WFHermans
11-30-2008, 03:43 PM
THE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE
BY KING ALFRED, ETC.
Translated in 1807 by the Rev. James Ingram, M.A., Professor of
Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford.
Now will we describe the geography of Europe, so far, at least, as
our knowledge of it extends. From the river Tanais, westward to the
river Rine (which takes its rise from the Alps and runs directly
north thenceforward on to the arm of the ocean that surrounds
Bryttania), then southward to the river Danube (whose source is near
the river Rine, running afterwards in its course along the confines
of Northern Greece, till it empties itself into the Mediterranean),
and northward even unto the ocean, which men call Cwen-sea; within
these boundaries are many nations; but the whole of this tract of
country is called Germany.
Then to the north of the source of the Danube, and to the east of
the Rine, are the Eastern Franks, and to the south of them are the
Suabians; on the opposite bank of the Danube, and to the south and
east, are the Bavarians, in that part which is called Regnesburh.
Due east from thence are the Bohemians, and to the north-east the
Thyringians, to the north of these are the Old Saxons, to the north-
west are the Frieslanders, and to the west of the Old Saxons is the
mouth of the Elbe, as also Friesland. Hence to the west-north is
that land which is called Angleland, Sealand, and some part of Den-
marc; to the north is Apdrede, and to the east-north the wolds,
which are called the Heath-wolds. Hence eastward is the land of the
Veneti (who are also called Silesae), extending south-west over a
great part of the territory of the Moravians. These Moravians have
to the west the Thyringians and Bohemians, as also part of Bavaria,
and to the south, on the other side of the Danube, is the country of
the Carinthians, lying southward even to the Alps. To the same
mountains also extend the boundaries of the Bavarians and the
Suabians. Thence to the eastward of Carinthia, beyond the waste, is
the land of the Bulgarians. To the east of them is the land of the
Greeks, and to the east of Moravia is Wisle-land; to the east of
that are the Dacae, who were originally a tribe of Goths. To the
north-east of the Moravians are the Dalamensae; east of the
Dalamensians are the Horithi, and north of the Dalamensians are the
Servians; to the west also are the Silesians. To the north of the
Horiti is Mazovia, and north of Mazovia are the Sarmatians, quite to
the Riphaean mountains. To the west of the Southern Danes is the
arm of the ocean that surrounds Britannia, and to the north of them
is the arm of the sea called Ost Sea; to the east and to the north
of them are the Northern Danes, both on the continent and on the
islands; to the east of them are the Afdrede; and to the south is
the mouth of the Elb, with some part of Old Saxony. The Northern
Danes have to the north of them the same arm of the sea called Ost
Sea; to the east of them is the nation of the Estonians, and the
Afdrede to the south. The Estonians have to the north of them the
same arm of the sea, and also the Winedae and Burgundae, and to the
South are the Heath-wolds. The Burgundians have the same arm of the
sea to the west of them, and the Sweons to the north; to the east of
them are the Sarmatians, and to the south the Servians. The Sweons
have to the south of them the same arm of the sea, called Ost Sea;
to the east of them the Sarmatians; and to the north, over the
wastes, is Cwenland; to the west-north of them are the Scride-
Finnas, and to the west the Northmen.
"Ohthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he lived to the north of
all the Northmen. He says that he dwelt on the mainland to the
northward, by the west sea; that the land, however, extends to a
very great length thence onward to the north; but it is all waste,
except in a few places where the Finlanders occasionally resort, for
hunting in the winter, and in the summer for fishing along the sea-
coast. He said that he was determined to find out, on a certain
time, how far this country extended northward, or whether any one
lived to the north of the waste. With this intent he proceeded
northward along the coast, leaving all the way the waste land on the
starboard, and the wide sea on the backboard, for three days. He
was then as far north as the whale-hunters ever go. He then
continued his voyage, steering yet northward, as far as he could
sail within three other days. Then the land began to take a turn to
the eastward, even unto the inland sea, but he knows not how much
farther. He remembers, however, that he stayed there waiting for a
western wind, or a point to the north, and sailed thence eastward by
the land as far as he could in four days. Then he was obliged to
wait for a due north wind, because the land there began to run
southward, quite to the inland sea; he knows not how far. He sailed
thence along the coast southward, as far as he could in five days.
