their ribaldry, obscenity, cowardice, and unabashed self-debasement;
and their newfangled dances and piping were loathsome to the old
court-poets, who accepted the harp alone as an instrument of music.

The story that once a king went to war with his jugglers and they ran
away, would represent the point of view of the old house-carle, who
was neglected, though "a first-class fighting man", for these debauched
foreign buffoons.




SUPERNATURAL BEINGS.

GODS AND GODDESSES.--The gods spring, according to Saxo's belief, from
a race of sorcerers, some of whom rose to pre-eminence and expelled and
crushed the rest, ending the "wizard-age", as the wizards had ended the
monster or "giant-age". That they were identic with the classic gods he
is inclined to believe, but his difficulty is that in the week-days we
have Jove : Thor; Mercury : Woden; whereas it is perfectly well known
that Mercury is Jove's son, and also that Woden is the father of Thor--a
comic "embarras". That the persians the heathens worshipped as gods
existed, and that they were men and women false and powerful, Saxo
plainly believes. He has not Snorre's appreciation of the humorous side
of the mythology. He is ironic and scornful, but without the kindly,
naive fun of the Icelander.

The most active god, the Dane's chief god (as Frey is the Swede's god,
and patriarch), is "Woden". He appears in heroic life as patron of great
heroes and kings. Cf. "Hyndla-Lay", where it is said of Woden:--