“Kólga.—the cooling one.”
“Thorod had been lost with his men at sea, and the wreck was thrown up on the shore, but no bodies. His wife and son invited the neighbours to the arvel.[[321]] The first evening of the arvel, when the men had sat down in their seats, Thorod and his companions walked into the hall, all wet. They were well received, for this was thought a good omen; men in those days believed that drowned men had been well received by Ran, if they visited their own arvel, for there still remained some of the old beliefs, although men had been baptized, and were named Christians” (Eyrbyggja Saga, c. 54).
In Hervarar Saga, Gest asks King Heidrek, “Who are those widows who, according to the habits of their fathers, live together, and who seldom are partial to men, &c.?” The latter replies: “They are Ægir’s daughters (the waves); they always go three together, and the winds awaken them.”
Egil’s son Bödvar having been drowned, the old father in his grief over his loss composed a poem about him. Vol. ii., p. [416].
Very roughly has Ran
Handled me,
I am very much bereft
Of beloved friends.
The sea tore asunder
The ties of my kin,