There lay then a great river a long way up in the land, into the
mouth of which they entered, because they durst not proceed beyond
the river from an apprehension of hostilities, for the land was all
inhabited on the other side of the river. Ohthere, however, had not
met with any inhabited land before this since he first set out from
his own home. All the land to his right, during his whole voyage,
was uncultivated and without inhabitants, except a few fishermen,
fowlers, and hunters, all of whom were Finlanders; and he had
nothing but the wide sea on his left all the way. The Biarmians,
indeed, had well cultivated their land; though Ohthere and his crew
durst not enter upon it; but the land of the Torne-Finnas was all
waste, and it was only occasionally inhabited by hunters, and
fishermen, and fowlers.
"The Biarmians told him many stories, both about their own land and
about the other countries around them; but Ohthere knew not how much
truth there was in them, because he had not an opportunity of seeing
with his own eyes. It seemed, however, to him, that the Finlanders
and the Biarmians spoke nearly the same language. The principal
object of his voyage, indeed, was already gained; which was, to
increase the discovery of the land, and on account of the horse-
whales, because they have very beautiful bone in their teeth, some
of which they brought to the king, and their hides are good for
ship-ropes. This sort of whale is much less than the other kinds,
it is not longer commonly than seven ells: but in his own country
(Ohthere says) is the best whale-hunting; there the whales are eight
and forty ells long, and the largest fifty; of these, he said, he
once killed (six in company) sixty in two days. He was a very rich
man in the possession of those animals, in which their principal
wealth consists, namely, such as are naturally wild. He had then,
when he came to seek King Alfred, six hundred deer, all tamed by
himself, and not purchased. They call them reindeer. Of these six
were stall-reins, or decoy deer, which are very valuable amongst the
Finlanders, because they catch the wild deer with them.
"Ohthere himself was amongst the first men in the land, though he
had not more than twenty rother-beasts, twenty sheep, and twenty
swine; and what little he ploughed, he ploughed with horses. The
annual revenue of these people consists chiefly in a certain tribute
which the Finlanders yield them. This tribute is derived from the
skins of animals, feathers of various birds, whalebone, and ship-
ropes, which are made of whales' hides and of seals. Everyone pays
according to his substance; the wealthiest man amongst them pays
only the skins of fifteen marterns, five reindeer skins, one bear's
skin, ten bushels of feathers, a cloak of bear's or otter's skin,
two ship-ropes (each sixty ells long), one made of whale's and the
other of seal's skin.
"Ohthere moreover said that the land of the Northmen was very long
and very narrow; all that is fit either for pasture or ploughing
lies along the sea coast, which, however, is in some parts very
cloddy; along the eastern side are wild moors, extending a long way
up parallel to the cultivated land. The Finlanders inhabit these
moors, and the cultivated land is broadest to the eastward; and,
altogether, the more northward it lies, the more narrow it is.
Eastward it may perhaps be sixty miles broad, in some places
broader; about the middle, thirty miles, or somewhat more; and
northward, Ohthere says (where it is narrowest), it may be only
three miles across from the sea to the moors, which, however, are in
some parts so wide, that a man could scarcely pass over them in two
weeks, though in other parts perhaps in six days. Then parallel
with this land southward is Sweoland, on the other side of the
moors, extending quite to the northward; and running even with the
northern part of it is Cwenaland. The Cwenas sometimes make
incursions against the Northmen over these moors, and sometimes the
Northmen on them; there are very large meres of fresh water beyond
the moors, and the Cwenas carry their ships overland into the meres,
whence they make depredations on the Northmen; they have ships that
are very small and very light.
