most important is courage�which is usually combined withnbsp;physical strength; personal appearance also counts for a good deal.nbsp;Loyalty and generosity are comparatively seldom noticed. The latter isnbsp;expected from a prince when he is visited by another prince, andnbsp;perhaps especially when the visitor is in distress. Indeed it is clear,nbsp;especially from Od. vii. 159 ff., that princes were expected to shownbsp;generosity to suppliants. But there is little definite evidence fornbsp;generosity either to personal followers or to minstrels (cf. Od. viii.nbsp;477 ff.). For loyalty perhaps the most definite evidence is that ofnbsp;Patroclos� speech to the Myrmidons fl. xvi. 269 ff.). The paucity ofnbsp;such evidence may be due to the fact that the Iliad is almost whollynbsp;concerned with princes; their followers are not often mentioned.nbsp;Loyalty is not a striking characteristic of Odysseus� followers in Od.nbsp;IX�XII�a narrative which contrasts in many respects with the rest ofnbsp;the Odyssey and the Iliad. Among princes themselves it may perhaps benbsp;said to be wanting in the case of Achilles in the Iliad. But Achillesnbsp;appears to be rather an ally than a subordinate of Agamemnon.

Of vices the most frequent appears to be arrogance (v�pis)�the tendency of a powerful man, trusting in force majeure, to trample upon

the rights of others. Examples occur in Agamemnon�s conduct, first to the priest and then to Achilles, at the beginning of the Iliad. In thenbsp;Odyssey we have the picture of a large number of idle aristocratsnbsp;quartering themselves on the household of an absent king and eating upnbsp;his property. Perhaps the worst offence is the violation of oaths, as innbsp;the case of Pandaros. The treachery of Clytaimnestra and Aigisthos isnbsp;also strongly condemned. On the other hand, the treatment of Helen isnbsp;usually sympathetic, except in speeches which make her responsible fornbsp;the troubles of the war.

The behaviour of the heroes often strikes the reader as childish or brutal. This is especially true in the case of Achilles, who seems indeednbsp;to be hardly civilised. Odysseus is not an attractive character in eithernbsp;poem. The old Nestor is perhaps the most pleasing of the heroes; butnbsp;he is much inferior to Hrothgar. In the funeral games several heroesnbsp;lose their temper in a rather foolish way, and Antilochos� behaviour isnbsp;contemptible. But, except perhaps in the last case�where the heronbsp;seems to be only a boy�it is not clear that any disrespect is intended bynbsp;the poets. The treatment is dignified throughout, and fastidious exceptnbsp;in details of slaughter. These qualities, however, are wanting in certainnbsp;scenes and stories relating to die gods, a fact which will require noticenbsp;in Ch. IX.

In Irish saga also statements of heroic standards are rare. There are some �Instructions to Princes��collections of maxims addressed tonbsp;princes who have just been appointed to the kingship�attributed tonbsp;CuChulainn, Conall Cernach and other heroes. But it is at leastnbsp;doubtful whether these belong to an early phase of heroic saga�so wenbsp;shall reserve them for discussion in Ch. xii.

It is clear enough from the narratives that courage was the quality most esteemed in a hero. Sometimes, especially in the case of CuChulainn, it takes the form of frenzy. Loyalty and generosity arenbsp;rarely referred to, though it would perhaps be unwise to infer from thisnbsp;that they were not valued. The most notable case of the former is that ofnbsp;Ferchertne�a fill, not a warrior�who avenges his master CuRoi bynbsp;seizing his faithless wife Blathnat in the presence of the Ulster heroes andnbsp;throwing himself with her over a precipice.^ Elsewhere loyalty appears

� Aided ConRoi (ed. and transi, by Best, �riu, ii. i8 ff.), cap. 14 {ib. p. 30 f.). In the earlier version of the story, ed. and transi, by Thumeysen, Zeitschr.f. celt.nbsp;Philol. IX. 190 ff., cap. 12 (j-b. pp. 192 {., 196), there seems to be a double vengeance.nbsp;Ferchertne stabs the lady; but Luach, CuRoi�s charioteer, leaps into the chariot ofnbsp;Coirpre, son of Conchobor, and drives it over a cliff, whereby they both perish.

chiefly in the relations of one hero to another. We may refer to the instant vengeance taken by Conall Cernach for the death of Cu-Chulainn.i Much value is attached to personal appearance. Evennbsp;CuChulainn�s beauty is emphasised, although he is small and dark.

Disapprobation is rarely expressed. The fill Athirne is evidently regarded with aversion on account of his pitiless avarice; yet he isnbsp;supported by the men of his own province (Ulster). The conduct ofnbsp;Conchobor to the sons of Uisnech leads to hostilities with his own sonnbsp;Cormac and two other great nobles, who desert him with all theirnbsp;followers. Yet it seems that the desertion was due not to the atrociousness of the king�s conduct�for which it would be difficult to find anbsp;parallel in any heroic story�but to the fact that they had been guarantors for the safety of the murdered heroes, and consequently theirnbsp;honour had been impaired by the treachery. In the Destruction of Dinnnbsp;Rig no blame is attached to Labraid Loingsech for taking vengeancenbsp;upon Cobthach, while he is entertaining him as his guest. Cormac macnbsp;Airt is frequently guilty of crafty and dishonourable conduct; but thenbsp;stories relating to him are perhaps not properly to be regarded as heroicnbsp;(cf. p. 52 f.).

The dignified and fastidious tone which prevails in Teutonic and Greek heroic poetry is not generally characteristic of Irish heroic saga.nbsp;It is to be found in certain stories, especially the (third) Courtship ofnbsp;Etain-, but more frequently the love of the grotesque and the fantasticnbsp;and of rough horseplay throws all sense of dignity to the winds. For thenbsp;modern reader this want of restraint is apt to spoil the interest of thenbsp;Irish heroic stories ; and it tends also to obscure the fact that the youngernbsp;heroes, especially CuChulainn, compare very favourably with theirnbsp;Greek counterparts. On the other hand one must confess that thenbsp;portraiture of the older people, especially the sovereigns, such as Conchobor, Ailill and Medb, is neither dignified nor attractive, though thenbsp;grotesque elements here are wanting. Stories of a thoroughly savagenbsp;and disgusting character are not unknown. We may cite in particularnbsp;the Fate of Lugaid and Derhforgaillf which is on a level with thenbsp;crudest folk-tales.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;�-f t

In the course of this chapter we have seen that in all the cases we have considered heroic poetry and saga are concerned primarily with

I This passage (from the Bris lech mor Maige Muirtheimne) is printed and transi, by Stokes, Rev. Celt. in. 183 ff.

79 persons of princely rank. Military followers and household servants ofnbsp;princes are sometimes introduced, and so also minstrels, seers andnbsp;priests, but they never play more than a subordinate part. The peasantnbsp;hero of folk-tales never appears, so far as we know. As might benbsp;expected from such a personnel, the scene is normally laid in a king�snbsp;court, except when the action takes place on the battle-field or othernbsp;place of adventure. The poets generally seem to take pleasure innbsp;describing the splendour and the etiquette of court life. The life of thenbsp;heroes, their interests and pastimes, are quite in accordance with thisnbsp;milieu. We hear everywhere of feasting, which is often accompanied ornbsp;followed by minstrelsy. As regards outdoor pastimes we may add thatnbsp;falconry and hunting the stag with hounds are referred to in English andnbsp;Welsh heroic poetry, the former also in Norse.i The hero�s chief pridenbsp;is in his weapons or armour and in his horses. Heroic standards ofnbsp;conduct are seldom expressly stated, except in English. But courage,nbsp;combined with physical strength, is recognised everywhere; loyalty andnbsp;generosity are emphasised in English, the latter also in Welsh. Dignitynbsp;and decorum prevail almost without exception in English and Welsh,nbsp;both in the conduct of the heroes and in the poets� treatment of theirnbsp;subjects. In Greek it is rare, though not unknown, for heroes to losenbsp;their dignity, while in Norse horrors are occasionally introduced; but innbsp;both cases the treatment is dignified. It is only in Irish that we find anynbsp;considerable body of evidence at variance with the norm. Here thenbsp;behaviour of heroes is often crude and boorish and the treatmentnbsp;grotesque. There are, however, Irish heroic sagas to which this characterisation does not apply in any marked degree; and in general Irish heroesnbsp;are represented as strongly resenting any infraction of their dignity.

In all cases, therefore, the heroic milieu is aristocratic. In later chapters we shall see that this is generally true of the Heroic Age innbsp;other countries. But exceptions do occur. In Vol. ii it will be seen thatnbsp;heroic life and heroic poetry can exist in very poor communities, tonbsp;which the term �aristocratic� could not properly be applied.

i E.g. Biow. 1368 ff., 2263 {.; An. I. 87; RBH. xn. 27 f., 47; Gudr�narkvi�a II, i9gt; 44-

HIS subject may conveniently be divided as follows: (i) Individualism and nationality; (2) Heroic warfare.

(i) It has often been remarked as strange that the Anglo-Saxon poems which have come down to us contain very few references to persons of English nationality and make no mention of Britain.nbsp;There is no evidence for the existence of heroic poems dealing withnbsp;English heroes in this country, though the invasion of Britain tooknbsp;place long before the close of the Heroic Age. The only heroic storynbsp;which is certainly concerned with English heroes is that of Offa, whonbsp;�ruled over Angel� perhaps a century before the invasion of Britain;nbsp;and even to this story we have only two references, amounting to tennbsp;lines in Widsith and about thirty in Beowulf. We know far more of thenbsp;story from Danish sources. Perhaps the only other case�and this isnbsp;uncertain�is that of the Hengest who figures in the story of Finn, ifnbsp;he is to be identified with the Hengest who conquered Kent.

In Beowulf the hero belongs to the Geatas (Gautar) of southern Sweden. The scene is laid partly in Denmark and partly in Sweden; andnbsp;the poem is almost wholly concerned with persons belonging to thosenbsp;countries. In Waldhere the hero belongs apparently to some Teutonicnbsp;community settled in Gaul, while his opponents are Burgundians. Finnnbsp;is king of the Frisians. InDeor and Widsith references to Gothic heroesnbsp;predominate. The latter poem, however, also contains passages relatingnbsp;to the Burgundians, the Lombards (in Italy), the Danes and othernbsp;peoples, as well as to the English, and references to princes of many othernbsp;nations. Altogether about a hundred and thirty persons are mentionednbsp;by name in the poems ; and of these hardly more than half a dozen cannbsp;be English.

The German heroic poems are concerned mainly with heroes of the Burgundians and the Goths�nations which had disappeared before thenbsp;time even of the Hildebrandeslied., and many centuries before that of thenbsp;Nibelungenlied and the other poems. Siegfried seems to be a Frank;nbsp;but no emphasis is laid on this. It is remembered that Etzel (Attila) wasnbsp;king of the Huns. Hetele (He�inn) is placed in Denmark, and his father-in-law Hagene (H�gni) in Ireland.

The Norse heroic poems also are chiefly concerned with Burgundian and Gothic heroes. But the nationalities are not clearly remembered;nbsp;indeed the name �Burgundian� occurs only once. The Huns figure innbsp;the Battle of the Goths and Huns^ as well as in the story of Atli. SigurSrnbsp;appears as a Dane, though his later adventures are placed � to the southnbsp;of the Rhine�. Heroic poems dealing with Danish and Swedish heroesnbsp;must once have existed; but we know these stories only from Danishnbsp;(Latin) histories and Norse sagas and antiquarian poems, which arenbsp;doubtless ultimately derived from them. The Danish historians alsonbsp;preserve the story of the English hero Offa, who here appears as anbsp;Dane. The story of HeSinn and H�gni is located partly in the southernnbsp;Baltic�doubtless its original home�and (in Norse) partly in thenbsp;Orkneys. The scene of the Helgi poems is difficult to determine; butnbsp;the evidence seems to point to the south-west of the Baltic. Therenbsp;appear to be no Norse heroes.

It will be clear from this brief summary that nationality plays no part in stories of the Teutonic Heroic Age�apart from the fact thatnbsp;the heroes are all Teutonic. As regards the latter point Attila and thenbsp;Huns are perhaps hardly to be regarded as constituting an exception.nbsp;In the poems it is never recognised that they are of alien nationality;nbsp;and historically it is probable that they were largely Teutonised in thenbsp;times to which the stories relate. Widsith mentions a few non-Teutonicnbsp;princes, but gives no further information about them than, e.g., thatnbsp;�Casere (i.e. Caesar) ruled the Greeks�.

It is clear, further, that many of the stories had an international tquot; 'j currency. The stories of Eormenric, of Weland, and of HeSinn andnbsp;H�gni were known in England, Germany and the North. The story ofnbsp;SigurSr, the Burgundians and Attila is celebrated both in Norse andnbsp;German poetry. The stories of Widia and of Waldhere were familiarnbsp;both in England and in Germany, the stories of Offa, of Ingeld, ofnbsp;Sighere and various other heroes both in England and in the North.nbsp;Among the latter of course we may include the Danish and Swedishnbsp;princes mentioned in Beowulf.

The interest of the poems is centred not in nationality but in the individual. It may be extended in such a way as to include the ancestrynbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;, /�;

of the chief characters�as in Beowulf, which begins with an account of the early kings of the Danes. These, however, are introduced in ordernbsp;to lead up to Hrothgar ; and it is the glory of the family rather than of thenbsp;Danish nation which is emphasised. Again, Hrothgar is frequentlynbsp;spoken of as �Scylding� or �lord of the Scyldingas� (the family name),

and similarly the national name �Geat� is sometimes used for the hero himself. But these are merely variations employed in order to avoidnbsp;constant repetition of the individual name.

In almost every story there is one character whose adventures form the chief subject of interest. He is made to perform feats of great�nbsp;sometimes superhuman�prowess, and in consequence of these he isnbsp;held up to admiration. His nationality appears to be a matter of nonbsp;importance; but the sympathy of the reader or listener is enlisted on thenbsp;side to which he belongs.

This sympathy, however, does not necessarily involve the blackening of the characters of his opponents, if they are human beings. In the Norse poems, though not in the Nibelungenlied, Attila is represented asnbsp;treacherous. In the Nibelungenlied, though not in the Norse poems,nbsp;Hagen (H�gni) is represented as fierce and cruel. The disagreementnbsp;suggests that in the original form of the story neither character wasnbsp;wholly unsympathetic; and in the latter case this inference is borne outnbsp;by the evidence of VTaltharius. Indeed there is no character who appearsnbsp;uniformly in an unfavourable light. The most extreme case is that ofnbsp;Eormenric; but even of him Widsith�apart from the prologue�notesnbsp;nothing but his generosity.

There are even stories which can be told from different points of view�i.e. with the sympathy on either side. The story of Ingeld isnbsp;told in Beowulf irom the point of view of the hero�s enemies, though hisnbsp;own case is put quite fairly. But Saxo (p. 244 ff.) tells the same story atnbsp;length from Ingeld�s side; and from one of Alcuin�s lettersi it appearsnbsp;that in England also heroic poems were current in which he figured asnbsp;the leading hero. Both in the German Kudrun and in Snorri�s account�nbsp;of the story of HeSinn and H�gni the sympathy inclines to the sidenbsp;of HeSinn (Hetele); but it is easy to see�especially from the Sorianbsp;pdttr�that the opposite side could equally well have been presented.nbsp;The mortal quarrel of Brynhildr and GuSrun is a favourite subject innbsp;Norse poetry; but the sympathy is not uniformly on one side.

How far can the principles noted above be said to hold good in the case of the Greek heroic stories At first sight the Iliad seems to constitute an exception. The war with which it deals gives the impression ofnbsp;being a national struggle more than any of those which supply thenbsp;subjects of Teutonic heroic poetry. The army of the Achaeans consists

� Skaldskapartnal, cap. 49 (transi, by Brodeur, Prose Edda, p. 188 f.); cf. Soria pittr, cap. 5 ff. (transi, by Kershaw, Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, p. 49 ff.).

wholly of Greek forces, whereas the Trojan army is drawn from various foreign peoples. Hence it is not surprising that the story is told from thenbsp;Achaean point of view. It is true that the treatment of the Trojans isnbsp;often far from unsympathetic. Indeed to the modern reader Hector isnbsp;a more attractive figure than any of the Achaean heroes. Yet the sympathies of the poem are clearly Achaean. In combat the Achaean heroesnbsp;are usually victorious over their opponents; and any successes gainednbsp;by the latter are due as a rule to accidental circumstances or to the interposition of deities. Usually also the scene is laid on the Achaean side ofnbsp;the battle front.

Yet, curiously enough, it is never noted that the Trojans are foreigners. No hint is given that they speak a different language from the Achaeans�nbsp;although this is stated of their allies the Carians, while in the Odysseynbsp;expressions denoting the use of a foreign language are applied to thenbsp;Egyptians and the Sinties of Lemnos. Whatever may have been the casenbsp;historically, it would seem that in Greek heroic tradition the Trojansnbsp;were regarded as no more alien than the Huns in Teutonic tradition.nbsp;Indeed if we may compare small things with great, the Battle of thenbsp;Goths and Huns affords a rather close parallel to the Iliad in this respect.nbsp;Humli, king of the Huns, denounces the suggestion that violence shouldnbsp;be offered to the Gothic herald�as doubtless Priam or Hector wouldnbsp;have been made to do in similar circumstances.

Within the Achaean area itself the sympathies of the poems are not confined to any particular district or city. So wholly wanting is thenbsp;spirit of patriotism in the narrower sense that in later times it wasnbsp;much disputed what city, and even what part of the Greek world,nbsp;� Homer � belonged to. Seven cities�and more�claimed the honour ofnbsp;being his birthplace. There is no trace in the poems of any strongnbsp;feeling for or against any of the various contingents in Agamemnon�snbsp;host. If the Myrmidons sometimes receive exceptionally high praise, itnbsp;is probably because Achilles, the chief hero, belongs to them. Thenbsp;leading heroes in general come from widely different districts, andnbsp;several of them from districts which were quite unimportant in historical times. All of them are represented as distinguishing themselves innbsp;feats of arms in one portion or another of the Iliad, and it is by theirnbsp;individual prowess and that of the Trojan heroes that the fortunes ofnbsp;war are swayed. The rank and file count for nothing in the fighting.

In the episodes contained in the Iliad and throughout the Odyssey, both in the main story and in the episodes, the interest is wholly centrednbsp;in individuals. The same would seem to have been the case in the lost

poems, such as those dealing with the Theban wars. Indeed the same remark may be applied to all Greek heroic stories of which we have anynbsp;knowledge.

Love of home and patriotism of the practical kind are of course by no means unknown in the Homeric poems. We may quote II. xii. 243,nbsp;where Hector says that � the best of all omens is to fight in defence ofnbsp;our country�. For other examples reference may be made, e.g., tonbsp;XV. 494 ff., XXIV. 499 f. But it is to the Trojans, who are defending theirnbsp;city and homes, that such passages usually apply. The Achaean heroesnbsp;do not pretend to have been led to embark on the expedition from anynbsp;national feeling. The absence of any such feeling is well illustrated bynbsp;the story of Achilles� quarrel with Agamemnon�where the chief heronbsp;retires from the war owing to a personal affront from the commanderin-chief. We may refer especially to the speech of the former in 11. i.nbsp;149 ff. Diomedes treats Agamemnon with much greater respect (iv.nbsp;401 ff.), possibly because he is more immediately dependent upon him;nbsp;yet in one rather striking passage (vi. 119 ff.) he and the Lycian chiefnbsp;Glaucos fraternise and exchange armour in the midst of the battle,nbsp;when they discover that a guest-friendship had existed between theirnbsp;ancestors.

In the Odyssey, where the heroes are represented as living at peace, we find them depicted, especially Nestor and Menelaos, in attractivenbsp;colours; but it is always as individuals, not as rulers. Of relationsnbsp;between one state and another we hear nothing at all. In xxiv. 114 ff.nbsp;it seems to be implied that, when Agamemnon desired to obtainnbsp;Odysseus� aid in the expedition to Troy, he secured an introductionnbsp;from one of the dependent princes of Ithaca.

The Welsh evidence is on the whole very similar to the Greek and Teutonic, although the poems themselves mostly belong to Type Dnbsp;and are therefore of quite a different character. Many of the poemsnbsp;relate to war with the English ; and one might have expected that in thenbsp;case of a long continued warfare like this references to nationalitynbsp;would occur frequently. But such is not the case. In the panegyricsnbsp;upon Urien, Gwallawg and Cynan Garwyn we have noted only twonbsp;instances of the mmeBrython and two of Cymry, in the Gododdin poemsnbsp;four instances of the former name and one of the latter. Examples ofnbsp;Bedydd, �the Christians� (lit. �baptism�), are hardly more frequent. Thenbsp;interest is wholly personal and individual. It may be observed that nonenbsp;of these names occurs in the elegies upon Urien and Cynddylan �RBH.nbsp;XII, xvi), although the latter is said to have been killed by the Saxons.

The grief described by the poet is his own and that of the hero�s immediate entourage. He does not refer to any loss sustained by the nation. It is also to be remembered that the total number of personalnbsp;names recorded in these various poems is very considerable. But thenbsp;references are purely personal�they are mentioned as friends ornbsp;opponents of the heroes. The same remarks apply to the small group ofnbsp;poems belonging to Type B (cf. p. 34 ff.)�in which national names donbsp;not occur.

The significance of these characteristics may be seen by a comparison with antiquarian and predictive poetry. Thus the name Cymry (or thenbsp;sing. CyrriTo) occurs fifteen times in the antiquarian poem RBH. i, andnbsp;the same number of times in the predictive poem Tai. Ni. In poems ofnbsp;the latter class personal names other than those of the revenantsnbsp;Cadwaladr and Cynon are rarely mentioned. The interest here is notnbsp;individual but national.

In one respect the Welsh evidence does seem to contrast with the Greek. The numerous persons mentioned whether as friends or foes ofnbsp;the heroes are apparently Britons, almost without exception. In An. i.nbsp;89 (cf. 78) there is a reference to the death of Dyfnwal Frych, presumably the Scottish king Domnall Brecc who was slain by the Britons innbsp;642. The name Fflamddwyn in Tai. xxxv and xliv seems to denotenbsp;some English leader; but apparently no English names occur. It wouldnbsp;appear that enemies of alien nationality were regarded collectively.

On the Irish evidence little need be said. For the feeling of nationality in the wider sense the heroic stories afford hardly any scope, for external enemies seem to have been practically unknown before thenbsp;Viking Age. As regards nationality in the narrower sense, as betweennbsp;one province or kingdom and another, the stories which centre roundnbsp;Conchobor and CuChulainn are almost invariably told from an Ulsternbsp;point of view�much in the same way as the Iliad is related from thenbsp;Achaean side. Stories of later times also often evince sympathies whichnbsp;show where they originated. But in general the feeling for nationalitynbsp;in this sense is not particularly striking. The dominating note throughout the stories is definitely personal and individual.

(2) The individualism of the heroic stories�and of the society which produced them�is reflected very clearly in the nature of thenbsp;warfare which they describe. This is everywhere apt to take the formnbsp;of single combats between the leading men.

viz. those of Paris and Menelaos and of Hector and Aias, which form the subjects of the third and the sixth books respectively. These are carriednbsp;out with certain formalities, and the general fighting is in each casenbsp;suspended while they are in progress. But even during the generalnbsp;actions the fighting which is actually described consists of a series ofnbsp;duels. It is as warriors rather than as commanders�in the modernnbsp;sense�that the leaders are expected to distinguish themselves.

The same remarks hold good for the Teutonic stories. In the battles noticed in Beowulf attention is generally concentrated on combatsnbsp;between individual heroes, e.g. the combats between Beowulf himselfnbsp;and Daeghraefn in 2501 IF., between Weohstan and Eanmund in 2611 ff.,nbsp;between Ongentheow and the brothers Eofor and Wulf in 2961 ff. Innbsp;the story of Offa the hero�s single combat is the central feature. Innbsp;both the Danish and the later English versions of the story it is anbsp;prearranged affair, fought against two opponents. A single combat isnbsp;likewise the subject of the story of Hildebrand, while the story ofnbsp;Waldhere consists in the main of a series of single combats fought bynbsp;the hero. The Ham�ism�l describes the mortal struggle of two heroesnbsp;against overwhelming numbers.

The Welsh evidence in this respect is exceptional. References to single combats are quite rare in the heroic poems. Probable instancesnbsp;occur in, e.g., BBC. xxxix. 8, Tai. XLiv, RBH. xii. 36 ff.; but there arenbsp;no descriptions of such contests�perhaps owing to the absence ofnbsp;narrative in the poems. The romances of course abound with descriptions of such encounters, while two examples occur in the Mabinogionnbsp;proper�between Pwyll and Hafgan in the story of Pwyll, and betweennbsp;Gwydion and Pryderi in the story of Math.

In Irish heroic sagas descriptions of single combats are extremely frequent; indeed nearly all the fighting is of this character�in pitchednbsp;battles as well as in isolated encounters. A large part of the Tain Bonbsp;Cuailnge is taken up with a series of combats between CuChulainn andnbsp;champions of Medb�s army. It is agreed that he shall encounter onenbsp;champion each day; but he is not informed beforehand who thenbsp;champions are. In the Battle of Crinna the Munster champion Lugaidnbsp;Laga brings to Cormac mac Airt the heads of three Ulster princes innbsp;succession�those of the king, Fergus Dubdetach, and his twonbsp;brothers.

In single combats, whether they take place in the course of general engagements or arise from private feuds, heroes are usually expected tonbsp;show a chivalrous spirit, which will prevent them from taking advantage

of any disability on the part of their opponents. Yet, strangely enough, even the greatest heroes sometimes win their most notable triumphs bynbsp;means which appear to us to be unfair�especially by the intervention ofnbsp;deities or animals on their behalf. Thus in the two most importantnbsp;combats in the Iliads between Hector and Patroclos in xvi. 731 ff. andnbsp;between Achilles and Hector in xxii. 226 ff., the issue is decided by thenbsp;intervention of deities, Apollo and Athena, whose behaviour seems tonbsp;us outrageous.

In Beowulf hero shows chivalry even in his encounters with demons. Before the combat with Grendel he says (679 ff.) he will notnbsp;use his sword, because his opponent is ignorant of the use of weapons�nbsp;though elsewhere (804 f.) it is stated that Grendel had cast a spell uponnbsp;all weapons, so as to render them useless against him. In anothernbsp;passage (2518 ff.) Beowulf excuses himself for going in full armour tonbsp;attack the dragon, on the ground that he does not know how otherwisenbsp;it is possible to deal with such a creature. In the account of the slayingnbsp;of Ongentheow by the two brothers Eofor and Wulf {th. 2961 ft.) thenbsp;poem gives no hint of disapprobation. But Saxo (p. 136 ff.) in hisnbsp;description of a very similar incident, the slaying of Athislus by thenbsp;brothers Keto and Wigo, states that the action of the latter, thoughnbsp;profitable to the Danes, was regarded as discreditable; and he adds thatnbsp;Offa�s undertaking to fight two opponents at once was due to a desire tonbsp;wipe out the disgrace which his nation had incurred thereby.

In Irish heroic sagas instances of chivalrous conduct are frequent. Yet here again we sometimes find even the greatest heroes owing theirnbsp;triumphs to conditions which are hardly those of fair fight. For annbsp;example of the former we may refer to the Battle of Mag Rath'^ (cf. p.nbsp;53), where the high-king Domnall, hearing that his opponent Congalnbsp;has lost his horse and weapons, sends him first his own horse, then hisnbsp;shield, and then his sword. In the Tain Bo Cuailnge CuChulainn�snbsp;conduct to his opponents is uniformly chivalrous. He spares the life ofnbsp;Fraech in his first encounter, and will not attack Nad-Cranntail, whonbsp;has come against him without proper weapons. He frequently declaresnbsp;that he will not slay charioteers, messengers and persons unarmed. Yetnbsp;the same hero in the story of CuRoi�s death (cf. p. 48 f.) triumphs bynbsp;unworthy means; his opponent is betrayed to him by his own wife.nbsp;But perhaps the most striking example is to be found in the story ofnbsp;CuChulainn�s death, or the Slaughter 0/ Mag Murtheimne (cf. p. 50 f.).nbsp;Lugaid, son of CuRoi, has slain CuChulainn but has lost a hand in thenbsp;I Ed. and transi, by Marstrander, �riu, V. 226 ff.

fight. He is overtaken by Conall Cernach, who has sworn to avenge the hero. Lugaid appeals to Conall to fight fairly, and the latter consentsnbsp;to have one of his own hands bound.^ The fight is for a long timenbsp;indecisive, until Conall�s horse�apparently at a signal from its master�nbsp;attacks and wounds Lugaid. Lugaid protests that this is not fairnbsp;fighting; but Conall replies that he has given his word only for himself,nbsp;not for animals which are without understanding. He then takesnbsp;Lugaid�s head.

As we have seen above, it is not for generalship or skill in warfare, but for personal courage that heroes are usually famed. Not unfre-quently we hear of vows�sometimes made in a state of intoxication.nbsp;In Beow. 636 if. the hero, before his encounter with Grendel, says to thenbsp;queen: �I am resolved to perform a deed of knightly prowess or tonbsp;meet with my life�s end in this mead-hall�. In II. xx. 83 ff. Apollonbsp;in disguise taunts Aineias as follows: �Aineias, thou counsellor of thenbsp;Trojans, where now is thy boasting, in which thou didst vow to thenbsp;princes of the Trojans, when quaffing thy wine, that thou wouldst trynbsp;thy strength in open battle against Achilles, son of Peleus.^� We maynbsp;compare also Beow. 480 ff. : � Often enough have scions of combatnbsp;vowed over the ale-cup, when drunken with beer, that they would abidenbsp;Grendel�s onset in the hall with their terrible swords �. In the Gododdinnbsp;a poems the disaster of Catraeth is repeatedly said to have been due to thenbsp;mead supplied to the heroes by Mynyddawg.

In this connection we may also refer to passages where heroes boast of their own achievements or the glories of their ancestors. Examplesnbsp;are of frequent occurrence, especially in challenges to combat. Anbsp;typical instance is Finn, 24 ff., where one of the heroes challenges hisnbsp;opponents as follows: �Sigeferth is my name. I am a prince of thenbsp;Secgan and a rover known far and wide. Many hardships and sternnbsp;encounters have I endured. Here too thou shalt have for certain whichever course (i.e. war or peace) thou dost prefer to take with me�.nbsp;We may compare Beow. 2511 ff., where the hero, before his fight withnbsp;the dragon, says: �Many valiant deeds did I venture upon in my youth.nbsp;Now that I am the venerable guardian of the nation, I will once morenbsp;essay a combat and carry it out with glory�. In II. vi. 127 ff., when

' The same incident recurs in the fight between Conall and MesGegra in the Battle of Howth (ed. and transi, by Stokes, Rev. Celt. viii. 47 ff.), where it is believednbsp;to have been taken from the story cited above; cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage,nbsp;p. 510, note.

Diomedes meets Glaucos in the battle and is in some doubt whether his opponent is a man or a god, he says: �Unhappy are they whose sonsnbsp;offer resistance to my prowess.... If thou art a mortal come near, andnbsp;soon shalt thou find thyself in the toils of destruction�. In xiii. 448 ff.nbsp;Idomeneus makes himself known to the Trojan prince Deiphobos:nbsp;�Now stand forth thyself to face me, that thou mayest know what sortnbsp;of a scion of Zeus is here. First Zeus begat Minos to be ruler of Crete,nbsp;and Minos again begat the blameless Deucalion; and Deucalion begatnbsp;me to be lord over many men in broad Crete. But now have shipsnbsp;brought me hither with consequences evil to thee and to thy father andnbsp;the rest of the Trojans�. Irish heroic sagas supply many parallels. Innbsp;the Story of Mac Datho s Pig the contest between the heroes of Ulsternbsp;and Connaught for the �champion�s portion� is decided by boasting.nbsp;We may quote Conall Cernach�s speech in cap. 16: �I swear what mynbsp;people swear, that since I took a spear in my hand I have not often sleptnbsp;without the head of a Connaught man under my head, and withoutnbsp;having wounded a man every single day and every single night�.nbsp;Here also we may note what Diodoros, v. 29, says of the ancient Gauls :

When armies are drawn up in battle array, it is their custom to rush out in front of the line and challenge the bravest of the enemy to singlenbsp;combat, brandishing their arms and trying to strike terror into theirnbsp;foes. And whenever anyone will listen to their challenges, they begin tonbsp;glorify the valour of their forefathers and to boast of their own prowess;nbsp;and at the same time they deride and belittle their opponent, and try bynbsp;their speeches to rob him of all the courage he has in his heart�.

Thirst for fame, especially the desire to leave a glorious name after death, appears to be the governing principle of the ideal hero. In II.nbsp;VII. 85 ff. Hector, before his combat with Aias, says that if he is victorious he will give up his opponent�s body to the Achaeans for burial,nbsp;and they shall construct for him a memorial barrow by the broadnbsp;Hellespont. � So shall it be said in time to come by some one who livesnbsp;in after days, when he sails his many-oared ship over the dark sea:nbsp;� This is the memorial of a man who died long ago, who once upon anbsp;time was slain in his prowess by glorious Hector�. So shall it be said innbsp;time to come; and my fame shall never perish�. We may compare Beow.nbsp;2802 ff., where the dying hero gives instructions for his funeral: �Afternbsp;the pyre is consumed command my famous warriors to construct anbsp;splendid grave-chamber where the headland juts into the sea. It shallnbsp;tower aloft on Hrones Naes as a memorial for my people�so that innbsp;after days the name of Beowulf�s Barrow shall be familiar to mariners

who ply their tall ships from afar over the dark waters�. Waldhere (i. 8 ff.) is exhorted by his lady as follows: � O son of Aelfhere, a day isnbsp;come which without doubt has in store for thee one or other of twonbsp;issues�either to lose thy life or to possess lasting glory among mortalsnbsp;In Irish sagas we find the heroic gnome : �Fame is more lasting thannbsp;life�.i In the Tain Bo Cuailnge.'^ CuChulainn, when he first receivesnbsp;arms in his boyhood, says: �Excellent would be the value if I shouldnbsp;be in the world only for a single day and a single night, if only thenbsp;stories of me and my exploits survive me�. We may compare thenbsp;Hambismal, st. 31: �We have made a good fight. We stand on thenbsp;slaughtered bodies of the Goths, like eagles on a branch. Good famenbsp;have we won, even if we must die now or tomorrow. No one can live anbsp;single night beyond the decision of the Norns�.

Some of the adventures for which heroes are famed are of a reckless and indeed hopeless character. Such is the case with the attack ofnbsp;Ham�ir and S�rli upon J�rmunrekr and his warriors, which forms thenbsp;subject of the poem last quoted. A not uncommon feature is the disregard of warnings and of omens which forbode disaster. We maynbsp;instance Gunnarr�s disregard of the warning message sent him bynbsp;GuSrun in the Atlakviba and the treatment by the same hero and H�gninbsp;of the ominous dreams related to them by their wives in the Atlamdl.nbsp;Still more striking is the series of warnings and portents which lead upnbsp;to the death of CuChulainn in the Slaughter of Mag Murtheimne.

Next we may consider briefly the nature of the causes which in heroic stories are said to lead to wars and quarrels. In view of the importancenbsp;attached to personal honour and glory, as noted above, it is not surprising to find that personal wrongs, especially insults and outrages tonbsp;dignity, are among the most prolific sources of strife. Such is the casenbsp;not only with the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, whichnbsp;forms the subject of the Iliad, but also with the siege of Troy itself.nbsp;Noteworthy Teutonic examples of the same kind are to be found in thenbsp;stories of HeSinn and H�gni and of Angant�r and Hl��r. Most commonly in Teutonic stories war seems to arise out of quarrels betweennbsp;relations in law. Such is the case, for example, in the stories of Finn,nbsp;Ingeld, SigurSr and Atli�though in some of these cases the motif ofnbsp;vengeance is also involved. It may be noted that historical records

� Cf. The Martial Career of Conghal Clairinghneach, ed. and transi, by P. M. Macsweeney, p. 52 f.

amply confirm the testimony of the poems that the strifes of the Heroic Age were largely of personal origin. We may refer, for example,nbsp;to the frequent quarrels of the Merovingian princes, both amongnbsp;themselves and with their neighbours, and more particularly to thenbsp;story of the war between the Angli and the Warni recorded by Pro-copios {Goth. IV. 20), which was due to a breach of promise of marriage.nbsp;Similar causes of strife are commonly found in the Irish stories.nbsp;We may instance the Battle of Cnucha,^ which arises out of an incidentnbsp;similar to the cause of the siege of Troy�the abduction by Cumall ofnbsp;Murni Muncaim, daughter of the druid Tadg. The expedition of Cu-Chulainn against CuRoi is due to the love of the former for Blathnat,nbsp;CuRoi�s wife. It is apparently for the sake of Derdriu that Noisiu andnbsp;his brothers are slain�an event which leads to the revolt of Fergus andnbsp;other important heroes of Ulster. Sometimes very trivial incidentsnbsp;are alleged to be the causes of great battles. The battle of Mag Rathnbsp;(cf. p. 53) is said to have arisen out of a quarrel at a feast given by thenbsp;high-king Domnall. Congal Caech helps himself to an egg before henbsp;is served by the king, and the latter calls him a thief?

Another frequent cause of strife is the desire of plunder. The Iliad refers to many plundering raids, especially cattle raids. We maynbsp;instance the sacking of Thebe, Lyrnessos and other Asiatic cities bynbsp;Achilles (vi. 414 If., xx. 90 ff.) and the great cattle raid made by thenbsp;men of Pylos against Elis in Nestor�s youth (xi. 671 ff.). Reference maynbsp;also be made to the plundering of the women and the cattle of thenbsp;Cicones by Odysseus on his homeward journey from Troy {Od. ix.nbsp;40 ff.). Hesiod {JF.D. 161 f.) seems to regard the expedition of thenbsp;Seven against Thebes as a raid of this kind.

Cattle raids are among the most frequent incidents of Irish heroic sagas. In the lists of sagas Tain Bo�, � Raiding of the Cattle of��, is onenbsp;of the commonest titles. The most famous example of course is thenbsp;Tain Bo Cuailnge, though in this case the primary object of the raid isnbsp;to capture a certain bull. Other stories of raids are connected with this.nbsp;In the Tain Bo Regamain the cattle are carried off in order to providenbsp;the army of Ailill and Medb with food on their expedition. The Tainnbsp;Bo Fraich and the Tain Bo Dartada are concerned with adventuresnbsp;undertaken for the sake of cattle required for the same purpose. Innbsp;addition to the stories called Tain there are others to which the titlenbsp;Togail (or Orgainf �Destruction�, is applied. Some of these, e.g. thenbsp;� Ed. and transi, by Hennessy, Rev. Celt. n. 86 ff.

In Welsh and Teutonic heroic poetry references to plundering raids� as such�-are not frequent. Cattle raids are mentioned in Tai. xviii,nbsp;while raiding of a general character seems to be meant in Beow. 2475 ff.nbsp;The final attack upon Finn is a togail., which is prompted by desire fornbsp;vengeance, but ends with plunder (fb. 1154 ff.). The evidence of thenbsp;Frankish historians shows that the expedition�frequently mentionednbsp;in Beowulf�vs which Hygelac lost his life, was in reality a great plundering raid. From other Latin historical works (e.g. Jordanes, cap. 53) itnbsp;is clear that cattle raiding was widely practised in the Teutonic Heroicnbsp;Age.

We shall see in a later chapter that plundering raids appear to be a characteristic feature of the Heroic Age everywhere�indeed, we maynbsp;say, an essential feature. The booty derived therefrom enabled activenbsp;and ambitious princes to attract to themselves and to maintain largenbsp;bodies of followers, without which they were at the mercy of theirnbsp;neighbours. We know from historical records of Teutonic Wngs whonbsp;were forced into aggressive warfare against their will by their followers.nbsp;Such was the case with the Frankish king Hlothhari (Lothair I), whonbsp;about the year 556 was forced into a campaign against the Saxons,nbsp;although the latter are said to have offered him more than half theirnbsp;property to purchase peace.^ A very similar story is told by Procopiosnbsp;(fioth. II. 14) of Hrothulf, king of the Heruli, who�about half a centurynbsp;earlier�was forced into an unprovoked attack upon the Lombards.

The plunder taken on the battle-field itself is not to be ignored. Indeed the desire to capture the arms and ornaments of a slain foe�nbsp;both for their own sake and for the distinction which they conferrednbsp;�was one of the chief incentives to heroism. Numerous examples arenbsp;to be found in the Iliad, where much of the fiercest fighting takes placenbsp;over the bodies of slain heroes. Teutonic parallels are not rare. We maynbsp;refer, for example, to the slaying of Eanmund by Weohstan related innbsp;Beow. 2611 ff., which shows that it was customary for a knight tonbsp;present the captured spoils to his lord. Reference may also be made tonbsp;Hildebrand, 60 IF. and to Waldhere, 16 ff. In both these cases, as in thenbsp;Iliad, the corselet seems to be the article most prized.

Homeric warriors fight not only for the armour but also for the body of a slain hero. But they do not appear to have been head-hunters, asnbsp;* Gregory of Tours, in. 3; Gesta Regum Franc, cap. 19.

the heroes of the northern peoples were. In Irish heroic sagas we meet � with this practice everywhere. In the Story of Mac Datho�s Pig, cap.nbsp;16, Conall Cernach boasts that he has not often slept without the headnbsp;of a Connaught man under his head, and produces on the spot that ofnbsp;their greatest champion, whom he has just slain. In the Slaughter of Magnbsp;Murtheimne Lugaid cuts off CuChulainn�s head. He is subsequentlynbsp;overtaken by Conall Cernach, who cuts off his head and carries it offnbsp;with him. In another version of the same story Conall cuts off thenbsp;heads of many more of CuChulainn�s enemies and affixes them to anbsp;rod. In the Tain Bo Cuailnge,^ when Conchobor arrives to take part innbsp;the war, he and Celtchair cut off eight score heads of the enemy at theirnbsp;first attack.

It is stated in the story of Conchobor�s deaths that the men of Ulster used to take the brains out of the heads of their slain enemies,nbsp;mix them with lime and make them into balls. These balls were keptnbsp;and could be produced whenever the slayer�s prowess was called innbsp;question. On one such occasion the brain of MesGegra, king ofnbsp;Leinster, who has been slain by Conall Cernach, is brought out. Whilenbsp;Conchobor�s jesters are playing with it, it is seized by the Connaughtnbsp;champion Cet. Later, he uses it as a missile against Conchobor andnbsp;inflicts a wound which ultimately causes his death.

Similar practices are known to have prevailed among the ancient Gauls. According to Diodoros (v. 29) �when they have slain theirnbsp;enemies they cut off their heads and fasten them to the necks of theirnbsp;horses; and they hand the bloodstained spoils over to their pages andnbsp;carry them off as booty, shouting triumphantly and singing songs ofnbsp;victory. And they nail these trophies up on the walls of their houses,nbsp;just as hunters do with wild beasts they have killed. But the heads ofnbsp;their most distinguished enemies they preserve and keep carefully in anbsp;box, and show them to visitors, glorying in the fact that they or theirnbsp;fathers or one of their ancestors have been offered a large sum of moneynbsp;for such and such a head, and have refused the offer�.

In Welsh heroic poetry we know of no direct evidence for headhunting. But it is likely that the practice was known. Later poems (fTal. I. 23 ; BBC. XVII. st. i) refer to �playing at ball with the heads of

I Cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 565 f. (for the earlier version ib. p. 554 ff.; cf. also Stokes, Rev. Celt. in. 185; Hull, The Cuchullin Saga, p. 263).

3 Frequently translated, e.g. in Hull, The Cuchullin Saga, p. 265 ff.; cf. Thurney-sen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 534 ff.

Saxons�. A passage in Llywarch Hen�s elegy upon Urien {RBH. xii, 6 ff.) perhaps suggests that it was customary for a slain hero�s head tonbsp;be cut off and carried away by his own friends, if they were afraid that itnbsp;would fall into the hands of his enemies. The same custom is found innbsp;other countries, as we shall see later.

There can be little doubt that head-hunting was practised to some extent by the Teutonic peoples, though here again the evidence to benbsp;found in heroic poetry is very slight and unsatisfactory. Beowulf cutsnbsp;off Grendel�s head and brings it back in triumph; but in this case thenbsp;analogy may possibly be with hunting rather than with warfare. Butnbsp;there can be no question with regard to the story of Alboin (Aelfwine),nbsp;king of the Lombards, who cut off the head of his enemy Cunimund,nbsp;king of the Gepidae, and made a drinking vessel out of his skull.� At anbsp;feast, when he was drunk, he called upon Cunimund�s daughternbsp;Rosamunda, whom he had married, to drink from this�an incidentnbsp;which cost him his life (c. 571). In England the custom of cutting offnbsp;the heads of distinguished enemies was known in the seventh century.nbsp;Oswald�s head and arms were cut off by Penda in 642. When Edwinnbsp;was defeated and killed by Cad wallon in 633, his head was carried offnbsp;apparently by his own men and buried at York�presumably to save itnbsp;from falling into the hands of his enemies. In the North the practicenbsp;continued in use much later. In the Saga of Harold the Fairhairednbsp;{Heimskr.}, cap. 22, it is related that SigurSr I, earl of Orkney (c. 880),nbsp;slew a Scottish earl named MelbrigSi and cut off his head, which henbsp;fastened to his saddle. Unfortunately he tore his leg on the dead man�snbsp;teeth, and blood-poisoning set in, from which he died. The head ofnbsp;Byrhtnoth, earl of Essex�who was defeated and killed by a host ofnbsp;Vikings at Maldon in 991�was cut off and carried away by the enemy,nbsp;according to the Book of Ely, ii. 6. In Grettis Saga, cap. 82, the hero�snbsp;head is cut off by his slayers and preserved in salt. Yet it can hardly benbsp;said that instances are sufficiently numerous to justify the conclusionnbsp;that head-hunting was a general custom, either in England or in thenbsp;North. The Norse practice was perhaps derived from Ireland.

In the course of this chapter we have seen that feeling for nationality is of no account in heroic poetry and saga. Love of home and the dutynbsp;of defending it are of course recognised. But the interest of the poet ornbsp;saga-teller is always concentrated upon the doings or experiences of

individuals. In later chapters we shall see that this is a constant feature of heroic stories everywhere.

This individualism is reflected in the warfare described in the records. The fighting is apt to take the form of single combats between thenbsp;leading heroes. The hero boasts of his own achievements, both past andnbsp;future. To gain personal glory is the goal of his ambition. Wars andnbsp;quarrels arise partly from personal wrongs and insults, partly from thenbsp;desire of acquiring plunder and trophies. Plunder is a necessity for thenbsp;hero who wishes to maintain an active force of armed followers.nbsp;Trophies, which consist usually of the accoutrements or the heads of hisnbsp;foes, are valued as evidence of his prowess. For all these features wenbsp;shall find parallels elsewhere. In details there is of course some variation between one country and another. But the prominence�indeednbsp;we may say the dominance�of the individual appears to be an essentialnbsp;characteristic of heroic stories and of the Heroic Age itself.

WE have now to notice certain stories which chronologically belong to the Heroic Age, but which show characteristicsnbsp;different from those of heroic stories, and often have little ornbsp;nothing in common with the latter. To one class of such stories wenbsp;have already had occasion to refer�namely stories which deal with thenbsp;origin and history of nations and communities. Such stories as those ofnbsp;the Desi, the sons of Cunedda, the Heracleidai, and the Lombards couldnbsp;be treated here, in so far as they relate to the Heroic Age. We shouldnbsp;then refer them to Type C, as their antiquarian interest is stronglynbsp;pronounced. But in view of the fact that they belong to a larger class ofnbsp;stories which extend far beyond the Heroic Age it will be more convenient to treat them in Ch. x as a part of this larger class, and in connection with aetiological and antiquarian matter in general. We shallnbsp;therefore confine our attention here to stories relating to individuals.

For stories of this kind the Irish evidence is on the whole the fullest and most satisfactory, and we will therefore begin with it.

(i) Stories of the first class are hardly to be found, within the limits of the Heroic Age, except in Ireland and Britain. In the former countrynbsp;especially they are abundant, and consist usually of narratives of miraclesnbsp;and prophecies. Most of the �Lives� of Irish saints seem, it is true, to benbsp;late in their present form ; but very similar stories occur in quite earlynbsp;works, e.g. in Adamnan�s Life of St Columba^ which was written withinnbsp;about a century of the saint�s death. This work is divided into threenbsp;main sections, of which the first contains stories of his prophecies, thenbsp;second of his miracles, the third of visions of angels relating to him.

97 Th�re can be no question that such stories were very widely cultivatednbsp;in the early Irish Church. To many of them parallels may be found innbsp;other Christian lands during the same period; and these are probably ofnbsp;ecclesiastical derivation. But there are others which seem to have their /k .nbsp;origin in native beliefs. We may refer, for example, to the story of thenbsp;storm (h. 22)1 which the Saint raises by his prayers, and which bringsnbsp;about the death of certain raiders. In later works, e.g. the Lives of Stnbsp;Ciaran of Seirkieran, we hear of treasures or cattle presented by saintsnbsp;to kings, which disappear as soon as the saint has departed.� Welshnbsp;parallels will be noticed later.

(2) As a specimen of the second class we may take the story of the Colloquy of the Two Sages.f which relates to the times of the Ulsternbsp;cycle. Adna, the chief poet and sage of Ireland, has a son called Nede,nbsp;who goes to Scotland to study. One day he learns, by casting a spellnbsp;upon the sea, that his father is dead and that his chair has been taken by anbsp;poet named Ferchertne. He sets off home, and on his arrival meets thenbsp;mischievous Bricriu, who incites him to take his seat in his father�snbsp;chair. When he has done so, Bricriu informs Ferchertne and stirs himnbsp;up to defend his position. The result is a contest between the two innbsp;wisdom and prophecy, which will require to be noticed in a laternbsp;chapter. In the end Nede confesses himself to be worsted, and withdraws from the chair. The scene is laid at Emain Macha, Conchobor�snbsp;capital.

In another story* Nede is beloved by the wife of Caier, king of Connaught, his uncle, and persuaded by her to demand from him anbsp;certain knife which it was taboo (gej) to him to part with. On hisnbsp;refusal Nede curses him. The king then is disfigured and disgraced, andnbsp;gives up the throne to Nede. After a time Nede repents of his behaviour,nbsp;and goes to see Caier; but the latter at sight of him dies from shame.

In explanation of this story it should be mentioned that the word fill, usually translated �poet�, originally meant �seer�; and that a fill hadnbsp;power by his curses to injure a person, especially by raising blisters onnbsp;his face, and even to cause his death. Further, it was not allowed tonbsp;refuse a demand made by a fill. But Caier, like many other Irish heroes,

� Numerous references to incidents of this kind�in which saints seem to have taken over the attributes of druids�will be found in Plummer, Vitae Sanctorumnbsp;Hiberniae, I. CLXvn ff.

* Preserved in the later version of Cormacs Glossary, contained in the Yellow Book of Lecan-, cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 523 f.

was subject to certain taboos or special prohibitions, which it was likewise impossible for him to violate. He was therefore placed in a hopeless position.

In the Siege of Howth^ the Ulster fill Athirne makes a progress round Ireland, demanding the wives and treasures of his hosts. On onenbsp;occasion he visits a one-eyed prince and demands his eye. He is refusednbsp;nothing, but the Leinstermen afterwards take up arms to recover theirnbsp;property. The same fill figures also in other stories, generally in annbsp;unfavourable light. He is said to have been the most inhospitable ofnbsp;men.

Next we may take a story which relates to much later times.^ Mongan, an Ulster king who according to the Annals died in 625, is said to havenbsp;had a violent altercation with his fill, named Forgoll, upon a questionnbsp;of antiquarian lore. The king asserts that it was at the place where theynbsp;were residing�in Co. Antrim�that Fothad Airgthech, high-king ofnbsp;Ireland, had been killed by Cailte, the follower of Finn mac Cumaill;nbsp;but the fill maintains that the event took place near Wexford. So hotnbsp;becomes the contention that the king stakes all his possessions and evennbsp;his person on being able to prove his point within the next three days.nbsp;But he takes no steps, and as the hours wear on the queen and the courtnbsp;are thrown into the deepest distress. At last, on the third day, he beginsnbsp;to comfort his weeping wife, saying that he can hear the feet of anbsp;deliverer wading through various streams�first in the south-west ofnbsp;Co. Kerry, and then gradually nearer�on his way to the palace. Thenbsp;fill is demanding his forfeit when an unknown warrior appears, carryingnbsp;a headless spear. He announces himself to be Cailte and points out, notnbsp;far from the palace, the place where Fothad was buried. Nearby henbsp;finds the spearhead which had been broken off in the battle. It may benbsp;noted that Cailte addresses Mongan as Finn; he has come to the rescue ofnbsp;his old master who is now re-incarnate.

(3) The last story could have been given under this heading also, since it concerns the king as much as the fill. But we will take here casesnbsp;in which no persons of this kind are involved.

The most important is the story of the Destruction of Da Dergas Ha.�l3 This is commonly regarded as a heroic story; but the heroic

* Ed. and transi, by Stokes, Rev. Celt. vni. 49-63 ; cf. also Hull, CuchuUin Saga, p. 85 ff.

3 Ed. and transi, by Stokes, Rev. Celt. xxii. 9 ff., 165 ff., etc.; also republished in book form, Paris, 1902.

99 elements are slight and unessential. Conaire Mor�s ancestry and upbringing are full of marvels; he is the great-grandson of Eochaid andnbsp;Etain, whose story was given above (p. 5 2). At the time when he isnbsp;appointed to the high-kingship he is chasing birds in the direction of thenbsp;sea. When they reach the water they assume human form, and one ofnbsp;them imposes upon him a number of taboos. Among these are that henbsp;shall not travel with Tara on his right and Bregia on his left, that henbsp;must never be absent from Tara for more than eight nights, and that henbsp;must never be preceded by three �reds� on his way to the house of anbsp;�red� (derg). His reign is blessed with profound peace, and he banishesnbsp;even his own foster-brothers for raiding. They make a pact with anbsp;British pirate named Ingcel Caech, that either party shall support thenbsp;other in any enterprise upon which they decide.

Now it happens once that�against one of his taboos�Conaire goes to stop a quarrel between two of his subjects, and on his return journeynbsp;all his taboos are violated. He determines to stay for the night at thenbsp;hall of Da Derga, near Dublin, but he cannot prevent three horsemennbsp;in red�supernatural beings�from riding there in front of his cavalcade. The pirates happen to be in the neighbourhood, and Ingcelnbsp;compels his comrades to join him in raiding the hall. But first he goesnbsp;to reconnoitre, and the greater part of the story is taken up with hisnbsp;account of the occupants of the various rooms. His Irish allies identifynbsp;everybody from his descriptions�Da Derga himself, the king andnbsp;various members of his retinue, certain Ulster heroes who are visitingnbsp;him, including Conall Cernach and Cormac, son of Conchobor, andnbsp;also several supernatural beings. Ingcel insists upon making an attack,nbsp;and sets fire to the hall. The king makes a brave defence, but his chiefnbsp;hero, Mac Cecht, has to go to seek water for him to slake his thirst.nbsp;When he returns he finds Conaire himself and nearly all the combatantsnbsp;dead.

The Ulster heroes play no important part in the story and probably did not enter into it in its original form. Indeed it differs a good dealnbsp;from the Ulster stories in its extreme love of the catalogue form and innbsp;the excessive number of formal repetitions�features which refer it tonbsp;Type C rather than to Type A. But the most essential point is thenbsp;stress laid on the violation of the taboos as the cause of Conaire�snbsp;disaster. It will be seen in a later chapter that this is significant for thenbsp;milieu in which the story was produced. Its utilisation for purposes ofnbsp;general entertainment has not greatly obscured its original character�nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;- ?

Next we will take a story of a somewhat different character, known as the Adventure of Cormac mac Airt, or Cormac's Adventure in the Landnbsp;of Promise.^ The Battle of Crinna, noticed above (p. 52 f.), representsnbsp;Cormac as a man of resource and cunning, of not too honourable anbsp;character, and various details which we omitted merely strengthen thisnbsp;impression. But in Irish tradition as a whole he is famed for wisdom ofnbsp;all kinds�he stands for intellectual as against heroic activities.

The story of the Adventure is as follows: One day in Tara Cormac saw an unknown warrior carrying a silver branch with three goldennbsp;apples. When the branch was shaken it produced delightful music,nbsp;which sent to sleep all those who were in pain or trouble. Cormacnbsp;desired the branch so greatly that he consented to pay any price for it;nbsp;and the man claimed and took first his daughter, then his son, and thennbsp;his wife. Cormac shook the branch each time to soothe the grief of thenbsp;court; but after losing his wife he set out to look for her. He becamenbsp;enveloped in a mist, and after various experiences he arrived at a palacenbsp;where a pig was being prepared for dinner. The owner of the palacenbsp;told Cormac that a quarter of the pig was cooked whenever a true storynbsp;was related; and he asked him to take his turn. Cormac described hownbsp;he lost his wife and children, and the truth of his story was proved bynbsp;the cooking. Then the man sent him to sleep, and when he awoke henbsp;found his wife and children there beside him. Then the man gave him anbsp;gold cup, which he kept till the end of his life, and which had thenbsp;peculiarity that, if three false words were spoken under it, it broke intonbsp;three pieces; but if three true statements were then made under it, itnbsp;became whole again. He then announced that he was Manannan macnbsp;Lir, king of the Land of Promise ; and sent Cormac home with his wifenbsp;and children.

It can hardly be doubted that this story also originated in intellectual, rather than in heroic, circles. This is indicated most clearly perhaps bynbsp;one of Cormac�s experiences on his journey. He saw a body of horsemen roofing a house with feathers. But they had not a sufficient supplynbsp;to complete their work; and while they were away collecting morenbsp;feathers those which were already in position were blown away.nbsp;Manannan explained to Cormac that these horsemen were the men ofnbsp;learning (aes ddna} in Ireland, collecting wealth which passes away. Henbsp;also explained that a fountain which Cormac had seen, with five streamsnbsp;running out of it, was the Fountain of Knowledge, and that the fivenbsp;streams were the five senses through which knowledge was obtained.

Many other stories relating to Cormac belong to this category. One of the longest of these is the Siege of Druim Damgaire, which is preservednbsp;only in a late text.^ Cormac is warned by Oengus mac �c that anbsp;disastrous murrain of cattle will befall him in the course of his reign,nbsp;and receives from him certain advice, which later he disregards. Whennbsp;the disaster comes, Cormac is advised by his steward to recoup himselfnbsp;by claiming a double tribute from Munster. Fiacha Muillethan, king ofnbsp;Munster, refuses to admit the legality of the claim; and Cormac,nbsp;against the advice of his druids, decides to exact the tribute by force.nbsp;While hunting, he meets with a damsel from the shee-mounds, whonbsp;encourages him in his enterprise, and gives him two (supernatural)nbsp;druids and three druidesses, the latter in the form of sheep. Cormacnbsp;sets out with his army; and his supernatural assistants soon reduce thenbsp;enemy to a desperate pass. Eventually, however, they procure the aidnbsp;of a druid called Mog Ruith, who, by means of a magic eel and threenbsp;magic dogs, enables the Munstermen to destroy the druidical beings whonbsp;are helping Cormac. The army of the latter is then put to rout, and thenbsp;expedition ends in disaster. It is to be observed that in this story thenbsp;warriors count for practically nothing. Everything is decided by thenbsp;powers of the druids employed on either side.

It may be observed that the examples given above all belong to Type A (and C�). But this category is not entirely confined to narratives. Innbsp;the Colloquy of the Two Sages (cf. p. 97) the narrative is merely introductory to the colloquy itself, which is a dialogue in character. Thenbsp;subject-matter is didactic or prophetic, and the interest is general rathernbsp;than particular, so it will be noticed in Ch. xv more fittingly than here;nbsp;but the form is that of Type B�or rather CB. To the same Type belongnbsp;the Instructions of King Cormac, a collection of gnomes in the form of anbsp;dialogue in character between Cormac mac Airt and his son Cairbre.nbsp;A similar but shorter collection is in the form of a dialogue betweennbsp;Cormac�s judge, Fithal, and his son. Both of these may be comparednbsp;with the Sigrdrifumdl-, and with it they will require notice in Ch. xn.nbsp;It is merely the framework to which we refer here.

It is no accident that these character pieces belong to CB rather than to B�that is, that they are didactic and general, rather than personal; ,nbsp;for in this chapter we are dealing mainly with prophets and sages. |nbsp;But there are exceptions. One curious case is the dialogue poem '�nbsp;mentioned on p. $ 5. In form this poem belongs to the present chapter,nbsp;for it is a dialogue in character (Type B) between two learned poets,

Torna and Tuirn; but the subject is heroic�an elegy upon King Niall Noigiallach. The Eulogy of St Columba also, if it is not really r an examplenbsp;of Type D, must be regarded as a speech poem in character (Type B),nbsp;put into the mouth of a famous poet.

The British evidence is also abundant, though much of it is difficult to understand. There is more resemblance to the Irish here than in thenbsp;heroic category.

(i) Stories relating to saints are numerous, though late. The earlier Lives are mostly in Latin. We may take a case� from the Life ofnbsp;St Cadoc., which is believed to date from about 1075. A certain chief,nbsp;named Ligesawg, had killed three of Arthur�s warriors and fled fornbsp;refuge to St Cadoc, with whom he remained in concealment for sevennbsp;years. Then Arthur got news of him and brought a troop of warriors tonbsp;the River Lfsk. St Cadoc summoned a gathering of ecclesiastics andnbsp;others�St David among them�to meet him; and Arthur agreed tonbsp;accept a payment in cattle in settlement of his case. But he stipulatednbsp;that the cattle must be red in front and white behind; and St Cadoc�snbsp;people were completely at a loss where to find such beasts. The saint,nbsp;however, told them to get the proper number of cattle, whatever colournbsp;they might be. When they were brought to the gathering they werenbsp;transformed into the colours required. Then St Cadoc led them downnbsp;into the river, opposite to where Arthur and his warriors were waitingnbsp;to receive them. Cai and Bedwyr came forward and eagerly laid hold ofnbsp;them; but they immediately changed into bundles of ferns. Later, theynbsp;were found safe in their owner�s field. Arthur was so impressed withnbsp;the miracle that he begged the saint for forgiveness and grantednbsp;privileges of asylum to his sanctuary. The story must be referred tonbsp;Type C, as it seeks to explain both privileges and place-names. Asnbsp;regards the chronology, Arthur can hardly have been a contemporarynbsp;of St Cadoc, still less of St David.

Another example may be taken from Jocelin�s Life of St KentigeTu'^ (cap. 21), written between 1175 and 1199. The saint, during the earliernbsp;part of his episcopate, met with much opposition from a king namednbsp;Morken (Morcant). On one occasion his monastery was in distressnbsp;through want of food, and he begged the king to let him have some corn

3 Published in Forbes, Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kentigern (Historians of Scotland, V); Edinburgh, 1874.

THE HEROIC AGE nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;^�3

from his supplies. But the king replied he could only have it if he could get it removed from his barns to the monastery without humannbsp;hands. Then, in answer to the saint�s prayers, the Clyde rose in floodnbsp;and carried away the king�s barns, but deposited them uninjured besidenbsp;the monastery in Glasgow. The king, infuriated at what had happened,nbsp;kicked the saint and threw him down; but he died of gout shortlynbsp;afterwards, because of his sins.

(2) Among stories relating to prophets, wizards, etc. we will first take the Hanes Taliesin, which has been preserved only in a very latenbsp;form�dating perhaps from the sixteenth century. A man called Tegidnbsp;Foel and his wife Caridwen have an ugly son named Afagddu. Fornbsp;him his mother keeps a �cauldron of inspiration� boiling for a wholenbsp;year. While she is out gathering herbs for the cauldron, she employs anbsp;man called Gwion Bach to stir it. One day three drops fly out of thenbsp;cauldron and fall upon Gwion�s finger; and immediately the cauldronnbsp;breaks, and all the contents are wasted. Gwion�s finger is scalded, andnbsp;he puts it in his mouth; and thereupon he acquires knowledge of thenbsp;future. He takes to flight, but Caridwen on her return sets off in pursuitnbsp;of him. Both of them transform themselves into various animals andnbsp;birds; but at last Gwion, who has turned into a grain of wheat, isnbsp;swallowed by Caridwen, who has become a hen. Nine months laternbsp;she bears him as a child, and throws him into the sea in a leather bag.nbsp;This is washed into the weir of Gwyddno Garanhir, whose home isnbsp;said to be between Aberystwyth and the Dyfi. Gwyddno�s son Elphinnbsp;goes to fish in the weir and finds the child. He takes it home and calls itnbsp;Taliesin. The child at once begins to sing poems.

Thirteen years later Elphin goes to visit King Maelgwn, his uncle, at Deganwy. While he is there the guests say that no one is so well offquot; innbsp;all respects as Maelgwn, and in particular that no one has so virtuous anbsp;wife or such skilful bards. But Elphin challenges these statements�nbsp;at which the king becomes much enraged and puts him in prison untilnbsp;he can prove his case. Then he sends his son Rhun to test the virtue ofnbsp;Elphin�s wife; but she by the advice of Taliesin, who has second sight,nbsp;disguises herself, and when Rhun returns home Elphin is able to shownbsp;that he has been cheated. Then Taliesin himself sets off to Maelgwn�snbsp;court and bewitches the bards, so that when they come to performnbsp;before the king they can do nothing but make mouths at him. The kingnbsp;charges them with being drunk, but they plead that their helplessness isnbsp;due to the presence of a spirit in the form of the boy Taliesin. The kingnbsp;then sends for the boy and asks him who he is. He replies in poetry that

he is Elphin�s bard, and charges the king�s bards with incompetence� to which they are still unable to reply. He then recites further poetry, andnbsp;finally raises a great storm, which threatens to throw down the castle.nbsp;At this the king falls into a panic and releases Elphin. Further incidentsnbsp;follow, including a horse-race, and Taliesin recites more poetry; but thenbsp;text breaks off incomplete.

The early poems, especially those in the Book of Taliesin, contain a number of references to this story, though they seem to have known itnbsp;0 in a somewhat different form. Ceridwen (Caridwen) is mentioned innbsp;Tai. IX. 4, XIV. II, as well as in BBC. iii. 3, iv. i. In the last threenbsp;passages the term Gogyrwen or Ogyrwen (of uncertain meaning) isnbsp;applied to her, while in two cases (Tai. ix. 2, BBC. iii. i) the wordnbsp;awen, �inspiration�, occurs. In Tai. vii. 74, xv. 36 the word awen isnbsp;again found in connection with Ogyrwen-, the latter passage speaks ofnbsp;three awen coming from a cauldron. Tai. xiv. 11 mentions the cauldronnbsp;of Ceridwen. Tai. xvi is a monologue poem of Type B, in whichnbsp;Ceridwen is the speaker. In it she speaks of her cauldron, as well as ofnbsp;her chair and her laws (I. 24) ; also (1.9 If.) she speaks of her son Afagddunbsp;as an accomplished poet. The latter is mentioned also in Tai. vii. 10,nbsp;XLViii. 27.1 These passages, taken together, clearly suggest that Ceridwen is a mythical being�apparently a goddess of poetry or poeticnbsp;inspiration. In Tai. vii. 220 if., a poem of Type B or CB, in which thenbsp;speaker is Taliesin, there is a long list of what might be transformations,nbsp;each expressed by the word bum, �I have been� (a dog, etc.). Thisnbsp;passage must be connected with the Hanes, for in 234 If. the speakernbsp;says that he has been a grain and has been swallowed by a hen andnbsp;rested nine nights in her womb. But similar catalogues with the bumnbsp;formula occur in Tai. viii. 1-23, 205-8, xxv. 58-68, where this interpretation is at least improbable. We may also compare certain cataloguesnbsp;with the formula wyf �I am�, especially Tai. iii. 9-13, 25 f. Thesenbsp;catalogues�which have Irish analogies�will require notice in Ch. xv.nbsp;For the present it is sufficient to note that much of the matter containednbsp;in the story of Taliesin�s birth is traceable in much earlier times. Wenbsp;do not know of any reference to the weir in the poems.

The poems contain references also to the second part of the story. Elphin is frequently mentioned. In Tai. xiv, a poem of Type B, thenbsp;speaker, who is clearly Taliesin, says (I. 23 ff.) that he came to Deganwynbsp;to strive with Maelgwn, and that he liberated his lord Elphin. Tai. xix,

* A reference to Gwion occurs perhaps in RBH. xxni. 87; cf. also Tai. vii. 13, XIII. 66. But all these passages are obscure.

another poem of Type B, speaks of Maelgwn with respect, and represents Elphin as still in prison. This poem must have been composed for a definite point in the story�rather earlier than the point where it hasnbsp;been introduced by Lady Charlotte Guest, and perhaps before Taliesin�snbsp;arrival at Deganwy. It is hardly conceivable that such a poem could benbsp;composed, except in connection with a narrative. We may concludenbsp;therefore either that the Hanes is a good deal older than its present formnbsp;seems to indicate or that it has taken the place of an earlier story on thenbsp;same subject�which may of course never have been written down. Itnbsp;may be observed that there are at least two other poems {Tai. ni andnbsp;vn) which appear to have been designed for a contest with bards, andnbsp;may have been composed for this story�though that can hardly benbsp;proved. No poem, however, refers to Elphin�s wife; so the incidentnbsp;relating to her may not have formed part of the original story.

Our view is that a number of these poems originally belonged to a story which told of the imprisonment of Elphin by Maelgwn and hisnbsp;release, but was in other respects similar to the Irish Colloquy of the Twonbsp;Sages-, and that the Hanes is descended, however indirectly, from thisnbsp;story. It may not be out of place here to refer to the story told in thenbsp;Historia Brittonum, cap. 42, of the boy Ambrosius who, like the Taliesinnbsp;of the Hanes, had no father, and who contended successfully in divination with the magi of King Guorthigirn at a place not so very manynbsp;miles from Deganwy. Even if there be no connection between the twonbsp;stories, the Ambrosius incident tends to confirm the evidence of thenbsp;Hanes as to the existence of contests in wisdom here, just as in Ireland�nbsp;and in many other countries. The obscure reference to praecones innbsp;Gildas� attack upon Maelgwn (cap. 34) suggests that in point of factnbsp;bardism was cultivated at his court.

Next we may take the prophet Myrddin (Merlin). In this case we have no vernacular story, like the Hanes Taliesin. The story is told innbsp;the Vita Merlini, which is now, we believe, generally accepted as thenbsp;work of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and which in any case is worthless fornbsp;historical purposes. Much is said about Merlin also in Geoffrey�snbsp;History, which is likewise worthless, and in various medieval romances,nbsp;where he is treated in the style of imaginative fiction. Yet the story is ofnbsp;considerable importance in connection with this class of literature. Wenbsp;shall therefore have to treat it at greater length than usual.^ We willnbsp;first take the vernacular records, which consist of poems and Triads.

I This is the more necessary because some most judicious and careful scholars have expressed the opinion that Merlin was invented by Geoffrey.

The poems are all dialogues or monologues of Type B (or CB), and probably all belong to the twelfth century in their present form.

BBC. I is a very obscure poem in the form of a dialogue between Myrddin and Taliesin. They bewail disastrous battles and the slaughternbsp;of heroes. It is worth noting that, among other names, we hear ofnbsp;Maelgwn and the sons of Eliffer, and of the battle of Arderydd. BBC.nbsp;XVII is a monologue poem, commonly known as Afallenau, or thenbsp;�Apple-Trees�. It contains ten stanzas; but there are other texts� whichnbsp;have these, in a different order, and twelve or thirteen more. This poemnbsp;will require notice in a later chapter (xvii) ; but we may note here that innbsp;it Myrddin speaks of the wood of Celyddon, in which he slept, of hisnbsp;joy in the apple-trees there, of the liberality with which he had beennbsp;treated by Gwenddoleu, who is evidently dead, of Rhydderch, ofnbsp;Gwendydd, whose son he has slain, and of the spirits in the woods,nbsp;among whom he has wandered for fifty years. He speaks of himself asnbsp;miserable, without clothes and without honour, although in the battle ofnbsp;Arderydd he had worn a golden torque. But, along with all this, henbsp;refers frequently to persons and events of the twelfth century; and oncenbsp;also (st. 7�not in the BBC. text) to the story of Arthur. BBC. xviii,nbsp;commonly called Hoianau., is very similar, and shows the same combination of subjects (except the last). Indeed it is clearly modelled onnbsp;the Afallenau. RBH. i, commonly called Cyfoesi, �Conversation�nbsp;(or perhaps � Synchronism�), is a long dialogue poem between Myrddinnbsp;and his sister Gwendydd. It begins with a description of the power ofnbsp;King Rhydderch Hael, who has all the Cymry under him; but Myrddinnbsp;adds that he will die the day after tomorrow. Then, in answer tonbsp;Gwendydd�s questions, he says that Morcant will succeed him, thennbsp;Urien, then Maelgwn. Then he goes through the list of Maelgwn�snbsp;descendants and the principal kings of Gwynedd down to Howel thenbsp;Good (d. 950). Then follow a number of names which are difficult tonbsp;identify; but there are references to the �Son of Henry�, i.e. apparentlynbsp;Robert, earl of Gloucester (d. 1147), and probably to Owein Gwyneddnbsp;(d. 1170) and his father Gruffydd�perhaps also to even later princes.nbsp;We hear too of the city of the bards in the land of the Clyde, of thenbsp;death of Gwenddoleu in the slaughter of Arderydd, and of the loss ofnbsp;Myrddin�s reason through the spirits of the mountain. In st. 11 Gwendydd addresses him (probably) as �fosterer of poetry at the stream of

� Myv. Arch. (1870), p. 115 fF.; Stephens, Literature of the Kymry, p. 212 ff. These two texts also differ from one another considerably in the order of thenbsp;stanzas.

Clyde�; while in st. 3 she calls him llallogan, and in many other passages llallawc�terms of unknown meaning.

The other poems need not detain us long. RBH. ii is a monologue by Myrddin now dead, addressed from his grave to Gwendydd. It isnbsp;mainly concerned with events about the year 1163, especially Henry H�snbsp;invasion of South Wales and his quarrel with Thomas � Becket, and hasnbsp;little to say about the speaker himself. St. 7 contains the prophecy withnbsp;regard to the ford of Pencarn, near Newport, which, according tonbsp;Giraldus Cambrensis, I tin. Cambriae, i. 6, was believed by the Welshnbsp;to be fulfilled at the king�s arrival, and which took the heart out ofnbsp;their resistance. In Tai. vi the expression �Myrddin foretells� occursnbsp;merely as a variation of �Awen (�Inspiration� or �the Muse�) foretells�.nbsp;There is no reference to Myrddin�s own story.

The Triads are of importance chiefly for the information which they give with regard to the death of Gwenddoleu and the battle of Arderydd.nbsp;The most interesting passage perhaps is one which has already beennbsp;quoted (p. 46) : the third of the loyal retinues was that � of Gwenddoleunbsp;son of Ceidiaw, at Arderydd, who continued the battle for six weeksnbsp;after their lord was slain�. We may also refer to the next Triad,whichnbsp;gives among the � disloyal retinues � that � of Gwrgi and Peredur, whonbsp;deserted their lords at Caer Greu, and they had to fight on the morrownbsp;with Eda Glinmawr, and they were both killed there�. Another Triad'^nbsp;mentions among �burdens of horses� that �of Cornan, the horse of thenbsp;sons of Eliffer of the Great Bodyguard, which carried Gwrgi and Peredurnbsp;on its back... (it also carried) Dunawd, son of Pabo, and Cynfelynnbsp;Drwsgyl to see the slaughtered host of Gwenddoleu at Arderydd�.nbsp;Many other Triads refer to the same heroes and also to Rhydderchnbsp;Hael.

It may be mentioned here that according to the genealogies 3 Gwenddoleu was first cousin to his opponents, Gwrgi and Peredur, the sons of Eliffer. Ceidiaw, the father of Gwenddoleu, Eliffer and Pabo were allnbsp;brothers; and in one text Morfryn, the father of Myrddin, is their firstnbsp;cousin. In the Annales Cambriae the following dates are given: 574nbsp;for the battle of Arderydd (Armterid)', 581 for the death of Gwrgi and

Peredur; 596 for that of Dunawd. Rhydderch is not mentioned in the Annals, but there is no doubt (cf. p. 144) that he was king of Dumbartonnbsp;about this time�before 597. It is clear then that in such poems asnbsp;BBC. XVII, XVIII, RBH. ii, we have to deal with two totally differentnbsp;sets of persons and events, one belonging to the latter part of the sixthnbsp;century and the other to the twelfth century. The same is true ofnbsp;RBH. I, though in this case the gap is to some extent bridged overnbsp;by the list of kings.

We must now notice briefly the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth, which give the earliest connected account of the story of Myrddin�ornbsp;rather Merlin {Merlinus'). Here we have to distinguish between thenbsp;History., including the Prophecies in Book vii, and the Pita Merlini.nbsp;In the former Merlin has little in common with the Myrddin of thenbsp;poems beyond the fact that he is a prophet. But with the Pita the case isnbsp;different. There is certainly some relationship between this work andnbsp;the Welsh poems discussed above, though the relationship is differentlynbsp;interpreted by different scholars. For reasons which are given in thenbsp;Excursus at the end of this chapter we are convinced that Geoffrey hadnbsp;some knowledge of three of these poems, viz. BBC. i, xvii, and RBH.nbsp;I. He had also other sources of information for the story of Merlin.nbsp;Some of these are known, and will be discussed in the followingnbsp;paragraphs. Apparently he had also one or more sources which are nownbsp;lost. We doubt, however, whether any evidence of much value for thenbsp;story is to be derived from his works.

The records of St Kentigern require to be discussed more fully. In the Life of the saint by Jocelin,^ which was written between 1175nbsp;and 1199, much is said about a king Rederich, who is certainly to benbsp;identified with Rhydderch Hael. He reigned during the latter part ofnbsp;St Kentigern�s career, and was his chief supporter. In the last chapter ofnbsp;the Life it is stated that he kept at his court a madman called Laloecen.nbsp;After St Kentigern�s death this man gave himself up to extreme grief,nbsp;and said that Rederech and another of the chief men would die withinnbsp;the same year.

Jocelin, in the Preface to the Life, says that he knew two previous Lives of the saint�one which was actually in use at the church ofnbsp;Glasgow, and another, presumably earlier, which he had discovered,nbsp;and which he describes as stilo Scottico dictatum. Now in MS. Cott.nbsp;Titus A. XIX. fol. 76-80, the Preface and first eight chapters of the former

I Published in Forbes, Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kentigern (Historians of Scotland, V).

Life are preserved.� The Preface states that it was written for Herbert, bishop of Glasgow 1147-1164. In the same MS. on fol. 74, 75, there isnbsp;a story which is obviously taken from a Life, of St Kentigern, probablynbsp;the one just mentioned. Part of this story is also preserved in Bower�snbsp;Scotichronicon (iii. 31). In the intervening space (fol. 75, 75^) betweennbsp;this extract and the Preface there is another story not known elsewhere.nbsp;We may call these two extracts a and b respect!vely.^

In extract a St Kentigern sees a naked hairy madman in a lonely wood. In answer to the saint�s questions the madman tells him that he hadnbsp;been present at a very famous battle which was fought between thenbsp;Liddel and Carwannok (for which the Scotichronicon reads Carwano-low). During the battle he had heard a voice from the sky, like anbsp;tremendous roar, saying to him: �Lailoken, Lailoken! since thou alonenbsp;art guilty of the blood of all those who are slain here, thou alone shaltnbsp;pay for the sins of them all; for, committed to the angels of Satan, thounbsp;shalt have thy abode among the beasts of the forest until the day of thynbsp;death�. And looking up at the sound, he saw a vision of intolerablenbsp;brightness�countless troops of warriors in the sky brandishing theirnbsp;spears at him. Then an evil spirit seized him and drove him to thenbsp;forest. When he had told this story to the saint, he fled to thenbsp;woods.

At a much later date, apparently, the same madman used to come and sit on a rock over the stream Mellodonor�now called Molendinar�innbsp;the north of Glasgow and interrupt the services of St Kentigern�snbsp;clergy by shouting prophecies; but his prophecies were never consistent with one another. One day he demanded the sacrament, sayingnbsp;that he was going to die. The saint sent three times to him to ask how henbsp;was going to die. The first time he replied that he would be stoned andnbsp;beaten to death; the second time that he would be pierced by a stake;nbsp;the third time that he would be drowned. But when the saint recognisednbsp;that he was the same man who had spoken to him long before, henbsp;pitied him and gave him the sacrament. Then the madman repeatednbsp;that he was going to die that day, and added that the noblest of the kingsnbsp;of Britain, the holiest of the bishops, and the most distinguished of thenbsp;nobles would follow him in the same year. Having said this, he setnbsp;off to the woods; but on the same day he was caught and beaten tonbsp;death by King Meldred�s shepherds, near Dunmeller (now Drumelzier)

a Both extracts (together with the passage in the Scotichronicon) are published by Ward, Romania, xxil. 504 ff.

on the Tweed. As he was dying he fell into the river and was pierced by a stake, which was fixed upright in it.

In extract b Lailoken is captured by a prince (regulus') Meldred and imprisoned by him in his fortress Dunmeller. The prince wished to getnbsp;a prophecy from him, but he would not speak. One day he saw thenbsp;prince pick a leaf out of his wife�s hair and gave a loud laugh. When thenbsp;prince asked him why he did so he answered at first in riddles, butnbsp;eventually promised to explain if he was released. He also said that henbsp;was going to die in a few days by a triple death; and got the prince tonbsp;promise to bury him near the burial-ground of Dunmeller, close tonbsp;where the stream Passales (Pausayl) runs into the Tweed. A verynbsp;obscure prophecy follows. As soon as he was set free he explained hisnbsp;riddles. The prince�s wife had been guilty of adultery in the garden,nbsp;and the leaf was a witness to her deeds. She, in order to defend herselfnbsp;from the charge, said that her husband should not believe the word of anbsp;madman, and reminded him of Lailoken�s absurd prophecy that he wasnbsp;to die three times; but Meldred is unconvinced. She then determined tonbsp;get Lailoken put to death; and after some years, on the day he hadnbsp;received the sacrament, while he was passing near Dunmeller at sunset,nbsp;he was killed in the way he had foretold by some shepherds who werenbsp;acting under her orders.

The origin of this extract (b) is unknown. There are discrepancies between it and the previous extract (a) which show that it cannot havenbsp;belonged to the same work, though a few passages, especially near thenbsp;end, suggest that the man who made the extract had tried to bring itnbsp;into conformity with a. This may also be the explanation of the discrepancy in the extract itself between � days� and �years�, if it is not duenbsp;to mere carelessness. The style is hardly incompatible with the ideanbsp;that the extract comes from the earlier Life described by Jocelin asnbsp;stilo Scottico dictaturn', but if it has been edited, as we have suggested,nbsp;there is nothing to show that it is derived from any Life of Stnbsp;Kentigern.

It may be mentioned that both the extracts discussed above, and also the passage in the Scotichronicon, contain references which identifynbsp;Lailoken with Merlin (Myrddin). But the references in a and thenbsp;Scotichronicon are independent of one another; and it is generallynbsp;agreed that both of them, and also the reference in A, are additions to thenbsp;original texts.

We have no doubt, however, that the identifications are correct, and that Lailoken is the same person as the Myrddin of the poems. In both

cases the subject is a madman i endowed with prophecy, who lives in forests. The district in which he lives seems to be the same in both cases.nbsp;We are not aware that Myrddin�s home, the Coed Cefyddon, has beennbsp;identified with certainty, although it is mentioned alsewhere�e.g. innbsp;the Historia Brittonum, cap. 56, where it is the scene of one of Arthur�snbsp;battles. But there are other names which point to the south of Scotlandnbsp;(cf.p. io6f.).2 Again,both prophets belong to the same time�the reignnbsp;of Rhydderch, king of Dumbarton, in the latter part of the sixth century;nbsp;and both of them prophesy this king�s death. Both of them also appearnbsp;to have lost their reason through the same battle. There is no referencenbsp;to a vision in the poems; but Myrddin is haunted by the ghosts of thosenbsp;who were slain in the battle of Arderydd�which is generally identifiednbsp;with Arthuret3 (Longtown). The locality specified in extract a is aboutnbsp;3-5 miles east of Longtown, and immediately adjacent to the parish ofnbsp;Arthuret.4 Lastly, the resemblance between the name Lailoken (Laloe-cen) and the terms Llallawc, Llallogan applied to Myrddin in RBH. inbsp;can hardly be due to coincidence. 5 Similar names occur elsewhere,nbsp;Lalloc in Ireland and Lallocan(/) in Brittany,^ but they seem to be quitenbsp;rare.

Next we may quote a passage from Giraldus Cambrensis, Itin. I Kambriae, 11. 8: �There were two Merlins: one who was also called jnbsp;Ambrosius for he had two names�and prophesied in the reign ofnbsp;ortigern. He was begotten by an incubus, and discovered at Car-place derives its name, Carmarthen, i.e.nbsp;city of Merlin , from the fact that he was found there. The other, however, belonged to Scotland {de Albania oriundus}. He is also callednbsp;Celidonius from the Celidonia silua in which he prophesied, and

� Apart from these there are cases where it is doubtful whether a place-name is intended; thus, e.g., it has been proposed to take llanerch in BBC. xvn. 5, line i, asnbsp;�Lanark�.

Silvester because�when he had taken up his position in a line of battle and, looking up into the sky, saw an exceedingly terrible portent�hisnbsp;mind became deranged, and he fled to the forest, and led a forest lifenbsp;{siluestrem uitam} down to his death. Now this Merlin belonged to thenbsp;time of Arthur, and is said to have prophesied far more fully and morenbsp;openly than the other�.

Here the first Merlin is clearly derived from Geoffrey�s History. The second, however, owes nothing but the form of his name tonbsp;Geoffrey. It is clear from other passages in Giraldus� works (cf. p. 129)nbsp;that what he means by Merlinus Siluester is the Myrddin of ^'elshnbsp;prophetic poems which were carried on mainly by oral tradition. Thenbsp;first Merlin comes ultimately no doubt from the same source�throughnbsp;Geoffrey�but this was apparently not recognised by Giraldus. It maynbsp;be observed that for the forest he uses the form Celidon-, like the poemsnbsp;{Coed Celyddori), not Calidon-, as in the ^ita Merlini. On the other hand,nbsp;although all authorities agree in representing the madness as the result ofnbsp;a certain battle, it is only Giraldus� account and the anonymous Life ofnbsp;St Kentigern (extract a) which record the vision. The account in thenbsp;Vita Merlird supplies a totally different motif, while the Welsh poemsnbsp;are silent. Lastly, Giraldus� statement that Merlin Silvester belonged tonbsp;the time of Arthur is hardly in accord with any of the other authorities.nbsp;In the Vita Merlini Arthur�s reign does fall within the range of Merlin�snbsp;prolonged existence ; but the two are not associated.

It is in the Romances that we find Merlin associated with Arthur; yet of those which deal with this subject none are believed to be earlier thannbsp;1188, the date of Giraldus� work. In the Romances Merlin appearsnbsp;chieffy as a magician. Here also we meet with the story of Viviane, whonbsp;induced him to impart to her his magic arts, and then utilised the knowledge thus gained to bring about his undoing. Geoffrey and the othernbsp;authorities know nothing of this story, though there seem to benbsp;allusions in BBC. xvii to a courtship of long ago. But the Welshnbsp;poems occasionally use a word hwimleian {chwibleiari}, �Sibyl�, or rathernbsp;�Inspiration� personified (similar to awen, cf. p. 107)�which shows anbsp;curious resemblance to the name Viviane, as was pointed out long ago.^

The possibility of deliberate fiction is of course to be taken seriously into account in the last category, although we believe that its scope innbsp;general has been greatly exaggerated by many scholars. The existencenbsp;of a traditional story, or collection of stories, of some kind is withoutnbsp;doubt involved both by the Welsh poems�which, it must be re-� Cf. Skene, Four Ancient Books of JVties, II. 336 f.

II3 membered, are in the form of speeches in character�and by the Glasgownbsp;records. The chief difficulty lies in determining the relations of the twonbsp;extracts in MS. Cott. Titus xix to one another and to Geoffrey andnbsp;Giraldus. Did the two latter derive their information from the extracts,nbsp;or from Glasgow at all ? Neither of them refers to St Kentigern. Yetnbsp;Giraldus� statement corresponds to a, which clearly comes from a Lifenbsp;of the saint. The origin of b, as we have seen, is not so obvious. And itnbsp;is not to be forgotten that a story which is at variance with the restnbsp;occurs in Jocelin�s Life (cf. p. 108).

The natural conclusion seems to be that a number of stories relating to the mad prophet�partly, but not wholly, in connection with Stnbsp;Kentigern�were current in the church of Glasgow at the time when thenbsp;Scottish Church was reorganised, early in the twelfth century. Thenbsp;introduction of Anglo-Norman ecclesiastics gained for these stories anbsp;wider circulation, in England as well as Scotland, not merely throughnbsp;the written Lives of the saint, but also orally and no doubt throughnbsp;correspondence. The stories also, probably at a much earlier date, madenbsp;their way to Wales; but this can only be stated with confidence, ofnbsp;course, for such incidents as happen to be referred to in the poems. Wenbsp;do not know whether the story of the vision was current there. All thatnbsp;can be said with certainty is that, wherever Giraldus acquired it, henbsp;evidently had no doubt�any more than Geoffrey had�that the madnbsp;prophet of Strathclyde was the same person as Merlin (Myrddin). Onnbsp;the other hand the poems contain some features which do not appear innbsp;the Glasgow records, but may yet quite possibly be ancient. Thus it isnbsp;at least implied in RBH. i that the prophet was regarded with a certainnbsp;honour in spite of his madness and his wretched mode of life.

It may be noted here that the story as a whole contains various features which point quite definitely to its antiquity. Thus the incidentnbsp;of a warrior going mad in the course of a battle is of not infrequentnbsp;occurrence in Irish stories relating to the seventh and following centuries.^ Such persons are not regarded as prophets; but they arenbsp;credited with the supernatural power of flying. Sometimes they makenbsp;their way to the woods and live there. Again, the prophecy of death innbsp;a triple or complex form belongs to the same period or slightly earlier.

* Cf. The Adventures of Suibhne Geilt, ed. and transi, by J. G. O�Keefe (Irish Texts Soc. xn), p. 14 ff. ; The Battle of Allen (cf. esp. Rev. Celt. xxiv. 5 5 and note i,nbsp;with the references there given); Speculum Regale (cf. K. Meyer, �r�u, IV. ii f.).nbsp;We may also refer to the Hdvamil, st. 129, where both the word gjalti and the ideanbsp;seem to be of Irish derivation.

An analogy to Lailoken�s prophecy is to be found in Adamnan�s Life of St Columba, I. 36/ where the saint prophesies a somewhatnbsp;similar fate for the Ulster prince Aed Dub, who in the year 565 hadnbsp;killed the high-king Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Irish stories relating to thenbsp;death of Diarmait himself present a still closer parallel; for the deathnbsp;prophesied for him by the seer Bee mac De is definitely of a triplenbsp;character? Moreover, the milieu of the story is that of the sixth andnbsp;seventh centuries rather than of any subsequent period. It was thennbsp;more than at any other time that saints and other people were in thenbsp;habit of retiring into solitudes to live the fife of hermits.

The contrast between the two figures, Taliesin and Myrddin, whom we have been considering, is as great as possible. The former is a sage,nbsp;a magician, and a composer of panegyrics. The latter represents thenbsp;emotional side of poetry and the ecstatic form of prophecy. We knownbsp;from Giraldus (cf. p. 129) that prophetic ecstasy was not uncommonnbsp;among the Welsh of his day; and it is a phenomenon for which we shallnbsp;find parallels among various barbaric peoples. The really remarkablenbsp;fact is that the Welsh of the twelfth century should have used as thenbsp;chief vehicle of their political and national propaganda the story of annbsp;insane man who had lived in a distant region some five or six hundrednbsp;years before. There is no reason indeed for supposing that the story wasnbsp;then new to them; but it had probably gained in popularity.

Next we may take the Mabinogion. These stories are often regarded as mythological, and some of the characters have been identified withnbsp;Irish deities. Thus the children of Llyr are commonly connected with thenbsp;Irish children of Ler, and the children of Don with the Irish Tuatha Denbsp;Danann, or �Peoples of the goddess Danu�. In particular Manawyddan,nbsp;son of Llyr, is identified with the god Manannan mac Lir. Yet the twonbsp;names, though related, are not identical, and the two characters themselves and their adventures have little in common. The other childrennbsp;of Llyr have no Irish counterparts, while the resemblances between thenbsp;children of Don and their suggested Irish equivalents are negligible.nbsp;Indeed it is very doubtful whether the Irish expression had in earlynbsp;times the meaning given to it above. 3

� Cf. O�Grady, Silva Gadelica, ii. 85 ff. (also 74!'., 79 f.). The meeting of Bee mac De and St Columba described here may be compared with the last meeting ofnbsp;Lailoken and St Kentigem (cf. p. 109). Bee mac De�s name, like Myrddin�s, wasnbsp;used as a vehicle for prophecies in later times.

At all events it is clear that, whatever their origin, the characters of the Mabinogion are not represented as other than human beings in thenbsp;texts as we have them. Apart from the stories themselves and a fewnbsp;references to them in early poems, these characters are little known.nbsp;Manawyddan, however, is mentioned apparently among Arthur�snbsp;heroes in BBC. xxxi, and the occurrence of his name in the catalogue innbsp;Culhwch and Olwen may possibly be due to a reminiscence of the samenbsp;connection. For the rest we know of no references which point clearlynbsp;to a non-human character. We shall therefore treat them as human,nbsp;without regard to the question whether their origin is to be sought innbsp;history, mythology or fiction.

It will be sufficient to take two of the stories�Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, and Math, son of Mathonwy. These appear to be free fromnbsp;the learned and the Irish influences which are generally suspected innbsp;Branwen, daughter of Llyr. The stories are so well known�^ that it isnbsp;unnecessary to give an abstract of them here.

The character of Pwyll differs little from that of a typical heroic prince of the better sort. He is brave, generous, and honourable. Henbsp;is credited with no supernatural or magical powers. Yet we cannotnbsp;regard his story as heroic. Almost all the experiences and adventuresnbsp;through which he is made to pass are of abnormal character; he himselfnbsp;either plays a purely passive r�le or acts as he is directed. His storynbsp;therefore belongs obviously to the third of the classes distinguished atnbsp;the beginning of the chapter. It has something in common with thenbsp;story of Conaire Mor (the Destruction of Da Derg�s Hall'}. But, unlikenbsp;this, it is not tragic. On the whole Pwyll experiences more good thannbsp;bad fortune. The didactic elements too are negligible in this case. It isnbsp;purely a story of entertainment (Type A).

The story of Math,� on the other hand, belongs to Class 2 of the scheme set forth on p. 96. The leading characters belong to the rulingnbsp;family of Gwynedd; and both Math himself, the actual ruler, and hisnbsp;nephew Gwydion are warriors. But the heroic element is secondary.nbsp;Both of them are primarily wizards, and most of the events in the storynbsp;are governed by their skill in magic. Math is superior to Gwydion as a

i Transi, by Lady Charlotte Guest (�Everyman�); by Ellis and Lloyd (Oxford, 1929); and by J. Loffi, Les Mabinogion (Paris, 1913). The last is of great importance,nbsp;owing to the full notes and Appendices which it contains.

� For an elaborate discussion of the origins of this story (with text and translation) the reader may be referred to Gruffydd, Math vab Mathonwy. The subject, however, lies beyond the scope of our work.

magician; but the latter also is an expert. The fact that Gwynedd is ruled by a family of magicians�a family too who evidently inheritnbsp;through the female line�is peculiar; for neither feature seems to occurnbsp;in Wales during the historical period. We may note in passing thatnbsp;Pwyll is succeeded by his son Pryderi, neither of whom is credited withnbsp;knowledge of magic. Like Pwyll, this story clearly belongs to Type A.nbsp;Didactic or informative elements are not wanting; but they are slightnbsp;and probably secondary. Early poems contain a number of referencesnbsp;to the story. The most specific is Tai. xvi. 14 ff., where Ceridwen isnbsp;made to speak of Gwydion�s exploits in creating Blodeuwedd out ofnbsp;flowers and in cheating Pryderi of his pigs by means of the sham horsesnbsp;which he had made out of fungus.

In conclusion we may perhaps refer here to a very obscure story which forms the subject of a poem in the Black Book (No. xxxviii).^nbsp;The first stanza is addressed to a certain Seithenhin, calling upon him tonbsp;see that Gwyddneu�s plain has been flooded by the sea. The next twonbsp;stanzas curse a girl, unnamed, who is said to be responsible for thenbsp;catastrophe. The rest of the poem consists of reflections; but eachnbsp;stanza refers to the cries of a madman. An analogy to the story hasnbsp;been found in a short Irish saga called the �Fate of Eochaid son ofnbsp;Mairid in which the main features recur. The madman here foretellsnbsp;the flood�which is said to have given rise to Lough Neagh. Laternbsp;Welsh speculation located the flooded region in Cardigan Bay. But thenbsp;interest of this poem is emotional, not antiquarian.3

In Greek stories belonging to Cl. 2 and 3 of this category are numerous. But not one of them is told at length in any early work now existing. Neither have we any early poems of Types B or C relatingnbsp;to such stories. The material consists of notices relating to lost works,nbsp;and a few references to stories of this kind in early works which stillnbsp;exist.

The Melampodeia, a poem often attributed to Hesiod, seems to have contained a collection of stories of this kind. One fragment relates to anbsp;kind of contest in mantic skill between two seers, Calchas and Mopsos.

� Discussed at length by Loth, Rev. Celt. xxiv. 349 ff. (transi, p. 362 �). For later developments of the story see Lloyd, History of Wales, p. 25 f.

It may be compared with the dialogue between Ferchertne and Nede (cf. p. 97). Mopsos guesses correctly the number of figs on a certainnbsp;tree, and Calchas being overcome dies. Other fragments deal with thenbsp;stories of Melampus, Teiresias, Amphilochos, and other seers. References to some of these, especially Melampus, occur in the Homericnbsp;poems, and there is no doubt that their stories were widely known. Thenbsp;same applies to Amphiaraos and others. Calchas of course takes part innbsp;the action of the Iliad. In the lost Nos toi he seems to have figured somewhat more prominently.

Another poem sometimes attributed to Hesiod was the Instructions of Cheiron to Achilles, of which one or two fragments are preserved. Itnbsp;may perhaps have had something in common with the Sigrdrifumdlnbsp;(cf. p. 27 f.). Cheiron is mentioned in a number of stories relating to thenbsp;Heroic Age, especially as an educator of young heroes.

Reference may also be made here to a number of legendary Thracian poets, who were apparently believed to have lived in the Heroic Age.nbsp;One of these, Thamyris, is mentioned in the Iliad (n. 594 If.), the restnbsp;�Orpheus, Philammon, Musaios, Eumolpos and others�only in laternbsp;works. Certain poems, now wholly lost, were attributed to them by thenbsp;ancients. These seem to have been partly hymns and other poems of anbsp;religious character, and partly prophecies. What is said by Herodotosnbsp;(vii. 6, viH. 96, IX. 43) about the prophecies of Musaios rather suggestsnbsp;that they may have been adapted, like the Myrddin poems, to thenbsp;political exigencies of the hour, although according to the first ofnbsp;these passages the poet Onomacritos was banished (c. 520) for interpolating compositions of his own among them. The stories of thesenbsp;prophets and religious poets are preserved only in late form.

The instances given above all belong to Cl. 2. Examples of Cl. 3 are perhaps still more numerous; but since these also are known onlynbsp;from secondary and late authorities, they are often difficult to distinguish from Heroic, Type C, and from stories of primarily antiquariannbsp;character.

The story of Oidipus probably belongs to our present category. References occur to an epic poem called Oidipodeia, which presumablynbsp;dealt with this story, and which was sometimes attributed to the earlynbsp;poet Cinaithon. But practically nothing is known of this poem, and itnbsp;is uncertain whether the story as given by Sophocles and other laternbsp;writers is derived from it. The story has much in common with that ofnbsp;Conaire Mor (cf. p. 98 f.) ; but the prohibitions, the transgression of whichnbsp;brings Oidipus to ruin, are social laws of general application, not special

References to stories of this class occur even in the Iliad. Such is the passage relating to Niobe in xxiv. 602 If. The much longer passagenbsp;in which Phoinix tells the story of Meleagros (ix. 528 If.) is perhaps notnbsp;so clear a case; but at all events it has much in common with the classnbsp;under consideration.! Later works relating to the Heroic Age are full ofnbsp;examples. Thus, for example, most of the stories of Theseus and Heraclesnbsp;belong here, though in the former antiquarian elements are also verynbsp;prominent. Indeed there can be little doubt that in the course of timenbsp;the non-heroic tended largely to encroach upon the heroic. This maynbsp;be seen, for example, in the differences between the Homeric poems andnbsp;Attic drama in the treatment of the story of the Atreidai. The dramasnbsp;are in the main doubtless derived ultimately from heroic tradition, andnbsp;most of them may be regarded as highly developed specimens ofnbsp;Heroic Type B; but non-heroic elements are generally prominent,nbsp;especially in references to the past.

We know of no stories of Cl. 1 which can properly be called Teutonic and which relate to the Heroic Age. Teutonic examples ofnbsp;Cl. 2 also seem to be extremely rare. This is all the more remarkablenbsp;because the chief god Othin (Woden) is represented as a wizard.

An example�not very satisfactory�of Cl. 2 is to be found in the first part of the Reginsmdl. The story is also told by Snorri in hisnbsp;Skaldskaparmal^ cap. 39. The gods Othin, Hoenir and Loki killed annbsp;otter and took it with them to the house of a certain HreiSmarr, fromnbsp;whom they asked for quarters for the night. HreiSmarr arrested them,nbsp;said that the otter was his son, and demanded compensation. Loki wasnbsp;sent to get the ransom, and robbed a dwarf named Andvari of all hisnbsp;gold, including a ring upon which Andvari imposed a curse. The godsnbsp;were then released; but F�fnir, son of HreiSmarr, demanded a share ofnbsp;the compensation from his father, and on his refusal murdered him.nbsp;Then Reginn, another son, demanded his share; but F�fnir refused andnbsp;drove him away. Reginn attached himself to the youthful SigurSr, andnbsp;eventually induced him to kill F�fnir, who had turned into a dragon and

I Non-heroic elements seem to have been more prominent in the lost Cyclic poems, if we may judge from the extant summaries. Prophecies apparently werenbsp;frequent; and there seems to have been a tendency to bring out supernatural causesnbsp;for events, e.g. (in the Cypria) the story of Peleus� marriage and the � judgment ofnbsp;Paris�. Other non-heroic features will be noted in later chapters.

II9 lay upon the gold. Reginn is said to be both a smith and a wizard, andnbsp;F�fnir also would seem to have something of the latter element in him.nbsp;Perhaps the whole family were regarded as wizards.

Here also we may perhaps take the story of Weland (V�lundr), which is told most fully in the Volundarkviba�how V�lundr wasnbsp;captured by NiSuSr, hamstrung and forced to do goldsmith�s work fornbsp;him, and how he revenged himself upon Ni'Su�r�s children and thennbsp;escaped by flying. The same story is implied in Deor, while referencesnbsp;to Weland as a smith occur in various English and German poems. Hisnbsp;story therefore was widely known. He is of course primarily a smith;nbsp;and there is no definite statement, as there is in Reginn�s case, that he isnbsp;also a wizard. But at all events he possesses abnormal powers.

For an instance of the prophetic variety we may refer to the dialogue poem Gripisspd, or � Prophecy of Gn'pir �. SigurSr comes to his mother�snbsp;brother Gn'pir, who is endowed with knowledge of the future; and innbsp;answer to his questions Gn'pir prophesies to him in detail the coursenbsp;of his life. The poem is generally believed to be very late�perhapsnbsp;twelfth century.

Examples of Cl. 3 are somewhat more frequent; but they are seldom connected with heroic stories, and it is sometimes doubtful to whatnbsp;times they relate. Such is the case with the story which forms thenbsp;introduction to the Grimnismdl. Othin prides himself on the prosperitynbsp;of his foster-son Geirr�Sr, who is now king�perhaps of the islandnbsp;Gotland. Frigg says that he is inhospitable, a charge which Othinnbsp;denies and determines to put to the test by visiting him in disguise.nbsp;Frigg, however, sends her handmaid Fulla, who advises Geirr�Sr tonbsp;arrest any unknown visitor whom dogs will not attack. Accordingly,nbsp;when Othin arrives he is arrested. He gives his name as Gn'mnir, butnbsp;refuses to answer any questions about himself. In order to find outnbsp;who he is Geirr�Sr tortures him by setting him between two fires andnbsp;keeping him without food for eight days. Then Othin recites thenbsp;Grimnismdl, thus gradually revealing his identity. When Geirr�Srnbsp;discovers who he is he springs up to release him; but in doing so henbsp;stumbles and falls upon his sword, and is killed.

Somewhat similar to this is the story of Gestumblindi in Hervarar Saga, cap. 10 fd HeiSrekr, king of the Goths, had a great reputation fornbsp;wisdom; and he allowed accused men to ask him riddles as an alternative

* Transi, by Kershaw, Stories and Ballads, p. 113 fF. The name seems to owe its existence to a scribal error, originating in the acc. case, Gest inn blinda, � the blindnbsp;stranger�. Othin, on other occasions, when disguised, adopts the name Gestr.

to trial. This course was taken by a certain Gestumblindi, who really was Othin in disguise. Gestumblindi put to the king a long series of riddles,nbsp;all of which he solved. At last he asked him what was the secret whichnbsp;Othin told Balder at his funeral. Then HeiSrekr recognised him andnbsp;attacked him with his sword. Othin flew away in the shape of a falcon;nbsp;but the king was slain by his slaves the same night. It is to be remarkednbsp;that the saga in which this story occurs is of complex origin. In thenbsp;early part of HeiSrekr�s career the milieu appears to be that of thenbsp;Viking Age. But his death is immediately followed by a story of thenbsp;Heroic Age�that of the Battle of the Goths and Huns (cf. p. 26).

Perhaps the most interesting story of this class is one which is told in the Ynglinga Saga, cap. 17, 22. Visburr, one of the earliest kings ofnbsp;the Swedes, divorced his wife and deprived her of the bridal giftsnbsp;(gnundr) which he had given her, and among which was a gold necklet.nbsp;The divorced wife had recourse to witchcraft. When her sons werenbsp;growing up she sent them to their father to demand the bridal gifts;nbsp;but he refused. Then they declared that the necklet would prove thenbsp;death of the noblest of his descendants. Again recourse was had to witchcraft, by means of which they were enabled to slay their father; whilenbsp;misfortune and death were brought about for his successor D�maldi,nbsp;their half-brother. D�maldi�s descendant in the fourth generation wasnbsp;a famous king named Agni, who defeated and slew the king of thenbsp;Finns (Lapps) and carried offquot; his daughter Skjalf. At her request henbsp;made a great funeral feast for her father. When he was drunk she toldnbsp;him to take care of his gold necklet; so he fastened it securely round hisnbsp;neck before he went to sleep. Then she attached a rope to it and her mennbsp;hanged him thereby on a tree beneath which he was sleeping.

The way in which a heroic story may assume non-heroic character may be illustrated from the longer, and probably later, version of thenbsp;story of HeSinn and H�gni�found in the Soriapdttr. In the shorternbsp;version�found in the Skaldskaparmdl, cap. 49�HeSinn is a free agent;nbsp;he raids H�gni�s land and carries off his daughter Hildr. In view of itsnbsp;resemblance to the German account (in Kudrun} this is in all probabilitynbsp;the original form of the story.i But in the longer version HeSinn is thenbsp;blind instrument of supernatural powers.^ Freyja has promised Othin

' Not necessarily, of course, in all respects. The account given by Saxo, p. 195 if. (158 ff.), which is earlier than the Skaldskaparmal, agrees with the Soria pdttr innbsp;representing HeSinn and H�gni as being friends before Hildr was carried off.

� A close parallel is to be found in the story of the �judgment of Paris�, which is introduced in the Cypria and later works in order to account for the abduction ofnbsp;Helen and the Trojan War.

to bring two mighty kings into everlasting strife; and all HeSinn�s doings are instigated by the Valkyrie G�ndul, whom Freyja sends tonbsp;him from time to time. The change of motif may probably be traced innbsp;part to the HeSinn of Helgakvi^a HjorvartSssonar-�a different person�nbsp;who at the instigation of an ogress pledges himself to marry his brother�snbsp;betrothed.

The Teutonic examples of this category are few in number and, with one exception, their antiquity is doubtful. The story of Weland wasnbsp;certainly both ancient and widely known; but it stands rather by itself,nbsp;since Weland is primarily a smith. The story of He�inn and H�gni wasnbsp;also ancient and widespread, but apparently only as a heroic story. Itnbsp;cannot be stated with confidence that the non-heroic elements in any ofnbsp;these stories, except that of Weland, date from the Heroic Age. Andnbsp;account must be taken of the fact that second sight and supernaturalnbsp;agencies and events of various kinds figure prominently in stories of thenbsp;Viking Age.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;'

In Greek also, as we have seen, there was a tendency for non-heroic elements to encroach. Yet a number of stories of non-heroic characternbsp;are referred to in the Iliad', and we are not justified in assuming that suchnbsp;stories are necessarily later than the Heroic Age.

In Irish the case is similar but clearer.. In late versions of heroic sagas, such as the Fate of the Children of Uisnech (cf. p. 50), non-heroic elements tend to become more prominent. But there can be nonbsp;doubt that non-heroic stories frequently go back to the Heroic Age.nbsp;Several such stories are known to have been included in the Book ofnbsp;Druim Snechta, which is believed to have been written in the first halfnbsp;of the eighth century, i.e. about the close of the Heroic Age (cf. p.47f.).nbsp;In some stories, e.g. the Destruction of Da Dergas Hall, the milieu is sonbsp;definitely heathen that it is difficult to date them even as late as thenbsp;seventh century.

The difference then between heroic and non-heroic is not necessarily due to chronology. Moreover it is not due to geography, for heroic andnbsp;non-heroic stories are found among the same peoples and in the samenbsp;localities. We must seek for it therefore in the conditions and circumstances or in the circles in which the stories and poems were composed.nbsp;Now we have seen that heroic stories are primarily concerned withnbsp;adventure and with the prowess of heroes, whereas in non-heroicnbsp;stories the interest lies in the doings of persons who are credited with thenbsp;possession of supernatural or abnormal powers, or in the fortunes of

those who have incurred the wrath�or gained the favour�of supernatural beings or transgressed laws or taboos of a vital character. Nonheroic stories have something in common with stories of the gods, such as will be discussed in Ch. ix, and also with stories of mythical charactersnbsp;which owe their origin to antiquarian speculation, like those of Prometheus and his family, and which will be treated in Ch. x. We do notnbsp;know of any non-heroic stories-�i.e. of any stories other than heroic�nbsp;relating to the Greek, Teutonic, British or Irish Heroic Ages, which donbsp;not come within the description given above.

There are cases where one may hesitate whether to regard a story or poem as heroic or non-heroic. Such cases are chiefly stories or poems ofnbsp;a didactic character (Type C). The principle we have followed is tonbsp;treat such a piece as heroic if the chief character occurs as a hero in othernbsp;(heroic) stories; otherwise we treat it as non-heroic. Thus we shouldnbsp;have taken the Destruction of Da Der gas Hall as a heroic story (Typenbsp;C) if Conaire Mor had been familiar as a hero in other stories.

Sometimes heroic and non-heroic elements are found in the same story or poem. One element or the other may be merely incidental andnbsp;derived from another story, as, for example, the references to Thamyrisnbsp;and Niobe in the Iliad. But there are cases where the combination of thenbsp;two elements is more important. We have treated the Norse Trilogy�nbsp;Reginsmdl, Fdfiismdl and ^Sigrdrifumdl�as an example of Heroicnbsp;Type C, because (i) the chief character is the famous hero SigurSr, andnbsp;(2) the substance is predominantly didactic. But the first part of thenbsp;Reginsmdl cannot be regarded as either heroic or didactic; it is annbsp;example of Non-heroic Type A, like Math, son of Mathonwy, thoughnbsp;combined with poetry of Type B. This shows clearly that Heroic Typenbsp;C and Non-heroic sometimes belong to the same milieu.

It is perhaps not an accident that poems belonging to this category were connected by the Greeks with Hesiod rather than with Homer.nbsp;The Instructions of Cheiron were presumably a didactic poem ; and thoughnbsp;they may well have resembled the Sigrdrifumdl, the central figure wasnbsp;probably Cheiron rather than Achilles. But it is not clear that thenbsp;Melampodeia was didactic; it seems to have contained narrative as wellnbsp;as speeches. At all events the extant poems attributed to Hesiod havenbsp;something in common with our category.

In a later chapter it will be seen that two distinct classes of poets or authors were to be found practically everywhere in early times. Onenbsp;class consisted of court-entertainers, who were occupied mainly withnbsp;heroic poetry. The other class was concerned with didactic and specu-

123 lative work in theology, moral and natural philosophy, and anti-quarian lore, which was often combined with prophecy. In course ofnbsp;time this second class generally tended to encroach upon the sphere ofnbsp;the other. Especially was this the case among the Celtic peoples; innbsp;Ireland the filid (�seers�; cf. p. 97) became the chief repositories ofnbsp;heroic saga, while in Wales the two classes were completely merged.

It is to the second of these classes that we have in all probability to look for the origin of non-heroic poetry and saga, as well as for the }nbsp;didactic treatment of heroic stories. We do not mean, of course, tonbsp;suggest that the two classes were at any time absolutely cut off from andnbsp;uninfluenced by one another. Poets and saga-tellers of the first classnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;,,

were no doubt open from the beginning to non-heroic influence, e.g. J'' -in the form of antiquarian lore, as in Irish, or moral reflection, as in Anglo-Saxon, while those of the second class probably always drewnbsp;their subjects largely from heroic stories or heroic life. But it wouldnbsp;seem that in course of time�whether at the end of the Heroic Age ornbsp;later�the influence of the non-heroic class usually tended to prevailnbsp;over that of the heroic.

In the preceding chapter we have made little use of Geoffrey�s works, because we do not regard his evidence here as trustworthy any morenbsp;than in other stories. There are, however, a number of scholars who,nbsp;while they would not dissent from this estimate of Geoffrey�s trustworthiness, regard the case of Merlin as somewhat apart from the rest�nbsp;holding either that he was invented by Geoffrey, or at least that thenbsp;existing poems and stories relating to him, together with his propheticnbsp;character, owe their origin to Geoffrey�s influence. It is necessarynbsp;therefore to go into this question in some detail.

It has been mentioned above (p. 108) that the Merlin of Geoffrey�s History, including the Prophecies in Book vii, has little in common withnbsp;the Myrddin of the Welsh poems beyond the fact that he is a prophet.nbsp;He is identified with the boy Ambrosius of the Historia Brittonumnbsp;(Nennius), cap. 41 f. (cf. p. 111 f.),and consequently belongs to an earliernbsp;period than the latter. His activities extend from the time of Vorti-gernus (Guorthigirnus) to the birth of Arthur, at which point he dis-

appears from the story. There is no reference to the persons�Gwen-ddoleu, Rhydderch, Gwendydd and the rest�who figure in the poems. Nor is there much more resemblance in the prophecies themselves. Thenbsp;coming of Cadwaladr and Cynan is once referred to (vii. 3)�as also innbsp;the Vitanbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;f.)�but this is a regular feature of Welsh predictive

poetry, which will require notice in Ch. xv; it is by no means confined to the Myrddin poems. In general the prophecies in the History, so farnbsp;as they are specific at all, relate either to the early history of the Britons,nbsp;from the fifth to the seventh centuries, or to English history of Geoffrey�snbsp;own time, whereas Myrddin�s prophecies relate as a rule to Welshnbsp;history of the twelfth century.

The prophecies in the Vita^ are like those in the History znA show no more resemblance than they do to the prophecies in the Myrddinnbsp;poems. But with the story itself the case is different. Merlin is made tonbsp;say in his retrospect (982 ff.) that he remembers the time of Vortigern,nbsp;and in another passage (681 ff.) he speaks of his prophecies to that kingnbsp;�thus connecting the Vita with the History�but he has lived on into anbsp;later age; even Arthur himself now belongs to the past (929 ff., 1122nbsp;ff.). The actual personnel of the story is that of the Myrddin poems.nbsp;Merlin, who is said to be king of Dyfed (19 ff.), goes to war, along withnbsp;Peredurus, prince of Gwynedd, and Rodarchus, king of the Cumbri,nbsp;against Guennolous, king of Scotland. The Scots are defeated, butnbsp;Merlin�s mind gives way at seeing the slaughter, and especially becausenbsp;of the fall of three brothers�apparently his own; and soon afterwardsnbsp;he betakes himself to the woods. Rodarchus, who is married to Ganieda,nbsp;Merlin�s sister, sends a minstrel, who sings of the grief of Ganieda and ofnbsp;Guendoloena, Merlin�s wife, and thus persuades him to come backnbsp;(165 ff.). He laughs when he sees Rodarchus taking a leaf out of Gan-ieda�s hair, and when asked why he does so explains that she had beennbsp;among the bushes with a lover (254 ff.). The queen, in order to discredit the charge, gets Merlin to prophesy the death of a certain boy,nbsp;whom she brings before him in three different disguises. Merlinnbsp;prophesies three different forms of death�first by falling from a rock,nbsp;then by dying in a tree, and then in a river�and the king then believes innbsp;his wife�s innocence (303 ff.). Merlin insists on going back to the woods,nbsp;and gives his wife leave to marry again; but on the wedding day henbsp;comes and kills the bridegroom (347 ff.). Ganieda builds him a house innbsp;the woods and, strangely enough, often goes to see him. He prophesies

� The references are to the edition by J. J. Parry, The Vita Merlini, in the University of Illinois Studies in Language and Literature, X (1925).

125 to her the death of Rodarchus and the course of British and Englishnbsp;history, including the Danish and Norman invasions (565 if.). Ganiedanbsp;on her return home finds her husband dead, and buries him. Then shenbsp;decides to go and live with her brother in the woods (689 if.). Tel-gesinus comes to see Merlin, and discourses on natural history (732 ff.).nbsp;Merlin replies with a long retrospect of British history (958 ff.). A newnbsp;spring now bursts out. Merlin drinks of it and is cured of his madnessnbsp;(1136 if.). His subjects ask him to return to the throne, but he refusesnbsp;on the ground of age (1259 ff.). Further discourses follow, and anothernbsp;madman is cured (1292 ff.). Finally Ganieda prophesies certain eventsnbsp;in the reign of Stephen (1469 ff.). The poem concludes with a remark bynbsp;Merlin that the spirit seems to have passed from him to her (1521 ff.).nbsp;It is obvious that in this story Rodarchus, Guennolous, Ganieda andnbsp;Telgesinus correspond to the Rhydderch, Gwenddoleu, Gwendyddnbsp;and Taliesin of the poems respectively, and Peredurus to the Peredur ofnbsp;the Triads. Moreover the Calidonis silua^ where Merlin has gone to live,nbsp;is clearly the Coed Celyddon {Kelitori) of BBC. xvii. The apple-trees arenbsp;mentioned in the Vita (90 ff.), as well as in the latter poem. But therenbsp;are important differences. Gwenddoleu, whom Myrddin is constantlynbsp;calling to mind as his generous lord, is only once mentioned in thenbsp;Vita�and then as an enemy; it is not even stated that he was killed innbsp;the battle. On the other hand Merlin is provided with a wife�unknownnbsp;to the Welsh poems�whose name (Guendoloena) bears a suspiciousnbsp;resemblance to his. Again, Myrddin in the Welsh poems frequentlynbsp;refers to Rhydderch ; and in RBH. i. 8 he foretells his death to Gwendydd, as in the Vita ($96, 684). But it is not stated that Gwendydd isnbsp;his wife; and, further, neither the poems nor the Triads represent himnbsp;as taking part in the battle of Arderydd. The Vita does not name thenbsp;battle, and gives no hint that Merlin has killed Ganieda�s son; while thenbsp;Welsh poems know nothing of Myrddin�s healing or of his ceasing tonbsp;prophesy. On the contrary in RBH. ii he prophesies in his grave. Itnbsp;may be added that the poems {RBH. i and n) mention Myrddin�snbsp;father, Morfryn; but in the Vita there is no reference to such a person�nbsp;necessarily, of course, since in the History (vi. 17 f.) Merlin is said tonbsp;have had no human father.

Similar resemblances are to be found between the Vita and the Glasgow records discussed on p. 108 ff. Thus, for example, the prophecynbsp;of the king�s death, and the incidents of the faithless queen and the leafnbsp;and of the triple death occur in both; but it is to be observed that thenbsp;two latter incidents are related of different persons. In the Vita the

faithless queen is Rodarchus� wife and Merlin�s own sister; while the triple death is told not of Merlin himself, but of another man. Nothingnbsp;is said of Merlin�s own death; nor is there any mention of the namenbsp;Lailoken, or of St Kentigern.

It is generally agreed that Geoffrey borrowed from the Glasgow records. But many scholars hold that the Welsh poems are derivednbsp;from the Vita, not vice versa. This means of course that there is nonbsp;connection between the poems and the Glasgow records except throughnbsp;the Vita; and consequently any connection between the names Llallogannbsp;(^Llallawc} and Lailoken (^Laloeceii} is impossible. Lailoken was not thenbsp;same man as Merlin, though Geoffrey transferred incidents from hisnbsp;story to the Vita.

The view under consideration is obviously open to two very serious objections: (i) In deriving his prophet from Carmarthen (Caerfyr-ddin. Hist. Geoffrey must have been aware of the existence of anbsp;Welsh prophet called Myrddin. (2) The story is connected with a largenbsp;body of Welsh tradition, some elements of which are recorded in thenbsp;Annales Cambriae., which were compiled c. 960, or earlier (cf. p. 146 ff.).nbsp;The poems frequently allude to these traditions, especially to the famousnbsp;battle of Arderydd, and their allusions are never at variance with whatnbsp;we know of them from other sources. Geoffrey�s allusions are much lessnbsp;frequent and precise. Thus he mentions the battle, but neither gives it anbsp;name nor indicates where it was fought. Sometimes his statements arenbsp;definitely in conflict with tradition, e.g. when he makes Peredurus anbsp;prince of Gwynedd and Guennolous a king of Scotland {Albania}�nbsp;presumably the old kingdom of Alban, since Rodarchus is (correctly)nbsp;represented as king of the Cumbri. We may add that the forms of thenbsp;names are correctly given in the poems, whereas in the Vita they arenbsp;often corrupt.

To graft a fictitious story upon this body of tradition, making all the corrections involved, would have required a genius as constructivenbsp;as Geoffrey himself. But why should the precise be derived from thenbsp;vague and the correct from the incorrect.^ And why should the authorsnbsp;of the poems be at such trouble to represent Myrddin�s grief for hisnbsp;lord Gwenddoleu, when this person is mentioned only once�and thennbsp;as an enemy�in the original i'

So far as we are aware, this extreme view has not been endorsed by any scholars who have made a study of the Welsh evidence�indeednbsp;we do not think this would be possible�though it is expressed notnbsp;unfrequently by those whose interest lies exclusively in Geoffrey and

127 the Romances. There is, however, a modified form of the same theorynbsp;which has received such endorsement, and consequently deserves somewhat more consideration. According to this view i the poems which nownbsp;survive are derived from the Vita^ but there were earlier poems ornbsp;stories relating to Myrddin, now lost, to which Geoffrey had access. Itnbsp;is due to these also that the names, perhaps too the relationships of thenbsp;characters, appear in a more correct form in the Welsh poems than innbsp;the Vita. Myrddin was known previously, but perhaps not as a prophet.nbsp;We cannot assent to the reservation in the last sentence. If Myrddinnbsp;was not already a prophet, what reason had Geoffrey for identifyingnbsp;him with the prophetic boy Ambrosius, whom he took over from thenbsp;Historia Brittonum (cf. p. 123).^ The //Aroryindeed reveals no knowledge of Myrddin and his story except the fact that he was a prophet.nbsp;For the rest, we do not doubt that, when he wrote the Vita, Geoffreynbsp;had acquired some knowledge of a story of Myrddin; and he may alsonbsp;have known some poems which are now lost. At all events he hadnbsp;learned from somewhere that one of the enemies of Gwenddoleu wasnbsp;Peredur^�who happens not to be mentioned in any of the Myrddinnbsp;poems now existing. But the theory that the existing poems are laternbsp;than and derived from the Vita needs careful examination.

First, it may be noted that the reference to the apple-trees in the Vita, 90 ff., indicates a literary relationship with the Afallenau {BBC.nbsp;xvii). Next, there can be little doubt of a similar relationship betweennbsp;RBH. I and Merlin�s prophecy in the Vita, 580 ff. Both prophecies arenbsp;addressed to the prophet�s sister. Both foretell the death of Rhydderch,nbsp;and in both cases this prophecy is followed by others which covernbsp;several centuries of history, though the details have nothing in common.nbsp;Again, it can hardly be an accident that conversations between Myrddinnbsp;and Taliesin occur both in BBC. i and in the Vita, though here also thenbsp;speeches have nothing in common.

Against these parallels we have to set a striking contrast in the representation of the prophet and in the general character of the works.nbsp;In the Welsh poems we have the picture of an unhappy and derangednbsp;prophet, constantly lamenting for his lord Gwenddoleu, and hauntednbsp;by the ghosts of his old comrades. The dominant characteristics of the

I For a full statement of this view see F. Lot, Annales de Bretagne, xv. 505 ff. (cf. also p. 520 ff.).

� It is rightly pointed out by Lot, op. cit. p. 530, that the term Largus applied to Rodarchus in his epitaph in the Vita (73�) 1� translation of hael. But the latternbsp;epithet is applied to Rhydderch in RBH. i. 4 ff., as well as in the Triads.

poems are emotion and pathos. In the Vita also the prophet is deranged�until his cure, near the end of the story�but he delights in his sylvan Arcadia, which is depicted as seen through the eyes of a sophisticated townsman. Gwenddoleu is mentioned only once, and then asnbsp;his enemy. As a whole the Vita is a typical production of a literarynbsp;dilettante who is writing in a more or less light-hearted vein, but atnbsp;the same time is anxious to display his learning. It would be nothingnbsp;remarkable if such a writer had borrowed the incidents and motifsnbsp;noted above from the Welsh poems�with which he need not have hadnbsp;more than a very superficial acquaintance. But it would be one of thenbsp;strangest freaks in literary history if these poems owed their existencenbsp;to such a work as the Vita.

Yet in spite of this it is contended by some scholars that these poems must be derived from the Vita, because they contain references tonbsp;events later than the date of its composition. Thus, RBH. i contains anbsp;number of (obscure) references to events which may be later than 1154,nbsp;while somewhat clearer references to such events occur in the longernbsp;texts of the Afallenau (cf. p. 106)�though not in BBC. xvii.^ Stillnbsp;more definite references to later events are to be found in other Myrddinnbsp;poems, especially BBC. xviii and RBH. ii. There can be no doubtnbsp;therefore that in their present form some of these poems are later thannbsp;the Vita.

It is to be remembered, however, that the Myrddin poems are works of Type B, i.e. speeches in character, and that the speaker�or chiefnbsp;speaker�is a prophet. We have to distinguish between two differentnbsp;elements in each case, one of which is concerned with the prophetnbsp;himself and his circumstances, and the other with the subjects of hisnbsp;prophecies. The most characteristic feature of the poems is that thesenbsp;two elements are combined in a peculiar way. A stanza dealing with thenbsp;first element may be followed by one dealing with the second; and sometimes both elements occur in the same stanza.

It is with the first element�which supplies what we may call the framework of the poems�that we are concerned here. If it could benbsp;shown that the poems were fixed and invariable from the time of theirnbsp;first composition, we should be justified in inferring a date for thenbsp;framework from the prophecies. But this is not the case. Of thenbsp;Afallenau, as we have seen (p. 106), there are three texts. One of thesenbsp;{BBC. xvii) contains ten stanzas, the others twenty-two or twenty-

� We cannot assent to the interpretation of BBC. xvn. 3 given in Annales de Bretagne, xv. 507.

129 three; and there is hardly any agreement between the shorter and thenbsp;longer texts in the order of the ten stanzas which are common to them all.nbsp;The references to times later than the appearance of the Vita occur onlynbsp;in stanzas which are wanting in the BBC. text. Again, the text of RBH. inbsp;is in great disorder. There are obvious omissions and transpositions ofnbsp;stanzas; and the references in the latter part of the poem are mostlynbsp;obscure.

There can be no doubt that prophecies like those of the Afallenau were used for political purposes�e.g. to advance the interests of annbsp;aspiring prince, or to rouse up opposition to the English�and it wouldnbsp;seem that additions were made to them from time to time. But we havenbsp;no reason for supposing that the genus was new�or the framework innbsp;which the prophecies are set.

Giraldus Cambrensis in his Descriptio Kambriae, I. 16, clearly regards Merlinus Siluester as belonging to the Awenithion, or �persons inspired�,nbsp;quasi mente duc tos., of whom, he says, there are a good number in Wales,nbsp;and whose ecstasies he describes. It is evident from his account thatnbsp;these persons were very similar to the prophets whom we find amongnbsp;other barbaric peoples. In later chapters we shall have occasion to noticenbsp;the influence which they possessed in stirring up popular feeling. Itnbsp;would be absurd to suppose that this class owed their origin to thenbsp;literary activities of Geoffrey of Monmouth.

The same writer in his work De Vaticiniis,^ of which only the opening has been preserved, again mentions Merlinus Siluester, whom he here calls also Celidonius and whom he distinguishes, as elsewherenbsp;(cf. p. Ill), from Merlinus Ambrosius. He says that the former �hasnbsp;remained little known down to our times, not yet having got rid of hisnbsp;Britannica barbaries� This means that he was known only in Welsh,nbsp;as appears from what follows. A little later he says: � Until now it wasnbsp;only by report that Celidonius Siluester was famous everywhere. Butnbsp;the memory of his prophecies had been preserved (i.e. his propheciesnbsp;had been preserved by memory) by the British �bards�, as they callnbsp;their poets, orally among very many, but in writing among very few�.nbsp;Giraldus goes on to say that he sought throughout Wales for a copy ofnbsp;the prophecies, and at length found one �in a most remote district ofnbsp;Gwynedd which is called Lein (Lleyn) �. It had been put away long ago,nbsp;and had been treated with a kind of reverence. He set to work to translate

� Nondum... Britannicam exutus barbariem usque ad haec tempora latuit paruffl agnitus.

it with the help of men who knew the British language. Again a little later he observes that in these works, as in others, the bardic professionnbsp;has shown itself to be malicious and addicted to falsification, and hasnbsp;added to the true (prophecies) many things of its own in the form ofnbsp;prophecies.!

It is incomprehensible to us how this passage can have been understood to apply to any works derived from Geoffrey�s Vita Merlini. The Vita was written between 1148 and 1154. Giraldus discovered thenbsp;MS. at Nevin during his journey through Wales with Archbishopnbsp;Baldwin, in 1188,� and he says that the prophecies which it containednbsp;were carried on by oral tradition by a large number of bards. It hasnbsp;already been mentioned (p. 107) that a stanza in RBH. ii is quoted bynbsp;the same writer {Itin. Kambriae, 1.6) as a prophecy of Merlinus Silu.ester-,nbsp;he says that the Welsh were discouraged by it in their resistance tonbsp;Henry II. This happened in 1162, near Newport, at the other end ofnbsp;Wales.

Whether Giraldus knew the Vita Merlini or not, it is plain that what he means by Merlinus Siluester or Celidonius in all the passages citednbsp;above is a traditional character, of whom saga in some form or othernbsp;was current, and who was regarded as the author of a body of propheticnbsp;poetry which was widely known among the bards by oral tradition, butnbsp;rarely committed to writing. His words also show that additions werenbsp;made to these prophecies ; but that as a whole this body of literature wasnbsp;by no means of recent origin. This is indicated not only by the wordsnbsp;libellum � ab antiquo repositum, but also by such expressions as usque adnbsp;haec tempora latuit, and memoria retenta fuerat. It is only the namenbsp;Merlinus which Giraldus has taken from Geoffrey. The works which henbsp;means are the Myrddin poems, including no doubt some of those whichnbsp;have come down to us, but also others which are now lost.

We have no hesitation therefore in subscribing to the view that the Vita is derived from the Welsh poems, not vice versa. The story ofnbsp;Geoffrey�s activities now becomes clear enough. 3 We have to distinguishnbsp;two phases, separated from one another by many years. In the earliernbsp;phase Geoffrey had learnt of the existence of prophetic poetry in Wales,nbsp;and that it was attributed to a prophet called Myrddin, whose name henbsp;changed into Merlinus. He did not know who Myrddin was, but con-

! Sicut in aliis, sic in istis bardorum ars inuida, naturam adulterans, multa de suis tamquam prophetica ueris adiecit.

jecturally identified him with the boy Ambrosius in the Hist. Britt, cap. 41 �., who also was a prophet. As he was ignorant of Welsh, his knowledge of the contents of the prophecies was limited to a very few details,nbsp;such as the coming of Cadwaladr and Cynan; but he was clever enoughnbsp;to see that in these prophecies he had struck a vein which might benbsp;made to appeal to the reading public in England. This phase is represented by the Merlin of the History, including the Prophecies in Book vii.

Later, when he came to write the Vita Merlini, Geoffrey had found out a good deal more about Myrddin. He had learnt that there was anbsp;poem which consisted of a dialogue between Myrddin and Taliesin;nbsp;but of the contents of this he could make nothing�as one mightnbsp;expect. He had also discovered the poem consisting of the dialoguenbsp;between Myrddin and Gwendydd; from which he got the prophecy ofnbsp;the death of Rhydderch and the idea of following it up with a retrospectnbsp;of history in the form of prophecy. He had also got to know somethingnbsp;of the Afallenau, from which is derived not only the specific referencenbsp;in the Vita (90 ff.), but also, to some extent at least, the general settingnbsp;of this work. Some other information must have reached him, probablynbsp;in the form of a story, from which he got the name Peredurus. Thenbsp;Lailoken story also, from which he derived certain incidents (cf.p. i24f.),nbsp;must have been known to him in some form or other. These incidentsnbsp;are not to be regarded as extraneous matter, like the quotations fromnbsp;Isidore, of which the speeches in the Vita are largely composed; fornbsp;there is no reason for doubting that Lailoken and Myrddin were thenbsp;same person from the beginning (cf. p. i to f.). We have seen that thenbsp;incident of the vision, which is not mentioned by Geoffrey, is recordednbsp;by Giraldus (cf. p. 111 f.) as happening to Merlinus Siluester, i.e. Myrddin.nbsp;We do not know whether the name Myrddin occurred either in Giraldus�nbsp;sources or in Geoffrey�s ; but both writers evidently knew that the personnbsp;credited with these experiences was Myrddin.

It must have become plain to Geoffrey, when he got all this new information, that he had made a bad shot in identifying Myrddin withnbsp;the boy Ambrosius. But, not being willing to go back upon this, henbsp;made his hero live on into a new age, i.e. into the age to which traditionnbsp;assigned him. The earlier work involved him also in geographicalnbsp;difficulties. In the History Merlin had belonged to Dy fed; and so innbsp;the Vita Geoffrey makes him king of Dyfed. But he was probablynbsp;conscious of the fact that the actual scene of the story, the Calidonisnbsp;Silua, lay in the south of Scotland. Hence the geographical indicationsnbsp;are�necessarily�given as vaguely as possible.

Since Geoffrey evidently had some source or sources of information which are now lost, it is not impossible that the V'ita may containnbsp;elements of fact or ancient tradition even where confirmatory evidencenbsp;from other sources is wanting. Thus it is possible that Rhydderch didnbsp;take part in the battle against Gwenddoleu, and again that Gwendyddnbsp;was the wife of this king�although Jocelin gives a different name to hisnbsp;queen. But we do not feel inclined to attach any importance to suchnbsp;evidence.

There is no doubt that many of the persons and events celebrated in stories of the Teutonic, British and Irish Heroic Ages are historical. Their existence is proved by contemporary documents or monuments. But there are many other cases where no suchnbsp;evidence is available. The greater part of the Irish Heroic Age isnbsp;prehistoric; and the same is true of the whole of the Greek Heroic Age.nbsp;Even in the Teutonic and the British Heroic Ages the great majority ofnbsp;the persons and events are not mentioned in contemporary records. Asnbsp;to the historicity of these much difference of opinion exists. Half anbsp;century ago it was generally believed that heroic poetry and saga werenbsp;derived from mythology; and consequently there was a tendency tonbsp;regard as mythological all persons and events which could not benbsp;identified from historical records. Now opinion has greatly changed;nbsp;but widely divergent views are still held.

It is not to be regarded as an unfortunate accident that so small a proportion of the matter contained in heroic tradition can be verifiednbsp;from historical records. In later chapters we shall see that the Heroicnbsp;Age is a widespread phenomenon in the history of society; but that it isnbsp;rarely or never accompanied by the keeping of such records. Thenbsp;most the historian can hope for is that within or in the neighbourhoodnbsp;of a heroic society there may be communities or individuals in a differentnbsp;phase of civilisation, to which the keeping of historical records isnbsp;natural, and that information relating to the heroic society may benbsp;preserved thereby.

The evidence available for demonstrating the existence of historical elements in heroic stories may conveniently be classified as follows :

(J)} Foreign historical records. This evidence is valid even when not strictly contemporary, provided that it can be shown to be free fromnbsp;the influence of the heroic tradition.

(c) The existence of independent traditions in different regions. (tZ) The existence of independent traditions in the same region.

The first two of these stand, of course, apart from the rest. But die evidence of (c) may be almost as good if it can be shown that the twonbsp;traditions have been independent from the beginning. But if the interruption of communication between the two regions has not takennbsp;place until long after the time to which the stories relate, the value of thenbsp;evidence is proportionately reduced. The evidence of (lt;/)�the existencenbsp;of a non-heroic (ecclesiastical or other) tradition beside the heroic in thenbsp;same region�can only be used with great caution; for there are manynbsp;openings for the influence of the latter upon the former. Yet this classnbsp;of evidence may have a certain value, e.g. when there are divergences innbsp;details. Even the existence of a consistent heroic tradition (e) by itself,nbsp;without supplementary evidence, may be not without value, especiallynbsp;if it has wide ramifications. This may perhaps best be appreciated by anbsp;comparison of heroic tradition with the stories of the gods current in thenbsp;same community.

In addition to the above there are three other classes of evidence which sometimes deserve consideration :

(�) Archaeological evidence can demonstrate the existence of the conditions required by a heroic story at a given place and time, though itnbsp;can supply no names, unless writing is found. The excavations at Troynbsp;have contributed materially to a change of view as to the story of thenbsp;Iliad^ though they have yielded no evidence in regard to the names ofnbsp;the persons who lived and fought there. Evidence for obsolete politicalnbsp;geography may also be taken into account in this connection.

(^) The use of a heroic name, if it is of an unfamiliar type, may sometimes be taken as evidence that a heroic story was known at thenbsp;time. Thus when we find a bishop at Dorchester in the latter part of thenbsp;seventh century bearing the name Aetla, which is not of English origin,nbsp;we may infer that stories relating to Attila were current in Englandnbsp;about the middle of that century or earlier.

(Ji) The occurrence of heroic names in place-names is the least secure form of evidence, owing to the almost universal prevalence ofnbsp;antiquarian speculation. One may refer, e.g., to the numerous examplesnbsp;of Arthur�s name in various parts of this country, and the Ossianicnbsp;place-names in Scotland. Yet place-names may occasionally preserve anbsp;true historical record, especially when a hero�s name has been forgottennbsp;long ago�perhaps through a change of nationality in the district. Anbsp;probable case of this kind is the preservation of the name Gwenddoleu innbsp;Carwinley (cf. p. Ill, note); for the district came into English handsnbsp;doubtless in the early part of the seventh century.

We will take the Teutonic evidence first, since on the whole this seems to be the most satisfactory. It is doubtful, however, whethernbsp;there is any evidence here which properly comes under (a). Informationnbsp;bearing upon our subject occurs in Latin works written under Teutonicnbsp;government before the end of the Heroic Age, and among the writersnbsp;were men of Teutonic nationality like Jordanes; yet the sources of thenbsp;latter, except for ancient times, appear to have been Roman, and thenbsp;evidence as a whole can hardly be separated from that which naturallynbsp;comes under (^). Moreover, though the Teutonic peoples of the Heroicnbsp;Age were acquainted with the art of writing, and inscriptions containingnbsp;personal names are not very rare in the North, none of these namesnbsp;can be identified with certainty with characters of heroic stories.

Evidence from Roman (Latin and Greek) sources (�) is comparatively abundant and usually allows us to identify with confidence at least onenbsp;character in each of those heroic stories which relate to the morenbsp;southern of the Teutonic peoples. Thus we know from strictly contemporary authorities that Ermenrichus (Eormenric, J�rmunrekr,nbsp;Ermenrich), king of the Goths, died about 370, Gunthaharius (Guthhere,nbsp;Gunnarr, Gunther), king of the Burgundians, in 437, Attila (Aetla,nbsp;Atli, Etzel), king of the Huns, in 453, and Theodericus (Theodric,nbsp;Pj�Srekr, Dietrich), king of the Ostrogoths, in 526; and it is from thesenbsp;and other dates that we are able to determine the times to which thenbsp;heroic stories relate.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

For stories dealing with the more northern peoples such evidence is naturally more difficult to obtain; for these peoples lay practicallynbsp;beyond the horizon of the Roman historians. In the story of Beowulf,nbsp;however, there is one clear case. The poem frequently mentions thenbsp;hero�s uncle, Hygelac, king of the Geatas, and refers more than once to anbsp;disastrous expedition against the Franks and Frisians, in which he lostnbsp;his life. Now this expedition is recorded by Gregory of Tours, Hist.nbsp;Franc, ill. 3, and later Frankish documents. The date was evidentlynbsp;about 520-530, i.e. some ten or fifteen years before Gregory was born.nbsp;It is clear, however, that his information was derived from contemporary Frankish sources and not from any (Scandinavian or other)nbsp;heroic poem.

A great deal more evidence comes under (c)�i.e. from a comparison of the heroic traditions of different Teutonic peoples. The Englishnbsp;poems, especially Beowulf and Widsith, record the names of manynbsp;Northern princes, and the former gives a detailed account of the royalnbsp;families of the Danes, the Geatas and the Swedes. Now many of these

persons, including the Danish and Swedish princes�though not those of the Geatas�are mentioned also in early Norse and Danish authorities; and in general�though with noteworthy exceptions�they bearnbsp;the same relationship to one another as in Beowulf.

For the purpose of comparison it may be of interest to give the genealogy of the Danish royal family (Scyldingas, Skj�ldungar) as it isnbsp;found in Beowulf and in the Northern records. The genealogy innbsp;Beowulf \.3 as follows:

Hrothgar Halga daughter = a Swedish prince Inbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;(probably Onela)

Healfdene, Heorogar, and apparently Halga also, are dead. The reigning kings are Hrothgar, who is very old, and Hrothulf, son of one of hisnbsp;brothers (probably Halga, though this is not actually stated). Hrethricnbsp;and Hrothmund are very young. The name of Healfdene�s daughter andnbsp;part of her husband�s name are lost through a lacuna in the MS. Frodanbsp;and Ingeld belong to a people or dynasty called Heathobeardan. Theynbsp;are not Danes.

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1 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I

The Northern versions of the story differ a good deal from one another. Names from Saxo are given in brackets. It will be seen that there are nonbsp;names corresponding to Heorogar, Hrethric, Hrothmund, or Freawaru.nbsp;The names Hr�arr, Helgi, Hr�lfr and Hi�rvar�r correspond regularlynbsp;to Hrothgar, Halga, Hrothulf and Heoroweard ; but here Hi�rvar�r is anbsp;stranger. Fr��i and Ingjaldr are kings of the Danes, and never appear innbsp;the relationship to the above which is indicated in Beowulf In Saxo

137 they belong to a much later period. In other records Fr��i is the namenbsp;of Halfdan�s father or brother.

The ancestry of Healfdene (Halfdan) has nothing in common in the two traditions except the eponymous Scyld (Skj�ldr), who is hisnbsp;grandfather in Beowulf, but in the Scandinavian versions is separatednbsp;from him by a varying but greater number of generations.

It is instructive to notice that the chief characters are the same and stand in the same relationships to one another in the two traditions,nbsp;while the minor characters either appear only in one tradition, or standnbsp;in different relationships. The story of incest, however�betweennbsp;Helgi and his daughter�can hardly be reconciled with the picture ofnbsp;the family given in Beowulf, where Hrothulf (Hr�lfr) is evidently muchnbsp;older than the sons of Hrothgar.

It is not permissible to suppose that the story of these persons was borrowed by English poetry from Northern sources, or vice versa, innbsp;late times. Had that been the case, the forms of the names would havenbsp;resembled one another more closely than they do. There would havenbsp;been traces of Northern phonetic change in the names given in thenbsp;English poems, or vice versa�just as in records of the ninth century wenbsp;find similar Northern names represented in English works in truenbsp;Northern form. The two languages had without doubt begun to shownbsp;marked divergences from one another before the end of the sixthnbsp;century; and the linguistic evidence clearly indicates that these namesnbsp;were preserved by tradition independently in the two languages fromnbsp;that period. This conclusion accords with the fact that we have verynbsp;little evidence for any knowledge of Northern lands or persons ofnbsp;Northern nationality in England between the Beowulf story and thenbsp;ninth century.

But if these persons and their adventures were known both in England and in the North in the sixth century, the evidence is practicallynbsp;equivalent to a contemporary record; for several of them belong to anbsp;younger generation than Hygelac, whose death took place not earliernbsp;than c. 520-530, as we have seen. It is the general view therefore of all

I A Danish king named Ongendus in mentioned by Alcuin, Vita Willebrordi, cap. 9; but it is in connection with the saint�s missionary journeys in the regionnbsp;about the mouth of the Elbe�early in the eighth century. Bede, Hist. Eccl. v. 9,nbsp;speaks of the Danai as one of the heathen peoples of�Germany�, whom the Englishnbsp;missionaries set out to evangelise; but the spelling suggests that the name was unfamiliar to him. For a reference by the same author to communication with � Thyle �nbsp;(perhaps Norway) see Chadwick, Origin of the English Nation, p. 19.

who have written on the subject in recent years that these persons are to be regarded as historical, though reservations are sometimes made innbsp;certain cases, especially that of the hero Beowulf himself.^ Further, innbsp;cases where English and Northern tradition differs in regard to the positionnbsp;and relationships of various persons, the general tendency is to follownbsp;the English authorities, as being by several centuries the earlier. Wenbsp;have no doubt that these views are substantially correct.

The same remarks apply in general to other stories which are preserved in both English and Northern tradition. It is to be observed, however, that most of them seem to relate to earlier times than thenbsp;Beowulf story. Thus the story of the English kings Wermund and Offa,nbsp;which is preserved in both English and Danish tradition, relates to thenbsp;fourth century according to the genealogies; while various othernbsp;stories probably belong to the fifth century. In such cases the existencenbsp;of the double tradition cannot be said to be equivalent to a contemporary record, though it carries the evidence back to within a century ornbsp;two of the heroes. Much the same may be said with regard to storiesnbsp;which are preserved in both Scandinavian and German tradition,nbsp;though it is less clear at what date these traditions became independentnbsp;of one another. For the purpose of comparative study it may be ofnbsp;interest to set out the family relations of the heroes who figure in thenbsp;most famous of these stories.

Brunhilt = Gunther Gernot Giselher Siegfried = (i) Kriemhilt (2) = Etzel Dankrat is the name of the father in the Nibelungenlied^ but Gibicho innbsp;Waltharius Manu Fortis, and similar forms in other sources.

Apart from the family itself the most important character in the story is Hagen, a vassal of the kings but apparently not related to them.nbsp;The death of the three brothers and of Hagen at the hands of the Huns isnbsp;due to Kriemhilt, who desires to exact vengeance for the murder ofnbsp;Siegfried, not to Etzel, who is opposed to it. The story ends with thenbsp;slaying of Kriemhilt by Hildebrand, the follower of Dietrich. Etzelnbsp;remains alive.

THE HEROIC AGE nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;139

comes from the lower Rhine�Xanten. The scene of the second part is laid in the land of the Huns, on the Danube.

Brynhildr = Gunnarr H�gni Sigur�r = (i) GuSnin (2) = Atli Gullrond (or Inbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I Gu�n�)

Here the names Gj�ki, Gunnarr, Brynhildr, H�gni, SigurSr and Atli correspond to Gibicho, Gunther, Brunhilt, Hagen, Siegfried and Etzelnbsp;respectively. The name Grimhildr can hardly be dissociated fromnbsp;Kriemhilt, but the place of the latter in the story is taken by GuSr�n.nbsp;Gullr�nd appears only in Gu^T�narkv�a �, GuSny in the Skaldskap-armdl. In Gudr�narkvi�a I Gj�ki has a sister called Gjaflaug. In thenbsp;Atlamdl Gunnarr has a second wife called Glaurav�r, while H�gni has anbsp;wife called Kostbera and a son called Hniflungr. H�gni is always anbsp;brother of Gunnarr and GuSr�n. Gotthormr, the actual slayer ofnbsp;SigurSr, is according to some authorities a stepson of Gj�ki. The deathnbsp;of Gunnarr and H�gni is due to Atli, not to GuSr�n, who tries to savenbsp;them. She avenges her brothers by killing her sons Erpr and Eitill, andnbsp;giving their flesh to Atli (their father) to eat, and then by murderingnbsp;Atli himself. She survives, and eventually marries a third husbandnbsp;called J�nakr.'

The scene of the first part of the story is �to the south of the Rhine�. SigurSr comes from Denmark. The nationality of Gunnarr and hisnbsp;family is practically forgotten. The name �Burgundian� occurs onlynbsp;once. They are sometimes called � Goths �, more frequently Hniflungarnbsp;or Gj�kungar. The scene of the second part of the story is laid in thenbsp;land of the Huns, which is sometimes regarded as over the sea. Northernnbsp;features, e.g. glaciers, sometimes occur in the topography.

In this story again it will be seen that the chief characters and their relationships to one another are in general the same in both the Germannbsp;and the Norse traditions�with the exception that in the latter H�gni isnbsp;represented as a member of the family. There is also a difference in thenbsp;name of the wife of SigurSr and Atli. In the minor characters there is anbsp;good deal of variation between the two traditions, just as in the story ofnbsp;the Scyldingas.

no doubt that the story went to the North from Germany. The forms of the names show that this must have taken place by the eighth century,nbsp;and probably not later than the seventh. It will be seen that the localnbsp;and national names are much better preserved in the German traditionnbsp;than in the Norse, although the latter has come down to us in earliernbsp;works.

This story is not found in English sources. Gifeca and Guthhere are, however, mentioned in Widsith as kings of the Burgundians, whilenbsp;Guthhere and Hagena appear in the Waldhere fragments, without anynbsp;indication of the nature of the relationship existing between them. It hasnbsp;already been mentioned that Atli (Etzel) and Gunnarr (Gunther) arenbsp;well-known historical characters. The latter was slain by the Huns innbsp;437. Gundobad, who became king of the Burgundians in 474, in hisnbsp;Lex Burdungionum refers to Gibica, Godomares, Gislaharius andnbsp;Gundaharius among his predecessors.

There are other stories for which no historical evidence is available and for which we are entirely, or almost entirely, dependent on a comparative study of the traditions. Such is the case, for example, with thenbsp;story of HeSinn and H�gni, which was apparently one of the mostnbsp;widely known of all the Teutonic heroic stories.

As the evidence under (^) and (c) is comparatively abundant, it is hardly necessary to enter into (t/), which is rather doubtful, except innbsp;Norse. In regard to (e) it may be said that in general heroic tradition isnbsp;consistent�more so of course within each of the areas than betweennbsp;one area and another, as in the examples given above. Discrepancies andnbsp;anachronisms, however, are not rare, especially in late works. Instancesnbsp;will be noticed in the following chapter.

As regards ( �) much valuable evidence is afforded by the English poems, e.g. with respect to weapons and heathen rites. In particular itnbsp;may be noted that swords are frequently described as damascened.nbsp;Many such swords have been found in the peat bogs of Denmark andnbsp;Sleswick, dating from the fourth and following centuries; but nonbsp;examples earlier than the Viking Age have been discovered in thisnbsp;country, so far as we are aware.

Further, the political geography of the stories is in general that of the times to which they relate. This again is most true in the case of thenbsp;English poems, whereas in Norse records the names of ancient peoplesnbsp;tend to disappear or become confused. The catalogues of Widsith shownbsp;a geography, which�excluding of course the Biblical additions�goesnbsp;back to the fifth century, and in some items apparently still earlier; and

I4I there can hardly be any doubt that, at least in the main, these cataloguesnbsp;are derived from heroic stories.

The value of this evidence may be illustrated by one or two examples. The story of HeSinn and H�gni was known in England, Germany andnbsp;the North; but it is one of the cases for which no strictly historicalnbsp;evidence is available.^ The geography of the different traditions of thenbsp;story varies greatly. The German account places Hagen in Ireland andnbsp;Hetel in Denmark. In the Norse records the story begins apparently innbsp;the Baltic and ends in the Orkneys, while Saxo speaks only of Denmark and the Baltic. But Widsith, which is older by several centuriesnbsp;than any of the other authorities, states that Hagena (H�gni) was kingnbsp;of the Holmryge, a people who are known to have occupied the coastnbsp;of Pomerania in early times.� Now if, as we may presume, Widsithnbsp;derived this information from the story�naturally a much earlier formnbsp;of the story than any of those which survive�it would seem that thenbsp;story came into existence while the Holmryge were still known. Butnbsp;there can hardly be any doubt that the whole of eastern Germany hadnbsp;become Slavonic before the end of the fifth century, and that the onlynbsp;Holmryge or Rugi who then remained were those who had settled innbsp;Austria. The early disappearance of the nation is probably responsiblenbsp;for the varying geography of the existing forms of the story.

Another case for which no historical evidence is available is that of the Battle of the Goths and Huns. This story is preserved only in Norse,nbsp;but Widsith refers to several of the characters. Among other localities,nbsp;which cannot be identified, the Norse poem gives the name of thenbsp;Dnieper�which was possibly misunderstood�and also the namenbsp;MyrkviSr, which in other Norse heroic poems is applied to a forestnbsp;region in the land of the Huns.3 But Widsith (119 ff.), referring to thenbsp;same battle, says that the Goths were defending their ancient homenbsp;against the Huns �around the forest of the Vistula�. It is clear then thatnbsp;the scene of the story was laid in Poland�perhaps also in the Ukraine.nbsp;In point of fact this region was the ancient home of the Goths; butnbsp;they had disappeared from it before the middle of the fifth century at the

� Cf. Tacitus, Germ. 43 ; Jordanes, Get. 4. In the former they are called Rugii, in the latter Ulmerugi (for Holm-}. Their name survives in R�genwalde andnbsp;probably in R�gen.

3 It is worth noting that in a fragment of verse quoted in the saga, just before the poem, HeiSrekr is said to have perished undHarvariafj�llum (�below the mountainsnbsp;of H.�), an expression which may preserve an early Teutonic form of the name ofnbsp;the Carpathians; cf. Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, p. 145.

latest. Here again tlierefore, as in the last case, we find a political geography, long obsolete, which must have served as the frameworknbsp;of the story and could hardly have been preserved without it. Thisnbsp;consideration does not actually prove the stories to be historical, but itnbsp;raises a strong presumption in favour of that view.

Personal names (^), especially if they are of unusual types, may supply valuable evidence for a knowledge of heroic stories (cf. p. 134).nbsp;Thus the occurrence of the names Widsith and Beowulf {Biuuulf} in thenbsp;Durham Liber Vitae�va. sections where the names are apparently thosenbsp;of persons belonging to the seventh century�shows that these charactersnbsp;were already known in England. But it is rarely, if ever, possible tonbsp;find such names at a date sufficiently early to prove the historicity ofnbsp;the characters from whom they are taken. The Frankish duke Chedinusnbsp;(HeSinn), who lived in the latter part of the sixth century, may wellnbsp;have got his name from the story noticed above; but we do not knownbsp;how long the story had then been in circulation.^ A better case perhapsnbsp;is that of the Gothic general Sarus, who was serving in Italy during thenbsp;early years of the fifth century. He may have taken his name from thenbsp;Sarus who with his brother Ammius (S�rli and HamSir) made thenbsp;famous attack upon Eormenric (cf. Jord. 24). If this was a historicalnbsp;event it must have taken place not long before 370. But it is possiblenbsp;that the name was current among the Goths before this. Again, thenbsp;Burgundian king Sigismund, son of Gundobad, had a grown-up familynbsp;when he was killed, c. 524; he must therefore have been born beforenbsp;480. As his name is the only one in the dynasty, so far as we know,nbsp;which has not initial G-, one is strongly tempted to derive it from Sig-mundr (Siegmund), the father of Sigur�r (Siegfried), who is representednbsp;as living about fifty years before.^ But not one of these cases can benbsp;regarded as conclusive.

For the British Heroic Age3 there is a little evidence which must certainly be included among contemporary native records (a). Gildas,

� The name nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;is rare. There is another HeSinn, who figures in Hdgakvi�a

Hj�rvardssonar, a brother of the hero ; but he is not mentioned except in this poem.

� In some of the Norse records SigurSr has also an infant son called Sigmundr, who is killed with him.

3 Prof. F. Lot in his paper �Bretons et Anglais aux V�et VI� Si�cles� (Proc. Brit. Acad., 1930) allows little value to the historical records available for the periodnbsp;under discussion. He makes no charge of wholesale and deliberate fabrication, asnbsp;some writers on this side of the Channel have done; his attitude is purely negative.nbsp;It would be out of place here to discuss his opinion at length, more especially as he is

143 cap. 27 ff., writing apparently not long before the middle of the sixthnbsp;century, attacks several of the kings of his time for their vices, and amongnbsp;them (cap. 33 ff.) Maglocunus, i.e. Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, who isnbsp;frequently mentioned in the poems and other records of the Heroic Age,nbsp;and who according to the Annales Cambriae died in 548. Gildas chargesnbsp;him with various crimes, but recognises his pre-eminent position.nbsp;Another passage in the same work (cap. 26) refers to the siege ofnbsp;Badonicus Mons, which in the Historia BTittonum (see below) is onenbsp;of Arthur�s battles; but Gildas mentions no personal name in thisnbsp;connection.

Under (a) we may also doubtless include some monumental evidence. In the church of Llangadwaladr, near Aberffraw, in the south ofnbsp;Anglesey, there is the monument�now built into the north wall of thenbsp;nave�of Catamanus Rex, i.e. Cadfan, a descendant of Maelgwn andnbsp;father of the famous Cadwallon. The date of Cadfan�s death is unknown, but in all probability it was within the first quarter of thenbsp;seventh century. Another monument, found near Yarrow Kirk innbsp;Selkirkshire, is not wholly legible, but seems to mark the grave of twonbsp;sons of Nodus (or Nudus} Liberalis. This person is probably to benbsp;identified with Nudd Hael,^ a prince who is occasionally mentioned innbsp;records of the Heroic Age. According to a genealogy given by Skene,nbsp;Four Ancient Books, i. p. 169, he was first cousin to Rhydderch Hael.nbsp;In a story contained in the Welsh Laws, Nen. 11. ii. i (cf. p. 46), he isnbsp;said to have made an attack upon Arfon (Carnarvonshire) along withnbsp;other � Men of the North��Clydno Eidyn, Rhydderch Haeland Mordafnbsp;chiefly concerned with the fifth century, which lies outside our scope. We are innbsp;agreement with much (not all) that he says about the early entries in the Saxonnbsp;Chronicle. But his treatment of the British evidence seems to us to go much too farnbsp;on the negative side. Our view is (i) that if one admits only evidence which isnbsp;strictly first class�i.e. our (a) and perhaps contemporary (fi)�and rejects all late ornbsp;indirect evidence and that of records preserved by oral tradition, one cannot butnbsp;get an entirely erroneous impression of the British�or any other�Heroic Age;nbsp;and (2) that fictitious elements require to be demonstrated just as much as historicalnbsp;elements. We confess therefore that we must identify ourselves with the charlatannbsp;depicted on the last page of M. Lot�s paper; and so we will now proceed with thenbsp;production of the counterfeit guinea.

� This is the interpretation given by Rhys, Academy, 29 Aug. 1891. A different interpretation is given by Diack, Scottish Gaelic Studies, n. 221 ff., who takes nudinbsp;to be Gaelic (�grave�). But is not the inscription, like that of Llangadwaladr, annbsp;attempt�not very successful�at hexameter verse It may be observed that thenbsp;word hael, �generous�, is applied as a kind of surname to more than one of Nudd�snbsp;relatives, as well as to himself.

Hael. He is also mentioned in at least one of the panegyrics upon Urien {Tai. xxxvii), as well as in the Triads. He was evidently a contemporary of Rhydderch Hael, and therefore lived presumably in the latternbsp;part of the sixth century (see below).

The Annales Cambriae and the Historia Brittonum contain a certain number of notices which may properly belong here; but in view of thenbsp;uncertainty prevailing as to the history of these works it will benbsp;preferable to treat their evidence as a whole under (tZ) below.

Independent foreign evidence is limited in amount but valuable. Adamnan, Life of St Columba, i. 151 (which was written about thenbsp;end of the seventh century), states that the saint was once consulted bynbsp;Rodercus son of Tothail, who reigned upon the �Rock of the Clyde�nbsp;(i.e. Dumbarton), and who wished to know whether he would be slainnbsp;by his enemies. The reply was that he would die at home in his bed;nbsp;and so it came to pass eventually. This prince is certainly identical withnbsp;Rhydderch Hael (son of Tudwal), who has been mentioned frequentlynbsp;above ; and the passage shows that Rhydderch must have been reigningnbsp;before 597, when St Columba died. Another passage in the same worknbsp;(i. i) records the battle in which Cation (i.e. Cadwallon, king of Gwynedd) was defeated and slain by Oswald.

The wars carried on by Caedualla (Cadwallon) in the north of England are described briefly by Bede, Hist. Eccl. 11. 20-111. 2. It isnbsp;clear that they took place in the years 633-4. Apart from this Bede givesnbsp;us little information bearing upon the British Heroic Age. He recordsnbsp;the battle of Chester {ib. ii. 2), which was fought about 614-15 ; but thenbsp;only British name he mentions in connection with it is that of Brocmailnbsp;(Brochfael), who was in charge of the monks of Bangor. It is justnbsp;possible that this is the Brochfael, king of Powys, celebrated in Tai.nbsp;XIV. 7 f.�the father of Cynan Garwyn (cf. p. 39), whose son Selyfnbsp;was killed in the battle (see below); but the name Brochfael seems tonbsp;have been a favourite one in this family. Other early English authoritiesnbsp;add practically nothing. In the Saxon Chronicle, ann. 577, threenbsp;British kings are said to have been killed in a battle at Dyrham, nearnbsp;Bath; and one of them, called Condidan, has been identified by somenbsp;writers with the Cynddylan celebrated in RBH. xvi (cf. p. 38).

The evidence of traditions preserved independently in different regions (c) is somewhat doubtful in the case of flie British Heroic Age.nbsp;From the close of this period�early in the seventh century�thenbsp;surviving British territories were cut off from contact with one anothernbsp;' Cap. 8 in Reeves� edition.

145 by land. But the Britons of Strathclyde were to some extent in communication with Wales in the ninth century, and perhaps even later.nbsp;For Cornwall and Brittany there are no satisfactory early records.nbsp;Consequently, although British heroic stories were evidently muchnbsp;cultivated in Brittany�from whence they became known to thenbsp;French�it is uncertain at what point the tradition ceased to be innbsp;touch with that of Wales. In view of certain unhistorical associations,nbsp;e.g. that of Owein, son of Urien, with Arthur, which appears both innbsp;the Welsh Dream lt;�Rhonabwy and in Chrestien de Troyes, though notnbsp;in the Welsh poems, it would seem that communication did not ceasenbsp;very early�indeed the severance may never have been complete.nbsp;On the other hand, the Breton tradition may well have developednbsp;special features; but the evidence here is so complex that we are notnbsp;prepared to deal with it.

Under �evidence from independent traditions within the same community�we may consider the information contained in Lives ofnbsp;the Saints. Here�i.e. under (J) rather than (c)�we should perhapsnbsp;include the saints of the North, if we are right in believing that Strathclyde was in communication with Wales for two or three centuriesnbsp;after the close of the Heroic Age.

The value of this class of evidence again is dilEcult to estimate. There seems, however, to be no reasonable ground for doubting thatnbsp;much of the information contained in the Lives of St Kentigern isnbsp;independent of heroic tradition. Such is the case, for example, withnbsp;what is said about Rederech (Rhydderch) and Morken (Morcant) innbsp;Jocelin�s Life. But one would like to know the origin of the story in thenbsp;earlier Life, dedicated to Bp. Herbert (cf.p. 108 f.), cap. i f., that Owein,nbsp;the son of Urien, was St Kentigern�s father. One is naturally inclined tonbsp;treat this as an idle tale, arising from the desire to connect the saint withnbsp;a famous hero.' But the form of Urien�s name {Erwegende} is against anbsp;late derivation of the story. Moreover, it is clear from cap. 3 that anbsp;sequel to it was contained in the later chapters (now lost)�in the formnbsp;of an interview between St Kentigern and Owein. There is some reasonnbsp;therefore for thinking that, whether true or not, the story may benbsp;derived from early ecclesiastical tradition.� The dates are not impossible,

I The sentence next after that which first mentions Owein adds : ingestis historiarum uocatur Ewenfilius regts Ulien-, but this is evidently a late gloss.

� In various Genealogies of the Saints (Afyv. Arch. pp. 415,421) St Kentigern is sometimes son, sometimes grandson of Owein, son of Urien. In later Scottishnbsp;records Eugenius (i.e. Owein) is his father.

In the Lives of Welsh saints heroes who belonged to Gwynedd and Powys figure frequently. Sometimes they are represented as treating thenbsp;saints generously, sometimes as oppressing them. In the latter case anbsp;miracle usually follows, and the hero sometimes repents and is forgiven. The incidents themselves are rarely connected with anythingnbsp;which we know from heroic poetry or saga, and show as a rule no tracenbsp;of derivation or influence from this quarter. Maelgwn is perhaps thenbsp;hero who appears most often, generally in a more or less unfavourablenbsp;light. Among his descendants Cadfan and Cadwallon are also mentioned. Of heroes belonging to Powys, Cynan Garwyn figures in thenbsp;Life of St Cadoc, cap. 41, and in that of St Beuno,^ and Selyf, son ofnbsp;Cynan, also in the latter. In stories relating to the south-east of Walesnbsp;we sometimes meet with Arthur and his heroes Cai and Bedwyr. What isnbsp;said of Arthur is not always much to his credit. We may instance thenbsp;scene in the Prologue to the Life of St Cadoc, where he is inclined tonbsp;waylay a fugitive and take his wife.

The Lives are not preserved in early form�in no case earlier than the eleventh century. This leaves an interval of at least four centuries,nbsp;during which they were known probably by oral tradition only. The samenbsp;remark applies to the Genealogies of the Saints, of which the earliestnbsp;texts are still later. Giraldus Cambrensis, Descr. Kambriae, i. 17, saysnbsp;that the Welsh of his time�the twelfth century�paid such attentionnbsp;to genealogies that even commoners could trace their ancestry back tonbsp;the sixth or seventh generation. But in the Genealogies of the Saints wenbsp;have to reckon with a period about three times as long; so caution isnbsp;obviously necessary. The number of heroes who figure as fathers ornbsp;ancestors of saints is considerable, and they come from all parts of thenbsp;country. In the south-west we find saints who are said to be sons ofnbsp;Gereint, son of Erbin.

More important is the evidence of the Annales Cambriae in MS. Harl. 3859, the genealogies which immediately follow in the same MS.,nbsp;and the Historia Brittonum^ one of the best texts of which is likewisenbsp;preserved in this MS. The origin of the Annales is unknown. The lastnbsp;entry relates to c. 955, and there is no reason for doubting that thenbsp;text in its present form dates from about that time, although the MS.nbsp;itself was written about a century and a half later. But it cannot have

� Rees, Lives of the Cambro-British Saints, pp. 79, 15, 17 (transi, pp. 375, 302, 304).

been originally composed at that time. Many events in the seventh and following centuries, and some even in the sixth, are dated with approximate correctness�which at least shows the extensive use of earliernbsp;materials, often unknown to us. Moreover, from its primitive characternbsp;and from the fact that it frequently betrays the influence of an obsoletenbsp;system of chronology we may infer with confidence that it has anbsp;long history of its own behind it. Many of the earliest entries relate tonbsp;Irish affairs, including those of Iona and the kingdom of the Scots innbsp;Argyll; and consequently it is commonly held that the Annales Cam-briae are derived from an Irish collection of annals. There is certainly anbsp;connection of some kind in the early entries�down to the beginningnbsp;of the eighth century; but we are not satisfied that this explanation isnbsp;quite correct.^ The British and Irish churches were without doubt innbsp;communication with one another in the sixth century, and very probablynbsp;down to the time (c. 718) when the last (Columban) Irish monasteriesnbsp;conformed to Roman usage. Such communication would naturallynbsp;lead to the interchange of information and of documents of the � calendar� type between Irish and British monasteries; and it is to this interchange, rather than to the borrowing of an Irish chronicle, that wenbsp;would attribute the references to Irish events.

This explanation is favoured not only by the extreme meagreness of the Welsh annals, as compared with the Irish, but also by the fact thatnbsp;the borrowing is not all on one side. It is true that for the fifth and sixthnbsp;centuries there is little or nothing in the Irish annals to set against thenbsp;references to Irish affairs in the Welsh. In the early part of the seventhnbsp;century, however, the Irish annals contain a number of references to

* It seems to be derived ultimately from the Paschal Tables of Victorius of Aquitaine, which were adopted by Pope Leo I in 457. The first entry in the Annalesnbsp;relates to this event, though it is not correctly dated. The first year (blank) of thenbsp;Annales is probably 446 (not 444), i.e. the initial year of the 19-year cycle current atnbsp;the time when the new reckoning was adopted. It may also be noted that in thenbsp;brief Calculi which immediately precede the Annales in the MS., but which properly,nbsp;as in many other MSS., form the conclusion of the Historia Brittonum, two of thenbsp;dates selected are the Consulship of Constantinus and Rufus (a.d. 457) and that ofnbsp;the two Gemini, Rufus and Rubellius (a.d. 29). The latter date is that of the Passion,nbsp;the starting point of Victorius� cycles. From other references in the Hist. Brittonumnbsp;it is clear that this scheme of chronology was well known in Wales.

2 Victorius and his Paschal Cycle are frequently mentioned by early Irish authorities; cf. Ann. Ult. 455 and Hennessy�s note ad loc. {Annals of Ulster, I. 16).nbsp;But we do not know of any Irish chronicles which show signs of being based thereupon. Moreover, the Irish chronicles are so full, even for the seventh century andnbsp;earlier, that it is difficult to believe that so meagre a record as the Annales Cambriaenbsp;can be derived from them.

British affairs, which correspond to entries in the Annales Cambriae, and which are not derived from English sources, as the later referencesnbsp;to Britain evidently are. This fact is important; for there is no doubtnbsp;that the notices to which we refer were contained in an Irish chroniclenbsp;written very early in the eighth century. They are good evidencenbsp;therefore for the existence of written records in Britain during thenbsp;seventh century. The evidence is not sufficient to show that anythingnbsp;which can properly be called a chronicle was in existence so early; but itnbsp;is clear that some of the matter incorporated in the Annales Cambriaenbsp;goes back to this time.

There need be no hesitation in regarding as historical such notices of British affairs as occur both in the Annales Cambriae and in the Irishnbsp;annals. Among these we may include the reference to the death ofnbsp;Selyf, son of Cynan (Garwyn), at the battle of Chester in 614. Thenbsp;Irish authorities here are more detailed, especially the Annals of Tigernacht Another example is the notice of the slaying of ludris (probablynbsp;king of Meirionydd) in 633. The references to Cadwallon�s battles innbsp;631 and 632 may also be examples; but here the question is complicatednbsp;by the existence of a literary connection between these entries and thenbsp;Historia Brittonum. On the other hand, there are about the same timenbsp;several entries relating to Welsh affairs, which do not appear in thenbsp;Irish annals. We are inclined to believe that these, as well as the entriesnbsp;noticed above, come from contemporary records�and consequentlynbsp;fall under (a)�but this cannot be proved.

Between the middle of the seventh century and the middle of the eighth the Annales Cambriae contain apparently only four entriesnbsp;relating to Wales (including Cornwall). Then, after an interval ofnbsp;more than thirty years, they begin again in 755. Soon after 800 theynbsp;become so frequent that we are justified in assuming the existence of anbsp;real chronicle of some kind.

In the intervening period, 650-750, most of the references to Britain relate to the affairs of the North Britons, the Northumbrians and thenbsp;Picts. These notices actually begin in 574 and cover a period of justnbsp;over two centuries. They point clearly to the existence of a briefnbsp;chronicle, or at least of written records of some kind, among the Northnbsp;Britons (Strathclyde) during the latter part of the eighth century. Thenbsp;entries which concern us here are the earliest of the series: 574 the battlenbsp;of Armterid (Arderydd), 581 the death of Gwrgi and Peredur, 596 thenbsp;death of King Dunawd, 613 the death of St Kentigern. These entriesnbsp;� Rev. Celt. -iiNl�. 171-

149 cannot be proved to come under (a), though we suspect this to be truenbsp;at least for the last of them. The other three are at all events rather earlynbsp;examples of (lt;/). It may be observed that Dunawd is not a prominentnbsp;figure in the poems, though he is mentioned in RBH. xn. 37, as well asnbsp;occasionally in the Triads.

Three entries remain to be considered: 517 and 538 the references to Arthur�s battles, Bellum Badonis and Camlann, and 548 the plague innbsp;which Maelgwn died. The source of the two former is unknown. In thenbsp;first there is a discrepancy with the Hist. Brittonum as to the battle innbsp;which Arthur carried the cross, while Camlann is not mentioned in thenbsp;latter work. The third entry in part corresponds verbally to the Irishnbsp;annals I and may be derived from them; but the Irish annals do notnbsp;mention Maelgwn. He was a contemporary of Gildas (cf. p. 143) andnbsp;certainly lived about this time; and since non-heroic tradition^ represents him as dying of the �yellow plague� the notice, whatever may benbsp;its origin, is probably correct. As for the other notices one would likenbsp;to know when and from whence they found their way into the Annales.nbsp;If an obscure passage of Gildas, cap. 26, is rightly interpreted to meannbsp;that the siege of the Badonicus Mons took place forty-four years beforenbsp;the time at which he was writing, there is a chronological error either innbsp;517 or in 548; for Gildas speaks of Maelgwn as still alive.

The Annales Cambriae are immediately followed in the MS. by a series of genealogies thirty-one in number�not counting the list ofnbsp;Cunedda�s sons, which comes at the end. Most of these genealogies arenbsp;found also in other MSS., of which the most important are Jesusnbsp;College (Oxford) 20 and Hengwrt 536. According to Loth, Lesnbsp;Mabinogion, 11. 326,349, both of these date from the fourteenth century.nbsp;The Hengwrt MS. gives only the genealogies of the �Men of the North�.nbsp;The language in both cases is modernised, whereas that of the Harl.nbsp;text is of the oldest type.

The connection of the genealogies with the annals in Harl. 3859 is not due to mere accident. The first two genealogies give the paternalnbsp;and maternal descent of Owein, son of Howel the Good. Oweinnbsp;reigned in the south-west of Wales (Dyfed and Seisyllwg) fromnbsp;c. 950 to 988, and it is in the early years of his reign that the annals comenbsp;to an end. There can be little doubt therefore that the original MS.�nbsp;both of the annals and the genealogies�from which Harl. 3859 isnbsp;derived, was written at this time. But this MS. was �original� only for

the text in its final form. The genealogies, like the annals, have a history behind them. Only the genealogies of Owein and perhaps one othernbsp;(Dunoding) come down to the tenth century. Of the remainder at leastnbsp;seven extend to the ninth century, while most of the others� come to annbsp;end in earlier times. Even the genealogy of the kings of Gwyneddnbsp;contemporary with Owein is wanting.

An explanation of these facts may be obtained by consulting the Jesus genealogies. This text contains a number of later genealogies ;nbsp;but the lines which correspond to the longer Harleian genealogiesnbsp;usually stop at about the same point. Here, however, the centre-pointnbsp;is not Owein, son of Howel, but his great-grandfather, Rhodri thenbsp;Great (r. 844-877). Four lines of this king�s ancestry are given, besidesnbsp;a list of his sons and the genealogy of his wife. The other long genealogies are those of his contemporaries; and the common source of thenbsp;Harleian and Jesus texts must have been drawn up in his reign. Thisnbsp;explanation will account for the curious inclusion in the former of anbsp;line (No. iv) which ends c. 750; in Jesus (No. xix) it is one of Rhodri�snbsp;lines of ancestry. It is curious, but presumably due to accident, thatnbsp;Rhodri�s direct paternal ancestry�from Llywarch Hen�is omitted,nbsp;though it is preserved in Jesus (No. xvii).

The shorter lines in the Harleian text are partly collateral branches of the longer ones. Thus to the line of Powys (No. xxvii) four collateralnbsp;branches (Nos. xxii, xxiii, xxx, xxxi) are given. The rest, so far asnbsp;they can be identified, belong to the series of the �Men of the North�.nbsp;Six of these (Nos. vi-xii)3 come together in a group, after the genealogynbsp;of Strathclyde (No. v), while another, a collateral of No. xi, is introduced later (No. xix). Now it can hardly be an accident that the four

� All except five, which we have not been able to identify, viz. xvi, xx, xxi, XXIV, XXV. The first and possibly also the last of these might reach to the ninthnbsp;century, judging from their length. The other three are quite short�five, two andnbsp;eight names respectively. According to Phillimore, Cymmr. ix. 145, note, xxv isnbsp;Damnonian. In xvi the genealogy is traced back to a long list of Roman emperors.

� The lines of (non-insular) Gwynedd and Meirionydd (Harl. in, xviii; Jes. XXXIX, XLi) end with the same names. In place of the last Cardigan king in Harl.nbsp;XXVI, Jes. XXI gives his sister Angharad, wife of Rhodri. In Dunoding Harl. xviinbsp;adds one name to the list of Jes. XL. On the other hand, Jes. ix has a later (collateral)nbsp;line for Morgannwg-Gwent in place of Harl. xxx (which ends in 848) and xxxinbsp;(a generation later).

3 We think that No. vii was originally not a separate genealogy but an unhappy correction of No. vi by someone who had Clydno Eidyn in his mind (cf. Hengwrt,nbsp;No. Ul').

15I names with which the first four genealogies (vi, viii-x) begin occurnbsp;also as a group in the Historia Brittonum, cap. 63. There the order of thenbsp;names is Urien {Urbgen), Rhydderch Hen, Gwallawg, Morcant. In thenbsp;genealogies it is the same, except that Rhydderch Hen comes first, ,nbsp;presumably because it was seen that his genealogy was a collateral of thenbsp;immediately preceding (Strathclyde) line. We may note also that innbsp;both cases Rhydderch is called Hen, � old, ancient �, not Hael, * generous �,nbsp;the epithet which he usually bears in the poems.

The two following genealogies (Nos. xi, xii) are those of Dunawd and of Gwrgi and Peredur. Again, it can hardly be an accident that these arenbsp;the heroes whose deaths are recorded in the annals (596, 581 ; cf. p. 148)nbsp;�the only northern heroes mentioned in that work. Yet we have seennbsp;that Dunawd is not a prominent figure in heroic story. Here then wenbsp;have another connection between the genealogies and the annals.

