Northern Antiquities/Chapter 3

by Paul Henri Mallet

CHAPTER III.

The grounds of the ancient history of Denmark, and of the different opinions concerning it.

ON whatever side we direct our inquiries concerning the first inhabitants of Denmark, I believe nothing certain can be added to the account given of them above. It is true, if we will take for our guides certain modern authors, our knowledge will not be confined within such scanty limits. They will lead us step by step through an uninterrupted succession of kings and judges, up to the first ages of the world, or at least to the deluge: and there, receiving the descendants of Noah, as soon as they set foot out of the ark, will conduct them across the vast extent of deserts into Scandinavia, in order to found those states and kingdoms, which subsist at present. Such is the scheme of Petreius, Lyschander, and other authors, who have followed what is called, among Danish historians, the Gothlandic hypothesis^[1], because it is built upon some pretended monuments found in the isle of Gothland on the coast of Sweden: monuments which bear so many marks of imposition, that at present they are by common consent thrown aside among the most ill-concerted impostures.

The celebrated Rudbeck, a learned Swede, zealous for the glory of his countrymen, hath endeavoured no less to procure them the honour of a very remote original; as if, after all, it were of any consequence, whether a people, who lived before us so many ages, and of whom we retain only a vain resemblance of name, were possessed sooner or later of those countries, which we quietly enjoy at present. As this author joined to the most extensive learning an imagination eminently fruitful, he wanted none of the materials for erecting plausible and frivolous Systems. He hath found the art to apply to his own country a multitude of passages in ancient authors, who probably had never so much as heard of its name. According to him Sweden is the Atlantis of which Plato speaks, and for this reason he assumed that word for the title of his book. He makes no doubt but Japhet himself came thither with his family, and he undertakes to prove the antiquity of the Scandinavians by the expeditions, which according to him they have undertaken in the remotest ages^[2]. The first of these he places in the time of Serug, in the year of the world 1900: the second under the direction of Hercules in the interval between the years 2200, and 2500. He lays great stress upon the conformity which is found between the names, manners, and customs of certain nations of the South and those of the North, to prove that the former had been subdued by the latter; which he affirms could never have been done, if Scandinavia had not been for a long time back overcharged, as it were, with the number of its inhabitants. It doubtless cannot be expected that I should go out of my way to encounter such an hypothesis, as this: it is very evident that Rudbeck and his followers have falsely attributed to the Goths of Scandinavia, whatever the Greek or Latin historians have said of the Getae, or Goths, who dwelt near the Euxine sea, and were doubtless the ancestors of those people, who afterwards founded colonies in the North. And as to the arguments brought from a resemblance of names, we know how little these can be depended on. Proofs of this kind are easily found whereever they are sought for, and never fail to offer themselves in support of any system our heads are full of.

Having thus set aside these two pretended guides, there only remains to chuse between Saxo Grammaticus^[3] and Thermod Torfæus. The first of these supposes that a certain person, named Dan, of whom we know nothing but that his father was named Humble, and his brother Angul, was the founder of the Danish monarchy, in the year of the world 2910: that from him Cimbria assumed the name of Denmark; and that it hath been ever since governed by his posterity. Saxo himself takes care to give us, in his preface, the grounds on which his account is founded. These are, first, the ancient hymns or songs, by which the Danes formerly preserved the memory of the great exploits of their heroes, the wars and most remarkable events of each reign, and even sometimes the genealogies of princes and famous men. Secondly, the inscriptions which are found up and down in the North, engraven on rocks and other durable materials. He also lays great stress on the Icelandic chronicles; and on the relations which he received from archbishop Absalon. It cannot be denied but Saxo's work is written with great elegance for the time in which it was composed, but the rhetorician and the patriot are every where so apparent, as to make us sometimes distrust the fidelity of the historian. In short, to be convinced that this high antiquity, which he attributes to the Danish monarchy, is extremely uncertain, we need only examine the authorities on which he builds his hypothesis. Torfæus^[4], a native of Iceland, and historiographer of Norway, hath shewn this at large in his learned “Series of kings of Denmark.” He there proves that those songs, from which Saxo pretends to have extracted part of what he advanced, are in very small number; that he can quote none of them for many entire books of his history; and that they cannot exhibit a chronological series of kings, nor ascertain the date of any one event. Nor could the inscriptions, adds he, afford greater assistance to that historian; they contain very few matters of importance, they are for the most part eaten away with time, and are very difficult to understand^[5]. With regard to the Icelandic chronicles, Torfæus thinks that they might have been of great use to Saxo, had he often consulted them; but this, notwithstanding his assertions, does not sufficiently appear, since they rarely agree with his relations. Finally, the recitals of archbishop Absalon are doubtless of great weight for the times near to those, in which that learned prelate lived; but we do not see from whence he could have drawn any information of what passed a long time before him. Upon the whole, therefore, Torfæus concludes, with reason, that Saxo’s first books, that is to say, nearly half his history, scarce deserve any credit so far as regards the succession of the kings, and the dates of the principal events, although they abound with various passages, which contribute to throw light on the antiquities of the North. Having thus overturned the hypothesis of that ancient historian, let us now see whether Torfæus is equally successful in erecting a new one in its stead.

