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dTSER BUPEESTITIONS. 2&T
CHAPl'EIl XXVI.
OTHER SXTPEKSTinONS.
Beside the belief in sorcery and divination, many-
other superstitigns prevailed among the heathen
K"orthmen which were either directly or indirectly
connected with their religion.
First in this connection may be noticed the differ-
ent kinds of supernatural beings with which their
imagination peopled the mountains, the interior of
the earth, and the sea ; beings which have been
alluded to above only in a partial manner, in so far
as they appear in the Asa Mythology in a higher
mythic significance or as they were objects of popu-
lar worship.
The strongest and most terrible of these beings
were the Jotuns or Giants, who were also called Kisar,
Thursar, Troll, Bergbliar, and their wives were
named Trollkonar and Gygar. The mythic signifi-
cance of these beings has been already spoken of.*
They were represented to be shapeless giants, of a
dark and hideous aspect. Their iisual dwelling
place was thought to be in the wild mountains.
They were, it is certain, most usually imagined to
* Chap. XII. ftnd XYIII.
'