THE DANISH HISTORY OF SAXO GRAMMATICUS

PREFACE.

Dan 0.1.1 (p. 3,2 )

1 Cum ceterae nationes rerum suarum titulis gloriari voluptatemque ex maiorum recordatione percipere soleant, Danorum maximus pontifex Absalon patriam nostram, cuius illustrandae maxima semper cupiditate flagrabat, eo claritatis et monumenti genere fraudari non passus, mihi, comitum suorum extremo, ceteris operam abnuentibus, res Danicas in historiam conferendi negotium intorsit inopemque sensum maius viribus opus ingredi crebrae exhortationis imperio compulit. 2 Quis enim res Daniae gestas litteris prosequeretur? quae nuper publicis initiata sacris, ut religionis, ita Latinae quoque vocis aliena torpebat. 3 At ubi cum sacrorum ritu Latialis etiam facultas accessit, segnities par imperitiae fuit, nec desidiae minora quam antea penuriae vitia exstitere. 4 Quo evenit, ut parvitas mea, quamvis se praedictae moli imparem animadverteret, supra vires niti quam iubenti resistere praeoptaret, ne finitimis factorum traditione gaudentibus huius gentis opinio potius vetustatis obliviis respersa quam litterarum monumentis praedita videretur. 5 Igitur oneri cunctis praeteriti aevi scriptoribus inexperto rudes laboris humeros subicere coactus imperiumque neglegere veritus audacius quam efficacius parui, quam ingenii mei imbecillitas fiduciam negabat, ab hortatoris amplitudine mutuatus.

Forasmuch as all other nations are wont to vaunt the glory of their achievements, and reap joy from the remembrance of their forefathers: Absalon, Chief Pontiff of the Danes, whose zeal ever burned high for the glorification of our land, and who would not suffer it to be defrauded of like renown and record, cast upon me, the least of his followers — since all the rest refused the task — the work of compiling into a chronicle the history of Denmark, and by the authority of his constant admonition spurred my weak faculty to enter on a labour too heavy for its strength. For who could write a record of the deeds of Denmark? It had but lately been admitted to the common faith: it still languished as strange to Latin as to religion. But now that the holy ritual brought also the command of the Latin tongue, men were as slothful now as they were unskilled before, and their sluggishness proved as faultful as that former neediness. Thus it came about that my lowliness, though perceiving itself too feeble for the aforesaid burden, yet chose rather to strain beyond its strength than to resist his bidding; fearing that while our neighbours rejoiced and transmitted records of their deeds, the repute of our own people might appear not to possess any written chronicle, but rather to be sunk in oblivion and antiquity. Thus I, forced to put my shoulder, which was unused to the task, to a burden unfamiliar to all authors of preceding time, and dreading to slight his command, have obeyed more boldly than effectually, borrowing from the greatness of my admonisher that good heart which the weakness of my own wit denied me.

Dan 0.1.2 (p. 3,19 )

1 Cuius fatis coepti mei metam praecurrentibus, te potissimum, Andrea, penes quem saluberrimus suffragiorum consensus honoris huius successionem sacrorumque summam esse voluit, materiae ducem auctoremque deposco, obtrectationis livorem, qui maxime conspicuis rebus insultat, tanti cognitoris praesidio frustraturus; cuius fertilissimum scientiae pectus ac venerabilium doctrinarum abundantia instructum veluti quoddam caelestium opum sacrarium existimandum est. 2 Tu Galliam Italiamque cum Britannia percipiendae litterarum disciplinae colligendaeque earum copiae gratia perscrutatus post diutinam peregrinationem splendidissimum externae scholae regimen apprehendisti tantumque eius columen evasisti, ut potius magisterio ornamentum dare quam ab ipso recipere videreris. 3 Hinc ob insignium culmen meritaque virtutum regius epistolaris effectus officium mediocritatis liminibus contentum tantis industriae operibus exornasti, ut idem postmodum amplissimae dignitatis viris ad eum quem geris honorem translatus beneficii nomine expetendum relinqueres. 4 Quamobrem Scaniam tripudio dissultare compertum est, quod pontificem potius a finitimis mutuata sit quam ex indigenis legerit; quippe quae laudabiliter delectum egit, iucunditatem ex suffragio suo meruit. 5 Itaque cum genere, litteris ingenioque niteas ac plebem fecundissimis doctrinae stipendiis regas, maximum tibi gregis amorem conciliasti susceptique ministerii partes gloriosae exsecutionis fiducia ad laudis cumulum perduxisti. 6 Et ne rerum dominium possessione usurpare videreris, amplissimum patrimonium sacris aedibus religiosae liberalitatis testamento legasti obsitasque curis opes decenter abicere quam earum aviditate et pondere implicari maluisti. 7 Tu item mirificum reverendorum dogmatum opus complexus privatisque curis publicae religionis officia anteponere avidus pertinentium ad eam rerum solutionem abnuentes salutarium consiliorum doctrina debitis sacrorum obsequiis adegisti veteremque divinarum aedium iniuriam religioso lucri beneficio rependisti. 8 Praeterea lascivioris vitae studiosos intemperantiaeque plus aequo viribus indulgentes saluberrimae exhortationis perseverantia ac splendidissimis frugalitatis exemplis ad honestiorem mentis habitum ab enervi mollitudine revocatos dictisne an factis magis instruxeris, dubium reliquisti. 9 Ita quod tuorum nulli praedecessorum obtinere tributum est, solis prudentiae monitis impetrasti.

