424
THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND.
[book I.
the author, after stating the eighteenth of May to
be the commemoration of St. John, Pope and Mar-
tyr, goes on to say, that an anchoret on Lipari told
certain sailors how at a particular time he had seen
king Theodoric, ungirt, barefoot, and bound, led
between St. John and St. Finian, and by them
hurled into the boiling crater of the neighbouring
island Vulcano. That on their return to Italy the
sailors discovered by comparison of dates that
Theodoric died on the day on which the anchoret
noticed his punishment by the hands of his vic-
tims. The author expressly tells it was Theodo-
ricus, the king of the Goths in Ravenna ; and he
concludes by saying, “ That was Theodoricus the
king whom we call Deddric,” which we can only un-
derstand by supposing him to allude to the mythical
Deodric. Ælfred seems also to have known some-
thing of the mythical Deddric when he says, “ he
wæs Amaling,” a fact historically true of the Ostro-
goth Theodoric, but yet unlikely to have been con-
tained in Ælfred’s Latin authorities. The Travel-
ler’s Song says1, “ Deddric wedld Froncum,” Theo-
doric ruled the Franks, but this I should rather
understand of one of the historical Merwingian
kings, than of the Ostrogoth.
The legends of Eormanric were obviously fa-
miliar to the Anglosaxons : in the so often quoted
he fram 'δ<τ,m. twain mannum w7cre sended on t⅛t dee fyι∙, δa^δe he hér
Unrihtlfce ofslolι on ⅛'isunι life, f)æt wæs peodoιicus ‰ne we neιnnaδ
Deodric.” Seefiirtherillustrationsof this strange tale in the Deutsche
IIeldensage, p. 38, where Otto OfFreisingen is quoted, but who does
not give nearly so many details as the Anglosaxon legend.
j Trav. Song, 1. 47.
ch. x∏.] HEATHENDOM. EORMANRΓC, ETO.
425
poem of the Traveller’s Song, this celebrated prince
is mentioned more than once, as well as in the
poem which contains the notices of Weland, Beado-
hild and Deodric. The character given of him in
both these compositions denotes a familiarity with
the details of his history, as we find them almost
universally in the Northern traditions, and more
particularly those of his wealth, his cruelty and his
treachery.
In Beowulf we have a somewhat further develop-
ment of his history. We there learn incidentally that
Hama (the Ammius of Saxo Grammaticus) carried
off from him the Brosinga-mén or mythical collar
of the goddess Freya. There can be no doubt that
this necklace, called in the Norse traditions Mén
Brisinga5 is of a most thoroughly mythological cha-
acter1, and any reference to it in Saxon poetry is
welcome evidence of ancient heathendom : more-
1 When Lold announced to Freya that Thorr would not recover his
hammer unless she married the giant who had become possessed of it,
she trembled with rage, so that the halls of the gods shook under her,
and the Men Brfsinga burst from her neck : again when Thorr disguises
himself in her distinctive dress, he does not forget the necklace,
Hamarsheimt, xiii. xv. xix. I am inclined to think the Saxon reading
erroneous, and that Brosinga is a mere error of copying. The meaning
of the word is obscure : Brising in Norse denotes a fierce flame, and the
name of the collar has been explained from its bright and burning co-
lour. Grimm suggests a derivation from a verb brisan (found in Middle
German under the form brisen) nodare, nodis Constringere, in reference
to the form of its links. But the main difficulty in my opinion is found
in the plural genitive of the patronymic, and I would almost prefer the
hypothesis of our having entirely lost the lay which described its origin :
Otherswe certainly have lost which had reference to it, as for instance
Loki’s and IIeimdallr1S contention for it. Saxo Grammaticus has a
story probably about its origin (p. 13) which is totally unsatisfactory,
lʌ' ere the Brfsingas (sons of fire ?) its first possessors or makers ?