Olaus Magnus, A Description of the Northern Peoples, 1555

Volume III

P.G. Foote, P.G. Foote

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351555937
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The Swedish scholar and prelate, Olaus Magnus (1490-1557), last Catholic archbishop of Uppsala, lived the latter half of his life in exile. His devotion to his country and his people never faltered, nor his determination to give them a glorious place on the European cultural map by his writings. On his justly famous Carta Marina, published in Venice in 1539, he promised a fuller account of the North and its marvels. This he accomplished in January 1555 when he issued from his own press in Rome his magnificent Historia de gentibus septenrionalibus. This quarto volume of 815 pages, divided into 22 books and a total of 778 chapters, was lavishly illustrated with some 480 woodcuts, most of them closely relevant to the technical matters discussed by the author. The book was an immediate success, and half a dozen editions appeared in the century after Olaus's death. It became even better known in an epitome published in Antwerp in 1558, which was also frequently reprinted and translated. This appeared in English in 1658, but it is only with the present version, complete with illustrations, that the whole work is made available to the English-reading world. It is indeed only the second full translation to appear in modern times, preceded a Swedish version published in four parts between 1909 and 1925. There is little history in the sense of chronological narrative in Olaus Magnus's Historia. It is rightly regarded as an ethnographic essay on an encyclopaedic scale, touching on a vast variety of topics, snowflakes and sea-serpents, elks and artillery, sables and saltpetre, watermills and werewolves. Much of it was culled from ancient authorities- it was a matter of patriotic pride to identify the Swedes as the only legitimate descendants of the Goths- but much of it was derived from the author's personal observations, especially those made on his early travels in North Sweden. His pioneering and sympathetic account of the Lapps and their way of life has attracted p

BOOK NINETEEN OF OLAUS MAGNUS THE GOTH, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, ON BIRDS

PREFACE

THERE are numerous bird species in northern countries, of both land and water, which are well known to people among other nations, so that it would be superfluous to introduce any description of their features, particularly since this material has been amply treated by writers in the past. Nevertheless, with regard to these bleak lands and waters there are further aspects of the subject which I can point out, and these may serve to entertain the sympathetic reader without wearying him, and make it pleasurable for him to recall what he has read. A large number of people are amazed, and justifiably so, to discover that birds give proof not merely of being able to live, but also to reproduce their kind amid those fields which in every quarter lie hard under deep snowdrifts, waters everywhere frozen solid with ice, and long, cold nights many months on end.¹

For this reason no one should draw hasty conclusions (as Plato strongly advises at the outset of his Laws), denying or disputing the character of something unknown because it is difficult to gain information about it. First he should pursue a keener enquiry, understand more accurately, and determine with preciser judgment what the artist Nature has the power to create, and having created it, to regulate by her laws.² There are many phenomena which, even though they can be seen, escape the perception of human beings, and will sooner breed astonishment among investigators than beget knowledge. To give Plato’s opinion once more, scientists who are unwilling to maintain or believe a concept unless they have grasped it with their senses deserve only to be rated as pitiful.^{3 4}That sound naturalist and geographer Celtis, who spent five years touring the whole of Germany, might be able to satisfy these critics when he says: ‘I know nothing about birds as they are described in the most responsible writers, for there is no doubt that many types have ceased to exist and are no longer alive today, while many have reappeared in Nature which were formerly absent. I should imagine this has occurred through a new configuration of the celestial bodies, always supposing that the world is capable of revealing anything fresh.’⁴ Such are Celtis’s words. Pliny lends his support to the idea in Bk X, Ch. 15: ‘Moreover there are a great many kinds of bird depicted in Etruscan lore which have not been observed for generations. It is remarkable that these have now become extinct, considering that some species are plentiful even where they are ravaged by man’s gluttony.’⁵

No one should censure something unknown to him See last chapter of Bk XXII Artist Nature

