Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 4, 1893.djvu/113

Rh Of the two editions, Italian and German, the former is on better paper, with larger type and margins, contains fewer typographical errors, and gives a literal translation of the Finnish instead of a metrical one. In a second edition, it would be well, in order to avoid ambiguity, to substitute, at pp. 101, 170, “seinen Nagel” for “einen Nagel”. .

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. Par. Congrès international d’Archéologie préhistorique et d’Anthropologie. Moscou, Août 1892, t. I. this interesting paper Troïtzky draws the following conclusions:— (a) “The vestiges of paganism discovered in the region situated between the upper reaches of the Oka and Don indicate the existence in this place of a cult of fire, trees, and stones. (b) “This cult is based upon the belief in the purifying, preserving, productive, and vivifying power of fire, and of its action on the individual, family, and social life of the ancient inhabitants of the country.

(c) “The belief in this power, and of its action upon life, is modified by degrees under the influence of Christian ideas, and the sacrificial altars have given place to the altars of churches raised in honour of the Saviour and of the saints. (d) “The cult of stones, which has formerly been so widely spread in this region, and has left such characteristic traces in the customs and manner of life of the present inhabitants, has been, without doubt, the primitive religion of the ancient owners of the soil, the Finns.”

A bibliography is appended.