Der Tunda (Donar) in österreichischen Sagen, Österreichische Kinder- und Hausmärchen

Tunda (Thor) in austrian folk tales. Reading from the book Österreichische Kinder- & Hausmärchen.

That gods, namely Wuotan and Donar, were turned into the devil, is a well-known thing; likewise that the devil appears in all kinds of forms, even in the shape of gnomes and dwarfs. The world hunter points to Wuotan, but the following tale from Tyrol (Aineth, district Lienz in the Sfelthafe) points clearly to Donar, who in the nature poetry of the people touches most closely with the devil and whose thunderbolt needs seven years to move back to the surface of the earth (wogl. Grimm Mytb. 165). Once upon a time there was a peasant who was in a very bad way, because he, his wife and their 7 children had "nothing salty, nothing fat." One day the wife said: You are the master of the farm and you have to "make bread", go back to the hunt. He set out, went over hill and dale, over hill and dale, but found no game anywhere, not even a squirrel. It was already in the night, the face of the man became more and more gloomy, because he thought: if I don't bring anything home today, I will have a terrible night. Then he met a hunter, who had a green jacket on and two crooked gamecock feathers on his hat. What is wrong with you? said the hunter, you seem to be very sad. The farmer told him everything and added that he would gladly do anything, if only he would be helped. You know what, said the stranger, I can help you if you want. Today I will give you seven wild boars, but after 7 years you must tell me what my name is, or you will be mine. The farmer suspected that the hunter might be the Tunda*). Fine, but after seven years he thought he would be able to find out the name of the foreigner; therefore the contract was concluded without further hesitation.
The hunter blew a whistle, and immediately there were seven wild boars, which the farmer drove home. There was great rejoicing about this, and the people were doing so well from then on that the farmer thought little of his fine promise. But when the seventh year was soon over, he was overcome with fear. He went on a hike to find out the name of the hunter. He asked everywhere, but nowhere could he get any information. Not far from his fine dwelling he met a hermit who asked him why he was so depressed. The farmer told him everything, and the hermit comforted him and promised to help. As they walked along, they came to a large tree, which was isolated on the road. The tree was hollow inside, but still had branches and green leaves on its fine crown. Then the hermit said: "Enter this tree and listen if you hear anything. When it was dark, they really saw the hunter coming from far away. The hermit went to meet him, but the tunda avoided him and climbed the same tree in which the farmer was hidden. At the top he murmured to himself: Giet dass's Mandl nit woaß, dafi Spitbartele boaf. Joyfully the farmer jumped out of his fine hiding place and shouted: Ha, hau, schau! Did you think I didn't know your name? Your name is Spitzbartele, and that's it! Then there was a terrible noise on the oak, the Tunda was gone and had left behind a horrible stench. All the green branches on the tree were gone and a scrawny "Starve" (dried up tree) was left, which can be seen to this day.