NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY,
COMPRISING THE PRINCIPAL
POPULAR TRADITIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS
OF
SCANDINAVIA, NORTH GERMANY,
AND
THE NETHERLANDS.
COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL AND OTHER SOURCES,
BY
BENJAMIN THORPE,
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT MUNICH.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
SCANDINAVIAN POPULAR TRADITIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS
LONDON : EDWARD L U M L E Y,
SOUTHAMPTON STREET, BLOOM SBURY SQUARE. MDCCCLI.
PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
CONTENTS.
SCANDINAVIAN POPULAR TRADITIONS.
I. NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
Page
Introduction xi to xxviii
Thurser, Vsetter, Dwarfs, etc 1
Huldra or Hulla 2
Jutuls and Mountain-Giants 4
The Jutul on Hestmandoe 5
The Jutul's Bridge ib.
The Girl at the Sfeter 6
Gurri Kunnan 7
The Bridal Crown 9
The Bishop's Cattle 10
The Midwife 11
The Oiestad Horn 14
Huldre Marriage 15
The Nisse or Niss 16
The Werwolf 18
The Mara (Qvseldrytterinde) »A.
Ghosts 19
The Nok , 20
The Grim, or Fossegrim 23
iv CONTENTS.
Page
The ilore-Trold 23
The Brunmigi ib.
The Qvsernknurre ib.
The Finngalkn 24
Gertrud's Bird 25
Aasgaardsreia (Wild Hunt) ib,
The Merman (Marmennill) and Mermaid (Margygr) 27
The Sea-Snake 28
Dragons 31
The Severed Hand 32
Of St. Olaf 34
Of St. Olaf and the first Church in Norway 39
St. Olaf at Vaaler 40
St. Olaf at Ringerige „ 42
Axel Thordsen and Fair Valdborg 43
The Signe-Kjserring, or Witch , 47
II. SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
Christmas or Yule Pastimes 49
Modern Traditions of Odin 50
Modern Traditions of Thor 51
Of Rocking Stones and Thundering Stones 54
Superstitious Usage in Case of Theft ib.
Finnish Superstition , 55
Of Giants and Dwarfs 56
King Eric's Dream 58
Of Biorn the Swede, Ulf Jarl, and Cnut the Great 59
Christian-Heathen Traditions of Trolls, etc 61
OF ELVES 62
Of the Mount-Folk 63
Elfin Gardens 67
Of Bergtagning (Mount-taking) ib.
The Flying Elves 68
Lofjerskor 71
The Skogsra.— The Siora 73
CONTENTS. V
Page OF WATER ELVES.
I. The Mermaid 76
II. Fountain Maidens 77
III. The Neck and the Stromkarl 78
The Wild Hunt 83
Mystic Animals ib.
The Mountain Troll 1 85
II. Sten of Fogelkarr 86'
Ill 87
IV 88
The Trolls celebrate Christmas 89
Origin of the Noble Name of Trolle 91
The Giant's Path ib.
The Tomte or Swedish Niss ib.
Ravens. — Pyslingar and Mylingar. — Skrat 94
The Werwolf •%
Jack o' Lantern 97
The Ram in the Getaberg ib.
The Dragon, or White Serpent 98
The Uninvited Wedding Guests 100
Of Lund Cathedral 101
The Church-grim and the Church-lamb 102
Helige Thor's Kalla (Well) 103
Of the Virgin Mary ib.
Yule-Straw 104
The Biaraan, or Bare 105
Midsummer Eve 106
Christmas 107
The Cuckoo ib.
Swedish Popular Belief 108
III. DANISH TRADITIONS. TROLLS — BARROW- OR MOUNT-FOLK, ELF-FOLK, AND
DWARFS.
Origin of Trolls . 115
vi CONTENTS.
Page
Elf-Folk 116
The Klint-King on the Isle of Moen 124
The Underground Folk in Bornholm 125
The Mount-Folk borrow Beer 126
The Elf-Folk under the Hearth 127
Fru Mette ib.
The Underground Folk fetch a Midwife 128
Trolls at Uglerup 130
The Midwife of Fuur 131
Skotte 132
King Pippe is dead ib.
The Troll at Msehred 133
The Man in the Oxnebierg 134
The Unbidden Guests ib.
Ellevilde, or Elf-crazed 136
The Brudehb'i, or Bride Mount ib.
Hans PuntMer 137
The Aged Bride 138
Bondevette ib.
The Giant's Daughter and the Ploughman 140
Svend Fselling 141
Altar-Cups 144
Trolls in the Red Stone 148
The Troll's Glove 149
The Troll outwitted ib.
Raginal 150
Gillikop 151
The Trolls desire to be saved ib.
The Trolls' Fear of the Cross 152
The Trolls' Fear of Thunder ib.
The Trolls' Hatred of Bells 154
The Trolls forsake Vendsyssel 155
The Elf-folk forsake ^Ero 156
The Trolls cast Stones at Churches 158
The Nisse or Niss ib.
CONTENTS. All
Page
The Kirkegrim (Church-grim) 166
The Kirkegrim and the Strand-varsel ib.
Hyldemoer. — Elder 167
The Werwolf 168
The Mara 169
Mermen and Merwives 170
Changelings 174
How to distinguish a Changeling 175
THE DEVIL.
Friar Ruus 1/7
The Devil at Cards 179
A Scholar assigns himself to the Devil 180
The Devil's Footstep ib.
Jens Plovgaard 181
How the Devil allowed himself to be outwitted 182
The Lady of Kiolbygaard 183
A Feast with the Devil 184
The Book of Cyprianus 186
Of Witches 188
The Shipmaster of Aarhuus and the Finlap 193
Of Frit Skud 194
TRADITIONS OF SPECTRES.
The Flying Huntsman 195
Gron- Jette ib.
Pame-Jseger, or Paine the Hunter 196
Horns Jaeger 197
Jons Jseger 198
King Abel's Hunt ib.
King Valdemar's Hunt 199
Punishment for removing Land-marks 202
A Sunday's Child 203
Spectres in St. Knud's Church at Odense 204
Hans Nseb ib.
A Sagacious Woman 205
Master Mads and Herr Anders .. 206
Vlll CONTENTS.
Page
Of Dragons 207
The Dam-Horse 208
The Hel-Horse 209
The Church-Lamb 210
The Grave-Sow ib.
The Night-Raven ib.
The Jack o' Lantern 211
The Basilisk 212
The Jerusalem Shoemaker, or Wandering Jew, in Jutland ib.
OF LAKES, BOTTOMLESS POOLS, ETC.
Tiis Lake 213
The Sunken Mansion ,., 214
TRADITIONS OF WELLS.
Helen's Well 215
St. Knud's Well 217
Snogskilde (Snake's Well) ib.
The Sand-Hills at Nestved 218
OF TREES ib.
The Lonely Thorn 219
Of the Pestilence in Jutland ib.
The Rat-hunter ib.
HISTORICAL.
Habor and Signelil 220
Feggeklit 221
Jellinge Barrows ib.
Holger the Dane under Kronborg 222
Bishop William's Foot-mark 223
Bishop William's Death and Burial ib.
The Punishment of Inhumanity 225
Svend Grathe's Military Chest 226
The Two Church Towers ib.
Archbishop Absalon's Death 227
Dannebrog ib.
Dannebrog Ships 228
St. Niels (Nicholas), the Patron of Aarhuus ib.
CONTENTS. IX
Page
Little Kirsten's (Christine's) Grave 232
Marsk Stig ib.
King Valdemar and Queen Helvig 233
Queen Helvig and Falk Lohman 23(>
Queen Margaret when a Child ib.
Prophecy of King Frederic the First's Accession to the Throne 237 Spectacles Ducats ib.
OF HISTORICAL PERSONS, FAMILY TRADITIONS, ETC.
The Arms of the Bille Family 238
Herr Eske Brok ib.
The Half-full Bottle 23<>
Ilerr Erland Lhnbek 240
The Family of Monrad 241
The Name and Arms of the Rosenkrandses ib.
The Arms of the Trolle Family 243
Major General Svamvedel ib.
TRADITIONS OF TOWNS AND OTHER PLACES.
The Ramparts of Copenhagen 244
The Image of St. Oluf ib.
Secret Passages under Aalborg 245
OF CHURCHES AND CONVENTS.
Of Churches 24(1
The Tower of St. Mary's in Copenhagen ib.
The Chimes in the Tower of St. Nicholas 24 7
The Sea-Troll in the Issefiord ib.
Roeskilde Cathedral 24s
Veiby Church ib.
Kallundborg Church ib.
Rachlov Church , 24.9
The Altar-piece in Soro Church 250
Blood Spots on the Wall of Karise Church ib.
The Church at Falster 251
Maribo Church 252
Aarhuus Cathedral ib.
Ribe Cathedral ib.
A 5
X CONTENTS.
Page
The Church at Erritso 253
The Altar-piece in Sleswig Cathedral 255
TRADITIONS RELATING TO MANSIONS.
Herlufsholm 255
Vaargaard 256
TRADITIONS OF PRIESTS AND WISE MEN.
St. Andrew of Slagelse 258
Master Laurids 260
The Priest of Norre-Vilstrup 261
St. Kield of Viborg 262
TREASURES AND TREASURE-DIGGERS.
The Treasure in Hvirvel Bakke 263
The Treasure in Daugbierg-Daus ib.
The Treasure on Fuur 264
The Treasure in Lodal ib.
TRADITIONS OF ROBBERS.
Thyre Boloxe and her Sons 265
Stserk Olger 266
Voldborg's Day ib.
Friar Ruus 267
Danish Popular Belief 270
INTRODUCTION'.
AMID the lofty Fjelds 2 of Norway the gigantic Jutul has fixed his home, of whose fingers and feet traces may be seen in the hard stone, and whom fragments of rock and ponderous grave-stones serve for weapons ; in the lower ridges the wily Troll and the beautiful Huldra have their dwelling ; in mounds and by lofty trees the countless swarms of Elves have their haunt, while beneath the earth the small but long-armed and skilful dwarfs exercise their handicrafts. In the evening twilight Thusser and Vaettir still wander about, and the merry, wanton Nisser frisk and dance by moonlight. In the rivers and lakes lurks the fell Nok, and through the air flies the Aasgaards- reia's frantic crew3, announcing bloodshed and war, while a guardian, warning Fb'lgie attends each mortal on his earthly career. Thus speaks tradition, and that this be lief is of long standing in the North may be concluded
1 From Faye's Norske Folke-Sagn. Cliristiania, 1844.
2 I have preserved the native orthography of this word (signifying a i'ar outstretched stony mountain), to prevent confusion with the English word field. It is our north of England fell. 3 See p. 25.
Xll INTRODUCTION.
from the testimony of Procopius : — ' ' The Thulites worship many gods and spirits, in heaven, in air, on earth, in the sea, and some even that are said to inhabit the waters of springs and rivers. They constantly make to them all kinds of offerings l"
The question that naturally first presents itself to us, on hearing these wondrous stories, is : What can have given birth to, and indelibly imprinted and quickened in the imagination of the people a superstition, which is the more remarkable, as similar opinions are found among the majority of the people in the north of Europe ?
It is probable that unacquaintance with nature and her powers, combined with the innate desire of finding a reason for and explaining the various natural phenomena, that must daily and hourly attract the attention of mankind, has led them to see the causes of these phenomena in the power of the beings who, as they supposed, had produced them, and afterwards frequented and busied themselves with and in their own productions. These phenomena were too numerous and various to allow the ascribing of them to a single being, and therefore a number of super natural beings were imagined, whose dangerous influence and pernicious wrath it was sought to avert by sacrifices and other means.
The hollow thundering that is at times heard among the mountains, the smoke and fire that ascend from some of them, the destruction often caused by a sudden earth-slip or earthquake, all of which in our times are easily explained from natural causes, might to the rugged peasant, wholly unacquainted with nature and her hidden powers, appear 1 Geijer, Svea Hikes Hafder, p. 87.
INTRODUCTION. Xlll
as supernatural, and as the operations of Jutuls, Giants, and similar mighty, evil beings, that were supposed to dwell in the mountains, and of whose huge feet and fingers a lively imagination easily found marks in the hard rocks. Fear and superstition gradually invested these imaginary beings with all sorts of terrific forms l, and people fancied they saw these direst foes of man transformed into stone all over the country.
Crystals and other natural productions were found, which could not have been made by human hands ; a voice, a sound, was sometimes heard where least expected, either an echo, or arising from other natural causes, and which could now be easily accounted for ; footsteps of men were seen where no one had ever chanced to meet a human being ; among many comely children there was a deformed one, which either by its ugliness or its excessive stupidity was distinguished from the others. All these things, it was said, must have a cause, and from ignorance of nature, joined to superstition and a lively imagination, the idea suggested itself of conjuring up beings, to whom all these phenomena might be ascribed, and who, according to the places of sojourn assigned them, were called Forest-trolls, Huldres, Mountain-trolls, Vsettir, Elves, Dwarfs, Nisser, Mares, etc.
The sea's smooth surface, its hidden, unfathomable depth, the raging of the storm, and the foamy billows of the troubled ocean, make a deep and often a wonderful impression on the human mind. This state of feeling,
1 In Orvarodd's Saga, c. 15, a giant is thus described: He was quite black except his eyes and teeth, which were white ; his nose was large and hooked ; his hair, which hung down over all his breast, wras as coarse as fish's gills, and his eyes were like two pools of water.
XIV INTRODUCTION.
together with the extraordinary creatures of the ocean that are sometimes caught, and the terrific marine monsters that are sometimes seen, must supply the ignorant fisherman, in his sequestered home, with such abundant food for his invention or fancy, that it is almost a wonder there are not even more stories of mermen, mermaids, and other crea tions of the deep.
The monotonous roar of the waterfalls, the squalls and whirlpools that render our fiords and rivers so dangerous, and in which many persons annually perish, together with the circumstance, that in several fresh waters, when a thaw is at hand, the ice splits through the middle with a fearful crash, leaving an open strip, have given occasion to super stition to imagine the depths of the water inhabited by malignant sprites, that yearly at least require a human being for a sacrifice, and which, under the names of Noks, Grims and Qusernknurrer, are sufficiently known.
When it suggested itself to the imagination to peo ple the mountains, the earth and the water with super natural beings, it could not be long before it must also give inhabitants to the boundless space above our heads. In the countless stars, in the extraordinary figures often assumed by the clouds and the mist, in the balls of fire and the blazing northern lights, in the pealing thunder and the wind howling through the narrow mountain-val leys, the uninstructed might easily see and hear the pass ing of the gods, the Aasgaardreia's wild course, the Troll- wrives' ride, and thence draw omens of impending misfor tune. The lightning oftenest strikes downward among the high mountains, what then can be more reasonable than the belief that the god who reveals himself in thunder
INTRODUCTION. XV
and lightning, the mighty Thor, is chastising the demons of earth, who dwell in the places that have been struck by the lightning ?
Wicked, and injurious to man were the greater number of these supernatural beings, who may strictly be regarded as personified powers of nature, and as there hangs a de gree of obscurity over their whole being, the night was supposed to be the season of their activity, when imagina tion and fear are most disposed to create all kinds of terrific images.
Although personified powers of nature are to be regarded as the primary elements of mythic tradition, it would, ne vertheless, be a great error to suppose that every individual myth or tradition of supernatural beings can be explained on that principle. The explanation would in such case often be not only far-fetched but false ; for, in the first place, many a myth, or some particular part of it, is mere poetic embellishment, and, secondly, it often contains an obscure tradition of the country's earliest history. An almost inscrutable blending of various traditions is a pe culiar characteristic of a myth. In the representations of the gods and other beings, their wars and other relations, lies the oldest history of a people in the guise of a myth. That it must be dark and fabulous is a consequence both of its antiquity and the rudeness in which most nations live in their earliest infancy, when it never occurs to them, nor in fact have they the means, to transmit to after-ages accounts of their transactions. Consequently the earliest history of every people consists of traditions, which in the course of time may have been subjected to various changes. Through the mist that envelops the primitive history of
XVI INTRODUCTION.
the North, the historic inquirer thinks that he discerns a struggle between the primitive inhabitants and a more civilized invading people ; and in our popular traditions of Jutuls, Trolls, Elves and Dwarfs, are sought traces of these elder and more rugged people, the conquest and expulsion of whom, as dark monuments of times long gone by, is alluded to and eternized in the old skaldic songs and sagas 1.
That these primitive inhabitants consisted of one and the same people it is not necessary to assume. On the contrary, the great difference found in the sagas between the huge Jutul, who plays with fragments of rock, and the little wily dwarfs, who conceal themselves in the earth and its caverns, seems to indicate that they were as different as could well be, although in particular places they may have lived together, and combined in opposition to and as com mon enemies of the invading Goths. In some places it would seem as if the intruding conquerors had mingled with the older inhabitants, settled among them and formed intermarriages with them. " In ancient times," a Thelle- mark saga relates, " the Thusser were so numerous that Christians could not inhabit Norway, nor Norway be co lonized, before they formed intermarriages/'' And in our old sagas mention frequently occurs of historic personages, who, on the father's or mother's side, descended from giants, or were ' half-trolls/
In other places it would appear that it was only after
1 Thor himself is made to relate that Norway in ancient times was inhabited by giants, who all perished suddenly except two women ; but that after the people from the east countries began to inhabit the country, these women were a great annoyance, until Thor slew them. See the story in vol. i. p. 176.
INTRODUCTION. XV11
an obstinate struggle that the original inhabitants were driven from the plains and valleys to the wooded and mountainous regions, where caves were their dwelling- places,, the chase afforded them sustenance, and the skins of beasts covering. That they continued to stand in a hostile relation to their conquerors, and that, whenever an opportunity presented itself, they attacked, plundered and murdered the intruders, in the tracts nearest to their hiding-places, and then disappeared with their booty, is in the highest degree probable. Their sudden attacks and disappearance, the bloody traces they left behind them, their vast strength, savage aspect and garb, together with the darkness, under cover of which they chose to visit their enemies' stores or to attack them, must give to these people a terrific, demonlike colouring in the eyes of the peaceful inhabitants of the valley. The less often they showed themselves the more wonderful were the stories told of them ; and so formidable did they at length appear, dressed out in all the terrors of imagination and super stition, that, according to the general opinion, it required powers greater than human to contend with them. It was, therefore, a fitting task for the Thunder-god himself, who sometimes crushed them with his bolt, or for his earthly representative, who in the old skaldic poem is de scribed as the overthrower of the altars of the Forniotish gods, the mountain folk's, the fj eld-wolves', the sons of the rock's and the giants' terror and destroyer !.
In the Norse Sagas we read not only of the mighty Jutuls, Giants (Riser) and Mountain-trolls, but also, and
1 Comp. Thorsdrapa, pp. 1G-22, and Thiodolf hin Hvinerske's poem Hostlanga, also Geijer's Svea Hikes Iliifder, p. 276.
XV111 INTRODUCTION.
even more frequently, of Thusser and Dwarfs. The tra dition of a former dwarf-race may probably in part be ascribed to an obscure reminiscence that the Lapps once, during Norway's savage state, inhabited tracts whence they have been driven away. If the diminutive Lapps were not formidable to the invading Goths in battle, they might, nevertheless, through their acquaintance with the secrets of nature, their cunning and their dexterity, be dangerous neighbours, who could drive off the cattle, change children (whence probably the numerous stories about changelings), steal household utensils and provisions, give persons stupefying drinks, entice them into their caves with songs, presents, etc., traits which supply us with the key to many a tradition of the subterraneans.
These views are confirmed by the testimony of history. Adam of Bremen, who lived in the eleventh century, re lates from oral information given him by the Danish king Svend Estrithson, that in Sweden "there was a people who were in the habit of suddenly descending from the mountains in sledges, laying all around waste, unless most vigorously opposed, and then retiring." " In Norway/' he says in another place, " I have heard there are wild women and men, who dwell in the forests, and seldom make their appearance ; they use the skins of wild beasts for clothing, and their speech is more like the growling of animals than the talk of human beings, so that they are hardly intelligible to their neighbours."
At the first glance it must appear wonderful, that after Christianity has been established in the North for eight hundred years, there should still be so many remains of heathen superstitions there. On closer consideration,
INTRODUCTION. XIX
however, the enigma may be solved. The first Christian teachers, finding the old ideas too deep-rooted, and, as it were, too fast interwoven with the physical condition of the country, its ancient history and poetry, to be imme diately eradicated, strove to render the heathen supersti tion less offensive by giving it a Christian colouring. The heathen festivals, which had formerly been held in honour of the gods of Valhall,were now transferred to Christian saints, and in St, Olaf the Norse clergy were so fortunate as to get a saint of such high repute for his wonderful strength, that they could well place to his account the marvellous deeds that had been previously ascribed to the mighty Thor and the gods of Valhall. These latter, who were sometimes regarded by the Christians as mere human beings, and at others as evil spirits, were at length almost totally forgotten by the people, as it was but seldom that any visible sign appeared before them which could tend to retain them in remembrance; while belief in the other supernatural beings, that were attached to the surround ing nature, could not be so easily eradicated. As giants and other beings of that class had never been objects of adoration, but of hatred and aversion, they were allowed to retain their old denominations and character, and even served to confirm the Christian doctrine of the devil and his angels, among whom the giants and other supernatural beings were reckoned.
