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;Tripping the Light
f antastic in the Mystic
Twilight of Sweden's
elcome to Spring
By Henry Goddard Leach, Ph. D.
t rmtTtnttm In 0s-At-.air4a t T7a vm,mw,J TT-tla,1t
it
O I- wv-.a-aiaiB-aB-aa VSI TVtMt
: M j lEW-'of us, in this century of scientific
Mi progress, are aware that there
actually persist to this day, in tanas
otherwise Christian, some of the ancient rites
end occult ceremonies of a dim heathen past.
SPagan customs do not easily perish, not when
they are beautiful in themselves and dear to
the people who have cherished them from
time immemorial."
K U ne sacrifice ana me aance Of iuaj--
tner five is One of the last of these ' fcSfyUals
to fhe advance of civilization. Far -
in the north of Europe, in the province of
Dalecarlia, in Sweden, this . mysterious holi
day ds still observed by the descendants of
the vikings. And thither I made the long
: pilgrimage for the purpose of studying the
customs of our Germanic forefathers. In
VDalecarlia, at the village of Leksand, I
assisted in the annual fete of Midsummer
eve-pin raising the masfolc, dancing the ring
dance and building the fres of sacrifice to
the" dawn, in the bright violet twilight of the
region of the midnight sun. -
I tf COMPANT with aeveral Swedish visitors, I
approached Leksand village on the afternoon of
Midsummer eve, tbo ld of June, A small steamer
- boro us across tha tranquil lake of Slljan. "Th
Eye of Dalecarlia"; and tha first slsbt of Lsksknd was
tha white church. With Its quaint xvusslan tower, 011 a
blurt overlooking tha lake. As wa drew near tho
lauding It see mad as though not only all Leksand,
. but all tha people of Dalecarlia, the province In
Which-tha village la situated, bad aasembled to meet us.
Tha great wharf and the bluff behind it were, I
cannot ay, black with humanity, but purple and red
and green and blue, a scene of barbaric, almost orien
tal ; splendor, For tho Dalecarlians UU wear the
highly colored apparel of long ago, and many of the
visitors from Stockholm and other parts of Sweden,
had donned peasant, tbat la "national." dreas for tha
occasion. In this gathering I was apparent: tho only
tort. nr. '
On tho drive from the Wharf to the Inn we passed -the
village common with tho maypole- lying prone
upon it, ready to be raised In the evening. Than we
tirove - through a long lano bordered , with typical
Swedish , birches, and hero X had opportunity to
lauune in mora detail tha costumes of the promena
cers. Kvery township has Its own distinctive dress,
and hero were merrymakers from every village In tha
tirovlnco of Dalecarlia.
Tho native Leksand girl wore a white waist with
full sleeves and surmounted by a laced bodies, with a
ilose-Ottlng red cap, and an embroidered kerohlef
over hr shoulders. The back of her skirt was of
plain black woolen; but tho distinctive feature of her
attire waa the red. white and black apron effect which
fronted her skirt, the stripes running perpendicular to
the ground. Tho aktrt front Is. indeed, tho badge, tho '
lucaT flair, of the Dalecarllaa woman.
The jrirl from the village of Rattvlk. bordering on
IksandT weaves tho stripe of her skirt front horl
tontaliy and multicolored, giving her skirt the gor-
-ous effect of a Roman scarf. Tho Rattvik lass also
tk--ra. Instead of a can. a Jaunty black helmet
r-rKsaa, unmmoa witn rea or
srald and rod dangling
tw
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND,: SUNDAY
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Pretty lasses from Mora thero wars, too. made
famous ortr tba world by tho portraits painted by
Ing by tho roadside, attracted my attention oven more
The
F
rTM&ENCH literature hat a new light, a
woman. She comes from the holy city of
Jerusalem, of all places; and, of all creeds,
or no creeds, that have overlaid that most
despoiled of cities, she is said to be a pagan.
It is the f any us French litterateur, Jules
Lemaitre, who hat passed upon beautiful Myriam
Harry that curious verdict; and he is at once her
first adviser, her most stern critic and her most sin
cere admirer. '
Until now thi name of Myriam Harry has re
mained comparatively unknown. But the publica
tion of her latest romance, "La Divine Chanson,
in Pari is stirring-interest in her talents, which
are strange, and her personality, which is far
stranger. ' . . ,. . , .
