There are points of resemblance between 'Fair Janet' and a ballad very popular in Scandinavia, 'King Valdemar and his Sister' (Grundtvig, No. 126), and also in Germany (e. g., Müllenhoff, Sagen u.s.w. der Herzogthümer Schleswig-Holstein und Lauenburg, p. 492; Wunderhorn, 1808, II, 272). In both the Scandinavian and the German, however, the dancing is expressly devised as a test, and there are unspeakably ferocious features which are wanting in the Scottish ballad. A Breton ballad (Luzel, II, 6-15) likewise has the probation by dancing.
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