Chapter 27

A maid that is a messingereAnd adwerkème brought here,Her to do socoúr.Lybeaus Disconus.lastly,dwarf, as in old Swedish.[122]Danske Folkesagn, 4 vols. 12mo. Copenh. 1818-22.[123]Udvalgde Danske Viser fra Middelaldaren, 5 vols. 12mo. Copenh. 1812.[124]Svenska Folk-Visor från Forntiden, 3 vols. 8vo. Stockholm, 1814-16. We have not seen the late collection of Arvidsson named Svenska Fornsånger, in 3 vols. 8vo.[125]The reader will find a beautiful instance of a double Omquæd in the Scottish ballad of the Cruel Sister.There were two sisters sat in a bower,Binnōrie o BinnōrieThere came a knight to be their wooerBy the bonny mill-dams of Binnōrie.And in the Cruel Brother,There were three ladies played at the ba',With a heigh ho and a lily gay;There came a knight and played o'er them a',As the primrose spreads so sweetly.The second and fourth lines are repeated in every stanza.[126]These are the Swedish verses:Det växte uppLiljorpå begge deres graf,Med äran och med dygd—De växte tilsamman med alla sina blad.J vinnen väl, J vinnen väl både rosor och liljor.Det växte uppRosorur båda deras mun,Med äran och med dygd—De växte tilsammans i fagreste lund.J vinnen väl, J vinnen väl både rosor och liljor.[127]Some readers may wish to know the proper mode of pronouncing such Danish and Swedish words as occur in the following legends. For their satisfaction we give the following information. J is pronounced as oury; when it comes between a consonant and a vowel, it is very short, like the y that is expressed, but not written, in many English words aftercandg: thuskjæris pronounced very nearly ascare:ösounds like the Germanö, or Frencheu:dafter another consonant is rarely sounded, Trold is pronounced Troll:aa, which the Swedes writeå, as o inmore,tore. Aarhuus is pronouncedOre-hoos.[128]That is, Wise People or Conjurors. They answer to the Fairy-women of Ireland.[129]Afzelius is of opinion that this notion respecting the Hill-people is derived from the time of the introduction of Christianity into the north, and expresses the sympathy of the first converts with their forefathers, who had died without a knowledge of the Redeemer, and lay buried in heathen earth, and whose unhappy spirits were doomed to wander about these lower regions, or sigh within their mounds till the great day of redemption.[130]"About fifteen years ago," says Ödman (Bahuslän, p. 80), "people used to hear, out of the hill under Gärun, in the parish of Tanum, the playing, as it were, of the very best musicians. Any one there who had a fiddle, and wished to play, was taught in an instant, provided they promised them salvation; but whoever did not do so, might hear them within, in the hill, breaking their violins to pieces, and weeping bitterly." See Grimm. Deut. Myth. 461.[131]Arndt, Reise nach Schweden, iv. 241.[132]Svenska Folk-Visor, vol. iii. p. 159. There is a similar legend in Germany. A servant, one time, seeing one of the little ones very hard-set to carry a single grain of wheat, burst out laughing at him. In a rage, he threw it on the ground, and it proved to be the purest gold. But he and his comrades quitted the house, and it speedily went to decay.—Strack. Beschr. v. Eilsen, p. 124,ap.Grimm, Introd., etc., p. 90.[133]Thiele, vol. iv. p. 22. They are called Trolls in the original. As they had a king, we think they must have been Elves. The Dwarfs have long since abolished monarchy.[134]The greater part of what precedes has been taken from Afzelius in the Svenska Visor, vol. iii.[135]Thiele, iv. 26.[136]In the distinction which we have made between the Elves and Dwarfs we find that we are justified by the popular creed of the Norwegians.—Faye, p. 49,ap.Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 412.[137]Svenska Visor, iii. 158, as sung in Upland and East Gothland.[138]Svenska Visor, iii. 165, from a MS. in the Royal Library. This and the preceding one are variations of the Danish Ballad of Elveskud, which has been translated by Dr. Jamieson (Popular Ballads, i. 219), and by Lewis in the Tales of Wonder. The Swedish editors give a third variation from East Gothland. A comparison of the two ballads with each other, and with the Danish one, will enable the reader to judge of the modifications a subject undergoes in different parts of a country.[139]Svenska Visor, iii. p. 170. This is the Elveshöj of the Danish ballads, translated by Jamieson (i. 225), and by Lewis. In the different Swedish variations, they are Hafsfruen, i. e. Mermaids, who attempt to seduce young men to their love by the offer of costly presents.A Danish legend (Thiele, i. 22) relates that a poor man, who was working near Gillesbjerg, a haunted hill, lay down on it to rest himself in the middle of the day. Suddenly there appeared before him a beautiful maiden, with a gold cup in her hand. She made signs to him to come near, but when the man in his fright made the sign of the cross, she was obliged to turn round and then he saw her back that it was hollow.[140]Thiele, ii. 67. Framley is in Jutland. Svend (i. e.Swain) Fælling is a celebrated character in Danish tradition; he is regarded as a second Holger Danske, and he is the hero of two of the Kjempe Viser. In Sweden he is named Sven Färling or Fotling. Grimm has shown that he and Sigurd are the same person. Deutsche Mythologie, p. 345. In the Nibelungen Lied (st. 345) Sifret (Sigurd) gets the strength of twelve men by wearing thetarnkappeof the dwarf Albrich. Another tradition, presently to be mentioned, says it was from a Dwarf he got his strength, for aiding him in battle against another Dwarf. It is added, that when Svend came home in the evening, after his adventure with the Elle-maids, the people were drinking their Yule-beer, and they sent him down for a fresh supply. Svend went without saying anything, and returned with a barrel in each hand and one under each arm.[141]Thiele, iii. 43. Odense is in Funen.[142]Thiele, i. 109. (communicated). Such legends, as Mr. Thiele learned directly from the mouths of the peasantry, he termsoral; those he procured from his friends,communicated. Œsterhæsinge, the scene of this legend, is in the island of Funen.[143]Thiele, i. 118. (communicated). Ebeltoft is a village in North Jutland.[144]Thiele, iv. 32. From the circumstances, it would appear that these were Elves and not Dwarfs; but one cannot be positive in these matters.[145]Möen and Stevns are in Zealand. As Rügen does not belong to the Danish monarchy, the former tradition is probably the more correct one. Yet the latter may be the original one.[146]Bornholm is aholm, or small island, adjacent to Zealand.[147]The Elle-king of Stevns has his bedchamber in the wall of this church.[148]This is evidently the Frau Holle of the Germans.[149]The preceding particulars are all derived from M. Thiele's work.[150]There is no etymon of this word. It is to be found in both the Icelandic and the Finnish languages; whether the latter borrowed or communicated it is uncertain. Ihre derives the name of the celebrated waterfall of Trollhæta, near Göttenburg, from Troll, and HauteLapponice, an abyss. It therefore answers to the IrishPoul-a-Phooka. SeeIreland.