Page:The Finding of Wineland the Good.djvu/238

 Thorgunna and the Fródá-wonder, as contained in 'Eyrbyggja,' was a popular tale interjected in the saga for a reason not now apparent. This tale may well have been builded upon a historical foundation, but the remains of this foundation are not sufficiently well-preserved to enable us to separate accurately the sound from the unsound material.

(35) The Fródá-wonder is the name given to the extraordinary occurrences, which befell at the farmstead of Fródá soon after Thorgunna's death. The 'wonder' began with the appearance of a 'weird-moon,' which was supposed to betoken the death of some member of the family. This baleful prophecy was followed by the death of eighteen members of the household, and subsequently by the nightly apparitions of the dead. The cause of this marvel was attributed to the fact, that the Mistress of Fródá had prevailed upon her husband to disregard Thorgunna's injunction to burn the drapery of her bed; and not until these hangings were burned was the evil influence exorcised, and the ghostly apparitions laid, the complete restoration of the normal condition of affairs being further facilitated by the timely recommendations of a priest, whose services had been secured to that end.

(36) It is not certain what variety of wood is meant; the generally accepted view has been, that it was some species of maple. It has also been suggested that the word mausurr mǫsurr, may be allied to the modern Swedish Masbjörk, veined-birch, German, Maser-birke, and again [cf. Grönl. hist. Mindesm. vol. i. p. 280] to the German Meussdorn, a view which Arngrim Jonsson was the first to advance [Gronlandia, ch. x]. It was believed, that this last-named received its name, 'darumb das diser dorn den Meusen und ratten zu wider ist,' [Bock, Kreuter Buch, ch. cxliij]. The same author writes of this wood: 'ist man fro das man Meussdorn zu Besen bekommen kan, als zu Venedig vnd sunst auf den Meerstetten. Die Meuss vnd Ratten werden mit disen dornen verscheucht' [Hieronymus Bock [Tragus], Kreuter Buch, 1546, p. 347]. It may be, that this or a similar passage suggested to Finn Magnusen and Werlauff the interpretation, 'besom,' 'broom,' which they gave to húsasnotra [af mǫsurtré; cf. note 6]. That the tree called mǫsurr was also indigenous in Norway is in a manner confirmed by a passage in the Short Story of Helgi Thorisson [Þáttr Helga Þórissonar], contained in Flatey Book [vol. i. p. 359]: 'One summer these brothers engaged in a trading voyage to Finmark in the north, having butter and pork to sell to the Finns. They had a successful trading expedition, and returned when the summer was far-spent, and came by day to a cape called Vimund. There were very excellent woods here. They went ashore, and obtained some "mǫsurr" wood.' The character of this narrative, and the locality assigned to the 'mǫsurr' trees, affect the trustworthiness of the information. It is reasonably clear, however, that the wood was rare and, whether it grew in Finmark or not, it was evidently highly prized.

(37) Thiodhild is also called Thorhild, and similarly Gudrid is called Thurid. It has been conjectured, that Thorhild and Thurid were the earlier names, which were changed by their owners after their conversion to Christianity, because of the suggestion of the heathen god in the first syllable of their original names.

(38) Such a fall as this of Eric's does not seem to have been generally regarded as