"Ohthere said that the shire which he inhabited is called Halgoland.
He says that no human being abode in any fixed habitation to the
north of him. There is a port to the south of this land, which is
called Sciringes-heal. Thither he said that a man could not sail in
a month, if he watched in the night, and every day had a fair wind;
and all the while he shall sail along the coast; and on his right
hand first is Island, and then the islands which are between Island
and this land. Then this land continues quite to Sciringes-heal;
and all the way on the left is Norway. To the south of Sciringes-
heal a great sea runs up a vast way into the country, and is so wide
that no man can see across it. (Jutland is opposite on the other
side, and then Sealand.) This sea lies many hundred miles up into
the land. Ohthere further says that he sailed in five days from
Sciringes-heal to that port which men call AEt-Haethum, which stands
between the Winedae, the Saxons, and the Angles, and is subject to
the Danes.
"When Ohthere sailed to this place from Sciringes-heal, Denmark was
on his left, and on his right the wide sea, for three days; and for
the two days before he came to Haethum, on his right hand was
Jutland, Sealand, and many islands; all which lands were inhabited
by the English, before they came hither; and for these two days the
islands which are subject to Denmark were on his left."
"Wulfstan said that he went from Haethum to Truso in seven days and
nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way.
Weonodland was on his right, and Langland, Laeland, Falster, and
Sconey, on his left, all which land is subject to Denmark. "Then on
our left we had the land of the Burgundians, who have a king to
themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our
left the lands that have been called from the earliest times
Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory
is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the way on our
right, as far as Weissel-mouth. The Weissel is a very large river,
and near it lie Witland and Weonodland. Witland belongs to the
people of Eastland; and out of Weonodland flows the river Weissel,
which empties itself afterwards into Estmere. This lake, called
Estmere, is about fifteen miles broad. Then runs the Ilfing east
(of the Weissel) into Estmere, from that lake on the banks of which
stands Truso. These two rivers come out together into Estmere, the
Ilfing east from Eastland, and the Weissel south from Weonodland.
Then the Weissel deprives the Ilfing of its name, and, flowing from
the west part of the lake, at length empties itself northward into
the sea, whence this point is called the Weissel-mouth. This
country called Eastland is very extensive, and there are in it many
towns, and in every town is a king. There is a great quantity of
honey and fish; and even the king and the richest men drink mare's
milk, whilst the poor and the slaves drink mead. There is a vast
deal of war and contention amongst the different tribes of this
nation. There is no ale brewed amongst the Estonians, but they have
mead in profusion.
"There is also this custom with the Estonians, that when anyone dies
the corpse continues unburnt with the relations and friends for at
least a month, sometimes two; and the bodies of kings and
illustrious men, according to their respective wealth, lie sometimes
even for half a year before the corpse is burned, and the body
continues above ground in the house, during which time drinking and
sports are prolonged till the day on which the body is consumed.
Then, when it is carried to the funeral pile, the substance of the
deceased, which remains after these drinking festivities and sports,
is divided into five or six heaps; sometimes into more, according to
the proportion of what he happens to be worth. These heaps are so
disposed that the largest heap shall be about one mile from the
town; and so gradually the smaller at lesser intervals, till all the
wealth is divided, so that the least heap shall be nearest the town
where the corpse lies.
"Then all those are to be summoned together who have the fleetest
horses in the land, for a wager of skill, within the distance of
five or six miles from these heaps; and they all ride a race toward
the substance of the deceased. Then comes the man that has the
winning horse toward the first and largest heap, and so each after
other, till the whole is seized upon. He procures, however, the
least heap who takes that which is nearest the town; and then
everyone rides away with his share, and keeps the whole of it. On
account of this custom fleet horses in that country are wonderfully
dear. When the wealth of the deceased has been thus exhausted, then
they carry out his corpse from the house and burn it, together with
his weapons and clothes; and generally they spend his whole
substance by the long continuance of the body within the house,
together with what they lay in heaps along the road, which the
strangers run for, and take away.