The connection between the northern genealogies in Harl. 3859 on the one hand and the annals and the Historia Brittonum on the othernbsp;may perhaps best be appreciated by a reference to the genealogies of thenbsp;�Men of the North� in Hengwrt 536. The latter text gives elevennbsp;genealogies, of which only four (those of Urien, Rhydderch, Dunawd,nbsp;and Gwrgi-Peredur) occur in Harl. 3859, while the genealogies ofnbsp;Gwallawg and Morcant are wanting. It may be noted that Rhydderchnbsp;bears the epithet Hael here, as in the poems. On the other hand, thosenbsp;genealogies which are found in both texts begin at the same point.nbsp;Urien�s sons are not mentioned in either, though Owein is scarcely lessnbsp;famous than his father. In the same way Hengwrt in, which is wantingnbsp;in the other text, begins with Clydno Eidyn, ignoring his more famousnbsp;son, Cynon. Lastly, it may be observed that the first names in all thesenbsp;genealogies�in both texts�stand either in the fifth or sixth generationnbsp;from a certain Coel or in the second, third or fourth generation from anbsp;certain Dyfnwal Hen. Dunawd, Gwrgi and Peredur belong to thenbsp;former series, and Rhydderch to the latter; and as these are all said tonbsp;have lived at the same time�towards the close of the sixth century�itnbsp;follows that the persons with whom all these genealogies begin werenbsp;all more or less contemporary. The period to which they belonged isnbsp;separated by more than two centuries and a half from the reign ofnbsp;Rhodri the Great.

As regards the question how far the genealogies are to be trusted, we have the following data. The Irish story of the � Expulsion of the Deisi �nbsp;cap. II, contains the genealogy of Dyfed in a form derived from a textnbsp;� Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Y Cymmrodor, xiv (p. 112).

written during the reign of Tewdos, the father of Maredudd who died in 796. This text agrees with the genealogy of Dyfed given in Harl.nbsp;3859 (No. ii) as far back as the fifth century, though the earliest namesnbsp;in the genealogy differ,^ and the origin of the family is traced not tonbsp;Maxen Gwledig, but to an Irish source. Again, the king belonging tonbsp;this dynasty mentioned by Gildas �V^ortiporius, Guortepir) comes atnbsp;approximately the right place in the genealogy; and the same is true ofnbsp;the king called Cuneglasus {Cynlas in the line of Gwynedd) recorded bynbsp;the same author. Further, in the genealogy of Strathclyde (Harl. No. v)nbsp;Beli, Tewdwr and Dyfnwal, who according to the annals died innbsp;722, 750 and 760 respectively, are in the sixth, seventh and eighthnbsp;generations from Dyfnwal Hen,^ while Rhydderch, who lived towardsnbsp;the close of the sixth century (cf. p. 144), is in the third generation, by anbsp;collateral line, from the same man. Again, Dyfnwal Hen himself isnbsp;grandson of Ceredig Gwledig {Ceretic Guletic), who is in all probabilitynbsp;to be identified with the king Coroticus, to whose soldiers St Patricknbsp;addressed his Epistle (c. 440�460).3 All this tends to show that the royalnbsp;genealogies^ are generally trustworthy at least as far back as thenbsp;beginning of the sixth century�^which covers the period with which

I It may be observed that the genealogy of Dyfed in Jes. 20 differs widely from the Harl. text from the point at which the agreement with the Irish ceases. The firstnbsp;name beyond this point is in Jes. 20 Ewein vreisc, in the Irish Aedla) Brose. Nonbsp;name resembling these occurs in the Harl. text. This is one of the cases in which thenbsp;Jes. text preserves earlier readings.

� The king called Hoan, mentioned in Ann. Ult. 641 (also called Auin in 693) is probably to be identified with Eugein, who stands in the fourth generation fromnbsp;Dyfnwal Hen.

3 Coroticus is described as Coirthech regem Aloo in the Table of Contents to Muirchu�s Life of St Patrick. Aloo is presumably Alcluith (Dumbarton). Cf. Stokes,nbsp;Tripartite Life, pp. 271, 498; Bury, Life of St Patrick, p. 314.

The genealogies of the saints cannot be regarded with the same confidence. Most of the saints are represented as belonging to well-known royal families; butnbsp;in some cases this may be due to mere speculation. The numerous progeny attributednbsp;to Brychan is doubtless mainly of this origin. Of course even the royal genealogiesnbsp;not unfrequently omit one or more generations, as may be seen by comparing thenbsp;texts; and late texts sometimes show much larger lacunae. For an example of thisnbsp;one may refer to the genealogies of certain Carmarthenshire families published bynbsp;G. P. Jones, Y Cymmrodor, xxxv. tiyff. These genealogies are traced back tonbsp;Pascent, a son of Urien, and the generations when counted up would make the latternbsp;live in the early part of the tenth century. The author of the article infers from themnbsp;that Urien actually did live at this time and that he was a Norse Viking ruling in thenbsp;valley of the Tywi (Towy). It is Indeed remarkable how such an interpretationnbsp;could be put upon the poems and traditions relating to Urien, especially if one bearsnbsp;in mind that at the time specified this district was under the immediate rule of

I�3 we are concerned�though in regard to earlier times antiquarian speculation was already busy in the ninth century. It may be noted that nonbsp;genealogy is traced to Arthur, though his ancestry is given in one text.�

The Historia Brittonum is a work with a complicated literary history, j and preserved in a number of widely differing texts. It is much disputednbsp;whether these different texts represent successive editions of a work bynbsp;one author, Nennius, whose name is borne by the Prologus and thenbsp;Apologia, or whether this man merely edited and added to works whichnbsp;were in existence before�perhaps long before�his time.� Into thisnbsp;Howel the Good, and not very many miles distant from the place where he held hisnbsp;famous assembly. But the theory has to rest upon what is for many generations anbsp;single line of genealogy. No support is really afforded by the reference (ib. p. 129)nbsp;to a genealogy (No. xxxiii) in Jes. Coll. 20. It is there stated that Ellelw, wife ofnbsp;Llywelyn of Builth (who was bom c. 1050), was descended in the sixth generationnbsp;from a certain Gwgawn, who was�according to the emendation proposed�anbsp;grandson of Pascent, son of Urien. This Gwgawn then,according to the genealogy,nbsp;must have lived c. 900 or somewhat earlier; and the following sentence, whichnbsp;makes him slain at Abergwili with Llywelyn son of Seissyll�who fought at Aber-gwili in 1022 and died in 1023�must be corrupt. It seems to us that this sectionnbsp;(xxxiii) of the Jesus text has incorrectly incorporated (marginal) notes from annbsp;earlier MS., and consequently that the emendation which would connect thenbsp;genealogy with the family of Urien is extremely doubtful. We think that all that cannbsp;be inferred from the other genealogies is that in the Middle Ages (and later) therenbsp;were in Ystrad Tywi families which, rightly or wrongly, claimed to be descendednbsp;from Pascent, son of Urien. If this claim was not a mere invention a considerable,nbsp;though varying, number of steps must have been lost in the genealogies.

A more serious difficulty is presented by the fact that in all the genealogical texts known to us Cadwallon, who died in 634, is represented as in the fifth generation from Maelgwn, who died in 548�which is hardly credible. It is unlikely thatnbsp;any of the intervening names are fictitious; all of them, except Rhun, occur innbsp;historical records (cf. Ann. Cambr. 613). More probably either two brothers havenbsp;come to be represented as father and son, or two of the names originally belongednbsp;to one man. Was Iago {lacob) originally an alternative name of Cadfan.^ In any casenbsp;the mistake suggests that the various texts of this genealogy had a common origin,nbsp;perhaps in the ninth century.

Urbgen. At that time sometimes the enemy, sometimes the men of the country (dues) were conquered. And he beleaguered them for threenbsp;days and three nights in the island Metcaud (Lindisfarne). And whilenbsp;he was campaigning he was slain at the instigation of Morcant throughnbsp;jealousy, because he possessed above all kings the greatest valour in thenbsp;waging of battle�.

Of Dutigirn nothing is known. Aneirin claims to be the author of the Gododdin (j4n. i). Taliesin has been discussed above (p. 103 fl'.).nbsp;Talhaern and Cian are mentioned in Tai. vii, though no extant poemsnbsp;claim their authorship. Maelgwn has been frequently mentioned. Thenbsp;list of Cunedda�s sons is given in the Harleian genealogies. No. xxxii,nbsp;and elsewhere. The four British kings recorded in cap. 63 are those whosenbsp;genealogies occur in the same text, Nos. vi-x (cf. p. 150 f.). They allnbsp;figure also in heroic poetry, though the events here related of themnbsp;are not mentioned in the poems. According to RBH. xii. 45 andnbsp;Triad 38 in Hengwrt 536 Urien was slain by a certain LlofanLlawddinonbsp;(or Lawdifro). The two records do not of course necessarily excludenbsp;one another, especially since in RBH. xii. 40 Morcant appears as annbsp;opponent of Urien. But it is clear that the notices in the Historianbsp;Brittonum are not derived from any heroic records known to us.

Acquaintance with Taliesin and other early poets is shown in cap. 62. Knowledge of heroic story is shown also by a note in cap. 61, where in anbsp;Northumbrian genealogy the name of Eata, father of King Eadberhtnbsp;and Archbp Ecgberht is followed by the comment ipse est Eatanbsp;Glinmaur�i.e. he is identified, no doubt erroneously, with the heronbsp;Eda Glinmawr,�^ by whom Gwrgi and Peredur were slain (Hengwrtnbsp;Triad 35). But in general the notes do not convey the impression ofnbsp;being derived from heroic saga or poetry. They are clearly connectednbsp;with the Harleian genealogies; and it has been observed above (p. 151)nbsp;that in both documents alike Rhydderch bears the title �old, ancient�nbsp;instead of�generous� which is regularly applied to him in the poems.nbsp;The reason for this may be seen by referring to the genealogy ofnbsp;Strathclyde (Harl. No. v), where it appears that there was a secondnbsp;king called Rhydderch reigning c. 800.�

� For the genealogy of this person see Anscombe, Arch.f. celt. Lexikographie, ii. 154, 157. From this he would seem to have been regarded as English.

� Similarly, Rhydderch�s ancestor, Dyfnwal Hen (�the ancient�), probably owes his title to the desire to distinguish him from his descendant Dyfnwal who died innbsp;760.

question we cannot enter, though we think that, if the former view is correct, the author must have either incorporated or made very extensive use of earlier works, including a Life of St German. Nennius in hisnbsp;Apologia describes himself as a disciple of St Elfodd, who according tonbsp;the annals discussed above died as archbishop of Gwynedd in 809,nbsp;while in the Prologus he says that he was writing in the reign of Mer-fyni�who was king of Gwynedd from 816 or 825� to 844. It isnbsp;generally agreed that both the Harleian text and the (later) Cambridgenbsp;text date from about this time, or at least from the period c. 800-860.

The interest of the H'tstoria is essentially antiquarian. It deals with the origin of the Britons and the Irish, and incidentally refers to thenbsp;origin of several British dynasties. To traditions and speculations ofnbsp;this kind, which evidently were widely current among the Welsh of thenbsp;ninth century, we shall have to return later (Ch. x). References tonbsp;stories and persons of the Heroic Age are less frequent and practicallynbsp;confined to cap. 56-65.3

Cap. 56 is occupied with a list of twelve battles fought by Arthur. Among these are the battle of Tribruit, mentioned in BBC. xxxi, andnbsp;that of Mons Badonis., recorded�though without mention of Arthur�nbsp;by Gildas. There is no reference to Camlann or to Arthur�s death;nbsp;and it is not at Mons Badonis but in another battle that Arthur carries

155 the cross. Consequently, there is no evidence for a connection betweennbsp;this passage and the Annales Cambriae (cf. p. 149). The source ofnbsp;cap. 56 is in all probability to be sought in a catalogue poem similarnbsp;to RBH. XV, which gives a list of the places where Cadwallon pitchednbsp;his camp.

The groundwork of cap. 57�65 is derived from an English document consisting of the genealogies of various English dynasties and lists ofnbsp;Northumbrian and Mercian kings with the length of their reigns, andnbsp;dating from about the close of the eighth century. It is preserved innbsp;MS. CCCC. 183 and the Textus Roffensis, while traces of its use may benbsp;seen in the Saxon Chronicle and various other works. In the Historianbsp;Brittonum this matter has been expanded by the inclusion of a considerable number of notes. A few of these may be of English origin,nbsp;but most of them are British. They relate to Northumbrian and Britishnbsp;history. In the latter case they are concerned partly with Gwynedd andnbsp;partly with the Britons of the north.

The most important passages are the following: In cap. 62, immediately after a brief notice of Ida, the founder of the Bernician kingdom, we find: �Then Dutigirn at that time fought bravely against the nation ofnbsp;the English. Then Talhaern Tat Aguen (i.e. �father of the A wen�)nbsp;shone in poetry; and Neiren (Aneirin.^) and Taliessin and Bluchbardnbsp;and Cian who is called Gueinthguaut shone all together at one time innbsp;British poetry. A great king, Mailcunus (Maelgwn), reigned among thenbsp;Britons, that is in the land of Gwynedd; for his great-grandfather,nbsp;namely Cunedag, with his sons the number of whom was eight, hadnbsp;come previously from the North, namely from the land which is callednbsp;Manau Guotodin, a hundred and forty-six years before the reign ofnbsp;Mailcun. And they expelled the Scots from those lands with a mostnbsp;huge slaughter; and they never returned again to occupy them�.

Next follow the reigns of Ida�s successors�Adda, Aethelric, Theodric, Frithuwald and Hussa; and then comes the second importantnbsp;insertion: �Against them four kings, Urbgen (Urien) and Riderchnbsp;Hen and Guallanc (i.e. Gwallawg) and Morcant fought bravely.nbsp;Deodric (i.e. Theodric) with his sons fought bravely against that

� Van Hamel in Hoops� Reallexikon d. germ. Altertumskunde, s.v. Nennius, ��5,7, separates these two elements, holding that the lists of kings were includednbsp;in the earliest form of the Hist. Brit, (which he dates 687-705), while thenbsp;genealogies were introduced by Nennius between 820 and 859. It is true that thenbsp;two elements are sometimes found separately (e.g. Sweet, Oldest English Texts,nbsp;pp. 148, 169 ff.), and also that only the earlier parts of the lists of kings appear innbsp;the Hist. Brit.-, but we doubt if it is safe to build on these facts.

157 obtained�probably in written form��from Strathclyde about thenbsp;beginning of the ninth century. This may well be connected with thenbsp;Strathclyde annals noted above (p. 148) in the Annales Cambriae.nbsp;Further evidence for such northern information is supplied by a note innbsp;cap. 57, which states that Ecgfrith made war against his cousin callednbsp;Birdei, king of the Picts, and was slain in a battle called Gueith Linnnbsp;Garan. Moreover, such evidence is not confined to these chapters. Anbsp;good example occurs in cap. 23 (Cambridge text)�the description ofnbsp;the Roman wall between the Forth and the Clyde�which showsnbsp;intimate local knowledge, and cannot possibly be derived from Bede, asnbsp;has sometimes been suggested.^

From this northern source may well come also the much discussed statement, which is found both in cap. 63 and in the Annales Cambriaenbsp;(627), that the Northumbrian king Edwin was baptised by Rhun, son ofnbsp;Urbgen. In the later texts Paulinus, archbishop of York, takes thenbsp;place of this Rhun, in accordance with Bede, Hist. Reel. iii. 14; and innbsp;one case3 St Elfodd and a bishop named Renchidius are cited asnbsp;authorities for Paulinus. Now, according to Ann. Cambr. 768, it wasnbsp;St Elfodd who brought the Welsh church into conformity on thenbsp;Easter question; he must therefore have been acquainted with Bede�snbsp;works. We may conclude then that the story of Rhun is derived fromnbsp;earlier British sources. Again, the same name recurs in cap. 57 as thatnbsp;of the grandfather of Riemmilth (Raegnmaeld in the Durham Libernbsp;Vitae}., the first wife of King Oswio. As Rhun is not a man�s name innbsp;English, it is generally agreed that this is probably the same person�innbsp;which case he will have taken orders not very early in life. Lastly, thenbsp;same person may be traceable also in the title of the earliest (Chartres)nbsp;text of the Historia Brittonum which has been preserved. The title,nbsp;though unfortunately corrupt,^ seems to mean that the work (or annbsp;important element in it) was obtained by �a son of Urbgen� from anbsp;Life of St German.

�* Incipiunt. exberta. fiiurbaoen (or urbacen) de libro sei germani. inuenta, etc. The name of the �son of Urbgen� seems to have fallen out.

It is held by many scholars that all these passages relate to the same person, a son of the famous Urien who figures in cap. 63, and who isnbsp;the subject of so many heroic poems (cf. p. 38 IF.). The name appears tonbsp;have been a rare one in early times;2 and the dates are entirely favourablenbsp;to the identification. Theodric, the opponent of Urien, reignednbsp;c. 572-579 according to the best tradition. Urien then was probably bornnbsp;not much before 520-530. Taliesin, who celebrates his praises (cf. p. 39),nbsp;had visited Maelgwn�as a boy according to the legend. A son ofnbsp;Urien born c. 560 may well have had a granddaughter of an agenbsp;suitable to marry Oswio, who was born in 613, and may himself havenbsp;taken part�as an old man�in the conversion of Edwin in 627.3 Uriennbsp;is not definitely stated to have had a son called Rhun in the poems ornbsp;the Triads. But in the Elegy on Urien (B.BH. xii) there is a passagenbsp;(st. 32 ff.) celebrating the generosity and prowess of a certain Rhun whonbsp;may well have been the hero�s son. It comes between the passagenbsp;relating to Eurddyl, Urien�s sister�the mother of Gwrgi and Peredur�nbsp;and those which celebrate the prowess of Owein and other sons ofnbsp;Urien.

If the title of the Chartres text has been correctly interpreted we may probably regard it as almost equivalent to contemporary evidencenbsp;(class a; cf. p. 133). The remaining evidence may most properly benbsp;treated under (lt;/). The Historia Brittonum^ the earlier part of the (Har-leian) Annales Cambriae and the Harleian Genealogies represent thenbsp;antiquarian activities of Welsh scholars in the reigns of Merfyn andnbsp;Rhodri the Great�i.e. between 816 (?) and 877.4 In addition to the

I Cf. Thurneysen, Zeitschr. f. deutsche Philologie, xxvin. 83 ; van Hamel in Hoops� Reallexikon d. germ. Altertumskunde, s.v. Nennius.

� An Urien, son of Llywarch Hen, is mentioned in BBC. xxxix. 3, and another, a great-grandson of Llywarch Hen, in the Genealogies of the Saints. These belong tonbsp;the same family and may well have taken the name from their famous relative. Innbsp;later times the name is not very rare.

159 work of the �son of Urbgen�, they had at their disposal no doubtnbsp;other records in written form, perhaps mainly from Strathclyde (cf.nbsp;p.157). But we do not know how old these records were. And much maynbsp;have been added in Wales from oral tradition, e.g. some of the noticesnbsp;relating to Gwynedd in the last chapters of the Historia.

It may be observed that even if the written records were no earlier than c. 800, this date carries us back four or five centuries beyond thenbsp;time of the extant MSS. of the poems. Moreover, the evidence isnbsp;independent of any heroic tradition which has come down to us. Thisnbsp;remark applies to the case of Arthur among the rest, though the accountnbsp;of his battles may have been committed to writing first by Nenniusnbsp;himself. To his case we shall have to return shortly. Here we may notenbsp;that the references to Maelgwn and Rhydderch Hen are in accord withnbsp;evidence, noticed above (p. 143 f.), which is beyond dispute. There is nonbsp;reasonable ground for doubting that the other characters�not onlynbsp;Urien, but also Gwallawg, Morcant, and the poets�were historicalnbsp;persons of the sixth century.^

After what has been said above under (a-tZ) it is scarcely necessary to discuss at length the evidence which falls under (e)�the consistencynbsp;of heroic tradition. In general the heroic poems seem to contain littlenbsp;or nothing which can be put down with confidence to inconsistency.nbsp;A few exceptions, which are due, we believe, to additions or to thenbsp;incorporation of alien matter, will be noticed in the next chapter. Thenbsp;same consistency is observable in the Triads, except of course thosenbsp;which are under the influence of Geoffrey and other foreign sources.nbsp;The evidence of the Triads in this case is particularly useful because,nbsp;like the later genealogies, they contain many notices of marriagesnbsp;between royal families. To verify the historical truth of these is generallynbsp;beyond our power; but the evidence is invaluable as representingnbsp;an apparently consistent �corpus� of heroic tradition existing beforenbsp;Geoffrey�s fantasies came into operation. The Triads which are due tonbsp;Geoffrey�s influence, together with the Romances and other late works,nbsp;are of course full of unhistorical situations�some of which will benbsp;noticed in the next chapter.

likewise collected during Merfyn�s reign. This view is favoured especially by the preservation of his grandfather�s paternal and maternal ancestry (in Jes. 20. xvii,nbsp;xix).

* One can hardly take seriously the strange theory that Taliesin lived in the reign of Owein Gwynedd (i 137-117�), and that Urien is the name which he appliednbsp;to that prince. The remarkable thing is that such a theory should have been producednbsp;by a scholar who was pre-eminent in his own line of work.

Non-heroic tradition, even when fairly early, seems to be less consistent. The Four Branches of Mabinogi form a world of their own, seldom connected with other stories and apparently consistent in itself.nbsp;But Taliesin figures in Bran-wen, daughter of Llyr, and, though he playsnbsp;practically no part in the story, his connection with it is referred to innbsp;Tai. XIV. 4, 31. Yet in the same poem he is associated with Maelgwnnbsp;and Urien, as elsewhere, and also with Brochfael of Powys, presumablynbsp;the father of Cynan Garwyn, who was no doubt a contemporary ofnbsp;' Urien. It may be that the world of the Mabinogion is an imaginarynbsp;world into which historical characters were only occasionally drawn.nbsp;To this question we shall have to return in the next chapter. All thatnbsp;need be said here is that none of the chief characters can be identifiednbsp;historically. There is, however, one other remarkable exception to thenbsp;general isolation of this cycle�Manawyddan or Manawyd, son of Llyr,nbsp;who in BBC. xxxi appears as one of Arthur�s heroes.

There remains one story, very different from the Mabinogion and definitely heroic in character, for which we are practically dependentnbsp;upon evidence of class (e)�the story of the battle of Catraeth, whichnbsp;forms the subject of the great Gododdin poem {An. i). There is nothingnbsp;here which suggests a creation of the imagination; yet not one of thenbsp;numerous heroes mentioned can be identified historically with anynbsp;confidence�not even the leader of the ill-fated army, Mynyddawgnbsp;Mwynfawr. Unfortunately the text of the poem is hopelessly corrupt,nbsp;as may be seen from the number of stanzas which are in reality merenbsp;textual variants.! It appears too that stanzas�perhaps many stanzas�nbsp;relating to quite different events have been added to the original poem.nbsp;Thus st. 89, with its variant st. 78, contains a reference to the death ofnbsp;the Scottish king Domnall Brecc, who was defeated and slain by thenbsp;Britons c. 641. Other stanzas seem to relate to Wales and Welsh heroes.nbsp;But the nucleus and probably the greater part of the poem is evidentlynbsp;concerned with a disastrous battle fought against the English ofnbsp;Bernicia and Deira�apparently at a somewhat earlier date.

Although none of the heroes can be identified historically, there is at least one whose connections and approximate date are open to nonbsp;doubt. Cynon, son of Clydno, is frequently mentioned in the poem;nbsp;he appears to have been one of the very few heroes, possibly the onlynbsp;one, who survived the slaughter. His name occurs also in other poems,nbsp;especially the Verses of the Graves {BBC. xix) and in Triads-, and he

! These will be noticed in Ch. xvii, below. Variants will be found not only in An. I but also in the Addenda to An. v.

i6i figures�at Arthur�s court and in association with Owein, son ofnbsp;Urien�in the Lady of the Fountain. His father, Clydno Eidyn, is one ofnbsp;the northern heroes who (with Rhydderch Hael) are said to havenbsp;raided North Wales, in a story noticed on p. 143. The genealogy of thenbsp;family is given among the genealogies of the �Men of the North� innbsp;Hengwrt 536, from whichitappears that Clydno�s father Cynwyd was firstnbsp;cousin to Gwenddoleu, Dunawd, Gwrgi and Peredur. Again, in Hengwrtnbsp;Triad 5 3 Cynon himself is one of the three � enamoured ones � of the Islenbsp;of Britain, the object of his affections being Morwydd, daughter of Urien.nbsp;It is clear therefore that Welsh tradition regarded him as belonging to thenbsp;generation of heroes who lived towards the close of the sixth century.nbsp;We may therefore infer with probability that it was some event aboutnbsp;this period which formed the original subject of the poemJ

Archaeological evidence ( � ) for this period is practically wanting, apart from a few inscribed stones (cf. p. 143). It is not even knownnbsp;whether any Roman buildings or sites were still occupied. Of smallnbsp;objects (metal, etc.) only a few are known, and these probably ofnbsp;ecclesiastical origin. The civilisation of this period is the most remarkablenbsp;blank in our history.

For Arthur we have not been able to find any contemporary, or indeed any very early direct evidence. The Historia Brittonum showsnbsp;that he was famous in the first half of the ninth century. The entries innbsp;the Annales Cambriae ( 517,5 3 8) are independent of this, but their antiquitynbsp;cannot be proved ; and the same may be said of certain references in thenbsp;poems. But indirect evidence in the form of personal names (^) carriesnbsp;us back much further. Aedan, king of the Scots of Argyll, had a sonnbsp;called Arthur (Arturius') who was killed in battle before the death of Stnbsp;Columba� (597)- In the genealogy of Dyfed the same name is borne bynbsp;a man who must have lived early in the seventh century. About 625,nbsp;according to the Annals of Tigernach,^ the Ulster king Mongan wasnbsp;killed in Cantire ab Artuir filio Bicoir�a Briton. There is evidence fornbsp;the use of the name in Ireland about the same time.4 It would seem thennbsp;that by the end of the sixth century the name was familiar throughout

� The title of the poem attributes it to Aneirin�doubtless the poet INeireti) who in the Hist. Brit., cap. 62, is said to have flourished in the sixth century�and innbsp;st. 45 the poet speaks of himself by this name, though the context is far from clear.nbsp;In several other passages the poet says that he was present at the battle; but this isnbsp;possibly a literary convention.

the Celtic parts of the British Isles. Yet before the sixth century it is practically unknown. i It is clearly Roman (Artorius'), and presumablynbsp;derived from some Roman official settled in this country. There isnbsp;therefore good reason for believing that its wide currency towards thenbsp;end of the sixth century must have been due to some famous person ofnbsp;that name in the near past. This would agree well enough with the datesnbsp;given to Arthur in the annals.�

The evidence of place-names is less reliable, as we have seen (p. 134). Since the twelfth century, owing to the popularity of Geoffrey�snbsp;History and the Romances, speculation has been active in identifyingnbsp;Arthurian localities and the hero�s name has been applied broadcast tonbsp;places and objects in various parts of the country. Actually to determinenbsp;the scene of Arthur�s activities seems to be a difficult matter. Thenbsp;earliest evidence points to the valley of the Wye and neighbouringnbsp;districts. Such is the case with the references to Arthur in the Mirabiliainbsp;attached to the Historia Brittonum^ which can hardly be much later thannbsp;the beginning of the ninth century. But in the Hist. Brittonum itself,nbsp;cap. 56, the scene of one battle at least�that in Silua Celidonis, id estnbsp;Cat Coit Celidon�must clearly be sought in Scotland (cf. p. iii); andnbsp;some of the other sites may also be there. On the other hand, Urbsnbsp;Legionis (in the same catalogue) is presumably either Caerleon ornbsp;Chester; and Mons Badonis is not likely to have been in the north.nbsp;Consequently, if we are to believe the record, we must suppose thatnbsp;Arthur�s activities extended over a very large area. That in itself is notnbsp;impossible; for in 634 Cadwallon, who came from Anglesey, wasnbsp;killed in the neighbourhood of Hexham. But there are other difficulties.nbsp;It is not very likely that Saxons would be encountered in Arthur�snbsp;time at Caerleon or Chester, and most improbable that they hadnbsp;penetrated to the forest of Celyddon by then. We cannot, therefore,nbsp;with confidence treat this list as a historical record of battles against thenbsp;English. And the possibility has to be taken into account that not allnbsp;the battles were originally connected with Arthur.

I In Irish Fenian stories (cf. O�Grady, Silva Gadelica, i. 98 ff., ii. 105 ff.) Beinne the Briton�the ally of MacCon�has a son Artur. But the evidence can hardly benbsp;regarded as of historical value.

� A somewhat earlier date is favoured by the Latin name. Latin names are very frequent in the earlier stages of the genealogies, especially for persons whose birthsnbsp;would seem to fall in the fourth century and the first half of the fifth. After 450nbsp;they seem to have become much less common.

3 The references here are to Builth and Archenfield. The passages are transi, by Chambers, Arthur of Britain, p. 6 f.

Unfortunately, geographical uncertainty is by no means limited to the story of Arthur. It applies indeed to nearly all the stories and poemsnbsp;except those relating to Wales. We know that Rhydderch Hael belongednbsp;to Dumbarton, and that he was descended from the same ancestornbsp;(Dyfnwal Hen) as the later kings of Strathclyde (cf. p. 152), whilenbsp;another branch of the same family, represented by Nudd Hael, wouldnbsp;seem to have been settled in Yarrow, Selkirkshire (cf. p. 143). But ofnbsp;the numerous heroes descended from Coel Hen there is only one whonbsp;can be located with any confidence, viz. Gwenddoleu, who in allnbsp;probability belonged to the neighbourhood of Longtown, on the Bordernbsp;(cf. p. 111). It is likely enough that his opponents, Gwrgi and Peredur,nbsp;lived not far away, while Morcant, who was sprung from a distantnbsp;branch of the same family, must likewise have belonged to Scotland ornbsp;the Border,^ if he is rightly identified with the opponent of St Kenti-gern. The evidence available, therefore, for this family also^�i.e. fornbsp;all the �Men of the North��points to the same region. But therenbsp;remain a number of important princes, including Urien, Gwallawg,nbsp;Dunawd, Llywarch Hen and Cynon, the son of Clydno Eidyn, 3 whosenbsp;dominions or homes cannot be determined with certainty.

In the poems which celebrate some of these princes there is no lack of what appear to be place-names. But some of these (e.g. Aeron) arenbsp;names which occur in various parts of England, Scotland and Wales,nbsp;while others�the majority�are not to be found on the map. On thenbsp;strength of names of the former class the heroes have been located bynbsp;some scholars in England, by others in Scotland, by others again innbsp;Wales. The last identification is by far the least probable. If the heroesnbsp;had really belonged to Wales, their families could hardly have all

� Jocelin�sZ��jCap. 21, locates Morken at Glasgow, but this was surely within the dominions of the other (Rhydderch�s) family. The story is probably derived ultimately from saga; and Jocelin�s evidence is always to be treated with caution. Wenbsp;may refer, for example, to the arbitrary manner in which he deals with the story of Stnbsp;Kentigern�s birth. The episode relating to the Saint�s sojourn in Wales (cap. 23-31)nbsp;is hardly credible ; and if he was really invited to � return � by Rhydderch it is unlikelynbsp;that he would have established his see so far away as Hoddom�about five milesnbsp;from the Solway. The truth may be that Hoddom was his first headquarters, andnbsp;that he moved from there to Glasgow at Rhydderch�s invitation. Morken possiblynbsp;belonged to the former district.

disappeared; yet none of the numerous royal families of Wales, so far as we know, traced their descent from Coel Hen.i Moreover, in thatnbsp;case the large number of unidentifiable place-names would be inexplicable. It is less easy to decide between England and Scotland. But itnbsp;is to be borne in mind (i) that down to the end of the sixth century notnbsp;more than one-third of the north of England seems to have been innbsp;English hands�i.e. that an area larger probably than either modernnbsp;Wales or the part of Scotland which comes into account was stillnbsp;British territory; (2) that this area must have borne the worst, if not thenbsp;whole, of the warfare with the English, which is frequently referred tonbsp;in the poems; (3) that within the next generation (after 600) Britishnbsp;rule seems to have been finally destroyed throughout the whole of thisnbsp;area�which sufficiently accounts for the disappearance both of thenbsp;dynasties and of the place-names�whereas a considerable part ofnbsp;Scotland remained British until much later times. It is difficult thereforenbsp;to avoid the conclusion that some at least of these heroes must havenbsp;belonged to the region between the Border and the southern boundariesnbsp;of Lancashire and Yorkshire.^

' Except of course the later dynasty of Gwynedd, beginning with Merfyn (d. 844; cf. p. 154), whose paternal ancestry goes back to Llywarch Hen. Butnbsp;Merfyn�s claim to Gwynedd (Anglesey) was through his mother. His father,nbsp;Gwriad, belonged either to the Isle of Man or to Scotland (cf. Lloyd, History ofnbsp;W^ales, p. 323 f.). In later times there were families (not royal) in South Walesnbsp;which claimed to be descended from Urien (cf. p. 152, note), but there is nonbsp;evidence worth consideration that he himself belonged to that region. Dyfed andnbsp;Deheubarth occur in a panegyric on Owein (TaZ. xxxv)�as also � the men of Gwent�,nbsp;though this is perhaps ambiguous ; but the context is obscure and the text perhapsnbsp;corrupt. The same poem also contains references to places in Scotland.

� It is impossible here to discuss the identifications of Reged (the home of Urien), Catraeth, and other places, which have been proposed by various scholars. Referencenbsp;must, however, be made to an article by Loth, Rev. Celt. xxi. 328 If., by which anbsp;number of later writers seem to have been greatly influenced. The author rightlynbsp;points out that the Gododdin poems contain earlier and later strata�a subject tonbsp;which we shall have to return in Ch. xvii. But it should not have been assumednbsp;that the names BrennycJi and Deivyr in these poems mean enemies in general. Therenbsp;is no instance of such usage in any of the poems discussed in this book, exceptnbsp;perhaps in the very late poem BBC. xvin (st. 15), where the reference is to the storynbsp;of Myrddin. These names date from the seventh century, in the course of which thenbsp;kingdoms�Bemicia and Deira�ceased to exist as such; and there is no validnbsp;reason for doubting that in the Gododdin poems the names have this meaning and thatnbsp;they belong to the earliest stratum�which, it is admitted, may go back to the seventhnbsp;century. But there is not the slightest ground for supposing that the story of thenbsp;Gododdin had anything to do with the wars of Cadwallon, Penda and Oswio, nonenbsp;of whom is mentioned in the poems. The frequent references in them to Cynon

The Heroic Age of Ireland was without doubt of very long duration, and the evidence available for the different periods of it varies greatly innbsp;character.

(a) For stories relating to the seventh and eighth centuries, such as the Battle of Mag Rath and the Battle of Allen (cf. p. 5 3 f.), a good deal ofnbsp;native historical evidence is available in the Annals, especially thenbsp;Annals of Tigernach and the Annals of Ulster, the common elements ofnbsp;which are believed to be derived from a chronicle composed in thenbsp;(cf. p. 161 f.) show that they relate to an earlier generation; and in view of these thenbsp;allusion to the death of Domnall Brecc (cf. p. 160) must be regarded as a subsequentnbsp;addition�suggesting that the poems were preserved in Strathclyde for a time,nbsp;before they found their way to Wales. Again, it should not have been assumednbsp;that such names as Aeron, Elfed and Llwyfein must refer to localities in Wales;nbsp;for the same names were borne by localities in the north of England. Indeednbsp;there is a striking uniformity in Celtic nomenclature everywhere, even as farnbsp;back as Roman times. There are references in the Gododdin poems to Gwyneddnbsp;and occasionally to other localities in Wales; but since the poems were preservednbsp;orally in Wales�probably for a long period�these may well belong to the laternbsp;strata. Both Urienand his vassal Llywarch Hen seem to have relations with Powys�nbsp;which rather suggest that Lancashire may have been their home.

It is possible that the name Rheged was at one time applied to a district in Wales� perhaps the basin of the Towy�as well as to Urien�s kingdom in the North. If so itnbsp;would help to explain the claim to descent from the hero made by certain families innbsp;this district in later times (cf. p. 152, note). But the evidence is far from conclusive.nbsp;And there was a general tendency of Welsh antiquarian speculation to locate thenbsp;�Men of the North� in Wales. Thus we find Llywarch Hen located in Penllyn (cf.nbsp;Lloyd, Hist Wales, p. 246), Gwyddno Garanhir and Taliesin near Aberystwyth, andnbsp;Myrddin at Carmarthen. On the same principle various Teutonic heroes came to benbsp;located in England, e.g. Wermund, the father of Offa, at Warwick.

With regard to Catraeth, the objection raised to the identification of this place with Cataracta, i.e. Catterick on the Swale, cannot stand. Many scholars hold thatnbsp;the phonetic correspondence of the two names is regular (cf. I. Williams, Y Beirniad,nbsp;I. 76 f. ; Ekwall, English River-Names, p. Ixxii, note). But even if this be not thenbsp;case�if Catraeth must represent an earlier Cat-traeth (� shore of battle �)�it mustnbsp;be remembered, firstly, that the difficulty applies to the English name just as muchnbsp;as to the Welsh, and secondly, that there is a common tendency in place-names tonbsp;transform unfamiliar into familiar elements. Examples are extremely numerous innbsp;English, e.g. -ton for -don, -hall for -hale, -ford for -worth. We may refer also tonbsp;such cases as Auckland for earlier Alclit, Benwell (in Newcastle) for earlier Bynne-walle, �within the Wall� (cf. Mawer, Place-Names of Northumberland, pp. 7, 18).nbsp;It may be observed that there was probably no place in the north of England ofnbsp;greater strategic importance than Catterick at the time when the east and the westnbsp;were in different hands. Apart from the fact that it commanded the fork of the twonbsp;great roads to the north, its possession to allied forces co-operating from Bemicianbsp;and Deira was obviously vital. We may note that in Edwin�s time it seems to havenbsp;been an important royal residence (cf. Bede, Hist. Eccl. ii. 14).

eighth century.^ Thjg evidence may therefore be regarded as practically contemporary. A number of contemporary poems are also preservednbsp;in the Annals and elsewhere, while in a few cases references occur innbsp;early ecclesiastical works, e.g. Adamnan�s Life of St Columba, which wasnbsp;written shortly before the end of the seventh century. It is true thatnbsp;most of the stories contain unhistorical elements�which will requirenbsp;notice in the next chapter�but there can be no doubt that the battlesnbsp;and the princes with which they are concerned belong to history.

For the sixth century, and indeed from c. 450 onwards, the Annals yield evidence which is similar in kind, though less full. There can benbsp;no doubt that they are derived largely from earlier records, presumablynbsp;of ecclesiastical origin. One of these is believed to have been an Irishnbsp;(Latin) continuation of Eusebius, concluded in 607.� The Annals alsonbsp;often refer to a lost Book of Cuanu, while the frequent occurrence ofnbsp;alternative dates, sometimes with the addition of secundum alios qt utnbsp;alii dicunt, shows that they had yet other authorities. A few poems ornbsp;fragments of poems may also perhaps date from the close of this period,nbsp;though they were probably not written down until later. There is nonbsp;evidence, however, even for ecclesiastical records before c. 450�thenbsp;time of St Patrick; and for times anterior to 400 it may safely be assumednbsp;that evidence belonging to class (a) does not exist.

Since the historical elements in sagas relating to the seventh and eighth centuries are more or less fully substantiated by the Annals, andnbsp;those which relate to the fifth and sixth are comparatively unimportant,nbsp;we shall confine our attention in the following to stories of the earliernbsp;periods�anterior to the beginning of the fifth century.

(f) We know of no foreign historical evidence for times before c. 400. Stories relating to Niall Noigiallach, whose reign was datednbsp;c. 378-405 (see below), speak of raiding expeditions carried out by himnbsp;and other princes in Britain and elsewhere; and this is in accord with thenbsp;frequent references to the piratical activities of the Irish (Scotti) contained in Roman works of the same period. It was in one of thesenbsp;expeditions that St Patrick was carried off, apparently c. 402-5. Mentionnbsp;may also be made of a passage in the story of the Expulsion of the Desi,^nbsp;where the genealogy of the kings of Dyfed is traced to a prince of thatnbsp;people who fled from Ireland to Wales in the time of Cormac mac Airt.

� Cf. MacNeill, �riu, vu. 73 ff., where it is suggested that this chronicle was compiled in 712.

The genealogy dates apparently from c. 750/ but the number of generations�fourteen�reckoned back to the founder of the dynasty does not agree very well with the date (c. 250) assigned to Cormac by Irishnbsp;chronologists.

(c) The question whether we have any independent traditions from different areas must be deferred for the moment. It may be noted herenbsp;merely that Welsh tradition speaks of the presence of Gwyddyl ornbsp;Scotti^ in various parts of Wales, from whence, according to thenbsp;Historia Brittonum^ cap. 14, they were expelled by Cunedda and hisnbsp;sons (cf. p. 15 5). If these Scotti were invaders from Ireland�and therenbsp;can be little doubt that such was the case at least in part�their arrival isnbsp;probably to be dated about the end of the fourth century; for until thisnbsp;time the greater part of Wales, including Carnarvon, was controlled bynbsp;Roman garrisons. It is possible of course that small settlements werenbsp;made in earlier times. The genealogy of Dyfed is traced in Welshnbsp;records not to the Desi but to an obviously fictitious origin. But thenbsp;Historia Brittonum, cap. 14, speaks of a settlement of the filii Lethan innbsp;Dyfed, Kidwelly and Gower; and the Ui Liathain were conterminous,nbsp;though not identical, with the Desi who were settled in Co. Waterford.^nbsp;The context, however, suggests that the passage is partly of Irish origin.nbsp;On the whole therefore the Welsh evidence does not amount to much.3nbsp;On the other hand, we shall see later that there are grounds for believingnbsp;that the traditions current in different parts of Ireland itself were to somenbsp;extent independent of one another.

(lt;/) The evidence available for comparison with the stories�heroic and non-heroic�under this head consists of Annals and other antiquarian records, in prose and verse, including local (�tribal�) traditions,nbsp;such as the story of the Expulsion of the Desi. Some of these latternbsp;seem to have been committed to writing as early as the eighth century,nbsp;while a few of the antiquarian poems are believed to have been composed�hardly written�in the seventh and even before the close of thenbsp;sixth century. By far the fullest and most important evidence, however,nbsp;is that of the Annals, which record the succession of the high-kings ofnbsp;Ireland from the earliest times, together with their dates, the length of

I The genealogy begins (ascending) from Tewdos, whose son Maredudd IMorge-tiud'} died in 796 (Ann. Cambrl}.

Cormac s Glossary, s.v. Mogheime, mentions a stronghold of the �son of Lethan� {dindmap Lethain.. .i. dun maic Liathain') situated apparently in Cornwallnbsp;(i tirib Bretan Cornn).

3 For Brychan, the legendary founder of Brecknock, see Lloyd, History of W^ales, p. 270 f.

their reigns and the manner of their deaths. Incidentally they refer also to the achievements and deaths of many other famous heroes. In shortnbsp;they provide a chronological framework for early Irish tradition as anbsp;whole.

A few examples will be sufficient. They date the reign of Niall Noigiallach c. 378-405�a period which is probably not far from thenbsp;truth. About fifty years before the former date they record the destruction of Emain Macha by three brothers named Colla, cousins to thenbsp;high-king Muredach, Niall�s grandfather. The reign of Cormac macnbsp;Airt, Muredach�s great-grandfather, is dated c. 215-255; that of Cor-mac�s grandfather. Conn Cetcathach, shortly before the middle of thenbsp;second century, and that of Conn�s grandfather, Tuathal Techtmar,nbsp;about half a century earlier. The Revolt of the Vassals takes place at thenbsp;death of Tuathal�s father, or grandfather Fiacha. The time of Con-chobor, king of Ulster, and his heroes CuChulainn, Conall Cernach,nbsp;and the rest, with their opponents, Ailill and Medb, king and queen ofnbsp;Connaught, is placed about the beginning of the Christian era, or anbsp;trifle earlier. The story of Eochaid Airem (cf. p. 52) belongs to thenbsp;next previous generation, for Eochaid is Medb�s uncle. The story of thenbsp;Destruction of Dinn Rig (cf. p. 51), which was perhaps regarded as thenbsp;earliest of the heroic stories,^ is assigned to a much more remote period.

The period covered by the stories is therefore extraordinarily long. Conchobor is placed more than four centuries before the time of Stnbsp;Patrick, the beginning of the historical period; and heroic storiesnbsp;continue for nearly three centuries after the latter date. The slaughter ofnbsp;Dinn Rig is placed some six centuries before Conchobor.

There can be no doubt that this chronology is derived partly from native antiquarian traditions and speculations and partly from Latinnbsp;learning. To the latter of course is due the chronological scheme itself�nbsp;the synchronising of Irish tradition with universal history as arranged bynbsp;Eusebius, and beginning with the Book of Genesis. On the other hand,nbsp;the arrangement�the systemisation�of the traditional material mustnbsp;be due, to a large extent at least, to native learning. It represents without doubt the activities of the filid or learned poets.

� At least we know of no earlier story which can properly be called heroic. In the Battle of Allen, cap. 8 (Rev. Celt. xxiv. 50 f.) it is said that before the battle Huanbsp;Maiglinni began reciting the battles of Conn�s Half and Leinster from the Destructionnbsp;of Dinn Rig down to that time. There may of course have been earlier stories ofnbsp;battles between other combatants.

169 to deal in a later chapter. Here it may be noted that as one of theirnbsp;qualifications they were required to know�and to be able to recite�anbsp;very large number of sagas, heroic and unheroic�between which nonbsp;distinction is recognised. But they were by no means mere entertainers.nbsp;The Book of Leinster contains a list of sagas which were required to benbsp;known, and it adds at the end: �He is no poet (�/�) who does notnbsp;synchronize and harmonize all the stories�.� This statement dates ofnbsp;course from Christian times; but it is clear from many other passagesnbsp;that the filid were concerned with antiquarian lore, including genealogies and, probably, lists of kings. Some sort of systemisation, therefore,nbsp;was doubtless in use before Latin learning became known. It may benbsp;noted that the chronicles usually state how, or by whom each king wasnbsp;slain.2

Antiquarian studies must have been well developed before the seventh century. In poems3 dating from that century we already find thenbsp;genealogies of Leinster and Cashel carried back to Eremon and Eber,nbsp;the sons of Mil, and through them after long lists of names, partly ofnbsp;native, and partly of Classical origin, to the genealogies of the patriarchsnbsp;in Genesis. It is obvious that Latin learning was already cultivated bynbsp;some of the filid', but the great abundance of names in the native partsnbsp;of the genealogies points to the existence of antiquarian speculation onnbsp;an ambitious scale before the foreign elements were introduced.

It cannot safely be assumed, however, that the native elements are always derived from ancient tradition. Additions seem to have beennbsp;made to the lists of kings, and probably to the genealogies also, innbsp;literary times. Thus the Annals ofi Tigernach give�no doubt from thenbsp;eighth-century chronicle mentioned above (p. 165 f.)�a list of high-kings in Tara who follow one another in a direct genealogical line,nbsp;from father to son, from the reign of Lugaid Reoderg, who is represented as contemporary with Claudius Caesar. But later chroniclesnbsp;intersperse this line with names of kings from Ulster, Leinster andnbsp;Munster, who are represented as reigning, usually for very shortnbsp;periods, in the intervals between the kings of the regular line. In mostnbsp;cases the alien king obtains the throne by slaying his predecessor, and innbsp;turn he is himself slain by the son of the latter. The same principles are

� Analogies from various countries will be noticed later. In particular we may refer to the Norse poem Ynglingatal and the YngUnga Saga (cf. pp. 271, 295).

3 Cf. K. Meyer, �ber die �lteste irische Dichtung (Abh. d. k. preuss. Akademie d. Wissenschaften, 1913), i. pp- 27nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;39 �3 ff-

followed in the long list of high-kings who precede Lugaid, and who are not mentioned in the Annals of Tigernach.

Somewhat similar difficulties are presented by the genealogies. This subject is too big and too complicated to be discussed here; for Irishnbsp;genealogies are numerous and of very great length, and many of themnbsp;have never been published. It may be stated, however, that on thenbsp;whole they give an impression of antiquity. Yet different texts of thenbsp;same genealogy sometimes show important discrepancies, while thenbsp;numbers of generations assigned to different lines are often whollynbsp;irreconcilable. Note may also be taken of the fact that names of deitiesnbsp;occur at times quite late in the pedigrees.^

The list of high-kings from Lugaid Reoderg, contained in the Annals of Tigernach, coincides almost entirely with the genealogy of the samenbsp;family�the ancestors of Niall Noigiallach. One is naturally inclined tonbsp;suspect that the list is derived from the genealogy,3 though the datesnbsp;given in the Annals to Lugaid and his successors are later than whatnbsp;would be inferred from the genealogy.4 But the genealogies of thenbsp;other kingdoms do not fit in well with the scheme ; they are either toonbsp;long or too short. In particular the Ulster genealogies agree neithernbsp;among themselves nor with that of the high-kings, nor again with thenbsp;series of the kings of Ulster (Emain Macha) contained in the Annals ofnbsp;Tigernach. This last, however, gives a chronology which is not incompatible with the genealogy of the high-kings�a fact which is ofnbsp;some interest, as it is not a mere genealogy converted into a list ofnbsp;kings, as the series of high-kings seems to be, but shows frequent breaksnbsp;in the succession.

� The only departure from the direct line is the case of Colla Vais, who slew and took the place of his uncle, Fiacha.

3 Cf. MacNeill, Phases of Irish History, p. ii5:�Itisa succession from father to son, which is contrary to the known custom of all the insular Celts, in Ireland,nbsp;Wales, and Scotland�. One is tempted to ask how the chroniclers came to applynbsp;such an alien system to Ireland. But the statement is too strong. In Wales andnbsp;Strathclyde at least, as in pre-Roman Britain, succession from father to son seems tonbsp;be the normal, though not exclusive, type�so far as the kingship is concerned.

Lugaid figures in the Sickbed of CuChulainn-, but CuChulainn and his contemporaries are placed by the Annals of Tigernach about fifty years before Lugaid�s accession. The passage is generally believed to be a late addition to the saga, andnbsp;perhaps rightly. But the synchronism involved is implied elsewhere, e.g. in Lugaid�snbsp;relationship to Medb. The Ann. Tig. themselves make Iriel, son of Conall Cernach,nbsp;to be slain by Crimthann, son of Lugaid fRev. Celt. xvi. 415). It is not unlikelynbsp;therefore that the original reckoning of Lugaid�s date was in accordance with thenbsp;genealogies.

(e) As regards agreement between different sagas it may be said that this prevails as much as could be expected in such a body of literature.nbsp;Discrepancies are of frequent occurrence, but they rarely affect thenbsp;essentials of a story; nor is the personnel of different cycles confusednbsp;to any great extent�apart from certain stock figures, such as Fer-chertne the fill. We may suspect that Lugaid Reoderg had originallynbsp;nothing to do with the Sickbed of CuChulainn and that Conall Cernachnbsp;was not one of the company in Da Derga�s Hall in the original form ofnbsp;that story; but neither hero really affects the course of events. Therenbsp;are no instances of confusion so great as we find in medieval Germannbsp;poetry, e.g. when Eormenric and Theodric (Dietrich) are broughtnbsp;together. Conchobor�s heroes are never introduced into stories ofnbsp;Cormac and his times.

The case which presents the greatest difficulties in this respect is the (non-heroic) story of the Revolt of the Vassals. In the later form of thisnbsp;story Fiacha, the high-king slain by the rebels, is son of Feradach,nbsp;while his child who avenges him is Tuathal Techtmar. But in thenbsp;older version!�sometimes called Mac Darea�s Hall�some texts ofnbsp;which quote an earlier poem, Feradach is the son and avenger ofnbsp;Fiacha. The chronicles, including the Annals of Tigernach, agree withnbsp;the relationship stated in the former version. The rest of the names,nbsp;including Tipraide Tirech, the Ulster child and avenger, are identicalnbsp;in both. But according to the chronicles, including Tigernach, thisnbsp;Tipraide was the slayer of Conn, the grandson of Tuathal, whilenbsp;Tuathal himself is slain by Mai, an ancestor in the third or fourthnbsp;generation of Tipraide.^ The Annals of Tigernach mention all thesenbsp;princes, as noted above, but they know nothing of the Revolt.'^ On thenbsp;contrary, they contain a number of entries which seem to be incompatible with the story. Feradach is succeeded by his son Fiacha, who isnbsp;slain by Elim, king of Ulster^ (a grandson of Fergus mac Roich).

� Ed. and transi, by Thurneysen, Zeitschr. f celt. Philol. xi. 56 ff.; cf. MacNeill, Celtic Ireland, p. 65 ff. The text ed, by Craigie, Rev. Celt. xx. 335 ff. is inconsistent.

� Inthelist of kings of Ulster contained in the Rawlinson Genealogies {Zeitschr. f. celt. Philol. vin. 326 f.) Tipraide is the son of Mai; but in an Ulster genealogy whichnbsp;follows in the same document {ib. p. 335) there are three intervening generations.

3 Except a reference to the reign of Cairbre Cenn Gait, which appears to have been inserted by a later hand {Rev. Celt. xvi. 416). It occurs in the middle of Feradach�snbsp;reign.

* In later versions of the story Elim succeeds Cairbre Cenn Cait as high-king (of the Vassals) and as such is slain by Tuathal. In a note at the end of the poem innbsp;the Book of Fermoy Feradach (here the son of Fiacha) is slain by Elim, king ofnbsp;Ulster, and by the kings of Leinster, Connaught and Munster.

Three years later Tuathal Techtmar, son of Fiacha, becomes king and� whether before or after is not stated�slays Elim in revenge for hisnbsp;father. Tuathal is eventually killed by Mai, king of Ulster. Mai isnbsp;succeeded by Bresal,^ and the latter by Tipraide Tirech, who slaysnbsp;Conn, the grandson of Tuathal. It is plain that in place of the Revolt ofnbsp;the J^assals we have here quite a different story�the story of a longstanding feud between the kings of Tara (the high-kings) and those ofnbsp;Ulster. The story of the Revolt, whatever its origin, cannot have beennbsp;universally known or accepted.

Now, after consideration of the evidence for (t/) and (e) we may return to the question (cf. p. 167) whether (c) is represented. It seems atnbsp;least highly probable that such is the case. In the first place the storiesnbsp;of the Ulster cycle�relating to Conchobor and his times�represent anbsp;totally different point of view from those of the high-kings. In thenbsp;former the centre of interest lies in Ulster, in the latter in Tara and itsnbsp;dynasty. The former indeed do not recognise the existence of a high-kingship, except in one or two passages. They represent Tara as rulednbsp;not by the family with which we have been dealing, but by kings,nbsp;Cairbre Nia Fer and his son Ere, who belong to the dynasty of Leinster.nbsp;Secondly, we have seen that stories relating to later times, which affectnbsp;both Ulster and the high-kings, show discrepancies which cannot benbsp;accounted for except by the existence of different traditions. One ofnbsp;these belonged presumably to Tara; and there can be little doubt thatnbsp;the other�represented by the Annals of Tigernach�came fromnbsp;Ulster; for it is only the kings of Emain Macha and of Tara whosenbsp;succession is given in the annals during this period. We may add thatnbsp;these annals contain a list of kings of Emain Macha from the mostnbsp;remote times�a list which is found elsewhere also and comes evidentlynbsp;from the Irish Eusebius. This list has hardly anything in commonnbsp;with the traditions or speculations which elsewhere are centred in thenbsp;high-kingship, and nothing is known about most of the persons mentioned in it. But it testifies to the age of antiquarian speculation innbsp;Ulster.

It is not to be supposed that the two traditions remained wholly independent of one another. The stories of the high-kings may wellnbsp;have absorbed elements from Ulster and elsewhere. In the Ulster cycle

� Called mac Briuin. Bresal (or Bres) mac Feirb is the king of Ulster killed by the Vassals. In the Ulster genealogy given in the Rawlinson Genealogies (cf. p. 171,nbsp;note) the names Bresal and Ferb appear between Tipraide and Mai. It is to benbsp;suspected that they are taken from the story.

173 we find Lugaid Reoderg in the Sickbed of CuChulainnJ But the rarenessnbsp;of such cases is remarkable and seems to show that the broad lines of thenbsp;Ulster stories were fixed before they were influenced from Tara. Thenbsp;significance of this may be realised if one bears in mind the antiquity ofnbsp;the genealogies from the sons of Mil, as pointed out on p. 169 above.nbsp;Such genealogies must have been preceded by a long period of antiquarian study�and surely not less at Tara than elsewhere.

(�) Archaeological evidence is abundant, though not as a rule entirely satisfactory. Great numbers of raths or earthen fortresses,nbsp;usually more or less circular, still exist, and very many of them arenbsp;mentioned in stories of the Heroic Age. The difficulty of fixing thenbsp;scene of an event, which is so continually present in stories of thenbsp;British Heroic Age, rarely occurs in Ireland. It is true that some of thenbsp;fortresses mentioned in the sagas, e.g. Dun Delgan (Dundalk), thenbsp;home of CuChulainn, are now believed to be of medieval date; but theynbsp;may be reconstructions on earlier sites. Many others date withoutnbsp;doubt from much earlier times. Gold torques and other objects of thenbsp;La T�ne period are said to have been found at Tara, and though thenbsp;evidence is not quite so precise as one could wish, it is now believednbsp;that the occupation of this site goes back to this period and probablynbsp;even to the Bronze Age.� Brooches of the La T�ne period are said tonbsp;have been found at Emain Macha. 3

One of the most important sites is that of the �Banqueting Hall� at Tara, which is attributed by tradition to Cormac mac Airt. It has beennbsp;suggested that this is a copy, on a huge scale, of a Roman Basilica.^ Most,nbsp;if not all, of the Roman cities in Britain contained buildings of this type,nbsp;and the date assigned by tradition to Cormac�the middle of the thirdnbsp;century�falls well within the times when such buildings were mostnbsp;likely to be copied. The inference is strengthened by the existence ofnbsp;another tradition which attributes to the same king the establishment ofnbsp;a permanent standing army�the Fiana�which may likewise have beennbsp;due to Roman influence. We see nothing improbable in the suggestion

i Edited by Windisch, Irische Texte, 1.197 ff. ; transi, by Leahy, Heroic Romances, I. 51 ff.; cf. also Thumeysen, Irische Heldensage, p. 413 ff. The passage relating tonbsp;Lugaid is generally regarded as an interpolation.

3 Cf. Ridgeway, Early Age of Greece, i. 581 ff. Wilde, Catalogue of Irish Antiquities, fig. 473, gives a brooch resembling an Etruscan �leech-brooch�, which is said to have been found at the same site (p. 5*38).

Cf. Macalister, op. cit. p. 21 ; Proceedings of the R. Ir. Academy, xxxiv. C. 281 (cf. 262 ff. and Pl. ix); Tara: a Pagan Sanctuary, p. 60 ff.

that a powerful and active-minded king sought to copy the institutions of a more advanced civilisation which he knew to be in active operationnbsp;in a neighbouring country.

Another important monument which requires notice is the Black Pig�s Dyke, a great earthwork which stretches across Ireland from westnbsp;to east�from Bundoran, at the southern boundary of Co. Donegal, tonbsp;near the head of Carlingford Lough. It faces southwards' and consequently must have been constructed as a defence of Ulster againstnbsp;attacks from that quarter. For this work also Roman influence isnbsp;believed to be responsible.^ It is indeed difficult to doubt that the idea ofnbsp;a fortification stretching from sea to sea was inspired by the Wallsnbsp;between the Clyde and the Forth and between the Solway and thenbsp;mouth of the Tyne.

The Black Pig�s Dyke is perhaps of special importance historically, because it seems to imply the existence of a political unity to the north�nbsp;a kingdom of Ulster�at the time of its construction.3 This kingdom ofnbsp;course is the centre of the early stories and figures largely in the storiesnbsp;of the high-kings; but in historical times it was a thing of the past.nbsp;From the fifth century onwards practically the whole province, exceptnbsp;the counties of Down and Antrim, was divided among families belongingnbsp;to the dynasty of Tara. According to tradition the kingdom wasnbsp;broken up and its capital, Emain Macha, destroyed by Colla Uais andnbsp;his brothers, who were cousins to Muredach, the grandfather of Niallnbsp;Noigiallach; and from thenceforth only the lands to the east of Loughnbsp;Neagh remained in the possession of the Ulidians. The date indicatednbsp;falls in the first half of the fourth century. On the other hand, it is tonbsp;be noted that the Tain Bo Cuailnge and other early sagas relating tonbsp;Conchobor and his times never mention the Dyke,4 although they dealnbsp;very largely with events in its neighbourhood. This silence is in fullnbsp;conformity with the fact that they represent Conchobor�s kingdom asnbsp;extending much further south�to the Blackwater and the lower

* Cf. Dobbs, Zeitschr. f celt. Phil. vin. 339; Kane, Proc. R. Ir. Acad, xxxni. 549-

3 Cf. MacNeill, Phases of Irish History, p. 131, whose explanation we follow. But the direction taken by the line at its eastern end raises some difficulty (cf. dienbsp;map in Proc. R. Ir. Acad, xxxin. Pl. XLvni). Why is Co. Louth�and apparentlynbsp;also part of Co. Down�excluded

It is pointed out by Miss Dobbs, Zeitschr. f. celt. Phil. vni. 340 ff., that the route taken by Medb�s army seems to avoid the line of the Dyke. But the explanation may be that the reciters of a later day, when the Dyke was an existing andnbsp;effective barrier, knew only the roads which avoided it.

Boyne. It would seem then from the traditions that the time when the Dyke was constructed must have been subsequent to the age to whichnbsp;these stories relate, though anterior to the destruction of the kingdom ofnbsp;Ulster. But we have seen that in the intervening period traditions speaknbsp;of a longstanding feud between Ulster and the high-kings�which maynbsp;well account for the construction of the barrier. This period, if we arenbsp;to attach any value to the genealogies, would cover the times when thenbsp;Walls in Britain were built.

It is of importance to notice that the political geography of the traditions is by no means uniform. Three periods must be distinguished.nbsp;Stories relating to the fifth and following centuries show a politicalnbsp;geography which can be verified from historical sources. Thus thenbsp;greater part of Ulster is held by families from Tara and Connaught, asnbsp;mentioned above. Only the eastern part, Antrim and Down, remainsnbsp;under native dynasties�the kingdoms of Dal Riada, Dal Fiatach andnbsp;Dal Araide�together with the Conaille of Murthemne, a small community in Co. Louth. The name Ulaid (Ulidians) is frequently appliednbsp;to the Dal Fiatach, while the Dal Araide and Conaille of Murthemnenbsp;are commonly known as Cruithni (Picts). In the next precedingnbsp;period�extending from the first century to the fourth, according to thenbsp;chronicles�there is, as later, a high-kingship at Tara. But there is alsonbsp;a kingdom of Ulster, embracing apparently the whole province andnbsp;frequently at war with the high-kings. The kings of Ulster are not allnbsp;of one line. The majority, including all those mentioned in the last fewnbsp;pages, belong to what is later the dynasty of Dal Araide, while thenbsp;rest, including Fergus Dubdetach who fought against Cormac macnbsp;Airt, belong to Dal Fiatach. Lastly, in stories relating to the times ofnbsp;Conchobor there is a kingdom of Ulster governed by this king andnbsp;extending considerably to the south of the later province. But, apartnbsp;from exceptional passages, there is no high-kingship of Ireland. On thenbsp;contrary, we hear regularly of the five �Provinces� (Coicid, lit. �Fifths�)nbsp;as sovereign and apparently equal powers.

The term � Province � or � Fifth � never went out of use ; but in the light of these stories it is believed to have originated before the establishmentnbsp;of the high-kingship and when the �Fifths� were supreme. Yet there isnbsp;some discrepancy as to what was the fifth �Fifth�. The prevailing view^nbsp;now is that in the earliest form of the stories Leinster contained twonbsp;�Fifths�, the more northern of which had its capital at Tara, though itnbsp;extended a good deal to the south of the later Meath. In the stories thenbsp;I Cf. MacNeill, Phases of Irish History, p. IO2 ff.

king of this region is Cairbre Nia Fer, who is succeeded by his son Ere. These kings do not belong to the family which later�from Lugaidnbsp;Reoderg onwards�rule as high-kings at Tara, but to the dynasty ofnbsp;(southern) Leinster. Cairbre is a brother of the king of Leinster, Finnnbsp;Fili. Consequently, if the two Leinster Fifths were ancient divisions, anbsp;change of dynasty is involved for the northern one. This district maynbsp;previously have been under the ancestors of its later owners, or it maynbsp;have belonged to a different family, e.g. perhaps the line of Conairenbsp;Mor. The important point is that the early stories do not recognise anbsp;high-kingship�at least not as a regular institution. In Conchobor�snbsp;time there is no high-king; and though high-kings figure in somenbsp;stories relating to earlier times the references do not necessarily implynbsp;more than a temporary supremacy.�

Another remarkable feature of the stories of the Ulster cycle is that they know nothing of the ancestors of the dynasty which ruled over thenbsp;Ulaid in historical times. We have seen that in stories of what may benbsp;called the later prehistoric period some of the kings of Ulster belongnbsp;to this dynasty, the Dal Fiatach, while others�the majority�arenbsp;ancestors of the Dal Araide. This latter line claim descent fromnbsp;Conall Cernach, an ancestry which is claimed also for the Conaille ofnbsp;Murthemne (cf. p. 175) and other families which are known as Cruithni.nbsp;Now Conall Cernach is son of Finnchaem, sister of Conchobor, whosenbsp;own descendants have died out; and his father, Amorgin, also belongs tonbsp;the same stock, the Clann Rudraige, from which most of the ancientnbsp;Ulster heroes seem to be sprung. In the list of Ulster kings Conall�snbsp;son Iriel comes to the throne on the death of the last son of Conchobor.nbsp;It seems clear to us, therefore, that the line of Dal Araide werenbsp;regarded as the legitimate successors of Conchobor�s line.�

I Several stories, as well as the later chronicles, speak of Eochaid Feidlech (Lugaid�s grandfather) and his brother Eochaid Airem as high-kings; but theirnbsp;immediate ancestors are never represented as holding this position. It is likelynbsp;enough that the permanent high-kingship was preceded by a period of temporarynbsp;supremacies, as in Saxon Britain.

� We regret that in this point we are obliged to disagree with MacNeill, Celtic Ireland, p. 13 (and passim). Prof. MacNeill himself admits (M. note) that �there isnbsp;one fact for which I know no adequate explanation in tradition or otherwise.nbsp;The historical kings of the Ul�id, the Dal Fiatach line, make no genealogical claimnbsp;to be Ulidians �, etc. But surely diis fact, together with the positive evidence givennbsp;above, is enough to show that they were not the legitimate successors of Conchobor�snbsp;line. The early stories use the provincial name or (less frequently) the family namenbsp;(Clann Rudraige), not that of the ruling state in the province. But it is possible thatnbsp;the name Cruithni was used only by aliens.

On the other hand the ancestors of the Dal Fiatach are never mentioned, so far as we are aware, in stories relating to the times of Con-chobor. Fiatach Finn, the founder of the dynasty, appears in the list after Conall�s grandson. The previous history of the family is unknown;nbsp;but they are always connected in the genealogies with the Erainn, thenbsp;stock to which Conaire Mor belongs, and usually, though more distantly,nbsp;with the line of the high-kings at Tara and with that of Leinster. Thenbsp;genealogical relations of the lines may be expressed as follows:

In this table a denotes the line of Eremon down to Ugaine Mor, b the line of Leinster, c the line of the high-kings at Tara, d the line of Conairenbsp;Mor, including the Dal Riada, and e the Dal Fiatach. The stock as anbsp;whole extends over all parts of Ireland and includes most of the kinglynbsp;lines, though those of Dal Araide and Cashel, as well as some of thenbsp;minor lines, are excepted. We do not know how old the genealogy is,nbsp;but it was certainly recognised, at least in part, in the seventh century,nbsp;and there is no reason for supposing that it was then new. It wasnbsp;suggested, presumably, by conditions, political or other, which prevailed at some time. It does not appear to be recognised in the ancientnbsp;Ulster stories.

What has been said will probably be sufficient to illustrate the antiquity of Irish genealogical lore and the fact that different strata arenbsp;to be distinguished in it. The genealogies doubtless contain manynbsp;mythical and fictitious names�which are not confined to very earlynbsp;times. But the fact that the leading house in Ulster in historical timesnbsp;made no claim to be descended from the ancient kings of Ulster, whosenbsp;fame was celebrated over the whole country, shows that certain traditions had become fixed at a very early date.

It is not only in political conditions that the ancient Ulster stories present us with a picture of things long passed away. The same is truenbsp;also in the case of family relationships. It is remarkable that some ofnbsp;the leading heroes are frequently�not invariably�called after theirnbsp;mothers, e.g. Conchobor (mac Nessa), Fergus (mac Roich), Ailill

(mac Magach or Mata), CuChulainn (mac Dechtire). With this usage is probably to be connected the variation in the statements as to thenbsp;paternity of these heroes. Thus Conchobor is sometimes said to be sonnbsp;of the druid Cathbad, sometimes of a previous king Fachtna Fathach;nbsp;CuChulainn is sometimes son of Sualdaim, sometimes of the god Lug.nbsp;Ailill is usually said to be son of Rus Ruad, king of Leinster; but Matanbsp;is sometimes apparently the name of his father. Again, the thronenbsp;appears to be obtained occasionally by marriage�a remarkable factnbsp;since as a rule the kingdom was regarded as the property of the nativenbsp;royal family. Ailill is said to have acquired the kingdom of Connaughtnbsp;by his marriage with Medb. One of his brothers is king of Leinster andnbsp;another of Tara�which again points to some irregular form ofnbsp;succession.

The evidence as to family relationships noted above is by no means consistent. Some heroes regularly bear surnames from their fathers,nbsp;e.g. Celtchar mac Uthidir (or Uthechair). Conchobor is succeeded bynbsp;his sons, one after another, and Cairbre by his son Ere. And thoughnbsp;some allowance must be made for changes in the long course of tradition, it would be arbitrary to assume that all such cases are nonoriginal. But the fact remains that the descriptions and the relations ofnbsp;the leading characters show features which are unknown in later Irishnbsp;tradition and history, though they have been and still are found amongnbsp;many peoples in other parts of the world�wherever relationship isnbsp;reckoned, solely or chiefly, through the female line. We have alreadynbsp;met with them in one Welsh story (p. 116), and in the kingdom of thenbsp;Cruithni (Picts) in Scotland a somewhat similar system survived,nbsp;apparently unmodified, down to the eighth century. Taken as it standsnbsp;the evidence of the Ulster stories points without doubt to the existencenbsp;of a social system in a state of transition between this type and the typenbsp;found in historical times.^

� We think it highly probable that the Clann Rudraige, from whom all the Irish Cruithni�i.e. their reigning families�appear to have claimed descent, hadnbsp;come over from Scotland, perhaps in not very remote times. It is possible, thoughnbsp;by no means clear, that the system of kinship through the mother preserved itsnbsp;vitality among them longer than among the native Irish. But we have no belief innbsp;the dogma that the Picts are proved by this system to be the aboriginal pre-Celticnbsp;inhabitants of the British Isles. On the contrary the system can be traced in Greece,nbsp;Italy, among the Teutonic peoples, and throughout the west of Europe, thoughnbsp;naturally it survived longest in the most remote regions.

It should be observed that the existence of such a transitional system may account for some of the unexplained changes of dynasty, noticed above.

We may now sum up the Irish evidence. There is no doubt that stories which relate to the sixth and following centuries rest uponnbsp;historical foundations, whatever unhistorical elements they may contain. For stories relating to times before St Patrick no proof is possiblenbsp;owing to the absence of contemporary documents, native or foreign.nbsp;But there are abundant traditional records, which in part seem to benbsp;independent of one another, and their testimony is supported in variousnbsp;important points either by archaeological evidence or by a considerationnbsp;of the political conditions which they depict.

Owing partly to the archaeological evidence and the evidence as to political conditions and partly to the general reaction against thenbsp;mythological interpretation of heroic stories which prevailed lastnbsp;century, a marked change of opinion on this subject has taken placenbsp;during the last twenty or thirty years. Many scholars formerly regarded Cormac mac Airt as a mythological character; but we believe henbsp;is now usually held to have been a real man. We have no doubt that thisnbsp;change of opinion is fully justified. But at the same time it is to be notednbsp;that the characters in regard to whom opinion has changed are thosenbsp;whose stories are of the heroic Type C (i.e. more or less didactic) ornbsp;non-heroic. It is to stories of the heroic Type A, i.e. to stories composed solely or chiefly for the purpose of entertainment, that we wouldnbsp;rather call attention.

There can be no doubt that the early Ulster stories were originally of this type, as indeed many of them still are, in spite of �informing�nbsp;additions. Now these stories, as we have seen, depict political and socialnbsp;conditions unknown in the Ireland of the earliest historical times, andnbsp;quite foreign even to the stories relating to Cormac. Yet in the light ofnbsp;the evidence noted above it is clear that they must once have existed.nbsp;But these conditions are merely the framework of stories designed fornbsp;entertainment, and as such they must have been a reality familiar at thenbsp;time when the stories assumed a fixed form. Consequently, as thenbsp;framework indicates a period anterior to Cormac, we must infer that thenbsp;stories themselves had taken shape before his time. This brings us backnbsp;to within a few generations of the time when, according to the genealogies, the heroes lived ; and therefore the probability that they were realnbsp;persons is at least greatly increased. In the next chapter it will be seennbsp;that the unhistorical elements which the stories obviously contain arenbsp;not of a character incompatible with this conclusion.^

' We have not thought it necessary to enter into the evidence of personal names, because its value in this case seems to us somewhat doubtful. Probably the best

The evidence available for the Heroic Age of Greece is on the whole very similar in character to that which we have been discussing fornbsp;the earlier part of the Irish Heroic Age. Contemporary native recordsnbsp;(cz) are entirely wanting. Evidence from early foreign records (b) maynbsp;be available in the future�e.g. from Cretan documents, when these arenbsp;deciphered, or from Hittite sources; but we are not convinced that anynbsp;definite results have yet been obtained, except perhaps for one�verynbsp;early�period. For the present the most important categories ofnbsp;case is Gwenhwyfar (fiuinevere'), the name of Arthur�s wife, which is identical withnbsp;Finnabair, the name of Medb�s daughter. But even if it be allowed (i) that this reallynbsp;was the name of the historical Arthur�s wife�it does not occur in any early recordsnbsp;�and (ii) that it was necessarily derived from Irish heroic saga�a rather hazardousnbsp;assumption�it would prove no more than that Irish heroic saga was known in thenbsp;fifth century. But in the light of the evidence discussed above there can be no doubtnbsp;that it existed long before that time.

I By far the most convincing of the identifications which have been proposed is that of Tavagalavas, son of Antaravas, in Hittite records of c. 1330, with Eteocles, sonnbsp;of Andreus, of Orchomenos. Tavagalavas is described as Ayavalas, and representednbsp;as attacking a place called Laaspa�names which it is proposed to identify withnbsp;Aiolos and Lesbos respectively. Unfortunately little is known of the history ornbsp;traditions of Orchomenos, though its importance in early times was generallynbsp;recognised by the ancients. According to Pausanias, ix. 34 ff., our chief authority,nbsp;it was founded by Andreus. Eteocles left no children, and was succeeded by descendants of Aiolos, whose history Pausanias traces for seven generations, down to thenbsp;Trojan War. Eteocles therefore belongs to very remote times. There are eponymoinbsp;(Minyas, Orchomenos) among his successors; but what is said about him himselfnbsp;does not suggest myth.

Another widely accepted identification is that of Attarissyas, like Tavagalavas a ruler of Ahhiyava, with Atreus, father of Agamemnon. The records which mentionnbsp;Attarissyas date from c. 1250-1225; and his activities relate to the south of Asianbsp;Minor, apparently Pamphylia, and a country called Alasya�a name which elsewhere is connected with Cyprus and the opposite mainland. Atreus belongs to anbsp;period which is much better known from tradition than that of Eteocles; but we donbsp;not know of any tradition which connects him with these regions. A more seriousnbsp;difficulty lies in the names. It is hardly credible that Atreus can be represented bynbsp;Attarissyas and Andreus by Antaravas in the same language, even allowing for thenbsp;difference of a century between them. Attarissyas must surely represent a name innbsp;-ios. An identification with Acrisios would, we think, be less open to objection, ifnbsp;the latter represents an earlier form Akrissios-, and, though we are not inclined tonbsp;attach much importance to such an identification, a connection in Greek traditionnbsp;might then be found in the story of Bellerophon, the scene of which is laid in thenbsp;same or neighbouring regions. Alasya may well be the treSfov to �AAijiov of II. vi.nbsp;201�identified in later times with the plain of eastern Cilicia. Bellerophon�s storynbsp;is bound up with that of Proitos, the brother of Acrisios. Proitos� wife is a Lycian,nbsp;and it is from that country, according to Strabo, vni. vi. ii, that he obtains thenbsp;Cyclopes, who build his castle at Tiryns.

l8l evidence are c, d, and � (cf. p. 133 f.)�as in the case of prehistoricnbsp;Ireland.

There is a great body of evidence relating to the Heroic Age which appears to come from tradition. The first question we have to considernbsp;is to what extent this evidence is independent of the Homeric poems.nbsp;In so far as it is independent it is probably to be treated under (c) rathernbsp;than under (lt;/), i.e. as coming from a different area rather than merelynbsp;from a different social or intellectual milieu ; for its home appears to benbsp;in European Greece, whereas the Homeric poems are generally believednbsp;to have originated on the Asiatic coast. The question of a difference ofnbsp;milieu also is by no means to be disregarded. But the chief question is :nbsp;Can it be shown that there are two (or more) independent groupsnbsp;of traditions, belonging to different areas�just as traditions of thenbsp;Teutonic Heroic Age are preserved independently in England, Germanynbsp;and the North j*

In point of fact stories relating to the Heroic Age are so numerous and so widely distributed that it would probably not be easy to find innbsp;all Greece a place of any importance which did not claim connectionnbsp;with one or other of the heroes. Moreover, not a few of these storiesnbsp;conflict with the evidence of the Homeric poems. But one must notnbsp;assume, as is too often done, that such stories are necessarily of independent origin. Indeed there can hardly be any question that many ofnbsp;them are due to the popularity of the poems. Very frequently thenbsp;immediate source is to be found in antiquarian speculation, whichnbsp;flourished in Greece from very early times. Scope for this was affordednbsp;by the obsolete place-names which occur rather frequently in the poems,nbsp;and also by the tendency to connect identical or similar names, bothnbsp;local and personal. Most commonly no doubt the speculation wasnbsp;based on local stories; but some even of these may have been derivednbsp;ultimately from the poems.

It is unfortunate that practically nothing is left of the works of the early antiquarian poets, except Hesiod. The earliest of them, such asnbsp;Eumelos and Cinaithon, are said to have lived in the eighth century.nbsp;There remain a certain number of fragments ascribed to Hesiod andnbsp;later poets of the same type, and also some fragments of lyric poemsnbsp;relating to the Heroic Age. But the earliest surviving works, apart fromnbsp;the Homeric poems, which treat heroic stories in detail, date from thenbsp;fifth century�the Odes of Pindar and Bacchylides and the Atheniannbsp;dramas. To the same period belong the earliest prose accounts, contained in Herodotos� History and in fragments of earlier writers. But

the great bulk of our information comes from poems, treatises, scholia and various other records dating from the Alexandrian and Romannbsp;periods. Perhaps the most important source of all is the Description ofnbsp;Greece by the antiquarian traveller Pausanias, who lived in the secondnbsp;century a.d.

From these sources we hear of many stories of which nothing or practically nothing is known from the Homeric poems, or from anynbsp;similar poems of which we have record. Such are the stories of thenbsp;early kings of Athens, to which the Homeric poems contain only onenbsp;or two references�and these in passages which Alexandrian criticsnbsp;regarded as spurious. The stories of the early kings of Argolis are stillnbsp;more famous; and to these also the Homeric poems refer quite rarely.nbsp;The longest passage (fl. vi. 152 if.) suggests a different form of thenbsp;genealogy from that which was known in later times. Another strikingnbsp;case is that of the lamidai, a family whose origin is treated at somenbsp;length by Pindar (OZ. vi. 28 ff.). This family is not mentioned in thenbsp;Homeric poems, except in a passing reference to a locality in thenbsp;�Catalogue of Ships� (II. ii. 604).

These and many other stories are clearly independent of the Homeric poems. For the most part, however, they either relate to times anteriornbsp;to those with which the poems are concerned, or else they are definitely antiquarian or non-heroic in character. But if we turn to thenbsp;characters and events with which the poems are primarily concernednbsp;we find that, though the main outlines of the stories are the same herenbsp;and later, there are not inconsiderable divergences in details. We maynbsp;take as an example the family of the Pelopidai, which is represented asnbsp;the most powerful of all the families of the period. The Homericnbsp;genealogy of this family is as follows :

Agamemnon = Clytaimnestra

. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;jnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I

Orestes Chrysothemis Laodice Iphianassa

Neoptolemos=Hermione Megapenthes

183 resided, but Agamemnon�s home is Mycenai. According to II. n.nbsp;569 fF. his dominions include also the cities on the north coast of thenbsp;Peloponnesos, and according to ix. 291 if. various cities in Messenia.nbsp;Menelaos� home is Lacedaimon. Thyestes resides at an unspecifiednbsp;locality, perhaps on the east coast of the Peloponnesos, and is succeedednbsp;there by Aigisthos. The latter gains the favour of Clytaimnestra, and onnbsp;Agamemnon�s return murders him with her assistance. The murdernbsp;takes place at a banquet at Aigisthos� house�which apparently is notnbsp;far from Agamemnon�s home (Od. iv. 528 ff.). Aigisthos then rulesnbsp;Mycenai for seven years. But eventually Orestes returns from Athensnbsp;and slays him (ih. in. 306 if.). It is not stated specifically that he alsonbsp;killed his mother; but this is perhaps implied, since he celebrates hernbsp;funeral rites with those of Aigisthos.

Later authorities show marked divergences from this story, both in the genealogy and in other respects. There is a good deal of disagreement, but the following is probably the earliest (non-Homeric) form ofnbsp;the genealogy:

Pleisthenes=Cleolla nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;(2)=Pelopia

Iphigeneia Electra Orestes=Hermione Nico- Pylades (Orestes)=Erigone Inbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Stratos (=Electra)nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;|

Tisamenos nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Penthilos

Pelops is said to have come from Lydia or Phrygia; Tantalos is his father, and Niobe his sister. He becomes king of Pisa by causing thenbsp;death of Oinomaos (in a chariot race) and marrying his daughternbsp;Hippodameia. His sons Atreus and Thyestes murder their half-brothernbsp;Chrysippos and flee to Mycenai, where the king, Eurystheus, marriesnbsp;their sister Nicippe. On Eurystheus� death Atreus becomes king.nbsp;Agamemnon and Menelaos are not sons of Atreus, but of his sonnbsp;Pleisthenes. Pleisthenes, instigated by Thyestes, attempts to slay hisnbsp;father, but is killed by him. Thyestes also seduces Atreus� wife. Atreusnbsp;in revenge kills two of Thyestes� sons and gives them to him to eat at a

banquet. The history of the family is indeed little more than a catalogue of crimes committed by one member of it against another.

Most of the names and relationships given in the above genealogy can be traced back to the antiquarian poetry of the eighth and seventhnbsp;centuries. Nicostratos, Erigone, Tisamenos and Penthilos are citednbsp;from Cinaithon;! Nicippe, Aerope, Pleisthenes, Cleolla, Anaxibia,nbsp;and Nicostratos from Hesiod�s Catalogos.'^ The story of the sacrifice ofnbsp;Iphigeneia and her rescue by Artemis was contained in the Cypria,'^nbsp;which also seems to have known Tantalos as father of Pelops. Pyladesnbsp;appeared with Orestes at the vengeance in the Nostoi.'^ Electra is firstnbsp;mentioned apparently by Xanthos, a lyric poet of the seventh century;nbsp;but the reference^ implies that her name was already known. On thenbsp;other hand frequent discrepancies occur in the works of later poets,nbsp;chiefly through the introduction of names and relationships from thenbsp;Homeric poems. Thus, Sophocles has a daughter of Agamemnonnbsp;called Chrysothemis�presumably from the Iliad (ix. 145)�whilenbsp;various poets describe the same king as a son of Atreus. It may be duenbsp;to the same cause that several authorities represent Hermione as marriednbsp;first to Neoptolemos, and then, after his death, to Orestes; sometimesnbsp;he is killed by Orestes.

It is not unlikely that the speculations of antiquarian poets may be responsible for some items in the genealogy. But there is no justificationnbsp;for assuming that all the non-Homeric elements are due to such webspinning. They are not mere amplifications of the Homeric account;nbsp;sometimes they definitely contradict it�and that not only in the case ofnbsp;Pleisthenes and in the names of minor characters. Thus, the Odysseynbsp;(iv. 12 If.) states that Menelaos had no son by his queen; Hermione wasnbsp;Helen�s only child. But both Cinaithon and Hesiod�s Catalogos givenbsp;Nicostratos as son of Helen. Again, in Od. iii. 306 f. Orestes comesnbsp;from Athens to avenge his father; but later tradition gives a circumstantial account of his doings. According to this he was brought up in

Fragm, 115-17 (Kinkel). It is possible that Hesiod is not responsible for all the names given in fragm. 116, since other authorities are mentioned with him; but thenbsp;case of Pleisthenes can hardly be in dispute.

3 For Iphigeneia see the epitome in Proclos� Chrestomathy (Kinkel, Epic. Grace. Fragmenta, p. 19); cf. Hesiod, fragm. 118 (t^.). Pelops is called Tantalides in Cypr.,nbsp;fragm. 9 {ib-')-

'� See the epitome, ad fin. (Kinkel, op. cit. p. 53); cf. also Asios, fragm., 5 (pp. cit. p. 204).

5 Aelian, Historical Miscellany, iv. 2lt;5 (cf. Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, 11. p. 12 f.). Xanthos appears to have identified Electra with the Laodice of the Iliad.

185 Phocis by Strophios, the husband of Anaxibia, his father�s sister; and itnbsp;was from there he set out, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, whonbsp;subsequently married his sister Electra. Moreover there are differencesnbsp;in the setting and connections�what may be called the traditionalnbsp;political geography�of the two versions. There seems to be a discrepancy as to the scene of Agamemnon�s death, and perhaps also as tonbsp;the seat of his government; but to this question we shall have to returnnbsp;later. It may be mentioned here, however, that in the � Catalogue ofnbsp;Ships� (//. 11. 574 f.) this king has under his immediate sway a group ofnbsp;cities on the north coast of the Peloponneses�a district later known asnbsp;Achaia. But according to the tradition regularly accepted in later timesnbsp;these cities had belonged to the lonians down to the �Return of thenbsp;Heracleidai�, when they were conquered by the Achaeans undernbsp;Tisamenos who had been expelled from Argos.

Now if the Greek genealogies which we have been discussing be compared with the Teutonic genealogies given on p. 136 f. and p. 138 f.,nbsp;it will be seen that the resemblances and differences between thenbsp;different versions in each case are in general of a similar character. Thenbsp;more important persons and their relationships with one another arenbsp;for the most part identical in both versions, and this is generally truenbsp;also of the outstanding incidents in the stories. In the minor charactersnbsp;there is a considerable amount of variation. The greater abundance ofnbsp;names in the later Greek genealogy may be due in part to learnednbsp;speculation; but, whatever its cause, the Norse version of the Burgundiannbsp;genealogy is to a certain extent parallel.

Other parallels between the Norse and the later Greek versions may be seen in the stories of incest between a father and daughter�unwitting in both cases�and in the banquets at which a father is maliciouslynbsp;made to eat the flesh of his infant children�again in ignorance. Of thenbsp;incestuous origin of Hrothulf (Hr�lfr Kraki) there is no hint in Beowulf-,nbsp;indeed his age, as we have seen (p. 137), seems practically to excludenbsp;the possibility of the story. Again, the banquet given to Atli (Attila)nbsp;goes with the story of his death (cf. p. 139), the history of which can tonbsp;some extent be traced. It is known from the contemporary account ofnbsp;Priscusi that Attila died a natural death (from the bursting of a bloodnbsp;vessel) on the night following his marriage with a girl called Hildico.nbsp;Eighty years later, however, we find the Roman chronicler Marcellinusnbsp;Comes recording that he was murdered by night by a woman. This maynbsp;well come from a contemporary rumour, since the circumstancesnbsp;I Quoted by Jordanes, Get. 49.

described by Priscus were obviously such as to rouse suspicion. But the woman can hardly be any other than the bride. We do not know fromnbsp;any historical source that Attila married a sister of Guntharius, thoughnbsp;this feature is common to both versions of the story and in itself is in nonbsp;way improbable. But if this sister was Hildico, the alleged murderess�nbsp;as is assumed by many scholars�there can hardly have been any childrennbsp;ready for him to eat.

The milieu in which such motifs as these could flourish must clearly have been different from that which produced Beowulf or the Homericnbsp;poems. In Greece, as in the North, heroic poetry must have passednbsp;from the court, with its reticence and decorum, to circles of crudernbsp;tastes. The story of Thyestes is to be taken in connection with those ofnbsp;lason and Medeia, Pentheus, Oidipus, the Minotaur, and other similarnbsp;horrors�all of which show characteristics more in accordance withnbsp;folk-tale than with heroic story.

It is not to be supposed that these horrors were introduced into the stories in late times. The dramatists of the fifth century seem rarely tonbsp;have taken their subjects from the Homeric poems; but when they didnbsp;so they appear to have kept fairly close to the stories. No new charactersnbsp;are introduced in the Rhesos^ or even in the Cyclops, except supernaturalnbsp;beings. Even in the imaginative continuations of the Odyssey, whichnbsp;were composed in the two previous centuries, the new matter apparentlynbsp;did not conflict with the old; the scene was laid mostly in unknownnbsp;lands. The prestige enjoyed by the Homeric poems was too great tonbsp;allow of innovations except in purely imaginative spheres. We know ofnbsp;only one definite departure from their authority�the story invented bynbsp;Stesichoros in his Palinoidia that it was not Helen herself but only anbsp;phantom or semblance of her which went to Troy. But this experimentnbsp;belongs itself rather to the imaginative than to the heroic sphere, for itnbsp;was not denied that Helen appeared to be in Troy; and it was remarkablenbsp;enough to give rise to a kind of myth relating to the poet himself.

We see no reason therefore for doubting that the two versions of the story of the Pelopidai were as independent of one another as those of thenbsp;story of the Scyldingas. It may very well be that the origin of the non-Homeric traditions is to be traced to heroic poetry (or saga)�which isnbsp;doubtless true to some extent of the (Northern) story of the Scyldingasnbsp;�but if so this poetry must have been different from anything we can

� In the tragedy (279 and passim) Rhesos is said to be son of the Strymon, whereas according to II. x. 435 his father�s name is Eioneus. Possibly the tragediannbsp;took this to be the name of the river.

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properly call Homeric. The elements common to the two versions must be regarded as more or less contemporary records.

The two versions of the story of the Burgundian kings do not provide so good an analogy. It is not known at what date they becamenbsp;independent of one another; and neither of them bears any closenbsp;resemblance to the Homeric poems. But in Beowulf we have a worknbsp;similar in character to the latter and arising out of very similar conditions.nbsp;In both cases we have heroic epic poems which became crystallised innbsp;form at a comparatively early date, but the origin of which is to benbsp;sought in records, perhaps in poetic form, carried over the sea to a newnbsp;land�in one case probably by the settlers themselves, in the othernbsp;through communication between the home land and the land which hadnbsp;been occupied not long before. In both cases also we find records of thenbsp;same events surviving in the home lands or countries adjacent thereto.nbsp;But these records, instead of becoming crystallised, have passed throughnbsp;a process of disintegration, and consequently, as records of the past, arenbsp;far inferior to those which have been preserved in the new lands.

The Scandinavian version of the story of the Scyldingas is known both from Danish and Icelandic sources. The Icelandic tradition came,nbsp;at least mainly, from Norway. Between the two there are not inconsiderable differences, and even among the various Norse accounts andnbsp;references we find no complete uniformity. The same is true also of thenbsp;later Greek version, though here the infiuence of the Homeric poems isnbsp;no doubt largely responsible for variations. But although there is nonbsp;necessity for believing that all the post-Homeric traditions of thenbsp;Pelopidai came from the same centre, yet a good deal of evidencenbsp;points to one particular locality as the chief source of information.nbsp;This is the neighbourhood of Sparta, and especially Amyclai.

The Spartans-appear to have regarded Agamemnon as one of their own kings. This is implied in the speech attributed by Herodotosnbsp;(vii. 159) to the envoys sent to Syracuse in 480, just before the greatnbsp;Persian invasion; and later writers give evidence to the same effect.nbsp;Thus, Clement of Alexandria states that the Spartans worshipped anbsp;Zeus Agamemnon, and Pausanias (hi. 19. 6) says that they had a tombnbsp;of Agamemnon and Cassandra at Amyclai. This last piece of evidence isnbsp;in accord with the statement of Pindar [Pyth. xi. 31 f.) that Amyclai wasnbsp;the scene of Agamemnon�s death. Stesichoros and Simonides placednbsp;his royal residence �in Lacedaimon�.^ In another passage Pindar

Cf. Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, p. 54 f-j from the scholiast on Euripides, Orestes 46.

{Nem. XI. 34) speaks of Amyclai as the home of Orestes, while in Pyth. XI. 16 he describes the same hero as a Laconian.

Amyclai is not mentioned in the Homeric poems, except in one passage in the � Catalogue of Ships� (JI. ii. 584), where it is included among thenbsp;cities governed by Menelaos; and in historical times it was never anbsp;place of any great importance. But, although it is less than three milesnbsp;distant from Sparta, it is said^ to have remained in Achaean hands at thenbsp;time of the Dorian invasion, and not to have been conquered by thenbsp;Spartans until the reign of Teleclos, about the middle of the eighthnbsp;century. This place would seem therefore well fitted to preserve traditions of the earlier period. It may be recalled (cf. p. 184) that the earliestnbsp;references to the non-Homeric genealogy of the Pelopidai come fromnbsp;fragments of Cinaithon, a Spartan poet who is said to have lived in thenbsp;eighth century.

We have treated the story of the Pelopidai at some length because the evidence for this is by far the fullest and most satisfactory. Of thenbsp;other heroes who figure most prominently in the Homeric poems non-Homeric records have comparatively little to say; and in some cases it isnbsp;doubtful whether even this comes from genuine tradition. Most ofnbsp;them, it may be observed, belong to localities which were of little or nonbsp;importance in later times. But the true explanation may be that thesenbsp;heroes have acquired fame only in connection with the siege of Troy.nbsp;The cases of Odysseus, Achilles, Neoptolemos, Diomedes and Idomeneus will require notice in the next chapter. Diomedes certainly playednbsp;a part in the story of the fall of Thebes; but it is doubtful whether thenbsp;(non-Homeric) adventures recorded of the others come from earlynbsp;heroic poetry. In regard to Idomeneus it may be remarked that thoughnbsp;non-Homeric records have little to say about the hero himself, theynbsp;supply a good number of stories relating to Minos and other members ofnbsp;his family.

Reference, however, may be made here to the case of Meleagros, whose story is told�incidentally�at some length in II. ix. 529 ff.nbsp;The account given here differs in some noticeable features from thenbsp;story as told in later times. There is no mention of Atalante or of thenbsp;Moirai, and it seems to be implied that Meleagros� death is due to thenbsp;Erinys invoked by his mother. We do not know how far back thenbsp;later story can be traced; but it has a special interest because it seems tonbsp;be derived from a poem (or saga) of Type A, rather than from antiquarian poetry. It may be observed that according to the Hesiodicnbsp;� Pausanias, in. 2.

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Eoiai^ Meleagros� death was due to Apollo, who was defending the Curetes. This is at variance with both versions of the story.

We have not taken into account the evidence of the forms of heroic proper names, because such evidence seems to us to be not free fromnbsp;ambiguity. Such a name as Wekaha (Hecabe), which occurs on earlynbsp;vases depicting Trojan scenes, might of course come from non-Homeric tradition; but as a Trojan name it is obviously much morenbsp;hkely to be of Homeric origin. It is well known that the Homericnbsp;poems were recited in various parts of Greece, perhaps everywhere,nbsp;and we see no grounds for assuming that the lonicised form of language,nbsp;in which they have come down to us, was employed for such recitationsnbsp;in, say, Doric cities. On the other hand there are a number of variantsnbsp;such as Agamedmon for Agamemnon, and Ofysseus for Odysseus, whichnbsp;are not of a purely phonetic character; and it seems to us very likelynbsp;that some of these may come from non-Homeric tradition. More thannbsp;this can hardly be said with confidence. Some peculiarities of heroicnbsp;nomenclature will be noticed later.

From what has been said above it will be seen that there is good evidence for (c)�i.e. the existence of independent traditions in differentnbsp;regions. Evidence for (^/) need hardly be discussed. As regards (e)�nbsp;the consistency of heroic tradition�it may be said that the Homericnbsp;poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, rarely show any inconsistencies ; and thenbsp;same seems to be true of some of the lost Cyclic poems, so far as onenbsp;can judge. On the other hand the Homeric evidence is frequently atnbsp;variance with non-Homeric tradition, though perhaps not often onnbsp;points of fundamental importance. For the character of the Cypria it isnbsp;instructive to notice that, if we may trust the epitome given by Proclos,nbsp;this poem made the Achaean fleet to set out twice from Aulis. The firstnbsp;account seems to have been taken from the Iliad (11. 303 ff.), while thenbsp;second, which described the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, was in accord withnbsp;non-Homeric tradition.

The archaeological evidence ( �) has been so frequently treated that we need not enter into any detailed discussion of this subject here. Itnbsp;will be sufficient to note briefly a few of the chief features whichnbsp;characterise the civilisation depicted in the Homeric poems, and whichnbsp;enable us to determine the position of this civilisation in the chronological scheme which has been established as a result of archaeologicalnbsp;investigation.

The great prehistoric fortresses of Troy and Mycenai, and perhaps i Fragm. 159 (Kinkel).

also the palace of Cnossos, are represented as still occupied. No detailed descriptions of these are given ; but the account of the�probablynbsp;imaginary�palace of Alcinoos in the Odyssey suggests that decorationsnbsp;of the Mycenean period were familiar to the poet. Iron is known, butnbsp;weapons are regularly said to be of bronze. The sword is used fornbsp;striking as well as for thrusting, and would therefore seem to be of thenbsp;type�usually leaf-shaped�characteristic of the late Bronze Age innbsp;western Europe, which appears only at the very end of the Myceneannbsp;period. Brooches, which are first found in late Mycenean graves, seemnbsp;now to be in more general use. The horse is always used for driving,nbsp;though one or two passages perhaps suggest that riding was not absolutely unknown. The disposal of the dead is by cremation, a customnbsp;apparently not practised in the Mycenean period. The only detailednbsp;description of a funeral�that of Patroclos�is of a barbaric type,nbsp;similar to those described in Beowulf, though with the addition ofnbsp;human victims, as in Sigurdarkvida hin skamma, st. 70. The constructionnbsp;of the barrow, both in form and purpose, is entirely in accord withnbsp;northern custom.

The �Catalogue of Ships� gives a detailed political geography of Greece, which is not altogether in harmony with the indications contained elsewhere in the Iliad. But both alike show features which arenbsp;quite unknown to the Greece of even the earliest historical times.nbsp;Several of the leading heroes come from districts�Pylos, Malis,nbsp;Salamis, and Ithaca�which were never of any importance in thenbsp;historical period. The lonians and the Dorians, the chief national groupsnbsp;of historical times, are barely mentioned, and even then the names arenbsp;applied to the inhabitants of particular localities, and not as collectivenbsp;terms. There are no Greek settlements on the Asiatic coast; in thenbsp;Trojan Catalogue (//. ii. 867 f.) Miletos is a Carian city. The Phrygiansnbsp;are located in �Lesser Phrygia�, to the south of the Marmara. On thenbsp;other hand there is no trace of any knowledge of the Hittite empire.nbsp;Maritime activity and commerce are in the hands of the Phoenicians,nbsp;who are also famous for metal working, especially the production ofnbsp;silver vessels. In the Odyssey, the western Mediterranean is a region ofnbsp;mystery, though not absolutely unknown from report.

This evidence is not entirely uniform, though the discrepancies are not very important. The constant and governing elements�we maynbsp;instance the regular use of bronze weapons and the absence of Greeknbsp;settlements in Asia Minor�cannot represent conditions later than thenbsp;tenth century at the latest. On the other hand there are some items.

I9I such as Achilles� new shield, Odysseus� brooch, and Helen�s wheelednbsp;workbox, which may have been suggested by novelties of the eighthnbsp;century. The last date does not seem to us quite certain; for concentricnbsp;zone decoration and wheeled bijoux had a long history before theynbsp;found their way into Etruscan graves. But in any case these laternbsp;elements are quite exceptional; the general picture of civilisation andnbsp;political geography contained in the poem cannot have been true evennbsp;for the ninth century.

It is essential to bear in mind here, as in the Teutonic, British, and Irish heroic stories, that these pictures of civilisation and politicalnbsp;geography form merely the setting and framework of the stories,nbsp;without which they could not have come into existence. This has toonbsp;often been overlooked. Theories have been put forward, e.g. that thenbsp;Iliad is founded upon a tradition that some (nameless) king of Mycenainbsp;had once led an expedition against Troy. But all such theories are duenbsp;to a fundamental misconception of the character of heroic story�thenbsp;interest of which is essentially personal. The object of the Homericnbsp;poets was to relate stories of adventure, not to reconstruct the prehistoric civilisation of Greece. The civilisation and political geographynbsp;described in the poems must represent what actually existed at�or verynbsp;shortly before�the time when the stories took shape. In other wordsnbsp;the stories must date substantially from the tenth century or earlier.

As regards the upper limit, it is to be observed that the civilisation depicted in the poems does not correspond to that of the late Myceneannbsp;period (� Late Minoan III �), as revealed by archaeological investigation.nbsp;There are many important differences in details, e.g. with regard to thenbsp;disposal of the dead, and as a whole the civilisation of the poems seemsnbsp;to be on a decidedly lower level�more barbaric�than the other. Wenbsp;may note also the absence of any knowledge of the Hittites and the factnbsp;that Sidon, not Crete, is the centre of maritime activity and trade.nbsp;The Hittite empire in Asia Minor is known to have been destroyed justnbsp;before 1200, and it is believed that the Cretan-Mycenean civilisationnbsp;was shattered or at least transformed about the same time or not longnbsp;afterwards.^ Articles of later types have been found at Mycenai and at

I The archaeological evidence at present available for the Greek mainland seems to point not to a single catastrophe, but to a decadence accompanied by externalnbsp;(barbaric) influences. The analogy of Rome suggests a series of barbaric irruptionsnbsp;and conquests. But it is apparently still difficult to assign fixed dates to the variousnbsp;phases of the decadence; and the same may be said with regard to the substitution ofnbsp;iron for bronze in weapons. When did the iron sword come into general use innbsp;Greece

some of the old Cretan sites, but these are in general more like the Homeric things. We may therefore probably fix the twelfth century asnbsp;the upper limit. But in view of the fact that the poems show no knowledge of any catastrophes, such as would undoubtedly attend the downfall of a higher civilisation, it would be unwise to carry the history of thenbsp;poems back beyond the eleventh at the earliest. The fact that the reigningnbsp;families are represented as having held their power for two or threenbsp;generations points to the same conclusion.

There is of course a natural inclination to connect the detailed picture of Heroic Greece given by the poems with the splendour of thenbsp;Mycenean period, rather than with the dark and practically unknownnbsp;age which followed ; and in spite of the discrepancies observable in thenbsp;two civilisations many scholars are unable to resist the temptation tonbsp;do so. It is doubtless more attractive to visualise Agamemnon with hisnbsp;quasi-imperial position reigning as a Constantine in a still unconquerednbsp;Rome than as a Gothic king settled amidst its decay. And, moreover, itnbsp;was the attempt to trace the history of Agamemnon which first led tonbsp;the discovery of the Mycenean civilisation. A way out of the difficultynbsp;is therefore sought by distinguishing sharply between the times innbsp;which the poems were composed and those to which the stories relate.nbsp;The Heroic Age is identified with the Mycenean period�say, thenbsp;thirteenth century and earlier�while the poems and the civilisationnbsp;which they depict are referred to much later times.

This is a theory which finds much favour at present. No evidence in support of it is to be obtained from the poems themselves, but itnbsp;is in accordance with the calculations of the ancient historians andnbsp;chronologists. The chronology generally accepted in later times wasnbsp;that of Eratosthenes (shortly before 200 b.c.), which dated the fall ofnbsp;Troy in 1183. The Parian Marble (half a century earlier) gives 1209 fornbsp;the same event. Herodotos (ii. 145) places the Trojan War eightnbsp;hundred, and (ii. 53) the time of Hesiod and Homer four hundred,nbsp;years before his own time (c. 440). The grounds upon which the lastnbsp;statement is based are not known. Many scholars are disposed to acceptnbsp;it for Homer, though not for Hesiod; but it will hardly account, fornbsp;example, for the bronze weapons. If the civilisation is that of � Homer�s �nbsp;time he must be dated at least a century farther back. But even then thenbsp;political geography is that not of his time but of the Heroic Age�nbsp;which is said to be two or three centuries earlier.

Whatever may be the origin of Herodotos� date for Homer, the other dates given above are not mere random guesses but items in a

193 scheme of chronology, which was based on genealogies. Herodotosnbsp;and other writers of his time do not apply dates in our sense to thenbsp;Heroic Age, but they have a conventional reckoning of forty years to anbsp;generation, which enables them to state in numbers of years the distancenbsp;at which a person of the far past stands removed from their own times.nbsp;From various passages, especially vii. 204 and viii. 131, compared withnbsp;n. 145, it is clear that when Herodotos reckons eight hundred yearsnbsp;from his own time to the Trojan War, he means twenty generations.^nbsp;The Alexandrian chronologists made a step forward, fixing definitenbsp;dates for various events, e.g. 1183 for the fall of Troy, and 1104 for thenbsp;� Return of the Heracleidai�. But the principle on which these dates arenbsp;based was taken over by them from their predecessors, i.e. forty yearsnbsp;per generation�not only for the Heroic Age but also for all the earlynbsp;period, down to the seventh century.

It is only by those who are willing to allow an average of forty years per generation that any value can be attached to these dates.� Those who,nbsp;like ourselves, are unwilling to allow this must reduce the figures bynbsp;about 25 per cent, in order to arrive at the dates really indicated by thenbsp;genealogies. Then the Trojan War will fall six hundred years beforenbsp;Herodotos� time, i.e. some time after 1050, and the end of the Heroicnbsp;Age (the � Return of the Heracleidai �) some time in the first half of thenbsp;tenth century. It is without doubt to these dates that the evidence ofnbsp;Greek tradition points. Unfortunately no genealogies except those ofnbsp;the Spartan royal families have been preserved complete. But there isnbsp;some evidence with regard to other genealogies which points to thenbsp;same conclusion.3

The Spartan genealogies carry us back to the end of the Heroic Age eight generations before Theopompos (c. 720), with whom the historicalnbsp;period begins. The Trojan War falls about two generations earlier,nbsp;i.e. about three centuries in all. If we accept this, the only evidencenbsp;available, the history of Greek heroic poetry becomes clear enough.nbsp;According to tradition, the �Return of the Heracleidai� and the firstnbsp;settlement in Asia (the �Aeolic Migration�) took place about the same

i There are a few exceptional cases, especially the calculation of the date of Dionysos� birth (11. 145) and the duration of the rule of the Heracleidai in Lydianbsp;(i. 7), which can hardly be explained, we think, except as early scribal errors,nbsp;perhaps through the use of numerals.

� This view has recently been defended. The question is discussed in the note at the end of this chapter.

3 We may refer especially to the Arcadian genealogy recorded by Pausanias, VIII. 4 f. For other genealogies cf. Chadwick, Heroic Age, p. 182 f.

time. One of the leaders in the latter movement was Penthilos, son of Orestes, from whom the noblest family in Mytilene claimed descent.nbsp;We need not hesitate to believe that poems relating to the Trojan War,nbsp;as well as to other events of the Heroic Age, were already current bynbsp;this time, and that they were carried over to Asia by the settlers. Therenbsp;they formed the nucleus from which the Homeric poems grew in thenbsp;course of the next few generations. In the homeland remains of thenbsp;same early poetry seem to have survived, more or less disintegrated,nbsp;and perhaps only in the form of saga, until the time of the antiquariannbsp;poets.

Evidence for the use of heroic names (g) does not amount to much, owing to the fact that very few names bave been preserved from thenbsp;long period between the Heroic Age and the seventh century. There wasnbsp;an Agamemnon reigning in Cyme towards the end of the eighth century,nbsp;and a Hector in Chios not much later. But there can be no doubt thatnbsp;by this time the Homeric poems were widely known in Asia, if not innbsp;European Greece also. Hesiod�s brother Perses bears a heroic name;nbsp;but it is clear from the IT'orh and Days (l�off'.) that Hesiod wasnbsp;familiar with Homeric poetry. Their father had come from Cyme. It isnbsp;perhaps of somewhat more importance that the name Menelaos appearsnbsp;among the early kings of Sparta, though it does not occur in Herodotos�nbsp;genealogy (vii. 204). The king bearing this name would seem to havenbsp;lived about the beginning of the eighth century. But in view of thenbsp;evidence discussed above we have little doubt that Menelaos wasnbsp;always known at Sparta�especially perhaps in connection with thenbsp;temple of Helen at Therapne, between Sparta and Amyclai.

In heroic names, however, there is another feature which deserves attention. If the Homeric and non-Homeric genealogies of the Pelo-pidai given on p. 182 f. above be compared, it will be seen that thenbsp;names common to the two, i.e. the essential names in the story, are not ofnbsp;Greek�at least not specifically Greek�origin. Pelops and Menelaosnbsp;may be Greek. The former is an ethnic name of the type borne by somenbsp;peoples in the north of Greece, e.g. Dolopes^ Dryopes. But similarnbsp;names occur also in Macedonia and elsewhere, e.g. Deuriopes. Namesnbsp;in -lawos are Phrygian, as well as Greek. None of the other names appearnbsp;to be Greek. Two {Thyestes and Orestes') are ethnic names taken fromnbsp;peoples {Dyestai, Ores tai) in Illyria and Macedonia. Some of thenbsp;names which occur only in the non-Homeric genealogy also seem to benbsp;doubtful. Aeropos is the name of one of the brothers in a Macedoniannbsp;story related by Herodotos (viii. 137); the others have native names. It

195 is also the name of a later king. Penthilos does not appear to be Greek.nbsp;One is tempted to connect it with the goddess Bendis (the Thraciannbsp;Artemis).

According to non-Homeric tradition Pelops was a foreigner who had come from Phrygia or Lydia. The names noted above suggest thatnbsp;the connections of the family lay in a different direction. But there is nonbsp;doubt that the Phrygians (Phryges) were an offshoot from the Brygesnbsp;or Brygoi, a people of Macedonia, and that with various other peoplesnbsp;they had passed over into Asia from the Balkan Peninsula. In thenbsp;Heroic Age the dhference in sound between the two names had not yetnbsp;come into existence. It is likely therefore that the localisation of Pelopsnbsp;in Asia was due to a misunderstanding. At the same time it is to benbsp;noted that names of non-Greek appearance are by no means confinednbsp;to this family; Nestor, Achilleus, Aias, and many others are quite asnbsp;strange. It would seem indeed as if there was a numerous and dominantnbsp;foreign element in Greece during the Heroic Age.

It is important to notice that the later forms of some of the names mentioned above (Bryges, Dyestai, Bendi-') show different sounds fromnbsp;those which appear in the heroic names. This is due to a sound-changenbsp;characteristic of the Greek language, through which the originalnbsp;sounds bh, dh, gh became ph, th, ch. The heroic names show this change,nbsp;but the foreign names learned by the Greeks in later times have b, d, g.^nbsp;Other examples are Berecyntes, the name of a Phrygian people, which isnbsp;apparently identical with Phorcys, the name of the leader of the Phrygians in the Iliad, and Baiace, the name of a � city� in Chaonia, accordingnbsp;to Hecataios, which is probably to be connected with the Phaiecesnbsp;(Phaeacians) of the Odyssey. It is to be observed that names in Asianbsp;Minor derived from Phrygian or Mysian rarely if ever show ph, th, chnbsp;unless they are found in the Iliad. Usually such names have b, d, g, as innbsp;Berecyntes or Germe (related to Greek Therme}- It would seem therefore that this sound-change had ceased to operate at�or soon after�nbsp;the time of the Greek settlement of Asia Minor. This means that thenbsp;heroic names given above, both of peoples and persons, date from thenbsp;Heroic Age itself.

i The heroic names of peoples which remained in contact with the Greek world, like the Phrygians, were of course preserved. The Bryges, being an inland people,nbsp;may have been unknown to the Greeks for cenmries after the Heroic Age. They seemnbsp;to be mentioned first in the Telegony, which is ascribed to the early sixth century.nbsp;The name was evidently not derived from heroic tradition.

follows: (i) Traditions of the Heroic Age were preserved independently in Europe and Asia; (ii) The civilisation and political geography whichnbsp;serve as a framework to the Homeric poems and owe their preservationnbsp;to this fact, represent substantially the conditions of the Heroic Age;nbsp;(iii) Some at least of the names, both of persons and peoples, containednbsp;in the poems date from the same period. From this evidence we maynbsp;infer with confidence that the Greek Heroic Age was no mere creation ofnbsp;literature, but an epoch of history parallel to the other Heroic Agesnbsp;discussed above�in spite of its antiquity and the length of time bynbsp;which it is separated from the strictly historical period. The recordsnbsp;indeed are more satisfactory than those for the early part of the Irishnbsp;Heroic Age. Unhistorical elements abound, as we shall see in the nextnbsp;chapter; but there can be no reasonable doubt that some at least of thenbsp;stories have a historical basis.

Note. The credibility of the reckoning of forty years to a generation in the Spartan royal genealogies, upon which Alexandrian chronology seems to have been largelynbsp;based, has been defended recently by Myres, Who were the Greeks? p. 304. Speakingnbsp;of the pedigree of Leotychides (Herod, viii. 131) he says that � it has to be observednbsp;first, that in this list we are not dealing with generations but with reigns, and secondlynbsp;that the Spartans postponed legal marriage till the age of forty�.

We do not see how the first statement can be correct. Herodotos gives the list quite definitely as a genealogy��Leotychides, son of Men�tes, son of Hegesileos�,nbsp;etc. He adds that all these, except the two mentioned first after Leotychidesnbsp;(i.e. Leotychides� father and grandfather), had been kings of Sparta. It isnbsp;commonly held, we believe, that �two� here is due to a scribal error for �seven�,nbsp;since Leotychides� seven immediate ancestors are all wanting in the list of kings ofnbsp;this line (the Eurypontidai) given by Pausanias, in. 7. But, whether this be so or not,nbsp;the genealogy of Leotychides cannot possibly be regarded as a list of the Eurypontidnbsp;kings. Herodotos himself mentions three predecessors of Leotychides who do notnbsp;appear in it, and Pausanias adds three more.

The source of the second statement�that the Spartans postponed legal marriage till the age of forty�is not known to us. We think it must come from a theoreticalnbsp;writer. It may represent a Spartan ideal ; but in practice it is quite irreconcilable withnbsp;the succession of Spartan kings in the fifth century�when first we have detailednbsp;information from Herodotos, Thucydides, etc. In Herodotos, vil. 3, Demaratos isnbsp;represented as saying that at Sparta the right of succession belonged to a king�snbsp;son who was born after his father�s accession�not to those who had been bomnbsp;previously. If this custom was rigidly observed, it might reasonably be expectednbsp;that the length of a generation in the Spartan royal families would be somewhatnbsp;above the average; but in point of fact this does not seem to be borne out by thenbsp;records for the fifth, fourth and third centuries. It may be added that we hear�notnbsp;unfrequently and in various periods�of kings (Zeuxidemos, Leotychides, Plei-stoanax, etc.) whose fathers never reigned.

Even if the statement as to the prohibition of marriage under forty applies only to the period before the fifth century, we shall still have difficulties to face. Leoty-

197 chides was grown up (cf. Herod, vi. 6$) when he became king in 491; he cannotnbsp;have been bom later than 510. Then his eighth ancestor Theopompos�the firstnbsp;name in the genealogy which we can identify�must have been bom not later thannbsp;840-830, if marriage under forty was illegal. Theopompos was the king who conquered Messenia�for which the date given by Pausanias (iv. 13) is 724. To meet thenbsp;requirements of a forty-year generation scheme we shall have to carry back not onlynbsp;this event but also the second Messenian War and the activities of Tyrtaios to datesnbsp;far earlier than those which are generally accepted.

In the same work, p. 577, note 8, Prof. Myres says that the abnormal length of the generations extends only to the sons of Aristodemos, and that from Aristodemos wenbsp;have generations of normal length back to Heracles, whom he dates c. 1230 b.c.nbsp;But it is clear that Herodotos made no distinction of this kind. In vii. 204 and vin.nbsp;131, he traces the genealogies of Leonides and Leotychides back to Eurysthenes andnbsp;Procles (the sons of Aristodemos) in the fifteenth and to Heracles in the twentiethnbsp;generation. The births of Leonides and Leotychides may be dated with confidencenbsp;c. 530-510. Again, in II. 145 he says that Heracles was bom about nine hundrednbsp;years before his own time (c. 450-440), i.e. c. 1350-1340. He cannot therefore havenbsp;regarded the five earliest generations as shorter.

Similar evidence is to be found elsewhere. Eusebius and the Parian Marble, though they give different dates, both assume an interval of three hundred yearsnbsp;between the arrival of Danaos with his daughters and the fall of Troy. This intervalnbsp;is doubtless derived from earlier authorities, and based ultimately upon genealogies.nbsp;Presumably the starting point is the birth of Abas, whose descendants in the Trojannbsp;War�Tlepolemos, son of Heracles, of the line of Acrisios, and Sthenelos, son ofnbsp;Capaneus, of the line of Proitos (cf. Pausan. ii. 18)�are descended from him in thenbsp;seventh generation. Again, we may take the ancestry of the kings of Cyrene, whosenbsp;genealogy, though not preserved in detail, covers both the Spartan and preSpartan periods. According to Pindar, Pyth. in ad mit., Battos I, the founder of thenbsp;dynasty, is descended in the seventeenth (i.e. sixteenth) generation from Euphemos�nbsp;one of the Argonauts, and a contemporary of Heracles. Battos is said to havenbsp;founded Cyrene c. 630, i.e. about a century (or slightly more) before the births ofnbsp;Leonides and Leotychides, who stand in the twentieth generation from Heracles.nbsp;We may also compare the Arcadian genealogy recorded by Pausanias, viii. 4 f.,nbsp;which comes down only to the second Messenian War�about 650 b.c. From thenbsp;last king. Aristocrates II, persons concerned with the voyage of the Argo and withnbsp;Heracles stand in the fourteenth and fifteenth generations. Holaias, brother-in-lawnbsp;of Cresphontes, the brother of Aristodemos, stands in the tenth generation from thenbsp;same king. The Spartan kings Anaxandros and Anaxidemos, who according tonbsp;Pausanias, iii. 3, 7, reigned during the second Messenian War, stand in the twelfthnbsp;and eleventh generations from Aristodemos.

It is quite clear therefore that the ancients did not regard the Spartan generations as of exceptional length. The abnormality lies not in the length of the Spartannbsp;generations but in an erroneous estimate of the length of generations in general.nbsp;There seems indeed to be some evidence that the error was detected by some of thenbsp;Alexandrian scholars, e.g. Callimachos. But this is a question which must be left tonbsp;experts in Greek chronology. All that we are concerned with here is to make clearnbsp;that Greek dates, whether they come from Alexandrian writers or from Herodotosnbsp;or Hecataios, are in themselves of no value. They form no part of tradition, and theynbsp;are based on erroneous calculations. They ought never to be quoted, except asnbsp;illustrating the growth of historical research.

With genealogies, as with traditional matter in general, the case is of course quite different. We cannot share the robust faith shown by some recent writers. Thesenbsp;records, before they came into the hands of the chronologists, had had a long life,nbsp;during which they had been exposed to errors of all kinds, arising both from forgetfulness and from antiquarian speculation. Thus, to take a single example, Proitos andnbsp;Bellerophon belong to the same story, as contemporaries; yet the former is in thenbsp;sixth, the latter only in the second generation from heroes of the Trojan War.nbsp;Eponymoi and other suspicious names are not uncommon. On the other hand stillnbsp;less can we share the robust �scepticism� (so called) of the last century�which innbsp;reality assumed that the traditions were all myths or fictions. On this road nonbsp;progress can be made. Myth and fiction require to be demonstrated just as much asnbsp;fact.

The Spartan genealogies, which we have been considering, present no features which can fairly be called suspicious, in spite of one or two discrepancies, e.g. thenbsp;presence or absence of the name Soos, which (following Herodotos) we have�nbsp;perhaps wrongly�ignored. We are inclined to think they are genuine. But wenbsp;are not prepared to embark upon a discussion of the origin of the dual kingship.

IN poetry and saga relating to the Heroic Age one meets almost everywhere with incidents and scenes which appear to be of annbsp;unhistorical character. The evidence afforded by the various Heroicnbsp;Ages is in general very similar and conforms to certain well-markednbsp;types. It will be convenient therefore in this case to treat the matternbsp;collectively and to arrange it according to these types.

Three main types may be distinguished : I. Incidents and situations which are in conflict (a) with reliable historical evidence or (J)) withnbsp;other heroic stories. II. Incidents and situations which are in themselvesnbsp;incredible. III. Matter of various kinds which is neither in conflictnbsp;with other evidence nor yet in itself incredible, but which, at least in itsnbsp;context, is certainly or probably to be regarded as unhistorical. Thenbsp;invention of characters and motifs will be treated in connection with thenbsp;last of these sections.

I. Incidents and situations in conflict with good historical evidence occur frequently in the later versions (German and Norse) of thenbsp;Teutonic heroic stories. In the Nibelungenlied we find Dietrich vonnbsp;Berne, i.e. Theodric the Ostrogoth, and his men at the court of Etzel,nbsp;i.e. Attila, although Theodric was not born until a year or two afternbsp;Attila�s death. In other medieval German poems the confusion isnbsp;carried much farther, for Dietrich, who died in 526, is made to benbsp;nephew of Ermenrich (Eormenric), who died c. 370 and was in realitynbsp;his remote ancestor. Banished by his uncle, he takes refuge withnbsp;Etzel, who died in 453. The result of this confusion is that the samenbsp;characters are associated with Dietrich and Ermenrich, and indeednbsp;come upon the scene in most of the heroic stories.

It is to be observed that this confusion does not appear in the early German Hildebrandeslied. Here Dietrich�s enemy is not Ermenrichnbsp;but Otachar, i.e. Odoacer, who actually was a contemporary and enemynbsp;of Theodric. But the relations of the two even here are not in accordancenbsp;with history. Dietrich has fled from Otachar�s hostility, has lost hisnbsp;friends and spent thirty years in exile. It is to be suspected that thesenbsp;features have been taken over from another story (cf. p. 201). In

reality Theodric came in contact with Odoacer when he invaded Italy in 489, and killed him in 493.

In the Norse heroic poems, which are earlier in date than the German� except the last mentioned�similar anachronisms occur, though notnbsp;quite to the same extent. pj�Srekr (Theodric) is brought into association with Atli only in Gu�r�narkv�a Ill^ a poem concerned with anbsp;story which is otherwise unknown either in Norse or German heroicnbsp;literature. On the other hand J�rmunrekr (Eormenric) is everywherenbsp;made contemporary with Atli, but he comes into the story only in onenbsp;special connection. He is never brought into relations with eithernbsp;Atli or Pj�Srekr; but Svanhildr, who is his wife in the Norse version ofnbsp;the story, is the daughter of GuSrun, the widow of SigurSr and Atli.nbsp;It is worth noting that this feature seems to be unknown to Saxo, whonbsp;includes J�rmunrekr among his Danish kings, but makes no referencenbsp;to the Norse version^ of the stories of SigurSr and Atli. In his accountnbsp;GuSrun is merely a sorceress, who assists the brothers of Svanhildr innbsp;their attack upon J�rmunrekr.

It should be observed that although anachronisms occur in both Norse and German, they are not in reference to the same relations. Thisnbsp;seems to show that they did not occur in the earlier forms of the stories,nbsp;from which both versions are descended.

In the English poems anachronisms of this kind seem to be limited to Widsith and Waldhere. One of the fragments of the latter poem refersnbsp;to Theodric in association with Widia. In medieval German poemsnbsp;Widia (Wittich) is frequently associated with both Dietrich and Ermen-rich; but he seems originally to have belonged to the latter. At allnbsp;events he is mentioned as a hero of the past by Priscus3 about 446,nbsp;before Theodric was born. The reference in Waldhere may thereforenbsp;indicate that the confusion of the Theodric and Eormenric stories wasnbsp;already known; but this inference is not quite certain (see below).

In Widsith the speaker, who is a minstrel, says that he has visited a number of famous kings, including Eormenric, who died c. 370,nbsp;Guthhere, who died in 437, and Aelfwine, king of the Lombards, who

* Also in the prose introduction to Gudr. II�, but there is no reference to him in the poem itself, and the passage is doubtless due to Gudr. III. Curiously enough innbsp;Gudr. Ill Pj�Srekr is once called pj�Smarr. This is the name of Theodric�s father�nbsp;who is known to have been in Attila�s service. Is it possible that the story wasnbsp;originally told of him.�

� There is an incidental allusion to the German version of the story in Bk. xiii (p. 427, Holder). There is no reference to Siegfried or Etzel.

died c. 570. But these kings are not associated with one another. Later in the poem (v. 109 ff.) he says that he visited the household retinue ofnbsp;Eormenric; and then he gives a list of heroes whom he visited. Some ofnbsp;these apparently belonged to later, and one at least to earlier times thannbsp;those of Eormenric. The list is perhaps intended as a catalogue of earlynbsp;Gothic heroes.

The English evidence, as usual, represents an earlier phase than the Norse and German. The passage in Waldhere is perhaps capable of anbsp;special explanation. From the association of Theodric with Widianbsp;here and in German poems, and from the unhistorical experiences withnbsp;which the former is credited even in the Hildcbrandeslied and the resemblance of these experiences to those of Wolfdietrich, one is temptednbsp;to suspect that Theodric was confused with an earlier hero of the samenbsp;name.� Apart from this case we have only the anachronisms of ITidsith,nbsp;which are of a different kind. Characters belonging to different agesnbsp;are visited by the same minstrel, but are not associated with one another.nbsp;This earlier form of anachronism shows merely that the minstrels didnbsp;not carry any scheme of chronology in their heads. They did not thinknbsp;of Eormenric and Aelfwine as belonging to different periods of time,nbsp;but rather as characters who did not enter into the same stories.nbsp;Anachronisms in the stories themselves belong to a later phase.

Unhistorical elements other than wrong associations seem to occur earlier than these. We may instance the references to Theodric in thenbsp;Hildebrandeslied, whatever may be the explanation of them. There arenbsp;even cases where an unhistorical incident may be traced to more or lessnbsp;contemporary sources, as pointed out above (p. 185) in reference to thenbsp;story of Attila�s death. But it is hardly conceivable that wrong associations like those which we have been discussing could have arisen untilnbsp;long after the time of the persons affected.

We may next take the case of discrepancies between different accounts of an event or situation for which no good historical evidence isnbsp;available. It is obvious that one of the accounts must be unhistorical,nbsp;while the other may or may not be in accordance with fact. Numerousnbsp;examples of such discrepancies occur in the different versions of heroicnbsp;stories. We may refer to the genealogies given on p. 136 ff. and thenbsp;paragraphs which follow. In general the earlier records are those whichnbsp;inspire most confidence. Thus the account of the Scyldingas given innbsp;Beowulf a greater appearance of verisimilitude than the accounts ofnbsp;the same family in Norse and Danish records. But there are exceptions.nbsp;� This suggestion was put forward in The Heroic Age, p. 154 ff.

According to all Scandinavian records Bjarki (Beowulf) remains in Denmark in the service of Hr�lfr Kraki, and marries his sister. Eventuallynbsp;he is slain in the attack made upon that king by Hj�rvarSr. This storynbsp;has at least the advantage of being possible. In the poem Beowulfnbsp;becomes king of the Geatas and, after reigning fifty years, falls in combatnbsp;with a dragon. Even if we deduct the dragon, it is rather curious thatnbsp;Beowulf�s long reign is practically a blank, while references to earliernbsp;events are frequent.

In regard to the relations of persons belonging to the British Heroic Age there is much discrepancy between the earlier and later records.nbsp;Records of the later period tend to bring heroes into association withnbsp;Arthur. Thus in the Dream ofRhonabwyvfamp; find Rhun, son of Maelgwn,nbsp;acting as judge at the court of Arthur. But early records give no hintnbsp;of any connection between Arthur and this family; and in spite of thenbsp;date (538) assigned to Camlann in the Annales Camhriae (cf. p. 149) it isnbsp;unlikely that Arthur was alive when Maelgwn reigned. Again, in thenbsp;same piece, as well as in the Romances, we find Owein, son of Urien, atnbsp;Arthur�s court; and in the Lady of the Fountain his cousin Cynon, sonnbsp;of Clydno Eidyn, is there with him. But we have seen (p. 38 f.) that therenbsp;are a considerable number of early poems�panegyrics and elegies�-relating to Urien and Owein; and in not one of these is there anynbsp;reference to Arthur. A passage in the H'lstoria Brittonum (cf. p. 15 5 f.)nbsp;states that Urien was flourishing c. 572-579, and this date agrees wellnbsp;enough with the indications contained in the poems. But Arthur mustnbsp;have been dead long before this. Cynon is a prominent figure in thenbsp;Gododdin {An. i), which relates to an event probably about the close ofnbsp;the sixth century.

In the early heroic poems discrepancies of this kind are hardly to be found. In An. i. 89, cf. 787, mention is made of the death of Domnallnbsp;Brecc (king of Dal Riada), which took place in 642, whereas the disasternbsp;which is the subject of the poem would seem to have happened somenbsp;half a century earlier. But the text of the poem is so corrupt and confused, as we shall see in a later chapter, that no argument can safely benbsp;based upon this.

In non-heroic poems and sagas, anachronisms appear to be more frequent. In Tai. xiv, a poem which in part bears much resemblance tonbsp;Widsith, the speaker, who is obviously Taliesin, is made to say that henbsp;has sung in the presence of Urien and of Brochfael of Powys. Then henbsp;speaks of his visit to Maelgwn�which is not incompatible with thenbsp;previous statements, since, according to the Hanes Taliesin^ he was

203 very young when this took place. But, later in the same poem, he saysnbsp;that he has been in Ireland with Bran�and in the Mahinogi of Branwen^nbsp;he is one of the party which returns from Ireland, though he playsnbsp;practically no part in the story. It is difficult to believe that there can benbsp;any historical basis for this fantastic tale; but if there is it must surelynbsp;relate to times long before those of Taliesin. In this connection we maynbsp;refer also to Manawyddan, brother of Bran, who figures both in thisnbsp;Mahinogi and in the one which bears his own name. In BBC. xxxi henbsp;appears as one of Arthur�s knights.

In stories relating to the Irish Heroic Age discrepancies are frequent enough, though in stories of the Ulster Cycle they are as a rule notnbsp;very serious. The most serious cases occur in stories of the early high-kings, before Cormac mac Airt. The different versions of the Revolt ofnbsp;the Passais show many discrepancies, as we have seen (p. 171),nbsp;though this story is properly to be regarded as non-heroic. One of thenbsp;versions at least must be largely unhistorical, and probably this is truenbsp;of the story as a whole.

Great discrepancies occur also in regard to the relations between the family of the high-king Conn Cetchathach, grandfather of Cormacnbsp;mac Airt, and the kings of Leinster. Conn is said to have had a brothernbsp;named Eochaid Finn, who in alliance with CuChorb, king of Leinster,nbsp;made successful war upon Munster and, as a reward for his services, wasnbsp;granted the districts called Fotharta in Leinster. 1 But CuChorb in thenbsp;genealogies is the fourth ancestor of Cathair Mor, who is said to havenbsp;preceded Conn in the high-kingship.^ A discrepancy of several generations is therefore involved; and it cannot be put down to a mere mistake in the name of the Leinster king, for a son of Conall Cernach,nbsp;- named Laigsech Cennmor, is associated with Eochaid in the story andnbsp;receives the province of Leix as a reward. There can be little doubt thatnbsp;the origin of the story is to be traced to family traditions ; and it may benbsp;taken as an illustration of the discrepancies which prevail betweennbsp;these traditions and the stories of the high-kings. Many scholars holdnbsp;that Conn himself is not a historical character. This, however, is anbsp;point to which we shall have to refer later.

Perhaps the greatest discrepancies are those which affect non-heroic characters, at least in proportion to the amount which is related ofnbsp;them. Ferchertne, the fill, is sometimes in the service of CuRoi, andnbsp;visits Ulster only to exact vengeance for his master�s death. But in

� This story is ed. and transi, by Dobbs, Zeitschr.f. celt. Philol. xvi. 395 ff. � Cf. the Battle of Cnucha, ed. and transi, by Hennessy, Rev. Celt. n. 86 ff.

Other stories he appears to be a member of Conchobor�s court. He is found also in the Destruction of Dinn Rig, which relates to quite anbsp;different period.^ Again, the judge Morann sometimes belongs to thenbsp;time of the Ulster heroes. In one version of the story of CuChulainrisnbsp;Birth he is called upon to decide who is to have the fosterage of thenbsp;child. But elsewhere he lives in the time of the Revolt of the Passais. Innbsp;the earliest account of this story he is the son of Cairbre Cenn Caitnbsp;(cf. p. 171). It may also be noted that Craiphtine, the harper of thenbsp;Destruction of Dinn Rig, appears again in the Destruction of Da Choca snbsp;Hall, one of the Ulster stories. It would seem that Ferchertne, Morannnbsp;and Craiphtine were on the way to becoming stock characters or typesnbsp;of their professions.

As regards the Heroic Age of Greece the discrepancies between the Homeric poems and non-Homeric tradition in the story of the Pelopidainbsp;have already been noticed (p. 182 ff.). We may also refer to the storynbsp;of Meleagros (cf. p. 188 f.), in which case an important discrepancynbsp;appears among the non-Homeric accounts themselves. In laternbsp;authorities many heroes have associations, both personal and local,nbsp;which seem to be quite unknown to the Homeric poems; but in suchnbsp;cases it is of course often difficult to speak with confidence. In heroicnbsp;stories which are not found in the Homeric poems discrepant accountsnbsp;are common enough.

II. Incidents and situations in themselves incredible fall mostly into several well-marked categories, which it will be convenient to treatnbsp;separately.

(tz) The introduction of supernatural beings is a very common occurrence in heroic poetry and saga. In the Homeric poems gods playnbsp;a large part in the action. Sometimes the scene is laid amongst the godsnbsp;themselves in their common home on Mount Olympos, where theynbsp;meet together and from whence they go to their special sanctuaries innbsp;various parts of the Greek world and elsewhere. Sometimes again theynbsp;visit men in disguise. On such occasions they not unfrequently revealnbsp;themselves, and the revelation causes no very great surprise. In 11. vi.nbsp;119 ff., when Diomedes encounters Glaucos resplendent in goldennbsp;armour, he expresses doubt as to whether the latter is a man or a god ;nbsp;if he is a god he would prefer not to fight with him. Frequently the godsnbsp;are present during the fighting, though it is only on rare occasions, as in

' One catalogue text makes three different persons called Ferchertne out of these three cases; cf. Stokes, Zeitschr.f celt. Philol. in. 16; Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage,nbsp;p. 520.

II. V. 842 ff., that they actually strike a blow. In this passage also Diomedes wounds Ares, with the help of the goddess Athene. Morenbsp;often they merely exhort and advise their favourites and place theirnbsp;opponents at a disadvantage by various stratagems.

Goddesses can transform themselves into birds, as in Od. iii. 371 f., where this is done by Athene before a concourse of people. Morenbsp;than once in the Odyssey the same goddess acts like a witch, transforming the hero in appearance and clothes by a stroke of her wand. Thenbsp;supernatural witch Circe changes men into pigs.

Monsters figure little in the Homeric poems, except in Odysseus� account of his adventures {Od. ix-xii). In/Z. vi. 179 if., however, therenbsp;is a reference to Bellerophon�s fight with the Chimaira. It is not quitenbsp;clear whether the boar of Calydon {11. ix. 538 S�.) belongs to thisnbsp;category, though it is sent by the goddess Artemis. In non-Homericnbsp;tradition monsters are much more prominent; we may cite, for example,nbsp;the stories of Perseus, Heracles and Theseus. It may be observed that innbsp;most of these adventures the hero is unaccompanied, that the scene isnbsp;often laid in distant lands, and that they all relate to times anterior to thenbsp;siege of Troy.

Several of the leading characters in the poems are children of deities. Sarpedon is a son and Helen a daughter of Zeus. Aineias is a son ofnbsp;Aphrodite, and Achilles of the mermaid (Nereid) Thetis. According tonbsp;non-Homeric tradition most of the chief heroic families are descendednbsp;from deities.

The Irish evidence is very similar to the Greek. Deities visit the heroes, and there are even amatory relations between them. In thenbsp;Tain B� Cuailnge^ when CuChulainn is exhausted with his longnbsp;struggle, an unknown warrior comes to him and offers to take his placenbsp;while he rests. In some texts he gives his name as Lug mac Ethlenn.nbsp;The subject of the Sickbed of CuChulainn'^ is an illness brought upon thenbsp;hero by two divine women, one of whom is Fann, the wife of Manannannbsp;mac Lir. She has been deserted by her husband and is in love withnbsp;CuChulainn. A year later she sends for him, and he goes and bringsnbsp;her to his home. Here trouble arises with Emer, the hero�s wife; andnbsp;eventually Manannan comes to reclaim his wife, and takes her back.nbsp;Again, in the Tain Bo Fraich'i the hero (Fraech) is son of a supernatural

3 Ed. and transi, by Anderson, Rev. Celt. xxiv. 127 ff., and elsewhere; cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 285 ff.

woman Befinn, sister of Boann, goddess of the Boyne. When he comes to court Finnabair, daughter of Medb, Boann supplies him with anbsp;magnificent equipment. He is injured in a struggle with a watermonster, and his mother with a numerous body of supernatural womennbsp;carries him off to an elf-hill. On the following day they bring himnbsp;back cured of his wounds. In the Tain Bo Cuailnge^ the same heronbsp;is killed by CuChulainn, and his body is carried away by supernaturalnbsp;women to an elf-hill, which was afterwards called Sid Froich. A stillnbsp;more striking story is that of the god Midir and Etain, the wife ofnbsp;Eochaid Airem, a short account of which was given on p. 52.nbsp;Another story is that of the high-king Conn Cetchathach, who sees anbsp;horseman approaching him in a dense mist. He invites the king tonbsp;his palace, the splendour of which is described, and gives his namenbsp;as Lug mac Ethlenn. He prophesies to Conn the course of his reignnbsp;and those of his successors. This story may be compared with that ofnbsp;Cormac�s visit to Manannan mac Lir, a summary of which was givennbsp;on p. 100.

These cases all belong to prehistoric times. But there is one similar story, the Conception ofMongan,'i which relates to historical persons of anbsp;much later period. When Aedan mac Gabrain, king of Dal Riada (innbsp;Scotland) invaded England in 603, to fight against the Northumbriannbsp;king Aethelfrith, he is said to have been accompanied by Fiachnanbsp;Lurgan, king of Ulster. On the evening before the battle an unknownnbsp;man arrived at Fiachna�s palace and made advances to his wife. Shenbsp;consented only when he declared that he would save her husband�snbsp;life on the morrow. On leaving he gave his name as Manannan macnbsp;Lir; and he carried out his promise on the field of battle. The child bornnbsp;of this union was Mongan�of whom another story was given onnbsp;p. 98 above.

In stories relating to earlier times also divine parentage is by no means unknown. The case of Fraech has already been mentionednbsp;above. CuChulainn is in some accounts son of the god Lug.4 Mes-Buachalla, the mother of Conaire Mor, comes from the elf-hill of Bri

The story is told in one version of the Conception of CuChulainn, a very early text; cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 269 f.

Leith and is partly of divine origin.� The warriors by whose aid she obtains the throne for her son are divine, not human. Moreover it hasnbsp;been pointed ouP that most of the royal genealogies contain the namesnbsp;of gods, usually Lug or Nuadu, or both.

Transformations of supernatural beings are not uncommon. In the story of the Two Swineherds'i a series of such transformations takesnbsp;place. In the Vision of Aengus^ Caer, the daughter of Ethal Anbuail,nbsp;and her companions are seen in the form of swans; but similar transformations are found also in the case of human princesses. Bodb (ornbsp;Badb), who is somewhat similar to the Valkyries (see below), assumesnbsp;various disguises; sometimes she appears in the form of a crow.

Monsters play no great part in early heroic stories. The story of the death of Fergus mac LeteS bears a rather close resemblance to the lastnbsp;adventure of Beowulf. The hero loses his life in combat with a monsternbsp;{sinech') which haunts the waters of Loch Rudraige (the inner Dundrumnbsp;Bay). This Fergus is mentioned not unfrequently in stories of the Ulsternbsp;cycle, generally as a man of the near past. In the Annals of Tigernach henbsp;is Conchobor�s predecessor in the kingship. But the story is supposed tonbsp;be not earlier than the eleventh century and to have arisen out of a falsenbsp;reading in a passage in the Laws (Senchas Mor).^ An earlier and undoubted example occurs in Bricrius Feast, where the three heroes, Lae-gaire, Conall Cernach and CuChulainn go to CuRoi mac Dairi to havenbsp;their courage tested. Among CuChulainn�s adventures is (cap. 85 ff.)nbsp;an attack by a huge monster which rises out of the loch. When he hasnbsp;disposed of this he is assailed by an enormous giant, who has alreadynbsp;overthrown both his competitors. Some of the (anthropomorphic)nbsp;supernatural figures which appear in the Destruction of Da Dergasnbsp;Hall may perhaps be included in this category. Giants, like Goll andnbsp;Garb slain by CuChulainn, belong chiefly to later stories; and innbsp;much later times monsters of various kinds become more frequent.

't Ed. and transi, by M�ller, Rev. Celt. in. 344 ff. ; cf. Thurneysen, op. cit. p. 601 ff.

5 Ed. and transi, by O�Grady, Silva Gadelica, I. p. 238 ff., ii. p. 269 ff.; cf. Thurneysen, op. cit. p. 539 ff.

Cf. d�Arbois de Jubainville, Zeitschr. f. celt. Pkilol. iv. 456 ff.; Thurneysen, op. cit. p. 539 ff. The explanation is certainly very ingenious. But is the passage innbsp;Ann. Tigern. {Fergus mac Leti, qui conflixit contra bestiam hi Loch Rudraige, etc.;nbsp;Rev. Celt. XVI. 404) really so late as the eleventh century.�

US gods appear only in the Reginsmdl, the first poem of the Trilogy noticed on pp. 27 f., 118. Here the first scene is laid in a supernaturalnbsp;milieu, while later in the poem Othin visits SigurSr in disguise and givesnbsp;him gnomic advice. It is to be observed that this Trilogy belongs tonbsp;Type C, not to Type A. The setting is heroic, but the substance isnbsp;mainly didactic.

It would be hasty, however, to assume from the silence of the other poems that the introduction of gods was unknown or even unusual innbsp;Norse heroic poetry. In the form of the Hambismdl known both to thenbsp;V�lsunga Saga and to Saxo � Othin arrived during the fighting, and itnbsp;was he who gave the advice (cf. st. 27) to stone the assailants. Moreovernbsp;there can be little doubt that the story of Sigmundr contained in thenbsp;J^�lsunga Saga is derived in part from heroic poems; and here Othinnbsp;appears twice�first (cap. 3) at the wedding feast when he brings thenbsp;sword, and again (cap. 11) when he meets the hero in his last battle, andnbsp;the sword is shattered by the touch of his spear. We may also refer to anbsp;passage in the Bjarkamdl^ where Bjarki suspects that the same god isnbsp;riding among the enemy and declares that he will lay him low if he cannbsp;catch sight of him.

No heroes are said to be sons of deities in Norse heroic poetry, but here again the J^olsunga Saga supplies evidence. The wife of V�lsungrnbsp;and mother of Sigmundr is (cap. 2) the supernatural Valkyrie Hlj�S,nbsp;daughter of the giant Hrimnnir, while V�lsungr himself is a great-grandson of Othin. In Hervarar Saga, cap. 2, we hear of a king namednbsp;Sigrlami, who is said to be a son of Othin, though nothing more isnbsp;recorded of him. It may be observed that the Norwegian royal familynbsp;of later times traced their ancestry, through the early kings of thenbsp;Swedes, to the god Frey.

In Hdgakvi�a Hundings bana 1 (ad mit.} the Norns appear at the hero�s birth and cast their threads to determine his future fame. Thenbsp;Valkyries who figure in heroic poetry are human and will be noticed innbsp;the next section, though supernatural Valkyries are often mentionednbsp;elsewhere. The Valkyrie Hlj�S in the H�lsunga Saga is first sent bynbsp;Othin in the form of a crow. Elsewhere Valkyries appear as swans.nbsp;The only monster is the dragon (or serpent) F�fnir, slain by SigurSr;nbsp;but this has been a man.

In the English heroic poems gods are not mentioned. It is possible that they may have been eliminated through ecclesiastical influence, fornbsp;' Cf. H�lsunga Saga, cap. 42; Saxo, p. 338, Elton (281, Holder).nbsp;� Saxo, p. 80 (66).

209 most of the English royal families claimed descent from Wodeji.nbsp;Wermund, the father of Offa, stands in the fourth generation from thisnbsp;god. The only supernatural beings which figure in the poems arenbsp;monsters. Grendel and his mother seem to be partly anthropomorphic/nbsp;though they do not speak. The theriomorphic element is representednbsp;by the dragon of Beowulf, and also by another dragon, slain by Sige-mund�a story told incidentally in Beowulfnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;S.), which is presumably

In German heroic poetry also no gods are mentioned; but nearly all these poems date from a period six or seven centuries after the adoptionnbsp;of Christianity. Both Wodan and Pria are introduced in the story ofnbsp;the origin of the Lombards�which will require notice in Ch. x. It isnbsp;remarkable that other supernatural anthropomorphic beings appear notnbsp;unfrequently. Such are the river-maidens encountered by Hagen in thenbsp;Nibelungenlied (1533 If.), and the Nibelunge, whose treasure Siegfriednbsp;acquires. In the Rabenschlacht (964 ff.) Witege, pursued by Dietrich,nbsp;gallops into the sea, where he is rescued by the mermaid Wachilt. Thisnbsp;mermaid is perhaps to be identified with the one mentioned in pi�reksnbsp;Saga af Bern, cap. 23�who is the mother of Witege�s grandfather.nbsp;Encounters with giants supply Dietrich with various other adventures.nbsp;Theriomorphic monsters are little in evidence. The slaying of thenbsp;dragon by Siegfried is referred to in the Nibelungenlied (st. 100, etc.),nbsp;and it is stated that he has become invulnerable, except in one spot, bynbsp;bathing in its blood (st. 902). But the story is related only in laternbsp;ballads.

In stories of the British Heroic Age also gods as such are not mentioned; and no hero is credited with divine descent. The question whether any of the characters in the Mabinogion and other stories werenbsp;originally deities will be noticed later.� In the early heroic poemsnbsp;supernatural beings do not appear at all. Probably the earliest examplesnbsp;are to be found in BBC. xxxi. 78 ff., which refers to the nine witches 3

and the cat Palug destroyed by Cai. In Culhwch and Olwen and in the Romances monsters of various kinds, both anthropomorphic andnbsp;theriomorphic,! are common.

Taking the evidence as a whole it seems likely that in heathen times the attribution of divine parentage or ancestry to heroes and the participation of deities in human affairs were more or less regular features ofnbsp;heroic tradition. The British Heroic Age does not come into accountnbsp;here, since it falls wholly within the Christian period. But the absencenbsp;of deities in English and German heroic poetry may well be due tonbsp;their elimination through the influence of the Church. It may benbsp;observed that in Irish the use of the word � god � {did} for these charactersnbsp;is avoided. The word generally applied to them is side, �people of thenbsp;sid�� (�elf-hills� or �shee-moundsThe same remarks apply to suchnbsp;supernatural beings as mermaids and �swan-maidens�, who arenbsp;distinguished from gods among the Teutonic peoples�though not innbsp;Greece�and consequently have been allowed to remain in Germannbsp;heroic poetry. Monsters are found everywhere, even in Welsh; butnbsp;they occur most frequently either in late stories or in stories relatingnbsp;to adventures in distant lands.

It has been held by many scholars, especially with reference to the Iliad, that events in which deities take an active part are ipso factonbsp;proved to be unhistorical. But this view is erroneous. It appears tonbsp;be a widespread convention in imaginative oral poetry to representnbsp;deities as intervening in human affairs, even with reference to contemporary events. The Hdkonarmdl is an elegy on Haakon I, king ofnbsp;Norway, who was killed at the battle of Fitje in 960. It consists of twonbsp;scenes. In the first Haakon converses with two Valkyries on the field ofnbsp;battle. In the second he enters Valh�ll, where he is greeted by Othin andnbsp;heroes of ancient times. Yet there can be no doubt that the poem wasnbsp;composed within a few years of the king�s death. The author, Eyvindrnbsp;Finnsson, was present at the battle. So in modern Serbian heroicnbsp;poems relating to historical events of the nineteenth century Vile ornbsp;elves of the mountains are frequently introduced. Some of these poemsnbsp;were written down and published within a few years of the events;nbsp;probably they were composed immediately after them. Usually the

' Among the latter we may refer especially to the pig Twrch Trwyth, the story of which is told in Culhwch and Olwen. There are references to this story in thenbsp;Mirabilia Britanniae, which dates from the beginning of the ninth century or earliernbsp;(cf. p. 154, note 3) and also in Cormac s Glossary. It may be compared with the storynbsp;of the boar of Calydon.

function of the Vila is to warn or rouse those whom she favours ; and this is the part she plays as a rule in poems relating to the reign ofnbsp;Prince Danilo (1851-60). But poems relating to earlier times providenbsp;analogies for practically all the activities attributed to the Homericnbsp;goddesses. The great hero Kraljevic Marko, who died in 1394, is evennbsp;represented as marrying a Vila and keeping her at his home for somenbsp;time, though eventually she flew away.

Such conventions must of course ultimately have some foundation in actual belief. It is said that the belief in Vile is still�or was until verynbsp;recently�pretty general in the more backward districts of Yugoslavia;nbsp;and very many people claim to have seen them. So also in the Viking Agenbsp;�when St Ansgar visited Sweden not long after 850, he found that thenbsp;success of his mission was seriously endangered. A man had come tonbsp;Bj�rk�, where the king, Olaf, was residing, and stated that he had beennbsp;present at an assembly of the gods, who had sent him to deliver anbsp;message to the king and nation.^ Much more striking cases have beennbsp;known to occur in the excitement of battle. According to Plutarchnbsp;{Theseusy cap. 35) many of the Athenians at the battle of Marathonnbsp;(b.c. 490) believed that they saw the hero Theseus leading them. Thisnbsp;story need n�t be dismissed as a fabrication of later times.^ An exactnbsp;parallel occurred during the war of 1912 in Macedonia. When the castlenbsp;of Prilip, which once had belonged to Kraljevic Marko, was captured,nbsp;a whole brigade believed that they saw Marko leading the charge. 3

We have seen that the chronological mistakes and unhistorical situations discussed on p. 199 If. are such as could not have arisen untilnbsp;long after the time of the persons concerned. With the unhistoricalnbsp;elements which we are now considering the case is different. The inventions of the Iliad are for the most part such as occur in contemporarynbsp;poetry; we doubt whether there are any which could not have beennbsp;produced within the next two generations. The same remark applies tonbsp;some of the Irish and Norse examples. In point of fact the writtennbsp;record for the story of Mongan goes back to within a century or so ofnbsp;his death.4

� A number of parallels, ancient and modern, are cited by Frazer in his note to Pausanias, x. 23. 2.

Cf. p. 206 and note. Mongan was killed in Can tire in 625 according to the annals, i.e. about a century before the Book of Druim Snechta was written.

human) powers to human beings, or occasionally to animals. This category is well represented in Norse heroic stories by Valkyries who are said to be of mortal origin, though they are sometimes employed by Othinnbsp;on his errands. Such is the case with Brynhildr. In several records,nbsp;especially the poem Helrei� Brynhildar, she is identified with the Valkyrie Sigrdrifa (cf. p. 27 f.), who has disobeyed Othin by giving victorynbsp;to the wrong hero. He has declared that she shall no longer bringnbsp;victory in battle but shall marry. Sometimes these human Valkyriesnbsp;have the power of riding through the air and over the sea. Such is thenbsp;case with Svafa, the beloved of Helgi Hj�rvar�sson, and with Sigrun,nbsp;the beloved of Helgi Hundingsbani. Kara,i the beloved of Helginbsp;Haddingjaskati, transforms herself into a swan in Hromundar Saganbsp;Greipssonar, cap. 6 f., which is probably derived from the lost poemnbsp;K�rulj��. Here also we may refer to the three swan-maidens in J^�lun-darkvi�a, who take up their abode for eight years with V�lundr and hisnbsp;brothers and then fly away. In the prose introduction they are callednbsp;Valkyries, and a human parentage is assigned to them.

No exact parallels are to be found, in English or German heroic poetry. Brunhilt may have been a Valkyrie in an earlier form of thenbsp;story, but in the Nibelungenlied, as we have it, she is merely an athletenbsp;and Amazon. It may be observed that Valkyries who appear to benbsp;human beings�presumably witches�are mentioned in Anglo-Saxonnbsp;historical works of later times.^

Similar features are found, though less frequently, in the case of men. SigurSr is able to exchange forms with Gunnarr; and in the Nibelungenlied the same hero (Siegfried) can render himself invisible by means of thenbsp;cloak Tarnkappe. Perhaps a better example occurs in Hr�lfs Saga Kraka,nbsp;cap. 50, where a bear fights beside the king while Bjarki is asleep. Whennbsp;Bjarki is roused and comes out to fight the bear disappears. This incidentnbsp;is not found in the other records ; but it has often been remarked thatnbsp;Beowulf�s method of fighting is sometimes similar to that of a bear.

A much more usual and prominent feature of heroes is that they are endowed with superhuman strength and prowess. Beowulf has thenbsp;strength of thirty men and can swim over long stretches of open sea.nbsp;Siegfried slays twenty-nine men in one attack, and on another occasion

� These three ladies are re-incarnations of one another. The same is the case with their husbands, each of whom is called Helgi.

Examples may be found in the sermons of Wulfstan, Abp. of York (1002� 1023), e.g. in his famous Sermo ad Anglos. Elsewhere the word seems to be used fornbsp;supernatural beings.

213 overcomes seven hundred knights single-handed. In such cases ofnbsp;course the incredibility of the statements lies not in the quality but innbsp;the extent of the powers attributed to the hero.

Irish heroic saga furnishes examples of women who can transform themselves. In the story of CuChulainn�s deaths Badb, the daughter ofnbsp;Calatin, who is a witch, takes the form of a crow and also a human formnbsp;different from her own. In one version of the Conception of CuChulainn'^nbsp;Dechtire, sister of Conchobor, disappears for three years with hernbsp;fifty maidens. They return in the form of birds and eat up all the corn innbsp;the neighbourhood of Emain Macha.

Filid are credited with various supernatural powers. F or an illustration reference may be made to p. 97.

In descriptions of the deeds of heroes the sagas abound with superhuman feats and extravagancies of every kind. The youthful CuChu-lainn single-handed defends Ulster from the combined forces of the other four provinces for three months. He performs numerous incrediblenbsp;feats of valour; perhaps the most fantastic descriptions are those of hisnbsp;battle-frenzy. In the Destruction of Da Derga s Hall each of the chieinbsp;heroes goes out to encounter the enemy and slays three or six hundrednbsp;of them. As in other sagas the figures mean nothing. In the same storynbsp;Mac Cecht goes the round of the rivers and lakes of Ireland in one nightnbsp;to get a drink for Conaire Mor. It would no doubt be a mistake to takenbsp;all these descriptions too seriously. Often they are intended as much tonbsp;amuse as to impress. But the humour is primitive ; and it is no doubtnbsp;largely due to this unrestrained extravagance that the Irish sagas, in spitenbsp;of their pathos and picturesqueness, do not enjoy greater popularity.

We do not know of any satisfactory Greek examples of human beings endowed with definitely supernatural powers, like those ofnbsp;Valkyries. Witches, like Medeia, and prophets, such as Melampus andnbsp;Teiresias, are hardly to be included here. Better analogies perhaps arenbsp;to be found in Thetis and Circe; but these are goddesses. The flyingnbsp;horse Pegasos is likewise of divine origin, and Achilles� horse Xanthos,nbsp;which speaks on one occasion,^ is also immortal.

On the other hand we do find heroes endowed with superhuman strength and prowess, just as in the Teutonic and Irish Heroic Ages.nbsp;Such is the case with Achilles in the Iliad. His attack is irresistible,nbsp;and his very shout makes his enemies take to flight. Odysseus in thenbsp;Odyssey is credited with strength, endurance and resourcefulnessnbsp;beyond all other men. In non-Homeric stories Heracles is irresistible.

As regards the British Heroic Age no evidence for purely supernatural powers is to be found in the early poetry, so far as we are aware. Later records yield a good deal. The nine witches of Gloucester,nbsp;who figure in the Romance of Peredur, may perhaps be compared withnbsp;Valkyries, though no transformation is recorded of them. In othernbsp;stories, especially that of Math, transformation into beasts and birdsnbsp;is common; but it is effected not by the persons themselves but bynbsp;wizards. In the story of Pwyll the hero exchanges forms with Arawn,nbsp;but the transformation is the work of the latter, who evidently hasnbsp;magical powers, and is probably a supernatural being. Apart fromnbsp;transformations illusions of various kinds occur in the Mabinogion\nbsp;sometimes they are due to wizards.

The late Hanes Taliesin (cf. p. 103) contains a remarkable story of self-transformation. Gwion is pursued by the witch Caridwen, andnbsp;each of them takes a number of different forms in succession, untilnbsp;finally Caridwen in the form of a hen swallows Gwion in the form of anbsp;grain of wheat. Later, she bears Taliesin. An earlier form of thisnbsp;story seems to be implied in Tai. vii. 234 ff., a poem of Type B, innbsp;which Taliesin is the speaker. The passage follows a list of what appearnbsp;to be transformations (or possibly �incarnations�), parallels to whichnbsp;occur in Tai. viii, 3 ff. and xxv. 58 ff. To these passages we shall havenbsp;to return in a later chapter; but they rather suggest that the bards werenbsp;credited with the power of self-transformation.

Superhuman prowess on the part of heroes is perhaps less in evidence here than elsewhere; but it is not entirely wanting even in the earlynbsp;poems. In the Gododdin poem (y4n. i) more than one hero is creditednbsp;with an impossible amount of slaughter. The Romances consist in thenbsp;main of strings of combats, in which the hero is uniformly victorious;nbsp;but these follow French models.

Taking the evidence as a whole we have to distinguish between (i) supernatural powers which in general may be brought under the headnbsp;of witchcraft, and (ii) superhuman strength and prowess on the part ofnbsp;heroes. The former are no doubt to be explained on the same principlesnbsp;as the intervention of supernatural beings, treated under (a) above.

They represent poetic conventions, which are themselves based upon real beliefs of the time or of former times. The conventional Valkyrie,nbsp;perhaps the most striking figure of this group, can largely be explainednbsp;from what is known of the early Teutonic and Celtic peoples. Womennbsp;and girls frequently accompanied the armies; and it is likely enough thatnbsp;they sometimes fought i and sometimes were employed as messengers,nbsp;like Leborcham. We know also that they were credited with propheticnbsp;power. What remains, especially the power of transformation, seemsnbsp;strange enough to us; but it is no more than what was universallynbsp;believed in down to the seventeenth century.

The superhuman prowess attributed to heroes is another convention, but due to other causes�hero-worship, in the modern sense, and thenbsp;tendency to exaggeration stimulated thereby. It is to be compared, wenbsp;believe, to conventional descriptions of the beloved of heroes, and notnbsp;to be taken more literally than these. As a rule there is not more thannbsp;one hero in a story to whom superhuman powers are attributed.nbsp;Odysseus in the Odyssey has superhuman endurance and resourcefulness; but in the Iliad�where Achilles is the favoured hero�he isnbsp;merely a shrewd counsellor and stubborn fighter. Now it may benbsp;observed that the outstanding heroes of some Teutonic stories, e.g.nbsp;Beowulf and Siegfried, are not mentioned in any historical records,nbsp;though they may be associated with persons, whose historical existencenbsp;is well authenticated. From this fact the inference has been drawn bynbsp;various scholars that the chief figures of heroic stories�such asnbsp;Achilles, Odysseus, CuChulainn, and the two just mentioned�mustnbsp;necessarily be products of myth or fiction, even if their associates arenbsp;real persons. Such inferences, however, are without justification.nbsp;Historical references even to the characters of Teutonic heroic storiesnbsp;are always meagre ; and the persons mentioned are almost always kings.nbsp;It is their power which attracts the notice of the historian. But the heronbsp;par excellence is in a subordinate position; or he carries out his exploitsnbsp;alone or with only a few companions. We know of no great hero who isnbsp;represented as commander-in-chief of a powerful army. The two thingsnbsp;are probably incompatible. It is physical strength, gallantry, and othernbsp;personal qualities which attract the poet and the saga-teller.

I In the Conception of Conchobor Nes, the mother of Conchobor, before her marriage commands a band of warriors, with whom she tries to obtain vengeancenbsp;for the murder of her foster-fathers. We may compare the story of the elder Hervor innbsp;Hervarar Saga, who is chief of a band of pirates. This case seems to be analogous tonbsp;that of an Albanian heiress who has lost all her male relatives in vendetta and livesnbsp;and dresses as a man.

(c) Stories relating to the birth and childhood of heroes or sages of the Heroic Age are found everywhere, and frequently they havenbsp;common elements. It will be convenient therefore to treat them together here as a separate group.

Irish saga is especially rich in stories of this kind. There are two very different�but both early�versions of the Conception of CuChulainn,nbsp;as well as a Conception of Conchobor-, and there are known to have beennbsp;Conceptions of other heroes. Among other noteworthy features it maynbsp;be mentioned that the births of CuChulainn (in Version I), of Con-chobor and of Conall Cernach were all due to their mothers swallowingnbsp;worms in water. With this may be compared the story of Etain, thenbsp;wife of Eochaid Airem (cf. p. 5 2), who was originally divine but fell�nbsp;apparently in the form of a butterfly�into the cup of the woman whonbsp;became her mother. In both versions of the CuChulainn story there isnbsp;a phantom house, in which Conchobor and his heroes are entertained.nbsp;In Version I (the older) a child and two foals are born during the night.nbsp;The child is tended by Deichtine, Conchobor�s daughter, but soon dies.nbsp;Then the owner of the phantom house appears to her in a vision, givesnbsp;his name as Lug mac Ethnenn, and says that she shall herself bear anbsp;child by him in its place. The foals are the famous horses which drawnbsp;CuChulainn�s chariot throughout his life. The child is given to thenbsp;smith Caulann (Culann) to bring up. He kills the smith�s dog, andnbsp;afterwards does duty for it�whence his name (�Culann�s Dog�).nbsp;Further adventures of CuChulainn�s boyhood are related at greatnbsp;length in the Tain Bo Cuailnge.

In Norse heroic poetry we know of only one story of this kind�the scene at the beginning of Helgakviba Hundingsbana I, where the Nornsnbsp;come and weave or spin the destiny of the new-born hero. English andnbsp;German heroic poetry add nothing. Later Norse and German works,nbsp;however, from the thirteenth century onwards, contain a number ofnbsp;examples. In the J^�lsunga Saga, cap. i f., the birth of V�lsungr is duenbsp;to an apple brought by Hlj�S from Frigg to his parents in answer tonbsp;their prayer for offspring. In pi�reks Saga of Bern, cap. 159 fF., thenbsp;wife of Sigmundr is accused of unfaithfulness and taken to a forest.nbsp;Her accusers fight with one another; but she dies in giving birth tonbsp;SigurSr, who is eventually found and suckled for a year by a hind.nbsp;Then he is adopted by Mimir the smith, who rears him until he breaksnbsp;his anvil. Thereupon he sends him into the forest, expecting that thenbsp;dragon will kill him; but he destroys it. This is believed to be a Northnbsp;German version of the story. In the true Norse version SigurSr is a

217 posthumous son of Sigmundr, brought up by his stepfather Hjalprekr;nbsp;but Reginn, who is both smith and sage, is a kind of foster-father tonbsp;him later. Othin gives him the horse Grani. In the other Germannbsp;versions Siegfried has both father and mother living. In the Nibamp;-lungenlied he remains with them till manhood; but in the Ballad henbsp;leaves them and joins a smith, whose anvil he breaks and who consequently sends him against a dragon. All the German versions, but notnbsp;the Norse, record that he made himself invulnerable, except in onenbsp;spot, by bathing in (or smearing himself with) the dragon�s blood.nbsp;Though the different versions are not wholly independent of onenbsp;another, it seems probable that a smith played some part in the originalnbsp;story; perhaps he was connected with the dragon.^ But it is not clearnbsp;that anything else is ancient^ except the names of the father and son.

Mention must also be made of the origin of Bjarki (Beowulf), as described in Hr�lfs Saga Kraka^ cap. 17 ff., and�in a somewhatnbsp;different form�in the Bjarkarimur. Both these works are late�hardlynbsp;earlier than the close of the fourteenth century. A Norwegian kingnbsp;called Hringr has a son named Bj�rn (�Bear�). His wife dies, and henbsp;marries a woman called Hvi't, who by witchcraft transforms her stepsonnbsp;Bj�rn into a bear. He retires to a cave, where he is a man by night; butnbsp;in the daytime he is a bear. His beloved, who is called Bera (�She-bear�) but is entirely human, recognises him and visits him. Eventuallynbsp;he is killed by the king�s hunters. Bera soon afterwards brings forthnbsp;triplets, one of whom is Bjarki. He takes vengeance later by killing thenbsp;queen. This story is not referred to by Saxo or any earlier Norsenbsp;authorities. In Beowulf itself there is no mystery about the hero�snbsp;origin. His father is a famous noble of the Geatas, who has marriednbsp;King Hrethel�s daughter, and from the age of seven he is brought up atnbsp;his grandfather�s court. It is probable that the origin of the story is tonbsp;be sought in an attempt to account for the name Bjarki, which is anbsp;derivative of the word �bear�. We may refer also to the transformationnbsp;story in the same saga, cited on p. 212 above.

� The smith and the dragon are brothers both in the Trilogy and in pidreks Saga. But the scribe of the latter (which calls the dragon Beginn) evidently knew thenbsp;Norse version.

� The cleaving of the anvil is found in the Norse prose accounts, as well as in the two later German versions. It is possible also that SigurSr�s lying answer to Fafnirnbsp;in Fdfn. 2 implies a form of the story more like that of pidreks Saga. But against allnbsp;these connections it is to be remembered that in Beowulf the slayer of the dragon isnbsp;Sigemund.

poems; but non-Homeric sources supply a good deal. Thus in the Iliad Achilles is said to be son of a goddess, the mermaid Thetis; andnbsp;he is often befriended by her. But no details of his birth or childhoodnbsp;are given, except that he has been instructed by the Centaur Cheiron.nbsp;The marriage of Peleus and Thetis was treated in the Cypria and thenbsp;Hesiodic Catalogue, but the story as a whole is known only from laternbsp;works. Thetis, in order to escape from Peleus, transformed herself intonbsp;various shapes, and it was only with the aid of Cheiron that he succeeded in catching her. The gods were present at the marriage andnbsp;presented Peleus with arms and other gifts. Poseidon gave him thenbsp;immortal horses which afterwards drew Achilles� chariot. Afternbsp;Achilles� birth Thetis left Peleus because he had discovered her puttingnbsp;the child in the fire�perhaps to make him immortal. She also dippednbsp;him in the water of the Styx, which rendered him invulnerable, exceptnbsp;in the heel by which she held him. It may be observed that other storiesnbsp;are told of Peleus, e.g. his adventures with Acastos, which are unconnected with Thetis and Achilles and may have been preserved by independent tradition. But Achilles, apart from the incidents noted above,nbsp;is known only in connection with the expedition to Troy. The Scyrosnbsp;story may have arisen out of references to Neoptolemos in the Cyclicnbsp;poems.

There is one motif which is as common in non-Homeric stories of this kind as the swallowing of the worm is in Irish. This is the case ofnbsp;twins of which one is the child of a god and the other the child of anbsp;O human father. It is very likely that such stories, like the Irish ones,nbsp;reflect the popular belief of some past age. Well-known examples arenbsp;the births of Heracles and Iphicles, of Polydeuces and Castor. Sometimes the hero child performs feats in its cradle, as when the infantnbsp;Heracles destroys the snakes sent against him by Hera. On the othernbsp;hand snakes lick the ears of the future seer, so that he can understand thenbsp;language of birds.

In the non-Homeric story of Meleagros� birth the Moirai come to determine the destiny of the new-born child, just as in Helgakvi�anbsp;Hundingslana I (cf. p. 216). A much closer parallel, however, to thenbsp;story is to be found in Nornagests Saga, cap. ii.^

We know of practically no birth-stories of heroes belonging to the British Heroic Age. The story at the beginning of Culhwch and Olwen isnbsp;hardly worth mentioning, while the case of the boy Ambrosius in thenbsp;Historia Brittonum, cap. 41 f., is not quite clear�he seems here to be anbsp;� Transi, by Kershaw, Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, p. 35 f.

219 seer rather than a hero, though there is doubtless some reminiscence ofnbsp;Ambrosius Aurelianus. An interesting example, however, relating to thenbsp;poet-sage Taliesin occurs in the late story cited above (p. 103). Caridwennbsp;had swallowed Gwion in the form of a grain of wheat. Nine monthsnbsp;later she bore a child, which she put into a bag and threw into a weirnbsp;belonging to Gwyddno Garanhir, which is said to be situated on thenbsp;shore between the Dyfi and Aberystwyth. Elphin, son of Gwyddno,nbsp;came to the weir expecting to get a great haul of fish, but he foundnbsp;nothing except the new-born child, which he carried home with him.nbsp;On the way the child produced a �Gonsolation� and other poems.nbsp;Elphin brought him up; and when he was imprisoned by Maelgwn,nbsp;Taliesin, now twelve years old, obtained his release by a contest withnbsp;the king�s bards, in which he deprived them of the power of speech. Itnbsp;has been mentioned above (p. 104) that, although the story is late as wenbsp;have it, something similar seems to be implied in certain early poems.nbsp;Allusions to the liberation of Elphin are frequent.

Taking the evidence as a whole it may be observed that there are a good number of recurrent features, although the actual circumstances ofnbsp;the conception or birth assume different forms in different countries.nbsp;The hero (or sage) is sometimes the child of a deity, sometimes a heronbsp;(or sage) reincarnate. Sometimes he is presented with horses, andnbsp;perhaps arms, by a deity. Sometimes the goddesses of Fate come tonbsp;visit him in his cradle. Often he exhibits his prowess or wisdom at annbsp;abnormally early age�even in infancy. Sometimes he is brought up ornbsp;instructed by a smith or sage, or by a smith who is also a sage. Sometimes he is invulnerable except in one spot.

Some of these features are not necessarily incredible, if allowance be made for popular belief, especially in regard to customs which havenbsp;passed out of use. The goddesses of Fate are probably reflections innbsp;popular belief of prophetesses who in actual life did visit new-bornnbsp;children to tell their fortune; for the foretelling and shaping of destinynbsp;were not clearly distinguished, as we shall see in a later chapter. In thenbsp;part played by the smith or sage there is nothing remarkable apart fromnbsp;the personality of the instructor. It is not strange that a king�s childnbsp;should hang about his father�s smithy, just as loafers did about thenbsp;village smithy in Hesiod�s time. This is not peculiar to birth-stories;nbsp;we find it, e.g., in the story of Weland. As for the gifts of the godsnbsp;some light on the story of CuChulainn, and perhaps on that ofnbsp;Achilles, is afforded by the custom of presenting a child with any coltnbsp;which was foaled or any weapon which was forged at the time of his

birth.� The invulnerability of the hero may mean no more than that he never received a wound before the one which proved his death.

But though various elements in the stories are capable of explanation, it must not be supposed that they are in any sense historical records.nbsp;There is probably no other class of stories in which the element ofnbsp;fiction is so great. They owe their origin to the fame acquired by thenbsp;hero in later life, or even after his death ; and they are products partlynbsp;of rumour and partly of speculation. Definite information not beingnbsp;available, they draw upon the floating store of material preserved innbsp;folktales.

It is quite possible that some of these stories began to be current while the heroes were yet alive. But others clearly did not come intonbsp;existence until much later times. The story of Bjarld�s birth cannot havenbsp;been invented until his family and the kingdom of the Gautar (Geatas)nbsp;had been forgotten. It belongs evidently to the same milieu as thenbsp;stories of descent from bears which were told of several prominent mennbsp;of the eleventh century,^ and is no doubt connected in some way with thenbsp;widespread folktale of the �Bear�s Son�. Some of the stories of Siegfried�s birth and childhood may be older; but the absence of agreementnbsp;between the different versions points to no very great antiquity. Innbsp;view of the agreement between the Nibelungenlied and the Edda poemsnbsp;of Type A, especially Sigurdarkvioa hin Skamma^ there can be littlenbsp;doubt that the original heroic poems relating to him began with hisnbsp;arrival at the Burgundian court. The various stories of his childhoodnbsp;may, as in other similar cases, be due to the tendency to expand a storynbsp;of adventure into a biography. At the same time they served�at leastnbsp;in Norse, and perhaps in German also originally�to connect his storynbsp;with that of Sigmundr. The stories of Achilles� birth and childhood maynbsp;have originated at a relatively earlier stage, for some elements occurnbsp;in the Iliad. But later authorities add a good deal of information�nbsp;indeed this is practically all that we know of the hero apart from Homericnbsp;poetry. It may therefore probably be taken as an illustration of thenbsp;growth of legend.

It is hardly necessary to discuss other categories. Mention, however, may be made of poetry relating to heroes after their deaths. Suchnbsp;poetry falls into two classes. The first describes the visit of a living

' We may refer especially to the Battle of the Goths and the Huns, st. 2, quoted on p. 72, above.

person to the dead; the second is concerned with the dead alone. Both classes are represented in the Odyssey.

The first class is represented by Odysseus� visit to the �House of Hades� in Bk. xi. He goes there to consult the seer Teiresias; butnbsp;incidentally he converses with his mother and various old comrades.nbsp;We know of no true analogy to this scene in the other early literaturesnbsp;which we are discussing. Saxo describes more than one visit to thenbsp;region of the dead; but no heroes are introduced. Parallels are, however, to be found elsewhere. A very striking example occurs in a story inbsp;relating to Tchaka, king of the Zulus, who died in 1828. A man described to the king a visit which he had made to the region of the dead,nbsp;where he had seen �all the old people who had been killed in war, andnbsp;those who had died at home�. They sent a message by him to the king.

The other class is represented by the opening scene in Bk. xxiv. Agamemnon and Achilles are discussing the circumstances of theirnbsp;deaths, when the suitors slain by Odysseus arrive and explain how theynbsp;have been deprived of life. A Teutonic analogy is to be found in thenbsp;Norse poem Helrei� Brynhildar., where the dead Brynhildr is driving tonbsp;Hell. An ogress assails her with reproaches; and in reply she describesnbsp;and defends the course of her life. Better parallels, however, occur innbsp;the Norse poems Eiriksmdl and Hakonarmdl^ which belong to a morenbsp;or less heroic milieu, though they are not connected with the Teutonicnbsp;Heroic Age. In each poem the king is represented as entering Valh�llnbsp;and being greeted there by Othin and heroes of the past. We may alsonbsp;refer to a Serbian poem3 composed on the funeral of Prince Danilonbsp;(in 1861), in the last part of which the prince is welcomed in Paradise bynbsp;Dusan, Lazar, Milos Obilic and other national heroes. All poems ofnbsp;this class seem to belong to Type B or Type DB.

III. We have now to consider elements which appear to be unhis-torical, although they are not necessarily incredible in themselves'� nor yet in conflict with other evidence. Under this head we shall treat incidents, motifs and characters which seem to be either (a) taken from somenbsp;other story, or (^) invented or adapted from some idea or sequence ofnbsp;ideas which cannot be regarded as a story in the ordinary sense of the word.

In point of fact some of the incidents noticed below are incredible in themselves and might consequently have been included under II. But they are treated here fornbsp;the sake of convenience.

(a) A good example of the borrowing of incidents (and motifs) may be found in the later Norse account of the story of HeSinn and H�gni,nbsp;contained in the Soria pdttrJ- In this account HeSinn does not raidnbsp;H�gni�s kingdom. He is received there and entertained by H�gni as anbsp;friend. But during H�gni�s absence he not only carries off his daughternbsp;but also puts to death his wife. His conduct is instigated by a witchnbsp;(the Valkyrie G�ndul), whom he encounters repeatedly in forests. Bothnbsp;the meetings with the witch and the motif are unknown to the othernbsp;versions of the story; and there can be little doubt that they are derivednbsp;from the story of Helgi Hj�rvarSsson, where another HeSinn, thenbsp;brother of Helgi, is incited by a witch to claim the hand of Svava, thenbsp;beloved of Helgi.

In this case the borrowing both of incidents and motif is due evidently to identity of name. It is to be suspected that this is a fruitful source of confusion in heroic stories. As a probable instance we maynbsp;refer to the stories of Dietrich von Bern and Wolfdietrich, which shownbsp;certain remarkable resemblances. Both heroes have the misfortune tonbsp;lose all their men and to be driven into exile for thirty years�incidentsnbsp;which are at variance with historical evidence in the case of the former.^

Next we may take a somewhat different case. In Hervarar Saga, cap. 6,3 HeiSrekr appeals to his father H�fundr, who is a sage, for (gnomic)nbsp;advice, and obtains from him a number of maxims. One of these is thatnbsp;he should not undertake to bring up the son of a man more powerfulnbsp;than himself. Another is that he should not tell secrets to his mistress.nbsp;He resolves to put these maxims to the test, and so undertakes to fosternbsp;a son of King Hrollaugr. Then he visits the king and, while he is there,nbsp;conceals the child. His mistress asks him where the child is, and henbsp;tells her that he has killed him�a secret which the mistress soon betraysnbsp;to the queen. Practically the same story4 is told of Flaithri, the son ofnbsp;Fithal, who was a judge and sage under Cormac mac Airt. He obtainsnbsp;similar maxims from Fithal, and then undertakes the fosterage of a sonnbsp;of Cormac�with the same d�nouement. It is uncertain whether thenbsp;Norse story is derived from the Irish or vice versa�or even whethernbsp;the two are immediately connected. There is a widespread folktale�

t In the case of the latter too, if Wolfdietrich is really to be identified with Theodberht, king of the Franks. But this seems to us very doubtful ; cf. Chadwick,nbsp;Heroic Age, pp. 23, 155.

Keating, History of Ireland, 1. 46. We do not know Keating�s source for this story. Other Instructions of Fithal will require consideration in Ch. XII.

known even to some of the Bantu peoples of South Africa�which in varying forms contains the essential elements of the story.

The adventure with the Cyclops narrated in Bk. ix of the Odyssey is derived from another widespread folktale and it is more than likelynbsp;that other adventures described in the following Books, especiallynbsp;the incident with Circe, are adapted from similar sources. Indeed thenbsp;whole narrative contained in Bks. ix�xii is more in accordance withnbsp;folktale than with heroic story. It is not by his valour, nor even by hisnbsp;resourcefulness, that the hero overcomes his difficulties here. Likenbsp;heroes of folktale he owes everything to the guidance of superiornbsp;powers.

