Chap. 16 Sup.

p. 416.)

German legend is full of spinning and weaving women: kleit daz ein wildiu feine span, Troj. kr. 2895. ein feine worhte den mantel, Altd. bl. 2, 231; and fays weave mantles in Charlem. p. 105-6. paile que fist fere une fée, Auberi 37. in the cave sits an old spinster, Kuhn's Westph. 1, 72. Asbiörn. 1, 194; conf. the old webster, Rhesa dainos 198. Gelücke span im kleider an, Frauenl. 115, 15. There are usually three together: tres nymphae, Saxo p. 43 (ed. M. 123). drei puppen, Firm. 2, 34. die drei docken, H. Sachs i. 4, 457d. die drei Marien, Kindh. Jesu, Hahn 68. Uhland's Volksl. 756. lb. 1582, 332. three Marys protect from fire, Panz. Beitr. 1, 67. three spinning Marys, Uhl. Vksl. 744. three old wives on a three-legged horse, Müllenh. p. 342. the tras feyes, Alsatia 1853, p. 172-3. Many stories of three women in white or black, esp. in Panzer's Beitr. 1, 2. 11-4-6-8. 25-8. 35-6-8. 46-8; they stretch a line to dry the wash on 1, 1. 9. 11-7. 25. 59. 129 n. 271-8; sing at the birth of a child 1, 11; become visible at Sun-wend-tag (solstice), 1, 38-9. 75. 84. Near Lohndorf in Up. Franconia a lad saw three castle-maidens walking, two had kreuz-rocken (-distaffs) with nine spindles spun full, the third a stühles-rocken with nine empty ones; and the others said to her, 'Had you but covered your spindles once, tho' not spun them full, you would not be lost.' Panz. Beitr. 2, 136. A beautiful Moravian story tells of three maidens who marched, scythe in hand, mowing the people down; one, being lame, cannot keep up, and is laughed at by the other two. She in her anger lets men into the mystery of healing herbs. Kulda (d'Elv) 110.

p. 418.)

Jupiter sends out Victoria, as Oðinn does valkyrs, Aug. Civ. D. 4, 17 (p. 435-6). Their name has not been found yet in OHG., though Schannat, vind. 1, 72 (yr. 1119) has Walkarie, femina serva. With the skiald-meyar conf. schild-knecht, who keeps his lord's shield and hands it to him, as they to Oðinn. Maidens guarding shield and helmet occur in the M. Neth. Lanc. 16913. conf. 16678. 17038. Their other name, hialm-meyar is made clearer by hild und hialmi, Sæm. 228a, hialm geta ok ôskmey verða 242a. The valkyr is named folkvitr 192a. So, megetlîchiu wîp help Charles to conquer, Ksrchr. 14950 seq.; diu megede suln dir dîne êre widergewinnen 14954; der megede sigenunft 15029. Aurelian led in triumph ten captive Gothic amazons, Vopisc. in Aurel. 34. Lampr. Alex. 6320 calls the Amazons urlouges wîp. Paul Diaconus mentions a fight betw. Lamissio and the Amazons for the passage of a river. Adam of Bremen 4, 19 speaks of 'amazons and cynos-cephali;' conf. P. Diac. 1, 15. hunt-houbito in Graff. The Krone 17469 tells of 'der meide lant,' land of maids.

p. 418n.)

Hun var vitr kona ok vinsael ok skörûngr mikill, Fornm. 3, 90; hon var skorûngr mikill, virago insignis, Nialss. c. 96; and Glaumvör is skörûngr, Völs. c. 33 (Kl. schr. 3, 407), skarûngr, Vilk. c. 212; but in c. 129 skarûngr = hero. Conf. skör, f. = barba, scabellum, commissura; skar, m. = fungus, insolentia. OHG. scara = acies, agmen; scaraman, scario.

p. 419.)

Where is the garment mentioned, in which Oðinn hid the thorn for Brunhild? Sæm. 194a only says 'stack hana svefn-þorni;' Völs. c. 20 'stack mik svefn-þorni'; Sæm. 228b 'lauk hann mik skiöldom ok hvîtom.' On spindle-stones, see Michelet 1, 461.

p. 420.)