[151]In the following lines quoted in the Heimskringla, it would seem to signify the Dii Manes.Tha gaf hann Trescegg Tröllum,Torf-Einarr drap Scurfo.Then gave he Trescegg to the Trolls,Turf-Einarr slew Scurfo.[152]The ancient Gothic nation was called Troll by their Vandal neighbours (Junii Batavia, c. 27); according to Sir J. Malcolm, the Tartars call the Chinese Deevs. It was formerly believed, says Ihre, that the noble family of Troll, in Sweden, derived their name from having killed a Troll, that is, probably, a Dwarf.[153]Arndt, Reise nach Schweden, vol. iii. p. 8.[154]Like our Fairies the Trolls are sometimes of marvellously small dimensions: in the Danish ballad of Eline af Villenskov we read—Del da meldte den mindste Trold,Han var ikke större end en myre,Her er kommet en Christen mand,Den maa jag visseligen styre.Out then spake the tinyest Troll,No bigger than an emmet was he,Hither is come a Christian man,And manage him will I surelie.[155]Thiele, i. 36.[156]For this they seem to be indebted to their hat or cap. Eske Brok being one day in the fields, knocked off, without knowing it, the hat of a Dwarf who instantly became visible, and had, in order to recover it, to grant him every thing he asked. Thiele iii. 49. This hat answers to the Tarnkappe or Hel-kaplein of the German Dwarfs; who also become visible when their caps are struck off.[157]In the Danish ballad of Eline af Villenskov the hero is calledTrolden graae, the Gray Trold, probably from the colour of his habiliments.[158]We deem it needless in future to refer to volume and page of Mr. Thiele's work. Those acquainted with the original will easily find the legends.[159]We have ventured to omit the Omquæd.I styren väll de Runor!(Manage well the runes!) The finalein Thynnè is marked merely to indicate that it is to be sounded.[160]Runeslag, literally Rune-stroke. Runes originally signified letters, and then songs. They were of two kinds, Maalrunor (Speech-runes), and Troll-runor (Magic-runes). These last were again divided into Skaderunor (Mischief-runes) and Hjelprunor (Help-runes), of each of which there were five kinds. See Verelius' notes to the Hervarar Saga, cap. 7.The power of music over all nature is a subject of frequent recurrence in northern poetry. Here all the wild animals are entranced by the magic tones of the harp; the meads flower, the trees put forth leaves; the knight, though grave and silent, is attracted, and even if inclined to stay away, he cannot restrain his horse.[161]Rosendelund.The wordLundsignifies any kind of grove, thicket, &c.[162]Not the island of Iceland, but a district in Norway of that name. By Berner-land, Geijer thinks is meant the land of Bern (Verona), the country of Dietrich, so celebrated in German romance.[163]Sabel och Mård.These furs are always mentioned in the northern ballads, as the royal rewards of distinguished actions.[164]This fine ancient Visa was taken down from recitation in West Gothland. The corresponding Danish one of Herr Tönne is much later.[165]Niebuhr, speaking of the Celsi Ramnes, says, "With us the salutation of blood relations wasWillkommen stolze Vetter(Welcome, proud cousins) and in the Danish ballads, proud (stolt) is a noble appellation of a maiden."—Römische Geschichte, 2d edit. vol. i. p. 316.It may be added, that in English,proudand the synonymous termstout(stolz,stolt) had also the sense of noble, high-born.Do now your devoir, yonge knightesproud.Knight's Tale.Up stood the queen and ladiesstout.Launfal.[166]Men jag vet at sorge är tung.[167]Wain, our readers hardly need be informed, originally signified any kind of carriage: see Faerie Queene,passim. It is the Ang. Sax. þǽn, and not a contraction ofwaggon.[168]From Vermland and Upland.[169]This we suppose to be the meaning ofhemmagifta, as it is that ofhemgift, the only word approaching to it that we have met in our dictionary.[170]Brandcreatur, a word of which we cannot ascertain the exact meaning. We doubt greatly if the followinghielmetabe helmets.[171]Grimm (Deut. Mythol. p. 435) has extracted this legend from the Bahuslän of Ödman, who, as he observes, and as we may see, relates it quite seriously, and with the real names of persons. It is we believe the only legend of the union of amanwith one of the hill-folk.[172]"Three kings' ransoms" is a common maximum with a Danish peasant when speaking of treasure.[173]"Rid paa det Bolde,Og ikke paa det Knolde."[174]Oral.This is an adventure common to many countries. The church of Vigersted in Zealand has a cup obtained in the same way. The man, in this case, took refuge in the church, and was there besieged by the Trolls till morning. The bridge of Hagbro in Jutland got its name from a similar event. When the man rode off with the silver jug from the beautiful maiden who presented it to him, an old crone set off in pursuit of him with such velocity, that she would surely have caught him, but that providentially he came to a running water. The pursuer, however, like Nannie with Tam o' Shanter, caught the horse's hind leg, but was only able to keep one of the cocks of his shoe: hence the bridge was called Hagbro,i. e.Cock Bridge.[175]Oral.Tiis Lake is in Zealand. It is the general belief of the peasantry that there are now very few Trolls in the country, for the ringing of bells has driven them all away, they, like the Stille-folk of the Germans, delighting in quiet and silence. It is said that a farmer having found a Troll sitting very disconsolate on a stone near Tiis Lake, and taking him at first for a decent Christian man, accosted him with—"Well! where are you going, friend?" "Ah!" said he, in a melancholy tone, "I am going off out of the country. I cannot live here any longer, they keep such eternal ringing and dinging!""There is a high hill," says Kalm (Resa, &c. p. 136), "near Botna in Sweden, in which formerly dwelt a Troll. When they got up bells in Botna church, and he heard the ringing of them, he is related to have said:"Det är så godt i det Botnaberg at bo,Vore ikke den leda Bjälleko.""Pleasant it were in Botnahill to dwell,Were it not for the sound of that plaguey bell."[176]This story is told by Rabelais with his characteristic humour and extravagance. As there are no Trolls in France, it is the devil who is deceived in the French version. A legend similar to this is told of the district of Lujhmân in Afghanistân (Masson, Narrative, etc., iii. 297); but there it was the Shâitan (Satan) that cheated the farmers. The legends are surely independent fictions.[177]Oral.Gudmanstrup is in Zealand. In Ouröe, a little island close to Zealand, there is a hill whence the Trolls used to come down and supply themselves with provisions out of the farmers' pantries. Niel Jensen, who lived close to the hill, finding that they were making, as he thought, over free with his provisions, took the liberty of putting a lock on the door through which they had access. But he had better have left it alone, for his daughter grew stone blind, and never recovered her sight till the lock was removed.—Resenii Atlas, i. 10. There is a similar story in Grimm's Deutsche Sagen, i. p. 55.[178]This legend is oral.[179]Tie stille, barn min!Imorgen kommer Fin,Fa'er din,Og gi'er dig Esbern Snares öine og hjerte at lege med.