And since, ere my enterprise reached its goal, his death outran it; I entreat thee chiefly, Andrew, who wast chosen by a most wholesome and accordant vote to be successor in the same office and to headship of spiritual things, to direct and inspire my theme; that I may baulk by the defence of so great an advocate that spiteful detraction which ever reviles what is most conspicuous. For thy breast, very fruitful in knowledge, and covered with great store of worshipful doctrines, is to be deemed a kind of shrine of heavenly treasures. Thou who hast searched through Gaul and Italy and Britain also in order to gather knowledge of letters and amass them abundantly, didst after thy long wandering obtain a most illustrious post in a foreign school, and proved such a pillar thereof, that thou seemedst to confer more grace on thy degree than it did on thee. Then being made, on account of the height of thy honours and the desert of thy virtues, Secretary to the King, thou didst adorn that employment, in itself bounded and insignificant, with such works of wisdom as to leave it a piece of promotion for men of greatest rank to covet afterwards, when thou wert transferred to that office which now thou holdest. Wherefore Skaane has been found to leap for joy that she has borrowed a Pontiff from her neighbours rather than chosen one from her own people; inasmuch as she both elected nobly and deserved joy of her election. Being a shining light, therefore, in lineage, in letters, and in parts, and guiding the people with the most fruitful labours of thy teaching, thou hast won the deepest love of thy flock, and by thy boldness in thy famous administration hast conducted the service thou hast undertaken unto the summit of renown. And lest thou shouldst seem to acquire ownership on the strength of prescription, thou hast, by a pious and bountiful will, made over a very rich inheritance to Holy Church; choosing rather honourably to reject riches (which are covered with the rust of cares) than to be shackled with the greed of them and with their burden. Likewise thou hast set about an amazing work upon the reverend tenets of the faith; and in thy zeal to set the service of public religion before thy private concerns, hast, by the lesson of thy wholesome admonitions, driven those men who refused payment of the dues belonging to religion to do to holy things the homage that they ought; and by thy pious gift of treasure hast atoned for the ancient neglect of sacred buildings. Further, those who pursued a wanton life, and yielded to the stress of incontinence above measure, thou hast redeemed from nerveless sloth to a more upright state of mind, partly by continuing instant in wholesome reproof, and partly by the noble example of simple living; leaving it in doubt whether thou hast edified them more by word or deed. Thus thou, by mere counsels of wisdom, hast achieved what it was not granted to any of thy forerunners to obtain.

Dan 0.1.3 (p. 4,22 )

1 Nec ignotum volo, Danorum antiquiores conspicuis fortitudinis operibus editis gloriae aemulatione suffusos Romani stili imitatione non solum rerum a se magnifice gestarum titulos exquisito contextus genere veluti poetico quodam opere perstrinxisse, verum etiam maiorum acta patrii sermonis carminibus vulgata linguae suae litteris saxis ac rupibus insculpenda curasse. 2 Quorum vestigiis ceu quibusdam antiquitatis voluminibus inhaerens tenoremque veris translationis passibus aemulatus metra metris reddenda curavi, quibus scribendorum series subnixa non tam recenter conflata quam antiquitus edita cognoscatur, quia praesens opus non nugacem sermonis luculentiam, sed fidelem vetustatis notitiam pollicetur. 3 Quantum porro ingenii illius homines historiarum edituros putemus, si scribendi sitim Latinitatis peritia pavissent, quibus tametsi Romanae vocis notitia abesset, tanta tradendae rerum suarum memoriae cupido incessit, ut voluminum loco vastas moles amplecterentur, codicum usum a cautibus mutuantes?

