11. Oki (he who chufes fuch as are to die.) 12. Salkir (the happy, or bleffed.) The name of Alfader is what occurs moft frequently in the EDDA, I have tranflated it Univerfal Father.

(B) To difplay his 66 glory."] These are important queftions; but the answers are still more remarkable. From their conformity with the chriftian doctrines, one would be tempted to believe that Snorro had here embellifhed the religion of his Pagan ancestors, by bringing it as near as poffible to the Gospel, if we did not find the fame unfolded fyftem literally expreffed in the VOLUSPA, a poem of undoubted antiquity, and which was compofed long before the name of Christianity was known in the north; and also if the fame fyftem were not continually referred to in every other place of the EDDA. But what ought to remove every remaining doubt, is that we know from other proofs, that the belief of the Go-

thic and' Celtic nations

upon most of these points, was much the fame with what we have read in the text. I fhall give many proofs of this below.

(c) " He was then "with the giants."] It is not easy to tranflate the original word. The 'Go'thic*' nations had Giants and Spirits of many different orders, which we want terms to distinguish, Those mentioned in the text are called in the ori

ginal Icelandic Rymthuffe, from the word Rym, Frost, and Thufs, a Giant or Satyr. We fhall fee prefently the origin of this denomination. With refpect to the word Thufs, it may ferve to fhow, by the bye, the conformity of thinking between the • Gothic and' Celtic nations, even upon the moft trivial fubjects. The Gauls, Gauls, as well as the northern nations, believed the existence of the Thuffes, and gave them the fame names. Only the Thules, or Satyrs of the Gauls, feem to have been fomewhat more difposed to gallantry than those of the north; which

we

called

we shall not be furprized at. Many of the fathers of the church speak of the range liberties which thefe gentry took with women: They called them in Latin Dufii. St. Auguftin, in particular, tells us, he had been asfured by fo many perfons that those beings fought a commerce with women, and feduced them; that none but an imprudent perfon could pretend to difbelieve it. De Civit. Dei, 1. 15. c. 23. If it were not for incurring this imputation, I should have been tempted to look upon these stories as only fo many excuses, which love invents to cover the faults it induces frail females to commit.

(D) "All was one vast abyfs."] It will not, I hope, be expected of me here, that I fhould heap together all the paffages of Greek and Latin authors, which are analogous to this in the text. Nobody is ignorant of them. Almost all the ancient fects agree in the doctrine of the Primitive Chaos. To create Matter out of Nothing, ap

peared in ages fo little metaphyfical as thofe, a thing incomprehenfible or impoffible. I fhall only remark, that of all the fyftems we know, that of the ancient Perfians bears the greatest resemblance to this of the EDDA. I fhall have occafion more than once to repeat this obfervation, which confirms what has been advanced by fome of the learned, That the Goths 'and' Celts were formerly the fame people with. the Perfians.

Is it not fingular, that all those who have treated of the religion of these people, fhould have given themselves fo much trouble to guess at what they thought concerning the creation of the world, and should at length conclude that they could know nothing about it, but what was very uncertain; when at the fame time, they had at their elbow an authen-. tic book, which offered them a detail of almost all the particulars they could defire to know? I cannot help making this reflection, in its utmost extent, upon reading what the learned Abbé Banier

hath

hath published concerning the religion of the Gauls, the Germans, and the nations of the north.

(E) NIFLHEIM, or "Hell." The original word "Niflheim," fignifies in the Gothic language, the abode of the wicked, or more literally, Evil-home. We fee, by this description of Hell, how much the genius of the ancient northern poets and philofophers * inclined them to allegory; and it is very probable that almost all the fables that we fhall meet with

hereafter, contained in them fome truth, the interpretation of which they reserved to themselves. This is confirmed by Cæfar and others, concerning the Gauls;' and needs no other proof "here" than the mysterious and fignificant name which is given to every thing. So much for the HELL of the Celtic and Gothic' nations, on which I fhall make no farther remarks at prefent, because they will occur more naturally on many occafions hereafter.

THE