could not offer blood-wite. He was then outlawed, and every man who saw him was at liberty to slay him. [Illustration: ADZE OF ELK-HORN.] [Illustration: STONE WEDGE.] [Illustration: ROCK PICTURE OF A SHIP AT LOKEBERG IN BOHUSLEN.] Such were the Norsemen during the first centuries after their settlement in their present home. In spite of their violence and proneness to bloodshed, you will yet admit that they had many traits which were admirable. They could recognize authority, and yet preserve their sturdy sense of independence. Simple and imperfect as their _fylkis things_ were, they suffice to show an aptitude for self-government, and a recognition of the people itself, as the source of authority. These tall blonde men with their defiant blue eyes, who obeyed their kings while they had confidence in them, and killed them when they had forfeited their respect, were the ancestors of the Normans who under William the Conqueror invaded England, and founded the only European state which has since reached the highest civilization and the highest liberty, through slow and even stages of orderly development. [Illustration: ROCK PICTURE AT BORGEN IN SMAALENENE.] [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER II. THE RELIGION OF THE NORSEMEN. The Icelander Snorre Sturlasson wrote in the thirteenth century a very remarkable book, called the Heimskringla, or the Sagas of the Kings of Norway. In this book he says that Odin, the highest god of the Norsemen, was the chief who first led the Germanic tribes into Europe. He was a great warrior and was always victorious. Therefore, when he was dead, the people made sacrifices to him and prayed to him for victory. They did not believe, however, that he was actually dead, but that he had returned to his old home in Asia, whence he still watched their fortunes and occasionally visited them in person. Many tales are told in the sagas of people who had seen Odin, particularly when a great battle was to be fought. He was represented as a tall, bearded man with one eye, and clad as a warrior. He had two brothers, Vile and Ve, and many sons and daughters who were worshipped like him and became gods and goddesses. Odin and his children were called _Aesir_, which Snorre says means Asia-men; and their home _Asgard_, or _Asaheim_, likewise indicates their Asiatic origin. During their migrations the _Aesir_ came in contact with another people, called the _Vanir_, with whom, after an indecisive battle, they formed an alliance. The _Vanir_ then made common cause with the _Aesir_ and were worshipped like them. [Illustration: BRONZE SWORD. (Vestergötland in Sweden.)]