The Treasure Seekers.
It is an established rule that he who seeks buried treasures must carefully maintain the utmost silence, lest his search be in vain and harm befall him, body and soul.
They were not ignorant of this—the four men that one time made up a party for the purpose of unearthing treasures said to be buried in Josäterdal.
Making their way, one midsummer night, across Lake Sälen, they saw approaching them a man of strange aspect, behind whose boat dragged a large fir tree, and a little later another, who inquired if they had seen any float-wood on their way.
The treasure seekers, who understood that these rowers were no other than fairies, pretended not to hear the question, and reached Josäterdal finally, without further temptation.
Just as they began to dig in the hill a grand officer approached and addressed them, but no one answered. Soon after a number of soldiers marched up and began to shoot at the diggers, but they did not allow even this to disturb them. Suddenly a red calf hopped up and the soldiers pressed nearer, so that the men soon stood enveloped in powder-smoke so thick that they could not see each other. When this did not frighten them, a tall gallows was raised on the side of the hill. It so happened that one of the diggers wore a red shirt that [[199]]attracted the attention of the spirits, one of which cried out:
“Shall we begin with him wearing the red shirt?” Whereupon he lost his courage and took to his heels, followed neck over head by the others. [[200]]
The Lapp in Magpie Form.[1]
A Finn in the forests of Säfsen, having for a long time suffered ill luck with his flock, determined, let the [[201]]cost be what it would, to find, through a Lapp well versed in the arts of the Trolls, a remedy for the evil he was enduring.
To this end he set out for the home of his to-be-deliverer, and after a long and fatiguing journey through the wilderness, he came at last to a Lapp hut which, with no little quaking, he entered, and there found a man busied with a fire upon the floor.
The Lapp who, through his connection with the Trolls, already knew the purpose of the visit, and very much flattered thereby, greeted his guest kindly, and said:
“Good morning, Juga, my boy, are you here? I can give you news from home. Everything goes well there. I was there yesterday.”
The Finn was terribly frightened at the discovery that he was recognized, but now more when he heard that the Lapp had made the same journey forth and back in one day, that had cost him so many days of wandering.
With assurance of friendship, the Lapp quieted his fears, and continued:
“I had a little matter to attend to yesterday at your home, and sat upon the housetop when your wife went over the garden, but I saw she did not know me, for she threatened me with the house key.”
The Finn now made known his errand, and received for answer that his animals were even now doing as well as he could wish. The presents brought by the Finn greatly strengthened their pleasant relations, and the Lapp agreed willingly to initiate him into the mysteries of Trolldom. [[202]]
When the Finn reached home, the incidents of his journey were circumstantially related to his wife, even to the Lapp’s account of his visit, and the threats with the house key.
“Yes, I remember now,” said she, “that a magpie sat upon the roof the same day that the animals seemed to revive, but I believed it to be an unlucky bird, therefore tried to frighten it away with the key.”
The Finn and his wife now understood that it was their friend, who had transformed himself thus in order to do them a service, and from that time held these creatures in great veneration. [[203]]
[1] The magpie in folk-lore is an ominous bird, and is avoided by the peasantry, because one can not know whether it is the spirit of a Troll, friend or foe. When the magpies build near the house it is regarded as a lucky omen, but if they build on the heath, and meantime come to the house and chatter, it bodes evil. [↑]
The Plague.[1]
Memories of the epidemics that have ravaged our country still live in the minds of the people, though, with time, like many other recollections, they have taken the form of myths.
During the plague there was seen, wandering from village to village, a boy and a girl, the one with a rake, the other with a broom. Wherever the boy was seen to use his rake, one and another was spared from death, but where the girl swept, death left an empty house, and the places that were not approached by these beings escaped the plague entirely.
On Soller Island, in Siljan, they strewed gold and precious stones along the roads and paths, which were so infected that he who so much as moved one with his hand became a corpse before the next sunset.
In the end there remained no one on the island except two wise old men, one named Bengh, the other Harold, who were not deluded by the gold, thereby saving their lives.
A number of the islanders escaped by flight and moved to the North Land through the “Twelve-Mile Roads,” that bordered upon Vermland.
Among those who fled was a young and beautiful maiden named Malin, who, when she came out upon the [[204]]road, observed a glittering jewel, which, upon closer inspection, represented Christ upon the cross. Notwithstanding the warning of her companions, she could not resist the temptation to pick up the doubly valuable article.
When they came later to their first camping place, Rossberg, about four miles from Soller Island, Malin was seen to fall upon her knees and give herself up to earnest prayer, but just as the evening sun hid himself behind a mountain, she sank lifeless upon a stone, which even to this day is called “Malin’s Church,” and is dressed every midsummer by the herdsmen with fresh leaves and fragrant flowers. [[205]]
[1] In other regions it is related that heralding an epidemic, a little bird flies around the country where men are plowing, and, perched upon the ox-yokes, twitters its warning. [↑]
The Vätters.[1]
Vätters, according to the Northern belief, are creatures that live under ground, but often appear above, and then in human [[206]]form so perfect that they have many times been mistaken for mankind. They live, as do the Trolls and Giants, in mountains, but more often move from one to another, and it is mostly during these journeys that they are seen.
When the parish of Ockilbo was first settled, the Vätters were so plentiful that a peasant who fixed his abode near the Rönn Hills was forced to build his windows high up near the eaves of his cottage to escape seeing the troublesome multitude of these beings that continually swarmed around.
Despite the disposition of the cottager to have nothing to do with the Vätters, he could not avoid getting into complications with them at times.
One evening, when the wife went to drive the goats into the goat house, she saw among hers two strange goats, having horsehoofs instead of cloven hoofs, as should be. Do her utmost, it was impossible to separate them from the others. They pressed on, and were locked up with the rest.
In the night she was awakened by a heavy pounding upon the walls, and a voice from without called:
“Let us be neighborly, mother, and return my goats to me.”
The woman dressed herself and hastened to the goat house, where the strange animals were making a dreadful uproar. Upon her opening the door they [[207]]sprang out and hurried to the forest, whence she heard the Vätters shouting and calling them.
Thus a friendly feeling was forever established between the cottager and the Vätters, and from that day there were no more disturbances. [[208]]
[1] To the characteristics attributed in this story to the Vätters may be added that they are peaceable and generally inclined to be friendly to mankind, but that they may, nevertheless, be aroused to acts of violence if their [[206]]wishes are not heeded, or if harm is done them designedly. They are said to have great quantities of gold and silver, but steel is very offensive to them. If, therefore, a knife is stuck into a fissure in a mountain, a piece of gold will, a few days later, be found in its stead. During autumn and in winter they take up their abode in vacated cow barns, where they employ themselves after the manner of mankind. [↑]