PROTECTION AGAINST GHOSTS. 



447 



maid keep watch at the mound ; and at sunset, when Sigrim 

 came to the mound, the bondmaid sang : 



Now would have come, 



If to come he intended, 



The son of Sigmund l 



From Odin's halls ; 



I say that the hope 



Of the king's coming lessens, 



As on ashtree boughs 2 



Eagles sit, 



And all men throng 



To the meeting of dreams. 3 

 Be not so mad 

 As to go alone, 

 Sister 4 of Skjoldungs, 

 To the houses of the ghosts. 

 Stronger, maiden, becomeatniglit 

 All dead fiends, 5 

 Than in the light of day. 

 (Helgikvida Hundingsbani, ii.) 



There were ghosts who were supposed to kill people ; the 

 best means of protection against them was to burn the body 

 and throw the ashes into the sea, or to cut off the head and 

 put it at or between the feet, as the body had then to walk on 

 its own head. Another way of getting rid of them was to 

 pursue them by law, and sentence them at the door of the 

 house they haunted. 6 



An had slain an outlaw, Garan, in a wood. 



" An left him dead ; he cut off his head, dragged him out 

 (of his house), and put his nose between his legs, that he 

 should not appear after his death ' : (An's Bogsveigis vSaga, 

 c. 5). 



" The overbearing of Klaufi became so great that he maimed 

 both men and cattle. Karl thought it a great evil that his- 

 kinsman should be a ghost. He went to his mound and had 

 him dug up. He was then still undecayed. He had a large 

 fire made on the rock above the house of Klaufabrekka, and 

 burned him to ashes. He had a case of lead made, and put 

 the ashes in it. Two bars of iron were on it, and he sunk it 

 into the hot spring south of Klaufabrekka. The stone on 

 which Klaufi was burnt was rent in two parts, and Klaufi 

 never did harm after this " 7 (Svarfda?la, 30). 



" At this time Thorodd Thorbrandsson lived in Alptafjord. 

 He owned both Ulfarsfell and Orlygsstadir, but then the 

 haunting of Thorolf Bosgifot became so strong that people 



i Helgi. 



- We see it is so late that the eagles 

 sit on the houghs for the night, &c. So 

 they despair of Helgi's coming. 



3 One of the finest similes tor sleep. 



4 Here dis may be sister or guardian- 

 spirit. Skjoldungs kings. 



5 The bondmaid calls Helgi and his 

 men ghosts and fiends. 



6 See description in Eyrbyggia. Each 

 ghost was called by its name, and had to 

 leave by the opposite door. 



7 Cf. also Laxdc-ela, 24 ; Gretti, 34-37. 



