Chapter XLIX: Part III: Esthonian Ballads, &c (2)

Salme, a maiden sprung from a hen, who married the Youth of the Stars, i. 2, 7.

Sampo, a magic mill constructed by Ilmarinen in the "Kalevala," ii. 71 note, 154 note.

Sand Mountain, i. 228.

Sarvik, the Prince of Põrgu (Hades), usually called Vana Sarvik or Old Hornie, i. xxx., 5, 89, 97, 126, 142.

Sarvik, palace of, i. 94, 127.

Saurians as dragons, ii. 7.

Saxon, term for everything above the common in Esthonia, i. 146.

Schaibar in the "Thousand and One Nights," i. 246 note.

Schiefner on the "Kalevipoeg," and Esthonian tales, ii. 301, 302.

Schoolboy sold to Devil, ii. 146.

Schott on the "Kalevipoeg," ii. 302.

Seaforth, hag seen by Lord, ii. 272 note.

Seal of Solomon, ii. 236.

Serpents, king of, i. 321; ii. 233.

Servants, gifted, ii. 24.

Shoemaker, compassionate, ii. 182.

Shoes, magic, ii. 25.

Shoes, man with the bast, ii. 278.

Shooting feats, ii. 23, 191.

Silly Nicholas, story of, ii. 71 note.

Sisters, Three, ii. 43.

Siuru, a mythical blue bird, the daughter of Taara, i. xxviii., 10 note, 96, 131; ii. 292.

Slave-girl born from a crow, i. 2, 10.

Sleep of the Kalevide, i. 4, 39, 61, 74, 82, 131.

Sleepy Tony, ii. 50.

Slyboots, i. 187.

[Pg 331]Smiths, Finnish, i. 42.

Smith's son, murder of, i. 46, 84.

Smithy of Ilmarine, i. xxx., 4, 83.

Smithy, underground, ii. 83, 116.

Snake animating a clay image, i. 247

Snake, maiden transformed to white, i. 312.

Snake-bite, charm against, ii. 298.

Snakes, golden, ii. 224.

Snow-white, the Glass Mountain, and the Despised Youngest Son, ii. 40.

Sohni, name of the Kalevipoeg, i. 18.

Soldier and the Devil, ii. 76.

Soldier's hat, ii. 130.

Solomon, Seal of, ii. 236.

Solomon Islands, Macgillivray's adventure in, i. 139 note.

Son, of the Thunder-God, ii. 149.

Song-God's departure, ii. 81.

"Song of Vala," a poem by W. Herbert, appended to his "Helga," an abridged paraphrase of the "Völuspa," one of the poems in the Edda of Sæmund, i. 60 note.

Soothsayers, i. xxxi., 19, 20.

Sorcerer in form of moth, ii. 16.

Sorcerer, Finnish. _See_ Finnish Sorcerer.

Sorcerer's sons, fight with the, i. 4, 80.

Sorcerers, i. xxxi.

Sorcerers of Lake Peipus, i. 4, 72, 82.

Sorcerers stealing sun and moon, ii. 148, 154 note, 160 note.

Sorcery in Esthonia, Finland, and Lapland, ii. 148.

Southey's poem of "Donica," ii. 147 note.

Spider and hornet, ii. 284.

Spiders, magic, ii. 17.

Spirit of the Whirlwind, ii. 110.

Spirits of the Northern Lights, i. xxxi., 5, 111, 117, 149; ii. 107.

Spirits of the Elements, stories of, ii. 60.

Stamping with heel or foot. _See_ Foot.

Stars seeking the hand of maidens, i. 12; ii. 10, 148.

Stead, W.T., "More Ghost Stories," London, 1892, ii. 273 note.

[Pg 332]Stepmothers, i. 85 note, 276, 280; ii. 5, 46.

Stick, magic, ii. 25.

Stones for cleaning milk-cans, ii. 89.

Stories of the Gods and Spirits of the Elements, ii. 60.

Stories of Northern Europe, ii. 48.

Strange tale of an ox, ii. 24.