[180]Oral.Kallundborg is in Zealand. Mr. Thiele says he saw four pillars at the church. The same story is told of the cathedral of Lund in Funen, which was built by the Troll Finn at the desire of St. Laurentius.Of Esbern Snare, Holberg says, "The common people tell wonderful stories of him, and how the devil carried him off; which, with other things, will serve to prove that he was an able man."The German story of Rumpelstilzchen (Kinder and Haus-Märchen, No. 55) is similar to this legend. MM. Grimm, in their note on this story, notice the unexpected manner in which, in the Thousand and One Days, or Persian Tales, the princess Turandot learns the name of Calaf.[181]Wind och Veder!Du har satt spiran spedar!Others say it wasBlaster! sätt spiran väster!Blester! set the pinnacle westwards!Or,Slät! sätt spiran rätt!Slätt! set the pinnacle straight![182]Afzelius Sago-häfder, iii. 83. Grimm, Deut. Mythol. p. 515.[183]This event happened in Jutland. The Troll's dread of thunder seems to be founded in the mythologic narratives of Thor's enmity to the Trolls.[184]Groute, DanishGröd, is a species of food like furmety, made of shelled oats or barley. It is boiled and eaten with milk or butter.[185]Hör du Plat,Siig til din Kat,At Knurremurre er död.[186]The scene of this story is in Zealand. The same is related of a hill called Ornehöi in the same island. The writer has heard it in Ireland, but they were cats who addressed the man as he passed by the churchyard where they were assembled.[187]This legend was orally related to Mr. Thiele.[188]Hülpher, Samlingen om Jämtland. Westeras, 1775. p. 210ap.Grimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 425.[189]Ödmans Bahuslän,ap.Grimm. Deut. Mythol. p. 426. Ödman also tells of a man who, as he was going along one day with his dog, came on a hill-smith at his work, using a stone as an anvil. He had on him a light grey coat and a black woollen hat. The dog began to bark at him, but he put on so menacing an attitude that they both deemed it advisable to go away.[190]Thiele, iv. 120. In both these legends we find the tradition of the artistic skill of the Duergar and of Völundr still retained by the peasantry: see Tales and Popular Fictions, p. 270.[191]Thiele, iv. 21. In Otmar's Volksagen, there is a German legend of Peter Klaus, who slept a sleep of twenty years in the bowling green of the Kyffhäuser, from which Washington Irving made his Ripp van Winkle. We shall also find it in the Highlands of Scotland. It is the Irish legend of Clough na Cuddy, so extremely well told by Mr. C. Croker (to which, by the way, we contributed a Latin song), in the notes to which further information will be found. The Seven Sleepers seems to be the original.[192]Oral.See theYoung Piperand the Brewery of Egg-shells in the Irish Fairy Legends, with the notes. The same story is also to be found in Germany where the object is to make the changeling laugh. The mother breaks an egg in two and sets water down to boil in each half shell. The imp then cries out: "Well! I'm as old as the Westerwald, but never before saw I any one cooking in egg-shells," and burst out laughing at it. Instantly the true child was returned.—Kinder and Haus-Märchen, iii. 39. Grose also tells the story in his Provincial Glossary. The mother there breaks a dozen of eggs and sets the shells before the child, who says, "I was seven years old when I came to nurse, and I have lived four since, and yet I never saw so many milkpans." See also Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and below,Wales,Brittany,France.[193]This legend is taken from Resenn Atlas, i. 36.[194]Vendsyssel and Aalborg are both in North Jutland.—The story is told by the ferrymen to travellers: see Mythology of Greece and Italy, p. 68.[195]See above p.89. According to what Mr. Thiele was told in Zealand, Svend Fælling must have been of prodigious size, for there is a hill near Steenstrup on which he used to sit while he washed his feet and hands in the sea, about half a quarter of a mile distant. The people of Holmstrup dressed a dinner for him, and brought it to him in large brewing vessels, much as the good people of Lilliput did with Gulliver. This reminds us of Holger Danske, who once wanted a new suit of clothes. Twelve tailors were employed: they set ladders to his back and shoulders, as was done to Gulliver, and they measured away; but the man that was highest on the right side ladder chanced, as he was cutting a mark in the measure, to clip Holger's ear. Holger, forgetting what it was, hastily put up his hand to his head, caught the poor tailor, and crushed him to death between his fingers.[196]This tale was taken from oral recitation by Dr. Grimm, and inserted in Hauff's Märchenalmanach for 1827. Dr. Grimm's fidelity to tradition is too well known to leave any doubt of its genuineness.[197]Aslög (Light of the Aser) is the name of the lovely daughter of Sigurd and Brynhilda, who became the wife of Ragnar Lodbrok. How beautiful and romantic is the account in the Volsunga Saga of old Heimer taking her, when an infant, and carrying her about with him in his harp, to save her from those who sought her life as the last of Sigurd's race; his retiring to remote streams and waterfalls to wash her, and his stilling her cries by the music of his harp![198]This is Saint Oluf or Olave, the warlike apostle of the North.[199]A legend similar to this is told of Saint Oluf in various parts of Scandinavia. The following is an example:—As he was sailing by the high strand-hills in Hornsherred, in which a giantess abode, she cried out to him,Saint Oluf with the red beard hear!My cellar-wall thou'rt sailing too near!Oluf was incensed, and instead of guiding the ship through the rocks, he turned it toward the hill, replying:Hearken thou witch with thy spindle and rock!There shalt thou sit and be a stone-block!and scarcely had he spoken when the hill burst and the giantess was turned into stone. She is still seen sitting on the east side with her rock and spindle; out of the opposite mass sprang a holy well. Grimm. Deutsche Mythologie, p. 516.[200]Nisse, Grimm thinks (Deut. Mythol. p. 472) is Niels, Nielsen,i. e.Nicolaus, Niclas, a common name in Germany and the North, which is also contracted to Klas, Claas.[201]WilseapGrimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 479, who thinks he may have confounded the Nis with the Nöck.[202]The places mentioned in the following stories are all in Jutland. It is remarkable that we seem to have scarcely any Nis stories from Sweden.[203]This story is current in Germany, England, and Ireland. In the German story the farmer set fire to his barn to burn the Kobold in it. As he was driving off, he turned round to look at the blaze, and, to his no small mortification, saw the Kobold behind him in the cart, crying "It was time for us to come out—it was time for us to come out!"[204]Afzelius, Sago Häfdar., ii. 169. On Christmas-morning, he says, the peasantry gives the Tomte, his wages,i. e.a piece of grey cloth, tobacco, and ashovelful of clay.[205]Bergsignifies a larger eminence, mountain, hill;Hög, a height, hillock. TheHög-folkare Elves and musicians.