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472 WIGHTS AND ELVES.
To bring pig-iron to dwarfs, and find it the next morning outside
the cave, ready worked for a slight remuneration, is a feature of
very ancient date; the scholiast on Apollon. Rhod. (Argon. 4,
761) illustrates the amoves Hfaio-roio (anvils of H.) by a story
of the volcanic isles about Sicily taken from Pytheas s Travels :
TO Be 7ra\aibv eXeyero rbv ftovXofjievov dpyov aiSripov cnrofyepeiv
KOI 7rl rrjv avpiov e\66vra \ap(3dveiv rj f t(/>o? ^7 el TL a\\o f)6e\e
KaracrKevdaai, /caraftaXovra fticrOov (see Suppl.).
What I have thus put together on the nature and attributes of
elves in general, will be confirmed by an examination of particular
elvish beings, who come forward under names of their own.
Among these I will allot the first place to a genius, who is
nowhere to be found in the Norse myths, and yet seems to be
of ancient date. He is mentioned in several MHG-. poems :
Sie wolten daz kein pilwiz
si da schiizze durch diu knie. Wh. 324, 8.
Er solde sin ein guoter
und ein pilewis geheizen,
davon ist daz in reizen
die iibeln ungehiure. Riiediger von zwein gesellen (Cod.
Da kom ich an bulwechsperg gangen,
da schoz mich der bulwechs,
da schoz mich die bulwechsin,
regiinont.) 15b .
da schoz mich als ir ingesind. Cod. vindob. 2817. 71 a .
Von schrabaz pilwihten. Titur. 27, 299 (Hahn 4116).
Sein part het manchen pilbiszoten. Casp. von der Ron.
heldenb. 156 b .
Out of all these it is hard to pick out the true name. Wolfram
tider smidde i barg, hvilka the oforstandiffe bruka at hanga pa boskap, som hastigt
fadt ondt ute pa marken, eller som sages blifvit vaderslagne, hvarigenom tro them
bli helbregda. Af sadana bargsmiden liar jag ok nyligen kommit ofver ett, som
annu ar i forvar, ok pa ofvannamde satt gik i Ian at bota siukdommar. [Epitome :
Many stories of smiths in the mountains, who worked as at any other smithy,
after sunset or else at high noon. Eighty years ago Ola Simunsson was coming,
etc. had with him ; a dog, which, on seeing a hill-man forging on a great stone,
barked at him but ; the hill-smith, who wore a light-grey coat and blue woollen cap,
snarled at the dog, etc. There are small metal crucifixes held to have been forged
in the hills in former times, which simple folk still hang on cattle hurt in the field
or iveather-stricken, whereby they trow them to get healed. Of such hill-wrought
things I have lately met with one, that used to be lent out to cure sicknesses.]