20 Danish Traditions and Superstitions. 
Norvig Church. 
A boor of Norvig, in Oddsherred, 
had a great desire to see what was 
passing in the church at midnight. He 
therefore crept slyly in, and seated 
himself in one of the pews. He re- 
mained there till it was deep night, 
when the church was suddenly illuni- 
nated; he then heard the doors open, 
and, immediately after, he saw four 
tall steel-clad men walk in, bearing on 
their shoulders a coffin. ‘They halted 
in the middle of the aisle, raised the 
flag-stones, and deposited the coffin 
beneath. After all this was done, they 
went away. 
There is no doubt that the famous 
Mark Stig was secretly buried by his 
followers somewhere in North Zea- 
land; and Pantoppidan remarks, in 
his ‘“‘Marmora Danica,” that many 
think he was buried in this church. 
The Dragon of Aalborg. 
Two miles from Aalborg lie several 
hillocks, which are called Ostbierg 
Bakker. Among these, very many 
years ago, a dragon had his nest, and 
by his rapacity caused a great dearth 
in the neighbourhood. Thither came 
a man who knew how to deal with such 
reptiles, and he promised to destroy 
the dragon. He first caused a great 
wood pile to be raised, and, when this 
was set fire to, he mounted a powerful 
horse, and rode. past the dragon’s nest. 
The dragon followed him wherever he 
went, and they came in this manner at 
length to the blazing pile. The man 
immediately leapt his horse over the 
pile, and the dragon crept after him 
completely through the flames. He 
made the leap a second time; and a 
second time the dragon crawled after 
him: and when he had rode seven 
times, unscorched and unhurt, over 
the pile, the dragon, in attempting to 
creep through it the seventh time, was 
entirely consumed. 
The Mountain Emps. 
Tn Kund-hill, near the plain of Thyr- 
sting, lives an elf, who has several 
children. ‘When the sun is gone down, 
they are frequently seen, with much 
noise and laughter, to creep up to the 
summit, and then let themselves roll 
down one after another. They conti- 
nue their sport till late at night. 
King Waldemar’s Chase. 
King Waldemar loved Tovelill, a 
lady of Ryggen; and he was sostrongly 
afflicted when she died, that he would 
not forsake her body, but caused it to 
be carried along with him wherever 
[Aug. 1, 
he went. This became very disagree- 
able to all those who were about the 
king, aul on that account a courtier, 
profiting by. a favourable opportunity, 
examined the body, in order to disco- 
ver what it was that bound the king to 
it with so powerful an attachment. He 
at last perceived on her finger a magic 
ring, which her mother had given her 
in order to secure the king’s love. The 
courtier took the ring, and imme- 
diately the king’s infatuation towards 
the body disappeared, and he allowed 
it to be interred. But mark the con- 
sequence: all the king’s love was 
transferred to the courtier, who was 
now in possession of the ring; so that 
he granted bim every thing he asked 
for, and would scarcely trust him from 
his sight; which constraint at last be- 
came irksome to the youth, and, as he 
knew what was the cause of it, he 
dropped the ring into a pond, as he one 
day rode through the grove of Gurra, 
From that moment the king began to 
find himself better in this particular 
grove than in any other place; he 
caused the Castle of Gurra to be built, 
and hunted night and day in the wood. 
He was frequently heard to say, that 
God might keep heaven to himself, if 
he were only permitted to hunt in 
Gurra; and, after his death, God pu- 
nished him by fulfilling his wish. 
He now rides every night from 
Burra to Gurra, and is through the 
whole district known by the name of 
the Flying Huntsman, When he ap- 
proaches, one hears, first a horrid 
howling, bellowing,and whip-cracking, 
in the air, and then every person ought 
to turn out of the path, and conceal 
himself behind the trees. Then comes 
the whole route. Foremost of all run 
the coal-black dogs, snuffing the 
ground, and with long glowing tongues 
lolling from their throats. ‘Then ap- 
pears ‘‘Wolmar,” seated upon his 
white~ horse, and generally carrying 
his head under his left arm. When he 
meets any body, especially if it hap- 
pens to be an old man, he commands 
him to hold his dogs, and sometimes 
leaves him standing with the hounds 
for many hours, or, at other times, he 
will presently afterwards fire a shot, 
and, when the hounds hear that, they 
burst their bands, and scamper off. 
When he goes away in this manner, 
the gates are heard slamming-too after 
him; and in many places, where there: 
is a straight passage through a house, 
he gallops in at the one and out of the 
other 
