256 THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 



same evening they had cooked the head and paws of the 

 large seal for supper, and the meat was put up in a trough, 

 when a loud crash was heard in the kitchen. The man re- 

 turned thither and saw a frightful witch, who sniffed at the 

 trough and cried : "Here lie the head with the upstanding 

 nose of a man, the hand of Haarek, and the foot of 

 Frederick. Revenged they are and revenged they shall be 

 on the men of Mygledahl, some of whom shall perish by 

 sea, and others fall down from the rocks, until the number 

 of the slain shall be so great that by holding each other's 

 hands they may gird all Kalsoe." Having said this she 

 vanished. Many Mygledahl-men soon afterwards came 

 to a violent end. Some were drowned in the sea by 

 Kalsoe while fishing, others fell from the rocks while 

 catching seafowl. The number of the dead, however, has 

 never encircled the island, which is ten miles long by one 

 and a-half wide. 



Here is another legend of the Faroe Islands : If you 

 would be rich you must go out on Twelfth Night to a 

 cross-road where five ways meet, one of which leads to a 

 church, and you must take with you in your hands a grey 

 calfskin and an axe. When you reach the cross-road you 

 must sit down on the calfskin, the tail of which must be 

 extended in the direction of the road which leads to the 

 churchyard. Then you look fixedly at the axe, which 

 must be made as sharp as possible. Towards midnight 

 the goblins will come in multitudes and put gold in great 

 heaps around you to try and make you look up, and they 

 will chatter, grimace, and grin at you. But when at 

 length they have failed in causing you to look aside, they 

 will begin to take hold of the tail of the calfskin and drag 

 it away, with you upon it. Then you will be fortunate if 

 you can succeed in cutting off the tail without damaging 

 the axe. If you succeed, the goblins will vanish, and all 

 the gold will remain by you. 



The following is also believed in by the inhabitants of 

 those islands: The "lucky stone" is a good thing to 

 possess, because the man who has it is always fortunate 