Sulev or Sullev, ancestor of a race of heroes, apparently a brother of Kalev, i. xxxii., 2, 33 note.

Sulevide, a hero of the race of Sulev, usually applied to the Kalevide's companion and cousin, i. xxii., 6.

Sulevide visits the Fire Island, i. 114.

Sulevide wounded, i. 136.

Sulevide, death of, i. 138.

Sun seeking the hand of maidens, i. 10, 11, 148.

Sun, sons and daughters of, ii. 29.

Sun stolen by sorcerers, i. 20 note; ii. 148, 154 note, 160 note.

Suometar, Finland's daughter, born from an egg, i. 10 note.

Suomi = Finland, also the name of the journal issued by the Finnish Literary Society, ii. 135 note, 300.

Surtur, the leader of the Sons of Fire, at Ragnarök, in the Scandinavian mythology, i. 108 note.

Swallow, origin of, ii. 284.

Swan-maiden stories in Lapland, i. xvi.

Swedes, ii. 23, 50, 142.

Swiftfoot, Quickhand, and Sharpeye, ii. 12.

Swift-footed Princess, ii. 23.

Sword of Damocles, ii. 8.

Sword of the Kalevide, i. 3, 41, 44, 70, 72, 74, 83, 140.

Sword-smiths, the Kalevide and the, i. 42, 84.

Taara or Ukko, principal God of the Esthonians, i. xxvii., 4, 6.

Taara, daughters of, i. xxvii., 9 note, 10 note; ii. 86, 292.

Taara, halls of, i. 141.

Taara, oak forest of, i. 8, 56.

Taara, race of, i. 7.

Taara, Vanemuine at hill of, ii. 81.

Tailors, how seven, went to war in Turkey, i. xxiii.

[Pg 333]Talking trees, ii. 125, 301.

Tallin, one of the names of the town of Revel, ii. 104.

Tapio, the Finnish God of the Forests, ii. 127, 131 note, 296.

Tartar, Devil compared to a, i. 156.

Tartars, invasion of, i. 137.

Tear-down (name of dog), ii. 6.

Third Calendar's Story ("Thousand and One Nights"), i. 35 note.

Thor, Scandinavian Thunder-God. Notwithstanding the name of Taara, and the fact that Thursday is sacred to him, it is worth noting that Taara and Thor have no attributes in common; Thor corresponding to the Esthonian Äike, i. xxvii., 24 note, 107 note.

"Thousand and One Nights." The various stories quoted, and which are also referred to under their separate headings, will be found in the versions of Galland, Lane, and Burton; but chiefly the two latter, i. 35, 72 note, 86 note, 187, 199 note, 246 note, 265 note; ii. 9, 25, 76 note, 229, 234 note, 270.

Three Sisters, ii. 43.

Three Wishes, ii. 45.

Thunder-God, i. xxviii., xxxi., 24; ii. 20.

Thunder-God, daughter of, i. xxviii., 71.

Thunder-God, son of, i. xxviii.; ii. 149.

Thursday, sacred to Taara, i. xxvii.

Tieck's German story of the Elves, i. 236.

Tiidu the Flute-player, i. 303.

Time, lapse of, in other worlds, i. 184.

Tohfat El Kulub, story of, in the "Thousand and One Nights," i. 72 note.

Tohtläne, birch-bark maid, ii. 181.

Tont, or house-spirit, i. xxxi., 236; ii. 167.

Tontla, Wood of, ii. 237.

Tony, Goose, ii. 2.

Tony, Sleepy, ii. 52.

Tora, name of God among the Chuvash of Kasan, i. 6.

Treasure at Kertell, ii. 224.

Treasure-bringer, ii. xxxii., 88, 168.

Trees, bleeding, i. 238.

[Pg 334]Trees for birds to rest on, ii. 4.

Trees, talking, i. 238; ii. 125, 300.

Trumpet, Pikne's, ii. 149 note.

