160.It seems probable that the form in which the author of the Speculum expresses his desire to remain anonymous shows the influence of the Old Norse version of the Elucidarium, a theological discussion in dialog form, which dates from the twelfth century and is ascribed to Honorius of Autun. The author of the Elucidarium writes as follows in his preface: “My name, however, I have purposely withheld, lest wicked men should be prompted by a feeling of envy to cast aside a useful work.” For the original Latin preface to the Elucidarium see Migne, Patrologia Latina, CLXXII, 1110; the Old Norse version is given in Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1857, p. 240, 1858, p. 24.

161.Good day (God dag) is still the common form of greeting among Norwegians and other Scandinavians.

162.Proverbs, ix, 10. In the use of Scriptural quotations the author is seldom accurate.

163.St. Luke, x, 27.

164.A “kingsman” (konungsmaÐr) was any one who had formally entered into the king’s personal service, whether he was actually employed at court or not. See below, cc. xxiv ff.

165.These “heathen lands” were probably the regions along the Arctic inhabited by the Finns; it is also possible that the author alludes to trading voyages to lands occupied by Esquimaux, though he makes no mention of these people anywhere in his work.

166.The “Birch-isle” code was originally a set of rules governing commercial intercourse. After a time it became a more elaborate law governing the municipality as well as the traders who were more or less permanently located there. It is believed that the name is derived from Birka, a trading center in eastern Sweden not far from the site of modern Stockholm. The “Birch-Isle” code is published in Norges Gamle Love, I, part iii, 303-336.

167.The mean retardation is forty-eight minutes.

168.This is within twenty-two minutes of the length of the lunar half-month.

169.The Northmen in medieval times had two hundreds, the great hundred, or duodecimal hundred, which counted 120 (12 × 10) and the ordinary hundred (10 × 10).

170.See Brenner’s edition, 20.

171.Error for ostenta; the ostentum, computed at one-sixtieth of an hour, seems to appear first in the writings of Rabanus Maurus (ninth century).

172.It is evident from this discussion that the author believes in a spherical earth; elsewhere, too, he speaks of the sphere of earth (jarÐarbollr); see c. lvi.

173.Halogaland, the modern Nordland, is that part of Norway lying north of the sixty-fifth parallel.

174.Vaag and Andenes are points in the Lofoten Islands; their latitudes are 68° 12´ 35 and 69° 18´ 50 respectively.

175.Manuel I, Comnenus, 1143-1180. The “little book” is thought to have been one of the many forms of the legend of Prester John, a fabulous Christian ruler of India of whom much was heard in the middle ages. About 1165 a letter from the “Presbyter Johannes” addressed to the emperor Manuel Comnenus was circulated through Europe and later found its way into the North. In the extant copies of this letter many marvels are told, though the wonder mentioned in the Speculum Regale does not appear. See Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes, 83-98.

176.The “Birchdale” bog seems to be a myth; but that stories of such a marvel were current is evident from a statement by Giraldus Cambrensis, who has heard that there was such a bog in Norway. Opera, V, 86. MÖre is an old Norwegian shire lying to the west of Trondhjem along the coast.

177.Cf. Giraldus Cambrensis, Opera, V, 26-28. Giraldus quotes Bede (Historia Ecclesiastica, i, c. 1). See also Isidore, Etymologiae, xiv, 6.

178.Cf. Giraldus, Opera, V, 62; see also Bede, Hist. Eccles., i, c. 1.

179.“Wonders of Ireland” (Irish Nennius, 219); this writer states that the experiment has been made.

180.Giraldus tells us that the Irish are faithless and treacherous (Opera, V, 165) but that the island has no martyrs (ibid., 174). Cf. Ériu, IV, 4 (Meyer, “Irish Memorabilia in the Speculum Regale”).

181.The editor of the Irish Nennius gives this name as Loch n-Echach (Lough Neagh). P. 195, note.

182.Error for aquifolium.

183.See the “Wonders of Ireland” (Irish Nennius, 195) where a similar account is given; but according to this “the part of it that sinks into the earth will be stone, the part that remains in the water will be iron.” Giraldus writes of a petrifying well (fons) in the north of Ulster, but gives no place name. Opera, V, 86. See also Wright-Halliwell, Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 103. (Latin poem on the wonders of Ireland.)