Brynhildr or Sigrdrîfa fills a goblet (fyldi eitt ker), and brings it to Sigurd, Sæm. 194b. Völs. c. 20. A white lady with silver goblet in M. Koch's Reise d. Oestr. p. 262. A maiden hands the horn, and is cut down, Wieselgren 455. Subterraneans offer similar drink, Müllenh. p. 576; and a jätte hands a horn, whose drops falling on the horse strip him of hair and hide, Runa 1844, 88.

p. 421.)

Nine, as the fav. number of the valkyrs, is confirmed by Sæm. 228a, where one of them speaks of âtta systra. To our surprise, a hero Granmar turns valkyrja in Asgard, and bears nine wolves to Sinfiötli, Sæm. 154b. Fornald. 1, 139; conf. AS. wylpen, wulpin = bellona.

p. 423.)

The valkyrs ride through the air (p. 641), like Venus (p. 892): a thing aft. imputed to witches (p. 1088, &c.). Twelve women in the wood, on red horses, Fornm. 3, 135. By the expression Hlackr för, Hlöck seems to have the task of conducting those fallen in battle to Oðinn or Freyja, Egilss. p. 226. Is Göndull akin to gand? Gl. Edd. tom. 1: 'göndull = nodulus'; so that Oðin's by-name Göndler , Sæm. 46b, would mean 'tricas nectens.' The Rota in prose Sn. 39 is Rotho in Saxo M. 316. An OHG. name Hilticomâ, ad pugnam veniens, Cod. Fuld. no. 153 (yr. 798), describes a valkyr; conf. Hruodicoma, no. 172; ON. Hildr und hialmi, Sæm. 228a; AS. hilde wôman, Cod. Exon. 250, 32. 282, 15. Thrûðr is likewise a daughter of Thôrr. Heilah-trûd, Trad. Fuld. 2, 46. trute, Pass. K. 395, 77. frau Trutte, Præt. weltb. 1, 23. the drut (p. 464).

p. 423.)

May we trace back to the walkürie what is said to Brunhild in Biter. 12617? 'ir wâret in iur alten site komen, des ir pflâget ê, daz ir sô gerne sehet strît,' you love so to see strife. Brynhildr is 'mestr skörûngr' (p. 418n.). In Vilk. p. 30 she is called 'hin rîka, hin fagra, hin mikillâta,' and her castle Sêgard. In the Nibel. she dwells at castle Isenstein on the sea; is called des tiufels wîp (or brût), and ungehiurez wîp, 417, 4. 426, 4; wears armour and shield, 407, 4, throws the stone running, and hurls the spear; is passing strong 425, 1. 509, 3. 517, 3, and ties up king Gunther on their wedding-night.

p. 424.)

Like the shield-maidens are Fenja and Menja, of whom the Grottasöngr str. 13 says: î folk stigum, brutum skiöldu ........ veittum gôðum Gothormi lið. Clarine dubs her Valentin knight, Staphorst 241. They strike up brotherhood with their protégés; so does stolts Signild, Arvidss. 2, 128 – 130; conf. the blessed (dead?) maiden, who marries a peasant, Steub's Tirol 319. The valkyrs too have swan-shifts, Sæm. 228a: lêt hami vâra hugfullr konûngr âtta systra und eik borit (born under oak); conf. Cod. Exon. 443, 10. 26: wunian under âc-treo; and Grottas. str. 11: vârum leikur, vetr niu alnar fyrir iörð neðan. The wish-wife's clothes are kept in the oaktree, Lisch 5, 84-5.

p. 425.)

Brynhildr first unites herself by oath to young Agnar, and helps him to conquer old Hialmgunnar, Sæm. 194; conf. 174b. 228a (Völs. c. 20), where it says 'eiða seldak' and 'gaf ec ungom sigr.' After that she chose Sigurd: svâ er ek kaus mer til manns, Völs. c. 25. Such a union commonly proved unlucky, the condition being often attached that the husband should never ask the celestial bride her name, else they must part; so with the elfin, with Melusina, with the swan-knight. Also with the goddess Ganga, who had married Santanu, but immediately threw the children she had by him into the river, Holtzm. Ind. sag. 3, 95-9. On the union of a hero with the ghostly víla, see GDS. 130-1.

p. 429.)

