Easier for him to throw away
the stone, and make half of his load balance the other half, but the
advice was rejected with disdain; the plan he had adopted was that
of his forefathers, and he would on no account depart from it. - ED.
{36} The description of the Wolf's Hollow occurs in the second act
of Der Freyschutz, when Rodolph sings:
"How horrid, dark, and wild, and drear,
Doth this gaping gulf appear!
It seems the hue of hell to wear.
The bellowing thunder bursts yon clouds,
The moon with blood has stained her light!
What forms are those in misty shrouds,
That stalk before my sight?
And now, hush! hush!
The owl is hooting in yon bush;
How yonder oak-tree's blasted arms
Upon me seem to frown!
My heart recoils, but all alarms
Are vain: fate calls, I must down, down."
{37} The reader must bear in mind that, during the season of which
I speak, there is no twilight, much less night, in Iceland.
{38} The springs of Carlsbad are said to have been unknown until
about five hundred years ago, when a hunting-dog belonging to one of
the emperors of Germany fell in, and by his howling attracted the
hunters to the spot. The temperature of the chief spring is 165
degrees. - ED.
{39} History tells of this great Icelandic poet, that owing to his
treachery the free island of Iceland came beneath the Norwegian
sceptre. For this reason he could never appear in Iceland without a
strong guard, and therefore visited the Allthing under the
protection of a small army of 600 men. Being at length surprised by
his enemies in his house at Reikiadal, he fell beneath their blows,
after a short and ineffectual resistance. [Snorri Sturluson, the
most distinguished name of which Iceland can boast, was born, in
1178, at Hoam. In his early years he was remarkably fortunate in
his worldly affairs. The fortune he derived from his father was
small, but by means of a rich marriage, and by inheritance, he soon
became proprietor of large estates in Iceland. Some writers say
that his guard of 600 men, during his visit to the Allthing, was
intended not as a defence, as indicated in Madame Pfeiffer's note,
but for the purposes of display, and to impress the inhabitants with
forcible ideas of his influence and power. He was invited to the
court of the Norwegian king, and there he either promised or was
bribed to bring Iceland under the Norwegian power. For this he has
been greatly blamed, and stigmatised as a traitor; though it would
appear from some historians that he only undertook to do by
peaceable means what otherwise the Norwegian kings would have
effected by force, and thus saved his country from a foreign
invasion. But be this as it may, it is quite clear that he sunk in
the estimation of his countrymen, and the feeling against him became
so strong, that he was obliged to fly to Norway. He returned,
however, in 1239, and in two years afterwards he was assassinated by
his own son-in-law. The work by which he is chiefly known is the
Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Sea-Kings of Norway, one of the
most valuable pieces of northern history, which has been admirably
translated into English by Mr. Samuel Laing. This curious name of
Heimskringla was given to the work because it contains the words
with which begins, and means literally the circle of the world. -
ED.]
{40} A translation of this poem will be found in the Appendix.
[Not included in this Gutenberg eText - DP]
{41} In Iceland, as in Denmark, it is the custom to keep the dead a
week above ground. It may be readily imagined that to a non-
Icelandic sense of smell, it is an irksome task to be present at a
burial from beginning to end, and especially in summer. But I will
not deny that the continued sensation may have partly proceeded from
imagination.
{42} Every one in Iceland rides.
{43} I cannot forbear mentioning a curious circumstance here. When
I was at the foot of Mount Etna in 1842, the fiery element was
calmed; some months after my departure it flamed with renewed force.
When, on my return from Hecla, I came to Reikjavik, I said jocularly
that it would be most strange if this Etna of the north should also
have an eruption now. Scarcely had I left Iceland more than five
weeks when an eruption, more violent than the former one, really
took place. This circumstance is the more remarkable, as it had
been in repose for eighty years, and was already looked upon as a
burnt-out volcano. If I were to return to Iceland now, I should be
looked upon as a prophetess of evil, and my life would scarcely be
safe.
{44} Every peasant in tolerably good circumstances carries a little
tent with him when he leaves home for a few days. These tents are,
at the utmost, three feet high, five or six feet long, and three
broad.
{45} "Though their poverty disables them from imitating the
hospitality of their ancestors in all respects, yet the desire of
doing it still exists: they cheerfully give away the little they
have to spare, and express the utmost joy and satisfaction if you
are pleased with the gift." Uno von Troil, 1772. - ED.
{46} The presence of American ships in the port of Gottenburg is
not to be wondered at, seeing that nearly three-fourths of all the
iron exported from Gottenburg is to America.