184.Blandina (Bladina, Bladma) is the Slieve Bloom range in central Ireland.

185.Giraldus has heard of such springs, but he locates the one in Ulster and the other in Munster. Opera, V, 84. A spring that whitens hair is mentioned in Wright-Halliwell, Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 104, and in the Irish Nennius, 195.

186.See Ériu, IV, 6. Kuno Meyer knows of no such story in Irish folklore, but refers to similar tales told of floating islands in Wales and Scotland.

187.Inhisgluair, now Inishglory, is on the west coast of Ireland in county Mayo. Giraldus mentions the legend but assigns it to a different locality; see Opera, V, 83 and note. The Irish Nennius (193) adds that the nails and hair grow and that unsalted meat does not decay on the island. The island is also referred to in the Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 103.

188.Giraldus refers briefly to this legend. Opera, V, 81. The editor of Giraldus’ writings adds in a note (ibid.): “the isle of the living was three miles from Roscrea, parish of Cobally, in a lake called Loch CrÉ, now dried up.” Roscrea is near the north edge of Munster not far from the Slieve Bloom mountains. See also the Irish Nennius, 217. Meyer identifies Logri with Loch Ree in west central Ireland. Ériu, IV, 7.

189.Probably Lough Erne, though Loch Uair, now Lough Owel, in Westmeath has also been suggested.

190.Giraldus calls this island the Purgatory of Saint Patrick; but this famous place was “on an island in Lough Derg, in county Donegal.” Opera, V, 82-83 and note. It seems likely, however, that two different legends have been confused in the Welshman’s account.

191.The holy island which is shunned by all females is mentioned by Giraldus (Opera, V, 80-81), but he fails to give the name of either the lake or the island. In the “Wonders of Ireland” (Irish Nennius, 217) this island is also the one on which no one is permitted to die. A similar legend is alluded to in Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 107. Meyer believes that “the Norse version offers a combination or confusion of two different Irish stories, one relating to Diarmait’s churchyard in Inis Clothrann, and the other relating to an island on Loch CrÉ.” Ériu, IV, 9.

192.Glendalough. St. Kevin was the founder of the great abbey of Glendalough. The year of his death is variously given as 617 and 618.

193.For a less detailed account of Saint Kevin and the wonderful willow, see Giraldus, Opera, V, 113. Cf. Ériu, IV, 9.

194.Themar was the ancient royal seat Temhair, now Tara. It seems to be alluded to in Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 105. Cf. Ériu, IV, 10.

195.Saint Patrick.

196.See the poem on the “Wonders of Ireland” (Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 105), where this transformation is alluded to. Stories of men who have become wolves are also told in Giraldus, Opera, V, 101, and in the Irish Nennius, 205; but these differ widely from the account given above. Stories of werewolves and lycanthropy are found in folklore everywhere.

197.Gelt (gjalti) is evidently a Celtic loanword, a form of the Irish geilt, meaning mad or madman. Cf. the Adventures of Suibhne Geilt, translated by J. G. O’Keefe. Suibhne was an Irish king who lost his reason in battle and for years afterwards led a wild life in the woods. O’Keefe thinks that the author of the King’s Mirror must have heard the tale of Suibhne (pp. xxxiv-xxxv). See also Ériu, IV, 12.

198.Kuno Meyer identifies Cloena with Clonmacnois. Ériu, IV, 12. Clonmacnois is in King’s county eight miles southwest of Athlone.

199.St. Ciaran (Kiranus) of Clonmacnois was the founder of a great monastery there. The year of his death is given as 547.

200.In the Irish Nennius (211-213) the following version of this tale appears. “Congalach, son of Maelmithig, was at the fair of Teltown on a certain day, when he saw a ship (sailing) along in the air. One of the crew cast a dart at a salmon. The dart fell down in the presence of the gathering, and a man came out of the ship after it. When he seized its end from above, a man from below seized it from below. Upon which the man from above said: ‘I am being drowned,’ said he. ‘Let him go,’ said Congalach; and he is allowed to go up, and then he goes from them swimming.” The translation is by Kuno Meyer: Ériu, IV, 13. Congalach was an Irish king (944-956); Teltown is in county Meath. The legend is alluded to in Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 105, with some difference in details.

