had attained, how far their rule extended, and whether the whole of the North was then inhabited by one and the same people, are questions which have never yet been answered in a manner satisfactory to history. It is in the writers of Greece and Rome that we find the earliest information respecting our native North; but since these are on the one hand derived from the oral, and often exaggerated and disfigured relations of others, and on the other are brief and imperfect, they are far from affording us any clear idea of the habitations, mode of life, and mutual relations of these various ancient races. Nor are our early northern songs and traditions satisfactory in this respect. They frequently indicate that here in the North, on the immigration of our ancestors, there existed Jetten, or beings of supernatural size, who could with the greatest ease wield enormous rocks; together with dwarfs, (or Svartalfer,) who were small and black, and dwelt in caves under ground; and finally the elves, (Lysalfer,) a handsome, and as it appears, a civilized people, with whom our forefathers are said to have lived in friendly relations. Now, in the opinion of many persons, it is sufficiently certain that under these names and descriptions various races of people are intended; but it is no less clear that it is only with the greatest caution, and even then with considerable uncertainty, that we can appeal to these and similar accounts, when it is our object to deduce from them historical information of a satisfactory kind. For we must remember that such traditions were not recorded till they had been for centuries handed down from generation to generation; and thus it may easily be conceived how, in such oft-repeated traditions, something has often been added or taken away, so that the original historical fact which forms the basis of the tradition or song,
