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OTHEB SUPEESTmONS. 30Y
which was believed rarely to grant its treasures to
any living beiag. They could never gain undis-
turbed possession of the treasures until they had succeeded
in hewing off the head of the specter and
laying it between its legs. But the great advantages
promised by such a mound-breaking, induced them
to close their eyes against the dangers of the under-
taking, as well as the wrong which they doubtless
believed there was in thus disturbing the repose of
the dead. Many descriptions of terrible battles with
these mound-spirits are found in the Sagas,* which
contain a multitude of remarkable features of the
ancient Northmen's belief in specters.
Another very ancient superstition may here be
cited in conclusion, namely, the belief that men
could be born again (vera endrbornir), that the
spirit could pass from one body when it was dead,
and enter another in order to be born anew with it.
Thus it was believed that the hero Helgi HjorvarSsson
was born again in Helgi Hundingabani, and
Svafa, the favorite of the former, in the Valkyija
Sigrun, who was beloved by. the latter. In like
manner it was believed that Olaf the Saint was the
re-born Olaf Geirsta5a-Alf. Connected with this
and likewise of heathen origin appears to have been
the belief that two persons could have, in common,
one man's Hfe ; and that both should therefore die
at the same time.
* HorSs S. 14; Grettis S. 20.