Few women living can dispute the stage 01
literary eminence which this stray -from Jerusalem
has attained while she is yet only in her twenties.
ER career itself reads with much of the flavor
adventure that France loves to And. lending
glamour to the romances It reads.
"It la now aoma veara since. I received a. lttp
from a woman," writes the famous Lemaitre, apropos of ,
the publication of "Th Divine Chanson." "She asked
me to give her literary advice. She said: '1 wish to
be great.'": T- ..... ;
"I Invited her to call on me. She was young, tall,
thin, with lively eyes and a drolb accent I gave her
some good kdvlce and did not ses her again for a long
time. Meanwhile. She published "The Passing of the
Bedouins,' little Wives' and The Conquest of Jeru
salem.' , When ahe visited me for the second time she
brought her book on Tunis.' X learned the story of
her life."
Few women living have had so-curious a life story,
and probably no other writer has passed through so
many scenes. '....- s .1
Sti waa born In'Jerusalem. tha granddaughter of
sn Israelite and an orthodox Slav and the daughter .
of a German Protestant; and so she had ia bar veins
1 1-8
I -111
OrientmLdgl
" li.i. .Mwnnt nf th rcm.rk.bla
aku . .n- wn--; 0f th i-irhn-M
VTKf -" -
of her dreas. which sugtested a nower garaen,, tor,
from head, to fdbt,, bar cap,, wis bag suspended . by her
side, everrtber-shoos, were all eJhfoldered'Wlth-wsst
rosea j.,
?.'
"of every hue.,'-"!- ' '".'' (
i-Yondef's ' a Uss from rioda," my driver remaricea.
"Slis's had a long Journey. She'll bo belle) at tbo
dancing tonight 1 reckon.? : A ' ', ..t, .;.,.'
. As a rule these girls were tall.. athleUcvwlth fair
hair and blue eyes, the-Dalecarllan type. This after
noon their facea were flushed in anticipation of alld
aummer eve. Bo were those of the young men, for
that matter. They, too., wore gay costumes, put on.
most of them, in honor of the occasion; for, sad to
relate, the men. especially tha young men, are discard
ing more and more the old country dress and adopt
ing tho conventional garb of the cities. Blue knicker
bockers were a characteristic feature of the boys
costumes and whlto leather aprons of those of their
grandfathers. For the old folks were In. evidence, too,
smiling Hi the spirit of the holiday. ,
When at length we drove up before the red. trei
llsed Inn of Leksand and I asked for a room, the
aged proprietress looked at me In sober astonishment,
"Young mm. ahe said, "you can have all the
meals you please here, but as for a bedroom, that Is
Impossible. All tho rooms in the inn were bespoken
long ego, and we have secured every other ava labia
room in the village for our guests. And besides, she
added, looking st me in a kindly way. over her spec
tacles, "who ever heard of a young man sleeping on
Midsummer eve"" .
CHARACTERISTIC HOSPITALITY
Being an American, however, I thought It neces
sary 10 go forth In quest of a bed. and at last founa
a farmhouse near the village, where a kindly farmer s
wife improvised a couch for me In one corner of tne
kitchen. This act waa characteristic of the hospitality
for which the Dalecarllans aro famed. I am told that
when a Dalecarllan locks his house for the night .or
temporarily leaves It in summer, he bangs the key
on a nail outside the door, so that tho unexpected
guest can enter. ., ' '
From the farm I returned to the Inn for a Swedish
dinner. It was served from side tables which the
Swedes call the smorgas bord. One helped himself to
nut soup or fruit soup, to cracker bread, honey and
goat's cheese, to mountain trout and reindeer steak.
The dining room was full of fashionably dressed ylsiu
. ;' .; v.t. .-,-. .--.;:--... :'--i.' 1 -. v;'
that mixture of blood and Are which can flow from
' German. Israelite and Polish ancestors. Until she was
14 years old th sacred places of the Holy City were
as familiar to her feet as Broadway la to a girl In Nsw
1 m m
MORNING, JUNE 18, 1911
I.M .HIT- li W ft uiA'AuMM
6r from Stockholm and iaidod rentry from aountrr
' hd "W"f
., put on lor movsccaiiou om -nauour ' poaaani 90
tuine of their districts to take part In this most demo
cratic of holidays. -
. At rtln-ier I waa oreaented to a nrettv Stockholm
'rlrl baroness, whom her friends sailed Tnga." She
-ayly explained to me tho program of the evening and
. promised to guiae me arouna we meypoiaw At a, ane
explained, wo were to assemble In the church; at 11. I
th maypole was to be raised; then wo were to dance
'until 1.10, when we were to proceed up the mountain
to build fires to welcome the sunrise. .
