This ballad is related to a remarkable group of stories, covering, by representatives which are still extant or may be shown to have existed, a large part of Asia and Europe. In the particular type to which our ballad belongs, a clever girl wins a husband by her quickness of wit; the man imposes tasks, of which the girl stands acquitted if she can match each of them with another of no less difficulty. The elf is an interloper from some other ballad (cf. No. 4); the suitor should be a mortal.
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