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 fact itself. Nowhere, except perhaps in Arabia, shall we find a system of traditions invested with an interest so purely marvellous as that which characterizes the legendary remains of the German nations. In similar productions of other nations—those, for example, of the Greeks or of the Celts—we find some religious or some patriotic sentiment,—some ideal abstraction or impersonated emotion, for the most part mingling with the tale, and giving all its marvels the character of mythologic miracles or of heroical exploits. But the great mass of ancient German traditions owe their attractiveness and popularity almost entirely to the pure undiluted essence of the wonderful with which they are imbued. They are lifted entirely out of ordinary nature. In this respect they are curiosities in themselves, and possess considerable value as affording the purest illustration of the effect which the wonderful, as such, produces on the human mind, in different stages of cultivation. The gloomy fantastic form, too, which the wonderful so generally assumes in the Teutonic traditions, is an illustration not less striking than that afforded by more elaborate works of the general spirit and character of German imagination. Nursed amidst shaggy woods and cavernous mountains,—rushing waters and a misty air,—the genius of German romance has from its earliest age till now delighted in scenes of supernatural darkness, terror, and mystery, congenial to the scenery. “Our popular traditions,” says