: atl ae i Bey ema at a a ni Pani Alen th tr Ai i Peat eg alt a Ki ae A aaa Psa ABER Ny (a U iia hia bg ast iy! ae ee aR HE Hh hy i} AB nosing vat ba Het cA ring HG no fs (A Let i Nea ii id ned area eek Dany a rf ave ha iy ab ha iy Leia pes a i ea on or Eh tata i ae Fi i me ae ii te Aptis hit, ae tym oe Ad Ns dy 7 een Hatrat i ate Wits “ai mite deste dail teal ee ie ee rise Bem eat Nel i oe Haale Sade i We My in 5 ae i Nit ie i fi ele Ca ie Leia o i i Gua ee a is t Ha a Ey a ii) al i ii re ee , Y i HG ‘) tH Us CAT hail els rey eeu a nash tak a sorte aL he} {ca} phen U ay a coe Li i ane CoH Raa (un i ee Gee ae pupal Beis yy Uplntat eds wy as i Ay — = one - nae — Rit reisria ya ripnbrickck Peres, ewes ich Ss rea pinukes ahi = tes acy aa MAS cain angela eit Soret ities Cd ee os Ee ieinealat ms tehheuta me itt st Hak UY i — ceo Araneae inet HAA eta Seen cai betta in fi het ede tect Weed f ea lca oe Cea ips A — h see i pret pelea ieee beh ec ri be Bas nae ake iy ones weigh er rita ea aes iid Clete} ‘ bas! ie hd A iss Se Shh i cet eat ae phates ata Re Ae Heat ee p a aes I sree eet ast ee = sab slceetn gee a Peete ee ae in aera ies eicedaemtnase io oe RES ea ns a ee Leics NTR fetentere rete ar ce cepa pease Biel erste fe Patan soe aa ee alee ote a piisiniele ae i rh ae Sildliger toy iefend i ee re ii re rea fas tHe ease at eT CLEP Mien Raa nee tent mee Letina ented ops alate tert impeach CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ENGLISH COLLECTION THE GIFT OF JAMES MORGAN HART PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH A,295030 description of Europe, and the voyages A DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE. A DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, AND THE VOYAGES OF OHTHERE AND WULFSTAN, WRITTEN IN ANGLO-SAXON BY KING ALFRED THE GREAT. A DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE. A DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, AND THE VOYAGES OF OHTHERE AND WULFSTAN, WRITTEN IN ANGLO-SAXON BY KING ALFRED THE GREAT; CONTAINING,— A FACSIMILE COPY OF THE WHOLE ANGLO-SAXON TEXT FROM THE COTTON MANUSCRIPT, AND ALSO FROM THE FIRST PART OF THE LAUDERDALE MANUSCRIPT,— A PRINTED ANGLO-SAXON TEXT, BASED UPON THESE MANUSCRIPTS, AND A LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION AND NOTES: BY THE REV. JOSEPH BOSWORTH, D.D., F.RS., FSA, OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE: DR. PHIL. OF LEYDEN ; LL.D. OF ABERDEEN ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF THE NETHERLANDS; M.R.S.OF LIT. LONDON; HONORARY F.R.S, OF SCIENCES, NORWAY; F.S.A, COPENHAGEN; r¥. OF LIT. S. LEYDEN, UTRECHT, ROTTERDAM, BRISTOL, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ETC, LONDON: LONGMAN AND Co, PATERNOSTER ROW. M DCCC LIIL, a S *s - ‘heey ‘ ay : t}- bint - a) f : eae a I [953 8.299080 CONTENTS. FacsimiLes of the whole Anglo-Saxon Text p. - - 1—16 OF the Lauderdale p. - 5 2 : 3 - 1—3 Of the Cotton p. 2 = : “ . 4—16 Tue Ancio-Saxon Text divided into the same paragraphs, as the following English Translation p. - - 1—8 A LITERAL ENGLIsH TRANSLATION with notes p. —- - 1]—26 Cuaprer I. - - - - - - - § 1—18 BounpDaRigs OF EvRoPE- - - - - - - § 1 Notes.—Orosius who.—Alfred’s description of Europe— Ohthere’s, and Wulfstan’s voyages p. 1, 2. ALFRED’s GERMANIA - - - - - - - § 1 Notes.—Cwén-se’, x. 3—Extent of Germania, x. 4. ALrrepD’s DescripTiON OF Europe - - - - § 2 Notes.—East-Franks, n. 5—Bavarians, x. 6.—Old Saxons, wm. 8—Anglen, . 9.—Zealand x. 10.—Afdrede, Wylte, Wends, Moravians, ~. 11—15.—Carinthia, Bulgarians, Greeks, the Wisle, Dalamensan, Horithi, Surpe, Sysele, and the Sermende, ». 16—25.—South-Danes, North-Danes, Old-Saxons, Esthonians, Burgundians, Swedes, Cwén-land, Scride-Finns, Northmen, 2. 26—38. OHNTHERE’S FIRST voyaGE round the North cape into the White Sea - - - - - § 3—7 Notes.—Ohthere who, . 39. Northmen, Biarmians, Wal- ruses, Whales, 2. 40—46.—Ohthere’s wealth, country of Northmen, the Cwenas and their boats § 5—7. OHTHERE’S SECOND VOYAGE southward, from Halgoland to Schleswig - - = = 2 § 8-9 Notes.—Halgoland where, 2. 52.—Sciringesheal, 2. 53.— Ireland, Haddeby, the Saxons, Angles, England, x. 54—60. Wutrstan’s voyaGE in the Baltic, from eas m Holstein to Truso in Prussia —- § 10—13 Notes.—Wulfstan who, x. 62.—Truso, Weonodiand: Born- holmians, Blekingey, Vistula, Esthonians, Frische Haff, Elbing, x. 63—77.—Esthonians drink mare’s ilk and mead, na. 78, 79.—Customs of the Esthonians as to their dead § 11.—Hhorse races § 12.—Burning their dead, and their power of producing cold, § 18, x. 84, 85. GREECE - - - - 2 = 2 = - § 14 Ivaty - - * - . 7 2 : § 15 Gaia BELcica—- - - s 2 = : § 16 SPAIN. - - - - - - - - - § 17 THE ISLAND BRITAIN - - - - § 18 Note.—Ireland called Scotland, n. 89. PREFACE. When we speak of the works of King Alfred the Great, it is often asked, in a doubting tone, “ what are the literary works of King Alfred?” In answering this question, it must be acknow- ledged, that, having the instruction and welfare of his people at heart, he made a selection from the most eminent writers, and employed all the time he could spare from public duties in trans- lating, from Latin into Anglo-Saxon, their best and most popular works. The chief of these were,—The Compendious History of the World by Orosius ;—The Ecclesiastical History of Bede ;—The Consolations of Philosophy by Boethius; and Gregory’s Pastoral Care. In these translations, the king did not confine himself to the letter of his author, but used the greatest freedom, exercised his own judgment, and added his own remarks and illustrations, not unfrequently expanding a sentiment, or illustrating a fact of the Latin text into an Essay, and thus, in effect, became the original author of the most instructive Essays. Many of these will be found in Alfred’s Boethius ; and, even in his Anglo-Saxon version of Gregory’s Pastoral Care, which, from his religious feeling, and reverence for Gregory, he translated most literally, the King allowed himself a certain latitude, translating “ sometimes word for word, sometimes meaning for meaning.” ' 1. Hwilum word be worde, hwilum andgit of andgite. Alfred’s Preface to Gregory's Pastoral Care. il PREFACE. But the longest and most important additions, made by Alfred, are inserted in his translation of Orosius. They are the Descrip- tion of Europe and the Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan, contained in the following work. In the Geography or Description of Europe, or as Alfred calls it, Germania, which in his days comprised the whole of Europe, north of the Rhine and the Danube, the king gives all the particulars he could collect from the best authorities of his age, thus filling up the chasm between the time of Orosius and his own, that is, between the commencement of the fifth century and the end of the ninth. Alfred then inserts an account of the very interesting Voyages of Ohthere, a Norwe- gian, who sailed from Halgoland, on the coast of Norway, round the North Cape into the White Sea. Ohthere afterwards made a second voyage from Halgoland to the bay of Christiana, and thence to Schleswig.—Wulfstan’s voyage was altogether in the Baltic, from Schleswig in Denmark to Truso in Prussia. These voyages were written by Alfred, from the relation of these intrepid navigators ; for, in the narration, Wulfstan uses a pronoun of the first person plural’: Alfred also begins his narrative of the first voyage with these remarkable words,—“ Ohthere told his lord King Alfred.” ° These important additions and separate Essays of King Alfred, are very interesting, as his original composition ; and valuable be- cause they contain information relative to the geography of Europe, not otherwise to be obtained, and because they are authentic pictures of the manners and of the political state of the north of Europe, written by a contemporary so early as the ninth century. These narratives also prove the comprehensive nature of Alfred’s active and powerful mind, since he not only invited the most learned to his court, but even seafaring men could not obtain celebrity for their discoveries, without being encouraged by Alfred to communicate the particulars, for the information and advantage of his people. This description of Europe and the account of the Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan, the undoubted compositions of King Alfred, are extracted from the King’s Anglo-Saxon Version of Orosius. There are several other interesting additions made to See 2. § 10, note 66. 3, See § 3, PREFACE. ili Orosius by Alfred, such as the King’s description of a Roman triumph * ;—the appointment of a senate*;—and the account of the temple of Janus,’ but the preceding extract, as the longest uninterrupted episode, is only here given, as it is amply sufficient to shew the value of Alfred’s additions, and the character of his prose style. Like every truly great man, Alfred was conscious that wisdom did not rest with himself alone, he, therefore, diligently availed himself of the knowledge and experience of his predecessors, introducing them to his people in so attractive a form as to gain their attention and sanction. His rightly constituted and firm mind brought the powerful authority of Revelation to his aid ; when, therefore, he published his Laws, he not only availed himself of the best Customs and Enactments of his predecessors, but established them upon the firmest basis, by placing the ten com- mandments of Moses at the head of his Laws. After other valuable extracts from the Book of Exodus, and from the New Testament, he cites our Saviour’s summary of the moral Law, ““ Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them’:” He then uses this appropriate remark,—“ By this one commandment a man may know whether he does justly ; thus, he he has no need of any other Law-book.”* This is the perfection of Christian morality ; indeed, it would he difficult to find, in any collection of Laws of the middle ages, so great an infusion of Christian principles, and such copious extracts from the Scriptures, as are to be found in the Laws of Alfred. He felt his own responsibility so much, that it gave a religious tone to most of his writings. So deep was this impression, that Alfric, the best and most copious Anglo-Saxon writer of the century after Alfred, strongly affirms “ there were not, in the Saxon language, any other religious books in his days, than those translated by Alfred.” ’ Though this assertion may require some limitation, yet it is a satisfactory proof, that the writings of Alfred were very numerous and popular. He wrote well upon other subjects besides religion, . See Orosius Book II: ch 4 § 2.— Bk. II: ch. 4 § 3.—(6) Bk. LIT: ch. 5 § 4. Marr VII, 12. Tuorre’s Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, Vol. I. p. 56. . Id. p. 56. . Preface to Alfric's Homilies, by Thorpe. iv PREFACE. as may be seen in his additions to Boethius and Orosius' : his in- formation was always the best and most accurate, while his opinions and views were ever in advance of his age. Whatever he touched he improved, and left the stamp of his powerful mind upon it. He was noble in heart and thought as well as in action : a king in word, in intellect, and in feeling,—great, in mind as well as in station,—he therefore, well deserves the title, universally assigned to him, of Kinc ALFRED THE GREAT. 1. See § 4 note 44 puge 9. Fecsiniles obpart of Kiig Meds Anglo Saas version of Orosiis, taker thom the Lauderdale Manuserit..the propery, of Jdkev Tollemache Big MP of Belningham Hall, Sabtolhe, and. Parton Casite, Cheshire, heparang Lage Le. Line 6, withithe congraply “a of Europe. Lage. 12. ‘nupile-pe ymbe eupope lon’ sOn dean cean fpamacel fpapehic promirc pron, fFpem pene te 2a nary perc opin paca poo pile ofpdm beonze pemon alpiy hates 7 nid ponne nonp prbee on pay sempeecty aap pepalone umn rmblid pamon byreama hare + oe {*p Bronud pa ea pre eprelme tpnesh pinoy ofpe- par ne qe sip pippan aft wpnthde pS nopipan epecalond wo. onpone pinvelya Jnonp of pone oo pémon Gon yoo bre: binnan pam pindon mongaplda achemon hax: eal peman angle he yyillenoe qfumnedel Dtna- s[benopdan him tpapopeoe peafenop’s pyle ee a ae hde-ybevaftanhim ty pinvda (#) 3d. Land. peman hee pyyyle qraf puY open pumnedel mapoapo. 4 beri aApoapno habbad bepeftanhim? Sypungay. joehemay. jodi pane healfe. qboeyudan him onotpe healpe donua pape vary pdcland ca _ pendne. yud oda beop say peman hdc al pry. cope tLean bron gi liegeS OLS papaland semdhe-. 4fpee fa sThonne be eacan capendpian Lande: beqrondan pan pefeenne:ir pulzgana Land; be vafcan pain iv eneca land,]bevaftan mapo ajo Lande-t yp piple Landy bevafan pain find vacua pao it pdion oe tan; beeaftan nopSan mapo apa: Ayndan. vula menyangbe eaftan valamenfam findon hoprth1- ybenopSan dalomenyram.yindon renpr;bepefcan him. pindon fyyele; benopdan hope 1y-m dda _lond sbenonSan mdxda Lande: pepmen de; o83a beonzas juppin;{bepefcan pudoenum.ip phy san pecsey tapm-pelip ymb ucan pdcland bnivcanma ; qbe non an him ty bey poy cap. peman hd oft re; {bevaitanhim-benopSan him.y ee aeqeuae: hd seonfdin mapnan Landum. Seonpdin 1zlan ovum be rattan him pneee apope de; bepudan him. ty elpe-muda pape va ¥a.qvaloyraxna yumdal, nopSvenr habba® hi ben opvan ponerlecan Tey rain: Yeman oft pe hde; Joe vafcan him yindon ofa. Sa leode; i apoeene-beyuSan; ofa habba’ benopiSan (5) (9%) him: pone tlean Tey tanm 1] PINOOS - Jbupgendas _beyetan him finden hereloan: bunzendan hab 2be¥ pone ylean yey tanm.bepefcan him -4fpeon benopndan 7bevafcan hi pine yepmende7 befudan him supge-{peon habbad besu¥anht. Sou sofy ranin | ofa.yberaftanhim yepmendy.jbenondan ofepdSa pefoanu sy cpenLano. ([bepeican nopidan-himfindon fendefinnaf. sbeperan nopsmenn- (he hey pede iy hlagopoe aleneoe kyninewe. pace valpa » nopS manna-nopSmeys bude. hecpod pet hebude onpd&in Lane nonde prapoum-pwdapefcye. hefoode Yeah. pat pdcland fy fpySelangnopis Panon- achie ir ‘wall pefce bucon on feapii fcopum-. faccem alum press pinnay onhuntade onpmma-jonyumfra - onpaleode beSdre- rye: heyade pdthe d&pumi oyppe poloe pandian hi lange pdeland nos bee ike otde PEPER F&aizman benop San pdm peers bude. payonhe snopS pabce bepdin lande- Léchim ealne p& pd pefeland. onpdt freon bopr.ypa pr ye onbececbono.pny dazas.papdhe fpazrop nopd fpapa hpelhuncan pyppefe papas. papophe ba Bye nopd pyhee- fpahémihee apie oppam prim r dazum Beyeshan.sabeah p&rtand pcp eafe phe o8d¢e flo pe snonpdeland henyfee hpabepr. buron he prfve p&cheparbar. yetcan pinoey odSe hpon., (6) 4o. nopsan, qpreqede panon eafzbelanoe- fpafpahe mee’ onFeopen dag sereglan -pafceolehe bidan pyhee’ hon¥an pinder. ponSan pdcland pap beah pdb otdefeo yx inonpdc Land henyfeehpapyr Sayh leothepanon yu pebee belanor. ipa e ears onpipdaru sey Suan. paldt par aonmycel vo up In fland. pacynponhy upinondaw- fonpdim hyne vonfion pop bebdnw ka peslian. pop unpude. ponsdn pdc Land ph: eallgebuin. on oopvhealyr phe va- Memecee he hr nan gebunlanp. fydSan he ynamhyy agnum ham fop- O chimpdy ealne pes pefceland onpdt freon bod buran pifeenan.y purelenan.yhuntan,+pde pdran eally pannay. qht pBe a pid re onp&cbacbopa- dabvonmar hd}don fpide pull ebuin hypaland- Achinedopfton pen oncuman. AcSanazepnpinnaland phy vall pefce: butan pd hiintan sepicodon -o88t pafcepar. o8de pugelepas. pela {pelle bi yedon Sabeonmas Sh seophypa agent lande-seop pdm Lande: beymbhy utan paran. Ache ny{ee hpd& peby sodty pay. por Sin hehic fly negepeah-payinnas hipubee. 1p. beopmaf. fppcecon ntoh cnyseode. 8p: dose heron. Syoep co racan pd} Lanoty {ceapuns, rier hoy hpe lum. pontdin i habbad: {py de cepele ban. on hy pra topu. pate¥ hy bpohton pume pdin yyninegt (7) (106) qhy no hye brs {piSe we wr woftip papum- -fohpaltr’ micle Ldyya ponne oS pe hpalas.t nebid he Lenspa Sonne fypanelnalans. ac onbiy agnti Land earye beca hpelhunw’. pabeod' eahta anvproptiast vlna lanze.;pamdtcan pipashy elnaLlang. pane heyode ie he fxapum opyLloge- fixay on pam vazum. he pay fpy Se fpedigman: onpn ehuim pe hrona fprda on bead fi 1y onpile pu, behdeoe basye ‘ahtpone c eyninge fohve vampia Deepa: un brboh mo fechane, paveon hthaw¥ Knanoy. pop id pon yx feelhpanay. Sabeod {pyFe oy pne- mid fanni, pon sin hypod papiloan hnanay mip, hepdy mid pee Eypfom mann onpin Lanse. Fede} he prahma tonne openas hpySepa. 