8o ASHIEPATTLE: OR HANS SEEKS HIS LUCK 



the whole on the old king's death, passed to the hero. 

 We thus seem to see stages in the law of inheritance by 

 marriage, e.g. the receipt of the kingdom at once with 

 the bride, then the receipt of half the kingdom as 

 marriage portion, and lastly, the title alone of ' young 

 king ' follows the marriage, and the kingdom passes only 

 to the young king on the old king's death. This right 

 of the husband of the king's daughter to the kingdom 

 at once, in the future, or in part at once, is well summed 

 up in Die goldene Gans, where we are told : 



Da ward die Hochzeit gefeiert, und der Dummling erlte das 

 Reich. 



Sooner or later the bride conveys the kingdom, and 

 this is the law of inheritance. But the king continues 

 to hold the kingdom only so long as his wife lives, or if 

 she be dead, until his daughter, the heiress apparent, 

 conveys the kingdom or a part of it to the next young 

 king. 



The law of inheritance which gives one -half the 

 kingdom as marriage portion to the king's daughter, 

 and presumably the other half on the old king's death, 

 is practically universal in the Norse tales. Exceptions, 

 like Herreper, occur, but in such cases we do not hear 

 of the old king at all, the princess appears to have 

 complete possession of the kingdom. Thus in the 

 following thirteen tales : Om Askeladden som stjal 

 Troldets Sdvaender, Sengeteppe og Guldliarpe, Fugl 

 Dam, Spurningen, Rige Per Kraemmer, Enkessvnnen, 

 Lillekort, De syv Folerne, Grimsborken, Tro og Utro, 

 Per og Paal og Esben Askelad, Jomfruen paa Glas- 

 berget, Askeladden som fik Prindsessen til at Ugste 



