But it must not be supposed that this madness or possession came only on those persons who predisposed themselves to be attacked by it; others were afflicted with it, who vainly struggled against its influence, and who deeply lamented their own liability to be seized with these terrible accesses of frenzy. Such was Thorir Ingimund’s son, of whom it is said, in the _Vatnsdæla Saga_, that “at times there came over Thorir berserkr fits, and it was considered a sad misfortune to such a man, as they were quite beyond control.” The manner in which he was cured is remarkable; pointing as it does to the craving in the heathen mind for a better and more merciful creed:— “Thorgrim of Kornsá had a child by his concubine Vereydr, and, by order of his wife, the child was carried out to perish. “The brothers (Thorsteinn and Thorir) often met, and it was now the turn of Thorsteinn to visit Thorir, and Thorir accompanied him homeward. On their way Thorsteinn asked Thorir which he thought was the first among the brethren; Thorir answered that the reply was easy, for ‘you are above us all in discretion and talent; Jökull is the best in all perilous adventures, but I,’ he added, ‘I am the least worth of us brothers, because the berserkr fits come over me, quite against my will, and I wish that you, my brother, with your shrewdness, would devise some help for me.’ “Thorsteinn said,—‘I have heard that our kinsman, Thorgrim, has just suffered his little babe to be carried out, at the instigation of his wife. That is ill done. I think also that it is a grievous matter for you to be different in nature from other men.’ “Thorir asked how he could obtain release from his affliction . . . . Then said Thorsteinn, ‘Now will I make a vow to Him who created the sun, for I ween that he is most able to take the ban of you, and I will undertake for His sake, in return, to rescue the babe and to bring it up for him, till He who created man shall take it to Himself-for this I reckon He will do!’ After this they left their horses and sought the child, and a thrall of Thorir had found it near the Marram river. They saw that a kerchief had been spread over its face, but it had rumpled it up over its nose; the little thing was all but dead, but they took it up and flitted it home to Thorir’s house, and he brought the lad up, and called him Thorkell Rumple; as for the berserkr fits, they came on him no more.” (c. 37) But the most remarkable passages bearing on our subject will be found in the _Aigla_.