It is a more difficult question and one which we shall have to discuss later whether any of the heroic stories are wholly derived from folk-tales. The story of Balder bears the stamp of a folk-tale, for the chief characters (Balder, Höðr, Nanna) have names with an obvious meaning. But it is only in Saxo's History that this story appears in a heroic setting; and though his account seems to be more primitive in several respects than that given by the Norse authorities, there is some reason for suspecting that either he himself or one of his (comparatively recent) predecessors was responsible for the setting. It should be observed however that the occurrence of one or more names with obvious meanings does not in itself prove that a story is derived from a folk-tale. Thus in the story of Heðinn and Högni the fact that the heroine (in contrast with the other characters) bears a name which means 'war' does not of necessity involve her origin in a folk-tale any more than that of her namesake, the abbess of Whitby.
Apart from the distinguishing feature with which we have been dealing folk-tales as a class have certain general characteristics which may be appreciated by a comparison with those of heroic poetry. In the last chapter (p. [82] f.) we gave a short list of the characteristics by which the latter is specially distinguished. To all these the typical folk-tale presents a marked contrast. Some of the leading characters, including either the hero or the heroine or both, are usually persons of humble birth. The opponents of the hero or heroine tend to be represented as monsters of cruelty or vice, even when they are of royal rank, as is often the case. There is no inclination to avoid horrible or coarse subjects. Above all we miss those detailed descriptions of court life upon which the heroic poems are so fond of dwelling. The life and thought which we find reflected in folk-tales is that not of the court but of the village.
It would of course be rash to assume that folk-tales formed the sole intellectual pabulum of the peasantry in early times. No doubt we have to add 'popular tales,' similar to those which formed the foundation of the heroic poems. But since these tales were not put into poetic form—i.e. not into such poetic form as would ensure their preservation[166]—they were always liable to disintegration and thus were constantly approximating to folk-tales. Hence, though we must make allowance for influence of the one upon the other, it is probably not so very far from the truth that what heroic stories were to the courts folk-tales were to the rest of the population.
In Norway court poetry flourished down to Christian times, though in the generation before the conversion it had come mainly into the hands of Icelanders. But practically nothing is known as to the existence of court poets in Denmark; and here we have, I think, the explanation of the peculiar character of the Danish sources used by Saxo. The old heroic poems had been largely forgotten, and what remained was preserved only in the form of ballads and popular tales—which in some cases practically amounted to folk-tales.
Lastly, we must note that the existence of a folk-tale may sometimes be inferred when we have no knowledge of it in its uncontaminated form. Such is the case (e.g.) when we find the same adventure, especially if it be of a supernatural character, related of several different and unconnected persons, whose historical existence may be quite satisfactorily authenticated. But such inferences must be used with caution, for it is not necessary to suppose that supernatural incidents in heroic stories are always due to the influence of folk-tales. They may often truly reflect the belief of an age which did not clearly distinguish between natural and supernatural. That the supernatural is less prominent in heroic poetry than in folk-tales is due doubtless to the fact that the courts of that period possessed a far higher degree of culture than the rest of the population. The same phenomenon is still more noticeable in Welsh literature than in Teutonic. In the early court poems the supernatural is comparatively little in evidence, whereas in the Mabinogion, which are largely made up of folk-tales, it is developed to a most astounding degree.
Various kinds of supernatural beings are brought before our notice in heroic stories. In the Northern versions the god Othin is introduced not unfrequently. Thus, to give a few instances, the Völsunga Saga brings him into contact with Sigmundr on two occasions: first when he enters Völsungr's hall at the wedding feast and plants in the tree a sword which Sigmundr alone is able to draw out (cap. 3), and again in his last battle when the hero's sword is shattered at the touch of Othin's javelin (cap. 11). Twice also the same saga makes him meet with Sigurðr: first when he chooses for him the horse Grani (cap. 13), and later when he accompanies him on his way to attack the sons of Hundingr (cap. 17; cf. also cap. 18). In all these cases alike the god's identity is not suspected, at least until after his departure. In the poem Reginsmál, from which the last of these incidents is taken, we find also a story of quite a different character and laid wholly in the realm of the supernatural, namely the adventures of the gods Othin, Hoenir and Loki with the otter and the dwarf Andvari. Of other divine or semi-divine beings we may mention Hlióð, the daughter of Hrímnir and adopted daughter of Frigg, who became the wife of Völsungr and mother of Sigmundr. As a last instance reference may be made to a passage from the lost Biarkamál (Saxo, p. [66]), where the hero suspects that Othin is present among the enemy and expresses his desire to attack him.
In the German heroic poems, which are entirely Christian, we find no mention of the gods. Note should be taken however of an incident in the Rabenschlacht (v. 964 ff.), where Witege in his flight from Dietrich gallops into the sea and is rescued by the mermaid Wâchilt. If we were dealing with a Greek story we should regard this person as a goddess without hesitation.
In much earlier times a very good instance is furnished by the legendary history of the Langobardi. According to the story (cf. p. [9] f.) the Langobardi, who were then called Winniles, soon after their emigration from Scandinavia came into conflict with the Vandals. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum, an anonymous tract dating from the latter part of the seventh century, gives the following account of what happened: Ambri and Assi, the leaders of the Vandals, asked Wodan (Godan) that he should give them victory over the Winniles. Wodan replied, saying: "Whomsoever I shall first look upon, when the sun rises, to them will I give victory." Then Gambara with her two sons Ibor and Aio, who were chiefs over the Winniles, asked Fria (Frea), the wife of Wodan, that she should be gracious to the Winniles. Fria then gave counsel that the Winniles should come when the sun rose and that their women should let down their hair about their faces after the fashion of a beard and should come with their husbands. Then, as it became light, while the sun was rising, Fria turned the bed, on which Wodan lay, and put his face to the east and wakened him. And he looked and saw the Winniles and their women with their hair let down about their faces and said: "Who are those long-beards?" And Fria said to Wodan: "As thou hast given them a name, give them also victory." And he gave them victory, etc.