Pine Needles Page 5

  CHAPTER V.

  A little tired, and not a little hungry, it was very good now to have achange, and be at home. The girls went to dress for dinner, whileMeredith, whose toilet was sooner made, sat on the terrace in the mellowOctober light and dreamed. Dinner went off merrily. After dinner, whenit began to be dark, they all repaired to the library. A little fire waskindled here, for the pleasure of it rather than from the need. Theafghan and worsted embroidery came out again under the bright lamplight;but Meredith sat idly tending the fire.

  "Ditto," said Maggie, "can't we see about all those Saxon gods now?--ordon't you want to?"

  "Of course, I want to see about them," said Meredith, springing up andgoing to the bookcases. "I want to know myself, Maggie."

  "Were they different from the Roman and Grecian gods?" Flora asked.

  "It is safe for people who cannot keep their ears open, to refrain fromquestions," Meredith answered.

  "Why, I heard all you read," said Flora, pouting a little; "but howshould I know but those were the same as the Roman gods, only underdifferent names?"

  "If you please to recollect, you will remember that the two nations hadnothing to do with one another except at the spear's point. But if I canfind what I want, I will enlighten you and myself too," said Meredith,rummaging among the bookshelves. "Here it is, I believe!" And with avolume in his hand he came back to the table and the lamp; but thenbecame absorbed in study. Worsted needles flew in and out. Maggiewatched Meredith's face and the leaves of his book as they were turnedover.

  "Well, Ditto?" she said after a while.

  "What?"

  "Yes, _what_?" said Maggie, laughing. "Have you found anything?"

  "To be sure!" said Meredith, straightening himself up. "Yes, Maggie,it's all here--in a somewhat brief fashion."

  "Well, who was Woden?"

  "Woden was the principal deity. He was the god of the moving air, and ofthe light."

  "Like Apollo," said Flora.

  "Yes--more like Zeus or Jupiter. He was the all-father--the universallypresent spirit: above all the other gods. He was the god of the sky.They represented him with two ravens that sat on his shoulders, whichevery morning brought him news of whatever was going on in _Midgard_."

  "What's Midgard?"

  "Our lower earth. And the abode of the gods was called _Asgard_."

  "We did not read anything about Midgard and Asgard to-day."

  "No, but I thought you might like to know. And then _Walhalla_ was theplace where Odin put half of the brave men who were slain in battle."

  "What became of the other half?" said Flora.

  "The goddess Freija took care of them. What she did with them, this bookdoes not say. I have read before of the 'halls of Walhalla,' I am gladto know what it means."

  "Who was Freija?"

  "Wait a bit; I have not got through with Woden, or Odin. His two ravenswere called _Hunin_ and _Munin_--which means, Thought and Memory. That'spretty! Woden is painted also as attended by two dogs. He was the chiefand head of the gods, you understand. Now Freija was one of his wives.Naturally, she was the goddess of good weather and harvests--a fair kindof goddess generally. Also the dead were in her care; the other half ofthe heroes slain in battle came into her hands. She is painted ridingin a chariot drawn by two cats."

  "But, Ditto, if Woden was the sky god, I don't see why those old Saxonsshould have fancied he would like such cruel sacrifices. Sunlight looksbright and cheerful."

  Meredith mused.

  "Yes," he said, "it does look bright and cheerful--but, it hatesdarkness."

  "What then, Ditto?"

  "Darkness means sin."

  "Oh, do you think that?" cried Maggie. "To be sure, I know darknessmeans sin. But do you think those old Saxons"----

  "They felt the difference between darkness and light, undoubtedly, andthey feared the sun-god."

  "But I don't see how they could think he was so cruel, though."

  "I suppose that is all quite natural," said Meredith musingly. "Howafraid we should be of God, if we did not know Jesus Christ!"

  "Were the old Hebrews so afraid of Him?" Flora asked.

  "Terribly. Don't you remember? they always thought they must die whenthe Angel of Jehovah appeared to them? And how should people who neverheard of Christ guess that God is so good as He is? They feel that theyare sinners--how should they know that He will forgive?"

