Volume 3 - Electric Scotland

USE OF THE CROSS. 237
SO often discussed, is the emblem or hieroglyphic of
Life, and has rendered it probable that the simpler figure
means Protector or Saviour. In the Gothic sculptures, it
must also be remarked, that the figure of the cross is
supposed to represent the Runic Hammer of Thor, or the
Thunder of the Scandinavian Jove. In this case, it is
plain that it could not have been derived from our reli-
gion ;
and there is no reason for supposing that the popu-
lar opinion which refers its use to the consequence of the
much-discussed vision of Constantino, is true. I shall
have occasion to shew hereafter, that the Scandinavians
derived other emblems from the east, through their
Gothic progenitors.
It is not an uncommon error to attribute to modern
times, and to the consequences of the Christian religion,
forms and usages which are of a higher antiquity than
itself, and which the Christians themselves borrowed or
imitated from those more ancient nations whence these
have also descended to their savage and yet unconverted
ofl^pring, apart from the progress of Christian usages.
Thus the incense and the holy water of the Catholics
have not necessarily given rise to the lustrations by fire
and by water which we find among the early and half
barbarous nations of Europe, and the relics of which are
still to be traced among the modern superstitions of the
people. The beads used in prayer, are also Tartarian
and Indian; and, if they became a Mahometan usage, so
did they, in a similar manner, become a fashion of the
Catholic church. But whence ever the Norwegians bor-
rowed the use of the Cross, it seems to have prevailed
more among them than among the other nations of the
north. It was an object of great veneration in the ninth
century, and was frequently marked on their offensive
arms and shields ; as it was combined with their older
monuments, and carved on those which they erected