201.A somewhat different version of this tale is found in the poem on the “Wonders of Ireland” (Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 105). See also Ériu, IV, 14.

202.An ell was approximately eighteen inches.

203.Whale fishing is an ancient industry in Norway; it is mentioned as early as the ninth century in the writings of Alfred the Great. See Nansen, In Northern Mists, I, 172.

204.Probably the beluga, also called white whale. The other varieties named in this paragraph, excepting the beaked whale and the baleen whale seem not to have been identified with any known types of whales. It has been suggested that some of them may have been sharks. See Nansen, In Northern Mists, II, 243.

205.The editor of the SorÖ edition identifies this with the nor-caper (BalÆna glacialis), though he thinks it possible that the fin-fish (BalÆnoptera laticeps) may be meant (p. 125).

206.BalÆna mysticetus; also called bowhead or Greenland whale.

207.It is possible that the basking sharks are meant rather than the Greenland sharks; they are larger than the Greenland sharks, but do not seem to be common in the Arctic waters.

208.The “horse whale” and the “red comb” have not been identified.

209.This is another name for the right whale described above; the author’s classification in this case must have been based on size only.

210.The author seems to believe that the whalebone rises from the lower jaw or the floor of the mouth; as a matter of fact it is fastened to the palate.

211.The kraken myth probably came to the North with the legend of St. Brendan, an Irish abbot, who was believed to have made a journey into the Atlantic about the middle of the sixth century. The oldest extant form of the legend, the Navigatio Brendani, dates from the eleventh century. For earlier versions of the myth see Nansen, In Northern Mists, II, 234.

212.Dialogorum Libri IV. Pope Gregory died in 604. The Icelandic version of Gregory’s Dialogues is published in Heilagra Manna SÖgur, I.

213.It is difficult to determine whether the author uses “places of torment” as a term for hell or for purgatory; it seems probable, however, that in this case hell is meant.

214.For the history of this theory see above, pp. 17–18.

215.The number of volcanoes in Iceland is variously given, but the more reliable authorities give 107.

216.The common belief of medieval scientists was that lightning was caused by the collision of clouds.

217.The belief that hell was a region of extreme cold as well as of heat was common in the middle ages. The author of the King’s Mirror probably derived his ideas of hell in part from the Old Norse version of the Elucidarium of Honorius of Autun. See Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1857, 292.

218.Mineral springs yielding carbonated waters are found in Iceland, though they are not numerous. The Hiterdale spring is probably mythical. See Herrmann, Island, I, 66.

219.The belief that mermaids lived in the Arctic waters was one that was long held by European navigators. Henry Hudson reports that on his voyage into the Arctic in 1608 (June 15) some of his men saw a mermaid. “This morning one of our companie looking over boord saw a mermaid, and calling up some of the companie to see her, one more came up and by that time shee was come close to the ships side, looking earnestly on the men: a little after a sea came and overturned her: from the navill upward her backe and breasts were like a womans, as they say that saw her; her body as big as one of us; her skin very white, and long haire hanging downe behind of colour blacke: in her going downe they saw her tayle, which was like the tayle of a porposse and speckled like a macrell.” Asher, Henry Hudson, 28.

220.The Danish scientist I. Japetus S. Steenstrup has shown in his paper “Hvad er Kongespeilets Havgjerdinger?” that this phenomenon is produced by sea quakes. The three huge waves did not form a triangle as the author’s account would seem to imply; they were three successive waves rolling in toward the shore. Steenstrup argues chiefly from the behavior of sea quakes in modern times. AarbÖger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1871.

221.The settled portion of Greenland is in the southern part on the west coast. The author wishes to say that a ship sailing from Norway to Greenland must round Cape Farewell and proceed some distance up the west coast before trying to make land. For a discussion of the conditions of settlement in Greenland and the navigation of the waters about Greenland, see Hovgaard, The Voyages of the Norsemen to America, c. ii; Nansen, In Northern Mists, cc. vii, viii.

222.This is called haverkn in modern Norse and seems to be the same as the grey seal: Halichoerus gryphus. See Nansen, In Northern Mists, II. 155.

223.Also called the harp seal: Phoca Groenlandica.

224.This observation accords with modern scientific classification.