And I would not have it forgotten that the more ancient of the Danes, when any notable deeds of mettle had been done, were filled with emulation of glory, and imitated the Roman style; not only by relating in a choice kind of composition, which might be called a poetical work, the roll of their lordly deeds; but also by having graven upon rocks and cliffs, in the characters of their own language, the works of their forefathers, which were commonly known in poems in the mother tongue. In the footsteps of these poems, being as it were classic books of antiquity, I have trod; and keeping true step with them as I translated, in the endeavour to preserve their drift, I have taken care to render verses by verses; so that the chronicle of what I shall have to write, being founded upon these, may thus be known, not for a modern fabrication, but for the utterance of antiquity; since this present work promises not a trumpery dazzle of language, but faithful information concerning times past.

Moreover, how many histories must we suppose that men of such genius would have written, could they have had skill in Latin and so slaked their thirst for writing! Men who though they lacked acquaintance with, the speech of Rome, were yet seized with such a passion for bequeathing some record of their history, that they encompassed huge boulders instead of scrolls, borrowing rocks for the usage of books.

Dan 0.1.4 (p. 5,1 )

1 Nec Tylensium industria silentio oblitteranda: qui cum ob nativam soli sterilitatem luxuriae nutrimentis carentes officia continuae sobrietatis exerceant omniaque vitae momenta ad excolendam alienorum operum notitiam conferre soleant, inopiam ingenio pensant. 2 Cunctarum quippe nationum res gestas cognosse memoriaeque mandare voluptatis loco reputant, non minoris gloriae iudicantes alienas virtutes disserere quam proprias exhibere. 3 Quorum thesauros historicarum rerum pignoribus refertos curiosius consulens, haud parvam praesentis operis partem ex eorum relationis imitatione contexui, nec arbitros habere contempsi, quos tanta vetustatis peritia callere cognovi.

Nor may the pains of the men of Thule be blotted in oblivion; for though they lack all that can foster luxury (so naturally barren is the soil), yet they make up for their neediness by their wit, by keeping continually every observance of soberness, and devoting every instant of their lives to perfecting our knowledge of the deeds of foreigners. Indeed, they account it a delight to learn and to consign to remembrance the history of all nations, deeming it as great a glory to set forth the excellences of others as to display their own. Their stores, which are stocked with attestations of historical events, I have examined somewhat closely, and have woven together no small portion of the present work by following their narrative, not despising the judgment of men whom I know to be so well versed in the knowledge of antiquity.

Dan 0.1.5 (p. 5,10 )

1 Nec minus Absalonis asserta sectando, quae vel ipse gessit vel ab aliis gesta perdidicit, docili animo stiloque complecti curae habui, venerandae eius narrationis documentum perinde ac divinum aliquod magisterium amplexatus.

And I have taken equal care to follow the statements of Absalon, and with obedient mind and pen to include both his own doings and other men's doings of which he learnt; treasuring the witness of his August narrative as though it were some teaching from the skies.

Dan 0.1.6 (p. 5,14 )

1 Te ergo, salutaris princeps ac parens noster, cuius illustrissimam a priscis temporibus prosapiam dicturus sum, clarissima lux patriae, Waldemare, dubium laboris huius progressum favore prosequi rogo: quia propositi pondere constrictus vereor, ne magis imperitiae meae habitum ingeniique debilitatem patefaciam quam tuam, sicut par est, originem repraesentem. 2 Siquidem praeter paternae hereditatis amplitudinem conspicua regni incrementa finitimorum oppressione sortitus Albiaeque reciprocos fluctus propagatae dominationis labore complexus, haud mediocre claritatis momentum celeberrimis laudis tuae titulis adiecisti. 3 Ita antecessorum famam atque opinionem operum magnitudine supergressus, ne Romani quidem imperii partes armis intentatas liquisti. 4 Cumque fortitudine et liberalitate instructissimus habearis, plusne hostes bellis terreas an cives humanitate demulceas, ambiguum reddidisti. 5 Tuus quoque fulgentissimus avus publicae religionis titulis consecratus immeritaeque mortis beneficio immortalitatis gloriam consecutus nunc sanctitatis fulgore perstringit, quos olim victoriis acquisivit. 6 Ex cuius sanctissimis vulneribus plus virtutis quam cruoris effluxit. 7 Ceterum prisco atque hereditario obsequendi iure saltem ingenii viribus tibi militare constitui, cuius clarissimi patris castrensem militiam parens avusque meus fidissimis bellici laboris operibus coluisse noscuntur. 8 Tuo igitur ductu respectuque subnixus, quo cetera liquidius exsequar, initium a patriae nostrae situ descriptuque petere statui, speciosius singula perstricturus, si narrationis procursus competentia rebus loca permetiens ab eorum positione dicendorum inchoamenta deduxerit.

