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804 EELI&ION OF THE NOETflMEN.
him and they remain there together during the
night. But with the dawning day he rides again
upon his pale horse back to Valhalla ; he must be
there before the crowing of the cock shall awaken
the Einherjar. When the dead thus made them-
selves visible by night in the open burial naounds,
sometimes surrounded by flames of fire or by a clear
light which cast no shadow, then the portals of Hel
were said to be opened ;
then had Hel set free the
bodily part to be united for a season with the soul,
which came to the mound from Valhalla. Such apparitions
were usually believed to be harmless, and
to make their appearance only to comfort beloved
survivors or to give them good counsel. When
drowned persons came ag apparitions to the fnneral
ceremonies which the survivors held to their mem-
ory, it was looked upon as a good omen ; a token
that the departed had met with a friendly reception
from Kan.
It was believed to be otherwise with men whose
souls, by a contempt for the Gods, joined to wicked-
ness and a base disposition, had rendered themselves
unworthy of the joys of Heaven. Their whole
being became at their death the prey of Hel, and
whenever they left their funeral mounds they became
frightful specters, whose delight it was to torment
the living. It was said that when they thus
ruade their appearance, they were stronger and far
more hideous than they had been when living.
They only showed themselves at night—when the
sun was not shining. By day the undecayed body
lay blue and bloated, but dead and quiet in the