Under the same head may be mentioned the faculty ascribed to various persons of being able to change into wolves or bears. As instances we may mention the case of Sigmundr and Sinfiötli given in Völsunga Saga, cap. 8, and the story of Biarki discussed above. For the latter we have already suggested an explanation. But though the motif may not have been a common one in heroic poetry—as compared with sagas relating to the Viking Age—there can be no doubt that the belief in shape-changing goes back to a remote antiquity. It is of frequent occurrence in poems and stories dealing with the gods, while similar ideas are widely prevalent among primitive peoples at the present day.
Among other supernatural characteristics may be mentioned that of invulnerability, through the use of magic which rendered all weapons harmless—a feature found in Beowulf (in the case of Grendel) as well as in later works. Often too heroes are capable of superhuman powers of strength or endurance, as in Beow. 377 ff., 544 ff.[192], though many of these cases may be set down to mere exaggeration. On the whole however such characteristics are scarcely as prominent as they are in the heroic stories of other nations.
The love of the marvellous is more strikingly displayed in Procopius' account of Britain (Goth. IV 20) than in any of the poems which have come down to us. In the first place he says that the whole country beyond the great wall (i.e. the Roman Wall) was inhabited only by snakes and wild beasts, and that if any man ventured there he would die at once from the pestilential atmosphere. Then he goes on to say that Britain was the dwelling place of the spirits of the dead, and describes in detail how certain people who dwelt on the Frankish coast ferried the souls across. As to the truth of this story Procopius himself expresses scepticism; yet he states that he had heard it from numerous witnesses. It is scarcely permissible therefore to suppose that he had been victimised by a humorist. More probably he is reporting stories actually current among the Teutonic soldiery in the Roman army, which doubtless contained adventurers from many distant lands. In short we have here to do with folk-tales[193] which had been localised in Britain and were believed to represent its condition truly at the very time when Procopius was writing. It is exceedingly remarkable that such stories should obtain credence at a time when, as we know from more than one source, there was quite a considerable amount of communication between Britain and the Continent. Indeed Procopius himself says that large numbers of English emigrants had recently settled within the Frankish dominions.
In the course of this chapter we have seen that many of the heroic stories contain elements derived from myth and folk-tale. The distinction which we have drawn between the two categories is that only the former deals with definite—though unhistorical—personalities[194]. It is commonly held that myth is a necessary element in heroic stories; but this is a question which we must reserve for discussion in the next chapter. Further, we have seen that the presence of supernatural elements does not necessarily mean that the stories in which they occur were composed or modified long after the events which they relate; that, on the contrary, such elements are to be found in contemporary or almost contemporary narratives. They must be taken as faithful reflections of the beliefs and ideas of an uncritical age. But it is scarcely correct to regard these elements as the distinctive characteristics of heroic poetry. Their chief domain in reality is the folk-tale, a far more primitive form of composition, which without doubt was in existence during the same period. The truly distinctive characteristics of heroic poetry are rather those which differentiate it from the folk-tale.
FOOTNOTES:
[164] Under this heading we may include metrical compositions. The term 'folk-song' cannot conveniently be used here, as it has acquired a wider signification.
[165] Kilderne til Sakses Oldhistorie, p. 18 ff.
[166] Ballads on heroic subjects may of course have begun quite early.
[167] Elsewhere this name occurs only in the genealogies, where it is borne by an ancestor of Woden. It is possible however that in the Elegy some unknown hero of the Geatas may be meant (cf. Beow. 640, 1785 etc.).