Wherefore, Waldemar[1](1), healthful Prince and Father of us all, shining light of thy land, whose lineage, most glorious from times of old, I am to relate, I beseech thee let thy grace attend the faltering course of this work; for I am fettered under the weight of my purpose, and dread that I may rather expose my unskillfulness and the feebleness of my parts, than portray thy descent as I duly should. For, not to speak of thy rich inheritance from thy fathers, thou hast nobly increased thy realm by conquering thy neighbours, and in the toil of spreading thy sovereignty hast encompassed the ebbing and flowing waves of Elbe, thus adding to thy crowded roll of honours no mean portion of fame. And after outstripping the renown and repute of thy forerunners by the greatness of thy deeds, thou didst not forbear to make armed, assault even upon part of the Roman empire. And though thou art deemed to be well endowed with courage and generosity, thou hast left it in doubt whether thou dost more terrify to thy foes in warfare or melt thy people by thy mildness. Also thy most illustrious grandsire, who was sanctioned with the honours of public worship, and earned the glory of immortality by an unmerited death, now dazzles by the refulgence of his holiness those whom living he annexed in his conquests. And from his most holy wounds more virtue than blood hath flowed.

Moreover I, bound by an old and inherited duty of obedience, have set my heart on fighting for thee, if it be only with all the forces of my mind; my father and grandfather being known to have served thy illustrious sire in camp with loyal endurance of the toils of war. Relying therefore on thy guidance and regard, I have resolved to begin with the position and configuration of our own country; for I shall relate all things as they come more vividly, if the course of this history first traverse the places to which the events belong, and take their situation as the starting-point for its narrative.

Dan 0.2.1 (p. 6,3 )

1 Huius itaque regionis extima partim soli alterius confinio limitantur, partim propinqui maris fluctibus includuntur. 2 Interna vero circumfusus ambit Oceanus, qui sinuosis interstitiorum anfractibus nunc in angustias freti contractioris evadens, nunc in latitudinem sinu diffusiore procurrens complures insulas creat. 3 Quo fit, ut Dania mediis pelagi fluctibus intercisa paucas solidi continuique tractus partes habeat, quas tanta undarum interruptio pro varia freti reflexioris obliquitate discriminat. 4 Ex his Iutia granditatis inchoamentique ratione Danici regni principium tenet, quae sicut positione prior ita situ porrectior Theutoniae finibus admovetur. 5 A cuius complexu fluminis Eydori interrivatione discreta cum aliquanto latitudinis excremento septentrionem versus in Norici freti litus excurrit. 6 In hac sinus, qui Lymicus appellatur, ita piscibus frequens exsistit, ut non minus alimentorum indigenis quam ager omnis exsolvere videatur.

The extremes, then, of this country are partly bounded by a frontier of another land, and partly enclosed by the waters of the adjacent sea. The interior is washed and encompassed by the ocean; and this, through the circuitous winds of the interstices, now straitens into the narrows of a firth, now advances into ampler bays, forming a number of islands. Hence Denmark is cut in pieces by the intervening waves of ocean, and has but few portions of firm and continuous territory; these being divided by the mass of waters that break them up, in ways varying with the different angle of the bend of the sea. Of all these, Jutland, being the largest and first settled, holds the chief place in the Danish kingdom. It both lies fore-most and stretches furthest, reaching to the frontiers of Teutonland, from contact with which it is severed by the bed of the river Eyder. Northwards it swells somewhat in breadth, and runs out to the shore of the Noric Channel (Skagerrak). In this part is to be found the fjord called Liim, which is so full of fish that it seems to yield the natives as much food as the whole soil.

Dan 0.2.2 (p. 6,16 )

1 Huic etiam Fresia minor adiacet, quae a Iutiae prominentia subsidentium camporum ac gremii devexioris inclinata recessu maximos frugum proventus beneficio Oceani inundantis assequitur. 2 Cuius refluxionis vis plus utilitatis an periculi incolis afferat, ambiguum exstat. 3 Siquidem tempestatis magnitudine perruptis aestuariis, quibus apud eos maritimi fluctus intercipi solent, tanta arvis undarum moles incedere consuevit, ut interdum non solum agrorum culta, verum etiam homines cum penatibus obruat.

Close by this fjord also lies Lesser (North) Friesland, which curves in from the promontory of Jutland in a cove of sinking plains and shelving lap, and by the favour of the flooding ocean yields immense crops of grain. But whether this violent inundation bring the inhabitants more profit or peril, remains a vexed question. For when the (dykes of the) estuaries, whereby the waves of the sea are commonly checked among that people, are broken through by the greatness of the storm, such a mass of waters is wont to overrun the fields that it sometimes overwhelms not only the tilled lands, but people and their dwellings likewise.

