chainwork already named consists of a large number of links of two kinds, attached to each other by small rings, half an inch in diameter; one kind are flat and lozenge-shaped, about an inch and a half long; the others are all of one kind, but of different lengths, varying from four to ten inches. They are simply lengths of square rod iron with perforated ends, through which pass the rings connecting them with the diamond-shaped links; they all show the impression of cloth over a considerable part of the surface, and it is, therefore, no improbable conjecture that they would originally constitute a kind of quilted cuirass, by being sewn up within, or upon, a doublet of strong cloth. The peculiarly indurated and corrosive nature of the soil in this barrow is a point of some interest, and it will not be out of place to state that such has generally been the case in tumuli in Derbyshire, where the more important Saxon burials have taken place, whilst the more ancient Celtic interments are generally found in good condition, owing to there having been no special preparation of the earth, which in these cases has undergone a mixing or tempering with some corrosive liquid, the result of which is the presence of thin ochrey veins in the earth, and the decomposition of nearly the whole of the human remains. The following extract from Professor Worsaae’s ‘Antiquities of Denmark’ illustrates the helmet, which is the only example of the kind hitherto discovered, either in this country or on the Continent:-- [Illustration: Fig. 429.] [Illustration: Fig. 430.] [Illustration: Fig. 431.] [Illustration: Fig. 432.] “‘The helmets of the ancient Scandinavians, which were furnished with crests, usually in the form of animals, were probably in most cases only the skins of the heads of animals, drawn over a framework of wood or leather, as the coat of mail was usually of strong quilted linen, or thick woven cloth.’” To this the translator of the English edition appends the important information, that “the animal generally represented was the boar; and it is to this custom that reference is made in _Beowulf_, where the poet speaks of the boar of gold, the boar hard as iron.” “Sƿẏn eal ᵹẏlꝺen, Eoꝼeꞃ Iꞃen-heꞃꝺ.” Nor are allusions to this custom of wearing the figure of a boar--not in honour of the animal, but of Freya, to whom it was sacred--confined to Beowulf; they are to be found in the _Edda_ and in the _Sagas_; while Tacitus, in his work, “De Moribus Germanorum”, distinctly refers to the same usage and its religious intention, as propitiating the protection of their goddess in battle. As a further illustration, not only of the helmet, but also of the chainwork, the following extracts from Beowulf are transcribed from Mr. C. R. Smith’s “Collectanea Antiqua,” vol. ii., p. 240:--