CONSULTING THE VOLVA. 399 



placed themselves in a ring around the seid-lijall on which 

 Thorbjorg sat, and Gudrid sang the song so well that all 

 present thought they had never heard a finer voice. Tin- 

 spdkona thanked her, and said that many spirits who had 

 before wanted to depart and give no help had now come, and 

 found pleasure in listening, as the song was so well sung ; 

 ' and many things which before were hidden from me and 

 others are now made clear. I can tell thee, Thorkel, that this 

 bad season will not last longer than this winter, and that it 

 will improve with the spring ; the sickness which has been 

 here will also be better sooner than you expect. I will at 

 once reward thee Gudrid for thy help, for thy fate is now very 

 clear to me ; thou wilt be married very honourably here in 

 Greenland, though thou wilt not enjoy it long, for thy ways 

 lie to Iceland, where a great and good family will spring from 

 thee, and such bright rays shine over thy offspring that I have 

 not power to see this clearly ; and now farewell, daughter.' 

 Then they went to the spakona, and every man asked what he 

 wished most to know. She spoke willingly, and what she did 

 not fail much to prove true. Then she was called for to 

 another farm, and went there. Thorbjorn w 7 as then sent, for 

 he would not ' stay at home while such superstitions were per- 

 formed. The weather soon improved, as Thorbjorg had told " 

 (Saga Thorfin's Karlsefnis, c. 3). 1 



Cats seem to have been special favourites with these sor- 

 ceresses. 



" Thorolf Sleggja became a very unruly man ; he was a 

 thief, and in other respects a very wicked man. People very 

 much disliked his neighbourhood, and thought they might 

 expect any evil from him. Though he had not many men 

 with him, he had animals which he trusted, namely, twenty 

 cats ; they were all black, and exceedingly large and strongly 

 bewitched. People went to Thorstein (a chief) and told him 

 this trouble, as the rule of the herad belonged to him ; they 

 said Thorolf had stolen from many, and done many other 

 unmanly deeds. Thorstein said this was true, ' but it is not 

 very easy to deal with this man of Hel and his cats, and I do 

 not want to lose any of my men against them.' They answered 

 he could scarcely keep his honour if he did nothing. Then 

 Thorstein gathered men. as he wanted to have many with 

 him. His brothers and his Norwegian guest were with him. They 

 went to Sleggjustadir. Thorolf did not trouble himself about 

 this ; he could never have good men with him. He went in when 



Cf. also Norna Gest's Thatt. c. 3. 



