The Book of Were-Wolves | Page 5

they were supposed to haunt the Norwegian forests by those who had never remotely been connected with Arcadia: and the superstition had probably struck deep its roots into the Scandinavian and Teutonic minds, ages before Lycaon existed; and we have only to glance at Oriental literature, to see it as firmly engrafted in the imagination of the Easterns.
CHAPTER III.
THE WERE-WOLF IN THE NORTH.
In Norway and Iceland certain men were said to be eigi einhamir, not of one skin, an idea which had its roots in paganism. The full form of this strange superstition was, that men could take upon them other bodies, and the natures of those beings whose bodies they assumed. The second adopted shape was called by the same name as the original shape, hamr, and the expression made use of to designate the transition from one body to another, was at skipta h?mum, or _at hamaz_; whilst the expedition made in the second form, was the hamf?r. By this transfiguration extraordinary powers were acquired; the natural strength of the individual was doubled, or quadrupled; he acquired the strength of the beast in whose body he travelled, in addition to his own, and a man thus invigorated was called hamrammr.
The manner in which the change was effected, varied. At times, a dress of skin was cast over the body, and at once the transformation was complete; at others, the human body was deserted, and the soul entered the second form, leaving the first body in a cataleptic state, to all appearance dead. The second hamr was either borrowed or created for the purpose. There was yet a third manner of producing this effect-it was by incantation; but then the form of the individual remained unaltered, though the eyes of all beholders were charmed so that they could only perceive him under the selected form.
Having assumed some bestial shape, the man who is eigi einhammr is only to be recognized by his eyes, which by no power can be changed. He then pursues his course, follows the instincts of the beast whose body he has taken, yet without quenching his own intelligence. He is able to do what the body of the animal can do, and do what he, as man, can do as well. He may fly or swim, if be is in the shape of bird or fish; if he has taken the form of a wolf, or if he goes on a gandreie, or wolf's-ride, he is fall of the rage and malignity of the creatures whose powers and passions he has assumed.
I will give a few instances of each of the three methods of changing bodies mentioned above. Freyja and Frigg had their falcon dresses in which they visited different regions of the earth, and Loki is said to have borrowed these, and to have then appeared so precisely like a falcon, that he would have escaped detection, but for the malicious twinkle of his eyes. In the V?lundar kviea is the following passage:--
I. I.
Meyjar flugu sunnan From the south flew the maidens Myrkvie ig?gnum Athwart the gloom, Alvitr unga Alvit the young, Orl?g drygja; To fix destinies; t?r �� savarstr?nd They on the sea-strand Settusk at hvilask, Sat them to rest, Dr�� sir suernar These damsels of the south Dyrt l��n spunnu. Fair linen spun.
II. II.
Ein nam teirra One of them took Egil at verja Egil to press, F?gr m?r f��ra Fair maid, in her Faemi lj��sum; Dazzling arms. ?nnur var Svanhv��t, Another was Svanhwit, Svanfjaerar dr��; Who wore swan feathers; En in trieja And the third, teirra systir Their sister, Var i hv��tan Pressed the white H��ls V?lundar. Neck of Vlund.
The introduction of Smund tells us that these charming young ladies were caught when they had laid their swan-skins beside them on the shore, and were consequently not in a condition to fly.
In like manner were wolves' dresses used. The following curious passage is from the wild Saga of the V?lsungs:--
"It is now to be told that Sigmund thought Sinfj?tli too young to help him in his revenge, and he wished first to test his powers; so during the summer they plunged deep into the wood and slew men for their goods, and Sigmund saw that he was quite of the V?lsung stock. . . . Now it fell out that as they went through the forest, collecting monies, that they lighted on a house in which were two men sleeping, with great gold rings an them; they had dealings with witchcraft, for wolf-skins hung up in the house above them; it was the tenth day on which they might come out of their second state. They were kings' sons. Sigmund and Sinfj?tli got into the habits, and could not get out of them again, and the nature of the original beasts came