Tühi, the Empty One, or rather, perhaps, the Contemptible One, name of one of the principal demons, or of the Devil. In the "Kalevipoeg" he is represented as Sarvik's brother-in-law, i. xxx., 5, 99, 105; ii. 149 note.

Tühja = Tühi, i. xxx., 84.

Tuhka-Triinu, Ash-Katie, Cinderella, ii. 4.

Turkey, how seven tailors went to war in, i. xxiii.

Turkey-disease, i. 307.

Twelve daughters, ii. 59, note, 87.

Twilight, story of, ii. 30.

Two brothers and the frost, ii. 71.

Ukko or Uko, principal God of Finns and Esthonians, often called Taara by the latter, i. xxvii., 6, 22, 62; ii. 86, 284.

Ülemiste järv, Upper Lake, near Revel, formed of Linda's tears for the death of Kalev, i. 21; ii. 104.

Underground people, ii. 98 note.

Underground smithy, ii. 116.

Unnatural brothers, i. 189; ii. 41, 70, 207.

Unnatural sisters, ii. 43.

Vad Velen, the Yellow Plague in Britain, ii. 272 note.

Väinämöinen, a patriarch and culture-hero, the principal character in the "Kalevala," identical with the Esthonian Vanemuine, i. xxi., xxvii., xxix., 7; ii. 60.

Väinämöinen worshipped by Finns, i. xxvii.; ii. 81.

Valkyrior, the maidens of Othin in the Scandinavian mythology, who choose the heroes destined to fall in battle, i. 60 note.

Vampyrism (this is said to be still prevalent in Eastern Europe, though it has disappeared from Western Europe along with witchcraft. The best preventative or cure is cremation), i. xxxii.; ii. 188.

Vana, Old, term of respect applied to gods and devils, ii. 144 note.

Vana isa. _See_ Old Father.

[Pg 335]Vana kannel, "Old Harp," i. xxiv.

Vana mees, "Old Man," one of the epithets for the Devil, ii. 181.

Vana pois. _See_ Old Boy.

Vana Sarvik, "Old Hornie." _See_ Sarvik.

Vanemuine, God of Music among the Esthonians, identical with the Finnish Väinämöinen, i. xxi., xxix., 7; ii. 60, 81, 299.

Vanemuine, farewell to Esthonia, ii. 85.

Varrak, a wise Laplander, i. 5, 113, 132.

Vaskjala bridge, Maiden of the, ii. 34.

Videvik (Twilight), Koit, and Ämarik, ii. 30.

Villein, Prince, i. 275.

Villina Hills, ii. 145.

Virgilius the Enchanter, ii. 20 note.

Virgin Mary worshipped by Finns, i. xxvii.; ii. 81.

Virts, Lake, i. xiv.

Virts Lake and Emmu Lake, ii. 144.

Viru, native name for Esthonia proper, i. xiv., 8.

Vladinin, Prince of Kief, the suzerain of the mythical Russian heroes, i. xxxii.

Vöhandu River, i. 137.

Voyage of the Kalevide, i. 110.

War, Herald of, i. 63; ii. 287.

War, rumours of, i. 61.

Water-lily, girls transformed to, i. 225; ii. 46.

Water-mother, i. xxiv., ii. 61.

Water-nymphs of Irish lakes, ii. 147 note.

Water-sprite, gifts of, ii. 98.

Water of strength and weakness (this is perhaps connected with the Russian Water of Death and Life, the first of which heals the wounds of a dead body, and the second restores it to life), i. 90, 100, 127.

Waters, Lord of, seeks the hand of Linda, i. 15.

Waters, Lady of the, ii. 95.

Were-wolves, ii. 277.

Weil, G., "Biblische Legenden der Muselmänner aus arabischen[Pg 336] Quellen, zusammengetragen und mit jüdischen Sagen verglichen," Frankfort-on-Main, 1845, ii. 236.

Whirlwind, spirit of the, i. xxxi.; ii. 110.

White Horse. _See_ Horses.
(I have forgotten to notice elsewhere that the White Horse is a
universally sacred emblem. It occurs more than once in the Apocalypse
(Rev. vi. 2, xix. 11, 14)).

