The Mythology & Folklore Database
A man beside Lyngå had gone out early one morning to shift his horses; when he had done this and was about to return home, to his alarm he heard a loud rushing sound in the air. This drew nearer and nearer, and all at once a man on horseback stopped in front of him.
"Hold my hounds," he shouted, and the man obeyed.
There were three of them, fastened together with a silken leash, and the peasant examined them closely until the hunter returned after a few minutes' absence, having two elf-women, tied together by their long hair, hanging over his horse's back.
"Give me my hounds," said he, "and hold out your hand here, till I give you some drink-money."
The man did so, and the hunter stuck the points of his three fingers into the peasant's hand, where they left large burned spots behind them. Then he rode off with the same rushing noise, accompanied by the screams of the elf-women and the barking of the dogs.
The man continued on his way, until he was met by one on horseback, who was no other than Jons the hunter.
"Did no one meet you?" he asked of the man.
"Yes," said he, "there came two little things running as hard as they could."
"What did they say to each other?" asked the horseman.
"They said, 'he won't catch us yet, for he's not clean.'"
He took water in his hand and washed himself, and then said to the man, "If you will lie down now and put your fingers in your ears, I shall pay you well for it when I come back again in a little while."
The man did so, but began to think the time long, and wanted to take his fingers out of his ears. First he took one finger out, and heard some one fire a shot, though at a considerable distance; he thought it might be as far as Hobro. At this he lay down again for a little, but once more he grew tired of lying like this, and so raised himself from the ground and took the other finger from his ear. Again he heard a shot, but this time as far away as the neighborhood of Horsens. At this he made haste to put his fingers into his ears again, and lay down in his old place.
Soon after that the horseman rode up with the two women, tied together by the hair and hung over the horse's back, one on each side, and said to the man, "You shall have good payment, but it should have been better You have taken your fingers out of your ears, and that did me so much damage that I had to ride from Hobro to Horsens to catch the last of them. My horse has lost a shoe on the road there, which you can go and pick up, and that will be payment enough for you."
When the man reached the spot and found it, it proved to be of gold.