332 Collectanea.
to bring themselves to enter it. A foolhardy man, who believed that he could do anything, wagered that he would enter the cave, bat, when he tried to do so, he came upon an iron gate, which was placed across the hole. He was obliged to turn round, and after much toil he came forth again, but from that time he was mad.
14. A man at the same farm, named John, was captured by huldre-ioVa at Snovabrene. He disappeared for three days, and then returned to the place [from whence he had vanished], but no one could get to know where he had been. His son Ingebret was reputed, when he was at home, to be a wizard — afterwards he was married at Dbnheim on the Batten Fjord. Once Thor Opdbl, the overseer, visited him there, and begged him to show him some of his tricks. "Yea, an thou desirest to see, I will gladly show thee something," answered Ingebret, and forthwith the whole room was filled with small folk clothed in blue.
15. Not translated. A variant of Nos. 4 and 9.
16. The Birkestol Bob. — A Bob once dwelt for a long time on the farm of Ovre Nesja. He took up his abode at the stol (sseter) Birkestol, and was therefore called the Birkestol Bob. Although he was a heathen, he wished to keep Yule Eve ; but, as he was not good at reckoning time, he was wont, towards Yuletide, to go to Nesja, where he would clamber up on to the roof and peep down the smoke hole ^^ to see whether the Nesja men had put out the red beer in bowls. If they had done so, then he would go home and steal the best that he could for Yule. Once, when he was on this errand, he was sadly deceived. As usual he went to the farm to look for the beer, and he got a sight of something that looked like beer, but was unluckily myse, that is, sour cheese dissolved in water, which is used instead of a milk mixture, as at that time of year milk is scarce. The Juticl took it for beer, and went home and celebrated Yule, in spite of its being too soon. Although this Jutul did no harm, the farmers must have been somewhat troubled by his visits, for they took him and squeezed him into Klinghammer, — a high mountain between Gjora and Gravem. The only thing that they put with him was a raw oxhide, from which he was allowed to take one hair on each Yule Eve. When the hide had thus become bare, he might regain his freedom.
