CHAPTER XXXI.
SUPERSTITIONS.—OMENS.
Belief in omens—The sight of blood on food a foreboding of violent death—Blood dripping from weapons a sign of fierce conflict—Peculiar appearances of the moon—Ravens—Howling wolves—Stumbling when going to fight—The second song of Sigurd Fafnisbani—Supernatural beings—Visions.
The people were strong believers in omens, to which they paid great attention, and which were supposed to be seen by persons when awake or in their dreams. Some omens repeated themselves before recurring events of the same kind.
If any one imagined that he saw blood on his food, or that his food disappeared, he expected a speedy and violent death;[[415]] and it was a common belief that blood dripping from weapons, or their sounding loud when used, foreboded a fierce battle or conflict.[[416]]
“He (Hildiglúm) heard a crash so loud that he thought both earth and heaven shook from it. Then he looked into the west, and saw a ring with the colour of flame, and in it a man on a grey horse. He passed quickly; and had a burning firebrand in his hand. He rode so near him that he could easily see him. He was black as pitch. He sang this stanza with a loud voice:—
I ride on a
Rime-frost maned horse,
With dewy wet mane,
Causing evil;
Fire is in the ends of the brand.