em other than they are; they
appear and disappear at will; they make long time seem short, or short
time long; they change their own forms; they cast spells over mortals,
and keep them spell-bound for ages.

All these customs and all these powers are asserted of the Fairies
properly so called. And when we look at the superstitions of other races
than the Celts and Teutons, to which our inquiries have been primarily
directed, we find the same things asserted of all sorts of creatures.
Deities, ancestors, witches, ghosts, as well as animals of every kind,
are endowed by the belief of nations all over the world with powers
precisely similar to those of the Fairies, and with natures and social
organizations corresponding with those of men. These beliefs can only be
referred to the same origin as the fairy superstitions; and all arise
out of the doctrine of spirits, the doctrine of transformations, and the
belief in witchcraft, held by savage tribes.

But here I must, at the risk of some few repetitions, notice a theory on
the subject of the Swan-maiden myth enunciated by Liebrecht. That
distinguished writer, in his book on Folklore, devotes a section to the
consideration of the group which has occupied us in the last two
chapters, and maintains, with his accustomed wealth of allusion and his
accustomed ingenuity, that some at least of the Swan-maidens are nothing
more nor less than ghosts of the departed, rescued from the kingdom of
darkness for a while, but bound to return thither after a short respite
here with those whom they love. Now it is clear that if Swan-maiden
tales are to be resolved into ghost stories, all other supernatural
beings, gods and devils as well as fairies and ghosts, will turn out to
be nothing but spectres of the dead. A summary of his argument, and of
the reasons for rejecting it, will, therefore, not only fill up any
serious gaps in our discussion of the main incidents of the myth in
question; but it will take a wider sweep, and include the whole subject
of the present volume.

His argument, as I understand it, is based, first, on the terms of the
taboo. The object of the taboo, he thinks, is to avoid any remark being
made, any question being asked, any object being presented, which would
remind these spirits of their proper home, and awaken a longing they
cannot withstand to return. There is an old Teutonic legend of a knight
who came in a little boat drawn by a swan to succour and wed a
distr