"It is also an established custom with the Estonians that the dead
bodies of every tribe or family shall be burned, and if any man
findeth a single bone unconsumed, they shall be fined to a
considerable amount. These Estonians also have the power of
producing artificial cold; and it is thus the dead body continues so
long above ground without putrefying, on which they produce this
artificial cold; and, though a man should set two vessels full of
ale or of water, they contrive that either shall be completely
frozen over; and this equally the same in the summer as in the
winter."
Now will we speak about those parts of Europe that lie to the south
of the river Danube; and first of all, concerning Greece. The sea
which flows along the eastern side of Constantinople (a Grecian
city) is called Propontis. To the north of this Grecian city an arm
of the sea shoots up westward from the Euxine; and to the west by
north the mouths of the river Danube empty themselves south-east
into the Euxine. To the south and west of these mouths are the
Moessians, a tribe of Greeks; to the west of the city are the
Thracians; and to the west also are the Macedonians. To the south
of this city, towards the southern part of that arm of the sea which
is called the Egean, Athens and Corinth are situated. And to the
west by south of Corinth is the land of Achaia, near the
Mediterranean. To the west of Achaia, along the Mediterranean, is
Dalmatia, on the north side of the sea; to the north of Dalmatia are
the boundaries of Bulgaria and Istria. To the south of Istria is
that part of the Mediterranean which is called the Adriatic; to the
west are the Alps; and to the north that desert which is between the
Carinthians and the Bulgarians.
Italy, which is of great length west by north, and also east by
south, is surrounded by the Mediterranean on every side but towards
the west-north. At that end of it lie the Alps, which begin
westward from the Mediterranean, in the Narbonense country, and end
eastward in Dalmatia, near the [Adriatic] sea.
With respect to the territory called Gallia Belgica, to the east of
it is the river Rine, to the south the Alps, to the west by south
the sea called the British Ocean, and to the north, on the other
side of the arm of the ocean, is Britannia. The land to the west of
the river Loire is AEquitania; to the south of AEquitania is some
part of the Narbonense; to the west by south is the territory of
Spain; and to the south the ocean. To the south of the Narbonense
is the Mediterranean, where the Rone empties itself into the sea,
having Provence both on the east and west. Over the Pyrenean wastes
is Ispania citerior, to the west of which, by north, is AEquitania,
and the province of Gascony to the north. Provence has to the north
of it the Alps; to the south of it is the Mediterranean; to the
north-east of it are the Burgundians; and the people of Gascony to
the west.
Spain is triangular, and entirely guarded on the outside by the sea,
either by the great ocean or by the Mediterranean, and also well
guarded within over the land. One of the angles lies south-west
against the island of Gades, the second eastward against the
Narbonense territory, and the third north-west against Braganza, a
town of Gallicia. And against Scotland (i.e., Ireland), over the
arm of the sea, in a straight line with the mouth of the Shannon, is
Ispania ulterior. To the west of it is the ocean; and to the south
and east of it, northward of the Mediterranean, is Ispania citerior;
to the north of which are the lands of Equitania; to the north-east
is the weald of the Pyrenees, to the east the Narbonense, and to the
south the Mediterranean.
With regard to the island Britannia, it is of considerable length to
the north-east, being eight hundred miles long and only two hundred
miles broad. To the south of it, on the other side of the arm of
the sea, is Gallia Belgica; to the west, on the other side of an arm
of the sea, is the island Ibernia, and to the northward the Orkney
Isles. Igbernia, which we call Scotland, is surrounded on every
side with the ocean; and hence, because the rays of the setting sun
strike on it with less interruption than on other countries, the
weather is milder there than it is in Britain. Thence, to the west-
north of Ibernia, is that utmost land called Thila, which is known
to a few men only, on account of its exceeding great distance.
Thus have we now sufficiently described all the landmarks of Europe,
according to their respective situations.