White Mare. _See_ Mare.

Why the dog and cat and cat and mouse are enemies, ii. 282.

Wicked farmer's wife devoured by wolves, i. 291.

Widow of Lääne, i. 2, 9.

Widows at magic well, ii. 145.

Wiek, German name for the province of Lääne, i. xiv., 8 note.

Wierland, German name for the province of Viru, or Esthonia proper, i. xiv.

Wife, insatiable, ii. 48.

Wife-murderer (Bluebeard), ii. 1.

Will o' the Wisps, ii. 111.

William Tell expected to return, i. xxxii.

Wind seeks the hand of Linda, i. 15.

Wind magician, i. 19, 20.

Wind-mother, i. xxiv, 218; ii. 106.

Wind sorcerers, i. xxix., xxxi.

Wind-and-Weather, name of a giant, ii. 282 note.

Winds, King of, ii. 95.

Wishes, Three, ii. 45.

Wishing-rod, i. 91, 105, 108, 198.

Witch-Bride, ii. 45.

Witch Peipa, ii. 137.

Witch poisoned with hemlock-roots, i. 233.

Witch riding on cock, ii. 140.

Witch's coil, i. 218.

Wolf, i. 52, 84, 97, 171; ii. 31.

Wolf, creation of, ii. 274.

Wolf, Devil changed into, ii. 181.

Wolf stories, ii. 274.

Wolf and Devil, i. xxxi.; ii. 76 note, 274.

Wolfsbrunnen, near Heidelberg, ii. 86 note.

[Pg 337]Woman in the Moon, ii. 29, 37.

Wonderful Haycock, ii. 133.

Wood of Tontla, ii. 237.

Wood-goddess, ii. 196.

Woodcutter, compassionate, ii. 124.

Wooden man and birch-bark maid, ii. 180.

Woodpecker and Iliawatha, i. 81 note.

Word-sorcerers, i. xxxi.

Yellow Plague in Britain, ii. 272 note.

Yggdrasil (properly Yggthrasil), the sacred ash-tree of Scandinavian mythology, i. 39 note.

Ymir, giant from whose body the earth was formed, in the Scandinavian mythology, i. 60 note.

Youngest son, despised, ii. 44.

Yudhishthira, one of the heroes of the Indian Epic, the Maha-Bharata, i. 25 note; ii. 23 note.

THE END

VOL. II.

_Printed by_ Ballantvne, Hanson & Co.

_Edinburgh and London_

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Here Cinderella's real name is Katrina; in Finnish she is sometimes called Kristina (see Miss Cox, _Cinderella_, p. 552), while in Slavonic tales she is called Marya, and in some German adaptations Aennchen.

[2] When Väinämöinen cleared the forest, he left a birch-tree standing for the same purpose (_Kalevala_, Runo ii.).

[3] A black dung-beetle (_Geotrupes_) is meant, not a cockroach.

[4] This story is one of those which Löwe has passed over, and it is also omitted by Miss Cox.

[5] Peeter.

[6] Not a bad description of a conventional dragon. If these stories could be traced back to their original source, we should certainly find them to be founded on traditions of some of the great extinct Saurians. They are too explicit, and too discordant, to be founded only on rumours of the existence of crocodiles.

[7] The word used means a little girl or a doll; Löwe translates it "doll," which seems to be incorrect in this place.

[8] The God of Death.

[9] Combings or cuttings of hair are never burned or allowed to be blown about in the air in Esthonia, but carefully buried; otherwise the owner would suffer from violent headache.

[10] This word would have no apparent meaning as a proper name; but Löwe suggests that it might be a corruption of Virgilius, which, though not impossible, seems rather far fetched.

[11] Compare vol. i. p. 176.

[12] Their good faith and absence of envy is as conspicuous as in the case of the sons of Kalev (vol. i. p. 58).

[13] When the five Pandavas, the heroes of the Maha-Bharata, were returning victorious from an expedition during which Arjuna had won the princess Draupadi in a contest with the bow, their mother, hearing them coming, but not knowing what had happened, cried out, "Share equally what you have brought." Upon which it was arranged that she should become the joint wife of the five brother princes.

