Use of to some extent the runes were employed for recording literature. There is, however, no justification for the conclusion that any considerable part of the literature of the North was ever committed to runes; and it is quite clear that in heathen times no idea existed of gathering such literary runes as were to be found at any given time in order to form a library and preserve the intellectual treasures for future generations. (The literary records were made for merely temporary purposes, and probably only a few of the shorter poems and songs were ever wrought in runic characters. The great proportion of the literary compositions which have come down to us, together with a probably much larger amount which disappeared before the opening of the modern age, was undoubtedly preserved only in the memories of the ancients and handed down by word of mouth from each generation to the succeeding one.) CHAPTER XX LEARNING IN GENERAL; SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE; ART Middling wise should every man be, never over-wise. Those who know many things fairly lead the happiest life. The Guest's Wisdom. Intelligence of the Scan THOUGH by the close of the eighth century the Scandinavians had scarcely reached the threshold of civilization, in the sense in which the word is usually understood, they were by no means an igno- General rant people. It is true that they lacked a knowledge of reading and writing, but they dinavians were not so handicapped as would seem at first glance; for this was not a bookish age in Europe, and the great bulk of the population in the more cultured South was dependent for its enlightenment less upon schools and books than upon life itself; they learned by living and observing. In this regard the Northmen were not backward. Indeed, it may well be questioned whether any people of western Europe possessed a higher average of intelligence than they, or a larger stock of accurate information; for no other European people traveled as extensively as did they. Furthermore, all Scandinavians, whether they journeyed abroad or remained at home, entertained an unusually lively curiosity regarding what was going on in the world; the usual question put to a visitor-as is still the case in out-of-the-way places-was, "What is the news?" Thus those who remained at home learned from those who roamed. At the thing meetings and religious gatherings, at markets and fairs, at banquets and other social assemblies, the recently-returned wanderer from foreign lands was always certain of a welcome and an audience to which he could narrate his adventures and tell of the strange and new things which he had observed.1 cal Geographi- The Northmen of the early Middle Ages were undoubtedly better versed in geographical knowledge than any other people of contemporary Europe, and their knowledge was acquired largely at first hand, through viking- and merchant-voyages, but also through expeditions planned for the definite purpose of exploration and discovery. The feats of the most daring of the explorers "give the outlines of a picture unmatched in the story of medieval geography." 2 Here and there in the literary sources of the time are bits of descriptive geography, generally given in an incidental manner in a saga of adventure; but a more ambitious and comprehensive description of the whole of Europe is to be found at the opening of the chapter on mythology in the Heimskringla Saga.3 Much of the real geographic knowledge possessed by the Northmen was, it is true, distorted by misinformation and adulterated by accounts of mythical monsters and other superstitious elements; but this sort of thing characterized all learning of the time, and persisted for many centuries afterward. Regarding the history of foreign lands, the Northmen were completely ignorant, as was to be expected of a people who knew their own past only through History oral tradition. And their historical sagas, like their geography, was more or less colored by the supernatural. 1 Petersen, Gammel-Nordiske Geografi, 52, passim. 2 Beazley, C. Raymond, The Dawn of Modern Geography, II, 3. 8 Ibid., 23-24. Scientific In their practical knowledge of the sciences they were far behind their neighbors to the south; and their insight into scientific theory was more limited still. But their mental equipment was sufficient for their needs at a given time; and as these needs grew they drew upon the culture of the Roman world to supply the lack. Knowledge Astronomy They were ignorant of the definite movements of even the most conspicuous stars and constellations, but they had names for them and made use of the lode star and the sun in their travels upon land and sea; the compass was also unknown to them, as to the remainder of Europe, but they divided the circle of the horizon into eight different parts, for the purpose of indicating direction. Time, they determined at night in fair weather by the position of the Pleiades-called "the Star"-above the horizon, and during the day by the position tion of Time of the sun and by the tides. They divided Determinanight into three parts-midnight, and the periods preceding and following. The traditional fractions into which the day was separated took the place of the hours of modern times and were eight in number. Ris-mál (rising time), or miðr-mál (middlemorning), came at about six o'clock in the morning; dag-mál (day-meal, because breakfast was eaten then), at eight or nine; há-degi (high day), at about twelve; mio-mundi (the middle, so called because it was the period when the sun was midway between high-day and nón), about half past one; nón (nones, or evening), about three o'clock; miðr-aptan (mid-eve), about six; nátt-mál (night meal), about nine in the evening. The Northman of the pre-Christian period reckoned The 4 time by nights and by winters. Just what was the nature of the calendar before his contact with the South is not quite clear, but it seems fairly evident that at this early time the week consisted of five nights, and was, therefore, called a fimt.5 All of the months were of equal length, and consisted of six weeks, or thirty days. Twelve months made up the year originally; but in order to have the calendarand solar-years more exactly coincide, four extra nights called auka-naettr (eke nights), were added to the third summer month. This system was in use during the first part of the Viking Age. After the middle of the tenth century, however, when the calendar year was far behind the solar year, a whole week was added to the end of the third summer month, and was known as sumarauki, or summer eke. After the introduction of Christianity the Icelandic calendar was made to harmonize with the Julian calendar, and the year was "eked" out by the addition of a week every sixth or seventh summer. The year consisted of two main divisions, winter and summer. Springtime (vár) and autumn, or harvest The (haust), were noted, but these were mere transition periods without definite limits, for there appears to have been no real understanding of the phenomena of the equinoxes. Winter, which began about October fourteenth, opened the year, and the six months of summer began about April fourteenth. Summer and winter were divided into two parts, each ninety days long, except the second half of sumthe dividing points being Mid Winter (Miðvetr), which came in heathen time about the middle of January, mer, A vestige of this old practice is seen in the English "fortnight." Munch, P. A., Om vore Forfaedres aeldste Tidsregning, Primstaven og Maerkedagene, 17, 20. • Brate, Erik, Nordens äldre Tidsräkring, 18. |