The Religion of the Northmen
Chapter XXIV
Page 2
Some magicians were believed to have so great power in their eyes that by the mere glance they could turn the edge of a sword in battle, and also with an eye-glance make the earth tremble and be convulsed, scorch the grass, and frighten their enemies out of their wits, so that they would run like hunted beasts, and even become changed into brutes (in the Old-Norse, verða at gjallti, become swine). In order to make this last-named sorcery very effectual, it was necessary to throw thei bodies into the most unusual positions, so that their appearance should be the more frightful; and their success then depended very much on whether the person who practiced the sorcery got to see his antagonist first; if the contrary happened, then the charm lost all power. In the Vatnsdæla Saga, an Icelandic sorceress named Ljót is described in an undertaking of this kind. Her son Hrolleif had killed the chieftain Ingemund of Hof. The sons of Ingemund, wishing to avenge their father's death, set out for Ljót's abode with that intention. They arrived just as the witch was busied in preparing a sacrifice for the protection of her son, and they succeeded in capturing Hrolleif as he was leaving the dwelling house to go into the house to sacrifice. While they were making ready to slay him, one of the company became aware of Ljót, whom he saw coming toward them in the most hideous form. She had thrown one foot over her head and went backwards upon one hand and foot, with her face stickout behind; her eyes were hideous and demon-like. This appearance did not, however, prevent the brothers from putting Hrolleif to death. Ljót herself was immediately seized. She now confessed that it had been her intention to go in this manner over the whole neighborhood and to drive the sons of Ingemund out of their senses, so that they would run crazy about the roads with the wild-beasts; and this would have happened if she had only seen them before they got sight of her; but now their attendant spirit had been too powerful for her. They put Ljót to death. (11) When the Icelandic chieftain Olaf Pá surprised the dangerous sorcerer Stigandi sleeping, he caused a skin to be drawn over his head in order that his sight, when he awoke, should do no harm to any one. But there happened to be a little hole in the skin, and Stigandi cast his eyes out though this over a beautiful, grassy mountain-slope which was opposite. Instantly it appeared as though a whirlwind had broken loose upon this spot and turned the earth upside down in such a manner that from that time there was never any more grass grew upon it. Stigandi was stoned to death by Olaf and his men. (12) The same precaution as that here mentioned was employed by the renowned sorceress Gunhilda, afterward the queen of Eirik Blood-axe, when she betrayed the two Finns who had instructed her in magic arts, and whose sight, it was said, was so sharp when they were angry that the earth was torn up by it, and any living being that met them fell down dead. She drew two seal-skins over their heads and then let King Eirik's men kill them. (13)
Enchanted food and drink are mentioned in many places both in the old Eddaic poems and in the Sagas. It was believed that, by means of such food or drink, the dispositions of men could be changed, courage and ferocity awakened, or forgetfulness induced. The flesh, and especially the heart and blood of certain strong and wild animals---wolves, for instance---when used for food, were regarded as a means of making men bold and cruel. To obtain a charmed drink, they mingled together a variety of things which superstition had endowed with magic powers; runes were also employed---sometimes read as magic formulas over the potion, sometimes carved upon wood or bone and cast into it. The term enchanted drink was also frequently understood to mean a poisonous drink.
The belief in enchanted clothing and armor was likewise very prevalent. Clothes were enchanted, either to secure the wearer against wounds or to bring injury or death upon him. It is said of the chieftain Thorer Hund, that he had several reindeer frocks (hreinbjálfar) made for himself by the Finns, which were charmed in such a manner that no weapon could take effect upon them; and in the battle by Stiklastad one of these frocks protected him against the sword of Olaf the Saint, when the king hewed him right over the shoulders. "The sword did not bite; it seemed only to raise the dust on the reindeer frock." (14) The Orkneian Jarl Harald Hákonsson died, it is stated, by dressing himself in charmed clothing made by his own mother and her sister, but which was intended for his step-brother Pál Jarl. (15) Swords were sometimes so charmed, say the accounts, that success in battle always followed the men who wielded them, and the wounds they made could not be healed until they were touched by a so-called life-stone (lífsteinn), which accompanied the sword. In the use of this kind of charmed swords, there were many things to be observed when they were to have the proper effect. Thus, for example, the renowned sword Sköfnúng, which was taken out of Hrólf Kraki's burial mound, was not to be drawn in the presence of woman, nor so that the sun could shine upon the hilt, or it would lose somewhat of its peculiar virtue. (16)
Magic-skilled women used sometimes to pass their hands over the bodies of persons going to battle, in order to discover by this means what place upon them was most liable to be wounded. It was believed that they could feel a protuberance in every such place, and then a special protective remedy was applied to the spot. If no such protuberance was perceived, it was thought, accordingly, that no danger was to be apprehended.