  "But to think to please Him by such awful sacrifices!" said Flora.

  "I suppose the idea was, to give him the most precious thing there was."

  "I shall ask Mr. Murray," said Flora. "It is all a puzzle to me. In thefirst place, I do not believe such heathen people know they aresinners."

  "Yes, they do. Certainly they do, all the world over, and this is one ofthe ways they show it. 'How beautiful' among them must be 'the feet ofhim that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!--that bringethgood tidings of good; that publisheth salvation!'"

  "What a pity you hadn't lived in Landolf's time!" said Flora.

  "There are enough heathen left," said her brother, "and worse than thoseold Saxons. Theirs was not a bad specimen of heathen mythology, by anymeans. And yet, think of believing one's self given over to the tendermercies of Woden and Thor!"

  "And yet by your account people were better than they are now!"

  "Some people--and some people," answered Meredith. "I must ask Mr.Murray about that. I do not understand it."

  "We shall get work enough ready for him by the time he comes. Well, goon with your Saxon mythology and be done with it. I do not think it isvery interesting."

  "Maggie and I are of a different opinion. But it was rather Norsemythology. Sweden and Norway and Denmark were all of one race and onefaith. Norsemen carried it to Iceland, and it is odd enough that fromIceland we get our best accounts of it."

  Maggie had mounted up with her knees in a chair and her elbows on thetable, leaning over towards Meredith, and now begged he would tell aboutThor.

  "Thor was the thunderer."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The god of thunder and lightning. He was the son of Odin, or Woden. Heis represented driving in a car drawn by two goats and with a greathammer in his hand. This hammer was forged by the dwarfs, Kobolds, Isuppose, who dwelt in the centre of the earth."

  "What did he want a hammer for?"

  "To strike withal. And when Thor's hammer came down, that made thethunder, don't you see? and his stroke was the thunderbolt."

  "I should think they would have been frightened to death in athunder-storm."

  "Not an expression those old Saxons knew anything about."

  "Well, I should think they would have feared Thor."

  "There is no doubt but they did. Those poor captives at the stone-houseswere slaughtered in honour of Woden and Thor, don't you remember? But hewas also the god of fire, and the god of the domestic hearth. Listen tothis: 'Among the pagan Norsemen, Thor's hammer was held in as muchreverence as Christ's cross among Christians. It was carved on theirgravestones; and wrought of wood or iron, it was suspended in theirtemples.'"

  "Thor's hammer!" repeated Maggie. "Poor people!"

  "Nobody worships Thor now," observed Esther scornfully.

  "We call one of our days after him yet," said Meredith. "There is arelic of the old Thor worship. Indeed all our days are heathenish inname."

  "All?" said Flora, looking up. "What is Monday?"

  "Just the Moon's day, don't you see? Sunday is the Sun's day. Woden'sday and Thor's day, you know. Then Friday is of course Freija's day--orFreyr's day--I don't know which. Freyr was the god of weather andfruits--another impersonation of Odin. He rode through the air on a wildboar, faster than any horse could catch him. An odd steed! And Tuesdayis Tyr's day, or Zin's day--it comes to much the same thing. He wasespecially the 'god of war and of athletic sports.'"

  "Then there is Saturday left," said Maggie. "What is Saturday?"

  "I think it must have been Saturn's day--and so not Saxon, Maggie, butRoman
. The names of our months are all Roman, you know?"

  "Are they?"

  "Yes, but wait. Here is something curious. The Saxon devil was calledLoki. Now Loki had three children. Listen to this. 'One was the hugewolf Fenris, who at the last day shall hurry gaping to the scene ofbattle, with his lower jaw scraping the earth and his nose scraping thesky.'"

  "What is curious in that?" asked Flora. "It is just like a children'sfairy tale."

  "But these are not children's fairy tales; and they mean something. Howdid these old Norsemen know there would be a scene of battle at the lastday, and great destruction?"

  "How do you know it?"

  "The Bible."

  "Does the Bible say so, Ditto?" said Maggie. "Where does it say so?"