Valkyrs are to a certain extent gods stranded on the world in Indian fashion. They stay 7 years, then fly away to the battle: at vitja vîga, visere proelia, Sæm. 133; so in the prose, but in the poem örlög drýgja (p. 425). The wîsiu wîp in the Nibel. are also called merwîp, diu wilden merwîp 1514-20-28, and Hagen bows to them when they have prophesied.

p. 431.)

The hut of the forest-women in Saxo p. 39 vanishes with them, and Hother suddenly finds himself under the open sky, as in witch-tales (p. 1072). Gangleri heyrði dyni mikla hvern veg frâ ser, oc leit ût â hlið ser: oc þâ er hann sez meirr um, þâ stendr hann ûti â slêttum velli, ser þâ önga holt oc önga borg, Sn. 77. Such vanishings are called sion-hverfîngar, Sn. 2.

p. 433.)

Holz-wîp, Otn. Cod. Dresd. 277; conf. dryad, hama-dryad (p. 653). To cry like a wood-wife, Uhl. Volksl. 1, 149: schrê als ein wildez wîp owê! Lanz. 7892. The wild woman's born, gestühl (spring, stool), Wetterau. sag. 282; wilde fräulein, Wolf's Ztschr. 2, 59; daz wilde vrouwelîn, Ecke 172. In Schlüchtern wood stand the wild houses, wild table, often visited by the wild folk, Buchonia iv. 2, 94-5; a willemännches haus and tisch (table) near Brückenau, Panz. Beitr. 1, 186; conf. daz wilde getwerc (p. 447). Wood-wives are also called dirn-weibel (Suppl. to 279), and carry apples in their basket, like the matronae and Nehalenniae. At flax-picking in Franconia a bunch plaited into a pigtail is left for the holz-fräule (as part of a sacrifice was laid aside for nymphs, Suppl. to 433n.), and a rhyme is spoken over it, Panz. Beitr. 2, 160-1. witte wiwer in the forest-cave, Kuhn's Westf. sag. 1, 123. The rauhe (shaggy) woman appears in the wood at midnight, Wolfdietr. 307-8 (Hpt's Ztschr. 4); the mother of Fasolt and Ecke was a rauhes weib (p. 483). Zander's Tanh. pp. 7. 17 speaks of wald-schälklein Cupido. Does Widukind, a very uncommon name, mean wood-child? conf. Widukindes speckia, Lünzel 22. 25.

p. 433n.)

Weaving maids in Od. 13, 107. Fountain-nymphs, daughters of Zeus, are worshipped by Odysseus and in Ithaca 13, 356. 17, 240; a part of the sacrifice is laid by for them 14, 435. bwhoj numfawn 17, 210.

p. 434n.)

The reluctance of Proteus is also in Virg. Georg. 4, 388-342; the same of Vertumnus, Ov. Met. 14, 642 seq. Propert. iv. 2.

p. 435.)

Ez ne sint merminne niet, En. 240, 4. ein wîse merminne, Lanz. 193. 5767. 3585. 6195. als êne merminne singhen, Rose 7896. A captive merwoman prophesies ruin to the country as far inland as she is dragged, Firmen. 1, 23. Müllenh. p. 338. Queen Dagmar hears the prophecy of a hav-fru, D.V. 2, 83-85 (in which occurs the adage: vedst du det, saa vedst du mer). The mermaid of Padstow, exasperated by a shot, curses the harbour, and it is choked up with sand. For Melusine the common people say mere Lusine. Danish songs have maremind and mareqvinde. 'waltminne = lamia,' Gl. florian. Fundgr. 1, 396. waltminna = echo (p. 452), lamia,' Graff 2, 774. widuminna, Cassel ortsn. p. 22.

p. 436.)

The víla builds her castle in the clouds, her daughter Munya (lightning) plays with her brothers the two Thunders, Vuk nov. ed. 1, 151-2. She sits in ash-trees and on rocks, singing songs; talks with the stag in the forest; bestows gifts, and is a physician (p. 1148), Vuk 151. 149n., no. 114. 158. She resembles the devil too; holds night-dance on the hill (Vuk sub v. vrzino kolo), teaches pupils to lead clouds and make storms, detains the last man. The vilas are likest the white ladies (Suppl. to 968). With kliktati conf. Lith. 'ulbauya volunge,' the woodpecker whines, and MS. 2, 94b: 'ir klokent als umbe ein fûlen boum ein speht,' as woodpecker about a plumtree.