[14] The Esthonian term is peculiar. "Ox-knee people"—_i.e._, people as tall as an ox's knee.

[15] Compare the _Kalevipoeg_, Cantos 13 and 14.

[16] Compare Croker's Irish story of "Master and Man."

[17] The Thunder-God.

[18] This story has been already printed in English, (Jones and Kropf, _Folk-Tales of the Magyars_, pp. 326-328), but I was unwilling to omit it.

[19] The constellation of the Great Bear is of course intended.

[20] The dictionary gives no further explanation than "Name of a mythical personage."

[21] According to Jannsen, the forest which once surrounded the river Vaskia, which flows through a village of the same name near Revel, was formerly sacred to a goddess named Vaskia.

[22] Compare the _Kalevipoeg_, Canto 1.

[23] Poestion, _Lappländische Märchen_, p. 122. Another Lapp version, almost identical with Homer's, is given by Latham, _Nationalities of Europe_, i. p. 237.

[24] It must be said, to the credit of the Esthonian devils, that they only appear occasionally in the light of ogres. In many tales they are harmless, and sometimes amiable.

[25] There are several very similar stories in Finnish.

[26] Compare the story of "Princess Helena the Fair" (Ralston's _Russian Folk-Tales_, p. 256).

[27] The commencement of this story reminds us of "Beauty and the Beast;" the second part is that of the "Magic Flute."

[28] See vol. i. p. 22.

[29] Schiefner considers the name of this story (_Näki Neitsi_) to indicate a Swedish origin; but this seems to be very doubtful evidence, and the incidental allusion to the Swedes in the course of the narrative seems opposed to such an idea.

[30] George.

[31] Compare the story of the "Twelve Daughters."

[32] It will be remembered that the Sampo, the magic mill in the _Kalevala_, ground salt as well as corn and money, and was ultimately broken to pieces and sunk in the sea. The Grôtta-Söngr in the Edda of Sæmund is better known; and many other variants might be cited. The story in the text much resembles that of "Silly Nicholas," which I remember reading in one of Chambers's publications many years ago.

[33] Odd stories are told in many countries about the relations between various animals and the Devil. In Esthonia the wolf and the dog are peculiarly hostile to the Devil. In the East it is the ass, concerning which Lane quotes the following amusing explanation in a note to the story of the "Peacock and Peahen," &c. (_Thousand and One Nights_, notes to Chap. ix. of Lane's translation):—"The last animal that entered with Noah into the ark was the ass, and Iblees (whom God curse!) clung to his tail. The ass had just entered the ark, and began to be agitated, and could not enter further into the ark, whereupon Noah said to him, 'Enter, woe to thee!' But the ass was still agitated, and was unable to advance. So Noah said, 'Enter, though the Devil be with thee!' And the ass entered, and Iblees (whom God curse!) entered with him. And Noah said, 'O enemy of God, who introduced thee into the ark?' He answered, 'Thou; thou saidst unto the ass, "Enter, though the Devil be with thee."' So it is said that this is the reason why the ass when he seeth the Devil brayeth."

[34] Jannsen remarks that the _third_ strap would form a cross, and that the _three_ straps might be an allusion to the Trinity.

[35] This story is also related, more briefly, by Blumberg, who states that Lake Endla lies in an impassable swamp in the district of Vaimastfer, and is visible from the hill near Kardis. The fish and birds are under the protection of Jutta, and there is no place in the country where birds congregate to such an extent, and birds of passage remain so long. Jutta is perhaps the same as Lindu (vol. ii. p. 147). Near Heidelberg is a spring called the "Wolfsbrunnen," where a beautiful enchantress named Jutta, the priestess of Hertha, is said to have had an assignation with her lover; but he found she had been killed by a wolf, the messenger of the offended goddess. Whether there is any connection between the German and Esthonian Jutta I do not know.