  "Many places."

  "Tell us one, Ditto."

  Meredith rose up and fetched a Bible and pushed his book of Norsemythology on one side. Then he opened at the nineteenth chapter of theRevelation.

  "'And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that satupon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he dothjudge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his headwere many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but hehimself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his nameis called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followedhim upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And outof his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite thenations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth thewine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath onhis vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OFLORDS.

  "'And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loudvoice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come andgather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye mayeat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh ofmighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, andthe flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

  "'And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, andagainst his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the falseprophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived themthat had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped hisimage. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning withbrimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that satupon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all thefowls were filled with their flesh.'"

  "I do not understand all that, the least bit," said Flora.

  "You understand there will be a war, and a battle?"

  "But that's a figure."

  "No, it's a fact. How should it be a figure?"

  "What do you understand by a 'sword proceeding out of His mouth?'"

  "That is in the description of Christ in the first chapter: 'And he hadin his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharptwo-edged sword.'"

  "Well, isn't that a figure? What does it mean?"

  "Listen to the description of Christ that Isaiah gives: 'Withrighteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for themeek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of hismouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.'"

  "Well?"

  "And in Thessalonians: 'Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom theLord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy withthe brightness of his coming.' And in Ephesians: 'The sword of theSpirit, which is the word of God.'"

  "Well," said Flora, "that is not a real sword, with a handle and anedge."

  "The Bible says it has two edges."

  "Nonsense! you know what I mean."

  "I know. Certainly, Flora, the weapons of that battle may not be weaponsof flesh and blood, or for flesh and blood; but the _battle_ is real,don't you see? and the awful overthrow and destruction, and what I amwondering about is, how those old Saxons knew there would be such abattle at the end? and how they knew that the mischief would in somesense come from the devil."

  "_Did_ they know it?"

  "The wolf Fenris was one of the devil's children, as they made it out.And another was the serpent which Odin cast into the sea, where it grewand grew till it had wound up the whole earth in its folds. That is verycurious!"

  "What, Ditto?"

  "How did they know _that_?"

  "Know what?"

  "Why, don't you see? The serpent is one of the Bible words for thedevil; here, it is a child of the devil who, coming to the earth, hasenveloped the whole world in his toils. The Bible says, I know,somewhere, that those who are not saved by Christ are '_in_ the Wickedone.' How did they know so much, and so little, those old people?"

  "Where did you find all those Bible verses just now about the sword,Ditto?"

  "References here, Maggie."

  "Well, go on, Ditto. There were three children of the devil."

  "The third was the goddess Hel or Hela. She was the goddess of the lowerworld, and was half black and half blue. I wonder! that must be whereour word 'hell' comes from. What dreadful old times! And times now arejust as bad, for a great part of the world. The goddess Hel was verylike the horrible Hindoo goddess Kali, they say here."

  "I don't believe those times were so much worse than these times," saidFlora.

  "You think human sacrifices are a pleasant religious feature?"

  "Not to the victims; but I suppose the rest were all accustomed to it,and didn't feel so shocked as you do."

  "Landolf seems to have been a good deal shocked."

  "Are you going to read us anything more, Ditto, about those queer oldgods?"

  "There isn't much more that I need read, Maggie. I have told you aboutthe principal deities. They believed in quantities of lesserones--really, personifications of the good and evil powers of nature.The elves and their king, and the dwarfs living inside the hills. Thedwarfs owned the treasures of the mines, and worked in metals andprecious stones."

  "I should like to believe in elves and fairies," said Flora.

  "Why?"

  "Oh, it's pretty and poetical. Fairy rings, and all that."

  "Would you like to think there were hidden powers in every piece ofwater, and rock, and hill, which might feel kindly disposed towards youand might not? which might suddenly play you an ill trick and make youmost mischievous trouble, for nothing but mischief."

  "Did people believe so, Ditto?"

  "Certainly. A great many people, in various parts of the world."

  "I would rather believe that God has it all in His hand," said Maggiecontentedly.

  "So would I, Maggie. And that Jesus has the keys of hell and of death."

