Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 149

PAGANISM AND LITERATURE
145
Here, the Church could not alter the situation and it had to adapt
itself to circumstances. This it did by re-directing the old custom or
institution to its own uses and benefits. The meaning and the import-
ance of the veizla came from the drink (beer, öl) which was con-
sumed, and which had to be consecrated first. Thence, the importance
of the formáli and of the toasts. And we can see from our texts that
the adaptation has been exhaustive: there are veizlur for purely reh-
gious purposes (not to speak of the assimilation of jól to Christmas).
In Páls Saga Byskups, ch. 7, a veizla is given for the exhumation of
Bishop Þorlák’s relics; the same text, ch. 14, informs us that, in any
place where he was invited, Bishop Páll had the formáli pronounced.
As for the toasts, which were supposed to be given formerly to Óð-
inn, Þórr and Freyr, they are now given to Christ, the Holy Virgin
and Saint Michael (Lárentíus Saga, ch. 36; Hákonar Saga Hákonar-
sonar, p. 232). The toasts in honour of the dead (drekka full frœndá)
are replaced by toasts to the dead man for whom the banquet is given
(drekka minni föður, for instance). In other words: if the fundamental
meaning and importance of the veizla, the assertion of the sacred
character of the group, had remained unchanged through the times,
its expressions and its precise rites have been given a Christian con-
tent, and there is no instance in the samtíðarsögur of genuine survival
of pagan elements in the veizla, not at least in its external forms.
Another important feature of the ancient blót was, if we are to
trust such texts as Hervarar Saga ok Heiðreks, the taking of oaths,
usually so as to accomplish extraordinary deeds. This institution was
obviously deeply rooted since we find it in the legislation, where it
constituted a legal method of disculpation. If we assume the formula
contained in Víga-Glúms Sagau to be authentic, then the oath taker
had to swear upon a sacred ring placed in the temple or hof and the
oath was to be made to the famous Áss inn almáttki, supposing that
this last expression does not betray a Christian and, accordingly, un-
genuine tincture. The comparison with Árna Saga Byskups, ch. 59,
where bishop Árni himself dictates the formula, is enlightening: Áss
inn almáttki has given place to guð and the stallahringr to the bók,
that is to say the Bible. The word baugeiðr has been replaced by bók-
eiðr or even by lögeiðr, which is thus ‘neutral’ rather than offensive.
14 íslenzk Fornrit IX, p. 86. See also Landnámabók, Hauksbók, ch. 268.
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