The concert In the vlllafe church was like a
Christian prelude to tha pagsn ritss of tho night. Tho
church holds tOOO people . and it was full to suffoca
tion. Folk songs rendered by a choir of Leksanders In'
their native dreas were followed by organ and violin
. recitals from tho great m altera. And the audience was
well trained to appreciate. For the Dalecarllans are .'
perhaps the best all-around educated farming race in
the world. They weave tapestries and play the violin
With equal facility.- ; .
At 11 that evening my Stockholm friends and Z
took our plates on - the village green, where the .
great mystery, waa to be enacted, .half an hour before
midnight, the raising of the maypole. In Sweden the
maypole ia almoat as cherished la popular belief as '
the baptismal font- Thousands of maypoles were to
be raised on the village greens of Sweden simul
taneously with the great event here at Leksand. In
England, on tho other hand, the maypole waa sup
pressed as a heathen Institution by the stern Puritans
as long ago as 1144. Later, after a brief revival, tho
raising of the maypole In - England . became " extinct,
But in remoter Sweden this practice survives today as
a symbol of warm weather and rich harvest. And It
Is called the maypole, the MaJ atang, in Swedish,
although It Is actually raised, not as It was In Knv
land, on May 1, but on June f J. For tho aeaaone are
late In these northern climes, and May finds Sweden
still white with snow. .
It was sn expectant multitude which Ailed the vil
lage common of Leksand, laughing and chatting in
lew, musical Swedish voices. In the center a long
oblong marked the place where tho maypole lay in
state. Around tho huge giant a score of Leksand men
were busy putting the finishing touches to the decora
tions, twining the white trunk with spirals of flowers
and greens, Creatine; it-with, all tho reverence a savags
people pay a symbol of the deity. ' .
tbs sun naa already set in a purple base over the
n 01. eiijant -ior : jexsana,
Arctic circle, cannot boast of
;ivz&"iXStii
"kodak fiends" In the crowd.
York. She spoke German, "English, a little Hebrew and
Arabic; and she fairly starved for French, of which
she learned a' few phrases from one" of the family
servants. -:' -'':''':-i 'r:;3vi" "l
Her' abiding'' p'laeV was 'in -uC:. ancient garicen d welU
Ing that breathed the adventurous life of the deserts,
and often she Was her father'ecompanlon in his jour-'
neys through Syria and' Arabia Petnes, , . "
When he died she went with her mother to Ger-
many, and lived until sh was 17 in a girls' boarding ,
school in Berlin, acquiring German so well that one
of the leading Berlin papers published a story of hers,
and falling in her examination in French, for which
- her soul hungered. ' .1 ;-?'
She went to Paris. Sh determined that she would
not speak German at all. she felt as if she had no.
tongue, there among strangers; but she vowed that
- this French language and literature, which fate seemed 1
bent on denying to ner, snouia at last oe ners, for
thraa veara aha atruxaried. and at laat felt that aha had
acquired th language she knew she was born to love.
..- Than aha traveled back to her native Jerusalem
and into Syria, .Arabia, India, 'China, Ceylon, Indo-
China, half of Europe, Tunis always with eyes that
aaw avervthlna and a memory that forxot nothlnr.
She began to write; and th, value of her studies was'
. Instantly apparent.";- ' ; v ',v--, ,'
"She has no relterlous faith," declares Mons. Lemaltrer
"She- Is high-tempered and Independent a pagan who,'
at first, received biblical culture in Protestant,-Judaic
and Germanic ideas. To that loin French romanticism.
: impressionism, - humanltarlanlsm,- anarchism, and all
that could be learned In Parle ten years ago of 'ad
vanced" literature and art, and you have a picture of .
the intellect and temperament of Myriam Harry.
'That which charms In her romances, outside ot
the story she has, to tell, is the. amazing- manner-In v
which this bram, f so filled with its chaos . of Ideas. -sentiments,
fancies, education and memories, has been
- ordered and clarified by tho genius for French, which
demanded possession of her . when she .was 17 years .
