Page [115]. The witch throwing down a rod or hair; see also "Knight Rose," cf. Portuguese Folk-Tales, Folk-Lore Society, 1882, "The Tower of Ill-Luck," p. 49. Basile, Pentamerone, No. 7, where a fairy binds Cienzo by her hair. Denton, Serbian Folk-Lore, "The Three Brothers," p. 275.
It is curious the part hair plays in popular lore.[52] According to the old idea that any part of a person, such as his hair, nail clippings, &c. was to all intents and purposes himself (see notes to "[The Lazy Spinning Girl]"[53]); so it appears here the witch's power would be conveyed by one of her hairs, just as the witch in the "[World's Beautiful Woman]" spits on the child's face with the hope of conveying her enchantment, p. [166]. See Henderson, sub voce, "Hair." Black, Folk Medicine in Wäs.
Page [116]. The unsheathed sword in bed occurs in the story of Siegfried and Brunhild. Cf. also Dasent, "The Big Bird Dan," p. 450; Payne's Arabian Nights, "The Story of Prince Seif el Mulouk," vol. vii. p. 94; Pentamerone, i. 9; and Gubernatis, vol. i. 330.
[THE THREE DREAMS. Erdélyi, i. 2.]
Cf. "The Secret-keeping Little Boy," p. [233], in this collection.
According to Ladislaus Arany,[54] an almost exact version of the tale is given in Schott's Wallachische Märchen (No. 9). Schott calls attention to the resemblance of this tale to the story of Joseph, in the Old Testament, who is released from prison and exalted for the successful solution of dreams. See also two stories from Radloff, Proben der Volkslitteratur der Türkischen Stämme Süd-Siberiens, quoted in Gubernatis, vol. i. pp. 139-142.
The "Operencziás Tenger," is the mythical sea of Hungarian folk-tales. With regard to the etymology of the word, it is said by some to come from the expression "ober der Enns," in the German name of the Duchy of Upper Austria. The etymology is given for what it is worth. As to the cosmology of the story-tellers, all we can say is, that they appear to uphold the Zetetic school. The earth is flat, and surrounded by the Operenczian sea: beyond that is fairyland.
The Magyar peasants think much of dreams, as may be seen in their wonderful dream-book, "A legrégibb és legnagyobb Egyiptomi Almoskönyv," a work something in the same style as the dream-books that are still common in country places in England.
The significance of dreams is noticed in Uarda, cap. xv. Cf. Denton, "The Dream of the King's Son." Horace, c. iii. xxvii. 41; S. i. x. 33. Homer says that dreams of falsehood passed through an ivory gate in the lower world: true ones through a gate of horn.