The knowledge which this learned man had of the old Icelandic language, enabled him to read a considerable number of ancient manuscripts, which have been found in Iceland at different times, and of which the greatest part relate to the history of that island and the neighbouring countries. After having carefully distinguished those which appeared to him most worthy of credit, from a multitude of others which strongly favoured of fiction and romance, he thought he had found in the former, materials for drawing up a compleat Series of Danish kings, beginning with Skiold the son of Odin, who, according to him, began his reign a short time before the birth of Christ. Thus he not only cuts off from history all the reigns which, according to Saxo, preceded that aera; but he changes also the order of the kings, which succeeded it; affirming that Saxo had one while inserted foreign princes, another while lords or powerful vassals; that he had represented as living long before Christ some who did not reign till many years after; and that, in short, he hath visibly inlarged his list of monarchs, whether with design to flatter his own nation by making the Danish monarchy one of the most ancient in the world, or whether he only too credulously followed the guides who seduced him.

It will appear pretty extraordinary to hear a historian of Denmark, cite for his authorities, the writers of Iceland, a country cut off, as it were, from the rest of the world, and lying almost under the northern pole. But this wonder, adds Torfæus, will cease, when the Reader shall be informed, that from the earliest times the inhabitants of that island have had a particular fondness for history, and that from among them have sprung those poets, who, under the name of Scalds, rendered themselves so famous throughout the North for their songs, and for the credit they enjoyed with kings and people. In effect, the Icelanders have always taken great care to preserve the remembrance of every remarkable event that happened not only at home, but among their neighbours the Norwegians, the Danes, the Swedes, the Scots, the English, the Greenlanders, &c. The first inhabitants of Iceland were a colony of Norwegians, who, to withdraw themselves from the tyranny of Harold Harfagre^[6], retired thither in the year 874; and these might carry with them the verses and other historical monuments of former times. Besides, they kept up such a constant intercourse with the other people of the North, that they could readily learn from them whatever passed abroad. We must add, that the odes of these Icelandic Scalds were continually in every body's mouth, containing, if we may believe Torfæus, the genealogies and exploits of kings, princes, and heroes: And as the poets did not forget to arrange them according to the order of time, it was not difficult for the Icelandic historians to compose afterwards, from such memoirs, the chronicles they have left us.

These are the grounds of Torfæus's system: and one cannot help highly applauding the diligence and sagacity of an author, who has thrown more light on the first ages of Danish history than any of his predecessors. At the same time we must confess, that there still remains much darkness and uncertainty upon this subject. For, although the annals of the Icelanders are without contradiction a much purer source than those which Saxo had recourse to; and although the reasons alledged by Torfæus in their favour are of some weight; many persons, after all, will hardly be persuaded that we can thence draw such exact and full information, as to form a compleat and firm thread of history. For, in the first place, the Icelandic writers have left us a great number of pieces which evidently shew that their taste inclined them to deal in the marvelous, in allegory, and even in that kind of narrations, in which truth is designedly blended with fable. Torfæus himself confesses^[7] that there are many of their books, in which it is difficult to distinguish truth from falshood, and that there are scarce any of them, but what contain some degree of fiction. In following such guides there is great danger of being sometimes mifled. In the second place, these annals are of no great antiquity: we have none that were written before christianity was established in the North: now between the time of Odin, whose arrival in the North, according to Torfæus, is the first epoque of history, and that of the earliest Icelandic historian, elapsed about eleven centuries^[8]. And therefore if the compilers of the Icelandic annals found no written memoirs earlier than their own, as we have great reason to believe, then their narratives are only founded on traditions, inscriptions, or reliques of poetry.

