THE WERE-WOLF IN THE NORTH.
17
goes on gandreið, or wolf's-ride, he is full 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 Vælundar kviða is the following passage:—
| I. | I. |
| Meyjar flugu sunnan | From the south flew the maidens |
| Myrkvið igögnum | Athwart the gloom, |
| Alvitr unga | Alvit the young, |
| Orlög drýgja; | To fix destinies; |
| þær á savarströnd | They on the sea-strand |
| Settusk at hvilask, | Sat them to rest, |
| Dró sir suðrœnar | These damsels of the south |
| Dýrt lín spunnu. | Fair linen spun. |
| II. | II. |
| Ein nam þeirra | One of them took |
| Egil at verja | Egil to press, |
| Fögr mær fíra | Fair maid, in her |
| Faðmi ljósum; | Dazzling arms. |
| Önnur var Svanhvít, | Another was Svanhwit, |
| Svanfjaðrar dró; | Who wore swan feathers; |
| En in þriðja | And the third, |
| þeirra systir | Their sister, |
| Var i hvítan | Pressed the white |
| Háls Völundar. | Neck of Vœlund. |
