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OEDEALS. 259
Another judicial proceeding of the heathen Northmen,
which was regarded still more expressly as a
judgment of the Gods, though it is much less fre-
quently mentioned that the holmgang, was the cus^
torn of going imder a strip of earth (ganga undir
jarCarmen) in order to clear one's-self from accusa-
tions, to prove the justice of his claims or the truth
of his assertions. This custom is called sMrsla in the
Old-Norse—a name which signifies a purification
or setting free from accusations, and which was
probably common to aU similar customs. We find
a description of it in the Laxdasla Saga. " It was a
mode of setting one's-self free from accusations in
those times, for him to go under a strip of earth (f>at
var sldrsla at ganga skyldi undir jar8armen)^a
strip of green-sward being thrown up in such a man-
ner that the ends only rested upon the ground, while
he who was to clear himself from unfounded accusations
(sa maSr er skirsluna skyldi fram flytja) had
to pass under it. The heathens considered it no less
a case of conscience, when they had to pass through
this ceremony, than the Christians now esteem it
when similar modes of purification (skirslur) are ap-
plied—as for instance, the ordeal of hot-iron (jamburSr).
He who passed under the strip of earth was
acquitted if the turf did not fall .upon him." The
narration in the above-mentioned Saga, shows also
how much the heathens feared to submit to this
means of deliverance when they were not quite certain
themselves of the justice of their cause. The
account is as follows :—A certain Icelander of dis-
tinction, Thorstein Surt, being by an unlucky acci-