But can one give much credit to traditions, which must have taken in so many ages, and have been preserved by a people so ignorant? Do not we see that among the common class of men, a son remembers his father, knows something of his grandfather, but never bestows a thought on his more remote progenitors? With regard to inscriptions, we have already seen what assistance they were likely to afford: we may add that there are very few of them, which were written before the introduction of christianity into the North; and, indeed, as we shall prove in the sequel, before that time very little use was made of letters. Lastly, as for the verses or songs which were learnt by rote, it cannot be denied, but the Icelandic historians might receive great information from them, concerning times not very remote from their own. But was a rough and illiterate people likely to bestow much care in preserving a great number of poems, through a succession of eight or nine centuries? Or can one expect to find in such compositions much clearness and precision? Did the poets of those rude ages observe that exactness and methodical order, which history demands? In the third place, if the Icelandic annalists could not know with certainty, what passed a long time before them in Iceland and Norway, must not their authority be still weaker in what relates to a distant state like that of Denmark; which doubtless in those times had not such intimate connections with the other countries of the North, as it hath had since? We must be sensible, that almost all that could be then known in Iceland of what passed in other nations, consisted in popular rumours, and in a few songs, which were handed about by means of some Icelandic Scald, who returned from thence into his own country.

What course then ought an historian to persue, amid such a wide field of contrary opinions, where the momentary gleams of light do not enable him to discover or trace out any certain truth. In the first place, I think he ought not to engage himself and his readers in a labyrinth of entangled and useless researches; the result of which, he is pretty sure, can be only doubt. In the next place, he is to pass rapidly over all those ages which are but little known, and all such facts as cannot be set clear from fiction. The interest we take in past events is weakened in proportion as they are remote and distant. But when, besides being remote, they are also doubtful, unconnected, uncircumstantial and confused, they vanish into such obscurity, that they neither can, nor ought to engage our attention. In those distant periods, if any events occur, which ought not wholly to be past over in silence, great care should be taken to mark the degree of probability which appears to be due to them, lest we debase history by reducing it to one undistinguished mass of truth and fable. It is true, by conforming to this rule, an historian will leave great chasms in his work, and the annals of eight or nine centuries which, in some hands, fill up several volumes, will by this means be reduced within very few pages. But this chasm, if it be one, may be usefully filled up. Instead of discussing the doubtful facts which are supposed to have happened among the Northern nations, during the dark ages of paganism, let us study the religion, the character, the manners and customs of the ancient inhabitants during those ages. Such a subject, I should think, may interest the learned, and even the philosopher. It will have to most readers the charm of novelty, having been but imperfectly treated of in any modern language: and so far from being foreign to the History of Denmark, it makes a very essential part of it. For why should history be only a recital of battles, sieges, intrigues and negotiations? And why should it contain meerly a heap of petty facts and dates, rather than a just picture of the opinions, customs and even inclinations of a people? By confining our inquiries to this subject, we may with confidence consult those ancient annals, whose authority is too weak to ascertain events. It is needless to observe, that great light may be thrown on the character and sentiments of a nation, by those very books, whence we can learn nothing exact or connected of their history. The most credulous writer, he that has the greatest passion for the marvelous, while he falsifies the history of his contemporaries, paints their manners of life and modes of thinking, without perceiving it. His simplicity, his ignorance, are at once pledges of the artless truth of his drawing, and a warning to distrust that of his relations^[9]. This is doubtless the best, if not the only use, we can make of those old reliques of poetry, which have escaped the shipwreck of time. The authors of those fragments, erected into historians by succeeding ages, have caused ancient history to degenerate into a meer tissue of fables. To avoid this mistake, let us consider them only on the footing of poets, for they were in effect nothing else; let us principally attend to and copy those strokes, which, without their intending it, point out to us the notions, and mark the character of the ages in which they lived. These are the most certain truths we can find in their works, for they could not help delivering them whether they would or not.

