THE THREE JlLACK CllOU'S. 



"One summer when King Olaf's men had been gathering 

 land-taxes he asked where they were best treated. They 

 said by an old bondi who knew many things before they 

 happened, and who had answered many of their questions, 

 and they thought ho understood the voice of birds." .... 

 The king took this bondi on board his ship to show the way 

 along the coast. 



" As they were rowing a crow flew 7 over the ship with 

 loud shrieks. The bondi looked at it. The King said : 

 ' Does it mean anything to thee ? ' ' It does, lord,' answered 

 he. Another crow flew over the ship, shrieking. The bondi 

 forgot to row, and his oar got loose in his hand. The king 

 said : ' Thou art very attentive to the crow, or to what it says, 

 bondi.' He answered : ' I have some misgivings, lord.' A 

 crow passed over the ship a third time, shrieking louder than 

 the two others, and flying nearer the ship. The bondi rose 

 and stopped rowing. The king said : ' This signifies much to 

 thee, or what does it tell ? ' The bondi answered : ' That which 

 it is unlikely that I or it knows.' The king said : ' Tell me.' 

 The bondi sang : 



The one winter old crow tells, Which I think not likely, 



It knows not ; That I row 



The two winters old one tells, On a mare's head, 



I believe it not ; And that thou, king, 



But the three winters old one tells, Art the thief of iny property. 



(Olaf the Quiet's Saga (Heimskr.), c. 10.) 



Not only was it believed that the form could be changed, 

 but it was further believed that by eating some peculiar kind 

 of food the temper of men could be changed. The meat and 

 blood of strong and fierce beasts, especially of wolves, were 

 held potent to make men brave and fierce, and thus partake 

 of the nature of animals. 



" Thereafter Begin came to Sigurd, and said : ' Hail, my 

 lord ; a great victory hast thou won, as thou hast slain 

 Fafnir, and no one was so bold before as to dare to sit in his 

 way, and this deed of fame will be remembered while the 

 world stands. Regin stood looking on the ground for a long 

 while, and then suddenly said, with great anger : Thou hast 

 slain my brother, and scarcely can I be innocent of this deed.' 

 Sigurd took his sword Gram and wiped it on the grass, and 

 said to Begin : ' Thou wast far off when I did this deed, and 

 tried this sharp sword with my hand and my strength. I had 

 to fight the power of the serpent, when thou didst lay in a 



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