[12] The Ilfing, or Elbing, comes out of Esthonia, yet not from the east, as here said by Alfred, but from the south; except, indeed, he mean that arm of the Elbing which runs into the Nogat, or eastern arm of the Vistula. But the Vistula comes out of Wendenland, called Weonodland in the text, from the south; and the two rivers discharge themselves into the Frisch-haf, which stretches from west to north, or in a north-east direction; and at Pilau, goes northwards into the sea. It is certainly possible that this entrance may have been formerly called Wisle-mund, or the mouth of the Vistula, as well as the western mouth of that river.--Forst.
This concession is not necessary to the truth of Wulfstan and Alfred. There is a cross branch from Elbing, which joins the Nogat and Vistula proper; and which is probably meant in the text, where the Ilfing and Wisle, united, are said to run to the west of Est-mere, or the haf, and then north, into the sea at Wisle-mund.--E.
Est-land is a large track of country, having many towns, in each of which there is a king. It produces a great quantity of honey, and has abundance of fish. The kings, and other rich men, drink mares milk, while the poor people and slaves use only mead[13]. They have many contests among themselves; and the people of Estum brew no ale, as they have mead in profusion[14]. There is also a particular custom observed by this nation; that, when any one dies, the body remains unburnt, with the relations and friends, for a month or two; and the bodies of kings and nobles remain longer, according to their respective wealth, sometimes for half a year, during all which time it is kept in the house, and drinking and sports continue until the body is consumed[15]. When the body is carried to the funeral pile, the substance of the deceased, which yet remains, after the sports and drinking bouts, is divided into five or six heaps, or more, according to its value. These heaps are placed at the distance of a mile from each other; the largest heap at the greatest distance from the town, and the lesser heaps gradually diminishing, so that the smallest heap is nearest to the town where the dead body lies. Then all are summoned who have fleet horses, within the distance of five or six miles around, and they all strive for the substance of the dead person. He who has the swiftest horse, gains the most distant and largest heap, and the others, in just proportion, till the whole is won; then every one takes away his share, as his own property: and owing to this custom, swift horses are in great request, and extremely dear. When the wealth of the deceased has been thus exhausted, the body is taken from the house and burnt, together with the dead man's weapons and clothes; and generally, they expend the whole wealth of the deceased, by keeping the body so long in the house before it is burnt, and by these heaps which are carried off by strangers. It is the custom with the Estum to burn the bodies of all the inhabitants; and if any one can find a single bone unconsumed, it is a cause of great offence. These people, also, have the means of producing a very severe cold; by which, the dead body continues so long above ground without putrefying; and by means of which, if any one sets a vessel of ale or water in the place, they contrive that the liquor shall be frozen either in winter or summer[16].
[13] This circumstance is singular; yet may be explained from the custom of the Tartars. The mares milk, drank by the kings and rich men, was certainly prepared into cosmos, or kumyss, the favourite beverage of the great; while mead, a much inferior liquor in their estimation, was left to the lower orders.--E.
[14] Mead was called Medo in Anglo-Saxon, in Lithuanian Middus, in Polish Miod, in Russian Méd, in German Meth, in old English Metheglin: perhaps all these are from the Greek verb [Greek: methuo], to intoxicate. Alfred naturally observes, that these drinking-bouts produced many frays; and notices the reason of the Estum or Esthonians brewing no ale, because they had abundance of mead.--Forst.
[15] In a treaty between the Teutonic knights, and the newly converted Prussians, the latter engaged never to burn their dead, nor to bury them with their horses, arms, clothes, and valuables.--Forst.
[16] This power of producing cold in summer, so much admired by Wulfstan and Alfred, was probably the effect of a good ice-cellar, which every Prussian of condition had in, or near his house.--Forst.
[SECTION IV.]
Voyage of Sighelm and Athelstan to India, in the reign of Alfred King of England, in 883[1].
[1] Harris, I. 873. Hakluyt, V. II. 38.
Though containing no important information, it were unpardonable in an English collection of voyages and travels, to omit the scanty notice which remains on record, respecting a voyage by two Englishmen to India, at so early a period. All that is said of this singular incident in the Saxon Chronicle, is[2], "In the year 883, Alfred sent Sighelm and Athelstan to Rome, and likewise to the shrine of Saints Thomas and Bartholomew, in India, with the alms which he had vowed." [Bartholomew was the messenger of Christ in India, the extremity of the whole earth.]--The words printed in Italics are added in translating, by the present editor, to complete the obvious sense. Those within brackets, are contained in one MS. Codex of the Saxon Chronicle, in addition to what was considered the most authentic text by Bishop Gibson, and are obviously a note or commentary, afterwards adopted into the text in transcription.