It is unsafe to trust him;
Enjoy well thy hands,
Here we shall part.
Framar thereupon died, and Ketil went home” (Ketil Hæng’s Saga, c. 5).
CHAPTER XXI.
RELIGION.—ALTARS, TEMPLES, HIGH-SEAT PILLARS, ETC.
The most primitive form of altar—The earliest Asa temple in the North—The temples in Norway and Denmark—Size and materials of temples—Their magnificence—Temple priests—Support of temple—Holiness and sacredness of temples—High-seat pillars—Sacred pegs.
The hörg was a sacred altar, built of stones, often mentioned in the Eddas and Sagas, but never described, and was quite distinct from the stalli, or altar. Perhaps it was an enclosed structure, or was built over a sacrificing mound or upon some elevation. Its primitive form makes it undoubtedly of far greater antiquity than the temple, though both were retained as we see in later times by the people in their worship. It seems to have been especially used for sacrifices to the Alfar and Asar;[[242]] and from the words of Freyja to Hyndla, who was her friend, when speaking of Ottar, we find that a hörg had been raised to her by the latter, and sacrifices made to her.
He made me a hörg
Reared of stones;
Now have these stones