[36] Or Endel, the son of Ilmarine. Blumberg writes "Wanemuinen" and "Ilmarinen" in his account of the legend, which nearly approach the Finnish forms of the names.

[37] Compare the story of the "Treasure-Bringer," in a later section of the volume.

[38] Brandy is offered by a lover in Esthonia, and accepted by the girl if she favours him.

[39] Small stones are used for cleaning milk-cans.

[40] Jannsen remarks that her authority seems to have been limited to these, and also that she cannot have been the supreme Water-Goddess, whose husband is Ahti, the God of the Sea.

[41] These long-lived, but mortal Elemental Powers seem to correspond to some classes of the Arabian Jinn, as for instance, the Diving Jinn in such tales as "Jullanar of the Sea" (_Thousand and One Nights_). They may also be compared with the Elemental Spirits of the Rosicrucians, who are long-lived, but likewise mortal.

[42] These beings who dwell beneath the sea or lakes are often called "underground people" in Esthonian and Lappish stories.

[43] In Canto xvi. of the _Kalevipoeg_, the spirits of the Northern Lights are described as carrying on mimic combats in the air.

[44] Latham (_Nationalities of Europe_, i. p. 34) relates a very similar Lithuanian story of a Lauma or Nightmare.

[45] Jannsen regards this master-smith as Ilmarine.

[46] The hat reminds us of the doll in the story of the Tontla Wood. In the original the stranger is simply called "Köwer." Jannsen interprets the name to mean "Köwer-silm" (Crooked-eye), and thinks the stranger might have been Tapio himself. But it appears to me from the whole context that he was simply the indwelling spirit of one particular crooked birch-tree, whom we find at the beginning of the story wandering at a distance from home.

[47] Finland itself means Fenland, and is only a translation of the native name Suomi.

[48] God is frequently called Vanaisa, the Old Father, just as the Devil is frequently called Vanapois, the Old Boy.

[49] In the neighbourhood of Dorpat.

[50] Dreadful stories are told in many countries of the fiends inhabiting the undrained swamps. Monsters as terrible as those described in "Beowulf" are popularly believed to have haunted the English fens almost to the present day. Aino, in the _Kalevala_ (Runo 4), was lured into a lake by the sight of some maidens bathing; and it is said that it is unsafe for sensitive people to venture near the banks of some of the Irish lakes in the evening, lest they should be lured into the water by the singing of the water-nymphs. In this connection, we may refer to the oft-quoted passage from the notes to Heywood's _Hierarchies of the Blessed Angels_ (1635): "In Finland there is a castle, which is called the New Rock, moated about with a river of unsounded depth, the water black, and the fish therein very distasteful to the palate. In this are spectres often seen, which foreshow either the death of the Governor, or of some prime officer belonging to the place; and most often it appeareth in the shape of a harper, sweetly singing and dallying and playing under the water."—See Southey's _Donica_.

[51] There is a variant of this story (Pikne's Trumpet: Kreutzwald) in which Tühi himself steals the trumpet while Pikne is asleep. Pikne is afraid to apply for aid to the Old Father, for fear of being punished for losing it, but recovers it by an artifice similar to that employed in the present story. This is interesting as showing Pikne to be only a subordinate deity. Löwe considers the Thunderer's musical instrument to be a bagpipe.

[52] He does not call his father Vanaisa, which would identify him with the Supreme God, but uses another term, _Vana taat_.

[53] As Louhi, in the _Kalevala_, secures the magic mill, the Sampo.

[54] This story is probably connected with the Finnish and Esthonian legends of the theft of the sun and moon by sorcerers.

[55] Ilmarine or Ilmarinen is the Vulcan of the Finnish and Esthonian legends. He is represented in the _Kalevala_ as a young and handsome hero, but deficient in courage. In Esthonian tales he generally appears as a demigod. In the _Kalevala_ he plays a part second only to that of Väinämöinen himself, but fails in many of his undertakings; for though he is said to have forged the sky, he cannot confer speech or warmth on the bride of gold and silver whom he forges for himself after his first wife has been given to the wolves and bears by Kullervo; and when he forges a new sun and moon, after the old ones have been stolen by Louhi, they turn out miserable failures.

