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THE DIVmE SEEVIOE OF THE HEATHENS. 217
or sacrificial blood, as it was also sprinkled (stokkva)
over the multitude assembled at the sacrifice. The
statues of the Gods, which, as before observed,
were mostly of wood, were smeared with the fat of
the victims, rubbed with cloth, and baked by the
fires burning along the temple-floor. This function,
we find, was performed by the women assembled at
the festival.
• The public sacrifices were in connection with
solemn festivals (blotveizlur, sing. bl6tveizla, per-
haps also gildi). In some places these were at the
expense of the Chief Director of the temple, who in
return had the use of the Temple-possessions, and re-
ceived the Temple-tribute or hof-toll. This appears
to have been universal in Iceland, where the tem-
ples were usually the private property of the go5ar
or priests. In other places, however, and it appears
to have been universal in Norway, the expenses of
the sacrificial feasts were defrayed by contributions
from the people who attended a particular temple,
who for that purpose brought ale and all kinds of
provisions to the festival ; though it also, happened
sometimes that some rich and powerful chieftain,
who was at the same time superintendent of a tem-
ple, undertook alone to bear the expenses of a sacri-
ficial banquet, in which case his liberality was, of
course, highly praised. In Norway, it appears that
after Harald Harfagri's time the chief direction of
all public sacrifices and the feasts connected with
them devolved upon the king ; he, therefore, occu-
pied the high-seat at the sacrificial guilds, when he
was present at them ; otherwise some chieftain pre^