4 pena; freapar + w?penasy {pyna. ae byde pé&cheenrde-. he enede midhopfan. Achypa aye ipmdconpdim gopole: peda fin nay him pyload. pki sapolbw onveona felis. onpusela fesenum +hpalf} bane. jon pdm fapp popu. ree ophpelt hyde seponhe.jop fool . G€yhpile aye.” behyy qebypai- febynorfca feall pean. prone man dey fell: pphpaney. yanbenan Fel yoyn ambna petna. jbenenne ky peel. odSeycepenne. regen. Leip hapay hen fy tyxaz elna Lang, open 1d ogh pele: hyde seponhce open oppioley. hefere- St nopS manna Lane. pape fpypetanz+ toy Se- CE) il. Imeel, eal pac bipman apen odde ewocan’ odde epian md pete LY pikSa pee poe. Pir peak onfumi fropum. fpySe cludis, slicga¥ piloe mopay, piveafcan;4 ps5 upp on emnlanqe: pdm bynum Lande. Onpdin mopum vapniay ¥ pinnay. phe byneland 1¢. aloe peand bnavolt. ie pene fpafmelne . vafce pend hiomd bion: ‘fpcaymila bpad, oppehpe nebnoodpe. ‘Jn1d9t peapo prras odsebparpe. ynopr Se peand hecped: pe hic {malofc phpe-phie mth ve beon preopamila bnaz, copem mone femop- Span onfumum fcopum. {pabprad fpamanmd> onzpam pucum ofen fFenan.yonpumum feopum fpa brad. fpamanmds onfyx dazu open penan- Bonnery toemny pein Lanae yudepeanpum -onodpehvalpe pd} monty fpeolans.oppdr Land nop¥e peand.wemner pdin Lande’ nopnse peapou: cpenaland. bacpenay hth so hpi lam ondanopd? men. open Sone mop:hpslum panopSmen onhy. qp&fine {pivemidemenay ph {oe. seonp pamonary. qoepas pacpenaf hypo feypu. opepiland ondamepary | banon henpay onda nope men: hy habbo {ps\Selyele feypa: fpyse eee © hr hene foeoe:F fio fap hazcehalzo Lana, prhtonbude. beeper p&nanman nvbude: benonvan him: sponnery an A pope. onfute peanou pdm anode. ponn einen fer unger heal, prep h vepad” fm annemilce seley (9) (116) lian onanum monde. rypman onnthcpicodeqal ce deere hdeoe ambynne yind- -yealle¥abprte-hefbeal fecsuan belanve- 1 onpde freop bopo. him bis diets ypaland.4bonnedaigland.pefyno beayx ipalande- tptyyum lanow. ponnety pry land oshe cymd vO yapiner} heale-ealne per onpde bee bopr.nopd prs pe pudan. pone fayunszey heal cyl {py Se- ms celye.upinondd&é Land. feo oy bnaxpe ponne dhiz, man opepfeon mde. 17 xot Land onodSne healpe | onzean 1p dayllende. Seo peUS mdhrz hundm la upin onbds land. 4 ofyayunsey heale- heepos Poopestooe onfipdazan. «wphdim pope bemon hd& fe hebum. fefebre beath pmedum -jyeaxum jan le. hypBinondene- Sahe proeppeaneo yeglove- ae fapan sey heale: ‘pa phy him onpdtbecbone. oena mane. jonpde feeopbopd. ployee. bry dazay pa, tpegen dagay Hrhe cohebum come_him pdy on pd foeop-bopd xclano. qllence. yiglanda pela; onpe Landum rapdodon enzle Arbthiohh onlans coman jhymp& Saxpesen vazay ond& becbopd.parcland pes in dene meaner’ hypo: “Pulefean pede Fheze: vone’ ophodum. péche pdx onquso. on. fyyan da sum.nthaim pdopde frp p& valne p& ypnende unde yerle peonodland him pdy on freopbond - Joribeecbope. him pdy Langa land J Lelans]palftQy: (10) CEP} bros pafprpcanhopy-t uNngeEFo Sede] bonavhyy se ee beck pur call afpened. ponnebypdmanhimnr’ uw. e4pop-beepn & midhir pepnu. sop dle fpidofe rallehyy fprra hy por fpenda¥. madpanlangan le we. po dKaDan mannfy Inne. 4p& pehy bep&n pe sum alec Fos. pedapreman oO cepnad nimay: 8 | pa 18 Md foam preap- papa feval colef geSeodey man- beon porbdined; 1SyPhanman anban pirideYunpoyu bdned, hthevfevolan miclii gebecan us [paury « md eafarm an oo mW: pcb magon. ie sepypcan. bop. liczad podradan men {palanre- qnepuliad: id hy pore cae pone gloe hint on peah man oy trCe’ cpecen pheely pull tala. o8Se pacer. hy Gedod. Fopenbiv open pnonen.fam href fimop fampindr- Veen SELBAN BEXVDAN Donua pPAe tas ymbe cneca Land_Llip pye ee fran conftarranopolm. cpeca bys irre yo P ponpras. -qbe nopian sonfearranopolim cpece by: foye re yoreaan: up op pdm ox pefe phe: pe manhds eyxinuf. Thepetean nopdan papebyrs- Ponua muda] pare ev alec pus raft uconSone ye euxinuy- jonyud healpe-. jonpefc healpe. p&-mu | San. findon meeyt cpecaleode. sbepeftan phrebyprs- — findon Graci- berafcan pate by ys; smacetdoni1e{ be re eer pee (23 ) ie. bemanhde egtiifindon athena copay paland jbepefcan pudan copinconayachie$land de pln pendel ya: pay Land fynvon cnecaleode; bepefcan achie. jlany phy penoel peey. yealmana pd Land - onnopShealpe $& ph. oenopdan dalmaxte fin von pulgane. qifjuia.ybeyvdan ipquarye phhdel ye peman hdr oquanci-bepeftan.pabronzy pe manh& alpis.ybenopdan. dc pefchs-fiy beak ca pendan ypulzanum -ponnery italia Land. pefenord- ; Lang ~jeak {ud lang yhre bes pendelye@.jpmbeall utan buton peftan noptan.dcpdin enve- hicbelieg a Sabeonzay. pemanhd& alpiy. paongnOnad pefane fpampempenrel yee. inupbonenye pape deooe.y en. . poSepe.cafe ndalmana $An lanve: dt pdinye. pa land peman hdc po spline belle be eatea pin ippro va pemanhde pin.zbepudan pabeonsay peman hdc alpis.qbepeftan fuidan-yegonyrcs- pemanhde bpico. nifca- ‘Joenondan on ode healye. phy SORTESSEY rap meliybprecannia: pécLand bepeftan Lge peips’ aequitamatLand. Ybefupan equicaniaippdplon dey pumdeeL napbo nenye.] bepetan pudanifpania. Land: TPS: pefcan sonyiey befuYan nanbonthye. wre penoel yc. parbth jiodan yrora a uckeye ‘jbevafean him pnopentye. be pefan him propenr pe-open 5a peftenu-feouy nrane1y pania-bepefcan him ‘ (14) It nopdan equicania-y pak canben op San. propbscye h&¥ benopSanhype pabrop may: peman olpryhdt joe fudanhype 1y prnoelypor- sbenopdan hype 4 vafcan: Lynd bun gende. 4patcan bepefcan- J ~pama land ty bry feyoe. -jeall mid pleoce uran ymbhdpD, Zerac: binnan ymbhd» open dalandé hen Seon Pam son reese: seopdam pendel ae: anvana canta uy pudypefc on zean de gland. pesaréy hacce.. opGreate onzean b& land nanbo nti pes jypedudda nopy pete - ongran bruzganna sallia buph.jon sean {eotland © open Bone ydp eapun- onseny hon gean pdhe mudan 7 pemonh& {ene feo uy Ppne 1ppania-hypeiy be peftan waptecs-yoenondan penoelye- befuSan qbe eafcan.ftouy neanne ippania benopdan p&hhiefync equitama-benopSan caftan- 1yre peals pipenry be eaftan nanbonenyw.7befudan penodely ce. buc tannia pdeizgland-hic ty nop eafelang-y hic 1y eahra_ hund milo Lang, [pahund mlabnad. bonneipbe sudan him‘on ore healpe pcQ- re eapmer calla bellica..y on pec healpe onopneheal pee ph rh rap mey- 17 tbtania pdergland.jonnon¥ healpe opcaduy péerslanv-igbennia Fpefcorland haro¥threry ¢ on edcebRale? smb pansth mad gam feesy. 4ponSon pe | fio fanne’ bar setneap onyect } ponnvoncdspum Lander hhh fyndon Ly¥pan ney neonbnfccan (15) (£68) nia ponnebepefcan nopSan ibepmaippde yee ve land. pf man hd chile. hivip peapum mannt ay.ponddhe open pynne nuh ébbepe ceyad smbe ; Zz Loe valle eunope land semdho. huhi colicyoe = / A DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, AND THE VOYAGES OF OHTHERE AND WULFSTAN, WRITTEN IN ANGLO-SAXON BY KING ALFRED THE GREAT. 1. Nu wille we ymb Eurépe land-gemere reccan, swa mycel swa we hit fyrmest witon.—Fram pere e4 Danais, west 05 Rin Sa ed, (seo wyld of pam beorge pe man Alpis het, and yrnd ponne noré-ryhte on pes garsecges earm, pe pet land utan-ymb °Ji3, pe man Bryttannia het;)—and eft su3 op Donua pa ea (pere zewylme is neah pzere ea Rines, and is siddan east yrnende wid [norpan] Creca land Gt on pone Wendel-sz ;)—and nord op pone garsecg, pe man Cwen-see’ het: binnan pem syn- don manega Seoda; ac hit man het eall, Germania. '» 2. Ponne wyd nordan Donua zwylme, and be eastan Rine syndon East-Francan; and be sudan him syndon Sweefas, on opre healfe pzre ea Donua; and be sudan him, and be eastan, syndon Begd-ware, se del pe man Regnes burh het; and rihte be eastan him syndon Beme; and east-nord sindon ' Dyringas; and be nordan him syndon Eald-Seaxan, and be nordan-westan him syndon Frysan; and be westan Eald- Seaxum is Atlfe-muda pere e4 and Frysland; and peanon, west-nord is pat land, pe man Angle het, and Sillende, and sumne del Dena; and be nordan him is Apdrede, and 1 2 KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 1, 2. east-nor8 Wylte, 8e man [Hefeldan] het; and be eastan him is Wineda Jand, pe man het Sysyle ; and east-sud, ofer sumne del, Maroaro ; and hi Maroaro habbad, be westan him, Dyrin- gas, and Behemas, and Begware healfe ; and be sudan him, on odre healfe Donua pere e4, is pat land Carendre, sud 03 da s beorgas pe man het Alpis. To pem ilcan beorgum licgad Begd-wara land-gemere, and Swefa; and ponne, be eastan Carendran lande, begeondan pem westenne, is Pulgara land ; and be eastan pem is Creca land; and be eastan Maroaro- lande is Wisle-land; and be eastan pm sind Datia, pa pe it 1 weron Gotan. Be [norpan-eastan] Maroara syndon Dalamen- san, and be eastan Dalamensam sindon Horithi, and be nor- San Dalomensam sindon Surpe, and be westan him sindon Sysele. Be nordan Horiti is Magda lond, and be nordan Megia lande [sindon| Sermende, 05 da beorgas Riffin.—And 1s be westan Sud-Denum is pes garsecges earm pe lip ymb- utan pet land Brittannia; and be nordan him is pees ses earm, pe man heet Ost-sze; and be eastan him, and be nordan him, syndon Nord-Dene, egpzr ge on pem maran landum, ge on pam iglandum ; and be eastan him syndon Afdrede; and be sudan 2 him is A2]fe-mupa pee e4, and Eald-Seaxna sum del. Nord- Dene habbad him be nordan pone ilcan ses earm, pe man Ost-sze~ het; and be eastan him sindon Osti 3a leode; and Afdreede be sudan. Osti habbad be nordan him pone ilcan ses earm, and Winedas and Burgendas; and be sudan him sindon Heefeldan. 25 Burgendan habbad pone ylcan sas earm be westan him, and Sweon be nordan; and be eastan him sint Sermende,and be sudan him Surfe. Sweon habbad be sudan him done sas earm Osti; and be eastan him Sermende; and be nordan [him] ofer Sa wéstennu is Cwén-land; and be westan-nordSan him sindon 2 Scride-Finnas, and be westan Nordmenn. 3. “Ohthere szede his hlaforde, Alfrede [cyninge], pet he ealra Noré-manna nordmest bude. He cwed pet he bude on pam lande nordeweardum wid a west sie’, He seede Seah peet peet land sy swyde lang nord panon; ac hit is eall weste, buton on: feawum stowum, sticcemelum wiciad Finnas,—on huntade on wintra, and on sumera on fiscode be deere se”: He sede pet he, at sumum cyrre, wolde fandian hti lange pet land nord- rihte lege; od5e hweper enig man be nordan pam westene OHTHERE’S RESIDENCE AND FIRST VOYAGE, § 3—5. 3 bude. Pa for he nord-rihte be pam lande: let him ealne weg pzet weste land on peet steor-bord, and pa wid sz on beec-bord, pry dagas. Pa wees he swa feor nord swa pa hwel-huntan fyrrest fara3. Pa for he pa gyt nord-ryhte, swa [feor swa] he *mihte, on pem oprum prim dagum, geseglian. Da beah pet land per east-ryhte, odd3e sio see’ in on pet land, he nyste hweeper; buton he wiste pat he pzr bad westan windes, od3e hw6n nordan, and seglede panon east be Jande, swa swa he mihte on feower dagum geseglian. Pa sceolde he [Ser] bidan ryhte '* nordan windes ; fordan pet land per beah suéd-rihte, odde seo see’ in on peet land, he nyste hweeper. Da seglede he panon sud-rihte be lande, swa swa he mihte on fif dagum geseglian. Pa leg per an mycel ea up in [on] pet land: pa cyrdon hy” up in on da ea, forpam hy ne dorston ford be pere ed seglian “for unfride, fordzem pet land wes eall gebiin, on odre healfe pere ed. Ne mette he er nan gebtn land, syddan he fram hys agnum hame fér; ac him wees ealne weg weste land on pet steor-bord butan fisceran, and fugeleran, and huntan, and pet [weeron] ealle Finnas; and him wes 4 wid se’ on pet beec- * bord. Da Beormas hefdon swide well gebiin hyra land, ac hi ne dorston per on cuman; ac dara Terfinna land wes eall weste, butan per huntan gewicodon, cdde fisceras, odde fu- geleras. 4. Fela spella him saedon 3a Beormas, egper ge of hyra **agenum lande, ge of pam [landum}, pe ymb hy’ utan weran : ac he nyste hweet pes sodes wees, fordem he hit sylf ne ge- seah. Pa Finnas, him puhte, and pa Beormas spreecon neah an gedeode. Swidost he for Syder, to-eacan pes landes sceaw- unge, fordem hors-hwelum, fordem hi habbad swyde epele *° ban on hyra topum : pa ted hy brohton sume pem [cyninge] ; and hyra hyd bid swide god to scip-rapum. Se hwel bid micle lassa ponne odre hwalas: ne bid he lengra donne syfan elna lang; ac, on his agnum lande, is se betsta hwel-huntad: pa beod eahta and feowertiges elna lange, and pa mestan, fiftiges *s elna lange; para, he sede, pet he syxa sum ofsloge syxtig on twam dagum. 5. He wes swyde spedig man, on pem xhtum, pe heora speda on beod, pet is, on wildrum. He heefde pa gyt, da he 4 OHTHERE’S FIRST VOYAGE FROM HALGOLAND TO CWEN-S&, § 5—‘. pone cyninge sohte, tamra deora unbebohtra syx hund. Pa deor hi hataS hranas: para weron syx stel-hranas, da beod swySe dyre mid Finnum, forSem hy fod pa wildan hranas mid. He wes mid pem fyrstum mannum on pem lande, nefde he peah ma Sonne twentig hrySera, and twentig sceapa, and twen- » tig swyna ; and pet lytle pet he erede, he erede mid horsan: ac hyra ar is mest on pem gafole, pe 3a Finnas him gyldaS; pet gafol bid on deora fellum, and on fugela fed- erum, and hwales bane, and on pem scip-rapum, pe beod of hweeles hyde geworht, and of seoles. A&ghwile gylt be hys ge- 1 byrdum : se byrdesta sceall gyldan fiftyne meardes fell, and fif hranes, and an beran fel, and tyn ambra fedra, and berenne kyrtel oSSe yterenne, and twegen scip-rapas; egper sy syxtig elna lang, oper sy of hweles hyde geworht, oper of sioles. 6. He seede det nordmanna land were swype lang and swySe 15 sme]. Lal pat his man aper odde ettan odde erian meg, pet li3 wid da se’; and pet is peah, on sumum stowum, swyéde clu- dig ; and licgad wilde moras wid eastan, and wid upp on emn- lange peem bynum lande. On peem morum eardiad Finnas ; and pet byne land is easteweard bradost, and symle swa nordor swa 2 smelre. Eastewerd hit mag bion syxtig mila brad, oppe hwene bredre ; and middeweard pritig o83e bradre ; and norde- weard, he cweed, per hit smalost were, pet hit mihte beon preora mila brad to bem more; and se mor sydpan, on sumum stowum, swa brad swa man meg on twam wucum oferferan ; 2 and, on sumum stowum, swa brad swa man meg on syx dagum oferferan. 7. Donne is to-emnes pem lande suSeweardum, on odre healfe pees mores, Sweoland, op pet land nordeweard; and to-emnes peem lande nordeweardum, Cwena land. Pa Cwenas % hergiad hwilum on 5a nord-men ofer Sone mor, hwilum pa nord-men on hy; and peer sint swide micle meras fersce geond pa moras; and berad pa Cwenas hyra scypu ofer land on da meras, and panon hergiad on 8a nord-men. Hy habbad swyde lytle scypa, and swySe leohte. a5 8. Ohthere sede pet sio scir hatte Halgoland, pe he on bude. He cweed pet nan man ne bude be norSan him. Ponne OHTHERE’S SECOND VOYAGE § 8, 9—WULFSTAN’S VOYAGE § 10—13. 5 is 4n port on suSeweardum peem lande, pone man het Sciringes heal. Pyder he cweed, pet man ne mihte geseglian on anum monde, gyf man on niht wicode, and elce dege hefde ambyrne wind ; and, ealle 5a hwile, he sceal seglian be lande :—and, on + beet steor-bord him, bid zrest [Isaland], and ponne &a igland pe synd. betux [Isalande] and pissum lande. Ponne is pis land 03 he cym to Scirincges heale ; and ealne weg, on peet beec-bord Nordweg. Wid sudan pone Sciringes heal fyl8 swyde mycel s& up in on det land: seo is bradre ponne zaig man oferseon 10 meege ; and is Gotland on odre healfe ongean, and sidda Sillen- de. Seo sé lid mznig hund mila up in on pet land. 9. And of Sciringes heale, he cwed peet he séglode on fif da- gan, to pem porte pe mon het et H&pum, se stent betuh Winedum, and Seaxum, and Angle, and hyrdin on Dene. Dahe 1s piderweard séglode fram Sciringes heale, pa wees him on pet bec-bord Dénamearc; and, on pet steor-bord, wid s® pry dagas ; and, pa twegen dagas zr he to Hepum come, him wes on peet steor-bord Gotland, and Sillende, and iglanda fela. On pem landum eardodon Engle, zr hy hider on land [comon]. 2 And hym wees &4 twegen dagas, on det beec-bord, pa igland, pe in Denemearce hyraé. 10. Wulfstan sede pet he gefore of Hedum,—pet he were on Truso on syfan dagum and nihtum,—peet pet scip wees ealne weg yrnende under segle. Weonodland him wes on steor- 2 bord; and on beec-bord him wes Langa land, and Léland, and Falster, and Scon eg ; and pas land eall hyrad to Denemearcan. And ponne Burgenda land wes us on bec-bord, and pa habbad him sylf cyning. Ponne efter Burgenda lande, weron us das land, pa synd hatene rest Blecinga ég, and Meore, and Kow- soland, and Gotland, on beec-bord ; and pas land hyrad to Swéon. And Weonodland wes us ealne weg, on steor-bord, 03 Wisle- miidan. Seo Wisle is swyd5e mycel éa, and hio tolid Witland, and Weonodland ; and St Witland belimped to E’stum ; and seo Wisle li8 tit of Weonodlande, and lid in E’stmere; and se Est- 3s mere is huru fiftene mila brad. Ponne cymed IIfing eastan in Estmere of 5am mere, Se Truso standed in stade; and cumad tit samod in E'stmere, Ilfing eastan of Eastlande, and Wisle siSan of Winodlande ; and ponne benimS Wisle Ifing hire naman, and 2 6 WULFSTAN’S VOYAGE—ESTHONIAN FUNERAL RITES § 10—13. ligeS of pam mere west, and nord on sé ; fordy hit man het Wisle-miiSa. Pzt Eastland is swySe mycel, and per bid swyde manig burh, and on zlcere byrig bid cyninge ; and peer bid swyde mycel hunig, and fisca3; and se cyning and pa ricostan men drincaS myran meolc, and pa unspedigan and pa péowan 5 drincaS medo. Per bid swySe mycel gewinn betweonan him ; and ne bid Ser nenig ealo gebrowen mid E’stum, ac peer bid médo genoh. 11. And peer is mid E’stum Seaw, ponne per bid man dead, pet he lid inne unforberned mid his magum and freondum 1 monad,—gehwilum twegen: and pa [cyningas] and pa odre heah-Sungene men, swa micle lencg swa hi maran speda habbaéd, hwilum healf-géar, pat hi beod unforberned ; and licgad bufan eordan on hyra husum : and ealle pa hwile, pe pet lic bid inne, peer sceal beon gedrync, and plega, 05 done deg, pe hi hine forbernad. 12. Ponne, py ylcan dege, hi hine to peem ade beran wyllad, ponne todzlad hi his feoh, pat per to lafe bid efter pem gedrynce, and pam plegan, on fif od8e syx, hwylum on ma, swa swa pees feos andefn bid. Alecgad hit donne forhwaga 2 on anre mile pone mestan dé#l fram pzm tune, bonne oderne, Sonne pene priddan, oppe hyt eall aled bid on pere anre mile ; and sceall beon se leesta dzl nyhst pam tune, Se se deada man on hd. Donne sceolon beon gesamnode ealle 84 menn, Se swyftoste hors habbad on pem lande, forhwaega on fif 2 milum, od8e on syx milum, fram pem feo. Ponne emad hy ealle toweard pm feo : donne cymed se man, se pet swifte hors hafad, to pem erestan dele, and to pem mestan, and swa zlc efter odrum, op hit bid eall genumen; and se nimd pone lestan deel, se nyhst bem tune, pet feoh geérned: and ponne 20 rideS ele hys weges mid San feo, and hyt motan habban eall ; and fordy par beod pa swiftan hors ungefége dyre. And ponne hys gestreon beod pus eall aspended, ponne byr3 man hine tit, and forberned mid his wapnum and hregle: and swidost ealle hys speda hy forspendad, mid pan langan legere 3 pzes deadan mannes inne, and pes pe hy be pem wegum alecgad, pe 3a fremdan to ernad, and nimad. OF GREECE, ITALY, AND GALLIA BELGICA § 14—16. 