The Lutheran reformation, instead of checking this superstition as it had done many other errors, let it re main unheeded; the belief in the devil and his angels (the common name for the supernatural beings), together with their influence, both on mankind and all nature,
XX INTRODUCTION.
seems rather to have acquired new life. Persecutions for witchcraft, and assignments to the fiend belonged to the order of the day.
It was, it is true, considered an impiety to have any concern with the subterraneans and other such " petty devils;" but to the untutored and superstitious people it was a necessity to have some beings of whom they could ask counsel ; and as the reformed clergy had made an end of the Catholic saints and relics, superstition was driven to betake itself secretly to its old heathen friends, the sub terraneans, the Nisser, and the like, whose favour it was sought to gain, or whose enmity it was hoped to avert by offerings at hollow trees, in woods, or under vast, venerable stones, on a Thursday evening, or the eve of a holyday.
The more expanded ideas which began to prevail to wards the end of the last century, and the increase of knowledge, which has manifested itself in so many ways in these latter times, have greatly contributed to diminish the belief in these supernatural beings. In many parts such traditions are already sunk into oblivion, in some they are regarded as pleasant stories, or are related merely to frighten children; while in other places, among the less enlightened and more superstitious peasantry, many are still to be found who are convinced of the existence of these mythic beings, who played so important a part in the imagination of their fathers. They themselves or, more usually, an aunt, a father or mother, have seen the underground folk and their dogs and cattle, heard their sweet music, known persons that have been taken into the fjelds, or had their infants changed for those of the subter-
INTRODUCTION. XXI
rancans1. The places where such beings were supposed to have their resort are in some parts still looked upon
1 We ought not in fact greatly to wonder that the belief in the suhter- ranean people still finds followers among the uninstructed peasantry, when we read, that it is scarcely a hundred years since learned men disputed whether the subterraneans were created by God, whether they were pre- adamites, whether they can hold intercourse with mankind, etc. Herman Huge, clergyman of Slidre in 1754, in his ' Rational Thoughts on various curious matters/ was of opinion " that the subterraneans formed, as it were, the boundary between brutes and human beings !" The said clergy man, Ruge, who has dedicated a whole chapter of his book to the subject of changelings, informs us (as an ancient method to be applied with regard to such children), that if a mother has been so unfortunate as to have her child changed, she must take the changeling on three successive Thursday evenings and whip it unmercifully with rods on a heap of sweepings ; for then the subterranean mother, taking pity on her infant, will come and restore the genuine child and take back her own. The helief in change lings is universal also out of Norway. As many persons will, no doubt, be gratified to know what the great German reformer, Martin Luther, thought and said with regard to changelings, we will give an extract or two from his Table Talk : " Changelings (Wechselbiilge) and Kielkropfs Satan lays in the place of the genuine children, that people may be tor mented with them. He often carries off young maidens into the water, has intercourse with them, and keeps them with him until they have been delivered ; then lays such children in cradles, takes the genuine children out, and carries them away. But such changelings, it is said, do not live more than eighteen or twenty years."
" In the year 1541 Dr. Luther mentioned this subject at table, adding, that he had told the Prince of Anhalt that such changelings should be drowned. On being asked why he had so advised ? he answered, that it was his firm helief that such changelings were only a lump of flesh, a massa carnis, as there was no soul in them, for such the devil could easily make, as well as he can destroy men, who have body, reason and soul, when he possesses them bodily, so that they neither hear nor see nor feel anything ; he makes them dumb, deaf and blind ; the devil is therefore in such changelings as their soul."
" Eight years ago there was a changeling in Dessau, which I, Dr. Martin Luther, have both seen and touched ; it was twelve years old and had all its senses, so that people thought it was a proper child ; hut that mattered little ; for it only ate, and that as much as any four ploughmen or thrashers, and when any one touched it it screamed ; when things in the house went wrong, so that any damage took place, it laughed and was merry ; but if things went well, it cried. Thereupon I said to the Prince of Anhalt :
XX11 INTRODUCTION.
as sacred. No superstitious peasant, who has a regard for his health and property, dares venture to meddle with a Vsettir-mound, a Butree or Thunbede, which is fre quented by the invisible folk ; but, on the contrary, that they may not, in their anger, pass their dwelling and take the luck of the house with them, the people wait upon them on holyday eves with cakes, sweet porridge and other offerings1.
An example or two will serve to show how deeply im printed is the belief in the subterraneans, in many places, even at the present day. " At Luro in the Northlands," the Rev. G. Faye writes to me, "an incredible degree of superstition prevails, particularly with regard to the sub terraneans, who have their sojourn in certain places, how they take in persons and make away with them ; they are even said to have a church somewhere here in the parish, of which one of my parishioners, a great ghost-seer, is, as I am told, the priest. It is, moreover, said that in the neighbourhood of the parsonage there dwelt a subterranean,
' If I were prince or ruler here, I would have this child thrown into the water, into the Moldau that flows by Dessau, and would run the risk of being a homicide.' But the Elector of Saxony, who was then at Dessau, and the Prince of Anhalt would not follow my advice. I then said : ' They ought to cause a Pater noster to be said in the church, that God would take the devil away from them.' That was done daily at Dessau, and the said changeling died two years after." See Dobeneck, i. p. 168.
Then follows a story almost identical with ' The Kielkropp ' in vol. iii. p. 46.
1 " In Moland, in the Upper Thellemark," writes Pastor Buch, " they paid adoration to the Thusser, under the name of Vetir, by offering to them some of their best meat and drink, upon up-raised mounds, particu larly buttermilk, or wort when they brewed. Such a libation was called a saup, i. e. a sup or gulp. Those who had not such Vetir-mounds poured out a little cup of drink on the hearth. The friendship of these beings was very useful to the peasant both for his cattle and general welfare."
INTRODUCTION. XX111
who had a pleasure-boat, whom people that were synsk often saw sailing on the lake. I have repeatedly endea voured to talk them out of this superstition; but before me they will never confess that they entertain such belief; because, as I afterwards learned, they think it is to the priest's advantage to suppress all belief in the subterra neans : l For/ say they, ' he is as sensible of it as we are ; he has read it in the sixth book of Moses, which does not, it is true, stand in the Bible, but which the priests keep to themselves/ ' That the Sonderfjeld Norwegians stand on about the same level with regard to belief in the sub terraneans will appear from the following traditions, but to which I will add a passage from my college days.
In company with some University friends, I undertook, in the summer of 1824, a foot-journey to the Kiukanfoss and Gaustafjeld. As a guide on the Gausta, we took an active peasant from Vestfiorddal, a man singularly well- informed for his station, but who was, nevertheless, thoroughly convinced of the existence of the subterraneans. " I once myself," said he, " saw in the fjeld a man who suddenly sank down in the earth before my eyes, and it is well known," added he, " that one of the subterraneans, who in outward appearance perfectly resembled one of us, courted a girl who rejected him, although he promised her a house, chattels and as much silver plate as she desired." On our objecting that either his imagination must have played him a trick, and the courtship have been a mere idle invention on the part of the girl ; or that some per son for a joke had imposed upon her, by giving him self out for a subterranean, he continued : " But it is known for certain, that a man, who one day went into the
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
forest, came suddenly upon a mansion with its appurte nances, the inmates of which, on his coming, instantly abandoned it. The man, who from fear of troll-craft did not venture to take up his abode in the mansion, an nounced the incident to the authorities, who took posses sion of the place in the king's name, which to this day, in remembrance of the event, bears the name of Findland" As we still continued incredulous, and suggested that the persons mentioned might have been culprits, who on the man's coming betook themselves to flight, through fear of being discovered, our guide came forth with his last and weightiest argument : <e But it stands in the Bible, that every knee, both of those who are in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, shall bow before the Lord. And who then are those under the earth, if they are not the sub terraneans ?" Thus may even passages in the Bible itself, when misunderstood, serve to confirm superstition !
Having thus endeavoured to explain how the belief in these supernatural beings originated, and by some exam ples shown that in certain parts of the country it is still the popular belief, it only remains to lay before the reader a slight sketch of the similar ideas and kindred supersti tions existing in the other Northern countries. In this sketch we shall confine ourselves chiefly to the subter raneans, who, according to both the old mythology and the popular traditions, are divided into several classes, as Thusser, Vsettir, Dwarfs, Elves, etc. In the old mythology the dwarfs — under which denomination seem to be com prised several of the species which now constitute the sub terraneans — play an important part. They came forth, as we have already seen, as maggots in the rotten carcase of
INTRODUCTION. XXV
the giant Ymir, and at the behest of the gods received human form and understanding, and had habitations assigned them in the earth and in stones1.
From these we may consider the subterraneans in all the Northern countries to derive their origin. We will first direct our attention to Iceland. As in Norway, the subterraneans here also dwell in hills and mounds, they are neat and cleanly, comely and flighty, readily hold con verse with Christians, by whom they formerly had chil dren. These they strove to exchange for the children of Christians before they were baptized, that their own might enjoy the benefit of baptism. Such substituted children were called Umskiptingar, and are usually stupid and weakly. The subterraneans have beautiful cattle, which, like themselves, are invisible, though they sometimes let themselves be seen in the bright sunshine, which they lack in their dwellings, and in which they therefore from time to time recreate themselves. On New Year's night they sometimes change their habitations, at which time it was formerly a custom, in Iceland to leave well-provided tables standing, and the doors open, in order to gain the good will both of the comers and goers. According to old traditions, the subterraneans of Iceland were governed by two chieftains, who are changeable every second year, when, accompanied by some of their subjects, they sailed to Norway, to appear before the king of the whole race, who had his residence there, to renew their oath of fealty,
1 See vol. i. p. 9. According to one tradition, the subterraneans de scend from Adam's children by his first wife Lileth. Goethe alludes to her in Faust.
XXVI INTRODUCTION.
and render an account of their administration, which, if found good and just, was continued to them ; but in the contrary case they were instantly deposed; justice and equity being in high estimation among these elves1.
In the Faro isles the subterraneans are, as in some parts of Norway, called Huldefolk, and resemble the Norse Vsettir, being described as full-grown, clad in grey, with black hats. Their large, fat cattle graze, though invisible, among those of the inhabitants ; a sight of them is, how ever, sometimes obtained, as also of their dogs. They are fond of Christian females and of their children, which they exchange for their own.
In Sweden the people have nearly the same ideas with regard to the subterraneans. Of their origin they have a singular tradition, viz. that they are fallen angels, and that when God cast down from heaven the adherents of Lucifer, they did not all fall into hell, but that some fell on the earth, others into the sea. Those that fell in the woods and forests became Wood-trolls (Skovtroll, Skogsnufvor) ; those that fell in the green fields and groves, Vattir or Lysgubbar-, those that were cast into the sea or waters became Nacher; those that fell among houses, Tomte- gubbar, and those in trees, Elfvar.
In Denmark we meet with the same ideas as in the rest of Scandinavia, though, in consequence of the nature of the country, somewhat modified. The subterraneans there dwell in mounds, in which they often have merry makings ; they brew, bake, steal beer from the peasants,
1 Finni Johannaei Hist. Eccles. Islandise, ii. p. 368 ; Pref. to Hist. Hrolfi Krakii ; F. Magimsen ; Eddalaere, iii. p. 308.
INTRODUCTION. XXV11
if they neglect to mark the casks with a cross, punish tattlers with blindness, cannot endure the sound of bells, thunder, drums or water, are jealous, and can transform themselves into cats. Steel, as needles, keys, scissors and the like, either laid in the cradle or crosswise over the door, will, as in Sweden, prevent them from ex changing children; but if such an exchange is accom plished, there is no other remedy than to ill-treat the changeling.
The subterraneans or dwarfs of Germany resemble their Scandinavian brethren, and are officious, good-humoured and patient ; they wear a mist-mantle or cap (Nebelkappe), which renders them invisible. They also exchange chil dren; and if the changeling is ill-treated, its mother brings back the stolen child. The black dwarfs of Riigen bear a near resemblance to the Norwegian dwarfs ; they are ugly of aspect, but are able smiths, particularly in steel, are unsocial, seldom leave their hills and mounds, and are no lovers of music. The white dwarfs, on the contrary, who in summer sport among the trees and dance on the grass, resemble the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian elves. With the brown dwarfs of Riigen, who are eighteen inches high, wear glass shoes, have delicate hands and feet, are skilful smiths, but roguish, there are none to be compared.
In Pomerania there was formerly a number of earth- sprites or dwarfs, who eagerly exchanged their own ugly offspring for comely, human children. They also fell in love with handsome girls and courted them. By day they crawled about in the form of toads and other reptiles, but at night they appeared in their own form, and danced
XXV111 INTRODUCTION.
merrily by moonlight. The people called them Uellerkens. Like the Nisser, they often lived in cellars. The German subterraneans differ from those of Scandinavia, in having adopted the true faith, and in sometimes wandering abroad.
SCANDINAVIAN POPULAR TRADITIONS,
i.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
THURSER, V.ETTER, DWARFS, ETC.
IN Norway the subterranean people — under which deno mination are comprised Thurser (Thusser), Vsetter and Dwarfs, and sometimes Huldres, Nisser and Elves — are exceedingly numerous. The Thusser or Trolls, who are as large as men, inhabit the mountain-ridges and hills. In former days they were in such multitudes that no Christians could dwell in Norway, until they formed mar riages with them. Like ourselves, they have houses, churches, chattels, and beautiful cattle, which graze in the night, and are watched by female keepers and black dogs. The Thusser are well formed, but of a pale or blue colour, When the sun is set and the twilight (Thus-mork) begins, they are in full activity ; then it is dangerous for persons, more particularly young females, for whom they have an especial liking, to pass by the places where they resort, where most delightful music is to be heard ; and many are the instances, particularly in former days, of young maidens
2 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
having been conveyed by them into the mountains and hills. They are also partial to little children, and formerly would often exchange them for their own, which were neither so handsome nor so thriving. But a cross made on the child, or steel in any shape laid in its cradle, is an effectual preventive of all such exchanges 1.
With respect to these supernatural beings, the belief current in the North is, that when our Lord cast down the fallen angels, some fell to hell, while those who had not sinned so deeply were dispersed in the air, and under the earth, and in the waters 2.
A similar belief with regard to fairies prevails in Ireland. Keightley, F. M. p. 363.
HULDRA OR HULLA.
Over the whole of Norway the tradition is current of a supernatural being that dwells in the forests and moun tains, called Huldra or Hulla. She appears like a beautiful woman, and is usually clad in a blue petticoat and a white snood ; but unfortunately has a long tail, like a cow's, which she anxiously strives to conceal, when she is among people. She is fond of cattle, particularly brindled 3, of which she possesses a beautiful and thriving stock. They are without horns. She was once at a merry-making, where every one was desirous of dancing with the hand some, strange damsel ; but in the midst of the mirth, a young man, who had just begun a dance with her, hap pened to cast his eye on her tail. Immediately guessing whom he had got for a partner, he was not a little terrified ; but collecting himself, and unwilling to be tray her, he merely said to her, when the dance was over, "Fair maid, you will lose your garter." She instantly vanished, but afterwards rewarded the silent and consi-
1 Faye, p. 20. 2 Asbjornsen, Huldreeventyr, i. 29.
3 In the original drandede, the meaning of which is doubtful.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 3
derate youth with beautiful presents and a good breed of cattle l.
The idea entertained of this being is not everywhere the same,, but varies considerably in different parts of Norway. In some places she is described as a handsome female, when seen in front, but is hollow behind, or else blue 2 ; while in others she is known by the name of Skogsnerte, and is said to be blue, but clad in a green petticoat, and probably corresponds to the Swedish Skogsnufvor3. Her song — a sound often heard among the mountains — is said to be hollow and mournful 4, differing therein from the music of the subterranean beings,\vhich is described by ear-witnesses as cheerful and fascinating. But she is not everywhere regarded as a solitary wood-nymph : Huldre-inen and Huldre-folk are also spoken of, who live together in the mountains, and are almost identical with the subterra nean people. In Hardanger the Huldre-people are always clad in green, but their cattle are blue, and may be taken when a grown-up person casts his belt over them. They give abundance of milk. The Huldres take possession of the forsaken pasture-spots in the mountains, and invite people into their mounds, where delightful music is to be heard 5.
The belief in Huldra is very ancient. We read that as far back as the year 1205, the queen of Magnus Lagabaeter, when detained by an ad verse wind at Bergen, having heard that the Icelander Sturli Thordsen was an excellent story-teller, desired him to relate to her the Saga of the giantess Huldra. Her name appears to be derived from the Old Norsk ho\\r,Jidus, propitius6.
1 Faye, p. 39. 2 Hallager, Norsk Ordsamling, p. 48, voce Huldre.
3 Linnasi Gotlandske Resa, p. 312.
4 " Huldre dwells in the mountains and in the valley ; hers are all the riches, splendour and beauty of the North ; but hers is also its deep me lancholy ; to this her music and her song bear witness, which cannot be heard without a feeling of sadness and tears." Norske Huldreeventyr, i. p. iv.
5 Faye, p. 42. 6 Sagabibl. i. 367. Grimm, D. M. p. 249,
B2
4 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
JUTULS AND MOUNTAIN-GIANTS.
The Jutul is large and strong, and has his dwelling in the highest mountains, where riches and costly treasures are to be found in abundance. He is of evil disposition, hates churches and the sound of bells, and is greedy after Christian blood. When a storm is at hand, or a whirlwind howls among the rocks, he shakes himself in the moun tain, so that the pots and kettles resound, in which his wife Gyvri or Giogra prepares their food. All over the country traditions and traces of these monstrous beings are to be found. Marks of their footsteps are often to be seen in the mountains.
Of all the supernatural beings of the North, none bear so evident a mark of high antiquity as the gigantic Jutuls. The traditions concerning them rise always to the mon strous, and harmonize with the cloud-capt mountains among which they dwell.
On comparing the traditions of the vulgar with the old mythology, we find a great accordance between them, and at once recognise in the Jutuls and Roser (giants) the Jotuns and Risar, the foes of gods and men, who in Thor, the mighty god of thunder, found a dangerous enemy. The Jotuns in the Northern mythology are considered as chaotic beings, ruling over the dark and cold regions of the earth, shunning the light of day, and by the sun's rays (as we have already seen) 1 becoming changed to stone 2.
In Old Norse a giantess was called gyfr or gygr, a word to be recognised in the Gyvri and Giogra of the vulgar.
Besides Jutuls or Jotuns, we meet with Riser and Bierg- riser (giants and mountain-giants), who dwelt in moun tain-caves, and are supposed to be the earliest inhabi tants of the North. In the Sagas they are often called Trolls, which may be considered a common denomination for all noxious, supernatural beings.
1 See vol. i. p. 8, note 3. 2 FayC) p. 7.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 5
THE JUTUL ON HESTMANDOE '.
On Hestmandoe in the Nordlands there is a mountain, which at a distance resembles a horseman with a large cloak over him. This mountain was once a Jutul, who dwelt on the spot. Twelve miles to the south, on Lekoe in Nummedal, there lived at the same time a maiden to whom he made love ; but the haughty damsel, who was skilled in all kinds of magic, not only rejected him, but turned all his messengers to stone, who are still to be seen as rocks round the northern part of the isle. Exasperated at such conduct, the Jutul bent his bow, to take instan taneous vengeance. The mighty arrow new and passed clean through the lofty mountain called Torgehat, where is still to be seen the large hole made by the arrow through the hard rock 2. " That straw stands in the way," ex claimed the Jutul. Being somewhat checked in its night, by forcing its way through the Torgehat, the arrow did not quite reach its destination, but fell at the feet of the maiden on the north side of Lekoe, where it yet lies in the form of a huge, long stone. By their mutual magic they were both changed to stone, and shall so remain, looking on each other until doomsday.
Even at the present time a Nordlander seldom sails by without taking his hat off to the maid of Lekoe3.
THE JUTUL'S BRIDGE.
In Spirillen, at low water, a sort of stone bridge is to be seen, about the eighth of a mile in length. It owes its origin to a Jutul that dwelt on the Elsrudkolle. This Jutul courted a Huldra on the Engerkolle, which lies on the opposite side of the water. That he might visit her
1 Horseman's isle.
2 That the size of the hole is considerable, may be inferred from its height, which is estimated at 600 feet. s j-ayCj p< 13>
6 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
without getting wet, which sorely grieved his beloved, he resolved to construct a bridge, but burst in pieces, when the sun rose and surprised him at his work l.
THE GIRL AT THE S^TER2.
