40 DANIEL BRUUN. 
his companions and gave them willingly every possible assistance during 
the winter. 
A great famine prevailed over Greenland at this time, as those who 
had been out fishing, had only had a bad draught, and some had never 
returned”. 
We now come to the tale of Völva whose appearance is exactly the 
same as the Norwegian Völva’s who travelled from settlement to settle- 
ment and who foretold ones fortune, the weather etc. They were not 
greatly respected, says Finnur Jönsson, but greatly feared; therefore 
they were treated, let us say, with great care. The records from Iceland 
are silent on the subject of these Vélva, and in all probability the sort of 
women, went straight to Greenland from Norway, as only here one finds 
reports concerning the activity of the “Völva”. 
“There lived a woman in the settlement, named Thorbiörg, who 
was a fortune teller, and was called the little Vôlua. She had had nine 
sisters, all fortune tellers, but now she was the only one living. | 
During the winter Thorbiérg used to travel from one feast to an- 
other, and they who wished to know their future, or how the year 
would turn out, invited her. As Thorkel was the chief peasant he con- 
sidered it his affair to get to know when this bad year, which had set in, 
would again disappear. So he invited the prophetess, and as the custom 
was when such a woman was to come, she was well received, a throne 
was raised for her, — on it was placed a cushion, filled with hen’s feathers, 
for her to sit on. When she arrived in the evening, accompanied by a 
man, sent out to fetch her, she was attired as follows: Over her dress she 
had a blue overall tied together with thongs and trimmed with stones 
down to the knee. Round her neck she had glass beads and on her head 
а cap of black lamb’s skin which was lined with a white cat-skin. In her 
hand she held a staff, on which there was a knob, the staff was ornamented 
with brass and it was set with stones at the top around the knob. Round 
her waist, she had a “Änjöskulindi” (a sort of belt) from which a hig 
leather bag hung, and in which she kept her witch’s instruments, the 
use of which she had whilst telling her fortunes. Her feet were in shoes 
lined with calfskin, having long and strong straps in them, and at the 
end of these there were tin buttons, on her hands she had gloves of 
catskin the inside of which were white and woolly. When she came 
in, it was the duty of all to greet her with honour, she received the 
greeting of each according to her pleasure. The master Thorkel took her 
by the hand and led her to the seat which was prepared for her. He 
bade her look upon his house, folk and cattle in charity, but she said 
very little. We will here relate that in the evening when the tables 
were brought in, the prophetess was served with groats boiled in goats 
milk, after that the hearts of all the animals which could be found. 
She had a brass spoon, and a copper knife, the point of which was 
broken off, and hung in a haft made of a walrus tooth encircled by two 
