Page:The Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus - Volume 1.djvu/19



s a term used to designate the inhabitants of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. In the early centuries, that is, during the so-called Viking age, they are usually treated as one people under the name of Northmen or Norsemen, but as we proceed into the full daylight of history, it gradually becomes customary to discuss the Scandinavians separately, as Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and Icelanders. Thus, while we designate the old asa-faith of the Scandinavians as Norse mythology, we are expected to know to which of the four countries a modern celebrity or institution belongs. It is necessary to say the Swedish singer Jenny Lind, the Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, the Danish story-teller Hans Christian Andersen, and the Icelandic lexicographer Gudbrand Vigfusson.

The total number of Scandinavians, including those who have emigrated during this century, is probably less than eleven millions: 4,775,000 in Sweden, 2,300,000 (including 70,000 Icelanders) in Denmark, 2,300,000 in Norway, and, say, 2,000,000 in America, the British colonies and in other countries.

But though they be few in number, they inherit considerable renown. Though confined to the more or less inhospita-