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Article ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY ILLUSTRATED BY TOPOG... ← Page 4 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anglo-Saxon History Illustrated By Topog...
J aropolk , and this insolent demand of the ambassador of Waldemar she refused with contempt , for she said she would never marry " the son of a slave . " Waldemar , however , won Rogneda for his bride , by making himself master of Polotsk .
This caste of Weden , more fortunate than the skerif descendants of Mahomet , made themselves kings of all the north , and by their representatives many kingdoms are still held , one of the incidents and curiosities < ofhistory— -the less attended too , perhaps , because it belongs to English history . This caste held the kingdoms of Kent , Essex , Sussex , Wight , Wessex , of the Middle English , the Wickians ,
the east English , of Lindsey , of the Deiri and of Bernicia , kingdoms in Ireland , the several kingdoms in Jutland , Denmark / Norway and Sweden , the kingdom of the Saxons , and the kingdoms of Russia . Of these English kings Queen Victoria is still the lineal descendant and representative ^; the kings of Denmark and of Sweden claim the descent of the sea kings ; the kings and princes of Saxe in the female line are the representatives of Weden ; and the pride of the emperors of Russia is to trace a pedigree from Rurick .
So powerful was this caste—and so long as it adhered to the sect ot Weden , or that of Thur , its hold on the minds of the people was great . Those were the children of the mightiest gods—of Weden , and Erea , of Thur and Baldir , whose deeds were sung by the skalds , in songs which the fathers of Walhall shared with their living sons : ; as in the Homeric epics the gods of Olympus and their heroic offspring were made companions . The son ^ of the gods were believed by the superstitious crowds to be helped by their heavenly kinsmen in battle and in counsel ; and dread Walkyr and Norns , and beings whose thought brought fear to the minds of the boldest , watched over the fate of the athelings , brooded over their dreams , foretokened their deaths in war or at home , made known their presence in distant lands , led by the rainbow way to the after life of the glad home , and wreaked a dire vengeance on their
foes . Till the wars among the athelings thinned their numbers , England swarmed with this privileged race ; and for generations the fruitful north poured hosts of them on the shores of Northumbria and Ireland . Those , however , who at first ranked as kings , at length were hunted as pirates , and the home born atheling became as scarce as a wolf .
Thus pride and superstition combined to place a barrier to the intercourse of the races in Britain , but which gave way to a more powerful influence . The accounts we have . of the worshippers of the sect of Weden testify to a spirit of tolerance shown to other religions , which appears to have been rather the result of philosophical
indifference than of any hidx motive . In the eyes of the more edu-. 1 ITT 1 "' cated W edemtes and Thurites , as in those of the worshippers of the divinities of Olympus , polytheism was but a conventionality for the multitude . The English and Norse , however , had not , like the Greeks and Romans , to contend with the inculcation of a positive faith in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anglo-Saxon History Illustrated By Topog...
J aropolk , and this insolent demand of the ambassador of Waldemar she refused with contempt , for she said she would never marry " the son of a slave . " Waldemar , however , won Rogneda for his bride , by making himself master of Polotsk .
This caste of Weden , more fortunate than the skerif descendants of Mahomet , made themselves kings of all the north , and by their representatives many kingdoms are still held , one of the incidents and curiosities < ofhistory— -the less attended too , perhaps , because it belongs to English history . This caste held the kingdoms of Kent , Essex , Sussex , Wight , Wessex , of the Middle English , the Wickians ,
the east English , of Lindsey , of the Deiri and of Bernicia , kingdoms in Ireland , the several kingdoms in Jutland , Denmark / Norway and Sweden , the kingdom of the Saxons , and the kingdoms of Russia . Of these English kings Queen Victoria is still the lineal descendant and representative ^; the kings of Denmark and of Sweden claim the descent of the sea kings ; the kings and princes of Saxe in the female line are the representatives of Weden ; and the pride of the emperors of Russia is to trace a pedigree from Rurick .
So powerful was this caste—and so long as it adhered to the sect ot Weden , or that of Thur , its hold on the minds of the people was great . Those were the children of the mightiest gods—of Weden , and Erea , of Thur and Baldir , whose deeds were sung by the skalds , in songs which the fathers of Walhall shared with their living sons : ; as in the Homeric epics the gods of Olympus and their heroic offspring were made companions . The son ^ of the gods were believed by the superstitious crowds to be helped by their heavenly kinsmen in battle and in counsel ; and dread Walkyr and Norns , and beings whose thought brought fear to the minds of the boldest , watched over the fate of the athelings , brooded over their dreams , foretokened their deaths in war or at home , made known their presence in distant lands , led by the rainbow way to the after life of the glad home , and wreaked a dire vengeance on their
foes . Till the wars among the athelings thinned their numbers , England swarmed with this privileged race ; and for generations the fruitful north poured hosts of them on the shores of Northumbria and Ireland . Those , however , who at first ranked as kings , at length were hunted as pirates , and the home born atheling became as scarce as a wolf .
Thus pride and superstition combined to place a barrier to the intercourse of the races in Britain , but which gave way to a more powerful influence . The accounts we have . of the worshippers of the sect of Weden testify to a spirit of tolerance shown to other religions , which appears to have been rather the result of philosophical
indifference than of any hidx motive . In the eyes of the more edu-. 1 ITT 1 "' cated W edemtes and Thurites , as in those of the worshippers of the divinities of Olympus , polytheism was but a conventionality for the multitude . The English and Norse , however , had not , like the Greeks and Romans , to contend with the inculcation of a positive faith in