THE ELK IN NORWAY. 158 
admirable sketch of peasant superstition would lose 
more than half its value. 
Countries abounding in immense forest tracts and 
lofty mountains, lakes, and cataracts, always have been 
a stronghold for superstitious beliefs. And this is 
doubly the case in a country like Norway, which is 
thinly populated, and where in the off-lying districts the 
means of communication are bad. Moreover, the long 
winter nights engender a love for story-telling; and 
added to this, that during some months of the year new 
faces are seldom seen, it is no wonder if the “‘ traditions 
of the elders” are held in esteem. Further, in the 
valleys especially, the peasants are exclusive to a degree : 
they mix but little with the natives of other valleys ; and 
it is rare that a marriage takes place between a couple 
who have not been born and bred in the same neigh- 
bourhood. The consequence of these united circum- 
. stances is, that the love of the marvellous is kept alive, 
and that tales and stories are handed down from father 
to son as precious heirlooms for belief. Any one (could 
not Mr. Borrow try his hand?) who was sufficiently 
at home in the different dialects of the country, might 
make a most entertaining collection of tales and strange 
stories from the valleys of Norway. 
There is scarcely a lake, I may say, in Norway 
concerning which the peasant has not some strange 
tale to relate; either that it is of unfathomable depth 
