THE ELK IN NORWAY. 153 



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 do. wn 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 