7 13. And pet is mid E’stum peaw, pet per sceal elces ge- deodes man beon forberned ; and gyf par man 4n ban finded unforbeerned, hi hit sceolan miclum gebetan.—And_ peer is mid Eastum an megs, pet hi magon cyle gewyrcan; and py per 5 licgad pa deadan men swa lange, and ne fuliad, pet hy wyrcad pone cyle hine on: and, peah man asette twegen feetels full ealad, odd3e weeteres, hy gedod pet oper bid oferfroren, sam hit sy sumor, sam winter. 14. Nu wille we secgan be sudan Donua pere éa ymbe Creca 10 land, [pe] hp wyd eastan Constantinopolim, Creca byrig, is se sé Propdnditis: and be nordan Constantinopolim, Creca byrig, sc¥t se s@-earm up of pem se west rihte, pe man het Euxinus; and, be westan norSan pere byrig, Donua muda pere éa scyt sud-east ut on Sone s#@ Euxinus; and, on sud- 1 healfe, and on west-healfe pas mudan, sindon Moesi, Creca leode; and, be westan pere byrig, sindon Traci; and, be eastan bere byrig, Macedonie: and, be supan pere byrig, on sud-healfe pees sees earmes, pe man het Egéum, sindon ‘Athéna, and Corintus pa land: and, be westan-sudan Corinton, 2 is A’chie paet land, eet peem Wendel-sz. Pas land syndon Creca leode. And be westan Achie, andlang pzs Wendel-sés, is Dal- matia pet land, on nord-healfe pes sas; and be nordan Dal- matia sindon Pulgare, and Istria: and be sudan Istria is se Wendel-sé, pe man het Atriaticum; and be westan pa beor- 2 gas, pe man het Alpis; and be nordan pet westen, pet is betux Carendan and Fulgarum. 15. Ponne is Italia land west-nord lang, and east-sud lang ; —and hit beliS Wendel-s& ymb eall utan buton westan-nordan. ‘Et pem ende, hit belicgad 3a beorgas, pe man het Alpis: pa soonginnad westane fram pam Wendel-se#, in Narbonense pere Seode and endiad eft east in Dalmatia pzm lande, et pam se. 16. Pa land pe man het Gallia Bellica.—Be eastan pam is sio €a, pe man heet Rin, and be sudan pa beorgas pe man het Alpis, and be westan-sudan se garsecg, pe man hat Brit- as tanisca; and be nordan, on odre healfe pes garsegges earme is Brittannia pet land. Be westan Ligore is A.quitania land ; and be supan AXquitania is pes landes sum del Narbonense ; 8 OF SPAIN AND BRITAIN, § 17, 18. and, be westan-sudSan, Ispania land; and be westan garsegc. Be sudan Narbonense is se Wendel-s&, peer paer Redan seo ea ut scyt; and be eastan him [Profentse], and be westan him [Profentse] ofer 5a westenu, seo us nearre Ispania; and be wes- tan him and norSan Equitania, and Wascan be nordan. Pro- s fentsé heefS be norSan hyre pa beorgas, pe man Alpis hét, and be sudan hyre is Wendel-se ; and be nordan hyre and eastan synd Burgende, and Wascan be westan. 17. Ispania iand is pry-scyte, and eall mid fleote utan ymbhefd, ge eac binnan ymbhefd ofer da land, egper ge of pam garsec- 1 ge, ge of 5am Wendel-se: dn Sera garena lid sud-west ongean pet igland, pe Gadés hatte; aud oper east ongean pat land Narbonense ; and se dridda nord-west ongean Brigantia Gallia .burh, and ongean Scotland, ofer done sees earm, on geryhte ongean pene mudan pe mon heet Scéne. Seo us fyrre Ispania, 15 hyre is be westan garsecg, and be nordan; Wendel-s& be sudan, and be eastan, seo us nearre Ispania; be nordan pzre synt Equitania; and, be nordan-eastan, is se weald Pireni, and be eastan Narbonense, and be sudan Wendel-s&. 18. Brittannia peet igland :—hit is nord-east lang, and hit is 2 eahta hund mila lang, and twa hund mila brad. Ponne is be sudan him, on odre healfe pas s&s earmes, Gallia Bellica; and on west-healfe, on opre healfe pees sees earmes, is Ibernia pet igland; and, on nord-healfe, Orcadus pet igland. Igbernia, pet we Scotland hatad, hit is on zlce healfe ymbfangen mid 2s garsecge ; and fordon pe sid sunne peer geed near on setl, ponne on odrum lande, peer syndon lySran wedera, ponne on Brittan- nia. Ponne be westan-nordan Iberniais pat ytemeste land, pat man het Thila; and hit is feawam mannum cud, for Sere ofer-fyrre.—Nu hebbe we gesad ymbe ealle Europe land- so gemero, hu hr tolicgad. THE END OF THE ANGLO-SAXON TEXT. NOTES AND VARIOUS READINGS. The Anglo-Saxon printed text follows the Cotton MS. and what is from the Lauderdale MS. is inserted in brackets [ ], the particulars being given in the notes. The exact reading of each MS. will thus be at once evident. In the MSS. the punctuation is imperfect, and often confused. The scribe of the Cotton MS. generally used a period for our present comma, semicolon and colon; and often for our period or full stop. For our period, a (;) or (:) and sometimes an inverted semicolon (‘) and more frequently a colon with a dash after it, is used. To obviate this confusion, the Anglo-Saxon printed text follows the present English punctuation. All the quotations from the Lauderdale and the Cotton MSS. are made to represent the MS. as nearly as possible in letters, accents and points. In these respects, as well as in the division of words, the scribes have made absurd mistakes. Even these are left un- altered in the quotations, that scholars, to whom the various read- ings will be chiefly useful, may see the exact state, as well as the readings of the MSS. In referring to the printed Anglo-Saxon text, it must be observed, that, in the following various readings, the pages and lines are given in arabic numerals, and the words in each line are denoted by small Romaz letters, the first word by a, the second by b, and so on in succession : thus, la denotes dine 1, word 1 :—and 4h denotes line 4 word 8, as his the 8th letter in the alphabet. C. stands for the Cotton MS. bia sia the Lauderdale MS. Wisge o wanting or omitted. Pace 1, dine 1a. Nu wille we ymb europe lond gemero areccean swa micel swawe hit fyrmest witon; From pere ie danais, west oprin pa ea seo wild ofpem beorge pe mon alpis hett and irnd L.—4h. petlond uton ymb 1id pe mon bryttannia hett L.—60d. ewielme is neah rines ofre pere ie (near the bank of the river Rhine) ond is sippan east irnende wid norpan crecalond ut on pone wendels#@ L.—7a. C. has wid creca land—omitting norpan.—8d. pemon cwen sz het L.—8s. sindon monega peoda achit mon het eall germania. L. line 10a. ponne wid norpan donua & wielme L.—1la. sindon east francna L.—12c. pere ié donua L.—13a. sindon beg ware se dz] pe mon regnes burg heett ond ryhte be eastan him sindon beeme 2 NOTES AND VARIOUS READINGS. ond east norp sindon pyringa L.—16e. sindon frisan L.—17d. pere ie ond frisland ond ponan L.—18c. pet lond pe mon ongle het L.— 19d. dene L.—19h. him C.— 19 &. afdrede L. Pace 2, line 16. wilte pe mon hz feldan hett L.—le. &feldan C. —2b. wineda lond pe mon hett sysyle L.—2k. ofer sum deel maro- ara L.—3b. maroara L.—4e. beg ware L.—6d. pe mon alpis het to pzm ilcan beorgan licgaS beg waraland gemexro L.—89. londe begeondam L.—9/. maroara londe is wisle lond L.—1 1c. be sou hea eastan maroara sindon dala ment san L.—11c. be eastan nordan C.—11g. dala ment san sindon horigti L—11g. dala ment san L.— 13:. sindon w. L.—14d. horoti L.—14z. benorpan mzgba londe ser mende oppa beorgas riffen L.—l5e. sindon w. L. C.—15z. And w. L—16d. is pas s&s earm bemon het ost s# L.—18m. him w. L.—19c. egper L.—21d. pere ie L: 21%. nord dene habbaS benorpan him L.—22k. pemon het ost se L.—23l. afrede L—24f. him C.—24f. him pone ilcan sees earm ond winedas ond burgendan L.—26d. ylcan w. L. which has pone ses earm—29i. him w. C—29k. oferpawestenne iscwenland L.— 31a. scride finne L—3le. norp menn L; nordmenn C. Line 32a. Oht here. the O a red capital in C: ohthere L. oppo- site this word on the right margin and in a recent hand, is written “Hic incipit Periplus Ohtheri.— 32f. kynincge C.—32g. pet he ealranord monna norp mest bude L.—34g. he sede peah pet land sie swipe lang norp ponan. L.—36c. stycce malum L.—36g. on huntode L.—37f. on fiscabe L—37k. hé C.—38d. cirre L—38g. hu longe L.—38£. norp ryhte L.—39f. mon L—394. westenne L. Pace 3, line 1d hé C.—2i. lét him C.—3a. prie dagas L.—4a. firrest farab Pafor he pagiet norp ryhte swa feor swa he meahte L.—4hk. feor swa w. C.—4m hé C.—5g gesiglan. pabeay peet land ge- seglian d5abeah pzet land.—6d oppe seo s& in on det Jond henysse hweeder buton he wisse det he dzer bad westan windes ond hwon norpan ond siglde da east belande swaswahe meahte L.—8/. hé C._— 9d gesiglan pasceolde he Szr bidan ryht norpan windes for Sam pzet land beag per supryhte. Obbe seo sé L.—11f he nysse L.— 112 pasiglde he ponan sud ryhte belande swaswahe melite on fif dagum ge siglan—l3g tip C.—13h in on pet land L. on w. C.— 13m pacirdon hie up in onda ea forpem hie nedorston forp bipere ea siglan forun fripe L—15/ gebun onopre healfe pre eas. L.— 16e he zer nan gebunland sippan he from his agnum ham for L.— 18c¢ butan fiscerum ond fugelerum ond huntum ond pet weron’ eall finnas L.—196 weeran C.— 20e swipe wel gebiid hird land L.— 20c, 24f, 27h In the L. one stroke of the m has been scratched out, making the name Beornas, but the open space and the parts of the other stroke appear.—22d hintan C. line, 24i of hiera agnum ge oppem landum pe ymb hie 3 NOTES AND VARIOUS READINGS. 3 utan weron L—25f lande C.—26h forpem hehit self L: 26% he hét sylf C—29b horse hwelum L.—29¢ hie habbad swipe L.— 306. on hiora topum pated hie brohton sume peem cyninge ond hiora hyd L.-—30/. cynincge C.—31d hYdis the last word of page 14 L. The preceding quotations and references, from L. have been so ample and precise, as to give complete clauses which differed from C. in little more than the spelling of the words. This was done to shew the exact character of the L. In future the refer- ences to L. will be much shortened, and till chapter IX, § 1 omitted from the deficiency of L.—The next eight leaves have been torn out of the L. MS. and eight parchment leaves inserted. On six of these, there is a transcript written in a small and modern hand, from the Cotton MS. It is badly and incorrectly written. Then follow two blank leaves, completing the eight inserted leaves. The Lauderdale MS. begins again at Chapter IX § 1.—At the foot of p. 14 of L. is written “ Hic desiderantur VIII folia, que suppe- ditari possunt e Cod. Cottoniano.”—Dr Marshall gives the fol- lowing note in the Junian transcript of Orosius p. 10. Hic incipit lacuna in Cod. MS. Lauderdal. qua laborat usque ad cap. IX lib. I. p. 20. Ingram’s Lect. p. 61 note 9. The transcript made from the Cotton MS. to fill up the chasm in the Lauderdale, is so imperfect, that I was anxious to have a facsimile of the Cotton MS. of those pages that were wanting in the Lauderdale. These facsimiles were made by those most eminent Lithographers, Messrs Nethercliff and son; and, to secure the greatest accuracy, every letter was most carefully compared. and revised three times by myself, at the British Museum. A very few copies, intended chiefly for presents, were printed on tinted paper to resemble the colour of the MSS. with the following ~ title, “A description of Europe and the Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan, written in Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred the Great”; printed on thick paper in large 4to. A facsimile copy was printed on parchment to insert into the Lauderdale MS. partly at the expence of the owner of the L. John Tollemache Esq. The Lauderdale MS. is, therefore, now as complete as it is possible to be made. It consists of 171 pages very legibly written. It is in good preservation, every word of it being preserved, except what has been torn from theMS. that is 8 leaves or 16 pages from p. 14 to 30, which are accurately copied from the Cotton MS. 31h scip rapum. se hw&l C.—32g hé C—35h syxasum C. hence Rask’s division into syx asum is not impossible, but he thinks asum stands for ascum. See the English translation p. 43, n. 46. Gough says—“ If I were to propose a different reading, it should be that of fyxa for syxa, which might be easily mistaken by a copier, and then it would be some fishes.” Goucu’s MS. notes in 4 NOTES AND VARIOUS READINGS. his copy of Orosius, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, p. 23—I have allowed the text to remain unaltered for the reasons given in the notes to my translation. - Pace 3, line 38g In C. eo is placed between and a little above d and r, making wildeorum: some have therefore supposed the word to represent wild-deorum; but the eo is in a different hand and a lighter ink, and another d must be inserted.—Dr Ingram takes wildrum to be the d. pl. of wildra the comparative of wild which refers to zhtum above. Lecture p. 62 note k.— 38n. hé C. Pace 4, line 13f. scip rapas C. line 15a. Hé C.—16d. his C :—36a. Ohthere C.—36:. he C. Pace 5, 1h. ponne C. but apparently an error for pone.—11 Sci- ringes heal C.—5d him C. 5f, 6dira land C. The reason for insert- ing Isaland in the Text, see Eng. Trans. b. I: c. 2, § 18, note 54.— Te Scirincges heale C. 8a C. has, as in the text, nord weg wid sudan. An e is joined to the g, and bi written above in a different ink, and ina more modern form of letter, making this unnecessary repetition—nordwege bi wid.—11/ pet land and of sciringes heale. C. Line 12e. hé C.—13k. sé C.—14h. in C.—14m. hé C.—152. on peet beecbord. déna mearc C.—19%. coman and hywes datwegen dagas C.—210. in dene mearce C. Line 22a. Wulfstan C. is in the middle of a line but begins with a Capital filled with red.—22d. hé C.—22i. hé C.—25k 1 land and falster and scén eg C.—28i. tis C_—31d. fis C_—356. fs C. Pace 6, line 11. it C.—4d. in C. fiscaS has an n inserted above the line between c and a, but the n is in a recent hand and ink, and unnecessary.—5f. tin spedigan C.—85. Here Wulfstan’s voyage ends in Hakluyt. - 30c. hys C. Line 10b. hé C.—10g. his C.—1I1f. kyningas C. Line 17d. dege, the e in a recent hand and a lighter ink, but dege is right, for py ilcan in d. or abl.—27g. sé C.—3]f. 5an for pam. Pace 7, 9a. Here commences the 4th Paragraph in C. 106. In the C. pe, in a recent hand and ink, is inserted above the line before lid. The sentence appears incomplete. The C. has Ymbe creca land lip wyd eastan.—12e fip C. Line 30f. innrbonense, the second n altered to a, making inarbonense C. Pace 8, line 3g. profent se C.—4a. profent s@ C.—7e. hyre C—7i hyre C. Line 151. is C. Line 27k brettannia, C._—30c. h&bbe, C. THE END OF THE VARIOUS READINGS. A LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, BY KING ALFRED THE GREAT, WITH HIS RELATION OF OHTHERE’S VOYAGE ROUND THE NORTH CAPE INTO THE WHITE SEA, &*. 1. Now we will speak, as much as we know, about the boun- daries of Eurore.—From the river Don, westward to the river Rhine, (which springs from the Alps, and then runs right north into the arm of the ocean, that lies around the country called Britain ;)—and again south to the river Danube, (whose spring is *The following description of Europe, and the voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan, with other particulars, are extracted from King Alfred’s Anglo-Saxon Version of the Historian Orosius. Pavuus Orosrus was a Spanish Presbyter, born in the latter part of the fourth century at Tarragona, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He was induced by his friend 8. Augustine, to write an historical work in defence of Christianity, and his book, written on Christian principles, became very popular. In the time of king Alfred, Orosius was so well known as an historian, that his name was commonly used instead of the title of his work, This is evident, from Alfred’s in- troductory sentence :—“ Here beginneth the book, which men call Orosius.” This com- pendious history of the world from the creation to the year 415, was held in the highest esteem, and it was chosen by the first man of his age, our Guorxtous Kine ALFRED, as a book worthy to he translated by him into Anglo-Saxon—the English of his day—to teach his people history. It is not a mere translation,—for, as in his other works, so in his Orosius, besides adding new illustrative clauses, sentences, and paragraphs of his own, Alfred has here given a most interesting Essay on the position, and state of European nations, between his own age and that of Orosius. Alfred also wrote a minute account of three voyages, in the ninth century, from the reports of two Northern Navigators, Ohthere and Wulfstan. These important ad- ditions of King Alfred are very interesting, as his original composition. They naturally divide themselves into three parts. 1. The Description of Europe. 2. The two voyages of Ohthere. 3. The voyage of Wulfstan. 4 KING ALFRED’S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE. § 2. Afdrede, '* and north-east the Wylte, ” who are called Heefeldan To the east of them is the country of the Wends ®, whoare called Sysyle ; *t and south-east, at some distance, the Moravians.'® These Moravians have, to the west of them, the Thuringians, and Bohem- ians, and part of the Bavarians. To the south of them, on the other side of the river Danube, is the country, Carinthia, * [lying] south to the mountains, called the Alps. To the same mountains extend the boundaries of the Bavarians, and of the Suabians ; and then, to the east of the country Carinthia, beyond the desert, is the country of the Bulgarians ;"” and, to the east of them, the 11 The Laud MS. always has Afdrede [p. 12, 1. 231: 13, 1le, 14g] Cotton has Afdrede in fol. 9a, 1. 