1. Petreius is a Danish author of the 16th century: Lyschander was historiographer to king Christian IV. His work, printed in Denmark at Copenhagen in 1662, bears this title: “An abridgment of the Danish histories from the beginning of the world to our own times.” The arguments on which these authors found their accounts did not merit the pains, which Torfæus and others have taken to refute them. The reader may consult, on this subject, the last-cited writer in his “Series of kings of Denmark.” Lib. i. c. 8.
2. See Ol. Rudbeck. Atlantica, cap. xxxv.
3. Saxo, surnamed on account of his learning, Grammaticus, or The Grammarian, wrote about the middle of the 12th century, under the reigns of Valdemar the First and Canute his son. He was provost of the cathedral church of Roschild, then the capital of the kingdom. It was the celebrated Absalon, archbishop of Lund, one of the greatest men of his time, who engaged him to write the history of Denmark; for which he furnished him with various helps. Saxo’s work is divided into XVI books, and hath been many times printed. Stephanius published a very good edition of it at Sora, in the year 1664, with notes which display a great profusion of learning. Sweno, the son of Aggo, contemporary with Saxo, wrote also, at the same time, and by the command of the same prelate, a history of Denmark which is still extant. But this author seems rather to lean to the Icelandic hypothesis; for he differs from Saxo in many essential points, and in particular concerning the founder of the monarchy, who, according to him, was Skiold the son of Odin, the same who, according to the Icelandic chronicles, was the first king of Denmark.
4. Thermodius Torfæus, who was born in Iceland, in the last century, and died about the beginning of the present, had received his education at Copenhagen, and passed the greatest part of his life in Norway. He was a man of great integrity and diligence, and extremely conversant in the antiquities of the North, but perhaps a little too credulous, especially where he takes for his guides the ancient Icelandic historians, upon whose authority he hath filled the first volumes of his history of Norway with many incredible events. His treatise of the Series of the Princes and Kings of Denmark contains many curious researches, and seems to me to be his best work.
5. Wormius had read almost all those which are found in Denmark and Norway, as Verelius had also done the greatest part of those which subsisted, in his time, in Sweden. Both of them agree, that they scarce throw any light upon ancient history. To be convinced of this, one need only to examine the copies and explanations they have given of them. See “Olai Wormii Monumenta Runica.” Lib. iv. and "Olai Verelii Runagraphia Scandica antiqua,” &c. —— Since Verelius’s work, there hath been published a compleat collection of all the inscriptions found in Sweden, by John Goransson; at Stockholm. 1750. Folio.
6. Harfagre is synonimous to our English Fairfax, and signifies Fair Locks. T.
7. See his Series Dynast. et Reg. lib. i. cap. 6.
8. This first Icelandic historian was Isleif, bishop of Scalholt, or the southern part of Iceland. He died in the year 1080. His collections are lost, but there is room to believe that Are, the prieft, who is surnamed the sage, made use of them to compose his Chronicles, part of which are still extant. This writer lived towards the end of the same century: as did also Ræmund, surnamed the wise or learned, another Icelandic historian, some of whose works still remain. He had compiled a very voluminous mythology, the loss of which is much to be regretted, since what we have of it, which is only a very short abridgment, throws so much light upon the ancient religion of the first inhabitants of Europe. Snorro Sturleson is he of all their historians, whose works are most useful to us at present. He composed a Chronicle of the kings of Norway, which is exact as to the times near to his own. He was the chief magistrate or supreme judge of the kingdom of Iceland, and was slain in a popular insurrection, in 1241. With regard to the other Icelandic historians, the reader may consult Torfæus’s Series Dynast. ac Regum Dan. lib. i.
9. This is the opinion of the learned Bartholin, who hath written with so much erudition and judgment, upon certain points of the antiquities of Denmark. Ad ritus, fays he, moresque antiquos eruendos, eos quoque evolvi posse codices existimaverim, quos fabulosis interspersos narrationibus, in historia concinnanda haud tuto sequaris. Vid. Thom. Barthol. de Caus. &c. præfat.