Within it
he found three princesses, who had been stolen by three dragons. These
dragons he slew, and the princesses and their property he took to the spot
above which his comrades kept watch, who hoisted them out of the cavern,
but left Martin in it to die. As he wandered about disconsolately, he
found the bearded dwarf, whom he slew. And soon afterwards he was conveyed
out of the cavern by a flying serpent, and was able to punish his
treacherous friends, and to recover the princesses, all three of whom he
simultaneously married."
[Footnote A: _Etrusco Roman Remains_, p. 222.]
[Footnote B: _Folk Lore Record_, i. 85. Mr. Hartland points out to me that
this tale, being a Marchen, does not afford quite such good evidence of
belief as actually or recently existing as a saga.]
Amongst the Magyars,[A] also, in some localities caves are pointed out as
the haunts of fairies, such as the caves in the side of the rock named
Budvar, the cave Borza-vara, near the castle of Dame Rapson; another haunt
of the fairies is the cave near Almas, and the cold wind known as the
"Nemere" is said to blow when the fairy in Almas cave feels cold.
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