A more interesting case occurs in Bk. xxi of the same poem. Penelope produces Odysseus� bow and declares that she will marry whichever ofnbsp;the suitors can string the bow and penetrate a certain mark. Not one ofnbsp;the suitors can bend the bow; but Odysseus himself, who has returnednbsp;home disguised as a ragged beggar, successfully accomplishes the wholenbsp;task. Then he attacks the suitors. The affinities of this story seem to benbsp;Oriental rather than Greek. It is possible that the svayamvara�thenbsp;ceremony at which a bride selects a husband from the assembled suitors�nbsp;may once have been known in Greece, though the evidence for it isnbsp;very slight. But we do not know any other Greek examples of thenbsp;stringing of a bow employed as a test, whereas in India and Turkestannbsp;this is a familiar feature of the svayamvara. The description of thenbsp;svayamvara of Draupadi in the Mahahharatai presents a curious parallelnbsp;to the story in the Odyssey. Not one of the assembled princes�apartnbsp;from the disqualified Karna�is able to string the bow; but the heronbsp;Arjuna, who has come disguised as a Brahman and accompanied bynbsp;Brahmans, both strings the bow and hits the mark. The princes, furiousnbsp;at a Brahman�s success, attack the king, and Arjuna comes to defendnbsp;him; but the fight is stopped by Krsna. It would seem therefore thatnbsp;this incident in the Odyssey is derived from some Eastern source�nbsp;possibly the very story we have cited, though derivation from a folktalenbsp;is perhaps more likely. In Tartar stories, as we shall see in a later chapter,nbsp;the hero occasionally arrives disguised as a beggar.

j Something of the kind seems to be implied (in the case of Helen) in Hesiod�s Catalogue, fragm. 94 (Rzach). In later times we may compare the story of Cleisthenes,nbsp;given by Herodotos, vi. 126 ff.

3 Bk. I. 187 ff. An abbreviated account of the incident will be found in R. Dutt, The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, p. 218 ff.

The adventures of Beowulf have been so often discussed that it is unnecessary here to deal with them in details The adventures withnbsp;Grendel and his mother obviously bear a close relationship to the storynbsp;told in Grettis Saga, cap. 64-66, of the outlaw Grettir, who died innbsp;Iceland in 1031. They also show a resemblance�which is less close andnbsp;only partial, but can hardly be altogether accidental�to the folktalenbsp;called �Bear�s Son�. Now it may be observed that the story ofnbsp;Bjarki�s origin contained in Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimurnbsp;(cf. p. 217) has features connected with the same folktale. But the accountnbsp;given by these authorities of Bjarki�s adventure with the monster ornbsp;monsters�which cannot properly be separated from Beowulf�snbsp;adventure with Grendel�shows no resemblance to the folktale. Itnbsp;would seem therefore that the stories of Beowulf and of Bjarki, thoughnbsp;originally identical, were influenced independently by the same folktale.nbsp;The impetus to this influence may have been supplied by the namesnbsp;Bjarki (cf. p. 217) and Beowulf, if the latter was really recognised to benbsp;a term (kenning) for � bear �.2 But the adventure with the monsters itselfnbsp;may well have originated in an encounter with a bear, as related by Saxo.

The story of Beowulf�s fight with the dragon and death may have had a somewhat similar history. We think, however, that this story hasnbsp;been transferred from another character of the same name,3 like thenbsp;incident of HeSinn and the witch, discussed on p. 222 above.

Another story which has given rise to much discussion is the first adventure in Yvain and The Lady of the Fountain. In Chrestien�s poemnbsp;the scene is laid in the Forest of Broceliande, which is in Brittany; butnbsp;such evidence as is available points perhaps as much to something innbsp;the nature of a folktale as to a local legend. The nearest analogy is tonbsp;be found in the Irish story called The Pursuit of the Gilla Docker,where

' Cf. Chadwick, Heroic Age, p. ii�ff.; Chambers, Beowulf; An Introduction, pp. 41-68, and 365 ff. Cf. also Ch. xiv, below.

� Lit. �wolf (i.e. enemy) of bees�, owing to the animal�s predilection for honey; cf. Chambers, op. cit. p. 365 f. The explanation seems likely, though there are nonbsp;very close early parallels. It would serve to explain why die hero came later (innbsp;Scandinavian lands) to be called Bjarki, which probably meant �Litde Bear�.

3 The ancestor of the Danish kings mentioned in Beow. 18, 53 (cf. The Heroic Age, p. 122 ff.). In the genealogies he is called Beaw, Beo, etc. Reference may alsonbsp;be made to the dragon story given by Chambers, Beowulf, p. 192 ff., which showsnbsp;some striking analogies to the story in Beowulf It is curious that this story isnbsp;placed in the time of Gram, who, like the earlier Beowulf, is the son of Skj�ldrnbsp;(Scyld).

�* Transi, by O�Grady, Silva Gadelica, p. 301 f. ; by Joyce, Old Celtic Romances, p. 247 ff.

225 the hero Dermot comes alone to a well beneath a magnificent tree.nbsp;Beside the spring stands a pillar-stone, on which lies a drinking horn;nbsp;and Dermot, who is thirsty, fills it from the well and drinks. Then anbsp;wizard arrives in armour, and they fight together till evening, when thenbsp;wizard dives into the well. The same proceedings are repeated on thenbsp;next two days. But on the third evening Dermot grips the wizard, andnbsp;theygo down together; and at thebottom Dermot finds himself in a newnbsp;country. It seems probable that the scene both here and in Yvain isnbsp;derived from heathen sanctuaries. In one text of the Pursuit the tree andnbsp;well are surrounded with a stone circle; while in Yvain there is anbsp;�chapel� by the well, and Lunet is to be burned to death near by. Innbsp;other respects Yvain and the Lady of the Fountain suggest a sanctuarynbsp;with customs comparable with those of Nemi. But in any case, whethernbsp;the story is a folktale which has come down from heathen times or anbsp;local legend of Brittany, it can hardly have been told originally of thenbsp;hero, Owein the son of Urien, who belonged to the Christian period andnbsp;lived in the north of England or Scotland.

It is unnecessary here to give instances of the borrowing of characters by one heroic story from another. The principle is sufficiently illustratednbsp;by the examples of unhistorical situations and discrepancies given onnbsp;p. 199 ff., above. It maybe observed that confusions of this kind seem tonbsp;be most frequent in the late German stories and in the Arthuriannbsp;Romances. In the latter there is a strong tendency everywhere tonbsp;attract into Arthur�s circle characters which belonged to later generations, such as Urien and his son Owein, Rhun son of Maelgwn, Cynonnbsp;son of Clydno Eidyn, and Myrddin.

No instances, however, of the borrowing of characters from stories of the gods have been given as yet. We have discussed (p. 204 ff.) thenbsp;introduction of gods as gods in Greek, Irish and Norse heroic stories.nbsp;But we refer here to characters who are represented in the stories asnbsp;human beings, but who in reality appear to be divine.

A probable example occurs in Hromundar Saga Greipssonar,^ where the king �lafr has in his service two brothers called Bildr and Voli. Thenbsp;latter at least is a wizard. The hero Hr�mundr, who is their enemy,nbsp;possesses a sword called Mistilteinn (�Mistletoe�). It seems likely thatnbsp;these names are taken from the gods Baldr and Vali, who are alsonbsp;brothers, although the description of them has little in common withnbsp;the story of Baldr. It may be observed that this saga, which is said to

have been composed in 1119/ belongs to the class called lygisogur or �fictitious stories�. The characters belong partly to the Viking Age andnbsp;partly to the Heroic Age, and it borrows a whole episode from anothernbsp;story, as will be seen below.

It is commonly held that some of the characters of the Mabmogion were originally deities. Thus Manawyddan fab Lyr is identified withnbsp;Manannan mac Lir,and Llew Llaw Gyffes with Lug mac Ethnenn. Suchnbsp;a derivation is in itself by no means impossible. The Mabmogion innbsp;their present form cannot go back beyond the eleventh century at thenbsp;earliest; and though there are references to these persons in poemsnbsp;which are doubtless earlier, they do not give us much information aboutnbsp;them. As Wales had been Christian for six centuries or more by thisnbsp;time, it is likely enough that any stories of the gods which mightnbsp;survive would tend to have their character obscured. But the identifications are not quite convincing. Manawyddan and Manannan are not thenbsp;same name, though both may be derived from the name of the Isle ofnbsp;Man. The two characters also have little in common, except that theynbsp;are both apparently skilled in magic�which, however, Manawyddannbsp;rarely practises. Moreover, Manawyddan has a brother and sister.nbsp;Bran and Branwen, who are unknown in Ireland. Llew has nothingnbsp;beyond his name�assuming that this stands for Lieu�in commonnbsp;with Lug.

In the case of Manawyddan some borrowing would seem to have taken place, for in BBC. xxxi he appears among Arthur�s heroes. The heroesnbsp;who were later affiliated to Arthur�Owein and the rest-�do notnbsp;appear in this poem. Moreover he is here connected with a battlenbsp;(Trywruid) which is mentioned (as Tribruit) in the list of Arthur�snbsp;battles contained in the H'lstoria Brittonum, cap. 56. A reminiscence ofnbsp;this association may be preserved in Culhwch and Olwen., where Manawyddan appears in the long list of Arthur�s heroes. On the other handnbsp;he is associated with Pryderi in Tai. xiv. 47, as in the Mabmogion. Didnbsp;he originally belong to Pryderi or to Arthur.^ This is a question we arenbsp;not prepared to answer. The absence of reference to him in Pwyll andnbsp;Math., which we are inclined to regard as the oldest or most conservative of the Mabinogion, is possibly an argument for the latter.

The witch Caridwen, who appears in the Hanes Taliesin as the poet�s mother, is clearly a mythological being. She is no doubt identical withnbsp;Ceridwen, who is mentioned fairly often in the poems in connection

Cf. the SagaofThorgils and Haflidi, cap. 10. The passage is transi, by Kershaw, op. cit. p. 58.

with poetic inspiration (cf. p. 104). She seems to be a goddess of poetry. But the milieu in which she appears in the opening scene of thenbsp;Hanes is obscure. The story bears a remarkable resemblance to that ofnbsp;the theft of the poetic mead by Othin; and consequently we think itnbsp;best to treat both of them in the next chapter, although the charactersnbsp;are all represented as human in the Hanes^ as we have it.^

All the stories noticed above were either composed in Christian times or at least preserved�doubtless not without considerablenbsp;change�through many centuries of Christianity. A different problemnbsp;is presented when we come to consider Greek and early Irish and Norsenbsp;stories, where gods and men are brought before us as different classesnbsp;of beings. It has often been held that various heroes of the Greek,nbsp;Teutonic and Irish Heroic Ages are �faded� gods; but this theory nonbsp;longer meets with the same general favour which it enjoyed formerly.nbsp;The weakness of the evidence was well pointed out by the late Drnbsp;W. Leaf in Homer and History, p. 10 ff.�to which the reader maynbsp;be referred for a full discussion of the subject.

Lastly, we have to take the case where both incidents and characters, even whole episodes, are transferred from one story to another. A goodnbsp;example occurs in Hr�mundar Saga Greipssonar, cap. 8, which isnbsp;obviously taken from Hdgakviba Hundingsbanall. The hero Hr�mundrnbsp;is sheltered by a man called Hagall and disguised as a grinding-maidnbsp;when the king�s messengers under Blindr come to hunt for him. Herenbsp;the names Hagall and Blindr are borrowed, together with the incidentnbsp;itself. Hr�mundr takes the place of Helgi, and Haddingr (the king)nbsp;that of Hundingr. The whole passage is instructive in showing how thenbsp;�fictitious sagas� (cf. p. 225 f.) were built up.�

We have seen that in Romances of the twelfth and following centuries, and even in the Welsh Dream ofRJionabwy, heroes belonging to differentnbsp;generations are attracted into the circle of Arthur. It is likely enoughnbsp;that some of the adventures with which these heroes are credited werenbsp;told of them before they were associated with Arthur; for as a rule henbsp;does not enter much into the action. The same may perhaps be said innbsp;the case of the prophet Myrddin (Merlin), although what is recorded ofnbsp;him in the Romances has not much in common with what we know ofnbsp;him from Welsh and Strathclyde tradition.

I The introduction of Arawn and Hafgan in the Mabinogi of Pwyll (cf. p. 209, note) is not quite analogous, though they are not said to be non-human.

� The course of the narrative bears some resemblance to Eyrbyggja Saga, cap. 20, and is possibly modelled upon this.

Again, the view has often been put forward that various incidents and episodes in the Iliad were originally independent stories bearing nonbsp;relation to the story of the siege of Troy, with which they were broughtnbsp;into connection only at a later time. This case is of course not analogousnbsp;to either of the two which we have just noticed. Stories like Hr�mundarnbsp;Saga Greipssonar were known as �fictitious stories� (Jygis�gur), tonbsp;distinguish them from stories derived from old tradition; but Greeknbsp;opinion constantly regarded the Homeric stories as coming under thenbsp;latter description. As for the French Romances, which deal with thenbsp;British Heroic Age some six centuries before, we see no reason fornbsp;believing that any such great lapse of time or change of milieu took placenbsp;in the course of Homeric tradition. To appreciate the essential differencenbsp;between the two classes of records one need only note the comparativenbsp;poverty of the personnel and the almost complete absence of precisenbsp;localisation in the Romances. These objections do not apply to thenbsp;Dream of Rhonabwy. But the character of this piece is to be borne innbsp;mind. It is a tour deforce of Type C, in which the author sets out tonbsp;display his knowledge of legendary lore, as well as his power ofnbsp;description. It has little in common with the Iliad.

In itself the hypothesis that the Iliad has absorbed independent stories is not unreasonable�especially if one bears in mind the verynbsp;great number of persons and incidents contained in the poem. Butnbsp;satisfactory evidence for such transferences is difficult, if not impossible,nbsp;to obtain. One of the most plausible cases occurs in II. v. 628 ff., wherenbsp;Tlepolemos of Rhodes encounters Sarpedon of Lycia. Since Rhodesnbsp;and Lycia are neighbouring lands, and both of them are far from Troy,nbsp;it is suggested that the fight between the two heroes had originallynbsp;nothing to do with Troy but took place in Rhodes or Lycia. This maynbsp;be so; but there is no evidence for such a fight, so far as we are aware.nbsp;Moreover, Sarpedon fights with other heroes in the Iliad, besidesnbsp;Tlepolemos. He is slain by Patroclos, a hero from Opus, who is innbsp;command of warriors from Malis and Phthia�all of them lands remotenbsp;from Lycia.

In any case we do not believe that such transferences are responsible for any considerable element in the Iliad. We know of no other fightsnbsp;between neighbours; and the other evidence which has been adduced innbsp;support of the theory is even less convincing. Most of it may be due tonbsp;mistaken identifications and speculation of various kinds based on thenbsp;poem itself. The important fact, as pointed out above (p. 188), is thatnbsp;little or nothing is known of most of the heroes apart from the siege of

Troy. If the Iliad were really a congeries of stories relating to different generations of the Heroic Age, we should certainly have found famousnbsp;heroes like Perseus, Heracles, Minos, Theseus and lason figuring in it.nbsp;Something of the kind seems actually to have been done in poems on thenbsp;voyage of the Argo; and it is in these, not in the Iliad, that we may seenbsp;Greek counterparts of the Dream of BJionabwy.

(f) We have yet to consider the evidence for incidents and characters which appear to have been invented, or to have been adapted from somenbsp;idea, or from some sequence of ideas which cannot properly be called anbsp;story.

The invention of incidents is essential to heroic narrative poetry, and indeed probably to almost all kinds of narrative poetry. The onlynbsp;question is to what extent it is permitted. Such incidents as meetingsnbsp;and conversations are doubtless invented everywhere; and in poemsnbsp;relating to warfare, like the Iliad, we may probably allow for the invention of a good deal of fighting. The heroic poet is not a merenbsp;recorder. He adheres, we believe, more or less to the facts which henbsp;knows ; but he fills up the details of his pictures, whether of life ornbsp;warfare, according to his view�the standard view of his circle�ofnbsp;what ought to be.

It has been mentioned above (p. 201) that sometimes we meet with serious discrepancies between two accounts of the same event. Thus innbsp;the Norse version of the Burgundian story Atli is killed by his wife,nbsp;who remains alive at the end, while in the German version Etzel (Atli)nbsp;remains alive and his wife is killed. In such cases deliberate inventionnbsp;may often be involved. But other factors have also to be taken intonbsp;account; and consequently we have preferred to treat them�asnbsp;discrepancies rather than inventions�at the beginning of this chapter.

Invention can perhaps best be illustrated from series of adventures in which the same motif is repeated. Many examples are to be found innbsp;the Romances; but the principle is most easily to be traced in Bricriusnbsp;Feast, where palaeographical and linguistic evidence make it possible tonbsp;trace the growth of the story. Laegaire, Conall Cernach and CuChulainnnbsp;are all in turn incited by Bricriu to claim the �champion�s portion�; andnbsp;a great tumult arises in consequence. It is decided to refer the questionnbsp;to Ailill, who sets three demon cats on the heroes and gives his award innbsp;favour of CuChulainn as a result of the adventure. The others will notnbsp;accept the decision, and consequently they all go to CuRoi, who alsonbsp;decides for CuChulainn. Again they will not give way, until a giant

230 UNHISTORICAL ELEMENTS IN STORIES OF comes to the court at Emain and offers to have his head cut off by anynbsp;hero who will engage to let him cut off his head on the following day.nbsp;All those present, except CuChulainn, either refuse or subsequentlynbsp;draw back; and the giant awards the championship to CuChulainn.nbsp;This is the story as told in the original text; but the later texts add fivenbsp;or six more adventures, all animated by the same motif. CuChulainnnbsp;succeeds in each test, while the other competitors fail. It should,nbsp;however, be remarked that the last of these additions is a mere doubletnbsp;of the adventure with the giant, while some of the others ought perhapsnbsp;to be put down to transference rather than to invention. The originalnbsp;story itself may well be a product of fiction�representing what mightnbsp;be expected to happen under the given circumstances, rather than whatnbsp;actually did happen.

Turning now to the invention of characters, we may first take cases where invention is shown by the character of the names. A goodnbsp;illustration occurs in the list of Phaeacian athletes given in Od. viii.nbsp;111 ff. They are thirteen in number, and all the names, like those ofnbsp;most of the Phaeacians, are formed from words meaning �sea�, �ship�,nbsp;� oar�, etc. Some of the names are not unknown in actual use, but othersnbsp;must have been coined for the occasion, like Anabesineos (�Embark-on-a-ship�). An analogous list of names is that of the Nereids given innbsp;II. xviii. 49 ff., which will be noticed in Ch. x.

Names of this type, as applied to mortals, are not very common elsewhere in the Homeric poems. A probable example is Dolon, son ofnbsp;Eumedes (perhaps �Crafty�, son of�Well-advised�), the Trojan spy innbsp;Bk. X of the Iliad. The minstrel Phemios Terpiades may also belongnbsp;here, if the former name is connected with the idea of �speech� and thenbsp;latter with that of �delight�. And there are a few other, more or lessnbsp;probable, examples in both poems. The principle is illustrated by thenbsp;false account which Odysseus gives of himself in Od. xxiv. 304 f.nbsp;He says that he is a son of Apheidas Polypemonides from Alybas, whichnbsp;we take to mean �Unstinting, son of Very-wealthy, from Silverland�.

A somewhat different case is the abusive orator Thersites in II. II. 212 ff. We take this name to be a synonym of Ares,i the war-god,nbsp;and to be applied here on the same principle as the name Iros is appliednbsp;in Od. XVIII. 6 f. to the beggar whom the suitors of Penelope use as anbsp;messenger�from Iris, the messenger of the gods. Nothing is said ofnbsp;Thersites� family, and the passage in the Iliad distinctly suggests that henbsp;is a character created for the moment, like Dolon and the Phaeaciannbsp;� Ares was worshipped under this name (Theritas') at Sparta; cf. Pausanias, ill. 19.

231 athletes. It is surprising therefore to find that he is said to have figurednbsp;again in the Aithiopis^ where his death at the hands of Achilles wasnbsp;apparently treated as a matter of some consequence. One is inclined tonbsp;suspect that this story was built up out of hints contained in the passagenbsp;in the Il�ad^ the character of which was misunderstood. But if so, thenbsp;poem can hardly have originated in a truly Homeric milieu.

In Irish heroic sagas the invention of characters is probably very widespread. A number of examples are to be found among CuChulainn�snbsp;opponents in the Tain Bo Cuailnge. A pretty clear case is that of Lethan,nbsp;who is killed at a ford called Ath Lethan,� said to be named after him;nbsp;but the name means �Broad Ford�. It is held that some of the morenbsp;important heroes, such as Ferdiad and Fraech, are of similar origin;nbsp;but the connection between a place-name and a hero�s name may arisenbsp;in more than one way, as we shall see later. A different principle ofnbsp;invention may be seen in the name of Ailill�s messenger, Traigthen, sonnbsp;of Traiglethan,3 i.e, � Swift-foot, son of Broad-foot�. When we find innbsp;the Exile of the Sons of Uisliu that this person is one of those slain bynbsp;Fergus in revenge for the death of Noisiu, we are inclined to suspect annbsp;analogy to the introduction of Thersites in the Aithiopis. Here also wenbsp;may refer to Conchobor�s woman messenger, whose name seems tonbsp;mean �Long Bent� or �Long Crooked�. There is no reason for supposingnbsp;that fictitious characters are limited to cases where the origin of the namenbsp;is more or less apparent.

In Teutonic heroic stories fictitious characters with names of this type are rare. The name TEidsith (�Far-travelled�) occurs only in thenbsp;introduction to the poem which may well be later than the rest of it.nbsp;The body of the poem, which is in the first person, may have been innbsp;existence�at least a considerable part of it-�before the name wasnbsp;coined. Unferth (�Not-peace�), the name of the Danish king�s �spokesman� in Beowulf may be an earlier case; he is said to have killed hisnbsp;own brothers. But names with the negative prefix, though rare, are notnbsp;unknown in Anglo-Saxon; and the man�s father bears a name {Ecglaf},nbsp;which is of an ordinary type and occurs elsewhere. In Norse we havenbsp;found fictitious names of this kind only in late (prose) works. Thus innbsp;E�lsunga Saga, cap. 23, Brynhildr has a sister who is called Bekkhildrnbsp;(from bekkr, �couch�), because she stays at home and does not go tonbsp;war.

One case of this kind dates from much earlier times�the legendary smith Weland (V�lundr), if we are right in believing that the name hadnbsp;a meaning, such as �artificer� or �contriver�. But the character cannotnbsp;have been created for any of the works which have come down to us,nbsp;unless the history of the V�lundarkvioa is to be traced back to a muchnbsp;greater antiquity than is generally supposed. The story, non-heroicnbsp;as it is, was probably current among most of the Teutonic peoplesevennbsp;during the Heroic Age.i

Fictitious characters without appropriate names, like those above, are much more difficult, if not indeed quite impossible, to identify.nbsp;One naturally assumes that most of the characters who are introducednbsp;in the battle scenes of the Iliad merely to serve as victims for the greaternbsp;heroes were created for this very purpose; but we know no way ofnbsp;proving this. The same remarks apply perhaps in some degree to thenbsp;suitors of Penelope, of whom fifteen are mentioned by name. Some ofnbsp;these names are probably required for the existence of the story, fornbsp;leading characters are rarely, if ever, nameless in heroic poetry; but onenbsp;is naturally reluctant to allow that so many can have been preserved bynbsp;genuine tradition. Yet here again no positive evidence is available.

In Teutonic and Celtic heroic stories the minor characters are usually not so numerous. But they present similar problems. To take a case fromnbsp;Beowulf, a certain Aeschere, described as a trusted councillor of thenbsp;Danish king and as �elder brother of Yrmenlaf�, is introduced merelynbsp;to be eaten by Grendel�s mother. His credentials for historicity thennbsp;are not convincing. He may be a creation of the poet�s imagination�innbsp;which case the brother�s name is added to give verisimilitude to thenbsp;incident. But on the other hand he may of course have figured originallynbsp;in some other connection.

In the Norse poem Gu�r�narkvi�a 1 we find several characters who are unknown elsewhere : Gjaflaug, a sister of Gjuki, Gullr�nd, a daughternbsp;of the same king, and Herhorg, �queen of H�naland�, who is addressednbsp;by Gullr�nd as �foster-mother�. The probability is that they are newnbsp;creations. It may be observed, however, that the two former namesnbsp;have initial G-, like the rest of the Burgundian royal family�whichnbsp;indicates that they were not invented at a very late date, indeed hardlynbsp;after 850.

Thus far we have dealt only with minor characters. The essential characters must of course be considered in connection with the storynbsp;or episode to which they belong.

First let us take the �Doloneia�, Bk. x of the Iliad. The first part consists of preliminary matter, a debate of the Achaean leaders. Thenbsp;action proper begins at 273, where Diomedes and Odysseus set off bynbsp;night in the direction of the enemy�s lines. They capture the Trojannbsp;spy Dolon, son of Eumedes, who has been sent by Hector to reconnoitre, and kill him after he has told them of the arrival of the Thraciannbsp;king Rhesos with his valuable horses. Then they kill Rhesos, carry offnbsp;his horses and chariot, and return to the Achaean camp. The episode isnbsp;complete in itself and has no bearing on the story of the Iliad as a whole.nbsp;The essential characters are Diomedes and Odysseus, who belong to thenbsp;whole story, and Dolon and Rhesos, who appear only here. In thenbsp;action itself no one else takes part, except the goddess Athene and anbsp;Thracian called Hippocoon. We have seen (p. 230) that Dolon andnbsp;Eumedes appear to be fictitious names. The same is probably true ofnbsp;Rhesos, which may be the Thracian word for �king�,i while Hippocoon., lit. �one who has care of horses�, is a specially fitting name to givenbsp;to a Thracian. There can be little doubt therefore that the episode is anbsp;work of fiction.

Next take the story of Odysseus� revenge. We have seen that the names of the suitors do not betray themselves as fictitious, though it isnbsp;curious that so many of them are recorded. But the motif of thenbsp;stringing of the bow, combined with the svayamvara and the arrival ofnbsp;the hero in rags, appears to be derived from some Eastern story. This,nbsp;however, cannot be held to prove that the whole story of the vengeancenbsp;is fictitious. The motif is not essential to the vengeance. Moreover therenbsp;are not wanting indications that the plot of the Odyssey has undergonenbsp;considerable change. It is difficult to believe that the journey of Telemachos, and more especially the ambush set by Antinoos, were intendednbsp;from the beginning to lead to nothing. In our opinion the introductionnbsp;of the Oriental motif in the Odyssey is analogous to the adventuresnbsp;with Grendel and his mother in Beowulf. All the Northern authorities�nbsp;Saxo, Hr�lfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimur�credit Bjarki (Beowulf)nbsp;with an adventure with a monster or bear at the same place and thenbsp;same time, though the details differ; but it is only in Beowulf that wenbsp;find the monster taking the form of Grendel and his mother, a formnbsp;which is known elsewhere in quite different connections. The story ofnbsp;Odysseus� vengeance may have been affected in a similar way.

Fiction in the ordinary sense is of course by no means unknown in the Odyssey. The principle is recognised in the false accounts which the

I Possibly related to A.S. rice, Lat. regius�in the sense of�royal� (person).

hero gives of himself on more than one occasion. For clear examples, however, we must turn to the first half of the poem�the story of thenbsp;hero�s adventures among the Phaeacians and the account which he givesnbsp;of his experiences in Bks. ix-xii. Both afford good examples of fiction,nbsp;though they represent different varieties of it. The latter consists of anbsp;series of stories akin to folktales, which will require notice in Ch. xiv.nbsp;The former belongs to what we should like to call �romantic fiction�.nbsp;The milieu is not that of folktales; but neither is it that of the heroicnbsp;world. The name �Phaeacian� appears to be derived from heroicnbsp;tradition (cf. p. 195), and the same origin may perhaps be allowed fornbsp;two or three of the chief characters. But there is no evidence that eithernbsp;the country or the personnel of the story was known intimately. Thenbsp;poet would seem to have given free play to his imagination; and thenbsp;picture he has drawn is not that of a rude and backward community,nbsp;such as we should expect in the far west, but rather that of a wealthy citynbsp;and court which preserved traces of Mycenean splendour. Again, bothnbsp;these forms of fiction differ from what we find in the �Telemachy�.nbsp;Here probably all the incidents are fictitious, including Telemachos�nbsp;visits to Nestor and Menelaos, though the fiction is of a kind which mightnbsp;be found in any narrative poem; but the milieu and the personnelnbsp;belong to the heroic world.

There can be little doubt, however, that all the first half of the poem is of secondary origin and that the original story�which gave birth tonbsp;the rest�was that of the return and vengeance of Odysseus. This latternbsp;part of the poem also, as we have it, contains much which looks likenbsp;imaginative fiction. But we see no reason for doubting that the mainnbsp;structure represents heroic tradition.

Another probable example of fiction is to be seen in the Norse poem Oddr�nargrdtr. Borgny, daughter of HeiSrekr, is in the throes ofnbsp;childbirth, and Oddrun, sister of Atli, comes to her assistance withnbsp;spells. Later, in reply to a taunt from Borgny, Oddrun tells the story ofnbsp;her love for Gunnarr, and gives an account of his death which containsnbsp;various particulars unknown elsewhere. There is a reference to Oddrunnbsp;and her love for Gunnarr in SigutSarkvida Sk. 58, which may be takennbsp;from this poem; but she does not belong to the recognised personnelnbsp;of the story. The other characters mentioned in the poem, Borgny, hernbsp;lover Vilmundr, and her father HeiSrekr, are not known from othernbsp;sources, unless the last named is to be identified with HeiSrekr, thenbsp;father of Angant�r, in the Battle of the Goths and Huns.

235 believed by many scholars that SigurSr (Siegfried) and Brynhildrnbsp;themselves were products of fiction, though not fiction in the ordinarynbsp;(modern) sense of the word. They were believed to have originated innbsp;personifications of light, who meet with their doom in conflict withnbsp;powers of darkness typified in the (H)Niflungar (Nibelunge). Thenbsp;evidence for this theory is derived from the later elements in the story,nbsp;and even in these a large amount of arbitrary change is required if theynbsp;are to bear the interpretation which is desired. The theory, however,nbsp;has been so much discussed that it is unnecessary to enter into detailsnbsp;here.i A similar origin has been claimed for the stories of Achilles,nbsp;CuChulainn, and other heroes, though in the case of the former wenbsp;believe that it is now generally abandoned, at least in this country.nbsp;All these claims in our opinion spring from a fundamental misconception of the nature of heroic poetry and saga. The characters on whosenbsp;behalf they are made are essentially and primarily heroic; but thenbsp;claims are based on secondary works composed in later times in anbsp;more or less non-heroic milieu. These, however, are questions whichnbsp;will need consideration in a later chapter.

If it be urged that SigurSr and Brynhildr � may be products of fiction in the ordinary sense, that is a different matter; the same objections donbsp;not hold. But we do not think such an explanation is likely. Wherenbsp;fiction can be traced more or less clearly is in secondary stories, likenbsp;the � Doloneia� and Oddr�nargrdtr. But it will hardly be suggested that , .�anbsp;the story of SigurSr may belong to this category. Our belief is that � /nbsp;primary heroic stories are contemporary, i.e. that the first stories which'nbsp;celebrate a hero�s exploits are composed within living memory of thenbsp;events. Such stories may contain fictitious elements, such as e.g. thenbsp;introduction of supernatural beings, if this is a recognised conventionnbsp;of the times. But we do not know any examples of heroic poetry ornbsp;saga relating to recent events, in which the leading characters are

I The theory is discussed in The Heroic Age,^. 139 ff. Perhaps the most significant fact is that in all versions of the story the hero is killed by the Burgundians, who arenbsp;incited thereto by Brynhildr herself. This is the central feature of the story everywhere.

� According to one recent theory Brynhildr is a late addition to the story, introduced into the North from Germany in the eleventh century. In order tonbsp;substantiate this a very late date is assigned to certain poems, while in others thenbsp;references to Brynhildr are treated as interpolations�a process by which it is easynbsp;to make out a case for this�or any similar�theory. Incidentally of course thenbsp;central motif of the story�Brynhildr�s jealousy�disappears from it in its originalnbsp;form.

236 UNHISTORICAL ELEMENTS IN STORIES OF fictitious. Messengers are of course excluded, however long theirnbsp;speeches.

CuChulainn unluckily has no historically authenticated brother-in-law, as SigurSr has ; and consequently we cannot hope to get our feet planted on terra firma when we are discussing his story. But we havenbsp;seen (p. 174 if.) that the general conditions described in the sagas are suchnbsp;as may well have prevailed in the times to which tradition assigns thenbsp;story, but did not prevail in later times. We have also seen (p. 179) thatnbsp;it is only as a framework to the sagas, especially the Tain Bo Cuailnge,nbsp;that these conditions can have been remembered. We may add that thenbsp;Tain Bo Cuailnge�and other sagas�cannot have existed withoutnbsp;CuChulainn. Conchobor, Medb, Ailill and some other characters arenbsp;also essential. We see no reason therefore for regarding these personsnbsp;as products of fiction, much less for seeking their origin in celestialnbsp;phenomena. It is to be feared that, like other heroic communities, thenbsp;ancient Irish were less interested in the �perennial conflict of light andnbsp;darkness� than in the almost equally perennial conflicts arising fromnbsp;cattle-raiding, which touched them more closely.

Fictitious stories of a secondary character are by no means unknown in early Irish. Among these we may probably reckon not only thenbsp;� Conceptions � (cf. p. 216), in which hardly any new (human) charactersnbsp;are introduced, but also a number of stories which are loosely connectednbsp;with the Tain Bo Cuailnge. The characters are in part such as arenbsp;known in this work, and in part peculiar to the stories themselves.nbsp;Thus in the Tain Bo Fraich, the Tain Bo Dartada and the Tain Bonbsp;Regamain we find on the one hand Ailill and Medb, and perhaps somenbsp;of their children�in one case also Conall Cernach�on the othernbsp;certain characters which are wholly or almost wholly unknown outsidenbsp;the story in which they appear. It is of course possible that in some ofnbsp;these cases fiction has been assumed too readily, and that in reality it isnbsp;not the story itself but the association with Ailill and Medb which isnbsp;secondary; but as to the existence of the class there can hardly be anynbsp;doubt. Examples are doubtless to be found in the Tain Bo Cuailngenbsp;itself. In later times fictitious stories connected with Finn became very

We do not mean to suggest that a hero can originally have figured in only one story�that would be absurd, as we shall see later fromnbsp;modern examples�but there can be no doubt that, when a hero hasnbsp;acquired great popularity, adventures come to be attributed to him,nbsp;which are either invented or transferred from other heroes. Odysseus,

237 CuChulainn and Beowulf furnish abundant examples, while in Romancesnbsp;of the Arthurian cycle the process is developed ad nauseam. Thenbsp;growth of fiction in this last case is difficult to trace owing to the loss ofnbsp;these stories in their native form ; but with the French poets fiction wasnbsp;doubtless the dominant element from the beginning. Some impressionnbsp;of its working may perhaps be obtained from the story of Merlin andnbsp;Viviane (Niniane). No satisfactory trace of this story is to be found innbsp;native records; and enough is known of Myrddin from early Welshnbsp;poetry and from the Glasgow records (cf. p. 108 ff.) to make it improbablenbsp;that such a story existed in this country. Its origin, apart from the Vitanbsp;Merliniy may perhaps be traced partly to poetry dealing with Gwendyddnbsp;and her enquiries, and partly to the hwimleian or �Inspiration� (personified) which is sometimes mentioned in the Myrddin poems (cf. p. 112).nbsp;The history of the Romances is so obscure that, although we have nonbsp;doubt as to the extensive use of fiction, there is always the possibilitynbsp;that elements of early British tradition may be preserved where they arenbsp;least expected. We have seen (p. 224 f.) that the first part of Yvain and thenbsp;Lady of the Fountain appears to be derived from a folktale or localnbsp;legend. It is quite in accordance with such a derivation that no name isnbsp;given to the lady in the Welsh story. But in Yvain she is once namednbsp;(21 f.)�Laudine de Landuc, daughter of Duke Laudunet. Thesenbsp;names show a curious resemblance to the description of the father ofnbsp;Thaney {Denu^ Thenoi^ etc.), the mother of St Kentigern. In the anonymous Vita Kentegerni dedicated to Bishop Herbert of Glasgow (cf.nbsp;p. 108 f.), cap. I, he is called Leudonus and his kingdom Leudonia. In thenbsp;Genealogies of the Saints he appears as Leudyn Luydauc {Lewddunnbsp;Luyddawg^ etc.) �of the fortress of Eidyn in the NorthIt is to benbsp;remembered that the story of St Kentigern�s birth and the Lady^ oj thenbsp;Fountain both relate to love adventures of the same man�Owein, thenbsp;son of Urien.2 In the narratives themselves there is little enoughnbsp;resemblance, as one might expect�one being hagiology and the othernbsp;romance. But common features are not wanting. In both the lady is

238 UNHISTORICAL ELEMENTS IN STORIES OF unwilling and the man faithless, and in both the meeting is broughtnbsp;about by a woman intermediary. A fountain is mentioned in the Life,nbsp;though it plays no part in the story. On the whole it seems by nonbsp;means impossible that the legend in the Life may have been derived fromnbsp;an earlier form of the story�before the folktale was introduced. Thenbsp;cruel treatment which Thaney suffers in the Life was perhaps originallynbsp;inflicted upon the intermediary, as in the Romance.

We may now briefly summarise the results of our discussion. The � unhistorical elements found in stories of the Heroic Age are of variousnbsp;kinds and make their appearance at different stages in the history of thenbsp;stories. It would be premature to try to formulate any rules as to thenbsp;stages at which they appear until we have considered evidence fromnbsp;countries where heroic stories are found in their infancy. But we havenbsp;seen that certain fictitious elements, such as the introduction of supernatural beings, may be found in contemporary poems, whereas others,nbsp;such as anachronisms and associations of persons who lived in differentnbsp;periods, cannot have come into existence until long after the times of thenbsp;persons concerned. Such associations are characteristic of works whichnbsp;belong to the later stages of heroic stories, e.g. as the medieval Germannbsp;poems, pi�reks Saga of Bern, the Arthurian Romances, and late poemsnbsp;on the voyage of the Argo.

The most characteristic feature of heroic story in this direction is the tendency to attribute exaggerated and even superhuman prowess to thenbsp;hero. There is no reason to doubt that this tendency is present from thenbsp;beginning. But if the hero gains in popularity�which is perhaps duenbsp;in the main to poets�he may come before very long to be creditednbsp;with new exploits, which seem chiefly to be borrowed from folktales andnbsp;stories of earlier heroes, presumably because this was the materialnbsp;most ready to hand. As may be seen from the case of Kraljevi� Marko,nbsp;this process may in course of time be carried to such an extremenbsp;length that a popular hero becomes credited with any exploits whichnbsp;may seem appropriate to him. As examples we may cite the stories ofnbsp;Heracles and some of those relating to Dietrich von Berne. We suspect,nbsp;however, that it is only in communities where heroic story has beennbsp;�� largely cultivated in peasant circles that these extreme cases occur.nbsp;Where it remains in favour with the upper classes the tendency tonbsp;magnify the hero is controlled by interest in the story as a whole�nbsp;which is of course antagonistic to the wholesale use of material sonbsp;essentially detached as folktales. Here we find attention given to the

239 secondary characters, as in the Iliad^ the heroic poems of the Eddanbsp;and sagas of the Ulster cycle ; and at times we meet with new charactersnbsp;and incidents, as in the �Doloneia� and Oddr�nargrdtr, which are unconnected with the chief hero.

We have given more attention in this chapter to heroic than to nonheroic stories, because more evidence is available for the former. We have little doubt, however, that unhistorical elements are more prevalent in the latter.^ The object of the non-heroic poet or saga-tellernbsp;was not so much to entertain as to instruct; and where no genuinenbsp;information was available he had to have recourse to speculation. Heroicnbsp;stories were not excluded from his province, for there can be no doubtnbsp;that he is responsible for heroic poetry and saga of Type C�suchnbsp;works as the Norse Trilogy. But it was not until the fame of a hero hadnbsp;become widespread and all direct remembrance of him had come to annbsp;end that the learned were called upon to provide particulars of his life,nbsp;especially his birth and childhood, which were not already recorded innbsp;poetry or saga. Hence these stories are always secondary and based onnbsp;speculation. No significance need be attached to the fact that the Irishnbsp;�Conception� stories are sometimes preserved in very early texts; fornbsp;there can be no doubt that stories of CuChulainn and Conchobor hadnbsp;been in existence for several centuries before the earliest texts whichnbsp;have come down to us were written. In Ireland, however, as in post-Homeric Greece, the non-heroic saga-teller (poet) tended to encroachnbsp;upon and displace the heroic, as we shall see in a later chapter.

In tracing the growth of fiction in heroic stories perhaps the most dilficult thing to understand is how the hero came to have adventuresnbsp;transferred to him from folktales and other stories. One source of confusion has been noted above (p. 222)�the case where a story is transferrednbsp;from one hero to another of the same name. But this explanation will ofnbsp;course apply only to exceptional cases. An explanation which willnbsp;apply more generally is suggested by a passage in Beowulf (867 ff.),nbsp;which occurs in the description of the rejoicings after Grendel�snbsp;death: �Now one of the king�s squires, a man full of grandiloquent

� Many non-heroic stories are regarded, we believe, by all scholars as essentially unhistorical�though opinions may vary as to whether their origin is to be found innbsp;mythology, folktale or deliberate fiction. Such is the case with the four Mahinogion.nbsp;This view may be correct; at all events there is nothing to prove the contrary. Butnbsp;it is equally possible that the �folklore� elements�we refer in particular to elementsnbsp;common to, for example, Welsh and Irish stories�may be secondary. Few wouldnbsp;have suspected that Mongan was a real person, if his existence had not beennbsp;authenticated by early historical records.

phrases and intent on poetry, who remembered a very great number of stories of the past�(wherein) one expression (or �illustration�?) led tonbsp;another in due sequence�this man in his turn proceeded to describenbsp;Beowulf�s adventure in skilful style, declaiming with success a wellnbsp;constructed narrative, with varied phraseology. He related everythingnbsp;that he had heard told of Sigemund and his deeds of prowess�. Thennbsp;he goes on to speak in general terms of Sigemund�s encounters withnbsp;monsters, ending with a short account of his fight with a dragon.

This passage is of interest as showing that the composition of heroic narrative poems was expected to begin immediately after the eventsnbsp;which they commemorated, just as in modern Serbian. But why isnbsp;Sigemund introducedIn other passages in the poem where charactersnbsp;of the past are introduced, it is for the sake of comparison with the heronbsp;or some other character; and we need not doubt that such is the casenbsp;here. Unfortunately we know the story of Sigemund only in a latenbsp;and probably ill-preserved form�from the J^�lsunga Saga, cap. 3-12.nbsp;But his adventures would seem to belong largely to the supernaturalnbsp;sphere. In Beowulf 883 f. it is said that he and his nephew Fitela hadnbsp;laid low with their swords a vast number of the race of monsters. Henbsp;was therefore by no means an unsuitable character to choose for comparison with Beowulf. In point of fact one incident related in the saga�nbsp;the adventure with the she-wolf in cap. 5�bears a curious resemblancenbsp;to the adventure with Grendel. But apart from all details we wouldnbsp;suggest that the transference of incidents from one story to another�nbsp;or to speak more precisely the transformation of one hero�s adventuresnbsp;on the model of adventures previously recorded of another hero�wasnbsp;materially facilitated by the use of such comparisons.

We have confined our attention in this chapter to unhistorical elements of a positive character. A story may of course be practicallynbsp;unhistorical through its omissions; and it is to be suspected that thisnbsp;is often the case with heroic stories. Attention is concentrated uponnbsp;one or two individuals, while the part played by others may be ignored.nbsp;A good example occurs in the Battle of Mag Rath (cf. p. 53), wherenbsp;Congal Claen and his animosity to the high-king are made responsiblenbsp;for the battle and form the centre of interest throughout. But innbsp;reality^ the leader of the army seems to have been Domnall Brecc, kingnbsp;of the Scottish Dal Riada, who plays but little part in the saga; in thenbsp;shorter version indeed he is not mentioned.

IN poetry belonging to this category four of the Types specified above (pp. 28, 42), viz. A, B, C and D, are represented, while innbsp;saga Types A and C are found. In view of the Greek evidence itnbsp;will be convenient in this case to begin with Type D, which comprisesnbsp;hymns and invocations.

Invocations and prayers to deities occur in the Homeric poems, but as a rule they are quite short. Both poems begin with appeals to the Musenbsp;to sing or tell of what follows. But perhaps the most striking example isnbsp;Achilles� prayer to Zeus in 11. xvi. 233 if. for the success and safe returnnbsp;of Patroclos. Mention may also be made of invocations in oaths, as innbsp;II. HI. 276 ff.

Hesiod�s Wirks and Days begins with an invocation to the Muses to sing of Zeus and the various fortunes which he deals out to mankind.nbsp;The Theogony opens with the sentence, �Let us begin our poem with thenbsp;Muses of Helicon�; and several invocations to the Mus^ occur later.

Such invocations are found regularly also in the Homeric Hymnsan anonymous collection of poems in hexameter metre and in a form ofnbsp;language which is practically identical with that of the Homeric poems.nbsp;These Hymns vary greatly in length. They appear to have beennbsp;composed as introductions to the recitation of epic poetry at festivals;nbsp;and many of them consist of nothing more than an invocation to anbsp;deity, followed by a few lines relating to his attributes, parentage andnbsp;sanctuaries. But in some hymns this introductory matter is followed bynbsp;an account of one or more adventures of the deity, which occasionallynbsp;are described at considerable length.

The Hymns usually begin with some such formula as �I will sing of... or �Sing, O Muse, of... �. The forms of the second person arenbsp;frequently used, especially in the shorter Hymns, in both verbs andnbsp;pronouns referring to the deity to whom the hymn is addressed. But

I The original name for these Hymns was irpooiuiov, which may mean either �introduction� or �invocation� (followed by the name of a deity in the genitive).nbsp;It is disputed whether this term denoted properly the whole poem or only the invocation at the beginning. Thucydides (in. 104) uses it in the former sense, innbsp;reference to Hymn I�, but we are inclined to think that the latter was the originalnbsp;meaning (cf. p. 244 f., below).

in the narratives the third person is more usual. The Hymns often conclude with a brief prayer for blessings from the deity, which isnbsp;followed by some formula such as �Having begun with thee I will passnbsp;on to another lay�, or �I will remember thee and another poem��nbsp;which seems to have the same meaning. The narratives, which occupynbsp;the greater part of the longer Hymns, will be noticed below.

Invocations occur rather frequently in fragments of early lyric and elegiac poems. Sometimes they appear to be the beginnings of hymns,nbsp;as in Terpandros, fragm. i: �O Zeus, beginning of all, leader of all�.nbsp;But poems of other kinds may begin with an invocation of the Muses.nbsp;We may instance Solon�s gnomic poem (fragm. 40): �Ye Muses ofnbsp;Pieria, glorious children of Mnemosyne and Olympian Zeus, hear mynbsp;prayer! Grant me prosperity from the blessed gods�, etc. The mostnbsp;famous example, however, is the poem�a prayer rather than a hymn�nbsp;in which Sappho (fragm. i) appeals to Aphrodite to help her in hernbsp;distress. Other fragments of her poems contain invocations of Hera, thenbsp;Charites, the Nereids and other goddesses, as well as Aphrodite. Thenbsp;poems seem to have been of a personal and emotional character,nbsp;mythology apparently being more or less disregarded.

Very little early Norse poetry of this type has been preserved. There are poems composed in honour of deities, such as the Th�rsdrapa ofnbsp;Eilifr GuSrunarson; but they take the form of narratives in the thirdnbsp;person, as in some of the Edda poems, which we shall have to considernbsp;shortly. Poems containing invocations and addresses to deities�in thenbsp;second person�were certainly composed in heathen times, but onlynbsp;one or two very short fragments of such poems have survived.^ Somenbsp;idea as to their character may perhaps be obtained from the opening ofnbsp;the Hyndlulj��, where Freyja goes to visit the giantess Hyndla; but thenbsp;poem itself belongs, in its framework, to Type B. Freyja asks thenbsp;giantess to accompany her to the sanctuary of Valh�ll, and then proceeds: �Let us beseech the Father of Hosts to keep us in his favour. Henbsp;gives rewards and gifts to his followers. He gave to Herm�Sr a helmetnbsp;and coat of mail�, etc.

Invocations sometimes occur in oaths, as in the solemn oath which according to the heathen law of Iceland was to be sworn upon thenbsp;sacred bracelet: �May Frey and Nj�rSr and the all-powerful god (Thor)

� By the poets VetrliSi and Thorbj�rn Di'sarskald. The fragments, which celebrate Thor�s deeds in the second person (�Thou didst�, etc.), are preserved in the Skaldskaparm�l, cap. 4. They are published also, with translation, by Vigfussonnbsp;and Powell, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, II. 27.

POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES 243 help me, provided that�, etc/ As an example of imprecations we maynbsp;quote from Egils Saga Skallagrlmssonar, cap. 56 (ad fin.) a stanzanbsp;which Egill is said to have uttered against Eric Blood-Axe, king ofnbsp;Norway (930-935). The king�s men had broken up a court which wasnbsp;listening with evident favour to a claim made by Egill to certain property. �May Othin and the deities be wroth ! May the Powers drive thenbsp;king from his territories�thus may the gods requite him for despoilingnbsp;me of my property. O god of the land ! make the tyrant to fly from thenbsp;country. May Frey and Nj�rSr be estranged from the public foe, whonbsp;violates sanctuaries!� The last words refer to the sanctity of the law-courts.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;7

Among the Christian peoples, the English, Welsh and Irish, practically nothing of this kind has been preserved except in spells, which willnbsp;be noticed later. An Anglo-Saxon spell for the fertilisation of thenbsp;fields� contains an invocation to �Erce, Mother of Earth�. This expression may well be equivalent to �Mother Earth�; but the name Erce isnbsp;unknown elsewhere.

We have seen that gods are very frequently introduced in the Homeric poems. Sometimes the scene is laid among the gods themselvesnbsp;on Mt Olympos or elsewhere; sometimes gods are represented asnbsp;visiting men in disguise. With one exception all these scenes are connected with the main themes of the poems�the siege of Troy and thenbsp;wanderings of Odysseus�and are incidental to the general course ofnbsp;the narratives, although allusion is made not unfrequently to the domesticnbsp;life of the gods themselves, their loves and quarrels.

The exceptional case is the story recited by the minstrel Demodocos in the account of Odysseus� visit to the Phaeacians (Olt;/. viii. 266 if.).nbsp;The subject of the story is the clandestine visit paid by Ares to Aphrodite during the absence of her husband Hephaistos, the stratagem bynbsp;which the latter contrives to entrap the guilty pair, and the glee withnbsp;which he calls Poseidon, Apollo and Hermes in to view the spectacle.

Other stories of the gods occur, as we have seen, in the Homeric Hymns. In certain cases these stories are connected with the foundationnbsp;of sanctuaries, presumably the sanctuaries at which the recitations werenbsp;given. Thus Hymn I describes the birth of Apollo at Delos and seems

. Publ. in Grein-W�lcker, Bibliothek d. ags. Poesie, i. 314 f. ; Wyatt, Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 129.

244 POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES clearly to have been designed for recitation at festivals in that island.nbsp;Hymn II describes the establishment of the priesthood at Delphoi, andnbsp;may well have been designed for use there. Hymn V recounts thenbsp;wanderings and the sorrows of Demeter, when she had lost her daughternbsp;Persephone, and concludes with her injunctions for the institution of thenbsp;Mysteries at Eleusis. It is clearly connected with that festival. All thesenbsp;are to be taken as examples of Type C, or perhaps DC.� They arenbsp;intended for instruction at least as much as for entertainment; and theirnbsp;connection with the festival or sanctuary is no doubt primary.

There are other Hymns, however, which likewise appear to have been recited at festivals, if we may judge from the opening and concluding sentences, but which betray no sign of a local origin. Such arenbsp;Hymn III (to Hermes) and Hymn IV (to Aphrodite). The formernbsp;relates briefly the birth of Hermes and how, as a new-born child, henbsp;killed a tortoise and made the first lyre out of its shell. Then it describesnbsp;at length how he stole Apollo�s cattle, how Apollo tracked him to hisnbsp;cradle, how he denied the theft, and finally appeased Apollo�s wrath bynbsp;producing the lyre. Hymn IV, after a short account of Aphrodite�snbsp;attributes, relates how she appeared before Anchises, declaring herselfnbsp;to be the daughter of a Phrygian king. They retire to bed together, andnbsp;Anchises falls asleep. Then she awakens him and manifests her divinenbsp;nature ; and declares how in course of time he will find their son Aineias.

The didactic element is not wholly wanting in these poems. In No. Ill it may be seen in the references to the lyre, while in No. IV itnbsp;is obvious enough, at least in the introductory part. But in neithernbsp;case is it the main interest of the poem. The primary object of both isnbsp;to provide entertainment. Hymn III, which is near akin to comedy,nbsp;belongs properly to Type A, apart from the opening lines. Hymn IVnbsp;contains very little action. It is rather a poem of situation and approaches more nearly to Type B than any other piece of early Greeknbsp;poetry. We may classify it under AB or BA.

These Hymns seem to us to be�to some extent�of composite origin. The opening and closing lines may be regarded as detachable.nbsp;Thus the beginning of Hymn III (1-9) is a mere variant of Hymnnbsp;XVIII,^ which contains nothing more, except the closing formula. It

� Hymn I largely preserves the form of a hymn (in the modem sense)�address alternating with narrative. The same is true of the opening portion of Hymn II.

� As to the precise relationship between the two Hymns we are not prepared to speculate. Reference may also be made to Hymn XXV, as compared with Hesiod,nbsp;Theog. 94 ff. The influence of one poem upon another is always to be taken intonbsp;account. But we believe the principle, as stated above, to be correct.

would appear that there were certain recognised formulae appropriate to the festivals�or perhaps to the praise generally�of certain deities.nbsp;The shorter Hymns consist merely of these formulae, whereas in thenbsp;longer ones they are prefixed and appended to the recitations. Thenbsp;recitations themselves are not all of the same origin. The didacticnbsp;Hymns, I, II and V, were evidently composed for use at festivals, butnbsp;Hymns like III and IV are, we think, taken from a different source.nbsp;From Od. I. 337 f. and viii. 266 ff. it is clear that in early times stories ofnbsp;deities were included in the repertoire of minstrels for entertainment onnbsp;secular occasions; and we see no reason for doubting that these Hymnsnbsp;were derived from the same milieu as the heroic stories, which alsonbsp;came to be recited at religious festivals. They may have been modifiednbsp;to a certain extent, to fit them for such use. This is suggested by thenbsp;slightly didactic tone of certain passages, as noticed above. But it isnbsp;evident, not only from a comparison of Hymns III and XVIII, but alsonbsp;from Hymn I, 146 ff., as compared with the parallel text given bynbsp;Thucydides iii. 104, that such poems as these were not preserved by anbsp;strictly verbal tradition. This is a point which will require notice in anbsp;later chapter.

The scenes which are laid among the gods in the Homeric poems not unfrequently contain allusions to incidents which may have formed thenbsp;subjects of narrative poems in early times. Some of the stories alsonbsp;which are found only in later works may have had a similar origin. Atnbsp;all events there is no reason for supposing that the stories of the godsnbsp;which were known to minstrels like Phemios and Demodocos werenbsp;limited to a small number.

Stories of the gods, whether in the Hymns or the Odyssey, are told in much the same form as heroic stories and like them are interspersednbsp;with frequent speeches. But there is a remarkable difference in tone,nbsp;which shows itself also in the scenes which are laid among the gods,nbsp;both in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Princes are never treated otherwisenbsp;than with respect by the poets, even when their arrogance forfeits ournbsp;sympathy. But gods, though they are assumed to be more powerfulnbsp;than princes, are often treated with familiarity, and sometimes made tonbsp;behave in a rude, unseemly or contemptible way. Their appearance andnbsp;their dwellings are said to be of greater splendour than would benbsp;found among mankind; but actually their standard of life is on a lowernbsp;plane than that of princes. The pictures given of them, especially in thenbsp;Iliad, are decidedly human�more true to life, we may suspect, thannbsp;those of the heroes; but it is not the life of the highest class. Their

246 POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES behaviour frequently gives the impression of boorishness and occasionally even of brutality. Nothing could be more unseemly than thenbsp;story of Ares and Aphrodite�not merely the conduct of the principalsnbsp;themselves, including Hephaistos, but perhaps even more the mirthnbsp;with which the incident is treated by the other gods present. In thenbsp;Iliad Ares is little better than a brutal rough, while Aphrodite is morenbsp;than once made to cut a poor figure. And these are not the onlynbsp;deities who are treated with disrespect. In II. xxi. 489 ff. Artemis isnbsp;held up to ridicule without apparent reason. And the daily relations ofnbsp;the chief god Zeus himself with his wife Hera are depicted in a waynbsp;which is lifelike enough, but which in modern literature is generallynbsp;reserved for more or less humorous sketches of bourgeois life.

We have taken our examples chiefly from the Iliad, where the material is most abundant. But the treatment of the gods in Hymn IIInbsp;is just as familiar, though more playful. The crude sense of humournbsp;with which the gods are credited may be illustrated from 294 if., whichnbsp;is not very remote from Od. viii. 325 ff.or/Z. i. 599f. or xxi. 388 ff.,andnbsp;is indeed such as might be expected from the boisterous and rather ill-bred family depicted in these passages. But the tone of the Hymnsnbsp;which belong to Type C, Nos. I, II and V, is quite different. Thenbsp;treatment of the gods here is reverential.

The note of familiarity is wanting also in Hymn IV. Aphrodite here is not made contemptible, though she deceives her lover. The treatment isnbsp;parallel to what we find in the Iliad and Odyssey, when the scene is laidnbsp;not among the gods themselves but between a deity and one or morenbsp;mortals. In such cases the deities are usually treated with respect, notnbsp;with familiarity or ridicule ; but their dealings with heroes are characterised by extreme partiality or spitefulness. In the Iliad, when they interfere in the action, their conduct frequently strikes us as unfair. Notablenbsp;instances may be found in the accounts of the deaths of Patroclos andnbsp;Hector. In the Odyssey the vicissitudes in the hero�s fortunes are largelynbsp;governed by the spite felt towards him by Poseidon and the favournbsp;shown him by Athena.

Types A, B and C are all fairly well represented in Norse poetry relating to the gods, especially in the anonymous Edda collectionnbsp;(cf. p. 19). It will be convenient, however, to reserve for discussion innbsp;the next chapter a number of poems of essentially antiquarian interest,nbsp;which properly belong to Type C. Among these we include thenbsp;V''iluspd, �afpr�hnismdl and Grimnismdl, which in subject-matter are

somewhat parallel to Hesiod�s Theogony, the Hyndlulj�� which has much in common with the Hesiodic Catalogue, and the Alvissmal andnbsp;Rigspula^ which have no close parallels in early Greek poetry. In formnbsp;the first five of these poems consist of speeches in character; and theynbsp;may therefore be classed as CB. The Rigspula, which will requirenbsp;notice in Ch. xiii, may be classed as CA, though it is descriptive,nbsp;rather than narrative, in form.

Of the poems which remain we will take first the small narrative group (Type A). In the Hymiskvi�a the giant Aegir, who is entertainingnbsp;the gods, requests Thor to bring him a cauldron big enough for thenbsp;feast. T�r tells him that his father, the giant Hymir, has such a cauldron,nbsp;and they go to seek it. Thor eats two of the giant�s oxen for supper.nbsp;Then they go fishing, and Thor hooks the MiSgarSsormr (the �Worldserpent�), while Hymir is catching whales. Afterwards Thor breaks anbsp;stone jar on the giant�s head, and eventually succeeds in carrying off thenbsp;cauldron.

In the Thrymskvi�a the giant Thrymr has stolen Thor�s hammer, without which the gods are defenceless. Loki borrows Freyja�snbsp;� feather-form�,! and flies off to look for it. He finds that Thrymr hasnbsp;got it; but the giant refuses to give it up, unless he obtains Freyja innbsp;marriage. Freyja indignantly refuses; and, at the suggestion of Heim-dallr, Thor himself, in spite of his protests, is dressed up in her clothesnbsp;and sent off as a bride to Thrymr�s home. Loki accompanies him,nbsp;dressed as a handmaid; and a great feast is prepared by the giants fornbsp;their welcome. Thrymr is rather taken aback by the bride�s appetite andnbsp;by the look in her eyes when he lifts the veil to kiss her; but Loki isnbsp;ready with a satisfactory explanation, that Freyja has been unable tonbsp;eat or sleep, owing to her passionate eagerness for the marriage. Thennbsp;the hammer is brought in for the marriage ceremony, and laid on thenbsp;bride�s knees. As soon as Thor gets hold of it he makes short work ofnbsp;the giants. This poem is a masterpiece of light comedy.

The Vegtamskvida (or � Balder�s Dreams�) is a short poem, beginning with the anxiety felt by the gods at the ill-boding dreams with whichnbsp;Balder was troubled. Othin rides off to Hell, to the grave of a witch,nbsp;whom he rouses by a necromantic spell. She foretells to him the deathnbsp;of Balder and the birth of a child (Vali) to Othin, who will avenge him.nbsp;Othin calls himself Vegtamr, but she discovers his identity at the close

* We do not know how to translate the word hamr, which means a change, not merely of dress, but of shape�into an animal or bird. In this case Loki is probablynbsp;turned into a falcon.

of the poem. Some scholars have doubted the antiquity of this poem, but hardly on sufficient grounds. It presupposes a version of the storynbsp;of Balder different from what is found in the Prose Edda.

The three poems just noticed are all in the uniform line metre {Fornyrbislag}.^ which is used in the majority of the heroic poems (cf.nbsp;p. 29 f.) and identical in origin with Anglo-Saxon metre, except that it isnbsp;stanzaic. The following poems, except the Hdrbarbslj�b, are in a differentnbsp;metre {Lj�bahdttr}^ in which long and short lines alternate, as in thenbsp;Greek elegiac. The metre of the Hdrbarbslj�b is irregular, prevailinglynbsp;Mdlahdttr (cf. p. 29 f.). All these poems belong to Type B and consistnbsp;wholly of speeches, though the text adds a few explanatory sentences innbsp;prose.

In the Skirnismdl Frey�s parents notice that he is in distress and send his page Skfrnir to find out what is wrong. Frey replies that he has lostnbsp;his heart at sight of the beauty of GerSr, daughter of the giant Gymir ;nbsp;and he promises to give Skfrnir his marvellous horse and sword if henbsp;can get her for him. After a speech to his horse, Skfrnir next appearsnbsp;before Gymir�s house. He finds GerSr and offers her priceless treasuresnbsp;if she will grant Frey his desire; but GerSr, whose brother has beennbsp;killed by Frey, refuses the offers. Then he threatens to cut off her head;nbsp;but she still holds out, saying that Gymir will be ready to encounternbsp;him. Finally, Skfrnir pronounces against her a long and elaborate spellnbsp;or curse, which we shall have to notice in a later chapter. At the ghastlynbsp;prospect described in the spell GerSr gives way; and Skfrnir then exactsnbsp;from her a promise to meet Frey in a certain grove. As a work of art�nbsp;especially in the way it leads up to a climax�this poem is not inferiornbsp;to the Thrymskviba.

In the Lokasenna (�Loki�s Abusive Speeches�) the gods are feasting in Aegir�s hall, when Loki arrives and demands a place. He enters into annbsp;angry altercation with the various gods and goddesses, charging themnbsp;all in turn with disgraceful acts or humiliating experiences. At lengthnbsp;Thor arrives, whereupon Loki, after reviling him and cursing Aegir,nbsp;retires in fear for his life. This poem and the next are not without anbsp;certain didactic�or rather informative�element.

quot;Wx^Hdrbarbslj�b consists of a dialogue between Thor and a ferryman called HarbarSr (�Greybeard�), who appears to be Othin in disguise.nbsp;Thor wants to be ferried across a strait; but the ferryman after a longnbsp;altercation refuses to take him. Each of them in turn prides himself onnbsp;his achievements�Thor on his victorious encounters with giants, andnbsp;the other on his gallantries and successes in witchcraft. This poem has

POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES 249 something in common with the last, but the dialogue is much lessnbsp;virulent�more raillery than abuse.

The H�vam�l'^ as a whole does not come in for consideration here; for, although Othin is the speaker throughout, the matter is essentiallynbsp;gnomic, and as such will require consideration in Ch. xii. Properlynbsp;speaking the poem consists of two gnomic collections, st. i-iio andnbsp;st. Ill to the end, the connection between which is very slight. Thenbsp;only portions which interest us here are the accounts of certain experiences of the speaker, which are introduced at the end of the firstnbsp;part and in the course of the second.

The first passage is introduced as an illustration of the maxim (st. 94) that love turns wise men into fools. He became passionatelynbsp;enamoured of a �daughter of Billingr�, whose name is not given. Thenbsp;young lady invited him to visit her alone in the dark; but each time henbsp;made the attempt he found people with torches or savage dogs ready fornbsp;him�and he had to retire humiliated.

The next passage illustrates the advantages to be gained by cultivating the art of fluent and persuasive speaking (st. 103). The incident here introduced was very famous�how Othin acquired �Srerir, thenbsp;mead of poetic inspiration. Probably no story in Norse mythology isnbsp;more frequently alluded to by the poets. The mead had come into thenbsp;possession of the giant Suttungr, who had committed it to the chargenbsp;of his daughter Gunnl�S. �I have visited the old giant and have justnbsp;come back. It was not by silence I succeeded there. Many a speech didnbsp;I utter to my advantage in the halls of Suttungr. Gunnl�� on hernbsp;golden throne gave me a draught of the precious mead. It was a poornbsp;recompense I made to her for her true feelings and for her anxiousnbsp;heart.... Clever people generally succeed. I got beauty at a goodnbsp;bargain and made good use of it, for �Srerir has now arrived at thenbsp;abodes of men. (But) I doubt whether I should have come back fromnbsp;the courts of the giants, if I had not made use of Gunnl�S, the goodnbsp;lady whom I took in my arms. The Frost-giants set off next day tonbsp;seek the counsel of the High One in the hall of the High One. Theynbsp;enquired after B�lverkr^�whether he had made his way to thenbsp;gods, or whether Suttungr had slain him. I expect Othin swore a solemn

I Cf. The H�vam�ly ed. and transi, by D. E. Martin Clarke, especially pp. 66 f., 68 ff-, 78 ff.

The name assumed by Othin on his visit to Suttungr. Havi, �the High One�, is also a name�probably a ritual name�of Othin, whence the poem takes itsnbsp;name.

2JO POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES oath.� How can his word be trusted'' He managed to defraud Suttungrnbsp;of his mead, and left Gunnl�S in tears.� In the Skaldskaparmdl^ cap. i,nbsp;where this story is told in a somewhat different form, Othin, afternbsp;drinking the mead, flies off in the form of an eagle. Suttungr pursuesnbsp;him, also in the form of an eagle, but fails to catch him.

The sardonic humour of these passages is to be taken in connection with the fact that the gnomic collection to which they are appended hasnbsp;largely been converted into an instrument of entertainment, as we shallnbsp;see in Ch. xii. In the second collection, beginning at st. in, no suchnbsp;change has taken place; the gnomes are to be understood seriously.nbsp;After these gnomes comes a passage (st. 138) which transports us intonbsp;an atmosphere very different from that of the stories noticed above.nbsp;�I know that I hung for nine long days on Vingi�s tree, pierced by anbsp;spear and given to Othin, myself to myself�on a tree of which no onenbsp;knows from the roots of what (tree) it springs. They revived me neithernbsp;with bread nor with drink. I peered downwards. I took up runes;nbsp;screaming I took them. Thereupon I fell back.� This passage is obscurenbsp;not only in various details,^ but even in its general application. Is it anbsp;sacrifice of the god which is described, or merely a kind of initiationnbsp;ceremony ?3 The latter interpretation seems to be favoured by thenbsp;following verses, which relate that the speaker now began to progress innbsp;knowledge and eloquence. But in any case there can be no doubt thatnbsp;the passage is to be taken seriously; and most probably it has somenbsp;ritual significance. Perhaps therefore it should be regarded as annbsp;example of Type C (CB), rather than of Type B.

Apart from the Edda tbe chief early poem dealing with stories of the gods is the Haustl�ngYty Thj��olfr of Hvi'n (about 900), which describesnbsp;the adventures of Othin and other gods with the giant Thjazi, thenbsp;abduction by Thjazi of the goddess iSunn with the apples of rejuve-

* Lit. �oath on the (sacred) bracelet�, the most solemn oath known in the North in heathen times. It is not quite clear who is the speaker here. We are inclined tonbsp;think it is still Othin himself; but it may be a reflection by the poet.

POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES 2$! nescence, and Thor�s fight with the giant Hrungnir. The subjects arenbsp;taken from pictures on a shield. Mention must also be made of thenbsp;Thorsdrapa by Eih'fr GuSriinarson�about three quarters of a centurynbsp;later�which describes Thor�s visit to the giant Geirr�Sr. Both thesenbsp;poems are in the DT�ttkvaett metre ; but neither of them is preservednbsp;complete. Many other short fragments of poetry contain allusions tonbsp;stories of the gods.

The largest collection, however, of these stories is to be found in the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241). They are derived in partnbsp;from the poems which we have discussed above, including those ofnbsp;Thj��olfr and Eih'fr, while others are evidently based on poems ofnbsp;which little or nothing remains. Some stories of the gods are alsonbsp;preserved in the Ynglinga Saga and other prose works. We may refernbsp;to the story which serves as an introduction to the Grimnismdl (cf.nbsp;p. 119). Other stories of this kind have been incorporated by Saxo innbsp;his Danish History.

Now if the Norse evidence as a whole be compared with the Greek, it will be seen that here, as there, examples of a serious and indeed reverential attitude to deities are not wanting. Such is the case in the lastnbsp;passage from the Hdvamdl (st. 138 f.) quoted above, and generally innbsp;the antiquarian poems which will be noticed in the next chapter. Innbsp;the Hyridluljob, st. 10, Freyja prides herself on the devotion of �ttarr.nbsp;In sagas this attitude is much more frequently in evidence. We maynbsp;instance the devotion of Th�rolfr of Mostr to Thor in the Eyrbyggjanbsp;Saga, that of Hrafnkell to Frey in Hrafrkels Saga, and above all that ofnbsp;Earl Haakon the Great to ThorgerSr H�lgabruSr. In various storiesnbsp;devotion to Othin is represented as taking a fanatical form. But thenbsp;prevailing attitude towards the gods in most of the poems which wenbsp;have been considering is quite as familiar as that of the Homeric poems. 7nbsp;The tone of the Thrymskv�a is playful, that of the Lokasenna scurrilousnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;J'

Again, the representation of the life of the gods bears a somewhat striking resemblance to its Greek counterpart. It is assumed in bothnbsp;cases that the gods are greater and more powerful than men ; and in thenbsp;Norse poems there are passages which speak of their abodes as splendidnbsp;and ablaze with gold. But the general impression given by the poemsnbsp;suggests the picture of a farmer�s household rather than that of a king.nbsp;In intelligence and morals they are often inferior to men. Thor is well-meaning but stupid and blustering, a heavy eater, flying into furynbsp;without provocation, and quite helpless when deprived of his hammer.

Othin is a still less attractive character, priding himself on his skill in amorous adventures�generally discreditable�trusting entirely tonbsp;cunning and magic, and yet obliged to have recourse to the help ofnbsp;witches. Frey is represented as hopelessly love-sick, while his sister,nbsp;Freyja, is very similar to the Homeric Aphrodite. If we are to creditnbsp;the Lokasenna, not one of the chief goddesses has a stainless reputation.

The relations of the gods with one another and with mankind are much the same as in Greek. The marriage of Nj�rSr and SkaSi is nonbsp;great success�in fact they are a discontented couple. The relations ofnbsp;Othin and Frigg seem to be not unlike those of Zeus and Hera. In thenbsp;introduction to the Grimnismdl (cf. p. 119) Frigg by a mean tricknbsp;contrives to get her husband into a very painful situation. The characternbsp;of Othin himself in relation to the other deities is hardly more distinctivenbsp;than that of Zeus, though he is perhaps even more uxorious. Towardsnbsp;human beings, however, even those who have been his votaries andnbsp;prot�g�s, he is often cruel, treacherous and vindictive.^

It is of course to be remembered (cf. p. 75) that Norse heroic poetry does not show the standard of decorum which is observed innbsp;Greek and Anglo-Saxon. Ugly and barbaric incidents are not verynbsp;rare. Yet on the whole the life and conduct of the heroes even here arenbsp;on a higher plane than what we find in the stories of the gods.

As regards features in which the Norse stories differ from the Greek, the most distinctive figure in the former is Loki. He is not of divinenbsp;parentage, but he is usually associated with the gods. He is clever andnbsp;amusing, but also malicious. Sometimes he is able to get the gods outnbsp;of difficulties by his superior cunning. But at other times he worksnbsp;irremediable mischief; and in the end he helps to bring about theirnbsp;destruction.

Another feature which distinguishes the Norse gods in general is their helplessness. An illustration of this has been seen in the case ofnbsp;Frey in the Skirnismdl. But it is in their relations with the giants thatnbsp;this feature is most noticeable. Situations frequently arise in which thenbsp;gods are all but overcome by their adversaries; and they have to looknbsp;forward in the future to a disastrous encounter, in which all the leadingnbsp;gods will perish. The Greek gods are more fortunate ; all their demonicnbsp;adversaries have been crushed. It may be remarked that these latternbsp;seem to differ from the gods more than their Norse counterparts.

* These characteristics are due in part to the fact that he is the god of the dead� those slain in battle�as well as the giver of victory (cf. Chadwick, Cult of Othin,nbsp;p. 7 ff.).

POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES 253 Indeed the distinction between god and giant is not very easy to definenbsp;in Norse, apart from a kind of �political� organisation. Several leadingnbsp;members of the Norse pantheon, including T�r, Loki and SkaSi, arenbsp;giants by parentage. There are, indeed, certain theriomorphic giants, thenbsp;MiSgarSsormr and the Fenrisulfr, said to be children of Loki, who playnbsp;a great part in the final overthrow of the gods ; but they do not figurenbsp;much in other stories.

The chief difference, however, between the Greek and the Norse pantheons is one which hardly affects stories of the kind which we havenbsp;mainly been considering. The homes of the Greek gods are real places.nbsp;Collectively their home is on Mount Olympos in Thessaly; individuallynbsp;they possess homes in various parts of the Greek world�where theynbsp;had sanctuaries. On the other hand AsgarSr, the collective home of thenbsp;Norse gods, is evidently an imaginary place, and the same appears to benbsp;true of the homes of the individual gods, named in the Grimnismdl andnbsp;elsewhere. Such also is the case with Yggdrasill�s Ash, the Tree of Fate,nbsp;to which the gods ride for the purpose of holding their meetings, andnbsp;which plays a great part in their life. In one or two passages it is evennbsp;represented as comprehending the whole world; but these are exceptional.

This difference seems to explain why we have no Norse poems parallel to the Hymns to Apollo of Delos and Apollo of Delphoi, or tonbsp;the Hymn to Demeter, which is bound up with Eleusis. Yet we doubt ifnbsp;the difference in this respect is really fundamental. It is clear from sagasnbsp;and other early records that Frey was intimately connected with thenbsp;Swedish national sanctuary at Upsala, which was believed to have beennbsp;founded by him. In the same way the goddess Gefjon was probablynbsp;connected with the island of Sj�lland; according to a fragment of thenbsp;very early poet Bragi Boddason she had created it with her plough.nbsp;Associations of other deities with various localities may be inferred fromnbsp;place-names and other evidence. We suspect therefore that the absence

I The Norse J�tnar�for which �giants� is a time-honoured but entirely unsatisfactory translation�are mostly anthropomorphic beings, differing little from the gods, though they were not worshipped. They live in different communities,nbsp;usually hostile to the gods. Frequently, but not always, they are represented asnbsp;backward in civilisation and ferocious. But several of the gods have wives fromnbsp;them. It would seem as if Thrymr was a kind of counterpart of Thor, for his name isnbsp;probably to be connected with pruma, �clap of thunder�. In Ever su Noregr Bygdistnbsp;(cf. p. 306 f.) the ancestry of the family of GuSbrandr of Gu�brandsdalir is traced to anbsp;daughter of Thrymr. They were great highland chiefs and probably the most important worshippers of Thor in Norway.

of local associations of the gods in the Edda poems is due to some secondary cause. The fact that our texts come exclusively from Iceland�nbsp;far from the ancient sanctuaries�must be taken into account. On thenbsp;other hand we are not inclined to deny that the imaginary localities,nbsp;such as �sgarSr and Valh�ll, may have had a rather long history; andnbsp;the existence of such conceptions may be regarded as an importantnbsp;difference between Norse and Greek mythology.

Among the other Teutonic peoples references to mythology have rarely been preserved, though it is clear from the names of the days ofnbsp;the week and various other items of evidence that a number of thenbsp;same deities were known. An obscure Anglo-Saxon spell� speaks ofnbsp;Woden�s'skill in magic, while a German spell� relates how he cured bynbsp;his spells a horse which had put its leg out of joint. The latter spellnbsp;mentions also the names of several goddesses.

But the only story which is worth noticing here is one which is contained in the Origo G ends Langobardorum, an anonymous tractnbsp;dating from the latter part of the seventh century.3 According to thisnbsp;story the Lombards came originally from Scandinavia and were callednbsp;Winniles. Soon after their emigration they came into conflict with thenbsp;Vandals. The object of the story is to explain how they acquired thenbsp;name Langobardi, which is interpreted as �Long-beards�. Ambri andnbsp;Assi, the leaders of the Vandals, asked Wodan (fiodan) to give themnbsp;victory over the Winniles. Wodan replied, saying: �Whomsoever Inbsp;shall first look upon, when the sun rises, to them will I give victory�.nbsp;Then Gambara with her two sons Ibor and Aio, who were chiefs overnbsp;the Winniles, asked Pria {Fred), the wife of Wodan, to be gracious to thenbsp;Winniles. Pria then gave counsel that the Winniles should come whennbsp;the sun rose, and that their women should let down their hair about theirnbsp;faces after the fashion of a beard and should come with their husbands.nbsp;Then, as it was becoming light, while the sun was rising. Pria turned thenbsp;bed on which Wodan lay and put his face to the east and wakened him.nbsp;And he looked and saw the Winniles and their women with their hairnbsp;let down about their faces, and said: �Who are those long-beards�.^nbsp;And Pria said to Wodan: �As thou hast given them a name, give themnbsp;also victory�. And he gave them victory, etc. The relations between

� Publ. in Braune, Althochdeutsches Lesebuch (p. 81), and various other works. � Pertz, Mon. Germ., Script. Rerum Langobard, p. zf.; cf. Paulus Diaconus,nbsp;Hist. Lang. I. 8.

Wodan and Fria (i.e. Othin and Frigg) here are evidently much the same as in the introduction to the Grimnismdl.

Several Irish stories in which gods figure were noticed in the last chapter. We have now to consider stories which are wholly or mainlynbsp;concerned with deities. It may be observed here that the word �god�nbsp;{dia) is hardly ever applied to these beings. The usual term is side (pl.),nbsp;which may be translated � elves � (from sid^ � elf-hill � shee-mound �). Butnbsp;there is no doubt that they were the gods of heathen times.

The stories are preserved in the form of saga, just like heroic stories, and sometimes they are closely connected with these. They contain anbsp;number of speech-poems (Type B). Poetry of Type C also is notnbsp;uncommon; but most, if not all, of it seems to date from the period ofnbsp;written literature, and falls therefore outside our province. Traces ofnbsp;various lost stories are preserved in the Dinnsenchas�collections ofnbsp;speculations upon place-names, which we shall have to notice in thenbsp;next chapter.

The Vision of Aengus'^ relates how Aengus, also called Mac Oc (�Young Boy�), dreams every night that he sees a fair maiden unknownnbsp;to him. From love of her he falls ill, but the cause of his malady remains a secret until he confesses it to a famous doctor, who has made anbsp;correct diagnosis. The doctor then summons Aengus� mother Boann,nbsp;who sends in all directions to search for the girl�but without success.nbsp;He next summons the Dagda, Aengus� father, who applies for help tonbsp;Bodb, king of the elves of Munster. The latter discovers that the girl isnbsp;Caer, daughter of Ethal Anbuail, an elf-chief in Connaught. The Dagdanbsp;now applies for help to Ailill and Medb. Ailill replies that he has nonbsp;authority over Ethal, but at the Dagda�s request sends his steward tonbsp;summon him. Ethal refuses to obey; and then the combined forces ofnbsp;Ailill and the Dagda capture the elf-hill and its owner, and kill sixty ofnbsp;his men. Caer is not found there; but Ethal, when Ailill threatens tonbsp;kill him, declares that at Samuin� she will be at Loch Bel Dracon (innbsp;Co. Tipperary) with her girl attendants in the form of swans. Aengus isnbsp;brought to the lake, and calls to her to come to him in her human form.nbsp;She consents on condition that she is allowed to return to the lake. Thennbsp;they both assume the form of swans and sleep together; after which they

' Ed. and transi, by M�ller, Rev. Celt. iii. 344 IT. ; cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 300 ff.

256 POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES fly over the lake�to fulfil the promise�and then to Aengus� home atnbsp;Brug na Boinne, where Caer remains.

The Courtship of Etain^ consists of a rather long and loosely connected series of adventures. Properly speaking, there are three � Courtships of Etainone in her first life and two in her second, while the introduction to the first of them is not concerned with her at all, butnbsp;with the birth of Aengus (Mac Oc). The beginning of the story is asnbsp;follows: The Dagda is enamoured of Boann, wife of the elf (�shee�)nbsp;Elcmar. In order to gratify his desire, he sends Elcmar on a mission tonbsp;Bres mac Elathan in Lecale (Co. Down) and contrives by variousnbsp;artifices to get him detained there for a considerable time. Meanwhilenbsp;Boann bears a son, and recovers before her husband�s return. Thenbsp;child, Aengus, is brought up by the shee Midir of Bri Leith, in ignorancenbsp;of his parentage. But in course of time Midir takes him to the Dagda,nbsp;who acknowledges him, and asks him to provide him with a home.nbsp;The Dagda advises him to get possession of Brug na Boinne�the greatnbsp;prehistoric cemetery north of the Boyne, between Slane and Drogheda�nbsp;which belonged to Elcmar. Following the Dagda�s instructions,nbsp;Aengus surprises Elcmar in the � hill of the Brug� (perhaps New Grange),nbsp;to which he has come unarmed at the festival of Samuin. To save hisnbsp;life Elcmar has to promise to give the Brug to Aengus for � (a) day andnbsp;(a) night � ; but Aengus refuses to restore it on the ground that � day andnbsp;night� means �for ever�. The matter is referred to the Dagda, whonbsp;decides in favour of Aengus.

At this point the text is damaged, but it appears that both Midir and Aengus were suitors for Etain Echraide, daughter of a certainnbsp;Ailill, and that a quarrel had taken place between them. She becomesnbsp;Midir�s wife, but is bewitched by another wife named Fuamnach, out ofnbsp;jealousy, and reduced to such a state that she is blown away by a puff ofnbsp;wind. Then she is found by Aengus and kept by him in what seems to benbsp;a kind of pavilion. Fuamnach, hearing of this, advises Midir to invitenbsp;Aengus; but as soon as Etain is left alone she causes her to be blownnbsp;away again. When Aengus finds out what has happened he killsnbsp;Fuamnach. But Etain eventually falls into the cup of the wife of annbsp;Ulster warrior called Etar. She is swallowed by her, and born again asnbsp;her daughter.

� Transi, by Leahy, Heroic Romances of Ireland, t.'j ff.; cf. Thumeysen, op. cit. p. 598 ff.

They follow one another immediately in the Lehor na h-Uidre (fol. 129 ff.), apparently the only MS. which contains the whole series.

In the story of the second courtship * Etain has grown up and become the wife of the high-king Eochaid Airem. But Eochaid�s brothernbsp;Ailill Anguba falls secretly in love with her to such an extent that henbsp;seems to be dying. The king has to leave home, and entrusts his brothernbsp;to Etain�s care. He soon begins to recover, and makes an assignationnbsp;with Etain; but when the appointed time comes he is asleep, and in hisnbsp;place Etain meets with a man exactly like him. The same thing happensnbsp;a second time. On the third occasion the stranger declares himself to benbsp;Midir, who had been her husband in her former life; and he admits thatnbsp;he had caused both the illness and the sleep of her brother-in-law. Henbsp;asks her to come back to him; but she has apparently no recollection ofnbsp;him and refuses, though eventually she agrees to do so if her (present)nbsp;husband should consent. The third courtship, which follows, hasnbsp;already been noticed (p. 51 f.).

Here we may refer again to the Sickbed of CuChulainn (cf. p. 205). It is as much concerned with mortal as with divine beings, but the latternbsp;supply the governing motif. The hero�s illness is due to a dream, innbsp;which two women appear to him and beat him with a whip till he isnbsp;nearly dead. He lies speechless for a year. Then Fann, the wife ofnbsp;Manannan mac Lir, sends messages to him, first by her brother and thennbsp;by her sister, summoning him to her home, Mag Mell (�Plain ofnbsp;Delight�). The sister, Li Ban, promises that her husband. Labraidnbsp;Luath, will give Fann to CuChulainn if he will help him to overcomenbsp;his enemies. CuChulainn first sends Laeg, his charioteer, and then goesnbsp;himself to the home of Fann, the splendours of which are described. Henbsp;slaughters Labraid�s enemies and remains a month with Fann. After hisnbsp;return to his own home Fann comes to him ; but this arouses the jealousynbsp;of his wife Emer, who tries to kill her. CuChulainn intervenes, and annbsp;altercation takes place. Then Fann gives way and bewails her plight;nbsp;but at this point Manannan arrives and reclaims his wife.

It may be observed that this story contains no reference to shee-mounds. The situation of the localities mentioned�except of course CuChulainn�s home�is not very clear; but Fann�s home seems to benbsp;situated on an island. At the end of the story Manannan comes ridingnbsp;over the sea. The story contains a large amount of poetry of Type B.

� Transi, by Leahy, op. cit. p. 23 ff., cf. Thurneysen, op. cit. p. 610 ff. A different and later text of this story is ed. and transi, by M�ller, Rev. Celt. m. 350 ff. In onenbsp;passage in this, taken from the beginning of the Destruction of Da Dergas Hall^nbsp;Etain knows her divine origin.

take, as representative of Type C (CA), the Second Battle of Moytura,^ a story in which the informative element is predominant, and which innbsp;form may be compared with the story of Culkwch and Olwen (cf. p. 45).nbsp;It is not free from Latin influence; its framework is the �Invasion�nbsp;story, which we shall have to notice in the next chapter. The gods, whonbsp;here are called Tuatha De (Danann), or �Tribes of the Goddessnbsp;(Danu) �, come to Ireland as invaders. They defeat the Firbolg, who arenbsp;in possession of the country, but their king Nuadu loses a hand in thenbsp;battle.^ A silver hand is eventually made for him; but in the meantimenbsp;they choose as king a certain Bres, whose mother belongs to the Tuathanbsp;De. His father Elathan, however, belongs to the Fomori, who arenbsp;represented as living beyond the sea, apparently to the north or northeast. Bres� reign is a miserable time owing to his miserliness and thenbsp;exactions of his Fomorian relatives. Even the Dagda is forced to worknbsp;and receives insufficient food. At length Bres is compelled to retire, andnbsp;Nuadu re-appointed in his place. Bres makes his way to the Fomori andnbsp;rouses them to avenge his wrongs.

While the Tuatha De are anxiously awaiting their enemies. Lug arrives and makes himself known. His father Cian is one of the Tuathanbsp;De, but his mother Ethne is a daughter of Balor, king of the Fomori.nbsp;Owing to his many accomplishments he is made commander-in-chief.nbsp;The Dagda, who is represented as an enormous eater, is sent to delaynbsp;the enemy, and elaborate preparations are made. When the battle hasnbsp;begun, Nuadu is killed by Balor; but the latter is disabled by Lug, andnbsp;eventually the Fomori are completely defeated. The story ends bynbsp;relating how the Dagda recovered his harp.

The Fate of the Children of Tuirenni may be taken as an example of Type A; for the interest in the narrative is dominant, though there is anbsp;rather large informative element. The story is only preserved in a verynbsp;late form, much affected by foreign influence. The subject is closelynbsp;related to that of the last piece. The stewards of the Fomori are exactingnbsp;tribute, when Lug, who has the horse and armour of Manannan,nbsp;arrives and slays them. Balor, king of the Fomori, sends his son Bres tonbsp;take vengeance, and Lug assembles an army against him; but the king,nbsp;Nuadu Argetlam (�Silver-hand�), is afraid to support him. His father

* This battle is the subject of the Rirst Battle of Moytura, a late work, ed. and transi, by Fraser, �riu, viii. 4 ff.

3 Ed. and transi, by R. J. O�Duffy (Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language).

Cian sets out to gather reinforcements, but meets Brian, lucharba and luchar, the sons of Tuirenn, with whom he is at feud. He turns himselfnbsp;into a pig, to escape from them, but they succeed in identifying him,nbsp;and stone him to death. Then the battle takes place, and Lug is victorious.nbsp;He now begins to search for his father, and finds his mangled body.nbsp;Then he charges the sons of Tuirenn with the murder; and the kingnbsp;agrees to the terms of compensation which he proposes to exact fromnbsp;them. The terms appear to be absurdly light�they are to obtain for himnbsp;three apples, a pig�s skin and various other trifles. But when they havenbsp;agreed to them�not without misgivings�Lug declares that the applesnbsp;he requires are the Apples of the Hesperides. The pig�s skin is one wMchnbsp;will heal all wounds; it belongs to the king of Greece, and the Greeksnbsp;will never part with it. And the other things are equally difficult tonbsp;obtain. The sons of Tuirenn set out, and after terrible struggles succeednbsp;in obtaining everything; but they return to Ireland exhausted andnbsp;mortally wounded. They ask to have their wounds healed by the pig�snbsp;skin; but Lug refuses, and they die.

The earliest of these stories were not committed to writing until Ireland had been a Christian country for some centuries. But, apartnbsp;from the avoidance of the word �god�, they do not appear to have beennbsp;affected by Christian doctrine or feeling, though the two last havenbsp;certainly been influenced by Christian learning. A reservation isnbsp;probably to be made with regard to the poems which they contain,nbsp;especially those relating to Mag Mell. Christian references occur, e.g.nbsp;in the poem in which Midir summons Etain to come to him and also innbsp;the description which Laeg gives to CuChulainn of the home of Fann.nbsp;In the former case the description of Mag Mell is hardly in place, and itnbsp;would seem that this subject, whatever its origin, was one of growingnbsp;popularity. It is a favourite theme in poetry as far back as the seventh ornbsp;eighth century.2 But the narratives seem to be little affected by it.

One difference between the first three and the last two stories given above is obviously due to Christian learning. In the latter the gods arenbsp;represented as people of the remote past�long before the earliest timesnbsp;to which any of the heroic stories relate. But in the first three stories thenbsp;gods are contemporary with the heroes, though their sphere ofexistencenbsp;is distinct from that of men. They are not immortal ; but, unless they arenbsp;killed, they seem to be regarded as living on from age to age. Thus,

� Cf. Nutt and Meyer, Voyage of Bran, i. 4ff., i6ff., and xvi; Meyer, Ancient Irish Poetry, pp. 3-8.

Manannan appears in stories of CuChulainn, of Cormac mac Airt in the third century, and of Mongan at the close of the sixth century. Thisnbsp;doubtless represents the belief of heathen times.

The local associations of the gods are clearly shown in the first two stories and elsewhere. Aengus belongs to the Brug na Boinne (cf.nbsp;p. 256). His mother Boann appears to be a personification of the Boyne,nbsp;as will be seen in the next chapter. Midir belongs to Bri Leith, nearnbsp;Ardagh, Co. Longford. Bodb�s home is the Sid ar Femen in Co.nbsp;Tipperary. We are not aware that Lug is precisely located; but hisnbsp;mother Ethniu {Ethlenn^ Ethn�} seems to be a personification of the Inny,nbsp;Co. West-Meath, while his foster-mother Tailtiu is buried at Telltown,nbsp;Co. Meath. From the �Vision of Aengus� it would seem that Bres wasnbsp;originally located in Lecale, Co. Down.

The gods are organised politically like men. There is a high-king, the Dagda, in Meath, and provincial kings in the other provinces. Bodb,nbsp;king of Munster, figures in the Vision; and kings of the other provincesnbsp;appear in the story of the Two Swineherds (cf. p. 207), where we findnbsp;Bodb at war with the gods of Connaught. But most of our stories arenbsp;Q concerned with the gods of Meath. There seems to have been a tendencynbsp;to bring all the gods into relationship with one another. Thus, in thenbsp;Lebor Gabala^ cap. 115, Bodb is great-grandson of Bres; and the latternbsp;is according to one genealogy (cap. 106) a brother of the Dagda, whilenbsp;another (zlt;5.)�probably older�genealogy gives him a totally differentnbsp;ancestry. Again, Manannan (cap. 113) is made a son of Elloth (notnbsp;Ler), a brother of the Dagda; yet in early stories his home is beyondnbsp;the sea, usually in the Isle of Man. It is questionable therefore how farnbsp;these genealogies and relationships go back to heathen times.

Most of the supernatural beings who appear in CuChulainn 5 Sickbed are not mentioned elsewhere. Several of them have names with annbsp;obvious meaning; and they may have been invented for this story. Itnbsp;is to be borne in mind, however, that nearly all the surviving stories ofnbsp;the gods relate to those of Meath.

A difference, which is striking at first sight, between the Irish and the Norse gods lies in the fact that the stories of the former are alwaysnbsp;concerned either with deities only or with deities and human beings.nbsp;� Giants � play little or no part in the Irish stories. Some scholars indeednbsp;'� regard the Fomori as �demonic� beings;� but the evidence is unsatis-

� Cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 64, as against K. Meyer lAhh. d. k.pr. Ahad. �9�3� No., 10, p. 6), who took them to be (originally) a historical people. Thenbsp;Fomori are mentioned not unfrequently in heroic stories. We suspect them to be the

factory. On the other hand, as we pointed out above, the difference between the Norse �giants� and gods is not easy to define�beyond thenbsp;fact that the giants do not belong to the community or political organisation of the gods. If this is the only essential difference�a questionnbsp;which we shall have to notice shortly�the relations between giants andnbsp;gods in the North may be compared with those between differentnbsp;communities of gods in Ireland.

In their relations with one another and with human beings the Irish gods closely resemble their Greek and Norse counterparts. Perhapsnbsp;their most striking characteristic is their want of power. They arenbsp;scarcely more than a match for great kings and heroes. The Dagda hasnbsp;to call Ailill to his assistance against Ethal Anbuail; and his success innbsp;the end is chiefly due to his human ally. Labraid Luath is in greatnbsp;dread of his foes ; but CuChulainn, when he comes to his assistance,nbsp;soon disposes of them.i Midir and Eochaid Airem wage a long strugglenbsp;for the possession of Etain. In the Third Courtship of Etain Midirnbsp;carries her off from Eochaid�s court (cf. p. 52); but Eochaid destroysnbsp;one shee-mound after another relentlessly until he has rescued her.nbsp;From references in other stories it appears that vengeance was takennbsp;upon him by Sigmall, a descendant of Midir; but there seems to havenbsp;been a retribution even for this.

In other respects the dealings of the gods with human beings are much the same as in Greek and Norse. In the Tain Bo Cuailnge Lugnbsp;protects CuChulainn, who is perhaps his son (cf. p. 205 f.). Manannannbsp;shows favour to Cormac mac Airt, after first playing a very trying tricknbsp;upon him (cf. p. too). The amorous side may be illustrated by Fann�snbsp;appeals to CuChulainn and by Manannan�s visit to the mother ofnbsp;Mongan (cf. p. 206). Midir shows a good deal of cunning, as well asnbsp;amorousness, in his courtship of Etain, although he prides himself onnbsp;the straightforwardness of his conduct.

The same appears to be true in general of the relations of the gods with one another. One feature indeed seems to be wanting. There is nonbsp;Irish parallel to the relations of Zeus and Hera or of Othin and Frigg.nbsp;The Dagda appears to have no legal wife. In other respects, however,nbsp;broch-builders, presumably Picts of the islands, a people whose existence has beennbsp;strangely ignored by the historians of both Ireland and England. There can be nonbsp;doubt that in the early centuries of our era they were most formidable pirates; andnbsp;their forts are found as far south as Galloway. It is perhaps worth noting that thenbsp;name Fomor is borne by an ancestor of the Clann Rudraige (cf. p. 178, note).

* This case does not stand alone; cf. d�Arbois de Jubainville, Le Cycle Mythologique Irlandais, p. 356 ff.

the stories have much in common. The helpless lovesick Aengus is closely parallel to the helpless lovesick Frey. The relations of the Dagdanbsp;with Boann are not unlike those of Ares with Aphrodite. The spitefulness of Fuamnach towards the first Etain is very similar to the behaviournbsp;of Hera to Semele and other rivals.

In the Second Battle of Moytura and the Fate of the Children of Tuirenn certain gods appear in a very unfavourable light. In the latternbsp;Lug�s desire for vengeance becomes mere heartless cruelty. In thenbsp;former the Dagda is little more than a glutton and buffoon. But we arenbsp;not disposed to place a very high value on these stories as evidence fornbsp;the ideas of heathen times. The Vision and the introduction to thenbsp;Courtship of Etain doubtless give a truer picture of the Dagda as he wasnbsp;then thought of�a voluptuous and shifty, but not unkindly, character.nbsp;In general the attitude of the early stories towards the gods is familiar,nbsp;but not unfriendly or even contemptuous. Midir�s case in his strugglenbsp;with Eochaid Airem is stated fully and quite sympathetically.

Unfortunately, owing to the absence of poetry of Types C and D and saga of Type C, dating from heathen times, we know nothingnbsp;certain of the more serious side of Irish theology. It is incredible thatnbsp;serious theological poetry did not exist, especially in view of thenbsp;activities of the Gaulish Druids, which we shall have to notice in thenbsp;next chapter. But it is only in the poems relating to Mag Mell that thisnbsp;side is represented, and we do not know how far these are affected bynbsp;Latin influence. Mag Mell is not only an abode of deities, but also anbsp;Paradise to which human beings can, sometimes at least, attain. Butnbsp;Norse evidence shows that the conception of a distant Paradise can existnbsp;side by side with a conception of immortality which is bound up withnbsp;shee-mounds. Frey himself was a shee according to the Ynglinga Saga,nbsp;cap. 12; he was believed to live in a great barrow at Old Upsala. This isnbsp;in full accordance with the belief in immortality usually found in thenbsp;sagas, especially those relating to Iceland. But beside this belief wenbsp;find also, especially in poetry, the doctrine of a Paradise (Valh�ll) farnbsp;away, which seems to us quite incompatible with it. The doctrine ofnbsp;Mag Mell may therefore have existed alongside of the belief in shee-mounds I as the abodes of the gods�perhaps originally in connectionnbsp;with a different set of deities.

Some features in the descriptions of Mag Mell may well be ancient. The joyous life of the warriors has something in common with Valh�ll;

� In the texts which have come down to us the two conceptions are often confused. Laeg applies the word sid (�shee-mound�) to Labraid�s home.

POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES 263 and in particular the �Tree of Victory��presumably the same as thenbsp;silver tree which stands at the gate of Labraid�s dwelling�may benbsp;compared with the tree called Glasir, which � stands with golden foliagenbsp;before the abode of the God of Victory�.* But the theme was probablynbsp;developed during the period of transition�the sixth and followingnbsp;centuries�when the old learning was becoming permeated by the new.nbsp;Owing to the resemblance which it presented to the descriptions ofnbsp;Paradise in Christian Latin poetry, it was one of the very few featuresnbsp;in the old religion which were able to maintain their position.

Very little satisfactory material is to be found in Welsh sources, for the traditions rarely, if ever, go back to heathen times. One clear case,nbsp;however, occurs, curiously enough in the introduction to the very latenbsp;story of Taliesin noticed on p. 103. There can be no doubt that thenbsp;woman Caridwen with her �cauldron of inspiration� is identical withnbsp;Ceridwen, a being who is mentioned not unfrequently in early poetrynbsp;and who appears to have been a goddess of poetic inspiration. In Tai.nbsp;�XNi. a monologue poem of Type B (or CB), she is the speaker. Shenbsp;refers to the accomplishments of her son Afagddu in poetry and to thenbsp;achievements of Gwydion, son of Don�which are related in the storynbsp;of Math (cf. p. 115). She mentions also her chair, her cauldron and hernbsp;laws. Her cauldron is again referred to in Tai. xiv. 11, where Taliesin isnbsp;the speaker; and an obscure passage in Tai. xv. (35 f.) seems to containnbsp;an allusion to the three drops�here called awen (cf. p. 104)�which camenbsp;from it.

There can be little doubt that the story in the Hanes Taliesin has been somewhat obscured in the course of time. The liquid whichnbsp;Caridwen is boiling is clearly that of poetic inspiration; and the storynbsp;is to be compared with that of the stealing of �Srerir by Othin (cf.nbsp;p. 249)�though in this case the pursuer catches the fugitive. The point ofnbsp;the story is that Taliesin is the reincarnation of the person who swallowednbsp;the liquid of poetic inspiration, though we know nothing of this personnbsp;(Gwion) apart from the story. For this liquid, and even for the stealingnbsp;of it, we shall find parallels in other mythologies. In the meantime it isnbsp;of interest to note that the goddess of poetry�alone of the deities�nbsp;was able to maintain her position to a certain extent in Christian times.

Another story which suggests a mythological origin occurs in the Mabinogi of Pwyll (cf. p. 115). Pwyll, while engaged in hunting,

� A fragment quoted in Skaldskaparmil, cap. 34. Glasir is probably the same as Yggdrasill�s Ash.

204 POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES unintentionally shows discourtesy to an unknown knight, who givesnbsp;his name as Arawn, king of Annwn. To make up for the discourtesy,nbsp;he promises to comply with a request which Arawn makes to him.nbsp;They are to exchange places and forms for a year. Pwyll takes Arawn�snbsp;place in Annwn, and Arawn Pwyll�s place in Dyfed. At the end of thenbsp;year Pwyll has to encounter an enemy of Arawn, named Hafgan. Henbsp;gives Hafgan a mortal wound with his first blow. Then Hafgan asksnbsp;him to finish him off; but Arawn had warned him against this, andnbsp;Hafgan is carried away to die. Pwyll now annexes Hafgan�s kingdom tonbsp;Arawn�s, and again meets Arawn, as they had arranged. They return,nbsp;each to his own form and place, united in the closest friendship. In thenbsp;Mabinogi of Math, Pryderi, son of Pwyll, has received from Arawn anbsp;present of pigs�the first ever seen in Britain. We know nothing more ofnbsp;Arawn, except that he is said to have fought against Amaethon, son ofnbsp;Don, at the Cad Goddeu�where the latter was apparently successfulnbsp;through the cleverness of his brother Gwydion.^ But the name Annwnnbsp;(^Annwfii) means � Underworld �, and consequently there is some groundnbsp;for suspecting that Pwyll�s adventure is similar to CuChulainn�snbsp;visit to Mag Mell�apart from the love motif in the latter. It has beennbsp;proposed� to read the name Hafgan in Tai. xiv. 48�in a passagenbsp;describing a place which bears some resemblance to Mag Mell.

Many other characters and incidents in the Mabinogion are commonly held to be derived from mythology. Thus, Manawyddan, son of Llyr,nbsp;is identified with the Irish Manannan mac Lir, and the children of Donnbsp;with the Irish sons of Danu (cf. p. 258).3 But we are not convinced thatnbsp;these identifications are correct (cf. p. 226); the stories have hardlynbsp;anything in common. We do not doubt, however, that names from thenbsp;ancient mythology may have survived, perhaps without any clearnbsp;remembrance of their associations. A very probable case is Lluddnbsp;Llawereint (�Silver-hand�). We know nothing of this person beyondnbsp;what is said in Culhwch and Olwen about the deadly quarrel whichnbsp;took place between the suitors of his daughter Creiddylad. But his

' This is narrated in the prose introduction to a short fragment of poetry published in the Myvyr. Arch. 1.127. There is no reference to the incident in the account of thenbsp;Cad Goddeu given in 7a/. viii.

� Cf. Sir J. Morris-Jones, Y Cymmrodor, xxvni. 236 (reading amcan for am tan).

3 So also Llew Llaw Gyffes (or Llawgyffes) is generally identified with the Irish god Lug Lamfada (�Long-hand�). The first names seem to be identical; for thenbsp;verses have Lieu for Llew, and this is presumably the earlier form. But the wordnbsp;-gyffes (syffes) has not been satisfactorily explained, and the resemblances betweennbsp;the story of Llew and what is recorded of Lug are at least by no means obvious.

POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES 265 name is surely identical with the Irish Nuadu Argetlam (cf. p. 258)�nbsp;with assimilation of the initial of the first name to that of the surname.nbsp;This is one of the few Irish deities whose names can be traced back tonbsp;ancient times. The origin of both the Irish and the Welsh names is tonbsp;be found in the god Nodons (Nodens), who in the Roman period hadnbsp;an important sanctuary at Lydney on the Severn.

In the course of this chapter we have seen that remarkable differences in tone are to be found in poetry and saga relating to the gods. Innbsp;Types C and D the attitude is serious and reverential, whereas innbsp;Types A and B it is commonly marked by familiarity, which not rarelynbsp;tends to burlesque. The Greek evidence indicates that in early timesnbsp;Type A belonged to a different milieu from Types C and D. Thenbsp;former provided themes for entertainment at secular gatherings, whilenbsp;the latter were bound up with religious festivals and sanctuaries. In anbsp;later chapter we shall see reason for believing that they are the work ofnbsp;different sets of poets�indeed, we may perhaps say, of poets belongingnbsp;to different �professions�. In Greece Type A was cultivated by thenbsp;same minstrels who cultivated heroic poetry of Type A.

It is true that in Greece of the historical period heroic poetry and serious theological poetry seem to have been recited on the samenbsp;occasions and by the same persons. But we doubt if this was in accordance with ancient custom. The heroic minstrel of the Homeric typenbsp;appears to have died out. In Ireland we find the filid, who were originally seers, encroaching upon the province of the Bards. In the Northnbsp;too, as also in Wales, changes had certainly taken place, though theynbsp;may not have been exactly the same. As an illustration of the changesnbsp;which might result from the transference of a poem from one milieu tonbsp;another, we may cite the first part of the Hdvamdl, where a collection ofnbsp;gnomic poetry has been converted into an instrument of entertainment.nbsp;The stories of O thin�s love adventures, which follow, have probablynbsp;had a similar history.

The difference of tone depends to a certain extent on the setting of the stories. It is in stories relating to gods only that the lighter, femiliarnbsp;attitude prevails. Exceptions in this case are rare. The relations ofnbsp;Demeter with the other gods are treated seriously in Hymn V ; but itnbsp;is the relations of the goddess with human beings which form thenbsp;primary interest of this Hymn. On the other hand the familiar treatmentnbsp;of relations between gods and giants seems to be peculiar to certainnbsp;Norse stories. Elsewhere the treatment of such relations is serious

(Type C). The treatment of relations between gods and men is rarely, if ever, familiar ; but it often presents the deities in an unfavourable light.nbsp;Their doings are often governed by amorousness, while in other casesnbsp;they are characterised by favouritism or spite, to gratify which verynbsp;unfair means are sometimes used. Both the Irish and the Norse godsnbsp;are rather helpless beings. The former are hardly more powerful thannbsp;kings or heroes, while the latter can barely cope with the giants.

It is beyond the scope of our work, even if it were possible, to attempt any systematic explanation of these phenomena. Some of thenbsp;stories may be as old as the deities themselves, and indeed bound upnbsp;with their origin. This, again, was clearly not uniform. Some of themnbsp;were doubtless at first personifications of natural phenomena; othersnbsp;may have been vegetation spirits; others may originally have beennbsp;human beings, whether individuals or types of men�magicians ornbsp;kings. The origin of a very large proportion of them is wholly uncertain. Some of the stories, e.g. those which relate to encounters withnbsp;theriomorphic demons, may have �grown up� with the gods, and havenbsp;been preserved perhaps through some kind of ritual use. From thenbsp;absence of such stories in Ireland, together with the prevailing belief innbsp;barrows as the homes of the gods, it is a likely inference that the cult ofnbsp;the dead was responsible for the largest element in the Irish pantheon.nbsp;The influence of souterrains, however, must not be forgotten.

But the stories and the pictures of the gods which have come down to us must often be remote from the original myths. It is clear that Zeusnbsp;was originally a personification of the sky; and his association with thenbsp;thunderbolt was never forgotten. But the picture which the Homericnbsp;poems give of him is entirely human�an elderly man, indolent andnbsp;amorous, with an ill-tempered wife and a troublesome family. In thenbsp;case of Nj�rSr we find�what is more remarkable�a change of sex;nbsp;but the stories related of him preserve no remembrance of this.

Perhaps the most instructive case is that of Thor; for the evidence here is abundant and free from doubt. The god�s name is identical withnbsp;our word � thunder �, and in Sweden his connection with the thunder wasnbsp;never forgotten.^ But in Norse poetry and saga hardly a trace of thisnbsp;connection is to be found. He is entirely human�a well-meaning andnbsp;exceedingly strong man, but rough, stupid and voracious. In generalnbsp;the picture which the stories suggest is that of a rough, unculturednbsp;backwoodsman, on whose strong arm one could rely for protection

� Cf. Adam of Bremen, iv. 26 (referring to the temple at Upsala); Thor.. .qui tonitrus est....

POETRY AND SAGA RELATING TO DEITIES 267 against savages. In Norway and Iceland he was more worshipped thannbsp;any other deity, and names compounded with p�r--implying a kind

of dedication�are of the greatest frequency. It is significant, however, that they are hardly ever found in the royal families, and there is verynbsp;little evidence for his worship by this class. Thor�s non-aristocraticnbsp;associations are indeed emphasised in the HdrbarZslj��.

The fact that some deities, whatever their ultimate origin, have plebeian associations may be partly responsible for the phenomenanbsp;noted above. It is not true of every case; Othin�s associations are withnbsp;the royal class, though he is himself a magician, not a king. But whennbsp;the deities came to be united in one community, the plebeian characternbsp;of some of them may have affected the conception of the community asnbsp;a whole. But we do not mean to suggest that this�or any other onenbsp;cause�is solely responsible. Chronological and other considerationsnbsp;have to be taken into account. It is unlikely that the pantheons camenbsp;into existence complete. Presumably they were built up gradually; andnbsp;it is reasonable to expect that deities may preserve traces of the morenbsp;primitive or more advanced conditions under which they first came tonbsp;be known. Thor seems to be a very ancient, as well as a plebeian, god.nbsp;He has no horse. In the Grimnismdl, st. 29 f. (cf. Gylfaginning^ cap. 15),nbsp;when the other gods ride to Yggdrasill�s Ash to hold their court,nbsp;Thor, has to walk�though in some stories he has a goat-carriage. Itnbsp;would seem that his habits had become stereotyped before riding wasnbsp;generally known.

We have taken our examples from Norse because the Norse pantheon is less homogeneous than either the Greek or the Irish. Yet differencesnbsp;may be observed in the two latter also. Among the more prominentnbsp;deities in the Iliad Apollo and Athena, whatever may be their origin,nbsp;are more dignified figures and usually behave with more decorum thannbsp;Ares and Aphrodite, although they are conspicuously unfair in theirnbsp;dealings with heroes. Midir is a more dignified figure than the Dagda.

Some light upon the questions we have been discussing may perhaps be obtained from a consideration of the theological poetry of othernbsp;peoples. In the meantime we would emphasise that in Greek the samenbsp;poems deal with both gods and heroes, that the gods behave towards onenbsp;another with less dignity and decorum than do the heroes, and that theirnbsp;conduct towards heroes is less fair than that of one hero towards another.nbsp;We may add that when comic relief is required it is supplied from storiesnbsp;and scenes of the life of the gods. The same features recur in the poemsnbsp;of the Edda, though these are of a more heterogeneous character than

the Homeric poems. When a hero has been guilty of faithlessness, like SigurSr in his relations with Brynhildr, the greatest care is taken to covernbsp;the matter up. But Othin�s faithlessness in his amorous adventures isnbsp;openly vaunted. Here also comedy occurs only in stories of the gods.nbsp;In Irish records on the other hand the difference between heroic andnbsp;divine standards is far less noticeable; for here, as we have seen (p. 78),nbsp;the former are usually on a lower plane and cruder than elsewhere.

One remark may be added. In the treatment of the stories of the gods, whatever their origin�whether they have plebeian associationsnbsp;or not�the work of the poets shows no less care or skill than innbsp;narratives and scenes from heroic life. In construction and in thenbsp;vividness of the narrative the story of Ares and Aphrodite will comparenbsp;favourably with almost any passage in the Odyssey. The Thrymskviba isnbsp;perhaps even better, while the SkiTnismdl�in a different way�is hardlynbsp;inferior. It would seem that the poets took a peculiar pleasure in thesenbsp;stories, perhaps owing to the scope which they allowed for the exercisenbsp;of their imaginative powers. Stories of the gods probably played annbsp;important part in the development of fiction.

IN the preceding chapters an attempt has been made to distinguish various types of early poetry and saga. The greater part of thenbsp;discussion has necessarily been devoted to those types which werenbsp;primarily intended for entertainment�Types A and B in poetry andnbsp;Type A in saga�because these are as a rule by far the most fullynbsp;represented. Next we have to consider compositions of variousnbsp;kinds, both poetry and prose, the object of which is primarily didactic.nbsp;In the present chapter we propose to discuss such didactic compositionsnbsp;as are concerned with the past, and especially with the origin of specificnbsp;names, peoples, institutions, etc. In the following chapter we shall havenbsp;to consider didactic compositions of general application, relating tonbsp;timeless social and natural phenomena. Examples of both categoriesnbsp;have been noticed incidentally in the preceding chapters, in connectionnbsp;with poetry and saga of Type C, but here they will require to benbsp;discussed more fully.

The primary object of these compositions was not so much to entertain as to impart information, whether antiquarian or general. Innbsp;antiquarian compositions, with which we are now concerned, much ofnbsp;the information was derived from tradition in various forms, poetry,nbsp;saga, etc. ; but a good deal is obviously due to speculation, by the authornbsp;himself or his predecessors. No distinction, however, is made in thenbsp;presentation of the matter; whether its source is really tradition ornbsp;speculation, it is stated as fact.

Antiquarian interest finds expression in various forms. Even heroic narrative poetry (Type A) is not always entirely free from it, thoughnbsp;here it is generally limited to a few short genealogies and catalogues,nbsp;which may be thought necessary to explain the story. In Irish heroicnbsp;saga it is much more prominent; sometimes indeed it constitutes thenbsp;primary interest, as also in the Welsh Culhwch and Qlwen and thenbsp;Dream of Rhonabwy. To such stories, as also to some of the Homericnbsp;Hymns, it will be convenient to apply the term CA. More importantnbsp;perhaps are a number of monologue and dialogue poems in Norse andnbsp;Welsh, which are antiquarian in substance but have the form of Type B.nbsp;They may be described as CB. The same description may be applied

Apart from works referable to Type C in the categories already discussed there are in Greek, Norse, Welsh and Irish a large number ofnbsp;catalogue and genealogical poems which are essentially antiquarian innbsp;interest, though they are connected with stories of heroes and deities.nbsp;The more important of these will be noticed in the following pages.nbsp;Genealogies and antiquarian catalogues are also frequently found innbsp;texts by themselves or incorporated in Latin works. With these we maynbsp;class the Welsh (antiquarian) Triads, which bring together variousnbsp;heroes and incidents of the past in groups of three, on account of somenbsp;characteristic which they have in common. Here also mention may benbsp;made of Irish works, in verse and prose, the object of which is tonbsp;explain the names of places and persons. Lastly, a large amount ofnbsp;antiquarian lore is preserved in historical works of later times. This isnbsp;especially important in Greek, owing to the fact that little of the earlynbsp;antiquarian poetry has been preserved except in fragments.

It will be convenient to divide the material as follows : 1. Genealogies. II. Other catalogues. III. The origins of place-names and personalnbsp;names. IV. The origins of customs and institutions. V. The origins ofnbsp;places and buildings. VI. The origins of nations. VH. The origin ofnbsp;mankind and the world.

1. Genealogies of families, especially royal families, are one of the most widespread forms of antiquarian learning. As a rule they arenbsp;derived from genuine tradition for a number of generations; but thenbsp;beginnings are supplied by speculation, either from gods or fromnbsp;mythical eponymoi. Here we are concerned only with genealogies ofnbsp;families. Genealogies which embrace whole nations will be considerednbsp;later under VI, genealogies of the gods under VII.

In heroic poetry and saga genealogies are not often found, and when they do occur they are usually quite short. In the Homeric poems theynbsp;are seldom given for more than three generations. The longest are thosenbsp;of Aineias {II. xx. 215 ff.), which contains eight generations, and that ofnbsp;Glaucos {ji. VI. 153 if.), which contains six, counting the hero himselfnbsp;in each case. But the former includes Zeus and three or four generations of national eponymoi.

Greek antiquarian poets of the eighth and following centuries were very largely occupied with genealogical lore. Hesiod�s Theogony givesnbsp;a genealogy of the gods, and the Catalogue contained a genealogy of

national eponymoi, with much other genealogical matter. But in form at least this work, with others of the same period, was a catalogue (innbsp;our sense) rather than a genealogy, and as such will be noticed below.nbsp;It is known that many families in the historical period traced theirnbsp;descent from heroes and gods. Indeed, this is probably true of thenbsp;nobility in general. But very few of these genealogies have been preserved. The most satisfactory examples are those of the two Spartannbsp;royal families recorded by Herodotos (vii. 204; viii. 131).

In Teutonic heroic poetry genealogies can hardly be said to occur except in the opening passage of Beowulf. This is of definitely antiquarian character, giving the ancestry of the Danish kings. Even herenbsp;the genealogy contains only five generations, of which one is a mythicalnbsp;eponymos and only two can be regarded as ordinary mortals. A parallelnbsp;to the Hesiodic catalogue is to be found in the Norse genealogicalnbsp;catalogue poem Hyndlulj�f which will be noticed below. In Norse,nbsp;however, we find also true genealogical poetry. The Ynglingatal, whichnbsp;is preserved almost complete, traces the ancestry of the Norwegiannbsp;royal family from the god Frey and his descendants, the early kings ofnbsp;the Swedes�including �ttarr and A�ils, the Ohthere and Eadgils ofnbsp;Beowulf. It was composed by Thj�Solfr of Hvin, court poet of Haroldnbsp;the Fair-haired (who reigned c. 860-930), in honour of a prince namednbsp;R�gnvaldr, a cousin of Harold. Each prince mentioned in the genealogynbsp;has from four to eight lines devoted to him; usually the circumstances ofnbsp;his death are noticed. Of similar character was the H�leygjatal^ ofnbsp;which only fragments remain. It was composed, perhaps in imitationnbsp;of the above, by Eyvindr Finnsson for Earl Haakon the Great, whonbsp;reigned from 975 to 995, and traced his descent from Othin and SkaSi,nbsp;through the ancient kings of Halogaland.

The genealogies of most of the English royal families are either preserved in texts by themselves�sometimes with other cataloguenbsp;matter�or incorporated in historical works. Several of them are givennbsp;by Bede, and it is probable that many of them were committed tonbsp;writing in the seventh century. The later generations are historical,nbsp;while the earlier may be presumed to be due to speculation. Namesnbsp;known from heroic stories occur in the Mercian and West Saxon

i Counting Scyld Scefing as two, on the same principle as Sisyphos Aiolides. Sceaf actually figures in some later genealogies; but the context is rather againstnbsp;taking Scefing as a patronymic here.

� There is no reason for doubting the claim of the Mercian royal family to be descended from Wermund and Offa, the ancient kings of Angel. But the presence of

genealogies, national eponymoi in the West Saxon and Bernician. All the genealogies are traced back to gods�all except one (Essex) tonbsp;Woden. In the earlier genealogies Woden�s ancestry is carried back fornbsp;five generations. In later texts this element is greatly expanded, partlynbsp;(apparently) by combining different genealogies, and partly by addingnbsp;to these the genealogy from the Book of Genesis.

Genealogies of considerable length were in vogue among the Teutonic peoples of the Continent even in the Heroic Age. We may refer to the genealogy of the Gothic kings given by Jordanes, cap. 14, whilenbsp;the early traditions of the Lombards consist practically of genealogies.nbsp;Both these instances probably contain mythical as well as historicalnbsp;elements ; but no descent from a deity is stated in the latter, while thenbsp;earliest Gothic names are hopelessly corrupt.

In Norse sagas relating to the Viking Age genealogies are of very frequent occurrence. The �Book of the Colonisation of Iceland�nbsp;(^Islands Landnamabolz) contains a very large number�those of all thenbsp;more important colonists. By means of these one is able to reconstructnbsp;to some extent the early history of Norway, though speculativenbsp;elements are common enough in the early portions of the genealogies.

Irish heroic sagas rarely, if ever, contain genealogies. Genealogical catalogue poetry, however, was widely cultivated from early times.nbsp;Some poems still extant, tracing the ancestry of the Leinster and Munsternbsp;royal families, are believed to date from the seventh century.� They arenbsp;catalogues rather than genealogies in form, but, in general, they agreenbsp;with the genealogies. It is noteworthy that even at this early date thenbsp;genealogy from the Book of Genesis is brought into connection withnbsp;the native records. Classical and other national names from Latinnbsp;sources are also introduced.

Collections of genealogies are numerous; there are said to be many still unpublished. Some of them date from early times; the collectionnbsp;known as the Laud genealogies 3 comes from a text of the eighthnbsp;century, though additions have been made to it in later times. But there

Brirish names late in the West Saxon genealogy renders it highly improbable that this is genuine, though it contains heroic names (Wig, Freawine), as well as annbsp;eponymos (Gewis). Most probably the family was British in origin, but hadnbsp;appropriated the genealogy of an English family, with which they may have beennbsp;intermarried.

� Origo Gentis Langobardorum (Mon. Germ., Script. Rer. Langobard, p. 2 ff.); Paulus Diaconus, Hist. Langobard. I. 3 ff.

� Edited by K. Meyer, Abhandl. d. preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften, 1913, No. 6.

can be no doubt that many of the genealogies were in existence orally long before this time. It was presumably upon them that the Irishnbsp;schemes of chronology, which were drawn up in the seventh century, inbsp;were based. We believe that in some cases, at least in that of the high-kings, the genealogies are more or less trustworthy as far back as thenbsp;third century, if not further. From that date we find nearly fifty generations back to the �Milesian� invasion; and even before that there are anbsp;number of generations with Irish names, until we reach the patriarchsnbsp;of the Book of Genesis. The great bulk of this matter must be due tonbsp;speculation. In most of the genealogies we find a few names of deities,nbsp;especially Nuadu and Lug; but the origin of most of the names isnbsp;unknown. The object of extending the genealogies to such a length wasnbsp;presumably to fill up the blank in the Eusebian scheme between thenbsp;patriarchs and the beginnings of the native tradition. It may be thatnbsp;lists of heroes have been converted into genealogies. In any case thenbsp;process seems to have operated�perhaps in a tentative way^�in thenbsp;seventh century, at the time when the Irish Eusebius was drawn up.

For the British Heroic Age the only evidence available is contained in genealogical texts and in genealogies incorporated in historicalnbsp;works. The most important of the former, Harl. 3859, which is attachednbsp;to a text of the Historia .Smronzz/n, has already been discussed (p. 149 if.).nbsp;The MS. is derived from a text which was written soon after the middlenbsp;of the tenth century, but nearly all the matter was collected about anbsp;century earlier. It is very likely that some of the genealogies�those ofnbsp;the �Men of the North�, most of which end not long before or afternbsp;A.D. 600�are derived from much earlier texts. The Historia Brittonumnbsp;itself (cap. 49) contains one genealogy, that of Builth, while an earliernbsp;text of the genealogy of Dyfed, dating from c. 750, is preserved in thenbsp;Irish Expulsion of the Desi (cf. p. 151 f.). On the other hand, manynbsp;genealogies, including even the direct paternal ancestry of the kings ofnbsp;Gwynedd from c. 816, are preserved only in collections of much laternbsp;date.

We believe that, in general, the genealogies represent trustworthy tradition as far back as the fifth century (cf. p. 151 f.), beyond which datenbsp;no evidence is available. Three of Cunedda�s sons, who would seem tonbsp;fall within the latter half of the fifth century, serve as eponymoi; but,nbsp;as we shall see later (p. 309 if.), it is not clear that they are necessarilynbsp;mythical. With much greater confidence can this be claimed for Dimetnbsp;(i.e. Dyfed),� who appears in the Harleian genealogy of Dyfed in anbsp;position which would date him to the fourth century. The name,nbsp;significantly, is wanting in the earlier genealogy, contained in thenbsp;Expulsion of the Desi. Other ancient mythical elements, such as gods,nbsp;may be present ; but we cannot identify them. It is of interest, however,nbsp;to note the appearance of what may be called a new mythology, arisingnbsp;out of speculations relating to the Roman period and Church legends.nbsp;In the Harleian genealogy of Dyfed, Dimet is son of Maxim Guletic, i.e.nbsp;the Emperor Magnus Maximus (d. 388), whose ancestry is traced tonbsp;Constantine (the Great) and Helena. Maxim Guletic is also the ancestornbsp;of another line (Harl. No. IV; cf. p. 150), while a third (fb. No. XVI),nbsp;that of Caratauc map Cinbelin, is traced to a long list of Roman emperors�from Constans to Octavianus (Augustus Caesar)�which hasnbsp;been converted into a genealogy. In the same text two other lines,nbsp;Nos. I (the old line of Gwynedd, or rather Anglesey) and X, are tracednbsp;to a certain Beli and Anna, the latter of whom is said to be a sister of thenbsp;Virgin Mary.

This new mythological element can, to a certain extent, be seen growing. In the Harleian Genealogies (No. V) the line of Strathclyde is traced back to a certain Dumnagual (Dyfnwal) Hen map Cinuit mapnbsp;Ceretic Guletic�in all probability the Coroticus of St Patrick�s Epistle�nbsp;followed by a series of unknown names. But in the genealogies of thenbsp;�Men of the North�, contained in the much later fourteenth-centurynbsp;MS. Hengwrt 536, this Dyfnwal Hen is said to be ah Idnyvet ah Maxennbsp;Wledic�i.e. the old genealogy is displaced for Maximus.� Again, wenbsp;have seen that in the Harleian Genealogies the line of Dyfed is traced tonbsp;Dimet map Maxim Guletic. But in the earlier genealogy contained innbsp;the Expulsion of the Desi these names do not appear; the line is traced

' The name IDemetai) is found as thatof a people in the same district inPtolemy�s Geography (second century).

� Possibly through the influence of the genealogy (Harl. No. IV) mentioned above, in which Maximus appears even earlier. We cannot locate this genealogy,nbsp;but we suspect it belongs to the northern series. The first name �ludguat) is thatnbsp;of a brother of Merfyn�s grandfather�s mother; cf. Jes. 20. xix.

back to an Irish source. i We have little doubt that the introduction into the genealogies of Maximus and the other Roman and ecclesiasticalnbsp;elements is due to the wave of antiquarian activity which produced thenbsp;Historia Brittonum and other documents which we shall have to consider shortly. But it must not be assumed that such transformationsnbsp;could only take place through Latin influence. Antiquarian speculationnbsp;can be traced very frequently, as we shall see, where no such influencenbsp;can be suspected.

Perhaps the most interesting of the speculative genealogies is that of Gereint, son of Erbin, which is preserved in a number of late texts. Innbsp;one case the genealogy starts from Arthur, Gereint�s cousin. The firstnbsp;(i.e. latest) few names are not of a character to arouse suspicion. Atnbsp;least three of them are found connected with Damnonia (Cornwall,nbsp;etc.) elsewhere, though the persons themselves are unknown. But in thenbsp;sixth generation from Gereint (or Arthur) we find Gadeon (Kadiawn,nbsp;etc.), son of Cynan, son of Eudaf. These names belong to the Dream ofnbsp;Maxen Wledig, though here Adeon (Gadeon) is a brother of Cynannbsp;and Elen, and son of Eudaf. In most of the texts Eudaf is son of Caradoc,nbsp;son of Bran, son of Llyr. These are characters in the Mabinogi ofnbsp;Branwen, daughter of Llyr, Bran being Branwen�s brother. In Jes.nbsp;Coll. 20 Eudaf is said to be son of Custenin, son of Maxen, whosenbsp;ancestry is traced to Constantine, Constantius and Elen; this passage,nbsp;however, occurs not in the genealogy of Gereint (Sect, xi), but in anbsp;different connection. It would be interesting to know how old thenbsp;genealogy is. It was evidently known in part to Geoffrey of Monmouth for he makes (vi. 4) a brother of Constantine (the grandfathernbsp;of Gereint and Arthur) to be fourth in succession from Conan, the sonnbsp;of Octauius (i.e. Eudaf). He also knows the story of Conan�s conquestnbsp;of Armorica (v. 13 f.), which is related in the Dream. It is true that henbsp;makes no mention of Eudaf�s ancestry, or of his daughter Elen, ornbsp;even of the cutting out of the Armorican women�s tongues, though thenbsp;last incident is referred to in some texts of the Historia Brittonumnbsp;(cap. 27) ; but no conclusions can safely be drawn from his silence. The

I The last six names are as follows: (/raazc) Alchoil male Tres tin male Aeda Brose maic Corath mate Echach Almuir male Artchuirp. The Harl. text has in the corresponding place: (pnap^Aircolmap Triphun map Clotri map Cloitguin {Gloitguin') mapnbsp;Nimet map Dimet map Maxim Guletic.

� The alternative view�that the genealogies here (and the Dream) have borrowed from Geoffrey�seems to us most improbable. Elen may originally have beennbsp;taken from a story relating to Constantius; but what is said of her in the Dream hasnbsp;nothing in common with Geoffrey�s account.

passages cited above (p. 274) from the Harleian Genealogies of the tenth (ninth) century show that speculations relating to the Romannbsp;period, and to Maximus in particular, had long been cultivated.

IL Catalogues are not a usual characteristic of heroic narrative poetry or saga (Type A). In the Homeric poems the longest examples are thenbsp;catalogues of the Achaean and Trojan forces in II. ii. 494 ff., 816 if. Anbsp;short catalogue of the same character is that of the Myrmidons in xvi.nbsp;168 ff. In xviii. 39 ff. there is a list of mermaids, of whom thirty-threenbsp;are named. Short lists of slain warriors also occur from time to time innbsp;the battle scenes. The Odyssey has in viii. 111 ff. a list of Phaeaciannbsp;athletes and in xi. 235 if. a list of distinguished women whom Odysseusnbsp;encounters in Hades.

The Phaeacian list, as we have seen (p. 230), consists of a series of names made up from nautical terms and was obviously composed�notnbsp;without a touch of humour�for the place which it occupies in thenbsp;poem. But the same cannot be said of the list of Nereids, which isnbsp;clearly parallel to the similar list contained in the Theogony (243 ff.),nbsp;as we shall see in a later chapter (xvii). The latter comes among a seriesnbsp;of catalogues of the same kind and would seem to be more in place.nbsp;Again, the list of distinguished women is evidently a composition of thenbsp;same kind as the lists of women in the Hesiodic Catalogue (see below),nbsp;while in the Odyssey it bears no relation to the context. In these twonbsp;cases therefore we see an encroachment of antiquarian interest upon thenbsp;heroic story. The catalogues of forces are likewise of an informativenbsp;character; and from the prominence given to the Boeotians and variousnbsp;other details it is likely that they are additions to the poem. Indeed thenbsp;Trojan catalogue is said to have been given also in the Cypria�fornbsp;which it may originally have been composed. But the connection withnbsp;the story is much closer than in the lists of Nereids and distinguishednbsp;women. In contrast with the latter they may be regarded as necessarynbsp;or at least desirable for the explanation of the course of events. It willnbsp;be seen below that parallels are to be found in Irish and Norse; and therenbsp;can be little doubt that such catalogues as these are among the earliestnbsp;informative elements in heroic story.

In post-Homeric poetry catalogues are of far more frequent occurrence ; indeed the poems of the eighth and seventh centuries seem to have consisted very largely of information conveyed in this form. Thusnbsp;in Hesiod�s Theogony we find lists of Muses (77 ff.), of the children ofnbsp;Uranos (133 ff.). Night (211 ff.) and Strife (226 ff.), of Nereids (243 ff.).

of Rivers (337 if.), of Water-nymphs (349 ff.), and many other mythological beings and personifications�ending (967 if.) with a list of goddesses who entered into wedlock with men. The �Catalogue�, ofnbsp;which only fragments survive, consisted apparently of a long list ofnbsp;women of the Heroic Age, with stories relating to each of them. Thenbsp;Eoiai seems to have been a work of similar character. Each example wasnbsp;introduced with the words �Or such (woman) as.. These poems innbsp;the course of time were apparently combined so as to form a kind ofnbsp;Corpus of mythology and tradition. The last four lines of the Theogonynbsp;are really an introduction to the Catalogue, while the Eoiai is believed tonbsp;have been attached to the latter. One section of the Eoiai is preservednbsp;as an introduction to the �Shield of Heracles��^which again illustratesnbsp;the way in which the poetry of this age was transmitted. It is not quitenbsp;clear why the poets were so much concerned with women of thenbsp;Heroic Age; but some light is perhaps thrown on the question by thenbsp;Norse poem Hyndlulj��^ which we shall have to consider shortly.

A somewhat different kind of antiquarian catalogue appears in the JEorks and Days', but this will require notice under VII, below. Thenbsp;catalogue form was also much in favour for gnomic poetry during thenbsp;same period, as we shall see in the next chapter.

Antiquarian catalogues can hardly be said to occur in the heroic narrative poetry of the Teutonic peoples. Perhaps the best example onenbsp;can produce is the brief catalogue of rulers (four in number) in thenbsp;Battle of the Goths and Huns, st. i, and it is disputed whether thisnbsp;properly belongs to the poem. On the other hand, three catalogues arenbsp;contained in Widsith, which may practically be regarded as heroic Typenbsp;C (CB), though we believe it to have originated in Type E (cf. p. 42).nbsp;The first (18-35) gives a list of famous kings with the nations which theynbsp;ruled, precisely similar to that in the Battle, but much longer. Thenbsp;second (57�87) enumerates the peoples visited by the poet, with somenbsp;incidental remarks. It may be observed that this list contains, towardsnbsp;the end, a group of names derived from Biblical learning�which showsnbsp;how such lists can be expanded. The third list (i 12-124) gives the namesnbsp;of a number of famous heroes visited by the poet and described asnbsp;�Eormenric�s household force� (cf. p. 201). The references in Dear tonbsp;stories of trouble may also be described as a catalogue.

There can be little doubt that similar catalogue poetry was known among the Teutonic peoples of the Continent. The remains of early

* n oiTi.. .The name of the poem is a plural made out of this�like Afallenau, Gnodiau, etc.

German poetry are indeed too meagre to yield much evidence on such a gt; question; yet reference may be made to the list of deities enumerated innbsp;4nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;inbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Merseburg spells.� A. parallel to the second list in TTidsith,

however, is to be traced in the list of peoples conquered by Eormenric, as recorded by Jordanes, cap. 23�which is evidently derived fromnbsp;Gothic tradition, presumably in poetic form. Similar poetic cataloguesnbsp;are perhaps to be traced in the description of the inhabitants of Scandinavia given in cap. 3 of the same work.

Although catalogues can hardly be said to occur in Norse heroic narrative poetry or in sagas derived therefrom, good parallels to thenbsp;catalogues of forces in the Iliad are to be found in a story which relatesnbsp;to the early part of the Viking Age, but differs in no respect from heroicnbsp;standards. The story is told in one of the fragments of the Skj�ldunganbsp;Saga (cap. 8) and also by Saxo, p. 309 if. (257 if.), whose account seemsnbsp;to be derived from an earlier form of the saga. It is concerned with thenbsp;battle of Bravik, fought between Haraldr Hildit�nn and SigurSrnbsp;Hringr, probably about the beginning of the ninth century. Thenbsp;warriors engaged and the contingents they brought from variousnbsp;countries are described as fully as in the Iliad.

In some of the Norse mythological poems catalogues are almost as frequent as in Hesiod�s Theogony. Thus the Grimnismdl (cf. p. 321)nbsp;gives a descriptive list of the homes of the gods (st. 4 ff.), lists ofnbsp;(chiefly mythological) rivers (27 ff.), of the horses of the gods (st. 31),nbsp;of mythological snakes (st. 35), of Valkyries (st. 37), of names of Othinnbsp;(st. 47 ff.), and various other short lists. In st. 44 we find even a list ofnbsp;the best things of their kinds: �Yggdrasill�s Ash is the noblest of treesnbsp;and SkiSblaSnir of ships, Othin of gods and Sleipnir of steeds, Bifr�st ofnbsp;bridges and Bragi of poets, Habr�k of falcons and Garmr of hounds�.nbsp;The V�luspa^ after relating the creation of the dwarfs (st. 9 f.), gives anbsp;long list of them (st. 11�15), which is very similar to the lists of mermaids in the Iliad and the Theogony. We may also refer here to the longnbsp;series of questions and answers on mythological lore contained in thenbsp;Vaflr��nismdl (cf. p. 321). The Prose Eddal quotes fragments of lostnbsp;poems which give lists of the horses belonging to gods and heroes, andnbsp;also of oxen.

Lastly, we may consider here the poem Hyndlulj�d (cf. p. 242). In reply to Freyja�s request Hyndla (st. 15 ff.) recites the ancestry of

� Published in Braune, Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, p. 81, and various other works. � Skaldskaparmil, cap. 57, from the lost Thorgrimslula and Kalfsvlsa-, transi,nbsp;by Brodeur, The Prose Edda, p. 210 ff.

�ttarr, both paternal and maternal, for a few generations. Then she goes on to enumerate various heroes and famous families of the past,nbsp;adding in each case the words �All this is thy ancestry�. St. 33 if. givenbsp;genealogies of gods and other supernatural beings; but this part isnbsp;generally believed to be interpolated. The important point to notice isnbsp;that �ttarr requires the knowledge of his ancestry to support his claimnbsp;to family property. The genealogy seems to be equivalent to a title-deed.nbsp;When Hyndla has finished speaking, Freyja asks for �ale of remembrance� to be given to her favourite, so that he may be able to remembernbsp;the genealogy when he comes to meet the rival claimant.

This poem perhaps throws some light on the origin of Greek genealogical catalogue poetry. Hesiod�s Catalogue appears to have beennbsp;a Corpus of antiquarian lore, as we have seen. But if descent in Greecenbsp;was at one time reckoned through women�a hypothesis which has anbsp;good deal of evidence in its favour i�the type may have had its originnbsp;in practical considerations such as are illustrated in the Hyndlulj��

In poems of the British Heroic Age, catalogues are not very rare. These poems, it is to be remembered, are of Type D (panegyrics andnbsp;elegies), not Type A. A long list of battles occurs in Tai. xi, a panegyric upon Gwallawg and similar but shorter lists in Tai. xviii andnbsp;xxxvi, which are panegyrics upon Urien. Examples are also to benbsp;found in the elegies. The framework of the Gododdin poem (An. i) is innbsp;the form of a catalogue, and short catalogues occur in it incidentally,nbsp;e.g. st. 30 f.

In poems which are of a definitely antiquarian character and belong no doubt to a later period catalogues are far more frequent. Such is thenbsp;case with the Stanzas of the Graves (BBC. xix), a poem describingnbsp;briefly a long list of graves, many of which are those of characters of thenbsp;Heroic Age and of the Mabinogion. As a general rule one stanza isnbsp;devoted to each grave, but sometimes two or more graves are combinednbsp;in one stanza, and occasionally a hero is celebrated in more than onenbsp;stanza. To this poem we shall have to return later.(under V, below).nbsp;Here also we may mention RBH. xv, though the meaning of the lastnbsp;two stanzas is not clear to us. The greater part of the poem consists ofnbsp;a list of the places at which Cadwallon pitched his camp on his expeditions. The list of battles fought by Arthur given in the Historia Brit-tonum., cap. 154 f. would seem to be derived from such a piece as this.

� Analogies are to be found in other parts of the world. The subject will come up for discussion again in connection with Polynesian antiquarian lore.

Another poem {Tai. xxv) contains a list of horses, mostly unnamed, belonging to various persons, including Arthur, Taliesin and Lieu; butnbsp;the context is obscure. With this may be compared the Triads containednbsp;in BBC. viii,i which give the names of the horses of various famousnbsp;heroes�a catalogue similar in character to those in the Norse fragmentsnbsp;cited above. Indeed the whole body of �historical� Triads may benbsp;included here, since they consist of antiquarian lore epitomised fornbsp;mnemonic purposes.

Two poems {Tai. xiv and BBC. xxxiii) show a certain resemblance to the second and third catalogues in JEidsith (cf. p. 277). In the formernbsp;the speaker, who is clearly meant to be Taliesin, says that he has visitednbsp;and sung before various princes, including Brochfael of Powys andnbsp;Urien. As in the case of Widsith, it is quite possible that this may benbsp;derived ultimately from a poem of Type E. But later in the poem henbsp;claims (31 f.) that he has been in Ireland with Bran, as in the Mabinoginbsp;of Branwen, and taken part in various other unhistorical events. Innbsp;BBC. XXXIII (cf. p. 35) one of the speakers, Gwyddno or Gwyn apnbsp;Nudd, says (st. 15 if.) that he has been present on the occasions whennbsp;Gwenddoleu and others were killed, and adds (st. 19) that he was notnbsp;present when Gwalhiwg was slain.

Culhwch and Qlwen contains a very long catalogue of the members of Arthur�s court who are invoked by the hero. The names are drawn notnbsp;only from native tradition but also from Irish and even Continentalnbsp;sources. Other catalogues occur in the same story, e.g. the long list ofnbsp;tasks which the hero undertakes to perform for Yspaddaden Pencawr.nbsp;The Dream of BJionabwy has a long list of Arthur�s councillors. On thenbsp;other hand, in the Romances, both French and Welsh, catalogues arenbsp;rare, though not altogether wanting. In the earlier Romances perhapsnbsp;the longest are the lists of Arthur�s knights in Erec et Enide and innbsp;Gereint son of Erbin.

The dating of Welsh antiquarian poetry and native saga is a difficult problem; but it must not be assumed that catalogues are necessarily

I These are the earliest datable Triads, for this part of the MS. was written about the middle of the twelfth century. The two last Triads�there are four in all�nbsp;cannot be much earlier than this, since they include Gilbert, son of Cadgyffro,nbsp;presumably Gilbert FitzRichard (ancestor of the Clare family), who did not attainnbsp;power in Wales until mo. The other names which appear in these two Triads arenbsp;such as usually figure in later works�Cai, Gwalchmai, Caradawg and Caswallawn.nbsp;The last Triad is incomplete. The series affords another probable example of thenbsp;tendency to expansion which is found everywhere in catalogue poetry; for the twonbsp;first Triads may well be earlier.

late. Reference has already been made to the list of Arthur�s battles in the H'lstoria Brittonum, cap. 56. The lists of the Cities and Marvels ofnbsp;Britain, which are attached to several MSS. of the same work, appear tonbsp;have been in existence before the time of Nennius.^ Indeed it is anbsp;question whether Gildas had not the former in his mind when he wrotenbsp;(cap. i) that there were twenty-eight cities in Britain. We suspect thatnbsp;several of the catalogues noticed above may have a long history.nbsp;Compositions of this kind cannot safely be dated by the latestnbsp;item.

In Irish sagas relating to the Heroic Age catalogues are by no means rare, and sometimes they run to a considerable length. The mostnbsp;remarkable case is the (non-heroic) story of the Destruction of Danbsp;Dergas Hall. A large part of this story (sect. 75-140)2 consists of anbsp;dialogue between the British pirate Ingcel and his Irish confederates, innbsp;which the former, who has been to reconnoitre the Hall, describes thenbsp;occupants of the various rooms, and the others identify them from hisnbsp;description. This form of dialogue seems to be a recognised conventionnbsp;in such cases. In the Tain B� Cuailngelgt; there is a long description of thenbsp;muster of the Ulster army, which affords an interesting parallel to thenbsp;catalogues of the Achaean and Trojan forces in the Iliad, though thenbsp;description of the warriors here is much more detailed. The wholenbsp;passage is in the form of a dialogue between Ailill, his spy Mac Roth andnbsp;the Ulster hero Fergus. Mac Roth describes each of the warriors, andnbsp;Fergus, in reply to Ailill�s questions, identifies them.

The cases given above are examples of descriptive catalogues. Catalogues which consist wholly or almost wholly of names are morenbsp;frequent. The Tdin B� Cuailnge/� shortly before the last passage, gives anbsp;long list of the heroes summoned by Conchobor to the muster. 5 Innbsp;Bricrius Feast we find similar lists�in cap. 2 of the heroes invited to thenbsp;feast, and in cap. 4 of their wives. Such lists are indeed of frequentnbsp;occurrence in Irish sagas, whenever there is occasion to describe annbsp;expedition or any event in which many heroes take part. For an instance

� In the Cambridge text, after cap. 56 (p. 207 in Mommsen�s ed.) the writer� apparently Nennius�says: de ciuitatibus et mirabilihus Britanniae insulae, ut aliinbsp;scriptores ante me scripsere, scripsi.

5 A somewhat similar list�contained in � rhetorics ��occurs in Emer�s Lament for CuChulainn {Book of Leinster, facsim., fol. 123 b}. It is a list of the heroes whonbsp;ought to have been present to support CuChulainn, when he was slain.

relating to an event towards the close of the Heroic Age we may refer to the list of princes killed in the Battle of Aliens

A characteristic feature of Irish sagas is to be found in the long lists of places through which an army or even a single hero passes in thenbsp;course of a journey. As an example we may cite the detailed itinerary ofnbsp;Medb and Ailill with their army, given in the Tdin B� Cuailnge? Thisnbsp;feature is doubtless connected with the highly developed topographicalnbsp;interest of Irish antiquarianism, which we shall have to notice in the nextnbsp;section. Short lists of various kinds also occur frequently. In some latenbsp;sagas, e.g. the later Tdin B� Flidais, the �catalogue� element assumesnbsp;considerable proportions.

In early Irish poetry catalogues of various kinds are far more prominent than in the sagas. Some of the earliest poems in existence are genealogical catalogues, as we have seen (p. 272). Similar elementsnbsp;figure largely in the poetry of the �synthetic historians�, from the ninthnbsp;century onwards.3 For an example we may refer to a poem ascribed tonbsp;Kenneth 0�Hartigan (d. 984) on the Deaths of some Irish Heroes, whichnbsp;describes the deaths and often the graves of various heroes from Fergusnbsp;mac Lete down to the battle of Allen or later.4 The poem is continuednbsp;by Find, bishop of Kildare (d. 1160), and others down to the twelfthnbsp;century. It has analogies on the one side to the Norse Ynglingatalnbsp;(cf. p. 271) and on the other to the Welsh Stands of the Graves.nbsp;Another parallel to the latter may be found in a poem5 ascribed tonbsp;Torna Eces, a poet of the fifth century, though in reality it is no doubtnbsp;much later. This gives a list of the kings buried at Relic na Rig (� Cemetery of the Kings �) near Cruachan, including Dathi (Nath-I), the successor of Niall Noigiallach, Eochaid Feidlech and Eochaid Airem andnbsp;their family. Labraid Loingsech, and even some of the Tuatha Denbsp;Danann.

The above examples are all taken from poems of a definitely antiquarian character. Short catalogues, more or less rhetorical, occur also in poems of Type D. They bear a general resemblance to the listsnbsp;of battles mentioned in the panegyrics upon Gwallawg and Urien

3 Cf. Hull, Text-book of Irish Literature, Part I, (Note on) Chronology (p. 5 f.) and p. 172 ff.; MacNeill, Celtic Ireland, p. 39.

Ed. and transi, by Stokes, Rev. Celt. xxin. 304 ff. Two of the three texts claim Kenneth O�Hartigan as author; but most scholars believe the poem to have beennbsp;composed in the eleventh century.

(cf. p. 39). As an example we may cite a poem^ addressed to the sword of Cerball, king of Leinster (d. 909), which celebrates a numbernbsp;of battles, in which it had fought. The poem is quite in the heroicnbsp;style.

Reviewing the evidence for catalogues as a whole it must be repeated that they are not always of antiquarian origin. The lists of battles whichnbsp;occur in panegyric poetry are intended to emphasise the glory of thenbsp;hero whose praise is celebrated. The catalogues of warriors found innbsp;narrative poetry and saga are of an informative but not necessarilynbsp;antiquarian character. They may be explained as helps to the narrative;nbsp;but in point of fact they generally give a good deal more informationnbsp;than is required, and often they seem to be additions to the story, due tonbsp;antiquarian interest in the personnel. In most of the other cases thenbsp;antiquarian interest is present from the beginning.

III. Speculation upon the origin of names, especially place-names, is one of the most widespread, and apparently one of the earliest, formsnbsp;of antiquarian activity. Examples are to be found in all the earlynbsp;literatures with which we are concerned; but it is only in Ireland that wenbsp;find what may be called a systematic study of the subject.

The word dinnsenchas, which properly means �story of a place�, is applied to short stories in verse or prose which explain the origins of thenbsp;names of places.� A collection of over a hundred such poems, togethernbsp;with a few prose pieces, is preserved in the Book of Leinster. A numbernbsp;of them are ascribed to known poets of the ninth, tenth and eleventhnbsp;centuries, but the majority are anonymous. The name Dinnsenchas isnbsp;also applied to the whole collection, as well as to two later collectionsnbsp;which are largely derived from it. In these later collections the storiesnbsp;are given mainly in prose, usually with one four-line stanza. For annbsp;example we may take the origin of the name Rath Cruachan (Medb�snbsp;capital) as explained in the older collection. 3 When Etain, the wife ofnbsp;Eochaid Airem, was carried off by the god Midir (cf. p. 5 2), she wasnbsp;accompanied�according to this story�by her maid Crochen ornbsp;Cruachu. They arrived at a certain elf-hill, and Crochen asked Midir ifnbsp;it was his home. When he said it was not, she asked him if her name

i Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Rev. Celt. xx. 7 fF. ; transi, also in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 72 IF.

could be given to it. He agreed, and also presented her with the place as a reward for the journey.

The prose collections frequently give alternative etymologies. Thus the latest collection,� which is believed to date from about 1200, givesnbsp;three explanations of the name Temair (Tara), of which two are foundednbsp;on native speculations and the third on a Greek etymology. These arenbsp;followed by a detailed list of the sites and monuments at Tara�in thenbsp;style of a guide-book. 3 Three explanations are also given for Ardnbsp;Macha (Armagh).4 Two at least of these can be traced to earlier sources,nbsp;and were framed originally for Emain Macha, the ancient capital ofnbsp;Ulster, three miles from Armagh. In each case Macha is the name of anbsp;woman. In the first she is the wife of Nemed and belongs to the storynbsp;of the �Invasions�, which we shall have to notice under VI, below. Innbsp;the second she is the daughter of the ancient king Aed Ruad and foundress of Emain Macha, which she �marked out� with a brooch. This storynbsp;is known from Cormac�s Glossary and other sources. Sometimes she isnbsp;said to be the wife of Cimbaeth, with whom according to the Annals�nbsp;apparently from the Irish Eusebius (cf. p. 273)�reliable history begins. 5nbsp;In the third explanation she is the wife of an Ulsterman called Cruinn ornbsp;Cronn,and daughter of Mi dir (cf. p. 256 f.). She is forced to race againstnbsp;Conchobor�s horses, when she is with child. She wins the race andnbsp;immediately brings forth twins. Her death follows, but first she cursesnbsp;the men of Ulster, imposing upon them the weakness of childbed whennbsp;need should befall them. This story also is known from various othernbsp;sources,^ in which the husband is sometimes called Crunnchu or Crun-niuc. It may be observed that some of the other sources connect thenbsp;name Emain with words for either �brooch� or �twins�.7 These speculations are omitted in the Dinnsenchas owing to the fact that the storiesnbsp;have been transferred from Emain Macha to Armagh.

Mention may also be made of a work called Coir Anmann or � the correct (interpretation) of names�, which contains speculations on a large number of names of persons�also a few communities�known from

� In other sources the name is derived from Crochan, the wife of Eochaid Feidlech (E. Airem�s brother) and mother of Medb.

Cf. Stokes, Rev. Celt. xvi. 44 ff. The first two lines on p. 45 should be transferred to the foot of the page.

7 Cf. emuin, �twins�, e�, �brooch� (with muin, �neck��taken as �neck-brooch�).

saga and early history. It is preserved in two very different forms; but there appears to be much difference of opinion as to its antiquity.�

Apart from these works th� sagas themselves contain numerous remarks on the origins of names.� In the story of Mac Datho�s Pig,3nbsp;cap. 19, the plain of Ailbe is said to take its name from the dog Ailbe,nbsp;which was killed there, as it was pursuing Ailill�s chariot. It had mountednbsp;on the pole when the driver cut off its head�which remained behindnbsp;when the body fell off. In the next chapter, Ailill continues his flightnbsp;over the �Ford of the Dog�s Head� {Ath Chind Chori}, where the dog�snbsp;head fell from the chariot.

The Tain Bo Cuailnge supplies numerous examples of such etymologies. Indeed it is probable that in this�as in other sagas�many incidents owe their origin to speculations on place-names. Thus onenbsp;passaged relates that CuChulainn fought with a hero called Lethan at anbsp;ford called Ath Lethan for Nith, that the chariots were broken at anothernbsp;ford close by, called Ath Carpat, and that Lethan�s charioteer Mulchanbsp;was killed in a ravine called Guala (�ravine�) Mulchai, between the twonbsp;fords. The name of the first ford means �the broad ford on the Nith�,nbsp;that of the second �ford of chariots��so it is very likely that both thenbsp;warriors themselves and their adventure are products of speculation onnbsp;the names. At present, we think, there is a tendency to overestimate thenbsp;effects of the operation of this principle. When we find a hero callednbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;jo

Fraech and a ford called Ath Froich (Fraech�s Ford) it is not necessary to infer that the hero was invented to account for the name of the ford.nbsp;Weland certainly did not owe his existence to the megalithic monumentnbsp;called Wayland Smith�s Cave in Berkshire. Neither was Wada creatednbsp;out of Wade�s Causeway, nor Arthur out of the numerous places whichnbsp;bear his name. They were all well-known characters before they werenbsp;associated with these places, and it was partly owing to their being wellnbsp;known that they were associated with them. There is no reason fornbsp;doubting the operation of the same principle in the case of Irish heroicnbsp;story. The heroes were well known, and places came to be called afternbsp;them. But there seem to be a number of cases, like the one noted above,nbsp;where heroes have been created out of place-names.

t According to Dobbs, Sidelights on the Tain Age, p. 57 ff., the earlier text has had a long history, reaching back to c. 700; but Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage,nbsp;p. 48 ff., holds it to be not older than the thirteenth century.

� For conversations on place-names see the (late) Martial Career of Conghal Clairinghneach, cap. 12; also Hull, Text-book of Irish Literature, I. 176 f.

Explanations of personal names are by no means so frequent; but they are not rare. As an example we may take the name C�Chulainn,nbsp;which is interpreted as � Culann�s Dog� {cu). In the Tditi Bo Cuailnge'^nbsp;the name is explained by an adventure of the hero�s childhood. He isnbsp;said to have killed the dog of a smith called Culann, and then to havenbsp;taken its place as watchman.

In early Teutonic records speculation of this kind is by no means so ubiquitous. Examples seem not to occur in English or Norse heroicnbsp;poetry, except in the invention of such names as Widsith and possiblynbsp;Unferth, which have already been noticed (p. 231), and older nationalnbsp;and dynastic names, like Scyld, which will require discussion under VI,nbsp;below. Elsewhere cases occur sporadically. We have little doubt thatnbsp;by a careful search it would be possible to collect a considerable amountnbsp;of evidence.

An interesting example is to be found in the story quoted above (p. 254) from the Origo Gentis Langobardorum, the object of which isnbsp;to explain how the Langobard! acquired their name�which is interpreted to mean �Long-beards�. A somewhat similar case occurs innbsp;Jordanes, cap. 17. The Goths are said to have come from Scandza innbsp;three ships, of which one, containing the Gepidae, was slower than thenbsp;others. �This is said to have given the nation its name; for in theirnbsp;language gepanta is the word for �slow�.��

In Widukind, Res Gestae Saxonicae, i. 6 f., a story is told which, according to some, explains how the Saxons�the Old Saxons of thenbsp;Continent�acquired their name. The Saxons had agreed to come to anbsp;conference with the Thuringians, both sides being unarmed. But thenbsp;Saxons had big knives concealed under their cloaks, and with thesenbsp;they massacred their enemies. The word for the big knife of ancientnbsp;times was sabs. Practically the same story is told in the Historia Brit-tonum., cap. 46, of Hengest and the Britons. Hengest and his men, whonbsp;are called Saxones., had treacherously concealed knives {Saxos') in theirnbsp;boots when they came to the conference. The story here is not used fornbsp;the purpose of explaining the name � Saxon �, but in view of its parallelismnbsp;to the Old Saxon story we strongly suspect that its origin is to be soughtnbsp;in an early speculation on the national name.

In the Saxon Chronicle antiquarian activity may be traced especially in the account of the West Saxon invasion, from ann. 495 onwards. Thusnbsp;Cerdic is associated with Cerdices Ora, Cerdices Ford and Cerdices Leah,nbsp;Port with Fortes MuPa, Wihtgar with JF^ihtgares Burh, etc. Genuinenbsp;tradition may of course be preserved in one or other of these cases.nbsp;' P. 57 f. in Dunn�s translation; Windisch, 1019 ff.

But in the first three examples at least speculation is much more probable; for it is extremely doubtful whether a Teutonic invader of thenbsp;fifth century could have had such a name as Cerdic. In the fourth also itnbsp;may be suspected that Port owes his existence to the Latin wordnbsp;portas, �harbour�. It is true that this story as we have it may nevernbsp;have existed in the form of oral tradition; it may largely be the creationnbsp;of the man who first wrote it down, presumably in Latin. But there is nonbsp;need to doubt that he was working on time-honoured native lines.

In the �Book of the Colonisation of Iceland� {Islands Landndmab�lz) explanations of this kind are extremely numerous.There are stories whichnbsp;give the various early names of the country, and how they originated,nbsp;and very many stories relating how settlers or their descendants gavenbsp;their names to localities. Other stories again offer explanations of namesnbsp;which are not derived from personal names. As examples of the lastnbsp;type we may refer to some places which are said to have received theirnbsp;names from incidents connected with the landing of Queen AuSr ofnbsp;Dublin (ii. 16)��Breakfast Headland�, where she and her party hadnbsp;breakfast, �Comb Headland�, where she lost her comb, �Cross Hills�,nbsp;where she used to retire for prayer. There is no reason to doubtnbsp;that many of these names have been preserved from the beginningnbsp;by genuine tradition; for Iceland was to all intents an uninhabitednbsp;country before the Norse colonisation. But many others are probablynbsp;due to speculation.

Sagas often explain the origins of place-names, not only in Iceland but also in Norway and other lands. In �lafs Saga Tryggvasonarnbsp;{Heimskr.}, cap. 71, we find Othin in disguise explaining to the king thenbsp;origin of the name �gvaldsnes, the place where he was staying, notnbsp;very far from Stavanger. In Ynglinga Saga, cap. 22, Agnafit, a placenbsp;near Stockholm, is said to derive its name from an ancient king callednbsp;Agni, who met with a tragic death there.

An interesting case of speculation arising out of a personal name is to be found in the same saga, cap. 25, where the description of Kingnbsp;Hugleikr seems to be entirely derived from his name. He is said to havenbsp;been no warrior, but to have kept at his court all kinds of players,nbsp;harpers and fiddlers. The name seems to have been interpreted asnbsp;�one whose mind Ihugr) is devoted to play (Jeikr) �. But he is probablynbsp;to be identified with Hygelac, the uncle of Beowulf, who was a greatnbsp;warrior. Apparently nothing was remembered of him in Norsenbsp;tradition, except that he had lost his life in a great disaster. The kingdomnbsp;of the Gautar (Geatas), to which he really belonged, had long disappeared, and his family was completely forgotten.

The Greek evidence is very similar to the Teutonic. The Homeric poems seem to contain little or nothing which properly comes undernbsp;this head. On the other hand, speculations of this kind occur verynbsp;frequently in later literature, especially in antiquarian and historicalnbsp;works ; and there can be little doubt that many of them are derived fromnbsp;oral tradition. As a fairly early example we may cite the explanation ofnbsp;the name Delphoi given in the Hymn to the Pythian Apollo, especiallynbsp;315 ff. The god boards a Cretan ship in the form of a dolphin andnbsp;guides it to Crissa, the port of Delphoi. Then assuming human form henbsp;leads the crew to his shrine and establishes them there as its guardians.nbsp;The idea was no doubt suggested by the resemblance of the wordnbsp;delphis (Se�Q�s), �dolphin�, to the name Delphoi^

As typical explanations of place-names recorded by Strabo, Pausanias and other antiquarian writers we may cite that of the Saronic Gulf,nbsp;from a king named Saron who was drowned there ; of Naupactos, fromnbsp;the building of ships there by the Heracleidai, when they crossed overnbsp;to the Peloponnesos; of Harma, a place in Boeotia, from an accident to anbsp;chariot (appa), which took place there during the campaign of thenbsp;Seven Heroes against Thebes. In the last case it was disputed whethernbsp;the hero whom the accident befell was Amphiaraos or Adrastos.3

Explanations of this kind are not limited to stories of gods or of characters of the Heroic Age. We may refer, e.g., to the account givennbsp;by Herodotos, v. 92, of Cypselos, who was ruler of Corinth c. 655-625. An oracle had foretold that he would overthrow the reigningnbsp;family of Corinth, and shortly after his birth emissaries were sent to putnbsp;him to death. His mother saved his life by concealing him in a chestnbsp;(KUtp��ri), from which he is said to have taken his name.

The early Welsh evidence for speculations of this kind appears to be limited; but this is no doubt due to the character of the records. Innbsp;heroic poetry we have not noticed any examples.

I Names with Delphin- were associated with Apollo elsewhere. His temple at Athens was called Delphinion.

3 In II. VI. 37 ff. another Adrastos, a Trojan, is thrown from his chariot. It is not unlikely that a confused reminiscence of this passage may have led to the substitution of Adrastos for Amphiaraos in the local story. Some scholars, however,nbsp;contend that the Trojan Adrastos has been transferred from the Theban story; andnbsp;this also is quite possible. His father�s name is not given ; but it may be observed thatnbsp;the adventure costs him his life, whereas the more famous Adrastos survives thenbsp;expedition to Thebes.

found in the Mabinogi of Math. When Gwydion has cheated Pryderi and carried off his pigs, the various places at which he stops for thenbsp;night are said to have received their names from the occasion. Three ofnbsp;them are called Mochdref or �homestead of swine�, and the fourthnbsp;Mochnant or �valley of swine�. Finally he pens them up at a place callednbsp;Crewwyrion^ which is evidently regarded as a derivative of creunbsp;�pigsty�. In a Triad contained in Hengwrt 536 and in the Red Boohnbsp;the name Maes Gwenith (�Field of Wheat�) in Gwent is explained by thenbsp;story of a sow which dropped wheat there.

Speculative explanations of place-names from the names of famous characters occur in Welsh records, as elsewhere, and in later times arenbsp;very common. As an example we may take the name Traeth Maelgwnnbsp;(� Maelgwn�s Strand �), at the mouth of the Dovey, respecting which anbsp;story is told in certain MSS. of the Laws.� At a meeting of princes herenbsp;Maelgwn�s supremacy was recognised because he was able to maintainnbsp;his position against the incoming tide�by means of a floating chairnbsp;made of wings which he had had constructed. Again, Carmarthennbsp;(Caerfyrddin), a name which can be traced back to Roman timesnbsp;{Moridunutn), was interpreted, at least by the twelfth century (cf.nbsp;p. Ill), as �city of Myrddin�. Places bearing Arthur�s name are ofnbsp;course widely distributed over England, Wales and Scotland.

A far-fetched explanation dating from much earlier times is to be found in some texts3 of the Historia Brittonum^ cap. 27. The Britonsnbsp;who went over sea with Maximus are said to have massacred all the malenbsp;inhabitants of western Gaul. Then they appropriated their wives andnbsp;daughters and cut out their tongues, in order to prevent the childrennbsp;from learning the language of their mothers. �Whence also in ournbsp;language we call them Letewicion, i.e. semitacentes., because they speaknbsp;confusedly.� Evidently the idea is to derive this name�*�the earlynbsp;British name for the Bretons�from the words lied., �half�, and zew'z,nbsp;�to be silent�.

IV. Next we have to take traditions and speculations relating to the origin of institutions, customs and ceremonies. Greek records containnbsp;numerous examples. Often they are preserved only by late authorities;

� Cf. Skene, Four Ancient Books, I. p. 64 f. (transi.); Lloyd, History of Wales, p. 129.

* Lat. Letavici, Anglo-Saxon (Dat.) Lidwiccum, Lidwicingum, from Lat. Letavia, mod. W. Llydaw.

but there can be little doubt that many even of these are derived from early antiquarian poetry or saga.

The most familiar case is the double kingship at Sparta, the origin of which is traced to the twin sons of Aristodemos. It may be observednbsp;that this story, as told by Herodotos, vi. 52 (cf. iv. 147), is well suppliednbsp;with details, which imply a somewhat elaborate form of saga. The samenbsp;author, 1.147, notes that among the lonians it was customary for womennbsp;to eat separately from men. In this case he makes merely a generalnbsp;statement�no doubt derived from antiquarian tradition�that thenbsp;original women were Carians, whose husbands and fathers had beennbsp;killed by the first Greek invaders. Again, from references in variousnbsp;authorities, mostly late,^ there would seem to have been a story whichnbsp;explained the origin of the Locrian custom of devoting girls of thenbsp;nobility to serve at the sanctuary of Athena at Troy. As an example ofnbsp;speculation relating to a more general custom we may cite the passage innbsp;Hesiod, Theogony, 535 ff., which explains the Greek practice of devotingnbsp;the bones of victims to the gods by the story of Prometheus� sacrifice.

The numerous festivals which were held in all parts of Greece frequently had stories connected with them, which explained theirnbsp;origin. Sometimes they were said to have been established by the godsnbsp;themselves, as in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 473 ff.�with whichnbsp;may be compared the Hymn to the Pythian Apollo, 353 ff.�and sometimes by famous heroes. One of the most curious of these stories wasnbsp;that which described the origin of the Nemean Games. These were saidnbsp;to have been instituted by the Seven Heroes who were marching againstnbsp;Thebes, and were to commemorate the death of the child Opheltes ornbsp;Archemoros, whom they buried at Nemea.^ It is not necessary, however,nbsp;to suppose that such stories were all pure inventions. The Olympiannbsp;festival is said to have been established by a certain Iphitos, king ofnbsp;Elis. This person evidently lived before the beginning of the historicalnbsp;period�perhaps in the ninth century�and nothing further seems to benbsp;known of him. We see no reason for regarding the tradition as incredible. Even in this case, however, there were other stories, accordingnbsp;to which Iphitos merely re-established a festival which had been instituted long before, by Pelops or Heracles or still earlier heroes.

Early Irish evidence also is fairly abundant. One of the most peculiar features in the Ulster stories is the ces or �weakness of childbed�, tonbsp;which the warriors of Ulster are subject. In some accounts it lasts only

nine half-days, i.e. four days and a half; but in the Tain Bo Cuailnge they are incapacitated by it throughout the winter, and Medb takesnbsp;advantage of this fact by starting on her raid at the beginning ofnbsp;November. One explanation of the ces has been referred to abovenbsp;(p. 284)�that it was due to the curse imposed on the men of Ulsternbsp;by the shee-woman Macha, when she had to race in her pregnancy withnbsp;Conchobor�s horses. This story is given in many sources and seems tonbsp;have been the usual explanation. There was, however, another story,nbsp;which is preserved in only one text.* The shee Elcmaire broke Cu-Chulainn�s chariot, and the hero in revenge cut off his thumbs andnbsp;great toes and carried off his wife Fedelm. At the end of a year Fedelmnbsp;showed herself naked to the men of Ulster, and this brought upon themnbsp;the ces.

For another example we may refer to the tribute {boraime, horamhcL), which was claimed from Leinster by the high-kings. Almost everynbsp;high-king down to the time of Finsnechta (d. 694) attempted to enforcenbsp;it; but it was frequently resisted, and many great battles are said to havenbsp;been due to this cause. According to one story* the tribute was imposed by Tuathal Techtmar because of an insult done to him by Eochaidnbsp;Ainchenn, king of Leinster. Eochaid had married one of Tuathal�snbsp;daughters ; but later, thinking he had made a bad choice, he shut her up,nbsp;giving out that she was dead, and married her sister. When the secondnbsp;wife on her arrival found her sister living, she died from shame, andnbsp;thereupon the first wife died from grief.

Bede {Hist. Eccles, i. i) tells a story relating to the Picts which is probably of Irish origin, though we do not know it from any Irishnbsp;sources. He says that the Picts first came to Ireland and asked fornbsp;permission to settle there. The Irish refused but advised them to settle innbsp;Britain, which they did. But they had no women with them, and therefore they begged the Irish to give them wives. The Irish granted thisnbsp;request on condition that whenever a question of succession arose, theynbsp;should choose their king by his maternal, rather than paternal, ancestry�nbsp;a custom which, he adds, is observed by the Picts down to the present

day. The object of this story obviously is to explain the Pictish law of succession, according to which descent was reckoned through thenbsp;female line, down to the time of Bede and apparently for about a centurynbsp;later. For this custom there is evidence from other sources; the fewnbsp;fathers of kings who can be identified are foreigners�Britons or English.nbsp;Moreover, somewhat similar phenomena can be traced in Ireland fromnbsp;stories of the Ulster cycle (cf. p. 177 f.) and in Wales from the Mabinoginbsp;of Math (cf. p. 116). But it was only among the Picts of Scotland thatnbsp;the custom persisted into historical times�whence it came to benbsp;regarded as an anomaly requiring explanation.

The festivals of heathen Ireland, many of which survived in later times as fairs, were provided with stories explaining their origin, likenbsp;those of the ancient Greeks. Several of them are ascribed to Tuathalnbsp;Techtmar, the high-king mentioned above, who, coming as he does justnbsp;after the �Revolt of the Vassals�, is represented as a great founder or refounder of institutions. But others are said to have been instituted bynbsp;gods. Thus the famous festival and games of Tailtiu (Teltown, Co.nbsp;Meath) are said to have been established by Lug in honour of hisnbsp;foster-mother Tailtiu, daughter of Magmor, who had declared hernbsp;desire to have a festival at her grave. In historical times this fair wasnbsp;regularly held by the high-king.�

In early Teutonic records we cannot recall any evidence which properly comes under this section. In the Ynglinga Saga, cap. 8, certainnbsp;funeral practices are said to have been instituted by Othin�cremation,nbsp;the burying of treasure (for use in the next life) and the erection ofnbsp;memorial stones. Saxo, p. 36 f. (29 f.), ascribes the establishment of thenbsp;festival of Frey�apparently the great Swedish festival�to a legendarynbsp;king Hadingus, who had been advised to propitiate the gods, becausenbsp;he had killed a sea-monster. In another passage, p. 90 (74 f.), Freynbsp;himself is said to have instituted human sacrifices at Upsala. To thisnbsp;sanctuary, however, we shall have to return in the next section.

In early Welsh records also we know of hardly any evidence. In certain texts of the Laws some stories are introduced to account for thenbsp;existence of privileges. The story relating to Maelgwn cited on p. 289 isnbsp;introduced to account for the privileged position of the king of Aber-ffraw (Anglesey). The object of another story� is, apparently, to justifynbsp;the claim of the men of Arfon to lead the van in the army of Gwynedd.

� For references see Stokes, Rev. Celt. xvi. 51. Cf. also O�Curry, MS. Materials, p. 478, note.

� Myv. Arch., pp. 977, 1030; cf. Skene, Four Ancient Books, i. p. 174 f. (transi.).

The story relates that Rhun, son of Maelgwn, led an army to the north against certain princes, including Clydno Eidyn and Rhydderch Hael,nbsp;and that during the expedition a dispute arose as to which section of thenbsp;army was entitled to the privilege of leading the van.

V. Next we may take traditions and speculations relating to ancient buildings, graves, sanctuaries, and localities in general.

This type also is well represented in Greek. Many of the great castles and palaces of the Bronze Age seem to have had stories attached tonbsp;them. Tiryns is said to have been built by Proitos, Mycenai by Perseus.nbsp;Most of these stories are known only from later times ; but even in thenbsp;OdysseyCnossos is associated with Minos, the grandfather of Idomeneus,nbsp;one of the leaders of the expedition against Troy. In the Iliad^ xxiv.nbsp;614 ff., the unfortunate Niobe, who had been turned into stone, isnbsp;identified with an ancient (Hittite) monument on Mount Sipylos�notnbsp;very far from Smyrna�or perhaps with a peculiarly shaped naturalnbsp;rock in the neighbourhood.

Similar explanations were given for prehistoric tombs. The shaftgraves in the grave-circle at Mycenai, which date from cent, xvii-xvi B.c.�the existence of which was still known in Pausanias� time, thoughnbsp;they had never been opened�were believed to be the tombs of Agamemnon and his entourage. The great domed tombs in the lower city werenbsp;held to be the treasure-houses of the same family. Examples are to benbsp;found even in the Iliad. More than one reference occurs to the tomb�nbsp;apparently a barrow�of Ilos Dardanides, who in xi. 372 is describednbsp;as an ancient leader of the people. He is perhaps to be identified withnbsp;the Ilos, son of Tros, mentioned in xx. 231 f., and to be regarded as annbsp;eponymos of the city (Ilios), although in xx. 236 f. he is said to benbsp;Priam�s grandfather. Again, in ii. 604 there is a reference to the tomb ofnbsp;Aipytos (in Arcadia), from whom the famous family of seers callednbsp;lamidai claimed to be descended.

The origins of certain sanctuaries are related in the Homeric Hymns. Thus Hymn I celebrates Delos as the birthplace of Apollo. In Hymn IInbsp;the same god is described as travelling in search of a sanctuary andnbsp;eventually establishing himself at Delphoi. In Hymn V Demeternbsp;chooses Eleusis as her sanctuary, owing to the kindly welcome shenbsp;received there in her distress. Later works recount the origins of verynbsp;many other sanctuaries. Sometimes it is not easy to distinguish earlynbsp;tradition or speculation from the observations of the writer himself,nbsp;especially if he be a traveller like Herodotos; but there is no doubt that

even writers of much later times give a large amount of information from genuine local sources.

In the North, where ancient buildings did not exist, antiquarian speculation of this kind was confined in the main to tombs and sanctuaries, but in regard to these it seems to have been almost as active as innbsp;Greece. For an example we may refer to a passage (cited above, p. 287)nbsp;in �lafs Saga Tryggvasonar {Heimskr.'}, cap. 71, where Othin visits thenbsp;king in disguise and, in answer to his question why the place was callednbsp;�gvaldsnes, tells him the story of a king �gvaldr, whose barrow andnbsp;memorial stones were to be seen close by. The tombs of famous men ofnbsp;the past�even those of the Heroic Age�were often known, whethernbsp;from tradition or conjecture; and sagas contain stories of tombrobbers who plundered them. We may refer, e.g., to p�r�ar Saganbsp;Hre�u, cap. 3, where it is stated that an Icelander named Skeggi, whonbsp;lived in the latter part of the tenth century, made a voyage to Sj�lland,nbsp;where he broke into the tomb of Hr�lfr Kraki. He secured Hr�lfr�snbsp;sword and Hjalti�s axe, but failed to get Bjarki�s sword away from him.nbsp;An extraordinary example of the persistence of tradition seems to benbsp;shown by the name �King �ttarr�s Barrow��' borne in the seventeenthnbsp;and eighteenth centuries by a barrow near Vendel, to the north ofnbsp;Upsala. This explains the name Vendi�kr�ka applied in Norse traditionnbsp;to �ttarr, the father of the famous Swedish king Adils. In Beowulj'he isnbsp;mentioned as Ohthere, the father of Eadgils. Recent examination of thenbsp;barrow has shown that it dates from the time (c. 500) indicated fornbsp;Ohthere by Beowulf-, it contained, inter alia, a gold coin of 477-8.

For Denmark Saxo sometimes supplies evidence which is almost as interesting as that of the sagas. He refers not only to burial-places butnbsp;also occasionally to the precise scenes of certain events, which wouldnbsp;seem to have been fixed by tradition or early speculation. In particularnbsp;we may notice the incidental reference in Book xii (p. 402) to the placenbsp;where Uffo (Offa) fought his famous combat�an island in the Eider,nbsp;at Rendsburg. It is of interest also to note that he seems to know thenbsp;burial-place of Balder; for he records, p. 94 (77 f.), that an attempt tonbsp;break into it was made in his own time.

The chief sanctuaries of the North were those of Gamla Upsala in Sweden and of Leire, not far from Roskilde, in Sj�lland. The formernbsp;place was also the chief abode of the Swedish kings and the latter that of

� Kong Ottars Hog in a work published in 1725, Utters hiigen in a document of 1675, etc. Cf. Chambers, Introduction to Beowulf, pp. 343 f., 356 f., where an accountnbsp;is given of the barrow with references bearing on the question.

the Danish kings in heathen times. There is no doubt that both places were great centres of antiquarian tradition and speculation, although wenbsp;know it only from Icelandic sources and�to a limited extent�fromnbsp;Saxo. The traditions of Upsala are given in the Ynglinga Saga, which isnbsp;derived in part from the Ynglingatal, a genealogical poem (cf. p. 271) bynbsp;the Norse poet Thj�Solfr of Hvi'n, who lived towards the close of thenbsp;ninth century. Both the Saga and Saxo state that the sanctuary wasnbsp;founded by the god Frey, and that the Swedish kings and the nobility ofnbsp;the district were descended from himJ Unfortunately the Skj�ldunganbsp;Saga, which doubtless contained the traditions of Leire, is lost, apartnbsp;from a few fragments; and consequently we are dependent on a shortnbsp;Latin epitome and on references in other authorities. There can be littlenbsp;doubt, however, that Skj�ldr, the eponymos of the Danish royal stock,nbsp;was connected with Leire and the same is probably true of Gefjon, thenbsp;goddess who created Sj�lland with her plough. According to thenbsp;Ynglinga Saga, cap. 5, she was the wife of Skj�ldr.

German travellers in the Middle Ages attributed the chief buildings of ancient Rome, such as the Castle of St Angelo, the Colosseum and thenbsp;Baths of Caracalla, to Dietrich von Berne. It is true that these associations are due to popular rather than to learned speculation; but thisnbsp;remark may apply to most cases of the kind in their initial stages. Thenbsp;attribution, e.g., of Cnossos and Mycenai to ancient Achaean heroes maynbsp;have begun in popular speculation, though it was accepted by thenbsp;learned. The tendency would seem to be to attribute ancient buildingsnbsp;to the most ancient characters who were well known, at least if therenbsp;was any ground for believing that they were connected with thenbsp;locality or country�as Dietrich was with Italy and Minos with Crete.nbsp;But they were usually characters known from national tradition.nbsp;German tradition knew only Teutonic heroes, not the native emperorsnbsp;of Rome.

