98 



OLAFSEN AND POVE-LSEn's 



which was the magic practised by the great people, particular*/ 

 the princes and kings. The crows were considered as the 

 birds best informed of affairs of state, and capable of predict- 

 ing future events ; but as there are none of those birds inlceland, 

 the ravens fulfil this office. They had also a class of magic ana- 

 logous to that employed to conjure up the dead. They made 

 choice of a friend, or other intelligent person, who promised to 

 appear to them after his death, and give an account of whatever 

 was interesting : and they considered his first visit a& pregnant with 

 danger: The utmost degree of magic however in those times, 

 consisted of what they called Karra Kalf: this was the evil spirit, 

 who appeared in the form of a calf newly-born, and not yet 

 cleaned by the dam. Those who desired initiation in this mys- 

 tery, were compelled to perform that operation with their tongue ; 

 by which they arrived at a complete knowledge of the art. 



OF THE LAST STATE OF MAGIC IN ICELAND. 

 We shall pass over the various ceremonies and different modes 

 employed by the modern magicians. The Runnes were always 

 the principal agents in their operations, as they were in ancient 

 times. They also used other characters, or rather drawings and 

 paintings : such, for example, as Aaron's rod ; Solomon's seal ; 

 Thor's hammer ; and also the Sprota, a long thin wand, which 

 they asserted to possess the power of opening rocks, eminences, 

 and mountains, on striking them. This magic wand aiso pro- 

 cured the means of conversing with the gnomes. AH these va- 

 rious operations were much in vogue in the latter ages, and there 

 still remain traces of them throughout Iceland. If a person fell 

 sick, it was immediately attributed to witchcraft. There were 

 scarcely any houses that were not said to be haunted ; and every 

 one believed he saw the dead returning to disturb the living. In 

 short, every thing that was bad, whether melancholy, vapours^ 

 epilepsy, convulsions, palsy y or apoplexy, was attributed to the. 

 manoeuvres of the evil spirit. The priests and people of authority 

 endeavoured to destroy this remnant of superstition, but they 

 did not succeed : because it was seen that they believed in it 

 themselves, and were as much terrified at its effects as the com- 

 mon people. It was at last conceived that nothing would do but 

 severity of punishment ; and they then began to burn those who 

 were thus guilty of no other crime th in a weak mind. As soon as 

 a man was accused of having bewitched others, or even animals, 

 he was condemned without mercy to the stake. There is no 

 doubt that this excessive severity was derived from the Germans, 

 as well as from the ancient Swedish laws. Ten persons suffered 

 death in this way in the space of thirty years, from 1660 to 16.90. 

 Most of these unfortunate people were vagrants ; and- very few 