[206]The Danish peasantry in Wormius' time described the Nökke (Nikke) as a monster with a human head, that dwells both in fresh and salt water. When any one was drowned, they said,Nökken tog ham bort(the Nökke took him away); and when any drowned person was found with the nose red, they said the Nikke has sucked him:Nikken har suet ham.—Magnusen, Eddalære. Denmark being a country without any streams of magnitude, we meet in the Danske Folkesagn no legends of the Nökke; and in ballads, such as "The Power of the Harp," what in Sweden is ascribed to the Neck, is in Denmark imputed to the Havmand or Merman.[207]The Neck is also believed to appear in the form of a complete horse, and can be made to work at the plough, if a bridle of a particular description be employed.—Kalm's Vestgötha Resa.[208]Afzelius, Sago-häfdar, ii. 156.[209]Det tredje slag på gullharpan klang,Liten Kerstin räckta upp sin snöhvita arm.Min hjerteliga kär!J sägen mig hvarfor J sörjen![210]As sung in West Gothland and Vermland.[211]Fosseis the North of Englandforce.[212]Or a white kid, Fayeap.Grimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 461.[213]The Strömkarl has eleven different measures, to ten of which alone people may dance; the eleventh belongs to the night spirit his host. If any one plays it, tables and benches, cans and cups, old men and women, blind and lame, even the children in the cradle, begin to dance.—Arndt.ut sup., see above p.80.[214]In the Danske Viser and Folkesagn there are a few stories of Mermen, such as Rosmer Havmand and Marstig's Daughter, both translated by Dr. Jamieson, and Agnete and the Merman, which resembles Proud Margaret. It was natural, says Afzelius, that what in Sweden was related of a Hill King, should, in Denmark, be ascribed to a Merman.[215]The appearance of the Wood-woman (Skogsfru) or Elve-woman, is equally unlucky for hunters. She also approaches the fires, and seeks to seduce young men.[216]Arvidsson, ii. 320,ap.Grimm, p. 463.[217]This is a ballad from Småland. Magnus was the youngest son of Gustavus Vasa. He died out of his mind. It is well known that insanity pervaded the Vasa family for centuries.[218]This was plainly a theory of the monks. It greatly resembles the Rabbinical account of the origin of the Mazckeen, which the reader will meet in the sequel.Some Icelanders of the present day say, that one day, when Eve was washing her children at the running water, God suddenly called her. She was frightened, and thrust aside such of them as were not clean. God asked her if all her children were there, and she said, Yes; but got for answer, that what she tried to hide from God should be hidden from man. These children became instantly invisible and distinct from the rest. Before the flood came on, God put them into a cave and closed up the entrance. From them are descended all the underground-people.—Magnussen,Eddalære.[219]This was one Janus Gudmund, who wrote several treatises on this and similar subjects, particularly one "De Alfis et Alfheimum," which the learned bishop characterises as a work "nullins pretii, et meras nugas continens." We might, if we were to see it, be of a different opinion. Of Janus Gudmund Brynj Svenonius thus expresses himself to Wormius:Janus Gudmundius, ære dirutus verius quam rude donatus, sibi et aliis inutilis in angulo consenuit. Worm., Epist., 970.[220]The Icelandic dwarfs, it would appear, wore red clothes. In Nial's Saga (p. 70), a person gaily dressed (i litklædum) is jocularly called Red-elf (raud-álfr).[221]There was a book of prophecies called theKruckspá, or Prophecy of Kruck, a man who was said to have lived in the 15th century. It treated of the change of religion and other matters said to have been revealed to him by the Dwarfs. Johannæus says it was forged by Brynjalf Svenonius in or about the year 1660.[222]Finni Johannæi Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiæ, tom. ii. p. 368. Havniæ, 1774. We believe we might safely add, is held at the present day, for the superstition is no more extinct in Iceland than elsewhere.[223]Svenska Visor, iii. 128. Grimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 458. At Bahus, in Sweden, a clever man contrived to throw on him an ingeniously made bridle so that he could not get away, and he ploughed all his land with him. One time the bridle fell off and the Neck, like a flash of fire, sprang into the lake and dragged the harrow down with him. Grimm,ut sup., see p. 148.[224]Færoæ et Færoa reserata. Lond. 1676.[225]Thiele, iii. 51, from the MS. Travels of Svaboe in the Feroes.[226]Description of the Shetland Islands. Edinburgh, 1822.[227]Edmonston's View, &c., of Zetland Islands. Edin. 1809.[228]We need hardly to remind the reader that in what precedes Dr. Hibbert is to be regarded as the narrator in 1822.[229]Edmonston,ut supra.[230]Dr. Hibbert says he could get but little satisfaction from the Shetlanders respecting this submarine country.[231]Stacksorskerriesare bare rocks out in the sea.[232]Avoeis a small bay.[233]See below,Germany.[234]Description of Orkney, Zetland, &c. Edin. 1703.[235]Reg. Scot. Discoverie of Witchcraft, b. 2. c. 4. Lond. 1665.[236]Quarterly Review, vol. xxii. p. 367.[237]Arndt, Märchen und Jugenderinnerungen. Berlin, 1818.[238]See above p.96.[239]A Danish legend (Thiele, i. 79) tells the same of the sand-hills of Nestved in Zealand. A Troll who dwelt near it wished to destroy it, and for that purpose he went down to the sea-shore and filled his wallet with sand and threw it on his back. Fortunately there was a hole in the wallet, and so many sand-hills fell out of it, that when he came to Nestved there only remained enough to form one hill more. Another Troll, to punish a farmer filled one of his gloves with sand, which sufficed to cover his victim's house completely. With what remained in the fingers he formed a row of hillocks near it.[240]Grimm, Deut. Myth., p. 502.[241]Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, i. p. 70.[242]Grimm also appears to regard them as genuine.[243]The population of Lusatia (Lausatz) is like that of Pomerania and Rügen, Vendish. Hence, perhaps, it is that in the Lusatian tale of the Fairy-sabbath, we meet with caps with bells, and a descent into the interior of a mountain in a kind of boat as in this tale: Wilcomm, Sagen und Märchen aus der Oberlausitz. Hanov. 1843. Blackwood's Magazine for June, 1844.[244]Hinrich Vick's of course, for he is the narrator.[245]The only remnant isAlp, the nightmare; theelfenof modern writers is merely an adoption of the Englishelves.[246]The edition of this poem which we have used, is that by Schönhuth, Leipzig, 1841.[247]Tarn fromtaren, to dare, says Dobenek, because it gave courage along with invisibility. It comes more probably we think from the old Germanternen, to hide. Kappe is properly a cloak, though the Tarnkappe or Nebelkappe is generally represented as a cap, or hat.[248]Fromhehlen, to conceal.[249]Horny Siegfred; for when he slew the dragon, he bathed himself in his blood, and became horny and invulnerable everywhere except in one spot between his shoulders, where a linden leaf stuck. In the Nibelungen Lied, (st. 100), Hagene says,