21g: Afdreede, fol. 9a, 25d; and Apdrede, in fol. 8b. 24g. Alfred’s Afdrede, were the Obotriti or Obotrita, a Slavonic tribe, who, in the 9th century, dwelt north of the Old-Saxons, and occupied the western, and the greater part of what is now the Duchy of Mecklenburg. Hameson, Notes anp Qrs. No. 17, p. 257. Thorpe’s An. Glos. 12 The Wylte, or Wilte, were a Slavonic race, that occupied the eastern part of Mecklenburg, and the Mark of Brandenburg. Eiginhard says, ‘‘ They are Slavonians who, in our manner, are called Wilsi, but in their own language, Welatibi.”” [Vir. Kar. Maen. and Annat. Francor. ann. 822.] The name, as Eiginhard has noticed, is Slavonic, and is an adoption of welot or weolot a Grant, to denote the strength and fierceness which made them formidable neighbours. Hampson.—Why the Wilti were sometimes called Heveldi [Alfred’s Hzefeldan, Laup. p. 12, 1. 24g: e’feldan C. C. fol. 8b, 25c] will appear from their location, as pointed out by Ubbo Emmius: “ Wiisos, Henetorum gentem, ad Havetam trans Albim sedes habentem.” [Rer. Faris. Hist. 1. IV, p. 67] Schaffarik remarks; “ Die Stoderaner und Havonaner waren ein und deselbe, nur durch zwei namen unterscheidener zweig des WeLETEN stammes.”’ Albinus says: “ Es sein aber die richten Witzen Wender sonderlich an der Havezt wonhaft.”” They were frequently designated by the name of Lurici, as appears from Adam of Bremen, Helmold, and others. The Slavonic word tiuti signified witp, Fierce. Etc. Being a wip and contentious people, they figure in some of the old Russian sagas, much as the Jutes do in those of Scandinavia. It is remarkable that the names of both should have signified giants or monsters. Notker, in his Teutonic paraphrase of Martianus Capella, speaking of other Anthropophagi, relates that the Witt1 were not ashamed to say, that they had more right to eat their parents than the worms. S. W. Sincer. Nores anv Qrs. No 20, p. 313. 13 In. A. S. Wineda land, Weonod-land, Winod-land, c. Wineda lond, t. The country of the Venepr or Wenps, which at one time comprehended the whole of the south coast of the Baltic, from the mouth of the Vistula to the Schley.—The Greeks called the Slavonians ‘Everot 3 the Romans, Venete, Veneti, Vineti, Venedi: and the Germans, Wenden, Winden. R. T. Hampson. ; 14 Sysyle, v. note 23. 15 A. S. Maroaro, the Slavi Maharenses or Moravians, from the river Marus or Maharus, which runs through their country, and into the Danube a little below Vienna. 16 A. S. bet land Carendre. The present Duchy of Caninrara, perhaps formerly inhabited by Slavi Carenthani, or Carentani. Forstrr. 17 InA.S. Pulgara land, the country of the Bulgarians, comprehended the present Moldavia, and Bulgaria, on both sides the Danube. Bulgaria was south of Dacia. Ejigin- hard says an embassy came in A. D. 824 to Charlemagne from the Abotritea, “ qui vulgo Preedenecenti vocantur, et contermini Bulgaris Daciam Danubio adjacentem incolunt. In Bk III, ch. 7, § 2, Alfred adds Iliricos, be we Pulgare hata’, Ilyrians whom we call Bulgarians. KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE. 5 country of the Greeks." To the east of the country Moravia, is the country of the'* Wisle, and to the east of them are the Dacians, who were formerly Goths. To the north-east of the Moravians are the Dalamensan,’’ and to the east of the Dalamensan are the Horithi,”" and to the east of the Dalamensan are the Surpe,” and to the west of them are the Sysele.* To the north of the Horiti is Meegtha-land," and north of Megtha-land are the Sermende* even to the Rhipzan mountains.—To” the west of the South-Danes 18 Creea land, the Byzantine empire and not ancient Greece, which is mentioned in a subsequent paragraph. 19 Wisle is the river Vistula. Wisleland is the country about the source of the Vistula, a part of Poland called Little Poland. _ 20 Dalamensan, Dalamensz, a Slavonic race, who dwelt in Misnia, on both sides of the Elbe. 21 Horithi, Horiti, C—Horigti, L. A Slavonic race, placed by Alfred to the east of the Slavi Dalamenti, who occupied the district north-east of Moravia with the Surpe, Serbi, or Servi, on their north, and the Sysele, Siculi, another Slavonic race, on the west. See note 23. R. T. Hampson, Notes and Qrs, No 17, p. 258.—S. W. Singer says,—The Horiti of Alfred are undoubtedly the Croati, or Crowati of Pomerania, who still pronounce their name Horuati, the h supplying the place of ch. Nor does it seem unreasonable to presume that the Harudes of Czesar (De Bel. Gall. I, 31, 37, 51) were also Croats; for they must have been a numerous and widely spread race. They are also called Charudes, *Apoddes. The following passage from the Annales Fuldenses, A. 852, will strengthen this supposition ;— ‘Inde transiens per Angros, Harudos, Suabos, et Hosingos . . . Thuringiam ingreditur.” Notes and Qrs, No 20, p. 314. 22 Surpe, Surfe, Sorabi, or Soravi, Sorbi, or Servi, Serbi, or Servi, a Slavonic race inhabit- ing Lusatia, Misnia, part of Brandenburg, and Silesia. Forster. 23 Are the Sysele, Sysyle, the Szeklers, or Siculi? A part of the Hungarians is called Szekler, pronounced Sekler. In the work, known as that of the Notary of king Bela, we have :—‘Siculi, qui primo erant populi Attile regis,” Not. c. 50. Also— Tria millia virorum, eadem de natione (Hunnorum) ... metuentes ad Erdewelwe confinia videlicet Pannonicz regionis se transtulere, et non Hunos sive Hungaros, sed ne illorum agnoscerentur esse residui, Siculos, ipsorum autem vocabulo Zekel, se denominasse perhi- bentur. Hi Siculi Hunorum prima fronte in Pannoniam intrantium etiam hac nostra tempestate residui esse dubitantur per neminem, quum in ipsorum generatione, extraneo nondum permixta sanguine et in moribus severiores et in divisione agri czeteris Hungaris multum differre videantur.”’ Thwrocz, ap. Schwandtn. p. 78. Dr Latham’s Germ. of Tacitus, Epileg. ciii—Porthan says, the Sysyle dwelt in the South-eastern part of Newmark. See Porthan’s Swedish Trans. and notes. Also, Rask’s Danish Trans. p. 344, note a. 24 Meg%a-land is north of the Horithi, and perhaps a part of Great Poland, and East Prussia, or the Polish province of Mazovia. An. 25 Sermende a people to the north of Megtha-land, and to the east of the Burgundians, inhabiting the modern Livonia, Esthonia and part of Lithuania. 26 Alfred, having described the continent north of the Danube, goes to the islands and countries of the East-Sea or Baltic, including the Cattegat, first coming to Denmark. Porthan remarks, that the king seems to turn the north a little to the east, and to speak of North and South Denmark, as separated by the East-Sea or Baltic, for Alfred expressly says, the North-Danes are ‘on the continent and on the islands,” that is in the province of Halland, and of Skaney or Schonen, on the continent, the present South west of Sweden, and on the islands Zealand, Moen, Falster, and Laland. To the South-Danes he assigns 2 6 KING ALFRED’S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 2. is the arm of the ocean, which lies around the country of Britain ; and to the north of them is the arm of the sea called the Baltic’ ; and to the east and to the north of them are the North-Danes,” both on the continent and on the islands: to the east of them are the Afdrede?*; and to the south of them is the mouth of the ? river Elbe, with some part of the Old Saxons.” The North- Danes have to the north of them the same arm of the sea called the Baltic?” : to the east of them are the Esthonian population ; and the Afdreede to the south. The Esthonians® have, to the north of them, the same arm of the sea, and also the Wends” and Burgundians® ; and to the south are the Hefeldan.* The Bur- 2 gundians have the same arm of the sea to the west of them, and the Swedes to the north: tothe east of them are the Sermende,” and to the south the Surfe.* The Swedes have, to the south of them, the Esthonian arm of the sea; and to the east of them the Sermende”* : to the north, over the wastes, is Cwén-land,** and to the islands Langland, Funen, Arroe, Alsen, as well as the provinces of Jutland, Schleswig and part of Holstein. Rask, p.348, note c.—Mr Thorpe thinks that the South-Danes inhabited the south of Jutland; and the North-Danes, North-Jutland, the Danish islands and pro- bably Scania. 27 In A.S. Ost-see” or East-Sea, included the Cattegat as well as the Baltic. It was called Ost-sze” in opposition to the sea, on the west of Denmark and Norway. 28 v. note 11. 29 A.S. Eald-Seaxan, v. note 8. 30 Esthonians, Astii, Osti, Esti, a Finnish race—the Estas of Wulfstan [note 72] and Osterlings of the present day. They dwelt on the shores of the Baltic, to the east of the Vistula, An.—See also Dr Latham’s Germ. of Tacitus, p. 166—171, and Prol. p. liii. 31 Note 13. 32 Burgendas, Burgendan, Burgundiones, the Burgundians, who occupied the north part of Germany, east of the Upper Vistula, or the district between the Vistula and the river Bug.—Pliny [H. N. IV, 14] writes, ““Germanorum genera quinque: Vindili, quorum pars Burgundiones, etc.”” Dr Latham’s Germ. of Tacitus, Epileg. p. lvi. 33. Heefeldan, Ai’feldan, v. note 12. 34. Sweon, Sweoan, Suiones, Sueones, the Swedes. 35. Surfe, Surpe, &c. v. note 22. 36. Cwén-land. The country east and west of the Gulf of Bothnia, from Norway to the Gwén or White Sea, including Finmark on thenorth. Malte-Brun says that the inhabitants of Cwén-land were a Finnish race. They were called Quaines, and by Latin writers Cayani. Gerchau maintains, in his history of Finland, 1810, that the Laplanders only were called Finns, and that they were driven from the country by the Quaines. They settled in Lap- land, and on the shores of the White Sea, which derived from them the name of Quen Sea or Quen-vik.”” . . . Adamus Bremensis happened to be present at a conversation, in which king Sweon spoke of Quen-land or Quena-land, the country of the Quaines, but as the stranger’s knowledge of Danish was very imperfect, he supposed the king had said Quinna- land, the country of women or Amazons; hence the absurd origin of his Terra Feminarum, mistaking the name of the country, for quinna a woman. Malte-Brun’s Universal Geog. Edin. 1827, vol. VI, p. 495.—Dr Latham’s Germania of Tacitus, 174, 179. OHTHERE'S RESIDENCE AND VOYAGE. 7 the north-west are the Scride-Finns,” and to the west the North- men.** 3. Ohthere” told his lord, king Alfred, that he dwelt northmost 37 The Scride-Finnas of Alfred,—Crefenne of Jornandes, for Screde-Fennz,—Scriti- finni of Procopius, seem to have inhabited the present Russian Lapland, and the country around; and to have extended into the modern Swedish Finland. In short, they appear to have occupied the country to the north and west of the White Sea. They were called Scride, SkriSe Finnas, Striding Finns, from their swiftness in passing over frozen snow, on their skates.—Skri¥a kann eg 4 skiSum, I can stride on skates. Dahlmann’s Forschun- gen auf dem Gebiete der Geschichte, Erster Band, p. 452. Altona, 12mo. 1822. Rask, note i, p. 852.—The Scride-Finns were a branch of the Ugrians or Finns, who were a distinct race occupying Lapland, Finland, Esthonia, and Hungary. In Hungary, the Finn population is of recent introduction, the present Ugrian indigene being the Lapps, Finlanders and Esthonians. Dr Latham’s Germ. of Tacitus, Proleg. XXXVII, and 178, 179. 38 These Northmen were Norwegians. The Northmanna land generally comprehended the present Norway, the chief locality of Northmen. But by Northmen, as the name im- plies, may be understood, men that dwelt in the north. [See more in Note 40.] They spoke the Old Norse language [norreena] which was common to Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In A.D. 874 it was conveyed to Iceland by Ingolf, and his followers, the first Norwegian settlers in Iceland. Norse was also the language of the Faroe Isles, Green- land, &c. The nearest representative of this old Scandinavian or Norse language, once pervading the north-west of Europe, is the present Icelandic, which, from its northern locality, has undergone so little change, that the oldest documents are easily read by the present Icelanders. See Origin of the English, Germanic, and Scandinavian languages, p- 145. 39 This name has been written Octher, Othere, Ottar, and Ohthere. The last is the only correct mode of writing it; for the Laud. MS. has Ohthere, and the Cotton MS. has the same orthography, but the word is divided into Oht here, indicating its derivation from out fear, dread, and HERE an army. Rask observes, that the A. S. ht answers to the Icl. tt, and ere to the Icl. ari and ar, and thus is formed the well known old Norse name, O’ttar the dreadful, timendus, metuendus, from Icl. étti timor, metus.—Ohthere was a Norwegian nobleman of great wealth and influence, anxious to state nothing, but that to which he could bear personal testimony. It appears impossible for any one to read this simple nar- rative, without being convinced, that this daring Northman is giving a detail of his voyage, on the west and on the north coast of Norway into the White sea. Iceland had already been discovered by Gardar, the Dane, in A.D. 860, and it was colonized by Ingolf, a Nor- wegian, in 874. Greenland was discovered in 877 and inhabited by Northmen soon after. Accustomed as these Northmen were, to the most daring enterprises, it was not likely that Ohthere one of the most powerful, adventurous, bold and inquiring of them, should come to the renowned king of England, to relate the events of a common voyage. Ohthere had made discoveries, which he communicated to the king, and Alfred thought them of such importance, that he wrote and inserted this detail of them in his Geographical and His- torical view of Europe. It has always been considered an extraordinary voyage. On its first publication by Hakluyt, in 1598, it was acknowledged, as every unprejudiced reader must now allow, that Ohthere doubled the north cape, and entered the White Sea. “The voiage of Octher made to the north-east parts beyond Norway, reported by himselfe vnto Alfred, the famous king of England, about the yere 890.” Hakluyt’s Principal Naviga- tions, Voiages, Traffiques, and Discoueries of the English Nation, &c. page 5, Fol. 2nd Edn. London, 1598. Again, a little below, Hakluyt says :—“ Wil it not, in all posteritie, be as great renowne vnto our English Nation to haue bene the first discouerers of a sea beyond the North cape [neuer certainly knowen before] and of a conuenient passage into 8 KING ALFRED’S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 3. of all Northmen.® He said that he dwelt northward, on the land by the west sea.‘' He said, however, that the land is very long thence to the north; but it is all waste [desert], save that ina few places, here and there, Finns reside,—for hunting in winter, and in summer for fishing in the sea. He said, that, at a certain time, he wished to find out how far the land lay right north; or whether any man dwelt to the north of the waste. Then he went right north near the land: he left, all the way, the waste land on the right, and the wide sea on the left, for three days. Then was he as far north as Whale-hunters ever go. He then went yet right north, as far as he could sail in the next three days. Then the land bent there right east, or the sea in on the land, he knew not whether; but he knew that he there waited for a western wind, or a little to the north, and sailed thence east near the land, as far as he could sail in four days. Then he must wait there for the huge Empire of Russia by the bay S. Nicolas and the riuer of Duina? &c.” Id. p. 5.— The subsequent editors and translators of Ohthere’s voyage are of the same opinion as Hakluyt.—Sir John Spelman and Oxonienses Alumni, in 1678 :—Busszus, in 1733 :— Langebek in 1773:—Daines Barrington, and J. R. Forster, in 1773: Forster again in 1786 in his Hist. of voyages and discoveries in the north.—Ingram, in 1807.—Rask, in his notes to his Danish translation, published in 1815, expressly says—‘“ Ohthere was the first who undertook a voyage to Beormia [Permia] or sailed round the North-cape, and all Lapland,” &c. note k. p. 352—355.—Dahlmann, in 1822, states that Ohthere sailed into the White Sea.—Mr Thorpe comes to the same conclusion, in 1846.—Malte-Brun, before Rask, Dahlmann, and Thorpe, speaks, in 1812, of Ohthere’s northern voyage from Halgoland in Norway [see note 52 and text] to the White Sea; and south to Schleswig ; and also of Wulfstan’s voyage from Schleswig to Truso in Pruasia. [Note 63.] Through the liberality and kindness of 8. W. Singer Esq. the reader is presented with an extract from Précis de la Géographie Universelle, of the celebrated Malte-Brun :—“ Othere retragait ses voyages depuis le Halogaland en Norwége, jusqu’ 4 la Biarmie 4 l’est de la mer Blanche; et, d’un autre cété, le long des cétes Norwégiennes et Danoises par le sund, jusqu’ 4 la ville de Hzthum ou Schleswig. L’autre relation était celle d’un voyage du Danois Wulfstan, depuis Schleswig jusqu’a Truso, ville de commerce dans le pays d’ Estum ou la Prusse. Tom. I, Liv. XVII, p. 382. Paris, 8vo, 1812. 40 NorSmen dwelt on Nor’manna land which extended, on the west coast of Norway, from the district [scir,] of Halgoland [Note 52] to the south of Sciringes heal, [Note 53] probably as far south as the river Gotha-Elf, both the branches of which enter the Cattegat not far from Gottenburg. The NorSmanna land is also called by Ohthere [NorSwege} Norway, which was on his left when sailing from Halgoland to Sciringes heal. These particulars are all drawn from Ohthere’s simple narrative. Malte-Brun, in his Précis de la Géog. Univers., speaking of the country of Northmen, says, in p. 383, “ La Norwége ou Northmannaland consistait dans la céte occidentale de la Scandinavie depuis la riviére Gotha jusqu’a Halogaland. Les cétes méridionales se nommaient Viken, c’est & dire le golfe; c’est 14 qu’il faut chercher la ville de Kiningsheal, le Koughille moderne, nommé Scyringes-heal par une faute de copiste.” S. W. Singer. 