'Old." '-" "" v-y-- f " v-"---"i-'-;; ' f':: A ':----;
Her books show a marvelous power of observation
and description, with the glow of oriental passion, the.
' sadness- and the senauousness of the lands which :
Europeans can never really know, the nostalgia - of -white
races among the brown air the tragedies of
existence that arise In the old civilisations in their -
. conflict with the new. Her "Conquest of Jerusalem" Is
esteemed by Mons. Lemaitre as a magnificent effort of .
. the imagination into which th woman has put her '
whole spirit, aa she tells of the mystic who sought to
trace there the footsteps ot the Redeemer ana suc
cumbed to th lur of love.
'abort Interval of too aun'a dlaappaaranoa wn U dlflVy
cult to raad, or taka pbolog-rapb- lo too opto,
11 waa airaaar a quartar o i oaiora tna roapma
MautBolnUy faatooaad to aatlafr tna faatldloua
taata of tbo Laktandara. BuddanJy-Mlaa loga. mjr
Stockholm companion, touchad aay arm. 'i'ha tiurmur
of tha throng aubalded, Tha ''mapola bagaji to fiao,
puahedup from banaatli by' tba young awalna and
hald to piaca by cablaa. A buah of bait-ralgiuta awa
fall ovar tha apaotatora. At laat tho foot of tha pvla .
ettlad Into tua hole, and alood quivering .for a
moment end than tail and aract Uka a ahlp'a maat .
Circular garlanda of laurel on hoopa impended to tha
maat by rlbbona awung gayly In tua breese; and fruia
tha top fluttered a jiUkea pennant of tho purpla and
id of Swedan. - - '
murmur of applauaa, not a about, enaea taa aaa
pnej for tha aturdjr deecandanta of tho Ttkinga ara
quiet people and atUl watera run deep. Than wrr
man talsad tha handa of hla neighbor and wo danoad,
or rather awayea In ono vaat surging ma as. aroond
tho maypole, chanting tha refrain of a folk aong.
From tho village common we daaoondad,-still dano- ,
Ing, down tho hUtalda to tho ah ore of tho lake. No
ono thought of ouch an effeia luxury in tho world M a"
ballroom floor. Tho groat boat landing aorrod aa floor
for aararal soore of couplaat tha others danoad on tho
graaa. Tbo mualo was supplied by aa orobastra:of -riddles
In a pavilion on tho hillside.
1 wad a bold as to mount tbo boards and try a
Dalsk polka with my. pretty friend from Stockholm.
Instantly we were daahing about with lightning speed
-over tho damp, slippery quay. Tba movement was a.
little too faat and unfamiliar for an American; attar
aeveral lunges, and narrowly escaping a plunge Into
tha lako. wo oaino Into full - collision with a buxom
LKsana lass ana ner stalwart xarmer swain ana were
mb roUn Into tho rln, of -poctkton. H.r. a 8w.d
h m,,r , th mturuua.diaiiaa of a. muui.i.ii
my parcnor, aa 1 w oonunt to , wau for to nzt
waHW. V mjvb -IVJaj vwi, gVHil fwssasa -WeMIMW MV '
Atnoncu wain. - " . - - t - -
A WHIRL OF RAINBOWS "vV;v
Looking around tha ring. I caught sight of the
, netlto Floda girl In a rose embroidered frock, which I.
had noticed in the afternoon. I bowed before her.
asking in broken Swedish for the pleasure of a danoe.
She smiled consent from under the rim qf her quaint
bonnet. , ,, . . . ,
It was a strange sight, tha whirling, laughing hun-
,. dreds, in their rainbow eoatumea. To a foreigner-Ilk.
myself It seemed a great open-air pageant. There was
. something weird about tba whole effect; - I waa
tempted to plnoh my arm to make sure that after all
- X was not taking part with Oberon and hla fairies In
: a Midsummer night's dream; to danoe here out of
doore in a violet dawn, a few minutes after midnight,
a- little under the Arctlo circle, among people dressed
. In Aaistlo splendor 1 The twilight had been met half
way by the dawn; the two seemed to wrestle with
each other, and Lake Slljan beside us became a fur
nace of blood-red and purple.
