The Folk-Lore of Norway [pp. 419-428]

THE FOLK- LORE OF NOR WA Y.
eradicate. As Jetter and Riser had never
been objects of worship, but, on the contrary, of hate and detestation, they were
allowed to retain their old names and
characters, thus serving admirably to
corroborate the teachings of the Church
as to the devil and evil spirits, to whose
company the Jetter and most of the other supernatural beings were forthwith
banished.
Instead of checking this superstition,
as any other error of popery, the Lutheran Church left it untouched; and,
indeed, belief in the devil and his angels
(the common name of supernatural beings), and their malignant influences
upon men, seemed rather to have flourished more generally after than before
the Reformation. WVitch-trials, stories
of compacts with the devil, etc., bear
ample testimony to the deep-rooted superstitions of the age.
It was looked upon as great wickedness, to be sure, to have any commerce
with the underground people, or with
any such "small-devils; "* but the rude
and ignorant people must needs have
somebody to consult, and, as the reformed priests had zealously destroyed the
Catholic saints and their relics, superstition found a secret refuge in its old
heathen friends, the underground people,
Vetter, Nisser, etc. The favor of these
beings they endeavored to obtain by sacrifices offered in hollow trees, in groves,
and under mossy stones, mostly on the
eves of Thursday and the great festivals.
The more liberal ideas, which, near
the close of last century, began to spread
abroad, and the growing enlightenment
of a still later day,'have contributed
greatly to weaken the faith in supernatural agencies among the common people
of Norway. In many places the old le
* The devil has many myrmidons, such as Ellequinder, Duerge, Vetter, night - ravens, spectres,
which appear to people about to die -these are in
toto devils. The Wehrwolf is also accursed.-Hans
Lauridsen's Sjalebog, I587.
gends have entirely faded out of memory, but there are still nooks and corners
where the belief in these mythical beings, who played such a conspicuous
part in the thoughts of their forefathers,
still lingers among a peasantry isolated
and remote from the busy world. It is
either the narrator himself, or one of his
near relations, who has seen the underground people and their dogs or cattle,
and heard their ravishing music, or has
been permitted to visit them in their
subterranean abodes, or had their children changed by them. The belief in
the undergroundlings substituting their
own offspring for human children was,
of course, formerly much more common
than now; although still misshapen and
stupid children, and particularly those
who suffer from "the English disease"
(scrofula), are very generally considered
to be "changelings." Herman Ruge, a
Protestant clergyman, offers, in a pamphlet (I754), an efficacious remedy against
such a mishap: namely, the mother who
has had the misfortune to have had
her child changed, shall castigate the
"cchangeling" piteously on three Thursday evenings in succession, for then the
underground mother will pity her offspring sorely and take it back, leaving
the real child in its place. Regarding
Luther's belief in changelings, see " Dobenche Volksglauben," I, I68.
The supposed haunts of these beings
are still considered as sacred in many
places in Norway. No superstitious
peasant, with proper regard for his
health and property, would presume to
touch a Vettehany, lest the little folk
should depart in wrath and carry the
luck of the place away with them; but
seeks sedulously to propitiate their good
will by providing for them, on the eves
of high feasts, cakes, porridge (gr6d),
and other good things. A certain grove
in B6rte, in the Thelemark, was looked
upon as an especially favorite haunt of
the underground folks, and no grass was
I 872.]
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