Dan 0.2.3 (p. 6,23 )

1 Post Iutiam insula ad orientem versus Fionia reperitur, quam a continenti angusti admodum aequoris interiectus abrumpit. 2 Haec sicut ab occasu Iutiam, ita ab ortu Sialandiam prospectat, conspicua necessariarum rerum ubertate laudandam. 3 Quae insula amoenitate cunctas nostrae regionis provincias antecedens medium Daniae locum obtinere putatur, ab extimae remotionis limite pari spatiorum intercapedine disparata.

Eastwards, after Jutland, comes the Isle of Funen, cut off from the mainland by a very narrow sound of sea. This faces Jutland on the west, and on the east Zealand, which is famed for its remarkable richness in the necessaries of life. This latter island, being by far the most delightful of all the provinces of our country, is held to occupy the heart of Denmark, being divided by equal distances from the extreme frontier;

Dan 0.2.4 (p. 6,29 )

1 Ab huius ortivo latere occasivum Scaniae media pelagi dissicit interruptio, opimam praedae magnitudinem quotannis piscantium retibus adigere soliti. 2 Tanta siquidem sinus omnis piscium frequentia repleri consuevit, ut interdum impacta navigia vix remigii conamen eripiat nec iam praeda artis instrumento, sed simplici manus officio capiatur.

on its eastern side the sea breaks through and cuts off the western side of Skaane; and this sea commonly yields each year an abundant haul to the nets of the fishers. Indeed, the whole sound is apt to be so thronged with fish that any craft which strikes on them is with difficulty got off by hard rowing, and the prize is captured no longer by tackle, but by simple use of the hands.

Dan 0.2.5 (p. 7,1 )

1 Ceterum Hallandia ac Blekingia ab integritate Scaniae ceu rami duplices ex unius arboris stipite promeantes Gothiae Norvagiaeque longae declinationis spatiis diversisque recessuum interstitiis adnectuntur. 2 Verum apud Blekingiam apta meantibus rupes mirandis litterarum notis interstincta conspicitur. 3 Siquidem a meridiano mari in deserta Werundiae petrosa porrigitur semita, quam binae lineae exiguo discretae spatio protractis in longum ductibus amplectuntur; inter quas medio loco planum factis ad legendum figuris undiquesecus exaratum ostenditur. 4 Quod licet adeo situ inaequale exsistat, ut modo montium alta proscindat, modo vallium ima praetereat, eodem tamen tenore litterarum vestigia servare dignoscitur. 5 Quarum significationem rex Waldemarus, sacri Kanuti fausta proles, admirationis causa cognoscere cupiens, misit, qui rupem permeantes patentium illic characterum seriem curiosiori indagatione colligerent ac postmodum virgulis quibusdam sub iisdem formarum apicibus adnotarent. 6 Qui ideo nihil ex iis interpretamenti comprehendere potuerunt, quod ipsa caelaturae concavitas, partim caeno interlita, partim commeantium adesa vestigiis, figuratae protractionis speciem obtrito calle confuderat. 7 Unde conspicuum est etiam petrinae soliditatis rimas diutino madore complutas aut sordium colluvione aut irrigua nimborum instillatione concrescere.

Moreover, Halland and Bleking, shooting forth from the mass of the Skaane like two branches from a parent trunk, are linked to Gothland and to Norway, though with wide deviations of course, and with various gaps consisting of fjords. Now in Bleking is to be seen a rock which travellers can visit, dotted with letters in a strange character. For there stretches from the southern sea into the desert of Vaarnsland a road of rock, contained between two lines a little way apart and very prolonged, between which is visible in the midst a level space, graven all over with characters made to be read. And though this lies so unevenly as sometimes to break through the tops of the hills, sometimes to pass along the valley bottoms, yet it can be discerned to preserve continuous traces of the characters. Now Waldemar, well-starred son of holy Canute, marvelled at these, and desired to know their purport, and sent men to go along the rock and gather with close search the series of the characters that were to be seen there; they were then to denote them with certain marks, using letters of similar shape. These men could not gather any sort of interpretation of them, because owing to the hollow space of the graving being partly smeared up with mud and partly worn by the feet of travellers in the trampling of the road, the long line that had been drawn became blurred. Hence it is plain that crevices, even in the solid rock, if long drenched with wet, become choked either by the solid washings of dirt or the moistening drip of showers.