On tbo grass near the wlrarf they were dancing
Intricate ring dances, the steps of which had bsea
handed down by centuries of tradition from tha old
. heathen religious festivals. . The dancers accompanied
their movements by.aong.- Perhaps 100 young man
formed a ring with spectatora peering; over their
shoulders. In the center of this circle a group of
girls danoed hand in hand, In a eraaller ring, with
' eye bent modestly on the ground, singing the words;
The maid foes In a ring,
.Treading with even sup.
Then
their fle-urea atralrhtanaA nA . ...v 1.1
darted a furtive glance around the encircling ring of
men, singing ,.-..,, , .. v
.- to nna aersaif a mate
Who Is so lovely. - ' --.-,(
Then with the words.
1 R
" sing, hoppsaa sa
' . rallerallala, . -
th" ring " of girls broke up and each maid -'sprang
safe-a-sa sxsLsAsS
pretty movement together, singing the refrain -hoppi
aan'Sa." This dorie, the men went back "to: their
f . " 4 " V" circie, na tne , girls repeated
i Iheir Ing , dance. I saw a' handsome cavalry Officer
froJ? h; ,,nB Baron vGyllankrone, captured twice by
a Stockholm girl, but four times a qulck-feoted'viu
. lage belle reacW hi side before her' i think 'I? shall
- never forget he flaahta g eyes and ftushedAces"?
. those Swedish i girls f as they broke irom tba rinr "ilk.
Kum0m.trn.vn.ftfU,,rn '"val. thlyrl. o?e oj
- At 1.10, ; however,. w ,'were" interrupted '' by ' the
shout: "To the mountain to welcome the sunrise.
t The violins moved up the hillside, the dancers follow
ing. . -
it Among the giant bouWers of a nelghborlnr height
. he multitude of merrymakers reaesembled to witch
tho early sunrise over distant hills and . wood"the
fVnJ,wi,,cl1 ii.4 'cely. left us. Bonfires hadaen
kindled on the crags and beacons gleamed also from
surrounding -hills. The bonfires on Midsummer ava
are the survival of another heathen .custom. Thev "HI"
supposed to be miniature suns and to act as ch.rrnZ
for the crops during the following summer" 1
From booths on the mountain aid ,)umi.." ....
and biscuits were dispensed, and the scene amonsr tbl
.rocks suggested the sermon on the mount and. thl'
miracle. of the loaves and Sibil,-is-'J
When we i hid paid our proper adoration to the sun
we descended,-to danoe again until late In the mornlnV)
pavilion on the hillside, fn a. sweet-smelllnx foreat 5
I.irr-h ajid snruce.. A . , ; . ir . i, , . . T , "T. "
At S.iO in the morning ".the church; bells of leksand .
summoned us once; more from heathen to Christian
ritual. Midsummer aay usairia a holiday-in Dau
carlia. in the church calendar it is called tha "Dav Is
. St. John the:Baptlst,"--: .,: t-:t,K :.yv .
On the way to church we saw approachlno: across
the lake a long "church boat," propelled by twentv
oars. The occupants of the boat seemed more xavlv
X clad than Is vusual even in Dalecarlia. One of the
women wore a crown. She Was a bride. ; . , ,
Soon the bridal -party had landed and filed into
. the church. June Is a month of weddings In Sweden
as in America, and what day more appropriate than
Midsummer-dav? --., .-::,... r. ' - .,,- .:.-. " luMj
. Aa I .looked over the congregation during the Mid-
- summer , service, I fancied that I -saw other happy
couples who would also, another year, be Joined at the
altar. How many glad young Dalecarllan hearts had
yielded to tha spell of Midsummer eve? To the native'
Dalecarllan girl and to her rustic lover tha night
-bad-been more than a gay show; the maypole, the'
ring aong, the beacon fires,1 had been intense realties. -
Not so for Miss Ingra, of Stockholm, Today the city
girl must throw off the spell of the night together
. with her peasant costume ancVput on the conventional
frock dictated by. the modes of Paris. To her as to me, -the
American, -Midsummer eve had been an unreality,
a fairy dream. ' And yet, to me, not altogether unreal!
For I shall-never i forget that glimpse, into the dim1
barbarlo past of our ancestors, nor those merrymakers '
in their multicolored dress,, dancing and singing by
Lako SJlJan in th purple light of a midnight dawn.
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