slaughtered were generally sheep and oxenj
and those parts which were not consumed in
the sacrifice, were considered as belonging
to the officiating priest. These animals,
however, were not at all times looked upon
as a sufficient atonement or propitiatory
offering, whence it happened that, in case
of any extraordinary crime, calling for extraordinary
vengeance from the gods, the altar
flowed with the blood of human victims, and,
at Kialarnes, a deep pit or well was formed
near the chapel, into which these unhappy
such a manner that it should form, over him, an arch,
with its extremities touching the ground: if it supported
itself without breaking, the man was declared
worthy of belief, if otherwise, he was condemned. But
when two or more persons were about to join in a
covenant, the arched piece of turf was supported by a
lance, and those engaged in the treaty placed themselves
beneath it, where each with a sword drew blood
from himself, and mingled it with that of his companions,
as a sign of mutual faith. By this ceremony
the most powerful compact was sworn and ratified;
and, besides the mutual aid which, by this act, they
were obliged to afford each other during life, if any
were slain, the survivors, how many soever there might
be, were bound, in the most sacred manner, to revenge
his death by all the means in their power. Arngrim.
Jonas, Tract, de Islandiâ.
wretches were cast, and which thence bore
the name of Blotkelda. So, likewise, in the
province of Thornes-thing, there was a similar
excavation, in which were confined those
who were destined to be offered as a sacrifice
to the gods, and who were thence selected
and killed upon a large stone, “ cujus rei
indignitatem,” says Arngrim Jonas, “ saxum
illud fertur colore sanguinolento nullo
imbre abluto multis post seculis retulisse.”
The same learned author, however, anxious
in some manner to extenuate, if not to
justify, the atrocities of his countrymen,
asserts that human sacrifices were more
common in other countries of the north
than in Iceland, in which, he assures us,
they took place only in two provinces, and
even there all the inhabitants did not join in
them. Hiorleif, the companion of Ingulf,
renounced altogether the worship of idols.
Helgo, whose surname was Biole, a native
of Kialarnes, a man of high rank, and descended
from the Norwegian barons, did not
countenance the religion of the pagans, but
offered his protection to a Christian exile
from Iceland, whom he permitted to build
3 temple, and to dedicate it to St. Columbus