Dan 0.2.6 (p. 7,20 )

1 At quoniam regio haec Suetiam Norvagiamque tam vocis quam situs affinitate complectitur, earum quoque, sicut et Daniae, partes ac climata memorabo. 2 Quae provinciae septentrionali polo subiectae Bootemque et Arcton respicientes ipsum frigentis zonae parallelum ultima sui porrectione contingunt; post quas humanis sedibus locum inusitata algoris saevitia non relinquit. 3 Ex quibus Norvagia saxei situs deformitatem naturae sortita discrimine rupibus infecunda ac scopulis undiquesecus obsita glaebarum vastitate tristes locorum salebras repraesentat. 4 In cuius parte extima ne noctu quidem diurnum sidus occulitur, ita ut continui solis praesentia alternos horarum dedignata successus utrique tempori pari luminis administratione deserviat.

But since this country, by its closeness of language as much as of position, includes Sweden and Norway, I will record their divisions and their climates also as I have those of Denmark. These territories, lying under the northern pole, and facing Bootes and the Great Bear, reach with their utmost outlying parts the latitude of the freezing zone; and beyond these the extraordinary sharpness of the cold suffers not human habitation. Of these two, Norway has been allotted by the choice of nature a forbidding rocky site. Craggy and barren, it is beset all around by cliffs, and the huge desolate boulders give it the aspect of a rugged and a gloomy land; in its furthest part the day-star is not hidden even by night; so that the sun, scorning the vicissitudes of day and night, ministers in unbroken presence an equal share of his radiance to either season.

Dan 0.2.7 (p. 7,30 )

1 Ab huius latere occidentali insula, quae Glacialis dicitur, magno circumfusa reperitur Oceano, obsoletae admodum habitationis tellus rerumque veri fidem excedentium et insolitorum eventuum miraculis praedicanda. 2 Illic fons est, qui fumigantis aquae vitio nativam rei cuiuslibet originem demolitur. 3 Sane quicquid fumi huius exhalatione respergitur, in lapideae naturae duritiam transmutatur. 4 Quae res mirabilior an periculosior exsistat, in dubio positum constat, cum fluidam aquae teneritudinem tantus obsederit rigor, ut admotum quidlibet fumidoque eius vapore perfusum in lapidis proprietatem, forma dumtaxat superstite, subita conversione transmutet. 5 Ibidemque complures alii latices referuntur, qui modo crescentis lymphae copiis adaucti plenisque exundantes alveis crebras in sublime guttas iaciunt, modo torpentibus scatebris vix ab imo conspecti profundis subductioris terrae latibulis absorbentur. 6 Quo fit, ut exuberantes proxima quaeque spumarum candore conspergant, exinaniti nullo visus ingenio capiantur. 7 In hac itidem insula mons est, qui rupem sideream perpetuae flagrationis aestibus imitatus incendia sempiterna iugi flammarum eructatione continuat. 8 Cuius rei admiratio supradictis aequatur, cum tellus extremis subiecta frigoribus tanti caloris fomentis exuberet, ut ignium perennitatem arcanis instruat nutrimentis aeternumque fovendis ardoribus praebeat incentivum. 9 Huic etiam insulae certis statutisque temporibus infinita glaciei advolvitur moles; quae cum adventans scabris primum cautibus illidi coeperit, perinde ac remugientibus scopulis fragosae ex alto voces ac varii inusitatae conclamationis strepitus audiuntur. 10 Quamobrem animas ob nocentis vitae culpam suppliciis addictas illic algoris magnitudine delictorum pendere poenas existimatum est. 11 Huius itaque molis excisa particula, quantiscumque nodorum condulis obseretur, mox ut supradicta glacies terris avellitur, claustra custodiamque frustratur. 12 Stupet animus admiratione plenus, dum res inextricabilibus seris obsita ac multiplici impedimentorum perplexione conclusa sic molis, cuius pars erat, discessum insequitur, ut omnem observationis diligentiam inevitabilis fugae necessitate decipiat. 13 Est et illic aliud glaciei genus montium iugis ac rupibus intersertum, quod certis vicibus constat superioribus ad ima deiectis infimisque rursum ad superna reflexis versili quadam mutatione transponi. 14 In cuius assertionis fidem affertur, quod quidam, dum planum forte glaciale percurrerent, in obiectas voragines hiantiumque rimarum penita provoluti paulo post exanimes fuerint nulla glaciei rimula superstante reperti. 15 Quamobrem a compluribus existimari solet, quod quos fundae glacialis urna desorbuit, eosdem postmodum supinata reddiderit. 16 Illic etiam fama est pestilentis undae laticem scaturire, quo quis gustato perinde ac veneno prosternitur. 17 Sunt et alii fontes, quorum scatebra cerealis poculi proprietatem imitari perhibetur. 18 Sunt et ignes, qui cum lignum consumere nequeant, aquae mollitiem depascuntur. 19 Est et saxum, quod montium praerupta non extrinseca agitatione, sed propria nativaque motione pervolitat.

