Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/449

 BRITANNIOAE INSULAE. matters relating to the kla&d called Brittia.'' (Procop. de BdL Gotk. iv. 20.), * BrittiaT then, was not Britannia. As little was it Thdt. The Thale of Procopios seems to have been Scandinavia : ** Thule is extremelj large, ^ing ten dines hunger than Britain, from which it is very Car distant to the north." {BelL Goth,u. 15:) The following passage engenders fresh complica- tion: — " Moreover, in this isle of Brittia, men of an- cient time bollt a long wall, catting off & great por- tion of it; for the soil and the men, and all other things, are not alike on both «ides; for onthe eastern aide of the wall, there is an wholesomeness of air in oon£oarmit7 witii the seasons, moderately warm in ■ammer, and cool in winter. Manj men inhabit here, living mach as other men. The trees with theur appropriate fruits floorish in seas(m, and their eorn lands are as productive as others; and the dis- trict appears sufficiently fertilized by streams. But on the western side all is difierent, insomuch indeed that it would be impossible for a man to live there even half an hour. ^per8 and serpents innumera- ble, with all other kinds of wild beasts, infest that place; and what is most strange, the natives affirm, that if any one, passing the wall, should proceed to the other side, he would die immediately, unable to endure the unwholesomeness of the atmosphere; death also attacking such beasts as go thither, forth- with destroys them. But as I have arrived at this point of my history, it is incumbent on me to record a tradition very nearly allied to fable, which has never appeared to me true in all respects, though constantly spread abroad by men without number, who assert that themselves have been agents in the tmnsactioos, and also hearers of the words. I must not, however, pass it by altogether unnoticed, lest v^en thus writing concerning the island Brittia, I should bring upon myself an imputation of ignorance of certain circumstances perpetually happening there. They say, then, that the souls of men departed are always conducted to this place; but in what man- ner I will explain immediately, having frequently heard it from men of that region who relate it most aerioasly, although I would rather ascribe their asse- Terations to a certain dreamy faculty which pos- sesses them. island Brittia, in the ocean, are many villages, inhabited by men employed in fishing and in agri- culture, and who for the sake of merchandize pass over to this island. In oilier respects they are sub- ject to the Franks, but they never render them tri- bute; this burden, as they relate, having been of old remitted to them for a certain service which I shall immediately describe. The inhabitants de- dam that the conducting of souls devolves on them in torn. Such of them, theref(Nre, as on the ensuing night are to go on this occupation in their turn of senrioe, returning to their dwellings as soon as it grows dark, compose themselves to sleep, awaiting the conductor of the expedition. All at once, at night, they perceive that their doors are shaken, and tbey hear a certain indistinct voice, summoning them to their work. Without delay, arising from their beds, they proceed to the shore, not under- standing the necessity which thus constrains them, yet nevertheless compelled by its influence. And here they perceive vessels in readiness, wholly void of men ; not, however, their own, but certain strange ▼eaaeb, in which embarking they lay hold on the oaisy and feel their burden made heavier by a mul- BKITANNICAE INSULAR, 43t titttde of passengers, the boats being sunk to the gunwale and rowlock, and floating scarce a finger above the water. They see not a single pers<Hi; but having rowed for one hour only, they arrive at Brittia; whereas, when they navigate their own vessels, not making use of sails, but rowing, they arrive there with difficulty, even in a night and a day. Having reached the island, and been released form their burden, they depart immediately, the boats quickly becoming light, suddenly emerging from the stream, and sinking in the water no deeper than the keel. These people see no human being either while navigating with them, nor when re- leased from the ship. But they say that they hear a certain voice there, which seems to announce to such as receive them the name of all who have crossed over with them, and describing the dignities which they formerly possessed, and calling them over by their hereditary titles. And also if women happen to cross over with them, they call over the names of the husbands with whom they lived. These, then, are the things which men of that dis- trict declare to take place; but I return to my former narrative." (Procop. BelL Goth. iv. 20, seq. ; the irantlatian from the Monumenta Britannica, pp. Ixxxiv., seq.) A reference to the article Aestui will suggest the notion that one author of antiquity, at least, con- founded the Prutheni {Prussians) of the Baltic with the Britanni of Britdn, and that the language of the amber-country of East Prussia and Courland, which Tacitus calls Britannicae proptor^ was really Pruthenian. How far will the hypothesis of a similar confosion on the part of Procopius expUin the diffi- cult passages before us ? It will not do so without the flirther alteration of certain minor details. In the first place, the locality of the Vami requires alteration. The Rhine of Procopius was probably the Elbe; on the northern bank of which, in the present duchies of Lauenburg and Mecklenburg Schwerin, we find the Vamavi, Warru^^ and Var- noAt of the Carlovingian historians (Adam o/Bre- 97i«n, Helmoldus^ &c.). * Two islands then claim notice, Heligoland and Rugen. The former lies more in conformity with the description of Procopius, and was almost certainly peopled by Frisians and Angles (in the eyes of whom it was a holy island), but not so certainly by any population akin to the Pruthenian, and, as such, likely to be confounded with the Britanni. Rugen, on the other hand, might easily have been so peopled, or, at least, it might be resorted to by the Pruthenians of Prussia and their allied populations. To the Angle and Frisian it would be less accessible, though by no means an impossible, locality. Each island, then, has its claims; but we may go a step further towards reconciling them. Rugen and Heligoland are the two islands which have, upon different degrees of evidence, been sup- posed to represent the holy island, with its sacred grove {caslwn nemttf) of the Germania of Tacitus, — an object of respectful visitation to the various tribes of Reudigni, Anglif Aviones, Fannt, Eudoses, Suardones, and Nuithones (c. 40) ; and the preceding remarks have led to the notion that the Brittia of Procopius and island of Tacitus are one and the same. Its relations to the Angli and Varini, its relations to Britain and Thule, its mysterious and holy character, all indicate this. So that what ap- plies to the one applies to the other also. Yet the statement of Tacitus is difficult. The very fiM:t of
 * On the coast of the land over against this