[56] One of Michael Scot's familiars was a devil of this kind, whom he got rid of ultimately by setting him to spin ropes of sea-sand.

[57] This disguise is often assumed by God in the stories of Eastern Europe, when he wishes to be incognito; nor is it always clear whether God or Christ is intended. I remember once reading a Lithuanian story in which God and St. Peter are represented as descending to earth disguised as beggars, for fear they might be recognised, to inquire into the wickedness of mankind before the Flood.

[58] The bath is a special place of resort for devils in Mohammedan folk-lore.

[59] The Manx story will occur to the reader. Compare also the story of the "Courageous Barn-keeper" in the following section of our work.

[60] _Põrgulise_ is the actual word used here.

[61] This term, _kuri vaim_, is explicitly used here, not _Vana pois_, as we find in the earlier part of the story; and seems to indicate a different and much more malevolent being than the simpleton who visited the barn-keeper, though the term _Vana pois_ sometimes occurs in stories like "The Wooden Man and Birch-bark Maid," in which souls are actually sold to the Devil.

[62] Hans is a generic term in Esthonia for the cunning fellow who always contrives to outwit the Devil, &c.

[63] This seems to be an error in the story; for the context shows that the prohibition was not to speak a word during the ceremony.

[64] _Kergi_ (rise up), spelt backwards.

[65] As in the story of Joodar (_Thousand and One Nights_).

[66] There has been some discussion as to the right meaning to be put upon the words, _Mana tark_ (Death-magician), but it appears to me that necromancer is simply a literal rendering.

[67] This serpent-gathering so much resembles those described in the first book of the _Maha-Bharata_, and in the story of Hasib (or Jamasp) in the _Thousand and One Nights_, that I have referred the present story to the class of tales of Oriental origin.

[68] In Finland and Esthonia they use dried birch-twigs with the leaves attached to whisk themselves with when bathing.

[69] See vol. i. p. 13.

[70] Löwe translates the word _kon_, "dragon," but it primarily means a frog or toad; and "dragon" is not among the other meanings which I find in the dictionaries. Besides, the creature is described as resembling a frog in many respects.

[71] Compare vol. i. p. 223.

[72] _Põrgu neitsi_. Who she was is not clearly explained.

[73] Doubtless Olev of the _Kalevipoeg_; possibly St. Olaf may also be intended.

[74] This incident reminds us of the story of St. Olaf and the giant Wind and Weather (see Keightley's _Fairy Mythology_, Bohn's edition, 1860, p. 117), though here it is the giant church-builder who falls. According to one of the legends of Cologne Cathedral, the architect was hurled from the top of the unfinished building by the Devil. The calling of a person by name was often regarded by the Scandinavians as a death-omen.

[75] There is a similar tale told of the arrival of the Cholera in one of the Greek islands.

[76] Speaking of the Vad Velen, the Yellow Plague, in Britain, we are told in the _Mabinogion_ that all who saw him were doomed to die.

[77] This story somewhat resembles that of the old hag seen by Lord Seaforth when lying ill of scarlet fever with several of his schoolfellows. The narrative has been reprinted several times, and is included in Stead's _More Ghost Stories_, p. 37.

[78] Such origins are common in Esthonian and Finnish folk-literature, and I regard them as relics of fetishism.

[79] _Kalevipoeg_, Canto 9, lines 769-925. Neus, _Ehstnische Volkslieder_, pp. 305-311. The manner in which the gathering symbols of the horrors of war, each more terrible than the last, are successively brought upon the scene in this poem is very fine.

[80] _Kalevipoeg_, xix. 493-583.

[81] Kreutzwald and Neus, _Mythische und magische Lieder_, p. 7. Charms of this kind are very common in Finland and Esthonia, and a whole volume has been published by the Finnish Literary Society under the name of _Loitsurunoja_, selections from which have been recently published in "Folklore" by the Hon. John Abercromby.