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OATHS ; BUELS. 241
And by the cold stones
Beneath the sea."*
"When GuSrtin Gjukadottir reminds her husband
Atli of the oaths he has broken toward her brother
Gunnar, she says
:
—
" So may it befall thee, Atli I
As thou held oaths
Oft Bworn with Gunnar
And early given;
By the Sun southward bearing,
By Sigtyr'sj strong mountain.
By the sanctity of the couch
And by Ullur's ring.
"J
How the expressions occurring in these formulas
were to be taken, whether literally or ifiguratively,
it is now impossible to determine.
Sometimes, also, there occurs a formula by which
the swearer wishes himself in the power of evil
beings, or that misfortune may strike him, if he
swear falsely. Thus it is said of King Atli's mes-
senger Vingi
;
" Then swore Vingi
Himself little sparing
Might the Jotuns take him
If on oath he lied,
And the gallows his body
If he the peace dieturbed."§
Duelling was known among the heathen North-
* The 0. Edda: Helgakv. Hundb. II., 29.
\ Sigtyr, the God of Victory, a name of Odin.
i The 0. Edda: Atlakv. 30.
§ TbeO. Edda;-Alam4l31.
: