Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 3, 1892.djvu/127

Rh precious stones had become the Venus-garden of German folk-lore. And the roc's egg (Rochei) had been hatched into a King Reckei, whose hanging in the dome of his palace the hero was made to demand.

Dr. Haas' collection includes both sagas and märchen, but relates only to the island of Rügen. A large part, but not the whole, of the tales has been obtained from verbal communication, some having been already printed by Arndt, Temme, Jahn, Kuhn, and others. In an appendix Dr. Haas discusses the Hertha-saga localised on the island. He shows that it is unknown to the earliest topographers. The first writer who identifies the insula oceani mentioned by Tacitus with Rügen is Philipp Klüver in a work entitled Germania Antiqua, published at Leyden in 1616. The hill and lake now called Herthaburg and Herthasee respectively were always known under the names of Borg- wall and Borgsee, or the Black Lake, until about eighty or ninety years ago; and Dr. Haas attributes the change to the influx of strangers which began early in the present century. The weird sagas relating to the spot have grown up doubtless in response to the demands of these strangers, though they now appear to be thoroughly domiciled among the folk of Rugen. It affords me special satisfaction to mention this here for the purpose of correcting any impression which may have been conveyed to the minds of readers of by a reference on page 214 of vol. i, to Hertha's manifestations at the Black Lake. I may add, however, that the reasoning, whether of the article containing the reference, or in the more complete and permanent shape it subsequently assumed, would appear to be untouched, though one of its most picturesque illustrations is torn away.

The Saggio di Novelline, Canti ed Usanze popolari delta Ciociaria, by Dr. Targioni-Tozzetti, contains, among other folk-lore, twenty-nine tales of various kinds—märchen, legends of the saints, apologues, and drolls. Many of the tales are interesting for themselves; and to each one is