Northern mythology

16 NORWEGIAN TllADITlOXS.
the child, that it would make a capital roast for supper.
The man was horrified, and the woman, who was conscious
that she had grievously committed herself, changed her
tone, and begged her words might be forgotten. But they
were not : the man bore them in remembrance ; the homd
sounds rung incessantly in his ears ; he perceived in them
a proof of his now no longer blooming wife's real nature,
and their domestic peace was at an end. From being a
good man he became morose, frequently upbraided his
wife with her diabolical proposal, cursed the hour when
he resolved on marrying her, beat and ill-used her. Thus
it continued for a season. Tlie woman suffered and repented.
One day she went to the smithy, to see with a
friendly eye her husband at his work ; but he began as
before, and on its coming to blows, she, by way of proving
her superior strength, seized an iron bar and twisted it
round her husband as if it had been a wire. The husband
was now forced to submission and to promise domestic
peace.
THE NISSE OR NISS.
This is a supernatural being, nearly resembling our
Goblin, the Scottish Brownie, the German Kobold, and
the Kaboutermanneken of the Netherlands. In the good
old times they were infinitely more numerous than they
are in our days. They are not larger than small children,
are clothed in grey, and wear a red, pointed cap. Their
habitation is usually in barns and stables, where they help
to tend the cattle and horses, for which they show the
same partiality as for men. There are many instances of
the Nisse having drawn the hay from the cribs of the other
horses to that of the one for which he entertains a predilection.
He is fond of pranks, will sometimes let all the
cows loose in the cowhouse, plague the milkmaids, either
by blowing out the light, or by holding the hay so fast