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About The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1905)
HOOD EIVZE QLAOIEE, THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1905. r -1. i , - v .-32; THE VIKING AND HIS SKIP by AXEL N. RAHM DURING our itinerancy in Europe laat year, among the number of " cities visited was Christiana the capital of Norway. Tbia ancientcity is situated about 75 miles from the sea at the head of the Christiana Ijord.an eatua ry of Skagerrack. The modern part of the ...... i 1 i -l uml t..t Danish king, but the "Old town, "now suburb of the city proper, the erst while rendesvous of pirates and free booters, is nearly 1000 years old. There exists many facts and eviden ces as well as sagas and traditions which conclusively and positively brove that in this secluded sheltered spot many Vikings gathered to repair their ships and to re tit and prepare for new and perilous exploits, But besides these there were undoubtedly, in the minds of those ancient highwaymen of the seas, other, substantial reasons for mak ing this fiord their trysting place, rea sons which appealed more directly to their physical being. Human nature docs not materially change in a thousand years, and it is very prooable that the prototype ol the modern Jack Tar held the same views as the latter in regard to the rules which govern the moral and physical being of the seafaring man. While at sea he is capable of enduring almost any hard ship and privation without murmuring; there he is a Spartan and a stoic. But from the moment tie puts his foot on terra firm a or on an island, as the case may be, provided the necessary conditions exist, he is an epicurian and a cynic. His desiderata are few but urgent. His desires, whatever their name may be, must be satisfied regardless of con sequences. Moral and physical laws are thrown to the winds, and in the hey-day of shore leave Jack is the prey of all that is evil. Such, also, was the Viking, only ten fold more vicious and bloodthirsty. There was nothing to restrain him but physical force and be dearly loved oppo sition of this nature, llisnrbtand last demands, and the first and last demands on him in life were combat. There is, however, one essential differ ence between J ack Tar of the present day and the subject of this brief sketch, for while the former, as a rule, cares little or nothing for things celestial, the Vi king never for a moment doubted that he would land on the golden shore of Wallhalla, provided he died, as belitted a warrier, in battle or by the Bword. If perchance he should live until old age made him unfit to carry shield or sword in deadly strife against an adversary, It was the custom that his brother-at-arms or his armor-bearer should admin ister the death-thrust. In the event no friend was at hand to render assistance in the bloody finality, it was considered full proper for the aged warrior to plant the hilt of bis sword in the earth and by throwing himself upon its point, thus perish. The portals of Wallhalla would open, the waiting Varkyres would receive him and conduct him to the hall where dwelt the warriors over which Odin, (or Woden,) presided. It is thus apparent, according to the merit was a necessary adjunct to enter the abode of the blessed, but to my knowledge an intermediary is never mentioned. I have stated that there were undoubt edly other reasons for the Viking's mak ing the Christiania fjord his home be sides that of repairing his ship and do ing other necejaary labors. It is a well kuown fact that the climate of the southern part of Norway is compara tively mild, the average winter tem erature being about 24, Fahrenheit.and there are many adjacent fertile valleys, whlch,though naturally of inconsequen tial site individually, yet collectively were capable of giving sustenance to a large population. I'etty kings were as numerous in Sweden and Norway when history be gan as colonels are today in the United States, and the former's claim to royal purple are certainly easier estab UiWl than the latter'sto the epaulettes supposed to follow thoir titles. Kadi king kept a court of his own and employed as large a number of retainers as the finan ces of his realm admitted. He often had numerous fnedatories, who often lent their presence to swell the number of his courtiers as well as All the ranks of his warriors. Thus it was that the returning Vi king, perhaps himself a king, laden with plunder from foreign parts, was certain to receive a royal welcome, and often the long Northern winter even ings were spent in carousing and de bauchery. To be able to drink large -quantities of liquors, principally mead (miod) and wine, was considered as much of a warrior's requisite as was the wielding of the sword. Horns of the ox or wooden tankards were commonly usou lor drinking purposes, winch on one side had a row of pegs placed verti cally one above the other; by these pegs the amount UranK was registered and he who could lower the liquor a peg or more below a former drinker was con sidered the best man. To this custom of the ancient Odin worshipers is traceable the common saying "to take a person down a peg or two,' "that is, to humiliate a person. This barbarie manner, to test one's en durance in drinking bouts, obtains yet among the lower classes in the Scandi navian countries, though the tell-tale "peg" was discarded long ago. The north coast of Europo, that is to say, from the western end of the Eng lish channel to the southeastern coast of the Baltic, besides what at the pres ent day constitutes (Ireut Britain natur ally suffered most from the depreda tions of these northern buccaneers, but, if memory serves me rightly there is mention made of them in ancient Roman writings, which would indicate that they extended their predatory voyages even to the sunny clime of the Medit eranean sea. Of course, the Christiana fjord is