41 A.S. West-sz’, the sea to the West of Norway, in opposition to the Ost-sz’, or the Baltic. See Note 27.—A. S. Steor-bord, star-board, the right hand. Bzc-bord, the left hand. OHTHERE’S VOYAGE: THE BIARMIANS. 9 a right north wind, because the land bent there right south, or the sea in on the land, he knew not whether. Then sailed he thence right south, near the land, as far as he could sail in five days. There lay then a great river up into the land : they turned up into the river, because they durst not sail beyond it, on account of hostility, for the land was all inhabited, on the other side of the river. He had not before met with any inhabited land, since he came from his own home, but the land was uninhabited all the way on his right, save by fishermen, fowlers and hunters, and they were all Finns; and there was always a wide sea on his left. The Biarmians* had very well peopled their land, but they durst not come upon it: the land of the Terfinns* was all waste, save where hunters, fishers or fowlers encamped. 4. The Biarmians told him many stories both about their own country and about the countries which were around them; but, he knew not what was true, because he did not see it himself. The Finns and the Biarmians, as it seemed to him, spoke nearly the same language. He chiefly went thither, in addition to the seeing of the country, on account of the horse-whales, [walruses],** 42 The Biarmians inhabited the country on the shores of the White Sea, east of the river Dwina. Alfred calls them Beormas. They were called Biarmians by Icelandic Historians, and Permiski by the Russians, and now Permians. In the middle ages, the Scandinavian pirates gave the name of Permia to the whole country between the White Sea, and the Ural. Malte-Brun’s Univer. Geog. Vel. VI, p. 419. In an Icelandic MS. on Geography, written in the 14th century, Beormia and two Cwenlands are located together. Kvenlénd II, ok ero bau norér fré Bjarmalandi. Due Quenlandiz, que ulterius quam Bjarmia boream versus extenduntur. Antiquitates Americane, p. 290.—Haldorsen’s Lexicon Islandico-Latino-Danicum, edited by Rask, has—* Biarmaland, Biarmia, que ob perpetuas nives albicatur, Bjarmeland, Permien. Biarmia ortum versus ad mare album vel gandvikam sita est.,”” 43 Terfinna land, the country between the northern point of the Bothnian Gulf and the North Cape. An. 44 One particular reason for Ohthere’s sailing northward was to capture the Walrus, which was, and still is to be found in abundance in the White Sea about Archangel, and the coast of the country of the Biarmians. This is additional evidence to what was advanc- ed in Note 39, to prove that Ohthere doubled the north cape and entered the White Sea,—that his first voyage was not into the Baltic, where the Walrus is scarcely ever found, but into the White Sea. [Forster’s notes in Barrington’s Orosius, p. 243.] We have Forster's opinion confirmed by the best Zoologists of the present day. Mr Broderip assures me in a letter, “I do not think it likely that Ohthere, a Norwegian, would go into the Baltic to take the Walrus.—I do not believe that Walruses or Whales were ever so numerous in that sea, within the time of authentic history, as to attract the attention of fishers.” Ohthere seems to have been a plain practical man, and to have described every thing just as he saw it. Alfred exercised his usual talent and judgment, in implicitly following the simple detail of the narrator; for, he was as fully aware as the most scientific of the present day, that he who most closely observes and describes nature, cannot wander far 10 KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 4. because they have very good bone in their teeth: of these teeth they brought some to the king ; and their hides are very good for ship-ropes. This whale is much less than other whales : it 1s not from scientific truth. They were, therefore, upon the whole, correct in associating the monstrous Whale, and the smaller Horse-Whale, Sea-horse or Walrus, in the same class of animals; for both the Whale and the Walrus suckle their young, have warm blood, and are viviparous, and aquatic. The great Linneus was the first to place the Whale in the class of Mammalia, in allusion to which a gentleman, who has written much and well on Zoology, Mr Broderip, has properly remarked—“ Here then we find the decisive step taken, with the unflinching firmness of a master mind, relying upon the philosophical principles that demanded the separation, and no longer yielding to popular prejudice by calling that a fish, which Linneus knew to be a mammiferous animal.” May not this remark be applied to our glorious Alfred, and to this intrepid and close observing Northman, Ohthere, who first placed the Whale and Walrus in the same class of animals? I have the authority of Linnzus, as well as of Mr Bell, one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society, whose zoolo- gical works are known over the whole of Europe, for saying, that the Walrus belongs to the same class as the Whale, that is to the Mammalia, but to a very different order. The Horse-whale or Walrus belongs to the Carnivora, and to the family Phocadz or Seals, although the structure and arrangement of the teeth remove it far from the more typical forms of this order. The bulky proportions of the body, the aquatic habits, and the modi- fication of the limbs into paddles give a general resemblance to the cetacea, which might well lead observers, unacquainted with the details of their structure, to consider them as more nearly allied than they really are. Mr Broderip, in writing to me, says:—You are, in my opinion, right in giving Ohthere’s “hors-hwel’” as the Walrus, Morse, or Sea-horse.—Bell (British Quadrupeds p. 288) writes—‘‘ The knowledge of this chase,” (that of the Walrus) ‘t says Pennant, is of great antiquity: Octher the Norwegian, about the year 890, made a report to King Alfred, having, as he says, made the voyage beyond Norway for the more commoditie of fishing of Horse Whales; which have in their teeth bones of great price and excellence, whereof he brought some on his return to the king.” Hakluyt’s Coll. Voy. I, 5.—Bell, then, thus continues.—“ The above quotation leads to some observations upon the Etymology of the different names which have been given to this animal.—Horse-Whale is a literal translation ot Whal-ros, in Norwegian Hwal-ros. Rosmar, another Norwegian name, appears to be a compound of the Teutonic Ros horse, and the Latin mare, the sea. Morse is from the Russian Morss ; the Lapponic name being Morsk.”’—Charleton, physician to Charles 2nd, in his Onomasticon Zoicon, small 4to London, 1668, thus writes of the Walrus.—VII. Walrus, aliis Mors, Danis et Islandis Rosmarus (quod in Septentrionali oceano saltem reperiatur, ut credit Ol. Wormius, in Museo) non nullis Vacca marina, nobis the Mors or Sea-cow, (quia monstrosum animal est et amphibium, bobus nostratibus, ubi adolevit, inter- dum majus.) Cute tegitur pilosa, nec a vitulo marino multum abhorrente. Dentes duos habet, e superiori maxilla propendentes, et ante recurvos; cubiti nonnunquam longitudine, quorum usus ac pretium ebori comparatur. Ex iis enim varia conficiunt, annulos contra Spasmum [Cramp-Rings], manubria gladiorum, framearum et cultorum; &c. Mr Broderip has given the following precise information. The length of the Walrus is from 10 to 15 feet, girth 8 or 10 feet, and upwards. Length of the tusks, when cut out of the skull, generally from 15 to 20 inches, sometimes 30, and their weight from 5 to 10 Ibs. Other facts have been communicated by the Rev. W. Scoresby D. D. The tusks of the Walrus, which are hard, white and compact ivory, are employed by dentists in the fabrication of teeth. The skin is used for defending the yards and rigging of ships from being chafed by friction against each other. When cut into shreds and plaited into cordage, it answers admirably for wheel ropes, being stronger and wearing much longer than hemp. In ancient times, most of the ropes of ships, in northern countries, appear to have been made OHTHERE’S VOYAGE: WHALE-HUNTING. ll longer than seven ells;* but, in his own country, is the best whale-hunting : they are eight and forty ells long, and the largest fifty ells long; of these, he said, that he [was] one of six, [who] killed sixty in two days.** of this substance. Arctic Regions and Whale Fishery, 2 vols 8vo: and a neat little vol. with the same title, published by the Tract Society at the moderate price of 10 pence, p. 164, Dr Scoresby speaking of the common Greenland Whale, Mysticetus, observes that the size has been much overrated. Authors of the first respectability give a length of 80 to 100 feet to the Mysticetus, and that some specimens were found of 150 to 200 feet in length, or still longer. Even Linnzus has given 100 feet. Some ancient naturalists have gone so far, as to assert, that whales have been seen of above 900 feet in length. Dr Scoresby, like Ohthere, speaking from what he had known and seen, makes this statement—* Of three hundred and twenty two individuals, in the capture of which I have been personally con- cerned, no one, I believe, exceeded 60 feet in length, and the largest I ever measured was 58 feet, from one extremity to the other, being one of the largest in appearance, that I ever saw.—The greatest circumference of these Whales is from 30 to 40 feet.” Id. p. 140, 141. “The largest sort of Whale is, however, not the Mysticetus, but the Physalus. This is probably the most powerful and bulky of created beings. In comparison with the Mysti- cetus, the Physalus has a form less cylindrical, a body longer and more slender... . . Its length is about 100 feet, and its greatest circumference 30 or 35 feet. . . . A whale, pro- bably of this kind, 101 feet in length, was stranded on the banks of the Humber about the middle of September 1750.” Id. p. 152—154. 45 In giving the size of the Horse-whale, or Walrus, and of the Whale, Ohthere would most probably calculate by the measure of Scandinavia, the Ell of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Molbeck, in his Dansk Ordbog, thus defines it: — “ Alen, et vist lengdemaal, som delesi24tommer . . . Tomme een 12te fod, og een 24dealen,”’ . . Thatis, Ell, a certain measure of length, which is divided into 24 inches... An inch one 12th of a foot, and one 24th of anell. Alfred followed the calculation of Ohthere, who says that the Horse-whale or Walrus is 7 ells long, that is 14 feet, and the Whales 48 ells, and the largest 50, that is, 96 feet, and the largest 100 feet long. These calculations approach very nearly to those given by Mr Broderip and Dr Scoresby, in Note 44. 46 Every translator has found a difficulty in this passage, as it appeared impossible for 6 men to kill 60 whales in two days. The earliest translators understood it in its plain and obvious meaning. —‘“‘ Hakluyt gave it in 1598. He affirmed that he himself was one of the six, which, in the space of three days, killed threescore.” The Oxford Alumni in 1678—“ Dixit se sextum fuisse, qui sexaginta bidui spatio interfecerit.”—Porthan ad- hered to the literal sense, in his Swedish translation, in 1800. Af dessa sade han, at han sjelf sjette dédat sextio paa tvaa dagar.—For six men to kill 60 whales, of the larger sort, in two days, appears most extraordinary, though in the time of Alfred, whales seem to have been more plentiful in the northern than they now are in the southern ocean; yet, in the latter, eleven have been killed one morning, as will appear by the following extract from “The Log-book containing the proceedings on board the Barque Gipsy, commanded by John Gibson, owners Almon and James Hill, Esqrs, 13 Austin Friars, London. “Cruising from Sooloo Archipelago towards Japan—Tuesday May 31st, 1836. All these 24 hours moderate breezes and fine weather. Ship’s head N. E. at 6 a. m. saw whales at 7 a. m. Lowered the boats at 9 a. m; struck and killed exeven. At noon the boats employed collecting the whales to the ship.” I have so great an objection to conjectural criticism, that I have retained the text of the Cotton MS. though it is the only MS. known to exist, that contains this clause. At the same time I ought not to omit the emendation of the A. S, text suggested by my friend, the 12 KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 5. 5. He [Ohthere] was a very wealthy man in those posses- sions in which their wealth consists, that is in the wilder [animals]. He had, moreover, when he came to the king, six hundred tame deer of his own breeding.’ They call these rein-deer: of these, six were decoy-deer, which are very valuable among Finns, because with them they take the wild-deer. He was amongst the first men in the land, though he had not more than twenty horned cattle, twenty sheep and twenty swine; and the little that he ploughed, he ploughed with horses. But their revenue is chiefly in the tribute, that the Finns pay them, which tribute is in skins of animals, feathers of birds, in whale-bone, and ship-ropes, which are made from the whale’s hide, and from the late Professor Rask—Instead of the Cotton reading syxa sum, he proposes syx asum, or as- cum ; and translates it in Danish, 1815,—“ At han med 6 harpuner (eller 6 skibe) drebte 60 paa 2 dage,” i. e. that he with 6 harpoons (or 6 ships) killed 60 in two days.—Asum d. pl. of zs, or as, Lat. es; and ascum of esc a ship.—Dahlmann, in 1822, supposes Ohthere to mean 6 large ships ; and, therefore, gives it in his German translation, “ Dass er mit sechs grossen schiffen ihrer sechzig in zwei tagen tédtete.”” Feeling it difficult to come to a satisfactory conclusion ; and being anxious to obtain the best information on the subject, I wrote tothe Rev. W. Scoresby, D.D. F.R.S. &. an old college friend,—a man of great scientific acquirements, who published a most interesting work, on the Arctic Regions, and the Whale-fishery in 1820, and in early life had been engaged in cap- turing no less than 322 whales. See note 44.—To the following queries; 1st, Is it possible that 6 men could kill 60 whales in 2 days? 2dly, Could 60 be killed in 2 days with 6 harpoons, as Rask suggests? 3dly, Could 6 ships be so employed, as to kill 60 in 2 days? He replied—t. I do not conceive it at all possible, that 6 men could kill 60 Whales of the large size [Baleena Mysti- cetus] in two days. 1 know of no instance of even one whale having ever been killed, of the largest size, by a single boat’s crew of 6 or 7 men. Ordinarily 3 or 4 boats, with 18 to 25 men, are deemed necessary for the capture of a single whale—2. It might be possible, if the whales were sunning in vast numbers, in any of the bays of the Arctic regions, that 60 might be killed by 6 harpoons, and men in proportion, say 36 to 40 men. But, I may add, though whales have been met with occasionally, in great numbers together, no such feat as this, I am persuaded, had ever been performed by the crew of one ship containing 6 or 7 boats and 50men. A single whale may, on an average, cost about 3 hours for its capture, with 4 to 6 boats. If two, therefore, or three, were constantly under attack, at the same time, and neither accident nor failure happening, it would be a wonderful feat for 50 men with half a dozen or eight harpoons, to capture half the number specified !—3. Six ships, with their ordinary complement of men and boats, might, no doubt, be so employed, if the Whales were very numerous and the circumstances, as to ice or position, favourable, as to kill 10 large Whales a piece in two days. In Whales of a small size, this proportion has often been reached; but never, that I am aware of, where the kind was of the largest. The pleasing process, indeed, so interferes with the enterprize of slaughter, that more than half a dozen, of any size, is seldom killed at once. I have known 10 or 12 within one period of unceasing exertion.” Upon the whole, then, it appears that the proposed emendation of the text does not remove the difficulty, and it is, therefore, best to retain the Cotton reading, as represented in the present translation. 47 Tamra deora, unbebohtra, syx hund.—Literally, Of tame deer, unbought [non emptus, Ettmiiller] untrafficked or traded in, six hundred. OHTHERE’S WEALTH.—THE COUNTRY OF NORTHMEN. 13 seal’s. Every one pays according to his means : the richest must pay fifteen skins of the marten, and five of the rein-deer, and one bear’s skin, aud forty bushels of feathers, and a bear or otter-skin kirtle, and two ship-ropes, each sixty ells long, one made from the whale’s hide, and the other from the seal’s. 6. He said that the country of Northmen was very long and very narrow. All that can be either pastured or ploughed lies by the sea, and that, however, is in some places, very rocky; and, on the east, lie wild mountains* along the inhabited land. In these mountains [wastes] Finns dwell; and the inhabited land is broadest eastward, and always narrower more northerly. Eastward it may be sixty miles‘ broad, or a little broader, and midway thirty or broader; and northward, he said, where it was narrowest, that it might be three miles broad to the waste, and moreover, the waste, in some places, [is] so broad that a man may travel over it, in two weeks; and in other places, so broad that a man may travel over [it,] in six days. 7. Then, over against this land southward, on the other side of the waste, is Sweden, extending to the north; and over against the land northward, is Cwena land.