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484 "cutting of the blood-eagle" or removal of the lungs of the victim, of which we hear once or twice, but there seems ground for believing that the usual ritual frequently combined both hanging and stabbing. In fact all those who fell in battle were regarded as sacrifices to Odin. Tacitus tells us that on the eve of the battle between the Chatti and Hermunduri each side dedicated their opponent's army to Mars and to Mercury. By this vow both horses and men, in short everything on the side of the conquered, was given up to destruction. After their victory over the Romans at Arausio (B.C. 105) the Cimbrians hung all their captives and destroyed their spoil. The complete destruction of the legions of Varus, and the total massacre of Britons after an Anglo-Saxon victory, have been suggested as other instances of the same wholesale sacrifice. In some places in Denmark immense masses of heaped up spoil, mostly intentionally damaged, from the fourth century A.D., have been found. These must have been offered as a sacrifice after victory, and have lain undisturbed on the battle-ground owing to a stringent tabu. A dedication of whole armies to Odin is mentioned in later Scandinavian Sagas, where it seems to be connected with the idea that the god needs more warriors in Valhöll.

While Odin and Thor, however inimical to each other they may be, are both regarded as Æsir (gods) in the mythology of the north — in fact Thor is made Odin's son — we are told that Frey and his father Njörd were originally hostages from the "Vanir," a rival race. Certainly their functions in historical times are very different from those of Thor and Odin. Frey, whose name is derived from a word meaning "lord," is only known in Scandinavia. He is a god of fertility, with the usual attributes of such a deity. He is especially honoured by the Swedes, and Adam of Bremen tells us that his statue stood by the side of Thor in the temple of Upsala, that sacrifices are made to him at weddings, and that he grants men peace and pleasure. Tacitus' account of the peaceful, wealth-loving "Suiones" (Swedes) closely corresponds to what we should expect of a nation whose chief god was Frey, and places beyond question the old-established nature of a cult of this kind. In Norway we hear of toasts drunk to Frey and his father Njörd "for prosperity and peace," and a sacrificial feast at the beginning of winter, to secure the same benefits, is associated with Frey in Iceland, where he and Njörd are invoked in legal oaths. A legendary saga relates that Frey, in the company of a priestess who was regarded as his wife, was in the habit of peregrinating the country round Upsala in the autumn, for the purpose of causing plenty. This is the clue which leads us to detect traces of an allied cult on the Continent. The goddess Nerthus, who is worshipped according to Tacitus by seven tribes, apparently in Zeeland (possibly at Naerum, older Niartharum), journeys round her island at certain seasons in a covered vehicle. During this time peace prevails, and her presence is celebrated by festivities. The ritual of lustration described