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trlANTS.
like or peaked beard, quoted by Ihre ; but the Norwegian rhyme
has white beard (the barbe fleurie of Charlemagne). Such
divergences, and the changes rung on cellar wall, bathroom
551
wall, cliff wall/ vouch for the popular character of the tradition
(see Suppl.). It will surprise no one, if I produce
a still older
type of the whole story from the Edda itself. When Brynhildr
in her decorated car was faring the hel-veg/ she went past
the dwelling of a gygr ; the giantess accosts her with the words
(Ssem. 228 a
) :
skaltu i gognom ganga eigi
grioti studda garSa mina !
(shalfc not go through my stone-built house). This brings on a
dialogue, which is closed r
by Brynhildr
with the exclamation :
seykstu gygjarkyn ! (conf. p. 497n.). The giantess s house is
of stones skilfully put together, and the later rhymes speak of
cellar and bathroom : she herself is quite the housewife with
distaff and spindle. The sacred rights of domesticity are in
fringed, when strangers burst their way through. There are
other instances in which the giantess, like the elfin, is described
with spindle and distaff : tolv troldqvinder (12 trold-women) de
stode for hannem med rok og ten }
(Danske viser 1, 94) ,
1
Close to the Romsdalshorn in Norway is a mountain called
Troldtinder, whose jutting crags are due to giants whom Olaf
converted into stones, because they tried to prevent his preaching
Christianity
in Romsdal. 2
It would appear, from Ssem. 145 b
, that giants, like dwarfs,
have reason to dread the daylight, and if surprised by the break
of day, they turn into stone : dagr er nu/ cries Atli to HrimgerSr,
hafnar mark J;yckir hlcegeligt vera, pars pu i steins liki stendr.
Grotesque humanlike shapes assumed by stalactite, flint and
Bakestone on the small scale, and by basalt and granite rocks on
the great, have largely engendered and fed these fancies about
1 The Celtic fay carries huge stones on her spindle, and spins on as she walks,
Keightley 2, 286. Conf. supra, p. 413.
2
Faye 124, who follows Schoning s Eeise 2, 128. Sanct Olafs saga p& svenske
rim, ed. Hadorph. p. 37 : ell troll, som draap X man, han giordit i stena, och
stander an flere troll han ; och bortdref, sidan folckit i frijd blef. Certain round
pot-shaped holes found in the mountains, the Norwegian people believe to be the
work of giants. They call them jattegryter, troldgryter, yet also S. Oles gryter
.
(Hallager 53 b ).
VOL. II. I