Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/72

 FAIRIES is enjoyed by the duendes and trasgos, who re- semble the house spirits. The dracs of southern France assume the human form, reside in the caverns of rivers, and entice bathing women and boys. The follets inhabit the houses of simple country people, and are invisible, though their voices are heard ; their chief employ- ment seems to be pelting people with stones and household utensils. There are also ac- counts of spirits who suddenly enter a house, ransack and upset everything, and torment those who are sleeping in it. The fadas were fairy ladies who became the spouses of men, and lived with them in great felicity ; but when a husband discovered the secret of their nature, or became unfaithful, he either died instantly or led a wretched life for the remainder of his days. The fees, lutins, or gobelins of the north of France are similar to the kobolds and nisses of other nations. The fees are small and handsome, dance in circles or fairy rings by night, haunt solitary springs and grottoes, mount and gallop strange horses, sitting upon the neck and tying together locks of the mane to form stirrups, always bring luck by their presence, and, like the fairies of most coun- tries, were believed to preside at births, to love young children, to give them presents, and to steal them away, leaving instead their own fairy offspring, which were called change- lings, and were unusually beautiful in counte- nance but evil in propensities. In the 12th and 13th centuries the forest of Brezeliande, near Quentin in Brittany, was thought to contain the tomb of Merlin, and to be a chief seat of the fairies. The white ladies were Norman fairies, and often malignant. They were supposed to be attached to certain great families, in whose affairs they interfered, sometimes for good, sometimes for evil. The white lady of Avenel in Scott's romance of " The Monastery " is an instance of this kind. The lutins or goblins were playful and malicious elves, pinching children and maidens, twisting their hair into inexplicable knots when they were asleep, and delighting to perplex peasants and to bring them into difficulty. One of the chief articles of accusation against the maid of Orleans was that she resorted to a fountain of the fairies to see her visions; and in Brittany there are fountains still regarded by the natives as sacred to the fairies, and believed to sometimes change into gold or diamond the hand that is inserted into them. The Eddas of the Scandinavians tell of alfs that are either whiter than the sun and live on earth, or blacker than pitch, and live under ground; and of dvergar, who are diminutive beings dwelling in rocks and hills, and skilful workmen in gold, silver, and iron. The alfs live still in the imagination of the peasantry of Scandinavia, and are distinguish- ed as either white or black. The white alfs are the good elves, who dwell in the air, dance on the grass, and have when they show them- selves a handsome human form. The black alfs are the evil elves, who frequently inflict injury on mankind. The elves are believed to have kings, and to celebrate weddings and en- joy banqueting, and singing. The Norwegians call the elves huldrctfouc, and their music hul- draslaat. There is also a tune called the elf king's tune, which is well known, but not sung or played ; for as soon as it begins both old and young, and even inanimate objects, are impelled to dance, and the player cannot stop unless he manages to play the tune back- ward. The Danes call the elves ellefolk, and believe that they live in elle moors. An elf man is an old man with a low-crowned hat. The elf woman is young and fair in front, but behind she is hollow like a dough trough ; and she has an instrument which when she plays on it ravishes the hearts of young men. The more usual appellation of the dwarfs is troll or trold, and they are represented as living either in single families or in large communities inside of hills and mounds. Their character seems to have gradually sunk down to the level of the peasantry. They are regarded as rich, obliging, and neighborly, but they have a sad propensity for stealing. The nisses are domestic fairies of Norway, and are fond of frolicking by moonlight and of driving in sledges in the winter. Every church had its niss, who was then called a TcirJcegrim; it looked after propriety of manners and pun- ished misconduct. The rivers and lakes are inhabited by necks, stromkarls, and other beings similar to mermen and mermaids. They are wonderful musicians, and when they play on their harps all nature has to dance. The Germans believed in dwarfs and elves, wild women, kobolds, and nixes or water spirits. The dwarfs were also known as the still people and the little people, and had their abodes underground and in the clefts of mountains. They visited the surface of the earth only by night, and could render them- selves invisible and pass through rocks and walls. They were generally benevolent. The beings called "little wights" inhabited south- ern Germany. They are only a few inches in stature, and look like old men with long beards, dressed like miners, with lanterns and tools. They announce a death in a family by knock- ing three times. The wild women are beauti- ful, and live in the mountain Wunderberg, on the moor near Salzburg. Kobolds assist in the household, and love to play tricks on the ser- vants. The miner's kobold reveals valuable veins and protects the virtuous. The nixes inhabit lakes and rivers ; the male is like a man, old and long-bearded, has green teeth, and always wears a green hat ; the female appears sometimes as a beautiful maiden, but often in a body terminating in the form of a fish or of a horse. They have magnificent dwellings under the water, to which they love to en- tice handsome mortals. They comb their golden locks on sunny days, sitting on rocks and trees. In Ireland and Scotland fairies were believed to shoot at cattle with arrows