et out for him, sometimes
with other things, such as a suit of small clothes, spirits, or even
tobacco. Thus must his goodwill be won for the coming year.{28}

In one part of Norway it used to be believed that on Christmas Eve, at
rare intervals, the old Norse gods made war on Christians, coming down
from the mountains with great blasts of wind and wild shouts, and
carrying off any human being who might be about. In one place the memory
of such a visitation was preserved in the nineteenth century. The people
were preparing for their festivities, when suddenly from the mountains
came the warning sounds. "In a second the air became black, peals of
thunder echoed among the hills, lightning danced about the buildings, and
the inhabitants in the darkened rooms heard the clatter of hoofs and the
weird shrieks of the hosts of the gods."{29}

|237| The Scandinavian countries, Protestant though they are, have
retained many of the outward forms of Catholicism, and the sign of the
cross is often used as a protection against uncanny visitors. The
cross--perhaps the symbol was originally Thor's hammer--is marked with
chalk or tar or fire upon doors and gates, is formed of straw or other
material and put in stables and cowhouses, or is smeared with the remains
of the Yule candle on the udders of the beasts--it is in fact displayed
at every point open to attack by a spirit of darkness.{30}

* * * * *

Christmas Eve is in Germany a time for auguries. Some of the methods
already noted on other days are practised upon it--for instance the
pouring of molten lead into water, the flinging of shoes, the pulling out
of pieces of wood, and the floating of nutshells--and there are various
others which it might be tedious to describe.{31}

Among the southern Slavs if a girl wants to know what sort of husband she
will get, she covers the table on Christmas Eve, puts on it a white loaf,
a plate, and a knife, spoon, and fork, and goes to bed. At midnight the
spirit of her future husband will appear and fling the knife at her. If
it falls without injuring her she will get a good husband and be happy,
but if she is hurt she will die early. There is a similar mode of
divination for a young fellow. On Christmas Eve, when everybody else has
gone to church, he must, naked and in darkness, sift ashes through a
sieve. His future bride will then appear, pull him thrice by the nose,
and go away.{32}

In eastern Europe Chr