SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

216 Saga-Book of the Viking Society
of northern Norway, bounded on north, east and west by
the ocean.P so even if they were not Lapps, they may fairly
be called Lapland sorcerers.
Their exploits are often recorded in the islendinga sflgur
and konunga sogu», In Vatnsdcela saga (and in a somewhat
variant version in Landnamab6k), for example,
Ingimundr I:>orsteinsson speaks with a wise woman
described as Finna ein fjr,;lkunnig, who is telling the
fortunes of the company at a feast. She tells him he is
to travel to Iceland, which surprises Ingimundr because
that is one land he has resolved never to visit. Later he
finds he has lost a prized amulet with the image or mark
of Freyr on it, and is told it has made its way to Iceland
and is hidden at the place he must settle. Three Finnar
are employed to find it. They go to Iceland in spirit.
The journey takes three days, during which time they
live apart, giving instructions that their names are not to
be spoken. Then they reappear, complaining of the
difficulty of the imposed task, but having identified the
spot where the amulet lies. 3 Agrip tells of Haraldr
harfagri's son, Rognvaldr or Ragnarr, by a Lapp woman
called Snjofrior, d6ttir Sudsa finnkonungs. He took after
his mother, and was called seibmabr, pat er spdma]»,»
Heimskringla tells that Snj6fri6r died, but her body did
not decay over a period of three years, while Haraldr,
distracted, watched over her, leaving his kingdom to take
care of itself. 5 From the same source we learn that
Gunnhildr, who later married Eirikr b1660X, studied
sorcery with two Finnar who practised a number of
useful arts - they hit whatever they aimed at, and could
kill at a glance. 6 Presumably because of her education
Gunnhildr has an unsavoury reputation in the sagas: she
2 Egils saga, 36. Saga references are to the fslenzk Fornrit texts unless
otherwise stated; the numbers refer to pages.
• Vainsdcela saga, 29, 33-6. See further D. Stromback, Sejd: Texistudier i
nordisk Retigionshistoria (I935), 67 ft.
• Finnur J6nsson, Ag.ip af Noregs konunga sQgum (Altnordische Sagabibliothek
18, 1929), 3.
• Haralds saga ins harfagra, 126-7.
• ibid., 135-6.