The Finnish-Ugrian race, though not Aryan, is widely distributed throughout Europe and Asiatic Russia, and the principal peoples belonging to it [Pg xvi] in the North are the Finns, the Esthonians, and the Lapps, who speak very similar languages, and whose tales and legends possess much similarity, while in the south the Magyars are more distantly related to them. The Lapp hero-tales, however, have more of a historical basis, while the popular tales are much shorter and less artistic. It is, however, curious that Swan-maiden stories are peculiarly common among the Lapps. Several other lesser known peoples belong to the same race, whom we need not further notice. Esthonian abounds in dialects, but is so close to Finnish that it bears almost the same relation to it as Lowland Scotch to English, or perhaps as Danish to Swedish. But there is a strong admixture of German words in Esthonian, and their tales, when exhibiting traces of foreign influence, have apparently derived it from Germany. In Finnish tales, on the contrary, Russian influence is often very apparent. The orthography is a little unsettled, words like Ukko or Kalev being often written with a single or double consonant, as Uko or Kallev; while words like Käpä are often written with double vowels, as Kääpä. [Pg xvii] The pronunciation of most of the letters resembles that of English, or, in the case of the vowels, German, and calls for no special remark. _j_, as in nearly all languages except English and French, corresponds to our _y_. _v_ is printed either _v_ or _w_ in Finnish and Esthonian, but corresponds to our _v_, and is thus used by the best Finnish authorities. Of course the Germans properly write it _w_, their _w_ corresponding to our _v_. For the modified vowels we have no exact equivalent in English; _ä_ and _ü_ are pronounced nearly as in German; but the _õ_ may roughly be said to resemble our _ee_ in sound. _y_ has somewhat of a _u_ sound, as in the Scandinavian languages; and, as in these too, the modified vowels are placed at the end of the alphabet, but in the following order: _ü_, _ä_, _õ_. Musical as is Finnish itself, Esthonian is still softer, as may be seen in the dropping of final consonants, as Vanemuine for Väinämöinen; and in such words as _kannel_ (harp) for _kantele_. As in most parts of Northern Europe, the Gothic character is still much used in Finland and Esthonia, especially in literary works. As a specimen of the language we may quote the original of the lines on p. 14: [Pg xviii] — Ristitantsi tantsitie, Viru tantsi veeritie,