Copy 1, Volume 1

Northern antiquities: or a description of the manners, customs, religion and laws of the ancient Danes, including ... our own Saxon ancestors ... With a translation of the Edda, etc. ... Translated [by Bishop Percy] ... from "L'introduction à l'histoire de Dannemarc, &c., par Mons. Mallet." With additional notes by the English translator, and Goranson's Latin version of the Edda ... / [Paul Henri Mallet].

Paul Henri Mallet

Date:: 1809

Credit: Northern antiquities: or a description of the manners, customs, religion and laws of the ancient Danes, including ... our own Saxon ancestors ... With a translation of the Edda, etc. ... Translated [by Bishop Percy] ... from "L'introduction à l'histoire de Dannemarc, &c., par Mons. Mallet." With additional notes by the English translator, and Goranson's Latin version of the Edda ... / [Paul Henri Mallet]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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( cîrclc, and, in the midft of them, one of fuperior height. Such, in tJiole rude agesj'was thc Hall of Audience ; the ftones that formed the drcumference, were the feats of the fcnators, that in the middle the throne of the king, The Hke monuments are found alfo in Per- üa, near Tauris. Travellers fre- quently meet there with large clr- cles of hewn ftones ; and the tra- dition of the country reports, that thefe are the places where the Cjous, or Giants, formerly held their councils. (Vid. Chardin’s Travcls into Perfia, Vol. III. p. 0 I think one may difcover veftigeb of this ancient cuftom, in the fable of the Twelvc Peers of I j-ance, and in the eftablifhment of Twelve Jurymen in England, * -who are the proper Judges, ac- ‘ cording to the ancient laws of ‘ that country. T.’ (d) “ Naraed the Golden “ Age.’ ] This Golden Age of the £dda is not worthy to be comparcd with that of the Greek poets ; but in return, it may per- haps hâve this advantage over the othcr, that it is not altogether without real exiftence. There is no doubt but this Mythology, like ail othcrs, perpetually confounds îhe natural Deities, with thofe iicrfons wl)o were only dcifted by mcn, and to whom were afcribed Voi; II, 33 ) the names of tlie former. Men, who rendered themfelves illuftri- ous by fome noble invention, or by their attachment to the wor- fhipof the Gods,received the names of thofe Gods after their deceafe ; and it was a long time before the following âges thought of diftin- guilhing the one from the other. Among our Scythian ancefters, the firft men who found out a mine of gold, or any other métal ; and knew how to work that métal,,and make fomething orna- mental out of it, were doubtlefs regarded as divine perfons. A mine difeovered by chance, would eafdy alFord and furnilh out that flight magnificence ; of which the Edda has here preferved a feint remembrance, (e) “ Dwell . . . among the “ rocks.”] This paffage deferves attention. We may difcover here one efledl of that ignorant préju- dice, which hath made us for fo many years regard ail arts and handicrafts, as the occupation of mean people and flaves. Our Celtic and Gothic anceftors, whether Germans, Scandinavians or Gauls, imagining there was fomething magical, and beyond the reach of man in ‘ mechanic ' ficill and induftry, could fcarcely believe that an able artift was one of their ovvn fpecies, or dtfcended from

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