BY KING ALFRED, ETC.
Translated in 1807 by the Rev. James Ingram, M.A., Professor of
Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford.
Now will we describe the geography of Europe, so far, at least, as
our knowledge of it extends. From the river Tanais, westward to the
river Rine (which takes its rise from the Alps and runs directly
north thenceforward on to the arm of the ocean that surrounds
Bryttania), then southward to the river Danube (whose source is near
the river Rine, running afterwards in its course along the confines
of Northern Greece, till it empties itself into the Mediterranean),
and northward even unto the ocean, which men call Cwen-sea; within
these boundaries are many nations; but the whole of this tract of
country is called Germany.
Then to the north of the source of the Danube, and to the east of
the Rine, are the Eastern Franks, and to the south of them are the
Suabians; on the opposite bank of the Danube, and to the south and
east, are the Bavarians, in that part which is called Regnesburh.
Due east from thence are the Bohemians, and to the north-east the
Thyringians, to the north of these are the Old Saxons, to the north-
west are the Frieslanders, and to the west of the Old Saxons is the
mouth of the Elbe, as also Friesland. Hence to the west-north is
that land which is called Angleland, Sealand, and some part of Den-
marc; to the north is Apdrede, and to the east-north the wolds,
which are called the Heath-wolds. Hence eastward is the land of the
Veneti (who are also called Silesae), extending south-west over a
great part of the territory of the Moravians. These Moravians have
to the west the Thyringians and Bohemians, as also part of Bavaria,
and to the south, on the other side of the Danube, is the country of
the Carinthians, lying southward even to the Alps. To the same
mountains also extend the boundaries of the Bavarians and the
Suabians. Thence to the eastward of Carinthia, beyond the waste, is
the land of the Bulgarians. To the east of them is the land of the
Greeks, and to the east of Moravia is Wisle-land; to the east of
that are the Dacae, who were originally a tribe of Goths. To the
north-east of the Moravians are the Dalamensae; east of the
Dalamensians are the Horithi, and north of the Dalamensians are the
Servians; to the west also are the Silesians. To the north of the
Horiti is Mazovia, and north of Mazovia are the Sarmatians, quite to
the Riphaean mountains. To the west of the Southern Danes is the
arm of the ocean that surrounds Britannia, and to the north of them
is the arm of the sea called Ost Sea; to the east and to the north
of them are the Northern Danes, both on the continent and on the
islands; to the east of them are the Afdrede; and to the south is
the mouth of the Elb, with some part of Old Saxony. The Northern
Danes have to the north of them the same arm of the sea called Ost
Sea; to the east of them is the nation of the Estonians, and the
Afdrede to the south. The Estonians have to the north of them the
same arm of the sea, and also the Winedae and Burgundae, and to the
South are the Heath-wolds. The Burgundians have the same arm of the
sea to the west of them, and the Sweons to the north; to the east of
them are the Sarmatians, and to the south the Servians. The Sweons
have to the south of them the same arm of the sea, called Ost Sea;
to the east of them the Sarmatians; and to the north, over the
wastes, is Cwenland; to the west-north of them are the Scride-
Finnas, and to the west the Northmen.
"Ohthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he lived to the north of
all the Northmen. He says that he dwelt on the mainland to the
northward, by the west sea; that the land, however, extends to a
very great length thence onward to the north; but it is all waste,
except in a few places where the Finlanders occasionally resort, for
hunting in the winter, and in the summer for fishing along the sea-
coast. He said that he was determined to find out, on a certain
time, how far this country extended northward, or whether any one
lived to the north of the waste. With this intent he proceeded
northward along the coast, leaving all the way the waste land on the
starboard, and the wide sea on the backboard, for three days. He
was then as far north as the whale-hunters ever go. He then
continued his voyage, steering yet northward, as far as he could
sail within three other days. Then the land began to take a turn to
the eastward, even unto the inland sea, but he knows not how much
farther. He remembers, however, that he stayed there waiting for a
western wind, or a point to the north, and sailed thence eastward by
the land as far as he could in four days. Then he was obliged to
wait for a due north wind, because the land there began to run
southward, quite to the inland sea; he knows not how far. He sailed
thence along the coast southward, as far as he could in five days.