In England the true origin of Roman buildings and structures was known, at least to the clergy, as far back as the seventh century. Annbsp;early example of antiquarian interest of this kind, relating to the yearnbsp;685, is to be found in Bede�s Life of St Cuthbert, cap. 27, where thenbsp;saint is taken to view the Roman fountain and the walls of Carlisle.nbsp;But the names applied to Roman and prehistoric structures were notnbsp;given by persons acquainted with Roman history, except when they arenbsp;* Cf. Ynglinga Saga, cap. 12 ff.; Saxo, p. 90 (74f-), 228 (185), 313 (260).

� Skj�ldr and Gefjon dwell at Leire in Yngl. Saga, cap. 5; for the creation of Sj�lland, cf. Gylfaginning, cap. I (from the early poet Bragi).

comparatively modern; antiquarian speculation had doubtless begun long before the return of Latin learning. Procopios, Goth. iv. 20,nbsp;writing about 550, gives a wonderful account of Britain. He knowsnbsp;that the ancients had built a great wall across the island, but as a reasonnbsp;for it he states that the country beyond was uninhabitable owing to itsnbsp;wildness�it was impossible even to enter it because of poisonousnbsp;snakes. There can be little doubt that this is derived, however indirectly,nbsp;from English speculation.

The attribution of ancient structures to individuals seems to have been unusual in this country in early times. To the god Woden werenbsp;attributed the post-Roman earthwork Wansdyke (^fVodnes die) and anbsp;Long Barrow near Alton Priors, now called Adam�s Grave, but formerlynbsp;/Fjdnes beorh.^ We may also mention Wayland�s Smithy, a megalithicnbsp;tomb near Lambourne, and Wade�s Causeway, a Roman road nearnbsp;Pickering. The latter name comes doubtless from Wada, who figures innbsp;various Teutonic stories and in pi�reks Saga af Bern is said to benbsp;father of Weland. More frequently personal names appear to have beennbsp;made out of native place-names, e.g. Andredesceaster (apparentlynbsp;Pevensey) from Anderida, and in all probability such cases as Wintan-ceaster (Winchester) from Venta. The more usual type, however, isnbsp;plural. Such was perhaps originally the case with Hunsbury, as well asnbsp;IVandlebury�names derived from peoples famous in Teutonic heroicnbsp;poetry. This type also sometimes arises out of native place-names, e.g.nbsp;Verlamacaestir (an English name for St Albans, according to Bede)nbsp;from Vzrolamium. Not unfrequently it may be suspected that a namenbsp;may be due to antiquarian speculation, even when its origin is unknown,nbsp;as in JVaetlingaceaster (St Albans) and the Roman roads Watling Street,nbsp;Ermine Street and Icknield.

The usual Anglo-Saxon term for Roman structures is (eald) enta geweorc., �(old) structures (handiwork) of giants�. It occurs at thenbsp;beginning of the Cottonian Gnomic Verses:� ��Chesters� are visiblenbsp;from afar, skilful structures of giants which are in this land, marvellousnbsp;constructions of masonry�. The same expression appears again in Thenbsp;JVanderer (87) and The Ruin (at the beginning), where ruined buildings,nbsp;evidently of the Roman period, are described,? and also in imaginary

� Prefixed to MS. C of the Saxon Chronicle (Cott. Tib. B. i), and published in Earle and Plummer, Two Saxon Chronicles, i. p. 280 ff.

3 Both poems ed. and transi, by Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, pp. 8 ff., 54 ff.

descriptions of Roman roads and Roman ruins in foreign lands, e.g. Andreas 1235, 1495. Moreover, in Beowulf we find it applied not onlynbsp;to the dragon�s lair, which seems to be a megalithic chamber-tomb, butnbsp;also to various metal vessels and weapons, which were believed to benbsp;ancient. It was evidently thought that the world had previously beennbsp;occupied by a superhuman race�an idea founded on the perfectlynbsp;correct observation that the buildings and artefacts of the past were farnbsp;superior to anything which could be produced in the poets� own day.nbsp;Attributions to the Devil seem to belong to much later times.

The Britons were never entirely without Latin learning; and some knowledge of the Roman period seems always to have been preservednbsp;in one or other of their monasteries. In certain texts of the Historianbsp;Brittonum, cap. 23, it is stated that the round building�now destroyednbsp;(cf. p. 157)�on the Carron, not far from Falkirk, was a triumphal archnbsp;erected by the emperor Carutius (presumably Carausius), from whomnbsp;the river (Carun) derived its name. These are doubtless erroneousnbsp;speculations, the latter perhaps even absurd; but they testify to anbsp;knowledge of the past which could hardly arise except through Latinnbsp;learning. We may refer also to cap. 27 of the same work, where it isnbsp;stated : in ueteri traditione ueterum nostrorum, ut legimus, vii imperatoresnbsp;fuerunt a Romanis in Britannia; Romani autem dicunt ix fuisse. In pointnbsp;of fact all texts of the Historia, except one, give an account of ninenbsp;emperors. The only exception is the Chartres text, probably the earliestnbsp;of all, which gives a much briefer account of seven emperors�presumably from the uetus traditio.

In later times Arthur�s name was given to many ancient structures, as well as natural features (hills, rocks, etc.) in Scotland, Wales, andnbsp;various parts of England. Thus the round building near Falkirk, justnbsp;mentioned, was called Arthur�s Oven, while a dolmen not far fromnbsp;Barmouth is known as Coeten Arthur (�Arthur�s Quoit�), and another,nbsp;in Gower, as Arthur�s Stone.^ It is doubtful whether any of these namesnbsp;go back beyond the twelfth century�the beginning of the Romances.nbsp;To the same class probably belong some names derived from Arthur�snbsp;knights, though these are less frequent. An example is Caer Gai, anbsp;Roman fort near the Lake of Bala, which seems to be called after Cai.nbsp;The earliest instances occur in the list of Mirabilia attached to certainnbsp;MSS. of the Historia Brittonum and belong to the valley of the Wye.

� For other examples see Lloyd, History of Wales, p. 10 f. The name Coeten Arthur seems to have been applied to many dolmens. A long list of Arthuriannbsp;place-names will be found in Chambers, Arthur of Britain, p. 184 fF.

2C)8 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;antiquarian learning

With these examples may be compared �Taliesin�s Grave�, a megalithic tomb not far to the south of the estuary of the Dovey. This name seems to be connected with a group of speculations relating to thenbsp;central coast district of Wales. Close by is Tref Taliesin. In the latenbsp;Hanes Taliesin (cf. p. 103) Gwyddno�s home is in this district. Moreover,nbsp;the Cantref y Gwaelod, or �Lowland Hundred��^interpreted asnbsp;�Submerged Hundred��which belonged to the same prince, wasnbsp;identified with Cardigan Bay, or a portion of it, and eventually the linenbsp;of rocks known as Sarn Badrig (�St Patrick�s Causeway�) came to benbsp;regarded as remnants of the barrier which the drunken Seithenninnbsp;allowed to be pierced by the sea (cf. p. 116). The last idea is known tonbsp;have grown up in the course of the past three centuries,� and it is at leastnbsp;doubtful whether any of these identifications go back to very earlynbsp;times. Gwyddno belonged to the �Men of the North�.

There are, however, other traditions and speculations of this kind, which are of much greater antiquity. The fortifications on Moel Fenlli,nbsp;which date from the Roman period, though the site was clearly notnbsp;Roman, are probably to be connected with the wicked king callednbsp;Benli, who in the Historia Brittonum, cap. 32 if., is said to have beennbsp;destroyed with his fortress on account of his treatment of St German.nbsp;The Life of St German from which this story is derived seems to havenbsp;been an early work (cf. p. 157 f.); and it is by no means impossible thatnbsp;the name may have been preserved by genuine tradition. A parallelnbsp;case is Carwinley, near Longtown, which is generally believed to benbsp;derived from Caer (G)wenddoleu (cf. p. iii). The fort here has longnbsp;been forgotten,^ but the name attaches to a beck and hamlet.

From the Historia Brittonum it would seem that forts and other places as far apart as Dyfed and Cumberland derived their names from Gwr-theyrn as their founder. Speculation with regard to this king wasnbsp;evidently very active in early times, though in one case at least�thenbsp;district called Gwerthrynion (fiuorthigirniaun} on the upper Wye, wherenbsp;the local dynasty claimed to be descended from him�the name maynbsp;be due to historical tradition. A good instance of antiquarian speculation is to be found in cap. 40 ff., if the arx referred to is the hill-fort nownbsp;called Dinas Emrys, near Beddgelert, Carnarvonshire. But we do notnbsp;know how far back this name can be traced; possibly it may be takennbsp;from this passage. The antiquity of names in Merioneth commemorating

� Perhaps it was the important Roman cavalry station (Castra Exploratorum), now called Netherby, close to Carwinley.

Idris is also unknown to us. We may refer especially to the menhir called Llech Idris, near Dolgelly. This person is presumably the king ofnbsp;Merioneth killed in 630 (cf. p. 148); but he is said to have become anbsp;giant or wizard in the folklore of the district. Still more widespread thannbsp;any of these is the name Sarn Helen, applied to various Roman roads innbsp;Wales. This can be traced back to the beginning of the thirteenthnbsp;century in the Dream of Maxen Wledig, and may possibly be muchnbsp;older; but ultimately it must surely be of learned origin.

We do not know whether Roman ruins were ever attributed to giants, as among the English; but this is certainly the case withnbsp;prehistoric remains, both in Wales itself and also in Cumberland,nbsp;Cornwall, and the districts on the Welsh border. A good example isnbsp;Tre �r Ceri, � abode of the giants �, the name of a large ruined village withnbsp;massive fortifications, on the Rivals, not far from Nevin. It is a nativenbsp;work, whether of the Roman period or earlier.

It has already been mentioned (p. 279) that the graves of various heroes form the subject of a long catalogue poem {BBC. xix). Innbsp;many cases it is the heroes themselves rather than their graves which thenbsp;poet or poets have in mind. One obscure passage (st. 29) seems tonbsp;mean that the grave of Arthur was not to be found.^ But other passagesnbsp;are obviously suggested by the graves themselves and are of a more ornbsp;less descriptive character. St. 44 is concerned with certain graves ofnbsp;unknown persons, perhaps prehistoric tombs.

For traditions or speculations relating to pre-Christian sanctuaries there is no early evidence, so far as we are aware. The Heroic Age fallsnbsp;within the Christian period.

In Ireland there appears to have been much less of a break with the past than in any of the other countries under consideration. Ancientnbsp;structures, especially prehistoric tombs and enclosures with earthennbsp;fortifications�usually circular and known as rath, dun, Uss, etc.�havenbsp;been less interfered with than elsewhere by agricultural or industrialnbsp;operations, and are still preserved in very great numbers. Moreover,nbsp;most of these structures have their own stories; and these stories arenbsp;not, as is so often the case in Britain, mere attributions to giants andnbsp;devils, or adaptations of later romances or stories from overseas, ornbsp;products of modern folklore. In a large number of cases they arenbsp;connected with ancient stories of well-known individuals, some ofnbsp;whom were doubtless historical persons, while others owed their

� The literal translation of the words {^noeth bid) is disputed ; cf. Rhys� Preface to the �Everyman� edition of Malory, Le Morte d�Arthur, p. xiv.

origin to speculations of pre-Christian times. Ireland indeed is unrivalled as a museum of both monuments and traditions of ancient times.

There can be no reasonable doubt that the traditions relating to manyfortified sites are largely of a historical character. Such is the case with Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh), the capital of the ancientnbsp;kings of Ulster, and with the hill of Tara, the ancient residence of thenbsp;high-kings. It has already been mentioned (p. 284) that we have anbsp;detailed account of the antiquities at the latter place as they existed at thenbsp;end of the twelfth century. The origins of the various raths, mounds,nbsp;graves and other monuments on the hill, as explained in this work, arenbsp;doubtless products of antiquarian speculation for the most part; butnbsp;many of these speculations may be very old. The antiquity and importance of the site as a whole is not to be questioned.

Difficulty is sometimes caused by the fact that the existing remains date from times much later than those to which the stories relate. As annbsp;example we may take the place which is usually�though not in thenbsp;Tain B� Cuailnge�represented as CuChulainn�s home. Dun Delganbsp;(Dundalk) or the Moat of Castletown, two or three miles to the west ofnbsp;Dundalk. The fortifications here belong to a type which is believed tonbsp;be not older than the eleventh century at the earliest. Yet Dun Delga isnbsp;mentioned in texts which must have been in existence long before thisnbsp;time, e.g. in Emer�s Lament for CuChulainn�the �rhetorics� at thenbsp;close of the Great Slaughter of Mag MurtheimneJ- It would seem thennbsp;that, as in many other cases, the existing fortifications were superimposed upon earlier ones.� But we cannot infer with certainty thatnbsp;even this earlier fort was CuChulainn�s home from the beginning; fornbsp;the silence of the Tain Bo Cuailnge on the point suggests that in thenbsp;original form of the story the hero had no fortified home. 3

The site of Dundrum Castle appears to have been the subject of interesting speculations in very early times. The castle is believed to have

� For the continuous or repeated use of the same sites we may compare the moat at Greenmount in the same county, where there were found among other things anbsp;polished stone axe and part of the hilt of a Viking sword with a Runic inscriptionnbsp;(cf. Macalister, Archaeology of Ireland, p. 354). The occupation of Tara itself isnbsp;believed to date from the Bronze Age (pp. 180, 70, 154 ff.).

3 Cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 90. It is, however, to be borne in mind that in the Tain B.C. CuChulainn is a mere boy and unmarried. The storiesnbsp;which mention Dun Delga represent him as a married man, living there -with hisnbsp;wife.

been built early in the thirteenth century on the base of an earthen castle erected in John de Courcy�s time (1177-1203); but here again there hadnbsp;been an earlier fortified residence, Dun Rudraige, on the same site�tonbsp;which some of the existing earthworks perhaps belonged. In Bricriusnbsp;Feast (cf. p. 49 f.), which dates from the eighth century, or not muchnbsp;later, this place is Bricriu�s home and the scene of the first part of thenbsp;story. It is mentioned also incidentally in other stories; and the bay,nbsp;close by, is the scene of Fergus mac Lete�s fatal adventure with thenbsp;monster (cf. p. 207). More interesting, however, is the fact that thenbsp;Ulster princely families of the earliest period were known collectivelynbsp;as Clann Rudraige. Their genealogies are traced to a king callednbsp;Rudraige,� but this person is probably an eponymos. It is believed thatnbsp;the name is derived from Dun Rudraige��which means that this placenbsp;was thought to be the ancestral home of the Clann.

Traditions and speculations relating to graves are numerous; and poetry similar to the Welsh Stanzas of the Graves is not wanting. Thenbsp;most famous of these poems is one on Relic na Rig, or the � Cemetery ofnbsp;the Kings �, near Cruachan�to which we have already referred (p. 282).nbsp;A closer resemblance to the Welsh poem is shown by incidental references to graves in the poem on the Deaths of some Irish Heroes, attributed to Kenneth 0�Hartigan (cf. p. 282), e.g. st. 10, 12 f., 25 f., 28,nbsp;36. But the main concern of the poems is with the deaths, rather thannbsp;the graves, of heroes.

Speculations relating to the barrows of earlier times, especially the great chamber-tombs of the Bronze Age, are more interesting andnbsp;evidently much older, though they are preserved only incidentally innbsp;sagas or in works of later date, like the Dinnsenchas (cf. p. 283).nbsp;Barrows were known as side (�shee-mounds� or �elf-hills�) and werenbsp;believed to be the homes of the Tuatha De Danann. According tonbsp;some authorities they had retired to these when they found themselvesnbsp;unable to resist the sons of Milid ; but it is not at all likely that thisnbsp;represents a belief of heathen times. The idea may have been suggestednbsp;by souterrains, which are known to have been in use even in thenbsp;Christian period and which doubtless often served as refuges in times ofnbsp;danger. In point of fact such later chambers are occasionally found innbsp;prehistoric barrows, as e.g. in the hill of Dowth. The great chambersnbsp;themselves may have been regarded as souterrains of the gods before the

i This seems to be the only form (usually genitive) which occurs in early texts.

�invasion� theory was invented. It is at all events to be suspected that they were sanctuaries in heathen times.�

The most important of these localities was the great prehistoric cemetery known as Brug na Boinne, within which lie the barrows ofnbsp;Dowth, New Grange and Knowth, in the angle of the Boyne, aboutnbsp;five miles west of Drogheda. According to the story, which is preserved in several variant forms,� this land originally belonged to anbsp;shee�i.e. probably a god (cf. p. 255)�called Elcmar, whose wifenbsp;(or sister), by an intrigue with the Dagda, became the mother of Aengusnbsp;(Mac Oc). The latter was brought up by Midir; and eventually by thenbsp;counsel of the Dagda surprised Elcmar unarmed in the �Hill of thenbsp;Brug� (possibly New Grange).3 Elcmar was then compelled to grantnbsp;him possession of the Brug for ever, as related on p. 256, above. It maynbsp;be remarked that if Aengus� mother was Elcmar�s sister Boann (thenbsp;goddess of the Boyne), as stated in one�not the earliest authenticated�nbsp;account,^ the story would seem to have originated in local speculation.nbsp;In the days when descent was reckoned through the female line (cf.nbsp;p. 178), Aengus would be Elcmar�s legitimate successor.

Another story, relating to the hill of Knowth, is known only from late references.? Aengus was in love with Englicc, daughter of Elcmar; butnbsp;during the autumn festival (Samuin) she was carried off by a rival�nbsp;Midir in one account�from this hill. The records seek to derive thenbsp;name Cnogba (Knowth) from eno, �nut�, and guba, �lament��^becausenbsp;Englicc�s disappearance was lamented here by her companions ornbsp;Aengus. Those who took part in the festival lived on nuts.

Side in other parts of Ireland also are frequently mentioned. The sid of Bri Leith, near Ardagh in Co. Longford, is the home of Midir; and itnbsp;is to this place according to most of the accounts that he carries offnbsp;Etain, the wife of Eochaid Airem (cf. p. 52). Eochaid subsequently

� In the ninth century the �caves� of the Brug were plundered by the Norse kings of Dublin (Ann. Ult. 862). They were therefore presumably repositories ofnbsp;treasure. But it is difficult to believe that �heathen gold� can have remained untouched through three or four centuries of Christianity. Perhaps the people of thenbsp;Viking Age concealed their treasures there.

� For the variant forms of the story cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 598 ff.

3 It has often been thought that Uam Achaid Aidai (Ann. Ult. 862) was the proper name of New Grange; but we know of no stories attaching to this name.nbsp;We cannot identify any of the monuments of the Brug enumerated in the Dinn-senchas (Rev. Celt. xv. 292 f.).

It is stated also in the Dream of Aengus (a fairly early text) that Boann is brought to attend her son Aengus in his sickness.

destroys the sid with his warriors, and rescues his wife. The sid of Cruachan^ is referred to in various stories, more especially in thenbsp;Adventure of Nera. Another elf-hill in Connaught, Sid Uamain, isnbsp;destroyed, in the Dream of Aengus, by the combined forces of thenbsp;Dagda and the (human king) Ailill, because the elf-king Ethal Anbuail,nbsp;to whom it belongs, has refused to give up his daughter to the lovesicknbsp;Aengus. Mention may also be made of the Sid ar Femen�said to be innbsp;Co. Tipperary�which sometimes belongs to Midir, but more often tonbsp;Bodb, Mng of the elves (shee) of Munster. 2 We do not know whethernbsp;any of these barrows have been identified.

The ancient sanctuaries of Ireland can hardly be dissociated from the festivals held at them (cf. p. 292). We may refer, e.g., to the origin ofnbsp;Tailtiu (Teltown). It is believed� that some of the great royal residences,nbsp;such as Tara and Emain Macha, were originally sanctuaries; but suchnbsp;stories as we have relating to their origin are as a rule merely speculationsnbsp;on the names.4 There can be no doubt, however, as to the existence ofnbsp;other sanctuaries, especially the side and the sources of rivers. We maynbsp;instance the story of the origin of the Boyne, which is preserved innbsp;somewhat varying forms. 5 Nechtan, the husband of Boann, had in hisnbsp;sid a spring at which no one was allowed to look, except his three cupbearers. Boann, either out of presumption or in order to clear herselfnbsp;from the charge of relations with the Dagda, ventured to walk roundnbsp;the spring, and thereupon lost the use of one eye, one arm and one leg.nbsp;She tried to make her way to the sea, but the water of the spring brokenbsp;loose, and pursued and overwhelmed her. Sid Nechtain is said to be thenbsp;source of the Boyne ; but we do not know whether the barrow has beennbsp;identified. The source of the Shannon was also perhaps a sanctuary; butnbsp;this will require notice in a later chapter.

The antiquarian speculations of early Ireland can be traced in many other directions. We may refer, e.g., to the story of Midir and Etainnbsp;(cf. p. 52), where the elves are compelled to build for Eochaid Airem anbsp;causeway over a swamp called Lamraige ; and again, where it is statednbsp;that the Irish learned from these elves a new way of yoking oxen.nbsp;We do not know whether these questions have been investigated.

i This is a natural cave, but the entrance is artificially built up; cf. Macalister, Archaeology of Ireland, p. 179.

� E.g. in the story of the Two Swineherds (cf. Thurneysen, op. cit. p. 276 ff.).

For Tara the Dinnsenchas (Rev. Celt. xv. vyj ff.) also gives much detailed information.

Reference may also be made to the story of Mongan (cf. p. 98), where a purely antiquarian discussion between this king and his fill is conducted with such vehemence that the king stakes all his possessions onnbsp;the truth of his speculations.

VI. Traditions and speculations relating to the origin of nations are usually connected on one side with the genealogies of royal houses�nbsp;which have been noticed under I, above�and on the other with speculations on the origin of mankind, which will require notice in the nextnbsp;section.

A large amount of speculation relating to the origin of the various peoples and states of Greece is to be found in ancient records. Referencenbsp;has already been made (p. 270 f.) to the genealogy, first found in thenbsp;Hesiodic Catalogue, in which the eponymos Hellen is made the ancestornbsp;of the various branches of the Greek (Hellenic) nation through hisnbsp;three sons, Aiolos, Xuthos and Doros. In other fragments of thenbsp;Catalogue Magnes and Macedon, the eponymoi of the Magnetes andnbsp;Macedonians, are said to be sons of a sister of Hellen, while anothernbsp;eponymos, Graicos, belongs to the same family.� Hellen himself is thenbsp;son of Deucalion, the survivor of the great flood; and he again is thenbsp;son of Prometheus, who instituted sacrifices and acquired fire for mankind. Prometheus and his ancestors are treated in the Theogony; tonbsp;them we shall have to return in the next section.

It is clear, however, that many Greek states had local traditions which were incompatible with the genealogy of the sons of Hellen. Xuthosnbsp;appears in Attic traditions, but not in the very earliest generations.Thenbsp;traditions of Argos, Thebes, and many other states know nothing ofnbsp;Hellen or his sons. Usually the founder of the state is the son of one ofnbsp;the great deities or of a river-god or other local deity. The Homericnbsp;poems also know nothing of the family; for there is no indication thatnbsp;Aiolos Hippotades, the �keeper of the winds� (Od. x. 21), is to benbsp;identified with Aiolos, the son of Hellen. Indeed the genealogy, as wenbsp;have it, may not have been of any very great antiquity. But the principlenbsp;was certainly old. A somewhat similar genealogy, full of eponymoi, isnbsp;given for the Trojan royal house in II. xx. 215 ff.

The origin of the state was usually bound up with the genealogy of the early kings. Probably the only exceptions were the colonies foundednbsp;in comparatively recent times, like the cities in Italy and Sicily; but thenbsp;traditions relating to these would seem to have been of a more or lessnbsp;� Fragm. 22 f. (Kinkel).

historical character. The traditions of the Greek states in Asia Minor� which were considerably older�appear to have conformed to the usualnbsp;type. Thus the poet Mimnermos of Colophon says in one of thenbsp;fragments of his poems�We left the lofty citadel of Pylos (in thenbsp;Peloponnesos) and came in ships to the coveted (land of) Asia. Throughnbsp;the overwhelming force which we possessed we occupied lovelynbsp;Colophon�. The explanation of this is to be found in a lost passage ofnbsp;the same poem cited by Strabo, xiv. 1.3, according to which Andraimon,nbsp;the founder of Colophon, came from Pylos. In general, however, thenbsp;lonians claimed to have come from Athens under the sons of Codros,nbsp;who according to legend was the last king of that city. Strabo (Z.c.) saysnbsp;that at Ephesos in his time certain privileges of royalty were stillnbsp;enjoyed by the descendants of the founder, Androclos son of Codros.nbsp;The same writer (xiii. i. 3) relates that Penthilos, son of Orestes, wasnbsp;the leader of an expedition which, under his descendants, settled innbsp;Lesbos; and the poet Alcaios (fragm. 70, 75) speaks of a family innbsp;Mytilene which was regarded with special honour owing to its descentnbsp;from Penthilos and Atreus.

Similar traditions were not unknown in European Greece. The most famous of them was that of the � Return of the Heracleidai�, a movementnbsp;which affected the greater part of the Peloponnesos. This tradition alsonbsp;was connected with royal genealogies, several of which are preservednbsp;either wholly, as at Sparta and Corinth, or in part. The invasion of a newnbsp;and alien people, the Dorians, is led by the descendants of a dispossessednbsp;native family. As in the case of the Ionic invasion of Asia, it is verynbsp;difficult to determine where tradition ends and speculation begins. Thenbsp;presence of Dorians in the Peloponnesos, however, is unknown to thenbsp;Homericpoems;and they seem always to have been regarded as invaders.

The Teutonic evidence is very similar to the Greek. Every royal family doubtless had its genealogy, and many of these are still preserved,nbsp;as we have seen. In England these genealogies are regularly traced backnbsp;to gods; and the same is true of some at least of the Northern genealogies. Mythical eponymous names also occur not unfrequently.

The earliest Teutonic genealogy which we possess is given in Tacitus� Germania, cap. 2, and bears a close resemblance to that ofnbsp;Hellen. �They proclaim in ancient poems.. .that the god Tuisto, bornnbsp;of Earth, and his son Mannus were the origin and founders of the race.nbsp;To Mannus they attribute three sons, from whose names those (peoples)nbsp;who are nearest to the Ocean are called Ingaeuones, those in the centrenbsp;J Fragm. 9 (Bergk).

Hermiones, and the rest Istaeuones. Some, in accordance with the uncertainties of ancient tradition, adduce a more numerous offspring ofnbsp;the god and a larger number of national names�Marsi, Gambriuii,nbsp;Sueui, Vandilii.� It is remarkable that these three brothers recur in anbsp;genealogical document,^ apparently of Frankish origin, some four ornbsp;five centuries later, though Tuisto and Mannus are forgotten. The namesnbsp;of the brothers are given here as Ermenus, Inguo and Istio ; and fromnbsp;them thirteen chief peoples of the West are said to be descended. Thenbsp;genealogy, therefore, would seem to have had a long life. But we wouldnbsp;specially call attention to its antiquity. Tacitus� information is derivednbsp;from poems which were believed to be old even in his day. Antiquarian speculation of this kind had evidently a long history among thenbsp;Teutonic peoples. Indeed this is probably the earliest Teutonic intellectual production of which we have any record.

For several Teutonic peoples we possess accounts of their origin and early history which are evidently derived from native tradition andnbsp;speculation. The fullest of these is the account of the early history ofnbsp;the Goths given by Jordanes, cap. 4-24. This contains, it is true, a verynbsp;large amount of matter�e.g. the chapters relating to the Getae�derivednbsp;from Roman learning; but the latter element is easily distinguishable.nbsp;The story of the Lombards is given, also at considerable length, in thenbsp;Origo Gentis Langobardorum (cf. p. 254) and, still more fully, innbsp;Paulus Diaconus� Historia Langobardorum (l. 2, 7 �F.).

The stories of the Goths and the Lombards consist in the main of a series of movements from one region to another. Each movement isnbsp;associated with a king. The first movement is in both cases a migrationnbsp;from Scandinavia. A similar origin is claimed for the Burgundians innbsp;the Vita S. Sigismundi, and perhaps also, elsewhere,� for the Oldnbsp;Saxons and other Teutonic peoples of the Continent. Modern opinionnbsp;is much divided as to the credibility of the claim.

The origin of the Norwegians is treated in a short document called Hversu Noregr Bygbist (�How Norway was Settled�), part of whichnbsp;occurs also under the name Fundinn Noregr (�Discovery of Norway�)nbsp;as an introduction to the Orkneyinga Saga. Both texts are preserved innbsp;the Flateyjarb�k. In this document the genealogies of a number of thenbsp;leading families are traced back to eponymous and other apparently

I M�llenhoff, Deutsche Altertumskunde, ill. p. 325 ff.; cf. Chadwick, Origin of the English Nation, p. 208.

Cf. Widukind, Res Gest. Saxon. I. 2; Hrabanus Maurus, De Inuentione Linguarum (in Goldast, Script. Rer. Alem. ll. i. p. 67).

mythical ancestors. The progenitors of these are N�rr and G�rr, two brothers who are represented as coming to the country from the northnbsp;or north-east in search of their sister G�i. Their ancestors bear namesnbsp;which in part are personifications of nature��Sea�, �Ice�, �Snow�, etc.nbsp;The later generations are found also to a considerable extent in thenbsp;poem Hyndlulj�d (cf. p. 278 f.).

The aristocracy of the Uppland Swedes traced their descent from the god Frey. The genealogy of the early kings is given in the poemnbsp;YnglingataKyi. p. 271) and in the Ynglinga Saga. In the latter the godsnbsp;are represented as living and dying in Sweden, having come there fromnbsp;the south. The story as we have it is by no means free from Latinnbsp;influence, but it seems to contain elements derived from native traditionnbsp;or speculation�and these are probably not limited to the account ofnbsp;Frey. The other gods are said to return at their deaths to their old home,nbsp;and in cap. 15 SvegSir, one of the early kings, sets out to find this place.nbsp;For this motif an interesting analogy is to be found in Central Africa, asnbsp;will be seen in a later chapter.

Whatever may be the explanation of this case, it will be seen that most of the stories noticed above are concerned with movements ofnbsp;peoples, like the Greek stories cited on p. 305. The later movements ofnbsp;the Gothsand the Lombards are historically authenticated, and it is likelynbsp;enough that records of earlier movements may have been preserved bynbsp;tradition. But the stories of migration from Scandinavia can hardly benbsp;explained except as products of antiquarian speculation; for thesenbsp;nations were settled in their Continental homes at the beginning of thenbsp;Christian era�the time when we first obtain detailed information of thenbsp;Teutonic peoples. It is highly probable � that at all times small partiesnbsp;of adventurers�princes with military followers�were in the habit ofnbsp;crossing the Baltic, seeking their fortunes in the service of famousnbsp;kings; and traditions relating to such adventurers may have becomenbsp;incorporated among the national traditions, if they or their descendantsnbsp;eventually attained to power, through royal marriages or otherwise.nbsp;This is the explanation which we are inclined to favour.

In any case it would be rash to assume that all Teutonic peoples possessed traditions in which they were represented as incomers.nbsp;According to Tacitus, Germ. the Semnones, who claimed to be thenbsp;most ancient and noble of the Sueui, held festivals in a sacred grove, tonbsp;which all peoples of the same stock sent delegates. Special reverence

' Such incidents occur in Norse legendary sagas, e.g. Hervarar Saga, cap. 6 f. ; cf. V�lsunga Saga, cap. I.

was paid to the grove as the cradle of the nation and the abode of the god who ruled over them all. The whole passage implies that the Sem-nones were believed to have been settled in the same place from timenbsp;immemorial.

The speculations which trace the origin of the Britons to Brutus are obviously of learned (Latin) origin, though they appear to be very old.nbsp;In the Historia Brittonum they are found in different forms, whichnbsp;suggest derivation from different sources. In one form (cap. 17 f.)nbsp;Brutus is said to be son of Hessitio (Ljzffon, etc.), i.e. the Istio of thenbsp;Frankish genealogy (cf. p. 306), while the ancestry of the Frankishnbsp;brothers is traced to Aeneas and the Trojan genealogy of the Iliad (cf.nbsp;p. 270), and from thence to Noah. In the other (cap. 10 f.), the variousnbsp;texts differ a good deal among themselves, but the Frankish elementnbsp;does not appear.

Bede was apparently acquainted with some speculation on the origin of the Britons which has not come down to us; for he states (^Hist.nbsp;Eccl. I. i) that they are said to have come originally from Armorica.nbsp;This speculation perhaps belonged to the Britons of the North; for thenbsp;genealogy of Strathclyde in MS. Hark 3859 (No. v; cf. p. 152) containsnbsp;an obscure statement relating to the founder of the family, which hasnbsp;been interpreted to mean that he came from Brittany. It is conceivablenbsp;that this speculation was connected with the Frankish genealogy, for innbsp;the latter the Brittones (Bretons) are one of the peoples descended fromnbsp;Istio ; but this must be regarded as quite uncertain.

There are traces of other traditions or speculations relating to very ancient times, which do not appear to be wholly of Latin origin. Suchnbsp;is the case with the stories of Beli (Bellinus), son of Mynogan (Mino-canus) and his family. In the Mabinogion and elsewhere Beli has a sonnbsp;Caswallawn, who has the same name as Cassiuellaunus, the opponent ofnbsp;Julius Caesar, though he does not play the part of Cassiuellaunus. Innbsp;the Historia Brittonum, cap. 19, Bellinus himself is king of the Britons innbsp;Caesar�s time. Other stories and poems have much to say of Lludd, sonnbsp;of Beli, and his brothers; but the origin of the cycle is obscure. It maynbsp;be observed that in the Harleian Genealogies (Nos. i and x) the ancestrynbsp;of Cunedda and of Coel Hen is carried back to Beli Magnus, who isnbsp;said to be the husband of Anna, the sister of the Virgin Mary. If this isnbsp;the same person, which we see no reason to doubt, the speculationsnbsp;relating to him have probably had a long history.

In the Historia Brittonum, cap. 49, the ancestry of the kings of Builth is traced to Gwrtheyrn, and through him to a certain Gloui, who is

said to have built Gloucester. We see no reason for doubting the later part of the genealogy. Gwrtheyrn was hardly so popular a characternbsp;that fictitious pedigrees would be traced to him. Of the earlier part ofnbsp;the genealogy we know nothing. Gloui is presumably an eponymos;nbsp;but the passage suggests the existence of a tradition that the familynbsp;belonged to that part of the country.^

The origin of the royal family of Powys is given in the Historia Brittonum, cap. 35. The founder of the line, Cadell Durnlwg, is therenbsp;said to be a slave of a tyrant called Benli. When Benli�s castle isnbsp;destroyed by fire with all its inhabitants, Cadell and his family arenbsp;preserved owing to the kindness he had shown to St German; and thenbsp;saint declares that he and his offspring shall be kings from that daynbsp;forward. The story is strange; but such turns of fortune may havenbsp;occurred in the fifth century. There is some ground for believing that thenbsp;Book of St German (cf. p. 157), from which this story is presumablynbsp;taken, was an early work�of the sixth or early seventh century; butnbsp;in any case it would be difficult to account for the acceptance of anbsp;story of servile origin for the dynasty, if it were fictitious. The earliernbsp;genealogies do not profess to know Cadell�s ancestry.

In the genealogy of Dyfed (cf. p. 274) the early stages, as given in the Harleian Genealogies (No. ii), are clearly fictitious. The ancestry ofnbsp;the family is here carried back to Maxim Guletic, i.e. Magnus Maximus,nbsp;and through him to Constantine the Great. But a much earlier form ofnbsp;this genealogy is preserved in an Irish source (cf. p. 151 f.)�from whichnbsp;it appears that in the eighth century the family claimed to be of Irishnbsp;origin.

A large part of North Wales, together with Cardiganshire, was ruled by families which, as we have seen, claimed to be descended fromnbsp;a certain Cunedda. In the Historia Brittonum, cap. 62, this man is saidnbsp;to have come with his eight sons from the North, from a region callednbsp;Manau Guotodin, a hundred and forty-six years before the reign ofnbsp;Maelgwn, and to have expelled the Scots from Gwynedd and elsewhere.nbsp;A similar notice occurs in the Harleian Genealogies (No. xxxii), andnbsp;here the names of the sons�nine in all�are given. The eldest son isnbsp;said to have died in Manau Guotodin, but his son shared with his unclesnbsp;in the division of territory. It may be observed that the names of two ofnbsp;the sons, Dunaut and Ceretic, and of the grandson, Meriaun, coincide

* William of Malmesbury {Gesta Regum, i. 23) applies the name Wirtgernesburg apparently to Bradford-on-Avon. Place-names containing Gwrtheyrn occur innbsp;various parts of Wales, but may be due to the story in Hist. Brit. cap. 40 ff.

with those of the kingdoms over which their descendants rule, Duno-ding, Ceredigion (Cardigan) and Meirionydd. Moreover the names of four of the other sons can be traced in the names of districts�cantrefsnbsp;or commotes�which in the historical period were included in thenbsp;territories of larger kingdoms J It is a natural inference therefore thatnbsp;these persons were mythical eponymoi, invented in rather early times.

Yet Cunedda and his movement from the North are commonly held to be historical; and the reasons for this belief�apart from the date,nbsp;which seems to us incredible^�are undeniably strong. His immediatenbsp;ancestors bear names which are not of a mythical type, but Roman:nbsp;Aetern(us), Patern(us), Tacit(us). Patern has the surname Pesrud, i.e.nbsp;peisrult;ld, �of the Red Robe� (suggestive of a Roman dignitary).nbsp;Manau, i.e. Manaw (Gaelic Manarui)^ is the name of the Isle of Man.nbsp;But there was another district on the Pictish border,3 in the neighbourhood of the Forth, which also was called Manann in Gaelic, and ofnbsp;which the name is preserved in Slamannan, in south-east Stirlingshire,nbsp;and perhaps in Clackmannan. This is probably the district referred to innbsp;the story, especially since the name Guotodin seems to be a reminiscencenbsp;of the Otadinoi (presumably for Wotadinoi), who are located in thenbsp;south-east of Scotland by Ptolemy. Again, Cunedda�s genealogy isnbsp;traced ultimately to a certain Aballach, and through himt to Beli andnbsp;Anna (cf. p. 274). These are the same names which head the ancestry ofnbsp;Coel Hen, whose descendants, so far as they can be traced with confidence, belonged to the south of Scotland and the north of England.nbsp;In the intervening stages, immediately after Tacit, we find three peculiarnbsp;pairs of names: Cein, Guorcein, Doli, Guordoli, Dumn, Gurdumn.nbsp;These have never been explained ; but they are clearly to be connectednbsp;with the series of fifteen similar pairs of names in the list of ancient

� The cantref of Rhufoniog and the commotes of Dogfeiling, Edeymion and Aflogion; cf. Lloyd, History of Wales, pp. 117 f., 240 f., 245.

� Cunedda was a grandfather when the expedition took place, so 146 years can hardly have elapsed between that event and the accession of his great-grandsonnbsp;(Maelgwn). The latter died in the great plague of 548; but we do not know when henbsp;began to reign. If we allow twenty years to his reign the 146 preceding years willnbsp;reach back to a time when North Wales was still occupied by Roman garrisons;nbsp;for there is evidence that the fortress at Carnarvon was held as late as 385 (cf.nbsp;Antiquaries Journal, 1922, p. 63). Possibly cxlvi may be a corruption of xlvi�nbsp;which would give a much more likely date; but we are entirely in the dark as to thenbsp;origin of the statement.

3 Cf. Ann. Ult. 710. The reference to the same event in the Saxon Chronicle points to the neighbourhood of Falkirk as the scene.

Pictish kings contained in the Pictish Chronicle: Brude Pant, Brude Urpant, etcJ The evidence therefore, taken as a whole, points distinctlynbsp;to the existence of a tradition that Cunedda�s family were Picts ornbsp;northern Britons with Pictish affinities, who had come under strongnbsp;Roman influence�such as might be expected in that region in thenbsp;fourth century.

It would seem then that the story of Cunedda^ is derived from tradition rather than from speculation, and belongs to the twilight of history rather than to mythology. This does not prove of course that he reallynbsp;had seven sons who gave their names to seven districts of Wales. Indeednbsp;it is worth noting that the most important kingdoms held by hisnbsp;descendants, those of Gwynedd and Anglesey, have no eponymoi. Butnbsp;there is no need to conclude that the derivations are all necessarilynbsp;fictitious. A king of Cardigan named Seisyll in the eighth centurynbsp;conquered Ystrad Tywi (part of Carmarthenshire), and the enlargednbsp;kingdom was known thenceforth as Seisyllwg.3 The kingdom ofnbsp;Morgannwg derived its name from a historical king Morgan.4 Analogiesnbsp;may be found in other countries�we may refer, e.g., to Loth(a)ringennbsp;(Lorraine), which took its name from the emperor Lothaire (840-855).nbsp;The Welsh names may be compared with those of English dynasties�nbsp;Oiscingas, Ic(e)lingas, Wuffingas. We cannot prove the historicalnbsp;existence of Icel or Wufla, who are recorded only in genealogies, nornbsp;even of Oise (Aesc), who is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle ; but wenbsp;see no adequate reason for doubting it. In the same way we are inclinednbsp;to the view that some of Cunedda�s sons may come from genuinenbsp;tradition, while others may have been invented, on the analogy ofnbsp;these, by families who wished to claim a distinguished ancestry.

The value of the British evidence lies largely in the fact that it approaches more nearly to the origins than any of the other cases whichnbsp;we have to discuss. Here, as elsewhere, we find dynasties which arenbsp;said to have obtained their thrones by invasion. The invaders, althoughnbsp;they must have had military followers, are clearly represented asnbsp;families rather than peoples; and the kingdoms come into existence asnbsp;the property of these families. Except in the north most of the kingdoms

seem to date from the fifth century, i.e. very soon after the connection with the central government at Rome had come to an end. Thenbsp;eponymous and other speculative elements are mostly confined to thenbsp;ancestries of the families which then obtained power, though they arenbsp;probably not wanting in the generation which represents the actualnbsp;period of reconstruction. To a certain extent the growth of this speculation can be seen. Thus in the Harleian Genealogies, which date from thenbsp;tenth�or more probably the ninth�century (cf. p. 150), the line ofnbsp;Dyfed is carried back to the emperor Maximus; but in another sourcenbsp;(cf. p. 151 f.), which dates apparently from the eighth century, the samenbsp;line is traced to an Irish origin. It may be noted that the same phenomenon recurs later in the genealogy of Strathclyde. In the Harleiannbsp;Genealogies this line is traced back to the doubtless historical Cereticnbsp;Guletic (cf. p. 152); but in the fourteenth century MS. Hengwrt 536nbsp;Maximus {Maxen Wkdic} has taken the place of Ceredig.

It is unfortunately beyond our power to deal adequately with the Irish evidence bearing upon this subject. Genealogies and othernbsp;materials exist in such abundance that it would require several years�nbsp;special study to obtain a command of them; and much of the material isnbsp;still unpublished. We shall therefore have to be content with selecting anbsp;few cases, which we shall deal with to the best of our ability, thoughnbsp;briefly. But we would warn the reader that even in these cases evidencenbsp;may exist which we do not know and which may to some extent impairnbsp;the value of our observations.

From the seventh century onwards Irish scholars were active in constructing a history of Ireland and the Irish people from the earliestnbsp;times. The scheme was probably suggested by the Chronicle of Eusebiusnbsp;(cf.p. 168 f.) ; but early native traditions and speculations were doubtlessnbsp;utilised, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the Latinnbsp;(Biblical and Classical) and the native elements. The early stages of thenbsp;history are mainly occupied with a series of invasions, the last of whichnbsp;is led by the sons of Milid. From three of these sons, Eremon, Eber andnbsp;Ir, nearly all the chief families of Ireland are made to be descended,nbsp;though the ancestry of one family which occasionally attained to thenbsp;high-kingship is traced to a certain Ith, son of Bregan, a brother ofnbsp;Milid. Milid, Eremon and Eber are mentioned in genealogical poems ofnbsp;the seventh century, and we see no reason for doubting that the mainnbsp;features of the story were then known. But its origin is far from clear.nbsp;It is generally held that the name Milid is taken from Lat. miles-, but nonbsp;satisfactory explanation of the other names has yet been offered, as far

as we knowJ The three sons of Milid may have been suggested by the three sons of Noah or by the three Frankish brothers; but parallels arenbsp;so widespread that it is hardly safe to assume that they cannot benbsp;products of independent native speculation.

It has been suggested above (p. 273) that the amazing length of the genealogies was due to the desire to fill up the interval between thenbsp;times of the Biblical Patriarchs and the beginning of Irish history�nbsp;calculated according to the chronological scheme of Eusebius. If so,nbsp;it is a product of Latin rather than native speculation. Note may benbsp;taken of the fact that no ramifications are recorded until many generations after the time of the three brothers. It is only when the ramifications appear that the presence of native speculation can be detectednbsp;with any confidence. These ramifications occur much earlier among thenbsp;descendants of Eremon than in the other lines. And here it may benbsp;noted that Eremon�s descendants are far more numerous and widespread than the others. To them belong the ruling families of Tara,nbsp;Connaught and Leinster, as well as some of the leading families ofnbsp;Ulster and Munster. On the other hand, Eber�s descendants are represented as belonging in early times exclusively to Munster, while thenbsp;descendants of Ir are all traced back to a few of Conchobor�s heroes.

The origin of the first ramification among Eremon�s descendants� between the line of Leinster and that of the high-kings (Tara)�isnbsp;traceable to the story of the Destruction of Dinn Rig (cf. p. 51), innbsp;which the progenitors of the two lines are brothers. It is therefore ofnbsp;native origin. In the Annals of Tigernach~�presumably from thenbsp;Irish Eusebius�this story is synchronised with the times of Romulusnbsp;and Hezekiah, i.e. the latter part of the eighth century b.c. Now it isnbsp;only the genealogy of Leinster which contains a sufficient number ofnbsp;generations to reach back to this date; the genealogy of the high-kingsnbsp;(Tara) is much too short.3 We may infer then that the calculation was

� The explanation given by van Hamr/iel, Zeitschr. f. celt. Phil. x. 168, note, seems to us incredible.

based on the former genealogy. It may be noted that even in the story itself the Leinster family seems to be represented as the senior line. Atnbsp;all events Loegaire Lore, its progenitor, reigns as high-king before hisnbsp;brother Cobthach. Indeed a genealogical poem of the seventh century�nbsp;appears to claim the high-kingship for this line continuously from thenbsp;time of Labraid Loingsech to that of Cathair Mor. But we do not knownbsp;how the Leinster genealogy came to be built up, any more than thatnbsp;of the rival line. It is incredible to us that the story of Dinn Rig cannbsp;relate to such remote times.

The next ramifications appear in the seventh generation from Cobthach and in the fifteenth from Labraid. In the latter case the line of Ossory separates from that of Leinster. In the former the progeny ofnbsp;Cobthach divides on the one side into the line of the high-kingsnbsp;(Tara), often known as �descendants (jz'Z, dann} of Conn�, and on thenbsp;other into a line commonly called Erainn. There are traces of a story,nbsp;evidently mythical, relating to the origin of the latter. This line againnbsp;divides in the tenth generation�one branch being represented later bynbsp;the Erainn of Munster, to whom Conaire Mor belonged, the Dalnbsp;Riada of Ulster, and various other families, while the other survives innbsp;the Ulaid or true Ulstermen, properly known as Dal Fiatach (cf. p. 177).

In all these cases�which, it should be observed, relate to times anterior to the beginning of the Christian era�the element of (native)nbsp;speculation is doubtless very large, though the reasons for the relationships stated are generally obscure. The case of Conn Cetchathach, whonbsp;belongs to a later period (cf. p. 168), is somewhat different. He isnbsp;the grandfather of Cormac mac Airt, a doubtless historical person, andnbsp;there are stories relating to him and his immediate family which do notnbsp;give the impression of myth. Yet his ancestors, as well as his descendantsnbsp;�in fact all this branch of the stock of Eremon�are frequently callednbsp;Sil Cuinn or �Progeny of Conn�; and even if this name arose in laternbsp;times, the name Connachta (Connaught), which is said to have much thenbsp;same meaning, is certainly very ancient. Again, the northern half ofnbsp;Ireland is often called Leth Cuinn, while the name Leth Moga is appliednbsp;to the southern half. There is a story which relates how Mog (Mug)nbsp;Nuadat, king of Munster, made war against Conn with the result thatnbsp;eventually they divided the country between them. But it has oftennbsp;been remarked that literally Leth Cuinn means � the freeman�s half�, andnbsp;Leth Moga �the slave�s half�. On the whole perhaps the most likely

� Cf. K. Meyer, Abhandl. d. k. pr. Akad. d. Wiss. 1913, phil.-hist. Cl,, No. 6, p. 14 ff.

explanation is that Conn was a real man, who lived at the time to which tradition assigns him, that he bore a name which was also applied to hisnbsp;clan generically� and that�in consequence of this�he was madenbsp;responsible by later speculation for things which had come to passnbsp;before his time.

The progeny of Ir is represented in ancient times by the Clann Rudraige, the royal family of Ulster, to which belong Conchobor,nbsp;Conall Cernach and the other Ulster heroes of their time. This line isnbsp;less than half as long as even the shorter line from Eremon to the samenbsp;point�six or seven generations before Conn. It would seem to havenbsp;been framed to fit a different scheme of chronology. The Annals ofnbsp;Tigernach contain entries of the kings of Emain, i.e. Emain Macha,nbsp;from Cimbaeth, son of Finten, who is stated to have become king innbsp;307 B.c. and who elsewhere is said to be the husband of Macha, thenbsp;eponymous foundress of Emain Macha. The entry� which gives thisnbsp;date indicates the existence of two systems of chronology whichnbsp;differed from one another by nearly five centuries. As the entries of thenbsp;kings of Emain belong to the shorter system, this probably originatednbsp;in Ulster. The succession of kings recorded in the Annals is not fromnbsp;father to son�which is in harmony with the genealogies. For thenbsp;latter contain a number of ramifications even in the early stages; and

� This is a rare occurrence, but examples are not unknown. It is unlikely that the Gothic king Ostrogotha (Eastgota) recorded by Cassiodorus, Var. xi. i, Jordanes,nbsp;cap. 16 f. and WiJsitk 113, was a mythical eponymos.

� Rev. Celt. XVI. 394. The entry is as follows: In anno xviii Ptolomei fuit initlatus regnare in Emain Cimhaedfilius Fintain, qui regnauit xxuiii annis. Tunc Echu Buadachnbsp;pater Ugaine in Temoria regnase ab aliis fertur, liquet (i.e, licet) praescripsimus ollimnbsp;Ugaine imperasse. Omnia monimenta Scottorum usque Cimbaed incerta erant. Thenbsp;last sentence seems to have been misunderstood by some modem scholars. Startingnbsp;from a (rather doubtful) etymology of the name Finten or Fintan (fromfinn, �whitenbsp;and tan, �time�) it has been ingeniously proposed that the meaning is that Cimbaethnbsp;was the beginning of all things, because he was the son of �Blank Time�. But thenbsp;context clearly shows that the writer is referring to a discrepancy in his authorities innbsp;regard to the date of Ugaine (Mor). Some say that Ugaine lived at this time�whichnbsp;is in accord with the story that Ugaine was brought up by Cimbaeth�but he hasnbsp;already entered Ugaine�s reign at a different date. The only previous mention ofnbsp;Ugaine is in the entry relating to the story of Dinn Rig (cf. p- 313, note), in whichnbsp;his son Cobthach is the chief character. This entry is more than four centuriesnbsp;earlier than the other. More probably, however, the reference is to some entry innbsp;the early part of the Annals, which is lost. The fragment extant begins just beforenbsp;the birth of Romulus. We suspect that the early annals, like some later works whichnbsp;are probably derived from them, gave widely discrepant dates for the coming of thenbsp;sons of Milid.

though these seem not to continue beyond two generations, there are traces of stories attached to some of the names. Both the genealogy andnbsp;the Annals therefore suggest the existence of a good deal of nativenbsp;speculation.

The royal family of the Ulaid or true Ulstermen in later times traced their descent from a certain Fiatach Finn, from whom the kingdom isnbsp;known as Dal Fiatach. His ancestryis traced�many generations back�nbsp;to the same source as that of the Erainn of Munster (cf. p. 177), andnbsp;comes ultimately from Eremon. But the ancient Clann Rudraige, fromnbsp;Ir, is represented by the kings of Dal Araide, who traced their descentnbsp;from Conall Cernach. The same ancestry was claimed by the kings ofnbsp;Leix, in Leinster, and other families, all of which�including Dalnbsp;Araide�seem to have belonged to communities known as Cruithni ornbsp;Picts. It is commonly assumed that the Cruithni were the aboriginalnbsp;inhabitants of Ireland, though we know of no evidence worth consideration in support of this view. But it has never been explained, so far asnbsp;we are aware, why the Cruithni should claim descent from Conall.nbsp;The evidence of tradition is clear, so far as it goes. The Dal Araidenbsp;claimed to be the legitimate descendants of the Clann Rudraige. Nonbsp;such claim was ever put forward by the Ulaid (Dal Fiatach), thoughnbsp;they would surely have claimed the more distinguished ancestry, if therenbsp;had been any justification for doing so. The claim of Leix is explained bynbsp;a story which relates that a son of Conall called Laigsech Cennmor tooknbsp;service with CuChorp, king of Leinster, an ancestor of Cathair Mor innbsp;the fifth generation, and on his behalf expelled the men of Munsternbsp;from Leix�for which he was rewarded with the kingdom. Laigsechnbsp;seems to have got his name from Leix (Laigis), though he plays somenbsp;part also in other stories. In other communities, such as the Conaille ofnbsp;Murthemne, Conall himself figures as an eponymos. A good deal ofnbsp;speculation therefore is involved. But it is speculation on the origin ofnbsp;families, and founded on the movements, real or imaginary, of individual princes. It would seem that the people of Leix were regardednbsp;as Cruithni because their royal family claimed to be an offshoot fromnbsp;the Cruithni of Ulster.

From the examples given above it will be evident that in Ireland a large amount of Latin learning and speculation has been grafted upon anbsp;still larger body of native tradition and speculation. The latter has beennbsp;made to fit into a scheme supplied by the former, and consequently thenbsp;two are sometimes by no means easy to disentangle. The native elementnbsp;is concerned with individuals and families; the national genealogies, as

elsewhere, are properly those of the royal families and may be traced back to strangers, as in the case of Leix. But it can rarely, if ever, benbsp;determined where genuine tradition ends and speculation begins. If wenbsp;are right in believing (cf. p. 177 f.) that in the age of the Ulster heroesnbsp;succession was through the female, at least in some parts of Ireland, thenbsp;genuineness of the genealogies, which are always paternal, cannot ofnbsp;course be maintained beyond that point. It may be that in some casesnbsp;different genealogies have been strung together. This is rather suggestednbsp;by the recurrence of the name of the god Lug�perhaps also the namenbsp;Nuadu�at various stages in the genealogies.

The two most important features which are in doubt are (i) the three ancestral brothers, and (2) the invasion motif in general. The formernbsp;may, as we have seen, be of Latin origin; but analogies are widespread.nbsp;In addition to the Greek and early Teutonic examples noticed above wenbsp;may refer, e.g., to the Scythian story given by Herodotos iv. 5 f. Thenbsp;invasion story, as we have it, is obviously inspired from Biblical andnbsp;Classical sources. But here again analogies are so numerous that wenbsp;need not suppose it to have been entirely without native foundation. Itnbsp;is indeed much to be doubted whether native tradition preserved anynbsp;memory of the great invasion or series of invasions which introducednbsp;the Gaelic language into Ireland. But movements by bodies of adventurers on a smaller scale may have taken place in much later times ; andnbsp;we think it not unlikely that the invasion doctrine was in part suggestednbsp;or furthered by traditions of such movements.

VII. Lastly, we have to consider speculations upon the origin of mankind in general, the gods and the world.

Greek poetry of the Hesiodic type seems to have treated the whole of this subject systematically in genealogical form. In the Catalogue, asnbsp;we have seen (p. 304), the eponymous Hellen was said to be son ofnbsp;Deucalion, and the latter to be son of Prometheus. Beyond this pointnbsp;the genealogy is given in Hesiod�s Theogony. Prometheus is son ofnbsp;lapetos, a brother of Cronos, the father of Zeus. Cronos and lapetosnbsp;have other brothers and sisters�Hyperion, Theia, Oceanos, etc.�nbsp;while Hyperion and Theia are the father and mother of Helios (thenbsp;Sun) and Selene (the Moon). The whole family are children of Gaianbsp;(Earth) and Uranos (Heaven); but Gaia had herself given birth tonbsp;Uranos, as well as to the Mountains and the Sea (Pontos).

It will be seen that the whole genealogy, beginning with Uranos, amounts to only three generations down to Prometheus and Zeus, or

four down to Deucalion and the children of Zeus. The first human beings are first or second cousins to the gods. It is not quite clearnbsp;whether Prometheus himself is human, but there seems to be nonbsp;doubt about his son Deucalion. Again, Zeus and his children, thoughnbsp;not human, are doubtless thought of as anthropomorphic, in accordancenbsp;with the usual Greek conceptions of these deities. But other members ofnbsp;the family are primarily elemental, and their elemental character is notnbsp;forgotten or obscured.^ To this type belong all the members of the firstnbsp;generation, and several of those in the second and third. There are alsonbsp;a number of monstrous beings, theriomorphic and half-theriomorphic,nbsp;and mostly maleficent. The majority of these are descended from thenbsp;union of Pontos and Gaia.

Beside this family the Theogony gives another. Gaia was not the first being to come into existence. First came Chaos, then Gaia� andnbsp;Eros (Love). The relationship of the three is not stated, and no genealogynbsp;is traced from Eros. From Chaos, however, come Erebos (Darkness)nbsp;and Nyx (Night). From Nyx and Erebos come Aither (Bright Sky,nbsp;perhaps originally Daylight) and Hemera (Day). Later (211 If.),nbsp;Night is said to have given birth to Doom (Moros), Fate, Death, Sleep,nbsp;the Fates (Keres), Woe, and other abstract beings, including Nemesisnbsp;and Strife. Strife in turn gives birth to other abstract beings of anbsp;troublous and criminal character, and also to Ruin (Ate) and Oath3nbsp;(Horcos). It may be observed that this abstract family is separated fromnbsp;Aither and Hemera, the elemental children of Nyx (124 f.), and comesnbsp;as an interruption in the history of Gaia�s progeny, which begins atnbsp;126�a fact which suggests that it did not belong to the original structurenbsp;of the poem.

Horcos is personified also in the PForks and Days (217), where also we find personifications of Justice and other abstract qualities. In regardnbsp;to the beginnings of human history the J^orks and Days has in commonnbsp;with the Theogony the story of Prometheus and Pandora�the origin ofnbsp;human troubles. But this is followed (109 If.) by another account ofnbsp;human history�the story of the five races, who are said to have followednbsp;one another in succession (cf. p. 13). Both the first, or golden, race

� We are speaking here of the Hesiodic�and the ordinary Greek�conception of Zeus. Linguistic evidence (Skr. Dyaus^ etc.) shows of course that Zeus himself wasnbsp;originally elemental, and equivalent to Uranos.

3 In Hesiod�s poems Horcos is properly a personification of Calamity which befalls those who swear false oaths.

and the second, or silver, race are said to have been created by the gods�those who possess the homes of Olympos. The Golden Racenbsp;lived in the time of Cronos. The Silver Race was much inferior to this,nbsp;and the third, or Bronze, race again much inferior to the silver. With thenbsp;fourth race�the heroes who fought at Thebes and Troy�the descending scale is interrupted ; but it is resumed again with the fifth race ornbsp;Race of Iron�the people of the poet�s own time, who are represented asnbsp;the worst of all. The third and fourth races are said to have been creatednbsp;by Zeus; but the creation of the fifth race is not specified. It will benbsp;seen that the first, second, third and fifth races are called from metals;nbsp;in the account of the two latter there are clear reminiscences of thenbsp;transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. In this respect also thenbsp;sequence is interrupted by the fourth race, which does not get its namenbsp;from a metal ; and in a later chapter we shall see reason for believing thatnbsp;this race did not find a place in the original scheme.

To Hesiod � is also attributed another story of creation, according to which Prometheus formed the human race out of earth, while Minervanbsp;(Athena) infused breath (spiritus) into them. The context is unknown;nbsp;but later writers who give varieties of the story place this creationnbsp;sometimes before, sometimes after, the flood of Deucalion. Sincenbsp;Deucalion himself appears to be a man, the latter form of the story isnbsp;possibly more in accordance with Hesiodic ideas. It is perhaps a form ofnbsp;how the earth was replenished after the flood.

In the Homeric poems also personifications both of nature and of abstract conceptions are not uncommon. The sun, the dawn, etc. arenbsp;regularly described as deities; and we find also personifications ofnbsp;Night, Sleep, Dreams, Strife, etc. No genealogy of these is given�nornbsp;indeed of the gods themselves, though their relationships to one anothernbsp;are often referred to. It is not at all clear that the Hesiodic genealogy asnbsp;a whole was known to the Homeric world. Heaven and earth seem notnbsp;to be personified. In two passages, II. xiv. 201 (cf. 302) and 245 f.,nbsp;Oceanos is described as the �origin� (y�veo-i�) of the gods. Yet in thenbsp;former passage at least he is clearly personified.

There seems to be little or no material available for bridging over the interval between this early mythological cosmology and the speculationsnbsp;of the philosophers of the sixth century. Certain expressions� occur whichnbsp;suggest that by some Zeus was regarded as the originator of all things.nbsp;But the absence of context makes it impossible to speak with confidence.

The earliest �rationalistic� speculations known are those of Thales of Miletos, in the first half of the sixth century. He held that water wasnbsp;the substance from which all things arose and of which they consist, andnbsp;that the earth floats upon water. This doctrine does not seem to be sonbsp;very far removed from the Homeric expression noticed above. Personifications, however, and genealogies are abandoned; and Thales� ideasnbsp;are probably not to be regarded as a mere development of native speculation, since he is said to have studied mathematics and astronomy innbsp;Phoenicia and Egypt�countries where the history of civilisation hadnbsp;been long and uninterrupted. He is believed not to have committed hisnbsp;speculations to writing.

The speculations of Thales� younger contemporary Anaximandros fall outside the scope of our work; for he is known to have writtennbsp;scientific treatises, though these have perished. It may be noted, however, that he is said to have regarded as the origin of all things � thenbsp;infinite��apparently an unlimited mass of matter, which was always innbsp;process of motion. This motion led first to the separation of the warmnbsp;from the cold. From these two arose the damp; and from the dampnbsp;were separated the earth, the air, and the encircling fire, which appears tonbsp;us as the heavenly bodies. He is also said to have believed in periodicnbsp;alternations of renewal and destruction of the world. Parallels to somenbsp;of these ideas are to be found elsewhere, as we shall see below.

A good deal of speculation upon these subjects is preserved in early Norse poetry and prose records; but the material available from othernbsp;Teutonic lands is very meagre. We will therefore begin with the former.

The chief sources of information are the three early anonymous poems Voluspd, Eafpr��nismdl and Grimnismdl, and the first part of thenbsp;Prose Edda, called Gylfaginning, or the �Hallucination of Gylfi�. Thenbsp;former date no doubt from heathen times; but the Prose Edda wasnbsp;written by the Icelandic scholar and statesman Snorri Sturluson earlynbsp;in the thirteenth century, at a time when Iceland had been Christian fornbsp;more than two centuries. The three poems just mentioned were his chiefnbsp;sources here; but he gives also a good deal of information, apparentlynbsp;from tradition, which is not preserved elsewhere. The peculiar framework in which the Gylfaginning is set�a kind of didactic dialogue�willnbsp;require notice in a later chapter. It will be sufficient here to note thatnbsp;the material is to some extent systematised and presented in a morenbsp;coherent form than is to be found in the poems.

The Voluspd, or �Prophecy of the Witch� (or Seeress), is in the form of a monologue delivered, at least in part, to Othin by a witch {yolva).

After a short preamble, the poem describes briefly the origin of the world (st. 3-6) ; then it relates the creation of the dwarfs and variousnbsp;incidents in the history of the gods, including the war with the Vanir andnbsp;the death of Balder. At st. 43 the seeress begins to speak of Ragnar�k, thenbsp;impending doom of the gods, and proceeds to describe the coming ofnbsp;Surtr and the other hostile powers and their conflicts with the deities.nbsp;At st. 58 she passes on to the resuscitation of the world under those ofnbsp;the gods who have survived the struggle. The text is in a very confusednbsp;state, and there are great differences between the two extant MSS.

The passage which chiefly interests us is as follows (st. 3 ff.): �It was in the beginning of the ages�where Ymir dwelt there was no sandnbsp;or sea, nor cool waves. The earth did not exist at all, nor the heavennbsp;above. There was a yawning abyss, but nowhere was there vegetation�nbsp;until the lands were raised by the sons of Borr (i.e. Othin and hisnbsp;brothers), who formed glorious MiSgarSr. The Sun shone from thenbsp;south upon a world of stone.Then was the surface of the earth grownnbsp;over with green herbs. The Sun, with her comrade, the Moon, wavednbsp;her right hand� from the south along the border of heaven. The Sunnbsp;knew not where her abode was; the Moon knew not what power henbsp;had ; the stars knew not where their places were. The deities, the godsnbsp;most holy, all went to their seats of judgment and held debate. Theynbsp;gave names to night and the new moons; they named morning andnbsp;mid-day, forenoon and afternoon, for the counting of the years �.

The Vifpr��nismdl is a dialogue between Othin and the wise giant VafpruSnir. It is a typical specimen of the �contest between two sages�nbsp;�a not uncommon form of literature, which we shall have to notice innbsp;a later chapter. The subjects of the contest are natural phenomena, thenbsp;origin of the world, the life of the gods, and Ragnar�k. The Grimnismdlnbsp;is a monologue in which Othin gradually reveals his identity to Kingnbsp;Geirr��r, who is torturing him (cf. p. 119). The greater part of this poemnbsp;is occupied with a description of the homes of the gods; but naturalnbsp;phenomena and the origin of the world are also treated incidentally.

For the origin of the world we may quote Grimn. 41 f. (cf. J^afpr. 21): �The earth was formed from Ymir�s flesh, and the sea from hisnbsp;blood; the cliff�s from his bones, the trees from his hair, and the skynbsp;from his skull. And from his eyelids the gracious deities made MiSgarSrnbsp;for the sons of men; and from his brains were formed all the cruelnbsp;storm-clouds�. As examples of references to natural phenomena we

may take k^afpr. 12 and 14, where Othin has been asked to give the names of the horses which draw (the chariots of) Day and Night:nbsp;� Glittering Mane is the name of him who draws bright Day over thenbsp;sons of the host. Among the HreiSgotar he is reputed to be the best ofnbsp;horses. Light constantly radiates from the steed�s mane... .Frostynbsp;Mane is the name of him who draws each Night over the graciousnbsp;deities. Every morning he sheds drops of foam. From them comes dewnbsp;throughout the valleys�. In st. 25 Day is said to be son of Dellingr andnbsp;Night to be daughter of N�rr, while in st. 23 the Sun and the Moon arenbsp;called children of Mundilfoeri, but nothing more is said of these persons, and the genealogies are not carried further. The Sun and the Moonnbsp;are pursued on their travels by wolves, who will catch and destroy themnbsp;at Ragnar�k}- In st. 46 Othin asks: �Whence will there come a Sunnbsp;into the smooth heaven when Fenrir has ^destroyed this one.^� Vaf-Igt;ni�nir replies: �A daughter will be born by Elfgleam (the Sun),nbsp;before Fenrir destroys her. This daughter shall drive along her mother�snbsp;path, when the deities die �.

In the Gylfaginning cap. 4-9 � are devoted to the origin of the world and of various kinds of beings, cap. 10-13 to natural phenomena, cap.nbsp;14-50 to descriptions of the homes of the gods and of the gods themselves, and stories of their adventures, cap. 51-53 to Ragnar�kr3 andnbsp;the recovery of the world. As mentioned above, the treatment of ournbsp;subjects is more systematic here than in the poems. Details are givennbsp;which may have been known to the ancient poets, but are not recordednbsp;by them. In some cases the additions seem to reflect a later phase ofnbsp;thought.

In J^afPr. 28 Othin asks who was the first of the gods or of Ymir�s stock (i.e. the giants) to come into existence. VafpruSnir�s answer implies that Aurgelmir was the first; and Othin then asks whence he came.nbsp;The reply is as follows (st. 31): �Freezing drops fell from the Elivagar,**nbsp;and the growth produced thereby ultimately became a giant. 5 In him

I From analogies in other regions it would seem that this motif originated in an eclipse myth, which has been incorporated in the story of Ragnar�k.

� Cap. 3 gives a cosmology which is at variance with the account contained in the following chapters. Othin here is eternal, as well as omnipotent. Possibly thisnbsp;chapter is derived ultimately from some attempt to recast the national religion in thenbsp;last phase of the struggle with Christianity.

3 A later term for Ragnar�k�with the substitution of r�kr, �darkness�, for rok. '* The name is supposed to mean properly the half-frozen waves of the Arcticnbsp;Ocean.

all our genealogies meet. That is why it (our stock) is all very fierce�. Then he goes on to describe how the giant generated children by meansnbsp;of his own feet. In Gylf. 4 f. the obscure reference to Elivagar is interpreted as follows: Ginnunga Gap, the �Yawning Abyss� of Vol. 3,nbsp;(cf. p. 321), is bounded on the south by a world of heat and fire callednbsp;M�spelU or M�spellsheirriT, where Surtr dwells, and on the north bynbsp;Niflheimr (�Mist-World�), which is completely cold. The abyss isnbsp;affected both by sparks from the south and by ice from the north; and itnbsp;was from the moisture produced by the hot air from the south playingnbsp;upon the ice that Aurgelmir�who is here identified with Ymir�grew.nbsp;This primeval being is still regarded as anthropomorphic; but in othernbsp;respects the account would seem to point to rationalistic speculation�nbsp;not so very remote from that of Anaximandros (cf. p. 320).

The formation of the world as it actually exists is treated in Gylf. 7 f., which seems to be taken from a combination of Vol. 4 (cf. p. 321) withnbsp;Grimn. 40 f. {Vafftr. 21; ib.}. Ymir is killed by the sons of Borrnbsp;(i.e. Othin and his brothers), who make the earth out of his body, thenbsp;sea from his blood, etc. The flood motif is introduced in connectionnbsp;with the latter.

The origin of the gods themselves is not mentioned in any poem which has come down to us; but Gylf. 6 gives an account which seemsnbsp;primitive enough. Ymir lived on the milk of a cow, which had grownnbsp;out of the ice. From the ice-blocks which the cow licked there arosenbsp;gradually a man called Buri. His son was Borr, the father of Othin.nbsp;Nothing further is known of either Buri or Borr; but Othin�s mothernbsp;Bestla is said to be the daughter of a giant called B�lporn. Othinnbsp;himself has brothers and sons, among the latter being Thor and Balder.nbsp;In other cases the relationship is not always clear. Ullr is son of Sif, thenbsp;wife of Thor, but his father�s name is not recorded. The gods collectivelynbsp;are known as Aesir, and their home as �sgar�r. They were once at warnbsp;with another tribe of gods called Vanir, of whose origin nothing isnbsp;recorded, and the war was terminated by an exchange of hostages. Thenbsp;hostages given by the Vanir were Nj�rSr and his children, Frey andnbsp;Freyja, all of whom are among the chief deities. To the Vanir alsonbsp;probably belongs Heimdallr, who is said to be the son of nine sisters;

I This name occurs in poetry only in the phrase �sons of MuspelT, applied to Surtr and his followers. It is no doubt connected with the name Muspilli, � Day ofnbsp;Judgment�, in a Bavarian religious poem of the ninth century. It is commonlynbsp;believed to be of foreign origin; but no satisfactory explanation has yet been given,nbsp;so far as we know.

but, again, no father is mentioned. Lastly, it may be noted that the relations of the gods with the giants are normally, though not invariably, hostile. Several of the gods, both Aesir and Vanir, have wivesnbsp;from the giants.

As regards the origin of mankind we may quote the following obscure passage from the Voluspd (st. 16 f.): �Three mighty and gracious gods.. .found Askr and Embla on the shore, without power and withnbsp;destiny unfixed. They had neither breath (i.e. life) nor intelligence, nornbsp;blood nor voice nor the right hues (sc. of life). Othin gave them breath,nbsp;Hoenir gave them intelligence, and L�8urr gave them blood and thenbsp;right hues�. In Gylf. 9 this passage is interpreted as follows: �Whennbsp;Borr�s sons were walking along the shore, they found two logs andnbsp;lifted them up and made men of them. The first gave them breath andnbsp;life, the second intelligence and movement, the third (human) appearance, speech, hearing and sight. They gave them clothes and names;nbsp;the man was called Askr and the woman Embla. And from them wasnbsp;sprung the human race, to whom the dwelling-place beneath MiSgarSrnbsp;was given�. We see no reason for doubting that the passage in thenbsp;J^�luspd also means the progenitors of mankind; but Askr and Embla^nbsp;are not mentioned elsewhere, and no genealogies are traced to them.

In treating of Norse cosmology it is impossible to omit notice of Yggdrasill�s Ash, which is perhaps its most striking conception. Therenbsp;can be no doubt that the conception originated in the sacred or � guardian� trees, which in the North, as in many other lands, used to stand innbsp;the neighbourhood of farms and villages, and upon which the welfare ofnbsp;the local community was believed to depend. Yggdrasill�s Ash isnbsp;properly�and indeed usually�the sacred tree or �Tree of Fate� ofnbsp;the divine community.� In Vol. 18 it stands over the Spring of Fate.nbsp;But in Grimn. 31 it has come to be represented as a �World Tree�,nbsp;covering and sheltering all kinds of beings. Here we hear that � Beneathnbsp;Yggdrasill�s Ash three roots3 stretch in different directions; Hel dwellsnbsp;beneath one, the frost-giants beneath the second, human beings beneath the third �. The poem then goes on to describe the animal life innbsp;the tree. In Gylf. 15 the picture is developed and expanded.

The references to cosmology contained in poems other than those discussed above, e.g. the Fdfnismdl and the Fj�lsvinnsmdl, need not be

3 Perhaps a trifurcated trunk is meant. Trees of such growth are regarded as sacred in some countries.

treated here ; but a word must be said with regard to the Rigsfiula. This poem describes how a certain Ri'gr visits in succession the homes ofnbsp;three couples called respectively Great-grandfather and Great-grandmother, Grandfather and Grandmother, and Father and Mother. Henbsp;sleeps with them and thereby becomes the progenitor of the three classesnbsp;of society�the slaves, the free, and the noble. The interest of the poemnbsp;is descriptive rather than antiquarian, for it gives detailed pictures of thenbsp;life and characteristics of the three classes. But the antiquarian elementnbsp;is not entirely wanting�at least if the prose introduction is correct innbsp;identifying Rigr with the god Heimdallr. In FoZ. i the seeress beginsnbsp;her prophecy with an appeal to �all the holy kindreds, the greater andnbsp;the lesser sons of Heimdallr ��which suggests the existence of somenbsp;story in which Heimdallr figured as the progenitor of mankind.

Very little record has been preserved of the cosmological speculations of the other Teutonic peoples. We have already (p. 305 f.) quoted the genealogy which Tacitus, Germ. 1, gives as coming from ancientnbsp;poems. Here Mannus, the father of the three ancestral brothers,nbsp;presumably represents the first human being. His father is a god,nbsp;Tuisto, who is son of Earth. In Germ. 40 the term Terra Mater is usednbsp;for the goddess Nerthus, whose name is identical with the Norsenbsp;Nj�rSr, though the latter deity is male. This fact throws light on thenbsp;origin of the Vanir. But Tacitus� two notices relate to different regions�nbsp;the first probably to the Rhineland, the second doubtless to Denmark�nbsp;and it cannot safely be assumed either that the genealogy of Mannusnbsp;was known in the latter region� or that Nerthus is the deity meant bynbsp;Terra in Germ. 2.

For speculations on the genealogies of the gods current in later times there is evidence in a letter� from Bishop Daniel of Winchesternbsp;(709-44) to St Boniface. The reference is doubtless to the heathennbsp;Frisians and Old Saxons, whom St Boniface was striving to convert;nbsp;but it is likely enough that reminiscences of English heathenism�nbsp;which was not extinct in his childhood�were present in the bishop�snbsp;mind. He advises his friend not to proceed with a direct denunciation ofnbsp;the genealogy of the gods, but to put awkward questions to the heathen:nbsp;�Do they imagine that gods and goddesses are still generating othernbsp;gods and goddesses.^ Or, if they are not now generating them, when and

� Frey was also called Yngvi, a name which is identical with Inguo, the name of one of the ancestral brothers in the Frankish genealogy (whence Tacitus� Inguaeones).nbsp;But Frey is son, not grandson, of Nj�rSr.

why did they cease from begetting and bearing offspring? But if they are still generating, the number of the gods must now have becomenbsp;infinite�, etc. It is not likely that cosmological problems would benbsp;excluded from such speculations as are here referred to.

It would probably not be difficult to collect a fair amount of indirect evidence for cosmological speculations. The Irminsul, the sacrednbsp;pillar of the Old Saxons, seems to have had some significance of thisnbsp;kind attached to it��perhaps analogous to the conception of thenbsp;�world-tree� in the Grimmsm�l. Linguistic evidence may also be takennbsp;into account. Thus, all Teutonic languages have a word for the inhabited earth which properly means �central enclosure� or �enclosure innbsp;the centre�,� implying the existence of an outer zone�which in Norsenbsp;mythology is the abode of hostile beings. But all such evidence presentsnbsp;problems which cannot be discussed here.

In Britain and Ireland the cosmological speculations of heathen times can hardly be traced ; for they were displaced at an early date by thenbsp;Bible and the Chronicle of Eusebius. As regards Britain nothing morenbsp;need be said. In the case of Ireland, however, mention must be made ofnbsp;the great fabric of imaginative history which was built up to cover thenbsp;interval between the times of the Patriarchs and the beginnings ofnbsp;native tradition. This history centres round a number of invasions�nbsp;three in the original form of the story, to which two others were addednbsp;later.3 It can hardly be doubted�especially in view of the Gaulishnbsp;evidence to be considered shortly�that these invasions have taken thenbsp;place of the cosmological speculations found in other lands. But thenbsp;evidence seems to point to a substitution of new learning for the old,nbsp;rather than to a transformation of the latter, at least in the first place.

The fourth invasion is that of the Tuatha De, usually called Tuatha De Danann, which seems to mean �Peoples of the Goddess (Danu)�.nbsp;The story relates their wanderings, their genealogies, their arrival innbsp;Ireland, and their conflict with the previous invaders, called Fir Bolg,

� Irminsul.. .uniuersalis columna quasi sustinens omnia �Translatio S. Alexandri, cap. 3).

� Goth, midjungards (oIkouii�v�)), Anglo-Saxon middangeard, etc. In Norse mythology Mihgardr sometimes seems to mean the enclosing rampart rather thannbsp;the enclosed area, as elsewhere.

3 The full form of the story is to be found in the Lelor Gabala, or �Book of Conquests�, the briefer (older) form in the Hist. Brittonum, cap. 13. The latternbsp;occurs also in a medieval Irish �Synchronism� (cf. MacNeill, Celtic Ireland, p. 31),nbsp;which draws from the Annals, and may have been derived from the lost (first)nbsp;portion of the early Annals.

Gaileoin and Fir Domnann, in which they were successful. The story of the fifth invasion recounts how they were eventually overcome by thenbsp;sons of Milid, the last invaders. It is universally recognised now that thenbsp;Tuatha De are really the gods of heathen times; but there is great doubtnbsp;as to how much of this story is derived from genuine native tradition.nbsp;The same remark applies to the genealogies. The initial stages are oftennbsp;in accord with the evidence of other stories; but they are carried to anbsp;considerable length and eventually traced to Nemed, the leader of thenbsp;second invasion.

It is to be observed that the third and fourth invasions are those which do not belong to the original scheme. We do not know what wasnbsp;the source which suggested the first two futile invasions�those ofnbsp;Partholon (Bartholomaeus) and of Nemed�or the (fifth) successfulnbsp;invasion of the sons of Milid ; but we doubt if it is to be found in nativenbsp;tradition. What is clear is that the native gods, after being eliminatednbsp;for a time�doubtless by the Church�from the early history of thenbsp;country, found their way back, under a thin disguise, in the story of thenbsp;fourth invasion. The cosmological speculations usually associated withnbsp;such beings are indeed wanting; and in place of these they are providednbsp;with a genealogy which connects them with the second invasion��nbsp;presumably in order to make them fit into the existing scheme. Wenbsp;suspect that traces of such speculations might possibly be brought tonbsp;light by research in the genealogies; but we have not the detailednbsp;knowledge necessary to speak with confidence.

Although we have no direct evidence for the cosmological speculations of the ancient Britons, Greek and Roman writers give us a certain amount of information regarding the cultivation of such subjects amongnbsp;the Gauls. Moreover, Caesar (Gall. Ni. 13) says that Britain was thenbsp;chief home of Druidism, with which these studies were essentiallynbsp;bound up, and believed to be its birthplace. He remarks that thenbsp;training lasted sometimes as long as twenty years and that it involvednbsp;the learning of an immense body of poetry. Among the subjectsnbsp;taught he specifies the transmigration of souls, astronomy, geography,

i Their opponents, the third set of invaders, are provided with similar genealogies. It should be noted that the Gaileoin and Fir Domnann were real peoples, who survived into the historical period; and the same may be true of the Fir Bolg. Whynbsp;they are brought into conflict with the gods is not clear. A parallel account of thenbsp;story is to be found in the First Battle of Moytura, publ. by Fraser, �riu, vin. i ff.nbsp;The Second Battle ofMoytura (publ. by Stokes, Rev. Celt. xii. 52 ff.) is the story of anbsp;war between the Tuatha De and the Fomori, and is generally believed to containnbsp;more genuinely native matter (cf. p. 258).

cosmology and theology. Other writers add further details. In particular we may refer to Strabo, xii. 4. 4, where it is stated as a doctrine of thenbsp;Druids that both souls (i.e. the individual soul) and the world werenbsp;indestructible, but that fire and water would some day obtain thenbsp;mastery. If the last sentence relates to the worlds it would seem tonbsp;point either to a doctrine somewhat like that of Ragnar�k or to annbsp;�alternation� theory such as was propounded by Anaximandros (cf.nbsp;p. 320). But in any case there is evidence enough that cosmological andnbsp;theological speculations were cultivated in Gaul, and presumably alsonbsp;in this country�perhaps to an even greater extent than among thenbsp;other peoples whom we have considered.

We have seen that the material available for this section is limited, owing to the fact that cosmological speculation could not be cultivatednbsp;by the Christian peoples, the English, Welsh and Irish. Between thenbsp;Greek evidence and the Norse there are striking analogies. The formernbsp;shows a more systematised scheme, men, gods and personifications ofnbsp;nature all being brought together in one genealogy. But the underlyingnbsp;principles are the same in both cases�anthropomorphic personificationnbsp;and family relations. In Greece indeed the time came when all this wasnbsp;abandoned, and attempts were made to grapple with cosmologicalnbsp;problems on �rationalistic� principles. The history of thought in thenbsp;North was cut short; but the passage in the Gylfaginning relating tonbsp;Niflheimr and Muspell indicates that in its last phase it was tending innbsp;the same direction. Christianity, however, was introduced before thenbsp;giant could be got out of the way.

As to the Druids, the records are too meagre to allow us to determine whether their speculations had advanced beyond the mythological stage.nbsp;On the whole perhaps the evidence suggests a transitional phase innbsp;which the old still predominated. Some ancient writers thought thatnbsp;their doctrine of metempsychosis was derived from Pythagoras; fornbsp;they did not know how widely such beliefs are distributed. But thenbsp;possibility of external influence upon religious and speculative thoughtnbsp;is one which cannot be ignored�either in the mythological or thenbsp;rationalistic stage. The Gauls had long been subject to the influence ofnbsp;Etruscan and Greek civilisation, the Norse to the influence of Christian

' Gall. VI. 14: Maltapraeterea de sideribus atque eorum motu, de mundi ac terrarum magnitudine, de rerum natura, de deorum immortalium ui ac potestate disputant etnbsp;iuuentuti tradunt.

� The meaning of ttote is ambiguous. Does the sentence mean one final catastrophe or a series?

Europe, the Greeks to that of Egypt and the East. What we have spoken of as progress or development in thought may often, if notnbsp;usually, be due to influence from without.

In this chapter we have given little or no attention to that antiquarian learning which prevailed in Southern and Western Europe during thenbsp;Roman period, and which in the course of centuries gradually spreadnbsp;northwards and overwhelmed the native learning of the various countries,nbsp;one after another. This Latin learning had of course a history of itsnbsp;own�a genealogy which was partly Classical, partly Hebrew. Thus,nbsp;when British antiquaries, probably in the seventh or eighth century,nbsp;began to trace the origin of their nation to Brutus and the early kings ofnbsp;the Latins, they were merely continuing and adapting to their own casenbsp;work which had been carried on, long before, by Roman antiquariesnbsp;themselves, when they traced their own origin back to Aeneas and hisnbsp;Trojans. These again were following the example of the Molossoi, thenbsp;Macedonians and other peoples, whose kings claimed descent fromnbsp;ancient Greek heroes, such as Neoptolemos, son of Achilles, ornbsp;Temenos, the descendant of Heracles. The prototypes of such genealogies were no doubt to be found in Greece itself, where in some casesnbsp;they may have been genuine.

The Latin learning introduced by Christianity was of course by no means confined to genealogies and chronicles. Various other branchesnbsp;of learning, represented e.g. in the works of Isidore, were likewisenbsp;introduced, and eventually supplanted or transformed the nativenbsp;learning in the same subjects. It was only in the British Isles and thenbsp;North, and more especially in Ireland and Iceland, that the nativenbsp;intellectual life was able to preserve anything of its individual character.

In the native learning itself special features are not wanting in the various lands. We may instance the exceptional activity displayed innbsp;Ireland in the etymology of place-names and in the production ofnbsp;genealogies, which must be largely fictitious. But on the whole thenbsp;resemblances are far more striking than the differences. We may instance in particular the love of catalogues�due largely no doubt tonbsp;their adaptability to mnemonic purposes�and the extension of thenbsp;genealogical principle to explanations of the origin of nations and evennbsp;of objects and phenomena of nature.

The importance of this class of literature lies in the fact that it represents the earliest known attempts to collect and classify knowledge, for its own sake rather than for purposes of entertainment.

33� nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;ANTIQUARIAN LEARNING

Sometimes the information collected may seem futile and trivial enough, e.g. the list of dwarfs in the J^�luspd or the lists of mermaids and othernbsp;supernatural beings in the Theogony. But on the whole these cataloguesnbsp;must be regarded as serious attempts to bring order into the mass ofnbsp;information supplied by mythology and heroic tradition. It was fromnbsp;such beginnings that the scientific study of history, archaeology andnbsp;(to some extent) natural philosophy ultimately arose. The length ofnbsp;time during which such studies were continuously pursued is of coursenbsp;difficult to estimate in periods for which no written records are available.nbsp;But some Norse genealogies come remarkably near the truth in thenbsp;positions they assign to kings who lived some four centuries before thenbsp;earliest datable record and at least six centuries before any writtennbsp;records ; and we have no reason to doubt that some Irish traditions havenbsp;quite as long a history. For speculative studies such controlling evidence is hardly to be found. But we think it is possible, in Norsenbsp;thought, as well as in Greek, to distinguish between different strata�nbsp;between the childish conceptions of one period or milieu and the attemptsnbsp;at scientific explanation current in another. The changes may be due tonbsp;external influence ; but this could hardly have taken effect without somenbsp;previous intellectual activity.

we have seen, consist almost entirely of poetry, chiefly of Type A, though Type B is also of frequent occurrence in Norse. On the othernbsp;hand, in �post-heroic� poetry�by which we mean poetry relating tonbsp;times after the Heroic Age�Type A (i.e. narrative poetry) is rare, andnbsp;apparently confined to English. Its place everywhere is taken by saga.nbsp;Type B is not uncommon in Norse, but these poems are generallynbsp;believed to be very late. But the prevailing types in post-heroic poetry�nbsp;excluding, of course. Antiquarian and Gnomic�are D and E, the latter )nbsp;in Greek and Norse, the former in all three languages. It may be observednbsp;that English and Norse have now nothing in common and may benbsp;treated separately.

In Irish, as we have seen (p. i6), it is difficult to determine when the Heroic Age comes to an end. There is no real break; but stories relating to times later than the beginning of the eighth century are verynbsp;rare, though poetry of Type D is frequent. In Welsh after the end ofnbsp;the Heroic Age there is a very long period which appears to be almostnbsp;blank, apart from notices in annals. 3.

The differences between heroic and post-heroic records noted above are by no means limited to form. In Greek and, for the most part, innbsp;Norse the differences in tone and in the milieu which they reflect arenbsp;quite as marked. In English also, where the amount of post-heroicnbsp;material is small, such contrasts occur not unfrequently, though theynbsp;are by no means universal. But the Irish post-heroic records, which are �lt;� A ' -/ �A Ztknbsp;mostly fragmentary, are in general such as might have been composednbsp;in the Heroic Age itself.

It is to be borne in mind that the definition of the subjects comprised in this chapter is chronological. We are here dealing with records relating to the periods intervening between the end of the Heroic Agenbsp;and the beginning of the general use of writing for literary purposes.nbsp;The records with which we are concerned are not the only works datingnbsp;from these periods; for heroic poetry and saga relating to the past, asnbsp;well as theological, antiquarian and gnomic poetry, were doubtless

cultivated at the same time. But we do not mean to suggest that even the records here treated belong to a uniform category, like heroic records.nbsp;Even in Norse the poetry of Type D closely resembles heroic poetry ofnbsp;Type D, such as is found in Welsh and Irish, whereas the poems ofnbsp;Type E�often by the same authors�belong to a different world. Innbsp;Greek also, though heroic affinities are wanting, we shall have to dealnbsp;with records which have practically nothing in common with one anothernbsp;except the language and perhaps the metre.

It will be convenient to begin with saga, which was perhaps current everywhere, though no examples relating to our period are preserved innbsp;Welsh.

In amount, quality and variety Icelandic saga far surpasses anything of the kind which is to be found in the other countries. It provides usnbsp;with a knowledge of the life, both material and intellectual, of the tenthnbsp;and eleventh centuries and of the personnel of these times, which cannbsp;hardly be paralleled in any other barbaric period�indeed perhaps innbsp;any period before the sixteenth century. The leading characters in thenbsp;sagas, such as Egill Skallagrfmsson, Njall, Snorri the Priest and GuSnin,nbsp;daughter of �svifr, differ greatly from the semi-idealised figures whichnbsp;we find in heroic poetry and saga. They would seem to be portraitsnbsp;drawn from life. Otherwise they must be products of a tradition whichnbsp;combined the habit of close personal observation with an unusualnbsp;development of the imaginative faculty�which is less likely.

In Icelandic saga literature every kind of narrative is represented from the outline story, which may consist of no more than two ornbsp;three sentences, to long works which contain many changes of scenenbsp;and personnel and in which the circumstances are often minutelynbsp;described and conversations given at considerable length. The growthnbsp;of saga can be traced to a certain extent. Most of the long, detailednbsp;sagas relate to the close of the tenth century or the first thirty years ofnbsp;the eleventh. Those which deal with earlier times are few; the earliest,nbsp;such as Egils Saga Skallagrimssonar, relate to the second quarter of thenbsp;tenth century. For the ninth century, and especially for the reign ofnbsp;Harold the Fair-haired (c. 860-930) and the colonisation of Iceland,nbsp;which began about 874, we have a large number of short stories whichnbsp;contain speeches and other detailed matter. Many of these are includednbsp;in the Saga of Harold the Fair-haired, while many others are to benbsp;found in the opening chapters of various � Sagas of Icelanders � (fslend-inga S�gur), in the Landndmab�k, or �Book of the Colonisation of

Iceland�, and elsewhere. Some of them, especially those in the first series, appear to be derived from poems, while others are evidentlynbsp;family and local traditions. They are often of an explanatory character�nbsp;of Type C rather than Type A. Not a few, however, are of the anecdotal kind�short stories of entertainment which culminate in somenbsp;noteworthy dictum or observation.

For times anterior to the ninth century we have a number of sagas generally known as Fornaldar S�gur, or � Sagas of Ancient Times�, somenbsp;of which run to considerable length and contain numerous speeches andnbsp;detailed situations. Some of these, as, for example, the greater partnbsp;of the Volsunga Saga, are mere paraphrases of poems. But the rest arenbsp;generally believed to be imaginative works of the twelfth century�anbsp;view for which in one case at least there is definite and early evidence.inbsp;It is not clear that the authors of these sagas had anything to work uponnbsp;except family and local traditions in brief outline form, such as we findnbsp;from time to time in the Sagas of the Kings and elsewhere. Such outlinenbsp;stories perhaps did not differ essentially from the short stories noticednbsp;above; for the latter are usually more full in proportion as they dealnbsp;with more recent times. But the cultivation of saga-telling as an elaboratenbsp;art, which resulted in the production of such works as the longer of thenbsp;Sagas of Icelanders, seems hardly to have begun before the second halfnbsp;of the tenth century. In a later chapter we shall see that such evidence asnbsp;is available is in accord with this view.

In Greece a considerable amount of saga seems to have been current. It is known to us only from Herodotos and later authors, and often onlynbsp;in summary form; but it appears to have entirely displaced the use ofnbsp;narrative poetry, for the cultivation of which, in relation to post-heroicnbsp;times, we have no evidence before the Alexandrian period. There isnbsp;indeed nothing to show that Greek saga was ever cultivated up to thenbsp;pitch which we see in the longer �Sagas of Icelanders�. But numerousnbsp;parallels are to be found for the short stories, noticed above, relating tonbsp;times down to the death of Harold the Fair-haired�i.e. for the earliernbsp;phases of Norse saga.

Most of the stories which deal with the earliest (post-heroic) times are of an explanatory or antiquarian character and belong rather tonbsp;Type C than to Type A. Such are the stories of the �Return of thenbsp;Heracleidai�, the twin sons of Aristodemos, the expedition of Therasnbsp;(Herodotos, iv. 147 f.), the abolition of monarchy at Athens, and the

' Cf. the Saga of Thorgils and Haflidi, cap. 10, and Kershaw, Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, p. 58 ff., where this passage is translated.

foundation of the Ionic cities (fb. i. 145 if.)�some of which have been already noticed. It is quite possible that some of these stories are derivednbsp;from antiquarian poets, such as Cinaithon; but definite evidence isnbsp;wanting. Saga in some form or other was presumably the source fromnbsp;which the antiquarian poets themselves drew their materials. Saga ofnbsp;Type A relating to this earliest period seems not to be frequentlynbsp;represented. A probable example is the story of Hyrnetho, told bynbsp;Pausanias, n. 28.

We know practically nothing of the traditions current in most parts of Greece for the period between the first post-heroic generations andnbsp;the beginning of the seventh century. The stories of which we have anynbsp;record belong chiefly to Sparta. Of these the best known is the story ofnbsp;Lycurgos, which appears to have been current in various forms. It isnbsp;bound up with traditions or speculations relating to the history of thenbsp;Spartan constitution, and would seem therefore to have belonged tonbsp;Type C rather than to Type A. Other stories, known only fromnbsp;Pausanias, Plutarch and other later authors, appear to have dealt withnbsp;events of the eighth century�Teleclos and the fall of Amyclai, the deathnbsp;of Teleclos and incidents in the life of Theopompos. It is not clear thatnbsp;these belonged to Type C. As examples of stories relating to othernbsp;parts of Greece we may cite those of Archias, the founder of Syracuse,nbsp;and of Philolaos and Diodes, the two Corinthians who settled atnbsp;Thebes.i q�hg stories of the Messenian wars also are presumably derivednbsp;from saga, though Pausanias� account is taken partly from the late poetnbsp;Rhianos.

In the seventh and sixth centuries the stories become more numerous and fuller, and are now usually of the anecdotal kind (cf. p. 333).nbsp;Sparta still possesses the largest number; but they relate also to manynbsp;other cities in various parts of Greece. They are almost always of anbsp;purely personal character�many of them describe the rise and fall, thenbsp;adventures and intrigues of the tyrants. Indeed it is from these stories,nbsp;as preserved by Herodotos and later writers, that our knowledge of thisnbsp;period of Greek history is mainly derived.

In Ireland sagas began to be written down about the end of the Heroic Age ; but there can be no doubt that in the main they were still preservednbsp;by oral tradition. As we have already remarked, there seems to benbsp;little difference between heroic and post-heroic sagas ; but examples ofnbsp;the latter are quite rare. The Book of Leinster contains a list of 187 sagas,nbsp;and of these apparently only one can be identified with certainty asnbsp;' Cf. Grote, History of Greece (1884), in, p. 360 {.; n, p, 297 f.

335 relating to post-heroic times in Ireland. This is the story called � Niall�snbsp;Love for Gormlaith�. Unfortunately it is lost; but a number of whatnbsp;appear to be extracts from it are preserved in the Annals of ClonmacnoiseJnbsp;Gormlaith was married first to Cormac, bishop of Cashel and king ofnbsp;Munster, who was killed in 908, and afterwards to his slayer Cerball,nbsp;king of Leinster. From the latter she was rescued by Niall Glundub,nbsp;who subsequently became high-king and was killed by Sigtryggr I,nbsp;king of Dublin, in 919. Gormlaith is said to have died in poverty innbsp;948. Some poems attributed to her�which may really come from thenbsp;saga�will be noticed below (p. 340).

Apart from the entry noticed above we know of no direct evidence for post-heroic sagas. We do not doubt, however, that other such sagasnbsp;once existed�indeed there may be examples still preserved, unknownnbsp;to us�though we are inclined to doubt if many of them had more thannbsp;a short life. Mention should be made here of two works of considerablenbsp;length, which resemble one another rather closely�the Martial Careernbsp;of Cellachan of Cashel'^ and the War of the Gaedhil with the Gadl^ Bothnbsp;of these contain a large amount of poetry, of Types B and D. The latter,nbsp;as it stands, is a literary work; cap. 1-40 are derived from Annals, whilenbsp;the rest deals with the life of Brian Boruma, king of Munster and high-king of Ireland, who was killed at the battle of Clontarf, on Goodnbsp;Friday, 1014. This latter part has all the appearance of saga, and thenbsp;same is true of the story of Cellachan of Cashel (who died c. 954) as anbsp;whole,4 in spite of the very large number of personal names which itnbsp;contains. Though we are not in a position to speak with confidence, thenbsp;evidence seems to us to suggest that both these works existed substantially in the form of saga before they were written down�perhapsnbsp;c. 1100.5

In England saga is very poorly represented. In the original language indeed, apart from mere references, we know of only one probable

In cap. 65, where a poem is introduced, there is a reference to �the sagateller� (in senchaid}.

5 The question of date depends partly on resemblances in diction to the Destruction of Troy-, cf. A. Bugge, Caithreim Cellachain Caisil, p. xvi ff. We are not qualified to express an opinion. But the fact that Brodar is made to speak English in the War,nbsp;cap. 114, does not prove that this work was written after the English conquest. Innbsp;cap. 117 he is called �Brodar mac Oisli, earl of York�. He was perhaps a son of Earlnbsp;Oslac of York, who was exiled and driven over the sea in 975 (Sax. Chron., ad annl}.nbsp;In any case English would hardly be an unfamiliar language at Dublin in the eleventhnbsp;century.

336 example�the story of Cynewulf�s death, related in the Saxon Chronicle,nbsp;ann. 755. The true date of the event is 786; but the story does not givenbsp;the impression of being a strictly contemporary record. If it was notnbsp;written down until the Chronicle began to be kept in English�i.e.nbsp;probably in the reign of Aethelwulf�it would have had a life of overnbsp;half a century in oral tradition.

Latin works, chiefly of the twelfth century, contain a number of stories which would seem to be derived from saga. We may refer, fornbsp;example, to the story of Alfred and the cakes in the Annals of St Neotnbsp;(ann. 878). It maybe observed that the woman�s rebuke to the disguisednbsp;king is given in verse. Earlier examples are to be found in northernnbsp;works, especially the Historia de S. Cuthberto.^ We may cite, for example,nbsp;the story of the appointment of Guthred, the son of Hardacnut, as kingnbsp;(cap. 13). It is true that these stories are of ecclesiastical provenance ; butnbsp;there is no reason for supposing that the Northumbrian church of thenbsp;Danish period possessed much Latin learning. F or earlier times we havenbsp;the story of Offa IL�

In addition to Latin works, mention must be made of Gaimar�s Lestorie des Engles., which contains a number of such stories. We maynbsp;cite in particular the story of Beorn Butsecarl and the kings Osbryhtnbsp;and Aella (2589-2836) and that of Edgar and Aelfthryth (3601-3966).nbsp;The latter is also told more briefly by William of Malmesbury (il. 157),nbsp;together with other love adventures of the same king. We may alsonbsp;refer to the ghastly story of the death of Prince Alfred (4791 If.), wherenbsp;the description of the murder somewhat resembles that of the killingnbsp;of �sbj�rn by the demon Brusi, in Orms pditr Storolfssonar, cap. 7.

The cultivation of saga in still earlier times may perhaps be inferred from certain passages in Bede�s Ecclesiastical History relating to thenbsp;reigns of Aethelfrith and Edwin. If the account of the debate in thenbsp;Northumbrian council (ii. 13) is of this origin, English saga must at thatnbsp;time have attained a high standard. Here again the immediate source isnbsp;no doubt ecclesiastical, but the reference to the bird points to an Englishnbsp;origin, and it is doubtful whether a separate and distinctive ecclesiasticalnbsp;tradition existed in the North until many years after this time. Indeednbsp;the beginnings of English saga may go back to a much earlier time�nbsp;long before the end of the Teutonic Heroic Age. For the story ofnbsp;Hengest and Horsa, especially as told in the Historia Brittonum, saganbsp;is at all events the most probable source. Such saga may of course havenbsp;� Publ. in Symeon of Durham (Rolls Series), i, p. 196 ff.

337 been derived from heroic poetry�a process which is likely enough innbsp;the case of the story of Off a I; but we have no evidence for (English)nbsp;heroic poems of which the scene was laid in this country.

There can be no question as to the existence of saga relating to the British Heroic Age. For this we have evidence in the stories of Taliesinnbsp;and Myrddin, the Histona BTittonum^ the Romances, and�inferentiallynbsp;�in numerous Triads. Yet, curiously enough, we know of no saga,nbsp;dealing with later times�at least not until the close of the eleventhnbsp;century, when something of the kind may perhaps be implied in thenbsp;�Story of Gruffydd son of Cynan�, though the work itself is literary. Onenbsp;can hardly believe that family and local stories ceased to be composednbsp;for more than four centuries; but it would certainly seem that attentionnbsp;was chiefly given to the cultivation of stories of the far past.

Except among the Britons it would seem that the cultivation of saga was a general characteristic of post-heroic times. In Greece and England,nbsp;and in the Norse world before the tenth century, this saga probablynbsp;embraced no more than family traditions, explanatory stories andnbsp;anecdotes, all in comparatively brief form, though there are indications�nbsp;in the passage from Bede cited above, as well as in the Historia Brit-tonum�that English saga had at one time shown a more ambitiousnbsp;development. In Ireland the cultivation of saga as an elaborate instrument of entertainment had without doubt attained an advanced stagenbsp;of development during the Heroic Age itself; and in the succeedingnbsp;period new stories dealing with contemporary events and perhapsnbsp;equally elaborate appear to have been not unknown, though very littlenbsp;of them has been preserved. In Iceland, beginning apparently in thenbsp;tenth century, saga attained a development far in advance of the Irish,nbsp;and indeed unparalleled in Europe.

The scarceness of the late Irish sagas and the rise of elaborate saga in Iceland are phenomena which will require notice in a later chapter.nbsp;Here it need only be noted that Icelandic saga cannot be wholly independent of Irish influence. We may refer,� for example, to thenbsp;Laxdoela Saga, cap. 63, where Helgi receives from his shepherd a detailed account of the appearance and dress of each of his approachingnbsp;opponents and identifies them, one after another, from the descriptions.nbsp;This is a stock motif in Irish heroic sagas. Such influence is onlynbsp;what might be expected from the fact that much of the population ofnbsp;Iceland and even many of the leading families were partly of Irish blood.nbsp;But its extent is difficult to determine.

Post-heroic narrative poetry (Type A) is found only in English, and even here only one fragmentary piece is preserved�a poem whichnbsp;recounts the defeat and death of Byrhtnoth, earl of Essex, at the battlenbsp;of Maldon, in 991. This poem,i the beginning of which is lost, does notnbsp;show any striking differences from the early heroic poems, either innbsp;substance or form. Courage and personal loyalty are the dominantnbsp;motifs. Down to 181 ff., where Byrhtnoth is slain, the narrative is suchnbsp;as might have been found in a heroic poem. But the latter part, especiallynbsp;from 205 onwards, consists of a series of short scenes in which a considerable number of Byrhtnoth�s knights are introduced, one afternbsp;another. The connection is very slight, and in spite of the narrativenbsp;form, one cannot help being reminded of the Gododdin {An. i). Itnbsp;would seem to be the poet�s intention not so much to provide entertainment as to commemorate the fallen�first the earl himself and then hisnbsp;chief followers in succession. If so, the poem, so far as its intention goes,nbsp;ought perhaps to be connected with Type D.

The Battle of Maldon belongs to the latest phase of our period� indeed to a time when writing was already in general use for literarynbsp;purposes; but we have included it here because we think it was intended for recitation rather than for reading. We know of no othernbsp;poems of the kind, though it can hardly have been an isolated production.nbsp;William of Malmesbury and later Latin writers refer to �songs�nbsp;(cantilenae') dealing with the lives and doings of Aethelstan and othernbsp;princes; and it is quite possible that these also were poems of Type A.nbsp;But little definite information is available.^

Poetry of Type B is no doubt well represented both in the Icelandic sagas and in the Irish works noticed above; but it is not always easy tonbsp;distinguish. Most of the �Sagas of Icelanders� and of the Icelandicnbsp;�Sagas of the Kings� contain stanzas which profess to be �occasional�

� Ed. and transi, by Ashdown, English and Norse Documents relating to the Reign of Ethelred the Unready, p. 22 ff.

� It is possible that some of the stories referred to saga on p. 336 above, may really be derived from narrative poems. Note may also be taken of the fact that Jthenbsp;Romances in which the scene is laid in England�Guy of lEarwick, Beves of Hamptonnbsp;and Havelock the Dane�are represented as relating to this period, though in thenbsp;form in which we know them they are works of a later age. The development ofnbsp;Romance may be seen in the story of Gunnhild, daughter of Canute and wife of thenbsp;Emperor Henry III, as cited by Malmesbury (n. 188) and later writers. The storynbsp;related, perhaps in the form of a narrative poem, how her honour was vindicated innbsp;combat by her English page; cf. Chambers, Bibliogr. Society�s Trans., 1925, p. 315 f.

pieces or remarks in verse uttered by the characters at the point indicated in the narrative (i.e. Type E; cf. p. 42), while longer poems, usually panegyrics or elegies (Type D), or fragments of such poems,nbsp;are not rare. It is commonly held that these poems are in reality whatnbsp;they profess to be, unless they are spoken by children, dead persons ornbsp;supernatural beings, or there is something in the form or the substancenbsp;of the poems which militates against the trustworthiness of the record.nbsp;Thus in Njdls Saga, cap. 78, we find a stanza which is said to have beennbsp;uttered by the dead Gunnarr in his grave-cairn, while in Egils Saga,nbsp;cap. 31, two stanzas are attributed to the hero when he is three yearsnbsp;old. Not unfrequently stanzas show linguistic forms which belong to anbsp;later period than the times in which the speakers lived. All such casesnbsp;are of course to be referred to Type B. The rest of the poems may innbsp;general be assigned to Types E and D. There can be little doubt that thenbsp;composition of poetry was a fairly common accomplishment in thenbsp;Viking Age; and some of the chief characters of sagas, such as Egill,nbsp;Kormakr, HallfreSr and Gunnlaugr Ormstunga, were famous poets.nbsp;Not unfrequently, as, for example, in parts of Egils Saga, the narrativenbsp;seems to have been partly constructed out of the verses. But it isnbsp;impossible to distinguish with absolute certainty between stanzasnbsp;actually composed by the characters and those which may have beennbsp;added by saga-tellers within two or three generations of their time.

The Fornaldar S�gur (cf. p. 333) likewise frequently contain a good deal of poetry�not only isolated stanzas but also sometimes poems ofnbsp;considerable length. Some of these latter are much older than the sagasnbsp;themselves. Thus the Saga of Hervor and King Heihrek.r'^ contains thenbsp;Battle of the Goths and Huns, an old heroic poem of Type A, of whichnbsp;we have spoken above (p. 26). This part of the saga (cap. 12-15) isnbsp;little more than a paraphrase of the poem, including some stanzasnbsp;which are lost. In the same saga, cap. 4 f., there is a poem of Type B,nbsp;consisting first of a dialogue between Hervor and a shepherd, whonbsp;directs her to her father�s tomb, and then of a much longer dialoguenbsp;between Hervor and her father, whom she rouses from the dead innbsp;order to get from him his famous sword. Another long poem of Typenbsp;B, belonging to the same story, is the Death-Song of Hjalmarr, whichnbsp;is preserved in Orvar-Odds Saga, cap. 14, and (incomplete) in Hervararnbsp;Saga, cap. 3.� These two poems are evidently older than the texts in

Free verse translation by Kershaw, op. cit. p. 148 ff. (following mainly the Hervarar Saga text).

which they are preserved; but they are not believed to be of any great antiquity. Probably they date from the time when these sagas werenbsp;first composed�perhaps early in the twelfth century. Similar poems oinbsp;Type B are to be found in Halfs Saga and elsewhere. The singlestanza pieces found in such sagas may in general be of the same origin.

It is to be observed that some of the early panegyrics and elegies are in form speech-poems of Type B. Their purpose, however, is sonbsp;obvious that we shall treat them below, under Type D.

In Irish we may mention first a number of elegies � attributed to Gormlaith, the wife of Niall Glundub (cf. p. 335). In nine of these shenbsp;laments the death of Niall; one (No. 9) is a lament for her son Domnall,nbsp;while in the remaining one (No. 10) she bewails her own destitution.nbsp;Not all of these can be genuine. In No. 7 she speaks of herself as marriednbsp;to Cerball after Niall�s death, a historical mistake which is found also innbsp;the Annals of Clonmacnoise. Cerball died ten years before Niall. Innbsp;No. 11 she speaks of her death-wound, an incident described in the samenbsp;Annals. There is evidently therefore some connection between thenbsp;poems and the Annals. Either the latter are derived from the former,nbsp;or�what is much more likely�both are taken from the lost saganbsp;recorded in the list of sagas in the Book of Leinster (cf. p. 334). In thatnbsp;case most, if not all, of the poems may belong to Type B.

The story of Cellachan of Cashel (cf. p. 335) contains numerous speech-poems, and there are a good number also in the War of thenbsp;Gaedhil with the Gaill. The speakers are usually kings or princes; andnbsp;the poems themselves are for the most part of a character which belongsnbsp;properly rather to Type D than to Type E�elegies, celebrations ofnbsp;victory, exhortations to battle, etc. Sometimes they give informationnbsp;which is not to be found in the prose. Thus Cellachan in cap. 44 speaksnbsp;of Eric (Blood-Axe), who is not mentioned elsewhere in the story. Yetnbsp;they can hardly be what they profess to be, although we may believenbsp;that Irish princes did cultivate poetry. We may refer, for example, to thenbsp;poems recited before and during the naval fight at Dundalk, wherenbsp;Cellachan is bound to the mast (cap. 58 ff.), and more especially to thenbsp;dialogue poems. In the War, cap. 54, one of the latter, a dialoguenbsp;between Brian and Mathgamain�preserved only in one MS.�is said tonbsp;be composed by �the poet� {fill). It would seem probable that suchnbsp;poems were usually composed by saga-tellers, who, following the modelnbsp;of heroic saga, attributed to their heroes such speeches as they thoughtnbsp;appropriate to the occasion. We can believe, however, that the earliestnbsp;� Ed. and transi, by Bergin in the Miscellany presented to K. Meyer, p. 343 ff.

examples of such poems may date from times when the memory of the events was still fresh, and that occasionally they may contain reminiscences of words actually spoken by the princes in question. On thenbsp;other hand, we are not inclined to doubt the genuineness of the poemsnbsp;attributed to Mac Liac and other poets�^although the distinction maynbsp;seem somewhat arbitrary.

We know of little evidence for (post-heroic) poetry of Type B in England or in Greece, though we do not doubt that it was cultivated tonbsp;some extent. For the former we may quote the speech of the peasantnbsp;woman to Alfred, alluded to on p. 336: �Will you not turn the cakesnbsp;which you see burning.^ You are glad enough to eat them when they arenbsp;cooked�. For Greek we may refer to the oracle said by Herodotosnbsp;(l. 65) to have been given to Lycurgos at Delphoi.

Under Type D we have hitherto included only panegyrics and elegies. In addition to these post-heroic poetry furnishes examples ofnbsp;other pieces which may conveniently be treated under this heading,nbsp;though they are of a somewhat different character�such as hortatorynbsp;addresses and poems composed in celebration of victories and othernbsp;public occasions. We are not aware that any parallels to these are to benbsp;found in heroic poetry, except incidentally in the course of narratives,nbsp;as in 11. XVI. 269 ff., xxii. 391 ff. Mention may also be made herenbsp;of prophecies, curses and spells, so far as these relate to political events.

It will be convenient again to begin with the Norse evidence, which is by far the fullest and the most varied. The poems are mostly fragmentary, and their language is unfortunately often very obscure; butnbsp;with the help of the sagas, which are partly based upon them, theynbsp;enable us to trace the history of the North fairly well from the time ofnbsp;Harold the Fair-haired. The two earliest poets who require notice here,nbsp;Thorbj�rn Hornklofi and Thj�Solfr of Hvm, both belonged to Harold�snbsp;court. Considerable fragments of their poems are preserved, especiallynbsp;of the Glymdr�pa^ a poem in which the former seems to have celebratednbsp;Harold�s battles and exploits seriatim.

Another work of the same poet is the poem now generally known as Hrafnsmal or Haraldskvaebi^�the ancient title has not been preserved.nbsp;We include it here because it is obviously intended as a panegyric uponnbsp;King Harold; but in form it belongs properly to Type B. The openingnbsp;of the poem is as follows: �Hearken, Noblemen, while I celebratenbsp;Harold the magnificent and his feats of arms. I will tell of the wordsnbsp;' Ed. and transi, by Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, p. 76 ff.

which I heard spoken by a maiden fair and golden-haired, as she held converse with a raven. The Valkyrie.. .with white throat and sparklingnbsp;eyes greeted the skull-picker of Hymir, as he sat on a jutting ledge ofnbsp;rock. � How is it with you, ye ravens Whence are ye come with bloodynbsp;beak at the dawning of dayi� Torn flesh is hanging from your talons,nbsp;and a reek of carrion comes from your beaks. I doubt not that yenbsp;have passed the night amid a scene of carnage �. The sworn brother of thenbsp;eagle shook his dusky plumage, wiped his beak, and thought upon hisnbsp;answer : � We have followed Harold, the son of Halfdan, the youthfulnbsp;scion of Yngvi, ever since we came out of the egg��. Then the ravennbsp;goes on to describe Harold�s ships and the life at his court, the warriors,nbsp;the poets and the jesters there, in answer to the Valkyrie�s questions.nbsp;The poem is evidently incomplete.

In connection with this piece mention may be made of a fragment relating to the battle of Hafsfjord,�^ which many scholars�erroneouslynbsp;in our opinion �believe to have belonged to the same poem. Most ofnbsp;our ancient authorities attribute it to Thj�Solfr of Hvi'n, a poet whosenbsp;other works we have already had occasion to mention (cf.pp. 250,271).nbsp;The fragment appears to be not so much a panegyric as a celebration ofnbsp;victory. It approximates rather to Type A than to Type B, but itsnbsp;closest affinities are with the English poem on the Battle of Brunanhurh.nbsp;The battle of Hafsfjord was the naval action, fought about 872 in thenbsp;neighbourhood of Stavanger, in which Harold defeated the allied kingsnbsp;of H�rSaland, Rogaland and the adjacent regions, and which finallynbsp;established his power as monarch of Norway. We may quote thenbsp;opening of the poem: �Hearken how the king of noble lineage foughtnbsp;yonder in Hafsfjord against Kj�tvi the wealthy (king of AgSir). A fleetnbsp;came from the east with gaping figure-heads and carved beaks, impelled by desire for battle. They were laden with warriors and whitenbsp;shields, with spears from the West and swords from France. Thenbsp;berserks were howling, the � wolf-coats � were yelling, and swords werenbsp;clashing; their warfare was in full swing. They made trial of thenbsp;resolute monarch of the men of the east, who dwells at �tsteinn�henbsp;pointed them the road to flight�.

A more personal note of triumph is to be found in a stanza preserved in the Saga of Harold the Fair-haired., cap. 32. R�gnvaldr, earl ofnbsp;Moeri, was slain by two of Harold�s sons without their father�s knowledge. One of them, Halfdan Longlegs, fled oversea to Orkney, which

was under the rule of Einarr (Torf-Einarr), son of R�gnvaldr, and was eventually captured and put to death by him. The following is one ofnbsp;several stanzas attributed to Earl Einarr in connection with this event.nbsp;They are generally believed to be genuine, since the earl was famous asnbsp;a poet. �I have done my part in the vengeance for R�gnvaldr�s death.nbsp;Now has the pillar of the host fallen, as the Norns have decreed. Pile upnbsp;the stones over Longlegs, ye brave boys, for we have won the victory.nbsp;It is in (such) hard coin I pay him my dues.�

Harold the Fair-haired gave up the throne about 930 to his son Eric Blood-Axe. But the latter was expelled from Norway, apparently innbsp;935, by his younger brother Haakon I (the Good) and made his way tonbsp;Orkney, where the sons of Einarr remained loyal to him. Soon afterwards, according to Egils Saga, cap. 59, he was entrusted by Aethelstannbsp;with the government of York�a statement which may be correct,nbsp;though there is no record of the fact in the very meagre English annalsnbsp;of the period. The Icelander Egill Skallagrimsson had incurred Eric�snbsp;mortal enmity by murdering his son and various other acts of violencenbsp;in Norway. In 936 (apparently), when he was on his way to seeknbsp;service�for the second time�under Aethelstan, he was shipwrecked atnbsp;the mouth of the Humber and fell into Eric�s hands. His friendnbsp;Arinbj�rn, who was Eric�s chief officer, persuaded him to take the somewhat unheroic course of pretending that he had come of his own freenbsp;will to make his peace with the king by means of a panegyric which henbsp;had composed in his honour. A respite of one night was given him, innbsp;which he managed to compose the H�fu�lausn or � Ransom for his head �nbsp;(i.e. life), which is still preserved complete. The opening stanzas may benbsp;quoted, though it is impossible to reproduce the far-fetched kennings ornbsp;poetic periphrases of the original: �I have made my way to the West^nbsp;across the sea, carrying with me the mead of poetry. Such is the reasonnbsp;of my journey. I launched my (ship of) oak when the ice was breakingnbsp;up. I loaded the barque of my memory with a cargo of panegyric.nbsp;The prince has offered me an opportunity; I am commissioned tonbsp;produce a song of praise. I bring Othin�s mead to the land of the English.nbsp;I have striven to celebrate the prince�assuredly I will glorify him.nbsp;I beg for a hearing from him, since I have composed a song ofnbsp;praise�. In forming an opinion of this poem it is perhaps as well to bearnbsp;in mind the circumstances in which it was composed and the statement,

I A static expression for the British Isles, from whatever direction they may be approached.

attributed to Egill in the saga, that he had never before occupied himself with preparing panegyrics upon King Eric.

For Aethelstan himself Egill composed a panegyric, of which only one stanza has been preserved. The poem had a refrain: �The highestnbsp;mountains now lie beneath (the sway of) the valiant Aethelstan�.nbsp;According to the saga (cap. 55) this poem was composed during Egill�snbsp;first visit to England, shortly after the beginning of Aethelstan�snbsp;reign; but the course of events as related in cap. 51-55 cannot benbsp;strictly historical. It would seem that memories of the battle of Brunan-burh, fought in 937, had been confused by tradition with those of annbsp;earlier battle, fought about ten years before�perhaps against Guth-frith�in which Egill�s brother Th�rolfr was killed. It is not impossiblenbsp;that Egill may have been present at both of these.

After Aethelstan�s death York fell for a short time into the hands of the kings of Dublin. Eric Blood-Axe seems to have recovered it morenbsp;than once. But in 954 he was finally expelled by Eadred; and shortlynbsp;afterwards he was ambushed,^ apparently by his Dublin enemies, innbsp;Stainmoor Forest and slain with several other princes of his own and thenbsp;Orkney families. His death forms the subject of the Eiriksmal^ anbsp;fragmentary elegy by an unknown poet, probably composed in Orkney ;nbsp;but the treatment is wholly imaginative. In form the poem followsnbsp;Type B, like the Hrafnsm�l-, but the scene is laid in Valhalla. Othinnbsp;dreams that he is welcoming a prince ; and on awaking hears the soundnbsp;of an approaching host. He calls out to his champions: � Sigmundr andnbsp;Sinfj�tli! Arise quickly and go to meet the prince. If it be Eric, invitenbsp;him in ! I have now confident hope that it is he � Why dost thou hopenbsp;for Eric rather than for other Mngs.^� asks Sigmundr. �Because henbsp;has reddened his sword in many a land�, replies Othin, �and carried anbsp;bloodstained blade.�

Haakon I reigned over Norway c. 934-960, but was eventually slain by the sons of Eric, who succeeded him. His exploits were celebratednbsp;by Guthormr Sindri in a poem of which considerable fragments remain.nbsp;More famous, however, is the elegy3 on his death composed by Eyvindrnbsp;Finnsson (cf. p. 271), nicknamed Skaldaspillir or �Plagiarist�. Eyvindrnbsp;was present at the battle, but the treatment is purely imaginative.

I The Norse account, given in the Saga of Haakon the Good, cap. 4, speaks of a battle and differs in other respects from the English authorities (Saxon Chronicle,nbsp;Symeon of Durham and Matthew Paris), which we have followed and which arenbsp;doubtless correct.

(St. i) � G�ndul and Sk�gul (two Valkyries) were sent by Gautatyr (i.e. Othin) to choose a king of Yngvi�s race, who should go to join Othinnbsp;and dwell inValhalla�. Thenfollowsa description of the king�s prowess,nbsp;in high-flown metaphorical diction, without factual details. Then (st.nbsp;ii) �the prince heard what the noble Valkyries were saying. Thoughtful was their mien, as they sat on their steeds, with helmets upon theirnbsp;heads, holding their shields before them. � Why hast thou thus decidednbsp;the battle, Geir-Sk�gul.^� asked Haakon, �Surely we have deservednbsp;victory of the gods!� �We have brought it about�, replied Sk�gul,nbsp;�that thou hast won the day, and that thy foes have fled��. Then (st. 14)nbsp;the scene changes to Valhalla, where Othin orders Herm�Sr and Braginbsp;to welcome the king. This part is obviously suggested by the Eiriksmdl.nbsp;The last stanza (21), if not the whole poem,i would seem to have beennbsp;composed some time after Haakon�s death ; for it refers to the distressnbsp;which prevailed during the next reign: � Cattle are dying, kinsfolk arenbsp;dying,^ land and realm are laid waste; and many people have beennbsp;reduced to bondage since Haakon passed away to the heathen gods�.

The praises of Harold II (c. 960-975), son of Eric, were sung by Glumr Geirason, an Icelander, in a poem of which some fragments arenbsp;preserved. But Eyvindr composed some stanzas in which he contrastednbsp;Haakon�s generosity with the miserliness of Harold, who was said tonbsp;have buried his gold. The result was a permanent estrangement betweennbsp;the king and the poet. Eyvindr, however, struck out what appears tonbsp;have been a new line in poetry by composing a panegyric (the Islend-ingadrdpa) upon all the men of Iceland. The poem is lost; but in thenbsp;Saga of Harold Grey-Cloak, cap. 18, it is said that to reward him anbsp;collection was made at the Icelandic General Assembly. A costlynbsp;treasure was sent to him and came at an opportune moment, owing tonbsp;the famine then prevailing in Norway.

Eyvindr Finnsson was the last Norwegian poet of whom any considerable remains have been preserved. Our records are almost exclusively Icelandic, and they preserve many fragments of poems by Icelanders who visited the courts of the subsequent rulers of Norway�nbsp;Earl Haakon the Great (c. 975-995), King �lafr Tryggvason (995�nbsp;1000), Earl Eric, son of Haakon (1000-1015), St Olaf (1016-1028),

' In st. 18 Haakon is approved for having dealt reverently with the sanctuaries� which his successors are said to have outraged. Both he and they�and doubtlessnbsp;also Eric himself in his later years�were Christians. But the new religion seems tonbsp;have been confined practically to those who had lived in the British Isles.

Magnus the Good (1035-1047), and Harold III (Hardrada, 1046-1066). Indeed it became the custom for the sons of wealthy Icelanders to visitnbsp;the courts of various foreign rulers and to produce odes in their honour.nbsp;Thus at the beginning of the eleventh century Gunnlaugr Ormstunga,nbsp;a grandson of Egill Skallagn'msson, visited in succession the courts ofnbsp;Earl Eric, the ruler of Norway, Aethelred, king of England, Sigtryggrnbsp;II, king of Dublin, SigurSr II, earl of Orkney, and �lafr, king ofnbsp;Sweden. At the first place he lost his temper and was expelled ; but thenbsp;other four princes rewarded him handsomely. The refrains of his odesnbsp;to Aethelred and Sigtryggr have been preserved: �The whole nationnbsp;regards the generous ruler of England as a god. The valiant princelynbsp;stock and men (in general) bow down to Aethelred�. The other refrainnbsp;is very brief: �Sigtryggr feeds the witch�s steed (i.e. the wolf) with thenbsp;bodies of the slain�; but the king was so pleased�perhaps at beingnbsp;credited with such martial prowess�that his treasurer had to restrainnbsp;him from giving an extravagant reward.

Perhaps the most important of all these poems, from the historical point of view, is the Vellekla (�Dearth of Gold�), composed by Einarrnbsp;Helgason in honour of Earl Haakon. It celebrates the earl�s vengeancenbsp;for his father, his battles in support of the Danes against the Saxonsnbsp;(the emperor Otto II), his return to Norway, where he established himself as supreme ruler after expelling the sons of Eric, and his restorationnbsp;of the sanctuaries. In Egils Saga, cap. 78, it is stated that the earl wouldnbsp;not listen to the poem until Einarr threatened to transfer his service tonbsp;Earl Sigvaldi of J�msborg, Haakon�s chief enemy. Then he gave him anbsp;costly shield, which Einarr on his return home presented to Egillnbsp;Skallagrimsson. Mention should also be made here of the poet Hall-freSr, and especially of his elegy on the death of �lafr Tryggvason.

Next we may take the Darra�arlj��,^ since it is introduced in Njals Saga as applying to the battle of Clontarf, in 1014. This is a work of thenbsp;imaginative kind, like the Hrafnsmal and the elegies upon Eric andnbsp;Haakon the Good. It is a poem of Type B in the form of a weavingnbsp;spell sung by Valkyries at a loom; but its object would seem to be thenbsp;celebration of a victory. In Njals Saga, cap. 156, it is introduced in thenbsp;form of a vision seen and heard by a man called D�rruSr in Caithness onnbsp;Good Friday, 1014. This was the day on which Brian Boruma, high-king of Ireland, fought the battle of Clontarf, near Dublin, againstnbsp;Maelmorda, king of Leinster, SigurSr II, earl of Orkney, and a crowd of

' Ed. and transi, by Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, p. 111 ff., where the various problems relating to it are discussed.

adventurers, Norse, English and Welsh, whom King Sigtryggr had brought together, though he himself remained neutral. But D�rruSrnbsp;is an obvious fiction, derived from the refrain J^indum, vindum vamp;fnbsp;darra�ar, �we are weaving, weaving the web of the spear��a periphrasis for �battle� which occurs in Egill�s H�fu�lausn, nearly eightynbsp;years before Clontarf. We may also compare the term m�renglaim,nbsp;�great woof�, applied to �battle� in the (Irish) Address to CerbalVsnbsp;Sword, more than twenty years earlier still (see below). There is anbsp;passage in st. 7 f. which might refer to the deaths of SigurSr and Brian,nbsp;and which doubtless was so interpreted in Iceland: �Even now the earlnbsp;has been laid low by the spears. The Irish too will sulfer a sorrow whichnbsp;will never be forgotten by men. Now the web has been woven and thenbsp;field dyed crimson. The news of the disaster will travel throughout thenbsp;world�. But the main theme of the poem is the success and fame of anbsp;young king. Thus (st. 10) �many spells of victory have we chanted wellnbsp;for the young king. May we have luck in our singing ! And may henbsp;who hearkens to the Spear-maidens� lay learn it and tell it to men�.nbsp;This cannot be Brian�who was seventy-three�although the sympathynbsp;of the saga is wholly on his side. And it can hardly have been Sigtryggr�who must have been at least forty�for according to the Irishnbsp;account he took no part in the battle. One passage in the poem (st. 7)nbsp;points to an earlier date: �The people who have hitherto occupied onlynbsp;the outlying headlands shall have dominion over the land �. This passagenbsp;clearly reflects the conditions which prevailed when the Norse powernbsp;was restored, about a century before the battle of Clontarf. We suspectnbsp;therefore that the poem was originally composed to celebrate the battle,nbsp;fought at Dublin in 919, in which Sigtryggr I, the grandfather of hisnbsp;later namesake, defeated and slew the high-king Niall Glundub.�

The poems discussed above are in general, so far as tone or feeling is concerned, such as might have been composed in the Heroic Age. It isnbsp;only rarely that we have noticed any trace of national feeling in opposition to a king. Such is the case in certain of Eyvindr�s poems referrednbsp;to above; and an earlier example occurs in Egils Saga, cap. 56, wherenbsp;Egill applies the Xstvctfolkrnygir, �oppressor of the nation�, to Eric, andnbsp;calls upon the gods to expel him from the country. But we hardly meetnbsp;with anything which can be described as political criticism before thenbsp;eleventh century. The most notable case is that of the Icelandic poetnbsp;Sigvatr, who was in the service of St Olaf. This king�s government wasnbsp;so oppressive that in 1028 he had to leave the country; and when henbsp;I Cf. Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, p. 117.

attempted to recover his position, in 1030, he was defeated and killed at Stiklestad. His son Magnus the Good was more fortunate; but havingnbsp;obtained the throne, in 1035, he set his mind on reprisals against thosenbsp;who had led the rising against his father. His councillors were entirelynbsp;opposed to this policy, and Sigvatr, who was a man of great influence, was chosen to point out to the young king his folly. This henbsp;did in a poem known as Bers'�glisvisury or � Stanzas of plain speech�. Henbsp;begins by recalling the memory of Haakon the Good, whose laws arenbsp;still kept and whose name will never be forgotten. Then, after referringnbsp;to �lafr Tryggvason and the king�s father, he goes on to say thatnbsp;Magnus must not be offended with his advisers for speaking plainly.nbsp;The people are complaining that they are not being governed as he hadnbsp;promised. Who is inciting you to go back upon your words A kingnbsp;must be true to what he has said. It is never fitting for you to breaknbsp;your promises. Who is inciting you to destroy the property of yournbsp;subjects.^ A prince who stirs up warfare within his country shows toonbsp;martial a spirit. He adds that die men of Sogn are already rising. Wenbsp;will support you with our arms. But how long is the country to benbsp;divided The appeal was successful, and Magnus changed his policy.nbsp;He is credited with having had the laws committed to writing for thenbsp;first time�a much disputed statement, to which we shall have to refernbsp;in a later chapter.

So far we have noticed only poems relating to rulers or to events of national importance. Numerous elegies, mostly short, on persons innbsp;private life are also preserved. Perhaps the longest and most famous isnbsp;Egill Skallagrimsson�s Sonatorrek or �Loss of (my) Sons�.' In thenbsp;saga, cap. 78, it is stated that Egill lost two of his sons within a shortnbsp;time; one of them was drowned at sea. He was so distressed that henbsp;shut himself up in his bedroom and refused all food and drink. Hisnbsp;daughter ThorgerSr, the wife of �lafr Pai, was sent for; and shenbsp;gradually persuaded him to compose an elegy on his sons, which shenbsp;offered to take down on a rod. His spirits revived with the effort, andnbsp;he returned to the family circle. The poem contains a number ofnbsp;difficult metaphors, and the diction is frequently far from clear. Thenbsp;following (st. 6 ff.) is one of the more straightforward passages : � Thenbsp;rent which the waves have made in the pale of my father�s family hasnbsp;been harrowing to me. Empty and unoccupied I see the place from which

Ed. and transi, by Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, p. 126 ff. (together with translation of the passage in the saga).

the sea has torn my son. Greatly has Ran afflicted me. I have been despoiled of a dear friend. The sea has rent the ties of my kindred andnbsp;torn a stout thread from me myself. Know that if I could have avengednbsp;my cause with my sword, the Ale-brewer would have been no more�.nbsp;The allusion here is to the sea-giant Aegir, who in the Lokasennanbsp;(cf. p. 248) entertains the gods at a banquet. Ran is his wife, whonbsp;catches the drowned in her net. Such references to mythology arenbsp;extremely frequent.

As an example of a brief elegy we may quote that of the same poet on his brother Th�rolfr, contained in cap. 55 of the saga: �Th�rolfrnbsp;the bold-hearted, the slayer of the earl, he who feared nothing, strodenbsp;forth valiantly and fell in Thundr�s (i.e. Othin�s) great uproar. Nearnbsp;Vina the earth is green over my noble brother. That is a deadly sorrow;nbsp;but we will suppress our grief�. Some scholars doubt the genuinenessnbsp;of this stanza, owing to the resemblance between the name Vina andnbsp;JVeondun, which is given by Symeon of Durham as an alternative namenbsp;for Brunanburh. It is clear that Th�rolfr was killed some time before thenbsp;battle of Brunanburh ; but the identification of the two names is notnbsp;convincing.!

From the illustrations given above it will be seen that Norse poetry of Type D shows a large amount of variety. And this applies not only tonbsp;�the choice and the treatment of the subject, but also to the metrical formnbsp;of the poems. The �imaginative� pieces are in the Edda metres, whichnbsp;are no doubt of purely Teutonic origin. The DarToiarljob is in thenbsp;Fornyrbislag metre (cf. p. 29). The Hrafnsmdl is in the Mdlahdttr, andnbsp;so also is the (� non-imaginative �) poem on the Battle of Hafsfjord. Thenbsp;Eitiksmal and the Hakonatrndl are partly in the Malahdttr and partlynbsp;in the Lj��ah�ttr. The rest of the poems are in what were probably newnbsp;metres. The Kvi�uhdttr used in Egill�s Sonatorrek�as also in Thj�-Solfr�s Ynglingatal (cf. p. 271)�is doubtless only a modification of thenbsp;FornyToislag^ with the first half-line shortened. But the other metresnbsp;show rhyme or assonance, as well as alliteration, and can hardly be ofnbsp;native origin. The R�nhent, which has end-rhymej is used in Egill�snbsp;H�fublaitsn and in Gunnlaugr�s ode to King Sigtryggr; and analogiesnbsp;are to be found in a few Anglo-Saxon poems. Far more frequent,

! We are much inclined to doubt if cap. 51-5 5 of the saga are derived from early saga tradition. We suspect that they were largely made up at a later date from Egill�snbsp;poems, augmented by conventional battle-scenes. The stanza which follows thenbsp;elegy on Th�rolfr need not originally have been connected with it. It does notnbsp;refer to him.

however, is the Dr�ttkvaett, which has internal rhyme or assonance; this is the usual metre in pieces which consist of a single stanza and isnbsp;employed also in some of the longer poems noticed above. Thenbsp;exigencies of the metre often cause an unnatural order of the words in anbsp;sentence�which, taken together with the interweaving of sentencesnbsp;and an extravagant use of periphrases, renders the interpretation ofnbsp;poems in this metre very difficult.

Lastly, it may be remarked that�in contrast with the Edda poems� the poetry treated above is almost always of known authorship. Amongnbsp;the poems which we have noticed the only exceptions are the Eiriksmdlnbsp;and the Darra�arlj�b. But it is probably due to a mere accident that thenbsp;name of the author of the former is not recorded.

In Irish numerous short fragments of panegyrics are preserved in grammatical tracts.^ The earliest date from the last century of thenbsp;Heroic Age, but the great majority belong to later times. They arenbsp;mostly addressed to kings and princes, and in their general characternbsp;resemble the Norse panegyrics noticed above. A number of abusivenbsp;poems, directed against enemies of the poets or their patrons, arenbsp;preserved in the same tracts.

Fragments of elegies, mostly preserved in Annals, are nearly as numerous.^ The earliest of these also date from the Heroic Age. Fromnbsp;later times, however, a few examples have been preserved complete.3.nbsp;They have much more in common with Welsh heroic elegies (cf. p. 38)nbsp;than with the Norse poems treated above. The elegies of Gormlaith fornbsp;Niall Glundub, noticed on p. 340, whether they are genuine or poems ofnbsp;Type B, are of very similar character. Here also we may mention anbsp;number of elegies contained in the story of Celiachan of Cashel. Somenbsp;of these are presumably to be referred to Type B (BD). Such is thenbsp;case with the elegy attributed to Celiachan in cap. 42, when he isnbsp;captured and the heads of his followers are brought to him to identifynbsp;on the Green of Dublin. Similar cases occur in cap. 75 and 84. On thenbsp;other hand, the poems in cap. 70 and 78 are not given as speeches innbsp;character and may perhaps be derived from contemporary elegies. Innbsp;any case it is on such elegies that all the poems seem to be based. Thenbsp;War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill also contains two elegies, both on thenbsp;death of Mathgamain, the elder brother of Brian Boruma, in 976. The

* A large number are ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Bruchst�cke der �lteren Lyrik Irlands (Abb. d. pr. Akad., 1919), pp. 5 ff.

first (cap. 59) is attributed to Brian himself, the second (cap. 62) to Mathgamain�s �blind man� (poet). The latter at least of these maynbsp;perhaps be derived from a contemporary elegy. But it contains (st. 9)nbsp;a reference to a prophecy of Brian�s high-kingship, which he did notnbsp;acquire until about twenty-six years later; so that additions would seemnbsp;to have been made to it.

Next we may mention the Address to CerbalV's Sword^ a poem the object of which is to celebrate the victories won by Cerball, king ofnbsp;Leinster (c. 885-909), and his ancestors. Cerball was the second husband of the Gormlaith whose elegies have been discussed above. Thenbsp;poem seems to have been composed very soon after his death, and isnbsp;attributed to his chief poet, Dalian mac More. The first stanza is asnbsp;follows: �Hail, O Sword of Cerball! Often hast thou been in the greatnbsp;woof. Often hast thou been giving battle and taking off the heads ofnbsp;high monarchs�. The reference to the �woof� (of battle) suggests anbsp;connection between this poem and the Darra�arlj�� (cf. p. 346 f.).nbsp;Possibly the idea of the latter was derived from this passage.

Poems which celebrate specific victories over the Norse are to be found in the story of Celiachan, cap. 19 and 89, and also in the War,nbsp;cap. 54,67 and 68. The first of the latter is a dialogue (Type B) betweennbsp;Brian and Mathgamain, and the examples from the story of Celiachannbsp;are probably to be referred to the same Type. They may, however, benbsp;taken as giving some impression of what Type D poems of this kindnbsp;were like. A fragment of such a poem, also apparently referring to anbsp;victory over the Norse, is preserved in a grammatical tract.�

For an example of hortatory poetry we may refer to the poem given in the story of Celiachan, cap. 10, in which the warriors of Munster arenbsp;summoned to attack the Norse city of Limerick. We may quote the firstnbsp;stanza: �Come ye to Limerick of the ships, O children of Eogan, ye ofnbsp;mighty exploits ! Around the gentle Celiachan (come) to Limerick ofnbsp;the riveted stones�. We know of no parallels to this in Norse; but in itsnbsp;general character the poem is not unlike those of Tyrtaios (cf. p. 355),nbsp;though it is more personal. Further examples may be found in the samenbsp;work, cap. 45 and 91, and also in the War, cap. 58, where there is annbsp;appeal to the Gaill of Limerick and their Munster allies. Note may also

* Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Rev. Celt. xx. 7 ff. ; transi, only in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 72 ff.

� Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Bruchst�cke, p. 14; transi, only in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 75. The date 994 assized to the piece in the latter seems to have beennbsp;given up in the Bruchst�cke, which were published later.

be made of a poem in the latter work, cap. 73, in which the poet Gilla Comgaill appeals to Aed Ua Neill to take up arms against Brian.

Hortatory poetry of a different kind is represented by a poem known as the Rights of every Lawful King^ addressed to the high-king Aednbsp;Oirdnide, perhaps at his accession, in 798. In it the king is exhortednbsp;to assert his rights, to maintain justice and to respect the Church. It maynbsp;be compared with the Bers�glisv�sur, though the tendency is differentnbsp;and the matter is much more general. The gnomic element is large ; andnbsp;we shall therefore revert to the poem again in the next chapter. Itnbsp;may, however, be observed here that the author was probably followingnbsp;a custom usual, if not traditional, in his days; for there exist severalnbsp;gnomic �Instructions� addressed to kings of the Heroic Age, the earliestnbsp;of which seem to date from about the same time. These also will benbsp;noticed in the next chapter.

Welsh poems of Type D dating from the twelfth and following centuries are numerous. They include panegyrics, elegies, and piecesnbsp;celebrating victories and other public occasions. But these fall outsidenbsp;our period. The earliest poem which can be dated with confidence is anbsp;kind of short elegy by Meilyr upon Trahaearn, king of Gwynedd, whonbsp;was defeated and slain by Gruffydd, son of Cynan, at the battle ofnbsp;Mynydd Carn in 1081. But it is in the form of a prophecy; the poetnbsp;uses the future both for the battle and for the king�s death. Twonbsp;difficult and obscure poems {BBC. iii, iv) by a poet called Cuhelyn maynbsp;be of earlier date. They appear to be panegyrics ; but we know nothingnbsp;either of the poet or of the persons to whom they are addressed. One ofnbsp;them seems to be in honour of a prince called Aeddan. The only Welshnbsp;prince of this name known to us is Aeddan son of Blegywryd, who wasnbsp;killed in 1018 by Llywelyn, son of Seisyll.

Mention should perhaps be made here of a number of prophetic (predictive) poems, the purpose of which appears to be partly hortatorynbsp;and partly to celebrate public events, though the names of contemporarynbsp;persons are rarely given. On the whole, however, we think it better tonbsp;treat these poems in Ch. xv, in connection with prophecies of othernbsp;kinds.

In English the most important example of Type D is the poem on the battle of Brunanburh,^ preserved in the Saxon Chronicle, ann. c)y]. Thisnbsp;place, now usually identified with Birrenswark, near Ecclefechan, was

* Ed. and transi, by O�Donoghue in the Miscellany presented to K. Meyer, p. 258 ff.

the scene of a great victory won by Aethelstan over the allied forces of Constantine II, king of Scots, and Anlaf (�lafr II), king of Dublin.nbsp;The poem begins by praising the valour of Aethelstan and his brothernbsp;Edmund, but it goes on to celebrate the prowess of the English troops,nbsp;both West Saxon and Mercian: �All day long the West Saxons withnbsp;troops of horse pressed on in pursuit of the enemies� forces.... Nor didnbsp;the Mercians refuse hard fighting to any of the warriors who in the ship�snbsp;bosom had followed Anlaf over the tossing waters to our land to meetnbsp;their doom in battle�. It is a national, not heroic, song of triumph. Anbsp;large part of it is devoted to exulting over the defeated foes. (37 ff.)nbsp;�There also the aged Constantine, the grey-haired warrior, set off innbsp;flight to his country in the north. No cause had he to exult in that clashnbsp;of arms. He was bereaved of his kinsmen and friends, who had been cutnbsp;down in the struggle and lay lifeless on the field of battle... .Then thenbsp;sorry remnant of the Norsemen, who had escaped the spears, set outnbsp;upon the sea of Dinge (.^) in their nail-studded ships, making fornbsp;Dublin over the deep waters. Humiliated in spirit they returned tonbsp;Ireland. �

From this point onwards the Chronicle contains various other entries in verse ; but most of them do not come within the scope of our work.nbsp;Some of them are merely metrical annals, obviously composed by thenbsp;annalists themselves for the places which they occupy in the Chronicle.nbsp;Such is the case, for example, with the metrical entries in am. 942 (MSS.nbsp;ABCD), 973 and 975 (ABC). They may be regarded as precursors ofnbsp;the metrical chronicles of later times. Other poems may have beennbsp;composed independently of the Chronicle, but yet intended for anbsp;reading public. It is probable that before the end of the tenth centurynbsp;reading was a fairly widespread accomplishment among the uppernbsp;classes. Along with these may be mentioned a number of passages innbsp;rhetorical prose, e.g. in am. 959, 979 (MS. E), loii (CDE), whichnbsp;conform to Type D, though we have no doubt that they were writtennbsp;from the beginning. They are of a homiletic character and were probablynbsp;written by ecclesiastics, whether for the Chronicle or not. Of poemsnbsp;which may perhaps have been intended for oral production the elegiesnbsp;on the deaths of Edgar and of Prince Alfred may be cited, in am. 975nbsp;(DE) and 1036 (C) respectively. They show a partial adoption of rhymenbsp;in place of alliteration. Poems celebrating the marriages of prominentnbsp;persons were also perhaps recited for public entertainment. William ofnbsp;Malmesbury, n. 188, says that a poem on the marriage of Gunnhild,nbsp;daughter of Canute, with the Emperor Henry III, was still current in

this way (in triuiis cantitata) even in his own time�more than eighty years after the events

In Greek no panegyrics of this period have been preserved, so far as we are aware. The Odes of Pindar, composed in honour of athletes andnbsp;their patrons, belong to a later date; and so also the fragments of panegyrics upon princes, by Simonides of Ceos and others. We see nonbsp;reason for doubting that such poems were composed in the period withnbsp;which we are concerned�^in honour of the �Tyrants�, who ruled innbsp;many cities, or of hereditary princes in more backward parts of thenbsp;country�but we cannot cite any references to their existence. On thenbsp;other hand, there is abundant evidence for diatribes in poetry against thenbsp;leaders of political factions to whom the authors were opposed. Manynbsp;fragments of such poems by Alcaios have been preserved. Most of themnbsp;are directed against the dictator Pittacos.

No elegies upon rulers or political leaders appear to have been preserved from our period. Perhaps the nearest approach to such is tonbsp;be found in an epitaph in hexameters upon a tomb of the sixth century innbsp;Corfu:� �This is the monument of Menecrates, son of Tlasias, a nativenbsp;of Oianthe; but the citizens (of Corfu) made this for him, for he was anbsp;beloved consul of the citizens. But he perished at sea.... And thisnbsp;monument was constructed for him, with the cooperation of the citizens, by his brother Praximenes, who had come from his own country�.nbsp;Short memorial pieces of this type are quite common. They belong nonbsp;doubt essentially to the age of writing, though the opening formulanbsp;occurs in the Iliad (vii. 89). But the type may well have originated, as innbsp;Runic epitaphs, at a time when writing was seldom used for literarynbsp;purposes. Here also we may quote an epitaph on a girl, ascribed tonbsp;Sappho-3 �This is the dust of Timas, who died unmarried and passednbsp;into the dark chamber of Persephone ; and at her death all her companionsnbsp;devoted to the newly whetted steel the lovely hair of their heads�.

Longer elegies are not wanting, though they are preserved only in fragments. We may quote from a poem of Archilochos, addressed to anbsp;certain Pericles and evidently relating to the death of a relative or

� Possibly, however, this was not a poem of Type D, but part of a narrative poem which related Gunnhild�s adventures seriatim (cf. p. 338), after the mannernbsp;of the Romances. The poem on the marriage of Margaret with Malcolm III,nbsp;quoted in the Chronicle, ann. 1067 (D), can hardly have been intended for recitation,nbsp;except perhaps in religious houses.

� Cauer, Delectus Inscr. Grace. (1883), p. 54 f.; Solmsen, Inscr. Graec. (1910), p. 47 f.

friend who has been lost at sear^ �Neither the city itself nor any of its inhabitants will take pleasure in feasts, Pericles. They arenbsp;murmuring at their grievous loss; for such (i.e. so beloved) were theynbsp;whom the waves of the loud-roaring sea have engulfed. Our hearts arenbsp;swollen with grief, but the gods, my friend, have devised mightynbsp;patience as a balm for incurable ills. Trouble comes first to one, then tonbsp;another. Now it has fallen upon us, and we groan over a bloody wound ;nbsp;but soon it will pass on to others. Have patience, and put away womanlynbsp;sorrow as soon as may be�. To the same poem probably belongs thenbsp;following fragment, among others: �Let us hide (perhaps �bury�)nbsp;the grievous gifts of Lord Poseidon�. It is interesting to compare thisnbsp;poem with Egill�s Sonatorramp;k^ which was composed for a similar occasion.nbsp;To the modern reader the straightforward style of the Greek poetnbsp;appeals far more than the affectations of the Icelander.

With Egill�s elegy on his brother (cf. p. 349) we may compare a fragment (No. 14) of Mimnermos, which seems to have been part of annbsp;elegy on a warrior. The hero�s name is not preserved ; but the men of thenbsp;last generation �saw him piercing the serried ranks of Lydian cavalrynbsp;upon the plain of the Hermos.... He dashed forth in the forefront, in thenbsp;roar of bloody battle, defying the sharp arrows of his foes �.

Hortatory poetry is fairly well represented. The poems in which Tyrtaios rouses the Spartans to battle with the Messenians may benbsp;compared with such Irish poems as the one quoted on p. 351, in whichnbsp;the men of Munster are summoned to the attack upon Limerick. Butnbsp;the Greek poems are of a much more general character�tending towards the gnomic�a feature which is even more marked in the onlynbsp;surviving long fragment of Callinos. As an example of this kind ofnbsp;poetry we may take Tyrtaios, fragm. ii: �Now take courage, since yenbsp;are the offspring of invincible Heracles. Not yet has Zeus averted hisnbsp;countenance. Have no concern or fear owing to the numbers of yournbsp;foes; but let every man go straight into the forefront, shield in hand,nbsp;counting life hateful and the black fate of death as dear as the rays of thenbsp;sun�. Such sentiments recur again and again in these poems.

It should be observed that what Callinos and Tyrtaios appeal to is the spirit of patriotism, not that of personal loyalty to kings, as in heroicnbsp;poetry. Kings continued to reign in Sparta; but Tyrtaios does not oftennbsp;refer to them. His constant theme is the duty of the individual to

i Fragm. 9 ff. Fragm. 12 f. are quoted by Plutarch as referring to die death at sea of the poet�s brother-in-law; and some scholars believe these fragments to comenbsp;from the same poem. For the following passages see note on p. 422.

sacrifice himself to the state. For his attitude to the state we may compare another fragment, from a political poem:i �Thus did the lord of the silver bow, Apollo of the golden hair, proclaim from his rich sanctuary, that the kings honoured by the gods, who have under theirnbsp;charge the beautiful city of Sparta�that they and the elders of seniornbsp;rank should be leaders in counsel, while the men of the commons, whonbsp;own obedience to straightforward laws, should cultivate honourablenbsp;speech and justice in all their acts, and devise no evil for the city�.

Many fragments of political poetry have been preserved from this period; and everywhere it is in the state or city that the poets� interest isnbsp;centred. Alcaios seems in more than one poem to have compared his city,nbsp;Mytilene, which was torn with factions, to a ship foundering amongnbsp;rocks. From Solon we have fragments of a poem^ in which he rousednbsp;the Athenians to seize the island of Salamis. This may be compared withnbsp;the hortatory poems of Tyrtaios, though it would seem to have been ofnbsp;a more specific character. �Then may I change my country and be anbsp;citizen of Pholegandros or of Sicinos ��two small islands in the Aegeannbsp;��rather than an Athenian; for we should soon have people sayingnbsp;this kind of thing : � There is a man from Attica, the state which gave upnbsp;Salamis�.� And again: �Let us go to Salamis, to fight for the lovelynbsp;island and to wipe off our sore disgrace�.

Solon, however, was the author of other poems, of a political character, for which no parallels are to be found in the poetry of the northernnbsp;peoples. We may instance the following (fragm. 5): �To the commonsnbsp;I gave such authority as is fitting�I took away none of their rights,nbsp;neither was I lavish in presenting them therewith�while for those whonbsp;had held the power and were respected owing to their wealth, I tooknbsp;care that they should receive no unfair treatment. I took my stand,nbsp;holding a mighty shield over both parties, and allowed neither of themnbsp;to gain an unjust victory�. In another poem (fragm. 36), in iambicnbsp;metre�^unUke the pieces quoted above, which are in the elegiac�henbsp;reviews the results of his legislation. �In the court of Time I shallnbsp;receive the best of witness from Black Earth, the very great mother ofnbsp;the Olympian deities, from whom I removed the mortgage-stones whichnbsp;everywhere had been implanted in her.3 Before that she was in slavery,

3 The allusion is to Solon�s measures for the relief of debtors. Much of the land had been mortgaged. According to Greek custom the mortgagee set up stonenbsp;pillars on land thus acquired.

but now she is free.... These things I did by (my own) authority (as dictator), fitting together force and justice, and I carried them throughnbsp;as I had promised. But I put into writing equal laws for the base and thenbsp;noble, fitting justice straight to every man. � To the last sentence we shallnbsp;have to refer again in Ch. xvi. It shows of course that we are herenbsp;approaching the end of our period. Yet note should be taken of the factnbsp;that poetry is used as the vehicle of political manifestos. The authornbsp;expects his words to be preserved by memory rather than in writing.

In the next chapter it will be seen that for some of Solon�s other poems rather close analogies are to be found in Anglo-Saxon poetry.nbsp;The parallelism is such as to suggest that he would not have found thenbsp;(secular) intellectual atmosphere of Saxon England entirely unintelligible or uncongenial. With such Icelanders as Njall, the legalnbsp;expert, he would possibly have been in still closer sympathy. But henbsp;would certainly have regarded all the northern peoples as backwardnbsp;politically.

Lastly, it may be observed that prophetical poetry played a by no means unimportant part in the political life of post-heroic times, as maynbsp;be seen, for example, from the references in Herodotos. It will be morenbsp;convenient, however, to reserve all poetry of this kind for discussionnbsp;in Ch. XV.

Type E, i.e. personal or occasional poetry, apart from elegies and from poems dealing with public events, is fairly well represented innbsp;Greek and abundantly in Norse. The resemblance between the twonbsp;literatures here is much greater than in Type D, although the poemsnbsp;belonging to the two Types are frequently by the same authors. It willnbsp;be convenient in this case to begin with the Greek evidence, thoughnbsp;the material is for the most part fragmentary.

The earliest references of a personal character in Greek poetry are to be found in Hesiod�s poems and at the conclusion of the Homericnbsp;Hymn to Apollo of Delos (cf. p. 243 f.). In the latter passage the poetnbsp;bids farewell to his chorus of maidens and begs them when they arenbsp;asked who it is whose minstrelsy gives them most pleasure, to say: � Itnbsp;is a blind man, and he dwells in rocky Chios. His minstrelsy willnbsp;never be surpassed even in the future�.

Hesiod in the Theogony (yz ff.) refers merely to the �call� which he received from the Muses, when he was tending the sheep on Mt.nbsp;Helicon. To this passage we shall have to return in a later chapter. Butnbsp;the Works and Days contains much more of a personal character.

The framework is in the form of an admonition to his brother Perses, who has unjustly deprived him of part of his patrimony. He repeatedlynbsp;exhorts his brother to turn to work of various kinds for a livelihood,nbsp;instead of devoting his time to lawsuits under corrupt judges. In onenbsp;interesting passage (631 ff.) he relates how his father had been a tradernbsp;and spent much of his life at sea. Owing to poverty he had left hisnbsp;home at Cyme in Aiolis and settled at Ascra, near Mt. Helicon, which isnbsp;described as a bleak and unattractive place. Hesiod himself had onlynbsp;once been on the sea (648 ff.), when he crossed over to Chaicis tonbsp;compete in a poetic contest at some funeral games. He gained a prize,nbsp;which he dedicated to the Muses of Helicon.

The earliest poems of a purely personal character of which anything has been preserved are those of Archilochos, who seems to have livednbsp;about the middle of the seventh century. He belonged to the island ofnbsp;Paros, but served, probably as a soldier of fortune, in the south ofnbsp;Italy, and settled for a time in Thasos. His poems, which are knownnbsp;only from quotations, are believed to have been quite short; indeednbsp;some of them may be preserved complete. Passages from one of hisnbsp;elegies have been given above (p. 355). The fragments are in variousnbsp;metres, including elegiac, iambic and trochaic tetrameter.

In fragm. i and 2 he appears to refer to his life as a soldier: �I am a squire of the lord Enyalios (i.e. Ares), versed also in the lovely gift ofnbsp;the Muses�. �By the spear I have the kneaded loaf, by the spear thenbsp;wine of Ismaros, by the spear I can rest and drink�. More famous,nbsp;however, is fragm. 6: �One of the Saioi (Thracians) is exulting in thenbsp;shield which I left among the bushes against my will. It was an excellentnbsp;piece of armour. But I myself escaped the fate of death. So bad lucknbsp;to that shield! I shall get another one which is just as good�. Thisnbsp;shows his attitude towards heroic ideals, as well as to those of militantnbsp;patriots like Tyrtaios. The same attitude is perhaps to be seen in fragm.nbsp;59: �A thousand strong we are responsible for the slaughter of sevennbsp;whom we overtook�.

Allusions to his adventures at sea seem to occur in the following passages: (fragm. 54) �Look, Glaucos, for the deep sea is alreadynbsp;stirred by billows, and a cloud is standing aloft around the peaks of thenbsp;Gyrai, portending a storm. Danger is falling upon us unexpectedly�,nbsp;(fragm. 4) � Now come, take a flask and run along the benches of thenbsp;swift ship. Draw the liquor from the hollow casks, and drain the rednbsp;wine to the dregs; for not even we shall be able to go in for abstinencenbsp;while we are engaged on this duty�.

Some fragments suggest amorous interests or a susceptibility to female charms; but they are perhaps satirical rather than serious. Innbsp;later times a story was current that the poet had loved the daughter of anbsp;certain Lycambes, who at first encouraged and then rejected his suit.nbsp;Archilochos in revenge lampooned both the father and the daughter sonbsp;bitterly that they committed suicide. Fragm. 94 would seem to benbsp;connected in some way or other with this story: �Father Lycambes,nbsp;what is this you have been cogitating.? Who has been turning askew thatnbsp;wisdom of yours, which in the past was your support? But now younbsp;are figuring as an object of great ridicule to the public�.

Several fragments deal with the poet�s philosophy of life. Thus in 66, which is addressed to his �soul distraught with cares�, he says: �Do notnbsp;exult in public, when you are successful, and do not collapse and weep innbsp;your house, when you are beaten. But in moderation be glad when thingsnbsp;go pleasantly, and sad when they go ill. Realise by what sort ofnbsp;�rhythm� mankind is governed�. By �rhythm� (puopos) he perhapsnbsp;means no more than a regular succession of ups and downs�we mightnbsp;say �see-saw��for elsewhere his thought does not seem to be abstruse;nbsp;but he may of course have borrowed the term from more abstrusenbsp;thinkers. We may also quote the following: (fragm. 15) �Labour andnbsp;human effort provide all things for men�;' and (fragm. 25) �I carenbsp;not for Gyges� and his vast wealth, nor has envy of him evernbsp;come upon me. I am not indignant at the works of the gods; nor do Inbsp;long for a great sovereignty, for it is beyond the vision of my eyes�,nbsp;(fragm. 73) �I sinned, and the penalty fell upon somebody else somewhere�. Unfortunately the context is lost. The same remark appliesnbsp;to fragm. 63, which may perhaps be contrasted with Tyrtaios�nbsp;references to the glory of dying in battle.

Sometimes Archilochos seems to be in a playful mood. We may quote fragm. 74, referring to the eclipse, probably on 6 April, 648, by whichnbsp;his floruit is dated: �Nothing in the world can be regarded as unexpectednbsp;or impossible or marvellous since Zeus, the father of the Olympians,nbsp;turned midday into night, hiding the light of the sun when it wasnbsp;shining, and grim terror came upon mankind. After that men maynbsp;believe and expect anything. Let none of you marvel any longer at whatnbsp;he sees�even if wild beasts who have loved the mountains exchange

I A different view is taken in fragm. 16: �Fortune and Fate give all things to a man�. But this fragment is addressed to Pericles, and may belong to the elegynbsp;quoted on p. 355.

with dolphins and take to living in the sea, and find the roaring waves of the deep pleasanter than the land�. In other fragments (86 ff.) henbsp;makes use of one or more fables, relating to a fox, an eagle and an ape,nbsp;which we may suspect were made to apply to somebody in no verynbsp;complimentary way. Here, as elsewhere, the absence of context is muchnbsp;to be regretted. Yet enough of his poetry has been preserved to indicatenbsp;the wide differences between his individualism and the national collectivism of patriotic poets like Tyrtaios. Both are equally far removednbsp;from the Heroic Age.

The other poets who require notice here lived about half a century after Archilochos. A considerable number of the fragments of Alcaios�nbsp;works seem to come from poems of Type E.� But they are much lessnbsp;well preserved than those of Archilochos, and it is often difficult tonbsp;decide whether a fragment belongs to a political or a personal poem.nbsp;The latter seem to have borne a general resemblance to Archilochos�nbsp;poems, so far as one can judge of the subjects and occasions with whichnbsp;they are concerned; but the satirical element is apparently wanting. Thenbsp;metres are usually �lyric�.

Sappho was a contemporary of Alcaios and belonged to the same city (Mytilene). Many of her poems seem to have been of Type E, and theynbsp;are better preserved than those of Alcaios�especially the fragments fromnbsp;MSS. recently discovered in Egypt, though most of these require a goodnbsp;deal of restoration. Such treatment must of course be left to specialists;nbsp;and as good translations are now available, we shall content ourselvesnbsp;here merely with references. Many of the poems appear to have been innbsp;the form of letters to Sappho�s friends�chiefly women or girls. Some ofnbsp;these must have been fairly long, since they contain speeches. Nos. 35 andnbsp;37� are addressed to her brother Charaxos, and No. 36 is also concernednbsp;with him. The latter contains a most bitter reference to his mistress,nbsp;Rhodopis. No. ii9isaddressedtoAlcaios�an indignant rebuke in replynbsp;to some remark or message from him. No. 71 makes short work of annbsp;uneducated woman, to whom it is said to be addressed. We know of nonbsp;parallels to Sappho�s poems in the early poetry of the north of Europe.

Solon and Mimnermos were contemporary with the last two poets; but little of their poetry comes in for consideration here. The survivingnbsp;fragments of Mimnermos are chiefly occupied with descriptions of thenbsp;sorrows of old age ; they may be compared with the elegies of Llywarch

* Most of the longer fragments in Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, I, from No. 121 (p. 396) to the end.

Hen (cf. p. 36). The surviving poems of Solon are mostly either political (cf. p. 3 5 6 f.) or philosophical ; the latter will require consideration in the next chapter. We may, however, refer here to a story told ofnbsp;the two poets by Diogenes Laertios, i. 2.13. One of Mimnermos� poemsnbsp;is said to have contained the following couplet (fragm. 6) : � May the fatenbsp;of death overtake me in my sixtieth year, free from diseases and grievousnbsp;cares�. When Solon heard this he expressed his disapproval as followsnbsp;(fragm. 20): �Now if thou wilt hearken to me even now, remove this,nbsp;and bear no grudge against me for having hit upon a better thoughtnbsp;than thou. But alter thy poem and sing thus: �May the fate of deathnbsp;overtake me in my eightieth year��. Fragm. 21 belongs to the samenbsp;context, though it is preserved by a different authority�When mynbsp;death comes, may it not be unlamented; rather may I cause my friends tonbsp;grieve and mourn, when I die�. We may also quote fragm. 19, Solon�snbsp;farewell message to Philocypros, a prince in Cyprus, with whom he hadnbsp;been staying: �Now long mayest thou reign over the Solioi here andnbsp;occupy this city, thou and the descendants of thy house. And may thenbsp;violet crowned Cyprian goddess give me a safe voyage in my swift shipnbsp;from her glorious island. May she grant her favour and glory to thisnbsp;new founded town, and to me a happy return to our native land �. Allnbsp;these passages are in elegiac metre.

All these poets belong to the end of our period, and it is probable that many of their poems were written down at once and sent as lettersnbsp;to the persons to whom they were addressed. But oral transmissionnbsp;may still have been the chief channel by which they became morenbsp;widely known. We may refer to a story^ which relates how Solon oncenbsp;heard one of Sappho�s poems from one of his relations and remarkednbsp;� Let me learn it and die�.

In conclusion something must be said of Aleman, a poet who lived somewhat earlier than the four just mentioned, though later thannbsp;Archilochos. He belonged to the same city (Sparta) as Tyrtaios, andnbsp;was apparently not more than a generation later; but the two poetsnbsp;have nothing in common. Most of the fragments of Aleman are verynbsp;short. So far as one can judge in the absence of context, many of themnbsp;seem to belong to hymns, which he composed for festivals. We hearnbsp;also of love-songs and drinking songs by him. A few fragments, e.g.nbsp;Nos. 46 and 130,2 apparently come from poems of Type E. But mention

may perhaps also be made here of the only long piece which survives (fragm. i). It is a choric hymn, apparently relating to Heracles and thenbsp;Dioscuroi ; but the theme abruptly changes from the legendary heroesnbsp;to the singers�the ladies of the chorus�who make complimentarynbsp;remarks on their leader and others of their number. This part of thenbsp;poem does not fall within our definition of either Type E or Type B.nbsp;We think it is derived from something akin to the former, viz. thenbsp;customary interchange of congratulations and criticisms among thenbsp;members of the chorus when the performance was over. But this conversation�or rather the poet�s idea of what it should be�has beennbsp;incorporated in the ritual poem and become, so to say, part of the performance. He seems indeed to have given as much care to this as to thenbsp;traditional element�which probably means that it was taken intonbsp;account by the judges of the competition. It cannot, as it stands, benbsp;treated as an example of Type E; for it is not composed by the performers themselves. On the whole it is nearer to Type B. But thenbsp;speeches are not speeches in character ; the performers speak as themselves, though in words composed for them. We know of no parallelnbsp;to this in the early poetry of the northern peoples. Perhaps the nearestnbsp;approach is to be found in the epilogues added by minstrels or recitersnbsp;to heroic poems; but these are less personal than the epilogue to thenbsp;Hymn to Apollo of Delos (cf. p. 357).

In Norway personal poetry can be traced back to the ninth century. Indeed there are examples as early as those of any other kind of poetrynbsp;from that country in its present form, though some of the poemsnbsp;treated in the previous chapters have doubtless a longer history behindnbsp;them.

From the tenth and eleventh centuries a large amount of personal poetry has been preserved, chiefly in sagas. It consists for the most partnbsp;of single stanzas composed on various occasions by the characters of thenbsp;sagas. The narratives in which they are incorporated give the contextnbsp;and therefore furnish us with more help towards the interpretation ofnbsp;these poems than we are able to obtain in the case of the Greek fragments discussed above. Sometimes, however, in stories dealing with thenbsp;early part of the tenth century, the narrative seems to be based upon thenbsp;verses, while in other cases it may be suspected that stanzas have beennbsp;invented not unfrequently by saga-tellers to fit the narrative. Asnbsp;remarked above (p. 339), it is often difficult and even impossible tonbsp;distinguish with certainty between Types E and B.

of which there are several varieties. The exigencies of this rather complicated metre, as remarked above, tended to produce an obscure and difficult style; and there is no doubt that this was exaggerated intentionally by the poets themselves. Two features in particular repel the modernnbsp;reader. One is the habit of �interweaving� two or three distinctnbsp;sentences in such a way that a literal translation in English would benbsp;wholly unintelligible. Even such words as �and� are frequently displaced. The other is the cultivation to an extravagant degree of kenningsnbsp;or poetic periphrases. From Snorri�s Skaldskaparmdl (�Language ofnbsp;Poetry�) the meaning of many of these is known. Yet there remain anbsp;good number of stanzas which in whole or part have not been satisfactorily explained. In the following quotations no attempt has been madenbsp;to preserve either the interweavings or the more extravagant kennings.

The earliest poetry of this kind is attributed to Bragi Boddason, who lived probably before 850. Harold the Fair-haired had several famousnbsp;poets in his service (cf. p. 341); but the cultivation of poetry of thisnbsp;kind appears to have been pretty general in his day among the uppernbsp;classes, both men and women. One of the king�s sons, named GuSr�Sr,nbsp;was brought up by Thj�Solfr of Hvin. He fell into disfavour with hisnbsp;father, and the aged poet used his influence to obtain a reconciliation.nbsp;They went to the court together in disguise while a feast was in progress.nbsp;Then said the king:i �In great numbers have my heroes of old arrived,nbsp;even those whose hair is white, exceeding eager for the feast. Why arenbsp;so very many of you come.^� Thj�Solfr replied: �In the service of thenbsp;wise and generous prince we received wounds in our heads when thenbsp;swords were clashing. Then there were not too many of us�. Then henbsp;removed his cloak, and the king recognised him and made him welcome.nbsp;Each of these speeches occupies half a stanza.

R�gnvaldr, earl of Moeri, one of Harold�s right-hand men, had married Hildr, the daughter of a certain Hr�lfr Nef ja; and one of theirnbsp;sons was called Hr�lfr after his grandfather. This son was banished bynbsp;Harold for piracy. His mother tried without success to induce the kingnbsp;to reverse his sentence. The following stanza is attributed to her:�nbsp;�Ye are driving and hunting out of the country him who is called afternbsp;Nefja, the wise brother of heroes. Why are ye acting thus, O Prince.^nbsp;It is a bad thing to ragequot;� against such a wolf, O deity of the shield ! If he

* Saga of Harold the Fair-haired {Heimskr.}, cap. 26. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;2 Ib. cap. 24.

3 The rare wordylfask, used here, means properly �to rage like a wolf�. There is a certain play upon words, for the second element in the name Hr�lfr (Anglo-Saxonnbsp;Hrodulf') is the word ulfr, �wolf�.

runs to the forest he will not deal gently with the prince�s flocks�. Hr�lfr (Rollo) made his way first to the Hebrides and afterwards tonbsp;France, where in 911 he founded the earldom of Normandy.

In Egils Saga, cap. 24, the following stanza is attributed to the aged Kveldulfr, whose son Th�rolfr had been in Harold�s service but hadnbsp;fallen into disfavour and been slain by him: �I have learnt now thatnbsp;Th�rolfr has met with his death in a northern island. Too soon hasnbsp;Othin claimed the wielder of the sword. Cruel to me are the Norns.nbsp;The weight of age (lit. �Thor�s heavy co-wrestler�) has rendered itnbsp;impossible for me to go to battle (lit. �the Valkyrie�s contest�). Notnbsp;quickly will vengeance be carried out, though my heart impels me thereto�. An attempt at reconciliation was made, but failed; and Kveldulfrnbsp;decided that it would be safer to emigrate to Iceland. He set out withnbsp;his son Skallagn'mr and a large following, but died on the voyage.

Egill, son of Skallagn'mr, was the most famous of the poets of Iceland. His life, c. 901-982, forms the subject of the greater part of the saga which bears his name. At his home at Borg in Iceland he was anbsp;wealthy and respected landowner; but he travelled much abroad andnbsp;served as a soldier of fortune under Aethelstan. Both in his characternbsp;and in his adventures he shows a rather striking resemblance to Archi-lochos. Several of his longer poems have been referred to abovenbsp;(PP- 343 f-5 348 f.). Here we are concerned only with the stanzasnbsp;relating to his personal experiences and feelings.

These stanzas vary considerably in subject and character. We should have liked to quote one which describes a storm encountered by thenbsp;poet on one of his voyages (cap. 57); but the metaphors are too obscure. As a rule, however, the subjects are personal. We may first takenbsp;a stanza (in the same chapter), in which Egill expresses his feelings towards King Eric Blood-Axe and his wife Gunnhildr�in a manner notnbsp;unworthy of Archilochos. He had claimed certain estates in Norway,nbsp;which were in the possession of a man high in the royal favour. Thenbsp;court was about to decide the case for Egill, when it was broken up bynbsp;a band of men instigated by the queen. A scene of uproar followed, innbsp;which Egill insulted the king; and on the following day he shot thenbsp;king�s pilot. He was then outlawed. While he was preparing to leave thenbsp;country he is said to have composed this stanza: �The lawbreaker hasnbsp;slain his brothers�' and upon me myself has imposed a long journey.

* The reference here is to the war in which Eric was engaged against two of his brothers, both of whom were slain. A few months later he was expelled by a thirdnbsp;brother, Haakon the Good.

The deity of the land is beguiled by his wife. I have to repay Gunn-hildr for this banishment. Fierce is her heart. But I will yet manage to snatch an opportunity of requiting her treachery�. He was as good asnbsp;his word; and before setting sail, he attacked and killed a number ofnbsp;people, including his opponent, the royal favourite, and a young son ofnbsp;the king.

In Egill�s poetry we have no exact parallel to Archilochos� poem on the loss of his shield. But his somewhat unheroic behaviour at York,nbsp;when he saved his head by composing a panegyric upon his enemy,nbsp;points to a similar cast of mind. And this impression is confirmed by thenbsp;stanza in which he thanks King Eric for sparing him (cap. 61): �Notnbsp;unpleasant is it to me, O king, to receive my head, uglyi though it be.nbsp;Where is there to be found anyone who has obtained a more handsomenbsp;gift from the noble-minded son of a monarch.^� This stanza is in thenbsp;Kv�uh�ttr metre, a modification of the ancient Fornyr�islag, and thenbsp;diction is much simpler than in Dr�ttkvaett stanzas, although the termnbsp;used for �head� means lit. �rock of helmets�.

Another example of Egill�s lighter vein may be quoted from cap. 5 5. After the battle in which he lost his brother (cf. p. 349) he is representednbsp;as entering Aethelstan�s hall and behaving in a sulky and ill-mannerednbsp;way until the king presented him with a gold bracelet and othernbsp;generous rewards. He is then said to have produced two stanzas, ofnbsp;which the simpler is as follows: �The peaks of my eyelids werenbsp;drooping from sorrow. Now I have found one who has smoothed outnbsp;these unevennesses of my forehead. With a bracelet the prince hasnbsp;pushed up my lowering eyebrows. That sullen look has gone from mynbsp;eyes�. We have not attempted to translate the periphrases for �eyelids�nbsp;and �eyebrows�.

Egill has not left much in the way of love-poetry. After his first visit to England he went to Norway to stay with the relatives of his brother�snbsp;widow �sgerSr, and to acquaint her with her husband�s death. While henbsp;was there he seemed to be wrapped in gloom and was always buryingnbsp;his head in his cloak; and his friend Arinbj�rn supposed that this wasnbsp;due to sorrow for his brother�s death. But he replied in a stanza (cap.nbsp;56) which may be translated freely as follows: �The young fair-armednbsp;goddess does not seek my acquaintance. Formerly I had couragenbsp;enough to raise my eyes. But when the lady comes into the poet�snbsp;(i.e. �my�) mind, I have to thrust my nose at once into my cloak�.

� Egill�s appearance, as described in cap. 55, seems to have been by no means prepossessing.

Then Egill confessed that he had set his heart upon �sgerSr. The marriage took place and proved happy.

Here we may perhaps give an instance of sparring in verse between a youth and a girl�of which examples will be found later in othernbsp;languages. In cap. 48 Egill, when very young, visits an earl callednbsp;ArnfiSr in Halland. While the earl�s daughter is moving about the hallnbsp;he takes her seat. She comes back and remarks: �What are you doing,nbsp;boy, in my seat.^ You have never given hot blood to the wolf. I wish tonbsp;sit by myself. You have not seen the raven screaming over blood in thenbsp;autumn. You have not been where sharp-edged blades were meeting�.nbsp;Egill replies : � I have carried a bloody sword and a screaming spear, andnbsp;the carrion bird followed me. Fierce was the attack of the pirates. Innbsp;fury we gave battle. Fire enveloped men�s dwellings. I have madenbsp;bloody corpses to lie in the gates of fortresses�.

Egill became blind in his old age. In cap. 85 it is related that one winter day he was lying in front of the fire, and one of the servingnbsp;women rudely told him to get out of the way. He replied in a stanza, innbsp;which he compares his present helplessness with the honours he oncenbsp;received from Aethelstan: �(Now) blind I grope around the hearth andnbsp;beg the goddess of the fire of her grace to put up with the trouble Inbsp;suffer from my eyes. (But) once a noble monarch took delight in mynbsp;words and enriched me with gold�.

Stanzas similar in their general character to Egill�s have been left by many poets of the next and following generations. Most of thesenbsp;were Icelanders who had travelled much abroad. Some of them, e.g.nbsp;Kormakr, HallffeSr and Gunnlaugr, devoted much more attention tonbsp;love-poetry. Unfortunately in all three cases the object of affection wasnbsp;married to another man. As a specimen of poetry of this kind we maynbsp;quote a stanza from Hallfrebar Saga, cap. 10: �When I catch sight ofnbsp;the goddess of fine cloaks, she seems to me like a ship sailing along thenbsp;sea between two islands ; but when I see the deity of the needle surrounded by other women she looks like a magnificently appointednbsp;galley gliding with golden sails�. He challenged the lady�s husband tonbsp;combat, but subsequently withdrew, because King �lafr Tryggvason,nbsp;to whom he was deeply attached, appeared to him in a vision andnbsp;forbade it.

Among the later poets perhaps the most interesting career was that of Thorm�Sr Kolbrunarskald, which is the subject of the Fostbroe^ranbsp;Saga. Thorm�Sr made a covenant of brotherhood with a friend namednbsp;Thorgeirr ; but a coolness arose between them, and they parted. Then

Thorm�Sr fell in love with a girl called Thorbj�rg Kolbrun and composed in her honour some poems which are now lost, but from which he got his nickname �Kolbrun�s poet�. Shortly afterwards, he met anbsp;certain Thordis, with whom he had previously been in love. Shenbsp;questioned him about the poems ; but he denied that they had been madenbsp;for Thorbj�rg, and re-composed them in her own honour. The followingnbsp;night Thorbj�rg appeared to him in a dream and charged him withnbsp;faithlessness, and added that he would lose both his eyes^ if he did notnbsp;make a public declaration of his duplicity. He awoke with severe painsnbsp;in his eyes; but he announced publicly what he had done and re-composed the verses in honour of Thorbj�rg, and then his eyes recovered.

The saga now passes on to Thorgeirr and the events which led to his death. Thorm�Sr, after spending some time in Norway with Stnbsp;Olaf, went to Greenland to avenge Thorgeirr. Then he returned tonbsp;Norway and remained with St Olaf to the end, following him into exilenbsp;in Russia and in his disastrous attempt to regain the throne. On thenbsp;morning of the battle of Stiklestad (1030) he recited the Bjarkamdl (cf.nbsp;p. 19) at St Olaf�s command, in order to rouse the army. After thenbsp;king had fallen he was mortally wounded, but made his way to a barnnbsp;which was being used as a hospital. He carried firewood for a womannbsp;who was attending to the wounded, but she asked him why he was sonbsp;pale. He replied in a stanza which may be translated freely as follows :nbsp;�I am not ruddy, but the slender woman (or �Valkyrie�) has got anbsp;ruddy husband. The old iron of the spear stands fast in me. I am overcome, good lady, by the pain caused by the deep marks of Danishnbsp;weapons in Dagr�s charge�.^ According to the F�sthroedra Saga, cap.nbsp;24, ad fin., he fell dead to the ground before he was able to completenbsp;the stanza, and the last word was added by Harold Hardrada, thenbsp;king�s young brother. But the Heimskr'mgla gives a slightly differentnbsp;account.

