Balder the Beautiful, Volume I. (Paperback)


Excerpt: ...but formerly they were commonly kindled and went by the name of the "fires of St. John." The site of the bonfire was either the village square or beside the cross in the cemetery. Here a great pile of faggots, brushwood, and grass was accumulated about a huge branch, which bore at the top a crown of fresh flowers. The priest blessed the bonfire and the people danced round it. When it blazed and crackled, the bystanders thrust their heads into the puffs of smoke, in the belief that it would preserve them from a multitude of ills; and when the fire was burnt out, they rushed upon the charred embers and ashes and carried them home, imagining that they had a secret virtue to guard their houses from being struck by lightning or consumed by fire. Some of the Perche farmers in the old days, not content with the public bonfire, used to light little private bonfires in their farmyards and make all their cattle pass through the smoke and flames for the purpose of protecting them against witchcraft or disease. 467 The Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura; the Midsummer fires in Franche-Comt

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Excerpt: ...but formerly they were commonly kindled and went by the name of the "fires of St. John." The site of the bonfire was either the village square or beside the cross in the cemetery. Here a great pile of faggots, brushwood, and grass was accumulated about a huge branch, which bore at the top a crown of fresh flowers. The priest blessed the bonfire and the people danced round it. When it blazed and crackled, the bystanders thrust their heads into the puffs of smoke, in the belief that it would preserve them from a multitude of ills; and when the fire was burnt out, they rushed upon the charred embers and ashes and carried them home, imagining that they had a secret virtue to guard their houses from being struck by lightning or consumed by fire. Some of the Perche farmers in the old days, not content with the public bonfire, used to light little private bonfires in their farmyards and make all their cattle pass through the smoke and flames for the purpose of protecting them against witchcraft or disease. 467 The Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura; the Midsummer fires in Franche-Comt

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Product Details

General

Imprint

Rarebooksclub.com

Country of origin

United States

Release date

October 2012

Availability

Supplier out of stock. If you add this item to your wish list we will let you know when it becomes available.

First published

October 2012

Authors

Dimensions

246 x 189 x 9mm (L x W x T)

Format

Paperback - Trade

Pages

272

ISBN-13

978-1-153-59056-3

Barcode

9781153590563

Categories

LSN

1-153-59056-5



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