The influence of alien culture was also shown in the entertainment provided for the visiting god:
Then took Mother a markèd[413] cover
Of bleached linen and laid upon the board.
Next she laid out the thinnest loaves
Of wheaten flour on the white cover.
She set the table with silver-mounted dishes
Heaped with roasted birds and ham.
The wine brightened the mounted beakers.
They drank and talked till the day was done.[414]
"The Lay of Righ" was composed, it is believed, in the days of Canute's grandfather; but the civilisation that it describes was not new; even a century earlier the ruling classes in the North had reached a high stage of culture, as we know from the large number of articles indicating a refined and cultivated taste that were found when the Oseberg ship was discovered and excavated a few years ago.[415]
As in early Saxon times before the clergy had monopolised learning, the higher forms of cultured life saw their finest fruitage in the halls of kings and chiefs. The old Scandinavian house was a wooden structure of rectangular shape, its length being considerably greater than the width. In its general lines it doubtless bore close resemblance to the Anglo-Saxon dwelling of the same period. In the number and arrangement of the rooms the individual houses showed some, though not great, variety; but a large living-room seems to have been characteristic of all. In the middle of this room a long trough lined with stones was sunk into the floor; this served as fireplace, the smoke finding its way out through an opening in the roof. On either side of this long fireplace ran a row of pillars that served to support the roof; these also gave opportunities for the carver's art. Between the pillars and the wall stood the benches where the feasters sat with portable tables before them. The walls were ornamented with shields and weapons and with the trophies of the chase. At the middle of the long north wall, facing the entrance door on the opposite side, stood the high-seat of the lord of the hall. The size and splendour of the room would depend on the wealth and importance of the owner: some of the larger halls were planned for the entertainment of several hundred guests and henchmen.[416]
There were many other buildings besides the hall, the number depending on the needs of the estate. The king's garth probably differed very little from those of the wealthier chiefs. In England, too, even as late as the year 1000, the palace architecture must have been of the same modest type. In his homily on Saint Thomas, Alfric (who wrote his sermons in the decade of Canute's birth) tells the story of how the Apostle went to India to build a palace for a king, and, by the way, used the money for building churches:
Then he examined the grounds where it was to be builded.
And Thomas went about measuring the place with a yardstick,
And said that he would build the hall first of all
At the east end of the grounds, and the other buildings
Behind the hall: bath house and kitchen
And winterhouse and summerhouse and winsome bowers,—
Twelve houses altogether with good arches—
But such it is not customary to build in England
And therefore we do not mention them particularly.[417]
During the reign of Canute, however, there must have been material advancement in the direction of greater magnificence in the royal garth. The sagas testify to a splendour at Winchester that was greater than what was to be seen anywhere else.[418]