divine kings and priests, 97-99; stories of immortality attained by
suspension between heaven and earth, 99 _sq._

CHAPTER III.--THE MYTH OF BALDER, Pp. 101-105

How Balder, the good and beautiful god, was done to death by a stroke of
mistletoe, 101 _sq._; story of Balder in the older _Edda_, 102 _sq._;
story of Balder as told by Saxo Grammaticus, 103; Balder worshipped in
Norway, 104; legendary death of Balder resembles the legendary death of
Isfendiyar in the epic of Firdusi, 104 _sq._; the myth of Balder perhaps
acted as a magical ceremony; the two main incidents of the myth, namely
the pulling of the mistletoe and the burning of the god, have perhaps
their counterpart in popular ritual, 105.

CHAPTER IV.--THE FIRE FESTIVALS OF EUROPE, Pp. 106-327

§ 1. _The Lenten Fires_, pp. 106-120.--European custom of kindling
bonfires on certain days of the year, dancing round them, leaping over
them, and burning effigies in the flames, 106; seasons of the year at
which the bonfires are lit, 106 _sq._; bonfires on the first Sunday in
Lent in the Belgian Ardennes, 107 _sq._; in the French department of the
Ardennes, 109 _sq._; in Franche-Comté, 110 _sq._; in Auvergne, 111-113;
French custom of carrying lighted torches (_brandons_) about the
orchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent,
113-115; bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Germany and Austria,
115 _sq._; "burning the witch," 116; burning discs thrown into the air,
116 _sq._; burning wheels rolled down hill, 117 _sq._; bonfires on the
first Sunday in Lent in Switzerland, 118 _sq._; burning discs thrown
into the air, 119; connexion of these fires with the custom of "carrying
out Death," 119 _sq._