ough a violent wind commonly issued from
this pit, he found it calm; and pursued his way, till he arrived at a
subterraneous region, pleasant and cultivated, with reapers cutting down
corn, though the snow remained on the surface of the ground above. Among
the ears of corn he discovered his sow, and was permitted to ascend with
her, and the pigs which she had farrowed." Though the author seems to
think that the inhabitants of this cave might be Antipodes, yet, as
many such stories are related of the Fairies, it is probable that this
narration is of the same kind. Of a similar nature seems to be another
superstition, mentioned by the same author, concerning the ringing of
invisible bells, at the hour of one, in a field in the vicinity of
Carleol, which, as he relates, was denominated _Laikibraine_, or _Lai ki
brait_. From all these tales, we may perhaps be justified in supposing,
that the faculties and habits ascribed to the Fairies, by the
superstition of latter days, comprehended several, originally attributed
to other classes of inferior spirits.

III. The notions, arising from the spirit of chivalry, combined to add
to the Fairies certain qualities, less atrocious, indeed, but equally
formidable, with those which they derived from the last mentioned
source, and alike inconsistent with the powers of the _duergar_, whom
we may term their primitive prototype. From an early period, the daring
temper of the northern tribes urged them to defy even the supernatural
powers. In the days of Caesar, the Suevi were described, by their
countrymen, as a people, with whom the immortal gods dared not venture
to contend. At a later period, the historians of Scandinavia paint their
heroes and champions, not as bending at the altar of their deities, but
wandering into remote forests and caverns, descending into the recesses
of the tomb, and extorting boons, alike from gods and daemons, by dint
of the sword, and battle-axe. I will not detain the reader by quoting
instances, in which heaven is thus described as having been literally
attempted by storm. He may consult Saxo, Olaus Wormius, Olaus Magnus,
Torfaeus, Bartholin, and other northern antiquaries. With such ideas of
superior beings, the Normans, Saxons, and other Gothic tribes, brought
their ardent courage to ferment yet more highly in the genial climes of
the south, and under the blaze of romantic chivalry. Hence, during the
dark ages, the invisible world was modelled after the mat