an arbitrary exercise of will. The taboo grows up with the advance in
civilization.

Lastly, we considered the Swan-maiden as divine ancestress. We found her
resident in heaven, we found her worshipped, we found her as the totem
of a clan. The totemistic stories are widely spread,--so widely, indeed,
as to afford a presumption that we have in them a clue to the whole
meaning of the myth. For not only have we the complete totemistic form,
as among the Dyaks and the tribes of the Gold Coast; but we find the
superstition fading through the goddess Derceto into modern sagas of the
supernatural mother of a family, who to her sometimes owe extraordinary
powers, and over whose fate she continually watches.

Here, then, our study of this beautiful myth must close. I am far from
suggesting that the subject is exhausted. On the contrary, it is so
large and so complex that I have rigidly abstained from anything more
than a very imperfect examination of its principal features. On some of
the points here partially discussed I shall have something more to add
in our final chapter, when discussing certain theories on the fairy
beliefs.

FOOTNOTES:

[202] Grey, p. 66; Taylor, p. 138; White, vol. i. pp. 95, 115, _et
seqq._, vol. ii. p. 127, _et seqq_.

[203] "F. L. Journal," vol. i. p. 202; "Revue des Trad. Pop." vol. iv.
p. 305.

[204] Von Hahn, vol. ii. p. 78. In illustration of these remarks on
marital relations in a society where female kinship only is recognized,
let me quote the following paragraph concerning Maori customs. The
Maories, it must be borne in mind, have only recently emerged from this
stage; and many relics of it remain.

"Sometimes the father simply told his intended son-in-law he might come
and live with his daughter; she was thenceforth considered his wife, he
lived with his father-in-law, and became one of the tribe, or _hapu_, to
which his wife belonged, and in case of war, was often obliged to fight
against his own relatives. So common is the custom of the bridegroom
going to live with his wife's family, that it frequently occurs, when he
refuses to do so, she will leave him, and go back to her relatives;
several instances came under my notice where young men have tried to
break through this custom, and have so lost their wives" (Taylor, p.
337).

[205] Not entirely: see Burton, "Suppl. Nights," vol. vi. p. 363; "F. L.
Journal," vol. i. p. 284; Sastri, p. 148.

[206] In speaking of a type as more