A land proprietor in Norway was betrothed to a very pretty young woman, who, although a farmer's daughter, went out with the cattle to their summer pasture, where she employed herself in weaving a piece of drill. Being, however, unable to finish her work by the time when the cattle should return home, she resolved to stay behind till she had accomplished her task : but no sooner had her lover received intelligence of her design, than he set out for the pasture, justly thinking it hazardous to leave the damsel alone exposed to the attempts of Huldres and other subterranean beings. He reached the spot in the nick of time, for he found the cattle-house surrounded by black horses ready saddled. Suspecting, therefore, that there was something wrong in the wind, he stole into the pas ture, and peeping through a little window in the hut, saw his intended sitting in a bridal dress with a golden crown on her head, and by her side an old red-eyed Huldreman. Seizing his pistol, which he had wisely loaded with a silver bullet3, he fired over the head of the girl, before the witchery could be dissolved, rushed into the hut, seized her, placed her behind him on his horse, and rode off, followed by the whole company of Trolls. One of these held out to him a well-filled golden horn, to retard* his flight : he took
1 Faye, p. 15, and vol. i. p. 8, note3.
2 The Saetere are grassy spots among the mountains of Norway, to which the cattle are sent for summer pasture. They are frequently a considerable distance from the dwelling.
3 Great in the good days of yore was the efficacy of a silver bullet, or a silver button, when fired at a witch, or wizard, or the like. See Anecdotes and Traditions, by Thorns (Camd. Publ.) pp. Ill, 112, and the note.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. /
the horn, but cast the liquor it contained behind his horse, and galloped off with both horn and girl. At length he reached a steep mountain near his dwelling, in which some subterranean folk had their abode, who were on terms of hostility with his pursuers, and who cried to him, " Hide on the rough, and not on the smooth." He followed their advice, and rode through a rye-field, where the Trolls were unable to follow him, but in their exasperation cried after him, "The red cock shall crow over thy dwelling l." And behold ! his house stood in a blaze 2.
GURRI KUNNAN3.
At Osterraad there dwelt formerly a rich and powerful man, who had a daughter named Aslaug, the fairest dam sel far and near. She had, as may be easily imagined, many a gallant suitor, but she preferred to every other a young man who had been fostered with her in her father's mansion, notwithstanding that he was of low extraction. As they could not hope that the proud father would consent to their union, they fled secretly, and sought con cealment and shelter in a deep cave, which is to be seen at this day not far from Osterraad. By chance the en raged father, in the following spring, got intelligence of the place where his daughter was concealed, and instantly proceeded thither, for the purpose of punishing the auda cious seducer ; but just as he reached the cave there fell down such a quantity of stones and rubbish, that the entrance was completely closed, so that the fugitives were
1 The symbol of a red cock for fire is of remote antiquity (See Voluspn, 34, 35). " I will set a red cock on your roof," is the incendiary's threat in Germany, where fire is compared to a cock flying from house to house. Grimm, D. M. p. 568. 2 Faye, p. 25.
3 Mr. Keightley (F. M. p. 130) gives a more elaborate version of this story from an oral tradition communicated to Dr. Grimm, and inserted in Hauff's Marchenalmanach for 1827. The simpler form, in which it here appears, I take to be the older.
8 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
not to be taken. When the first danger was over, the loving pair succeeded, though with difficulty, in working their way out from amid the fallen stones. They then took a boat, that was lying near the shore, and through many perils succeeded in reaching the uninhabited group of islands called Tarven, which at that time served as a retreat for Trolls. The chief among these, the Huldre, Gurri Kunnan, received them kindly, and allowed them to stay in her habitation, though on condition that they should never make the sign of the cross, which she could not endure. One Yule-eve, when Gurri, with a countless number of Trolls, were assembled at a festivity, the wonder- struck Aslaug forgot her promise and crossed herself, at the same time pronouncing the name of Jesus. On a sudden all the witchery vanished, and of the whole parade a huge copper kettle alone remained, which for time out of mind has since been kept in the largest isle of the group, the now inhabited Hunsoe1.
This Gurri was the daughter of a giant, who dwelt on the isle of Kunnan off Helgoland. Being very beautiful, she had many suitors, who fought for the possession of the fair giantess, and round about Kunnan2 is to be seen a cluster of rocks formed of the stones they hurled at each other. All were, however, forced to cede to the giant Anfind, who married the beautiful Gurri, and lived hap pily with her, until her father was slain, together with the powerful ' Sout/ by the mighty ' Gout/ who came from the east, when the whole family was driven from Kunnan, and Anfind with his wife sought shelter with Froi, who gave them Tarven for a residence. Here they lived in
1 The other isles are used merely for the grazing of cattle, in conse quence of the superstition that no one can inhabit them, on account of the Trolls and other devilish beings. The copper kettle, as I have been assured, is still preserved by the inhabitants of the isle.
2 Kunnen is a promontory on the north side of Helgeland.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
peace until St. Olaf came to the island, who, with the sign of the cross and the name of Jesus, not only quelled the storm that the giant had raised, but turned the giant himself into a hard block of stone1.
The above is the story on which the beautiful poem of ' Gurri Kunnan ' is founded. Its author, Professor Steenblock, kindly communicated the tradition to me, as he had heard it in his youth. A prose paraphrase of the poem is given in the ' Mythologie der Feen und Elfen/ by Prof. Wolff, i. 234. This in many respects interesting story seems to point to a re mote antiquity, when the original inhabitants of the North were forced to retire before the invading Goths (the ' Gout' of the tradition), who, by means of their greater civilization and superior skill, destroyed or expelled their adversaries 2.
THE BRIDAL CROWN.
I.
In Nummedal there once lived a young girl so beauti ful that a Thuss fell in love with her ; but notwithstanding that he promised her a sumptuous mansion, abundance of cattle, and in short whatever she could desire, if she would betroth herself to him, she continued faithful to her old lover. When the Thuss found that nothing was to be done by gentle means, he carried her off. Accompanied by a numerous body of Thusser, he was already on his road with his prey to the subterranean people's church, there to be married to her, when her lover was so fortu nate as to get traces of their route. Having overtaken the bridal party, he shot with steel over his betrothed' s head, when the whole witchery vanished, and he not alone re covered the maiden, but got a splendid silver crown, which the Thuss had placed on her head. The crown still exists in the ( dal/ and as it is supposed to bring good luck to every bride that wears it, it is let out at almost every wed ding of the better class.
1 See vol. i. p. 8, note 3.
2 Faye, p. 10. Henceforth when no authority is given, the traditions are generally from Faye.
B 5
10 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
II.
It is not long beyond the memory of man since a young man in Nummedal, when passing by a forsaken sseter-hut, saw in it a gay Huldre- wedding party. Through a win dow he was witness to all that passed among the moun tain-folk; but his attention was chiefly directed to the bride,, by her beauty and elegant attire, especially by a massive, glittering silver crown that she wore. The young man continued gazing on her till he contracted a violent passion for her, and soon resolved on depriving the wed ding party of their mirth, and the bridegroom of his rich and lovely bride. Quickly he drew forth his knife, and as quickly flew the shining steel through the window and over the head of the bride. The company vanished in the twinkling of an eye, the maiden alone remaining spell bound by the steel. The pair came soon to an under standing ; the Huldre bride accompanied him to the vil lage and then to the altar, after having been baptized. But her magnificent bridal attire was insufficient to with draw attention from an ugly cow's tail, which, however, after a time, gradually disappeared. They lived long and happy together, and of her rich wedding ornaments, the fame of which is yet preserved, there is still to be seen at Mserabru the costly silver crown.
THE BISHOP'S CATTLE.
One summer, a long time ago, the bishop of Drontheim sent his cattle to the mountains to graze. They were the finest cattle in all Norway ; and the bishop, when he sent them away, strictly enjoined those who were to watch them, not, on any account, to suffer them, for one mo ment, to be out of sight, as the mountains thereabouts swarmed with subterranean people, who, however, had no power over any animal, as long as it was under a human eye. The cattle were then sent up to the mountains. One
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 11
day, while the animals were grazing, and the keepers sit ting in various places with their eyes directed towards them, there appeared suddenly, on the highest point of the mountain, an elk of an extraordinary size. At this apparition, the eyes of the three keepers were drawn off from the cattle, and for an instant fixed on the elk ; but when they again looked down into the valley, they saw their beautiful large cattle transformed to a set of dimi nutive mice, running along the mountain's side, and be fore the keepers could approach them, they all vanished through a crevice in the earth. Thus did the bishop of Drontheim get rid of his three hundred head of cattle.
Conway, in his ' Journey through Norway,' p. 240, relates this story, and adds: "This tradition is universally credited in the mountainous parts." A woman, who was watching cattle on a hill, was more fortunate ; she saw her cattle suddenly vanish, but while she was bewailing her loss, she heard a voice from the mountain, desiring her to hasten home, and lo ! there she found not only her own cows, but also a new one, which, although it never calved, yet had a greater abundance of milk than the others.
THE MIDWIFE.
There was once a man and his wife that had an only daughter. Suddenly she disappeared, and notwithstand ing that her parents — who took the loss of their dear child sorely to heart — sought for her in every direction, they could not discover the faintest trace of her. A con siderable time had elapsed, when late one evening there came a stranger to the house and asked the woman, who was at home alone, whether she would visit her daughter, who abode in the neighbourhood, and was in labour, and required her aid. The mother, who was both glad and grieved at this unexpected intelligence, instantly made herself ready, and by means of a thread, which the stranger gave her, was in one moment with her daughter, who gave birth to a lively, well-formed child. Before it was dressed, the man gave her a liquid, desiring her to rub it over the
12 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
infant's body, at the same time cautioning her not to let any of it come in contact with herself. But her eye be ginning to itch, she inadvertently rubbed it, and thus got some of the liquid in her eye. When her help was no longer required, the man — who was her daughter's hus band and a Troll — told her she might depart, when by means of the thread she found herself in a few 'seconds again at home. The following day, while at work with her husband in the field, she on a sudden saw her daugh ter with her subterranean spouse walking close at her side. On her addressing them, her son-in-law asked her with astonishment, whether she really could see them? " Yes, surely, I can see you with my right eye," said the woman ; but at the same instant the Troll touched her eye, and from that time she saw no more with it.
The superstition of anointing the eyes, and being thereby enabled to see what would else be invisible, appears to have been generally current among the inhabitants of western Europe, both Keltic and Germanic. Instances of its prevalence in Denmark we shall see hereafter; of its ex istence in other countries, our own included, we give the following proofs.
Mrs. Bray (Letters to Southey) relates a story of the sage femme of Tavistock, who was one night summoned to a fairy labour, and who, on receiving an ointment to rub the child's eyes with (thinking, no doubt, that what was good for the baby must be equally so for herself), applied a little of it to one of her own eyes, when lo ! all things around her suddenly ap peared in their true form, all delusion was dissipated. On the next market day she saw the old fellow who had conveyed her, pilfering from the stalls in the market, and accosted him. " What," exclaimed he, " do you see me to-day ?" " See you ! to be sure I do, and I see you are busy too." " And pray with which eye do you see all this ?" " With my right.'' " Take that for meddling with what did not belong to you : you shall see me no more." He then struck her eye, and from that hour till the day of her death she was blind of that eye1.
A similar story is related of a cottager and his wife at Nether Whitton.
The author of 'Round about our Coal fire' (quoted by Brand, Pop. Antiq.) says, "The moment any one saw them (the fairies), and took no tice of them, they were struck blind of an eye2."
Ritson (Fairy Tales) relates that a woman who had been in their (the
1 Keightley, F. M. p. 301. 2 i^, p< 293.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 13
fairies') society, challenged one of the guests, whom she espied in the market selling fairy-butter. This freedom was deeply resented, and cost her the eye she first saw him with1.
In a Scottish tradition it is related that a fairy left a child to be suckled with a young woman of Nithsdale, and rubbed her eyes with a wonderful salve, by virtue of which she could discern the otherwise invisible fairy folk. Some of the salve she contrived to secure. Happening one day to meet the fairy lady, she attempted to shake hands with her. " What ee d' ye see me wi ? " whispered she. " Wi them baith," said the woman. The fairy breathed on her eyes, and the salve lost its efficacy 2.
Mr. Keightley relates (F. M. p. 417), from a communication made to him by a lady in North Wales, of a gipsy, that desired the narrator, who wished to see fairies, to meet her by moonlight on the top of Craig y Dim's. She there washed his eyes with the contents of a phial which she had, and he instantly saw thousands of fairies, all in white, dancing to the sound of numerous harps.
Gervase of Tilbury, who lived in the 12th century (I quote from Dobe- neck, i. 45), speaks of certain water-sprites in the south of France called Drakes. These assume a human form and appear in the public market. They are said to inhabit the caverns of rivers, and to allure women and children while bathing, under the form of gold rings and cups, striving to obtain which they are suddenly dragged down to the bottom. This oftenest happens to women giving suck, whom the Drakes seize to suckle their own unblest offspring. These, after seven years thus past, sometimes return rewarded to our hemisphere. They relate that with the Drakes and their wives they dwelt in spacious palaces in the caverns and banks of the
rivers On men thus seized the Drakes are said to feed. One day
a Drake having given a woman in his service some eel-pasty, she happened to draw her fingers, greasy with the fat, over one eye and one side of her face, and thereby acquired a most clear and sharp power of vision under water. Having completed the third year of her servitude, and being re turned home, she one morning early met the Drake in the market-place of Beaucaire, whom she accosted, and inquired after her mistress and nursling. " With which eye did you recognise me ? " asked the Drake. She pointed to the eye she had greased with the fat of the pasty. Having ascertained this, the Drake thrust his finger into that eye, and thus con tinued thenceforth unseen and unknown by all.
A story somewhat similar is told of a Countess Ranzau.
1 Keightley, F. M. p. 309.
2 Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, quoted by Keight ley, p. 353.
14 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
THE OIESTAD HORN.
Near the river Nid in Nedenses there is a mansion called Neersteen, in which there once dwelt a man named Siur, who was both powerful and rich ; for besides Neersteen he owned six other mansions, and a considerable salmon fishery in the Nid; but what was more than all these, he had a daughter, who was the fairest maid of all the sur rounding neighbourhood. She was courted by a Westland man named Ring, but the wealthy Siur rejected him for a son-in-law, although his daughter was fondly attached to him. The lover, howrever, was not disheartened, so while the father one St. John's day was at matins in Oiestad church, Ring came to the mansion and found his lass, although her father had taken the precaution of locking her up in one of the presses — which, according to the cus tom of the time, were made at the foot of the bed — a corner of her apron having protruded and betrayed her. They now fled, and Siur, the instant he was apprized of their elopement, mounted his horse and went in pursuit of them. On the way he was stopped by a Troll, who came out of a mount, and bade him welcome, at the same time presenting to him a full drinking-horn. Instead of emptying it, he cast its contents behind him, but some drops that fell on the horse's loins instantly singed the hair off. Siur, who had from the first suspected mischief, put spurs to his horse, and galloped away with the horn in his hand and the Troll whining after him. He was now in a most serious dilemma, from which he was unexr pectedly rescued by another Troll, who was on terms of hostility with the former one, who called to him when he had just reached a large field : " Ride through the rye and not through the wheat." Following this counsel he got the start of his pursuer, who could not proceed so rapidly through the tall rye. The danger was not, however, com-
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 15
pletely over until he came near the mansion of Bringsvser, when the cock crew and the Troll vanished. Siur now continued his pursuit without further delays,, and overtook the fugitives on a hill where they had stopt to take a few moments rest. When the men got sight of each other, they immediately drew their knives,, and a contest ensued, the result of which was, that Siur stabbed King in the belly, who instantly gave up the ghost.
In expiation of this homicide, Siur \vas compelled to make heavy compensation. The horn, which he kept, was preserved in the family down to our times. Of the daughter's fate tradition makes no mention.
The (or rather a) horn, which had long been an heirloom in Siur's family, has lately been presented by Shipmaster Bergetothe public library and museum of Arendal school, where it now is. It is very handsome, and has on its three silver-gilt rings the following inscription, in monkish characters : potum servorum benedic deus alme [tuorum reliqvam unus benede le uu~\ ? Caspar, melchior, baltazar.
A similar occurrence to the above took place many years ago near Hahauger in Hallingdal, where one Christmas eve a subterranean woman presented drink in a horn to a man named Gudbrand Goelberg, which he threw over his shoulder and rode off with the horn; but down to the ninth generation, his posterity, as a penalty, were afflicted with some bodily blemish or defect, as the Troll had threatened. This horn, which was long preserved at Halsteensgaard in Aal, contained nearly three quarts, and was encircled by a strong gilt copper ring about three inches broad, on which, in monkish characters, stood melchior, baltazar, Caspar. In the middle was a small, gilt copper plate, in which an oval crystal was set.
HULDRE MARRIAGE.
It is related that an active young fellow in Nordland, by laying the barrel of his rifle over a Huldre in a forest, got her into his power and made her his wife. They lived happily together and had a child; but on a sudden, as the child was one evening playing by the fireplace, where the Huldre was sitting and spinning, while the man was at his work, something of her savage nature came over her, during which she said to her husband, alluding to
16 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
the child, that it would make a capital roast for supper. The man was horrified, and the woman, who was conscious that she had grievously committed herself, changed her tone, and begged her words might be forgotten. But they were not : the man bore them in remembrance ; the horrid sounds rung incessantly in his ears ; he perceived in them a proof of his now no longer blooming wife's real nature, and their domestic peace was at an end. From being a good man he became morose, frequently upbraided his wife with her diabolical proposal, cursed the hour when he resolved on marrying her, beat and ill-used her. Thus it continued for a season. The woman suffered and re pented. One day she went to the smithy, to see with a friendly eye her husband at his work ; but he began as before, and on its coming to blows, she, by way of proving her superior strength, seized an iron bar and twisted it round her husband as if it had been a wire. The husband was now forced to submission and to promise domestic peace.
THE NISSE OR NISS.
This is a supernatural being, nearly resembling our Goblin, the Scottish Brownie, the German Kobold, and the Kaboutermanneken of the Netherlands. In the good old times they were infinitely more numerous than they are in our days. They are not larger than small children, are clothed in grey, and wear a red, pointed cap. Their habitation is usually in barns and stables, where they help to tend the cattle and horses, for which they show the same partiality as for men. There are many instances of the Nisse having drawn the hay from the cribs of the other horses to that of the one for which he entertains a predi lection. He is fond of pranks, will sometimes let all the cows loose in the cowhouse, plague the milkmaids, either by blowing out the light, or by holding the hay so fast
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 17
that the poor girls cannot draw out a particle ; then, while they are tugging with all their might, he will suddenly let go his hold, so that they fall at full length on the ground. This delights the Nisse exceedingly, and causes him to set .up a horse-laugh. If he feels attached to the master of the house, he will do all he can for his benefit. Instances, indeed, are not wanting of his having endeavoured to abstract hay and other things from his neighbours, for the use of his master ; whence contention and conflicts some times take place between the Nisser of the two houses, so that the hay and straw may be seen flying about in all directions. As they are obliging to those they favour, but spiteful and vindictive when any one slights or makes game of them, it is not surprising that their good will is deemed worth the gaining. On Christmas eve, therefore, and on Thursday evenings, in many places, they set sweet porridge, cakes, beer, etc. for the Nisse, which he gladly consumes, provided they are to his taste ; for he is some times dainty. Ridicule and contempt he cannot endure, and as he is strong, notwithstanding his diminutive size, his opponent often comes off second best. A peasant, who one winter evening met a Nisse on the road, and in an authoritative tone ordered him to get out of the way, found himself, before he knew a word of the matter, pitched over the hedge into a field of snow. With a girl also, who one Christmas eve brought him food accompanied with mockery, he danced such a dance, that she was found, on the following morning, lying dead in the barn.
They love the moonlight, and in winter may sometimes be seen amusing themselves in little sledges, or in leaping over the fences. Although they are lively, yet they do not at all times like noise and bustle, particularly on Christmas eve, or a Thursday evening. In general the Nisse is liked, and is, therefore, in many places called good fellow.
18 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
Of all the beings that live in the imagination of the Norwegian peasantry, the Nisse is that of whose existence they are the most thoroughly convinced. Though belong ing to the dwarf-race, he nevertheless differs from the dwarfs by his sprightliness and well-proportioned figure, as well as by his sojourn in houses and barns, for which his predilection is so strong, that he cannot endure a re moval ; for he will then forsake the family, and take their good luck with him. It is this partiality to old tofts that has obtained for him the names of Toft-va3tte, Tomte- vsette1, and Gardbo.
Neither in the Eddas nor the Sagas is there any men tion of the Nisse. Akin to him are, the Niagriusar of the Fseroe isles, who are described as diminutive, with red caps, and bringers of luck ; also the Swedish Tomtegubbe.
They frequently dwell in the high trees that are planted round the house, on which account care should be taken not to fell them, particularly the more ancient ones. Many a one has paid for his disregard herein by an incurable disease2.