Pitiful scientists

Celtis

Nothing appears that is new

Many species are ravaged by man’s gluttony

CHAPTER ONE

On the many different types of bird, and the distinctions between them

THERE are classifications to be made among birds in the world’s cold regions, just as everywhere else. ¹For example some, like eagles, are carnivorous, some, such as geese, are seed-eaters, some, including crows, consume any food they chance to come upon, some devour worms, as domestic fowl do, while certain birds, swallows among them, take their nourishment as they swoop to and fro in the air. There are differences too in the disposition of birds to associate with their fellows: eagles, hawks, and others that are bent on prey do not mingle with each other at all; by contrast, cranes and doves love to be sociable. Some birds, such as storks and swallows, are migratory, others, including hawks and jackdaws are submissive to handling and can be tamed by being stroked. Swallows and their like enjoy a home shared with men, while others, turtle-doves for instance, haunt solitary places, seeking sustenance where they can relish their freedom. Birds such as magpies set up a jabbering noise, while others are warblers,¹ like the blackbird. Owls are of the sort that hoot by night, though nearly all other birds sing in the daytime. Some, as cuckoos do, make themselves heard in the summer months, but others, among them sparrows and eagles, make their voices heard all the year round. Others again mimic human speech, of whom parrots, like infrequent guests from abroad, are a source of delight in northern countries, for they will also let slip the secrets of the household in their talk.²

Classifications among birds

Another difference

³Certain birds are the subjects of kings, as for example cranes and bees; some, including starlings, get clean by rubbing themselves vigorously in ashes or sand; woodpeckers, rooks, and others govern themselves. Certain ones reveal themselves rather rarely, as ravens, falcons, magpies, and sparrows, when any of these are of a white hue. There are great differences between their respective voices and behaviours: eagles are rapacious, cocks lecherous, peacocks attentive to themselves, doves amorous, partridges crafty and jealous, ostriches, which are never seen in the North, cruel, though men put up with their natures; again, the magpie is a chatterbox, the jackdaw a thief.³

⁴Other distinguishing features between types of bird are their feet and beaks. Eagles and falcons, for example, have crooked talons, geese and almost all water-fowl, webbed feet. Another division occurs in that some transform their colour, as do thrushes and, in their old age, cranes. Others change their voices, for example hens; others, like the blackbird and nightingale, change both their plumage and their song;⁴ some, such as the swan, only sing when they are old and then become heralds of their own death;^{5 6}some sing sweetly in summer, but harshly in winter; others, like jays, will change their tune and sing with a different call every day; others, turtle-doves and swallows among them, remain silent during winter; finally, certain birds alter their melody in winter, others in summer.⁶

In the North parrots are visitors from abroad

White ravens and falcons

Other distinguishing features

CHAPTER TWO

More on the distinctions between birds

1CERTAIN birds, too, that are eager for prey, as I have said above, I avoid company. Because they are eager to take prey or to watch for places to lie in wait, they do not meet with one another except through the bond of mating; greed shuns the fellowship of many. Birds of prey are sharp-sighted, for when they fly high up they need to be able to see into the far distance and deep down below them. Their feathers moult and then grow again as vigorously as before. They rear only two chicks, and, as the custom is with eagles, if more are produced, toss them from the nest. Unlike fish, all such birds hunt species other than their own. Only the sparrow-hawk lacks this sense of loyalty. If hunting-birds want to fly off they are brought back with a lure.

Birds of prey

Greed shuns fellowship

Birds may be classified by the ways in which they take their food. Some that feed on flesh have curving beaks with which to hold it; others that eat seed have thin bills, and some broad, like water-fowl, so that they can grub up food from below the surface. Certain birds have longer beaks and legs than the average, others hold their necks upright. Vultures’ beaks become bent when they grow old. The owl is stripped of its plumage by the other birds. The rest moult when they hatch out their young. One type of bird has feathers that resemble a helmet, standing up from the centre of its head. The vulture stuns its prey, or its adversaries, by beating...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Book Sixteen
• Book Seventeen
• Book Eighteen
• Book Nineteen
• Book Twenty
• Book Twenty-One
• Book Twenty-Two
• Index of Persons
• Index of Places and Peoples
• Index of Authors
• Index of Subjects
• Additions
• Corrections