  "I wonder when Fenton will be here," remarked Esther.

  "I hope--he won't come--till--Uncle Eden gets here," said Maggie verydeliberately.

  "Why not?" said Esther sharply.

  "He is uneasy," said Maggie, with a corresponding shrug of hershoulders; "I never know what Fenton will take it into his head to do."

  "That is a nice way to speak of your brother."

  Maggie considered that. "I can't find any nicer," she said at length.

  "Then I wouldn't speak at all."

  "Never mind," said Flora. "One's brothers are always a mixture ofcomfort and plague. And that is true of the best of them, Esther; younever know what they will take into their heads to do."

  "Oh, Flora!"----Maggie began, and stopped.

  "You think there is a difference between brothers and brothers," saidFlora laughing. "Well, my experience is what I tell you."

  "Ditto," said Maggie suddenly, "are there any such stones as those queerstone-houses in this country?"

  "Not that ever I heard of, Maggie. But in the old world, as it iscalled, there are a great many, scattered over a great many countries.Not all just like the stone-houses. Some are just single stones set upon end. Some are two laid together, one resting on the
other slantwise;the stone-houses in Lueneburg seem to have been made of nine stones, onelying on eight."

  "Did people offer human sacrifices on all of them?"

  "I fancy not. But I believe it is tolerably uncertain. Did you never seea picture of Stonehenge?"

  Maggie knew nothing about Stonehenge. Meredith went to the bookcasesagain and got another volume. This contained many illustrations of oldstone monuments of various kinds, and he and Maggie were soon absorbedin studying them.

  "There!" cried Maggie, as he opened at one of the earliestillustrations, "there, Ditto! that is very like--_very_ like--what youread of the stone-houses. Isn't it?"

  "Fearfully like," said Meredith. "This is in Ireland. I dare say some ofthose old Druids sacrificed men on it."

  "How could they set it up so? Look, Ditto--the top stone rests just onone point at the lowest end. I should think it would topple down."

  "It has stood hundreds of years, Maggie, and will stand for alltime--unless an earthquake shakes it down. This dolmen is made of fourstones."

  "What is a dolmen?"

  "This is one. It says here in a note, that the name comes 'from theCeltic word _Daul_, a table, and _Chen_ or _Chaen_, a stone.' A stonetable. And it says here that there are probably a hundred of suchdolmens in Great Britain and Ireland. How ever did the builders getthat enormous block poised on the tips of the other three?"

  Slowly and absorbedly the two went on exploring the pages of the book;stopping to read, stopping to talk and discuss the questions of tumuliand stone circles, dolmens and menhirs. The opinion of the author, thatthe great circles commemorated great battles, and were raised in honourof the dead buried within them, and that many dolmens had a sepulchralcharacter, was somewhat confusing to the Druidical and tragicalimpressions left from the Saxon chronicle; which, however, at last gotan undeniable support. In the stones of Stennis, over which Maggie andMeredith pondered with intense interest, one of the enormous up-standingmasses has a hole through it. And this stone, there is no doubt, wasdedicated to Woden. And so long had the superstition of Woden's worshipclung to it, that until very lately an oath sworn by persons joiningtheir hands through this hole, was reckoned especially sacred; even thecourts of law so recognising it. After that, Woden seemed to Maggie tohave strong claim to all the upright stones and altar-looking dolmensthat are found where the worship of Woden has once prevailed. LeavingStennis they went on to Runic crosses, German dolmens, and Frenchdolmens, and on and on, from country to country. When at last theylifted up their heads and looked around them, they were alone. The girlshad gone off to bed; the worsted work lay, left on the table; the firewas out; the minute-hand pointed to ten o'clock. Meredith and Maggieglanced at each other and smiled.

  "We have forgotten ourselves," said he.

  "You see, Ditto," said Maggie, "we've been travelling. Oh, I wish Icould _see_ the Stones of Stennis, don't you? and the Stone of Woden?"

  "Well, now, you had better travel to bed, little one, and forget it all.Don't see it in your dreams."