nd, see the fairies and
enjoy their favour; but the Scandinavians and Teutons vowed that the
unhappy man must die. In illustration of this superstition, a story is
told of how Sir Olaf, riding off to his wedding, was enticed by the
fairies into their ring. On the morrow, instead of a merry marriage,
his friends witnessed a triple funeral, for his mother and bride also
died when they beheld his lifeless corpse.

"Master Olof rode forth ere dawn of the day
And came where the Elf-folk were dancing away.
The dance is so merry,
So merry in the greenwood.

"And on the next morn, ere the daylight was red,
In Master Olof's house lay three corpses dead.
The dance is so merry,
So merry in the greenwood.

"First Master Olof, and next his young bride,
And third his old mother--for sorrow she died.
The dance is so merry,
So merry in the greenwood."

Master Olof at the Elfin Dance (Howitt's tr.).

The Elf-dance

These elves, who in England were called fairies or fays, were also
enthusiastic musicians, and delighted especially in a certain air known
as the elf-dance, which was so irresistible that no one who heard it
could refrain from dancing. If a mortal, overhearing the air, ventured
to reproduce it, he suddenly found himself incapable of stopping and
was forced to play on and on until he died of exhaustion, unless he
were deft enough to play the tune backwards, or some one charitably
cut the strings of his violin. His hearers, who were forced to dance
as long as the tones continued, could only stop when they ceased.

The Will-o'-the-wisps

In mediaeval times, the will-o'-the-wisps were known in the North as elf
lights, for these tiny sprites were supposed to mislead travellers;
and popular superstition held that the Jack-o'-lanterns were the
restless spirits of murderers forced against their will to return
to the scene of their crimes. As they nightly walked thither, it
is said that they doggedly repeated with every step, "It is right;"
but as they returned they sadly reiterated, "It is wrong."

Oberon and Titania

In later times the fairies or elves were said to be ruled by the king
of the dwarfs, who, being an underground spirit, was considered a
demon, and allowed to retain the magic power which the missionaries
had wrested from the god Frey. In England and France the king of
the fairies was known by the name of Oberon; he governed f