“Ottar said that the part of the country where he lived was called Halgoland [Hálogaland]. He said that no man [i.e., no Norseman] lived farther north than he. Then there is a harbour in the southern part of that country which men call ‘Sciringes heale’ [Skiringssal[172] in Vestfold]. Thither, said he, one could not sail in a month, anchoring at night, with a favourable wind every day; and all the while he must sail near the land: and to starboard of him would be first ‘Iraland,’[173] and then the islands which lie between Iraland and this country [Britain ?]. Afterwards there is this country [to starboard] until he comes to Sciringesheal; and all the way on the port side there is Norway (Norðweg).[174] South of Sciringesheal a very great sea [the Skagerak and Cattegat] goes up into the land; it is broader than any man can see across; and ‘Gôtland’ [Jutland] is on the opposite side, and then ‘Sillęnde.’[175] This sea goes many hundred leagues up into the land.
“And from Sciringesheal he said that it was five days’ sail to the harbour which is called ‘Hæðum’ [Heidaby or Sleswick]; it lies between the Wends and the Saxons and the Angles, and belongs to the Danes. When he sailed thither from Sciringesheal, he had on the port side Denmark[176] [i.e., southern Sweden, which then belonged to Denmark], and on the starboard open sea for three days; and for the two days before he came to Heidaby he had to starboard Gôtland and Sillęnde, and many islands. In those countries dwelt the Angles before they came to this land. And for these two days he had on the port side the islands which belong to Denmark.”
This account of Ottar’s of his southward voyage is remarkable for the same sober lucidity as his narrative of the White Sea expedition; and as, on all the points where comparison is possible, it agrees well with other independent statements, it furnishes strong evidence of his credibility.
Anglo-Saxon Map of the World, “Cottoniana,”
perhaps of the eleventh century (from K. Miller)
Alfred next gives a description of Wulfstan’s (== Ulfsten’s) voyage from Heidaby eastward through the southern Baltic to Prussia, with references to Langeland, Laaland, Falster and Skåne (“Scónēg”), which all belonged to Denmark and lay to port. After them came on the same side Bornholm (“Burgenda land”), which had its own king, then Blekinge, “Mēore,” Öland and Gotland, and these countries belonged to Sweden (“Swēom”). To starboard he had the whole way Wendland (“Weonodland” == Mecklenburg and Pomerania) as far as the mouths of the Vistula (“Wislemūðan”). Then follows a description of “Estmęre” (Frisches Haff), Esthonia, which was approximately East Prussia, and the Esthonians. Henceforward we can count these parts of Europe as belonging to the known world.
“Meregarto,” eleventh century
In the old German poem “Meregarto,” which is a sort of description of the earth and probably dates from the latter half of the eleventh century [Müllenhoff and Scherer, 1892, ii. p. 196], we find the following remarkable statements about the “Liver sea” and about Iceland:[177]
“There is a clotted sea in the western ocean.
When the strong wind drives ships upon that course,
Then the skilled seamen have no defence against it,
But they must go into the very bosom of the sea.
Alas! Alas!
They never come out again.
If God will not deliver them, they must rot there.
I was in Utrecht as a fugitive.
For we had two bishops, who did us much harm.
Since I could not remain at home, I lived my life in exile.
When I came to Utrecht, I found a good man,
The very good Reginpreht, he delighted in doing all that was good.
He was a wise man, so that he pleased God,
A pious priest, of perfect goodness.
He told me truly, as many more there [also said],
He had sailed to Iceland—there he found much wealth—
With meal and with wine and with alder-wood.
This they buy for fires, for wood is dear with them.
There is abundance of all that belongs to provisions and to sport [pleasure]
Except that there the sun does not shine—they lack that delight—
Thereby the ice there becomes so hard a crystal,
That they make a fire above it, till the crystal glows.
Therewith they cook their food, and warm their rooms.
There a bundle of alder-wood is given [sold] for a penny.”
We find in this poem the same idea of a curdled or clotted sea—here probably in the north-west near Iceland—as appeared early among the Greeks and Romans, perhaps even among the Carthaginians and Phœnicians (see [pp. 40], [66 f.]).[178] It is possible that it may have found its way into this poem by purely literary channels from classical authors; but the description seems to bear traces of more life, and it rather points to a legend which lived in popular tradition.