Northern mythology

236 EPITOME OF GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.
which is hardly to be explained by the assumption of an
original resemblance independent of all
intercommunication
^
Tradition assigns to the dwarfs of Germany, as the
Eddas to those of the North, the interior of the earth,
particularly rocky caverns, for a dwelling.
There they live
together as a regular people, dig for ore, employ themselves
in smithes work, and collect treasures.
Their activity
is of a peaceful, quiet character, whence they are distinguished
as the still folk [the good peo}:}le, the guid neighbours)
; and because it is practised in secret, they are said
to have a tarncapj or tarnmantle'^, or inistmcmthj by which
they can make themselves invisible.
For the same reason
they are particularly active at night ^.
The dwarfs in general are, as we have seen, the personification
of the hidden creative powers, on whose efficacy
the regular changes in nature depend.
This idea naturally
suggests itself both from the names borne by the dwarfs
in the Eddas*, and from the myths connected with them.
These names denote for the most part either activity in
general, or individual natural phenomena, as the phases of
the moon, wind, etc.^
The activity of the dwarfs, which popular tradition
symbolically signifies by smith's work, must be understood
as elemental or cosmical. It applies particularly to the
thriving of the fruits of the earth. We consequently frequently
find the dwarfs busied in helping men in their
agricultural labours, in getting in the harvest, making
hay and the like, which is merely a debasement of the
idea that, through their efficacy,
they promote the growth
and maturity of the fruits of the earth. Tradition seems
1 Milller, p. 327.
2 From Old Saxon dernian, A. S. djTiian, to conceal. With the dwarfs
the sun rises at midnight. Grimm, D. M. p. 435.
3 Midler, p. 335.
•*
See page 151. ^ Muller, p. 332.