Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/497

 SArtLY GERMAN GENEALOGIES TO ODIN. 465 tribes. A class of specially-educated men was formed, upon a Latin basis and upon Christian principles, consisting too almost entirely of priests, who were opposed, as well by motives of rival- ry as by religious feeling, to the ancient bards and storytellers of the community : the " lettered men" 1 were constituted apart from " the men of story," and Latin literature contributed along with religion to sink the mythes of untaught heathenism. Charle- magne, indeed, at the same time that he employed aggressive and violent proceedings to introduce Christianity among the Saxons, also took special care to commit to writing and preserve the old heathen songs. But there can be little doubt that this step was the suggestion of a large and enlightened understanding peculiar to himself. The disposition general among lettered Christiana of that age is more accurately represented by his son Louis le Debonnaire, who, having learned these songs as a boy, came to abhor them when he arrived at mature years, and could never be induced either to repeat or tolerate them. 2 According to the old heathen faith, the pedigree of the Saxon, Anglian, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish kings, probably also those of the German and Scandinavian kings generally, was traced to Odin, or to some of his immediate companions or heroic sons. 3 I have already observed that the value of these genealo- 1 This distinction is curiously brought to view by Saxo Grammaticus, where he says of an Englishman named Lucas, that he was " literis quidem tenuiter instructus, sed historiarum scientia apprime eruditus" (p. 330, apud Dahlmann's Historische Forschungen, vol. i. p. 176). 2 " Barbara et antiquissima carmina (says Eginhart, in his Life of Charle- magne), quibus veterum regum actus et bella canebantur, conscripsit." Theganus says of Louis le Debonnaire, " Poetica carmina gentilia, qul" in juventute didicerat, respuit, nee legere, nee audire, nee docere, voluif (De Gestis Ludovici Imperatoris ap. Pithceum, p. 304, c. xix.) 3 See Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, art. Helden, p. 356, 2nd edit. Her, gist and Horsa were fourth in descent from Odin (Venerable Bede, Hist i 15). Thiodolff, the Scald of Harold Haarfager king of Norway, traced the pedigree of his sovereign through thirty generations to Yngarfrey, the son of Niord, companion of Odin at Upsal ; the kings of Upsal were called Yng- linger, and the song of Thiodolff, Ynglingatal (Dahlmann, Histor. Forschung, i. p. 379). Eyvind, another Scald, a century afterwards, deduced the pedi- gree of Jarl Hacon from Saming, son of Yngwifrey (p. 381). Are Frode, the Icelandic historian, carried up his own genealogy through thirty-six generations to Yngwe ; a genealogy which Torfao* Accepts as trustworthy VOL. i. 20* 30oc.