E spirit-world that Donald Ban encountered during his lifetime. A cousin
of his mother was said to have been carried off by the fairies, and one
night Donald saw him among them, dancing away with all his might. Donald
was also out hunting in the year of the great snow, and at nightfall he
saw a man mounted on the back of a deer ascending a great rock. He heard
the man saying, "Home, Donald Ban," and fortunately he took the advice,
for that night there fell eleven feet of snow in the very spot where he
had intended to stay. We now take two modern Icelandic cases, for the
purpose of leading up to the famous Icelandic legend of Grettir and Glam
the Vampire, from the Grettis Saga. It is plain that such incidents as
those in the two modern Icelandic cases (however the effects were
produced) might easily be swollen into the prodigious tale of Glam in
the course of two or three centuries, between Grettir's time and the
complete formation of his Saga. THE DEVIL OF HJALTA-STAD {246} The
sheriff writes: "The Devil at Hjalta-stad was outspoken enough this past
winter, although no one saw him. I, along with others, had the dishonour
to hear him talking for nearly two days, during which he addressed
myself and the minister, Sir Grim, with words the like of which 'eye
hath not seen nor ear heard'. As soon as we reached the front of the
house there was heard in the door an iron voice saying: 'So Hans from
Eyrar is come now, and wishes to talk with me, the --- idiot'. Compared
with other names that he gave me this might be considered as flattering.
When I inquired who it was that addressed me with such words, he
answered in a fierce voice, 'I was call
