Havamal or Words of the High One
Young and alone on a long road,
Once I lost my way:
Rich I felt when I found another;
Man rejoices in man,
A kind word need not cost much,
The price of praise can be cheap:
With half a loaf and an empty cup
I found myself a friend,
Two wooden stakes stood on the plain,
On them I hung my clothes:
Draped in linen, they looked well born,
But, naked, I was a nobody
Too early to many homes I came,
Too late, it seemed, to some:
The ale was finished or else un-brewed,
T… Continue

To put a "nid" on someone was a form of verbal curse, a magic ritual that was considered very powerful during the Viking age, and before that. The power of words was not taken lightly by these efficient warriors, so a curse of this kind was something very serious to send, not to speak of having a "nid" spoken over oneself.
In the Saga of Egil Skallagrimsson (an Icelandic/Norwegian story from the 10th century) a dispute is told about Egil and the King Eirik Blodyx ("Bloody axe"), who treated Egil… Continue