A maid that is a messingereAnd adwerkème brought here,Her to do socoúr.Lybeaus Disconus.

lastly,dwarf, as in old Swedish.

[122]Danske Folkesagn, 4 vols. 12mo. Copenh. 1818-22.

[123]Udvalgde Danske Viser fra Middelaldaren, 5 vols. 12mo. Copenh. 1812.

[124]Svenska Folk-Visor från Forntiden, 3 vols. 8vo. Stockholm, 1814-16. We have not seen the late collection of Arvidsson named Svenska Fornsånger, in 3 vols. 8vo.

[125]The reader will find a beautiful instance of a double Omquæd in the Scottish ballad of the Cruel Sister.

There were two sisters sat in a bower,Binnōrie o BinnōrieThere came a knight to be their wooerBy the bonny mill-dams of Binnōrie.

And in the Cruel Brother,

There were three ladies played at the ba',With a heigh ho and a lily gay;There came a knight and played o'er them a',As the primrose spreads so sweetly.

The second and fourth lines are repeated in every stanza.

[126]These are the Swedish verses:

Det växte uppLiljorpå begge deres graf,Med äran och med dygd—De växte tilsamman med alla sina blad.J vinnen väl, J vinnen väl både rosor och liljor.Det växte uppRosorur båda deras mun,Med äran och med dygd—De växte tilsammans i fagreste lund.J vinnen väl, J vinnen väl både rosor och liljor.

[127]Some readers may wish to know the proper mode of pronouncing such Danish and Swedish words as occur in the following legends. For their satisfaction we give the following information. J is pronounced as oury; when it comes between a consonant and a vowel, it is very short, like the y that is expressed, but not written, in many English words aftercandg: thuskjæris pronounced very nearly ascare:ösounds like the Germanö, or Frencheu:dafter another consonant is rarely sounded, Trold is pronounced Troll:aa, which the Swedes writeå, as o inmore,tore. Aarhuus is pronouncedOre-hoos.

[128]That is, Wise People or Conjurors. They answer to the Fairy-women of Ireland.

[129]Afzelius is of opinion that this notion respecting the Hill-people is derived from the time of the introduction of Christianity into the north, and expresses the sympathy of the first converts with their forefathers, who had died without a knowledge of the Redeemer, and lay buried in heathen earth, and whose unhappy spirits were doomed to wander about these lower regions, or sigh within their mounds till the great day of redemption.

[130]"About fifteen years ago," says Ödman (Bahuslän, p. 80), "people used to hear, out of the hill under Gärun, in the parish of Tanum, the playing, as it were, of the very best musicians. Any one there who had a fiddle, and wished to play, was taught in an instant, provided they promised them salvation; but whoever did not do so, might hear them within, in the hill, breaking their violins to pieces, and weeping bitterly." See Grimm. Deut. Myth. 461.

[131]Arndt, Reise nach Schweden, iv. 241.

[132]Svenska Folk-Visor, vol. iii. p. 159. There is a similar legend in Germany. A servant, one time, seeing one of the little ones very hard-set to carry a single grain of wheat, burst out laughing at him. In a rage, he threw it on the ground, and it proved to be the purest gold. But he and his comrades quitted the house, and it speedily went to decay.—Strack. Beschr. v. Eilsen, p. 124,ap.Grimm, Introd., etc., p. 90.

[133]Thiele, vol. iv. p. 22. They are called Trolls in the original. As they had a king, we think they must have been Elves. The Dwarfs have long since abolished monarchy.

[134]The greater part of what precedes has been taken from Afzelius in the Svenska Visor, vol. iii.

[135]Thiele, iv. 26.

[136]In the distinction which we have made between the Elves and Dwarfs we find that we are justified by the popular creed of the Norwegians.—Faye, p. 49,ap.Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 412.

[137]Svenska Visor, iii. 158, as sung in Upland and East Gothland.

[138]Svenska Visor, iii. 165, from a MS. in the Royal Library. This and the preceding one are variations of the Danish Ballad of Elveskud, which has been translated by Dr. Jamieson (Popular Ballads, i. 219), and by Lewis in the Tales of Wonder. The Swedish editors give a third variation from East Gothland. A comparison of the two ballads with each other, and with the Danish one, will enable the reader to judge of the modifications a subject undergoes in different parts of a country.

[139]Svenska Visor, iii. p. 170. This is the Elveshöj of the Danish ballads, translated by Jamieson (i. 225), and by Lewis. In the different Swedish variations, they are Hafsfruen, i. e. Mermaids, who attempt to seduce young men to their love by the offer of costly presents.

A Danish legend (Thiele, i. 22) relates that a poor man, who was working near Gillesbjerg, a haunted hill, lay down on it to rest himself in the middle of the day. Suddenly there appeared before him a beautiful maiden, with a gold cup in her hand. She made signs to him to come near, but when the man in his fright made the sign of the cross, she was obliged to turn round and then he saw her back that it was hollow.

[140]Thiele, ii. 67. Framley is in Jutland. Svend (i. e.Swain) Fælling is a celebrated character in Danish tradition; he is regarded as a second Holger Danske, and he is the hero of two of the Kjempe Viser. In Sweden he is named Sven Färling or Fotling. Grimm has shown that he and Sigurd are the same person. Deutsche Mythologie, p. 345. In the Nibelungen Lied (st. 345) Sifret (Sigurd) gets the strength of twelve men by wearing thetarnkappeof the dwarf Albrich. Another tradition, presently to be mentioned, says it was from a Dwarf he got his strength, for aiding him in battle against another Dwarf. It is added, that when Svend came home in the evening, after his adventure with the Elle-maids, the people were drinking their Yule-beer, and they sent him down for a fresh supply. Svend went without saying anything, and returned with a barrel in each hand and one under each arm.

[141]Thiele, iii. 43. Odense is in Funen.

[142]Thiele, i. 109. (communicated). Such legends, as Mr. Thiele learned directly from the mouths of the peasantry, he termsoral; those he procured from his friends,communicated. Œsterhæsinge, the scene of this legend, is in the island of Funen.

[143]Thiele, i. 118. (communicated). Ebeltoft is a village in North Jutland.

[144]Thiele, iv. 32. From the circumstances, it would appear that these were Elves and not Dwarfs; but one cannot be positive in these matters.

[145]Möen and Stevns are in Zealand. As Rügen does not belong to the Danish monarchy, the former tradition is probably the more correct one. Yet the latter may be the original one.

[146]Bornholm is aholm, or small island, adjacent to Zealand.

[147]The Elle-king of Stevns has his bedchamber in the wall of this church.

[148]This is evidently the Frau Holle of the Germans.

[149]The preceding particulars are all derived from M. Thiele's work.

[150]There is no etymon of this word. It is to be found in both the Icelandic and the Finnish languages; whether the latter borrowed or communicated it is uncertain. Ihre derives the name of the celebrated waterfall of Trollhæta, near Göttenburg, from Troll, and HauteLapponice, an abyss. It therefore answers to the IrishPoul-a-Phooka. SeeIreland.

[151]In the following lines quoted in the Heimskringla, it would seem to signify the Dii Manes.

Tha gaf hann Trescegg Tröllum,Torf-Einarr drap Scurfo.Then gave he Trescegg to the Trolls,Turf-Einarr slew Scurfo.

Tha gaf hann Trescegg Tröllum,Torf-Einarr drap Scurfo.

Then gave he Trescegg to the Trolls,Turf-Einarr slew Scurfo.

