Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/239

 Rh distinct species having somewhat fallen together in Danish tradition, which has further complicated matters by transferring the name of Troll to the diminutive dwellers in in the mounds. The second group is a rather motley assemblage of Giants, Brownies, Monsters and Lindorms; the brownies at least would have been more at home among the Bergfolk, especially as the names of Nisse, Troll and Bergman are not always clearly distinguished. Under the third heading, "Places and Persons," many well-known tales appear in new surroundings, an evidence of the way in which popular fancy endeavours to find a suitable locality for its material. "Ghosts and Apparitions" form the fourth group, some of them common and familiar enough, others of an unusual and powerful type. The Danish ghost is not so impressive as the Icelandic, but its doings often have an uncomfortable touch of the horrible about them. "Wizards and Exorcisms" represent a branch of popular belief which was in full bloom until quite recent times, but the real wizards and witches are gone now. The discovery of a thief, the cure of disease, and the laying of a ghost are the chief tasks which the wizard or witch successfully accomplishes in these tales. Closely related is the following section on "Witchcraft and the Devil," in which there are few features that are not the common property of all folklore. A section on "Treasures, Warnings, and Miscellaneous Legends" completes the volume.

Much the same kind of material is given in three other volumes of this series (vols, iv., vi., and viii., published in 1879, 1883, 1886), with the addition of hundreds of popular beliefs and observances relating to every incident of daily life. A most interesting item in volume vi., is a copy of a "Kunstbog" a collection of medicinal and magical remedies and practices, written so late as 1785. It is not often that one finds the beliefs and methods of witchcraft set down so deliberately and credulously as they are in this document, which contains many charms that are known probably over