The present work is the result of a series of summer and autumn holidays spent, between the years 1896 and 1903, in the Faroes and Iceland. Several of the studies of which it is composed have appeared in a form more or less different elsewhere; but in each case new facts have been added or theories elaborated, while purely technical details have been omitted or relegated to appendices throughout. Professor E. B. Tylor, assisted by Mrs. Tylor, has most kindly read the manuscript and suggested not a few valu able emendations. Among other friends I am specially indebted for advice and criticism, references to literature, or the use of illustrations to Mr. Henry Balfour, of the pitt-rivers Museum, Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, of the Royal Scottish Museum, Professor J. Cossar Ewart, Mr. Eustace Gurney, and Dr. F. H. A. Marshall. My acknowledge ments are also due to the proprietors of Blackwood's Magazine and Th Scotsman, who have permitted me to make use of matter already published in their pages.