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BOOK
CHAP.
Orkneys.
158 THE SCANDINAVIANS, AND
in. Scandinavians, as there was a monument of the
II.
kind, the " Lapis tituli," or Folkstone, at the landing
place of the Saxons in Kent !
; and some fancy
that the antiquity of the custom may be carried back
to the days of Joshua, who caused stones to be set up
to mark the landing place of the Israelites, when they
went dry over Jordan, and first set foot on the land
they were to conquer and dwell in. 3 Near the pillar
stone at Steinness were tumuli, in one of which were
found nine silver fibulae. 3 Not far from these
tumuli was another artificial mount of two feet in
diameter, and thirty-six feet high, of a conical out-
line, occupying the centre of a raised circular platform,
which formed a terrace around it. This was
the Thingmount for which the Scandinavians generally
selected a plain near their landing place, the
terrace or steps being used as they yet are in the
mount of the Isle of Man. 4
Tingwall Within view
of the Thingmount was a circle of upright stones
alleged fo have been a temple dedicated to Thor,
and a semicircle of similar stones, a temple dedicated
to the Goddess Freyja, or the moon. 5
It is unne-
cessary at the present moment. to discuss the various
opinions respecting these circular temples, or to
enter into the labyrinth of Celtic and Northman
mythology to ascertain the form of worship to which
1
Antiquitates Kutupinte, Ox-
onias, 1745, p. 17.
2 Borlase's Antiquities of Corn-
wall, p. 164.
Joshua, chap, iv., verses 6, 7,
Holy Bible.
1
Description of the Isles of
Orkney, by
the Rev. James Wal-
lace, D.D., p. 53, 8vo, Edinburgh,
1693.
4 Hibbert's Memoir on the Tings
of Orkney and Shetland, Arclueo-
logia Scotica, vol. iit., p. 197.
*
Ibid, p. 106.