Northern mythology

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24 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.
The third As is Niord (Nj6r}>r). He dwells in Noatun.
He rules the course of the wind, stills the ocean, and
quenches fire. He is invoked by sea-farers and fishermen,
and is the patron of temples and altars ^ He is so rich
that he can give wealth and superfluity to those that inapplies
the veterinary remedy to a young man's sprained ankle, in the
following formula muttered over a glass of brandy :
Jeg red mig engang igjennem et Led, I once was riding through a gate,
Saa fik min sorte Fole Vred ;
When my black colt got a sprain ;
Saa satte jeg Kjod mod Kjod og So I set flesh to flesh and blood to
Blod mod Blod,
blood,
Saa blev min sorte Fole god. So my black colt got well.
From Norway the horse-remedy most probably found its way to Shetland,
where, " when a person has received a sprain, it is customary to apply
to an individual practised in casting the wresting thread.' This * is a
thread spun from black wool, on which are cast nine knots, and tied round
a sprained leg or arm. During the time the operator is putting the
thread round the aflfected limb, he says, but in such a tone of voice as
not to be heard by the bystanders, nor even by the person operated
upon :
" The Lord rade, " Set joint to joint.
And the foal slade ;
Bone to bone,
He lighted,
And sinew to sinew.
'
And he righted ;
"
Heal in the Holy Ghost's name 1
In Sw^eden against the horse distemper, ' flog,' we find
Oden star pa borget,
ban sporger efter sin fole.
Odin stands on the mountain,
He inquires after his colt,
floget bar ban fatt. He has got the * flog.'
Spotta i din hand och i bans raun. Spit in thy hand and eke in his mouth,
han skall fa bot i samma stund. He shall be cured in the same hour.
See Jacob Grimm, Ueber zwei entdeckte Gedichte aus der Zeit des
Deutsclien Heidenthums, Berlin, 1812, 4to ; and Deutsche Mythologie,
p. 1181 ; also Popular Rhymes, &c. of Scotland, by Robert Chambers,
p. 37, Ediub. 1842. A similar formula is known in the Netherlands, but
which Grimm was unable to give. An attempt by the present editor
to procure it from Belgium has, he regrets to say, also proved unsuccessful.
1
Vaf^rudnism. 38.