83 HOW BALLADS SPREAD

Delibasha, since it is not rings that are stolen as a proof of in-
constancy, but a hand cut off. In Russia Aljosa Popovic is credited
with an adventure of this sort, and the opening tableau—where a
young husband unwisely boasts of his wife—is found also in the
ballad of Stavr.

A famous diver in the reign of Emperor Frederic II, Nicholas by
name, lost his life under circumstances that have been preserved by
ballad traditions of a much later date. Their immediate source is
literary, but the ballad of Cola Pesce has enjoyed popularity in a
number of countries, since it lends itself to adaptation. The essence
is that some one is dared to dive or swim, and usually drowns.
Most ballads make this a test of the lover. It is known in Brittany
and France and in all Italy. The Greek Diver and half a dozen
Lithuanian ballads correspond to this theme, the latter having
the German Wager for a go-between. In Serbia there is a ballad
of a girl who will choose the man that dares to swim twice over a
dangerous river, and the Rumanians tell the same story of a certain
Rada, beside the Pruth. But perhaps these pieces are too distantly
related to be ascribed to the one cycle.

The most notable English ballad to have spread to other lands
is Sir Aldingar, which has already been mentioned. It is difficult
to know whether some pieces in our repertoire are of island or
continental origin, not to mention the always obscure speculation
as to the influence the Celtic peoples of the fringe may have exer-
cised on the Northmen's imagination. The elfin music of our
balladry is especially poignant, and if the same note sounds in
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway we may have some part in that.
Our islands stand on the circumference of Europe, and so do not
export themes so readily as the central nations. Merit is no" more
the sole condition of fame in oral than in written literature, but
other considerations, material and fortuitous, intervene. The case
is demonstrated by such pieces as Tarn Lin and Sir Patrick Spens,
which are unsurpassed in power and beauty throughout all Europe,
but have remained solely our own. Our kinsfolk in Denmark,
whatever they may owe to us or have given us, undoubtedly occupy
a central position in Scandinavian balladry. Elveskud is Danish;
at least as a ballad. The youthful bridegroom is compelled to enter
into a^fairy dance and is blighted; he returns home to die; his
death is concealed from his bride (sometimes because of her condi-
tion), but she hears the tolling bells, learns the truth, and dies for