The amount of poetry of this kind preserved in the sagas is very considerable. After the earliest times�from the middle of the tenthnbsp;century�it is mostly the work of Icelandic poets ; but this may be duenbsp;largely to the fact that our records, the sagas themselves, are Icelandic.

� Occasional� poetry was certainly cultivated to some extent in Norway. Some stanzas by St Olaf and Harold Hardrada have been preserved.

We see no reason to doubt that in Ireland also occasional poetry was cultivated during the centuries which followed the close of the Heroicnbsp;Age. It is not unlikely that such poems are still preserved; but unfortunately we do not know where to find them. Some interesting andnbsp;attractive monastic poems of this kind have been published and translated but these do not fall within our scope. Again, the story ofnbsp;Cellachan of Cashel and the � War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill� containnbsp;a considerable amount of poetry; but some of this probably belongs tonbsp;Type B, while the rest falls under Type D (cf. p. 3 51) rather than Typenbsp;E. It is quite possible that some of the poems attributed to Gormlaithnbsp;(cf. p. 340) may belong to the latter Type�or at least be founded onnbsp;such poems. But even if they are all to be referred to Type B, they maynbsp;probably be taken as evidence that secular and royal persons cultivated�nbsp;or might be expected to cultivate�personal poetry, just as in the heroicnbsp;sagas. Among the fragments of poems which have been collected andnbsp;published several appear to belong to Type E, so far as one can judgenbsp;in the absence of any context.^

We have seen (pp. 25 f., 36) that several English and Welsh poems� DeoT^ Widsith and the elegies of Llywarch Hen�claim to be, in part ornbsp;wholly, personal poems of the Heroic Age. For the following periodnbsp;we find nothing of the kind, except a few pieces of religious provenance,nbsp;such as, for example, the (Christian gnomic) lines recited by Bede on hisnbsp;deathbed.3 Was personal poetry not cultivated, or was it always of annbsp;ephemeral character.^ Owing to the character of our sources we do notnbsp;think that either of these conclusions can be regarded as certain. Thenbsp;laity probably did not write very much in either language; and suchnbsp;compositions were not the most likely to find their way into religiousnbsp;houses. Bede in his account of Caedmon {Hist. Eccl. iv. 24) representsnbsp;villagers as coming together in the evening to drink and sing. The harpnbsp;was passed round, and everyone was expected to take his turn. Unfortunately he says nothing as to the character of the songs, though thenbsp;context implies that they were in the nature of friuoli et superuacuinbsp;poematis. This expression might apply to personal or occasional poetry,

� We may refer especially to The Monk and his Cat, ed. and transi, in Stokes and Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, II. 293; also transi, by K. Meyer, Ancientnbsp;Irish Poetry, p. 82.

� Cf. K. Meyer, Bruchst�cke d. �lteren Lyrik Irlands (cf. p. 350, note i), especially the last few pieces (p. 69 ff.).

but Bede would probably have included heroic poetry, as well as folksongs and other classes of poetry under the same term. All that can be said is that personal poetry may have been cultivated both in Englishnbsp;and Welsh; but it did not attain to such fame as to leave permanentnbsp;record of itself. In Ireland the evidence is better, as we have seen; butnbsp;for practical purposes we are dependent upon Greek and Norse for thenbsp;study of post-heroic personal poetry.

The general impression conveyed by the periods discussed in this chapter is, except in Greek and Norse, one of barrenness. It must benbsp;borne in mind, however, that the periods were not of the same lengthnbsp;in the various countries, and that the conditions which prevailed in themnbsp;were very different. In Greece we believe that our period�i.e. thenbsp;interval between the end of the Heroic Age and the time when writingnbsp;was in general use for literary purposes�covers about four centuries;nbsp;and most scholars would probably regard this as an understatement. Innbsp;the Norse world the corresponding period amounts to nearly sixnbsp;centuries. But in England both Latin and English were written withinnbsp;half a century of the close of the Heroic Age. In little more than anbsp;century there was a flourishing Latin literature; within two centuriesnbsp;there was probably much written English literature. In Ireland thenbsp;native language had come to be written perhaps half a century beforenbsp;the end of the Heroic Age, and before long its use for literarynbsp;purposes seems to have become fairly common. Latin had long beennbsp;in use. In Wales Latin had been known throughout the Heroic Agenbsp;and long before. It is uncertain when Welsh began to be written.nbsp;There is no satisfactory evidence that it was much used for literarynbsp;purposes before the tenth century�perhaps three centuries after thenbsp;Heroic Age.

From this it will be seen that the periods with which we are concerned in the British Isles may be described as literary periods, whereas the corresponding Greek and Norse periods were pre-literary. By thisnbsp;we do not mean of course that writing was unknown, but that it was notnbsp;commonly used for literary purposes�except towards the close of thenbsp;Greek period. In point of fact the first half both of the Greek period andnbsp;of the Norse is represented only by antiquarian traditions. The time ofnbsp;great activity in Greece in our period falls within the last century�nbsp;the period of transition when literature was beginning to be written.nbsp;In Norse it is otherwise. The �golden age� of saga ceases c. 1030-1040;

and the creative period may have come to an end before the close of the eleventh century�perhaps half a century before the beginning ofnbsp;literary times. Sagas of certain kinds, as well as oral poems, were stillnbsp;composed after this; but the maximum of intellectual output seems tonbsp;fall between the latter part of the ninth and the latter part of the eleventhnbsp;centuries. The essential point, however, is this : both in Greece and innbsp;the North the best intellects of the age were devoted to the cultivationnbsp;of oral poetry and saga�including no doubt the elaboration of oldnbsp;themes (heroic, etc.), as well as the creation of new ones, but morenbsp;especially the latter. On the other hand, the best intellects of thenbsp;British Isles were now diverted into a different channel, the cultivationnbsp;of written (primarily ecclesiastical) literature. It was only in comparatively backward circles here that attention was concentrated upon oralnbsp;poetry and saga.

The absence of Welsh material is perhaps the most striking fact. We have been able to produce very little from Wales in this chapter,nbsp;nothing from Strathclyde or Cornwall. Yet there is no good evidencenbsp;for an early written literature in Welsh, as there is in Irish and English,nbsp;while the output of Latin literature does not appear to have been great.nbsp;The British Heroic Age is well represented, as we have seen, especiallynbsp;for the northern area. At this time, it is true, the British territories werenbsp;much more extensive and richer than in later times. But what is morenbsp;remarkable is that in the twelfth century, when Wales alone remained, anbsp;rich new poetic literature begins�a fact which emphasises the barrenness of the intervening period. The Historia Brittonum suggests thatnbsp;intellectual activity during this period was largely concentrated uponnbsp;antiquarian speculations. We have also to take into account the development of imaginative^ga, as seen in the Mabinogion^ and probably anbsp;good deal of religious poetry and other (impersonal) kinds of poetry,nbsp;which will require notice in the following chapters. It would seem atnbsp;all events that little attention was given to poetry or saga relating tonbsp;contemporary events.

The records of post-heroic times, like those of the Heroic Age, contain both historical and unhistorical elements. But the proportionnbsp;between the two varies according to the length of the period in thenbsp;various countries. In the North, where the period is longest and thenbsp;record most full, supernatural elements occupy at least as prominent anbsp;position in these stories as in those of the Heroic Age. Adventures withnbsp;monsters are of frequent occurrence; and not seldom deities make their

appearance among men. We may refer, for example, to the description of the battle of Hj�rrungavagr (c. 990) given in the longer Saga ofnbsp;�lafr Tryggvason, cap. 154 f.,�^ where it is related that Earl Haakon�snbsp;patron goddesses, ThorgerSr H�lgabr�Sr and Irpa, came to assist him,nbsp;standing on the prow of his ship and pouring showers of arrows uponnbsp;his enemies. Similar highly imaginative scenes occur even in contemporarypoems (cf.p.3441f.). Itmaybe remarked toothatintheZfZentZzn^cznbsp;S�gur supernatural elements are not least prominent in stories whichnbsp;relate to the end of the saga period�the early part of the eleventhnbsp;century. We meet here frequently with omens, visions and ghosts, andnbsp;sometimes even with demons or monsters, as in the story of Grettir,nbsp;who died in 1031.

Fiction, apart from the supernatural, is of course more difficult to prove, though there can be little doubt that it is used freely in thenbsp;Fornaldar S�gur (cf. p. 333). Unhistorical combinations and chronological errors are likewise frequent in the earlier periods. The mostnbsp;striking case is that of Ragnarr LoSbr�k and his sons, who are generallynbsp;thrown back three or four generations before their true date. Yet it isnbsp;not to be doubted that from the time of Harold the Fair-haired thenbsp;narratives of the sagas are to be regarded as historical in their main lines,nbsp;at least so far as they are concerned with Norway and Iceland.

The Greek evidence is not dissimilar, though the amount of material here is much more limited. It is difficult to determine what is thenbsp;historical value of the traditions relating to the establishment of thenbsp;Dorian kingdom in Sparta, though much is doubtless to be attributednbsp;to speculations upon personal and place names. The stories relating tonbsp;Lycurgos also no doubt contain much unhistorical matter; and he isnbsp;made responsible for institutions some of which were probably ofnbsp;earlier, and some of later, date than his time. Stories relating to thenbsp;eighth and seventh centuries, however, are generally regarded asnbsp;historical in the main. Yet supernatural elements occur from time tonbsp;time, as in the North. We may refer, for example, to an event which isnbsp;recorded to have taken place not long before the middle of the sixthnbsp;century�the appearance of Helen at Therapne, when she gave the giftnbsp;of beauty to the child who afterwards became the wife of Ariston. Thenbsp;story is told by Herodotos, vi. 61. The credulity of the Greeks, even atnbsp;this time, is pointed out by the same author in another passage (i. 60), innbsp;which he describes how Peisistratos recovered his power at Athens�bynbsp;driving into the city with a woman whom he had dressed up to personatenbsp;Flateyjarb�k^ I. p. 192.

the goddess Athena. As illustrating unhistorical situations in saga of this period we may cite the story told by Herodotos (i. 86) of Croisos and hisnbsp;meeting with Solon. Probably, however, such cases are more or lessnbsp;exceptional, as in Norse. At all events it is from these stories that ournbsp;knowledge of early Greek history is mainly derived.

The EngUsh and Irish stories belong, as we have seen, to periods of written literature, and contain but little of the supernatural, other thannbsp;what is of hagiological character. Such unhistorical elements as theynbsp;contain would seem to be due in the former to gossip and scandal, innbsp;the latter to imaginativeness and the habit of reckless exaggeration.

The parallelism which we have noted in Norse and Greek saga relating to this period is almost entirely wanting in the poetry which wenbsp;have discussed above (p. 341 �F.) under Type D. The reason for this liesnbsp;partly in the occasions which gave rise to the poems. The Norse poemsnbsp;are mostly panegyrics or elegies upon princes, whereas the Greek arenbsp;incitements to battle or political manifestos. Parallels to the former arenbsp;to be found in Ireland, as we have seen; but the latter have no analogiesnbsp;among the northern peoples in our periods. On the other hand, panegyrics upon princes do not occur in Greek until a later time, thoughnbsp;this is probably due to mere accident, while none of the extant elegiesnbsp;are for persons of very exalted position.

There are, however, other and perhaps more important reasons for the differences we have observed. In most of the Greek poems there isnbsp;to be found a feeling of patriotism for the city or state to which the poetnbsp;belonged. Alcaios was for a time in exile, while his brother was anbsp;soldier of fortune in the army of Babylon; yet he speaks of his nativenbsp;city with the greatest devotion. Similar feelings may be traced innbsp;Tyrtaios, Solon and other poets. Parallels up to a certain point may benbsp;found also in the English Battle of Brunanburh and in some Irish poems.nbsp;But Norse poems rarely give any hint of such a feeling. The majoritynbsp;of these are, it is true, the work of Icelanders�i.e. aliens to the countriesnbsp;whose rulers they were praising. But even in panegyrics and elegiesnbsp;upon kings of Norway composed by Norwegians the same characteristicnbsp;is noticeable, except to a slight extent in the poems of Eyvindr Finns-son, the latest of them. In place of patriotism it is everywhere thenbsp;personality of the ruler himself which is the object of devotion andnbsp;loyalty, just as in the Heroic Age. Even in the English Battle of Maldonnbsp;the same heroic feature is much in evidence. It is for Earl Byrhtnoth,nbsp;rather than for their country, that the knights are ready to sacrifice their

lives. There is a noticeable difference in this respect between the poems on the battles of Maldon and Brunanburh. The former would seem tonbsp;be the product of a prince�s court, where the old heroic ideals were stillnbsp;maintained, whereas the sense of patriotism and national consciousnessnbsp;in the latter probably points to a different origin.

It would be well, however, not to overestimate the force of the feeling of patriotism in either England or Ireland in these times. Thenbsp;saga of Cellachan represents that prince as a model of patriotism,nbsp;striving constantly by both actions and words to rouse his countrymennbsp;against the invaders. But the Annals of Clonmacnois depict him as anbsp;mere disturber of the peace and an ally of the invaders. In point ofnbsp;fact, both in England and in Ireland there were usually discontented ornbsp;ambitious native princes to be found in the armies of the invaders, justnbsp;as there were usually Norse soldiers of fortune in the native armies. Anbsp;straight issue between a purely native and a purely foreign army was anbsp;rare occurrence. Yet the stress of invasion, and the devastation whichnbsp;inevitably accompanied it, did tend to produce a feeling of patriotismnbsp;and national solidarity, which we find from time to time reflected in thenbsp;poems.

The patriotism of the Greek poets is bound up with a more advanced political development; and it is the latter which constitutes the chiefnbsp;difference between Greece and the other countries in the periods undernbsp;discussion. We have seen that the devotion recognised by Norse poets isnbsp;personal rather than national, as in the Heroic Age. It is in accordancenbsp;with this that whenever we hear of internal struggles, they arise not fromnbsp;conflicting political principles, but from family quarrels, as between thenbsp;sons of Harold the Fair-haired, or from quarrels between two differentnbsp;families, as between the Norwegian royal line and the earls of Lade. Thenbsp;poets are interested in their own immediate friends and in the princes tonbsp;whom they have attached themselves; but it is very rarely that we hearnbsp;anything of the rights or wrongs of the people in general. A recognitionnbsp;of public distress appears first in the poems of Eyvindr Finnsson; but itnbsp;does not go very far, and it is doubtless due in part to the poet�snbsp;personal dislike of the reigning kings, Harold II and his brothers. Morenbsp;than half a century later popular discontent began to show itself openlynbsp;against the kings, in risings or threatened risings; but Sigvatr�snbsp;Bersoglisvisur (cf. p. 348) is the first example known to us of politicalnbsp;pressure apart from mere violence.

In England and Ireland we know of no parallels to the Bersoglisvisur. In England, however, similar political pressure was brought to bear

Upon Aethelred more than twenty years before the date of this poem.^ In Ireland nothing of the kind is known to us. The conditions appear tonbsp;have been more backward.

In Greece political development during our period had reached a far more advanced stage. It is possible that we are inclined to introducenbsp;modern ideas too much into the interpretation of the politics of thosenbsp;times, and that the contests between the political factions were more of anbsp;personal nature and less due to the recognition of principles than isnbsp;commonly supposed. But at all events the conception of the state as anbsp;common bond, on the welfare of which the security and prosperity ofnbsp;everyone depends, was recognised even in those cities which werenbsp;governed by individual rulers. The area of the state was as a rule verynbsp;small; all the citizens lived within easy reach of one another, and couldnbsp;discuss their wishes and grievances at all times. But in the northernnbsp;countries the areas were too large, the towns too small and few, and thenbsp;distances between them too great,� to allow of such rapid politicalnbsp;development. Iceland alone had a �republican� form of government.nbsp;But most of those who attended the assembly had to ride from fifty tonbsp;two hundred miles; and consequently it met only once a year, for a fewnbsp;days.

Taken by themselves the poems of Type D suggest but little analogy between the poetry�and the intellectual development in general�ofnbsp;Greece and that of the North. But a different impression is conveyed bynbsp;the poems of Type E. The quotations given above (p. 363) will perhaps be sufficient to illustrate the chief resemblances and differencesnbsp;between Greek and Norse poetry of this Type. It will be seen at oncenbsp;that the latter has much more in common with Archilochos than with thenbsp;melic poets. The reason for this lies no doubt largely in the backwardness of music in the North. There is no satisfactory evidence, so far asnbsp;we are aware, for choral poetry, except perhaps in spells. It is clear too,nbsp;that panegyrics and elegies were not usually accompanied by instrumental music. In the Teutonic Heroic Age the harp was regularlynbsp;employed for the accompaniment of poetry. But the evidence that it wasnbsp;retained in the Viking Age, even for heroic poetry, is slight and somewhat doubtful. These, however, are questions which will require noticenbsp;in a later chapter.

� It was in the comparatively populous district of Throndhjem that organised opposition to the kings of Norway first began to show itself.

A comparison between the poetry of Archilochos and that of such poets as Egill Skallagrimsson is much impeded by the conventions ofnbsp;form and diction by which the latter are bound, and which are extremelynbsp;distasteful to the modern reader. Apart from these perhaps the chiefnbsp;difference lies in the absence, especially in Egill�s poems, of the gnomicnbsp;element and indeed of any kind of generalisation. The themes treated innbsp;his stanzas are wholly of personal or particular interest. Observationsnbsp;of general application are hardly admitted even as illustrations. This isnbsp;the more remarkable because in the Hdvamdl^ which can hardly havenbsp;been unknown to him, gnomic poetry receives a more artistic treatmentnbsp;than in any Greek poem. It is found also in other Norse poems of thenbsp;period, e.g. in the H�konarm�l, Eyvindr Finnsson�s elegy on Haakon Inbsp;(cf. p. 344 f.), which perhaps shows a knowledge of the Hdvamdl, Innbsp;Anglo-Saxon poetry the gnomic element tends to encroach everywhere.

It is in accordance with this absence of generalisation that we seldom, if ever, find references to the community in Norse poems ofnbsp;this Type. The interests of the poets seem to be wholly individual, andnbsp;practically never extend beyond their families and personal friends. Thisnbsp;is of course only what might be expected from the considerationsnbsp;pointed out above (p. 372 f.).

Far more important, however, than these differences is the element which the Greek and the Norse poets have in common�Sappho andnbsp;Alcaios, as well as Archilochos, among the former. This may perhapsnbsp;best be described as the revelation of the author�s personality. Hesiod isnbsp;concerned to a certain extent with his own affairs; but what he tells usnbsp;about himself amounts to very little, and does not suffice to give us anynbsp;clear impression as to the kind of man he was. But these poets arenbsp;primarily occupied with themselves and their own interests. Theirnbsp;experiences and feelings, their pleasures and sorrows, their loves andnbsp;hatreds are frankly and freely stated. Even in those of their poems whichnbsp;belong to Type D, and which may be intended for a reward of somenbsp;kind, there is usually some indication of the independence or individuality of the author. We rarely meet with that self-effacement of thenbsp;author which is characteristic of heroic poetry.

Both in Greece and in the North the poets whom we are now considering were usually persons of independent means, or at least able to make their living in a way which did not involve the sacrifice of theirnbsp;independence. Those of the North might attach themselves to princesnbsp;in the hope of gaining substantial rewards in one form or another. Butnbsp;such engagements were as a rule only for a short time�after which the

poet returned home or resumed activities on his own account. In short, if allowance be made for the unsettled state of society in both periods,nbsp;the spirit in which the poets composed and the conditions under whichnbsp;they worked were not radically different from those of the modernnbsp;world.

It is possible that the self-revelation noted above was not entirely a new thing. We know from the case of Gelimer (cf. p. 26) that personalnbsp;poetry was cultivated in the Heroic Age by princes. Of such poetry,nbsp;however, nothing has been preserved, except perhaps in Welsh. Elsewhere if any personal poems have come down to us from the Heroicnbsp;Age, they are the work of professional minstrels. Personal poetry bynbsp;persons of independent position, whether aristocratic or middle-class,nbsp;begins for us with the poets treated in this chapter.

In conclusion it may be well to repeat that only poetry and saga relating to post-heroic times fall within the scope of this chapter. Thenbsp;poetry or saga may relate to either the present or the past, though not tonbsp;the Heroic Age. But it must not be supposed that this was the onlynbsp;kind of poetry or saga cultivated during the periods under discussion.nbsp;Heroic poetry of Types B and C probably dates largely from thesenbsp;periods. We believe that the history of heroic poems of Type A and ofnbsp;heroic sagas normally goes back to the Heroic Age itself; but as a rulenbsp;they doubtless underwent elaboration or modification in post-heroicnbsp;times. These are questions which will require discussion later. Manynbsp;sagas and poems of all Types (A, B, C, D) relating to the gods seemnbsp;to date from our periods; and the same is true of much antiquariannbsp;poetry, especially in Greece, Ireland and the North. There can be nonbsp;doubt that most of the poetry discussed in the following chaptersnbsp;belongs to the same periods.

I Heroic poetry of Type E must of course, if genuine, date from the Heroic Age itself. The same is no doubt true in general of Heroic Type D, though elegiesnbsp;may occasionally have been composed upon heroes of the past.

A CCORDING to Aristotle � �a gnome is a statement not relating to particulars, as e.g. the character of Iphicrates, but to universals;nbsp;Z~^yet not to all universals indiscriminately, as e.g. that straight isnbsp;the opposite of crooked, but to all such as are the objects of (human)nbsp;action^ and are to be chosen or avoided in our doings�.

Modern writers use the word in a wider sense than this, viz. as defined by Aristotle without his reservation�a statement relating to universalsnbsp;(as opposed to particulars). We know of no satisfactory definition in anbsp;dictionary or elsewhere ; but the word is commonly applied, for example,nbsp;to Anglo-Saxon sayings of a kind which are expressly excluded by Aristotle�s definition, e.g. �Good is opposed to evil, youth to age, life tonbsp;death, light to darkness�.3

It will thus be convenient to distinguish two types of gnomes: (I) those which come within Aristotle�s definition, and (II) those whichnbsp;are excluded by it. The former are concerned only with human actions,nbsp;and imply the use of choice or judgment. They are frequently combinednbsp;with precepts, and may often themselves be converted into precepts. Innbsp;literature this type appears perhaps most commonly in relation tonbsp;human action in its moral aspects. But it also includes gnomes innbsp;which the governing principle is advisability, as well as those whichnbsp;relate to the practice of industries or to the performance of religious ornbsp;magical rites.

Type II relates to the properties or characteristics not only of mankind in general and of various classes of mankind, but also of other beings, objects, natural phenomena, etc. The gnomes of this type may innbsp;general be regarded as the results of observation, and are not capable ofnbsp;being converted into precepts. Under this type it will be convenientnbsp;to distinguish gnomes relating to (a) human activities or experiences innbsp;which no choice or judgment is involved, (J}) the operations of Fatenbsp;(death) and the gods, (c) all other gnomes belonging to this type�the

� There is no doubt that Aristotle means human actions. But some of the examples which follow seem to indicate that irp��Ei� includes experiences, as well as actions.

378 characteristics of beings, etc. other than human. Our reason for treatingnbsp;(Jj) as a distinct variety is that gnomes of this kind sometimes occurnbsp;where other varieties are wholly or almost wholly unknown.

Not unfrequently the same formulae are used in both types of gnomes. We may instance the sceal formula in English poetry, e.g. forst scealnbsp;freosan, �it is the property of frost to freeze� (Type II c); swa sceal mannbsp;don, �this is how one ought to act� (Type I). The connection betweennbsp;the two types may be seen in such a sentence as Cotton Gnomes 14 f.,nbsp;which may be interpreted according to either type:

This may be translated according to Type I: � Good knightsought to encourage a young prince to warfare and generosity�; but also�andnbsp;perhaps more probably�according to Type II a: �It is characteristic ofnbsp;good knights to encourage�, etc. Both types are frequently associatednbsp;with descriptive poetry of the timeless nameless kind, which willnbsp;require notice later.

We are not concerned here with the origin of these two types of gnomes, both of which are probably of considerable antiquity, but onlynbsp;with the treatment of them in early poetry. Both types are very important in the history of poetry. Type I may be regarded as the beginningnbsp;of ethical literature, and Type II as the beginning of scientific literaturenbsp;in general.

It will be convenient to deal first with isolated gnomes, which are introduced incidentally in poems concerned with other themes�especially heroic poems�and secondly with poems, rarely also prosenbsp;pieces, which consist wholly or largely of collections of gnomes.

In the Homeric poems gnomes are rare. Those which occur mostly belong to Type II b, e.g. II. ix. 320: �Death befalls alike him who hasnbsp;done nothing and him whose achievements are many�; and ib, xviii.nbsp;309: �Enyalios (the war-god) is impartial and slays him who is about tonbsp;slay�. Similar cases will be found in ib. i. 218, xiii. 730 If. The latternbsp;passage shows the influence of the �gnomic catalogue�, which willnbsp;require notice later. As an instance of Type I we may take II. xii. 243,nbsp;which is quoted as an example by Aristotle himself � To fight for one�s

� Rhet. II. 21, II. Aristotle also quotes the first part of the second of the examples (JI. XVIII. 309) given above. But we cannot see how this can be covered by hisnbsp;definition of a gnome (cf. p. 377).

379 country is better than any omen�. This example belongs to thenbsp;martial, patriotic variety of gnome, which figures prominently in thenbsp;poems of Callinos and Tyrtaios. Examples of the strictly heroic variety,nbsp;found in Beowulf, seem to be wanting in the Homeric poems.

In the fragmentary poems of the seventh century treated in the last chapter gnomes occur far more frequently than in the Homeric poems.nbsp;After the patriotic poets Archilochos perhaps supplies the largestnbsp;number; and these, as might be expected, are of a somewhat specialisednbsp;character. For instances we may refer to p. 359. Fragm. 8 may also benbsp;quoted: �No one who frets over the rebuke of a churl is likely to havenbsp;too many pleasant experiences�. The poems of Simonides and thenbsp;gnomic poems of Solon will be discussed later.

In Beowulf �ie gnomic element is far greater than in the Homeric poems. Instances of Type II, however, are not frequent, apart fromnbsp;references to God, Fate or death (II b}. Some of these are of Christiannbsp;origin, e.g. 700 ff., 930 f. References to Fate and death are morenbsp;frequent, e.g. 455: �Fate always takes its course�; cf. 1386 f. Type I isnbsp;of common occurrence. The examples are usually, if not always, of thenbsp;heroic variety, e.g. 1384 f.: �For everyone it is a nobler course that henbsp;should avenge his friend than that he should indulge in mourning�.nbsp;Frequently these gnomes are expressed by the word sceal, e.g. 24:nbsp;� Success is to be attained Isceal... man ge^eon} in every nation bynbsp;deeds which evoke praise � (i.e. generosity). Sometimes we find a fullernbsp;formula, e.g. 1172: � This is how one ought to act� (cf. p. 378). In othernbsp;Anglo-Saxon poems isolated gnomes seem not to be of frequentnbsp;occurrence.! Timeless nameless poems which contain series of gnomesnbsp;will be noticed below.

In the mythological and heroic poems of the Edda, gnomes are of comparatively rare occurrence.� Examples of both types occur. As annbsp;instance of Type I we may quote Atlakviba 19: �Thus ought IskoT) anbsp;brave man to defend himself against his foes��a �heroic� gnome similarnbsp;to those in Beowulf As an example of Type II b we may take Atlamdlnbsp;48: �No one can withstand fate�. The Trilogy (cf. p. 27 f.) differsnbsp;greatly from the rest of the heroic poems in this, as in other respects.nbsp;In the Sigrdrifumdl indeed the gnomic element outweighs the heroic;nbsp;and consequently we shall deal with these poems later (p. 385). In the

! In religious poetry gnomes are less frequent than one would have expected, though they occur in homiletic pieces, e.g. Grein-Wiilcker, Bibl. n. pp, 108, 280,nbsp;and in the verses composed by Bede at his death (cf. p. 368).

poetry of the Viking Age, discussed in the last chapter, gnomes are of rare occurrence (cf. p. 375), though they are not unfrequent in the sagasnbsp;themselves.

In Welsh heroic poetry the gnomic element is negligible, except in the elegies of Llywarch Hen, which will require notice below. In earlynbsp;Irish saga and poetry of all kinds incidental gnomes seem to be quitenbsp;rare. As an example we may quote Mac Datho s Pig^ cap. 3 : � Crimthannnbsp;Nia Nair said: �Do not tell your secret to women�. The secret of anbsp;woman is not well kept. A treasure is not entrusted to a slave�.

Next we have to take poems which are wholly or largely of gnomic character. It will be convenient here to begin with the English evidence,nbsp;which is unusually full and varied, and supplies many gnomes of a verynbsp;simple character.

The chief collections are the Exeter Gnomes, preserved in the Exeter Book, and the Cotton Gnomes, which follow the Menologium or metricalnbsp;calendar at the beginning of MS. C of the Saxon Chronicle. Gnomicnbsp;passages occur also in the Wanderer and the Seafarer.'^ It is to be observed that the gnomes contained in the two latter poems belong to thenbsp;classes which relate to human activities and experiences (Types I andnbsp;II a), though instances of II b occur. On the other hand, in the Exeternbsp;and Cotton Gnomes Type I is comparatively rare, while in Type II thenbsp;third variety (c) is decidedly predominant.

The briefest form of gnomic statements occurs chiefly in catalogues. We may take as an example Ex. 130 ff.: �A shield is indispensablenbsp;{sceoT) to a brave, a spear to a brigand, a ring to a bride, books to anbsp;student, sacrament to a holy man (or �saint�) and sins to a heathen�.nbsp;And again ib. 139 ff.: �Counsel is to be spoken, letters (of the Runicnbsp;alphabet) to be written, songs to be sung, praise to be won, judgment tonbsp;be declared, and the day to be spent in activity�. We may compare thenbsp;Wanderer 65 ff.: �A man of authority must be patient�not toonbsp;impetuous, or too hasty of speech, or too slack or too reckless in combat, or too timid or jubilant or covetous, or too eager to boast ere henbsp;knows full well (the issue)�. This last case clearly belongs to Type I,nbsp;the others to Type II�though one may hesitate whether to assign themnbsp;to II a or to II c. Sometimes clear examples of II a and II c are combinednbsp;in one catalogue, e.g. Cott. 50 ff. (cf. p. 377) : � Good is opposed to evil,nbsp;youth to age, life to death, light to darkness, (one) army to (another)

* Also in Salomon and Saturn, e.g. 310 {., though this poem does not properly come within the scope of our work.

GNOMIC POETRY nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;381

army, one enemy to another; foe quarrels with foe over (the ownership of) land and charges him with injustice�.

The Cotton text contains (16-43) nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;^ist of gnomes which are not

very much expanded. Some of them indeed are as brief as possible, without either verb (other than sceaV) or epithet; others have a verbnbsp;(infinitive), and others again both verb and epithet. We may take thenbsp;beginning of the catalogue (16 ff.) as an example: �It is for a knight tonbsp;show prowess, for a sword to experience fighting in contact with anbsp;helmet, for a hawk, wild (as it is) to rest on a gauntlet�. Here we havenbsp;the three stages following one another in succession. Elsewhere we findnbsp;more than one verb in a sentence, as in Ex. 45 f. : � A young man (boy)nbsp;is to be instructed, disciplined and exhorted until he has full knowledge �.nbsp;And such sentences may be expanded and continued over a passage ofnbsp;considerable length, as in ii. 85 ff., which contains several parallelnbsp;infinitives�the whole giving a picture of the model queen (Type I).nbsp;The subject begins at 82 : � A king buys a queen at a price with (precious)nbsp;vessels and armlets. In the first place (or �without delay�) both ofnbsp;them must be liberal with gifts. The knight (king) must distinguishnbsp;himself in warfare and arms, while the wife must succeed in gaining thenbsp;affections of her subjects. She must be cheerful, and keep secrets. Shenbsp;must be generous with horses and jewels. When mead is served beforenbsp;the company of knights, she is on all occasions first to approach thenbsp;�defence of princes� (i.e. the king) and hand the first cup promptly tonbsp;her lord. And she is to bear in mind the common interest of him andnbsp;herself, the two owners of the house�. It may be observed that relativenbsp;and conditional sentences are not very common, while causal and finalnbsp;sentences (constituting enthymemes) are quite rare�in the Cottonnbsp;Gnomes they do not occur at all. This is presumably due to the fact thatnbsp;most of the gnomes belong to Type II.

Passages, like the one just quoted, in which a subject is treated at considerable length, occur not unfrequently in the Exeter Gnomes. Wenbsp;may quote also 95 ff., the description of the Frisian mariner and hisnbsp;wife: �Welcome to the wife of the Frisian is the arrival of her beloved,nbsp;when his ship comes to anchor. His vessel has arrived and her husband,nbsp;who supports her, has come home. She invites him in, washes his sea-stained clothes, and gives him fresh garments. On land there lies at hisnbsp;disposal what his love requires�. Here also we may refer to 173 ff.,nbsp;which illustrates the importance of having a brother. Such passagesnbsp;sometimes arise out of a series of gnomes, more or less expanded,nbsp;on the same or similar subjects; sometimes they are due to the intro-

duction of illustrations. Both processes may be seen in Ex. 166 S.: �Sensible speech is fitting to every man; poetry (is fitting) to thenbsp;minstrel and discrimination to the man (who listens). There are as manynbsp;varieties of temperament as there are people upon the earth ; everyonenbsp;has individual characteristics of his own. For example �ponne) he whonbsp;knows numerous lays and can play the harp with his hands can getnbsp;relief from his sorrows; (for) he has the gift of his minstrelsy, whichnbsp;God has granted to him�. Such illustrations differ in no way, except innbsp;their brevity, from the descriptive poetry which we shall have to noticenbsp;later, and which is itself frequently associated with gnomes.

As regards form�both the present indicative (especially bif} and sceal with the infinitive are very common in gnomes of Type II. Afternbsp;sceal the infinitive is very frequently omitted. In gnomes of Type Inbsp;sceal is almost universal. The imperative occurs in Ex. i f.: � Questionnbsp;me with words of wisdom ; leave not thy mind unrevealed, the deepestnbsp;secret that thou knowest�. But these introductory lines cannot benbsp;regarded as precepts. The precept form is indeed wanting in thesenbsp;collections.

On the other hand, the precept�with the verb in the imperative� is the regular form in the piece commonly known as A Father s Instructions, which is likewise preserved in the Exeter Book. This is anbsp;catalogue poem, containing ten counsels given by a father to his son.nbsp;In its present form it is of a much more definitely Christian characternbsp;than the poems which we have been considering. It belongs, however,nbsp;to a rather widespread class, other examples of which will be noticed innbsp;the following pages. The present indicative and the sceal formula alsonbsp;occur in this piece, though but rarely.

The chief collections of gnomic material in Norse are to be found in the H�vam�l'^ and in the Trilogy (especially the Sigrdrifumdl). We willnbsp;begin with the former.

It is generally agreed that the H�vam�lis a composite work. Opinions differ much as to its constituent elements; but there can be no doubtnbsp;that st. Ill to the end are of a different origin from st. i-iio. The godnbsp;Othin, however, seems to be the speaker throughout, except in st. iii,nbsp;which serves as an introduction to the second part.

* Ed. and transi, by D. E. Martin Clarke (Cambridge, 1923)- This work contains also the gnomic material found in the other Edda poems, including nearly the wholenbsp;of the Sigrdrifumdl.

383 followed by two short stories of O thin�s love adventures, which havenbsp;already been noticed (p. 249 f.). The second part is addressed to an unknown Loddfafnir and comprises (i) a series of precepts (st. 112-137),nbsp;commonly known as Loddjafnismdl-, (ii) some obscure stanzas (138�nbsp;145) relating to the myth of the hanging of Othin (cf. p. 250) and to thenbsp;ritual or magical use of runes; (iii) a list of spells (st. 146-end), each ofnbsp;which is introduced by the formula �A second I know, if... �, etc.

The briefest form of gnomes is to be found in st. 81 IF. : �A day is to be praised when (i.e. not until) evening comes, a wife when she isnbsp;burnt, a sword when tested, a maiden when given in marriage, ice whennbsp;crossed, ale when it has been drunk. Wood is to be felled in a wind, thenbsp;sea to be traversed in a breeze, a girl to be wooed in the dark�(for)nbsp;many are the eyes of day. A ship is to be handled to make it travel, anbsp;shield to obtain protection, a sword to strike a blow, a maiden to getnbsp;kisses�. Most of the gnomes here clearly belong to Type I; but the lastnbsp;two lines (from �A ship�) are rather to be referred to Type II. The samenbsp;formula {skal} is, however, used throughout the passage. Anothernbsp;series of very brief gnomes occurs in the long catalogue of things not tonbsp;be trusted, given in st. 85 ff.

The first part of the Hdvamdl is as a whole somewhat formless; but in many of the stanzas gnomic poetry receives an artistic treatmentnbsp;which is unsurpassed in any language known to us. The formulae innbsp;which the gnomes are stated vary from stanza to stanza. The skal (ornbsp;skyli) formula is the most common; but the present indicative alsonbsp;occurs frequently, and the present conjunctive occasionally. Mostnbsp;commonly each gnome occupies a stanza; but sometimes they extendnbsp;over more than one, while others, as we have seen, are much shorter.nbsp;Enthymemes are quite frequent. Occasionally they are contained in onenbsp;line, of which the second half gives the reason for the statement made innbsp;the first half. An example has been quoted above from st. 82: �A girl isnbsp;to be wooed in the dark�, etc. More frequently, like other gnomes theynbsp;occupy a whole stanza, e.g. 84: �No one should trust the words of anbsp;girl, nor what a woman says; for their hearts have been shaped on anbsp;revolving wheel, and inconstancy is lodged in their breasts�. Somenbsp;gnomes again are introduced by a brief�descriptive� sentence, somewhat similar to those we have noticed in English gnomic poetry, e.g.nbsp;st. 21 : � Cattle know when they ought to go home, and then they leavenbsp;their pasture. But a foolish man never knows the measure of his ownnbsp;appetite�.

the former there is a noteworthy difference between this part of the H�vam�l and other gnomic poetry of the same Type, whether innbsp;Norse or elsewhere. We are not referring to the absence of the heroicnbsp;element, for that is generally wanting in collections of this kind. Wenbsp;mean rather that the gnomes of Type I which relate to conduct do notnbsp;as a rule embody ethical principles, as is usually the case with suchnbsp;gnomes. St. 5 8 may be quoted : � He ought to get up early who means tonbsp;take his neighbour�s Hfe or property�. The virtue most frequently inculcated is caution. But more stress is laid upon manners than uponnbsp;morals. We may refer, for example, to st. 35, which is an enthymeme:nbsp;�A visitor should depart and not remain always in one place. (For)nbsp;a friend becomes a nuisance if he stays too long in the house ofnbsp;another�. Many of the gnomes of Type II a show the same spirit.

It is clear from such passages as st. 66 that this philosophy is not to be taken too seriously: �At many a place I have arrived much too early�nbsp;at others too late. (Sometimes) the ale had been drunk, at other times itnbsp;had not been brewed. An unpopular man rarely hits on the rightnbsp;moment�. The work is didactic in form, and originally it may well havenbsp;been didactic also in intention. But if so it has undergone a considerablenbsp;amount of modification�a process to which such collections as thisnbsp;must have been specially liable in times of oral tradition. As we nownbsp;have it the object of the work would seem to be entertainment rathernbsp;than instruction. And this impression is fully borne out by the cynicalnbsp;humour displayed in the stories of Othin�s love adventures (noticed onnbsp;p. 249 f.), which are introduced as illustrations of the gnomes stated innbsp;st. 90-95, and which form the conclusions of the work.

The second part of the poem begins as follows (st. iii): �It is time to chant (Jgt;ylja) on the chair of thenbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;at the spring of Fate. I saw and

kept silence, I saw and pondered, I listened to the speech of men. I heard �runes� spoken of�nor did they keep silence about the interpretation thereof�at the Hall of the High One. In the Hall of the Highnbsp;One I heard such words as these�. This passage will require discussionnbsp;in a later chapter.

The gnomes, or rather precepts, of the Loddfdfnismdl are introduced by a formula, which is repeated in each case: �I advise thee, Loddfafnir,nbsp;and do thou take my advice; thou wilt benefit if thou take it, thou wiltnbsp;prosper if thou adopt it�. The precepts themselves are expressed

The meaning of this archaic word will be discussed in Ch. xix. Elsewhere it is used for �sage� and �(learned) poet�; but the context here suggests �seer� or �oracularnbsp;medium�. The word pylja (�chant�) is�a derivative of pulr.

385 either by the imperative or by skalt (2 sing, of skal) with the infinitive,nbsp;usually with a negative. Enthymemes occur fairly often, e.g. (st.nbsp;132 f.): �Never hold a stranger or a traveller up to ridicule or mockery.nbsp;(For) those who are present in a house are frequently without exactnbsp;information as to the origin (or perhaps �character�) of the visitors.nbsp;There is no man so good as to be free from imperfection, or so bad asnbsp;to be entirely worthless�.

The subjects here are frequently similar to those treated in the first part�relations with friends, strangers, women, etc. In several casesnbsp;they deal with the same situations or difficulties, and sometimes there isnbsp;an obvious relationship between two passages, as e.g. between st. 44nbsp;and 119. But the treatment in the Loddfdfnismdl seems to be uniformlynbsp;serious. Many of the precepts inculcate caution, like the gnomes of thenbsp;first part; but the humorous or cynical element is wanting. On thenbsp;other hand st. 129 and 137 are concerned with magic, which is barelynbsp;noticed in the first part.

The catalogue of spells, from st. 146 to the end, can hardly be regarded as gnomic ; for the character of the spells is never stated. Thenbsp;same remark applies to the list of spells given in the Gr�galdr. Thisnbsp;subject will require notice in Ch. xv.

After the Hdvamdl the chief collection of gnomic material is in the Sigrdrifumdl. This poem contains two series of precepts given to thenbsp;hero SigurSr by the Valkyrie Sigrdrifa. The first (st. 6-13) consists ofnbsp;recommendations for the cutting of Runic letters for (magical) benefitnbsp;on various occasions. The second (st. 22�37)1 are very similar to thenbsp;precepts of the Loddfdfnismdl. They are introduced by the formulanbsp;�First, I advise thee�, etc. Many of them are enthymemes, e.g. (st. 23):nbsp;� Secondly, I advise thee not to take an oath unless thou mean to keepnbsp;it; (for) dire Fate (lit. �threads�) attends the breaking of an oath.nbsp;Wretched is he who has violated his plighted word�.

The other poems of the Trilogy�the Reginsmdl and the Fdfnismdl� also contain a certain amount of gnomic material. Here we need onlynbsp;refer to the list of omens in the Reginsmdl, st. 20-25. They are perhapsnbsp;to be connected with gnomes of Type II b.

Gnomes occur not unfrequently in prose works. Note may be taken especially of the advice given by the sage and judge H�fundr to his sonnbsp;HeiSrekr in Hervarar Saga, cap. 6.2 The advice consists of eightnbsp;�counsels�, most of which are gnomic, though one at least is specific.

There is a close relationship between this passage�not only the counsels but also the accompanying narrative�and the Irish story of Flaithri,nbsp;the son of Fithal, who was a judge under Cormac mac AirtJ Butnbsp;parallels are to be found elsewhere, even in distant parts of the world?nbsp;The form of H�fundr�s gnomes may be compared with that of Sigr-drifumdl, i.'i.-'iJ, though they are in prose. They are, however, briefernbsp;and include no enthymemes.

Now if Norse gnomic poetry in general be compared with English, it will be seen at once that there are differences between them of a rathernbsp;striking character. The former is distinguished by the predominance ofnbsp;Type I, the frequence of precepts, and the absence of gnomes ofnbsp;observation relating to natural history (Type II c), which are so numerous in the latter. Such observations do indeed occur not unfrequently,nbsp;e.g. in Hdv. 21 (quoted above); but they are not introduced as independent gnomes, but for the purpose of pointing a moral in relationnbsp;to human life�or at least as connected with human interests in somenbsp;way or other.3 The cynical element found in the first part of thenbsp;Hdvamdl is unknown in the English poems.

On the other hand there are certain rather striking formal resemblances, which must not be overlooked. We may instance especially the very common skal {sceaV) formula, and perhaps also the strings of verynbsp;short gnomes. Resemblances in substance also are not rare, e.g. thenbsp;opening of Hdv. qG f. : � Cattle (y�') die, kinsfolk (J�rcendr) die�, as compared with the Wanderer, 109: �Here wealth {feoK) passes away, herenbsp;friends {freond} pass away�. We are inclined therefore to think that thenbsp;beginnings of Norse and English gnomic poetry are to be traced to anbsp;common (Teutonic) origin, though the development followed verynbsp;different lines in the two languages.

Parallels to the English lists of gnomes of Type II c are to be found in Norse, though not in gnomic poetry. A very similar catalogue isnbsp;enumerated in the solemn declaration of peace sanctioned by the lawnbsp;of Iceland and preserved in the Laws and in several sagas.^ Whoever

� Related by Keating, I. cap. 46. Keating�s source for this story is apparently unknown; cf. Bergin, Stories from Keating's History of Ireland, p. xi.

t An interesting example from among the Wayao of Nyasaland, a people of the southern Bantu, is given by Stannus, Harvard African Studies, in (1922), 337 f.

3 This remark applies (e.g.) to such a case as Hdv. 88 : � Weather determines (the fate of) the crops�, which properly belongs to Type II c. But the context is to benbsp;taken into account.

Cf. Grdgds (the Icelandic Law-book), ed. Finsen, p. 205 f., cap. 115 ; Grettis Saga (transi, by Morris and Magnusson and by Hight), cap. 72.

387 violates this peace, it is declared, is to be hunted as an outlaw (�wolf�)nbsp;everywhere�wherever Christians betake themselves to churches ornbsp;heathens reverence temples, where fire burns or the earth is productive,nbsp;where the child calls upon its mother, where men light fires, where thenbsp;ship travels, shields glisten, the sun shines, snow lies, the Lapp shees, thenbsp;fir grows, the hawk flies throughout the long spring day�with thenbsp;wind blowing straight beneath both its wings�where heaven extendsnbsp;and the world is inhabited, where wind howls, rivers run to the sea andnbsp;men sow corn. The resemblance to Anglo-Saxon gnomic poetry here isnbsp;obvious enough, even in the parenthetic sentence relating to the hawk,nbsp;while the alliteration which prevails throughout the passage gives somenbsp;ground for believing that it was itself originally in verse form.

A considerable amount of early Welsh gnomic poetry has been 'J, � preserved; but, unfortunately, little attention appears to have beennbsp;paid to it�less even than to the heroic poems. So far as we know,nbsp;no satisfactory translations or commentaries exist. The translationsnbsp;given below must be regarded as more or less tentative.

Some poems consist wholly of gnomes, while in others the gnomic element is mingled with descriptive poetry applicable to special conditions. The latter will require notice in the next chapter; but it is notnbsp;always easy to distinguish from gnomes. The descriptive matter in thenbsp;elegies of Llywarch Hen also contains gnomes.

The great majority of the gnomes�indeed nearly all�belong to Type II, just as in the English gnomic poems. All varieties of this typenbsp;occur, but observations of nature (c) preponderate, as in English.nbsp;Very often the first part of a stanza consists of such gnomes, while thenbsp;last line contains an observation relating to human life (a) ; but there isnbsp;no connection, as in Norse (cf. p. 383) between this and the precedingnbsp;gnomes. The poems are mostly in stanzas of three lines, an early form ofnbsp;metre which is used also in the poems of Llywarch Hen. The four-linenbsp;stanzas which are found sometimes in association with these, especiallynbsp;in RBH. VI, are believed to be not earlier than the middle of the twelfthnbsp;century.�

The form in which the gnomes are stated is very brief. The verb normally has a form which elsewhere�apart from gnomes�is usednbsp;as 3 sing, imperative. The commonest word is bit, the 3 sing, imperative

388 of hot {bod^, �to be�, though it is very frequently omitted. This usenbsp;of the �imperative� appears to be analogous to that of Anglo-Saxonnbsp;sceal in gnomes of Type II, �it is characteristic of..(cf. p. 378 ff.).nbsp;Frequently we find the word gnawt {gnawd\ �usual�, with or (morenbsp;often) without bit. The present indicative also occurs, but not verynbsp;often.

We may first take RBH. v, which consists wholly of a series of gnomes, mostly in very brief form. The word bit, which is here usednbsp;throughout, may perhaps most conveniently be translated by �is�,nbsp;though the notion of�characteristic� is implied. The first two stanzas arenbsp;as follows: �The cock�s comb is red. Vigorous is his cry from hisnbsp;triumphant bed. God commends the rejoicing of man. Joyful arenbsp;swineherds at the soughing of the wind.�^ The calm is graceful. Misfortune usually falls �bit gnawt) upon the wicked�. The last but one ofnbsp;these gnomes occurs again in iv. ii, with the substitution ofgraawr fornbsp;bif. �Usually (or �it is usual that�) the calm is graceful�.

In RBH. VI the prevailing formula is gnawf, but this appears only in the first seven stanzas, of which four belong to the four-line typenbsp;mentioned above. It is not clear to us that the last four stanzas (8-11)nbsp;properly belong to the same poem. They are uniformly of the three-line type, and gnawt is not used in them ; moreover one of them at leastnbsp;(st. 9) is found elsewhere (xi. 14), in a totally different context. We arenbsp;inclined therefore to regard them as fragments which have come to benbsp;connected with the ^raawr-series.^ We may quote st. 8 f.: �The stalknbsp;is dry,3 and running water (or �flood�) is in the stream (or �glen�).nbsp;The Englishman transacts his business (lit. �the commerce of thenbsp;Saxon�) with money. Unhappy is the mother of disloyal children. Thenbsp;leaf which the wind carries 4�unhappy is its fate. It is old, (but) it wasnbsp;born this year�.

Translation conjectural. The corresponding passage in xi. 14 (where in general the text is less corrupt) seems to mean �This leaf�the wind shall carry it�.

389 with an expression which is generally unconnected with what follows.nbsp;Thus in RBH. iv every stanza begins with the words eiry mynyd,nbsp;�mountain snow�, often followed by some �descriptive� phrase relatingnbsp;to the stag, e.g. �the stag (is) in the wood�; but the rest of the poemnbsp;consists almost entirely of gnomes, which are unconnected with eithernbsp;snow or stag. There are only a few references to snow, and these occurnbsp;in the first line of the stanza, in place of the references to the stag. Wenbsp;may quote st. i : � Mountain snow�everywhere is white. The crow isnbsp;practised in croaking. No good will come from excessive sleeping�.nbsp;And st. 30 : � Mountain snow�the stag is on the hill-side. Wind whistlesnbsp;over the top of the ash. To the old his stick is a third foot�. In RBH.nbsp;in also thirteen out of the first fourteen stanzas begin with eiry mynyd,nbsp;perhaps in imitation of the last poem. But this is a religious piece, innbsp;dialogue form (Type B); the gnomic element is small. On the othernbsp;hand in RBH. ix, which consists mainly of gnomes, each stanza beginsnbsp;with the words gorwyn blaen, � very bright (is) the top � of various trees,nbsp;hills, etc.

All the poems noticed above are preserved in the Red Book.^ Gnomic poetry is not so well represented in the other early MSS. BBC. 11 is anbsp;short piece which consists mainly of gnomes.� Unlike the collectionsnbsp;noticed above these are concerned only with human activities (Typesnbsp;II a and I). The first nine lines of An. iii also consist of a short series ofnbsp;gnomes, mostly of Type II a; but they are followed by what appears tonbsp;be a specific reference. Tai. iv consists wholly of what may be called anbsp;gnomic catalogue, but will be treated more conveniently in the nextnbsp;chapter.

A number of gnomes occur also, singly or in small groups, in other poems, especially in the elegies of Llywarch Hen {BBC. xxx and RBH.nbsp;xi) and in RBH. x, which has much in common with these. Thesenbsp;gnomes do not differ in character from those contained in the collectionsnbsp;noticed above.

Taking the Welsh gnomes as a whole, it will be seen that in their general character they show a rather striking resemblance to thenbsp;English gnomes preserved in the Cotton and Exeter collections. On the

I The list is not exhaustive. RBH. vin and xxiv are also mainly or wholly gnomic. The latter contains a considerable, though not predominant, religiousnbsp;element. The former is believed to have been composed in the fourteenth century, innbsp;imitation of ancient models; cf. Loth, Rev. Celt, xxi, 34.

� The connection between the opening lines (cf. Strachan, Eriu, ii. 60) and what follows is not clear to us.

Other hand they have of course marked stylistic features of their own, e.g. in the � refrains � at the beginning of stanzas and in the form in whichnbsp;the gnomes are expressed. The preference for the three-line stanza isnbsp;noticeable, though it is not peculiar to gnomic poetry. It may benbsp;observed that each of these stanzas most commonly contains threenbsp;gnomes, though stanzas containing two, four and five gnomes arenbsp;also of frequent occurrence. The use of this metre for gnomic poetrynbsp;may possibly therefore be connected with the popularity of thenbsp;�Triad.� Gnomic Triads, as well as antiquarian and legal Triads, arenbsp;preserved in large numbers; but the records are late, and it is quitenbsp;beyond our power to deal with them.

In early Greek poetry the chief collection of gnomic material is tobe found in Hesiod�s f^orks and Days. We have already (p. 357 f.) hadnbsp;occasion to mention this poem and the personal references which itnbsp;contains; but it will be convenient here to give a brief synopsis of thenbsp;work as a whole. After a short invocation to the Muses and Zeus (i-io)nbsp;the poet speaks of the difference between good and evil strife, and thennbsp;(27) begins to address his brother Perses. At 47 ff. he introduces thenbsp;story of Prometheus and Pandora, and from this passes on (106 ff.) tonbsp;the description of the Golden Race and the subsequent races of mankind.nbsp;His account of the depravity of the fifth race�the men of his own time�nbsp;which is mainly prophetical, leads to the fable of the hawk and thenbsp;nightingale (200 ff). From 212 the poem is occupied with gnomicnbsp;matter, occasionally interrupted by personal references.

The first important gnomic passages are 214-247 and 263-380. These consist of gnomes and precepts somewhat similar to those of thenbsp;H�vam�l. The gnomes practically all relate to human experiences, andnbsp;especially to human acts in their moral aspect; but �heroic� characteristics are wholly wanting. The poet insists upon work as the conditionnbsp;of success in life. The chief difference from the Norse poem lies in thenbsp;emphasis laid upon justice, which is constantly associated with thenbsp;gods, especially Zeus. The tone is truly didactic throughout. There isnbsp;no suspicion of a desire to entertain rather than to instruct. Nor are thenbsp;gnomes merely disinterested observations, like those of the Englishnbsp;gnomic collections. The �natural history� variety (Type II c) so fullynbsp;represented in the latter, seems to be entirely absent here. From 248 tonbsp;262 the gnomic material is interrupted by an appeal to the princes tonbsp;beware of vengeance coming upon them from the gods. Descriptivenbsp;passages are also introduced. The descriptions of the cities of the just

391 and of the unjust (225 ff., 238 ff.) are more on the scale of similarnbsp;passages in the Exeter Gnomes than of those in the Havamil.

After the moral gnomes comes (381-694) a long list of �industrial� precepts�relating to agriculture and seafaring�subjects to which wenbsp;have only allusions in the Norse and English poems. This list alsonbsp;contains descriptive passages, especially the long description of the northnbsp;wind in 505 ff. Next we find (695-723) a short list of precepts andnbsp;gnomes relating to marriage and friendship. This is followed (724-764)nbsp;by a list of prohibitions of acts likely to incur the wrath of the gods�nbsp;based on religious or superstitious rather than practical grounds, likenbsp;certain precepts in the Sigrdrifumdl (cf. p. 385). Lastly, from 765 tonbsp;the end, comes a list of days lucky or unlucky for various occupations.nbsp;This section may be compared to a certain extent with the omens in thenbsp;Reginsmal^ though it contains a good many precepts of the superstitiousnbsp;variety.

In form the JE^orks and Days has more in common with the English than with the Norse gnomic poems. Like the former it has the uniformnbsp;line and�more or less�the continuous running style of heroicnbsp;narrative poetry, as against the stanza, the unequal lines and the disconnected style of the Norse poems. The descriptive passages alsonbsp;show more resemblance to those contained in the English collections.nbsp;But the affinities of the gnomes themselves are clearly with the Norse,nbsp;excluding of course the cynical element so prominent in the first partnbsp;of the Havamil. The poem is concerned with what should be donenbsp;rather than with observations of fact, whether in natural history ornbsp;human activities. Its nearest affinities lie with the Loddfdfnismdl and thenbsp;Sigrdrifumdl.

� The expression of the gnomes is somewhat similar to what is found in the Norse poems, though on the whole Hesiod�s are rather fuller thannbsp;the latter. Most of them are enthymemes or contain relative or conditional sentences. They are generally more closely connected with onenbsp;another than is the case in Norse. The very brief gnomes characteristicnbsp;of English and Welsh gnomic poetry have no parallels in this poem,nbsp;though they are not unknown elsewhere in Greek. There are no regularnbsp;formulae corresponding to sceal., hit^ gnawt. Gnomes of Type II arenbsp;expressed by the present or aorist indicative. In precepts addressed to anbsp;particular person (Perses) or group of persons (the princes) the imperative is used. But gnomic precepts, i.e. precepts of general reference,nbsp;which are much more frequent, are normally expressed by the infinitive.nbsp;The difference between such precepts and the gnomes of Type I found

in the Norse poems and expressed by the conjunctive or by skcd, is extremely slight, if it can be said to exist at allJ

The nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;and Days is the only extant poem dating from the period

before 600 which can be regarded as primarily a collection of gnomes. But there is no reason for doubting that other poems of similar characternbsp;were current. The Instructions of Cheir on to Achilles would seem to havenbsp;been a somewhat similar collection of gnomic precepts. The frameworknbsp;may have been analogous to that of the Sigrdrifumdl. The hortatorynbsp;poems of Callinos and Tyrtaios have much in common with gnomicnbsp;precepts; but they have specific (local) reference, and we have thereforenbsp;treated them as political poems. Solon�s gnomic poems will be noticednbsp;later.

Theognis hardly comes within our period. He is said to have flourished shortly after the middle of the sixth century; but there arenbsp;references in his poetry (764 if.) to an impending Median (i.e. Persian)nbsp;invasion, which cannot date from before the close of the century. Innbsp;19 ff. he says that a seal is to be set upon his poems, so that they can benbsp;recognised if they are stolen�which is commonly interpreted to meannbsp;that they were written. In 237 if., however, he clearly anticipates thatnbsp;they will be sung at banquets. It is to be noted that the poetry ofnbsp;Theognis is really a collection of poems, apparently numerous and fornbsp;the most part very short. Many of the pieces are addressed to individualnbsp;friends of the poet, especially to a certain Cyrnos. The gnomic elementnbsp;is very large; but there is also much personal and political matter,nbsp;besides appeals to the gods. In 22 f. he speaks of himself as belonging tonbsp;Megara. In 1209 �,12131. he says that he is in exile and lives at Thebes;nbsp;but other passages, especially 39 fE, seem to imply that he is in his ownnbsp;city. The state to which he belongs is obviously torn by politicalnbsp;factions; and the poet himself is an uncompromising partisan of thenbsp;aristocracy. Many scholars, however, believe that the poems are a kindnbsp;of anthology, not entirely the work of one author; and it is obviousnbsp;enough that such a collection, especially if preserved in the main by oralnbsp;tradition, is liable to have additions made to it.

There are many parallels between this collection and the first part of the H�vam�l, which is itself doubtless a collection, though it has

� In referring to these infinitival sentences we have used the word �precept� throughout, in accordance with what seems to be the general custom of Greeknbsp;scholars. Theognis�and other poets occasionally�seem to use the imperative andnbsp;infinitive more or less indiscriminately. But Hesiod�s infinitival precepts rathernbsp;suggest gnomes of Type I.

393 probably had a longer history. The political element is wanting in tlienbsp;latter. But both are largely concerned with social relations and withnbsp;convivial parties, though the one deals with city life, the other with thatnbsp;of the country. A few examples will have to suffice: (155 ff.) �Never innbsp;thy wrath reproach a man for soul-destroying poverty or baneful wantnbsp;of means; for Zeus inclines the scales now one way, now another, sonbsp;that a man is wealthy at one time but penniless at another�. We maynbsp;compare Hav. 75 : � One man is wealthy, another poor; but he is not tonbsp;be blamed for misfortune�. Andagain(363 f.):� Beguile thy enemy withnbsp;fair words; but when he comes into thy power, take vengeance uponnbsp;him, without troubling to produce a pretext�. With this we may compare Hdv. 46: �With regard to him in whom thou hast no confidencenbsp;and of whose motives thou art suspicious, thou shouldst smile upon himnbsp;and dissemble thy feelings. Gifts ought to be repaid in like coin �. But thenbsp;half-cynical, half-playful element, by which the Norse gnomic collectionnbsp;has been converted into a means of entertainment, is wanting in thenbsp;Greek poet. Theognis seems always to be serious.

As regards the form of the gnomes, the imperative�or in prohibitions often the conjunctive�is much more frequent than the infinitive in precepts; but there does not appear to be any difference in usage.nbsp;On the other hand true gnomes of Type I, expressed by xpfi, �it isnbsp;necessary�, with the accusative and infinitive, are not uncommon. Thenbsp;elegiac metre is used throughout.

The Irish material is very extensive, but differs a good deal in character from the rest. We have therefore left it to the end. It may convenientlynbsp;be divided into three groups: (i) instructions given to a newly appointed lt;4nbsp;king, (ii) instructions given by a father to his son, (iii) anonymousnbsp;collections of gnomes. Much of the material is in prose.

The instructions to kings represent perhaps the oldest type of gnomic collections in Irish. The earliest example is believed to date from c. 800.nbsp;But the kings to whom they are addressed are mostly persons of thenbsp;Heroic Age, while the instructors are either famous heroes�friends ofnbsp;the new kings�or sages. The instructions are therefore to be regardednbsp;as speeches in character, somewhat similar to the Sigrdrifumdl (Typenbsp;CB, cf. p. 385).

First we may mention the Instructions given by CuChulainn to his friend Lugaid Reoderg, when he became high-king. This incident^nbsp;forms an episode�believed to be a later addition�in the story of

* Transi, in E. Hull, The CuChullin Saga, p. 231 ff.; cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, pp. 416, 420 f.

CuChulainns Sickbed (cf. p. 257). The Instructions, which are quite short, consist of precepts on the duties of kingship and on conduct becomingnbsp;to a king. It may be observed that there is no reference to achievements in war or to heroic virtues, such as valour and generosity. Thenbsp;duties chiefly emphasised are of an essentially � non-heroic � type�to seenbsp;to the proper administration of justice, to avoid arrogance, and tonbsp;listen to the advice of the wise. The Instructions are given in the form ofnbsp;a series of unconnected precepts, often quite short. They are non-metrical, but contain a good deal of alliteration, somewhat like anbsp;retoric (cf. p. 57).

Another, still shorter series of Instructions are those given by Conall Cernach to Cuscraid, son of Conchobor, on his appointment to thenbsp;throne of Ulster. These are preserved in the Battle of Airtech^ cap. 3.nbsp;In their form and their insistence upon justice they resemble the last;nbsp;but heroic elements are not entirely wanting.

The longest and probably the earliest of these Instructions are attributed to Morand,� a judge (probably a fit} famous in tradition.nbsp;They are addressed by him to a messenger called Nere for transmissionnbsp;to King Feradach Find Fechtnach. This is the high-king who avenges hisnbsp;father in the Revolt of the Vassals, according to one form of that storynbsp;(cf. p. 171), while Morand is in some accounts son of Cairbre Cenn Gait,nbsp;who was made king by the revolutionaries. But the Instructions contain no reference to this story. The first part, sect. 2�9, bids Nere tonbsp;exhort King Feradach to the cultivation of justice. Sect. 10-29 consistnbsp;of gnomes specifying the blessings which arise from the justice of anbsp;ruler�prosperity, peace, wealth, treasures from overseas, good seasons,nbsp;etc. Sect. 30-43 consist of precepts, specifying the characteristicsnbsp;which should be avoided by a king�lying, arrogance, the killing ofnbsp;relations, etc. Sect. 44-48 discuss various types of princes. The Instructions conclude with warnings against the dangers arising fromnbsp;injustice and falsehood and with a list of the blessings which will follownbsp;the observation of the principles enunciated above.

These Instructions are expressed in a form similar to those which we have already noticed. They are unmetrical, but alliteration is frequent.nbsp;Most of the gnomes and precepts are, however, expressed more fully,nbsp;and there are numerous enthymemes. A series of gnomes of Type I,nbsp;expressed by dligid, �deserves�, occur in sect. 34, among the precepts.nbsp;But the most noticeable feature of these Instructions is the almost total

GNOMIC POETRY nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;395

absence of heroic elements. The ideal which Morand sets forth is that of a reign of peace.

Lastly, mention must be made here of a hortatory poem, the Rights of every Lawful King^ addressed to Aed Oirdnide, who became high-kingnbsp;in 798, and attributed to a certain Fothad na Canoine, apparently annbsp;ecclesiastic. This poem, which is in rhyming couplets, is only partlynbsp;gnomic; it refers to St Patrick and the church of Armagh, to variousnbsp;dynasties and to heroes of the past. It would seem to have been composed at the beginning of the king�s reign,^ and�like the Instructionsnbsp;noticed above�it frequently insists on the observation of justice. Butnbsp;the tone is far more bellicose; Aed is repeatedly exhorted to maintainnbsp;his rights with the strong hand. His duties towards the church and thenbsp;clergy are also much emphasised. The poem is of special importancenbsp;because it suggests that the Instructions to ancient kings are foundednbsp;upon a custom which was prevalent in the eighth century, though it maynbsp;of course have existed earlier.

To the second group belong the Instructions of Cormac mac Airt to his son CairhreZ King Cormac lived probably in the latter part of the thirdnbsp;century (cf. p. 173) and was regarded by tradition as a sage, or at leastnbsp;as a man of exceptional wisdom; but the Instructions are believed to datenbsp;from the early part of the ninth century. They consist largely of stringsnbsp;of gnomes or precepts in the briefest form, without metre but withnbsp;frequent alliteration. Much of the matter, however, is �descriptive�nbsp;rather than gnomic. Each subject is introduced by a question fromnbsp;Cairbre.

The first part, cap. 1-6, is of similar character to the Instructions already noticed, and relates to the aims, duties and conduct of kings andnbsp;minor rulers. In cap. 7�10 Cormac speaks of his own achievements andnbsp;experiences. Then come in cap. 11,12 some precepts of a general character,nbsp;followed in cap. 13�15 by gnomes of Type II a and descriptive matternbsp;relating to mankind in general. Next, in cap. 16, we find a long andnbsp;highly uncomplimentary list of the characteristics of women, with a fewnbsp;gnomes on the same subject. Cap. 17 f. deal briefly with weather andnbsp;housekeeping; cap. 19 contains further general precepts; cap. 20 specifies

� Ed. and transi, by O�Donoghue in the Miscellany presented to K. Meyer, p. 258 ff.

� This is suggested by several passages, e.g. st. 4, 14 f., 25. In st. 68 the king is advised to marry.

3 Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Todd Lecture Series (Royal Irish Academy), Vol. XV (1909). Selections also transi, in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 10; ff.

the most lasting things. Cap. 21-28 contain lists of the �worst� things; the greater part of this (cap. 22-26) relates to public speaking. In cap.nbsp;29-34 we have further gnomes and precepts of a general character; innbsp;cap. 3 5-37 the deafest persons, the best seasons, and (again) the worstnbsp;things.

Most of the gnomes contained in these Instructions belong to Type II a. Instead of gnomes of Type I we find precepts, most commonly innbsp;the 3 sing, imperative. Gnomes of Type II c occur, e.g. in cap. 17 andnbsp;36, but they are quite rare. Many of the lists are of great length; butnbsp;the individual gnomes are expressed as briefly as possible. Enthymemesnbsp;are rare, while illustrations of any kind are wanting. Most of the subjectsnbsp;seem to be treated seriously and with a didactic object. But the verynbsp;long section on the characteristics of women (cap. 16) can hardly havenbsp;been intended otherwise than for entertainment, although humour isnbsp;wanting, as in the rest of these Instructions. We suspect therefore thatnbsp;the lists are drawn from different sources�perhaps oral�a conclusionnbsp;which seems to be favoured also by certain variations in the formulae.

A very similar collection is the Senbriathra Fithail,^ attributed to Fithal, who is said to have been a judge in the time of Cormac. Herenbsp;also the gnomes are expressed in the briefest possible form. Cap.

4-5 consist of lists of gnomes of Type II dealing with abstract qualities. In cap. i, each gnome begins with tossach, �beginning�, e.g.nbsp;� The beginning of strife is quarrelling � ; in cap. 2, with adcota, � begets �,nbsp;e.g. � F oily begets violence � ; in cap. 4, with/err, � better �, e.g. � A friend isnbsp;better than ale�; in 5, with dligid, �deserves�, e.g. �Knowledge deservesnbsp;respect�. Cap. 3 consists of precepts, with the formula: bat.. .cotbatnbsp;{amabai}..., �be.. .that you may (not) be...�, e.g. �Be humble thatnbsp;you may be exalted �. Cap. 6-9 are variants of the Instructions of Cormac,nbsp;cap. 22, 29-31. There are no references to Cormac or his son; once wenbsp;find �said Fithal�. Cap. 10 ff. are in the form of a dialogue betweennbsp;Fithal and his son who is not named. Each of Fithal�s sayings is innbsp;answer to a question. He tells his son that the � anvil � (foundation stone)nbsp;on which his husbandry is to be founded is a good wife. Then in answernbsp;to the question how a good wife is to be distinguished, he enumeratesnbsp;various types of women according to their appearance and character,nbsp;laying special stress on complexion. Then in cap. 11 f. he describes very

� Ed. and transi, by R. M. Smith, Rev. Celt. XLV. i ff. ; cf. Thurneysen, � Zu ir. Hss.� {Abh. d. k. Gesellsch. d. ICiss. ju G�ttingen, xiv. 2), p. 3 ff. A variant text ofnbsp;cap. IO ff. is ed. by K. Meyer, Zeit sehr. f. celt. Philol. vin. 112 f.�part of which isnbsp;transi, in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 110.

397 briefly the qualities of good and bad wives, and in cap. 13 gives a list ofnbsp;fifteen characteristics of each kind.

From the story referred to on p. 222, it would seem that other wise sayings were attributed to Fithal, though they are not preserved in anynbsp;early record, so far as we know. In this story�which is probably a formnbsp;of a widely distributed folk-tale�Fithal�s son is called Flaithri.

A third collection of the same kind bears the title Briathra Flainn Fina mate Ossu^ The Flann to whom they are attributed, whethernbsp;rightly or wrongly, is the Northumbrian king Aidfrith (r. 685-705),nbsp;son of Oswro. In this collection cap. 1-3, 5, 6 seem to be derived fromnbsp;the Senbriathra Fithail, cap. 2, 3, 5, i, 4 respectively, though a largenbsp;number of gnomes have been added. Cap. 4 consists of a similar seriesnbsp;of gnomes (Type II), beginning with descaid, �sign�, e.g. �drinkingnbsp;(lit. a drink) is a sign of thirst�. Cap. 7 consists in part of religiousnbsp;gnomes, and is believed to be a later addition.

The third group, consisting of anonymous collections of gnomes, J) is perhaps best represented by the Triads of Ireland,^ though thesenbsp;contain antiquarian and legal, as well as gnomic elements. The gnomesnbsp;consist of groups of three (occasionally two, four or more) things ornbsp;ideas brought under a common heading, e.g. � (There are) three nursesnbsp;of theft, (viz.) a wood, a cloak, night�. They are in prose, but withnbsp;sporadic alliteration, and stated very briefly. The collection is believed tonbsp;be not later than the end of the ninth century.

All the collections noticed above 3 are primarily of secular character, though both the Rights of every Lawful King and the Triads ofIrelandnbsp;frequently refer to ecclesiastical institutions and interests, while similarnbsp;references occur occasionally in the Instructions of Cormac. There is,nbsp;however, at least one collection of definitely Christian character andnbsp;doubtless ecclesiastical origin, the Bid Crinnal^ which consists of a verynbsp;large number of prose precepts, including a few gnomes, based in thenbsp;main upon Christian ethics. We do not know its date.

� Ed. and transi, by R. M. Smith, Rev. Celt. xlv. 61 ff. In one text this collection is attributed to Fithal.

has affinities with the Welsh. The Triads of Ireland are traceable to a much earlier date than any Welsh collection of prose Triads-, but wenbsp;are not prepared to speculate on the nature of the relations between thenbsp;two until the Welsh material, which is very extensive, has been morenbsp;thoroughly examined.^ The other two Irish groups have no Welshnbsp;affinities, so far as we are aware. The first group indeed stands verynbsp;much by itself, though its nearest affinities are with the Sigrdrifumdl.nbsp;The second group belongs to a widespread class of�paternal� instructions, other examples of which will be found in this and the followingnbsp;chapters.

Now if we compare the various gnomic collections discussed in this chapter, it will be seen that�apart from the Triads, where there isnbsp;doubtless a historical connection of some kind�the Welsh and Irishnbsp;collections have one feature in common, as against the others. This is anbsp;tendency to express the individual gnomes as briefly as possible, thoughnbsp;in Irish the same idea may be repeated over and over again in successivenbsp;gnomes. Such brief gnomes are by no means rare in English and Norse,nbsp;but on the whole they are exceptional and incidental; and there is anbsp;general tendency to connect the gnomic sentences�not by mere repetition�and to introduce illustrations.

Far more noteworthy, however, are the features which the English and Welsh collections have in common, as against the Greek, Irish andnbsp;Norse. These are (i) the predominance of gnomes of Type II c, whichnbsp;rarely or never occur in the other collections; (ii) the absence or rarenessnbsp;of gnomes of Type I and of precepts. Again, gnomes of Type II anbsp;occur everywhere; but it may be observed that there is a noticeablenbsp;difference in the usage of such gnomes. In Greek, Irish and Norse annbsp;element of praise or blame is usually implied, whereas most of thenbsp;English and Welsh examples seem to be cases of disinterested observation. All this indicates a difference of principle in the collections. Thenbsp;Greek, Irish and Norse are concerned primarily with what should ornbsp;should not be in human affairs, even when the treatment is cynical andnbsp;playful, as in the first part of the H�.vamd.1-, whereas the English andnbsp;Welsh collections are interested merely in the observation of what is�

� It has been inferred from the greater antiquity of the Irish texts that the Welsh Triads are derived from them. (Cf. Stem in Hinneberg�s Kultur d. Gegenwart, 1. xi.nbsp;1.127.) In view of the character of early Welsh records in general any such inferencenbsp;seems to us hazardous. We ourselves suspect the borrowing to have been in thenbsp;opposite direction, but perhaps not in the form of written texts.

399 in the world of nature, as well as among mankind. We are not speakingnbsp;here of course of short series of gnomes included in other poems, asnbsp;(e.g.) in the Wanderer, nor of collections of Christian gnomes ornbsp;precepts, like A Father s Instructions.

One feature which all the early collections in Greek, English, Welsh and Norse have in common is that they are uniformly in verse. Most ofnbsp;the Irish collections are non-metrical, but it is questionable whether wenbsp;should be justified in concluding from this that prose was the originalnbsp;form of Irish gnomic collections. The extensive use of alliteration, ifnbsp;not also the cast of the sentences themselves, in the first two groupsnbsp;suggests derivation from the retoric�the earliest known form of poetrynbsp;in Irish. We doubt the antiquity of the third group.

It is doubtful, however, if the history of gnomic poetry followed the same lines in the various languages. In Greece its cultivation wouldnbsp;seem to be later than that of heroic poetry. At all events the earliestnbsp;example, the Works and Days, uses the metre (hexameter) and to somenbsp;extent the diction of Homeric poetry. It should be observed, however,nbsp;that we have no evidence for the cultivation of any other metres beforenbsp;the seventh century, though they may have been known. Theognis�nbsp;poetry and the semi-gnomic poems of Solon are in the elegiac metre,nbsp;which in the seventh century had come into very general use in politicalnbsp;and personal poetry and in elegies, though iambic, trochaic and variousnbsp;lyric metres were also widely cultivated. One can hardly say more thannbsp;that the gnomic poets seem to have made use of the metrical formsnbsp;generally current in their times.

The Norse gnomic poems do not employ the metres of heroic narrative poetry, the Fornyroislag and M�lah�ttr, except that the latternbsp;occurs in a few � catalogue � stanzas. The metres used are the Lj��ahdttr,nbsp;which consists of alternate long and short lines, like the Greek elegiac,nbsp;and varieties akin to it, such as the Galdralag, which have two or morenbsp;short lines in juxtaposition. These metres, especially the Lj�bahdttr, arenbsp;regularly used in most of the speech-poems relating to the gods,nbsp;whether didactic or not, and they also occur in certain elegies, thenbsp;Eirik.smdl-3.vA the Hakonarmal (cf. p. 344 f.); but they are hardly evernbsp;found in heroic poems, except in dialogues in the Trilogy and innbsp;Helgakvwa Hj�rvar�ssonar, and not at all in narrative poems relating tonbsp;the gods.

In Anglo-Saxon poetry the uniform line like that of the FornyrAslag is almost universal (cf. p. 21). But it is in the Exeter Gnomes that mostnbsp;of the exceptions occur�pairs of short lines as in the Galdralag, though

there are no stanzas. This fact tends to support the view expressed on p. 386 as to the common origin of English and Norse gnomic poetry,nbsp;and suggests that this early gnomic poetry used a metre different fromnbsp;that of heroic narrative poetry. But the evidence given above shows thatnbsp;the subsequent development proceeded along divergent lines.

Most of the Welsh gnomic poems are in the three-line stanza, which is one of the earliest Welsh metres, though presumably of Latin origin.nbsp;Apart from gnomic poetry it is used chiefly in antiquarian and religiousnbsp;poems and in elegies.

It may be observed further that Greek,i English, Welsh and Norse gnomic poetry shows a contrast with heroic poetry in the matter ofnbsp;social interests. The existence of kings and their courts is not ignored.nbsp;They may be regarded with hostility, as in the JKorks and Days, ornbsp;with suspicion, as in the Hdvamdl, or with apparently friendly interest,nbsp;as in the Exeter Gnomes. But royalty is only one of many classes withnbsp;which these poems are concerned. Attention is paid also to the merchant, the farmer, the destitute man, and even to the thief and other badnbsp;characters. The Norse poems are clearly no product of court minstrelsy,nbsp;any more than the fKorhs and Days, while the impartial attitude towardsnbsp;all classes shown in the English and Welsh poems, though less conclusive, at all events affords no ground for supposing that they were ofnbsp;any such origin. It is instructive, by way of contrast, to compare thenbsp;�heroic� gnomes, which occur incidentally in Anglo-Saxon and Norsenbsp;heroic poetry (cf. p. 379).

The Irish evidence is again exceptional, since the first group of gnomic collections noticed above are addressed to kings, while thenbsp;chief collection of the second group is attributed to a king. But we havenbsp;seen that the heroic elements in these collections are very slight. Thenbsp;ideal which the authors have in mind is a reign of justice, peace andnbsp;plenty. It is only in one case, the Rights of every Lawful King, that thenbsp;military side of kingship is markedly emphasised. The other casesnbsp;represent an attitude towards the kings which is not that of a court.nbsp;They speak rather as more or less independent advisers, who requirenbsp;� justice in a king.

It is probable that collections of precepts and gnomes of Type I figured largely in the unwritten laws of early times. We may comparenbsp;(e.g.) the Hebrew Ten Commandments. The written Laws which have

� We are speaking here only of the Works and Days, the only Greek gnomic poem which dates from the times of kingship. Theognis� poems are aristocratic innbsp;sympathy.

401 been preserved vary a good deal in this respect. The Welsh Lawsnbsp;contain a considerable gnomic�or semi-gnomic�element, chiefly innbsp;the form of (legal) Triads. In the Anglo-Saxon Laws on the othernbsp;hand the gnomic element is very slight. These Laws would seem tonbsp;have been drawn up with a view to meeting cases where doubt mightnbsp;arise; they are rarely comprehensive. Indeed we possess no statementnbsp;of the principles of Anglo-Saxon law. It may at all events be noted thatnbsp;Morand and Fithal were judges, according to tradition, and the same isnbsp;said of the legendary H�fundr (cf. p. 3 8 5 f.), whose name indeed perhapsnbsp;means �judge�. It may also be observed that the Laws of Uppland innbsp;Sweden are said in the Preface to them to be based on the � collectionsnbsp;of � Wiger the wise (or �prophetic�), a heathen in heathen times�. Therenbsp;is evidence indeed, which we shall have to consider in Ch. xix, that innbsp;early times both in the North and in Ireland knowledge of law fellnbsp;within the province of the sage�that it was included in the generalnbsp;knowledge or wisdom which he derived from his gift of second sight.

The Greek and Norse collections, especially the fForks and Days and the Hdvamdl^ have religious associations, whereas the collectionsnbsp;from the British Isles date from Christian times and�with a fewnbsp;exceptions, which appear to be of ecclesiastical origin�contain onlynbsp;incidental references to religion. The religious associations of thenbsp;W^rks and Days and the Hdvamdl are of very different character. Thenbsp;moral gnomes and precepts of the former are permeated by the idea thatnbsp;justice or righteousness (Sikt]) is under divine sanction. The righteousnbsp;man will receive reward and the unrighteous punishment from thenbsp;gods, especially Zeus. The same idea is prominent in Solon�s poetry,nbsp;though it is foreign to the Homeric poems. There the relations of deitiesnbsp;with human beings are governed by purely personal considerations;nbsp;indeed they are capricious and often unworthy. The deities are helpfulnbsp;to their favourites, cruel and unfair to those whom they dislike (cf.nbsp;p. 246). It is by personal offences against them, e.g. by the violationnbsp;of oaths in which they are invoked, that a man incurs their wrath.nbsp;But in the IForks and Days and by Solon they are regarded as acting innbsp;accordance with moral law.

In the Hdvamdl the connection with the gods is of quite a different character. Nothing is said as to the association of the gods with moralnbsp;law, any more than in the Homeric poems. The governing principlenbsp;underlying the gnomes and precepts is utilitarianism, together with the

� The word �oWr, which is used here, means in Norse either �body of men� or �poem�. Possibly therefore poems are meant here.

i nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;desire for good fame. But the speaker who gives the advice throughout,

: nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;in both parts of the poem, is the god Othin. In the first part he is a

humourist and a trickster; at the end (st. no) he declares himself to have been a faithless lover and a perjuror. But the second part is quitenbsp;serious ; and this is introduced (st. 111 ; cf. p. 3 84) by words which seemnbsp;to imply an oracle delivered at a sanctuary. The underlying idea therefore is that this gnomic wisdom is derived from the god. The first partnbsp;may have originated with the same idea. In the Sigrdrifumdl the speaker,nbsp;who gives the advice, is a Valkyrie�either a supernatural being or onenbsp;with supernatural powers.

The JForks and Days itself makes no such claim to divine origin; for the invocation of the Muses at the beginning may mean no more thannbsp;it does in the Iliad and the Odyssey, or with Solon and many othernbsp;poets. But there is no valid reason for doubting that the poem is of thenbsp;same authorship as the Theogony, in which (22 ff.) the poet, Hesiod,nbsp;claims direct revelation and professes to speak as the mouthpiece of thenbsp;Muses. We are inclined therefore to think that in Greece, as in thenbsp;North, this kind of learning originally had religious associations�thatnbsp;the poets made claims to inspiration which were more than a merenbsp;figure of speech. To this question, however, we shall have to return innbsp;a later chapter.

What has been said above applies of course only to the early stages of gnomic poetry. It does not hold good for the first part of the Hdvamdlnbsp;any more than for Theognis. The latter makes it clear (e.g. 239 ff.) thatnbsp;he expects his poetry to be recited at social gatherings. The milieunbsp;[ ii, t I suggested in the first part of the Hdvamdl is that of a gathering, appar-��s h Hix� ently small and more or less fortuitous, in a house where hospitality wasnbsp;offered to strangers (travellers) as well as acquaintances�similar tonbsp;\ -^hat might be found in an inn. Other gnomic poems may well be ofnbsp;' somewhat similar origin�and the same remark applies to some of thenbsp;descriptive poems discussed in the next chapter. Some of them, it isnbsp;to be hoped, were intended for male audiences only. But there is nonbsp;reason for believing that gnomic poetry was a product of court life; it isnbsp;obviously of a different provenance from heroic poetry. The two maynbsp;converge occasionally, as in the poems of Llywarch Hen and, to anbsp;certain extent, in Beowulf-�where gnomic elements seem to have invaded the heroic sphere. Sometimes also gnomic collections havenbsp;adopted the names of famous heroes,^ whether for the instructor or the

� The case of Cormac is peculiar, since he was famed not only as a king but also as a sage. The heroic side is not prominent (cf. p. too f.).

403 person instructed�as in the cases of CuChulainn, Conall Cernach,nbsp;SigurSr and Achilles. But the original affinities of gnomic poetry laynbsp;doubtless with the non-heroic poetry and saga discussed in Ch. vi.

In Ch. XIX we shall have to consider the class of persons with whom gnomic poetry originated. We may, however, note here that its cultivation was always contemporary, and sometimes connected with that ofnbsp;antiquarian poetry. The products of both often seem arid and futilenbsp;enough; but both are of incalculable importance in their results. Justnbsp;as the study of history owes its origin to antiquarian poetry, so gnomicnbsp;poetry must be regarded as the first systematisation of the study ofnbsp;natural science and of moral philosophy.

D\ ETAILED descriptions of places�specified and familiar |j places�seem not to occur in the early stages of any of the litera-quot; tures which we are discussing. There is a short Anglo-Saxonnbsp;poem^ which describes very briefly the situation and antiquities ofnbsp;Durham; but it cannot be earlier than the eleventh century. The farnbsp;more poetic Irish description of the Isle of Arran^ is believed to be muchnbsp;later; and this is of such a general character that it might be applied tonbsp;many other lands. The description of Ireland attributed to St Columba 3nbsp;is said to be not earlier than the twelfth century.

The Anglo-Saxon Ruin^^ is generally believed to relate to Bath. But the description of the place as the poet sees it is extremely brief:nbsp;�Wondrous is this masonry, shattered by the Fates. The fortificationsnbsp;have given way, the buildings raised by giants are crumbling. The roofsnbsp;have collapsed. The towers are in ruins.... There is rime on the mortar.nbsp;The walls are rent and broken away, and have fallen, undermined bynbsp;age.... Red of hue and hoary with lichen this wall has outlasted kingdomnbsp;after kingdom,5 standing unmoved by storms�. The main part of thenbsp;poem is of an imaginative character, conjuring up pictures of the placenbsp;as it was in the past, before and during its destruction. The place isnbsp;peopled, however, not with the health-seekers of a Roman spa, ofnbsp;which naturally the poet knew nothing, but with the military court of annbsp;English king, such as he was doubtless familiar with (15 if.): �Loudnbsp;was the clamour of the troops; many were the banqueting halls, full ofnbsp;the joys of life�until all was shattered by mighty Fate. The dead lay onnbsp;all sides�. And again (25 if.): �.. .where of old manya warrior, joyousnbsp;hearted and radiant with gold, shone resplendent in the harness ofnbsp;battle, proud and flushed with wine. He gazed upon the treasure...nbsp;upon this splendid citadel of a broad domain�.

5 Cf. the short Irish poem called The Fort of Rathangan, transi, by K. Meyer, op. cit. p. 93.

The descriptions of kings� dwellings which occur in heroic poetry are as a rule quite short and mention nothing particularly distinctive of thenbsp;place. The palaces of Menelaos and of Hrothgar are represented asnbsp;being of unusual splendour; but it is not clear that they had any specialnbsp;features of their own otherwise. It is only when the poets are dealingnbsp;with unknown places or can draw freely on their imagination thatnbsp;longer and more striking descriptions are found�just as in the passagenbsp;quoted above.^ We may refer (e.g.) to the account of the city and palacenbsp;of the Phaeacians in the Odyssey, or such pictures as those of the dwellingnbsp;of Calypso Q-h. v. 59 ff.) or the den of Grendel, in Beowulf, 1362 if.nbsp;(cf. 1512 if.), and above all to the descriptions of Mag Mell in Irishnbsp;poetry (cf. p. 262 f.).

Descriptions of persons are in poetry generally just as brief and indefinite. Little or nothing is said as to the features, colouring, or evennbsp;the clothes of the heroes and heroines. Armour, however, is sometimesnbsp;described in considerable detail. We may instance the arms of Agamemnon described in II. xi. 17 if. and those borne by Beowulf on hisnbsp;visit to the monsters� den (1441 if.), and more especially the shieldnbsp;made for Achilles by the god Hephaistos (//. xviii. 478 if.). In sagas onnbsp;the other hand, both Irish and Norse, we meet frequently with descriptions, not only of armour but also of the clothes and the physicalnbsp;appearance of persons. The Irish descriptions are usually of a conventional character. There is a static description of a beautiful woman,nbsp;which is applied to numerous heroines.^ Descriptions of heroes, whennbsp;they differ from the norm, are due apparently sometimes to a desire fornbsp;differentiation�when they occur in groups or lists�sometimes to thenbsp;introduction of fantastic features, as in the case of CuChulainn. Innbsp;Norse sagas of the Viking Age, however, especially the �Sagas ofnbsp;Icelanders�, individualisation is far more advanced. Here also notnbsp;rarely we find detailed descriptions of the characters, as well as thenbsp;appearance, of the leading persons.

Descriptions of works of art, though not very common, are sometimes given in great detail. The description of the arms of Achilles in the Iliad (xviii. 478-613) is almost wholly occupied with the designsnbsp;worked upon the shield. In the Shield of Heracles an even longer account

i With this passage may be compared the somewhat similar description of a ruin� also obviously Roman�in the ITanderer (77 ff.). To this we shall have to returnnbsp;later.

� E.g. the description of Etain at the beginning of the Destruction of Da Der gas Hall {Rev. Celt. xxii. 13 ff.). This is said to be the fullest example.

is given of the shield from which the poem takes its name. The designs upon the former seem to represent only natural objects and scenesnbsp;typical of various human occupations, i.e. scenes of the timeless, nameless type. The latter, in addition to these, bears also scenes from heroicnbsp;stories and stories of the gods.^ With this may be compared the Rag-narsdrapa of the very early Norse poet Bragi Boddason, a poem ofnbsp;which only fragments have been preserved, but which evidently gavenbsp;very full descriptions of the designs painted upon a shield. The shieldnbsp;would seem to have been divided into compartments containing scenesnbsp;from the stories of J�rmunrekr�s death, the adventures of SigurSr, thenbsp;tragedy of HeSinn and H�gni, and possibly also the creation of Sj�llandnbsp;by the goddess Gefjon. The poem Haustlong, by Thj��olfr of Hvinnbsp;(cf. p. 250 f.), likewise appears to have taken its subjects from a shield.nbsp;Among them were the stories of the goddess ISunn and Thor�s fightnbsp;with Hrungnir.2

In Beowulf^ 1688 if., the hilt of the sword found in Grendel�s den is said to be engraved with a scene from the story of the Deluge. Againnbsp;in 994 if. it is briefly stated that the tapestries in the king�s hall presentednbsp;many wondrous spectacles for those who pay attention to such things.nbsp;But in Gu�T�narkvi�a II, 15 f. the heroine and her friend Thora arenbsp;represented as working in gold thread both scenes from heroic storiesnbsp;and (apparently) timeless nameless scenes. Among the former arenbsp;Sigmundr�s ships and a fight between Sigarr and Siggeirr. Here alsonbsp;we may refer to the Laxdoela Saga, cap. 29, where it is stated that thenbsp;poet Ulfr Uggason composed his poem H�sdrdpa upon the paintingsnbsp;in the house of the wealthy Icelander �lafr Pai. Fragments of thisnbsp;poem, dealing with Balder�s funeral and the fight between Heimdallr andnbsp;Loki, have been preserved.

Descriptions of action�not derived from pictorial representations� are of course essential to any narrative poetry which can be called epic.

� So far as we are aware, no shields comparable with these have been preserved. But the poets seem to have had in mind schemes of decoration such as are found uponnbsp;(Phoenician) bronze and silver platters discovered in Italy and Cyprus. The picturesnbsp;engraved upon these may have been identified by the Greeks with scenes from theirnbsp;own traditions.

2 According to Egils Saga, cap. 78 (83), the Icelandic poet Einarr Helgason (cf. p. 346) was rewarded by Earl Haakon with a magnificent shield of this kind,nbsp;which on his return home he presented to Egill Skallagrfmsson. Egill felt bound tonbsp;compose a poem upon it. A similar present, likewise followed by a poem, is recordednbsp;in the next chapter. No such shields have been preserved, but somewhat similarnbsp;representations are found on stone sculptures and wood-carvings.

Descriptions of situations of an emotional character are usually treated in speech poems of Type B, dialogues or monologues, in which thenbsp;speakers themselves are made to express their feelings. Examples willnbsp;be found in Chapters in, vi and ix. In early poems it is only quitenbsp;rarely that the poet himself describes such situations in any detail, apartnbsp;from the speeches. An example may be seen in the opening stanzas ofnbsp;Gu�r�narkvi�a I (cf. p. 27). Some instances of a rather different (timeless, nameless) character will be noticed below.

In the last chapter we had occasion rather frequently to mention �descriptive� passages which differ somewhat from the descriptivenbsp;poetry discussed above. These passages are introduced in gnomicnbsp;poetry by way of explanation or illustration. They are wholly of thenbsp;timeless, nameless kind, and may be regarded as the counterparts innbsp;literature of the designs engraved upon the shield of Achilles.

Such descriptions or illustrations, however, are not confined to gnomic poetry. They occur also incidentally in heroic narrative poems, as wellnbsp;as in antiquarian and other kinds of poetry. Occasionally they form thenbsp;subjects of poems complete in themselves. Examples may be found innbsp;Hesiod�s Theogony, e.g. the description of the king in 80 ff., and of thenbsp;distressed man consoled by minstrelsy in 98 ff. The former is of verynbsp;similar character to the description of the queen in the Exeter Gnomes,nbsp;81 ff., while the latter is closely parallel to tb. 170 ff.�both of whichnbsp;passages have been quoted above (p. 381 f.). It may be observed that thenbsp;passages in the Theogony are introduced as illustrations of a gnomenbsp;(Type II ^)�that the eloquence of kings and the skill of minstrels arenbsp;gifts of the Muses.

Timeless, nameless descriptions are of frequent occurrence in the Iliad-, but they are introduced not as explanations or illustrations ofnbsp;gnomes, but as �imiles. Thus when the Myrmidons set out to battle,nbsp;they are comparedT^xvi. 259 ff.) to a swarm of wasps, the movements ofnbsp;which are briefly described. These similes illustrate many phases ofnbsp;human and animal life, and of nature in general. We may note that theynbsp;show a rather striking contrast to the rest of the poem in the fact thatnbsp;they depict the life of the farmer more often than that of the prince.nbsp;From this it has been inferred� with good reason that they belong to the

I Cf. Cauer, Grundfragen d. Homerkritik, p. 419. The inference is�necessarily of course�rejected by those who hold that the poem is wholly or almost wholly thenbsp;work of one author. In any case the introduction of similes need not in itself benbsp;regarded as a late innovation.

latest elements in the poem and date from a time when heroic poetry had begun to make an appeal to circles wider than the courts. To suchnbsp;they were doubtless attractive additions to the poem, as representing anbsp;life with which they themselves were familiar.

Beowulf contains two rather long descriptive passages of this kind.' One of these (2444-2462) is introduced as a simile, like the Homericnbsp;passages. It describes the grief of an old man who has lost his only son,nbsp;and is introduced as an illustration of the grief of King Hrethel at thenbsp;death of his son Herebeald. The second case is the description of anbsp;successful and arrogant man (1728-1757). This is introduced by anbsp;gnome of Type II b, relating to the way in which the gifts of God arenbsp;distributed. Another�very striking�case occurs in 2233 S.; but this isnbsp;of a somewhat different character, and contains a speech of Type B.nbsp;With other passages of the same kind it will require notice in the nextnbsp;chapter.

Similes of the Homeric kind are rare in Beowulf and elsewhere in early Teutonic poetry. But somewhat similar descriptive passages arenbsp;occasionally introduced in a different way, e.g. 1369 ff.: �Though thenbsp;heath-ranger, the stag of mighty horns, may make his way to the forestnbsp;when beset by hounds after a long chase, he will yield up his spirit andnbsp;his life on the brink before he will be willing to shelter his head therein�. This may be compared with such a simile as occurs in II. xv.nbsp;271 ff.: �As when hounds and men of the country chase a horned stagnbsp;or a wild goat, and it is saved by a precipitous rock or dense wood,nbsp;and they cannot succeed in finding it�, etc. The passage in Beowulfnbsp;however, is not a simile but the description of an imaginary place�nbsp;the pool in which the monsters have their lair (cf. p. 405).

Descriptive passages similar to those cited above from Beowulf (1728 ff., 2444 ff.) occur also in other Anglo-Saxon poems.� We maynbsp;instance the description of old age given in the Seafarer (91 ff.): �Oldnbsp;age comes upon him, his face grows pallid; gray-haired he grieves in thenbsp;knowledge that his friends 3 of old days, the scions of princes, have been

' We do not mean to suggest thatthese passages are necessarily late elementsin the poem, though we believe this to be true in one case (1728 ff.). The hunting scenenbsp;(1369 ff.), quoted below, may be taken from court life�in contrast with II. xv.nbsp;271 ff.

� Examples occur, though rarely, in religious poems, e.g. Crist, 851 ff., Elene, 611 ff. Both of these seem to be of Latin or Biblical origin. We may also refer tonbsp;Grein-W�lcker, Bibliothek, II. 221 f. (Prayer iv. 88 ff.).

3 Perhaps �lord�. The plurals here may denote one individual, in accordance with a usage very common in Anglo-Saxon and early Norse poetry.

409 committed to the earth. While his spirit is ebbing his bodily frame cannotnbsp;relish delicacies, nor suffer pain, nor raise the hand, nor think with thenbsp;brain�. The context here is gnomic. A similar picture occurs more thannbsp;once in the fragments of Mimnermos, where the sorrows of old age arenbsp;contrasted with the joys of youth, e.g. (fr. 5): �But hovering immediately over our heads is grievous and unsightly old age, hated alike andnbsp;dishonoured�which makes a man to be forgotten and injures the eyesnbsp;and the brain which it overshadows�. The same theme recurs in fr. i, 2nbsp;and 3. The subject is treated at much greater length in the Irish Lamentnbsp;of the Old Woman ofBeare','- but this is a monologue poem (Type B) ofnbsp;specific reference, the story apparently being derived from tradition.nbsp;We may also compare RBH. xi, one of the elegies of Llywarch Hen.nbsp;The first part of this is a lament on the sorrows of old age�a monologuenbsp;of Type E (or B). But here again the reference is specific; the speakernbsp;twice mentions his name. Timeless nameless pictures are not unknownnbsp;in Welsh religious poetry

Descriptions of natural phenomena and of the characteristics of the seasons occur incidentally in poetry everywhere. We may refer (e.g.)nbsp;to the description of the north wind in the Works and Days (504 ff.) ornbsp;to two short similes in//, ii. 144 ff., where the movements of the assemblednbsp;Achaeans in their excitement are compared first to the waves of a stormynbsp;sea and then to a field of standing corn battered by a high wind. Innbsp;Anglo-Saxon poetry references to the storms of winter are especiallynbsp;frequent. We may quote from the Wanderer, 102 ff.: �Winter�s blast,nbsp;the driving snowstorm, enwraps the earth, when the shades of nightnbsp;come darkly lowering, and sends from the north a cruel hailstorm innbsp;wrath against mankind�.

But in Welsh and Irish poetry such descriptions are sometimes treated more fully, and even form the subject of complete poems. Thus RBH.nbsp;VII is concerned mainly with the characteristics of early winter, thoughnbsp;it contains also a certain amount of gnomic matter. Each stanza opensnbsp;with the words Kalan gaeaf � the beginning of winter � (All Saints� Day),nbsp;as a kind of refrain. We may quote st. 3 and 5 : � The beginning of winternbsp;�the stags are lean, the tops of the birches are yellow, the shieling isnbsp;deserted. Woe to him who incurs shame for the sake of a trifle... .The

� Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Oda Merseiana, i. 119 ff.; transi, also in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 90 ff.

� Thus in the religious ^oemBBC. ix (20 ff.) there is a short picture of a miserly, grasping man, followed by a still shorter picture of the sorrows of old age. Suchnbsp;sequences may be compared with Beow. 1728 ff.

beginning of winter�the weather is rough, unlike the beginning of summer. Apart from God there is no magician�. It will be seen that innbsp;the use of the �refrain� and in the introduction of gnomes of Type II a,nbsp;especially in the last line of the stanza�unconnected with what precedesnbsp;�this piece resembles some of the gnomic poems discussed on p. 388 f.nbsp;But the bulk of the matter consists of observations relating in generalnbsp;only to a particular time of the year.

The first part of BBC. xxx, one of the elegies of Llywarch Hen, has much in common with the last poem. It employs the same three-linenbsp;stanza, and most of it is occupied with a description of winter conditions,nbsp;though the gnomic element is not wanting. One stanza (24) begins withnbsp;Kalan gaeaw (i.e. gaeaf}. But the latter part of the poem is personal,nbsp;relating to the speaker�s own experiences and the death of his sonnbsp;Mechydd. We may quote st. 4 and 6 : � Cold is the bed of the fishes in thenbsp;shelter of the ice. The stag is lean; the reed-stalks are becoming bearded.nbsp;The evening is short; the trees are bending.. .The snow is falling; thenbsp;hoar-frost is white. Idle is the shield on the shoulder of the aged. Thenbsp;wind is very strong; the young buds are freezing�.

An Irish poem describing wintry conditions and dating probably from the tenth century is preserved in The Hiding of the Hill of Howthfnbsp;a short story relating to the flight of Diarmait and Grainne. It is recitednbsp;to the lovers by an old woman who is acting as a spy for Finn. Butnbsp;the poem may be older than the story; for it contains elements whichnbsp;occur also in a poem preserved in another story of the same cycle.-This latter poem is recited to Finn by an attendant called MacLesc, whonbsp;has been ordered to fetch water but is trying to excuse himself onnbsp;account of the bad weather. In one text of the story Finn declares thatnbsp;the man is lying, and recites a poem beginning with the words � Summernbsp;has come�. Geographical names occur both in the first poem and in thenbsp;one on the coming of summer; but the poems can hardly be regarded asnbsp;local, since the places referred to lie in distant parts of Ireland. We maynbsp;quote st. 2 of the first poem, which is found also with slight variationsnbsp;in the second: �Deadly cold! The storm has drenched everything.nbsp;Every furrow in the valley is a river, and every ford a brimming pool�.nbsp;From the poem on the coming of summer3 we may quote the following

� Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Rev. Celt. xi. transi, also in K. Meyer, Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 57 f.

3 Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Four Songs of Summer and Winter, p. 20 fF.; transi, also in Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 53.

(final) stanza: �The sun smiles over every land. I feel free from a brood of cares.� Dogs bay, stags mate, ravens increase, summer has come�.

A somewhat longer and apparently earlier poem on summer,� likewise attributed to Finn, is preserved in The Berish Exploits of Finn, cap. 20. This declares briefly the effects of the coming of summer uponnbsp;various creatures�the blackbird, the cuckoo, the deer, bees, cattle,nbsp;ants, corncrakes, swallows and mankind�as well as upon the woods andnbsp;vegetation generally and the sea. The same hero is also made responsiblenbsp;for a very short poem on the coming of winter,3 preserved in the Eulogy ofnbsp;St Columba. Both of these are believed to date from the ninth century.

Lastly, we may mention a series of short poems on the seasons contained in The Guesting of Athirne,^ which is little more than a framework for the poems. Athirne, the fill (cf. p. 98), pays a visit to Amargin in the autumn. When he prepares to depart, his host detains him withnbsp;a poem on the season. The same thing is repeated in the winter andnbsp;the spring. When summer comes Amargin produces another poem, butnbsp;allows his guest to go. At his departure a bull is brought in to be killed,nbsp;and Athirne is asked by the household to give them some poetry. Henbsp;stops them from killing the bull, and also a calf and a sheep which arenbsp;brought in, but allows them to kill a pig. He produces poems on all thenbsp;animals and on the fire, but only the first is intelligible: �The strong-limbed bullock, with thick tail and with horns, vigorous, hairy, broadnbsp;in the collar, the sportive one of the herd, the father of cattle, thenbsp;pursuer of every drove is the bull�.

There are other Irish poems, attributed to the tenth and eleventh centuries, which are concerned with descriptions of various aspects ofnbsp;nature. Perhaps the most striking is a poem of Type B in which thenbsp;hermit Marban unfolds to his brother Guaire, king of Connaught, thenbsp;attractions of his life in the woods. It contains a slight religious element,nbsp;but most of it is occupied with a description of the woods, the birds andnbsp;animals which frequent them, and the fruits which grow there. Mentionnbsp;may also be made of a poem on the sea and the storm-winds whichnbsp;sweep over it from various directions. 5

5 Both these poems are transi, by K. Meyer, Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 47 ff. For further references see ib. p. 112 f.

Next we may take metrical riddles. This is a widely distributed class of poetry; but it is far more fully represented in English and Norse thannbsp;in the other early literatures under discussion. It has much in commonnbsp;with the poems treated above. The characteristics of an object ornbsp;conception are described without its name being mentioned. It is left tonbsp;the listeners to identify it; sometimes they are invited to do so. Verynbsp;often the riddles are expressed in intentionally obscure terms; but thisnbsp;is not essential.

A large collection of Norse riddles is contained in Hervarar Saga, cap. 11.1 King HeiSrekr, who is a sage, allows accused men to ask himnbsp;riddles instead of going to trial. This option is chosen by a certainnbsp;Gestumblindi, who is really Othin in disguise. But many of the riddlesnbsp;may well be older than the saga. They are all expressed in four-linenbsp;stanzas, of which the fourth line is a uniform refrain, while the firstnbsp;lines also have refrains running over a number of stanzas. The actualnbsp;riddles therefore are quite short. We may quote the following examples:nbsp;� What is that huge one that passes over the earth, swallowing lakes andnbsp;pools He fears the wind, but he fears not man, and carries on hostilities against the sun. King HeiSrekr, interpret the riddle�. The kingnbsp;replies that it is fog: � One cannot see the sea because of it. Yet, as soonnbsp;as the wind blows, the fog lifts; but men can do nothing to it. Fog killsnbsp;the sunshine�. These replies are in prose. Again: �What is the marvelnbsp;which I have seen outside Dellingr�s doorway.^ 2 It has eight feet andnbsp;four eyes, and carries its knees higher than its body. King HeiSrekr,nbsp;interpret the riddle�. The answer given here is �spider�.

More than ninety English riddles 3 are preserved in the Exeter Book. They vary greatly in length, but nearly all of them are longer than thenbsp;Norse riddles just mentioned. Many of them are translations or adaptations of Latin riddles, which were very popular with English ecclesiastics of the seventh and eighth centuries. But many others may be ofnbsp;purely native origin, though they were probably collected in religiousnbsp;houses. There is no fixed form, as in the riddles of Gestumblindi.nbsp;Some riddles are short descriptive poems, not unlike the poems andnbsp;passages noticed in the earlier part of this chapter or the illustrations ofnbsp;gnomes quoted on p. 381 f.; but a request for interpretation may benbsp;� Transi, by Kershaw, Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, p. 115 ff.

� This is a refrain, which is carried over a number of riddles. The meaning of the expression, which occurs also in Hav. 160, is unknown to us. Dellingr is the namenbsp;of the father of Day (personified) ; cf. Kershaw, op. cit. p. 240.

3 Ed. by Tupper, The Riddles of the Exeter Book (Boston, 1910); Wyatt, Old English Riddles (Boston, 1912).

413 added at the end. We may quote No. 58: �The air here carries littlenbsp;creatures over the hill-sides. They are very black, dusky, dark-coated.nbsp;Bountiful of song they journey in troops and cry loudly. They treadnbsp;wooded banks and at times the habitations of men. Name them yourselves�. This is variously interpreted as �gnats� or �swallows�. Othernbsp;riddles, however, are, strictly speaking, speeches in character (Type B),nbsp;in which the object itself declares its characteristics. As an example wenbsp;may take No. 8: �My robe is silent when I tread the earth or occupynbsp;these dwellings I or stir the waters. Sometimes my trappings and thisnbsp;lofty air lift me up above the habitations of men; and then the force ofnbsp;the clouds carries me in all directions above mankind. My adornmentsnbsp;ring loudly and make music when, as a travelling spirit, I am not innbsp;contact with water or earth�. The speaker is evidently a swan. It is notnbsp;always clear that such poems are intended as riddles. This may be seennbsp;from the fact that it is still a matter of dispute whether No. 61 is a riddle,nbsp;meaning �reed�, or the introduction to The Husband's Message, a poemnbsp;which immediately follows it in the MS., and which will require noticenbsp;in the next chapter.

The Exeter Book has no riddles in the Norse form. Two examples, however, occur in the learned dialogue poem Solomon and Saturn. Wenbsp;may quote the beginning of the second (281 ff.), which is interpreted bynbsp;Solomon in his reply (291 ff.) as �old age�: �What is the marvel whichnbsp;passes through this world, taking its course inexorably, beating downnbsp;barriers, giving rise to tears and forcing its way upon us � It is possiblenbsp;that the formula may be taken from a Scandinavian source, since thenbsp;poem is believed to be not earlier than the tenth century. But Scandinavian influence is not evident in other respects; the connections of thenbsp;poem are Latin. We are inclined therefore to think that this poem hasnbsp;preserved an ancient formula,which originally was common to Englishnbsp;and Scandinavian. At the same time it would be hasty to assume that onlynbsp;such formulae were used in ancient riddles, and that the various formsnbsp;found in the Exeter Book are necessarily innovations of later times.

In early Welsh poetry we know of only one riddle. This is the long description of the wind contained in Tai. xvii. 1-64.� We may quotenbsp;1-8 and 25-32: �Guess what (this) is�created before the Deluge, a

� The remainder of the piece is of a religious character, beginning with a few gnomes, and has no connection with the riddle. A variant text of the riddle is to benbsp;found in the Haws Taliesin, translated in Guest�s Mabinogion (Everyman), p. 310.nbsp;The last three lines of this text have nothing corresponding to them in Tai. xvii.

Strong creature without flesh, without bone, without veins, without blood, without head, without feet. It is no older, no younger than atnbsp;the beginning.. .And it is as broad as the face of the land. And it hasnbsp;not been born, and it has not been seen. It is on the sea; it is on the land.nbsp;It sees not; it is not seen. It is untrustworthy; it does not come when itnbsp;is desired �. Apart from its length it will be seen that this riddle is notnbsp;unlike the English and Norse examples quoted above, especially perhapsnbsp;Gestumblindi�s �fog� riddle.

We do not know whether any early Irish riddleshave been preserved. The nearest approach to anything of the kind known to us is a passagenbsp;in the Eulogy of St Columba, cap. 63,1 immediately after the short poemnbsp;on the coming of winter mentioned on p. 411, and introduced by thenbsp;words et alius dixif. �What life is worse than death?� What empty isnbsp;heavier than full.^ What lake is wider than any sea?� Parallels to thisnbsp;can be found elsewhere, e.g. among the riddles of Gestumblindi (No. 8) :nbsp;�What lives in high mountains.^ What falls in deep valleysj* What livesnbsp;without breathing.^ What is never silent?� HeiSrekr treats all thesenbsp;questions as separate riddles, and gives the answers as �raven�, �dew�,nbsp;�fish�, and �waterfall� respectively.

Riddles seem to have been much cultivated in early Greece ; but few of them have been preserved in early poetic form. Probably the bestnbsp;preserved is a short riddle on the year�attributed by some authoritiesnbsp;to Cleobulos of Lindos in Rhodes, who lived early in the sixth century,nbsp;and by others to his daughter Cleobuline. It is in hexameters, and maynbsp;be translated as follows: �There is one father and twelve sons; and eachnbsp;of the latter has two sets of daughters, each thirty in number, which arenbsp;of quite different aspect. One set are fair in appearance, while the othersnbsp;are dark. They are all immortal, and yet they all pass away�.3

In riddle poems like those quoted above common features constantly recur. Parallels are to be found in many other languages. But they occurnbsp;also in certain other forms of poetry, especially in oracles. We maynbsp;refer (e.g.) to the Delphic oracles quoted by Herodotos, i. 47,67. Somenbsp;of the terms used in the lEorks and Days'^ belong to the same type,

� One text has �What death is better than lasting life.�� and adds (as answer) �Death of a fat pig�. The same text explains the next sentence by �emptiness of thenbsp;belly�.

3 The Exeter Book has a very elaborate riddle (No. 23) which may be compared with this; cf. Tupper, op. cit. p. ny f. and the references there given.

There seems to be some affinity in the expression of thought between this poem and oracular poetry; compare 231 ff. with the oracle quoted by Herodotos, vi. 86.

415 e.g. (569) �house-carrier�, applied to the snail. Even the partiality fornbsp;numeral periphrases, which characterises riddles, occurs sometimes innbsp;poems where to us it seems out of place. Thus Bragi Boddason, in anbsp;fragment relating to the creation of Sj�lland, says that the goddessnbsp;Gefjon�s oxen had four heads and eight eyes (lit. �brow-stars�). Henbsp;means no more than that there were four oxen. It is possible that thisnbsp;kind of phraseology is due to the influence of riddles; but the truenbsp;explanation may be that descriptive, gnomic and antiquarian poetrynbsp;were largely cultivated by the same class of poets. This is a question tonbsp;which we shall have to return later.

Next we may take the alphabetic poems which are found in Anglo-Saxon and in Norse.^ In the Runic alphabet each letter has a name of its own. These names�as also the peculiar order of the letters in the alphabet�date from very early times and were once in all probabilitynbsp;common to all the Teutonic peoples, though certain changes tooknbsp;place in the course of time. The names�with the exception of two,nbsp;which are proper names�denote objects or conceptions of a generalnbsp;character; and consequently the poems take the form of a series ofnbsp;descriptive gnomes of Type II (mostly II c). We may quote from thenbsp;English poem the passages relating to H and I, the names of whichnbsp;were �hail� and �ice� respectively: �H is the whitest of grains. It fallsnbsp;from the air of heaven and is tossed by gales of wind. It turns to waternbsp;afterwards.... I is very cold and exceedingly slippery. It glistens asnbsp;clear as glass, very much like jewels. (It is) a floor fashioned by frost,nbsp;fair to look upon�.

There are two Norse poems on the same subject, one Norwegian, the other Icelandic. Both are very late�probably from the thirteenth andnbsp;the fifteenth centuries respectively�but there are certain resemblancesnbsp;between them which may be traces or echoes of earlier poems of similarnbsp;character. The Norwegian poem consists of couplets, of which thenbsp;second line is usually unconnected with the first. In the majority ofnbsp;cases it is an independent gnome, much like the last line in the stanza ofnbsp;some Welsh gnomic poems (cf. p. 387 ff.). We may quote the followingnbsp;extracts from this poem : � Hail is the coldest of grains. Christ creatednbsp;the world of old... .Ice we call a �broad bridge�. The blind needs to benbsp;led�. From the Icelandic poem: �Hail is cold grain, and a fall of sleet,nbsp;and a plague to snakes... .Ice is the bark of a river, and the roof of thenbsp;wave, and a peril to doomed men�. The use of the term �grain�nbsp;suggests the possibility of a connection in remote times even with thenbsp;I Ed. and transi, by Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems.

English poem; and it is not unlikely on general grounds that this theme had long engaged the attention of poets.

Lastly, we have to deal with a number of catalogue poems, which have decided affinities with gnomic poetry. Sometimes they contain anbsp;considerable gnomic element; sometimes they seem to arise from anbsp;gnome of Type II, expressed or implied, such as that �Men have diversenbsp;endowments�, or �Many are the fates to which men are exposed�. Wenbsp;have long hesitated whether to include these poems in this chapter or thenbsp;last; but on the whole it seems preferable to treat them here as descriptive catalogues of characteristics.

Poetry of this kind developed on very similar lines in Greece and England. But examples are to be found almost everywhere. Some arenbsp;evidently designed for instruction, others for entertainment; othersnbsp;again seem to be merely the expression of the poet�s reflections.

The Greek poems which come in for consideration here are those of Simonides of Amorgos and some of those of Solon. This Simonides isnbsp;believed to have lived about the middle of the seventh century, andnbsp;therefore about half a century before Solon. All the remains of hisnbsp;poetry seem to be in the iambic trimeter verse. Mention is first to benbsp;made of a piece (fr. i) addressed to a young man, perhaps his son,nbsp;on the uncertainty of life. It dwells upon men�s ignorance of the futurenbsp;and on the vanity of their hopes, and then proceeds to give a shortnbsp;catalogue of the various ways in which they meet with death: �One isnbsp;overtaken by wretched old age before he attains his object; others arenbsp;destroyed by the miserable diseases of mankind; others again are crushednbsp;by Ares and sent by Hades down beneath the black earth. Some, tossednbsp;by gales upon the deep and by the mighty billows of the dark sea,nbsp;perish when they could have lived happily, while others through thenbsp;wretchedness of their lot fit a noose to their necks and quit the light ofnbsp;the sun by their own free will. Thus there is no lack of ills; men are besetnbsp;by fate in innumerable forms, and by unsuspected troubles and disasters �.nbsp;The fragment concludes with the advice not to seek for evils or to spoilnbsp;one�s life because of troubles.

Another, very much longer, piece deals with different varieties of women, each of which is said to have been formed by the gods from anbsp;different kind of animal or other substance. Thus the dirty woman isnbsp;said to come from the pig and the inquisitive from the fox, while othernbsp;varieties are derived from the dog, earth, the sea, the donkey, thenbsp;weasel, the horse, the monkey and the bee. All the descriptions, except

the last, are uncomplimentary. This poem is doubtless an example of the application of didactic form to purposes of entertainment, like the firstnbsp;part of XkxzH�vam�l (cf. p. 383 f.), and, again like it,is evidently designednbsp;for male audiences. But it lacks the cynical playfulness of the Norsenbsp;poem. The lady who is derived from the dog is said (12 ff.) to be justnbsp;like her mother. � She wants to hear and know everything. She roamsnbsp;and peers about everywhere, and yaps, even if she sees no one. Hernbsp;husband could not stop her either by tiireats�not even if in his anger henbsp;were to knock out her teeth with a stone�nor yet by gentle words,nbsp;even if she were sitting in the presence of guests�. The woman made ofnbsp;earth (21 ff.) is insensitive and knows nothing either good or bad.nbsp;�The only thing she understands is eating. If God brings a bad winternbsp;and she is shivering, she will not draw her chair nearer the fire�.

Solon�s political and personal poems were noticed in Ch. xi, and it was pointed out (p. 3 5 6 f.) that the political ideas expressed in the formernbsp;were of a much more advanced type than anything which can be foundnbsp;among the northern peoples in early times. No such remark, however,nbsp;can be made with regard to the same author�s descriptive or gnomicnbsp;catalogue poems, about which something must be said here. The piecesnbsp;which concern us are Nos. 13 and 27 of the fragments.

No. 27 is probably complete. It describes briefly the course of a man s life, which it divides into ten stages of seven years each. No. 13nbsp;is a much longer piece and embodies Solon�s philosophy of life. Itnbsp;begins with a prayer to the Muses to grant him prosperity and goodnbsp;fame, and that he may be revered by his friends and dreaded by hisnbsp;enemies. He desires to attain wealth, but not by unjust means. Thisnbsp;leads to a reflection�similar to what we find in the Works and Days�nbsp;that injustice and arrogance will ultimately bring ruin from Zeus. Next,nbsp;he observes that men live in hopes of the future; the invalid hopes fornbsp;recovery, the poor man for wealth. Then follows a list of vocations bynbsp;which men obtain their livelihood, with brief descriptions of the merchant sailor, the agriculturist, the skilled craftsman, the poet, the seernbsp;and the physician. �Men�s activities lie in diflerent directions. Onenbsp;wanders in ships over the sea teeming with fish, seeking to bringnbsp;profit to his home. He is driven by grievous winds, but pays no regardnbsp;to his life. Another clears thickly wooded ground, and serves for thenbsp;year those whose business lies in curved ploughs. Another has learntnbsp;the works of Athena and skilful Hephaistos, and gains his livelihood bynbsp;his hands. Another we find who has been taught the gifts of the Olympian Muses and understands how to express their beautiful lore�. After

this list he remarks that Fate brings both good and evil. The gifts of the immortal gods are not to be avoided. There is risk in all one�s doings,nbsp;and no one knows what will be the future of an undertaking, when it isnbsp;beginning.

It may be mentioned here that several short fragments of the same poet are of a gnomic character, though the context is unknown. Somenbsp;of them, e.g. No. 9, have a political bearing. The pieces noticed abovenbsp;are in the elegiac metre.

Lastly, we may quote a short catalogue poem included among the Homeric Epigrams (No. 13), which may be compared with the Add-fvynau Taliesin noticed below: �Children are a garland to a man, asnbsp;towers to a city and ships to the sea. It is an honour^ to have horses onnbsp;the plain. Wealth increases the house. Dignified are kings sitting in thenbsp;assembly and an honour for others to behold. And when a fire isnbsp;burning the house is more dignified to look upon, on a winter day whennbsp;Zeus is sending the snow�. The reference to kings in the assemblynbsp;suggests a rather early date.

Close parallels to some of the above catalogues are to be found in Anglo-Saxon poetry, especially a poem on the Fates of Men, preservednbsp;in the Exeter Bookd' The poem begins with a gnomic introduction : anbsp;man and his wife bring up a young family, but � God alone knows whatnbsp;the years will bring to them when they grow up�. Then (10 ff.) followsnbsp;a lugubrious catalogue of disasters,3 which may be compared with thenbsp;first fragment of Simonides quoted on p. 416. �To one it happens thatnbsp;an end, grievous to the wretched people, comes in his childhood. He isnbsp;devoured^ by a wolf, the gray ranger of the heath. One is carried off bynbsp;famine, another cast adrift by storm, another slain by the spear, anothernbsp;destroyed by battle. One passes his life without eyesight, groping withnbsp;his hands; another, lame in his walk and crippled in his sinews, bewailsnbsp;his injuries and mourns over his destiny, afflicted in heart�. Nextnbsp;follows the description of a man who loses his footing at the top of anbsp;tree, and after vainly clutching at the branches comes down with a fatalnbsp;crash to the ground. Then we have the destitute and friendless man, who

� Ed. by Grein-Wiilcker, Bibl. d. ags. Poesie, III. 148 ff.; Sedgefield, Anglo-Saxon Book of Kerse and Prose, p. 45 ff.

3 A very similar list, perhaps suggested by this, occurs in the religious poem Juliana, 468 ff., where the Devil is recounting all the evils he has brought about.

has to wander in misery through strange lands. Then comes a picture described somewhat more fully�the man who is hanged. The ravensnbsp;come and peck out his eyes, and then gradually consume his body.nbsp;Then follows the man who is burnt to death before his mother�s eyes;nbsp;then one who loses his temper and forfeits his life in a drunken brawl;nbsp;then one who does himself to death by excessive drinking. The listnbsp;closes, however, with a short description (58-63) of the man whonbsp;survives the troubles of his youth and lives to a prosperous and happynbsp;old age.

This catalogue leads up to another gnome, to the effect that different lots in life are awarded by God. Some obtain happiness, others misery;nbsp;blessings and endowments are variously distributed. � One is providednbsp;with a wondrous gift in the goldsmith�s art. Very often he arms andnbsp;fairly adorns a son of the king of Britain; and the latter as a rewardnbsp;grants him a large estate, which he receives with delight. Another givesnbsp;entertainment and pleasure to heroes who are gathered together at theirnbsp;beer. Then the banqueters have great j oy. Another sits with a harp at hisnbsp;lord�s feet. He receives treasure and is ever swiftly plucking the strings�,nbsp;etc. It will be seen that this second catalogue bears a resemblance to onenbsp;of Solon�s poems (No. 13) quoted above.

A very much longer list of endowments is to be found in another poem, known as the Endowments of Men and also preserved in thenbsp;Exeter Book. This is of a more religious character than the last poem,nbsp;and probably originated in a religious house. The introduction (1�29)nbsp;speaks of the distribution of God�s gifts in general terms. Then followsnbsp;the catalogue (30-96), most of which is given in very brief form. Firstnbsp;we hear of the rich, the poor, the strong, the handsome, the eloquent,nbsp;etc. Then the list becomes more specialised; it describes, rather morenbsp;fully, the warrior, the councillor, the builder, the minstrel, the sailor, etc.nbsp;Later, the form again becomes very brief; and there is a good deal ofnbsp;repetition in the subjects. The poem ends with general reflections likenbsp;those in the introduction. We may add that a somewhat similar, thoughnbsp;much shorter, catalogue occurs in the Crist (664-681).

In this series we may include one early Welsh^oem, which consists wholly of what may be called a gnomic catalogue;^ its closest affinitiesnbsp;lie with the Homeric Epigram noticed above. This poem, Tai. iv,nbsp;bears the title Aduvyneu (i.e. Addfwynau) Talies sin., �Things pleasant to

i Reference may also perhaps be made to Tai. xvn. 67 ff., where there is what we may perhaps call a �negative� catalogue. This latter part of Tai. xvn (cf. p. 413) isnbsp;evidently of religious provenance.

Taliesin�? The items, each of which occupies a line, are arranged in pairs, two or three pairs being included in each (rhyming) stanza. Thenbsp;first line of each pair begins with the word atwyn (i.e. add�vyn, �pleasant�, in archaic orthography), while the second begins with arallnbsp;(�another�) atwyn-, e.g. (st. 2): �Pleasant is fruit in the time of harvest;nbsp;another pleasant (thing) is wheat in the stalk�.

The nearest Irish parallels we know are the descriptive passages in the Instructions of Cormac, especially the long tirade upon women innbsp;cap. 16 (cf. p. 395 f.).

Lastly, we have to consider here the Norse poem Rigspula, which is by far the most interesting and ambitious poem of this class. Its purposenbsp;is to explain the origin of the various classes of society. A certain Rigrnbsp;comes to the cabin occupied by a couple called Ai (� Great-grandfather�)nbsp;and Edda (�Great-grandmother�). He is entertained by them for threenbsp;days, and sleeps between them. Nine months later Edda bears a child,nbsp;dark, ugly and misshapen, whom they call pr�ll (� Slave�). He occupiesnbsp;himself with making loads of bast, and in due time obtains for himself anbsp;mate, dirty-footed, sun-burnt and snub-nosed, called Pird They have anbsp;numerous family, who are supplied with names meaning �coarse,nbsp;sullen, clumsy, lazy�, etc., or derived from such words, and who occupynbsp;themselves with making fences, tending pigs and goats, and diggingnbsp;peat. It is added that the �kindreds of slaves�, i.e. the slave population,nbsp;are descended from these.

Rigr comes to another house (st. 14 ff.) where the conditions of life are much better. The man and woman, who are called Afi (�Grandfather�) and Amma (�Grandmother�) respectively, are well-dressed.nbsp;The man is engaged in carpenter�s work, the woman is knitting. He isnbsp;entertained as before. In due course Amma bears a child with ruddynbsp;face and twinkling eyes, whom they call Karl (�Man, Freeman�). Henbsp;busies himself with house-building and agricultural work�ploughsnbsp;and plough-oxen. For him they get a wife named Snor (�Daughter-in-law�), who is married to him with due ceremony�carriage, veil andnbsp;ring. These also have a large family, with names like �Farmer, Smith,nbsp;Trim-beard�. From them are descended the free population.

Rigr comes to yet another house (st. 26 ff.), where the conditions are still better. The man, who is called FaSir (�Father�) is amusing himselfnbsp;with bow and arrows, while the woman, who is called M�Sir (�Mother�),

� Cf. Rhys, Rev. Celt. vi. 55. It may be observed that this poem seems to have been copied from an earlier MS. with orthography somewhat similar to that of BBC.

is attending to her dress and ornaments. Rigr is entertained as before, but in better style ; we hear of a white linen tablecloth, silver dishes andnbsp;wine. In due time M�Sir bears a child, whom they call Jarl (probablynbsp;�Noble�), and wrap in silk. He has fair hair and piercing eyes. When henbsp;grows up he learns to use weapons, to amuse himself with horses andnbsp;dogs, and to swim. Rigr visits him and teaches him (Runic) letters. Henbsp;adopts him as his son, and gives him his ancestral home. Then Jarlnbsp;begins to engage in war and to rule territories. He marries Ernanbsp;(perhaps �Active�), the daughter of Hersir (�Chief�). Their childrennbsp;have names like �Son� and �Heir�. The youngest is called Konr, whichnbsp;also means �son� or �offspring�. The others devote themselves to arms;nbsp;but Konr becomes expert in the magical use of letters and the languagenbsp;of birds. A crow exhorts him to engage in war�but at this point thenbsp;text breaks off. The rest is lost. In st. 43,46 f. Konr is called Konr ungr,nbsp;�young Konr�, from which it is generally inferred that the poem represented him as the first kontmgr (�king�).

In the prose introduction to the poem Rigr is said to be the god Heimdallr. This may explain why at the beginning of the V�lusp�nbsp;(cf. p. 325) the witch addresses her audience as �major and minor sons ofnbsp;Heimdallr�. The identification, however, is rejected by many modernnbsp;scholars, who believe the poem to be based on Gaelic sources. Theynbsp;derive the name Rigr from Irish ri (gen. rig}, �king�; it has beennbsp;suggested that the Dagda is meant. Others hold that the poem relatesnbsp;to the unification of Norway under Harold the Fair-haired. Neithernbsp;theory is convincing. The only references to Rigr elsewhere are innbsp;connection with legends relating to the origin of the Danish kingdom.

We know of no other descriptive catalogue poems of this kind in Norse; but it is not unlikely that such may once have existed innbsp;Denmark. Reference may be made (e.g.) to the description of the fournbsp;kinds of warriors attributed by Saxo, p. 133 f. (109 f.), to King Wer-mund the Wise.

In this chapter we have attempted to take note of all the chief varieties of descriptive poetry which occur in our early records. Thenbsp;series may be summarised briefly as follows: i. Imaginative scenes,nbsp;whether descriptions of imaginary places or of real places under imaginary conditions, ii. Descriptions of works of art. iii. Scenes fromnbsp;human life (timeless nameless) and from nature introduced incidentally,nbsp;whether as similes or otherwise, in poems concerned with other matters.nbsp;Descriptions of old age form a special group among these, iv. Com-

plete poems, usually short, occupied with descriptions of nature, especially the seasons and animal life. v. Riddles, vi. Alphabeticnbsp;poems, vii. Descriptive catalogue poems. We do not think that apartnbsp;from these the records with which we are concerned contain muchnbsp;descriptive poetry of any importance.

It will be seen that the list is of rather heterogeneous character. No. vii is closely related to gnomic poetry�so closely that we havenbsp;long hesitated whether to treat it in this chapter or the last. Likenbsp;gnomic poetry, its connections are in general non-heroic. In the case ofnbsp;the Rigspula some doubt is suggested by the poet�s strong aristocraticnbsp;bias; yet it is the intellectual activities of Konr which are emphasised.nbsp;No. iii has also gnomic affinities. We believe it to be in the main of thenbsp;same provenance, though it is perhaps not wholly homogeneous. Thenbsp;description of the arrogant man in Beowulf 1728 ff. is definitely nonheroic, influenced by Christian ethics apparently not very well understood, and shows an encroachment of the non-heroic upon the heroic.nbsp;We believe the same to be true�in quite a different way�of most ofnbsp;the Homeric similes, but not of the other passages from Beowulf citednbsp;on p. 408. Most of the examples in Nos. v and vi are closely related tonbsp;No. iv; and this group also has gnomic affinities, i.e. with gnomes ofnbsp;Type II c. Nos. i and ii have in general no gnomic affinities.

This cursory analysis must suffice for the moment. The question of provenance and its significance will require notice in Ch. xix.

Note. For many of the Greek passages quoted in this chapter and in Ch. xi better translations may now be found in Edmonds, Elegy and Iambus, whichnbsp;unfortunately was not published before these chapters were in print.

IN the last chapter it was observed that descriptions of human experiences, belonging to the timeless nameless variety and introduced as similes or as illustrations oLgnomes, are more developednbsp;in English than elsewhere. We have now to consider certain poems andnbsp;passages which have in general the same character but show a furthernbsp;development. The subject of the picture is no longer a purely hypothetical person or a representative of some class of humanity, but has anbsp;definite individuality of his own, though the timeless nameless characternbsp;remains. These pieces consist wholly or largely of speeches and, innbsp;spite of the absence of names, are to be regarded as examples of Type B.

One example occurs in Beowulf (2233 fl'.), a passage to which reference was made on p. 408. It is the account of the burial of the treasure in the barrow which eventually became the dragon�s lair. The man whonbsp;buries it is represented as the last survivor of his community; and hisnbsp;speech (2247 ff.) is an elegy on the loss of all his friends. The passage isnbsp;entirely without names and timeless, except that it relates to the farnbsp;past. We may quote the beginning of the speech: �Do thou, O Earth,nbsp;keep the treasures of knights, now that heroes have been unable to donbsp;so. Was it not from thee that the brave had acquired it.^ Every man ofnbsp;my company has been carried off by death in battle, by dread mortalnbsp;ruin.... I have no one left to bear the sword or to care for the costlynbsp;drinking vessel, the flagon of gold plate�. Then he describes how thenbsp;armour will rust and decay; and the elegy concludes as follows (2262nbsp;ff.): �There shall be no gladdening harp, no cheering instrument ofnbsp;music. There shall be no good falcon flying through the hall, nor swiftnbsp;steed pawing the castle court. Many families of men have been sped tonbsp;their doom by murderous slaughter�.

The first scene in the IFanderer^ is somewhat similar, though it is introduced by a gnome, and the individuality of the speaker is perhapsnbsp;not quite so fully developed. The picture is that of a knight who has

� This and the following three poems�all of which are preserved in the Exeter Book�eae ed. and transi, by Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems (Cambridge,nbsp;1922).

lost his lord, and is homeless and friendless on a deserted shore in winter. He soliloquises upon his misfortunes (8-29), and then fallsnbsp;asleep and (41 If.) �dreams that he is greeting and kissing his liegelord, and laying his hands and head on his knee�just as he used to donbsp;when he enjoyed the bounty of the throne in days of old.... His sorrownbsp;comes back to him when the memory of his kinsmen passes throughnbsp;his mind. He greets them in glad strains and scans them all eagerly.nbsp;(But) his warrior comrades again melt away, and as they vanish theirnbsp;spirits bring no familiar greetings to his ear�.

The second scene in the same poem (75 IF.) may conveniently be noticed here, though it is not a typical example of the class of poems wenbsp;are considering. It is concerned with a man who is meditating onnbsp;ruined cities or castles�evidently of the Roman period�and thennbsp;(85 fF.) upon one particular ruin, which apparently stands before him;nbsp;but the man is not individualised in any way. The passage has much innbsp;common with the Ruitiy noticed on p. 404, though there is no indicationnbsp;here that any specific place is in the poet�s mind. We may quote fromnbsp;the beginning of the soliloquy (92 IF.): �What has become of the steednbsp;What has become of the squire.^ What has become of the giver ofnbsp;treasure.�' What has become of the banqueting houses.^ Where are thenbsp;joys of the halb? O shining goblet ! O mail-clad warrior ! O glory ofnbsp;the prince ! How has that time passed away, grown shadowy under thenbsp;canopy of night, as though it had never been�.

The Seafarer�or at least the first part of it�is a speech-poem of the type under discussion. The speaker is more clearly individualised thannbsp;either of those who are introduced in the last poem. He is a mariner,nbsp;and describes both the hardships and the attractions of his life. Morenbsp;than once there is a somewhat abrupt change of tone, which has lednbsp;some scholars to the view that the poem is a dialogue between an oldnbsp;mariner and a young man who wishes to go to sea. Different views,nbsp;however, are held as to the distribution of the speeches; and we arenbsp;inclined to think that the contrasts are merely rhetorical. We maynbsp;quote 58 fF.: �Verily my thoughts are now soaring beyond my breast;nbsp;along the course of the sea my spirit soars, over the home of the whale,nbsp;and throughout the expanse of earth. Again it comes back to me, eagernbsp;and hungry, screaming on its solitary flight. Resistlessly it impels mynbsp;heart to the road of the whale, over the expanse of waters�. After thisnbsp;the poem passes into religious and gnomic matter; the original themenbsp;seems to be forgotten. It is in this latter part that the description of oldnbsp;age, noticed in the last chapter, occurs.

A much more advanced stage of individualisation is attained in another speech-poem, commonly known as The. Wife�s Complaint. Thenbsp;speaker is a woman who has been forsaken by her husband or lover andnbsp;ordered to live in a cave beneath an oak, where she passionately bewailsnbsp;her lot. The situation can hardly be regarded as a typical one/ and therenbsp;is no gnomic context�indeed no context of any kind�nor any suggestion of a simile. Consequently it has been thought by some scholarsnbsp;that the poem is a fragment or a scene from some heroic or othernbsp;story. But it contains no names, and within its limits it is complete.nbsp;The passage from Beowulf (2233 ff.) quoted above shows that suchnbsp;�nameless� scenes were not unfamiliar to ancient English poets. We maynbsp;quote 33 if.: �Lovers there are on earth living in affection and resting innbsp;their beds, while all alone before the dawn I pace the round of thesenbsp;caverns beneath the oak. Here I shall have to sit through the longnbsp;summer day; here I shall have to weep over my misfortunes and mynbsp;many hardships. Assuredly I shall never be able to get any rest from mynbsp;distress nor from all the heartache which has come upon me in my lifenbsp;here�.

Another somewhat similar case is The Husband�s Message. The text of this poem is spoiled in parts by serious damage to the MS.; and it isnbsp;disputed whether certain lines at the beginning really belong to thenbsp;poem or form a riddle unconnected with it. It is clear, however, thatnbsp;the main part of the piece consists of a message engraved upon a rodnbsp;in Runic letters�or (less probably) delivered by a messenger whonbsp;carries the rod�from a husband or lover to his lady. The message is tonbsp;the effect that the sender has overcome his troubles and become anbsp;wealthy prince in a foreign land, and that he desires the lady to takenbsp;ship and join him as soon as spring comes. The poem probably containsnbsp;no proper names.^ It is believed by some scholars to be a sequel to Thenbsp;Wife�s Complaint�a view which in itself is not unlikely, although thenbsp;scribe of the Exeter Book was evidently unaware of any connectionnbsp;between the two. They do not come together in the MS.

We know of no true analogies to these pieces in Anglo-Saxon religious poetry. The Dream of the Cross may be regarded as an anony-

I It is worth noting, however, that in the Helreid Brynhildar (cf. p. 27), st. 8, the text preserved in Nornagests Saga (cap. 9) reads as follows: �In sorrowful wisenbsp;did the courageous hero make me, the sister of Atli, to dwell beneath an oak�.nbsp;The text of the Cod. Reg. of the Edda is quite different here.

One geographical name has been suggested in one of the damaged places, and a personal name has been inferred from an unintelligible group of Runic letters. Butnbsp;these are hazardous conjectures.

mous speech-poem�apart from the speech by the Cross contained in it�but the speaker has no individuality apart from his dream, and thisnbsp;would seem to be claimed as an experience of the poet himself, probablynbsp;according to poetic convention. The analogy here is with the framework of the Wanderer, as distinct from either of the speeches containednbsp;in it, though the latter of these also has no individual characterisation,nbsp;as we have seen.

A closer parallel is perhaps to be found in a piece, mainly but irregularly metrical, which we may call a Traveller s Prayerd The speaker invokes Patriarchs, Saints, Angels and Evangelists in turn for protection. He is setting out on a journey, evidently by sea. His destination isnbsp;not stated; but he has a rod or staff, to which he refers more than once innbsp;the first part of the piece. This part, however, uses the formulae and thenbsp;diction of spells; and the MS. in which the piece is preserved is anbsp;collection of recipes and spells. Metrical spells in general may benbsp;regarded as speech-poems of the category under discussion�Type DBnbsp;rather than Type B�but it will be preferable to defer the considerationnbsp;of all such matter until the next chapter.

There are one or two early Welsh poems of this class. They have something in common with the last piece�they are reUgious innbsp;character, without following the conventions of ecclesiastical poetry;nbsp;but they are not spells. In BBC. xxvii, a monologue poem, the speakernbsp;is setting out on a voyage to Rome, apparently as a pilgrim. He hears anbsp;sneeze�a sound of ill omen. But he will not believe in omens; wherenbsp;there is a nose there will be sneezing (st. 9). His faith is in God. Henbsp;gives orders therefore for the saddling of his horse. The first thirteennbsp;stanzas are in the old three-line metre. After this point the metre isnbsp;irregular, and the matter is purely religious. It is not clear that thisnbsp;latter part belongs to the same poem.

A less certain example is to be found in BBC. xxvi. The first stanza is as follows: �Black is thy horse, black thy cloak, black thy head, thounbsp;art black thyself.... Art thou Yscolan.^� The rest of the poem isnbsp;occupied with Yscolan�s reply. He says that he is a scholar, that he hasnbsp;been guilty of various sins, including the burning of a church andnbsp;killing a cow belonging to the school, and that he has undergonenbsp;severe penance for a whole year. If he had known what he now knows,

� Ed. by Grein-W�lcker, Bibl. d. ags. Poesie, I. 328 ff., from MS. CCCC. 41, fol. 400. With prayers in general we are not concerned here. The latter part of thenbsp;prayer publ. by Grein-W�lcker, ii. 217 ff., may perhaps be regarded as a religiousnbsp;example of Type E.

427 he would never have done what he did. The question here is whethernbsp;Yscolan is to be taken as a genuine proper name or a name made upnbsp;fromyscol, �school�. It is not clear� that any other proper names occur.nbsp;Account should perhaps be taken of the possibility that the poem maynbsp;be connected with the one last noticed, which follows it immediately innbsp;the MS. Both are in the same metre, though No. xxvi shows somenbsp;irregularities, probably through textual corruption.

These two poems show a more advanced technique than the English Traveller s Prayer-, but they have more in common with this than withnbsp;the other English poems noticed above. We do not know of anynbsp;secular Welsh poems of this class. It is possible that RBH. x belongsnbsp;here; but the gnomic element is so large in this poem that the centralnbsp;theme is not clear to us. There are also elements in common with thenbsp;elegies of Llywarch Hen.

In early Irish and Norse poetry we know of no parallels to the poems treated above. The Old Woman of Beare shows a certain generalnbsp;resemblance to some of the English poems. But the speaker is not annbsp;�unspecified� individual; she has definite�indeed partly historical�nbsp;associations. In general the purpose which the English poems serve isnbsp;in Irish and Norse served by heroic poems of Type B. We mean thatnbsp;when an Irish or Norse poet wished to produce a study of emotion or ofnbsp;emotional situation, he chose his subject�both the situation and thenbsp;character�from heroic ^tory, whereas the English poet apparentlynbsp;preferred to invent a situation, with nameless characters.

What has just been said with regard to Irish and Norse poetry appears to be true of early Greek poetry, though only very meagrenbsp;fragments remain of such heroic poems (cf. p. 24). In Greek, however,nbsp;there is one piece which, formally at least, may be regarded as an example of the � unspecified � class�a monologue poem, included among thenbsp;Homeric Epigrams (No. xiv), in which a poet is addressing some potters.nbsp;No name is given to either party. The poet says that if they will givenbsp;him his reward he will invoke Athena to protect their kiln. May theirnbsp;work prosper well and find an abundant market. But if they deal unfairly with him, he will summon the foes of their craft. Crasher, Smasher,nbsp;Shatterer and others, who will spoil their kiln and all their wares. Thenbsp;poem, which is quite short, concludes as follows: �Hither too comenbsp;thou. Daughter of the Sun, Circe who knowest many spells; castnbsp;cruel spells, and injure both them and their wares. Hither too letnbsp;Cheiron bring a crowd of Centaurs, both those who escaped from thenbsp;� It is hardly necessary to take the word bangor in st. 5 as a proper naine.

hands of Heracles and those who perished. May they strike these wares with an evil blow; may the kiln collapse, and the potters lament, as theynbsp;see their wares ruined.�' But I will gloat when I see their handicraftnbsp;smitten with disaster. And may he who is bending over his work havenbsp;his whole face burnt, so that all may learn to act justly�. It is interestingnbsp;to note that this is another speech-poem derived from spells.

From the instances given above it will be seen that we have to distinguish two varieties of the timeless nameless speech-poem. Onenbsp;variety, represented by the English Traveller s Prayer^ the Welshnbsp;poems and the Homeric Epigram^ has religious associations, even when,nbsp;as in the last case, it is not to be taken seriously. It is generally connectednbsp;with spells or omens. The other variety, to which the remaining Englishnbsp;examples belong, has aristocratic associations. These poems possessnbsp;greater dignity and are evidently the results of more sustained efforts.nbsp;No true parallels to them are to be found, so far as we are aware, in thenbsp;other languages now under consideration. Analogies, however, donbsp;occur elsewhere, as we shall see in later chapters.

In the preceding pages we have collected all the poems relating to unspecified individuals which are known to us from early records�nbsp;apart from spells and purely religious pieces. It will be seen that nonbsp;examples have been given from popular poetry or folksong, the form innbsp;which this kind of poetry is most familiar to us in modern times. Thenbsp;reason of course is that no such compositions have been preserved fromnbsp;early times. All our examples relate either to aristocratic or to religiousnbsp;�perhaps we should add professional�life, and there is no reason fornbsp;doubting that they originated in such circles, or at least in an educatednbsp;milieu. Poetry relating to humbler spheres of life seems not�or onlynbsp;rarely�to have appealed to those who had the means of recording andnbsp;preserving it. But we do not doubt that it existed.

In Greek one or two scraps of such poetry have actually been preserved, though we do not know their date. They are songs sung by children, who went round in the spring, begging from house to house.nbsp;One of these, which comes from Rhodes, may be preserved more ornbsp;less in its original form:'� �The swallow has come, has come, bringingnbsp;fine days and fine weather. She is white in the belly, and black in hernbsp;back. Roll out the pudding from your rich house, and a beaker of winenbsp;and a basket of cheese. Buns too and pulse-cake the swallow will not

429 reject. Are we to get it or to go away.^ If you will give us somethingnbsp;(well and good). But if not, we will not put up with it. Let us take thenbsp;door or the lintel, or the lady who is sitting inside. She is small and wenbsp;shall easily carry her. But if you will give us something, may you getnbsp;something big in return ! Open, open the door to the swallow. For wenbsp;are not elders�we are children�. The metre is in part iambic; in part itnbsp;consists of irregular short lines.

The same theme forms the subject of one of the Homeric Epigrams (No. xv) known as Eiresione or �Wreath�, from the wreath worn bynbsp;singing boys at certain festivals. This is doubtless much farther fromnbsp;the original, though the record is probably earlier. The metre is hexameter, except in the last two lines, and the diction more conventional.nbsp;The children also are better behaved, if somewhat saucy. The last twonbsp;lines, which are in iambics, are as follows: �If you will give somethingnbsp;(well and good). But if not, we will not stop; for we have not comenbsp;here to make our home with you�.

Apart from these passages we know only of brief fragments of popular songs, though references to them�weaving songs, grindingnbsp;songs, love songs, etc.�are not rare in Greek literature. The earliestnbsp;reference occurs in the description of the shield of Achilles {II. xviii.nbsp;569 if.), where a boy is represented as playing a lyre and singing anbsp;�Linos� to the vintagers, who are keeping time with their feet. It is notnbsp;likely that a timeless nameless song is intended here. In later times at allnbsp;events Linos is a figure of mythology. He is sometimes said to be a sonnbsp;of one of the Muses; and the fragment of a Linos song which has beennbsp;preserved speaks of him as slain by Apollo. From other references tonbsp;folk songs or popular songs it would seem that they were frequentlynbsp;concerned with mythological subjects, while historical or politicalnbsp;themes were perhaps not excluded.^ But timeless nameless themes cannbsp;hardly have been unknown. Indeed the begging songs just noticed maynbsp;be regarded as examples of this kind�to be referred to Type D rathernbsp;than to Type B. Modern analogies would lead us to expect that suchnbsp;themes would be predominant; but we are not sure that this can benbsp;assumed with safety.

In the northern languages we confess that we do not know where early examples of popular poetry are to be found, except perhaps in

* Yet some pieces which have been taken for folk songs may really be adaptations of folk songs to political propaganda; e.g. Bergk, Anth. Lyr. Carm. Pop. No. 43:nbsp;�The quern is grinding, grinding�even Pittacos is grinding, he who rules overnbsp;great Mytilene�.

spells. The story of Caedmon, told by Bede, Hist. Eccl. iv. 24, makes it clear that minstrelsy was much cultivated by villagers in the north ofnbsp;England in the latter part of the seventh centmy; but unluckily we arenbsp;told nothing as to the character of the poems they produced. Were thenbsp;genres cultivated by them the same as those which were cultivated innbsp;the courts.^ Or was the timeless nameless specially in vogue, as innbsp;later times As regards England the two suggestions are not necessarily alternatives. As regards Ireland and the North, the former alternative seems to be the more likely, since we have not been able to findnbsp;any trace of the timeless nameless. Yet evidence for something similarnbsp;in the North will have to be considered shortly. In Wales the timelessnbsp;nameless was known, as we have seen, at least in a religious milieu.

The predominance of the timeless nameless which we find in modern folk songs and popular songs extends also to popular stories, whethernbsp;told in verse or in prose. When we come to deal with districts like partsnbsp;of Russia and Yugoslavia, where oral tradition survived in full strengthnbsp;until recently, we shall see that beside heroic stories and other storiesnbsp;relating to historical persons there are current numerous stories dealingnbsp;with nameless persons or with persons who exist only for a particularnbsp;story. Similar stories are known in most parts of the world�even innbsp;the west of Europe, though here they are used only for the entertainment of children, except in backward districts. We are referring here tonbsp;�folk tales�; but it will be convenient�in accordance with generalnbsp;usage�to apply this term only to such stories as have a wide currency,nbsp;and not to timeless nameless stories in general. When told in verse thesenbsp;stories hardly differ from folk songs of Type A, except that they arenbsp;generally longer and more detailed. The prose form, however, is muchnbsp;more widespread.

Properly speaking, these stories belong partly to Type A and partly to Type C (CA)�to the former when they are designed purely fornbsp;entertainment, to the latter when they contain a didactic or explanatorynbsp;element, as is frequently the case in the true folk tale. In addition to thenbsp;stories which are strictly nameless there are others, especially perhapsnbsp;such as belong to Type C, in which some or all of the characters bearnbsp;descriptive names, invented to suit their characteristics. In othernbsp;stories again the characters bear non-descriptive names which appear tonbsp;have been chosen more or less at random. Usually, however, these arenbsp;names in very common use, like Jack. The presence or absence of suchnbsp;names varies much between one country and another.

431 largely or wholly with animals, which are represented as acting fromnbsp;human motives, and often as speaking. These stories, however, are lessnbsp;common in Europe than in Africa. Others again, though the charactersnbsp;may be nameless, are attached to particular localities. These may benbsp;described as local legends, though they frequently belong to Type C.

Folk tales and other timeless nameless stories are not represented as such, any more than folksongs, in the early literatures with which wenbsp;are concerned. This is perhaps due in part to accident; for the Siciliannbsp;Greek poet Stesichoros appears to have cultivated such compositions.nbsp;One of his poems is said^ to have told the story of a reaper (apparentlynbsp;unnamed) who was sent to draw water. At the well he found a snakenbsp;throttling an eagle. He killed the snake and released the eagle, and thennbsp;went back with the water. The eagle came and knocked the cup out ofnbsp;his hand, before he could get a drink; but all his companions died,nbsp;because the water had been poisoned by the snake. Stesichoros is alsonbsp;said to have made use of fables,^ like Hesiod and Archilochos; but thesenbsp;need not be taken into consideration here.

We know of no other early poem which was devoted to the telling of a folk tale or other timeless nameless story as such. Possibly, however,nbsp;mention should be made here of the Margites, which in form at least maynbsp;not have been far removed from this description. It was apparentlynbsp;known to Archilochos,3 and must therefore have been in existence bynbsp;the middle of the seventh century. Aristotle and other ancient authorities attributed it to Homer. The references to it and the few fragments which remain indicate that it dealt with the adventures of a crazynbsp;man, who �knew many things, but knew them all wrong�; but theynbsp;seem not to make clear whether it was farce or satire, though the latter isnbsp;on the whole more probable. The name seems to have been made upnbsp;from the word p�pyo�, �mad�;^ but the scene was apparently laid innbsp;Colophon. The poem was in hexameters mixed with iambics.

* Ancient authorities derived the name from papyafvsiv, �to rage� (a derivative of n�pyos); cf. Kinkel, l.c.

Story which was once widely known in the North, and which forms the subject of Swedish and Danish ballads; but the earliest treatment of it isnbsp;in an early Norse poem (or poems) of Type B. It bears a very closenbsp;resemblance to a widespread type of folk tale, though it is never entirely without names. The Norse poems, Grogaldr and Fj�lsvinnsmdl^nbsp;are preserved only in very late (paper) MSS., and it is a disputed questionnbsp;whether they date from the heathen period�say the tenth century�ornbsp;whether they are products of the learned revival in the twelfth andnbsp;thirteenth centuries. They are sometimes separated in the MSS., butnbsp;are now generally regarded as parts of one poem. The first part of thenbsp;Grogaldr is a dialogue between Svipdagr and his dead mother Gr�a. Henbsp;desires to win the maiden Mengl�S, and has come to his mother�s gravenbsp;to ask her for spells to protect him on his way. The rest of the poem isnbsp;occupied by the spells�whence the name Grogaldr (�spell-singing ofnbsp;Gr�a�). In the Fjolsvinnsmdl Svipdagr appears before Mengl�S�s homenbsp;and has an altercation with a certain Fj�lsviSr, who appears to be eithernbsp;the porter or the guardian of the maiden. Svipdagr gives himself anbsp;fictitious name (Vindkaldr), and puts to Fj�lsviSr a long series ofnbsp;questions relating to Mengl�S�s home and the means by which accessnbsp;to it maybe obtained. In the end he learns that Mengl�S is in love with anbsp;certain Svipdagr, whom she has never seen. He then discloses his realnbsp;name; Mengl�S appears, and they are happily united.

The ballads, which are really only variants of one ballad, treat this theme as a narrative poem (Type A) with a large speech element, thoughnbsp;the conversation between Svipdagr (Sveidal, Svendal, etc.) and thenbsp;�herdsman� (Fj�lsviSr) is quite brief. The early Norse poems are whollynbsp;occupied by speeches except one half stanza; but they imply a story. Wenbsp;do not know any folktale exactly corresponding to this story; but thenbsp;general resemblance is obvious enough. It may be noted also that heroicnbsp;features are wholly wanting. Svipdagr is a child of luck; all his successnbsp;is due to external help or to coincidence. As regards the names,nbsp;Fj�lsviSr means �Very Wise�, Mengl�S � Bright with Jewels (necklaces)�,nbsp;or possibly �Rejoicing in Jewels�. Svipdagr and Gr�a are names without obvious meaning, and persons bearing these names figure in othernbsp;stories. But none of the characters of this story occur elsewhere. Itsnbsp;personnel is peculiar to itself.

Some poems of Stesichoros seem to have been of a somewhat similar character. According to Aeliani this poet was the first to compose songsnbsp;� Hist. Mise. X. 18. This passage and the one from Diodoros (iv. 84) citednbsp;below are quoted and transi, by Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, II. 36 if.

about the neatherd Daphnis, of which we have examples in later times from Theocritos. The latter has different accounts of Daphnis; in Id. inbsp;he perishes through refusal to give way to love, whereas in Id. xxvii henbsp;is amorous. The story given by Aelian and Diodoros is that he wasnbsp;beloved by a nymph, who threatened him with loss of sight if he shouldnbsp;ever have to do with any other woman. He was led to break his vow bynbsp;a princess, when he was drunk, and thereupon became blind. Aelian�snbsp;words seem rather to imply that this was the form of the story as told bynbsp;Stesichoros. In any case its affinities seem to lie with folktales. Diodoros�nbsp;account in particular suggests that it may have originated in a localnbsp;legend. Perhaps it was a native Sicilian story, Hellenised by Stesichoros.nbsp;Mythological associations are not wanting�Daphnis is said to be a sonnbsp;of Hermes�but these may have been added by the Greek poet.

Stesichoros is also said to have composed a song called Calyce, which according to Athenaios^ was sung by women in early times. Thenbsp;subject was as follows: a girl called Calyce prayed to Aphrodite thatnbsp;she might be married to a youth named Euathlos. When he rejected her,nbsp;she threw herself over a cliff in the neighbourhood of Leucas. Nothingnbsp;is known elsewhere, so far as we know, either of the story or of thenbsp;persons who figure in it. It may be observed that the name Calyce seemsnbsp;to mean �bud� (of a flower), while Euathlos means �successful in contests�. Both are quite possiljle names, and the poem may be foundednbsp;upon a tragedy of real life. On the other hand it is equally possible thatnbsp;the whole story was invented by Stesichoros.

Another poem by the same author dealt with the fate of a girl called Rhadine. The story is summarised by Strabo,� who quotes the firstnbsp;two lines�all that remains�of the poem. Rhadine belonged to a placenbsp;called Samos, apparently in Elis, but was promised in marriage to anbsp;tyrant at Corinth. When she arrived there she was followed by one ofnbsp;her cousins who was in love with her. The tyrant put them both tonbsp;death and sent off the bodies in a carriage. Then he repented of what henbsp;had done and buried them. In this case the evidence, such as it is,nbsp;favours the theory of fiction. No personal names are recorded exceptnbsp;Rhadine, which means �slender� (as applied to a youthful body) andnbsp;occurs as an epithet of Aphrodite. One fact, however, deserves to benbsp;mentioned in connection with the story. Pausanias, vii. v. 6, says thatnbsp;in the island of Samos�off the Asiatic coast�there was a monument

� vin. iii. 20. This passage and the notice in Pausanias, which follows, are quoted and transi, by Edmonds, op. cit. p. 56 ff.

(perhaps �tomb�) of Rhadine and Leontichos, at which distressed lovers went to pray. The latter name is presumably that of Rhadine�s lover,nbsp;and may come from the poem, though it is not recorded by Strabo. Butnbsp;Strabo, who evidently knew the poem, was convinced that the poet didnbsp;not mean the Asiatic Samos. Pausanias� notice therefore can hardly benbsp;held to prove that Rhadine and her story were not fictitious. But it isnbsp;good testimony to the popularity of the story; and it also supplies anbsp;rather striking illustration of the readiness with which Greek citiesnbsp;appropriated to themselves celebrities, whatever might be their origin.

It will have been observed that the last four of the poems discussed above were occupied with love themes. Heroic elements seem to havenbsp;been entirely absent both from these and from the Margites. Asnbsp;regards date, Stesichoros belonged to the very end of our period�thenbsp;early part of the sixth century.� The Marktes was probably a centurynbsp;earlier; the iambics are rather against dating it further back. The date ofnbsp;the Norse poems is disputed, as noted above. We are inclined to thinknbsp;that they belong to the heathen period, but not long before its close. Thisnbsp;is suggested in particular by the Gr�galdr, st. 13: �An eighth (spell) Inbsp;chant to thee, to the end that a dead Christian woman may have nonbsp;power to injure thee, if night overtake thee out on a misty road�.

Thus far we have dealt only with timeless nameless poems and with poems which as a whole have affinity therewith, whether their themesnbsp;are invented by the poets or derived from folktales and similar stories.nbsp;Something must now be said with regard to poems and sagas of essen-' tially different character, especially heroic poems and sagas, which havenbsp;been influenced by folktales and similar stories, and have apparentlynbsp;incorporated elements of this kind. This subject can only be treated verynbsp;1 briefly here. Several instances were noticed in Ch. viii.

The most striking and obvious examples of this kind are to be found in the long narrative of his adventures which Odysseus gives in thenbsp;Odyssey, Books ix-xii. Some of these have already been referred tonbsp;(p. 221 ff.). The story of Polyphemos is a widely distributed folktale. Thenbsp;rest are perhaps to be described as travellers� tales rather than folktales;

i Some difficulty has arisen from the fact that certain ancient authorities mention two and even three poets of the name Stesichoros, the latest of whom is placed in thenbsp;early part of the fourth century. Whatever may be the truth about these persons�nbsp;the second is probably imaginary�there seems to be no adequate reason for doubting that the poems noticed above come from the famous Stesichoros, the first of thatnbsp;name; cf. W. Schmid, Gesch. d. griech. Lit. p. 469 ff. (especially p. 469, note 3, andnbsp;p, 480 ff.).

435 but we do not profess to be experts in this subject, and consequentlynbsp;find it difficult to draw the line between the two classes. We do notnbsp;know whether any real parallels to them are to be found in modernnbsp;folktales; but analogies certainly occur in early stories relating to thenbsp;north of Europe. Reference may be made especially to the story of thenbsp;voyage of Gormo and Thorkillus related by Saxo, p. 344 ff. (286 ff.).^nbsp;It may be that the stories belong to an earlier folktale world, in whichnbsp;heathen beliefs and customs were more prominent than in the folktalesnbsp;of modern times. In particular we may notice the violation of the islandnbsp;sanctuary by the slaughter of flocks and herds sacred to the sun or tonbsp;deities. For such sanctuaries, whether on islands or in coastal districts,nbsp;there is historical evidence both from the North Sea and the Adriatic.nbsp;But whether the term �folktale� be justified or not, it is obvious enough \nbsp;that the stories are such as would circulate most readily in a community 1nbsp;which was just coming to be interested in distant lands, as was doubtlessnbsp;the case in the early days of Greek exploration�the eighth rather thannbsp;the seventh century.

But what we wish to call special attention to is the character of the stories collectively. Heroic elements are virtually non-existent. Thenbsp;hero never uses his sword, except for sacrifice or for cutting a rope. Henbsp;draws it on two occasions, once against a woman, and once againstnbsp;ghosts. Once he kills a stag with a spear. In the adventure with Poly-phemos he saves himself by his own intelligence; but in almost every inbsp;other case his success or survival is due to some friendly supernatural Inbsp;being, whose advice he obediently follows, like the hero of folktale. His 'nbsp;disasters are due either to unfriendly supernatural beings or to the acts ofnbsp;his followers. In this point again we find a contrast with heroic poetry.nbsp;His relations with his followers are those of captain and crew rather thannbsp;of lord and comitatus. Sometimes they are friendly, and even affectionate. But he is always ready to throw the blame upon them; and theynbsp;in turn sometimes show themselves distrustful and rebellious.

It cannot be proved that these stories were timeless nameless before they were introduced into the Odyssey, but they show the characteristics which usually belong to such stories. They form a solid blocknbsp;within a heroic poem; but they have not been adapted to their environment, and they contain practically nothing heroic except the names,

i Cf. Chadwick, Heroic Age, p. 258 ff. It is suggested here that island sanctuaries similar to Heligoland may once have existed in the Mediterranean. When this wasnbsp;written the author had not observed that flocks sacred to the sun are recorded tonbsp;have been kept near Valona; cf. Herodotos, ix. 93.

which�apart from the (first) Nekyia�are few. They may be contrasted with other cases where heroic poems have incorporated folktales ornbsp;similar stories, and where the extraneous elements have been adapted tonbsp;their environment. Such is the case perhaps with the story of the stringing of the bow in the latter part of the Odyssey and with the story ofnbsp;Beowulf�s adventures with the monsters. Heroic characteristics arenbsp;obvious enough in both of these.

The story of Beowulf�s adventures at Heorot has affinities with the folktale known as the Bear s Son,^ which can hardly be due to accident.nbsp;But there are differences between the two stories, the importance ofnbsp;which is not always sufficiently recognised. Thus in the folktale� thenbsp;hero has two companions who essay the adventure before him withoutnbsp;success; he has an iron mace or club; he rescues three kidnapped princesses in the place to which he descends; the companions haul up thenbsp;princesses, but treacherously let the rope go when the hero tries tonbsp;ascend. The hero has provided against the treachery by sending up hisnbsp;mace or a stone in place of himself. Eventually he makes his escape bynbsp;some other way, convicts his companions of treachery, and marries onenbsp;of the princesses. These features, with only slight variations, are found innbsp;the modern Scandinavian, German, French, Italian, Serbian and Russiannbsp;versions of the folktale; but they are all wanting in Beowulf. Further, innbsp;various accounts (Icelandic, French, Italian, etc.) 3 the hero is either thenbsp;son of a bear or at least brought up in a bear�s den. Where this feature isnbsp;not found it often seems to be implied by the name (Bear�s Son, etc.)nbsp;given to the hero. But Beowulf�s origin is of quite a different character.nbsp;On the other hand Beowulf�s adventures have features which arenbsp;wanting in the folktale. He descends through water, not through a holenbsp;in the ground, and the monster he fights with below is different and of anbsp;different sex from the one he has encountered in the hall.

A very much closer resemblance to the Beowulf story is shown by Grettis Saga,^ cap. 64 ff. This account agrees with Beowulf in all the

� Cf. Panzer, Studien ^ur germ. Sagengeschichte, I. Beowulf (Munich, 1910). A short but good conspectus of the material is given by Chambers, Beowulf, p. 369 ff.

� The reader must excuse a somewhat summary treatment of the evidence, which is necessary, unless a disproportionate amount of space were to be given to thenbsp;subject. Details will be found in the works cited.

3 In Mijatovich�s Serbian Fairy Tales this feature belongs to the Bear's Son (p. I ff.), whereas the story given above belongs to Sir Peppercorn (p. 55 ff.); butnbsp;the two stories have common elements.

Transi, by Hight and by Morris and Magn�sson (this section also by Chambers, op. cit. p. 175 ff.).

437 features noted above, except that the r�les of the male and femalenbsp;monsters are reversed and that the hero (Grettir) is let down to thenbsp;water by a rope, which is watched by a priest called Steinn. The priestnbsp;deserts the rope when he thinks that Grettir is dead. No treachery isnbsp;implied; but Grettir has to climb the cliff, when he returns. There cannbsp;be no doubt then that the Beowulf and Grettir stories form one groupnbsp;(A), as against the folktale (B). It may be that the differences are due tonbsp;the borrowing by the common original of A of certain features from thenbsp;folktale. More probably, we think, A represents an earlier northernnbsp;form of the folktale. If so we may infer that the present wide distribution of B is not very ancient.

A more important fact, however, has yet to be noted. It is agreed by the great majority of scholars�and we cannot admit that there is anynbsp;reasonable doubt�that Bjarki (the hero of the BjarkamdV) is the samenbsp;person as Beowulf, and that his fight with a monster at the court ofnbsp;Hr�lfr Kraki is to be identified with Beowulf�s adventure at Heorot.nbsp;But there is no resemblance in details, beyond the fact that the monsternbsp;has been committing depredations upon the Danish king�s home�thenbsp;cattle in this case. The monster here is theriomorphic; Saxo, p. 69 (56),nbsp;referring to the same adventure, calls it a bear. With the folktale andnbsp;with the story of Grettir Bjarki�s adventure has nothing in common.nbsp;On the other hand two late Norse authorities, the Hrolfs Saga Krakanbsp;and the Bjarkarimur (cf. p. 217), relate that Bjarki was the son of a bearnbsp;�a prince named Bj�rn (�Bear�) who was transformed into a bear�nbsp;and that he was brought up in a bear�s den, like the hero of the folktale.nbsp;There is no reference to this in the Bjarkamdl or in Saxo�s prose, butnbsp;the Bjarki is a derivative of�bear�. The �aga, cap. 33, alsonbsp;relates that in Hr�lfr�s last fight Bjarki remains asleep, and a bear takesnbsp;his place in the battle. This appearance of the bear is not mentionednbsp;elsewhere;� but in the Bjarkamdl the hero refuses to rise from hisnbsp;sleep�a fact which is difficult to explain unless some incident of thenbsp;kind is implied. The folktale affords no parallel.

There is a general tendency at present to believe that the fight of Beowulf-Bjarki with the monster is derived from the folktale, and indeed that the hero himself is merely the Bear�s Son adopted into anbsp;heroic story. This view of course implies that the Scandinavian formnbsp;of the story was in course of time stripped of all the features whichnbsp;belong to the folktale, although the folktale was still familiar�as seennbsp;from Grettis Saga�and Bjarki himself was credited with associations,nbsp;� The Bjarkarimur deal only with the early part of Bjarki�s life.

both old and new, with the bear. It also perhaps involves that the story of Beowulf�s origin as given in the poem was an invention of later times.nbsp;We think that a more satisfactory explanation might be obtained without quite so drastic a treatment of the records. To put the matter asnbsp;briefly as possible we would suggest something on the following lines.nbsp;The original story may have been that of an encounter with an animalnbsp;monster or (more probably) a bear. In England this story has beennbsp;transformed through the influence of an early variety (A) of the �Bear�snbsp;Son� folktale. The incentive to this influence is to be traced to the hero�snbsp;name Beowulf, if this was originally a kenning for �bear�, as seemsnbsp;probable (cf. p. 224). In the North the story of the adventure seems notnbsp;to have been influenced by the folktale. The name Bjarki may have beennbsp;suggested by the original name Beowulf, and may in its turn have givennbsp;rise both to the birth story and to the story of metamorphosis�thenbsp;latter perhaps first, if we may draw any inference from the Bjarkamal.nbsp;The former�not the latter�occurs also in the folktale, but need notnbsp;have been derived from it directly. In the tenth and eleventh centuries,nbsp;when the name Bj�rn was very popular, it was not rare for ancestries tonbsp;be traced to bears. Notable examples are the genealogies of Earlnbsp;Siward of Northumberland, who died in 1055, and of Svend Estridsen,nbsp;king of Denmark 1047-76. Siward�s father is described as Beornnbsp;cognomento Beresune, hoc est Filius Ursi-, and it is added that he had thenbsp;ears of a bear. This is probably the earliest reference to �Bear�s Son�.nbsp;But the real bear is placed three generations further back.

The story of Beowulf�s adventure is of special interest since we know the folktale as a folktale and at the same time can form from thenbsp;Scandinavian records some idea of the story which it seems to havenbsp;displaced.^ Heroic elements are far more prominent than in thenbsp;Odyssey (ix-xn). This may be due in part to the fact that the hero of thenbsp;folktale is essentially a strong man. But it is quite unnecessary tonbsp;suppose that the court milieu and pride in weapons were originallynbsp;� Cf. Chadwick, Heroic Age, p. 120, where some of the references are given.

� The genealogy of the Beowulf story according to our view may be given as follows :

Original adventure of Beowulf (Bjarki) nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Original folktale

439 alien to the story of Beowulf. They are just as prominent in the story ofnbsp;Bjarki. Beowulf cannot use his sword, owing to the influence of thenbsp;folktale; but Bjarki is a famous swordsman.

Further examples of stories derived from folktales or something similar have been given in Ch. viii (p. 222 ff.). By �something similar�nbsp;we mean stories which have the general characteristics of folktales, butnbsp;are not widely enough known to deserve that name. Thus we do notnbsp;know any close parallel to the interesting story which forms the subjectnbsp;of the first part of the Lady of the Fountain. Yet it suggests a heathennbsp;sanctuary�which would probably mean that it is of great antiquity. Itnbsp;may be derived either from an obsolete folktale or from a local story.nbsp;In the Pursuit of the Gilla D acker., which has elements in common withnbsp;it (cf. p. 224 f.), there is a descent through water, as in the adventures ofnbsp;Beowulf and Grettir. Among other stories which have affinities with thenbsp;type now under consideration we may note especially those relating tonbsp;the birth and childhood of heroes (cf. p. 216 ff.). Much material is alsonbsp;doubtless to be found in the stories of Sigmundr and of Heracles, bothnbsp;of which have elements in common with the story of Beowulf.

The attachment of floating stories to well-known names is a pheno-1 menon which is common enough even in our own days. In modernnbsp;society such stories usually lead up to humorous or caustic sayings or tonbsp;a comic denouement; and the same seems to have been the case innbsp;Greece from the sixth century onwards. Such stories often, perhapsnbsp;usually, have a basis in fact. But unless the original subject of the storynbsp;is a famous person his name is bound to be forgotten; and the storynbsp;comes to be attached to somebody who has since attained to note or tonbsp;� somebody I knew once�, in which case it becomes virtually unattached.nbsp;In the times with which we are concerned, when little or nothing wasnbsp;committed to writing, such stories must have been far more prevalent,nbsp;though they were doubtless occupied with deeds�adventures andnbsp;experiences�far more than with words. That the same process ofnbsp;attachment, first to one person and then to another, prevailed then asnbsp;now may be seen (e.g.) by the fact that a practically identical story�nbsp;quite impossible in itself�is told of Beowulf and Grettir.

Unattached stories, whatever may be their origin, seem not to be recorded until comparatively late times. Probably the oldest examplesnbsp;are the poems noticed earlier in this chapter. The surname Beresunenbsp;applied to Earl Siward�s father suggests that the Beads Son was knownnbsp;in the eleventh century. Some Norse stories in which the chief characternbsp;is called Gestr (�guest, stranger�) may go back to an earlier date; but

they contain also characters who are known from other sources. Yet it would be rash to assume that the unattached or timeless nameless storynbsp;did not exist before the eleventh century. Beowulf indeed presupposesnbsp;the existence of a variety of the �Bear�s Son� folktale in the seventhnbsp;century, and it is not likely that it existed only in attachment to onenbsp;character or another of (say) heroic story or to persons then living.nbsp;How then are we to account for the fact that such stories are notnbsp;recorded.^

In order to answer this question it will be well to note the general characteristics of timeless nameless stories. All the evidence is late; butnbsp;the oldest and best material available is probably to be obtained fromnbsp;widely distributed folktales. Apart from their timeless namelessnbsp;character the following seem to be the most outstanding features ofnbsp;such stories: (i) the want of individualisation�or perhaps we shouldnbsp;say the elementary individualisation of the characters; (ii) the largenbsp;part played by peasants and other persons of humble rank; (iii) thenbsp;prominence of the marvellous; (iv) the happy ending of the story,nbsp;often through the marriage of the hero.

Some of these features are of course not confined to folktales. In heroic poetry the individualisation of the characters is usually notnbsp;advanced. But even in Beowulf, which is much behind the Norse poemsnbsp;in this respect, the characters are far removed from the aimless andnbsp;irresponsible beings who form the personnel of folktales. The heroesnbsp;of the latter are sometimes preternaturally strong, sometimes clever;nbsp;but most commonly their achievements are due solely to externalnbsp;guidance. The �heroines� are mere puppets; and so also are the othernbsp;women, unless they are malicious. In heroic poetry it is a very rarenbsp;thing even among the hero�s opponents to meet with a character who isnbsp;represented in a wholly unsympathetic light. But in folktales there isnbsp;almost invariably someone of quite inhuman ferocity, and usuallynbsp;others who are guilty of cowardice and treachery beyond all possiblenbsp;consideration.

Again, neither the love of the marvellous nor the happy ending of the story is unknown to heroic poetry. The story of Waldhere ends like annbsp;orthodox romance. It is the invariability of this kind of ending whichnbsp;is characteristic of the folktale. We are not convinced, however, thatnbsp;this is a feature of great antiquity even in folktales. As regards the lovenbsp;of the marvellous, in heroic poetry this usually appears either in thenbsp;form of exaggeration or in the introduction of the supernatural (cf.nbsp;p. 204 ff.). But in the folktale it pervades everything.

It is the second of the features noted above�the prominence of peasant characters�which most sharply distinguishes the folktale fromnbsp;the heroic story. In the latter, as we have seen (p. 64 �F.), such charactersnbsp;are rarely mentioned�which is due doubtless to the fact that thesenbsp;stories were intended primarily for the entertainment of kings� courts.nbsp;But in folktales the hero himself is usually a peasant�which must meannbsp;that such stories were intended primarily for the circles in which theynbsp;are still current, i.e. for peasant circles. The fact that kings and princessesnbsp;also figure largely in folktales cannot be admitted as evidence to thenbsp;contrary, for the interest taken by peasants in the doings of royalty is anbsp;different thing from the interest taken by royalty in the doings ofnbsp;peasants. The culminating incident of most folktales�the marriage ofnbsp;the peasant hero with the king�s daughter�was likely to please a peasantnbsp;audience; but we are inclined to doubt whether in court circles it wouldnbsp;have roused so much enthusiasm. Moreover the picture of court lifenbsp;which folktales give is not an �intimate� picture, such as we find innbsp;Beowulf. It is like a distant view�the view of the court which is obtainable from the cottage door. The life of the courts of petty kings in ancientnbsp;times was no doubt often aimless and irresponsible enough, but hardlynbsp;to the degree of inanity which we find in folktales.

The prominence of the marvellous points in the same direction. It is not merely that in the abstract the marvellous appeals more stronglynbsp;to the uneducated mind. The special character of the marvellous innbsp;these stories frequently indicates the workings of the primitive mind,nbsp;especially perhaps in relation to animals. In heroic poetry practicallynbsp;the only animals mentioned, except collectively, are the horse, the dognbsp;and certain hunting animals, especially the stag and the wild boar; and itnbsp;is only rarely that, as in the case of Achilles� horse, they act unnaturally.

From what has been said it will be seen that the question why there is so little evidence for the existence of folktales in early times is practically answered by the characteristics of the folktales themselves. Thisnbsp;internal evidence indicates that they grew up in the milieu in which theynbsp;are now current. Just as the primary function of heroic poetry was tonbsp;provide entertainment for the court, so that of the folktale was to do thenbsp;same for the village audience. Since practically all our records for earlynbsp;times come from the upper and educated classes it is not surprising thatnbsp;we hear so little of the stories which entertained the peasant.

We do not mean of course that every folktale necessarily originated in the village. One must not assume too rigid a line of demarcation. Thenbsp;upper class were probably familiar with folktales from their childhood.

In Beowulf we see a folktale making its way into a heroic story and transforming it. It is scarcely possible to doubt that the reverse alsonbsp;took place, and indeed far more frequently. But if so, such stories havenbsp;been assimilated and accommodated to their environment to such anbsp;degree that heroic features are no longer discernible. It is to be remembered that folktales had a very much longer history than ournbsp;heroic poems before they were committed to writing.

Above all account must be taken of the wide distribution of folktales. Some of the Teutonic heroic stories were known throughout thenbsp;Teutonic world; but it is only quite rarely that one meets with them innbsp;non-Teutonic languages�unless of course they have passed throughnbsp;literary channels. There is evidence for a knowledge of some Irishnbsp;heroic stories in Wales and some Greek heroic stories in Italy. Butnbsp;such cases are exceptional. On the other hand many folktales are knownnbsp;throughout Europe, and even in Asia and Africa, and are told, withnbsp;slight variations, in numerous languages. This wide dissemination ofnbsp;folktales opens up a great problem, which cannot be entered upon here,nbsp;though we incline to the view that the itinerant trader is largely responsible. What we would emphasise is that a Greek folktale need notnbsp;be of Greek origin, while an English or Norse folktale need not evennbsp;be of Teutonic origin. It is perhaps only a minority of folktales whichnbsp;are of native origin, even if we use the term �native� in the widestnbsp;possible sense. Whatever be the ultimate origin of a story which hasnbsp;passed through two or three languages, even if it be founded on fact,nbsp;the original names and associations of the characters have obviouslynbsp;little chance of survival.

The timeless nameless story, including the folktale, is without doubt the most widespread of all the forms of literature which wenbsp;have considered. Yet we have seen that in the periods with which wenbsp;are concerned it is very difficult to trace. In the north of Europe downnbsp;to the Middle Ages it seems to have found its way into writing onlynbsp;when it had become attached to a famous character�or at least to anbsp;familiar milieu��and treated according to the conventions of thenbsp;(heroic or other) poetry or saga current at the time. Its timeless name-

� We are thinking here more especially of cases like H�fundr in the Hervarar Saga (cf. p. 385), who is probably to be regarded as an addition to the heterogeneousnbsp;personnel of the story. Both his name (�Judge�) and what is recorded of him suggestnbsp;derivation from folktale. It is to be borne in mind that the middle part of this saga isnbsp;probably a work of fiction, designed to connect the two old stories of the fight at

443 less character was of course thereby lost. The same seems to be true ofnbsp;early Greece.

