The Zoologist — September, 1867. 888 



repletion it sought a place where two trees grew near each other, and 

 there ridded itself of its load by squaring its distended carcase between 

 them, when it returned to its repast with renewed appetite. 



Brown Bear. — In Scandinavia the bear takes the place of the lion 

 as king of beasts, and is treated with superstitious reverence by the 

 peasantry, who seldom allude to it by its proper name, terming it 

 "grandfather" or "the old gentleman in the fur coat." It has, the 

 Lapps say, the strength of ten men and the sense of twelve. In the 

 quaint fairy tales of Norway he is treated with every outward mark of 

 respect by the other animals, though often duped by the cunning of 

 the fox, as in a curious story which explains " why the bear has a 

 stumpy tail." It appears that our malicious friend Reynard persuaded 

 poor Bruin to try and catch fish at a hole in the ice by putting in his 

 tail, which was then a fine long one, and jerking it out when the fish 

 bit. Naturally he was soon frozen hard and tight, and in his struggles 

 to free himself his tail broke off short and never grew again (Dasent, 

 'Norse Tales'). I have seen a version of this legend, misapplied to 

 the wolf, in a collection of Gaelic stories. It was devoutly believed 

 by the Scandinavians that men assumed the forms of bears, as well as 

 of wolves, either through their own sorcery or that of others. Con- 

 cerning this superstition a grim and grisly story is quoted by Sir 

 Walter Scott from Torfaeus' ' History of Hrolfe Kraka,' to the following 

 effect: — Biorno, son of King Hringo of Upland, was a beautiful and 

 valiant youth, but had the misfortune to provoke the hatred of his 

 stepmother, a " witch-lady," who revenged herself by striking him 

 with a wolf-skin glove and changing him into a black bear. In this 

 form he ravaged the flocks and herds, but was recognized by his 

 ladye-love, the beautiful Bera, who fled with him to his den, where at 

 certain hours he regained his human form. Here they dwelt, till at 

 length he foretold to her his own death by the hand of his father, and 

 warned her to beware of being persuaded to partake of his flesh. 

 Next day he was hunted and slain by the king, and poor Bera captured 

 and carried to the castle. In spite of all resistance the sorceress forced 

 her to swallow a morsel of the bear's flesh ; the consequence of which 

 was that when she brought forth, in due time, three young, two were 

 variously deformed, one having the limbs of an elk, the other the feet 

 of a hound ; but the third was a brave champion, who avenged his 

 parents and slew the witch-queen. Such were the wild legends which 

 the Scalets sung to Viking and Jarl, and to this day the Norse 

 peasants believe that the Finns and Lapps can change themselves into 



