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INTBEIOE BETTIES AS OBJECTS OF WOESHIP. 189
these beings. Thus it is stated of the Troll-man Svan,
that he yawned greatly and said, "Now come
Osvifs Fylgjur," (nu ssekja at fylgjtir Osvifs).*
Sometimes, also, the Fylgjur were seen by persons
in a waking state, but it was only by those who
were gifted with a supernatural sense. It is related
of the wise Icelander Nial, that he one night would
not lie down to sleep, but walked out and in contin-
ually. When asked what was the cause of this, he
answered, " Many things pass before my eyes ; I
see many gi'im Fylgjur of Gunnar's enemies." In
the same night his friend Gunnar^ of HliSarendi was
attacked by his enemies.f Once, as the boy Thor-
stein, who was afterwards called Ox-foot, ran in
across the floor in his foster-parents' house, and fell
down there, a wise old man named Geiter, who happened
to be present, began to laugh. The boy asked
him the reason, and he answered, "I saw what
thou didst not see ; a white bear's cub ran into the
room before thee, and it was over it that thou fell."
By means of this vision the Sage discovered that
Thorstein was of a more distinguished family than
was generally supposed.:|:
What the Disir were for the individual man or
» Nidls S. 12.
f IfiAl var Jessa n6tt i forolfsfelli ok mStti ekki sofa, ok gekk
^ist Tit e8a inn. f 6rhilldr spurBi Niil hvi hann insetti ekki sofa ?
" Margt berr nli fyrir augii mir," sag9i hann. " Ek se margar fylgjur
grimmligar tiyina Grunnars, ok er nokkut nndarliga."
Mils S. 70.
f Fomm. S. Ill, p. 113.—Concerning Dfair and Fylgjur much excellent
information is given in Magnusen's Eddalsere, Vol. IV, pp.
36-49.
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