On the west of Norway comes the island called Iceland, with the mighty ocean washing round it: a land very squalid to dwell in, but noteworthy for marvels, both strange occurrences and objects that pass belief. A spring is there which, by the malignant reek of its water, destroys the original nature of anything whatsoever. Indeed, all that is sprinkled with the breath of its vapour is changed into the hardness of stone. It remains a doubt whether it be more marvellous or more perilous, that soft and flowing water should be invested with such a stiffness, as by a sudden change to transmute into the nature of stone whatsoever is put to it and drenched with its reeking fume, nought but the shape surviving. Here also are said to be other springs, which now are fed with floods of rising water, and, overflowing in full channels, cast a mass of spray upwards; and now again their bubbling flags, and they can scarce be seen below at the bottom, and are swallowed into deep hiding far under ground. Hence, when they are gushing over, they bespatter everything about them with the white spume, but when they are spent the sharpest eye cannot discern them. In this island there is likewise a mountain, whose floods of incessant fire make it look like a glowing rock, and which, by belching out flames, keeps its crest in an everlasting blaze. This thing awakens our wonder as much as those aforesaid; namely, when a land lying close to the extreme of cold can have such abundance of matter to keep up the heat, as to furnish eternal fires with unseen fuel, and supply an endless provocative to feed the burning. To this isle also, at fixed and appointed seasons, there drifts a boundless mass of ice, and when it approaches and begins to dash upon the rugged reefs, then, just as if the cliffs rang reply, there is heard from the deep a roar of voices and a changing din of extraordinary clamour. Whence it is supposed that spirits, doomed to torture for the iniquity of their guilty life, do here pay, by that bitter cold, the penalty of their sins. And so any portion of this mass that is cut off when the aforesaid ice breaks away from the land, soon slips its bonds and bars, though it be made fast with ever so great joins and knots. The mind stands dazed in wonder, that a thing which is covered with bolts past picking, and shut in by manifold and intricate barriers, should so depart after that mass whereof it was a portion, as by its enforced and inevitable flight to baffle the wariest watching. There also, set among the ridges and crags of the mountains, is another kind of ice which is known periodically to change and in a way reverse its position, the upper parts sinking to the bottom, and the lower again returning to the top. For proof of this story it is told that certain men, while they chanced to be running over the level of ice, rolled into the abyss before them, and into the depths of the yawning crevasses, and were a little later picked up dead without the smallest chink of ice above them. Hence it is common for many to imagine that the urn of the sling of ice first swallows them, and then a little after turns upside down and restores them. Here also, is reported to bubble up the water of a pestilent flood, which if a man taste, he falls struck as though by poison. Also there are other springs, whose gushing waters are said to resemble the quality of the bowl of Ceres. There are also fires, which, though they cannot consume linen, yet devour so fluent a thing as water. Also there is a rock, which flies over mountain- steeps, not from any outward impulse, but of its innate and proper motion.

Dan 0.2.8 (p. 8,34 )

1 Et ut paulo altius Norvagiae descriptio replicetur, sciendum, quod ab ortu Suetiae Gothiaeque contermina aquis utrimquesecus Oceani vicinantis includitur. 2 Eadem a septentrione regionem ignoti situs ac nominis intuetur, humani cultus expertem, sed monstruosae novitatis populis abundantem, quam ab adversis Norvagiae partibus interflua pelagi separavit immensitas. 3 Quod cum incertae navigationis exsistat, perpaucis eam ingredientibus salutarem reditum tribuit.

And now to unfold somewhat more thoroughly our delineation of Norway. It should be known that on the east it is conterminous with Sweden and Gothland, and is bounded on both sides by the waters of the neighbouring ocean. Also on the north it faces a region whose position and name are unknown, and which lacks all civilisation, but teems with peoples of monstrous strangeness; and a vast interspace of flowing sea severs it from the portion of Norway opposite. This sea is found hazardous for navigation, and suffers few that venture thereon to return in peace.

