ABSTRACT
NOW the great concern that the northern peoples have for the aged, both their parents and others who are weighed down by their venerable years, is quickly shown by the picture at the head of this chapter, where an old man, who is about to descend a steep mountain or hill, is placed upon a bearskin, on which he is to be brought to the bottom by the good offices of his sons or servants; however, this precaution is observed, that the rear part of the skin or hide should be turned to the front, so that the hairs are made to stand up and his passage over the snow or slippery ice consequently retarded. So, sliding slowly down, he and his loads are borne unharmed from the higher ground to the lowest level. But this respect and courtesy towards the old also ensure that, when it is impossible for them to descend in this way by an icy route, they are carried steadily by their sons, who twist and circle about as they make their way down to the flat ground. Again, if slippery ice has to be crossed on the way up, in case the cart grows too heavy and slithers backwards, they will bring it to a halt and lodge a branch of wood or two-pronged bar of iron as a chock beneath the wheels, enabling the draught animals to draw breath. This forethought is useful and necessary on long journeys, when men are ascending for two or three days or more, and then working down for just as long into the marshy levels, which are totally frozen. It is no unusual thing for these people to make way for an elderly man, whenever he meets them in the road or in a house, to show deference to him and to accept and carry out, according to his expressed opinion, any decision he gives, as I shall make plain below in Bk XIV, where I discuss courts of justice in the wilds. 1
Respect for the aged
Way of descending
Way of ascending
Frozen marsh
Opinion of old men prevails
