Det tredje slag på gullharpan klang,
Liten Kerstin räckta upp sin snöhvita arm.
Min hjerteliga kär!
J sägen mig hvarfor J sörjen!
[210] As sung in West Gothland and Vermland.
[211] Fosse is the North of England force.
[212] Or a white kid, Faye ap. Grimm, Deut. Mythol., p. 461.
[213] The Strömkarl has eleven different measures, to ten of which alone people may dance; the eleventh belongs to the night spirit his host. If any one plays it, tables and benches, cans and cups, old men and women, blind and lame, even the children in the cradle, begin to dance.—Arndt. ut sup., see above p. [80].
[214] In the Danske Viser and Folkesagn there are a few stories of Mermen, such as Rosmer Havmand and Marstig's Daughter, both translated by Dr. Jamieson, and Agnete and the Merman, which resembles Proud Margaret. It was natural, says Afzelius, that what in Sweden was related of a Hill King, should, in Denmark, be ascribed to a Merman.
[215] The appearance of the Wood-woman (Skogsfru) or Elve-woman, is equally unlucky for hunters. She also approaches the fires, and seeks to seduce young men.
[216] Arvidsson, ii. 320, ap. Grimm, p. 463.
[217] This is a ballad from Småland. Magnus was the youngest son of Gustavus Vasa. He died out of his mind. It is well known that insanity pervaded the Vasa family for centuries.
[218] This was plainly a theory of the monks. It greatly resembles the Rabbinical account of the origin of the Mazckeen, which the reader will meet in the sequel.