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ELVES, DWABFS. 465
(gesellchen). 1 In Thuringia saelloclte, Prastorius s Weltbesclir. 1,
40. 293 (see Suppl.)-
The Edda nowhere represents
either alfar or dvergar as mounted,
whilst our poems of the Mid. Ages make both Elberich and Laurin
come riding. Heinrich von Ofterdingen bestows on them a steed
als ein geiz (goat)/ and Ulrich s Alexander gives the dwarf
king Antilois a pony the size of a roe, 2 while Altd. bl. 2, 151
without more ado mounts the wihtel on a white roe. Antilois is
richly dressed, bells tinkle on his bridle-reins ; he is angry with
Alexander for spoiling his flower-garden, as Laurin is with Diet
rich and Wittich. The Welsh stories also in Crofton Croker 3,
306 say : they were very diminutive persons riding four abreast,
and mounted on small white horses no bigger than dogs (see
Suppl.).
All dwarfs and elves are thievish. Among
dwarfs is an Alpiofr, Saem. 2 b
Eddie names of
; Alpris, more correctly Alfrikr
dvergr, in Vilk. saga cap. 16, 40. is called hinn mikli stelari ;
and in the Titurel 27, 288 (Hahn 4105), a notorious thief, who
can steal the eggs from under birds, is Elbegast (corrupted into
Elegast, Algast). In our Low German legends they lay their
plans especially against the pea-fields? Other thefts of dwarfs
1 Ogonczyk Zakrzewski, in his Hist, of plica polonica (Vienna, 1830), observes,
that its cure also is accomplished with superstitious ceremonies. In Podlachia the
elftuft is solemnly cut off at Easter time and buried. In the Skawina district about
Cracow, it is partially cropped with redhot shears, a piece of copper money tied
up in it, and thrown into the ruins of an old castle in which evil spirits lodge ;
but whoever does this must not look round, but hasten home as fast as he can.
Superstitious formulas for the cure of plica are given by Zakrzewski, p. 20, out of
an Old Boh. MS. of 1325.
2
Wackernagel s Basel MSS. p. 28.
s Deut. sagen, nos 152, 155 to which I will here add tw ; r
o communicated by Hr.
Schambach. The first is from Jiihnde, near Gottingen : Vor nich langer tid gaf
et to June noch twarge. Diise plegten up et feld to gan, un den luen de arften
(leuten die erbsen) weg to stelen, wat se iim sau lichter konnen, da se unsichtbar
wbren dor (durch) ene kappe, dei se uppen koppe barren (hatten). Sau woren nu
ok de twarge enen manne iirnmer up sin grat arftenstiicke egan, un richteden one
velen schaen darup an. Diit duerde sau lange, bet hei up den infal kam, de twarge
to fengen. Hei tog alsau an hellen middage en sel (seil) rings iim dat feld. As nu
de twarge unner den sel dorkrupen wollen, fellen onen de kappen af, se seiten nu
alle in blaten koppen, un woren sichtbar. De twarge, dei sau efongen woren,
geiwen one vele gaue wore, dat he dat sel wegnoinen mogde, un versproken ene
mette (miethe) geld davor to gewen, hei solle mant vor simnenupgangevfeeic (wieder)
an diise stee komen. En ander man segde one awer, hei mogde nich gegen sunnenupgang,
sundern schon iim twolwe hengan, denn da wore de dag ok schon
anegan. Diit de he, und richtig woren de twarge da met ener mette geld. Davon
heiten de hie, dei dei mette geld ekregen harren, Mettens. : [Epitome Dwarfs at
Jiihnde preyed on the pea-fields ; wore caps which made them invisible. One man
at high noon stretched a cord round his field. Dwarfs, creeping under it, brushed