[152]The ancient Gothic nation was called Troll by their Vandal neighbours (Junii Batavia, c. 27); according to Sir J. Malcolm, the Tartars call the Chinese Deevs. It was formerly believed, says Ihre, that the noble family of Troll, in Sweden, derived their name from having killed a Troll, that is, probably, a Dwarf.

[153]Arndt, Reise nach Schweden, vol. iii. p. 8.

[154]Like our Fairies the Trolls are sometimes of marvellously small dimensions: in the Danish ballad of Eline af Villenskov we read—

Del da meldte den mindste Trold,Han var ikke större end en myre,Her er kommet en Christen mand,Den maa jag visseligen styre.Out then spake the tinyest Troll,No bigger than an emmet was he,Hither is come a Christian man,And manage him will I surelie.

Del da meldte den mindste Trold,Han var ikke större end en myre,Her er kommet en Christen mand,Den maa jag visseligen styre.

Out then spake the tinyest Troll,No bigger than an emmet was he,Hither is come a Christian man,And manage him will I surelie.

[155]Thiele, i. 36.

[156]For this they seem to be indebted to their hat or cap. Eske Brok being one day in the fields, knocked off, without knowing it, the hat of a Dwarf who instantly became visible, and had, in order to recover it, to grant him every thing he asked. Thiele iii. 49. This hat answers to the Tarnkappe or Hel-kaplein of the German Dwarfs; who also become visible when their caps are struck off.

[157]In the Danish ballad of Eline af Villenskov the hero is calledTrolden graae, the Gray Trold, probably from the colour of his habiliments.

[158]We deem it needless in future to refer to volume and page of Mr. Thiele's work. Those acquainted with the original will easily find the legends.

[159]We have ventured to omit the Omquæd.I styren väll de Runor!(Manage well the runes!) The finalein Thynnè is marked merely to indicate that it is to be sounded.

[160]Runeslag, literally Rune-stroke. Runes originally signified letters, and then songs. They were of two kinds, Maalrunor (Speech-runes), and Troll-runor (Magic-runes). These last were again divided into Skaderunor (Mischief-runes) and Hjelprunor (Help-runes), of each of which there were five kinds. See Verelius' notes to the Hervarar Saga, cap. 7.

The power of music over all nature is a subject of frequent recurrence in northern poetry. Here all the wild animals are entranced by the magic tones of the harp; the meads flower, the trees put forth leaves; the knight, though grave and silent, is attracted, and even if inclined to stay away, he cannot restrain his horse.

[161]Rosendelund.The wordLundsignifies any kind of grove, thicket, &c.

[162]Not the island of Iceland, but a district in Norway of that name. By Berner-land, Geijer thinks is meant the land of Bern (Verona), the country of Dietrich, so celebrated in German romance.

[163]Sabel och Mård.These furs are always mentioned in the northern ballads, as the royal rewards of distinguished actions.

[164]This fine ancient Visa was taken down from recitation in West Gothland. The corresponding Danish one of Herr Tönne is much later.

[165]Niebuhr, speaking of the Celsi Ramnes, says, "With us the salutation of blood relations wasWillkommen stolze Vetter(Welcome, proud cousins) and in the Danish ballads, proud (stolt) is a noble appellation of a maiden."—Römische Geschichte, 2d edit. vol. i. p. 316.

It may be added, that in English,proudand the synonymous termstout(stolz,stolt) had also the sense of noble, high-born.

Do now your devoir, yonge knightesproud.Knight's Tale.Up stood the queen and ladiesstout.Launfal.

Do now your devoir, yonge knightesproud.Knight's Tale.

Up stood the queen and ladiesstout.Launfal.

[166]Men jag vet at sorge är tung.

[167]Wain, our readers hardly need be informed, originally signified any kind of carriage: see Faerie Queene,passim. It is the Ang. Sax. þǽn, and not a contraction ofwaggon.

[168]From Vermland and Upland.

[169]This we suppose to be the meaning ofhemmagifta, as it is that ofhemgift, the only word approaching to it that we have met in our dictionary.

[170]Brandcreatur, a word of which we cannot ascertain the exact meaning. We doubt greatly if the followinghielmetabe helmets.

[171]Grimm (Deut. Mythol. p. 435) has extracted this legend from the Bahuslän of Ödman, who, as he observes, and as we may see, relates it quite seriously, and with the real names of persons. It is we believe the only legend of the union of amanwith one of the hill-folk.

[172]"Three kings' ransoms" is a common maximum with a Danish peasant when speaking of treasure.

[173]

"Rid paa det Bolde,Og ikke paa det Knolde."

[174]Oral.This is an adventure common to many countries. The church of Vigersted in Zealand has a cup obtained in the same way. The man, in this case, took refuge in the church, and was there besieged by the Trolls till morning. The bridge of Hagbro in Jutland got its name from a similar event. When the man rode off with the silver jug from the beautiful maiden who presented it to him, an old crone set off in pursuit of him with such velocity, that she would surely have caught him, but that providentially he came to a running water. The pursuer, however, like Nannie with Tam o' Shanter, caught the horse's hind leg, but was only able to keep one of the cocks of his shoe: hence the bridge was called Hagbro,i. e.Cock Bridge.

[175]Oral.Tiis Lake is in Zealand. It is the general belief of the peasantry that there are now very few Trolls in the country, for the ringing of bells has driven them all away, they, like the Stille-folk of the Germans, delighting in quiet and silence. It is said that a farmer having found a Troll sitting very disconsolate on a stone near Tiis Lake, and taking him at first for a decent Christian man, accosted him with—"Well! where are you going, friend?" "Ah!" said he, in a melancholy tone, "I am going off out of the country. I cannot live here any longer, they keep such eternal ringing and dinging!"

"There is a high hill," says Kalm (Resa, &c. p. 136), "near Botna in Sweden, in which formerly dwelt a Troll. When they got up bells in Botna church, and he heard the ringing of them, he is related to have said:

"Det är så godt i det Botnaberg at bo,Vore ikke den leda Bjälleko.""Pleasant it were in Botnahill to dwell,Were it not for the sound of that plaguey bell."

"Det är så godt i det Botnaberg at bo,Vore ikke den leda Bjälleko."

"Pleasant it were in Botnahill to dwell,Were it not for the sound of that plaguey bell."

[176]This story is told by Rabelais with his characteristic humour and extravagance. As there are no Trolls in France, it is the devil who is deceived in the French version. A legend similar to this is told of the district of Lujhmân in Afghanistân (Masson, Narrative, etc., iii. 297); but there it was the Shâitan (Satan) that cheated the farmers. The legends are surely independent fictions.

[177]Oral.Gudmanstrup is in Zealand. In Ouröe, a little island close to Zealand, there is a hill whence the Trolls used to come down and supply themselves with provisions out of the farmers' pantries. Niel Jensen, who lived close to the hill, finding that they were making, as he thought, over free with his provisions, took the liberty of putting a lock on the door through which they had access. But he had better have left it alone, for his daughter grew stone blind, and never recovered her sight till the lock was removed.—Resenii Atlas, i. 10. There is a similar story in Grimm's Deutsche Sagen, i. p. 55.

