The Magic Table
A table that sets itself with food, a recurring wonder-object of Swedish folk tales. At a word the self-serving table covers itself with dishes and ale, so the hero never goes hungry; the motif usually appears in tales where a magic object is given as a reward and later stolen and replaced with a worthless copy. It belongs to the family of self-working marvels in Swedish wonder-tales. The tale is best known through the Grimm brothers' 'Tischlein deck dich', but Swedish versions circulated widely: a poor man serves a spirit or a mysterious helper, and in reward receives a little table that feed