THE WERWOLF.
That there were persons who could assume the form of a wolf or a bear (Huse-bjorn), and again resume their own, is a belief as wide-spread as it is ancient. This pro perty is either imparted by Trollmen, or those possessing it are themselves Trolls. In the Volsunga Saga we have very early traces of this superstition3.
THE MARA (QV^LDRYTTERINDE).
The Mara (Eng. mare, in nightmare) belongs to the same family with the Vardogl, Draug4, etc. In appearance she resembles a most beautiful woman, but in acts the most
1 Toft and tomt are synonymous, and signify the space on which a messuage has stood.
2 Arndt, iii. 15. 3 See vol. i. p. 93, and note \ 4 Ib. p. 113.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 19
malignant Troll. She passes through locked doors, assails persons sleeping by setting herself across them, and tor menting them so that it is horrible. The person afflicted by such a nightly visit is said to be Mare-ridden, and is often nearly suffocated. She is not satisfied with torment ing persons, but will ride both sheep and horses. In the Thellcmark she is called Muro, and there, as in other places, they have many methods of getting rid of her ; one of the most effectual is to wrap a knife in a cloth, and, in a manner prescribed, let it turn three times round the body, while uttering certain rimes.
Like other supernatural beings, the Mara can enter by the smallest hole, but, like them, she must also make her exit by the way through which she entered, even though every door and window should be open (Thiele, ii. 282). Hence Mephistopheles, in answer to Faust's inquiry ivhy he did not depart through the window ? says —
's ist ein Gesetz der Teufel und Gespenster, wo sie hereingeschliipft, da miissen sie hinaus. See also Holberg's ' Uden Hoved og Hale,' Act I. Sc. 4.
The Ynglingasaga, cxvi. has a story of a King Vanlandi in Upsala, who was trodden to death by a Mara. When his men held his head, she trod on and almost crushed his legs ; and when they held his feet, she so pressed his head as to cause his death.
GHOSTS.
The belief that the souls of the departed find pleasure in revisiting the places where they have experienced joy or sorrow arid pain, is universal among almost every peo ple. Hence the current opinion, that the soul of a mur dered person willingly hovers around the spot where his body is buried, and makes its appearance, for the purpose of calling forth vengeance on the murderer. The eye of superstition sees them sometimes as white spectres in the churchyard, where they stop horses, terrify people, and make a disturbance; sometimes as executed criminals, who in the moonlight wander round the place of execu tion, with their head under their arm. Sometimes they
20 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
pinch people while asleep both black and blue, and such marks are called ghost-spots (Dodningepletter), or ghost- pinches (Dodningeknib). Such spectres cannot find peace in the grave, in consequence of the crimes either of them selves or of others, before they are asked what it is they want ; after which they do not appear again. Bullets, gun powder, and weapons are wasted on them ; but at the sight of a cross and from exorcisms they must retire. Under this head may be included the so-called Udburrer or Udbore, who in some districts cry like children in the woods, and entice people to them, and in other places, have their abode in steep mountains, and retired spots near the sea, and are supposed to derive their origin from murdered children.
The Danish word for ghost is Gjenganger, or Gjenfserd, answering exactly to the French revenant. The belief in ghosts was deeply impressed on the minds of the heathen Northmen ; a belief closely connected with their ideas of the state after death. The soul, they believed, returned to the place whence it sprang, while the body and the grosser life bound to it passed to the abode of Hel or Death. Herewith was naturally combined the belief that the soul of the departed might, from its heavenly home, revisit the earth, there at night-time to unite itself in the grave-mound with the corporeal shadow released from Hel. Thus the dead could show them selves in the opened grave-mounds in the same form which they had in life. See Volsungakv. I. Str. 37, 38, in Edda Saem.
In the Eyrbyggiasaga is a story of an ejectment of a whole troop of ghosts from a house by judicial process.
THE NOK.
The Norwegian Nok (0. Nor. Nikr, Sw. Neck) gene rally has its abode in rivers and lakes, sometimes also in friths (Fiorde) . It requires a human sacrifice every year ; for which reason one person at least is annually missing in the vicinity of every river or water that is inhabited by a Nok. When any person is drowned the Nok is often heard to cry in a hollow, unearthly voice : " Sset over ! " (Cross over). The Nok can transform himself into all kinds of things. Sometimes he will appear like half a
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 21
boat in the water, at others like a half horse on the bank, sometimes like gold and other valuables. If a person touches any of these things, the Nok instantly gets power over him. He is particularly greedy after little children. He is, however, dangerous only after sunset. On ap proaching any water, it is not amiss to say : " Nyk ! Nyk ! Naal i Vatn ! Jomfru Maria kastet Staal i Vatn ! Du saek, sek flyt!" ("Nyk! Nyk! needle in water! The Virgin Mary cast steel into water ! Thou sink, I float ! ") This formula requires some explanation, which will be found hereafter in what is related of the Swedish Neck.
The Nok is known in many places under the name of the Soetrold (water-sprite), which is said to abide always in the water, and to have many heads. If persons are in danger of shipwreck, they must promise him a son or a daughter for their deliverance ; for which he, on the other hand, bestows on them riches and good fortune as much as they desire. He frequently changes his form, and takes his name from the place where he has his abode. In one place in Norway, whenever it is stormy, or a tempest is gathering, he appears in the form of a large horse, plashing with his monstrous hoofs in the water, which he causes almost constantly to be in violent motion. In the same water, another being, called the Vigtrold, has its habita tion, which shouts terrifically when any danger is at hand.
Although the Nok is a dangerous being, he neverthe less sometimes meets with his master. In the waterfall of Sund, as the story goes, there dwelt for a long time a Nok, who caused the loss of many persons, when they rowed up or down the fall. The priest, who apprehended danger from this Nok, took with him on his passage four stout men, whom he ordered to row with all their might up the fall. They made the attempt twice, but at each time glided back. In making the third attempt, it was observed that, at the upper part of the fall, the priest,
22 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
dashing his hand into the water, drew up a black creature resembling a little dog. He then ordered the men to row further up, at the same time placing the animal firmly between his feet, and keeping a constant silence. Having now reached the stone-mound at Tvet, he conjured the Nok into it. From that time no one has perished in the fall.
In Iceland, where the Nok is called Hnikur, he appears like a handsome grey horse, though with his hoofs turned backwards, and strives to tempt people to mount him, when he will gallop off with them into the water. Some efforts to tame him have been partially successful, and he has been made to work, though for a short time only.
In the Faroe islands the Nikar has his abode in fresh waters or lakes, where he will drag people down and drown them.
In Scotland the Nok is sometimes represented by Shellycoat, who is covered with sea-weed and muscle-shells ; sometimes by the Kelpie who, at least in the Highlands, appears in a horse's shape. In the Orkneys he appears either as a little horse, or as a man under the name of Tangie1. In Shetland he is called Shoopiltee, and appears as a handsome little horse, tempting persons to mount him, when he runs with his rider into the sea. In the Scottish islands they make him an offering, in the shape of a cup of good beer5*.
Grimm (D. M.p.479) interprets the name of Shellycoat by the German Schellenrock (Bell-coat), supposing him so named from his coat being hung with bells ; and cites the instance of a Puck, who for thirty years served in the kitchen and stable of a Meklenburg monastery. He appeared always well-disposed, and only stipulated for tunicam de diversis coloribus et tintinnabulis plenum.
The Norwegian Nok and the Kelpie of Scotland are identical beings. When one of the Grahams of Morphie was building the old castle, he secured the assistance of the water-kelpie or river-horse, by the accredited means of throwing a pair of branks (a sort of yoke) over his head. When released from his labour, and about to return to the water, he said :— " Sair back and sair banes,
Drivin the Laird o' Morphie's stanes !
The Laird o' Morphie '11 never thrive
As lang 's the kelpie is alive 3 ! "
1 In Ben's Descript. of Orkney (1599) he is thus described: "Indutus est algis marinis toto corpore, similis est pullo equino convoluto pilis membrum habet simile equino, et testiculos magnos." Hibbert 504
' See Hibbert, 5. 26. 3 Chambers' Pop. Rh. p 35
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 23
THE GRIM, OR FOSSEGRIM.
Closely allied to the Nok is the musical Grim or Fosse- grim of Norway, a being whose sojourn is by waterfalls and mill-works. He generally plays in still and dark evenings, to entice persons to him, and teach those to play on the violin or other stringed instrument, who, on a Thursday evening, offer to him, with averted face, a white kid, which is to be cast into a waterfall running north wards. If the offering is lean, the learner's progress will extend only to the tuning of the violin ; but if it is fat, the Fosscgrim will grasp the player's right hand, and move it backwards and forwards until the blood springs out at the end of every finger. The pupil is then fully in structed, and can play so incomparably that the very trees will dance and the waterfalls stop their course.
THE RORE-TROLD.
In the Rorevand in Nedenses, a lake enclosed within steep mountains, and much exposed to squalls of wind, a Troll, called the liore-trold, has his abode. He appears under various forms, sometimes as a horse, sometimes as a load of hay, sometimes as a huge serpent, and sometimes as a number of persons. In the winter, and when the ice is thickest, there may be seen, on one night, a long, broad chasm, with fragments of ice lying in it, all which is the work of the Rore-trold.
THE BRUNMIGI.
Another somewhat noxious Troll is the Brunmigi, who is supposed to dwell near and infest springs. His name (from Brunn, funs, and miga, minyere] sufficiently indicates
his nature.
THE QV^IRNKNURRE.
This being seems in many respects identical with the Fossegrim. In Gierrestad it was formerly the custom to
24 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
place a soft loaf, a cup of beer, or something of the kind, by the millstone, that the Qvsernknurre might increase the flour in the sacks. For some time he took up his abode in Sandager waterfall, where a man had a mill. As often as the man began to grind corn the mill stopt. Knowing that it was the Qvsernknurre that caused this annoyance, he took with him one evening, when he was about to grind, some pitch in a pot, under which he made a fire. As soon as he had set the mill in motion it stopt as usual. He then thrust downwards with a pole, in the hope of driving away the Qvsernknurre, but in vain. At last he opened the door to see, when lo ! there stood the Qvsernknurre with extended jaws, and of such magnitude that while its lower lip rested on the threshold, its upper one touched the top of the doorway. It said to the man : " Hast thou ever seen such great gaping ? " Instantly seizing the boiling pitch-pot, the man dashed it into his mouth, with the words : " Hast thou ever tasted such hot boiling ? " With a howl the Qvsernknurre vanished, and was never again seen.
A being nearly resembling the Qvaernknurre is the Urisk of the Scottish Highlands, which is described as a rough hairy sprite that sets mills at work in the night, when there is nothing to grind. He is sent howling away by a panful of hot ashes thrown into his lap while he is sleeping l.
THE FINNGALKN.
This monster is often named, though not accurately described in the later romantic Sagas. According to these it has a human head with enormous teeth, a beast's body and a large heavy tail, terrific claws and a sword in every claw 2.
1 Keightley, F. M. p. 396, from the Quarterly Review, 1825.
2 Keyser, p. 163. See Snorra-Edda, edit. Rask, p. 342.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 25
GERTRUD'S BIRD.
In Norway the red-crested, black woodpecker is known under the name of Gertrudes Bird. Its origin is as fol lows : " When our Lord,, accompanied by St. Peter, was wandering on earth, they came to a woman who was occu pied in baking ; her name was Gertrud, and on her head she wore a red hood. Weary and hungry from their long journeying, our Lord begged for a cake. She took a little dough and set it on to bake, and it grew so large that it filled the whole pan. Thinking it too much for alms, she took a smaller quantity of dough, and again began to bake, but this cake also swelled up to the same size as the first ; she then took still less dough, and when the cake had be come as large as the preceding ones, Gertrud said : ' You must go without alms, for all my bakings are too large for you/ Then was our Lord wroth, and said : ' Because thou givest me nothing, thou shalt for a punishment become a little bird, shalt seek thy dry food between the wood and the bark, and drink only when it rains/ Hardly were these words spoken, when the woman was transformed to the Gertrud's bird, and flew away through the kitchen chimney ; and at this day she is seen with a red hood and black body, because she was blackened by the soot of the chimney. She constantly pecks the bark of trees for sustenance, and whistles against rain; for she always thirsts and hopes to drink J."
AASGAARDSREIA (WILD HUNT).
This band consists of spirits who have not done so much good as to deserve heaven, nor so much evil as to be sent to hell. It consists of drunkards, brawlers, sing ers of slanderous songs, crafty deceivers, and those that for the sake of lucre have perjured themselves. Their
1 Asbjornsen og Moe, No. 2. Grimm, D. M. p. 639.
C
26 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
punishment is to ride about till the end of the world. At the head of the troop rides Guro-Rysse or Reisa-Rova with her long tail, by which she is distinguished from the rest. After her follows a multitude of both sexes. If seen in front, they appear tall and comely, both riders and horses ; but behind, nothing is to be seen but Guro's long tail. The horses, which are coal-black, and have eyes that glow in the dark like fire, are guided with red hot rods and iron reins, which, together with the scream ing of the riders, cause such a terrific noise that it may be heard at a vast distance. They ride as easily over water as over land, their horses' hoofs scarcely touching the sur face of the water. Wherever they cast a saddle on a roof, there a person must soon die ; and where they understand there will be fighting and murder in a drinking bout, there they enter, and set themselves on the ledge above the door. They conduct themselves quietly as long as nothing is going forwards, but set up a horse-laugh and make a loud rattling with their iron rods, when the fighting- is begun and murder committed. The troop rides about chiefly at Christmas, when the great drinking bouts are held. When a person hears the troop coming, he should get out of the way or fall down on his face, and appear to be asleep; for there are instances of men having been caught up by them, and either carried back to the place whence they were taken, or found half stupified at a di stance from it. A good man who takes this precaution has nothing more to apprehend than that each of the troop will spit on him. When all are passed by, he must spit in his turn ; otherwise he would receive injury there from.
This remarkable tradition, the title even of which points to heathenism, is known, at least by name, over the greater part of the diocese of Chris- tiansand, but it is found most complete in the Upper Thellemark, where I myself have heard it ; where it is called the Aaske-Rei or Asanerfcerd,
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 27
which cannot be seen but only heard. It devours the Fladbrod (thin cakes), butter, etc., that have been prepared for Christmas, unless they be crossed previously to being put away. In one district of Norway, if any one, on hearing the troop, does not throw himself down, his soul must accompany it, while his body remains lying. When the soul returns to the body, the latter is quite enfeebled, and remains so ever after. In some places this noisy troop is called Aaskereia, in others Hoskelreia. Some times they ride with a rushing noise through the air ; sometimes they are to be met by night, on the roads, riding on black horses with glowing eyes. On Christmas eve, and the three nights of Christmas, they are the most riotous, and the countryman who has neglected the precaution of placing a bar before his horses, or a cross over his door, may be certain of finding them the next morning dripping wet and almost broken-winded ; for the Hoskelreia will have used them, and they are not the people to treat them gently.
THE MERMAN (MARMENNILL) AND MERMAID (MARGYGR).
Sailors and fishermen, when the weather is calm, some times see Mermen and Mermaids rise from the bosom of the tranquil deep. The Mermen are of a dusky hue, with a long1 beard, black hair, and from the waist upwards resemble a man, but downwards are like a fish. The Mer maids are beautiful upwards, but downwards, like the Mermen, have a fish's form. Their children are called Marmseler. These are sometimes caught by fishermen, who take them home, that they may gain from them a knowledge of future events ; for both they, as well as the Mermen and Mermaids, can see into futurity. It is now rare to hear a Mermaid speak or sing. Mariners are not pleased at the sight of them, as they forbode a storm.
It is dangerous to hurt them. A sailor once enticed a Mermaid so near, that she laid her hand on the gunwale of the vessel, which he struck off. For his barbarity he was overtaken by a storm, in which he nearly perished. St. Olaf, on one of his piratical expeditions, fell in with a Mermaid, who by her sweet song was wont to lull ma riners to sleep, and then drag them down. If, in diving
28 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
under water, they turn towards a ship, it betokens mis fortune; if they turn from the ship, it is a good sign1.
Belief in Mermen and Mermaids is as old as it is general. According to Gervase of Tilbury, we had Mermaids in our seas, and they are men tioned in the Icelandic Sagas. See Dobeneck, i. pp. 38 sgq., also for an account of the German Water-nix. In Ireland they are called Merrows, and legends are told of them similar to those of other countries.
THE SEA-SNAKE.
In fresh waters and rivers, as well as along the coasts of Norway, enormous snakes are said to exist, but varying with regard both to their appearance and magnitude. Ac cording to the general belief, they are brought forth on the land, and have their first abode in forests and mounds of stone, whence, when they grow large, they betake them selves to the great lakes or inland seas, or to the ocean, where they grow to a tremendous size. They seldom make their appearance, and when they do, are regarded as fore runners of important events. In most of the lakes and rivers of any considerable magnitude, these monsters have, in former times, on one or other extraordinary occasion, been seen to rise from the water's depth. In the fresh waters none have been seen within the memory of man, but they sometimes, when there is a dead calm, appear in the fiords or firths. Some time after the Black Death2 there came, according to tradition, two large snakes from the Foksoe, by the town down to the 'loug' (bath), where one, it is said, is still to be found ; but the other attempted, about two hundred years since, to go down to the river's mouth, where it perished in the fall and was driven across in the vicinity of Drontheim, where it be came putrid, and emitted such a stench that no one could approach the place.
1 Keyser, p. 162.
2 A.D. 1350. Two-thirds of the people of Norway are said to have perished. It visited England two years earlier.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. XV
In the Lundevand, on Lister, there is a Sea-Snake that appears only before a king's death or some great revolu tion. Some assert that they have seen it.
In Bollarnvatn also, in Bahuus l, there was formerly a Sea-Snake, whose body was as thick as a calf s of a year old, and whose tail was about six ells in length. It de stroyed the fish, and had its abode in a little isle called Svanviksoe. It never showed itself, except when some calamity was at hand. But of all the snakes inhabiting the waters of the North, none are so celebrated as those that were and are to be found in Mios. In an old writing 2, we are told of a tremendous snake, that seemed to approach from the island, and to go from thence to the ' King's land/ but instantly vanished. In like manner, many large snakes appeared day after day in Mios, which twisted themselves into a variety of curves, and cast the water to a considerable height. At length the first-mentioned enor mous snake made its appearance a second time, and darted with rapidity up on a rock. Its eyes were as large as the bottom of a barrel, and it had a long mane that hung far down its neck. As it could not get off the rock, but lay and beat its head against it, one of the bishop's servants, who was a daring fellow, took a steel bow, and shot so many arrows into its eye, that the water round about was coloured green from the outflowing humour. This snake, which displayed a variety of colours, was appalling to look upon. It died of the wounds it had received, and sent forth such a stench, that the people thereabouts, by the bishop's order, united for the purpose of burning it, which was done. Its skeleton lay for many years on the shore. A grown-up youth could hardly carry the smallest portion of its backbone. It is also said that there is a Sea- Snake,
1 This tradition belongs strictly to those of Sweden, but is left here, in order not to divide the several accounts of the Sea-Snake. - Beskrivelse over Hammer.
30 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
which winds itself round the great bell from Hammer, which was sunk during the seven years' war in the Akers- vig, and when the water is clear may still be discerned. All attempts to raise it have been in vain, though it was once lifted to the water's surface.
That this Mios snake was not a thing to be played with, will appear from an account of the year 1656, given in Pontoppidan's Natural History of Norway, 2, 65. Such a water-snake made aland trip from Mios to Spirillen, and is probably the same with the one that was wont to appear in that lake against evil and perilous times. tf It was in appearance like a huge mast, whatever stood in its way it overthrew, even trees and huts. With its loud hissing and horrid roaring it terrified all the people round about." That in calm weather such enormous Sea-Snakes some times appear on the coast of Norway, can hardly be denied, as credible persons, even in our own time, declare that they have seen them 1 ; to whose testimony may be added that of Hibbert, who says : " The existence of the Sea- Snake, a monster fifty -five feet long, is placed beyond a doubt by the animal, that was thrown on shore in Orkney, the vertebrae of which are to be seen in the Edinburgh Museum 2."
The writer, who among us has most amply treated of the Sea-Snake, is Eric Pontoppidan, in his Natural Hi story of Norway, in which two representations of Sea- Snakes are given. According to his testimony, founded on the accounts of Bergen and Nordland mariners, as well as of other eye-witnesses, these monsters live in the depths of the ocean, except in July and August, when in calm weather they come up to the surface ; but sink again the
1 Compare the Vestlandske Tidende No. 22, and Sorenskriver Blom's, also Bishop Neumann's paa trovaerdige Folks Beretninger grundede Vid- nesbyrd, Budstikken 6te Aargang 159 and 578.
