Sagas of Icelanders often take place in the Viking Age but were shaped centuries later. Magic can explain conflict, mark outsiders, create suspense, or demonstrate Christian superiority.
Eiríks saga rauða describes Þorbjǫrg with a staff, special seat, food, and song. The unusually detailed scene is central to reconstructions of seiðr but remains a literary representation in a Christian text.
Legendary sagas contain still more enchanted objects, shape-changing, and revenants. They may carry older motifs while also reflecting courtly literature and medieval audience expectations.
The right question is not only “Did this really happen?” It also matters why an author tells this magical act and what an audience was meant to recognise as credible, foreign, or dangerous.