The Fairy Mythology. Thomas Keightley

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       And puissant kings, which all the world warrayd,

       And to themselves all nations did subdue.

       B. ii. c. 9. st. lxx., lxxi., lxxii.

      Sir Walter Scott remarks with justice (though his memory played him somewhat false on the occasion), that "the stealing of the Red Cross Knight while a child, is the only incident in the poem which approaches to the popular character of the Fairy." It is not exactly the only incident; but the only other, that of Arthegal, is a precisely parallel one:—

      He wonneth in the land of Fayëree,

       Yet is no Fary born, ne sib at all

       To Elfes, but sprung of seed terrestriall,

       And whyleome by false Faries stolne away,

       Whyles yet in infant cradle he did crall:

       Ne other to himself is knowne this day,

       But that he by an Elfe was gotten of a Fay.

       B. iii. c. 3. st. xxvi.

      Sir Walter has been duly animadverted on for this dangerous error by the erudite Mr. Todd. It would be as little becoming as politic in us, treading, as we do, on ground where error ever hovers around us, to make any remark. Freedom from misconception and mistake, unfortunately, forms no privilege of our nature.

      We must here observe, that Spenser was extremely injudicious in his selection of the circumstances by which he endeavoured to confound the two classes of Fairies. It was quite incongruous to style the progeny of the subjects of Gloriane a "base elfin brood," or themselves "false Fairies," especially when we recollect that such a being as Belphœbe whose

      whole creation did her show

       Pure and unspotted from all loathly crime,

       That is ingenerate in fleshly slime,

      was born of a Fairie.

      Our poet seems to have forgotten himself also in the Legend of Sir Calidore; for though the knight is a Faerie himself, and though such we are to suppose were all the native inhabitants of Faerie-land, yet to the "gentle flood" that tumbled down from Mount Acidale,

      ne mote the ruder clown

       Thereto approach ne filth mote therein drown;

       But Nymphs and Faeries on the banks did sit

       In the woods shade which did the waters crown.

       B. vi. c. 10. st. vii.

      And a little farther, when Calidore gazes on the "hundred naked maidens lily white," that danced around the Graces, he wist not

      Whether it were the train of beauty's queen,

       Or Nymphs or Faeries, or enchanted show,

       With which his eyes mote have deluded been.—St. xvii.

      The popular Elves, who dance their circlets on the green, were evidently here in Spenser's mind.[88]

      It is now, we think, if not certain, at least highly probable, that the Fairy-land and the Fairies of Spenser are those of romance, to which the term Fairy properly belongs, and that it is without just reason that the title of his poem has been styled a misnomer.[89] After the appearance of his Faerie Queene, all distinction between the different species was rapidly lost, and Fairies became the established name of the popular Elves.

      Here, then, we will take our leave of the potent ladies of romance, and join the Elves of the popular creed, tracing their descent from the Duergar of northern mythology, till we meet them enlivening the cottage fireside with the tales of their pranks and gambols.

EDDAS AND SAGAS.

       Table of Contents

      En sång om strålende Valhalla,

       Om Gudar och Gudinnar alla.

       Tegner.

      A song of Vallhall's bright abodes,

       Of all the goddesses and gods.

      The ancient religion of Scandinavia, and probably of the whole Gotho-German race, consisted, like all other systems devised by man, in personifications of the various powers of nature and faculties of mind. Of this system in its fulness and perfection we possess no record. It is only from the poems of the elder or poetic Edda,[90] from the narratives of the later or prose Edda and the various Sagas or histories written in the Icelandic language,[91] that we can obtain any knowledge of it.

      The poetic or Sæmund's Edda was, as is generally believed, collected about the end of the eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century by an Icelander named Sæmund, and styled Hinns Fròda, or The Wise. It consists of a number of mythological and historical songs, the production of the ancient Scalds or poets, all, or the greater part, composed before the introduction of Christianity into the north. The measure of these venerable songs is alliterative rime, and they present not unfrequently poetic beauties of a high and striking character.[92]

      The prose Edda is supposed to have been compiled in the thirteenth century by Snorro Sturleson, the celebrated historian of Norway. It is a history of the gods and their actions formed from the songs of the poetic Edda, and from other ancient poems, several stanzas of which are incorporated in it. Beside the preface and conclusion, it consists of two principal parts, the first consisting of the Gylfa-ginning (Gylfa's Deception), or Hárs Lygi (Hár's i.e. Odin's Fiction), and the Braga-rædur (Braga's Narrative), each of which is divided into several Dæmi-sagas or Illustrative Stories; and the second named the Kenningar or list of poetic names and periphrases.[93]

      The Gylfa-ginning narrates that Gylfa king of Sweden, struck with the wisdom and power of the Æser,[94] as Odin and his followers were called, journeyed in the likeness of an old man, and under the assumed name of Ganglar, to Asgard their chief residence, to inquire into and fathom their wisdom. Aware of his design, the Æser by their magic art caused to arise before him a lofty and splendid palace, roofed with golden shields. At the gate he found a man who was throwing up and catching swords, seven of which were in the air at one time. This man inquires the name of the stranger, whom he leads into the palace, where Ganglar sees a number of persons drinking and playing, and three thrones, each set higher than the other. On the thrones sat Har (High), Jafnhar (Equal-high), and Thridi (Third). Ganglar asks if there is any one there wise and learned. Har replies that he will not depart in safety if he knows more than they.[95] Ganglar then commences his interrogations, which embrace a variety of recondite subjects, and extend from the creation to the end of all things. To each he receives a satisfactory reply. At the last reply Ganglar hears a loud rush and noise: the magic illusion suddenly vanishes, and he finds himself alone on an extensive plain.

      The Braga-rædur is the discourse of Braga to Ægir, the god of the sea, at the banquet of the Immortals. This part contains many tales of gods and heroes old, whose adventures had been sung by Skalds, of high renown and lofty genius.

      Though both the Eddas were compiled by Christians, there appears to be very little reason for suspecting the compilers of having СКАЧАТЬ