'2 Description of Shetland, p. 565.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 31
moment the wind begins to ruffle the watery mirror. Ac cording to the testimony of Commander de Ferry s in 1746, given before a court, "the Sea- Snake seen by him in the vicinity of Molda, had a head resembling in shape that of a horse, which it held about an ell above the water, of a greyish hue, the snout quite black, very large black eyes, and a long white mane, which hung from its neck into the sea. Seven or eight coils of its body, which was very thick, were also seen : according to conjecture, there was a fathom between the coils l." According to the tes timony of the priest Tuchsen of Heroe, and of some neigh bouring priests, these Sea-Snakes were as thick as a double hogshead (Oxehoved), had large nostrils and blue eyes, which at a distance resembled a couple of bright pewter plates. On the neck there was a mane, which from afar appeared like sea-weed.
DRAGONS.
Traditions of Dragons that fly through the air by night arid spit forth fire, are very general, and holes in the earth arid the mountains are yet shown over all the country, whence they have been seen issuing like a glowing fire, when war or other public calamity was at hand. When they return to their habitations, — where they brood over vast treasures and precious things, which, according to some traditions, they have collected in the bottom of the sea — the sound may be heard of the great iron doors, which close after them. As they are fierce and spit pernicious fire, it is dangerous to contend with them. Under Agers church, which stands on four golden pillars, a dragon broods over immense riches. It has been seen, even within the memory of persons living, or a short time before the last war, issuing from a hole near the church. From the
1 Pontoppidan, 2, 321.
32 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
Dragon's Hole on Storoe in Aadal, from the Dragon's Hill on Rasvog, and numerous other places, firedrakes with long tails were to be seen issuing in former times, and sometimes even in our days. That they are not in vincible appears from an old tradition, which tells of a priest, named Anders Madsen, who is said to have lived about 1631, that shot a dragon which brooded over silver in the so-called Dragon Mount near the Tvedevand.
The important part played by dragons, firedrakes and the like in the old songs, legends and romances, where the killing of a dragon forms one of a hero's earliest proofs of valour, has probably given birth to the innume rable traditions concerning these monsters ; an accidental electric fire, a fire-ball or the like, being enough to keep the belief alive.
THE SEVERED HAND1.
There was a miller whose mill was burnt down on two successive Whitsun-eves. In the third year, just before Whitsuntide, he had a tailor in his house to make holyday clothes.
(C I wonder how it will go with the mill this time ; whether it will be burnt again to-night/' said the miller.
" You need not fear that," said the tailor, " give me the key, and I will keep watch in it.'9
This seemed to the miller both good and highly ac ceptable; and when it drew towards evening the tailor got the key and went to the mill, which was still empty, having but just been rebuilt. So placing himself in the middle of the floor, he chalked round him a large circle, on the outside of which he wrote the Paternoster ; and thus fortified, would not have feared if the arch-enemy himself had made his appearance. In the dead of the night the door suddenly flew open, and there came in such a multitude of black cats, that the place literally swarmed. But a short time had elapsed when they set a large earthen
1 Asbjornsen, Norske Huldreeventyr, i. pp. 11-14.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. .3d
pot in the chimney,, and lighted a fire under it, so that it began frying and hissing in the pot as if it were full of boiling pitch and tar.
"Oho," thought the tailor, "is that what you are after ? " And scarcely had he given utterance to the thought when one of the cats put its paw behind the pot and tried to upset it.
" Whisht cat, you '11 burn yourself ! " cried the tailor.
" Whisht cat, you '11 burn yourself ! the tailor says," said the cat to the other cats, and all ran from the chimney, and began hopping and dancing round the circle ; but in the meanwhile the cat again sneaked to the chimney and endeavoured to upset the pot.
" Whisht cat, you '11 burn yourself ! " cried the tailor, and drove it from the chimney.
" Whisht cat, you '11 burn yourself, the tailor says/* said the cat to the other cats, and all began dancing arid hopping again, but in a moment the same cat was away trying a third time to overturn the pot.
" Whisht cat, you '11 burn yourself ! " cried the tailor in a rage, and so terrified them that they tumbled one over another, and then began to jump and dance as before.
They then formed a circle without the tailor's circle, and began dancing round it with an ever-increasing velo city, till at length it seemed to the tailor that every thing- was whirling round before him. All this while the cats were staring at him with their large, fierce eyes, as if they would swallow him.
While they were in the thick of it, the cat that had tried to upset the pot, put her paw within the circle, as if she felt inclined to seize hold of the tailor, but who seeing her design, drew out his knife and stood on his guard. After a few moments the cat again put her paw within the ring, when the tailor in one instant chopped it off; and all the cats took to their heels, screaming and howling, as speedilv
c 5
34 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
as they could, and left the tailor in quiet possession of the field.
The tailor then lay down in the circle till long after the sun had been shining in upon him. He then rose, locked the mill-door and proceeded to the miller's house.
When he entered the room the miller and his wife were still in bed, it being Whit-sunday.
" Good morning," said the tailor, giving the miller his hand. " Good morning/' said the miller in return, and was both glad and surprised to see the tailor again.
" Good morning, mother," said he, holding out his hand to the miller's wife.
" Good morning," said she, but appeared pale and sor rowful, and kept her hand under the bed-clothes, but at last offered him her left hand. The tailor now saw how matters stood ; but what afterwards took place is not said.
The North-German story, Die Katzenmiihle, closely resembles the above, but is much simpler. The Norwegian one is probably embellished by the author, from whose work it is extracted.
OF ST. OLAF.
St. Olaf was the Norwegian people's hero, and yet lives in their remembrance, while few only and imperfect tradi tions are occasionally to be met with of his equally valiant predecessors and successors. Let us, therefore, consider this man, in order more easily to comprehend the causes of his great celebrity.
Olaf was born in 995 ; his father, Harald Gramske, was of the race of Harald Harfager, and his mother, Asta, the daughter of Gudbrand, from the Uplands. In his third year he was baptized, King Olaf Tryggvason standing god father to him. In his youth he sailed on piratical expedi tions, in which he acquired great experience and fitness for warfare. Supported by powerful relations and friends, as well as by his own sagacity and military skill, he gained
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 35
possession of his paternal kingdom, over which he reigned for fifteen years with great vigour and reputation. His exertions were chiefly directed to the complete establish ment of the Christian faith in Norway, which, after the death of Olaf Tryggvason, had greatly declined; but the violence with which he proceeded, together with his ambi tion and severity, rendered him so hateful, that he found it advisable to flee from the country to Gardarike l, from his discontented subjects, who were, moreover, instigated and supported by the ambitious Dano-English king, Cnut the Great. Olaf, who in the school of adversity had begun to act the saint, was on the eve of starting for Jerusalem, when Olaf Tryggvason, in a dream, bade him return to Norway. He obeyed the behest and marched with an army into the country, where, in an obstinate battle at Stiklastad in Vserdal, he was defeated and slain by his re volted subjects, on the 29th July 1030.
Shortly after the death of Olaf, the fame of his sanctity and the miracles said to have attended his corpse formed a topic of conversation among the people, who found them the more credible, as they were highly dissatisfied with what they had got in exchange for him. Olaf s body, which had been buried in a sand-bank at Stiklastad, was taken up, arid being found, after the expiration of a year, unchanged, with the hair and nails grown, Grhnkell, Olaf s court-bishop, de clared him a holy person, and the commonalty thereupon determined that Olaf was a true saint. His body was by his son, King Magnus the Good, laid in a costly shrine, and placed by the high altar in the church of St. Clement at Nidaros (Drontheim), where, as well as afterwards in the magnificent Christchurch (the present cathedral), it is said to have wrought numerous miracles, St. Olaf s festi val, the 29th July, was by law commanded to be celebrated throughout the country as the chief solemnity, and churches 1 Russia, in its then restricted signification.
36 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
to his honour were erected not only in Norway, but in Denmark, Sweden, Russia, England, and even by his countrymen at Constantinople. Pilgrims journeyed in crowds to St. Olafs shrine, and legends of cripples who had there recovered the use of their limbs, and of other miracles soon became numberless.
St. Olafs shrine of silver, inlaid with gold and precious stones, a single one of which cost Archbishop Walkendorf twenty lasts of butter1, was on solemn occasions, such as the Saint's yearly festival, or the election of a king, borne in procession by sixty men, and was an abundant source of revenue to the clergy and the cathedral. The last arch bishop, Olaf Engelbretson, carried it with him to his strong castle of Steinviksholm, where, after his flight, it fell into the hands of the Danish commander, Christopher Hvit- feld, who sent St. Olafs shrine of silver gilt, weighing about 3200 ounces, together with another silver shrine, in which the Saint's shirts were preserved, and many other valuables, to the Danish treasury.
When the Swedes in 1564 had taken possession of Drontheim, they found nothing remaining of St. Olafs treasures, except his helmet, spurs, and the wooden chest that had contained his body2. The helmet and spurs they took with them to Sweden, where they are still pre served in the church of St. Nicholas at Stockholm; but the chest they left behind in a church, after having drawn out the silver nails, which had been left by the Danes. After the expulsion of the Swedes, St. Olafs body and chest were, with great solemnity, carried back to the cathe* dral, where, a contemporary bears witness, that the body was found entire in a grave of masonry in 1567, and "his
1 Equal to about forty tons.
2 This was, without doubt, one of the cases in which his silver shrine was preserved. What became of his armour, battle-axe, spear, and the banner given him by an angel, while he slept on the place where he was martyred, is not known.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. O/
blood is seen to this day in a barn, and can never be washed out by water or human hands." In the following year St. Olafs body was by a royal ordinance covered with earth.
St. Olafs sanctity is no more thought of, even his last resting-place is forgotten, but his name still lives, as is proved by the numerous traditions still fresh in the me mory of the Norwegian people. Throughout the land are to be found traces of St. Olaf's deeds and miraculous power. Fountains sprang forth when he thirsted, and acquired salutary virtue when he drank ; rocks were rent at his bidding, and sounds (sunde) were formed at his nod ; churches were raised, and Trolls found in St. Olaf a foe as formidable as they had formerly had in the mighty Thor, whose red beard even was inherited by St. Olaf. In many places Trolls are still shown, who at St. Olaf's command were turned into stone.
Out of Norway also St. Olaf lived long in popular tra dition. In Denmark and in Sweden are many places where traditions are yet current of St. Olaf and the Trolls he turned into stone. Thus, as he was one day riding by Dalby church in Varmeland, he was addressed by a Troll- wife in these words : —
" Kong Olaf med dit pipuga Skagg1 ! King Olaf with thy pointed beard ! Du seglar for nar min Badstugu- Thou sailest too near my bath- vag." room wall.
To which he answered : —
" Du Troll med din Rack och Thou Troll-wife with thy rock
Ten and wheel
Skal bli i Sten, Shall turn to stone,
Och aldrig mer gora Skeppare And never more do shipman
Men." harm.
In the Shetland isles, we learn from Hibbert, the in-
1 The same probably as Sw. Pipskiigg (Grimm, D. M. p. 517), tbe little pointed beard on tbe under lip.
38 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS*
habitants, as late as the eighteenth century, maintained that they had their ancient, but now lost, law-book from ' St. Olla/ of whom they relate wonderful things in their songs, which they call 'Vissacks/ A Faroe tradition ascribes it to St. Olaf, that they have now no woods on the islands. St. Olaf having inquired of some of the in habitants whether they had any woods at home, they sus pecting that he made the inquiry with the view to taxing them, answered in the negative. "Be it so," said the king, and at the same time the Faroe woods sank into the earth.
If it be asked what can be the origin of many of these wondrous traditions, we answer, that it must be sought for in the same ignorance of nature and its effects, together with the desire of finding a reason for everything that seems uncommon, which has given birth to so many tra ditions of supernatural beings. What heathenism attri buted to the gods of Valhall and to the mighty Thor, the cunning Catholic ecclesiastics, with their earliest converts, no doubt transferred to the powerful suppresser of the Asa-faith, St. Olaf, whose axe supplanted Thorns Miolnir, and whose steed, renowned in tradition, the goats of the Thunder-god1. Olaf's own renown, the tales of pious pilgrims and monkish legends have gradually combined to
1 The numerous representations, which in the days of Catholicism were no doubt to be found in many of the churches dedicated to St. Olaf, are now for the most part destroyed ; but from the notices which we have of them, the hero was generally represented with a battle-axe in his hand, and treading on a Troll or a dragon. In Ladvig church there is a re markable processional banner, on which is the figure of St. Olaf, in com plete armour, treading on a dragon. In St. Mary's church at Lubeck I have seen an old, but very good painting, the principal figure in which is St. Olaf completely armed, with his battle-axe in his hand and a roval mantle over his shoulders. With one foot he is treading on a dragon, but which has a human head. In the Kollmann chapel, in the same church, there is likewise an ancient picture of ' St. Olaus.' Even in Lon don there are two or three churches dedicated to St. Olave.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 39
make of St. Olaf a hero, whom the superstitious and igno rant multitude believed capable of performing the most impossible things.
OF ST. OLAF AND THE FIRST CHURCH IN NORWAY.
In Norrland there is the following tradition respecting the first church erected in Norway1 : —
As St. Olaf was one day wandering among the woods and mountains, deeply meditating how, without laying heavy burthens on his people,, he could accomplish the construction of a church he had planned in his mind, of such magnitude that its like should hardly be found, he met a man of gigantic size, who asked him what he was pondering over. " I may well be pondering," answered the king, " having made a vow to build a church for mag nitude and magnificence without its like in the whole world." The Troll thereupon undertook by a certain fixed time to complete such a structure, but only on con dition that, if the work should be finished at the time appointed, St. Olaf would engage to give him, in remu neration for his labour, the sun and moon, or St. Olaf himself. The king agreed to the condition, but fancied he could form such a vast plan for the edifice, that the giant would find it impossible to finish the work by the time agreed on. The church was to be so spacious that seven priests might preach in it at the same time without hearing or disturbing one another. The pillars and orna ments, both within and without, were to be of the hardest flint ; besides which many other and equally difficult con ditions were included in the bargain. But within a much shorter time than the period agreed on, St. Olaf saw the church finished, with the exception of the spire, which was still to be erected. Seeing this the Saint went out
1 For other versions of this story, see Danish Traditions and Swedish Traditions.
40 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
again among the woods and mountains, in deep tribula tion, thinking of his unfortunate engagement ; when sud denly he heard a child crying in the mountain, and a giantess comforting it with the following song : —
" Vys ! vyss ! sonen min ! Hush ! hush ! my son !
I morgon kommer Vind och To-morrow comes Wind and
Vader, fader din, Tempest, thy father,
Och bar med sig Sol och Mane, And has with him sun and moon,
Eller sjelfver Sanct Olof." Or St. Olaf himself.
Now the king was overjoyed, because Trolls, as we are told, always lose their power when a Christian man calls them by their name. On his return he saw the giant standing on the top of the tower, in the act of placing the spire, and called to him :—
" Vind och Vader, Wind and Tempest,
Du har satt spiran sneder !" Thou hast set the spire awry !
From the summit of the church the Troll now fell with a terrific smash, and was shivered in fragments, all which were mere flints. According to another version the giant's name was Slatt, and St. Olaf cried out : — " Slatt ! satt spiran ratt !" Slatt ! set the spire straight !
According to another, he is called Blaster, and St. Olaf calls to him : —
" Blaster ! satt spiran vaster ! " Blaster ! set the spire westward ! The same tradition is also current in Norway itself, where the giant is called Skalle, and the magnificent cathe dral of Nidaros (Drontheim) is the church erected by him1. A similar tradition respecting the name of the Troll is found also in Germany2.
ST. OLAF AT VAALER.
When travelling over the country, for the purpose of introducing the Christian faith, St. Olaf came to a place
1 Afzelius, iii. 97, 98 ; Grimm, D. M. pp. 515, 516.
2 Grimm, K. and H. M. No. 55.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 41
on the east bank of the Glommen, which, together with its church and the whole parish,, acquired the name of Vaaler in the following manner : — In the above-named place,, St. Olaf held an assize, at which, after some hesi tation, it was decided that the God whom the king wor shiped should also be worshiped by the people, and that Odin's religion should give place to that of Christ. It was further decided, on the king's proposal, that a church should be erected there, as at other places, where the new faith had been adopted. With respect, however, to the spot where it should be built, a great difference of opinion arose; whereupon, as the tradition informs us, St. Olaf bent his bow, sent forth an arrow, and declared that on the spot where it fell the church should stand. The king was standing at the time by the fountain that still bears the name of St. Olaf's, and the arrow fell in a Vaal1, where a wooden church was afterwards built, which, to gether with the house and parish, was by St. Olaf named Vaaler. This church, at which the sick and dying were wont to make offerings, existed till the year 1805, when a new one was erected, in the vestment-chest of which there is an elaborate iron wire clasp, called St. Olaf's clasp, which, according to tradition, was placed in the old church by the king himself, and is said to have belonged to the halter of his horse. This horse the king was accustomed to water in the crystal spring, which is never dry in sum mer nor frozen in winter, and also bears St. Olaf's name. Miraculous powers were formerly ascribed to it. The sick placed money or anything of silver in it, for the recovery of their health ; and great misfortune was supposed to await the person who should make free with these sacred deposits. Only a few years ago it was customary for the people, on the first day of every celebration, to strive who
1 A Vaal is a quantity of trunks and roots of trees, piled in a heap for fuel.
42 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
should first arrive at the fountain, and it was regarded as something to boast of by him who was the first to water his horse at St. OlaPs well.
ST. OLAF AT RINGERIGE.
When St. Olaf was journeying from place to place, for the purpose of introducing the Christian faith and erecting churches in the place of the heathen temples, he found much opposition and hindrance not only from his refrac tory pagan subjects, but also from the numerous Trolls, Jutuls and Giantesses inhabiting the mountains round about. The Trolls could not endure St. Olaf, partly be cause, by using the sign of the cross, he did them much harm, and partly because he founded so many churches, the sound of whose bells disturbed their quiet. But not withstanding their frequent efforts, they could effect nothing against the holy king, who, on the other hand, turned them at once to stone. Such petrified Trolls are still to be seen in all parts of the country. Thus, when St. Olaf was on one of his progresses, a fierce giantess suddenly sprang from a steep rock, crying aloud : —
" St. Olaf xned det brede skjseg ! St. Olaf with the broad beard ! Du rider saa naer min Kjelder- Thou ridest so near my cellar- vaeg ! " wall !
St. Olaf instantly answered : —
" Stat du der i Stok og Steen, Stand thou there in stock and
stone,
Til jeg kommer her tilbars Till I come hither back again, igjen."
The petrified giantess is yet to be seen there.
When St. Olaf came to Steen, where his mother at that time dwelt, he resolved on building a church there. With this resolution a giantess (gyvri) that lived in the moun tain (which is two thousand feet high, and after her was called Gyrihauge) was highly displeased ; and, although
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 43
slie might^ from the above-mentioned example, have known that St. Olaf was not a person to be trifled with, she de termined to try her strength,, and challenged him to a competition. " Before thou art ready with thy church," said she, " I shall have laid a stone bridge across Steen's fiord/' Olaf accepted the challenge, and before she was half ready with her bridge, the sweet tones of the bells were heard from St. Olaf's already finished church. In her rage the Troll hurled the stones, which she had des tined for the completion of the bridge, from Gyrihauge, straight across the fiord, at the church ; but as none of them hit the mark, she was so exasperated that she tore off one of her legs and cast it at the church-tower. Some say that it carried the tower along with it, others that she aimed too high. But be that as it may, the leg sank down in a swamp behind the church, where it causes a foul stench even to this day. The swamp is still called by the country folk Giograput, and the stones which she cast at the church were not long since to be seen in the neighbouring fields. The bridge begun by the giantess is now completed, and at Steen are still to be seen the ruins of St. Olaf s church, which deserve to be preserved more carefully than they now are. Formerly service was performed on every St. John's day, but about a hundred and fifty years ago the building was struck by lightning.
AXEL THORDSEN AND FAIR VALDBORG. In the land of Norway there lived in former days a maiden so fair, that she was universally denominated the Fair Valdborg. Her father, Sir Immer, died in her tender infancy, and her mother, the Lady Julli, rested also in the dark earth before her daughter was grown up. Being of noble race she had powerful relatives all over the country, but the choicest of them all was Axel Thordsen, who chose her for his bride, while she was yet a child, and was be-
44 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
trothed to her, previous to his departure from the country to visit foreign courts, among which he took service under the emperor Henry.
