38 out much enthusiasm and with a careful proviso that they might be baptised in the hot springs in cold weather. As we gazed around the silent deserted plain and paced to and fro along the untrodden grass that now clothes the Logberg, it was hard to believe it had ever been the battle field where such keen and energetic wits encountered. “ Tameless spirits of the past! Boldest and noblest of earth’s kind were yi — Conquerors of nations—fathers of a rape Of giant princes.” From here with our gentle guide, a fair-haired, blue-eyed Icelandic lassie, we wandered down the Gja to the Oxara, where is an immense precipice, from the summit of which a magnificent cataract thunders down. Its grandeur will long be remem- bered. With an overwhelming noise a great mass of water leaps over the rocky wall a hundred feet high. Looking at it from above, the water bends smoothly over a ridge of rock like solid glass and then breaks with a crashing roar into a perfect whirlpool of rage and fury, casting around dense showers of spray. At the foot of the fall the waters linger for a moment in a dark dim brimming pool, hemmed in by a circle of forbidding rocks. This is “ Execution Pool,” and to this place in ancient days all women convicted of capital crimes were immediately taken and drowned. Those guilty of witchcraft were burned at a spot a little to the west. Witchcraft seems to have been a great weakness of the ladies, and much space is given to the subject in the Sagas. Although we cannot trace a prescription for the preparation of the witch’s broth, we find the desire of knowing what (he future might be led to other means being employed. Dreams were interpreted and fortunes told by specialists, whilst the howling of dogs and the cry of the raven were listened to with attention. Birds were believed to know the secrets of nature and the future. The difficulty was that so very few understood the birds. The raven’s cry of “ Korp, korp,” did not reveal much to ordinary people ; it required a rare specialist to read the future from that. According to the Sagas, such people did exist, but they often ended their days prematurely near the “ Execution Pool.” It is interesting to note that the most popular

(1) Band
(2) Band
(3) Saurblað
(4) Saurblað
(5) Kápa
(6) Kápa
(7) Blaðsíða [1]
(8) Blaðsíða [2]
(9) Blaðsíða 1
(10) Blaðsíða 2
(11) Blaðsíða 3
(12) Blaðsíða 4
(13) Blaðsíða 5
(14) Blaðsíða 6
(15) Blaðsíða 7
(16) Blaðsíða 8
(17) Blaðsíða 9
(18) Blaðsíða 10
(19) Blaðsíða 11
(20) Blaðsíða 12
(21) Blaðsíða 13
(22) Blaðsíða 14
(23) Blaðsíða 15
(24) Blaðsíða 16
(25) Blaðsíða 17
(26) Blaðsíða 18
(27) Blaðsíða 19
(28) Blaðsíða 20
(29) Blaðsíða 21
(30) Blaðsíða 22
(31) Blaðsíða 23
(32) Blaðsíða 24
(33) Blaðsíða 25
(34) Blaðsíða 26
(35) Blaðsíða 27
(36) Blaðsíða 28
(37) Blaðsíða 29
(38) Blaðsíða 30
(39) Blaðsíða 31
(40) Blaðsíða 32
(41) Blaðsíða 33
(42) Blaðsíða 34
(43) Blaðsíða 35
(44) Blaðsíða 36
(45) Blaðsíða 37
(46) Blaðsíða 38
(47) Blaðsíða 39
(48) Blaðsíða 40
(49) Blaðsíða 41
(50) Blaðsíða 42
(51) Blaðsíða 43
(52) Blaðsíða 44
(53) Blaðsíða 45
(54) Blaðsíða 46
(55) Blaðsíða 47
(56) Blaðsíða 48
(57) Blaðsíða 49
(58) Blaðsíða 50
(59) Blaðsíða 51
(60) Blaðsíða 52
(61) Blaðsíða 53
(62) Blaðsíða 54
(63) Blaðsíða 55
(64) Blaðsíða 56
(65) Blaðsíða 57
(66) Blaðsíða 58
(67) Saurblað
(68) Saurblað
(69) Saurblað
(70) Saurblað
(71) Band
(72) Band
(73) Kjölur
(74) Framsnið
(75) Kvarði
(76) Litaspjald