There lay then a great river a long way up in the land, into the
mouth of which they entered, because they durst not proceed beyond
the river from an apprehension of hostilities, for the land was all
inhabited on the other side of the river. Ohthere, however, had not
met with any inhabited land before this since he first set out from
his own home. All the land to his right, during his whole voyage,
was uncultivated and without inhabitants, except a few fishermen,
fowlers, and hunters, all of whom were Finlanders; and he had
nothing but the wide sea on his left all the way. The Biarmians,
indeed, had well cultivated their land; though Ohthere and his crew
durst not enter upon it; but the land of the Torne-Finnas was all
waste, and it was only occasionally inhabited by hunters, and
fishermen, and fowlers.
"The Biarmians told him many stories, both about their own land and
about the other countries around them; but Ohthere knew not how much
truth there was in them, because he had not an opportunity of seeing
with his own eyes. It seemed, however, to him, that the Finlanders
and the Biarmians spoke nearly the same language. The principal
object of his voyage, indeed, was already gained; which was, to
increase the discovery of the land, and on account of the horse-
whales, because they have very beautiful bone in their teeth, some
of which they brought to the king, and their hides are good for
ship-ropes. This sort of whale is much less than the other kinds,
it is not longer commonly than seven ells: but in his own country
(Ohthere says) is the best whale-hunting; there the whales are eight
and forty ells long, and the largest fifty; of these, he said, he
once killed (six in company) sixty in two days. He was a very rich
man in the possession of those animals, in which their principal
wealth consists, namely, such as are naturally wild. He had then,
when he came to seek King Alfred, six hundred deer, all tamed by
himself, and not purchased. They call them reindeer. Of these six
were stall-reins, or decoy deer, which are very valuable amongst the
Finlanders, because they catch the wild deer with them.
"Ohthere himself was amongst the first men in the land, though he
had not more than twenty rother-beasts, twenty sheep, and twenty
swine; and what little he ploughed, he ploughed with horses. The
annual revenue of these people consists chiefly in a certain tribute
which the Finlanders yield them. This tribute is derived from the
skins of animals, feathers of various birds, whalebone, and ship-
ropes, which are made of whales' hides and of seals. Everyone pays
according to his substance; the wealthiest man amongst them pays
only the skins of fifteen marterns, five reindeer skins, one bear's
skin, ten bushels of feathers, a cloak of bear's or otter's skin,
two ship-ropes (each sixty ells long), one made of whale's and the
other of seal's skin.
"Ohthere moreover said that the land of the Northmen was very long
and very narrow; all that is fit either for pasture or ploughing
lies along the sea coast, which, however, is in some parts very
cloddy; along the eastern side are wild moors, extending a long way
up parallel to the cultivated land. The Finlanders inhabit these
moors, and the cultivated land is broadest to the eastward; and,
altogether, the more northward it lies, the more narrow it is.
Eastward it may perhaps be sixty miles broad, in some places
broader; about the middle, thirty miles, or somewhat more; and
northward, Ohthere says (where it is narrowest), it may be only
three miles across from the sea to the moors, which, however, are in
some parts so wide, that a man could scarcely pass over them in two
weeks, though in other parts perhaps in six days. Then parallel
with this land southward is Sweoland, on the other side of the
moors, extending quite to the northward; and running even with the
northern part of it is Cwenaland. The Cwenas sometimes make
incursions against the Northmen over these moors, and sometimes the
Northmen on them; there are very large meres of fresh water beyond
the moors, and the Cwenas carry their ships overland into the meres,
whence they make depredations on the Northmen; they have ships that
are very small and very light.
