ing the arrival of the prince in the bay with his auxiliary forces, now rushes impatiently to the seaside, when, to his great joy, he beholds the wishedfor sails emerging from the horizon; but, alas! no sooner are the chiefs landed than he hears from them a relation of the supposed death of Arthur, whom they believe to have perished, when, deceived by Urda, they saw him plunge into the sea. Grief at these tidings spreads through the ranks of the British, whilst their allies, not only sorrow-struck, but desponding, talk of re-embarking for their native soils, an intimation which calls forth from the indignant Lancelot the following strain of impassioned eloquence: Can cold dismay, thus Britain's knight addrest But blood, not tears, must grace his obsequies. If such was Arthur, such your generous aim, Their country's wrongs, their Arthur's sacred shade, B. iv. p. 114. The appeal is not made in vain; for the respective leaders now vie with each other in seconding the enthusiasm of the British chief; and, eager to avenge the apprehended death of Arthur, march instantly in search of the enemy. Meanwhile, Valdemar, king of Denmark, who, greatly to the umbrage of Hacon, the Norwegian monarch, had been appointed by Hengist, during his absence, chief in command, holds a feast at Carlisle; and, whilst all is revelry and mirth, some singing to the lyre their country's fame, or boasting of their own exploits, but by far the greater part immersed in dissonance and riot, their orgies are most appallingly broken in upon by the appearance of Odin, the Scandinavian god of war, whose form Urda had assumed for the purpose of inciting them to march instantly against the British chieftains, now rapidly approaching. The picture which Mr. Hole has, in this place, given of the northern deity, and the address which he attributes to him, are at once splendid and characteristic, whilst the description of the joys of Valhalla, the paradise of the Scandinavians, will be found in strict conformity with the representations of the Edda. Sudden, dark clouds the rafter'd dome o'ercast : Think on your father's fame, your own renown, And guide their spirits to my lofty hall, * O'er-arch'd with golden shields, whose dazzling blaze Exceeds the mid-day sun's unclouded rays. There shall each hero share, a welcome guest, Again their souls with martial fire shall burn, And host conflicting adverse host o'erturn : While bright Valkeries, blue-eyed nymphs, shall crown With this animated representation of Odin may I be permitted to compare two descriptions of the same deity from the unpublished Epic of Alfred, by Mr. Fitchett, a poem to which I have already * " The Scandinavian Valhalla, like the Mahometan paradise, was supposed to have been roofed with shields. The Valkeries were employed by Odin to choose in battle those who were to perish, and, like the Houries, to wait on the selected heroes. These Posters of the sea and land' have been confounded by other writers, as well as Shakspeare, with the northern Parcæ or Destinies: but the latter, according to Scandinavian mythology, had their abode near the great ash Ydrasil in Asgard, or city of the gods. Skulda only, the youngest of them, is mentioned in the Edda, as alluded in another work *, and which may be said to have incorporated, with great vigour of imagination, the entire system of Scandinavian mythology. accompanying the Valkeries, when engaged in fulfilling the commands of Odin. "From these beautiful divinities, so they were once esteemed, who bestrode the sightless coursers of the air,' was most probably derived in subsequent times (with grief be it spoken) the degrading idea of witches riding upon broomsticks. At least, so soon as Christianity began to prevail, (vide Mallet's Northern Antiq. v. ii. p. 101, Transl.) severe edicts were promulgated in different kingdoms against those who travelled through the air in the night-time. The belief in such nocturnal flights, scarcely yet exploded among our country people, was the fashionable creed in the days of James the First. Had our aerial navigators started into existence a century or two sooner, they might possibly have exercised that monarch's sagacity how to bring them within the letter of the law. "A wild boar, whose flesh was daily renewed, supplied the heroes in Valhalla with food, after their revival from having cut each other in pieces. We are not, however, to suppose that this peculiar mode of diversion was instituted for their amusement only. These heroes were selected, on account of their distinguished valour, as assistants to the gods at that future period of time predicted in the Edda, when the evil genii should burst from their different confinements to wage war against them, and the destruction of all things ensue. On this account, it is said, their arms were buried with them."-HOLE. * Shakspeare and his-Times, vol. ii. p. 549, note. |