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DIVINATION. 287
tural powers, for the distinction which, the fame of
their prophetic faculty conferred upon them was too
alluring, and they were also influenced by baser
motives. A good prophecy was mostly well re-
warded, while a p^jophecy of evil was a grand
medium for striking terror where revenge and de-
light in mischief could not by any better means be
appeased.
Those who made a source of gain of their sup-
posed gift of prophecy, willingly took refuge in the
magic arts in order to increase their fame. In-
cantations, witchcraft, transformations, nocturnal
sittings, and similar magic performances were the
means by which they made the people, and perhaps
themselves, believe that they received their revelations.
All such arts were believed to cause no
trifling exertions to the one who practiced them, and
they had, therefore, to be well paid for. The Finns,
both men and women, were also regarded as espe-
cially skilled in penetrating the future.
Of those among the Northmen of Antiquity who
made a business of foretelling the future, the most
remarkable were the so-called Valas (Vala or
Volva, plur. Volvur), or the Spae-wives (Spakonur),
on account of the extraordinary honor they univer-
sally enjoyed. The Yalas are mentioned in the
poems of the Older Edda, and the most remarkable
of these poems is ascribed to such a prophetess,
whence its name— ^Voluspa, the Prophecy of the
Vala—is derived. It appears that they were some-
times called ]S"orns, and regarded as a kind of
superior, semi-godlike beings, as bodily revelations