HUMOUR IN TOPOGRAPHY 49 



There is, moreover, one feature that distinguishes 

 the myths and legends of those northern lands — the 

 grim humour which so often lights them up. The 

 grotesque contours of many craggy slopes where, in 

 the upstanding pinnacles of naked rock, an active 

 imagination sees forms of men and of animals in 

 endless whimsical repetitions, may sometimes have 

 suggested the particular form of the ludicrous which 

 appears in the popular legend. But the natural instinct 

 of humour which saw physical features in a comical 

 light, and threw a playful human interest over the 

 whole face of nature, was a distinctively Teutonic 

 characteristic. 



A few examples from the abundant collection that 

 might be gathered must here suffice. Some of the 

 most singular features of the landscapes of the north- 

 west of Europe arise from the operations of the 

 ice-sheets, glaciers, and icebergs of that comparatively 

 late geological period to which the name of the Ice 

 Age is given. The perched boulders which stand 

 poised near the verge of cliffs or scattered over the 

 sides and summits of hills, everywhere suggested the 

 working of supernatural agency. In some districts 

 they were looked upon as missiles hurled by giants who 

 fought against each other. In others, they were re- 

 garded as the work of giantesses, or ' auld wives,' as 

 they were called in Scotland, who to exhibit their 

 prowess would transport masses of rock as large as hills 

 from one part of the country to another. 



This capacity in such supernatural beings to carry 

 huge burdens of stone or earth has furnished an explana- 

 tion of many islands and mounds along the maritime 



