Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/234

 208 being laughed at, of being called childish, is often strong upon them, and only when taken by themselves is anything of the kind to be drawn from them.

Such then is the general condition of the class of Jutlanders, among whom all this folklore has been preserved; but some of the accounts of individual sources given by Kristenscn are so interesting, in some respects so touching, that I regret the limits of this paper prevent me from quoting them. The photographs which his kindness has enabled me to exhibit to the Society, will however give some idea of the appearance and surroundings of those from whom he has derived the greater portion of his best material.

III.

Before proceeding to give some detailed account of the different collections of folklore which Hr. Kristensen has published within the past thirty years, it may be well to make some general remarks on the character of his work as a whole. The first feature which calls for notice is the extraordinary quantity of material which he has brought together. Leaving out of account his mere editorial work (although this extends to about 3,500 pages), the popular traditions actually written down and published by him already reach the total of some 30 volumes, containing in all nearly 12,000 pages. Even this enormous mass of matter does not cover half of what he has collected, and one scarcely knows which to marvel at more, the wealth of Danish Folklore or the diligence of the collector.

Of course, in the very bulk of this material lies its greatest weakness. It is obviously impossible that every one of these 12,000 pages can contain new and valuable matter. From some points of view it would have been better to have the grain cleaned from the chaff, and to get what was really good presented to us within a more reasonable