The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various CountriesKeightley, Thomas
General
The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries
Keightley, Thomas
Fairies; Fairy tales; Folk literature; Folklore
other, he cried with a loud voice, 'Stand there as a stone, till the
last day,' and in the same instant my unhappy husband became a mass of
rock. The ship sailed on unimpeded, and ran direct against the
mountain, which it cut through, and separated from it the little
island which lies out yonder.[199]
"Ever since my happiness has been annihilated, and lonely and melancholy
have I passed my life. On Yule-eve alone can petrified Giants receive
back their life for the space of seven hours, if one of their race
embraces them, and is, at the same time, willing to sacrifice a hundred
years of their own life. But seldom does a Giant do that. I loved my
husband too well not to bring him back cheerfully to life every time
that I could do it, even at the highest price, and never would I reckon
how often I had done it, that I might not know when the time came when I
myself should share his fate, and at the moment that I threw my arms
around him become one with him. But alas! even this comfort is taken
from me; I can never more by any embrace awake him, since he has heard
the name which I dare not utter; and never again will he see the light
until the dawn of the last day shall bring it.
"I now go hence! You will never again behold me! All that is here in
the house I give you! My dulcimer alone will I keep! But let no one
venture to fix his habitation on the little islands that lie around
here! There dwell the little underground ones whom you saw at the
festival, and I will protect them as long as I live!"
With these words Guru vanished. The next spring Orm took the golden
horn and the silver ware to Drontheim, where no one knew him. The
value of these precious metals was so great, that he was able to
purchase everything requisite for a wealthy man. He laded his ship
with his purchases, and returned back to the island, where he spent
many years in unalloyed happiness, and Aslog's father was soon
reconciled to his wealthy son-in-law.
The stone image remained sitting in the house; no human power was able
to move it. So hard was the stone, that hammer and axe flew in pieces
without making the slightest impression upon it. The Giant sat there
till a holy man same to the island, who with one single word removed
him back to his former station, where he stands to this hour. The
copper vessel, which the underground people left behind them, was
preserved as a memorial upon the island, which bears the name of House
Island to the present day.
FOOTNOTES:
[150] There is no etymon of this word. It is to be found in both the
Icelandic and the Finnish languages; whether the latter borrowed or
communicated it is uncertain. Ihre derives the name of the celebrated
waterfall of Trollhæta, near Göttenburg, from Troll, and Haute
_Lapponice_, an abyss. It therefore answers to the Irish
_Poul-a-Phooka_. See _Ireland_.
[151] In the following lines quoted in the Heimskringla, it would seem
to signify the Dii Manes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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