[i] A Norse homestead consisted of several buildings--the great hall standing alone and apart from the domestic arrangements.
[ii] The Norse assembly, corresponding to a Saxon "Folkmote," or representative council for a district.
[iii] Unearthly. The trolls were the demons of the Northern mythology.
[iv] Byrnie, the close-fitting mail shirt.
[v] The consecrated silver ring kept in the temple of the district, and worn by the godar, or priest, at all assemblies where it might be necessary to administer an oath. Odin, Frey, and Niord were always called to witness an oath on this ring.
[vi] God-rede = "good counsel," or "God's counsel," as Alfred means "elves' counsel."
[vii] Asser's "Life of Alfred." This illness never left the king from his twentieth year to his death. Probably it was neuralgic, as it seems to have been violent pain without lasting effect.
[viii] This was called "prime signing," and was practically the admission of the heathen as a catechumen.
[ix] The "Havamal" was the Northern poem which practically embodied the ancient code of morals and behaviour.
[x] The use of bells was popular early in England, and not less so because a freeman who could afford to build a church with a bell tower became a thane in consequence.