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SCEAT (FAUNUS). WOOD-FOLK. 483
(Wigamur 203) come together. Wigal. 6286 h&swildez wip,au<l
6602 it is said of the dwarf Karrioz :
Sin muoter was ein wildez wip His mother was a wild woman,
da von was sin kurzer lip therefrom was his short body
aller rucli unde stark,
all over hairy and strong,
sin gebein was ane mark his bones without marrow
(solid)
nach dem geslehte der muoter sin, after his mother s stock,
deste sterker muoser sin. the stronger must he be.
In the Wolfdietrich a wild man like this is called waltluoder, and
in Laurin 1 73. 1 83 waltmann. The ON. mythology knows of
wild wood-wives by the names ividjur} Saem. 88 a . 119 b
, andmr?t-
vidjur, Sn. 13. About the wictja we find at the beginning of the
Hrafnagaldr the obscure statement elr ivrSja/ alit, auget, parit,
gignit dryas ; ivr<5ja is derived from a wood or grove iviffr, of
which the Voluspa l a makes mention: nio man ek heima, nio
iviffi ; so iamvidja from iarnvi&r, iron wood (see Suppl.). 1
I cannot properly explain these ON. ivrSjur and iarnvrSjur.
The popular belief of to-day in South-eastern Germany presents
in a more intelligible shape the legend of the wild-folk, forest-folk,
ivood-folk, moss-folk, who are regarded as a people of the dwar
kind residing together, though they come up singly too, and in
that case the females especially approximate those higher beings
spoken of on p. 432. They are small of stature, but somewhat
larger than elves, grey and oldish-looking, hairy and clothed in
moss :
f ouch waren ime diu oren als eime walttoren vermieset/
his ears like a forest-fooPs bemossed (?), Iw. 440. Often liolz-
weibel alone are mentioned, seldomer the males, who are supposed
to be not so good-natured and to live deeper in the woods, wear
ing green garments faced with red, and black three-cornered hats.
H. Sachs 1, 407 a
brings up holzmdnner and hohfranen, and gives
1, 348 C the lament of the wild woodfolk over the faithless world.
Schmidt s Reichenfels, pp. 140-8 tells us the Voigtland tradition,
and Borner, pp. 188-242 that of the Orlagau; from them I borrow
what is characteristic. The little wood-wives come up to wood
cutters, and beg for something to eat, or take it themselves out
1 Afzelins 2, 145-7, mentions Swed. lofjerskor, leaf-maids, forest-maids, and
compares them with Laufey (p. 246), but the people have little to say about them.