"To you will I give as much of gold As for more than your life will endure; And of pearls and precious stones handfùls; And all shall be so pure." Duke Magnus, &c. "O gladly would I plight me to thee, If thou wert of Christian kind; But now thou art a vile sea-troll, My love thou canst never win." Duke Magnus, &c. "Duke Magnus, Duke Magnus, bethink thee well, And answer not so haughtily; For if thou wilt not plight thee to me, Thou shalt ever crazy be." Duke Magnus, &c. "I am a king's son so good, How can I let you gain me? You dwell not on land, but in the flood, Which would not with me agree." Duke Magnus, Duke Magnus, plight thee to me, I offer you still so freely; Say me not nay, but yes, yes![217] FOOTNOTES: [205] _Berg_ signifies a larger eminence, mountain, hill; _Hög_, a height, hillock. The _Hög-folk_ are Elves and musicians. [206] The Danish peasantry in Wormius' time described the Nökke (Nikke) as a monster with a human head, that dwells both in fresh and salt water. When any one was drowned, they said, _Nökken tog ham bort_ (the Nökke took him away); and when any drowned person was found with the nose red, they said the Nikke has sucked him: _Nikken har suet ham._--Magnusen, Eddalære. Denmark being a country without any streams of magnitude, we meet in the Danske Folkesagn no legends of the Nökke; and in ballads, such as "The Power of the Harp," what in Sweden is ascribed to the Neck, is in Denmark imputed to the Havmand or Merman. [207] The Neck is also believed to appear in the form of a complete horse, and can be made to work at the plough, if a bridle of a particular description be employed.--_Kalm's Vestgötha Resa_. [208] Afzelius, Sago-häfdar, ii. 156. [209] _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.