not the only place where remains indicative of the Viking have been found. In the vicinity of my former home on the west coast of the southern part of Swe den, there is a small river which emp ties into a bay or vik, (hence the name Viking). This river is navigable for smaller craft quite a distance from the sea and nows through a stretch ot level country, which for fertility and agri cultural resources is unsurpassed in the world, asfar as I have had opportunity to compare it. In the banks of this river there have been found metalic remains of weapons and household fix tures that clearly indicate the time In which they were in use, namelv, the latter Iron age, at which time the Vi king flourished. Great battles have also taken place here, battles which history does not record. From this and several other similar instances one is forced to con clude that the Vikina was not exclusive' ly a man of nautical habits, but also had a well developed mcuity to choose for his home localities where ins labor as a husbandman would richly reward him. It is not probable that agriculture, in the sense in which that word is applied to present day methods of tilling the soil, was practiced by the viking.thowh evidences are not lacking that some of the common cereals were grown to a considerable extent, even at a much earlier date than the one now under consideration. Barlev was urobablv the "staple" cereal of that period in the Scandinavian countries, but when we take in consideration that the race of people which then, as now, inhabited Northern Europe, originally came from that part of the globe of which the rye is a native it is more than likely the last named cereal was a well known and ap preciated aliment. As mv time, and the Glacier's space I presume, does not permit a more comprehensive view of the man, 1 shall proceed to give a short description ol Ins ship, as we saw it in the museum of Archaeology at Christ iana. Near the small town and watering place of Sandefjord, situated at the west side of the mouth of the Christ iana fjord, lies the village of Gokstad, not far from the coast. Here was a large mound known throughout the dis trict by the name of KongHbaiigen, (the king's mound), where a king accord ing to tradition, was buried with all his treasures. On the strength of this tradition the inhabitants of the place begun to exca vate the mound early in the yearlKHO.Tiie work was soon put a stop to by order of the Antiquarian society, which desired to make a thorough investigation of the mound on ilsown account.Tliis work was commenced in the summer of 1HH0, and superintended by the Antiquarian so ciety. It was soon ascertained that a discovery of unusual interest was being made, us the mound was found to contain a tomb in a ship in a state of excellent preservation, thanks to the potter's clay in which the ship bad been imheded to depth of about four feet, and around which the bottom of the mound had been thrown up. In two months the vessel was success fully excavated, put aboard a large barge and towed to Christiana. The vessel's length of keel is (Ml feet five inches and 78J feet between stem and stern posts, outside measure. In the middle it is nearly 17 feet wide and is tbeiefore remarkably sharp, and has a fine run. Its length is considerable in proportion to Its width, more so than on the modern coasting vessels in Nor way. Its sharp build, with its considerable length of keel, undoubtedly made her a fast sailor and the flat bottom a very steady boat at sea. It is clinch built of oak, 1(1 strakes high. The 17 frames which are Bet three feet apart on the keel run only up to the 11th etrake at which point the beams are fastened and joined to the Bliip's sides by knees. The seams are caulked with three-thread j op. .... v rt ' a tint, t The ship had been made both toenail ing and rowing. About midship is placed a keelson for the mast to rest upon, There is a plain capstan in the forehold, which, no doubt, served to raise and lower the mast as well as to hoist the anchor. The mast was prob ably fitted with a yard and a large sail, a few spars were found on lioard the vessel of which one undoubtedly is a yard, another the top part of the mast. That the ship was propelled by oars as well Is proved by the existing oars, and likewise by the openings for them made In the third strake from above. There are 10 such openings on each side and the strake in which they are made is Bomowliat thicker than the rest. There is an incision in the aftorpart of the opening for t he blade to pass througli when the oars were to be used. Four well preserved shields and fragments of many others were round along both the water ways, showing that the ship when buried, as at other times when adorned for festive occasions, had been decorat ed with shields on both sides. The shields appeared to have been painted alternately vellow and black. There is an erection of timber in the middle of the ship.this is the sepulchral chiunlwr. That this lofly part in the middle, project ng from the potters clay, has been preserved, is owing to its having peon built of hugo blocks of timlier and covered with several layers of birch-bark. The timlvors of the sep ulchral chamber arc placed like a root against a roof tree, the lower ends rest ing on timbers placed alongside the the bulwarks. Inside of the sepulchral chamber were found relics of the tomb itself. They are; howevor, nothing but fragments, the sepulchral chamber having been plundered in bygone years. The Scan dinavian Sagas frequently tull of break ing into old mounds in the time when Paganism was on the verge of decay. Owing to this plunder everything was found in a contused heap and only a few fragments were left of the costly weapons and trinkets which had ac companied the buried chief to his grave. The ship evidently had lieen an open vessel. Under certain circumstances it may, however, have