[609]. There is no better account of this than Geijer gives in his History of Sweden, vol. i. passim.
[610]. Thus was Iceland colonized, by men who would neither relinquish their old belief, nor submit to the growing power of a king. The Old-saxons had no such place of refuge, and the arms of Charlemagne prevailed to destroy their national independence and their religion together.
[611]. What Tacitus says of the Germans (Germ, ix.) not having temples or images is to be taken with great caution. It is clear from other passages of his own work that some tribes had such, even in his time; yet if rare then, they may easily have become universal in the course of two or three centuries, particularly among those tribes whom military service or commerce had gradually rendered familiar with the religious rites of Rome.
[612]. These facts are stated in a letter from Gregory to Mellitus, in the following words: “Cum ergo Deus omnipotens vos ad reverentissimum virum fratrem nostrum Augustinum episcopum perduxerit, dicite ei quid diu mecum de causa Anglorum cogitans tractavi, videlicet, quia fana idolorum destrui in eadem gente minime debeant; sed ipsa, quae in eis sunt, idola destruantur, aqua benedicta fiat, in eisdem fanis aspergatur, altaria construantur, reliquiae ponantur. Quia, si fana eadem bene constructa sunt, necesse est ut a cultu daemonum in obsequium veri Dei debeant commutari; ut dum gens ipsa eadem fana sua non videt destrui, de corde errorem deponat, et Deum verum cognoscens ac adorans ad loca, quae consuevit, familiarius concurrat. Et quia boves solent in sacrificio daemonum multos occidere, debet eis etiam hac de re aliqua solemnitas immutari; ut die dedicationis, vel natalitii sanctorum martyrum, quorum illic reliquiae ponuntur, tabernacula sibi circa easdem aecclesias, quae ex fanis commutatae sunt, de ramis arborum faciant, et religiosis conviviis solemnitatem celebrent, nec diabolo iam animalia immolent, sed ad laudem Dei in esu suo animalia occidant, et donatori omnium de satietate sua gratias referant; ut dum eis aliqua exterius gaudia reservantur, ad interiora gaudia consentire facilius valeant.” Bed. H. E. i. 30.
[613]. De Natura Rerum, cap. 15.
[614]. H. E. ii. 5.
[615]. H. E. ii. 9.
[616]. H. E. ii. 15.
[617]. “Coeperunt fana, quae derelicta erant, restaurare, et adorare simulacra; quasi per haec possent a mortalitate defendi.” H. E. iii. 30.
[618]. H. E. iv. 27.