The timeless nameless folksong is perhaps almost as widespread/ and this is even more difficult to trace in early records. The Anglo-Saxonnbsp;poems discussed at the beginning of this chapter have analogies withnbsp;such songs and presumably borrowed the timeless nameless conventionnbsp;from them; but their milieu�except possibly in the Seafarer�isnbsp;heroic, and it is to be remembered that occasional poems (Type E)nbsp;were by no means unknown to heroic society. In later chapters wenbsp;shall have to deal with folksongs current among other peoples. It willnbsp;be seen that they may be divided roughly into two classes�ritualnbsp;and non-ritual. The former belong to Type D (or DB), the latter tonbsp;Type A or to Type B. It is clearly the latter (Type B) which have influenced the Anglo-Saxon poems.

Apart from the timeless nameless convention the analogies of these poems are, as we have seen, with heroic poems of Type B. Amongnbsp;other peoples we shall find also theological poems of the same type, asnbsp;in Norse. For the timeless nameless variety also we shall find analogiesnbsp;elsewhere; but they are rare. The cultivation of poetry of this kind fornbsp;elaborate studies of situation and emotion is one of the most distinctivenbsp;features of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

In conclusion it may be observed that the history of the category discussed in this chapter is closely bound up with the development ofnbsp;fiction. Many timeless nameless stories�even folktales�may ultimately have had a basis in fact. But when the persons with whom theynbsp;were concerned had been forgotten, these were no longer distinguishednbsp;from other stories, e.g. animal tales, which had been fictitious from thenbsp;beginning.

In Ch. VIII (p. 233 f.) we saw that fiction appears to be fairly well developed in the Odyssey. The stories which the hero invents sometimesnbsp;introduce well-known characters. But elsewhere, e.g. in his conversation with his father (xxiv. 303 ff.), he uses names with a more or less

Samsey and the battle of the Goths and Huns. The case of Weland-V�lundr is less clear and of course much earlier. Apart from the story of Svipdagr it is probably thenbsp;nearest approach to folktale in early Teutonic poetry. In general the folktalenbsp;element tends to be more prominent in non-heroic than in heroic stories. We maynbsp;instance especially the Mabinagion. Many examples are also to be found in thenbsp;Lives of Irish saints. The relationship of folktales to stories of the gods is of course anbsp;somewhat different question.

obvious meaning. These are just the kind of names which occur most frequently in folktales.

The Anglo-Saxon timeless nameless poems can hardly be regarded otherwise than as works of fiction, even if the situations which theynbsp;depict may have been suggested by experiences in real life. The same isnbsp;probably true of Stesichoros� poems Calyce and Rhadine.-, for there is nonbsp;evidence elsewhere for the former, while the evidence for the latternbsp;seems to be of little value (cf. p. 433 f.). On the other hand the story ofnbsp;Daphnis had, at least in later times, a wide currency, like that ofnbsp;Svipdagr. The connections of both are rather with the folktale.

The Calyce and the Rhadine are of great importance in connection with the romance and novel. And it is essential to note that theirnbsp;author is remarkable also both for the cultivation of folktales and fornbsp;the freedom with which he treated heroic stories. His activities evidently constitute a landmark in the literary use of fiction.

It is not unlikely that the direction which Stesichoros� activities took was due largely to the fact that he lived in a country which had no localnbsp;connection with ancient Greek traditions. The Sicilian poet wasnbsp;probably less bound by conventions and comparatively free to givenbsp;rein to his imagination. Moreover, his own country may have suppliednbsp;him with new forms of composition, in poetry as well as in music.

England, like Sicily, was a newly settled land; and both of them, unlike Iceland, were lands occupied by a numerous native population.nbsp;In both cases we have to take into account the effects upon the invadersnbsp;of comparative isolation from the homes of their kindred, and probablynbsp;also some influence, however indeflnite, from the native population.nbsp;It may be that the freedom with which heroic story has been treated innbsp;Beowulf by the incorporation of folktale is due to these causes. At allnbsp;events we have little doubt that the development of timeless namelessnbsp;poetry is to be explained in this way. It can hardly be unconnected withnbsp;the preoccupation shown by the poets with the ruined cities of thenbsp;Roman period. In both cases alike English poetic activities took anbsp;direction for which no true parallel is to be found in the early poetry ofnbsp;the other Teutonic peoples.

The material to be discussed in this chapter will appear to be of a somewhat heterogeneous character, at least at first sight. Thenbsp;poems actually preserved in one language have sometimes littlenbsp;or nothing in common with those preserved in another; but we shallnbsp;see that this is largely due to accident. It will be convenient to give anbsp;summary of the material from each country before attempting anynbsp;classification.

In Greece we may first take the prophecies, many of which have been preserved by Herodotos and other writers. Most of these, however,nbsp;date from times later than those which fall within our scope, while thenbsp;genuineness of some of the earlier examples is doubtful. They fall intonbsp;two classes: (i) answers given at oracular sanctuaries to deputations �nbsp;which had been sent or to individuals who had gone to consult them;nbsp;(ii) prophecies by seers, whose names are recorded.

The first class is the more numerous. A good number of sanctuaries are represented; but the references to Delphoi are by far the mostnbsp;frequent. Herodotos gives twenty-two answers from this sanctuary, innbsp;part at least verbatim. They are all in hexameter verse; but they differnbsp;a good deal in character, some using metaphorical diction after thenbsp;manner of riddles, while others are more or less direct. Examples of thenbsp;former type may be found in i. 67, iii. 57, v. 92 (the second passage),nbsp;VI. 77. Moral gnomes occur, e.g. in vi. 86, but they are not common.

Herodotos has no certain examples of metrical responses from other sanctuaries.� He refers to a number of such responses;� but it is notnbsp;clear that any of them are quoted verbatim. On the other hand henbsp;quotes several examples in hexameter verse of the second class mentioned above�prophecies by seers whose names are given. The earliestnbsp;of these (i. 62)�by Amphilytos the Acarnanian�relates to the yearnbsp;538 and belongs to the riddle-like type.

I A line of uncertain origin relating to Delos is quoted in vi. 98; but the text is doubtful.

� A very interesting example from the Oracle of the Dead, on the Acheron, occurs in v. 92; but it is not given verbatim. The responses of the oracle of Apollo atnbsp;Branchidai quoted in i. 159 are in prose; but the case is obviously exceptional.

Mention may also be made here of the two verses, containing moral gnomes, which are said by Herodotos (v. 56) to have been spoken in anbsp;dream to the tyrant Hipparchos before his assassination (in the yearnbsp;514). Parallels to these are to be found in the North and will be referrednbsp;to later.

Next we may notice the catalogue of lucky and unlucky days contained in the JT^orks and Days^ from 765 to the end. It is not clear how far the poet is recording common belief, or to what extent he is givingnbsp;expression to his own individual wisdom; but in any case the wisdom isnbsp;of a mantic character. Reference may also be made to the prohibitionsnbsp;which immediately precede this section�from 724 onwards. There isnbsp;no break in the structure or plan of the poem at this point; but it maynbsp;be observed that the preceding gnomes (precepts and prohibitions)nbsp;are moral and industrial, while those which follow are religious andnbsp;mantic.

The English material consists wholly of spells, and has nothing in common with the Greek. Most of the spells are accompanied bynbsp;directions in prose, but they themselves are for the most part in verse ofnbsp;a very irregular kind. In their present form they have been Christianised to a certain extent.

One�' is a spell to counteract the effect of injury done to the crops by witchcraft. It contains four invocations, in two of which the earth isnbsp;more or less personified. One is addressed to �Erce, mother of earth�,nbsp;the other to �Earth, mother of men�. But there is a large Christiannbsp;element even in these, while according to the directions a portion ofnbsp;the ceremony is to be performed in a church, and the priest takes partnbsp;in it.

Five spells are preserved in MS. Hart 585. One�� of these is directed against a sudden pain�possibly sunstroke. The remedy is � feverfewnbsp;and a red nettle, which grows in through (the wall of ?) a house, andnbsp;plantain�. The spell then proceeds as follows in irregular verse:nbsp;�Clamorous were they, yea clamorous, when they came riding over thenbsp;hill (or �barrow�); fierce (or �resolute�) were they when they camenbsp;riding over the land. Shield thyself now, if thou wilt have a chance ofnbsp;surviving this attack. If any little dart has found its way into me, out

� Ed. by Grein-Wiilcker, Bibl. d. ags. Poesie, I. 312 fF.; Wyatt, Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 128 fF.; Sedgefield, Anglo-Saxon Book, p. 354 fF.

* Ed. by Grein-Wiilcker, op. cit. i. 317 F.; Sedgefield, op. cit. p. 357; Sweet, Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 104 F.

with it ! I stood beneath my bright shield of limewood when the mighty dames were arraying their host, when they were shooting the whistlingnbsp;missiles. I will shoot another back, a flying arrow straight in theirnbsp;faces. If any little dart, etc. A smith sat forging a little Imife... ^ Ifnbsp;any little dart, etc. Six smiths sat making murderous darts. Out withnbsp;thee, dart ! Thou shalt not remain in me, dart ! If any piece of ironnbsp;wrought by witches has found its way into me, it shall melt. If thounbsp;hast been shot in the skin or in the flesh or the blood or the limb, thynbsp;life shall be in no way harmed. If it has been a shot from the (heathen)nbsp;gods or from elves or witches, I will now help thee. This shall cure theenbsp;from the shot of gods or elves or witches; I will help thee. She shalPnbsp;flee to yon forest. Sound be thou in thy head. The Lord help thee.nbsp;Then take the knife and dip it in moisture�. The last sentence is innbsp;prose. It will be seen that the poem regards the pain as due to missilesnbsp;shot by witches or Valkyries�an idea for which we shall find parallelsnbsp;elsewhere in a later chapter.

The second^ of these spells is an address to nine herbs seriatim, specifying their properties or what they have done. Much of it is verynbsp;obscure. We may quote the opening: �Remember, mugwort (Artemisia), what thou didst proclaim, what thou didst determine (.^) at thenbsp;divine assembly.'^ Thou art called Una, chief of herbs. Thou hastnbsp;power against three and against thirty, against venom and againstnbsp;infection, against hostility which passes through the land�. In 30 ff. anbsp;reminiscence of heathen days seems to be preserved: �A snake camenbsp;creeping: it bit a man. Then Woden took nine glorious shoots (ornbsp;�twigs of glory�); then he smote the adder so that it flew into ninenbsp;pieces�. The poem concludes with a list of the various venoms, etc.,nbsp;against which the nine herbs are potent.

The third spelU is for recovering lost or stolen cattle. This spell is entirely Christian. The fourth^ is a very obscure spell, apparentlynbsp;against some malady caused by a dwarf. Part of it is in narrative form.nbsp;The fifths consists of a series of spells for childbirth, with directionsnbsp;for their use. The first of them is to be said by the woman herselfnbsp;at the grave of a dead man.

Another small collection of spells' is preserved in MS. CCCC. 41. Two of these are spells for the recovery of lost or stolen cattle. Thenbsp;second is addressed to an unknown Garmund, �thegn of God�. A thirdnbsp;spell is to be used at the swarming of bees, to prevent them from beingnbsp;injured by witchcraft or from flying away to the woods.

Somewhat similar spells are found in a few early German MSS.� One of these, for the swarming of bees, bears a certain resemblance to thenbsp;case last mentioned, though it has assonance instead of alliteration.nbsp;Two spells of a rather different character are preserved in a Merseburgnbsp;MS. of the tenth century. The first is as follows: �Once there werenbsp;women seating themselves here and seating themselves there. Somenbsp;were fastening the chains, others were hindering the host, others againnbsp;were plucking at the shackles. Spring from thy bonds and make thynbsp;escape from the warriors�. This may be compared with the Englishnbsp;spell against sudden pain quoted in full above. Here also the womennbsp;appear to be Valkyries. The second of these spells, which is likewise innbsp;narrative form, describes how Wodan and four goddesses healed a lamenbsp;horse by their incantations.3 Both these spells use the alliterativenbsp;metre.

Spells similar to the English and German examples just quoted are by no means unknown in the North. But no early examples seem tonbsp;have been preserved, though spells are frequently referred to in sagas.nbsp;The Norse material to be discussed here consists mainly of speechnbsp;poems (Type B), which contain mantic elements. Some poems arenbsp;indeed wholly cast in the form of a spell or prophecy. A number ofnbsp;such cases have already been noticed, so far as their subject-matter isnbsp;concerned, in previous chapters. Here we are concerned only with theirnbsp;form. The speakers are usually supernatural beings or persons endowednbsp;with supernatural powers.

First we may refer again to the DarraSarljotS, discussed on p. 346 f. This is in the form of a weaving spell, sung by Valkyries who have setnbsp;up a loom, and its object is to secure safety and victory for the �youngnbsp;king�. In st. 7 it contains a prophecy of the future dominance of thenbsp;Norse power in Ireland.

� Ed. by Grein-Wiilcker, op. cit. pp. 324 f., 319 f.; the second also by Wyatt, op. cit. p. 130 f.; the third by Sweet, op. cit. p. 104, Sedgefield, op. cit. p. 359.

3 Later (Christianised) forms of this are given by Grimm, Teut. Myth. (4th edn.), p. 1232 f., from Norway and Scotland.

Next we may take the Grottas�ngr, which is preserved in certain MSS. of the Prose Edda. This poem contains a few narrative stanzas;nbsp;but most of it is in the form of a grinding spell. Fr��i, the mythicalnbsp;peace-king of the Danes, has bought two girls who are seeresses,nbsp;sprung from theyoVrear (cf. p. 253), and set them to grind wealth fornbsp;him at the quern called Grotti. We may quote st. 5 : �We are grindingnbsp;for Fr��i, grinding riches unstinted, grinding^ wealth in abundance atnbsp;the quern of joy. May he abide in riches, may he sleep on feathernbsp;cushions, may he wake to his pleasure ! Then has the grinding been wellnbsp;done�. Fr��i allows them not a moment�s rest. In wrath they singnbsp;of their origin and the deeds of their youth; then they prophesy thenbsp;coming of a raid and the end of Fr��i�s kingdom. Finally the quernnbsp;falls in pieces. Snorri, in the Skaldskaparmdl, cap. 43�where this poemnbsp;has been inserted�seems to have had in mind a somewhat differentnbsp;version of it. He says that the bond-maidens �ground a raid� againstnbsp;Fr��i, bringing against him a sea-king called Mysingr, who is notnbsp;mentioned in our text of the poem. Mysingr slew Fr��i and carried offnbsp;the quern and the maidens. He made them grind salt, persisting untilnbsp;the ship went down. It will be seen that no clear line appears to be drawnnbsp;in the poem between spell and prophecy. The bond-maidens� prophecynbsp;seems to bring about its own fulfilment.

An account of the Skirnismdl was given on p. 248. This poem is not in the form of a spell, like the two last; but when Ger�r refuses to givenbsp;in to Skirnir�s entreaties and threats, he pronounces (st. 25 ff.) a longnbsp;spell or curse against her. She is to live a life of continuous misery andnbsp;horror. We may quote st. 32 f.: �I went to the wood, to a succulentnbsp;tree, to get a potent (i.e. magic) wand. I have got a potent wand.nbsp;Wroth with thee is Othin, wroth with thee is the chief of the Aesir;nbsp;Frey shall hate thee, thou most wicked girl�and thou hast incurred thenbsp;potent wrath of the gods�. He ends his speech (st. 36) by saying that henbsp;is inscribing (the letter) purs (�giant�) and what appear to be threenbsp;magic signs.

The Sigrdrtfumdl is in the form of a monologue addressed by the Valkyrie Sigrdrifa to the hero Sigur�r. It has already been referrednbsp;to in connection both with heroic poetry. Type C (cf. p. 27 f.), and with

' The repetition of the predicate is a frequent characteristic of poetry of this kind ; cf. Darradarlj�d, st. 4 ff., and some of the English and German spells noticed above.nbsp;We may also compare the Lesbian fragment quoted on p. 429, note, which isnbsp;evidently based on a quern song or spell. Lancashire weavers used to sing � Ticketumnbsp;tacketum gee bow-wow�.

gnomic poetry (cf. p. 385). The first part of it, however, must be noticed here somewhat more fully. The address begins with an invocation to Day, Night, the deities and the earth (st. 2 f.). Then, in st. 4, thenbsp;Valkyrie mentions the magic ingredients in the beer which she offers tonbsp;SigurSr. In st. 6-13^ she specifies the kinds of (runic) letters whichnbsp;should be used for various purposes and the objects on which theynbsp;should be inscribed. We may quote st. 11 : � Thou shalt know Limrunar^nbsp;if thou wilt be a doctor and know how to look after wounds. They arenbsp;to be inscribed upon the bark and the boughs of a tree whose branchesnbsp;bend to the east�. St. 14 ff. contain a brief account of information�nbsp;given apparently to Othin by Mfmir�s head�with regard to the objectsnbsp;upon which runes had been inscribed and the dissemination of thesenbsp;runes. After this the speaker passes on to the moral gnomes. It may benbsp;observed that the word r�n means both Tetter� (of the alphabet) andnbsp;�mystery�. Both ideas are involved here. Only one recognisable letternbsp;(T in st. 6) is mentioned. Some of the terms used are unintelligiblenbsp;to us.

Here we ought perhaps to refer also to the Reginsmd.1, which is closely connected with the Sigrdrifumal (cf. p. 27). St. 20 ff.� containnbsp;a short list of omens, which are declared to SigurSr by Hnikarr�thenbsp;disguised Othin. They are all of general application and belong to thenbsp;same class of mantic composition as the list of lucky and unlucky daysnbsp;in the Wirks and Days, though the resemblance is of course not verynbsp;close.

It has already been mentioned (p. 383) that the last part of the Hdvamdl, from st. 146 to the end, consists of a list of spells. The naturenbsp;of these is never described, though the objects for which they arenbsp;available are stated in each case. We may take st. 149 as an example:nbsp;�A fourth I know: if men place gyves upon my arms and legs, I chantnbsp;such spells as will enable me to go free. The fetter flies from my feet andnbsp;the shackle from my hands�. This list is preceded by a passage relatingnbsp;to the magical use of runes, which may be compared with the passagenbsp;from the Sigrdrifumal noticed above. It is to be remembered thatnbsp;Othin is the speaker throughout the poem.

Another list of spells, nine in number, is contained in the Gr�galdr, st. 6 ff.3 (cf. p. 432). They are sung by the dead Gr�a to her son

� From st. 6 to the end this poem is ed. and transi, by Clarke, The H�vam�l, p. 88 ff.

Svipdagr, who has roused her from the grave, and their object is to protect him from various dangers which may beset him on his quest fornbsp;Mengl�S; but they are all of general application. As in the H�vam�l^ itnbsp;is not the nature of the spells which is described, but the circumstancesnbsp;for which they are available.

Another case of necromancy forms the subject of the Vegtamskvt�a�� sometimes called Balder s Dreams. Othin wakes up a dead seeress ornbsp;witch (voZva), in order to ascertain from her the meaning of the dreamsnbsp;by which Balder was troubled. She foretells to him the death of his son.nbsp;This case has a certain affinity with Greek prophecies in the fact that thenbsp;consultation and response are concerned with a specific event, thoughnbsp;the story belongs to mythology.

The V�luspd is another �prophecy of a seeress� (r�Z(v)w spa). The contents of this poem were discussed on p. 320 f. They embrace both thenbsp;origin and the future fate of the world and the gods�in fact the wholenbsp;of mythological cosmology. In such cases the word spa. properlynbsp;means �vision� of things unseen, whether future, present or past, rathernbsp;than �prophecy� in the modern sense.

In the Hyridlulj�S (cf. p. 278!.) Freyja goes to consult the giantess Hyndla as to the ancestry of her devotee �ttarr the son of Innsteinn.nbsp;This is another specific case, and interesting from the fact that all thenbsp;questions and answers relate to the past.

All the examples given above are referred to supernatural beings and, with the exception of the DarraSarlj�S, all relate to mythological events.nbsp;But in heroic poetry also prophecies and prognostications of variousnbsp;kinds are by no means rare. The poem Gripisspd (�Prophecy of Gripir�)nbsp;consists of a dialogue between SigurSr and his mother�s brother Gripir,nbsp;who is said to have knowledge of the future. In alternate stanzasnbsp;SigurSr asks questions and Gripir gives answers, in which the wholenbsp;course of the hero�s life is revealed. A somewhat earlier example of thenbsp;same kind, though in monologue form, occurs in SigurSarkviSa hinnbsp;Skamma, st. 51 ffi, where the dying Brynhildr prophesies at length thenbsp;course of events which will follow her death.

Moreover there is no reason for doubting that both prophecies and spells played an important part in real life. In point of fact spells arenbsp;frequently mentioned in sagas; but the actual words are rarely given.nbsp;The following passage may be quoted from Egils Saga., cap. 57�nbsp;relating to Egill�s departure from Norway, after he had been outlawednbsp;by King Eric Blood-Axe: �When they were ready to sail. Egill landednbsp;on the island. He took a hazel pole in his hand, and went to a promon-

tory of the cliffs, which looked towards the mainland. Then he took a horse�s head and fixed it on the pole. Then he pronounced a curse,nbsp;saying: T set up a �pole of cursing�, and direct this curse against Kingnbsp;Eric and Queen Gunnhildr�. He turned the horse�s head towards thenbsp;coast. T direct this curse upon the spirits of the land, who inhabit thisnbsp;country, that they shall all lose their way, and none of them shall find ornbsp;reach its dwelling, until they drive King Eric and Gunnhildr out of thenbsp;country.� Then he thrust the pole into a rift in the rocks, and left itnbsp;standing there. He turned the head also towards the mainland, and henbsp;inscribed on the pole runes which expressed all this curse�. The wholenbsp;passage is in prose. Egill appears to have been following a recognisednbsp;practice.

Prophecies also are by no means rare; but they are seldom given in verse.* We may, however, cite the story of a dream prophecy, whichnbsp;presents a rather striking parallel to the story of Hipparchos, mentionednbsp;on p. 446. It is preserved in a short piece known as the Dream ofnbsp;Thorsteinn son of Hallr d St�u. Three women appear to Thorsteinn onnbsp;three successive nights and warn him in verse against his Irish slave.nbsp;He is unable to find the slave, and on the fourth night is murdered bynbsp;him. The poems are extremely obscure. This Thorsteinn had foughtnbsp;under Earl SigurSr at Clontarf in 1014; but his death did not take placenbsp;until thirty or forty years later. His father was one of the leading men innbsp;Iceland at the beginning of the eleventh century.

Reference may also be made to the dream of Earl Gilli of the Hebrides, mentioned in Nj�ls Saga, cap. 157.� A man appeared to him in a dreamnbsp;and declared in verse that he had come from Ireland, and that Earlnbsp;SigurSr and King Brian had fallen. This, it is added, was a week beforenbsp;news of the battle was brought by the survivors. The case may benbsp;regarded as an instance of prophecy relating to the present, though tonbsp;things not ascertainable in the ordinary course.

In the Norse evidence, taken as a whole, three features deserve to be emphasised: (i) the very frequent association of spells withnbsp;(runic) writing; (ii) the absence of a clear line of division between spellnbsp;and prophecy; (iii) the fact that �prophecy� applies to the past and thenbsp;present, as well as the future.

I Examples occur in �Sagas of Ancient Times� (cf. p. 333), e.g. the prophecy of the witch Hei�r in �rvar-Odds Saga, cap. 3. But these are generally believed to benbsp;late compositions.

� The passage, including the prophecy, is transi, by Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems, p. 118.

As regards (i), the association of spells with runes is not found in any extant English or German spells; but this is a mere accident. Bedenbsp;{Hist. Eccl. IV. 22) speaks of litteras solutorias.^ which were credited withnbsp;the power of liberating a prisoner from his bonds, like the spell quotednbsp;above from H�v. 149. There can be little doubt that the association goesnbsp;back to early Teutonic times. The unintelligibility of many of the earliestnbsp;inscriptions suggests that they may have been cut for magical purposes.

Early Welsh poetry also contains a considerable amount of material, though unfortunately much of it is very obscure.

We may first take a rather large group of prophetic poems. Of these three are preserved in the Black Book., seven in the Red Book, and six in thenbsp;Book of Taliesin. The majority of these are concerned with the futurenbsp;deliverance of the Cymry from the oppression of the Saxons or thenbsp;Normans; and many of them show a well-developed national sentiment.

As between the specific and the general there is considerable variation in the prophecies. Some poems mention a number of geographical names; but the personal names are few. Some poems speak of Henrinbsp;i We may compare Hrabanus Maurus, De Imientione Linguarum (in Goldast,nbsp;Script. Rer. Alem. II. i. p. 67): Litteras quippe quas utuntur Marcomanni, quos nosnbsp;Nordmannos uocamus, infra scripta hahemus... cum quibus carmina sua incantationes-que ac diuinationes significare procurant, etc. This is followed by a Runic alphabetnbsp;(partly German, partly English).

(i.e. Henry I) or the �son of Henri� (i.e. Earl Robert of Gloucester) as the enemy. Almost the only national leaders mentioned� are Cadwaladrnbsp;and Cynan, who are to reappear in order to deliver the country. Thenbsp;former was the son of Cadwallon, and died in the plague of 682, according to the earliest text of the Annales Camlriae^ We do not know whonbsp;Cynan was. Cadwaladr is mentioned in eight poems �^BBC. xvi-xviii,nbsp;RBH. I, Tai. VI, XII, Lii, Lin), and in five of these (BBC. xvii, xviii,nbsp;Tai. VI, XII, lii) Cynan is associated with him.'l In one poem {RBH.nbsp;xxii) there is reference to a deliverer who is not named.

There can be no doubt that the majority of these poems date from times subsequent to the Norman conquest, at least in the form in whichnbsp;we have them. References to Henry or his son, which cannot be earliernbsp;than the twelfth century, occur in six of them (RBH. i, ii, xix, xx, xxi,nbsp;BBC. xviii), while two others {BBC. xvi, RBH. xviii) speak of thenbsp;�Franks�, i.e. Normans. But caution is necessary in dealing with suchnbsp;poems as these. It is not safe to apply to them the principle that a worknbsp;cannot be earlier than the date of the latest event recorded in it.

We may first take BBC. xvil, commonly known as Afallenau, or �Appletrees� (cf. p. 106). This is a poem of Type B, constructed on anbsp;rather ingenious scheme and consisting of what we may perhaps describe as scenes in two different planes. The speaker is Myrddin; and thenbsp;matter in part, including several whole stanzas, relates to his ownnbsp;experiences and to Rhydderch Hael and other persons of his own time.nbsp;But intermingled with this are a number of prophecies relating to muchnbsp;later times; and it is with these that we are now concerned. Now thenbsp;poem is known not only from the Black Book but also from later texts. 5nbsp;In these latter the poem contains twenty-two or twenty-three stanzas,nbsp;whereas the Black Book has only ten. The order of the stanzas in thenbsp;various texts is quite different.

� The fact that no other Norman kings are mentioned by name suggests that these names came to be used generically.

Except of course in RBH. i, where the names are numerous. In RBH. xx. 20 there is apparently a reference to Owein the Red; cf. p. 457, note.

3 The two later texts say that he retired to Brittany. These date from the late thirteenth century, and their evidence cannot stand against the first (Harl. 3859),nbsp;which dates from c. 960 (cf. p. 146). The date 682 is perhaps a mistake for 664; cf.nbsp;Lloyd, History of Wales, p. 230, note 9.

Cynan is mentioned also in Tai. x. 16 f., a poem to which we shall have to refer later.

5 One of these is publ. and transi, by Stephens, Literature of the Kymry, p. 223 ff. Another text is publ. in the Myvyrian Archaiology, p. 115 ff.

455 Henry II and the closing years of Owein Gwynedd (c. 1165-70).nbsp;But these stanzas do not occur in the Black Book. The only precisenbsp;predictions found in the latter are those of a victory (st. i) over thenbsp;English on the Machawy�near Glasbury, on the borders of Radnornbsp;and Brecknock�and of another victory (st. 3) over the men of Dublin.nbsp;The latter event, which is evidently much exaggerated, cannot benbsp;identified with confidence; but the former is generally believed to benbsp;one of the victories of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, c. 1055.^ The generalnbsp;opinion now seems to be that the Black Book preserves the original textnbsp;of the poem and that the stanzas found only in the other texts are laternbsp;additions; and we think that this view is correct in the main, though itnbsp;requires some modification. One stanza which is found only in thenbsp;later texts� predicts the coming of a youth who will be known asnbsp;Gruffydd of the line of Iago. This must surely be the Gruffydd who wasnbsp;brought up in exile and after two unsuccessful attempts�in 1075 andnbsp;1081�finally secured the throne of Gwynedd in 1094. He is describednbsp;in the Annals as nepos lacob, presumably because his father (Cynan)nbsp;never returned from exile. It would seem then that stanzas whichnbsp;occur only in the later texts may be old; for probably no one wouldnbsp;want to compose such a stanza as this nearly a century after Gruffydd�snbsp;return.

Our view therefore is that the history of the poem goes back at least to the latter part of the eleventh century, but that stanzas were addednbsp;to it from time to time, chiefly�not wholly�for purposes of politicalnbsp;propaganda. The framework, relating to the prophet�s own experiences,nbsp;was preserved. The earlier predictions were sometimes preserved,nbsp;sometimes discarded.

RBH. I is another poem of Type B (or CB), in the form of a dialogue between Myrddin and his sister Gwendydd. We have already referrednbsp;to this poem (p. 106 f.); but we may repeat here that the opening stanzasnbsp;deal with the power of Rhydderch Hael, and that these are followed bynbsp;the enumeration of a very long list of kings. The form of the dialoguenbsp;is somewhat like that of the Gripisspd. One stanza is devoted to eachnbsp;king, the alternate stanzas being occupied by questions from Gwendyddnbsp;as to the successor in each case. Next after Rhydderch come Morcantnbsp;and Urien, and then Maelgwn and his descendants down to Howel the

* Cf. Loth, Rev. Celt. xxi. 53, where it is identified with the defeat of Earl Raulf, It may, however, be the defeat of Bishop Leofgar, in 1056; cf. Lloyd, Historynbsp;of Wlies, p. 368.

Good, who died c. 950. After this follow a long series of kings, who are recorded not by their true names but by descriptions, which arenbsp;difficult or impossible now to recognise. There are, however, a fewnbsp;exceptions�Gruffydd, Owein, the �son of Henry�, and the revenantsnbsp;Cadwaladr and Cynan. The first of these is doubtless Gruffydd son ofnbsp;Cynan, who died in 1137, and the second probably his son Owein, whonbsp;reigned from 1137 to 1170�although he is separated from his father bynbsp;many stanzas. The text in the latter part of the poem seems to be in anbsp;state of much confusion;^ and we think that additions have been made tonbsp;it from time to time.

RBH. n is another speech poem of Type B, addressed by the dead Myrddin from his grave to his sister Gwendydd. The predictions herenbsp;relate in st. 6 to the reign of William Rufus, in st. 7 to that of Henry II,nbsp;in st. 8 to that of Henry I, in st. 9 apparently to Thomas � Becket.nbsp;Surely these were not all composed at one time and by one author. Allnbsp;of them have reference to specific events. St. 7 is the prophecy quotednbsp;by Giraldus Cambrensis, It. Kambr. i. 6,3 and which he says the Welshnbsp;interpreted as referring to the crossing of the Usk by Henry II, duringnbsp;his campaign in 1163. They were much discouraged by it and abandonednbsp;their resistance. We may suspect therefore that it was inspired ornbsp;manipulated by partisans of the king. As a rule, however, the propheciesnbsp;are strongly national in feeling. We suspect that a careful examination ofnbsp;them would be of considerable historical value; but we have not thenbsp;knowledge necessary for more than a cursory survey.

For this poem also there is a later text'* which contains thirteen extra stanzas at the end. These are occupied with a prophecy of the destruction of Llandudoch (St Dogmael�s) by �black Brithwyr from Man�.nbsp;Whatever may be the meaning of the name Brithwyr, the reference isnbsp;apparently to a Viking raid�which is actually recorded in the chronicles

' This Owein seems to be intended also by the name Gwyn Gwarther in st. 57 {., which immediately follows his father Gruffydd; cf. Loth, Bev. Celt. xxi. 34.

� The poem is preserved also in later MSS., from one of which the text printed in the Myv. Arch. (p. 108 ff.) is taken. From this it appears that a number of stanzas,nbsp;chiefly questions of Gwendydd, are omitted in the Red Book. St. 66-80 (Skene)nbsp;are wanting in one MS. A critical edition of RBH. i and ii is greatly needed.

3 The first two lines of the stanza��When a strong freckled one shall come as far as the ford of Pencarn��^hardly permit any doubt as to its identity with thenbsp;prophecy known to Giraldus. But there is no verbal resemblance in the last twonbsp;lines. Has the text been changed?

Myv. Arch. p. 104 ff. For the various texts of this poem see Phillimore, y Cymmrodor, VII. 112 ff.; for the contents ib. ii6 ff. The MS. origin of the lastnbsp;13 stanzas in the Myv. Arch, seems not to be known.

457 for the year 988. Unfortunately the whole passage is obscure to us;nbsp;but if this is the event referred to�as has been suggested^�and thenbsp;prophecy dates from the same period, it must be nearly two centuriesnbsp;older than some of the stanzas in the poem to which it has been added,nbsp;and more than half a century older than the earliest datable elementnbsp;in the Afallenau.

Thus far we have spoken only of poems of Type B, in which Myrddin is the speaker or one of the speakers. To these is to be addednbsp;BBC. XVIII, which is a late imitation of BBC. xvii. But this series,nbsp;consisting of four poems in all�or five if we include the Llandudochnbsp;prophecy�forms only a small minority of the predictive poems. Thenbsp;rest can hardly be regarded as speeches in character. In Tai. vi. 17 anbsp;prophecy is introduced by the words �Myrddin foretells�, as a variationnbsp;of �the Muse {Awen) foretells� which is found elsewhere in this poem.nbsp;It is possible therefore that some of these poems were regarded asnbsp;prophecies of Myrddin; but they contain no personal elements.

As already mentioned, most of the poems are concerned with the national struggle between the Welsh and the English and Normans. Innbsp;addition to the speech poems noticed above, this forms the subject ofnbsp;BBC. XVI, Tai. VI, XII, Liii, RBH. xviii-xxi. Several of these poems,nbsp;as we have seen, mention �Henri� or the �Franks�; and the others, so farnbsp;as our observations go, do not seem to show any features which suggestnbsp;an earlier period. We are therefore inclined to believe that they all datenbsp;from the period after 1050. One or two seem to be as late as the thirteenth century. But it ought to be possible, from the historical allusions^nbsp;and perhaps the style, to date several of them more precisely. To thenbsp;list given above we should in all probability add RBH. xvii, whichnbsp;appears to belong to the same series, though the beginning and the endnbsp;of it have been taken from panegyrics upon Urien (cf. p. 40). In viewnbsp;of the incongruity of the subjects this is a remarkable phenomenon,nbsp;even in early Welsh poetry.

The remaining predictive poems are all very obscure; but they do not seem to be occupied primarily with the struggle against the English.nbsp;RBH. XXII is concerned with movements of the Brithwyr and the

i Cf. Stephens, Literature of the Kymry, p. 222; but the reference might of course be to some later (unrecorded) raid.

� The Owein mentioned in RBH. xx. 20 seems to be Owein the Red, brother of Llywelyn, the last prince of Gwynedd. Loth, Rev. Celt. xxi. 56, dates the poemnbsp;between 1253 and 1277, and assigns the following poem {RBH. xxi) to the samenbsp;period.

disasters arising from them�which seems to indicate raids of the Vikings. Such raids appear to have been at their worst c. 1000; but thenbsp;chronicles record occurrences of the kind until late in the eleventhnbsp;century at least. Tai. xlvii, xlix and lii are unintelligible to us. Bothnbsp;the two former contain antiquarian references to Beli. The first fournbsp;lines of Tai. xlvii are taken from Tai. vi. Tai. xlix appears to datenbsp;from the time of Henry II. Tai. lii seems to refer to Viking raids.

From what has been said it will be seen that the material as a whole is very unsatisfactory and obscure. It is clear enough that most of thenbsp;poems date from the Norman period and that they arose out of thenbsp;national propaganda, set on foot to resist the invaders. The first impetus may have been given by Harold�s invasion. But there is somenbsp;evidence for the cultivation of prophetic poetry before this time�partlynbsp;in connection with Viking raids and partly as a framework for antiquarian compositions. The significance of both will be seen by a comparison with the Irish evidence. As regards the latter, we believe thatnbsp;RBH. I contains elements which are earlier than the eleventh century.nbsp;This earlier prophetic poetry would seem to have been either �elegiac�nbsp;or learned, rather than stimulating, in character; the prophetic form wasnbsp;apparently more of a literary convention than in the later nationalisticnbsp;poetry. It is to be remembered, however, that prophecy in nationalnbsp;interests is found in the Historia Brittonum (cap. 42) and can be tracednbsp;back even to the time of Gildas.

What was the origin of the national deliverers Cadwaladr and Cynan.^ It is tempting to suppose that the latter was at first^ identical with thenbsp;exiled prince Cynan, the father of Gruffydd, and that the originalnbsp;prophecies were issued during his lifetime by a party who favourednbsp;his return. At all events the fact that both names are found amongnbsp;Gruffydd�s immediate descendants would seem to indicate that thisnbsp;family were interested in the prophecies. Cadwaladr the revenant mustnbsp;of course have been known before the rise of Cadwaladr the son ofnbsp;Gruffydd, of whom nothing is recorded before 1136. Yet it is curiousnbsp;that a person of the far past so obscure as Cadwaladr the son of Cad-wallon should be chosen as the national deliverer. Is it possible thatnbsp;prophecies were current in his own time to the effect that he would livenbsp;to avenge his father�s fall, and that some remembrance of these wasnbsp;preserved down to the eleventh century, when his true history had longnbsp;been forgotten.^

* The association with Cadwaladr suggests that later he was thought of as a revenant from the far past�^perhaps the Cynan of the Dream of Maxen Wledig.

There is another rather large group of poems which in general have little or nothing in common with these and are even more obscure. Thisnbsp;group is almost confined to the Book of Taliesin. The only examplenbsp;found in any other early text, so far as we know, is RBH. xxill, thenbsp;conclusion of which is also preserved at the beginning of the Book ofnbsp;Taliesin {Tai. l).

One poem {Tai. x) which may be regarded as belonging to this group is of a prophetic character and mentions Cynan as a future ruler.nbsp;Apart from this the prophetic (predictive) element is limited to one ornbsp;two short passages (especially in RBH. xxni). In most of the poems it isnbsp;entirely wanting. Indeed these poems bear no very close resemblancenbsp;to any of the material discussed in this chapter. The language whichnbsp;they employ has much in common with that of spells; but they cannbsp;hardly have been intended as spells themselves. They may perhaps bestnbsp;be described as declarations of bardic wisdom, of a more or less esotericnbsp;character. In some of them indeed this is stated explicitly; but thenbsp;object for which they were composed is not made clear. It will be seennbsp;later that certain analogies are to be found in Irish records, both spellsnbsp;and other pieces.^

Short passages of a religious character occur in most of these poems. Such is the case in Tai. in, vii, viii, xiii-xvi, xxv, xxx, xlviii. One ornbsp;two others, especially RBH. xxiii {Tai. i), show a mixture of Latin andnbsp;native learning. Most of them, however, are primarily concerned withnbsp;wisdom which seems to be of native origin.�

Certain rhetorical features are of rather common occurrence in poems of this class. In vii. 221-48, viii. 3-23, 205-8, xxv. 58-68 wenbsp;find catalogues with the word bum, T have been�, e.g. �I have been anbsp;journey (.^), I have been an eagle, I have been a sea coracle... I have beennbsp;a sword in the hand, I have been a shield in battle, I have been a string innbsp;a harp�. In RBH. xxiii. 87-93, Tai. iii. 9-13, 25 f., xlviii. 31 f. (cf.nbsp;1-22) we find other catalogues with the word wyf T am�. Thesenbsp;catalogues, especially the former series, include the names of variousnbsp;animals, birds, reptiles, etc., which may point to some belief in eithernbsp;transmigration or transformation; but they also contain the names ofnbsp;inanimate and even incorporeal things, as in the passage quoted above.nbsp;Another catalogue, with gogwn, T know�, occurs in vii. 173 ff. Again,

� There is also a resemblance�of a rather indefinite kind�to the second part of the Hamp;vamdl (cf. p. 383), though the Welsh poems do not contain catalogues of �nbsp;precepts or spells.

in RBH. XXIII. 2-42, Tal. vu. 95-212, and throughout Tal. ix we find long lists of questions relating in the main to natural law and naturalnbsp;history, and beginning with pwy, py^ etc. (�who, why�, etc.), but especially with pan in the sense of �whence, from what causeAsnbsp;examples we may quote RBH. xxiii. 12 ff.: �Whence come night andnbsp;day.^ Whence (is it that) the eagle becomes gray? Whence (is it that)nbsp;night is dark.^ Whence (is it that) the linnet is green?� And Tai. vii.nbsp;128 ff.: �Whence (is it that) milk is white.-' Whence (that) holly isnbsp;green?... Whence (that) brine is salt.^ Whence (that) ale is intoxicating.^nbsp;Whence (that) the alder is red?.. .Why does the string of a harp complain.-' Why does the cuckoo complain.^ Why does it sing?� Othernbsp;catalogues occur in Tai. xiii and xv.

Heroic names are of rare occurrence in these poems, except in Tai. XIV, which records the poet�s visits to various princes (cf. pp. 104, 582).nbsp;On the other hand mythological or legendary names are frequentlynbsp;found. Many of these are known from the Mabinogion. Thus Pwyllnbsp;and Pryderi are mentioned in Tai. xxx, the latter also and Bran andnbsp;Manawyd in xiv. Math in viii and xlv, Mathonwy in X, Gwydion innbsp;VII, VIII, XIV, XVI, XLV and RBH. xxiii, Don and Arianrod in xvi,nbsp;Lieu in XIII, xiv, xvi and RBH. xxiii. Of the characters mentionednbsp;in the Hanes Taliesin (cf. p. 103 f.) Ceridwen appears in Tai. ix andnbsp;XIV, and she is obviously the speaker in xvi, though her name isnbsp;not mentioned here; Afagddu is referred to in xvi and xlviii, and Gwionnbsp;perhaps in vii, xiii, and RBH. xxiii, though these passages are obscure. What is said of Gwydion in Tai. xvi is easily recognisable as anbsp;brief summary of some of the adventures attributed to him in thenbsp;Mabinogi of Math. But otherwise the poems give little definite information about these persons. They contain also many other namesnbsp;which seem to belong to the same class.

Taliesin is said to be the speaker in Tai. vii. The same authorship is obviously claimed for Tai. xiv, though the poet�s name is not actuallynbsp;mentioned; and the same may be said of Tai. xv, at least if we maynbsp;judge from the last two lines.� We think that Tai. xiv is in part comparable with JTidsith (cf. p. 25 f.) and presents similar problems,nbsp;though it contains more heterogeneous elements. But there can benbsp;no doubt that Tai. vii is a speech poem in character (Type B). It contains (234 ff.) the legend of Taliesin�s origin, which is preserved in a

* Tat. LV {ad fin.} also claims Taliesin�s authorship. The last four lines are a variation of the last four lines of Tai. vn, and are doubtless taken�with the twonbsp;preceding lines�from some poem ascribed to this poet.

461 late form in the Hanes Taliesin. We have already (p. 103 f.) given anbsp;summary of this story and also noticed (p. 263) other references tonbsp;Ceridwen, who appears to have been regarded as a goddess of poetry.nbsp;Again, there seems to be a reference to the same story in Tai. xv. 35 f.,nbsp;which speaks of three awen of Gogyrwen coming from a cauldron. Thesenbsp;can hardly be other than the three drops of inspiration mentioned in thenbsp;story; for, although the meaning of the name Gogyrwen is far fromnbsp;clear, it is associated with Ceridwen in Tai. xiv. ii f. and in BBC. iii.nbsp;3 and IV. I. In the two latter passages indeed it would seem to be annbsp;epithet of this person. In Tai. vii. 75 it occurs again in connection withnbsp;awen., though the meaning is obscure.

The word awen is of rather frequent occurrence in this group of poems. In addition to the passages cited above we may refer to Tai.nbsp;VII. 170 f., XIII. 7, XIV. 8, XV. 2. In IX. 2 it is again used in connectionnbsp;with Ceridwen; but the sense is not clear. Usually, if not always, thenbsp;meaning is �inspiration�, as in various other early poems. References tonbsp;cauldrons are also fairly frequent. Apart from Tai. xv. 35 f., which hasnbsp;been cited above, we may note vii. 17, 198, 201, xiii. 65, xxx. 2 andnbsp;especially xiv. ii (the �cauldron of Ceridwen�) and xvi. 24, wherenbsp;Ceridwen speaks of her cauldron. Several of these passages are obscure; but at least in xiv. ii and xxx. 2, if not in all, the reference is tonbsp;cauldrons of inspiration.

The poems with which we have been dealing present many difficulties. But it is clear that�whatever the purpose for which they were composed�they are intimately connected with magic. Apart from thenbsp;passages noticed above, we may refer to Tai. viii. 150 ffi, where thenbsp;speaker says that he was formed out of various elements, including fruitsnbsp;and flowers. With this may be compared xvi. 14 f., where it is statednbsp;that Gwydion ap Don formed by magic IJiudwys) a woman out ofnbsp;flowers. Again, the phrase �I was enchanted by Math� lam swynwys inbsp;Vatli) in VIII. 162 is doubtless to be taken in connection with thenbsp;magic wand (Jiudwyd) of Math mentioned in xlv. 10�and perhaps alsonbsp;with that of Mathonwy (Math�s father), referred to in x. 12. Both thenbsp;magic wand and the creation of a woman from flowers will be foundnbsp;in the Mabinogi of Math.

We hope that a certain amount of help towards the interpretation of these poems may be obtained from a consideration of the Irish material.

Analogies to most of the forms of poetry discussed above are to be found in Irish records. To the Welsh poems in particular the

resemblances are sometimes so close that it is difficult to doubt the existence of an historical connection.

We know of no true analogies in Irish to the Welsh patriotic prophecies discussed on p. 453 ff. above. Such may exist; but we have not been able to find them. Irish parallels, however, are certainly to benbsp;found for the �elegiac� prophecies relating to the devastations of thenbsp;Viking Age, as represented perhaps by the Llandudoch stanzas (cf. p. 45 6)nbsp;and by RBH. xxn. Examples occur in the War of the Gaedhilnbsp;with the Gain, cap. 9 f. They are concerned with the depredations uponnbsp;the Irish churches committed by Vikings and by the Norse of Dublin.nbsp;They are attributed to early saints and prophets, Columba, Berchan andnbsp;Bee Mac De ; but in reality they are not earlier than the tenth century, if sonbsp;early. We do not know what is the nature of the relationship betweennbsp;the Irish and the Welsh poems, or whether the question has ever beennbsp;raised.

Historical prophecies which give a long succession of kings, like RBH. I, are well represented in Irish. Poems of this kind, also attributed to St Berchan and giving the succession of the kings of Irelandnbsp;and of Scotland,^ appear to have been composed about the close of thenbsp;eleventh century. The last king of Scotland mentioned seems to benbsp;Edmund, who died in 1097, while the last Irish king is Muircertach Uanbsp;Briain, who was reigning at the same time. A much closer parallel,nbsp;however, to RBH. i is to be found in the story called Baile in Scdilnbsp;(�Ecstasy of the Champion�), to which we have referred briefly in annbsp;earlier chapter (p. 206). When Conn is brought into the palace of (thenbsp;god) Lug, he sees there a maiden wearing a golden diadem and havingnbsp;beside her a vat of ale. She is said to be the sovereignty of Ireland. Lugnbsp;says that he will reveal to Conn the length of his reign and name everynbsp;king who shall rule in Tara after him. The maiden asks who the ale is tonbsp;be given to, and Lug replies that she shall give it to� Conn. Then henbsp;pronounces a short prophecy in verse with regard to Conn�s reign. Thenbsp;maiden then again asks who the ale is to be given to; and he replies thatnbsp;it is to be given to Art, son of Conn. Of him too Lug prophesies; andnbsp;the process is repeated for each succeeding high-king, most of thenbsp;prophecies being at least partly in verse. One of the two MSS. (Hart

' The prophecy relating to Scotland is ed. and transi, by Skene, Chron. of the Picts and Scots, p. 79 if. For the Irish prophecy see O�Curry, MS. Materials,nbsp;p. 412 if. There is a new critical edition (without transi.) by Anderson, Zeitschr.nbsp;f. celt. Philol. XVIII. I if.

* The context suggests that_/�r here means �on behalf of�, rather than �to�.

463 5280)� ends with Fergal, who was killed in 722 (cf. p. 54); the othernbsp;(Rawl. B. 512)^ continues down to (apparently) the twelfth century,nbsp;ending with a purely imaginary king. But this latter text has beennbsp;extended; the Bails is known to have been in existence c. 1050, for it isnbsp;cited by Flann Mainistrech, who died in 1056,

The parallelism between RBH. i and the Bails can hardly be due to accident. In both cases a prophet or prophetic god foretells the succession of a long line of kings, in response to the interrogation of a woman,nbsp;which is repeated on each occasion. The kings are named by theirnbsp;ordinary names in the Bails down to Niall Glundub, who was slain innbsp;919, and in RBH. i down to Howel the Good, who was Niall�s contemporary. After Niall the majority of the Irish kings have descriptivenbsp;names applied to them after the fashion of riddles. After Howel this isnbsp;the case with almost all the Welsh kings. A careful examination of thenbsp;two texts would probably bring other common features to light. Thusnbsp;in RBH. I. 63 one king is described as �Youth of (the) Two Halves�nbsp;{Mackwy Deu Hannsr}, while in the Bails Domnall (son of Muir-certach), who died in 979, is called �Son of (the) Two Halves� {Mac Ddnbsp;Lsithi). The text of RBH. i is obviously in a state of great confusion;nbsp;but we know of no Welsh king whom this description would suitnbsp;better than Owein, son of Howel, who inherited the kingdom of Dyfednbsp;from his mother and claims to North Wales from his father, andnbsp;evidently prided himself on his two lines of ancestry (cf. p. 149). Henbsp;was contemporary with Domnall.

The nature of the relationship is a question which we would prefer to leave to experts. It is always tempting in such cases to derive the Welshnbsp;from the Irish. Early Irish records are numerous, and it is often possiblenbsp;to trace with confidence the history of a text back to a remote date; butnbsp;early Welsh poetry consists largely of sparse and neglected fragments ofnbsp;wreckage. In this case the question is complicated by the existence of anbsp;much earlier Irish prophecy called Bails Chuinn or �Ecstasy of Conn�,3 anbsp;treatment in prose of the same theme, in which Conn himself is thenbsp;speaker. We think that the beginning of RBH. i contains ancientnbsp;elements and that there is a relationship between this poem and thenbsp;Bails in Scdil, dating possibly from about the close of the tenth century;nbsp;but the whole question requires investigation.

3 Ed. by Thumeysen, Zu ir. Handschr. I. 48; cf. O�Curry, MS. Materieds, p. 385 ff.

There is no doubt as to the antiquity of prophecy in Ireland. It plays a great part in ecclesiastical records, e.g. in Adamnan�s Life of Stnbsp;Columba^ and it occurs by no means rarely in heroic and other storiesnbsp;relating to heathen times. In the latter prophecies are usually given in thenbsp;form of rhetorics (cf. p. 57) or poems of Type B. Sometimes they arenbsp;attributed to supernatural beings, as in the case noticed above, sometimes to Druids or other persons endowed with second sight. Sometimes they are solicited, especially in the case of Druids, at other timesnbsp;they are offered spontaneously. Sometimes they are of particular,nbsp;sometimes of general application.

Among the earliest examples we may mention the Verba ScathaigeJ-CuChulainn visits Scathach in order to be instructed in feats �f arms, and she prophesies to him the course of his adventures in the impendingnbsp;great raid (the Tain Bo Cuailnge}. The prophecy is in the form of anbsp;rhetoric and very obscure. Scathach seems to have much in commonnbsp;with the Valkyries of the North. Her home is sometimes, as here, saidnbsp;to be in the Alps, sometimes in Britain.

Next we may take the prophecy of Fedelm in the Tain Bo Cuailnge.'^ Fedelm is a prophetess (banfditK), who appears to Medb when the hostnbsp;of Connaught has assembled for the raid, but before they have actuallynbsp;set out. In the oldest text she says she is a woman of Connaught and hasnbsp;learnt �poetry�3 in Britain; but in the Book of Leinster she declares thatnbsp;she is from the shee-mound of Cruachan�i.e. she is a supernaturalnbsp;being. In reply to Medb�s enquiries she says she sees a vision of blood;nbsp;and when the queen expresses incredulity she describes in poetry CuChulainn and his feats and the havoc he will make of the host.

Druids are frequently consulted in the sagas. Two instances occur in the Tdin^ not long after the incident just mentioned. Fergus appeals tonbsp;them to interpret the significance of objects left by CuChulainn in thenbsp;way of the army. On both occasions the Druids� answers are given innbsp;verse. Among other cases of this kind we may refer to the story ofnbsp;Derdriu�s birth, at the beginning of the Exile of the Sons of Uisliunbsp;(fJisnech'). Before the child is born the Druid prophesies in verse of hernbsp;beauty and the disasters it will bring upon the men of Ulster.

� Ed. by K. Meyer, Anecdota from Irish MSS. n. 28, and Thumeysen, Zeitschr. f. celt. Philol. IX. 487; cf. Thumeysen, It. Heldensage, p. 376 f.

� YBL. yj ff. (publ. in �riu, i, Suppl. p. 4); Windisch, 215 ff.; Dunn�s transi, p. i4f.

3 Filidecht, properly the � art of thefill �. The context shows that what is meant here primarily is knowledge of spells.

It may be observed that the prophecies are seldom, if ever, attributed to inspiration by a deity or other supernatural being. They seem to benbsp;due, as in Norse, to a faculty possessed by the prophet himself. Thenbsp;same faculty appears frequently in dreams and visions. We may refernbsp;(e.g.) to the dream and vision of Derdriu in the Fate of the Children ofnbsp;Uisnech, cap. 12 f. Here also the prophecies are given in the form ofnbsp;poems of Type B.^

An interesting example of �prophecy� relating to the past is to be found in the story of Mongan and the fill Forgoll, a short summary ofnbsp;which was given on p. 98. It is true there is no prophecy in set form,nbsp;whether verse or prose; but the whole story turns upon the possessionnbsp;of a faculty of this kind, which in this case is bound up with metempsychosis. In another story belonging to the same�very early�nbsp;series^ Mongan is said to sing to his wife a Baile^ or �Ecstasy�, relatingnbsp;to his adventures; but this poem is not recorded.

As a specimen of prophecy of purely general reference we may cite the long speech of Ferchertne in the �Colloquy of the Two Sages�,3nbsp;noticed on p. 97. Nede has given a description of the good thingsnbsp;actually existing. Ferchertne replies with a prophecy of evils to come�nbsp;famine, destitution, devastation and demoralisation�referring apparently, in quite general terms, to conditions which are said to havenbsp;prevailed at certain times during the Viking Age. Nede recognises hisnbsp;opponent�s superiority and acknowledges him to be a great fill andnbsp;prophet {faith').

Next we may take the^ej or �tabu�, which figures so largely in stories of the Heroic Age. These tabus are perhaps most nearly related to thenbsp;�magical� prohibitions in the Jf'orhs and Days, but they have also something in common with the omens in the Reginstndl. In contrast, however,nbsp;with both of these they are of special (individual) application. References to such tabus are frequent enough, but examples of the actualnbsp;declaration of them seem to be rare. An instance occurs in the story of

� In the poem given in cap. 13 Derdriu speaks of a cup presented (�to me�, in one text) by Manannan. Can this mean a gift of inspiration?

� Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer in The Voyage of Bran, 1.42 ff. This incident occurs in No. IV (p. 56 ff.). All the first four stories come from the book of Druim Snechta,nbsp;which was written apparently early in the eighth century (cf. Thurneysen, Ir.nbsp;Heldensage, p. 15 ff.).

3 Rev. Celt. XXVI. 36 ff. Analogies are to be found elsewhere, e.g. in a prophecy of Badb in the Second Battle of Moytura {Rev. Celt. xii. no f.) and in a prophecynbsp;ascribed to Bee Mac De in the Death of King Dermot (O�Grady, Silva Gadelica,nbsp;n. 85).

the Destruction of Da Dergcts Hall (cf. p. 98 f.), where they are imposed upon Conaire Mor by Nemglan the bird-king. The story relates hownbsp;all these tabus eventually come to be violated, and Conaire realises thatnbsp;he is doomed.

References to the pronouncement of curses by Druids and filid occur occasionally, as (e.g.) in the Fate of the Children of Uisnech, cap. 34,nbsp;where the Druid Cathbad curses Emain Macha for the murder of Naoisenbsp;(Noisiu) and his brothers. But the actual words are rarely given. Annbsp;example is to be found in Cormac�s Glossary, s.v. gaired It is said tonbsp;have been pronounced by the fill Nede mac Adnai against Caier, king ofnbsp;Connaught, with whose wife he was involved in an intrigue. The wordsnbsp;of the curse seem to mean that Caier is soon to meet with a violentnbsp;death and to be laid in his grave. But the story told in the Glossarynbsp;(cf. p. 97) is that it produced boils on his face, which made him give upnbsp;his kingdom to Nede and eventually to die from shame. It is rathernbsp;curious that the same curse appears in the Book of Ballymote^ as part ofnbsp;the ritual employed in former times by a fili who had been defrauded ofnbsp;his due fee by a prince.

The learning of spells (incantations) formed part of the regular training of a fili. Examples of such spells are given in the Book ofnbsp;Ballymote-^ but they are obscure. One appears to be for the recovery ofnbsp;stolen cattle, like the Anglo-Saxon spells referred to on p. 447 f. It isnbsp;to be sung on the track of the lost beast or�if the track cannot benbsp;found�through the singer�s right fist. The thief will then be shown tonbsp;him in a dream.

The most interesting of these spells is one for long life,4 called Cetnad n-�ise or �Song of Long Life�. It invokes first � the seven daughters ofnbsp;the sea�, and then �Senach of the seven periods of time�, and contains anbsp;short catalogue with am (� I am �), similar to the Welsh catalogues with wyfnbsp;noticed on p. 459. The speaker says, repeating the word am in each case,nbsp;that he is an indestructible fortress {d�ri}, an unshaken rock, a preciousnbsp;stone, and the luck of the week. The spell is in the form of a rhetoric.

' Ed. and transi, by Stokes, Three Irish Glossaries, p. xxxvi ff. ; cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 523 f.

Windisch, op. cit. in. 53 f. Also text and transi, by K. Meyer, Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century, p. 16 ff.

A spell for promoting the increase of fish is preserved in the Leabhar Gabhala or �Book of Conquests�/ cap. 186. It is said to have beennbsp;composed by the mythical fill Aimirgin (Amorgin) Glunmar, son ofnbsp;Mil, who came to Ireland with his brothers Eremon and Eber (cf.nbsp;p. 312); but it contains nothing which would not be appropriate innbsp;a fishing spell of general application.

In the same work, cap. 185, Aimirgin is credited with another rhetoric, which he is said to have uttered when he first set foot on Irishnbsp;soil. This is not a spell but a composition very similar to some of thenbsp;Welsh poems noticed on p. 459 ff. The first part of it is a fairly longnbsp;catalogue with am-, the speaker says that he is wind on the sea, a wave ofnbsp;the ocean.. .a powerful ox.. .a salmon in pools.. .the strength of artnbsp;(poetry?), etc. Then follows a short series of questions: �Who clearsnbsp;the stone-place of the mountain? What the place in which the setting ofnbsp;the sun lies?�^ and others. The last few lines are obscure.

In conclusion we would again revert to the �Colloquy of the Two Sages�, in order to call attention to the character of the work, taken as anbsp;whole. The framework of the piece was described briefly on p. 97. Thenbsp;young fill Nede has seated himself in the chair of the ollam (chief fill},nbsp;previously occupied by his father. The old fill Ferchertne disputes hisnbsp;right to it and asks him a series of questions. The same questions are alsonbsp;put to Ferchertne by Nede. They are as follows: (i) Whence hast thounbsp;come? (ii) What is thy name? (iii) What art dost thou practise.^nbsp;(iv) What is it thou undertakest.^ (v) What is the path thou hast come?nbsp;(vi) Whose son art thou? (vii) Hast thou tidings.^ The answers arenbsp;given in metaphorical and frequently obscure language. Ferchertne�s lastnbsp;answer is in the form of a prophecy, and has been noticed briefly above.nbsp;The point of the contest would seem to lie not so much in the matter asnbsp;in the diction of the speeches. But the milieu is obviously mantic.

This Colloquy, we think, gives a clue to the obscure series of Welsh poems noticed on p. 459 flquot;. It is not clear that any of these poems arenbsp;dialogues. But several of them speak in disparaging terms of opponentsnbsp;who are also bards. We would suggest that these were either composednbsp;for production at bardic contests or taken from stories of such contests.nbsp;In some cases, especially Tai. xxx, more importance seems to have been

This is the transi, given by Macalister and MacNeill. The text ed. by them seems to have omitted one question, and there appear to be other variants. The transi,nbsp;given by Nutt, Voyage of Bran, n. 92 (without text) is as follows: �Who spreadsnbsp;light in the gathering on die mountain? Who foretells the ages of the moon? Whonbsp;teaches the spot where the sun rests?�

attached to form and diction than to the treatment of the subject� indeed one might say that the latter has been entirely sacrificed to thenbsp;former. On the other hand Tai. vn and perhaps one or two othernbsp;poems may well come from an early form of the story of Taliesin�snbsp;encounter with Maelgwn�s bards. Note was taken on p. 105 of thenbsp;curious analogy between this story and the account given in thenbsp;Historia Brittonum, cap. 42, of the dialogue between the boy Ambrosiusnbsp;and Gwrtheyrn�s magi. In both stories the mantic element is prominent.nbsp;In the former it takes the form of spells, in the latter of prophecy.

As regards the obscure subject-matter of the Welsh poems, in particular the �transformation� catalogues and the questions on naturalnbsp;law, there can be no doubt as to the existence of a relationship with thenbsp;Irish rhetoric noted above from the Leabhar Gahhala and the spell fornbsp;Long Life. It may be observed that in both the Irish passages, as in thenbsp;Welsh, the catalogues include inanimate and even incorporeal things.nbsp;But we have yet to take note of a third Irish parallel, which throws light,nbsp;if not on the origin of such compositions, at least on the time when theynbsp;were current. This occurs in the second poem contained in the Voyagenbsp;of Branf a poem of Type B, in which the god Manannan mac Lir is thenbsp;speaker. The poem may be divided into three parts. The first of thesenbsp;(st. 33-44�) is occupied with a description of Mag Mell (cf. p. 262 f.). Thenbsp;second (st. 45-8) is a statement of Christian doctrine, added apparentlynbsp;as a corrective of the preceding, but quite out of harmony both with itnbsp;and with what follows. The third (st. 49-59) is a prophecy of the birth,nbsp;life and death of Mongan, who is Manannan�s son (cf. p. 206). It is innbsp;this third part that the catalogue occurs. Here the future (biaid, bid.,nbsp;�he will be�) is used: �He will be in the shape of every beast.. .a wolfnbsp;.. .a stag.. .a spotted salmon in a full pooU.. .a seal.. .a swan�, etc.nbsp;This catalogue seems to contain only the names of animals, birds andnbsp;fishes.

It cannot be said that this catalogue explains the others, but it certainly throws light on the milieu in which poetry of this kind was produced. The Voyage of Bran comes from the Book of Druimnbsp;Snechta (cf. p. 47), which also contained the Fout Stories of Mongannbsp;and various other�chiefly non-heroic�stories in which visions and

These are the figures given in Meyer�s edition, where the stanzas are numbered from the beginning of the saga. The true figures for the poem itself are i-iz.

3 A similar description occurs in the Leabhar Gabhala, cap. 185; cf. also Tai. VII. 221 f., VIII. 206.

469 prophecies were prominent. The Book was written in the early part of thenbsp;eighth century and is believed to have been compiled by a fill. Thenbsp;Vt^age of Bran was presumably already in existence; it has been datednbsp;to the beginning of the eighth or the end of the seventh century.^nbsp;Since Mongan died in 624, according to the Annals, the legends relatingnbsp;to him must have been current within a century of his time.

Whatever may be the date of the other poems, both Irish and Welsh, we see no reason for doubting that poetry of this kind goes back in bothnbsp;countries to the seventh century�which is not long after the time ofnbsp;Taliesin (cf. p. 15 5 ff.). Both the catalogues and the questions on naturalnbsp;law must surely be of heathen origin, and the same is true of the personnel mentioned in the Welsh poems and the frequent references tonbsp;magic (cf. p. 460 f.)�which are characteristic also of the stories of Mongan. One passage IfTal. xiv. 45 ff.) shows a rather close parallel to thenbsp;description of Mag Mell.� The poet says that his chair is prepared in Caernbsp;Sidi. Disease and old age afflict no one who is there.... Around its peaksnbsp;are the streams of the ocean. Above it is the fountain which containsnbsp;liquid sweeter than white wine. In the poem which we are discussing�nbsp;the second poem in the Voyage of Bran�Mag Mell lies not beyond butnbsp;beneath the sea. This is of course combined with an idea of illusion�nbsp;what appears to Bran to be sea is to the speaker (Manannan) a flowerynbsp;plain with woods and inhabitants, the salmon which Bran sees playingnbsp;are really calves and lambs. But at the same time his boat is said (st. 42)nbsp;to be passing over the top of a wood and across ridges. Here, as elsewhere, Mag Mell is blessed with delicious drink and with freedom fromnbsp;old age and frailty.

It is remarkable that so many heathen ideas should be represented in poems which make no claim to date from times anterior to the introduction of Christianity. Mongan lived two centuries after St Patrick.nbsp;Some of the Welsh poems, including Tai. vn and xiv, claim to be thenbsp;work of Taliesin, who lived at a time when Britain had long been anbsp;Christian country. The open�or barely disguised�heathenism of thenbsp;poems therefore requires explanation. The question is one which cannotnbsp;be discussed adequately here; but we would suggest that a reasonablenbsp;answer might be found on the following lines. There can be no doubtnbsp;that in early times the functions of the filid were primarily mantic;3 and

3 The word fili is related to W. gweled, �to see�, and seems originally to have meant �seer*.

consequently the change of faith must have been unwelcome to many of them. A prince who was wholeheartedly in sympathy with heathennbsp;ideas, as Mongan apparently was,^ would be eagerly adopted by them asnbsp;their leader and their hope. As for Mag Mell, it has been pointed outnbsp;(p. 262 f.) that this doctrine seems to have grown in popularity at anbsp;comparatively late period. We would suggest that it was developed�nbsp;not necessarily originated�by the filid in order to counteract the attractions of the Christian doctrine of a future life, and that it was perhaps notnbsp;entirely uninfluenced by this doctrine.^ In short we would suggest thatnbsp;the stories and poems relating to Mongan reflect a temporary heathennbsp;reaction under the influence of the filid. But this reaction had evidentlynbsp;only a short life, and the filid had to give way to the new religion. Tonbsp;this later phase we would attribute the introduction of the Christiannbsp;elements in the poems in the Voyage of Bran (st. 26-9, 45-8) and alsonbsp;the poems in which�in contrast with the other records�Mongan isnbsp;represented as a friend and admirer of St Columba. It was naturalnbsp;enough for the filid to choose this saint, who had saved them when theirnbsp;order was threatened with extinction.

In the Welsh poems heathen elements are quite as prominent as in the Irish. They are frequently punctuated by passages which professnbsp;faith in Christian doctrine, e.g. in Tai. xiv adfin., immediately after thenbsp;reference to Caer Sidi cited above; but such passages may quite well benbsp;explained in the same way as the Christian elements in the poems relating to Mongan and Mag Mell. The heathen elements themselvesnbsp;must be due to a continuance of heathen tradition�or to a reaction innbsp;favour of it�in the poetry of the bards, who evidently had much innbsp;common with the fidid. Unfortunately, however, our knowledge ofnbsp;Welsh (British) society in the sixth and following centuries is sadlynbsp;defective. The Lives of saints, including Jocelin�s Life of St Kentigern,nbsp;frequently suggest a society which, so far as the upper classes are concerned, was virtually heathen, though it showed respect and obediencenbsp;from time to time to scattered bodies of monks. But conditions maynbsp;have varied greatly from one district to another. The references in thenbsp;poems to Maelgwn and to Math and Gwydion and their family seem tonbsp;point to Gwynedd, and in particular to Carnarvonshire, as a centre of

� Cf. Voyage of Bran, st. 52: �He will delight the company of every fairy-knoll (yid), he will be the darling of every goodly land � (Meyer). Does the last expressionnbsp;{dagthir} mean the same as sidi

* We may compare the reference to Giml�, the future and everlasting abode of the righteous, in the V�lusp�, st. 64.

471 bardic activities; and what we know of Maelgwn�e.g. that he had beennbsp;a monk and renounced his vows�is not incompatible with the supposition that he may have patronised heathen poetry. But similarnbsp;conditions may have prevailed in the north,* where all local recordsnbsp;were subsequently obliterated.

Taking the evidence as a whole, it will be seen that there is a close relationship between the mantic poetry of Ireland and Wales. Thisnbsp;relationship is the more remarkable because it is not paralleled�in anything like the same degree�in heroic poetry and saga, or indeed in anynbsp;of the categories discussed in previous chapters, except possibly innbsp;descriptive poetry. It is found both in the prophetic poetry, whichnbsp;seems to have flourished chiefly in the eleventh and following centuries,nbsp;and still more in the �mystical� poetry, which evidently belongs to annbsp;earlier period, and in Ireland at least can be traced with certainty backnbsp;to the seventh century. There is no doubt that the British and Irishnbsp;Churches were in close touch in the sixth century. The evidence noticednbsp;above shows that a similar community of ideas and activities was sharednbsp;by intellectual circles in the two countries, which were virtually, if notnbsp;professedly, heathen.

It was remarked at the beginning of this chapter that the material would seem to be of a somewhat heterogeneous character. The Greeknbsp;and the English poems, which we took first, have nothing in common.nbsp;The former are prophecies, together with a list of omens and �mantic�nbsp;prohibitions; the latter consist only of spells. The Norse and Irishnbsp;material, however, supplies both prophecies and spells�whether innbsp;their original form or in the form of speech poems of Type B�and alsonbsp;yields evidence which serves to connect these two genres. Lists ofnbsp;omens are found in Norse, as well as in Greek poetry. In Irish and Welshnbsp;we also find declarations of mantic lore, which, at least in the former,nbsp;belong to contests represented in the form of Type B.

There can be little doubt that the apparent differences between the various languages are largely due to accident, and that most of thenbsp;genres under discussion were cultivated everywhere. Spell poetry wasnbsp;certainly cultivated in Greece from very early times. A reference occursnbsp;in the Odyssey, xix. 457 f., where it is related that Odysseus, when anbsp;boy, was injured by a wild boar, and that his companions bound up the

� This is suggested by various passages in the Lives of St Kentigern, if their evidence on such a point is to be trusted. The theory that the battle of Arderydd wasnbsp;connected with religious divisions seems to be without foundation.

wound and stopped the black blood with an incantation. In later literature spells are to be found in poems of Type B. An elaborate instance forms the subject of Theocritos� second Idyll.

On the other hand prophecies, dreams and visions are of very frequent occurrence in records of the Anglo-Saxon period. They are preserved,nbsp;it is true, almost entirely in Latin works and come doubtless fromnbsp;�ecclesiastical saga� (cf. p. 336); but it can hardly be supposed that theynbsp;are invariably products of foreign influence. The story of the dream ofnbsp;Breguswith, the mother of St Hild, recorded by Bede, Hist. Eccl. iv. 23,nbsp;relates to a time anterior to the conversion of the Northumbrians. Butnbsp;perhaps the most interesting case is the story in which the same writer innbsp;his Life of St Cuthbert., cap. 24, describes the meeting of the saint with thenbsp;abbess Aelfiled, sister of King Ecgfrith. During the conversation thenbsp;abbess falls on her knees and beseeches the saint to tell her how longnbsp;Ecgfrith would continue to live and reign. After some hesitation henbsp;replies that the king has only one year left. Then she begs him to saynbsp;who will succeed to the throne. He intimates that the successor will be anbsp;brother to her. Then, pointing to the sea�the meeting is in Coquetnbsp;Island�he adds that from one of its numerous islands God can providenbsp;a man to rule over England. The reference is to Ecgfrith�s illegitimatenbsp;brother Aidfrith, who was studying in Ireland or Iona. This picturesquenbsp;story cannot have had a life of more than half a century before it wasnbsp;written down. Its affinities do not seem to us to be Latin. They lienbsp;rather with the dialogue of Myrddin and Gwendydd and with thenbsp;Mongan poetry in its Christianised form.�- The story was presumablynbsp;put into shape by someone who had been brought up in the traditions ofnbsp;the Celtic Church, and who may have been familiar with the conventionsnbsp;of Irish or British poetry.

One rather striking difference between Greek prophecies and those of the northern peoples lies in the fact that the former are usuallynbsp;represented as due to inspiration from a deity, whereas the latter appearnbsp;to proceed from some faculty within the speaker himself. The a-wen ofnbsp;the Welsh poems, which we have rendered by �inspiration� or �Muse�,nbsp;forms no real exception; for this is clearly regarded as a property of thenbsp;poet. Yet this distinction between Greek and northern prophecy mustnbsp;not be pressed. It may very well be that inspiration predominated in the

* The reference to the islands may be compared with st. 25 of the Vy age of Bran. A variant form of this stanza occurs in Mongan�s poem on St Columbanbsp;(ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, op. cit. p. 88 f.), a poem of Type B�for which it maynbsp;originally have been composed.

former and �vision� (or second sight) in the latter. But the difference is not essential or invariable. In the Eyrbyggja Saga, cap. 3 f., a wealthynbsp;landowner and priest, called Th�rolfr, in one of the Norwegian islands,nbsp;receives a summons from the king (Harold the Fair-haired) to submit tonbsp;him or else to quit the country. He offers a great sacrifice to Thor, andnbsp;then consults him as to whether he shall surrender or emigrate to Iceland. Such cases differ little, if at all, from the usage followed at various / 4 4nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;j/�

Greek sanctuaries�not Delphoi�where oracular responses were./ , given. We may also cite a passage in Rimbertus� Life of St Ansgar, cap,/'*quot;�nbsp;26. When St Ansgar arrived in Sweden on a missionary expedition, hisnbsp;efforts were frustrated for the moment by a man who stated that he hadnbsp;been present in a dream at an assembly of the gods, and that they hadnbsp;commissioned him to tell the Swedes that they were opposed to thenbsp;introduction of the new religion. On the other hand we hear sometimesnbsp;in Greece of seers, who prophesied from a faculty of�vision�, apparentlynbsp;without the intervention of a deity. Such is the case with Theocly-menos in the Odyssey, xx. 3 51 fF. The faculty was sometimes, as in thisnbsp;case, hereditary in families.

It was pointed out above (p. 451 ff.) and must be repeated here that | prophecy may relate to the present and the past, as well as to the future, jnbsp;This applies to prophecy from inspiration or revelation, as well as tonbsp;prophecy from vision. We may refer (e.g.) to the response of thenbsp;Delphic oracle, quoted by Herodotos, i. 67, as to where Orestes wasnbsp;buried. This case may be compared with the dispute between Mongannbsp;and Forgoll, noticed on p. 465, in which case of course there is no hintnbsp;of revelation from an external source. Indeed examples of prophecynbsp;relating to the present or past will probably be found almost everywhere. We have not noticed any instances in the Welsh propheticnbsp;poems; but they may be found in the story of the boy Ambrosius andnbsp;the magi in the Historia Brittonum, cap. 42.

The relationship of prophecies to spells noted on p. 45 2 f. must also be emphasised here. Curses and blessings may be regarded either as spellsnbsp;or as prophecies which carry with them their own fulfilment. The samenbsp;ambiguous character sometimes appears in references to the operationsnbsp;of the Norns, as we shall see in a later chapter.

It will be seen that the category with which we have been dealing in this chapter is rather intimately connected with what we have callednbsp;non-heroic poetry and saga. The personnel with which we were concerned in Ch. VI was largely the same as that which has figured in thisnbsp;chapter, viz. the prophets and sages of the Heroic Age, though here we

have also had to take account of deities and other supernatural beings. Now one of the most widespread themes of story relating to suchnbsp;persons�and also to mantic gods�is that of the mantic contest, ornbsp;perhaps we should say the contest in wisdom. The best Norse examplenbsp;of this is the Vafpr�Snismdl, in which the god Othin contends withnbsp;the learned giant {j�tunn} VafpruSnir. The contest here is in antiquariannbsp;(cosmogonic and mythological) lore; but from what has been pointednbsp;out above this comes at least partly within the scope of prophecy.nbsp;Perhaps the same may be said of the contest between Mongan andnbsp;Forgoll, though the contest in this case turns upon one special fact.nbsp;But Greek legend furnishes much closer parallels to the contest ofnbsp;Ferchertne and Nede. In particular we may refer to the story of thenbsp;contest between the rival seers Calchas and Mopsos, which was treatednbsp;in the Melampodia. From a fragment of the poem which survives itnbsp;appears that Mopsos was made to win by what may be described as anbsp;prophecy relating to the present. He gave a correct answer to thenbsp;question how many figs there were on a certain tree. Apart from thenbsp;languages we are considering, one of the most interesting cases of thisnbsp;kind is the contest between V�in�m�inen and Joukahainen, described innbsp;Rune III of the Kalevala. Here V�in�m�inen wins by means of spells,nbsp;which reduce his opponent to helplessness and almost submerge him innbsp;a bog.

Lastly, with regard to spells we have to admit that there is one side of the subject which we are not able to treat, though we fully recognise itsnbsp;importance. This is the connection between spells and music. Innbsp;Thor firms Saga Karls efinis, cap. 3, the Greenland witch Thorbj�rgnbsp;cannot get any attention from her spirits until she has obtained a goodnbsp;singer to sing the spells; and it would not be difficult to collect a goodnbsp;O deal of interesting information on the subject, at least in the North.nbsp;Linguistic evidence makes it probable that spells played a very important part in the early history of both music and poetry.

O all the peoples whose records we are now studying the art of writing was known from early times. In later chapters we shallnbsp;see that these records were largely preserved by oral tradition.

But there can be no doubt that in all cases the art of writing was known at least before they assumed their final form.

The beginnings of writing are generally obscure. On the whole, however, more information is available for the early history of the artnbsp;in the north of Europe than in Greece, where its antiquity is doubtlessnbsp;much greater. We will therefore begin with the former.

In the north of Europe, at least among the Teutonic peoples and in Ireland, two forms of writing were in use in early times, the nativenbsp;and the Roman. In each case the former was of unknown antiquity. Itnbsp;was employed chiefly for writing upon objects of wood, bone, metalnbsp;and stone. Parchment was doubtless unknown before the introductionnbsp;of Roman writing; and even after this it appears to have been verynbsp;rarely used for the native form of writing. The purposes for which thenbsp;latter was employed were chiefly (i) denoting the owner or workernbsp;of the object inscribed, (ii) correspondence, (iii) memorial notices,nbsp;(iv) magical formulae. There is no evidence that it was extensively usednbsp;anywhere for literary purposes. The materials employed were unsuitable for records of any considerable length; they involved too greatnbsp;an expenditure of labour.

Roman writing appears to have come into use everywhere with the introduction of Christianity. In Britain of course, which had been anbsp;Roman province, its use was very much earlier. At first it was employednbsp;only for writing Latin. But sooner or later it became adapted everywhere to writing the native languages; and it is in this that almost allnbsp;our records are preserved. Parchment was doubtless introduced alongnbsp;with this form of writing; and it may perhaps be assumed that thenbsp;missionaries usually carried writing materials, as well as books, withnbsp;them. Hence it is customary to take the date of their arrival as thenbsp;beginning of the historical period�or more properly the period fornbsp;which contemporary records are available. More important for us is tonbsp;bear in mind that to the Roman, and to the ecclesiastics who inheritednbsp;his tradition, the connection between literature and writing was essential.

The Runic alphabet was known to probably all the Teutonic peoples in the fourth century, and there is no cogent reason for believing that itnbsp;was then of recent origin. A number of inscriptions dating from aboutnbsp;the fourth and fifth centuries have been found in Angel and the adjacentnbsp;districts, and there can be no reasonable doubt that this form of writingnbsp;was brought over to Britain by the English invaders, although there arenbsp;hardly any inscriptions in this country which can be dated before thenbsp;seventh century. From then to the ninth century they are not uncommon. The inscribed objects consist for the most part of coins andnbsp;monumental stones, though other articles of metal (weapons andnbsp;ornaments) and bone (especially combs) are not unknown. Inscribednbsp;wooden rods were also in use, for correspondence; but none of thesenbsp;have been preserved. The latest coins belong to the Northumbriannbsp;kings of the ninth century (before 867); and it would seem that afternbsp;this time Runic writing was merely a matter of antiquarian knowledge.nbsp;Runic letters occur sometimes in MSS., especially in the Riddles in thenbsp;Exeter Book', but they seem often to be incorrectly used.

Evidence for the literary use of this form of writing is very slight. Some passages from the Dream of the Cross are inscribed on the Ruthwell Cross, while the Franks Casket, a small whalebone box now innbsp;the British Museum, bears several lines which were perhaps speciallynbsp;composed for it. Otherwise the inscriptions rarely, if ever, containnbsp;more than one line of verse.

The Roman alphabet was in use from the time of St Augustine�s arrival in 597. At the beginning of the eighth century there was a flourishingnbsp;Latin literature in this country, which reached its zenith in the coursenbsp;of the next generation, under Bede. Yet it had not a very long life;nbsp;within a century of Bede�s death (735) it seems to have come to an end.

The script used in this period, whether in Latin or English writing, was of an archaic type, similar to what was in use in Ireland and Walesnbsp;rather than to the contemporary Continental script. It is commonlynbsp;held that this form of writing was derived from Irish monks andnbsp;missionaries settled in this country, especially from those who werenbsp;introduced by King Oswald (634-42) from Iona. We think thatnbsp;the possibility of British influence, even before this, ought not to benbsp;disregarded. But there is no reason for supposing that Roman writingnbsp;was in common use among the English before the seventh century.

The earliest English document of which we have any record is the Laws of Aethelberht, which were written between 597 and 616. Thesenbsp;Laws, together with those of other kings of Kent, viz. Hlothhere and

Eadric (c. 685) and Wihtred (c. 694), are preserved only in a MS. of the twelfth century�in a modernised form of language, but probablynbsp;without substantial change. The Laws offne, king of Wessex, approximately contemporaneous with those of Wihtred, are preserved innbsp;several MSS., one of which dates from the early part of the tenth century.nbsp;Apart from these Laws we have nothing except glosses and glossariesnbsp;which can with confidence be said to have been written before the eighthnbsp;century. It is clear, however, both from the glosses and other sources,nbsp;that a recognised system of orthography for English words and namesnbsp;was already in existence by this time, though it varied somewhat fromnbsp;one kingdom to another.

The earliest evidence for a MS. collection of English poetry is to be found in Asset�s Life of King Alfred, cap. 23, in a story relating to thenbsp;king�s childhood, not long after 850. Some forty years later we have anbsp;statement from Alfred himself, in the introduction to his translation ofnbsp;the Cura Pastoralis, that the ability to read English was now fairlynbsp;widespread; and the various translations which he himself undertooknbsp;show that there was something of a reading public for English. It maynbsp;be added that the beginnings of the Saxon Chronicle, as an English work,nbsp;seem to date from shortly before the middle of the ninth century, andnbsp;that there is a translation of the Psalms dating from the same time or anbsp;little earlier. From the first half of the ninth century, especially fromnbsp;c. 825 onwards, we have also a number of legal documents (conveyances,nbsp;agreements and wills) in English�which suggest that it was no rarenbsp;accomplishment to be able to read in the vernacular.

It is more difficult to determine what was the case in the eighth century. Bede was engaged on a translation of St John�s Gospel at thenbsp;time of his death; but he had only got as far as cap. vi, and his work isnbsp;believed to have perished. At the same time he also composed a shortnbsp;poem, which was taken down and is preserved in a letter from one ofnbsp;his companions named Cuthbert to a friend called Cuthwine. The copynbsp;of Caedmon�s Creation Hymn written on a fly-leaf of the earliestnbsp;(Moore) MS. of the Ecclesiastical History is also believed to date fromnbsp;the eighth century. But these pieces, together with two lines in a letternbsp;to St Boniface, are the only examples of written English poetry whichnbsp;can be dated with certainty to that period. Caedmon himself, thenbsp;founder of English religious poetry, was composing before 680; but it isnbsp;not clear from Bede�s account, our only source of information, that hisnbsp;poems were committed to writing. And the same is true of Anglo-Saxon poetry in general. Much of what has come down to us was

doubtless composed in the eighth century or even earlier; but, with insignificant exceptions, it is preserved only in MSS. which werenbsp;written c. 1000.

The great MSS. of Anglo-Saxon poetry�the Beowulf MS. in the British Museum, the Exeter Book, the Eercelli Book, and the Junius MS.nbsp;at Oxford�are obviously copied from earlier MSS. Their languagenbsp;normally is what is generally known as �late West-Saxon��a type ofnbsp;language which originated in Wessex but was taught in schoolsnbsp;throughout the greater part of the country in the latter part of the tenthnbsp;century. But they contain many forms belonging to earlier periods;nbsp;and many obsolete or poetic words appear in forms which are notnbsp;West-Saxon at all, but would seem to have been copied from MSS.nbsp;written in parts of the country where West-Saxon had not yet beennbsp;introduced. It is not clear, however, that any of this evidence�' points tonbsp;times earlier than the ninth century. We practically never meet withnbsp;(e.g.) traces of the orthographic features which distinguish Englishnbsp;texts of the earlier period.� Such negative evidence is not conclusive, but,nbsp;so far as it goes, it is rather against the view that a large body of writtennbsp;English literature existed in the eighth century.

Four religious poems, the Crist, the Elene, the Juliana and the Fates oj the Apostles, contain the name of the author, Cynewulf, in (Runic)nbsp;acrostics. This may probably be taken to mean that the author himselfnbsp;committed his poems to writing. But we know nothing of him exceptnbsp;what he tells us in the poems; and this gives no clue to his date. Hisnbsp;syntax suggests that he lived not earlier than the ninth century. This wasnbsp;a time when the practice of introducing acrostics was popular on thenbsp;Continent. A good example may be found in the introduction tonbsp;Otfried�s versified translation of the Gospel Harmony.

For the existence of English prose texts, apart from laws, there is hardly any evidence before the ninth century. Indeed we know of nonbsp;certain case except Bede�s translation of St John, mentioned above.nbsp;The few legal documents which are preserved in English appear to benbsp;late translations from Latin originals. 3 In documents before 800 it would

� Beow. 1382 has been cited as an example; cf. Chambers� note ad loc. But, like most of the editors, we find it difficult to believe that successive scribes havenbsp;preserved an archaism which must long have been unintelligible�especially in anbsp;familiar phrase.

3 Birch, Cart. Sax. No. 171 claims to be a grant from the Mercian king Aethel-bald, who died in 757; but in its present form it must be more than a century later than that date. All the other examples known to us are much later than this.

479 seem that the use of English was limited to statements of the boundariesnbsp;of estates. Taking the evidence as a whole therefore we are inclined tonbsp;doubt whether a reading public for English existed before this date.nbsp;What we mean is that we doubt whether there were persons at this timenbsp;who could read English but yet were without knowledge of Latin. Anbsp;certain amount of English poetry, especially religious poetry, maynbsp;already have been written down. But we suspect that the rise ofnbsp;English as a written language was connected and contemporaneousnbsp;with the decline of Latin in England�about the close of the eighthnbsp;century.

With regard to the question of a reading public it would be of importance to know whether any provision was made for the education of the laity. We hear of schools instituted even in the seventh century,nbsp;e.g. by the East Anglian king Sigberht and by Adrian at Canterbury.nbsp;But were they attended by those who were intended for a secular lifenbsp;King Alfred gives instructions in his introduction to the Cura Pastoralisnbsp;that the sons of the nobility are to be taught to read English in theirnbsp;childhood. He himself according to Asser, cap. 22, had remainednbsp;illiteratus until he was twelve years old or more; but it is added that thisnbsp;was due to neglect on the part of his parents. One may perhaps infernbsp;from this that in the ninth century some education was customary, atnbsp;least for the sons of princes. But can this be inferred also for the eighthnbsp;century, when (written) English was apparently much less used.^ We arenbsp;not aware of any evidence. In a number of charters of the eighthnbsp;century a distinction is drawn between the signatures of ecclesiasticsnbsp;and those of the laity. The former employ some such formula as Ego...nbsp;subscripsi, while the latter have Signum manus... (the name being oftennbsp;in a genitive form). More frequently we find either the one formula ornbsp;the other used throughout; but the distinction must have some traditional basis. It is not often that anyone definitely states that he isnbsp;illiterate. Wihtred, king of Kent (689-725), says on several occasions thatnbsp;he has made his mark pro ignorantia litter arum-, but other examples arenbsp;rare. Yet the distinction seems to us to imply a tradition that only thenbsp;clergy were expected to be able to sign their names.

With the evidence at our disposal it is at all events a precarious hypothesis that the writing of English poetry�or prose�was cultivated by the laity in the times we are discussing; and a still morenbsp;precarious hypothesis that it was cultivated, either by laymen ornbsp;ecclesiastics, for the benefit of a lay reading public. The writing ofnbsp;English began presumably in places where writing was customary and

easy, i.e. in religious houses�where also English religious poetry had its origin. And one would naturally expect that the first poems to benbsp;written down would be religious poems. The writing of secular poems,nbsp;designed for the entertainment of a lay public, belongs surely to a laternbsp;phase.

In the Norse world and in all parts of the North the Runic alphabet continued in use until much later than in England�a fact due doubtlessnbsp;to the late introduction of the Roman alphabet. Inscriptions are not sonbsp;common in Norway and in Norse colonies as in Sweden, where theynbsp;are preserved in very great numbers; but even in the former theynbsp;extend over a period of more than a thousand years. The inscribednbsp;objects are similar to those found in England, except that coins withnbsp;Runic legends appear to be wanting, at least in Norse lands, whereasnbsp;memorial stones are infinitely more numerous. The Norse inscriptionsnbsp;yield little or nothing which can be regarded as literature; but poetrynbsp;is not uncommon on Swedish and Danish memorial stones. The stonenbsp;of R�k in southern Sweden, dating from the tenth century, contains anbsp;good deal.

References to Runic writing are of very frequent occurrence in poems and sagas. Most often it is mentioned in connection with magicalnbsp;formulae and spells, as in xhs.SigTdTifumdl(^z{. p. 449 f.); but we also hearnbsp;of its being employed for sending messages. Sometimes also it is saidnbsp;to be used for recording poems. Thus in Egils Saga, cap. 78, whennbsp;Egill is composing his poem, the Sonatorrek, his daughter ThorgerSrnbsp;inscribes�or offers to inscribe�it on a rod (cf. p. 348). In Grettisnbsp;Saga also, cap. 66, Grettir records his adventures at Sandhaugar in twonbsp;stanzas, which he inscribes on a rod and leaves in the church porch; andnbsp;though the story is fictitious, it testifies to the prevalence of the custom.nbsp;There seems to be no evidence, however, which would lead us tonbsp;suppose that any of the surviving texts owe their preservation to suchnbsp;records.

The Roman alphabet was introduced into Norway and its colonies in the course of the eleyenth century, chiefly from England. Occasionalnbsp;instances of its use are found earE�r, e.g. on the coins of Earl Haakon thenbsp;Great (975-95); but these may be the work of foreigners. In the firstnbsp;half of the eleventh century the relations between Norway and Englandnbsp;appear to have been very close, especially during the regency ofnbsp;Alfifa (Aelfgifu), an Englishwoman who held the government fornbsp;her son Sveinn (1030-5). Before the end of the century a certain

amount of Latin literature was produced in the Norse world. We may mention especially the Icelandic scholar S�mundr.

The first documents of any appreciable length in the native language seem to have been the Laws of the various provinces�Gulapingslog,nbsp;Frostapingsl�gy etc. These are believed to have been committed tonbsp;writing c. 1100/ or very shortly after, though they are now preservednbsp;only in later recensions. The same is true of the Laws of Iceland, whichnbsp;are said to have been first written down in 1118.

The development of literature can best be traced in Iceland. The earliest known scholar who wrote in the vernacular was the priest Ari,nbsp;who produced his history of Iceland {Islendingab�E) within a few yearsnbsp;of the appearance of the Laws, c. 1130, though the text which nownbsp;survives is believed to be an abridgment subsequently made by thenbsp;author. During the next half century a considerable number ofnbsp;religious works appear to have been written both in Iceland and innbsp;Norway, while in the former country many sagas also were committednbsp;to writing apparently before 1200. MSS. of poetry are rare. Ournbsp;knowledge of early Norse poetry is derived in the main from quotationsnbsp;in sagas and other prose works; and consequently the great majority ofnbsp;the poems are incomplete. It is generally believed, however, that thenbsp;original MS. of the Edda poems, from which the surviving copies arenbsp;derived, was written before 1200. The next following period was thenbsp;great age of Icelandic literature, especially under Snorri Sturluson, whonbsp;died in 1241. It was also a time of considerable literary activity innbsp;Norway; but this country was now almost entirely under foreign influence, in secular as well as religious literature.

On the Continent, apart from Jutland, Runic inscriptions are rare, though they are scattered over a wide tract of country, from France tonbsp;the Ukraine. The inscribed objects are almost entirely of metal, andnbsp;consist of weapons and ornaments, especially brooches. They containnbsp;little or nothing which can be regarded as literature, though one broochnbsp;from Nordendorf in Bavaria preserves the names of the gods Wodannbsp;and Thonar, perhaps in a magic formula. After the eighth century thenbsp;Runic alphabet appears to have been known only to a few antiquariannbsp;scholars, and these had at best only an imperfect acquaintance with it.

' Snorri states in the Heimskringla {Magnus Saga Goda, cap. 17) that there was in his time in the Throndhjem district a law-book written by order of Magnus thenbsp;Good, who reigned 1035-47. Snorri is a most trustworthy authority; but thisnbsp;statement is not generally credited by modern writers.

Among the Goths about the middle of the fourth century a new alphabet was introduced, derived mainly from the Greek. In this anbsp;certain amount of religious literature was produced. What remains consists of a translation of the greater part of the New Testament, somenbsp;fragments of the Old Testament and of a homily, and a few insignificantnbsp;fragments.

Many of the Teutonic peoples became acquainted with Roman writing before the close of the fifth century. The earliest documents arenbsp;the Laws of the various kingdoms; but these, like everything else, arenbsp;written in Latin. In the vernaculars, apart from Gothic, there is little ornbsp;nothing before the eighth century, and even then the remains consistnbsp;almost entirely of glosses and fragments of translations of religiousnbsp;works. In the ninth century we meet with religious poems on a largenbsp;scale, such as Otfried�s Gospel Harmony from the south of Germanynbsp;and the Heliand (on the same subject) from the north. But of poetry�nbsp;or prose�on native lines there is nothing except the fragment of thenbsp;Hildebrandeslied, written about the close of the eighth century, and anbsp;few spells, chiefly from the ninth. The great mass of German heroicnbsp;poetry is preserved only in texts dating from the thirteenth centurynbsp;and in a form (metre, etc.) which cannot be much older than that time.nbsp;From earlier times we have two historical poems, of which one (thenbsp;LudwigsUed} celebrates the victory of Louis III over the Northmennbsp;at Saucourt in 881, while the other {De Heinrico') is concerned withnbsp;the meeting of Otto the Great and his brother Heinrich in 952.nbsp;But the former is entirely under foreign influence both in style andnbsp;metre, while the latter consists of alternate half lines in Latin andnbsp;German.

Taking the Teutonic evidence as a whole, it is of interest to note how the output of written vernacular literature was governed by thenbsp;amount of attention devoted to Latin studies. On the Continent, wherenbsp;Teutonic and Latin populations were included under the same rule, thenbsp;output of Latin literature never ceased. The early writers were usuallynbsp;native Romans; but from the eighth century onwards there was annbsp;unceasing stream of Latin literature�chronicles, histories, biographies,nbsp;poems, etc., in addition to religious and legal works�produced bynbsp;scholars of German nationality. In England, where no Latin-speakingnbsp;population existed, this phase began earlier but had not a very long life.nbsp;In the ninth century English was being commonly written, and in allnbsp;probability for literature on native as well as Roman lines, whereasnbsp;Latin was then moribund, though it revived in the tenth century. In

Iceland the Latin phase was shorter and much less productive, and the native language was widely written, for secular as well as religiousnbsp;literature, within considerably less than two centuries after the introduction of Christianity. In Norway the case was much the same, except that French literature took the place of the native literature ofnbsp;entertainment.

Three phases therefore are to be distinguished in the early history of (Roman) writing among the Teutonic peoples. In the first phase Latinnbsp;only is written. In the second the native language is employed fornbsp;writing religious and other works derived from Roman sources ornbsp;based on Roman models. In the third purely native works are written.nbsp;But this third phase did not arise on the Continent before the twelfthnbsp;century, and then only in a much modified form, while even the secondnbsp;phase was largely local and hardly recognised in the highest circles. Innbsp;the main writing continued to be bound up with a foreign language.nbsp;But in England Latin learning could not be maintained permanently. Innbsp;the ninth century very few even of the clergy understood their services.nbsp;In Iceland doubtless the difficulty was still greater. Hence the impetusnbsp;to the adaptation of writing to the native languages was more pressing�nbsp;with the rather curious result that education, at least the ability to readnbsp;and write, was apparently more widely diffused in proportion as eachnbsp;country was more remote from the centres of civilisation. It is lessnbsp;surprising that the third phase is better represented in Iceland than innbsp;England; for England had been affected to a much greater extent by thenbsp;foreign influence.

There is evidence that a reaction in favour of native Teutonic poetry was not wholly unknown on the Continent. Charlemagne himself according to his biographer Einhard {Vita Karoli Magni, cap. 29)nbsp;had ancient German heroic poems written down, and learned themnbsp;by heart. But nothing has been preserved, unless indeed the fragmentnbsp;of Hildebrand comes from this source, and we hear no more of them.nbsp;Presumably there was no reading public for such things at that time.nbsp;Einhard (cap. 26) assures us that Charlemagne himself could read quitenbsp;well, but he adds that he would never read aloud, nor would he singnbsp;except in a low voice and together with the rest of those who werenbsp;present. He was never able to write {ib. cap. 25), though he was alwaysnbsp;trying to do so; he had begun too late in life. Yet Charlemagne wasnbsp;without doubt a man not only of outstanding ability but also of quitenbsp;exceptional intellectual activity. His attainments may be taken as annbsp;index of what a prince or nobleman might at best achieve during the

�Latin phase�? They would be quite useful for the purpose of reference to the written Laws; but such persons would not be likely to read verynbsp;much for pleasure. It was not, we think, before the ninth century innbsp;England and the latter part of the twelfth century in Iceland that conditions were changed in this respect. Even then the term �readingnbsp;public� is perhaps somewhat misleading. What we mean is that it wouldnbsp;then not be difficult to find laymen who were in the habit of entertainingnbsp;their friends and neighbours either by reading aloud or by reciting tonbsp;them after perusal of a MS. In earlier times we believe there were plentynbsp;of persons who could recite without reference to a MS., but very fewnbsp;to whom the MS. would have been any use.

It is a curious fact that the ancient rule, derived from Greek, of writing each verse in a separate line was not applied to the poetry of thenbsp;northern languages. Poetry was treated as prose. Presumably thenbsp;convention was originally set by persons who were not familiar withnbsp;MSS. of Latin poetry.

In Britain Roman writing was of course known in much earlier times�long before the Heroic Age. Both in Wales and elsewherenbsp;inscriptions occur from the early part of the Roman period. The vastnbsp;majority are in Latin, though Greek is not rare, and even Orientalnbsp;languages are found; but there are no inscriptions in the vernacular.nbsp;The proper names naturally belong to many lands; British examples arenbsp;quite frequent. Such names sometimes show British pronunciation,nbsp;e.g. Catuallauna in an inscription, half Latin, half Aramaic, at Carlisle,nbsp;and even a British case ending, e.g. Brigomaglos at Chesters (Choller-ford); but such cases are rare. Even when they occur the rest of thenbsp;sentence is in Latin.

In addition to the Latin (Greek, etc.) inscriptions there are a number of stones inscribed with Ogam writing, of which the earliest, e.g. atnbsp;Silchester, may date from the fourth century. Some of these containnbsp;Gaelic forms; and the prevailing view at present is that all of them are ofnbsp;Irish origin. If that is correct we have hardly any British inscriptionsnbsp;until comparatively late times. Probably the earliest example is anbsp;difficult inscription in half-uncials at Towyn in Merioneth. The readingnbsp;here is complicated, because more than one inscription seems to havenbsp;been cut upon the stone; but the earliest is believed to date from the

* Exceptional cases doubtless occurred, such as the Northumbrian king Aidfrith and, in earlier times, the Frankish king Helpric (Chilperic) ; but they were probablynbsp;very rare.

485 seventh century/ To the sixth and seventh centuries also doubtlessnbsp;belong many inscriptions in Wales, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and thenbsp;south of Scotland, which are either in Latin or contain only propernbsp;names. Some are in capitals, some in half-uncials; but the lettering isnbsp;always very rude in comparison with inscriptions of the Roman period.nbsp;Perhaps the most important monument is that of Voteporix (Vorti-porius), the king of Dyfed attacked by Gildas, which must date fromnbsp;about the middle of the sixth century. The stone, which was found nearnbsp;Llanfallteg (Carmarthenshire), bears inscriptions both in Roman andnbsp;Ogam letters.^ In the former the king�s name is given in British, in thenbsp;latter in Gaelic form. We may also mention a monument to two sons ofnbsp;Nodus Liberalis, i.e. Nudd Hael, a cousin of Rhydderch Hael, found innbsp;Yarrow, Selkirkshire (cf. p. 143), and another to Catamanus, i.e.nbsp;Cadfan, father of Cadwallon, preserved in the church of Llangadwaladr,nbsp;Anglesey. Of these the former dates probably from the second half ofnbsp;the sixth century, the latter from the early part of the seventh. Fromnbsp;later times the most important example is the inscription on the columnnbsp;near Valle Crucis set up by Cyngen, king of Powys, who retired innbsp;850. It is now unfortunately illegible, but a partial copy was made bynbsp;Llwyd at the beginning of the seventeenth century. 3

Latin literature seems never to have wholly perished. It is true that there is little or nothing which can be dated with absolute certainty between the middle of the sixth century and the early part of the ninth.nbsp;But we have seen (p. 154 if.) that in all probability a good deal of antiquarian tradition and speculation found its way into writing during thisnbsp;period. We may refer especially to the �Book of St German� and tonbsp;traces of chronicles, especially perhaps in the north; and Nenniusnbsp;{Hist. Brit.^') refers to previous writers on the same lines as himself.nbsp;Religious literature also can hardly have been at a complete standstill,nbsp;although the Lives of saints which we have belong to a later period.nbsp;Some knowledge of Latin poetry is shown by the hexameter verses�nbsp;not very correct, it is true�which occur sometimes in monumentalnbsp;inscriptions. 5 Grants of land and privileges, some of which may benbsp;derived from originals of the eighth century or earlier, are recordednbsp;i Cf. Morris-Jones, Y Cymmrodor, xxviii. 266. -7

* .. .de ciuitatibus et mirabilibus Britanniae insulae, ut alii scriptores ante me scripsere, scripsi�in texts of the Cambridge group after cap. 56.

5 E.g. H�bner, Inscr. Brit. Christ. Nos. 82 (Pant y Polion, Carmarthenshire), 149 (Llangadwaladr, Anglesey), and perhaps 209 (Yarrow, Selkirkshire); cf. p. 143.

Probably the earliest extant example of written Welsh is a memorandum of a reconciliation entered on the title page of the (Gospel) Book of St Chad, which was transferred from Llandaff to Lichfield somenbsp;time in the latter part of the tenth century. There is some reason fornbsp;believing that the memorandum was copied, perhaps in the seventhnbsp;century, from an original which may have been written in the sixth.nbsp;The same MS. also contains some early notices of donations in Welsh.nbsp;From the ninth century there are a number of glosses; and two shortnbsp;poems in the Cambridge MS. of Juvencus are believed to date from thenbsp;same period. From the tenth century we have a fragment of a �Computus�,� somewhat similar to one of Bede�s tracts. All these, like many ofnbsp;the inscriptions, are written in the insular variety of half-uncial, which isnbsp;used also in Anglo-Saxon and Irish.

The early Laws claim to have been drawn up by Howel the Good. The original text was probably written during the later years of hisnbsp;reign, c. 942-50; but the texts which have come down to us representnbsp;�recensions� (doubtless much modified and expanded) not earlier thannbsp;the twelfth century. The earliest Welsh MS. dates from c. 1200. Onenbsp;or two Latin MSS. are a little earlier.

Of the MSS. which contain collections of poetry the earliest is the Black Book of Carmarthen, part of which was written probably not longnbsp;after 1150. By this time the insular script had given way to ordinarynbsp;medieval writing. In orthography the MSS. differ a good deal.3 Butnbsp;all of them preserve forms which show earlier features; and probablynbsp;a number of poems have been copied from texts not later than the tenthnbsp;century. Such forms are especially frequent in the Book of Aneirinnbsp;{ad fini).

The oldest texts differ from the later both in language and in orthography, but more especially perhaps in the latter. They rarely use which may perhaps have been taken over from Anglo-Saxon some time

� Ed. and transi, (with facsimile) by Quiggin, Zeit sehr. f. celt. Phil. viii. 407 ff. 3 Thus for the sound d (Mod. W. dd) BBC. uses f, whereas the other MSS.nbsp;have d. For v the other MSS. often use � as in Anglo-Saxon. For w Tai. and RBH.nbsp;commonly use a symbol which may have been suggested by A.S. w, though it doesnbsp;not resemble it. If these features are really due to English influence, they must havenbsp;been taken over before 1150. But they seem not to occur (except occasional/) innbsp;the earliest part of BBC.

487 between the tenth and the twelfth centuries. But the most strikingnbsp;feature is that they use several letters with double phonetic values.nbsp;Thus c, Z72, � at the beginning of words normally have their ordinarynbsp;values. But in other positions�with certain exceptions�they mustnbsp;have represented the sounds g, v, b, d respectively. This is shown by thenbsp;later language. Medieval texts commonly keep c, p, t (not m} fornbsp;these sounds only at the end of words. In such cases their retentionnbsp;must be due to traditional orthography; and the same remark applies alsonbsp;to the regular use of (non-initial) c, t in the early texts. In the greatnbsp;majority of cases the sounds denoted by c, m^p, t had actually been thenbsp;sounds c, p^ t. The sounds changed in the course of time; but thenbsp;traditional orthography was retained. It is important, however, tonbsp;observe that these sound changes took place as far back as the seventhnbsp;century, as may be proved by the representation of Welsh names innbsp;English records of that time. Thus we find Ceadwalla for Catguollaunnbsp;(later Cadwallori) and Maban for Mapon (later Mabon). Indeed thenbsp;change from ttod can be traced with certainty back to the sixth centurynbsp;in a number of names, e.g. Cerdic for Ceretic (later Ceredig}. The changenbsp;from m to v is not quite so old, as may be seen in Caedmon for Catmannbsp;(later Cadvan, Cad/an} and in (Dat. pl.) Deomedum for Dimet (laternbsp;Dyfed'). But it must have taken place before 700, as may be seen fromnbsp;Melfobenz Musa (i.e. Melpomene) in the Epinal Glossary�a glossnbsp;which evidently comes from a British-Latin source. The salient featuresnbsp;of early Welsh orthography must therefore date from the seventhnbsp;century�indeed in all probability from the sixth.�

The double phonetic use of c, m, t is found also in Irish; but here it cannot (except in the case of nd) be explained by native sound laws. Itnbsp;appears to have been taken over from Welsh orthography and, as wenbsp;shall see below, confirms the conclusion stated above as to the timenbsp;when this became fixed. Another conclusion which is indicated both bynbsp;the conservatism of the orthography and by the Irish evidence is thatnbsp;Welsh must have been written in these early times to a greaternbsp;extent than one would infer from the extreme paucity of the recordsnbsp;which have been preserved. And here it is necessary to bear in mindnbsp;that British civilisation was on the decline from the fifth century

i Early W. c (Mod. g) is usually represented by Engl, c {cl^ in place-names; but the sound was g by c. 700 at latest, as may be seen by the personal name Baeglognbsp;(W. baglog) in the Durham Liber Vitae. It is worth noting that original g is sometimes preserved in the earliest Welsh records, though the English evidence (e.g. Luel,nbsp;Cumbra) shows that it had ceased to be pronounced in the seventh century.

onwards. The Church itself was out of touch with the rest of the world, except the other Celtic peoples. It is likely enough therefore that, as innbsp;Ireland and in England in the ninth century, Welsh may have begunnbsp;to displace Latin as a written language.

The absence of records is not necessarily fatal to such a supposition. We have practically no literary records from the Roman period, whennbsp;they must have existed in abundance. In the latter part of the sixthnbsp;century a good half of England was still British territory; but within thenbsp;next century it was nearly all gone. Our records come only from Wales;nbsp;and here there seems to have been no revival before the tenth century.

The question would be of great importance for us if it could be shown that secular native literature was ever written in these times�ornbsp;that any of the poems with which we are concerned could be traced tonbsp;' early written texts. In the following chapters it will be seen that many ofnbsp;.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;our poems must have been preserved by oral tradition, probably for a

ViV nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;considerable time. Yet in some cases the possibility of derivation from

In Ireland the earliest examples of writing are the monumental Ogam inscriptions,' which are very numerous. They are always in Gaelic, butnbsp;never contain more than a few words. They are believed to date chieflynbsp;from the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries, though the evidence is almostnbsp;wholly of a philological character and inferential. Occasionally they arenbsp;accompanied, as in Wales, by brief Latin inscriptions of the earlynbsp;Christian type in Roman letters.

References to the use of Ogam writing occur frequently in sagas. Often it is stated that a hero�s name is inscribed in Ogams at his funeral.nbsp;In other cases they are used for spells, the inscribed objects being sometimes weapons, sometimes wooden rods, apparently of birch. Thesenbsp;latter seem to have been used also for the purpose of conveying messages.nbsp;A knowledge of Ogams was required in the education of the fid (cf.nbsp;p. 603). It is stated that he is to learn fifty in each of the early years ofnbsp;his training, though what is meant by this is not quite clear. In onenbsp;story,� relating to the time of Art, the father of Cormac, we hear ofnbsp;� Rods of Filid� upon which were inscribed many stories of visions andnbsp;courtships. And a very early, though unhistorical, reference to the usenbsp;of Ogam writing for poetry occurs in the Foyage of Bran {ad fin.},

The story of Baile mac Buain. Text and transi, in O�Curry, MS. Materials, p. 472 ff. ; cf. p. 464 ff.

489 where Bran is said to have written the poems in Ogam. But it is hardlynbsp;credible that so cumbrous an alphabet can have been used to anynbsp;appreciable extent for literary purposes. The sagas, however, imply thatnbsp;the knowledge of Ogam writing was not confined to filid. In the Tainnbsp;Bo Cuailnge CuChulainn on several occasions cuts and inscribes rods,nbsp;which he leaves behind him for Medb�s warriors to read; and these arenbsp;interpreted by Fergus.

Tombstones inscribed in Roman writing, usually half-uncial, are preserved in great numbers in the cemeteries of ancient monasteries,nbsp;especially Clonmacnois.�^ The earliest which have been identified as yetnbsp;belong to the eighth century; but many of them may be still earlier.nbsp;The inscriptions are very frequently in Irish.

Latin literature began with St Patrick, or possibly even earlier.^ It is not unlikely that a considerable amount has been preserved from thenbsp;next two or three centuries; but for the most part it is embedded innbsp;later works. It is mainly of ecclesiastical character.

The earliest vernacular texts are likewise almost wholly ecclesiastical. They come from various monasteries on the Continent and consistnbsp;chiefly of glosses. Many of them date from the eighth century. Thenbsp;oldest, together with fragments of a homily, preserved at Cambrai, arenbsp;believed to have been written c. 700. Of matter other than religiousnbsp;there are some scraps of poetry written in the margins of the MSS., butnbsp;these also appear to be chiefly of monastic origin.

The Irish Laws present very difficult and complicated problems, owing to the amount of additions and commentaries which have beennbsp;incorporated with the original text. These problems are now beingnbsp;thoroughly investigated for the first time. All that can be said here isnbsp;that the original text seems to date from very early times�probablynbsp;as early as the seventh century.

The MSS. which contain sagas, heroic and non-heroic, are not earlier than the twelfth century. In the oldest of them, the Lebor na-hUidre,nbsp;the original hands date from c. 1100, while the Book, of Leinster., whichnbsp;contains the largest collection of all, was written about sixty years later.nbsp;Many of the stories are preserved only in much later MSS. But there isnbsp;no doubt that a large number of them were committed to writing innbsp;much earlier times. Some MSS., e.g. the Yellow Book of Lecan., a MS. ofnbsp;the fourteenth century, preserve to a great extent the forms and orthography of the eighth or ninth century. Not unfrequently references

occur to earlier MSS., from which the surviving ones are derived. Of these lost MSS. the earliest and most important seems to have been thenbsp;Book of Druim Snechta, which is known to have contained manynbsp;stories, especially non-heroic (cf. p. 468 f.). From a comparison of thenbsp;forms which occur in the MSS. derived from it with those which arenbsp;found in the earliest glosses it is clear that this MS. must have beennbsp;written in the first half of the eighth century.*

The history of Irish writing is in its early stages closely connected with the history of British writing. The script is practically identical innbsp;both cases, and there can be little doubt that Ireland obtained it fromnbsp;Britain.^ Moreover early Irish writing, like early Welsh, uses the lettersnbsp;c, �, t with double phonetic values, i.e. for the sounds f as well asnbsp;for the sounds c, p, f, and it can scarcely be questioned that this usagenbsp;also was derived from Britain, where its origin was due, as we have seennbsp;(p. 487), to phonetic causes. Lenition of consonants took place innbsp;Irish, as well as in Welsh; but it took a different form. And it is important to observe that in Irish the lenited sounds derived from c, p, tnbsp;are expressed differently from the sounds from which they are derived�nbsp;they are written ch^ph, thJgt; This seems clearly to indicate that early Irishnbsp;orthography became fixed at a somewhat later stage in the history of thenbsp;language than was the case in Welsh, viz. after the lenition was completed, or at least far developed. Such evidence as we have suggests thatnbsp;lenition took place about the same time in both languages. Consequently it would seem that Irish orthography became fixed later thannbsp;Welsh�which is quite in accordance with the observations notednbsp;above.

The early Ogam inscriptions and the proper names which occur in St Patrick�s writings belong to a totally different stage in the history ofnbsp;the language from what we find in the earliest vernacular texts. On thenbsp;whole they are closely parallel to the British forms which are found innbsp;inscriptions of the Roman period. Without doubt the period from thenbsp;fifth to the seventh century was a time of rapid linguistic change innbsp;both countries. On the other hand the forms of the names in Adam-nan�s Life of St Columba, which was written shortly before 700, are in

� Together with a large number of words denoting practices and ideas connected with the Church�which were derived from Latin through the medium of Welsh;nbsp;cf. Thurneysen, Handbuch des Alt-1 rischen, I. 517 f.

3 The lenited sounds derived from the other consonants (including ni) are expressed by the same letters as the unlenited sounds. The lenition of m seems notnbsp;to have been quite the same as in Welsh.

491 general far more in accord with the forms of the earliest vernacularnbsp;texts than with those of the Ogams. There are, however, even here anbsp;certain number of exceptional forms, which represent an earlier stage ofnbsp;language.� In particular we may note the (not very rare) use of u iorfnbsp;e.g. in U'mnianus, Uirgnous for Finnian, Fergna�a relic of the timenbsp;previous to the change of w to f which had taken place before Irishnbsp;orthography became fixed. It is probable, however, that such namesnbsp;were taken over from earlier records, for the persons who bear thesenbsp;names belonged to the past�Fergna died in 623, Finnian long before.nbsp;The evidence then, taken as a whole, tends to indicate that it was in thenbsp;course of the seventh century�perhaps about the middle of it�thatnbsp;early Irish orthography became fixed.

It would seem then that Roman writing must have been known in Ireland for at least two centuries before it was adapted to use for thenbsp;vernacular. There is some reason for believing that during that periodnbsp;a not inconsiderable amount of Latin literature was produced. At allnbsp;events Irish learning was already famous in the seventh century, and hadnbsp;by this time doubtless outstripped that of Britain. But the chief contrast in the history of literature between the two countries is to benbsp;found in the period which followed the beginning of writing in thenbsp;vernacular. It is clear that in the eighth and ninth centuries greatnbsp;activity was developed in the writing of Irish literature, secular as wellnbsp;as religious, whereas there is no satisfactory evidence for any considerable body of Welsh written literature at this time.

The writing of Irish secular literature may have been very largely due to the filidd' It has been pointed out^ that the contents of the Booknbsp;of Druim Snechta suggest that it was the work of zfili rather than of annbsp;ecclesiastic. They are of a most pronouncedly heathen character. Thenbsp;heroic elements are slight; but deities figure very prominently in thenbsp;stories. There is also much about visions, tabus, reincarnation, andnbsp;other subjects which might be expected to interest a fill. Now thenbsp;filidsNete originally seers; and they must have felt their influence to benbsp;seriously threatened by the growth of the Church. But unlike thenbsp;Druids, who disappeared, they came to terms with the Church andnbsp;continued to maintain their position as a kind of what we may callnbsp;literati. According to a widely spread story an attempt was made atnbsp;the Convention of Druim Ceta in the year 573 to suppress them, on

� Archaic forms in names derived from Irish sources occur also occasionally in Bede�s Eccl. History, e.g. Meilochon (in. 4).nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;� See Addenda.

account of their arrogance and extortionate demands; but St Columba intervened on their behalf and saved them. The Eulogy of St Columbanbsp;is said to have been composed by the fill Dalian mac Forgaill in commemoration of this.

It may be that not all the filid made peace with the Church at this time. This is at least what is suggested by the stories and poems relating tonbsp;Mongan (cf. p. 469 f.), whose court would seem to have been one of thenbsp;last strongholds of the old faith. Yet it may be observed that the poemsnbsp;contained in the Voyage of Bran are in a metre of Roman derivation,nbsp;which would seem to indicate that even this milieu was not long freenbsp;from Roman influence.

Between the filid in general and the Church a sort of compromise seems to have been brought about, though we do not know that it wasnbsp;ever stated in formal terms. The filid were allowed to retain their traditions of the gods and to commit them to writing; but the gods were nonbsp;longer represented as objects of worship, and the use of the word �god�nbsp;was avoided. The result of this compromise was that Ireland has preserved a richer store of traditions relating to the heathen age than anynbsp;other European country except Greece; for the filid were doubtless thenbsp;best informed and most intellectual class of people in the country. Innbsp;theory their training seems to have remained purely oral, apart from thenbsp;Ogams; but in point of fact in the tenth century they were often authorities on Roman as well as native learning and must have got much ofnbsp;their information from books. We shall have to speak of them morenbsp;fully in Ch. xix.

What we would emphasise here is the part played by this class in the literary history of Ireland. In Wales we find a class, the bards (fieirdd},nbsp;who in the sixth century may have resembled the filid very closely. Itnbsp;is quite possible that literary activities may have begun among thenbsp;British bards earlier than among the filid. But if so they were cut shortnbsp;by the political conditions�by the fact that all the best of the Britishnbsp;territories were lost soon afterwards. There is no satisfactory evidencenbsp;that in Wales itself the bards cultivated writing until a much later period.

There is no evidence in the records of early Greece for any foreign influence equal in magnitude to the influence which was exercised bynbsp;Rome upon the literary history of northern Europe. Yet both thenbsp;forms and the names of the letters show that the alphabet was derivednbsp;from a North Semitic source, presumably Phoenician. In the Bronzenbsp;Age a different kind of writing, which has not yet been deciphered, was

493 current, at least in Crete; but the general opinion now seems to be thatnbsp;this died out without influencing the writing of historical times�indeed probably before the latter came into existence. The alphabet ofnbsp;historical times varied considerably in different parts of the Greeknbsp;world; but it was clearly of uniform origin. Only in Cyprus, down tonbsp;the fourth century, there existed a totally different�syllabic�form ofnbsp;writing. We do not know whether this was connected in any way withnbsp;the prehistoric writing of Crete.

The earliest datable Greek inscription is one of a number which are inscribed on the leg of a statue of Rameses II at Abu Simbel. It statesnbsp;that it is the work of soldiers in the army of King Psammetichos�nbsp;presumably Psammetichos II, who reigned c. 593-589 b.c. But anbsp;number of inscriptions which are undated may well go back to thenbsp;seventh century. A still earlier date for the use of the alphabet may benbsp;inferred from the fact that the various Greek colonies in Italy, Sicily andnbsp;elsewhere usually employ the same forms of alphabet as the cities bynbsp;which they were founded. Several of these colonies were founded beforenbsp;the close of the eighth century, and it would seem that by this time anbsp;good number of well-marked local varieties already existed. Somenbsp;scholars hold that the names of the winners at the Olympian Games,nbsp;which are preserved from 776, are derived from contemporary writtennbsp;records. However that may be, if the materials used in early timesnbsp;were of a perishable character, the alphabet may have been known longnbsp;before that time. The Semitic evidence seems to point to the periodnbsp;between the tenth and the eighth century. Datable inscriptions in thenbsp;North Semitic alphabet are said to be rare. But the stone which commemorates the victories of Mesha, king of Moab, and which dates fromnbsp;c. 850, bears a rather close resemblance to the earliest Greek writing,nbsp;in spite of certain differences in details.

The purposes for which writing was employed in early times seem on the whole to have been much the same as in the North,� though fromnbsp;the sixth century onwards we meet with very long inscriptions containing treaties and other public notices, for which no Northern

I An interesting analogy to the inscriptions of Abu Simbel may be found in the Runic inscriptions cut on the walls of the great pre-historic tomb of Maeshowe innbsp;Orkney. At least fourteen persons seem to have inscribed their names there. Twonbsp;inscriptions say they are the work of Crusaders who have broken into the tomb.nbsp;These were doubtless the followers of Earl Ronald of Orkney, who went to thenbsp;Holy Land in 1151. The Norwegian part of his force spent the previous winter innbsp;Orkney, and apparently occupied their time in this way. Cf. Dickins, Runicnbsp;Inscriptions of Maeshowe (Kirkwall, 1930).

parallels are to be found. The materials also were apparently similar, though the Greek articles were doubtless often of more advancednbsp;types. We hear of letters written on folded wooden boards even in thenbsp;Iliad (vi. 168 f.). In later times at least these boards were covered withnbsp;wax. Another form of letter�apparently referred to by Archilochosnbsp;(fragm. 89)�was the scytale. It was used especially for secret despatches.nbsp;The letter was written on strips of leather and had to be wound roundnbsp;a rod of a certain thickness in order to be read. Inscriptions are alsonbsp;frequently found on painted pottery.

The question which primarily concerns us is the application of writing to literary purposes. It is commonly held now that the worksnbsp;of the early Greek poets, including even Homer and Hesiod, werenbsp;written from the beginning. This means of course that writing on anbsp;large scale was practised as far back as the eighth century or earlier.nbsp;The records give no evidence to justify such a belief. Writing may wellnbsp;have been known from the ninth century. But down to the sixthnbsp;century its scope seems to have been little more extended than that ofnbsp;Runic writing in the North.

Written literature usually begins with the writing of the Laws. Such was the case in England, in the North�apparently in Sweden and Denmark, as well as in Norway and Iceland�and probably also in Ireland.nbsp;In Greece the first written Laws are said to have been drawn up bynbsp;Zaleucos for Locroi Epizephyrioi, in the south of Italy, c. 660. Atnbsp;Athens the first written Laws appear to have been those of Dracon,nbsp;enacted in 621. Many other cities are believed to have had their lawsnbsp;committed to writing about the same time. But of prose works apartnbsp;from Laws there is no record before those of the philosophers Pherecydesnbsp;and Anaximandros, who flourished not long before 550.

The ability to read and write was doubtless widespread in the seventh century; and poems may frequently have been written down, as in thenbsp;case of Egill�s Sonatorrek (cf. p. 348). But we cannot believe thatnbsp;writing was the medium by which poetry was commonly disseminated atnbsp;this time. Writing is probably necessary for the circulation of a prosenbsp;literature, if�as distinct from saga�an author�s actual words are to benbsp;preserved. At least we know of no exceptions other than ritual worksnbsp;which are preserved by a priestly organisation. But poetry is obviouslynbsp;easier to preserve; and before the existence of a reading public it is bynbsp;this means alone that an author can hope to obtain a wide circulation fornbsp;his actual words. The political poems of Solon, Tyrtaios and othersnbsp;indicate that such were the conditions in Greece in their times.

For the existence of a reading public the knowledge of reading and writing is not alone sufficient. There must also be abundant and convenient writing materials. But it is much to be doubted if such was thenbsp;case in Greece before the close of the sixth century. Laws were inscribednbsp;upon wooden boards or rods�' or on blocks of stone. For less permanentnbsp;requirements, as we have seen, leather or some kind of skin was usednbsp;besides the wooden tablets, which were apparently more common ; butnbsp;there is no reason for supposing that this was anything like the vellumnbsp;or parchment which played so great a part in the history of literaturenbsp;from the Roman period to the Middle Ages. The latter was an inventionnbsp;of the third century (b.c.), inspired by the necessity of finding a substitute for papyrus, which had become too dear owing to the excessivenbsp;demand. From the fifth century, and indeed probably from the sixth,nbsp;onwards papyrus had been the material regularly used for literarynbsp;purposes.

The importance of papyrus for the history of literature was perhaps greater even than that of parchment was in later times�at least if thenbsp;various vegetable substances used as writing materials in the East werenbsp;originally suggested by it. At all events it is clear that not long beforenbsp;the middle of the first millennium (b.c.) some great impetus to writtennbsp;literature was experienced throughout the East, as well as in Greece, andnbsp;that the types of writing adopted in India were derived from Semiticnbsp;sources. Papyrus was probably known to the Semitic peoples�bothnbsp;the Arameans in Assyria and the Hebrews and Phoenicians in Palestinenbsp;�from the eighth century, indeed sporadically even earlier;^ but there isnbsp;no evidence which would lead one to infer that it was used in Greece sonbsp;early. The first record of a Greek merchant in Egypt relates to the yearnbsp;688 ;3 but the real development of Greek trade with this country seemsnbsp;not to have taken place before the latter part of the century. Before thatnbsp;time papyrus may of course have found its way sporadically into thenbsp;Greek world, whether through Greek or Phoenician channels. But itnbsp;did not lead to the discovery of any native vegetable substitutes, as innbsp;the East; the lonians, who had the Egyptian trade mainly in theirnbsp;hands and who doubtless first began to use papyrus, called it � skins�nbsp;(SupO�pai). Herodotos (v. 58), in explanation of this, says that

� Solon�s Laws are said to have been inscribed on amoves, apparently wooden boards, which seem to have been set up in the Prytaneion (� City Hall �) and fittednbsp;with some contrivance for turning; cf. Plutarch, Solon, cap. 25.

formerly owing to the scarcity of papyrus they had used the skins of sheep and goats.

From what has been said it seems to us unlikely that papyrus came into general use in Greece much before the close of the seventh century.nbsp;In the absence of precise evidence we have to depend unfortunatelynbsp;upon general considerations. In the early part of that century thenbsp;civilisation of the Greek world was evidently very similar to that of thenbsp;Norse world in the tenth century (a.d.), and we see no reason fornbsp;believing that the art of writing was more developed. But fromnbsp;this time the progress in Greece was more rapid. First came thenbsp;demand for written Laws, and within a century from this we find thenbsp;beginnings of a prose literature. The sequence would be natural ifnbsp;suitable writing materials became generally available during the intervening period.

The linguistic evidence seems to us to point quite definitely to the same conclusion. The remains of the early poets, Hesiod, Gallinos,nbsp;Archilochos, Simonides, Tyrtaios, Mimnermos, Solon and others arenbsp;all preserved in a more or less uniform type of language. This is also innbsp;general the language of the Homeric poems, though here we find also anbsp;considerable number of quite alien (Aeolic) forms and also numerousnbsp;archaic forms, which occur likewise in Hesiod�s poems and to somenbsp;extent elsewhere. The only important exceptions down to the beginningnbsp;of the sixth century are the poems of Aleman, Sappho and Alcaios.nbsp;Now the language to which we are referring is not exactly Attic, thoughnbsp;it is not far removed from it. Such a language may have served quitenbsp;well as a common literary medium for Athens and the neighbouringnbsp;cities of the Cyclades. But it is incredible to us that Tyrtaios can havenbsp;employed such a form of language in his poems, which are addressed tonbsp;the Spartans,^ and very unlikely that Hesiod can have employed it, atnbsp;least in the J^orks and Days, which is surely intended in the first placenbsp;for Boeotians. �Translation� then in some form or other is involved.nbsp;But, if so, why are the poems of Aleman, Sappho and Alcaios notnbsp;translated.^ The explanation cannot wholly lie in the fact that these latternbsp;were lyric poets, although in the case of lyric poems �translation� maynbsp;have heen more difficult. From Sappho we have also elegiac poems,nbsp;which are preserved in their original (Aeolic) language, like the lyrics.

' There was a widespread story, known to Plato, tliat Tyrtaios was of Athenian birth. It is doubted by Strabo, vin. 4. 10. Whatever may be the truth, Tyrtaios innbsp;his poems clearly identifies himself with the Spartans. He is a very model of patrioticnbsp;nationalism.

497 Moreover we have lyric poems from Archilochos, Solon and others innbsp;the same form of language as the rest of their poems.

The true explanation seems to us to be as follows. In the fourth century, before the rise of Alexandria, when Athens was the intellectualnbsp;centre of the Greek world and its language had been adopted everywhere as the language of literature, it is more than probable that thenbsp;texts of authors of the past which were current there came to be generally accepted as the standard texts everywhere. There is no reason fornbsp;doubting that, with the exception of the Homeric poems and perhapsnbsp;Hesiod, these texts had been current at Athens from the times of thenbsp;authors themselves or shortly afterwards. Now if we leave out ofnbsp;account the Ionic authors�for whom little � translation� was required�nbsp;it will be seen that it is the earlier authors who are � translated�, while thenbsp;later authors are untranslated. The difference in time between Tyrtaiosnbsp;and Aleman was probably not great; but almost all Doric and Aeolicnbsp;authors after the latter are preserved in their original language.� Therenbsp;can be little doubt that Pindar�s poems circulated in written form; andnbsp;we need not hesitate to believe the same in the case of Aleman and thenbsp;poets who followed him, Sappho, Stesichoros, etc., for even by Aleman�snbsp;time�towards the close of the seventh century�facilities for writingnbsp;may have been generally accessible.� The difference in the treatment ofnbsp;the earlier poets points, we believe, to oral transmission of their poems.nbsp;We mean that they did not come to Athens in writing.

It may be observed that in passages quoted by an author from poems in a different form of language �translation� appears to have been thenbsp;usual practice. Numerous examples may be found in Herodotos. In anbsp;score of Delphic oracles quoted by him we have noticed forms whichnbsp;are definitely Doric only in one case�an oracle given to the Cyreneansnbsp;(iv. 159)�and even in this the Doric forms are mixed with Ionic. Yetnbsp;Doric was the language of the Delphic sanctuary, as is clear fromnbsp;numerous inscriptions found there. The inscriptions quoted by thenbsp;same author are also reproduced in Ionic, whatever their source. We maynbsp;refer in particular to the famous epitaphs, quoted in vii. 228, upon thenbsp;Spartans and their Peloponnesian allies, who fell at Thermopylai in

480. These monuments are not preserved, but there can be no reasonable doubt that the inscriptions were in Doric. We may compare the inscription upon the serpentine column of the tripod dedicated atnbsp;Delphoi from the spoils won at Plataiai in 479, which is referred to innbsp;IX. 81 and is still preserved at Constantinople. The inscription is innbsp;Doric and the form of writing is that of Sparta, although the armies ofnbsp;Athens and of most of the other Greek states took part in the battle.

It is difficult for us to believe that Herodotos had not written copies of the oracles and inscriptions which he quotes. But we suspect that evennbsp;with the leading literary men of the fifth century speech and memorynbsp;were of much greater importance�in comparison with writing�thannbsp;they are with us. Even if his information did come from writtennbsp;copies�whether in the original languages or not�it may well havenbsp;been less trouble to him to remember the verses than to write themnbsp;down. We may note that he regularly gives Doric and Aeolic names innbsp;Ionic form. Good examples may be found in the long genealogies ofnbsp;the Spartan kings, recorded in vii. 204 and viii. 131. Other writers arenbsp;less consistent. Thucydides apparently more often preserves the nativenbsp;forms. But the �translated� forms are common enough everywhere,nbsp;and doubtless reflect the usage of ordinary speech. For the preservationnbsp;of the Doric and Aeolic texts we are probably indebted to professionalnbsp;scribes from the beginning.

The language of the Homeric poems is a subject which has been debated so frequently and fully that it is impossible to do more thannbsp;state an opinion here.^ The poems were familiar throughout the Greeknbsp;world; and their archaic language and diction is frequently reproducednbsp;in poetic inscriptions.� We are unable to believe that they were commonlynbsp;either recited or learnt in an alien form of language. The fact that thenbsp;language of the inscriptions which contain the Homeric forms andnbsp;formulae is always the native language�whether it be the Doric ofnbsp;Corfu or the Ionic of Naxos�is definite evidence to the contrary.nbsp;Evidence to the same effect is furnished by the forms of heroic names,nbsp;especially on painted vases, where they are written over the figuresnbsp;depicted. Such forms as Wekaba and Daiphobos cannot possibly benbsp;derived from our text�or any Ionic text�of the poems. The (presumably Chalcidian) form Ainees is equally incompatible with our text.

499 Athens. Its origin can be accounted for satisfactorily enough by thenbsp;story which credits Peisistratos with having ordered the poems to benbsp;written down. The only serious objection to the story is that there is nonbsp;evidence for it before the time of Cicero. In any case it seems to usnbsp;highly improbable that writing on this scale was undertaken muchnbsp;before the middle of the sixth century. We are far more ready to believenbsp;that the complete written text dates from a still later time. It wasnbsp;presumably due to the magnitude of the task that, so far as we know,nbsp;no other texts were ever committed to writing, though in Italy theynbsp;apparently survived in oral use long enough to influence Latin poetry.nbsp;As for the original language of the poems we believe this can benbsp;traced only in the alien element embedded in our text�which belongsnbsp;to the Aeolic of Asia. If we could recover the versions of the poemsnbsp;current in (say) Sparta or Corfu, we should doubtless find the samenbsp;element embedded in a Doric text. We see no satisfactory evidence fornbsp;the presence of true Ionic elements in our text. But in regard to thenbsp;early history of the poems certain questions will require notice in thenbsp;following chapters.

From the evidence discussed in this chapter it will be clear that in the early history of writing two phases are to be distinguished everywhere,nbsp;except perhaps among the Britons. In the first phase writing is employed for messages, for inscriptions denoting ownership, for memorialnbsp;inscriptions, perhaps for spells, and for other purposes for which a smallnbsp;amount of writing will suffice�but not to any considerable extent fornbsp;literary purposes. In this phase writing is a difficult and slow businessnbsp;owing to the nature of the materials available. In the second phasenbsp;writing is easy, owing to improved materials, and regularly used fornbsp;literary purposes. The first phase lasted everywhere for a considerablenbsp;time�two or three centuries both in Ireland and in Greece, much longernbsp;among the English, four or five times as long in the North�but thenbsp;two phases overlap to some extent, especially among the northernnbsp;peoples.

In no case was the transition from the first to the second phase due to purely native development. In the north of Europe it is accompaniednbsp;by the introduction of a new kind of writing and a new language. Herenbsp;we have to distinguish three periods or sub-phases in the new phase. Innbsp;the first only the new language is written in the new writing and withnbsp;the new materials. In the second the new writing is adapted to the nativenbsp;language, but only for laws and for subjects connected with the new

influence. In the third it is applied to purely native literature. These three divisions of the phase are found everywhere; but they differ muchnbsp;in length in the different countries, and there is of course much overlapping. In England the first two sub-phases may be said to be in partnbsp;contemporary;^ for the earliest Laws date practically from the beginningnbsp;of the phase. Otherwise the second sub-phase is not much in evidencenbsp;for the next century and a half, while the third begins perhaps half anbsp;century after that. In Ireland the first sub-phase lasts some two centuriesnbsp;before we see any trace of the second, while the third begins betweennbsp;half a century and a century after the second.

For Greece there is no need to adopt any such divisions of the second phase. No new form of writing was introduced; the writing of thenbsp;second phase was a continuation of that of the first. Nor was any newnbsp;language introduced. What brought about the new phase in Greecenbsp;was the acquisition of new writing materials from Egypt. But at thenbsp;same time it is to be noted that this was only one of many new thingsnbsp;which Greece learnt from Egypt and the East in the course of thenbsp;seventh century. It was in this century and through knowledge thusnbsp;gained that Greece passed very rapidly from barbarism to civilisation.nbsp;There is no trace of any organisation like the Church, by which thenbsp;northern peoples were brought under Roman influence. But it isnbsp;significant that several of the intellectual leaders of the early sixthnbsp;century, such as Thales and Solon, are said to have visited Egypt and thenbsp;East in quest of knowledge.

It would appear that written vernacular literature usually begins with Laws. In England the earliest Laws were written long before any othernbsp;writings in the vernacular of which we have record. In one Greek city atnbsp;least, the Italian Locroi,� the Laws are said to have been written at a datenbsp;which seems to fall within our first period. And for this we have annbsp;analogy in early Roman history, if we are to believe the story of the Tennbsp;(or Twelve) Tables; for the date assigned by tradition to these Laws isnbsp;more than two centuries earlier than any Latin literature of which wenbsp;have record. This, however, is not incredible, in view of the proximity

� The explanation of this peculiarity is, we think, that the ability to read English was at first probably limited to a very small number of persons�perhapsnbsp;only to certain royal officials.

� It seems strange at first sight that a place which plays so small a part in Greek history should be the first to have its laws written, however large and wealthy it maynbsp;have been. But mercantile interests may have been responsible, as elsewhere. Therenbsp;was great wealth in Italy about this time, as may be seen from the Etruscan andnbsp;Praenestine tombs.

501 of flourishing Greek cities, e.g. at Naples, whose merchants must havenbsp;been well known to the Romans. When Latin literature began it was asnbsp;much indebted to Greek models as Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical literaturenbsp;was to Latin models.

Unfortunately we have no information as to what forms of literature were first written down, apart from laws, legal documents and works ofnbsp;ecclesiastical interest. It seems to us most improbable that long epicnbsp;poems or sagas should be among the first to receive this treatment. Butnbsp;positive evidence is wanting.

The case of Britain is obviously different from all the rest, owing to the exceptional history of the country; but unfortunately our information is defective at many points. We do not know whether the Britonsnbsp;ever had a native writing of their own, whether Ogam or other; butnbsp;Roman writing would seem to have been current to some extent evennbsp;before the Roman conquest. Throughout the Roman period goodnbsp;writing materials, including papyrus or parchment, were doubtlessnbsp;obtainable in many parts of the country. This implies the prevalence ofnbsp;conditions which we have described above as the second phase�nbsp;presumably the first division of it. It is not likely that the use of parchment ever died out, even when the territories of the Britons had becomenbsp;restricted to the poorer and more backward parts of the country. Butnbsp;we are very much in the dark as to the beginnings of the second and thirdnbsp;divisions of the second phase, i.e. as to when Welsh began to be writtennbsp;(a) for ecclesiastical and (^) for secular literature. We have no record ofnbsp;any written Laws before those of Howel the Good (c. 942-50); andnbsp;there is no doubt that about this time a good deal of Welsh secularnbsp;poetry was written, in addition to ecclesiastical works. There is goodnbsp;reason also, as we have seen, for believing that Welsh was written at anbsp;much earlier period�three or four centuries earlier�but we do notnbsp;know whether this applies to secular literature; nor do we know to whatnbsp;extent or in what localities it was written at this time. Welsh traditionnbsp;and history, intellectual as well as political, tends to centre in Gwynedd.nbsp;But the intellectual activities of which we are speaking may have belonged to some other part of the country, which was subsequently lost.

IN the last chapter we saw that there is abundant evidence for the writing of English in the ninth century. It is certain that the languagenbsp;was written to some extent in earlier times�in Laws from thenbsp;beginning of the seventh century. But we do not know how far it wasnbsp;written for literary purposes before the ninth century. With the exception of the few short texts mentioned on p. 477, no MSS. of earlier datenbsp;have been preserved. Indeed nearly all Anglo-Saxon poetry is contained, as we have seen, only in MSS. dating from the end of the tenth ornbsp;the beginning of the eleventh century. It is clear enough that most of thenbsp;poems were written before this time; but the date when they were firstnbsp;written is generally difficult to ascertain.

The poems in general show a mixture of forms belonging to different periods and different parts of the country. In this respect they shownbsp;a certain resemblance to the Homeric poems. The prevailing type ofnbsp;language is what is commonly known as late West Saxon, since itnbsp;originated in Wessex; but by the end of the tenth century it had come tonbsp;be the school language of the greater part of England. Embedded innbsp;this, however, we find earlier forms, sometimes belonging to Wessex,nbsp;more often to other parts of the country. But it does not appear that, asnbsp;in the case of the Homeric poems, the preservation of these forms isnbsp;usually due to metrical considerations. There is a good deal of variationnbsp;between one poem and another; but the tendency seems rather to be fornbsp;non-West Saxon forms to occur in archaic and poetic words, whilenbsp;words which belong to the language of everyday life usually appear innbsp;the normal late West Saxon form. Thus in Beowulf the West Saxon formnbsp;is invariable in eald, �old�, whereas in the poetic word for �life� thenbsp;West Saxon ealdor and the non-West Saxon aldor are about equallynbsp;frequent.

The existing MS. of Beowulf vs, written in two hands, the second of which begins at 1939. There are considerable differences in orthography between the two portions; and it is clear that one of the twonbsp;scribes, probably the first, introduced extensive changes. Behind thenbsp;present text, however, we can detect at least two MS. strata, one ofnbsp;which was West Saxon, apparently of a somewhat earlier type, but

503 probably not very early, while the other, which was still earlier, wasnbsp;evidently not West Saxon. It is of interest to notice that this earliernbsp;stratum appears to have used the digraph oe,i which is alien to thenbsp;orthography even of early West Saxon; the sound had been lost innbsp;Wessex before 850. On the whole the evidence for this early stratumnbsp;seems to point to a text written in the Mercian orthography, which wasnbsp;current in Kent and various other parts of the country during the firstnbsp;half of the ninth century, as a result of the Mercian political supremacy.nbsp;We doubt, however, whether there is sufficient material for determiningnbsp;the kingdom or province to which the writer belonged. The traces ofnbsp;Kentish or other dialect which have been suggested are not convincing.nbsp;Our impression is rather that the different strata represent in generalnbsp;the different standard school languages which successively obtainednbsp;currency.

We think that the mixture of forms which is to be found in most other Anglo-Saxon poems is usually to be explained in the same way, innbsp;spite of differences in detail. It is quite possible, however, that somenbsp;poems are derived ultimately from the Northumbrian kingdom, where anbsp;different orthography prevailed. Such may be the case with some atnbsp;least of the Riddles, which seem to show traces of the loss of final -�,�nbsp;an exclusively Northumbrian characteristic. One Riddle (No. xxxvi)nbsp;is preserved (in a Continental MS.) in Northumbrian form. Caedmon�snbsp;Hymn is of course of Northumbrian origin, and so also any other poemsnbsp;by the same author which may have been preserved; but we do notnbsp;know whether the scribal tradition is Northumbrian. The same remarknbsp;applies to the Dream of the Cross. The inscription upon the Ruthwellnbsp;Cross shows at least that this poem was known in the north at an earlynbsp;date.

The most important evidence bearing upon the date of Anglo-Saxon poems is that of syntax. 3 In particular there is considerable variation innbsp;the use of the definite article. In the Battle of Maldon it is nearly threenbsp;times as frequent as in while all the religious poems fall between

i The text several times has � for e�a mistake due apparently to misunderstanding oe, which was unfamiliar to the scribes. For examples see Klaeber, Beowulf^ p. Ixxix. We believe that the forms Hr�dles, Hr�dlan, beside the more frequentnbsp;Hrepel, etc., are to be explained in the same way, in spite of the Norse forms. Anbsp;very convenient summary of the linguistic characteristics of Beowulf will be foundnbsp;in Klaeber, op. cit.., Introduction, cap. vn (p. Ixii ff.).

� E.g. in Rid. xv. i, where we think w�pen wtga (for wigari) should be read.

3 The conclusions which certain scholars have drawn from the metrical evidence seem to us unconvincing; cf. Chadwick, The Heroic Age, p. 464 f.

these two extremes. In those which are generally believed to be the earliest, Genesis and Exodus, the occurrences are only about 20-30 pernbsp;cent, more frequent than in Beowulf, but in others they are more thannbsp;twice as frequent. The significance of this is that in Beowulf, as in thenbsp;Homeric poems, the word is still a demonstrative (or relative) pronoun,nbsp;and has not yet become an article. With rare exceptions it is only innbsp;combination with the adjective that it is used as an article�a phenomenon which is regular also in early Norse poetry, though the wordnbsp;used here is of a different origin. It may be remarked that the archaicnbsp;character of Beowulf vu this respect is shared also by the Gnomic poems.nbsp;In these the use of the article is even more rare; but the peculiar naturenbsp;of the subject-matter may be partly responsible for this.

The most striking evidence for date is to be found in the presence or absence of the article with the (weak) adjective in combination with anbsp;noun. In Cynewulf�s poems the article occurs in such combinationsnbsp;eight times for every time that it is wanting, whereas in Beowulf,nbsp;omitting certain doubtful cases, it is wanting five times for every timenbsp;that it is found�i.e. it is forty times more common than in Cynewulf�snbsp;poems. Here again the earlier religious poems occupy an intermediatenbsp;position. The nearest approach to the usage of Beowulf is that of thenbsp;Exodus, which has ten examples with the article to fourteen without.

All this evidence tends to show that nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;belongs to an earlier

phase of language than any of the religious poems. It does not necessarily follow, however, that the poem was written down at a very early date. To this question we shall have to return in the next chapter. Itnbsp;may be mentioned that the other heroic poems show no markednbsp;divergences from the usage of Beowulf But they are too short for anynbsp;safe conclusions to be based on statistics of their syntax; and the samenbsp;remark applies in general to the poems discussed in Ch. xiv.

Very few Anglo-Saxon poems are preserved in more than one MS., and consequently the material available for study by a comparison ofnbsp;texts is very limited. First we may take the five poems or metricalnbsp;pieces which are preserved in more than one MS. of the Saxon Chronicle.nbsp;Throughout these five pieces there is only one variant which is not duenbsp;either to mere corruption, through carelessness, or illegibility of thenbsp;original, or to modernisation of orthography.

In all other cases the text seems to be treated with somewhat greater freedom. Riddle xxxi, of which two texts occur in the Exeter Book,

' In the poem on the Battle of Brunanburh {ann. 937), where MS. B (i8) has forgrunden for the archaic word ageted.

505 presents several variations which cannot be accounted for by either ofnbsp;the processes mentioned above. One case affects a whole line. Innbsp;Riddle XXXVI, which is preserved in an early Northumbrian form (seenbsp;above), as well as in the Exeter Book, apart from minor variations thenbsp;last two lines are wholly different in the two texts. In Caedmon�snbsp;Creation Hymn the only variant to be noticed here^ is that the earlynbsp;Northumbrian text (cf. p. 477) has aida against the eor^an of the othernbsp;texts. But the passages from the Dream of the Cross inscribed upon thenbsp;Ruthwell Cross contain several important variants from the text of thenbsp;poem preserved in the Vercelli Book.

All the pieces noticed in the last paragraph are very short. There are only two poems of any length preserved in more than one MS. One ofnbsp;these is the Address of the Soul to the Body contained in the Exeter andnbsp;the Vercelli Books. Here, apart from cases of corruption, omission, andnbsp;modernisation of orthography, there are a considerable number ofnbsp;variants. In one case (12 ff.) two Exeter lines correspond to threenbsp;Vercelli lines, owing to a fuller text in the latter; and something similarnbsp;is to be found in 84 f., though the Vercelli reading here is hardly metrical.nbsp;In sixteen cases the Vercelli text has pronouns, pronominal and othernbsp;adverbs, prepositions or the word �all�, which are wanting in the Exeternbsp;text, while the latter has three such cases which are wanting in thenbsp;Vercelli text. In between fifteen and twenty cases the two texts usenbsp;different words (e.g. bewitige�gepence}, where the variation cannot benbsp;attributed to misreading. In one case (123 f.) we find transposition of anbsp;whole line, in three cases transposition of individual words. The commonnbsp;part of the text^ amounts to 120 lines in the Exeter Book and to 126nbsp;lines in the Vercelli Booh, but the omissions in either case may be due, atnbsp;least partly, to accident. Yet in view of what has been pointed out it isnbsp;clear that the textual tradition is of a different kind from what is found innbsp;the Saxon Chronicle.

In the other case the textual tradition shows even greater freedom of treatment. There can be no doubt that the first part (1-75) of the poemnbsp;generally called A:^arias in the Exeter Book is of identical origin with anbsp;portion (280-365) of the poem Daniel in the Junius MS., though anbsp;good number of lines found in the latter are wanting in the former. Thenbsp;variations are much the same as in the previous case; but out of thenbsp;seventy-five lines common to the two poems only twenty-three are

* The later texts have wera against the North, uerc�which gives a different sense. But this change may be due to misreading or misunderstanding of the original.

identical.� Usually the variation affects only one word in the line� perhaps a preposition or an added pronoun�but occasionally it affects anbsp;whole line. The correspondence between the two poems ends withnbsp;the fourth verse of the hymn Benedicite, Omnia Opera. The rest of thenbsp;hymn is contained in both poems, but they have only an occasional linenbsp;or half-line in common. After the conclusion of the hymn also they arenbsp;independent, except in one passage {Daniel, 412-16; Ar^arias, 170-5).nbsp;In this case no single line is identical, but there are agreements whichnbsp;cannot be due to accident.

The two cases just noticed are of course not quite parallel. Daniel and Avarias are not the same poem, though they contain a large commonnbsp;element, which must have been taken either by one of them from thenbsp;other or by both from a common source.� But the divergences notednbsp;above give rise to the question whether the relationship is due tonbsp;copying. In the later passages {A^. 94 f., 105 ff., 170 ff.) it seems to usnbsp;much more probable that the resemblances are due to memory. In thenbsp;first part (1-75) the case is not quite so clear. We think there is a thirdnbsp;possibility, intermediate between copying and the unaided use ofnbsp;memory. There may have been persons to whom it was easier or morenbsp;natural to make use of their memory than to copy even when they hadnbsp;a written text at hand. This of course means treating the material asnbsp;spoken poetry rather than as script; and it is much easier thereby tonbsp;account for the frequent alterations of the text�whether deliberate ornbsp;not. It is to be observed that, with rare exceptions, both readings arenbsp;metrically correct and give good sense. 3 We are inclined to think thatnbsp;this is the true explanation of the variants in the Address�possibly alsonbsp;of the divergences between Avarias (1-75) and Daniel, though innbsp;regard to this we are doubtful.^

Whatever the explanation may be, we have in Daniel and Avarias the case of two poems beginning with a common opening and subsequentlynbsp;diverging. For this we shall find parallels later in oral poetry. Now wenbsp;may take the case of a portion of one poem incorporated in another

The question might perhaps be settled by a careful examination of the orthography, especially the use of equivalent letters, such as p and S.

poem. The Genesis is the longest and perhaps the earliest of the religious poems; quite possibly it may be the work of Caedmon himself. Butnbsp;after 1. 234 one or more leaves are lost in the only MS., and then, fromnbsp;235 to 851, comes a long passage translated from a German (Oldnbsp;Saxon) poem on the same subject. The rest, from 852 to the end (2935),nbsp;belongs to the original English poem. There is no break in the narrativenbsp;at 852; so it may be presumed that a portion of the original poem wasnbsp;omitted, when the foreign passage was incorporated. But owing to thenbsp;damage to the MS. it is impossible to determine exactly how the latternbsp;was introduced.

The German poem was presumably either acquired by an Englishman on the Continent or brought over here by a German. In the latter case it is natural to think of John the Old Saxon, who was made abbot ofnbsp;Athelney by Alfred the Great. The German poem appears to have beennbsp;composed not long before his time. Only fragments of it now remain,nbsp;and of these only one, consisting of twenty-five lines, belongs to thenbsp;portion preserved in the English Genesisd Here the treatment is verynbsp;similar to what we have observed above. Only four lines are identical innbsp;the two texts; but in nine others the difference affects only a singlenbsp;word or expression. The majority of the other changes are also slight;nbsp;but in two cases the English version has expanded one line of the originalnbsp;into two. Some changes, it may be observed, are doubtless due to thenbsp;occurrence of words which were not current in English. These cases,nbsp;however, are comparatively few; and in point of fact the translationnbsp;retains a fair number of words which were either unknown in English ornbsp;known only in a different sense. Many of the variants are clearlynbsp;analogous to those which we have noticed in the Address and in Avarias',nbsp;and we are no more certain than in the latter case as to whether a MS.nbsp;was used. It is not impossible that our text is the work of an Englishmannbsp;listening to the dictation or recitation of a German.

In all the cases noticed above, whatever explanation be adopted, the treatment of the text involves a relationship between authorship andnbsp;copying�or writing from memory�which is foreign to modern ideas.nbsp;The nearest analogy is probably to be found in pirated hymns andnbsp;popular songs. In the next section we shall see that similar phenomenanbsp;occur in poems which are without doubt derived from oral tradition.nbsp;Here we shall find examples not only of verbal variation between twonbsp;texts of the same poem, but also of passages more or less identical which

� The two passages are printed side by side in Cook and Tinker, Translations from Old English Poetry, p. 184 f.

are contained in two different poems. The evidence seems to us to show that the Anglo-Saxon faculty of improvisation or �re-composition� andnbsp;the habit of transferring passages from one poem to another are inherited from times when poetry was preserved only by oral tradition.

There can be no question as to the importance of oral tradition in the history of early Norse poetry. It is universally agreed that a considerable body of poetry survives from the tenth century and an appreciablenbsp;amount�though fragmentary�from the ninth. Yet nothing wasnbsp;committed to writing until a much later period�apparently the latternbsp;part of the twelfth century. This means a period of nearly three centuriesnbsp;from the time of Harold the Fair-haired; but from the evidence at ournbsp;disposal there seems to be no reason for doubting the authenticity of thenbsp;poems dating from that reign. Snorri, in the prologue to the Heims-kringla^ states that these poems were still known to many people in hisnbsp;time; and many fragments of them are preserved in quotations in hisnbsp;own works and elsewhere. It is generally believed that some of thenbsp;anonymous {Edda) poetry is quite as old.

None of the MSS. in which the poems are preserved are older than the thirteenth century; but they are all copies of earlier MSS. Consequently the language shows a mixture of thirteenth- and twelfth-centurynbsp;forms, though the former predominate. The syntax, however, is that ofnbsp;a much earlier period, as in some Anglo-Saxon poems. In particular wenbsp;may note the complete absence of the article with nouns. The suffbdngnbsp;of the article to the noun is believed to date from c. 1100; but this ofnbsp;course must have been preceded by a transition period when the articlenbsp;was more or less commonly associated with the noun.

Norse poetry, apart from the Edda poems, is mostly preserved in sagas and other prose works. The texts show much the same variants innbsp;the poetry as in the prose. In general they are not unlike what we findnbsp;in the Saxon Chronicle�especially substitutions of more modern fornbsp;earlier forms, and misreadings. The variants shown by texts of poems ornbsp;fragments of poems which are preserved in two or more different worksnbsp;are generally of a similar character. Poems preserved both in a Norwegian work like the Fagrskinna and an Icelandic work like thenbsp;Heimskringla show Norwegian forms in the one and Icelandic forms innbsp;the other. Such is the case (e.g.) with the poem on the Battle of Hafi-

* We are referring of course to Roman writing. Poems were sometimes written down in Runic writing in much earlier times (cf. p. 480) ; but there is no evidencenbsp;that the texts of any existing poems have been affected by such writing.

509 fjord and with the Hdkonarmdl. There are cases, however, of variantsnbsp;which are not so easily explained. Thus in st. i of the Eiriksmal^ asnbsp;quoted by Snorri {Skaldskaparmdl^ cap. 2), there are two variants fromnbsp;the text of the poem contained in the Fagrskinna^ which give a differentnbsp;meaning to the opening lines. And sometimes still greater variationsnbsp;are found.^

The text of the Edda poems shows analogous phenomena. There are two early MSS. which contain (or rather have contained) many of thenbsp;poems�the Codex Regius (/?), of the late thirteenth century, and thenbsp;Arnamagnean (y^), of the early fourteenth�while a few of the poemsnbsp;also occur singly in other MSS. Large portions of A are unfortunatelynbsp;lost; but so far as it is preserved, the variants between it and R are of thenbsp;usual scribal character. On the other hand the text of the F�luspdnbsp;found in the Hauksb�k, another MS. of the early fourteenth century,nbsp;differs in many respects from that of R. In A this poem is wanting.nbsp;Some stanzas are peculiar to the Hauksb�k, others to R. The order ofnbsp;the stanzas differs greatly, and there are many differences of wording innbsp;the stanzas which both texts have in common. Again, the pdttr ofnbsp;Nornagesti contains a text of the Hebrew Brynhildar which differsnbsp;frequently from that of R. The differences are not of such a strikingnbsp;character as in the last case, but they give a different meaning to severalnbsp;passages. We may further note that Snorri�s quotations from the Eddanbsp;poems often show a different text from that of R and A. In all thesenbsp;cases we have to deal with alternative readings, both of which as anbsp;rule conform to the rules of metre and convey at least an intelligiblenbsp;meaning.

The question has sometimes been debated whether Snorri�s quotations were drawn from MSS. or from memory. To us it seems incredible thatnbsp;a man of Snorri�s knowledge can have been wholly dependent uponnbsp;written sources. Half a century before his time the poems were preserved by memory alone, and it is hardly conceivable that he did notnbsp;know many of them by heart. Doubtless MSS. were accessible to him,nbsp;and he may well have consulted them from time to time; but we do notnbsp;see why he should take the trouble to copy MSS. of poems which henbsp;could write out from memory. The disuse of the memorising faculty,nbsp;which is a result of the printing press, must not be assumed for Snorri�snbsp;time.

� For an example we may refer to a stanza relating to the marriage of Harold the Fair-haired with Ragnhildr, which some scholars believe to have belonged to thenbsp;Hrafnsmal. Text and transi, in Kershaw, Anglo-Saxen and Norse Poems, p. 79.

It is impossible of course in a work like this to enter upon a discussion of the elaborate theories which have been proposed in regard to thenbsp;structure of some of these poems and the relationship of the texts. Thesenbsp;theories too frequently rest upon the assumption that a writer who hadnbsp;MSS. before him must have been wholly dependent upon them�annbsp;assumption which seems to us inadmissible when applied to Snorri andnbsp;other well-informed men of his time. It is perhaps in regard to questionsnbsp;of �interpolation� that this assumption is most prevalent.

Of all these poems the V�luspd is probably the one which presents the most complex textual problems. In st. 9 both MSS. speak of the creationnbsp;of dwarfs, and then (st. 10 if.) give a long list of them. Snorri also in thenbsp;Gylfaginning, cap. 14, quotes almost the whole passage, and it is clearnbsp;from the context that he knew it as occurring at the same point in thenbsp;poem as we find it in the MSS. Most of the names are the same in allnbsp;three texts�R, Hauksb�k and Snorri�s�but the differences, especiallynbsp;in the order, are sufficiently great to make it difficult to believe that anynbsp;one of them is derived from either of the others. This, however, is onenbsp;of the passages usually regarded as interpolations. To the modern mindnbsp;the list may seem a futile enough effort and�what is more serious�itnbsp;appears out of place in a poem in which dwarfs otherwise play practicallynbsp;no part. But this objection applies with at least equal force if it be annbsp;interpolation. We have to account not only for the introduction of suchnbsp;an inappropriate passage but also for the fact that it was accepted by allnbsp;subsequent writers, including the chief literary man of the age. Snorrinbsp;would surely have been less inclined to incorporate the passage in hisnbsp;work if he had known that it was an interpolation made during his ownnbsp;lifetime than if he had believed it to belong to the traditional text of thenbsp;poem.

We do not see why the list of dwarfs should not have come down from the days of oral tradition, whether it formed an original part of the poemnbsp;or not. A good parallel to it is to be found in the list of mermaidsnbsp;(Nereids) which occurs both in Hesiod�s Theogony (243 ff.) and, withnbsp;considerable variations, in the Iliad (xviii. 39 ff.). To the latter poemnbsp;learned catalogue matter of this kind is essentially foreign. But thenbsp;Theogony is a poem of the same type as the T^oluspd and comprises bothnbsp;the chief elements of the latter�cosmogony and the conflict betweennbsp;gods and demons, though there are differences in arrangement and innbsp;proportion. It is true that the list of mermaids is one of a series of longnbsp;catalogues in the Theogony, whereas the other catalogues in the V�luspdnbsp;are few and brief, and themselves regarded as interpolations by many

scholars. Yet such catalogues are not necessarily out of place in a cosmological poem; and the truth may be that the poem has sufferednbsp;more from omissions than from additions�though we do not mean tonbsp;suggest that what survives is entirely the work of one man or of onenbsp;period.

The sequence of ideas is certainly very far from clear. Various attempts at reconstruction have been proposed, involving changes of the most drastic character. We have not the courage to attempt anything ofnbsp;the kind�which indeed we regard as quite hopeless. We are prepared,nbsp;however, to venture the following remarks:

the variety in the formulae with which stanzas are introduced�sometimes T saw, I know�, etc., sometimes �she saw, she sees� (relating to the seeress)�we are inclined to infer that it was derived from more than

� priar for prir in st. i6 (72; st. 17, H}. The mistake can be accounted for in H more easily than in R. In the former it is followed by passa brudir�which does notnbsp;connect with what follows. It would seem that the openings of two differentnbsp;stanzas had been confused (cf. st. 8). The evidence for other common scribal errorsnbsp;seems to us inconclusive.

one version, probably in a ruinous state. As to the origin and date of the poem we are not prepared to speculate. One stanza (A. 61) suggestsnbsp;the period of transition between heathenism and Christianity, like thenbsp;Mongan poems. But this stanza stands in no relation to the rest and maynbsp;be one of the additions.

We may next take the case of poems of which only one text is preserved, but which contain elements�stanzas or lines�which occur also in other poems. Very frequently there is some variation. For annbsp;example we may refer to the passage from the Grimnismdl (st. 41 f.)nbsp;quoted on p. 321. The first of these stanzas recurs in the Vafpr��nism�l,nbsp;with slight variations as follows: �The earth was formed from Ymir�snbsp;flesh, and the cliffs from his bones; the sky from the skull of the ice-cold giant, and the sea from his blood�. The context of the two passagesnbsp;is quite different.

It is perhaps in poems which deal with the story of SigurSr and GuSrun that these identical or similar passages occur most frequently.nbsp;We may refer to a few cases from Gu�r�narkvida /, Gu�r�narkvi�a IInbsp;and SigurOarkviba Kin skamma. Thus G. I begins as follows : � It was longnbsp;ago that GuSrun was like to die as she sat by (the dead body of) SigurSr.nbsp;She did not weep or wring her hands or make lamentation over (hernbsp;trouble), as other women do �. The scene here is laid in the palace. Butnbsp;in G. Il, which is a retrospective poem of Type B, the murder is said tonbsp;have taken place out in the forest. In st. 11 GuSrun says she went to thenbsp;forest to find the body, and then continues: �I did not weep or wringnbsp;my hands or make lamentation over (my trouble), as other women do,nbsp;when I sat consumed (with grief) for SigurSr�. Again, in G. I. 18nbsp;GuSrun says: �In comparison with the sons of Gjuki my SigurSr wasnbsp;like a garlic standing out above the grass, or a bright stone, a preciousnbsp;stone, set in a collar worn by a prince�. So in G. II. 2 she says: �Beside the sons of Gjiiki SigurSr was like a green leek standing out abovenbsp;the grass, or a high-stepping stag beside nimble deer, or fiery red goldnbsp;beside gray silver�. The following passages may also be compared. Innbsp;G. I. 16 it is said that when her sister removed the covering fromnbsp;SigurSr�s body, GuSrun gave way to such violent weeping that �thenbsp;geese in the courtyard screamed at the sound, the splendid birds whichnbsp;the girl owned�. The first part of this sentence occurs also in Sigur-�arkvi�a^ 29; but here it is introduced as a result of GuSrun�s screamsnbsp;immediately after the murder, and it is also said that the crockerynbsp;rattled. In G. I. 25 Brynhildr says: �Atli is solely responsible for allnbsp;the trouble�. In �'. 27 the mortally wounded SigurSr says: �Brynhildr

THE TEXTS nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;513

is responsible for all the trouble�. The reference is in both cases to the same event.

The significance of such parallels as these�which are numerous� seems to us to have been somewhat incorrectly estimated. They havenbsp;been used as criteria for determining the relative antiquity of the poems.nbsp;It is assumed that a poem which borrows an expression from anothernbsp;poem must of necessity be the later of the two. If we were dealing withnbsp;written poetry this would doubtless be true. But it is clear from modernnbsp;oral poetry�and the same may be said of ballad poetry�in which somenbsp;freedom of treatment is allowed, that no inference can safely be drawnnbsp;from such parallels, except that the two poems must once have beennbsp;current in the same community. GubT�narkviba I vas:^ be a later poemnbsp;than Gu�r�narkvida II, since the latter is called �the ancient Gu�r�nar-kvida��,^ and both may be later than Helgakvioa Hundingsbana II,nbsp;where Sigrun says (st. 39) that her dead husband Helgi excelled (other)nbsp;heroes as a splendidly shaped ash excels thorns. But the question ofnbsp;priority must be determined by other considerations, if it can benbsp;determined at all. The comparison found in the Helgakvuia and the twonbsp;Gn�rdnarkvidur may well be a convention of the poetry of the period.nbsp;Very little Norse heroic poetry survives except the poems relating tonbsp;SigurSr and GuSriin and to Helgi ; but this is a mere accident. If we maynbsp;judge from references in other early poems these stories were surpassednbsp;in popularity by several other heroic stories�relating (e.g.) to HamSirnbsp;and S�rli, to HagbarSr and Signy, to HeSinn and H�gni�which arenbsp;now known only from one poem, or only from prose paraphrases ornbsp;from Saxo. It is only when an expression is applied to the same person,nbsp;as in the two Gu�r�narkvidur, that one can feel any confidence as to thenbsp;existence of a connection. Even then it is usually difficult to determinenbsp;which of the two poems the expression originally belonged to; and thisnbsp;poem is not necessarily the older of the two.

An interesting passage may here be quoted from the poem just referred to�Helgakvi�a Hundingsbana II. In the prose which follows st. 18 it is related that Helgi went with a fleet to attack a king callednbsp;Granmarr, and that GuSmundr, a son of the latter, espied them from thenbsp;cliffs. �Then said GuSmundr, as is written above in the Helgakv�a'.

� But this expression does not necessarily mean more than that G. IIwas known before G. I in the circle where the name was first used. G. I was apparently not anbsp;widely known poem; it is not used either by Snorri or by the V�lsunga Saga. Butnbsp;We fail to see how the silence of the Vols. Saga can justify a date c. 1150 for thenbsp;origin of the poem, as has been suggested. There is one good piece of evidencenbsp;which suggests a date about three centuries earlier (cf. p. 232).

�Who is the leader who commands the fleet and is bringing a terrible host to shore?� Sinfj�tli, son of Sigmundr, answered, and this also hasnbsp;been written. GuSmundr rode home with news of the raid�, etc. Thenbsp;reference here is to Helgakviba Hundingsbana I. 32, where the samenbsp;event is related ; but H. H. /, unlike H. H. Il, is a narrative poem, andnbsp;contains no prose. �The noble GuSmundr made enquiry: �Who is thenbsp;prince who commands the host and is bringing a terrible host to shore� �.nbsp;It will be observed that there are two variants�' here from the quotationnbsp;given in II. H. II. Then follows Sinfj�tli�s answer, which leads to anbsp;long and abusive altercation between the two (st. 34-44). Finally Helginbsp;intervenes (st. 45 f.) and stops Sinfj�tli from replying further. Innbsp;H. H. II the passage translated above is followed immediately by anbsp;short account of the battle, also in prose, and this by some speeches innbsp;verse by Sigrun and Helgi (st. 19-23). Then (st. 24 ff.) comes a shortnbsp;altercation between GuSmundr and Sinfj�tli, which is evidently out ofnbsp;place here, since all Granmarr�s sons are said to have perished in thenbsp;battle. The altercation itself seems to be an abbreviated variant ofnbsp;H. H. I. 32-46. GuSmundr begins: � Who is the Skj�ldungr (probablynbsp;used here for �prince�) who commands the ships and flies a goldennbsp;standard at his prow?� The beginning of Sinfj�tli�s speech in st. 25 isnbsp;also a variant of part of the same hero�s speech in H. H. I. 35. The nextnbsp;two stanzas (26 f.) have little or nothing corresponding to them innbsp;H. H. I-, but in Helgi�s speech (Zf. H. I. 45 f., H. H. II. 28 f.), whichnbsp;concludes the altercation, the variants, although definite enough, are fewnbsp;in number. H. H. II. contains an extra line.

The text of H. H. II is obviously much confused. It refers to a passage in H. H. I, but the only (very short) piece which it quotesnbsp;contains variants�although the whole of the MS. (7?) is said to benbsp;in the same hand. Then, later, it introduces the same dialogue again, in anbsp;wrong place�after the death of one of the speakers�and with morenbsp;serious variants. The whole passage may very well have been takennbsp;mechanically from an earlier MS. But whoever was responsible, itnbsp;would seem (i) that the passage referred to has not been copied from thenbsp;other poem, and (2) that a third variant form has been introduced later�nbsp;its identity with the others apparently not being recognised. We cannbsp;only conclude that variant versions of the poems were current at thenbsp;time when they were committed to writing.

We may next take the poems Gubr�narhv'�t and Hambismal. In this � H. H. � has landreki (�prince�) and li�i (�host�) against fylkir (�leader�) andnbsp;flota (�fleet�) in H. H. II.

515 case it will be convenient to give a translation� of the opening stanzas ofnbsp;each poem, omitting st. i of the Hambismdl, which is extremely obscure.nbsp;The Gu�r�narhv�t begins as follows:

(4) Then spake HamSir the great-hearted: �Little wast thou minded to praise the doings of H�gni, when they woke SigurSr fromnbsp;his sleep. Thy black and white coverlets were dyed and drenched in thenbsp;blood of thy slain husband. (5) A cruel and grievous revenge didstnbsp;thou take for thy 2 brothers, when thou didst murder thy sons. (Hadnbsp;they survived) united in one purpose we should all have been able tonbsp;exact vengeance from J�rmunrekr. (6) (But) bring out the treasures ofnbsp;the kings of the Huns. Thou hast incited us to battle � �.

(6) Then spake HamSir the great-hearted: �Little wouldst thou have � The translation must in some places be regarded as tentative. Both poemsnbsp;present great difficulties, especially the Hamfiismil.

been minded (thus) to praise the doings of H�gni, when they woke SigurSr from his sleep�when thou wast sitting on the bed while hisnbsp;slayers laughed. (7) Thy black and white coverlets, woven by skillednbsp;workers, were dyed with his life�s blood. Then did SigurSr die, andnbsp;thou didst sit beside his dead body with no thoughts of joy. Thus didnbsp;Gunnarr will it for thee. (8) Thou thoughtest to injure Atli by slayingnbsp;Eitill and taking the life of Erpr. Still worse for thyself was that. Onenbsp;who uses the murderous sword for a death-struggle with another shouldnbsp;not injure himself��.

The common elements in these narratives are obvious enough; but they cease at the points at which we have broken off. In G. GuSrunnbsp;brings the armour from her store-room, and her sons mount theirnbsp;horses. HamSir prophesies his own and his brother�s death. The rest ofnbsp;the poem is a soliloquy by GuSrun, who reviews the sorrows of hernbsp;life. In Zf. S�rli stops the altercation and prophesies his own andnbsp;HamSir�s death; but the prophecy is different in detail from the other.nbsp;Then the brothers set off, and the rest of the poem is occupied with thenbsp;narrative of their adventures.

The portions of the poems which we have translated amount to twenty-six lines in G. and twenty-seven inZf. Three of these are identicalnbsp;and several others nearly so, while in other passages also there is a closenbsp;resemblance, ff. is believed to be the earlier poem, and G. is supposed tonbsp;have borrowed from it. But the latter poem has in places without doubtnbsp;the better text. Thus in G. 4 the speech of HamSir is clearly an answer tonbsp;the speech of GuSrun in st. 3. But in ff. 6 f., which correspond to G. 4,nbsp;his speech is left without explanation. It is held by some scholars that onenbsp;or more stanzas here have heen lost in �, while others regard st. 6 f. asnbsp;an interpolation (from G.). But in reality GuSrun�s speech is not lost,nbsp;though �great kings� has taken the place of H�gni and Gunnarr, and thenbsp;point is consequently obscured. In the same way the names of thenbsp;murdered sons are omitted in G. (st. 5).

We think that a much simpler explanation of the relationship between the two poems is to be found. It may be observed that they not merelynbsp;deal with the same incident, but that they are structurally almostnbsp;identical, so far as the portions translated above are concerned. Wenbsp;find (i) an introductory statement as to the incitement by GuSrun of hernbsp;sons (G. i, ZZ 2); (ii) the death of Svanhildr by the order of J�rmun-rekr (G. 2, Zf. 3); (iii) an unfavourable comparison of GuSrun�s sonsnbsp;with her brothers (G. 3, ff. 4); (iv) HamSir�s reply referring to thenbsp;death of SigurSr (G. 4, Zf. 6 f.); (v) the continuation of HamSir�s speech.

517 relating to the killing by GuSrun of her own sons (G. 5, H. 8). On thenbsp;other hand there is only one passage of importance which is peculiar tonbsp;either poem, viz. vs\H. 5, where GuSrun refers to the trees by way ofnbsp;comparison with her solitary and bereaved state.

The analysis seems to us to show clearly that the two passages under discussion (G. 1-5, H. 2-8) must be regarded as variants, i.e. that thenbsp;two poems originally had a common introduction. Whatever thenbsp;explanation may be, the case is parallel to that of the Anglo-Saxonnbsp;religious poems Daniel and Avarias. In later chapters we shall findnbsp;analogies in modern oral poetry.�

The Hamdismdl presents other features of interest for the study of textual history, but these can only be referred to very briefly here. Innbsp;st. 2 the clumsy and long drawn out passage which indicates the remoteness of GuSnin�s time can perhaps best be accounted for if thenbsp;second and third lines were originally variants, both of which have beennbsp;recorded, probably by the man who first committed the poem tonbsp;writing. More interesting is the fact that the V�lsunga Saga, cap. 42,nbsp;gives a different account of the fight in J�rmunrekr�s hall. The weaponsnbsp;of the defenders prove useless against HamSir and S�rli; and then annbsp;old man, who is obviously Othin, enters the hall and advises J�rmunrekrnbsp;to attack them with stones. Saxo, p. 338 (281), has the same accountnbsp;and mentions the god by name. But in our text of the poem there is nonbsp;reference to Othin. The person who gives the order to stone the assailants (st. 24) appears to be J�rmunrekr himself; and this is how Snorrinbsp;(�kaldsk. 42) understood the passage. In this case the variant may havenbsp;a longer history.^ It may be added that the poem shows a good deal ofnbsp;metrical irregularity�variation between Mdlahdttr and Fornyr^islag.nbsp;One stanza (27) is in Lj�bahdttr�a very rare occurrence in poetry ofnbsp;this kind and usually regarded as an interpolation.

The examples given above will be sufficient to show that numerous variants were current in the Edda poems about the time when they were

I We may refer especially to the Serbo-Croatian poems relating to Music Stefan (Busic Stjepan) at the battle of Kossovo.

� The saga passage is partly derived from the poem and quotes half of st. 26, with insignificant variants. But it also contains some matter�apart from the introduction of Othin�which is not found in the poem. This matter is of a rathernbsp;childish character and suggests derivation from a popular prose narrative. Thenbsp;question is whether the passage had two independent sources or whether this matternbsp;had been incorporated in a text of the poem, like the prose passages in the J^�lundar-kvida, etc. Apart from the reference to Othin, the saga passage has nothing innbsp;common with Saxo, whose account is quite different.

i committed to writing. There is no reason for supposing that they are � due in any considerable measure to scribes. When a poem is preserved innbsp;both R and A, the agreement between them is as a rule very close andnbsp;suggests that scribal tradition in Iceland was not peculiarly free; and thenbsp;texts of the sagas and of the poems contained in them point to the samenbsp;conclusion. There can be no doubt that in general the variants are due tonbsp;oral tradition; and the same may be said of cases where a passage occursnbsp;in more than one poem�whether it consists of a line or two, as in thenbsp;examples noticed on p. 512 or of a long series of stanzas, as in thenbsp;Gubr�narhv�t and the Ham�ism�l. We may presume that the commonnbsp;elements belonged originally to one of the two poems and werenbsp;borrowed by the other; but it is quite incredible, at least in the latternbsp;case, that they were taken from a written text. The same remarks applynbsp;to the elements common to the two Hdgakv'Aur Hundingsbana, whichnbsp;were noticed on p. 513 f. In this case we have presumably a rather largenbsp;borrowed element in the interior of a poem�in short what is commonlynbsp;called an �interpolation�, though we would prefer not to apply the termnbsp;to such cases.

Another case of such �interpolation�, on a larger scale, is believed by the great majority of editors to have taken place in the Hyndluljob.nbsp;This poem, which was noticed briefly on p. 278 f., is not preserved innbsp;either of the Edda MSS. {R and A'}, but only in a much later MS., thenbsp;Flateyjarb�k, written c. 1386. It is largely occupied with genealogies andnbsp;lists of heroes from whom a certain �ttarr is descended. But st. 29-44nbsp;deal with a different set of subjects�the origin and relationships ofnbsp;certain gods and other supernatural beings, and various incidentsnbsp;relating to them. St. 29 repeats a refrain which occurs in the first part ofnbsp;the poem��All this is thy ancestry, �ttarr��but otherwise it is notnbsp;easy to trace any connection. The last few stanzas, 45-50, return to thenbsp;original subject. Snorri (fiylf. 5) quotes st. 33 as belonging to �thenbsp;short J^�luspd\ which is commonly interpreted as meaning not thenbsp;Hyndlulj�b as a whole, but the shorter theological poem incorporatednbsp;in it. If the prevailing view is mistaken and the theological elementnbsp;belonged to the poem from the beginning, we can only conclude thatnbsp;it has suffered very badly in the course of oral tradition; but this,nbsp;unfortunately, is in itself by no means improbable.

