The Influence of Old Norse Literature on English Literature | Page 9

a constantly growing interest in the literature it reveals, and it
undoubtedly directed the attention of the poets of the succeeding
generation to a field rich in romantic possibilities. That no great work
was then created out of this material was not due to neglect. As we
shall see, many puny poets strove to breathe life into these bones, but
the divine power was not in the poets. Some who were not poets had
yet the insight to feel the value of this ancient literature, and they made
known the facts concerning it. It seems a mechanical and unpromising
way to have great poetry written, this calling out, "New Lamps for
Old." Yet it is on record that great poems have been written at just such
instigation.
THOMAS WARTON (1728-1790).
Historians[10] of Romanticism have marked Warton's History of
English Poetry as one of the forces that made for the new idea in
literature. This record of a past which, though out of favor, was
immeasurably superior to the time of its historian, spread new views
concerning the poetic art among the rising generation, and suggested
new subjects as well as new treatments of old subjects. We have
mentioned the fact that Gray handed over to Warton his notes for a
contemplated history of poetry, and that Warton found no place in his
work for Gray's adaptations from the Old Norse. Warton was not blind
to the beauties of Gray's poems, nor did he fail to appreciate the merits
of the literature which they illustrated. His scheme relegated his
remarks concerning that poetry to the introductory dissertation, "Of the
Origin of Romantic Fiction in Europe." What he had to say was in
support of a theory which is not accepted to-day, and of course his
statements concerning the origin of the Scandinavian people were as
wrong as those that we found in Mallet and Temple. But with all his
misinformation, Warton managed to get at many truths about Icelandic

poetry, and his presentation of them was fresh and stimulating. Already
the Old Norse mythology was well known, even down to Valhalla and
the mistletoe. Old Norse poetry was well enough known to call forth
this remark:
"They (the 'Runic' odes) have a certain sublime and figurative cast of
diction, which is indeed one of their predominant characteristics....
When obvious terms and phrases evidently occurred, the Runic poets
are fond of departing from the common and established diction. They
appear to use circumlocution and comparisons not as a matter of
necessity, but of choice and skill: nor are these metaphorical colourings
so much the result of want of words, as of warmth of fancy." The note
gives these examples: "Thus, a rainbow is called, the bridge of the gods.
Poetry, the mead of Odin. The earth, the vessel that floats on ages. A
ship, the horse of the waves. A tongue, the sword of words. Night, the
veil of cares."
A study of the notes to Warton's dissertation reveals the fact that he had
made use of the books already mentioned in the list on a previous page,
and of no others that are significant. But such excellent use was made
of them, that it would seem as if nothing was left in them that could be
made valuable for spreading a knowledge of and an enthusiasm for
Icelandic literature. When it is remembered that Warton's purpose was
to prove the Saracenic origin of romantic fiction in Europe, through the
Moors in Spain, and that Icelandic literature was mentioned only to
account for a certain un-Arabian tinge in that romantic fiction, the
wonder grows that so full and fresh a presentation of Old Norse poetry
should have been made. He puts such passages as these into his
illustrative notes: "Tell my mother Suanhita in Denmark, that she will
not this summer comb the hair of her son. I had promised her to return,
but now my side shall feel the edge of the sword." There is an
appreciation of the poetic here, that makes us feel that Warton was not
an unworthy wearer of the laurel. He insists that the Saxon poetry was
powerfully affected by "the old scaldic fables and heroes," and gives in
the text a translation of the "Battle of Brunenburgh" to prove his case.
He admires "the scaldic dialogue at the tomb of Angantyr," but
wrongly attributes a beautiful translation of it to Gray. He quotes at
length from "a noble ode, called in the northern chronicles the Elogium
of Hacon, by the scald Eyvynd; who, for his superior skill in poetry

was called the Cross of Poets (Eyvindr Skálldaspillir), and fought in the
battle which he celebrated."
He knows how Iceland touched England, as this passage will show:
"That the Icelandic bards were common in England during the Danish