were married they were also free, but the marriage itself remained till
the latest times a matter of sale and barter in deed as well as name.
The wife came into the house, in the patriarchal state, either stolen or
bought from her nearest male relations; and though in later times when
the sale took place it was softened by settling part of the dower and
portion on the wife, we shall do well to bear in mind, that originally
dower was only the price paid by the suitor to the father for his good
will; while portion, on the other hand, was the sum paid by the father
to persuade a suitor to take a daughter off his hands. Let us remember,
therefore, that in those times, as Odin was supreme in Asgard as the
Great Father of Gods and men, so in his own house every father of the
race that revered Odin was also sovereign and supreme.

In the second place, as the creed of the race was one that adored the
Great Father as the God of Battles; as it was his will that turned the
fight; nay, as that was the very way in which he chose to call his own
to himself,--it followed, that any appeal to arms was looked upon as an
appeal to God. Victory was indeed the sign of a rightful cause, and he
that won the day remained behind to enjoy the rights which he had won in
fair fight, but he that lost it, if he fell bravely and like a man, if
he truly believed his quarrel just, and brought it without guile to the
issue of the sword, went by the very manner of his death to a better
place. The Father of the Slain wanted him, and he was welcomed by the
Valkyries, by Odin's corse-choosers, to the festive board in Valhalla.
In every point of view, therefore, war and battle was a holy thing, and
the Northman went to the battlefield in the firm conviction that right
would prevail. In modern times, while we appeal in declarations of war
to the God of Battles, we do it with the feeling that war is often an
unholy thing, and that Providence is not always on the side of strong
battalions. The Northman saw Providence on both sides. It was good to