of these arts and actually do some of the work, they will gain a quickened sympathy with the people and an appreciation of their power. They may, perhaps, make something to merely illustrate Norse work; for instance, a carved ship's-head, or a copper shield, or a wrought door-nail. But, better, they may apply Norse ideas of form and decoration and Norse processes in making some modern thing that they can actually use; for instance, a carved wood pin-tray or a copper match holder. This work should lead out into a study of these same industries among ourselves with visits to wood-working shops and metal foundries.
Frequent drawn or painted illustration by the children of costumes, landscapes, houses, feast halls, and ships will help to make these images clear. But dramatization will do more than anything else for the interpreting of the stories and the characters. It would be an excellent thing if at last, through the dramatization and the handwork, the children should come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm to turn skalds and compose songs in the Norse manner. This requires only a small vocabulary and a rough feeling for simple rhythm, but an intensity of emotion and a great vividness of image.
These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three values. The men, with the crude courage and the strange adventures that make a man interesting to children, have at the same time the love of truth, the hardy endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child's fit companions. Again, in form and in matter old Norse literature is well worth our reading. I should deem it a great thing accomplished if the children who read these stories should so be tempted after a while to read those fine old books, to enjoy the tales, to appreciate straightforwardness and simplicity of style. The historical value of the story of Leif Ericsson and the others seems to me to be not to learn the fact that Norsemen discovered America before Columbus did, but to gain a conception of the conditions of early navigation, of the length of the voyage, of the dangers of the sea, and a consequent realization of the reason for the fact that America was unknown to mediæval Europe, of why the Norsemen did not travel, of what was necessary to be done before men should strike out across the ocean. Norse story is only one chapter in that tale of American discovery. I give below an outline of a year's work on the subject that was once followed by the fourth grade of the Chicago Normal School. The idea in it is to give importance, sequence, reasonableness, broad connections, to the discovery of America.
The head of the history department who planned this course says it is "in a sense a dramatization of the development of geographical knowledge."
Following is a bare topical outline of the work:
Evolution of the forms of boats.
Viking tales.
A crusade as a tale of travel and discovery.
Monasteries as centers of work.
Printing.
Story of Marco Polo.
Columbus' discovery.
Story of Vasco da Gama.
Story of Magellan.
A Pronouncing Index
(This index and guide to pronunciation which are given to indicate the pronunciation of the more difficult words, are based upon the Webster's New International Dictionary.)
| Aegir (ē´ jĭr) Ȧrā´ bĭ ȧ Ärn´ vĭd Ăs´ gärd A̤ud´ bĭ ôrn A̤u´ dŭn Bĭ är´ nĭ Eric (ē´ rĭk) Ericsson (ĕr´ ĭk sŭn) Eyjolf (ī´ y[+o]lf) Faroes (fā´ rōz) fiord (fyôrd) Flō´ kĭ Grĭm Gŭd´ bränd Gŭd´ rĭd Gŭd´ rōd Gŭnn´ bĭ ôrn Gṳ´ thôrm Gyda (gē´ d[+a]) | Hä´ kĭ Hä´ k[+o]n Hälf´ dăn Hăr´ ăld Hä´ värd Hĕl´ ä Hĕl´ g[+a] Hẽr´ steīn Holmstein (hōlm´ stīn) Ĭn´ gôlf Ī´ vär Leif (l[+i]f) Niflheim (n[+e]v´ 'l hām) Ō´ dĭn Ō´ läf Orkneys (ôrk´ nĭz) Rän Reykjavik (rā´ kyȧ vēk´) Rôlf | Shĕt´ lănds Sif (sēf) Sighvat (sĭg´ văt) Snorri (snŏr´ r[+e]) Sôl´ fĭ Thor (thôr) Thôr´ bĭ ôrn Thôr´ fĭnn Thôr´ gĕst Thôr´ hĭld Thôr´ kĕl Thôr´ leīf Thôr´ ôlf Thôr´ steīn Tyrker (tẽr´ kẽr) Văl hăl´ lȧ Valkyria (văl kĭr´ yȧ) Vī´ kĭng |
A Guide to Pronunciation
| ā | as in āle | ē | as in ēve | +o] | as in [+o]bey´ |
| ă | as in ădd | +e] | as in [+e]vent´ | ŏ | as in ŏdd |
| ă | as in finăl | ĕ | as in ĕnd | ô | as in lôrd |
| ȧ | as in ȧsk | ẽ | as in hẽr | ŭ | as in ŭp |
| ȧ | as in sofȧ | ī | as in īce | ŭ | as in circŭs |
| ä | as in ärm | ĭ | as in ĭt | ṳ | as in rṳde |
| a̤ | as in a̤ll | ō | as in ōld | ȳ | as in flȳ |
Silent