** The Cwenas some- times make war on the Northmen over the waste ; sometimes the Northmen on them. There are very large fresh water meers beyond the wastes; and the Cwenas carry their boats over land into the meers, and thence make war on the Northmen. They have very little boats, and very light. 8. Ohthere said that the district in which he dwelt was called 48 Rask translates it:—Der ligger vilde Fjelde dsten for og oven for langs med det beboede Land. Afhandlinger, p. 313, 315.—Dahlmann :—Im Osten liegen wilde Gebirge, hoch iiber und langs dem angebauten Lande; p. 425.—Mér denotes waste land generally, a moor, heath: waste land from rocks, hence a hill, mountain: &c. 49 Rask observes, when Norway is reckoned 60 miles wide, in the broadest part and 3 miles in the narrowest, it is evident that the king used the exact phrase of Ohthere, and did not alter it, as on another occasion, to agree with the Anglo-Saxon measure. See note 74. One mile of the Northman, Ohthere, contained about 5 Anglo-Saxon miles,—hence the broad- est part would be about 300 miles and the narrowest 15. Rask’s Afhandlinger, 8vo, Kébenhavn, 1834: vol. I, p. 379, note r—A Danish mile is 4.68 English, and a Swedish mile is 6.64 English miles. 50 A.S. Sweoland. The country of the Sweons, the Suiones of Tacitus. The names Suedia or Suecia, and Svidiodar, or Svithiodar, as applied to the Swedes, occur in their earliest annals. Wheaten, and Crichton’s Scandinavia, vol. I, p. 24. 51 See note 86. 3 14 KING ALFRED’S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 8. Halgoland.* He said that no man abode north of him. Then there is a port, on the south of the land [Norway], which is called Sciringesheal.** Thither he said, that a man could not sail in a month, if he anchored at night, and every day had a fair wind. All the while he must sail near the land.—On his right hand, is first** Iceland, and then the islands which are between 52 Halgoland, a division [scir] of the northern part of ancient Norway. Ohthere dwelt in the most northerly part of it: to the north of his residence, the country was uninhabited. Even at the present day, this district is called Helgeland. It is in Nordland, or Northland, in the province of Trondhiem, or Drontheim, pronounced Tronyem. Drontheim is now the most northerly province of Norway, extending from 62 deg. to 71 deg. 10 min. N. Lat. Itis divided into Trondhiem Proper, Nordland, and Finmark. Nord or Northland was the most northerly part inhabited in Ohthere’s days. Helgeland is now the southern district of Nordland, and lies on the coast between the island Lekée, N. Lat. 65 deg. 10 min., and Cape Kunnen near the arctic circle. The Kidlen range of mountains, separating Helgeland from Sweden, is about 60 miles from the sea; and, in some places, not so far. Helgeland has a rocky coast of considerable elevation. The interior is filled by mountains rising from 1000, to 1500 feet. A considerable portion of the land might be cultivated, but agriculture is often neglected, because fishing offers greater advantages. This is more particularly the case in the islands, on the coast of Helgeland, which rise to an elevation of 2000 and to 4260 feet. Such is Helgeland in the present day.—In this wild district, Ohthere first saw the light. He was brought up amid stupendous mountains, and exposed to the severity of the climate in the care of herds of deer, and in superintending the rude culture of the land. From a child he was not only accustomed to the exertions and perils of the chase in the Norwegian Alps, but to brave the dangers of the vast waves of the Northern Ocean, raging amongst the exposed and elevated islands, and the high, rocky shore of Norway. Thus educated amid the magnificent scenery of Halgoland, and inured to danger, Ohthere was well prepared for a daring enterprise, such as his exploring voyage to the most northerly regions. It was a voyage worthy of Ohthere, and deserving the permanent record which Alfred—the first man of that age—has here given of it. 53 This is a minute description of Ohthere’s second voyage. His first was to the remote north: this voyage is to the south. The first place he mentions is a port “ on the south of this land [Norway], called Sciringesheal.” Judging from Ohthere’s narrative, Sciringes- heal seems to be in the Skager Rack, near the Fiord or Bay of Christiana. Snorre Sturleson, an Icelander, born in 1178, in his Ynglinga Saga, ch. 49, places Sciringesheal in Westfold, on the west side of the bay of Christiana, The note, appended to Professor Rask’s Af- handlinger, published by his son, in 1834, concludes,—* Thus, it cannot be doubted, that Skiringssal really existed at that time, [the age of Snorre,] and that it is the same that Ohthere and king Alfred call Sciringesheal.” vol. I, p. 384.—Ohthere says to the south of Sciringesheal is a very great sea, apparently the Cattegat, opposite to which was Jutland, and then Zealand. Sailing from Sciringesheal to Haddeby near Schleswig, Ohthere said he had Denmark on his left, that is Halland and Skaane [Scania], the early seat of the Danes. Then, two days before his arrival at Schleswig, taking a westerly course, he had Jutland on his right. As he mentions islands on his left, it appears that he sailed between Moen and Zealand. An. 54 The Cotton MS., the only one that contains this part of Ohthere’s voyage, has Ira- land. Though I have the greatest objection to conjecturale mendations of a text, in this case, after reading the context, and all that commentators have written upon it, I prefer substituting Isaland for Iraland. To what Dr Ingram and Rask have advanced to justify the insertion of Isaland in the text, it may be added that Ireland was generally called Scotland from the fifth to the eleventh century [v. note 89]. If any other name was used, it was OHTHERE’S SECOND VOYAGE—HALGOLAND—SCIRINGESHEAL. 15 Iceland and this land [Britain]. Then this land continues till he comes to Sciringesheal; and all the way, on the left, [is] Nor- way.* To the south of Sciringesheal, a very great sea runs up into the land: it is broader than any man can see over; and Jutland® is opposite, on the other side, and then Zealand. This sea lies many hundred miles up into the land. 9. He said that he sailed in five days, from Sciringesheal to the port which they call‘? Haddeby [near Schleswig], which stands Tbernia or Igbernia; thus, when Alfred is speaking of Britain, he adds, “Ibernia pet igland,”—and, “ Igbernia, pat we Scotland hata¥.” In Alfred’s translation of Bede, Hi- bernia is used, as Ybernia is, in the earliest part of the Saxon Chronicle. In the year 891, Dr Ingram inserts Hibernia in the text, and gives Yrlande in the notes, as the reading of the Cot. MS. But this is taken from a collation by Junius of one of the latest MSS. and which Dr Ingram says is of the least authority, because the writer has taken great liberties in using “his own Normanized dialect.” Yrlande occurs again in the year 918, and in 1051, and 2, but these two instances do not invalidate the assertion of Alfred, just cited, that in his days Igbernia was called Scotland. Alfred confirms this, by adding to his translation of Orosius in § 8—‘‘ On the west end of the Mediterranean Sea is Scotland.” Though wrong, as to geographical position, this is an additional proof that our Ireland was called Scotland in the time of Alfred.—Upon the whole then, I prefer inserting Isaland in the text. Langebek and Porthan retained Iraland in the text and Forster sanctioned this reading, but they all thought erroneously, that Scotland was intended. Dr Ingram, in his Inaugural Lecture, published in 1807, preferred reading Isaland, and gives his reasons thus; ‘I suspect that the true reading in the original, instead of Ira-land, [i. e. Scotland] should be Isa- land, Iseland, (or, as it is sometimes improperly written, Iceland.) How frequently the Saxon letters r and r have been confounded and interchanged, is well known to every person conversant in the language. As Ohthere sailed from Halgoland, Iseland was the first land to his right, and then the islands of Faroe, Shetland, and Orkney, between Iseland and this land [i. e. England]; then this land continued on his right hand, till he entered the Baltic, which he soon afterwards describes very accurately, as running up many hun- dred miles into the land, and so wide that no man could see over it.”” p. 79, note q.—Rask in 1815, reprinted in 1834, gives Isaland in his A. 8. text, and a long note to the same effect, in p. 319, note 2, of his Afhandlinger. Professor Dahlmann in his Forschungen 1822, thinks that Ireland was intended, and that Ohthere spoke of Ireland indefinitely, placing it more to the north, and on his right hand. He has a long and interesting article in No 4 of his Erlduterungen, “ Iraland, oder Isa- land?” He gives a very fair statement of the opinions of Langebek, Porthan, and Rask, p. 443 —449.—After all, I prefer Isaland, notwithstanding what Dahlmann and others have written. 55. A. S. NorSweg, in Saxon Chronicle 1028, NorSweg and Norweg ; in 1045 and7 Nor- weg, so in 1058, &c. In 1066 Norweg and Norwéi; and in 1070 Norweg. Literally, the north way or way to the north. Pliny, 1. IV, c. 16, calls it, Nerigon, and Malte-Brun suggests Nor-Rige, kingdom of the north, or rather, assuming Nor to be a gulf, kingdom of gulfs. Geog. vol. VIII, 517. 56. A. S. G6%land, the country of the Hreth Goths: Jétland, Jutland. An.—Zealand, A.S. Sillende—v. note 10. The old name of Zealand was in Danish Sia-Lund, a forest near the water, from sia sea, and lund a forest. Now sia, sea, or Zea-land, Sea land, land surrounded by the sea: like the Dutch Zee-land, Sea-land, from zee the sea. 57. A.S. pe mon het et He“Sum, which Porthan translates, som kallas Hethum, which 16 KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 9. in the midst of the Winedi,** Saxons, and Angles, and belongs to the Danes. When he sailed thitherward from Sciringesheal, then Denmark * was on his left; and, on his right, a wide sea for three is called Hethum. Rask more properly translates it— som man kalder Hedeby,”” p- 321 and 323, and Dahlmann,—“‘ den man zu Hadum [at Hedum, Hedaby] nennt. p. 427. Rask observes, that it is customary, especially in Icelandic, to put a preposition before the name of a place, which is then to be in the dative case; asin Icl. i Ripum, and occasionally in A. S. as, et He’Sum. These dat. plur. may be read, as in the singular. The sing. He’, is the Icl. hei’r, now hei¥i a heath; hence its Icl. and old Danish name Hei¥aby’r, or Hei¥aber, present Hedeby, from modern Danish, hede a heath, and by a town. Langebek has rightly explained, pe mon het et He*Sum, quem vocant Hathe. Rask, p. 374, note n He’Se is mentioned, in connection with Schleswig, by Ethelweard about two centuries after Alfred ; and, in the subsequent half century by William of Malmsbury as in the follow- ing extracts.—Ethelweard or Elward, is known only by his Chronicle or History of the Anglo- Saxons. He says he was descended from Ethelred, the brother of king Alfred. We are not informed when his book was compiled, but he was still alive in 1090 [Wright’s Biogra- phia Britannica Literaria, Vol. 1, p. 522]. This Ethelweard says that, ‘‘ Anglia vetus sita est inter Saxones et Giotos, habens oppidum capitale, quod sermone Saxonico Sleswic nuncupa- tur, secundum vero Danos Haithaby.” Chronicorum Ethelwerdi Libri Quatuor: v. Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam precipui [edited by Saville]. Fol. Francof. 1601, Pp- 831—850. What Ethelweard has stated, is confirmed by that ‘ great lover of truth,’ Wil- liam of Malmsbury, who died about 1143. He says—‘‘ In oppido quod tune Slaswick, nune vero Eitheisi [al. Hurtheby] appellatur, est autem regio illa Anglia vetus dicta, unde Angli venerunt in Brittanniam, inter Saxones et Giothos constituta.” : Alfred says “Se [Ha’Se] stent betuh Winedum, and Seaxum, and Angle, and hyr® in on Dene.” This agrees with the locality of Schleswig. The A.S. Hee and the subsequent Kitheisi, Haithaby, and Hurtheby are in the preceding extracts associated with Schleswig. The termination -by is Danish, and signifies a town. There is a place on the south of the river Schley, opposite Schleswig, engraved in the map of Mercator in 1623, Haddebuy, and called by Rask Hedeby, by Dahlmann Hedaby and by others Haddeby. Thisis concluded to be the He’Se of Ohthere, Wulfstan and Alfred—Dr Ingram adds, “ At Hethum, a port by the heaths, afterwards changed into Haithaby, and called to this day Haddeby, is situa- ted on the south side of the river Schley, opposite to Schleswig, which having since become of greater importance, has eclipsed the fame of its ancient rival. Hence Sir J. Spelman, Somner, Lye, and others, following the authority of Ethelweard, a Saxon writer, have con- sidered At-Hethum, or Haddeby, to be the same with Schleswig.” Inaugural Lecture, p. 109, note k. 58 Winede, the Venedi or Wends, who, at one time, occupied the whole coast from the Schley in Schleswig, South Jutland, to the Vistula in Prussia, An. v. Note 13, and 64. 59 A. S. Denamearc, [see note 65] That is, the provinces of Halland, Scania or Schonen, the early seat of the Danes. Halland and Schonen are in South Gotbland, in Sweden, having the Cattegat, the Sound, and the Baltic for its maritime boundaries. v. note 53. 60 A.S. Engle er hi hider on land comon, the Engles before they came hither on land, i. e. into Britain. Alfred expressly states here, that the Engles before they came to Britain dwelt not only in Jutland, butin Zealand and many islands. Hence we conclude that the Engles or Angles came hither not only from Anglen, in South Jutland, between Schleswig and Flensburg, but from the Danish islands. The majority of settlers in Britain were the Engles, and from them we derive not only our being, but our name, for England is literally, Englaland, the land or country of the Engles. The Engles were the most power- ful and energetic of the tribes, that constituted the great Saxon confederacy, which, in the third and two following centuries, had the greatest extent of territory in the north west of Germany. The Saxon confederacy increased, till it possessed the vast extent of country OHTHERE’S SECOND VOYAGE—SCIRINGESHEAL—HADDEBY. 17 days; and, the two days before he came to Haddeby, he had on his right, Jutland, Zealand, and many islands. The Angles dwelt in these lands, before they came into this country." And, these embraced by the Elbe, the Sala, and the Rhine, in addition to their ancient territory between the Elbe, and the Oder. Bosworth’s Origin of the Eng. and Germ. lang. and nations, p. 14—17.—It will be evident, from the following authorities, as well as from the testimony of Alfred given in the text, that in the seventh century, and in the time of Alfred, Schleswig was considered the locality from which England received its chief population. It will be interesting to see what Bede says, on the population of England, confirmed by the A. S. version of Alfred, and by the A. S. Chronicle. “ Advenerant autem de tribus Germaniz populis fortioribus, id est, Saxonibus, Anglis, Jutis. De Jutarum origine sunt Cantuarii et Victuarii, hoc est, ea gens que Vectam tenet insulam, et ea qua usque hodie in provincia Occidentalium Saxonum Jutarum natio nominatur, posita contra ipsam insulam Vectam. De Saxonibus, id est, ea regione que nunc antiquoram Saxonum cognominatur, venere Orientales Saxones, Meridiani Saxones, Occidui Saxones. Porro de Anglis, hoc est, deilla patria que Angulus dicitur et ab eo tempore usque hodie manere desertus inter provincias Jutarum et Saxonum perhibetur, Orientales Angli, Mediterranei Angli, Mercii, tota Nordanhymbrorum progenies, id est, illarum gentium que ad Boream Humbri fluminis inhabitant czterique Anglorum populi sunt orti. Duces fuisse perhibentur eorum primi duo fratres Hengist et Horsa; e quibus Horsa postea occisus in bello a Brittonibus, hactenus in Orientalibus Cantiz partibus monumentum habet suo nomine insigne.” Smith’s Bede, Fol. Cambridge 1722, lib. i, ch. 15, p. 52.—Alfred’s Saxon translation of which is: ‘‘ Comon hi of prim foleum pam strangestan Germanie, Peet of Seaxum, and of Angle, and of Geatum. Of Geata fruman syndon Cantware, and Wihtsetan, pet is seo peod pe Wiht pet Ealond onearda’; Of Seaxum pet is of bam lande be mon hated Eald-Seaxan, coman East-Seaxan, and Su%-Seaxan, and West-Seaxan. And of Engle coman East-Engle and Middel-Engle, and Myrce, and eall NorShembra cynn, is bet land pe Angulus is nemned betwyh Geatum and Seaxum. Is seed of pere tide pe hi anon gewiton o8 to dege bet hit weste wunige. Weron pa erest heora latteowas and heretogan twegen gebroSra, Hengest and Horsa.”’ Id. p. 483. The Saxon Chronicle gives the following account: “ An. ccccxirx. Her Martianus and Valentinianus onfengon rice, and ricsodon vir winter. On heora dagum Hengest and Horsa, from Wyrtgeorne gelaSode Brytta cyninge to fultume, gesohton Brytene on bam sta'Se, pe is genemned Ypwines-fleot, zrest Bryttum to fultume, ac hy eft on hy fuhton. Se cing het hi feohtan agien Pihtas, and hiswa dydan, and sige hzefdon swa hwar swa hi comon. Hi pa sende to Angle, and heton heom sendan mare fultum, and heom seggan Brytwalana nahtnesse, and pes landes cysta. Hi basendon heom mare fultum, pa comon pa menn of prim megSum Germanie, of Eald-Seaxum, of Anglum, of Iotum. “ Of Iotum comon Cantware and Wihtware [petis seo mxi¥ be nu eardaS on Wiht,] and pes cynn on West-Sexum, pe man nu gyt het Iutna-cynn. Of Eald-Seaxum comon East- Seaxan, and SuS-Seaxan, and West-Seaxan. Of Angle comon, se 4 sidSan stod westig betwix Iutum and Seaxum, East-Engle, and Middel-Angle, and Mearce and ealle NorSymbra. Heora here-togan weron twegen gebrosra, Hengest and Horsa.” Though the Friesians are not named by Bede, as forming part of this migration to Bri- tain, it is probable, from their locality in the north west of Germany, that many of them may have accompanied the Angles, Saxons, and other tribes to this Island. But we are not left in doubt, on this subject, for Procopius, who lived two hundred years nearer the Saxon expedition to Britain than Bede, expressly states, in his fourth book on the Gothic war, that Britain was peopled by three nations, the Britons, the Angles, and the Friesians ” Aryryinoe Kah Ppiccoves]. This is the opinion still prevalent among the Friesians and Dutch. They even claim Hengist as their country-man ; and the old Chroniclers are at a loss whether to make Hengist a Friesian or a Saxon, Maerlant, the father of Dutch, 18 KING ALFRED’S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 10. two days, the islands,” which belong to Denmark, were on his left. 10. Wulfstan® said that he went from Haddeby,—that he was in Truso* in seven days and nights,—that the ship was running all the way under sail. He had Weonodland,* [Mecklenburg and Pomerania] on the right [star-board,] and Langland, Laaland, Falster and Sconey, on his left, and all these lands belong to Denmark.** And then we had,* on our left, the land of the Burgundians” [Bornholmians], who have their own king. After or rather Flemish Poets, for he was born in Flanders about 1235, speaks of him, thus :— Een hiet Engistus een Vriese, een Sas, Die uten lande verdreven was; One, a Saxon or Friesian, Hengist by name. From his country was banished in sorrow and shame. SPrEGEL HistoriaL, C. XV, p. 16. Thus again :— Engistus wart dus onteert, Ende is in Vrieseland gekeert. Hengist was thus so much disgraced, That he, to Friesland, his steps retraced. Tom. III, p. 29. The Chronicle of Maerlant is founded upon the Speculum Historiale of the Monk Vicentius, who wrote about the year 1245. Bosworth’s Origin of the Eng. and Germ. Lang. and Nations, p. 15, § 4, note t: p. 52, § 50, note ¢: p. 53, § 52.—Latham’s Germania of Tacitus, Epileg. p. CKXII, and 117.—Also, Latham’s English Language, 3rd Edn, for Friesians and Jutes. 61 These are the islands Moen, Falster, Laaland, &c.: he, therefore, sailed between Zealand, Moen, &c. 62 Forster says—“ Wulfstan appears to have been a Dane, who, perhaps, had become acquainted with Ohthere in the course of his expedition, and had gone with him to England.” Northern Voyages, p. 69, note 73. 63 Truso, a town on the shore of the mere or lake Drausen, or Truso, from which the river Ilfing [Elbing] flows in its course towards the town of Elbing [v. note 75]. Forster says :—“ There is at this time, a lake between Elbing and Prussian Holland, called Truso, or Drausen, from which, probably, the town Truso. . . took its name.”’ Forster’s Northern Voyages, 4to, 1786, p. 69, note 74. 64 Weono®land the country of the Wends on the coast of Mecklenburg, Pomerania, &c. in Prussia [see notes 13 and 58.].—A. 8. Langa-land, the long island.—A. S. Scéneg, the beautiful island. 65 Denmark from daim low, mark ground, land, country, Malte-Brun’s Geog. Vol. VILL, p. 577.—A. 8. Dene-mearc—Dene The Danes,—Dene from denua plain, vale, valley ; and meare a boundary. The Saxon Chronicle in 1005, 1023, 1035, has Denemearc; Denmearc, in 1019, 1075; Denmare, in 1070; Denmare, in 1070 and 1119. In Danish, mark signifies a country; hence Denmark the low country of the Danes.—Finmark the country of the Finns. Forster says ;—‘“ Wulfstan [Alfred] is the most early writer hitherto known, who mentions this name. Notes to Barrington’s Orosius, p. 257, note 36. 66 Weron us, literally erant nobis. The pronoun of the first person plural, we and us, proves that Wulfstan is relating to the king his own account of their voyage. 67 Burgenda land is the Icl. Burgundarhélmr of which the present Dan. and Swed. name Bornholm is a contraction. Rask’s Afhandlinger, p. 374, note o. 68 And pa habba® himsylf cyning, literally, and who have to themselves a king. WULFSTAN’S VOYAGE FROM HADDEBY TO TRUSO. 19 the land of the Burgundians, we had,” on our left, those lands that were called first Blekingey,” and Meore, and Oeland and Goth- land; and these lands belong to Sweden. And we had Weonod- land, on the right, all the way to the mouth of the Vistula. The Vistula” is a very large river, and near it lie Witland” and Weo- nodland; and Witland belongs to the Esthonians.” The Vistula flows out of Weonodland and runs into the Frische Haff’ [Est- 69 A.S. Blecingazg, the province of Bleking, on the southwest of Sweden.—Meore, the Upper and Lower Moehre, in the province of Smoeland or Smaland, also in Sweden.— Eowland and Gotland, the two islands on the coast of Sweden, Oeland and Gothland. 70 A. 8S. Wisle, in Polish Wisla. German Weichsel: by other nations, and by Latin writers, it is called Vistula. Before reaching the Baltic, the Vistula first divides into two branches, the smaller and eastern branch of which, called the Neugat or Nogat, runs north easterly, and discharges itself into the Frische Haff [see note 73]. The larger or western branch, after flowing 35 or 40 miles farther, again divides, about 9 miles from Danzig, into two branches, the smaller of which runs easterly into the Frische Haff, the main stream of the Vistula taking an opposite direction, discharges itself into the Baltic at Weichsel- miinde, north of Danzig. So there are, at least, three great branches of the Vistula, the Nogat at the commencement of the great Werder; the second, above Danzig: this second branch and the Nogat run into the Frische Haff, and the third passes by Danzig into the Baltic. Jornandes, de reb. Get. c. 3, correctly describes this river. He speaks of Scancia thus :—“ Hee a fronte posita est Vistula fluvii; qui Sarmaticis montibus ortus, in con- spectu Scanzie septentrionali oceano trisulcus illabitur: for, besides the smaller streams of the Nogat, this river has three great branches. The most westerly is near Danzig; the easterly branches just described, enter the Frische Haff, with the Elbing. v. note 76. 71 Porthan says that Witland is a part of Samland in Prussia. In old times it extended to the eastern bank of the Vistula. The monk Alberik, who lived a century and a half after Alfred, is the first that mentions Witland.—‘‘ In Prutia (Prucia], que est ultra Pomera- niam, Episcopus Mutinensis, missus a Papa legatus, ingenio et sapientia sua, non fortitudine, multos paganos ad fidem attraxit.... Erant autem hoc anno, in illis partibus, quinque tantummodo provincie paganorum acquirende: ista videlicet, de qua agitur, Prutia [Prucia], Curlandia, Lethonia, Vithlandia, et Sambria. Rask’s Afhandlinger, p. 375, note q.— Witland was celebrated for its amber at the time of the Crusades, it was still called Witland. Forster’s North. Voyages, p. 70.——Professor Voigt, in his Geschichte Preussens von den 4ltesten Zeiten, Kénigsberg, 182739, advances many arguments to prove, that part of Witland has been absorbed by the Frische H aff,—that Witland, not only occupied the north-eastern part of the Frische Haff, from the old castle of Balga or Honeda, but ex- tended far into the sea on the west and north of Samland. The space is marked in his map. See note 76. : . . 72 A.S. Estum dat. pl. of Este, or Estas of Alfred, mentioned in note 30 and its text. These Esthonians or Osterlings dwelt on the shores of the Baltic to the east of the Vistula. - A.S. Estmere, [est east, mere a lake] the present Frische Haff or fresh water lake is on the north of east Prussia. Hav or Haff signifies a sea, in Danish and Swedish. It is written Haff in German and it is now used to denote all the lakes connected with the rivers, on the coast of Prussia and Pomerania. The Frische Haff is about 60 miles long, and from 6 to 15 broad. It is separated by a chain of sand banks from the Baltic sea, with which, at the present time, it communicates by one strait called the Gah This strait is on the north east of the Haff, near the fortress of Pillau. Malte Brun’s Univ. Geog. Vol. VIL, p. 14. This Gat, as Dr Bell informs me, ‘ seems to have been formed, and to be kept open by the superior force of the Pregel stream.” This gentleman has a perfect 20 KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 10. mere]. The Frische Haff is, at least, fifteen miles” broad. Then” the Elbing” comes from the east into the Frische Haff, out of the lake [Drausen] on the shore of which Truso stands; and [they] come out together into the Frische Haff, the Elbing from the east, out of Esthonia; and the Vistula from the south out of Weonodland. Then the Vistula takes away the name of the Elbing, and runs out of the lake into the sea, by a western [open- ing] on the north [of the Frische Haff]; therefore, they call it the mouth of the Vistula.—’’Esthonia [Eastland] is very large, and knowledge of the Frische Haff, and the neighbourhood, as he received his early education in the vicinity, and matriculated at the University of Kénigsberg, near the west end of the Haff. I am indebted to Dr Bell for the map of the celebrated German Historian, Professor Voigt, adapted to his “ Geschichte Preussens von den Altesten Zeiten, 9 vols 8vo, Kénigs- berg, 1827—39.” In this map, there are four openings from the Frische Haff to the Baltic. “ It is certain,’ says Malte-Brun, that in 1394 the mouth of one strait was situated at Loch- sett, 6 or 8 miles north of the fortress of Pillau.’’ Voigt’s map gives the year, 1311. Id. vol. VII, p. 15. The next is the Gat of Pillau, at present the only opening to the Baltic, with the date 1510. The third Gat, marked in the map with the date 1456, is about 10 or 12 miles south west of Pillau; and the fourth, without any date, is much nearer the west end of the Frische Haff. 74 Itis evident, that Alfred has here altered the measure of Ohthere, the Northman, and has made it to agree with the Anglo-Saxon miles. Hence, the dimensions of Estmere, given by Alfred, perfectly accord with those of the Frische Haff of the present day, as mentioned in the preceding note. See also note 49. 75 Literally, Then comes the Elbing from the east into Estmere [the Frische Haff] from [out of] the mere, on the bank of which Truso stands [or, which Traso stands upon the bank of [i. e. the lake of Drausen]. Truso, therefore, was on the border of the lake Drausen, and not of the Estmere or Frische Haff. The river Elbing [Ilfing] flows from the lake Drausen towards the town of Elbing. Rask’s Afhandlinger, p. 379 and 380, note s.—V. note 63.— Hence Rask has translated this passage into Danish—Ilfing léber dsten fra indi det friske Hav, og kommer fra den Sd, paa hvis Brad Truso staar.” Id. p. 325.—Dahlmann trans- lates it—‘‘ Der Ilfing [Elbing] lauft von Osten in das Esthenmeer von der See her, an des- sen Gestade Truso steht.” p. 428. 76 A.S. Iifing, the river Elbing in Western Prussia, to the east of the Vistula. The Elbing flows from the small lake Drausen to the town of Elbing called also Elbinga, in Polish Elbiag or Elblag, and urbs Drusinia. Malte Brun says:—“The flourishing and commercial town of Elbing, is built on a low and fruitful valley : its name is derived from the small river Elbach, which issues from the lake of Drausen.” Univer. Geog. Vol. VII, p. 23.—V. note 75. 77 Wisle mia, the mouth of the Vistula. The most westerly stream of the Vistula, which flows into the Baltic, a little to the north of Danzig, is still called in German, Weich- selmiinde [v. note 70]. Forster observes, every thing that Alfred here mentions, incon- testably shews, that Wulfstan had an intimate and personal knowledge of what he was stat- ing. The Elbing came out of Esthonia and from the east, so far as regards that arm of the Elbing, which ran from east to west, into the Nogat the eastern branch of the Vistula; but. the Vistula comes [sian of Winodlande] out of Weonodland from thesouth. The two rivers, the eastern branch of the Vistula, and the Elbing, flow together under the former aie, and enter the Frische Haff. This Haff or lake extends from west to north, that is in a north-easterly direction and flows into the Baltic at Pillau. Forster then adds :—* It is FRISCHE HAFF—TRUSO—ESTHONIA. 21 there are many towns, and in every town there is a king. There is also very much honey and fishing. The king and the richest possible, that this, as well as the western arm, may have formerly borne the name of Weichselmiinde or the mouth of the Vistula.” Northern Voyages, p. 71 note 83. Barrington translates it:—“The Ilfing, having joined the Wesel, takes its name, and runs to the west of Estmere, and northward, into the sea, when it is called the Wesel’s mouth.” p. 17. Dr Ingram’s translation is,—‘*Then the Weissel deprives the Ilfing of its name; and, flowing from the west part of the lake, at length empties itself northward into the sea; whence this point is called the Weissel-mouth.” Lect. p. 81. Rask gives the whole passage thus: Ilfing léber dsten fra ind i det friske Hav, og kom- mer fra den Sé, paa hvis Breed Truso staar, de lébe begge tilsammen ud i det friske Hav, Ilfing dsten fra ud af Estland og Vejksel sénden fra ud af Venden, da betager Vejkselen Ilfing dens Navn, og ober fra bemzldte friske Hav nordvest paa ud i Sden, derfor kalder man dette [Udléb] Vejkselmundingen. Afhandlinger, p. 325. Dalhmann translates the same passage :—“ Der Ilfing [Elbing] lauft von Osten in das Esthenmeer von der See her, an dessen Gestade Truso steht; sie strémen beide gemeinsam ins Esthenmeer aus, Ifing aus Osten von Esthland, und die Weichsel aus Siiden von Wen- denland; und hier benimmt die Weichsel dem Ilfing seinen Namen, und strémt aus dem [Esthen-] Meere nordwestlich in die See; davon nennt man das Weichselmiinde.” For- shungen, p. 428. The literal translation of the last sentence of the A. S. text is,—Then the Vistula deprives the Elbing of its name, and flows out of [of bem mere, from or out of the mere or lake: v. note 75] the Lake or Haff, west and north into the sea; therefore, they call it the inouth of the Vistula. This would seem to imply, that there were then two openings from the Frische Haff, one on the west, and the other on thenorth. This supposition is not impossible; for, in different ages, there have been four openings from the Frische Haff to the Baltic, one of which was near the western extremity of the Haff. [v. note 73.] But these two openings do not accord with the conclusion, where the singular is used, “therefore, they call it, the mouth of the Vistula.” Rask and Dahlmann, seeing this difficulty, have given a different translation of ‘ west and nor’ ”’; Rask gives “‘nordvest,’’ and Dahlmann “ nordwestlich.”—They appear to admit of only one gat or opening, and that on the north-west, towards the present Weichselmiinde, on the west of the Haff, but without authority from the A. S. text, and without a reference to history to prove there was such a gat on the west. Though the translation I have given in the text, does not accord with the present locality of Weichselmiinde, and it is not translated verbally; yet, I think, it gives the plain meaning. I allude to the latter part of the sentence: and flows out of the Lake [the Frische Haff] west and north into the sea; that is, flows out of the gat or opening at Pillau, on the west side of the most northerly part of the Frische Haff, which is west of Koningsberg. The great difficulty here is to ascertain whether there is any truth, in what Forster sug- gests, that the gat of Pillau was called Weichselmiinde, as well as the western branch of the Vistula, which flows into the Baltic to the north of Danzig. This uncertainty, with some other difficulties, has led to several suggestions, one of which is by W. Bell Esqr. Dr Phil. who thinks that the Truso of Wulfstan is the present Dirschau about 30 miles south of Danzig, and-4 west of the Vistula, He supposes, that the Baltic may have extended so far up the valley of the Vistula, that Dirschau may have been on the shore of the Baltic, in the 22 KING ALFRED’S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 11, 12. men drink mare’s milk,” but the poor and the slaves drink mead.” There is very much war among them; and there is no ale brewed by the Esthonians, but there is mead enough. 11. There is also a custom with the Esthonians,” that when a man is dead, he lies, in his house, unburnt with his kindred and friends a month,—sometimes two; and the king and other men of high rank, so much longer according to their wealth, remain unburnt sometimes half a year; and lie above ground in their houses. All the while the body is within, there must be drinking and sports to the day, on which he is burned. 