been covered with some tort of cloth. A few pieces of homespun, w hich were found are, no doubt, remnants of a tent. There are small Bquare holes all along inside the water way, which would indicate that nearly the whole length of the ship may have at times been covered with a tent, and the alnive mentioned boles utilized for fastening the lower edge. Some planks with horses' heads carved on them and made to lit in each other have served as tent poles. The sepul chral chamber may be said to have been made in the shape of stif h a tent, only framed of more solid material. It has been calculated that the ship had a crew of -10 hands. Fully equipped It baa had a draft of nearly live feet, and the waterw ay would then have been about three feet above the water. The vessel's carrying capacity was about ilO tons. tu the Btarboard quarter is the rud der in its original position. It has the shape of the blade of a large oar and has at the upper end been litttsi with a tiller pointing athwartship. It is secured to a large clamp by a thick rope and so ar ranged that it could be lifted when the vessel was in shallow water. The titling ot the rmhior, as a steering oar on the starboard side is everywhere the ancient and original method. It was not till the latter part of the middle uses that rudders were placed on the stern post. In the forehold fragments of live bed steads were found, all of them made to be taken to pieces, but only two could be completely put together. Inside the sepulchral chamber were found the re mains of a sixth bed of a slightly differ ent shape. It is doubtful whether the stem of the ship has bad any special ornaments, it may, however be taken for granted that there had not been a dragon's head or such like. The dragon ships described in the sagas written several centuries later, were ol larger dimensions than this vessel, although probably ol similar build. The gang plank was there, it nas hole in one end by which it was fastened to the ship and it is also provided with steps cut into it. The planks of the ship are beautifully planed and rounded off on the edges. Ihe vessel throughout exhi bits an extremely skillful workmanship, proving the highly advanced knowledge of shipbuilding attained by the ancient Scandinavians. The vessel could not have been very old when buried in the mound as the openings for the oars do not show traces of having been very much used. During the excavations were found bones alongside the ship of at least 12 norses and six dogs, which animals evi dently had been killed in order to follow their matter into the mound. In the forehold of the ship were also found fragments of three smaller boats, but in so many pieces that none of them could be put together and yet so numer ous that a correct idea may be formed of their build. They show in this res pect great conformity to the vessel itself the deviations being such as arise from the difference in size. Pieces of the ship's oars and a few perfect ones, and also oars for the smaller boats were found. The oars of the ship were from IH to 20 feet long, made of spruce and had evidently been handled by one pe'son as the blades are rather small. Wooden plates and fragments of other wooden utensils, a lane Conner kettle and the chain by whicli it had been sus pended when hunf$ over the fire were found inside the ship. Various articles were found in the sepulchral chamber. of which may be mentioned pieces of gold-wrought Bilk, some dark woollen stuff, a partly decayed leather purse, ornaments and harness mountings of gilt bronze and of lead, some feathers of a peacock probably brought home from foreign parts by the owner. In a glass case may be seen the bones of the buried chief, also found in the sepulchral cham ber and from the size of these bones it may be concluded that he was a very tull, powerfully built man. in conclusion 1 will add a lew words in regard to the manner in which the burial is supposed to have taken place. When the man was dead and a spot for his mound had been chosen near the sea, his ship was drawn by his horses upon the beach and then impeded partly in the potter's clay with the stem of the ves sel toward the sea. The next thing was to make tne sepulchral chamber which was built of timbers, whereupon the mast of the ship was cut off on a level with it and the man out into the cham ber, lying on his bed, dressed in his best clothes, with his weapons and pos sibly some other valuable possessions. Then the sepulchral chamber was closed, anil, coveraiL with birch bark., , Besides the ship s inventory certain of the man's possessions, which, according to the ancient Scandinavian cult, were considered necessary for his comfort and rank in Wallhalla, were also placed in the ship. His horses and dogs were killed and placed alongside, only his peacock, a memento of his foreign trav els, had a place in the ship itself. Then the whole of the ship, except the sepulchral chamber was covered with potter's clay with layers of moss and twigs on ten, upon which the mound was raised. The metallio ornaments discovered have determined archaeolo gists to fix the time of the burial at the 9th century. At this teriod a burial in a ship or boat was no uncommon occur rence. It has been found in many mounds, when opened, that the dead man, wheth er cremated or not, had been placed in a mound in a vessel, the latter, however, being completely or mostly decayed except this oiu at Gokstad and one other, but much smaller boat found at Tune. In both these mounds the pot ter a clay nad preserved the woodwork, Who the buried man was is not known but the size of the mound and the un usual grandeur of the burial proves him to nave been a man or distinction, chief. Axel N. Kahm Twenty per cent off on men's gloves or a few days at S. J. Frank's. A for a few days large stock to select from. DR. 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