Page:Popular tales from the Norse (1912).djvu/164

 "What sort of an earthworm is this?" said one Giant to another, when they met a man as they walked. " These are the earthworms that will one day eat us up, brother," answered the other; and soon both Giants left that part of Germany. Nor does this trait appear less strongly in these Norse Tales. The Giants or Trolls can neither brew nor wash properly, as we see in "Shortshanks," p. 131, where the Ogre has to get Shortshanks to brew his ale for him; and in "East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon," p. 22, where none of the Trolls are able to wash out the spot of tallow. So also in the "Two Step-sisters," p. 113, the old witch is forced to get human maids to do her household work; and, lastly, the best example of all, in "Lord Peter," p. 295, where agriculture is plainly a secret of mankind, which the Giants were eager to learn, but which was a branch of knowledge beyond their power to attain.

Before we leave these gigantic natural powers, let us linger a moment to point out how heartily the Winds are sketched in these Tales as four brothers; of whom, of course, the North wind is the oldest, and strongest, and roughest. But though rough in form and tongue, he is a genial, kind-hearted fellow after all. He carries the lassie to the castle, "East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon," whither none of his brothers had strength to blow. All