Unpunish'd there. The strange and fearful pleasure Ceas'd not in riper years; and now it woke To this splendid apparatus of Genii, Giants and Fairies, the Northern theology has annexed a complete system of MAGIC. All the powers of nature, the sources of life and death, and the distribution of the elements, are occasionally controuled by and obedient to the Magicians of Scandinavia. There is, probably, scarce a feature of the numerous wonders of necromancy, witchcraft and enchantment, so lavishly occurring in our ancient poetry and romance, but what may be traced to, and has its archetype in the pages of the Edda. Few circumstances take place more frequently in the legends of chivalry and fiction, than the enchantment of weapons and armour, and it is remarkable, that the Edda of Sæmund abounds with this species of protection. Thus Skirner, going upon a * Joan of Arc, Vol. i. page 126. 2d edition. dangerous expedition into the land of the Giants, demands an enchanted horse and sword, Grant from thy stalls with quickest speed A courser of etherial breed; That thro' the dun obscure of night May bear me clad in spectre light. Let me too the sword display, Round which the beamy lightnings play That sword portentous gleaming far, He is answered, Take from my stalls with quickest speed, That thro' the dun obscure of night Take too the sword which they who know Unsufferable splendours pour. Skirner then addresses his horses Midnight rules the fateful hour! Together we will danger try, Were it necessary, numerous instances might be brought from this compilation by Sæmund, of arrows, swords, &c. &c. thus enchanted; nor is he less profuse in magic rings, wands and palaces. In the tales both. of the east and west, a ring has been the common medium for producing wonders, but probably few have been more prolific than the following. Lo! The mighty ring that Hermod bore The confinement of a beautiful damsel, in an enchanted palace or castle, is an incident so necessary to a tale of chivalry, that it can scarcely be said to subsist without it. That this persecution of female charms was like * Cottle's Sæmund, page 82, 83, 84. + Cottle, page 89. VOL. III. GG wise not uncommon among the Scandinavians, we have already seen in the preceding number, and the authority of the Edda may now be quoted, as having probably given origin to such a magic imprisonment, for Sæmund describes the accomplished Menglada, as confined in a palace by the family of a Sorcerer. Solbrinder's progeny with guile A belief in the possibility of raising or dispelling storms and tempests, and of travelling with the rapidity of lightening through the air, has been very common among the gothic nations, and originated, indeed, with their earliest institutions. Odin boasts, in the Edda, that he knew a song of such virtue, that were he caught in a storm, would hush the winds and render the air perfectly calm; and when I see," he proceeds, * Cottle's Edda, page 273 Magicians travelling through the air, I disconcert them by a single look, and force them to abandon their enterprize." This claim to the possession of a supernatural controul over the elements, of which Odin had the address to avail himself, among followers so credulous and ignorant, was transmitted for many centuries in the Norrh, through the medium of a succession of Magi; but when Christianity broke in upon the superstitions of Scandinavia, though the actual exertion of these powers were not denied, it was considered as impious and unhallowed, and performed through the ministration of evil spirits. Penal statutes were therefore passed in Norway, against those who should raise storms and tempests, and who were distinguished by the appellation of Tempestarii, and in the ancient law of the same country, entitled "Gulathings Lagen," c. I. occurs the following regulation. "Let the king and the bishop, with all possible. care, make enquiry after those who exercise Pagan superstitions; who make use of magic arts; who adore the genii of particular places, or of tombs or rivers; and who, by a diabo |