Dan 0.2.9 (p. 9,5 )

1 Ceterum Oceani superior flexus Daniam intersecando praetermeans australem Gothiae plagam sinu laxiore contingit; inferior vero meatus eius Norvagiaeque latus septentrionale praeteriens ad ortum versus magno cum latitudinis incremento solido limitatur anfractu. 2 Quem maris terminum gentis nostrae veteres Gandwicum dixere. 3 Igitur inter Gandwicum et meridianum pelagus breve continentis spatium patet, maria utrimquesecus allapsa prospectans; quod nisi rerum natura limitis loco congressis paene fluctibus obiecisset, Suetiam Norvagiamque conflui fretorum aestus in insulam redegissent. 4 Harum ortivas partes Skritfinni incolunt. 5 Quae gens inusitatis assueta vehiculis montium inaccessa venationis ardore sectatur locorumque complacitas sedes dispendio lubricae flexionis assequitur. 6 Neque enim ulla adeo rupes prominet, quin ad eius fastigium callida cursus ambage perveniat. 7 Primo siquidem vallium profunda relinquens scopulorum radices tortuosa gyratione perlabitur sicque meatum crebrae declinationis obliquitate perflectit, donec per sinuosos callium anfractus destinati loci cacumen exsuperet. 8 Eadem apud finitimos mercium loco quorundam animalium pellibus uti consuevit.

Moreover, the upper bend of the ocean, which cuts through Denmark and flows past it, washes the southern side of Gothland with a gulf of some width; while its lower channel, passing the northern sides of Gothland and Norway, turns eastwards, widening much in breadth, and is bounded by a curve of firm land. This limit of the sea the elders of our race called Grandvik. Thus between Grandvik and the Southern Sea there lies a short span of mainland, facing the seas that wash on either shore; and but that nature had set this as a boundary where the billows almost meet, the tides of the two seas would have flowed into one, and cut off Sweden and Norway into an island. The regions on the east of these lands are inhabited by the Skric-Finns. This people is used to an extraordinary kind of carriage, and in its passion for the chase strives to climb untrodden mountains, and attains the coveted ground at the cost of a slippery circuit. For no crag juts out so high, but they can reach its crest by fetching a cunning. compass. For when they first leave the deep valleys, they glide twisting and circling among the bases of the rocks, thus making the route very roundabout by dint of continually swerving aside, until, passing along the winding curves of the tracks, they conquer the appointed summit. This same people is wont to use the skins of certain beasts for merchandise with its neighbours.

Dan 0.2.10 (p. 9,21 )

1 Suetia vero Daniam ab occasu Norvagiamque respiciens a meridie et multa orientis parte vicino praeteritur Oceano. 2 Post quam ab ortu quoque multiplex diversitatis barbaricae consertio reperitur.

Now Sweden faces Denmark and Norway on the west, but on the south and on much of its eastern side it is skirted by the ocean. Past this eastward is to be found a vast accumulation of motley barbarism.

Dan 0.3.0 (p. 9,24 )

1 Danicam vero regionem giganteo quondam cultu exercitam eximiae magnitudinis saxa veterum bustis ac specubus affixa testantur. 2 Quod si quis vi monstruosa patratum ambigat, quorundam montium excelsa suspiciat dicatque, si callet, quis eorum verticibus cautes tantae granditatis invexerit. 3 Inopinabile namque quivis miraculi huius aestimator advertet, ut molem super plano minime vel difficile mobilem in tantum montanae sublimitatis apicem simplex mortalitatis labor aut usitatus humani roboris conatus extulerit. 4 Utrum vero talium rerum auctores post diluvialis inundationis excursum gigantes exstiterint an viri corporis viribus ante alios praediti, parum notitiae traditum. 5 Talibus, ut nostri autumant, subitam mirandamque nunc propinquitatis, nunc absentiae potestatem comparendique ac subterlabendi vicissitudinem versilis corporum status indulget, qui hodieque scrupeam inaccessamque solitudinem, cuius supra mentionem fecimus, incolere perhibentur. 6 Eiusdem aditus horrendi generis periculis obsitus raro sui expertoribus incolumitatem regressumque concessit. 7 Nunc stilum ad propositum transferam.

That the country of Denmark was once cultivated and worked by giants, is attested by the enormous stones attached to the barrows and caves of the ancients. Should any man question that this is accomplished by superhuman force, let him look up at the tops of certain mountains and say, if he knows how, what man hath carried such immense boulders up to their crests. For anyone considering this marvel will mark that it is inconceivable how a mass, hardly at all or but with difficulty movable upon a level, could have been raised to so mighty a peak of so lofty a mountain by mere human effort, or by the ordinary exertion of human strength. But as to whether, after the Deluge went forth, there existed giants who could do such deeds, or men endowed beyond others with bodily force, there is scant tradition to tell us.

But, as our countrymen aver, those who even to-day are said to dwell in that rugged and inaccessible desert aforesaid, are, by the mutable nature of their bodies, vouchsafed the power of being now near, now far, and of appearing and vanishing in turn. The approach to this desert is beset with perils of a fearful kind, and has seldom granted to those who attempted it an unscathed return. Now I will let my pen pass to my theme.