A peculiar kind of sorcery was the so-called sitting-out (útiseta, at sitja úti), in which the magician sat out at night under the open sky, and by certain magic performances now no longer known, perhaps most frequently by incantations (galldur), was believed to call up evil spirits (vekja upp troll) or awaken the dead in order to consult them. It was especially to inquire into the future that this kind of sorcery was resorted to. An invocation of the dead, not just for this object, but which was to clear up an affair concerning which there was some doubt of gaining light by natural means, is described in the Færeyínga Saga. The crafty Thrond of Gata, an inhabitant of the Faroes, who it appears had been forced to accept baptism although he was still a rank heathen at heart, wished to find out how the renowned hero Sigmund Brestarsson had met with his death; whether he had been drowned while attempting with two others to escape by swimming from Thrond's pursuit, or whether he had reached the land and was killed there. For this purpose he had a great fire kindled in the presence of lattice work in a square around the fire, and traced nine sentences (reitar) upon the earthen floor around the inclosure. He then seated himself upon a chair between the fire and the railing, and forbade the bystanders to speak. After he had been sitting thus a long time, the ghosts of Sigmund's two companions, who were dripping wet, made their appearance, went up to the fire and warmed themselves, and then passed out again. At length came Sigmund himself, bloody and bearing his head in his hand; he stood a good while upon the floor and then left the room. Thrond now rose up groaning with fatigue, and declared himself to be convinced by the vision that Sigmund's companions were drowned, but that he himself had reached the land and there met with a violent death. (17)
It was believed that sorcerers could obtain great assistance from certain animals. Thus we find frequent mention of the art of interpreting the voice of birds, as a means of important discoveries. The crow was in this respect a bird of great significance, and that the raven was so, is to be inferred from the myth of Odin's news-bringing ravens. The cat is also mentioned as an animal specially loved by sorcerers. The magic-skilled Icelander Thorolf Skeggi, of Vatnsdal, is said to have had no less than twenty large black cats, that bravely defended their master when he was attacked by the Sons of Ingemund of Hof, and gave eighteen men enough to do. (18)
Although people were not wanting among the Northmen who, by a more than ordinary knowledge of the powers of nature, made their superstitious contemporaries believe that they were skilled in magic, yet the Finns were even in a remote antiquity looked upon as the chief masters in sorcery, with whom even the Norsemen, who wished to perfect themselves more fully in the art, went formally to school. The famous Queen Gunhilda, who was sent in her youth to Finnmark in order to learn witchcraft, may serve as an instance. Finns skilled in magic were often sent for and consulted, when any important magic operation was to be performed. They were regarded as especially capable of undertaking the so-called hamfarir, or magic flights in transformation.
In heathen times the magicians were often prosecuted, and even tried before the courts, and punished by a sentence of law; but this was not actually done because they practiced sorcery, but because it was believed that they could be convicted of having done harm with their sorcery. It is spoken of as a universal custom to stone evil-disposed sorcerers and witches.
It was not to be expected that Christianity should be able to tear our at once the deep-rooted faith of the Northmen in Sorcery, especially when not only the first Christian teachers, but also the clergy throughout all the Middle Ages, were as fully convinced of the existence of sorcery as the heathens were. The only difference between them was, that the teachers of Christianity regarded it as an abomination, a work of the devil, which they should strive to check, even by application of the severest measures; while the Asa-faith, on the contrary, represented it to be a knowledge imparted to man by the Gods themselves, a knowledge, therefore, which, by its abuse only, could deserve punishment. Of the belief of the Christian teachers in sorcery, and their zeal to eradicate it, there is abundant evidence furnished by the penal decrees on that subject which are found in the ancient Norwegian church laws. But how strictly soever the laws of the church may have forbidden all practice of sorcery, there were still many Northmen who continued, for a long time after the fall of the Asa-faith, to look upon witchcraft as an art which it was profitable to cultivate.
Endnotes
11. Vatnsd. S. 26; compare Gullþóris Saga. [Back]
12. Laxd. S. 38. [Back]
13. Snor.: Har. Hárf. S. 34. [Back]
14. Snor.: Ol. Hel. S. 204, 240. [Back]
15. Orkney. S. p. 144. [Back]
16. Laxd. S. 57 [Back]
17. Færeyínga S. 40. [Back]
18. Vatnsd. S. 28. [Back]
<< Previous Page Next Page >>
© 2004-2007 Northvegr.
Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation.
|