The Oxonian in Thelemarken, volume 1 (of 2)

The Oxonian in Thelemarken, volume 1 (of 2) - or, Notes of travel in south-western Norway in the summers of 1856 and 1857. With glances at the legendary lore of that district.

In the neighbourhood of Bayeux, in Normandy, it is said that there still lingers a superstition which most probably came there originally in the same ship as Rollo the Walker. The country folks believe in the existence of a sprite (goubelin) who plagues mankind in various ways. His most favourite method of annoyance is to stand like a horse saddled and bridled by the roadside, inviting the passers-by to mount him. But woe to the unlucky wight who yields to the temptation, for off he setsHalloo! halloo! and hark away! galloping fearfully over stock and stone, and not unfrequently ends by leaving his rider in a bog or horse-pond, at the same time vanishing with a loud peal of mocking laughter. A heathenish and gross superstition! exclaims friend Broadbrim. But what if we try to extract a jewel out of this[iv] ugly monster; knock some commonsense out of his head. Goethe turned the old fancy of Der getreue Eckart to good account in that way. What if a moral of various application underlies this grotesque legend. Suppose, for the nonce, that the rider typify the writer of a book. Unable to resist a strong temptation to bestride the Pegasus of his imaginationwhether prose or versehe ventures to mount and go forth into the world, and not seldom he gets a fall for his pains amid a loud chorus of scoffs and jeers. Indeed, this is so common a catastrophe, from the days of Bellerophon downwards (everybody knows that he was the author of the Letters[1] that go by his name), so prone is inkshed to lead to disaster, that the ancient wish, Oh that mine adversary had written a book, in its usual acceptation (which entirely rests, be it said, on a faulty interpretation of the original language), was really exceedingly natural, as the fulfilment of it was as likely as not to lead to the fullest gratification of human malice. In defiance, however, of the dangers that[v] threatened him, the writer of these lines did once gratify his whim, and mount the goblin steed, and as good luck would have it, without being spilled or dragged through a horse-pond, or any mischance whatsoever. In other words, instead of cold water being thrown upon his endeavours, The Oxonian in Norway met with so indulgent a handling from that amiable abstraction, the Benevolus Lector, that it soon reached a second edition. So far the authors lucky star was in the ascendant. But behold his infatuation, he must again mount and tempt his fate, Ay! and on the same steed, too, cries Mr. Bowbells, to whom the swarming sound of life with an occasional whiff of the sewers is meat, and drink, and all things; who is bored to death if he sees more of the quiet country than Brighton or Ramsgate presents, and is about as locomotive in his tastes as a London sparrow. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 52195
Author: Metcalfe, Frederick
Release Date: May 30, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English