12. Then, the same day, when they wish to bear him to the pile, they divide his property, which is left after the drinking and sports, into five or six parts, sometimes into more, as the amount of his property may be. Then, they lay the largest part of it within one mile from the town, then another, then the third, till it is all laid, within the one mile; and the least part shall be nearest the town in which the dead man lies. All the men, who have the swiftest horses in the land, shall then be assembled, about five or six miles from the property. Then they all run towards the property; and the man, who has the swiftest*! horse, comes to the first and the largest part, and so each after the other, till it is all taken: and he takes the least part, who runs to the property nearest the town. Then each rides away with time of Alfred. See his Ein versuch, den Ort Schiringsheal, &c. p. 8. This supposition seems to be surrounded with very great difficulties. 78 Forster observes :—This mare’s milk was not merely milk, but milk which had under- gone a kind of fermentation, and was changed into a species of brandy, such as the inhabi- tants of the desert plains of Asia Media drink in great quantities, calling it kumyss. . . . Adam of Bremen [§ 138] says, that the ancient Prussians ate horse-flesh, and drank the milk of their mares to intoxication ; and Peter of Duisburg [§ 80] relates of these people, that at their feasts, they drank water, mead, and mare’s milk. Northern Voyages, p, 71, note 85. 79 Mead, even so early as inthe ninth century, had the name of Medo, medu and meodo in Anglo-Saxon; in the Lithuanian tongue it is called Middus; in Polish, Miod; in Rus- sian, Med; in German, Meth. Hence it appears probable that mead is a beverage of great antiquity, as the name, by which it is known, is exactly the same in languages of so differ- ent an origin. With these it is perhaps worth while to compare the Greek verb MeOvw I intoxicate, from pedv wine. Id. p. 72, note 86. 80 The following particulars, relating to the manners of the Esthonians n the ninth cen- tury, the preservation of which we owe to the diligent pen of King Alfred, form a valuable supplement to the short sketches of aboriginal manners delineated by Cesar and Tacitus. Ingram’s Lect. p. 82, note e, 81 In A. S. pet swifte hors, for pat swiftoste, the swiftest. ESTHONIAN CUSTOMS, HORSE-RACES, BURNING THEIR DEAD. 23 the property, and may keep it all; and, therefore, swift horses are there uncommonly dear. When his property is thus all spent, then they carry him out, and burn him with his weapons and clothes.** Most commonly they spend all his wealth, with the long lying of the dead within, and what they lay in the way, which the strangers run for and take away. 13. It is also a custom with the Esthonians, that there men of every tribe must be burned; and, if any one find a single bone unburnt, they shall make a great atonement."**—There is also among the Esthonians, a power of producing cold; and, there- fore, the dead lie there so long, and decay not,** because they bring the cold upon them. And if a man set two vats full 82 That the ancient Prussians burnt their dead, and buried them together with their horses, weapons, clothes, and valuable possessions, appears from a treaty concluded through the mediation of the Archdeacon of Liege, in quality of the Pope’s Legate, between the German Knights and the newly converted Prussians, wherein the Prussians expressly promise never in future to burn their dead, nor bury them with their horses, arms, clothes and va- luables. Forster’s Northern voyages, p. 72, note 88. A similar custom is mentioned, in Czsar’s Commentaries, as prevailing in Gaul :—“ Fun- era sunt pro cultu Gallorum magnifica, et sumptuosa; omniaque, que vivis cordi fuisse ar- bitrantur, in ignem inferunt, etiam animalia; ac, paulo supra hanec memoriam, servi, et clientes, quos ab iis dilectos esse constabat, justis funeribus confectis, una cremabantur.” De Bello Gallico, 1. VI, c. 19.—The custom of burning the dead, vexpoxkavoTia, or crema- tion, was almost universal, among rude nations, from the age of Homer to that of Alfred. Ingram’s Lect. p. 83, note h. 83 The A. 8S. gebétan to atone for, or to make atonement, is similar to the Icl. beeta, Swed. bode, to reconcile: miclum dat. pl. multo, used adverbially. The atonement, sacrifice or offering, did not apply merely to the individual, but to his whole race, as is evident by the pl. hi sceolan they shall. The meaning, as Rask says, is this :—“Saa skulle de udsone det med et stort offer.” Thus shall they atone for, or expiate this, with a great offering, sacrifice, or atonement. Afhandlinger, p. 381, note ce. Atonement is at-one-ment, an expressive English compound, from atone, to set at one, to reconcile, make peace. Thus the Greek of St. Paul, in the Acts—Kat ovvnracev avTovs eis elpnyny, Ch. VII, 26, is in our version, ‘‘and would have set them at one again’’: this follows Tyndale’s translation of 1534—and wolde have set them at one agayne.—He made the Jewes and the Gentiles at one betwene themselues, euen so he made them both at one with God, that there should be nothing to breake the atonement. Udal. Ephesians, C. 2. 84 Phineas Fletcher, who was ambassador fram Queen Elizabeth to Russia, gives an account of the same practice continuing in some parts of Moscovy. ‘In winter time, «‘ when all is covered with snow, so many as die are piled up in a hovel in the suburbs like ‘billets on a wood stack; they are as hard with the frost as a very stone, till the spring- “tide come and resolve the frost, what time every man taketh his dead friend, and com- “ mitteth him to the ground.”’ See a note to one of Fletcher’s Eclogues, p. 10, printed at Edinburgh, in 1771, 12mo. See also a poem written at Moscow, by G. Tuberville, in the first volume of Hakluyt, p. 886, where the same circumstance is dwelt upon, and the reason given, that the ground cannot be dug. Bodies, however, are now [1773] buried at 24 KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 14, 15. of ale or of water, they cause that either shall be frozen over, whether it be summer or winter. 14. Now will we speak about Gresce, on the south of the river Danube.* The sea, Propontis, lies on the east of Constan- tinople, a city of the Greeks. On the north of Constantinople, the arm of the sea shoots up right west from the Euxine ; and, on the north-west of the city, the mouth of the river Danube shoots out south-east into the Euxine sea; and, on the south and on the west side of the mouth, are the Moesians, a tribe of Greeks; and, on the west of the city, are the Thracians; and on the west* of these, the Macedonians. On the south of the city, and on the south side of the arm of the sea which is called Archipelago [A geeum], is the country of the Athe- nians and of Corinth. To the south-west of Corinth is the country of Achaia, by the Mediterranean Sea. These countries are peopled by Greeks. On the west of Achaia, along the Medi- terranean, is the country Dalmatia, on the north side of the sea; and on the north of Dalmatia are the Bulgarians, and Istria. On the south of Istria is that part of the Mediterranean Sea, which is called Adriatic; and on the west, the Alpine mountains; and on the north, that waste, which is between Carinthia and the Bulgarians. 15. Then the country of Iraty,+ extends a long way north-west, and south-east ;—and all around it lies the Mediterranean Sea, save on the north-west. At that end, it is bounded by the Moscow during the winter. D. B.— As the poem of G. Tuberville, to which Mr Barrington refers, in Hakluyt, is addressed to so great a poet at Spenser, the reader may perhaps be amused with the following specimen, relating to the subject. Perhaps thou musest much, how this may stand with reason, That bodies dead can uncorrupt abide, so long a season ! Take this for certain trothe; as soon as heate is gone, The force of colde the body binds as hard as any stone, Without offence at all, to any living thing ; And so they lye in perfect state, till next returne of springe.” Incram’s Lect. p. 84,note m. 85 This power, so much admired by King Alfred, of producing cold either in summer or in winter, by which the putrefaction of dead bodies was prevented, and ale and water were frozen, must have been effected by some sort of ice-house, and this, every Prussian of any consequence had in, or near his house. Forster’s Northern Voyages, p. 73. 86 A. S. and be eastan bere byrig, and on the east of the city, note 89. * Partly from Oros. 1. I, c. 2, Haver. p. 23, 24: see note 88. + Partly from Oros. 1. I, c. 2, Haver. p 24. OF GREECE, ITALY, GALLIA BELGICA, AND SPAIN. 25 mountains called the Alps: these begin on the west, from the Mediterranean Sea, in the country Narbonensis, and end again on the east in the country of Dalmatia by the [Adriatic] Sea. 16. The countries called Gattia Betctca *:—on the east of these is the river Rhine, and on the south the mountains called the Alps, and on the south-west the ocean which is called Britan- nic; and on the north, on the other side of the arm of the ocean, is the country Britain. On the west of the Loire is the country Aquitania; and, on the south of Aquitania, is some part of the country Narbonensis; and on the south-west the country of Spain; and, on the west, the ocean. On the south of Narbo- nensis is the Mediterranean Sea, where the river Rhone empties itself; and, on the east of it, Provence; and on the west of it, over the wastes, the nearer Spain [Hispania Citerior], and on the west and north, Aquitania; and Gascony on the north. Pro- vence has, on the north of it, the Alps; and on the south of it is the Mediterranean Sea; and, on the north and east of it, are the Burgundians, and on the west the Gasconians. 17. The country of Spar + is three-cornered, and al! encom- passed with water by the Atlantic ® ocean without, and by the Mediterranean Sea within, more than the countries named be- fore. One of the corners lies south-west, opposite to the island, called Cadiz, and another east, opposite the country Narbonensis, and the third north-west, towards Betanzos, a city of Galicia, and opposite Scotland [Ireland], over the arm of the sea, right against the mouth of the river called the Shannon. As to that part of Spain,** more distant from us, on the west of it, and on the north is the ocean, on the south the Mediterrannean Sea, and on the east the nearer Spain; on the north of which are the * Oros. I. I, c. 2. Haver. p. 25. + Oros. 1. I, c. 2. Haver. p. 25, 26. 87 Literally :—and all encompassed with water without, and also encompassed within, more than [ofer over, above, more than] those lands [pa land those lands, or countries Provence, Aquitania, and Gallia Belgica] beth by the ocean and by the Mediterranean Sea. 88 It must be recollected, that Orosius is supposed to speak, and not Alfred.—The royal Geographer, indeed, appears to have deserted Orosius entirely, as an insufficient guide, till he came to those territories, which are situated to the south of the Danube. This, therefore, is the only part of his description which can be strictly considered as a translation. The division also of all Europe into the countries lying north and south of the Danube, so clear and simple, which is completely original, shews how much we owe to King Alfred. Ingram’s Lect. p. 86, note q 26 KING ALFRED'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, § 18. Aquitani, and on the north-east the forest of the Pyrenees,{ and on the east Narbonensis, and on the south the Mediterranean Sea. 18. The island Brirary.—It extends || a long way north-east ; it is eight hundred miles long, and two hundred miles broad. On the south of it, and on the other side of the arm of the sea, is Gallia Belgica; and on the west part, on the other side of the sea, is the island Hibernia”; and on the north part, the Ork- ney islands §. Ireland, which we call Scotland, is on every side surrounded by the ocean; and because it is nearer the setting of the sun than other lands, the weather is milder there, than in Britain. Then on the north-west of Ireland, is that outmost land called Thule; and it is known to few because of its great dis- tance.—Thus, have we spoken about the boundaries of all Eu- rope, as they lie. 1 Pyrenzei saltus a parte septentrionis. Oros. 1. I, c. II. Haver. p. 26, 8.—A.S. Be nor%an eastan is se weald Pireni. || Britannia oceani insula, per longum in boream extenditur, Oros. 1. I, c. II. Haver. p. 27, 4. 89 Ibernia, Hibernia, Igbernia, now Ireland, was denominated Scotland from about the fifth to the eleventh century. The Scoti were first heard of, as inhabiting Ireland. As they imposed their name on Hibernia, so in settling in North Britain they gave it the name of Scotland, which it still retains. [See note 54: Also Alfred’s Orosius § 3 note 7] Bede says, ‘‘ Hae [Hibernia] proprie patria Scottorum est.” 1. I, c.1; p. 42. So in Alfred’s translation. This [Hibernia] is agendlice Scotta epel. id. p. 474.—Diodorus Siculus calls Ibernia, “Ipis, Strabo "Lépvn, "Iepvis viicos, Ptolemy Iovepvia, Pomponius Mela Ju- verna, Claudian Ierna. In the names Iris, Ierna, Juverna, Hibernia, the native Irish, Eri or Ir is discoverable. The Irish, to indicate a country, prefix Hy, or Hua denoting “the [dwelling of the] sons, or family of.” In prefixing Hy to a name beginning with a vowel, a consonant is often inserted, thus; Hy-v-Each, the country or descendants of Each or Hiacus. This prefix requires a genitive, which in Eri is Erin: and thus, all the vari+ ations in the name seem to be accounted for ,—as Eri, or Ire-land; Hy-b-ernia, Hibernia; —Hy-ernis, Iernis. § Orcadas insulas habet. Oros. 1. I, c. II. Haver. p. 27, 10.—A. S. Orcadus pet igland: THE END. Dr. BOSWORTH’S PUBLICATIONS. I. KING ALFRED’S ANGLO-SAXON VERSION of the HISTORIAN OROSIUS; with a literal English Translation and Notes;—and with Facsimile specimens of the Lauderdale and Cotton Manuscripts. 8vo. For the sake of those, who only wish for the English of the preceding work, or for a particular part, it has been printed in the following forms, trom the same type. Very few copies have been printed in these separate formg, and those chiefly for presents ;| so few, indeed, that whether any, a part, or the whole of them will be published, must depend upon the number of copies claimed for Public Libraries. II. A LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION of KING ALFRED’S Anglo-Saxon Version of the Historian OROSIUS, with Notes and Facsimile specimens of the Lauderdale and Cotton Manuscripts. 8vo. III. A DESCRIPTION of EUROPE, and the VOYAGES OF OHTHERE and WULFSTAN, written in Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred the Great: containing,—l. Fac- simile specimens of the Lauderdale and the Cotton Manuscripts.—2, The Anglo-Saxon Text. —8. A literal English Translation with notes. 8vo. IV. The same in ENGLISH only ; or a DESCRIPTION of EUROPE and the VOYAGES of OHTHERE and WULFSTAN, being a literal English Translation with notes of the Anglo-Saxon, written by King Alfred the Great, with Facsimile specimens of the Lauderdale and Cotton Manuscripts. 8vo. V. A DESCRIPTION of EUROPE, and the VOYAGES of OHTHERE and WULFSTAN, written in Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred the Great; containing,—1. A fac- simile copy of the whole Anglo-Saxon Text, from the Cotton MS. ; and also as far as it exists from the Lauderdale; together 16 facsimile pages.—2. A printed Anglo-Saxon Text, based upon these Manuscripts.—8. A literal English Translation and Notes. Printed on large 4to., to accord with the size of the MSS., but on thin paper to send by post. VI. THE SAME printed on thick 4to. paper, and each page surrounded with red lines. VII. A DESCRIPTION of EUROPE, AFRICA, etc., or A DESCRIPTION of EUROPE and the VOYAGES of OHTHERE and WULFSTAN, written in Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred the Great; with his account of the Mediterranean Islands,—of Africa,—and of the History of the World to the year B. C. 1413, chiefly taken from Orosius; containing,—1. A facsimile copy of the whole Anglo-Saxon Text from the Cotton Manuscript, and also, as far as it exists, from the Lauderdale; together, 29 facsimile pages.—2. A printed Anglo-Saxon Text, based upon these MSS.—8. A literal English Translation and Notes. Printed on large thick 4to. paper, and each page surrounded by red lines. 55 f o KING ALFREDS DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE, OHTHERE & WULFSTANS VOYAGES, pa sey) jel Altreds lo-Sascon Version’ the Short _ HISTORY OF THE WORLD i so by —_ a OROSIUS. ~ 15 Drawn by E WellerF R +5 27, Duke S* Bloomsbury. 4 HANH Aya atin TON i Nat Ea es SEO ata RHR i My yy Ot Ries i a PH Ut i) Ha eta Pr DANCE a tali tt Rie set ya) iy A ete pares Pa re Cate a nee ra ily sie i + wns Pp tse a gs heal Ff hs Eee tha Heenan ase DE 2 ey ie nh eater pee py DH neat a Aviad i psa as Baia a7 Ey Wty Af Me neti ine if te ake iit ae ne My a ee ae 2 Cae rH) H Hy ry He Ra ‘| i Heh A ih ost aia Hal HN ee Hi j Neh Hy Aes y ) se WELT Na an AE HI ry i ry vy yh iy My i siete } rake ( agente rita Re i * fs fi Hy e : Hy } H f if fetid / atc Re vi ty Hi i it rhe Wi i a 0 Ht Hi ay tit} ( fi yd OH i % ih Hai ie fi et te or eas Ned th mat pi ee ie “, ee oe Hearn if ite Sees ete nv ncieatens Rolie Watee at rtncaere ee x IEA Saab ate Porte ees ae Scheer cats Pmieienan Seat is tril ete poems Were pices tees aserieet Serhan. PERE EN OAR nahi y; Beat eens ers et ee ene pena aes Se eet satje eussantery ang rie near ets er a epee Da taste ela oa "a eaten pest bucnsenettoy Ln SN Hee aE a Capen tera ep Lahn eerie et MAH ecieeten he Sr mins Res , Sinema aerben2 map oeeacne neta