6. The Wickedness of the Awgwas


I must now tell you something about the Awgwas, that terrible race of
creatures which caused our good Claus so much trouble and nearly
succeeded in robbing the children of the world of their earliest and
best friend.

I do not like to mention the Awgwas, but they are a part of this
history, and can not be ignored. They were neither mortals nor
immortals, but stood midway between those classes of beings. The
Awgwas were invisible to ordinary people, but not to immortals. They
could pass swiftly through the air from one part of the world to
another, and had the power of influencing the minds of human beings to
do their wicked will.

They were of gigantic stature and had coarse, scowling countenances
which showed plainly their hatred of all mankind. They possessed no
consciences whatever and delighted only in evil deeds.

Their homes were in rocky, mountainous places, from whence they
sallied forth to accomplish their wicked purposes.

The one of their number that could think of the most horrible deed
for them to do was always elected the King Awgwa, and all the race
obeyed his orders. Sometimes these creatures lived to become a
hundred years old, but usually they fought so fiercely among
themselves that many were destroyed in combat, and when they died that
was the end of them. Mortals were powerless to harm them and the