His young bride was, in the meanwhile, placed in a cloister, that she might learn to sew, and there she re mained for eleven years, when Queen Malfred received the fair maiden into her court, where she was held in high honour ; for Malfred and the Lady Julli had been intimate acquaintances and often played at tables together. Axel was, in the mean time, beginning to feel a longing after his betrothed, and having been informed by a pilgrim of Valdborg' s race, that she was the most beauteous maiden in the whole land, and that her powerful kindred had destined her for the king's son, Hagen, he obtained leave of absence from the emperor, and hastened back to his native country. Thirty attendants followed him, but when he reached his mother's mansion, he rode alone. At the gate he was met by his fair sister, the Lady Helfred, who advised him to disguise himself as a messenger, at the same time giving him a letter to Valdborg, whom he found, attending the queen, just coming from vespers. In the letter, which was filled with expressions of love, lay five gold rings, on which roses and lilies were embossed. On reading the letter, she plighted to him her faith anew, and adhered to her oath, although eleven knights made love to her, be sides Hagen, the king's son, who was the twelfth. The young prince was sunk in despair and weary in spirit, when fair Valdborg would not be moved, and his mother, Queen Malfred, answered his complaint with : " By force thou canst not gain her." He nevertheless recovered hope, when he by chance met his confessor, the black friar Knud, who gave him the unexpected consolation, that Axel could not be united to Valdborg, because they were cousins german, and one woman had held them both over the font.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 45
Hagen now addressed himself to Valdborg' s three ma ternal uncles, who were jarls of high degree, and of them demanded her in marriage. Joyfully they gave their con sent, but Valdborg said : " Axel is my dearest friend, I will never deceive him." Hagen then caused letters to be written and the archbishop summoned, together with seventy ecclesiastics, and declared that the two lovers should be cited before the archbishop.
With beating hearts the loving pair attended before the archbishop in St. Mary's church, where the black friar Knud stept forth, and with the pedigree in hand, showed that they could not be joined in wedlock, as they were cousins on the mother's side, and were besides godchildren of the same sponsor. They then went up to the altar, where a handkerchief was delivered to them, which was then cut in two between them, and a part retained by each. Thus were they parted for ever. The gold ring was then taken off Valdborg' s finger and the bracelet from her arm, both of which were returned to Axel, who casting them on the altar, made a present of them to St. Olaf, at the same time swearing, that for the remainder of his life he would be the friend of Valdborg.
At this oath Hagen waxed wroth, and stepping forth swore, that Axel should on the following day make oath on sword and holy writ, that Valdborg was a virgin for him. Not only did the two lovers swear on the mass- book, but eleven jarls of the same race, with gilded swords and yellow locks, attended to swear with the fair maiden, with whom Hagen offered to share his throne whenever he became king ; but she declared to the sorrowful Axel that she would never forget him, but would pass her days in solitude.
Thus stood matters for a considerable time. Axel and his beloved never entered into any amusements and never were seen to laugh. At length a war broke out, and
46 NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS.
Hagen, who had now become king, summoned all his men to the field. He made Axel his general, and the bold knight, in whose shield of white and azure stood two red hearts, was ever at hand wherever his country's honour or his own required him. The conflict was obstinate. Axel slew King Amund's sons and many of the nobles of Up land. But King Hagen fell, mortally wounded, from his horse, requesting, at his last moments, Axel to avenge his death, to receive the kingdom of Norway, and take to wife the beloved of them both. Axel now again rushed into the thickest of the fight, slaughtering the enemy until his sword brake, and he had received seven mortal wounds. His last words were of his betrothed.
Valdborg divided all she possessed of value among her relations, and retired to the convent of St. Mary, where she was consecrated a nun by Archbishop Aage.
The foregoing notice of the story of Axel and Valdborg is abridged from the beautiful old Danish ballad of ' Axel Thordsen og Skjon Valdborg,' of which we know neither the name of its author nor the time of its compo sition. It is printed in the Udvalgte Dauske Viser (Bd. iii. pp. 257 sqq.~), aiid a German translation by W. C. Grimm is given in his ' Altdanische Heldenlieder,' pp. 357 sqq. It has been dramatized by Oehlenschlsger.
If the ballad has any historic worth beyond the circumstance that it affords an accurate picture of Norwegian costume in the middle age, and that in it may be seen, as in a mirror, the spirit and manners of the time, it seems most probable that its scene was in Romsdal and the neighbour ing Sondmor. At the mansion of Houe in Sondmor, tradition tells of a battle fought there, in which both Axel Thordsen and the king's son, Hagen, were slain ; and on the little isle of Gidske, by the church, there is a marble slab, shaped like a coffin lid, about six feet long and in the widest part scarcely an ell broad, on which are some illegible runic cha racters, which has always been known as Fair Valdborg's grave. On the other side of the quire, tradition further says, Axel Thordseu lies buried, but without a memorial. By each grave an ash was planted, both of which grew to an equal height, and when they had risen above the roof of the church, they inclined towards each other, and entwined their boughs together. Axel's tree yet stands flourishing, but Valdborg's is dead.
NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS. 47
THE SIGNE-K.LERRING, OR WITCH.
To ascertain under what disease a sickly child was labouring, recourse was — and, perhaps, is — had to a signe- kjcerring1, who employed for that purpose the process of melting or casting. This was done by melting lead taken from church windows after sunset, into water drawn from a stream running from the north. Over the vessel con taining the water there was laid a barley cake, having in it a hole made with a darning needle, through which the molten lead was slowly poured into the water. This ope ration was usually performed in the case of rickets, in order to discover under which of the nine species of that disease — for such was the number of its varieties — the child was suffering. According to the form assumed by the lead in the water, the species was determined ; if, for instance, it resembled a man with two large horns, it was the troldsvek (troll-rickets) ; if a mermaid, the vassvek (water-rickets) .
While pouring the lead the sorceress muttered the fol lowing spell : —
I charm for guile, and I charm for rickets ;
I charm it hence, and I charm it away ;
I charm it out, and I charm it in ;
I charm in weather, and I charm in wind ;
I charm in the south, and I charm in the east ;
I charm in the north, and I charm in the west ;
I charm in the earth, and I charm in water ;
I charm in the mountain, I charm in the sand ;
I charm it down in an alder-root ;
I charm it into a colt's foot ;
I charm it into the fire of hell ;
I charm it into a north-running stream ;
There shall it eat, and there shall consume,
Till harm for the babe there shall be none2.
1 From at signe, i. e. to exorcise, and Kjaerring (Nor. for Kjaerliug) an old crone ; an undoubted descendant of the Vala of the heathen times.
2 Asbjornsen, Huldreeventyr, ii. pp. 158 sqq.
SCANDINAVIAN POPULAR TRADITIONS,
n.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS1.
CHRISTMAS OR YULE PASTIMES.
MANY Christmas customs and pastimes derive their origin from the sacrifices, which, in the days of heathenism, were appointed, in order to render the gods propitious. The sacrifices consecrated to Odin, which sometimes consisted of human beings, were celebrated with games and dancing. In Gothland, where most memorials of Odin are to be met with, a game still exists in some places, which represents such a sacrificial dance. It is performed, amid many nimble springs and changes of motion, by young men dis guised, with their faces blackened or coloured. One of these represents the victim, everything required for the sacri fice is brought forth, which is apparently carried into effect to the sound of music or of song. Sometimes the person selected as the victim sits clad in skin on a stool, holding a wisp of straw in his mouth, which, cut sharp at the ends and standing out from his ears, is intended to resemble a
1 From Afzelius, Svenska Folkets Sago-Hafder, unless otherwise expressed.
I)
50 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
swine's bristles ; he is thus supposed to represent the sa crifice made at Yule to Frey, and which consisted of a hog. In many places a loaf or cake is baked, which is called the Yule-hog (Julgalt), and is kept till the spring, when it is given to the cattle with which the labours of spring are to be executed ; all in commemoration of the pagan sacrifices at midwinter or Yule for a good year. Even the name of Yule (O. Nor. Jol, Dan. Sw. Jul) is derived from the cir cular motion of the sun l ; the first half-year till Yule with decreasing days, the second from Yule with increas ing days ; whence the time when both these halves meet is called the ' Jula-mot/ This was the ancient new year : it began with the longest night of winter, which was called the Modernatt (Mother night). The new year's wish of old was, ' a good Jula-mot/
The hog of propitiation (sonargbltr) offered to Frey was a solemn sa crifice in the North, and in Sweden, down to modern times, the custom has been preserved of baking, on every Christmas eve, a loaf or cake in the form of a hog. Verelius, in his remarks on the Hervararsaga (p. 139) re lates that the Swedish peasants dry the baked Yule-hog, and preserve it till the spring ; then having pounded a part of it in the vessel out of which the seed is to be scattered, they give it mixed with barley to the plough- horses, leaving the other part to be eaten by the servants that hold the plough, in the hope of having a plentiful harvest 2.
MODERN TRADITIONS OF ODIN.
In Gothland, and particularly in Smaland, many tra ditions and stories of Odin the Old still live in the mouths of the people. In Bleking it was formerly the custom to leave a sheaf on the field for Odin's horses. In Kraktorps gard in Smaland, a barrow was opened about a century ago, in which Odin was said to have been buried, and which, after the introduction of Christianity, was called Helvetesbacke (HelFs mount). In it was found a vault, from which when opened there burst forth a wondrous
1 From O. Nor. hjol, Dan. Sw. hjul (wheel). See Grimm, D. M. p. 664.
2 Ib. pp. 45, 1188.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 51
fire, like a flash of lightning. A coffin of flints also and a lamp were found at the same time. Of a priest, named Peter Dagson, who dwelt near Troienborg, it is related, that when the rye he had sown there sprang up, Odin came riding from the hills every evening, of stature so lofty that he towered above the buildings in the farm-yard, and with spear in hand. Stopping before the entrance, he hindered every one, during the whole night, from going in or out. And this took place every night until the rye was cut.
A story is also current of a golden ship, which is said to be sunk in Runemad, near the Nyckelbcrg, in which, according to the tradition, Odin fetched the slain from the battle of Bravalla to Valhall. Kettils-as, it is said, derives its name from one Kettil Runske, who stole Odin's runic staves (runekaflar), with which he bound his dogs and bull, and at length even the mermaid herself, who came to Odin's help. Many such traditions have been and may still be found in those parts ; all of which, it may well be conceived, are not regarded as articles of faith ; it is, ne vertheless, a pleasure for the countryman, when, walking over his fields, he comes to a mount, a water, a pile of stones, to know what old traditions were current concern ing them, and have given names to villages and dwellings.
It is worthy of remark that one of our (Swedish) hand somest birds of passage, the black heron (Ardea nigra, Linn.) was in ancient times called Odin's swallow.
MODERN TRADITIONS OF THOR.
Thor, as well as Odin the Old, came to the North with some immigration, which in remote times took place from Asia and Asgard. Here he had to contend with the land's earliest inhabitants, who from their dwelling in mountain- caverns and dens, as well as from their gigantic stature and ferocity, were called Jiittar (Giants), Trolls and Bergs- boar (mountain-dwellers). Hence have all the traditions
D 2
52 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
about giants and the like their origin. Those smooth, wedge-shaped stones, which are sometimes found in the earth, are called Thorwiggar, i. e. Thor's wedges : these, it is said, have been hurled by Thor at some Troll. In many places where the meadows border on the mountains, stories were once rife of the terror felt by the Trolls when it thundered, and how they then, in various shapes, though most frequently as large balls or clews, would come rolling down the mountain, seeking shelter among the mowers who, well aware of their danger, always held them back with their sithes ; on which occasions it has often hap pened that the thunder has struck and shivered the sithe, when the Troll with a piteous piping sound would again return to the mountain.
Aerolites are found in many places and are memorials of Thor. Although not always of great magnitude, they are, nevertheless, so heavy that there is now scarcely any man who can lift them. These, it is said, Thor handled like playthings. Of the aerolite at Linneryd in Smaland it is related, that Thor, as he was once passing by with his attendant, met a giant, whom he asked to what place he was going. " To Valhall," answered he, " to fight with Thor, who with his lightning has burnt my cattle-house." t{ It is hardly advisable for thee to measure strength with him," answered Thor, "for I cannot imagine that thou art the man to lift this little stone up on the large one here." At this the giant waxed wroth, and grasped the stone with all his might, but was unable to raise it from the earth, so wonderfully had Thor charmed it. Thorns follower then made the attempt, and lifted the stone as though it had been a glove. The giant now aimed a blow at Thor which brought him on his knees ; but Thor with his hammer struck the giant dead. He lies buried under the great stone heap hard by.
Thor was worshiped in Gothland above and more than
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 5o
the other gods. The Thorbagge (scarabseus stercorarius) was sacred to him. Relative to this beetle a superstition still exists, which has been transmitted from father to son, that if any one in his path finds a Thorbagge lying help less on its back, and turns it on its feet, he expiates seven sins ; because Thor in the time of heathenism was regarded as a mediator with a higher power, or All-father. On the introduction of Christianity, the priests strove to terrify the people from the worship of their old divinities, pronoun cing both them and their adherents to be evil spirits and belonging to hell. On the poor Thorbagge the name was now bestowed of Thordjefvul or Thordyfvel (Thor-devil), by which it is still known in Sweden Proper. No one now thinks of Thor, when he finds the helpless creature lying on its back; but the good-natured countryman seldom passes it without setting it on its feet, and thinking of his sins' atonement.
That the remembrance of and veneration for Thor were long retained in Norway and in Bohuslan,, appears from many traditions. Of some sailors from Bohuslan, about a hundred years since, it is related, that while out in a Dutch ship from Amsterdam, on the whale fishery near Greenland, being driven out of their known course, they observed for many nights the light of a fire from an island or shore, at which some of the sailors, and among them one of the men from Bohuslan, were seized with a desire to visit the place and see what people were there. They therefore took the ship's boat and rowed to the spot. Having landed and approached the fire, they found sitting by it an old man warming himself, who immediately asked them whence they came. " From Holland," answered the man from Bohuslan. " But from what place art thou thy self ?" inquired the old man. " From Safve on Hisingen," answered the sailor. ft Art thou acquainted with Thorsby?" "Yes, well." "Dost thou know where the Ulfveberg
54 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
is ? " " Yes, I have often passed it, because there is a direct way from Gothenborg to Marstrand across Hisingen through Thorsby." " Do the great stones and the earth- mounds still stand in their places ? " " Yes, all but one stone which is ready to fall." " Tell me further/' said the old heathen, " dost thou know where Glosshed's altar is, and whether it is still safe and sound ? " On the sailor answering that it was not, the old man said : " Wilt thou desire the people in Thorsby and Thores-bracka not to destroy the stones and mounds under the Ulfveberg, and above all things to keep the altar at Glosshed safe and whole, so shalt thou have a good wind to the place for which thou art bound." All this the sailor promised to perform on his return home. On asking the old man his name, and why he so anxiously inquired about such ob jects, he answered the sailor : " My name is Thorer Brack, and my habitation is there • but I am now a fugitive. In the great mound by the Ulfvesberg my whole race lies buried, and at Glosshed' s altar we performed our worship to the gods." They then parted from the old man and had a fair wind home.
OF ROCKING STONES AND THUNDERING STONES.
With Rocking Stones, like those in England and else where, and with Thundering Stones, or such as when passed over give forth a dull, hollow sound, much sorcery is practised, because they are regarded as a resort for Elves and Trolls.
SUPERSTITIOUS USAGE IN CASE OF THEFT.
The following barbarous superstition is still practised in an enlightened Christian age.
If a person is robbed, he goes to a so-called cunning man, who engages to strike out the eye of the thief. The
SWEDISH TRADITIONS, OD
following is the process. The Trollman cuts a human figure on a young tree, mutters certain dire spells to ob tain the devil's aid, and then drives some sharp instrument into the eye of the figure. It was also a practice to shoot with an arrow or bullet at one of the members of the figure, by which pain and sore are, it is believed, inflicted on the corresponding member of the living person.
FINNISH SUPERSTITION.
With the foregoing may be classed the Finnish super stition of producing the image of an absent person in a vessel of water and aiming a shot at it, and thereby wound ing or slaying a hated enemy at many hundred miles distance. Even on a neighbour's cattle this degrading superstition has been practised. Apoplexy and other sudden diseases have hence acquired the name of shots, Troll-shots.
A young Swede had, during his wanderings in Finland, engaged himself to a handsome Finnish girl, but after his return home, had quite forgotten both his love arid his promise to return to his betrothed. A Lapp skilled in the magic of his country coming one day to him, it occurred to the young man to inquire of him how it fared with his betrothed in Finland. " That you shall see yourself," answered the Lapp, who having, while muttering divers spells, filled a bucket with water, bade him come and look into it. There, we are told, the young man saw the well- known country round the cottage of his betrothed, and his heart beat violently on perceiving her pale and in tears stepping out at the door, followed by her father, with an angry countenance and holding a gun in his hand. The old Fin now approached a pail filled with water, looked in the direction whence the young man had been expected, shook his head, and cocked the gun, while the daughter stood
56 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
wringing her hands. "Now/' said the Lapp,, "he will shoot you, if you do not prevent it by shooting him. Make haste and take aim with your gun." The Fin, having levelled his piece, went to the pail. " Shoot now/' said the Lapp, " or you are a dead man." He fired accord ingly, and the Fin fell lifeless on the earth. Conscience some time after prompted the young Swede to revisit the scene of his perfidy, where he learned that the old man had died of apoplexy on the very day that the Lapp had displayed his magical skill J.
OF GIANTS AND DWARFS.
According to the testimony of several Sagas and other writings, there dwelt in Sweden, in remote times, a gi gantic, wild, cruel race called Jotens (Jotnar), and the country they inhabited, about the Gulf of Finland and thence northwards, was named Jotunaland, or Jattehem. But when a more enlightened people from Asia, who knew the God of the whole universe, and worshiped him under the name of All-father, entered Sweden across its eastern boundary, there arose between them and the Jotnar or Jatte-folk a war which lasted for many centuries. And as David slew the presumptuous giant Goliah, so did the new Asiatic settlers in the North, through skill and supe rior understanding, overcome the earlier, savage inhabitants o the country, who withdrew more and more into the deepest forests, and took up their abode in mountain- caves and dens. From these times are derived all our popular traditions of Mountain-trolls, Giants, and Moun tain-dwellers. They are described as possessing vast stores of gold and other valuables, as bad, but credulous. Their women are described as ugly.
A distinct species of Berg- or Mountain- troll were the
1 For more on this curious subject, see Grimra. D. M. p. 1045 sq. and note.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 57
Dwarfs. These were good mechanics and cunning, their wives and daughters are spoken of as very beautiful. This Dwarf-race seems to spring from a people that migrated from the eastern countries at a later period, as they were acquainted with runes, which they used in sorcery, ac companied by the harp, as we read in the old ballad of Sir Tynne :—
" That was Ulfva, the little dwarfs daughter, To her maiden thus she spoke : Thou shalt fetch my harp of gold ; Sir Tynne will I cause to love me. Ye manage well the runes V
* * * *
A similar art of enchanting and bewitching the Lapp- landers are supposed to possess even at the present day, and with some probability it may be conjectured that the Asiatic people, who in the Sagas are mentioned under the name of Dwarfs, was no other than an immigration of oriental Lapps, and the origin of the race among us which still bears that name : also that the Fins descend from the giants, and are thus the oldest of the races that now in habit Sweden. These peoples had no unanimity, no general government and laws, and were therefore so easily con quered by the combined /Esir-race, who led by their drafts or kings, in two separate invasions (the Swedes and Goths) arrived in the North.
At a period when self-defence was the first duty of man and victory his greatest happiness, and even Gimle itself, or heaven, was to be gained by valour and a good sword, it was natural that well-tempered, efficient weapons should be regarded as one of the most precious possessions. A
1 The old Danish ballad of ' Herr Tonne,' or ' Runernes Magt,' is only a variety of the Swedish one. It is printed in the Danske Viser, i. 281.
D 5
58 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
good armourer was said to be instructed by the Elves or Dwarfs. A well-hardened, good and elastic sword was usually regarded as of Dwarf workmanship. Other pre cious things also, particularly armlets of gold, set with jewels or of beautiful colours, were called sometimes Elfin-1 and sometimes Dwarf-ornaments. In the smith's art the Giants and the Mountain-dwellers were considered as emi nently skilful, and among the mountains are sometimes found smaller rocks detached from the larger ones, which by the common people are called Giants' anvils, on which it is supposed the Giants executed their works.
KING ERIC'S DREAM.
