[239] A Danish legend (Thiele, i. 79) tells the same of the sand-hills of Nestved in Zealand. A Troll who dwelt near it wished to destroy it, and for that purpose he went down to the sea-shore and filled his wallet with sand and threw it on his back. Fortunately there was a hole in the wallet, and so many sand-hills fell out of it, that when he came to Nestved there only remained enough to form one hill more. Another Troll, to punish a farmer filled one of his gloves with sand, which sufficed to cover his victim's house completely. With what remained in the fingers he formed a row of hillocks near it.
[240] Grimm, Deut. Myth., p. 502.
[241] Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, i. p. 70.
[242] Grimm also appears to regard them as genuine.
[243] The population of Lusatia (Lausatz) is like that of Pomerania and Rügen, Vendish. Hence, perhaps, it is that in the Lusatian tale of the Fairy-sabbath, we meet with caps with bells, and a descent into the interior of a mountain in a kind of boat as in this tale: Wilcomm, Sagen und Märchen aus der Oberlausitz. Hanov. 1843. Blackwood's Magazine for June, 1844.
[244] Hinrich Vick's of course, for he is the narrator.
[245] The only remnant is Alp, the nightmare; the elfen of modern writers is merely an adoption of the English elves.
[246] The edition of this poem which we have used, is that by Schönhuth, Leipzig, 1841.
[247] Tarn from taren, to dare, says Dobenek, because it gave courage along with invisibility. It comes more probably we think from the old German ternen, to hide. Kappe is properly a cloak, though the Tarnkappe or Nebelkappe is generally represented as a cap, or hat.