The Beormas told him many particulars about their land, and of the neighbouring countries; but he could not rely on their accounts, as he had no opportunity of seeing with his own eyes, but it seemed to him that the Beormas and Fins spoke the same language [8]. Ohthere stated, that his motive for this expedition, besides some little curiosity to explore these countries, which were unknown to his countrymen, was principally in pursuit of horse-whales [9], which are valuable, because their tusks are excellent ivory, some of which he brought to the king, and because their hides serve for making into ropes for ships. This species of the whale is much smaller than the other kind, being seldom more than seven ells in length; while the other species is often forty-eight ells long, and sometimes even fifty. In this country was the best whale-fishing that Ohthere had ever seen, the whales being so numerous, that he was one of six who killed threescore in three days[10].
[8] It is highly probable, from this remark, in which Ohthere could not be mistaken, as it will appear in the sequel that he must have been perfectly well acquainted with the Fins, that the Biarmians were a branch of the great Finnish stock. The principal difference seems to have been, that the Fins continued to be wandering hunters and herdsmen, while the Beormas or Biarmians had advanced to the state of fixed cultivators of the soil. They had likewise an idol called Jomala, which is still the name of one of the deities of the Finlanders.--Forst.
[9] The morse is here named horse-whale by king Alfred, with infinitely greater propriety than the appellation of sea-horse, which long prevailed in our language. The tusks of this animal are still considered as excellent ivory, and are peculiarly valuable for the construction of false teeth; and leather made from the hide is still used in Russia for coach-harness, but stretches more when wet than any other leather.--Forst.
[10] It would appear, from the vast number killed, that this successful fishing must refer to the morse or horse-whale, not to the ordinary large whale.--E.
Ohthere was a very rich man in those things which are considered as valuable in his country, and possessed, at the time when he came to the king, six hundred tame deer, none of which he had bought; besides which, he had six decoy deer, which are much in request among the Fins, as by means of them, they are enabled to catch wild deer. Yet, though one of the richest men in these parts, he had only twenty head of cattle, twenty sheep, and twenty swine; and what little land he had in tillage was ploughed by horses. The principal wealth of the Norman chiefs in that country consisted in tribute exacted from the Fins; being paid in skins of wild beasts, feathers, whalebone, cables and ropes for ships, made from the hides of whales or seals. Every one pays in proportion to his substance: the wealthiest paying the skins of fifteen martins, five rein-deer skins, and one bear-skin, a coat or cloak made of bear-skin or otters skins, and two cables or ship ropes of sixty ells long each, one of which is made of whale hide, and the other from the skins of seals.
According to the description given to the king by Ohthere, Northmanna-land, or Norway, is very long and narrow, all the land which is fit for pasture or tillage being on the seacoast, which is very rocky in some places. To the east of this, and parallel to the cultivated land, there are wild and huge mountains and moors, which are inhabited by the Fins. The cultivated land is broadest in the south[11], where it is sixty miles broad, and in some places more; about the middle of the country, it is perhaps thirty miles broad, or somewhat more; and where it is narrowest in the north, it is hardly more than three miles from the sea to the moors. In some places, the moors are so extensive that a man can hardly travel across them in a fortnight, and in other places perhaps in six days.
[11] In the original, the broad and comparatively fertile part of Norway is said to be in the east: the correction adopted in the text is obvious and necessary.--E.
Opposite to the south part of this country is Sueoland[12], or Sweden, on the other side of the moors, and opposite to its northern part is Cwenland. The Cwens sometimes pass the moors and mountains to invade and plunder the country of the Normans; who likewise sometimes retaliate, by crossing over to spoil their land. In these moors, there are some very large meres or lakes of fresh water, and the Cwenas[13] sometimes carry their small light ships over land into these lakes, and employ them to facilitate their depredations on the Nordmen. Ohthere says, that the shire or district which he inhabited is called Halgoland, and that there were no inhabitants beyond him to the north. There is likewise a port in the southern land, which is called Sciringes-heal[14], which no one could reach in a month's sailing, even with a fair wind, at least if he lay to at night. During this voyage, the navigator must sail near the land, or make a coasting voyage along the coast of Norway towards the south, having Iraland[15], and the islands which are between that country and Norway, on his right hand; for this country continues all the way on the left hand of the navigator, from Halgoland to Sciringes-heal. As he proceeds again to the northward, a great sea to the south of Sciringes-heal runs up into this land, and that sea is so wide, that a person cannot see across it. Gotland[16] is opposite on the other side, or right-hand; and afterwards the sea of Sillende[17] lies many miles up in that country.
[12] In former translations, this passage is: "opposite to this land, to the south, is Sueoland." The alteration in the text removes the ambiguity--E.
[13] Cwenland and the Cwenas appear to refer to Lapmark, and its inhabitants, the Finlanders.--Forst.