[178]This legend is oral.

[179]

Tie stille, barn min!Imorgen kommer Fin,Fa'er din,Og gi'er dig Esbern Snares öine og hjerte at lege med.

[180]Oral.Kallundborg is in Zealand. Mr. Thiele says he saw four pillars at the church. The same story is told of the cathedral of Lund in Funen, which was built by the Troll Finn at the desire of St. Laurentius.

Of Esbern Snare, Holberg says, "The common people tell wonderful stories of him, and how the devil carried him off; which, with other things, will serve to prove that he was an able man."

The German story of Rumpelstilzchen (Kinder and Haus-Märchen, No. 55) is similar to this legend. MM. Grimm, in their note on this story, notice the unexpected manner in which, in the Thousand and One Days, or Persian Tales, the princess Turandot learns the name of Calaf.

[181]

Wind och Veder!Du har satt spiran spedar!

Others say it was

Blaster! sätt spiran väster!Blester! set the pinnacle westwards!

Or,

Slät! sätt spiran rätt!Slätt! set the pinnacle straight!

[182]Afzelius Sago-häfder, iii. 83. Grimm, Deut. Mythol. p. 515.

[183]This event happened in Jutland. The Troll's dread of thunder seems to be founded in the mythologic narratives of Thor's enmity to the Trolls.

[184]Groute, DanishGröd, is a species of food like furmety, made of shelled oats or barley. It is boiled and eaten with milk or butter.

[185]

Hör du Plat,Siig til din Kat,At Knurremurre er död.

[186]The scene of this story is in Zealand. The same is related of a hill called Ornehöi in the same island. The writer has heard it in Ireland, but they were cats who addressed the man as he passed by the churchyard where they were assembled.

[187]This legend was orally related to Mr. Thiele.

[188]Hülpher, Samlingen om Jämtland. Westeras, 1775. p. 210ap.Grimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 425.

[189]Ödmans Bahuslän,ap.Grimm. Deut. Mythol. p. 426. Ödman also tells of a man who, as he was going along one day with his dog, came on a hill-smith at his work, using a stone as an anvil. He had on him a light grey coat and a black woollen hat. The dog began to bark at him, but he put on so menacing an attitude that they both deemed it advisable to go away.

[190]Thiele, iv. 120. In both these legends we find the tradition of the artistic skill of the Duergar and of Völundr still retained by the peasantry: see Tales and Popular Fictions, p. 270.

[191]Thiele, iv. 21. In Otmar's Volksagen, there is a German legend of Peter Klaus, who slept a sleep of twenty years in the bowling green of the Kyffhäuser, from which Washington Irving made his Ripp van Winkle. We shall also find it in the Highlands of Scotland. It is the Irish legend of Clough na Cuddy, so extremely well told by Mr. C. Croker (to which, by the way, we contributed a Latin song), in the notes to which further information will be found. The Seven Sleepers seems to be the original.

[192]Oral.See theYoung Piperand the Brewery of Egg-shells in the Irish Fairy Legends, with the notes. The same story is also to be found in Germany where the object is to make the changeling laugh. The mother breaks an egg in two and sets water down to boil in each half shell. The imp then cries out: "Well! I'm as old as the Westerwald, but never before saw I any one cooking in egg-shells," and burst out laughing at it. Instantly the true child was returned.—Kinder and Haus-Märchen, iii. 39. Grose also tells the story in his Provincial Glossary. The mother there breaks a dozen of eggs and sets the shells before the child, who says, "I was seven years old when I came to nurse, and I have lived four since, and yet I never saw so many milkpans." See also Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and below,Wales,Brittany,France.

[193]This legend is taken from Resenn Atlas, i. 36.

[194]Vendsyssel and Aalborg are both in North Jutland.—The story is told by the ferrymen to travellers: see Mythology of Greece and Italy, p. 68.

[195]See above p.89. According to what Mr. Thiele was told in Zealand, Svend Fælling must have been of prodigious size, for there is a hill near Steenstrup on which he used to sit while he washed his feet and hands in the sea, about half a quarter of a mile distant. The people of Holmstrup dressed a dinner for him, and brought it to him in large brewing vessels, much as the good people of Lilliput did with Gulliver. This reminds us of Holger Danske, who once wanted a new suit of clothes. Twelve tailors were employed: they set ladders to his back and shoulders, as was done to Gulliver, and they measured away; but the man that was highest on the right side ladder chanced, as he was cutting a mark in the measure, to clip Holger's ear. Holger, forgetting what it was, hastily put up his hand to his head, caught the poor tailor, and crushed him to death between his fingers.

[196]This tale was taken from oral recitation by Dr. Grimm, and inserted in Hauff's Märchenalmanach for 1827. Dr. Grimm's fidelity to tradition is too well known to leave any doubt of its genuineness.

[197]Aslög (Light of the Aser) is the name of the lovely daughter of Sigurd and Brynhilda, who became the wife of Ragnar Lodbrok. How beautiful and romantic is the account in the Volsunga Saga of old Heimer taking her, when an infant, and carrying her about with him in his harp, to save her from those who sought her life as the last of Sigurd's race; his retiring to remote streams and waterfalls to wash her, and his stilling her cries by the music of his harp!

[198]This is Saint Oluf or Olave, the warlike apostle of the North.

[199]A legend similar to this is told of Saint Oluf in various parts of Scandinavia. The following is an example:—As he was sailing by the high strand-hills in Hornsherred, in which a giantess abode, she cried out to him,

Saint Oluf with the red beard hear!My cellar-wall thou'rt sailing too near!

Oluf was incensed, and instead of guiding the ship through the rocks, he turned it toward the hill, replying:

Hearken thou witch with thy spindle and rock!There shalt thou sit and be a stone-block!

and scarcely had he spoken when the hill burst and the giantess was turned into stone. She is still seen sitting on the east side with her rock and spindle; out of the opposite mass sprang a holy well. Grimm. Deutsche Mythologie, p. 516.

[200]Nisse, Grimm thinks (Deut. Mythol. p. 472) is Niels, Nielsen,i. e.Nicolaus, Niclas, a common name in Germany and the North, which is also contracted to Klas, Claas.

[201]WilseapGrimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 479, who thinks he may have confounded the Nis with the Nöck.

[202]The places mentioned in the following stories are all in Jutland. It is remarkable that we seem to have scarcely any Nis stories from Sweden.

[203]This story is current in Germany, England, and Ireland. In the German story the farmer set fire to his barn to burn the Kobold in it. As he was driving off, he turned round to look at the blaze, and, to his no small mortification, saw the Kobold behind him in the cart, crying "It was time for us to come out—it was time for us to come out!"

[204]Afzelius, Sago Häfdar., ii. 169. On Christmas-morning, he says, the peasantry gives the Tomte, his wages,i. e.a piece of grey cloth, tobacco, and ashovelful of clay.

[205]Bergsignifies a larger eminence, mountain, hill;Hög, a height, hillock. TheHög-folkare Elves and musicians.

