Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-06-26
WILD; HUNTSMEN AND WHITE
... LADIES,

mountains called the Vogelsberg, which is
ut once notable for, the abundance of pop-
ular legends, remembered to this day by
the peasantry, and for the character Of
the legends themselves. Rarely is more
popular mythology. dating Immediately
from heathenism, 70 be found than in u
small collection Of Hessian folklore made
by Herr Bindewald, an antiquary habitua.
ted. from childhood upwards, to the W..
gelsberg and its ne,ghborhood, and reioic-
ing in tho TACT that in this, his favorite
district, people still " say and sing'' Ono
great feature in the few legends which We
give here,is their purely non historical
character. When,ss in thelegends of the
kniffhauser, We find veritable emperor
sleeping for ages in some. subterranean
chamber, We may be perfectly sure that
the rhetorical element is an intruder. and
that neither Frederic nor Othon are en.i
tied to the strange dignities that have been
thrust upon them: History does not
breed myth, but myth very frequently
condensss into = sort Of history, or NC.
commodities itself. thereto ); thatFis to saw,
people often have a kua6k Of slipping y
noted historical parsonage into u piace of
some forgotten deity, who himself was
only the incarnation Of some natural phe.
nomenon. A notorious illustration of tho
doctrine here propounded Is to be found in
the story Of William Tell, which even
row is publicly accepted as q record Of
facts by nearly all who have not especial.
ly studied the subject. Tell, if he ever
existed, which is extremely doubtful, must
have flourished in the beginning If the
fourteenth century, during the reign Of
Albert the first, Of Austria but in the
Edda OF Semundus, which is written in
the eleventh century, and contains the
tradition Of ages proceeding, We find our
patriotic friend in the shape of u Morse
prince, who lived nobody knows where.
and performed the apple feat exactly in
the Swiss fashion. Nay, toward the end
OF the fifteenth century, Tell turns uD
again with the new name, HemmiBg Wuis
fen von Wavelshet, leader of the 80.
called Ditmarschen, who lived neur tho
mouth Of the Elbs, and v.llant defended
tl'cir privileges against Christian, King Of
Denmark. In this revived drama, while
Wulten Won Wavelstiet represented Tell,
the part Of Gessler was Sustained by King
Christian, but the main incident remsined
unaltered. The fact is, tile story belonged
to ;the old Morse mythology, and as it
rolled down the course IF time, it. licked
up Tells and Wulfen in its passage. In
the production Of the following legends.
tho knowledge Of which is derived from
oral tradition, no such operation took
place. The Wild Huntsman is the god
Odin, whom the carly Christians converted
into'a sort +1of fiend the White Lady ia
the being, really benefcent, who, in Ger.
man mythology, is called sometime llilda
J. or Hlolle. !s. sometimes Per.hte or Bertha.
i The Wild IIuntsinSn, whose appearance
with pack Of skeleton hounds, il regard.
cd as 81 evil omen by the. bullet founders
in Der Freischutz, is q parsonage very
familiar to tho peasants Of Hesse. In the
olden time it was believed he made u
point, towards the end Of every autumn, ,ol
descending, after veepers,from the Vogels
berg into the valley below, his path: being
always denoted by a fiery streak along the
sky, and his passage being accompanied
by mingled sound of creaking wheels
cracked whips, and changing trumpets
WIN which was mingled u combination ol
inc o'nerent voices proper to every variety
OF man, bird, and beast. The nei ghborin.
forests ut the same time beoame 80 thor:
oughly lighted tha: every loaf was visible
Like ordinary mortals, tho Wild Hunts
I man was however, subject to accidents
Once, as he was riding along with NOR,
than usual speed, one of the wheels cnnl
Of his chariot; and fell to tho ground w,tf
IL NJ ise like clap Of thunder.
The Wild Huntsmen is less iroquentl,
seen than heard. One night q peasant
coming to q cross-road on his way home
heard the neighing Of a. horse, Sometimes
behind, sometimes before him. Present.,
he heard likewise the noise Of an m
proaohing carriage, but though there WI.
= moonlight, nothing was to be seen. A
last the whole invisible train rushed pas!
him with such a "close shavo," that fo
the moment he fancied himself run over
Fortunately he had received no injnry be
yond y terrible fright, and when, on reach