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DIVINATIOK. 293
song. A Vala'a train in Norway could of course
be far more splendid and awe-inspiring than in the
poor and thinly-settled Greenland. The Vatnsdsela
Saga represents the Icelandic Spae-wife Thordis as
being so highly esteemed, that even at the assem-
blies she was chosen arbitrator in the most import-
ant cases. Her di-ess was a black hooded-cloak
(kufl), and her staff HangnuSr was believed to have
the power to impart forgetfulness to any man who
was touched by it three times upon the left cheek,
but it would restore his memory when he was
struck by it three times upon his right cheek.*
The staff (seiSstafr, voir) appears, on the whole, to
have been the Vala's most important mark of
dignity, which was even to accompany her into the
grave. Some have also supposed that the name
Vala stands in connection with voir, a stick.
Something remains to be said, in conclusion, concerning
the heathen Northmen's belief in dreams
and omens.
To all dreams that appeared in any way unusual
they gave a meaning, and the people who were
thought to possess special gifts in interpreting them
were called draumspekingar, i. e., Dream-wise.
But the interpretation was mostly very arbitrary,
and it is, indeed, probable that the greater part of
the significant dreams which the Sagas can give
account of, were invented, or at least greatly em-
bellished, after the event which they are said to
have foreboded had already taken place. The
» Vatnsd. S. 2.