It was pointed out above that the borrowing of elements by one poem from another need not have taken place when the former was firstnbsp;composed, and consequently that such borrowings cannot prove thenbsp;relative antiquity of poems, even if we are satisfied as to which of two

519 poems was the borrower. If the opening series of stanzas in Gubr�narhv�tnbsp;are derived from Ham�ism�l^ it is not unlikely on general considerationsnbsp;that they were borrowed when the former poem was composed. But ifnbsp;they were taken by Hambismdl from Gubr�narkv�t, we think it lessnbsp;probable that the former only came into existence when they werenbsp;borrowed ; for we think there is reason for believing the main part of thisnbsp;poem to be more ancient than the Guir�narhv�t. The question of antiquity, however, can in our opinion be determined only by generalnbsp;considerations�by the general character of a poem, not by particularnbsp;passages.

In this connection it deserves to be noticed that the Edda poems, like the great bulk of Anglo-Saxon poetry, are anonymous. In the latternbsp;case it is true that our ignorance as to the authors may sometimes be duenbsp;to the paucity of our information regarding the history of vernacularnbsp;literature. But in the case of Norse poetry it is possible to speak withnbsp;more confidence. The fact that we do not know the author of thenbsp;Einksmil (cf. p. 344) is doubtless due to mere accident. The prosenbsp;authorities, when they quote, sometimes give the name of the poem,nbsp;sometimes that of the author; and in this case both Snorri and thenbsp;Fagrskinna give the former only. But it cannot possibly be due tonbsp;accident that in all his numerous quotations from the Edda poemsnbsp;Snorri never once mentions an author�s name; and the same is true ofnbsp;the quotations from these poems in other authorities. It may be regarded as certain that, in spite of all the literary activity of the twelfthnbsp;and thirteenth centuries, the authors of the Edda poems were notnbsp;known.

How is this anonymity to be explained.^ The poets of the reign of Harold the Fair-haired were well known; and Bragi Boddason livednbsp;apparently even before the time of that king. None of the Edda poemsnbsp;are usually believed to be earlier than this. Anonymity can hardly havenbsp;been necessitated by the nature of the theme; for stories of the gods arenbsp;treated in Thj�Solfr�s Haustl�ng and in Eili'fr GuSninarson�s porsdrdpa.nbsp;Yet it is true that heroic poems of Types A and B which date from timesnbsp;of oral tradition are as a rule anonymous. This applies not only tonbsp;Anglo-Saxon and other ancient poems, which some scholars believe tonbsp;have been written, but also to Yugoslav, Russian and Turkish poems,nbsp;where writing is out of the question. We believe that the same is commonly true also of similar poems relating to the gods. But account isnbsp;also to be taken of the variants noticed above, which show that thesenbsp;poems were treated with very great freedom. And it is to be borne in

mind that the metre and diction are much simpler and more archaic than what we find in most of the poetry of the ninth and following centuries.

The conclusion to which all these considerations seem to point is that the Edda poems were regarded as ancient�in a sense which modernnbsp;scholars will not allow. It is customary now to assign some poems tonbsp;the ninth century, others to the tenth, others again to the eleventh andnbsp;even the twelfth centuries. This may in general be more or less true ofnbsp;the form in which we now have them, though we must confess to somenbsp;scepticism in regard to the precise dates usually assigned. It is at allnbsp;events significant that in a good number of cases opinion varies verynbsp;greatly. It is also significant that one of our leading authorities assignsnbsp;six of the heroic poems to Greenland and almost all the rest to Norway,nbsp;while another holds that the majority of them come from Iceland. Thenbsp;evidence is in fact ambiguous. One passage in a poem may suggest anbsp;certain date and place of origin, while another passage in the same poemnbsp;may point in quite a different direction. But in spite of differences innbsp;detail it is generally agreed that the evidence, such as it is, applies to thenbsp;composition of the poem�which is regarded as a new work, thoughnbsp;concerned with an old theme. We doubt if this represents the contemporary view. We suspect that what was produced at a certain place atnbsp;some date�say in the eleventh century�was regarded at the time notnbsp;as a new poem, but as a �rendering� of an old poem, however drastic thenbsp;changes which were introduced.

To the modern reader this idea seems strange. To take an extreme case, we cannot regard the Atlakvtda and the AtlamdL otherwise than asnbsp;two distinct poems. Both are concerned with the same series of events�nbsp;the treacherous invitation sent by Atli to his brothers-in-law, Gunnarrnbsp;and H�gni; the attack made upon them on their arrival; their deaths;nbsp;and the vengeance taken upon Atli by his wife GuSrun, who is theirnbsp;sister. Both poems are described by their titles in the MS. as belongingnbsp;to Greenland. It is commonly held that this is correct only for thenbsp;Atlam�l-, but one cannot deny the possibility that the man who firstnbsp;collected or wrote down the poems may have obtained them both fromnbsp;Greenland. The Atlamdl refers (st. 18) to white bears, which suggestsnbsp;Greenland, and contains (st. 88) a definitely Christian expression, whichnbsp;is unparalleled elsewhere among the heroic poems and can hardly benbsp;earlier than the eleventh century. On the other hand it also refersnbsp;(st. 105) to ship burial, which points to a somewhat earlier date. Morenbsp;important, however, than these details is the general treatment of thenbsp;story, which seems to reflect the colonial life of the northern seas. There

521 are no great palaces or armies ; even Atli has only thirty warriors. Thenbsp;brothers set out on their journey by sea, not on horseback, as in thenbsp;AtlakvAa.

There is but little verbal agreement between the two poems, and each of them has various features peculiar to itself. We may instancenbsp;the dreams of Gunnarr�s and H�gni�s wives, which occupy eighteennbsp;stanzas in the Atlamal. Yet in spite of all differences it is impossible tonbsp;deny a connection between the poems. Not only is the general course ofnbsp;events the same in both; but what is more important is that bothnbsp;have in common a number of incidents which can hardly be due tonbsp;anything but poetic invention. One of these is the ring sent by GuSrunnbsp;to warn her brothers; it may be observed that the details are quitenbsp;different. Still more interesting is the introduction of a person whonbsp;appears to be a fictitious character,^ the cowardly Hjalli. In the Atlamalnbsp;he is a cook; but in the AtlakvifSa his position is not stated. The incidentnbsp;in which he figures is different in the two poems�he is killed in one,nbsp;but apparently not in the other�and so also is the motif of the scene ;nbsp;but in both cases his introduction is bound up with the fate of H�gni.

If the two poems are of a common origin the differences between them must be due to difference of treatment. In the Atlamal the treatment hasnbsp;evidently been what we may call revolutionary. The milieu has beennbsp;adapted to that of settlers in a maritime land, such as Iceland or Greenland. It may be noted that even the burial ship is to be bought. Thisnbsp;freedom of treatment is what might be expected from the metre, innbsp;regard to which the poem stands by itself in the Edda collection. It isnbsp;regarded as the standard example of Malahdttr., which is generallynbsp;believed to be a rather late development from the mixed type found innbsp;the Atlakvi�a and the Hambismdl. On the other hand the Atlakvidanbsp;appears to be very conservative. Gunnarr and H�gni are represented asnbsp;wealthy princes. The scene is laid among the great forests and grasslands of the Continent; and the horse is all-important. We may notenbsp;too that it is only in this poem (st. 18) that the historical name �Burgundian� is preserved. Moreover, in spite of the great difference innbsp;motif between the Norse and the German versions of the story, therenbsp;is a remarkable resemblance between one incident in the poem (st. 26 f.)nbsp;and a passage in the Niielungenlied (st. 2370 f.), which cannot be accidental. In the former passage Gunnarr, when he sees the heart ofnbsp;H�gni brought to him, says to Atli that he alone now knows where the

' We cannot see any ground for identifying him with Rumolt in the Nibelungenlied.

treasure of the Niflungar is hidden and that he will never disclose the secret. In the latter Kriemhilt brings the head of Gunther to Hagen,nbsp;who says that he and God alone now know the secret of the treasure andnbsp;that he will never reveal it to her. Here the r�les of Gunnarr and H�gninbsp;are reversed, and Atli�s part is taken by his wife, as throughout; but annbsp;ancient poetic motif is clearly preserved.

The story of HamSir and S�rli is preserved only in one poem, though we have seen (p. 517) that there are traces of variants. But the mainnbsp;features of the story were known in the ninth century, as may be seennbsp;from the fragments of Bragi�s Ragnarsdrdpa, which describes thenbsp;heroes as descendants of Gjuki (i.e. sons of GuSrun) and mentions Erpr,nbsp;the third brother, and the cutting off of J�rmunrekr�s hands and feet.nbsp;A somewhat different form of the story is given by Saxo, p. 338 (280 f.).nbsp;He records the last feature and also the quarrel on the way, though henbsp;does not mention Erpr�s name, nor even those of his brothers. He alsonbsp;knows of the barbarous death of Svanhildr, and that they had set outnbsp;for the purpose of avenging her. Before the attack he makes them consult a witch called GuSrun (Guthruna), who blinds their opponents.nbsp;But this person is not their mother�to whom there is no reference.nbsp;The unhistorical feature, found in all the Norse sources, that J�rmunrekr�s assailants were the sons of a sister of Gunnarr, who diednbsp;nearly seventy years after J�rmunrekr, is unknown to Saxo. Indeednbsp;he does not refer to the stories of SigurSr, Gu�rtin and Atli. J�rmunrekr�s men are helpless until Othin removes their blindness andnbsp;instructs them to stone their enemies.

Apart from the connection with the story of GuSrun, the main features of Saxo�s account, which is wholly in prose, agree with thenbsp;poem. The common original of the two must go back beyond the ninthnbsp;century. References to the story are found also in German and Gothicnbsp;sources. The former mention the cutting off of the king�s hands andnbsp;feet. Jordanes, cap. 24, representing the Gothic account, says merelynbsp;that he was wounded, and that he died later, partly in consequence ofnbsp;the wound, partly through old age and distress at the Hunnish invasion.nbsp;It is generally agreed that Jordanes is here trying to reconcile twonbsp;different accounts, one of which he knew from poetic, the other fromnbsp;historical sources. We know from a contemporary authority, Ammianusnbsp;Marcellinus, xxxi. 3. 2, that J�rmunrekr committed suicide throughnbsp;fear of the Huns. We do not know what foundation in fact there was fornbsp;the poetic account. But the chief features of the story�the death ofnbsp;Svanhildr and the vengeance attempted by her brothers, whom Jordanes

THE TEXTS nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;523

calls Sarus and Ammius�were familiar by the middle of the sixth century. There is no need to suppose that the story was then new.

We see no reason for doubting that the poem written down in ( Iceland about the close of the twelfth century is the direct descendant of jnbsp;a poem current in the Ukraine or the Balkan peninsula seven or eightnbsp;centuries previously. Russian poems relating to the time of Vladimirnbsp;the Great, who reigned in the Ukraine during the latter part of thenbsp;tenth century, were collected and written down less than a hundrednbsp;years ago; and the collectors found the poems best preserved in thenbsp;Governments of Olonetz and Archangel. Now they are said to be bestnbsp;preserved in remote parts of Siberia. From Iceland or Greenland wenbsp;have also poems which give an account of Attila�s death. The accountnbsp;is unhistorical, but in all probability it was connected, as we have seennbsp;(p. 185 f.), with a story which was current in the Roman Empire withinnbsp;a century of the event. We do not doubt that the history of the Atlinbsp;poems goes back to the fifth century.

It may perhaps be objected that we are here confusing �poem� and � theme�. But the theme cannot have existed without being incorporatednbsp;in some form of poetry or saga; and there is no evidence for any intensive cultivation of saga among the Teutonic peoples in early times.nbsp;It is not unlikely that Saxo derived his material from saga, since hisnbsp;narratives are always in prose ; his verse passages are all speech poems ofnbsp;Type B. But Saxo�s material, whether Danish or Norse, was such as wasnbsp;current in the twelfth century. It does not follow that heroic narrative poetry was unknown in Denmark several centuries earlier, whennbsp;the stories made their way to the North. The facts are as follows:nbsp;(i) Heroic poetry of Type A was current in England and Germany innbsp;the eighth century, and it was certainly cultivated by the Frisians until thenbsp;end of the seventh century at least, (ii) Similar poetry is found in thenbsp;Norse world. It is much abbreviated in form, but it bears all the marksnbsp;of antiquity; and there is no narrative poetry relating to later times.nbsp;The natural conclusion would seem to be that such poetry was oncenbsp;known also in Denmark�the intermediate region�but that it died outnbsp;there some time before the twelfth century, as it did apparently amongnbsp;the North Germans and the Frisians. In this connection we may notenbsp;that though the Danes figure more prominently than any other people innbsp;stories of the Heroic Age, both Norse and English, we have no traditional records relating to Denmark between the sixth and the ninthnbsp;centuries. Our knowledge of that period is a blank. It would seem then \nbsp;that the cultivation of saga in Denmark, as in the North, was a develop- \

ment of the Viking Age. Its traditions reached back no further than the beginning of the ninth century. What remained of heroic narrativenbsp;poetry after this may have been transformed into saga�a process fornbsp;which, in its initial stages, analogies are to be found in the North, e.g.nbsp;in the Battle of the Goths and Huns and probably in the VolundarkviSa.

We have spoken only of poems of Type A. Poems of Type B may originate in more than one way, as will be seen in a later chapter. Wenbsp;are inclined to think that all the Norse heroic poems of this type are ofnbsp;secondary origin�that they are scenes taken from heroic stories, ornbsp;rather from heroic poems of Type A, for intensive study of situation ornbsp;emotion. A transitional phase is to be seen in such a poem as GutS-r�naTkv�a f which contains a number of narrative stanzas. We do notnbsp;think that poems of this type relating to the gods, such as the Skirnismal,nbsp;are to be explained in the same way; but we prefer to postpone discussion of such poems until parallels from other languages have beennbsp;considered. It is quite possible of course that the existence of these hasnbsp;contributed to the development of the heroic Type B, though the factnbsp;that most of them are in the Lj��ahdttr metre is rather against thenbsp;suggestion. More likely the influence came from �post-heroic� poemsnbsp;like the Hrafnsm�l, which sometimes contain a small narrative element.

It should be mentioned that a view directly opposed to ours has been expressed by various scholars, viz. that the speech poem (Type B)nbsp;is the earlier type and that the narrative was originally given in prose, asnbsp;in Helgakvi�a Hundingsbana II and Helgakv'dSa Hj�rvaT�ssonaTdX\d.?,nbsp;view has frequently been associated with a theory that all early Teutonicnbsp;poetry was originally strophic (stanzaic) and that even Beowulf wasnbsp;composed in stanzas�a theory which we are unable to accept (cf. p. 21)nbsp;and which we believe is now not so widely held as it was formerly.nbsp;Apart from the strophic theory and from general considerations, whichnbsp;cannot be discussed here, it is an argument for this view that of the twonbsp;Helgakvi�uT Hundingsbana No. I, which is of Type A, is generallynbsp;believed to be a later�we should prefer to say less conservative�worknbsp;than No. II, which is of Type B, with the narrative in prose. But anbsp;poem may belong to an earlier type and yet be less conservative thannbsp;another poem ; and we believe that nearly all scholars would agree thatnbsp;some poems of Type A, e.g. the Ham�ism�l and the Atlakvida, are atnbsp;least as old as any heroic poems of Type B.

At all events the evidence noticed above seems to us to leave no doubt that poetry of Type A was the common property of the Teutonicnbsp;peoples about the close of the Heroic Age. It is possible that this poetry

had developed out of poetry of Type B, with the narrative in prose, as in Irish sagas; but we must defer consideration of this question until wenbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;f

have discussed the heroic poetry of other peoples. We would only say ,. � that, should this prove to be true, it is possible that poetry of the earliernbsp;phase may have survived in the North. But we think it more probablenbsp;that this poetry was a product of the Viking Age, perhaps not uninfluenced from Ireland, and that it represents a phase midway betweennbsp;the old Teutonic heroic poems of Type A and the narratives interspersednbsp;with poems of Type B which are found in some of the Fornaldar Sogur,nbsp;especially Halfs Saga and Hervarar Saga. Type A was a dying type,nbsp;which seems to have found its last home in Greenland ; but the poems ofnbsp;this type had had a very long history.

The Welsh evidence is on the whole very similar to the Norse. We have seen (p. 33 f.) that almost all the early poems are contained in onenbsp;or other of four MSS., the oldest of which�the first part of the Blacknbsp;Book of Carmarthen�is hardly earlier than the middle of the twelfthnbsp;century. Archaic orthography, however, which is much more frequentnbsp;than in Norse, shows that many poems are derived from texts written innbsp;the tenth century, or possibly even in the ninth. This is the earliest pointnbsp;to which the history of the texts can be traced, though a good number ofnbsp;the poems are addressed to persons of the sixth century, while othersnbsp;claim to be the work of poets who lived in the same period.

Very few poems are found in more than one of these MSS., and consequently the material available for the study of variants is limited. An example occurs in Tai. i, which corresponds to RBH. xxiii. 84-123nbsp;(the end). The first part of the poem is wanting in Tai. i, owing to thenbsp;loss of a leaf. In what remains the differences from RBH. xxiii are of anbsp;purely scribal character.

Another case occurs in BBC. xiv, which corresponds to Tai. xxi. 58-67 (the last stanza). The differences here are somewhat greater, andnbsp;cannot in all cases be due to carelessness on the part of scribes. They arenbsp;perhaps to be compared with the variants found in certain Anglo-Saxon religious poems, noticed on p. 505 f.

In other cases there can be no doubt that the variants are due to oral tradition. Thus the last three lines of RBH. xvii�a poem to which wenbsp;shall have to refer again shortly�are clearly a variant of the four linesnbsp;which appear at the end of the panegyrics upon Urien in the Book ofnbsp;Taliesin (xxxi-xxxvi, xxxix). But the differences are not of a scribalnbsp;character.

The same remark applies to the whole of the poem which celebrates Gereint, preserved in BBC. xxii and RBH. xiv. This poem contains innbsp;the former text eighteen (three-line) stanzas, in the latter twenty-four,nbsp;of which two are incomplete. Two stanzas are peculiar to the Blacknbsp;Book, and eight to the Red Book', and, apart from these, one stanza innbsp;each poem has only one line in common. In regard to the order of thenbsp;stanzas the two texts have hardly anything in common. Thus, if we takenbsp;the first nine stanzas of the Black Book, we find that in the Red Book, sonbsp;far as they occur, they come in the following order: 4, 3, -, 6, 10, 8, -,nbsp;15, 14. The last stanza in the Black Book corresponds to the first stanzanbsp;in the Red Book. Moreover, there are many variants in the stanzas whichnbsp;correspond. Thus in the Black Book, st. 8, we find � In Llongborth I sawnbsp;Arthur�; but the corresponding passage in the Red Book (st. 15) hasnbsp;�In Llongborth Arthur was slain�. Such textual variation as thisnbsp;points clearly to a long period of independent oral tradition.

These appear to be the only cases in which a whole poem or a considerable part of a poem is preserved in more than one of the fournbsp;ancient MSS. The Book of Aneirin itself, however, frequently containsnbsp;more than one text of a stanza, sometimes with remarkable variants.nbsp;The last six stanzas of An. i, which are in a different hand from the restnbsp;of the poem, are all variants of stanzas which have occurred previously.nbsp;In two cases, st. 89 and 92, which correspond to st. 78 and 86 respectively,nbsp;the resemblance is very close, amounting to substantial identity. In thenbsp;remaining cases, st. 90, 91, 93, 94, which correspond to st. 52,48,40, 41,nbsp;the variations are considerable and materially affect the meaning. Itnbsp;will be observed that there is little agreement in the order of thenbsp;stanzas.

Still more striking evidence is to be found in a series of stanzas, thirty-seven in number, which are preserved at the end of the MS., afternbsp;An. V, apparently as a kind of supplement. It is recognised that at leastnbsp;fourteen of these are connected with stanzas in An. i. The nature of thenbsp;connection varies greatly from case to case. No. 35 is substantiallynbsp;identical with i. 63, while in other cases the connection is obvious onlynbsp;in a few lines. The great majority of the cases lie intermediate betweennbsp;these two extremes. Here again there is a total want of agreement in the

� From the somewhat fatuous character of the latter part of the poem, in which the hero�s horse is compared to eagles of various colours, one is tempted to suspectnbsp;that the poem had suffered pretty badly even before the two (traditional) texts hadnbsp;come to diverge. But it is unsafe to apply modem aesthetic criteria to poetry of thisnbsp;kind. An analogy may be found in BBC. xxxii.

527 order of the stanzas. The stanzas in the �Supplement� which show anbsp;connection with An. i are Nos. i, 6, 7, 8, to, 13, 19, 20, 24, 27, 28, 34,nbsp;3$, 37, while the stanzas in An. i to which they correspond respectivelynbsp;are 51, 23, 20, 22, 62, 26, 48, 42, 68, 70, 69, 65, 63, 66.

It is clear from this comparison that at least one of the texts must be in an advanced state of disintegration; and the fact that the poem is stillnbsp;very much of an unsolved problem renders it more than probable thatnbsp;this is true of both of them. Hence we do not regard it as legitimate tonbsp;draw conclusions as to the date of the original composition of the poemnbsp;from isolated words or expressions which occur in it; and the samenbsp;remark applies to most of the early Welsh poems. It has sometimes beennbsp;inferred from certain words that the Gododdin poems cannot be earliernbsp;than tlie ninth century. To such inferences the same objection holds asnbsp;in the case of the Edda poems; but here it is stronger in proportion asnbsp;the texts are worse preserved.

We have seen (p. 160) that this collection of poems, or at least a nucleus of them, is concerned with a body of heroes who went to battlenbsp;inflamed with drink under a prince, otherwise unknown, called Myny-ddawg. The scene of the disaster was a place called Catraeth, which isnbsp;probably to be identified with Catterick. The names given to the enemynbsp;are Deivyr and Brenneich, i.e. Deiri and Bernicii. The date cannot havenbsp;been later than the close of the sixth century. Yet in i. 89 (78) we hearnbsp;of the death of the Scottish king Domnall Brecc, which took place innbsp;642. Moreover the poems contain a suspicious number of references tonbsp;Gwynedd and Anglesey. It is of course by no means impossible thatnbsp;heroes from North Wales took part in such a distant expedition�nbsp;Cadwallon invaded Yorkshire and Northumberland in 633-4. But thenbsp;number of such references rather suggests that considerable additionsnbsp;have been made to the original matter.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;quot;

For such additions we find a good parallel in the Apple.tramp;amp;s {BBC. xvii). It was noted above (p. 454 f.) that this poem is known from twonbsp;later texts, of which one contains twenty-three and the other twenty-two stanzas against the Black Book, which has only ten. The latternbsp;seem to refer to no events later than the eleventh century�from which

� E.g. from the word Gynt, �heathen� (usually �Vikings�) in i. 94; cf. Rev. Celt. XX. 204, XXXII. 209. This stanza is a variant of st. 41, and is obviously to be taken innbsp;connection with the preceding stanza (93; cf. 40). The same inference has beennbsp;drawn from the word taryaneu, �shields�, in An. II. 10. Such words prove only thatnbsp;the poems were treated freely in the Viking Age�which is in full accord with whatnbsp;has been pointed out above.

we may infer when the poem was originally composed. But some� not all�of the stanzas which occur only in the later texts are concernednbsp;apparently with the politics of the twelfth century. It may be observednbsp;that here again there is little agreement in the order of the stanzas, asnbsp;between the Black Book and the later texts. The stanzas in Stephens�nbsp;text corresponding to the stanzas (i-io) contained in the Black Booknbsp;come in the following order: 23, 17, 13, 10, 5, 6, 18, 19, 20, 8. Betweennbsp;the other texts there is more agreement; but the discrepancies are considerable. Thus corresponding to Stephens� st. 1-6 we find in thenbsp;Myvyrian st. i, 6,7, -, 13,14. On the other hand, the variations withinnbsp;the stanzas themselves are comparatively slight between all three textsnbsp;and limited to one or two words in each stanza, with occasional omissionnbsp;of lines. Most of them indeed appear to be scribal.

This poem is of great importance as an illustration of the statement quoted on p. 130 from Giraldus Cambrensis, De k^aticiniis, that thenbsp;bards were in the habit of adding new prophecies to the old. We maynbsp;remark that in the light of the Gododdin poems it would seem that thenbsp;application of his statement might be extended to other forms of poetry,nbsp;as well as prophecies�at least as regards the bards of earlier times. Thenbsp;poem is also of interest as showing that sometimes�apparently in thenbsp;twelfth century�the words of stanzas were preserved more or lessnbsp;exactly, while complete freedom or negligence prevailed in regard tonbsp;the order of the stanzas. It is to be remembered of course that the poemnbsp;as we have it, even in the Black Book, is comparatively late; not morenbsp;than a century need have elapsed between the composition of the oldestnbsp;and that of the latest political prophecies contained in it. Yet there is nonbsp;valid reason for doubting that the framework (cf. p. 454), as distinctnbsp;from the prophecies, preserves elements�whether one prefers to saynbsp;�reminiscences� or �nucleus��dating from times as early as thenbsp;Gododdin poems. We suspect that these elements have had a historynbsp;comparable to some extent with that of Gu�r�narkvi�a I or Gu�r�nar-kv�a IL But the problems of textual variation, with which we arenbsp;here primarily concerned, relate only to the twelfth century.

RBH. I and n present many interesting textual problems ; but in the absence of a critical edition we do not think that any useful purposenbsp;would be served by discussing them. A later text of the second poemnbsp;seems to have had a much earlier poem attached to it (cf. p. 45 6 f.). Butnbsp;we do not know at what stage this took place.

Next we may take the case of poems which have one or more stanzas in common. A striking example occurs in BBC. xxxix, which is

529 concerned with the sons of Llywarch Hen. Here four stanzas (Nos. 7,nbsp;8, IO, ii) correspond to stanzas in BBC. xxx (Nos. 33, 35, 8 and 20nbsp;respectively), and two other stanzas (Nos. 6 and 12) to stanzas in RBH.nbsp;XI (Nos. 58 and 66). The variants are merely graphic, except as betweennbsp;st. 6 and RBH. xi. 58, where different words are used in two cases,nbsp;though there is little difference in meaning. As BBC. xxxix containsnbsp;only twelve stanzas, half of it is shared with the other two poems. Allnbsp;three claim to be the work of the princely poet Llywarch Hen.

BBC. XXX. 8 has two lines in common with st. 17 of RBH. x,i a poem which makes no claim to be Llywarch�s work, while RBH. xinbsp;has one stanza (No. 14) corresponding, with slight variations, to anbsp;stanza (No. 9) in the gnomic poem RBH. vi (cf. p. 388). Those whonbsp;are more familiar with these poems than we are will probably know ofnbsp;other parallels. Our examination is doubtless far from being exhaustive.

Of all the textual problems presented by early Welsh poetry perhaps the most remarkable is to be found in RBH. xvii. The greater part ofnbsp;this poem belongs to the predictive series (cf. p. 457), relating tonbsp;affairs of the twelfth century or slightly earlier. But the first eight linesnbsp;are a panegyric upon Urien; and after the predictive portion (9-37) thenbsp;same subject is reverted to in 38 ff. The last three lines, as we have seennbsp;(p. 525), are a variant of the formula with which several of the panegyrics on Urien conclude. Immediately before this (42 f.) the poemnbsp;claims to be the work of Taliesin and also speaks of Aneirin. Whatevernbsp;may be the explanation of this last passage, it would seem that a politicalnbsp;prophecy of the twelfth (or eleventh) century has been inserted in thenbsp;middle of a panegyric upon a king of the sixth century. The formernbsp;relates to Wales (Gwynedd and Powys), the latter to the north; and innbsp;other respects also the two have nothing in common.

Yet even this case is not wholly without analogy. We have already (p. 460) had occasion to refer to Tai. XN, a speech poem of Type B, innbsp;which the speaker is obviously Taliesin. The poem relates how he sangnbsp;before Brochfael of Powys and Urien�a passage much like Widsith�nbsp;and how he rescued Elphin at the court of Maelgwn. It refers also tonbsp;some purely legendary experiences of Taliesin, partly connected withnbsp;the story of Branwen. Finally the speaker says that his chair is prepared in �Caer Sidi �, of which a description is given similar to that ofnbsp;Mag Mell in the poems contained in the Hoyage of Bran. All this maynbsp;well be of quite early date, in spite of the mixture of historical and un-historical elements. But the poem contains also two passages, eachnbsp;' This poem {adfin^ has an unusual reference to reading.

probably of eight lines, which are wholly out of harmony with the rest. They are concerned with the national troubles of the Cymry andnbsp;appear to be taken from late predictive poetry. Two lines (39 f.) arenbsp;practically identical with two lines in BBC. xviii, st. 22. These insertions�for they can hardly be described otherwise�may perhaps benbsp;connected with the adaptation of the story of Myrddin to the politicalnbsp;propaganda of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. At this time politicalnbsp;prediction was evidently the most popular form of poetry and wouldnbsp;seem to have been able to force its way into any early poetry preservednbsp;by oral tradition�Taliesin poems among the rest.

From what has been said it will be clear that early Welsh poetry has been subject to a very large amount of change and disintegration�nbsp;more even than the Edda poems�in the course of oral tradition. Wenbsp;can never be sure that we have the original words of the authors beforenbsp;us. Some poems, however, even very early poems, may have sufferednbsp;less than those which we have discussed. The best preserved are perhapsnbsp;to be found among the panegyrics in the Book of Taliesin and thenbsp;elegies in the Red Book�not including the poem upon Gereint. Irishnbsp;analogies (cf. p. 466 ff.) suggest that some of the �mystical� poems in thenbsp;former book also contain elements which are ancient in form, as well asnbsp;substance. All these groups of poems present difficulties enough; butnbsp;that is only what might be expected if they are as old as they claim to be.nbsp;It is quite possible that some of these may have been committed tonbsp;writing in early times. But the Norse evidence shows that even in timesnbsp;of purely oral tradition some poems are more faithfully preserved thannbsp;others. In particular the panegyrics and elegies composed for kings ofnbsp;the tenth century appear to have been treated far more conservativelynbsp;than most of the Edda poems.

We regret that we are unable to deal with the question of variants in early Irish poetry and �rhetorics�. As regards the relations of the two, itnbsp;is believed that in various passages in sagas poems have been substitutednbsp;for rhetorics. But we do not know whether in any case both the poemnbsp;and the rhetoric have actually been preserved�whether in the same ornbsp;different texts.

Stanzas certainly occur sometimes in more than one poem�usually in somewhat variant form. An example may be found in the first poemnbsp;in the Voyage of Bran., st. 25; this occurs also, with variants, in anbsp;poem which Mongan is said to have composed in honour of St Columba. 'nbsp;* Text and transi, in Meyer and Nutt, Voyage of Bran, I. 88 f.

The former poem bears also a general resemblance to other poetic descriptions of Mag Mell, e.g. in the Sickbed of CuChulainn and, morenbsp;briefly, in the Adventure of Connla the Fair (partly rhetorics) and thenbsp;stanzas� in the third Courtship of Etain (cf. p. 52), in which Midirnbsp;invites Etain to return to him. In the last case the description of Magnbsp;Mell�here called Mag Mor or the �Great Plain��seems to be somewhat out of place.

References to Christian ideas occur in most of these poems, as also in other poetry relating to heathen times. Thus Adam�s sin is referred to innbsp;the poems both in the Sickbed and in the Courtship of Etain. If we arenbsp;right in believing (cf. p. 262 f.) that the doctrine of Mag Mell flourishednbsp;especially during the period of transition from heathenism to Christianity, it is possible, though not very likely, that this poetry containednbsp;such references from the beginning. But both the long poems in thenbsp;Eoyage of Bran contain series of stanzas (26-8 and 45-8) which cannbsp;hardly be explained in this way. In both cases they are quite out ofnbsp;harmony with the rest of the poem; and they appear to have been insertednbsp;as correctives to the heathenism by which the poems are permeated.nbsp;Analogies are to be found in the Welsh mystical poems, e.g. at thenbsp;close of Tai. xiv, immediately after the passage relating to � Caer Sidi �nbsp;(cf. p. 469).

Early Greek literature offers comparatively little scope for the study of textual problems like those which have been discussed above. Thenbsp;reason for this lies partly in the fact that, apart from the Homeric andnbsp;Hesiodic poems, the remains consist almost entirely of fragments�nbsp;passages quoted in the works of later authors. On the other hand thenbsp;text of the Homeric and Hesiodic poems themselves appears to havenbsp;been more or less fixed in early times.�

Variants similar to the Norse and Welsh examples noticed above are, however, by no means unknown in the Homeric Hymns. Thucydidesnbsp;(in. 104) quotes two passages from the Hymn to Apollo of Delos (cf.nbsp;p. 357), which he ascribes to Homer. In the first passage, correspondingnbsp;to 11. 146-50 of the Hymn, four lines out of the five show appreciablenbsp;variations from our text, though only one gives a marked difference ofnbsp;meaning. In the second passage, corresponding to 165-72, there is

� Some remarks on the text of the Homeric poems will be found in Excursus II, following this chapter.

only one variant worth noting. But taken as a whole the variants are clearly not such as could be due to scribal error. They certainly comenbsp;from oral tradition in some form, whether Thucydides himself wasnbsp;quoting from a written text or from memory.

Again, it was noted on p. 244 that the opening lines of Hymn III are a variant of Hymn XVIII. In point of fact only three of the nine linesnbsp;are exactly identical; but the variations in the others are comparativelynbsp;slight and quite parallel to those which we have just spoken of in Hymnnbsp;I. 146-50. The last two lines of Hymn III (579 f.) similarly correspondnbsp;to the last two lines of Hymn XVIII (10 fi), one of the two being identical. But between the exordium and these concluding lines Hymn IIInbsp;narrates a long story of Hermes� adventures, whereas Hymn XVIIInbsp;passes straight from the exordium to the conclusion. There can benbsp;little doubt that the elements common to the two Hymns are variants ofnbsp;the conventional exordium and conclusion appropriate to hymns tonbsp;Hermes.

Parallels extending over a few lines are to be found in other Hymns, e.g. between Hymn XVII and Hymn XXXIII. In Hymn XXV four ofnbsp;the seven lines are practically identical with Hesiod, Theog.nbsp;but they may of course be taken from it direct.

The parallelism between Hymns III and XVIII suggests that the resemblances between the lists of mermaids (Nereids) found in Hesiod,nbsp;Theog. 243-62, and in II. xviii. 39-48 may be due to some similarnbsp;cause. The names, which are for the most part obviously poetic inventions, number fifty-one or fifty-two in the former list and thirty-three innbsp;the latter. Of these only eighteen are common to both lists. But onenbsp;line {Theog. 248, II. 43) is identical in both, and another {Theog. 250,nbsp;�/. 45) differs only in one word, while there are resemblances also in twonbsp;other lines {Theog. 245 f., II. 40,42). Moreover it may be observed thatnbsp;the last eight names in the Iliad do not occur in the Theogony., whilenbsp;only one of the last twenty-one names in the Theogony occurs in thenbsp;Iliad. The common elements therefore are practically confined to thenbsp;first parts of the lists ; and here the distribution of the names points to anbsp;common origin. In the Theogony this is merely one of a number ofnbsp;imaginative lists, whereas the Iliad contains no parallel. But there is nonbsp;reason for supposing that the former poem was the first essay in cataloguenbsp;poetry of this kind. One of the verse catalogues, current in oral tradition, from which it drew, may well have been the source�differentlynbsp;expanded�of the list incorporated in the Iliad. We may compare thenbsp;list of dwarfs in the V�luspd (cf. p. 510).

Another example of such catalogue poetry is to be found in the list of the distinguished women seen by Odysseus in the home of Hades (f)d.nbsp;XI. 235-327). We do not know of any passage which bears a relationship to this comparable to the relationship between the passages fromnbsp;the Iliad and the Theogony noticed above. But its affinities clearly lienbsp;with the Hesiodic Catalogue lEoiai, etc.) and with the last part of thenbsp;Theogony. Indeed it hardly differs from these except in the recurrentnbsp;formula (�I saw��). On the other hand it has no bearing upon thenbsp;context in which it stands in the Odyssey.

This passage, however, is merely an incident in the long narrative which the hero gives of his adventures to Alcinoos, and which occupiesnbsp;the whole of Books ix-xii. It has been observed above (p. 435) thatnbsp;this narrative as a whole shows a striking contrast to all that we knownbsp;of heroic poetry elsewhere. In the fact that it consists of a series ofnbsp;adventures similar to folktales it has an analogy in Beowulf. But it hasnbsp;not been assimilated, like Beowulf to heroic story; heroic characteristicsnbsp;are practically wanting. The milieu is that of the age of explorationnbsp;rather than that of the Heroic Age.

In Greek unfortunately there is little evidence available from independent poetic traditions, such as we find in English, Norse and German, by which the history of a heroic story�or rather of a heroicnbsp;poem�can be traced back to the far past. For the story of Agamemnon and his family an independent tradition does appear to have beennbsp;preserved (cf. p. 183 ff.), probably in the form of saga ; but for the subjectnbsp;of the Odyssey we have nothing. Consequently any attempt to trace thenbsp;history of the poem must depend upon internal evidence, which isnbsp;unsatisfactory at the best. Yet few of those who admit the principle ofnbsp;growth in any form will doubt that the history of the poem began withnbsp;the return and vengeance of the hero, and that all the three narrativesnbsp;which occupy the first half of the poem are of secondary origin. Thenbsp;characteristics of these three narratives, which differ greatly, as wasnbsp;noted on p. 234, seem to us to point to a chronological sequence in theirnbsp;(original) composition. All of them are works of fiction; but one (thenbsp;Telemachy') is concerned with a heroic milieu, the second with a milieunbsp;which is imaginary but shows reminiscences of the Heroic Age, thenbsp;third with a milieu which is remote from the heroic. It is difficult tonbsp;believe that any of them can have come into existence except as subsidiary, or rather preliminary to the heroic story which forms thenbsp;subject of the second half of the poem. But they may well have originated as poems of a series, rather than as parts of one poem. The object

of the second and the third was presumably to satisfy curiosity as to the adventures of the hero during his absence.

One is naturally reluctant to add to the number of hypotheses which have been put forward with regard to the history of the Homeric poems.nbsp;But the evidence admits of nothing better�apart from analogies in thenbsp;heroic narrative poetry of other peoples, which will require consideration later. Provisionally the case may be stated as follows. We have anbsp;very long narrative poem (over 12,000 lines), the latter part of which isnbsp;concerned with what appears to be a heroic story (A). The first halfnbsp;consists of three fictitious narratives (B, C, D), which lead up to thisnbsp;story, and the characteristics of which seem to reflect different ages. Innbsp;the poem as we have it C is introduced within B, shortly before the end,nbsp;and D within C, also towards the end.� Our suggestion is that thesenbsp;narratives were originally separate poems, and that the Odyssey hasnbsp;attained its present proportions partly by incorporating them. But thenbsp;original story itself has also doubtless been greatly expanded and transformed. We should hesitate to allow that either the incident of the bownbsp;or the prominent part played by the swineherd Eumaios belonged tonbsp;this. The other elements also may of course contain different strata.

Analogies in the form of fictitious stories or scenes connected with a heroic story are not wanting in early Norse heroic poetry. As annbsp;instance we may cite the Helrei� Brynhildar (cf. p. 221), perhaps also thenbsp;Oddrunargratr (cf. p. 234). The second part of Beowulf may have hadnbsp;the same origin. All these, however, are sequels, not preliminaries, tonbsp;the original story. We know of no Teutonic examples of the latter,nbsp;apart from stories, like those of the Trilogy (cf. p. 27 f.), relating tonbsp;a hero�s birth and childhood. Instances, however, are to be foundnbsp;in Irish heroic sagas, especially in some of the �Stories preliminarynbsp;(^Remsc�ld) to the Tain B� Cuailnge '. Such is the case with the Tain Bonbsp;Regamna, where the Bodb encounters CuChulainn and prophesiesnbsp;to him the evils which she will bring upon him during the raid.nbsp;A somewhat looser connection is to be found in the Tain B� Dartadanbsp;and the Tain B� Regamaind Further analogies occur in the heroicnbsp;poetry of other peoples, as we shall see later.

It may be observed that, though the fictitious accretions to the story � D occupies Bks. ix�xii, except for the interlude xi. 330-84. C occupies Bks. v-vin and resumes at the beginning of Bk. xiii. B occupies Bks. i-iv and resumesnbsp;at the beginning of Bk. xv. Bk. xiv is occupied with Odysseus and Eumaios�anbsp;scene which resumes at xv. 495. We are not prepared to speculate as to whether thisnbsp;belonged originally to C. It is doubtless fiction and probably late.

535 of Odysseus included in the Odyssey cease with the hero�s return/ therenbsp;is clear evidence for the existence of imaginative poems dealing with hisnbsp;subsequent career and fate. This formed the subject of the Telegony, anbsp;poem attributed to a certain Eugammon of Gyrene, who is said to havenbsp;lived early in the sixth century, while a different form of the story isnbsp;implied in Hesiod, Theog. ton ff. Indeed at least one passage in thenbsp;Odyssey itsei�(xi. ii8 ff.) betrays acquaintance with speculations on thenbsp;subject�from which we may probably infer that it was treated innbsp;poetry at the same time as the hero�s earlier adventures, or soon afterwards.

We believe that the growth of the Iliad�as of other similar long epics�is to be explained on the same principles, partly by expansion,nbsp;and partly by the incorporation of supplementary (mainly fictitious)nbsp;stories and scenes. As an example of the latter process we may probablynbsp;take the Doloneia (cf. p. 233). But the history of the Iliad is more complex than that of the Odyssey.

With regard to the lost poem Cypria two interesting items of information have been preserved. In the Epitome� contained in Proclos� Chrestomathy the poem is said to have concluded with a catalogue of thenbsp;allies of the Trojans. If this was the same list which we find in thenbsp;Iliad (ii. 816 ff.)�and there is no reason for thinking otherwise�wenbsp;must infer that some doubt prevailed as to which of the two poems itnbsp;belonged to. Again, Herodotos (11. 117) states that according to thenbsp;Cypria, when Alexandros (Paris) abducted Helen, he had the advantagenbsp;of a favourable breeze and a smooth sea and consequently arrived atnbsp;Troy within three days of leaving Sparta. He also notes (n. 116) that innbsp;the Iliad (vi. 289 ff.) Alexandros is said to have gone out of his way onnbsp;this voyage and visited Sidon. From this discrepancy he concludes thatnbsp;the Cypria was not the work of Homer. But according to the Epitomenbsp;of the Cypria Alexandros was overtaken by a storm on the voyage andnbsp;driven to Sidon, which he captured. This suggests the existence ofnbsp;rather serious variants in the text of the Cypria�unless of course it wasnbsp;emended after Herodotos� time, so as to bring it into conformity withnbsp;the Iliad.

When one is reading the Epitome, it is difficult to resist the suspicion that the Cypria, or at least a good part of it, was originally composed asnbsp;an introduction to the Iliad, and that some of the incidents treated in itnbsp;were suggested by passages in the latter poem. But inferences relating

' The closing scene of the poem�at Laertes� home�may be a further example. � Printed in Kinkel, Epicorum Graec. Fragmenta, p. 16 ff.

to the characteristics of lost poems are unsafe. Possibly the Iliad itself may in some cases be drawing from the Cypria or its sources.

In a book like this it is obviously impossible to attempt anything like a comprehensive treatment of saga texts. The material both in Irishnbsp;and in Norse is far too great. In general it must suffice to observe thatnbsp;the variants between different texts of a saga are on the whole comparable with those between different texts of a poem, though MSS. ofnbsp;sagas are often much more numerous. Sometimes the variants are slightnbsp;and of the ordinary scribal character; sometimes they are great and duenbsp;to deliberate alteration. A text may be abbreviated or expanded ; and innbsp;the latter case the expansion may be due to the incorporation of matternbsp;from known or unknown sources. If the source is unknown the questionnbsp;often arises whether it has been invented by a scribe or �editor� ornbsp;derived by him from a lost document or from oral tradition. Lastly, wenbsp;meet not unfrequently with a story or series of events treated by twonbsp;sagas which appear to be more or less independent, though they maynbsp;have common elements or features. We propose to confine our attentionnbsp;to this last case, taking one Norse and two Irish stories.

An interesting example of this kind is to be found in the story of GuSrfSr daughter of Thorbj�rn, the family of Eric the Red, and thenbsp;discovery of America. This story is told in two quite different forms�nbsp;one in porfinns Saga Karlsefris {p. KI), sometimes called the Saga ofnbsp;Eric the Red, the other in the Flateyjarb�k.^ We will first give a synopsisnbsp;of p. K.

Cap. I coincides, to a large extent verbally, with the Landndmab�k, II. 15, and is believed to be derived from it. It describes how AuSr,nbsp;widow of �lafr the White, king of Dublin, went first to Scotland andnbsp;then to Iceland. The conclusion of the chapter corresponds, though notnbsp;quite so closely, with a passage in Landn. n. 17, which is concernednbsp;with one of the queen�s freedmen named Vf fill and relates how she gavenbsp;him land.

Cap. 2 agrees, again to a large extent verbally, with Landn. n. 14. It relates how Eric the Red left Norway and settled in Iceland. There he

' Both works are transi, by G. M. Gathorne-Hardy, The Norse Discoverers of America. An account of the MSS. will be found ib. p. too ff. It should be observednbsp;that p. K. is here called the � Saga of Eric the Red whereas in the Reykjavik editionnbsp;this name is applied to the first part of the story as told in the Flateyjarb�k. Bothnbsp;usages can be justified; but in order to obviate ambiguity we have avoided using thenbsp;name. The greater part of both works is also transi, by J. I. Young, Narratives of thenbsp;Discovery of America. Here also the � Saga of Eric the Red � is what we call p. K.

becomes involved in a feud, in which he is supported by Thorbj�rn, son of VifilV among others. In consequence of this feud he has to leavenbsp;Iceland. He goes to Greenland, which he colonises.

In cap. 3 the saga becomes independent. First (a) we have an account of Thorbj�rn Vifilsson and his daughter GuSriSr. �b') A certain Einarrnbsp;proposes marriage with GuSriSr; but Thorbj�rn, who is a very proudnbsp;man, takes offence at the proposal, and decides to go to Greenland tonbsp;join his friend Eric, (c) The ship loses half its company through plague;nbsp;but the survivors eventually arrive at the settlement of a certainnbsp;Thorkell, where they stay for the winter, (d) Greenland is sufferingnbsp;from famine; and Thorkell invites a witch to prophesy what willnbsp;happen. She requires someone to sing a certain spell in order to attractnbsp;the spirits. GuSriSr is the only person present who knows the spell, andnbsp;sings it, somewhat reluctantly�for she is a Christian�but with greatnbsp;success. The witch foretells the end of the famine and then prophesiesnbsp;GuSriSr�s own future�a prophecy which turned out to be quitenbsp;correct, (e) Thorbj�rn and GuSriSr continue their voyage till theynbsp;reach Eric�s settlement.

In cap. 4 (a) Leifr, son of Eric, sets out for Norway, but is delayed in the Hebrides. (^) Thence he comes to Norway and joins the court ofnbsp;King �lafr Tryggvason, who commissions him to preach Christianity innbsp;Greenland, (c) The next summer he sets out for home, but sails far outnbsp;of his course, and lights upon an unknown land, where he finds selfsown wheat and vines. (lt;/) Eventually he reaches Greenland, and on thenbsp;way he rescues people (unnamed) on a wreck, and brings them homenbsp;with him. (e) He converts many of the people of Greenland, though notnbsp;his father, to Christianity. ( �) Curiosity is aroused by Leifr�s accountnbsp;of the unknown lands he had seen; and his brother Thorsteinn persuades Eric to join him in an attempt to find them, (g) As they arenbsp;starting, Eric falls from his horse; but nevertheless they both set outnbsp;on Thorbj�rn�s ship. But the voyage proves unsuccessful.

In cap. 5 (a) Thorsteinn, son of Eric, marries GuSriSr. (^) They go to live at a place called Lysufj�rSr, where they join another Thorsteinn,nbsp;whose wife is called SigriSr. (c) Plague breaks out; Thorsteinn, son ofnbsp;Eric, and SigriSr die�a detailed and gruesome scene, (d) GuSriSrnbsp;goes to live with Eric, her father-in-law. Thorbj�rn, her father, dies.

� It is generally believed that one or two intermediate generations have been forgotten. Nearly a century must have elapsed between the arrival of Queennbsp;AuSr in Iceland, and Eric�s settlement of Greenland.

summer another Icelander, named Bjarni Grfmolfsson, also sets out. (c) They all arrive at Eric�s home, and are hospitably entertained bynbsp;him for the winter. (J) Karlsefni marries GuSriSr.

In cap. 7 (a) curiosity again rises about the land of vines (Vi'nland); and in the summer three ships set out to look for it. The first is that ofnbsp;Karlsefni and Snorri, the second that of Bjarni. The third is the shipnbsp;which had belonged to Thorbj�rn; it is manned by Greenlanders, undernbsp;ThorvarSr, husband of Eric�s illegitimate daughter Frey dis, Thor-valdr, son of Eric, and Th�rhallr, surnamed the hunter. (^) Theynbsp;follow Leifr�s directions, and come in succession to the various landsnbsp;described by him�to which they give names, Helluland, Markland,nbsp;etc. On one headland they find the keel of a ship, and this they callnbsp;Kjalarnes (�Headland of the Keel�), (c) A Scotch man and woman,nbsp;called Haki and Hekja, who had been given to Leifr by �lafr Trygg-vason, and who are exceedingly swift on their feet, are sent out tonbsp;explore, and come back with grapes and self-sown wheat. (^Z) Thenbsp;expedition camps at a place called Straumfj�rSr. (e) Provisions runnbsp;short. Th�rhallr the hunter is lost. When they find him he is engaged innbsp;an incantation to Thor, as a result of which they find a whale, but are allnbsp;sick after eating it.

In cap. 8 a division of opinion occurs as to the direction to be taken. Th�rhallr with a small party sets off on one ship, but lose their way.nbsp;Eventually they are cast up on the coast of Ireland, where they perish.

In cap. 9 f. the rest of the expedition proceed to a place called / H�pi, where they form a settlement. Here they are visited by natives callednbsp;Skr�lingjar, who come in boats by sea and trade with them. In cap. 11nbsp;however they are attacked by the same natives, and take to flight. Theynbsp;are saved only by the courage of Frey dis. In cap. 12, thinking the placenbsp;unsafe, they return to Straumfj�rSr, which they had left a year before.nbsp;But it is stated that according to another form of the story, Karlsefninbsp;and Snorri with the greater part of the company had only been awaynbsp;two months, while Bjarni and GuSrfSr had remained at Straumfj�rSr.

In cap. 13, Karlsefni sets out to look for Th�rhallr; but Thorvaldr is shot by a native, a �one-leg�. In the following winter there is muchnbsp;disorder, the unmarried men attacking those who had wives. Whennbsp;summer comes, they start on their homeward journey. It is remarkednbsp;that Karlsefni had a son born the first year, called Snorri, and that thenbsp;child was three years old when they returned.

Cap. 14 is concerned with the fate of Bjarni Grfmolfsson, whose ship, after leaving Greenland, proved to be unseaworthy. In cap. 15 it is

THE TEXTS nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;539

related that Karlsefni and GuSn'Sr returned next summer to Iceland; and the saga closes with an account of their descendants.

Now we may take the story as told in the Flateyjarb�k. The first three chapters of this are given in Vol. i, pp. 429-32, under the title pdttrnbsp;Eireks Rauda, or the �Episode of Eric the Red�; the remainder in Vol. i,nbsp;pp. 538-49, under the title Groenlendinga pdttr, or �Episode of thenbsp;Men of Greenland�.

Cap. I corresponds, in part verbally, to p. K. 2, and is doubtless derived from the same source.

In cap. 2 Leifr, son of Eric, is said to have gone to Norway sixteen years after his father had settled in Greenland. He attaches himself tonbsp;King �lafr Tryggvason, and is baptised. Cap. 3 is concerned with one ofnbsp;Eric�s friends named Herjulfr and his son Bjarni. The latter is an activenbsp;merchant sailor, constantly voyaging between Iceland and Norway.nbsp;Once on his return home he finds that his father has gone to Greenland;nbsp;so he sets off after him, but loses his way. He comes first to onenbsp;unknown land, then to another, then to a third; but holds on his waynbsp;till he comes to Greenland. There he settles with his father and gives upnbsp;voyaging.

In cap. 4, when the story begins again (p. 538), we find (a), in contradiction to what has just been said, Bjarni is again in Norway, at thenbsp;court of Earl Eric (r. 1000-1014). When he returns to Greenland,nbsp;there is much curiosity about the lands which he had seen. Leifr buysnbsp;his ship, and persuades his father Eric to join him in an expedition tonbsp;look for them, (c) As they are starting, Eric falls from his horse, as innbsp;p. K. 4 (g) ; but he turns back, and Leifr proceeds alone. (jT) Leifr comesnbsp;in succession to the various lands described by Bjarni. He gives thenbsp;name Helluland to the first, and Markland to the second. This passagenbsp;corresponds to p. K. 7 (F). (e) In the third land he builds houses, andnbsp;prepares to explore. In cap. 5 (cz) a German called Tyrker is lost; andnbsp;Leifr sets out with a party to find him. (lt;5) Tyrker soon appears withnbsp;grapes�with which they fill their boat. Leifr calls the country Vinland.nbsp;(c) On his return voyage, Leifr finds a ship-wrecked party on thenbsp;rocks. Among them is a Norwegian called Th�rir with his wife GuSrfSr.nbsp;(tZ) Leifr rescues the party, and takes Th�rir and his wife home withnbsp;him; and Th�rir dies shortly afterwards of plague, (e) Eric the Rednbsp;dies. ( �) Thorvaldr desires to explore Vinland and borrows Leifr�s ship.

Cap. 6 deals with Thorvaldr�s expedition to Vinland, where he stays two winters in Leifr�s houses. We may note (a) that he gives the namenbsp;Kjalarnes to a certain headland, but the circumstances are different from

the account given in p. K. 7 Here the name is due to an accident to Thorvaldr�s ship which is repaired at the place, {b) Eventually a battlenbsp;takes place with the Skr�lingjar. Here again the circumstances arenbsp;quite different from those of Thorvaldr�s death in p. K. 13. Thorvaldrnbsp;is buried in Vfnland, and his followers return home.

In cap. 7 (a) Thorsteinn, son of Eric, marries GuSn'Sr, daughter of Thorbj�rn, and widow of Th�rir. (^) Thorsteinn and GuSriSr start fornbsp;Vinland to recover Thorvaldr�s body, (c) They lose their way andnbsp;come to Lysufj�rSr in Greenland, (t/) They are invited to stay withnbsp;Thorsteinn the Black and his wife Grfmhildr. (e) Gn'mhildr andnbsp;Thorsteinn, son of Eric, die of plague. This scene closely correspondsnbsp;to p. K. 5 (c). ( �) Thorsteinn the Black brings GuSriSr to Leifr.

In cap. 8 (a) Thorfinnr Karlsefni arrives from Norway. (J)) GuSrfSr marries Karlsefni by the advice of Leifr. (c) Karlsefni and GuSriSr gonbsp;to Vinland and stay at Leifr�s houses. (lt;/) Skr�lingjar come from thenbsp;forest and trade with Karlsefni. (e) GuSriSr�s son Snorri is born. Whilenbsp;she is tending him in his cradle, the Skr�lingjar come again to trade;nbsp;and one of their women visits GuSriSr and says that she also is callednbsp;GuSriSr. ( �) The trading leads to a fight, and the Skr�lingjar flee tonbsp;the forest, (g) Karlsefni and his party return to Greenland.

In cap. 9 two Icelanders arrive from Norway. Frey dis, daughter of Eric, gets them to join in an expedition to Vinland with her. When theynbsp;arrive at Leifr�s houses, she breaks the agreement with them, and eventually persuades her husband ThorvarSr and his men to massacre thenbsp;whole party.

In cap. IO (a) Freydis, on her return, tries to suppress all news of what had happened; but Leifr eventually finds it out, and is deeplynbsp;indignant. (3) At this time Karlsefni sails for Norway, where he disposes of his wares, and then returns to Iceland, (c) Karlsefni dies, andnbsp;GuSriSr keeps house for her son Snorri. Afterwards she becomes a nun.nbsp;(lt;/) The story ends with a list of her descendants. It is added that Karlsefni gave a clearer account than anyone else of all the events related.

Now, if we compare the two stories, it will be seen at once that they have much in common, though each of them has a good deal peculiar tonbsp;itself.

We need not attach any importance to the resemblances between p. K. 2 and Flat, i, for these chapters appear to have been taken fromnbsp;the Landndmab�k, probably when the stories were committed to writing.nbsp;But attention should be paid to the similarity between p. K. 5 (especiallynbsp;(c)) and Flat. 7 (especially (e)), which clearly have a common origin,

541 although different names are given to the wife of the second Thorsteinn.nbsp;The same is also clearly true of p. K. lo-ii and F/at. 8 (^Z) and ( �).nbsp;We may note here especially that in both stories reference is made innbsp;the first passage to the bellowing of a bull, and in the second to an axenbsp;which was picked up by one of the Skr�lingjar, though the details innbsp;the latter case are quite different. A common origin is also probably tonbsp;be sought for the incident of the wreck described in p. K. 4 (af) and innbsp;Flat. 5 (c); and for that of the accident to Eric in p. K. 4 (g) and innbsp;Flat. 4 (c)�although it is to be observed that in p. K. Eric proceeds onnbsp;the expedition in spite of the accident, whereas in Flat, he turns back.nbsp;Next we may notice the differences between the two accounts, (i)nbsp;Each story contains a number of incidents peculiar to itself. The morenbsp;important of these have been noted in the analysis given above. (2) Important discrepancies are not infrequent. Thus in p. K. 4 (c) Leifrnbsp;discovers Vi'nland by accident, but in Flat. 4 (tZ) he sets out on a voyagenbsp;of exploration to look for it and builds houses there. Again, Thorvaldr,nbsp;son of Eric, meets with his death in Vinland according to both storiesnbsp;(�gt;. K. 13; Flat. 6). But the date and circumstances are quite differentnbsp;in the two accounts. Again, GuSriSr comes to Greenland unmarried,nbsp;with her father, in p. K. 3 (e), while in Flat. 5 (t/) she is married, andnbsp;comes with her husband, named Th�rir.^ In the latter case the story ofnbsp;her arrival is connected with the incident of the wreck. (3) The samenbsp;incident is sometimes related of different persons. Thus, the accidentalnbsp;discovery of the new land is ascribed to Leifr in p. K. 4 (c), to Bjarninbsp;Herjulfsson in Flat. 3 IF). Again, the voyage of Karlsefni in p. K. 7 [F)nbsp;seems to correspond to that of Leifr in Flat. 4 (lt;/). We may also note thatnbsp;after Thorsteinn�s death, GuSriSr seems to be under Eric�s care innbsp;p. K. 5 {F) and 6 (t/), whereas in Flat. 7 ( �) and 8 QF) (cf. 5 (e)) she isnbsp;under Leifr�s care ; Eric is dead. (4) Differences may also be noticed innbsp;such cases as the explanation of the name Kjalarnes {p. K. 7 (JF) ; Flat.nbsp;6 (a)). The story told of Tyrker in Flat. 5 seems to be connected in somenbsp;way with the incidents related of Haki and Hekja and of Th�rhallr innbsp;p. K. 7 (c) and (e).

The agreements and the differences noted above can hardly be explained otherwise than by oral tradition. Indeed the existence of anbsp;divergent tradition in regard to one part of the story is noted in p.K.iz

� It may be suspected that this Th�rir (who died of plague) is due to some confusion between her father Thorbj�rn and her first husband Thorsteinn. If so, of course, the passage must have a different origin from cap. 7. But this is merelynbsp;conjecture.

(cf. p. 538). It has been suggested that the story preserved in the Flateyjarb�k comes ultimately from Greenland. But this story, like thenbsp;other, ends with Karlsefni�s return to Iceland. It contains no referencenbsp;to events in Greenland after his departure, except a sentence in cap. 3,nbsp;which may well be due to the writer of the saga. The saga itself containsnbsp;a passage {adfin^ which suggests that the story is believed to be derivednbsp;from Karlsefni�though actually he is less prominent in it than in p. K.

But p. K. is concerned far more with GuSriSr than with Karlsefni. The latter does not appear before cap. 6, whereas the saga follows thenbsp;life of GuSriSr from her girlhood in cap. 3 to her return to Iceland atnbsp;the end. If convention had allowed sagas to bear the names of women,nbsp;this saga would surely have been called � GuSriSar Saga�. We may notenbsp;in particular a number of personal details affecting GuSriSr�s history,nbsp;which are not otherwise of importance, e.g. in the account of the witchnbsp;(cap. 3 (t/)), in the story of her husband Thorsteinn�s death (cap. 5nbsp;(c)), and in the reference to the birth of her child Snorri (cap. 13). Suchnbsp;passages point definitely to GuSriSr as the source of the story.^ But itnbsp;may be observed further that the two incidents last mentioned arenbsp;treated also in the Flateyjarb�k (cap. 7 (e), 8 (e)). And here the birth ofnbsp;the child is followed by an adventure of GuSriSr�s which is not mentioned in p. K. Indeed from the beginning of cap. 7 the Flateyjarb�knbsp;points to GuSriSr as its source just as much as does p. K. The twonbsp;stories appear to be variants, derived ultimately from GuSriSr�s accountnbsp;of her experiences. This explains the large amount of attention paid tonbsp;women in both stories. It also perhaps accounts for the fact that bothofnbsp;them are of much greater interest in regard to human relations than asnbsp;records of exploration. On the latter side they are indeed far fromnbsp;satisfactory.

Extraneous elements are of course not wanting in either case. The first part of the story in the Flateyjarb�k (cap. 1-6) bears no relation tonbsp;GuSriSr. The only passage in which she is mentioned (cap. 5 (0/)) seemsnbsp;to have come from someone who did not know her history. In p. K.nbsp;the greater part of cap. 13 and cap. 14 probably come from differentnbsp;sources. Some of these notices may ultimately be derived perhaps fromnbsp;members of Karlsefni�s crew. The point, however, to which we would

The variants in the plague scene are especially interesting. Both stories introduce the supernatural�the activities of the victims after their deaths�^at the same points; but the supernatural here may be due to the interpretation put upon thenbsp;events, rather than to the events themselves.

543 call attention is that the evidence, in our opinion, points to GuSriSr asnbsp;the ultimate source of the story; but that in course of time variant formsnbsp;of it arose, each of which independently received accretions fromnbsp;different sources.

In Ireland, saga has had a much longer history than in Iceland. It began in much earlier times, and even today it is not wholly dead. Thenbsp;problems, however, presented by variants in early and in late texts arenbsp;not quite the same. It will therefore be necessary to take examples fromnbsp;both; and consequently we shall treat the material more briefly.

First we will take the Conception of CuChulainn, a story which is preserved in two early forms, I and IL* The chief features which bothnbsp;of these have in common are as follows: (i) The fields round Emainnbsp;(Macha) are continually stripped by a large flock of birds. In I they arenbsp;i8o in number; in II, 250. (2) Conchobor and the Ulster chiefs set outnbsp;in nine chariots to hunt them. (3) Their route lies to the south, overnbsp;Sliab Fuait. (4) They are overtaken by night. (5) Someone (in I,nbsp;Bricriu and Conall; in II, Fergus) finds a little house occupied by anbsp;married couple, who invite them in. (6) The house proves able to holdnbsp;them all comfortably, and to provide for them. (7) A child is born innbsp;the house during the night.

These agreements clearly prove a common origin for the two forms of the story; but the differences between them are numerous and important. The following especially may be noted, (i) In I Deichtine,nbsp;Conchobor�s daughter, takes part in the hunt as her father�s charioteer;nbsp;in II Dechtire, Conchobor�s sister, has been lost for three years withnbsp;fifty companions. (2) In I nothing is said as to the origin of the birds ;nbsp;in II the birds are Dechtire and her companions. (3) In I nothing morenbsp;is said of the birds after night comes on ; in II Bricriu finds a fine largenbsp;house, in which are Dechtire and her companions. They have enticednbsp;the Ulstermen in the form of birds, but are now in their human form.nbsp;(4) In I the child is born by the wife of the owner of the little house, whonbsp;is tended by Deichtine; in II the child is born by Dechtire, when shenbsp;has been brought from the big house to the little house. (5) In I the

� A detailed synopsis of both forms of the story is given by Thurneysen, It. Heldensage., p. 268 ff., with references to the various MSS. etc. in which they arenbsp;found. I is transi, by Thurneysen, Za ir. Hss. I. 41 ff. ; II by Thurneysen, Sagen ausnbsp;dem alten Irland, p. 59 ff.; by Duvau, Rev. Celt. ix. 4-9; by Hull, The Cuchullinnbsp;Saga, p. 15 ff. (from Duvau). The text transi, by Duvau, Rev. Celt. ix. 9-13, belongsnbsp;to I, but does not preserve this version in its original form.

house and its owners vanish during the night. The child is taken to Emain, but soon dies; but after the funeral Deichtine swallows a smallnbsp;creature in a drink of water, through which she becomes pregnant, andnbsp;bears CuChulainn. In II the child born in the little house is CuChulainn.nbsp;(6) In I, when Deichtine is pregnant, a man appears to her in a dreamnbsp;and says that he is Lug mac Ethnenn, that he was the owner of the littlenbsp;house and the father of the child, which has now entered into her womb.nbsp;In II no name is given to either the owner of the little house or to thenbsp;owner of the big house. Dechtire is the wife of the latter and pregnantnbsp;(apparently by him) when she comes to the little house. Apart fromnbsp;these differences, each form of the story has a number of featuresnbsp;peculiar to itself.

It is hardly possible that either version of the story can have been derived from the other in written form. Both of them can be tracednbsp;back to early times. I comes from the Book of Druim Snamp;chta, whichnbsp;appears to have been written early in the eighth century (cf. p. 490);nbsp;I� is believed to be derived from a text written in the eighth or ninthnbsp;century. If both of them are derived by oral tradition from a commonnbsp;origin, as we see no reason for doubting, the original story must havenbsp;been in existence by the seventh century, if not earlier. Incidentally wenbsp;may observe that this story itself clearly belongs to the class of � secondary� stories, and could never have come into existence before CuChulainn had become a famous hero. It affords good evidence therefore for the antiquity of the primary story or stories relating to him.

In later times some stories are preserved in a number of widely different versions. As an example we may take the story of the Sons ofnbsp;Uisliu, or Uisnech (cf. p. 50). The oldest form of the story, known asnbsp;the Exile of the Sons of Uisliu, and preserved in the Book ofLeinster andnbsp;two other early MSS., dates perhaps from the ninth century. A muchnbsp;longer version, known as the Fate of the Children of Uisnech, is preserved in a number of MSS., the earliest of which dates from c. 1500.nbsp;This version comprises only the latter part of the story, beginning withnbsp;Conchobor�s decision to invite the sons of Uisnech back to Ulster. Itnbsp;is believed to date from the fifteenth century, or slightly earlier. Innbsp;addition, several versions of the story, both prose and verse, were takennbsp;down from recitation in Ireland and the Scottish islands in the coursenbsp;of the nineteenth century. It is believed that other versions are stillnbsp;current, or were so until recently. There is no doubt that some of thenbsp;versions had long been preserved by oral tradition. Hence, if all thenbsp;material were easily accessible�which unfortunately is not the case�

545 the story would afford good opportunities for studying the growth ofnbsp;variants. Here, however, we can only notice cursorily a few of thenbsp;questions involved.

First we will take the story obtained by Carmichael from John Macneill in Barra (Hebrides) in 1867.^ The latter part of this story,nbsp;rather less than half of the whole, bears a general resemblance to thenbsp;fifteenth-century version. Sometimes there are even verbal resemblances ;nbsp;but it is much simplified. The only persons mentioned by name arenbsp;Conchobor, Fergus and his sons, the Sons of Uisnech, Derdriu (Deir-dire), and also the following characters who are not mentioned elsewhere: Gealbhan Greadhnach, son of the king of Lochlann, and anbsp;druid called Duanan Gacha Draogh. Of these two latter the first is thenbsp;man�called Treundorn in the fifteenth-century version�who peepsnbsp;through the keyhole and gets his eye knocked out, while the druidnbsp;makes the magic sea, and in this respect corresponds to Cathbad in thenbsp;fifteenth-century version. The �foster-mother� is sent by Conchobor tonbsp;look at Deirdire, but her name, Leborcham (Leabarcham), is notnbsp;mentioned. Cuilionn, who in the fifteenth-century version is Fergus�snbsp;shield-bearer, appears here as one of his sons. None of the other characters who figure in the fifteenth-century version occur. No place-namesnbsp;are mentioned, except one or two in Scotland. The story is simplified innbsp;many respects. Naoise and his brothers perish from exhaustion throughnbsp;struggling with the magic sea. Short poems are introduced from time tonbsp;time, somewhat similar to those contained in the fifteenth-centurynbsp;version and in similar places; but verbal resemblances are rare.

The first�and rather longer�part of the story deals with Deirdire�s life from the prophecy of her birth to her departure from Scotland, andnbsp;has nothing corresponding to it in the fifteenth-century version, thoughnbsp;the subject is treated in the early �Exile �. This part of the story is lessnbsp;well preserved. The place of Fedlimid, Conchobor�s story-teller, isnbsp;taken by Colum Cruitire (�the harper�), who has nothing to do withnbsp;Conchobor. The prophecy of Deirdire�s birth, and the troubles whichnbsp;were to arise therefrom, is attributed, not to Cathbad, who is notnbsp;mentioned, but to a nameless and apparently itinerant fortune-teller.nbsp;No other persons are mentioned by name in this part of the storynbsp;except Conchobor (Conachar), Fergus, and Naoise and his brothers.nbsp;Deirdire is brought up in a secret place by the midwife, and discoverednbsp;there by a hunter, both of whom are unnamed. It is Deirdire�s fathernbsp;who sends her to be brought up in the secret place; Conchobor hears ofnbsp;* Deirdire, text and transi, by A. Carmichael, 2nd edn. Paisley, 1914.

her first from the hunter. Otherwise the story corresponds in general to the narrative in the Exile-, and it is remembered that Conchobor isnbsp;king of Ulster. This part of the story contains no poetry.

The Lay of the Children ofUisne was taken down by Carmichael from a smith called Donald Macphie, also in Barra, and in the same year.inbsp;It is partly narrative, but has more in common with Type B than withnbsp;Type A. There is no reference here to the early part of the story. Thenbsp;poem deals only with the voyage of Dearduil (Deirdriu) and the Sons ofnbsp;Uisne from Scotland, and their arrival at Conachar�s town, which isnbsp;represented as on the coast. The fight takes place at once ; Naois and hisnbsp;brothers are killed in their boat. Dearduil asks permission to go andnbsp;kiss them, and then borrows from a ship-wright a knife with which shenbsp;stabs herself to death, after reciting an elegy over the brothers. Nonbsp;other persons are mentioned, and no names of places except one or twonbsp;in Scotland. From all this it will be seen that the poem differs widelynbsp;from all the versions mentioned above. But the concluding elegy bearsnbsp;a close and sometimes verbal resemblance to part of the elegy which isnbsp;preserved at the end of the fifteenth-century version.

Next we may take a story recited to the late Prof. Dottin in 1891 by Thomas Ford in Galway.^ This story again covers the whole life ofnbsp;Deirdre ; but it differs greatly from any of the versions mentioned above.nbsp;The part played elsewhere by Conchobor is here assigned to a kingnbsp;Manannan, who is not king of Ulster. He is Deirdre�s father. At hernbsp;birth a wizard prophesies that she will be the cause of much bloodshed,nbsp;and the other kings want to have her put to death; but her father hasnbsp;her shut up in a tower. When she grows up she dreams of a man, andnbsp;her mother tells her that the description corresponds to Aille (Andie),nbsp;son of Uisneach. Her mother gets Aille to walk in front of the towernbsp;with his brother Ardan and his companions; and when Manannan goesnbsp;to visit the king of Ulster, she arranges for Deirdre to escape withnbsp;Aille to Scotland. The king of Scotland (unnamed) recommends themnbsp;to go to the earl of Dun-an-treoin. There they are followed bynbsp;Manannan with an army. A battle takes place in which Manannan isnbsp;defeated, and has to return to Ireland. His adviser now suggests that henbsp;should offer a free pardon to the fugitives, and attack them treacherouslynbsp;when he has enticed them back to Ireland. They come; but Naois�nbsp;who has barely been mentioned up to this point�suspects treachery,nbsp;and warns his brothers. They beat off the attacking party, but in the

' Text and transi, by Carmichael, Deirdire, p. 114 ff. Text and transi, by Dottin, Rev. Celt. XLV. 426 if.

547 confusion and excitement of the fight they fall upon and slay onenbsp;another. Deirdre calls upon the grave-diggers to dig the grave bignbsp;enough for all the three brothers and herself, and celebrates their prowessnbsp;in a poem, which is not given. The last passage recalls Deirdre�s dirge innbsp;the fifteenth-century version, especially st. ii. Otherwise this accountnbsp;has no special resemblance to that version, except possibly in the suspicions of treachery, which, however, are here attributed to Naois. Thenbsp;story contains no verse; and it mentions no place-names and no personalnbsp;names except those which we have noted. It will be seen that Aille hasnbsp;taken the place of Naoise.

Lastly, we may notice a version contained in a MS. dating from about 1800 preserved in the Belfast Museum. Its origin is unknown. Itnbsp;appears to be of considerable length; but only the first part of it hasnbsp;been published �down to the departure of Deirdre with Naoise and hisnbsp;brothers to Scotland. This version is much closer than either Carmichael�s or Dottin�s to the Exile. It preserves the names of Deirdre�snbsp;father (Feidhlim), the druid (Cathfaidh), and the nurse (Leabharcam),nbsp;as well as of Conall Cernach and Fergus, and several place-names.nbsp;But the actual wording has little or nothing in common with the Exile.nbsp;It is expanded a good deal and contains modern ideas. The namenbsp;Cailcin is given to Deirdre�s � tutor �. The published part of the storynbsp;contains no verse, but there are said to be six stanzas in the later part ofnbsp;it. The later part appears to have more in common with the fifteenthcentury version than with the Exile. But at the close of the story, beforenbsp;the druid delivers his curse, he and Conall see the king returning withnbsp;Deirdre, after the sons of Uisneach are dead.

It will be seen that, apart from the last version�the history of which is not clear�the first part of the story in the modern (prose) recordsnbsp;differs a good deal from the Exile. Yet certain elements are common tonbsp;all accounts. Thus all contain a prophecy delivered by a druid or fortuneteller in connection with Derdriu�s birth, relating to the disasters ofnbsp;which she would be the cause. All accounts also contain a passage innbsp;which Noisiu�or the man beloved by Derdriu�is said to have thenbsp;three colours of the raven, of newly shed blood, and of snow, or a swan.nbsp;In the latter part of the story all the modern accounts resemble thenbsp;fifteenth-century version rather than the Exile.

At the present time it appears to be the prevalent view� that late versions of sagas are usually derived from earlier texts, and that thenbsp;� Ed. and transi, by D. Hyde, Zeitschr.f. celt. Philol. n. 138 ff.nbsp;� Cf. Thumeysen, Ir. Heldensage, pp. 72 ff., 327 ff.

versions now current orally are likewise ultimately derived from written sources. Thus in this case it is held that the fifteenth-century version isnbsp;derived, as a literary work, from the Exile, and that the various versionsnbsp;current orally, whether in Ireland or Scotland, are derived from thenbsp;former. For the derivation of oral stories from written works plenty ofnbsp;analogies are to be found in ballads. We may refer e.g. to the balladsnbsp;current in the Faeroes, many of which are avowedly derived fromnbsp;Icelandic books.^ The simplification and disintegration of the storynbsp;observable in some of the cases noted above is no greater than what maynbsp;be found in some of these ballads.

Yet we are inclined to think that in the case of native stories, such as those with which we are concerned, the current view needs reconsideration. It can hardly be doubted that the practice of story-tellingnbsp;has always prevailed in Ireland; and although the possibility of influence from written works is always to be taken into account, wenbsp;hesitate to believe that the latter would very easily displace the traditional narrative, especially among the numerous reciters who werenbsp;illiterate. In the case with which we are concerned, it is a serious objection to the current view that apparently all the current prose versions ofnbsp;the story begin with Derdriu�s birth, whereas the fifteenth-centurynbsp;version from which they are supposed to be derived begins only withnbsp;Conchobor�s treacherous design of bringing the fugitives back fromnbsp;Scotland. Whence then did the modern versions obtain the first part ofnbsp;the story.^

It is true that at least one MS. of the fifteenth-century version, viz. Edinburgh L VI, which was written c. 1700, has prefixed to the text an account of the first part of the story copied from Keating�s History of Ireland. Thenbsp;same text has likewise taken from Keating the close of the story�afternbsp;the elegies. One or both of these additions may occur in other MSS.^nbsp;The first, however, is wanting not only in the earliest MS., Edinburghnbsp;LIII,3 which was written c. 1500, but also in 0�Flanagan�s eighteenthcentury text.'^ The conclusion of Edinburgh LIII is unfortunately lost;

� The first addition (not the second) is prefixed to the edition of the story published by the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language (2nd edn. 1914).nbsp;It is not clear to us whether it is derived from the MS. (c. 1740), or added by thenbsp;editor.

3 Ed. and transi., with variants from Edinburgh LVI, by W. Stokes in Windisch�s Irische Texte, II. ii. 109 ff.

Text and transi, by O�Flanagan, in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin (1808), p. 16 ff.

549 but the second addition is not found either in O�Flanagan�s text,nbsp;or in the text published by the Society for the Preservation ofnbsp;the Irish Language. The two latter have a quite different andnbsp;much shorter conclusion, which according to all probability was thenbsp;original conclusion of the fifteenth-century version�whereas thenbsp;passage taken from Keating in Edinburgh LVI is inconsistent withnbsp;what has been stated just before in that MS. ; it makes Deirdriu livenbsp;for a year with Conchobor (as in the Exile} after she has gone intonbsp;the tomb.

It appears to us most improbable that the first part of the story, as told in the modern versions,i can be derived from Keating, throughnbsp;the medium of such a text as Edinburgh LVI. Keating, it is true, followsnbsp;the Exile so closely that it is very difficult to trace any differencesnbsp;between the two in texts so remote from both as the modern versions.nbsp;Yet in two points at least, Carmichael�s Deirdire agrees with the Exile asnbsp;against Keating and Edinburgh LVI. In the two former Deirdire makesnbsp;up to Naoise herself, whereas in the two latter Naoise goes secretly to seenbsp;Deirdre. Again in Deirdire, Naoise�s brothers try to dissuade him fromnbsp;the adventure�a trait which is not found in Keating or Edinburgh LVI.nbsp;And apart from this, it is scarcely credible, in view of the great numbernbsp;of place-names in Scotland derived from the story,� that it was notnbsp;known there before c. 1640�a conclusion which would virtually benbsp;involved by the hypothesis that it was obtained from a source derivednbsp;partly from Keating.

We ourselves see no reason why the modern versions should be derived from a literary source at all, though in the latter part of the storynbsp;they certainly have more in common with the fifteenth-century versionnbsp;(the Fate') than with the Exile. But we have yet to consider the relationship between the two latter. The theory that the Fate was in origin anbsp;literary work derived from the Exile seems to us unproved, and indeednbsp;to be open to serious objections. In the first place, why is the poetrynbsp;entirely changed.^ The poems contained in the first part of the story arenbsp;naturally wanting in the Fate. But the place of the elegies at the end hasnbsp;been taken by other (quite different) elegies. In these latter it will benbsp;seen that there are important variations between the different texts. Innbsp;the second elegy (Deirdre�s last poem), the variants consist in differences

� Cf. Carmichael, Deirdire, p. 13 5 f., especially p. 140 f., where it is implied that some of these names, in the neighbourhood of Loch Etive, were in existence beforenbsp;the Reformation. This quest? n might be worth investigating.

in detail, and in the order of the stanzas. But the first (short) elegy,which precedes this in Edinburgh LVI, is a different poem from the elegynbsp;which occupies the same position in 0�Flanagan�s and the Irish Language Society�s texts. The latter is mainly occupied with a love-adventurenbsp;between Naoise and the daughter of the earl of Dun Treoin�a storynbsp;to which we have no reference elsewhere. Other poems�monologuesnbsp;by Deirdre, and dialogues between her and Naoise�have been introduced at various places in the narrative. At least one of these, the poemnbsp;beginning � Beloved land, the land in the east, Britain �, etc. must surelynbsp;be of Scottish origin; for it is full of references to localities on the westnbsp;coast of Scotland�a parallel to which is hardly to be found elsewhere innbsp;Irish saga literature. Probably the poem relating to the daughter of thenbsp;earl of Dun Treoin is of similar origin, since it refers to a gathering ofnbsp;the host of Alba at Inverness. The evidence of the poetry thereforenbsp;points to a widespread cultivation of the story.

In the narrative itself it is difficult to see why so many changes were introduced if it was really taken from the Exile. We may note especiallynbsp;that the names of nearly all the minor characters have been changed. Ifnbsp;the story was preserved by oral tradition, it is easily enough intelligiblenbsp;that confusion should take place (e.g.) between the various persons callednbsp;Fiacha (or similar names) and Maine. But if the Fate was based merelynbsp;on the written text of the Exile these changes must have been deliberate ;nbsp;and it is difficult to see why they should have been made. Moreovernbsp;there is evidence for the existence of variants long before the fifteenthnbsp;century�indeed even in the text of the Exile itself. Thus in the secondnbsp;prophecy attributed to Cathbad, it is stated that certain heroes will losenbsp;their lives through Derdriu. Those mentioned by name are Fiachna,nbsp;son of Conchobor; Gerrce, son of Illadan; and Eogan, son of Durthacht.nbsp;But in the narrative itself, towards the end of the saga (cap. i6), it isnbsp;related that Dubthach and Fergus, in revenge for the sons of Uisliu,nbsp;slew Mane, son of Conchobor, Fiachna, son of Fedelm, and others,nbsp;though not the persons mentioned in the prophecy; Eogan is spoken ofnbsp;as alive at the end of the story. Fiacha or Fiachra, son of Conchobor, itnbsp;is to be observed, is one of the heroes slain in the Fate. It is held thatnbsp;this prophetic poem is a later addition to the story; but it is found evennbsp;in the earliest MS. the Book of Leinster. The same list of casualtiesnbsp;occurs also elsewhere in this MS., in a poem^ attributed, probablynbsp;wrongly, to Kenneth 0�Hartigan (d. 975). There can be no doubt there-

� Cf. Rev. Celt. xxni. 308 f. (st. 17 f.). In view of the gloss given on p. (z3.) 326 (cf. p, 337) it would seem that the translation �by Eogan� in st. 18 is erroneous.

551 fore as to the existence of important variants, at least by the middle ofnbsp;the twelfth century.

From what has been said it will be seen that the theory of a literary tradition is beset with difficulties. We see no reason for doubting thatnbsp;the story has had a continuous history in oral tradition. It was writtennbsp;down in the ninth century according to the form�or rather accordingnbsp;to a form�then current. It is likely enough that variants alreadynbsp;existed. By the twelfth century their existence can be demonstrated. Thenbsp;latter part of the story was again written down, independently as wenbsp;think, in the fifteenth century, according to a form then current. Thisnbsp;incorporated a different and presumably later set of poems than thosenbsp;included in the Exile. Some of them came from Scotland,� and onenbsp;points to a ramification of the story which is otherwise unknown.nbsp;Lastly, the story has been written down in various forms, still from oralnbsp;tradition, in recent times. These modern versions in general show anbsp;greater resemblance to the fifteenth-century version than either to thenbsp;Exile or to one another. We believe the explanation of this to be asnbsp;follows: in the Middle Ages saga was so prevalent, and the saga-tellersnbsp;so constantly in touch with one another, in Scotland as well as innbsp;Ireland, that a popular saga was bound to develop everywhere onnbsp;similar lines�whereas from the seventeenth century onwards suchnbsp;conditions no longer existed.

The wordy and florid style which characterises the fifteenth-century version is similar to that of various works dating from the Middle Agesnbsp;�we may refer especially to the War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill�nbsp;but we doubt if it is properly of literary origin. The love of alliterationnbsp;suggests that it is derived from the art of the story-teller. It may not benbsp;the style which was cultivated by the filid', but sagas were told by manynbsp;other persons besides filid, as we shall see in a later chapter. The style ofnbsp;the Exile is so concise that one is tempted to suspect that what thenbsp;writer has given us is for the most part a summary, rather than thenbsp;actual words in which the story was narrated in his time. This is a

� The fact that the two earliest MSS. belong to Scotland may perhaps suggest that the story itself was written down there. Ireland�especially in connection withnbsp;heroic stories�was doubtless far better known to the Gaels of western Scotlandnbsp;than Scotland was to the Irish; but we are not inclined to attach much importance tonbsp;the argument. Nothing can be made of the date 1238�with the name Gleann-masain�^written on one of the leaves of the oldest MS. (cf. Thurneysen, Ir.nbsp;Heldensage, p. 327 f.)�although Glen Masan is one of the places referred to in thenbsp;poem mentioned above, p. 550. The date is presumably a mistake for mdcxxxviii,nbsp;or MDCCXXXVIU.

question, however, which affects many other short sagas, and we prefer to leave it to those who are better qualified than ourselves to express annbsp;opinion.^

The last quarter of a century has seen a noteworthy change of opinion with regard to the composition of the Homeric poems and of Beowulf.nbsp;In place of the elaborate and often conflicting theories which had longnbsp;prevailed among the majority of scholars, the view has been gainingnbsp;ground that each of the epics is the work of a single author, who wrotenbsp;his poem much as a modern poet would do. On the question whethernbsp;both the Iliad and the Odyssey are the work of the same poet there isnbsp;less tendency to agreement; but this is, comparatively, a minor question.

This view is attractive from its simplicity. It puts an end to a large amount of speculation which has led to no definite conclusions. In thenbsp;case of the Homeric poems it has the sanction of ancient opinion. Innbsp;the case of Beowulf no opinion earlier than last century is recorded.nbsp;Possibly an Englishman of the eleventh century, if questioned, wouldnbsp;have expressed a similar belief; but this is quite uncertain.

We regret that we are unable to subscribe to this view. It appears to us to involve the assumption of modern conditions in times for whichnbsp;we have no warrant for believing that they existed. From the fifthnbsp;century onwards the Greeks thought and worked much as we do. Butnbsp;reasons have been given above (p. 494 ff.) for doubting whether suchnbsp;conditions can have prevailed in (say) the middle of the seventhnbsp;century�i.e. probably before the date of the earliest extant Greeknbsp;inscription. We doubt also the existence of a written Beowulf in the firstnbsp;half of the eighth century (a.d.). Yet few scholars will propose laternbsp;dates than these for the composition of the poems.

Apart from these considerations the chief fact to be taken into account is the knowledge of past times shown by the poems. Beowulfnbsp;preserves record of an event which is known to have taken place aboutnbsp;two centuries before the time assigned to the composition of the poem,nbsp;and of many princes, living about the same date, whose historical existence cannot reasonably be questioned (cf. p. 135 ff.). For the persons

553 and events recorded in the Homeric poems contemporary evidence isnbsp;wanting; but we have seen (p. i8i ff.) that there is good reason fornbsp;believing that they also contain a large historical element. How thennbsp;were these records preserved.^ The answer is given clearly by the poemsnbsp;themselves, in which we hear not unfrequently of heroic poems sung bynbsp;minstrels. As we shall see in the next chapter, these heroic poems arenbsp;sometimes said to be concerned with very recent events. But they had anbsp;long history, for they were still current in Hesiod�s time ; and he speaksnbsp;of them {Theog. 95-101) as dealing with men of old.

Some scholars do not deny that the existing poems are in part at least derived from such poems as these. But they draw a distinction betweennbsp;the two classes of poems, describing the former as literary works, thenbsp;latter as �lays�. It is this distinction which requires justification; itnbsp;appears to us purely arbitrary. Minstrelsy in connection with heroicnbsp;poetry seems to have died out in Greece before the beginning of thenbsp;historical period. But it was still current in Hesiod�s time; and Hesiodnbsp;is generally thought to have lived much later than Homer, though somenbsp;ancient authorities believed them to have been contemporary. Innbsp;England we have contemporary evidence (cf. p. 556) for heroic minstrelsy, i.e. �lays�, towards the close of the eighth century�at least halfnbsp;a century after the time when Beowulf is held to have been written.nbsp;There can be no question therefore as to the survival of the lay at�nbsp;and indeed after�the time when the �literary� poets are supposed tonbsp;have been at work. It is this literary work itself for which evidence isnbsp;wanting. The burden of proof therefore rests upon those who assumenbsp;its existence�those who draw a distinction between the two classes ofnbsp;poems.

No argument can be drawn from the length of Beowulf. In other countries, where heroic minstrel poetry is still living�or was untilnbsp;lately��lays� of over three thousand lines, even such as deal withnbsp;contemporary events,� are not rare, while lays of over two thousand arenbsp;common. With the Homeric poems the case is different. We do not knownbsp;of any �lays��or indeed of oral poems of any kind�dealing withnbsp;contemporary events, which run to such a length. Our view is thatnbsp;they were greatly expanded in the course of time�a process for whichnbsp;a certain analogy is to be found in the Mahabharata. This expansion wasnbsp;due largely, we think, to the desire to provide consecutive entertainment

� We may refer (e.g.) to one of the poems dealing with Omer Pasha�s attack upon Montenegro in 1852, which contains 3042 lines; publ. in Vuk St. Karadzic,nbsp;Srpske Narodne Pjesme, v (Vienna, 1865), p. 70 ff.

for festivals which extended over a number of days. We see no reason for believing that a written text was involved. The effort of memorisation involved would doubtless be beyond our powers. But we shallnbsp;meet with equally remarkable feats of this kind in later chapters.

Expansion may take place either from within, by fuller treatment, or from without by adding new matter or joining one poem to another.nbsp;There is a widespread impression that the Tay� was essentially a shortnbsp;poem, in which the action moved rapidly; and the fragmentary poemnbsp;Finn is often cited as the solitary survivor in Anglo-Saxon of this classnbsp;of poetry. Finn may have been a short poem of this character, though itnbsp;is a little hazardous to judge from a fragment of under fifty lines. Butnbsp;there is certainly no ground for believing that such a description isnbsp;true of all �lays�, if this means heroic minstrel poems. For the additionnbsp;of new matter Norse and Welsh examples have been cited above. Anbsp;probable example may also be found in the latter part of Beowulf, fromnbsp;2200 to the end, which may well have been composed as a sequel tonbsp;what goes before, though perhaps originally intended for a separatenbsp;recitation.! We think too that similar additions on a much larger scalenbsp;may be traced in the Odyssey, though here they are prefixed to, ornbsp;included within, the previously existing matter. It may be observednbsp;that�apart from the Telemachy�the additions are in the main of annbsp;imaginative character, though they contain references to heroic stories.nbsp;Their object, we would suggest, was to satisfy curiosity as to previousnbsp;or later adventures of the hero. A parallel to the latter part of Beowulfnbsp;in this respect was supplied by the lost Telegony.

The chief cause which prevents Beowulf from being generally recognised as minstrel poetry is probably to be found in the fact that the poem is, superficially at least, Christian and contains a large number ofnbsp;Christian expressions, though traces of heathen times, both in practicesnbsp;and in thought, are by no means wanting. A Christian minstrel poem isnbsp;of course nothing impossible ; but the existence of poetry coming downnbsp;from heathen times is involved in the preservation of historical information, as noted above. The question at issue is whether Beowulfnbsp;is an early minstrel poem, originally heathen but adapted to a new

! In this case the connection is very slight and affects only a few lines (2200-2208). Changes similar in principle, though still slighter, were apparently introduced at the beginning and end of Greek heroic poems, when they were treated as parts of a continuous cycle. We may refer to the opening of the Aithiopis, as impliednbsp;in a scholion to the last line of the Iliad (cf. Kinkel, Epic. Gt. Fragm. p. 34). Thisnbsp;last line was apparently adapted so as to serve as the first line of the following poem.

THE WRITTEN EPIC nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;555

environment, or a new Christian literary work, which has drawn its materials from heathen lays.

A somewhat similar question arises from the linguistic phenomena in the Homeric poems. Superficially, the language is Ionic or somethingnbsp;close akin thereto (cf. p. 496) ; but forms of an earlier, Aeolic, type ofnbsp;language are very numerous. According to the current theory thenbsp;poems are works of an Ionic writer (Homer), deriving his materialsnbsp;from Aeolic lays, just as Beowulf vs, the work of a Christian writer,nbsp;deriving his materials from heathen lays.

The evidence for this theory is of course primarily of a negative character: the Homeric poems, being Ionic, cannot themselves be ofnbsp;Aeolic origin; Beowulf being Christian, cannot itself be of heathennbsp;origin. And if we were concerned with the possibility only of writtennbsp;poems, such inferences would no doubt be sound enough�apart fromnbsp;exceptional circumstances.^ But when it is applied to oral (minstrel)nbsp;poetry, the theory rests on the assumption that this likewise is necessarily rigid�an assumption which is proved to be false by the evidencenbsp;of the oral poetry current among various unlettered peoples of thenbsp;present day. In narrative poetry a good deal of freedom is usuallynbsp;allowed to the singer or reciter; he may expand or contract the poemsnbsp;included in his repertoire, and modify the treatment in various othernbsp;respects. The amount of freedom varies from one country to anothernbsp;and probably from one period to another. Instances will be givennbsp;in later chapters. For the moment perhaps it will be sufficient tonbsp;refer to the Norse variants noticed on p. 513 ff., though the treatmentnbsp;here is more conservative than what is usually found in modern oralnbsp;poetry.

It cannot be admitted for a moment that any great difficulty would be experienced by a minstrel in adapting a heathen heroic poem tonbsp;Christian conditions, at least if he had any acquaintance with thenbsp;phraseology of current Christian poetry. As for the translation ofnbsp;the Homeric poems from Aeolic to Ionic, the difficulties to be facednbsp;here would be much less than those which were surmounted innbsp;translating German poetry into English. It is a question, however,nbsp;whether this translation of the Homeric poems was not a more superficial thing than is generally supposed. To this we shall have to returnnbsp;shortly.

� One must bear in mind the possibility that the translation of the Old Saxon Genesis (cf. p. 507) was made from a written text, though we think the alternativenbsp;explanation is more likely.

With regard to Beowulf'^ several scholars have recently expressed the opinion that the author was not only a Christian but a man of learning�nbsp;even an ecclesiastic �informed with a spirit of broad-minded Christianity�. We fear that this is crediting the eighth century with thenbsp;feelings of modern times. The attitude of the Church of that day towards heroic poetry is clear enough from a letter^ written by Alcuinnbsp;in 797 to Hygebald, bishop of Lindisfarne. He denounces the clergynbsp;for inviting harpists to entertain them when they dine together, andnbsp;then proceeds as follows : �What has Ingeld to do with Christ Strait isnbsp;the house it will not be able to hold them both. The king of heaven willnbsp;have no part with so-called kings who are heathen and damned; for thenbsp;one king reigns eternally in heaven, the other, the heathen, is damned andnbsp;groans in hell �. Alcuin, the leading scholar of his age, will have nothingnbsp;to do with the heroes, because he knows they were heathens.

It has been suggested that in Bede�s time, some three-quarters of a century earlier, when the poem is supposed to have been written, anbsp;more liberal view may have prevailed among the learned. But there isnbsp;no evidence for this. It is a remarkable fact that Bede himself nevernbsp;refers to heroic poems or stories, unless indeed, as is possible, thesenbsp;are the fabulae and fabulationes, which he censures certain monasteriesnbsp;and ecclesiastics for listening to.3 In either case he cannot have considered them worthy of cultivation. Further, it is clear enough fromnbsp;many passages in his works'^ that he held the same view as Alcuin withnbsp;regard to the destiny of the heathen. Indeed this was not an individualnbsp;opinion but the doctrine of the Church? ; and consequently the hostility ofnbsp;ecclesiastical scholars to stories of heathen times was perfectly logical.

r The questions of Christian and of literary influence in Beowulf YoNe been discussed more fully in The Heroic Age, pp. 47 ff., 73 ff. What is said below is intended to be merely supplementary to this discussion�occasioned by some importantnbsp;works which have been published subsequently. We may refer in particular tonbsp;Klaeber�s edition of Beowulf, especially pp. xlviii ff., 437 ff., Chambers, Beowulfnbsp;{Introduction), especially pp. 121 ff., 329 ff., Heusler, Altgerm. Dichtung, p. 184 tf.nbsp;In a book like the present it is of course impossible to discuss such questions asnbsp;these in detail.

E.g. Hist. Eccl. IV. 13, where Wilfrid is said to have saved the people of Sussex ab erumna perpetuae damnationis.

5 We may cite the story of the Frisian king Redbad, who is said to have withdrawn from the font (in the year 718), when he learned that his heathen ancestors were in Tartarea damnatione. He said that he could not do without the company ofnbsp;his predecessors and take his seat with a small party in the kingdom of Heaven. Cf.nbsp;Plummer, Baedae Op. Hist. II. 289, and the references there cited.

Obviously the passage from Alcuin�s letter noticed above shows that in his time there were ecclesiastics who took pleasure in the stories.nbsp;We think it is probably to the influence of such persons that thenbsp;poems owe their Christian phraseology and also the fact that theynbsp;were ultimately committed to writing. But we doubt if the time fornbsp;the latter had come in Bede�s day. It is more likely to have beennbsp;inspired by the action of Charlemagne (cf. p. 483), in whom thenbsp;national element was strong enough to defy ecclesiastical scruples. Bynbsp;the ninth century too both ecclesiastical learning and ecclesiasticalnbsp;discipline had declined in England. But what we cannot assent to isnbsp;the description of the persons who patronised the poems as �learned�,nbsp;in the ecclesiastical, Latin, sense. The learned � liberal churchman� of thenbsp;eighth century seems to us as much of an anachronism as the literarynbsp;epic. The learned clergy would have nothing to do with heroic poetry,nbsp;because they knew that the heroes were heathens. There is not thenbsp;slightest suggestion that the ecclesiastics censured were persons ofnbsp;liberal views; they seem rather to be regarded as slack and pleasure- �nbsp;loving. The associations in which they are depicted are not those of thenbsp;study or the library, but of the banquet; in the references to fabulae.nbsp;indeed there are implications of drunken revelry (^potationes, ebrietates}.nbsp;It is to be suspected that as a rule they were persons of defectivenbsp;education, to whom reading and writing were irksome.

Now we may turn to the internal evidence, furnished by the poem itself.^ It has been contended that the author was a student of the

� We cannot take seriously the suggestion, which has frequently been made, that the syntax and diction of the poem show Latin influence�apart from certain theological terms and descriptions of God, which may quite well be derived through thenbsp;medium of (Anglo-Saxon) religious poetry. Since the same suggestion is made fornbsp;all other Anglo-Saxon poems�and early German poetry obviously yields nothingnbsp;free from suspicion�we have to depend upon early Norse poetry for undoubtednbsp;examples of Teutonic usage. It is unfortunate therefore that the Norse evidencenbsp;appears to have been disregarded; for nearly all the supposed Latinisms are innbsp;common use in the Edda poems. Thus ylda beam cannot be separated from aidanbsp;born, while impersonal constructions like Beow. 1787 f. are more characteristic ofnbsp;Norse poetry than Latin. Constructions like 642 f., 1629 f. are very frequent innbsp;Norse (e.g. Atlakv. 16); so also constructions like 1368 ff., 2350 (cf. ib. 21, Brot 15,nbsp;Gudrkv. II. 5). With 183 ff. we may compare Hav. 77, with 1392 ff. Hdv. 84 ff.nbsp;[The references are to Bugge�s edition.] There is no exact equivalent of hwilum...nbsp;hwilum... ; but similar usages like sumir.. .sumir... are common enough. Huntingnbsp;for �influences� in Beowulf without reference to early Norse poetry�or any poetrynbsp;other than Latin�can only lead to mare�s nests. The same remark applies to attemptsnbsp;to trace the influence of Virgil without reference to the Homeric poems�or anynbsp;other heroic poetry. On this question we may refer to The Heroic Age, p. 75 f.

Bible. If so, we fear that he did not persevere very far with his studies. There are references to the Creation, the story of Cain and Abel, andnbsp;the Deluge, but not to any later event, except the Great Judgment.nbsp;The first of these references (90 ff.) is to a poem in which the Creationnbsp;was described. The last (1688 IF.) is to a work of art�the hilt of anbsp;sword�which depicted the �beginning of the ancient struggle�nbsp;between God and the �race of giants�, when the latter were destroyednbsp;by the Flood. Neither of these passages proves direct acquaintance withnbsp;the Bible. Caedmon�s Hymn on the Creation (cf. p. 477) was famous.

To Cain there are two references. In the first (107 IF.) it is stated that when he had slain Abel, God banished him far from the humannbsp;race. �From him��or possibly � from this� (crime or exile)�� sprangnbsp;all evil broods {untydras'), eotenas (demons) and elves and orcneas^^ alsonbsp;the giants who for a long time struggled against God.� The secondnbsp;passage (1261 fF.) is similar, though somewhat shorter. Here it is statednbsp;that after the murder Cain made his way to the wilderness. �From himnbsp;� (or � this �) sprang many spirits of fate (.^), one of whom was Grendel. �nbsp;The closing words of the former passage are probably to be taken innbsp;connection with the passage relating to the Flood. But the Bible saysnbsp;nothing about demons and elves. We suspect that this idea also wasnbsp;suggested by vernacular poetry�possibly by a passage in the poemnbsp;Genesis (987 IF.), which, after relating how Cain slew Abel and thenbsp;earth drank up his blood, describes the growth of troubles and strifenbsp;arising therefrom under the simile, of the growth (yuddor) of a tree.^ Ifnbsp;so, the idea has taken a much more concrete form in Beowulf wasnbsp;intended in the original. But in any case we cannot believe that thenbsp;demons and elves were introduced by a theologian. They betray anbsp;�barbaric� mentality more appropriate to the professional minstrel.

The longest religious passage in the poem is a kind of sermon (1722 ff.), contained in a speech by Hrothgar, in which he warns thenbsp;hero against certain sins and bids him remember that death in some formnbsp;or other will one day overtake him. In a speech of congratulation andnbsp;thanks�for Beowulf has just rendered the king a great service bynbsp;slaying the monsters�the whole passage strikes us as strangely out ofnbsp;place. The �sermon� is believed to show the influence not of the Biblenbsp;itself, but of the religious poems Daniel and Crist, especially the secondnbsp;part of the latter, which contains the name of Cynewulf. There is

� A similar idea but expressed in purely abstract terms occurs in the Exeter Gnomes, 196 ff.

559 certainly a remarkable resemblance between Beowulf 1743 ff. andnbsp;Crist 761 ff.; and though the other parallels are less convincing, we arenbsp;not inclined to doubt that the whole sermon is largely derived fromnbsp;poetry of this kind. To those who believe in a �literary� Beowulf thenbsp;influence of Cynewulf presents of course a certain difficulty; for it isnbsp;admitted that Beowulf must have come into existence before Cynewulf�snbsp;time. The difficulty has been met by the unconvincing suggestion thatnbsp;Cynewulf himself interpolated the poem.

It has not been sufficiently recognised that the resemblances between the passages in Beowulf and Crist apply to the phraseology and figuresnbsp;of speech rather than to the essentials. Hrothgar specifies three sins�nbsp;arrogance, avarice, meanness�none of which figure in the latternbsp;passage, though the first is prominent in Daniel. The same sins�or atnbsp;least the first and the last of them�are referred to elsewhere in Beowulfnbsp;e.g. in the account of Heremod, which immediately precedes thenbsp;�sermon�. They were sins quite as repugnant to the court as to thenbsp;Church, the latter (meanness) perhaps more especially to the courtnbsp;minstrel. Indeed one passage (1749 f.) indicates clearly, we think, whonbsp;was responsible for the �interpolation��if such a word is justifiable:nbsp;�He (the sinner) does not proudly {on gylp'} present the golden ringsnbsp;(armlets)�. The word gylp (�boasting, pride�) occurs frequently innbsp;religious poems in a bad sense, but rarely, if ever, as a thing to benbsp;commended. It is a minstrel, not a theologian, who is speaking. He hasnbsp;picked up a denunciatory passage from a religious poem and adapted itnbsp;to sins which came within his own knowledge. If his source really wasnbsp;Cynewulf�s Crist, it is of interest to note that additions to the poemsnbsp;could be made as late as the ninth century. There is no need to supposenbsp;that all the religious passages date from the same time.^

In addition to the long passages noticed above the poem contains numerous expressions and short passages which are likewise of Christiannbsp;character. This feature is by no means peculiar to Beowulf. It is foundnbsp;in all Anglo-Saxon secular poems which run to more than fifty lines,nbsp;whether they are heroic, gnomic, historical or �timeless nameless�. Itnbsp;is only in very short poems or fragments, such as Finn, the Ruin andnbsp;the Wife�s Complaint, that such expressions are wanting.^ Similar

� We are inclined to think that most of them are early; but this can hardly be the case (e.g.) with the �otiose� line on pam dcege pysses if es, �in the time of this life�nbsp;(with accentuation of the article, etc.), which occurs three times in the poem.

� It is to be remembered that in some parts of Beowulf they occur in less than I per cent, of the lines. See Addenda.

560 expressions occur in the very scanty remains of German secular poetrynbsp;which survive from the same period. It would seem therefore that theynbsp;were required by the public opinion of the times, whatever the positionnbsp;of the poet or reciter.

There can be no doubt that the poetry of heathen times also, like Norse poetry, frequently referred to religious ideas and practices; andnbsp;it is very probable that many of the Christian expressions found in thenbsp;poems were originally introduced as substitutes for heathen expressions.nbsp;In this connection we may cite a passage in Nornagests Sagag cap. 9,nbsp;where Gestr is represented as reciting the Hdrei� Brynhildar at Olafrnbsp;Tryggvason�s court. The members of the court are delighted with thenbsp;poem and ask him to continue. But the king says: �You need not tell usnbsp;any more of things of that kind��and turns abruptly to anothernbsp;subject. The saga is late; but the tenor of the story is quite in accordnbsp;with what is said of the same king elsewhere. Thus in Hallfre�ar Saga,nbsp;cap. 6, he repeatedly reproves the Icelandic poet HallfreSr for introducing the gods into his poems.

In England too, as elsewhere, when the courts had been converted, minstrels had to adapt their poems to the new conditions, if they werenbsp;not to scrap their entire repertoire. Here also it was evidently regardednbsp;as improper for Christians to listen to purely heathen poems but heroicnbsp;poetry still retained its attractions, even for the slacker and less learnednbsp;ecclesiastics. The minstrel then had two alternatives before him: he hadnbsp;either to represent the heroes as Christians or to denounce them asnbsp;heathens. Naturally he chose the former course, and accordinglynbsp;introduced Christian expressions in their speeches, as well as in thenbsp;narratives. This expedient apparently succeeded in preserving thenbsp;poems, though the more learned ecclesiastics knew what the heroesnbsp;really were and repudiated them. But it is to be remembered that in onenbsp;passage in Beowulf the alternative course has been followed, viz. innbsp;175 ff., where the Danes are definitely represented as heathens, prayingnbsp;at heathen shrines, and denounced accordingly in a rather long homileticnbsp;adjunct. No satisfactory explanation of this passage is to be obtainednbsp;from the hypothesis that the poem is the work of a learned Christiannbsp;writer; one can only conclude that he must have been a very stupid

� It is only in spells (both English and German) that heathenism of a pronounced character, unaccompanied by censure or disparagement, is preserved. These presumably come from a humbler class of society; and in any case they werenbsp;not intended for public entertainment.

561 fellow.^ But if it has come down from heathen times and acquirednbsp;its Christian character gradually and piecemeal from a succession ofnbsp;minstrels, such inconsistencies are natural, perhaps inevitable. Heathenism of a less flagrant kind peeps out often enough both in ideas and innbsp;practices.

In later chapters we shall see that transformations of this kind are by no means unknown elsewhere. Here it must suffice to refer to the Irishnbsp;poems relating to Mongan noticed on p. 468 S., the heathen nature ofnbsp;which is counteracted by insertions of a Christian character. In Irishnbsp;saga the treatment of heathen elements was less drastic than in Englishnbsp;poetry. Even the gods are allowed to remain, though their true characternbsp;is obscured�they are made to appear more like ghosts�and the use ofnbsp;the word �god� �dia) is scrupulously avoided. Heathen customs arenbsp;frequently mentioned, but references to actual worship or sacrifice arenbsp;suppressed. Sanctuaries and festivals are referred to only in their socialnbsp;aspect. The fact that the heroes were heathen was often realised, andnbsp;various attempts were made to overcome the difficulty; thus (e.g.)nbsp;stories were invented to the effect that Conchobor and Cormac macnbsp;Airt were converted. And disapproval of the stories is occasionallynbsp;expressed in MSS. by the scribes themselves.^

The text of the Homeric poems received in ancient times, especially in the Alexandrian period, a far greater amount of attention than was evernbsp;paid, until recently, to the poetry of the northern peoples. By means ofnbsp;numerous scholia and commentaries it is possible to trace the existingnbsp;text back to the third century (b.c.).3 Variants are said to be comparatively few and unimportant; but certain lines and groups of lines arenbsp;known to have been marked as spurious by some of the scholars of thatnbsp;age. Very early fragments of papyri, however, contain a considerablenbsp;number of lines which are not found in our texts, though they do notnbsp;yield much evidence of textual variation in other respects. In regard tonbsp;these lines much difference of opinion still prevails ; some believe that innbsp;general they belonged to the original text and that they were eliminated

1 The Danes are Christians in 90 ff. and again in 316 ff., and regularly after this. � E.g. in a note appended to a MS. of the Tain To Cuailnge (p. 369 in Dunn�snbsp;translation).

3 The only evidence available from earlier times apparently is from quotations in works of the fifth and fourth centuries; and unfortunately we have not sufficientnbsp;knowledge of Greek literature to deal with this subject. Variants are not unknown.nbsp;Thus (e.g.) in a quotation from II. XV. 494 ff. Lycurgos {Leocrates, cap. 103) hasnbsp;three examples in six lines. None of these affect the sense; but they are not of anbsp;scribal character. But we do not know how far this case is typical.

arbitrarily by scholars of the Alexandrian age, while others hold that most of them were additions made at various times.

Alexandrian records speak of texts belonging to individuals and also of texts belonging to certain cities, even as far away as Marseilles;nbsp;but there seems to be no evidence available, so far as we are aware,nbsp;which would enable one to determine how long these texts had beennbsp;independent. The absence of evidence for linguistic variation suggestsnbsp;that their independent existence had not been very long. In the fourthnbsp;century, before the rise of Alexandria, Athens was the intellectualnbsp;centre, and doubtless also the bookshop, of the Greek world ; and it isnbsp;most probable that all the texts were ultimately derived from this source,nbsp;though they may of course have been affected by previous localnbsp;knowledge of the poems.

The language of the poems points to Athens as the original home of the texts as we know them. It is not true Attic, but�apart from thenbsp;Aeolic element�it is virtually identical with the language of Solon�snbsp;poems; and it may well have been the form of language employed in hisnbsp;Laws. The origin of this form of language is not to be considered merelynbsp;in relation to the Homeric poems; for it is found, as we have seennbsp;(p. 496), in the remains of most of the early poets, whatever parts ofnbsp;Greece they belonged to. It appears to have been the form regularlynbsp;used in Athens for literary purposes down to the close of the sixthnbsp;century; and we may probably infer that by this time the Homericnbsp;poems had begun to be written, though it does not necessarily follownbsp;that a complete text was already in existence.

The mixture of forms belonging to different �dialects��Aeolic and what we may call Attic-Ionic i�which characterises the Homeric poems,nbsp;may be compared with the somewhat similar mixture which we find innbsp;Anglo-Saxon poetic texts. In both cases some process of � translation� isnbsp;involved. But the Homeric mixture has this peculiarity, that the Aeolicnbsp;forms are preserved only where they are required by the metre,

� We use this term to distinguish this form of language�� dialect� is of course not strictly correct�from the Ionic of the Asiatic coast. We see no satisfactory evidencenbsp;for the presence of the latter in our Homeric texts. The preservation of h (involvingnbsp;aspiration in various cases) is definite evidence against the prevalent view that ournbsp;texts originated in that region. In Ionic the loss of h must go back at least to thenbsp;beginning of the seventh century; for the use of H for �, which presupposes this loss,nbsp;had spread to Dorian communities by the beginning of the sixth century, as may benbsp;seen from the inscription at Abu Simbel. On the other hand there is no evidencenbsp;for early Ionic forms�e.g. there is no gen. sg. in -�o. The very early forms are alwaysnbsp;Aeolic.

563 i.e. where the corresponding Attic-Ionic forms would be unmetrical.nbsp;Within these limits, however, the Aeolic forms are more frequent thannbsp;the non-West-Saxon forms in Anglo-Saxon poetic texts. Thus thenbsp;word Aa�s, with all its compounds, including the name of the verynbsp;prominent hero Menelaos, invariably appears in Aeolic form. Thenbsp;Ionic forms �e�� and Mev�Aecos are unknown to our Homeric texts.nbsp;In other cases we find variation, though the Aeolic forms are usually innbsp;an overwhelming majority. Thus in the gen. sing, ending of masculinenbsp;�-stems we find both -ao (dissyllabic) and -eco (monosyllabic), thenbsp;former being more than three times as frequent as the latter. But thenbsp;proportion in reality appears to be much greater than this; for thenbsp;great majority of the latter forms�about four out of five�occurnbsp;before initial vowels, with hiatus, whereas -a (with elision) beforenbsp;initial vowels is not recognised in our texts. In such cases (e.g. II. i. i)nbsp;-ECO has clearly been substituted for -a�. The remainder�i.e. the casesnbsp;(e.g. II. V. 16) where the monosyllabic ending is required by the metre�nbsp;amount to less than nine per cent, of the total number.^

In view of such evidence the often-repeated statement that Aeolic elements are preserved only in stereotyped phrases and formulae cannotnbsp;for a moment be admitted. Moreover these elements are distributednbsp;without noteworthy variation throughout the poems; Homeric poetrynbsp;as a whole is essentially Aeolic.^ It is overlaid throughout with annbsp;alien (Attic-Ionic) element; but this element is late, as may be seen fromnbsp;the following consideration. In the history of the gen. sing, endingnbsp;discussed above three phonetic stages are involved in all varieties ofnbsp;Ionic, viz. (i) -Jo, (ii) -�o (dissyllabic), (iii) -eo (monosyllabic). But thenbsp;second (early Ionic) stage is unrepresented. The Ionic (Attic-Ionic)nbsp;forms belong to the third (late Ionic) stage.

On the other hand there is no evidence that the poems were ever written in Aeolic.3 Neither is there any ground for supposing that they

I According to Reichelt, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachforschung, XLIII. 68, -ao occurs altogether 247 times, -eco before vowels 49 times, before consonantsnbsp;27 times. For reference to this paper we are indebted to the kindness of Dr P. Giles.

� An argument for the Ionic origin of the poems has been drawn from the fact that the name Homeros (with Ionic � for �) can be traced in non-Ionic records. Butnbsp;nothing is known of � Homer � ; we do not know when the name first became connectednbsp;with the poems (cf. Chadwick, Heroic Age, p. 217, note), though the form suggestsnbsp;that it was at Athens. The whole question is discussed more fully, ib. p. 215 if.

3 We mean of course complete texts. A line of the Little Iliad is preserved in some non-Ionic form of language (Kinkel, Epic. Gr. Fragm. p. 43, No. ii); but thenbsp;ultimate source of the fragment seems not to be known. It may of course have beennbsp;quoted by some Doric or Aeolic writer.

were ever recited in Aeolic, except presumably in Aeolic communities. Such evidence as is available (cf. p. 498) suggests that they were everywhere �translated� into the local dialect. When speculation arose as tonbsp;Homer�s birthplace, various Dorian and Ionic cities, including Athens,nbsp;claimed the honour�a claim which could hardly have been made ifnbsp;the language of the poems had shown obviously and unambiguouslynbsp;the stamp of its origin. In Athens the poems may have been adapted tonbsp;the native language long before they were committed to writing.

The evidence discussed above tends to show that the text was not modified to any great extent either in the course of translation or later.nbsp;We have seen that in the case of the gen. sing, of masculine �-stemsnbsp;there is an appreciable, though small, percentage of cases where thenbsp;Aeolic ending -�o is metrically impossible and where the text wouldnbsp;seem to have required the Ionic -eco from the beginning. But even thisnbsp;evidence is not unambiguous, for the latter may be a substitution fornbsp;the (metrically equivalent) later Aeolic -�, contracted from -�o. Innbsp;general we are inclined to think that this is the true explanation; fornbsp;in the gen. sing, of o-stems the contracted form -ou (from -00) is sonbsp;frequent^ that it would be very strange if contraction was never found innbsp;the case of the ending -ao. But on general grounds we are not inclined tonbsp;doubt that the text did undergo a limited amount of change throughnbsp;(and after) the change of language. 2 At all events, apart from differencenbsp;of dialect, the forms noticed above belong to different�earlier andnbsp;later�strata of language.

The Homeric poems contain a very large amount of repetition. As in Beowulf to a less extent, in Norse narrative poetry, speeches arenbsp;� The gen. sing, of o-stems has two different forms, -010 and -ou. Where the latternbsp;stands unshortened (i.e. with hiatus) before initial vowel, it has probably been substituted for the former, which is never written before vowels in our texts. Apartnbsp;from this case the two forms are about equally frequent in the Odyssey, but thenbsp;former is much more frequent in the Iliad. The ending -ou is contracted from -00nbsp;(dissyllabic) ; but this uncontracted form is only rarely required by the metre (e.g.nbsp;in II. XXI. 104). The contracted form seems to be required in nearly half of the casesnbsp;in the Odyssey (rather less in the Iliad'} ; cf. Reichelt, op. cit. p. 72 ff. No question ofnbsp;dialect is involved here; for the contracted -5 (-ou or -co), from -00, appears in mostnbsp;of the Greek dialects, including Aeolic, as well as Ionic and Doric. But an elementnbsp;of uncertainty is introduced by the extreme frequency of this ending, especiallynbsp;perhaps the contracted form, in pronouns. The other ending (-010) is comparativelynbsp;rare in pronouns. We do not know whether these facts have been explained; butnbsp;they may perhaps have some bearing on the frequency of contraction in this case.

� Some (metrically non-equivalent) doublets may be explained in this way, e.g. �elvio��V10S. But the majority of these cases hardly admit of such an explanation.nbsp;They seem rather to point to a time when the metre was less rigid.

5�5 usually introduced by a line which consists of one of a limited number ofnbsp;recurrent formulae, followed by the name of the speaker with a standingnbsp;and frequently recurring epithet. It will be seen later that this is anbsp;regular feature of oral narrative poetry among many peoples�perhapsnbsp;everywhere.

Longer repetitions are by no means unfrequent; sometimes they extend over a large number of lines. As a general rule they are notnbsp;incompatible with either of the contexts in which they occur; and theynbsp;might have been designed by the original poet. But there are casesnbsp;where this is very improbable. Thus in II. iv. 163 IF., Agamemnonnbsp;consoles his brother, who has been wounded treacherously, with anbsp;reflection that the Trojans will ultimately suffer vengeance for suchnbsp;deeds: �For well I know in my heart and soul that a day will come whennbsp;holy Ilios will perish, and Priam and the army of Priam with his goodnbsp;ashen spear�. The same passage occurs again in vi. 447 ff. in a speechnbsp;by Hector, when he is confessing to his wife that he has no hope of thenbsp;future. The latter part of it is to be found also in IV. 46 f., where Zeus isnbsp;addressing Hera.

Again, in 11. iii. 355 ff. it is stated that Menelaos �cast his spear of long shadow and struck the round shield of Priam�s son (Paris).nbsp;Through the bright shield went the massive spear, and forced its waynbsp;through the very skilfully wrought breastplate; and right against hisnbsp;side the spear tore his tunic. But he swerved, and escaped black fate�.nbsp;The same passage, amounting to five and a half lines, occurs again innbsp;VII. 249 ff.; but here it refers to Aias, while �Priam�s son� is here notnbsp;Paris, but Hector. Part of it is to be found also in xi. 434 ff., again innbsp;relation to other heroes.

Interesting examples of such repetitions occur in the fictitious accounts which Odysseus gives of his adventures on his return home.nbsp;In the long story he relates to Eumaios (OtZ. xiv. 299 ff.) he makesnbsp;himself out to be a Cretan. In 301 ff. he describes a shipwreck which henbsp;says that he had experienced near Crete. This passage has much innbsp;comhion with the �true� story of the shipwreck he experienced beforenbsp;his arrival at Calypso�s island, as related to Alcinoos in vii. 249 ff. andnbsp;XII. 403 ff. Thus 302-4 are identical with xii. 404-6, 305 f. with xii.nbsp;415 f., 308 f. with XII. 418 f., and 314 with vii. 253, while close resemblances occur in 301 to xii. 403, in 307 to xii. 417, in 313 to xii.nbsp;425, and in 314 f. to 448 f.i Then he proceeds to relate how he had justnbsp;come from the land of the Thesprotoi and had there heard news of

� XII. 448 is identical with vii. 254. The next following lines may also be compared.

Odysseus. This is practically the same (fictitious) story which he tells later, while still in disguise, to his wife Penelope; and here again therenbsp;are close verbal resemblances. Thus xiv. 323 is identical with xix. 293,nbsp;XIV. 325 with XIX. 294, XIV. 327 f. with xix. 296 f., xiv. 330 with xix.nbsp;299, XIV. 332-5 with XIX. 289-92, while the differences between xiv.nbsp;326, 329, 331 and XIX. 295, 298, 288 respectively are very slight. It willnbsp;be observed that there is a difference in the arrangement of the narrativenbsp;and that the story as told to Eumaios contains one line (xiv. 294) whichnbsp;does not occur in the other account.

The variants between the stories told to Eumaios and to Alcinoos are obviously intentional. But it is by no means clear that this is thenbsp;case with the variants between the former and the parallel account givennbsp;to Penelope. The latter are in general similar to the Anglo-Saxonnbsp;variants noticed on p. 505 f. Variants of this kind seem not to be ofnbsp;frequent occurrence in the Homeric poems. The description (e.g.) ofnbsp;the wound inflicted on Menelaos in II. iv. 135 ff. is not a variant of thenbsp;passages quoted on p. 565, though it is not altogether independent ofnbsp;them. On the other hand true variants are doubtless to be found in thenbsp;descriptions of the river Axios (Vardar) given in II. ii. 850 and xxi.nbsp;158. It is of interest to note that the latter of these passages was markednbsp;as spurious by Aristarchos�a fact which suggests that similar variantsnbsp;may have been removed or corrected by ancient scholars.

The most famous variant in the Iliad is of quite a different kind. We refer to ii. 557 f., a passage in the �Catalogue of Ships�. Our text readsnbsp;here: �Aias led twelve ships from Salamis; he led them and stationednbsp;them where the forces of the Athenians stood�. It was recognised bynbsp;ancient critics that the statement made in the second line appears to benbsp;untrue ; when the disposition of the Achaean army is referred to, Aiasnbsp;is not found with the Athenians. Indeed it was widely believed that thisnbsp;line had been added by Solon�or possibly by Peisistratos, who is said tonbsp;have supported him�in order to justify the Athenian claim to Salamis.nbsp;Strabo, IX. i. 10, states that in Megara, which had been deprived of thenbsp;island by Solon, a different text was current: �Aias led ships fromnbsp;Salamis and from Polichne and Aigirussa and Nisaia and Tripodes�nbsp;�which, he says, were places in the territory of Megara. It is curiousnbsp;that both versions devote only two lines to Aias and his contingent,nbsp;although no other contingent in this Catalogue has less than four linesnbsp;allotted to it, and Aias is one of the most important heroes.

There appears to be no adequate reason for doubting the story that in the struggle for Salamis, in the early years of the sixth century, both sides

567 appealed to the witness of Homer. It is of interest therefore to notenbsp;both that Homer was already accepted as a historical authority and thatnbsp;the text was still capable of manipulation. But the poverty of inventionnbsp;shown by both variants suggests that the time of free treatment wasnbsp;practically at an end. And the same is true of the other references tonbsp;Athens which may have been introduced into the poems for the purposenbsp;of gratifying Athenian audiences. This inference is quite in accord withnbsp;the linguistic evidence discussed above (p. 563 f.). The creative periodnbsp;and even the period of really free composition would seem to have beennbsp;past when the poems became naturalised in Athens.

IT will be convenient to treat this subject by � Types�, where possible, rather than by the �categories� (heroic, etc.) in which we havenbsp;hitherto arranged the material�i.e. according to the character ofnbsp;the works themselves rather than that of the subject-matter. The generalnbsp;categories, such as antiquarian and gnomic, in which such distinctions ofnbsp;Type do not occur, will be treated last.

In Greek for Type A practically only the Homeric poems come in for consideration. In early historical times�the sixth and fifth centuries�nbsp;these were declaimed by professional reciters (rhapsodists), especially atnbsp;public festivals. The earliest reference (Herodotos, v. 67) relates to thenbsp;time of Cleisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon in the first half of the sixth century.nbsp;The rhapsodists appear to have gathered large audiences; and theynbsp;recited in a loud voice, and apparently with an emotional delivery.nbsp;The reciter carried a staff, but there appears to have been no musicalnbsp;accompaniment. At festivals the recitations, sometimes at least, seem tonbsp;have been in the nature of a competition, with prizes awarded for thenbsp;best performances.

Ancient writers, when they cite the Iliad, sometimes refer to what appear to be the names of sections of the poem; and it is generallynbsp;believed that these sections were divisions adopted by the rhapsodists.nbsp;At Athens it is said to have been ordained by Solon that rhapsodistsnbsp;were to follow the order of the poems ; the second was to begin wherenbsp;the first stopped�thus avoiding omissions and repetitions�a regulation which suggests that if the choice was left to them they tended tonbsp;choose certain sections. The sections may, however, have served othernbsp;purposes also; they may (e.g.) have been utilised for educationalnbsp;purposes�for committing portions of the poem to memory.

The internal evidence of the poems points to quite a different kind of recitation. It is always accompanied by the lyre. The recitations are

Diogenes Laertios, cap. 58 {Solon). The regulation was perhaps intended for the Panathenaia, a festival at which recitations of the Homeric poems are known tonbsp;have taken place.

569 usually given in kings� palaces for the purpose of entertaining the courtnbsp;and visitors. One example, however, takes place at a public gatheringnbsp;(Od. VIII. 261 if.), though the king and his court are present. In thisnbsp;case�but only in this�the recitation is accompanied also by dancing;nbsp;the theme is a story of the gods. The minstrels are usually professionals.nbsp;They seem to be attached in some way to the kings� courts; and sometimes, as we shall see in the next chapter, they are held in high honour.nbsp;Princes themselves also sometimes practise minstrelsy (//. ix. 186 ff.),nbsp;for the entertainment of themselves and their friends.

There is a yet more important difference, however, between the recitations of the historical period and those mentioned in the poems.nbsp;From quotations in writers of the fifth century, it is clear that the text ofnbsp;the poems was then established and more or less familiar to the educatednbsp;world, and that the recitations must have conformed to this text,nbsp;whether the reciters had written copies of it or not. But the minstrelsnbsp;mentioned in the Homeric poems appear to be creative poets. Phemios,nbsp;the minstrel in Ithaca, says to Odysseus (Od. xxii. 347 f.): �I am self-taught; it was a deity that implanted poems of all kinds in my heart�.nbsp;Practically the same is implied in the case of the Phaeacian minstrelnbsp;Demodocos, to whom Odysseus says {ib. viii. 487 ff.): �I praise theenbsp;far above all mortals. Verily thou hast been taught either by a Muse, anbsp;child of Zeus, or even by Apollo ; for thy poems give a most accuratenbsp;account of the fate of the Achaeans, of all they did and suffered, and ofnbsp;all their toil, as though thou hadst been present thyself or hadst heard itnbsp;from someone (who had been present) �. In full conformity with this isnbsp;what Telemachos says (ib. i. 351 f.): �Men attach most value to the latestnbsp;poem which has come to their hearing�. This remark is in answer tonbsp;Penelope�s complaint that Phemios is always harping on the sad subjectnbsp;of the Achaeans� return from Troy.

In Hesiod�s Theogony^ 94 ff., there is a passage which suggests a form intermediate between the two types of recitation described above: �Itnbsp;is through the Muses and far-shooting Apollo that men upon the earthnbsp;are minstrels and harpers.. .and blessed is he whom the Muses love....nbsp;For even if one is suffering from a recent sorrow to his soul, and piningnbsp;in anguish of heart, yet if a minstrel, the squire of the Muses, shallnbsp;celebrate the glories of men of old and the blessed gods who occupynbsp;Olympos, he will at once forget his distress�, etc. This passage indicatesnbsp;that the reciter was still a minstrel, accompanying his poetry with anbsp;lyre; but his themes have become fixed; he is no longer concerned withnbsp;the most recent events, but with the glories of men of old.

For Type B there is little evidence. Stesichoros�s heroic poems, if we are right in regarding them as belonging to this Type, would seem tonbsp;have borrowed their form from Type D.

For Type C the only evidence we know comes from the Homeric Hymn to Apollo of Delos', and this is perhaps better regarded as annbsp;example of DC (cf. p. 244). This Hymn, which is generally believed tonbsp;be of early date, was evidently composed for recitation at a religiousnbsp;festival (at Delos), like the other Hymns. The poet, who is evidentlynbsp;also the reciter, describes himself as a blind man from Chios. Thucydides, in. 104, calls him �Homer�. Is he a rhapsodist? He has a �choros�nbsp;of girls�just as Demodocos has a �choros� of boys�but unfortunatelynbsp;we are not told whether he uses a lyre or not. And it is not clear whethernbsp;the choros has to sing, as well as dance. Perhaps true choral singing wasnbsp;not yet cultivated. In II. i. 604 and Od. xxiv. 60 the Muses are said tonbsp;sing in turns.

Type D is all-important in the history of Greek poetry. In the eighth and seventh centuries great changes appear to have been made innbsp;music ; and we now find choral music in the modern sense. Every statenbsp;maintained �choroi�, which sang as well as danced at festivals; sometimes also they were sent to perform at festivals elsewhere. The poemsnbsp;sung were primarily hymns to the gods; but Stesichoros is said to havenbsp;applied the same treatment to heroic themes, while later we find choralnbsp;songs celebrating the successes of athletes and the inauguration ofnbsp;magistrates. The songs were often composed by the trainers of thenbsp;�choroi��who may be regarded as professional musicians�but oftennbsp;also by private persons who might live far away, and who made theirnbsp;living by such compositions.

From the seventh century also there survive many fragments of war songs, political songs, and songs for various social functions�marriages,nbsp;convivial parties, etc.�by well-known poets. Some of these appear tonbsp;be intended for collective singing. All of them were probably designednbsp;for singing rather than for recitation.

On the other hand the patriotic and political poems of a hortatory character, chiefly in the elegiac metre, which are found among thenbsp;fragments of Callinos, Tyrtaios, and Solon, were evidently intended fornbsp;recitation. Probably they were declaimed in the first case by the authorsnbsp;themselves, though subsequently they may have been communicated tonbsp;their supporters and partisans. It would seem that during this periodnbsp;poetry was much used on occasions which called for formal speech ornbsp;impassioned oratory�occasions for which, in later times, rhetorical

prose was cultivated. The same remark applies to letters of a formal character, though these were committed to writing.

Of Type E little need be said here. We can only conjecture that of the personal poems of Archilochos, Alcaios, and Sappho some were writtennbsp;down and sent to friends or patrons, while others were circulated orallynbsp;among the poets� companions, or published at small social gatherings.

In the history of Greek poetry, especially perhaps of antiquarian poetry, great importance is to be attached to the custom of holdingnbsp;poetic contests, both at public festivals, and even at celebrations of anbsp;more or less private character. For an example we may refer to Hesiod,nbsp;W. D. 652 ff., where the poet states that he had won a prize by hisnbsp;poetry at the funeral games of Amphidamas at Chaicis. Reference maynbsp;also be made to the � Contest of Homer and Hesiod�, which was perhapsnbsp;founded on this passage. On some of these occasions poems of Typenbsp;D (hymns and elegies) were doubtless produced, and possibly alsonbsp;poems of Type E, but antiquarian and general (social) themes werenbsp;perhaps the most usual. For antiquarian poetry good openings alsonbsp;were no doubt available in the service of states and of aristocraticnbsp;families. Pseudo-gnomic poetry, such as Simonides�s poem on women,nbsp;probably owed its origin to social gatherings.

Thus far we have spoken only of the ways in which poetry of the seventh century was first made known. We have yet to consider how itnbsp;was preserved. There can be no doubt that the intellectual people of thisnbsp;period were in general fairly well informed as to what was going on innbsp;this way, even in cities far distant from their own. It is clear enoughnbsp;from the poems that there was a great deal of social life�what we maynbsp;perhaps call �club life�. Trade and communication between differentnbsp;parts of the Greek world, and indeed throughout the Mediterranean, werenbsp;very active. Towards the end of the century written copies of poemsnbsp;were probably circulating to some extent; but for the most part it isnbsp;scarcely to be doubted that a man�s memory served as his library�jusCnbsp;as was the case in Iceland down to the twelfth century (cf. p. 5 81 f.).l

In illustration of what has been said above we may refer to the story cited on p. 361, where Solon is represented as criticising and emendingnbsp;one of the poems of Mimnermos, with which he did not agree. The storynbsp;shows that he was familiar with the work of a contemporary poet whonbsp;lived on the other side of the Aegean. So also the story (zA) whichnbsp;relates how one of his companions recited to him one of Sappho�snbsp;odes. Solon was so charmed with it that he begged him to teach it tonbsp;him. In this case it is implied that the poem was carried by memory, not

by writing�although as we have seen (cf. p. 496 f.) Sappho�s poems in general seem to have been written down very early, if not by the poetessnbsp;herself.

Some of the early poets, however, may owe the preservation of their works to the fact that they were used for educational purposes. It isnbsp;known that boys at school were expected to learn a large amount ofnbsp;poetry by heart. Among the authors whose works were learnt in thisnbsp;way were Homer, Hesiod, Tyrtaios, Phocylides, Mimnermos, Solonnbsp;and Theognis.

We are not aware of any evidence as to the way in which saga was carried on in ancient Greece. The stories told by Herodotos, Plutarch,nbsp;and others rather suggest that they were originally told in small socialnbsp;gatherings of educated men. There is no evidence that they were treatednbsp;as a regular form of entertainment for large gatherings, as we find innbsp;Iceland. In some states, such as Sparta, saga may have been morenbsp;assiduously cultivated�^possibly as part of the educational curriculum.

Anglo-Saxon records show nothing like the variety in which ancient Greek poetry was recited and preserved. References to the recitationnbsp;of poetry are not rare; but, except in the case of ecclesiastical poetry, it isnbsp;probably always of the Homeric type, i.e. minstrelsy, or recitation to thenbsp;accompaniment of the harp. There appears to be no evidence for collective or choral singing or for dancing, any more than for recitation without accompaniment. We will first take references to recitation in whichnbsp;the character of the poetry recited is not specified.

The story told by Bede, Hist. Eccl. iv. 24, of the poet Caedmon suggests that the cultivation of minstrelsy was pretty general in the early Saxon period. In this story we are told that when villagers met togethernbsp;in the evening to drink and amuse themselves, it was the custom thatnbsp;everyone should take his turn in singing to the harp. Caedmon, whonbsp;had never been able to learn a song, used to leave the festivities and makenbsp;his way home as soon as he saw the harp coming in his direction.nbsp;Unfortunately the passage gives us no information about the characternbsp;of these poems. Neither does it say whether they were improvised fornbsp;the occasion or prepared beforehand, or acquired from others and sungnbsp;from memory. The words �He had never been able to learn a song�^nbsp;might mean any of these things. Caedmon�s own poems, after he hadnbsp;acquired the gift of poetry, were clearly prepared beforehand. Henbsp;acquired his subject-matter from the monks, and then converted it intonbsp;' Nil carminum aliquando didicerat.

573 poetry by going over in his mind all that he could learn from hearingnbsp;them, like a cow chewing the cud? Caedmon lived during the abbacynbsp;of Hild, who died in 680.

A story relating to the same period is told of Aidhelm,who later was bishop of Sherborne, and died in 709. It is said that he used tonbsp;take up his position on a bridge, like a professional minstrel, and sing tonbsp;the people in order to call them back to church. Again, unfortunately,nbsp;we are not informed as to the character of the poems recited.

Here also we may repeat a passage from the Exeter Gnomic Verses (170 ff.), quoted on p. 382 above: �He who knows numerous lays andnbsp;can play the harp with his hands can get relief from his sorrows ; (for)nbsp;he has the gift of his minstrelsy, which God has granted to him�. Itnbsp;will be seen that this passage presents a rather interesting parallel to thenbsp;one quoted from Hesiod�s Theogony (94 ff.) on p. 5 69.

In this connection we may perhaps refer also to Be Manna Crceftum, 49 f. and to Be Manna Wyrdum, 80 ff., though in both these cases onlynbsp;instrumental music is actually mentioned�^unless the latter passage is tonbsp;be taken in connection with the preceding lines (77 ff.).

An interesting reference to minstrelsy in connection with heroic poetry is to be found in the letter of Alcuin to Hygebald quoted onnbsp;p. 556: �When priests dine together let the words of God be read. It isnbsp;fitting on such occasions to listen to a reader, not to a harpist, to thenbsp;discourses of the Fathers, not to the poems of the heathen. What hasnbsp;Ingeld to do with Christ?.. .In your houses the voices of those whonbsp;read should be heard, not a rabble of those who make merry in thenbsp;streets�.

The heroic poems themselves refer not unfrequently to minstrelsy. Thus in Beowulf, 1063 ff., at the feast which follows the killing ofnbsp;Grendel, we hear that � There was recitation and music combined....nbsp;The harp was brought into play and much poetry declaimed, whennbsp;Hrothgar�s minstrel was called upon to recite and entertain the banqueters in the hall �. Then follows the subject of his recitation, namely thenbsp;story of Finn and Hengest�an example of Type A�which is told atnbsp;considerable length.

The reciter here is in some sense a professional�the court minstrel, or one of the court minstrels. Perhaps he is the same person whonbsp;recites the religious poem in 90 ff., again to the accompaniment of the

* Cuncta quae audiendo discere poterat rememorando secum, et quasi mundum animal ruminando, in carmen dulcissimum conuertebat.

� William of Malmesbury, Gesta Pontif. v. cap. 190 (from King Alfred�s Handboc').

harp. But minstrelsy is cultivated by other members of the court, even by the king himself, as in the Iliad (cf. p. 569). We may quote 2105 if.,nbsp;where again the reference obviously is to poetry of Type A: �Thennbsp;there was poetry and music. The aged Scylding (Hrothgar) relatednbsp;stories of old time out of his great store of information. Now thenbsp;martial hero would lay his hands on the joyous harp, the instrumentnbsp;that makes good cheer; now he would recite a poem, true but sad;nbsp;now a story of marvel would be related correctly by the noble-heartednbsp;king. Now again, bowed with age as he was, the old warrior wouldnbsp;begin to lament that he had lost the martial vigour of youth. His heartnbsp;surged within him, as he called to mind the manifold experiences of anbsp;long life�. The last two sentences suggest Type E, as well as Type A.

More interesting still is a passage (867 ff.) in the description of the rejoicings which take place during the morning after the killing ofnbsp;Grendel: �Now one of the king�s squires, a man full of grandiloquentnbsp;phrases and intent upon poetry, who remembered a very great numbernbsp;of stories of the past�(wherein) one expression led to another in duenbsp;sequence ��(this) man in his turn began to describe Beowulf�s adventurenbsp;in skilful style, declaiming with success a well-constructed narrative,nbsp;with varied phraseology. He related everything that he had heard toldnbsp;of Sigemund and his deeds of prowess�, etc. He then goes on to speaknbsp;of Sigemund�s exploits. It is not clear whether the reciter is the samenbsp;person as the court minstrel mentioned above. But the passage is ofnbsp;special interest for the light which it throws on the genesis of a heroicnbsp;poem. The poet evidently thought it natural that a poem celebrating thenbsp;adventure should be composed within a few hours after the adventurenbsp;itself. Perhaps he has in mind a poem of Type D, rather than of Typenbsp;A; but it is evidently a poem which contains a good deal of narrative.nbsp;The other important point to notice is that after describing Beowulf�snbsp;adventure this poem, apparently, passes on to an account of the adventures of Sigemund. We know of no relationship of any kind betweennbsp;Beowulf and Sigemund�so it would seem that the introduction of thenbsp;latter hero must be due to a simile or comparison of some kind. Possiblynbsp;such comparisons may to some extent account for the transference ofnbsp;stories of marvel from one hero to another.

Further references to court minstrelsy occur in Widsith. We may quote 103 if., where a duet seems to be described: �Then Scilling and Inbsp;began to sing with clear voices before our victorious lord. Loudly rangnbsp;out our music as we played the harp. Then it was frankly acknowledged

by many brave-hearted men, who were good judges, that they had never heard a better song Most of the references in this poem are tonbsp;poetry of Type D, as in the lines (99 ff.) immediately preceding thisnbsp;passage, where the poet says of Ealhhild, daughter of Eadwine: �Hernbsp;praise has resounded through many lands, when I have had occasion tonbsp;declare in poetry where I knew of a queen, adorned with gold, whonbsp;showed the noblest generosity (of any) under heaven�. Further examples occur in 54 if., 66 f.

The Continental evidence available from early times relates almost wholly to heroic poetry. Much of it dates from the Heroic Age itself,nbsp;though it comes from foreign sources. The references point to minstrelsynbsp;of the same kind as in England.

First we may take a passage in the Life of Saint Liudger,i relating to a Frisian minstrel named Bernlef, who became a disciple of the saint,nbsp;some time before the year 785. He had been blind for three years, but itnbsp;is stated that �he was greatly loved by his neighbours because of hisnbsp;geniality and his skill in reciting to the accompaniment of the harpnbsp;stories of the deeds of the ancients and the wars of kings�. Clearly thisnbsp;is a case of Type A, similar probably to the contemporary Englishnbsp;minstrelsy mentioned in Alcuin�s letter to Hygebald (cf. p. 556).

A much earlier reference to heroic poetry of Type A is probably to be found in Jordanes, cap. 5, where it is stated that the Goths �used tonbsp;sing to the strains of the harp ancient poetry dealing with the deeds ofnbsp;their ancestors, Eterparmara, Hanala, Fridigernus, Vidigoia and othersnbsp;who are very famous in this nation�.

Usually it is court minstrelsy which is referred to. Thus in a poem addressed to Lupus, Duke of Aquitaine, about the year 580, Venantiusnbsp;Fortunatus {Carm. VII. viii. 61 if.) says: �Let the Roman sound yournbsp;praise with his lyre and the barbarian with his harp.... Let us framenbsp;verses for you, while barbarian poets compose their lays �. The referencenbsp;obviously is to poems of Type D.

The historian Priscus was a member of an embassy which visited Attila, king of the Huns, in the year 448. After describing the banquetnbsp;given by the king to his guests, he proceeds as follows^: �Whennbsp;evening came on torches were lighted and two barbarians stepped forthnbsp;in front of Attila and recited poems which they had composed, recounting his victories and his valiant deeds in war. The banquetersnbsp;� Vita S. Liudgeri, II. I (Mon. Germ., Script, ii. 412).

fixed their eyes upon them, some being charmed with the poems, while others were roused in spirit, as the recollection of their wars came backnbsp;to them. Others again burst into tears, because their bodies were enfeebled by age and their martial ardour had perforce to remain unsatisfied�. If we are right in taking these poems to be Gothic rather thannbsp;Hunnish�it is stated that both languages were used during the evening�the passage may be compared with the duet mentioned in Widsith,nbsp;103 ff., referred to above, though instrumental music is not actuallynbsp;mentioned. The poems would seem to be of Type D or Type A (perhaps DA), specially prepared for the occasion.

A curious case of royal minstrelsy (of Type E) is recorded by Procopios {Vand. ii. 6) in his account of the siege of Mount Papuanbsp;(a.d. 534). Gelimer, king of the Vandals, wrote a letter to Paras, thenbsp;Herulian chief who commanded the besieging army, begging him tonbsp;send him a harp, a loaf and a sponge. The explanation given by thenbsp;messenger was that the king had composed a song upon his misfortunes, and as he was a good minstrel he was anxious to accompany itnbsp;with a mournful tune on the harp as he bewailed his fate.

The last two references may be compared with the passage from Beowulf (2105 if.) quoted on p. 574. Further, from a comparison of thenbsp;English evidence in general with the Continental evidence, � it is clearnbsp;that the cultivation of heroic poetry and minstrelsy among the earlynbsp;Teutonic peoples was very similar to what we find recorded of earlynbsp;Greece in the Homeric poems and in Hesiod.

In early Norse literature, references to the recitation of heroic poetry are rare. A famous case, to which we have already referred (p. 367),nbsp;occurs in the account of the battle of Stiklestad, in St Olaf�s Saganbsp;(fdeimskr.'), cap. 220, where the Icelander, Thorm�flr Kolbrunarskald atnbsp;St Olaf�s request recites the Bjarkamdl on the morning of the battle.nbsp;There is no suggestion that he used any musical instrument; but it isnbsp;said that he recited the poem so loud that he aroused the whole army.

In the NoTnagests Saga (cf. p. 560) Gestr is represented as reciting several heroic poems to King �lafr Tryggvason and his court. One ofnbsp;these is the HelreiO BrynhildaT, which is given practically complete;nbsp;another was perhaps Gubr�narkvi^a II, while a third may have beennbsp;the Oddr�nargr�tr or one of the Atli poems�though some scholarsnbsp;think that the reference is to purely imaginary poems. Gestr has a

� For other early references to recitation and minstrelsy on the Continent see Chadwick, Heroic Age, pp. 80, 85 f, Cf. also p. 588, note, below.

harp and is said (cap. 2) to �play�^ (sla) the two latter. The saga is late, but there is no clear indication of foreign influence.^ We see no reasonnbsp;why the author of the saga should have invented this feature; and therefore we are inclined to think that the recitation of heroic poetry to thenbsp;harp may not have been unknown�in Norway perhaps rather than innbsp;Iceland. We know, however, of no other case where the recitation ofnbsp;poetry of any kind is accompanied by instrumental music; and there cannbsp;be no doubt that the recitations of which we are about to speak werenbsp;usually, if not always, unaccompanied.

Among the poems of the Viking Age relating to contemporary persons and events we may take first those of Type D, beginning withnbsp;panegyrics in honour of princes. Harold the Fair-haired had severalnbsp;famous poets permanently attached to him; and the same is probablynbsp;true of some later kings. But the poets of whom we hear most werenbsp;Icelanders. It was customary, as we have seen (p. 346), for youngnbsp;Icelanders, when travelling abroad, to try to get themselves attachednbsp;temporarily to the courts of princes; and those who claimed to benbsp;poets usually had panegyrics ready. For examples we may refer tonbsp;Gunnlaugs Saga Ormstungu, cap. 7-9, where the young poet visits innbsp;succession the courts of England, Dublin, Orkney and Sweden. Onnbsp;entering the king�s presence he says: �It has been my wish to visit you,nbsp;my lord, because I have composed a poem in your honour and wouldnbsp;like you to give it a hearing��or some similar formula. It is evidentnbsp;that such poems were composed beforehand for the occasion andnbsp;committed to memory.

An exceptional case of this kind is to be found in Egils Saga Skalla-grimssonar, cap. 59 f. (cf. p. 343). Egill had fallen into the power of his enemy. King Eric Blood-Axe, at York; and his friend Arinbj�rn advisednbsp;him to compose a panegyric {drapa} of twenty stanzas in the king�snbsp;honour, in order to save his life. Egill replies : � I will try this plan, ifnbsp;you wish; but I have never occupied myself with composing encomianbsp;on King Eric�. Arinbj�rn tells him to sit up all night and have thenbsp;poem ready when he has to be brought before the king in the morning.nbsp;After a while he comes to see him, and asks how he is getting on.nbsp;Egill replies that he has made no progress, owing to the twittering of anbsp;swallow at the window. Arinbj�rn then sits outside the window; and

� Mogk (Paul�s Grundriss d. germ. Philologie, 2 edn., p. 822) translates �singt ZU der Harfe�.

� We do not believe that the story of the Norns (cap. 11) is derived from Classical sources.

by the morning Egill has got the whole poem composed and committed to memory. Arinbj�rn insists on the king�s hearing it, and Egill recitesnbsp;it in a loud voice before him�with the result that his life is spared.nbsp;The opening of the poem {H�fu�lausn) has been quoted on p. 343.

References occur also to the composition of elegies in memory of private friends and relatives. The most interesting examples again comenbsp;from Egils Saga. One of these�Egill�s elegy on the deaths of his sonsnbsp;(SonatorreE), in cap. 78�has already been discussed (p. 348 f.). Hisnbsp;daughter ThorgerSr persuades him to compose an elegy before starvingnbsp;himself to death: �I hardly think that your son Thorsteinn could compose a poem on BoSvarr, and it is not right that he should not be celebrated�.. . .Egill said that he was not likely to be able to compose anything, even if he attempted it: �However I will try�, said he... .Egillnbsp;began to recover his spirits as he proceeded with the poem. And whennbsp;it was finished he took it to AsgerSr (his wife) and ThorgerSr and hisnbsp;household.^ ThorgerSr had offered to inscribe the poem on a Runic rod.

Poems of Type E are usually quite short, consisting of one�or less frequently two�four-line stanzas. Sometimes it is stated or hinted innbsp;the saga that the poet had been preparing what he was going to say;nbsp;but more often these poems are represented as improvisations. Such isnbsp;the case, of course, with stanzas which are said to have been produced onnbsp;the spot in unexpected situations, and especially with repartee stanzas.nbsp;Examples will be found in Ch. xi (cf. p. 363 fl'.). quot;We may refer innbsp;particular to the dialogue stanzas in Egils Saga, cap. 48, quoted onnbsp;p. 366. It is true, of course, that a large proportion of these occasionalnbsp;stanzas belong probably in reality to Type B rather than to Type E.nbsp;Sometimes we find them attributed to infants, and even to dead persons.^nbsp;In other cases they may have been recast by the authors themselvesnbsp;long after the events with which they are brought into connection.nbsp;But there can be no doubt that the art of improvisation was widely andnbsp;intensively cultivated in the Viking Age�a phenomenon for which wenbsp;shall find parallels in other lands.

There is little or no evidence relating to the composition and recitation of poems belonging to the impersonal category. It cannot be doubted, however, that antiquarian poems like the Ynglingatal (cf.nbsp;p. 271) were the result of long preparation. They have something innbsp;common with the panegyrics on princes, since they were composed fornbsp;the glorification of the ancestry of the poets� patrons.

A brief notice of the recitation of a (heathen) hymn or prayer occurs in Thorfinns Saga Karlsefnis^ cap. 7. Karlsefni�s expedition (cf. p. 538)nbsp;on one occasion ran short of food, and their prayers met with nonbsp;response. Th�rhallr the Hunter, who was a heathen, disappeared fornbsp;three days, and eventually they found him lying on the top of a crag,nbsp;and staring up into the sky with open mouth and distended nostrils,nbsp;and chanting something. He came back to the camp with them, butnbsp;refused to answer any questions. Then a whale came, and Th�rhallrnbsp;said: �The Red-beard has now proved mightier than your Christ. Inbsp;have got this as a reward for the poetry which I composed for Thor, innbsp;whom I put all my faith; never has he failed me�. The word pylja,nbsp;�chant�, is found elsewhere in a religious connection, e.g. in thenbsp;H�vamal, st. iii, the introductory stanza of the second part of thatnbsp;poem (cf. p. 384). But it is also used for the reciting of panegyrics, e.g.nbsp;in Egill�s H�fu�lausn, though kveba (�say�) is more usual.

It is not easy to make out from the records how far singing, as distinct from recitation, was cultivated. But it would seem that the wordsnbsp;gala, and syngva, both of which are used for the chanting of spells,nbsp;mean something different from ordinary recitation, though kveha isnbsp;often used in this case also. The account of the spells pronounced bynbsp;Kotkell and his family in the Laxdoela Saga, cap. 35, 37,^ certainlynbsp;suggests singing rather than recitation. The latter passage says that theynbsp;were beautiful to hear. The same impression is conveyed by othernbsp;passages, e.g. when GuSriSr chants the spell for the witch in Thorfinnsnbsp;Saga Karlsefnis, cap. 3. But we do not know of any references tonbsp;singing, except in spells, before the introduction of church music.nbsp;The word gala appears not to be used for any other kind of recitation,nbsp;while syngva, though commonly applied to church music, occurs elsewhere only in the Darrabarljob and in the Grottas�ngr, both of whichnbsp;are in the form of spells.

References to choral singing likewise occur only in connection with spells, though even here they are never, so far as we know, free fromnbsp;ambiguity. Thus Kotkell and his family may have sung their spells innbsp;turn, though it is perhaps more natural to take the singing as collective.nbsp;The Darrabarlj�b once has the verb in the first person singular but fornbsp;the most part it uses the plural. In the legendary �rvar-Odds Saga,nbsp;cap. 2, we hear of a witch called HeiSr who is accompanied on hernbsp;visits by a troop of fifteen boys and fifteen girls. They play no part in

' These passages may perhaps be compared with the Irish filid�s curses referred to on p. 587 below.

the scene where she utters her prophecies; but in one text they are described as raddlib, which probably means �singing company�.nbsp;Musical instruments seem never to be mentioned in such cases ; but tonbsp;these questions we shall have to return at the end of the chapter.

Sagas sometimes refer to the telling of stories, which in Iceland was cultivated as a fine art. On p. 540 it was mentioned that at the end of thenbsp;Groenlendinga pdttr Karlsefni himself is said to have told the story of thenbsp;adventures related in the work. But the most interesting reference ofnbsp;this kind is a passage in Njals Saga, cap. 153, which describes thenbsp;Christmas party given by Earl SigurSr II of Orkney in 1013. Among thenbsp;guests were King Sigtryggr II of Dublin and Earl Gilli of the Hebrides.nbsp;The Icelander Flosi was also present with a number of his followers,nbsp;who had been banished from Iceland for the murderous attack uponnbsp;Njall. King Sigtryggr wanted to hear an account of the tragedy.nbsp;Gunnarr Lambason, one of Flosi�s companions, was chosen to tell thenbsp;story, and took his seat on a chair in front of the king and the earls.nbsp;He gave a biassed and unfair account of the occurrence; and when thenbsp;king asked how SkarpheSinn had behaved in the burning house, henbsp;replied that he held out for a good while, but eventually broke down andnbsp;wept. At this moment it happened that Njall�s son-in-law, Kari, whonbsp;was prosecuting the vendetta, and who had just arrived unexpectedly innbsp;Orkney, was standing outside the door and listening. He rushed innbsp;with drawn sword and cut off Gunnarr�s head. SigurSr gave orders fornbsp;him to be seized; but Kari was a well-known and popular man innbsp;Orkney, and no one took any notice of the order; so he went away unmolested to Caithness. The dead man was then carried out, and thenbsp;blood cleaned away; and the story was resumed by Flosi, who told itnbsp;fairly and in a way which met with general approval.

We may also cite a passage from the F�stbroedra Saga, cap. 23. The Icelandic poet, Thorm�Sr Kolbrunarskald, made his way to Greenlandnbsp;about the year 1025, in order to obtain vengeance for the death of hisnbsp;friend Thorgeirr. There he hired a servant called Egill, who was dull-witted. When the time came for the assembly, he went to it with hisnbsp;friends. One day he falls asleep ; and on waking he is surprised to findnbsp;nobody about. Then Egill comes in and says that he has missed a greatnbsp;entertainment. In answer to Thorm�Sr�s enquiries Egill explains thatnbsp;nearly the whole assembly is gathered in front of the tent of a certainnbsp;Thorgrimr, a great man in the district. Thorgrimr himself is sitting on anbsp;chair in the centre of the crowd, and telling a story which they are allnbsp;listening to. He cannot give a clear account of the story; but he says

that a great hero called Thorgeirr figured in it, and that Thorgrimr himself had also played a great part. Thorm�Sr realises that this is thenbsp;man he is looking for, and joins the crowd. A storm suddenly comesnbsp;on, and people run for shelter. Thorm�Sr finds Thorgrimr alone andnbsp;kills him.

In these two cases we see saga in its first stage. The story-teller himself is one of the chief characters in the story; he tells of what henbsp;has seen and done himself. We may now take an example of saga in itsnbsp;second stage, where the story has been derived from someone else and isnbsp;told at second hand.

In Haralds Saga Harbrdba {Fornmanna S�gur'), cap. 99, we hear of a young Icelander, whose name is not given, but who came to visitnbsp;Harold III, king of Norway (1047-66). The king asks him if he has anynbsp;stories to tell�for Icelandic story-telling was already becoming famous.nbsp;The young man says that he has ; and the king agrees to take him into hisnbsp;service on condition that he shall tell stories to any member of the courtnbsp;who shall want them. This goes on throughout the autumn; he tellsnbsp;stories both night and day, and becomes very popular in the court.nbsp;But towards Christmas he becomes very depressed; and the king suspects that his repertoire is coming to an end. In answer to the king�snbsp;questions he admits that he has only one story left; and this he dare notnbsp;tell because it is concerned with the king�s own exploits abroad. Thenbsp;king says there is no story he would more like to hear. He releases thenbsp;Icelander from further story-telling till Christmas; and tells him he mustnbsp;make his story-telling last over the twelve days of the festival. Eachnbsp;day the king stops him after a certain time, so as to make the story lastnbsp;out. The Icelander is naturally very uneasy about the result; but whennbsp;the story is finished the king tells him he has liked it very well, and asksnbsp;him where he got it from. He says that it has been his custom in Icelandnbsp;to go every year to the general assembly, and there each summer he hasnbsp;got something from the stories told by Halld�rr Snorrason. Halld�rrnbsp;is known to have accompanied Harold when he was fighting in thenbsp;Mediterranean, in the service of the Greek emperor.

As regards the preservation of both poems and sagas in later times� before they were committed to writing�most valuable information isnbsp;given by Snorri Sturluson in the Prologue to the Heimskringla. Henbsp;says: �There were poets with Harold the Fair-haired: and people stillnbsp;(i.e. in the early part of the thirteenth century) know their poems, andnbsp;poems relating to all the kings who have since reigned in Norway�.nbsp;He then goes on to speak of Ari, the priest and historian, with whom

written Icelandic literature begins. We possess Ari�s history of Iceland {Islendingab�ld) only in an abbreviated form, written about 1135;nbsp;but this and Snorri�s Prologue together supply good information as tonbsp;the cultivation of the history of the past by intellectual Icelanders in thenbsp;last days of oral tradition. Ari was born about 1067, and his chiefnbsp;source of information was his foster-father Hallr, an old man and famousnbsp;for his wisdom, who in early life had been acquainted with St Olaf.nbsp;Among his other informants are mentioned Teitr, another foster-son ofnbsp;Hallr, and grandson of Gizurr the White; Oddr, a grandson of Hallrnbsp;� SiSu; and Thun'Sr, a daughter of Snorri GoSi. Gizurr, Hallr � SiSu,nbsp;and Snorri GoSi are among the most prominent characters who figure innbsp;sagas relating to the beginning of the eleventh century. Ari himselfnbsp;belonged to the most distinguished family in Iceland. He was anbsp;descendant of Queen AuSr of Dublin, and a great-grandson of GuSrun,nbsp;the heroine of the Laxdoela Saga.

In early Welsh poetry references to the recitation of poems are very common. They occur most frequently in poems of Type D. Two of thenbsp;panegyrics upon Urien {Tai. xxxiii, xxxix) are largely occupied withnbsp;the subject; and the same is true of one panegyric upon Gwallawgnbsp;{Tai. xxxviii). References occur also in the Gododdin poem {An. i),nbsp;e.g. st. 5, 21, 24 f., 33, 66�passages which declare the duty of celebrating the valour of heroes who fell at Catraeth and extol theirnbsp;generosity to poets.

Here also we may cite Tai. xiv, a poem of Type B�perhaps derived in part from Type E (cf. p. 460)�in which the speaker, whonbsp;is obviously Taliesin, relates how he had sung for various princes:nbsp;�I sang before a famous prince in the meadows of the Severn, beforenbsp;Brochfael of Powys who loved my Muse. I sang before Urien in thenbsp;morning on a pleasant terrace � (7 ff.). But he had also sung before thenbsp;sons of Llyr in Aber Henvelen (4)�a passage connected in some waynbsp;(like 31 ff.) with the legendary story of Bran. Again in 42 he says henbsp;had sung before princes (unnamed) over the mead vessels.

References are to be found also in gnomic poetry, e.g. RBH. v. 3 : �Whoever loves a bard will be a handsome giver�. We may refer alsonbsp;to Tai. IV. 27, 30.

In Tai. XXX, a very obscure poem,^ each stanza begins apparently with a reference to the recitation of poetry. The passages suggest that this

* Transi, by Rhys in the Preface to Malory�s Morte d�Arthur (Everyman), p.xx ff.

piece is in the nature of a graduation essay. The �mystical� poems discussed on p. 459 if. frequently refer to recitation and to bards.

None of the passages cited above allude to musical accompaniment. References to instrumental music in any form are rare in the poems.nbsp;The mystical poems, however, occasionally mention the harp (yelyn'),nbsp;e.g. in Tai. vii. 148; viii. 19 (cf. 60). In Tai. XLViii. 31 ff', the speakernbsp;says that he is a bard, a harper, a piper, a fiddler {crythawr), etc.

From the twelfth century onwards, when fuller historical evidence becomes available, bardism was an important element in Welsh life.nbsp;The Laws contain regulations for the recitation or singing of poems innbsp;the king�s household. The texts vary greatly, but the general drift is asnbsp;follows:I When the king wishes to hear poetry the Fencerdd'^ (lit.nbsp;�head of poetry�) is to recite or sing two poems (or one poem) of anbsp;religious character and another about princes. One text defines that thenbsp;latter poem shall be about the king to whom the palace belongs ifnbsp;possible�i.e. presumably a panegyric. When the queen wishes to hearnbsp;a poem in her bower, the bard of the household is to sing three poems innbsp;a low voice, so as not to disturb the hall. A variant here specifies �threenbsp;odes about Camlan�. In another passage it is stated that a bard of thenbsp;household recites the Monarchy of Britain before the household in thenbsp;day of battle and fighting. A variant says that this is recited when theynbsp;divide the spoil. We do not know the Monarchy of Britain-, but thenbsp;former passage may perhaps be compared with the recitation of thenbsp;Bjarkamdl before the battle of Stiklestad (cf. p. 367).

The Laws seem to imply that poems were accompanied on the harp, though we do not know whether this is ever precisely stated. It isnbsp;clear at all events that the harp is an indispensable property of the bard.nbsp;In one passage it is stated that a bard of the household receives a harpnbsp;from the king, which he is never to part with. Elsewhere'* we find thatnbsp;every Pencerdd has a right to receive a harp from the king, and thatnbsp;every pupil of a Pencerdd, when he leaves him, has a right to receive anbsp;harp from him.

The institution of the Eisteddfod can be traced back to the twelfth century. The first satisfactorily authenticated gathering was held by thenbsp;� Cf. Wade-Evans, Welsh Medieval Law, p. 33 f. (transi, p. 180), 22 (transi,nbsp;p. 167), 304. Variants will be found in the Venedotian Code (ed. Aneurin Owen),nbsp;I. xiv, xli.

� A Pencerdd is defined as �a bard, when he shall gain a chair�. In the Vened. Code the term bardcadeiriawg (�chaired bard�) is sometimes used for Pencerdd.

Lord Rhys at Aberteifi (Cardigan) in 1176.1 Two competitions were arranged, one for bards and poets, and the other for harpers, fiddlers,nbsp;pipers, and various kinds of music ; and a chair was awarded as a prizenbsp;to the winner of each competition. It is not clear that minstrelsy wasnbsp;included. Giraldus Cambrensis {Descr. Walliae, i. 10, 12), who wrotenbsp;shortly after this time, says that both poetry and music were muchnbsp;cultivated. Harps were to be found in every house; but he also does notnbsp;speak of minstrelsy. In view of the evidence of the Laws the absence ofnbsp;references to minstrelsy is perhaps due to accident. Nearly a centurynbsp;earlier we hear of a certain Gellan, a harper and Pencerdd, who wasnbsp;killed at Aberlleiniog^ in 1094. But the crwth^ whether it was originallynbsp;a fiddle or a harp, had been cultivated for long ages before this time;nbsp;for the chrotta Brit anna is mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus (vil. 64),nbsp;about the year 580.

From Giraldus Cambrensis {id. i. 13) it is clear that choral singing was much practised in his day. In particular he speaks of the proficiencynbsp;of the Welsh in part singing. We do not know whether any of the earlynbsp;poems were intended for part singing.

With regard to the preservation of poems, some information is perhaps to be obtained from the introduction to the Gwarchan ofnbsp;Maelderw {An. v). Unfortunately the passage is far from clear to us,nbsp;but it seems that a certain value was attached to a knowledge or recitation of each stanza of the Gododdin and of each of the Gwarchaneu.'^ Thenbsp;expression used here {atal^ i.e. a dal., � is worth �) is prefixed also to certainnbsp;poems in the Book of Taliesin�to No. xii with the numeral XXIV andnbsp;to No. XVII with the numeral CCC�while other poems have numeralsnbsp;alone: XXIVin Nos. xiii, xix, xx, CCC in Nos. xv, xvi, and XC innbsp;No. XXII. Whatever may be the exact meaning it would seem that anbsp;bard was entitled to a fixed payment for the recitation of certain poems.nbsp;If we may judge from the variants in the Gododdin (cf. p. 526 f.) considerable freedom must have been allowed in the treatment, unlessnbsp;the memorisation was very poor.

For the recitation of saga also there is some evidence from Wales. We may refer especially to a passage in the Mabinogi of Math., wherenbsp;Gwydion and his brother Gilfaethwy with ten others visit Pryderi, kingnbsp;' Cf. Lloyd, History of Wales, p. 548 f.

3 The passage is transi, as follows by Morris-Jones, Y Cymmrodor, xxviii. �Each stanza of the Gododdin is worth a song of one measure (i.e. of one unit)nbsp;according to privilege in song-contest. Each of the gorchaneu is worth 363 songsnbsp;(i.e. units) �, etc.

of Dyfed, in the guise of bards. In the course of the evening Pryderi asks Gwydion if one of the young men will tell a story. Gwydionnbsp;replies that with them it is the custom for the Pencerdd to tell stories onnbsp;the first night; and then it is stated that Gwydion, who was the best ofnbsp;story-tellers, entertained the court for the rest of the evening. The storynbsp;is interesting as showing that saga, as well as poetry, was cultivated bynbsp;the bards. Evidence to the same effect is given by the last sentence in thenbsp;Dream of Rhonabwy.

From the records at our disposal it would seem that both poetry and saga were largely, if not exclusively, in the hands of the bards, whonbsp;evidently formed something in the nature of a learned profession, notnbsp;entirely without organisation. With this question we shall be concernednbsp;in the following chapters. Here it is sufficient to call attention to thenbsp;numerous references to recitation, which, taken together with thenbsp;absence of satisfactory evidence for early written literature, as pointednbsp;out in Ch. XVI, and the large amount of textual variation noted in thenbsp;last chapter, indicate without doubt that Welsh poetry was mainlynbsp;preserved by oral tradition down to a comparatively late date. Therenbsp;can hardly be any question that the same is true of saga.

In Ireland, as we have seen, a large amount of poetry of Type D has been preserved, though down to the eleventh century the greater partnbsp;of it is fragmentary. We do not know of any early description of thenbsp;recitation of such poetry, except in heroic sagas�in scenes wherenbsp;women are represented as lamenting the deaths of their husbands. Annbsp;example may be found in the lamentation or elegy uttered by Deirdrenbsp;over Naoise and his brothers at the end of the Fate of the Children ofnbsp;Uisnech. A much earlier instance is the rhetoric in which Emer lamentsnbsp;the death of CuChulainn.^ These descriptions may be compared withnbsp;those of the lamentations uttered by Andromache, Hecabe and Helennbsp;over the death of Hector at the close of the Iliad. There is no reference tonbsp;the presence of minstrelsy in either of these Irish cases�as in the Iliadnbsp;(xxiv. 720 ff.)�though some kind of formal lamentation is mentionednbsp;in connection with the funerals of other Irish heroes. Modern analogiesnbsp;will be noted in later chapters. There can be little doubt that most of thenbsp;panegyrics and elegies composed for princes of the early historicalnbsp;period were intended for recitation.�

' Book of Leinster, fol. 123 a. This passage does not appear to have been translated. � Sometimes they are said to have been composed by the prince�s widow, asnbsp;appears from the phrase ut coniunx dixit in Ann. Tig. {Rev. Celt. xvii. 162, 174).

Irish poetry of Type B is usually contained in sagas. References to the recitation of these are not rare. Thus according to the Battle ofnbsp;Allen,cap. 3, Tergal, the northern king, takes with him on his campaignnbsp;a youth called DonnBo, who is to entertain his warriors both withnbsp;�stories of the kings� and with poetry. From cap. 7 it appears that henbsp;also played the pipes. But on the night before the battle he cannotnbsp;provide them with any entertainment; and at his suggestion they callnbsp;upon a certain Ua Maglainni, who � began reciting the battles and valiantnbsp;deeds of Conn�s Half and of Leinster from the Destruction of... Dinnnbsp;Rig.. .down to that time�. We may compare the story of Thorm�Srnbsp;at the battle of Stiklestad. In cap. 18 it is stated that all Tergal�s poetsnbsp;are killed in the battle; but after their death they all make music for him,nbsp;�poets and horn-players, and pipers and harpers�. In cap. 22 f. Donn-Bo�s head sings in the presence of the Leinster warriors.

In one story of Mongan (cf. p. 98), which comes from the very ancient Book of Druim Snechta, the king has a �Zz, named Forgoll, whonbsp;is said to recite to him a different story every night from November inbsp;to May I. We may compare the story of Harold Hardrada and the Icelander noticed on p. 581.

Here also reference may be made to the story� of Urard mac Coise, chieffit of Ireland, who died in 990. Having had his house destroyed bynbsp;a raid, he makes his way to the high-king Domnall mac Muirchertaignbsp;(d. 980). The king asks him to recite a saga; and he thereupon offers himnbsp;a choice of all the sagas known, ending with a story which he has composed on the injury done to him, but with the names disguised. Thenbsp;king asks for this because, he says, he has not heard it before.

From these passages it will be seen that the filid cultivated the recitation of sagas. Later we shall see that they were required to learn a very large number of them in the course of their training. But the trainingnbsp;also included the learning and composition of poetry. In fact the combined cultivation of poetry and saga which we find implied in stories ofnbsp;the Welsh bards is definitely attributed to the filid in Irish sources,nbsp;especially the Book of Ballymote. Doubtless we owe to them, not onlynbsp;much poetry of Type C and other antiquarian pieces, but also many ofnbsp;the poems of Type B included in the sagas.

This combination of poetry and saga was probably not confined to the filid. There is no evidence, so far as we know, that DonnBo was a

� Ed. by K. Meyer, Atiecdota from Irish MSS. II. 42 ff. ; cf. Thurneysen, Ir. Heldensage, p. 21 f.

fin-, and he, as we have seen, was a musician, as well as a story-teller and poet. In the text of the Exile of the Sons of Uisliu preserved in the Booknbsp;of Leinster, Fedlimid, the father of Derdriu, is described as �Storyteller (sc�laige') and harper (cruittire') � to Conchobor. The latter word isnbsp;not found in the other texts, and consequently may have been added;nbsp;but the addition shows at all events that the combination was regardednbsp;as natural. In the Fate of the Children ofUisnech,c3:�. i,we find harpingnbsp;combined with antiquarian poetry, recited by druids and filid-, but this isnbsp;of course a late work as we have it. We do not know of any definitenbsp;evidence from early texts as to the way in which recitation and musicnbsp;were combined, whether by filid or other reciters�e.g. whether thenbsp;poems included in the stories were accompanied on the harp, or whethernbsp;the recitation was interrupted from time to time by purely instrumentalnbsp;music.

There is no doubt as to the general cultivation of the harp or its antiquity in Ireland. Giraldus Cambrensis states that the Irish surpassednbsp;all other peoples in this art. In the Destruction of Dinn Rig, whichnbsp;relates to earlier times than any other heroic story, an important part isnbsp;played by the harper Craftine�though it is not stated that he was anbsp;poet or story-teller. Even the Dagda, the chief of the gods, has a harp,nbsp;which is described in the Second Battle of Moytura (cf. p. 258).

It is generally believed that many of the sagas which we have, especially those which were written down in early times, come from filid. We have little doubt, at all events, that the preservation of poetry, innbsp;particular antiquarian poetry, was largely due to this class and theirnbsp;educational system. In this system the learning of spells also formed annbsp;important element. Instances were noticed in Ch. xv (cf. p. 466 f.). Wenbsp;may refer also here to the elaborate account, given in the Book ofnbsp;Ballymote^ of the proceedings which attended the pronouncement of anbsp;curse upon a prince with all his belongings. The account seems tonbsp;imply collective singing by filid of different grades; and it is the onlynbsp;reference to collective singing which we have noted in early Irishnbsp;records.

From the evidence discussed above it is clear that in all the periods with which we are concerned recitation of poetry or saga (or both) was

� This portion is ed. by Thumeysen in Windisch�s Irische Texte, Series ni, p. 96 f. (cf. p. 124 f.). Cf. also O�Curry, Manners and Customs, ii. p., 216 f.; Atkinson,nbsp;Book of Ballymote, p. 13 a.

extensively cultivated. Three forms of production may probably be distinguished : 1. Recitation without musical accompaniment. II. Recitation to the accompaniment of the harp (or other stringed instrument).nbsp;III. Choral singing (whether accompanied or not). We ought, perhaps,nbsp;to distinguish a fourth variety, viz. singing, as distinct from recitation, bynbsp;an individual. Something of this kind seems to be implied by the Greeknbsp;non-choric lyric poetry of the seventh century, as found e.g. in thenbsp;poems of Sappho and Alcaios; and it may have existed in earlier times�nbsp;we may refer e.g. to the Linos song mentioned in II. xviii. 569 if.nbsp;Possibly the spell song sung by GuSriSr in Thorfinns Saga Karlsefiiis,nbsp;cap. 3, may belong here; but this would be difficult to prove. Indeednbsp;we know of no clear evidence, except in Greece.

It must be admitted that even for III the evidence in general is far from satisfactory. Choral hymns to the gods were clearly cultivated innbsp;Greece in the seventh century, if not earlier. In the sixth century wenbsp;find other choral songs, especially those which celebrate victories innbsp;athletic contests. A choral hymn to Apollo seems to be meant in II. i.nbsp;472 ffi, and perhaps a choral song of triumph over the fall of Hector innbsp;XXII. 391 f. A choral dirge over the same hero appears to be implied innbsp;XXIV. 720 ffi But the reference to the dirge sung by the Muses overnbsp;Achilles in Od. xxiv. 60 f. suggests alternate rather than choral singing.nbsp;In Norse the only examples we have been able to find are spells, withnbsp;which we may compare the Irish spell in the Book of Ballymote. But innbsp;all these cases the possibility of alternate singing is to be taken intonbsp;account. The same remark applies to the elegy pronounced overnbsp;Beowulf (3169 ff.) by the twelve princes who ride round his tomb, andnbsp;perhaps to the elegy over Attila described by Jordanes, cap. 49. It wouldnbsp;seem, at all events, that choral singing began in these types of poetry�nbsp;spells, hymns to the gods, dirges and songs of triumph.^

It is clear that heroic narrative poetry (Type A) was in early times recited according to Form II, both in Greece and among the Teutonicnbsp;peoples. In England and on the Continent this form of recitation wasnbsp;still preserved in the time of our historical records; but in Greece andnbsp;in the North�in the latter perhaps not universally�Form II had beennbsp;displaced by Form I, i.e. the instrumental accompaniment had beennbsp;discarded. In the Edda poems we find references to the harp, e.g. in thenbsp;Voluspd, st. 42, and in the story of Gunnarr�s harping in the snake-pit;nbsp;but in sagas and poetry relating to the Viking Age such references are

' A number of probable references in Latin works to (Teutonic) choral singing are given by Heusler in Hoops, Reallexikon d. germ. Altertumskunde, I. 447 ff.

589 curiously rare�so rare as to suggest that the use of the harp generallynbsp;had gone out of fashion. Yet both in Greece and in the North the chiefnbsp;reason for the change is probably to be sought in the influence of othernbsp;kinds of poetry. This is a subject to which we shall have to return later.nbsp;For the recitation of poetry of Type B, found in Norse, Irish andnbsp;Welsh, the evidence is not satisfactory. It may be suspected that innbsp;Norse the history of this Type is similar to that of Type A. In Noma-gests Saga-WQ find what are apparently poems of this Type accompaniednbsp;by the harp. As regards the Irish and Welsh poems, the fact that thenbsp;saga-tellers were also harpers suggests that the harp may have beennbsp;used for accompanying the poems (Type B) included in the sagas. It isnbsp;possible, however, that the harp was used merely for musical interludes.nbsp;Presumably this was the case with the pipes, which are mentioned sometimes with the harp. As regards Type D it is clear from JVidsith andnbsp;Venantius Fortunatus (cf. p. 574 f.) that in the Teutonic Heroic Agenbsp;panegyrics were, sometimes at least, accompanied by the harp. On thenbsp;other hand there can be no doubt that the panegyrics and elegies of thenbsp;Viking Age were as a rule unaccompanied. The Welsh and Irish evidencenbsp;is again uncertain. We know also of no explicit evidence in the Homericnbsp;poems. In later Greece this Type, as we have seen (p. 570), had manynbsp;ramifications, some of which, e.g. choral hymns, doubtless had musicalnbsp;accompaniment; while in other cases, e.g. political hortatory poems,nbsp;we may presume that such accompaniment was wanting.

In the case of Type E very little evidence is available. Gelimer wanted a harp for the poem which he had composed on his misfortunes. Butnbsp;we do not know of any other certain examples.

There is another question affecting poetry of Types B and D, apart from that of musical accompaniment. Such poems are not unfrequentlynbsp;in the form of dialogues. Was it customary for more than one person tonbsp;take part in the recitation.? The only case for which we know anynbsp;definite evidence is the recital of the Helrei� Brynhildar in Nornagestsnbsp;Saga', and here the whole poem is evidently recited by Gestr himself.nbsp;But in the poetry of Type D described in JVidsith, 103 ff., two minstrelsnbsp;take part in the recitation; and in the panegyric described by Priscus atnbsp;Attila�s court (cf. p. 575 f.), two reciters come forward simultaneously.nbsp;Are we to think of such cases as duets, or as dialogues.? We may refernbsp;e.g. to the elegy on Niall Noigiallach, which is in the form of a dialoguenbsp;between Torna and his son (cf. p. 55), or to the Hrafnsmdl, a panegyric on Harold the Fair-haired in the form of a dialogue between anbsp;raven and a Valkyrie (cf. p. 341 f.). We may also refer to BBC. i, a poem

which consists of a dialogue between Myrddin and Taliesin. Such cases may well have been suggested by panegyrics or elegies which consistednbsp;of a real dialogue between two poets. We are, therefore, inclined to thinknbsp;that this is the more probable explanation.

For the recitation of didactic (antiquarian or gnomic) poetry or prose hardly any direct evidence is available. It may be observed, however,nbsp;that many of the pieces have the form of Type B, i.e. they are dialoguesnbsp;or monologues in character. Perhaps the most widespread form is thatnbsp;of a contest in wisdom between two sages. The subject may be antiquarian or mythological or mantic lore, or it may take the form of anbsp;series of riddles. The disputants are usually famous sages or prophets ofnbsp;the past, or supernatural beings. In later chapters we shall see that innbsp;various parts of the world there is evidence for the existence of suchnbsp;contests. Among the peoples with whom we are now concerned wenbsp;cannot produce such evidence; but we would suggest that a tradition ofnbsp;this kind may have been perpetuated as a form of intellectual entertainment, in which the speakers took assumed names. In view ofnbsp;Russian analogies the dialogue of the Fj�lsvinnsmdl may indicate thenbsp;survival of a similar custom in somewhat more popular circles down to anbsp;comparatively late date.

