Wind And Black Cattle

War Of The Gods, XVII.

By offending the elves, Hadding becomes a bearer of ill luck which he ends by offering black cattle to Freyr:

"Each year after this he gave black cattle to Freyr. The wont spread beyond Denmark and long outlived him." (p. 148)

This narrative is still in the time of beginnings when the origins of familiar customs are explained. Now we know why we give black cattle to Freyr every year!

The wind plays an active part in Hadding's ill luck. When he is an overnight guest in a house, wind shrieks, blows louder and louder, rattles doors and shutters and flings sand and spray against walls. A hinge breaks. The door bangs, tears loose and whirls away. Rafters break. Roof falls. Wind makes human cries inaudible. Wreckage kills six people and the cattle.

Hadding, "Always battling wild weather..." (p. 147) and never sleeping under anyone's roof, must gather "...the finest coal-black cattle..." (ibid.) from all over Denmark before he has enough to offer to Freyr.

(He knows what to do because he is the incarnation of Njord, father of Freyr.)