Suionibus Sitonum gentes continuantur. Cetera similes uno differunt, quod femina dominatur; in tantum non modo a libertate sed etiam a servitute degenerant. De tilbeder gudernes moder. Korn og afholdenhed slider de for med en udholdenhed, der ikke passer til Germanernes almindelige ladhed. Siden bliver det sejt som en slags beg eller harpiks. Beyond the Suiones is another sea, sluggish and almost motionless, which, we may certainly infer, girdles and surrounds the world, from the fact that the last radiance of the setting sun lingers on till sunrise, with a brightness sufficient to dim the light of the stars.
Even the very sound of his rising, as popular belief adds, may be heard, and the forms of gods and the glory round his head may be seen. Only thus far and here rumour seems truth does the world extend.
They worship the mother of the gods, and wear as a religious symbol the device of a wild boar. This serves as armour, and as a universal defence, rendering the votary of the goddess safe even amidst enemies. They often use clubs, iron weapons but seldom.
They are more patient in cultivating corn and other produce than might be expected from the general indolence of the Germans. Barbarians as they are they have not investigated or discovered what natural cause or process produces it.
Nay, it even lay amid the sea's other refuse, till our luxury gave it a name. To them it is utterly useless; they gather it in its raw state, bring it to us in shapeless lumps, and marvel at the price which they receive. It is however a juice from trees, as you may infer from the fact that there are often seen shining through it, reptiles, and even winged insects, which, having become entangled in the fluid, are gradually enclosed in the substance as it hardens.
