[135] A peculiarity of the account in the “King’s Mirror” is that whales, seals and walruses are mentioned only in the seas of Iceland and Greenland, and not off Norway, although the Norwegian author most undoubtedly have heard of most of them in his native land. In the same way the northern lights are only spoken of as something peculiar to Greenland. Of the six species of seal that are mentioned, one (“örknselr”) must be the grey seal or “erkn” (Halichoerus grypus), which is common on the coast of the northern half of Norway, but is not found in Greenland.
[136] One might receive a different impression from Bede’s Statement that in Britain “seals are frequently taken (‘capiuntur’), and dolphins, as also whales (‘balenæ’)” [Eccles. hist. gent. Angl. i. c. 1]. But it is uncertain whether this refers to regular hunting of great whales with harpoons in the open sea, or whether it does not rather refer to stranded whales, which must have been of frequent occurrence in those days, to judge from the Norman and later English regulations regarding them.
[137] He belonged to the South Arabian tribe ’Udhra, “die da sterben, wann sie lieben.”
[138] This is exactly what is still done with the whale on the west coast of Norway.
[139] Cf. G. Jacob, 1896, pp. 23, ff.
[140] Louis the Gentle confirms a division of the property of the abbey of St. Dionysius, which the abbot Hilduien had made in 832 [cf. Bouquet, Historiens de France, vi. p. 580]. He says in this document that “we give them this property ... on the other side of Sequana the chapel of St. Audoenus for repairing and clearing fishing nets ... in Campiniago two houses for fish ... the water and fish in Tellis ... and Gabaregium in Bagasinum with all the manorial rights and lands attached, of which part lies in the parish of Constantinus [Coutances] for taking large fish (‘crassus piscis’).” It is probable that “crassus piscis” means Biscayan whale (Balœna Biscayensis or glacialis), which at that time was common on these shores. In that case the people of Côtantin would have carried on whaling as early as the beginning of the ninth century, but of their methods we can form no conclusions.
[141] It is possible that the peoples on the shores of the Indian Ocean (and Red Sea) even in early antiquity caught whales and ate whales’ flesh [cf. Noel, 1815, p. 23]. Strabo [xv. 725, f.; xvi. 767, 773] tells of the great numbers of whales, 23 fathoms long, that Nearchus is said to have seen in this ocean, and says that the Ichthyophagi (fish-eaters) used whales’ bones for beams and rafters in their huts. Strabo thinks [i. 24] that the mention of the monster Scylla (who catches dolphins, seals, etc.) in the Odyssey [xii. 95, ff.] would point to large marine animals having been taken in ancient times; but all this may be very doubtful.
[142] Cf. M. P. Fischer, 1872, pp. 3, ff. In 1202 the merchants of Bayonne bound themselves to pay King John Lackland ten pounds sterling a year for permission to catch whales between St. Michael’s Mount (in Normandy) and a place called Dortemue [cf. Delisle, 1849, p. 131]. This may point to a connection in the whale-fishery between the south of France and Normandy.
[143] Cf. Johannes Steenstrup, 1876, vol. i. p. 188. Professor Steenstrup puts forward the view that it was the Danes who developed this whaling in Normandy. This is scarcely possible. There cannot be much doubt that it was the comparatively valuable Biscay whale or nord-caper that was the chief object of the active whaling on the coast of Normandy, and that was specially called “crassus piscis”; for it was precisely this species of whale which then at certain times of the year appeared in great numbers along the whole French coast, and which the Basques also pursued so actively along the shores of the Bay of Biscay, Brittany and Normandy. The name “crassus piscis” (i.e., the thick or fat fish) would also exactly describe this species, which is remarkable beyond all other whales that occur on the coasts of France for its striking breadth and bulk in proportion to its length, which is about fifty feet. This whale was more valuable than the other great whales that occurred along these coasts, and was in addition much easier to catch. But this species certainly never regularly frequented the shallow Danish waters, any more than other great whales that might be an object of hunting. There is, therefore, scarcely a possibility that Danish Vikings should have brought with them from their native land any experience in hunting great whales. If we may assume that the Normans were already acquainted with the hunting of great whales before they came to Normandy, then it may have been Norwegians who possessed this experience, which, in fact, agrees with the statement of Qazwînî (see above).
[144] Muratori: Script. rer. Ital., v. p. 265. Cf. also Joh. Steenstrup, 1876, i. p. 188.