"Ohthere said that the shire which he inhabited is called Halgoland.
He says that no human being abode in any fixed habitation to the
north of him. There is a port to the south of this land, which is
called Sciringes-heal. Thither he said that a man could not sail in
a month, if he watched in the night, and every day had a fair wind;
and all the while he shall sail along the coast; and on his right
hand first is Island, and then the islands which are between Island
and this land. Then this land continues quite to Sciringes-heal;
and all the way on the left is Norway. To the south of Sciringes-
heal a great sea runs up a vast way into the country, and is so wide
that no man can see across it. (Jutland is opposite on the other
side, and then Sealand.) This sea lies many hundred miles up into
the land. Ohthere further says that he sailed in five days from
Sciringes-heal to that port which men call AEt-Haethum, which stands
between the Winedae, the Saxons, and the Angles, and is subject to
the Danes.
"When Ohthere sailed to this place from Sciringes-heal, Denmark was
on his left, and on his right the wide sea, for three days; and for
the two days before he came to Haethum, on his right hand was
Jutland, Sealand, and many islands; all which lands were inhabited
by the English, before they came hither; and for these two days the
islands which are subject to Denmark were on his left."
"Wulfstan said that he went from Haethum to Truso in seven days and
nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way.
Weonodland was on his right, and Langland, Laeland, Falster, and
Sconey, on his left, all which land is subject to Denmark. "Then on
our left we had the land of the Burgundians, who have a king to
themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our
left the lands that have been called from the earliest times
Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory
is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the way on our
right, as far as Weissel-mouth. The Weissel is a very large river,
and near it lie Witland and Weonodland. Witland belongs to the
people of Eastland; and out of Weonodland flows the river Weissel,
which empties itself afterwards into Estmere. This lake, called
Estmere, is about fifteen miles broad. Then runs the Ilfing east
(of the Weissel) into Estmere, from that lake on the banks of which
stands Truso. These two rivers come out together into Estmere, the
Ilfing east from Eastland, and the Weissel south from Weonodland.
Then the Weissel deprives the Ilfing of its name, and, flowing from
the west part of the lake, at length empties itself northward into
the sea, whence this point is called the Weissel-mouth. This
country called Eastland is very extensive, and there are in it many
towns, and in every town is a king. There is a great quantity of
honey and fish; and even the king and the richest men drink mare's
milk, whilst the poor and the slaves drink mead. There is a vast
deal of war and contention amongst the different tribes of this
nation. There is no ale brewed amongst the Estonians, but they have
mead in profusion.
"There is also this custom with the Estonians, that when anyone dies
the corpse continues unburnt with the relations and friends for at
least a month, sometimes two; and the bodies of kings and
illustrious men, according to their respective wealth, lie sometimes
even for half a year before the corpse is burned, and the body
continues above ground in the house, during which time drinking and
sports are prolonged till the day on which the body is consumed.
Then, when it is carried to the funeral pile, the substance of the
deceased, which remains after these drinking festivities and sports,
is divided into five or six heaps; sometimes into more, according to
the proportion of what he happens to be worth. These heaps are so
disposed that the largest heap shall be about one mile from the
town; and so gradually the smaller at lesser intervals, till all the
wealth is divided, so that the least heap shall be nearest the town
where the corpse lies.
"Then all those are to be summoned together who have the fleetest
horses in the land, for a wager of skill, within the distance of
five or six miles from these heaps; and they all ride a race toward
the substance of the deceased. Then comes the man that has the
winning horse toward the first and largest heap, and so each after
other, till the whole is seized upon. He procures, however, the
least heap who takes that which is nearest the town; and then
everyone rides away with his share, and keeps the whole of it. On
account of this custom fleet horses in that country are wonderfully
dear. When the wealth of the deceased has been thus exhausted, then
they carry out his corpse from the house and burn it, together with
his weapons and clothes; and generally they spend his whole
substance by the long continuance of the body within the house,
together with what they lay in heaps along the road, which the
strangers run for, and take away.
