the gods and goddesses were present with the exception of Thor, and Loki also took part in the feast. Aegir's two servants received much praise for their swiftness, but Loki was provoked at this and struck one of them dead, after which he was driven out. Some time afterwards, however, he returned to the hall and now began to scoff at the gods and goddesses, the first with mockery and sarcasm, the latter with venomous words in which he charged them with a lack of chastity. Some sought to quiet him, others retorted, but all in vain. He stood there in the midst of the hall as the Aesir's evil conscience. To be sure, he exaggerated strongly; but there was a grain of truth in all he said, and therefore they all sat there well-nigh distracted. At last Sif, Thor's wife, became the object of his scoffing. Then they called on Thor, and the strong god stood there in the hall brandishing his strength-hammer; three times Loki ventured to defy Vingthor, but when the latter the fourth time threatened him with death, he fled:

LOK. 64

I spoke before Aesir, spoke before Aesir's sons, that which my mind did prompt me;

but before thee alone, shall I go out

since I know that thou dost strike.

Such is the main content of the Eddasong of Loki's Quarrel (Lokasenna).

THIRD SECTION

FORMS OF WORSHIP AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

1. Kings and Chieftains were Priests.— The general administration of the Norse kingdom and the performance of the acts of religious worship formerly devolved upon one person. The king was the "Guardian and Protector of the Altar," and it was his duty to see that everything in religious matters proceeded properly and in order. He had charge of the sacrifices of the kingdom, and if any unlucky year came over the land, there were cases where he himself even was sacrificed for the attainment of better conditions. As the king's representative the Jarl kept up the sacrifices on the king's behalf in the different provinces. The smallest division of the country, the herath (Lat. centuria), was governed by the Gothi (from goth, meaning "god"), whose name clearly signifies

that his functions were of a religious nature. The institution of the Gothi is known especially from Iceland, from which country as usual we get the best information; but similar conditions probably prevailed throughout the North. In any case we meet the word Gode upon a few Danish rune-stones-on one one with the addition, "The honored servant of the holy places." An actual priestly office like that among the Egyptians or the Gauls, our forefathers hardly knew. A "thulr" is mentioned on a Danish rune-stone on the hills of Sal (the village Sallov near Roskilde). This word means "Speaker, Wise-man," but it is not possible to determine what is really meant here by this designation, and perhaps it has no religious meaning at all.

2. Temples.-Originally the Germanic peoples certainly had no buildings for their religious services, but worshiped the gods in the open air, especially in sacred groves such as Tacitus describes in his Germania. But it was not long before the whole race of people learned to build temples, probably from a foreign model. The

temple of heathen antiquity in the North was called Hof or Horg. The last word means in general "a holy place," but perhaps signifies the especial temple of a goddess. The Hofs were large square, occasionally round, houses, built in the same style and of the same kind of material as the common dwelling houses, very nearly like the guild-halls of the chieftains. They faced west and east, and had a circular recess at one end in which the images of the gods were set up. In most cases the temple was of wood, comparing in size. with village churches in Denmark, and surrounded by a fence. The first Christians immediately transformed the Hof into a church, after the images of idolatry were put away and the place was consecrated. It is needless to say that they employed all the splendor and art which the times allowed. Gold and silver, woven carpets, and carved columns were hardly lacking in any Hof. Often the Hof was built in or by a sacred grove.

3. Interior of the Hof.-Just inside the door of the Hof stood the posts of the high