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OTltBE StrPEESTTTIONS. 301
The Nyk is described as a horse of a dapple-gray
color, whose place of resort was in fresh-water
streams, where it sometimes, made its appearance on
the banks. It appears to have been exceedingly
strong, and it sometimes allowed itself to be taken
by men and set to work during the day ; but when
the sun went down it tore itself out of the harness
and.ran off into the water again. Thus it is related
of a certain Au5un Valisson, a 'settler of Iceland,
that during harvest time he saw a dapple-gray
stallion run out from HjarSarvatn to some of hi&
horses. AuSun caught the gray horse, harnessed it
to a sled, which was usually drawn by two oxen,
and hauled all his hay together with it. The horse
was very easily managed in the middle of the day,
but as evening came on it became restive and
stamped in the ground up to its fetlocks, and after
sunset it broke out of the harness, ran to the water
and was never seen afterwards.* It appears, however,
that the Nyk, especially in the Christian Middle
Ages, was regarded as a being that could assume
various forms. In Norway and Iceland the people
still believe in the existence of this being, and they
usually describe it just as it is described by the an-
cients. In Iceland at the present day it is called
Nykr, and also Yatnhest or Nennir.f
The Finngalkn is a monster that is often men-
tioned, but not further described except in the later
fictitious Sagas. According to these, it had the head
* Landnmb. II. 10.
t Olafsen and Povelsen's TraYela, p. 56.
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