It was long believed by the people that King Eric was a great magician (Trollkarl) and conversant in hidden knowledge, also that he gained from Odin information concerning things that were hidden from other men. After his victory at Fyriswall, he had no more enemies to con tend with him the tranquil possession of his dominions. He saw Christianity spread itself more and more in every direction, and felt conscious that he was the last heathen king in the North. He therefore made a sacrifice to Odin, that he might learn from him how many Christian kings after him should sit on the throne of Sweden. In a dream he received for answer, that he must burst King Sverker's rock, in which he would find a tablet that would elucidate all that he wished to know concerning his successors. This instruction he followed ; but who this Sverker was and where his rock was, our chronicles tell us not. When the rock in question was split, there was found in it a stone tablet set round with golden plates and precious stones. On the one side was represented an oblong, quadrangular table, around which were thrice nine crowns distinguished by the names of kings ; on the other side 1 In the VblundarkviJ>a Volund is called lord ofalfa, companion of alfs.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 59
was a triangular table or plate with thrice seven crowns. All these crowns were distinguished by colours, to indicate the race of the several princes, as blue for the Swedes, green for the Norse, red for the Danes, and yellow for the: Germans. This tablet, we are told, was long preserved among the treasures of the kingdom in the state trea sury, until Archbishop Gustaf Trolle in the war time car ried it with him to Denmark, and, after the precious stones were taken out, left it in the custody of a priest in Roes- kilde. This priest took it with him to Sofde in Scania, and had it entered in the inventory of the church there. Here it was found by Nils Hvide, bishop of Lund, who stole it. A priest in Scania, named Master Jacob, com posed a lampoon in verse, charging the bishop with the theft, but was unable to prove the charge, and wras there fore condemned and executed at Copenhagen. His last words at the place of execution, and which stand on his grave-stone, are said to have been : —
" Skall nu Master Jacob miste Though now Master Jacob shall
sitt lif, lose his life,
For hanen gal, Ere the cock crows,
Saa er dog Bispen en tyff, Yet is the bishop a thief, For stenen han stal." For he stole the stone.
In a book belonging to Frosunda church in Roslagen, this story of King Eric's dream is to be found, also a representation of the tablet in Sverker's rock.
OF BIORN THE SWEDE, ULF JARL, AND CNUT THE GREAT. There dwelt once in Sweden a rich man, who had a young daughter of exquisite beauty. Near the town where they dwelt there was a green and pleasant place, to which the youth of both sexes were wont to resort for amuse ment. It befell one day that when the damsel above- mentioned was out playing with her companions, a bear came out of the forest, rushed in the midst of the terrified
60 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
children, and seizing her with his fore paws, hastened with her to his den in the forest. He showed her the greatest affection, every day procured for her both game and fruits, and let her want for nothing. But the bear having killed much cattle for his own subsistence, the people assembled in a general hunt and destroyed him. The damsel was now found again, and soon after was delivered of a son who was called Biorn (Bear). He grew up, became stronger than other men, and possessed great understand ing. In this he seems to have taken after his forefathers, according to the old saying : " A bear has twelve men's understanding and six men's strength." A grandson of this Biorn was Ulf Jarl in Scania, who, against her bro ther's will, married Estrid, the sister of Cnut the Great. It was this Ulf who aided King Cnut, when his fleet was on the point of falling into the hands of the enemy at the isle of Helge. Yet, notwithstanding this aid, Ulf could never gain the king's friendship, and was ill rewarded in the end, as we shall presently see.
King Cnut and Ulf Jarl were sitting one day after the battle of Helge playing at chess in Roeskilde. Cnut moved a pawn, but wished to put it back ; at this Ulf was so irritated that he overthrew the board and was rushing from the apartment, when the king in anger called to him : "Art thou running away, cowardly Ulf?" Ulf answered : " Thou wouldst have run farther in the fight at Helge, had I not come: I was not called cowardly Ulf when the Swedes were beating you like dogs, till I came to your relief." It soon appeared how unwise it is for an inferior person to speak too freely to a superior. On the morrow the king was informed that the jarl had taken refuge in the church of St. Lucius, and thereupon sent a man who slew him before the high altar. After the extinction of the house of Cnut in the male line, Svend, the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid, ascended the Danish throne, the last of
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 61
whose descendants was the celebrated Queen Margaret, ob. A.D. 1412.
CHRISTIAN-HEATHEN TRADITIONS OF TROLLS, ETC.
The first light of Christianity was insufficient to dispel all the darkness of heathenism. There still remained on the public ways and in fields small oratories built over some pagan idol, for the accommodation both of travellers and of those employed in the fields. From these oratories or ' scurds/ as they were called, the heathen images were indeed removed, but those of saints were set up in their place, and many a neophyte prayed sometimes to the Virgin Mary, St. Peter and other saints, and at others to Thor and Freyia. The Christians, therefore, strove now with all their might to suppress among the people all faith in these heathen deities, condemning them as spirits of hell that sought the ruin of mankind. The spectres of heathenism, Trolls and Elves, together with those, in their mounds or barrows, who had died in the time of idolatry, were represented as bugbears to Christian men, so that they were always held in fear, and trembled on their way, particularly by night, for the ' evil meeting/ that is, the meeting with Trolls or Elves, whence, it was said, many diseases and troubles were caused to mortals ; nor was self-interest behindhand in finding remedies for all such calamities. The simple people paid dearly to monks, troll- wives and exorcising women for these remedies, consisting in superstitious mummery with incense and spells, per formed in crossways, churches, and at Elf-stones. At such places strange prayers were said, mingled with the invo cation and misuse of the names of Jesus and the saints. These prayers, which were for the most part composed in the monasteries, were sometimes in rime. We could ad duce some that have been in use even in our time ; but, as offensive to Christian ears, they had better be forgotten.
62 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
What still remains of these superstitions of Elves, Trolls and the like, either in traditions or popular belief, shall be here briefly related.
OF ELVES.
Both in the heathen and the Christian supernatural world, Elves occupy the most conspicuous place. What we have already communicated concerning the pagan belief in Elves has been propagated by traditions, from age to age, until our times, with the addition of much Christian fable. There are still to be found elf-altars, where offerings are made for the sick. The so-called wise women— the Horga- brudar of our days — anoint with swine's fat, which was used in the pagan offerings, and read prayers, which they say are mystic ; after which something metallic, that has been worn or borne by the sick person — a small coin or even a pin is sufficient — and lastly a cross (as a token that the Saviour's power is also here superstition sly invoked), are laid upon the elf-mill (alf-qvarn) or, as it is also called, elf-pot (alf-gryta). These conjuring women (sig- nerskor), when they are called to the sick, usually begin with pouring melted lead into water, and from the forms which the fluid metal assumes, they usually pretend to judge that the disease has been caused by Elves1 ; when having secured payment, they commence a new juggle, which they call ' striking down/ or ' anointing for the Elves/ at sunset on the following Thursday. Some country people will anoint the elf-mill without applying to a cun ning woman ; these read no prayers, but instead only sigh out : " Lord, help me V
Among the. oldest popular traditions concerning Elves, is that which is to be read on the runic stone at Lagno, on Aspo, in Sodermanland. Within a serpentine line of runes, there sits, cut out of the rock, an Elf with out-
1 See pp. 47 sq. for a spell repeated on such an occasion.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 63
stretched legs, seizing with his hands the heads of two serpents. The runes inform us, that " Gislog caused those characters to be executed after (in memory of) Thord ; and Slodi caused true witness to be taken concerning the Elves
that he saw, and something else what was that ?"
These seem to have been cut with the object of bearing testimony to the Elves and other Trolls that Slodi had seen about the rock.
The traditions concerning Elves current among the peo ple divide them into three classes : those belonging to the earth, the air and the water.
OF THE MOUNT-FOLK.
Among the Elves belonging to the earth, or, perhaps more correctly, the subterranean Elves, the Mount- or Berg-folk occupy the most prominent place. It seems probable that Christian compassion for those that died in the time of heathenism, without participation in the bless ings promised in the Gospel, but in heathen wise have been placed in unhallowed earth, is the foundation for the cheer less notion, that, awaiting in their green mounds the great day of universal redemption in fear and trembling, they are tormented by sensual desires, as formerly in life ; that they long for the love and society of Christians, yet, when they come in contact with them, cause them injury, and if speedy rescue come not, even death itself. In stature the Elves are said to be equal to the generality of the human race, but are more slim and delicate. Their young females are described as extremely beautiful, slender as lilies, white as snow, and with sweet, enticing voices. Their time for playing and dancing is from sunset till cock- crowing; but when the cock has crowed they have no longer permission to stay above ground. Of all the spectre world it is said, that if they do not go to rest when the cock has crowed thrice, they become " dagstand," that is,
64 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
stationary on the spot where the third cock-crowing reached their ears1. It is said to be dangerous for a person to come in contact with such an invisible ' dagstand ' on his way, and many are believed to have contracted pain and sickness from that cause. If the wanderer in a summer's evening lays himself to rest by an elf-mount, he soon hears the tones of a harp with sweet singing. If he then pro mises them redemption, he will hear the most joyful notes resound from numerous stringed instruments ; but if he says, " Ye have no Redeemer," then with cries and loud lament they will dash their harps in pieces ; after which all is silent in the mount. In the green woods and val leys, in the meadows and on the hills, the Elves perform their nightly ( stimm/ that is, play and dance, from which cause the grass grows luxuriant and of a darker green in circles ; these by the people are called elf-dances, and must not be trampled on.
In nearly all the most distinguished families of Sweden are to be found jewels or ornaments connected with tra ditions of Trolls and Elves. Thus it is related of the State- councillor Harald Stake's wife, how late one summer's evening an elf-woman came to her, who desired to borrow her bridal dress to wear at an elfin wedding. After some consideration the lady resolved on lending it to her. In a few days it was returned, but set with gold and pearls on every seam, and had hanging from it a finger-ring of the finest gold set with the most costly stones, which after wards, together with the tradition, passed for several cen turies as an heirloom in the Stake family.
Among the simple country folks, even at the present day, a bridegroom stands in dread of the envy of the Elves, to counteract which it has long been a custom to lay in the clothes on the wedding day certain strong-smelling
1 See vol. i. p. 8, note 3.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 65
plants, as garlic or valerian. Near gates and in crossways there is supposed to be the greatest danger. If any one asks a bridegroom the reason of these precautions, he will answer : " On account of envy." And there is no one so miserable whose bride will not think herself envied on her wedding day, if by no others, at least by the Elves. Hence the tenour of most of the elfin traditions is nearly as follows : —
The bride sits ready in her bridal bower, in anxious ex pectation and surrounded by her bridesmaids. The bride groom saddles his grey steed, and clad in knightly attire, with his hawk perched proudly on his shoulder, he rides forth from his mother's hall, to fetch home his bride. But in the wood where he is wont to hunt with hawk and hound, an elfin maiden has noticed the comely youth, and is now on the watch for an opportunity, though for ever so short a time, to clasp him to her breast in the flowery grove; or, at least, to the sweet tones of their stringed instruments, lightly to float along with him, hand in hand, on the verdant field. As he draws near to the elf-mount, or is about to ride through the gateway of the castle, his ears are ravished with most wondrous music, and from among the fairest maidens that he there sees dancing in a ring, the Elf-king's daughter herself steps forth fairer than them all, as it is said in the lay : —
The damsel held forth her snow-white hand : " Come join in the merry dance with me."
If the knight allows himself to be charmed, and touches the fascinating hand, he is conducted to Elfland, where in halls indescribably beautiful, and gardens such as he had never beheld, he wanders about, on his Elf-bride's arm, amid lilies and roses. If at length the remembrance of his mourning betrothed enters his mind, and the Elves, who do not deliberately desire evil to mankind, are moved
66 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
to lead him out on his way, he sees, it is true, his former home again, but he has been absent about forty years, though to him it seemed an hour only. On his return no one knows him, he is a stranger on whom all look with wonder. The old people remember a young knight who disappeared about forty years before, when he rode forth to fetch his bride : — and his bride ? she has died of grief. According to another turn of the story, the knight answers the elfin damsel's invitation to dance with her thus : —
" I may not tread the dance with thee ; My bride in her bower is awaiting me."
The elves are then compelled to leave him, but pale and sick to death he returns to his mother, who anxiously addresses him : —
" But tell me now, my dearest son,
Why are thy cheeks so deadly pale ? " — " Oh well may my cheeks be deadly pale ;
For yonder I 've been at the elfin dance." — " And wrhat shall I answer, oh tell to me,
When thy fair young bride asks after thee ?" — " Oh say I have ridden to the gay green wood, To chase the deer with hawk and hound." But he will return,
While the leaves of the forest are green. The young bride waited two long long days, Then rode with her maids to the bridegroom's hall. But he will return, etc.
And there they pour'd mead and there they pour'd wine : " But where is my bridegroom, thy dear young son ? " —
But he will return, etc.
" Thy bridegroom's gone to the gay green wood, To chase the deer with hawk and hound." But he will return, etc.
But the bride had a presentiment that he would never return, and going to his bed, and drawing the sheet aside,
SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
67
there saw him lying cold and pale. At the sight her heart brake, and when morning came, three corpses were borne from the bridal hall ; for his mother had also died of grief.
In the old Danish ballad (Elveskud) the elfin lady, on Oluf s refusal to dance with her, says : —
" If then thou wilt not dance with me, Sickness and death shall follow thee."
She then strikes him violently between the shoulders, lifts him on his horse, and desires him to ride home to his betrothed, etc.
The Swedes have a similar ballad, and the Breton ballad of ' Lord Nann and the Korrigan ' bears a striking resemblance to the Scandina vian ].
ELFIN GARDENS.
In most country places traditions are current of magic gardens. The spot where such are said to exist, is pointed out by the country people, and some person is always named who has been conducted into them, has wandered about under trees of a finer verdure than any to be seen elsewhere, has tasted fruit the like of which is not to be found in any other place ; seen flowers of extraordinary beauty, but afterwards, when all this has been sought for on the same spot, not a trace was to be found : all was either wild wood or plain open fields.
OF BERGTAGNING (MOUNT-TAKING). In old writings many stories are told of persons that have been ' mount-taken/ that is, carried off by the Elves into their mounts. Examinations before magistrates and the clergy have taken place even in our time into cases of individuals, who have imagined themselves to have been so carried off, and who in the delirium of fever have believed that they saw elves and wood-demons, which
1 See a translation of it in Keightley, F, M. p. 433, and the original in Villemarque, Chants Populaires.
68 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
distempered state of body has not seldom been followed by death itself.
Elfin halls or elfin rooms are grots or subterranean houses in mountains and hills, into which sometimes the wanderer enters and reposes ; but when he again seeks for the place, he finds it no more. At Estorp on Mosse berg there dwelt an intelligent man, who related as truth, how in returning home one beautiful summer evening from Fahlkoping, he took a wrong path, and among the rocks unexpectedly found one of these elf-halls, which he entered and seated himself on a mossy bench in a delight ful coolness. On leaving it, he particularly noticed the spot, in order that he might again find so remarkable a place, but could never discover it afterwards.
Three sisters (thus relates the survivor of them) went out one beautiful summer's day to a meadow near the mansion of Boda in Bohuslan. Near the meadow there is a mountain, about which they had often played, and knew the place well. To their great astonishment, however, they found themselves at the entrance of a most beautiful grotto. It was an elf-hall, of a triangular form, with moss-covered seats around it. In the middle there stood a little fir-tree, as an ornament, on the floor. They en tered, reposed themselves in the refreshing cool, took accu rate notice of the place, but could never find it again.
THE FLYING ELVES.
Mention of these occurs but rarely. They are described as extremely beautiful, with small wings on their snow- white shoulders ; but whether these wings are a borrowed plumage, or belong to the body of these tender beings, has not been decided ; though the first opinion seems most in accordance with the Sagas, seeing that mortal men have taken such elfin maidens to wife. Transformed to swans,
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 69
in full plumage, the people say they have often seen them coming through the air, and descending into some water to bathe ; but as soon as they enter the water, they assume the fairest human forms.
A young hunter once saw three such swans descend on the sea-shore. With astonishment he observed that they laid their plumages aside, which bore a resemblance to linen, and that, instead of swans, three damsels of daz zling whiteness were swimming in the water. He soon saw them leave the water, draw on their linen coverings, which then became changed to swans' plumage, and fly away. One of them, the youngest and fairest, had so captivated the heart of the young man, that he could rest neither by night nor day, for thinking of her lovely form. His foster-mother soon perceived that neither the chase nor the other pastimes, in which he formerly found de light, afforded him any more pleasure, and therefore re solved to discover the cause of his sorrow. From himself she soon learned the wondrous sight he had witnessed, and that he must either win the fair maiden or never again enjoy happiness. His foster-mother assured him : " I can advise a remedy for thy affliction. Go next Thursday at sunset to the spot where thou last sawest her. The three swans will not fail to come. Observe where thy chosen damsel lays her linen ; take it, and hasten with it from the shore. Soon thou wilt hear two of the swans fly away with a great noise, but the third, in search of her plumage, will in her distress come to thee ; but although she be seech thee on her knees, do not give back the linen, if thou wilt have the maiden in thy power." The young man was not backward in following this counsel. Long seemed the days till the coming of Thursday, but longer still seemed to him the hours of that day. At length the sun sank, and ere long a rustling was heard in the air, and the three swans descended on the shore. They were
70 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
instantly changed to three most beauteous damsels, and having laid their linen on the grass, they hastened to the white sands, and were soon covered with the waves. From his hiding-place the young hunter had closely watched his beloved, and where she had laid her plumage, which was now fine snow-white linen. He then stole forth, carried it off and concealed it among the foliage. Shortly after he heard two of the swans flying away with a great rust ling; but the third, as his foster-mother had said, came and fell before him on her snowy knees, praying him to restore her plumage. But the hunter refused, and taking her in his arms, wrapped his cloak round the tender damsel, lifted her on his good steed, and bore her to his home. His foster-mother soon made all things ready for their marriage, and they both lived happily together. Of their children it was said, that fairer never played together. But when seven years had passed, the hunter, one Thursday night, when they were going to bed, related to his wife how he had obtained possession of her ; and at her request showed her the white linen, which he had till then con cealed ; but no sooner had she got it in her hand, than she became changed to a swan, arid vanished like lightning- through an open window. The husband, it is said, did not live long after that luckless day 1.
The grass which, in luxuriant circles, called, as we have seen, elf-dances, is here and there to be observed in the fields, is said so to flourish from the dancing of the elves, and is thence called alfexing (cynosurus cseruleus). The miliary fever is said by the country people to be caused by the elf-mote, or meeting with elves, as a remedy for
1 The origin of this and other kindred tales must, no doubt, be sought for in the East. The ' Peri-wife,' from the Bahar Danush, is almost iden tical with the above. See Keightley, F. M. p. 20.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 71
which the lichen called alfnafver (lichen aphosus, or li chen caninus) is to be sought for. In old topographical works there is no lack of accounts of families, which, on the mother's side, are supposed to descend from such beings. In Smaland a tradition has been credited of a well-known family, whose ancestress, a young, beautiful elfin girl, is said to have flown with the sunbeams through a knot-hole in the wall, and by the heir of the family to have been taken to wife. After having given her husband seven sons, she vanished by the way she came.
LOFJERSKOR.
The ' Lof jerskor ' named in the old Swedish catechism seem identical with the Grove-damsels (Limdjungfrur), a species of Elves which is also called the Grove-folk (Lund- folk). The sacred groves of the heathens which, by the ecclesiastical law, it was forbidden to approach with super stitious worship, were believed, in the time of paganism, to be protected by invisible deities. If a lime or other tree, either in a forest or solitary, grew more vigorously than the other trees, it was called a habitation-tree (bo- trad), and was thought to be inhabited by an Elf (lla, Radande), who, though invisible, dwelt in its shade, re warded with health and prosperity the individual that took care of the tree, and punished those who injured it.
Thus did our heathen forefathers hold in reverence and awe such groves and trees, because .they regarded them as given by the Almighty as ornaments to his noble creation, as well as to afford protection to the husbandman and cattle against the scorching heat of the midday sun. In this and in many other instances, simple Antiquity may serve us as a lesson not wantonly to destroy the life even of a shoot, which may one day become a useful, umbra geous tree, or to injure and profane a grove, into which no reflecting Christian can enter, for the purpose of en-
72 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
joying its refreshing shade, without thinking of the Crea tor's goodness, and calling to mind how the Saviour of the world had a grove, a garden, to which he oftentimes went, with his disciples, when he would discourse with them on heavenly things and on the immortality of their souls. It was under the shade of a tree that he prayed, and there the comforting angel appeared and strengthened him. Let a Christian meditate on this, and let him have a care of all planting for the ornament and benefit of the earth ; and if, when out on his way, he feels tempted to break off a growing shoot, thus let him think : " I will not destroy a growing life, I will not spoil the embellish ment of my mother-earth ; it is my neighbour's property, to injure it is unjust, and all injustice is sin."