"It is also an established custom with the Estonians that the dead
bodies of every tribe or family shall be burned, and if any man
findeth a single bone unconsumed, they shall be fined to a
considerable amount. These Estonians also have the power of
producing artificial cold; and it is thus the dead body continues so
long above ground without putrefying, on which they produce this
artificial cold; and, though a man should set two vessels full of
ale or of water, they contrive that either shall be completely
frozen over; and this equally the same in the summer as in the
winter."
Now will we speak about those parts of Europe that lie to the south
of the river Danube; and first of all, concerning Greece. The sea
which flows along the eastern side of Constantinople (a Grecian
city) is called Propontis. To the north of this Grecian city an arm
of the sea shoots up westward from the Euxine; and to the west by
north the mouths of the river Danube empty themselves south-east
into the Euxine. To the south and west of these mouths are the
Moessians, a tribe of Greeks; to the west of the city are the
Thracians; and to the west also are the Macedonians. To the south
of this city, towards the southern part of that arm of the sea which
is called the Egean, Athens and Corinth are situated. And to the
west by south of Corinth is the land of Achaia, near the
Mediterranean. To the west of Achaia, along the Mediterranean, is
Dalmatia, on the north side of the sea; to the north of Dalmatia are
the boundaries of Bulgaria and Istria. To the south of Istria is
that part of the Mediterranean which is called the Adriatic; to the
west are the Alps; and to the north that desert which is between the
Carinthians and the Bulgarians.
Italy, which is of great length west by north, and also east by
south, is surrounded by the Mediterranean on every side but towards
the west-north. At that end of it lie the Alps, which begin
westward from the Mediterranean, in the Narbonense country, and end
eastward in Dalmatia, near the [Adriatic] sea.
With respect to the territory called Gallia Belgica, to the east of
it is the river Rine, to the south the Alps, to the west by south
the sea called the British Ocean, and to the north, on the other
side of the arm of the ocean, is Britannia. The land to the west of
the river Loire is AEquitania; to the south of AEquitania is some
part of the Narbonense; to the west by south is the territory of
Spain; and to the south the ocean. To the south of the Narbonense
is the Mediterranean, where the Rone empties itself into the sea,
having Provence both on the east and west. Over the Pyrenean wastes
is Ispania citerior, to the west of which, by north, is AEquitania,
and the province of Gascony to the north. Provence has to the north
of it the Alps; to the south of it is the Mediterranean; to the
north-east of it are the Burgundians; and the people of Gascony to
the west.
Spain is triangular, and entirely guarded on the outside by the sea,
either by the great ocean or by the Mediterranean, and also well
guarded within over the land. One of the angles lies south-west
against the island of Gades, the second eastward against the
Narbonense territory, and the third north-west against Braganza, a
town of Gallicia. And against Scotland (i.e., Ireland), over the
arm of the sea, in a straight line with the mouth of the Shannon, is
Ispania ulterior. To the west of it is the ocean; and to the south
and east of it, northward of the Mediterranean, is Ispania citerior;
to the north of which are the lands of Equitania; to the north-east
is the weald of the Pyrenees, to the east the Narbonense, and to the
south the Mediterranean.
With regard to the island Britannia, it is of considerable length to
the north-east, being eight hundred miles long and only two hundred
miles broad. To the south of it, on the other side of the arm of
the sea, is Gallia Belgica; to the west, on the other side of an arm
of the sea, is the island Ibernia, and to the northward the Orkney
Isles. Igbernia, which we call Scotland, is surrounded on every
side with the ocean; and hence, because the rays of the setting sun
strike on it with less interruption than on other countries, the
weather is milder there than it is in Britain. Thence, to the west-
north of Ibernia, is that utmost land called Thila, which is known
to a few men only, on account of its exceeding great distance.
Thus have we now sufficiently described all the landmarks of Europe,
according to their respective situations.