[225]. This was probably given him as an amulet to protect him in the fight.
[226]. Some magnificent works have been published on bracteates, the finest being ‘Atlas for Nordisk Oldkyndighed,’ Copenhagen, 1857; but since then many valuable additions have been discovered.
[227]. We find constant mention of the numbers 3 and 7, 9 and 12, which seem to have been holy:—
Heimdall had ix sisters for his mothers.
Ægir had ix daughters.
In Helgi Hundingsbani, ii., ix Valkyrjas help Helgi in a storm and save his ships.
Halfdan the old had ix + ix sons, of which ix were born first, and ix after.
Dag, one of Halfdan’s sons, had ix sons, and from all Halfdan’s sons there are ix generations to Harald Fairhair.
Draupnir begets 8 rings every ix night, and is itself the ix. The ring did not get this quality before going through the fire on Baldr’s pyre.
The following will show the frequent occurrence of the number Nine in the literature of the North:—