The monologues in character are usually either addresses by a sage to his son or disciples, or revelations of wisdom by a supernaturalnbsp;being. In Ireland we find a third variety in the form of hortatory addresses by sages or heroes to newly appointed kings. Some of the poemsnbsp;in which the speaker is a supernatural being may be based upon religiousnbsp;usage�in connection with sanctuaries or festivals. Other monologuenbsp;poems were perhaps designed for educational purposes and owe theirnbsp;preservation to such use. What we would suggest is that this form ofnbsp;literature originated in a time when it was customary for sages to givenbsp;instructions to those who resorted to them, but that it was preservednbsp;later as a stereotyped form. It is difficult to avoid the suspicion that thenbsp;very peculiar framework of Snorri�s Gylfaginning is derived from anbsp;tradition of this kind.

Many of the poems which are not speeches in character had probably a similar origin. Among these we may mention especially the English andnbsp;Welsh gnomic poems. The opening lines of the Exeter Gnomes are innbsp;the form of an address�probably by a teacher to a disciple, though anbsp;debate between two sages is not impossible. We suspect also that thenbsp;form of Hesiod�s tForks and Days is derived from compositions of thisnbsp;kind. It is only in Greek that the personality of the poet himself is

introduced, unless we are to admit that certain �mystical� poems which claim to be by Taliesin are really genuine works of that poet.

We do not know of any evidence for the use of an instrumental accompaniment to didactic poetry. Instances may occur; but it is to benbsp;doubted whether accompaniment was usual. In Greece, as we havenbsp;seen, the reciters of Homeric poetry in later times carried a staff or wandnbsp;instead of a lyre; and we suspect that this change was due in part tonbsp;the influence of didactic poetry. At all events Hesiod {Theog. 30 f.)nbsp;receives a staff from the Muses as the badge of his calling; and this wasnbsp;at a time when heroic poetry was apparently still accompanied by thenbsp;lyre. To this question, however, we shall have to return later.

IN the last chapter we saw that Greek heroic poetry was recited in early times by minstrels, in later times by rhapsodists, and that thenbsp;former phase was still existing in the time of Hesiod (JIheog. 94 if.).nbsp;Consequently this phase must have existed also when the Homericnbsp;poems were composed, unless it be maintained that they date from anbsp;later time than Hesiod�s Theogony. By this we do not, of course, mean thatnbsp;they had assumed by this time exactly the form in which we have them.nbsp;It is significant, however, that they refer fairly often to minstrelsy, butnbsp;never to rhapsodists.

Two professional minstrels are mentioned by name in the Odyssey. Phemios regularly performs in Odysseus� house. It is possible that henbsp;may perform elsewhere also; but this is not stated. He has derived hisnbsp;poems from a deity (cf. p. 569). Much the same is said of the Phaeaciannbsp;minstrel Demodocos. He is blind; but he occupies an honourablenbsp;position at Alcinoos� court and is described as herds {Od. vili. 483).

In the � Catalogue of ships� (�/. ii. 595 ff.) we hear of a Thracian minstrel called Thamyris, who is said to have come to Nestor�s land from the court of Eurytos at Oichalia and to have been disabled by the Musesnbsp;and deprived of his poetry and harping on account of his boasting.

Again, in Od. in. 267 f. Nestor says that when Agamemnon set off to Troy he entrusted his wife to the care of a minstrel, whose name is notnbsp;given. It is not stated that he was a professional minstrel; but in anynbsp;case he was presumably a person of important rank.

Whatever may be the case with the two persons last mentioned, it is clear that minstrelsy was cultivated by princes as well as by professionalnbsp;minstrels. In II. ix. 186 ff. Achilles is reciting heroic poetry to thenbsp;accompaniment of the lyre. In II. in. 54 Paris is said to play the lyre,nbsp;though poetry is not mentioned. In the description of the shield ofnbsp;Achilles (//. xviii. 569 ff.) we hear of popular minstrelsy, where a boynbsp;is singing and playing to vintagers (cf. p. 429).

Of the authors of the Homeric poems themselves nothing definite is known; and it is evident, e.g. from the number of places which claimnbsp;the honour of being Homer�s birth-place, that even in the earliestnbsp;historical times no certain information was available. Strabo, xiv. i.

593 3$, says that the people of Chios supported their claim to Homer bynbsp;pointing to a family in their island called Homeridai, who were descended from him. But elsewhere the name Homeridai is applied tonbsp;reciters, and even students of Homer; and in the former sense this usenbsp;goes back to the time of Pindar {Nem. n, ad init.'). Not much valuenbsp;perhaps should be attached to the scholion on this passage which statesnbsp;that the name was originally applied to members of Homer�s family whonbsp;acquired the poems from him, and then later to other rhapsodists. Wenbsp;see no reason for dissenting from the view held by many scholars thatnbsp;Homer was probably a reciter, to whom the authorship of his repertoirenbsp;came to be attributed. He must already have been famous in the earlynbsp;part of the seventh century, for Callinos� is said to have attributed tonbsp;him the authorship of the Thehais. It would seem therefore that henbsp;belonged to the period of (more or less creative) minstrelsy, rather thannbsp;to that of rhapsody. In any case we do not doubt that the poems themselves in general originated in the former period.

The lost poems of the Epic Cycle were attributed by ancient scholars to various poets, of whom practically nothing is known. Thus, fornbsp;example, the Cypria was attributed sometimes to Homer, sometimes to anbsp;certain Stasinos, who is said to have been Homer�s son-in-law. But nonbsp;trustworthy evidence is available, though this poem at least was probably as early as the eighth century.^ No more evidence is available fornbsp;the authors of the Homeric Hymns. For the �blind man of Chios�,nbsp;who speaks at the conclusion of Hymn I, we may refer to what wasnbsp;said on p. 570.

Hesiod seems, from the W^orks and Days^ to have been a farmer or small landowner. His father was a merchant (cf. p. 358). There is nonbsp;evidence that he was a professional poet. He competes in a poeticnbsp;contest {ib. 6�^1 ff.), but dedicates his prize to the Muses. In thenbsp;Theogony (22 ff.) he claims direct inspiration from them. He says thatnbsp;they taught him beautiful poetry as he was keeping sheep on the slopesnbsp;of holy Helicon. They gave him as a staff the branch of a well-grownnbsp;laurel, and �inspired me with a voice divine to Celebrate both thenbsp;future and the past�. Hesiod never describes himself as a prophet ornbsp;mantis; but the words just quoted practically imply this character as wenbsp;shall see later. Various elements in the JF^orks and Days, especially the

� Cf. Wilamowitz-M�llendorff, Hermes, lxv. 267 ff., who points out a quotation from the Cypria upon an ivory comb found in the sanctuary of Orthia at Sparta, in anbsp;stratum dating from c. 700-635 B.c.

594 lists of prohibitions and omens, point to the same conclusion. Hisnbsp;poetry is essentially didactic. The W^orks and Days is largely concernednbsp;with agriculture, but in spite of this it is a learned rather than a �bucolic�nbsp;poem.

In the eighth and seventh centuries there appear to have been a number of such learned poets. We may mention Eumelos, who is saidnbsp;to have belonged to the Bacchiadai, the ruling family at Corinth, andnbsp;who composed a processional hymn for the Messenians at the festival atnbsp;Delos, as well as antiquarian (genealogical) poetry. Some of thesenbsp;learned poets were of a definitely mantic character. Such was the casenbsp;with Epimenides, who is said to have been summoned to Athens in thenbsp;year 596 to purify the city from a plague. We may also refer here to thenbsp;legendary poet Musaios, though the date and authorship of the fragments attributed to him is quite uncertain. It is not clear how far thenbsp;learned poets were professionals. They may have been rewarded fornbsp;their poems. Epimenides is said to have refused the reward offered himnbsp;for his services at Athens.

From the seventh century onwards, or even earlier, there were poets who were trainers of state choroi^ and who may be regarded as professional musicians. To this class apparently belonged Aleman and Stesi-choros, and, in earlier times, perhaps Terpandros. Other poets werenbsp;maintained by tyrants at their courts. Among these may be mentionednbsp;Ibycos and Anacreon, though they hardly fall within our period.

But the majority of the poets of the seventh century seem to have been men of rank or of independent means. Among them were statesmen who employed poetry for patriotic or political purposes, such asnbsp;Solon and Alcaios. With them we may class Callinos and Tyrtaios,nbsp;though there are divergent stories as to the origin of the latter. Alcaiosnbsp;was a nobleman and a revolutionary leader. He composed poems fornbsp;recitation at social gatherings, as well as political poems. It was fornbsp;social gatherings also that the poems of Archilochos and Simonides werenbsp;composed. Archilochos was a dissatisfied nobleman, who had becomenbsp;a soldier of fortune, whereas Simonides appears to nave been a successful man, and led a colony from his native island (Samos) to Amorgos.nbsp;Theognis was an exiled nobleman. Sappho appears to have been anbsp;teacher, belonging to a well-to-do and perhaps noble commercial family.

From what has been said it will be seen that both professional and non-professional poets were known in all periods. Among the professional poets we have to include especially (i) minstrels and (later)nbsp;rhapsodists who were occupied with heroic poetry and stories of the

THE AUTHOR nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;59$

gods; and (2) persons who were connected with religion in some way or other. To the latter belong (a) trainers of state choroi-, (^) probably somenbsp;persons of prophetic or mantic character, though such were not alwaysnbsp;professionals; (c) the priests of oracular sanctuaries, e.g. the Hosioi atnbsp;Delphoi and the Tomuroi at Dodona�educated citizens who convertednbsp;the oracles into poetry. Among those poets who were not primarilynbsp;professional there were probably many who competed for prizes andnbsp;from time to time received rewards for composing elegies, weddingnbsp;songs, triumphal odes, etc.

In the early history of Greek poetry, taken as a whole, we may conveniently distinguish three chief phases. The first (I) which we may call � Homeric � consists of the poetry of entertainment, intended primarily fornbsp;kings� courts. The subjects are stories of the Heroic Age and of deities.nbsp;The second (II), which we may call �Hesiodic�, consists of learned didactic poetry. The subjects are antiquarian, religious and gnomic. Thenbsp;third (III) which we may call after Archilochos�though he is typicalnbsp;only of a section of it�consists of poetry which was composed fornbsp;various purposes, but is not primarily didactic. The subjects werenbsp;mainly of present-day interest. Its affinities are in general with modernnbsp;literature. The milieu is urban. The society in which the authors lived,nbsp;and for which they composed, was that of the city state.

This classification is primarily chronological. We shall probably not go very far astray if we take the flourishing creative period of I beforenbsp;750, of II between 750 and 650, of III after the latter date. But it is notnbsp;to be assumed that no learned poetry was composed before 750, and nonbsp;� modern � poetry before 650. The dates indicated are approximately thosenbsp;at which poetry of the various phases came to be cultivated as a finenbsp;art.

To Phase II we may assign oracular poetry, which seems to have followed old tradition, and also most of the Homeric Hymns, thoughnbsp;many of them may have been composed in later times. Sagas (ofnbsp;Type C; cf. p. 333 f.) relating to early times belong to the same phase;nbsp;but sagas of Type A relating to the seventh and sixth centuries belongnbsp;to Phase III.

It is to be observed that Phase I and Phase II have a common uniform metre�the hexameter. Phase III, on the other hand, shows great variety of metrical form.

The transition between Phase I and Phase II may be seen rarely in the Iliad or Odyssey�the most important evidence is in the firstnbsp;Nekyia (Od. xi)�but appears to have been more frequently exemplified

596 in the lost Cyclic poems, if one may judge, for example, from thenbsp;references to �purification� and the numerous explanatory elementsnbsp;contained in the summaries. Instances are also to be found in a few ofnbsp;the Homeric Hymns (cf. p. 243 f.).

The transition between Phase II and Phase III may be seen (a) in form�in the fragments of Asios, which are partly in hexameters,nbsp;partly in elegiacs, and in the Margites, in which the hexameters arenbsp;interrupted from time to time by iambics. We may also refer to whatnbsp;we may perhaps call experimental adaptations of the hexameter found innbsp;early poets.^ (^) In subject�the transition from didactic (gnomic) tonbsp;political or patriotic (hortatory) poetry may be seen in Callinos andnbsp;Tyrtaios, and also (in a different direction) in Solon. The transitionnbsp;from the didactic to the satirical may be seen in Simonides, whilenbsp;Asios apparently produced both antiquarian and satirical poems. Fornbsp;the latter we may also refer to the Margites.

Among the early Teutonic peoples the development seems on the whole to have followed much the same lines as in Greece.

Phase I is represented both in English and in Norse. The earlier (minstrel) form was long preserved both in England and on the Continent. In the North it was given up, at least for the most part (cf. p. 588).nbsp;We have very little information relating to the poets who cultivatednbsp;heroic poetry (Types A and B) in the North. For the passages relatingnbsp;to Thorm�Sr Kolbrunarskald and Nornagestr we may refer to p. 576 f.nbsp;It may be observed that in Norse, as in Greek, stories relating to godsnbsp;are treated in the same metre as heroic stories, and that the differences innbsp;style between the two sets of poems correspond in general to the differences between the two sets of poems in Greek. It is not unlikely,nbsp;therefore, that here also heroic stories and stories of the gods werenbsp;treated by the same poets. From England and the Continent we havenbsp;only heroic poetry, owing to the early adoption of Christianity in thesenbsp;regions.

The minstrels of whom we hear in the English poems are court minstrels. In Beowulf King Hrothgar has a minstrel {scop}�perhapsnbsp;more than one�who entertains the court from time to time (cf. p. 573).nbsp;Deor at the close of his elegy (3 5 ff.) gives the following account ofnbsp;himself: �With regard to myself I will say that formerly I was thenbsp;minstrel of the Heodeningas and dear to my lord... .For many years Inbsp;had a good office and a gracious master. But now Heorrenda, a skilfulnbsp;� E.g. Terpandros, fragm. 4; cf. Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, I. 32.

597 poet, has received the domain which the king had given to me.� Widsithnbsp;again is a traveller who prides himself on the large number of nations henbsp;has visited. He states also that he has been handsomely rewarded bynbsp;various princes for his poetry. In 94 If. he says that on Ids return homenbsp;he presented to his lord, Eadgils, prince of the Myrgingas, a valuablenbsp;�ring� which had been given him by Eormenric. This present was anbsp;reward to Eadgils for his kindness in granting the poet the land whichnbsp;had previously been held by his father. It would seem then that he is anbsp;man of good position. In the prologue it is stated that he accompanied anbsp;princess named Ealhhild, apparently a sister of Eadgils, to the court ofnbsp;Eormenric.

Such minstrels are known also in the medieval German poems. Horant (Heorrenda) is one of the leading characters in Kudrun. In thenbsp;Nibelungenlied the invitation sent by Etzel (Attila) to the Burgundiannbsp;king is conveyed by two of his minstrels.

But minstrelsy is by no means confined to professionals. We have seen (p. 575 f.) that vn. Beowulf Hrothgar himself recites to the harp,nbsp;and perhaps other members of his court do the same. Gelimer, the lastnbsp;king of the Vandals, was a poet and harper (z^.). In the Atlakvioa (st.nbsp;31) and elsewhere Gunnarr is represented as a harper. We may refernbsp;also to Folker in the Nibelungenlied^ who is said to be a nobleman and anbsp;minstrel.

In works relating to later times we hear of minstrels who entertained the general public with heroic poetry accompanied by the harp. Suchnbsp;are the minstrels mentioned in Alcuin�s letter to Hygebald quoted onnbsp;p. 573. Bernlef, the blind Frisian minstrel (cf. p. 575), belongs to thisnbsp;class. It may be added that in Frisian law^ a special compensation wasnbsp;fixed for injury to the hand of a harper.

Phase II is also represented both in England and in the North. From Bishop Daniel�s letter, referred to on p. 325 f., we may infer also that itnbsp;was known in Germany, though nothing of this kind has survived.nbsp;Unfortunately we have no information relating to poets of this phase innbsp;England. Neither do we know anything of the poets responsible fornbsp;the Edda poems belonging to this phase. The only passage which givesnbsp;us any indication as to the source of these poems (fJ�v. iii) will benbsp;discussed later.

Of the authors of Norse antiquarian (not gnomic) poetry, however, some are known to us. Bragi Boddason evidently occupied a highnbsp;position; he was a friend of kings, such as Hj�rr and Ragnarr. Thj�Solfrnbsp;I Mon. Germ., Leg. ill. 699 f.

of Hvm was a distinguished member of Harold the Fair-haired�s court, and the fosterer of one of his sons. Eyvindr Finnsson was a member ofnbsp;the court of Haakon I, and a descendant of Harold the Fair-haired.

Phase III is widely represented in the North, though little is known of it elsewhere. Most of the examples are either panegyrics and elegiesnbsp;(Type D), often in honour of kings, or short occasional poems (Typenbsp;E), like those of Archilochos. For details we may refer to Ch. xi.nbsp;The affinities of the former frequently lie with Phase I rather than withnbsp;Phase III, as represented in Greek; but practically all the authors alsonbsp;have poems of Type E attributed to them. In some cases also they arenbsp;authors of antiquarian poems (Phase II). The few English poems whichnbsp;may be assigned to this phase have little in common with those of thenbsp;North (cf. pp. 338, 352 f.). Nothing is known as to the authors.

It may be observed that in England all phases generally use the same (uniform line) metre. The same metre was used also in Germanynbsp;for Phase I; from Phase II nothing has been preserved. From the samenbsp;metre again comes doubtless the Norse Fornyr�islag, in spite of itsnbsp;(often irregular) stanzaic character. This is the metre employed in mostnbsp;of the Norse heroic poems, and also in some of the Edda poems relatingnbsp;to the gods�including a few antiquarian, as well as narrative, poems.nbsp;The MdlahdttT^ which is used in the remaining heroic poems, wasnbsp;probably of identical origin with the FornyMslag (cf. p. 29 f.).

The other Norse theological poems and the gnomic poems contained in the Edda use quite a different metre, the Lj��ah�ttr, or metres akin tonbsp;this, such as the Galdralag. These metres, in some form or other, arenbsp;probably ancient; for English gnomic poetry contains a few passagesnbsp;which sbow a metrical form related to them. There cannot of course benbsp;any question as to the antiquity of the uniform line metre.

Thj�Solfr and Eyvindr, in their antiquarian poems, employ the Kv�uhdttr, apparently a new modification of the Fomyr�islag-, and thisnbsp;is occasionally used in poetry of Phase III (Type D), as are also thenbsp;Mdlahdttr and the Lj��ahattr. But the great majority of the poetrynbsp;belonging to Phase III (both Type D and Type E) uses new metresnbsp;involving the principle of rhyme or assonance. This goes back even tonbsp;Bragi Boddason ; but it is never found in the Edda or in any anonymousnbsp;traditional poetry. In England rhyme occurs only in religious poetry,nbsp;and probably not before the ninth century.

Tbe transition between Phase I and Phase II may perhaps be seen in JFidsith, which consists for the most part of catalogues, though thenbsp;milieu is heroic. A similar transition may be traced in the Edda Trilogy,

THE AUTHOR nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;599

which preserves slight elements of heroic Type B, though in the main it has become a didactic work.

The transition from Phase II to Phase III may be illustrated from the poems of Bragi, Thj�Solfr and Eyvindr, all of whom are credited withnbsp;occasional poems of Phase III, as well as with antiquarian poems. Anbsp;similar transition may be seen in the H�vam�l, st. i-iio, where anbsp;didactic (gnomic) collection has largely been converted into a satiricalnbsp;poem of entertainment. The transition between these phases, however, isnbsp;less marked than in Greek.

Phase III is not represented with so much variety in Norse as in Greek. There is probably no choral poetry. The milieu is somewhatnbsp;similar to that of Greek poetry of the seventh century, though it is notnbsp;properly urban, but rather that of a travelling and trading society innbsp;which persons from distant lands were frequently meeting. For thenbsp;most part it may be described as a middle-class milieu.

As regards professionalism in Phases II and III there is no evidence available except for the North. Many poets are attached to the courts ofnbsp;kings for varying lengths of time ; but we do not know of any evidencenbsp;for any other form of professionalism.

Sagas for the most part belong to Phase III. This applies to the �Sagas of Icelanders� in general and to most of the stories contained innbsp;the �Sagas of the Kings�. There are, however, a number of stories,nbsp;mostly short, contained in both classes and more especially in thenbsp;Landnamab�k, which are of essentially antiquarian character and maynbsp;be referred to Phase II. Sagas are practically always anonymous; butnbsp;we think it is sometimes possible to trace with more or less probabilitynbsp;the source from which they ultimately come. In Iceland saga wasnbsp;developed to a far greater extent than in Greece.

Women poets are often referred to and quoted; but the poems consist almost always of single occasional stanzas, generally improvised. A few fragments are preserved, however, of what appears to have beennbsp;a longer poem by a certain J�runn �the Poetess�, of whom nothing isnbsp;known. The poem was apparently of Type D and celebrated the doingsnbsp;of Harold the Fair-haired. The question is perhaps worth raising whethernbsp;heroic poetry was cultivated by women. We know of no externalnbsp;evidence to this effect; but it is remarkable that in the heroic poems ofnbsp;the Edda feminine interest greatly predominates and a large preponderance of the speeches are by women. This remark applies only to thenbsp;poems composed in FoTnyr�islag. Is it possible that this metre wasnbsp;cultivated by women after it had been given up by meni� The Grotta-

s�ngr and the Darraoarlj�S suggest the same question. We are inclined also to the view that a few sagas come ultimately from women. It hasnbsp;been suggested above (p. 542) that the greater part of Thorfinns Saganbsp;Karlsefnis and a portion of the Groenlendinga pdttr come ultimatelynbsp;from GuSriSr, daughter of Thorbj�rn. We suspect that in the same waynbsp;a large part of the Laxdoela Saga may be traced to GuSrun, daughter ofnbsp;�svifr. Mention has already been made (p. 582) of the fact that Snorrinbsp;Sturluson speaks of ThuriSr, daughter of Snorri the Go8i, as one ofnbsp;Ari�s authorities�he says that Ari obtained much information �froe��)nbsp;from her. It is perhaps worth observing that Snorri the GoSi was annbsp;intimate friend of GuSriin and that Ari himself was her great-grandson.

As regards the chronology of the phases we have seen that in Greek Phase II seems to follow Phase I, making its first appearance in thenbsp;eighth century, while it in its turn is followed by Phase III, whichnbsp;appears first in the seventh century. In the North such chronologicalnbsp;sequence of the phases is not obvious. So far as we know, Braginbsp;Boddason is the earliest poet of whose work anything has been preserved. Thj�Solfr is also one of the earliest. Yet both these poets belongnbsp;in part to Phase III. But it is to be observed that both these poets, likenbsp;all the poets of Phase III, use metres which can hardly be of earlynbsp;Teutonic origin, whereas no such question can arise with regard to thenbsp;origin of the metres employed in the (anonymous) heroic poetry ofnbsp;Phase I. Phase II employs either the same metres as Phase I, or modifications thereof, or else a metre which also is probably ancient in somenbsp;form or other (cf. p. 598). It would seem, therefore, that althoughnbsp;all three phases can be traced back to the ninth century. Phase III wasnbsp;then probably more or less recent, whereas Phases I and II werenbsp;already old.

As regards the sequence of Phases I and II, it is to be borne in mind that the features common to English and Norse in the latter are by nonbsp;means so numerous, either in form or subject, as in Phase I. It wouldnbsp;seem then that in the form in which we know it Phase II was of laternbsp;development than Phase I. Yet both, without doubt, are very ancient.nbsp;Both can be traced back to the first century. Tacitus, Ann. n. 88,nbsp;speaks of poems (evidently heroic) in which Arminius was celebrated,nbsp;while in Germ. 1. he refers to �ancient poems�, which treated of thenbsp;mythical ancestry of the various Teutonic peoples, and which mustnbsp;have been of an antiquarian character, somewhat similar to the Hesiodicnbsp;Catalogue.

In early Welsh there is little or no poetry which corresponds exactly to the Greek-Teutonic Phase I; but we have a good number of panegyric and elegiac poems which relate to the Heroic Age. Phase II isnbsp;represented by many antiquarian and gnomic poems. The chronologicalnbsp;relationship of these to the former can hardly be determined withnbsp;certainty. The majority of them probably belong to a later period; butnbsp;it is clear from the Historia BTittonum that Welsh antiquarian specula-'nbsp;tion had a long history. Evidence for the existence of Phase III isnbsp;slight and doubtful/ apart from the late predictive poems discussed onnbsp;p. 453 ff. Saga is first known with certainty from the twelfth century;nbsp;but references in the Historia Brittonum and the Mirabilia Britanniannbsp;suggest that it had been cultivated for a long period. It has nothing in 'nbsp;common with the saga of Phase III found in Greek and Norse. Its inbsp;affinities and connections are rather to be sought in the first two /nbsp;phases.

As we have seen, there appears to be no evidence for different classes of poets who occupied themselves with different kinds of themes. Thenbsp;only bard whose name occurs at all frequently is Taliesin; and what wenbsp;know of him is preserved in a very late and legendary form. The poemsnbsp;which claim to be his work vary greatly in character. Some are heroicnbsp;panegyrics, while others are �mystical� poems which have nothing innbsp;common with heroic poetry. Myrddin may also have been a professionalnbsp;bard, in view of RBH. i. ii. But the records relating to him are likewise legendary; and the poems which bear his name are in their presentnbsp;form prophecies composed in much later times. There may have beennbsp;bards who devoted themselves wholly to religious subjects; but evennbsp;this cannot be proved. In the Laws (cf. p. 583) it is stated that when thenbsp;king wishes to hear a poem the Pencerdd is to sing two religious poems,nbsp;and a third upon the king himself or other princes. The recitation ofnbsp;sagas seems also to have been a function of the bards (cf. p. 5 84 f.).

There were however differences of status among bards, according to their attainments. Several early poems contain rather obscure referencesnbsp;to a �poetic chair�; and these are probably to be explained by a passagenbsp;in the Laws (cf. p. 583), where it is stated that a bard becomes anbsp;Pencerdd when he wins a chair. A Pencerdd had certain very definitenbsp;privileges at the king�s court.

� The difficult stanzas preserved in the Cambridge MS. of Juvencus, and dating from the ninth century, seem to belong here. From the twelfth century onwardsnbsp;there is a large amount of poetry, chiefly of Type D (panegyrics, elegies, etc.), whichnbsp;is somewhat similar to the Norse poetry of this type.

There may have been poets who were not professional bards. At all events we hear of a poet of princely rank�Llywarch Hen, from whomnbsp;the later kings of Gwynedd traced their descent, and who, according tonbsp;the genealogies, was first cousin to Urien. The elegies which claim to benbsp;his work represent him as a vassal or subject of Urien and Owein; butnbsp;he is evidently a warrior and the father of warriors. Among thesenbsp;elegies we may include RBH. xii, the author of which, though his namenbsp;is not given, speaks (st. 20) of Urien as his lord and cousin.

From Ireland corresponding to the Greek-Teutonic Phase I we have a very large amount of heroic saga, much of which is preserved in earlynbsp;form, and also a good deal of heroic poetry of Type B contained in thenbsp;sagas. Phase II is also largely represented in both poetry and prose.nbsp;For Phase III there are numerous poems of Type D (panegyrics andnbsp;elegies), mostly fragmentary, which, like the Norse examples of thisnbsp;Type, seem to have more in common with Phase I than with the Greeknbsp;Phase III. On the other hand, there appears to be very little poetrynbsp;corresponding to Greek and Norse occasional poetry; and this isnbsp;mostly of ecclesiastical origin.

The Irish evidence relating to poets and saga-tellers is far fuller than that which is available for any other country included in the presentnbsp;survey; but unfortunately much of it is late and of doubtful value.nbsp;Discrepancies indeed are frequent. It is clear, however, that poetry andnbsp;saga were regularly cultivated by the same class or classes of persons.

In Ireland, as in Wales, we find the term bard. From the thirteenth century onwards, if not somewhat earlier, the bards were the chiefnbsp;intellectual force in the country; but in earlier times the term is comparatively seldom mentioned. Their training is said to have included thenbsp;knowledge of certain metres. � It would seem from a passage in thenbsp;Book of Rights'^ that they were regarded with contempt by the filid.nbsp;The evidence, such as it is, suggests that they were an order of poetsnbsp;inferior to the filid.

The filid themselves would appear to have been primarily antiquarian poets but all kinds of poetry were apparently cultivated by them ; and consequently the word fili is commonly translated by �poet�.nbsp;Again, the stories of Mongan (cf. p. 586) and Urard mac Coise

� Metrical Tract. I from the Book of Ballymote, of which tracts the text and summaries are published by Thurneysen, Irische Verslehren (Windisch, Irische Texte, in. � if.; 109 f.).

603 represent them as providing entertainment to kings by the recitationnbsp;of sagas; and according to the second tract on poetry contained innbsp;the Book of Ballymoto'^ and dating from the eighth or ninth century,�nbsp;and also other authorities, they were required by their training tonbsp;know a very large number of these. The story of Mongan, however,nbsp;suggests that they paid special attention to the antiquarian elements innbsp;the sagas.

The gnomic compositions which have survived are, it is true, attributed mostly to either princes or judges of the prehistoric period.nbsp;There was, however, a tradition that the fill and the judge had once beennbsp;identical. According to one (late) story3 the filid were deprived of legalnbsp;functions�which had hitherto belonged to them alone�on account ofnbsp;the obscurity of the language used by Ferchertne and Nede in theirnbsp;dispute. According to another story,^ likewise late, the first laws werenbsp;drawn up by a body of nine persons�three kings, including Loegaire,nbsp;three bishops, including St Patrick, and three filid {ollam}�whonbsp;evidently are regarded as the more or less professional element. Ofnbsp;the two chief gnomic collections attributed to judges, it is believed^nbsp;that one, which bears the name of the legendary judge Morann, isnbsp;actually the work of a fill who was also a judge. The other collection isnbsp;attributed to the legendary judge Fithal (cf. p. 396), who elsewhere^nbsp;is described as a fili.

The filid are said to have a long course of training. According to the second tract on poetry contained in the Book of Ballymote and dating,nbsp;as we have seen, from the eighth or ninth century, this training occupiednbsp;many years�the number is stated or implied variously as seven, tennbsp;and twelve years.7 It consisted in learning a large number of sagas eachnbsp;year, in the study and cultivation of metres, in antiquarian lore ofnbsp;various kinds�especially in connection with Dinnsenchas or topographical poems�and, during the last years, in the study of spells andnbsp;magic. The training was apparently oral in the main, though it includednbsp;a knowledge of ogams. According to one tract the early part of thenbsp;training was common to the fili and the bard; but the latter stopped at

Contained in the Introduction to the Senchas Mor (cf. MacNeill, Studies, XI. 23).

� Cf. Thumeysen, Metr. Tract, in Windisch�s Irische Texte, ni. 29 ff.; no ff.

the seventh year. Among the filid themselves there were various grades, the highest of which was the ollam.

The powers and privileges claimed by the filid are said to have been very great in early times. They were entitled to rewards for their poems,nbsp;graduated, it is said,i according to the metres employed�a statementnbsp;which perhaps explains some mysterious notices in the Welsh poeticnbsp;MSS. It was dangerous to refuse any request made by them; for theynbsp;were credited with the power of causing disease, especially eruptions onnbsp;the face, and even death (cf. p. 97). As an instance of the extravagantnbsp;demands attributed to them by legend, we may cite the story, referrednbsp;to on p. 98, of the fill Athirne, who visited Luain, a one-eyed king innbsp;Connaught, and demanded his eye�a request which the king wasnbsp;obliged to accede to.^ In general their influence both with kings andnbsp;with the community seems to have been very great.

Filid seem also to have been instructors of the young�at least of those who desired to become filid themselves,3 if not of other youngnbsp;people also. It is commonly held that Gemman, the teacher undernbsp;whom St Columba studied as a deacon,^ was a fill. The laymen who arenbsp;sometimes found teaching in monastic schools in later times, e.g.nbsp;Flann Mainistrech at Monasterboice, also presumably belonged to thenbsp;same class.

Filid were sometimes attached to the service of princes. Such was the case with Ferchertne who was in the service of CuRoi mac Dairi,nbsp;while Amorgein was attached to the service of Conchobor. Elsewhere,nbsp;however, we find filid who appear to be more or less independent andnbsp;pay visits to various kings. As an example we may take Athirne, whonbsp;belongs to Ulster, but acts in a very independent manner towardsnbsp;Conchobor and outrageously towards other kings. Indeed they arenbsp;sometimes said to have had a kind of organisation extending throughout the country with an Ard-fill or Ard-ollam hErenn (� Chief Ollam ofnbsp;Ireland �) at their head.

The ollam, who was a fill of the highest class, wore a dress composed wholly or in part of feathers,^ had a retinue of his own, sometimes of

3 Thus Athirne is said to have been the instructor of Amargin; cf. Thumeysen, Metr. Tract. (Windisch, loc. cit. pp. 29, 31; cf. p. 114). Cf. also p. 411, above.

5 Cf. Cormac�s Glossary, s.v. tagen-, and the Colloquy of the Two Sages, cap. 8 {Rev. Celt. XXVI. 12 f.).

605 considerable size/ and was treated with great respect. Sometimes alsonbsp;we hear of what seems to be an official �chair of the ollam' {cathairnbsp;ollamari)}' It is clear, therefore, that he corresponded closely to thenbsp;Welsh Pencerdd.

Owing to their great numbers and the arrogance of their pretensions the find are said to have come to be regarded with jealousy by the kings.nbsp;This is stated3 to have been one of the causes which led to the Convention of Druim Ceta, in the year 574, when an attempt to expel them wasnbsp;made by the high-king Aed mac Anmerech. On this occasion they werenbsp;saved by the intervention of St Columba, though their numbers werenbsp;reduced. The Eulogy of Columba is said to have been composed as anbsp;thankoffering by Dalian mac Forgaill, the chief fill. There was also anbsp;story that they had been expelled in much earlier times, but that theynbsp;had then been protected by Conchobor.4

There seems to have been a tendency for the profession of fill and perhaps even for the rank of ollam to become hereditary. Thus in thenbsp;Colloquy of the Two Sages (cf. p. 97) Nede, on hearing of the death ofnbsp;his father Adna, comes to claim the �chair of the ollam� which the latternbsp;had held. The same remark is apparently true of bards also. In thenbsp;first tract of the Book of Bally mo te'^ we hear of a bard dne who is notnbsp;a practising bard, but who has inherited the bardic rank from hisnbsp;ancestors. So in later times the office of scribe to certain noble familiesnbsp;was hereditary.

The terms fill and ollam are, however, applied to certain princes of the legendary period. Such is the case with the legendary Leinsternbsp;prince Finn Fili, from whom the kings of Leinster claimed descent.nbsp;To him certain early poems are attributed, though they must benbsp;several centuries later than the date assigned to him in the genealogies.nbsp;Still farther back in the genealogies we find a (presumably mythical)nbsp;king of the Ulster line named Ollam Fodla, who is famed as a lawgiver.

In sagas princes are credited not merely with poems (of Type B) but also with a knowledge of obscure poetic circumlocutions and withnbsp;antiquarian lore. For an example of the former we may refer to the

Cf. K. Meyer, Abh. d. k.pr. A had. d. Wissenschaften, 1913, Phil.-Hist. Cl., Nr. 6, p. 38 ff.- Nr. IO, p. 9 ff.

Courtship of Emer^ where the dialogue between CuChuIainn and Enter is said to be unintelligible to the rest of the party present. Speeches innbsp;the form of �rhetorics� in this kind of language are of frequent occurrence. For the latter we may refer to the story noticed on p. 98, whichnbsp;describes how Mongan became involved in a dangerous antiquariannbsp;discussion with a fili.

It has been noted above (p. 5 86 f.), in connection with the recitation of stories, that the rank or position of the reciter is not always stated. Therenbsp;is no indication that DonnBo (in the Battle of Allert} is a fili^ though henbsp;is said to be the best story-teller in Ireland. In the same passage wenbsp;pointed out that the same ambiguity occurs with regard to Fedlimid,nbsp;who is described as Conchobor�s �saga-teller� {sc�laig�}. There is nonbsp;hint that these persons were thought of as bards. Their position isnbsp;quite uncertain. They appear to have been entertainers who werenbsp;primarily concerned with heroic stories, and therefore correspondnbsp;presumably to the Greek-Teutonic Phase I.

The find were, however, undoubtedly reciters of heroic stories, but it will be clear from what has been said above, especially with regard tonbsp;their training, that this was only one side of their activity. The list ofnbsp;sagas contained in the Book of Leinster concludes with a note as followsnbsp;�He is no fili who does not synchronise and harmonise all the stories�.nbsp;Antiquarian study was presumably their chief preoccupation; and it maynbsp;well be due to their activities that we find so much explanatory matter,nbsp;e.g. speculations upon place-names, in the texts of the sagas. But it isnbsp;also to be remembered that their training involved the learning ofnbsp;spells ; and there are passages (cf. p. 466 f.) which illustrate how these werenbsp;performed. There was therefore a mantic side to their character. Thisnbsp;had naturally to fall into the background when Ireland became Christian;nbsp;but the word fili itself indicates that manticism was their primarynbsp;characteristic. For it is generally agreed that the word originally meantnbsp;�seer�, and is closely connected with Welsh gweZetZ, �to see�. An earliernbsp;feminine form of the word is to be found in Veleda, the name of thenbsp;prophetess of the Bructeri, mentioned by Tacitus, Hist. iv. 61 etc. Thenbsp;Romans would seem to have taken the Gaulish word for �prophetess�nbsp;as a proper name. It is clear then that the fili originally belonged tonbsp;Phase II. In assuming the functions of a narrator of heroic sagas henbsp;seems to have encroached on the domain of Phase I.

� Ed. and transi, by K. Meyer, Archaeological Review, I. (1888); the transi, is also published by Hull, Cuchullin Saga, p. 57 fF. See especially, p. 63 ff.

� Cf. O�Curry, MS. Materials, p. 583 ; cf. also MacNeill, Celtic Ireland, p. 37 f.

From a comparison of the Welsh with the Irish evidence it will be seen that the two have much in common. Both in Wales and in Irelandnbsp;we find a class of persons who cultivate both poetry and saga; and thisnbsp;class appears to be more highly organised, and probably more influential than any similar class to be found in Greece or in Teutonicnbsp;lands. The Pencerdd obviously corresponds to the ollam ; but it shouldnbsp;be observed that the Welsh bard seems to correspond rather to thenbsp;Irish fill than to the Irish bard, of whom little is known in early times.nbsp;No word corresponding to fill is known in Welsh.

We must now turn for a moment to consider the evidence available for the ancient Gauls. No Gaulish literature has been preserved. Butnbsp;ancient writers, Greek and Latin, supply us with a good deal of information about the intellectual classes in the population; and the evidencenbsp;which they yield throws some light on the early history of the Welshnbsp;and Irish classes which we have been considering. The most importantnbsp;references are as follows:

Strabo (iv. iv. 4) says that �there are three classes of persons who are especially honoured by the Gauls, viz. Bards, Vates, and Druids.nbsp;The Bards are singers (or � panegyrists ��upvriTai) and poets, while thenbsp;li�tes are sacrificers and interpreters of nature (cpuoio��yoi). But thenbsp;Druids practise both the interpretation of nature and moral philosophy.nbsp;They are considered to be most just; and for this reason they are entrusted with the decision of all cases, both private and public. Formerlynbsp;they even settled wars, and parted those who were on the point ofnbsp;fighting. Above all they were entrusted with the settlement of suits fornbsp;manslaughter�.

According to Diodoros (v. 31) the Gauls �have also composers of songs,* whom they call Bards. These accompany their songs withnbsp;instruments resembling lyres, and in their songs they praise somenbsp;persons and revile others. And there are certain philosophers andnbsp;theologians who are called Druids and who are honoured exceedingly.nbsp;They make use also of Seers (p�vTsi�) and reward them handsomely. These foretell the future by augury and the sacrifice of victims,nbsp;and have the whole population under their influence.... It is theirnbsp;custom never to ofier sacrifice except in the presence of a philosopher.nbsp;For they say that offerings acceptable to the gods must be made throughnbsp;those who are acquainted with the nature of the deity, since they onlynbsp;know their language; and they think that it is only through them that

� rfoiriTai uE�c�v. We understand pe��v to mean poetry accompanied by instrumental music.

benefits can be asked for. Moreover it is not only in regard to the ordinary requirements of peace time that these persons and the poets are obeyed, but even in war time too�and that not only by their friends,nbsp;but also by their enemies. Often when armies have met one another innbsp;battle array, when swords have been drawn and lances hurled, thesenbsp;men have stepped in between the combatants and stopped the fight, likenbsp;people who charm wild beasts�.

Ammianus Marcellinus (xv. ix. 8), speaking of Gaul, says that �When people in these parts had gradually become civilised, praiseworthy intellectual pursuits, initiated by Bards and Pates and Druids,^nbsp;began to flourish. The Bards sang to the sweet strains of the lyre thenbsp;brave deeds of illustrious men, composed in epic poetry. The Vatesnbsp;began to examine and explain the system and the glories of nature.nbsp;Among them the Druids, who were of loftier intellect, and bound by thenbsp;rules of brotherhood as decreed by Pythagoras� authority, were exaltednbsp;by investigations in deep and secret study, and despising human affairs,nbsp;declared souls to be immortal�.

It is clear that these three passages are not wholly independent, though there is little or no verbal agreement among them, and we cannot point tonbsp;a common source with any certainty.^ The discrepancies are noteworthynbsp;and somewhat tantalising. Diodoros clearly represents the bards asnbsp;cultivating poetry of Type D; but Ammianus just as clearly meansnbsp;heroic narrative poetry of Type A, while Strabo is ambiguous. We are,nbsp;therefore, left in doubt as to what the original writer said. He may ofnbsp;course have stated that the bards cultivated both types of poetry. Ornbsp;again there may be more than one original authority. It is clear fromnbsp;other sources 3 that the Gaulish bards did cultivate panegyric poetrynbsp;(Type D). A similar ambiguity prevails with regard to the functionsnbsp;of the vates and the druids. There appears to be some confusion betweennbsp;these two orders.

We may next quote Lucan, PhaTsalia, i. 447 ff. The poet is describing how the Gauls are left in peace now that Caesar�s armies have set out fornbsp;Italy: �Ye Vates also, who by your praises celebrate for all eternitynbsp;brave souls who have been cut off by war, to very many poems, yenbsp;Bards, have ye given utterance in security. Ye too, Druids, have

� The MSS. have various corrupt forms of these names, e.g. euhages and drasidae, obviously derived from a Greek text.

Ammianus refers to Timagenes shortly before this passage; but Poseidonios is perhaps more likely to be the source.

609 returned to your barbaric rites and your forbidding mode of worship,nbsp;now that warfare is laid aside�. Here again the same three names arenbsp;mentioned; but it would seem that the vates are identified with thenbsp;bards. The poems in this case might belong either to Type A or tonbsp;Type D.

Lastly we may give a brief summary of Caesar�s account {Gall. vi. 13 f.) of the druids, though he does not refer to the other two classes.nbsp;He says that the druids had the entire control of religion and the directionnbsp;of both public and private sacrifices. All suits of whatever character,nbsp;whether private or public, were brought before them, and the decisionnbsp;was left entirely in their hands. They could enforce their sentencesnbsp;under penalty of excommunication, which was equivalent to outlawry.nbsp;They were presided over by an arch-druid, who was elected for life ;nbsp;and they met annually in a consecrated place within the territories of thenbsp;Carnutes, a district which was regarded as the centre of Gaul. But thenbsp;institution was believed to have originated in Britain; and many stillnbsp;went there in order to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the system.nbsp;The druids were excused from all tribute and military service, andnbsp;devoted themselves to the study and exposition of natural philosophynbsp;(cosmology) and theology. Large numbers of young men resorted tonbsp;them for instruction, which was given entirely in oral form�nonbsp;writing was allowed�and involved learning by heart a large amount ofnbsp;poetry. Sometimes the training lasted twenty years.

It may be added that the druids do not appear to have been a distinct caste. They were, sometimes at least, drawn from the nobility. Innbsp;Caesar�s time the chief men among the Aedui were two brothers namednbsp;Deiuiciacus and Dumnorix, the latter of whom was endeavouring tonbsp;obtain the kingship. The former, according to Cicero {De D'tuin. i.nbsp;41), was a druid and claimed to have the power of foretelling thenbsp;future.

It will be seen from the passages noticed above that there are said to have been three different classes or orders among the Gauls, viz. thenbsp;Bard, the Vates and the Druid. The two former are apparently confusednbsp;by Lucan; but in view of the clear distinction drawn by the othernbsp;authorities, this vfould seem to be due to misunderstanding on hisnbsp;part. On the other hand the distinction drawn between the vates andnbsp;the druid by the first three authorities quoted is not altogether clear.nbsp;Caesar makes no mention of the first two orders, but gives a detailednbsp;account of the druids. What he says of them has much in commonnbsp;with what we know of the Irish filid. We may refer in particular to the

educational activities and the long training attributed to both these classes, and also to the fact that both are credited with having possessednbsp;judicial functions. There can be little doubt that the studies of the druids,nbsp;like those of the filid, were largely of an antiquarian character.^ It isnbsp;to be borne in mind, however, that Ireland also possessed druids innbsp;heathen times.

The difficulty of distinguishing between the vates and the druid lies chiefly in the fact that Strabo and Diodoros represent both of them asnbsp;taking part in sacrifices. In the passage quoted above indeed Strabonbsp;does not connect the druid with sacrifices; but in the next chapter henbsp;says that the Gauls never sacrifice without druids. Caesar and Lucan onnbsp;the other hand attribute the sacrifices solely to the druids. It is true thatnbsp;the former does not mention the rates', but his words are quite explicit,^nbsp;and seem to us to leave no doubt that he regarded the druids as responsible for the sacrifices. As the word vates and its cognates in Celtic,nbsp;Latin and other languages�as we shall see later�are always connectednbsp;with the ideas of prophecy, inspiration, poetry, etc., and never with thatnbsp;of sacrifice, the natural inference is that the vates attended the sacrificesnbsp;as diviners, while the druids were the priests.

To this explanation it has been objected^ that we hear sometimes of priests (sacerdotes) who are not described as druids. Thus Caesar (vil.nbsp;33) says that a certain man was appointed chief magistrate of the Aeduinbsp;by the priests�i.e. probably with due formality�while Lucan (in.nbsp;424 f.) mentions the priest of a sacred wood near Marseilles, which henbsp;describes at length. It is held that the true Gaulish name for the priestnbsp;of a sanctuary was Gutuater, which occurs in several inscriptions of thenbsp;Roman period^ and which has been interpreted as � father of invocation �.nbsp;But there is nothing to show that the Gutuater was not a druid, thoughnbsp;after the Roman conquest the latter term was probably avoided innbsp;official records. Again, Lucan�s description of the sacred wood withnbsp;its barbara sacra, i.e. human sacrifices (in. 403 ff.), distinctly recalls thenbsp;passage quoted from the same poem on p. 608 f., which goes on to say

' Caesar speaks only of cosmology and theology; but Ammianus (xv. ix. 4) refers to the druids as authorities upon the history of the nation.

� VI. 13: (Druides) sacrificiapublica acpriuataprocurant-, *cf. vi. 16; administris-que ad ea sacrificia Druidibus utuntur.

It seems to occur also (much corrupted in the MSS.) in Caesar, vii. 3, vin. 38, as the name of a man of the Carnutes, who was responsible for the great revolt of thenbsp;Gauls in 52 b.c. Is it a title here.? He must have been a person of very great importance.

(i. 453 �): �Ye (druids) inhabit deep glades in secluded groves�. It is difficult to believe that the poet was thinking of a different class ofnbsp;persons. The association of druids with sacred groves and humannbsp;sacrifices offered in them occurs again in Tacitus� account {Ann. xiv. 29)nbsp;of Suetonius Paulinus� attack upon Anglesey. We may refer also tonbsp;Maximos Tyrios� statement (viii. 8) that �the Celtic image of Zeus is anbsp;lofty oak�, and to a passage in Pliny�s Natural History (xvi. 95),nbsp;where he says that the druids �select groves of oaks and perform nonbsp;religious rites without leaves from them�. After the latter passagenbsp;Pliny goes on to describe the ceremonial cutting of the mistletoe fromnbsp;an oak; but before doing so he suggests that the rra.vaamp;Druidaamp; is derivednbsp;from the word for �oak�. We see no reason for doubting that thisnbsp;etymology is correct.^

For this association of the druids with the sacrificial grove analogies are to be found in the priesthoods of various European peoples.nbsp;Teutonic and Greek parallels will be noticed later. But the most interesting examples come from Lithuania and neighbouring regions�nbsp;especially the national sanctuary of the heathen Prussians at Romove,nbsp;where the priests lived and performed their rites beneath the sacrednbsp;oak. The evidence seems to us to leave little room for doubt thatnbsp;druidism was of similar origin. As regards the intellectual activities ofnbsp;the druids analogies are to be found, not only in India, but also, andnbsp;more especially, among the Thracian Getae,� where the priests arenbsp;credited with very similar learning, in natural philosophy as well asnbsp;theology.

� Cf. Chadwick, Journ. R. Anthr. Inst. 1900, p. 34, note. The origin of the name must of course be sought in a Celtic word corresponding exactly to the Gk. 5p�snbsp;(not in the Greek word itself, as Pliny seems to suggest). This Celtic word mustnbsp;originally have had two slightly different forms *dr�-s and *dru-s, from the latternbsp;of which come Ir. daur, W. dar, �oak�. To the former we may trace not only thenbsp;name Druidae, but also Apuv�peTov, the name of the meeting place of the Galatiannbsp;council (cf. Strabo, xn. v. i)�which would seem originally to have meant �oaksanctuary�. These etymologies, which were current long before our time, havenbsp;been disputed for many years by the majority of philologists. But we are glad to seenbsp;that the leading Celtic scholar of the day has recently come back to them; cf.nbsp;Thurneysen, Zeitschr.f. celt. Philol. xvi. 276 f. For a partial analogy we may compare the name of the Lithuanian thunder-god, Perkuncts, which would seem originally to have meant �the (god) of (or �in�) the oak� (cf. Chadwick, loc. cit.').

� Cf. Dottin, Antiquit� Celtique, p. 389 f. Unfortunately we are almost wholly dependent upon Jordanes, Get. 5 ff., especially the ludicrous rhetorical account innbsp;cap. II. See Addenda.

connection with the history of literature is not obvious. But in view of the Gaulish evidence we must now notice briefly what is said ofnbsp;them.i Sagas refer to them chiefly in connection with their mantlenbsp;faculties. Thus in the Tain Bo Cuailnge'^ Medb consults her druid as tonbsp;the success of her expedition before she sets out. It is the druid Cathbadnbsp;who prophesies the disasters that would arise from Derdriu�s birth, atnbsp;the opening of the Exile of the Sons of Uisliu ; and it is a prophecy of thenbsp;same druid which in the Tain Bo Cuailnge^ induces CuChulainn in hisnbsp;boyhood to ask Conchobor for arms on a certain day. They are alsonbsp;frequently represented as working spells, as in the Destruction of Danbsp;Dergeis Hall, cap. 144, where they bring a thirst upon Conaire, and innbsp;the Fate of the Children of Uisnech (531 ff.), where Cathbad produces anbsp;sea in front of the heroes. But they are also teachers. In the passage ofnbsp;the Tain last noticed Cathbad has eight pupils�a hundred in the earliernbsp;text�to whom he teaches druidic learning. The numbers of the druids,nbsp;however, seem to be quite small. In each kingdom there is apparentlynbsp;one who has close relations with the king, e.g. Cathbad with Conchobor, and�in the Battle of Cnucha'^�Nuadu with Cathair Mor. Thenbsp;latter story shows that the office was sometimes inherited. The positionnbsp;of the druids was very high, and they were intermarried with the royalnbsp;families. Indeed, according to one story, Cathbad is Conchobor�snbsp;father.

The druids soon came into conflict with the Church. They are frequently mentioned in Lives of the saints, and almost always asnbsp;working in opposition to the saints. They do not seem to have becomenbsp;wholly extinct before the seventh century. It may be observed that thenbsp;magi of the Picts, frequently mentioned in Adamnan�s Life of Stnbsp;Columba, appear to have been persons of the same class. One of them,nbsp;Broichan by name, is the foster-father of King Brudeus. The same termnbsp;{magi} occurs also in the Historia Brittonum, in the story of the boynbsp;Ambrosius (cap. 40 If.), where it is presumably a translation of W.nbsp;dertvydd, �wizard�, �druid�. The latter word is not strictly identical withnbsp;Gaulish-Latin druida, Ir. drui, �druid�; and there is no satisfactory

I A valuable list of references to Irish druids (andwill be found in Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, I. clviii ff.

5 It appears to have been influenced by the word for �oak� (W. dar, for earlier daru-s)-, cf. Thurneysen, Zeit sehr. f. celt. Philol. xvi. 277. This influence is noteworthy as showing the continued connection between druid and oak.

613 evidence for the survival of druids as a class in the historical period innbsp;Wales. But we do not think it is justifiable on these grounds to deny anbsp;connection between the two words or to deny that the history of thenbsp;Welsh word may go back to the days of druidism.

It will be seen that the difference between the druid and the fill in Ireland is hardly more clear than the difference between the druid and thenbsp;vales in Gaul, as represented by ancient writers. For the fill, like thenbsp;druid, had a mantic side to his character; and, to judge from the namenbsp;(cf. p. 606), this must originally have been his primary function. Thenbsp;only thing which is clear is that the position of the druid was incompatible with Christianity, while that of the fill was not. The causenbsp;of this is presumably to be found in the druid�s relations with thenbsp;heathen gods, especially perhaps in sacrifices.^ He may also have beennbsp;connected with sanctuaries; but these are seldom referred to in Irishnbsp;records.

It is difficult to doubt that there was some connection between the fill and the Gaulish vales. The two words are unconnected; the wordnbsp;vales recurs in Irish in the form fdiih, �prophet�, which is only seldomnbsp;applied to a fill�e.g. in the Colloquy ofi ihe Two Sages (272). Morenbsp;frequently it is used for Biblical prophets; but in sagas it seems tonbsp;occur chiefly in the compound han-fdiih (banfdid'), � prophetess �, a termnbsp;which is applied e.g. to Fedelm, the seeress who prophesies to Medb innbsp;the Tdin Bo Cuailnge.'^ In the later text {Book of Leinsief she comesnbsp;from the shee-mound of Cruachan; but in the earlier text {Yellow Booknbsp;of Lecarf), where she is also called ban-fili,^ she seems to be a mortal.nbsp;Yet the mantic functions of the fill must not be forgotten, though theynbsp;doubtless tended to fall into the background in Christian times. Herenbsp;again too the Welsh evidence should not be overlooked. We knownbsp;nothing of a Welsh class corresponding to the filid, except the bardsnbsp;(cf. p. 607); and there is probably no traced of a word exactly identicalnbsp;with Gaul, vales, Ir. fdiih. But there are closely related words, gwawd,nbsp;�poetry�, �panegyric�, or �abusive poem�, �mockery�; and gwawdydd,nbsp;�panegyrist�, �lampooner�, which point to the former existence of

i References to sacrifices are rare, but there can be little doubt that even human sacrifice was practised; cf. Rev. Celt. xvi. 35 f. (from the Rennes Dinnienchas);nbsp;and K. Meyer, �riu, ii. 86.

� Windisch, 221; p. 15 in Dunn�s translation. Cf. YBL. 43 (in Medb�s speech). 3 YBL. 38 (where the later text has banfdid').

The Hist. Brit. cap. 62, mentions a certain poet called Cian, sumamed Gueinth-guaut, which is commonly taken to stand for Gwenith-gwawd, �Wheat-poem�. Could it not mean �Wheat-poet�.^ But similar names occur elsewhere.

Welsh vates with the functions of the Irish filid. We think, therefore, that vates and fill were originally synonymous terms.

We may now summarise the Celtic evidence. There appear to have been three intellectual classes both in Gaul and Ireland. The evidencenbsp;suggests that these classes were originally common to the variousnbsp;Celtic peoples.! Paj-J -^33 originally occupied with heroic minstrelsy of Type D�also presumably with Types A and B, if thesenbsp;existed. Between the other two classes, the vates-fili and the druid, it isnbsp;not easy to distinguish clearly, either in Gaul or in Ireland. Both seemnbsp;to have claimed the power of prophecy or of second sight. The druidnbsp;was apparently a priest, connected with the worship of the gods�hencenbsp;his disappearance in Ireland as a result of the conversion. In Gaul lawnbsp;was in the hands of the druids; in Ireland it is said to have been in thenbsp;hands of the filid. It is possible of course that the filid only obtained thisnbsp;power when the druids disappeared or lost their influence, though wenbsp;know of no evidence to this effect in sagas or elsewhere. But no sagas ornbsp;other records make clear what was the relationship between the filidnbsp;and the druids in heathen times. One is tempted to suspect that thenbsp;druids may have been promoted from the filid�and in Gaul from thenbsp;vates. In that case the ollam was perhaps a substitute for the druid innbsp;Christian times. Yet we are inclined to regard any such suggestion asnbsp;hazardous, though we think it probable that the filid encroached uponnbsp;the functions of the druids, as they did apparently also upon those of thenbsp;bards (cf. p. 606).

In Wales we find only one class, the bards; but their position and functions seem to correspond in the main with those of the filid., andnbsp;their poetry is often described as gwawd which recalls the vates. Thenbsp;word derwydd�and also the plural word drywon'^�survives as anbsp;reminiscence of the druids; but the class which properly bore this titlenbsp;doubtless disappeared at an early date. It would appear, therefore, thatnbsp;the three classes had been reduced to one�which, like the Irish filid,nbsp;occupied itself with poetry of various kinds and saga-telling. Thenbsp;stories suggest that magic also, perhaps in the form of spells, was likewise cultivated by them. The Pencerdd corresponded to the ollam.

� This question has been frequently discussed. We may refer especially to Zimmer�s article in Hinneberg�s Kultur d. Gegenwart, I. 11. i, p. 46; but we fear thatnbsp;the conclusions there drawn go a good deal beyond what the evidence warrants.

� We do not know the history of this word ; but it seems to occur in early poetry (e.g. Tai. Lin. 37).

615 countries persons, especially of princely rank, who cultivated poetry. Innbsp;Ireland we also hear of saga-tellers who are not described as filid. Wenbsp;are inclined to attribute to them the heroic �saga of entertainment�nbsp;(Type A), and to the filid the non-heroic saga, as well as all sagas with anbsp;moral, and the explanatory and synthetic elements in other sagas. Thusnbsp;we would suggest that the Destruction ofi Da Der gas Hall had itsnbsp;origin among the filid, but that the Tain Bo Cuailnge has been merelynbsp;worked over by filid. The Courtship of Etain may have elements fromnbsp;both sides, according as the sympathy lies with the king or with thenbsp;god. But it would hardly be justifiable to assume that court entertainersnbsp;hke Fedlimid mac Daill were non-professional. They may have beennbsp;bards, corresponding to the Welsh �household bard� (fiardd teulu).nbsp;In such questions one can hardly get beyond conjecture. But the Welshnbsp;bards were saga-tellers.

There is no evidence for a new class of poet belonging to Phase III. Apart from ecclesiastics the poets would seem to have been persons ofnbsp;the same classes as those of earlier times. For women poets and sagatellers the evidence is uncertain.

Between the Celtic evidence as a whole and the Teutonic evidence the differences are perhaps at first sight more noticeable than the resemblances. But this impression is due partly to the nature of thenbsp;records. The evidence for the Teutonic peoples relates in the main tonbsp;individuals, except in Phase I. The evidence for Gaul relates wholly tonbsp;classes of persons, and the same is largely true of the Irish and Welshnbsp;evidence. For Ireland especially much of our information comes fromnbsp;antiquarian tracts and traditional regulations for which Teutonicnbsp;records offer few analogies. If allowance be made for this difference innbsp;the records, we think that Teutonic parallels are to be found for all thenbsp;classes or orders discussed above, though the organisation was probablynbsp;not so highly developed.

The heroic minstrel of the Teutonic peoples must have had much in common with the bard. Our information with regard to the latter isnbsp;meagre; but he was certainly a minstrel, and probably supplied entertainment, whether in poetry (Type A or B) or saga, as well as poetry ofnbsp;Type D.

Again, analogies to the druids are to be found in the Teutonic priests of heathen times. We have not referred to these before, because theirnbsp;connection with poetry or saga is nowhere expressly recorded; but thenbsp;influence of such a class upon intellectual history cannot safely be

ignored, any more than that of the druids. The priests mentioned in the earliest timest were state-priests. They had charge of the state sanctuariesnbsp;(groves) and of the sacred objects preserved there, which they carriednbsp;into battle. They presided over the assembly, which was also a court ofnbsp;justice ; and both there and on the battle-field they were the only personsnbsp;who were entitled to coerce and punish offenders. The excommunicationnbsp;of cowards, mentioned by Tacitus, Germ. 6, was doubtless pronouncednbsp;by them. It was their function to interpret omens on behalf of the state,nbsp;and presumably also to conduct the sacrifices, though this is not explicitly mentioned. It is probable that the state-priests were sometimes,nbsp;if not always, of noble or princely rank; for a priest of the Chatti isnbsp;included by Strabo (vn. i. 4) in a group of princely personages mentioned in connection with the triumph of Germanicus. The priests ofnbsp;the English, at least in Deira, were not allowed to bear arms, accordingnbsp;to Bede {Hist. Eccl. n. 13), and the high-priest was a member of thenbsp;king�s council. The priests of later times in the North�frequentlynbsp;mentioned in sagas�were usually local chiefs who had temples of theirnbsp;own. They also had courts of justice over which they presided. Evennbsp;after the conversion of Iceland they preserved the title godz, �priest�,nbsp;though they were now purely secular magistrates without religiousnbsp;functions.

An important difference between the ancient Teutonic priests and the druids lies in the fact that we have no evidence in the former case for anynbsp;priestly organisation extending over the whole country, nor for courtsnbsp;composed solely of priests. Yet in later times the L�gr�tta or legislativenbsp;council of Iceland approximated, in principle at least, to the druidicalnbsp;system; for it was composed of the various priests {go�ar) together withnbsp;two assessors nominated by each of them. Again we have no information to the effect that either the ancient Teutonic priests or the Norsenbsp;priests of the Viking Age possessed an extensive and organised educational system. But it can hardly be doubted that the priest, both ofnbsp;early and late times, was expected to preserve the law and the traditionsnbsp;of the community�whether state or district�to which he belonged.nbsp;It is only in a somewhat elementary form that analogies to druidism arenbsp;to be sought among the Teutonic peoples. But the �ancient poems�nbsp;referred to by Tacitus, Germ. 2 (cf. p. 305 f.) testify to a long cultivation of antiquarian studies; and that these were connected with

* E.g. Tacitus, Germ. 7, 10 f., 40, 43. For further details and for Caesar�s statement that the German! had no druids, see Chadwick, Folk-Lore., xi.nbsp;268 ff.

617 sanctuaries�and consequently with the priesthood�is renderednbsp;probable by such passages as �b. 39 (see below), where we hear ofnbsp;a festival attended by deputies from all peoples of the same stock.

For the cultivation of such antiquarian studies analogies are to be found in the religious organisations of many peoples, as we shall seenbsp;later. It will be sufficient here to refer to the Lithuanians, who retainednbsp;much of their ancient religion down to the seventeenth century, and fornbsp;whom consequently more information is available than for peoplesnbsp;converted in much earlier times. For an example we may quote fromnbsp;Matthaeus Praetorius^ who wrote about 1670-80. He describes anbsp;sacrifice seen by one of his informants which took place close to annbsp;oak�presumably one of the holy oaks which figured so much innbsp;Lithuanian and Prussian religion. When the sacrifice was at an end thenbsp;worshippers seated themselves round the oak. The priest ( Wzydului)nbsp;sat upon a large stone beside it and �delivered a sermon about theirnbsp;origin and ancient customs, beliefs, etc., mentioning Zemyna [thenbsp;earth goddess], Perkuns [the thunder god], and others�.

In connection with this passage we may perhaps refer to Tacitus� account (fierm. 39) of the great sacrifice in the sacred wood of thenbsp;Semnones, where he says that � the whole of their religion is centred onnbsp;this spot, their idea being that it was from there that the nation wasnbsp;sprung, and that there is the god who rules over all�. For �educational�nbsp;addresses, like the one reported by Praetorius, we have no direct evidence among the Teutonic peoples�except possibly in Hdv. in ff.nbsp;(see below)�but in view of the nature of our information it cannotnbsp;safely be assumed that they were unknown.

More important for our purpose is the question whether antiquarian learning and the other forms of learning and poetry comprised undernbsp;Phase II were cultivated specially by any other class of persons among thenbsp;Teutonic peoples�whether these peoples ever possessed an intellectualnbsp;class or order corresponding to the Irish filid. In Icelandic sagas expertsnbsp;in antiquarian learning and in (traditional) law are most commonlynbsp;described as spakir menn, which may be translated �wise men�; butnbsp;there is usually an implication of second sight, or at least of (mantic)nbsp;skill in the interpretation of dreams. For an example we may refer tonbsp;Ari�s Islendingal�k (cf. p. 581 f.), cap. 4, where the term is applied tonbsp;Thorsteinn Surtr and �svifr. Thorsteinn has a dream which is interpreted by �svifr as relating to the reform of the calendar, which wasnbsp;proposed by the former and accepted by the assembly of Iceland (c. 960).

A derivative of the word spakr is the substantive spekingr, which may be translated �sage�. It is occasionally qualified by framsynn,nbsp;�foreseeing�, or used with reference to the interpretation of dreams; butnbsp;we find it also applied to members of kings� councils. Another derivativenbsp;is spekt, �wisdom�, occasionally qualified as �wisdom relating to thingsnbsp;which have not yet happened�. The word sp�mabr, �seer�, is sometimesnbsp;used in connection with these words, though it is not related to them,nbsp;except perhaps in a very remote degree.

But there is an older word, Pulr, which occurs only in the Edda poems, and occasionally in the learned and archaistic poetry of laternbsp;times. In the latter it seems to mean �poet�, in which sense perhaps it isnbsp;used by the learned Earl R�gnvaldr of Orkney (c. 1150) in reference tonbsp;himself. In the Edda poems we find it in the Eafpr�onismdl, st. 9,nbsp;where the learned giant Vafj�niSnir calls himself �the old pulr�whennbsp;Othin comes to compete with him in antiquarian learning. In thenbsp;Fdfnismdl, st. 34, Reginn is called � the hoarypulr�. The same expressionnbsp;occurs again in Hdv. 134, where Loddfafnir is exhorted not to laugh atnbsp;�a hoarypulr�. In all these cases the word may be translated �sage�. Itnbsp;may be observed that in the prose introduction to the Reginsmdl Reginnnbsp;is described as �wise, cruel, and learned in witchcraft� {fj�lkunnigr}.nbsp;A somewhat different use of the word, however, is to be found innbsp;Hdv. Ill, the introductory stanza of the second half of the poemnbsp;(cf. p. 384). It will be convenient to quote this stanza again: �It is timenbsp;to chant {pylja) on the chair of the Pulr, at the spring of Fate. I saw andnbsp;kept silence, I saw and pondered, I listened to the speech of men. Inbsp;heard �runes� spoken of�nor did they keep silence about the interpretation thereof�at the Hall of the High One. In the Hall of the Highnbsp;One I heard such words as these�. Then begin the precepts of thenbsp;Loddfdfnismdl, followed by the mystical matter and the list of spells.nbsp;The milieu is here that of a sanctuary, and so the meaning required fornbsp;pulr appears to be � prophet �. In what follows the god Othin (the � Highnbsp;One�) is the speaker, and we take the poem from this stanza to the endnbsp;to be the utterance of a revelation by him.

The verb pylja, �chant�, which occurs in the last passage, and is closely related to the word pulr, is used elsewhere for the chanting�nbsp;perhaps in a low voice�of hymns to heathen gods. An example fromnbsp;Thorfinns Saga Karlsefnis has been noticed on p. 579. The word alsonbsp;means �to mutter�, or � talk to oneself�. More than once it is used innbsp;sagas of men of second sight, denoting a habit attributed to them.nbsp;Another related word is pula, �poem��a term applied especially to

619 catalogue poems, e.g. the Rigspula (cf. p. 420 f.), and also the porgrims-Jiula, the fragments of which consist of lists of legendary horses andnbsp;oxen.

At Snoldelev in Denmark there is a memorial stone bearing an inscription which states that it belongs to Gunnwaldr, son of Hroaldr, ^zzZr at Salhaugar. The inscription is believed to date from about thenbsp;beginning of the ninth century. The word pulr would here seem to be anbsp;descriptive title.

The English form of the same word �pyle) occurs in Anglo-Saxon glosses and elsewhere as a translation of orator. In Beowulf we find anbsp;person called Hunferth (Unferth) who sits at the Danish king�s feet, andnbsp;is obviously an important member of his court. The word here isnbsp;commonly translated �spokesman�; but the part which he plays rathernbsp;suggests that he is a �man of information��the person whose businessnbsp;it was to know all about visitors and their origin.

Taking all the evidence together the word pulr-pyle would seem to have the following meanings: (i) a poet, perhaps a specially learnednbsp;poet; (2) an (old) sage, especially one who is versed in antiquarian lore;nbsp;(3) a prophet; (4) a spokesman, or �man of information�. It will benbsp;seen that these characteristics, taken as a whole, approximate closely tonbsp;those of the fill. We may add that, like the latter, the pulr-pyle is sometimes connected with the king�s court, as may be seen from Beowulf

On the other hand, in contradistinction to the filid, there is nothing to show that the Pylir formed an organised class, or that they possessednbsp;any educational system, whether for their own disciples or for thenbsp;community in general. The peculiar framework of Snorri�s Gylfagin-ning does indeed suggest a tradition of oral instruction in antiquariannbsp;lore by way of dialogue, as we might expect; but even here we findnbsp;only one inquirer. If there had been any organised system in the North,nbsp;such as existed among the filid of Ireland and among the druids ofnbsp;Gaul, we should almost certainly have heard of it.

At all events there can be no doubt that, just as the filid were responsible for Phase II in Ireland, so the pylir and spakir menn whom we have been discussing were the people mainly responsible for the samenbsp;phase in the North. In the Vafpr��nismdl a pulr is an expert in antiquarian lore. In the Loddfdfnismdl, a collection of gnomic precepts,nbsp;mystical lore, and spells is recited from the chair of the pulr. Innbsp;English sources pyle is an �orator� and probably a man of generalnbsp;information. Moreover pula is the technical term for a catalogue poem,nbsp;while the verb pylpa is used for the chanting of the Loddfdfnismdl and of

hymns to the gods, as well as for the (audible) musings of second-sighted men. Lastly, the spakir menn of later times are experts in antiquarian lore and traditional law; frequently also they are interpreters of dreams or possess second sight. These are precisely thenbsp;activities comprised in Phase II. It may be observed that some of thenbsp;antiquarian poets, such as Thj�Solfr and Eyvindr, like the Hun-ferth in Beowulf, are attached to courts; but on the whole such casesnbsp;seem to be rather the exception than the rule.

Did women share in these activities.'' We know of no direct evidence to this effect. Yet prophecy and witchcraft are usually associated withnbsp;women from Roman times down to the end of the saga period. In thenbsp;Voluspd (cf. p. 320 f.) the speaker is a seeress or witch (v�7va). In thenbsp;Sigrdrifumal, which consists of mystical lore and moral precepts, thenbsp;speaker is a Valkyrie. For other examples we may refer to Ch. xvnbsp;(p. 448 ff.).

Traces of a terminology common to the Celtic and the Teutonic languages are not wholly wanting. No word corresponding to fillnbsp;exists in the latter; but the words spdmalST, spdkona, �seer�, �seeress�nbsp;(from spa, �vision�, �prophecy�), spring from the same idea. Again,nbsp;though there is no word exactly corresponding to Gaul, vates, formsnbsp;identical with the very closely related Welsh gwawd are to be found innbsp;Anglo-Saxon w�^, Norse ��r, �poetry�, �eloquence�. We may comparenbsp;the word ��rerir, the name of the mythical vessel in which the poeticnbsp;mead was kept (cf. p. 249), but originally, doubtless, the name of thenbsp;mead itself. The word would seem to have meant �that which stirsnbsp;poetry (or eloquence)�. The name of the god W�den-��mn is in allnbsp;probability related; the original meaning may have been �inspired�.nbsp;The words gwawd, wop, and ��r without doubt come from a commonnbsp;original denoting the activities or gifts from which the vates derivednbsp;his name.�' Among other mantic terms which are common to the Celticnbsp;and Teutonic languages we may mention Welsh coel, Anglo-Saxon h�l,nbsp;Norse heill, �omen�, and Welsh hud, Norse seidr, �witchcraft�.

' In the Vafpr�dnismdl, oedi, a derivative of oSr, is repeatedly used for the intellectual endowments of the giant, who is a pidr. So too in Anglo-Saxon the words pylcr�ft and w�pcr�ft seem to be synonymous. In view of the phonetic changesnbsp;which have taken place in the various languages it may be convenient here to givenbsp;what are believed to be the original forms of the words which we have been discussing: Ir. faith is believed to come from*iv�fh; N. �dr, and probably W. gwawd,nbsp;from *w�tus-, A.-S. woP, from *w�t� (perhaps deflected from *watus) ; W. gwawdydd,nbsp;from *w�tios-, N. oedi, from *w�tiom-, A.-S. JF�den, N. ��inn from *If^�tenos.nbsp;A.-S. w5d, N. �dr, �frenzied�, �mad�, is probably also related to these words.

From what has been said it will be seen that classes of persons corresponding within certain limits to the three intellectual classes of Gaul and Ireland are to be found among the Teutonic peoples of heathennbsp;times. We have no evidence, however, for an organisation extendingnbsp;over a whole country, or for an elaborate educational system, such asnbsp;we find among the druids of Gaul and the filid of Ireland. Some sort ofnbsp;organisation must have existed in connection with state sanctuaries andnbsp;sacrifices, and also for the sanctuaries and sacrifices to which wholenbsp;districts in Norway resorted, and which were presided over by bodies ofnbsp;leading men, presumably priests. But it is uncertain to what extent jnbsp;these persons resembled the druids; there is no ground for believing,nbsp;for example, that they abstained from warfare. In the, case of the Pylirnbsp;or spakir menn there is no evidence for any organisation ; we oughtnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;.

perhaps to describe them as a type of persons with certain qualifications, 1 rather than as a class. But it is not clear that the Gaulish vates werenbsp;organised, unless they were included in the druidical system.

It has been seen above that the Homeric minstrels closely resembled the heroic minstrels of the Teutonic peoples. The resemblance of both to the Celtic bards depends on the extent to which the latternbsp;were entertainers, whether by poetry of Types A or B or by saga, asnbsp;well as panegyrists. Minstrel poetry of Type D seems not to be mentioned in the Homeric poems, except perhaps in II. xxiv. 720 ff.

Priests are mentioned fairly often in the Iliad', but most of the references are merely incidental�they are referred to as fathers of Trojan warriors. They are said to be greatly honoured, and sometimes at leastnbsp;they are among the leading nobles. Each of them is said to be the priestnbsp;of a special god, e.g. Hephaistos, Zeus of Ida, the river-god Scamandros.nbsp;Probably they had charge of the temples of these gods, though this isnbsp;actually stated only in the case of Theano, the priestess of Athena. Onnbsp;the occasion of a ceremony {II. vi. 297 ff.) she opens the door for thenbsp;procession and offers prayer to the goddess. She is the wife of Antenor,nbsp;who appears to be the most important man in Troy after the royal

I We may refer to the sanctuary at M�ren in the upper part of the Thrond-hjem Fjord, the sacrifices at which are described in St Olaf�s Saga {Heimskr.), cap. 115. Earlier references to the same sanctuary may be found in Hakonar Saga Goda,nbsp;cap. 19, and Olafs Saga Tryggv. cap. 74 f. The sacrifices were governed by a bodynbsp;of leading men of the district (twelve in St. Olaf�s time), whose connection withnbsp;the sanctuary seems to have been hereditary. In Yngl. Saga, cap. 2, the gods themselves are said to have a body of twelve priests, who are also judges.

family. There are no references to priests in the Achaean army; but the allusion (j.b. ix. 575) to the Aetolian priests who are sent to placatenbsp;Meleagros shows that Trojan custom was not regarded as alien fromnbsp;that of Greece in this respect.

In addition to the priests mentioned above, who seem to be connected with temples in cities, we hear in the Iliad (i. 11 �F.) of a priest of Apollo at a place called Chryse on the coast, apparently far from anynbsp;city. He invokes his god to send a plague upon the Achaeans and, later,nbsp;offers sacrifice to him to stop it (zA 462 f.). He carries a golden staff,nbsp;like a king; but no indication is given as to whether he was a localnbsp;chief, like the Norse godi (cf. p. 616), or a person of purely religiousnbsp;functions. In the Odyssey (ix. 197 ff.) there is mention of anothernbsp;priest of Apollo, named Maron, at a city called Ismaros in Thrace�nbsp;perhaps the later Maroneia. He dwells in a grove of trees belonging tonbsp;Apollo; but it is not stated whether this is inside the �city��which isnbsp;apparently quite small�or outside, like the grove of Athena outside thenbsp;city of the Phaeacians (fb. vi. 291 ff.). The priest is evidently a wealthynbsp;man, and gives Odysseus wine and other presents, because he spared hisnbsp;household when he sacked the city.

Another type of priesthood�quite different at least from the Trojan �seems to be implied in Achilles� prayer to Zeus of Dodona (//. xvi.nbsp;233 ff.), where he says that �thy interpreters (if this is the meaningnbsp;of �TTO�fjTai) dwell around thee with unwashed feet, making theirnbsp;beds upon the ground�. This also was a tree-sanctuary; Zeus� oraclesnbsp;were delivered from a lofty oak (cf. Od. xiv. 327 ff.), as in later times.nbsp;In Herodotos� day the interpreters of the oracles were three women,nbsp;whom he calls (11. 55) both prophetesses (-rrponavTiEs) and priestesses;nbsp;but there appear to have been men also, called Tomuroi, accordingnbsp;to Strabo, vii. vii. ii. In general the sanctuary seems to have borne anbsp;close resemblance to the oak-sanctuary at Romove (cf. p. 611).^

In later times also priests are regularly associated with temples of various deities. The office was frequently hereditary, at least in the sensenbsp;that the priest had to be chosen from a special (noble) family, such as thenbsp;Eumolpidai and the Eteobutadai at Athens. In some cases he had tonbsp;wear distinctive robes and to follow a course of life different from othernbsp;men. But there appears to have been great diversity of usage.

This diversity of usage, both in Homeric and in later times, is a characteristic which the Greek priesthood shares with the Teutonic.

' Cf. Chadwick, Journ. R. Antkr. Inst. (1900), pp. 32, 3�; Welsford in Hastings� Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, art. Old Prussians.

623 Indeed the differences in general between the two systems are hardlynbsp;more than would necessarily arise between a people concentrated innbsp;cities from early times and a people who knew no cities except innbsp;conquered lands. As against the druidical system neither of the two hadnbsp;an organisation extending throughout the country nor an elaboratenbsp;course of education connected with it, so far as we know. Yet thenbsp;Greeks had confederations (�Amphictyonies�), somewhat similar tonbsp;those in Norway mentioned on p. 621, but on a larger scale, for thenbsp;observation of certain festivals, which were governed by representativesnbsp;of the various states or groups of states participating. Indeed thenbsp;festivals at Olympia and elsewhere, as well as the oracle at Delphoi,nbsp;were resorted to by all Greece. It is true that these festivals were notnbsp;controlled by a Pan-Hellenic priestly organisation. Yet the analogiesnbsp;are important; and in general the difficulty of reconciling the grovesanctuary with the Pan-Gallic intellectual activities of the druids isnbsp;materially reduced by a consideration of the Greek evidence. There isnbsp;no need to assume uniformity of the sacerdotal class in Gaul, any morenbsp;than in Homeric Greece.

More important for our purpose is the Greek evidence for the cultivation of antiquarian learning at sanctuaries. The Teutonic evidence, as we have seen, is merely indirect and inferential. But Herodotos (n. 55)nbsp;states explicitly that he derived his information regarding the origin ofnbsp;the sanctuary at Dodona from the priestesses themselves. Again, thenbsp;�men of Delos�, from whom he says he received much information ofnbsp;this kind, can hardly have been persons unconnected with the temple.nbsp;And many other passages both in his History and in later works pointnbsp;clearly to a similar origin. Indeed there can be little doubt that we arenbsp;largely indebted to the sanctuaries for the mass of (often discrepant)nbsp;tradition and speculation which has come down to us.

Apart from minstrels and priests the Homeric poems refer not un-frequently to the mantis or seer. In the Iliad we hear chiefly of Calchas, who accompanies the Achaean army evidently as a professional seer,nbsp;though it is not clear that he is in the personal service of Agamemnonnbsp;or any other prince. The Hesiodic Melampodia^ as we have seen (p. 474),nbsp;contained an account of a contest between him and a rival seer namednbsp;Mopsos, which ended in the death of Calchas. In the surviving fragmentnbsp;the test�which is decisive�lies in reckoning the number of figs upon anbsp;certain tree.

Seers of princely rank are also mentioned in the Homeric poems. Among these is a son of Priam named Helenos, who is described as

�best of augurs�,I and who comprehends a conversation between Athena and Apollo (//. vii. 44 f.). A more striking case occurs in thenbsp;Odyssey^ XX. 351 ff., where Theoclymenos, a descendant of Melampus,nbsp;has a vision of the impending slaughter of the suitors. The genealogynbsp;of this man, given ib. xv. 225 if., shows clearly that mantic faculties werenbsp;already believed to be hereditary.

Of other seers belonging to the Heroic Age the most famous are Melampus himself�who appears both as seer and as healer of mentalnbsp;diseases, and subsequently also as king of Argos�and Teiresias thenbsp;Theban, grandfather of Mopsos. Here also we ought perhaps tonbsp;mention Cheiron, �the most just of the Centaurs�, who appears sometimes as a prophet, sometimes as a teacher or educator. In the Iliad henbsp;is said to have taught surgery to Ascl�pios and Achilles and to havenbsp;presented Peleus, the father of Achilles, with a spear. There was anbsp;Hesiodic poem called Instructions of Cheiron, which would seem to havenbsp;been of a gnomic character, if we may judge from one or two shortnbsp;fragments which have survived (cf. p. 392). It is to be observed that allnbsp;these persons appear to have figured much more largely in non-heroicnbsp;stories (cf. p. 116 f.) than in heroic poetry. The notices which we have ofnbsp;them are derived probably for the most part from Hesiodic poetry.

In later times we hear not rarely of �state-seers�. In decrees of the Boeotian confederation the name of the official mantis is recorded asnbsp;late as the fourth�or perhaps the third�century. At Sparta a similarnbsp;office was held by persons who claimed descent from Calchas. Wenbsp;may also refer to the lamidai, a famous family of seers, traditionallynbsp;connected with Olympia. Greek armies of the fifth century frequentlynbsp;had seers attached to them.

In this class of persons we must also include the Promantis, who spoke as the mouthpiece of a deity at oracular sanctuaries. The most famous ofnbsp;these were the prophetesses of Apollo at Delphoi. Many of the oraclesnbsp;have been preserved; in early times they were always in hexameternbsp;verse (cf. p. 445). Sometimes, as at Dodona (cf. p. 622), the mouthpieces of deities are described as priests or priestesses.

Hesiod does not apply the term mantis or promantis to himself ; but in the account of his �call� (fTheog. 22 ff.) he says that the Muses �inspired me with a voice divine to celebrate both the future and the past�nbsp;(cf. p. 593). This is almost the same expression as that by which he describes \ib. 38) the activities of the Muses themselves: they tell of �the

11. VI. 76: oiwvoTT��cov, lit. those who study birds or omens. In xin. 70 Calchas is called Oeoirp�TTOS oicoviarris.

625 present, the future and the past�. In the Iliad (i, 70) the same description is given of Calchas: �he knew the present, the future and the past�.nbsp;It is probably a static description of a seer. In the Works and Daysnbsp;also mantic elements are well represented in the lists of prohibitions andnbsp;omens. Consequently, whether Hesiod called himself a mantis or not,nbsp;there can be little doubt that his poetry is derived largely from thisnbsp;class of persons. The same remark applies to some lost poems whichnbsp;were often attributed to him. The Melampodia was apparently concerned with the stories of a number of famous seers; and some authorities credited him with a poem called Ornithomanteia (� Divination fromnbsp;Birds�). We may also refer to the Instructions of Cheiron.

Among later poets who occupied themselves with similar subjects mention may be made in particular of Epimenides, who seems to havenbsp;been a seer, though he is also described occasionally as a priest. The listnbsp;of works attributed to him includes the following titles: (i) Argonau-tica, (2) Purifications, (3) Origin of the Curetes and Corybantes, andnbsp;Theogony, (4) Of Minos and Rhadamanthys, (5) Story of the Telchines,nbsp;(6) Oracular Responses. Of these Nos. i and 3-5 were presumably ofnbsp;antiquarian character, though the three latter had probably also interests in connection with religion, like Hesiod�s Theogony. It is alwaysnbsp;to be borne in mind that in Greece, as in the North (cf. p. 451 f.)�-andnbsp;probably everywhere�prophecy and mantic vision applied to thenbsp;unknown past, just as much as to the future.^ Antiquarian studies ornbsp;speculations therefore fell properly within the sphere of the mantis.

From what has been said above it will be seen that analogies to the three intellectual classes of Gaul and Ireland are to be found in Greece.nbsp;Indeed they are more clearly distinguished here than elsewhere, thoughnbsp;there is some overlapping between the priest and the seer�e.g. innbsp;oracular sanctuaries like Dodona3 and perhaps in the case of certainnbsp;individuals like Epimenides�which may help to the solution of certainnbsp;difficulties in the Celtic evidence. With the Teutonic evidence thenbsp;Greek has still more in common�thus, for example, Hesiod would havenbsp;been recognised at once as a pulr in the North. It is true that neithernbsp;Greek nor Teutonic parallels are to be found for the widespread organisation of Gaulish druidism or for the elaborate educational system ofnbsp;J For the authorities see Kinkel, Epic. Grace. Fragmenta, p. 232.

the Irish filid. But the Greek Amphictyonies seem to have approximated to the former, within certain limits.

We may now return to the consideration of the �phases�. Phase I is represented everywhere by composers and reciters of either narrative ornbsp;panegyric poetry or both. In early times such recitations were in thenbsp;form of minstrelsy, i.e. accompanied by stringed instruments, in Gaul asnbsp;well as among the Teutonic peoples and the Greeks. Where narrativenbsp;poetry was not cultivated its place was taken, at least in Ireland, bynbsp;heroic saga of Type A. The minstrels were frequently professionals,nbsp;attached to the service of princes/ but minstrelsy was cultivated bynbsp;other persons also, including princes themselves. In Ireland heroicnbsp;saga was cultivated both by filid (see below) and by other persons, whonbsp;sometimes�as in the case of Fedlimid (cf. p. 5 87)�were attached tonbsp;the service of princes. We do not know whether these saga-tellers werenbsp;usually or ever identical with the bards who cultivated panegyricnbsp;poetry. We suspect that such was frequently the case; but the Irishnbsp;evidence relating to bards is meagre and unsatisfactory, while Walesnbsp;had only one class corresponding to both filid and bards. The frequentnbsp;occurrence of poetry of Type B in Irish sagas points at least to thenbsp;cultivation of poetry by saga-tellers.

Phase II is at least as widely distributed as Phase I and covers a larger number of categories. Among these we may include not only antiquarian, gnomic and mantic poetry, but also probably �descriptive�nbsp;poetry, which is commonly associated with gnomic, and theologicalnbsp;poetry, except such as was intended merely for entertainment. Nonheroic stories are also connected with this phase. In Gaul the representatives of this phase are to be sought among the druids and vates, innbsp;Ireland among the druids and filid. The druids disappeared soon afternbsp;the conversion of the Irish; and it may be in part due to this fact that thenbsp;filid have various functions which in Gaul are attributed to the druids.nbsp;The Gaulish evidence rather suggests that there may be some confusionnbsp;between the two classes in the traditions which represent the filid asnbsp;judges. But we are not inclined to speak with much confidence as to thenbsp;characteristics which differentiated the two classes.

In the North the representatives of Phase II are to be sought chiefly among the spakir menu and kylir', but the influence of the priesthood�nbsp;from ancient Teutonic times onwards�is not to be disregarded, whethernbsp;in theology, law or antiquarian learning. The Greek evidence differsnbsp;* Gaulish examples are to be found in Appian, Celtice, cap. 12; Athenaios, vi. 49.

627 little from that of the North. In both cases we find at the beginning ofnbsp;the historical period a class�quite unorganised�of learned poets ornbsp;sages, distinct from professional seers or priests. In both cases thenbsp;history of intellectual life�or, perhaps we should say, of syntheticnbsp;thought�seems to be bound up with this class. Yet the history of thisnbsp;class, like that of the filid, who represent the intellectual life of earlynbsp;Ireland, must be traced back apparently to the learning of the seer;nbsp;neither Hesiod nor the spakir menn, any more than thefilid, have partednbsp;with their mantic associations.

Both in Gaul and in Ireland Phase II is flourishing in the times of our earliest records. This is strictly true also in the case of the Teutonicnbsp;peoples, whether we take the Norse evidence alone�^which goes backnbsp;only to the ninth century�or include the evidence relating to the peoplesnbsp;of the Continent in very much earlier times. In Greece on the other handnbsp;Phase II seems to be definitely subsequent to Phase I. It is not to benbsp;assumed that Phase II did not exist before the eighth century, the timenbsp;of our earliest known authors. But the evidence tends to show that itsnbsp;cultivation as a fine art was later than that of heroic narrative poetry, andnbsp;that it was greatly influenced by the latter both in matter and form.nbsp;Such evidence as is available for the Teutonic peoples points to anbsp;similar development among them�perhaps to a less extent in thenbsp;North than elsewhere, though even here we find the old heroic metrenbsp;used sometimes for poems of a didactic (antiquarian) character.

It is important to observe that there appears to be a tendency everywhere for Phase II to encroach upon Phase I. Traces of this may be seen even in the Homeric poems, e.g. in the catalogue of Nereids in thenbsp;Iliad (xviH. 39 flquot;.) and, more especially, in the account of Odysseus�nbsp;visit to the home of Hades (Od. xi. e.g. 235 if.). In the lost Cyclicnbsp;poems elements of this kind seem to have been much more prominent Inbsp;-�we may refer, for example, to the purifications, the attention given to Inbsp;seers, and what appear to have been attempts at synthesis or explanation/nbsp;of the stories. A large amount of poetry belonging to Phase I wasnbsp;doubtless forgotten in early times; and the heroic stories with which itnbsp;was concerned were known in the historical period only from antiquarian poets. With such poets the story of the voyage of the Argonbsp;seems to have been especially popular.

With the encroachment of Phase II is also probably to be connected the change in the method of recitation noted in the last chapter (p. 5 68 f.).nbsp;In historical times the reciter had to seek his audience not in kings�nbsp;courts but at social and public gatherings, especially when festivals took

place at sanctuaries. There is no reason to doubt that hymns to the gods were recited by the same persons. Instead of a lyre the reciter nownbsp;carried a staff or wand�which is probably to be connected with thenbsp;staff of laurel given by the Muses to Hesiod as a symbol of his commission. It would seem then that the minstrels of the Heroic Age hadnbsp;been succeeded by a class of persons who originally were associatednbsp;with religion�or derived their style of recitation from persons associated with religion. The sanctuary may have been the governing factornbsp;in the change. To the period when this change took place may perhapsnbsp;be assigned many of the descriptive similes, which are calculated tonbsp;appeal to a public gathering rather than to a king�s court.

Among the Teutonic peoples the encroachment of Phase II takes different forms in different lands. In England heroic minstrelsy longnbsp;maintained itself; but the influence of Phase II is shown by the largenbsp;amount of gnomic matter�and descriptive matter connected therewithnbsp;�incorporated in the poems, if we may judge from Beowulf. In thenbsp;North, on the other hand, minstrelsy seems in general to have beennbsp;given up, as in Greece; but we do not know when or through whatnbsp;circumstances this change took place. In the Trilogy we have a heroicnbsp;story used as a framework for antiquarian, gnomic and other compositions belonging to Phase II. But gnomic elements are not introduced tonbsp;any appreciable extent in the other poems. The influence of Phase II isnbsp;also perhaps to be seen in the �synthesis� of different stories, e.g. thenbsp;stories of GuSrun and J�rmunrekr.

In Ireland we know that heroic sagas were largely cultivated and recited by filltZ, while in Wales the class called �bards� have taken overnbsp;the functions of the filid or vates. The influence of Phase II (i.e. thenbsp;find') is doubtless to be seen in the extensive use of synthesis and explanatory matter in the Irish sagas�most of all perhaps in the explanations of place-names.

We have yet to consider the characteristics of Phase III. The materials for this study are in general to be found only in Greek and Norse.nbsp;In the other languages�apart from religious works��post-heroic�nbsp;poetry and saga offers little which is distinctive except the evidence for anbsp;growth of national feeling, which finds expression most clearly in thenbsp;Battle ofi Brunanburh and a group of (late) Welsh predictive poemsnbsp;(cf. p. 453 ff.). Similar evidence is to be found in the works of certainnbsp;Greek poets, especially Tyrtaios (cf. p. 355 f.). Such poetry is as a rulenbsp;the product of times of stress; but its appearance is of great importance

629 as marking the change from the principle of personal allegiance�nbsp;which governs the society of the Heroic Age�to that of patriotism.

Apart from this the chief characteristic of Phase III, both in Greek and Norse, seems at first sight to be the prevalence of Type E, i.e.nbsp;personal or occasional poetry, dealing with the poet�s feelings, experiences and surroundings. Further enquiry, however, shows thisnbsp;impression to be misleading. Poems of Type E were composed in thenbsp;Heroic Age itself. We may refer to the story of Gelimer, noticed onnbsp;p. 576. Indeed traces of such poetry seem to be preserved in Widsithnbsp;and Deor (cf. p. 25 f.). Moreover poetry of Type E flourishes amongnbsp;many peoples who are now�or were until very recently�living in thenbsp;Heroic Age. Examples from the Tartars, Abyssinians, Gallas andnbsp;Tuaregs will be noticed in the next volume.

The fact that so little heroic poetry of this type has come down to us from ancient times is due in part to the essentially ephemeral characternbsp;of such compositions. Poetry of Type E seems to be preserved onlynbsp;under the following conditions: (i) if it is written down soon afternbsp;composition; (ii) if it is attached to the name of a person of highnbsp;position or distinction; (iii) if it is regarded as of conspicuous merit bynbsp;later generations. The two latter conditions in general account for thenbsp;preservation of Greek poems of this type dating from the seventh andnbsp;sixth centuries! and of Norse poems dating from the Viking Age. Asnbsp;regards time�most of the Greek poems were probably committed tonbsp;writing either by the authors themselves or at least within a century afternbsp;their composition. In the case of the Norse poems this was doubtless quitenbsp;exceptional (cf. p. 480). Most of them owe their preservation to beingnbsp;included in sagas. This means that many of them must have been preserved by memory for two centuries ; but any poems surviving from thenbsp;Heroic Age would have had to be remembered for at least six centuries.

Apart from the lapse of time account is to be taken of the fact that under �post-heroic� conditions the second of the considerations noted above isnbsp;to some extent dependent upon the third. It is true the preservation ofnbsp;panegyrics upon princes is doubtless often due to the fame of the princesnbsp;themselves, and also that the sagas have preserved a good deal of poetrynbsp;by practically unknown persons, much of which may be genuine, thoughnbsp;it is of no conspicuous merit. But on the whole the preservation of the

! We refer of course to their preservation in Classical times. Now unfortunately We have only fragments; and many of these owe their preservation to mere accidentnbsp;�like many fragments of Norse and Irish poetry�through being quoted as illustrations of peculiarities of metre, diction or grammar.

poetry in, for example, Egils Saga is no doubt due in the main to Egill�s fame as a poet. He was not a man of very high rank, though he had annbsp;adventurous career. It was owing to the social and political conditionsnbsp;of his time that he was able to achieve fame. And the same remarknbsp;probably holds good for the Greek poets of the corresponding period.

The characteristics which seem really to be distinctive of Phase III may be summarised briefly as follows :

These two characteristics are by no means so well represented in Norse as in Greek. Norse panegyrics upon princes (Type D) follownbsp;traditional lines and are generally such as might have been composednbsp;in the Heroic Age. Norse poetry of Type E has much more in commonnbsp;with Greek, but is more conventional. Yet a good example of No. 2 isnbsp;to be found in one of Egill�s stanzas, quoted on p. 365. And cynicism isnbsp;nowhere better expressed than in the first part of the Hdvamal, whichnbsp;appears to be a collection of gnomes�originally of Phase II�adaptednbsp;to purposes of entertainment. For Norse examples of No. 3 we shallnbsp;have to turn to sagas. Egill�s behaviour at York, as described in thenbsp;saga (cap. 59), is quite in the spirit of Archilochos� poem.

631 pathetic, is the account given in Thor firms Saga Karlsefnis, cap. 11, of thenbsp;unheroic way in which Karlsefni and his men took to their heels, whennbsp;they were attacked by the Skr�lingjar.

The difference in the treatment of character between Phase I and Phase III may be explained briefly as follows. The authors of Phase I,nbsp;in both Greek and Teutonic, were for the most part court minstrels�nbsp;dependents of princes�whose business it was to idealise both thenbsp;heroes individually and the princely class in general. Such treatment wasnbsp;quite in keeping with the boastfulness and love of display shown by thenbsp;heroes themselves, not only in poetry but doubtless also in real life.nbsp;The authors of Phase III, saga-tellers as well as poets, were doubtlessnbsp;persons of more or less independent position, while the characters withnbsp;whom they were concerned belonged usually to the same class�atnbsp;least in Iceland. Their business was to give an interesting and, in general,nbsp;sympathetic account of these persons. Sometimes we meet withnbsp;characters who are represented in a very unfavourable light; butnbsp;flattery or idealisation is rare. �Heroic� characters, it is true, figure notnbsp;unfrequently in sagas. Usually they get into trouble, like Grettir;nbsp;but they are often treated very sympathetically and sometimes creditednbsp;with impossible feats. The treatment, however, as well as the milieu, isnbsp;different from what one finds in heroic poetry.

It is easier to contrast Phase III with Phase I than with Phase II, for the latter is in general of a less personal character. The spakir menn,nbsp;who properly represent this phase, are frequently mentioned in sagas,nbsp;as we have seen. But they seldom play a leading part in them�indeednbsp;only when, like Njall, they are the victims of circumstances. They arenbsp;usually stay-at-home people, like Hesiod, whereas the men who arenbsp;prominent in the sagas are nearly always persons who have travelled anbsp;good deal. The latter statement seems to be true also of most of thenbsp;poets belonging to Phase III, whether Norse or Greek. We cannot saynbsp;whether it is true of the authors of sagas, because these are generallynbsp;unknown to us. But what can be said with confidence is that the sagasnbsp;are the product of a society which was familiar with travel and withnbsp;distant lands. It is to this extended horizon, we think, that the resemblances between Greek and Norse are mainly due.

In our opinion the three phases of literature discussed above represent phases in the history of intellectual life; but it is to be remembered that Phase II is to a large extent contemporary with Phase I and�nbsp;probably to a much less extent�with Phase III.

of court circles in the days of military kingship. It is the product of a society whose governing principles are prowess in arms, loyalty,nbsp;generosity�in short, action, not thought.

Phase II represents the activities of the learned in barbaric times and is intended for instruction. It arises in a milieu where the governingnbsp;principle is thought, accompanied by inspiration or second sight, or atnbsp;least by the cultivation of mantic lore.

Phase III is the product of more advanced and complex conditions, i ; .1 which cannot well be brought under one head. It represents the activi-, lUl'- *quot;'l des of a much larger proportion of the population than either of thenbsp;'f�, 'nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;earlier phases. In the North and in Greece it shows characteristics which

are due to a widely extended horizon. In Greece also and elsewhere we , . ith find evidence of the growth of national feeling. But it is to be re-! �nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;membered that in Christian countries intellectual life was now mainly

! The three phases discussed above do not of course include all the . forms of literature current in ancient times. In the description of thenbsp;shield of Achilles (//. xviii. 569 ff.) and in Bede�s account of Caedmonnbsp;{Hist. Eccl. IV. 24) we hear of what appear to be peasants� songs.nbsp;Examples of such poetry will require notice in the next volume; butnbsp;hardly anything of the kind seems to have been preserved from ancientnbsp;times, at least in the languages treated above. The Greek children�snbsp;song noticed on p. 428 f. may belong here; and there are a number ofnbsp;other short Greek pieces, mostly fragments, which are supposed to be ofnbsp;the same origin, though some of them are doubtful. Probably also somenbsp;of the Anglo-Saxon spells referred to on p. 446 ff. are of the samenbsp;milieu.

The Anglo-Saxon spells here referred to are doubtless derived ultimately from mantic poetry of Phase II; and the same may be true ofnbsp;th� Linos-song mentioned in II. xviii. 569 ff. We shall see later that anbsp;good deal of peasant poetry seems to be of similar origin, while muchnbsp;also is probably derived from poetry of Phase I. On the other handnbsp;it is likely that the Grottas�ngr is based on a peasants� grinding spell;nbsp;and the same may be the case with the fragment of a Lesbian politicalnbsp;song noticed on p. 429, note. The timeless nameless poetry and saganbsp;discussed in Ch. xiv may likewise have originated in a peasant milieu.nbsp;Discussion of these questions, however, must be deferred until morenbsp;material has been considered.

There is one question which the reader may feel to have been somewhat neglected in this chapter�the question of recognised authorship and anonymity. The first impression one obtains from a considerationnbsp;of the evidence is that the personality of the author tends to be forgottennbsp;in the course of time. Authors of Phase I are commonly unknown,nbsp;while those of Phase III have usually had their names and something ofnbsp;their history preserved. And there is a good deal of truth in this impression. But it will not explain everything. The authors of the � Sagasnbsp;of Icelanders� are unknown; it is only in rare cases that one can evennbsp;hazard a guess as to their origin. Yet we have poems, mostly fragmentary, by known authors, who lived long before these sagas cannbsp;have originated�before the persons who figure in them were born.nbsp;So also in Ireland some (anonymous) sagas, such as the Battle of Allen,nbsp;relate to times later than those of a number of known poets whosenbsp;remains have not entirely perished.

A better answer is to be found, we think, in the Types. Poems of Type E are recognisable as such only when the author is known. If henbsp;is forgotten they cannot be distinguished from those of Type B. Innbsp;Type D the author is usually known, except in hymns and songs designed for ritual purposes. But the authors of narrative poetry and saganbsp;(Type A), which comes from oral tradition, seem never to be known.nbsp;In poetry the most one can find is a name like �Homer�. Heroic andnbsp;theological poetry of Type B is likewise usually anonymous.

It would seem then that in Types A and B, as also in ritual hymns, the authors were soon forgotten. This must mean that no sense ofnbsp;ownership or �copyright� was recognised in such works. The poemsnbsp;or sagas were suitable and available for use by anyone who cared tonbsp;acquire them for his repertoire; and there was nothing to prevent himnbsp;from treating them according to his own inclination. In poems ofnbsp;Typ es E and D (apart from ritual poems)^ such freedom apparently wasnbsp;not generally permissible.^ These poems were composed for specificnbsp;purposes and occasions, and not for general use. If they were remembered later, this was due to the fame either of the poet himself or

i We are thinking here primarily of the Homeric Hymns. But in point of fact there is much difference of usage in regard to such compositions. In some countries,nbsp;as we shall see later, the text of hymns is most carefully preserved; and very frequently the author�s name is preserved in it.

� The most striking examples of textual variation in Type D are to be found in certain Welsh poems (cf. p. 526 f.). The period of oral tradition here was probablynbsp;very long.

of the person celebrated. Those which have been preserved usually bear the names of men who seem to have been the most distinguishednbsp;poets of their times. Elegies, however, are often said to be composednbsp;by the widow or a near relative of the deceased. This is a widely distributed custom, evidenced by historical records, as well as in heroicnbsp;poems and sagas.i

Antiquarian, gnomic, descriptive and mantic poetry, together with heroic and theological poetry of Type C, is usually anonymous. Thenbsp;personal element in Hesiod�s poems is exceptional even in Greece, whilenbsp;the Norse genealogical poems of known authorship have a panegyricnbsp;purpose in view, apart from their antiquarian interest. Most commonlynbsp;poems�and even prose compositions�belonging to these categoriesnbsp;have a form similar to that of Type B; the speaker or speakers arenbsp;generally either famous seers or sages of the past or supernatural beings.nbsp;Such compositions could be preserved and utilised, like poetry andnbsp;saga of Type A, when the author had been forgotten, although theynbsp;were not intended for purposes of entertainment.

From what has been said it would seem that in regard to authorship a broad line of distinction may in general be drawn between Types Anbsp;and B on the one hand and Types D and E on the other, and that thenbsp;didactic and impersonal categories approximate more to the former. Innbsp;the former case authorship appears to be less clearly defined, and thenbsp;use of some such expression as �original author�, for the person whonbsp;first gave form to a theme, would perhaps be more appropriate. Itnbsp;remains to be seen, however, how far these observations will be foundnbsp;to apply to the literatures of other peoples.

� References to elegies by widows will be found in Ann. Tig, {Rev. Celt. xvn. 162,174) and in Irish heroic sagas (cf. p. 585); also in II. xxiv. 723 ff, in Gu�r�nar-kvida I.ij ff., and probably in Beow. 3150 ff. For elegies by mothers see Ann. Tig.nbsp;{ib. II. XXIV. 747 ff., Ragnars Saga Lo�br�kar, cap. 9; cf. Beow. H17 f. Examples of elegies by fathers and brothers will be found in Egils Saga, cap. 24, 55, 78nbsp;(cf. p. 348 f.).

HE Iliad opens with the words � Sing, O Goddess, of the wrath of Achilles�. The Odyssey begins with a similar invocation: �Tellnbsp;me, O Muse, of the man�, etc. In several other passages in thenbsp;Iliad the Muses (in the plural) are appealed to for information. Thenbsp;formula regularly used is: �Tell me now, ye Muses who occupynbsp;Olympian homes�. In the Odyssey certain minstrels are said to havenbsp;received inspiration from a Muse (or �deity�), in passages which havenbsp;already been noted (cf. p. 569).

These are doubtless traditional formulae, the force of which, as evidence for a belief in inspiration, is not to be pressed. And the samenbsp;may be said of similar formulae which occur in Hesiod�s poems, e.g.nbsp;W. and D. I f., Theog. 114 f., 965 f. But we do not think that the storynbsp;of Hesiod�s call, told in Theog. xz ff. (cf. p. 593), can fairly be explained in this way. It is obviously to be compared with the story ofnbsp;Caedmon�s dream (cf. p. 572); and the natural interpretation is that thenbsp;poet believed he had received a commission from the Muses in person�nbsp;whether we take it as dream, vision or hallucination. And it is notnbsp;likely that he was the first poet who held such a belief. The traditionalnbsp;formulae of the Iliad imply the existence at some time of a genuinenbsp;belief in inspiration from the Muses.

The gifts which are said to be inspired by the Muses are as follows (i) prophecy, relating both to the past and the future (Theog. 31 f.;nbsp;cf. p. 624); (ii) eloquence or persuasiveness of speech, which willnbsp;enable a king to settle all disputes (tb. 81 ff,); (iii) poetry (tb. 98 ff.;nbsp;cf. Od. VIII. 64, 480 f., XXII. 347 f.). Perhaps we should includenbsp;(iv) memory. It is not necessary to interpret in this way the frequentnbsp;appeals to the Muses for information found in the Iliad, exceptnbsp;possibly II. 488 ff. : � I could not tell or name the multitude, even if I hadnbsp;ten tongues.. .if the Muses of Olympos.. .did not bring to my mindnbsp;all those who came to Ilios�. In general such passages can also benbsp;taken�perhaps more correctly�as prophecies relating to the past.nbsp;But it is to be noted that the mother of the Muses is always called

I Cf. Hesiod, fragm. 205, which may perhaps be translated: �... the Muses who make a man very wise, inspired and eloquent�. But we are far from certain of thenbsp;exact meaning both of the words themselves and of Clement�s commentary uponnbsp;them.

Mnemosyne or Mnama (Mneme), i.e. �Memory�. Lastly, we may refer to the curious words with which the Muses address Hesiod in Theog.nbsp;26 ff.: �Ye shepherds of the fields, evil things of shame, no more thannbsp;bellies! We know how to say many false things which resemblenbsp;reality; but when we wish we know how to relate things which arenbsp;true�. The �false things� are usually taken as referring to Homericnbsp;poetry but it is possible that some power of illusion is meant.

Solon in his address to the Muses (cf. p. 242) speaks of other gifts� happiness, good fame, success, etc.�which do not appear to be attributed directly to them in earlier poetry. On the other hand the Homericnbsp;poems occasionally speak of their destructive activities, as in thenbsp;case of Thamyris (noticed on p. 592), who has offended them by hisnbsp;boasting. So in Od. viii. 63 f. Demodocos is said to have been blindednbsp;by a Muse, though she loved him and granted him the gift of poetry.

Little evidence for inspiration of this kind is to be found among the northern peoples. A good parallel to Hesiod�s call is certainly offered bynbsp;the story of Caedmon�s dream; but here the milieu is Christian. Thenbsp;best instance we can think of from a heathen milieu is the introductorynbsp;knbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;stanza of the Loddfdfnismdl {Hdv. 111), quoted on p. 618 : for revelation

' in the form of messages from the gods we may refer to the story in the 'rnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Life of St Ansgar noticed on p. 473. T o the Muses themselves a parallel is

to be found in the Valkyrie Sigrdrifa in the Sigrdrifumdl (cf. p. 449 f.); but in this case there is no reference to inspiration.

Better parallels are perhaps offered by the Welsh awen, though this word does not properly denote a person. Giraldus Cambrensisnbsp;{Descr. Kambriae^ I. 16) says there are persons in Wales called Aweni-thion (i.e. Awenyddion), who prophesy in a state of ecstasy or frenzy, as ifnbsp;possessed by a spirit. They have to be brought back to their senses bynbsp;violence; and if consulted again they express themselves quite differently. The gift of prophecy is usually conferred upon them in dreams.nbsp;They use religious (Christian) expressions in their prophecies; but it isnbsp;clear from Giraldus� account that these prophets were not of ecclesiasticalnbsp;origin�though Wales had been Christian for seven or eight centuries.

In predictive poetry the word awen seems to be used in the sense of �prophetic spirit�, as might be expected from Giraldus� description ofnbsp;the Awenyddion. Thus in Tai. vi the expressions dysgogan awen,nbsp;�the awen predicts�, and dysgogan Myrdin, �Myrddin predicts�, appearnbsp;' Is there any ground for believing that the heroic stories were regarded asnbsp;�false� in Hesiod�s time?

637 to be used indiscriminately. But elsewhere, especially in the �mystical�nbsp;poems, which in general belong no doubt to an earlier period (cf. p. 469 f.),nbsp;the word can hardly have this meaning. Owing to the obscurity of thisnbsp;class of poetry it is not easy to determine the exact meaning; but thenbsp;sense generally required seems to be �poetry� or �poetic inspiration�.nbsp;Such is the case apparently in Tai. vii. And in Tai. xiv. 7 f. Taliesinnbsp;says: �I sang before a famous prince in the meadows of the Severn,nbsp;before Brochfael of Powys, who loved my awe��. So also in ib. lv.nbsp;56 f., where the meaning seems to be �My awen has made me to praisenbsp;Urien�.i In the Historia Brittonum^ cap. 62, we hear of a poet Tal-haern, surnamed Tat aguen (i.e. Tad awen), �Father of poetry�; and thenbsp;same expression occurs also in BBC. xix. 10 (st. 4). In Tai. xv. 35 f.nbsp;the three awen which �came from the cauldron of Gogyrwen� arenbsp;clearly to be identified with the three drops which flew from Ceridwen�snbsp;�cauldron of inspiration�, as related in the Hanes Taliesin (cf. p. 103).nbsp;The word awen is often translated �Muse�; and we have sometimesnbsp;followed this usage ourselves. But it does not mean an external personality; so far as we are aware, it is never used for anything external,nbsp;except the drops (of inspiration) which came from Ceridwen�s cauldron.nbsp;In general it is used to denote the poetic or prophetic spirit within anbsp;man. It corresponds to the gifts of the Muses rather than to the Musesnbsp;themselves. What we wish to call attention to is that no rigid distinctionnbsp;is drawn between poetry and prophecy�the same word is used fornbsp;both�just as in Greek both are said to be gifts of the Muses. Moreover,nbsp;it is not merely the form of poetry or prophecy for which the awen ornbsp;the Muses are responsible, though eloquence or power of speech maynbsp;well be implied in the former. The awen which predicts doubtlessnbsp;supplies the substance as well as the form of the predictions, just as innbsp;the Iliad and the Theogony, as we have seen, the Muses are besought tonbsp;supply the poet with information.

For the combination of prophecy, poetry and information we may refer back to the history of the Irish fill (cf. p. 606) and to the discussionnbsp;on p. 620 of the words W. gwawd, N. ddr, �.-S. woj), etc., in relation tonbsp;vates-, so also the various meanings of the word pulr-pyle (p. 619). It isnbsp;clear that throughout the ancient languages of northern Europe the

I Reading Uryen for vyren. These lines are attached to a learned poem of Latin connections; but we think they must originally have belonged to a panegyric.nbsp;Awen in the sense of �poetry� is by no means confined to the mystical poems. Itnbsp;appears to have the same meaning, for example, in one of Llywarch Hen�s elegiesnbsp;IRBH. XI. 23).

ideas of poetry, eloquence, information (especially antiquarian learning) and prophecy are intimately connected. Further, we may perhapsnbsp;repeat here (cf. p. 619 f.) that gnomic lore and mantic and mystical lorenbsp;of various kinds belong to the same circle of activities. Thus the Lodd-fdfn�m�l, which opens with a statement of inspiration or revelation,nbsp;contains gnomic precepts, mystical lore and spells. The Sigrdrifumdlnbsp;contains mantic lore and gnomic precepts, while the preceding poemsnbsp;in the same Trilogy include omens and antiquarian lore. A reference tonbsp;Hesiod�s poems will show how these covered a very similar series ofnbsp;interests. We may also refer to the list of poems ascribed to Epimenides,nbsp;noted on p. 625.Lastly, we may add, there can be no doubt that manticnbsp;and mystical lore were included in the sphere of the awen�as may benbsp;seen, for example, from Tai. vii.

We have now seen (i) that the activities of the learned followed very similar lines in Greece and among the northern peoples; (2) that innbsp;Greece these activities were regarded as due to inspiration from supernatural beings; (3) that among the northern peoples, though theynbsp;included a large mantic element, they were regarded as due, not tonbsp;inspiration from without, but to something inherent in the poets ornbsp;seers themselves. Exceptions occur on both sides, though among thenbsp;northern peoples they seem not to be common. The Greek evidence isnbsp;not quite so clear.

In the first place it is to be observed that the Muses are not the only supernatural beings from whom poets and seers were believed tonbsp;derive inspiration. The god Apollo is also to be taken into account. Innbsp;the historical period he was regarded as far more important than thenbsp;Muses in the domain of prophecy; the activities of the latter were nownbsp;restricted to poetry. But in early poetry this distinction is not clear.nbsp;Thus in Theog. 94 f. Apollo and the Muses are associated as the source ofnbsp;minstrelsy; and the same association is found again in II. i. 603 f.,nbsp;where Apollo seems to accompany the singing of the Muses with hisnbsp;lyre. Again in the Homeric poems some seers are said to have receivednbsp;their mantic powers from Apollo. Such is the case, for example, withnbsp;Calchas in II. i. 72 and with Polypheides in Od. xv. 252 f., whilenbsp;Amphiaraos is said to have been beloved by Apollo {ib. 245). The twonbsp;latter, however, belong to a mantic family, descended from the greatnbsp;seer Melampus, of whom nothing of the kind is said. There are many

� It is instructive also to compare a list of the works attributed to the legendary poet Musaios; cf. Kinkel, Epic. Grace. Fragmenta, p. 220 f.

Other seers also, e.g. Teiresias and Helenos, son of Priam, who are never associated with Apollo. In later works several of these personsnbsp;are brought into contact with him; and the absence of such associationsnbsp;in early poetry may be due to accident. But the evidence on the wholenbsp;rather suggests that the tendency to connect seers with Apollo was anbsp;growing one�that in early times they might be inspired either by himnbsp;or by the Muses;�' but that the possession of mantic powers might benbsp;independent of any deity, as among the northern peoples.

In the North also we find mantic supernatural beings; but they operate differently from those of Greece. They impart their informationnbsp;usually, not through a medium, but directly. It is not clear whethernbsp;Sigrdrifa is an essentially supernatural being or a human beingsnbsp;endowed with supernatural properties. But sometimes we meet withnbsp;seeresses in poems where the scene is laid among the gods themselves,nbsp;e.g. the seeress who is the speaker of the V^�luspd, the dead seeress whonbsp;prophesies Balder�s death to Othin in the J^egtamskvi�a (�Balder�snbsp;Dreams�), the witch Hyndla, who declares �ttarr�s ancestry to Freyjanbsp;in the Hyndlulj�rS. These characters are evidently counterparts of thenbsp;human witches or seeresses whom we meet with in sagas, e.g. Thor-finnsSagaKarlsefnis,C3i'p. 3,and �rvar-OddsSaga,czlt;p.^. XrvHdgakvidanbsp;Hundingsbana I {ad initk} Norns come to the hero at his birth andnbsp;prophesy, or rather determine, his future fame. These appear to benbsp;supernatural beings. But it is not clear whether the prophetesses�alsonbsp;called Norns�who visit Nornagestr and determine his fate, are supernatural or human. Saxo, p. 223 (181), relates how a certain king namednbsp;Fridleuus went, in accordance with ancient custom, to consult thenbsp;oracles of the Fates {Parcarum oraculak) about the destiny of his child.nbsp;In the house of the gods {deorum edes} he saw three maidens (nymphis)nbsp;seated, who in answer to his request determined the character of hisnbsp;son. Here again it seems probable, though hardly certain, that thenbsp;supernatural Norns are meant.

The chief mantic deity of the North is Othin; but he has little in common with Apollo. In the Loddfdfnism�.l\\s. appears to speak throughnbsp;a medium�by inspiration, or rather perhaps by revelation. Morenbsp;usually he appears in person, generally disguised, as when he declares

* If the legendary oracular poet Musaios is a fictitious character, as is generally believed, the association of prophetic inspiration with the Muses must still have beennbsp;prevalent when his name was invented.

� In other poems she is generally identified with Brynhildr; but there is no trace of this in the Sigrdrifumdl itself.

the omens in the Reginsmdl or discourses on cosmology in the Grimnis-mdl. But elsewhere, especially when the milieu is entirely supernatural, he shows a character which seems to be quite alien to the Greek pantheon. He is constantly trying to acquire, rather than to impart, information. He wakes up a dead seeress in order to ascertain Balder�snbsp;fate; and in the V�luspd we find him consulting another seeress. Atnbsp;other times he gets information from his ravens or from Mimir�snbsp;head. Again, we frequently hear of him striving to efiect his purposes bynbsp;witchcraft or cunning. It is by skill of speech that he gains possession ofnbsp;the poetic mead in Hdv. 104 ff. (cf. p. 249 f.) ; but in ib. 140 it seems to benbsp;implied that he used spells for this purpose. Spells and poetry in generalnbsp;are his invention.^ He has spells at his command for everything henbsp;wishes to effect; a list of eighteen is given ib. 146 ff. It will be seen thatnbsp;the picture presented is that not of a deity who possesses inherent powernbsp;and knowledge, but of a wizard who is exerting himself to obtain powernbsp;and knowledge. The picture is the more remarkable because Othin isnbsp;the god of the princely (warrior) class. Yet he is never represented asnbsp;fighting in person, though he is the giver of victory.

The character of Othin cannot be derived from the spakir menn of the Viking Age, who would doubtless have regarded some of thenbsp;proceedings attributed to him as discreditable. The Anglo-Saxonnbsp;Nine Herbs Spell (cf. p. 447) shows that Woden�the same god�-wasnbsp;known to the ancient English as a wizard, although nearly all the Englishnbsp;royal houses claimed descent from him. In Germany he was regarded asnbsp;an expert in spells, as is clear from one of the Merseburg Spells (cf.nbsp;p. 448). The main lines of his character therefore were fixed in very earlynbsp;times. From the name Mercurius applied to him by Latin writers, fromnbsp;the time of Tacitus onwards, it appears that even in the first century henbsp;was thought of at least as an intellectual rather than a fighting deity.

Yet, in spite of the antiquity of the wizard god, and consequently also of the human wizards from whom the conception must have been derived, it is to be observed that Roman writers attribute mantic powersnbsp;to women much more frequently than to men among the Teutonicnbsp;peoples. They seem to have regarded prophecy as primarily, if notnbsp;essentially, a property of the women. We have already (p. 606) hadnbsp;occasion to mention Veleda, the famous prophetess of the Bructeri in thenbsp;time of Vespasian, and also another seeress (p. 452) who is said to havenbsp;prophesied the death of Drusus, nearly a century earlier. Tacitus,

I Cf. such kennings as galdrs fadir, �father of the spell�, i.e. Othin; �bins mj��r, �Othin�s mead�, i.e. poetry.

641 Germ. 8, refers to other prophetesses, and states that the German!nbsp;attribute to women or girls in general �an element of sanctity and anbsp;faculty of foresight; they do not disdain to consult them, neither do theynbsp;neglect their answers�. In Hist. iv. 61 he says that they regard somenbsp;women as prophetesses and even as goddesses, though he rejects thenbsp;latter statement in Germ. 8. In Germ. 10 he speaks of divination practisednbsp;by men both in family and state affairs: but according to Caesar, Gall.nbsp;I. 50�a century and a half before Tacitus� time�Ariouistus� armynbsp;depended upon the matres familiarum for divination. Half a centurynbsp;earlier still we hear of women practising both sacrifice and divinationnbsp;in the army of the Cimbri, according to Strabo, vii. ii. 3.

The evidence as a whole rather suggests that manticism in general was originally cultivated only by women and only later taken overnbsp;gradually by men. But the information available before Tacitus� time isnbsp;extremely meagre. What we may conclude with confidence is that innbsp;his time prophecy was regarded as belonging at least predominantly tonbsp;women, while divination was cultivated by men, though not necessarilynbsp;by men only. Such a distribution of functions is of course not inconsistent with the evidence of the V�luspd and the Hegtamskvi�a, wherenbsp;we find the wizard god seeking knowledge of the future from witches.nbsp;The history of the latter clearly goes back to ancient times. But at thenbsp;same time we cannot doubt the antiquity of the wizard god, expert innbsp;spells and poetry, who was the chief deity and the deity par excellence ofnbsp;the princely (warrior) class. We do not see how such a doctrine cannbsp;have obtained acceptance except at a time when the wizard was ofnbsp;outstanding importance in society.

The evidence from the Christian countries relating to (heathen) inspiration and manticism is, naturally enough, much less full andnbsp;satisfactory. The story of Caedmon comes from a Christian milieu.nbsp;Irish sagas refer not unfrequently to prophecies by druids, but withoutnbsp;specifying whence their knowledge of the future is derived. But wenbsp;hear also of prophetesses and seeresses, both human and supernatural.nbsp;As an example we may cite the case of Fedelm, the seeress in the Tainnbsp;Bo Cuailnge (cf. p. 464). In the earlier text she seems to be human,nbsp;but in the later she comes from a shee-mound to prophesy to Medb.nbsp;Another human seeress is Deirdre, who prophesies in the Fate of thenbsp;Children of Uisnech, though not in the earlier Exile. An earlier examplenbsp;is to be found in Scathach, who foretells to CuChulainn the course of thenbsp;great raid. She bears some resemblance to the Valkyries; but she appearsnbsp;to be human. The deities, however, have a seeress, Badb, who pro-

phesies in the Second Battle of Moytura {adfin.^d Her name suggests affinity with the Valkyries.

The Irish stories of the gods are mostly preserved in a late and unsatisfactory form. But they are clearly neither omnipotent nor omniscient; nor are they, for the most part, of a military character. In Manannan mac Lir mantic elements predominate, as may be seen, fornbsp;example, from the second poem in the J^oyage of Bran (cf. p. 468) andnbsp;from Cormac s Adventure in the Land of Promise. Possibly this maynbsp;once have been the case with other deities also, including the Dagdanbsp;himself. It is difficult to believe that the chief of the gods was invariablynbsp;portrayed as the helpless figure which we find in our stories. Brigit,nbsp;daughter of the Dagda, is described in Cormac�s Glossary (s.v.)^ asnbsp;�poetess� and �goddess of poets�.

In the Mabinogi of Math Gwynedd is governed by a family of wizards. Some scholars regard these persons as deities�a propositionnbsp;which seems to us unconvincing. It is of some interest, however, tonbsp;note that the same district is the scene of the mantic contest in Hist.nbsp;Brit. 42 and also of a somewhat similar contest in the story of Taliesin.nbsp;The scattered notices which we have relating to Ceridwen point to anbsp;deity of poetry like Brigit; but she is evidently a witch. Apart from hernbsp;we seem to have no record of prophetesses or poetesses, whethernbsp;human or divine.

Early records relating to Gaul present a contrast to those relating to the Teutonic peoples in the fact that the former speak of a class of seers,nbsp;who are doubtless men. In view of the paucity of these records it wouldnbsp;no doubt be rash to assume that mantic activities were limited to onenbsp;sex in either country, especially with the Irish evidence before us; butnbsp;the existence of a contrast in this respect is not to be overlooked. Thenbsp;names of a number of Gaulish goddesses are preserved; but nothing isnbsp;known of their attributes. From the fact that the most prominent godnbsp;among the Gauls is called �Mercurius�, just as among the Teutonicnbsp;peoples, one is naturally tempted to connect the two deities. At leastnbsp;we may infer that they were both of intellectual rather than militarynbsp;character. Unfortunately we do not know the native name of the

� Transi, by Stokes, Three Irish Glossaries, p. xxxiii f. The first part of the entry might also be transi, as follows : � Brigit, a femalefill (banfile), daughter of the Dagda.nbsp;Brigit is a learned woman (Jjaneceas') or a woman of learning (Joe neicsi). Brigit anbsp;goddess (Jandee) whom filid worshipped�. The word �ceas means both �poet�nbsp;and �learned man�; �cse both �poetry� and �learning�. These words doubtless hadnbsp;special application to antiquarian poetry (like fill}.

643 Gaulish god.i If he is really to be identified, as some scholars hold,nbsp;with Ogmios, whom Lucian 2 speaks of as represented under the namenbsp;and attributes of Heracles, he may well be connected with Othin; fornbsp;Ogmios is clearly a god of eloquence.? He was depicted as leading anbsp;crowd of persons by thin and fragile chains, one end of which wasnbsp;fixed in their ears, the other in the god�s tongue.

There is one piece of evidence, from a different quarter, which renders it probable that there was some connection between the Gaulishnbsp;and the Teutonic Mercurius. Herodotos, v. 7, states that the Thraciansnbsp;in general worshipped Ares, Artemis and Dionysos, but that their kingsnbsp;worshipped Hermes and said that they were descended from him. Nownbsp;the Thracian peoples bordered upon Celtic peoples (Boii, Scordisci, etc.)nbsp;to the west and upon Teutonic peoples to the north. What Herodotosnbsp;says here reminds us of the aristocratic connections of the cult of Othin-Woden (cf. p. 640). Further, the northern Thracians, the Getai ornbsp;Daci, are said to have had an elaborate educational system, whichnbsp;seems to have something in common with that of the druids, whilenbsp;all the Thracians, like the Gauls and the Teutonic peoples, appear tonbsp;have given great attention to speculations upon a future life. It is truenbsp;that the Graeco-Roman god Hermes-Mercurius has various characteristics and that different characteristics may have led to his identificationnbsp;with the gods of different peoples. But the evidence just pointed outnbsp;renders such an accident unlikely in this case. It is obviously morenbsp;probable that the gods of the three neighbouring groups of peoples�nbsp;who between them occupied about one third of Europe�had in realitynbsp;some striking characteristics in common.

It has been seen that in the character and distribution of mantic properties among human beings and in the conception of manticnbsp;deities both resemblances and differences are to be found among thenbsp;peoples with whom we are concerned. Where resemblances occur it is

sometimes a question whether they are due to contact in ancient or recent times or to independent causes. In general it will be preferablenbsp;not to attempt to answer such questions until the evidence of othernbsp;peoples has been taken into account. On certain points, however, anbsp;provisional�not final�opinion may perhaps be formed from thenbsp;evidence already considered.

If we are right in believing that the Gaulish Mercurius and the Thracian Hermes were probably deities of similar character to Othin-Woden, it would seem likely, in view of the geographical position ofnbsp;the peoples, that the three gods were not wholly of independent origin.nbsp;We know of no deity really resembling Othin in the south of Europe, innbsp;spite of the identification with Mercurius. But even if we allow that thenbsp;gods were not independent, a further question arises�whether theynbsp;were borrowed by one people from another ready-made, or whether thenbsp;O resemblance is due to the existence of similar human prototypes. Thenbsp;earliest Teutonic evidence, noticed on p. 640 f., might seem to favour thenbsp;former alternative; but the human character of Othin (jb.') gives littlenbsp;support to the suggestion that he was not of native growth.

The Thracians bordered not only upon the Celtic and Teutonic peoples but also upon the Greeks; and here in the south of Europenbsp;contact is easier to trace than in the north, although it dates perhapsnbsp;from much earlier times. The Greeks believed that some of their deitiesnbsp;were derived from Thrace�we may refer in particular to Dionysos.nbsp;More important perhaps is the fact that some legendary poets, especiallynbsp;Orpheus and Philammon, to whom certain mantic and antiquariannbsp;poems were attributed, were believed to be Thracians. The story ofnbsp;Orpheus is sometimes located in Pieria,�' sometimes in the district of thenbsp;Hebros (Maritza). With these poets again were connected the � Mysteries �,nbsp;which likewise were believed to be mainly of Thracian origin. The chiefnbsp;Mysteries were those of the island of Samothrace, not far from thenbsp;mouth of the Hebros, and those of Eleusis in Attica. The latter werenbsp;believed to have been founded by a Thracian named Eumolpos, fromnbsp;the Hebros district; his name�presumably fictitious�suggests that henbsp;was regarded as a poet. It may be observed that both the Mysteries andnbsp;the Orphic poems seem to have been largely concerned with speculations upon the future life�with which the Thracians, like the Gauls,nbsp;are known to have been much occupied. We may refer to Herodotos�

� This is hardly consistent with the fact that he is described as belonging to the Cicones�who lived near the Hebros.

account (iv. 94 ff.) of Salmoxis, who was said to have been a wizard of the Getai and a disciple of Pythagoras, though Herodotos himselfnbsp;suspected that he was a supernatural being.

Orphism appears to have flourished chiefly in the sixth century. The stories�perhaps poems�and the mystic rites connected with it maynbsp;have become known to the first Greeks who settled on the coast ofnbsp;Thrace, early in the seventh century.^ Thracian influence in the cult ofnbsp;Dionysos would seem to be of earlier date�Semele is apparently anbsp;Thracian name�and the same may be true of the festival at Eleusis.nbsp;But in the Homeric and Hesiodic poems evidence for Thracian connections�at least for connections which are demonstrably Thracian�nbsp;is comparatively slight.�

Some ancient authorities3 apparently thought that the Muses were of Thracian origin; but this seems to have been due to the belief thatnbsp;Pieria�the district between Mt Olympos and the sea�had once beennbsp;occupied by Thracians. At all events the formulae in which their namenbsp;occurs in the Homeric poems show that they had long been Hellenised.nbsp;Hesiod�s references to the Muses suggest that there were originallynbsp;various groups of Muses belonging to different localities. The Muses tonbsp;whom he dedicates his prize (/iF. D. 656) are called �Muses of Helicon�;nbsp;and it is the same Muses whom he invokes in Theog. i ff., though henbsp;identifies them shortly afterwards with the Muses of Olympos�callednbsp;�Muses of Pieria� in W. D. i if. Only the Muses of Olympos occur innbsp;the Homeric poems; they are incorporated in the divine community ofnbsp;Olympos. These were perhaps the first Muses to be associated withnbsp;Apollo. But Eumelos in one fragment (17) is said to have stated thatnbsp;there were three Muses, daughters of Apollo; the names given to themnbsp;(Cephisus, Apollonis, Borysthenis) are wholly different from those usednbsp;by Hesiod. Another fragment (16), however, speaks of nine Muses andnbsp;gives them the usual parentage, from Zeus and Mnemosyne. The Muses

� It is to be observed that the names are Greek�or at least completely Hellenised. The name Philammon points either to Aiolis or Thessaly, or possibly to Ainos, annbsp;Aeolic colony (cf. Strabo, vii. fragm. 52). It should also perhaps be mentioned herenbsp;that many modem scholars believe the Mysteries to have been largely due tonbsp;Egyptian influence. That maybe so; but ancient belief must have had some groundnbsp;for connecting them with Thrace.

� Ares is connected with Thrace more than once in the Homeric poems, though in Theog. 921 if. he is said to be son of Hera, as well as of Zeus. The case of Apollonbsp;is too complicated for discussion here. His associations in the Homeric poems seemnbsp;to lie with the north-east comer of the Aegean.

of Helicon are also said to have been three in number originally J They do not seem to be associated with Apollo at all events Hesiod does notnbsp;mention Apollo when he refers to them. There is no reason for supposingnbsp;that the Muses of Olympos and those of Helicon were the only Muses.nbsp;It is doubtless due to the accident of Hesiod�s fame that we know of thenbsp;latter. Elsewhere we meet with somewhat similar beings under anbsp;different name. Thus the Muses have much in common with the Charitesnbsp;of Orchomenos, at whose festival contests in poetry and music werenbsp;held. One of them (Thaleia) has the same name as one of Hesiod�snbsp;Muses. Less close is the resemblance to the Moirai; for these werenbsp;doubtless regarded as older. But it may be observed that in both casesnbsp;we find the encroachment of a male deity; Moiragetes (�Leader of thenbsp;Fates�), as applied to Zeus or Apollo, is parallel to Musagetes, alsonbsp;applied to Apollo. More usually, however, the Moirai remain independent.

The Muses, Charites and Moirai can hardly be of a different origin from the groups of female supernatural beings, usually three or nine innbsp;number, which are found in the North and elsewhere. The Nornsnbsp;correspond very closely to the Moirai; they are always three in numbernbsp;and independent of any male deity. Skuld, the youngest of the Norns, isnbsp;also a Valkyrie. The Valkyries have not the specialised functions of dienbsp;Muses; but there can be little doubt that they were originally associatednbsp;with witchcraft�an association which was preserved at least in England.nbsp;In the North they are usually, though not always, subordinated tonbsp;Othin; elsewhere there is no evidence for this. Their names and numbers vary, but most commonly they appear in bands of nine. Such isnbsp;the case, for example, in the prose narrative of Helgakvioa Hj�rvarlSs-sonar, in that of Helgakvi^a Httndingsbana II and in the Hdramp;iS Bryn-hildar^ st. 6. We may compare the story3 of ThiSrandi, son of Hallr �nbsp;SfSu, who was slain by nine blackrobed women on horseback. Ninenbsp;whiterobed women on white horses arrived at the same time, but failednbsp;to save him. The event was interpreted by a sage as foreshadowing thenbsp;change of faith; the blackrobed women were the ancestral spirits of the

' Cf. Pausanias, ix. 29. The names given here are Melete (�Practice�), Mneme (�Memory�) and Aoide (�Song�).

� Apollo does not seem to have been specially honoured at the sanctuary of the Muses (cf. Pausanias, ix. 29 ff.). There was a statue of him struggling with Hermesnbsp;for the lyre; but this was only one of numerous statues representing legendarynbsp;persons (Linos, Orpheus, Thamyris, etc.) connected with poetry and music.

3 Related in the Flateyjarh�k, I. 418 if., and elsewhere. The text is publ. in Gar-monsway. Early Norse Reader, p. 75 ff.

647 family, the whiterobed were the spirits of the new faith. The storynbsp;deserves notice here because the conception involved is in all probabilitynbsp;based upon that of Valkyries.

The last case�however it be explained^�illustrates how conceptions of a more or less abstract character can come to be personified on the model of existing types. But the types themselves cannot havenbsp;arisen out of such personifications. Valkyries and Norns are sometimesnbsp;supernatural beings; but there are other Valkyries and Norns who arenbsp;represented as human beings, endowed with supernatural powers. Innbsp;historical times these latter survived only as witches and fortunetellers. Archbishop Wulfstan in his sermons classes Valkyries (w�lcy-riari) with wizards, murderers, robbers, perjurers and other undesirablenbsp;characters. But there can be no doubt that in earlier times they were , ,nbsp;honoured�and so also the Norns, whether they were itinerant ornbsp;established at sanctuaries, the prototypes of those noticed on p. 639. � , � 'nbsp;In any case the origin of both classes is to be traced back to the manticnbsp;women of Tacitus� time. We have no doubt that the Greek groups ofnbsp;supernatural female beings were of similar origin. Their human prototypes survived in the historical period, as prophetesses at certain oracularnbsp;sanctuaries, such as Delphoi and Dodona, though they had come to benbsp;regarded as the mouthpieces of gods.

Celtic parallels are naturally not frequent, since among these peoples manticism seems to have been cultivated more by men than by women.nbsp;It may be noted, however, that in Cormac�s Glossary^ the goddessnbsp;Brigit is said to have had two sisters of the same name as herself. Othernbsp;references of an obscure kind to groups of female supernatural beingsnbsp;occur occasionally in Irish and Welsh poetry. The Irish Song ofnbsp;Long Life (ci. p. 466) contains an invocation to �the seven daughters ofnbsp;the sea�. In Tai. xxx. 13 ff. we hear of nine maidens whose breathnbsp;warms the cauldron of�the Head of Annwfn�. Annwfn would seem tonbsp;be a conception similar to Mag Mell (cf. p. 264). We may also refernbsp;here to the nine witches of Gloucester, who figure in the story ofnbsp;PercduT. Lastly, mention may be made of the Matres or Matronae, tonbsp;whom numerous altars dating from Roman times are dedicated, and whonbsp;appear to be partly Celtic and partly Teutonic. The title Fatae Demones^nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;�

� Hallr was a very prominent man in Iceland, and largely responsible for the official recognition of Christianity there in the year 1000.

(beside Matronae Deruonnae} suggests a conception similar to the Norns and the Moirai.

It would seem that groups of beings of this kind were once known also in ancient Italy. The Parcae were probably a group of three, similarnbsp;to the Moirai, whose attributes they eventually took over. The Camenaenbsp;were identified with the Muses and eventually displaced by them.nbsp;Together with the goddess or nymph Egeria, who perhaps belonged tonbsp;them, they were said to have instructed the legendary king Numanbsp;Pompilius in drawing up the religious and social institutions of Rome.nbsp;He dedicated to them the grove�said to be near the Porta Capena�nbsp;where he used to meet them, and devoted the spring to the use of thenbsp;Vestal Virgins. It should be observed that this is a case, not of inspiration, but of revelation through direct personal interviews�somewhatnbsp;similar perhaps to the scene in the Sigrdrifumdl, but taking place onnbsp;repeated occasions.

Next, we may consider briefly the nature of the localities, where inspiration, revelation or �vision� is said to be acquired. Hesiod receives his call when he is tending sheep at the foot of Helicon {Jdheog.nbsp;23). The exact spot is not specified, though the Muses are said to dancenbsp;on the top of the mountain and round an altar of Zeus and to bathe innbsp;certain springs. The sanctuary of the Muses was�at least in later timesinbsp;�a grove near a spring called Aganippe, which according to somenbsp;authorities was credited with the power of inspiring anyone who dranknbsp;from it.

Elsewhere both mountains and springs are places of inspiration. Examples of the former seem to be rare in the countries which we havenbsp;been considering, though they occur in modern folklore. An instancenbsp;from early times is to be found in the Sigrdrifumdl. Springs are morenbsp;frequent in early, as well as modern, times. It is at the � Spring of Fate�nbsp;that the Loddfdfnismdlis pronounced {Hdv. iii). A Spring of Fate liesnbsp;also beneath Yggdrasill�s Ash, the sanctuary of the gods, where thenbsp;Norns dwell. The Norns are said^ to pour loam from the spring uponnbsp;the tree. Under the Ash there is also what is said to be another spring,nbsp;belonging to Mi'mir, which contains information3 and wisdom. It is

INSPIRATION nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;649

said that when Othin wished to get a drink from this he had to pay for it with one of his eyes.

Early Irish references to springs of inspiration or knowledge are very obscure. In the Rennes Dinnsenchas (cf. p. 283 f.), cap. 59/ we hear ofnbsp;�a well at which are the hazels and inspirations of wisdom, that is thenbsp;hazels of the science of poetry�. The fruit and blossom falls into thenbsp;well, and seven streams of wisdom spring forth. �Sinend went to seeknbsp;the inspiration, for she wanted nothing save only wisdom. � This well isnbsp;said to be below the sea. Yet Sinend is the name of the Shannon, andnbsp;the reference seems to be to a personification of that river. We may alsonbsp;compare the Colloquy of the Two Sages (cf. p. 467), sect. 24,3 where innbsp;one text Nede says he has come from the nine hazels of the Segais (thenbsp;mound from which the Boyne rises), while in the others he says he hasnbsp;come from the hazels of poetic art. It would seem therefore that inspiration or wisdom was to be obtained from springs which were thenbsp;sources of rivers, or rather perhaps from the hazels which grew overnbsp;these springs.

We do not know of any similar references in early English or Welsh records, though mention should perhaps be made of the spring innbsp;�Caer Sidi�, spoken of in Tai. xiv. 50 f.�where the context is manticnbsp;and the description analogous to that of Mag Mell. Indeed early references to holy springs of any kind in this country seem to be rare.nbsp;But they were certainly known in Roman times. We may cite in particular the temple-spring beside the fortress of Procolitia, on the Wall,nbsp;in which a large number of antiquities were found. Among thesenbsp;were ten altars to a Dea Couentina and a sculptured slab depictingnbsp;three female figures, each of whom is in one hand holding up a cup andnbsp;with the other pouring out liquid from another cup.4 The figures andnbsp;the deity herself doubtless represent the spirits of the spring. Thenbsp;locality still preserves the Gaelic name Teppermoor (�great spring�).

It will be observed that in most of the cases noticed above the spring of inspiration is situated in a holy grove or beside a holy tree. In the Irishnbsp;case, where the sanctity of the place is not stated, the inspiration seems

� Cf. Stokes, Rev. Celt. xv. 456 f. A somewhat similar story will be found in cap. 19 (ib. 315 f.).

properly to come from the tree. The conception of Yggdrasill�s Ash is clearly derived from an earthly sanctuary such as that at Upsala, wherenbsp;there was a sacrificial spring in the neighbourhood of the holy tree;nbsp;but holy trees or groves with springs were apparently not rare either innbsp;the north of Europe or in Greece. We may refer also to the grove andnbsp;spring where Numa was accustomed to meet the Camenae. There werenbsp;other holy trees and groves where we hear little or nothing of a spring,nbsp;and some of them, as at Dodona and Romove, were oracular; but thesenbsp;cases seem to have been less frequent.

From some of the cases noticed above it is clear that inspiration was obtained by drinking from the water of the spring. The spirit of knowledge (prophecy, eloquence, etc.) was evidently believed to be inherentnbsp;in the water. We may compare the fact that the prophetesses at Delphoinbsp;had to drink water from one of the holy springs before giving theirnbsp;oracular responses. But this was perhaps not the only way springs werenbsp;used for mantic purposes. According to the Colloquy of the Two Sages,nbsp;sect. 2, the filid believed that the brink of water was always a place fornbsp;the revelation of knowledge; and consequently Nede, who is walkingnbsp;by the sea, casts a spell upon the wave in order to learn the meaning of anbsp;certain sound. We do not know any parallel to this, as applied to thenbsp;sea; but in the case of springs such a belief would seem not unnatural.^

In a few of the cases noted above, e.g. the incident of Hesiod�s call and the story of Numa, �inspiration� takes the form of revelationnbsp;from supernatural beings. The scene is similar to that of the Sigrdrifu-mdl. With these may be compared certain Norse poems, the Grogaldrnbsp;and the Vegtamskvi�a, in which the chief speaker is a dead seeress. Innbsp;these cases the scene is laid at the speaker�s tomb. We do not know anynbsp;exact parallels in the other languages; but the utterances from Greeknbsp;�oracles of the dead�, such as we hear of in Herodotos, v. 92, werenbsp;doubtless similar in principle. A similar ancestry is to be sought for anbsp;late Welsh predictive poem, RBH. ii, which claims to be an utterance ofnbsp;Myrddin from his grave. At the conclusion of this poem the speakernbsp;says that he has received information from certain �mountain spirits�nbsp;(y/ylyon mynydf, but these are perhaps local spirits rather thannbsp;ghosts.�

� Possibly we may refer to II. n. 305 ft�. In the Laxd. Saga, cap. 33, it is at a spring that Gestr interprets Gu�r�n�s dreams; but no significance is attached to thisnbsp;fact in the story.

� On this passage see Phillimore, Y Cymmrodor, vn. 115, where variants are given; cf. also BBC. I. it; xvii. 7.

Next we may consider cases where inspiration proceeds not wholly from supernatural beings nor from a�more or less�sacred place,nbsp;but is produced or aided by stimulants of various kinds. The influencenbsp;of the spring, when it is used for drinking (or bathing), may of coursenbsp;be brought under this head.

First we may take the use of music. We have seen (p. 579) that such evidence as there is in the North for choral singing, or for singing ofnbsp;any kind, as opposed to recitation, relates to spells. In Thorfinns Saganbsp;Karlsefnis, cap. 3, GuSn'Sr by the excellence of her singing succeeds innbsp;getting the attention of the spirits which the witch has been trying innbsp;vain to attract. In the Laxdoela Saga, cap. 37, when Kotkell and hisnbsp;family work the fatal seibr against Hrutr�s child, the beauty of theirnbsp;singing is specially noted. We may repeat here that the name Galdralag,nbsp;�metre of spells�, is applied to the most elaborate of the old nativenbsp;metres. The stanza normally contains two long and three short linesnbsp;and gives more scope for musical variation than any other variety ofnbsp;metre. No early metrical spells have been preserved, so far as we know,nbsp;except in poems of Type B ; but the name must mean that the metre innbsp;question was largely used, if not invented, for them.

W e know of no direct evidence elsewhere. But there is good reason for suspecting that Greek melic poetry was in part at least derived from spells.nbsp;The fragment of a Lesbian political song (cf. p. 429, note), containingnbsp;the words �the quern is grinding, grinding�, was doubtless based on anbsp;grinding song or, more properly, a grinding spell, like the Grottas�ngrnbsp;(cf. p. 449). Moreover, the earliest choric poet whose name has beennbsp;preserved, Thaletas the Cretan, is said to have composed Katharmoi,nbsp;lit. �purifications�, by means of which he stopped a plague at Sparta,nbsp;about the year 66$. Katharmoi are attributed also to the first knownnbsp;melic poet, Terpandros the Lesbian, who lived very early in the seventhnbsp;century and is said to have revolutionised Greek music�as well as tonbsp;Epimenides and other early poets. No remains of these Katharmoi seemnbsp;to have been preserved; but it can hardly be doubted that they werenbsp;either spells or invocations to deities. The legends relating to Orpheus�nbsp;to whom likewise Katharmoi were attributed�suggest that his famenbsp;too was originally derived from spells. Lastly, we may refer to th� largenbsp;part played by music of various kinds in the Mysteries and in the cult ofnbsp;Dionysos.

Next we may take the stories of inspiring drink. We have seen that there is an unmistakable resemblance between the story of Ceridwen�snbsp;cauldron and that of Othin�s theft of the mead. Allusions to the

652 cauldron of inspiration are not rare in early Welsh poetry; but it is onlynbsp;in the very late Hanes Taliesin that we learn anything of the contents.nbsp;Ceridwen had spent a whole year in gathering herbs for it. �Srerir hasnbsp;a long and complicated history. Originally the mead was made out ofnbsp;the blood of a wise person called Kvasir, who had been formed out ofnbsp;the spittle of the Aesir and the Vanir.^ This was mixed with honey, andnbsp;eventually came into the possession of the giant Suttungr, who gave itnbsp;into the charge of his daughter Gunnl�S. Othin stole it from her, asnbsp;related in the H�vam�l (cf. p. 249) and elsewhere. Poets constantlynbsp;refer to this mead as the origin of poetry.

In the Sigrdrifumaly when SigurSr has awakened the Valkyrie, she takes a horn full of mead and gives him a �cup of memory� {minnisveig).nbsp;A little later (st. 5) she says: �I am bringing thee beer, mixed withnbsp;�virtue� and the �glory of virtue� (or �mighty glory�). It is full ofnbsp;verses and healing letters, of good spells and runes of joy�. Then shenbsp;goes on to explain the magic use of runic letters. The terminologynbsp;employed here seems to be that of witchcraft. The word megin (�virtue�)nbsp;denotes the magic potency of anything�here perhaps the potency ofnbsp;the ingredients, rather than that of the beer itself. We may comparenbsp;GuhrunarkvitSa II, 21 ff., where GuSrun is given a cup of beer to makenbsp;her forget SigurSr�s death. It is strengthened with the �virtue of earth�nbsp;�whatever that may be�and with runes, as well as with herbs,nbsp;acorns, soot, entrails, pig�s liver, and various other delicacies. We maynbsp;also refer here to Hyndlulj�f, st. 45, where Freyja requests the witchnbsp;Hyndla to give �ale of memory� to Ottarr, when she has enumerated hisnbsp;ancestry (cf. p. 278 f.).

Ale-drinking seems to have formed an important element in the religious ceremonies of heathen times,� as in social life generally; and itnbsp;is possible that the myth of �Srerir (�that which stirs poetry or eloquence�; cf. p. 620) is to be traced back to an attempt to account fornbsp;the origin of ale. But in the light of the passages just noted we arenbsp;inclined to doubt if it means more than a belief in the potency of a witch�snbsp;brew�as in the story of Ceridwen. Brewing was women�s work, and

* There would seem to be some confusion in this story, which is found only in the Skaldskaparmal, cap. i {BragaroeSur}. According to Yngl. Saga, cap. 4, Kvasirnbsp;was the wisest of the Vanir and was given to the Aesir as a hostage. Possibly in thenbsp;original story �Srerir contained both spittle and Kvasir�s blood. For the use ofnbsp;spittle in brewing we may compare Half's Saga, cap. i.

� So in the Lithuanian ceremony described by Praetorius and noticed above (p. 617) a well-dressed old lady brings a jug to the Weydulut, which he drinksnbsp;off, after offering prayer. This takes place before he addresses the worshippers.

653 witches may well have been credited with the power of impartingnbsp;special properties to their brews. The evidence points perhaps rather tonbsp;mead than to ale, though the two terms are used more or less indiscriminately in early Norse poetry.

�Srerir has obviously something in common with the Greek cult of Dionysos. In both cases the governing idea is that of inspirationnbsp;arising from an intoxicating drink. How deep the resemblance goes wenbsp;do not know�the history of the Greek cult seems to be obscure innbsp;many respects. Dionysos himself appears to have little or nothing innbsp;common with Othin. Moreover the Greek cult was apparently bound upnbsp;with popular feasts and revelry. If that was ever the case with �Srerirnbsp;the association was forgotten��Srerir seems to be a possession of thenbsp;chosen few.� But we are not prepared to speak with any confidencenbsp;upon this subject.

Lastly, mention may be made of certain objects which are found in association with inspiration or manticism. In some cases doubt may benbsp;felt as to their significance ; but in view of their rather wide distributionnbsp;it will be well to make a note of their occurrence, for the sake of futurenbsp;reference.

When the Muses reveal themselves to Hesiod, they present him with a staff (CTKfjtrTpov) of laurel. It has been suggested above (p. 628)nbsp;that this staff is to be connected with the wand (p�(35os) carried bynbsp;rhapsodists when they recited. But is this wand really of differentnbsp;origin from the wand (pa�Sos) used by Athena, when she changesnbsp;the appearance of Odysseus (OtZ. xvi. 172 ff.), or the wand used bynbsp;Circe, when she turns Odysseus� followers into pigs (j.b. x. 237 f.) j*nbsp;It is to be remembered that Circe has prophetic powers, as well as thenbsp;power of causing metamorphosis. Again, is there any connection between the laurel staff presented to Hesiod and the branches or sprays ofnbsp;laurel carried by those who came to consult the oracle at Delphoi.^nbsp;Laurel belongs to the Muses, as well as to Apollo, and was perhaps takennbsp;over by him from them together with the sanctuary. We may refernbsp;to the story of Daphnis, the �laurel man� (from S��vri, �laurel�), beloved by the Muses and celebrated by Stesichoros (cf. p. 433) and laternbsp;poets. He seems to have no more to do with Apollo than Hesiod has.

� It should perhaps be mentioned that in the Grimnismdl, st. 19, Othin is said never to take any food or drink except wine. This may raise a suspicion thatnbsp;��rerir was originally wine. But wine is never mentioned in this connection;nbsp;and in view of the evidence noted above we think it is more probably to benbsp;explained as a witch�s brew. Parallels from other countries will be considered later.

In northern Europe also we find a staff or wand used in witchcraft, the antiquity of which is shown by the identity of the terminologynbsp;(W. hud, N. seior, Lith. saitas, etc.; cf. p. 620). It is with a magic wandnbsp;{hudlatJi} that Math son of Mathonwy, in the Mabinogi which bears hisnbsp;name, ascertains whether Arianrod is a virgin and turns Gwydion andnbsp;his brother into various kinds of animals. Gwydion himself uses anbsp;magic wand to transform Llew back into his true form. It may benbsp;recalled that Gwydion is an expert saga-teller and represents himself tonbsp;be a Pencerdd (cf. p. 585). References to the cultivation of witchcraft bynbsp;this family occur also in poetry. In Tai. x. 12 we hear of the magic wandnbsp;of Mathonwy. We may also refer to Tai. XLV. 10, though the passage isnbsp;obscure.

In Thorfinns Saga Karlsefnis, cap. 3, the dress and appurtenances of the witch Thorbj�rg are minutely described. She carries a knobbednbsp;staff, decorated with brass and studded with stones beneath the knob.nbsp;In the Laxdoela Saga, cap. 76, the bones discovered by GuSrun beneathnbsp;the church floor are declared to be those of a witch because, among othernbsp;reasons, a large magic staff �sei�stafr) was found with them. Indeed itnbsp;would seem that witches regularly carried a staff, for the word volvanbsp;(�witch�) is believed to be derived from v'�It, �staff�. We may also refernbsp;to the Skirnismdl, st. 26, where Ski'rnir is cursing GerSr: �I strike theenbsp;with a �wand of subjection� and will subject thee to my wishes�.nbsp;Hypnotic subjection seems to be meant. Again (st. 32): �I went to anbsp;wood and to a young sapling, to get a �potent� shoot. I got a potentnbsp;shoot�. The reference is to magic potency.^

An English example occurs, strangely enough, in a religious poem� a �Traveller�s Prayer� (cf. p. 426): �I chant a spell of victory, I carry anbsp;rod of victory�. What is actually meant is perhaps a cross. But thenbsp;language used in the opening lines of the poem is that of witchcraft;nbsp;and we may infer from it that the magic wand or staff was known innbsp;England.

In Ireland we hear of a �wand of the fill {filesc filed} which was regarded as possessing a divining power.3 A magic branch also figures in

' The exact meaning of the word gambanteinn (�potent shoot�) is not known; but it is probably to be compared with the A.-S. wuldortanas (�shoots of glory�) innbsp;the Nine Herbs Spell. These shoots are used in witchcraft by Woden against a snakenbsp;or dragon, which he strikes with them.

655 some stories. Mention has already been made (p, 100) of the branchnbsp;with three golden apples given by Manannan mac Lir to Cormac macnbsp;Airt�which had the power of turning all sorrow into joy, and fornbsp;which Cormac was willing to barter his wife and children. In thenbsp;J^oyage of Bran it is related that Bran heard music of extraordinarynbsp;sweetness, which lulled him to sleep. When he awakes he finds besidenbsp;him a silver branch with white blossoms, which he takes with him to thenbsp;palace. When the court assembles an unknown lady appears and chantsnbsp;the first of the poems contained in the story. In it (st. i) she says thatnbsp;this is a branch of the appletree of Emain�a distant island�and shenbsp;invites Bran to follow her thither. At the conclusion of the poem shenbsp;vanishes and takes the branch with her. The appletree mentioned herenbsp;seems to be identical with the silver tree described in a poem in thenbsp;Sickbed of CuChulainn, when Laeg returns from Mag Mell (cf. p. 257).nbsp;It stands beside the castle of Fand�who is the wife of Manannan.

In the Colloquy of the Two Sages, sect. VI, Nede carries a branch of silver. It is explained that this was what it was proper for an anruth tonbsp;carry�an anruth was a fill of the highest grade next to an ollam (cf.nbsp;p. 604)�whereas an ollam carried a branch of gold and any fit of lowernbsp;grade a branch of copper. If any value is to be attached to this statementnbsp;�the metals may be disregarded�it would seem to suggest an analogynbsp;to the use of laurel in Greece. Was the �Appletree of Emain� derivednbsp;from a tree sacred to �Ci�.filid'i

The evidence for the association of manticism or inspiration with a special seat is less clear; but, such as it is, it requires to be noted. Innbsp;early Welsh poetry references to the bard�s chair {cadeir'} are not rare.nbsp;They occur also in the Laws (cf. p. 601), where it is stated that a bardnbsp;becomes a Pencerdd when he obtains a chair. In general the term maynbsp;mean no more than a seat of honour, denoting a certain rank. Yet it maynbsp;be observed that in Tai. xvi. 24, Ceridwen is made to speak of her chair,nbsp;together with her cauldron and her laws (or rights), while in Tai. xiv.nbsp;45, Taliesin says that his chair is prepared in Caer Sidi.

In the Colloquy of the Two Sages Nede, at the instigation of Bricriu, takes the chair Icathair'} of the ollam, which has been occupied by hisnbsp;father. His right is disputed by Ferchertne. As in Wales the chairnbsp;evidently indicates a position of honour; but here the position covetednbsp;is that of �Ollam of Ireland�. The robe of the ollam is also in dispute.

* One may perhaps compare the story told by Saxo, p. 37 f. (31), about the journey of Hadingus. The milieu is similar; but hemlocks take the place of the silvernbsp;branch.

In Hdv. 111 (cf. p. 618) the Loddfdfnismdl is said to be declaimed � on the chair of the ])idr, at the Spring of Fate�. The chair {st�ll} of the Pulrnbsp;m�y be similar to that of the bard; but the following words indicatenbsp;mantic associations. Elsewhere the chair of the pulr is not mentioned ;nbsp;but the word pulr is rare. In Beow. 1165 f. the sits at the king�snbsp;feet.

When witchcraft [seuSr} was in progress the witch occupied a seibhjallr, which appears to have been a raised platform of some kind.nbsp;This platform is frequently mentioned and would seem to have beennbsp;necessary for the operation. Apparently it could be occupied by severalnbsp;persons at a time�at least this is what seems to be implied in the Lax-doela Saga, cap. 35. If there is any connection between this platformnbsp;and the chair of the J^ulr, it must be remote. Possibly we may refer tonbsp;Saxo�s description of the Norns {Parcae), cited on p. 639. More important perhaps is the fact that Othin has a throne or seat of honournbsp;(Jids�t�) called HliSskj�lf, from which he can see everything in the world.nbsp;This throne is said to be in a hall (called Valaskj�lf) ; so it has evidentlynbsp;a mantic property. On one occasion Othin and Frigg are seated in itnbsp;together.

Very little evidence seems to be available from Greek. The word Op�vos, �chair��used especially for a ruler�s throne�is appliednbsp;occasionally to Apollo�s sanctuary at Delphoi.^ The seat actually usednbsp;by the prophetess, when giving oracles, appears to have been a highnbsp;tripod, carrying a bowl. We are not aware that it had anything innbsp;common with the sdShjallr, except the idea of height.

In conclusion it may be mentioned that in Greek legend manticism is often connected with snakes. Such is the case, for example, in storiesnbsp;relating to Melampus and Teiresias. Some of these seers are said to havenbsp;acquired the power of understanding the speech of birds through thenbsp;fact that their ears have been licked by snakes. The snakes sometimesnbsp;live in trees.

The other countries under discussion supply but little evidence of this kind. In the Fdfnismdl F�fnir has become a snake; and when

i Gylf. 1'7. Some scholars hold that HliSskj�lf was originally a name for the hall itself ; but Snorri clearly did not understand it in that sense. The seat of honournbsp;given to the witch in Thorfinns Saga Karlsefnis, cap. 3, is called hds�ti-, but it is notnbsp;clear that this was the hjallr mentioned shortly afterwards.

� E.g. Aischylos, Eumen. 616; Euripides, Iph. Taw. 1282. The expression uavTiKo�CTiv �v �p�vois in the former passage is possibly worth noting, in view ofnbsp;Hdv. III.

657 SigurSr has killed him and tasted the blood of his heart he understandsnbsp;what the birds in the trees above him are saying. According to thenbsp;Grimnismdl, st. 34, there are numerous snakes beneath the Ash ofnbsp;Yggdrasill; but they are not said to be connected with manticism. Theynbsp;are presumably a relic of the time when snakes were kept in tree sanctuaries�as was the case with the Lithuanians and kindred peoples downnbsp;to the end of the heathen period.

It will have been observed that a large proportion of this chapter has been taken up with mythology and legends of the far past. In point ofnbsp;fact the amount of evidence available for historical and even semi-historical times is not great. But the myths and legends may be taken asnbsp;evidence of what the learned men of early historical times, or theirnbsp;predecessors, thought of the inspiration or manticism of the past.nbsp;With regard to the inspiration or manticism of their own times�thenbsp;times of our earliest records�a few remarks may be added.

Ecstasy of the frenzied type does not seem to have been widely prevalent.^ We have seen that this occurred in the case of the Welshnbsp;Awenyddion in the twelfth century; and the prophetesses at Delphoinbsp;are said to have been affected in the same way. More widespread perhaps are premonitions in the form of visions. Instances are of frequentnbsp;occurrence in the �Sagas of Icelanders�. We may cite, for example,nbsp;Njdls Saga, cap. 126, where Njall, before the fatal attack, sees the wallsnbsp;falling and the table and food covered with blood. This case is parallelnbsp;to examples in heroic poetry, e.g. Theoclymenos� vision of the deathnbsp;of the suitors (f)d. xx. 351 ff.), and Deirdre�s vision of the red cloud,nbsp;in the Fate of the Children of Uisnech, cap. 13 (280 ff.).

Within the limits of our enquiry it is only from Iceland that we have detailed and living descriptions of �mantic� persons; and here we havenbsp;to distinguish between two classes�those who practised seibr and thosenbsp;who did not. The form of seibr most commonly referred to in thenbsp;� Sagas of Icelanders � consisted apparently of spells, used for the purposenbsp;of raising storms and causing death either by this or other means. Itnbsp;was practised occasionally by landowners, but more often by persons ofnbsp;humbler position, who were employed, sometimes even by people ofnbsp;high rank, to bring death or disaster upon their enemies. This was ofnbsp;course a dangerous practice; sooner or later it generally came about that

� The fury of the berserkir may be related pathologically; but the herserkir were essentially fighting men. The berserkr described in Njdls Saga, cap. 99, seems to benbsp;nterely a dangerous lunatic.

the practitioners were set upon and lynched, and their employers seldom ventured to bring the case before the courts. There was, however, another form of seidr, directed towards obtaining knowledge of the future,nbsp;as in Thorfinns Saga Karlsefnis. Here the witch, who appears to be anbsp;professional, is received publicly with great honour. In the ninthnbsp;century we hear of a Norse queen practising what would seem to benbsp;sei�r of this kind upon the altar of Clonmacnois.� Gunnhildr, the wife ofnbsp;King Eric Blood-Axe, is credited with a more mischievous form ofnbsp;seidr-, but she was a very unpopular character.

But the sagas also speak of many more persons who are credited with mantic powers, including a knowledge of the future, but who nevernbsp;practise seibr. They are not professionals in any way, though they maynbsp;be willing to interpret dreams and predict the future for their friends.nbsp;Usually they are landowners of good position, and sometimes amongnbsp;the leading people in the country. The degree to which mantic powernbsp;is shown seems to vary greatly from case to case. Gestr Oddleifsson,nbsp;a most influential man and much in demand as an arbitrator, knowsnbsp;exactly what will happen to his friends and their families. Others havenbsp;merely a presentiment of impending evil. But the sagas rather tend tonbsp;convey the impression that some element of foreknowledge was impliednbsp;in a reputation for wisdom.

Little or nothing that can be called distinctive is recorded as to the behaviour of mantic sages. When Njall first hears of Christianity it isnbsp;said (cap. 96) that he frequently retires into solitude and talks to himself. We may compare the behaviour of Th�rhallr the Hunter innbsp;Thorfinns Saga Karlsefinis (cf. p. 579), when he is composing a hymn tonbsp;Thor; the same word is used in both cases (cf. p. 618). Again,nbsp;in Ari�s �slendingab�k, cap. 7 (cf. Njals Saga, cap. loi), when the generalnbsp;assembly breaks up into two camps on the question of Christianity, andnbsp;Thorgeirr, the Speaker of the Law, is invited to give an official pronouncement, it is stated that, before doing so, he lay all day and thenbsp;night following, with a cloak spread over him, and without speaking anbsp;word. In such cases the solitude or silence was doubtless utilised by thenbsp;sage not only for reflection, but also for composition, or at least fornbsp;giving coherent expression to his thoughts. The differences fromnbsp;modern custom, such as they are, may be explained partly by the factnbsp;that the Icelanders had no private studies, partly by the absence ofnbsp;written literature and serviceable writing materials.

� JVar of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, cap. 11 ; cf. Kershaw in Hastings� Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, art. Teutonic Religion.

In Egils Saga, cap. i, it is stated that Kveldulfr, Egill�s grandfather, was a wise man and a good adviser; but in the evening he was drowsynbsp;and difficult to speak to, and it was commonly believed that he wasnbsp;hamTammr. This means that his soul was wandering in some othernbsp;(probably animal) form, while his body lay motionless at home. Thenbsp;drowsiness might be satisfactorily accounted for by the fact, stated justnbsp;before, that he was an early riser and spent his days out in the fields.nbsp;But it is quite possible that many mantic sages did cultivate the habit ofnbsp;bringing themselves into a kind of trance, in which they were obliviousnbsp;of their surroundings, while their minds were concentrated upon somenbsp;thought or some object not present. At all events they paid greatnbsp;attention to dreams�and not merely to the interpretation of othernbsp;people�s dreams. It is said of Gfsli Sursson (in his Saga, cap. 12) that henbsp;was a �clear dreamer� {berdreymr}, which seems to mean that the futurenbsp;was made clearly known to him in dreams. A number of his poems,nbsp;which are generally believed to be genuine, speak of two � dream women�nbsp;who appear to him, and advise him or warn him as to his fate.

In different countries various expedients were in use for inducing a mantic sleep. In some Greek sanctuaries, especially those which belonged to seers of the far past, the person who consulted the oracle hadnbsp;to sacrifice a sheep or ram, and then sleep upon its hide.

We may refer also to the Irish rite called imbas forosnai, which, according to Cormac�s Glossary (j.v.), �makes known whatever thingnbsp;a fill wishes and whatever it is expedient for him to reveal. It is performed as follows. The fill chews a piece of the raw flesh of a pig or dognbsp;or cat, and then places it on a stone behind the door, and chants a spellnbsp;over it, and offers it to the � idol gods � and summons them to him, andnbsp;does not leave them on the following day. Next he chants over his twonbsp;palms, and again summons the �idol gods� to him, to ensure that hisnbsp;sleep may not be disturbed. Then he covers his two cheeks with hisnbsp;palms and sleeps ; and people watch over him, so that he may not turnnbsp;over, and so that no one may disturb him�whereupon there is revealednbsp;to him whatever lies before him during the following week (.^) or twonbsp;or three, according to the length of time that he shall have provided fornbsp;at the offering.�

It would seem that this rite was originally an attempt to obtain revelation from deities. The Glossary adds that it was banned bynbsp;St Patrick, �as a denial of baptism� (i.e. Christianity). In heroic sagasnbsp;references to it are not rare. It is practised by the seeress Fedelm, whonbsp;warns Medb of the coming disaster to her army (cf. p. 464), and by

The Norwegian sage and lawgiver Thorleifr the Wise {spaki) is credited with a simpler recipe. King Halfdan the Black, father of Haroldnbsp;the Fair-haired, is said in his Saga (cap. 7) to have been much concernednbsp;because he could never dream. He consulted Thorleifr, who told himnbsp;that when he desired to get knowledge of anything, it was his customnbsp;to go and sleep in a pigsty. Then dreams never failed to come.

That the future could be ascertained, whether from dreams or otherwise, was a belief inherited doubtless from ancient times and not generally questioned even by the more intellectual. And there can be no questionnbsp;that similar beliefs prevailed in all the periods included in our survey.nbsp;A parallel to Gestr Oddleifsson is to be found in the Gaulish statesmannbsp;and druid Deiuiciacus (cf. p. 609). Herodotos� History suppliesnbsp;numerous examples of the importance which the Greeks attached tonbsp;dreams and visions, and more especially to oracles, even in the sixthnbsp;century. All these facts have to be borne in mind if one will form a truenbsp;estimate of the influence of manticism. To a certain extent thought isnbsp;bound to proceed along traditional lines�more especially when there isnbsp;no written literature to expedite the interchange of ideas. Furthernbsp;discussion of the subject, however, must be deferred until we havenbsp;considered the evidence available from other lands.

P. 53, line ii ff. Reference should have been given to K. Meyer, Fianaigecht (R.I.A., Todd Lecture Series xvi, 1910), which contains annbsp;account of various stories relating to Finn and his cycle, especially thosenbsp;preserved in early texts.

P. 72. The custom of presenting an infant prince with horses foaled at the time of his birth was perhaps both Teutonic and Celtic;nbsp;cf. the passage in the Conception of CuChulainn referred to on p. 74.nbsp;A somewhat similar incident occurs in the story of Pwyll.

Pp. 96, 102. There can be little doubt that the stories contained in the Lives of British and Irish saints are largely derived from monasticnbsp;saga. In the later Lives the hand of the author or compiler has oftennbsp;been heavy; but it is sometimes not difficult to see that the sagas themselves must have reflected a different type of mentality. The records ofnbsp;St Kentigern suggest that some of the stories current in the church ofnbsp;Glasgow were utilised as much for entertainment as for edification.nbsp;These stories may have been Gaelic in their last phase. At all events thenbsp;vernacular expressions found in the Lives are Gaelic; and in Bishopnbsp;Herbert�s time Kentigern was already regarded as a Scottish saint (cf.nbsp;the poem published in the Rolls Series edition of Symeon. of Durham,nbsp;II. 386 ff.). On the other hand the strange story of the saint�s residencenbsp;in Wales may date from a time when his British nationality was stillnbsp;recognised.

P. 116, line 31. The true form of this name is probably Melampodia, though there seems to be good authority for both forms.

P. 119. It would seem that mantic properties were attributed to smiths in Ireland; cf. Stokes, Tripartite Life, p. 50 f.

P. 162, line 2 ff. It is quite possible that the name was derived ultimately from a certain L. Artorius Castus (or lustus), of the Sixth Legion, who lived some time in the third or fourth century; cf. Chambers, Arthur of Britain, p. 170.

P. 171. A story found in various records of St Patrick has sometimes been brought forward as evidence that the different saga-cycles were originally not so clearly distinguished as we find them�andnbsp;consequently as an argument against the antiquity of Irish sagatradition. In Tirechan�s Collections (Stokes, Tripartite Life, p. 324 f.),nbsp;our earliest authority, the story is given as follows. St Patrick raises

from the dead a man who states that he was killed a hundred years previously by the soldiers of MacCon�s son {flan maicc Maicc Con}nbsp;in the reign of Cairbre Nia Fer. This Cairbre belongs to the timenbsp;of CuChulainn and Conchobor (cf. p. 172); but MacCon is a contemporary of Cormac mac Airt. The discrepancy, however, may benbsp;explained easily enough by a mistake on the part of an ecclesiasticnbsp;who was not well acquainted with heroic tradition and confusednbsp;Cairbre Nia Fer with Cairbre Lifechar. The latter is a contemporarynbsp;of MacCon�s sons (Fothad Airgtech and his brother) and is succeedednbsp;by them in the high-kingship. The interval between Cairbre Lifechar�s time and that of St Patrick was doubtless more than a century ;nbsp;but one must not expect to find exact reckonings in a record of thisnbsp;kind. Our experience has been that the more alleged discrepanciesnbsp;of this kind we have examined the greater has become our respectnbsp;both for Irish saga-tradition and for the work of the syntheticnbsp;historians.

P. 210, note, and elsewhere. Reference should have been given to a fragment of Cormac�s Glossary from Laud 610, ed. and transi, bynbsp;Stokes, Trans. Philol. Soc. (London), 1891-4, p. 149 if.

P. 332. A very interesting account of the �Sagas of Icelanders� in general will be found in Phillpotts, Edda and Saga, chs. vil-ix.

P. 415. Reference should have been made to the frequent use of kennings in early Irish poetry. In this respect, as in others, Irish poeticnbsp;diction has much in common with Norse; cf. K. Meyer, Rev. Celt. xiii.nbsp;220, note.

Pp. 433, 444. Stesichoros� authorship of the Rhadine and the Calyce is disputed by Rose, Class. Quarterly, xxvi. 88 If. Some of the questionsnbsp;raised are of a kind which can be decided only by Greek scholars ; butnbsp;we would remark that other works attributed to the same poet (cf.nbsp;p. 431 If.) suggest that he was capable of such innovations.

P. 436 ff. Reminiscences of the folktale in its earlier form seem to be preserved in the late Saga of Samson the Fair', cf. Lawrence, Beowulfnbsp;and Epic Tradition, p. 188 ff.

Pp. 454, 527. For yet another text of the Appletrees see I. Williams, Bulletin of the Board for Celtic Studies, iv. 121 ff., from MS. Peniarth 3.nbsp;This text is nearest to the one given in the Myvyrian Archaiology, butnbsp;it contains only sixteen stanzas. The same article (p. 112 ff.) givesnbsp;also a variant text of part of RBH. i from the same source.

P. 463. It should have been mentioned that the Baile Chuinn appears to have been contained in the Book of Druim Snechta (cf. Thurneysen,

ADDENDA nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;663

Ir. Heldensage., p. 17). This form of prophecy therefore was very old in Ireland.

P. 491, note 2. Reference should be made to two interesting papers by MacNeill, Studies, xi. 13 if., 435 S., on Cenn Faelad, known asnbsp;Sapiens, a prince who was wounded at the battle of Mag Rath (cf. p. 53),nbsp;and died c. 679. He is claimed as the author of some historical poemsnbsp;and of Irish tracts on law and grammar, which are still preserved in anbsp;fragmentary condition. He is said to have attended both a Latin schoolnbsp;and also schools of Irish law and learning, and to have written downnbsp;from memory what he learned. The date suggests, as Prof. MacNeillnbsp;points out, that we are brought here practically to the fountain head ofnbsp;written Irish learning. The filid at this time may still have been opposednbsp;to the use of (Roman) writing in their teaching; and a student of princely rank, who combined their learning with that of a Latin school, wasnbsp;peculiarly qualified to introduce an innovation of this kind. An interesting parallel from New Zealand will be noticed in a later chapter.

P. 493, line I if. A fragmentary inscription on the remains of a bowl found recently at Asine and dating from the end of the Myceneannbsp;period has been interpreted as Greek (cf. Lindquist, Kungl. Hum.nbsp;Vetensk i Lund, Arsb. 1930-1, p. 111 ff.). The form of writing is thoughtnbsp;to be akin to the Cypriot syllabary of later times. If this is correct, thenbsp;art of writing was known to the Greeks long before the introduction ofnbsp;the North Semitic alphabet. But was it preserved, apart from Cyprus,nbsp;during the three intervening centuries.^ The reference in II. vi. 168 f.nbsp;(cf. p. 494) may be due to a reminiscence of ancient writing.

P. 520. When this was printed we had not seen Neckel�s Altnordische Literatur, which (p. 79 IF.) gives a view of the Edda poems much more in accordance with our own.

P. 541, last line. Similar references to divergent traditions occur also in texts of Irish sagas. We may instance Mac Dathds Pig, cap. 18,nbsp;where after the reference to Fergus one text adds: �Others say that itnbsp;was CuRoi mac Dairi who took the oak to them��with further details.

P. 556. On consideration, however, we are inclined to the view that fabulae, etc. relate to saga-telling�perhaps chiefly anecdotal�nbsp;which was evidently much cultivated in monasteries.

P. 556, note I. Reference should be added to Chambers, Beowulf {Introduction, new edn, 1932), pp. 389 If., 486 IF.

P. 559. For the introduction of religious expressions, etc., in secular poems parallels may be found in Russia; cf. Chadwick, Russian Heroicnbsp;Poetry, p. 12: � Gilferding.. .adds that the kaleka, or wandering psalm

singer, Ivan Feponov, generally known as �blind Ivan�, when reciting byliny, always gave a religious colouring to his narratives, representingnbsp;the heroes as constantly praying to God.� This, however, is stated asnbsp;characteristic of an individual�or of the kal�ki as a class�not of thenbsp;reciters of heroic poetry in general, as in England.

P. 611, note 2. We are by no means inclined to dispute the existence of pre-Celtic�and possibly also southern�elements in Druidism; butnbsp;the important affinities it had with the religions of central Europe shouldnbsp;not be overlooked.

P. 624, line 4 ff. Among the northern peoples also there seems to be a tendency for both professional manticism and the possession ofnbsp;mantic faculties to run in families, though definite evidence is rare.nbsp;Filid are sometimes sons offilid-, Nede�s father was an ollam. Gwydionnbsp;is nephew to Math. Kotkell�s sons join him in his incantations and havenbsp;the same injurious powers. Thorbj�rg, the Greenland witch, is said tonbsp;have had nine sisters, all of whom were seeresses. We may comparenbsp;the nine witches of Gloucester in the story of Peredur. The seer Thor-leifr who figures in HallfreSar Saga, cap. 6, belongs to a younger generation of the same family as his more famous namesake, the sage andnbsp;lawgiver ; and the Icelandic lawgiver Ulflj�tr comes from the same stock.

P. 637, line 12. The surname Tad awen is applied also to Tydain (presumably the same person as in BBC. xix. 10) in Triad ni. 92 {Myv.nbsp;Arch. p. 409). In explanation it is added �qui, le premier, fit du chantnbsp;un art et r�gla l�inspiration� (Loth).

P. 649, line 3 ff. Reference should have been given to a Dinnsenchas poem The Fate of Sinann, ed. and transi, by Joynt in the Miscellanynbsp;presented to Kuno Meyer, p. 193 ff.

Reference should also have been given to the �Fountain of Knowledge� in Cormac s Adventure, mentioned on p. too. In (ib.}nbsp;cap. 35 this spring is said to be overshadowed by nine hazels, whilenbsp;according to cap. 53 �no one will have knowledge who drinketh notnbsp;a draught out of the fountain itself and out of the streams. The folk ofnbsp;many arts are those who drink of them both� (Stokes).

Holy springs seem to have been reverenced in Ireland as much as elsewhere. We may refer to the spring called Sian, which is described asnbsp;aquarum rex in Tirechan�s Collections (Stokes, Tripartite Life, p. 323),nbsp;and was revered as a deity by the druids. But it is not definitely statednbsp;that the spring was regarded as a source of inspiration, though this maynbsp;possibly be implied by the belief that a prophet {profeta} had beennbsp;buried in it.