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it; affirming that Saxo had one while inserted foreign princes, another while lords or powerful vassals; that he had represented as living long before Christ some who did not reign till many years after; and that, in short, he hath visibly inlarged his list of monarchs, whether with design to flatter his own nation by making the Danish monarchy one of the most ancient in the world, or whether he only too credulously followed the guides who seduced him.
It will appear pretty extraordinary to hear a historian of Denmark, cite for his authorities, the writers of Iceland, a country cut off, as it were, from the rest of the world, and lying almost under the northern pole. But this wonder, adds Torfæus, will cease, when the Reader shall be informed, that from the earliest times the inhabitants of that island have had a particular fondness for history, and that from among them have sprung those poets, who, under the name of Scalds, rendered themselves so famous throughout the North for their songs, and for the credit they enjoyed with kings and people. In effect, the Icelanders have always taken great care to preserve the remembrance of every remarkable event that happened not only at home, but among their neighbours the Norwegians, the Danes,
the Swedes, the Scots, the English, the
