advent of heroes great
enough to ride them. They generally speak with human voices, are their
masters' devoted servants, fight for him, often slaughtering more of
his enemies than he does himself, and when turned loose in the free
fields, as Ka[t.]ar was in his jungle, till they are needed, always
staying in them and coming at once to their master when he calls. See
in the collection by Dietrich (_Russische Volksmaerchen_) No. 1, "Von
Ljubim Zarewitch," &c., p. 3; No. 2, "Von der selbstspielenden Harfe,"
p. 17; No. 4, "Von Ritter Iwan, dem Bauersohne," p. 43; No. 10, "Von
Bulat dem braven Burschen," p. 133; Jeruslan Lasarewitsch in the story
that bears his name (No. 17, p. 208) catches and tames a wonderful
horse near which even lions and eagles do not dare to go, p. 214. And
the Hungarian fairy horses (Zauberpferde) who, like the Servian
hero-horses, become ugly and lame at pleasure, and speak with human
voice, must also be compared to Ka[t.]ar. One in particular plays a
leading part in the story of "Weissnittle" (Stier's _Ungarische
Volksmaerchen_, p. 61). He saves the king's son twice from death and
then flies with him to another land. He speaks with human voice,
advises him in all his doings, and marries him to a king's daughter;
Weissnittle obeying his horse as implicitly as our hero does Ka[t.]ar.
The heroes' horses in Haltrich's _Siebenbuergische Maerchen_ also
speak with human voice and give their masters good counsel. See p. 35
of "Der goldne Vogel;" p. 49 of "Der Zauberross;" p. 101 of "Der Knabe
und der Schlange." These last two horses have more than four legs:
like Odin's Sleipnir, they each have eight. See, too, the dragon's
horse and this horse's brother in "Der goldne Apfelbaum und die neun
Pfauinnen" (Karadschitsch, _Volksmaerchen der Serben_, pp. 33-40). The
"steed" in the "Rider of Grianaig," pp. 14 and 15 of vol. III. of
Campbell's _Tales of the Western Highlands_, and the "Shaggy dun
filly" in "The young king of Easaidh Ruadh," at p. 4 of vol. I. of the
same work, may also be compared; and, lastly, in a list of hero-horses
Cuchulainn's Gray of Macha deserves a place. On the morning of the day
which was to see his last fight, Cuchulainn ordered his charioteer,
Loeg, to harness the Gray to his chariot. "'I swear to God what my
people swears,' said Loeg, 'though the men of Conchobar's fifth
(Ulster) were around the Gray of Macha, they could not bring him to
the chariot.... If thou wilt, come thou, and s