225.In the thirteenth century, the century of the King’s Mirror, falconry was a favorite sport of the European nobility and there seems to have been some demand for Norwegian hawks. In the Close Rolls of the reign of Henry III there are allusions to gifts of hawks sent by the king of Norway to the English king. See above p. 29.

226.The diocese of Gardar in Greenland was established about 1110. For an account of the Norwegian colony in Greenland see Gjerset, History of the Norwegian People, I, 197-204.

227.Cf. the papal letter of Alexander VI, written in 1492. Olson and Bourne, The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot, 73-74.

228.We should infer from the form of this question and from the later discussion of the northern lights that this phenomenon was not prominent in Norway in the thirteenth century. There seem to be periods when these “lights” are less in evidence than at other times. But it should also be noted that the author discusses whales in connection with Greenland and Iceland only, though it is extremely likely that whales were not unknown on the shores of Norway.

229.The “home-circle” (kringla heimsins) was the Old Norse translation for the Latin orbis terrae, orb of the earth.

230.Isidore of Seville (d. 636) discusses the five zones in his Etymologiae, iii, c. xliv; xiii, c. vi; and in his De Natura Rerum, c. x. The editors of the SorÖ edition suggest that the “other learned men” may be Macrobius and Martianus Capella, the famous encyclopedists of the fifth century (p. 195). But as these writers preceded Isidore by nearly two centuries, it is unlikely that their works were more than indirect sources for the scientific statements in the Speculum Regale. It is more probable that the reference is to such writers as Bede, Rabanus Maurus, and Honorius of Autun, though it is impossible to specify what authority was followed.

231.By glacier the author evidently means the great inland ice masses. On the effect of this inland ice on the climate of Greenland and neighboring regions, see Nansen, In Northern Mists, II, 247.

232.Cf. Macrobius, 601. “... for both the northern and the southern extremities lie stiff with perpetual frost, and they are like two zones with which the earth is girdled, but narrow as if they were circlets drawn about the farthest regions.”

233.Macrobius states the same belief in quite similar terms: the south wind comes from a frozen clime just as the north wind does; but “since it comes to us through the flames of the torrid zone and mixes with the fire, it becomes hot, so that what was cold in the beginning comes to us with warmth.” (P. 603.)

234.Cf. Capella, Satiricon, 204.

235.To go to the king’s hand (ganga konungi til handa) is the technical term for the formal initiation into the royal service. “The king was in his high-seat with his guard grouped about him; across his knees lay a sword, his right hand grasping the hilt. The candidate approached, knelt, touched the swordhilt, and kissed the royal hand. He then arose and took the oath of fealty. Kneeling once more he placed his folded hands between those of the king and kissed his new lord.” Larson, “The Household of the Norwegian Kings in the Thirteenth Century:” American Historical Review, XIII, 461.

236.The mark as a standard of value was widely used in the middle ages. Originally it was a measure of weight equivalent to eight ounces of gold or silver. Its value varied at different times and in different places. Dr. Gjerset estimates the purchasing power of a mark of silver in the fourteenth century as equal to that of $80 at the present time. History of the Norwegian People, II, 18-19, note.

237.Thegn money (Þegngildi) was a fine paid to the king by one who had been guilty of manslaughter.

238.The housecarle fine was higher than that exacted for the death of a common subject because the housecarle stood in a personal relation to the king.

239.See American Historical Review, XIII, 469-471.

240.The head-ward was stationed near the king’s person, usually outside the door of the chamber where he slept. See American Historical Review, XIII, 462.

241.The Eyrir (pl. aura, from Latin aurum?) was an ounce of silver, or one-eighth of a mark.

242.The landedman (lendir maÐr) was one who enjoyed a fief granted by the king. The term was also used in a more restricted sense for the local chieftains who in return for the fief enjoyed gave certain assistance in the local administration. See Norges Gamle Love, V, 396-397; Gjerset, History of the Norwegian People, I, 387-388; American Historical Review, XIII, 467-468.

243.The kings of medieval Norway seem to have engaged quite actively in the mercantile profession. The trade with the Finns was made a royal monopoly at least as early as the tenth century; later the trade with Greenland also passed into the king’s hands.

244.Such meetings of two or three of the kings of the North were occasionally held all through the later middle ages. The conferences were often held at some point near the mouth of the GÖta River, on the southwest coast of modern Sweden. See above, p. 30.

