place in connection with contests of various sorts, but most of the gambling was perhaps carried on by means of dice-throwing, a practice which came under the condemnation of the laws in some sections in the early Christian period.31 It is not probable, however, that the actual amount of gambling with dice was greatly reduced in consequence of this legislation, though it was undoubtedly carried on less openly than before. Immorality Though sex immorality was common, particularly among the men, it was probably but little more so than in most Christian lands at the present time Sex -only more open and above board. And it was the immorality of a people just emerging from the upper stages of barbarism, not that of a degenerate, besotted civilization. Not till they met it in the South after the opening of the viking period was legalized prostitution known among them; 32 and even in spite of the foreign influence the people as a whole were untouched by the disgusting vice and foul corruption found in the Roman Empire. It has been asserted that the Scandinavians developed during the viking period a cynical philosophy and a hard spirit of commercialism; and in support of this, certain passages from the literature of the period have been presented.33 Such faults were, however, by no means general; and that the population was sound and wholesome at the core this same ancient literature attests. The sagas, in particular, describe many beautiful friendships, and give numerous instances of unselfish loyalty, utterly free from thought of personal gain. It is quite true that at the time there was little of humanitarianism 31 Guta-Lagh, 85. 32 Bugge, Alexander, Die Wikinger, 86. 33 Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I, pt. II, 218–219. 1 in the present-day sense; that the sick received but slight pity or care, unless they had relatives or friends to whom they were dear; 34 and that the lives of infants and the aged, in particular, were held lightly. But this neglectful attitude was no recent acquisition; there is every reason to believe that further back in time, not a greater, but a lesser, degree of human kindness would have been found, in Scandinavia. And though in the contemporary Christian countries conditions were without doubt better in this regard, it should, nevertheless, be borne in mind that not till the last century did the existing standards of humanitarianism develop. 84 Ibn-Fadlan, 11. CHAPTER II THE TIES OF KINSHIP AND NATIONALITY Bare is the back of the brotherless. Saga of Burnt Njal. THOUGH paternal superiority was shown in many ways in the ancient North, there existed no strong patriarchal organization headed by the father who held dred the members of the blood-unit together and The Kinkept them subordinate to him. On the contrary, the patriarchal system was weak and vague, and the power of the man at the head of the family was by no means unquestioned. And it is not at all certain that the system in its full strength ever really held sway in the Scandinavian lands.1 But the fact that the father's power was limited appears not to have influenced the ties of kinship, for these were very strong throughout the North. The significance attached to blood-relationship is well indicated by the word "fraendi," signifying "kinsman" in the common Northern tongue of the Viking Age. This usage is peculiar to the Scandinavians; in no other language has the word "friend" assumed this interesting change of meaning. To the Scandinavian of ancient times, his best friend was one bound to him by ties of blood. In the olden days Scandinavian households were larger than at present; many numbered twenty, thirty, or more members, including parents, married sons, and their chil 1 Veblen, Thorstein, B., "The Blond Race and the Aryan Culture," in University of Missouri Bulletin, Science Series, vol. II, no. III, p. 51, ff. dren. Not far away from the ancient ancestral homestead was the family burial mound with its dead, who in many ways still belonged to the family group. The names of these dead were remembered and the new-born children were "called up" after them. This family, united by blood-ties among the living and by memories of the dead, formed, in some respects, a world by itself -a sort of league or confederacy bound together by certain rights and duties. And the fact that pre-historic Scandinavia was little more than a geographical expression, without the protecting arm of a strong government, prolonged the influence of the family tie, in some parts, until far into the Middle Ages. Sworn- hood, or In those early days of individualism and violence, unhappy was the man without kindred, the man who must stand alone in the world, or must go down alone, defeated by outrageous fortune. The man without brothers was particularly hapless, for the bonds of brotherhood were very close and dear. "Bare is the back of the brotherless," says a proverb of the period. It was undoubtedly this recognition of the need for brothers on the part of the brotherless man which led to the origin of the system of sworn- or bloodbrotherhood, by which men, unrelated by birth, formed an artificial fraternal tie by literally mingling their blood in solemn ceremony. During the Viking Age the formal rites marking the new tie were as follows: a piece of turf several feet long was cut on the sides while the ends remained fast to the ground. The strip thus made was raised from the ground, the ends being still fastened,and braced up in such a manner as to form an arch, by means of a spear used as a support. This done, the two or more men who wished to unite in voluntary brother hood gashed themselves and let their blood mingle together on the fresh earth under the arch. Then, upon their knees, after beseeching all of the gods to bear witness, each swore to avenge any wrong done the other as if they were own brothers. A hand-clasp sealed the ceremony, after which those who had entered the pact passed under the arch of sod.2 The ties thus formed were as sacred and binding as those of blood-relationship. In the viking period even men having kindred, brothers included, united themselves thus to other families of brothers. Naturally, the selection of one's swornbrother was in such case determined by the fighting strength of the family with which the union was made, as well as by affection and congeniality of temperament. Such an artificial formation of the ties of brotherhood was not peculiar to ancient Scandinavia, but has existed among many other peoples at the stage where the strength of kindred means much, particularly among the Arabs. Family solidarity varied in different parts of the North during the early Middle Ages, but it was strongest in Denmark and Sweden, the lands earliest in Den mark and settled. Here, it manifested itself in many Family ways. The most distinct traces of ancestor Solidarity worship to be found in the Scandinavian North are connected with the religion of these Sweden two countries; and the persistence of the worship was due to the prolonged emphasis of the bond of kindred. As the family lost its earlier solidarity in the late heathen age, ancestor worship degenerated into a common "cult of the dead." But other instances of 2 Gísla Saga Surssonar, 13-14. 3 3 Phillpotts, Bertha S., Kindred and Clan in the Middle Ages and After, 272-273. |