The sanctity of the heathen groves and trees originated, it would seem, from the custom of hanging there the limbs of the human and other victims, after they had been for a time immersed in the sacred fountain. But rational Christians have had another reason for retaining the super stition, namely on account of its aid in withholding mis chievous persons from violence to the woods and trees. Even at the present day the people in many places point out such groves and trees as no one may approach with an axe. These noted trees often stand alone, and have a singular aspect. Stories are in some places not wanting among the common people of persons, who by cutting a chip or branch from a 'habitation tree/ has in consequence been struck with death. Such a famed pine was the fklinta talP in Westmanland. Old and decayed it ap peared to the traveller standing on the bare rock, until a few years ago it fell down from age. A mermaid, who ruled in the neighbouring creek of the Malar lake, was said to inhabit the mountain under the pine, and to have been that tree's ' Ra.' The country people had frequently seen snow-white cattle driven up from the lake to the
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 73
meadow beneath it. The trunk and branches of the tree still lie untouched on the rock. In an old writing there is a story of a man, who was about to cut down a juniper bush in a wood, when a voice was heard from the earth, saying, "Friend, hew me not!" But he gave another stroke, when blood flowed from the root. Terrified and sick he hastened home1. In ballads and traditions stories occur of young maidens that have been transformed to trees and bushes through sorcery, but of the 'Lb'fjerskor' there are not many tales ; nor is it easy to arrive at the origin of the name. But the ( Horgabrudar ' in the groves of the heathen divinities were much consulted by the peo ple in cases of doubt and difficulty, whence may probably be derived the superstition, in later times, of seeking help of the ' lias ' that inhabit trees, and are called Lofjerskor, in cases of sickness and trouble, against which there stands a prohibition in our ancient catechism. Lokr's mother was named Lofja (Laufey) ; it seems, therefore, not im probable that evil Troll-wives and Lof-maids derive their name from her. The heathen, in all countries, have ce lebrated their idolatrous rites in groves and under trees. In the Lives of the Saints it is related of St. Martin, how among a heathen people, who were willing to adopt Christianity, he demolished a temple, and met with no opposition ; but on his proceeding to cut down a fir that stood close by, the people rushed forward, and would on no account allow the tree to be destroyed.
THE SKOGSRA.— THE SJORA.2
Of the same race with the Elves already mentioned, the Skogs- or Forest-elves seem to have been originally, and have undoubtedly belonged to the time of heathenism. As
1 Manifestly from the story of Polydorus in the .Eneis, iii. 21, sgy. et alibi.
- Compounds of skog, wood, forest ; sjd. sea, lake; and w, fairy, goblin.
K
74 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
the merwife for fishermen,, so is the Skogsra for hunters regarded among the unlucky objects to meet with. Ac cording to old hunting traditions, the Skogs-elf announces her approach by a peculiar, sharp, rushing whirlwind, that shakes the trunks of the trees so that they seem ready to snap asunder. If then the hunter spits and strikes fire, there is no danger, because it is mere noise, there being no power in such winds. The Skogsra, according to the popular belief, is only of the female sex ; whence comes the superstition, that it presages badly for the hunter's luck, if, on leaving home, the first person he meets is a female. He then spits and calls it karingmb'te (lit. crone-mote). In the Sagas these forest- wives are repre sented as evil, wanton and foreboders of misfortune; though stories are, nevertheless, told by hunters of their having seen these beings come very friendly to their fires, who, when they have been suffered to remain in peace, have said at their departure : " There will be excellent sport to-day." On which occasions they have invariably killed an abundance of game. When the hunters are re posing in the forest at midnight, they will come to warm themselves by their fires, taking care to show their front side only, and always moving so that their backs may not be exposed to view. Those who have tales to tell of these beings, usually conclude by saying something like the following : " Just as she was standing before the fire, quite proud and showing her beautiful person, I took a brand from the fire and struck her, saying : ' Go to the woods, thou odious Troll ! ' She then hurried away with a whining cry, and a strong wind rose, so that the very trees and stones seemed as if they would be torn up. When she turned her back she appeared as hollow as a hollow tree or a baker's trough/' If a Christian man has intercourse with a forest-woman, there will be born a pernicious being, to the sorrow and misfortune of others.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. /5
The Skogsra is further described as a female spirit of the woods, and as a young* person in elegant attire, of friendly demeanour and small figure, but — with claws instead of nails ! An eye-witness of her existence relates, that once when out grouse-shooting, having just kindled a fire, and while taking his repast, she appeared before him, and kindly greeted him. To his invitation to warm herself she responded by a friendly nod. He then offered her a share of his fare, holding it, however, at the end of his axe, as he felt somewhat diffident at the sight of her talons ; but she declined his offer, smiled and vanished. He now shot five grouse. If he had not offered a part of his fare to the Skogsra, he would not have killed a single bird.
He, with seven others, was once sitting watching grouse, when a Skogsra darted past them from a tree. Never before had they seen the birds so numerous, but they missed every one. For fourteen days their shooting seemed bewitched, until at length he was so fortunate as to sec another Ra come rustling by from a tree, and to throw his knife over her, whereby the spell was broken. These little goblins milk the cows and deprive the horses of their strength, but anything of steel cast over them hinders them from doing harm. The narrator of the above1 secured his horses with garlic and asafoatida, which must be placed concealed somewhere about the head.
The same individual relates, that being with several of his neighbours on a fishing expedition, they began to joke about the Sib'ra and beings of a similar kind, treating them as ridiculous fictions, when on a sudden a Siora ap peared before them, and with a loud plash plunged into the lake. They saw fish in abundance, but could not catch one.
1 He was Arndt's postillion during a part of his journey.
E 2
76 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
OF WATER ELVES.
I. THE MERMAID.
Learned men, who have given attention to the wonders of the creation, have described a water to be found in cer tain lakes, called spectre-water (spokvatten) . It has the property, when warmed by the sun, of sending up a thick, snow-white mist, resembling at one time a human form, at another that of an animal, changing its appearance and course as it is driven by the wind. The simple people, that dwell by such lakes, bewildered by this phenomenon, relate as a fact that they have seen, innumerable times, a Mermaid sitting by the lake, combing her long locks with a golden comb, or standing on the islets, spreading out her snowy linen on the bushes, or driving before her her snow-white cattle. The Mermaid is thought to be false and deceitful, and is spoken of by the fishermen as the Skogsra is by the hunters. They all have something to say about her, and anticipate a bad capture, storm and tempest, when she makes her appearance. It is said to be good and advisable, when the fisher sees one of these beings, not to speak of it even to his comrades, but to take his flint and steel and strike fire. From the time that Thor hurled his thunder at the Trolls, they lost, it is said, both power and courage. Hence it is, that in our country places, in every house where there is a new-born child, either fire on the hearth, or a light, must burn by day and night, until the child is christened ; else it is to be feared that the Trolls may come and carry off the child, and leave one of their own in its stead. Of the Mermaids it is said that they dwell at the bottom of the ocean or of an inland sea, have castles and mansions, also domestic animals and cattle, which are called ' brands-cattle, the sig nification of which is far from evident1. 1 Qu. Angl. brindled.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. / /
In West Gothland, in the district of Biarke, there is a lake with beautifully wooded shores,, called Anten. On an isle in this lake there was formerly an ancient castle,, remains of which are still to be seen, called Loholm, in which dwelt Sir Gunnar, a renowned knight, and ancestor of the famous family of Leionhufvud, or Lewenhaupt. Once, when out on the lake he had fallen into danger, a Mer-wife came to his aid, but exacted from him the pro mise, that on a certain day he should meet her again at the same place. One Thursday evening she sat expecting the knight ; but he forgot his promise. She then caused the water of the lake to swell up over Loholrn, until Sir Gunnar was forced to take refuge in a higher apartment ; but the water reached even that. He then sought safety in the drawbridge tower; but there the billows again overtook him. He next committed himself to a boat, which sank near a large stone, called to this day Gunnar' s stone ; from which time Sir Gunnar, it is said, lives con stantly with the Mer-wife. When fishermen or the coun try people row by the stone, they usually lift their hats, as a salutation to Sir Gunnar, in the belief that if they neglected to do so, they would have no success. From that time no one dwelt at Loholm, of the materials of which was built the noble castle of Grafsnas, on a penin sula in the same lake, with towers, ditches, and draw bridges, remains of which are still visible. From this Sir Gunnar descended Erik Abrahamsson, father-in-law of Gustavus the First.
ii.
FOUNTAIN MAIDENS.
Mention has been already made of the priestesses of the heathen gods, or Horgabrudar, who watched by the sacred fountains, in which the members of the victims
78 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
were washed, and received gifts from the people for advice in cases of sickness, as well as on other occasions. After the country became Christian, the monks and priests took the fountains under their care, placed by them images of saints or a cross, and caused the people to make offerings to, and seek health from, the saint that was supposed to have the well under his protection. Thus did Christian superstition step into the place of pagan, and continues even to the present day. But the heathen Horgabrudar, who died without baptism or sacrament, were still in the remembrance of the people, and had become Elves, who await salvation, dwelling till doomsday under their foun tains' silvery roof. In song and in story the beauty of the Fountain-maids is praised, when they have been seen by mortal man and displayed their fair forms either in the depth of a fountain, or reposing by its side on a bed of flowers. To the person who cleanses a fountain, or plants over it an umbrageous tree, the Fountain-maid will be kind and propitious ; while he who profanes or sullies the fountain's salubrious stream will be followed by sickness and misfortune.
in.
THE NECK AND THE STROMKARL.
The Neck appears sometimes in the form of a grown man, and is particularly dangerous to haughty and pert damsels ; sometimes in that of a comely youth, with his lower extremities like those of a horse ; sometimes like an old man with a long beard ; and occasionally as a hand some youth, with yellow locks flowing over his shoulders and a red cap, sitting in a summer evening on the surface of the water with a golden harp in his hand. If any one wishes to learn music of him, the most welcome remune ration that can be offered to him is a black lamb, espe cially if the hope of his salvation — which the Neck has
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 79
greatly at heart — be at the same time expressed to him. Hence when two boys once said to a Neck, " What good do you gain by sitting here and playing ? you will never enjoy eternal happiness," he began to weep bitterly ].
If one of the common people has a disease, for which they cannot otherwise account,, they imagine that it is caused by the spirit of the place where the disease was contracted, or was supposed to be contracted ; whence the expression, which is often to be heard, " He has met with something bad in the air, in the water, in the field." In such case the Neck must be propitiated, which is done in the following manner : They pour a drink into a cup, and mix with it the scrapings from the wedding ring, from silver, brass, or any other metal possessed by inheritance, but so that the odd number, particularly three, be observed. With this mixture they repair to the place where they sup pose the disease was contracted, arid pour it out over the left shoulder. On the way they must neither turn about nor utter a sound. If there be any uncertainty as to the place, the pouring is made on the door-post, or on an ant-hill 2.
A Neck at Bohuus, in West Gothland, had transformed himself into a horse and gone on the bank to eat ; but a cunning man, whose suspicions were roused, threw such a curiously contrived halter over him, that he could not get loose again. The man now kept the Neck with him all the spring, and tormented him most thoroughly, by making him plough all his fields. At length the halter accidentally slipping off, the Neck sprang like lightning into the water, dragging the harrow after him 3.
A Neck who takes up his abode under a bridge or in a stream, is commonly called a Stromkarl. He always plays on the viol ; and when any musician plays with extraordi-
1 Faye, p. 54. Svenske Folk-Visor, iii. 127.
- Arndt. iii. 15. j Faye, p. 53.
80 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
nary boldness and skill, he is said to play with the Strom- karPs touch. Near Hornborgabro, in West Gothland, a Stromkarl was once heard singing, to a pleasant melody, these words thrice repeated : — " I know, — and I know, — and I know — that my Redeemer liveth." As seen by sailors, the Neck is described as an old man, sitting on a rock, wringing the water out of his large, green beard. Their appearance is said to forebode storm and tempest. Under this form they may be more correctly called Mer men. He is sometimes seen on the shore under the form of a handsome horse, but with his hoofs reversed.
A priest riding one evening over a bridge, heard the most delightful tones of a stringed instrument, and, on looking round, saw a young man, naked to the waist, sit ting on the surface of the water, with a red cap and yellow locks, as already described. He saw that it was the Neck, and in his zeal addressed him thus : — ff Why dost thou so joyously strike thy harp ? Sooner shall this dried cane that I hold in my hand grow green and flower, than thou shalt obtain salvation." Thereupon the unhappy musician cast down his harp, and sat bitterly weeping on the water. The priest then turned his horse, and con tinued his course. But lo ! before he had ridden far, he observed that green shoots and leaves, mingled with most beautiful flowers, had sprung from his old staff. This seemed to him a sign from heaven, directing him to preach the consoling doctrine of redemption after another fashion. He therefore hastened back to the mournful Neck, showed him the green, flowery staff, and said : " Behold ! now my old staff is grown green and flowery like a young branch in a rose garden ; so likewise may hope bloom in the hearts of all created beings ; for their Redeemer liveth ! " Comforted by these words, the Neck again took his harp, the joyous tones of which resounded along the shore the whole livelong night.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 81
The StromkarPs melody (Stromkarlslag) has eleven varie ties, ten only of which may be danced, the eleventh belongs to the night-spirit and his troop ; for if any one were to cause it to be played, tables and benches, pots and cups., old men and grandmothers., blind and lame, even babes in the cradle, would begin to dance 1.
Those who are desirous of learning the StromkarFs ten variations, must place their violin for three Thursday nights under a bridge, where there is a constantly running stream. On the third night, the Neck, or Strornkarl, will come and strike the strings of his instrument, when the learner must tune his fiddle and accompany him. If the eleventh me lody is played, inanimate things, as trees and stones, will dance .
An equally wonderful composition is the Elf- king's tune, which no musician will venture to play ; for having once begun it, he cannot cease from playing, unless he can play it backwards, or some one behind him cuts the strings of the violin 2.
The same anxiety as to their state hereafter prevails among the Daoine Shi of the Scottish Highlands, one of whom, issuing from a lake, ques tions a clergyman on the subject. Like the Neck, they also have melo dious music 3.
Of the earths which gather among the foam in the still creeks, and of river waters, there is formed a loose, white, porous kind of stone, resembling picked or pulled bread : this is called ' Necke-brod ; ' the masses or cakes of which are called marlekor (marekor), because the mare (still water) cements them together. The beautiful white or yellow flowers, that grow on the banks of lakes and rivers, and are called ' Neck-roses/ are well-known me morials of the popular idea of the Neck. The poisonous
1 Arndt, iv. 241. - Thiele, i. 166, sq. edit. 1820.
3 Stewart, Superstitions of the Highlands, quoted by Keightley, F. M. p. 385.
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82 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
root of the water hemlock (cicuta virosa) formerly bore the name of the Necke-root.
In Beowulf frequent mention occurs of the Nicor (pi. Niceras) l. Con nected with the name is that of Odin, Hnikarr, in his character of a sea-god 2.
The following extract may serve as a commentary on what is related both of the Swedish Neck and Danish Nb'k. " Husby is very pleasantly situated, and its church is said to be one of the oldest in Sweden. Here is shown St. Siegfried's well,, with the water of which the holy man Sig- fridus, according to the tradition, baptized king Olov Skotkonung. The well is still famous, and is said on many occasions to be used nightly by the country people. Fifty years ago " (the author travelled in 1803) " many su perstitions and ceremonies were practised at wells. Almost every province had some that at certain periods of the summer were visited, and into which a piece of money, iron or any metal was cast as an offering. But this illu sion is now almost extinct. Still it is, nevertheless, worth inquiring, what power, and why a power is everywhere ascribed to metal of counteracting the influence of witch craft and of evil spirits ? For no other reason than to propitiate the Neck of the well, did people throw into it anything metallic. Connected with the above is the popular belief, that, when bathing in the sea, a person should cast into it, close by him, a fire-steel, a knife, or the like, to prevent any monster from hurting him. The steel, or whatever it may be, may be taken out again. Formerly a fire-steel, or a pair of scissors, was laid on the cradle of a child, until it was christened. Even to the present day the custom exists of pouring melted silver or other metal on the spot where it is believed that a person is suffering from the work of the evil one. With such a pouring the injury is also poured out."
1 Ver. 838, 1144, 2854.
2 Edda-Sa3m. 46, 91, 184. Edda-Snorra, 3, 24, 322.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 83
Having thus propitiated, or rather neutralized the per nicious propensities of, the Neck, it was not unusual while bathing to address him scoffingly in the following words : ' Neck, Neck, Naleputa, du ar pa lann, men jag ar i vann ' (Neck, Neck, needle-thief, thou art on land, but I am in the water). On quitting the water, the person took the steel again, saying : ' Neck, Neck, needle-thief, I am on land, and thou art in the water1/
THE WILD HUNT.
In Scania the sounds like voices, that are at times heard in the air in November and December, are by the common people called Odin's hunt2. Grimm also connects the Wild Hunt (Wiitendes Heer) with Odin (Ohg. Wuotan), the tradition of which is current over almost all Germany. In the course of time, after the introduction of Christi anity, the pagan deity degenerated into a wild hunter, regarding whom almost every place where he is said to ride has its tradition.
MYSTIC ANIMALS,
According to the Swedish popular belief, there are cer tain animals which should not at any time be spoken of by their proper names, but always with euphemisms, and kind allusions to their character. If any one speaks- slightingly to a cat, or beats her, her name must not be uttered; for she belongs to the hellish crew, and is inti mate with the Bergtroll in the mountains, where she often visits. In speaking of the cuckoo, the owl, and the mag pie, great caution is necessary, lest one should be ensnared, as they are birds of sorcery. Such birds, also snakes, one ought not to kill without cause, as their associates might avenge them. It is particularly sinful to tread toads to
1 Arndt, i. 259, sq. ; iii. 17, sq.
2 These sounds are by Nilsson (Skandiv. Fauna, ii. 106) ascribed to certain water-fowls on their wav to the South.
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death, as they are often enchanted princesses. Many a one has become lame without fall or fracture, but as a penalty for such wantonness. In speaking of the Troll- pack or Witch-crew, one must name fire and water, and the name of the church to which one belongs ; then no injury can arise. The weasel must not be so called, but the aduine • the fox, blue-foot, or he that goes in the forest ; and the bear, the old one (Gubbe, Gammeln), grandfather (Storfar), Naskus; rats, the long -bodied ; mice, the small grey • the seal, brother Lars ; the wolf, (/old-foot or grey- foot, grey-tosse, not varg, because it is said that formerly, when the now dumb animals could speak, the wolf made this announcement : —
Kallar du mig Varg, sa blir jag dig arg,
Men kallar du mig of Guld, sa blir jag dig huld.
If thou callest me Varg, I will be wroth with thee, But if thou callest me of gold, I will be kind to thee.
Even inanimate things are not at all times to be called by their usual names : fire, for instance, is on some occa sions not to be called eld or ell but hetta (heat) ; water used for brewing, not vatn, but lag or lou, else the beer would not be so good1.
The magpie — like others of the raven or crow family — is also a mystic bird, a downright witches' bird, belonging to the devil and the other hidden powers of night. When the witches, on Walpurgis night, ride to the Blakulle, they turn themselves into magpies. When they are moulting in summer, and become bald about the neck, the country people say they have been to the Blakulle, and helped the evil one to get his hay in, and that the yoke has rubbed their feathers off.
The above superstition of the wolf is very ancient and wide-spread, an
1 Arndt, i. 49; iii. 18, 19. Thiele, iii. 122, edit. 1820. Finn Magnu- sen, Den ^Eldre Edda, ii. 9.
SWEDISH TRADITIONS. 85
evident trace of it existing in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse: " gryre sceal for greggum " (terror shall there be for the grey one}1.
THE MOUNTAIN-TROLL. I.
The extraordinary tales of Mountain-trolls and their kidnappings that are told by credible persons,, and con firmed by very singular circumstances, might afford ground for the supposition that the primitive inhabitants of Sweden, the wild mountaineers, had not altogether died out, but that in the recesses of the great mountain-forests some in recent times might have still resided. Memorials of the hostility entertained by these people against the light of Christi anity are preserved in the traditions concerning the several stones or masses of rock called giant-casts. These are shown by the people in all country places, and arc usually in such situations as to give birth to the tradition of their having been hurled from a mountain towards some church. "The Giant," as the story goes, "could not endure the noise of the bells from the holy edifice, and therefore cast this rock, in the hope of knocking it down, but being too strong, he hurled it far beyond the church." Or it is said : " The stone was too heavy, and the church too far away, so that it fell short of the mark." In some of these stones, as in the one near Erikoping, are to be seen marks as if made by the five fingers of a gigantic hand. Near the celebrated church of Warnhem lies the Himmelsberg, in which, as we are told, a giant dwelt, until the convent bells ringing for prayers drove him away. It is related that, on leaving the mountain, he inquired of a lad, that worked in the neighbourhood, in which direction Alleberg lay ? for thither he intended to take his course. The lad having directed him, he went off as in a whirlwind, and the lad now discovered, to his no small astonishment, that his forefinger, with which he had pointed out the way,
1 Cod, Exon. p. 342. Kraka Mai, p. 54, edit. Rafn.
86 SWEDISH TRADITIONS.
had followed along with the giant. In the Description of Uppland there is a story of a mountain near Lagga church, and how a giant with his family quitted it on account of the bells, "the sound of which he was not inclined to hear." "When wilt thou come again ?" asked a man standing by, and witnessing their departure j whereupon the man of the mountain answered : tf When Lagga fiord is field, and Ost-tuna lake meadow." The fiord and the lake are now like to become field and meadow ; but the