245.It is impossible to determine what style of beard this jaÐarskegg was; if we may judge from contemporary German illustrations, the German mode was a smooth-shaven face. See also Weiss, Kostumekunde, II, 581.

246.SkjaÐak. The translation is uncertain; possibly some sort of weed is meant.

247.In this chapter the author has summed up the history of Norwegian kingship in the twelfth century, when minorities were frequent and joint kingships almost the rule. Three boys were proclaimed kings in 1103; two kings shared the power in 1130; the royal title fell to three children in 1136. At no time was the realm actually divided, the theory being that the administration and the revenues might be divided, while the monarchy remained a unit. The century was a period of great calamities; pretenders were numerous; and civil war raged at intervals. For a fuller discussion of the theory of Norwegian kingship in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, see above, pp. 35 ff.

248.The gambison (panzari) was a form of defensive armor made of cloth padded and quilted. It is described on page 217 as being made “of soft linen thoroughly blackened.” Usually it was worn under the coat of mail, but it could also be worn outside. See Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1867, 74 ff. (Blom.); Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 181-182.

249.The staff sling was a sling fastened to the end of a stick; it was an earlier form which was not used much in the thirteenth century.

250.The wedge-shaped column (svÍnfylking, perhaps so named from a fancied resemblance to a boar’s head) was a common form of battle array among the Northern peoples as well as among the early Germans generally.

251.As the shield was born on the left arm, the front edge would be the right edge.

252.These scythes were apparently used to catch and hold the hostile ships and perhaps also to cut the ropes on the ship. See the SorÖ edition, 388.

253.The broadax (skeggÖx) had the blade extended backward somewhat like that of a halberd, though in the latter case the extension was usually forward. See Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 108-110.

254.Skeptifletta: a dart of some sort with a cord attached.

255.Coal and sulphur seem to have been used chiefly to fire the enemy’s ship.

256.Caltrops were instruments provided with iron prongs and were usually scattered where the enemy’s horsemen were likely to pass, in the hope of maiming the horses. It is evident that they were also used in naval warfare, the purpose being to maim the men on the enemy’s deck. See the SorÖ edition, 392.

257.Atgeirr. The translation is doubtful, but it seems clear that some kind of spear useful for striking as well as for thrusting is meant. See Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 81-82.

258.Probably some sort of a cage placed at the top or near the top of the mast from which men with bows and slings could fight to better advantage. See AarbÖger for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1872, 242; Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 197.

259.Only one end of the beam was cloven in this way. See the SorÖ edition, 394-395. The beam was apparently fastened to the mast and used to crush the sides of the enemy’s ship in much the same way as the ram was used against a castle wall. See Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 199.

260.The prow-boar (rÔÐrgoltr) was not a beak but apparently some device fastened to the prow which served much the same purpose, namely to run down and sink an opposing ship. See the SorÖ edition, 395-396; Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 198-199.

261.See the SorÖ edition, 397-399; Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 196. This rampart was built of logs and planks and raised on the gunwales. Sometimes it seems to have been placed along the entire length of the ship, but often, perhaps, only where the ship was lowest. Inside it was braced with strong beams. The plank walk on the outside projected over the edge of the ship and was no doubt in part intended to make it difficult for the enemy to board it.

262.On the equipment of the horse in medieval warfare, see AarbÖger for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1867, 90-97.

263.In the thirteenth century the saddle was made with high bows before and behind so as to provide a firmer seat for the rider. The surcingle was a girth drawn over the saddle; the breast strap served to keep the saddle from slipping backwards. AarbÖger for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 91.

264.Kovertur, from medieval French couverture. But the couverture was not a covering worn underneath the mail; it was probably the mail itself or an outer covering for the horse. See Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 191.

265.Falk believes that this description is in some respects inaccurate. No such elaborate equipment could have been used in the North where cavalry was not an important part of the host in the thirteenth century. He also doubts that an equipment just like the one described was in use anywhere in Europe at the time. Ibid., 190-191. The medieval couverture was not placed beneath the covering of mail as the Speculum Regale states; and Falk can see no reason why a gambison placed beneath the mail should be ornamented. It seems clear that the author is somewhat confused as to these various coverings.