From
the beginning to the end, he is master of the situation; all goes on
with him like the unfolding of Fate in a Greek tragedy, until the end,
when, stern and unpitying, he sits in the cavern of fire and sees his
enemies roasted alive before him.--From the Rand Manuscript.]
In this legend the hero passes the mysterious river which separates in
several Indian tales the ordinary world from that where the evil
giants, Jotuns, sorcerers, or witches live. It appears to correspond
exactly to "the stream called Ifing, which divides the earth between
the Jotuns and the Gods." (Edda, Vafthrudnismal, 16.) The attempt by
the Porcupine host to roast the guest alive and its failure bears
marked likeness to the scene in the Grimnismal, in which King Geirrod
vainly strives to roast his guest, Odin, and is himself slain.
"Fire, thou art hot,
and much too great;
flame, let us separate."
The grandeur of Odin and the behavior of the Indian are set forth in a
strikingly similar manner in both narratives. If any modern poet had
depicted this incident in so like a style, every critic would have
cried out plagiarism!
_The Story of a Partridge and his Wonderful Wigwam._
Once a man was traveling through the woods, and he heard afar off a
sound as of footsteps beating the ground. So he sought to find the
people that made it, and went on for a full week ere he came to them.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316