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268 EELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.
against Ms own son Eagnvald Eettilbein, wliom he
put to death because he meddled with this kind of
witchcraft.*
There are many kinds of sorcery mentioned in the
ancient Sagas without bein^ expressly classed under
either of the above-named principal heads, but
which, doubtless, were in some way connected with
them more or less remotely. The most important
of them shaU. here be cited.
Jugglery (sjonhverfingar, from sjon, sight, and
hverfa, to twrri) was performed by blinding the eyes
of the people with magic arts, so that certain objects
appeared to them totally different from what they
really were. This kind of sorcery is often spoken of
in the ancient Sagas as being employed by magicians
when they wished to conceal any person from hostile
pursuit, or to frighten his enemies. In such cases
the pursuers saw, as it is stated, an animal, a coffin,
or some other animate or inanimate object, in the
very place where the person was whom they were
looking for, while on the other hand they fancied
they saw troops of armed men coming to aid the one
they pursued, where there was nothing in reality
but a herd of cows or sheep. The magician was also
believed to have power to blind others in the same
manner with regard to himself. But if the pursuers
either broke the inanimate thing in pieces or killed
the animal, under whose form they saw the real ob-
ject, then their vision cleared up and they saw the
person in his true form lying dead. Certain people,