DAUGHTERS OF MGIE AND RAN. 



407 



" Bijlgja the billowing, swelling one. 



" Bar a the one carrying, lashing against the rocks. 



" Kulga. the cooling one." 



" Thorod had been lost with his men at sea, and the wreck 

 was thrown up on the shore, but no bodies. His wife and son 

 invited the neighbours to the arvel. 1 The first evening: of the 



CJ . ^5 



arvel, when the men had sat down in their seats, Thorod and 

 his companions walked into the hall, all wet. They were well 

 received, for this was thought a good omen; men in those 

 days believed that drowned men had been well received by 

 Ran, if they visited their own arvel, for there still remained 

 some of the old beliefs, although men had been baptized, and 

 were named Christians " (Eyrbyggja Saga, c. 54). 



In Hervarar Saga, Gest asks King Heidrek, " Who are those 

 widows who, according to the habits of their fathers, live 

 together, and who seldom are partial to men, &c. ?" The 

 latter replies : " They are ^Egir's daughters (the waves) ; they 

 always go three together, and the winds awaken them." 



Egil's son Bodvar having been drowned, the old father in 

 his grief over his loss composed a poem about him. Vol. ii., 

 p. 416. 



Very roughly has Ran 

 Handled me, 

 I am very much bereft 

 Of beloved friends. 

 The sea tore asunder 

 The ties of my kin, 

 A striag twisted 2 

 By myself. 



Knowest thou that 



If I avenged this 3 with the sword 



Then the ale-smith* 



Would be luckless. 8 



If I could slay 



The brother of the upheaver of waves" 



I would go and fight 



Against the wile of M^ir. 



But I did not 

 Think I had 



Strength to fight a battle 

 Against the plank-bane, 7 

 For the helplessness 

 Of an old man 

 Is before the eyes 

 Of all people. 



Ran has me 



Robbed of much ; 



It is bitter to tell 



Of a kinsman's death 



Since my family-shield 8 



Parted from life 



To the joy-ways. 9 



(Egil's Saga, c. 81.) 



1 Inheritance feast ; see Vol. ii., p. 47. 



2 He rails his son Bodvar a string of 

 his family, made or twisted by himself. 



3 The son's death. 



4 vEgir, who brewed ale for the Asar. 



5 This passage means " If I could get 

 my son avenged, jEgir would tare badly." 



6 The upheaver of the waves was the 

 wind = Kari ; his brother was ^Egir. 



7 Plank-bane ship - destroyer ; i.e., 

 ^Egir. 



8 Egil being old, Bodvar is called the 

 family shield or protector. 



9 Dwellings of joy (Valhalla). 



