structed, and ordered that when he was dead he should be brought and interred there, in his royal pomp and armour, together with his horse and saddle and various other objects. With this occurrence the age of interment commenced in Denmark, yet the age of burning lasted long after among the Swedes and Norwegians. In Denmark therefore the age of burning corresponds with that of bronze, and the age of interment with that of iron. It must however be remembered, that tradition often refers a remarkable change in certain previously existing customs, to certain prominent personages, and so in this case the change in the mode of interment is ascribed in Sweden to Frej, and in Denmark to Dan. The historical foundation for the interment of Dan Mikillatti may probably be that in the age of interment the mode of burial may have been far more splendid and costly than in the so styled age of burning, of which fact the barrows themselves afford very remarkable proofs.
The greater part of the few barrows of the iron-period, which have hitherto been examined in Denmark, are distinguished by the circumstance that they contain not only the remains of the warrior, but also those of his horse[1]. Thus in a barrow near Hersom, in the Rindsharde, domain of Viborg, the skeleton of a man together with that of his horse, and with these an iron sword, a spear, a stirrup, a bridle with a chain bit, and a cross bar at the ends, were discovered. In the same manner in a barrow near Hadberg, in the Galtenharde, domain of Randers, portions of the skeleton of a man and a horse were observed; near them lay an iron axe, a pair of stirrups, and a bridle. In a very large tumulus on the field
- ↑ See on this subject a curious note in the appendix to Mr. Kemble's translation of Beowulf, descriptive of the obsequies of a Teutonic hero.
In an extract from the Fornaldar Sögur, edited by Rafn for the Antiquarian Society of Copenhagen, which relates the particulars of the funeral of Haralldr Hilditavn, is a very characteristic passage descriptive of the slaughter of the horse, and the placing the chariot and saddle in the mound, that the hero may take his choice between riding or driving to Valhalla.—T.
