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C H A P T E R VI.
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E N T U R IE S before Milton wrote that “ Millionsof
spiritual creatures walk the earth unseen, both
when we wake, and when we sleep,” our Saxon
ancestors, wfiilst yet they inhabited the forests
of Germany, believed in the existence ,of a
diminutive race of beings—the “ missing link ”
between men and spirits—to whom they attributed
extraordinary actions, far exceeding the
capabilities of human art. Moreover, we have it on the authority
of the father of English poetry that long, long ago, in those
wondrous times when giants and dwarfs still deigned to live in the
same countries as ordinary human beings,
“ In the olde dayes of King Artour,
Of which the Bretons speken gret honour,
A ll was this land fulfilled of faerie;
The Elf-quene and hire joly compaynie
Danced full oft in many a grene mede.
This was the old opinion as I rede. ”
The old Welsh bards were accustomed to sing their belief that
King Arthur was not dead, but conveyed away by the fairies into
some charmed spot where he should remain awhile, and then
return again to reign with undiminished power. These wondrous
inhabitants of Elf-land—these Fays, Fairies, Elves, Little Folk,
Pixies, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, Dwarfs, Pigmies, Gnomes, and Trolls
are all more or less associated with the plant kingdom. They
make their habitations in the leafy branches of trees, or dwell in
the greater seclusion of their hollow trunks; they dally and gambol
among opening buds and nodding blossoms; they hide among
blushing Roses and fragrant shrubs; they dance amid the Buttercups,
Daisies, and Meadow-Sweet of the grassy meads; and, as
Shakspeare says, they “ use flowers for their charactery,”
Grimm tells us that in Germany the Elves are fond of
inhabiting Cak trees, the holes in the trunks of which are deemed
by the people to be utilised by the Fairies as means of entry and
o f tRe eJalriei^. 6 5
exit. A similar belief is entertained, by the Hindus, who consider
holes in trees as doors by which the inhabiting spirit passes in
and out. German elves are also fond of frequenting Elder-trees.
The Esthonians believe that during a thunder-storm, and in
order to escape from the lightning, the timorous Elves burrow
several feet beneath the roots of the trees they inhabit. As a rule
these forest Elves are good-natured; if they are not offended, not
only will they abstain from harming men, but they will even do
them a good turn, and teach them some of the mysteries of nature,
of which they possess the secret.
The Elves were in former days thought to practise works of
mercy in the woods, and a certain sympathetic affinity with trees
became thus propagated in the popular faith. The country-folk
were careful not to offend the trees that were inhabited by Fairies,
and they never sought to surprise the Elfin people in their mysterious
retreats, for they dreaded the power of these invisible
creatures to cause ill-luck or some unfortunate malady to fall on
those against whom they had a spite. Even deaths were sometimes
laid at their door.
A German legend relates that as a peasant woman one day
tried to uproot the stump of an old tree in a F ir forest, she became
so feeble that at last she could scarcely manage to walk. Suddenly,
while endeavouring to crawl to her home, a mysterious-looking
man appeared in the path before the poor woman, and upon
hearing what was the matter with her, he at once remarked that
she had wounded an Elf. I f the E lf got well, so would she ; but
if the E lf should unfortunately perish, she would also assuredly die.
The stump of the old Fir-tree was the abode of an Elf, and in
endeavouring to uproot it, the woman had unintentionally injured
the little creature. The words of the mysterious personage proved
too true. The peasant languished for some time, but drooped and
■ died on the same day as the wounded Elf. To this day, in the vast
forests of Germany and Russia, instead of uprooting old Firs, the
foresters, remembering the Elfish superstition, always chop them
down above the roots.
_ In the Indian legend of Savitri, the youthful Satyavant, while
felling a tree, perspires inordinately, is overcome with weakness,
sinks exhausted, and dies. He had mortally wounded the E lf of
the tree. Since the days of yEsop it has become a saying that
Death has a weakness for woodmen.
In our own land, Oaks have always been deemed the favourite
abodes of Elves, and wayfarers, upon approaching groves reputed
to be haunted by them, used to think it judicious to turn their coats
for good luck. Thus Bishop Corbet, in his Iter Boreale, writes ;—
“ William found
A means for our deliverance : ‘ Turn your cloakes,’
Quoth he, ‘ for Pucke is busy in these Oakes ;
I f ever we at Bosworth will be found,
Then turn your cloakes, for this is Fairy ground. ’ ”
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