[206]The Danish peasantry in Wormius' time described the Nökke (Nikke) as a monster with a human head, that dwells both in fresh and salt water. When any one was drowned, they said,Nökken tog ham bort(the Nökke took him away); and when any drowned person was found with the nose red, they said the Nikke has sucked him:Nikken har suet ham.—Magnusen, Eddalære. Denmark being a country without any streams of magnitude, we meet in the Danske Folkesagn no legends of the Nökke; and in ballads, such as "The Power of the Harp," what in Sweden is ascribed to the Neck, is in Denmark imputed to the Havmand or Merman.

[207]The Neck is also believed to appear in the form of a complete horse, and can be made to work at the plough, if a bridle of a particular description be employed.—Kalm's Vestgötha Resa.

[208]Afzelius, Sago-häfdar, ii. 156.

[209]

Det tredje slag på gullharpan klang,Liten Kerstin räckta upp sin snöhvita arm.Min hjerteliga kär!J sägen mig hvarfor J sörjen!

[210]As sung in West Gothland and Vermland.

[211]Fosseis the North of Englandforce.

[212]Or a white kid, Fayeap.Grimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 461.

[213]The Strömkarl has eleven different measures, to ten of which alone people may dance; the eleventh belongs to the night spirit his host. If any one plays it, tables and benches, cans and cups, old men and women, blind and lame, even the children in the cradle, begin to dance.—Arndt.ut sup., see above p.80.

[214]In the Danske Viser and Folkesagn there are a few stories of Mermen, such as Rosmer Havmand and Marstig's Daughter, both translated by Dr. Jamieson, and Agnete and the Merman, which resembles Proud Margaret. It was natural, says Afzelius, that what in Sweden was related of a Hill King, should, in Denmark, be ascribed to a Merman.

[215]The appearance of the Wood-woman (Skogsfru) or Elve-woman, is equally unlucky for hunters. She also approaches the fires, and seeks to seduce young men.

[216]Arvidsson, ii. 320,ap.Grimm, p. 463.

[217]This is a ballad from Småland. Magnus was the youngest son of Gustavus Vasa. He died out of his mind. It is well known that insanity pervaded the Vasa family for centuries.

[218]This was plainly a theory of the monks. It greatly resembles the Rabbinical account of the origin of the Mazckeen, which the reader will meet in the sequel.

Some Icelanders of the present day say, that one day, when Eve was washing her children at the running water, God suddenly called her. She was frightened, and thrust aside such of them as were not clean. God asked her if all her children were there, and she said, Yes; but got for answer, that what she tried to hide from God should be hidden from man. These children became instantly invisible and distinct from the rest. Before the flood came on, God put them into a cave and closed up the entrance. From them are descended all the underground-people.—Magnussen,Eddalære.

[219]This was one Janus Gudmund, who wrote several treatises on this and similar subjects, particularly one "De Alfis et Alfheimum," which the learned bishop characterises as a work "nullins pretii, et meras nugas continens." We might, if we were to see it, be of a different opinion. Of Janus Gudmund Brynj Svenonius thus expresses himself to Wormius:Janus Gudmundius, ære dirutus verius quam rude donatus, sibi et aliis inutilis in angulo consenuit. Worm., Epist., 970.

[220]The Icelandic dwarfs, it would appear, wore red clothes. In Nial's Saga (p. 70), a person gaily dressed (i litklædum) is jocularly called Red-elf (raud-álfr).

[221]There was a book of prophecies called theKruckspá, or Prophecy of Kruck, a man who was said to have lived in the 15th century. It treated of the change of religion and other matters said to have been revealed to him by the Dwarfs. Johannæus says it was forged by Brynjalf Svenonius in or about the year 1660.

[222]Finni Johannæi Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiæ, tom. ii. p. 368. Havniæ, 1774. We believe we might safely add, is held at the present day, for the superstition is no more extinct in Iceland than elsewhere.

[223]Svenska Visor, iii. 128. Grimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 458. At Bahus, in Sweden, a clever man contrived to throw on him an ingeniously made bridle so that he could not get away, and he ploughed all his land with him. One time the bridle fell off and the Neck, like a flash of fire, sprang into the lake and dragged the harrow down with him. Grimm,ut sup., see p. 148.

[224]Færoæ et Færoa reserata. Lond. 1676.

[225]Thiele, iii. 51, from the MS. Travels of Svaboe in the Feroes.

[226]Description of the Shetland Islands. Edinburgh, 1822.

[227]Edmonston's View, &c., of Zetland Islands. Edin. 1809.

[228]We need hardly to remind the reader that in what precedes Dr. Hibbert is to be regarded as the narrator in 1822.

[229]Edmonston,ut supra.

[230]Dr. Hibbert says he could get but little satisfaction from the Shetlanders respecting this submarine country.

[231]Stacksorskerriesare bare rocks out in the sea.

[232]Avoeis a small bay.

[233]See below,Germany.

[234]Description of Orkney, Zetland, &c. Edin. 1703.

[235]Reg. Scot. Discoverie of Witchcraft, b. 2. c. 4. Lond. 1665.

[236]Quarterly Review, vol. xxii. p. 367.

[237]Arndt, Märchen und Jugenderinnerungen. Berlin, 1818.

[238]See above p.96.

[239]A Danish legend (Thiele, i. 79) tells the same of the sand-hills of Nestved in Zealand. A Troll who dwelt near it wished to destroy it, and for that purpose he went down to the sea-shore and filled his wallet with sand and threw it on his back. Fortunately there was a hole in the wallet, and so many sand-hills fell out of it, that when he came to Nestved there only remained enough to form one hill more. Another Troll, to punish a farmer filled one of his gloves with sand, which sufficed to cover his victim's house completely. With what remained in the fingers he formed a row of hillocks near it.

[240]Grimm, Deut. Myth., p. 502.

[241]Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, i. p. 70.

[242]Grimm also appears to regard them as genuine.

[243]The population of Lusatia (Lausatz) is like that of Pomerania and Rügen, Vendish. Hence, perhaps, it is that in the Lusatian tale of the Fairy-sabbath, we meet with caps with bells, and a descent into the interior of a mountain in a kind of boat as in this tale: Wilcomm, Sagen und Märchen aus der Oberlausitz. Hanov. 1843. Blackwood's Magazine for June, 1844.

[244]Hinrich Vick's of course, for he is the narrator.

[245]The only remnant isAlp, the nightmare; theelfenof modern writers is merely an adoption of the Englishelves.

[246]The edition of this poem which we have used, is that by Schönhuth, Leipzig, 1841.

[247]Tarn fromtaren, to dare, says Dobenek, because it gave courage along with invisibility. It comes more probably we think from the old Germanternen, to hide. Kappe is properly a cloak, though the Tarnkappe or Nebelkappe is generally represented as a cap, or hat.

[248]Fromhehlen, to conceal.

[249]Horny Siegfred; for when he slew the dragon, he bathed himself in his blood, and became horny and invulnerable everywhere except in one spot between his shoulders, where a linden leaf stuck. In the Nibelungen Lied, (st. 100), Hagene says,

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