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says-On seeing this
marvelous ring Mrs. Schleimann and I
involuntarily ex-claimed, "This ring must have been seen by Homer
before he described all the wonders which Hephaestus wrought upon the
shield of Achilles."
There he wrought
earth, sea, and heaven,
There he set th' unwearying sun,
And the waxing
moon, and stars that
Crown the blue
vault every one;
Pleiads, Hyads, strong Orion,
Arctos, hight to boot the Wain.
He upon Orion
waiting,
Only he of all
the train
Shunning still
the baths of ocean
Wheels and
wheels his round again.
And likewise Judges used their
signets to attest their written testimony of witnesses. Therefore we read
in John 3: 33, He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal
that God is true.
The Norsemen
were Aryans who left Asia about the time
of Christ. They were careful to maintain the old customs, specially those which related to the rank and power of
the rulers. A most careful examination has failed to disclose any
pictorial representations made by them, indicative of the Royal family,
which did not contain the insignia which disclosed at least the name of
his family. There may have been some that did not disclose this, but the
Norsemen were exceedingly fond of genealogy and carefully retained
everything which would enable them to prove their ancestry, if for no
other reason than that ancestry meant in their time the authority and
power of the ruler and willing obedience to him.
As we are
writing about a family which existed long before coats of arms were
known, it must seem clear that we are consequently more interested to learn, if possible, what was the representation of
arms, i.e. insignia, which signified this family. All historians agree
that recorded history in Norway
began with Rognvald, Earl of More. We shall
therefore begin our studies of this subject with him. His son Rollo was
banished by King Harold Fairhair about 900, and
his mother going before the king to intercede in his behalf said:
Bethink thee
Monarch it is ill
With such a wolf
at wolf to play
Who driven to
the wild woods away
May make the
King's best deer his prey.
Here we have a
very beautiful play upon words. The Clan of this Rognvald
was represented by a Wolf head; whereas an outlaw was represented in the
Norse law as a wolf, i.e. a bad, savage, wild animal whom it was a good thing
to kill and which in time would do all the damage possible before he was
killed. We can therefore well comprehend the veiled threat that to outlaw
a real wolf was only to bid him play havoc with the King's subjects and
to license him to make him-self free with the King's property.
The arms, i.e. the name of the family of Rognvald
was a wolf. See figure No. 1 on plate of arms. And here it may be
well to say that if the reader will con-
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