earned wisdom which was
hidden from all others. The sorcerer soon discovered what he wished to
know, and said, "The man is kept prisoner by magic art in such and such
a place, but you cannot release him without my help, so I must go with
you myself."

They set out accordingly, and in a few days, led by the birds, they
reached the cavern in the rock where the king's son-in-law had already
languished for seven years in captivity. He recognised the sorcerer
immediately, but the latter did not know him, he was so much worn and
wasted. The sorcerer loosed his chains by his magic art, took him home,
and nursed and tended him till he had recovered sufficient strength to
set out on his journey. He reached his destination on the very day that
the old king died, and was chosen king. Then came days of joy after long
days of suffering; and he lived happily till his end, but he never
recovered the magic ring, nor has it ever since been seen by human eyes.

* * * * *

The succeeding prose sections are short, and chiefly contain stories
from Jannsen's collections, of many of which I have given only a brief
outline.

[Footnote 70: Loewe translates the word _kon_, "dragon," but it primarily
means a frog or toad; and "dragon" is not among the other meanings which
I find in the dictionaries. Besides, the creature is described as
resembling a frog in many respects.]

[Footnote 71: Compare vol. i. p. 223.]

[Footnote 72: _Porgu neitsi_. Who she was is not clearly explained.]

SECTION XI

_CHURCH-STORIES_

Several of these, given by Jannsen, may be briefly narrated.

THE CHURCH AT REVEL.

Revel was formerly an unimportant place, and the inhabitants wished to
make it famous by building a church. They contracted with the great
architect Olaf[73] to erect it; and when it was completed, and he was
about to fix the cross on the summit, his wife cried out joyfully, "Olaf
will come home to-day with a thousand barrels of gold."[74] But scarcely
had Olaf fixed the cross in its place, when he slipped and fell to the
ground, and a toad and a snake sprang out of his mouth. The Devil wished
to destroy the church, but could not get near it; so he made a sling at
Pernau, and hurled a great rock at it. But the sling broke, and the rock
fell half-way between Pernau and Revel, where it now remains. (Similar
tales are related of the Devil in many countries, but are perhaps
commonest in Scandinavia.)